South Africa: Rallying for TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines

The G7 Leaders Summit will provide an opportunity for South Africa to seek broader support for the temporary waiver of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) agreement at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

This is according to President Cyril Ramaphosa who will be travelling to the United Kingdom to attend the G7 Leaders Summit later this week. South Africa has been invited as a guest country, together with South Korea, Australia and India.

The G7 Leaders Summit is an opportunity to seek broader support for the struggle we are waging alongside India and more than 100 other countries to achieve a temporary waiver of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property agreement at the WTO to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. This will enable countries to manufacture their own vaccines and pave the way for the development of a local pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in our own country and on the continent, the President said on Monday in his newsletter.

The President said he will share a message of hope about the prospects of the countrys recovery to the delegates at summit.

I will be presenting the clear signals that our country is emerging from the devastation wrought by the pandemic. These signals include a strengthening currency, a record trade surplus, and growth in mining, financial services and manufacturing, President Ramaphosa said.

Delegates will be informed about the life changing opportunities being provided through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which has directly benefited nearly 700 000 people since it was launched eight months ago.

We can reflect that there is progress towards greater policy and regulatory certainty in important economic sectors such as energy and telecommunications. Our delegation to the G7 Summit will be able to talk about the progress we are making in overcoming the pandemic and the measures we have taken towards our national recovery that are slowly but steadily yielding results, the President said.

The summit is expected to discuss how to promote future prosperity through free and fair trade, championing shared values and tackling climate change, but the global recovery from COVID-19 is likely to dominate the agenda.

The President acknowledged that citizens may be frustrated by the slow pace of change, and feel that the countrys problems appear to be intractable.

Our high rate of unemployment, for example, has not improved since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago and was made much worse by the pandemic. But sometimes we are so absorbed by our shortcomings that we often fail to acknowledge what we are doing right and where things are improving, the President said.

He noted the progress that the country is making in resolving challenges, from corruption to energy shortages to the obstacles that discourage investment.

The pace of reform is picking up. We do not take the patience and resilience of the South African people for granted. We acknowledge our shortcomings as a government and are working to remedy them. Optimism is the foundation of progress and hope is the companion of development. Cynical though some among us may be, let the progress we are making in overcoming the immediate crisis motivate us to do even better, the President said.

President Ramaphosa said the countrys democracy was founded in hope where there seemingly was none.

We emerged from a desperate situation that threatened to engulf us and built a new nation. Over the last year and a half, we rallied together to fight the pandemic, united in the belief that better days would come.

Throughout the course of our history we have had setbacks and false starts. But our resilient nature allowed us to weather many storms. It is this drive and determination that must continue to propel us forward as our country recovers socially, politically and economically.

Let us look ahead and move forward. Let us nurture the green shoots of progress. Let us not only hope for better days, but let us work even harder to achieve them, the President said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
South Africa: Nzimande warns public of fake Facebook page impersonating him

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, has warned the public about a fake and misleading Facebook page that impersonates him.

Nzimande said the impostor misleads the public into believing that they are communicating with him by soliciting money to support a worthy course of student funding.

It is unfortunate that we have individuals who go to the extent of masquerading as a Minister to defraud members of the public, using the genuine plight of students, Nzimande said in a statement.

The Minister said he has already communicated with Facebook to locate and close the fake Facebook page.

Nzimande confirmed that the only authentic social media accounts that he has authorised are the following:

All other social media pages bearing the Ministers name are fake. The other social media pages that might be regarded as authentic are those of the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Department of Science and Innovation, the Minister said.

He said he is aware of the essential role played by social media for effective and responsive communication, and he is committed to continue to engage with the public through genuine and credible social media platforms.

He advised members of the public to contact their nearest police station if they suspect or might have already been scammed by this fraudster.

Members of the public, who might be aware of any existence of a suspicious social media platform in the name of the Minister, should contact Ishmael Mnisi on 066 037 8859 or send an email to Ishmael.Mnisi@dst.gov.za.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Businessman charged with $2.6 million embezzlement to go on trial

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

15:17 07/06/2021

MOSCOW, June 7 (RAPSI)  Prosecutors have approved indictment against businessman Vasily Boiko-Veliky charged with embezzling over 190 million rubles ($2.6 million) from Credit-Express bank, the press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office reports.

The case will be considered by Moscows Cheremushkinsky District Court.

Other defendants in the case are CEO of the Rostov bank Credit-Express Alla Kabanova, her son Konstantin Kabanov, bank shareholder Tatiana Makarenko, chief accountant of the credit organization Maria Antonova, chief of the banks loan department and its senior economist Egor Pikhtin.

Depending on the alleged role, they are charged with large-scale embezzlement committed by an organized group, money laundering.

According to investigators, from 2013 to 2018, the defendants along with ex-head of a Moscow branch office of Credit-Express bank Elena Chuyeva and treasury chief Natalya Tsipinova stole over 190 million rubles from the credit organization by execution of forged loan agreements with former clients of the banks and employees of the defendants firms. Chuyeva and Tsipinova signed plea deal with investigators.

In late April, Moscows Cheremushkinsky District Court sentenced Chuyeva to 3 years in penal colony for embezzlement. The court also granted the Deposit Insurance Agencys civil claim filed on behalf of the bank and recovered over 88.6 million rubles ($1.2 million) from the woman.




An arrest warrant has been issued in Lancaster County for a 42-year-old Sioux City, Iowa, man who faces felony sex assault charges in both Nebraska and Iowa.

Five days after Ernesto Canales was arrested June 2 in Woodbury County, Iowa, on suspicion of second-degree sexual abuse, a Nebraska warrant was issued for his arrest relating to a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

The warrant and charge in Nebraska come after a 14-year-old girl told her father April 21 that Canales had "been raping her for years," according to court records detailing an investigation conducted by the Lincoln Police Department's Special Victims Unit.

A week after the father's initial report, investigators interviewed the girl, who told them Canales first began inappropriately touching her when she was about 7 years old, according to court records.

The girl told investigators that Canales began having intercourse with her when she was about 11. She said Canales had intercourse with her "almost every day" while she was in middle school, according to court records.
2. Coronavirus

Let's start with the good news: Most adults in the US have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and about 66% said in a recent survey that their lives are at least somewhat back to normal. The average national vaccination rate also got back up above a million shots a day, after falling under that threshold last week. But even as things are looking up, experts warn that vaccination lags among groups such as adolescents could delay the return to normal. Also, only 13 states have reached Biden's goal of vaccinating 70% of US adults with at least one dose by July 4 -- and those that are behind could be vulnerable to another outbreak.
The hearing took place in February 2020, shortly before the pandemic slowed society and government. Miller, who attended, chose not to take the stand, the transcript shows. Chesson was the only witness.

She testified that she was certain William Miller, not his brother, sent the text: Earlier on, when he was running late, he told me the reason why he was running late was because he was at the dentist, she said. He had a tooth pulled.  When he came to the house, he even had gauze still in his mouth.

She said she was sure the brother wasnt in the car. It was cold outside, and no one would have waited in the car for the hour or so that Miller needed to work up his quote, she said. Further, she said, they had all left the house together, Miller to head home and Chesson and her daughter to drive to JCPenney. She saw Millers vehicle parked in her driveway.

No one was in that car, Chesson testified.

As for the racist term, Chesson said she was hurt but more so because my daughter was crying.
SIOUX CITY -- A Bronson, Iowa, man is accused of binding, blindfolding and using homemade chloroform to abduct a South Sioux City woman who was later able to escape from a storage shed at his home.

Zack Smith, 20, was arrested early Friday and booked into the Woodbury County Jail on charges of third-degree kidnapping, false imprisonment, assault while participating in a felony and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. His bond has been set at $250,000.

South Sioux City police had begun an investigation into a missing person report Thursday morning after the woman's vehicle was found with her purse and cell phone inside and the windows down.

Police contacted the Woodbury County Sheriff's Office to report that Smith was a suspect in the woman's kidnapping. Smith agreed to come to the sheriff's office after deputies located him at his rural Bronson home.

According to court documents, Smith admitted that he had hid in the back of the victim's vehicle for more than three hours. After the victim, who Smith said is an ex-girlfriend, dropped off a passenger, Smith said, he came out of hiding and displayed an Airsoft pistol. Smith said he forced the victim into his vehicle and blindfolded her and bound her with zip ties and duct tape before forcing her to breathe from a towel he had soaked with homemade chloroform.
Gretna woman killed in crash

A Gretna woman was killed Saturday after her Dodge Ram crashed into a tree on the outskirts of town, according to the Sarpy County Sheriffs Office.

Just after 12:30 p.m., Julia Wynkoop-Wiley, 52, was driving southbound on Westridge Road north of Capehart Road when her car left the roadway at a curve and struck the tree, a news release from the sheriffs office said.

Police, along with Gretna Fire and Rescue, responded to the scene and performed life-saving efforts.

Wynkoop-Wiley was airlifted to Nebraska Medicine Trauma Center in Omaha, where she died shortly after, the release said.

The case is still under investigation by the Sarpy County Sheriffs Office Crash Response Unit.

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Climate change legislation is being introduced in Congress with increasing frequency. Because it is urgent to implement solutions, numerous bills are being considered.

For this legislation to be effective, it must include a price on carbon pollution. To date, the potential for carbon pricing has been largely untapped, even though most economists agree it is an essential tool for driving decarbonization.

Why is carbon pricing essential? It will work quickly. It will cut emissions much faster than regulations can. With a carbon price, companies will make decisions to maximize profits; energy efficiency and clean energy become strategies to increase profits. An economy-wide price on carbon reaches multiple sectors, such as electricity, industry, real estate, agriculture, land use and transportation.

A promising bill is the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 2307). It sets a price that starts at $15 a ton of CO2 and increases $10 annually. Projections are that by 2030, this policy will reduce U.S. emissions by 50% below 2005 levels.
Because the record as it relates to this defense is so limited, we do not here decide whether Kizer is entitled to utilize this defense at her trial, the appellate court decision states.

The defense will only be available if defense attorneys are able to show some evidence that she was a trafficking victim and that the shooting was a direct result of that, the court states.

Guidance provided

The decision then gives guidance on the meaning of direct in the trafficking law, stating that the circuit court should consider whether there is some evidence to support such a finding based on whether the victims offense arises relatively immediately from the trafficking violation of which the victim is a victim, is motivated primarily by the trafficking violation, is a local and reasonably foreseeable consequence of that violation, and is not in significant part caused by events, circumstances or considerations other than the violation.

The state could appeal the appellate court decision. Kizers attorneys could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

While the decision gives Kizers attorneys a chance at defense that could lead to her acquittal, Kizer also wrote to Wilk directly, saying she was willing to take a plea deal.
Despite requests from at least one elected official, an attorney representing two families and a national civil rights organization, video from the deaths of two men in the Racine County Jail are not expected to be released anytime soon. The investigations of the deaths, currently led by the Kenosha County Sheriffs Department, are also unlikely to be taken over by state or federal authorities as some have demanded.

Families of Malcolm James and Ronquale Ditello-Scott Jr. are still left with more questions than answers; James' mother said she still has never been contacted by the Racine County Sheriff's Office, now 10 days after her son's death.

"Id like to know what really happened," Malcolm James' father said during a rally Friday with tears on his face. "Is that so hard to do, just call somebody and let them know whats happened?
The troupes first show was at Bong, and the troupe continues to start the tour at Bong because thats where we started, and they were so receptive to us. Audiences, she said, continue to embrace the outdoor shows.

A cool experience

Conrad, who plays Prince Florizell (and also covers a few other minor roles), said joining the troupe is a cool experience. You get to travel all over the state and see beautiful parks, plus Summit Players is one of the best Shakespeare companies. They do really good work.

At UW-Parkside, Conrad earned his Shakespeare acting chops in Macbeth and A Midsummer Nights Dream. He also acted in The Comedy of Errors with a professional Milwaukee company in 2019 and has had roles in Henry V and The Merchant of Venice.

He says Shakespeares plays have lasted through several centuries because the language is so poetic. Its like when you read a really good novel; its just so beautifully written.

He also compares Shakespeare to standup comedy. When youre laughing at something in standup comedy, they point out something in everyday life. Jerry Seinfeld does that very well, and so does Shakespeare, in the way he describes human experiences.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Government health officials on Monday approved the first new drug for Alzheimers disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasnt been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug from Biogen based on study results showing it seemed reasonably likely to benefit Alzheimer's patients. Its the only therapy that U.S. regulators have said can likely treat the underlying disease, rather than manage symptoms like anxiety and insomnia.

The decision, which could impact millions of Americans and their families, is certain to spark disagreements among physicians, medical researchers and patient groups. It also has far-reaching implications for the standards used to evaluate experimental therapies, including those that show only incremental benefits.

The new drug, which Biogen developed with Japans Eisai Co., did not reverse mental decline, only slowing it in one study. The medication, aducanumab, will be marketed as Aduhelm and is to be given as an infusion every four weeks.

Dr. Caleb Alexander, an FDA adviser who recommended against the drug's approval, said he was surprised and disappointed by the decision.
Wells Fargo

Spokesperson  Ramesh Kumar, Head of HR, Wells Fargo India & Philippines

Covid initiatives:

Whats in place 

Tie-up with top-tier healthcare brands in India:

In order to conduct a company-wide vaccination drive across Wells Fargo offices in Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru, where employees who havent been vaccinated yet will have access to receive the shots on site. This will commence shortly and will include security teams and other support staff as well. As many of the Wells Fargo employees are working from their hometowns, the organizations many tie-ups with health care providers allow for a wider network for their employees to access. The employees and their dependents can access the COVID-care isolation and quarantine facilities offered by their partners if they have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been advised to quarantine away from others.

As the majority of Wells Fargo employees fall in the 18-44 category, this drive seeks to ease the access to vaccination. Additionally, a vaccination drive in their office premises also allows the diverse employees easier access to a life-saving solution.

Wells Fargo further has plans to provide an offsite option, for employees and their dependents to access our partner healthcare facilities across the country for vaccinations.

The vaccination drive has started recently, and they do not yet have the number of employees who got vaccinated to share.

Other Tie-ups:

Furthermore, some of the benefits that Wells Fargo has signed up for includes access to medical services at any time of the day, including video consultations, teleconsultations, COVID-19 related services, and more. The tie-ups also include a network of hotels for isolation and primary care, which provides employees with a single room with all meals, nursing support and daily virtual doctor consultation with standby oxygen support.

Wells Fargos collaboration with healthcare providers and hospitals offers medical teleconsultation services, where employees can get  from doctors  advice, prescriptions, referrals and receive other medical support without leaving their homes, at no cost.

In Hyderabad, they have tied up with the Cyberabad police to provide information, advice and support for mild COVID-19 symptoms, as well as oxygen support for more serious cases.

Financial assistance:

Wells Fargo has also introduced insurance coverage for mental health treatment, in case any of our employees need assistance during these challenging times. In addition, our Employee Assistance Program has counsellor sessions available for employees and families, in case they need support in dealing with issues during the crisis. Their managers have been working with their respective teams to provide any kind of support employees might need when they or their family members have tested positive for COVID-19 through this past year.

They have also enhanced the medical insurance cover for treatment at home or in case of hospitalization. In addition to this, those who have already availed the vaccine outside, or intend to, will be reimbursed  for themselves as well as their dependents  for both doses. For those who test positive, theyve made available additional days of leave, and immediate salary advance for those who need it.

To help provide financial support during the COVID-19 crisis, Wells Fargo is providing a one-time allowance of INR 15,000 or INR 30,000 for employees in India who have tested positive for COVID-19 since April 1, 2021. This temporary program has been put in place while we look towards expanding other benefit plans to help cover employees COVID-19 related expenses.

Samsung Semiconductor India R&D

Spokesperson  Balajee Sowrirajan, MD, Samsung Semiconductor India R&D

Covid initiative:

The second wave of Covid-19 has impacted many employees and their families at SSIR and the organization is supporting their employees in meaningful ways. Many of these SSIR Cares initiatives and benefits have been in place for some time and employees are availing it.

Vaccination

Samsung Semiconductor R&D (SSIR) based in Bangalore has announced vaccination drives for its employees and their dependents and are looking to vaccinate over 2000+ people. The 4 day vaccination drive, held in association with Manipal Hospital will be conducted free of cost for the Bangalore campus. Employees and dependents who are currently not in Bangalore will have the option to have their vaccinations reimbursed by the organization. Based on the need and availability, SSIR will look to organize more such camps in the near future as required.

Other Initiatives

Since the onset of the pandemic, SSIR has Covid-19 leaves- 14 days paid leave for covid-19 impacted employees. They also provide health kit reimbursement for infected employees (Thermometer, Pulse Oximeter, BP apparatus)

SSIR has also set up a Covid-19 task force and volunteer team- provides assistance to employees and families to find resources, hospitals, medicines etc.

Various employee assistance program were initiated which includies

Mental and emotional well-being support- tie-up with 1to1 help , employee assistance program

Online doctor consultation for employees and dependents

Group Mediclaim insurance- additional top-up option was given to all employees to extend the coverage, Home Care Treatment included for insurance claim (when Medical Practitioner advises the Insured Person to undergo treatment at home, not for mild or isolation cases)

Support for getting RT-PCR test done at home through a tie-up- for employee convenience

Apart from that, oxygen concentrators have been procured for supporting employees and families when needed. Internally we are also sharing Covid warrior stories of resilience and hope and also encouraging people to share thoughts on being grateful

Authored by:- Mr. Ramesh Kumar, Head of HR, Wells Fargo India & Philippines & Mr. Balajee Sowrirajan, MD, Samsung Semiconductor India R&D

(The views expressed in this article are by  Mr. Ramesh Kumar, Head of HR, Wells Fargo India & Philippines & Mr. Balajee Sowrirajan, MD, Samsung Semiconductor India R&D. Technuter.com doesnt own any responsibility for it.)
She knocked what she views as the current Swiss Cheese tax system that benefits corporations and the wealthy, and said she wants to get rid of the filibuster and pass landmark legislation protecting voting rights and democracy. She also vowed to support a $15 minimum wage.

Battino highlighted her experience as a physician, which she said positions her to fight for access to health care for all people.

If you have to choose between your health and financial ruin, you are not free, Battino said.

Lasry said he would bring a fresh perspective to politics, and pointed to his work with the Bucks as valuable in helping to solve some of the countrys most pressing problems. He highlighted the fact the Bucks provide a $15 minimum wage, his support for racial equality, and offering up the Bucks Arena for early voting, though city officials later declined the offer in October.
1. Yes. Its important to address the problem before it gets worse. A bond is needed.

2. Yes. Its fine, as long as the bond isnt too large. The city doesnt need more debt.

3. No. A bond issue would just put the problem back on the taxpayers. Not acceptable.

4. No. Certificates of obligation, targeting the worst roads, would be a better choice.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without knowing the details of what a bond would entail.

Vote

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NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP)  Myanmar's military junta will begin presenting its case against deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi in court next Monday, her lawyers said.

The military arrested Suu Kyi in February when it overthrew her elected government. Public resistance to the coup remains strong and in recent months has taken the form of a low-level armed insurrection.

Government prosecutors will have until June 28 to finish their presentation in the court in Naypyitaw, the capital, where she is being tried on five charges, after which Suu Kyis defense team will have until July 26 to present its case, said Khin Maung Zaw, the teams senior member.

Court sessions are to be held on Monday and Tuesday each week.

Khin Maung Zaw spoke to journalists after a procedural hearing on Monday for Suu Kyi and two fellow defendants, ousted President Win Myint and former Naypyitaw Mayor Myo Aung.

Suu Kyis supporters say the charges against her are politically motivated and are meant to discredit her and legitimize the militarys takeover. If convicted of any of the offenses, she could be banned from running in an election promised by the junta within one or two years of its takeover.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Poland's prime minister vowed Monday that the government would always support the Belarusian people struggling for democracy, weighing in after a senior member of his ruling party suggested Polish solidarity could be conditional.

Poland's notoriously bickering political factions have long been united in their support for those in Belarus opposing the dictatorship of longtime President Alexander Lukanshenko. For Poland, a nation that has been swallowed up and controlled by Moscow for long periods in its history, a united front against authoritarianism to the east has been considered virtuous, transcending any domestic divisions.

That is, until a leading presidential contender in last year's elections in Belarus, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, dared to meet last week with Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who belongs to a centrist opposition party long at odds with the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party.

Ryszard Terlecki, a deputy parliament speaker and a top member of the ruling Law and Justice party, was angered and tweeted Friday: If Tsikhanouskaya wants to promote the anti-democratic opposition in Poland and speak at Trzaskowskis meeting, let her seek help in Moscow, and let us support a Belarusian opposition that is not on the side of our opponents."

In a follow-up comment later on Facebook, Terlecki also added that it would be easy for Tsikanouskaya to lose the sympathy of most Poles.

The comments outraged many Poles and there were demands by the opposition for him to resign. Some pointed out that Tsikhanouskaya's husband, an opposition activist, remains imprisoned by the regime in Belarus, which is supported by the Kremlin.

Ryszard Terlecki should not only lose his position, but he should disappear from public life, said Marek Migalski, a political analyst and professor at the University of Silesia.

It is probably she who, although we do not know for sure, won the presidential election," he told TVN24. "This type of contemptuous tone is disastrous for the interests of the Polish state.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, asked about the matter on Monday, began by defending Terlecki's record. He recalled that Terlecki was active in the struggle for democracy in Poland in the 1970s and 1980s, and was arrested by the communist authorities.

Morawiecki then said that from the very beginning of the protests in August last year we are with the Belarusians who are fighting for freedom, fighting for the rule of law, fighting for democracy." He insisted that support would continue.

On Monday, the foreign ministers of Poland and Lithuania met in Wigry, in northeastern Poland, to discuss cooperation and security in the region.

A later communique said that Polish foreign minister Zbigniew Rau and Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis have similar views on the situation to the east of the two nations' borders. Rau stressed the importance of resolve in the two nations' approach to the developments in Belarus and Russia.

Polish efforts to help Belarus are many. The government funds Belsat, a Warsaw-based TV station that broadcasts independent news into Belarus. It has also sought international pressure on Lukashenko's regime, while Poland has welcomed many Belarusian activists and students who now live in exile and study in Warsaw and other Polish cities.

Last week, the government also revealed that it had brought three Belarusians belonging to the ethnic Polish minority who had been imprisoned in Belarus to safety in Poland.

Last week during her visit to Warsaw, Tsikhanouskaya voiced gratitude to President Andrzej Duda, who is allied with the government, and Trzaskowski, for the help Belarusians were receiving from different authorities in Poland.
Ericsson has launched Ericsson Private 5G. It offers secure and simple 4G LTE and 5G Standalone (SA) connectivity primarily targeting  but not limited to  manufacturing, mining and process industry, offshore and power utilities, as well as ports and airports.

Ericsson Private 5G optimizes and simplifies business operations with cloud-based network management, keeps sensitive data on-premise, has zero downtime upgrades and guarantees high performance through Service-Level Agreements (SLAs).

It is easily installed within hours at any facility and can be scaled to support larger coverage areas, more devices and higher capacity when needed. The product is designed to be flexible and will support a range of deployment sizes, depending on requirements, to suit varied needs. Businesses can manage their networks and integrate with IT/OT systems via an open API.

Ericsson Private 5G builds upon Ericssons 4G/5G radio and dual mode core technology, enabling a wide variety of use cases for both indoor and outdoor environments while integrating well with business operations, devices and applications. As a result, companies can improve productivity, give their customers more value and provide better working environments for employees.

Use cases include tracking assets and real-time automation to improve productivity in warehouses with digital twins that can help to optimize manufacturing operations. Efficient quality inspections can also be performed via augmented reality or smart surveillance drones to increase worker safety, particularly in potentially hazardous environments such as ports and mines.

Ericsson already has a significant track record of operational 4G and 5G private network deployments with customers worldwide. Ericsson Private 5G builds on the success of that solution portfolio and deployment insights, as well as insights from projects such as 5G-Industry Campus Europe.

Peter Burman, Program Manager Mine Automation, at Swedish mining company Boliden, says: Automation, and safety through automation in our mining operations is an absolute must for us. Ericsson Private 5G is exactly what Boliden needs to bring high quality, fast and secure connectivity into potentially hazardous environments allowing us to mobilize efficiency and safety improving use cases.

Niels Konig, Coordinator 5G-Industry Campus Europe, Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT: Private 5G networks are highly attractive for producing companies because of the uncompromised performance that 5G can bring, allowing them to tackle the challenges of production. Efficiently deploying and using network solutions in enterprises requires simplicity in installation, flexibility in connecting to existing production IT and lean operations while at the same time being able to scale the network to meet future challenges. Ericsson Private 5G delivers exactly these capabilities.

Leo Gergs, Senior Analyst, ABI Research, says: With this new offering, Ericsson will be able to address key trends in the enterprise cellular market. The value proposition will appeal to operators and service providers as the solution hides technology complexity and therefore reduces the barrier of entry to deployment for many different flavors of enterprise networks.

Thomas Noren, Head of Dedicated Networks, Business Area Technologies and New Businesses, Ericsson, says: With Ericsson Private 5G, we take the best of Ericssons current portfolio and top it up with the best of our new technology. We do this to give businesses what they need to improve productivity, enable new offerings and give employees a better working environment. With Ericsson Private 5G, we also give operators a better way to serve business customers and leverage their assets  in short, to grow beyond mobile broadband.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  Somewhere between testing beet and carrot juice, blueberries and mint in search of the precise hues for a four-tiered rainbow cake celebrating her daughter's first birthday in spring 2020, Food Network star Molly Yeh was forced by COVID's gathering storm clouds to abruptly cancel the party she'd spent six months planning.

The food blogger and author of Molly on the Range had already sketched the tablescape, sent hand-drawn invites incorporating the vegetable theme, and crafted cute marzipan carrots as cake toppers.

Since then, the 32-year-old Yeh has balanced the daily frustrations and isolation of quarantine life with the many joyful firsts of her toddler, Bernie. The constant that has held it together is food, or in Yeh's case, tahini. She's fond of incorporating her favorite ingredient in original recipes that fuse her Chinese and Jewish heritage.

Food has truly taken on a different meaning, both in starting a family and also in the pandemic, says Yeh, who lives on a sugar beet farm with her husband and baby near the Minnesota-North Dakota border.

The young family never went to a restaurant and rarely ordered takeout, cooking from scratch and finding delight in Bernie's milestones, despite monotonous routines and seemingly endless household chores.

"There were so many special moments that were happening in this terrible thing around us," says Yeh, who recently caught up with The Associated Press while in town for the South Beach Wine and Food Festival. Imagine your first time smelling and tasting fresh bread, your first time baking cookies."

The kitchen became the source of field trips and experiments. There was a fake vacation to Florence, Italy, where the family pulled out the pasta maker and made homemade pizzas. There was a day trip to the Italian Alps, aka a nearby hill where they sledded on an inflatable unicorn. And blissful spa days were coconut baths with a face mask and book during Bernie's nap time.

Yeh, the star of Food Network's Girl Meets Farm show, has been a bright spot in a gloomy year for many viewers, with her infectious smile, recipe mashups (think harissa honey labne, hummus dumplings, kale matzo pizza, and bacon and egg drop soup), and endearing habit of liberally dousing desserts with homemade sprinkles or marzipan.

Pretzel challah was among the first recipes that gained traction on her blog My Name is Yeh." And she's delighted to report that her daughter's art canvas of choice is painting egg wash on a braided loaf.

Yeh has experienced a rough pandemic year full of pitfalls and pivots like the rest of us. She shacked up with her in-laws while overseeing a massive home renovation, and started work on a new cookbook, Where The Eggs Are, featuring easier, go-to weekday meals.

While these recipes are less fussy, Yeh has never shied away from celebratory and sometimes labor-intensive dishes. She grew up in the kitchen with her mother, making everything from scratch, finding comfort in the rituals and routines  perfect preparation for pandemic life.

Early in 2020, as Americans baked their way through the uncertainty, Yeh's older cake recipes became popular again, including carrot cake with hawaij (a Middle Eastern spice) and tahini caramel frosting; chocolate cake with halva filling and tahini frosting; and mini pumpkin loaf cakes with cream cheese glaze and candied bacon.

The new mom admits she struggled when she realized she's not the fun parent. Its become clear that Nick is the fun one, dancing and singing and spinning her up in the air, she says.

But food has fixed that too.

I get to see Bernie's face when she eats my chicken noodle soup, and I get to fill the house with the smell of mac and cheese when she wakes up from her nap, she says.

Yeh met her husband when they were students at Juilliard, and made her debut at Carnegie Hall as a percussionist at age 17. Her father, John Bruce Yeh, plays clarinet with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was their first Asian-American member when he joined in 1977.

One of her favorite moments on her show was cooking chicken pot stickers, scallion pancakes with maple syrup slaw and, of course, a sprinkle cake, before performing a Bach invention with the man she calls her biggest musical inspiration.

Its that same creative, special, joyous feeling that I get making cake and making food for other people that I get from playing music for people that I love, said Yeh. If life can be a lot of those moments strung together, thats a life I want to live."
It took four police officers to bring down a Manor Township man who previously escaped an attempt to arrest him once before after he rammed a cop, according to Manheim Township police.

Jordon Aaron Boynton, 23, was charged with aggravated assault, disarming a law enforcement officer and materially false written statements.

Officers were initially called to the Gun Pantry at 2469 Lititz Pike in Manheim Township just after 5:30 p.m. on June 3 after Boynton made false statements regarding his criminal history while attempting to purchase a firearm there, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Boynton had an outstanding warrant for his arrest at the time in West Lampeter Township.

Boynton fled the store before officers arrived, but left his drivers license and application forms behind, later returning at around 7:30 p.m., police said. Officers approached the door and gave Boynton commands to not move and to show his hands.

Boynton then charged at officers, ramming one of them who was standing in the doorway, according to the affidavit.

A scuffle ensued that eventually required four officers to subdue Boynton, who was shot with a stun gun during the fray, police said. Boynton repeatedly pulled his arms away from police as they tried to arrest him.

It was not clear if anyone was injured during the scuffle.

The incident wasnt the first time Boynton resisted authorities, according to West Lampeter Township police.

Officers had previously attempted to arrest Boynton on May 8, after he was seen pounding on the door of a residence in the 1600 block of Morningside Drive in West Lampeter Township while yelling obscenities at 1:36 a.m., according to a separate criminal complaint. Boynton ran away from officers when they attempted to arrest him on an outstanding warrant for robbery, resisting arrest and theft by unlawful taking.

Boynton was charged with defiant trespass, escape, flight to avoid apprehension and loitering and prowling at nighttime for the incident, police said.

Boynton was confined to Lancaster County Prison after he was unable to post a $150,000 bail, court records show. He will face preliminary hearings before Judge David Miller on June 8 on the Manheim Township charges and before Judge William Benner on June 9 for the West Lampeter Township charges.

A trial date has not been set for the charges of robbery, resisting arrest and theft by unlawful taking, according to court documents. A previously forfeited $1,000 unsecured bail on those charges was reinstated following Boyntons arrest on Friday.
A Lancaster Township woman credited with saving a mans life after his home caught fire on Friday night says she believes she was simply doing what any good neighbor would do.

God just put me in the right place at the right time, said Evy Lyons, 56. I dont look at myself as a hero. I just did what I hope anyone else would do in my position, and that is to help my fellow neighbor.

Lyons, who works as a sales manager for a chocolate supply company, entered the burning home of her neighbor in the first block of Pickford Drive just before 10:30 p.m. on Friday and pulled him away from the blaze.

Her actions saved the mans life, according to Lancaster Township Fire Department Capt. Greg Leaman.

She ran over and she saw the resident inside the house," Leaman told LNP|LancasterOnline on Saturday. "She got him out.

Friends and family have all told Lyons since the fire that she saved the mans life, though the mother of one was unaware that Leaman had also echoed those claims.

I didnt look at it that way, she said, but Im just glad that I was here to do it. I just hope that the next person would do the same.

Lyons had stayed out later than normal Friday night to grab dinner, but returned home at around 10 p.m. where she smelled smoke on the dark, unlit cul-de-sac. At first, she didnt think much of the smoke, believing it was coming from a neighbors fire pit.

It was when she opened the door to let out her 11-year-old Lhasa Apso-Poodle mix Cocoa when Lyons noticed the smoke was thicker and more prominent than she expected.

That wasnt fire pit smoke, she said.

Lyons stepped outside her home, unsure exactly where the smoke was coming from, when she saw her next door neighbors residence smoldering.

I saw that his door was propped open, and the closer I got I could hear him screaming help, help, she said.

When Lyons opened the door, she found her neighbor gasping for air and in a panicked state with smoke billowing throughout his home.

He was covered in black from top to bottom, she said. I could tell that he was in shock or delirious.

The man frantically explained to Lyons that his kitchen had somehow caught fire and that he was unable to stop it.

The house isnt whats important, she said she told the man, its you thats important.

Lyons ran home where she grabbed a blanket to wrap her underdressed neighbor and dialed 911 as she coaxed him out of the house. She then ran to a residence adjacent to the one on fire and alerted the occupants to the blaze.

Lyons said the only thing she was thinking of at the time was getting her neighbor out of danger.

The smoke was so bad and I could see the orange glow throughout the house, she said, and I knew there wasnt a lot of time before it got worse and took over the entire house.

Lyons said she believes she came home at exactly the right time to act, noting that the blaze wasn't setting off any smoke alarms or alerting neighbors.

Im glad that I was here and that I was able to save him, she said. I dont think that I could live with myself if it was any different.

The man was transported to Lancaster General Hospital in critical condition and was then flown to a burn center at Crozer-Chester Medical Center near Philadelphia for treatment. The man sustained moderate burns and was able to return home from the burn center on Saturday, Leaman said.

Lyons described her neighbor as a kind, generous man who works for a candy company and often passes out sweets to others. She was pleased to hear that he was able to be discharged over the weekend.

A fire investigator determined Saturday that the blaze was caused by a malfunctioning microwave, the Lancaster Township Fire Department said in a news release. A damage estimate has not been determined.

Three adults, a child, three dogs and two cats were displaced by the fire. The Red Cross will be assisting the displaced, the fire department said.

A Lafayette firefighter was also injured and transported to the hospital for a minor injury during the incident, according to the news release.

Lyons said she was thankful for the firefighters who remained on the scene until nearly 1:30 a.m. and returned the following day to extinguish some still-smoldering areas.

She also said she simply did what she believed was the right thing to do.

I just hope that anybody would do the same thing, she said. Especially in this day and age with everything going on in the world, we should treat people with kindness and love, because were all one in the same at the end of the day.
Dear Dr. Scribblercal:

I am a lifelong resident of Lancaster County and proud of it. In the obituary section of the paper I saw something that I never knew about Lancaster  a place called Little California. Where is it?

Roger A. Bradley

East Petersburg

Dear Roger,

Little California is a small place with a large name just outside Churchtown, Caernarvon Township.

Little California was designated about 1850, according to area historian Bill Shirk. That was the time of the great California Gold Rush. There was a rush for gold in Little California, too. But Little California gold proved to be a little chimera.

The gold diggers believed that buried treasures are usually protected by a hex or curse, Shirk says. Some claimed to have found something in their diggings but that it would instantly vanish before their eyes.

The primary chronicler of the history, or legend, of Little California is Robert Simpson. From 1934 through the 1950s, Simpson wrote a column called the Caernarvon Rambler for the New Holland Clarion. He also wrote the famously pricey book, Annals of Conestoga Valley.

According to Simpson, William Murphy lived in what is now the Methodist parsonage in Churchtown. He was a plain carpenter who did nothing extravagant, with the memorable exception of paying all of his bills with gold coins.

Murphy owned a grove of trees that he used in his carpentry work. This grove was about 2 miles northeast of Churchtown, next to John Spotts farm, where the California Store & Hotel eventually was located.

On his deathbed, Murphy asked to speak with Spotts. But Spotts did not get there in time to hear the message.

Murphys executors discovered that his estate included thousands of dollars in gold. Area residents decided that Murphy had found a buried treasure on Spotts farm and had wanted to tell Spotts about it. The rumor spread like enraged hornets.

Some area residents began digging for gold at night on the Spotts farm. Others simply went about their business because they had more cents.

Some people jokingly said that there was no need to rush out to California when there was plenty of gold buried in Caernarvon Township.

Thereby, Little California, often abbreviated as California, received its name.

California Road runs through the area. Bill Shirk went to elementary school in the California School, now a private residence. The California Church was started about 1850 and remains active. The late Marvin and Hazel Ranck said they found a few gold pieces on their farm behind the church in the 1950s.

No one has reported finding gold in the area lately, so this spring Little Californians are out mowing their lawns and hacking at their mile-a-minute weeds, just like everyone else.

Dear Dr. Scribblerdust:

I drive past a clump of trees on the south side of Bucknoll Road just south of Manheim, not too far from the auto auction. Noticed a tombstone propped against a tree among this tangled area about halfway between the Fruitville and Manheim pikes. Do you know anything about this little cemetery?

Jim Templeton

Lititz

Dear Jim:

A. Hunter Rineer Jr. lists this Penn Township cemetery among Churches and Cemeteries of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a guide published in 1993.

It is known as the Eby Graveyard and was in bad condition in February 1982, according to Rineer. If you want to know what the legible gravestones say, you can find Rineers lists of inscriptions at LancasterHistory and the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society.

Jack Brubaker, retired from the LNP staff, writes "The Scribbler'' column every Sunday. He welcomes comments and contributions at scribblerlnp@gmail.com.
I believe our beloved country is in more peril now than in any time in my almost 96 years.

We have endured many external threats during this time, but our danger now is internal. We must accept the blame for the situation we are in today.

We, the people, elected a charismatic, malignant megalomaniac  Donald Trump  to be president a little more than four years ago. In my view, he duped a slim majority of the people to win.

Following Trumps defeat in the 2020 election, he refused to admit defeat. Ignoring overwhelming evidence, many in his party supported his Big Lie, which has caused many to think, incorrectly, that he actually won.

Trump seemingly tried to get Georgias top elections official to change the vote there, in order for him to win the state. Trump made false claims of fraud in other states.

In January, Trump promoted a gathering in Washington, D.C., of several of his fringe groups. When they met on Jan. 6, he spoke of marching on the U.S. Capitol. We all know the results.

Thousands of young people across America are in jail for minor drug violations. Since nothing has been done regarding what I view as an act of sedition by Trump, I gather that it is not as serious as minor drug offenses.

Trumps Republican Party removed U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership post because she told the truth. Michael Flynn, Trumps former national security adviser, has seemingly called for a coup in the United States.

And some Republican members of Congress refuse to agree on the need for an investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

We are in serious trouble!

Jack Bryer

West Chester

Chester County
Journalist Pod People Produced in London

June 6, 2021 (EIRNS)MintPress News, a news site which previously reported on findings unearthed by Declassified UK about the Department of War Studies at Kings College London, explores another prominent export from that institute. In addition to spies and intelligence officers, the Department also produces a reliable supply of journalists.

The BBC is full of War Studies alumni.

Its an open secret that Kings College London Department of War Studies operates as the finishing school for Anglo-American securocrats. So its maybe not a surprise that graduates of its various military and intelligence courses also enter into a world of corporate journalism that exists to launder the messaging of these same security agencies,

says Declassified UKs Matt Kennard. It is, however, a real and present danger to democracy. The university imprimatur gives the departments research the patina of independence while it works, in reality, as the unofficial research arm of the U.K. Ministry of Defense.

MintPress spoke with Oliver Boyd-Barrett, Professor Emeritus at Ohios Bowling Green States School of Media and Communication. He explained:

Elite institutions in the past and doubtless still today have been major playgrounds for intelligence services. The history of the modern nation-state generally ... seems to suggest that national unity ... is regarded by elites as achievable only through careful management and often suppression or diversion of dissent. Far more resources are typically committed to this than many citizens, drilled in the propaganda of democracy, realize or care to concede.

The supposedly independent investigative website Bellingcat, which plainly functions as a cut-out for intelligence agencies, is chock-full of Kings College alumni. Bellingcats Cameron Colquhoun, who worked for a decade at GCHQ, is an alum. Bellingcats senior investigator Nick Waters spent four years in the British Army before joining the Department of War Studies and Bellingcat. Bellingcats founder Eliot Higgins, who denied for years that the National Endowment for Democracy (the CIA) was funding Bellingcat, had to admit this was true in 2017. In 2018, he joined the Department of War Studies. During this time he was also a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. So much for an independent investigative organization!

When Anglo-American intelligence agencies need to have proof of Russian misdeeds, they can launder it through Bellingcat.

This is hardly the only nexus between the intelligence state and supposedly independent research. In 2018, Facebook partnered with the Atlantic Council to help oversee its 2.8 billion users. Earlier this year, Facebook hired former NATO press officer (and current Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council) Ben Nimmo as its chief of intelligence. A former Atlantic Council official also serves as Reddits Director of Policy. In 2019 it had been revealed that a senior Twitter executive for what it calls the Middle East region was actually an active duty officer in the British Armys 77th brigade, dedicated to psychological operations and online warfare.

Is the British Empire truly a thing of the past?
Google has agreed to make changes to its online advertising business in a settlement with the French government.

The agreement, announced Monday, requires Google to pay a $268 million fine for abusing its dominant position in the online advertising market.

The French Competition Authority said it had found that Googles ad management system for large publishers favored its own online ad marketplace, AdX, over competitors. AdX is a tool used by publishers to sell advertising space. French officials said AdX is built to work more effectively with the service Google Ad Manager than with other ad placement providers.

Google did not dispute the findings and said it had agreed to make changes to its advertising business as part of the settlement.

The company promised to improve the way its Ad Manager services work with competing online advertising systems. It also said it had agreed to make it easier for publishers to use its data and tools. A company statement said Google will be testing and developing these changes over the coming months before launching them widely.

The head of the French Competition Authority, Isabelle de Silva, said it was the first decision in the world to center on Googles complex ad serving system. The system uses algorithms to decide which ads users are shown.

Googles ad systems had hurt competition in the online marketplace and permitted the company not only to maintain, but also to increase its dominant position, de Silva said.

The settlement will make it possible to re-establish a level playing field for all players, and the ability for publishers to make the most of their advertising space, de Silva added.

The investigation began after three media groups -- U.S.-based News Corp., French newspaper group Le Figaro and Belgium press group Rossel -- launched a complaint against Google in 2019.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire welcomed the decision. He said Google systems that help its own ad technologies hurt press groups that depend heavily on online adverting income. "These are serious practices and they have been rightly sanctioned," Le Maire said.

Major technology companies have been facing increasing attention in Europe and other places over their business methods. Germany also launched an investigation of Google.

The German government said last week it was examining whether contracts for news publishers using a Google licensing system included unreasonable conditions.

The European Union has accused Apple of blocking competition in online music sales. It also has accused Amazon of using information from independent businesses to unfairly compete against them with its own products. In addition to that, the EU is looking into Googles advertising systems and methods.

Im Bryan Lynn.

The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

__________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

dominant  adj. the main or most important part of something

management  n. the way in which something is carried out and controlled

algorithm  n. a set of steps that are followed in order to solve a mathematical problem or to complete a computer process

maintain  v. to make a situation or activity continue in the same way

complaint  n. a statement that something is wrong or unacceptable

sanction  n. a punishment for not obeying a rule or law

license  v. to give someone officials permission to do or have something
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

In the United States, restrictions are loosening and COVID-19 cases are decreasing. However, eating disorder cases are on the rise, report doctors and specialists.

For people with eating disorders, the pandemic created a more dangerous situation. In lockdown, feelings of anxiety and loneliness are common. Experts warn that being alone and feeling anxious can increase the severity of eating disorders.

We are absolutely seeing massive increases, said Jennifer Wildes. She is an associate psychiatry professor and director of an eating disorders program at the University of Chicago Medicine.

Wildes told the Associated Press that some patients are waiting four to five months to get mental health treatment and medication. Before the pandemic, she added, wait times were usually only a few weeks. Currently, Wildes' program treats about 100 patients. Before the pandemic, the number of patients was half that amount.

A treatment program for eating disorders at the University of Minnesota is experiencing the same thing. Daily calls to its program from people seeking treatment have doubled. In 2019, there were about 60 calls a day. Since the pandemic began, that number is up to 130 calls a day, said Jillian Lampert. She is one of the leaders of the program.

Lampert stated that increases were seen in all races and ages. She says, however, that women and girls are more commonly affected than men.

Different types of eating orders

Some of her patients have told Lampert that their lives feel out of control because of the pandemic. As a result, they use binge eating as a way to deal with their problems.

Binge-eating is a disorder in which a person often eats large amounts of food and feels unable to stop.

Other people are doing the opposite of binge-eating. They are taking the message dont gain pandemic weight to the extreme. They are restricting their meals to the point of anorexia.

Anorexia is one of the more common eating disorders. Anorexic people restrict eating to achieve extreme weight loss. It can cause abnormally low blood pressure and organ damage.

Bulimia is another eating disorder. Bulimic people eat large amounts of food and then force themselves to throw it up.

Peyton Crest, an 18-year-old from Minnetonka, Minnesota, said she developed anorexia before the pandemic. She has relapsed twice since it began.

When her classes moved online, she suddenly lost her support system of friends and classmates. She would spend all day alone in her room and could only think of food and her anorexic behavior.

She got treatment last June but then relapsed last September and spent almost two months in a treatment center.

Her school recently returned to in-person classes. And she was accepted to Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Crest says her mental health has improved greatly.

How widespread are eating disorders?

Eating disorders affect at least 9 percent of people worldwide. They will affect nearly 30 million Americans in their lifetimes and cause about 10,000 U.S. deaths each year. These numbers come from the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.

A study of electronic medical records from about 80 U.S. hospitals found a 30 percent increase starting after March 2020, compared with numbers from 2019 and 2018. The study was published in April in the Epic Health Research Network journal.

The leader of the Epic study is family doctor and researcher Dr. Dave Little. He said that the COVID pandemic has given society, and in particular young people, a lot of mental health difficulties.

This has been a big event that has disrupted a lot of peoples lives in many ways, he said. It may be months or years before we know the true damage, Little added.

But he said the information should serve as a warning to parents and health care providers.

"Talk to your kids. Talk to your patients. Ensure that eating behaviors remain healthy, Little warned. He added that the sooner you respond the better.

Warning signs of a possible eating disorder

Here are some signs of eating disorders from the U.S. National Eating Disorders organization.

Thinking about weight, body size, and food too much

Restrictions against types of food, for example, bread or sugar

Seems uneasy eating around others

Develops strange food routines, such as chewing too much or not allowing foods to touch

such as chewing too much or not allowing foods to touch Skipping meals or not eating enough at regular meals

Avoiding usual friends and social activities

Disappearing immediately after eating

Extreme change in mood or behavior

And thats the Health & Lifestyle report. Im Anna Matteo.

Lindsey Tanner reported this story for the Associated Press. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor.

Quiz - Increase in US Eating Disorders During Pandemic Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

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Words in This Story

anxious  adj. afraid or nervous about what may happen

massive  adj. large in amount or degree

throw up  v. vomit

relapse  v. a recurrence of symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement

disrupt  v. to cause (something) to be unable to continue in the normal way : to interrupt the normal progress or activity of (something)

mood  n. a person's emotional state

routine  n. a regular way of doing things in a particular order
The U.S. space agency NASA has announced plans to launch two new missions to the planet Venus.

The missions will mark a return to U.S. exploration of Venus after many years. Two new robotic spacecraft are to be designed and built to study the planet with the highest temperatures in our solar system.

NASA chose American company Lockheed Martin to create and operate both spacecraft. The company will receive $500 million for each mission through NASAs Discovery Program. The spacecraft are expected to launch between 2028 and 2030.

One mission, called DAVINCI+, is designed to measure the planets dense, cloudy atmosphere to understand how it formed and developed, a NASA statement said. It also aims to capture the first high-quality pictures of geological structures on Venus. Some are similar to ones on Earth.

After arriving at Venus, the DAVINCI+ spacecraft will send a probe into the planets atmosphere. It will then use its instruments to measure levels of gases and other elements, temperature and pressure, Lockheed Martin said.

The other mission, VERITAS, will map the surface of Venus to learn about the planets geologic history and understand why it developed so differently than Earth, NASA said. When the VERITAS orbiter arrives at Venus, it will use a method called aerobraking to place itself into an optimal science position in the planets orbit, Lockheed Martin said. It will then use imaging equipment to capture data about the planets geology.

Venus is Earths closest planetary neighbor and the second closest planet to the sun. It is similar in structure to Earth, but a little smaller. Venus rotates in the opposite direction as Earth and most other planets. Also, its rotation is very slow.

The air on Venus is so dense and pressurized that it behaves more like a fluid than a gas near the surface. The planet has extremely high winds that push clouds completely around the planet every five days.

Such extreme conditions make it difficult for spacecraft to survive in Venus atmosphere or on its surface. But scientists are very interested in learning more. Some believe Venus may have had ancient seas that could have made it habitable before unknown forces destroyed them.

It is astounding how little we know about Venus," NASA scientist Tom Wagner said in a statement. He added that the new missions can provide fresh data on the planet's thick atmosphere, which is made up mostly of carbon dioxide. It will be as if we have rediscovered the planet, Wagner said.

James Garvin is the chief scientist for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. He said in a statement he considers Venus important to understanding climate change, the evolution of habitability and what happens when a planet loses a long period of surface oceans."

The first spacecraft to explore Venus was NASAs Mariner 2 in 1962. It passed within about 34,000 kilometers of the planet. NASA says Mariner 2 successfully recorded the planets temperature for the first time. It measured the Venus surface temperature to be about 465 degrees Celsius.

The United States and the former Soviet Union sent several spacecraft to Venus from the 1960s to the 1980s. The former Soviet Union is the first and only country to successfully land a spacecraft on the surface of Venus. The first landing was the Soviet explorer Venera 7 in 1970. The Soviet spacecraft lasted less than two hours in the extreme environment.

In 1989, NASA used a space shuttle to send its Magellan spacecraft into orbit around Venus. The European Space Agency also put a spacecraft into orbit around Venus in 2006. And, a Japanese spacecraft called Akatsuki was launched in 2010 and is currently orbiting Venus.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA, The Associated Press, Reuters and Lockheed Martin. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

NASA to Return to Venus with Two New Missions Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz



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Words in This Story

mission  adj. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific task

geology  n. the study of rocks and soil and the physical structure of the Earth

probe  n. a vehicle used to examine or observe something closely

optimal  adj. the best of most effective possible in a particular situation

rotate  v. to turn or cause something to turn in a circle

habitable  adj. able to support life

astound  v. to surprise of shock someone very much

evolution  n. a gradual process of change and development
Park rangers who watch North Americas highest mountain say inexperienced and overconfident climbers are taking more risks and endangering themselves and other climbers. The rangers suggest many climbers are trying to move up the mountain too fast after having a year off because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Denali in southern Alaska is 6,190 meters (20,310 feet) above sea level. So, climbing it requires a high level of skill. Climbers also need to acclimate to high altitudes that is not needed for most mountains in the U.S.

Acclimation to high altitudes means you slowly permit your body to adapt, or get used to conditions. If you dont, you could feel sick.

Experts at Americas Cleveland Clinic say altitude sickness happens when your body is unable to adapt to a low-pressure, low-oxygen environment This generally happens at about 2,400 meters (8,000 feet) above sea level.

The National Park Service recently issued a statement warning that many climbers in the Alaska Range are showing signs of inexperience and overconfidence.

After reporting no deaths in 2018 and 2019, at least two people have already died on the mountain in 2021. Two others were seriously injured, officials said.

Earlier this month, a skier from the state of Colorado died after falling into a crevasse, or very deep cut in the ice. Rangers also reported that a climber from the state of Idaho was killed by a large falling piece of ice.

The rangers issued their statement after a Canadian climber was seriously injured after falling nearly 305 meters (1,000 feet). He was not wearing climbing ropes. Other climbers reported the fall. People in a helicopter studying mountain ice in the area were able to rescue the man, park officials said.

The remoteness and extreme weather in Alaska, the statement said, present extra risks. This is true even for climbers who are experienced at altitudes of about 4,000 meters.

The Park Service statement named several reasons for the increase in injuries and deaths. They include extreme tiredness, untested body reactions to high altitudes, quickly changing weather, and not bringing the right equipment.

In recent years, rangers said they have seen more climbers try to make Denalis summit by climbing the 2,134 meters (7,000 feet) from the final base camp to the top in one day. This is nearly impossible to do except for the most experienced climbers.

Experts suggest that climbers take 17 to 21 days to reach the top of Denali. That includes rest days and extra days to wait out extreme weather.

But rangers say many climbing groups experience something called summit fever. This can happen when climbers are running out of days on their trip. So, they take greater risks.

Officials at Denali describe how summit fever may lead to bad decision-making. People often climb the mountain in a group and move up the mountain slowly by reaching several base camps. This helps the climbers acclimate to the increase in altitude.

But some people leave their starting group after reaching the final base camp (at about 4,200 meters). They do this because other group members may decide not to climb the summit.

Some climbers then join other groups or individuals they dont know well. And that can lead to problems. Sometimes those people get too sick to keep going. They sometimes must share sleeping structures, water, and fuel.

The statement said that a number of climbing teams have had their own summit attempts ruined by the need to care for climbers who have difficulties.

The statement also reminded climbers that the National Park Service rescues people only when their lives, arms and legs, or eyesight are at risk. It said the Park Service has already had to turn down rescue requests this year because they did not meet those conditions.

The Park Service limits the number of people who can climb Denali to less than 1,500 per year. In 2019, 726 people made it to the summit.

The busiest time for climbing Denali is during May and June. Cold weather is a problem in the spring, and storms become more common during the summer.

Im Anna Matteo.

Jeffery Collins reported this for the Associated Press. Anna Matteo adapted it for Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor.

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Words in This Story

park ranger  n. a person in charge of managing and protecting part of a national park

overconfident  adj. feeling too sure about something

acclimate  v. to adapt (someone) to a new temperature, altitude, climate, environment, or situation

adapt  v. to adapt (someone) to a new temperature, altitude, climate, environment, or situation

remoteness  n. the state of being far away from other people, houses, cities, etc.

summit  n. the highest point

base camp  n. a camp from which mountaineering expeditions set out
Thales announced the appointment of Ashish Saraf as Vice-President and Country Director for India with effect from 1 June 2021. In this role, Ashish will lead the companys India business and will be responsible for the strategic growth of Thales in the country across all of its markets, further strengthening local teams, collaborations and innovation. He succeeds Emmanuel de Roquefeuil who takes up a new role as the VP and head for Thales in the Middle East.

Prior to joining Thales, Ashish served as the President and Head of Region for Airbus Helicopters  India and South Asia where he led Airbus Helicopters Sales, Services, Training, Innovation, Industrial Partnerships and Government Relations functions across the Civil, Parapublic and Military markets in the region. Ashish has also served as the Vice-President and Make in India Officer for Airbus, has headed the TataSikorsky joint venture in Hyderabad and also worked with Deloitte Consulting and Dassault Systemes, mainly in the United States and Europe.

Pascale Sourisse, Senior Executive Vice-President, Thales, said, I am pleased to welcome on board Ashish Saraf to the Thales Group, who joins us in extremely challenging COVID situation. Under his leadership, Thales will continue its decades-long partnership with our Indian stakeholders to support the country in this time of need, and once the pandemic behind us, contribute to Indias longer-term vision of building an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Ashish Saraf, VP and Country Director, Thales in India, said, I thank Pascale for her confidence and I am very pleased to join Thales where I will apply all my experience and energy to serve our activities and staff in India. I would like to express our solidarity as the country bravely battles the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. We stand united with our employees, their families, our customers and the people at large, and look forward to overcoming this pandemic together.

Ashish Saraf holds degrees in Management and Engineering from University of London, Cornell University, Symbiosis Institute and NIT India. Additionally, he has also served as a Board of Director and Member of the Governing Council for Aviation and Aerospace Sector Skill Council (AASSC), a Governmental body dedicated to developing nationwide skills in the Aerospace domain in India.
Top finance officials from the G7 industrialized nations agreed on Saturday to the idea of a worldwide minimum tax for international corporations.

Observers say the agreement signals coming changes to laws for taxing businesses across borders in the future. However, many details have yet to be worked out before a larger group of nations, the G20, is likely to give its support to the idea. G20 officials are expected to meet next month.

Here are some of the details that have been agreed on:

What countries will be affected?

The G7 agreement of having a worldwide tax rate for international corporations of at least 15 percent now faces another test. An online meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is planned for June 30 to July 1. The OECD is based in Paris.

In that meeting, a group of 139 countries will negotiate the idea with the aim of reaching agreement on additional details. Any agreement these nations reach will be studied by a meeting of G20 finance ministers who are meeting in July. Observers say, if the G20 countries agree to the minimum tax, then it would likely become a worldwide rule.

How does the tax work?

The idea of a worldwide minimum tax is that it gives countries the ability to tax company profits even if they are reported in countries with low tax rates. The G7 finance officials want the minimum tax to be used for individual countries. They do not appear to support using an average rate for all countries in which a business might operate.

Here is an example of how the tax might work. If a U.S. company reports a profit in the British Virgin Islands, which has no corporate tax, U.S. tax officials could still tax that companys profits at a rate of 15 percent.

Details to be worked out

G7 ministers are also discussing how to tax the biggest international companies like Apple and Google. Those details have not been made final.

However, some industries, such as the mining industry, are likely to be exempt because of the way they pay governments and make profits. Also, countries such as China want to protect low-tax, special economic areas to support investment and development.

The OECD estimated in October that a worldwide minimum tax would provide $100 billion dollars in additional tax income each year for governments around the world. That is about four percent of all income tax collected around the world in one year. While that is a lot of money, it is a small amount when compared to the trillions of dollars large countries have spent because of the COVID-19 health crisis.

Im Mario Ritter, Jr.

Leigh Thomas reported this story for Reuters. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor.

___________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

minimum n. the lowest number or amount that is possible or that is permitted

exempt adj. not required to do something that others are required to do

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In recent weeks, computer-based criminals have stopped the operations of U.S. schools and hospitals, published secret files and caused fuel shortages. They also have threatened global food supply networks.

The purpose of these actions is to gain money by forcing the target to pay what is known as ransom in exchange for releasing control of computer systems. The software these criminals use is called ransomware. Reporters have started calling the groups carrying out the attacks ransomware gangs or cybercriminals.

The growing problems caused by these gangs raise a clear question: Why has the United States looked so powerless to protect its citizens from these kinds of criminals?

On Monday, however, the government signaled that it could move against the cybercriminals by recovering ransom money.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said at a news conference that the Justice Department has recovered most of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment to hackers by the operator of the nations largest fuel pipeline.

Colonial Pipeline, in the U.S. state of Georgia, supplies almost half the fuel used on the countrys eastern coast. The company temporarily shut down its operations on May 7 after a gang of criminal hackers called DarkSide illegally entered its computer system. Colonial officials said they closed their pipeline system and decided to pay a ransom of about $4.4 million so they could restart as soon as possible.

Mondays announcement was the first time the government has said that it had recovered money from the Russia-based gang. U.S. officials say they are dealing with the threat of computer attacks aggressively.

Monaco said, We will continue to use all of our tools and all of our resources to increase the costs and the consequences of ransomware attacks and other cyber-enabled attacks.

President Joe Biden plans to meet Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin, later this month. He said he wants to talk about the support Russia seems to give ransomware criminals. The Biden administration has also promised to take action to defend against further attacks. It plans to improve efforts to bring charges against those responsible and form diplomatic agreements with other countries. The hope is that allies can pressure countries that protect ransomware gangs.

Boating on the Black Sea

But the difficulties of stopping ransomware gangs and other cybercriminals have long been clear. There are now more than 100 people on the FBI's quickly-growing list of most-wanted cyber criminals. Many of them are not really hiding. One is Evgeniy Bogachev, who was charged 10 years ago with a series of cyber bank thefts. He lives in a Russian resort town. The FBI says he "is known to enjoy boating" on the Black Sea.

Ransomware gangs can move around, do not need much equipment to operate and can hide their identities. They also share resources. For example, DarkSide, the group responsible for the fuel pipeline attack, lends its ransomware software to partners to carry out attacks for a price.

All options are on the table

The Biden administration has not said if it plans to use offensive cyber measures against ransomware gangs. Press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that "we're not going to take options off the table," but she did not give further details. Her comments followed a ransomware attack by a Russian gang that caused outages at Brazil's JBS, the second-largest producer of beef, pork and chicken in the United States.

General Paul Nakasone leads U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency. He said at a recent meeting that he believes the U.S. will be "bringing the weight of our nation," including the Defense Department, "to take down this (ransomware) infrastructure outside the United States."

U.S. policy already permits government specialists to fight against criminals in cyberspace and break up their operations using computer programs. U.S. Cyber Command also has carried out offensive operations related to election security, including against Russian misinformation efforts during the U.S. midterm elections in 2018.

After the Colonial Pipeline attack, Biden promised that his administration wants to bring foreign cybercriminals to justice. Yet even as he was speaking from the White House in May, a different Russian-linked ransomware group was publishing thousands of secret documents belonging to the Washington D.C. police department. Experts believe it was the worst ransomware attack against a U.S.-based law enforcement agency.

"We are not afraid of anyone," the hackers wrote in a message.

Im Jill Robbins.

Jill Robbins adapted stories written by Alan Suderman and Eric Tucker for the Associated Press for this Learning English story. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

__________________________________________________

Words in This Story

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

consequences n.(pl.) the results (often bad) of some action that a person has taken

resort  n. a place where people go for vacations

take (an) option off the table  expression. to eliminate a possible course of action

infrastructure  n. the basic equipment and structures that are needed for a country, region, or organization to function properly

What do you think of the recent cyber attacks? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
Resilient, dedicated, and supportive. These were the words used to describe the Corvallis High School class of 2021 at the commencement ceremony on Saturday.

For a class that made it through a global pandemic and uproarious spring and summer of social justice and still managed to graduate high school amid remote learning and cancelled once-in-a-lifetime events, these descriptors seem apt.

I have just been astounded how theyve come out on the other side, said CHS principal Matt Boring of the graduating class following the ceremony. Their perspective, their sense of humor, its just fantastic. Its humbling, actually.

There was no getting around the impact COVID-19 had on the last year and a half of these young peoples high school careers. It also impacted the ceremony itself.

The procession of nearly 300 students  the graduating class has 306 seniors, though not all could make it to the in-person ceremony  wore masks as they marched out onto the field to the sounds of Pomp and Circumstance.
It has its own home security company, Ring, and its own grocery chain, Whole Foods. And that's before you get to the airline, Prime Air, with its own fleet of over Prime Air-branded 70 aircraft, shipping exclusively packages from Amazon around the world.

Amazon's explosive popularity helped grow Bezos' fortune to more than a billion dollars by 1999, when he was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year. He founded Blue Origin in 2000, and said at one point that he was selling upward of $1 billion worth of Amazon stock each year to help fund the company's rocket development.

Bezos will remain involved in Amazon, though he will transition to the executive chairman role.

He will be succeeded as CEO by Andy Jassy, the head of Amazon Web Services.

Bezos' brother, Mark, formerly the owner of an advertising agency and is now a senior vice president at Robin Hood, a New York City charity.
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The following is taken from the Santa Maria Police Department's calls-for-service log and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office daily arrest log. Those appearing as "arrested" are only suspected of the crime indicated but are presumed innocent.

Wednesday, May 26:

ARREST  At 12:38 p.m., Rubicel Ramirez, 34, was arrested on a warrant in the Los Angeles County Jail and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of domestic violence, threats and a probation violation.

Thursday, May 27:

INCIDENT  At 4:02 a.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of arson in the 1200 block of Aspen Lane.

INCIDENT  At 9:37 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a man with a gun in the 1500 block of South Bradley Road.

ARREST  At 4:58 a.m., Robert Ruiz, 19, was arrested near the intersection of Evergreen Avenue and School Street, and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of felony stalking.

ARREST  At 3:01 p.m., Ramon Rivera, 18, was arrested on a warrant in the 900 block of West Morrison Avenue and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of domestic violence.

Santa Maria Police received 11 reports of fireworks.

Friday, May 28:

INCIDENT  At 12:08 a.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of arson in the 1400 block of South Bradley Road.

INCIDENT  At 11:03 a.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a person brandishing a weapon in the 500 block of South Lucas Drive.

INCIDENT  At 7:03 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of shots heard in the 1100 block of West Morrison Avenue.

INCIDENT  At 11:05 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of shots heard in the 1300 block of West Battles Road.

ARREST  At 2:39 a.m., Brian Cervantes-Hernandez, 19, was arrested on a Ramey warrant in the 1700 block of South Depot Street and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of felony display of a firearm and threats.

ARREST  At 5:36 a.m., Pat Villegas, 62, was arrested in the 1600 block of Via Rico and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of domestic violence.

Santa Maria Police received 10 reports of fireworks.

Saturday, May 29:

INCIDENT  At 3:47 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a vehicle collision with a minor injury in the 1400 block of South Broadway.

INCIDENT  At 9:03 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of an assault with a deadly weapon in the 700 block of South Western Avenue.

INCIDENT  At 9:08 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a robbery in the 1000 block of West Morrison Avenue.

INCIDENT  At 10:44 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of shots heard in the 200 block of East Creston Street.

INCIDENT  At 10:45 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of shots heard near the intersection of East Creston and North McClelland streets.

INCIDENT  At 11:14 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of shots heard in the 200 block of West Sheila Lane.

INCIDENT  At 11:40 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of an assault with a deadly weapon in the 1900 block of South Estriga Court.

Santa Maria Police received five reports of fireworks.

Sunday, May 30:

INCIDENT  At 11:11 a.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a vehicle collision with a minor injury in the 2000 block of East Main Street.

INCIDENT  At 8 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a hit-and-run with an injury in the 300 block of North Broadway.

INCIDENT  At 8:32 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of shots heard in the 400 block of East Playa Blanca Street.

INCIDENT  At 9:39 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of shots heard in the 1000 block of West McCoy Lane.

INCIDENT  At 10:01 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a homicide in the 500 block of West Boone Street.

ARREST  At 3:10 a.m., Erik Rocha Fernandez, 20, was arrested near the intersection of Elm Avenue and Donovan Road, and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

ARREST  At 6:22 a.m., Arturo Lopez, 50, was arrested in the 200 block of East Grant Street and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of stalking and assault with a deadly weapon, non-firearm.

ARREST  At 11:21 p.m., Alberto Rivera, 30, was arrested near the intersection of Broadway and Harding Avenue, and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of DUI causing bodily injury.

Santa Maria Police received 31 reports of fireworks.

Monday, May 31:

INCIDENT  At 2:33 a.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a robbery near the intersection of West Main Street and North Blosser Road.

INCIDENT  At 11:42 a.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a felony warrant served near the intersection of South Broadway and East Plaza Drive.

INCIDENT  At 4:24 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a robbery in the 300 block of East Alvin Avenue.

INCIDENT  At 8:12 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of an assault with a deadly weapon in the 1000 block of North Railroad Avenue.

Santa Maria Police received three reports of fireworks.

Tuesday, June 1:

INCIDENT  At 1:30 a.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a shooting at a dwelling in the 1100 block of North Bradley Road.

INCIDENT  At 4:15 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of shots heard in the 100 block of West Mill Street.

INCIDENT  At 6:37 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a hit-and-run with an injury near the intersection of East Main and North McClelland streets.

INCIDENT  At 8 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a robbery in the 1700 block of South Broadway.

INCIDENT  At 8:43 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of a person brandishing a weapon in the 1600 block of Black Road.

INCIDENT  At 10:31 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of shots heart near the 700 block of East Fesler Street.

ARREST  At 4:25 p.m., Manolo Aguilar, 32, was arrested on a warrant in the 300 block of East Cook Street and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of assault with force, possibly causing great bodily injury.

ARREST  At 8:50 p.m., Melodi Zamora, 49, was arrested in the 1100 block of East Main Street and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of domestic violence and illegal possession of tear gas.

Santa Maria Police received seven reports of fireworks.

Wednesday, June 2:

INCIDENT  At 5:14 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of an assault with a deadly weapon in the 1700 block of North Alison Avenue.

INCIDENT  At 11:38 p.m., Santa Maria Police received a report of shots heard in the 300 block of East Morrison Avenue.

Santa Maria Police received four reports of fireworks.
Dr. Lynea LaVoy, chair of the hospitality program at Madison College, has been working with Glenn to plan the new curriculum. She anticipates that those who complete the program will enter Madison College with six to nine college credits. Those credits, she said, could put students a step ahead both academically and professionally.

When they're out there with some of our industry partners, trying to get a job, (employers might say), Oh, you have this class, this class, this class and Carmellas? Not only do we want to hire you, but we're willing to pay more for you, LaVoy said. I think that's the key: It's not just this job. It's a career pathway for them to figure out what's next.

Meanwhile, Glenn hopes to spark further discussion about what it would take to reduce employee turnover and provide family-sustaining jobs in the hospitality industry.

I'm going to be working on educating the community and the restaurant world on changing the dynamics of how they pay people and how people work, Glenn said. I want to send my students into a healthy environment.
Still unknown is whether Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes will remain on the ticket with Gov. Tony Evers as the governor seeks reelection, or if he will launch his own Senate bid.

Nelson, the first candidate to enter the race, presented himself as an underdog. He has served as Outagamie County executive for 10 years, and prior to that was in the state Assembly for six years. He ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2010 and for Congress in 2016.

This race ought not to be a competition of bank accounts or pedigrees. That is not who we are, Nelson said. Adding another billionaire or millionaire (to the Senate) is not the answer. We need a true champion of the people, someone who's been there and knows the challenges facing working families.

That was a subtle jab at Lasry, whose father is a billionaire, and Godlewski, whose husband is a millionaire. But Lasry and Godlewski both stressed their humble roots; Lasrys fathers family immigrated to the U.S. from Morocco in pursuit of a better life, and Godlewskis parents were public school teachers.
Dubais Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has signed an agreement with Chinese group Zhong Tang Sky Railway, a leading company in suspended railways, to explore the development of a futuristic suspended transport network.

The MoU comes as part of Dubai's endeavours to probe innovative solutions for developing a futuristic suspended transport network, said a statement from RTA.

The use of this type of transport in Dubai is aimed at accelerating the mobility of people, providing affordable mobility solutions besides encouraging the community members to use them and help curb traffic congestion, it stated.

RTA is seeking to consolidate the integration among mass transit means towards realising its vision to become a world leader in seamless and sustainable mobility, said Abdul Mohsen Ibrahim Younes, CEO of Rail Agency, after signing the MoU on behalf of RTA, with Tang Tong, Chairman of Zhong Tang Sky Train.

"The signing of this MoU is part of RTAs ongoing efforts to increase public transportation trips to 26% by 2030," stated Younes at the signing ceremony which was attended by top officials including Jaber Al Bahandi, Chairman of Centurion Company (The UAE representative of Zhong Tang Sky Railway Group) and Tariq Al Bahandi, Head of Development at Centurion.

"Realising this objective requires developing advanced futuristic transport systems and improving the sustainable transport network in Dubai to encourage people and visitors to use public transport," he added.

According to Younes, RTA is aligning its efforts with the national agenda to nurture a sustainable environment in terms of air quality and reliance on clean energy.

"We are signing MoUs with a host of specialist companies in the development of suspended transport systems to identify the technologies used in this sort of mass transit means. We will be able to screen and obtain the best technologies and select the best systems for implementation in Dubai," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The DNR, hamstrung by rules that favor business interests over little people, has granted preliminary approval of a Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for the operation. Rarely does the DNR conduct a more comprehensive EIS for a proposed Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). But citizens are clamoring for one in this case, and the agency would be honoring its mission to listen up. A virtual public hearing on the DNRs tentative permit approval will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 10. Pre-registration is required and can be done here.

The industrial meat industry and its backers in the state Legislature claim opposition to these facilities is political. But the old saying that all politics are local makes a sham of that claim. Wisconsin has something like 300 CAFOs, most of them dairy, and local people have had little say in them. Counties can attempt to use zoning to control where the operations are sited, but the rules say they must then provide sacrifice zones where the operations can locate. How would you like to be a resident of a sacrifice zone for a huge hog CAFO?
That kind of penny-wise, pound-foolishness has been on full display this session.

The most glaring was the 40-second "special session" to turn down the governor's proposal to expand Medicaid in Wisconsin under the Affordable Care Act. A cool $1.5 billion in federal funds went poof with that in-your-face maneuver.

Tony Evers had proposed to use those fed dollars to free up state funds for things like expanding broadband to rural communities and funding several economic development projects by local governments. GOP leaders called Evers' plan a "political stunt," as if their refusal to even discuss Medicaid expansion wasn't.

But that $1.5 billion was just a piece of it. These same money wizards had already squandered an additional $1.5 billion in federal Medicaid assistance in the past decade. It all lends credence to the old adage about company's going bust because they took decision-making away from the engineers and gave it to the accountants.

Now they're putting the state in danger of losing another $1.5 billion in education aid because they refuse to make a minimum increase in state funding for Wisconsin schools
The American Jobs Plan aims to build climate-based jobs strategies. The farms and forests of this nation offer tremendous opportunities to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration and reduction of greenhouse gases generated through some current practices, and on-farm renewable energy production.

Recently, more than 450 groups signed and sent a letter asking Congress to commit $200 billion of American Jobs Plan funds to agriculture. This investment will pay off in stronger infrastructure, more resilient food systems, farming practices that can help mitigate climate change, and millions of jobs in the nations rural communities  simultaneously addressing many of the nation's most urgent problems.

Margaret Krome of Madison writes a semimonthly column for The Capital Times. She is policy program director for the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute.

Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.
Dear Editor: Prosperity is a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, especially in financial respects.

Certainly someone like Charles Koch, one of the richest people in the world, is prosperous. Koch is a key funder of the right-wing infrastructure, including the American Legislative Exchange Council and, with his late brother David, Americans for Prosperity.

Prosperity is comparative: Policies and laws that help the richest people to increase their prosperity may not benefit most of us regular folks.

Investigative journalist Jane Mayers 2016 book, Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, reports on a network of extremely wealthy conservative Republicans, including the Koch Brothers, who have funded organizations influencing think tanks, colleges and universities, our courts, state houses, Congress ... all for their own benefit.

If this sounds like something that is happening far away  perhaps Washington, D.C.  its not. Its right here, with our own southwest Wisconsin elected state representatives. Some influence is public and direct, such as contributions to the campaigns of candidates. Some is dark money.
But for me, accountability is so important. Its important to the victims and survivors and the families we serve and are elected to represent in our state. Accountability is important for fairness, for justice, for keeping people safe, and as a matter of deterrence to make sure that bad things like this dont happen again.

Purdues plan should require a public repository of every document in this case. We did that in tobacco; we should do it here. I believe in that strongly. The country deserves to know how Purdue and the Sacklers caused this opioid epidemic. We cant continue to let them keep this secret.

The Sackler plan wants the government to take over the drug business, to put us in charge of selling OxyContin. Putting governments in a position of profiting off the sale of OxyContin is just perverse and totally inappropriate. We want no part of it. Instead, we want a prompt and orderly wind down of this disgraced business.

AP: Earlier this year, you filed claims against Publicis. Its a marketing consultant for Purdue. Why did you do that, and do you expect lawsuits against other companies that work for the drug industry?
The U.S. Department of Labor has fined a Sun Prairie milling company more than $676,000 for workplace safety violations that led to the death of a grain silo manager last year in Cambria.

Randal Rote, 52, was found dead on the morning of Dec. 8 inside the silo operated by Didion Milling after he failed to show up for a meeting.

According to an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, it took emergency workers nine hours to recover his body, which was engulfed in grain.

OSHA determined that Rote entered the unsafe bin despite ongoing efforts to clear the clogged silo from the outside and that the external process should have continued for several more days before anyone was allowed to enter the silo.

The agency issued four willful and 10 serious safety citations and proposed $676,808 in penalties.
Science teacher Sarah Wright was biking up north and noticing signs identifying plants on the trails when she realized she had stumbled upon the ideal project for her students at Fitchburgs Eagle School.

The signs resonated with Wright, who had wanted to give her students a way to share information about the trees on the school grounds. The resulting project produced 12 signs identifying trees or aspects of them, and students got to see its completion when they took part in a scavenger hunt last week.

I was really excited to see them, and they turned out really well, said fifth-grader Isabel Roang, who worked on the sign for a red maple.

Before Wright considered the signs, some of her previous students had started working on a field guide. But she realized the information would be more accessible if it was on signs, rather than figuring out how to make a guide available.

Wright, who has a masters in botany, said the project was a natural fit for the fifth-grade curriculum that includes a leaf unit in which students collect, mount and label different species.

I really want kids to know what an oak savanna is and what it would have looked like here, she said.
So what will you do after democracy dies?

Who will we be after democracy dies?

After democracy dies, will we remember the country we had? Will we remember all that we lost? How will we explain what we allowed to happen?

Will we be ashamed after democracy dies?

After democracy dies, maybe well be haunted by the fact that we had a chance to save it  and did not. Distracted by tribalism, we did not. Living in denial, we did not. Watching in mounting dread, we did not.

After democracy dies, maybe well wonder why we failed.

Its not like whats happening is being done in secret. After democracy dies, we will remember that Republicans built the architecture of fascism under our very noses by baselessly undermining the credibility of the 2020 election and passing a series of voter-suppression laws. And Politico reports that conspiracy theorists who think Donald Trump was robbed of victory last year are campaigning to become election officials in battleground states.

Imagine: Next year, the question of whether or not your ballot counts could be in the hands of some Q-following fabulist who considers Trump the chosen of God. Good luck with that.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  The state Supreme Court ruled Monday that there is no constitutional or statutory requirement to compensate businesses for financial losses due to emergency public health orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ruling in favor of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham scuttles about 20 lawsuits against her administration.

The original plaintiffs argued that aggressive health restrictions from the administration constituted a regulatory taking much like the taking of land for public works projects. The governor urged the Supreme Court to block the lawsuits.

In a unanimous opinion from Justice Shannon Bacon, the court said that current public health orders are a reasonable exercise of the police power to protect the public health.

Occupancy limits and closure of certain categories of businesses, while certainly harsh in their economic effects, are directly tied to the reasonable purpose of limiting the publics exposure to the potentially life-threatening and communicable disease," the decision said.

The high court noted that the Public Health Emergency Response Act does provide for compensation for the emergency appropriation from businesses of health care supplies, a health facility or any other property.
All these lockdowns happened overnight. There was no great public debate about them. There was far more acquiescence than challenge to them. The public took for granted that the governors actually had the authority they claimed they had and actually could become dictators in a crisis of fear  a crisis they created. Now that this is for the most part behind us, the question arises: Why did we let this happen?

It happened because we take liberty for granted. We repose the Constitution for safekeeping in the hands of men and women who, in the eternal conflict of personal liberty versus governmental power, side with power. These are folks popularly elected who dont care about liberty; they care about control.

At this writing, there is no clear answer as to the cause of COVID-19. But the cause of the pandemic was taking liberty for granted. What kind of a society is ours? You can go to jail for fishing or barbering without a license, but if you are a governor, you can crush the liberty of millions and destroy the property of thousands with impunity.

The next time this happens, will we cave, or will we resist?
Alkhabeer Capital, the asset manager specialising in shariah-compliant investments and financial services, said its Alkhabeer REIT, a publicly-offered closed-ended sharia-compliant real estate investment traded fund, will use proceeds from the second additional offering to expand its asset portfolio through two key acquisitions in the educational and industrial sectors.

Its real estate portfolio includes assets diversified across the retail and industrial sectors, as well as in offices, residential and educational properties, located in strategic locations in Jeddah, Riyadh and Tabuk.

The Alkhabeer Capital Fund will acquire two high-quality properties - Vision Colleges and Akun Warehouses immediately after the end of the subscription period at less than their estimated value of SR313.4 million ($83 million) against the average estimated value of the two properties of SR316.3 million ($84.2 million), according to the latest evaluation reports.

These new assets are a part of Alkhabeer REIT's long-term strategy, which focuses on achieving stable cash flows for investors by investing in income-generating assets, while also providing a diversified asset base.

Vision Colleges is a 13-storey building with a total area of 13,785 sq m, leased by an educational company (specified in providing dentistry, nursing and medicine majors).

The 25-year binding leasing contract is valued at SR7.5 million ($2 million) annually.

Akun Warehouses is spread over a 12,889-sq-m area comprising cold storage facilities with a five-year, binding leasing contract valued at SR16 million ($4.2 million) annually.

Alkhabeer Capital said the subscriptions for the second additional offering commenced last month and will run until June 17. The additional shares are priced at SR9.03, inclusive of subscription fees and VAT on the subscription fees.

It called upon citizens, residents and qualified individuals and institutions to subscribe to the additional offering through Al Rajhi Bank, Al Jazira Capital and Saudi National Bank, in addition to the subscription system on the website of Alkhabeer Capital, the Fund Manager, for clients of other banks.

The Saudi-based group said its second additional offering of Alkhabeer REIT will contribute to realising its investment objectives, which is focused on achieving periodic returns through investing in a diversified portfolio of income-generating assets.

The second additional offering of Alkhabeer REIT follows last years successful conclusion of the Funds first additional offering, which recorded 104% oversubscription and saw its assets under management increase by 70% to more than SR1.7 billion ($452 million) .-TradeArabia News Service
The calamity exposed an agency, the Virginia Employment Commission, that had long been underfunded and overlooked, with an antiquated information technology system and a bare-bones staff to resolve complicated cases and answer questions from unemployed Virginians suddenly thrown into a frayed safety net.

***

Its a dinosaur, said Annette Sutton, 57, a Norfolk resident who has been afraid to return to work as a home health aide because of her own compromised health, including a stroke in 2013 that left her partially disabled.

Sutton is vaccinated against COVID-19 and she knows jobs are out there, but shes been afraid to go back to caring for others because of her medical vulnerability. She also doesnt want to return to work until she receives employment benefits she lost without explanation almost four months ago$102 a week from the state, plus the enhanced federal benefit of $300so she can repay money she borrowed from others to pay bills.

The employment commission contacted her and resolved her case on Friday afternoon, ending months of frustrated effort.

We got everything cleared and I should get a deposit in 48 hours, Sutton said in an email. GOD IS GOOD!!!!!
The committee appointed by Kotek, a Democrat, will convene later this week. It is composed of three Democrats and three Republicans.

With Republicans calling for Nearman to step down, his fate appeared sealed. If he does not resign, there was little doubt that an overwhelming number of House members would vote to cast him out.

Nearman himself said Monday he believes there are enough votes to expel him, which he said would make him the first House member to be expelled by its members in Oregon history. He joked in a call to the Lars Larson Show, a conservative talk radio program, that this would eventually make him the subject of a question on TV's Jeopardy!

He did not say whether he would resign.

"Ill put myself in Gods hands and see how that works out for me, Nearman said.

The incident on Dec. 21 rattled lawmakers and staff inside the Capitol and foreshadowed the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by rioters spurred on by then President Donald Trump. Several of those who were among the crowds in Salem on Dec. 21 later were in Washington during the U.S. Capitol attack.
After being diagnosed with bladder cancer, some patients face an almost impossible decisionhave their bladder removed or take a risk knowing that the cancer may be more likely to spread if the bladder is left intact.

But what if there was another way?

For David Cabelis, 68, the decision was more straightforward than most, as he had a unique opportunity to take part in a clinical trial testing a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy as a potential replacement for bladder removal.

More than two years after the trial began, Cabelis is part of a small group of patients for whom the experimental treatment was successful. Cabelis is now living cancer-free, with his bladder still in place.

While the trial is ongoing, the results thus far appear promising, suggesting that some people with his stage of bladder cancer may have a chance to avoid bladder removal in the future with good outcomes.

Surgical removal of the bladder, or cystectomy, is part of the standard treatment regimen for people with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, when cancer cells have grown into the deeper layers of the bladder wall and can quickly spread beyond the bladder. Around 1 in 4 people are diagnosed at this stage.

However, after removing the bladder, the cure rate is far from perfect.

"We know that even when patients undergo surgical removal of the bladder for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, the risk of metastatic recurrence is about 50%," said Dr. Matthew Galsky, an investigator in the trial. He is the co-director of the Center of Excellence for Bladder Cancer at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.

Of course, the prospect of losing one's bladder is daunting. Without the bladder, urine still needs to exit the body somehow. One option is an ileal conduit, which lets urine flow through a tube made of intestinal tissue. The tube connects to a small opening in the abdomen, and urine is stored in an external bag.

Other patients can get a "neobladder," which replicates the function of the original bladder. In the best-case scenario, a neobladder can mimic a reasonably normal urine function, but sometimes they don't work properly or come with complications, according to Dr. Jonathan Rosenberg, chief of bladder cancer service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Avoiding the trauma of losing one's bladder

"A respected urologist I know once said, "The best bladder is the one you're born with, and if you can keep it, that would be great,'" Rosenberg said.

Cabelis, originally from Greece, has been living in the United States and driving a taxi in New York City for more than three decades.

In May 2017, after spotting blood in his urine and visiting the emergency room, he was referred to a doctor at Mount Sinai. There, he learned he had muscle-invasive bladder cancer and was given two options: to have his bladder removed or to enroll in the clinical trial.

"They asked me if I want to remove my bladder or go through a cycle of treatments with a clinical trial," Cabelis recalled. "I said, "I don't want to have half a life. I would love to have a full life, so I'd be happy to join the trial and not have my bladder removed.'"

The clinical trial began in 2018 and is the first to give patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy as their initial treatment. These cancers are typically treated with chemotherapy alone, followed by surgery to take out the bladder.

The addition of immunotherapy and the idea of not necessarily needing to remove the bladder is novel.

The trial included 76 participants who were given four cycles of chemotherapy with a dose of the immunotherapy drug, nivolumab, on the first day of each cycle. After three months of treatment, patients underwent rigorous testing to assess how their cancer responded to treatment.

Of the 64 patients for which data is currently available, 31 patients appeared to be cancer-free at the end of the three months. They were able to proceed with treatment, receiving four more months of immunotherapy alone.

The other 33 patients, who did not seem to benefit from the experimental treatment based on various tests, were recommended to have their bladders removed immediately.

Thus far, the results appear promising. To date, none of the 31 patients who responded well to the therapy have died of causes related to cancer, and only one patient's cancer has spread. "Of the 18 patients that we have greater than one year of follow-up, 12 of the 18 have had no recurrence and have their bladder intact," Galsky said.

The trial's results were presented online at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting June 4-6. Research presented at meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Longer-term results needed before changing practice

However, more research is needed for this approach to become an accepted practice in the future.

"It's the long-term outcomes that are going to be most important," Galsky said. "Are patients really cured without having to have their bladders removed? The test of time will tell us that definitively. This is not ready for prime-time until we have longer follow-up."

Rosenberg, who was not involved in the trial, agreed. "I think the one-year survival data looks quite good, but it's only one year," he said.

According to Rosenberg, there is also the question of whether chemotherapy alone, which is already part of the standard treatment for this cancer, would result in the same positive outcomes.

"It's very difficult to pull out the effect of immunotherapy from the chemotherapy," he said. "Immunotherapy may be the key player here, but I don't think the data supports that conclusively yet."

Another problem is that this approach only seems to work for a specific subset of patients.

According to Galsky, after chemotherapy, when patients have their bladders removed, around 30% of the bladders are entirely free of cancer.

"Now, the problem with that approach is obvious," Galsky said. "We have patients' bladders removed after chemotherapy, and we tell them, "Oh, great news, there's no cancer in your bladderyour prognosis is very good," and they look at you like you're crazy. They just had their bladder removed, and there's no cancer in their bladder."

In the future, the hope is that Galsky and other doctors in this field will know how to identify which patients may not need to have their bladders removed.

"If we knew which patients had cancer eliminated from the bladder ahead of time, we could potentially change the treatment paradigm and improve both the longevity and the quality of life in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer," Galsky said.

"The underlying hypothesis of this trial and others is that there are patients who benefit tremendously from the systemic therapy, and then there are people who don't," Rosenberg added. "The idea would be to find those patients who've benefited tremendously from chemotherapy or immunotherapy, and for those who don't, rather than spend three or four months getting chemotherapy, the hope is you can take them to surgery sooner or try other ways of treating them that would get them to those high cure rates."

Explore further Consumer health: Bladder cancer awareness

More information: The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about bladder cancer

Copyright  2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Credit: St. George's University of London

A new report, published today, presents evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on migrant populations in Europe.

The report, commissioned by the European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control (ECDC), was researched and written by the Migrant Health Research Group from the Institute for Infection and Immunity at St George's, University of London. The findings provide evidence that certain migrant groups have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, while offering recommendations for reducing disease transmission and increasing vaccine uptake among migrant populations.

Dr. Sally Hargreaves, lead author on the report and head of the Migrant Health Research Group at St George's, University of London, said: "The pandemic has exposed major health inequalities in European countries. This report highlights that migrant communities specifically have been among the most heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemicat greater risk of exposure and in various countries, over-represented in cases, hospitalisations and deaths."

"Migrants make up a significant proportion of populations in European and other high-income countries, and our research shows that they may have a range risk factors and vulnerabilities to COVID-19 that need to be better considered in COVID-19 response plans, including facing barriers to, and exclusion from, health and vaccination systems.

"Migrants must be better considered within national priority groups for vaccination, which will require a range of specific community-based approaches to ensure they can access COVID-19 vaccines, counter misinformation, and improve trust"

Explore further New guidance: Approaches for tackling vaccine hesitancy

More information: Reducing COVID 19 transmission and strengthening vaccine uptake among migrant populations in the EU/EEA. Reducing COVID 19 transmission and strengthening vaccine uptake among migrant populations in the EU/EEA. www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publicat  ening-vaccine-uptake
In this 2019 photo provided by Biogen, a researcher works on the development of the medication aducanumab in Cambridge, Mass. On Monday, June 7, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved aducanumab, the first new drug for Alzheimer's disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasn't been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease. Credit: Biogen via AP

Government health officials on Monday approved the first new drug for Alzheimer's disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasn't been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug from Biogen based on study results showing it seemed "reasonably likely" to benefit Alzheimer's patients. It's the only therapy that U.S. regulators have said can likely treat the underlying disease, rather than manage symptoms like anxiety and insomnia.

The decision, which could impact millions of Americans and their families, is certain to spark disagreements among physicians, medical researchers and patient groups. It also has far-reaching implications for the standards used to evaluate experimental therapies, including those that show only incremental benefits.

The new drug, which Biogen developed with Japan's Eisai Co., did not reverse mental decline, only slowing it in one study. The medication, aducanumab, will be marketed as Aduhelm and is to be given as an infusion every four weeks.

Dr. Caleb Alexander, an FDA adviser who recommended against the drug's approval, said he was "surprised and disappointed" by the decision.

"The FDA gets the respect that it does because it has regulatory standards that are based on firm evidence. In this case, I think they gave the product a pass," said Alexander, a medical researcher at Johns Hopkins University.

The FDA's top drug regulator acknowledged that "residual uncertainties" surround the drug, but said Aduhelm's ability to reduce harmful clumps of plaque in the brain is expected to help slow dementia.

"The data supports patients and caregivers having the choice to use this drug," Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni told reporters. She said the FDA carefully weighed the input of people living with the "devastating, debilitating and deadly disease."

Under terms of the so-called accelerated approval, the FDA is requiring Biogen to conduct a follow-up study to confirm benefits for patients. If the study fails to show effectiveness, the FDA could pull the drug from the market, though the agency rarely does so.

Biogen said the drug would cost approximately $56,000 for a typical year's worth of treatment, and said the price would not be raised for four years. Most patients won't pay anywhere near that thanks to insurance coverage and other discounts. The company said it aims to complete the FDA-mandated follow-up trial by 2030.

Biogen shares jumped 38% in trading Monday on the news, with analysts forecasting billions in future sales. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company plans to begin shipping millions of doses within two weeks.

The non-profit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, which studies drug value, said Biogen's drug would have to halt dementia entirely to justify its $56,000 per-year price tag.

In this undated image from video provided by Biogen in May 2021, vials of the medication aducanumab are handled by machines during manufacturing in Switzerland. On Monday, June 7, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved aducanumab, the first new drug for Alzheimer's disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasn't been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease. Credit: Biogen via AP

Some 6 million people in the U.S. and many more worldwide have Alzheimer's, which gradually attacks areas of the brain needed for memory, reasoning, communication and basic daily tasks. In the final stages of the disease, those afflicted lose the ability to swallow. The global burden of the disease, the most common cause of dementia, is only expected to grow as millions more baby boomers progress further into their 60s and 70s.

Aducanumab (pronounced "add-yoo-CAN-yoo-mab") helps clear a protein called beta-amyloid from the brain. Other experimental drugs have done that but they made no difference in patients' ability to think, care for themselves or live independently.

The pharmaceutical industry's drug pipeline has been littered for years with failed Alzheimer's treatments. The FDA's greenlight Monday is likely to revive investments in therapies previously shelved by drugmakers.

The new medicine is manufactured from living cells and will be given via infusion at a doctor's office or hospital.

Researchers don't fully understand what causes Alzheimer's but there's broad agreement the brain plaque targeted by aducanumab is just one contributor. Evidence suggests family history, education and chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease may all play a role.

"This is a sign of hope but not the final answer," said Dr. Richard Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, which wasn't involved in the Biogen studies but funds research into how Alzheimer's forms. "Amyloid is important but not the only contributing factor."

Patients taking aducanumab saw their thinking skills decline 22% more slowly than patients taking a placebo.

But that meant a difference of just 0.39 on an 18-point score of cognitive and functional ability. And it's unclear how such metrics translate into practical benefits, like greater independence or ability to recall important details.

The FDA's review of the drug has become a flashpoint in longstanding debates over standards used to evaluate therapies for hard-to-treat conditions. On one side, groups representing Alzheimer's patients and their families say any new therapyeven one of small benefitwarrants approval. But many experts warn that greenlighting the drug could set a dangerous precedent, opening the door to treatments of questionable benefit.

The approval came despite a scathing assessment in November by the FDA's outside panel of neurological experts. The group voted "no" to a series of questions on whether reanalyzed data from a single study submitted by Biogen showed the drug was effective.

Biogen halted two studies in 2019 after disappointing results suggested aducanumab would not meet its goal of slowing mental and functional decline in Alzheimer's patients.

Several months later, the company reversed course, announcing that a new analysis of one study showed the drug was effective at higher doses and the FDA had advised that it warranted review. Company scientists said the drug's initial failure was due to some patients not receiving high enough doses to slow the disease.

This image provided by Biogen on Monday, June 7, 2021 shows a vial and packaging for the drug Aduhelm. On Monday, June 7, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved Aduhelm, the first new medication for Alzheimer's disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasn't been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease. Credit: Biogen via AP

But the changes to dosing and the company's after-the-fact analysis made the results hard to interpret, raising skepticism among many experts, including those on the FDA panel.

The FDA isn't required to follow the advice of its outside panelists and has previously disregarded their input when making similarly high-profile drug decisions.

About 900 U.S. medical facilities are ready to begin prescribing the drug, according to Biogen, with many more expected in coming months. But key practical questions remain: How long do patients benefit? How do physicians determine when to discontinue the drug? Does the drug have any benefit in patients with more advanced dementia?

With FDA approval, aducanumab is almost certain to be covered by most insurers, including Medicare, the government plan for seniors that covers more than 60 million people.

Insurers could try to manage the drug's costs by requiring strict conditions, including brain scans to confirm plaque, before agreeing to cover it.

Additional scans will be needed to monitor potential side effects. The drug carries a warning about temporary brain swelling that can sometimes cause headaches, confusion and dizziness. Other side effects included allergic reactions, diarrhea and disorientation.

Although Biogen studied the drug in people with mild dementia or early-stage Alzheimer's, the FDA label approved the drug for anyone with Alzheimer's, a sweeping population given doctors have broad leeway in diagnosing the condition.

"The FDA is empowering the physician to make the decision on diagnosis," Biogen CEO Michel Vounatsos said in an interview.

For patients already enrolled in Biogen's trials, Monday's announcement means they can continue taking a drug many believe has helped.

Phillip Lynn, 63, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in the spring of 2017 after having trouble with conversation and memory, including forgetting a recent vacation to Hawaii.

His husband Kurt Rehwinkel says Lynn's cognitive ability has stabilized since starting on Biogen's drug more than three years ago. And his performance on short-term memory tests has actually improved, though the couple acknowledges most patients are unlikely to see similar results.

"But even for those who it has little or no effect, I think hope is a good thing," said Rehwinkel. "I don't think there's such a thing as false hope."

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Credit: McGill University

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women around the world, responsible for 1,700 deaths every day. Although the vast majority of breast cancers are treatable, the most aggressive subtypetriple negative breast cancer (TNBC)  has a high recurrence rate, a high potential for metastasis and shows resistance to conventional treatments, leading to very poor prognosis and survival outcomes. A team of researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (RI-MUHC) conducted a preclinical study and discovered a novel targeted combination therapy that efficiently reduced tumor growth in metastatic breast cancer. Published in Nature Communications, their findings could lead to the development of a novel first line targeted therapy for the treatment of TNBC, with the prospect of rapidly transitioning to clinical trials in humans.

"There is no targeted therapy for TNBC. Chemotherapy treatment can even enrich these tumors in cancer stem cells and be detrimental to the patient, as we have shown in a previous study," says Dr. Jean-Jacques Lebrun, senior scientist in the Cancer Research Program at the RI-MUHC and principal investigator of the study. "Filling that huge medical gap was our motivation in conducting this study."

While most breast cancers have one of three main receptors that are like entrance gates for treatmentsestrogen, progesterone and a protein called human epidermal growth factor (HER2)  TNBC has none, thus the name triple negative breast cancer. Using state-of-the-art technologies such as gene editing and genome-wide molecular approaches, the team identified two pathways which could be targeted in a therapeutic strategy.

Performing in vivo genetic screening : an innovative approach

In the first part of the study, the team of researchers was able to identify about 150 genes that could either induce tumor formation (oncogenes) or prevent tumor formation (tumor suppressors). To achieve this, they screened the whole human genomeall 20,000 genesin a preclinical mouse model of TNBC. Using the gene editing technique CRISPR/Cas9, they cut each of the genes individually and induced their loss of functiona process called gene knock out. Very few studies have used these forward genetic in vivo CRISPR screens at the genome-wide scale so far.

The team then showed that in TNBC an oncogenic pathway (MTOR) is activated whereas a tumor suppressor pathway (HIPPO) is inhibited, which could possibly explain why those tumors are so aggressive and deadly.

Identifying efficient drugs for metastatic breast cancer

To establish the therapeutic relevance of their findings, the team took the investigation one step further.

"By disrupting the function of all genes, one by one, we found two major pathways that are involved in the regulation of the tumor development," explains Dr. Meiou Dai, a Research Associate in the Lebrun Lab at the RI-MUHC and the first author of the study. "We thought, if we take an existing drug that can block the oncogenic pathway and add one that can promote the tumor suppressor pathway, we could have an effect in terms of blocking cancer formation."

The researchers looked at existing drugs that could target these pathways and made experiments in vitro and in vivo. As a result, they found two efficient drugs: Torin1, a second generation drug known to block the MTOR pathway, and verteporfin, a drug normally used for a retina eye disease that can mimic the HIPPO pathway. They mixed the two drugs together and used mathematical models and a pharmacological approach to define whether the two drugs were acting independently or in synergy.

"What we found was beyond our expectations: the two drugs acted in a synergistic manner and efficiently reduced tumor growth in vitro as well as in vivo, using cell- and patient-derived xenograft models of TNBC," says Dr. Lebrun, who is also a professor at McGill Department of Medicine.

Synergy that almost completely eradicates the tumor

In the study, the researchers noticed that verteporfin induced cell death by apoptosisa very classical cell death mechanism. Torin1, on the other hand, induced cell death through a non-apoptotic mechanism called macropinocytosis, an endocytic process also referred to as "cell drinking," which allows all nutrients and fluids outside of the cell to be incorporated into the cell, eventually leading to implosion of the cell and catastrophic cell death.

"Macropinocytosis is a natural mechanism that cancer cells use for their own advantage, to grow bigger and faster," explains Dr. Dai. "We realized that when we used the two drugs together, Torin1 utilizes this mechanism to favor the incorporation of verteporfin into the cell thereby increasing the later apoptotic cell death effects. It is this synergistic process that allows the two drugs to efficiently inhibit tumor formation."

Impact/Outcomes

The results of this comprehensive study define a novel approach to efficiently prevent tumor formation and reduce the tumor burden, i.e. the size of a tumor, or the amount of cancer in the body, by simultaneously targeting pro-oncogenic and tumor suppressor pathways. The proposed targeted combination therapy for TNBC patients will help fill an important medical gap in the metastatic breast cancer field.

Finally, this study underscores the power and robustness of in vivo CRISPR genome wide screens in identifying clinically relevant and innovative therapeutic modalities in cancer.

Explore further Biologists discover super-enhancers that switch on breast cancer genes

More information: Meiou Dai et al, In vivo genome-wide CRISPR screen reveals breast cancer vulnerabilities and synergistic mTOR/Hippo targeted combination therapy, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications Meiou Dai et al, In vivo genome-wide CRISPR screen reveals breast cancer vulnerabilities and synergistic mTOR/Hippo targeted combination therapy,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23316-4
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Late last year, Janet Yetenekian was one of the thousands of people in Southern California whose case of COVID-19 was serious enough to send her to the hospital. But Yetenekian's recovery was not typical: She received hospital-level care in her own home in Glendale.

"It was even better than the hospital," Yetenekian said, laughing. "They were constantly reaching outit's time for you to do your vitals, or it's time for you to take your medications."

Yetenekian contracted the virus that causes COVID-19 in December, after friends invited her family to an afternoon barbecue. It seemed like a safe antidote to the isolation caused by the pandemic. But the day after the gathering, the host came down with a fever. A test confirmed it was COVID-19. Within two weeks, Yetenekian's husband and two teenage children developed mild symptoms. She came down with a more serious case, however, and her blood oxygen plummeted to dangerously low levels.

She went to the hospital at Adventist Health in Glendale, where doctors told her she would need an intravenous infusion of the antiviral drug remdesivir and constant monitoring. And it surprised Yetenekian when her doctor offered to move all her care home to be monitored virtually.

Doctors and nurses at a command center nearly 200 miles away in the San Joaquin Valley town of Hanford, California, managed Yetenekian's care as part of a new federal effort aimed at freeing up hospital beds during public health emergencies. Under the model, about 60 illnessesincluding COVID-19qualify for home treatment.

"Heart failure, pneumonia, skin infectionsthose are all patient populations we can safely care for in the home," said Dr. Margaret Paulson, who leads the Mayo Clinic's new home-based care program in rural Wisconsin.

Hospital care at home is nothing new for patients with low-level health needs. But since the pandemic began, a growing number of health systems, including Adventist Health, the Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente (which is not affiliated with KHN) are offering people with more serious health conditions hospital-level treatment in the comfort of their homes.

Paulson said that, once her patients understand home care does not mean less care, they eagerly embrace it.

"Especially for patients who have been in the hospital a lot, to know that they can actually go home and sleep in their own bed and be with their family and have their pets by their side, it's just really reassuring," Paulson said.

And studies suggest at-home care provides better outcomes for patients and costs less to provide than traditional inpatient care.

"This is actually a higher level of touch from physicians and advanced practitioners," said Dr. Kavita Patel, a physician and health policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Regular video conferencing and 24/7 monitoring is augmented by twice-daily, in-person visits by nurses and other health workers who provide basic caresuch as antibioticsthat can't be given virtually.

"This isn't just sending Mom or Dad to the bedroom," Patel said.

The technology infrastructure is key, Patel said, for patients and doctors. It includes Wi-Fi phones that ring directly into a hospital's command center, iPads that allow videoconferencing with health professionals and wearable devices with emergency call buttons.

Raphael Rakowski is co-founder of Medically Home, a Boston-based technology company that supports at-home programs for Adventist Health. Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente announced on May 13 a combined $100 million investment in Medically Home to help expand the service to other health systems. Rakowski said another selling point of the at-home care model is that there are no facility transfers as patients heal.

"We stay with the patient until they're fully recovered, and that averages anywhere from 20 to 30 days, sometimes longer," he said. "So, we substitute not just for the hospital, but for all the care that follows."

Still, the program is not a good fit for every patient. To be eligible for care at home, patients must live within 30 minutes of emergency care; they also need high-speed internet and, said Patel, they can't be too sick.

"This can't be something where it's so complicated that you are monitoring a patient, worried that they could crash and need to be in the ICU within minutes," she said.

But for moderate COVID-19 and dozens of other conditions, acute hospital care at home is likely to become a more common option as more health systems adopt the program and even more diseases are included. It is offered now in 30 states.

2021 Kaiser Health News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Long-term survival after a heart attack, or acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Australia and New Zealand is comparable with the best in the world, but there is room for improvement, according to research published today by the Medical Journal of Australia.

Researchers by Dr. Bora Nadlacki and colleagues analyzed data from all patients admitted with AMI to all public and most private hospitals in Australia and New Zealand during 20092015, the first time national data has been linked to assess long-term survival.

They found that of the 239 402 initial admissions with AMI, 7-year survival was 62.3% (STEMI, 70.8%; NSTEMI, 59.2%) and survival exceeded 85% for people under 65 years of age. They also found that 120 155 patients (50.2%) underwent revascularisation (STEMI, 72.2%; NSTEMI, 42.1%), with 7-year survival exceeded 80% for patients in each group who underwent revascularisation.

"Heart attacks are often a life-changing event and patients want to know what their long-term prognosis is," said Dr. Nadlacki.

"We knew short-term survival had improved but we didn't have local data about long-term prognosis. We leveraged the data-linkage capabilities across both countries to address that question. We found that the survival following a heart attack in Australia and New Zealand are comparable to the best reported in the world, which is a testament to all the effort that has gone into improving AMI care in both countries."

The authors wrote that "improved, evidence-based care is likely to explain the higher survival rates in Australia and New Zealand, where the use of secondary preventive therapies (statins, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers, thienopyridine antiplatelet medications) has increased substantially since 2000."

Despite the positives, the study highlighted several areas for improvement with 7-year survival at only 17.4% for those aged 85 years or more, and lower than 45% for those patients that did not ultimately undergo revascularisation, many of whom had a NSTEMI.

"Many older patients, including less than a quarter of patients over the age of 85 years, underwent coronary angiography which is a recommended test after an AMI," said the study's senior author Dr. Isuru Ranasinghe, a cardiologist from the University of Queensland and The Prince Charles Hospital.

"These patients often had several non-cardiac conditions and geriatric syndromes that were associated with worse survival. Clinicians are perhaps wary of the risks of harm from invasive AMI treatments. Older patients are also often excluded from clinical trials meaning that we lack clarity about how best to treat these patients.

"With an aging population, we need a more multidisciplinary approach to the care of older patients with AMI. We also need clinical trials with older patients so we know the best approach to treat these patients."

"Survival was poorer among women, a finding consistent with previous reports. We also found regional variation in survival, suggesting disparities in AMI care that require further investigation," said Dr. Ranasinghe.

Explore further Age no criteria for decisions on heart attack treatment, new research finds

More information: Bora Nadlacki et al, Long term survival after acute myocardial infarction in Australia and New Zealand, 20092015: a population cohort study, Medical Journal of Australia (2021). Journal information: Medical Journal of Australia Bora Nadlacki et al, Long term survival after acute myocardial infarction in Australia and New Zealand, 20092015: a population cohort study,(2021). DOI: 10.5694/mja2.51085

Provided by Medical Journal of Australia (MJA)
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Citizen opposition to COVID-19 vaccination has emerged across the globe, prompting pushes for mandatory vaccination policies. But a new study based on evidence from Germany and on a model of the dynamic nature of people's resistance to COVID-19 vaccination sounds an alarm: Mandating vaccination could have a substantial negative impact on voluntary compliance.

Majorities in many countries now favor mandatory vaccination. In March, the government of Galicia in Spain made vaccinations mandatory for adults, subjecting violators to substantial fines. Italy has made vaccinations mandatory for care workers. The University of California and California State University systems announced in late April that vaccination would be required for anyone attending in the fall.

The research, published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), extends an earlier PNAS study by first author Katrin Schmelz, a psychologist and behavioral economist at the University of Konstanz, documenting that a major source of vaccine hesitancy is distrust of government. She found that enforced vaccinations reduce people's desire to be vaccinated, particularly among those with low levels of trust in public institutions.

In the new study, Schmelz and economist Samuel Bowles of the Santa Fe Institute exploit a large panel survey implemented in Germany during the first and second waves of the pandemic. Despite infections in Germany being 15 times more common in the second wave of both the pandemic and the survey, the researchers observed increased opposition when they asked participants a hypothetical question about how they'd respond if vaccinations were to be legally required (the German government is publicly committed not to require vaccinations). In contrast, there was a higher and undiminished level of support for the voluntary vaccinations now in force.

The authors also draw on evidence from the dynamics of diffusion of novel products and technologies such as TVs and washing machines in the last century. They reason that as those who are hesitant or opposed to vaccination see that others are getting vaccinated, they might change their mind. Learning from others' vaccination decisions"conformism" in psychologymeans that even if initial vaccination hesitancy is substantial, as more become vaccinated it may be possible to get to a herd immunity target without mandating vaccines.

They also use experimental evidence from behavioral economics showing that explicit incentives, whether in the form of carrots or sticks, may crowd out intrinsic or ethical motives. Policies that aim to incentivize a desired behavior, such as getting vaccinated, can actually undercut individuals' sense of a moral or ethical obligation to do the right thing.

This is evident in their data. Mandating vaccinations by law directly reduces the desire to be vaccinated. Their model also suggests an adverse indirect effect: enforcement will reduce the extent to which others being vaccinated will induce vaccine hesitators to become willing, as this carries a weaker signal. Schmelz says "How people feel about getting vaccinated will be affected by enforcement in two waysit could crowd out pro-vaccine feelings, and reduce the positive effect of conformism if vaccination is voluntary."

Bowles says this should be a caution to governments considering mandated policies: "Costly errors may be avoided if policymakers reflect carefully on the costs of enforcement. These could not only increase opposition to vaccination, but also heighten social conflict by further alienating citizens from the government or scientific and medical elites," he says. Nonetheless, he says government enforcement "may still be necessary if the number wishing to be vaccinated is insufficient to control the pandemic."

Schmelz concludes, "Our findings have broad policy applicability beyond COVID-19. There are many cases in which voluntary citizen compliance to a policy is essential because state enforcement capacities are limited, and because results may depend on the ways that the policies themselves alter citizens' beliefs and preferences," adding that "... examples include policies to promote lifestyle changes to reduce carbon footprints or to sustain tolerance and mutual respect in a heterogeneous society."

Explore further Ethics of mandatory vaccinations: Benefits may not outweigh challenges
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Most people who get COVID suffer the common symptoms of fever, cough and breathing problems, and recover in a week or two.

But some people, estimated to be roughly 1030% of people who get COVID, suffer persistent symptoms colloquially known as "long COVID."

Why do some people recover quickly, while others' symptoms continue for months? This question has proved to be one of the most challenging to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

While there's no definitive answer yet, there are a few leading theories put forward by researchers around the world.

So what have we learned about long COVID, and what is the latest evidence telling us so far?

What is long COVID?

There's no universally accepted definition of long COVID because it's such a new phenomenon. A working definition is that it's a term used to describe the situation where people experience a range of persistent symptoms following COVID-19.

The most common symptoms we (Louis and Alex) hear from sufferers in our long COVID clinic in Melbourne are fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations, headaches, brain fog, muscle aches and sleep disturbance. But it can also include very diverse symptoms like loss of smell and taste, increased worry especially in relation to one's health, depression, and an inability to work and interact with society. In some of these people, it's almost as if there's a process that's affected every part of their body.

Another feature for many in our clinic is the disconnect between the severity of their initial COVID illness and the development of significant and persisting symptoms during recovery. Most of our patients in the long COVID clinic had a milder illness initially, are often younger than those who've been hospitalized, and were healthy and active before getting COVID.

Many people who got COVIDeven young, healthy peopleare still experiencing long-term symptoms from infection. Vaccination gives your immune system the tools it needs to fight an unpredictable virus.  Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) May 30, 2021

Regardless of the specific symptoms, many of our patients are concerned there's persisting infection and damage occurring, along with a fear and frustration that they're not improving.

So far we haven't found any specific test to explain post COVID symptoms. This has confirmed our view that in most patients, long COVID symptoms are probably related to a complex interaction of physical and psychological processes that have arisen following the sudden inflammation caused by the COVID infection.

Long COVID: Patients should be referred for medical review if symptoms persist and a medical diagnosis is required#pharmacy #CPDhttps://t.co/HlBXTQe9If pic.twitter.com/SlvGO1L0X6  The Pharmaceutical Journal (@PJOnline_News) May 25, 2021

How many people have long COVID?

It's very difficult to determine what proportion of people who get COVID end up with persistent symptoms. At this stage we don't know the exact rate.

In our ongoing study of COVID immunity at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) we found 34% of our participants were experiencing long COVID 45 weeks after diagnosis.

But our study is community-based and not designed to measure the overall prevalence of the condition in the wider population.

The data is still emerging and different sources cite different rates. It depends how the researchers recruited and followed participants, for example, as part of post-discharge follow up or community surveys.

The World Health Organization says its 10%, while a study from the UK found 30%. The proportion of people affected is likely to be different between countries.

Many doctors are still not aware of long COVID, so many cases may not be recognized and added to studies. Indeed, after some data from our WEHI study aired on the ABC's 7.30 program, more people with ongoing symptoms came forward to join the study, and some didn't know there was research being conducted or even that the condition existed.

We need a fully-fledged "population study" to determine the approximate rate. This would mean contacting a whole group of people who contracted COVID and seeing how many have ongoing problems at a set time, such as a year later. Doing these studies is difficult, but it would mean we can answer an important question.

How can it be treated?

Treating the condition is challenging given there's no definitive clinical test to determine if someone has it, and there's no standard treatment yet.

People with mild symptoms may not require treatment, but rather just validation and information.

Others with more severe or persistent symptoms need more. By offering clinical care backed by a coordinated team of specialists, multidisciplinary long COVID clinics ensure patients receive the best care available without the endless burden of multiple independent consultations. These clinics use a holistic approach and build knowledge of the best strategies to support recovery. They include teams of specialists such as respiratory physicians, rheumatologists, immunologists, physiotherapists, and in some cases, psychologists and psychiatrists. A graded exercise program is often useful.

For most people, the outcomes are good. After nine months, half of our patients have returned to close to normal activity and have been discharged from the clinic.

However, there's a group of patients whose improvement is slower. They're often young and previously high functioning. They have limited ability to work, exercise and socialize. Their return to work and other activities needs to be carefully managed, and they need to avoid doing too much too quickly.

It's essential these patients' persisting symptoms are acknowledged, and that they get support from their family, employer and a multidisciplinary medical team.

What causes long COVID?

We don't know yet why some people get long COVID while others recover a few weeks after being infected.

If it was simply linked to severe COVID then that would give us clues. But it isn't, as we've seen people with mild disease end up with long COVID symptoms, just as we have with people in intensive care.

However, there are some front-runner ideas that researchers across the globe have put forward.

This includes the idea that long COVID could be a consequence of people's immune systems misfiring and working overtime in the wake of infection.

One clue that supports this theory is that some people suffering from long COVID say their symptoms markedly improve after getting a COVID vaccine. This strongly suggests the diverse symptoms of long COVID are directly linked back to our immune system. It's possible the vaccine might help by redirecting the immune system back on track, by directly activating certain immune cells like T cells (that help stimulate antibody production and kill virus-infected cells) or frontline innate immune cells that correct this immune misfiring.

Another theory is that, in the bodies of people with long COVID, there's a small, persistent "viral reservoir" hidden from detection by diagnostic tests, or leftover small viral fragments that the body hasn't dealt with. These reservoirs are not infectious but may consistently activate the immune system. A vaccine might help direct the immune system to the right spots to mop up the leftover virus.

While we can't yet say for sure a vaccine will help everyone, there's no evidence that booting the immune response makes things worse. If anything, it's likely to make things better.

Or long COVID might a combination of both of these, or many different elements.

The bottom line is we still need more research, as it's still in its early stages. There's no cure yet, but we can support and manage sufferers' symptoms and we encourage everyone to get their COVID-19 vaccine when it's available to you.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Motive Offshore Group, a specialist in the design, manufacture, rental and inspection of marine and lifting equipment, has reported a positive start to 2021 with a number of key contract awards, appointments, and significant internal restructuring reflecting continued growth.

Active in 50 countries worldwide, and with five operating bases servicing the UK, Europe, Mena and APAC regions, Motive now delivers its innovative, solutions-based services via five global operating bases.

Consolidating its service lines, Motive earlier this year launched three key divisions: Rentals, Engineering and Spooling and Inspection.

On the high-level appointments, Motive said Ross Whittingham has been named Rentals Division Managing Director, Ben Coutts as Engineering Division Managing Director, and Graeme Chalmers the Mena Regional Manager.

This comes close on the heels of the acquisition of Flowline Specialists - the second such strategic deal it has made within the last two years.

Developing Motives newly opened renewables hub in Taiwan will be current Business Development Director, Eddie Moore, who relocates to the Far East as Regional Director of APAC.

Supporting the companys global growth and diversification, contracts worth in-excess of 16 million have so far been secured for 2021.

In addition to a number of oil and gas rental, manufacturing and inspection contract awards, 30% of revenue generated is attributable to Motives strategic transition into renewable energy.

Motive CEO David Acton said: "As the global journey towards carbon neutrality gathers pace, we have identified significant growth and potential in the renewable energy sector."

"Our knowledge and expertise give us the ability to pursue and increase our market share in this area, whilst creating sustainable project solutions which provide long-term value to our clients," stated Acton.

"With such a strong start to Motives year, supported by a clear strategic vision and commitment to our environmental, social & governance (ESG) principles, we look forward to continuing to deliver an unrivalled service," he explained.

"In just over 10 years, we have grown from a team of four to a global company of 200 and it gives me huge satisfaction to see the Motive team achieving great things. Knowing that we have the best people, creating the best products and delivering the best performance is key to the development of the group," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
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Vaccination of children must be part of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout if Australia is to have any chance of reaching herd immunity, say leading experts in InSight+, the weekly news magazine of the Medical Journal of Australia.

Professor C Raina MacIntyre, Head of the Biosecurity Research Program at the Kirby Institute, and colleagues wrote that "vaccination of children must be part of our plan and our goal should be far higher than the minimal one preventing death."

"For economic recovery, our best bet is herd immunity, and we will never know if we can achieve it unless we try."

Professor MacIntyre, Dr. Andrew Miller, the President of the Australian Medical Association's WA Branch, and Dr. Julie McEniery, Chair of the Queensland Pediatric Quality Council, wrote that the debate around school closures during the current Melbourne lockdown, highlighted the growing need to vaccinate children.

"Valid motivations to keep children in school and the vulnerability of the older school staff and parent population to SARS-CoV-2 spread should be all the more reason for Australia to prioritize vaccination of children along with the rest of the school community," they wrote.

"The other reason is that with more contagious variants of concern, vaccinating children may be the only route to herd immunity, with consequent protection for the unvaccinated or those with poor immune response."

The US has begun vaccinating children over 12 years old. Singapore has prioritized the vaccination of 12-18 year olds ahead of adults aged 19 to 39 years.

"Children older than 10 years transmit the virus as much as adults, and some studies show they transmit even more than adults," wrote MacIntyre and colleagues.

"An outbreak in a high school in France had a 38% attack rate among students, and in the US surges in SARS-CoV-2 transmission were noted after school reopenings. Recent evidence has emerged from India of enhanced transmission among children."

MacIntyre and colleagues warned that Australia has "very little immunity from infection in the population."

"In Australia, B.1617 (now called Delta and Kappa) is fast becoming the dominant variant, and Kappa is responsible for the current Victorian outbreak," they wrote.

"The Delta variant has been estimated to be 50% more transmissible than the Alpha variant, and has some vaccine escape associated with it, especially for the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca. The Kappa variant is likely to be even more vaccine-resistant due to the presence of the 484Q mutation.

"This is a concern, as it means outbreaks will be harder to contain, and herd immunity will be harder to attainespecially using vaccines of lower efficacy and without vaccinating children aged 12 years and over."

Provided by Medical Journal of Australia
Gain-of-function studies allow scientists to change the viral genome to make a natural virus more dangerous to humans. Credit: Shutterstock

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been various hypotheses to explain the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

So far, none of these hypotheses have shown the origins of the virus. One of the first scenarios put forwardthat the Wuhan seafood market allowed for a rapid dispersion of the virusseems less certain now. After a year of intensive research, the virus has still not been identified in any animals.

Animal-human transmission, however, remains one of the strongest hypotheses explaining the appearance of the new coronavirus: the coronavirus was transmitted from bats to humans through an intermediate host. It would not be the first time this happened.

In the case of MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), camels likely served as the intermediate host. For SARS-CoV-2, pangolins, scaly anteaters sold illegally in the Wuhan market, may be the host, although this hypothesis requires more convincing evidence.

I am a professor in the department of biological sciences at Universite du Quebec in Montreal, an expert in virology, particularly in human retroviruses, and in human coronaviruses.

"Gain-of-function' research

The idea that SARS-CoV-2 had accidentally leaked from a maximum-security biological laboratorybiosafety level-4 (BSL-4)at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) began to circulate soon after the onset of the pandemic.

The possibility resurfaced in recent weeks, placing Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in an embarrassing situation. Some newspapers assert that the United States was funding this research laboratory and claim that the projects being funded there focused on gain-of-function studies. An opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal claims that NIAID may have supported some of these experiments that were underway at WIV.

Although there may be benefits to gain-of-function experiments, there are also risks.

So, what are gain-of-function studies? Although the term is sometimes used broadly to refer to "gain-of-function" studies of proteins, in medical terms, it is associated with research on viruses. The goal of gain-of-function research is to create a virus with new properties that make it more pathogenic or more transmissible to humans.

Traditionally, this type of change focused on the growing the virus in animal or human cells. Recently, there have been important advances in animal models and in molecular biology techniques to make precise, targeted changes to viral genes. This process can lead to the rapid generation of new viruses (as opposed to the natural evolution of viruses, which takes several years) that are better adapted to humans, possibly changing their virulence and their ability to be transmitted between humans.

The rationale for this type of research is that by isolating these new viruses, researchers will be able to identify the specific changes in the genome that are responsible for the new characteristics. This knowledge could make it possible for scientists to better predict the arrival of new pandemics. It could help scientists develop vaccines and treatments adapted to new infectious agents.

Research that is too dangerous?

However, the principle underlying gain-of-function research has been widely challenged over the past decade.

A classic and oft-cited example, which concerns many scientists, is Ron Fouchier and Yoshihiro Kawaoka's research on the highly dangerous avian H5N1 influenza virus. Using a technique that passed the virus from one ferret to another many times over, these researchers were able to create an H5N1 influenza virus that could be transmitted to the species by aerosols.

The study was widely debated and the research was eventually put on hold. The U.S. government even urged scientific journals not to publish its full results, arguing that the information could be used by bioterrorists. The research was resumed in 2013.

Gain-of-function research has the potential to help prevent animal-to-human transmission of a virus with pandemic potential. However, this type of research must be carried out in highly secure laboratory, such as those known as BSL-4.

These laboratories are built to protect staff and researchers from becoming infected, and to prevent organisms from escaping. However, documents from U.S. Embassy officials have revealed that the biosafety standards at the BSL-4 laboratory at the WIV were not sufficiently rigorous. In addition, a number of researchers have suggested that the institute's gain-of-function studies on bat coronaviruses were risky and might be harmful to humans if it escaped.

The Wuhan lab-leak hypothesis is revived

So, the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a leak from the Wuhan lab is now being taken seriously.

Although a WHO-formed committee that visited the Wuhan facility concluded that no evidence appeared to support a human-made origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, several prominent scientists questioned whether China was being fully transparent during that visit. In an open letter published in May in Science, these scientists called for further investigation.

In a May 11 interview, Fauci called for a more thorough investigation into the origins of SARS-CoV-2. On May 26, U.S. President Joe Biden instructed his intelligence agencies to double-down on their investigation into a possible laboratory leak of the virus responsible for the current pandemic.

New evidence has also been put forward by different media outlets: the Wall Street Journal recently revealed that several WIV researchers became sick in the fall of 2019 with symptoms similar to "both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses," and that at least three were hospitalized, adding support to the need to investigate whether the COVID-19 virus escaped from the Wuhan lab.

The WHO, Biden and Fauci, among others, are calling for further investigation of the hypothesis, and the gain-of-function studies on animal coronaviruses at WIV is central to these inquiries.

Although a conclusive evidence on the origins of SARS-CoV-2 may never be obtained, the latest developments raise new concerns about gain-of-function experiments in general, and may lead to a re-evaluation of both the experimental approach and the safety regulations of the laboratories that use it.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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The stress of the past year put unprecedented demands on college students all over the country, and thanks to assistant professor of psychology Hannah Snyder and her lab, we now understand more about that experience.

When the pandemic started last spring, Snyder and her lab were studying links between cognitive function, stress and mental health to better understand risk factors for depression and anxiety.

BrandeisNow spoke with Snyder and her Ph.D. student in the CoPE lab, Morgan Taylor, about how they quickly shifted quick their attention to study how students were responding to the pandemic.

How has the pandemic affected your research?

Snyder: We had to completely pivot. Now we're running online studies, although there are some data that there's simply no way to collect online, for instance, physiological stress response data, so part of the research is still on hold.

How does your research relate to the pandemic?

Snyder: We're very interested in how people perceive stress, how they appraise and interpret stress, and then how they cope with stress in ways that are either more adaptive or less adaptive. Last spring when the pandemic lockdowns started, we quickly went into the field to capture students during that transition period. In the study we conducted last spring, 154 Brandeis undergraduate students were involved, as well as 278 students at the University of Colorado Boulder. Within this study, my graduate students each have independent projects that are building on their own research interests.

We started by investigating how pandemic-related stress, as well as certain styles of responding to that stress, are affecting internalizing symptoms in our college students. Response styles are ways of coping with stressors. We looked at things like engaging in a plan for problem solving, seeking social support, or trying to think about the situation in a positive way.

It seems like your questions were geared towards ways of dealing with the situation positively.

MT: There's a broad range of coping strategies. We've found that the benefits of engaging in more adaptive types of responses are that they are associated with lower feelings of loss of interest. In my own research, I'm interested in the general topics of rumination and worry. My research pivoted really easily to the COVID-19 pandemic: many more individuals are likely engaging in worry or ruminative thoughts about the pandemic itself. My next paper will be about how intolerance of uncertainty and stress leads to engagement in rumination and worry, particularly during the uncertain pandemic period.

What did you find out about the undergraduates in the study?

MT: For the undergraduate student sample, we had 39.6% of the respondents reporting moderate to severe depression symptoms and 61.7% reporting moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. At least at the beginning of the pandemic back in April 2020, our students do seem to really be experiencing quite high levels of depression and anxiety. And importantly, we found that maladaptive responses to stress (e.g., ruminating) were associated with high levels of anxiety and depression symptoms, while more adaptive responses to stress (e.g., problem solving) were associated with lower levels of these symptoms.

An undergraduate Research Assistant in the CoPE Lab, Jenna Sandler '22, is in charge of an upcoming COVID-19 research study for the lab. In the study, Sandler aims to learn more about how students are dealing with the uncertain factors around how campus life will return to normal. Sandler reports, "We're looking at how students are coping with the uncertainty and how this, along with dispositional factors like optimism and pessimism, affect mental health and wellbeing."

Explore further No change in mental health of university students in Stockholm during pandemic
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Travelers abroad may pick up bacteria and other vectors containing genes conferring antimicrobial resistance which remain in the gut when returning to their home country, according to a study published in Genome Medicine.

A team of researchers at Washington University, U.S. and Maastricht University, Netherlands investigated the presence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes in the human gut microbiome by analyzing the fecal samples of 190 Dutch travelers before and after travel to destinations in Northern Africa, Eastern Africa, Southern Asia and Southeastern Asia. The gut microbiome includes bacteria and other organisms that live in the digestive tracts of humans. The participants and their samples were taken from a subset of data from the larger COMBAT study also investigating AMR. AMR genes have naturally developed in bacteria over millennia when they were exposed to antibiotics naturally produced by a few environmental bacteria, but overuse and misuse of antibiotics in human medicine and animal agriculture is accelerating the process. Antimicrobial resistant bacteria do not respond to treatment with antibiotics to which they have developed resistance.

The authors found an increase in the amount and diversity of AMR genes in fecal samples from travelers who had returned from abroad, including high-risk AMR genes that are resistant to common and last resort antibiotics (antibiotics which are used when other antibiotics do not work).

The authors used metagenome sequencing of the fecal microbiomes to identify AMR genes in the samples by matching them to a database of known AMR genes. They also identified new AMR genes by testing whether genes from the samples, when added to an E. coli host, would allow those E. coli to gain new resistance to antibiotics.

Diversity of AMR genes in the microbiome significantly increased in individuals traveling back from all destinations, with evidence for 56 different AMR genes acquired during travel. This diversity was highest in those who went to Southeastern Asia. AMR genetic diversity was lower between travelers who went to the same destination, meaning they had more AMR genes in common with each other than with travelers from different destinations. This indicates that travelers picked up destination-specific AMR genes.

An in-depth genetic analysis identified high-risk AMR genes which are resistant to common and last resort antibiotics. Six of the ten high-risk genes identified were present after travel but not before, which indicates that they were acquired during travel. For example, the mcr-1 gene, which confers resistance to colistin, a last resort treatment for infections such as pneumonia and meningitis, was found only in samples after travel. The gene was found predominantly in the microbiome of travelers to Southeastern Asia; 18 of 52 (34.6%) travelers included in the study who traveled to destinations in the region carried the gene upon returning. The finding indicates that travelers may have acquired the gene at their destinations.

Fecal samples of the microbiome taken before travel also contained some AMR genes and the authors acknowledge that it is possible that the travelers also spread AMR genes to the destinations they visited. The authors lacked samples from the contacts travelers interacted with, so cannot be certain how the travelers acquired the AMR genes.

Alaric D'Souza, the lead author, said: "These findings provide strong support that international travel risks spreading antimicrobial resistance globally. Upon returning, travelers' microbiomes had acquired a significant amount of AMR genes. Many of these genes were high-risk AMR genes, since they confer resistance to commonly used antibiotics."

The authors conclude that understanding how AMR genes spread from country to country will help target public health measures to prevent further spread. Future research could investigate the contacts travelers interact with during their visits to understand how AMR genes are transmitted.

D'Souza said: "It is vital that we address AMR in lower income countries with high resistance rates and low public health funds. This global approach may not only help the respective countries, but it could also benefit others by reducing the international spread of resistance genes."

Explore further Global travelers pick up numerous genes that promote microbial resistance

More information: Alaric W. D'Souza et al, Destination shapes antibiotic resistance gene acquisitions, abundance increases, and diversity changes in Dutch travelers, Genome Medicine (2021). Journal information: Genome Medicine Alaric W. D'Souza et al, Destination shapes antibiotic resistance gene acquisitions, abundance increases, and diversity changes in Dutch travelers,(2021). DOI: 10.1186/s13073-021-00893-z
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Eric Yung and his aunt, Patricia Lee, have seen a lot from their vantage point at Union Square Flowers, the stand they run just off Market Street in San Francisco. But last month, when the two saw a man rush by with a large knife in his grip, they knew there was going to be trouble.

Within moments, two Asian American women, one in her 80s and another in her 60s, were stabbedneither fatallyat a bus stop near their outdoor shop. And while authorities said there wasn't enough evidence to charge Patrick Thompson, 54, with a hate crime, that the May 4 attack came on the heels of a wave of anti-Asian American attacks and incidents was disconcerting.

"You try not to think about it. You don't want to be paranoid," Yung said. He nodded toward his aunt. "Sometimes I do feel afraidbut more for my family."

Asian American community advocates say the mental health toll of such incidents, which have spiked during the pandemic, is rampant and devastatingespecially for the community's elderly, who were already suffering the effects of isolation after months of a nationwide shutdown.

Now, a recently released report shows that, among other things, Asian Americans are more stressed by the atmosphere of violence and hate than by the pandemic itself, despite disproportionately high rates of long-term unemployment and health effects brought on by the contagion. Last fall, Asian Americans in San Francisco accounted for nearly 40% of COVID-19 deaths despite comprising just 12% of all positive cases.

According to the report, Asian Americans who experienced racism during the pandemic display heightened symptoms of depression, anxiety and stressand one in five show signs of racial trauma, the psychological and emotional harm caused by racism.

The report from San Francisco's Stop AAPI Hate Center compiled findings of three independent national studies, conducted between April 2020 and March 2021, gauging the mental health impacts of anti-Asian racism during that time.

Stop AAPI Hate received more than 6,600 hate incident reports on its website between March 2020 and March 2021, a figure advocates note is likely an undercount. About two-thirds of the incidents involve verbal harassment, with physical violence accounting for another 12% of the tally.

About 30% of those reporting were between 26 and 35 years old, representing the largest age category compared to those 61 and older (6.6%) and youth 17 and younger (11%).

Two weeks ago, President Joe Biden signed the nation's first new hate crimes law in a dozen years while denouncing the "ugly poison" of hate targeting Asian Americans as COVID-19 spread nationwide. The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act expedites the Justice Department's review process, appoints a department official to oversee those efforts and offers grants to help states better their collection of hate crime data.

"We have never seen violence happening against our seniors like it's happening now," said Anni Chung, president and CEO of Self-Help for the Elderly, a 55-year-old San Francisco agency providing social services to largely low-income, immigrant elders, many of whom she said have abandoned their ritual morning strolls.

"Our seniors love their morning walks," Chung said. "That's their enjoyment, going out to Golden Gate Park and walking for an hour, or doing tai chi. But all this exercise just stopped."

The Market Street stabbings are the latestact of violence against Asian Americans to weigh on her clients' psyches, she said.

"The fear is real," Chung said. "They're staying home, not going out for groceries or even fresh air. So we worry for both the physical and mental health of our seniors."

Advocates said the resulting trauma, along with cultural attitudes about mental health, prevent many from seeking help and places them at greater risk for long-term harm as heightened anxiety and feelings of helplessness affect peace of mind and reduce social connections.

The situation has unnerved a population typically prone to lower levels of psychological distress and mental health treatment compared with other racial and ethnic groups. As a result, service providers are seeing an unprecedented demand that advocates fear community resources aren't equipped to handle.

"We are looking at potentially a four-fold increase in anxiety and depression," said Anne Saw, an associate psychology professor at Chicago's DePaul University who was among the report's lead researchers. "Racism is not something that happens and people brush it off. It affects them psychologically. People are still reporting symptoms nine months later. That's a really important takeaway."

'We're experiencing a collective trauma'

While Asian Americans in the United States have experienced racism for more than a century, last year's political rhetoric about the origins of the coronavirus inflamed sentiments to a degree not seen in decades.

"What really strikes me is how Asian Americans who experience racism say that's their greatest stressor, more so than a pandemic that's killed hundreds of thousands of people," said Asian American studies professor Russell Jeung of San Francisco State University, whose work tracking pandemic-related xenophobia and racism inspired the launch of the Stop AAPI Hate Center. "For people to be more fearful of other Americans shows how traumatizing that is."

As a result, he said, Asian Americans are worried about themselves, about their children's safety as they send them back to school, and about their elders, who have self-isolated even further.

"We're experiencing a collective trauma," Jeung said. "You can see your grandparents in the people being attacked."

Clinical psychologist Richelle Concepcion, president of the Asian American Psychological Association, said one reason many have felt more stressed by hate incidents than the pandemic is that they knew no sure way to respond, compared to the prescribed measures for confronting the virus, some of themsuch as wearing masksalready culturally ingrained.

"With the pandemic, as with any virus, folks knew how to protect themselves," Concepcion said. "But when it comes to hate, that was something people weren't prepared to deal with. It left them feeling unsafe."

Stop AAPI Hate's study found that one in five respondents who had experienced racism endured lasting psychological or emotional harm, while other research, led by Boston University professor Hyeouk Chris Hahm and Harvard Medical School pediatrics professor Cindy Liu, found some individuals suffering from conditions associated with PTSDeven those who did not directly experience hate incidents.

"Even if they just witnessed it or become aware of it on Facebook," Concepcion said, "they developed some of those symptoms, too, like anxiety, rapid heart rate, feeling like you're on edge constantly. Some feel like they have to avoid certain places because something might happen to them."

Between bouquet sales at San Francisco's Union Square Flowers, Lee and Yung recalled an Asian American woman in her 40s who came by the stand after last month's stabbings armed with pepper spray and constantly looking over her shoulder as she made her purchase. A neighborhood monitor who volunteered to walk the woman to her car later told them that when they hit a pedestrian stoplight en route, she instructed him to watch their left while she scanned the right for any approaching dangers.

"It's getting worse," Lee said. "We've never seen it like this."

Cultural attitudes about mental health can be a barrier to help

Among other findings of the Stop AAPI Hate report was that those who reported incidents of racial bias to the center lowered their stress levels by doing so: Nearly three in 10 no longer met the criteria for race-based trauma after reporting such incidents, the report said, suggesting that doing so offers an important coping mechanism.

"People are expressing their anger or stress, and that translates into action," said Jeung, the Asian American studies professor. "They're not just sitting with it."

By proactively seeking out the Stop AAPI Hate website and filing a report, people sought benefits not necessarily for themselves but for the collective good.

"They know it could lead to policy change," said psychology professor Saw. "People don't expect it to be passive. They expect it to lead to something."

With Asian American elders confined by the pandemic and fears of physical and emotional harm, advocates worry about those who want help for their stress, anxiety or depression but don't know how to access it, or those who can't find help in their language. Beyond that, they say, cultural attitudes about mental health and counseling might be dissuading many from seeking help in the first place.

"They don't want to be a burden to people," said Chung, of San Francisco's Self-Help for the Elderly. "They don't want to call their kids when they have no appetite or when they have trouble sleepingthose are early signs of depression, but they don't recognize it. In our culture, they say, 'Oh, I have wind in my brain'and they don't want to call anybody."

Others adhering to cultural beliefs about one's body being in balance might write off their malaise to eating too much hot or too much cold food, Chung said, "but if they could express that to people who could help, those people could intervene."

That might mean helping seniors restore that balance by taking them to a Chinese herbalist or making soup for them, activities that provide beneficial face-to-face interaction. "But if you say, let's take you to a mental health counselor, they'll say, 'Oh no, there's nothing wrong with me,'" Chung said.

Concepcion, of the psychological association, said that in addition to changes in appetite or sleep patterns, anxiety and depression can manifest as migraines or fatigue, "so it's really important to let providers know they have to look deeper into what's going on with patients before writing it off as just insomnia or a headache."

The association was founded in the 1970s, at a time when few organizations addressed the psychological needs of Asian Americans, which can vary depending on their national origins.

"It's not enough to educate someone about what the general psychology says," Concepcion said. "You have to look at certain things through a cultural lens."

Now, service providers are devising creative ways to reach people such as hosting online "healing spaces" or offering dance classes or other creative outlets to promote personal interaction without emphasizing the activities' therapeutic benefits.

"Some are doing online karaoke as a way to connect with other people," Concepcion said. "It's approaching it from that perspective, without necessarily psychologizing things."

Chung said her center makes numerous social welfare checks on elderly clients closed off from family or friends, "but talking to them for a few minutes on the phone isn't the same as them coming to the community center for four hours."

As the pandemic canceled social activities such as field trips and bingo games, calls came in from those who only knew how to express their loneliness by signing up for the agency's home meal delivery.

"They needed the interaction badly," Chung said. "Seniors don't want their children to worry about them, and even if they're not feeling well, they won't tell them until it's very serious. We tell them our job is to be botheredwe want to know about every ache and pain."

That's why when potential volunteers contact her to ask what they can do to help, she tells them it's probably a good time to call the elders in their lives and ask the same thing.

"Maybe it's taking them for a walk or accompanying them to the bank," Chung said. "Those are small gestures that can go a long way toward reassuring our seniors right now."

In March, San Francisco Mayor London Breed approved funding to help Self-Help for the Elderly offer senior escort services with paid staff who accompany clients on their morning walks, grocery runs or to doctors' and dentists' appointments.

"We hired five, and we've already received 80 requests," Chung said. "It makes them feel normal again. But with all the seniors, there's no way to meet all the demand. And for those who don't have relatives to walk with them, what do they do?"

Yasuyo Floyd, a 67-year-old Japanese-language coordinator for Sakura Kai Senior Center, a support agency in El Cerrito, California, said that while she personally has not been assaulted, she now takes precautions on her morning walks such as carrying a whistle or walking in populated areas.

"I have definitely become more vigilant," she said. "I think it'll take some time for older seniors to feel safe to walk on their own."

2021 USA Today

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni further toughened virus curbs on Sunday night, including ordering the closure of schools, to stem a worrying rise in local transmissions.

Schools will be closed from Monday for six weeks and most gatherings, save for weddings and funerals in small groups, were banned.

Non-essential travel between districts was suspended and a 9:00 pm to 4:00 am curfew will remain in force until mid-July.

Most shops and markets remain open, provided they comply with government health regulations, but bars remain closed.

Uganda had kept its COVID-19 cases relatively low and was spared the worst of the pandemic after adopting one of Africa's tightest lockdowns, but it eased the measures as cases dropped.

However, infections have soared in recent weeks with a sharp increase in severe cases.

Hospitals have been overwhelmed as all intensive care and high dependency beds are occupied, threatening to collapse the fragile healthcare system.

"In this wave, the intensity of severe and critically ill COVID-19 patients, and deaths is higher than what we experienced in the first wave of the pandemic," Museveni said in a televised address.

Museveni explained that the East African country had recorded as many severe and critical cases of COVID-19 in a fortnight as it did in a three to four month period during the first wave.

"We are concerned that this will exhaust available bed space and oxygen supply in hospitals, unless we constitute urgent public health measures," said Museveni.

The country has counted 52,935 cases of coronavirus, of which 383 have been fatal, figures believed to be undercounted as a result of low testing.

As in many African nations, innoculation has been slow in part due to vaccine apathy and limited supplies.

Explore further Africa not ready for imminent third coronavirus wave: WHO

 2021 AFP
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Popular dating apps on Monday launched a campaign encouraging British users to post "I got my shot" on their profiles as the UK rollout reaches young adults.

In partnership with the government, apps including Tinder, Bumble and Hinge are offering special stickers, badges and bonuses for users who say they have had the coronavirus jab, the Department of Health said.

This comes as the UK rollout this week reaches the under-30s, as Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed Sunday.

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said he was "thrilled that we are partnering up with dating apps to boost vaccine uptake across the country".

The United States launched a similar initiative in May, linking up with apps including Tinder, OKCupid and Plenty of Fish.

In the UK, dating app users can show their support for vaccination on their profiles in return for complimentary credits or give in-app bonuses to others who say they are vaccinated.

Users of Plenty of Fish can post a badge saying "I got my shot" while OkCupid users can add a badge saying: "I'm vaccinated."

The apps are also advertising the British government's "Every vaccination gives us hope" campaign.

The Department of Health even suggested that users could boost their romantic chances by telling potential dates they are vaccinated.

It cited a YouGov poll in May that found 28 percent of adults would not date someone who was unvaccinated and 31 percent would prefer not to.

Despite turning to dating sites for help, the UK government has not formally given the green light to casual dating during the pandemic.

The advice for England is that people can choose not to socially distance while meeting friends and family but should be "cautious".

So far, the UK has given more than 27 million people both vaccine doses and more than 40 million have received a single dose.

Those under 40 are being offered an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to a slightly higher risk of blood clots.

Explore further Dating apps team up to make vaccinating hot

 2021 AFP
'Captured alive on May 8, killed on May 17 in alleged clash with Sabah police' FIVE ABU Sayyaf terrorists were killed following an a...
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 30 new cases of the virus. It was the lowest daily total since October. Maine trails only Vermont and Massachusetts in its percentage of the population that has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. About 54% of the state has been fully vaccinated.

Mondays figures came as the state continues a steady downward trend in new cases that began weeks ago. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has fallen over the past two weeks, going from about 180 new cases per day on May 22 to about 70 new cases per day on June 5.



AMSTERDAM  Moderna Inc. has filed a request with the European Medicines Agency for its COVID-19 vaccine to be granted authorization for use in adolescents.

In a statement on Monday, Moderna said it had filed data for a conditional marketing approval in the 27-nation EU bloc to expand its coronavirus vaccine to children, beyond the green light it received in January for use in adults 18 and over.

If authorized, it would be the second COVID-19 vaccine for children to be cleared in the EU. Moderna has also filed for authorization to use its vaccine under emergency use regulations in the U.S. and Canada.

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Goita faces international pressure to hold an election in February 2022, as required by the original transitional government agreement last year. Given the latest developments, however, it is unclear what will happen on the election front.

Continued political instability in Mali, many fear, could further embolden Islamic extremists, who have been carrying out attacks for nearly a decade in the countrys volatile north.

The West African regional bloc, known as the Economic Community of West African States, has been supporting mediation talks in Mali. ECOWAS also called for a new civilian prime minister in Mali to be nominated immediately, and a new inclusive government to be formed.

Choguel Kokalla Maiga was appointed Mali's new prime minister on Monday, according to a statement read out on the countrys national broadcaster a few hours after the inauguration. Maiga is a veteran politician who was a leader in the M5, a popular movement whose protests precipitated the fall of formerPresident Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in the August 2020 coup.

The regional bloc, and the AU, have made clear that the head of the transition government, the vice president and the prime minister should not under any circumstances be candidates in the next presidential election.
Arab Financial Services (AFS) has launched AFS Go!  a new digital solution bundle to support the growth of micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) businesses in Bahrain.

The set of digital tools help simplify business operations, reach more customers, increase sales, and reduce costs. The streamlined payment platform offers businesses a comprehensive set of beneficial payment solutions, including:

 eShop: The cloud-based eShop allows to access more customers and drive sales. It equips merchants with a range of tools of their choice to support their online business, helping them sell online by launching a tailored eCommerce website, pre-integrated with AFS payment gateway  all within 48 hours. It also offers eInvoicing functionality, reporting dashboards, recurring billing facility for subscription-based services, and acceptance of a wide range of online payments.

 In-Store Payments: Here AFS Go! offers payments acceptance of tokenised cards, static and dynamic QR codes, digital wallets, NFC devices and contactless cards alongside a variety of schemes and payment methods. It also offers dynamic currency conversion and merchant cash register integration with AFS state-of-the-art PoS terminals.

 Digital Payroll: For supporting businesses with unbanked employees, and building on the companys ground-breaking WPS solution (Al Rateb), AFS Go! offers a Digital Payroll solution for unbanked employees giving them access to tailored banking services, at an affordable rate.

Commenting on the new solution, Sael Al Waary, AFS Chairman said: The road to recovery post Covid-19 is through digitisation, which is also aligned with Bahrains aspiration for building a fully digital Bahrain economy.

The launch of AFS Go! introduces, among other tools, a new e-commerce platform bringing businesses fast and efficiently into the digital payments space  where their customers are.

Samer Soliman, AFSs CEO, said: We are proud to support merchants of all sizes by providing them the right tools to transform their businesses. In todays retail revolution, businesses must go digital to keep up with the pace of customer expectations. With AFS Go! we are enabling our merchants to take their business online by offering a blend of products and services that benefit merchants as well as their consumers and employees. Tradearabia news Service
Critical race theory has nothing to do with history, and everything to do with anti-white hatred.

Those who havent studied the Frankfurt origins of this malignant doctrine must be forgiven for the ignorance, as our educational and media institutions have long ago been captured by its evil perpetrators.

Critical race theorys name was deliberately designed to imply critical thinking, rather than unreasonable and misleading racial indoctrination. It is a material dialectic construct built for justifying the violence, hatred and iconoclasm of the broad front against American  a term described by Saul Alinsky to describe the "lumpenprole" hordes who can be whipped up into a mutual and murderous hatred for targeted groups.

By poisoning the minds of young white people with exaggerated and false histories about the evils of their race, Marxists seek to prevent resistance to their gutting of American values, culture and history. These steps towards the end of history are the precursors to mass murder and civilizational death seen in all communist hellholes on this planet.

The only moral choice is to oppose this evil doctrine at all levels with rightful national pride, and not allow your children to be intoxicated with self-hatred and falsehoods.
In the last two decades, housing in Montana has become increasingly unaffordable for residents. Workers across Montana are priced out of the market and struggling to make ends meet. Cost-burdened households experience many difficulties regarding health, well-being, educational attainment and employment opportunities. These difficulties add up to affect entire communities. However, our lawmakers can still address the affordable housing shortage by overriding Gov. Greg Gianfortes veto of House Bill 397.

HB 397 is a bipartisan program that expands the federal low-income housing credit program, and was passed with large majorities by the Legislature. Its implementation would build 1,000 more apartments, and create thousands of jobs. Other states that have passed programs similar to HB 397 have seen real benefits in the form of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars generated in their communities, as well as access to affordable homes for workers.
There has been enough written  much of it in the national press  about Montanas new restrictions on voting. These laws have been taken to court, and will be decided there. Meanwhile, we might reflect on how critical the right to vote is to our democracy and our lives.

Our form of government requires the participation of all its citizens. If we are not actively involved, those with more power or money (be they corporate or members of the government) will step into the breach. They can become strong enough to change the rules, and do what they want, regardless of the will of the people.

Montana has seen this before, in the days of the Copper Kings. These wealthy men owned newspapers, politicians, banks and police. They ran Montana to the extent that they could live extravagant lives above-ground, while workers toiled beneath, barely able to make enough money to feed their families. This was clearly not what the people wanted, but it took a long time, and many lives, to change. Considering our history, Montana, of all states, should protect its citizens right to vote.

Aside from this, voting empowers the people. We not only decide issues, but those in power learn that they must come to us for the votes they need. They simply have to keep us in mind.
Chantel, in an interview, said she was very naive at first. I went into the show thinking it would prove to the world how lovely and perfect my relationship was, she said. That was not reality. Instead, she said people were fascinated by the clashing family dynamics, the cultural misunderstandings and the communication limitations given that Pedros English was very poor when he came stateside five years ago.

They debated whether to do the spinoff show, but Chantel said they decided it might help people understand the K-1 visa process better so others could benefit from our mistakes and find comfort that our struggles are normal.

The producers would regularly question their motives and actions that in a way helped make their relationship stronger, Pedro said. Its therapeutic, he said. You can heal yourself. Talking about problems is better than hiding them.

Jason Sarlanis, senior vice president for development at TLC, said he loves how theyve been able to highlight people of all races and cultures. Its one of the most diverse shows on TV. Weve told stories about LBGTQ couples and how different countries view marriage.

To Sarlanis, I think this show really gives people out there hope that no matter where you look in this world, your other half is out there.
 Margie Marie Cantrell, 46, of 3182 Ed Bowman St., in Morganton, was charged with one misdemeanor count each of driving while impaired and possession of a schedule II, III, IV controlled substance. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $2,000 secured bond. Her court date was set for Aug. 16.

 Robert Henry Wilson, 51, of 1480 Airport Rhodhiss Road, in Hickory, was charged with misdemeanor assault inflicting serious injury. He was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $500 secured bond.

 Britney Nicole Cantrell, 26, of 3128 Ed Bowman St., in Morganton, was charged with felony failure to appear. She was transported to the Burke County Jail and placed under a $5,000 secured bond. Her court date was set for June 21.

The following charges were served on Saturday, May 15:

 Trey Allen Lail, 25, of 4367 Fowler Road, in Granite Falls, was charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. He was cited and released. His court date was set for Aug. 13.
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June 7, 2021 by Tracy Burrows

Category: Personnel Policies , Operating Policies , COVID-19



The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed local governments to innovate at a pace that is rarely possible under normal circumstances. Cities, counties, and special districts drafted telecommute options overnight and created online tools and portals to keep business operations functioning. Now that office work is returning to more normal conditions, local governments are taking the same creativity, technology, and information-sharing that helped us get through the past year and are applying it to the challenges of operating under more settled but still uncertain conditions.

Local governments are reopening their public buildings to staff and the public at a time when public health and safety guidance and requirements are still somewhat fluid. So, lets take a look how local governments in Washington are adapting to changing conditions as they reopen their public spaces.

This blog focuses on reopening plans, including the timing of reopening, and mask, vaccination, and telecommute policies.

Timing of Reopening

Local governments are taking a variety of approaches to the timing and phasing of office reopening. A recent poll of the 222 local government staff who attended our Policies and Practices for the Post-COVID Office webinar yielded the following results to the question, When is your agency planning to have non-essential workers return to the office on a regular schedule?

33%  We have no established timeframe

28%  We are opening in June or July

21%  We are already reopened

17%  We are opening in August or September

2%  We are opening by the end of the year

Several local governments are planning a phased return to the office. The City of Redmonds Stay Safe Reopening Plan includes a five-stage strategy for reopening city facilities, services, and programs. Under this plan, the citys workforce returns gradually, and facilities initially reopen for limited hours. Transitions to the next stage are based on guidelines and data analysis offered by the State of Washington.

Some local governments are taking a two-phased approach to returning to the office. Phase 1 includes a reopening of public buildings for walk-in customer service, which adheres to Governor Inslees June 30 statewide reopening goal. In this phase, a city hall or county courthouse would be open for limited walk-in services, with commensurate office staffing. Walk-in services would be available during restricted hours or by appointment only. In Phase 2, all remaining local government staff would return to the office, typically planned for September or October.

Note that the statewide reopening goal of June 30 does not automatically compel cities and counties to open up city hall or the county courthouse to the public on that specific date. Local government elected officials have the authority to establish the days and hours that offices are open for the transaction of business under RCW 35A.21.070 (code cities), RCW 35.21.175 (non-code cities and towns), and RCW 36.16.100 (counties).

Vaccination and Face Mask Policies

MRSCs blog Face Masks in the Local Government Workplace provides a comprehensive overview of the current guidance and regulation related to vaccinated and unvaccinated workers on the jobsite. In terms of local authority to require face masks, the blog states:

MRSC believes that local agencies may require employees to comply with directives to wear facial coverings just as the agency can require employees to wear other protective gear.

As for customers and other public visitors to your agencys facilities, we believe that you have the statutory authority to require them to wear a face covering if they want to conduct business in person.

As with office reopening, local governments are taking a range of approaches to vaccination and mask-wearing. One common approach is to establish clear face mask rules for fully vaccinated and non-vaccinated employees.

The City of Walla Walla has clear rules for either group. Fully vaccinated employees are not required to wear masks but have the option to do so. Non-vaccinated employees are required to wear masks except under limited circumstances. Publicly accessed lobby areas have posted signs that state: Wearing a mask remains required for non-vaccinated patrons and is encouraged but not required for fully vaccinated patrons. Libraries and recreation facilities that serve children under 12 who are not currently eligible for vaccination require masks for all patrons.

Another common approach is to continue to require employees to wear face masks in all indoor settings. This approach may be preferred in cases where it is in alignment with county public health officer guidance or requirements, which can be stricter than state guidance. Some local governments are choosing this approach to avoid staff divisions based on vaccine status or because of concerns about creating public records related to vaccination.

Guidance from the Washington State Labor and Industries states that, before ending masking and social distancing requirements, employers must confirm whether workers are fully vaccinated by having the worker sign a document attesting to their status or provide proof of vaccination. For information on managing records of vaccination status, see MRSCs blog: Vaccine Incentive Policies in the Local Government Workplace.

MRSCs COVID-19 Operations and Personnel webpage includes several additional examples of reopening plans that address face masks, vaccinations, and other health and safety considerations. For example the City of Issaquahs protection plan requires face coverings in all city buildings with a provision that this requirement will be reconsidered when vaccination across city departments reaches 70%. It also has a vaccine requirement for all new hires.

Updated Telecommute Policies

Policies and Practices for the Post-COVID Office webinar attendees also weighed in on how their agencies are approaching telecommuting policies. In response to the question: Is your agency changing its telecommute policy in response to the past year of COVID experience? the majority (70% of respondents) said their agency was either working on a new policy or had adopted a new policy based on the past year. Full poll results were as follows:

51%  Yes, we are working on a new policy

19%  Yes, we have completed a new policy

17%  Not sure/none of the above

11%  No, we are returning to our pre-COVID status

2%  No, we are keeping our current COVID policy in place

Of the local governments updating their policies, several started with a staff survey to gain insight into the benefits and challenges of working remotely. The City of Shorelines survey has specific questions about improving communications and information flow in a remote work environment. The City of Rentons survey includes feedback on the kinds of technology support that staff has requested assistance with over a standard work week.

Updated telework policies generally offer more flexibility than pre-COVID practices (which often discouraged working from home on a regular basis). These new policies may or may not specify a minimum number of days that employees must be present in the office. In either case, the key to a successful remote working relationship is for managers to stay in touch with employees, remote or otherwise. In todays workplace, checking in on a coworker remotely can be as easy as walking down the hall to speak to them, and managers should be comfortable using digital communication tools.

When establishing criteria for telework eligibility, consider whether the criteria treat lower wage employees equitably. Often, these employees staff the front counter and may not have been able to telecommute in the past. However, the past year has shown that local governments can provide outstanding customer service online or from a remote location. Think creatively about how to provide convenient service and be curious as to why some customers prefer to travel to your offices to conduct business. You may find opportunities that allow the flexibility for your valued customer service staff to work from home, even if on a more limited basis.

New policies, checklists, and telecommuting agreements adopted by Whatcom County and the City of Kent show approaches to addressing typical provisions, including:

established criteria for the types of positions that qualify for telecommuting options;

work schedules and work coverage expectations, including standard work hours and breaks;

respective responsibilities of the agency and the employee related to at-home technology and equipment;

workspace safety provisions;

records security and management standards; and

telecommute agreement signed by the employee and appropriate agency representatives.

MRSC will continue to gather information on how area agencies are handling operations, personnel, and facilities decisions as the end of the COVID-19 pandemic approaches. If you are interested in sharing your agencys reopening plan, please send it to tburrows@mrsc.org.

In the meantime, our COVID-19 Operations and Personnel webpage is the source for relevant sample documents related to reopening plans for Washington local governments.

MRSC is a private nonprofit organization serving local governments in Washington State. Eligible government agencies in Washington State may use our free, one-on-one Ask MRSC service to get answers to legal, policy, or financial questions.
Lawrence Weir was born in Butte August 2, 1899. His father James was a pumpman at the Anaconda Mine, and the family lived at 313 S. Idaho Street. After his grade-school education at Webster School, Larry became a driver for the Montana Dairy, and in 1918 was on his own, rooming at the Ansonia Block at 60 West Park where Mrs. Clotilde Strobel managed the boarding house above the Ansonia Theater.

By 1922 Weir had his own taxi company, Central Cab & Transfer, which he ran until he became Silver Bow County Sheriff in 1931. He was a popular sheriff, and his four two-year terms were the most served by any county sheriff to that time. But three years after his fourth term ended in 1939, he apparently committed suicide.

Weir had sued the county for reimbursement for mileage expenses totaling $16,528.78, the difference between the rate he was paid, seven to 8 cents a mile, and ten cents a mile that he claimed he was owed. The case ended up in the Montana Supreme Court, and on April 20, 1942, Weir traveled to Helena with his attorney J. Frank Sullivan to hear the verdict. The court ruled in Weirs favor for the full amount, the equivalent of more than $270,000 today. When they returned to Butte Sullivan dropped Weir off at his home at 824 West Broadway, where Weir took the family car, a 1937 Buick sedan, and was never seen alive again.
Angry crowds of Afghans gathered in Farah Province in 2009 to protest the killing of civilians by U.S. airstrikes.

News media reported that the throngs chanted Death to America.

Two years later, Sgt. Cody West and the five soldiers he led drove Humvees through thousands of people in Farah to reach and dismantle a communications center in the city.

It was the longest 20 minutes of my life, West said recently, recalling that drive. It was hair-raising, but all the soldiers knew their jobs and everybody was on point.

No one in the crowd was overtly hostile. But people sometimes stood defiantly in front of the Humvees to try to inhibit their passage. When that happened, West said, a gunner would point his weapon in their direction and the people would step aside.

He believes now that the gathering was religious. When he and his team returned to the base the following day, the crowds had dissipated.

West started down the path to Afghanistan after graduating from Butte High School in 2004.

He said his choices were the same faced by many high school graduates: college, leave home to do something different or chase jobs.

I decided to chase jobs, West said.

He endured a series of mostly menial jobs in Bozeman and Butte.

West said he decided to enlist in the U.S. Army after losing a job and going down a path that didnt seem right for me. He said he sought something with a semblance of belonging instead of just being out there flapping in the wind, which was what Id been doing.

His stepfather, Roy Patrick West, had served in both the Army National Guard and the U.S. Navy.

West enlisted in Butte in February 2006 at the Military Entrance Processing Station. He traveled to Fort Benning, Georgia, for basic training. He soon felt he had made the right decision.

I enjoyed basic training, West said, disclosing a somewhat unique reaction to a process that can employ physical stress and psychological strategies to transform individuals into conforming soldiers.

If you want to be a part of something, if you go in wanting to better yourself  I went in with the mindset to better myself, to change, he said.

West then trained at Fort Gordon, Georgia, to be a satellite communication systems operator  maintainer.

That sounded like a safe job, and for the most part it was, he said during a recent interview.

After Fort Gordon, West served in Mannheim, Germany, for four years.

From Mannheim, he deployed in May 2009 to Bagram Airfield in support of Task Force Freedom with 7th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade. He served there until June 2010.

Later, from Fort Hood, Texas, West deployed to Kandahar Airfield and Forward Operating Base Farah in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the 57th Expeditionary Signal Battalion. He was deployed this time from July 2011 to July 2012.

He and his team focused on setting up and maintaining secure and stable communications.

At Farah, the combatants who depended on such communications included the soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division and U.S. Navy SEALs.

West said he and his team were not privy to the missions undertaken by the infantry or the SEALs. Instead, the task was to ensure they could communicate with command staff.

If the SEALs went out on a mission and communications dropped, it was on us, he said.

West returned to Fort Hood after his second deployment to Afghanistan. He was honorably discharged in August 2013 and returned to Butte.

West, now 35, manages the Butte branch of M&L Supply Co.

He is the single father of a young boy and felt leaving the Army would be best for them both. Theoden West is now 9 years old.

I want my son to know I was in the military. But I didnt want him to grow up in the military, West said.

The influence of Wests seven-plus years in the Army remains tangible in his military bearing and precise speech.

I definitely miss it, he said. I enjoyed it a lot in terms of who I met and what I did. I wouldnt change a thing. I am proud to have served, not for anybody else but for myself.

It was pivotal in who I became.

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MUSCATINE  The Muscatine County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the final budget amendments for the 2020-21 fiscal year Monday and during the process discussed what uses the county could have for COVID relief funds.

During the regular meeting, a public hearing on the amendments was held. No public comment was received. Budget administrator Sherry Seright explained most of the amendments were just housekeeping as the county prepares to end the fiscal year on June 30. There was too much of a gap in revenue and expenses than most auditors like to see. She said among the additional funding the county received as $1.3 million in federal COVID reimbursement. On the expenditure side, she said there had been some expenses for special elections.

The big thing here is the coronavirus recovery funds we have received -- $4,143,481, which is half of our allocation, Seright said. We have received that.

Supervisor Santos Saucedo asked if there was any indication when the remainder of the money from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) would arrive. Seright said sometime after July 1.
Global strategy and management consulting firm, Kearney has promoted Adel Belcaid to head of the Communications, Media, and Technology (CMT) practice for Middle East and Africa.

In his new role, Belcaid will be responsible for growing the firms footprint in the CMT sectors across the MEA region, working with key clients on strategic planning, transformation, procurement, economic development, customer experience, sales and marketing, e-commerce, and organisational development.

Based in Dubai, Belcaid has over 22 years of strategy and operational experience acquired through his engagements in the Middle East, Europe, and the USA. As a partner, he advises corporations, regulators and government agencies in telecommunications, media, e-commerce, e-retail, and, e-distribution. Over the course of his career, Belcaid has led over 100 engagements with mobile and fixed carriers, media publishers/broadcasters, content producers, consumer goods retailers and water utility distributors.

I am very excited to take on the leadership of Kearneys CMT business in the MEA region. Telecoms, media, and technology have a profound impact right across the board in every society, and even more so here in the MEA region, Belcaid says.

Over the last 90 years, Kearney has managed to build a unique reputation for high quality consulting combined with a sleeves-rolled-up culture to bring immediate impact and growing advantage to our clients. In a world that is not getting any less complex, I believe demand for the Kearney value proposition is simply infinite. I look forward to working with my clients and my teams to make a difference every day, he continued.

Prior to joining Kearney, Belcaid spent several years with Booz & Company in Dubai and Nokia Networks in Finland. He holds an MBA from MIT Sloan, USA, and a Master of Engineering in Computer Science from ENSEIRB, France. He is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a patent in mission-critical telecommunications. He is fluent in Arabic, French, English and conversant in Spanish and Finnish.

-- TradeArabia News Service
The challenge that she faces is how to, on the one hand, have a conversation, keep the door open  while not seeming to ignore the obvious elephant in the room, which is this incredible penetration of the state by corrupt actors, he said.

In Mexico, Lopez Obrador continues to face a complicated security situation in many parts of the country. Nearly three-dozen candidates or pre-candidates were killed before this weekends midterm elections as drug cartels sought to protect their interests. The governments inability to provide security in parts of the country is of interest to the U.S. in an immigration context, both for the people who are displaced by violence and the impact it has on a severely weakened economy trying reemerge from the pandemic.

The number of Mexicans encountered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection rose steadily from December through April. Mexico remains a key U.S. ally in trying to slow immigration, not only of its own citizens, but those crossing its territory. Successive U.S. administrations have effectively tried to push their immigration enforcement goals south to Mexico and Guatemala.

Nongovernmental organizations placed Guatemalas widespread corruption at the top of their list of concerns before Harris visit.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV., speaks during a visit of U.S. first lady Jill Biden to a vaccination center at Capital High School in Charleston, West Virginia on May 13, 2021.
Bitcoin and most other top cryptocurrencies fell on Sunday on concerns that there may be a further crackdown on the industry in China and as a report from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. served as a reminder that institutional adoption may be a long process.

Bitcoin and many others in the top 30 cryptocurrencies excluding stablecoins declined in the past 24 hours as of 12:20 p.m. in London on Sunday, according to pricing data from CoinGecko, though No. 2 Ether was slightly higher.

Chinese social-media service Weibo suspended some crypto-related accounts  when trying to view them, a message comes up that says the accounts have been reported for violations of laws, regulations or Weibo rules.

Chinese authorities have recently cautioned on crypto trading and Bitcoin mining efforts are being curtailed, which have put pressure on prices.

Uncertainty about China crypto regulations are still a headwind, said Jonathan Cheesman, head of over-the-counter and institutional sales at crypto derivatives exchange FTX, in a note Sunday. So far its been pretty piecemeal, focusing on mining, new issuance, and retail influencers.

Weibos media relations officer didnt reply to an email request for comment sent on Sunday. The micro-blogging service took similar action in 2019 when it suspended the accounts of exchange operator Binance Holdings Ltd. and blockchain platform Tron.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, is also struggling with technical levels, remaining below its 20-day and 200-day moving averages.

Bitcoin remains vulnerable to a test of critical support at $29,000 with downside to risk to $20,000, Evercore ISI technical strategist Rich Ross wrote in a note Friday. He said hes a seller currently, with a $41,000 buy stop.

Bitcoin went on a furious rally at the beginning of the year, surging to almost $65,000 amid enthusiasm about institutional adoption, the idea that its a store of value akin to digital gold, and with endorsements from big-name investors like Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller.

The cryptocurrency has retreated by more than $25,000 since then and was recently trading around $36,000. Its still up about 25% this year.

We are in a choppy range, FTXs Cheesman said. The key level for the bulls to hold is $33,400 as it keeps the pattern of higher lows intact.

In a development that undermines the narrative about institutional adoption, a Goldman Sachs note on Saturday showed that not everyone in finance is eager to jump in.

We held two CIO roundtable sessions earlier this week, which were attended by 25 CIOs from various long-only and hedge funds, the strategists led by Timothy Moe wrote. Their most favorite is Growth style but least favorite on Bitcoin.

Still, support for Bitcoin continues to grow in some quarters. In comments from a video broadcast at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said he plans to make Bitcoin legal tender in the country, while San Francisco-based Square Inc. said it will invest $5 million to build a solar-powered Bitcoin mining facility.

The project will be constructed at a Blockstream Mining site in the U.S. through a partnership with the blockchain technology provider.

Separately, a video posted on YouTube on Friday that appears to be from the group Anonymous criticizes Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Office Elon Musk for a variety of reasons including his social-media commentary about Bitcoin.

Musk, for his part, continued to tweet actively into the weekend about crypto and other matters.
All the books are geared to kindergarten through elementary school-aged children, and the activity is designed for use by families.

We choose from a series of books offered by a firm we contracted with that ensures all copyright rules are followed, Sellick said. We picked this book because it's upbeat tone celebrates the unique individuality of each character, and encourages kids and families to dance and move along with the pages."

Kristen Guiterrez and her daughters Aubrie, 6 and Avery, 2 , have already tried out the new StoryWalk and declared it a winner.

"We were so excited to see StoryWalk in the park since my girls love being outside, Guiterrez said. They are excited to see what the next book will be and hope that it will get more families outside."

The books will be changed out every three months, Sellick said. The next one is "Mouse House Tales" by Susan Pearson.

We liked the outdoor theme, since StoryWalk is in a park, and its a common thread in what we chose  exposing kids to wildlife, plants and other outdoor themes, she said.
But for all the talk about new ways to cooperate, reining in corruption and improving living conditions in the region have been long-running challenges that previous administrations have been unable to achieve in their efforts to stem the tide of migration to the United States.

Part of the challenge remains that, despite the best efforts of U.S. officials, corruption underpins many of the regions governments. Indeed, Giammattei himself has faced criticism over his handling of the issue.

Last month, two lawyers who are outspoken critics of Giammatteis administration were arrested on what they say were trumped-up charges aimed at silencing them.

And the selection of judges for Guatemalas Constitutional Court, its highest, was mired in influence peddling and allegations of corruption. Giammattei picked his chief of staff to fill one of the five vacancies. When Gloria Porras, a respected force against corruption, was elected to a second term, the congress controlled by Giammatteis party refused to seat her.

On Monday, Giammattei seemed less than eager to address those issues.
Some states, such as Colorado, are waiting until later to decide how to use the latest COVID-19 relief funds because they have until the end of 2024 to spend it.

Even without the latest federal aid, Colorado's budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 is up more than 12% from the previous one, which had been pared back because of pandemic concerns.

Sen. Bob Rankin, a Republican member of the Legislature's Joint Budget Committee, said he is concerned about how that additional $3.8 billion of federal aid will be spent.

Im afraid that we are spending money and making commitments that we will not be able to sustain once that one-time federal money goes away, Rankin said.

In many states, lawmakers are devoting federal COVID-19 relief money to one-time purposes, such as additional aid to workers, expanded access to high-speed internet or replenishing depleted unemployment trust funds.
We opted to stay at the Kimpton Canary, recommended as dog-friendly. And indeed it was. You have only to ask Puck, who trotted into the lobby, with the valet carrying his dog bed. They paused at the sign that read: "Welcome furry friends," which hangs above a canister of dog treats and a fresh water bubbler at dog level. I believe Puck would have been happy to have his bed arranged there for the duration of the visit. But he consented to stay in the spacious room, which accommodated his bed.

Humans are welcomed, too, at this boutique hotel in the center of the city. The staff was so pleasant and courteous, they set the tone for visitors. "Don't worry, it's our job," the attendant said each time they had to retrieve and park my car. I even had a pleasant conversation in the elevator with a man from Texas who pointed out that he was wearing a mask as a concession to cuckoo Californians. "We don't get sick in Texas," he said.

The hotel is an example of classic Santa Barbara architecture -- Spanish colonial, white stucco with the red-tile roofs, balconies and a profusion of tile work, Mexican, Spanish, Moroccan. From the roof top pool, you can see this style in all directions, and beyond it, the sea and mountains. When we were there, the bougainvillea and purple jacaranda trees were in bloom everywhere.
The Hamdan Innovation Incubator (HI2) in Dubai SME has signed an agreement with the International Consultant Law Office (ICLO) to provide competitive and specialised legal consultancy to SMEs and creative entrepreneurs.



The memorandum of understanding (MoU) reflects its keenness to accomplish the vision and strategy of the government in developing SMEs in Dubai and supporting them to attain the highest levels of sustainability and competitiveness across all levels, reported state news agency Wam, citing a Dubai SME statement.



The agreement was signed by Abdulaziz Al Mazmi, Director of Business Incubators at Dubai SME, and Saleh Al Obeidli, Partner at ICLO, at the Hamdan Innovation Incubator in Business Village, Dubai.



"At Dubai SME, we seek to provide a package of advisory and development services at preferential prices for entrepreneurs in order to support their journey, and as part of continuously upgrading our services to the highest levels of quality and competitiveness," Al Mazmi said.



"Our partnership with the International Consultant Law Office is an added value for our support teams and members as they will have access to expert legal services, especially in preparing agreements, drafting contracts, and reviewing the terms and conditions for projects initiated by members of the Hamdan Innovation Incubator and Dubai SME," he added.



HI2 supports innovative projects and provide valuable services to creative and ambitious youth, most notably the provision of legal advice in areas critical to enterprise growth in the early stage and across life cycle.



Al Obeidli said: "Through this collaboration with Dubai SME, we are keen on providing quality support to entrepreneurs in the Emirate of Dubai through our specialized department at ICLO that is exclusively focused on Startups & SMEs, for providing them with innovative legal support and with a vision to promote entrepreneurship and the development of SMEs in UAE and in particular in the Emirate of Dubai."
"I Have the Honor" bloc: Armenian Public Television's actions show that bloc's rating is growing

Erdogan to raise White House's recognition of Armenian Genocide during meeting with Biden

Armenia 3rd President visits St. Mary's Church in Gavar after campaign meetings (PHOTOS)

Fire breaks out in village of Armenia's Ararat Province

Court rules to allow "Armenia" bloc's rally to end at 9 p.m.

Armenia 3rd President holds meetings in Gegharkunik Province

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee member addresses letter to OSCE/ODIHR regarding Pashinyan's statements

Armenia acting PM receives steel hammer as a gift, refers to it as a 'steel mandate'

Armenia 2nd President recommends setting up Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora

Armenia 2nd President: It is necessary to either ban offices of Soros or set tight restrictions

Armenian Public Television and "I Have the Honor" bloc apply to Ombudsman regarding video broadcasting

Armenia acting PM: Today there are army generals who have served for over 20 years, but have no apartments

Australia, UK and US agree on cooperation

Armenia Ombudsman's representatives hold personal talks with 15 Armenian POWs

"I Have the Honor" bloc says Armenian authorities might allocate nearly $1.5 mln for electoral bribes

"I Have the Honor" bloc: Mass media report that conspiratorial junta is delaying return of Armenian POWs

Putin on upcoming meeting with Biden, says it is necessary to establish direct dialogue

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office welcomes return of 15 Armenian POWs

Georgia MFA: Tbilisi worked for return of Armenian soldiers for 2-3 months

Armenia ex-official: Sectors of country's roads will be transferred to Azerbaijan, according to current authorities

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff ex-chief: War won't break out, Azerbaijani army is currently weakened

Iran's interior minister: Country's presidential election will be held in full security atmosphere

Armenia acting PM to citizens: Opposition was mourning and weeping after return of 15 Armenian POWs

Armenia confirms 39 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths

Armenia 3rd President: I declare that there was no talk about enclaves during my administration

Armenia MOD: 2 residents of Syunik Province disoriented, find themselves in Azerbaijani territory

Russian MFA Spokesperson on return of 15 Armenian POWs

Euro 2020: Belgium didn't give Russia a chance, Lukaku scores double

Armenia Central Electoral Commission grants motion to deprive MP candidate of liberty

Members of "Armenia" bloc light candles at Haghpat Monastery after campaigning

The series with black Anne Boleyn gets zero negative ratings

EU President: I applaud Azerbaijans & Armenias parallel humanitarian gestures

Georgia is ready to participate in settlement of humanitarian issues between Baku and Yerevan

Aliyev: If Armenia wants peace, they should start negotiations with us on delimitation

Kocharyan intends to turn government dachas into rehab center

Baku says it handed over 15 POWs to Armenia in exchange for map of minefields

Nikol Pashinyan shares photo of Armenian POWs returning home

Eight more remains found in Artsakh search operations Saturday

Armenia MOD refutes reports on deployment of Turkey army units in Sev Lake region

Armenia MP candidate charged with bribery is remanded in custody

Armenia acting PM on border situation: Our Russian partners have come, looked at areas where they can be deployed

Armenia acting premier: This election battle has already turned into class struggle

20 Afghanistan security force members killed in clashes with Taliban

Armenia acting PM supporters give kids instructions in Gegharkunik Province village

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: We reject vendettas

Julianna Margulies speaks on hotel room encounter with Steven Seagal

Armenia ex-President Serzh Sargsyan pays tribute to late PM Andranik Margaryan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Maybe 2018 evens would not have happened if they had kept level of education

Failed cult classic: Fight Club

Bright Armenia Party MP: Our prime ministerial candidate is Edmon Marukyan

Armenia former President Kocharyan: I want to be proud of my homeland

One person on Armenia ruling party electoral list also has Iran citizenship, his registration is declared invalid

Armenias Pashinyan congratulates Boris Johnson on Queens Birthday

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Spitak town, pays tribute to victims of 1988 earthquake

Acting premier: Corrupt clergymen discredit Armenian Apostolic Church, traditional values

Armenia, Georgia customs officials meet at Bagratashen border checkpoint

One new case of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Kanye West unfollows Kardashian sisters on Twitter

Armenia acting deputy PM signs new decision

Sarkissian to Putin: Armenian-Russian cooperation is developing confidently in all directions

8 dead in China factory chemical leak

Putin notes differences between "outsider" Trump, "career man" Biden

What will happen to Harry in new season of The Crown? (PHOTOS)

88 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

President: Karabakh has always underscored Russia's invaluable place, role in our region

Security Council chief: We have had Russias support in Artsakh for centuries

Pashinyan to Putin: I am convinced that Armenian-Russian interstate relations will continue to develop

Armenias Pashinyan congratulates Mishustin on Russia Day

Newspaper: Armenia criminal authorities take neutral position in current electoral process

Newspaper: Real "war" behind scenes of Armenia authorities after every provincial visit of acting PM

Armenia acting PM Pashinyan tells details from his talk with army General Staff former chief Gasparyan

Man found dead in Armenia canal

Euro 2020: Matches of the day

French Open: Djokovic beats Nadal in semifinals

Euro 2020: Italy beat Turkey in opening match

Euro 2020: Azerbaijan rejects Russian sports commentators accreditation

Superbet Chess Classic: Levon Aronian defeated by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

UEFA Euro 2020: Baku deports Russian commentator back to Moscow

NATO Secretary-General affirms willingness for cooperation with Russia

Armenia Special Investigation Service charges political party member for giving electoral bribe

Armenia Central Electoral Commission grants motion to launch criminal prosecution against MP candidate

"I Have the Honor" bloc member: Coronavirus and 'nikolavirus' (Nikol Pashinyan) are both lethal

Greek PM: Greece willing to back positive EU agenda for Turkey

Russia Deputy FM, France Ambassador discuss settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

CoE: We are engaged in a dialogue to develop a set of confidence-building measures between Armenia, Azerbaijan

Armenia 3rd President states when country's security system began to collapse

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff ex-deputy chief on acting PM's statement on his "National Hero" title

Armenia Arevik National Park director dismissed for being a friend of Meghri mayor

Reuters: Erdogan's summit with Biden clouded by bitter disputes

Armenia acting MOD receives Head of ICRC Delegation

Gagik Tsarukyan: Armenia needs to develop the economy by using resources of country and people

Gagik Tsarukyan: Russia is Armenia's main ally, and this can't be altered

Sargis Hovhannisyan quits FC Lokomotiv Moscow

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijanis try to carry out engineering works in Kut border section, Armenian side counters

Armenia 1st President's nephew and his son involved in brawl in Yerevan

Snap elections online voting starts, Azerbaijan continues 'trial' of Armenian POWs, Jun 11 digest

Armenian former high-tech industry minister, member of ruling party on June 9 brawl in Yerevan

Zlatan Ibrahimovic might miss a few months

Kim Kardashian reacts positively to Kanye romance with Irina Shayk

Robert Kocharyan: If Armenia wants a peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict, it needs to give Azerbaijan hope
"I Have the Honor" bloc: Armenian Public Television's actions show that bloc's rating is growing

Erdogan to raise White House's recognition of Armenian Genocide during meeting with Biden

Armenia 3rd President visits St. Mary's Church in Gavar after campaign meetings (PHOTOS)

Fire breaks out in village of Armenia's Ararat Province

Court rules to allow "Armenia" bloc's rally to end at 9 p.m.

Armenia 3rd President holds meetings in Gegharkunik Province

Armenia Elections Oversight Committee member addresses letter to OSCE/ODIHR regarding Pashinyan's statements

Armenia acting PM receives steel hammer as a gift, refers to it as a 'steel mandate'

Armenia 2nd President recommends setting up Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora

Armenia 2nd President: It is necessary to either ban offices of Soros or set tight restrictions

Armenian Public Television and "I Have the Honor" bloc apply to Ombudsman regarding video broadcasting

Armenia acting PM: Today there are army generals who have served for over 20 years, but have no apartments

Australia, UK and US agree on cooperation

Armenia Ombudsman's representatives hold personal talks with 15 Armenian POWs

"I Have the Honor" bloc says Armenian authorities might allocate nearly $1.5 mln for electoral bribes

"I Have the Honor" bloc: Mass media report that conspiratorial junta is delaying return of Armenian POWs

Putin on upcoming meeting with Biden, says it is necessary to establish direct dialogue

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office welcomes return of 15 Armenian POWs

Georgia MFA: Tbilisi worked for return of Armenian soldiers for 2-3 months

Armenia ex-official: Sectors of country's roads will be transferred to Azerbaijan, according to current authorities

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff ex-chief: War won't break out, Azerbaijani army is currently weakened

Iran's interior minister: Country's presidential election will be held in full security atmosphere

Armenia acting PM to citizens: Opposition was mourning and weeping after return of 15 Armenian POWs

Armenia confirms 39 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths

Armenia 3rd President: I declare that there was no talk about enclaves during my administration

Armenia MOD: 2 residents of Syunik Province disoriented, find themselves in Azerbaijani territory

Russian MFA Spokesperson on return of 15 Armenian POWs

Armenia Central Electoral Commission grants motion to deprive MP candidate of liberty

Members of "Armenia" bloc light candles at Haghpat Monastery after campaigning

EU President: I applaud Azerbaijans & Armenias parallel humanitarian gestures

Georgia is ready to participate in settlement of humanitarian issues between Baku and Yerevan

Aliyev: If Armenia wants peace, they should start negotiations with us on delimitation

Kocharyan intends to turn government dachas into rehab center

Baku says it handed over 15 POWs to Armenia in exchange for map of minefields

Nikol Pashinyan shares photo of Armenian POWs returning home

Eight more remains found in Artsakh search operations Saturday

Armenia MOD refutes reports on deployment of Turkey army units in Sev Lake region

Armenia MP candidate charged with bribery is remanded in custody

Armenia acting PM on border situation: Our Russian partners have come, looked at areas where they can be deployed

Armenia acting premier: This election battle has already turned into class struggle

20 Afghanistan security force members killed in clashes with Taliban

Armenia acting PM supporters give kids instructions in Gegharkunik Province village

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: We reject vendettas

Armenia ex-President Serzh Sargsyan pays tribute to late PM Andranik Margaryan

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Maybe 2018 evens would not have happened if they had kept level of education

Bright Armenia Party MP: Our prime ministerial candidate is Edmon Marukyan

Armenia former President Kocharyan: I want to be proud of my homeland

One person on Armenia ruling party electoral list also has Iran citizenship, his registration is declared invalid

Armenias Pashinyan congratulates Boris Johnson on Queens Birthday

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan in Spitak town, pays tribute to victims of 1988 earthquake

Acting premier: Corrupt clergymen discredit Armenian Apostolic Church, traditional values

Armenia, Georgia customs officials meet at Bagratashen border checkpoint

One new case of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Armenia acting deputy PM signs new decision

Sarkissian to Putin: Armenian-Russian cooperation is developing confidently in all directions

8 dead in China factory chemical leak

Putin notes differences between "outsider" Trump, "career man" Biden

88 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

President: Karabakh has always underscored Russia's invaluable place, role in our region

Security Council chief: We have had Russias support in Artsakh for centuries

Pashinyan to Putin: I am convinced that Armenian-Russian interstate relations will continue to develop

Armenias Pashinyan congratulates Mishustin on Russia Day

Newspaper: Armenia criminal authorities take neutral position in current electoral process

Newspaper: Real "war" behind scenes of Armenia authorities after every provincial visit of acting PM

Armenia acting PM Pashinyan tells details from his talk with army General Staff former chief Gasparyan

Man found dead in Armenia canal

NATO Secretary-General affirms willingness for cooperation with Russia

Armenia Special Investigation Service charges political party member for giving electoral bribe

Armenia Central Electoral Commission grants motion to launch criminal prosecution against MP candidate

"I Have the Honor" bloc member: Coronavirus and 'nikolavirus' (Nikol Pashinyan) are both lethal

Greek PM: Greece willing to back positive EU agenda for Turkey

Russia Deputy FM, France Ambassador discuss settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

CoE: We are engaged in a dialogue to develop a set of confidence-building measures between Armenia, Azerbaijan

Armenia 3rd President states when country's security system began to collapse

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff ex-deputy chief on acting PM's statement on his "National Hero" title

Armenia Arevik National Park director dismissed for being a friend of Meghri mayor

Reuters: Erdogan's summit with Biden clouded by bitter disputes

Armenia acting MOD receives Head of ICRC Delegation

Gagik Tsarukyan: Armenia needs to develop the economy by using resources of country and people

Gagik Tsarukyan: Russia is Armenia's main ally, and this can't be altered

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijanis try to carry out engineering works in Kut border section, Armenian side counters

Armenia 1st President's nephew and his son involved in brawl in Yerevan

Snap elections online voting starts, Azerbaijan continues 'trial' of Armenian POWs, Jun 11 digest

Armenian former high-tech industry minister, member of ruling party on June 9 brawl in Yerevan

Robert Kocharyan: If Armenia wants a peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict, it needs to give Azerbaijan hope

Armenia acting PM: During campaign meetings hundreds of mothers thanked me for signing Nov. 9 document

Citizens are demanded to applaud Armenia acting PM

Armenia ruling party lawmaker, MP candidate: Civil Contracts election promises are continuation of 2018 promises

Armenia villager to Nikol Pashinyan: Yard of Turk's house is in front of our military post

Opposition Prosperous Armenia Party assures that it's not expecting ministerial positions

Robert Kocharyan: "Armenia" bloc will restore and deepen country's ties with allies

Czech Rep. parliament committee calls on Azerbaijan to release all Armenian captives immediately

"Armenia" bloc member Armen Gevorgyan holds meetings with diplomatic corps and international organizations

Dollar still dropping in Armenia

Azerbaijan announces names of 26 Armenian servicemen it intends to "put on trial"

Armenian publishing house to print 66,925,000 ballots for upcoming snap parliamentary elections

"Armenia" bloc member: There are reports that over 10 police buses escorted acting PM yesterday

Gallup: "Armenia" bloc records slightly higher indicator than ruling party

Armenia acting PM has been obligated to publicly apologize to Khachatryan family

"Armenia" bloc: Robert Kocharyan and ARF-D resolved crisis that Levon Ter-Petrosyan created in 1998
RTHK: Jerusalem march off; Palestinian evictions on course

Israeli police said on Monday they blocked a planned procession by Jewish ultra-nationalists through parts of Jerusalem's Old City, following warnings that it could re-ignite tensions that led to a punishing 11-day war with Gaza's militant Hamas rulers last month.

The parade, which celebrates Israel's capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, was under way on May 10 when Hamas fired rockets from Gaza towards the holy city, setting off heavy fighting. Some 254 people were killed in Gaza and 13 in Israel before a ceasefire took effect on May 21.

The war was preceded by weeks of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian demonstrators in the Old City and in the nearby neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where Jewish settlers have waged a decades-long campaign to evict Palestinian families from their homes.

Israels attorney general on Monday declined to intervene in the cases of several of the families, making it more likely the evictions will be carried out, possibly in the coming weeks. That could also reignite violence.

The procession, which had intended to go through the Old City's Muslim Quarter, is seen by Palestinians as a provocation.

In a statement, police said the proposal to hold the parade later this week was not approved, but new plans would be considered. Organisers accused the police of caving in to pressure from Hamas.

Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, tweeted a warning to embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to give in to Hamas threats".

Renewed tensions in east Jerusalem or fighting with Hamas could complicate Israel's shaky politics. Netanyahu's opponents last week said they have formed a coalition that could remove the prime minister from office after a 12-year term. The new coalition is expected to be sworn into office in the coming days.

Over the weekend, Israeli police arrested and released a veteran reporter for the Al Jazeera satellite channel who had regularly been covering the Sheikh Jarrah protests. And on Sunday, authorities stormed the home of a leading activist in the neighbourhood, arresting her and her brother. The siblings were later released.

Before Muna al-Kurd was freed, police briefly clashed with a crowd outside the station, throwing stun grenades at the protesters.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, which is home to sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognised internationally. Israel views the entire city as its capital, while the Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The settlers are using a 1970 law that allows Jews to reclaim formerly Jewish properties lost during the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation, a right denied to Palestinians who lost property in the same conflict.

At least 150 Palestinian households, in Sheikh Jarrah and the neighbourhood of Silwan, both near the Old City, are at risk of eventual eviction.

A request by the attorney general at the height of the tensions last month led to the postponement of a Supreme Court hearing on the most imminent evictions, of four extended families comprising six households in Sheikh Jarrah.

But in a statement issued on Monday, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said there is no place for him to intervene in the proceedings. That sends the matter back to the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule against the families.

Ir Amim, an Israeli human rights group that closely follows the various court cases, says the four families could be evicted within the coming month, and that the attorney general's decision could affect the cases of more than 80 other families threatened with eviction.

It paves the way for the evictions to be carried out, said Amy Cohen, a spokeswoman for Ir Amim. But she added that Israeli authorities still have various options for postponing or halting the evictions. There still is room for political intervention, she said.

The threatened evictions have been widely criticised internationally, including by the United States, Israel's closest ally. (AP)

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Chalhoub Group, a leading distributor and retailer of luxury brands in the Middle East, has revealed ambitious new targets to coincide with the release of its 2020 Sustainability Report, including a major set of new objectives for Saudi Arabia, which have been unveiled as part of a wider report into the Groups performance in the GCC.

A hybrid retailer bringing luxury experiences to the fingertips of its customers everywhere, the Chalhoub Groups latest sustainability report outlines ambitous new targets which will set its strategy in the kingdom over the next three years.

This includes specific areas of the business model that can be strengthened each year, which will be able to support the groups efforts to deliver meaningful impact in the kingdom and wider region, said the statement from the company.

A member of the UNGC Community and signatory of the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs), the Chalhoub Groups report underlines how sustainability has become integral to its strategy for the region and forms part of a policy that includes actionable targets for each independent objective.

The five pillars that have been identified are: leadership, people, partners, planet and impact, thus reaffirming the groups efforts to support the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).

A key priority for Chalhoub is to increase the number of Saudis working in back of house roles from 34% to 52% in the next three years, underscoring its commitment to nurturing local talent in line with the Kingdoms National Transformation Program, said the statement from the company.

The group will also aim to integrate a significant number of People of Determination into its workforce and ensure their spaces are friendly for people with different kinds of mobility and ability needs, the statement added.

Chalhoub pointed out that increasing the number of women employed in senior management roles from 20% to 50% by 2023 is another primary objective.

Affirming its commitment to the WEPs is part of the Groups ongoing strategy to create a working environment that is equal to all, remarked Group President Patrick Chalhoub.

"A female senior leadership programme will further extend the opportunities available to women who strive to reach the highest positions in the Group. These progressive practices are among the initiatives that have contributed to the Group being recognised as one of the Best 30 workplaces in the KSA for 2021 by the presitigious Great Place to Work," he added.

On the 2020 Sustainability Report, Chalhoub said: "It reflects the accomplishments of our teams dedicated to living our core values of respect, excellence, and entrepreneurial spirit. At Chalhoub Group, we set ourselves ambitious targets in line with the KSA Vision 2030, because it represents the understanding of a future that we share for this country: consistently aiming to be the best."

"Our Group owes its success to the talents and experiences of our diverse workforce of 114 nationalities; we believe our people are our greatest force in helping us to make a difference to the world around us, and we are very excited to work together to achieve these goals over the next three years," he added.

Florence Bulte, Chief Sustainability Officer, said: "While the pandemic was challenging, it provided time for new levels of learning and innovation. Across our group, the necessity to rapidly implement digital technologies has revealed just how important the relationship between efficiency and sustainability is."

"This, and our peoples dedication to the long-term vision of our group, has meant that we have continued to make progress on issues like diversity and inclusion, carbon emissions reduction and renewable energy integration," noted Bulte.

"Our sustainability vision is a critical priority for us as a Group, and we look forward to continuing this journey towards a future that puts sustainable economic growth at its heart," she added.-TradeArabia News Service
The wording "complete unblocking and uninterrupted operation of communications" is present in all documents of the negotiation process; there was nothing else. Second President Robert Kocharyan, the leader of the "Armenia" bloc that will run in the snap parliamentary elections on June 20, said this during Mondays meeting in Meghri town, speaking about the demands of Azerbaijan and Turkey in connection with the "Meghri Corridor."

"But since I have been negotiating for a long time, I know very well what they mean. The corridor is not communications. It means one thing: reduction of Armenia's sovereignty and increase of Azerbaijani and Turkish forces and sovereignty.

I am also in favor of opening roads. I always ask: And when did we close off the roads? We have not closed off anything; neither roads nor borders. The blockade began in 1988 with the launch of the Karabakh [(Artsakh)] movement. They need a corridor to connect Nakhchivan with Azerbaijan and later with Central Asian countries, and later to ensure exports through Turkey. Turkey considers the issue not only an element of Pan-Turkism, but also of neo-Ottomanism. What should we do? Let's not negotiate over the corridor issue. But since there is such an interest, it is also an opportunity to play a trump card with other players. Use the aikido technique [i.e., use the power of the adversary against him]. The corridor cannot but worry Russia and China. Turkey's behavior worries a number of other countriesFrance, Egypt, the Arab world. We must try to use the forces uniting against these encroachments," he added.

Also, Kocharyan stressed the need to restore the status of the Armenian army and of Armenia. "We reached the last one from the Premier League; everyone considered us to have a combat-ready army. It takes three years to rebuild armaments, one year to rebuild and reform the army and increase the professional component. There is a professional military staff in our team, we are ready to engage additional specialists to rebuild the army. It all depends also on the mood. Nothing works for a depressed person. The same thing is happening with the people and the state," Kocharyan said.

He stated that the Armenian authorities are committing a crime by lying and continuing to lie to the people; moreover, with their own budget money.
We [(Armenia)] were not recognizing the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] because, at least during my presidency, it would have meant the beginning of a war. But in fact we were doing everything to build an asymmetric confederation with Nagorno-Karabakh. Second President Robert Kocharyan, the leader of the "Armenia" bloc that will run in the snap parliamentary elections on June 20, said this during Mondays meeting in Meghri town.

"We were integrating everything. Karabakh had its parliament and state structures. But everything was united. It meant that we were building a country. There were some issues about which we were always manifesting carefulness not to provoke a war. And I am confident that if these people [i.e., the incumbent Armenian authorities] had not come to power, we could have been holding negotiations for another 30 years," Kocharyan added.

He stated that Azerbaijan rejected the idea of returning the former NKAO, realizing that the Armenians will not give the "corridor." But they hoped that one day they would be able to return the territories. "The right negotiations were so that they would not lose hope because then there would not have been any other way but war. What did the [current Armenian] authorities do? They made the negotiations reach a deadlock. They were saying one thing, tomorrowanother. They were lying to everyone. They created a situation that neither Azerbaijan nor the mediators understood what they wanted. Then they announced that Karabakh is Armeniaperiod! Then they said that they were not interested in the negotiations, they had decided everything, they were only interested in security; moreover, the [serving] president of Karabakh also was saying that; populist statements. They started talking about big projects, roads, and housing in the south.

They did the [Artsakh presidential] inauguration in Shushi [town]; this is as sensitive a topic for them as it is for us. It was as if they were constantly heating. They were saying, Do not hope that you will achieve anything through negotiations. You can behave like that if you do not have a population of 3 million, but 50 million, whereas your opponent3 to 4 million; in the current situation it was stupidity. They were putting pressure on their national dignity. They did everything to make war inevitable, and they did everything to lose the war," Kocharyan said.
The Hotel Show Dubai 2021, the largest event of its kind in the region, returned live and in-person on May 31 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The show, which is running for until June 2, welcomed thousands of enthusiastic visitors and exhibitors from over 20 countries.

The 21st edition of The Hotel Show Dubai was inaugurated by His Royal Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, adding significance to the opening moment and underlining the importance of live events as an integral element of the regions hospitality industry.

Exhibitors included a selection of leading regional and international brands, with attendance from a raft of notable industry leaders who are participating in a full schedule of seminars, live competitions, conferences, and demonstrations, providing many networking possibilities and the exchange of inspiring ideas.

Anna Jafra, Manager at Pomerania Development Agency commented We represent 11 companies from our region and weve had a lot of interest from visitors already on the first day and made some exciting contacts. Its been very busy and were particularly impressed with the level of health and safety precautions in place that are making this show possible for so many people.

The first day at The Hotel Show Dubai encouraged a strong revival of the hospitality industry, indicating a bright and prosperous future for all those involved. Andy White, Senior Vice President at dmg events, said: "Our aim at The Hotel Show 2021 is to educate, inspire and entertain. We're delighted to be back after 15 months, and, as a result, have focused on developing outstanding content for this year's edition. We are pleased to have doubled the number of seminars and have three times as many speakers as previous editions. We are delighted with how day one has done with an array of things to experience under one roof and cant wait for days two and three."

Hospitality Leadership Forum

The Hospitality Leadership Forum offered a rare opportunity to spend time with the industry's most outstanding leaders. Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism & Commerce Marketing, was welcomed with a standing ovation in recognition of DTCMs decisive handling of the pandemic over the past 15 months. His engaging keynote offered a unique insight into Dubais strategic response to Covid-19, which has seen the Emirate emerge as a global blueprint of destination marketing success.

The F&B Stakeholders Summit

Elsewhere, the F&B Stakeholders Summit showcased a series of focused conversations for a sector that has been incredibly challenged by the COVID-19 era. Naim Maadad, Chief Executive, Gates Hospitality Board Member, Dubai Restaurants, led the first discussion, acknowledging the wealth of venues and talent available in the region and encouraging the industry to recognise the need to encourage, educate and reward industry professionals for their contributions to safeguard future retention and recovery.

HITEC Dubai 2021

Frank Wolfe, HITEC Dubai Chairman, took to the stage to commence an interactive series of discussions on topics such as data breach prevention and management, supporting the age of mobile: wireless optimization, guest interaction, as well as a panel projecting future travel trends, and what the hospitality industry can learn from developments in other industries.

The Hotel Show Chefs Table Challenge

Ten participating chefs battled it out on day one of this years long-awaited Chefs Table Challenge which returned for its third edition at The Hotel Show Dubai 2021. Visitors and exhibitors witnessed judges score participating teams on mise en place, culinary skills, presentation, and, of course, taste. - TradeArabia News Service
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 07.06.21:

 The campaign for snap parliamentary elections has officially kicked off in Armenia Monday, and it will continue until June 18.

The snap parliamentary elections will be held on June 20. However, online voting will start at 8 am on Friday and will continue until 8 pm on Sunday.

A total of 22 political parties and 4 blocs are running in the elections.

MP candidates, parties, blocs, or bloc member parties can submit their applications for withdrawal by 6 pm on Thursday.

 On Monday morning, the Azerbaijani armed forces once again tried to carry out engineering works at the border section of Verin Shorzha village of Gegharkunik Province at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The Armenian army divisions carried out countermeasures demanding the immediate cessation of these works and the removal of the engineering equipment. These works were stopped and the equipment was removed to the Azerbaijani part of the border.

 The National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia has exposed a case of high treason committed by an organized group.

A former Armenian soldierwho was awarded medals, badges, honor certificates, and government awardshad gone to Turkey with another person who is friends with him under the pretext of looking for a job, but appeared there in the sight of Azerbaijani special services. He accepted their offer to be recruited by them in exchange for receiving material benefits to the detriment of Armenia's territorial integrity and external security.

These men then left Turkey for another country to meet with senior Azerbaijani special services officials to document the aforesaid verbal agreement and receive specific instructions. At the Azerbaijani embassy in this third country, the persons signed recruitment agreements. They received respective code names and prepayments from Azerbaijani special services.

Two members of this organized group have been included as defendants in the criminal case into the above-mentioned criminal acts, testified, and were remanded in custody.

 Armenia and Georgia are restoring railway communication, which had been interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the first train will transport passengers from Yerevan to Batumi on June 15.

The first train will depart from Yerevan to Batumi through Tbilisi.

 32 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 223,212.

Also, five more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 4,463 cases.

The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 141, the total respective number so far is 214,504.
The official death toll at this time is about 3,700, which we assume could reach 4,000. Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the ruling Civil Contract Partys candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Armenia, stated this Monday during their election campaign at Geghakert village of Armavir Province, speaking about the number of Armenian casualties in the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war last fall.

"Can anyone explain why they [the former Armenian authorities] are manipulating, saying 5 thousand, 7 thousand? Is that their wish? What is the [meaning to] increase the number of casualties? They have become the lawyer of the Azerbaijani authorities. In fact, the Azerbaijani authorities can say, Well, they say, they massacred, they started the war, they committed war crimes. These people have become the lawyer of Azerbaijan. They want to say that the Azerbaijani authorities did not massacre our soldiers, we massacred our soldiers. Meanwhile, we [the incumbent Armenian authorities] have tried to protect our homeland from the disgraceful legacy of negotiations left by them. But during the war, they were calling the [army] generals, saying, 'Why are you fighting [in Artsakh]? Come, fight in Yerevan.' They continue to move the war to the territory of Armenia, they want to turn Armenia into a stage for a civil war, but we must not allow that," Pashinyan added, urging people to vote for stability.
Newly appointed Ambassador of Italy to Armenia Alfonso di Rizzo today presented his Letters of Credence to President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian.

Sarkissian congratulated the Ambassador, wished him success and said he looks forward to active cooperation. He also mentioned that the relations between Armenia and Italy are built on strong and centuries-old foundations and that the two countries and peoples are similar in terms of their value systems.

Ambassador Alfonso di Rizzo transmitted the warm greetings and kind wishes of President of Italy Sergio Matarella and added that he is ready to make more efforts to advance the traditional and friendly relations between the two countries in different sectors.

Attaching importance to President Armen Sarkissians state visit to Italy that was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Ambassador expressed confidence that the visit will serve as a great impetus and lay the foundation for expansion of the bilateral cooperation.

The parties also touched upon the current level of and potential for development of the Armenia-Italy relations.
Turkish Airlines has announced plans to increase the frequency of its operations from Dubai to its hub Istanbul with the launch of three daily flights this month.

The new flight will start to operate from June 17 and is now available for purchase for holiday planners looking to escape the summer heat.

It will depart from Dubai daily at 10.20am and arrive in Istanbul at 2pm with return flights leaving Istanbul at 8.40pm and arriving in Dubai the next morning at 2am.

Turkish flag carrier has launched a promotional campaign that runs untill June 18 to mark the new flights launch with special offers.

Under this, Economy Class tickets are available at prices starting from AED1595 while Business Class tickets are priced at AED10775 for the campaign period. The tickets purchased during the campaign are valid for the travel period until February 28, 2022. The flight will be operated with wide body aircrafts.

"The passengers travelling from UAE will not be required to submit a negative PCR test result if they submit a document issued by the relevant country's official authorities stating that they have been vaccinated at least 14 days before entry to Turkey and /or have contracted the Covid-19 and were cured within the last 6 months, said a spokesman for the airline.

The airline also launched its Newark route, starting its flights last month. Newark is the 10th US hub in the extensive network of the flag carrier. Other new destinations launched include Vancouver, Canada and Turkistan, Kazakhstan.-TradeArabia News Service
Third member of Tin Shui Wai family has mutant strain

The family live in a housing estate in Tin Shui Wai. File photo: RTHK

Wendy Wong reports

A third member of a Tin Shui Wai family was on Monday confirmed to be infected with a mutated strain of coronavirus.



The 20-year-old student was sent to a quarantine centre on June 4 and developed symptoms such as a cough, runny nose and diarrhoea that same day.



Tests showed she has the N501Y mutant strain of coronavirus, as does her 17-year-old sister and mother.



None of them had been vaccinated against Covid-19.



The Centre For Health Protection also recorded another six imported cases on Monday, including four people who flew in from Indonesia, one from the United Arab Emirates and one from the USA.



There was also a handful of preliminary positive cases.
Man appears in court over Jimmy Lai 'collusion' case

The case at West Kowloon Magistracy was adjourned for three days. File photo: RTHK

A 30-year-old legal assistant appeared in court on Monday over an alleged collusion case involving media tycoon Jimmy Lai and activist Andy Li  one of 12 Hongkongers accused of trying to escape prosecution in the SAR by fleeing to Taiwan.



Chan Tsz-wah has been charged under the national security law and is accused of asking a foreign country to impose sanctions on Hong Kong.



He is also accused of colluding with Lai to help Li in his alleged bid to escape the SAR and travel to Taiwan by speedboat.



Li and 11 others were picked up by the Guangdong coast guard in August 2020 before being detained in Shenzhen.



National security magistrate Victor So on Monday agreed to requests by both the prosecution and the defence to adjourn the hearing at West Kowloon Magistracy for three days, for preparations to be made for the case to be transferred to the High Court.



Chan, who did not apply for bail, was remanded in custody.
Spain opens borders to vaccinated travellers

Barajas Airport in Madrid appears to be busy again as Spain welcomes more travellers from other countries. Photo: AFP

Spain opened its borders to vaccinated travellers from all over the world on Monday, hoping an influx of visitors will revitalise an all-important tourism sector that has been battered by the coronavirus pandemic.



The opening kicks off what many are hoping will be a busy summer tourism season in Europe as vaccine rates pick-up across the continent.



On Monday morning, with the mercury already high, tourists from Germany, Ireland and Belgium could be seen passing through the arrival gates at Malaga airport.



At least 20 international flights landed in the morning at the most important tourist gateway in the southern Andalusia region.



Visitors arriving in the sun-soaked Spanish resort of Malaga were happy to finally be able to hit the beach after more than a year of lockdown misery.



"We're thrilled, delighted. We love Spain, the sun, the food and everything about it," said Irish holidaymaker Gillian Ford, who arrived from rainy Dublin having had her second vaccination.



"You only live once so you need to get out of here and enjoy," she said before heading off to the beaches of Marbella with her husband Edward.



Under the new rules, Spain from Monday is allowing visitors in who have been fully vaccinated for at least 14 days.



Non-vaccinated Europeans, who could previously enter Spain with a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours, can now take a cheaper antigen test withing the past 48 hours instead.



For some, the new rules allowed for long-overdue trips.



"I haven't been out of Belgium for a year," said Rose Huo, a 73-year-old Belgian who came to spend a month with her sister.



"Everyone is happy I think. We are still very careful but it's a start," she said.



Heavily dependent on its tourism industry, Spain was one of the Western economies worst hit by the pandemic, seeing a 10.8 percent fall in its GDP in 2020.



The Spanish government has set an objective of drawing 45 million travellers by the end of the year.



But by the end of April, the country had only seen 1.8 million visitors, according to official statistics.



Regardless, those in the tourism sector are still hoping for a summer surge of visitors.



Jose Luis Prieto, president of Spain's travel agents' union (Unav) is hoping for a "spectacular recovery" after a punishing year.



According to him, over the last few weeks tour operators in Britain, France and Germany  Spain's three main markets  have been receiving a large number of enquiries.



Across the country, from the Costa del Sol to the Canary Islands, hotels and restaurants have reopened after months of closures, and airlines have restarted routes dropped during the height of the pandemic.



Spain will also begin allowing cruise boats into its ports again from Monday.



Despite Spain's easing of measures, the United Kingdom, a huge tourism market for the country, has not yet removed Spain from its list of at-risk countries.



That means British travellers will have to quarantine on their return home as well as pay for expensive Covid-19 tests.



The British normally make up the largest contingent of tourists to Spain. In 2019 over one-fifth of Spain's 83.5 million arrivals were from the United Kingdom.



Britain's decision to keep Spain on its amber list was, however, "disappointing", Health Minister Carolina Darias said.



Spain had put several measures in place to lure British tourists to its shores, such as allowing them to enter without having to present a PCR test from late May.



Against the backdrop of uncertainty, major travel operator TUI has cancelled all its flights to Spain until June 13.



London will not revisit its decision for another three weeks, losing precious time for those in the hospitality sector hoping to recover. (AFP)
Associated Press

President Joe Biden said on the fifth anniversary of a mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that he will sign a bill naming the site as a national memorial. The deadliest attack on the LGBTQ community in U.S. history left 49 people dead and 53 people wounded as Latin Night was being celebrated at the club. Biden said in a statement Saturday that he has stayed in touch with families of the victims and with the survivors who have turned their pain into purpose" and described the club as hallowed ground.
When the outdoor ceremony to honor the 21 graduates of Hartfords adult education program was moved inside the cafeteria at the Global Communications Academy one recent evening, it was an apt metaphor that sometimes things dont work out according to plan.

A little rain wasnt going to stop these perseverant students who were about to collect their high school diplomas after years of overcoming the odds.

Each graduate had their own story. For one, it was a six-year process of dropping out of the Adult Education Center program and coming back in hopes of getting her high school diploma to inspire her children. For another, it was leaving her homeland of Jamaica where she couldnt afford a high school education, and upon coming to the States, had to learn how to use a computer and become proficient in it at the age of 58. Other learners had to overcome language barriers. All 21 of them had to figure out the balance of education, work and family.

We know theres been doubt, fear, uncertainty, trauma and loss that some of us have experienced, Hartford Superintendent Dr. Leslie-Torres-Rodriguez said. In our immediate families, all of those were very real, and that has been a shared experience across so many of us, and when you think about that, and we overlay your experience in terms of continuing to persevere through that, that is a significant accomplishment.

The ceremony was a sigh of relief for many of the graduates, because in addition to the struggle of returning to school for an education, they were also faced the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges of remote learning.

Originally from Jamaica, 44-year-old Marsha Lawrence dropped out of high school after becoming pregnant at age 16 in 1993.

She came to the United States in October 2016 to help her husband who immigrated to the country and was struggling managing cognitive difficulties due to head trauma he suffered as a teenager and in his early 20s.

She returned to Jamaica in January of 2020 so she could begin the immigration process. After traveling homethe borders were put under lockdown and she ended up separated from her husband of five years for over 14 months. In that time, he caught COVID-19, and with hundreds and thousands of miles between the pair, the two continued to struggle with maintaining communication and hope.

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When I was in Jamaica, I just could not sleep. Honestly I can tell you that I didnt sleep for a year, Lawrence said. It was rough on me and my husband. It was rough. We took it really hard. My husband got the coronavirus in January, here at work, and it really had a toll on all of us.

She was able to return to the United States on May 15, and she finished her requirements for her high school diploma in less than three weeks. She now hopes to continue her education and become a nurse.

When I came back, I felt so at peace, and right away I was just able to do all I should to be able to get ready for this, Lawrence said. I think what inspired me was what I went through. It gave me this push not to wait any longer, not to let anything hold me back. At this moment, I decided to push on through it all, and honestly I have a family that is just strong and I just wanted to make a difference here. In Jamaica, I never got this chance, and knowing I had the chance here, I decided Im going to make a difference.

Antasha Green, 25, had a similar set of challenges that began with her pregnancy as a teenager and leaving school to focus on her family. For six years, the Hartford native wrestled with coming back to the adult learning program, but was always interrupted with prioritizing work and her family. She would leave, then try again.

The graduation ceremony last Thursday was the day she had been waiting for because its an opportunity to inspire to her four children, who are all under 10. Shes now aiming to become a medical assistant.

I did it for them. I do everything for them, she said. I knew I couldnt keep giving up because the kids were getting older, and I dont want to be someone with no education because when they ask for help on their homework, I want to be able to help them.

And for some other graduates, such as Morene Walter-Watkins, the adult education program was a chance never offered to her as a young woman.

In Jamaica, my parents couldnt afford it, Walter-Watkins said. I wanted to go to high school and didnt get the chance to, so when I got here, I began making the progress.

Then the pandemic brought a new twist on learning  a forced push toward technological proficiency.

Learning how to use technology would become personal to Walter-Watkins, who is 58, because in order to get her diploma, she had to learn how to use a computer for the first time.

I remember one time, a teacher said to me whether I can [finish], and I said I am determined. I am slow, but Im going to make it, she said. I was sad because I could not type, but I continued to progress until I passed. ... I didnt know much, but I got the most from hard work and making it happen, [and] I was the first to pass before all the rest that came before me. I was the first one to pass completely.

Walter-Watkins wasnt the only one who struggled with online learning, as the pandemic forced most students to improve their computer skills.

One of the blessings that came out of the pandemic is that my students now know how to use technology, said Zandralyn Gordon, director of the adult education program. I kept telling them, If you try to get a job now and you dont know technology, you wont get that, because you wont know how to use it. But, if you can say, I know how to use Word or you know how to use Excel, or you can understand technology more than just read an email  the real stuff  then you stand a better chance of obtaining a job and being able to pivot.

Always remember its never too late to educate. Its never too late to reach the stars, Gordon said, quoting the programs school song. Believing in yourself is where you start. Its never too late to learn.

Jessika Harkay can be reached at jharkay@courant.com.
ITL World, the region's leading travel management company (TMC), has signed a new multi-year agreement with Sabre Corporation, the leading software and technology company that powers the global travel industry.

The expanded, long-term agreement will see ITL World work with Sabre to deploy the latest technology and best solutions to drive growth, boost revenue and transform its business during the anticipated recovery period and beyond. ITL World will continue to use Sabres next-generation travel agency desktop, Sabre Red 360, to deliver an intelligent and consultative service to travellers, create compelling shopping experiences for customers and provide an enhanced level of expertise to help people travel again.

Travellers have developed new expectations throughout this crisis and are seeking assurances, flexibility and real-time communications from travel providers. I therefore believe that the road towards recovery relies heavily on technology, said Dr. Siddeek Ahmed, Chairman and Managing Director, ITL World. Sabre has the technology and development to support our strategy and enable us to cater to the new expectations of todays traveller. We are looking at intelligent solutions such AI and NDC that will help us meet the demands of the new-age, technology savvy traveller by providing a seamless, interactive and personalized experience.

ITL World agents will leverage the industry-leading technology, data-driven insights and intuitive interface of the industry-leading Sabre Red 360 platform, allowing them to further enhance the consultative service they offer travellers.

We are delighted to be working with a technology-driven customer like ITL World, which recognises the role that advanced technology can play in its success, said Abdul-Razzaq Iyer, vice president, Sabre Travel Network Middle East. By offering customers a highly intelligent and tailored shopping experience, ITL World will be able to tap into recovery growth and win back the trust of travellers. I therefore believe that Sabres increased innovation and investment into advanced technological development will position agencies like ITL World for long-term success well beyond the crisis.

Sabre has recently announced the development of Sabre Travel AI. This industry-first technology will utilise state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to deliver highly relevant and personalised content that better meets the demands of todays traveller. - TradeArabia News Service
In 2014 Alexis Patjane was at a local hookah bar in Mexico City with some friends and the bar ran out of tobacco. They thought maybe they could buy some online and have it delivered to the bar in real-time, but it turns out that service didnt exist.

At the time, Patjane was running a food truck-making business, which was responsible for about 80% of all the food trucks in Mexico, so he had experience doing business in the region.

A couple of weeks later, to solve the instant delivery problem he had faced at the hookah bar, Patjane launched 99 minutos, a website that sold products and delivered them within 99 minutes, hence the name.

Today, 99 minutos announced a $40 million Series B from Prosus and Kaszek Ventures which it plans to use to grow its business in Latin America.

The company currently operates within 40 major markets across Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Peru and offers four services: less than 99 minutes delivery, same-day delivery, next-day delivery, and CO2-free delivery.

What started as an e-commerce company with fast delivery quickly became a last-mile delivery service for other e-commerce companies.

We started to build the API connections and plug-ins, and any e-commerce could add our delivery service to their business, Patjane told TechCrunch.

99 minutos makes money by charging the customer a flat fee for delivery and then offering the driver a flat rate as well, but today, the volume is so large on each route, that its become very lucrative.

We ship about 60-80 packages per route, Patjane said, and from the consumers perspective, the delivery app works similarly to Waze. You can pause the delivery, you can change the address. You can say, Oh, Im not at home, Im at the Starbucks on the corner, can you drop it off there? he added.

Patjane said that initially, the company offered delivery only within Mexico City, but it quickly grew to offer its services between cities and now operates between 21 cities in Mexico.

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E-commerce is growing quickly in Latin America, but it is still [the] early days. E-commerce penetration in Latin America is at 6%, while China is reaching 30% and the U.S. is at 20%, the company said in a statement.

When we hear big e-commerce players saying that 99 minutos is their most reliable partner and that they are the provider with the most potential, it tells us that the team is executing extremely well and is on a path to disrupt e-commerce delivery in Latin America, said Banafsheh Fathieh, Head of Americas Investments at Prosus Ventures.

Part of the funds will also be to speed up their city-to-city deliveries. Well be doing same day [delivery] from city to city and will be using small aircraft to connect the cities, Patjane said.
KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Teenager Fatima Noori and her fellow pupils hug and pray as they gather in their Kabul classroom, just weeks after bombs exploded right outside the school gates, killing scores of their classmates.

The Sayed Ul-Shuhada High School in the west of the city has remained closed since the May 8 bombings, but a local NGO and the Ministry of Public Health have been holding psychotherapy classes there for girls to help with any trauma.

"When I first entered the school (after the blast) to attend the psychotherapy class, I was very scared and worried that the same incident might happen again," 15-year-old Fatima told Reuters last month. "I even fainted near the school gate."

But Fatima said her resolve had grown since then and she was determined to return to school, even with the potential threat of another explosion.

"I want to come back to school even more strongly than before and continue my studies," she said. "I want to continue the path of those who were martyred."

Girls and boys at the high school study in three shifts. The May 8 attack targeted the second shift, which is for female students, Najiba Arian, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education, told Reuters.

Fatima was in the school corridor getting ready to go home when the first bomb exploded outside the school gate. Two more bombs detonated as people rushed to escape. At least 80 people were killed and 160 injured, most of them schoolgirls.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and the Taliban denied responsibility. But the minority Hazara neighbourhood where the school is located has repeatedly been targeted by militants.

The United States and many other Western nations have touted girls' education as one of the key successes of years of foreign presence in Afghanistan.

More than 3.5 million girls are now enrolled in school in the country, according to USAID, compared to none during the Taliban's rule from 1996 to 2001. But an estimated 3.7 million children remain out of school, 60% of them girls, according to UNICEF.

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Security is deteriorating as foreign forces prepare to leave Afghanistan later this year, emboldening some hard-line Islamist groups to threaten the progress made in girls' education.

Fatima's father, 36-year-old Taqi Noori, said he thought about, but decided against, leaving the country.

"There is always war in Afghanistan, but what can we do? This is our country ... if we go somewhere else, my children would be deprived of education," he said from their hillside home, about a 10-minute walk from Fatima's school.

Fatima has continued her studies at home as she waits for the school to reopen, the timing of which remains uncertain.

"I am interested in medical science, and I want to become a good doctor in the future to treat our security forces injured while defending our people, land, and our borders."

(Reporting by Kabul newsroom; Editing by Jane Wardell)
CEOs from the largest airlines in the U.S. and U.K. urged regulators in both countries Monday to reopen transatlantic travel.

"Throughout the pandemic, experts have encouraged governments, businesses and the public to follow the science. United and other airlines have done just that," said United Airlines (UAL) CEO Scott Kirby.

Kirby and other airline executives held a press conference this morning to make the case to reopen what is called the UK-U.S. travel corridor. They called on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Joe Biden to "open the skies" during their meeting at the G-7 this coming weekend.

"The millions of travel supported U.S. jobs lost to the pandemic cannot be replaced without the return of international visitors, and the UK is our number one overseas travel market," according to U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow.

Prior to the pandemic, there were more than 30 flights daily between London and U.S. destinations. The association says restricting international travel will cost the U.S. economy $325 billion and more than 1 million jobs by the end of 2021.

The United States has barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who have been in the UK within the last 14 days from entering the country since March 2020. And, most U.S. travelers visiting the UK must quarantine for 10 days upon arrival.

Shai Weiss, the CEO of Virgin Atlantic, said the, "Overly cautious approach fails to reap the benefits of the successful vaccination programs in both the UK and the U.S."

"Nobody wants to go to Europe to stay in their hotel room for a week or be under quarantine," airline industry analyst Bob Harrell told Yahoo Finance last month.

The airlines are calling on regulators to lift entry requirements for UK travelers who can provide a negative COVID-19 test ahead of their arriving in the U.S or present proof they have been fully vaccinated.

On the U.K. side they are asking British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to consider easing the testing requirements for travelers entering the UK.

Story continues

JetBlue (JBLU) CEO Robin Hayes said, "The surge in travel in recent weeks has been remarkable as case counts fall and vaccination rates rise." JetBlue will begin flying to London this August but other airlines are already adding capacity as other European destinations open.

European bookings 'go through the roof'

United's Kirby said international travel used to be a third of United's business but most destinations remain closed. "And as they're starting to open, we see huge demand," Kirby told the Annual Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference. "Every time another country in Europe opens up, it's Katy bar the door for bookings and they go through the roof, again indicating huge desire for travel," Kirby said.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) just announced it will offer nine times as many flights to Paris starting in July. Although France is opening to tourists this Wednesday, French citizens are still restricted from entering the United States.

"The country will welcome vaccinated travelers beginning June 9 without quarantine requirements," according to a Delta press release: "Passengers must provide proof that they are fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the European Medicines Agency as well as present a negative COVID test upon arrival (less than 72 hours for a PCR test or less than 48 hours for an antigen test)."

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said, "The risks clearly are really really low. He says Delta and the other airlines are lobbying the Biden administration to update what is referred to as INA 212F, the U.S. pandemic regulation that restricts non citizens from entering the U.S.

American Airlines (AAL) CEO Doug Parker said reopening travel between the US and UK is a critical next step in both the travel industry and global economy's recovery. "With vaccine availability continuing to expand, we know that our business and leisure customers are increasingly eager to cross the Atlantic," he said.

Adam Shapiro is co-anchor of Yahoo Finance Live 3pm to 5pm. Follow him on Twitter @Ajshaps

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(SOT - BRITISH AIRWAYS CEO SEAN DOYLE)

"We can set the pace for international travel. You know, two countries, low prevalence of infection, high vaccination rates, lower risk. We've got to go for it."

That's British Airways CEO Sean Doyle pleading on Monday for authorities in the U.S. and the U.K. to come up with a plan to relax international flying rules between the two countries, after more than a year of health restrictions.

"It's been devastating but we have a great opportunity to get back in the air."

Doyle was joined in a virtual press conference by American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes.

The U.S. has had a ban in place since March 2020, barring nearly all non-U.S. citizens who have been in the United Kingdom within the previous 14 days from entering the country. On the flip side, most U.S. travelers visiting the United Kingdom must quarantine for 10 days upon arrival.

Given the high rates of vaccination in the U.S. and the U.K., and rebounding economies on both sides of the Atlantic, airline execs like Doug Parker of American Airlines made the financial case for lifting the restrictions.

"International travel, as we all know, is fundamental to global economic activity. So safely reinstating trans-Atlantic service would send an important signal to the entire world. And the formation of a U.S.-UK travel corridor would re-open the most valuable long-haul travel market for each of our countries, and create significant economic benefits."

The plea to relax health restrictions on trans-Atlantic routes comes ahead of a meeting later this week between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on the sidelines of the G7 summit of leading world economies.

(SOT - BRITISH AIRWAYS CEO SEAN DOYLE)

"I think there's much more at stake here than a holiday. It's about trade, it's about visiting friends and relatives. And it's about getting back and doing business and reemploying people."

Story continues

Domestic travel has started to rebound but global airlines are still hemorrhaging on top of the billions of dollars in losses last year.

Video Transcript

SEAN DOYLE: We can set the pace for international travel. You know, two countries, low prevalence of infection, high vaccination rates, low risk. We've got to go for it.

- That's British Airways CEO Sean Doyle pleading on Monday for authorities in the US and the UK to come up with a plan to relax international flying rules between the two countries after more than a year of health restrictions.

SEAN DOYLE: So it's been devastating. But we have a great opportunity to get back in the air.

- Doyle was joined in a virtual press conference by American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby, and JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes. The US has had a ban in place since March 2020, barring nearly all non-US citizens who have been in the United Kingdom within the previous 14 days from entering the country. On the flip side, most US travelers visiting the United Kingdom must quarantine for 10 days upon arrival.

Given the high rates of vaccination in the US and the UK and rebounding economies on both sides of the Atlantic, airline execs like Doug Parker of American Airlines made the financial case for lifting the restrictions.

DOUG PARKER: International travel, as we all know, is fundamental to global economic activity. So safely reinstating transatlantic service would send an important signal to the entire world. And the formation of a US-UK travel corridor would reopen the most valuable, long-haul travel market for each of our countries and create significant economic benefit.

- The plea to relax health restrictions on transatlantic routes comes ahead of a meeting later this week between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the G7 summit of leading world economies.

SEAN DOYLE: I think there's much more at stake here than a holiday. It's about trade. It's about visiting friends and relatives. And it's about getting back and doing business and really employing people.

- Domestic travel has started to rebound but global airlines are still hemorrhaging on top of the billions of in losses last year.
An Alabama sheriffs deputy drowned Sunday and another was hospitalized while pulling swimmers out of the Gulf of Mexico.

Deputy Bill Smith, a seven-year veteran of the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office, responded to a swimmer in distress call Sunday evening and found three sinking swimmers. A second deputy, Sydney Wentworth, also jumped in to help.

The rescue attempt, all of the swimmers and both deputies, were drawn into deeper waters, Baldwin County Sheriff Huey Mack told WKRG. This was possibly caused by rip current.

Smith, 57, was pulled from the water and rushed to an emergency facility in Gulf Shores, where he was pronounced dead.

Wentworth was hospitalized and released Monday.

The swimmers were all rescued alive.

What happened (Sunday) is what I expected Bill to do, Mack said. Without hesitation, he perceived a life was in danger and went in to save a life.

Before joining the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office, Smith worked at the Calhoun County Sheriffs Office and as a firefighter in Georgia.

Deputy Smiths brave and swift response to save the life of another should cause us all to pause and reflect upon the sacrifice of all law enforcement, Alabama Attorney General Marshall tweeted. We can never repay Deputy Smith for putting the life of a potential victim ahead of his own.
Unknown to the Huguley family, 6-year-old Kendrick Jr. was still trapped inside the home. He died at a hospital.

Video Transcript

FRANCES HUGULEY: He was always smiling from the time he came out, and he loved his family.

- Talking about her little boy.

FRANCES HUGULEY: He loved transformers. He loved--

KENDRICK HUGULEY: Hot Wheels.

FRANCES HUGULEY: --playing with his dad. He loved playing with his sisters.

- Frances Huguley can't help but smile.

FRANCES HUGULEY: He was a baby brother but he thought he was a big brother.

[LAUGHS]

He loved helping out. He was a sweetie pie.

- But Frances and Kendrick Huguley Sr. are facing an impossible pain, the loss of their six-year-old son, Kendrick Jr. A fire ripped through this town-home near Iliff and Peoria early Wednesday morning.

FRANCES HUGULEY: Woke up to someone screaming "get out." So I went downstairs and see my couch on fire.

- Frances says she thought that everyone was out safely.

FRANCES HUGULEY: I don't know why I thought that, but out of waking up out of a dead sleep, yeah, I thought that.

- But Kendrick was still inside. Firefighters eventually pulled him from the home.

FRANCES HUGULEY: Trying to process all this and don't know how to process it. I'm taking it one moment at a time.

- Frances says her two daughters were taken into protective custody.

FRANCES HUGULEY: I lost everything.

- A family member started a GoFundMe to help pay for Kendrick's funeral service and to replace whatever material items they can.

FRANCES HUGULEY: We're going to get there. I don't see the light right now, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
By Stephen Nellis

(Reuters) - Apple Inc, facing accusations from rivals that it has too much control over its App Store, on Monday outlined plans to increase user privacy and keep consumer data out of other companies' hands, laying out features including expanded video conferencing and storing virtual government IDs on iPhones.

The changes came at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference for software developers, some of whom have started to complain about Apple's grip over which apps can appear on its devices, as well as its 15% to 30% commissions on digital sales.

Many of the new features allow users to safeguard data, trusting the information to the Apple brand. Users will be able to scan ID cards in participating U.S. states, and the cards will be encrypted in a user's digital wallet, along with credit cards and transit cards in some U.S. cities. It is working with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to accept the digital IDs at airports.

In many cases, Apple itself cannot see all the information. The company has updated the paid version of its iCloud storage service to include a service that obscures a user's Web-browsing habits, even from Apple. Another new iCloud feature will let users hide their real email address, which has become increasingly used as an identifier for digital marketers to track users. Apple said iCloud pricing will not change with the new features.

Apple also tweaked some of its apps and services in ways that could intensify its rivalries with Zoom Video Communications Inc and Microsoft Corp's Teams, both of which gained prominence during the pandemic.

It updated its FaceTime video chat app to allow scheduling calls with multiple attendees and making the software compatible with Android and Windows devices.

Apple also introduced what it calls in-app events, a way for developers to host live events within apps and have those events featured in real time in the App Store. Video game developers, for example, could host live tournaments and market those on the App Store, which Apple's current systems are not built to handle.

Story continues

The move could intensify competition with Facebook Inc, which on Monday said it was planning to launch an online events business that would be free until 2023 and thereafter will charge commissions lower than Apple's 30% fees for the App Store.

Several of the other features Apple introduced Monday, such as the ability to snap a photo of a sign and use artificial intelligence to pluck out the written text, have been present on the rival Android operating system for several years.

The rest of Apple's conference is dedicated to technical sessions for developers, some of whom have bristled at its controls and fees.

Those issues have come under regulatory scrutiny and are at the heart of an antitrust lawsuit brought by "Fortnite" creator Epic Games, in which a federal judge is considering how to rule.

Apple has said its App Store practices increase the market for mobile software by creating an environment for paid apps that consumers trust, and Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and his team did not address frayed developer relations during the presentation.

Not all developers have negative sentiments, said Ben Bajarin, chief executive at Creative Strategies, who has been surveying Apple developers and found more than 90% have no plans to stop making apps for Apple devices.

However, some complaints are widespread, with more than half of developers saying fees should be capped at 10%, and many wanting more clarity around reasons for rejecting apps from the App Store and how to resolve such issues, Bajarin said.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Peter Henderson, Aurora Ellis, Nick Zieminski and Jonathan Oatis)
- By GF Value





The stock of ASML Holding NV (NAS:ASML, 30-year Financials) is estimated to be significantly overvalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $683.3 per share and the market cap of $284.6 billion, ASML Holding NV stock shows every sign of being significantly overvalued. GF Value for ASML Holding NV is shown in the chart below.





ASML Holding NV Stock Shows Every Sign Of Being Significantly Overvalued

Because ASML Holding NV is significantly overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be much lower than its future business growth, which averaged 17.1% over the past three years and is estimated to grow 18.21% annually over the next three to five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

Since investing in companies with low financial strength could result in permanent capital loss, investors must carefully review a company's financial strength before deciding whether to buy shares. Looking at the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage can give a good initial perspective on the company's financial strength. ASML Holding NV has a cash-to-debt ratio of 1.01, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Semiconductors industry. Based on this, GuruFocus ranks ASML Holding NV's financial strength as 7 out of 10, suggesting fair balance sheet. This is the debt and cash of ASML Holding NV over the past years:

Story continues

ASML Holding NV Stock Shows Every Sign Of Being Significantly Overvalued

It is less risky to invest in profitable companies, especially those with consistent profitability over long term. A company with high profit margins is usually a safer investment than those with low profit margins. ASML Holding NV has been profitable 10 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $18.8 billion and earnings of $12.735 a share. Its operating margin is 32.61%, which ranks better than 95% of the companies in Semiconductors industry. Overall, the profitability of ASML Holding NV is ranked 8 out of 10, which indicates strong profitability. This is the revenue and net income of ASML Holding NV over the past years:

ASML Holding NV Stock Shows Every Sign Of Being Significantly Overvalued

Growth is probably the most important factor in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long term performance of a company's stock. The faster a company is growing, the more likely it is to be creating value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. The 3-year average annual revenue growth rate of ASML Holding NV is 17.1%, which ranks better than 83% of the companies in Semiconductors industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 17.9%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Semiconductors industry.

Another way to look at the profitability of a company is to compare its return on invested capital and the weighted cost of capital. Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. We want to have the return on invested capital higher than the weighted cost of capital. For the past 12 months, ASML Holding NV's return on invested capital is 22.25, and its cost of capital is 7.33. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of ASML Holding NV is shown below:

ASML Holding NV Stock Shows Every Sign Of Being Significantly Overvalued

To conclude, The stock of ASML Holding NV (NAS:ASML, 30-year Financials) gives every indication of being significantly overvalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is strong. Its growth ranks in the middle range of the companies in Semiconductors industry. To learn more about ASML Holding NV stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomed NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to the Pentagon on Monday. (June 7)

Video Transcript

LLOYD AUSTIN: Obviously, we're focused on NATO's top job, which, as you and I have talked about on a number of occasions, that job is maintaining credible deterrence, and being ready to fight and win if deterrence should fail. But so, too, are we focused on ensuring the entire alliance has a comprehensive view of the challenges the transatlantic community faces, and for leading NATO's adaptation to meet those threats.

[INAUDIBLE] our collective efforts in Afghanistan. The withdrawal of US forces from that country is proceeding well. And as I have made clear back in April, when we announced our decision in Brussels, the United States remains committed to assisting our resolute support partners as they, too, retrograde. As you yourself said when we went into Afghanistan together, we adjusted our posture together, and we are united in leaving together. And that's exactly what we're doing.

JENS STOLTENBERG: So as we now end our military presence in Afghanistan, we will continue to provide support to the Afghans with our continued civilian presence in Afghanistan, with continued funding for the Afghan security forces, and also looking to the possibility of providing out-of-country training for Afghan forces, and of course also helping to maintain critical infrastructure such as the airport. So we need to stay coordinated, we need to work together with the partners as we now end our military presence in Afghanistan.

Of course, also very much realize that we need to invest in our security to make sure that we continue to be able to deliver credible [INAUDIBLE] in a more unpredictable and competitive world. And therefore, as you just alluded to, [INAUDIBLE] the fact that European allies [INAUDIBLE] have invested more over now seven years. And I expect them to continue to do so.
SkyCity casino in Adelaide, Australia

Australia is expanding an investigation into casinos over a potential breach of money laundering laws.

Owners of the main casinos in Australia's five biggest cities are now under formal investigation.

National Australia Bank (NAB) and casino operators Crown Resorts, Star Entertainment Group and SkyCity Entertainment Group have all been included.

The investigations are being conducted by the anti-money laundering regulator.

Crown has already been investigated for potential breaches at its Melbourne casino, but now its Perth casino will also be under scrutiny.

The company has been unable to open a newly built Sydney casino costing A$2.2bn (1.2bn; $1.7bn) after a landmark inquiry earlier this year said the company was unfit to hold a gaming licence in New South Wales.

The inquiry found that Crown had been "facilitating money laundering, exposing staff to the risk of detention in a foreign jurisdiction and pursuing commercial relationships with individuals" connected to criminal groups at casinos in other Australian cities.

The commissioner of the inquiry recommended an overhaul of the company's governance, beginning with the sacking of most of the board.

For years, Crown has been dogged by allegations of illegal activity occurring at its casinos, including widespread money laundering and junkets for Chinese high-roller gamblers linked to organised crime groups.

Star Entertainment Group, which runs Sydney's only casino, is also now being investigated over suspected breaches of customer due diligence laws.

That could jeopardise a $7bn proposal to buy rival Crown Resorts, which has been fielding takeover approaches in the face of the money laundering allegations.

New Zealand based SkyCity, which runs one casino in Australia, said the regulator is investigating its Adelaide operation over potential shortfalls in management of customers identified as "high risk and politically exposed".

Story continues

NAB said its investigation is focused on weak customer identification procedures and background checks.

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) works to prevent organised criminals using banks and companies to finance their operations.

The regulator told the BBC that it "works with state and territory regulators and law enforcement partners to actively address the significant risks of money laundering through casinos" and to "support regulation and education of the gambling sector".

Australia has seen record penalties in recent years as a result of money laundering breaches.

In September of last year, Australia's Westpac bank was fined a record A$1.3bn for the nation's biggest breach of money laundering laws.

The Commonwealth Bank agreed to pay a record A$700m in 2018 in a money laundering case.
Help India!



T. M. Umar Farooq was born a Hindu as T. M. Mani, in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. His ancestors were bonded labourers and he only had primary education. T. M. Mani, however, was well versed in Tamil literature and its philosophical tradition. As an anti-caste activist, he also had a good understanding of Marxist ideologies. He was jailed several times while protesting for the cause of the marginalized. T.M. Umar Farooq believed that Islam is the only religion that will help the Dalits gain self-respect. The great leader passed away on June 5, 2015.

Shalini S | TwoCircles.net

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TAMIL NADU  T. M. Umar Farooq is a legendary anti-caste leader and social activist from the state of Tamil Nadu in India. He was born a Hindu and later converted to Islam. Like Dr B R Ambedkar, he strongly believed that only religious conversion can emancipate the Dalits and advocated for the same throughout his life. On June 5, his death anniversary was commemorated by the Fraternity Movement of Pondicherry University through the online platform Facebook.

An expert talk on the life of T. M. Umar Farooq was delivered by Jalaluddin Z, State General Secretary, Islamiya Jananaya Peravai (Islamic Democratic Front), Pondicherry.

T. M. Umar Farooq was born a Hindu as T. M. Mani, in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. His ancestors were bonded labourers and he only had primary education. T. M. Mani, however, was well versed in Tamil literature and its philosophical tradition. As an anti-caste activist, he also had a good understanding of Marxist ideologies. He was jailed several times while protesting for the cause of the marginalized.

In 1960, as a 16-year-old, he started a political organization for the youths, and it was later established as Ambedkar Educational and Developmental Society in 1962. He closely worked with L. Elayaperumal, another anti-caste leader from Tamil Nadu. In the 1990s, T. M. Mani started the Neela Puligal Iyakkam (Blue Panthers Movement). He staunchly fought against the caste system through his Blue Panthers Movement.

But regional movements like that of T. M. Mani and P. Chandra Bose from Paramakudi (Ramanathapuram district), founder of Thiyagi Immanuel Sekaran Perava (Martyr Immanuel Sekaran Front), were side-lined by state-level parties. Many anti-caste state-level parties were formed with Tamil Nationalist ideologies, and some parties tried to address the caste issues by gaining political power.

T.M. Mani rejected both the choices in addressing the caste issue. He felt that Tamil nationalist ideology had its base in Hinduism. He rejected electoral politics as the scheduled caste will never be able to garner majority votes and come into real power where caste issues can be addressed.

T. M. Mani even considered communism as a choice but rejected the idea as he points out that oppression in India comes from the Varna system and not class conflict.

After considering various options, T.M. Mani firmly prescribed religious conversion as the only tool for Dalit emancipation. He advised the Dalits to break free of the gods that enslaved them through the Hindu caste order.

T. M. Mani encouraged thousands of his followers to convert to Islam and liberate themselves. One lingering question however was, why he chose Islam, when Ambedkar, the backbone of the anti-caste movement took to Buddhism.

T. M. Mani in his book Ambedkar in Madam Maatram (Ambedkars religious conversion) points out the weakness in the logic of Buddhist conversion. He justified the rationale behind converting to Islam in almost all of his books, speeches and articles. Ambedkar suggested that the Dalits convert into other religions to strengthen their numbers, for which T. M. Mani held that conversion into Buddhism did not result in the strengthening of numbers but compounded the problem as Buddhists remain as the second smallest religious minority in India.

T. M. Mani also rejected Buddhism as he found the religion culturally identified with Hinduism. He also pointed out Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism in the Indian constitution (Article 25 (a)  Explanation II in clause b) legally construed as a part of the Hindu religion. Hence, he suggested his followers convert to Islam to strengthen the number and had discussed this idea since the 1980s.

Jalaluddin also pointed out in his talk that the population of Muslims before partition was one-third of the nations population and the conversion of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes to Islam (if at all suggested by Dr B R Ambedkar) would have resulted in Muslims becoming the majority. This was a huge threat to the caste Hindus, and Hindutva leaders of the time pressurized Ambedkar not to suggest Islam as his religious choice of conversion.

This apprehension of T.M. Manis was welcomed by his followers and they converted to Islam en masse. By May 2007, T. M. Mani officially converted to Islam and came to be known as T.M. Umar Farooq, his wife, Agilammai too became Aysha Ammal. His entire life was a struggle against casteism. He considered various options and deeply studied how Dalits could be liberated.

He has written several books including Theendamaiku Theervu (Solution for Untouchability), and Saathi Ozhindhadhu (Caste Annihilated) in which he speaks about the renouncing of Hinduism. T.M. Umar Farooq believed that Islam is the only religion that will help the Dalits gain self-respect. The great leader passed away on June 5, 2015.

While concluding the talk, Jalaluddin reflected on a quotation from T. M. Umar Farooqs book Senthamizh Naatu Cherigal (roughly translates to Ghettos of Tamil Nadu) that reads, Proudly embrace the Muslim identity of skull cap and beard. Say it aloud: Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar. Let the call of Islam reach the enemies who have oppressed us for more than 2000 years. Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! As-Salaam-Alaikum!
A baby was killed and a 32-year-old woman passenger was in critical condition Monday morning from injuries after a one-car accident on Texas 121, Bedford police said.

The name of the infant, who Bedford police say was about a year old, has not been released by authorities.

The 33-year-old driver of the vehicle also was injured in the crash and taken to a local hospital.

The crash was reported about 12:45 a.m. Monday on southbound Texas 121 between Bedford Road and Murphy Drive.

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When they arrived on the scene, officers found two adults and the baby injured in the single-vehicle wreck. Police determined a man had been driving the vehicle and the woman and the baby were passengers.

The cause of the crash was under investigation. Crash investigators are processing evidence.
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden said Monday his administration will continue to argue at the Supreme Court that Puerto Ricans are not entitled to Social Security disability payments even though the position "is inconsistent with my administration's policies and values."

In an unusual statement issued by the White House, Biden said his administration would continue to pursue the case because the Justice Department "has a longstanding practice of defending the constitutionality of federal statutes, regardless of policy preferences."

When Congress created the Supplemental Security Income program in 1972, it made it available to residents in the 50 states and the District of Columbia but not in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories  even though Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.

More: Supreme Court to hear case on FBI surveillance of Muslims following 9/11

More: Biden names new judges with an emphasis on diversity

More: Yes, Puerto Rico is part of the United States

Biden, who campaigned on expanding benefits to the island, was pressured to drop the case, which had been appealed under President Donald Trumps administration.

The government estimates extending the program to U.S. territories would cost between $1.8 billion and $2.4 billion per year.

The case began with Jose Luis Vaello Madero, who qualified for the program while living in New York but who moved to Puerto Rico in 2013. Three years later, the Social Security Administration discovered he had relocated out of the United States, discontinued his SSI checks and sued him for $28,081 to recover the payments made in the intervening years.

Madero won in district court and the Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit held that denying otherwise eligible people benefits from the program only because of their status as Puerto Ricans violated the Fifth Amendments Equal Protection Clause.

The government appealed to the Supreme Court in September.

Story continues

People wearing masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic wait in line to vote in the general election at a polling center set up at the Rafael Labra School in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.

More than 8 million individuals receive SSI payments, and the average monthly benefit is around $575, according to court records. Low-income residents who are older than 65 and who are disabled can qualify for the program.

"As I have stated, I believe that Puerto Rico residents should be able to receive SSI benefits, just like their fellow Americans in all 50 states and Washington D.C." Biden said in the statement. "As Ive said before, there can be no second-class citizens in the United States of America."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden continues legal battle over disability payments to Puerto Ricans
President Joe Biden. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Biden's budget proposal estimated $53 billion in losses from the federal student-loan portfolio.

It's an increase from last year's budget estimate of $15 billion in losses.

These losses reflect pandemic relief efforts such as the payment pause and lower repayment levels.

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To provide pandemic relief to the 43 million borrowers in the country with federal student loans, President Joe Biden extended the pause on payments through September. His Department of Education has even canceled student debt for some groups of people.

Now, there's a number on how much those efforts increased losses in the federal student-loan portfolio: $53 billion.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the $53 billion estimate, which came from Biden's recent budget proposal, is based on updated data on borrowers' repayment rates to the government in recent years and reflects pandemic relief efforts. This is an increase from last year, when the federal budget estimated that taxpayers would lose $15 billion on all outstanding student debt.

Biden's budget also projected $68 billion in long-term losses from student loans. This follows a 2019 Congressional Budget Office report that found that the federal student-loan program would cost taxpayers $31.5 billion over the next decade. In 2020, The Wall Street Journal obtained documents from the Education Department that found that taxpayers would be on the hook for about two-thirds, or $435 billion, of the entire student-loan portfolio.

Read more: SCOOP: The top Trump political fundraiser who helped plan his January 6 rally is out of Trumpworld

The losses incurred from the federal student-loan program could be a factor as to why Biden did not include any form of student-loan forgiveness in his $6 trillion budget - it may cost taxpayers too much. Although he campaigned on canceling $10,000 in student debt, and some Democrats have called for him to cancel $50,000 in student debt per borrower, he has yet to do so, and he has not provided a timeline as to when any such forgiveness might happen.

Story continues

And while President Donald Trump's pause in student-loan payments through January, which Biden extended through September, gave borrowers financial relief during the pandemic, no interest was collected during that time, adding to government losses.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona previously said he has not ruled out extending the pause beyond September, but the top Republicans on the House and Senate education panels, Rep. Virginia Foxx and Sen. Richard Burr, respectively, are urging against another extension. In a letter to Cardona last week, they said it "would be unnecessary and actively work against the interests of students and taxpayers."

But despite estimated losses, Democrats have kept pressure on Biden to cancel student debt using his executive powers to provide instant financial relief.

"Student-loan cancellation could occur today," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren told Insider. "The president just needs to sign a piece of paper canceling that debt. It doesn't take any act of Congress or any amendment to the budget."

Read the original article on Business Insider
President Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call Monday that he looks forward to welcoming him to the White House this summer after returning from his trip to Europe, according to national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Why it matters: In an hour-long interview with Axios on Friday, Zelensky urged Biden to meet with him face to face before a June 16 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin  offering to join him "at any moment and at any spot on the planet."

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Driving the news: The plea from Zelensky came after Biden waived sanctions on the corporate entity and CEO overseeing the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will allow Russia to circumvent Ukraine and deliver natural gas directly to Germany.

Ukraine views the pipeline as a dire national security threat, one that Zelensky characterized during the interview as "a real weapon" in the hands of Russia.

The State Department itself has said Nord Stream 2 is a "Russian geopolitical project that threatens European energy security and that of Ukraine," but Biden has signaled that he does not want to damage relations with Germany over a pipeline that will inevitably be completed anyway.

Behind the scenes: An administration source told Axios the White House was considering inviting Zelensky to Washington before Bidens summit with Putin, but declined to move ahead with the meeting after Zelensky's decision to replace the management of state energy company Naftogaz.

That move led to concerns in the administration he was backsliding on anti-corruption efforts.

What they're saying: "I have come into this briefing room from the Oval Office where President Biden was on the phone with President Zelensky of Ukraine," Sullivan told reporters Monday.

"This is a call they had been planning to make in advance of President Biden going to Europe and meeting with President Putin," he continued.

"They had the opportunity to talk at some length about all of the issues in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship and President Biden was able to tell President Zelensky that he will stand up firmly for Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its aspirations as we go forward."

The big picture: Sullivan reiterated that Biden is meeting with Putin not in spite of the heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia, but because of them.

Story continues

"There is never any substitute for leader-to-leader engagement, particularly for complex relationships, but with Putin, this is exponentially the case," Sullivan said, noting the Russian strongman's "highly personalized style of decision-making."

He added that it is hard to find a "better context" to hold a summit with Putin than after meetings with G7 leaders and the United States' European and NATO allies.

Go deeper: Zelensky "surprised" and "disappointed" by Biden pipeline move

Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a White House visit this summer.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden extended the invitation during a phone call on Monday with Zelenskyy, who has publicly raised concerns about the U.S. presidents plan to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and about a nearly completed Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline that would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine.

Biden made the invitation during a call that had been planned in advance of Bidens trip to Europe that culminates with a stop in Geneva next week for a face-to-face meeting with Putin as tensions in the U.S.-Russia relationship remain high.

Zelenskyy tweeted his response: Thank you @POTUS @JoeBiden for inviting me to visit the @WhiteHouse in July during our phone conversation. I look forward to this meeting to discuss ways to expand strategic cooperation between Ukraine and #USA.

Sullivan said Biden and Zelenskyy had the opportunity to talk at some length about all of the issues in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship and President Biden was able to tell President Zelenskyy that he will stand up firmly for Ukraines sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its aspirations as we go forward."

The Ukrainians also indicated that the Biden administration had committed to sharing 900,000 COVID-19 vaccines with Kyiv. Last week, the White House announced plans to share 80 million vaccine doses  most through the United Nations-backed COVAX program  by the end of June. About 6 million in the initial distribution of 25 million were to be directed by the White House to U.S. allies and partners, including Mexico, Canada, South Korea, the West Bank and Gaza, India, Ukraine, Kosovo, Haiti, Georgia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Yemen, as well as to United Nations frontline workers.

It will save the lives of many Ukrainians, Zelenskky said in a statement.

The Biden administration disappointed Ukraine  as well as many Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington  when it announced last month that it would not punish the German company overseeing the Russia-to-Germany pipeline known as Nord Stream 2, because it did not want to levy sanctions against an important European ally. Russian gas currently flows through Ukraine en route to Europe, and Zelenskyy was hopeful that Biden would move to block the project that faced bipartisan opposition in Congress.

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Zelenskyy reiterated his concerns about the pipeline during the call, according to the statement from his office.

Zelenskyy, in an interview with Axios published on Sunday, said he had urged Biden to join him at any moment and at any spot on the planet before the planned Geneva meeting with Putin next week.

Ukraine has harbored hopes for increased military aid during the Biden administration and is looking for backing in its bid for NATO membership. Ukraine has long battled against Russia-backed separatists in the east and in the halls of government in Kyiv.

Crimea and large swaths of eastern Ukraines Donbas region are under Russian occupation. Fighting in the region has claimed thousands of Ukrainian lives. Russia launched a buildup of troops near the border earlier this year before announcing in April that it would pull back those forces.

The provocative move alarmed the U.S. and other European allies. Zelenskyy, in the call, emphasized to Biden that there was still a high concentration of Russian troops and heavy weaponry there.

Zelenskyy found himself ensnared in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment, which centered around a 16-minute phone call in which Trump pressured the Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden and his sons dealings in the Eastern European nation in 2019.

___

Isachenkov reported from Moscow.
President Joe Biden has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a White House visit this summer. The invitation comes as Zelenskyy has expressed concerns about Biden's plan to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week. (June 7)

Video Transcript

JAKE SULLIVAN: We believe that President Biden is the most effective direct communicator of American values and priorities. And we believe that hearing directly from President Putin is the most effective way to understand what Russia intends and plans. There is never any substitute for leader to leader engagement, particularly for complex relationships.

But with Putin, this is exponentially the case. He has a highly personalized style of decision making. And so it is important for President Biden to be able to sit down with him face to face to be clear about where we are, to understand where he is, to try to manage our differences, and to identify those areas where we can work in America's interests to make progress.

- How can you trust that as Vladimir Putin has already smeared the president's name? How can you do that? How can you trust?

JAKE SULLIVAN: Taking the measure of another president is not about trusting them. And the relationship between the US and Russia is not about a relationship of trust. It's about a relationship of verification. It's about a relationship of clarifying what our expectations are. And laying out that if certain kinds of harmful activities continue to occur, there will be responses from the United States.

Well, actually, I have come into this briefing room from the Oval Office, where President Biden was on the phone with President Solinsky of Ukraine. This is a call that they had been planning to make in advance of President Biden going to Europe and meeting with President Putin. They had the opportunity to talk at some length about all of the issues in the US Ukraine relationship.

And President Biden was able to tell President Solinsky that he will stand up firmly for Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its aspirations as we go forward. And he also told President Solinsky that he looks forward to welcoming him to the White House here in Washington this summer after he returns from Europe.
WASHINGTON  President Biden on Monday invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit the White House sometime this summer, according to national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

The announcement came after Zelensky, a former comedian who was elected president of Ukraine in 2019, aired his grievances to the press over the weekend with regard to Bidens decision making on Russia.

He condemned Bidens failure to stymie development of a major Russian pipeline, and urged the U.S. president to meet with him before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16, the final stop on Bidens upcoming European tour. Biden has said his trip to the continent is about rallying the worlds democracies.

Zelensky told Axios he was surprised and disappointed that Biden had not done more to prevent the development of Nord Stream 2, a natural gas pipeline that would allow Russia to further isolate Ukraine. Zelensky called the project a real weapon ... in the hands of the Russian Federation.

A White House spokesperson told Axios that the administration regularly consults Ukrainian officials about Nord Stream 2 and will continue to do so.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Biden. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images, AP)

On Monday afternoon, during the daily White House press briefing, Sullivan told reporters that he had just left the Oval Office, where Biden had been on the phone with Zelensky.

During the preplanned call, Sullivan said, they had an opportunity to talk at some length about all of the issues in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship, and President Biden was able to tell President Zelensky that he will stand up firmly for Ukraines sovereignty, territorial integrity and its aspirations as we go forward.

Since 2014, when Moscow invaded the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine has been in conflict with Russia. The standoff has heated up in recent months as Russia amassed a large military force along the Ukrainian border. Russia has long posed a threat to Ukraine, ranging from disinformation to active fighting. As a result, Zelensky has pushed for a pathway for Kyiv to join NATO. During Mondays briefing, Sullivan declined to comment on whether Zelensky had asked to join NATO during his call with Biden.

Story continues

Biden will host NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on Monday afternoon, prior to a June 14 meeting in Brussels between all 30 members of the military alliance, which was originally established to defend Western Europe against potential invasion from the Soviet Union.

____

Read more from Yahoo News:
ktsimage / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Bitcoin 2021, a Bitcoin conference for Bitcoiners by Bitcoiners, which took place in Miami, June 4-5, brought 12,000 attendees and a slew of famous speakers. Former Congressman Ron Paul kicked off the event, followed by Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey.

See: 3 Common Crypto Misconceptions Debunked

Find: Is Crypto Too Risky? 12 Experts Weigh In

Other speakers included Gemini founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Binance CEO Brian Brooks and boxer Floyd Mayweather.

The two-day event closed with El Salvadors President Nayib Bukele, who announced via video that he would introduce legislation that will make it the worlds first sovereign nation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

In the short term, this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy, Bukele said in the video.

He also later tweeted, #Bitcoin has a market cap of $680 billion dollars. If 1% of it is invested in El Salvador, that would increase our GDP by 25%.On the other side, #Bitcoin will have 10 million potential new users and the fastest growing way to transfer 6 billion dollars a year in remittances.

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

He added that besides, a big chunk of those 6 billion dollars is lost to intermediaries. By using #Bitcoin, the amount received by more than a million low income families will increase in the equivalent of billions of dollars every year. This will improve lives and the future of millions. Furthermore, 70% of El Salvadors population doesnt have a bank account and work in the informal economy. Financial inclusion is not only a moral imperative, but also a way to grow the countrys economy, providing access to credit, savings, investment and secure transactions.

Another notable event was Twitters Dorsey saying,Bitcoin changes absolutely everything. I dont think there is anything more important in my lifetime to work on, according to CNBC.

In fact, if I were not at Square or Twitter, I would be working on bitcoin. If [bitcoin] needed more help than Square or Twitter, I would leave them for bitcoin, he said. But, I believe both companies have a role to play, he added according to CNBC.

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Of course, the crypto-omnipresent Elon Musk  who didnt attend the conference  got some serious pushback from attendees and speakers alike, irate partly, over the fact that Musk is constantly sending cryptos on a roller coaster with his tweets.

NFL player Russell Okung, who converted half his salary to Bitcoin in 2020, launched a campaign in Miami as well as near Teslas headquarters, with billboards saying Stick to Space, Elon.

An accurate public narrative about what @bitcoinis_ is important to me, he tweeted June 3.

See: Elon Musks Latest Bitcoin Break-Up Tweet Topples Crypto Market  Again

Find: Hedge Funds Stand Their Ground Against r/wallstreetbets in Latest Showdown

Finally, the Winklevoss twins said that they think Bitcoin can be 500K and that can happen in the next decade. Maybe even in the next 5 years.

Bitcoin has always been a retail driven phenomenon. Wall Street is still not even there yet. Its all about empowering individuals to get into crypto, Cameron Winklevoss said.

If you intend on investing in Bitcoin, or other cryptos, you should be aware that volatility is to be expected, so dont panic at the first sign of trouble. In addition, do your research before buying and know how to keep your tokens safe.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Bitcoin Miami 2021 Take-Aways: El Salvador Could Make the Crypto Legal Tender, Elon Musk Tweet Pushback
Bo Burnham singing "That Funny Feeling" in the "Inside" special. Netflix

Bo Burnham's "Inside" includes the song lyric: "Googling 'derealization,' hating what you find."

The mental health term "derealization" describes the sensation that you're surroundings aren't real.

The number of searches for that term spiked on Google following the premiere of "Inside."

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

In Bo Burnham's new Netflix special "Inside," a musical-comedy masterpiece packed with details and references many probably missed upon first-watch, he mentions Googling the mental health term "derealization" while singing a song about its manifestation in everyday life. And now a high volume of people are also taking to Google to find out just what "derealization" means.

The Mayo Clinic defines depersonalization-derealization disorder as occurring "when you persistently or repeatedly have the feeling that you're observing yourself from outside your body or you have a sense that things around you aren't real or both. Feelings of depersonalization and derealization can be very disturbing and may feel like you're living in a dream."

"That Funny Feeling" is a song about that mental phenomenon. Burnham's lyrics mostly comprise of a list of people, things, and events (like the "live-action Lion King" or "in honor of the revolution, it's half-off at the Gap") without much elaboration.

But one line in the song has struck a chord with Burnham's at-home audience. "Googling 'derealization,' hating what you find," he sings in the third verse.

If you look at Google's data for the number of people searching the word "derealization," there's a huge spike starting right around May 30 - the day "Inside" premiered on Netflix.

"That Funny Feeling" lists events or actions or objects that could make you feel like you're living in a warped simulation or have totally disassociated from reality, or perhaps have begun to accept that we're at the edge of the collapse of civilization.

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Here's the full third verse, so you can see the mention of "derealization" in context of the song:

Reading Pornhub's terms of service, going for a drive

And obeying all the traffic laws in Grand Theft Auto V

Full agoraphobic, losing focus, cover blown

A book on getting better hand-delivered by a drone

Total disassociation, fully out your mind

Googling derealization, hating what you find

That unapparent Summer air in early Fall

The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all

As he performs the song, a light rig in front of him flickers with the warm glow of fake firelight, playing off a projected forest background behind him. The set-up plays right into his signature meta style, as he contrasts the sincerity of his voice and lyrics with the fake backdrop.

For more analysis of "Inside," including the line in "That Funny Feeling" that could reference a seven-year climate change countdown clock, read our full breakdown of the special here.

Read the original article on Insider
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Migrants - PAUL CHILDS /REUTERS

Ministers should consider bringing in the Armed forces to help UK border officers who face being overwhelmed by the influx of migrants across the Channel, says a former head of Border Force.

As the number of migrants to reach the UK in small boats this year hit 4,300, Tony Smith, former director-general of Border Force, said it was clear the current set-up was "not fit for purpose".

He said the Home Office should "stop pretending" it could halt the flow of migrants, accept the influx would continue for the foreseeable future and put in place a new "command centre with proper reception facilities" to cope with the numbers arriving on the south coast.

He said Border Force officers risked being overwhelmed by the steady flow of hundreds of migrants they have to process on a daily basis at Tug Haven in Dover in a temporary marquee, and by a forecasting system for crossings based simply on whether it was good or bad weather.

Overcrowding also means migrants are not being immediately tested for Covid, leaving "officers feeling very nervous that they will catch it", he added. "It feels a bit chaotic to me," he said.

"There doesnt seem to be a long term masterplan which is about accepting that this is going to be a feature of our lives for the foreseeable future and stop pretending that we are going to be able to stop this.

"I would be pressing for a more concentrated strategic management plan based on the fact that we have not been able to stop the boats.

"That should still be our political ambition, but the plain fact is that without an agreement with the French to take them back, we are not going to be able to do instant returns back to France.

"I would feel more comfortable if, first, we accept this is an ongoing process and, second, we have a joint agency approach that could include military, police and a full range of UK assets to support the defence of our border and management of irregular migration because I dont think we are coping."

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Mr Smith cited his experience of working with the military when he was gold commander overseeing the 2012 London Olympics and hundreds of soldiers were deployed to bolster security after G4S failed to provide sufficient guards.

"I was delighted to go into meetings with the military, people who have a huge range of capabilities. They can build a warehouse in a day. They are awesome. The Home Office cannot do that by outsourcing to private companies," he said.

His comments came after a Border Force vessel was said to have entered French waters to pick up migrants in a boat and bring them back to the UK on a day when more than 300 made the crossing.

Meanwhile, Kent County Council warned its childrens services were at breaking point after being overwhelmed by a record 242 unaccompanied Channel child migrants this year. The council is threatening to sue the Government over its failure to ease the crisis.

Roger Gough, the Conservative-controlled authoritys leader, said the Home Office had promised last year to reform the system to disperse more of the children nationally so that Kents services would not be put under the same unreasonable strain this year.

Kent currently has nearly double the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) children in care than the Government says it is safe to have. This year it has already to cope with 60 more migrant child arrivals than at the same time last year.

A Home Office source said it did not believe the Army was needed as the Border Force were receiving the additional resources where necessary.

"I am not sure what role the army would provide that Border Force are not already providing," said the source.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Britain's foreign minister Dominic Raab met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the kingdom on Monday and discussed Iran in addition to bilateral ties and climate change, the British foreign office said.

Raab's visit comes as global powers work to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that Saudi Arabia had opposed for not addressing Tehran's missile programme and support for regional proxies, including in Yemen.

"The UK reaffirms our commitment to tackling our shared security challenges, including Iranian threats and the continued conflict in Yemen," a foreign office statement quoted Raab as saying, adding that Riyadh was a close friend and long-standing partner.

Saudi Arabia, which is locked in a regional rivalry with foe Iran, has urged global powers to secure a stronger deal of longer duration at talks in Vienna that aim to bring both the United States and Iran back into full compliance with the pact.

Washington quit the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to gradually violate several of the pact's nuclear restrictions.

The Saudi foreign ministry said in a Twitter post that the kingdom's de facto ruler and the British minister had discussed efforts to enhance regional security and stability as well as joint cooperation in various fields.

Saud Arabia leads a military coalition that has been battling Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement, which has launched missile and drone attacks on the kingdom.

Raad, who also met with his Saudi counterpart, discussed trade and climate change and raised human rights concerns "notably around justice reform and freedom of media expression", the foreign office said.

Saudi Arabia's human rights record came under the spotlight following the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate by Saudi agents, as well as the detention of women's rights activists in the kingdom.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah in Cairo; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
A surge in shootings over back-to-back weekends in Chicago has brought fears of a violent summer to the city.

Five people were killed and at least 55 more were injured in shootings over the weekend. The violence followed a Memorial Day weekend in which three people were killed and 34 others were wounded.

"Violence in Chicago, as you all know, continues to be a challenge, especially this time of year," Norman Kerr, director of the city's Office of Violence Reduction, said Monday at a news conference to address the shootings.

Homicides are up by 5 percent and shootings are up by 17 percent this year compared to the same period last year, Police Superintendent David Brown said at the news conference. Homicides tend to peak in the summer in Chicago and elsewhere.

Before the most recent spate of shootings, violent crime had been falling in Chicago this year, according to the police department. May was the second straight month the number of homicides in the city declined compared to the same month last year, police said. There was also less violent crime over Memorial Day weekend compared to last year.

"Obviously, the challenge is, from a macro perspective, continuing that trend during the summer. Normally, violent crime trends is a bell curve. You start out low, peak in the summer, then it trails off as the weather gets cooler. Our challenge is we need a trail-off in the summer," he said.

Police said much of the crime stems from gang activity and retaliation.

"Street justice will never yield peace," Brown said. "Revenge, retaliation will never be enough to satisfy you. It can only destroy more lives. This idea of an eye for an eye leaves us both blind."

The effective programs and strategies that protect neighborhoods from violence include a lot of face-to-face interaction with police, which isn't happening because of the pandemic, said John Hollywood, a policing researcher at the Rand Corp., a nonprofit think tank.

Story continues

In addition, many social stresses associated with the coronavirus, such as fear of illness or death, isolation and economics, are colliding with communities that have issues of trust with law enforcement, leading to more crime, he said.

Kerr said the city wants to build on the three-year violence reduction plan Mayor Lori Lightfoot created in September.

The Our City, Our Safety plan outlines initiatives like building on police reforms, creating a 211 help line, expanding and strengthening street outreach and creating a victim support network.

"We developed the summer safety strategy to reduce violence in Chicago by using data to focus on the 15 most dangerous neighborhoods in the past three summers," Kerr said.

Officials also plan to find job opportunities for residents in those zones and crack down on problem businesses that host late-night parties that contribute to the rise in violence.

"We plan to make an impact by ... moving forward with a strong, all-city response to address community safety in each designated area and engaging with community partners to co-create approaches to address violence," Kerr said.

Police officials said 5,011 guns have been recovered this year.

"Every gun recovered is a potential deadly force encounter. It is potential for reducing violence. If we can recover the gun, the gun can now not be used in a violent incident," Brown said.

He then called on the faith community to pray for a spirit of forgiveness in the gang culture.
Watch: Vaccine programme 'should be rolled out to over-12s quickly'

The coronavirus vaccination programme for children over 12 should be rolled out quickly, a scientist has said.

Sir David King, the governments former chief scientific adviser, also said a rethink on face masks in schools was needed.

Sir David, chair of the Independent Sage group, warned that the rising number of cases in the UK is evidence of a third wave of the virus.

According to the latest government figures, there were 5,341 cases reported in the UK in a 24-hour period on Sunday, amid concerns about the Delta variant, which originated in India.

There were 33,496 cases in the seven days between 31 May and 6 June, an increase of 49%  or 11,022 cases  from the previous week.

Children aged 12 to 15 are already being given COVID jabs in the US. (PA)

The Pfizer vaccine has been approved for use among 12- to 15-year-olds in the UK. (PA)

On Friday, the UKs Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for use in children aged 12 to 15.

It is now up to the governments Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to decide if this age group should receive jabs as part of the ongoing rollout.

In the US, more than 170 million people have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine, 3.3 million of whom are aged 12 to 15, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Reports at the weekend suggested that over-25s will be offered their first jab this week, and that over-40s could be given their second doses within eight weeks rather than 12 as originally planned.

Since 17 May, under Englands lockdown easing, pupils in secondary schools are no longer required to wear face masks in classrooms.

Pupils in England no longer have to wear face masks in classrooms. (Getty)

Sir David told Sky News on Monday: The Pfizer vaccine has already been given the green light in this country to over-12-year-olds.

I think we should run that programme forward quickly.

But were opening schools today and the government has said 12- to 18-year-olds no longer need to wear face masks at school  I dont think that was a wise thing to do and I do hope the government will rethink this in the light of the current figures.

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He also questioned if the government has a herd immunity policy among teenagers.

Calling on the government to announce a delay to the planned 21 June unlocking, he said: (There are) 5,300 new cases of the disease per day in the United Kingdom and were up about 2,000 on last week.

Now weve been discussing whether or not were going into a serious third wave and I dont think we can possibly wait any longer.

This is the evidence of another wave appearing.

Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh and an adviser to Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, said children aged 12 and over should be vaccinated.

She told ITVs Good Morning Britain on Monday: If we want schools to continue without disruption in the autumn and lift restrictions so children can have a normal experience, we need to vaccinate them, and if we wait and watch for the evidence it will be too late in the next few weeks.

We have the supply  its not a large amount, its a couple of million doses to cover that population of 12-plus.

And we cant use AstraZeneca  the main supply we have  in younger age groups, so we should export AstraZeneca and help countries abroad, send those doses, as well as focusing on our adolescents to make sure they dont have another year disrupted, because that would be an absolute shame.

Children can still get long COVID and can still be chronically ill from this.

We might as well just do it, roll it out in the summer, get those kids covered so secondary schools can go back, normally, this autumn.

Read more:

The 7 EU countries who are going to start vaccinating children

The region that could ban unvaccinated people from public places

When asked about vaccinating children, Adam Finn, professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol and a member of the JCVI, told the programme: We need to be driven by the evidence and decide whether or not to immunise children when it becomes clear whether thats actually something thats needed.

"And at this point were not sure about that.

The issue is not that theres a problem doing it, its just a question of whether we need to do it, given the very low incidence of serious illness in children and the fact that were achieving so much with the adult programme at the moment with very high coverage.

If indeed it turns out that children can be indirectly protected by the immunity that we induce in adults then theres clearly no justification for immunising  or at least immunising all of them.

Last month, the director of the Oxford Vaccine Group said giving COVID vaccines to young and healthy people in rich countries was "morally wrong".

Watch: Latest figures 'evidence' of third wave, says former government adviser
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry said on Monday it had lodged "solemn representations" with the United States after three U.S. senators visited Chinese-claimed Taiwan on Sunday.

Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin made the comment at a daily news briefing in Beijing.

(Reporting by Gabriel Crossley; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Gareth Jones)
China expressed fury over US Senators visiting Taiwan to donate coronavirus vaccines, saying it could embolden "separatist forces" on the island.

Beijing sees democratic, self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory which is to be seized one day, by force if necessary, and rages at any diplomatic attempts to recognise it as an independent nation.

A delegation of three US lawmakers made a stopover on Sunday in Taipei, where they announced Washington would donate 750,000 coronavirus vaccine doses to Taiwan.

The gift came as Taiwan accuses China of hampering its efforts to secure vaccines, saying it is part of Beijing's ongoing campaign to isolate the island.

Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China "expresses strong dissatisfaction (toward the visit) and has lodged a solemn representation".

He also urged the United States to "be prudent when dealing with the Taiwan question and avoid sending any erroneous signals to separatist forces" on the island.

But the relatively tepid statement from a ministry notorious for its pugnacious responses to any diplomatic overtures to Taiwan awoke the scorn of China's online patriots.

"Saying that is the same as saying nothing, I'm sick of it," one Weibo user commented Monday on a post by state-run tabloid Global Times about Wang's statement.

"You should send two fighter jets to escort them!" another user urged.

China's diplomats and official propaganda have in recent years encouraged an assertive, belligerent form of nationalism, with officials tweeting insults and conspiracy theories about diplomatic rivals and state TV gloating at the chaos caused by protests and coronavirus outbreaks abroad.

After years of increasingly bellicose language, President Xi Jinping last week called for a change in tone from China.

He urged the nation to show a softer face abroad, cultivating a "reliable, admirable and respectable image".

tjx-prw/apj/qan
The US has recovered most of the $4.4m (3.1m) ransom paid to a cyber-criminal gang responsible for taking the Colonial Pipeline offline last month.

DarkSide - which US authorities said operates from eastern Europe and possibly Russia - infiltrated the pipeline last month.

The attack disrupted supplies for several days causing fuel shortages.

According to the firm, the pipeline carries 45% of the East Coast's supply of diesel, petrol and jet fuel.

On Monday, Deputy Attorney-General Lisa Monaco said investigators had "found and recaptured" 63.7 Bitcoin worth $2.3m - "the majority" of the ransom paid. Since the ransom was paid the value of Bitcoin has fallen sharply.

The US government has recommended in the past that companies do not pay criminals over ransomware attacks, in case they invite further hacks in the future.

It has since urged companies to increase security measures against ransomware attacks like this. Commerce secretary Gina Raimondo said on Sunday that President Biden would raise the issue of such attacks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a meeting planned this month.

Colonial Pipeline took itself offline on Friday 7 May after the cyber-attack.

In a statement Joseph Blount, chief executive of the Colonial Pipeline Company, said his firm was grateful for the "swift work and professionalism" of the FBI, which helped to recover the ransom.

"Holding cyber criminals accountable and disrupting the ecosystem that allows them to operate is the best way to deter and defend against future attacks," he added.

'A powerful message to hacker gangs'

Analysis box by Joe Tidy, Cyber reporter

In America's ongoing fight against the scourge of ransomware, this is a major victory.

Stealing back a ransom is, to my knowledge, a first and it shows how far the US is willing to go to deter cyber-criminals.

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It sends a powerful message to the gangs who have been operating with impunity for years in states like Russia.

Perhaps deliberately, the DoJ are being vague about exactly how they did it.

All they are saying is that the "private key" to the criminal's Bitcoin wallet is in the "possession of the FBI".

With this key, which is effectively a password, agents were able to simply log in and send the digital coins to another wallet they control.

The cyber-security world is abuzz with rumours and theories about how they got hold of the password.

Perhaps the key was found on seized servers, or gifted by an angry insider, or handed over by a cooperative company used as part of the criminal infrastructure.

Either way, it's a big moment and it is sending shockwaves.

After the attack in May, Colonial made a cryptocurrency payment, and in return the company received a decryption tool so it could unlock the systems compromised by the hackers - although that was not enough to restart systems immediately, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Blout told the newspaper he authorised the payment on 7 May after discussions with experts who had previously dealt with DarkSide.

He said he "didn't make [that decision] lightly," but believed "it was the right thing to do for the country."

Fears over fuel shortages spurred some customers to panic buy petrol in the United States.

Mr Blount added that it would take months before some business systems were recovered, and estimated that the attack would ultimately cost the company tens of millions of dollars.

At the time of the hack, the DarkSide criminal gang acknowledged the incident in a public statement.

"Our goal is to make money and not creating problems for society," DarkSide wrote on its website.

"We do not participate in geopolitics, do not need to tie us with a defined government and look for... our motives," the group added.
Editors note: The following op-ed was co-signed by more than 80 Mecklenburg community leaders and residents, including Harvey Gantt and Dorothy Counts-Scoggins. A full list of signers can be found with the online version of this op-ed at charlotteobserver.com/opinion.

Last Tuesday, a majority of Mecklenburg County commissioners approved withholding $56 million in funding from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. This action was supported by a group of community activists and faith leaders. The impact of the pandemic and the social unrest of the last year was difficult for all. These conditions profoundly impacted our schools, challenged our teachers and principals, and made it very difficult for children to learn. This funding shortfall comes when our schools need the right resources to deliver learning outcomes, and to provide the educational environment that our students need and deserve.

County commissioners have said they are withholding $56M in funding until CMS provides an acceptable proposal to address lower performing schools. They have requested revisions to the CMS 2024 Strategic Plan to include specific objectives and actions that will address equity concerns. The commissioners have also stated that these cuts will have no direct impact on the classroom.

We consider the request to make these funds contingent on a more detailed strategic plan to be inconsistent with the aim of increased support for struggling schools. Here is why:

 Students across the country have been significantly and adversely impacted by COVID-19. While specific data is not yet available due to the cancellation of end-of-year/end-of-grade testing, we know that childrens education has suffered. This is not the time to cut the investment needed to bridge these gaps in learning.

 While we understand the Commissioners request to outline specific objectives in the 2024 Strategic Plan, testing data used to create those objectives will not be available until the fall. CMS officials have said they are committed to revamping the plan to include updated goals and clear strategies to address equity concerns. They should not provide a new plan without the data required to understand the ramifications of the past year.

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 Withholding $56M of funds will strain departments already stretched thin by the existing $23.8M in operating costs that were denied by the county commission earlier this year. This will result in key resource and efficiency gaps. This erodes morale, quality, and care  all of which impact our children, particularly those who are already struggling. This totals an almost $80M shortfall for our childrens education.

Holding one leader, one group of leaders or even one system solely accountable for the ongoing equity challenges while risking further damage to the learning environment is simply not logical. It will take all of us collaborating, operating in good faith, to make progress. Lets provide the resources for our educators to honor their commitment regarding equity outlined in the 2024 Strategic Plan, and hold them accountable for their commitments. Lets trust our educators to determine what the schools need to create healthy children and prosperous citizens.

In a May 10 comment to media, County Commissioner Vilma Leake said: Anybody that you give money to, you must hold them accountable for performing the things that they say theyre going to do. We wholeheartedly agree. Accountability is not limited to whom we give money. It includes holding elected officials responsible for collaborative approaches to ensure resources for student learning. It also includes every citizen, every business, and every family committing time, resources, support, or advocacy towards a collaborative solution.

The county should release the $56M of funding immediately. We ask that county leaders and CMS leaders partner collaboratively to solve our equity problems in education in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Our goal is to build bridges to the future, and this is a vital first step.

Chris Jackson is the CEO of Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont. Mike Whitehead is Founder of the Center for Intentional Leadership in Charlotte. Co-signers: Harvey B. Gantt, Dr. Dan Murrey, Rabbi Judy Schindler, Ronnie Bryant, Chris Jackson, Adam Bernstein, Sonja Gantt, Dorothy Counts-Scoggins, Natalie Kennedy Beard, Ross Danis, Rosalyn Allison-Jacobs, Colleen Hole, Pat Millen and Eileen Keeley, Frank Hardee, Angelic Gibson, Anne Gildea, Henry C. Rock, Todd Cunningham, Bill Whitley, Amanda Pagliarini Howard, Amy H. Watson, Elizabeth and Jay Biber, Mike and Beth Whitehead, Shari Alston, Lisa Howell, Abbie Butler, Thomas and Natasha Scrivener, John Paul Galles, Jamal Harvey, Paula Kranz, Sandra Holub, Melissa Buchanan, Whitley Adkins, Anna and Jochen Tartak, Chris Jones, Susanne Bingham Deitzel, Holly and Hal Levinson, Courtney Ramey, Lindsay and Brian Jones, John Ramey, David and Patty McGuirt, Kathryn Bauknight, Lara and Brad Fleming, Jordan Lipton, Jennifer Bush, Cheryl Black, Amelia Abbott, Cathy and Tim Kendrick, Nancy Babb Falls, CeCe Stewart, N. Craig Bass, Kevin Roof, Adam and Stacy Aldrich, Jon Morris, Michael Clement, Debbie McCarthy, Reginald Bean, Bob Henderson, Lisa Warren, Pete Murphy, Eric and Norah Jones, Julie Babb, Amantha Barbee, Mary Lou and James Babb, Laura Carlevatti, Karen Holt, Suzanne Rybarik, Kristin Hills Bradberry, Courtney Reynolds, Rex Reynolds, Jack Brayboy, Tony Perez, Cheryl G. Merritt and Clarence R. Merritt, Laura Handler, John D. Marshall, Angela Yochem, Juontonio Pinckney.
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo will start a phased return of residents who fled Goma in the aftermath of a volcanic eruption that destroyed thousands of homes and threatened to overrun the city, the government said on Monday.

Less than a week after the initial eruption on May 22, which only just stopped short of the city limits, some 400,000 people scrambled to leave when the government warned underground tremors could cause a new eruption, or trigger the release of toxic gases.

The tremors have since subsided, and many people have returned to Goma. About 245,000 remain displaced in nearby towns and villages, according to the latest survey by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The government said it would provide buses and trucks beginning on Tuesday to help people return.

But Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde told journalists that sites on the outskirts of Goma that were destroyed by the eruption could no longer be inhabited.

"We must learn from the 2002 and 2021 eruptions so that our populations are never again so close to danger," Lukonde said.

Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world's most active volcanoes, had last erupted in 2002, killing more 200 people and sending lava gushing through Goma. Last month's eruption killed at least 31.

On Saturday, the government re-opened Goma's airport, which is eastern Congo's main hub for delivering aid to the strife-torn region.

People made homeless by the eruption would be temporarily rehoused and given assistance to rebuild, the government said in a statement.

(Reporting by Erikas Mwisi Kambale; writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Alex Richardson)
The Supreme Court has declined to hear arguments in the case of National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System. In doing so, it acceded to the Biden administrations wishes that it not address the question of whether women should join the millions of young men required to register each year with the Selective Service  the federal agency responsible for the draft. It will now be up to Congress to decide what, if anything, to do with the law governing registration and the draft.

As scholars of the draft, we have seen Congress grappling with the question of selective service for years. A bill to include women in the draft was introduced in 2020 after a national commission studied the issue for four years. Congress is also considering two other proposals to dismantle the entire Selective Service System.

The future of the draft, and registration for it, depends on two questions. One is about the role of women, but the bigger one is about the role of the registration itself.

A group of men stand in line to fill out paperwork at a table staffed by other men

A brief history of registration

Registration and the draft are not the same thing, although they are related. Registration is the process by which people identify themselves to the government as potentially eligible to be drafted to serve in the military.

In the U.S., Congress and the president must pass a law authorizing a draft, at which point the government agency known as the Selective Service System oversees the administrative process of conscription. There has not been a draft in the U.S. since 1973, when Congress allowed the existing draft authorization, conscripting men into service in the Vietnam War, to expire.

Two years later, President Gerald Ford suspended mens responsibility to register for the draft. But in 1980, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter reversed Fords position, reinstating registration  though not the draft itself. Since then, all male permanent residents of the United States, both citizen and noncitizen, between the ages of 18 and 26, have been required to register and update their information with the Selective Service every time they move.

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Women, who have served in every U.S. war, and legally in all combat roles since 2016, have remained exempt from this requirement; they may not even voluntarily register.

Soldiers lie on the ground firing guns

Its not really about women

Politicians and activists are rehashing the same decades-old arguments about gender stereotypes and traditional gender roles.

But women serve honorably and effectively in every military role and branch of service. The rationale used by the Supreme Court in 1981 to exclude them became moot as soon as all available positions, including combat positions, opened to women in 2016.

If registration continues, and if there ever again is a draft in the U.S., we and many others believe that women clearly deserve to share equally in the responsibility to serve and the opportunity to earn the benefits of military service.

So the real question is about how draft registration serves society, or doesnt.

Mind the civil-military gap

One common belief is that maintaining draft registration bolsters the link between civilians and soldiers, which has weakened significantly since the U.S. military became an all-volunteer force. Through the last two decades of war, only 1% of Americans have served in the military.

Some experts suggest that such a weak civilian-military connection contributes to a number of problems, including a lack of familiarity with the military, a military that is not representative of society and an unfair distribution of the human costs of war.

But the Selective Service System is not designed to address those issues. Most registrants do not give much thought to the ramifications of checking the box when they renew their drivers licenses or register to vote. In early 2020 a viral misinformation campaign about an imminent draft led a flood of worried information-seekers to crash the Selective Services website.

And normally, as the 2020 national report noted, the mere act of registration without any real chance of being drafted does not greatly affect peoples lives.

Two men stand in front of burning boxes

A force for social change?

Evidence shows that registration shapes society only when it is accompanied by a draft  though not always in ways that national leaders might hope. During the Cold War draft, men factored military service into their life choices by marrying, having children, going to college or choosing professions that offered them legal deferments from the draft.

That, in turn, introduced inequities into the draft, undermining the legitimacy of the process. Men with means, especially white men, were significantly more likely to obtain a deferment than working-class men, particularly men of color.

The government seems to have learned from that experience. If the draft ever were renewed, these types of deferments would likely not be allowed.

But many more Americans reach draft-eligible age each year than the military could possibly use. Any new draft would still raise new questions about the fairness of who serves and who does not.

A mobilization mechanism?

Without the draft, registration on its own has been likened to an insurance policy against any future threat. Any major conflict with a great power adversary  however unlikely  would require a much larger military than the country has at present.

Registration is supposed to provide Selective Service with a list of everyone eligible to be drafted and their contact information. So registration theoretically speeds up the process of bringing hundreds of thousands of soldiers into the military. And planning is important. Failure to plan adequately for bringing large numbers of recruits into the military has made wartime mobilization complicated in the past, as in the U.K. at the start of World War I.

A man stands in front of a clear plastic cylinder containing tokens

But its not clear that registration as currently organized would work this way. Historically, relatively few people keep their addresses up to date, and the agency is more focused on getting men to register  not on what happens after theyre on the list.

The mobilization process itself is a massive production. During World War II, more than 183,000 volunteers helped evaluate men at over 11,000 local draft and appeal boards. Every person was examined; classified as available, deferred or exempt; and then processed through the system appropriately, including considering appeals.

In 1967, during the Vietnam War, with a much smaller draft than in World War II, more than 31,000 people staffed thousands of local and appeal boards around the nation. The present system has just 11,000 volunteers identified as ready to help.

With no real way to immediately conduct a draft, its not clear that registration serves any purpose. For one thing, 97% of registrations are handled electronically, and much of the information duplicates data already stored in other government databases, including drivers license records.

In rejecting National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service, the Supreme Court has made it clear that Congress needs to act. But as it does so, policymakers need to evaluate whether the law is able to meet its objectives. If policymakers have other goals, like improving social equity or better linking civilian life with those who serve in the military, perhaps something less abstract and less bureaucratic  and less expensive  might serve the nation better than simply adding women to the existing legislation.

[Youre smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversations authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter.]

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Max Margulies, United States Military Academy West Point and Amy Rutenberg, Iowa State University.

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Max Z. Margulies is an assistant professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. The views expressed in this article are personal, and do not necessary reflect those of the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Military Academy, or any other department or agency of the U.S. government.

Amy Rutenberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The biggest public health disaster in a hundred years is winding down, but the fight over emergency powers given to governors during the COVID-19 pandemic is escalating throughout nearly every state government in the country.

Lawmakers in 46 states, Guam and Puerto Rico have drafted 300 proposals this year to curtail their governors' executive powers, as legislative and executive branches fight for authority over school and business closures, mask orders and more.

Almost all of the measures seek to install permanent restrictions on governors' powers that were handed to them in the first months of the virus' spread as states scrambled to address the health emergency.

Now, states may change the unilateral authority many governors were given, putting more control and checks and balances with their legislative branches.

Before the pandemic, governors used emergency powers in a limited way, often regionally to address a specific weather disaster. The COVID-19 crisis changed that, and governors across the country installed sweeping executive orders that closed down most of their states.

"Right from the start, there was a big philosophical difference between Democrats who wanted to keep things closed to protect public health and Republicans who wanted to reopen everything to protect the economy," said Terry Madonna, senior fellow for political affairs at Millersville University.

But it wasn't just partisan politics. Lawmakers across the country were being pressured by voters, including those who staged armed protests in state capitals.

The turmoil across the country have sparked debates about the balance of government power, according to Pam Greenberg, a policy researcher at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"Although governors need to be able to respond to emergencies quickly, legislatures have an important role in making sure these powers are not abused," she said.

In most cases, Republican-controlled legislatures are moving to limit the power of Democratic governors, such as in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Kentucky and North Carolina.

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But it's not just opposing parties.

Republican legislatures are also seeking to restrict Republican governors, which is happening in Ohio. And Democratic legislatures have moved to limit Democratic governors, including in New York.

Some have taken the fight to the ballot box.

Pennsylvania became the first state to vote on and pass restrictions on gubernatorial power, when a little more than half of primary voters May 18 chose to give lawmakers more of a say in disaster declarations.

The vote limited the Pennsylvania governor's disaster declaration to 21 days. Beyond that, legislative approval is required. Pennsylvanians also voted to empower state lawmakers to remove the governor's disaster declarations with a majority vote.

Republicans in Pennsylvania got the measures on the ballot in opposition to orders issued by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, and the GOP was successful in the swing state.

Starting in March 2020, Wolf gradually closed areas of the state down and slowly reopened. A week ago, he ended all restrictions other than the mask order, which falls under the state health secretary's domain.

In a joint statement, Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre County, and Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County, said the primary results prove government works better when the branches work together.

"This decision by the people is not about taking power away from any one branch of government, rather it's about re-establishing the balance of power between three equal branches of government as guaranteed by the constitution," their statement said.

About two dozen other states are considering similar changes, which are in line with directives from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a caucus of conservative state lawmakers.

Only four states have not pursued legislation to curb emergency powers: Alaska, Maine, South Dakota and Vermont. Executive powers in those states are already limited.

Pa. primary results: Voters choose to strip governor's emergency powers

Background: Pa. power struggle between Wolf and GOP goes beyond ballot questions. What to know

A constitutional fight in Kentucky

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear addresses the crowd during the opening of a temporary federal vaccination clinic at the Henderson County Extension Office in Henderson, Ky., Wednesday afternoon, April 28, 2021.

The Republican supermajority of the Kentucky General Assembly moved quickly to strip Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of emergency powers once the 2021 legislative session began in January, following months or criticism and a failed lawsuit to strike down his COVID-19 restrictions.

In the first week, they passed bills forcing the governors emergency orders and regulations to expire after 30 days unless ratified by the legislature, in addition to a bill allowing businesses and other organizations to remain open in defiance of those orders, so long as they complied with CDC guidance.

One of the bills included a provision requiring the governor to first obtain the approval of Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron when suspending a statute under an emergency, who has battled Beshear in court over his restrictions.

The legislature quickly overrode Beshears vetoes of three bills, though the governor sued and a judge issued a temporary injunction blocking them from going into effect, citing the public health crisis they could create.

Beshear recently announced that nearly all of his mask mandates and capacity restrictions will expire on June 11  the day after the Kentucky Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in a case finally determining the constitutionality of the governors orders and the legislation limiting them.

Injunction: Judge grants temporary injunction on bills limiting Gov. Andy Beshear's COVID-19 powers

Veto power: Gov. Andy Beshear vetoes 5 bills, including 3 that limit his COVID-19 emergency powers

A fight against 'unchecked power' in Louisiana

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards discusses southern Louisiana flooding at a May 18, 2021 press conference.

In Louisiana, a bill is advancing through the Republican-controlled Legislature that would weaken the emergency powers of Gov. John Bel Edwards, the only Democratic governor in the Deep South.

The measure by Republican state Rep. Larry Frieman would allow lawmakers to rollback all or parts of a governors public health emergency restrictions from mask requirements to capacity limits.

Gov. Edwards has had unfettered and unchecked power, Frieman said. This gives the Legislature a seat at the table and balances the power.

It has secured passage by the full House and cleared its first Senate committee hearing, but Edwards vetoed a similar bill last fall, saying it didnt represent a serious approach to responding to a public health emergency.

The same fate awaits Friemans bill if it makes it to the governors desk.

Edwards removed virtually all of his COVID-19 restrictions on May 26, but kept the public health emergency in place.

More: Louisiana House GOP petition directs Governor John Bel Edwards' to revoke emergency declaration

A fight against 'unchecked authority' in North Carolina

Despite polls showing Roy Cooper receiving good marks from both Democrats and Republicans on his handling of the pandemic, the Democratic governor of North Carolina hasnt been immune from efforts to rein in his emergency powers.

Republicans, who dominate both chambers of the General Assembly, are pushing a bill that would require any emergency declaration to be approved by the Council of State, which consists of 10 statewide elected officers, including the attorney general and lieutenant governor, within 10 days.

No single person should have unchecked authority to wield emergency powers for an indefinite period of time. It's inconsistent with the basic idea of a representative democracy," said state Sen. Bill Rabon, chair of the Senates Rules Committee.

Cooper, not surprisingly, takes a dim view of the proposed move to limit his powers.

The governor will review the bill but is concerned about legislation that could make it difficult to quickly and effectively respond in an emergency, spokesman Ford Porter said.

Lawmakers already have tried unsuccessfully to overturn portions of Coopers orders. Last July, the governor vetoed a bill similar to the current one, and it isnt likely Republicans could muster enough votes to overturn another Cooper veto.

More: 'Dangerous for democracy': Why these GOP state legislatures want to restrict voting rights

A Republican fight in Ohio and Florida

Gov. Mike DeWine holds up his mask as he fields questions regarding Senate Bill 22 during a press conference at a vaccine clinic, Friday, March 26, 2021, in Canton, Ohio. [Jeff Lange/Beacon Journal]

Less than two months after Ohios Republican governor announced a series of emergency health orders, members of his own party started working to roll them back.

Republicans in the House and Senate introduced multiple bills throughout 2020 to give state lawmakers the power to modify or repeal health orders, require written consent for contact tracing and limit the fines for businesses caught breaking the new COVID-19 rules.

Gov. Mike DeWine defeated all of them.

He said they jeopardized the safety of every Ohioan, and Democrats agreed.

But their luck ran out in 2021. The Ohio Legislature overrode the governor's veto and passed a sweeping health order bill in March, giving lawmakers the authority to reject or modify any state health order and requiring DeWine to wait at least 30 days before reintroducing something similar.

The bill is set to take effect June 23, but it wont have much of an impact  at least in the short-term  because DeWine has already lifted most of Ohio's health orders.

GOP supporters of the law said they werent trying to single out DeWine specifically. The point was to create "necessary checks and balances" to executive power going forward.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in May signed into law a bill, SB 2006, that did a number of things to restrict state and local government from closing businesses and schools except in the event of a hurricane.

For instance, it caps local emergency orders at a total of 42 days. Such orders can be issued weekly to a total of six weeks.

The new law also gives the governor the authority to invalidate a local emergency order if he thinks it unnecessarily restricts the rights and liberties of individuals.

The legislation does address the governor's powers, allowing executive orders to be issued for up to 60 days and renewed for as long as emergency conditions persist.

But that's basically no change to whats in current law.

It does, however, require that if the governor closes schools or businesses, specific reasons must be given why they need to close and those closures need to be reassessed regularly.

Lifting restrictions: Ohio will lift mask mandate, all COVID-19 health orders June 2

New York Dems move to curb Cuomo's power

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo removes his mask during a news conference, Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in New York. Gov. Cuomo said Broadway theaters can reopen Sept. 14 and will be allowed to decide their own entry requirements, like whether people must prove they've been vaccinated to attend a show. (Spencer Platt/Pool Photo via AP)

In New York, embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo had his COVID powers curtailed by members of his own party in March.

Cuomo is accused of underreporting COVID deaths in nursing homes last year, prompting lawmakers to enact new emergency pandemic restrictions. Cuomo begrudgingly signed the measures into law.

The new provisions, however, permitted existing directives, such as mask wearing and social distancing, to continue unabated for at least 30 days, with options for the governor to modify or extend them further if he provides advanced notice to state legislative leaders and relevant local officials.

I think everyone understands where we were back in March and where we are now, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, said in a statement at the time.

Other states simply recognized that as COVID rates drop, it is time to modify their governors' powers.

On Friday in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill into law to end the state's public health emergency, giving the Democratic governor the authority to continue 14 executive orders through Jan. 1, such as keeping a moratorium on evictions and utility shutoffs.

But the Democratic-led Legislature will scrap dozens of other orders in 30 days.

"Today, we take a substantial step toward restoring normalcy to our state and to the lives of those who call New Jersey home," Murphy and legislative leaders said in a joint statement.

What to know: NY lawmakers curtail Cuomo's COVID pandemic powers. Here's what he can (and can't) do

More: NJ lawmakers send Gov. Murphy bill to end COVID health emergency. What to know

Stalled efforts

Gov. John Carney gives remarks during the Memorial Day Ceremony Sunday, May 30, 2021, at Veterans Memorial Park in New Castle.

Several state lawmakers have proposed legislation to restrict their governor's emergency power that has already failed or is unlikely to advance.

That includes Delaware, where Republicans have unsuccessfully tried to limit Democratic Gov. John Carney's executive powers.

A bill filed there in January doesnt appear to have enough votes to make it out of committee and is unlikely to make it far in a statehouse where Democrats control three-fifths of both chambers.

No Democrats have signed onto the bill, and its unclear how Republicans plan to convince Carney to sign it into law, should lawmakers somehow pass it.

South Carolina lawmakers in the most recent legislative session tried to assert more leverage over the governor's issuance of emergency orders, but the Senate didn't consider a bill passed by the House.

Gov. Henry McMaster has issued 30 emergency declarations related to the COVID-19 pandemic since March 13, 2020, the most recent being May 22.

In Texas, a bill that would curb Gov. Greg Abbotts pandemic powers passed in the Texas House, but did not gain enough approval in the full legislature.

Under House Bill 3, the governor still would have the ability to suspend state laws and trump decisions by local officials, which kept some Democrats from supporting it.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler blasted the bill, which he said jeopardizes local authority to enact public health protections.

"HB 3 would add an unneeded level of bureaucracy and put at risk the ability for cities to respond in a locally meaningful way," he said.

Background: Texas House approves checks to governor's pandemic powers

Includes reporting from USA TODAY Network reporters: Nicole Cobler, Sarah Gamard, Greg Hilburn, John Kennedy, Bob Montgomery, Jeffrey Schweers, Joe Sonka, Joseph Spector and Anna Staver.

Candy Woodall is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania Capital Bureau. She can be reached at 717-480-1783 or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.

This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up today for a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Why states are limiting governors' emergency powers as COVID wanes
A DR Congo on Monday acquitted a dozen people accused of killing the country's controversial former military intelligence chief, a defence lawyer said.

Delphin Kahimbi, who was also former deputy head of the armed forces, was a right-hand man to Joseph Kabila, who ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo with an iron-fist for 18 years until 2019.

Kahimbi died on February 28, 2020 in circumstances that remain unclear.

"The judges today acquitted all the individuals who were prosecuted for the murder of General Delphin Kahimbi," said Mulumba Tshivuadi, an attorney for Kahimbi's widow Brenda Nkoy, who was one of the accused.

He said prosecutors had been "unable to provide the slightest piece of evidence" to implicate his client.

"Justice has been done. It's a relief -- long live the state of law," he said.

Prosecutors in the trial, which began on May 3 in the Makala prison in the capital Kinshasa, had demanded the death penalty against Nkoy and 20 years for the other defendants, who included Kahimbi's mother-in-law, he said.

On the day of Kahimbi's death, Nkoy told AFP he had died at home of a heart attack. Eight days later, Kabila's successor, President Felix Tshisekedi, said he had died by hanging after being stripped of office.

Kahimbi was one of a dozen officials to be slapped with EU sanctions for rights violations during the final years of the Kabila regime.

In the run-up to his death, local sources said, he had been barred from foreign travel, stripped of his functions and questioned by the national security council.

A military source said that he had been suspected of setting up a system to wiretap officials.

A diplomatic source said he was also accused of spying on Tshisekedi.

"After today's acquittal of defendants in the trial of the suspected murderers of General Delphin Kahimbi, the question remains, was it murder or suicide?" Carine Dikiefu of Human Rights Watch said on Twitter.

"We call on military justice to pursue inquiries in order to uncover the general's real murderers," said another campaigner, Emmanuel Cole.

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Virginia Republicans chose their candidates for statewide offices in May through an unassembled convention, with 30,000 registered delegates selecting the partys nominees for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Today, Virginia Democrats will have their turn in a more traditional statewide primary. Those arent the only races the ballot, however, and some of those receiving less attention may prove to be consequential to communities across the commonwealth.

It was an interesting gamble by the Virginia GOP to eschew the participation of a primary for a new way of selecting the partys standard bearers. Only about 53,000 people registered and 30,000 took part in a process that introduced ranked-choice voting  and days-long counting  to the commonwealth.

Ultimately, Glenn Younkin, a former CEO of the private equity firm Carlyle Group who was raised in Virginia Beach, secured the nomination in a crowded field. He will join former Norfolk Del. Winsome Sears and Virginia Beach Del. Jason Miyares on the fall ballot.

Sears, the first Black Republican woman elected to the state House, is the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, while Miyares, first elected in 2015, seeks to become the states attorney general. Their victories mean all three Republican candidates for statewide office have ties to Hampton Roads.

Democrats chose a more traditional route for selecting their partys nominees. An open primary will decoded crowded races for governor and lieutenant governor, and conclude a two-person race for attorney general.

But those arent the only races on the ballot today. Both Democrats and Republicans have primary races in several House districts as Virginia voters will elect all 100 delegates in November, where Democrats hold a 55-45 majority.

Democrats will have primary elections in the 84th District, located in Virginia Beach, and the 89th District in Norfolk. Republican voters will choose their nominee in Virginia Beachs 83rd District after holding a firehouse primary on Saturday to decide a standard bearer in the 82nd District.

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In fact, Virginia will see a record number of contested House races this fall. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, 90 of the 100 seats have candidates from both major parties. Libertarian Party and independent candidates are also on the ballot in several locations.

Compare that to House elections 10 years ago, in which only 27 of the 100 races featured both Republican and Democratic candidates. While theres plenty of things that could improve about the political process in Virginia, having choices at their polling places is not among them and for that we should be grateful.

There are also a handful of local primaries for constitutional offices on the ballot today. Three Democrats are seeking the nomination for Norfolk commonwealths attorney, and Hampton Democrats will decide nominees for sheriff and treasurer.

There is ample information about all the candidates readily available to voters thanks to the internet. Candidate web pages, Facebook pages and social media accounts offer a host of biographical details and policy positions, and there are voter guides on the Daily Press and Virginian-Pilot websites to help citizens make informed choices today.

Primary elections rarely draw a huge number of voters, though the presence of a gubernatorial contest will certainly help. Four years, more than 500,000 Virginians cast ballots in a Democratic nomination process, a response to the 2016 election that previewed Gov. Ralph Northams victory in November.

This year, the Virginia GOP argues it is in the ascendancy and that Republican voters are motivated to take back the reins of power from a Democratic Party that won a Senate majority in 2019 to solidify control in Richmond.

Democrats, in turn, believe they have governed responsibly while at the helm and that voters favor their policies for the states future.

Of course, that will be decided in November. Today, primary voters will set the stage for those all-important contests. Do your part by taking time to visit a polling station and casting a ballot.
By Karin Strohecker and Tom Arnold

LONDON (Reuters) -A push by El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele to make his country the first in the world to formally adopt bitcoin as legal tender has sparked concerns about the outlook for its programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Bukele said on Saturday he will send a bitcoin bill to Congress in days to come, touting its potential to help Salvadorans living abroad send remittances home.

El Salvador's top trade official said the U.S. dollar would continue to be legal tender, underscoring that bitcoin transactions would be by choice and tied to the dollar exchange rate.

This could further complicate the Central American country's quest to seek a more than $1 billion-program with the IMF. In May, Bukele's party strained relations with Washington when it ousted five Supreme Court judges and the top prosecutor.

Trade and Investment Minister Miguel Kattan said bitcoin was already in limited use in El Salvador, even to buy pupusas, the national street snack.

"The ability to do operations with bitcoin should not spark concern," Kattan told a news conference.

Still, analysts saw problems with the move to bitcoin.

"Recent tweets from President Bukele to fully embrace bitcoin as legal tender will likely further complicate and delay IMF technical discussions," said Siobhan Morden, head of Latin America fixed income strategy at Amherst Pierpoint Securities.

"This may just reflect a long-term initiative or maybe even just a flashy PR tactic; however it shows lack of coordination with impulsive announcements that contradict a cohesive economic plan," she said, adding Salvadorian bonds faced a Bukele risk premium of as much as 75 basis points over comparable Costa Rica bonds.

JPMorgan EMBI global diversified index showed the premium investors demanded to hold El Salvador hard-currency bonds over U.S. Treasuries widening by 28 basis points to 610 bps. The 21-day average is a move under 1.3 bps daily.

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El Salvador's dollarized economy relies heavily on money sent back from expatriate workers. World Bank data showed remittances to the country made up nearly $6 billion or around a fifth of GDP in 2019, one of the highest ratios in the world.

The IMF's head of mission for El Salvador, Alina Carare, said late on Monday that the fund is "following the news and will have more information as we continue our consultations with the authorities."

Carlos de Sousa, a portfolio managers at Vontobel Asset Management, said the bitcoin push looked ill-considered with Bukele potentially shooting himself in the foot by making the raising of tax revenue more difficult.

"Cryptocurrencies are overall a very easy way to avoid taxation and a very easy way to simply avoid the authorities because it's a completely decentralised system, you can do money laundering, you can do tax avoidance and so on," he said, adding it remained to be seen what the IMF thought of Bukele's foray.

"Typically, he gets a lot of positive reactions on Twitter and the reactions to this were kind of like 'Mr. President, okay, where we can read about this? What does it mean?' - so people don't really understand."

Bukele changed his Twitter profile picture over the weekend to give himself red laser eyes used by supporters of cryptocurrencies on social media.

"Satellite infrastructure to be built, helping rural El Salvadorans connect to the internet, and thereby Bitcoin network, in places where land-based connectivity is poor. @Blockstream plans to contribute their expertise and tech to make the nation a model for the world," Bukele said on Twitter on Monday, in a retweet of a Documenting Bitcoin @DocumentingBTC post.

Justin Sun, founder and chief executive officer of TRON, a blockchain-based company focused on building a decentralized internet, said his firm would become the "first crypto organization" to establish an office in El Salvador.

(Reporting by Karin Strohecker and Tom Arnold in London, additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York and Nelson Renteria in San Salvador; Editing by David Gregorio and Gerry Doyle)
Clearly, Eric Adams has the momentum in this race.

Eric Adams has jumped ahead of Andrew Yang in the New York City mayoral race, a new poll shows.

A little over two weeks ahead of the Democratic primary, Adams, the Brooklyn Borough President and former New York Police Department officer, is ahead of his rival by six points, according to the Spectrum News NY1/ IPSOS poll conducted in late May and released Monday.

Per New York Post, Adams has the support of 22 percent of liberal voters compared to Yang at 16 percent.

As TheGrio previously reported, the six other New York City mayoral candidate besides Adams and Yang are former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan; former NYC Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia; former Citigroup vice-chairman Ray McGuire; nonprofit executive Dianne Morales; New York City comptroller Scott Stringer; civil rights lawyer and professor Maya Wiley.

Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President and a Democratic mayoral candidate, speaks after receiving the endorsement from the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) in the Bronx on May 07, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Garcia reportedly scored 15% in the survey, Stringer was picked by 10% of Democrats likely to vote polled, and progressive lawyer Maya Wiley got 9%, per the report. In Aprils poll, Adams polled at 9 percent behind Yang.

Clearly, Eric Adams has the momentum in this race, driven by everyday New Yorkers who agree Eric can deliver a safer, fairer, more prosperous city for all, Evan Thies, Adams campaign manager, previously said.

Yang announced his mayoral run back in December 2020. The New York City mayoral candidates participated in the first debate for the election season in May. During the debate, Adams accused Yang of failing to credit Black women organizers like Stacey Abrams for the Democrats success during the general election, the Guardian reports.

Before the debate, Adams called out Yang for allegedly copying his proposals to combat gun violence in the city with more plainclothes police and an anti-violence unit, according to the New York Daily News.

More recently, Adams fired back at Miami Mayor Francis Suarez for suggesting New Yorkers would greatly benefit in Florida because of the states low taxes and affordable homes.

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Our arms are open in Miami, the mayor said Sunday during an appearance on WABC 77s The Cats Roundtable. Its a two-hour flight. Youre going to save a tremendous amount on cost of living. Youre going to save a tremendous amount on taxes. Youre going to have the best quality of life, and be able to buy property at a fraction of the price.

Adams wasted no time in responding to Suarezs statement, New York Post reports.

I say to the Miami mayor, give me one year and people will be fleeing Miami to come here because this is going to be a business city, a business-centric city, an affordable and fair and end-income inequality [city], Adams said.

We are going to keep our residents here and businesses here, said the mayoral hopeful.

I have to say, Adams added. We have to get back in the mode of competing.

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Civil rights attorney Maya Wiley also responded to Suarezs snub of New York.

Im going to rebut it by making sure that nobody has to spend more than 30 percent of their pay on rent, Wiley said at a Midtown rally on Saturday, where she was endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

No other city has done rent subsidies like were gonna do, she added. No other city has invested in the number of teachers were gonna invest in. No other city has said were gonna have universal health care, and no other city is New York City.

Meanwhile, Yang claimed Monday that his campaigns own polling numbers show something different and that the race is pretty much anyones race among the top candidates right now, he said on PIX 11.

The new poll was conducted from May 3 to May 17 and included responses from 906 Democratic voters after pollsters conducted 3,249 interviews. Thirty-one percent of the participants hail from Brooklyn, 26 percent from Queens, 28 percent from Manhattan, and 3 percent from Staten Island, according to the report.

The New York City mayoral primary will be held on June 22, with early voting beginning Saturday, June 12.

*theGrios Sytonia Reid contributed to this report.

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's patience towards Britain over Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland is wearing thin and the bloc will consider its options should Britain continue its "confrontational path", an EU official said on Monday.

The European Commission and Britain meet on Wednesday for talks on their trade agreement and on their differences over the Northern Ireland protocol, part of the Brexit divorce deal.

The British government faces a choice, the EU official said: commit to implementing the protocol and find the EU willing to be flexible or continue along a more confrontational path.

"The EU has been patient but the EU's patience is wearing thin. If this continues, we will have to consider all the tools, all the options that are available," said the official, who declined to be named.

The EU has launched legal action against Britain over a unilateral move to extend the grace period on checks and a related arbitration procedure. The official said this had not proven sufficient, leading to consideration of other tools, without offering details.

The British province holds a special place after Brexit, remaining in the EU single market for goods, which has led to checks on goods coming from mainland Britain.

The arrangement is designed to keep the Ireland/Northern Ireland border open and preserve the 1998 peace deal. However, pro-British unionists in Northern Ireland says it threatens the peace by dividing them from the rest of the United Kingdom.

The European Commission say Britain's failure to implement the protocol undermines trust.

It points to the halting of construction work on border posts, a failure to comply with tracing requirements to verify food products stay in Northern Ireland and insufficient access to customs IT systems for EU officials.

David Frost, Britain's minister in charge of EU ties, said on Sunday that EU negotiators needed to show more pragmatism and less "legal purism".

The EU official gave a series of examples of areas in which the EU was willing to be flexible, including medicines, guide dogs, livestock tagging and steel.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Giles Elgood)
By Radovan Stoklasa

ZILINA, Slovakia (Reuters) - Slovakia became the European Union's second country to start inoculating people with the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine on Monday, after months of rows over the shot that has yet to be approved by European regulators.

Then-Prime Minister Igor Matovic bought Sputnik V in March, saying it would speed up vaccination efforts. The country of 5.5 million bought 200,000 doses and intended to buy 2 million.

The launch of vaccinations was delayed, however, amid a political crisis that erupted because Matovic had done the deal without consulting his coalition partners, who opposed using the vaccine before it had EU approval.

A reconstructed cabinet finally gave the go-ahead last month to give Sputnik V to those who specifically chose it.

In the northern city of Zilina, one of eight vaccination points chosen to give Sputnik V shots opened on Monday and had more than 600 applications. The centre has an initial capacity of about 100 shots per day, which can be increased if needed.

"It was developed in a facility that has extensive experience in the development of vaccines," said Igor Konik, 57, the first to receive the shot at the Zilina centre.

"The fact that it is not recognised by (EU regulators) does not prevent me from being vaccinated by it."

Vladimir Krc, 57, said he believed in Sputnik V the most. "We waited for Sputnik to come, because it is the safest vaccine," he said.

But the vaccine has received a less than ringing endorsement from Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky, who said when announcing the government decision to use the shot that he would not take it himself. Lengvarsky also said the government would not order additional doses until the vaccine was registered by the European Medical Agency (EMA).

Slovak media reported that more than 5,000 people across the country have so far registered to receive Sputnik V. A total of 77,000 people were waiting for a first dose of all vaccines, according to data from news website www.sme.cz.

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In neighbouring Hungary 1 million people have received 2 doses of Sputnik V, a quarter of the total number to be fully vaccinated in the fellow EU member state.

Slovakia has so far given more than 1.8 million first doses and more than 950,000 second doses of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines.

(Writing by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Former Cuban political prisoner Ana Lazara Rodriguez, who was on the verge of eviction Friday after being served with a writ of possession  the final document in the eviction process that gives recipients 24 hours to vacate the premises  was granted a reprieve Monday by Miami Circuit Judge Peter R. Lopez, who stayed the writ until an evidentiary hearing in the case slated for July 28.

On that date, lawyers for Rodriguez, 82, will lay out evidence they say proves Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon committed fraud by using robo-signing and rubber-stamping forged endorsements during the initial phase of the foreclosure in 2010 that led to the current eviction.

Rodriguez had been ordered in May to come up with a bond of $100,000 in order to stay the writ, which she was unable to do.

Bruce Jacobs, the attorney representing Rodriguez, said Mondays stay was a result of a June 2 ruling by Judge Beatrice Butchko in a separate, unrelated case one day before Miami-Dade Police served the writ on Rodriguezs door.

In that hearing, Butchko ordered Bank of New York Mellon, Bank of America, Carrington Mortgage Services and their attorney Nathaniel Callahan, a partner at the Akerman LLP law firm, to appear for arraignment on June 25 to contest charges of contempt of court on charges of perjury during a hearing on fraud. Although that case  involving a foreclosure on Julie Nicolas, a single mother of two who lost her home  is unrelated, it involves the same banks and charges of fraud as those in Rodriguezs case.

Last-minute reprieve

On Friday, the day Rodriguez was scheduled to be evicted, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava ordered the Miami-Dade police department to stand down, arguing Rodriguezs defense had not had its day in court yet.

Mayor Levine Cava ordered the police not to proceed with the writ and get ahead of the case until the legal process could play out in the court, said Rachel Johnson, spokesperson for the mayor.

Jacobs, the attorney representing Rodriguez, took Mondays ruling as a victory in his ongoing efforts to prove the banks involved committed widespread fraud by preying on the elderly and minorities after the 2008 real estate crash.

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Ana is saving her house because Judge Lopez had to follow the law, Jacobs said. The mayor of Miami-Dade County intervened to stop the eviction and make sure Judge Lopez had the opportunity to follow the law. We are thankful that he did.

Rodriguez, who lives with a fellow former Cuban political prisoner suffering from Alzheimers, inherited the home in 2008 soon after it had been refinanced by Countrywide Financial, one of the subprime mortgage companies that was forced to settle claims of discrimination against predatory loans during the recession.

Countrywide was bought by Bank of America in 2008. The home went into foreclosure in 2010 after Rodriguez fell behind on her payments. According to court records, Rodriguez filed for bankruptcy in 2014. But Bank of New York Mellon, which had taken over the mortgage, did not bring a foreclosure case against her until 2019.

In August 2020, the home was bought for $415,000 in cash by Vanessa Veytia, who lives in California. On Monday, her attorney, Pierre G. Mina, could not provide an exact dollar amount to be set as bond, claiming his clients losses are too great to calculate.

Mina did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

The Constitution is clear no one can be deprived of their property without due process, Jacobs said. A fraudulent foreclosure is not due process.
PARIS (AP)  The French national financial prosecutors office has opened a preliminary investigation into the actions of Lebanons central bank governor involving potential money laundering, the prosecutors office said Monday.

The French move came months after Switzerland started a probe into possible money laundering and embezzlement at Lebanons central bank, which is now at the center of an unprecedented financial crisis roiling the small Mediterranean country.

The French prosecutors office said the investigation around Riad Salameh was opened in late May involving potential charges of money laundering and association with an organized criminal group. It gave no further details.

Salameh, 70, who has run Lebanons central bank for nearly three decades was for many years seen as the symbol of monetary stability in the tiny country. But Lebanon was in 2019 plunged into its worst economic and financial crisis. The Lebanese pound, pegged for more than 20 years to the dollar at 1,515, is now trading at nearly 13,000 on the black market.

Anti-government protesters now refer to Salameh  a former investment banker with Merrill Lynch  as a thief and protests have been repeatedly held outside his office in Beirut amid the crash of the local currency and contraction in the economy that crossed 20% in 2020, according to the World Bank.

In January, Switzerlands attorney general said he has asked Lebanon for cooperation into the probe of the central bank, without offering further details. Its also not clear what prompted the Swiss investigation.

Local media reported over the past months that Salameh and his brother as well as one of his aides have been involved in illegal businesses, including money transfers abroad despite the capital controls imposed at home. Salameh had denied making such transfers.

Salameh, who has held the central bank post since 1993, has defended his role, alleging a systematic campaign meant to hold him responsible for the countrys financial crisis.
By Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS (Reuters) -Google said it would make changes to its global advertising business to ensure it did not abuse its dominance, bowing to antitrust pressure for the first time in a landmark settlement with French authorities.

The deal with the French competition watchdog could help rebalance the power over advertising in favour of publishers, which held sway over the business in the pre-internet era but lost control with the rapid rise of Google and Facebook.

The settlement, announced on Monday and included a fine on of 220 million euros ($268 million), was the first time the U.S. tech giant had agreed to make changes to its ads business, which brings in the bulk of its revenue.

"The decision to sanction Google is of particular significance because it's the first decision in the world focusing on the complex algorithmic auction processes on which the online ad business relies," said France's antitrust chief Isabelle de Silva.

The French settlement alone may not meaningfully affect industry market share, according to ad-supported media companies and Google's advertising rivals. But they hope it inspires similar antitrust cases in the United States and other jurisdictions.

"This decision is a key milestone to re-energize competition and innovation in the ad tech space, and publishers, who are the primary victims of Google practices, will ultimately benefit from it, but the battle is only beginning," said Arnaud Creput, chief executive of Smart, which provides ad tech to publishers.

France's case did not address, for example, Google's control of its dominant search and YouTube properties to thwart competition. It also did not discuss user privacy curbs Google is to introduce on the web that could benefit it at the expense of competitors.

Instead, the watchdog focused on the ties between Google Ad Manager, used by publishers to auction ad space, and Google AdX, one of several marketplaces which can manage auctions.

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Google grew market share of both services by sharing strategic data across them and barring them from operating as smoothly with rival systems, the authority said.

The privileged relationship "deprived" publishers from benefiting from potential industry competition, it said.

Under the terms of the settlement, Google committed for three years to level the playing field better for AdX with an independent trustee monitoring the situation, the French watchdog said. Some changes would be implemented by the first quarter of 2022, it said, adding that Google would not appeal the decision.

"We will be testing and developing these changes over the coming months before rolling them out more broadly, including some globally," the company added.

'RIGHTLY SANCTIONED'

The ad practices of tech giants, whose success relies on the trove of data they have amassed over the years, have infuriated many publishers globally. The French antitrust authority said its decision opened the way for publishers who felt disadvantaged to seek damages from Google.

Most of Google's sales come from search and YouTube ads. But last year about $23 billion was tied to helping publishers sell ads, drawing antitrust scrutiny to the connections between Google's businesses, plus calls from some critics to break up the company.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire welcomed the watchdog decision.

"The practices put in place by Google to favour its own advertising technologies have affected press groups, whose business model is heavily dependent on ad revenues," he said.

"These are serious practices and they have been rightly sanctioned."

It launched its investigation in 2019 following a complaint from News Corp, French news publishing group Le Figaro and Belgian press group Rossel.

News Corp struck a global news deal with Google in February, one of the most extensive deals of its kind with big tech.

"We haven't been involved in the case in France since we concluded our deal with Google in February, but we remain pleased by the progress of our global partnership, and are hopeful for a long and fruitful relationship in the years ahead," a News Corp spokesman said.

Groupe Le Figaro declined to comment while Rossel did not respond to a request for comment.

($1 = 0.8225 euro)

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Additional reporting by Helen Coster and Paresh Dave; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Christian Lowe and Pravin Char)
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Germany's finance minister Olaf Scholz was criticised by lawmakers for bungling oversight of Wirecard, according to a draft report of a public inquiry into Germany's biggest post-war fraud scandal.

The report by opposition lawmakers, after a months long cross-party investigation, also said that Chancellor Angela Merkel was naive regarding Wirecard's lobbying efforts.

The criticism echoes lawmakers' public comments since the start of the inquiry, but the 675-page draft revives the topic just months ahead of a federal election to choose Merkel's successor. Scholz is among those vying for the office.

"Olaf Scholz as finance minister bears political responsibility for the failure of BaFin," the report says, referring to the nation's financial regulator that is part of the ministry.

The finance ministry and chancellery did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Scholz has denied blame for the failure, and has since revamped BaFin's powers and installed new leadership.

Wirecard, founded in 1999, began by processing payments for gambling and pornography websites before becoming a fintech star and a member of the DAX bluechip index.

It ended by filing for insolvency in June last year, owing creditors almost $4 billion, after disclosing a 1.9 billion euro hole in its accounts that its auditor EY said was the result of a sophisticated global fraud.

The lawmakers said in their report that the Wirecard fiasco was more than an accounting scandal. It was a "collective oversight failure", with BaFin, prosecutors, lobbyists and others playing a role.

The report said that Scholz and his ministry with oversight over BaFin sought reasons not to investigate Wirecard as concerns about the company cropped up, rather than take action.

German officials investigated journalists and other critics of the company instead of Wirecard executives, and they helped Wirecard expand in China even as questions arose about its business practices, the report noted.

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In the runup to a state visit to China in September 2019, Merkel met with a former German economy minister who lobbied on behalf of Wirecard.

The chancellor proved "too naive" in her interaction with the minister, who "managed to successfully promote to the chancellor a matter in which he had an undisclosed economic interest", the report said.

Merkel in April rejected criticism of her lobbying for Wirecard in China, telling lawmakers she had no reason to suspect the firm of criminality as she sought to help it do business there.

(Reporting by John O'Donnell and Tom Sims; Editing by Thomas Escritt, Kirsten Donovan)
Kemps supporters tried drowning out the boos with cheers

Gov. Brian Kemp was met with overwhelming anger while giving a speech during the Georgia GOP convention on Saturday.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks to the media before health care workers received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outside of the Chatham County Health Department on December 15, 2020 in Savannah, Georgia.(Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kemp was bombarded with an overwhelming wave of boos throughout his short speech at the Jekyll Island Convention Center, making it difficult to make out his remarks. Kemps supporters tried drowning out the boos with cheers.

The lingering displeasure from activists and attendees stems from Kemp not seeking to overturn former President Donald Trumps defeat during the 2020 presidential election.

Throughout his speech, he highlighted his support for anti-abortion legislation, new voting restrictions, and the reopening of Georgias economy.

We passed heartbeat legislation, Kemp said of the abortion law, which was blocked in 2020 by a federal judge, according to TIME. The legislation is expected to head back to court in the fall.

Boo! What about the voting machines? a man shouted in response.

Statehouse reporter Maya T. Prahbu tweeted a video of the event where Kemp mentions Georgia being the first state to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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@BrianKempGA greeted at the Ga GOP convention with loud boos. He was speaking for about 30 seconds before it was quiet enough to hear him from the press area. But he got his first full applause when he mentioned Georgia being the first state to reopen during the pandemic. #gapol.

Trump said, Im ashamed that I endorsed him, when referencing Kemp. Trump has had a lingering impact on the Republican Party since his November defeat by President Joe Biden.

The former president blamed Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and other GOP officials for not overturning the election results, ultimately vowing to unseat them.

Kemp also reminded attendees and voters of his political track record including defeating Stacey Abrams in 2018.

There is only one person whos beaten Stacey Abrams, he said to the crowd, and youre looking at him.

Story continues

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Vice President Kamala Harris discouraged would-be migrants from making the trek to the United States during her trip to Guatemala on Monday. It's her first trip abroad as vice president, and she's tasked with leading U.S. diplomatic efforts in the region to stem the flow of migrants to the southern border.

"I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border," Harris said during a press conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei Monday. "Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border."

Harris said of her meeting with Giammattei earlier in the day that the two discussed the root causes of migration, particularly the lack of economic opportunity for many in Guatemala. It's in the U.S. interest to help create economic opportunity for Guatemalans, she said, even as she discouraged illegal immigration to the U.S.

"There are legal methods by which migration can and should occur, but we, as one of our priorities, will discourage illegal migration," Harris continued. "And I believe if you come to our border, you will be turned back. So let's discourage our friends, our neighbors, our family members, from embarking on what is otherwise an extremely dangerous journey, where in large part the only people who benefit are coyotes."

CBS News' Ed O'Keefe asked Harris if she believes the governments of Guatemala, El Salvador or other Central American countries are corrupt, and if the Biden administration is a failure if migrants keep coming to the U.S. Harris replied that she and Giammattei had a "very frank and very candid" conversation.

For his part, the Guatemalan president, through a translator, said his government has "no interest or desire to hide anything," claiming he welcomes international accountability.

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"We can ... get rid of the mindset that politicians have to be corrupt just because they're politicians," Giammattei said through a translator. "It's not necessarily so. And proof of that is that we are working very hard to take cases that we detect in the executive branch to the court system for prosecution."

As CBS News has previously reported, while President Biden has said all migrant families should be rapidly expelled from U.S. soil under a Trump-era public health order, the policy is currently being enforced inconsistently across the southern border, and many migrant families are being allowed to stay.

Harris met with Giammattei, the leader with whom she has talked most frequently about immigration policy, at the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura in Guatemala City. They addressed cooperation on migration, and rooting out corruption in government and cooperation in fighting COVID-19. The U.S. will be sending Guatemala 500,000 vaccine doses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rates the level of COVID-19 infection in Guatemala as "high," and discourages any non-essential travel to the country right now.

Harris said the 500,000 vaccine doses won't cure the problem in the country, but will "make a dent." She also said she expects more funding to come in addition to the $26 million the U.S. contributed for pandemic-related assistance.

During a photo op with Giammattei before their meeting, Harris said that making Guatemala her first foreign visit is a "reflection of the priority that the president and I have placed on this region." She said the U.S. has a "responsibility" to work with friends at allies around the world, like Guatemala.

Migration, particularly from Guatemala, she said, is at the top of the agenda. But while the U.S. and Guatemala share some areas of agreement on the causes, Giammattei told CBS News' Ed O'Keefe in an interview over the weekend that "we are not on the same side of the coin. It is obvious." He later explained that "we are in agreement on the 'what'" of the immigration crisis, "which is something. We are in not agreement on the 'how.'"

Harris heads to Mexico City Monday evening.

Fin Gomez contributed to this report.

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Vice President Kamala Harris staff on Sunday insisted that the "main drivers" of the migrant surge to the southern border are climate and the economy  as Harris arrived in Guatemala and after the Guatemalan president blamed the change in U.S. administrations for the crisis.

Harris spokesperson Symone Sanders told reporters that climate and the economy were among the "main drivers" of the surge in migrants that saw more than 178,000 migrants hit the border in April alone, a number that continued a spike in February and March.

KAMALA HARRIS' DIPLOMATIC TRIP TO LATIN AMERICA GETS OFF TO BUMPY START AS PLANE FORCED TO TURN AROUND

Officials also emphasized the role corruption plays in forcing migrants to make the journey north.

"We see corruption as one of the most important root causes to be dealt with," special envoy Richard Zuniga said.

Critics have blamed the Biden administrations rollback of Trump-era border restrictions and interior enforcement policies that they say have sent the signal to migrants that the border is open. The Biden administration has denied that, saying that the border is closed. Instead, it has emphasized the "root causes" of the crisis  focusing on climate, poverty, crime and corruption in Central America.

HARRIS TO MAKE ANTI-CORRUPTION EFFORTS FRONT AND CENTER OF VISIT TO GUATEMALA, MEXICO

Harris, who was put in charge of diplomatic outreach to solve the crisis in March, has also emphasized the "root causes."

"Im thinking of corruption, violence and poverty, the lack of economic opportunity, the lack of climate adaptation and climate resilience, the lack of good governance," she said last month.

KAMALA HARRIS' MEXICO, GUATEMALA VISIT: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Harris is in Guatemala as part of a two-day trip to the region. On Monday, she will meet with President Alejandro Giammattei, with whom her office says she will discuss increasing economic opportunities and strengthening the rule of law, and deeper bilateral law enforcement cooperation, among other issues. After that meeting and others with community leaders and business owners, she will travel to Mexico.

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But, in an interview aired Sunday, Giammattei said he and Harris "are not on the same side of the coin" on the issue, and blamed what he saw as a more welcoming message to migrants by the new administration for the surge.

"The message changed too: Were going to reunite families, were going to reunite children," he told CBS News. "The very next day, the coyotes were here organizing groups of children to take them to the United States."

"We asked the United States government to send more of a clear message to prevent more people from leaving," he said.

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Harris has come under criticism in the U.S. as well, specifically for not having visited the border since being appointed to her role in dealing with the migration crisis  something critics say is vital for her to know how to tackle the crisis.
Idaho Special Prosecutor Rob Wood has withdrawn his contest to the competency of Lori Vallow Daybell in her murder trial.

Wood submitted his contestation Friday after a psychologist examined Daybell, 47, and declared her not competent for trial. The judge needed to still legally declare Daybells competency, and court proceedings were temporarily halted.

However, Wood withdrew his contest on Monday, a court document show.

Woods withdrawal cites the medical evaluation as well as "corresponding data" provided by the court-appointed examiner.

LORI VALLOW, CHAD DAYBELL DOOMSDAY MURDERS: A TIMELINE OF EVENTS

"The state further does not object to a medical physicians evaluation and diagnosis of the Defendant with a corresponding treatment plan for the purpose of restoring the Defendants competence," the document read.

Daybell and her husband Chad Daybell stand accused of murder and conspiracy in connection to a number of deaths, including the 2019 deaths of Lori Daybells two children Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 17.

'CULT MOM' LORI VALLOW DAYBELL DEEMED UNFIT TO STAND TRIAL IN MURDER CASE

Chad Daybell also faces a first-degree murder charge related to the death of his ex-wife Tammy Daybell, 49.

The couple began to endorse an apocalyptic religious belief system in 2018. Some believe that the religious beliefs were mainly used to justify the murder of the various victims.

LORI VALLOW, CHAD DAYBELL INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES IN CONNECTION TO HER CHILDREN'S DEATHS

The Daybells were indicted in late May on a number of counts, including conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, first-degree murder and grand theft by deception.

Mark Means, the Daybells defense attorney, requested the evaluation in March. A licensed clinical psychologist met with Lori Daybell on at least two days while she remained in Madison County Jail, the EastIdahoNews.com reported.

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The psychologist determined Daybell was "not competent to proceed" and recommended restorative treatment.

The couple has continued to maintain their innocence.

Fox News' Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.
Following closely on the heels of my last column where I applauded a bipartisan effort to crack down on Chinas human rights abuses and its unfair trade policies, came a vote to create a bipartisan commission to study the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. The riots were nothing short of an insurrection, as armed domestic terrorists threatened the lives of our elected representatives while those whose job it was to protect the Capitol were caught flat-footed. Whatever outside assistance came to help was too late and too little.

Bob Kustra

Its hard to imagine why there would not be bipartisan support for such a commission, given all we dont know about how this happened. Why was there such a delayed reaction from the National Guard? Who in the administration may have interfered with what should have been a more urgent response to the riots? What led up to the organizational capacity of right-wing militia forces to descend on Washington causing death and destruction and how were we caught so unaware? How can we prevent such a thing from ever happening again?

And yet two members of Idahos Republican congressional delegation  Sen. Mike Crapo and Rep. Russ Fulcher  voted against the effort to investigate what went wrong at the Capitol that day, and Sen. Jim Risch is listed as not voting.

The proposed commission consisted of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, no doubt mainly for the purpose of reassuring Republicans that commission efforts would not morph into an anti-Trump campaign, since it was Trump who urged the rioters on that January morning.

The use of subpoenas  one of the fears Republicans had of such an investigation  would require bipartisan agreement, and the commissions work was to be completed by the end of 2021 so it did not interfere with the 2022 election cycle, another fear of the Republicans.

The judicious approach its sponsors took to creating the perfect balance between the two parties paid off with 35 House Republicans joining the Democratic majority supporting creation of the commission. One of those Republicans was U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, who has often decried the rise in partisanship in Congress and has worked with the other side of the aisle on projects important to Idaho. Idahos other House member, Rep. Fulcher, is hardly worth mentioning in this regard. His partisan instincts on any given day in the House of Representatives will override the national interest as it did in this case.

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Any whiff of bipartisanship that may have drifted over from the House vote to the Senate was fumigated from the Senate chambers by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He doesnt have a bone in his body that would place an investigation of the Capitol Hill insurrection above his own agenda of returning to the office of majority leader. Only six Republican senators joined Senate Democrats in voting for the commission.

As usual, McConnell could count on his two lackeys from Idaho, Sen. Risch and Sen. Crapo. Both marched in lockstep with McConnell as he argued against a commission to learn how such an assault on our democracy could occur and how to prevent such an occurrence in the future.

Sen. Crapo passes himself off as the thoughtful Harvard Law grad, but he apparently could care less about solving this matter of national security. His interest lies in appeasing the Republican base, which still worships at the altar of Donald Trump, so they support his reelection efforts next year. Crapos naked partisan claims are most evident and contradictory during Democratic administrations when he cries crocodile tears over the rising national debt, then says nothing during the Trump administration when the national debt ballooned. Crickets!

The vote to create what was to be a bipartisan commission to study the insurrection at the Capitol should be seen as one of the most important votes in the careers of our representatives in Washington. Risch, Crapo and Fulcher took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States and no matter your politics, the insurrection was an effort by radicals to attack the very government of the people our Constitution guarantees to every American. To paraphrase President Roosevelts characterization of the Pearl Harbor attack, Jan. 6, 2021, is another day which will live in infamy.

Risch, Crapo and Fulcher know better. They know the storming of the Capitol occurred because of Trumps lie that the election was stolen. They also know that the mob was not a friendly group just visiting the Capitol that day as some of their Republican colleagues have implied in their efforts to paper over the truth.

Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely they will be held accountable for their positions. They come back infrequently, and when they do, they deliver their political pablum, either ignoring issues they feel uncomfortable defending or issuing blatant misrepresentations of the actual facts of the issues.

Idahoans are often ill-prepared to counter the manufactured and distorted versions of reality they hear in response to simple questions like, why did you vote against a bipartisan effort to explore how the greatest democracy on earth could fall victim to an armed attack by its own citizens in 2021? When they are invited to speak at business and community gatherings, they are often allowed to avoid controversial issues. When is the last time they have appeared at a town hall to be held accountable to voters?

Its time for Idahoans to revoke the free passes Idahos lawmakers in Washington have had for years. Its time for the tough questioning. Do not let these elected officials out of the room without asking them for an accounting of their lame voting records when it comes to the future of this Republic and efforts to assure it will not be attacked again. Its time for challengers to take them on and give the voters of Idaho a choice.

Enough is enough.

Bob Kustra served as president of Boise State University from 2003 to 2018. He is host of Readers Corner on Boise State Public Radio and is a regular columnist for the Idaho Statesman. He served two terms as Illinois lieutenant governor and 10 years as a state legislator.
Twitter could face losing its liability protections in India, which reportedly gave the company "one last notice to immediately comply" with new social media rules. The Electronics and Information Technology Ministry sent a letter to Twitter stating the company had yet to adhere to the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code.

The rules were announced in February and came into effect on May 26th. The ministry wrote to Twitter on both that date and May 28th, but it said in a letter over the weekend that the company's responses "neither address the clarifications sought by this ministry nor indicate full compliance with the rules," according to Reuters .

The regulations are centered around content regulation on social media. Social media companies are required to delete posts authorities deem unlawful within 36 hours and to aid in police investigations. They must also have systems to remedy grievances and hire employees in certain roles : a chief compliance officer, a round-the-clock point person for law enforcement and a grievance officer, who must acknowledge user complaints within a day.

The latest letter reportedly claimed Twitter hadn't told the ministry about its chief compliance officer and that its point person and grievance officer were not employees as required by the regulations. The ministry is said to have told Twitter that failure to comply will result in "unintended consequences." Those could include Twitter losing an exemption to be held liable for content that users post (similar to Section 230 protection in the US). Such a move could lead to Twitter facing lawsuits over content.

In a statement to the Associated Press , Twitter said, to keep our service available, we will strive to comply with applicable law in India. But, just as we do around the world, we will continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the rule of law."

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The relationship between Twitter and India has fractured somewhat in recent weeks. Following a request from the government in April, Twitter hid dozens of tweets that criticized the country's response to COVID-19

Around the time the new rules came into effect, Twitter expressed concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police and the potential threat to freedom of expression for the people we serve. Police visited Twitter's New Delhi office after the company labeled a tweet from a governing party spokesman as containing manipulated media.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp has sued the Indian government over the rules. It said the law would require it to make users' messages "traceable." WhatsApp claims the law is unconstitutional.
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian authorities have drafted in more doctors and nurses to two areas on the islands of Java and Madura after hospitals there approached full capacity amid a spike in coronavirus cases, the country's health minister said on Monday.

Health experts and officials are worried about the risk of a broader spike in virus cases fuelled by variants and a jump in travel last month as many in the world's biggest Muslim-majority country travelled back to hometowns for holidays after Ramadan.

In the district of Kudus in Java and Bangkalan in the neighbouring island of Madura, hospital capacity had hit at least 90%, according to media reports.

"There are regions or clusters that are experiencing a high surge," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told a news conference, noting along with medical reinforcements some patients had been moved to other cities for treatment.

In Kudus, about 300 healthcare workers had contracted the respiratory disease, local media reported. Health officials in the areas were not immediately available for comment.

Meanwhile in Bandung, the capital of the country's most populated province of West Java, hospital capacity was at 79%, said Ahyani Raksanagara, the head of the city's health agency.

Of Indonesia's 72,000 isolation beds, 31,000 were currently occupied, up from 22,000 people last month, said Budi.

"We at the health ministry are preparing for the worst that all patients must be admitted to hospitals," said the minister.

Speaking at the same news conference, national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said movement restrictions had been tightened in Kudus and Bangkalan.

Among the worst hit countries in Asia, Indonesia has reported about 1.86 million COVID-19 cases and over 51,000 deaths, with Monday's 6,993 infections the highest daily increase since March 4.

While Indonesia has not so far seen the type of even sharper spike in national infection numbers that have recently prompted lockdowns in neighbours like Malaysia, some medical experts warn that far stricter controls are urgently needed.

"We're just waiting for it to explode. Kudus and Bangkalan have exploded," said University of Indonesia epidemiologist Tri Yunis Miko Wahyono.

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto and Kate Lamb; Editing by Ed Davies)
This interview was recorded before Phase 2: Heightened Alert

SINGAPORE  Its a wet Thursday afternoon the day Im scheduled to meet Royal Pek Wen Yang, co-founder, of Xian Dan Chao Ren, the newest and only salted egg kiosk to hit Punggol Waterway Point. We meet at Isetan Scotts where the crowd is thin and the sales staff are a tad restless from the lack of customers. I take a seat at Leckerbaer, a cup of Latte at my side as I prepare for this interview.

A few minutes later, Royal strides into the mall dressed in the signature Xian Dan Chao Ren uniform of a fitted white t-shirt with the shops chicken mascot emblazoned at the front. Hes also wearing a trippy yellow cap, not by any means a fashion choice Id endorse, though entirely congruent with the outfit choice today. In between juggling kitchen duties and growing the brand, Royal has his work cut out for him. But as someone whose LinkedIn reads like a sure and stable future in the world of finance, Im curious to know how a newcomer views the uncertain and at times rocky F&B industry today.

**

Zat Astha: How will you describe what you do to someone you are meeting for the first time?

Royal Pek: I sell food, and I try my best to make it look good to you. I wouldnt say anything more than that I am simply trying to create somethingvalue. Im here to provide you with good food, using branding and marketing to make the dishes I cook up appetising.

You do not consider yourself an entrepreneur? You do, right? It's on your Instagram profile.

Okay, to be fair, that term is very strong and to many people, toxic even. Its the kind of word that begs attention. With that word, people who have not launched any business would what to hear from you, while the rest just wants to cheat you. For me, I use that word as a challenge. It makes me want to push myself more and prove other people wrong. Its the kind of tension that makes me feel very motivated.

Why did you decide to pursue the business of food?

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Im different from many other F&B owners who, for example, started baking from home and have that passion for cooking. It was really by chance that at the right moment in time, some business partners reached out to me looking for a finance and marketing person. Food itself wasnt a domain I was familiar with. But once I got my feet wet, I realised that there are many untapped opportunities, although it can be pretty competitive.

Its hard to find an edge in this industry and to come up with new products. What has worked is to be crystal clear with what you know and focus on that. So now, the challenge is to try to beat that straightforward but complex marketthat is what spurs me on. Plus, it helps that Ive always liked salted egg.

Youve always like Salted Egg? Why?

Regardless of where you find salted egg, whether its in Singapore, Malaysia or even Indonesia, the taste of salted egg is actually a combination of what we grew up with. People think that its nice simply because its put together so wellthat its a heady combination of sweet and salty. But actually, its the type of taste that we have been eating from youngat least as an Asian kid. Its familiar.

But once you put it together, it becomes this creamy, decadent, luxurious dish that just works. It combines all my favourite flavours as a child growing up. Thats why I love it so much. Its strong enough to hold its own. For a good two years, I spent time playing with different types of sauces and various permutations, which ultimately culminated in the menu at Xian Dan Chao Ren today. Its all very fun.

Balancing the New Normal:

SG Phase 2 Heightened Alert: 10 F&B outlets that deliver familiar comfort food to your home

SG Phase 2 Heightened Alert: 11 restaurants that deliver a touch of luxe to your doorstep

Indonesian restaurant The Rice Table closing down after 24 years

Foodies rally to patronise ailing elderly hawkers as diners asked to stay home

(PHOTO: Xian Dan Chao Ren)

You seem to like what you do. Do you think that it is essential for a successful F&B owner to start with doing something that they like?

It definitely helps a lot to be doing something that you like. It just flows right. Youre focused, and when on the job, time passes by fast. On the contrary, if youre doing something you dont have a passion for, its tough to compete with other people in the same industry. Others who are intrinsically in the flow will always beat you to it because they dont think theyre working, at least not in the traditional this is just a job sense. Your chances of succeeding are just that much higher if youre doing something you like.

Do you think you are successful because it is a relatively novel item amongst the sea of like, doughnut, and other things? Or is it because you are offering something that other place doesn't have?

I think its a little bit of both. Salted Egg as a dish has been around for the longest time, sold amongst other dishes, but never the star. It seems as if no one is bold enough to open a shop selling exclusively salted egg offerings. Ive been in the F&B industry for about three years now, and I know that people are still ordering it. So I wouldnt say that the trend has died down.

A better way to put it is that no one has dominated this particular food segment yettherein lies the challenge. Its pretty obvious why people avoid selling only salted eggthe margins are not very high. You also need some specialised skills to manipulate this dish and ensure consistency. Even right now, I still struggle with it, even after trying to standardise the processes and systems. Its always going to be a work in progress, like all good things. But Im confident that the interest in salted egg dishes is here to stay.

What do you think the future of F&B looks like?

I imagine it will all be about customizability. Imagine walking to a store, and they have all your data there through an app. The store knows exactly what you like and prepares a dish thats customised precisely for you. Of course, operationally, it will be challenging initially, but I think we can eventually get there.

It all ties in with the statistics that a person who likes something you offer at a store has a 42 per cent chance of returning every day. Then maybe the second time they bring their friends, and then the third time, they come back again because theyre familiar with the menu. During the fourth visit, thats when the customer becomes a regular patron. So thats the challenge: marketing to customers such that they come back that many times.

(PHOTO: Xian Dan Chao Ren)

And which part of the F&B future scares you the most?

That people wont like salted egg dishes any more. That would ultimately put me out of business. And it is a possibility, what with the rising trend of consumers being more health-conscious and aware of what they put in their body.

I would, of course, consider plant-based meats. Personally, I think they taste good, but thats probably because, ironically, Im not a very picky eater. But I feel that there is just something in real meat that cannot be replaced or substituted with its plant-based counterparts. Its good for the consumers and society, no doubt. But for me, right now, its less of a priority.

What has been the biggest sacrifice you have made in your food journey that you have never told anyone about?

I wouldnt go as far as to say that its a sacrifice, but it does take an inordinate amount of time and effort. Theres a lot of compromises to be had. It could be time with your loved ones, family, partner. People would ask if I want to meet up for a drink, but I cant because, for example, I have to count the earnings of the day. And after that, if the business is not doing as well as I expected, I have to think about bringing in sales for tomorrow. Rinse and repeat.

Its not that I dont want to go out and spend time with people I love. I do. But that time I spend away from the business if it doesnt lead to a good outcome for the company, is that time well-spent? Its very tough for me to balance it.

Its also difficult for my family and me. After a whole day of talking to thousands of customer, smiling and interacting, sometimes when Im done with work, I dont want to smile or speak to anyone anymore. Im smiling so much for people I dont personally know that it takes my joy away from people I care about. And that its so stupid right, but I really cant help it. Ive been in the kitchen the whole day, and Im tired. Its tough to accept that Ive had to sacrifice my relationships with the people I love.

Last question. When you look at the state of dining in Singapore today, what is the one thing that gives you hope?

People are willing and not reticent about spending money. Its the reason why so many restaurants can survive. The trend is that people are spending more and more in this industry; I mean, you dont want to be in a business where people are spending less and less, right? If youre selling reasonably good food, then that equation of diminishing returns doesnt apply. People are willing to pay, and in that respect, that gives me hope.

So, your answer, in the gist of it, is purchasing power?

Purchasing power, yes.

It is a very honest answer. And I tend to agree.

Watch more Lifestyle videos on Yahoo TV:

Balancing the New Normal:

SG Phase 2 Heightened Alert: 10 F&B outlets that deliver familiar comfort food to your home

SG Phase 2 Heightened Alert: 11 restaurants that deliver a touch of luxe to your doorstep

Indonesian restaurant The Rice Table closing down after 24 years

Foodies rally to patronise ailing elderly hawkers as diners asked to stay home
The remnants of Iraqs Osirak nuclear reactor, 17km southeast of Baghdad, which was bombed on 7 June 1981 (Ramzi Haidar/AFP/Getty)

Four decades ago, a squadron of Israeli fighter jets on a secret mission snuck over Saudi Arabian airspace and swooped in to destroy an Iraqi nuclear reactor site that was being built by French and Italian engineers just outside Baghdad. It was a surprise attack lauded by Israels defenders and cited as an example of effective derring-do, showing how raw military power could serve as a tool of arms control.

But a trove of previously secret United States documents released on Monday by a Washington organisation strongly suggests that Iraqs nuclear ambitions had already been secretly contained by the Europeans who were building the bombed research reactor at Osirak. Moreover, the 7 June 1981 attack may have actually encouraged then Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein to step up his quest for weapons of mass destruction.

The documents, obtained by the Washington-based National Security Archive through Freedom of Information Act requests, include White House, State Department and CIA cables which summarise key diplomatic and political interactions that preceded the attack. They also show attempts by US officials to grapple with the aftermath.

At least 10 Iraqi soldiers and a French civilian were killed in the Israeli attack.

The documents, retrieved and published as part of a transparency advocacy project hosted by George Washington University, are being released at a time when Israel is attempting to rally nations against the nuclear programme of Iran.

For weeks in Vienna, the US and other world powers have been trying to resurrect a nuclear non-proliferation deal with Iran that was sabotaged by former US president Donald Trump. Israel opposes a return to the deal.

France had long insisted that the design for the nuclear plant it was building made it impossible to retrofit to produce fissile material for a bomb. But one highly sensitive document in the trove says Paris had gone even further.

It recounts for the first time a 25 July 1980 Paris meeting between US diplomats and a senior French non-proliferation official  who insisted on absolute secrecy  about Iraq-bound shipments of uranium.

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The official said the materials had been secretly chemically altered to make them useless for weapons use.

He stressed the precautions they have and are taking, the State Department cable says. They find themselves in a dilemma, however, as they are unable to describe some of the precautions they are taking, in view of the fact that the Iraqis themselves were unaware of some of the preventative measures which the French are taking.

The main step the French had taken was to pre-irradiate any enriched uranium it would send to Iraq, making it not usable as a weapons material, says the document.

Other less controversial precautions included allowing only one shipment of uranium into the reactor at a time, maintaining a French presence at Osirak at all times, and making sure French technicians monitored the enriched uranium as they were being transported

But one document marked secret suggests there were concerns that Italian and French contractors were competing to sell weapons to Iraq. There were worries that Italy in particular would try to sweeten any deal by including advanced nuclear technology as part of its offerings.

Days after the Iran-Iraq war began, Iraqi armed forces swarmed into the Osirak site, adding more worries about Baghdads ultimate intentions.

Are French officials still at the site and do they have access to the fuel there? What is the status of the fuel? an 11 October 1980 US State Department cable from Washington to Paris demanded.

Other documents point to worries by US officials that Iraq was scouring the globe for sensitive nuclear material.

On 20 January 1981, a new administration took over in Washington under President Ronald Reagan. There is a gap in the documents that may suggest that the new administration failed to grasp the urgency of the matter and stakes involved.

The documents show how concerned US officials at the time were not only about Iraqi weapons pursuits, but also the possibility that Israel could provoke a wider war by attacking Osirak. At the time, the US was considered far more of a neutral arbiter between Israel and Arab states than it is now. Saudi officials told Americans they were enraged that Israel had used its territory to reach Iraq, with Israeli pilots falsely signalling they were Jordanian.

One Saudi official whose name was redacted told a US counterpart, this is one of the most dangerous situations Saudi Arabia has ever faced. It is an insult to both Saudi Arabia and the US and puts the Saudis in an embarrassing situation vis-a-vis other Arabs, according to the minutes of a White House meeting obtained by the National Security Archive.

Washington demanded answers from Israel about specific intelligence it had that weapons work was being conducted in Osirak, but Israel only responded with vague worst-case scenarios, according to a National Security Council document. US officials could find no evidence of claims by Israelis of a secret bunker beneath Osirak that was to be used for weapons work.

Reagan reacted to the attack harshly at first, suspending some arms sales to Israel and cooperating with Iraq in crafting a UN condemnation.

Saddam Hussein (Getty)

But other officials pushed back. One memo prepared for the president by neo-conservative White House official Douglas Feith, who 22 years later emerged as one of the key architects of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, blamed Reagans predecessor Jimmy Carter for the crisis and urged the administration not to criticise Israels then-prime minister Menachem Begin.

Your public statements must be framed with the raids diplomatic background lest they unduly antogonise Israel, it says.

Iraq, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, was obliged to open its nuclear facilities to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency. But the Israeli attack on Osirak, along with the ongoing war then raging between Iran and Iraq, ended Iraqi cooperation with European nuclear firms, driving the programme underground.

A classified assessment by the State Departments intelligence branch said that while the attack on Osirak may have set back Iraqs nuclear programme, it may have done more harm than good, accurately predicting a years-long attempt by Iraq to evade inspectors and pursue weapons of mass destruction. International inspectors were shocked a decade later by Iraqs secret nuclear and chemical weapons advances following the 1991 US-led Gulf War.

The bombing set back temporarily Iraqs nuclear research program, which aimed for a weapons option, by limiting its access to material and technological assistance, said the 17 August 1981 assessment.

The raid may, however, have heightened Iraqs interest in eventually acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.

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Siblings Muna and Mohammed al-Kurd are activists behind a social media campaign against forced expulsions of Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Video Transcript

HODA ABDEL HAMID: She is back at home, released with no charge and no conditions. Muna al-Kurd was detained early Sunday morning when Israeli police raided her family home. Her twin brother, Mohammed, who wasn't there at the time, was served a notice to present himself to the police station in occupied East Jerusalem.

INTERPRETER: This is intimidation, nothing more. Because they know on June 8th, Israel's attorney general will issue his opinion so they want to intimidate the residents of this neighborhood. These are the policies of the occupation, intimidation and fear. Why did they close our road? Because we made our voices heard.

HODA ABDEL HAMID: She became the symbol of their plight as she documented everyday life in the neighborhood. The Kurd family has already lost part of their property. A Jewish settler, originally from Brooklyn, New York, lives behind those wooden panels.

- You are stealing my house.

- And if I don't steal someone else is going to steal it.

- No, no.

HODA ABDEL HAMID: A conversation between him and Muna went viral. Several other properties on the same street were taken over by settlers. Muna and her brother were taken to this police station in occupied East Jerusalem, where just a day before Al Jazeera correspondent, Givara Budeiri, was also being interrogated. Budeiri was covering a protest in solidarity of the families in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, who could lose their homes without being given substitute housing. She was close to Muna al-Kurd's home when she was overpowered, handcuffed, and dragged by Israeli soldiers. Budeiri's left arm was fractured during the violent arrest.

GIVARA BUDEIRI: What I am seeing now on the ground after all these years, this time after all these years, this is the first time we see this unbelievable treating towards journalists, and especially towards Al Jazeera after covering all what happened in [INAUDIBLE] and Sheikh Jarrah, and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Gaza especially. But they want the camera to be broken, as they broke it yesterday with my colleague Nabil Musawi. They wanted the microphone to be on the ground. But we are telling them that the microphone and the camera will stay and we will continue. Nothing will stop us, nothing. We face more than this and we will continue.

HODA ABDEL HAMID: Israeli police and army have so far been heavy-handed with both journalists and those voicing their solidarity for Palestinians facing forceful evictions. This was the scene outside the police station as Muna's father was talking to journalists. The street where she lives has seen many crackdowns. Despite it all, Muna's voice has become a difficult one to silence. Hoda Abdel Hamid, Al Jazeera in occupied East Jerusalem.
By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli far right groups scrapped a planned march through Jerusalem's Old City after police refused to authorise it amid fears it would rekindle strife that led to 11 days of intense fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants last month.

Several groups had planned a flag-waving procession through the walled Old City's Damascus Gate and into its Muslim quarter this coming Thursday, drawing warnings from Gaza's ruling Hamas movement of fresh hostilities should it go ahead.

The original march on May 10 was re-routed at the last minute as tensions around Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, where Palestinian families face eviction, led Hamas to fire rockets towards the holy city.

Israel responded with air strikes, and the most serious cross-border fighting with Hamas in years raged for 11 days before a fragile ceasefire was achieved. Arab-Jewish violence also erupted in several Israeli cities.

Police said on Monday the permit was denied for Thursday's march to proceed on the date and along the route planned by the organisers, and that an alternative procession would be considered if submitted.

Far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir said he would nonetheless march along the full route, accusing police of "capitulating to terrorism".

A Hamas spokesman in Gaza said the police decision stemmed from Israel's recognition of "the danger of crossing ... red lines" set by the group over Israeli activity at sensitive sites in Jerusalem, and "consequences it may bring on the ground".

It was not immediately clear if police made the move in consultation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, some of whose right-wing members have voiced support for the march as a show of Israel's claim to sovereignty over East Jerusalem, disputed by Palestinians.

Israel's Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, a member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, said on Twitter that the police ban should be reviewed by the government, floating the possibility that it could still be overturned.

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Israel annexed East Jerusalem, in a move that has not won international recognition, after capturing the area in the 1967 Middle East war. It considers all of Jerusalem its capital.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a state they seek to establish in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Tensions are likely to remain high in Jerusalem even if the march does not go ahead. Protests have flared in Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families face possible eviction after an Israeli court accepted Jewish settler land claims.

Israeli Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit informed the Supreme Court that he would not intervene in the legal proceedings, paving the way for the court to issue a ruling widely expected to be in favour of the settlers.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in GazaEditing by Jeffrey Heller, Mark Heinrich, Peter Graff)
By Michael Erman

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Safety concerns about Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine along with overall flagging demand for vaccinations have slowed its U.S. rollout to a crawl, leaving close to half of the 21 million doses produced for the United States sitting unused.

J&Js vaccine was supposed to be an important tool for reaching rural areas and vaccine hesitant Americans because it requires only one shot and has less stringent storage requirements than the two-dose vaccines from Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc.

But Americans have largely eschewed it over the six weeks it has been back in use after a pause to study a rare safety issue, according to data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and interviews with health officials and pharmacists in eight states across the country.

"We went from having a waiting list to give somebody a shot to having maybe one shot a day or four shots a day," Michelle Vargas, owner of independent Lamar Family Pharmacy in Lamar, South Carolina, said of plunging demand for the J&J shot in the small rural community. "They're concerned for their safety. I think that's the biggest hurdle right now."

In the week ended May 25, fewer than 650,000 Americans received the J&J shot, accounting for about 5% of total vaccinations administered and down from nearly 3 million in the week leading up to the pause, CDC data shows.

Demand for all the vaccines has slowed since mid-April, but the drop has been significantly steeper for the J&J shot.

Graphic: U.S. vaccinations by manufacturer

Chart

The slowdown may mean some J&J doses will expire unused at a time when global demand for any COVID-19 vaccine is high. J&J doses will be among the 25 million donated by the United States announced by the White House last Thursday.

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At least 13 lots of the vaccine have expiration dates of June 27 or earlier, according to a J&J website. It is not clear how many doses that reflects, but the vaccine has a 3-month shelf life and most doses were sent out by early April, including 11 million in the first week. J&J has another 100 million doses on hand but shipment timing is uncertain.

A J&J spokesperson declined to comment on the number of doses expiring before the end of June.

J&J is working with the U.S. government and health authorities to support use of its vaccine, the spokesperson said in a statement, calling it an important tool in the global fight against COVID-19.

"We remain committed to helping end this deadly pandemic as quickly as possible," J&J said.

'LET'S JUST STICK WITH PFIZER AND MODERNA'

The CDC and Food and Drug Administration paused use of the J&J vaccine for nearly two weeks in mid-April to investigate links to cases of a very rare, potentially life-threatening condition called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which involves blood clots and low platelet counts.

Regulators decided that the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risk. The condition has also been linked to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine.

David Kohll, pharmacist at Kohll's Pharmacy with six locations in Nebraska, said before the safety issue, several companies arranged for him to provide J&J vaccines to employees.

"Some of them are trucking companies and some others with more blue-collar or hard-to-get-to employees. They wanted us to go with all J&J," Kohll said. After the safety pause, "probably 80 percent of them said 'Let's just stick with Pfizer and Moderna.'"

Public health officials said during the pause they found the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were adequate substitutes in the mobile and walk-up clinics where they had been using J&J.

"Once we get them in for the first dose, we've got them and they will come back for the second dose," said Dr. Karen Landers, a public health official in Alabama.

Use of J&J's shot has fallen in states like Wyoming and Alabama with low vaccine uptake and in places like Maine and Oregon, where vaccination rates are high, according to state and CDC data.

Not everyone has seen a sharp drop-off in demand for the J&J vaccine. Richard Stryker, who runs the Bayshore Pharmacy in Atlantic Highlands, N.J., said he has seen plenty of interest, particularly from seniors who are at lower risk for the clotting issue and prefer the single injection.

J&J has said it is not currently selling the vaccine for a profit. The lower demand this year is immaterial to its financials, SVB Leerink analyst Danielle Antalffy said at the time of the safety pause.

But competitors Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna could benefit as developed countries sign future deals for booster shots. Pfizer and BioNTech's EU deal alone could be worth at least $16 billion - as much as double that if all options are exercised - for the companies through 2023, based on current prices.

Rollout of the J&J shot has had other stumbles as well. Regulators shut down production at the largest U.S. plant making the vaccine due to cross-contamination at the site with the AstraZeneca shot. No new doses have been distributed in the United States since mid-May.

U.S. regulators are deciding whether it is safe to release up to 100 million doses of J&J's vaccine produced at that plant. The dwindling U.S. demand could provide additional flexibility to donate millions of doses.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)
U.S. President Biden will attend the G7 summit in Cornwall this week - KEVIN LAMARQUE/Reuters

Joe Biden has said he wants to strengthen the special relationship with Britain ahead of his arrival in London on his visit this week.

The US president, who will meet the Queen and attend the G7 summit in Cornwall, said he would use his upcoming meeting with Boris Johnson to "affirm the special relationship" and endorsed the prime minister's G7 goals of tackling climate change and strengthening ties between democracies.

"In the United Kingdom, after meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson to affirm the special relationship between our nations, I will participate in the G-7 summit," he wrote in the Washington Post on Sunday.

"This group of leading democracies and economies has not met in person in two years due to the coronavirus. Ending this pandemic, improving health security for all nations and driving a robust, inclusive global economic recovery will be our top priorities."

The reference to the special relationship, an idea that commands much less attention in the US, will be read in London as a gesture of goodwill following sometimes terse exchanges between the Johnson and Biden Governments over Brexit and Northern Ireland.

Mr Biden frequently plays up his Irish heritage and signalled before he became president that he would oppose any arrangements that could jeopardise the Good Friday Agreement, to the irritation of British ministers.

During their meeting, Mr Biden is expected to warn the Prime Minister not to renege on the Northern Ireland Brexit deal.

Boris Johnson, the prime minister, speaking to Joe Biden in January - No10 Downing Street/ Andrew Parsons

In as near an explicit repudiation of Donald Trump's foreign policy as possible without mentioning the former president's name, Mr Biden said the trip was "about realising Americas renewed commitment to our allies and partners and demonstrating the capacity of democracies to both meet the challenges and deter the threats of this new age".

Mr Biden will meet Mr Johnson for bilateral talks on Thursday before both men attend the G7 summit in Cornwall from Friday to Sunday.

Story continues

The two leaders are expected to discuss trade deals, challenges from China and Russia, and Covid travel restrictions. Major airlines in America and Britain have called on the pair to reopen transatlantic travel for this Summer.

The president and First Lady Jill Biden will meet the Queen at Windsor Castle on Sunday before travelling on to Brussels for meetings with Nato and the European Union.

The bosses of the biggest airlines in America and Britain will urge Mr Johnson and Mr Biden on Monday to use their G7 talks to reopen transatlantic travel for this Summer.

The chief executives will hold an unprecedented presentation in advance of G7 summit later this week to push for a quarantine-free travel corridor between the two nations.

Both countries currently have restrictions on non-essential travel across the Atlantic but both have forged ahead of other nations in vaccinating their adult populations.

Some senior aviation figures are arguing that the two countries should capitalise on the success by agreeing to exempt vaccinated Britons and Americans from any restrictions.

Among those at Mondays presentation are Doug Parker, chief executive of American Airlines; Sean Doyle, chief executive of BA; Ed Bastian, Delta Airlines boss; John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow; Scott Kirby, chief executive of United Airlines; and Shai Weiss, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic.

Mr Biden will end his trip in Geneva for a face-to-face summit with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, on June 16.

That meeting is expected to be tense, with Mr Biden promising to question Mr Putin over Russia's challenge to European security, aggression against Ukraine, and its failure to crackdown on ransomware gangs believed to be based in the former Soviet Union.
Good morning and welcome to Fox News First. Here's what you need to know as you start your day



Kamala Harris diplomatic trip to Latin America gets off to bumpy start as plane forced to turn around

Vice President Kamala Harris' diplomatic trip to Guatemala and Mexico got off to a bumpy start Sunday after her plane was forced to return to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland about 25 minutes after it had taken off.

Air Force Two landed safely. Spokesperson Symone Sanders told reporters the plane returned because of a "technical issue" and said there were no major safety concerns.

"I'm good, I'm good," Harris told reporters after getting off the plane. "We all said a little prayer, but we're good."

Harris later arrived in Guatemala's capital, where she was greeted by Guatemala's Minister of Foreign Affairs Pedro Brolo.

A video shared by Sanders on Twitter shows the vice president and Brolo waving to a crowd upon arrival.

Harris' two-day trip to Central America  her first foreign trip as vice president  is part of her efforts to lead diplomatic talks to tackle what the administration describes as the "root causes" of the crisis at the southern border.

President Joe Biden appointed Harris in March to lead the diplomatic outreach, just as the administration was dealing with a massive surge in migration at the border. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.

In other developments:

- Kamala Harris' Mexico, Guatemala visit: Everything you need to know

- Harris to make anti-corruption efforts front and center of visit to Guatemala, Mexico

- Harris announces business investments in Central America as part of migrant strategy

- Mayorkas defends handling of migrant crisis, claims 'the border is closed' amid GOP criticism

Former professor slams NYC psychiatrist who talked about shooting White people as 'unfit to practice medicine'

Former Princeton professor Dr. Carol Swain argued on "Fox & Friends Weekend" on Sunday that the New York City psychiatrist who told a Yale School of Medicine audience that she had fantasies of "unloading a revolver into the head of any White person" that got in her way is "unfit to practice medicine."

Story continues

"She should not be practicing medicine," Swain told host Lawrence Jones. "What she says matters."

"There are lunatics that may be listening to her speech right now that will go out and act on her fantasy," Swain explained. "She has planted that in someone's mind."

Dr. Aruna Khilanani made the remarks at the Ivy League institutions Child Study Center on April 6, adding that shed walk away from the shooting "with a bounce in my step" and that White people "make my blood boil" and "are out of their minds and have been for a long time," the New York Post reported. Audio of the talk was posted on the substack online platform of former New York Times opinion writer and editor Bari Weiss on Friday.

"That statement should have ended the career of that doctor because she is unfit to practice medicine," Swain said on Sunday.

"This is ridiculous, this is unprofessional, it's un-American, it's probably illegal. If not, it should be," she added.

Khilanani did not respond to Fox News request for comment. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.



In other developments:

- NYC shrink tells Yale audience she fantasizes about shooting White people in head

- Mom fights anti-White training in daughters kindergarten class: They reduce everything down to skin color

California shooting: 2 arrested in road rage shooting death of 6-year-old, report

Two suspects were nabbed Sunday in connection to the road rage shooting death of a 6-year-old being driven to school by his mother last month, Fox 11 Los Angeles reported, citing law enforcement sources.

The station identified the suspects as Eriz Marcus Anthony, 24, and Lee Wynne, 23. The report said they were arrested at their homes in Costa Mesa and are expected to be charged with murder. California Highway Patrol did not respond to an email from Fox News.

The May 21 shooting death of Aiden Leos, 6, while his mother was driving him to school on the northbound 55 Freeway in Orange, has gripped the county and the reward for information reached $500,000. Joanna Cloonan, the boys mother, said she was cut off by a couple in what appeared to be a white Volkswagen. She said she heard a loud noise and her son, who was behind her, said, "Ow."

He had been shot. She pulled over as soon as she could. She called 911 and did her best to save him, but he was losing a lot of blood.

He was rushed to Childrens Hospital of Orange County where he was pronounced dead. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.



In other developments:

- Boy, 6, shot dead in California on way to school in apparent road-rage incident

- Aiden Leos shooting: Image of suspect vehicle in road rage killing released as California DA issues warning

- Reward in suspected road rage shooting of California 6-year-old up to $450,000

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#TheFlashback: CLICK HERE to find out what happened on "This Day in History."



SOME PARTING WORDS

Mark Levin discussed what happens when district and city attorneys use their powers of office to advance their own personal political agendas on Sundays "Life, Liberty & Levin."

"We pride ourselves in this nation on being a nation of laws," Levin said, "We have something called due process  we have all kinds of systems in place to protect the individual. What happens when a district attorney in a city or an attorney general in a state use their power to advance a political agenda? Politicians dressed up as prosecutors. And what happens when one individual  a prominent individual  is focused on a target by an entire political party, including their prosecutors? Is that what we want in America?"

Not signed up yet for Fox News First? Click here to find out what you're missing.

Fox News Go Watch page is now available, providing visitors with Pay TV provider options in their area carrying Fox News Channel & Fox Business Network.

Fox News First was compiled by Fox News' Jack Durschlag. Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! Well see you in your inbox first thing Tuesday.
Vice President Kamala Harris' first international trip got off to a rocky start when her plane was forced to fly back to Joint Base Andrews due to a "technical issue" about 30 minutes after it took off. The vice president departed in another plane about an hour and a half later.

"I'm good, I'm good. We all said a little prayer, but we're good," Harris told reporters after disembarking from the plane. She also gave a thumbs up.

Senior aide Symone Sanders said there were "no major safety issues" on the flight.

Harris is traveling to Guatemala and Mexico, her first trip abroad as vice president. In March, President Joe Biden tasked her with leading the administration's diplomatic efforts with the Northern Triangle countries and Mexico to help stem the flow of migration at the southern border. Harris is set to spend two days meeting with the presidents of the two nations and checking in with organizers on the ground.

Vice President Kamala Harris deplanes Air Force Two after a technical issue forced the aircraft to return and land at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, on Sunday, June 6, 2021, as she was heading to Guatemala City. / Credit: Jacquelyn Martin / AP

Sanders said last week that the vice president will be addressing issues that include COVID-19 vaccination, natural disasters, food insecurities and climate change, as well as poverty, violence and corruption.

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, who is set to host Harris on Monday, told CBS News that Harris "doesn't hold back, which is good. She is frank."

Ed O'Keefe, Tim Perry and Fin Gomez contributed to this report.

Harry and Meghan welcome baby daughter, Lilibet Diana

Two people arrested in Southern California road rage shooting death of 6-year-old boy

Big blow to Biden agenda: Senator Manchin to oppose Democrats' voting rights bill
Wendy Morton MP Getty

EXCLUSIVE: Labour has written to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards asking for an investigation into Wendy Morton MP.

Morton, a Foreign Office minister, declared a 4,000 donation received by her local association.

The company had been dissolved for nearly three years.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

A government minister could face investigation by Parliament's sleaze watchdog, after the opposition Labour Party requested a probe into a 4,000 donation she accepted from a company that was dissolved nearly three years before the donation was made.

The chair of the Labour Party, Anneliese Dodds MP, has written to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, calling for her to "urgently investigate" the donation registered by Wendy Morton MP, a Foreign Office minister in the UK government. The donation was first brought to light following an Insider investigation.

Dodds told Insider: "Labour has asked Parliament's standards watchdog to get to the bottom of why a sitting Conservative MP appears to have pocketed thousands of pounds from a company that only exists on paper. The Conservative Party has also failed to explain publicly why the records show it stashed thousands more from the same company.

"We need to understand where the Tories are getting their cash from - there can't be one rule for them and a different rule for everyone else."

In her letter, Dodds asks Stone to investigate "a potential breach of the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament relating to donations and other support for activities as Members."

Similar to political-financing laws, the Code of Conduct states that MPs "must not accept any donations, loans, security or other support valued at over 500 from impermissible donors".

In January 2020, Morton registered a 4,000 donation from Unionist Buildings by her local party organisation, according to her entry in the Register of Members' Interests. Records held by Companies House matching the company registration number provided show the company was dissolved in January 2017.

Story continues

Dodds writes: "It appears that the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills has accepted a donation of thousands of pounds from a company that was officially dissolved almost three years earlier. I am sure you will agree that this case requires urgent investigation to establish if the Member has breached the Code of Conduct.

"Any breach of the Code of Conduct or the General Principles of Conduct for Members of Parliament undermines public trust in our political system. To uphold that trust, it is important that allegations of a breach are investigated swiftly and that any Member found to be responsible is subject to the appropriate sanctions."

In addition to the 2020 donation, Unionist Buildings made a 6,000 donation to Morton's local association in June 2017, five months after its dissolution, which she registered in July 2017.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Unionist Buildings.

These donations are already the subject of inquiries by the Electoral Commission, the body which regulates political finance across the UK. Their inquiries were opened after Dodds wrote to them last week, following Insider's revelation that Electoral Commission records showed nearly 30,000 in donations which appeared to have come from impermissible sources.

On Friday, the Electoral Commission said that a 10,000 donation from Stridewell Estates, previously reported by Insider, had been "incorrectly identified" on their database following an "administrative error" by the Commission. A similar error was made on another donation from a different company. The record has since been altered.

A Commission spokesperson said: "We regret any confusion it has caused, and the impact it has had on transparency."

But questions remain concerning the donations from Unionist Buildings, with the Commission saying: "The Conservative Party has advised us that donations from Unionist Buildings Limited were inaccurately reported to us. We remain in contact with them so that we can publish the correct information and provide transparency to voters."

The BBC reported a Conservative Party spokesperson saying: "We welcome this decision from the Electoral Commission and we will continue to work with them."

Insider has contacted Morton and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Valeria Luiselli is pleased to have passed the libraries test with her first novel written directly in English, Lost Children Archive (Sound Desert), which received the Dublin Literary Award.

The 100,000-euro ($122,000) award, sponsored by Dublin City Council, is the top monetary prize for a single novel published in English. The finalists are nominated by libraries around the world.

That really seems to me to be the most beautiful thing about this award, Luiselli said in a recent interview with The Associated Press from New York, where she lives. It is a prize that is not linked, like all other prizes, to the speed of the market, but to the speed of reading.

Published in 2019, Lost Children Archive addresses the issue of migrant children traveling unaccompanied to the United States, something that the author has witnessed first-hand as a translator and interpreter for children at the immigration court of New York.

In the novel, a family made up of a couple of sound documentary creators and their children set out on a road trip from New York to the southern border, something Luiselli did in 2014. This and other trips gave rise to her story about displaced children that is intertwined with the domination and elimination of the Apache culture.

Crossing this country a different urgency took hold of me, the urgency to write about political violence towards the communities that this country considers outsiders, Luiselli explained. Thinking about the cycles that are repeated in the history of violence against certain communities, almost always violence motivated by the deep racism in this country, traveling and touring this country and seeing that, I decided to write Lost Children Archive.

The 37-year-old author has been previously praised by librarians. In 2020, her novel won the Andrew Carnegie Medal, presented by the American Library Association. At the time Luiselli called herself a radical nerd and remembered spending more time in libraries  between the stacks, in silent reading rooms, in the rare books & manuscript sections, and hovering behind the lenses of microfilm readers  than is probably healthy.

Story continues

Before Lost Children Archive," she had published books translated from Spanish into English, including the novels Faces in the Crowd and The Story of My Teeth, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and winner of the Los Angeles Times award for best fiction; and Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions, winner of the American Book Award.

She has written extensively in Spanish. Luiselli, daughter of a diplomat father and Zapatista mother, was born in Mexico City in 1983, but has since lived in South Africa, South Korea, India and several European countries. She has lived in the United States for 13 years, where she awaits the birth of her second daughter with her partner, a Somali man raised in Canada.

Her center of gravity, however, remains in Mexico.

I grew up in a house where we were constantly reminded of our Mexican roots, she said. I grew up with a feeling that we lived abroad, and that home was there in Mexico, that that was our home and that one day we would return."

In Lost Children Archive, the mother is of Nanu indigenous origin, a Mexican ethnic group. One day she meets Manuela, a speaker of Triqui, an indigenous language of Oaxaca, and asks to record her speaking this language to document it. Manuela tells her that her daughters were on their way to meet her from Mexico but were arrested and could be deported. Thus arises the mothers obsession for those children who get lost along the way, while traveling with her own children looking at them, imagining what would happen if they were them.

As part of the plot, the mother participates in a vigil with a priest for the disappeared in raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in which the authorities seek to cover a detention quota: At first, I thought Father Juan Carlos was preaching from a kind of Orwellian dystopic delirium. It took me some time to realize that he wasnt. It took me some time to notice that the rest of the people there that day ... were family members of someone who had, in fact, disappeared during an ICE raid," an excerpt reads.

Luiselli pointed to the increase in detention centers for migrants. According to the National Migration Forum, the United States has the largest detention system for migrants in the world, which has multiplied by 20 since 1979 and expanded 75% in the first decade of the 21st century.

In 2019, nearly 70,000 migrant children were in U.S. custody. Children are often held in a network of shelters, such a convention centers or military installations, a situation that Luiselli calls absurd.''

Its absurd ... It has become a way to feed the great monster of the private prison industry in the United States, said the writer. Basically they imprison migrants and with that they earn billions of dollars. Instead of giving them due process, instead of allowing a boy or a girl to live with their relatives while they process their visa, they are imprisoned in a childrens center. 

With the book, Luiselli worked directly with Daniel Saldana Paris to translate Lost Children Archive, edited in Spanish by Sexto Piso as Desierto Sonoro, into a version that feels as vivid as the original. When writing in Spanish, she works with translator Christina MacSweeney to bring her books into English.

She highlighted other contemporary writers who have addressed the issue of migration and borders, such as Samanta Schweblin, Gabriela Jauregui, Brenda Lozano, Cristina Rivera Garza, Dolores Dorantes, Natalie Diaz and Fernanda Melchor, whose Hurricane Season was a finalist for this year's Dublin Literary Award.

I can only think of women who are writing very interesting things about the border, she said. There is a generation of writers right now with a very powerful voice ... on topics that haunt and hurt us.
- By GF Value





The stock of McGrath RentCorp (NAS:MGRC, 30-year Financials) appears to be modestly overvalued, according to GuruFocus Value calculation. GuruFocus Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value at which the stock should be traded. It is calculated based on the historical multiples that the stock has traded at, the past business growth and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the price of a stock is significantly above the GF Value Line, it is overvalued and its future return is likely to be poor. On the other hand, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher. At its current price of $83.9 per share and the market cap of $2 billion, McGrath RentCorp stock appears to be modestly overvalued. GF Value for McGrath RentCorp is shown in the chart below.





McGrath RentCorp Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

Because McGrath RentCorp is relatively overvalued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be lower than its business growth, which averaged 7% over the past three years and is estimated to grow 1.88% annually over the next three to five years.

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

Since investing in companies with low financial strength could result in permanent capital loss, investors must carefully review a company's financial strength before deciding whether to buy shares. Looking at the cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage can give a good initial perspective on the company's financial strength. McGrath RentCorp has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.01, which ranks in the bottom 10% of the companies in Business Services industry. Based on this, GuruFocus ranks McGrath RentCorp's financial strength as 5 out of 10, suggesting fair balance sheet. This is the debt and cash of McGrath RentCorp over the past years:

Story continues

McGrath RentCorp Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

It is less risky to invest in profitable companies, especially those with consistent profitability over long term. A company with high profit margins is usually a safer investment than those with low profit margins. McGrath RentCorp has been profitable 10 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $564.3 million and earnings of $4.05 a share. Its operating margin is 23.92%, which ranks better than 92% of the companies in Business Services industry. Overall, the profitability of McGrath RentCorp is ranked 8 out of 10, which indicates strong profitability. This is the revenue and net income of McGrath RentCorp over the past years:

McGrath RentCorp Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

Growth is probably one of the most important factors in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus' research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long-term performance of a company's stock. If a company's business is growing, the company usually creates value for its shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. Likewise, if a company's revenue and earnings are declining, the value of the company will decrease. McGrath RentCorp's 3-year average revenue growth rate is better than 67% of the companies in Business Services industry. McGrath RentCorp's 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 10.3%, which ranks in the middle range of the companies in Business Services industry.

Another method of determining the profitability of a company is to compare its return on invested capital to the weighted average cost of capital. Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. When the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it implies the company is creating value for shareholders. For the past 12 months, McGrath RentCorp's return on invested capital is 8.88, and its cost of capital is 7.37. The historical ROIC vs WACC comparison of McGrath RentCorp is shown below:

McGrath RentCorp Stock Is Estimated To Be Modestly Overvalued

In summary, the stock of McGrath RentCorp (NAS:MGRC, 30-year Financials) is believed to be modestly overvalued. The company's financial condition is fair and its profitability is strong. Its growth ranks in the middle range of the companies in Business Services industry. To learn more about McGrath RentCorp stock, you can check out its 30-year Financials here.

To find out the high quality companies that may deliever above average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


STAR POWER IN SONOMA: Being the first NASCAR appearance here in 714 days, it felt like a celebration, complete with celebrity sightings like Michael Jordan and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.

Video Transcript

- Racing fans got their high octane rush today during the NASCAR race at Sonoma Raceway. A sold out crowd in the stands, you can see open seats with capacity capped at 33%. ABC 7 News reporter Cornell Barnard says most people were thrilled to be there despite some COVID restrictions.

ALL: Go NASCAR.

CORNELL BARNARD: For NASCAR fans, it's like old times.

- It's great to be back. We missed it for over a year now.

- Drivers start your engines.

CORNELL BARNARD: So now the raceway raving back to life after a long hibernation to host the Toyota Save Mart 350.

JEN IMBIMBO: We are thrilled to have our fans back at Sonoma Raceway. It's been 714 days since NASCAR last race here in the Sonoma Valley.

RICHARD SUMMERLIN: This is our first NASCAR race.

CORNELL BARNARD: Richard Summerlin and son RJ are excited to be doing something fun together.

RICHARD SUMMERLIN: We go to like a lot of monster truck shows. A's games. We just love to get out, and it's been like the first time that we can get that out there, and we just jumped at the chance.

CRYSTAL CLAY: Last year it just wasn't happening. It was kind of a dead silence, and it was sad.

CORNELL BARNARD: COVID protocols are in place masks and social distancing required. At 33% capacity, it's a sold-out crowd here at Sonoma Raceway and check it out normally there's room for 47,000 people here. There were star sightings off the track like basketball superstar Michael Jordan. Now a NASCAR team co-owner. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan served as race grand Marshal. He says the experience is giving him hope.

KYLE SHANAHAN: Actually, being at a sport where there's fans is the best feeling. I don't want to go through another year without fans, and those cardboard cutouts only do so much.

CORNELL BARNARD: No cardboard cutouts here.

Story continues

- I am a Daniel Suarez and Kyle Busch fan.

CORNELL BARNARD: And many of those fans are happy to be back home.

- I love it. We'll be back.

CORNELL BARNARD: At Sonoma Raceway, Colonel Barnard, ABC 7 News.
Jun. 7After another humiliating election defeat last week, state Republicans might have to go back to gimmickry in hopes of making New Mexico a two-party state.

One Republican lawmaker began the year with a half-serious bill that would have allowed his party's strongholds to secede from New Mexico.

The proposed constitutional amendment by state Sen. Cliff Pirtle, R-Roswell, was an admission that Republicans can't win statewide elections anymore.

Pirtle contrived a little noise about secession with his bill. It was easier but less effective than finding better Republican candidates and running reasoned campaigns.

There are many reasons for the Republicans' failures, the most obvious being they often field candidates who genuflect to former President Donald Trump.

Sticking with Trump and endorsing his baseless screeds about election fraud can only help Republicans in Southern New Mexico. Trump last year carried that area, the 2nd Congressional District, by 12 percentage points.

Trump lost New Mexico's other two congressional districts by much wider margins. The results show Republican strength is regional. But the party's brass seems content to win in the south and lose almost everywhere else.

Republicans can't compete in what used to be swing districts. Ten years ago, Republicans represented four of the 11 state Senate districts entirely in Albuquerque. Now only one is held by a Republican.

Just five years ago, Republicans controlled the state House of Representatives, 37-33. Now Democrats hold a 45-24 majority. There's also one independent member.

Republicans even lose badly in regions they once dominated, such as the Albuquerque-based 1st Congressional District.

Democrat Melanie Stansbury swept to victory Tuesday in the 1st District's special election. She took 60 percent of the vote, an overwhelming showing for a second-term state representative who hadn't run for any office until three years ago.

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Republican state Sen. Mark Moores took 36 percent of the vote to finish a poor second.

Even when the Republicans choose a good candidate for a tough race like the 1st District, they find a way to appeal more to fringe groups like Cowboys for Trump than to moderates.

Moores was far and away the best candidate Republicans could have nominated in the 1st District.

He'd always been well-prepared for legislative debate. He also built a good reputation by teaming with Democrats when he believed the cause was worthy. Moores led on much of this bipartisan legislation, such as creating a citizens' committee to redraw boundaries of legislative districts after the U.S. census.

Moores' brand of conservatism should have given Stansbury a challenge. Instead, Moores campaigned by bobbing and weaving in the wrong direction.

Pointing to Trump's incessant complaints of fraud, a moderator in one debate asked the congressional candidates who won the presidential election.

Stansbury and Libertarian Chris Manning didn't hesitate. Each said Democrat Joe Biden won.

Moores tried to assuage Trump's base in Albuquerque by avoiding a direct answer.

"Obviously, Joe Biden is the president of the United States," Moores said.

At other stages, Moores sidestepped questions on Trump's claim that the presidential election was rigged.

Moores' weasel words made him sound like he'd be another congressman more concerned with Trump's blessing than with candor.

All of it was out of character for Moores, who'd been known for his direct, fact-based arguments at the state Capitol.

Pirtle and Moores are good pals in the state Senate. But only one of them would introduce legislation to enable secession.

It's what legislators call "a message bill." The measure stirred some talk before heading to the legislative cemetery.

The proposal was Pirtle's way of saying his district in southeastern New Mexico and other rural areas don't have much of a voice in state politics.

His amendment to the state constitution would have allowed counties to petition to form a new state or to join an adjoining state. Had legislators agreed to place the measure on the ballot, voters would have had the final say.

Pirtle's pitch was an outgrowth of his affinity for Texas, a place he praised in early March for its "freedoms," such as ending mandates to wear a mask during the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, many people in New Mexico with respiratory illnesses or other serious health problems still had not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Pirtle's position played well in his own district. It did nothing to improve confidence in Republicans in the most populous sections of the state.

The secession amendment went nowhere, which is the same place most Republican candidates in New Mexico end up.

Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.
(REUTERS)

Republican US Rep Mo Brooks appeared to post a photo of a Gmail password and PIN to his Twitter account while raging against US Rep Eric Swalwell, who has sued the Alabama congressman for provoking a riot at the Capitol on 6 January.

The GOP lawmaker said a process server finally served him in the lawsuit on Sunday, after Mr Swalwells legal team argued that Mr Brooks and his staff had avoided being served for weeks.

In a post on Twitter from an iPad directed at Mr Swalwell, Mr Brooks claimed that HORRIBLE Swalwells team committed a CRIME by unlawfully sneaking INTO MY HOUSE & accosting my wife to serve him in the suit. He attached a photo of a computer screen with Alabamas criminal trespassing law, with a sticker below the screen that appears to include a PIN and Gmail password.

As of Monday morning, the post remained online.

Roughly two hours after his first post, he posted the same message again, this time adding a . before Mr Swalwells Twitter handle, so that the post appears on the timelines of users who dont follow both men.

Mr Brooks serves on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

Twitter users also pointed out the irony that he accused a process server of unlawfully entering his home to serve him in a lawsuit over the failed insurrection in Congress in which hundreds of people in a pro-Trump breached the halls of Congress.

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An attorney for Mr Swalwell said the allegation is utterly false and that the process server lawfully handed the papers to Mo Brooks wife at their home  which is perfectly legitimate under the federal rules, according to Forbes.

Mr Brooks also claimed that experts will download home security video on Monday, and an arrest warrant to be sought.

In court filings this week, attorneys for Mr Swalwell alleged that Mr Brooks refused to waive service or even speak to undersigned counsel about the case for weeks, prompting the team to hire a private investigator to find him where he could legally be served.

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An investigator spent many hours over many days in April and May at locations in multiple jurisdictions attempting to locate and serve Brooks, to no avail, attorneys said.

Mr Swalwells 65-page complaint filed in US District Court in Washington DC also targets Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr and Rudy Giuliani, whose speeches to a crowd before a mob swarmed the US Capitol on 6 January were seen as a months-long culmination of an election conspiracy narrative that incited a deadly riot.

Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass, Mr Brooks said in his remarks.

He asked the crowd to consider Americans who sacrificed sometimes their lives to create the greatest nation in world history.

Are you willing to do the same? he said.

Mr Swalwell was not legally permitted to serve Mr Brooks on the House floor, and the sergeant at arms would have to give permission to a process server to enter.

Attorneys for Mr Swalwell also said security issues make serving Mr Brooks inside the halls of Congress difficult, and that his staff and attorneys for Mr Brooks did not make themselves available.

It is not a defendants job to alter his conduct and go out of his way to seek out suit service, Mr Brooks said a statement to The Independent shared by his office following last weeks filing. I have altered my conduct not one iota since Swalwells politically motivated, meritless lawsuit was filed. I have made dozens of publicized public appearances since the lawsuit was filed. If Swalwell was sincere about suit service, he could have served me at any of these public events.

He also claimed that Mr Swalwell could have served him at any time during, before or after floor votes, though federal rules prohibit him from doing so.

Attorneys for Mr Trump have sought to dismiss the case, arguing that he has absolute immunity from responsibility because he was president at the time of the assault.

The lawsuit filed by Mr Swalwell is one of two cases from Democratic lawmakers against Mr Trump and his allies for the attack.

A separate lawsuit from US Rep Bennie Thompson and 10 other House Democrats has accused Mr Trump, Mr Giuliani and members of the Proud Boys and far-right militia groups of a concerted campaign to misinform their supporters and the public, encouraging and promoting intimidation and violence in furtherance of their common plan to promote Mr Trumps re-election, despite his definitive loss.

The defendants have asked a US District Court judge to dismiss the suit.

Read More

Pro-Trump congressman finally tracked down to be served in lawsuit over Capitol riot

Mo Brooks accused of living in hiding as Democrat hires private detective to serve him with lawsuit over Capitol riot

Trump tells court he has absolute immunity over January 6
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives on Monday celebrated a thumping win over the far right in the last regional vote before a general election that also exposed the weaknesses of the Greens, their main rivals at the national level.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) under new party chief Armin Laschet won around 37 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, preliminary results showed, well ahead of the second place anti-immigration, anti-Muslim AfD party on around 21 percent.

"This is a good day for the CDU and for democracy in Germany," a beaming Laschet told reporters, calling his party a "bulwark against extremism" after polls had predicted a much stronger AfD score.

The Greens, who are running neck-and-neck nationally with the Union alliance between the CDU and its smaller Bavarian CSU sister party, scored a disappointing result of around six percent.

The outcome in the economically depressed former East German state is a huge boost for would-be chancellor Laschet ahead of Germany's general vote on September 26 -- the first in 16 years not to feature Merkel.

"Laschet is still a long way from the chancellor's office," the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily said. But the poll result has brought him "much closer to it".

Saxony-Anhalt's premier, Reiner Haseloff of the CDU, said the party could carry the momentum from his barnstorming victory into the September poll.

"If the Union is united, it's essentially unbeatable and will be able to provide the next chancellor," Haseloff, who had firmly ruled out any cooperation with the extreme right, told public television.

Berenberg Bank's chief economist Holger Schmieding noted that national polls in the last 10 days have shown the CDU-CSU slightly ahead of the Greens again.

"After the CDU did well in Saxony-Anhalt, this nascent reversal of fortunes in favour of the CDU will likely continue," he said.

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- Pre-vote jitters -

Nominated as chancellor candidate in April, Laschet inherited a series of problems including anger over the government's pandemic management and a corruption scandal involving shady coronavirus mask contracts.

At Germany's last regional elections in March -- in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Wuerttemberg -- the CDU suffered its worst-ever results in both states.

Laschet himself has also suffered from weak popularity, following damaging infighting within the Union for the chancellor candidate nomination and his own missteps with pandemic management.

The strife had contrasted starkly with the Greens, who in a show of harmony had nominated Annalena Baerbock as their chancellor candidate.

That had left Laschet trailing behind Baerbock in popularity.

But Spiegel Online said "the voters in Saxony-Anhalt have given Laschet an invaluable gift.

"After his lousy start as chancellor candidate, it was clear that he would not be a man drawing euphoric optimism for his campaign. Rather, the motto was to sit it out," it said.

"What he needs above all is calm, and now he has it."

- 'Failed to cut through' -

For the Greens, however, Die Zeit newspaper said Sunday's result "brought them back again to where they often land in eastern Germany: on the ground".

Baerbock's initial national popularity after her nomination had fired up speculation that she could seize Merkel's job from the CDU, and polls ahead of Sunday's vote had predicted the party doubling its share.

She admitted that the Greens' gains in Saxony-Anhalt were "not what we had hoped", acknowledging that "some of our messaging on climate protection failed to cut through to the voters".

Baerbock's campaign has faltered of late, after she last month said she failed to declare around 25,000 euros ($30,400) in supplementary income to parliament -- something that her critics have leapt on as a sign of hypocrisy from a party championing more transparency in politics.

The daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung this week also pointed out inaccuracies in positions listed on her CV, prompting Baerbock to adapt the list on the Greens' website.

The Tagesspiegel daily forecast a rocky road ahead.

Sunday's showing "could be a quiet harbinger that despite all the euphoria surrounding a Green chancellor candidate, the coming weeks could be difficult".

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A man driving a pick-up truck slammed into and killed four members of a Muslim family in Canada's Ontario province, in what police and officials said Monday was a premeditated attack motivated by "hatred".

A 20-year-old suspect wearing a vest "like body armor" fled the scene on Sunday evening, and was arrested at a mall seven kilometers (four miles) from the intersection in London, Ontario where the attack happened, said Detective Superintendent Paul Waight.

"There is evidence that this was a planned, premeditated act, motivated by hate. It is believed that these victims were targeted because they were Muslim," he told a news conference.

Canada's Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair described it as a "horrific act of Islamophobia."

"They believe the family was targeted because of their faith, and that the attacker was motivated by his hatred of Muslims," he said.

The names of the victims were not released, but they include a 74-year-old woman, a 46-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl -- together representing three generations of the same family, according to London mayor Ed Holder.

A nine-year-old boy was also hospitalized following the attack and is recovering.

"Let me be clear, this was an act of mass murder perpetrated against Muslims, against Londoners, rooted in unspeakable hatred," said Holder.

Bouquets of flowers were seen at the scene of the attack. A vigil in memory of the victims is set to take place Tuesday at a local mosque.

The suspect, identified as Nathaniel Veltman, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Waight said local authorities are also liaising with federal police and the attorney general about adding "possible terrorism charges."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that he was "horrified" by the attack.

"To the loved ones of those who were terrorized by yesterday's act of hatred, we are here for you," he said, singling out the nine-year-old in hospital.

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"To the Muslim community in London and to Muslims across the country, know that we stand with you. Islamophobia has no place in any of our communities. This hate is insidious and despicable - and it must stop," he added.

- 'Out for a walk' -

At about 8:40 pm on Sunday (0040 GMT Monday), according to police, the five family members were walking together along a sidewalk when a black pick-up truck "mounted the curb and struck" them as they waited to cross the intersection.

Waight offered few details of the investigation, but noted that the suspect's social media postings were reviewed by police.

The attack, which brought back painful memories of a Quebec City mosque mass shooting in January 2017 and a driving rampage in Toronto that killed 10 people in April 2018, drew swift condemnation.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims said in a statement it was "beyond horrified and demands justice" for the family who was just "out for a walk" on a warm spring evening.

"This is a terrorist attack on Canadian soil and must be treated as such," Mustafa Farooq, the council's president, told Radio Canada.

The Muslim Association of Canada also called on authorities to "prosecute this horrific attack as an act of hate and terrorism."

"Hate and Islamophobia have NO place in Ontario," tweeted Ontario Premier Doug Ford. "These heinous acts of violence must stop."

Four years ago, a 27-year-old white supremacist burst into a Quebec City mosque and unleashed a hail of bullets on worshippers who were chatting after evening prayers, killing six men and seriously wounding five others.

At the time, before the New Zealand mosque shootings in March 2019, it was the worst-ever attack on Muslims in the West.

The Quebec City shooter, Alexandre Bissonette, was sentenced to 40 years in prison, but that was lowered on appeal, and the Supreme Court is now reviewing his punishment.

Meanwhile in Toronto, a 28-year-old man who ploughed a rented van into pedestrians at high speed three years ago was found guilty in March of murdering 10 people and trying to kill 16 others.

Before that attack, Alek Minassian posted on Facebook a reference to an online community of "involuntary celibates" whose sexual frustrations led them to embrace a misogynist ideology. He will be sentenced in January 2022.

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Last month, New York magazine declared: Were still waiting for a Biden doctrine.

Oh, really?

The esteemed journalists at that publication must have missed the August 2016 story in The Atlantic that laid out four components of then-Vice President Joe Bidens foreign policy views (and was headlined, conveniently, The Biden Doctrine). They also must have missed the October 2012 essay on Bidens views in Foreign Policy (also conveniently headlined The Biden Doctrine).

In all fairness, its not just New York magazine thats searching for this ever-elusive, unless its-totally-right-there, except what-does-it-really-even-mean and does-it-even-matter Biden doctrine. Just Google Biden doctrine and youll find half the Washington establishment struggling to define it.

This news organization is no exception. When POLITICOs Playbook team recently published a newsletter titled The Biden Doctrine, among those surprised was this reporter, whose first thought was: Wait. What? They figured it out?

Biden has been president for less than five months. And yet, as he prepares to go on his first presidential overseas trip  to Europe later this week  the race to understand his doctrine looks ready to kick into a higher gear.

It seems fair to ask, then: Why is it necessary to define a presidents foreign policy "doctrine" at all? Isnt dealing with some 200 countries, not to mention transnational threats like climate change and terrorism, complicated enough to defy easy summarization? Why do pundits try so hard to impose order on the messy reality of governing?

I dont know, honestly, said Michael Singh, a Middle East specialist who served in former President George W. Bushs National Security Council. Maybe were trying to make sense of the chaotic world around us? Maybe theres an existential need for this?

Maybe. Doctrine-hunting amounts to a full-time employment program for the community of foreign policy watchers in and around Washington. Analysts and historians have long sought to divine and distill presidents guiding principles of foreign policy into their pithy, memorable essence.

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Credit for the doctrine craze usually goes to former President James Monroe, who declared in 1823 that Europe should stop trying to colonize countries in the Western Hemisphere  leaving them more open for U.S. influence and trade. Many years later, former President Harry S. Trumans doctrine proclaimed that the U.S. would devote resources to fending off communism and other authoritarian forces around the globe.

Former President Richard Nixons doctrine called for the fight against communism in Asia to be led primarily by Indigenous forces, not U.S. troops. George W. Bushs doctrine is said to have evolved from waging preemptive war against U.S. enemies to promoting democracy around the world. Former President Donald Trumps doctrine, meanwhile, revolved around an America first philosophy that shunned even some U.S. allies.

Sometimes there are lingering debates as to whether a president really had a doctrine; such was the case with former President Bill Clinton.

Former President Barack Obamas foreign policy views were supposedly summed up in a massive April 2016 story in The Atlantic headlined, you guessed it, The Obama Doctrine.

Based on the article, you could say the former presidents doctrine was a complex set of views on everything from the prudent use of military force to the need to step back from the Middle East to the virtue of reminding allies to carry their fair share of the global burden. You also could say it came down to Obamas infamous private comment: Dont do stupid shit.

Reading the literature on presidential doctrines risks being bewildered by how to even define doctrine. Is it a policy, an agenda, a goal, or a principle? Is it a strategy or a philosophy? A theory? Must it be captured in a simple slogan? Or does it require lists and charts and bullet points? Is a president allowed to have more than one doctrine?

The doctrine conversation gives the veneer of intellectual heft to a conversation among what are mostly just bullshitters aiming to make it in the pages of history or at least the op-eds, said John Gans, a foreign policy analyst who has written a history of the National Security Council.

Often, world leaders are simply reacting to the demands of the moment, and making it up as they go along. Supposedly, when asked what shaped his governments actions, Harold Macmillan, the prime minister who led Britain during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, is said to have responded, Events, dear boy, events.

The quest to define the Biden doctrine  a charge led by think tankers, academics and journalists with a love for punchy headlines  is unusually complicated because Biden has been in the public eye for so long. For many of those nearly 50 years, hes been a major player on foreign policy, including as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Thats led people to ascribe doctrines to him even when he wasnt president.

But his foreign policy views  or doctrines credited to him  have never been entirely static, in part because Americas relations with other countries are constantly shifting. Take China: When Biden first entered the Senate, in 1973, the United States was pursuing a normal diplomatic relationship with Beijing; today, U.S. relations with China seem headed for confrontation.

One database search tracked the term Biden doctrine as far back as a June 2001 Salon article. In that case, though, the writer  Jake Tapper, now a CNN host  used the term to sum up Bidens explanation of why he didnt hammer George W. Bush for a gaffe on Taiwan. (So presumably it was a doctrine of restraint?)

In the years since, the Biden doctrine has been used to describe his views on both macro and micro matters.

According to The Jerusalem Post, for instance, Biden described his doctrine to a Zionist Organization of America event in 2001 as allowing Israel to decide its own fate without outside interference. Nearly a decade later, the ZOA declared that Biden had violated his doctrine when he publicly criticized Israel for its plans to build settlements in areas claimed by Palestinians.

In 2007, when he was running for president, Biden, in response to a debate question, described his doctrine as: Clarity, and Prevention, not preemption, a dig at outgoing President Bushs invasion of Iraq.

Conservative commentators have been among those most eager to define the Biden doctrine. An October 2008 Washington Times op-ed, helpfully titled The Biden Doctrine, described it as gut the military, appease aggressors, and then pray anxiously for lightning to preserve world peace!

Roughly three months ago, a different (and somewhat more generous) commentator in The Washington Times argued that China is increasingly threatening Taiwans democracy but that a Biden doctrine on China has yet to be articulated.

That runs counter to foreign policy analyst Thomas Wrights belief that the Biden doctrine already is coming into focus and that China has a lot to do with it. The way Wright sees it, Bidens guiding light is the idea that America and its allies must strengthen and defend democracy, especially against Chinese-style authoritarianism.

I dont think you need a doctrine, but if the president has something that is a driving principle behind their actions, thats significant, Wright said.

In a weekend op-ed in The Washington Post, Biden provided some evidence for Wrights perspective, framing his trip to Europe as being about realizing Americas renewed commitment to our allies and partners, and demonstrating the capacity of democracies to both meet the challenges and deter the threats of this new age.

Traditionally, the doctrine debate has been about foreign  not domestic  policy, but Biden is complicating that framing.

During his 2020 presidential run and since taking office, he and his aides have said that they dont see much difference between the two spheres anymore. The Biden administration is pushing the idea that strengthening America domestically  its infrastructure and its middle class, for one  is part and parcel of its foreign policy.

That, however, raises the question of whether its possible to do everything Biden wants to do. Hence the piece Bidens Everything Doctrine in Foreign Affairs, which suggested that Biden will eventually have to pick and choose.

So what exactly is the Biden doctrine? If we dont know already, will we ever know? Will we ever agree?

Youd think that you could find a clue in Wikipedia. But the forces behind the online encyclopedia are perhaps a bit wiser than many in the Washington intellectual set.

As of this writing, the Biden section of the Wikipedia entry on United States presidential doctrines remains empty.
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP)  Nicaraguan judicial authorities ordered Monday that a potential opposition presidential candidate be held for three months while his case is investigated.

Arturo Cruz Sequeira, a former ambassador to the United States, was arrested Saturday under a controversial "treason" law passed in December. Cruz was considered a contender for the nomination of the opposition Citizens for Liberty party in the Nov. 7 elections.

Also approved in December was a change to the penal code extending the period of pre-detention to 90 days from 48 hours.

The arrest of Cruz follows the detention earlier last week of opposition figure Cristiana Chamorro, who is being held incommunicado at her home on allegations of money laundering. The United States has called for the release of both opposition figures.

President Daniel Ortega is seeing a fourth consecutive term as president. His government has been systematically clearing the field of opponents.

His wife, first lady and Vice President Rosario Murillo, referred to the arrests for the first time Monday.

We are not going to allow to perpetuate, to continue robbing the rights of the people, Murillo said on official television. Because it is a robbing of the rights of the people trying to cut short their sovereignty in exchange for ill-gotten money.

Cruz, who served as Nicaraguas ambassador in Washington in 2007-2009, was detained at the Managua airport after he arrived on a flight from the U.S. capital, his aides said.

Before the announcement of Cruz's extended jailing, lawyer Elton Ortega told journalists he had filed a habeas corpus petition with a court because Cruz's location and physical condition were unknown.

Juan Sebastian Chamorro, another presidential pre-candidate, said police searched Cruzs home Monday. Videos of police arriving circulated on social media.

The Attorney Generals Office said in a statement that it had asked a judge to extend the period of Cruzs detention to 90 days. The judge complied.

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The prosecutors office said it took the step due to the seriousness and complexity of the alleged crime, as is the crime of provocation, proposition and conspiracy to commit harm to the national well-being; and because the probability exists that the subject of the investigation could interfere in the process.

Chamorro's lawyer, Orietta Benavidez, also went to court Monday seeking information about her client's case, but received no response.

The opposition National Coalition said Monday the government had launched a repressive onslaught to instill fear before the elections, because it was afraid of losing.

The government is using all of the institutional and political instruments to repress and try to instill fear in the people, at the same time it has put in motion all of the mechanisms to make the November elections a farse, the coalition said in a statement.

It noted that a third potential opposition presidential contender, Felix Maradiaga, had been called to appear at the Attorney General's Office on Tuesday. Maradiaga has said he has no idea why he has been called.
RTHK: MH17 crash trial seeks 'clarity' for relatives

Dutch judges said on Monday they wanted relatives of victims to finally have "clarity" about the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine as the trial of four suspects entered a key phase.

Some relatives were in court for the start of a week in which judges will at last examine evidence against the three Russians and one Ukrainian, who are on trial in absentia over the July 2014 disaster.

The trial formally began in March 2020 but has until now dealt with legal arguments, mainly about the admissibility of evidence in the crash in which all 298 passengers and crew on the Boeing 777 were killed.

"Up until today no one has come forward and said they are even partially responsible for the crash of MH17," presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis told the court.

Steenhuis said it was crucial for the evidence to be heard in open court despite the absence of Russian nationals Oleg Pulatov, Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky, and Ukrainian citizen Leonid Kharchenko.

Only Pulatov has legal representation.

"The hearing being public is important to society in general, and to the relatives particularly, that there will be clarity about the result of the investigation after years of investigation," the judge said.

Judges said the court will this week look at evidence about three key questions: whether the Boeing 777 was shot down by a Russian-made missile; the location the missile was fired from, and the role of the four suspects in the crash.

The idea that the plane had been downed by a BUK surface-to-air missile operated by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine was the "main scenario", Steenhuis added, but they would also look at theories including that a plane had shot down MH17.

The court would be highlighting key parts of the evidence and not going over every part in court, he warned.

"The file consists of 65,000 pages, and many hundreds of hours of video and audio recordings. It's such a large case it's simply not possible to speak about every detail," the judge said.

The prosecution and defence will have the chance to raise issues during hearings lasting until July 9.

Relatives of the victims will be able to address the court in September.

The jet was travelling from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over part of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

An international investigation concluded that a BUK missile that had originally come from the Russian army's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade based in the city of Kursk was responsible.

All four suspects are accused of being key figures among the separatist rebels battling Kiev.

Girkin, also known by his pseudonym "Strelkov", is a former Russian spy and historical re-enactment fan who helped kickstart the war in Ukraine.

Dubinsky, who has also been tied to Russian intelligence, allegedly served as the separatists' military intelligence chief while Pulatov was an ex-Russian special forces soldier and one of Dubinsky's deputies.

Kharchenko allegedly led a separatist unit in eastern Ukraine.

Pulatov said in a video played to the court in November that he had seen no sign of any missile.

The trial is being held in the Netherlands, in a secure courtroom near Schiphol airport, because it was the point of departure for the doomed plane, and because 196 of the victims were Dutch.

The judges visited the reconstructed, shrapnel-pierced wreckage at a Dutch airbase for the first time in May in what they described as an "emotionally loaded" day. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
by Ngoc Lan

1.2 million doses of AstraZeneca already sent to Taiwan. Covid-19 cases rising since April and only 1% of the Vietnamese population vaccinated. The cooperation between Japan and Vietnam also concerns the dispute with China over the islands in the South China Sea.

Hanoi (AsiaNews) - Japan will send vaccine doses to Vietnam to cope with the increase in Covid-19 cases in the country. The decision was announced by the Japanese authorities on Saturday 5 June, following a meeting between the Japanese ambassador Yamada Takio and the Vietnamese president Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

On June 3 Takio and Nguyen Xuan Phuc discussed relations between the two countries in the framework of the Extensive Strategic Partnership. The Japanese ambassador assured that Tokyo will also continue to promote cooperation for infrastructure development, digital transformation and environmental protection.

The main Hanoi newspaper wrote that the current policy of the Japanese government is to give importance to relations with Vietnam and that it will continue to actively support Vietnam to prevent and counter the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the same day, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) said that "Japan will be able to send vaccines to Vietnam as early as June 2021," but did not specify what kind of vaccine will be sent.

On June 4, Tokyo shipped 1.2 million doses of AstraZeneca to Taipei. According to a government source, Japan will consider sending additional doses to some developing Asian countries and Pacific islands.

Yesterday in Vietnam, 211 new coronavirus infections were recorded, bringing the total number of infected to 8,791. The country was considered among the most effective in containing the pandemic; however, since April it has seen cases rise again. Health authorities have identified a variant of the virus that combines characteristics of strains first detected in Britain and India. At the moment the vaccination rate is 1%.

"Vietnam is an important country for Japan, especially for the South China Sea issue," a foreign ministry official said, referring to Hanoi's dispute with Beijing over a group of islands in the region. Tension also remains high over the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are under the control of Japan but claimed by China.
North Carolina high schooler Ever Lopez, 18, was denied his diploma after the Asheboro High School accused him of violating the dress code at his graduation by draping a Mexican flag over his robes. Adolfo Hurtado/ Screengrab

Ever Lopez, 18, was stopped on-stage at his graduation and told to remove the Mexican flag he was wearing.

Lopez kept the flag on - but the school withheld his diploma, saying he violated the graduation ceremony's dress code.

The incident sparked outrage on social media and led to the school receiving threats via email.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A high school student in North Carolina had his diploma withheld after the school accused him of violating the ceremony's dress code by draping a Mexican flag over his robes.

Ever Martinez Lopez, 18, was seen walking across the stage to receive the diploma from Asheboro High School principal Penny Crooks on June 3 in a video posted by his cousin Adolfo Hurtado. However, Lopez was stopped for a brief exchange with Crooks. He then walked off-stage to cheers, carrying an empty diploma holder which other students also received.

Lopez told ABC News that the principal told him multiple times during their conversation on-stage that he couldn't wear the flag.

When Lopez went to collect his actual diploma certificate after the ceremony, he was informed that he would not receive his diploma for violating the ceremony's dress code.

"My parents, my whole family, is from over there (Mexico). I did it for them because they had a rough childhood, they didn't get the scholarship that I got, or they didn't get to go to school like I did," Lopez said to ABC.

"When I saw him walk with our country's flag on his shoulders, I felt immensely proud and thought, 'This boy was born here and he is not ashamed of his roots, of where his parents come from. He is proud of it,'" Lopez's mother Margarita Lopez told The Washington Post.

Lopez being denied his diploma sparked small protests outside Asheboro High School. People were seen gathering around Lopez and carrying signs saying "Free Ever's Diploma."

In a statement dated June 4, the school said that the wearing of a flag of any kind is a violation of its dress code. It added that graduating students could opt to decorate their mortar boards, which is the only acceptable "deviation" from the dress code.

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The school later updated its statement on Friday evening, saying: "Graduation is a milestone event and it is grossly unfair for one individual to diminish this event by violating the dress code."

"This incident is not about the Mexican flag," the school added in the statement.

The school said later on Friday night that Lopez's diploma was ready for collection, but did not give a reason why its position had changed, wrote The Post.

The incident, however, led to the school receiving at least ten threats via email. According to local news organization WFMY News 2, one of the emails read: "I'm gonna shoot up this school if you don't give that young man his diploma."

The school has since deleted both its Twitter and Facebook accounts.

This is not the first time that students have been barred from sporting emblems of their heritage at their graduations because of schools' dress codes.

In 2019, Oklahoma senior Tvli Birdshead was told he would not be able to wear a bearded cap and a feather to honor his Native American roots. In an incident last year, DeAndre Arnold, a Black Texas high-schooler of Trinidadian descent was told to cut off his dreadlocks or be banned from his graduation and prom.

Read the original article on Insider
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings announced Monday that it plans to resume cruising from Miami in August with fully vaccinated passengers, a plan that threatens to defy orders of Gov. Ron DeSantis and creates yet more uncertainty about one of South Floridas most important tourist draws.

The cruise lines announcement offered no indication that DeSantis has agreed to exempt cruise lines from his edict banning businesses from requiring vaccines, nor did it suggest that any sort of compromise had been reached between Norwegian and the governor.

Instead, it creates confusion about plans of cruise lines that in recent days have announced diverging strategies for resuming operations  with some planning test voyages, some requiring vaccines and some welcoming people on board with masks and social distancing.

Cruise fans and local workers are left wondering when the industry will get back on track in Florida.

The fact that the public and the businesses and workers who depend on cruises restarting are being forced to read tea leaves is problematic, said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University.

Carnival Cruise Line, meanwhile, announced that fully vaccinated voyages will take place from Galveston, Texas. Details of its plans in South Florida are still being hammered out in talks with state and federal authorities, the company said.

Royal Caribbean is taking the opposite approach  strongly encouraging but not requiring vaccinations and hinting that passengers who cannot prove they are vaccinated will face testing and other protocols. Royal Caribbean also said it is continuing to work with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and multiple state and local authorities on requirements for upcoming cruises.

Norwegians announcement signaled that it would prefer an amicable resolution to its conflict with DeSantis over requiring passenger vaccinations.

Its news release listing upcoming cruises quoted Norwegian president and CEO Frank Del Rio as praising DeSantis for publicly supporting Florida-based cruise lines in March and calling upon the CDC to create clear guidelines for cruising to resume. In March, cruise line executives were frustrated that the CDC was not telling them how vaccine availability would affect a complicated set of resumption guidelines issued last fall, before vaccines became widespread.

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We want to thank Governor DeSantis and the State of Florida for fighting in support of our industry, Del Rio was quoted as saying. His leadership helped bring the CDC to the table. We are currently in communication with his staff and legal counsel to ensure that we can offer the safest cruise experience for our passengers departing from the cruise capital of the world.

Yet, by including voyages by Miami-based Norwegian Gem, Norwegian was in effect daring DeSantis to levy fines against the cruise line or use his authority to try to stop it if a compromise is not reached, Jarvis said.

Norwegians announced sailing from Miami amounts to both sides playing a very high level game of chicken that could backfire on either one, he said.

Norwegian puts DeSantis in a spot where, to save face, he has to dig in on his position that the CDC has no authority to require proof of vaccination, Jarvis said. DeSantis, on the other hand, risks having to turn thousands of passengers away when they show up at the pier. Caught in the middle is the public and, more importantly, all the businesses and workers who depend on cruises restarting.

DeSantis office did not respond to questions about Norwegians announcement.

In April, shortly after his public show of support for the cruise lines, DeSantis and the state filed a federal lawsuit challenging the CDCs authority to prevent cruise ships from sailing from U.S. ports.

Afterward  coincidentally or not  cruise lines executives revealed that they had begun working closely with the CDC and that the CDC had simplified a number of resumption conditions they had found vague and onerous.

The biggest revision was the CDCs announcement that cruise lines could skip requirements to conduct complicated test cruises aimed at verifying effectiveness of pre-vaccine safety protocols if they certified that 95% of passengers and crew for any particular voyage are vaccinated.

That option drove a wedge between DeSantis, unyielding in his position forbidding vaccine requirements, and cruise lines eager to expedite their resumption.

The problem as it remains now for DeSantis is that a vaccinated cruise will not be possible except under any of a handful of possibilities:

DeSantis relents on his position that cruise lines cannot require customers to show proof of vaccines.

DeSantis agrees to a compromise that would exempt cruise lines from his edict barring vaccine passports while still allowing the governor to claim that his ban was not defied.

Cruise lines resume operations amid the threat of DeSantis levying fines or using his authority to stop them.

The nations two largest cruise lines  Royal Caribbean and Carnival  have so far sidestepped the conflict by opting to conduct test cruises in Florida according to the pre-vaccine safety guidelines while hoping a compromise emerges.

Royal Caribbean has said it chose not to require vaccines for upcoming Florida-based cruises aboard its Royal Caribbean International brand because those cruises are popular with families who have unvaccinated children, which would make it difficult to achieve 95% vaccination rates.

An announcement on Friday about the cruise lines upcoming sailings says passengers are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated. Passengers who are unvaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be required to undergo testing and follow other undetermined protocols. CDC guidance for voyages without vaccine requirements require mask wearing and social distancing outside of guests staterooms.

Yet Royal Caribbeans Celebrity Cruises brand, a luxury brand popular with adults who like long voyages, has announced a fully vaccinated cruise out of Port Everglades on June 26, potentially setting up the same showdown with DeSantis as Norwegian.

Carnival announced plans to require vaccinations for voyages leaving Galveston, Texas, in July, including a planned July 3 sailing of Carnival Vista and a July 15 voyage on Carnival Breeze. Other Carnival brands are also requiring vaccines, including on ships sailing from Seattle to Alaska this summer.

Carnivals announcement on Monday included an acknowledgement that CDC protocols for unvaccinated voyages, which would be legal in Florida, would nonetheless be unappealing to customers forced to wear masks and practice social distancing throughout the ship.

Current CDC requirements for unvaccinated cruises will make it very difficult to deliver the experience our guests expect, especially given the large number of families with younger children who sail with us, the cruise line said.

The Carnival release said the company continues to work with both the State of Florida and the CDC for Carnival Horizon sailings and plans to provide an update by Friday concerning protocols specific to these sailings to all booked guests.

After a mediation effort to settle the states lawsuit against the CDC failed last week, DeSantis office continued to blast the CDCs regulations, calling them crippling, ridiculous and unlawful, and asserting that the agencys requirement that unvaccinated guests wear face masks were baseless and anti-science.

Its possible that Norwegian included its upcoming Miami-based voyage in its announcement on Monday because it felt enough progress has been made with the governors office behind the scenes, Jarvis said.

The fact that all three major cruise lines have recently mentioned ongoing talks with Florida officials could be taken as a positive sign, said Chris Gray Faust, managing editor of the consumer focused website CruiseCritic.com.

While Celebrity Edges vaccinated cruise from Port Everglades is fast approaching, Grey Faust said Norwegian has plenty of time before August to revise details of its August cruise from Miami.

It will be interesting to see where conversations go between now and then  as well as what protocols might be developed  though many cruisers are certainly craving details now, as they begin to plan upcoming sailings, she said.
Crowds pictured breaking into the US Capitol on January 6. A new report claims that online vigilante groups are searching for remaining suspects (AP)

Online vigilante sedition hunters are reportedly tracking down suspected Capitol rioters not yet arrested or charged by authorities.

More than 400 people have been arrested and charged over their alleged involvement in the attack in Washington DC on 6 January that left five people dead.

But the FBIs most wanted page still features photos of hundreds more people wanted in connection with the event.

Now groups of amateur internet sleuths are reportedly turning the search for the outstanding participants into the ultimate online manhunt, according to Bloomberg .

One man, Chris Sigurdson, 58, an out-of-work actor in Canada, said that he spent 40-hours a week poring over photos and videos on social media, eventually leading to the FBIs arrest and charging of Daniel Ray Caldwell of The Colony, Texas, with his tweets cited in the affidavit.

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Another man reportedly built a facial recognition website, leading to the arrest of one man, whilst websites are popping up aggregating social media evidence including seditionhunters.org and jan6evidence.com.

For Mr Sigurdson, his interest was one of fascination.

He said: I dont think anger wouldve sustained me through this whole process. Its more of a deep quest for comprehension.

Whereas for Forrest Rogers, a German-American business consultant who helps run a sedition-hunting group called Deep State Dogs, its about morality.

He said: We want these people brought to justice. And we dont want a random sampling of them, a token group.

Bloomberg claimed that following the riots the FBI saw a 750 per cent increase in calls and electronic tips to their hotline in the immediate aftermath.

Samantha Shero, an FBI spokeswoman, said that the tips were helpful in dozens of cases and added: The public has provided tremendous assistance to this investigation, and we are asking for continued help to identify other individuals.

But the bureau has also raised concerns over how crowdsourcing by untrained, private individuals might lead to the identification of innocent people, including a retired firefighter in Chicago.

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Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism, told Bloomberg that the chance of accidental accusations of the innocent was high and said: As soon as you put someones personal information out there, you just dont know whats going to happen. When you do it publicly, theres just a lot more that can go wrong.

Read More

US Army accidentally storms Bulgarian sunflower oil factory

Republicans fail to block $1.9bn emergency funds to boost security in wake of Capitol riots

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By Moira Warburton

(Reuters) -Ontario will loosen COVID-19 restrictions starting June 11, three days ahead of schedule, Premier Doug Ford announced on Monday, as infection rates continue to drift lower after a punishing third wave while vaccinations pick up pace.

The province will enter step one of its reopening plan, allowing non-essential retail to operate at 15% capacity, outdoor dining with a maximum of four people per table, and outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people to take place.

Canada's most populous province entered a lockdown in April as a variant-driven third wave of COVID-19 threatened to overwhelm hospitals.

Although cases have been falling in recent weeks, experts recommended keeping restrictions in place until June 14 to prevent a fourth wave.

The province hit key metrics ahead of schedule, hence the earlier reopening date, the statement from the premier's office said, including a vaccination rate of 60% - Ontario currently has 72% of eligible adults who have received at least one vaccine dose.

Step one will last at least 21 days, the statement said.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Vancouver; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Steve Orlofsky)
SALEM, Ore. (AP)  A Republican state lawmaker faces being expelled from office after a video emerged apparently showing him choreographing how he would let far-right protesters into the closed Oregon Capitol days before he did so in December.

The crowd entered the building during an emergency legislative session, and some sprayed chemical irritants at police.

On Monday, Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek introduced a resolution that would have the Democrat-controlled House expel Rep. Mike Nearman if two-thirds of its members vote in favor. She appointed a committee to consider the matter.

GOP members of the House also wrote a letter to Nearman on Monday, saying he should step down.

Today, we strongly recommend that you resign from the Oregon State House of Representatives, all 22 House Republicans said in the joint letter. Given the newest evidence that has come to light ... it is our beliefs as friends and colleagues that it is in the best interest of your caucus, your family, yourself, and the state of Oregon for you to step down from your office.

The lawmakers were referring to video that emerged late Friday in local news reports that appeared to show Nearman coaching constituents on how to text him so they could get into the Capitol.

The committee appointed by Kotek, a Democrat, will convene later this week. It is composed of three Democrats and three Republicans.

With Republicans calling for Nearman to step down, his fate appeared sealed. If he does not resign, there was little doubt that an overwhelming number of House members would vote to cast him out.

Nearman himself said Monday he believes there are enough votes to expel him, which he said would make him the first House member to be expelled by its members in Oregon history. He joked in a call to the Lars Larson Show, a conservative talk radio program, that this would eventually make him the subject of a question on TV's Jeopardy!

He did not say whether he would resign.

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"Ill put myself in Gods hands and see how that works out for me, Nearman said.

The incident on Dec. 21 rattled lawmakers and staff inside the Capitol and foreshadowed the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by rioters spurred on by then President Donald Trump. Several of those who were among the crowds in Salem on Dec. 21 later were in Washington during the U.S. Capitol attack.

As lawmakers met in emergency session on Dec. 21 to deal with economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, far-right rioters entered the building. They sprayed chemical irritants at officers who finally expelled them. Outside, protesters broke windows on the Capitol and assaulted journalists.

Later, security camera video emerged showing Nearman opening a door to the Capitol, which was closed to the public because of the pandemic, allowing protesters to enter. Nearman allegedly told people in a video days earlier that he would let them in if they texted him, and he provided his cellphone number. The existence of the video was first reported Friday by Oregon Public Broadcasting.

That video was me setting up the 21st, I think, Nearman said on the radio show. He indicated that his actions were civil disobedience because he objected to the Capitol being closed to the public.

In her resolution, Kotek said personnel who were authorized to be in the Oregon Capitol described Dec. 21 as intense and stressful, terrifying and distressing.

Law enforcement officers were visibly injured and shaken due to the demonstrators action, Kotek added.

The severity of Representative Nearmans actions and last weeks revelation that they were premeditated require a special committee to immediately consider expelling him from the House of Representatives, Kotek said. He knowingly put the physical safety of everyone in the Capitol  lawmakers, staff and law enforcement  in jeopardy."

Her resolution cites the Oregon Constitution, which empowers the House to punish a representative for disorderly behavior.

With the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives, Representative Nearman (shall) be expelled from the House of Representatives, the resolution says.

Nearman also faces two misdemeanor criminal charges and has said he will seek a trial by jury.

He didnt respond to messages seeking comment Monday. A woman sitting at a desk in the anteroom of his Capitol office said the lawmaker was not present. She refused to comment, went into Nearmans office and shut the door.

Kotek said police in the state Capitol prevented the situation from escalating.

As we saw in January at the U.S. Capitol, the ramifications could have been dire if law enforcement had not stepped in so quickly, Kotek said.

Members of the new committee are Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene; Rep. Christine Drazan, R-Canby; Rep. Barbara Smith Warner, D-Portland; Rep. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles; Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego; and Rep. Duane Stark, R-Grants Pass.

___

Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky
(Bloomberg) -- Perus currency and stocks tumbled after incomplete results of Sundays presidential runoff showed the leftist candidate gaining momentum even as he trailed by a thin margin in the count.

The sol headed to its biggest drop in more than a decade at one point and the S&P/BVL Peru General Index fell as much as 6.8%, the most since November, with mining companies and financial firms among the hardest hit. Overseas bonds edged lower in light trading while the cost to insure against a default climbed.

Analysts were left to scour incomplete vote tallies for hints at who had the advantage, after investor favorite Keiko Fujimori saw her early lead over leftist opponent Pedro Castillo fade overnight and in the early morning. With almost 93% of votes counted, Fujimori had 50.1% support to 49.9% for Castillo, a former school teacher turned union organizer from the Peruvian highlands.

The country is pretty much split down the middle, said Alfredo Torres, director of Ipsos Peru. An unofficial quick count published earlier by Ipsos gave Castillo a 0.4 percentage point advantage over Fujimori, within the margin of error, while an Ipsos exit poll after Sundays voting showed Fujimori with a slight lead.

Fujimori, who is under investigation for corruption and campaigned while out on bail, gets more of her support from urban centers, while Castillo has the advantage in the countryside. She has vowed to save the country from communism by preserving a liberal economic model and boosting cash payments to families affected by the pandemic. The daughter of a jailed former president, its her third attempt at the top office.

Castillo, who launched his political bid with a Marxist party and was virtually unknown at the start of the year, ran on a platform of extracting more taxes from multinational miners and oil drillers to increase outlays on education and health. He blames the countrys inequality on the ruling elite whom he says have long been content to run Peru from Lima while ignoring swathes of the country.

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He was scheduled to hold a news conference at noon New York time.

Read More: Peru Presidential Front-Runner Is No Hugo Chavez, Top Aide Says

Perus benchmark stock index fell 6.7% as of 11:41 a.m. in New York, with Volcan Compania Minera SAA and Credicorp Ltd. both down more than 12%. Dollar-denominated bonds due in 2031 lost about half a cent to 100.2 cents on the dollar. Five-year credit defaults swaps rose 5.3 basis points to 96 basis points. The sol tumbled 1.7% to 3.905 per dollar, a record closing low.

Regardless of who wins, there will be outsized moves in Peruvian assets and investors dont want to be caught on the wrong side, said Brendan McKenna, a currency strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.

Castillo emerged the front-runner from Aprils first round after unexpectedly beating out a field of 17 other candidates, but he did so with less than 19% of the vote to Fujimoris score of just over 13%.

Perus markets have swung wildly on the election, with a sell-off whenever Castillo gained in polls. The sol has weakened 6% since the first round, the biggest drop among major emerging markets over the period.

The tight runoff mirrors the last presidential election, in 2016, when Pedro Pablo Kuczynski eventually beat Fujimori by a narrow margin after days of uncertainty.

The class and geographic divide this time around was evident in Sundays exit poll. Fujimori won the capital Lima and in northern coastal areas, while Castillo took the more rural Andean regions, including the mining districts of the south of the country.

The country is divided ideologically into two blocs, Jorge Montoya, a congressman-elect for the conservative Popular Renovation Party, said in a TV interview on Sunday evening.

Castillo called on his supporters to be patient and wait for their votes to be counted. Fujimori also called for calm and said that whoever wins will have to seek to unite the country. Local TV showed clashes between rival supporters in Lima.

Death Rate

A country of 32 million people, Peru is struggling after suffering the worlds highest death rate from the pandemic as well as a deeper economic slump than every other major economy in the Americas.

The nation has also endured a bout of political volatility and scandal over the last year. The next president, who is due to be sworn in July 28, will be Perus fourth leader since November.

Castillos top economic adviser, Pedro Francke, said this week that the candidate would pay the nations debt, respect the central banks autonomy and has no plans to nationalize Perus mining sector. But many investors are skeptical. Fujimori has run her campaign by telling voters that Castillo will turn Peru into Hugo Chavezs Venezuela.

Read More: Elites Tremble as Peru Leftist Taps Anger Over Rising Inequality

The campaign was roiled by violence when 16 people were massacred in a remote village by what authorities said was an offshoot of the Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path. Fujimori has called for a hard line on the movement, and polls before the election suggested her campaign got a boost from the incident.

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Philippine investigators have lodged criminal complaints against a former executive of collapsed German payments firm Wirecard and others for alleged bank fraud and cybercrime offences, the justice secretary said Monday.

Wirecard was once a rising star in the fintech sector until it filed for bankruptcy last year after admitting that 1.9 billion euros ($2.3 billion) was missing from its accounts.

The money was supposedly held in trust in two Philippine lenders to cover trading risks carried out by third parties on Wirecard's behalf.

But in June 2020 longtime auditors Ernst & Young said they were unable to find it, forcing the company to admit the money did not exist.

The Philippine central bank has said previously the money never entered the country's financial system.

The National Bureau of Investigation lodged complaints on May 31 against the company's former chief operating officer Jan Marsalek, as well as a Manila lawyer and bank employees, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told AFP.

State prosecutors were conducting a preliminary investigation, he said, which would determine if charges would be filed.

Marsalek, who remains at large after failing to turn himself into German investigators, was responsible for Wirecard's Asia business, which became the focus of accounting irregularities.

The Wirecard implosion, which has drawn comparisons with the Enron accounting scandal in the US in the early 2000s, has been described as "unparalleled" in Germany by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.

The company's former chief executive Markus Braun and several other top executives have been arrested on fraud and money laundering charges over the massive scam.

mff/amj/reb
Piers Morgan at an event in Beverly Hills, California, in 2019. Emma McIntyre/BAFTA LA via Getty Images

Harry and Meghan said they named Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor in part after the Queen.

Piers Morgan called it ironic, saying the couple had spent recent weeks "trashing the royal family."

"Maybe it's their way of reaching out - as the Americans say - to the royals," Morgan said.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Piers Morgan continued his commentary on the lives of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with an appearance on Australia's "Today" program on Monday, when he gave his opinion on the couple naming their newborn daughter Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

In a statement announcing their daughter's birth, the couple said the name Lilibet was taken from Queen Elizabeth II's family nickname and the middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor Harry's late mother, Princess Diana.

"It's quite ironic, isn't it," Morgan said. "You have this couple who have been trashing the royal family and the monarchy for the last few weeks and they have named the baby after the Queen, who is, of course, the head of the royal family and the monarchy."

Morgan continued to speculate whether the couple were attempting to mend their relationship with the royal family by naming their daughter after the Queen.

"Maybe it's their way of reaching out - as the Americans say - to the royals and wanting some kind of end to this on-running feud," he said.

Morgan's comments came just hours after he tweeted that he would respect the couple's "pleas" for privacy and would not comment on the arrival of their second child.

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Over the weekend, The Daily Mail reported that palace officials were "unaware" the couple had welcomed their second child until after the announcement was made on their Archewell Foundation website.

In a statement hours later, the palace said the royal family was "delighted" by the news.

"The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex," the statement said.

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Lilibet is eighth in line to the British throne after the couple's first child, Archie, who became seventh in line upon his birth on May 6, 2019.

The couple first announced on Valentine's Day that they were expecting their second child. And they announced during their interview with Oprah Winfrey in March that they were expecting a girl.

"To have any child, any one or any two would've been amazing, but to have a boy and then a girl - what more could you ask for?" Harry said. "Now we've got our family. We've got the four of us, our two dogs."

Read the original article on Insider
Jun. 6The Pittsburgh Pirates welcomed Colin Moran back with open arms, inserting him into the starting lineup at first base and in the cleanup spot of the batting order after a 28-day absence.

And Moran made an immediate impact, fielding a pair of grounders in the top of the first inning and drilling an RBI double in his first at-bat to give the Pirates an early lead over the Miami Marlins.

What Moran couldn't control was how his counterpart would impact the game, as Jesus Aguilar homered, hit a sacrifice fly and made stops at first for the final two outs to lead the Marlins to a 3-1 comeback win to avoid a four-game sweep Sunday afternoon before 5,477 at PNC Park.

"It's nice to have him back in our lineup," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "It lengthens our lineup, which is important. It's nice to have him back."

The Pirates (23-35) have Monday off, then host the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series.

Moran was placed on the 10-day injured list May 9 after straining his left groin against the Chicago Cubs, an injury compounded for the Pirates when backup Phillip Evans strained his hamstring three days later. The Pirates turned to Todd Frazier, Will Craig and Erik Gonzalez, none of whom could replicate his power in the middle of the lineup.

"It was fun just to play baseball again," Moran said. "I enjoyed being on a baseball field, even at the rehab assignment. Taking time off was tough because I just enjoy playing baseball."

Moran wasted no time picking up where he left off. Adam Frazier reached on a fielding error by Aguilar and advanced to third on a double play, getting into scoring position for Moran. Moran didn't hesitate to swing at Sandy Alcantra's first pitch, an 85 mph curveball he grounded down the right-field line for a double for a 1-0 lead.

Aguilar enjoyed playing against the Pirates, going 6 for 13 (.461) with two homers and five RBIs in the series for the Marlins (25-33). He sent Chad Kuhl's 2-2 slider 444 feet over the left-field fence to tie it 1-1 in the second inning, but it was the sixth that spelled trouble for the Pirates.

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Kuhl (0-3) got off to a rough start in the sixth, hitting Jazz Chisholm with a pitch and giving up a single to left to Starling Marte. Corey Dickerson hit a routine grounder to second, but Frazier was aggressive in chasing the double play instead of the easy out.

That backfired when Frazier's low throw skipped off the glove of shortstop Erik Gonzalez and into the outfield, allowing Chisholm to score for a 2-1 lead and Marte to advance to third.

"I thought he made the right play," Shelton said. "Gonzo, as we've seen, is elite. It was just a tough play. It's one of those ones that, if you make it, it's a heck of a play. It just turned against us and, as well as we played defensively, it kind of stands out."

Aguilar made it 3-1 with a sacrifice fly to right to score Marte. Gonzalez recovered to make a nice play to end the inning, taking the throw from catcher Michael Perez and making a swiping tag to catch Jon Berti stealing second.

But, after a weekend of wild wins, the Pirates ran out of rallies.

Kuhl leaned heavily on his slider  throwing it on 39 of 82 pitches (48%)  and allowed two earned runs on three hits in six innings. He gave up a homer, walked one batter and hit another. Marlins starter Sandy Alcantra (3-5) gave up one run on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts in eight innings. Yimi Garcia earned his 13th save.

Alcantra stranded runners in each of his final four innings, including two at third base  Ben Gamel in the fifth and Frazier in the eighth  by relying on good location and a dangerous pitch repertoire.

"He's just got really good stuff," Moran said. "He's running the fastball up there to 99, had a really good changeup, good slider. He located all three of those pitches, at least to me. That's what I saw, for the most part. He had a really good changeup. It was tough to cover that much mile per hour. You have 99 that can be at the top of the zone and changeups that are looking like it's going to be a fastball down and fall out of the zone."

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Police detectives have arrested three teens who are believed to be part of the South Miami-Dade gang feud that led to a mass shooting at a graduation party in Kendall.

The three teens, Yahtayvius McCutcheon, 17, Quantayvius McCutcheon, 19, and Keyshad Richardson, 19, are not charged with the drive-by shooting outside a hookah bar early Sunday that killed a state corrections officer. Instead, they are being charged with a shooting that happened minutes later, on Floridas Turnpike, targeting people who had just been at the graduation party.

The charges: attempted murder with a deadly weapon.

Miami-Dade police said in an arrest report that the trio were in a red Chevrolet Malibu casing the graduation party for a significant amount of time but drove away. A source with knowledge of the probe said they are believed to have left before the shooting began.

But as they drove south on the turnpike, the teens saw a gray Nissan Altima, which belonged to people who had been at the graduation party, police said. The car willfully and purposefully pursued the Nissan, and the two passengers opened fire. The driver of the Altima suffered wounds to his leg, and is in stable condition at Jackson South Memorial.

Miami-Dade police found the teens at their home and they confessed to shooting indiscriminately at the Nissan Altima while unprovoked. Yahtayvius and Quantayvius McCutchen are brothers, according to police.

Back at the hookah bar, gunmen in at least one other car opened fire on the gathering near Miami Dade Colleges Kendall campus. Two men in a Toyota Camry fled the scene but crashed into a wall  both were killed. The vehicle was peppered with bullet holes, and investigators were probing whether the car was part of the drive-by ambush but was struck by return gunfire from the crowd.

Authorities have not released the names of the men in the car, or whether they died from the gunfire. A source with knowledge of the case identified the men as William Everett Jr., 23, and Jahem Tyrese Ziegler, 18.

Killed outside the graduation party was 20-year-old corrections officer Tyleisha Taylor, who investigators believe was an innocent bystander. Five others were wounded. Homicide detectives have not made any arrests in that case.
by Nirmala Carvalho

A picture of the president of the Congress Party, which was doctored to include a book titled How to convert India into a Christian nation, has gone viral on social media. For Sajan K. George (Global Council of Indian Christians), extremists are using conversions to divert attention from the horrifying COVID-19 disaster.

Mumbai (AsiaNews)  A picture showing Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi with a book titled "How to convert India into a Christian nation" has caused a stir on social media.

The fake picture was posted on twitter by an account called "No Conversion", which has over 200,000 followers. The tweet, which has since been deleted, is part of the latest anti-Christian campaign by Hindu nationalist groups.

In the picture, Ms Gandhi stands in front of a bookshelf that contains the offending book, a Bible and a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The tweets caption reads Who reads all these books?

In another tweet, the user accuses the Congress Party of rampant conversion appeasement, and brainwashing of young generation.

While the fake picture was circulating on social media, its original source was identified. It is actually a screenshot from a YouTube video that was published by the Indian National Congress in October 2020. Neither the book (with the rather unlikely title) nor the Bible or the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus appear on the background shelf.

"This morphed image shows how far the hatred spread by false propaganda can go. Sonia Gandhi is constantly in the crosshairs for her Italian origins, which are linked to the Christian faith, said Sajan K. George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) speaking to AsiaNews.

The goal is to make life difficult and suppress the religious freedom of 26 million Christians in India by raising false conversion allegations. The governments census statistics show a decline in Indias Christian population which is 2.3 per cent.

Today, however, the bogey of conversions is raised to divert attention from the horrifying record death rate figures and breakdown in healthcare infrastructure during the second wave of COVID-19. This is politicisation of religion by vested interests.

For George, "Ever since Sonia Gandhi became Congress president in 1998, she has been accused of being a tool of the CIA or the Italian Mafia. Such claims now are made against her son Rahul.

There is no evidence for any of these conspiracy theories, but they remain in circulation to offer justification for hating Sonia because she is not a natural-born Indian.
BERLIN (AP)  German officials said police conducted raids Monday targeting people suspected of involvement in organized crime, as part of a larger international bust coordinated by Europol.

The European Union police agency, based in The Hague, Netherlands, said it planned to hold a news conference Tuesday on what it described as a major law enforcement action against some of the worlds foremost criminals" in more than a dozen countries.

This operation is the most sophisticated effort to date in disrupting the activities of criminals operating from all four corners of the world, Europol said, adding that representatives from the FBI and Dutch, Swedish and Australian federal police would be present.

A spokesman for the German Interior Ministry declined to confirm reports that the raids were linked to the FBI's hacking of encrypted communications networks used by criminals.

I can confirm that there are currently criminal procedural measures in Germany but also in other countries around the world against people who are suspected of involvement in organized crime, the spokesman, Steve Alter, told reporters in Berlin.

These measures are currently ongoing," he said, explaining that he could not comment further.

European police last year delivered a major blow to organized crime after cracking an encrypted communications network, known as EncroChat, used by criminal gangs across the continent.

In March, Belgian police arrested dozens of people after cracking another encrypted chat system, called Sky ECC, and seizing more than 17 tons of cocaine.
Israeli police arrest Al Jazeera journalist Givara Budeiri during a protest Saturday in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. (Oren Ziv / Associated Press)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unleashed a harsh verbal attack Sunday against his potential replacement, rightist rival Naftali Bennett, declaring it would constitute the greatest election fraud in Israels history if his own reign as the countrys longest-serving leader were ended.

With a parliamentary vote of confidence in a prospective new Israeli government to take place as early as Wednesday, Bennett, 49, retorted that it was time for the 71-year-old prime minister, his onetime mentor, to let go and allow Israel to move forward.

In the wake of four inconclusive national elections, political passions are running high in advance of the showdown between Netanyahu and a diverse coalition arrayed against him, which is drawn from Israels political left, right and center.

Israels domestic security agency, the Shin Bet, issued an unusual warning over the weekend that rising political incitement could lead to violence, and security has been tightened for several members of the change coalition seeking to unseat Netanyahu, who is being tried on corruption charges.

In an address to members of his conservative Likud party on Sunday, Netanyahu lambasted Bennett over earlier pledges that he would not join forces with centrist politician Yair Lapid, the coalitions leader, or with other participants in the new political grouping seeking to oust him. Under an accord struck last week, Bennett and Lapid would share the prime ministers job on a rotating basis, with Bennett taking the first turn.

Denouncing that alliance, Netanyahu told party allies, We are witnesses to the greatest election fraud in the history of the country and, in my opinion, the history of democracies.

People justifiably feel deceived, he told the gathering in remarks that were broadcast nationwide.

Critics swiftly pointed out that the accusations hurled by Netanyahu were reminiscent of rhetoric employed by former President Trump, a loyal booster over the past four years. In addition to excoriating Bennett as dishonest, Netanyahu characterized his rivals as radical leftists whose lack of resolve would leave the country vulnerable to external security threats.

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The prime minister also sought to deflect accusations that his supporters were creating a dangerous climate with virulent threats against some members of the coalition. Instead, he painted his own camp as the victim, asserting that incitement toward us runs rampant.

In a complaint that further echoed the airing of Trump-stye grievances, Netanyahu railed against what he called attempts to silence his supporters on social media. Those include his son Yair, some of whose social media accounts were temporarily suspended after he shared a post providing the home address of a lawmaker the prime ministers allies were pressuring to vote against the coalition.

The outbreak of political turmoil comes only a little over two weeks after a cease-fire that ended a deadly 11-day exchange of fire by the Israeli military and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip. Fallout from that cross-border violence continued to be felt in Jerusalem, where Sunday saw fresh confrontations between Israeli authorities and protesters in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Palestinians have been struggling to stave off property seizures by Jewish settlers who have been laying claim to a number of Palestinian homes that the new arrivals say were previously Jewish-owned. Israeli law allows for such assertions of property rights by Jews but prohibits Palestinians from making similar claims on land and homes they were forced to relinquish decades earlier in Jewish West Jerusalem.

Activists and family members said Israeli police earlier Sunday arrested a 23-year-old woman, Muna al-Kurd, from one of the Palestinian families fighting eviction, who has helped lead weeks of protests that at times have been harshly suppressed by police. A day earlier, Israeli police in Sheikh Jarrah forcefully detained Givara Budeiri, a well-known journalist with the TV network Al Jazeera.

Both women were released after hours in custody.

Adding to tensions in Jerusalem, Jewish nationalists have unveiled plans to march Thursday through sensitive parts of the Old City. Previously, their planned parade through Muslim areas was rerouted just before the eruption of Gaza hostilities on May 10.

It was not yet clear whether the police and government would allow the new march to proceed.

In Tel Aviv, Bennett and Lapid held a meeting of all eight parties participating in the coalition, with police guarding the seaside hotel where the gathering convened. Outside, a few dozen demonstrators shouted their support for the coalition to remove Netanyahu, who has been prime minister for the past dozen years, in addition to a three-year tenure in the mid to late 1990s.

Netanyahu and his camp have been seeking to delay or derail the parliamentary vote, whose timing is in large measure controlled by the speaker of the Knesset, Yair Levin, who is a supporter of the prime minister. Levin, addressing the same Likud party event that Netanyahu did, denounced the prospective new government as based on abysmal hatred.

Israeli media reports said Levin could allow a parliamentary vote of confidence as early as Wednesday, but only if the prime minister and his allies believe they could prevail against the new coalition. Lapid last week told Israels president, Reuven Rivlin, that he had secured the backing of a razor-thin majority in the 120-seat Knesset.

The vote could be put off until June 14, a week after the coalition is expected to be formally introduced to lawmakers.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Prince Harry sought Queen Elizabeth's blessing before naming his daughter. WPA Pool / Pool

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle welcomed their daughter Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor on June 4.

Her name pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, as Lilibet is her familial nickname.

Harry's friends say he got the Queen's blessing to use the name, Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl reports.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Prince Harry sought Queen Elizabeth's "blessing" to name his daughter Lilibet, according to a new report from Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl.

Harry and Meghan Markle welcomed their daughter, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, on June 4 in Santa Barbara, California.

Lilibet, who will be called Lili, is named for her great-grandmother and grandmother, as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said in a statement.

"Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet," the couple said in a statement. "Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales."

Lilibet was the Queen's childhood nickname from King George V. Prince Philip, who died at the age of 99 on April 9, was also believed to have called her Lilibet, as People reported that the Queen placed a handwritten note on her late husband's coffin signed with the nickname at his funeral.

Queen Elizabeth II, Meghan Markle, and Prince Harry. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Friends of Harry told Vanity Fair that the Duke of Sussex asked for his grandmother's "blessing" before naming his daughter.

"He loves and respects his grandmother," one of his friends said to Vanity Fair. "For Harry these are two very important and meaningful names."

Insider has confirmed the Duke of Sussex spoke to the Queen ahead of the announcement of Lilibet's name.

As royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith told Vanity Fair, it's not unusual for royals to ask for permission before naming their children after monarchs.

"I know when the Duke and Duchess of York (later George VI and Queen Elizabeth) proposed to name their second daughter Ann Margaret, King George V and Queen Mary objected to 'Ann,' so they settled on Margaret Rose," Bedell Smith told Vanity Fair.

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Harry and Markle announced Lili's birth on Sunday.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Getty/Dan Kitwood

"She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe," the couple said of their daughter in a statement on the website for their organization, Archewell. "Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family."

The royal family congratulated the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Lili's arrival via Instagram.

Read the original article on Insider
HOUSTON (AP)  A woman arrested in connection with the death of a 5-year-old Houston boy whose body authorities say was kept hidden in a storage unit before being discovered in an East Texas motel will likely face additional charges in the case, a prosecutor said Monday.

Theresa Raye Balboa has been charged with tampering with evidence, a human corpse, in the death of Samuel Olson. Balboa was the girlfriend of Samuels father, Dalton Olson.

During a court hearing on Monday, Andrea Beall, a prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorneys Office, said that authorities planned to file additional charges against Balboa. Beall said a murder or a capital murder investigation is pending in the case.

Investigators were still waiting for a preliminary autopsy report, which could be ready by Monday afternoon. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences in Houston has not officially identified the body found last week by authorities as being Samuel. But police have said they believe the body found inside a plastic tote in a motel in Jasper, about 135 miles (215 kilometers) northeast of Houston, is the boy. A cause of death has also not been determined.

Police believe Samuel died weeks before he was reported missing on May 27, according to an arrest affidavit. He would have turned 6 years old on May 29.

Balboa, 29, did not speak during the brief court hearing. An attorney for Balboa did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Monday.

Court records show Balboa was charged with assault in November for allegedly choking Dalton Olson. Conditions of her bond in that case included that she have no contact with Olson or any member of his family.

During Mondays court hearing, state District Judge DaSean Jones increased Balboas bond in the assault case from $5,000 to $100,000. She is also being held on a $500,000 bond for the tampering with evidence charge.

Samuels parents had been involved in a bitter custody battle over the boy after filing for divorce in January 2020.

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Balboa initially accused Samuels mother and a man who presented himself as a police officer of taking the boy. Samuel had been living with Balboa since April 30, which was the last day he was seen at school. Authorities have not said why Samuel was staying with Balboa. Samuels father, Dalton Olson, lived at a different address.

Balboas roommate told investigators that Balboa called him May 10 and said the boy was dead, according to the arrest affidavit. The boys body was kept in the bathtub of the suburban Houston apartment where Balboa lived until she and her roommate placed it in a plastic tote and hid it in a storage unit on May 13, police said.

A tip from a friend of Balboa led police to the motel room in Jasper, where officers found her with the plastic tote with the boys body.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
Do aliens exist? A UFO flies above a field in this digital composite. (Photo: Getty Images)

Information from a highly anticipated report from American intelligence officials on unexplained aerial phenomena has been leaked, and it has an interesting conclusion. While the U.S. government hasn't found evidence that strange flying apparatuses spotted over the years are alien spacecraft, they also say that they can't rule it out.

The report, which is expected to be released to Congress in an unclassified version by June 25, also says that more than 120 accounts of unidentified flying objects do not appear to be evidence of secret U.S. technology, but also doesn't eliminate the possibility, officials who were briefed on the document told The New York Times. Still, they don't offer an explanation for the sightings, which include a video that showed a sphere-shaped object flying over water near San Diego, Calif., that disappeared into the water after a few minutes.

Former Navy pilot Cmdr. Dave Fravor described one 2004 incident to NBC News. "As soon as we looked down, we see the whitewater, and then we see this little white Tic Tac, Fravor said. Its pointing north-south and its just going forward, back, left, right." Fravor said he got within a half-mile of the ship before it suddenly vanished.

Reactions on social media have been mixed, with some saying the report reveals nothing, while others accuse the government of covering up the existence of aliens.

Belief in aliens has persisted for centuries, and one-third of Americans believe that UFOs people have spotted have been alien spacecraft visiting Earth from other planets or galaxies, according to a 2019 Gallup poll. And, while 60 percent think that unusual sightings can be explained by human activity or natural phenomena, 7 percent say they're unsure. Another Gallup poll found that 68 percent of people believe the government knows more about UFOs than it reveals.

"It's important to distinguish between the questions, 'Do you believe aliens exist?' and 'Do you believe aliens have ever visited the earth?'," Christopher C French, head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at the University of London, tells Yahoo Life. "Many scientists would answer 'yes' to the first question, while making it clear that to date we have no proof of that, and 'no' to the second question, because they would find the evidence put forward to support visits from extraterrestrials unconvincing."

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But what makes someone believe that aliens exist? Experts say there's more to it than many people think.

Peers play a role.

Clinical psychologist John Mayer, author of Family Fit: Find Your Balance in Life, tells Yahoo Life that he has "known and treated many people over the years that believe in aliens" and found that they are often surrounded by other people who share the same view. "Thus, they are reinforced by their beliefs," he says.

French agrees. "Environment plays a huge role in determining levels of belief in alien visitation," he tells Yahoo Life. Meaning, if your family and friends believe in aliens, you're likely to do the same.

Media can influence views.

The way newspapers, TV news and social media talk about aliens matters. "Research shows that the way the media presents information on this topic can affect level of belief," French says. If you're constantly reading reports about mysterious flying objects that scientists can't explain, you're more likely to think there may be more to the story, he says.

And, when reputable sources like The New York Times cover aliens, it can have sway as well, Mayer says. "Reports from reputable sources enables this thinking," he says. "Such reports can lock in your thinking because your beliefs are not being refuted."

Government reports can validate beliefs.

French says that it's "understandable" that intelligence and military services would be interested in reports of strange things in the sky. "They are primarily interested in potential threats to national security," he says. But knowing that the government is investigating reports of UFOs will often reinforce to some people that aliens exist.

Regardless of the conclusion of government reports, French says that "true believers" in aliens won't accept the conclusions of government reports on UFOs unless they declare that extraterrestrials have been visiting Earth regularly and officials have been covering it up. "Otherwise, they will dismiss it as another cover-up," he says.

"As even UFOlogists admit, 95 percent-plus of all UFO sightings can be readily explained in mundane terms if investigated," French says. "Some get very excited about the few cases that can't. But maybe we just need to accept that sometimes there will not be enough evidence to form a definite conclusion. That does not automatically mean it was ET. After all, we do not expect the police to be able to solve every single crime they investigate, do we?"

The need to believe in a higher power can fuel viewpoints.

For some people, belief in a higher power means turning to religion; for others, it's believing in aliens. Mayer says that a "strong personality characteristic" of people who believe in aliens is "a persons need to believe that something exists beyond the earthly reality they are experiencing."

"For these individuals, their life is not fulfilling enough  they are searching for something more to fill the void inside them," he says.

But French says that the desire to know whether we're alone in the universe is "perfectly understandable."

"As Arthur C. Clarke famously said, 'Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying,' he says.

Read more from Yahoo Life:

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Monday that formalises Russia's exit from the Open Skies arms control treaty, a pact that allows unarmed surveillance flights over member countries.

Russia had hoped that Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden could discuss the treaty when they meet later this month at a summit in Geneva.

But the Biden administration informed Moscow in May that it would not re-enter the pact after the Trump administration quit it last year.

The Kremlin said on Monday that the U.S. decision to withdraw from the treaty had "significantly upset the balance of interests" among the pact's members and had compelled Russia to exit.

"This caused serious damage to the treaty's observance and its significance in building confidence and transparency, (causing) a threat to Russia's national security," the Kremlin said in a statement on its website.

Moscow had hoped that Biden would reverse his predecessor's decision. But the Biden administration did not change tack, accusing Russia of violating the pact, something Moscow denied. In January, Russia announced its own plans to leave the treaty, and the government submitted legislation to parliament last month to formalise its departure.

Russian officials said they regretted the U.S. decision not to rejoin, calling it a "political mistake" and warned the move would not create an atmosphere conducive to arms control discussions at a the Geneva summit later this month.

(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Writing by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
Members of the LGBTQ community, their allies and families came dressed for the weather, ready to cool off with some chilled beer and live entertainment.

Video Transcript

ANTHONY WILSON: The timing's great for everyone at the Raleigh Brewing Company on a hot, humid Sunday. Members of the LGBTQ community, allies, and families enjoying the celebration of Pride Month with cold beer and warm smiles.

GREG MASSENBURG: I think this is a wonderful gathering, a great turnout and we have beautiful weather to match.

ANTHONY WILSON: Greg Massenburg came with his children and likes the atmosphere here.

GREG MASSENBURG: We're kind of new to the area, so I'm just kind of getting them exposed to everything and get them out of the house now, so we're just having a good time, and we're happy to be here.

ANTHONY WILSON: Organizers arranged shaded areas, invited food trucks, and they even have a brew produced especially for this occasion.

BYANKA BANSUN: Proceeds from the new launch here will go towards our charity. We are a 501(c)(3) and we educate people on safe sex and fight for everyone's equality.

ANTHONY WILSON: And while performance collected some money for the cause. The crowd enjoyed this very spirited drag show. The costume performers don't seem to mind the heat and humidity here.

BYANKA BANSUN: We came prepared. We came prepared. Lots of hairspray and lots of desperation, so we're going to make it through.

ANTHONY WILSON: As they relax with friends, partners, and supporters in a safe, welcoming space. Reporting from Raleigh, Anthony Wilson, ABC 11, Eyewitness News.
Many fans on Instagram flooded Lil Durks latest post with messages of condolences.

According to Cook Country officials, OTF DThang, the older brother of rapper Lil Durk, was found dead in Chicago over the weekend. Authorities have not determined an official cause of death, but multiple reports claim he was shot outside of a nightclub late Saturday.

DThang, born Dontay Banks Jr., was 32.

Dontay Banks Jr., also known as DThang (right), the older brother of rapper Lil Durk (left), was reportedly found dead in Chicago over the weekend. He was 32. (Instagram)

According to Revolt TV, the tragic story first broke when Chicago MediaTakeout shared a post on social media reading: Prayers to the person who got shot outside Club O. We have to start partying in peace. The outlet eventually confirmed Banks was the shooting victim.

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

On Sunday morning, producer Murda on The Beat tweeted, Rip DThang, along with a praying hands emoji and a blue heart.

Many of Lil Durks fans on Instagram flooded his latest post with messages of condolences. One wrote: Man I genuinely feel bad for this man @lildurk smh dude cant catch a breakbad news after bad news ..and it aint even minor thangs is really deep cuts and deep heartbreaks  all bullst aside Foreal tho  I seriously advice whoever thats close to him to be for him at all times  keep your head up @lildurk we all got love for you.

As theGrio previously reported, King Von, an artist on Lil Durks Only The Family label, was shot dead in November 2020. King Von, who was born Dayvon Bennett, was among three men killed when an argument turned into gunfire in some early morning hours outside an Atlanta hookah lounge.

One Twitter user said: Damn man I feel bad for @lildurk fr, he cant even enjoy the big moments in his life smh. Back to back losses start makin you feel like you goin crazy. RIP Dthang

Saturday nights shooting is the latest incident of gun violence in the music community. Last month, rapper Lil Reese was one of three men who were shot in Chicago at a parking garage. The altercation reportedly stemmed from an issue surrounding a stolen truck.

In April, Pretty Ricky member Baby Blue was shot when two armed men allegedly tried to take his chain. The incident occurred at around midnight outside a bowling alley in Davie, Florida.

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theGrios Keydra Manns contributed to this report.

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The post Rapper Lil Durks brother DThang killed in Chicago: report appeared first on TheGrio.
(Reuters) -Southeast Asian foreign ministers urged Myanmar on Monday to halt violence, free prisoners and start its agreed dialogue during a meeting in China, while Singapore's top diplomat said the group was disappointed at its "very, very slow progress".

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi called for the immediate and transparent implementation of a five-point consensus agreed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in April, while her Singapore counterpart, Vivian Balakrishnan, said the bloc was united in stressing the need for action by Myanmar.

Myanmar's military rulers have shown little sign of heeding April's agreement among the 10 ASEAN countries, including Myanmar, which calls for an end to violence, political talks and the naming of a regional special envoy.

Myanmar has been in chaos since a Feb. 1 coup, with the junta struggling to impose control since ousting elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi, who goes on trial next week charged with a litany of offences, is among more than 4,500 people detained since the coup. At least 849 people have been killed by security forces, a rights group says. The army disputes that figure.

The military has blamed the violence on supporters of the ousted government and says it took power because of a fraudulent November election won by Suu Kyi's party. Authorities at the time said the vote was fair.

The ASEAN ministers' comments follow a visit to Myanmar on Friday by two ASEAN envoys during which they urged the junta to free all political prisoners and discussed implementing the consensus.

The ASEAN envoys met junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw as well as the junta's foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin, who also attended Monday's meeting in Chongqing, China.

The United Nations, Western countries and China have all backed ASEAN's mediating role, but some Western powers have also imposed increasing sanctions to target junta members and their economic interests.

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"Indonesia is really hoping that the implementation of the 5 points of consensus need to be pushed after this meeting with, once again, a transparent process," Indonesia's Retno told a news conference on the sidelines of a meeting with the chair and secretary-general of ASEAN.

'PAINFULLY SLOW'

Balakrishnan spoke in strong terms at what he said was a lack of progress and said the appointment of a special envoy, which has yet to be agreed, "only makes sense if there is a genuine desire within Myanmar itself for genuine dialogue and negotiations and reconciliation".

Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said ASEAN must admit that progress on the consensus was "painfully slow".

"The int'l (international) community is awaiting ASEAN's further action," he said on Twitter.

The ASEAN statement dated June 5 said the objective of the visit was to discuss how Myanmar would reach "a peaceful solution in the interests of its people" by implementing the five points.

It said they had also "called for the release of all political prisoners, including women and children and foreigners" - an appeal that was not on the consensus but is supported by many ASEAN members.

Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesman for comment on Monday.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said the meeting covered "implementation of the recommendation of initial survey of ASEAN" and "terror acts" by junta opponents and the army's plan to hold elections.

Opponents of the junta have voiced frustration at the lack of tough action by ASEAN. China's ambassador met army chief Min Aung Hlaing on Saturday.

China's state-run Global Times newspaper quoted the junta leader as saying Myanmar was willing to coordinate implementation of the consensus.

It reported that the ambassador had said China was ready to support implementing the consensus.

Opponents of the junta have been wary of the role of China, which unlike Western countries has not been vocal in criticising the coup.

(Writing by Matthew Tostevin and Martin Petty;Editing by Robert Birsel and Nick Macfie)
by Sumon Corraya

In Bangladesh there is a small Catholic community with 500,000 faithful. In 2020, 26 deacons became priests. It is the highest number in the history of the Catholic Church in Bangladesh.

Dinajpur (AsiaNews) - The ordination of five deacons took place on Friday in the cathedral of St. Francis Xavier in Dinajpur, in northern Bangladesh.

They include three diocesan priests Fr. Ruben Hasda, Fr. Marchlues Tirki, Fr. Nicholas Basra, Fr. Nitto Anthony Ekka is from Holy Cross, and Fr. Elis Sarkar of the Society of Jesus.

Father Ashish Runia, a priest of the parish of the cathedral of Dinajpur, told AsiaNews that the date of the ordination was different, in 2020. However, due to COVID-19, it was not possible to celebrate the priestly ordination at other times and other places. Therefore, it was decided to celebrate the ordination last Friday with a limited number of participants.

"Only 10 relatives were allowed for each one - he explained. But we transmitted the order live on Facebook".

In Bangladesh, the government extended the lockdown until June 16. Educational institutions remain closed.

Fr. Runia says that the number of vocations is sufficient. Every year the number of new believers has increased thanks to the tireless preaching of catechists, nuns and priests. The vocation came from new believers. "There are about 50 seminarians who will be priests in the future," he said.

Bishop Sebastian Tudu of the diocese of Dinajpur celebrated Mass during the ordination. In his homily he said to the new priests: "God has chosen you to preach the Gospel. You are committed to serving the Church. You will have to obey your duties and you will have to do it properly".

"While you were deacons - he said again - you took an oath to be saints and to sanctify others, so be holy first and sanctify others".

Finally, he invited the families of the new priests to continue to support and love their children: "Your children are becoming priests, they need continuous support and love from which to draw inspiration in their religious life".

Some newly ordained priests shared their experience. "While I was a student at school, I understood the life of priests, their life attracted me to become a priest", said Fr. Nicholas Basra, CSC, and Fr. Elish Sarkar, SJ.

The 30-year-old Fr. Nicholas Basra is a new believer in Christ. When he was 3 years old, in 1993, he and his family received baptism. Previously they were Hindu. But, he tells AsiaNews, "I studied in a missionary college and I was able to get in touch with priests and nuns, their holy life, good and kind work, I liked them and since I was a child I had decided to become a priest". He wants to preach among non-Christians, work among young people and want to make family visits.

In Bangladesh there is a small Catholic community with 500,000 faithful. In 2020, 26 deacons became priests. It is the highest number in the history of the Catholic Church in Bangladesh.

The diocese of Dinajpur has over 60,000 Catholics; most are tribal, with 18 parishes.
CAIRO (AP)  Tribal clashes erupted over the weekend between Arabs and non-Arabs in Sudans western Darfur region, killing at least 36 people, the state-run news agency reported.

The clashes broke out in South Darfur province between the Arab Taaisha and the non-Arab Falata tribes and also wounded at least 32, SUNA news agency said late Sunday.

More troops were deployed to contain the clashes in the area of Um Dafuk, west of the South Darfur's provincial capital of Nyala. The area is on the border with the Central African Republic. A statement later said the clashes subsided.

The violence grew out of a land dispute between the two tribes, according to an aid worker who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

Such clashes pose a significant challenge to efforts by Sudans transitional government to end decades-long rebellions in some areas like war-wrecked Darfur.

Sudan is on a fragile path to democracy after a popular uprising led the military to overthrow autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, after nearly three decades of rule.

Since then, the country has been led by a joint military-civilian government, which has been struggling to end Sudans decades-long civil wars and overcome the countrys dire economic conditions.

The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when ethnic Africans rebelled, accusing the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum of discrimination. The government has been accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes and unleashing the militias known as janjaweed on civilians  a charge it denies.

Al-Bashir faces international charges of genocide and crimes against humanity related to the Darfur conflict.
Roger Federer announced Sunday that he is withdrawing from the French Open. The former world No. 1 was coming off a tough four-set, three-and-a-half hour win over Dominik Koepfer in the third round.

"After discussions with my team, I've decided I will need to pull out of the French Open today," Federer said in a statement posted on social media. "After two knee surgeries and over a year of rehabilitation it's important that I listen to my body and make sure I don't push myself too quickly on my road to recovery. I am thrilled to have gotten 3 matches under my belt. There is no greater feeling than being back on court. See everyone soon!"

Federer on Saturday took on the German Koepfer in a night match on Court Philippe Chatrier. Roland-Garros' largest stadium was mostly empty for the match, as a curfew enacted to help manage to coronavirus pandemic goes into effect at 9 p.m. local time each night. Federer emerged victorious, but was forced to play three tie breakers before finally winning the fourth set 7-5 to end the match.

Matteo Berrettini, the Italian who would have taken on Federer in the round of 16, now heads to the quarterfinals to face either fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti or world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Federer will now look ahead to Wimbledon, where he's had the most personal success of all the Grand Slam tournaments. A title on the grass of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club would give the Swiss 21 major titles, which would either put him back in the all-time lead or tie him with Rafael Nadal, who is currently seeking his 14th French Open and 21st major title as well.

Roger Federer of Switzerland plays a forehand during his men's second round match against Marin Cilic of Croatia during day five of the 2021 French Open at Roland Garros on June 03, 2021 in Paris, France. / Credit: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

Federer has had the least success on the red clay of Roland-Garros, winning the tournament only once in 2009, the year Robin Soderling defeated Nadal in a shocking fourth round upset. It was the first time the Spaniard had ever lost at the French Open and, thus far, that loss accounts for 50% of his defeats there.

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Djokovic trails both men with 18 Grand Slam titles of his own. He is the only man besides Soderling to have beaten Nadal at the French Open.

With a week still to go in the French Open, the tournament has seen the loss of three major stars in the first eight days of competition. Naomi Osaka withdrew from Roland-Garros before her second round match after she was threatened with increasing fines, disqualification and suspension from future Grand Slams over her decision to not participate in media appearances during the tournament.

Serena Williams, meanwhile, was defeated in her fourth round match on Sunday, falling to Elena Rybakina in straight sets. With 23 major titles, Williams remains one Grand Slam title behind Margaret Court.

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WASHINGTON  Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trumps personal lawyer, repeatedly pressured the Ukrainian government to investigate Democrat Joe Biden over a 40-minute phone call in 2019, according to an audio recording obtained by CNN.

During the call with U.S. diplomat Kurt Volker and Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Giuliani can be heard urging an investigation of Biden, who unseated Trump in the 2020 election.

Giuliani said a public announcement would clear the air really well and allow for a possible meeting between Zelensky and Trump.

"And I think it would make it possible for me to come and make it possible, I think, for me to talk to the President (Trump) to see what I can do about making sure that whatever misunderstandings are put aside, Giuliani said on the recording. I kinda think that this could be a good thing for having a much better relationship."

Congressional testimony during Trumps first impeachment detailed how he sought the investigation into the Democratic rival who eventually beat him in the 2020 election. Trump sought an investigation of Biden and his son, Hunter, by withholding military aid from an ally while Ukraine was under siege from Russia.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was a lawyer for President Donald Trump, speaks during a news conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington on Nov. 19, 2020. A law enforcement official tells the Associated Press that federal investigators have executed a search warrant at Rudy Giuliani's Manhattan residence. The former New York City mayor has been under investigation for several years over his business dealings in Ukraine.

"All we need from the President [Zelensky] is to say, 'I'm gonna put an honest prosecutor in charge, he's gonna investigate and dig up the evidence that presently exists and is there any other evidence about involvement of the 2016 election,' and then the Biden thing has to be run out," Giuliani said. "Somebody in Ukraine's gotta take that seriously."

The heart of Trumps first impeachment was his own summarized call with Zelensky in July 2019, when he urged the Ukrainian president "to do us a favor" by investigating Biden and his son, Hunter, whose appointment to the board of a Ukraine energy company, Burisma, had been the subject of a corruption allegation.

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No conspiracy was found and no charges were filed.

Trump has insisted his call was perfect, but House Democrats accused him of trying to wield the power of his office to investigate a political rival.

The House impeached Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. But the Senate acquitted Trump.

The Giuliani recording reveals the extent of the pressure that he contributed as part of that campaign.

Giuliani is under criminal investigation for his role in the private diplomatic talks, where U.S. State Department officials were instructed to defer to him in dealings with Ukraine, according to congressional testimony. Two of his contacts, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, face unrelated campaign-related charges.

The FBI raided Giulianis Manhattan apartment in April and seized up to eight personal electronic devices.

Giulani has denied all wrongdoing.

Gordon Sondland, Trumps ambassador to the European Union, testified during the impeachment investigation that there was a quid pro quo that Ukraine would receive military aid in response for investigating Biden.

Trump said of Sondland: I dont know him very well.

Sondland sued the Justice Department and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month for $1.8 million for his legal fees during the investigation.

Revelations about the Giuliani call come as Biden prepares to meet June 16 with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Jake Sullivan, Bidens national security adviser, said Monday that Biden invited Zelensky to the White House in July.

"I have come into this briefing room from the Oval Office where President Biden was on the phone with President Zelensky of Ukraine, Sullivan said. "They had the opportunity to talk at some length about all of the issues in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship. And President Biden was able to tell President Zelensky that he will stand up firmly for Ukraine sovereignty, territorial integrity and its aspirations as we go forward."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rudy Giuliani's pressure on Ukraine for Trump heard in CNN recording
By Nelson Renteria

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - A Salvadoran woman who had served nearly a third of her 30-year prison sentence on charges of terminating her pregnancy and violating El Salvador's harsh abortion ban was released on Monday, activists said.

Sara Rogel was arrested in October 2012 after going to a hospital with bleeding injuries caused by what she said was a fall while carrying out chores at home. Then a 22-year-old student, Rogel was prosecuted and sentenced for killing her unborn daughter.

"Sara never deserved to be in prison," feminist activist Morena Herrera said. "While in mourning for the heartbreaking loss of her pregnancy, Sara should have been with her family. Instead she was unjustly imprisoned for nine years."

Her release from a jail in Zacatecoluca, 35 miles (56 km) southeast of capital San Salvador, was initially ordered a week ago, but Rogel was forced to remain in detention until a deadline passed for the Attorney General's office to appeal her release.

El Salvador has one of the world's strictest bans on abortion. It does not permit exceptions, even for rape or if the mother's life is at risk, and prison sentences can stretch up to 40 years.

In recent years some rulings have been reversed, with several women released https://www.reuters.com/article/us-el-salvador-abortion/woman-jailed-under-el-salvadors-harsh-abortion-law-walks-free-from-prison-idUSKCN26E39K from jail after serving parts of their long sentences.

Still, women are often prosecuted for stillbirths and abortions induced because of medical emergencies.

(Reporting by Nelson Renteria, Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Rosalba O'Brien)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  A South Korean court on Monday rejected a claim by dozens of World War II-era Korean factory workers and their relatives who sought compensation from 16 Japanese companies for their slave labor during Japans colonial occupation of Korea.

The decision by the Seoul Central District Court appeared to run against landmark Supreme Court rulings in 2018 that ordered Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate Korean forced laborers.

It largely aligns with the position maintained by the Japanese government, which insists all wartime compensation issues were settled under a 1965 treaty normalizing relations between the two nations that was accompanied by hundreds of millions of dollars in economic aid and loans from Tokyo to Seoul.

A total of 85 plaintiffs had sought a combined 8.6 billion won ($7.7 million) in damages from 16 Japanese companies, including Nippon Steel, Nissan Chemical and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The court dismissed their civil lawsuit after concluding the 1965 treaty doesnt allow South Korean citizens to pursue legal action against the Japanese government or citizens over wartime grievances. Accepting the plaintiffs claim would violate international legal principles that countries cannot use domestic law as justification for failures to perform a treaty, the court said.

Some plaintiffs told reporters outside the court they planned to appeal. An emotional Lim Chul-ho, 85, the son of a deceased forced laborer, said the court made a pathetic decision that should have never happened.

Are they really South Korean judges? Is this really a South Korean court? he asked. We dont need a country or government that doesnt protect its own people.

It wasnt immediately clear how the ruling would affect diplomacy between the estranged U.S. allies, which have faced pressure from the Biden administration to repair relations that sank to postwar lows during the Trump years over history and trade disputes.

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South Koreas Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it respects the decisions by domestic courts and is willing to engage in talks with Tokyo to find rational solutions that can satisfy both governments and the wartime victims.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Tokyo was carefully watching the developments in South Korea and hoping that Seoul would take a responsible action to improve ties. He said bilateral relations were still in a severe condition because of issues related to Korean forced laborers and wartime sex slaves.

We believe it is important for South Korea to act responsibly to resolve the outstanding problems between the two countries and we will be watching concrete proposals by the South Korean side aimed at resolving the problems, Kato said at a news briefing.

The plaintiffs had said the workers endured harsh conditions that caused extreme mental and physical pain that prevented them from resuming normal lives after they returned home at the end of the war.

The Seoul court said in its ruling that it had to consider that forcing Japanese companies to compensate the victims would cause significant adverse reactions for South Korea internationally.

A forcible execution (of compensation) would violate the large constitutional principles of ensuring the safety of the country and maintaining order, and would constitute an abuse of power, the court said, describing its ruling as an inevitable decision.

In April, the court issued a similar ruling on a claim by Korean victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery and their relatives, another sticking point in bilateral relations. In that ruling, the court denied their claim for compensation from Japans government, citing diplomatic considerations and principles of international law that grant countries immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign courts.

Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have been strained since South Korea's Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate Korean forced laborers. Those rulings led to further tensions over trade when Japan placed export controls on chemicals vital to South Koreas semiconductor industry in 2019.

Seoul accused Tokyo of weaponizing trade and threatened to terminate a military intelligence-sharing agreement with Tokyo that was a major symbol of their three-way security cooperation with Washington. South Korea eventually backed off and continued the deal after being pressured by the Trump administration, which until then seemed content to let its allies escalate their feud in public.

South Koreas tone on Japan has softened since the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who has been stepping up efforts to bolster three-way cooperation among the countries that declined under Donald Trumps America first approach, to coordinate action in the face of Chinas growing influence and North Koreas nuclear threat.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in in a nationally televised speech in March said his government was eager to build future-oriented ties with Japan and that the countries should not allow their wartime past to hold them back.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
A pair of young siblings died Friday after they fell in their familys algae-covered swimming pool, Ohio police say.

Police in Columbus say they were called to a home around 8:30 p.m. for a report of a drowning. Upon arriving, officers learned 2-year-old Prince Deer and 4-year-old Victoria Deer had been playing near the pool, police say.

First responders found the children unresponsive and they were taken to area hospitals. Within an hour, Prince and Victoria had both died, according to police.

The childs mother was home during the incident, WSYX reported. The pool was not safe for swimming, officers told the TV station.

Its rainwater plus leaves plus algae. Its muck, Columbus Police Lt. Dan Hargus told The Columbus Dispatch of the in-ground pool, which he said only had water in the deep end.

A neighbor told the Dispatch he has not seen the pool taken care of for at least six years.

Columbus police continue to investigate the drownings. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 614-645-4730.

Missing 8-year-old drowned in murky hotel pool searched several times, Ohio cops say

70-year-old kayaker drowns trying to save dogs in icy pond, Pennsylvania cops say

2 college students die when boat capsizes during crew club practice, Iowa officials say
Jun. 7The state Public Education Department has released a month-by-month summer plan intended to get New Mexico schools ready for accelerated learning in the fall, following two academic years largely stymied by the coronavirus pandemic.

The plan, dubbed "Roadmap 2.0," is a fresh version of New Mexico's Roadmap to Accelerated Learning and Renewal that the education department issued in March. It provides guidelines to districts in eight key areas, including budgeting, academics, equity, staffing and communication with school communities.

The plan could leave New Mexico schools looking different when students return in the fall.

It lays out a timeline for districts to finalize their budgets and determine how to use the latest round of emergency federal COVID-19 funds. Plans for spending the money are due to the state by June 24.

The plan also urges districts to keep tabs on projected student enrollment to ensure adequate staffing levels and directs schools to develop "culturally and linguistically responsive" teams dedicated to assuring students' home languages and cultures are respected in the classroom.

"We wanted a document that keeps up as new information emerges and informs new best practices," Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart said in a recent news release about the plan.

Roadmap 2.0 emphasizes the use of accelerated learning as key to getting kids on track post-pandemic. Accelerated learning favors using new instructional methods to teach students materials at their grade level rather than using remediation techniques, which focus on material below grade level  even for students who are behind their classmates.

The framework is meant to address expected inequities in learning loss during the pandemic. A 2020 study by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. found Black and Latino students were likely to incur greater losses from online learning than their white peers. Low-income students may have even lost a year's worth of learning, the study found.

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The differences stem from poor access to broadband and technology, and the quality of online learning students received.

New Mexico school districts are expected to make plans for accelerated learning by July, based on a guide released by the New Teachers Project. Schools will need to build assessments and collect more data on student performance, and make diagnostic data on individual students available to teachers so they can meet student needs in the fall.

"We acknowledged that this might feel like a radically different approach for some of your teachers and leaders," the New Teachers Project Report says. "And in many ways, it is."

Outgoing Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Veronica Garcia said the district is already rolling down the Roadmap 2.0 path, thanks to a five-year strategic plan implemented a few years ago.

"Every area that's covered in the road map is already covered in the strategic plan," she said.

The district discussed the results of this year's interim assessments on reading and math proficiency for third through eighth graders as part of its move toward accelerated learning practices.

The assessments are different from the state's standardized assessments suspended in 2019, Garcia said, but it provides a picture of student progress in a time when statewide testing was halted during the pandemic.

The reading and math assessments were given to students at the beginning, middle and end of the year.

"We have not been flying blind," Garcia said during a Thursday school board meeting.

Reading proficiency, at 51 percent districtwide, was above the target of having 40 percent of students read at a target level.

Meanwhile, math proficiency changed little from 2018-19, with percentages in the high teens and mid-20s.

"This is a statewide problem for whatever reason," Garcia said at the meeting.

Next year the district will implement a new math program called Middle School Math, and the superintendent predicts in a few years, proficiency rates should improve among high schoolers as a result.

Boosting communication efforts with communities is another tenet of the state's summer road map. The Public Education Department is encouraging districts to stay in touch with families over the summer through social media and community surveys.

It's an area the Santa Fe district is focusing on this summer and into the fall in an attempt to bolster an increasingly diverse volunteer force and to get more parents involved with parent-teacher organizations.

Those are two areas Garcia said were lacking in the past. This year, however, the district added more than 130 bilingual volunteers to its ranks, she said.

"We realized we need to beef up [engagement]," Garcia said.

The district also will debut a new communication platform for parents in the fall. The program, called Remind, will be able to translate information into dozens of languages and offer communication options for parents.

"Parents can choose, 'I want to know through email or text message or robocall,' " Garcia said. "Right now I feel like we hit and miss when we do our robocalls."

Over the summer, in line with Roadmap 2.0, the district will conduct surveys to get an idea of how to spend the emergency federal funds.

At Santa Fe Public Schools, that may mean expanding efforts to get more educators ready to teach children learning English as a second language, which Garcia called a great need in the district.

"I fully expect that one of the recommendations is that we get more teachers endorsed" to teach English learners, Garcia said.
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to take up the federal government's claim that allowing a civil rights lawsuit filed by Muslims in California to proceed would reveal secrets that could damage national security.

The case involves the FBI's use of an informant who posed as a convert to Islam after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and attended mosques for more than a year in Orange County. According to the lawsuit, he struck up conversations and attended meetings and lectures, sometimes secretly recording them.

The effort "explicitly targeted Muslims because of their religion," violating their religious freedom, a lawyer for the Muslims told the Supreme Court.

"The explicit purpose of this operation was to gather information on Muslims in Orange County  not terrorists, spies, or even ordinary criminals, but Muslims," they said.

The Justice Department moved to block the suit in federal court by asserting the state secrets privilege, which courts have recognized for more than a hundred years. Revealing evidence about whether any particular person was the subject of an FBI counter-terrorism investigation, "the reasons for any such investigation, and the particular sources and methods used" would harm national security, government lawyers said in their Supreme Court submission.

A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, but the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals reversed that ruling. It said the state secrets privilege was displaced by a federal law governing evidence gathered with the permission of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The appeals court said the judge could review the evidence privately and decide whether it must be kept secret.

Such a ruling would allow lawsuits to "dodge the state secrets privilege," the Justice Department said in an appeal filed by the Trump administration and continued by the Biden administration.

The Supreme Court will hear the case in the fall, during its next term.
Synchrony (SYF) closed the most recent trading day at $50.45, moving +1.33% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.08% loss on the day.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the consumer credit company had gained 8.47% over the past month. This has outpaced the Finance sector's gain of 4.48% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.68% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from SYF as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, SYF is projected to report earnings of $1.57 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 2516.67%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $3.39 billion, down 3.01% from the year-ago period.

SYF's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.77 per share and revenue of $14.18 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +154.19% and -2.2%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for SYF. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.15% higher within the past month. SYF is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

In terms of valuation, SYF is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 8.62. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.49.

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We can also see that SYF currently has a PEG ratio of 0.41. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Financial - Miscellaneous Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.94 at yesterday's closing price.

The Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 193, which puts it in the bottom 25% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.



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Myanmar military attacked another place of worship in Kayah State. No casualties or injuries were reported. About 20 people also died in Ayeyarwady in clashes between the military and rebels. ASEAN and China meet military chief Min Aung Hlaing.

Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Myanmars military attacked the Catholic Church of Mary Queen of Peace in Daw Ngan Kha, Kayah State.

The incident occurred yesterday, feast of Corpus Christi. No casualties or injuries were reported, but the building was badly damaged by artillery fire.

The attack appears to be deliberate, since the church compound is fairly large and clearly visible on a busy street.

Several nearby houses were also damaged by the shelling, which began in the early hours of Sunday.

The attack took place even though the military had promised to spare church buildings from such violent actions.

This is the sixth time in the last two weeks that a church has been targeted in Myanmar.

In May the military attacked a Catholic church in the village of Kayan Thaya, St Joseph's church in Demoso, and the Sacred Heart Church in Kayantharyar, near Loikaw, killing four people who had found refuge inside.

In Kayah State, the Catholic Church is working with various donors to help some 300,000 people displaced by indiscriminate violence.

Myanmars military have not only targeted humanitarian organisations, but, according to some observers, they are trying to turn the conflict with the resistance movement into a religious war. Myanmar Catholics represent about 1.5 per cent of the population.

On Saturday, security forces killed at least 20 civilians in the Ayeyarwady region, the heaviest death toll in the last two months.

The clash took place in the village of Hlayswe. According to several local sources, residents armed with catapults and crossbows fought back against troops searching for weapons.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the military has killed 849 people since the 1 February coup.

Meanwhile, envoys from the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have called on the Myanmar government to release all political prisoners.

Last Friday, ASEAN officials met with the head of the military junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, who received the Chinese ambassador the following day.

This week, the Myanmar crisis is expected to be on the agenda at a special meeting in Chongqing between ASEAN and Chinese foreign ministers. Myanmars Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin will also attend the meeting.
A Texas bakery that said it lost business and Facebook followers after it posted a photo of rainbow-frosted, heart-shaped cookies in celebration of Pride Month has amassed many new fans from around the world.

On June 2, Confections, a bakery in Lufkin, Texas, shared a photo of the cookies on Facebook with a message:

"More LOVE. Less hate. Happy Pride to all our LGBTQ friends! All lovers of cookies and happiness are welcome here."

The next day, the bakery shared a more somber post about the backlash it said it received as a result of posting support for the LGBTQ+ community.

"Today has been hard. Really hard. We lost a significant amount of followers because of a rainbow heart cookie we posted. We received a very hateful message on our business page canceling a large order (5dz) of summer themed cookies for tomorrow morning (that we just finished decorating) because of a rainbow heart cookie we posted. My heart is heavy," read a post on the Confections Facebook page.

The message added that the small business was already "struggling to stay afloat" and, as a result of the cancellation, would now have a surplus of cookies for sale.

"If you love our cookies we will have an over abundance of them tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will be better," the post continued.

And it was. As word spread about the backlash, customers lined up around the block the next day to purchase treats from Confections.

Confections co-owner Dawn Cooley shared a photo of the line on Facebook and said the bakery sold out as a result of people coming out to show their support.

"Weve sold out. All this attention on our small business is very humbling. Makes me nervous! Those who know me (Dawn) know how shy I am. In the 11 years weve been open weve never seen anything quite like this," Cooley wrote.

She added that her sister and co-owner Miranda Dolder and their baker Felicia were feeling incredibly "humbled and grateful and moved by this outpouring of love."

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"The last several people in our shop put Money on their credit card for us to donate because there was nothing left to purchase," she said.

"Giving it all to local animal rescues," Dolder added as an edit to the post. "We told the customers they could donate to that cause. They chose to do so."

On Sunday, the bakery posted another update, writing that, after Father's Day, it plans on creating a donation schedule to send cookies to local nursing homes and charities.

The attention has also earned Confections new fans from across the country. The bakery's Facebook page now has nearly 50,000 likes.

"I am so glad to see all the in town and out of town support you are receiving. Sorry that people can be so negative. Stand up for being kind!" one fan wrote.

"When things slow down a bit-let us know if shipping is possible. Id like to support you," added another person. "If shipping isnt possible, Ill buy some by phone/email and you can donate my cookies to a local LGBTQ org or childrens charity."
Army relief workers in aluminium dinghies handed out rice and other food to residents in submerged parts of the Sri Lankan capital as the death toll from monsoon floods across the country rose to 17 Monday.

The monsoon hits the South Asian country twice a year, bringing vital rain for irrigation and hydro-power generation, but it can be deadly and destructive.

At least 17 people have died since Friday, after heavy downpours inundated 10 of the country's 25 districts.

"Our kitchen is still flooded and we managed thanks to cooked food distributed by the military," Kusuma Dahanayake told AFP by telephone from Gampaha, the worst-affected district, just outside Colombo.

The 73-year-old said it was the worst flooding she had experienced at her home since she moved there in 1995.

Officials said floodwaters in the area were receding, but about 161,000 people were still unable to return to their homes.

The flooding in the area was exacerbated by the illegal filling of low-lying lands reserved for stormwater retention, they added.

Residents of Kelaniya, on the outskirts of Colombo, waded through waist-deep waters, while some used makeshift rafts and oars to get around on streets which now resembled canals.

In Malwana, just northeast of Colombo, Hassen Maulavi told AFP he had to negotiate flooded streets for an urgent medical appointment on Monday, from his partially submerged two-storey home.

Soldiers on Monday rescued 27 people marooned in a region north of Colombo, after earlier operations to pluck hundreds of people from their flooded homes over the weekend.

The Disaster Management Centre said conditions overall appeared to be improving Monday, although a mudslide warning remained for the 10 districts.

In the central Kegalle district, rescuers said they were guided by a pet dog to a home where four members of a family had been buried by a mudslide on Sunday.

All four -- aged between 23 and 57 -- had died, the officials added.

While Sri Lanka's monsoon is seasonal, the nation -- a member of the 48-country Climate Vulnerable Forum -- faces more frequent floods as a result of global warming, experts have warned.

aj/grk/leg/oho
Capitol Breach Commission (The Washington Post)

Joe Manchin hadnt exactly been shy about his position on the Democrats sweeping voting legislation and the filibuster that stands in the way of its passage. But the West Virginia Senator over the weekend erased any lingering doubts about his stance, writing in a Charleston Gazette op-ed that he opposes the For the People Act and will neither vote to abolish nor to weaken the filibuster.

Congressional action on federal voting rights legislation must be the result of both Democrats and Republicans coming together to find a pathway forward, the red-state Democrat wrote Sunday, or we risk further dividing and destroying the republic we swore to protect and defend as elected officials.

This is a tune Manchin has been singing for months, but this time it took on a somewhat funereal quality: In siding against his party, hes all but doomed the bill that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has described as a must-pass. Its a radical stand by Manchin, one that will enable the increasingly extremist GOPs brazen attacks on voting rights and grotesque efforts to erode faith in the democratic process. But too often, that has been obscured by a Washington media that still struggles to find the right language to describe the political alignments of Trump-era lawmakers.

Manchin is frequently described in the political press as a moderate or a centrist  labels he wears proudly. I will fight to represent the people of West Virginia, to seek bipartisan compromise no matter how difficult, he wrote Sunday. But there is nothing moderate about his position on voting rights.

Democrats are seeking to preserve and expand the franchise. Republicans in recent months have been on a crusade to limit it, using Donald Trumps risible lies about election fraud to enact voting restrictions and to sow doubt in the integrity of the electoral system. Manchin insists that theres common ground between these two camps, and casts himself as the reasonable adult in the room for demanding his colleagues seek it out. It is my sincere hope that all of us, especially those who are privileged to serve, remember our responsibility to do more to unite this country before it is too late, he wrote in his op-ed. In truth, though, his stance is illogical at best and disingenuous at worst: He is preventing his party from protecting democracy unless they have support from those it needs to be protected from.

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To be fair, theres been no shortage of exasperation directed the West Virginia lawmakers way. Plenty of commentators have described his stand as delusional and insincere. Even Chris Wallace on Trump-friendly Fox News suggested Manchin was being naive in his adamant defense of the filibuster. Havent you empowered Republicans to be obstructionists? Wallace asked him Sunday.

But in its coverage of the West Virginia senator, the DC press has continued to brand him a moderate  a framing that implies his partys efforts to fight back against the GOPs all-out assault on voting rights are radical when, in fact, the opposite is true. One party is seeking to defend democracy. The other is increasingly antagonistic toward it and has only grown more devoted to Trumps demagogic politics in the months since his loss to Joe Biden. These are not equally partisan undertakings, as Manchin suggests they are. But presenting him as a moderate can give the impression that they are. Joe Manchin is repeatedly described as a centrist, the progressive Robert Reich observed last week. But to be a centrist in todays America is to be situated midway between truth and lies, equidistant between inclusiveness and racism, halfway between democracy and tyranny.

It is no easy task to accurately describe lawmakers political orientations in an era when the defining issues facing the country lie not on the traditional left-right ideological spectrum, but rather on the degree to which one is committed to democratic principles and a shared sense of reality. But to describe what Manchin is doing here as moderate is to play into the hands of Republicans who would have you believe that it is actually the Democrats lurching toward extremism  and to give cover for even more dangerous, anti-democratic action. I wish with all my heart that this bill werent necessary, or that Republicans in the Senate would join us in defending Americans right to vote, Democrat Jeff Merkley said in a statement following Manchins op-ed. But in the face of a coup attempt incited by a president trying to overturn an election and a nationwide attempt to ensure that the will of the voters does not determine the outcome of future elections, I am dead set against doing nothing.

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Jun. 7Meeting for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic struck, the Toledo Science Society had a private 3D showing Sunday inside the state-of-the-art KeyBank Discovery Theater at Imagination Station for about 35 of its members and donors.

Those in attendance were wowed by the two educational films, the 20-minute Hidden Pacific, and the 40-minute Superpower Dogs. Both were released in 2019.

But as much as anything, the star attraction was the 278-seat high-definition, large-format digital theater itself.

The theater features a 58-foot-by-31-foot screen and a 4K digital laser projection system with 3D capability.

In addition to its razor sharp images, it has incredible audio and is capable of playing livestreams on the big screen, Lori Hauser, Imagination Station chief executive officer, said.

She said the science center played President Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration on it, and NASA's latest Mars rover landing on Feb. 18. During a 2019 news conference, she also stated that the center expects to play live feeds from space centers, other science facilities or museums, and major national and international events on it.

According to the Imagination Station's website, additional special events include lectures, video gaming tournaments, movie marathons, and seasonal family movie nights.

"This multipurpose venue has the ability to project video in nearly any format including large-screen format films, traditional and 3D films, television, presentations and video games, allowing for unlimited opportunities for programming," the website states.

The high-tech theater was part of a $12.1 million facelift for the Imagination Station, which included a new roof, heating and cooling system, redesigned entrance and interior, new retail, and renovated exhibit space.

The society contributed the first $1 million for the theater's costs, and the state of Ohio matched that.

KeyBank was the lead donor for the theater with $2 million.

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Ms. Hauser said the theater was completed last summer, but hasn't gone on full display yet because of limited showings and social distancing requirements of the pandemic.

That will change soon  and the science center is excited about showing off the theater to more of northwest Ohio, she said.

"It still smells new," Ms. Hauser said.

The little-known Toledo Science Society was formed years ago by Bob Savage, vice chairman of the Imagination Station's board of directors.

"We thought we needed to expose kids to the technology they're going to live with," he said during an interview Sunday afternoon. "It's a really quiet community asset."

The society consists of dozens of businesses and family members.

"We need positive arms like this to make this community better," Mr. Savage said.

First Published June 6, 2021, 8:23pm
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.  The mother of a Florida teenager accused of killing 13-year-old classmate Tristyn Bailey was charged with tampering with evidence Saturday morning, according to a release from the State Attorneys Office.

Crystal Lane Smith, 35, the mother of Aiden Fucci, 14, was booked into St. Johns County Jail on the third-degree felony charge.

According to the felony warrant, video surveillance from Smiths home shows her retrieving a pair of jeans from Fuccis bedroom that he was reported to be wearing on May 9, the night Bailey was killed.

After Fucci voluntarily left the Durbin Crossing residence with deputies, Smith retrieved what appeared to be a pair of blue jeans, taking the jeans to the adjacent bathroom, and appeared to be scrubbing the jeans in the bathroom sink, according to the warrant.

The video then showed Smith taking the jeans to her master bedroom for a period of time, the warrant said.

Police said they observed a witness in the video at around 1:05 a.m. who appeared to be having a discussion with the defendant. Smith retrieved the jeans from the master bedroom and both the witness and the defendant can be seen inspecting the jeans several times before Smith returned them to Fuccis bedroom at 1:28 a.m., according to the report.

The day after Bailey was killed, Fucci was placed with his parents in a recorded room at the St. Johns County Sheriffs Office. Smith asked Fucci if he was sure nothing was on his clothes from the night before, the warrant stated. I think so, why? Fucci asked. The warrant said Smith could be observed giving [Fucci] a questioning look and whispered Blood.

Police identified and contacted the witness on May 12 and detectives conducted a surreptitious audio-recorded interview in which the witness advised the defendant located a pair of damp jeans in [Fuccis] bedroom hamper. The defendant asked the witness if she saw anything on the jeans, and stated she washed the jeans.

Story continues

USA TODAY Network: Aiden Fucci pleads not guilty in stabbing death of 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey

More on Tristyn Bailey: Tristyn Bailey's death was the 'horrific, brutal murder of a 13-year-old child'

Police located the jeans in Fuccis bedroom during a search warrant. The jeans and the drain of the bathroom sink tested positive for the presence of blood, the affidavit stated.

State Attorney R.J. Larizza stated: tampering with evidence is tampering with justice and cannot be excused or tolerated.

Bailey's body was found near a retention pond at the end of the cul-de-sac on Saddlestone Drive with "significant injury to her head and other trauma" caused by stabbing, according to a report by the St. Johns County Medical Examiner's Office.

Fucci has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder, accused of stabbing his 13-year-old classmate 114 times.

Because Fucci has been charged as an adult, The St. Augustine Record, part of the USA TODAY Network, is naming him even though he is a juvenile.

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Tristyn Bailey case: Mother of suspect charged with tampering evidence
Two wildfires burning in eastern Arizona topped 30,000 acres each over the weekend, prompting road closures and mandatory evacuations amid blazing temperatures and a drought that stretches across much of the West.

The Mescal Fire, burning in the Mescal Mountains east of Phoenix, exploded from nearly 26,000 acres Saturday night to more than 38,000 on Sunday as temperatures soared to 100 degrees, said David Shell, a public information officer with the team managing the fire.

The blaze was 2 percent contained, he said, adding that it was wind-driven and could change direction very quickly.

Residents in several small communities south, north and east of the fire were under mandatory evacuation orders, NBC affiliate KPNX of Phoenix reported. The cause of the fire, which started Tuesday on Apache tribal land, remains under investigation.

As of Sunday afternoon, a second blaze, the Telegraph Fire, had burned through more than 34,000 acres of shrub and grassland west of the Mescal Fire.

Top of the World, a community of a few hundred people , was evacuated Sunday morning, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said. The fire, which started Friday, is also under investigation.

The fires closed several roads, including U.S. Route 60, a major thoroughfare.

Western states are preparing for a potentially historic wildfire season aggravated by climate change, a "megadrought" and decades of forest management practices.
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Monday that COVID-19 vaccines promised by the United States would soon arrive in the island.

"I promise that the government will do everything in its power to strive for a more stable supply of vaccines," she said in a live broadcast from her office.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Editing by Gareth Jones)
By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by a men's rights group to the national requirement that men, but not women, register for the military draft at age 18, focusing on whether the policy violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantee that laws apply equally to everyone.

The justices turned away an appeal by the National Coalition for Men, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, of a lower court ruling upholding the policy. The lawsuit was aimed at invalidating a 1948 U.S. law that compels only men to register for potential military service.

Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a statement noting that a commission established by Congress last year recommended ending the male-only status of the draft and that lawmakers could act on it.

Sotomayor wrote that the court's "longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue."

Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer and conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined Sotomayor's opinion.

By rebuffing the appeal, the justices left in place the lower court ruling and a 1981 Supreme Court precedent that had upheld the law in part because women at that time were prohibited from serving in combat roles in the armed forces.

The Pentagon in 2013 lifted the official ban on women in combat. ACLU lawyers had argued that it made little sense that in light of that policy shift women were not required to register for the draft alongside men.

The military draft was discontinued in 1973 amid the tumult of the Vietnam War era. But men still are required to register and can face penalties for refusing.

'OVERT SEX DISCRIMINATION'

"We're disappointed the Supreme Court allowed one of the last examples of overt sex discrimination in federal law to stand. We urge Congress to update the law either by requiring everyone to register for the draft, regardless of their gender, or by not requiring anyone to register," ACLU lawyer Ria Tabacco Mar.

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Matthew Tittman, a spokesperson for the Selective Service System, said the federal agency, which administers the database, is "capable of performing whatever mission Congress should mandate" but does not comment on litigation.

The men's rights group as well as two individuals - James Lesmeister, a Texas-based graduate student, and Anthony Davis, who lives in California and is studying for a degree - in 2013 sued the Selective Service System. They argued that the male-only requirement amounted to sex discrimination in violation of the constitutional promise of equal protection under the law.

Texas-based U.S. District Judge Gray Miller in 2019 ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and declared the law unconstitutional. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2020 reversed that ruling, saying lower courts were bound by the Supreme Court's 1981 decision upholding the policy.

The 1948 law requires men, both U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, to sign up with the Selective Service System at age 18. Under the law, if there is a draft in place the registration information would be used to summon people ages 18 to 25 for military service.

The last draft call was held by lottery in 1972. Active conscription formally ended the next year and the all-volunteer military was born.

The National Coalition For Men has said forcing men but not women to register is "an aspect of socially institutionalized male disposability" and helps to reinforce stereotypes that buttress what it called bias against men in child custody, divorce, criminal sentencing, public benefits, domestic violence services and other areas.

President Joe Biden's administration has defended the 1948 law, as did the administration of his predecessor Donald Trump.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Additional reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
Volodymyr Zelensky. SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios in an exclusive interview that he's no longer angry about President Biden's decision to waive sanctions on the Russian company overseeing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will transport natural gas from Russia to Germany, he's just disappointed. And he seemingly wants Washington to communicate a little more directly with Kyiv about its Russia strategy.

Nord Stream 2 is a big deal for Ukraine, whose eastern regions are typically under threat from Russia. Currently, Ukraine is a major natural gas supplier to Western Europe itself, which Zelensky said is a "powerful political tool" that forces Russia to talk to Ukraine and Europe "at the same table." But if Nord Stream 2 is completed, which looks more and more likely, Zelensky warns that "Ukraine will no longer have this leverage," leaving it vulnerable.

Biden and top administration officials, like Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have said they oppose the pipeline, but it's 95 percent complete, and they don't want to anger Germany, a major ally, so they consider the sanctions a lost cause. Even if the decision was pragmatic, Zelensky said he didn't get a heads up, telling Axios he was "surprised" by the move, especially because he learned about it  and the U.S.'s explanation for it  "through the press." "I feel that  well, between strategic partners the relations should be direct," he said. Read more at Axios and the full intereview transcript here.
Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa Monaco announces the recovery of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from the Colonial Pipeline Co. ransomware attacks. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Federal officials say they've recovered majority of the $4.4 million ransom Colonial Pipeline paid.

The cyberattack in May led to massive supply disruptions across the southeastern US.

Recovery of ransom payments is extremely rare.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

US law enforcement has recovered "a majority" of Colonial Pipeline's $4.4 million ransom payment to the Darkside hacker group, Department of Justice officials announced on Monday.

In a press conference, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said the company cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigations to track most of the 75 bitcoins to a cryptocurrency wallet used by the hackers.

"The sophisticated use of technology to hold businesses and even whole cities hostage for profit is a decidedly 21st century challenge - but the old adage of 'follow the money' still applies," Monaco said.

Darkside was believed to be based in Russia, but the group effectively disappeared after the attack that led to gasoline shortages across the southeastern US.

"Today, we turned the tables on Darkside," Monaco added.

Court filings said the government tracked 63.7 bitcoins, now worth about $2.2 million as the value of the currency has fallen substantially since early May.

Jim Watson/Getty Images

Joseph Blount, Colonial Pipeline's CEO, previously told The Wall Street Journal that he authorized the payment because his team was not sure how bad the attack was or how long it would take to recover.

"I know that's a highly controversial decision," he said. "I didn't make it lightly. I will admit that I wasn't comfortable seeing money go out the door to people like this."

Ransomware attacks have increased in number and severity, and most payments are never recovered. This is the first digital-asset seizure conducted by the DOJ's the recently launched Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force.

Paul M. Abbate, the deputy director of the FBI, said the bureau has more than 100 investigations underway into operations such as Darkside, and that his office is working with more than 90 ransomware victims across a range of critical infrastructure sectors.

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Monaco and Abbate underscored the importance of Colonial's swift and thorough reporting of the attack, which allowed their task force to recover the payments. Cybersecurity experts Insider has spoken with say that ransom attacks often go unreported because victims are reluctant to add further legal or public relations drama to the incident.

"Today I want to emphasize to leaders of corporations and communities alike -- the threat of severe ransomware attacks poses a clear and present danger to your organization, to your company, your customers, your shareholders, and your long-term success," Monaco said. "Invest the resources now."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Francis met the priests from the Convitto San Luigi dei Francesi. He told them that a priesthood isolated from the people of God is not a Catholic priesthood; no, and not even Christian. Instead, always have great horizons, to dream of a Church fully in the service of others, of a more fraternal and supportive world.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis met today with a group of French priests from the community of Saint-Louis des Francais (Convitto San Luigi dei Francesi) in Rome. This gave the pontiff an opportunity to speak about being a priest today.

Priests are men who, in the light of the Gospel, spread the desire for God around them and pass on hope to restless hearts, said the Pope. This is unthinkable without the holy people of God. Indeed, a priesthood isolated from the people of God is not a Catholic priesthood; no, and not even Christian.

In a society marked by individualism, self-affirmation, and indifference, you have the experience of living together with your daily challenges, noted Francis. Located in the heart of Rome, your home, with its witness of life, can communicate to the people who visit it the Gospel values of varied and supportive brotherhood, especially when someone is going through a difficult moment. Indeed, your brotherly life and your various commitments can make people feel the faithfulness of God's love and his closeness.

But community life presents many challenges. For example, there is the temptation to create small closed groups, to isolate one another, to criticise and speak ill of others, to believe one is superior, more intelligent. Gossip is a habit of closed groups, a habit found even among priests who become old bachelors: They go, talk, bad-mouth ... This doesn't help. Forget it. Look and think about God's mercy. This threatens all of us, and that's no good. [. . .] May you always welcome one another as a gift.

In this year dedicated to Saint Joseph[*] I invite you to rediscover the face of this man of faith, of this tender father, a model of faithfulness and trusting abandonment to God's plan.

Even through Josephs fears, Gods will, his history and his plan were at work. Joseph, then, teaches us that faith in God includes believing that he can work even through our fears, our frailties and our weaknesses (Lit. ap. Patris ropes, 2). With Joseph, we are called to return to the experience of simple acts of acceptance, tenderness, and self-giving.

In light of this, the pontiff calls on fellow priests to dream of a Church fully in the service of others, of a more fraternal and supportive world. For this reason, as protagonists, you have your contribution to offer. Do not be afraid to dare, to take a risk, to go forward because you can do everything with Christ who gives you strength (cf. Phil 4:13). [. . .] And it is only by remaining rooted in Christ that you can experience a joy that pushes you to conquer hearts. Priestly joy is the source of your action as missionaries of your time.

To this end, one must abandon pre-conceived ideas in favour of contingent reality, abandoning all ambition of self-affirmation in order to put God and people at the centre of daily concerns without falling into criticism and chatter that risk turning even priests into old bachelors. To achieve this goal, a priest must simply be a shepherd.

Some priests might say: 'No, I would only like to be an intellectual, not a shepherd.' If so, ask to be defrocked; it will be better for you as an intellectual. But if you are a priest, be a shepherd. You will be a shepherd in so many ways, but always amid God's people. Paul reminded his beloved disciple: 'Remember your mother, your grandmother, from the people, who taught you.' The Lord says to David, 'I chose you from the back of the flock,' from there.

In concluding, the pontiff urged priests to nurture gratitude. This is what Saint John Vianney called a powerful weapon to keep hope alive in times of discouragement, loneliness, and trial. Gratitude must be directed towards God for what you are to one another. Remember that with your limits, frailties, tribulations, there is always a gaze of love laid upon you that gives you confidence.

[*] This refers to the Apostolic Letter Patris corde, With a Fathers Heart, published for the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church -
Vice President Kamala Harris is in Guatemala to discuss the underlying causes of U.S. migration on her first foreign trip. Ed O'Keefe reports from Guatemala City.

Video Transcript

- President Kamala Harris is on her first foreign trip today tackling an urgent and difficult issue, illegal immigration to the United States. She arrived in Guatemala last night, in part to learn why so many people leave the country. Vise President Harris is expected to announce new plans to address drug and Human trafficking. Ed O'Keefe is in Guatemala City for us. Ed, good morning to you. So what's on the vice president's agenda?

ED O'KEEFE: Tony, good. Morning Kamala Harris making history overnight as the first American woman to arrive in a country to full military honors as vice president. She'll meet today with Guatemala's president, who we realize has probably spoken to her more by a telephone and Zoom so far than many of the people she works with in Washington. But today, they'll meet face to face here at the National Palace behind us to talk about the root causes of illegal immigration.

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei points out he and Vise President Kamala Harris have one thing in common.

TRANSLATOR: She doesn't hold back, which is good, she's frank.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

We're not on the same side of the coin.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

We are in agreement on the what, which is something. We're not in agreement in the how.

ED O'KEEFE: Giammattei told us a root cause of undocumented immigration from his country is the economy. And we saw for ourselves that in some cases, the root cause of immigration is literally the roots that can no longer grow. It's forced parents like Lorenza, who struggles to feed her family, to let her oldest son go north, he's now in Houston and sends money twice a month.

When was the moment that you knew he had to go to the United States?

TRANSLATOR: He saw that there were some who went who already have a house. They have clothes for their family. They have clothes that they didn't have before. And they can eat what they want to eat.

Story continues

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

ED O'KEEFE: Things are even more dire for Lucille, whose husband also immigrated to Houston, and now works in a restaurant.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

He sends her a month that she mostly uses to pay off thousands of in debts to a bank and human traffickers. She says the coyotes charged her husband more than $14,000 for safe passage.

MARY MCINERNEY: Mostly, people want to stay in Guatemala. They want to be in their homes. They don't want to take that horrific, very expensive trip to the United States.

ED O'KEEFE: Mary McInerney, a Chicago native, is country director for Guatemala for Save The Children, which helps women like Lorenza and Lucille.

ED O'KEEFE: If the vice president called you and said, what are the root causes of the problem in Guatemala, what would you tell her?

MARY MCINERNEY: The main one, inequity. I mean, it's a big one. It's really big. But unfortunately the majority of the poor and extremely poor do not have access to food, jobs, and education.

ED O'KEEFE: Giammattei told us targeting human traffickers should be a top American priority.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

TRANSLATOR: We asked her to introduce a bill in the US Senate which would declare the Coyotes federal criminals.

ED O'KEEFE: You'd like coyotes to be prosecuted in the United States under federal law?

ALEJANDRO GIAMMATTEI: Si, yes.

TRANSLATOR: That's correct. And we asked the US to broaden our extradition treaty.

ED O'KEEFE: One other thing to watch for today, how much torque is there about COVID-19 vaccines? The US has already committed 500,000 doses to Guatemala. Leaders here would like more.

But an independent watchdog group we talked to says there's concerns that the country is already struggling to put shots in the arms, with the little supply that they have. The vice president heads tonight to Mexico, where she'll meet with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tomorrow in Mexico City. Anthony?

ED O'KEEFE: Ed O'Keefe in Guatemala this morning. Thanks, Ed.
President Joe Biden. AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File

The Washington Post's publisher accused the Biden DOJ of "unprecedented" assault on the media.

Fred Ryan described an "escalation" in attacks on the First Amendment since Trump left office.

Sign up for the 10 Things in Politics newsletter.

The publisher of The Washington Post accused the US Department of Justice of an "unprecedented assault on American news organizations" under President Joe Biden.

Fred Ryan said that government action against media outlets had worsened since President Donald Trump left office, despite Biden officials taking a much less combative approach to the news media in public.

Ryan noted in an opinion article that Biden had criticized the Trump administration for using "extraordinary measures to obtain subpoenas to secretly seize records of reporters at three leading U.S. news organizations."

But, he argued, once in power Biden "intensified the government's attack on First Amendment rights before finally backing down in the face of reporting about its conduct."

"This escalation, on Biden's watch, represents an unprecedented assault on American news organizations and their efforts to inform the public about government wrongdoing," Ryan said.

Ryan appeared to be referring to a lawyer that represents some New York Times journalists claiming the Biden administration imposed a gag order on those journalists and unsuccessfully tried to obtain their email logs.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Jun. 7WATERFORD  Resident Hilary Baude said donating a kidney was the easiest decision she ever made.

Baude, a kindergarten teacher at Mary Morrisson Elementary School in Groton, was watching the news on New Year's Eve when she saw a segment about CBS Executive Marc Weiner's search for a kidney donation.

As she watched, she said she connected with Weiner's story. Baude and her family had experienced their own struggles when their oldest daughter, now 8, was born prematurely at 2 pounds, 3 ounces. Her daughter spent time in a neonatal intensive care unit and had open heart surgery at five months old. Later, the family experienced another struggle when her husband was diagnosed with cancer.

Baude said she remembers the kindness her family received when her daughter and husband were fighting for their health. The community rallied behind the family, donating meals, gas cards for trips back and forth to the NICU and gift cards to the grocery store.

Today, both her daughter and her husband are healthy, and Baude wanted to pay forward that support and kindness to help someone in need.

She said the difference between her family and Weiner's was that her family's prayers had been answered, while he was still searching. Baude, who has two young daughters, also felt a connection to Weiner, who is the father of a teenaged girl.

She decided that she would donate her kidney, whether to Weiner or someone else.

Baude said she knew that she had the ability to donate without any long-term effects on her health. A marathon runner, Baude talked to several athletes that have done Ironman Triathalons and ultramarathons following donations.

Working through the National Kidney Registry, Baude said she was fortunate she did not have any of the conditions that make it difficult for people who want to donate to family members, such as high blood pressure or a history of cancer. She passed her baseline health screening and then had a day of in-depth testing to ensure she was healthy enough to donate. She said the process took both her physical and mental health into consideration and making sure the procedure was safe for her, which was her number one concern as a mother and a wife.

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She said an initial crossmatch test found she and Weiner were compatible. However, after further talks with the hospital, she became aware of a situation called a kidney chain and decided to proceed with a "chain" of people receiving kidneys designed to ensure everyone received the best possible match, she said.

Baude donated her kidney directly to a man in Washington, D.C., who is doing well after the transplant. The man's daughter, who wanted to give to her father but was not a match, is next in the chain to donate to someone else. The chain could then end there or continue. Typically kidney chains have on average about four or five people.

As a result of her donation, Weiner received a "voucher" for a kidney, she said.

Weiner said he was diagnosed in 2015 with bladder cancer and had surgery to remove his kidneys, bladder and prostate due to the aggressive bladder cancer. He has been on dialysis three times a week since. His cancer luckily did not return and he has been pursuing a kidney.

A former employer of his wife, who is in the marketing and advertising industry, donated an electronic 5,000-square-foot billboard in Times Square to help his search. He also shared his story on a website, helpmarcfindakidney.com.

About 500 people stepped forward. While there wasn't a match, one of those people, New York City Detective Michael Lollo, ended up donating a kidney to someone else, ultimately saving a Pennsylvania woman's life.

"I am blessed that complete strangers like Detective Lollo and like Hilary wanted to donate to me," Weiner said. "They didn't know me from Adam but they wanted to give. I'm blown away. I'm ecstatic and the idea that they donated kidneys to two other strangers like myself makes me feel proud."

While he is still searching for a kidney donor, he said he knows his time will come. Weiner said that since he does not have a bladder, he needs to have a procedure to get ready for a kidney transplant and then heal three months and then have the transplant. Weiner said he hopes to find a match and that the match will be able to fit that timetable.

He said the voucher from Baude will send an algorithm to all kinds of people who want to donate and raise his chances of receiving a kidney.

People interested in donating a kidney to Weiner can visit www.helpmarcfindakidney.com for more information.

Statistics show that 13 people die every day waiting for a kidney, according to the National Kidney Donation Organization.

According to the U.S Government Information on Organ Donation website, almost 6,000 transplants from a living donor to a recipient occur each year. A kidney donation is the most common donation from a living donor.

Other living donations include part of the liver, a lung or part of the lung, and a portion of the pancreas and a portion of the intestines, as well as tissues, including skin, blood and bone marrow, according to the website.

Weiner emphasized the importance of the living donor program. A family member, for example, who wants to donate a kidney to a loved one but finds out they are not a match, can still donate to someone else, such as a stranger, and will live just as comfortably on one kidney as on two. The selfless act will save or extend somebody's life.

"I'll feel a connection to Hilary for the rest of my life and beyond," Weiner said, adding that he feels a similar connection to Lollo and his kidney recipient  and he looks forward to learning more about whom Baude donated to.

Baude returns to the classroom

Baude's surgery and medical expenses were covered by her recipient's insurance, and she was released after one night in the hospital, or about 36 hours, she said.

She said her employer, Groton Public Schools, was very supportive. She was on two weeks' medical leave, then worked half-time as a precautionary measure  since she has a high-energy job and was getting tired in the afternoons  and is scheduled to return full-time on Monday.

Four weeks after surgery, she is back to running and feels great, she said on Friday, and almost forgets that the surgery even occurred.

Baude said she wants her story to give other people hope and inspire them to pay it forward, whether in a big or small way.

"I went into it to help someone else, but the gifts that I've received have been far beyond my expectations," she said.

She said she's amazed "at the connections that we can make with people that we don't know and the ability that we have to lift each other up."

To become a kidney donor, people can sign up at the National Kidney Registry website at Kidneyregistry.org.

More information is available at The National Kidney Donor Organization website NKDO.org and the National Kidney Foundation at kidney.org.

k.drelich@theday.com
Though illegal, many in the North watch South Korean programmes

North Korea has recently introduced a sweeping new law which seeks to stamp out any kind of foreign influence - harshly punishing anyone caught with foreign films, clothing or even using slang. But why?

Yoon Mi-so says she was 11 when she first saw a man executed for being caught with a South Korean drama.

His entire neighbourhood was ordered to watch.

"If you didn't, it would be classed as treason," she told the BBC from her home in Seoul.

The North Korean guards were making sure everyone knew the penalty for smuggling illicit videos was death.

"I have a strong memory of the man who was blindfolded, I can still see his tears flow down. That was traumatic for me. The blindfold was completely drenched in his tears.

"They put him on a stake and bound him, then shot him."

'A war without weapons'

Imagine being in a constant state of lockdown with no internet, no social media and only a few state controlled television channels designed to tell you what the country's leaders want you to hear - this is life in North Korea.

And now its leader Kim Jong-Un has clamped down further, introducing a sweeping new law against what the regime describes as "reactionary thought".

Anyone caught with large amounts of media from South Korea, the United States or Japan now faces the death penalty. Those caught watching face prison camp for 15 years.

And it's not just about what people watch.

Recently, Mr Kim wrote a letter in state media calling on the country's Youth League to crack down on "unsavoury, individualistic, anti-socialist behaviour" among young people. He wants to stop foreign speech, hairstyles and clothes which he described as "dangerous poisons".

Mr Kim has referred to foreign speech, hairstyles and clothes as "dangerous poisons"

The Daily NK, an online publication in Seoul with sources in North Korea, reported that three teenagers had been sent to a re-education camp for cutting their hair like K-pop idols and hemming their trousers above their ankles. The BBC cannot verify this account.

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All this is because Mr Kim is in a war that does not involve nuclear weapons or missiles.

Analysts say he is trying to stop outside information reaching the people of North Korea as life in the country becomes increasingly difficult.

Millions of people are thought to be going hungry. Mr Kim wants to ensure they are still being fed the state's carefully crafted propaganda, rather than gaining glimpses of life according to glitzy K-dramas set south of the border in Seoul, one of Asia's richest cities.

The country has been more cut off from the outside world than ever before after sealing its border last year in response to the pandemic. Vital supplies and trade from neighbouring China almost ground to a halt. Although some supplies are beginning to get through, imports are still limited.

This self imposed isolation has exacerbated an already failing economy where money is funnelled into the regime's nuclear ambitions. Earlier this year Mr Kim himself admitted that his people were facing "the worst-ever situation which we have to overcome".

What does the law say?

The Daily NK was the first to get hold of a copy of the law.

"It states that if a worker is caught, the head of the factory can be punished, and if a child is problematic, parents can also be punished. The system of mutual monitoring encouraged by the North Korean regime is aggressively reflected in this law," Editor-in-Chief Lee Sang Yong told the BBC.

He says this is intended to "shatter" any dreams or fascination the younger generation may have about the South.

"In other words, the regime concluded that a sense of resistance could form if cultures from other countries were introduced," he said.

Choi Jong-hoon, one of the few defectors to make it out of the country in the last year, told the BBC that "the harder the times, the harsher the regulations, laws, punishments become".

"Psychologically, when your belly is full and you watch a South Korean film, it might be for leisure. But when there's no food and it's a struggle to live, people get disgruntled."

Will it work?

Previous crackdowns only demonstrated how resourceful people have been in circulating and watching foreign films which are usually smuggled over the border from China.

For a number of years, dramas have been passed around on USB sticks which are now as "common as rocks", according to Mr Choi. They're easy to conceal and they're also password encrypted.

"If you type in the wrong password three times in a row, the USB deletes its contents. You can even set it so this happens after one incorrect input of the password if the content is extra sensitive.

Sometimes, TVs would be powered by car batteries

"There are also many cases where the USB is set so it can only be viewed once on a certain computer, so you can't plug it in to another device or give it to someone else. Only you can see it. So even if you wanted to spread it you couldn't."

Mi-so recalls how her neighbourhood went to extreme lengths to watch films.

She says they once borrowed a car battery and hooked it up to a generator to get enough electricity to power the television. She remembers watching a South Korean drama called "Stairway to Heaven".

This epic love story about a girl battling first her step-mother and then cancer appears to have been popular in North Korea around 20 years ago.

Mr Choi says this is also when fascination with foreign media really took off - helped by cheap CDs and DVDs from China.

The start of the crackdown

But then, the regime in Pyongyang started to notice. Mr Choi remembers state security carrying out a raid on a university around 2002 and finding more than 20,000 CDs.

"This was just one university. Can you imagine how many there were all over the country? The government was shocked. This is when they made the punishment harsher," he said.

Kim Geum-hyok says he was only 16 in 2009 when he was captured by guards from a special unit set up to hunt down and arrest anyone sharing illegal videos.

He had given a friend some DVDs of South Korean pop music that his father had smuggled in from China.

Stairway to Heaven was a popular show in North Korea about 20 years ago

He was treated like an adult and marched to a secret room for interrogation where the guards refused to let him sleep. He says he was punched and kicked repeatedly for four days.

"I was terrified," he told the BBC from Seoul where he currently lives.

"I thought my world was ending. They wanted to know how I got this video and how many people I showed it to. I couldn't say my father had brought those DVDs from China. What could I say? It was my father. I didn't say anything, I just said, "I don't know, I don't know. Please let me go."

Geum-hyok is from one of Pyongyang's elite families and his father was eventually able to bribe the guards to set him free. Something that will be near impossible under Mr Kim's new law.

Many of those caught for similar offences at the time were sent to labour camps. But this didn't prove to be enough of a deterrent, so the sentences increased.

"At first the sentence was around a year in a labour camp - that changed to more than three years in the camp. Right now, if you go to labour camps, more than 50% of the young people are there because they watched foreign media," says Mr Choi.

"If someone watches two hours of illegal material, then that would be three years in a labour camp. This is a big problem."

We have been told by a number of sources that the size of some of the prison camps in North Korea have expanded in the last year and Mr Choi believes the harsh new laws are having an effect.

"To watch a movie is a luxury. You need to feed yourself first before you even think about watching a film. When times are hard to even eat, having even one family member sent to a labour camp can be devastating."

Why do people still do it?

"We had to take so many chances watching those dramas. But no-one can defeat our curiosity. We wanted to know what was going on in the outside world," Geum-hyok told me.

For Guem-hyok, finally learning the truth about his country changed his life. He was one of the few privileged North Koreans allowed to study in Beijing where he discovered the internet.

"At first, I couldn't believe it [the descriptions of North Korea]. I thought Western people were lying. Wikipedia is lying, how can I believe that? But my heart and my brain were divided.

"So I watched many documentaries about North Korea, read many papers. And then I realised they are probably true because what they were saying made sense.

"After I realised a transition was going on in my brain, it was too late, I couldn't go back."

Guem-hyok eventually fled to Seoul.

Mi-so is living her dreams as a fashion advisor. The first thing she did in her new home country was visit all the places she saw in Stairway to Heaven.

But stories like theirs are becoming rarer than ever.

Leaving the country has become almost impossible with the current "shoot-to-kill" order at the tightly controlled border. And it is difficult not to expect Mr Kim's new law to have more of a chilling effect.

Mr Choi, who had to leave his family behind in the North, believes that watching one or two dramas will not overturn decades of ideological control. But he does think North Koreans suspect that state propaganda is not the truth.

"North Korean people have a seed of grievance in their heart but they don't know what their grievance is aimed towards," he said.

"It's a grievance without direction. I feel heartbroken that they can't understand even when I tell them. There is a need for someone to awaken them, enlighten them."
A family of six came under fire along a stretch of Missouri highway last week while on their way to vacation, and a 22-year-old mother is accused of pulling the trigger.

According to police, the family from Tennessee was heading to Kansas City on I-55 in their Nissan Pathfinder on Friday when a Ford Focus started tailgating the SUV. The Pathfinder driver braked to tell the Focus to slow down or go around, KMOV reported.

The Focus sped up, got next to the Pathfinder, and the passenger, Shanyka Fouche, pulled out a gun and began shooting, police told KMOV.

Bullets flew into the cabin of the familys Pathfinder, striking the dad in his hip, KSDK reported. One round also hit a tire, popping it, the station reported. No one else was hurt, and the dad is expected to recover.

The car sped off, but the oldest of the couples children, ranging from 2 to 11 years old, managed to memorize the cars plate number, KTVI reported. Police were able to track the vehicle and pulled it over about an hour later.

As he was getting shot at he thinks enough to look at the license plate and memorizes the license plate of the car which enabled us to use On Star, Pevely Police Chief Alan Eickhoff told the TV station. He is actually the hero of this incident.

When officers arrested Fouche, they found two small children in the car, including a 2-year-old, outlets report.

According to KSDK, the 2-year-old is Fouches child.

Fouche is facing 10 charges, including assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and armed criminal action, the outlet reported.

She is being held at the Jefferson County Jail without bond.

Mom paying to get son smuggled into US calls 911 as deal falls apart, Georgia cops say

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Two women who left fake body bags outside the state Capitol and in other locations around Hartford on April 1 to protest evictions and hazardous housing conditions have been arrested by state police.

Olivia Rinkes, 30, and Erin Melocowsky,19, were charged with disorderly conduct in connection with the bags left at the Capitol. Both women were released on $5,000 bonds.

A state police news release simply said the women left suspicious packages outside the Capitol on April 1 but Ivelisse Correa, of Black Lives Matter 860, confirmed the arrests were in relation to the protest where black trash bags were left at several locations. She said members of the organization accompanied Melocowsky to court Monday and that Rinkes was free Friday and that she believes the act of protest was worth it.

When we did the body bag protest, you know, that caused Hartford to create a new ordinance and hire more housing inspectors. So it took some sort of action for something to happen, she said. The arrests are going to be worth it, but it shouldnt have to take all that.

On the morning of April 1, fake body bags alongside signs that said, Eviction is not a joke and Cancel Rent, were placed around the Capitol building, the Governors Residence, Mayor Luke Bronins residence and Hartford City Hall.

Correa said the problem with the arrests is the fact that police witnessed when they dropped off the bags.

The advocates actually not only dropped off the bags, they took pictures with them and made sure the signs were there, she added. The protesters pulled away after watching a press conference, so they were there for an extended period of time, police then decided that they were going to issue warrants, cause a big alert and arrest them. But police felt they didnt need to act when protestors were there and they witnessed them with the bags on sight.

Melocowsky added that she feels the arrests are a form of retaliation.

We want progressive change, including in the police system and eviction sheriffs have a huge hand in evictions and are very close with landlords, she told the Courant. Thats why I feel like the police are choosing to retaliate and are deliberately targeting activists.

Story continues

The Capitol underwent a lockdown, which was lifted no more than 10 minutes later. Capitol police later confirmed that morning that the packages did not contain anything that would trigger a safety concern.

It was unclear whether there are additional pending arrests in connection to the fake body bags as multiple people were involved, Correa added.

Black Lives Matter 860 later published a news release online calling for the charges to be dismissed.

With the public arrests of our allies Erin and Olivia, we are coming forward to denounce the retaliatory behavior of Connecticut State Police regarding the Body Bag Protest arrests, the release read. [The officers] actions further bolster our resolve to continue to push for the strengthening of the police accountability bill, to mandate civilian review boards with subpoena power and to protest even harder as we are now all vaccinated with the pandemic coming to an end.

Regardless of being hopeful that the charges will be dropped, Melocowsky said shes glad the protest and her arrest are bringing attention to larger issues.

I think when you are specific about who youre targeting when youre protesting, thats when action is actually made or you know something is done, Melocowsky said. Black and Brown people are disproportionally impacted [by housing], especially in Connecticut, since we are the most racially segregated state. You can literally see it when youre crossing the town line from Glastonbury into Hartford. ... This is definitely not a COVID problem, this is a systemic problem that our governor needs to address.

The 19-year-old was previously arrested last September on a disorderly conduct charge after blocking traffic during a Black Lives Matter protest in Glastonbury. Police received multiple complaints about traffic being blocked by Melocowsky and about six to eight other protesters. When officers arrived, Melocowsky refused to leave the road, which led to her arrest.

We know that if we dont do it, no ones running up to take our place. People have attempted to hit us with cars. People have flashed guns at us. People have inboxed us death threats, said Correa, who added that she was punched in the face at that protest. Its been hard because [when it comes to the opposition, the police] have this very soft and human touch. ... Were both fighting for things we believe in, but at the very least youd think thered be some sort of mutual respect.

Jessika Harkay can be reached at jharkay@courant.com.
Twins Muna El-Kurd and Mohammed El-Kurd, aged 23, were held for a few hours, interrogated and released. Their family is among those who are in danger of being thrown out of their homes in East Jerusalem. An al-Jazeera journalist who was following the protests was also arrested.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Israeli police have arrested and detained for several hours, and then released, two prominent Palestinian activists, protagonists in recent weeks of the protest campaign against expropriations in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem.

The story first exploded in early May in conjunction with the trial on the ownership of some houses, which raised the concern of the Church of the Holy Land and triggered - along with other factors  the outbreak of a bloody war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Videos were posted yesterday on social media showing 23-year-old Muna El-Kurd, belonging to one of the families who risk the expropriation of their home following the legal dispute opened by Jewish settlers, handcuffed and taken from her home by Israeli officials.

A few hours later, her twin Mohammed El-Kurd was also summoned to a police station for questioning. Both were released in the evening, as confirmed by the father of the two Palestinian activists.

Without directly mentioning Muna El-Kurd's name, an Israeli police spokesperson confirmed the arrest of a 23-year-old East Jerusalem resident on suspicion of having participated in recent protests in Sheikh Jarrah.

The agents did not mention his twin Mohammed El-Kurd, who appeared a few hours later in a live Instagram showing him leaving the police station accompanied by his parent Nabil El-Kurd.

Human rights activists and NGOs say their detention is part of a broader Israeli-sponsored comrade to target those who oppose expropriations in the disputed neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. "It is clear - said Muna El-Kurd in the hours following the release - that these are policies to silence people, they are policies designed to put pressure and scare people".

The arrest of the twins came the day after the arrest, also in Sheikh Jarrah, of a journalist from the Qatar-based network al-Jazeera, who was following the protest for his own broadcaster.

The legal controversy arose after a complaint filed by some Jewish settlers, according to which eight Palestinian families illegally occupy houses and land "once belonging to Jews". The palestinians have appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court against evictions; the verdict of the judges was repeatedly postponed due to tensions, which then resulted in a real conflict.

The area is on high in anticipation of the march scheduled for the week by the Jewish right, which intends to cross the Damascus gate in the Old City.

One month ago the same march was interrupted shortly after the start, due to serious unrest on the Temple Mount which then triggered the conflict between Israel and Hamas (together with Islamic Jihad) in the Strip.

The aim of the demonstration, scheduled for June 10 and condemned by the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, is to celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem in the aftermath of the 1967 Six Day War.
Yale University placed restrictive access to the lecture recording of a guest psychiatrist after her controversial remarks about white people in an online talk.



What happened: Dr. Aruna Khilanani, a forensic psychiatrist and psychoanalyst with a private practice in New York and not affiliated with Yale, was invited to do a lecture on April 6 as part of the School of Medicines Grand Rounds, according to The New York Times.



A flier for the online talk, titled The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind, described its learning objectives as understanding how white people are psychologically dependent on black rage, National Review reported.

At one point in the lecture, Khilanani described how she has fantasies of unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way, burying their body and wiping my bloody hands as I walked away relatively guiltless with a bounce in my step, like I did the world a f***ing favor.

Khilanani said talking to white people about the subject of race is a waste of our breath, adding, We are asking a demented, violent predator who thinks that they are a saint or a superhero, to accept responsibility. It aint gonna happen.



Other details: An audio copy of the lecture was posted online by journalist Katie Herzog on Substack and a subsequent interview where she spoke with Khilanani afterward.



In an email last Saturday, Khilanani said her words were taken out of context to control the narrative, explaining her lecture used provocation as a tool for real engagement.

My speaking metaphorically about my own anger was a method for people to reflect on negative feelings. To normalize negative feelings. Because if you dont, it will turn into a violent action, she said.

Her lecture was reportedly well-received at Yale, with one of the listeners, a Black woman, thanking her for giving voice to us as people of color and what we go through all the time.



Restriction: Although Yale initially planned to release the lecture, the university ultimately decided to restrict access to the talk without informing the doctor, Khilanani revealed in a TikTok post last month.



Story continues







Several faculty members expressed concern at Khilananis remarks in the lecture. After consulting with the chairwoman of the Child Study Center and reviewing the recording, they deemed the tone and content antithetical to the values of the school.

The recording can now only be accessed by those with university ID, Herzog reported.

Nicholas A. Christakis, a professor at Yale and one of the faculty members who criticized Khilananis remarks, took to social media to talk about the matter.





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Volvo Trucks North America and Local 2069 of the United Auto Workers are still at odds over a new contract, after unionized workers on Sunday again overwhelmingly rejected the latest version.

Local 2069 posted results Sunday night that indicate 90% voted no on both common language and hourly language in the contract proposal. On salary language, 91% voted no, according to the union. No vote totals were released, just percentages. The union represents approximately 2,900 employees.

Voting took place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, according to the statement by Missy Edwards, election committee chairperson.

The previous contract, reached in 2016, was to have expired in mid-March. Volvo Trucks said negotiations began Feb. 8.

Bargaining continued until unionized workers went on strike from April 17 to 30. They returned to work as negotiations resumed.

On May 16, UAW members overwhelmingly rejected a proposed contract.

The company announced May 22 that it had reached another tentative agreement on a six-year contract with the union, which was the subject of Sunday's vote and rejection.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The White House briefing room on Monday might have been a fire marshal's nightmare.

For the first time in 449 days, reporters could cram into every seat for the daily briefing. Coronavirus restrictions had kept one of the most recognized rooms in the U.S. government almost empty. But mass vaccinations allowed reporters to first doff their masks on May 13 and then nearly a month later to gather in a pack of raised hands, shouting, hard-eyed stares and the occasional grimace.

Hope everyone's cozy, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at she stepped to the lectern.

Forty-nine journalists sat elbow-to-elbow in blue seats, while others stood on the edges. The loudspeaker before the briefing told reporters not to block the aisle, but no one budged.

The briefing marked something of a surreal return to business as usual for Joe Bidens presidency. The president had vowed to overcome the pandemic, and one of the consequences of any success on that front inevitably was going be more questions from more reporters. Monday was proof of that as the hourlong briefing ran to roughly 58 sets of questions.
About 60% of Appalachians electricity is produced by coal-burning power plants. Another 19% is from natural gas. Both fuels generate greenhouse gases that Virginia is now trying to check.

In what is essentially a bookkeeping exercise, Appalachian must demonstrate that it has enough capacity from renewable sources to serve the customers who pay for it.

Currently, that capacity consists of nine hydroelectric facilities  dams such as the one near Smith Mountain Lake  and five wind farms, none of them in Virginia. When the company begins its first venture into solar energy later this year, purchasing power from an industrial-scale facility in Campbell County, that electricity will be added to the mix.

Those sources provide power to all customers, regardless of whether theyre enrolled in the renewable energy program.

With the $4.25 premium, youre not getting anything you havent gotten before, Cleveland said. Youre just paying more for it.

In a brief filed with the SCC, Appalachian acknowledged that participating customers will still consume the same electrons as they did before they signed up, but will be able to make the legal claim that they are consuming 100% renewable energy just by paying a small premium.
Five years ago, Rocky Forge obtained local and state permits that allowed for up to 25 turbines, no higher than 550 feet. But that version of the wind farm was never built, as a buyer for its renewable energy did not emerge.

By the time a deal was struck in 2019 for the state of Virginia to purchase the electricity to help meet its climate agenda, new technology made it possible to build fewer, but taller, turbines.

An amended special use permit approved by the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors last year gave Apex the authority to build what would have then been the tallest wind turbines in the country  making the spinning windmills about the height of a 50-story building.

But when it submitted a site plan to the county last December, Apex had trimmed its plans to 15 turbines, at 624 feet tall. Those numbers came down again in the latest plan made public by Apex.

Turbine models are continually tweaked for optimization, so small changes can never be ruled out, Montague said.

Opponents have said the giant turbines would be an eyesore, make too much noise, generate shadow flicker and pose a threat to a scenic, mountainous area and its wildlife.
The plaintiffs complain that it was not until 2020 that any Virginia official contended that the 1890 Deed was void from the date of its execution. Instead, the Commonwealth stood by silently for 130 years as lots were transferred in reliance upon the restrictive covenant, and accepted the benefits of having a major historic landmark and tourist attraction in its capital.

The Governor now claims the prerogative to disavow the commitment made by the Commonwealth in 1890, they complain.

The plaintiffs noted in their brief that Northam contends that they ignore the shameful history that gave rise to the Lee Monument and the ongoing pain caused by forcing the Commonwealth of 2021 to leave it up one moment longer.

They responded that the residents are making legal claims based on deed covenants and constitutional rights. It is unnecessary that they win legally irrelevant historical debates about the Civil War, Robert E. Lee, and the motivations of those who erected the Lee Monument in order to show that they are entitled to prevail in this case, they wrote.

Nevertheless, the brief says the plaintiffs strongly disagree with the characterization of the history surrounding the statue as shameful.
Virginias vaccination rates hit their highest point on April 2, when the average number of doses given per day was about 86,000. Two months later, the state is reporting a nearly 70% decline.

After the 12-to-15 age group became eligible for a shot in mid-May, Virginia briefly rebounded from its weeks-long drop in inoculations.

As of Friday, its daily averages were the lowest theyve been since January, when supply was low, the data didnt include doses given through federal pharmacies, Johnson & Johnsons shot was not yet approved and fewer Virginians could get vaccinated.

Data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention showed the U.S. as a whole saw a similar dip. On Tuesday, the CDC reported a seven-day daily dose average that was below 1 million for the first time since January. By Friday, that figure was cut in half.

In the past month, so were Virginias vaccination rates. Dr. Danny Avula, the states vaccine coordinator, predicted the inevitable plunge at the end of February.
I think Joe Bidens decision to fully withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan is a mistake. Its mistaken on strategic and moral grounds. I hope Im wrong. But when even administration officials, and experts who favor the decision, concede that our pullout  of a very small contingent of troops  could result in a Taliban takeover it seems a safe bet that it will happen.

But that decision has been made and theres no point arguing about it anymore. But theres still one thing the United States can do  and morally must do: Get the people who signed up to work, and fight, with us out of there.

Over the last 20 years thousands of Afghans worked with U.S. and NATO forces as interpreters, cultural advisers, etc. They chose to do so knowing that they put their lives and the lives of their families at risk. The Taliban knows who most of them are, and will find out about the rest soon enough. Scores have been assassinated over the years. The Taliban has lists of people it plans to kill. Interpreters are at the top of the list, but so are countless others who worked with Western organizations and governments to stand up a (sadly corrupt) democratic government, as well as schools and other civil society projects.
soranews24.com - Jun 10

Last month, the United States placed Japan on its list of Level-4 travel advisory countries, the highest possible ranking and one which carries a do not travel warning, due to the countrys coronavirus conditions. Just over two weeks later, though, Japan has now been removed from Level-4 status.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

In recent days, fires have spread to 6,300 hectares. The largest fire hit the province of Enisej. Greenpeace Russia: the situation could worsen. Russian expert: prevention non-existent throughout the country. In 2019 9 million hectares of forest went up in smoke.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The first week of June was a hot one throughout Siberia, also due to the excessive rises in temperatures, a phenomenon of climate change. In the Krasnoyarsk region (Central Siberia), in recent days forest fires have increased by 23 times over the previous week, covering 6,300 hectares. On 6 June, fire devastated 10,000 hectares of forest in over 10 Siberian regions.

The largest fire, over 5 thousand hectares, was detected 13 km from the village of Kolmogorovo. It is located in the province of Enisei, the great river that crosses the Asian territory of the Russian Federation running 3,500 km. 60 people live in the small town; they were not evacuated, but entrusted to the emergency measures of the Civil Protection. In all, 26 forests are burning, according to media estimates.

The deputy head of the Forest Administration Department, Jurij Ivanko, explained that the rapid spread of fires began in the Enisej area: "To date, 51 people are working in that territory, covering an area of 6 thousand hectares, but we are transferring other personnel. He points out that at the beginning the fire was not very intense: "But the rapid worsening of weather conditions over the weekend complicated the situation, especially due to the strong winds". According to Ivanko, the blaze originated on the land where the crops of Siberian silkworms have been in expansion for some years, now gone up in smoke.

The inhabitants of Kolmogorovo have released videos of the fire, with the very high flames approaching the village, where there is only a shop, an elementary school and a petrol station for diesel engines.

The inhabitants tell, "the only water source we can draw from to extinguish the fire is the river Aenisei; we collect the water with buckets ". If the fire gets too close to the village, all the inhabitants would be evacuated with a 100-seater riverboat, but hopefully in the wind direction changes.

Worse is expected in the Tomsk region. The area of Irkutsk, near Lake Baikal, is kept under careful observation. The director of the fire-fighting section of Greenpeace Russia, Grigorij Kuksin, stressed that the situation is rather anomalous, having already passed the dry spring phase of the post-thaw, when some small fires usually occur; the worst moment should begin at the end of June, to reach maximum danger in mid-July.

An expert from the Ecology Department of the Krasnoyarsk region, Natalia Podoljak, complains that "professional fire prevention is almost non-existent here, not only in distant regions, but throughout Russia. The firefighters can't get anywhere in time.

In her opinion, preventive selective deforestation works would be necessary, "which require huge funding and a long series of agreements and permits, to be reached before the fire season".

According to data from the Rosleskhoz forest administration, one of the worst years was 2019, when almost nine million hectares of forest went up in smoke in Siberia, with an economic damage of 15 billion rubles (about 170 million euros). The increase in fires has been a constant phenomenon over the last 20 years throughout Siberia up to the Urals, often reaching even the European area of the Oltrevolga. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens have signed various petitions for the proper conservation of the indigenous woods.
Japan intends to issue COVID-19 inoculation certificates this summer to vaccinated residents traveling abroad, hoping to give business travel and other economic activities a boost, Nikkei has learned.

Such so-called vaccine passports are gaining use around the world. The European Union will adopt them in July ahead of lifting restrictions on travel within the bloc.

Some senior Japanese government officials already carry unofficial certificates when they travel to Europe, the U.S. or elsewhere because they increasingly are asked whether they have been vaccinated.

An interagency team led by Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato is discussing an official program for businesspeople and others. Plans call for issuing a paper certificate this summer, followed by a digital version -- possibly used through a smartphone app -- by the end of the year.

Japan has lagged other developed nations in vaccinations, but now is procuring and distributing more doses made by Pfizer and Moderna. The country has been inoculating residents 65 and older since April, and vaccinations in corporate workplaces will start on June 21.

Vaccine passports are expected to ease the way for businesspeople in different countries to meet in person by reducing the risk for both the traveler and host nation.

"From a businessman's perspective, it would be ideal if a vaccine passport makes free movement possible," said Ken Kobayashi, chairman of the Japan Foreign Trade Council.

The passports will be issued by local governments that hold information on residents and are responsible for giving the vaccines. Information such as the person's name, the vaccine manufacturer and the inoculation date will be listed. Japan's central government is expected to guarantee accuracy by linking the certificates to a national vaccination records system.

Users will present the vaccine passports when taking international flights and entering foreign countries. Foreigners living in Japan who are returning to their home countries are among the anticipated users, in addition to Japanese citizens going abroad to study and for business.

"The 14-day self-quarantine period after returning home is the biggest hurdle for overseas travel," said an official at travel agency H.I.S. "The tide will turn if restrictions are eased with the introduction of the vaccine passport program."

Japan models its scheme on the EU Digital COVID Certificate debuting July 1. The EU certificate, issued to those who have been vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19, will exempt holders from self-quarantines and testing. Seven countries including Germany are using them on a trial basis this month.
Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp has reached a settlement with the family of an engineer whose suicide was ruled a job-related death due to harassment from his boss.

Toyota vowed to crack down on harassment in the workplace to ensure employees safety and expressed deep remorse, facing up with true sincerity to the fact that a precious workers life was lost.

The engineer, then 28, was repeatedly ridiculed by his boss, prevented from taking days off and told to die. His suicide in 2017 was ruled by a regional labor bureau as a job-related death in 2019, entitling his family to compensation. His name has been withheld due to privacy concerns, standard in Japan.

To prevent future harassment, Toyota will improve workers' health care, better evaluate management, educate workers and encourage a workplace culture where employees can speak up, the company said in a statement Monday.

Toyota promises to work on developing people who, each and every one, can take an interest in those around them, under our stance that power harassment should never be tolerated, it said.

The attorney for the victim and his family, Yoshihide Tachino, said Toyota was responsible for mismanagement in allowing the harassment to continue. The amount of compensation the family will receive was not disclosed.

He stressed the settlement includes the preventive measures promised by Toyota as well as a thorough investigation into the death. Company President Akio Toyoda met with the family of the deceased and promised to bring about change, but the company needs to be monitored to make workplace culture changes, Tachino said.
A court in Seoul has dismissed a lawsuit filed against 16 Japanese companies to compensate Koreans who were forced to work in factories during World War II, citing a possible violation of the 1965 treaty between the two nations.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled on Monday that the 85 former laborers suing the Japanese companies had no legal rights to claim damages from Japan, adding that the 1965 pact normalizing relations between South Korea and Japan covered victims right to compensation.

It cannot be said that individual claims are terminated or waived due to the Korea-Japan treaty. But it was decided that the individual rights cannot be exercised through lawsuits, South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted the court as saying, referring to the 1965 pact.

Are they really South Korean judges? Is this really a South Korean court? asked the son of a deceased forced laborer outside the court, quoted by ABC news. We dont need a country or government that doesnt protect its own people.

A group of 85 South Koreans and their families filed a lawsuit in 2015 against 16 Japanese companies, including Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp, Nissan Chemical Corp, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, demanding compensation equivalent to $7.73 million.

According to Yonhap, the case is the largest among many similar lawsuits filed by South Korean victims of wartime forced labor in Japan.

Korea was under Japans rule between 1910 and 1945, and during World War II thousands of Koreans were conscripted to work for Japanese companies without pay. The plaintiffs were reported as saying that the workers endured harsh conditions that caused extreme mental and physical pain and were unable to return to normal lives after the end of the war.

In April, the same court dismissed a lawsuit filed by South Korean women who were forced to work in front-line brothels and were referred to as "comfort women", saying the countrys government was not liable because it had a sovereign immunity and could not be sued in another country.

The latest ruling may be seen as a nod to Japan, which insists that all wartime compensation issues were settled by the 1965 pact that was followed by economic aid and loans from Tokyo to Seoul.
Katy Knox, president, Bank of America Private Bank and Andy Sieg, president, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management will participate in the Morgan Stanley US Financials, Payments & CRE Conference on Monday, June 14, at 8 a.m. ET. The conference will be held virtually. A live audio webcast of this event will be accessible through the Bank of America Investor Relations website at https://investor.bankofamerica.com. A replay will also be available.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the worlds leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 66 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,300 retail financial centers, including approximately 2,700 lending centers, 2,600 financial centers with a Consumer Investment Financial Solutions Advisor and approximately 2,400 business centers; approximately 17,000 ATMs; and award-winning digital banking with approximately 40 million active users, including approximately 31 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry leading support to approximately 3 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and approximately 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

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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Investors May Contact:

Lee McEntire, Bank of America

Phone: 1.980.388.6780

lee.mcentire@bofa.com

Jonathan Blum, Bank of America (Fixed Income)

Phone: 1.212.449.3112

jonathan.blum@bofa.com

Reporters May Contact:

Jerry Dubrowski, Bank of America

Phone: 1.646.855.1195 (office) or 1.508.843.5626 (mobile)

jerome.f.dubrowski@bofa.com

Christopher P. Feeney, Bank of America

Phone: 1.980.386.6794

christopher.feeney@bofa.com
When I lived in France many years ago, I went to Mass regularly at Notre Dame Cathedral. My French was not so good, so the ability to attend Mass in Latin was a blessing, because I was able to understand much of what was going on.
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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  Ann Tillery could see by her own image on the Zoom screen that something was wrong when the left side of her face began to droop.
That Nebraska has become the center of the storm over the initiative has perplexed some supporters who claim opponents havent read the plan. Those supporters claim the furor is mostly about pumping up Ricketts conservative political credentials.

But Ricketts insists this is about bad policy, and told farmers and ranchers to be wary of new attempts by the federal government to tell them how to manage their land. He urged them to watch out for attempts to put more property into permanent conservation easements, to read the fine print in land set-aside contracts with the federal government, and to be on the lookout for new efforts to buy more land near existing parks and refuges.

In a state where 97% of all property is now in private hands, placing 30% in federal control would be a massive change, and would shift the property tax load onto private landowners, Ricketts said.

Some nodded in agreement. One man questioned whether the federal government would resort to using eminent domain to seize private lands.

While Ricketts said he doubted if condemnation could be used, he didnt reject that Washington, D.C., wanted more control over their farming and ranching operations, and would be seeking property in quiet, under the radar ways.
A Syrian Catholic priest in Damascus remembers a man of God in the difficult time of war. The prelate fought against the flight of Christians and remained in the face of jihadi advance. He worked in favour of education, essential for the future of the community. A Christian journalist and activist was recently kidnapped in the area.

Damascus (AsiaNews)  Syrian Catholic Archbishop Emeritus Jacques Behnan Hindo of the Archeparchy of Hassake-Nisibi (north-eastern Syria) passed away yesterday in France after a long illness.

Fr Amer Kassar, Syro-Catholic priest of the Church of Our Lady of Fatima in Damascus, remembers the late prelate as A man of God in the difficult time of war, a bishop who stayed with his people even when Daesh (Islamic State) entered his city. He was a great witness for us Christians, even for priests, reminding us not to flee, to remain with our people.

When Archbishop Hindo went abroad and met politicians and government leaders, he always demanded justice for the Syrian people and their country, battered by war. He played a leading role in this as well, Fr Kassar told AsiaNews.

Archbishop Hindo was born on 8 August 1941 and was ordained a priest on 4 May 1969. He was appointed Archbishop of Hassake-Nisibi in 1996, and ordained on 18 June 1997.

Although he resigned on 22 June 2019 for health reasons and for reaching age limits, he never stopped speaking out on behalf of Christians and the Syrian people until his death from illness yesterday in Paris, France, where he had travelled for medical treatment.

In the past, he had campaigned against abuses by the Kurdish authorities and the closure of some Christian schools in Kurdish-controlled north-eastern Syria, which Damascus does not recognise as a separate, autonomous entity.

Local authorities closed some educational establishments in the cities of Qamishli, Darbasiyah and Malikiyah for failing to apply the curriculum imposed by Kurdish regional leaders.

At the time, Archbishop Hindo slammed the local administration for preventing the schools from teaching in the language of the Church, ancient Syriac and opposed the teaching of history slanted towards the views of the authorities.

In 2015, at the darkest moment of the conflict, the prelate attacked what he called the ambiguous policy of the United States, which favoured the rise of Islamic State (IS) group in the area straddling the border of Syria and Iraq.

When IS was only three kilometres and threatening him, he accused US planes of targeting Syrian government forces rather than IS fighters.

It's not about being for or against the government, he said at the time, but people never believed in Americas attacks. Only the Kurds have really fought on the ground, but to hold their ground.

I knew the bishop very well, Fr Kassar said. He was a figure of great value during the war. He played a mediating role between Arabs and Kurds, between Muslims and Christians, always remaining in Hassake, which he did not abandon even when IS was at its doorstep.

In addition, he promoted several projects to help local development and dialogue, bridging the gap between different points of view, opinions and groups sometimes very distant from each other. He was a man of God, who knew the area well and the people who inhabited it.

One of the projects the prelate promoted, and which Fr Kassar liked, involved housing for young people to counter the depopulation of Christian areas, one of the sore notes of the war years. Likewise, he helped Caritas, schools and education, which he considered essential for the future of the community.

Meanwhile, reports from the Kurdish-majority area indicate that a Christian journalist and human rights activist was abducted last week, a sign of persistent instability.

Husam al-Qass was seized in Derik (Hassake Governorate) by a dozen men with their faces covered and whose identity remains unknown at present.

In a statement, the journalist's family describes the kidnapping as politically motivated and linked to his political activity as well as his defence of human rights and freedom of expression.

Amid a climate of tension, the local Arab population is increasingly impatient with the so-called Kurdish autonomous administration.

Hisham himself had written and expressed support for the residents of Manbij, whose protests were forcibly suppressed by the Kurdish authorities, with at least eight protesters killed.

Previously, he had given voice to the people of Afrin, attacked by the Turkish army that controls a portion of Syrian territory.
A 20-year-old Opelika resident has been arrested after an officer-involved shooting late Sunday night at Town Creek Park in Auburn, according to a press release from the Auburn Police Department.

The release states that the suspect, Justin Tearrius Lewis, fired a shot at officers and fled, and later that night fired another shot at officers, who returned fire and struck Lewis.

Auburn police responded to a suspicious person call at Town Creek Park off East University Drive at approximately 8:15 p.m. on Sunday, according to the press release.

While speaking with the individual, officers identified him as Lewis, who had been reported missing, endangered and possibly armed by the Opelika Police Department on June 5.

Lewis started to flee on foot, police said, and while fleeing produced a handgun and fired a shot at officers.

After searching the area extensively, the Auburn and Opelika Police departments, with help from Lee County officers and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, located Lewis at the entrance of Town Creek Park at approximately 11:30 p.m.

Thats when Lewis shot at officers a second time, according to the press release from Auburn Police, prompting police to return fire, striking Lewis.
Wright, 76, is retired and currently lives near North San Juan, Calif.

Wilson received a call from Wrights sister in October looking for a home for the photographs and wondering if Auburn University would like them.

Wright previously developed around 10 of the photographs for a local exhibition in Cape Cod, Mass., Wilson said, but does not remember when the photos were developed.

After receiving the photos, Wilson said he could tell he had something special.

At that point, we knew this was quite a treasure trove, Wilson said on receiving the initial photos. [Wright] was young, but you can tell by the composition  you cant not look at that photograph and be stopped in your tracks and say, This is a story I want to hear.

Wilson traveled to California about three weeks ago to interview Wright and pick up the remaining negatives.

He said Wright is thrilled to have his work being displayed in Auburn.

Now Wilson wants to know who is in the photos. He said a local resident saw herself in one of them on Thursday, and in all around 10 people have been identified so far.
The birth comes after the Harry and Meghans explosive TV interview with Oprah Winfrey in March. The couple described painful discussions about the color of their first childs skin, losing royal protection and the intense pressures that led her to contemplate suicide.

Buckingham Palace said the allegations of racism made by the couple were concerning and would be addressed privately.

Winfrey and Harry on mental illness have recently collaborated on the Apple TV+ mental health series The Me You Can't See.

Last year, Meghan revealed that she had a miscarriage in July 2020, giving a personal account of the traumatic experience in hope of helping others.

Months before the miscarriage, Harry said the royal family cut him off financially at the start of 2020 after announcing plans to step back from his roles. But he was able to afford security for his family because of the money his mother, Princess Diana, left behind.

In the interview with Winfrey, Meghan said she grew concerned about her son not having a royal title because it meant he wouldnt be provided security. More than the prince title, she was the most concerned about her sons safety and protection.
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Episode 76

Staying Safe: Battling Distractions, Peer Pressure and Complacency

In this episode, Editor Sydny Shepard discusses how safety can be impeded by outside distractions, peer pressure and complacency. How can you create a company culture that keeps safety top of mind despite these issues?

In America, there are 382.2 million people, of which 164.4 million are employees in a field of labor. These employees are at an increased risk of injury or fatality due to workplace hazards despite the fact their work still needs to be done.

These nearly 164.4 million people are humans with lives, wives, husbands and children. They have anxieties, worries and dreams co-workers and quotas. It is important to humanize the workforce when thinking about safety because some of the most dangerous hazards for employees could stem from issues employers or directors may not be aware of.

In todays episode, we are going to talk about a few ways that safety can be impeded by factors in an employees world and how companies can work to create a culture at work where safety is always in the forefront.

Download or stream this episode today at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and more.
OPEC+ is gaining the upper hand as a trendsetter on global oil markets, Vitols head of operations for Asia, Mike Muller, said as quoted by Bloomberg this weekend.

Theres a perception in the market that control is with OPEC+, Muller said at an industry event. It will take a long time for U.S. oil to come back to pre-pandemic production levels.

OPEC+, meanwhile, has around 6 million bpd in spare production capacity amid the cuts, Bloomberg reports.

The latest sign that OPEC+ is in control of oil markets came with the latest price rally: oil benchmarks have hit a two-year high on recovering oil demand in Europe and the United States, but demand recovery is not the only factor. OPEC+ has reiterated its intention to add some 2 million bpd to its combined production from July, but there is no talk of adding any more production.

Thats despite a comment from none other than the International Energy Agencys Fatih Birol that unless OPEC+ adds more barrels to daily output, prices will go even higher. This comment, in fact, is yet proof of the weight OPEC+ carries in oil markets, just a couple of years after its relevance to oil prices was questioned by analysts who pointed to the United States as the new trendsetter.

Since then, however, U.S. oil production has fallen from over 13 million barrels daily to less than 11 million barrels daily as producers continue to practice restraint after the blow they suffered from the pandemic.

This has strengthened the position of OPEC+ in the post-pandemic world, with its combined production cuts still seen as fundamental to the improvement in prices over the last few months. This position could strengthen even more during the Biden administration, with its renewable energy-focused agenda and ambitions to reduce households and businesses reliance on fossil fuels.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
There are malign cyber actors capable of shutting down the U.S. power grid or parts of it, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said this weekend, calling for increased public-private cooperation in fending off cyberattacks.

I think that there are very malign actors who are trying, Secretary Granholm said on CNN and NBC on Sunday. Even as we speak, there are thousands of attacks on all aspects of the energy sector and the private sector generally, she added.

When asked if American adversaries have the capability now of shutting down the U.S. power grid, Secretary Granholm said: Yes, they do.

Everyone needs to wake up and up their game in terms of protecting themselves, but also telling the federal government if they are target of attacks, she told NBC.

Secretary Granholm also said that companies paying ransomware only exacerbates the cyberattack problem, and no one should be paying ransomware.

Last month, a ransomware attack on the computer network of the key fuel pipeline for the U.S. East Coast, Colonial Pipeline, forced the pipeline operator to shut it down for five days. The cyberattack and the subsequent shut down the main pipeline for the Eastern Seaboard resulted in fuel shortages, a run to gas stations, and a spike in gasoline prices. As of May 13, the U.S. national average price of regular gasoline had jumped to $3.028 per gallon, topping the $3 mark for the first time since 2014.

Even days after the pipeline resumed operations, gasoline shortages continued to persist. Two weeks after the cyberattack, drivers in parts of the Southeast were still finding it hard to locate gasoline. According to GasBuddy, as of May 20, around 30 percent of all retail gas stations in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were out of gasoline. Virginia and Tennessee were also experiencing significant outages.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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by Shafique Khokhar

The Archdiocese held a seminar on the problem of abducted Christian and Hindu women and girls abducted and forced into Islamic marriages. An appeal has been made to judicial and political authorities to enforce the Pakistan Penal Code in the case of forced marriage.

Karachi (AsiaNews)  Conversions and forced marriages in Pakistan pose a serious threat to underage girls, and fear of abductions has prompted many Hindu and Christian families to stop sending their girls to school after primary education.

In many cases, girls as young as 12 have been caught up in this situation since Islam does not provide any minimum age for conversion and marriage.

Compounding the matter is the fact that courts usually accept conversion and marriage (Nikahnama) papers and so end up acquitting the people accused of abduction and forced conversion.

Theoretically, Pakistani law classify sexual intercourse with children under the age of 16 as rape, imposing sentences ranging from 10 years to the death penalty.

Cognizant of this situation, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) of the Archdiocese of Karachi held a seminar last Friday to raise awareness among families in the Korangi district.

The aim of the initiative was to ensure that the Catholic Church remains close to marginalised people standing by their side in their quest for justice.

Mariyam Kashif, a teacher and a peace activist with the CCJP in Karachi, told the seminar how the Pakistani justice system, at every level, has shown prejudice and failed to convict people involved in forced conversion and marriages of girls.

In our country, we have laws, commissions and a constitution that support minority rights, but, unfortunately, some religious and political parties have become an obstacle to implementing them.

This is also why minorities have declined, she noted. In the last census of 2017 they had fallen to 3.37 per cent of the population compared to 23 per cent in 1951.

Noman Peter, from the CCJP Karachi office, explained that forced conversions of Hindu and Christian girls and the resulting marriages with their Muslim abductors are a scourge that has been going on for many years, fuelled by impunity.

This is happening despite the fact that since 2017, Article 498-b of the Pakistan Penal Code expressly bans forced marriage, punishable by sentences between three and seven years and a fine of up to 500,000 rupees (about US$ 3,200).

Speaking on behalf of the Hindu community, Ravi Vishal stressed how difficult it for Hindus to practise their religion in Pakistan. Like others, he demanded justice for Hindu and Christian women and girls, hopeful that the government will guarantee the same rights to all citizens of the country.

For his part, CCJP Karachi chief Kashif Anthony wants forced conversion to be added to Article 498-b of the Penal Code to make it easier to enforce the law.

At the same time, he wants the age of marriage be raised to 18 for both men and women at the national level, adding that the courts should ascertain whether marriages are based on free consent, actual age and marital status of the parties.
The 27 members of the European Union approved on Monday the regulation establishing the so-called Just Transition Fund to help fossil fuel-reliant economies in the bloc move to greener energy, clearing the final hurdle for the fund to launch.

The Just Transition Fund (JTF), worth US$21.3 billion (17.5 billion euro), is one of the mechanisms the European Union will use to help its member states to work toward the EU-wide climate goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Under its Green Deal, the EU pledged has pledged to support investments in sustainable businesses, technologies, and solutions and in greener energy and electricity generation. The Green Deal also includes the so-called Just Transition Fund to support with money packages regions and/or countries heavily reliant on coal.

The EU member states agreed that the fund would finance projects to alleviate the social and economic costs for communities across the EU that are heavily dependent on fossil fuels or greenhouse gas-intensive industries and need to diversify the local economy.

Money from the fund cannot be used for any fossil fuel development, not even natural gas, which the EU has started to see as a part of the problem, not the solution, in the energy transition.

The JTF aims to prevent widening disparities by investing in territories which need to phase out the production and use of coal, lignite, peat and oil shale or transform heavily polluting industries, the EU said on Monday.

Poland and Germany are expected to be the biggest beneficiaries of the fund, considering their still extensive coal industries and regions relying on coal for employment and economic growth.

The success of the European Green Deal rests on us mitigating the consequences for those most affected by the decarbonisation of the economy. The Just Transition Fund will provide much needed support to companies and workers at local level, so that we can combat climate change together as a Union, leaving no one behind, Nelson de Souza, Portuguese Minister for Planning, Council presidency said in a statement.

Portugal holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU until June 30.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Crime-and-courts

alert

Man who was hit in eye by pepper ball during Omaha protests plans to file lawsuit

GRADY BRODIGAN Adam Keup was hit in the right eye with a pepper ball fired by a Sarpy County sheriff's deputy. GRADY BRODIGAN Adam Keup was hit in the right eye with a pepper ball by a Sarpy County sheriffs deputy on the first night of the Omaha protests. He was given a water bottle to try to flush out the chemical, which he later learned only agitated his eye further.

Although his bruising and cuts to his right eye have long healed, Adam Keup still suffers physical and emotional pain a year after a Sarpy County sheriffs deputy shot him with pepper balls.

Adam Keup, 24, was struck by two pepper balls fired by a Sarpy County sheriff's deputy during Omahas first night of protests on May 29, 2020. He is preparing to officially sue the county for the damages he suffered.

That eye is barely usable  scar tissue blocks nearly all his vision except for a tiny peripheral view, which makes the eye drift outward. A torn sclera causes flashes of light to appear randomly throughout the day, something that prompts double vision.

Keup, 24, sees a therapist to tackle feelings of grief, depression and wariness of law enforcement. And whether hes driving or completing a simple task, he always is aware of how the injury has disrupted his life.

I definitely have to exercise more caution and be a lot more mindful as I go throughout my day. I have to recognize that my depth perception isnt the best, Keup said. Its a pretty constant thing. When its something like your vision and youre literally looking at it all day, every day, it never really goes away.

Keup, who filed a tort claim against Sarpy County in August, is now preparing to officially sue the county for the damages he has suffered.

GRADY BRODIGAN Adam Keup was hit in the right eye with a pepper ball fired by a Sarpy County sheriff's deputy on May 29, the first night of Omaha protests.

At the end of the day, employees of Sarpy County took actions that were simply not excusable or understandable given the factual circumstances. And that resulted in (Keup) being permanently blinded in one of his eyes, said his attorney, Brian Fahey.

Keup, of Council Bluffs, arrived late to the first night of Omahas protest at 72nd and Dodge Streets on May 29, 2020  around 11:30 p.m. He went to 72nd and Cass Streets to watch his partner, Grady Brodigan, take photos of the lingering demonstration.

Most of the initial crowd of roughly 2,000 people had long disappeared after law enforcement used tear gas and pepper balls to clear the intersection.

Keup said the protesters near him were peaceful and he didnt feel any imminent threat standing alone on a sidewalk on Cass Street on the north side of the Walgreens at 72nd and Cass, about 100 feet from law enforcement and the main group of protesters.

But Sarpy County sheriffs deputies wearing riot gear suddenly walked through the Walgreens parking lot toward Keup. (Sarpy County was one of several area law enforcement agencies that had come to the protest to assist Omaha police.) One deputy fired his pepper ball gun at Keup, striking him twice  in the right eye and in the shoulder.

Keup said the deputies gave no order or command.

I dont think that anybody should ever feel like if theyre going to go to a public event and public space and act accordingly and behave reasonably, that theyre going to be shot by a police officer, of all people, he said. I dont feel conflicted about why did I go that night because I dont think thats really something that anybody could have foresaw. Its more just, why did they take the action they did? And why me?

Chief Deputy Sarpy County Attorney Bonnie Moore said the county received formal notice of the claim Aug. 10. She said this week that she had no update on the countys response to the claim. Fahey said the countys inaction has led them to the next step, which is filing the lawsuit.

Sarpy County Chief Deputy Sheriff Greg London declined to comment on the case on the advice of counsel because of the pending litigation.

Man shot by pepper ball at Omaha protest still can't see out of his right eye During Omaha's first night of protests, a deputy shot two pepper balls at Adam Keup. One hit him in his right eye, the other hit his shoulder. Now, after three weeks, he still can't see.

With a therapist, Keup works out his struggles of grieving the loss of a functioning body part and treatment to address post-traumatic stress disorder from his injury.

He grew up in Papillion next to a former Sarpy County sheriffs deputy, but now hesitates when he sees law enforcement officers and grows anxious because their presence intimidates him.

I get very apprehensive and I cant look away from them. I watch to see what theyre doing and I try to make sure that Im not drawing any extra attention to myself by being loud, he said.

Once, he and Brodigan were at a gas station when a police officer arrived. Brodigan recognized an immediate change in Keup. The two dont plan to attend peaceful protests or large gatherings where law enforcement likely will be present. Keup said he loves to attend a large annual auto show in Omaha, but knows that officers will be there and grapples with whether to go.

It has been difficult for Brodigan, whos 30, to watch Keup manage his injury and adapt to his changed circumstances. The couple want to travel and do normal activities together. Keup hasnt gone swimming or flown since his injury, and theyre constantly thinking about the potential complications.

Its hard to plan, and its hard to really know whats gonna come with future surgeries and stuff like that he has worries about, Brodigan said. Its just that increase of anxiety for both of us on whats going to happen or whats happening. So the concern of the unknown.

GRADY BRODIGAN Adam Keup, 24, was hit in the right eye with a pepper ball fired by a Sarpy County sheriffs deputy during protests in Omaha last summer. This photo was taken about two days after he was shot.

Keup is bracing for upcoming Fourth of July festivities, because hearing fireworks is unbearable to him now. The couple might travel to a remote location to avoid the loud bangs and bright flashes of light.

While he still can perform daily minor tasks, they often cause problems. He frequently runs into objects  recently, he smacked into the wall after showering. And another day, while pulling the starting cord on the mower, he misjudged the space he had and his elbow slapped the rocky side of his home.

And I still cant seem to get down handing things off from one person to the other. I always have to really examine what Im about to grab and then try and get it from them, and I still miss half the time, he said.

The injury has affected his financial planner job, which he had just started weeks before his injury. While his eye was still healing, he couldnt look at a computer screen. And in meetings, he tries to position himself to keep clients to his left so his damaged eye isnt as noticeable.

Fahey said the suit wont seek a specific dollar amount, but Keup has incurred thousands of dollars in medical bills and may need more surgeries. He has discussed a muscle-straightening surgery to fix his lazy eye, but that would be only a temporary fix, and he would need additional follow-ups.

Keup said he fears that one day, his eye might need to be removed. One night he panicked, telling Brodigan about feeling an odd pressure in his eye, thinking it was deflating.

Most of all, Keup would like to see accountability and change from the Sarpy County Sheriffs Office, similar to the agreement secured after the ACLU of Nebraska sued the Omaha Police Department over use of force during protests. The settlement reached in January said Omaha police will loudly and clearly announce use of any chemical agent and will use pepper balls or spray only on those people whom they think are committing crimes at protests.

Itd be nice to see Sarpy County kind of take on that same initiative of realizing the lifelong damage that theyre causing by trying to use these tactics, he said, adding that he doesnt think any apology would mean much to him. If it was something that they truly felt like fixing or truly felt like addressing it, they would have done it by now.
It has been difficult for Brodigan, whos 30, to watch Keup manage his injury and adapt to his changed circumstances. The couple want to travel and do normal activities together. Keup hasnt gone swimming or flown since his injury, and theyre constantly thinking about the potential complications.

Its hard to plan, and its hard to really know whats gonna come with future surgeries and stuff like that he has worries about, Brodigan said. Its just that increase of anxiety for both of us on whats going to happen or whats happening. So the concern of the unknown.

Keup is bracing for upcoming Fourth of July festivities, because hearing fireworks is unbearable to him now. The couple might travel to a remote location to avoid the loud bangs and bright flashes of light.

While he still can perform daily minor tasks, they often cause problems. He frequently runs into objects  recently, he smacked into the wall after showering. And another day, while pulling the starting cord on the mower, he misjudged the space he had and his elbow slapped the rocky side of his home.

And I still cant seem to get down handing things off from one person to the other. I always have to really examine what Im about to grab and then try and get it from them, and I still miss half the time, he said.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  A Des Moines, Iowa, man pictured prominently with a QAnon shirt ahead of a crowd of insurgents inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack asked a judge on Monday to release him from jail, saying "he feels deceived, recognizing that he bought into a pack of lies.

Douglas Jensen, in a document filed by his attorney, said he believed he was a true patriot for going to Washington at the urging of President Donald Trump. He said his intention was to only observe.

Jensen claims he is a victim of numerous conspiracy theories that were being fed to him over the internet by a number of very clever people, who were uniquely equipped with slight, if any, moral or social consciousness.

Jensen's attorney Christopher Davis said in the document that Jensen was not part of any mob and simply went to Washington to watch. Davis acknowledged Jensen was in front of a crowd but argued he did that for the now disclosed silly reason to show his QAnon shirt to get it recognized.

Davis said Jensen neither threatened physical harm to anyone nor destroyed property. Jensen had his work pocketknife on him for protection when he went to the Trump rally preceding the march to the Capitol, Davis said in the court filing.
The crowd showed no signs of leaving hours after an earlier protest at the headwaters of the Mississippi River, roughly 20 minutes away, where they chanted Stop Line 3! and Water is life!

This is important. This is what we need, actress Jane Fonda told the AP at the rally, motioning toward the crowd as she held signs with President Joe Bidens image that said, Which side are you on?

She urged protesters to keep pressuring Biden to halt construction so his administration can study any harm to the environment and indigenous people. The Mississippi River is one of the water crossings for the pipeline.

Fonda said Line 3 protesters are going to Standing Rock this place, referring to the Dakota Access pipeline, which is owned by a different company and was the subject of major protests near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the Dakotas in 2016 and 2017.

Activists said they were pitching tents at the pump station site Monday night, and an AP reporter saw people rolling a large wooden spool that holds wire into a pile of trees and twigs. Police were directing traffic.
NEW YORK (AP)  A dozen retailers including Gap and H&M are collaborating on a campaign this fall to enlist customers to combat bad behavior against retail workers.

The campaign, spearheaded by nonprofits Open to All and Hollaback as well as the Retail Industry Leaders Association, comes as workers face increased harassment as they try to enforce social distancing and mask protocols during the pandemic. Among those who have been the targets of abuse are people of color, those with disabilities and those who identify as LGBTQ.

Calla Devlin Rongerude, director of Open to All, said the campaign is not asking customers to step in to physically stop altercations, but rather to help de-escalate the situation and show support for workers.

Participating retailers will have signage in their stores with QR codes, allowing customers to sign a pledge of support. There will also be a tool kit designed by Hollaback to show how customers can help, including how to create a distraction for the abuser as well as documenting the situation and bringing in someone else to help.
DES MOINES  A Des Moines man pictured prominently in a QAnon shirt ahead of a crowd of insurgents inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack asked a judge on Monday to release him from jail, saying "he feels deceived, recognizing that he bought into a pack of lies.

Douglas Jensen, in a document filed by his attorney, said he believed that he was a true patriot for going to Washington at the urging of President Donald Trump. He said his intention was only to observe.

Jensen claimed that he is a victim of numerous conspiracy theories that were being fed to him over the internet by a number of very clever people, who were uniquely equipped with slight, if any, moral or social consciousness.

Jensen's attorney, Christopher Davis, said in the document that Jensen was not part of any mob and simply went to Washington to watch. Davis acknowledged that Jensen was in front of a crowd but argued that he did that for the now disclosed silly reason to show his QAnon shirt to get it recognized.

Jensen neither threatened physical harm to anyone nor destroyed property. Jensen had his work pocketknife on him for protection when he went to the Trump rally preceding the march to the Capitol, Davis said in the court filing.
According to the motion, HHS is to give monthly reports to Appleseed and the court about its work on meeting the Oct. 1 goal for launching the additional services. If the services are implemented on time, the suit may be dismissed, the motion said.

Under Gov. Pete Ricketts original Medicaid expansion plan, most low-income, working-age adults were to get a limited set of benefits, which included physical and mental health care and prescription drugs.

To get dental, vision and over-the-counter medications, which are covered under traditional Medicaid, applicants would have had to comply with several wellness, personal responsibility and community engagement requirements. The latter included working, volunteering or doing other specified activities for 80 hours a month.

The Trump administration gave initial approval to Ricketts two-tier plan in October last year. But President Joe Bidens administration made clear early this year that it would not approve the community engagement requirements.

In February, state Medicaid officials announced they would not implement the requirements. However, they also provided no means for the majority of Medicaid expansion participants to get the three benefits.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb.  A cherished part of Grand Islands history caved in along with the roof of Skate Island after heavy snowfall in February.

The Anderson family has decided not to reopen the popular Grand Island skating rink. The building will be demolished and will not be rebuilt.

During the last couple of months, the Andersons have had a lot of conversations within their family and with the insurance company.

The family decided it just wasnt feasible to rebuild or find an alternative owner to take over, if we were to do that. There wasnt a path back to it reopening. So we made the decision to walk away, Ryan Anderson said.

His grandfather, Jerry Anderson, owns the land and the Skate Island building. His father, Steve, owns the business. The family tried hard to find a future for Skate Island.

To be honest, we wanted to reopen it, he said.

But they couldnt find a way.

The Andersons will demolish the building and essentially clear the land. Then my family will move forward, selling the land, Ryan Anderson said.
We hope that everything always works perfectly and at optimum efficiency, of course, but sometimes we have issues that arise and we have to deal with them, and unfortunately we had a few of those today, Herndon said in the email.
The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has called on the youth who are the countrys resource envelop to take advantage of government initiatives and programmes such as the Ghana CARES Obaatanpa programme and that of the NBSSI and NIEP.



These initiatives are designed to provide the youth with access to finance and skills in entrepreneurship, agriculture, small-scale industries, tourism, trade among others. In addition, government is also establishing the Development Bank to provide funds for industries and manufacturing sectors.



These initiatives together with the technological advancement available, provide the youth with abundant opportunities to nurture and grow their businesses.



Ofori-Atta said: The robust implementation of the aforementioned interventions, particularly the Ghana CARES programme will allow us to create a conducive, compelling and ultimately resilient economic environment fit for business, enterprise and innovation.



Ofori-Atta was speaking at the Springboard Youth Dialogues, an initiative of the springboard Road Show Foundation, a youth mentoring platform focused on entrepreneurship, investment, career and talent development for the young people across Ghana since 2007. Participants at the event were drawn from tertiary institutions, young entrepreneurs, start-up business owners and prominent youth in the Bono Region.



On Ghana CARES, the minister said, the programme has been designed to stimulate economic growth through increased investment in selected sectors including agriculture, trade and industry, tourism, housing, science and technology and the financial sector. Specific efforts will be made towards providing the youth with access to finance and skills in these areas to expand the production and capacity in the selected areas, he said.



Ofori-Atta also underscored the need for the youth to grab opportunities in technology as the world has now become more advanced technologically.



He noted that the rise of mobile money and efficient payment systems meant that anyone can get paid in real time right where they are for any job done.



And to crown it all, with digital address systems and the multiplicity of delivery services, the product can be delivered to a client you may never meet in your entire life, he said.



Resource persons for the various sessions include officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ghana Enterprises Agencies, National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) and the Springboard Road Show Foundation.



Telling them about how he and his friends started Databank, he asked them not to despise small beginnings but be persistent and have faith and confidence in themselves to do what they have to do.



Again, if youve failed in an exam or business venture, youre not alone. I know how it feels. The lesson here is clearly to have a deep belief in oneself that it is possible. You just have to have faith in yourself and the confidence to do what you want to do, Ofori-Atta said.













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The Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has discounted rumours that his son is enrolled in a private school instead of the country's Senior High School programme.



The Minister said this is because his son is not old enough to be in Senior High School.



Speaking at a press briefing today in Accra, Dr Adutwum said: "I think politics has taken a new low, my son should never be a part of my political career and secondly I don't have a son who is old enough to be in a Senior High School.



"So suffice it to say that I have no further comment on that, my son is not old enough to be in the Senior High School".



He added that all the best Senior High Schools in the country are in the public sector.



"We have the best Senior High Schools in this country in the public sector, so if somebody says his son is not going to the best Senior High Schools in this country, I don't know how that is news. My son is not old enough to be in the Senior High School".





Source: graphiconline.com









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The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development says it is working with all relevant agencies to ensure that the nation's maritime space is safer and secure.



Speaking in reference to pirate attacks on some Ghanaian vessels recently, the sector Minister, Mrs Mavis Hawa Koomson, described the situation as worrying and added that if the needed measures were not taken, it could escalate into an uncontrollable situation.



Mrs Koomson said this when she met the Omanhen of the Oguaa Traditional Area, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, as part of her working visit to Cape Coast.



She said the country could not afford to sit back and watch its sea become a hub for unwarranted attacks.



Mrs Koomson indicated part of efforts to deal with the situation was to empower security persons on the seas, adding that efforts would be made to secure the maritime space.



She called for calm because the right steps were in place to restore safety.



The minister called on the Omanhen to support the fight against illegal fishing.



Illegal fishing



For his part, Osabarima Atta acknowledged the challenges that fisherfolk faced and said he was ever ready to support the fight against illegal fishing.



The fishing industry is what sustains our fisherfolk but they have been met with so many problems both onshore and on the seas.



The Omanhen of Oguaa urged the minister to engage the fisherfolk on the steps being taken to combat the challenges, stressing that their inputs were key to finding solutions.





He lauded the ministers zeal and urged her to boldly lead the fight to restore sanity on the countrys seas.



Stakeholders forum



Mrs Koomson later addressed a forum of fishermen, fish mongers and other stakeholders in the fisheries sector to discuss ways to make the sector better.



She gave the assurance that the government would fairly and firmly enforce all fisheries laws and regulations to ensure illegalities were reduced significantly.



Reapply for licences



As part of the measures, the minister said all fishing trawlers in the country's waters had been asked to reapply for permit for their operations.



That, Mrs Koomson said, was to ensure proper scrutiny as part of measures to clamp down on illegal fishing activities and to bring sanity into the fisheries sector.



The move would also help to trace vessels that were operating illegally, she said, adding that those found culpable would not have such licences renewed.



She expressed concern over the use of unlawful fishing practices such as light fishing, the transhipment of fish at sea popularly known as Saiko, the use of harmful chemicals such as DDT, washing powder and dynamite which she noted had caused the country's fishery resources to deplete at a worrisome pace and affected the livelihoods of many in the coastal communities.



Roadmap



Mrs Koomson mentioned some of the measures the government had put in place to sanitise the sector.One is the acquisition of logistics to ensure the fight against illegal fishing in the country was reduced.



They included research vessel and equipment that would detect fishes caught using unapproved fishing methods, including monofilament nets, lights and other chemicals that had the tendency of depleting the countrys fish stock.



We are working in consonance with fisheries laws to reduce activities of illegal fishing. We are not joking. This time the laws will work and anyone found to be engaged in any form of illegality on the sea will be dealt with according to the law," Mrs Koomson warned.



Aquaculture



Mrs Koomson also advised the fishermen to venture into aquaculture to support their efforts at the traditional sources, the sea and rivers.



Saiko



Some of the participants at the forum called for stringent measures to check the activities of trawlers at sea.



They indicated that governments had over the years failed artisanal fishermen by refusing to deal firmly with the issue of Saiko and asked the ministry to "walk the talk" in its promises of dealing with Saiko.



Outboard motors



Some participants at the engagement called on the sector minister to expedite action to ensure that they received outboard motors they had paid for and were yet to receive.



The minister, in her response, said the government had already secured 240 outboard motors with plans underway to secure more for distribution to fishermen who had made payments.



She also pledged to support fish processors with micro loans to expand their businesses.









Source: graphiconline.com









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A sense of normalcy is returning to a Rwandan district ravaged by volcanic activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo two weeks ago.



The volcanic eruption in Mount Nyiragogo killed 32 people and destroyed hundreds of homes in DR Congo's Goma area. It was followed by a series of earth tremors in the neighbouring regions including Rubavu in Rwanda.



Many residents fled after their homes and properties - as well as infrastructure - were destroyed.



In Rubavu, businesses have now started reopening. Schools and hospitals - which had also been shut in the wake of the volcanic activities - have restarted operations.



Some of the residents have however been complaining about lack of government assistance to rebuild their livelihoods.



Sibomana Ibrahim told the BBC that he was forced to move his parents after their houses collapsed.



"We rented a house in Amakoro after our four houses collapsed. I had to remain here to guard our property, I'm now removing soil and debris from the house.



"We have had no assistance from the government, except for food. They told us to wait, I don't know for how long we'll have to wait," he said.



Niyoyita Zakia said she moved to the capital Kigali and later returned to Rubavu and was now living in a friend's house. She said it was difficult providing for herself and her eight children.



The authorities in Rubavu have said all those affected will get help but have not indicated what form this will be.

Source: BBC









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The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has congratulated the outgoing British High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Iain Walker, on the successful completion of his duty tour of the country.

That was when the latter called on the minister to bid her farewell.



Mr Walker was appointed British High Commissioner to Ghana in August 2017.



Prior to that, he had served as a Board Member of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London as its Director of Finance and Strategy.



Ghana, UK relations



Ms Botchwey acknowledged that bilateral relations between Ghana and the United Kingdom (UK) witnessed active engagements and growth during the tenure of the High Commissioner, who she said discharged his duties creditably and with a high sense of purpose and tenacity.



The minister also commended the High Commissioner for his exemplary work, which resulted in a number of high-level UK official visits to Ghana, including the visit by the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, in November 2018 and the UK Minister for Africa at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Mr James Duddridge, in January 2021.



Other visits were by the UK Minister for the Armed Forces, Mr James Heappey, in February 2021 and the UK Secretary of State for Home Department, Ms Priti Patel, last week.



Ms Botchwey also recalled that during his duty tour, Ghana and the UK signed the Interim Trade Partnership Agreement, which is expected to provide duty free and quota free access for Ghana to the UK market and same preferential tariff reductions for British exporters into the Ghanaian market.



Ghana/UK relations in the area of security also moved a notch higher during Mr Walkers tour, the minister added.



She expressed appreciation for the instrumentality of the High Commissioner in the establishment of the Ghana-UK Business Council in 2018 to promote bilateral relations and strategic partnership between the private sectors of both countries in trade and investment.



Social sector



The minister further highlighted the immense contributions by the UK to Ghanas social and economic development.



Ms Botchwey mentioned, for instance, the UKs support to Ghanas fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the formers pledge of a 450,000 support package to help Ghana's pharmaceutical sector.



The UK had also expressed its commitment to continue to offer public health epidemiological modelling support to Ghana, she added.



The minister assured the outgoing High Commissioner of the determination of the government to transform the Ghanaian economy through value addition and export-oriented growth, with the private sector as the main player.



Appreciation



Mr Walker expressed appreciation to the minister and the people of Ghana for the support given him during his duty tour of the country.



He said although he would miss the people and their warm reception, he would continue to champion the cause of Ghana for growth and prosperity.









Source: graphiconline.com









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A former Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh has denied allegations of seizing the mining license of Kingston Okomeng Kissi, a former Board Chairman of the Precious Minerals and Marketing Company (PMMC).

Okomeng Kissi is alleged to have accused the former Lands Minister of cancelling his mining license whilst speaking on Accra-based radio station, Oman FM, aired on Net2 TV on May 5, 2021.



Asomah-Kyeremeh, however, says he has never cancelled nor taken away Okomeng Kissis mining license as he (Kissi) alleges and will not be distracted by such baseless allegations with intentions to tarnish his hard-earned reputation.



For him, the allegation is politically motivated, to demonise his tenure in office as the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.



Asomah-Kyeremeh through his counsel, Kwabena Asare Atuah in a statement dated May 28, 2021, said the allegations and The actions of Kingston Okomeng Kissi is just to paint my client black before government and the party.



He added, This story is one of the unfortunate stories to tarnish the image of my client in the public domain. Kingston Okomeng Kissis claims are untrue and a total fabrication coming at a time my client is no longer in office.



Mr Atuah explained that the facts are rather that my client met with Kingston Okomeng Kissi at the office of the Chief of Staff once to discuss Kingston Okomeng Kissis claim of ownership of that site and that after the said meeting, Mr Asomah-Kyeremeh tasked the Minerals Commission to look into the matter.



That, he noted, The report from the Minerals Commission indicated that the area was encumbered and belonged to someone else who had secured all documentation.



For Atuah, the former Lands and Natural Resources Minister did not play any role to take Okomeng Kissis mining licence, challenging him to produce any documentation contrary to the report of the Minerals Commission.

We, therefore, ask Kingston Okomeng Kissi to produce whatever documents he (Kingston Okomeng Kiss) has showing that the area belonged to him (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) for which he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) claims my client took away, he stated.



He further added, As a miner, Kingston Okomeng Kissi has to know that a legitimate claim to a lease of the license can only be proved by a valid mining lease.

Mr Atuah said any interested party in the case can seek further details on the issues from the Minerals Commission, which is the custodian of all leases and documents relating to mining.



Read below the statement by the Counsel for Lawyer Asomah-Cheremeh



SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT



Respectfully, I act as Counsel for Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh (hereinafter referred to as my client) upon whose instructions I write this statement.



My clients attention has been drawn to an audio circulating on social media and other media platforms where the former Board Chair of Precious Minerals and Marketing Company (PMMC) and the Eastern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Kingston Okomeng Kissi in an interview on Oman Fm and aired on Net2 TV on the 5th day of May, 2021 where he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) stated that, my client Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh then Minsiter for Lands and Natural Resources cancelled and took away the renewal of the mining lease of Kingston Okomeng Kissi and gave it out to other persons/entities.



Kingston Okomeng Kissi further claimed that when the documents were done, it was posted or pasted on the Nkawkaw Municipal Assemblys notice board. The MCE wrote to the Minerals Commission that the said particular area on the documents belonged to someone so it cannot be given to another person. Kingston Okomeng Kissi further stated that he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) went to the office of my client with a petition and documents purporting that he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) owns the said area. The NDC could not take that particular area from him (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) but rather my client has taken away his (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) mining lease.



Kingston Okomeng Kissi further stated that the matter appeared before the Chief of Staff and same was deliberated upon for about ten (10) times and the Chief of Staff asked my client to give back the licence to Kingston Okomeng Kissi but my client refused.



My client wants to state emphatically that he has never cancelled nor taken away Kingston Okomeng Kissis licence as he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) claims.



The true facts are rather that my client met with Kingston Okomeng Kissi at the office of the Chief of Staff once to discuss Kingston Okomeng Kissis claim of ownership of that site.

My client tasked the Minerals Commission to look into the matter. The report from the Minerals Commission revealed that the area was encumbered and belonged to someone else who had already secured all necessary documentations.



We therefore ask Kingston Okomeng Kissi to produce whatever documents he (Kingston Okomeng Kiss) has showing that the area belonged to him (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) for which he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) claims my client took away. As a miner, Kingston Okomeng Kissi has to know that a legitimate claim to a lease of licence can only be proved by a valid mining lease. Also the law enjoins the regulatory body to ensure that mining is done in accordance with the terms of the lease or licence.



My client has not done what Kingston Okomeng Kissi is imputing to him as my client was very much aware it was unlawful and illegal to do that. This story is one of the unfortunate stories to tarnish the image of my client in the public domain. Kingston Okomeng Kissis claims are untrue and a total fabrication coming at a time my client is no longer in office.



The actions of Kingston Okomeng Kissi is just to paint my client black before government and the party. Kingston Okomeng Kissi should not forget thay it took the collective responsibilities of party officers like Regional Chairmen to work tirelessly to bring the party into power. My client as a former Regional Chairman for the then Brong Ahafo Region cannot ans will not treat Kingston Okomeng Kissi the manner he Kingston Okomeng Kissi is claiming against my client.



Thank you.









.

KWABENA ASARE ATUAH

COUNSEL FOR KWAKU ASOMAH-CHEREMEH





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shani Alhassan Shaibu, has said the Operation Clean Northern Region campaign which was launched on Thursday, May 20, 2021 to ensure environmental cleanliness in the region has come to stay.



The campaign has dedicated the last Saturday of every month as the Northern Regional sanitation day and it is aimed at improving the sanitation situation in the region.



The campaign, which kick started on May 29, 2021, witnessed massive participation, and was led by the Northern Regional Minister, the Northern Regional Police Commander, and some officers of the waste management company, Zoomlion.



During the exercise, Alhaji Shaibu indicated that the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) was going to ensure that the campaign was sustained to achieve the objective of keeping the region clean.



He stated that sustaining the campaign to achieve cleanliness in the region was going to improve the health of citizens in the region.



"Operation clean Northern Region has come to stay. And we will make sure that we sustain it for the benefit of the people. For the sake of our health, we must all ensure we participate in the exercise to promote our own health," he said.



Satisfaction



Based on the turn out for the exercise on the first day, the minister indicated that he was hopeful that the aims and objectives of the campaign were going to be realised if the people would continue to participate like that in future sanitation days.



He expressed his satisfaction towards the participation while urging other residents of the region who could not participate in the first exercise to participate in the subsequent ones.



"So far, I'm impressed with the turnout. The exercise went on nicely, especially with the support of Zoomlion; they provided us with equipment to make the exercise successful," the minister said.



Sanitation by-laws



Alhaji Shaibu said to ensure that people did not litter the environment again, the sanitation by-laws were going to be strictly enforced and that any person found dirtying the environment in any part of the region would be dealt with to serve as a deterrent to others.



He called on the law enforcement agencies to assist the RCC to enforce the sanitation by-laws to achieve cleanliness in the region.



"We are going to enforce the by-laws of the assembly. So, I call on the regional police commander to assist us in that regard," he said.



The exercise



In Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, the exercise started at 6:00a.m. at the central business district and was led by the regional minister.



Heads of some agencies, market women, station managers, drivers and some youth joined the exercise to clear filth along the streets and the main transport yard.



To ensure a smooth exercise, all vehicles were stopped from moving in and out of the transport yard and along some routes.



While the exercise was coordinated by the metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) across the region, the regional minister coordinated the exercise in the Tamale Metropolis, including areas such as Nyohini to the Tamale Abattoir area at Shishiagu.



Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Sanitation Chief of the Dagbon Kingdom, Mr Ahmed Latif, indicated that the Operation Clean Northern Region campaign initiated by the regional minister was laudable, while pledging his total support towards the success of the campaign.



The Sanitation Chief, however, called on the youth across the Northern Region to actively participate in the exercise to make the region the cleanest region in the country. #GraphicCleanGH

Source: graphiconline.com









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The Nigerian government has reached out to China to seek support for the development of an internet firewall.

Accordingly, the firewall is to give the President Buhari administration the power to block or restrict VPN.



VPN is what many Nigerians reportedly use to access Twitter.

The Government, according to local media reports, has held engagement with the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to discuss plans to build the internet firewall.



The government officials present at the meeting, according to reports, included Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff to the President, and Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, according to a report by FIJ.

The firewall is to provide a separate network for the Nigerian Internet that will give the government control over social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.



It is similar to the internet filtering system China operates, called the Great Firewall.















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Director of Operations for the Forestry Commission and former special assistant to the former Chief Executive Officer, Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, Charles Owusu, has disclosed that the private mausoleum where his late boss was laid to rest was privately financed.



According to him, the private mausoleum was not sponsored by the government as it has been rumoured.



Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that he personally funded the private mausoleum where the late lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie was put to rest.



"Sir John before his death was somebody who always loved to be clean and always wanted to live in a clean environment so I just couldn't let him be buried anyhow. Though the government donated towards his funeral, the money wasn't enough to cater for the befitting funeral that lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie was honored with," he added.



The late Sir John was a senior member of the New Patriotic Party. He rose through to the ranks to become the General Secretary of the party.



He passed away on the 1st of July 2020 and was kept away until July 3rd, 2021 when he was finally laid to rest in his hometown. He was 63 years.



Ghanaians paid their last respect to the former General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John on June 3rd.



The late Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission was laid to rest in his hometown, Sakora Wonoo, in the Kwabre Municipality of the Ashanti Region where the final funeral rite was held.



Dignitaries including the President, Nana Akufo-Addo were there to pay their last respect to the former General Secretary of the party.



Watch Video Below







Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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The Minority in Parliament have accused the government of deliberately frustrating the work of Members of Parliament (MPs) and the growth and development of the country.



They stated that the President and his Cabinet had failed to present major bills to the House for consideration and constitution of boards of statutory bodies was a deliberate act to sabotage the growth of the country.



Ahmed Ibrahim, the First Deputy Minority Whip, alleged that the conduct of the President and his government was a clear indication of bad governance because before Parliament resumed from recess, the Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu indicated that they were bringing a number of bills for them to be passed.



We came to parliament with the intention to pass bills, but we are in the third week and none of those bills is ready for parliament to work on and failure to present major bills to the House for consideration and constitution of boards of statutory bodies is a deliberate act to sabotage the development of the country.



Mr Ibrahim, who is the MP for Banda in the Oti Region, quizzed where the bills were, what cabinet was doing and cabinet not approved them to come to the House for MPs to work on and cautioned that delayed constitution of statutory bodies would breed corruption in public institutions.



We are in the sixth month and the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government are reluctantly and unwilling to form the boards of Corporations, Agencies and Departments to bring checks and balances and without them, it will fundamentally cause corruption, he decried.



But in a rebuttal, Sylvester Tetteh, MP for Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro in the Greater Accra Region, debunked claims by Mr Ibrahim that delay in the constitution of major boards would breed corruption and insisted that the President was in the process of forming his government.

Source: The Ghanaian Times









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Researchers want to convert rapeseed proteins from feed to food

GRANT: In Denmark and the rest of Europe, you see lots of yellow rapeseed fields and most of the rapeseed protein is used for animal feed. A new research project SEEDFOOD will attempt to change this by creating new fundamental knowledge, so we can use the proteins for food in the future. The research project has been established with a grant of DKK 56 million kroner from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Challenge Programme and is being led from Department of Food Science at University of Copenhagen.

Providing enough proteins through sustainable food production is a huge challenge up to 2050, when the global population is expected to be 9.7 billion people. The proteins we currently get from animal foods create high greenhouse gas emissions, so we have to eat more plant-based foods. Rapeseed is one of our most abundant crops, but at the moment it primarily contributes protein to animal feed.

"A lot of rapeseed is grown in Northern Europe, so there is a huge untapped potential in rapeseed proteins if we can solve some of the problems that currently prevent them from being used for food," explains professor at Department of Food Science at University of Copenhagen (UCPH FOOD), Marianne Nissen Lund, who leads SEEDFOOD.

Rapeseed proteins are currently not used for food due to substances that limit the utilisation of the nutrient content (antinutritional components), an undesirable taste and a lack of functionality in food (e.g., the ability to form desired structures in food).

"Many plant proteins have a low content of the essential amino acids that humans need, which are found in animal proteins. But the content of these essential amino acids is quite high in rapeseed compared to other plant sources, and this is also one of the reasons why we have chosen to investigate how we can process the rapeseed so it is suitable as a healthy and tasty source of nutrition for humans," says Marianne Nissen Lund.

Push towards sustainability in the food sector

The idea is that the basic knowledge gained in SEEDFOOD can be transferred and utilised by the industry so we can increase the utilisation of rapeseed protein in foods.

"The research idea behind SEEDFOOD was developed in close collaboration between the project partners, which in addition to the University of Copenhagen includes DTU and the Le Mans University in France, and I am excited to lead such a focused effort that can make an impact on the Danish climate agenda," says Marianne Nissen Lund.

The research grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Challenge Programme - Proteins for Tomorrow's Food - is one of the largest investments in Denmark when it comes to basic food research in proteins.

Rapeseed proteins should function in food

The aim with SEEDFOOD is to get the rapeseed proteins to function in food, and the researchers will work with the subject all the way from crushing the rapeseed, to examining how it can be processed so that it works in food, to studying how the proteins are perceived when we eat or drink them, including the taste and mouthfeel, and making sure that they have the right nutritional value. The task is not to come up with specific products, but to provide the basic chemical and physical knowledge that will form the foundation that will allow us to make optimal use of rapeseed in food contexts.

"In the food industry, you are dependent on the proteins you use, for example, having good gelling and emulsifying abilities. This means that they can help build that texture - i.e., mouthfeel - of the food that we like. If it does not work, it is difficult to make delicious food," explains Marianne Nissen Lund, mentioning yoghurt as a good example: "A yoghurt should be soft and creamy in order for us to like it and not gritty and sticky."

At the same time, the rapeseed must taste good for us to even consider eating or drinking foods that contain rapeseed protein.

Rapeseed can, for example, be used to make protein-rich drinks, which can be good alternatives to drinking yoghurt and protein drinks that are rapidly growing products in the world market.

Extraction of rapeseed oil damages the proteins

Today, rapeseed is mainly used for the extraction of rapeseed oil, while the residual fraction is the protein, which, as already mentioned, is usually used for animal feed.

"The focus is on getting the oil out in as good a condition as possible, and that often includes processes that involve high temperatures. This means that the protein is damaged," says Marianne Nissen Lund, who explains that the researchers at SEEDFOOD want to develop much more gentle methods where the protein is not damaged.

In addition, the researchers will isolate the two most abundant rapeseed proteins, napin and cruciferin, which they will examine in greater detail.

"The two proteins have very different properties and therefore also behave very differently in food contexts. This makes it difficult to achieve good functionality, which is why we want to separate them. We will process them using gentle processes, including using enzymes to improve the way they behave in food," explains Marianne Nissen Lund.

###

SEEDFOOD will run for a period of six years starting on 1 January 2022.

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The BoatWatch.org report, based on information from Taylors family and friends, said that Ward reported that he last saw Taylor at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when she took the overnight watch. He discovered her missing at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday when he woke up to relieve her.
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After the announcement of the death of the televangelist and founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Temitope Balogun Joshua, thousands of his followers gathered at the premises of Synagogue Church awash with expression of shock and surprise.

Describing as a black and bleak Sunday, some of his church members mourned and prayed for miracles to bring back the mortal cops of T.B. Joshua into being.



A woman who could not hold back her emotions, described T.B. Joshuas demise as a blow on the face. For her, the death of the man of God has brought her world to a standstill.



Who is going to help us, who is going to help the widows. T.B. Joshua dont go, come back.



According to one of his followers, the famous Nigerian Preacher prior to his demise kept encouraging them to watch and pray. For him, he believes the preacher man foresaw his death.

He came here yesterday, he was at the prayer mounting yesterday and he told us to pray and that there is no time. He kept on saying it as if he knew he was going to die.

But in a sharp contrast, others are of the view that, the man of God is alive. For them the news circulating around is nothing but fake news.



People called me to tell me J.B. Joshua is dead and I said please take the news to whoever brought this news to you that the devils has failed because the man of God I Know is not dead and he cannot die now.



Meanwhile, the Church confirmed the news of his passing in a statement on Sunday morning, six days to the birthday of the pastor born in 1963.



According to the SCOAN, On Saturday 5th June 2021, Prophet TB Joshua spoke during the Emmanuel TV Partners Meeting: Time for everything  time to come here for prayer and time to return home after the service.



It regrettably announced that God has taken His servant Prophet TB Joshua home  as it should be by divine will. His last moments on earth were spent in the service of God. This is what he was born for, lived for and died for.



Nonetheless, the cause of death of the 57-year-old was not disclosed.









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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Reality TV star, and estranged wife of Dr. Kwaku Oteng, Sally Akua Amoakowaa Mensah simply referred to as Akua has given Ghanaian owned news portal, Ghpage.com a 48 hour ultimatum to apologize, retract and delete a publication made about her that indicated that she said former Angel FM presenter, Captain Smart should humble yourself, arrogance wont take you anywhere.



In a letter addressed to Ghpage by the legal team of Ms. Sally Akua Amoakowaa, the lawyers accused the handlers of the website of deliberately and maliciously publishing defamatory statement against her with the headline Humble yourself, arrogance wont take you anywhere  Sally GMB and they find the publication misleading considering the content of the story.



According to the letter, Akua GMBs lawyers accused Ghpage.com of using their publication to bring Akua GMB to the ongoing public discussion about Captain Smart in order to gain traffic to their news portal ignoring the damage it would bring to Akua GMBs personality.



They stated that in their resolve to deal with this matter, Ghpage should issue a statement of retraction and an apology on their site to Akua GMB, pull down the defamatory publication and write an apology to Akua GMB personally.



Furthermore, Akua GMB has threatened to take legal action against any blogger or journalist whose publications will put her image and that of her family in disrepute.



In a press release issued by the management of the former beauty queen, they indicated that they have taken note of recent publications about her on some websites with the aim of causing her public disaffection while those websites gain traction from such negative stories.



On the back of this development, they are warning bloggers and writers complicit in this action to immediately put a stop to it and they made it emphatically clear that this resolve by the management of the distinguished public figure not to gag or intimidate any genuine journalist but rather ensure that her reputation is protected especially on matters that affects her family.

Source: Eugene Osafo-Nkansah/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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Music streaming platform, Audiomack has teamed up with leading radio station, Y 107.9FM Accra to broadcast 'Audiomack Hour: Brought to you by Audiomack' which features the top 10 songs being listened to by Ghanaians, off the Audiomack charts.



The music programme which premiered on June 1st 2021 and running till 31st August 2021, is scheduled to air on Y FM's biggest show Dryve of your Lyfe, hosted by Kojo Manuel, from 3pm GMT to 7pm GMT on weekdays. Audiomack Hour has been specially curated to provide a thrilling musical experience by ensuring listeners are entertained while on the move with the hottest tracks from around the world.



Speaking on the partnership, Charlotte Bwana, Head of Business Development and Media Partnerships of Audiomack Africa highlighted Audiomack's passion for consistently providing Ghanaians with easy access to quality music. She said "At Audiomack, our mission is to democratize music streaming and we have created yet another avenue for the wider Ghanaian audience to explore, experience and enjoy the exciting musical experience offered on the Audiomack app. We are excited for the opportunity to connect further with the Ghanaian market by leveraging a platform like Y 107.9FM who shares in our vision to move music forward."



With Y 107.9FM's core listenership being the youth, this partnership will create an avenue for a huge percentage of this demographic to immerse themselves in the world of Audiomack where both creators and listeners get served the very best in music services and experiences. Also commenting, Eddy Blay, Programs Manager of Y 107.9 FM, Accra said, "We are purely for the 'young and young at heart', and that is why we are excited to join forces and resources with Audiomack who has a common goal to reach more people through the music we serve. From the freshest tracks to top-notch playlists, we want to spread the magic of music from Ghana to the world."



This initiative comes on the heels of Audiomack's partnership with Beat 99.9FM Lagos which was designed to provide clutter-breaking content to Nigerians. With a presence in all 54 African countries, Audiomack aims to democratize music streaming by providing accessibility for all.

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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" " We mostly hear about presidential impeachment, but presidents, vice presidents and anyone appointed to a federal office can be impeached, except people in the military. Nick Youngson/Alpha Stock Images (CC BY-SA 3.0)

This explainer on impeachment is intended for our elementary and middle-school readers. If you would like to read more on this topic, dive into our longer article How Impeachment Works.

The president of the United States has a hard job. He or she is the leader of the U.S. government and the head of the military. Sometimes, in the middle of their time in the White House, lots of people start to notice the president is not doing a good job, or did something illegal. This is when Congress  the House of Representatives and the Senate, which make the laws of the United States together  decides whether a president has failed at their job. This process is called impeachment.

One thing we often get wrong about impeachment is that it is the same thing as firing the president. Impeachment is actually how a president gets accused of doing something wrong, and it means they might get fired later. Three American presidents have been impeached, but none of them has had to leave his job because of it.

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Impeachment Is Not Just for Presidents

We hear a lot about presidential impeachment, but presidents, vice presidents and anyone who has a job in the federal government (except military officers) can be impeached. Congress has started the impeachment process about 60 times in American history, but only eight of these have resulted in the person being fired. All of these have been judges.

Presidential impeachment is rare, but it is big news when it happens. Only three presidents in history have been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Donald Trump, who was impeached twice during the four years he was president  once in 2019 and again in 2021. Richard Nixon resigned from office before the House of Representatives was able to impeach him in 1974.

Everything we know about how to impeach a president comes from a small section of the Constitution of the United States, which is the document that outlines the highest laws of the land and tells us how the government should work. According to the Constitution, you might be impeached if you commit any of these crimes: Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." The men who wrote the Constitution didn't tell us what any of these things mean, but we know treason is the act of trying to overthrow the government, and bribery is trading money or gifts for a favor. The Constitution doesn't tell us what "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" is, but we understand they are very bad crimes.

The Constitution gives the House of Representatives the power to impeach. The Senate has the job of holding the trial to decide whether the president will be found guilty or innocent of the crimes named by the House of Representatives.

" " A lot of people thought President Nixon should lose his job because he did things that were illegal. Bettmann/Getty Images

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How Does an Impeachment Begin?

The House of Representatives starts the impeachment process by putting together evidence that the president has done something wrong and giving that evidence to a special group, called a committee, to review. If this committee finds enough evidence, it creates a list of things the president could be guilty of  these are called the Articles of Impeachment. The House votes on these articles, and if more than half of the members vote for one or more of the charges in the Articles of Impeachment, the president is officially impeached.

Next comes the Senate impeachment trial. A few members of the House of Representatives called "Managers" act as the prosecution  they accuse the president of wrongdoing in the trial. The impeached president and their lawyers defend the president. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court acts as the judge in the trial. All the members of the Senate act as the jury, hearing the evidence and deciding what to do about it. If two-thirds of the Senate finds the president guilty, the president is fired from their job, and the vice president takes over the office of president.

Depending on the specific criminal accusations they faced, if the president is found guilty, it might disqualify them from holding office again.

Now That's Interesting The first president, George Washington, started his job on April 30, 1789.
Wind tunnel experiment using particle image velocimetry technique. Credit: UC3M

Developing new ways to measure turbulent flows that are more efficient and reliable is the main objective of the NEXTFLOW research project at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), funded by an ERC Starting Grant from the European Union. These techniques, which use new developments in artificial intelligence and data mining, can be used to improve the aerodynamics of means of transport and reduce their environmental impact.

One of the current challenges that aerodynamics faces is improving techniques for characterizing and controlling the behavior of turbulent flows (the fluid motion that occurs around an airplane wing, for example). "They are chaotic, with complex dynamics which makes it difficult to understand their behavior completely using the techniques currently available to us," explains the NEXTFLOW project coordinator, Stefano Discetti, from the UC3M's Department of Bioengineering and Aerospace Engineering.

Optimizing strategies to measure turbulent flows is a key element in today's industry due to the critical role that turbulence plays in many industrial applications. In this regard, obtaining more precise information about its dynamics would allow us to use it in real-life contexts, such as in the transport sector. Turbulent flows affect the forces opposing the movement of all types of vehicles, for example, such as cars, airplanes or ships, so understanding them better can help improve their performance and reduce their impact on the environment, the researchers note.

Credit: Carlos III University of Madrid

For the time being, techniques for measuring turbulent flow in experiments only provide "a partial description of their velocity, temperature, or pressure," states Stefano Discetti. This new ERC project's objective is to use artificial intelligence and data mining techniques to develop a new generation of measuring tools so that a more complete description of their dynamic behavior can be obtained, and then having more information on how to control them.

One of the methods being used is volumetric particle image velocimetry, which makes it possible to obtain a 3D reconstruction of the movement of a fluid following the motion of particles, made visible by a laser light. Within the framework of this research, scientists hope to use data provided by high sampling-frequency point probes to complement the 3D description with dynamics in time. In addition to this, algorithms based on artificial intelligence will be developed to improve the accuracy of particle image velocimetry technique. In a recent work published by these UC3M researchers in the Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science journal, they presented a novel approach based on data mining to achieve this goal.

High-precision and time-resolved measurements will be used to obtain pressure fields by applying fundamental fluid mechanics equations. With this, they hope to define compact models that can be used to describe the behavior of flows accurately and develop control logics. "These results could provide new tools which have the potential to bridge the gap between laboratory experiments and characterisation and control of flows in real-life applications, which could lead to an improvement in processes and reduce the environmental impact of different industry sectors, especially the aeronautical industry," notes Stefano Discetti.

Explore further Intelligent system to improve vehicle stability systems

More information: Cortina-Fernandez, J., Sanmiguel Vila, C., Ianiro, A., & Discetti, S. (2021). From sparse data to high-resolution fields: ensemble particle modes as a basis for high-resolution flow characterization. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 120, 110178.
The figure shows how atoms with opposing spins are separated into two streams using magnets and then brought back together, creating an interference pattern. If any external quantum processes affect the streams, this will show up in the interference pattern.| Illustration Margalit et al. Science Advances

Physicists in Israel have created a quantum interferometer on an atom chip. This device can be used to explore the fundamentals of quantum theory by studying the interference pattern between two beams of atoms. University of Groningen physicist, Anupam Mazumdar, describes how the device could be adapted to use mesoscopic particles instead of atoms. This modification would allow for expanded applications. A description of the device, and theoretical considerations concerning its application by Mazumdar, were published on 28 May in the journal Science Advances.

The device, created by scientists from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, is a so-called Stern Gerlach interferometer, which was first proposed 100 years ago by German physicists Otto Stern and Walter Gerlach. Their original aim of creating an interferometer with freely propagating atoms exposed to gradients from macroscopic magnets has not been practically realized until now. "Such experiments have been done using photons, but never with atoms," explains Anupam Mazumdar, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Groningen and one of the co-authors of the article in Science Advances.

The Israeli scientists, led by Professor Ron Folman, created an interferometer on an atom chip, which can confine and/or manipulate atoms. A beam of rubidium atoms is levitated over the chip using magnets. Magnetic gradients are used to split the beam according to the spin values of the individual atoms. Spin is a magnetic moment that can have two values, either up or down. The spin-up and spin-down atoms are separated by a magnetic gradient. Subsequently, the two divergent beams are brought together again and recombined. The spin values are then measured, and an interference pattern is formed. Spin is a quantum phenomenon, and throughout this interferometer, the opposing spins are entangled. This makes the interferometer sensitive to other quantum phenomena.

Mazumdar was not involved in the construction of the chip, but he contributed theoretical insights to the paper. Together with a number of his colleagues, he previously proposed an experiment to determine whether gravity is in fact a quantum phenomenon using entangled mesoscopic objects, namely tiny diamonds that can be brought in a state of quantum superposition. "It would be possible to use these diamonds instead of the rubidium atoms on this interferometer," he explains. However, this process would be highly complex, as the device, which is currently operated at room temperature, would need to be cooled down to around 1 Kelvin for the mesoscopic experiment.

If this is realized, two of these atom chips could free fall together (to neutralize external gravity), so that any interaction occurring between them would depend on the gravitational pull between the two chips. Mazumdar and his colleagues aim to determine whether quantum entanglement of the pair occurs during free fall, which would mean that the force of gravity between the diamonds is indeed a quantum phenomenon. Another application of this experiment is the detection of gravity waves; their deformation of space-time should be visible in the interference pattern.

The actual implementation of this experiment is still a long way off, but Mazumdar is very excited now that the interferometer has been created. "It is already [a] quantum sensor, although we still have to work out exactly what it can detect. The experiment is like the first steps of a babynow, we have to guide it to reach maturity."

Explore further A stepping stone for measuring quantum gravity

More information: Yair Margalit et al, Realization of a complete Stern-Gerlach interferometer: Toward a test of quantum gravity, Science Advances (2021). Journal information: Science Advances Yair Margalit et al, Realization of a complete Stern-Gerlach interferometer: Toward a test of quantum gravity,(2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg2879
Bioengineering professor Jennifer Amos created a program in which students write and illustrate children's books with science, technology, engineering and mathematics themes. "Jenny Saves a Convertible," the first book from the program to be published, teaches third-grade students the nuts and bolts of automotive design and engineering. Credit: Fred Zwicky

A new book written and illustrated by two recent alumnae of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign introduces third graders to the nuts and bolts of automotive mechanics and engineering.

"Jenny Saves a Convertible" is the first book written and illustrated by U. of I. students to be published through a project with Illinois Engineering Ambassadors, a public outreach and professional development group for students in the Grainger College of Engineering.

The group reaches more than 1,000 schoolchildren each year, providing high-quality educational events and hands-on activities on the U. of I. campus and in elementary and secondary schools in the Champaign and Chicago areas.

Bioengineering professor Jennifer Amos, who co-founded and co-directs the group, said she intends for "Jenny" to be the inaugural volume in a series of children's books that will pique young people's interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

"The book project started as a way to enhance the outreach that we're doing in schools and get kids excited before we visit," Amos said.

Amos raised the funds for the University of Illinois Press to publish 100 copies of "Jenny" and other stories written by engineering students who participate in the project. The "Jenny" book will be provided to schoolteachers this fall to read with their students and will complement learning activities led by Illinois Engineering Ambassadors during classroom visits or virtually.

The author, Taylor Tucker of Winnetka, Illinois, who graduated in May with a master's degree in curriculum and instruction and also earned a bachelor's degree in engineering mechanics in 2017, said writing the book fulfilled a longtime aspiration.

"I've always loved to write in any form, and I had thought several years ago about doing a children's book because I wanted to reach that young audience somehow," Tucker said. "But I knew I would need a good illustrator and the right opportunity to make something like that happen. I put that in the back of my mind and decided, when the time is right, I will do this."

Opportunity knocked in 2019 when Amos discussed her book project idea at a meeting. Undergraduate students in engineering and graphic design would write and illustrate children's stories with STEM themes for credit toward their degrees.

In "Jenny Saves a Convertible," a young girl dreams of refurbishing her own car as she helps her grandfather in his auto repair shop. While Jenny and her grandfather work, they discuss how internal combustion engines operate, and by the end of the tale, Jenny has gained enough knowledge that she fixes up a convertible by herself and drives it in a parade.

While the story is fictional and employs bits of "magical realism," Tucker said it was inspired by her family's interest in cars.

The story also involves female empowerment, another theme inspired by Tucker's family. Her grandfather, an automotive engineer, and her grandmother encouraged Tucker's mother and her three sisters to be independent and transcend societal gender expectations of the time.

Tucker said she hopes the story will spark girls' curiosity about how objects work and empower them to think about design improvements they could make if they were to become engineers.

Tucker wrote "Jenny" during her first year in the College of Education's Digital Environments for Learning, Teaching and Agency graduate program. Nicole Dowling of Louisville, Kentucky, her partner on the project and a senior at the time, created the illustrations for credit toward a bachelor's degree in graphic design. She graduated in 2020.

Tucker will participate in future school visits with Illinois Engineering Ambassadors when she returns to the U. of I. in 2022 for a doctoral program in engineering.

Amos said learning how to explain their work to younger people benefits the engineering students toosomething that Amos discovered when she taught seventh graders twice a week during graduate school.

"Being able to explain the research I was doing to my students changed the way I thought about it, and helped me focus on the impact and stay motivated," she said.

"The engineering students who wrote the books had that same experience. Communicating what they do to younger people makes them better engineers."

To make the "Jenny" book more broadly available, Tucker and Dowling also self-published it through Amazon and recently made it available in digital form. The two women found their collaboration on the book so rewarding that they decided to embark on a second book project on their own, Tucker said.

"The story uses weather science and a child's fear of thunderstorms to teach methods for coping with anxiety, such as taking deep breaths to calm down," Tucker said.

Amos is finalizing a second book in conjunction with Illinois Engineering Ambassadors that she expects to publish in the fall. Written by engineering alumna Samantha Park and illustrated by graphic design alumna Felicia Phillips, the story introduces children to computer science through the experiences of two girls who are curious about cellphone apps.

With the pandemic limiting in-person activities during the 2020-2021 academic year, Illinois Engineering Ambassadors conducted its school visits over Zoom, Amos said.

Even when schools allow in-person visits to resume, the group may continue providing some activities virtually to reach greater numbers of children. Accordingly, the group is working on a set of YouTube videos and creating a STEM-themed coloring book for very young children to broaden its audience, she said.

Explore further Turning virtual reality into an effective learning tool for classrooms
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The first double-blind experiment analyzing the role of human decision-making in climate reconstructions has found that it can lead to substantially different results.

The experiment, designed and run by researchers from the University of Cambridge, had multiple research groups from around the world use the same raw tree-ring data to reconstruct temperature changes over the past 2,000 years.

While each of the reconstructions clearly showed that recent warming due to anthropogenic climate change is unprecedented in the past two thousand years, there were notable differences in variance, amplitude and sensitivity, which can be attributed to decisions made by the researchers who built the individual reconstructions.

Professor Ulf Buntgen from the University of Cambridge, who led the research, said that the results are "important for transparency and truthwe believe in our data, and we're being open about the decisions that any climate scientist has to make when building a reconstruction or model."

To improve the reliability of climate reconstructions, the researchers suggest that teams make multiple reconstructions at once so that they can be seen as an ensemble. The results are reported in the journal Nature Communications.

Information from tree rings is the main way that researchers reconstruct past climate conditions at annual resolutions: as distinctive as a fingerprint, the rings formed in trees outside the tropics are annually precise growth layers. Each ring can tell us something about what conditions were like in a particular growing season, and by combining data from many trees of different ages, scientists are able to reconstruct past climate conditions going back hundreds and even thousands of years.

Reconstructions of past climate conditions are useful as they can place current climate conditions or future projections in the context of past natural variability. The challenge with a climate reconstruction is thatabsent a time machinethere is no way to confirm it is correct.

"While the information contained in tree rings remains constant, humans are the variables: they may use different techniques or choose a different subset of data to build their reconstruction," said Buntgen, who is based at Cambridge's Department of Geography, and is also affiliated with the CzechGlobe Centre in Brno, Czech Republic. "With any reconstruction, there's a question of uncertainty ranges: how certain you are about a certain result. A lot of work has gone into trying to quantify uncertainties in a statistical way, but what hasn't been studied is the role of decision-making.

"It's not the case that there is one single truthevery decision we make is subjective to a greater or lesser extent. Scientists aren't robots, and we don't want them to be, but it's important to learn where the decisions are made and how they affect the outcome."

Buntgen and his colleagues devised an experiment to test how decision-making affects climate reconstructions. They sent raw tree ring data to 15 research groups around the world and asked them to use it to develop the best possible large-scale climate reconstruction for summer temperatures in the Northern hemisphere over past 2000 years.

"Everything else was up to themit may sound trivial, but this sort of experiment had never been done before," said Buntgen.

Each of the groups came up with a different reconstruction, based on the decisions they made along the way: the data they chose or the techniques they used. For example, one group may have used instrumental target data from June, July and August, while another may have only used the mean of July and August only.

The main differences in the reconstructions were those of amplitude in the data: exactly how warm was the Medieval warming period, or how much cooler a particular summer was after a large volcanic eruption.

Buntgen stresses that each of the reconstructions showed the same overall trends: there were periods of warming in the 3rd century, as well as between the 10th and 12th century; they all showed abrupt summer cooling following clusters of large volcanic eruptions in the 6th, 15th and 19th century; and they all showed that the recent warming since the 20th and 21st century is unprecedented in the past 2000 years.

"You think if you have the start with the same data, you will end up with the same result, but climate reconstruction doesn't work like that," said Buntgen. "All the reconstructions point in the same direction, and none of the results oppose one another, but there are differences, which must be attributed to decision-making."

So, how will we know whether to trust a particular climate reconstruction in future? In a time where experts are routinely challenged, or dismissed entirely, how can we be sure of what is true? One answer may be to note each point where a decision is made, consider the various options, and produce multiple reconstructions. This would of course mean more work for climate scientists, but it could be a valuable check to acknowledge how decisions affect outcomes.

Another way to make climate reconstructions more robust is for groups to collaborate and view all their reconstructions together, as an ensemble. "In almost any scientific field, you can point to a single study or result that tells you what to hear," he said. "But when you look at the body of scientific evidence, with all its nuances and uncertainties, you get a clearer overall picture."

Explore further European summer droughts since 2015 unprecedented in past two millennia

More information: The influence of decision-making in tree ring-based climate reconstructions, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications The influence of decision-making in tree ring-based climate reconstructions,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23627-6
Chimpanzees and other African apes could lose up to 94 percent of their range in the next 30 years. Credit: Pascal Gagneux/GMERC

Climate change will drastically reduce the range of African great apes over the next 30 years. This was predicted by an international team of researchers with the participation of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. In various models, they calculated the effects of climate change, changing land use and human population growth on the future range of gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. The existing protected areas are not sufficient to preserve important populations in the long term, the researchers warn.

For their analysis, the authors compiled information on the occurrence of African great apes stored in the A.P.E.S. database of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). This database contains a remarkable amount of information on population status, threats and conservation measures for several hundred sites, collected over 20 years (apesportal.eva.mpg.de/).

The researchers quantified for the first time the joint effects of climate, land-use, and human population changes across African ape ranges for the year 2050 under best- and worst-case scenarios. "'Best case' implies slowly declining carbon emissions and that appropriate mitigation measures will be put in place," explains Jessica Junker, a postdoctoral researcher at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research and the the Martin Luther University and co-author of the publication. "'Worst case' assumes that emissions continue to rise uncheckedin other words, business as usual."

Under the best-case scenario, the authors predict that great apes will lose 85 percent of their range, of which 50 percent will be outside national parks and other areas protected by legislation. Under the worst-case scenario, they predict a 94 percent loss, of which 61 percent will be in areas that are not protected.

Existing protected areas are not enough

At present, higher altitudes are less attractive for some great ape speciesmainly because of the reduced food supply. But climate change is changing that. Lowland areas are becoming warmer and drier, vegetation is shifting upwards. If great apes can physically move from the lowlands to the mountains, they may be able to survive and even increase their rangedepending on the species and whether the best- and worst-case scenarios occur," However, they may not be able to travel away from the lowlands in the time remaining between today and 2050."

"By integrating future climate and land-use changes as well as human population scenarios, this study provides strong evidence for synergistic interactions among key global drivers constraining African ape distribution," says lead author of the study Joana Carvalho, a postdoctoral researcher at Liverpool John Moores University's Faculty of Science. "The fact that the greatest range losses are expected to occur outside protected areas reflects the insufficiency of the current network of protected areas in Africa to preserve suitable habitats for great apes and effectively connect great ape populations."

Habitats need to be connected

The results corroborate other recent studies showing that African ape populations and their habitats are declining dramatically. All African great apes are classified either as endangered (mountain gorillas, bonobos, Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees, eastern chimpanzees, and central chimpanzees) or critically endangered (Cross River gorillas, Grauer's gorillas, western lowland gorillas, and western chimpanzees) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The authors argue that effective conservation strategies need to be planned for each species, taking into account both existing and proposed protected areas. This is where habitat suitability models could help in the establishment and management of protected areas. In addition, maintaining and establishing linkages and corridors between habitats predicted to be suitable in the future will be critical for the survival of the African great apes. Land use planning and climate change mitigation measures urgently need to be integrated into government policies in those countries where great apes live.

Global consumption of natural resources too high

"The global consumption of natural resources extracted from great ape ranges is one of the main causes of great ape decline," says last author Hjalmar Kuhl from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "All nations that benefit from these resources have a responsibility to ensure a better future for great apes, their habitats as well as the people living in them by advancing a more sustainable economy."

Explore further Declining great apes of Central Africa get new action plan for the next decade

More information: Predicting range shifts of African apes under global change scenarios. Diversity and Distributions, 06 June 2021, Journal information: Diversity and Distributions Predicting range shifts of African apes under global change scenarios., 06 June 2021, DOI: 10.1111/ddi.13358
A new study shows that infrared cameras could make it easier to spot invasive Burmese pythons in Florida. Compared to an RGB visible image (left), the near-infrared image (right) helps the snakes stand out in the grass. Credit: Jennifer Hewitt, University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics

For more than 25 years, Burmese pythons have been living and breeding in the Florida Everglades, where they prey on native wildlife and disrupt the region's delicate ecosystems. A new study shows that infrared cameras could make it easier to spot these invasive snakes in the Florida foliage, providing a new tool in the effort to remove them.

In the Optical Society (OSA) journal Applied Optics, researchers led by Dr. Kyle Renshaw from the University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics report that a near infrared camera helped people detect Burmese pythons at distances up to 1.3 times farther away than was possible using a traditional visible-wavelength camera. Because infrared sensors are small and low cost, they could easily be incorporated into handheld or vehicle-mounted systems designed for seeking out pythons.

"The removal of Burmese pythons is vital to preventing further damage to the Floridian ecosystem and preventing their spread to other regions," said Hewitt, a Ph.D. student and lead author on the study. "Our studyone of the first to examine the efficacy of near infrared sensing in locating these pythonscan help inform methods used to remove them from the environment."

Making snakes stand out

Burmese pythons can be up to 20 feet long and weigh as much as 200 pounds. They arrived in the U.S. as exotic pets in the 1980s and the snakes proliferated in the Everglades after a breeding facility was destroyed during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Their natural camouflage makes them blend in with grass and foliage, making them hard to see with the human eye or a traditional visible-light camera. In a previous study, the authors measured the reflectivity spectra of Burmese pythons in the visible and infrared wavelengths, finding that pythons are more visible against the background at infrared wavelengths longer than 750 nm.

"Based on these earlier findings, we hypothesized that using near infrared wavelengths for imaging could make the pythons easier to see because they would appear dark against bright foliage," said Hewitt. "Although we haven't acquired reflectivity measurements from other species of snakes, the pythons should be easy to distinguish since they are larger than any other native species of snake."

The researchers found that near infrared imaging can be used during the day and at night with illumination to improve detection of Burmese pythons. The movie shows an NIR video of a python hiding in the grass in the Everglades. The shading was inverted so that the python looks bright instead of dark. Credit: Jennifer Hewitt, University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics

To test their hypothesis, the researchers took images of Burmese pythons in grass using visible and infrared cameras with similar fields of view and resolution. They then asked volunteers to examine these images and indicate whether they saw a python. Based on the responses of the volunteers, the researchers calculated the advantage of using near infrared images compared to visible.

"The method we used to evaluate each of the sensors was originally established for military sensing applications," Hewitt explained. "It accounts for the attributes of human vision and perception in addition to the characteristics of the system components to determine how effective a system is at allowing the observer to accomplish a task."

Spotting pythons day or night

Although other studies have explored using thermal infrared sensors to find Burmese pythons, the snakes had to have been basking in the sun during the day for them to be detected at night. The thermal contrast against their environment also diminished over time.

"In this work, we don't rely on thermal contrast," said Hewitt. "We found that near infrared imaging can be used both during the day as well as at night with illumination to improve detection, even if the pythons have not been basking."

The researchers have contracted with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to work on a project that expands on these results. "We are evaluating whether or not this technology will be effective in the field, and if so, how to make it field-ready in the challenging Florida everglades ecosystem," said McKayla Spencer, the FWC interagency python management coordinator. "We are just in the beginning stages of our project with the researchers."

More information: Jennifer Hewitt et al, Detection of Burmese pythons in the near-infrared versus visible band, Applied Optics (2021). Jennifer Hewitt et al, Detection of Burmese pythons in the near-infrared versus visible band,(2021). DOI: 10.1364/AO.419320
Christine Uhlhorn, the former fire chief of the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services, spoke about the difficulties families endured having a loved one die in the line of duty during the ongoing health crisis. The program honored seven first responders who died since June 2019 and three who officials said were identified as having died in the line of duty during the 1930s and 1940s.
In this image from video made available by Blue Origin, the New Shepard capsule uses parachutes to land during a test in West Texas on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Jeff Bezos will ride his own rocket into space next month, joining the first crew to fly Blue Origin. Bezos announced Monday, June 7, 2021, that not only will he launch July 20 from Texas, so will his fireman brother Mark. The highest bidder in a charity auction also will make the 10-minute up-and-down hop. Credit: Blue Origin via AP

Outdoing his fellow billionaires in daredevilry, Jeff Bezos will blast into space next month when his Blue Origin company makes its first flight with a crew.

The 57-year-old Amazon founder and richest person in the world by Forbes' estimate will become the first person to ride his own rocket to space.

Bezos announced his intentions Monday and, in an even bolder show of confidence, said he will share the adventure with his younger brother and best friend, Mark, an investor and volunteer firefighter. He said that will make it more meaningful.

Blue Origin's debut flight with people aboardafter 15 successful test flights of its reusable New Shepard rocketswill take place on July 20, a date selected because it is the 52nd anniversary of the first moon landing by Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

The Bezos brothers will launch from remote West Texas alongside the winner of an online charity auction. There's no word yet on who else might fill the six-person capsule during the 10-minute flight that will take its passengers to an altitude of about 65 miles (105 kilometers), just beyond the edge of space, and then return to Earth without going into orbit.

Bezos said he has dreamed of traveling to space since he was 5.

In this image from video made available by Blue Origin, the New Shepard rocket lifts off during a test in West Texas on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Jeff Bezos will ride his own rocket into space next month, joining the first crew to fly Blue Origin. Bezos announced Monday, June 7, 2021, that not only will he launch July 20 from Texas, so will his fireman brother Mark. The highest bidder in a charity auction also will make the 10-minute up-and-down hop. Credit: Blue Origin via AP

"To see the Earth from space, it changes you. It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. It's one Earth," Bezos said in an Instagram post. "I want to go on this flight because it's a thing I've wanted to do all my life. It's an adventure. It's a big deal for me."

Added his brother: "I wasn't even expecting him to say that he was going to be on the first flight, and then when he asked me to go along, I was just awestruck."

Bezos will step down as Amazon's CEO 15 days before liftoff. He announced months ago that he wants to spend more time on his rocket company as well as his newspaper, The Washington Post.

His stake in Amazon stands at $164 billion, which will make him by far the wealthiest person to fly to space.

Until now, thrill-seeking billionaires have had to buy capsule seats from the Russian space program or, more recently, Elon Musk's SpaceX, which plans its first private flight in September. These orbital trips, generally lasting several days, with visits to the International Space Station, have cost tens of millions of dollars per person.

The flight by Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule, named for Alan Shepard, the first American in space, will last five minutes less than Shepard's history-marking suborbital ride aboard a Mercury capsule in 1961.

In this Sept. 19, 2019, file photo, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks during his news conference at the National Press Club in Washington. Bezos will be among the people on Blue Origin's first human space flight next month. The company said in a post Monday, June 7, 2021, that Bezos will be joined on the New Shepard flight by his brother Mark and the winner of an online auction. Credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File

But Blue Origin's capsule is 10 times roomier with a huge window at every seatthe biggest windows ever built for a spacecraft, in fact.

The company, based in Kent, Washington, is working to develop an orbital rocket named after John Glenn, the first American to circle the Earth.

The Bezos flight will officially kick off the company's space tourism business. The company has yet to start selling seats to the public or even to announce a ticket price for the short trips, which provide about three minutes of weightlessness.

Blue Origin's launch and landing site is 120 miles southeast of El Paso, close to the Mexican border. After the capsule separates, the rocket returns to Earth and lands upright, to be used again. The capsule, also reusable, descends under parachutes.

Virgin Galactic's Richard Bransona "tie-loathing," mountain-climbing, hot-air-ballooning daredevilalso plans to ride into space aboard his own airplane-launched rocketship later this year after one more test flight over New Mexico. Virgin Galactic completed its third test flight into space with a crew two weeks ago; the company doesn't want him climbing aboard until the craft is thoroughly proven.

The 70-year-old Branson on Monday offered congratulations to Bezos, a tame, bookish Wall Streeter by comparison. Branson tweeted that their two companies "are opening up access to spacehow extraordinary!"

Jeff Bezos speaks at an event before unveiling Blue Origin's Blue Moon lunar lander in Washington, in this Thursday, May 9, 2019, file photo. Amazon's Jeff Bezos will be among the people on Blue Origin's first human space flight next month. The company said in a post Monday, June 7, 2021, that Bezos will be joined on the flight by his brother Mark and the winner of an online auction.Credit: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File

Like Blue Origin, Branson's company will send paying customers to the lower reaches of space on up-and-down flights, not Earth-orbiting rides.

Musk's SpaceX already has transported 10 astronauts to the space station for NASA and sold several seats on private flights. Musk himself has yet to commit to going into space, though he has repeatedly said he wants to die on Mars, just not on impact.

Until recently, Blue Origin had been criticized by some for proceeding too slowly, especially when compared with SpaceX. Bezos adopted as the company's motto "Gradatim ferociter," Latin for "Step by step, ferociously," and had it emblazoned on the so-called lucky cowboy boots he wears to his company's space launches.

"Blue Origin, admirably, has gone about it carefully and has built a reliable and less ambitious vehicle and is likely to succeed," the director of Vanderbilt University's aerospace design lab, Amrutur Anilkumar, said in an email Monday. "It is noteworthy that Bezos feels comfortable taking his brother for a ride; that is probably the best exclamation for safety and reliability."

While Blue Origin's and SpaceX's capsules are fully automated, Virgin Galactic has two pilots in the cockpit for every spaceflight. A 2014 accident left one pilot dead and the other seriously injured.

As for the seat that is being auctioned off, Blue Origin opened online bidding on May 5, the 60th anniversary of Shepard's flight. It's up to $2.8 million.

In this June 6, 2019 file photo, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos speaks at the the Amazon re:MARS convention, in Las Vegas. Bezos will be aboard for Blue Origin's first human space flight next month. In an Instagram post early Monday, June 7, 2021, Bezos said he, his brother, and the winner of an ongoing auction, will be aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft during its scheduled launch on July 20. Credit: AP Photo/John Locher, File

The auction will conclude Saturday, with the winning amount donated to Club for the Future, Blue Origin's education foundation, which encourages youngsters to pursue careers in science. Nearly 6,000 people from 143 countries have taken part in the auction.

In an Instagram video posted by Bezos, Mark Bezos' reaction when his brother invited him on the flight was: "Are you serious? ... Seriously? My God!"

"What a remarkable opportunity not only to have this adventure, but to be able to do it with my best friend," the younger brother said.

Explore further Mock crew straps into space capsule, exits before liftoff

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Bills in the federal and New South Wales parliaments have sought to stop teachers talking about gender and sexuality diversity in the name of either religious freedom or parents' rights.

If passed in its current form, the NSW Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020 would prohibit teachers from discussing gender and sexuality diversity. It would also make offering targeted, requested support to gender and sexuality diverse (often known as LGBTQ+) students grounds for revoking teachers' accreditation.

At NSW universities, the bill will mean programs that educate student teachers about the existence of LGBTQ+ students and how best to support them at school would be at risk of losing their accreditation. The same goes for registered professional development of NSW teachers.

Such bills fail to acknowledge the daily realities for many LGBTQ+ youth. These young people experience one of the highest rates of school bullying in the Asia-Pacific and are almost five times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers.

My recent report, Free2Be  Yet?the second national study of Australian high school students who identify as gender and sexuality diverseshows alarming rates of homophobic language used in Australian schools. And worse, it shows that, at least from the perspective of students, teachers rarely intervene.

What LGBTQ+ students said

The report presents findings from a national survey of 2,376 LGBTQ+ high school students, aged 1318. The participants went to government, Catholic and independent schools.

The central aim of the research was to investigate the frequency of harassment and violence towards LGBTQ+ students at school. I also wanted to explore associations between elements of the school climatewith respect to gender and sexuality diversityand the school well-being of these students.

Almost 30% of participants said they had personally experienced or witnessed physical harassment directed at LGBTQ+ students. This group told stories of violence at school, with limited teacher intervention or discussion about the issues.

Of 93% of students who said they had heard homophobic language at school, 37% heard this "almost every day." Only 6% of students said adults "always" intervened to stop this language.

Number in parentheses is how many students gave the answer. Academic self-concept is what students believe about themselves academically. Usually measured on an 8-point scale, but graph has been truncated for visual effect.

One year 9 girl who identifies as pansexual wrote: "My classmates call everyone faggots all the time and the teachers just pretend they don't hear it."

In some cases, students wrote about how the LGBTQ+ student was blamed for the event:

A year 12 boy who identifies as gay said: "[A student] threw a rotten apple at the back of my head after telling me that the common room is for 'normal straight people only." The teacher present then told me I had to leave because I was causing trouble by being there."

LGBTQ+ students who went to schools where peers used homophobic and transphobic language more often and with less intervention from adults reported feeling significantly less connected to their school.

They also said they were less confident their teachers could manage bullying and keep them safe. And they were less assured their teachers were personally invested in them and their academic success.

A diverse-positive school climate

A school climate that views gender and sexuality diversity positively is related to LGBTQ+ students' sense of connection and personal investment in school.

In this survey, LGBTQ+ students scored worse than mainstream peers on nearly every measure of school-based well-being. This included their sense of connectedness to school, a known predictor of academic achievement.

However, where LGBTQ+ students attended schools that explicitly named sexual orientation as a protected category in their harassment policy, those students' school-based well-being exceeded those of their mainstream peers.

Around three-quarters of students who were in year 9 and above said it was "definitely" or "mostly" false they had learned about a range of gender and sexuality diverse identities in their health and physical education classes.

Number in parentheses is how many students gave the answer. Academic self-concept is what students believe about themselves academically. Usually measured on an 8-point scale, but graph has been truncated for visual effect.

LGBTQ+ students who reported more inclusion of diversity issues in their curriculum had significantly better school-based well-being than LGBTQ+ students in schools with little to no inclusion.

Unsurprisingly, LGBTQ+ students with higher levels of these forms of well-being were significantly more likely to say they would attend university.

Teacher attitudes make a difference

The study also measured how LGBTQ+ students perceived themselves academicallyknown as "academic self-concept." This is measured using eight items that include statements such as: "compared to others my age, I am good at most school subjects" and "it is important to me to do well in most school subjects."

The survey then asked students to indicate how true it was that their "teachers talk about same-sex attraction (lesbian, gay or bisexual people or topics) in a positive way." Response options ranged from "definitely false" to "definitely true."

Looking at students' mean (average) academic self-concept score against their ratings of teacher positivity, results show that where students viewed their teachers as more positive about same-sex attraction across each of the six response options, they also reported higher academic self-concept.

Likewise, students were asked to indicate how frequently their teachers "do something or say something positive, like stop the student(s) or talk to them about using that language" when "negative language about lesbians, gays or bisexual people is used by students and a teacher or school staff member is present." Response options ranged from "always" to "never."

As the graph below shows, students who indicated that their teachers "always" intervened had the highest average academic self-concept, with students who indicated their teachers "never" intervened, reporting the lowest average academic self-concept.

These results show more training and encouragement should be given to Australia's teachers to speak out against homophobic and transphobic harassment and violence in ways that educate students and reduce its incidence. Such efforts, alongside positive inclusion, can enable LGBTQ+ students to reach their full potential.

Explore further Youths with diverse gender identities bullied up to three times more than peers

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Dave Willard's ledger of birds added to the museum's collections, with a measuring tool and a Tennessee Warbler specimen. Credit: Kate Golembiewski, Field Museum

Every night during the spring and fall migration seasons, thousands of birds are killed when they crash into illuminated windows, disoriented by the light. But a new study in PNAS shows that darkening just half of a building's windows can make a big difference for birds. Using decades' worth of data and birds collected by Field Museum scientists at Chicago's McCormick Place convention center, the researchers found that on nights when half the windows were darkened, there were 11 times fewer bird collisions during spring migration and 6 times fewer collisions during fall migration than when all the windows were lit.

"Our research provides the best evidence yet that migrating birds are attracted to building lights, often causing them to collide with windows and die," says Benjamin Van Doren, a postdoctoral associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the paper's lead author. "These insights were only possible thanks to over 40 years of work by David Willard at the Field Museum, who led collisions and light monitoring efforts."

In 1978, Willard, the museum's collections manager emeritus, heard an offhand remark about birds hitting the McCormick Place, North America's largest convention center that happens to be just a mile south of the museum. So, he investigated.

"I went down early one morning, just out of curiosity, and wandered around and actually found four or five dead birds," says Willard. "I might not have gone back if I hadn't found anything that first day, and now here we are, 40 years later and 40,000 birds later."

Willard and his colleagues, including Field Museum co-author Mary Hennen and other Field staff and volunteers, have visited the site every day before sunrise during migration season, sometimes as early as 3:30 in the morning. Some days there are no birds; other times, there are as many as 200. Willard collects the dead birds and brings them back to the museum, where he records each one in a ledger and adds them to the museum's collection.

A drawer of birds killed crashing into the city's windows in the Field Museum's collection. Credit: Ben Marks, Field Museum

Around twenty years ago, Willard began to notice a pattern on nights when the lights were out at McCormick Place, around holidays or construction work, there were fewer birds on the ground the next morning. As the building's lighting patterns began to vary more, he began gathering data on which windows were illuminated each night, in addition to collecting the birds he found on the pavement.

The new PNAS study is the most in-depth use of the data on lighting patterns to date, combining Willard's specimens and lighting observations with other conditions that might play a role in bird mortality, including weather records and radar data revealing the number of birds in the sky on a given night. "We developed a statistical model based on the number of windows illuminated at McCormick Place, weather conditions, migratory passage, and time of season. This allowed us to isolate the relationship between window lighting and collisions while accounting for these other factors," says Van Doren. "By joining these different sources of data, we were able to understand how lights, weather, and migration each contribute to collision mortality."

The team found that the total number of birds in the sky on a given night and the direction of the wind both play a role in mortality, but the biggest determining factor was light: when more windows were darkened, fewer birds died. "The sheer strength of the link between lighting and collisions was surprising," says Van Doren. "It speaks to the exciting potential to save birds simply by reducing light pollution."

The researchers were able to quantify that bird-saving potential: they predict that halving the lighted window area could decrease collision counts by 11 times in spring and 6 times in fall. By turning out half the lights during migration seasons, bird mortality at McCormick Place could be reduced by 59%.

The researchers note that McCormick Place is far from unique it's been monitored for longer than any other Chicago building, but, Willard says, "There's hardly an address in downtown Chicago that doesn't have a bird in the Field Museum's collection, thanks to the efforts of the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors." However, there are a few factors that make the McCormick Center especially dangerous for birds, including its massive size, its isolation from other buildings, and its proximity to Lake Michigan, which birds are sometimes hesitant to fly over.

Four colorful birds killed crashing into the windows at McCormick Place, now in the Field Museum's collections. Credit: Karen Bean, Field Museum

"Buildings all across North America, all across the world, are killing birds, and those add up," says Doug Stotz, a senior conservation ecologist at the Field. "What we've learned in the past 20 years about lights being on has caused the city of Chicago to create its Lights Out program, which requires buildings' external lights to be turned off during peak migration. I hope this paper will show why it's important to turn off internal lighting as well, especially in Chicago, which is the country's deadliest city for migrating birds."

Van Doren is also eager to see the project's findings applied. "Our study contains a hopeful message: we can save birds simply by turning off lights during a handful of high-risk days each spring and fall," he says. "By adapting our existing public migration forecasts to identify nights with high collision risk, we will be able to issue targeted lights-out advisories several days in advance."

In addition to the study's implications for bird conservation, it also speaks to the importance of natural history collections in documenting global change. "These collision data are even more valuable because they are backed up by specimens that are available for study in the Field Museum," says Ben Winger, one of the paper's senior authors, an assistant professor and curator at the University of Michigan and a Field Museum graduate student alumnus . "This will allow future scientists to go a step further and study the connections between many aspects of avian biology and conservation relevant questions."

"It's a classic museum data set," agrees Stotz. "We do a lot of collecting without knowing exactly what the specimens will be used for. But down the line, when people say, 'I wish we had information on X, Y, or Z,' we do it's in the museum."

Explore further Chicago tops list of most dangerous cities for migrating birds

More information: Benjamin M. Van Doren el al., "Drivers of fatal bird collisions in an urban center," PNAS (2021). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Benjamin M. Van Doren el al., "Drivers of fatal bird collisions in an urban center,"(2021). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2101666118
Many mainstream depictions of immigration at the southern border of the United States paint a dark picture, eliciting imagery of violent gang members and child trafficking. But how many undocumented immigrants are really involved in this kind of activity? Many people may be surprised to learn the answer is far fewer than they think.

A new study from the Peace and Conflict Neuroscience Lab (PCNL) at the Annenberg School for Communication found that Americans dramatically overestimate the number of migrants affiliated with gangs and children being trafficked, and that this overestimation contributes to dehumanization of migrants, lack of empathy for their suffering, and individuals' views on immigration policy. In addition, the researchers developed and tested interventions to address this misinformation and increase empathy for undocumented immigrants.

"We noticed that false narratives about undocumented immigrants as criminals or as having criminal intentions are commonly circulated in the public," says Samantha Moore-Berg, a PCNL postdoctoral fellow and lead author of the study. "We were curious about the impact of these narratives on attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy support, and whether by correcting these narratives, we are able to foster more positive attitudes toward immigrants."

The study aimed to compile data on Americans' (mis)perceptions of immigrants' motivations for crossing the southern border, determine whether those (mis)perceptions affected Americans' policy positions, and develop successful interventions for addressing (mis)perceptions and increasing empathy.

Study participants, on average, estimated that 15% of migrants at the southern border are affiliated with gangs and 25 to 35% of children at the southern border are being used as props by adults who are not their parents for immigration purposes. In reality, the Department of Homeland Security suspects approximately 1% of immigrants have gang connections and fewer than 0.1% of children are being trafficked.

The researchers found that participants' erroneous beliefs about immigrants affected their views on immigration policy and caused them to view immigrants with less empathy and to dehumanize them more. However, after a successful intervention, which included viewing the correct statistics on immigrant behavior and watching an emotional video of an immigrant parent and child being reunited after the U.S. separated them at the border, participants' levels of empathy for immigrants increased, their dehumanization of immigrants decreased, and their support of less punitive immigration policy increased.

"By both correcting these false narratives about immigrants and unlocking empathy toward them, we were able to foster more positive attitudes toward immigrants and encourage greater support for more humane immigration policies" Moore-Berg says. "This gives us hope that by shifting narratives about immigrants to be both more accurate and empathetic, we can ultimately foster greater acceptance of immigrants."

"Empathy, Dehumanization, and Misperceptions: A Media Intervention Humanizes Migrants and Increases Empathy for Their Plight, but Only If Misinformation about Migrants Is Also Corrected," was published today in Social Psychological and Personality Science. In addition to Moore-Berg, authors include Boaz Hameiri (Tel Aviv University) and the late Emile Bruneau.

Explore further How immigrants are portrayed on TV has real-life ramifications

More information: Samantha L. Moore-Berg et al, Empathy, Dehumanization, and Misperceptions: A Media Intervention Humanizes Migrants and Increases Empathy for Their Plight but Only if Misinformation About Migrants Is Also Corrected, Social Psychological and Personality Science (2021). Journal information: Social Psychological and Personality Science Samantha L. Moore-Berg et al, Empathy, Dehumanization, and Misperceptions: A Media Intervention Humanizes Migrants and Increases Empathy for Their Plight but Only if Misinformation About Migrants Is Also Corrected,(2021). DOI: 10.1177/19485506211012793
As part of this study, the researchers commissioned an illustration by artist Kathryn Killackey. The illustration is a representation of the pre-Columbian landscape around 3,500 years ago, based on their reconstruction, and details what they believe the region would have looked like at the time. Credit: Kathryn Killackey

A new study co-authored by University of Central Florida researchers shows that pre-Columbian people of a culturally diverse but not well-documented area of the Amazon in South America significantly altered their landscape thousands of years earlier than previously thought.

The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show evidence of people using fire and improving their landscape for farming and fishing more than 3,500 years ago. This counters the often-held notion of a pristine Amazon during pre-Columbian times before the arrival of Europeans in the late 1400s.

The study, which was conducted with experts from the UK's Northumbria University, also provides mores clues to the past of the diverse, but not well-documented, cultures that live in the area known as the Llanos de Mojos in northeastern Bolivia.

"This region has one the highest diversity of languages in the world, which reflects distinct ways of life and cultural heritage," says study co-author John Walker, an associate professor in UCF's Department of Anthropology. "We know something about the last 3,000 to 4,000 years of, say Europe or the Mediterranean, but we don't have some of that same information for the people here. That makes this an incredible story waiting to be written."

Part of the way researchers hope to write these stories is to uncover the economic practices of the distant past.

The flat, wetland landscape of the Llanos de Mojos is used for cattle ranching today, but archaeologists have noted for years the evidence from remnants of pre-Columbian raised fields and fish weirs for aquaculture. These remnants indicated the land was once used instead for farming and fishing. The archaeologists just didn't know when or how far back in time these activities starteduntil now.

Previous research pointed to a date of about 300 C.E., or about 1,700 years ago. However, the new study combined expertise from multiple disciplines, such as anthropology, paleoethnobotany and paleoecology, to indicate that intensive land management started much earlier, at about 1,500 B.C.E, or about 3,500 years ago.

"This finding is important because it provides evidence that the Amazon is not a pristine wilderness but has been shaped and designed by indigenous people thousands of years before the Spanish arrived," Walker says.

This is new information for both the history of the cultures of the Amazon, which have not been studied as much as other cases, like the Mayas or Incas, and for the area, which is often thought of as an untouched world before the arrival of the Spanish.

Neil Duncan, the study's lead author and a paleoethnobotanist in UCF's Department of Anthropology, specializes in studying archaeological and paleoenvironmental plant remains to learn how humans and plants interacted in the past.

With help from the research team, Duncan extracted two, five-foot long cores of earth from two locations about 13 miles apart in the Llanos de Mojos.

By examining these cores, Duncan found corn and squash phytoliths dating as early as 1380 B.C.E and 650 B.C.E, or about 3,000 years ago. Phytoliths are microscopic silica particles from plant tissue, and the findings suggest these were crops grown in the numerous raised fields that dot the area.

Colleagues from Northumbria University in the United Kingdom examined the cores for charcoal, pollen and diatoms, which are single-celled alga indicative of aquatic environments.

Both cores showed similar trends of initial dry conditions in the oldest layers of earth, followed by increased wet conditions and increased use of wood burning, as evidenced by the presence of high diatom concentrations and charcoal concentrations, respectively. The researchers say wood burning could be for cooking, pottery, warmth and more.

"This is the first time that we've been able to show in the past how people managed their land and water resources in a coupled system," says Bronwen Whitney, an associate professor of geography and environmental sciences who led the research by the Northumbria University team. Whitney is an expert in historic environmental changes, particularly in South and Central America.

"The intensification of plant, fire and water management occurred at the same time, which emphasizes how farming or fishing were equally important to the people of the region," Whitney says.

Also of note is that the shifts in the two cores to more intensive land management happened at different periods, the researchers say.

One core, known as the Mercedes core, showed the shift to wetter conditions and increased fire use starting at 1,500 B.C.E, or about 3,500 years ago. The other, extracted from a location about 13 miles farther south and known as the Quinato-Miraflores core, showed the shift occurring at about 70 B.C.E., or about 2,100 years ago.

Since broadscale climate changes would have affected both areas at the same time, the time difference between the two cores suggests humans were purposefully engineering the land, including draining water in some areas, retaining it in others, and using trees for fuel.

"So, what's happening in the landscape is that that it's becoming wetter, and we think that some of those trees are being flooded out and so they're not as well represented," Duncan says. "And if things are getting wetter then we shouldn't see more charcoal. So, the interpretation is that we would only see these high amounts of charcoal if it's humans doing some very intentional and intensive burning."

The researchers say the next steps are to investigate the function, history, and role of the area's fish weirs and to apply new techniques to date earthworks directly and reconstruct a more detailed agricultural history for the region.

As part of this study, the researchers commissioned an illustration by artist Kathryn Killackey. The illustration is a representation of the pre-Columbian landscape around 3,500 years ago, based on their reconstruction, and details what they believe the region would have looked like at the time.

Explore further Tracing the history of farming in the Amazon

More information: Neil A. Duncan el al., "Pre-Columbian fire management and control of climate-driven floodwaters over 3,500 years in southwestern Amazonia," PNAS (2021). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Neil A. Duncan el al., "Pre-Columbian fire management and control of climate-driven floodwaters over 3,500 years in southwestern Amazonia,"(2021). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2022206118
Pasi Korpelainen and Aleksi Ritakallio doing a final check before a hyperspectral drone flight. Credit: University of Eastern Finland

Researchers from the Department of Geographical and Historical Studies at the University of Eastern Finland, and from the Finnish Environment Institute, are collaborating in the IBC-Carbon project to develop novel remote sensing methods that can be used explore forest biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

Led by Professor of Environmental Geoinformatics Timo Kumpula and Leading Scientist Petteri Vihervaara (Finnish Environment Institute), the group has tested various remote sensing methods to detect different tree species in the Evo research area, among other places. In Evo, very high-resolution remote sensing data have been collected from an area of 83 square kilometers, which constitutes a diverse research environment that comprises conserved old forests, commercial forests and a popular camping area.

The researchers have been particularly interested in detecting the European aspen from among other tree species. The European aspen is an ecologically valuable tree species because it is associated with a rich and versatile selection of flora and fauna that maintain forest biodiversity.

"The European aspen is associated with an exceptionally large number of different organisms, such as insects, fungi, lichen, cavity-nesting birds, and endangered species. The European aspen also has a history of being an undesired species from the 1960s to the 1980s, when young aspens were linked to the spread of a fungal disease to pine trees in commercial forests. Later, the significance of the European aspen for forest biodiversity has been understood. High biodiversity values are particularly associated with aspens with a thick bark. Dead aspen trees also maintain biodiversity," says Researcher Sonja Kivinen.

DJIwind4 copter equipped with a hyperspectral sensor (Specim AFX10) taking off. Credit: University of Eastern Finland

Different remote sensing methods yield versatile data

To detect different tree species, the IBC-Carbon research group has conducted hyperspectral and laser scanning measurements from an aircraft, as well as multi-spectral measurements by using drones.

Unlike conventional aerial images, hyperspectral measurement yields data from hundreds of different wavelength ranges, which makes it possible to observe reflection differences between different tree species in the terrain. Laser scanning, on the other hand, enables three-dimensional measurement of objects, providing information on, for example, tree height and crown structure.

The accuracy achieved by the research group in the detection of the European aspen varied between 84% and 92% in the hyperspectral and laser scanning data; in the data collected by drones, the accuracy was 86%.

Researcher Anton Kuzmin sending off an eBee Plus RTK drone for a fixed wing flight.

"This means that the methods used in the study are well-suited for the detection of different tree species. By combining reflection data from different wavelength ranges and laser scanning data on tree height and crown structure, we are able to perform more detailed mapping of trees," Researcher Arto Viinikka says.

However, there are differences in the collection of remote sensing data. From an aircraft, it is possible to cover a larger area at once, whereas a drone allows rapid and multiple flights over smaller areas. The fact that aircraft flights are considerably more expensive than drones also dictates the terms of research.

"The use of data collected from drones is becoming more common rapidly, especially when high-resolution data are needed," says Researcher Anton Kuzmin.

"Modern machine learning methods also enable an increasingly detailed analysis of the data. It is possible to produce information on the occurrence of the European aspen up to the level of individual trees, and this also provides more detailed information on biodiversity," Researcher Janne Mayra says.

Crown height model formed from a laser scanning point cloud. Credit: University of Eastern Finland

A hyperspectral data cube. Credit: University of Eastern Finland

Marking aerial imaging correction points with a GPS device. Credit: University of Eastern Finland

Air traffic control station in a felling site. Researcher Anton Kuzmin is monitoring the progress of a fixed wing drone flight. Credit: University of Eastern Finland

IBC-Carbon research has reached a midway point

Led by the Finnish Environment Institute and funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland, the IBC-Carbon consortium was launched in 2018 and is now in its second three-year funding period.

The consortium's research addresses the challenges the bioeconomy's growth expectations and higher felling rates pose on Finnish forest management, on forest biodiversity, and on the development of carbon sinks that slow down climate change. The coexistence of biodiversity, safeguarding of various ecosystem services, and sustainable use of forests is considered increasingly important.

The objective of IBC-Carbon is to support decision-making by providing information on the different values of forests on the basis of modeling and diverse sets of data. In the coming period, the project will also work closely with the Finnish Ecosystem Observatory (FEO), which is coordinated by the Finnish Environment Institute. The new biodiversity monitoring methods developed by IBC-Carbon, which are based on remote sensing and machine learning, will be immediately available in FEO.

"The IBC-Carbon project funded by the Strategic Research Council has been an exceptionally long research project. Our activities are in full gear and, thanks to the diverse know-how and motivation of our experts, it has been possible to take interesting approaches to research. In addition, the project is linked to and strongly supports the activities of the Forests and Bioeconomy (FOBI) research community at the University of Eastern Finland," Timo Kumpula says.

Explore further Fighting the nature crisis from space: Measuring biodiversity with satellites

More information: Sonja Kivinen et al, A keystone species, European aspen (Populus tremula L.), in boreal forests: Ecological role, knowledge needs and mapping using remote sensing, Forest Ecology and Management (2020). Sonja Kivinen et al, A keystone species, European aspen (Populus tremula L.), in boreal forests: Ecological role, knowledge needs and mapping using remote sensing,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118008 Anton Kuzmin et al, Detection of European Aspen (Populus tremula L.) Based on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Approach in Boreal Forests, Remote Sensing (2021). DOI: 10.3390/rs13091723 Janne Mayra et al, Tree species classification from airborne hyperspectral and LiDAR data using 3D convolutional neural networks, Remote Sensing of Environment (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2021.112322 Arto Viinikka et al, Detecting European Aspen (Populus tremula L.) in Boreal Forests Using Airborne Hyperspectral and Airborne Laser Scanning Data, Remote Sensing (2020). DOI: 10.3390/rs12162610 To learn more about the IBC-Carbon project, please visit www.ibccarbon.fi/en-US.

More information about the work package led by Timo Kumpula is available at www.ibccarbon.fi/fi-FI/Tyopaketit/Tyopakett_4. Journal information: Forest Ecology and Management
Credit: Claire Goiran, Author provided

Although sea snakes aren't usually associated with intimate interactions, our new research is revealing their "sensitive" side.

In a study published today in the Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society, my colleagues and I detail the enlarged touch receptors which evolved in the male turtle-headed sea snake (Emydocephalus annulatus).

We suspect these curious sensory organs help the males keep up with their female counterparts underwater.

As I headed to sea

The sun rises over the calm water of Baies des Citrons in Noumea, New Caledonia. I don my wetsuit and snorkel out in search of turtle-headed sea snakes.

Once I slip into the water it doesn't take long to spot one; a yellow and black banded male swims with purpose along the rocky reef. It's the winter breeding season.

During mating season, a male will search frantically for females and approach nearly everything that moves, including my flippers!

When he does find a female, he begins a curious courtship behaviorundulating his body over hers, while repeatedly prodding his head into her back.

The female swims to the surface to breathe as the smaller-bodied male rushes to keep up. As she dives back down, he becomes disorientated and swims in the opposite direction. Realizing he has lost her, the male erratically circles their last place of contact. She may be meters away, but he'll probably never find her again.

This is a common story for this species. One study found up to 60% of males will lose contact with females they encounter.

A banded male turtle-headed sea snake swims along the reef, looking for females.

Sea sense: how do sea snakes find their mates?

On land, snakes use tongue-flicking to sense and follow sex pheromones left by other snakes. In the water, however, these chemicals are diluted.

Turtle-headed sea snakes also can't see very clearly underwater and have been known to court anything long and dark, including sea cucumbers. To make matters worse, once a female is found, the male must overcome buoyancy force so he doesn't float away from his potential mate.

Given the challenges of living underwater, my colleagues and I hypothesized male turtle-headed sea snakes might have an enhanced sense of touch, to maintain contact with females during close courtship.

Underwater tactile foreplay

Most snakes have a dusting of thousands of touch receptors that look like freckles all over their face. These touch receptors are much larger in sea snakes, potentially so they can sense vibrations made by swimming prey and predators.

A comparison of scale receptors in a land snake (Pseudonaja textilis) and sea snake (Hydrophis schistosus). Credit: Jenna Crowe-Riddell

One of the largest touch receptors on any snake is found on turtle-headed sea snakes. And when we took a closer look at museum specimens, we discovered males have larger touch receptors than females overall.

We also found mature males have enlarged scale structures on their snout, chin and their cloaca (which is an all-purpose hole used for reproduction and excretion). The positioning of these enlarged receptors over the body hints at the role they play in sea snake courtship.

The touch receptors on the chin of males (referred to as "genial knobs") have the same specialized cells as those on the face, but the outer bump is four times larger.

Their position on the underside of the head gives sensory feedback to the male as he swims above females, helping him orient towards the direction of her swimming.

The touch receptors on his anal scales (or "anal knobs") provide feedback to align both snakes' cloacae, which is necessary for sex. Genital alignment may seem like a trivial task, but for tube-shaped limbless snakes, touch receptors on the cloaca are essential.

Males also have a tapered scale on their snout known as the "rostral spine". While courting the female, the male will prod the female's back with this hardened scale.

Comparison of male and female turtle-headed sea snakes. Males have rostral spines (RS) and enlarged genial knobs (GK) and anal knobs (AK). Males also have larger scale receptors (SS). H = hemipene, which is a male reproductive organ. Credit: Chris Jolly, Author provided

We investigated the micro-structure of the rostral spine and found it is made of thickened layers of skin with no specialized sensory cells. As such, we think it may play a role in stimulating female interest in mating.

However, it provides relatively less feedback for the male, especially compared to the touch receptors on his chin and cloaca.

A similar form of "tactile foreplay" has been observed in species of boas and pythons. These snakes have hard claws known as pelvic spurs near their cloaca, which are vestigial remnants of legs lost through evolution!

During courtship, males will scratch and pry at the female's scales during mating. Such sinuous courtship can stimulate beneficial hormonal changes and receptive behaviors in females, such as "cloacal gaping" which increase mating success for both sexes.

Could the rostral spine in turtle-headed sea snakes play a similar role in stimulating females?

Positioning of the scale structures on a male turtle-headed sea snake. RS = rostral spine and GK = genial knob. Credit: Photo of full snake by Max Jackson; photos of tactile receptors by Chris Jolly, Author provided

The mating begins.

Evolutionary transitions

Sea snakes evolved from land snakes some 20 million years ago. Most live their entire lives at sea.

Decades of research have revealed their remarkable morphological adaptations to aquatic life, including paddle-shaped tails, salt-excreting glands and the ability to breathe through their skin. Now, our research is beginning to uncover the importance of touch for social behaviors in sea snakes.

While sea snakes are not typically appreciated for their sensitive side, our discovery suggests an enhanced sense of touch evolved to improve communication within members of a species. This is especially crucial in aquatic environments, where other sensory signals such as vision and pheromones are diminished.

As our work continues, sea snakes are becoming a fantastic example of how evolution can create opportunity from constraint.

Explore further How do sea snakes find their mates?

More information: Jenna M Crowe-Riddell et al, The sex life aquatic: sexually dimorphic scale mechanoreceptors and tactile courtship in a sea snake Emydocephalus annulatus (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae), Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (2021). Jenna M Crowe-Riddell et al, The sex life aquatic: sexually dimorphic scale mechanoreceptors and tactile courtship in a sea snake Emydocephalus annulatus (Elapidae: Hydrophiinae),(2021). DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blab069

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Research between the University of Liverpool, UK and National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan has revealed a new charge storage mechanism that has the potential to allow rechargeability within calcium-air batteries.

In a paper published in the journal Chemical Science, Professor Laurence Hardwick from the University of Liverpool's Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy (SIRE) and colleagues discovered a distinctive form of charge storage at the electrode interface described as trapped interfacial redox. This new finding introduces a new mechanism of charge storage that could be harnessed in practical devices.

Lead author of the paper, Yi Ting (Leo) Lu, is a joint Ph.D. student in the dual Ph.D. program between the University of Liverpool and National Tsing Hua University. He said, "We started investigating these electrolyte systems as part of understanding how to develop a metal-air battery based upon calcium metal, which is a highly abundant earth element, creating a highly sustainable battery technology."

"The research explores the formation of an electrochemically generated interlayer coating on electrode surfaces that confines the reduced form of oxygen gas known as superoxide, allowing it to then be readily oxidized."

The research was carried out in an electrolyte designed for a calcium-air battery, which had so far been shown to be practically irreversible. The research team noticed that when the electrode was cycled many tens of times, the electrochemical process became steadily more reversible, and a series of experiments were conducted to fully understand the mechanism.

Dr. Alex Neale, who is also part of the research team, said, "Through systematic electrochemical and spectroscopy investigations, we began to understand the origins of this reasonably strange and exciting new process appearing in our measurements. The new mechanism of trapped interfacial redox we defined facilitates a previously unseen degree of reversibility for systems based on the calcium-air battery."

Further work will explore how readily this phenomenon is observed in different electrolyte systems and to understand whether the charge stored can be further exploited, scaled up and used in a practical system for energy storage.

Due to the UK lockdown in March 2020, Yi Ting (Leo) Lu returned to Taiwan six months earlier than planned, so to complete the study the team set up parallel experiments within both Liverpool and NTHU labs to cross compare results and ensure reproducibility of observations.

Explore further Significant progress in lithium-air battery development

More information: Yi-Ting Lu et al, Trapped interfacial redox introduces reversibility in the oxygen reduction reaction in a non-aqueous Ca2+ electrolyte, Chemical Science (2021). Journal information: Chemical Science Yi-Ting Lu et al, Trapped interfacial redox introduces reversibility in the oxygen reduction reaction in a non-aqueous Ca2+ electrolyte,(2021). DOI: 10.1039/D0SC06991D
People who were marginalised before the coronavirus were disproportionately impacted by the situation. Credit: Remi Walle / Unsplash

Viruses like COVID-19 make no distinction between those they infect. They should in theory cause disease in the rich just as they do the poor and pay no heed to social status or cultural background. But in practice the pandemic has widened the gulf between vulnerable groups and other populations in Europe rather than helping to level out inequalities in society, researchers warn.

People who were marginalized before the coronavirus appearedsuch as migrants, poorer communities and disabled peoplewere disproportionately impacted by the lockdowns and other responses deployed to tackle the health crisis.

"The overall consensus is that the fault lines in society were made more obvious and in many cases deepened during the pandemic," said Jil Molenaar, a researcher at the Centre for Migration and Intercultural Studies at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She is part of the COVINFORM project, which is examining how the pandemic and the response measures put in place to tackle it have impacted vulnerable communities.

"At the beginning there was some talk that this crisis would be a great equalizer as the virus could infect anyone, but now it is agreed this was definitely not the case," said Molenaar. She and her colleagues are reviewing the response by governments, public health authorities and community organizations in 15 countries, then combining this with fieldwork and in-depth interviews with people from vulnerable populations, such as ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants or those on lower incomes.

They have found that while most of the official advice on COVID-19, such as who should isolate and vaccination priorities, has focused on medical vulnerability to the virussuch as in the elderly or those with chronic illnesses. Advice tended to overlook those whose socioeconomic position, immigration status or language abilities meant they were disproportionately affected by other aspects of the pandemic.

"If you are thinking more broadly than just exposure to the virus, people with chronic illnesses are more likely to suffer from delays and disruption to ordinary routine care caused by the pandemic," said Molenaar. "People who were already living in poverty have also been disproportionately hit because of the economic crisis that has resulted."

Children

Those from poorer communities with children were particularly hard hit when schools were closed during the lockdowns in different countries. Many families relied upon school meals to help provide adequate, nutritious food for their children. Those who could not afford laptops were also unable to take part in online lessons that were used to replace many classes.

"Children who did not have the same equipment as other children in their class were being left behind," said Dr. Tina Comes, associate professor on designing resilience at TU Delft. She is part of the HERoS project, which has been modeling the impact of different responses to the COVID-19 crisis to help inform future decision making by local, national and international authorities in Europe.

Dr. Comes said that the models clearly show that the 'mixing that normally happens in a society' has been greatly reduced during the pandemic. This segregation can have serious implications. "Children who were speaking a second language (for example) were suddenly not mixing with others outside their own families, so they began losing those language skills again," said Dr. Comes.

The way governments and health authorities chose to communicate with communities also unwittingly led to some groups being disadvantaged, the researchers say. Early results from a survey run in the Hague, in the Netherlands by Dr. Carissa Champlin and Mikhail Sirenko as part of the HERoS project found that non-native Dutch speakers tended not to engage with information on television as their main source of information. This might be because those who did not speak Dutch well struggled to understand the complex information conveyed in official press conferences, says Dr. Comes.

Instead, non-native Dutch speakers made primary use of the internet to get informationabout 41% said they used the internet compared to 20% who used TV, while 36% of Dutch speakers used television as their main information source.

"If you don't have the same access to information, perhaps because it is not easy for you to follow a Dutch press conference, you may look elsewhere," she said. This could have led people finding information from unreliable sources. It also led to new forms of 'digital inequality' among those who did not have the same level of access to online information or computers, said Dr. Comes. "Governments should not exclusively focus on one channel but take into account that a heterogeneous population can only be reached by using a plethora of tailored and online channels."

Undocumented

Language barriers were not the only problem faced by some immigrant communities, however. Undocumented migrants and refugees, for example, are considered vulnerable due to their legal status in the country where they live. Without official documents or health service numbers, it can then become difficult to access essential services and medical care.

"This is becoming quite relevant in the vaccination programs now as there is a risk people will be left out," said Molenaar.

Access to vital services was also severely restricted by lockdown measures. Dr. Comes and her colleagues compared three different neighborhoods in The Hague, in the Netherlands, and found that as people were restricted to their neighborhoods, their access to urban services such as education and support structures varied between income groupseither because of the type of transport they had available or because of digital literacy issues as services shifted online.

"There were a lot of overlapping issues," said Dr. Comes. "The people who were disproportionately affected tended to do jobs that meant they couldn't work from home, but they also have bigger families, more care responsibilities for children and face language barriers. Often these communities are very tight knit, so they are helping each other out in a network, but that was taken away by the lockdowns as people were not supposed to visit each other."

And this widening of inequality within societies around Europe is likely to persist for some time even after the pandemic subsides. Those children that have fallen behind fellow classmates in education because they struggled to access lessons online, for example, could suffer the effects of this later in life unless they are offered additional support to catch up, says Molenaar. The economic effects of the pandemic are also likely to reverberate for longer than the virus itself, and unemployment will hit those on lower incomes harder than those who earn more.

"There is no easy way to address these longer term effects with single top-down solutions," said Molenaar. "The key would be for policy makers and authorities to shift from paternalistic strategiesbased on assumptions that "we know what is best for you"to bottom-up strategies that prioritize participation and representation, to actively engage with different groups in society and respect their agency in knowing what works for them."

Learning disabilities

One group that has been particularly hard hit by the virus are those with learning disabilities. In some countries, such as the UK, death rates among people with learning disabilities were six times higher than in the general population in the first wave of coronavirus.

"In the data we have today, there is good evidence that people with disabilities and especially those with intellectual and learning disabilities, are being quite badly hit by COVID-19," said Dr. Jessica Dimka, a biological anthropologist at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway.

Dr. Dimka has been studying how the 1918 influenza pandemicwhich claimed more than 50 million lives as it swept around the worldimpacted disabled people. Her project, DIS2 has been using historical records from mental health institutions in Norway alongside data on people with disabilities living in northern Sweden during the 1918 pandemic. Combining this with computer modeling, she is hoping to look at how the disease itself spread among these groups and also how they were affected by social factors.

Data from both the 1918 pandemic and the one happening today suggests that people with disabilities should feature far more prominently as an at-risk group in public health responses to COVID-19 and future pandemics, according to Dr. Dimka.

"If you look at the vaccine recommendations in Norway, and I'm sure it will be true for a lot of different countries, the emphasis is on high-risk individuals," said Dr. Dimka. While a couple of learning disabilities do feature in official vaccination recommendations, most do not and the advice is often not consistent, she says. "One of the things that has been most striking is that it feels like we didn't learn a whole lot from past pandemics."

Lessons

With the risk of pandemics likely to increase in the future, both Dr. Comes and Molenaar agree there are important lessons to be learnt about how vulnerable groups are treated.

"In terms of crisis communication, it took too long for people to realize there are lots of people who are not able to access or understand this official information," said Molenaar. "Many of the pandemic preparedness plans that existed before COVID-19 didn't have details about how the responses could address the needs of different vulnerable groups. Civil society was left to pull a lot of the weight in the early stages."

While many communities set up neighborhood initiatives to help out those who were struggling during the pandemic, there was little coordination between them. "We saw a lot of the initiatives that sprang up were very fragmented and not really connecting with each other," added Dr. Comes.

The key, all three researchers say, is to have plans in place before a pandemic hits as then vulnerable communities won't be overlooked or missed out in the emergency responses that follow.

"The key thing is to be aware that some people are going to struggle more," added Molenaar. "And have a plan."

This story is part of a series in which we hear from the next generation of scientists and researchers who are working to tackle global challenges.

Discussions of preparedness lessons from COVID-19 and how research and innovation can help to leave no one behind in the post-pandemic recovery will take place on 23 June as part of the European Commission's Research and Innovation Days conference.

Explore further How pandemic responses neglected disabled people's rights
Everyone with an account that featured that button  even those that were still active and had a balance  would have to reapply for unemployment in BEACON to file their weekly claim. The function does not work on the BEACON mobile app, so claimants must either open a browser window on their phones or use a computer.
We have never been in a better position vis a vis COVID than we are today. I have such respect for the actions of New Yorkers because New Yorkers are the one who determine the positivity rate  and they have done a fantastic job, he said.

The state has administered about 19.5 million vaccinations. About 10.9 million have received at least one dose and about 9 million are fully vaccinated, according to Cuomo.

We have done more shots in arms than any other big state in the country, he said.

The state is at a vaccination rate of 68.6% overall. Cuomo said he wants that to increase to 70% in order to lift the capacity limits, social distancing requirements, enhanced cleaning and disinfection protocol, health screening and contract tracing.

Masks will only be required as recommended by the CDC. There still will be some institutional guidelines, large venues schools, public transportation, hospitality, nursing homes, but we hit 70%, well be back to life as normal, or as normal as you can be post-COVID, he said.

However, the pace of vaccination has slowed.
School leaders then spent the weekend figuring out their own policies, while some parents took to social media to question why the Cuomo administration made the change with just days left in the school year. New York City, the nations largest school district, made clear Friday it planned to keep its mask requirement.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was still recommending schools to mandate masks because of the lack of vaccine eligibility among children below age 12.

But on Sunday, the Education Department said that it spoke with members of Cuomos executive staff, who said the state's letter to the CDC was intended to seek advice but hasn't changed any existing arrangements.

Therefore, schools should continue to operate under their existing procedures until further notice, reads the Education Departments guidance. No changes have been, or will be, made by the executive until after Monday June 7 to afford the CDC an opportunity to respond to the letter.

Cuomos initial move was cheered by Republican legislators, who wrote letters to him last week asking that he lift the mask mandate over concern from families about requiring kids to wear masks in anticipated summer heat.
The economist, who specializes in the Vermont economy, has been writing about the topic for VTDigger.

It turns out the difference between New York and Vermont may not be so great.

The unemployment rate has always been a flawed measure, and Woolf says the pandemic only made that worse.

The standard assessment of unemployment does not count people who are not looking for a job, for instance, because they are afraid of venturing out and catching an infectious disease.

The data is also based on a standard set of survey questions, which Woolf says did not work well during pandemic conditions.

The way the questions were phrased and the way people answered them, was very different than in normal times, he explained.

Woolf says he prefers to use a different measure, something called the Current Employment Statistics or CES.

Instead of surveying workers, CES asks employers how many people they have on the payroll.

You look at that, New York and Vermont look very similar, in terms of what percentage of jobs we have today compared to just before COVID started, Woolf noted.
Weve heard from enough people in Milton that they really want to have the event as weve done it traditionally, said Milton Town Manager Don Turner.

Milton is holding a parade in the morning, an afternoon barbecue and fireworks at the end of the day. Turner added that if people want to wear masks and distance themselves, they should.

Warrens Fourth of July organizer said the town is doing a toned-down celebration this year. There will be a morning parade, evening fireworks, but there will not be activities for kids at the school, a beer garden or a shuttle bus.

Not knowing where we would be by the Fourth of July, I just didnt want to take any chances of having a huge blow-out event that we then had to unwind. Just too many unknowns. Too many loose ends, said organizer Susan Klein.

Vermonts high vaccination rate, combined with the fact that July Fourth activities happen outdoors, mean it should be OK to gather, Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said.

The overwhelming data, dating way back from March of last year, is that its very challenging to document cases that were transmitted in the outdoors environment, he said. So I would say those activities should be safe, and I would endorse a town who wanted to carry them out in a safe way.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
BURLINGTON, Vt.  A 19-year-old man wanted in Vermont for the attempted murder of two women has been apprehended by police in Nevada, according to authorities.

The Northfield Police Department said Saturday that Aleksander Cherkasov was located in Mesquite, Nevada with his mother, Jennifer Canfield, who had been helping him since he went on the run March 20.

He's been charged with two counts of attempted murder and other charges stemming from an argument with his girlfriend that day in Northfield.

Police say Cherkasov used his car to ram a vehicle driven by a friend of his girlfriend, who had picked her up after the couple's argument, The Times Argus reports. They say Cherkasov drove the friends vehicle off the road but the two women were able to escape before it went over a steep embankment, landing about 40 to 50 feet down.

Northfield Police U.S. Marshals and police departments in Vermont, Florida, New Mexico and Nevada were involved in the search for Cherkasov.
In a past life, Ralph Kopelman sold mens suits.

But these days, most men dont wear suits unless they are attending a wedding, a funeral or a court hearing, says Ralph Kopelman, owner of Cranford Vanilla Bean Creamery in Cranford, New Jersey. Kopelman sold suits for about 30 years, but an earlier life experience was calling him to an entirely new vocation.

When he was growing up in Queens, New York, in the 1970s, Kopelman worked at his fathers candy store. In addition to selling candies and newspapers, Kopelman would scoop ice cream for customers. Although he admits it wasnt a glamorous job, Kopelman has fond memories working behind the counter and making people smile with a cone of ice cream.

That memory pushed him out of the clothing business and propelled him into his passion for ice cream. Kopelman experimented with ice cream recipes at home before enrolling in courses at Ice Cream University in West Orange, New Jersey, a local company that offers seminars, workshops and consulting to would-be ice cream business owners. After taking classes, Kopelmans goal was to make and serve premium, artisanal ice cream.

He and his wife Marianne opened up Cranford Vanilla Bean Creamery in April 2010 and have been busy ever since. Located in the quaint, upscale town just outside of Newark, the shop, situated in a former Carvel ice cream parlor, has become a local favorite, offering more than 32 homemade ice cream flavors.

Making and serving dessert is a far cry from his earlier profession, but Kopelman wouldnt have it any other way.

Look, nobody is happy buying a suit, Kopelman says. But everybody is happy when they buy ice cream.

Kopelman offers a few classic  yet elevated  ice cream recipes you can try at home.

Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream Homemade chocolate ice cream cant be beat; serve it straight-up or top with your favorite nuts, syrups or fresh berries.

French Vanilla Ice Cream A vanilla ice cream recipe is a vehicle for infinite mix-in iterations, from cookie dough to caramel swirl. Start with this base recipe and go from there.

Coffee Ice Cream Good java makes a difference in this coffee ice cream recipe. Pick a variety you like for a cold, creamy dessert with just a little jolt.
His family always meant the most to him, more so than all of the other things put together, she said.

But to the wider public, Soifer is best known for the whimsical events he helped create, from hermit crab races to the Quiet Festival. Others include Weird Week, the Pamper Scamper baby race, Martin Z. Mollusk Day, the King and Queen of Plop and, most recently, Mr. Mature America.

He was a legend, said Diane Wieland, Cape May Countys longtime tourism director. Other towns wished they thought of some of his ideas, she said, especially when they caught the attention of newsrooms around the country.

He had a knack for that, she said. But they always had a message, she added. Trash Buster encouraged visitors not to litter, while Martin Mollusk brought attention to marine life. She said he had a great way of getting kids involved and engaged. She said he always kept the citys family friendly image in mind, and made sure there were plenty events for children.

He was before his time, said Michele Gillian, the executive director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce. His signature events make Ocean City what it is, and they have been recognized throughout the nation and the world. I always said we have the beach, the boardwalk, the bay  and Mark Soifer.
On April 28, Altobelli estimated that the grand total owed to him was more accurately $9,050.26 and sent correspondence to Steinman telling him that.

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When you auction a car off, it is good with the bad, but the tower always gets paid the tow bill. You have cars you have sold for thousands of dollars above the tow bill, and you have cars that you sold for $50. I question how and why you would sell a vehicle for $50 when the going rate for any car in any condition and the going rate for scrap is $300 to $500, Altobelli wrote.

Steinman responded to Altobelli in writing on May 28. Steinman assigned a sergeant to compare Altobellis invoices to the police departments records.

Steinman said the tow fees for a number of vehicles that Altobelli was claiming as unpaid were paid, according to police department receipts on file. He did add additional vehicles, which were auctioned this year, but towed in previous years. Also, it appears he took into consideration paying Altobelli the actual tow fee even if the car sold at auction for less than that fee.

Steinman came up with an amount of $10,377.12, which is $7,805.26 for Court House Towing and $2,571.86 for South Jersey Towing, which is another Altobelli company.
One day, due to his penchant for going on and on, his grandfather told him that since he likes to talk so much, he might as well become a lawyer. He asked what a lawyer was, and was told it was someone who helps people when they are in trouble.

And that was pretty much that.

I was always going be to a lawyer. There was never any doubt in my mind that I was going to be a lawyer, he said. There werent any decisions to make, except where I was going to go to school.

Johnson was born in Hammonton, just 30 miles northwest of Atlantic City, and has spent the majority of his life in the area. This is a fact with which he credits much of his success.

Ive got nice roots, I never have any orienting issues, he said. Im always, you know, grounded and focused on what I want to do, when I want to do it.

He went on to study political science and government at St. Johns University in New York City. After graduation, he spent around 10 months of active duty in the Air National Guard and then completed his calling by attending law school at Villanova.

Johnson then returned home to begin his career. He could have gone off to practice anywhere, but this state tends to have a pulling effect on its inhabitants.
At about 2 p.m., the state Department of Labor posted an update to its Twitter feed, stating that there was no issue with BEACON, but that some enrolled claimants might have to click Apply for Benefits on their portal to reapply for aid and then send in their weekly claim.
Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday he will close the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women and implement prison reforms after a report outlined a history of sexual violence against inmates, including a January attack by guards against six women.

Murphy said the investigative report by former State Comptroller Matt Boxer screams out for the closing of the states only womens prison. He said deeper reforms are also needed, and that process has to begin immediately, although he cautioned that change would take time.

This is a very disturbing report, Murphy said during his COVID-19 briefing Monday afternoon.

The 75-page report Monday morning was based on interviews with some officers as well as Department of Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks, plus videos and 21,000 documents and emails.

Murphy commissioned the investigation after reports that guards attacked at least six inmates on Jan. 11 and 12.
TRENTON  The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Monday that state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal can order the release of police disciplinary files, with some restrictions.

The decision upheld a state appellate court ruling issued last October. That panel ruled unanimously that Grewal has the authority to release the files and rejected arguments made by police and troopers unions seeking to block the releases.

The challengers present a number of concerns; yet, in our view, the Directives satisfy the deferential standard of review, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote in the decision for the unanimous court. They are designed to enhance public trust and confidence in law enforcement, to deter misconduct, to improve transparency and accountability in the disciplinary process, and to identify repeat offenders who may try to move from one sensitive position to another. In short, the Directives are consistent with legislative policies and rest on a reasonable basis.

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Grewal announced his plan last year in the days after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police sparked protests and calls for more police accountability.
JERUSAELM (AP)  Israeli police on Monday said they blocked a planned procession by Jewish ultranationalists through parts of Jerusalem's Old City, following warnings that it could reignite tensions that led to a punishing 11-day war against Gaza's militants last month.

The parade, which celebrates Israel's capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, was underway on May 10 when Hamas militants in Gaza fired rockets toward the holy city, setting off heavy fighting. Some 254 people were killed in Gaza and 13 in Israel before a cease-fire took effect on May 21.

The war was preceded by weeks of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian demonstrators in the Old City and in the nearby neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where Jewish settlers have waged a decades-long campaign to evict Palestinian families from their homes.

The procession, which had intended to go through the through the Old City's Muslim Quarter, is considered by Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem to be a provocation.

In a statement, police said the proposal to hold the parade later this week was not approved, but new plans would be considered. The decision was attacked by organizers, who accused police of caving in to pressure from Hamas.
Maybe it was the house fire near a homeless encampment off Main Street in Venice that killed a beloved family dog.

Maybe it was the blaze that leaped from one of an estimated 223 tents on the Venice Boardwalk and destroyed a commercial building on Ocean Front Walk.

Or maybe its the surge in violent crime, the rash of stolen bicycles or videos of RVs dumping their sewage in the streets.

But Venice Beach, where I live, is on edge these days.

Next to downtowns skid row, Venice has the largest population of unhoused people  an estimated 2,000 in three square miles. Their presence has become more visible over the last year because of the citys decision not to enforce codes that forbid camping on sidewalks during the pandemic.

Homeowners and renters say they feel vulnerable, and they certainly have to cope with a lot. But no one is more vulnerable to catastrophic outcomes than the folks who sleep outside through addiction, mental illness, sheer bad luck or choice.

Part of the solution has got to be more housing, but thats complicated in Venice. In 2017, the neighborhood was declared by The Wall Street Journal as one of the most difficult places in the country to add new housing units.
"Weve had those discussions, were just pushing them hard on that, and, again, very supportive," Matson said of staff for Grassley and Ernst. "Im hoping to get help very soon."

A representatives for Grassley said staff was working to scheduled a meeting with Davenport city officials for Tuesday to discuss additional assistance from the ATF.

"Senator Grassley has said that gun crimes cannot be tolerated in our communities, and its critical that gun laws on the books be enforced at all levels of government," a spokesman said in a statement.

A representative for Ernst said the senator and her staff "look forward to continued discussion with the mayors office about ways to address these issues and to curb crime and violence in our communities."

Matson added city officials have discussed "making some changes pretty quickly and adjust some (policing) strategies" to address the increase in gun violence, but was not willing to say what those strategies might be as they've yet to be finalized.

The city as well, Matson said, is looking to add officers to its ranks and is "in a continuous recruiting process."

"Were talking about how we can recruit more," he said.
CHICAGO  An attorney is calling on Catholic bishops across Illinois to end the "dangerous deceit" and release a full list of religious order priests who face credible sexual abuse accusations.

Attorney Jeff Anderson last week made public the identities of 175 priests accused of sex abuse, including 117 who previously worked in the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Those names came from lawsuits as well as lists compiled by the religious orders themselves, among other sources, he said.

Anderson said the archdiocese has released the names of only two of those problem priests.

"Catholic bishops in Illinois have been hiding the names, the identities of religious order priests who have been publicly accused of child sexual abuse," he said Thursday during an a online news conference.

"It raises the question: How many more kids are going to get hurt because of the non-disclosure?"

The Chicago archdiocese declined to comment on Anderson's demand.
Swanson, a U.S. Army combat veteran, said last month that legal problems have worsened his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Support and controversy

KTS leaders posted photos, videos and other information on Facebook to expose and shame people they suspected of being pedophiles. They sometimes posed as underage girls online and lured men to various locations, presumably to have sex; videotaped the confrontations and broadcast them on YouTube.

KTS leaders say their undercover operations have led to arrests, but they've also been criticized by law enforcement for vigilantism that can interfere with investigations and prosecutions.

KTS: Stop Sexual Assault, one of the organization's Facebook groups, has more than 51,000 followers.

Despite what critics claim, Swanson said, he has made very little money off KTS activities. He works as an auto mechanic.

"We were trying to do a good thing, trying to spread awareness throughout the community," he said. "It kinda sucks that we have to end it this way. It is what it is. ... But it was nice to see the community support and to let people know what's going on out there."
The aurora borealis, or northern lights, could easily be described as Earth's greatest light show. The theory of how the aurora is created has been speculated but never proven, until now.
Another veteran of the Battle of Normandy, British Capt. David Mylchreest, was also present. He landed with his team in Normandy on June 12, 1944, to replace officers who had died in the first days of the fight.

Shay then took part in a commemoration at the American Cemetery later in the day in Colleville-sur-Mer, on a bluff overseeing Omaha Beach, in the presence of officials from the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany and other allied countries.

The cemetery contains 9,380 graves, most of them for servicemen who lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. Another 1,557 names are inscribed on the Walls of the Missing.

Most public events have been canceled, and the official ceremonies were limited to a small number of selected guests and dignitaries.

Denis van den Brink, a WWII expert working for the town of Carentan, site of a strategic battle near Utah Beach, acknowledged the big loss, the big absence is all the veterans who couldnt travel.

That really hurts us very much because they are all around 95, 100 years old, and we hope theyre going to last forever. But, you know... he said.
I think its important that we recognize where we are in the campaign as a whole, said Mileah Kromer, a professor of political science at Goucher College and the director of the Goucher Poll, who noted that some successful candidates in previous statewide races were still relatively unknown this far out from the election. I wouldnt expect anybody to have high levels of name recognition right now, save for Peter Franchot, and even then its not as if hes a U.S. senator or an incumbent.
Something momentous happened in Israel on Wednesday that could have a major impact on Jewish-Arab relations.

I dont just mean the ousting of the far right Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, pending ratification by the Knesset. Israels longest serving premier, from 2009 to the present and 1996-1999 before that. Netanyahu had clung to power with Trump-like tenacity through four indecisive elections in two years  and seemed headed for a fifth when he was unable to put together a coalition with a majority of seats.

At the last moment, eight Israeli political parties from right, left and center  some with totally contradictory ideologies  managed to pull together a governing majority on Wednesday, united by their intense dislike of Netanyahu. The new prime minister will be Naftali Bennett, head of a small religious nationalist party, who styles himself as more right-wing than Bibi and opposes any Palestinian state.

So what has happened that could strongly affect Jewish-Arab relations? The kingmaker in forming the new government was a Palestinian citizen of Israel, Mansour Abbas, whose conservative Islamist party, the United Arab List (known as Raam) won four seats.

This will be the first time that an Arab party will be an actual partner in an Israeli government.
Pathetic! Pathetic, lame, and illogical are the reasons Sen. Chuck Grassley uses to oppose a bi-partisan commission to investigate the Trump-incited insurrection on Jan. 6. To equate a treasonous attack on our Capitol, designed to overthrow our government and destroy democracy, with riots associated with otherwise peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrations is sheer lunacy. They are not equivalent. The latter is causing trouble and needs to be addressed. The former is a blatant attempt to overthrow the duly elected government in order to pay homage to a grudge-carrying former president who continues to espouse the Big Lie that the office was stolen from him.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Valeria Luiselli is pleased to have passed the libraries test with her first novel written directly in English, Lost Children Archive (Sound Desert), which received the Dublin Literary Award.

The 100,000-euro ($122,000) award, sponsored by Dublin City Council, is the top monetary prize for a single novel published in English. The finalists are nominated by libraries around the world.

That really seems to me to be the most beautiful thing about this award, Luiselli said in a recent interview with The Associated Press from New York, where she lives. It is a prize that is not linked, like all other prizes, to the speed of the market, but to the speed of reading.

Published in 2019, Lost Children Archive addresses the issue of migrant children traveling unaccompanied to the United States, something that the author has witnessed first-hand as a translator and interpreter for children at the immigration court of New York.

In the novel, a family made up of a couple of sound documentary creators and their children set out on a road trip from New York to the southern border, something Luiselli did in 2014. This and other trips gave rise to her story about displaced children that is intertwined with the domination and elimination of the Apache culture.
Eastern Iowa Community Colleges (EICC) Board of Trustees has formally proclaimed the college a Trafficking Free Zone.

The board officially approved a resolution at its May meeting, in support of the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking (USIAHT) Trafficking Free Zones program.

EICC asks the citizens of its Clinton, Jackson, Muscatine, Scott, Cedar, Dubuque, Johnson and Louisa County service area to join in learning more about human trafficking and eliminating it in all its forms.

We are very proud to declare ourselves a Trafficking Free Zone, said EICC Chancellor Don Doucette. Our goal is to shed light on the fact that human trafficking is happening in Iowa, and as we encourage the EICC community to educate themselves about this horrible crime, we will eliminate the demand and prevent our young people from being victimized."

When more and more people know about human trafficking, what it looks like, where it is occurring and how to help prevent it, the demand for victims will decrease, and this heinous crime will come to an end, said EICC Board Trustee and Franciscan Peace Center Community Outreach Director Lori Freudenberg.

The Trafficking Free Zones educational program is locally promoted by the Sisters of St. Francis Franciscan Peace Center.
CHICAGO  Eight people were wounded in a shooting early Sunday morning in the Burnside neighborhood on the South Side, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Six men and two women were standing in the 8900 block of South Cottage Grove around 4 a.m. when two occupants of a silver sedan fired shots into the group, police said. Six people were taken to area hospitals in serious to critical condition, and two people were in fair to good condition, officials said.

The victims ages range from 28 to 38, and they were shot in various parts of the body, police said. A 33-year-old man was shot in the chest, a 31-year-old man was shot in the back and leg, a 29-year-old man had a gunshot wound in the back, and a 32-year-old woman had a graze wound in the head. A 28-year-old man was shot in the right leg, a 31-year-old man had a gunshot in the buttocks, a 28-year-old man had a gunshot in the back, and a 38-year-old woman was shot in the left leg.

In other shootings in Chicago over the weekend, one person was fatally wounded and at least a dozen people have been injured since Saturday morning, Chicago police said.
CHICAGO  An 11-year-old girl was shot and seriously wounded in Chicago near the end of a weekend that saw at least 60 people wounded in shootings across the city, police said.

The girl was shot in the back Sunday night when witnesses said they saw someone open fire from a red vehicle in the West Pullman neighborhood on the city's South Side, police said.

She was taken by a relative to a hospital and was said to be in serious condition, police said.

Ashley Santiago said she was enjoying the night breeze in front of her home when she heard the gunshots that wounded the girl.

"We can't really let our kids come out and come play because stuff like this is happening," she told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The girl was among at least 60 people shot, six of them fatally, between 3 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Monday in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reported, citing data compiled from police information.

Those shooting victims included eight people who were standing on a street corner when they were wounded early Sunday as occupants of a passing vehicle opened fire on them, police said.
Also, the group goes on "peace walks" in area "hot spots" to help residents.

"If you are engaging the residents here, they will respond," she said.

Seeking justice

Skyla Pawnell of East St. Louis misses "the charm" of her son, Aaron Prayer.

Prayer was 21-years-old when he was fatally shot on June 4, 2018 on Wimmer Place in East St. Louis. No arrests have been made in this case.

"He was the life of the party," Pawnell said. "He kept everybody up on their feet."

Saturday's event was held three years and one day after Prayer was killed.

Pawnell took the chance to speak to the crowd at the rally to get out her message.

"Until we stand as a community and get rid of the no-snitch rule, nothing's going to change," she said. "Don't wait until it's your son or daughter and decide you want justice. The time is now. Stop making families cry. Stop making mothers cry.

"I encourage each and everyone of us who hasn't gotten justice to keep fighting," Pawnell said. "Don't give up. There's closure for us at the end of the storm as well. You're not in the fight alone. I stand with you side by side. This is our fight."

___

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With a nearly 20-year lock on control of both House and Senate, Democrats have in recent years eased voting access. Pile on top of that the COVID-19 crisis and the accompanying precautions for safe spring and fall elections last year, and there are the elements for West's measure.

The General Assembly drew the lesson that we could do this in the future, in a way that would really bring people in to participate, said Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. It stands in sharp contrast to Texas or Florida, where those Republican governors have actually said, 'Hey, we ran a free, fair and open election  and oh, by the way, what were going to do is make it harder to do that the next time.

West's bill, sponsored in the Senate by Chicago Democratic Sen. Mike Simmons, allows counties to establish permanent lists for which voters can sign up to get mail-in ballots sent to them. County jails could allow those awaiting trial to vote; it's already a practice in Chicago's Cook County Jail.

Election Day would continue to be a state holiday and empty schools use as polling places. Citing security and other issues, schoolhouses have opted out of recent elections, leaving authorities scrambling for polling stops.
This story was updated to correct the number of early votes that had been cast through Monday.

Tuesday is Election Day for Rapid City Area Schools Board of Education race. There are four seats open in Areas 1, 2, 3, and 7, and 10 candidates running.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday in Rapid City, and election results will be listed on the South Dakota Secretary of States website. To find a polling location near you and a list of polling places, go to the Pennington County Elections web page. Polling places will feature social distancing and masks are encouraged but not required.

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Early voting concluded on Monday, and 1,546 people have already cast their vote. This is not typical for Board of Education elections; this is the first time the county has had a standalone school board election, and those races usually have a lower voter turnout than others, according to the Pennington County Auditors Office. In a typical election, there is usually around a 23% voter turnout, but the Auditor's Office said it didn't expect today's turnout to be that high.
Mexico & Banderas Bay Area News



Vaccination of Ages 40-49 Begins in Puerto Vallarta



Vaccination for people ages 40-49 in Puerto Vallarta will begin on Tuesday, June 8 and run through Friday, June 11. Vaccines will be applied from 8 am to 4 pm at La Lija Physical Activity Center in Col. Lomas del Coapinole. Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - 86,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine arrived in the State of Jalisco on Friday, June 4. Vaccination of people ages 40-49 will begin on Tuesday, June 8 and run through Friday, June 11 in 53 municipalities, including Puerto Vallarta.



AstraZeneca (first dose) and CanSino (single dose) vaccines will be applied from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm or until the number of doses assigned for that day is exhausted.



In Puerto Vallarta, vaccination for people aged 40 and over will be administered at La Lija Physical Activity Center, Pablo Franco No. 1000, Col. Lomas del Coapinole. (



At the same time, vaccines will be given to pregnant women over 18 years of age, with more than 9 weeks of gestation, at the Puerto Vallarta Naval Hospital, Calle Educacion s/n, Isla Iguana. (



People ages 50 and over who for some reason did not get vaccinated when it was their turn, will also have the opportunity to be vaccinated at this time.



Pre-registration on the Federal Government website:



The general recommendations for all attendees are:

Do not go to get vaccinated if you are sick or have a fever.

Wear a mask at all times.

Respect social distancing.

Avoid contact with other people.

Respects all sanitary protocols and hygiene measures.



Contraindications

The vaccine is contraindicated if you:



Have suffered from COVID-19 and have not yet recovered (15 days after the last symptom).

Live with any type of uncontrolled immunosuppression.

Have severe allergies.

Have received a blood transfusion, application of blood products, treatment with plasma or antibodies against COVID-19 in the last 3 months.



For more information, visit jalisco.gob.mx - 86,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine arrived in the State of Jalisco on Friday, June 4. Vaccination of people ages 40-49 will begin on Tuesday, June 8 and run through Friday, June 11 in 53 municipalities, including Puerto Vallarta.AstraZeneca (first dose) and CanSino (single dose) vaccines will be applied from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm or until the number of doses assigned for that day is exhausted.In Puerto Vallarta, vaccination for people aged 40 and over will be administered at La Lija Physical Activity Center, Pablo Franco No. 1000, Col. Lomas del Coapinole. ( Click HERE for Google map At the same time, vaccines will be given to pregnant women over 18 years of age, with more than 9 weeks of gestation, at the Puerto Vallarta Naval Hospital, Calle Educacion s/n, Isla Iguana. ( Click HERE for Google map People ages 50 and over who for some reason did not get vaccinated when it was their turn, will also have the opportunity to be vaccinated at this time.Pre-registration on the Federal Government website: mivacuna.salud.gob.mx IS REQUIRED. Be sure to bring a printed copy of your registration and a copy of your CURP (found on your residency card) with you.Do not go to get vaccinated if you are sick or have a fever.Wear a mask at all times.Respect social distancing.Avoid contact with other people.Respects all sanitary protocols and hygiene measures.Have suffered from COVID-19 and have not yet recovered (15 days after the last symptom).Live with any type of uncontrolled immunosuppression.Have severe allergies.Have received a blood transfusion, application of blood products, treatment with plasma or antibodies against COVID-19 in the last 3 months.



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President Joe Biden has said he supports the change in the law. But his administration, like the Trump administration, argued that current immigration law doesn't permit people who entered the country illegally to apply for permanent residency.

On the other side were immigrant groups that argued many people who came to the U.S. for humanitarian reasons have lived in the country for many years, given birth to American citizens and put down roots in the U.S.

Federal courts around the country had come to conflicting decisions about whether the grant of TPS status was, by itself, enough to enable an immigrant to try to obtain permanent residency.

Former President Donald Trump tried to cancel the program for many immigrants, stoking fear they could be sent back to their homelands where they haven't lived in many years.

All of these families that are established in the United States and have lived in our communities for decades faced a very real threat, said Lisa Koop, a lawyer with the National Immigrant Justice Center who also teaches at Notre Dame's law school.

In 2001, the U.S. gave Salvadoran migrants legal protection to remain in the U.S. after a series of earthquakes in their home country.
South Dakota lawmakers on Monday rejected rules proposed by Gov. Kristi Noem's administration that would have set parameters for students who need to use medical marijuana at school.

A legislative committee sent the rules back to the Department of Education for revision after complaining that they would have required access to medical pot in private schools and did not spell out what activities would be off-limits to students who used medical marijuana.

While voters passed a law that requires state agencies to roll out a medical pot program this year, progress has been slow. Noem had proposed delaying the implementation of the law, arguing that her administration needed more time to study the issue and create a program, but that effort failed in the Senate. The Republican governor is now tasked with overseeing the program rollout, even though she opposed it when it was on the ballot in November.

The Department of Education must come up with policies that allow students with a medical marijuana ID card to use the drug while at school. It has until the beginning of the school year to finalize the rules, though the state will not begin issuing ID cards until November.

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For your mornings spent traveling, your afternoons spent by the water and all the times in between, here are nine products that will help make
The company has since tried to distance itself from its less-than-supportive stance toward the LGBTQ+ community

For example, in 2019, Chick-fil-A made major changes to its charitable foundation, ending donations to two organizations that have been criticized for being anti-LGBTQ+  the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Both organizations have taken controversial stands on homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

What's Burger King up to?

Burger King is trying to make up ground in the chicken sandwich wars. Popeyes struck gold with its chicken sandwich in 2019, which sent customers flocking to the fast-food chain to get their hands (and mouths) on one.

Since then, the quick-serve restaurant industry has fallen over itself to get in on the fried chicken sandwich action.

Wendy's, McDonald's, KFC, Shake Shack and many other competitors have blown up their staid chicken sandwiches for new ones or developed additional flavorful menu items. Americans have been eating more chicken and less beef the last few years, and low-growth, low-margin, low-loyalty fast-food companies are desperate for any leg up over the competition.
Residents and members of the public can weigh in this week on the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authoritys annual and capital plans.

The housing authority is hosting a pair of virtual public hearings Wednesday at noon and 5:30 p.m. to gather input.

The opportunities to weigh in come earlier in the process this year, following a request from the RRHAs board of commissioners. The shift is meant to allow more time to amend the proposal to incorporate public feedback before a final vote on it, board members said.

My request to the public is: Come with everything you have, said Barrett Hardiman, a commissioner who was critical of last years process. We are listening. ... Were doing everything we can to make the housing authority work for the entire community.

The draft plans are available for review on the housing authoritys website.
Northam spokesman Grant Neely said: We expect the director to be hired by July 1, but by definition, it will be some time before the new agency would be able to issue emergency regulations.

Virginia lawmakers moved last spring to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. While simple possession will be legal starting July 1, sales will remain illegal until January 2024.

Lawmakers and civil rights groups who supported the bill argued that the paradox was a necessary stopgap to curb the harm of marijuana laws while the state worked to set up a new regulated market.

Under the structure lawmakers agreed to, it will be legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. People caught with more than an ounce but less than a pound will be subject to a $25 civil fine; people caught with more than a pound will face a felony.

On Monday, JLARC proposed that lawmakers create a misdemeanor charge.

Gribbin said the states approach is not gradual enough, and that all other states with legalization have a misdemeanor charge for possession starting at 1 to 2.5 ounces. Gribbin said Virginia could follow the less punitive approach and charge people with a misdemeanor for possession starting at 2.5 ounces up to a pound.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Anyone in line at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

Weather

Tuesdays forecast for the Richmond area calls for cloudy weather in the morning, scattered afternoon thunderstorms and a high of 90 degrees.

Whats on the ballot?

Across the state, voters will choose the Democratic nominees for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general and will cast ballots in about two dozen Democratic and Republican nomination contests for the House of Delegates.

Note: While Virginians do not register by party, if a precinct includes a GOP nomination contest for the House as well as the Democratic contests, a voter must choose to vote in the Republican primary or the Democratic primary and may not vote in both.

The Democratic candidates for governor are former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy; Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas; Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax; former Gov. Terry McAuliffe; and Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond. The Democratic nominee will face Republican Glenn Youngkin.
School board meeting

disappoints resident

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

I could not be more disappointed in the statements made by the Chesterfield County School Board at its June 1 meeting. At the start, Chairman Ryan M. Harter read a statement that Chesterfield County Public Schools system does not support critical race theory" (an academic movement of civil rights scholars and activists who seek to examine the law as it intersects with issues of race and to challenge mainstream approaches to racial justice.)

To my knowledge, there has been no discussion or analysis of this curriculum and its merits to our students. I do know that there are great swaths of American history that I did not learn in Virginia schools. I also know that attacks on critical race theory are popular among partisan media personalities. Harters statement seemed to have less to do with education and more to do with pandering.

Just as disappointing was member Debbie G. Baileys statement that the Virginia governor had failed students regarding the current mask mandate. She stated that masking and vaccination should be a parents choice.
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Vallarta Living



Aid to Families of Children With Cancer June News



June despensas were delivered to very grateful families. We are now supporting 25 families! They all send their thank you's and want everyone contributing to these to know how much the despensas help their families. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - A child diagnosed with cancer impacts an entire family. Not only does a cancer diagnosis turn a child's entire world upside down, but overwhelming medical expenses can add an enormous amount of financial stress on families with minimal income.



In addition to treatments, other costs such as food, lodging for a parent while the child is in hospital, and transportation to and from Guadalajara add to quickly mounting stacks of medical bills. Usually, there are other children to care for. While one parent is staying with the hospitalized child, the other parent struggles to care for the rest of the family.



Aid to Families of Children With Cancer (AFCC) is an organization that supports families who have a child diagnosed with cancer in the Puerto Vallarta region. The organization receives no government funding so relies solely on donations from private donors, community organizations, and fundraisers.



The pandemic has made this past year especially difficult for these families but, thanks to all of you, the AFCC continues to make a difference. Here's the latest news from the AFCC:



June despensas were delivered to very grateful families. We are now supporting 25 families! They all send their thank you's and want everyone contributing to these to know how much the despensas help their families eat healthy and quality food.



The families have also had school meetings this past week, so we hope that the schools will be open again soon. As the children go back to school, they will be needing all kinds of support. The children have to wear uniforms, and they will be needing backpacks and supplies. Aurora is meeting with the moms to determine what's required, so we'll be posting their needs soon.







We have seven children going back and forth to Guadalajara for treatments. The trips and treatments are very tiring for the children, so please keep them in mind this month.



- A child diagnosed with cancer impacts an entire family. Not only does a cancer diagnosis turn a child's entire world upside down, but overwhelming medical expenses can add an enormous amount of financial stress on families with minimal income.In addition to treatments, other costs such as food, lodging for a parent while the child is in hospital, and transportation to and from Guadalajara add to quickly mounting stacks of medical bills. Usually, there are other children to care for. While one parent is staying with the hospitalized child, the other parent struggles to care for the rest of the family.Aid to Families of Children With Cancer (AFCC) is an organization that supports families who have a child diagnosed with cancer in the Puerto Vallarta region. The organization receives no government funding so relies solely on donations from private donors, community organizations, and fundraisers.The pandemic has made this past year especially difficult for these families but, thanks to all of you, the AFCC continues to make a difference. Here's the latest news from the AFCC:June despensas were delivered to very grateful families. We are now supporting 25 families! They all send their thank you's and want everyone contributing to these to know how much the despensas help their families eat healthy and quality food.The families have also had school meetings this past week, so we hope that the schools will be open again soon. As the children go back to school, they will be needing all kinds of support. The children have to wear uniforms, and they will be needing backpacks and supplies. Aurora is meeting with the moms to determine what's required, so we'll be posting their needs soon. Luis Alberto delivered more cards to Arte Viviente as they were almost sold out. And he also delivered a painting for sale. Be sure to stop by and pick up a packet of cards and maybe take his painting home with you!We have seven children going back and forth to Guadalajara for treatments. The trips and treatments are very tiring for the children, so please keep them in mind this month. Please help us by donating HERE. If you would like your donation to go to a specific project, please put this in the comments field.



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In a rare instance, a juvenile has received felony convictions in Roanoke Circuit Court.

Ben Benduc Fayette pleaded no contest Monday to three counts of robbery with a weapon and one charge of using a firearm in a felony as a first offense.

Fayettes hearing this week landed on the same day he turned 15.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, he was ordered into the Department of Juvenile Justice as a serious offender until his 18th birthday, but his case will also become eligible for judicial review in two years.

According to a prosecutors summary of the evidence, on the evening of March 4, someone approached three people sitting in a car, across the street from Forest Park Academy, in the 2800 block of Melrose Avenue Northwest.

He reportedly showed them a gun and demanded cash and valuables.

Security cameras captured footage of the incident, and a search warrant later turned up a jacket, in Fayettes possession, that matched what the suspect was wearing. The victims also identified Fayette as the culprit, prosecutors said.

In Virginia, juveniles can be tried in circuit court if they are accused of serious felonies.
An example of one of the badges (different designs for girls and boys) was the pin that prompted the question that began this discussion.

Because of some delay in manufacturing the pins the first badges were late to the honorees, according to a news item on the club page of the company magazine.

By 1930, club membership had grown to 500, according to Millers research. The club persisted to the 1960s when the magazines focus shifted to more comprehensive coverage of company business and away from family matters.

The change of direction was quick and unexplained in the pages of the magazine, Miller wrote. In July 1964, the last Pocalier page appeared with no farewell  The womans section also appeared, but by the August issue, neither were there anymore.

The questioner wondered what connection there was between the pin in the jewelry box and her family. The only family member who worked for the railroad was her maternal uncle, she wrote.

Given the pin represented a youth club and the uncle had two children, perhaps the pin had belonged to the daughter.
The team walks a neighborhood after gun violence erupts, and has started organizing walks to keep the community conversations going even absent a recent outbreak of gunfire.

Merchant said he wants the team to become a steady presence in the city  a visible sign that the community cares and is banding together to respond to concerns.

The more frequently we go out, the more impact were going to have, he said, adding the work has been welcome by residents so far.

They like to see us out, as much as possible, as soon as possible, he said. We try to get out there and let them know that were here, we understand, we see whats going on and we just want to be a support for them.

The team wears bright orange vests that underscore that desire for visibility. The garb is both practical, as walks sometimes occur on blocks with no sidewalks, and a means of signal boosting that fellow community members are here to help.

The RESET Team is one of several long-term strategies the city is rolling out to address violence and strengthen community bonds.

Over time, the team hopes to build relationships and help bring people together to avoid and prevent gun violence.
DUBLIN  Blaring horns from vehicles streaming out of the Volvo Trucks North America plant at noon Monday announced the start of the promised United Auto Workers strike.

The union locals about 2,900 members and the company are still at odds over a new contract, after unionized workers on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected the latest version.

Inside the union local building across the from the plant on Cougar Trail Road, volunteers set up a lunch buffet for striking workers.

We set it up so they can get fed and go to the picket line, UAW Local President Matt Blandino said.

Blandino said he was not authorized to comment on the negotiations or why members voted down the most recent tentative agreement. He said negotiators from the wider union were working on those issues.

About a dozen members gathered outside the local building declined to comment. Some said they felt the action spoke for itself.

Melissa McDaniel, a new member who came to work at the plants paint building in February, was volunteering on the buffet. She said shes been carrying the union message everywhere she goes, using her car as her sign. The back window read: Beep Beep, Volvos Cheap.
Union workers at Dublin's Volvo Trucks North America plant will strike at noon Monday, according to a letter from the United Auto Workers

The union and the company are still at odds over a new contract, after unionized workers on Sunday again overwhelmingly rejected the latest version.

While being committed to exploring all options for reaching an agreement, issues remain including wage increases, job security, wage progression, skilled trades, shift premium, holiday schedules, work schedules, health and safety, seniority, pension and 401(k), healthcare and prescription drug coverage and overtime, according to the UAW letter.

Meanwhile, the company released a statement Monday morning:

"It is difficult to understand this action, said NRV Vice President and General Manager Franky Marchand. UAW International, Regional, and Local leadership endorsed the tentative agreement, which provided significant economic improvements for all UAW-represented workers, and a package of benefits that is very competitive for our industry and region. We remain committed to the collective bargaining process, and we are confident that we will ultimately arrive at a mutually beneficial agreement.
But, if the turnout this year matches that of the 2017 Democratic primary  550,000  it means that only about 1 in 5 primary voters have cast their ballots. The job for campaigns is getting the rest to the polls by Tuesday night.

In the Richmond metro area, about 16,000 people had voted as of Saturday.

McAuliffe, governor from 2014 to 2018, looms large over the race. With high name recognition and fundraising figures, hes benefited from the trappings of incumbency, though Virginia does not let its governors serve consecutive terms. While polls give him a significant lead, McAuliffes last day on the campaign trail will see him start off in Bristol in Virginias Southwest and make stops in Richmond, Roanoke and Norfolk.

A poll out Friday from Roanoke College showed McAuliffe had the support of 49% of likely primary voters; Carroll Foy was at 11%, followed by McClellan at 9%, Fairfax at 5% and Carter at 1%. The poll surveyed 637 likely Democratic primary voters between May 24 and June 1. Its margin of error was plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
Free and open inquiry inevitably involves conflicting views and strong disagreements, the statement read. Indeed, some ideas may be offensive, noxious and even harmful. We act as responsible members of a shared community when we engage as empathetic speakers and generous listeners.

With the statements adoption, Ryan said the real work remains.

That is to incorporate the statements values into the day-to-day life of UVa, he said.

Whispering Wall

Following a board decision Friday, the Frank Hume Memorial will be renamed the Whispering Wall  the memorials nickname  and inscriptions about the former namesake will be removed. Those inscriptions will be replaced with blocks of a contrasting color, which will cost about $430,000, according to board documents.

Removal would have cost $1.5 million to $2 million.

UVa Architect Alice Raucher said it would be difficult to replace the inscription-bearing blocks with a material that would match the existing structure.

A much better approach is to be more deliberate about the contrast, she said.
Hess said it takes courage and time to become a foster family. UMFS speculates that many families do not have either to spare after living through a year and a half of a pandemic.

We know that for some folks, it can be a stressful time to think about becoming a foster parent, Hess said. But for those who are able, were asking for help at this time, to give back to the community.

Hess said there is particular need for families who are able to foster teenagers and for those who can take a child that cannot be placed in a home with other children.

That includes emergency referrals, where a child is being removed the same day, and referrals for youth who have some exposure or risk factors for sex trafficking, Hess said.

Thats what the community is really needing at this time, she said. Weve had a lot of conversation with our VDSS partners and also other private providers in the community and they are seeing the same thing.

Hess said the stressors of the pandemic have made vulnerable families even more vulnerable.

Referrals from mandated reporters declined early in the pandemic when lockdowns meant there were fewer eyes on children and youth, but those referrals have been picking up again.
The tax deal agreed by the worlds leading advanced nations this weekend is the first substantive proof of revived international co-operation since President Joe Biden brought the US back to the negotiating table. Yet there is still a long road ahead before it can be implemented.

This is a starting point, said French finance minister Bruno Le Maire, pledging that in the coming months we will fight to ensure that this minimum corporate tax rate is as high as possible.

The accord aims to close loopholes multinationals have exploited to reduce their tax bills, ensuring they pay more in the nations where they operate.

G7 ministers backed a global minimum rate of at least 15 per cent, and agreed that countries should have the right to tax a certain proportion of the largest, most profitable multinationals profit in the locations where it is generated.

However, they left much still to be decided in the wider global negotiations, which are being conducted among 139 countries at the OECD in Paris. The first hurdle the G7 agreement faces is winning the backing of the G20 group of nations, which will meet in Venice next month.

While the OECD estimates the proposals could generate an additional $50bn-$80bn a year in tax revenues, the actual sum raised will vary wildly depending on the technical details of the eventual global agreement.

Two factors will have a particular impact: the rate at which any minimum is set and whether countries that implement the minimum can levy it on revenue generated in countries that do not. The scale of the overall impact is particularly sensitive to this latter point, known as jurisdictional blending or country by country top-ups.

NGOs criticised the 15 per cent minimum as being far too low; UK think-tank IPPR said it would not be enough to end the race to the bottom.

But Gabriel Zucman, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley known for his work on tax havens, tweeted that the deal was historic, inadequate and promising  because while 15 per cent was too low, there was no obstacle to reaching a higher rate.

The minimum rate slashes incentives for multinational firms to book profits in tax havens, he said, but added that for the minimum to bite, its essential that it be on a country-by-country basis, since companies could otherwise use tax havens to offset rates set higher than 15 per cent elsewhere.

Ministers and officials at the G7 talks were at pains to emphasise their accord did not mean the world had agreed changes to international taxation, let alone that the plan would ultimately succeed. Instead they couched it as an ambitious attempt to instil momentum into the global talks.

That was acknowledged by other countries. Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe joined the G7 ministers in London, although he has defended his countrys 12.5 per cent rate.

After the announcement he tweeted: I look forward now to engaging in the discussions at [the] OECD . . . Any agreement will have to meet the needs of small and large countries, developed and developing.

The global talks must reconcile countries competing priorities on two elements, known as pillars.

The first, most important to the UK, France and Italy, seeks to ensure the worlds largest companies  especially US digital giants Facebook, Google and Apple  pay more tax in their countries even if they have little physical presence there.

Rishi Sunak, UK chancellor, said the G7 agreement ensured the right companies paid the right tax in the right places, a reference to pillar one.

By contrast US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen did not mention this in her prepared remarks, focusing on the second pillar: a global minimum rate of at least 15 per cent. This would generate more revenue for the federal government in Washington.

The first requires a global agreement and US legislation which must pass through Congress, while the second  which the OECD estimates will raise the most additional revenues  can be implemented unilaterally, but would work better if many countries came on board.

Pillar one faces vigorous opposition in Washington. France, Italy and the UK refuse to abolish their own digital taxes until the US has passed the relevant legislation. Canadian finance minister Chrystia Freeland said after the G7 agreement was announced that her country intended to press ahead with introducing a digital tax too.

Beyond these issues of principle, there remain many unanswered technical questions which could make a big difference to the practical effects of an eventual agreement  including which companies would fall within its scope, and how to define the tax base.

Whilst headline rates matter, competition is likely to continue at the tax base level. This can be messier, said Rita de la Feria, a professor of tax law at the University of Leeds.

Asked how she would sell the deal to US legislators, Yellen said it would provide a level of certainty to corporations in the US and globally about what the environment is theyll be operating in and that environment has been very unstable.

And she hailed the revival of multilateralism.

Privately some ministers said the urgency to do a deal at the G7 was to demonstrate that rich countries still mattered, in a bid to show the world that the 21st century was not going to be dominated by rules set by China.

The west is seeking to regain control of the global agenda by striking agreements in contentious policy areas after four years of the Trump administration when this was impossible, ministers said both in public and in private.

What Ive seen during my time at this G7 [meeting] is deep collaboration and a desire to co-ordinate and address a much broader range of global problems, Yellen said.
Hai Duong exports lychee to Thai

Hai Duong exports lychee to Thailand for first time

Ameii Vietnam exported 10 tonnes of fresh lychee to Thailand by sea on June 5, marking the first time the fresh fruit of Vietnam hit the shelves in Thailand.

Preliminary processing facility of l ychees for export of Ameii Vietnam JSC in Thanh Xa commune, Thanh Ha district, Hai Duong province. (Photo:VNA)

Representatives of Ameii JSC said having Vietnams fresh lychee accepted in Thailand is a huge feat as Thailand is a capital of fresh fruit in the region, and this showed that Vietnamese lychee can compete with other fruits.



Each week, the company hopes to export over 20 tonnes of the summer fruit to supermarkets chain and stores in Thailand.



According to Hai Duong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, by May 31, the province had harvested and marketed about 29,000 tonnes of litchi. Of these, about 15,000 tonnes are exported to China, Laos and Cambodia.

Source: VNA
Nandan Nilekani has called on India to embrace cryptocurrencies as an asset class as authorities round the world grapple with how to accommodate the technology.

The chair of Infosys, the information technology and consulting company, believes cryptocurrencies are too volatile and energy intensive to use as a means of payment and views Indias homegrown Unified Payments Interface digital payments infrastructure as more effective. But he said crypto should be encouraged as an asset to be bought and sold, like a commodity.

Just like you have some of your assets in gold or real estate, you can have some of your assets in crypto, he told the Financial Times in an interview. I think theres a role for crypto as a stored value but certainly not in a transactional sense.

Nilekani said permitting individuals and businesses to tap the $1.5tn market would allow the crypto guys to put their wealth into Indias economy.

The tech executive has long worked with Indian authorities to help craft digital policies, including the Aadhaar biometric identity programme. He also chaired a central bank committee on digital payments in 2019.

India is a potentially big market for crypto but the countrys official stance is unclear, with the spectre of an outright ban looming despite surging volumes among local traders.

A ban would make India one of the worlds most draconian jurisdictions when it comes to digital currencies, as authorities round the world consider how to regulate crypto.

Indias Supreme Court last year overturned a 2018 central bank directive clamping down on crypto. But the market continues to operate in a grey area, with some banks recently threatening to take action against crypto traders.

The government said this year it would introduce legislation that was widely expected to ban private digital currencies in favour of an official, central-bank run coin. Officials have since made more conciliatory-sounding statements.

Infosys has enthusiastically adopted the blockchain technology underpinning cryptocurrencies as it looks to offer a growing range of digital tools to its multinational clients.

But Indias IT industry was hit hard by the countrys ferocious second wave of coronavirus, with companies facing widespread infection among employees and regulators fretting about possible disruption to back-office operations. Nilekani argued the business impact was limited and cases were now falling.

Nilekani argued that Infosyss experience and scale  the company has about 250,000 employees  meant it was well placed to thrive as companies revamp their internal systems to adjust to a post-pandemic routine of remote or flexible working.

This includes demand for shifting on to the cloud. Although Infosys does not usually reveal the identity of its clients, it has secured deals with companies including Daimler, the German carmaker, and US investment group Vanguard in the past year.

I think, frankly, the opportunities today are better than ever before, Nilekani said. In the 40 years Ive been in this industry, Ive never seen so much change and acceleration happening.
Being an accounting and finance guy [Reichenbach has an accounting degree from Bowling Green State University and an MBA from the University of Michigan], I said to Charisse, I dont know what this means but its not good, he told the Rotarians.

Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce President Mike Miller said during his introduction of Reichenbach that he had worked for two Fortune 500 companies prior to buying the car dealership.

We had done well in corporate America, Reichenbach said. We were tremendously blessed and Gods grace and providence was on us but we took literally every penny [we had] and compiled it together and borrowed money. [We were] leveraged to the hilt to buy this dealership.

He fast-forwarded his speech to the final quarter of his first year in business.

Reichenbach said it felt very lonely at times. He added that there were times when he didnt know how he was going to make payroll or how many people he was going to have to let go despite knowing the persons family.

We fired a quarter of our staff that first year because we were hemorrhaging, Reichenbach continued. He said at the time no one knew that the Great Recession would only last for a couple of years.

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To our surprise, we have attendees registered to attend coming from California, North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida and Washington, DC, as well as other cities here in South Carolina, to date, Perry said. We even have an attendee who has attended 50 events around the world, with the Florence, S.C., event being her first ever attending in the United States. So definitely the bar for her experience with attending events in the United States will need to be set high by Florence, S.C.s event.

Launched in Paris in 1988 by Francois Pasquier and some friends, Le Diner en Blanc de Paris marked its 30th anniversary in 2018 with a record 17,000 guests from Paris and around the world. While the technology behind the event may have changed over the years, the principle fueling this event has not: guests dressed in all white continue to gather at a secret location for the sole purpose of sharing a gourmet meal with good friends in one of their citys most beautiful public spaces. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Diner en Blanc International is responsible for developing this secret posh picnic in over 80 cities in 30 countries around the world. Each event is headed by passionate local organizers who fell in love with the concept and wanted to bring it to their city, giving this rendezvous a local flair.
 Might the California Supreme Court find a procedural flaw in the state's many death sentences? | Main | Vera Institute reports on "People in Jail and Prison in Spring 2021" and finds US total below 1.8 million 

June 6, 2021

"Election Contestation and Progressive Prosecutors"

The title of this post is the title of this new paper now on SSRN authored by Ronald Wright, Jeff Yates and Carissa Byrne Hessick. Here its abstract:

A group of change-oriented chief prosecutors use the label progressive prosecutor to describe their distinctive approach to the prosecutors work. But it is not yet clear how deep those proposed changes go. Did media accounts focus on vivid but exceptional election campaigns, or did the last decade deliver a widespread change in U.S. prosecution leadership? We explore this question by collecting the results in prosecutor elections in 200 high-population districts in the United States, between 2012 and 2020. Prosecutor elections have traditionally been sleepy affairs, where incumbents most often ran unopposed and won re-election more often than incumbents in other public offices. Setting aside the difficult issues of measuring how progressive each candidate might be, we simply ask whether prosecutor election campaigns are becoming more contested, now that progressive prosecutors offer an alternative vision of the job. Based on our data, elections in these high-population districts did in fact become more contested over the last decade. The likelihood that an incumbent would run unopposed fell by roughly eight percent for each passing year. This steady disappearance of uncontested elections applied most strongly to non-white incumbents. The incumbent win rate also fell by significant amounts during this period. Today, prosecutor elections involve more candidates presenting more varied and viable choices. Prosecutor elections reveal a growing popular interest in and control over local criminal justice policy.

June 6, 2021 at 07:10 PM | Permalink

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 "Election Contestation and Progressive Prosecutors" | Main | FAMM urges AG Garland to prevent those on home confinement during pandemic from being returning to federal prison 

June 7, 2021

Vera Institute reports on "People in Jail and Prison in Spring 2021" and finds US total below 1.8 million

The Vera Institute of Justice is continuing to do terrific work on the challenging task of collecting (close-to-real-time) data on the number of people in state and federal prisons and jails. Vera is now regularly reporting much more timely information on incarceration than the Bureau of Justice Statistics, which often releases data that lags a full year or more behind. Impressively, and as reported in this post, Vera produced a great report titled "People in Jail and Prison in 2020" in January, and now it already produced this updated report titled "People in Jail and Prison in Spring 2021" with the latest nationwide prison and jail population headcounts. Here is part of the start of the report (with a few sentences I have emphasized):

When the COVID-19 pandemic was first detected in the United States, it was clear that the virus would cause widespread suffering and death among incarcerated people. Advocates were quick to call for prison and jail releases. However, a little more than a year later, decarceration appears to have stalled. After an unprecedented 14 percent drop in incarceration in the first half of 2020  from 2.1 million people to 1.8 million  incarceration declined only slightly from fall 2020 to spring 2021. Generally, states that started 2020 with higher incarceration rates made fewer efforts to reduce incarceration through spring 2021. This pattern speaks to the political, economic, and social entrenchment of mass incarceration. At the federal level, the number of people in civil custody for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is less than one-third of the 2019 population, while the number of people detained for the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) facing federal criminal charges reached an all-time high. Jail populations in rural counties dropped by 27 percent from 2019 through March 2021, the most of any region. The historic drop in the number of people incarcerated was neither substantial nor sustained enough to be an adequate response to the pandemic, and incarceration in the United States remains a global aberration. Recent evidence from the Bureau of Justice Statistics also shows that racial inequity worsened as jail populations declined through June 2020. Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) researchers collected data on the number of people incarcerated throughout 2020 and into early 2021 to provide timely information about how incarceration is changing in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vera researchers estimated the incarcerated population using a sample of approximately 1,600 jail jurisdictions, 50 states, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the USMS, and ICE.

I find all this data fascinating, and I am actually encouraged that prison populations as reported by Vera is now below 1.2 million, which is the lowest it has been in over 25 years (and probably the lowest per capital in more than three decades). This Vera report is clearly eager to stress that incarceration is still "mass" in the US, but I am still eager to note that we are still generally trending in the right direction. Whether that will hold as we get closer to getting past COVID, as as murders and gun assaults are spiking, is the story I will be watching closely in the months and years ahead.

June 7, 2021 at 10:41 AM | Permalink

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I'm relieved to see a decline in the incarceration rate. I hope the trend continues to less than million. Conservatives point to the spikes in homicides but I think the violent crime rate will drop when the country returns to a state of normalcy. Property crimes continued to drop and burglary has declined by 80% in the past 4 decades. It's time for lawmakers to enact effective criminal justice reform so we can end mass incarceration, abolish bail and end mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent sentences.

Posted by: anon | Jun 7, 2021 5:21:16 PM

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Kayleigh McEnany complains that Jen Psaki is getting more positive attention than she did

Media Fox McEnany (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The last press secretary in the Trump White House, Kayleigh McEnany, complained on Fox News that her successor in the Biden administration, Jen Psaki, is getting much more positive media attention than she did.

After it became clear that famed photographer Annie Leibovitz had visited the White House to photograph Ms Psaki, Ms McEnany noted that instead of the glowing profiles of her successor in the role, during her own tenure from April 2020 to January 2021, there were hit pieces repeatedly, time and time again.

The co-host of Outnumbered said that it was just so sad that you have a fawning press corps like this, a fawning media sycophantically covering members of the Biden administration.

She added: We need investigative journalism. We dont need fawning coverage. It doesnt do the American people any justice.

As she started her job as White House press secretary, Ms McEnany said she would always tell the truth. This would prove to be difficult while working for Donald Trump, a man infamous for his plentiful falsehoods.

I will never lie to you. You have my word on that, she said in May 2020.

Vox reported that Ms McEnany made a mockery of her promise not to lie and The Independent previously listed the seven most ludicrous things she said in her first six months behind the podium.

She once said that Mr Trump was the most informed person on planet earth when it comes to the threats we face amid accusations he did not bother reading his security briefings, as well as once claiming the Mueller report had ended in the complete and total exoneration of President Trump  something Robert Mueller himself specifically denied.

Watch: McEnany - Mainstream media 'fawning' over Biden admin with weak questioning, 'glowing' profiles

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No: Psaki tells Fox News reporter Biden would never fire Dr Fauci

Art of the Deal  for working people: Psaki corrects Fox reporter trying to link Biden talks to Trump motto

Psaki admits she is tired of wearing a mask and says White House understands Americans frustrations
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MIAMI (AP)  Three teenagers who police said Monday are linked to the weekend shooting at a Florida graduation party are charged in a separate attack targeting two people in a car.

The Miami-Dade Police Department said in a news release that the three were spotted in a red Chevrolet Malibu outside a hookah lounge where the graduation party was taking place.

Three people died and at least five were wounded in that shooting early Sunday. Two of those who died were in a bullet-riddled car that crashed into a nearby wall. It's not clear what role they played in the shooting.

Separately, the three in the Malibu left the party and spotted a Nissan Altima they recognized from the gathering driving south of Florida's Turnpike. An arrest affidavit says two of the teenagers fired into that car with a handgun and a rifle, wounding its driver in the leg. A passenger was not injured.

The wounded driver is being treated at a local hospital, police said.

Charged with attempted first-degree murder are Quantayvious McCutchen, 19; his brother, 17-year-old Yahtayvious McCutchen; and Keyshad Richardson, 19. They were jailed Monday and it was unclear if they had an attorney to represent them.
"Over the past three decades, China-ASEAN cooperation has grown in leaps and bounds, becoming the most successful and dynamic example of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Sunday in announcing the meeting.

The fact that the two sides agreed to hold a face-to-face special foreign ministers meeting despite the ongoing grim COVID-19 situation reflects how countries attach great importance to and hold high expectations of China-ASEAN relations under the new circumstances," Wang said.

The U.S., which maintains an active naval presence in the South China Sea and strong relations with the region, has expressed concerns over Chinas growing presence, particularly its impact on security and Beijings political influence over fragile democracies.

In a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman focused on Chinas construction of new facilities at Ream Naval Base and urged Cambodias leadership to maintain an independent and balanced foreign policy, in the best interests of the Cambodian people.

It wasnt clear whether the issue of Myanmar, an ASEAN member where the military seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, would come up at the meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers.
Foreign ministers of Vietnam

Foreign ministers of Vietnam, Laos applaud mutual support in COVID-19 fight

Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his Lao counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith on June 6 highlighted their countries mutual support in the COVID-19 combat and identified ways to augment bilateral relations.

Foreign Ministers Bui Thanh Son of Vietnam (R) and Saleumxay Kommasith of Laos meet in Chinas Chongqing city on June 6 (Photo: VNA)

The bilateral meeting took place in Chinas Chongqing city, on the sidelines of the Special ASEAN - China Foreign Ministers Meeting and the 6th Lancang - Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers Meeting.



Son expressed his delight at the first official meeting between the foreign ministers of Vietnam and Laos since their respective countries national Party congresses and the establishment of their new-term governments.



He spoke highly of the two sides coordination to effectively carry out many major bilateral diplomatic activities, thus maintaining frequent meetings and contact at all levels despite the COVID-19 pandemic.



Hailing bilateral cooperation and mutual assistance in the COVID-19 fight, he thanked the Lao Party and State leaders for extending sympathies to Vietnam on the pandemic situation in Vietnam.



The minister also voiced his hope that Vietnams financial aid, medical supplies, and health experts sent to Laos will help with the latters efforts against the pandemic.



Kommasith congratulated Vietnam on the successful organisation of the elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and all-level Peoples Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure amid complex COVID-19 developments in many localities.



He thanked the Vietnamese Party, State, and people for their precious material and spiritual support for Laos in the pandemic combat, affirming that his country is always ready to stand side by side with Vietnam in line with the spirit of the countries great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation.



To continue intensifying bilateral relations, the two foreign ministers agreed to jointly promote mutual visits and contact at all levels in various forms; make the best use of bilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially meetings of the Inter-Governmental Committee; and unceasingly improve the effectiveness of cooperation in defence, security, trade, and investment.



They also discussed coordination to step up important joint programmes, especially transport connectivity projects so as to optimise the Vietnam - Laos International Seaport (Vung Ang Seaport).



Both agreed to enhance ties in border management to prevent illegal exit from and entry into their countries, sustain cross-border trading, and soon review the one-stop-shop model applied at the Lao Bao - Densavan border gate pair.



Vietnam and Laos also concurred in increasing coordination and mutual support at international, regional, and sub-regional forums and joining hands with other member countries to firmly maintain ASEANs solidarity and strengthen the blocs centrality in order to effective respond to common challenges.



Regarding their ministries cooperation, the two foreign ministers pledged to continue implementing the cooperation agreement for 2021 - 2025, including organising political consultations at the ministerial and deputy ministerial levels, boosting information sharing and strategic research, and holding more exchanges between the ministries key units.



They emphasised the importance of economic diplomacy, agreeing to increase experience sharing and effectively carry out the action plan for cooperation in this field for 2020 - 2025.



The two countries will early start preparations for celebrations of the 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and 45 years since the signing of the Vietnam  Laos Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation next year, according to the officials.

Source: VNA
GUATEMALA CITY (AP)  Vice President Kamala Harris offered an optimistic outlook for improved cooperation with Guatemala on addressing the spike in migration to the U.S. after her meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday. She also delivered a direct warning to migrants considering making the trek: Do not come. Do not come.
In New York City, more than 640 people have been shot over the first five months of the year, more than double the number during the same period in 2019.

Historically speaking, that shooting rate isn't much worse than what the city experienced in most years from 2002 through 2012, an era when politicians began describing New York as the nation's safest big city. But its a sharp deterioration from even safer years preceding the pandemic.

Republican Senate Leader Rob Ortt, of western New York, called Democrats' parole proposals utter madness."

He said lawmakers should instead pass bills to require unanimous parole decisions and make people convicted of a "violent felony offense" wait longer to seek parole.



LOWERING AGE OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

The state Senate is set to vote in coming days on a bill to end the arrest and prosecution of kids below the age of 12, except in homicide cases.

Under state law, children can be charged as juvenile delinquent as young as age seven. Only North Carolina has a lower age limit: six.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Mayor London Breed married four couples inside San Francisco's City Hall Monday, to mark the reopening of the storied building after it shut down in March 2020 as part of a regional lockdown.

Madelyn Peterson and Indira Carmona were the first couple to wed on the grand staircase of the buildings rotunda. They had three witnesses, each sitting in chairs spaced 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart at the bottom of the steps.

The building's doors opened at 8 a.m. for those looking to get marriage license applications, business registrations, birth and death certificates, and other documents. Visitors are still required to wear a mask and socially distance.

San Francisco has had some of the strictest pandemic-related restrictions in the country and the compact city of nearly 900,000 has reported 36,766 COVID-19 cases and 546 deaths. To compare, Long Beach in Southern California has about 467,000 residents but more than 53,000 cases and more than 900 deaths.

Vaccination rates in San Francisco are also high, with 80% of residents having received at least one dose.

Moments before Breed officiated the weddings, she raised the Pride flag outside the building's main entrance to officially kick off the annual LGBTQ Pride Month celebrations.
SALEM, Ore. (AP)  A Republican state lawmaker faces being expelled from office after a video emerged apparently showing him choreographing how he would let far-right protesters into the closed Oregon Capitol days before he did so in December.
YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP)  The mother of a Southern California boy killed in a road rage shooting remembered him Saturday as 6-year-old with a vocabulary beyond his years who exuded warmth and tenderness.
The court filings were submitted in the case against four other alleged Grizzly Scouts members, including the groups leader, who are accused of destroying evidence relevant to the Underwood and Gutzwiller murder investigations.

They were written as part of a failed attempt to keep all four defendants in jail pending trial. A federal magistrate ultimately decided three of them were not a danger to the community and did not pose flight risks.

In April, a federal grand jury indicted Jessie Alexander Rush, 29, of Turlock; Robert Jesus Blancas, 33, of Castro Valley; Simon Sage Ybarra, 23, of Los Gatos; and Kenny Matthew Miksch, 21, of San Lorenzo, on charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Blancas, the only defendant who remains in jail, also faces a child enticement charge related to alleged sexual conversations with a teen girl that were discovered during the investigation.

The Associated Press was unable Monday to locate lawyers who could speak on their behalf.

The filings not only confirm Carrillo as one of the militias roughly 25 members, but detail the groups alleged activities in mid-2020: trainings near Rushs home in Turlock, the creation of a Quick Reaction Force or QRF, and plans to send a member to scout out a protest in Sacramento.
All three in their lawsuits accused Beckner of treating younger, white male employees more favorably than employees protected by the Iowa Civil Rights Act, including special treatment in assignments, duties, promotions, and disciplinary action, such as refusing to order internal affairs investigations on younger, male employees who were reported to have violated department or university policies, as well as state law.

In a statement to The Gazette in 2018, UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck said Beckner reorganized the department after careful review of the departments governance structure, budget, and priorities moving forward.

Beckner, after four years on the job, retired at the end of 2020. He had intended to leave in June but extended his stay through the end of the fall 2020 semester due to COVID-19.

As part of the states new settlements with Searls, Scott and Noska, theyve agreed to drop from their claims defendants Visin and Lehnertz  maintaining the allegations against the UI and Beckner.

The state on May 24 had agreed to settle with each of the former officers for different amounts: Noska and his attorneys will receive $75,000; Searls and his lawyers will get $50,000; and Scott and his counsel will receive $25,000.

Moped crash
Heres a look at how APs general news coverage is shaping up in Iowa. Questions about coverage plans are welcome and should be directed to the Des Moines Bureau at 515-243-3281 or apdesmoines@ap.org.

A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change. Expected stories may not develop, or late-breaking and more newsworthy events may take precedence. Advisories and digests will keep you up to date. All times are Central.

Some TV and radio stations will receive broadcast versions of the stories below, along with all updates.

For up-to-the-minute information on APs coverage, visit Coverage Plan at newsroom.ap.org.



TOP STORIES:

CAPITOL BREACH-IOWA ARREST

DES MOINES  DES MOINES -- An Iowa man who led a crowd of insurgents in taunting a police officer up several flights of stairs inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack is asking a judge to release him from jail. By David Pitt. UPCOMING: 450 words by 5 p.m.

AROUND THE STATE:

VIRUS OUTBREAK-IOWA PRISON VISITS
Got a question or tip? Contact us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com.
It wasnt immediately clear how the ruling would affect diplomacy between the estranged U.S allies, which have faced pressure from the Biden administration to repair their relations that sank to post-war lows during the Trump years over history and trade disputes.

The Seoul court in April had issued a similar ruling on a claim by Korean victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery and their relatives, another sticking point in bilateral relations. The court in that ruling denied their claim for compensation from Japans government, citing diplomatic considerations and principles of international law that grant countries immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign courts.

Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have been since the Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate Korean forced laborers. Those rulings led to further tensions over trade when Japan put export controls on chemicals vital to South Koreas semiconductor industry in 2019.

Seoul accused Tokyo of weaponizing trade and threatened to terminate a military intelligence-sharing agreement with Tokyo that a major symbol of their three-way security cooperation with Washington. South Korea eventually backed off and kept the deal after being pressured by the Trump administration, which until then seemed content to let its allies escalate their feud in public.
It takes a lot to break through in Hollywood. Talent, hard work, and a lot of luck, but to stay booked and busy for decades is a whole nother level of star power. One of the people who has it is comedian David Alan Grier. He had his big break in the 1990s with the iconic sketch comedy show In Living Color. Hes been in films and television ever since. Most recently, he co-starred as a pot-smoking grandpa on Jamie Foxx Netflix comedy Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! On Fridays episode of A Word, I spoke with Grier about his career and how his new show with Jamie Foxx came together. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Jason Johnson: Youve worked with Jamie Foxx and with a lot of majority Black creators. Whats the difference between that experience and working on projects that are led by white folks?

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David Alan Grier: As a Black artist and actor, I cant tell you how much time is wasted and spent trying to explain to white creatives why I cant do this, why what youre asking me to say cant come out of my mouth, trying to negotiate what would be better, why its not working for me, all that stuff. When you come into a sound stage or a creative environment in which Jamie and I have known each other for over 30 years Im comfortable. Im free to just do my thing. When you know somebody has your back creatively, then that allows you the freedom to do your thing. So thats kind of what was reignited with us working together.

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After we wrapped, I immediately did a movie with Jamie in Atlanta. Its like a futuristic, sci-fi kind of trip, yet its throwback in terms of design. John Boyegas in it. I dont know when it will come out, but it was so much fun to do. Ill tell you a quick story. So Jamie said, Listen, were doing this movie. And I was like, Yeah, but where, man, I cant Because I told him, I said, First of all, I cant fly in and out of town. This is at the beginning of this year. I dont feel comfortable. Im not vaccinated. I just cant do it. So I figured that was the end. So we hang up, and the agent calls me, and he said, All right, I understand your feelings. If they sent a private plane, how would you feel? I was like, Yeah, but I dont want to stay in a hotel because Agent goes, Look, we have a house for you. So I was like, We doing the movie.

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You had me at private jet, but I was really just kind of holding out for the house.

Listen, the universe spoke to me and my lesson that day was ask for what you require, what you deserve. Youll be surprised, sometimes you get it.

Youre actually very active on Twitter. Youre making jokes. You talk to people. Is that something that you got into because its like, Hey, I like the public discourse anyway. You find thats introduced you to new audiences? Was it just you keeping in touch with America?

Its a way to keep in touch with America, especially over the last year. But when I first got on Twitter, it took me a while to actually figure it out, because for the first two weeks, I threw out a bunch of stuff and it was more like trying to write jokes, and these guys would be like, Bad joke, unfollow, I expect more. And Im like, You expected more for free? 24 hours a day? You dont get a Sunday meal. I was trying to negotiate and try and find my way until I just talked the way I talk. So if Im scrolling in Twitter and something catches my eye, Im just going to talk to Twitter like if you and I were just out having a couple beers. And once I started doing that, then everything was fine, I think.

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What was the point where you realized, I need to protect my privacy, in a way that you didnt think of when you first started your career?

Well, it was probably when In Living Color was on. Yeah, I remember staying in Palm Beach, Florida, and the hotel staff, which were surprisingly largely African American, called me every 30 to 45 seconds to say hello, what am I doing? They brought me fruit. They slipped things under my door to sign. That was a very young show and the audience was in and of the moment. I mean, it was all about the culture of hip-hopfrom dress to music to comedy to language, everything. And that was very, very in the moment, a young audience, and that elicited that kind of response.

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And one of your most famous recurring characters was in the sketch Men on Film. You and Damon Wayans played two flamboyantly gay men. A lot of comedians today, they complain about cancel culture. They say we cant make jokes anymore. But theres also an argument to be made that some humor is dated. As somebody whos been in the comedy game as long as you have, what do you think about these current arguments?

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Heres my thing on Men on Film. At the time, as far as I know, there were no out gay or trans/genderfluid cast members. There was nothing in that comedy which I felt was homophobic gay hatred. But I also am smart enough to know its not how your heart was behind the joke; its how that joke or that characterization lands with other people. So that was a long time ago. I dont think we could do that now, which is fine. If Living Color were on now, I would hope that there would be more than one gay cast members in the show, and then they could tackle this humor using their voice.

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A whole new generation of viewers got to know you in the family drama on OWN, Queen Sugar. You play a really bad man. Jimmy Dale, the abusive ex-husband of matriarch Violet Bordelon. Shes played by actress Tina Lifford. What was that like? What was your friends and colleagues reaction? What was the audience reaction like to seeing David Alan Grier play this basically a modern-day version of Mister from The Color Purple.

My agent called me and was like, Look, we got this offer from Queen Sugar. When you hear that [tone], its just like, Well pass on your behalf. And I said, Hold on, hold on, hold on. Well, whats the offer? And they said, Well, its like two or three episodes. They havent really figured it out. Well send you the sides. And our agreement is never turn down any role; I dont care how small it is. Let me decide. So they send me the sides. I read the first scene, and I called them back. I was like, I dont care if this show been on 20 years. I got to do this. Because I am not Jimmy Dale, but I know people like that. You can smell it, you know what I mean, through the pages. So that scene that you played, the way I played it was as a vampire. Meaning the rules of the vampire is you have to invite a vampire into your house.

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So when I came to the door, I wouldnt come in. Because I kept saying, he says in the script, Youre not going to invite me in? Well, I just want to come in. I mean, can I just come through the threshold? I just want to see you. Its been so long. So as soon as she opens the door and I walked down that hallway, its like he unfolds and develops and spreads his wings and he claims a space like, Ah, you fucked up now.

He tosses his hat on the table, hes looking around up and down, Yeah, this is my house. So it was so juicy and so much fun to play that role. Because another thing, real evil, when you talk about devilish people, evil people, you think, Oh, hes going to be twitching and slimy and drooly. No, man. Most times when weve been around someone where you discover, Oh, this is a bad person, theyre already in your business. They have to be there cause they have to gain your confidence. And the other thing is there was an obvious attractionyou understand?that this woman still has. Although shes fought to cure herself of this addiction, those weaknesses are still there, and he knows those buttons to push.

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What do you think your comedy legacy will be? We just lost Paul Mooney a couple of weeks ago, and everybody talks about how Paul Mooney touched everything. Where do you think your legacy is going to be when this is all said and done in another maybe 50 years?

I dont know. I mean, I dont worry about that. Ill be dead anyway. Im serious. I leave that for others to figure out. But I know in trying to plan and craft my career, there was one year in which Michael Keaton did Clean and Sober in the same year that he did Beetlejuice. And I use that as a template because I said, Thats what I want to do. So showing that range, completely polar opposites. Just ripping it in all areas. I just wanted to be a working actor. Thats what I wanted to be, a working actor, and Ive surpassed my goal. Im going to be 65 at the end of this month, and I never, in a million years thought at my age my career would be what it is. Im in demand constantly. This pandemic year has probably been one of the best years of my career. I didnt see that coming last year. I mean, like everybody else, I was like, Well I guess this is it. This is what will take us out. Its like War of the Worlds.

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I really could not have anticipated this, and for the first time I have a sense of calm, meaning I know Im going to get another job. The vast majority of time in most actors careers, I dont care how famous you perceive them to be, is spent wondering, Will we work again? And I feel secure that, I dont know if its going to be big or small, but Im going to be doing something. So I never thoughtI thought I would be just retired and doing other stuff. But yeah, this is amazing. Im going to roll with this till the wheels fall off.

Listen to the entire episode below, or subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Late last month, Kurt Campbell, President Joe Bidens main adviser on China and the Indo-Pacific region, said at a virtual seminar sponsored by Stanford University, The dominant paradigm in U.S.-China relations is going to be competition, adding, The period that was broadly described as engagement has come to an end.

Some gasped at the remarks because Campbell, a longtime China hand and President Barack Obamas assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, has been a product of the engagement era and, at times, a spokesman for it, though more cautiousand, lately, skepticalthan many.

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Campbell did not mean that diplomacy with China has come to an endhe elaborated that the Biden administration would be countering China when we need to and cooperating with China when its in our interests to do sobut his remarks amounted to a declaration that Biden would push on with a variation on the hardball policy that began during the Trump years.

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There are differences between Trump and Biden on the issue. Though they basically agree on the diagnosis of Chinese President Xi Jinpings increasingly assertive actions and aims, they disagree on how to respond. Donald Trump launched a trade war with Beijing, alienated every ally the U.S. would need in the broader competition, and poisoned the political climate at home. Biden stresses cooperation with allies and demonstrating the unifying power of American democracy as the key ingredients to countering Chinas ascension.

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But 4 months into Bidens presidency (a short time, but enough to send clear signals), it is not clear how he and his team plan to thread the needle on China policythe fine balance between competition and cooperation.

As a case in point, it is worth examining Bidens executive order, issued on June 3, stiffening an order signed by Trump in November, barring Americans from holding stock in firms that make up what Biden calls the Military-Industrial Complex of the Peoples Republic of China. Bidens order expanded the number of banned Chinese companies from 31 to 59, some of which are engaged not in weapons manufacturing but in surveillance technology.

The purpose, as a White House fact sheet put it, is to ensure that U.S. investments are not supporting Chinese companies that undermine the security or values of the United States and our allies.

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It seems like a good idea, but two puzzles stand out. First, few if any U.S. mutual funds, ETFs, banks, or any other sizable entity are pouring capital into these companies to begin with. Michael Hirson, head of China and Northeast Asia at the Eurasia Group, told me in a phone conversation that U.S. investment firms moved their money out of these sorts of Chinese companies several months ago, to the extent they ever held shares at all. In any case, he added, these Chinese firms dont need U.S. investors, as they have access to ample credit from Chinas banking system.

Jordan Schneider, China technology analyst at the Rhodium Group, thinks that these firms might be helped by their inclusion on Bidens blacklist. They could tell the [Chinese] government, Hey, were important enough for America to put us on the list, so you should give us more money,  Schneider told me.

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In any event, the orders focus on stock investments seems misplaced. Several U.S. firms sell software and hardware to some of these Chinese companiesparts and software that improve Chinas ability to oppress and spy on citizens. Emily Weinstein, research analyst at Georgetown Universitys Center for Security and Emerging Technology, told me that such sales affect American security and values far more than equity investments. Yet, she said, Bidens executive order does nothing to limit these transactions.

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In March, the Biden administration did issue an interim final rule allowing the Commerce Department to review, modify, and even block commercial transactions between U.S. and foreign parties for certain information and communications technology services. No actions have been announced as yet, but the rule could cover the sorts of sales that concern Weinstein. That is where a battle on this front may be wagednot only between the U.S. and China, but also between the Biden administration and certain American tech companies.

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But a larger concern needs to be raised amid these rising tensions between Washington and Beijing. It is hard to see how the United States can achieve many of its foreign policy goals while stoking a new cold war with both China and Russia, especially in a world where power blocs are splintering and tangible support from allies cannot be guaranteed. Campbell and Laura Rosenberger, another White House China specialist who also spoke at the Stanford seminar, paid lip service to the idea of cooperation with Beijing when it serves our interests. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed the same view. Biden has often mentioned the many hours that he spent talking with Xi when they were both vice presidents, the implication being that he can draw some kind of leverage from their personal relationship. Maybe they can. Maybe not. Meanwhile, John Kerry, Bidens envoy on climate talks, has been talking with his Beijing counterpartbut Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was rebuffed when he tried to revive talks between U.S. and Chinese military officers. In all but the harshest years of the real Cold War, there were more avenues of conversation and cooperation between the U.S and the Soviet Union than there seem to be now between the U.S. and China.

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In this context, Bidens upcoming talks with European leaders and with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be particularly interesting. Will he be able to lure the European allies into some positive steps to strengthen democracy and promote joint economic policies that go beyond mere China-bashing? And will he be able to launch productive talks about anything with Russia, despite the many conflicts we have with that country?

Then there are the still larger obstacles on the homefront. Campbell and Rosenberger said at Stanford, just as Biden has said on many occasions, that a main pillar of our competition with China is to show ourselves and the rest of the world that democracies can deliver, thatcontrary to Xis global messageautocracies cannot do a better job of governing, that U.S. leadership is not cracking up.

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Biden is banking on the fact that many leaders are chafing against Chinas more assertive tactics and dont much like the idea of China setting the rules of a new world order. This is a fact worth stressing. Disturbing as many of its activities are, China is not on the verge of taking over Asia, much less reshaping the world. The U.S. still enjoys many alluring advantagespolitical, economic, and cultural. It is the only nation with a global military presence and a network of alliances. But its edge, in all these realms, is fraying.

What if it turns out, contrary to Bidens wager, that democracies cant deliver? What if the tensions and deadlocks in American society and politics intensify? What do we do about China then, what does the rest of the world do, and what can we do together in the meantime? Do we have a Plan B? Right now, it isnt clear that we do.
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez, a George W. Bush nominee, held that Californias long-standing ban on assault weapons violates the Second Amendment. The ban has been affirmed by the people of California, through both legislation and a ballot initiative, over the past 32 years. Benitez, however, derided the states interest in prohibiting these exceptionally dangerous weapons, condemning the ban as a failed experiment. His decision began with a now-infamous analogy comparing AR-15s to the Swiss Army knife, praising the semi-automatic rifle as a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment.

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But this dubious comparison is just the tip of the iceberg: Benitezs 94-page opinion is riddled with bizarre and unsupported claimseven more so than his previous decision blocking the ban on the kind of high-capacity magazine used in the Thousand Oaks shooting. Below are five of the opinions most alarming and unbelievable assertions, from COVID misinformation to outlandish speculation that AR-15s are necessary to stop rape.

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Benitez is widely known as a crank to attorneys who have tried cases in front of him.

1. COVID vaccines are more dangerous than assault weapons. Benitez spilled a great deal of ink arguing that mass shootings involving assault weapons are infinitesimally rare. (At the same time, he argued Californias assault weapon ban has utterly failed to limit mass shootings, a contradiction he never attempts to square.) The judge reached his conclusion by discounting experts methods of counting mass shootings. In reality, the AR-15-style rifle, the quintessential assault weapon, was used in many of the nations deadliest mass shootings, including in Boulder, Las Vegas, Aurora, Sutherland Springs, Pittsburgh, and Sandy Hook; a nearly identical rifle was also used in the Pulse massacre. Notably, the weapon was also used in the 2015 San Bernardino attack, which killed 14 Californians. Despite this record of slaughter, Benitez wrote that contrary to public misinformation, mass shooting events are rare events. Benitez added, More people have died from the Covid-19 vaccine than mass shootings in California.

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As the Washington Posts Aaron Blake reported on Monday, this claim is false. There have been, at most, three deaths that may be linked to the COVID vaccine in the entire country. That is just one-third the number of people shot to death in last months San Jose massacre. Blake notes that Benitez likely derived this myth from Fox News Tucker Carlson, who manipulated data to misleadingly suggest a link between COVID vaccines and death. Carlsons lies have now crossed over into a major Second Amendment decision.

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It should not come as a shock that Benitez regurgitated Carlsons misinformation. The judge is widely known as a crank to attorneys who have tried cases in front of him. One told me: Ive appeared in front of 30 federal judges in my career. He was the most contemptuous, dimwitted one Ive ever been in front of. He clearly opposed our case and tried to impeach our experts in front of the jury, but he wasnt good enough to succeed at it. We won our case.

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2. Wounds from assault weapons are not especially lethal. According to Benitez, California lacks a real interest in banning assault weapons because they are not unusually dangerous. (He dismissed the label assault weapons, deeming it an epithet, and suggested anti-crime guns instead.) The judge wrote that the injuries from firearms like the AR-15 are no different from other firearms that are common and lawful to own.

The growing number of ER doctors who have treated mass shooting victims know this is a lie. A typical AR-15 bullet travels three times faster than a typical 9 mm handgun bullet, imparting substantially more energy. The result is carnage; AR-15 bullets disintegrate bones, destroy organs, and leave gaping exit wounds that increase the risk of bleeding out. As a doctor who treated Parkland victims wrote in the Atlantic:

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The bullet from an AR-15 passes through the body like a cigarette boat traveling at maximum speed through a tiny canal. The tissue next to the bullet is elasticmoving away from the bullet like waves of water displaced by the boatand then returns and settles back. This process is called cavitation; it leaves the displaced tissue damaged or killed. The high-velocity bullet causes a swath of tissue damage that extends several inches from its path. It does not have to actually hit an artery to damage it and cause catastrophic bleeding. Exit wounds can be the size of an orange.

Benitez dismissed these wounds as no different from injuries incurred by the typical handgun.

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3. Citizen militias are alive and well in the U.S. When the Second Amendment was ratified, its primary purpose was to protect state militias from federal interference. Thats one reason why the amendment begins by explaining that the right to bear arms exists to preserve a well regulated Militia. Today, the militia clause is often simply ignored by gun enthusiasts, who prefer to read the Second Amendment as an individual guarantee.

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Benitez, by contrast, seeks to have it both ways. The versatile AR-15 type of modern rifle is the perfect firearm for a citizen to bring for militia service, the judge wrote. And because assault weapons promote militia readiness, California may not criminalize themjust in case citizens need to come together to defend the homeland. It has been argued that citizens with nothing more than modern rifles will have no chance against an army with tanks and missiles, Benitez wrote:

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But someone forgot to tell Fidel Castro who with an initial force of 20 to 80 men armed with M-1 carbines, walked into power in Havana in spite of Cubas militarized forces armed with tanks, planes and a navy. Someone forgot to tell Ho Chi Minh who said, Those who have rifles will use their rifles. Those who have swords will use their swords. Those who have no swords will use their spades, hoes, and sticks, and eventually defeated both the French and the United States military. Someone forgot to tell the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents.

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It is unclear quite how these examples are relevant to the present-day U.S. Perhaps Benitez envisioned a foreign army invading the country, driven away not by the armed forces but by ragtag bands of civilians carrying AR-15s. Or perhaps he was gesturing toward the insurrectionist theory of the Second Amendment, the anachronistic notion that civilians should assassinate political leaders who descend into tyranny (in the eyes of their well-armed critics). Either way, Benitezs reverie of 21st century citizen militias rising up, assault weapons in hand, to topple enemies both foreign and domestic lies in the realm of fantasy.

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4. Americans need assault weapons for safety, just like they need seat belts and smoke detectors. Reading Benitezs opinion, one might think that California has effectively outlawed all firearms. In truth, the state permits adults to purchase a wide range of firearms, including semi-automatic handguns. But Benitez wrote that these alternatives pale in comparison with assault weapons, which, he insisted, provide unparalleled protection against crime. He reached this conclusion by rejecting actual evidence on the record and instead developing his own facts, seemingly out of thin air. For instance, Benitez rejected a study that found that most people need just 2.2 shots when using a gun in self-defense. He called this finding a myth because it rested partly on news reports of shootings and included incidents when no shots were fired. The study, he wrote, fails the scientific method.

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Benitez then conducted his own study, which took place entirely in his mind. Simply brandishing such a weapon may cause an intruder to flee precisely because it appears to be dangerous and fully loaded, he declared. It is difficult to imagine the same psychological effect on a home invader (or two invaders) from brandishing a 2-shot derringer. It is a reasonable inference that the visual threat presented by a homeowner holding a modern rifle with a large magazine makes it an effective deterrent without firing a shot. The judge did not explain why his reasonable inference passes the scientific method.

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Even if the 2.2 shot figure were correct, Benitez added, it wouldnt matter. One could drive 100,000 miles without needing seat belts. But when the unexpected collision occurs, seat belts are really needed, he wrote. One could live 100 years without needing a smoke detector, but when fire starts in the middle of the night, a smoke detector is really needed. A person may not need more than 2.2 shots to defend themselves in the average situation. Yet, sometimes more than 2.2 shotssometimes much moreare needed.

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5. Banning assault weapons leads to mass rape. A key theme of Benitezs opinion is that perspective is important: We pay too much attention to mass shootings and too little to home invasions. It begs the question, he asked, are the lives of home invasion victims worth less than the lives of mass shooting victims? To illustrate this point, Benitez cited FBI statistics that between 2003 and 2007, 7,700 women were raped during a home invasion. If all those women had been armed with an assault weapon, the judge wrote, they may not have suffered a violent victimization.

The argument here is that assault weapon bans leave women exponentially more vulnerable to rape. Imagine calculating these figures for the entire life span of Californias assault weapon ban, Benitez mused. To his mind, Californias law is apparently responsible for thousands upon thousands of rapes. He does not, however, provide evidence to support this causal link.

These peculiar asides take Benitez far outside the mainstream of the federal judiciarywhich, despite Donald Trumps influence, has not yet deteriorated to this new low. But its worth noting that, rhetorical excess aside, Benitezs bottom line is an outlier, too. Other federal courts have found that assault weapon bans are perfectly constitutional. That is no surprise: In D.C. v. Heller, the Supreme Court explicitly acknowledged that M-16 rifles and the like may be banned, and the AR-15 is extremely similar to the M-16. Benitez presumably hopes that the Supreme Courts new conservative supermajority will erase this caveat and embrace his radical interpretation of the right to bear arms.

If there is any upside to this decision, though, it is that Benitezs delusions undermine his own credibility. This Supreme Court is undoubtedly eager to expand the Second Amendment. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the median justice in terms of ideology, wrote that the District of Columbias assault weapon ban is unconstitutional while serving on the Court of Appeals. But it is hard to envision the justices using this case as a vehicle to establish a constitutional right to buy AR-15s now that Benitez has tainted it with lunacy.
This article is adapted from Big, if True, the sixth episode of Slow Burns new season.

In late December 2002, most of Washington was winding down for Christmas. Young White House staffers were hard at work writing thank you notes for the gifts that had been sent to the president. But George W. Bush wasnt ready to sign off for the holiday yet. He called a meeting and he asked the CIA to give him its best version of the case for war with Iraq.

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Bill McLaughlin had joined the CIA about six months earlier. He was part of a team from the agency presenting to the president. The call went out when they started developing the case for anybody who had anything they would like to contribute, he told me. I had a U.N. inspection experience. I was to answer any of the presidents questions on U.N. inspections.

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Bush walked into the Oval Office meeting wearing his cowboy boots with the presidential seal on them. And for the next 20 minutes, CIA director George Tenets deputy John McLaughlinno relation to Billpresented the case.

Tenets deputy talked about the biological and chemical weapons Iraq had not accounted for since the Gulf War. And he wrapped up by playing radio intercepts, supposedly from Iraqi agents, talking about a weapons site.

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After the presentation, the president fired off a number of questions about it, made a number of comments, solicited our views on things, Bill McLaughlin recalled. Bush wasnt asking the CIA to take a closer look at the intelligence. What he wanted was a more convincing pitch.

He asked perhaps if a Madison Avenue type could look at it to see about the ordering of the arguments, if it could be examined by an attorney to look at the structure of the arguments that were made, McLaughlin said. Everyone in that room, including me, strongly believes that Iraq did have WMD. It was not a subject that came up for discussion. The discussion centered around whether we could make the presentation more effective.

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George Tenet, the head of the CIA, was at that meeting. This is where he famously used the phrase slam dunk, which got a lot of press. Originally, reporting suggested Tenet called the presence of WMDs in Iraq a slam dunk. But according to Bill McLaughlin and Tenet himself, he was actually promising the president that the CIA would tighten up the presentation to make it a slam dunk. He wasnt talking about the facts. He was talking about the sale.

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As the meeting broke up, the president charged us with improving the quality of the presentation, McLaughlin said. Among other things he asked was, can you work in a stronger angle related to terrorism? And I think some of us werent all that happy to hear that since we didnt believe the connection was that strong to begin with.

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After the meeting, Vice President Cheney pulled Bush aside. Cheney told him that people in his office had been working on the terror links. He suggested they could help out with the presentation.

Once the case was revised, after we got back to CIA, people worked on it again for another month and then it was sent down to the White House for their review. Eventually, while it was at the White House, they had added in a whole additional section on terrorism, McLaughlin told me.

Powell was relying on what the CIA had told him. But there was a lot the CIA hadnt told him.

For months, the Bush administration tried to make the case for war to the public on TV and in press conferences. Now, to make the closing argument, Bush tapped Secretary of State Colin Powell. He wanted Powell to present the United States official case for war at the UN in February.

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Powell was the obvious choice for a closer. Unlike some of his colleagues, he wasnt seen as an ideologue. As a military commander hed been skeptical of overusing military might. And as Black man whod risen to the top of the Army, he was the kind of American success story both Republicans and Democrats could admire.

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Robert Draper, the author of To Start a War, elaborated: Colin Powell was far and away the most popular person in the Bush administration. And there were a lot of people on Capitol Hilla lot of Democrats who didnt believe one thing that Cheney had to say to them, but believed everything that Colin Powell had to say. So Powell would achieve maximum credibility as the deliverer of this case in a way that nobody else would.

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Powell agreed to do it. All along, hed been telling the president they needed the United Nations backing them. But when Powell looked at the intelligence summary hed been handed by the White House, he wasnt impressed. It looked shoddy. And it included things like the discredited al-QaidaIraq link.

Powell essentially threw almost the entire document away, and they started from scratch. And when they started from scratch with only really a few days to go, Powell had actually asked Condi Rice, Can I get an extension on giving this speech? Were going to need more time. Condi said, nope, the president has already booked you, has already said youre going to be doing this on Feb. 5, 2003, before the UN. Then a kind of frantic effort ensued, Draper said.

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They turned back to the CIA, and George Tenet said, well, look, why dont you just do this, make the basis of the speech our NIE, our National Intelligence Estimate, because this is, after all, the definitive consensus view of the intelligence community as to Saddams weapons program. What [Tenet] failed to say to Powell was:  and we did it in 19 days. So its a piece of crap. 

Powell and his team spent three days vetting the report alongside CIA analysts. He questioned them, asked to see evidence. For a lot of people watching up close, this seemed like Powell at his best: careful, rigorous, honorable. With Powell in charge, the administration felt confident the speech was going to be a huge success.

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Before the presentation, the speech was circulated through the CIA. They wanted to make sure it didnt expose sources or methods of intelligence gathering. One person who looked it over was Margaret Henoch. She handled Central Europe for the Directorate of Operationsthe spy part of the CIA. Henoch was shocked by what she saw.

I look at it all and I take a big magic marker, and I scratch all the way through it and I write in the margins. You cannot use this. There is no way to verify this, she told me. Its not even sort of leaky. Its a gigantic sieve with a hole in it.

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The night before the speech, Powell asked Tenet one last time if everything in his speech was solid. Tenet told him there were no doubts. Powell asked Tenet to sit next to him at the UN, to symbolize that the CIA was backing everything he said. The CIA director agreed.

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On Feb. 5, 2003, Colin Powell made his presentation to the UNthe Bush administrations best case for war. He was staking his reputation on it.

My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What were giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence. I will cite some examples, and these are from human sources, he said that day.

Powell wore a dark suit jacket with an American flag pin on it. His delivery was intense. He talked for well over an hour:

One of the most worrisome things that emerges from the thick intelligence file we have on Iraqs biological weapons is the existence of mobile production facilities used to make biological agents. Let me take you inside that intel file and share with you what we know from eyewitness accounts. We have firsthand descriptions of biological weapons factories on wheels and on rails.

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Margaret Henoch was watching the speech with her boss at the CIA. When she heard the line about mobile weapons labs, she knew her warning never made it to Powell.

Were just like, what the fuck? she said. I called upstairs and said, Did you guys see that you shouldnt have used that? 

Powell was relying on what the CIA had told him. (He declined to talk to us, by the way.) But there was a lot the CIA hadnt told himincluding the fact that some of their information had come from a sketchy source: a man with the codename Curveball.

Leading up to Powells UN speech, the Bush administration had told the American public that the country needed to invade Iraq. That Saddam Hussein was a threat.

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Key pieces of intelligence were cited over and over again as evidence to support the case for war. The repetition gave the illusion of credibilityeven when that intelligence was unproven.

So who was Curveball? Why was the information he had so valuable? And how did unvetted intelligence make its way into Colin Powells case for war?

Henoch described the source this way:

Curveball was a slug. Curveball was a slime. But Curveball didnt make anybody believe something that they didnt want to believe.

Listen to this full episode of Slow Burn below, and subscribe to Slow Burn on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Join Slate Plus for your ad-free feed.
Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace thinks Sen. Joe Manchin is missing the big picture and isnt thinking strategically. And he wasnt shy about giving the senator from West Virginia a piece of his mind during an interview Sunday that came after Manchin shook up Washington with an op-ed saying he will vote against sweeping voting rights legislation that is a Democratic priority. In the op-ed, Manchin also reiterated his opposition to eliminating the filibuster. And Wallace confronted Manchin on whether his insistence on maintaining the filibuster wasnt counterproductive with his stated goal of more bipartisan cooperation.

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Chris Wallace to Joe Manchin: Arent you being naive about this continuing talk about bipartisan cooperation? pic.twitter.com/NBhoJ1Efm1  Ibrahim (@Ibrahimpols) June 6, 2021

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You said you oppose scrapping the filibuster, Wallace said. The question I have is whether or notand you say that you hope that will bring the parties togetherthe question I have is whether or not youre doing it exactly the wrong way? Wallace questioned whether it wouldnt be a smarter strategy for Manchin to say he might consider getting rid of the filibuster because it could give Republicans an incentive to actually negotiate. Instead, the anchor said, by taking it off the table, havent you empowered Republicans to be obstructionists?

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Manchin said he doesnt agree with Wallaces point of view because there are seven brave Republicans that continue to vote for what they know is right and the facts as they see them, not worrying about the political consequences. Seven Republicans voted to convict former President Donald Trump. Manchin went on say that he was very hopeful and that he sees good signs. But Wallace again pushed back, pointing out that Republicans blocked the independent commission to investigate the Capitol riot and that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has outright said he wants to block President Joe Bidens agenda. Question, asked Wallace. Arent you being naive about this continuing talk about bipartisan cooperation? Manchin responded by saying he wasnt naive and criticized McConnell for trying to block all the good things that were trying to do for America, but he insisted he will continue working with my bipartisan friends and expressed optimism that hopefully we can get more of them.

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After the end of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee, the general who commanded the army of the Confederacy, was never tried, convicted, or sentenced for any crimesnot treason, not murder, not torture. Instead, he became president of Washington College, where he attracted students molded in his image, inspired by his lost cause, and motivated to maintain racial hierarchy. Under Lees leadership, his students would, among other things, form a KKK chapter and harass and assault Black school children. The board of trustees of Washington College honored this legacy when it decided to rename its institution Washington and Lee University.

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Lee is the embodiment of white supremacyhe lived a life, as I previously argued, committed to racial subjugation and terror. He fought to enslave Black peopleso the Confederate States of America could continue to profit on Black labor and Black pain while creating an anti-democratic state founded upon white supremacy. For this reason many stakeholders asked the current board of trustees of Washington and Lee University, where I am an assistant professor of law at the law school, to remove Lee as a namesake. After significant and critical national attention, Lee was finally put on trial at the place where his body is buried. Not guilty, the board of trustees announced on Friday. The vote was not even closea supermajority of trustees (22 out of 28 trustees, or 78 percent) voted to retain Lee as a namesake. That vote, however, did more. It signaled that Washington and Lee University will continue to shine as a beacon of racism, hate, and privilege.

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In response to the boards decision, the universitys president released a statement. He declared that Lees name does not define the university or its stakeholders; rather, we define it. But we cannot engage in historical revisionism to redefine Lees name, nor should we. The board announced its commitment to repudiating racism, racial injustice, and Confederate nostalgia. But we cannot hope to make consequential change until we accept the truth of what Lees name means.

The jury at Washington and Lee harkens back to Jim Crow jurieswhite, male, privileged, and rigged. The jury, composed of 28 trustee members, was mostly white (25 trustees) and mostly male (23 trustees). Many of the witnesses supporting Lee were white, as were many of the big donors who threatened to withhold contributions if Lees name was removed. The outcome was never in doubt.

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White supremacy has been put on trial before throughout our history. The outcomes in those trials was also predictable. The Indian Removal Act ensured white officials could never be found guilty of stealing Native land and committing genocide on the Trail of Tears. White insurrectionists in Wilmington, North Carolina, murdered Black residents, destroyed Black-owned businesses, and then ousted Wilmingtons anti-segregation, proequal rights government to insulate themselves against accountability. The United States Supreme Court sanctioned Japanese internment during World War II. An all-white, all-male jury found Emmett Tills murderers not guilty after 67 minutes of deliberation. Los Angeles cops were acquitted of bludgeoning Rodney King after the jury watched the tape more than 30 times.

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When our racial ghosts are on trial, we know the outcome. When truth and justice are on trial, we know the outcome. When our country is asked to reject a revisionist tissue of historical lies, we know the outcome. White supremacy wins. White supremacy remains adaptable, persistent, violent, and nearly undefeated.

It inspires an insurrection. It introduces 389 restrictive voting right bills in 48 states over the past six months. It forbids schools to give a true accounting of our historya history of racial violence, from the Trail of Tears, to Black Wall Street, to extrajudicial killings including those of Emmett Till, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor. It allows Washington and Lee University to keep Lee as a namesake because it is safer to benefit from white supremacy than to summon the courage to even appear anti-racist.

Historical revisionism shelters white supremacy. It entrenches white supremacy. It emboldens white supremacy. We need truth and reconciliation in America. We must face our past head-on and acknowledge it for what it was: oppression and racial terror fueled by white supremacy. Only then can we start to reimagine our democratic institutions as moremore just, more fair, more equal. Only then will we build the capacity, the resolve, and the collective will to find white supremacy guilty.
This story was originally published by Mother Jones and has been republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Brandon Armbruster just wanted to keep his students safe. The chief operating officer of St. Andrews Episcopal School in Austin, Texas, Armbruster spent the spring and summer of 2020 diligently preparing for students to returndesigning outdoor classrooms, setting up testing routines, and debating whether to cancel sports.

A private school with nearly 1,000 K12 students on two campuses, St. Andrews had its own advisory committee of doctors and scientists to guide decisions about COVID. And as they learned more about how the coronavirus could hang suspended in aerosols for hours, the committee urged Armbruster to turn his attention to ventilation and ways to maximize the amount of fresh air St. Andrews could pump into its classrooms.

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So when a contractor the school had worked with before suggested installing high-tech devices in air ducts to scrub out the coronavirus, Armbruster was intrigued. The devices used a technique called bipolar ionization: shooting tiny, electrically charged ions into the air, where they would interact with and neutralize airborne contaminants like viruses. Or, at least, thats the theory. According to the manufacturer, Plasma Air, the Spanish Ministry of Defence had backed research that proved its purifier could reduce 99 percent of a coronavirus surrogate from the air in a Madrid hotel room within 10 minutes. All St. Andrews would need to do was attach Plasma Airs small cartridges into its air ducts, hook them up to some electricity, and let the ionization process begin.

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Armbruster, a 45-year-old business and finance guy, liked how the ionizers sounded more proactive than filters, which trap tiny contaminants as they float through air ducts or are sucked into the kind of free-standing air purifier you can buy at Home Depot. The contractor assured him that other Texas schools had already gone ahead with the technology. But Armbruster wasnt convinced. For one thing, he couldnt find much data on bipolar ionization that didnt come directly from the companies peddling the products. And a video on the Plasma Air website raised red flags. In a science fairstyle experiment captured on camera, two slices of bread were placed side by side in transparent boxes, one with a Plasma Air ionizer running, and one without. Over six days, mold blossomed across the bread in the nonionized box; the other slice appeared fresh. Yeah, it works great inside a small box, Armbruster remembers thinking. But whats it going to do for a big classroom?

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The school executive couldnt find much data on bipolar ionization that didnt come directly from the companies peddling the products.

To find out, he got in touch with Atila Novoselac and Pawel Misztal, two engineering professors and indoor air experts at the University of TexasAustin. He asked if they would run tests on a couple of these ionizers before the school forked over more than $100,000. Well, why not? Novoselac recalls answering. They didnt have access to a biosafety lab where they could test the ionizers against the actual coronavirus. But they could measure whether the machines removed particles or broke down volatile organic compounds released in the air by household cleaning products, which would give them an idea of whether the purifiers worked as advertised. We were quite excited initially, Misztal says, because we thought, Wow, if this is really true, with those bold claims that the company was making, that should really help schools. 

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Yet when they turned on the ionizers in their own stainless steel chamber, the two engineers couldnt detect any meaningful change in air quality. At first they thought the devices must not be working. After consulting the manual and running the tests again, they got the same results. Both researchers cautioned that their experiments were informal and confined to the two specific devices they tested. But the conclusions were unambiguous: Installing this unit in a classrooms HVAC was as good as putting a brick in a duct, Novoselac wrote in an email to another researcher.

Armbruster passed on Plasma Air, instead opting to overhaul St. Andrews heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems and add higher-efficiency filters. But Plasma Airs slice of the air purifier industry is doing just fine without him. Since the onset of the pandemic, companies hawking indoor air cleaners have benefited from peoples fears over the air in their businesses, schools, and workplaces; an enormous amount of government and corporate money being spent to ensure those places can be reopened safely; and an almost entirely unregulated landscape in which to sell fancy-sounding but largely unproven technology.

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The new universe of air scrubbers goes by a lot of namesbipolar ionization, photocatalytic oxidation, organic airbut some experts refer to them as additive purifiers. They all share the same underlying principle: Rather than simply subtracting matter from the air using a filter, they add molecules to create chemical reactions that, at least in theory, eliminate airborne contaminants. Those molecules supposedly float out into a room and destroy viruses, break down harmful gases, or make particles stick together, causing them to get trapped in filters or settle on surfaces, where they cant be inhaled. Some manufacturers emphasize that their process mimics the atmospheric activity found near crashing waves, mountaintops, and waterfalls.

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The reality is far less rosy. In interviews with Mother Jones, nearly a dozen chemists, engineers, and indoor air-quality experts laid out a range of possible dangers. First theres the matter of the molecules that additive purifiers release into air, which can include ozone or free radicals. Ozone, a highly reactive form of oxygen, has long been known to damage lungs and worsen chronic respiratory diseases. While some purifiers are certified to produce undetectable levels of ozone, still others produce much more. And little oversight exists to keep levels in check. Free radicals, meanwhile, have an odd number of electrons, which makes them unstable and greedy. When they meet other molecules, they grab their electrons, transforming into something new. While purifiers rely on those transformations to destroy unwanted gases, some research suggests free radicals may damage lung tissue when inhaled.

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Experts also worry the machines run the risk of creating harmful byproducts like formaldehyde, a probable carcinogen, at high concentrations. A federal class-action lawsuit filed in May against one of Plasma Airs competitors, Global Plasma Solutionsalso known as GPSalleges that bipolar ionizers make the air worse for people by causing toxic chemicals to form. In two recent studies conducted in China, researchers found that ionizing air purifiers tested in schools reduced particulate matter but also appeared to cause health problems. Indoor air is a complex chemical soup, explains Jeff Siegel, a University of Toronto civil engineering professor who has spent decades researching air cleaners. If youre operating one of these devices, the most charitable thing I can say is you are doing an uncontrolled experiment on the air in your building, Siegel says. In some environments, this could be really hazardous.

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In response to questions about scientists critiques, Plasma Air and GPS pointed to industry certifications saying their products emit negligible or no ozone. They also note test results from commercial labs that concluded their machines do not form chemical byproducts. (Four other companies did not respond to requests for comment or declined to answer questions about the scientists concerns.) GPS has filed defamation lawsuits against two of its critics, indoor air engineering consultants who said the companys purifiers are potentially harmful and that its product testing was faulty.

Manufacturers often pay commercial labs to test their products, resulting in impressive-sounding claims like a 99 percent reduction in airborne coronavirus. Meanwhile, peer-reviewed research does not show additive air purifiers consistently working under real-world conditions without forming potentially harmful byproducts, according to six academic experts I spoke with, as well as a review of scientific articles provided by manufacturers. And recent research indicates that some machines on the market may be far less effective than manufacturers claim. Scientists have only begun to study the chemical mechanisms by which the purifiers actually work indoors, says Timothy Bertram, a University of Wisconsin chemist leading a study of bipolar ionizers. Without that understanding, its hard to evaluate what, if anything, additive purifiers do when theyre installed inside an air vent or plugged in at the back of a classroom. So far, Bertrams study has found no evidence of the ionizers reducing aerosols.

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The theory behind these devices is interesting, says Delphine Farmer, an atmospheric chemist at Colorado State University. Its just it hasnt been demonstrated to work in real-world environments.

At best, some experts say, additive purifiers are unnecessary, especially considering the range of proven alternatives like filters and increasing the flow of air coming in from outside. At worst, buyers hoping to fight COVID could be lulled into a false sense of security while adding harmful chemicals to the air. Yet over the last year, additive air cleaners have been installed in prisons, cruise ships, and meatpacking plantsall places where the coronavirus is known to spread rapidly. They are particularly attractive to schools, where administrators are under enormous pressure to resume in-person learning by the next school year. Those schools are also loaded with pandemic stimulus cash$13 billion from 2020s CARES Act, and an additional $130 billion in President Joe Bidens American Rescue Plan. The familiar faces delivering the sell dont hurt: Kris Kobach, former Kansas secretary of state, was peddling an additive air cleaner to his state Legislature last fall. Former CDC Director Robert Redfield recently joined manufacturer Big Ass Fans, which is selling fans with an additive purifier on the tip of each blade. In March, ActivePure Technologies, a Texas-based additive purifier company with a multilevel marketing arm, announced it was hiring a new chief medical and science adviser: Dr. Deborah Birx, Donald Trumps former coronavirus response coordinator.

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And so, across the country, school districts drawn in by promising-sounding manufacturer data and slick marketing are now spending anywhere from several thousand dollars to a few million to install additive air purifiers. GPS says its devices are employed by 1,300 K12 schools and on 400 U.S. college campuses. Both Plasma Air and ActivePure say hundreds of schools use their devices. According to a tally maintained by Marwa Zaatari, an indoor air engineering consultant, public and private schools in at least 41 states have installed air cleaners shes concerned about. Marietta, Georgia, put ionizers on school buses. The school district in Sacramento, California, spent more than $6 million last year to purchase and install additive purifiers. When the CARES Act dollars came through in late August, we saw it as a perfect opportunity to pursue ionization, Greg Cole, a top administrator for Anoka-Hennepin Schools, one of Minnesotas largest districts, says in a video posted to the districts YouTube channel. The district spent more than $1.4 million on additive purifiers.

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In January, the epidemic task force at ASHRAE, the professional organization that sets standards for HVAC, issued a recommendation that buildings should only use air cleaners for which evidence of effectiveness and safety is clear. The CDC urges consumers to do their homework on bipolar ionization: In the absence of an established body of evidence reflecting proven efficacy under as-used conditions, the technology is still considered by many to be an emerging technology. 

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But for many schools, installing high-tech air cleaners to fight an airborne virus still seems like the aggressive countermeasures that parents and staff clamor for. Richard Corsi, dean of the engineering and computer science college at Portland State University and an advocate for better-ventilated schools, says hes fielded many queries from districts about bipolar ionizers and similar purifiers. I just keep telling school district officials, Stick to proven technologies,  Corsi says. Why would you want to risk this?

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Additive air purifiers have been trendy before. In the early 2000s, the Sharper Imagethe mall-based purveyor of shiny gadgetsrelied on its Ionic Breeze purifier for more than a third of its sales. The device was supposed to generate ions that made contaminants stick to oppositely charged collection plates inside the device. No fan, no noise, just cleaner air. Then Consumer Reports published a series of articles beginning in 2002 finding that Ionic Breeze produced almost no measurable reduction in airborne particles but released potentially dangerous levels of ozone as an unintentional byproduct.

The findings spelled disaster for the Sharper Image. Ozone in the upper atmosphere shields humans from ultraviolet rays, but its toxic when inhaled, damaging lung tissue and aggravating asthma. The Sharper Image sued Consumer Reports for product disparagement and lost. Then the class actions started. Multiple lawsuits, from Ionic Breeze owners in California, Florida, and Maryland, claimed that the purifiers failed to work as advertised and exposed them to dangerous ozone levels.

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After years of litigation, the company was ready to settle, proposing $19 coupons for anyone who owned an Ionic Breeze. But when the judge rejected the offer, the Sharper Images stock plummeted. Bankruptcy followed, and the company cited the lawsuits as a cause. The plaintiffs were allotted only a small settlement, but the controversy may have helped pass the countrys first and only prohibition on additive air purifiers: In 2008, Californias Air Resources Board banned air cleaners that emit more than a moderate amount of ozone.

As public knowledge about the dangers of indoor ozone grew, engineers set about redesigning ionizers, trying to avoid releasing significant levels of the gas. Today, manufacturers like Plasma Air and GPS boast that their devices produce tiny levels of ozone, if any at all. Still, small increases in ozone concentrations are associated with increased risk of death from respiratory causes, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which compared 23 years of ozone data in 96 U.S. cities with health outcomes for more than 400,000 patients.

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Purifiers never went awayask anyone whos lived through the California wildfiresbut the past year has brought them back into the national spotlight. In a video posted to ActivePures website, Birx explained her decision to join the company as a part-time consultant: When I was traveling the country, I was able to talk to people and understand what their needs really were, how people really want to feel safe again indoors, she said. I was really looking for technology that was science- and data-driven, really working to address that specific issue, to make indoor spaces safe for individuals. ActivePure is one of those companies that has, really, that type of technology. In a press release, CEO Joe Urso said Birxs presence would help bring ActivePure devices to all indoor spaces.

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At best, experts say, additive purifiers are unnecessary considering the range of proven alternatives. At worst, buyers hoping to fight COVID could be lulled into a false sense of security while adding harmful chemicals to the air.

Of course, Birx isnt exactly regarded as a stalwart defender of science. As Trumps coronavirus response coordinator, she became best known for sitting by uncomfortably as her boss wondered aloud about injecting bleach to treat COVID. Since Biden took office, Birx has been doing a series of TV hits to explain what happened, recounting how Trump chewed her out for issuing a dire warning about the coronavirus.

So working for a company that is also in need of image rehabilitation is an interesting choice. ActivePure is descended from Alpine Air Products Inc., a multilevel marketing company founded in 1986 to sell free-standing air purifiers that intentionally generated ozone to clean the air. In 1990, the state of Minnesota, where Alpine was based, filed a consumer fraud and antitrust lawsuit against the company, alleging it hadnt warned buyers that the amount of ozone emitted could be harmful. A trial court agreed, and Alpine had to pay consumers damages and restitution.

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The company survived, and in 1994 it made $7 million in sales. But its legal problems didnt go away. In 1995, the Federal Trade Commission told Alpine to stop making unsubstantiated claims about its purifiers ability to remove pollutants and prevent or relieve allergies, asthma, and colds. About three years later, after the company didnt heed its warning, the FTC filed suit. A jury found Alpine lacked competent and reliable scientific evidence to back up many claims about its products effectiveness.

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Then, in 2000, at the height of the companys troubles, Mike Jackson, Alpines vice president of marketingthe very division responsible for its bogus claimsformed a new corporation: EcoQuest International. EcoQuest promptly acquired the marketing rights to sell Alpine products, along with its entire network marketing operation.

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With the bombastic Jackson as president, EcoQuest grew from a small multilevel marketing firm to a powerhouse. In radio ads, Pat Boone sang the praises of its purifiers, which the company claimed produced less ozone than older versions. Thousands of dealers flocked to the EcoQuest Success Institute in Greeneville, Tennessee, for sales training programs steeped in religious language. Many of its most successful salespeople were pastors and priests and preachers and evangelists, Jackson told a Knoxville News Sentinel reporter. (In this sense, Birx, an evangelical, fits right in.) I dont believe that the non-Christian crowd should control all the money and should control all the airways and control the radio waves and control all the newspapers, Jackson said. (When California debated its air purifier regulation, an EcoQuest dealer wept during a public hearing as she described how the companys product had improved her mothers breathing. God gave humans these air purifiers, and you should not take away that gift, she pleaded.)

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By 2004, EcoQuests cumulative air purifier sales had reportedly reached $1 billion. That summer, the company acquired a division of another firm that had a pending patent on a related process called photocatalytic oxidation, which involves shining ultraviolet light onto a surface coated with a catalyst. When working as intended, that interaction creates charged clusters of oxygen and hydrogen in the air, as well as free radicals, that break down unwanted gases into water and carbon dioxide. The way the company tells the story, the technique drew on NASA research looking for ways to reduce the buildup of ethylene gas around plants inside a spacecrafts sealed environment. EcoQuest dubbed the technology ActivePure and got to work selling it.

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At least some of the new purifiers still released ozone. But Jackson assured the Knoxville News Sentinel that Alpines legal troubles were a thing of the past: All that stuff was the maturing, the growing of Mike Jackson as a businessman, he said. I learned that you dont make claims unless you have scientific substantiation.  It probably was one of the best schools I could have gone to in learning what not to do with my company.

But in 2009, when sales plummeted amid the recession, EcoQuest went bankrupt. Jackson sold off EcoQuest to Urso, CEO of a family of companies with names like Allergy Buyers Cluband descended from Electrolux, the door-to-door sales heavyweightthat used direct sales to hawk anti-allergy bedding, aromatherapy oils, and vacuum cleaners. (According to a press release, the company signed a deal in 2018 to manufacture purifiers under the brand name the Sharper Image, though Urso says this has not happened.)

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Today, ActivePure is the name of Ursos flagship company and his signature product, sold both as an HVAC add-on and in free-standing air purifiers. In an email, Urso told me that their technology, improved since the EcoQuest days, complies with all federal standards with respect to efficacy and safety and reduces net ozone. Our goal at ActivePure Technologies has been and is simple: finding the best path to clean and safe indoor air, he wrote. One ActivePure product, the Medical Guardian, which uses a HEPA filter and ionizer with photocatalytic oxidation, has been certified by the FDA as a medical device to remove certain viruses, bacteria, and fungal spores from the air in hospitals and doctors officesindicating it doesnt produce high ozone levels. A handful of the companys products, Urso added, produce ozone intentionally.

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Jackson, for his part, is now a leader in ActivePures multilevel marketing arm, which is still going strong. In a June 2020 recruitment webinar titled How You Earn $100,000 Killing Viruses, Mold, and Mildew! Jackson suggested that sellers can pay off their mortgage after six months of hawking air purifiers. (Urso says Jackson is an independent distributor whose views do not represent the company.)

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Ursos companies make the jaw-dropping claim that their technology can kill more than 99 percent of airborne coronavirus in three minutes. The powerful oxidants produced by the purifiers seek and destroy DNA and RNA viruses, according to some of the companys marketing language. Sales have quadrupled over the last year, a press release boasts; in one promotional video, Jackson claims they sold out 25,000 systems in a single week in 2020. The ActivePure website now lists 39 schools and child care centers it says use its purifiers; hundreds more, it claims, trust its technology.

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We developed technology, called ActivePure, that destroys the COVID virus in the air and have deployed it for decades, Urso wrote in an open letter to Biden on his companys website. I urge you and the nations governors and mayors to encourageor, where you can, requirethe use of the best technology now. It is the missing link. Bringing America back depends on it.

Peg Pavelec first heard of ActivePure from a friends sister, a direct salesperson for its multilevel marketing arm. Pavelec, the owner of Little Inspirations preschool and day care in Hyde Park, Chicago, hadnt much obsessed over ventilation during the citys hot summer last year, when the roughly 85 kids her staff looked after spent a lot of time in the neighborhoods green spaces. Our program is very nature-based, she says. We try to get outdoors as much as possible.

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But when the winter came and COVID cases surged, she started to focus more on indoor air quality. When her friends sister reached out in late 2020, Pavelec was eager to learn more. The woman, she recalls, talked a lot about the science behind the device. Some of it was all gibberish, because its very technical, she says. But as the conversation continued, it became much more layperson friendly. Theres little animated videos, sharing how the units work, and what they do, and how they kill 99 percent of the viruses out there.

Pavelec loved what she heardincluding the part about how ActivePure was considered a Certified Space Technology. Because the companys photocatalytic oxidation technique draws on science developed by NASA, the company can pay a licensing fee to the Space Foundation, a nonprofit that is not run by NASA, to put the foundations stamp of approval on its ActivePure products. Other certified technologies include a line of South Korean skin care and the KegSheet, a $14 beer keg insulator. Its like rocket fuel for your brand! reads a banner across the Space Foundation webpage. Wow, this is NASA, Pavelec remembers thinking about ActivePure. If it really works the way they say it works, that could be life-changing.

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As scientists have started to raise alarms, some institutions have reversed course on additive air purifiers.

But Pavelec paused at the cost: up to $10,000 to outfit both her child care locations. Before she pulled the trigger, she emailed Brent Stephens, the father of two children in her program and an indoor air expert at the Illinois Institute of Technology. I would not jump on this, Stephens wrote back to her. He was especially worried about the potential for the purifiers to generate free radicals, which could be expected to react with all sorts of chemical compounds in the air and turn them into other molecules. A 2018 Environmental Protection Agency report supports the idea that these types of devices could generate formaldehyde, as well as nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, because of the free radicals it creates. The EPA concludes: The effectiveness of [photocatalytic oxidation] air cleaners sold for use in homes remains largely undocumented. The new daughter molecules that are produced can be even more toxic than the original parent, Stephens explained to Pavelec. The kids could end up breathing higher levels of formaldehyde.

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At the request of Mother Jones, Stephens analyzed the data that is the basis for ActivePures claim to reduce 99 percent of aerosolized coronavirus. The stand-alone purifier used in the experiment is advertised for rooms between 500 and 3,000 square feet, yet it was tested in a box the size of an oven. Crazy outsized device in a tiny chamber, Stephens concluded. Standard trick. Bud Offermann, another indoor air engineering consultant I asked to review the data, agreed. At best, he said, the study showed proof of concept. (According to Urso, ActivePure does not produce volatile organic compounds. He does not agree that a small chamber invalidates the basic conclusion that the technology deactivates the coronavirus.)

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These are concerning, says Farmer, the Colorado State University atmospheric chemist, who also reviewed ActivePures test data. I would leave a room quickly and would dissuade anyone with asthma or other cardiorespiratory conditions from getting near until they went through more tests for byproducts.

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Farmer also warned another school administrator, Chris Wilderman, about a different type of additive purifier: bipolar ionizers. Wilderman, the director of maintenance and operations for one of Colorados largest districts, was helping to decide how to spend millions in CARES Act funding. Last summer, he installed bipolar ionizers from Global Plasma Solutions in two schools that couldnt bring enough outside air into classrooms. He was considering putting GPS units in more buildings when he heard Farmer talking about indoor air quality on NPR. Farmer, at the time, was working with other scientists on what they believe is the first peer-reviewed study assessing whether bipolar ionization reduces particulates or forms byproducts in a real-life settingexamining, coincidentally, GPS devices. Though the study, published in March, did not look at the effect of ionizers on viruses, it found that the machines did little to reduce particulate matter in both a test chamber and an occupied office building. And while the purifier appeared to break down some concerning gases, it seemed to produce small increases in others, like acetaldehyde and toluene, which the EPA classifies as hazardous. (One bright spot: The researchers concluded the system was not producing ozone.)

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GPS says it disagrees with the studys results, arguing the authors did not design their experiment properly. GPS and its leadership doesnt just appreciate, but enthusiastically encourages the testing of its technology, the company said in a statement. It also stressed that those studies need to be accurately replicating real-world applications of the products. But its not just Farmer raising alarms about GPS. In May, the company was hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging GPS deceives consumers by falsely claiming its technology is independently tested and that it preys on people desperate to cleanse the air and protect themselves. The complaint continues: Defendants profits over people scheme won the company acclaim, publicity, and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. GPS told me it intends to aggressively defend our technology and claims.

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Wilderman says Farmers advice was dont get fancy. He decided to put air purifiers with HEPA filters in every classroom in the district. SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted through exhaled aerosols, Farmer explains. One way to really reduce that risk is to remove as many particles as you can from the air. Thats what having a HEPA filter is designed for. For Wilderman, outfitting a single high school with 143 free-standing HEPA purifiers cost $26,884. Putting in GPS ionizers in that same school would have run about $350,000. (GPS points out that its ionizers dont require replacement filters.)

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Pavelec, in Chicago, wavered after her friends sister sent her a trial ActivePure device, but she ultimately said no to the purifiers. Still, not every school has a Stephens or Farmer to consult with. In northern Virginia, Rappahannock County is home to two public schools, about 800 students, and zero stoplights. Robin Bolt wears a lot of hats for the school district, overseeing technology, facilities, and equity. Last year, when Bolt requested bids to install air scrubbers, ActivePure came back as the cheapest option. To Bolt, the manufacturer data was promising, and online reviews sounded good. For just over $126,000, the district installed one model in the ducts and put free-standing versions in its offices.

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Since then, Bolt has heard from a school nurse that sicknesses have gone down; the air inside, to her, smells fresher. But shes unsurprised to hear that theres little peer-reviewed science backing up her districts new purifiers. Were flying by the seat of our pants, she says. Were trying to do what is best for our students. Thats always the endgame.

The specs looked very good, she added. And then that NASA seal sort of makes you feel a lot better about it.

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As scientists have started to raise alarms, some institutions have reversed course on additive air purifiers. In February, the Sacramento school district pulled photocatalytic oxidation machines from school buildings after a Sacramento Bee investigation led to outcry from the teachers union. Public schools in Montclair, New Jersey, turned off their GPS ionizers after parent objections. And last summer, when a Phoenix megachurch hosting a Trump rally announced it had installed purifiers that could supposedly kill 99 percent of COVID within 10 minutes, backlash from experts led the state attorney general to issue warning letters to both the church and the company, Clean Air EXP. Each rolled back its claims. (Clean Air EXP rebranded four months later. It now sells under the name PuriFi Labs.)

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Yet no U.S. governmental body has attempted to regulate the indoor air cleaner industry systematically. Products that cant pass Californias ozone test are sold freely in other states; one ActivePure website, for example, serves different homepages to customers outside the state. The FTC has sent warning letters to a handful of air purifier companies making COVID-related claims but has not publicly announced any follow-up action, according to a spokesperson. And while the FDA regulates medical devices, its up to companies to decide whether to seek that certification. In an email to Mother Jones, an EPA spokesperson said it keeps an eye on false and misleading claims from air purifier manufacturers but that companies arent required to submit safety or efficacy data to the agency. EPA is concerned about the potential for schools to be victimized, the spokesperson said. But enforcement, for now, is case by case.

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These products just fall in that gray zone where no government authority is really ready to provide oversight or regulation for them, Farmer says. Its probably not going to happen until someone gets really badly hurt.

All the scientists I spoke with say that the goal should be more peer-reviewed research on what exactly additive cleaners are doing. In the meantime, indoor air-quality experts are urging schools to follow the precautionary principle: If you dont understand it, do not use it, Zaatari says. Shes working on an ASHRAE standard for additive air-cleaner testing and raising money for more research. A handful of scientists recently released an online tool to help convert additive purifier manufacturer data into more informative metrics. Corsi, Stephens, and others have all given webinars cautioning schools to stick to proven methods like increasing the flow of outdoor air and upgrading filters. Farmer, in conversations with school administrators, has recommended they simply duct-tape HEPA filters to box fans: $50 apiece, no risk of byproducts.

And in April, a dozen indoor air-quality scientists and engineers co-signed an open letter to schools written by Zaatari and another consultant. Many districts, constrained by varying degrees of limited budgets, deferred maintenance, and pressure to get kids back in school, have already implemented electronic air cleaning devices, relying on incomplete data and exaggerated claims to make a well-intended, but incorrect decision, they wrote. Despite the resources invested, we recommend that these districts strongly consider turning off or disabling these electronic air cleaners to prevent unintended harm to building occupants.

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At least one purifier company is firing back at its critics. This spring, GPS filed lawsuits accusing Zaatari and Offermann of defamation and product disparagement. Offermann, who spent decades testing additive air purifiers for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, had self-published a paper titled Beware: The COVID-19 Snake Oil Salesmen Are Here, which GPS claims unfairly maligned its test data, according to court papers. In a separate complaint, GPS accused Zaatari of mounting a systematic campaign designed to smear GPS on Twitter, in news articles, and during webinars that portrayed ionizers as potentially dangerousincluding likening them to cigarettes. Theyre basically suing to try to silence me, Zaatari told me in April. Im not going to stop.

Its an uphill battle at a time when institutions are looking to do anything possible to fight the coronavirus. For Armbruster, in Texas, finding ways to stop the spread of COVID in school immediately took precedence over everything else that we had planned. Wilderman, in Colorado, spent months sorting through a bombardment of air purifier marketing. We were getting flooded every day, from everybody you can think ofindividual air purifiers, HEPA filters, UV light, dry hydrogen peroxide, he recalls. Contractors cold-called him. School board members forwarded sales emails.

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Pavelec, the day care and preschool owner, worries about what parents might think if they learn she turned down any technology that could potentially offer COVID protection. People have strong opinions about this, she says. People say, Well, you should be doing everything that you possibly can to make sure every moment, every particle is eliminated. Theres a lot of fear. And theres a lot of tragedy thats already come around.

She understands their perspectiveand the purifiers allure. When she tried out an ActivePure device as a sample, she put it in her basement and allowed her son to have a friend over. For a short time, she was a little less anxious. Then she began to wonder if she had a false sense of security. That view that theres this new technology that could be the solution is really enticing, she says. You want to believe it.
Global youth draft 'Blue New Deal' to protect oceans: 'Time to end generational injustice'

Concerned youths worldwide today delivered a policy vision for policy-makers to address the declining state of the world's ocean.

A carbon neutral economy, preserving biodiversity, achieving sustainable seafood production, and reforming ocean governance are the four fundamental pillars supporting policy recommendations debuted in the Global Blue New Deal, an ocean policy framework built around crowd-sourced youth priorities.

"Healthy oceans are essential to human survival and well-being, and environmental health must be a global priority as we recover from the pandemic and build a sustainable blue economy," says Mark Haver, Chair of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance's Youth Policy Advisory Council.

He and 14 fellow Young Ocean Leaders on the Council spent a year gathering and synthesizing more than 100 survey responses in five languages from the SOA global youth community in 38 countries on how to end the cycle of ocean decline.

"Today's oceans are overfished, rife with plastic, and overexploited for minerals, fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources. We need to end this cycle of decline and generational injustice that threatens us all."

Today, June 7, 2021, is the first step of integrating public comment into the Global Blue New Deal. Our event, "Defining The Blue New Deal: A Youth Led Workshop For The Future of Our Ocean," seeks to collect feedback on our framework from youth and stakeholders ahead of larger public comment periods.

Starting in July, our public comment period seeks to engage the UN Major Group for Youth and Children, UN Ocean Decade affiliates, the NGO sector, more youth, and other ocean stakeholders in gathering input ahead of our official launch of the final Global Blue New Deal before COP26.

The Global Blue New Deal consists of four pillars. Each pillar has sub-pillars with specific ocean policy solutions.

In brief:

Pillar 1

Carbon Neutrality: Transition to a Zero Carbon Future

Limiting carbon emissions is of utmost importance to preserve ocean health due to its impact on ocean acidification levels, marine biodiversity, sea level rise and livelihoods of coastal communities, especially in Small Island Developing States.

Subpillars:

End offshore drilling and invest in renewable ocean energy, in accordance with a recent International Energy Agency report stating there is "no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply in our net-zero pathway."

Decarbonize the shipping industry, which produces approximately 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and use revenues from economic tools such as carbon pricing to research and develop zero-carbon shipping.

Reduce land-based marine pollution which is responsible for about 80% of all marine pollution. Halt or curb manufacturing and use of plastic nurdles (small beads used in various products), plastic bags, and microplastics through use of bans, taxes, and other disincentives.

Transition to a circular economy to shift from today's linear take-make-waste model to a sustainable economic system where we reduce what we take and reuse and recycle what we already have.

Strengthen legislation and enforcement against ocean contamination to build accountability and affirm commitments to the London Protocol.

Pillar 2

Preserve Biodiversity: Apply Nature-based Solutions to Promote Healthy Ecosystems and Climate Resilience

Prioritize conservation of the planet's ecosystems, which remove carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases from our atmosphere while providing cleaner air and water, reducing coastal erosion, bolstering climate resilience and providing habitat.

Subpillars:

Support the global movement to protect 30% of the world's ocean by 2030 and establish Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) with a robust scientific foundation and "no-take zones" where extractive activities are prohibited.

Enforce against non-compliance in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to prevent "paper parks."

Establish a global moratorium against deep-sea mining -- an unjustified threat to unique deep-sea biodiversity.

Transition from "gray" manmade infrastructure, such as culverts and seawalls, to nature-based blue carbon infrastructure including the restoration of wetlands, mangroves, marshes, oyster reefs, coral reefs, kelp forests, and the installation of living shorelines to sequester carbon and promote biodiversity.

Pillar 3:

Sustainable Seafood: Match Increasing Global Demand Sustainably

With one-third of global fish stocks overfished and climate change exacerbating the pressures placed on already vulnerable fish populations, feeding future generations depends on the viability of ocean ecosystems.

Subpillars:

Encourage sustainable governance of capture fisheries to sustainably manage the fish stocks within and outside countries' Exclusive Economic Zones, and adopt precautionary and ecosystems-based approaches to fisheries management.

Enforce against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing with clear supply chain inspection processes to certify the origin and legality of the fish landing in ports. Direct greater funding and technological support (including Vessel Monitoring Systems) to detect IUU fishing.

Eliminate capacity-enhancing fisheries subsidies, amounting today to tens of billions of dollars that promote overfishing, and redirect the funds to fisheries management and research, marine protected areas, and increased economic opportunity for coastal communities.

Provide a sustainable path for aquaculture, with low-impact production and feed supply to ensure that as we feed ourselves, we can also feed the generations of tomorrow.

Fund research and development of plant-based and cell-cultured seafood, to provide an alternative supply while assessing potential risks and benefits.

Pillar 4:

Stakeholder Engagement: Include Local Communities in Natural Ocean Resource Management

Ocean governance should be built on sound legal and institutional mechanisms that are horizontally integrated to ensure full transparency in decision-making processes and building self-sufficient community management.

Subpillars:

Ensure the sustainability of coastal ecotourism, where current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts are taken into full account with full stakeholder participation. Create financial incentives to support the most sustainable ecotourism companies and incentivize others to become more and more sustainable.

Promote ocean research and innovation to scale ocean solutions and map 100% of the global seafloor by 2030.

Emphasize ocean literacy and capacity building to build the skills and networks for effective leadership, policy development, stakeholder engagement, and communication to conserve and protect oceans through community management.

Build stakeholder participation in ocean governance, embrace inclusion and diversity, and involve as many stakeholders as possible in management of marine and coastal ecosystems, particularly those who are directly affected.

Background

Young Ocean Leaders, all under 35 years of age, are part of SOA's global community of youth, entrepreneurs, and experts from 165 countries and territories -- the world's largest youth-led network of ocean allies working to solve the greatest challenges facing our oceans.

"Youth are the greatest stakeholders in the future health of the ocean environment," says Marina Porto of Brazil, Co-Chair of the Youth Policy Advisory Council. "They need to be directly involved in building a sustainable blue economy that ensures the health of the ocean ecosystem while providing economic opportunities."

The United Nations has recognized the increasingly degraded state of our ocean and declared 2021-2030 a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, which officially launched June 1.

The UN has called on global ocean stakeholders to develop and support a common framework to deliver "the ocean we need for the future we want".

The ocean provides an estimated USD $3 to $6 trillion in ecosystem services, jobs, and cultural services. Fisheries and aquaculture alone contribute USD$100 billion per year and 250+ million jobs.

"We see this as our opportunity to rewrite the long history of an increasingly compromised ocean," concluded Mark Haver. "Each generation has inherited an increasingly degraded ocean environment with the poorest, most vulnerable communities feeling the impacts the most severely."

###

SOA's Youth Policy Advisory Council (YPAC) is comprised of 15 Young Ocean Leaders recognized for their policy acumen and dedication to furthering environmental regulation in their region.

North America / Caribbean

Mark Haver

YPAC Chair, USA

Mark is an ocean policy and communications advisor based in Washington, DC. He's been active at the intersection of youth organizing, ocean climate policy, and politics. Mark has been involved with SOA for four years and has been driving the development of the Blue New Deal to rally global youth around an intergenerational call for a healthy ocean and just future.

Nicolas P Florestal

Haiti

Nicolas has successfully worked on establishing Haiti's first official network of Marine Protected Areas and has worked in them as an ecodiver since 2011.

Latin and South America

Marina Porto

YPAC Co-Chair, Brazil

Marina has engaged in several projects related to sustainable production and consumption, climate change and marine litter. She holds a masters degree in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics and is a sustainability consultant at Sofies UK.

Diwigdi Valiente

Panama

Diwi is a member of the indigenous Guna people of Central America, whose islands may disappear under the rising sea within his lifetime. He develops and leads initiatives to raise awareness and inspire political action against climate change and plastic pollution in Panama.

Europe

Leonie Meier

YPAC Secretary, Germany

Leonie is passionate about the ocean, having researched microplastic pollution for her Master's thesis. She has worked on a wide range of environmental and sustainability issues for various UN organizations and the public sector in Germany.

Lucie Guirkinger

Belgium

Half-French, half-Colombian, Lucie is a passionate marine conservationist who recently graduated from the University of Cambridge where she investigated fishers' non-compliance and how this can be addressed. She has also managed several projects on corals, sharks, rays and turtles.

Africa

Pauline Owiti

Kenya

Pauline has been serving as a Project Lead in initiatives that aim to declare the Arctic Ocean as a Marine Protected Area. She currently serves as the National Coordinator of Kenya at the United Nations Conference of Youth, the Kenya Coordinator at Extinction Rebellion, and part of Kenya Youth Biodiversity Network.

Emerson Neves

Mozambique

Emerson works for the Marine Megafauna Foundation in Mozambique. He has been recognized as a 2021 Top 100 Young African Conservation Leader, a 2021 Climate Ambassador with the Global Youth Climate Network through the World Bank, and a 2020 Disney Conservation Hero.

Oceania and Small-Island Developing States

Jeremy Raguain

Seychelles

Life in Seychelles depends on the ocean. Jeremy works with the Seychelles Islands Foundation, a non-profit organisation which manages Seychelles' UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In this role, and through his volunteering with Global Shapers and SOA, Jeremy contributes his efforts towards SDGs 13, 14 and 17 through evidence based management with environmental justice in mind.

Alanna Smith

Cook Islands

Alanna, who works for the environmental NGO 'Te Ipukarea Society,' has actively opposed Cook Islands seabed mining, worked on Marine Spatial Planning projects and biodiversity surveys, and helped raise public awareness of plastic pollution.

Asia

Surangika Jayarathne

Sri Lanka

Surangika works as a researcher in the areas of sustainable blue economy, climate change and maritime security in South Asia.

Lu Fang

China

Lu Fang leads the seafood sustainability assessment effort of an NGO, the Qingdao Marine Conservation Society. She also provides scientific and analytical support to several sustainable fisheries and aquaculture projects.

Roger Joseph (Rocky) Guzman

Philippines

Rocky is a lawyer and ocean policy specialist involved with environmental non-profits, where he handled policy campaigns related to fisheries management and ending illegal fishing, marine conservation and strengthening the rule of law.

Fidan Karimova

Azerbaijan

Fidan works to bridge the gap between water and wastewater utility needs and available technologies. She has helped entrepreneurs worldwide to bring ideas to market. A University of Maryland graduate with a Bachelor's degree in business and a Master's in environmental management, Fidan is an avid ocean supporter and artist.

Andreas Aditya Salim

Indonesia

Andreas is a lawyer dedicated to eradicating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and improvement of ocean management in Indonesia. He served as a legal counsel for the Commander of the Republic of Indonesia's Presidential Task Force to Combat Illegal Fishing for four years prior to his participation in the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. He obtained his law degree from the University of Indonesia and is enrolled in the Berkeley Law LL.M. program

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
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This text is regularly updated to ensure that our readers always receive the most up-to-date information.

Planning the summer holidays ahead can be complicated with the varying anti-Covid measures applicable in different European countries.

The Slovak Spectator presents a set of FAQs on travelling to Slovakia, staying in the country and enjoying holidays without breaching any of the anti-pandemic measures in place and protecting your own health.

If you have any question we have not answered below, do not hesitate to contact us at editorial@spectator.sk.

Arriving in Slovakia

Am I as a foreigner allowed to enter Slovakia for touristic purposes?

All foreigners who are rightfully staying in the Schengen Area are allowed to enter Slovakia via inner borders (via Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic or Poland) for any purpose. They are obliged to observe the current anti-epidemic measures.

When entering Slovakia via outer borders (Ukraine), there are slightly different rules.

Citizens of member countries of the EU and their family members may enter Slovakia via the outer border for any purpose.

The entrance of a non-EU national via outer borders is limited. They may enter only if one of these exceptions applies to them:

- they are related to a person with permanent or temporary residence in Slovakia or to a Slovak citizen (ie spouse, child, parent of a child who is Slovak citizen);

- they have a valid residence permit in Slovakia or they are a holder of a national visa issued by a Slovak embassy abroad

- they fall under the general exception from obligatory isolation and other obligations after entrance (e.g. members of a freight crew, transiting passengers to the Member States in which they are granted residence, holders of diplomatic and service passports)

- they are residents of Australia, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Israel, China (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, Macao)

The Interior Ministry added that these people are still required to follow all anti-pandemic rules after their arrival.

What do I need to do upon arrival to Slovakia?

As of May 31, the travel traffic light system applies in Slovakia. This system divides countries across the world into green, red and black tiers and different rules apply upon arrival depending on which group the country you are coming from belongs to.

Green countries are all the EU member states, as well as countries with a favourable epidemic situation, such as China, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and more.

Upon arrival to Slovakia, you are required to register the eHranica form at http://korona.gov.sk/ehranica. Those arriving by plane are also required to fill in a special document at https://www.mindop.sk/covid.
Korcok calls on critics of the EU to come forward with concrete proposals

Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok admits the EU is late with answers to what its future should look like, inhabitants should be involved in drafting them.

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The people of Slovakia are welcome to express their opinions of the European Union and its future.

Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok admitted that the EU is late with the answer to what its future should look like.

Korcok and his deputy, State Secretary Martin Klus (SaS), opened the nationwide conference on the future of the EU in Slovakia. The results of the conference are to be unveiled in the spring of 2022.

"The main objective of the conference is for Slovakia to contribute its voice to the future of the EU, for people to say how they imagine the EU should work, what they would improve and what they mind," Korcok said as quoted by the SITA newswire.

Korcok particularly called on the critics of the EU, who typically repeat that they want Brussels to have fewer competencies, to come forward with concrete proposals.

He and Klus are planning to travel around the country and collect people's opinions. Those who are interested can contribute their proposals to improve the EU as well as their questions at futureu.europa.eu.

The Foreign Ministry wants to involve experts in the discussion, particularly during the national convent, to be organised this autumn. The convent should produce a set of national recommendations that the Slovak government will then pass on to Brussels.

The EU carries the heavy baggage of previous European migration crises, Brexit and the pandemic, the minister noted.

"This baggage is very heavy by now, so we should stop and listen to the citizens about what they expect of the EU," Korcok said.

7. Jun 2021 at 17:21 | Compiled by Spectator staff
LYONS, Neb.  Cover crops are a conservation practice with wide ranging benefits, from improving soil health to protecting water quality. Many farmers who planted fall cover crops are now eligible for a discount on their crop insurance premium, thanks to a new program announced June 1.

The Pandemic Cover Crop Program (PCCP), available from the U.S. Department of Agricultures Risk Management Agency, offers a discount of $5 per acre on a farmers 2021 crop insurance premium, but no more than the full premium price.

To be eligible, a producer must report their fall cover crops to the Farm Service Agency no later than June 15. The Report of Acreage form (FSA-578) will require information such as cover crop variety, number of acres, planting dates, and irrigation practices. Once the report has been submitted, eligible farmers will be automatically enrolled and see the discount reflected on their premium later in the year.

Farmers should be mindful that the June 15 deadline is a month before the July 15 acreage reporting deadline they are familiar with for federal crop insurance, said Kate Hansen, policy associate for the Center for Rural Affairs.
During the recent afternoon of Memorial Day at our sons home in Colorado, I stole away, after helping wrangle five ambitious grandchildren, for a short nap and cuddled under a warm, all-wool blanket on the couch. When we returned to Scottsbluff, later that evening, I picked up a weekly newspaper from my home state of Utah (Deseret News Weekly, Agricultural Section, May 8, 2021) and to my surprise saw a half-page photo of a sheep-shearing crew working through a band of ewes from my home county of Morgan, Utah. The title of the newspaper article was, Heres how Americas only wool testing lab is helping save the planet. This newspaper article had some new and recent insights for me into sheep and wool segment of the livestock industry. These events also brought back a flood of memories of my own encounters with the range sheep and wool industries of the Western United States.

There are several memories, but for purposes of brevity for this column, Ill share just one memory that stands out. During my boyhood I helped Uncle Dutch, my great-uncle who was a sheepman in northeastern Utah, at several springtime docking days. My job as a young teenager was to grab lambs out of the crowding pen and, while holding them by all four legs, to set them on their rump on a platform so that Cousin Rex, or one of the older guys, could affix an elastic green cheerio appropriately on the lambs tail for docking. A cheerio was placed on each lambs tail and the male lambs also got one on their appropriate anatomy to convert the ram lambs to wether lambs. After the elastic was properly placed, a dab of warm pine tar was painted on the respective areas of the lamb to reduce the chance that blow flies would lay eggs on that site as the tissue necrosis took place over the coming weeks and would not result in an infestation of maggots while the tail and scrotum areas healed from the docking.
MAG estimates that half of the victims of landmines and unexploded bombs in the world are children.

Children are naturally curious. While thats a beautiful quality, it can be dangerous in areas that are known to have landmines, Shafer said.

How do we teach this essential information without shutting down their sense of being kids and exploring? she said.

One of the best ways for children to learn something is to make it age-appropriate, fun and based on empathy, Shafer said.

To make the videos and games effective, theyre aiming for that feeling you get when watching a scary movie, when you want to tell the character, No, dont do that!

In this instance, the message is not to touch an unknown object, stay on a well-worn path and to go tell an adult, Shafer said.

The groups are in a testing phase to determine the best ways to deliver the information in each of the countries. They have made different versions of games and videos to see what is most effective for the target audience, primarily 13- to 18-year-old boys. Theyre rolling it out in a phased process in each country for the year and will begin comparing the results between the countries in November, Shafer said.
"They would get less frequent checkups with the doctor, they were more likely to view that their doctors were negatively judging them about their weight, and that their doctor had less respect for them and didn't listen to their needs," Puhl said.

Those beliefs persisted even if the person was not significantly overweight, the study found.

"I should note that body weight was not associated with any of those health care experiences, so it was just the internalization of that stigma," Puhl said.

Prior research shows that when people experience weight stigma and internalize it, that itself can predict weight gain.

"A common perception is that a little shame or stigma might motivate people to lose weight, but that is not what we see in research," Puhl said. "In fact, when people experience weight stigma this actually contributes to unhealthy eating behaviors, lower physical activity and weight gain."

That pattern was also seen in both studies across all countries: The more people blamed themselves for their weight, the greater the weight gain in the past year -- and the more they turned to food as a way to cope with stress.
Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer. It develops in cells called melanocytes that produce melanin, the pigment that gives your skin its color. The exact cause of all melanomas is not clear, but exposure to UV radiation increases your risk of developing melanoma. Genetic factors and skin type can play a part in developing melanoma.

While regular self-evaluation makes it more likely that melanoma and other types of skin cancer will be caught early, having a trained expert look for subtle changes you may not see is always helpful. This is particularly important for people who have undergone a solid organ transplant and are at greater risk for developing skin cancer. This increased risk is mostly related to the effects of the anti-rejection medications on the immune systems ability to ward off the development of skin cancer.

It is recommended that solid organ transplant recipients have at least yearly skin checks with a dermatologist. In the meantime, I recommend that you get into the habit of checking your skin once a month and be diligent about protecting your skin as much as possible.
800 block of Eufaula Heights Road, Longview. Friday. Damage to doorframe and obvious attempt to enter by kicking the front door several times. No stolen property.

200 block of Dike Road, Woodland. Saturday. Building broken into overnight.

1800 block of Washington Way, Longview. Saturday. Jewels missing from nightstand.

300 block of Scott Avenue, Woodland. Saturday. Clasp cut off storage unit.

Stolen Vehicle

300 block of Olson Road, Longview. Sunday. White 2006 Volvo S60. Washington BXN8238. Went missing around 9:30 a.m. Known suspect.

2500 block of 42nd Avenue, Longview. Sunday. White 2003 Ford F350. Washington C63196D. Truck taken between May 26 and 27 when owner was on vacation.

Theft

1600 block of Lewis River Road, Cougar. Friday. IPad taken on May 30.

3700 block of Ocean Beach Highway, Longview. Friday. Wallet taken from shopping cart, returned but $160 was taken.

400 block of Rosewood Street, Kelso. Saturday. Bike stolen.

200 block of River Road, Kelso. Saturday. Someone in a white Chevy taking stand from the beach.
When it came time to choose where to go to college, Walshs decision was an easy one.

When I was applying that was the first one on my list because I really genuinely love Corvallis, Ive always felt safe in the area, she said. So when I got accepted the decision was already made for me. It felt right.

At Toutle Lake, Walsh was a member of the Honor Society and spent time as the schools ASB treasurer as a junior and secretary as a senior. Over the last four years, Walsh said she found out a lot about herself, especially in terms of the workload she can handle as she balanced high school classes and college courses as part of the running start program at Lower Columbia College.

I think that Ive grown a lot in my confidence in myself, because Ive seen that even though Ive had really tough classes, that its still doable regardless, she said. It just takes a lot of hard work and dedication. I think Ive definitely learned how to manage my time a lot better.

Down the road, Walsh couldnt picture one specific career that she is currently set on. She mentioned the potential of a human rights attorney or a traditional psychologist. Whatever she decides to do, she knows what she wants to accomplish.
Lindsay Hale didnt believe 2020 would be her husbands last Christmas. Looking back now, she describes it as priceless.

Hales husband, Kevin, was diagnosed in August with stage 4 adrenal cancer that had spread to his lungs. He died May 21 from complications at age 41.

In December, the Longview couple and their children were the recipients of an annual surprise gift drop organized by two Vancouver Police Department detectives. Lindsay Hale, 36, a victim advocate with the county, works with the detectives in the Domestic Violence Prosecution Center  a collaborative workspace that includes county and city prosecutors, victim advocates, law enforcement and support staff.

There was a point in November that Kevin thought it would be his last Christmas. I didnt think that. I thought he was getting freaked out from the side effects of chemo(therapy), Lindsay Hale said in a phone interview.

The community came together and gave us the most amazing, the most memorable Christmas anyone could ever ask for, she said. Now, of course that I know it was truly his last Christmas, I have even more gratitude for what the community did for us.

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MIAMI (AP)  Royal Caribbean International said Friday that eight of its ships will resume U.S. voyages in July and August with trips leaving ports in Florida, Texas and Washington state.

The cruise line said all crew members will be vaccinated against COVID-19. Passengers 16 and older on cruises to Alaska will also be required to be vaccinated. The requirement will be expanded to cover Alaska-bound passengers 12 and over starting Aug. 1.

For other trips passing through U.S. water, Royal Caribbean said that passengers are strongly recommended to get vaccinated. Unvaccinated passengers must be tested for the virus and follow other measures that will be announced later, the company said.

Royal Caribbean said that its first U.S. sailing since March 2020 will leave Miami on July 2 on the Freedom of the Seas.

The company said that over the following six weeks, five other ships will sail the Caribbean after leaving from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Port Canaveral, Florida, and Galveston, Texas. Two ships will sail from Seattle to Alaska.

Royal Caribbean, which is headquartered in Miami but registers its ships in other countries, plans to have 12 ships operating worldwide by the end of August. Those include ships sailing from the United Kingdom, Europe and the Bahamas.
Fitbits family of smartwatches always featured support for Google Assistant. This got even better when Fitbit, which has now been acquired by Google, launched the Fitbit Versa 2. With Versa 2 and then with Versa 3 and Fitbit Sense, the company bought support for Amazon Alexa to its smartwatches. This gave users the option to pick between Googles virtual assistant, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa as their digital partners.

More recently, Fitbit introduced a new feature on its Fitbit Versa 3 and Fitbit Sense smartwatches that enables users to get audio responses from Google Assistant. For instance, if you ask Google Assistant to set an alarm for 7AM the following day, it will respond by saying, Done. Your alarms set for tomorrow at 7AM. Similarly, if you ask Google how well you slept, it would respond by saying, Since yesterday, you slept a total of 6 hours and 10 mins, if that is how long you slept. Fitbit in a blogpost said that users will see replies in text format along with the audio responses.

Now, an interesting thing about this feature is that it is optional and that users can easily turn this feature on or off whenever they want. The only caveat, as mentioned before, is that this feature is available only to Fitbit Sense and Fitbit Versa 3 users.

If you are using the Fitbit Versa 3 or Fitbit Sense, heres how you can use Google Assistant on your Fitbit smartwatch:

Step 1: Open the Fitbit app on your smartphone.

Step 2: Tap on your profile picture.

Step 3: Now select your device.

Step 4: Now you will be asked to pick between Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa as your virtual assistant. Tap on Google Assistant.

Step 5: Next, tap on the Activate Google Assistant button. If you dont have the Google Assistant app on your phone, you will be prompted to install it.

Step 6: In the subsequent screens, tap on Activate and Turn On buttons.

Step 7: Once Google Assistant is ready on your smartwatch, tap on the Done button.

Step 8: Now, connect your Google account with Fitbit.
A South Korean industrial designer has come up with a satirical solution for "smartphone zombies" who can't take their eyes away from their screen long enough to stop themselves walking into a wall or other obstacle.

Paeng Min-wook, 28, has developed a robotic eyeball he has dubbed "The Third Eye", which obsessive mobile phone users can strap to their foreheads so they can browse injury-free on the go.

The device, part of an artwork Paeng has called "Phono Sapiens", opens its translucent eyelid whenever it senses the user's head has been lowered to look at a smartphone. When the user comes within one to two metres of an obstacle, the device beeps to warn of the impending danger.

"This is the look of future mankind with three eyes," Paeng, a postgraduate in innovation design engineering at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College, told Reuters as he demonstrated use of The Third Eye around Seoul.

"As we cannot take our eyes off from smartphones, the extra eye will be needed in future."

Paeng's demonstration of the device in Seoul this week garnered attention from passersby.

"I thought he looked like an alien with an eye on his forehead," Seoul resident, Lee Ok-jo, said. "These days many young people can get into accidents while using their mobile phone. This would be good for them."

Paeng plans to develop a camera module for the Third Eye and a linked mobile phone application, but he has no plans to commercialise his invention - a stance that he might consider changing given potential demand.

"It is so cool and interesting," said 23-year-old Shin Jae-ik. "We can easily bump into each other on street while using smartphones. I may not need it now, but I'd like to buy it when they sell it later."
In this Thursday, April 22, 2021 file photo, White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy, left, talks with EVgo Chief Executive Officer Cathy Zoi, before the start of an event near an EVgo electric car charging station at Union Station in Washington. If the auto industry is to succeed in its bet that electric vehicles will soon dominate the roads, it will need to overcome a big reason why many people are still avoiding them: Fear of running out of juice between Point A and Point B. Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh

If the auto industry is to succeed in its bet that electric vehicles will soon dominate the roads, it will need to overcome a big reason why many people are still avoiding them: fear of running out of juice between Point A and Point B.

Automakers have sought to quell those concerns by developing EVs that go farther per charge and fill up faster. Problem is, most public charging stations now fill cars much too slowly, requiring hoursnot minutesto provide enough electricity for an extended trip.

Concerned that such prolonged waits could turn away potential EV buyers and keep them stuck on gas-burning vehicles, automakers are trying to cut charging times to something close to the five or 10 minutes of a conventional gasoline fill-up.

"It's absolutely the target to get faster and faster," said Brett Smith, technology director at the Center for Automotive Research, an industry think tank. "It's not there yet, but it's one of those things that moves the needle more toward a competitive vehicle for a lot of people, this ability to fast charge."

The latest generation of EVs, many with ranges around 300 miles (480 kilometers) per charge, can accept electricity at a much faster rate than previous models could. So fast, in fact, that most charging stations cannot yet accommodate the vehicles' advanced technology.

It can now require hours to fully charge an electric vehicle because most stations operate on a home-like alternating current. Direct-current fast-charging stations, by contrast, are hours faster. But they can cost tens of thousands of dollars more.

The high cost is something the Biden administration will have to consider as it develops incentives to encourage companies and governments to build 500,000 charging stations nationwide by 2030. Among the possibilities being discussed are grants, with $15 billion in spending over five years to build the network, including fast chargers along highways and in communities. Details are being worked out as the administration negotiates its infrastructure plan with key members of Congress.

Of the roughly 42,000 public charging stations in the United States, only about 5,000 are considered direct-current fast chargers, according to the Department of Energy. The rest are like home chargers; they require roughly eight hours to fully charge longer-range batteries, longer than anyone wants to wait to charge a vehicle on a road trip.

And most fast chargers can pump out only about 50 kilowatts per hourrequiring roughly an hour to charge an average EV to 80%even though newer EVs are capable of being charged must faster than that.

"It's one of the big barriers for someone who is not living with a battery-electric vehicle yet," said Alex Tripi, who head's Volvo's electric vehicle marketing. "It will continue to be for a while."

Limited by technology, early electric vehicles charged at ridiculously low speeds when compared with recent models. When Nissan's Leaf first went on sale more than a decade ago, for example, it could take in only 50 kilowatts per hour from a fast charger. That meant it took a half hour to charge it to 80% of its small battery, with a range of just 58 miles (93 kilometers) .

A new long-range version released in 2019 nearly tripled the range per charge. Because it can take 100 kilowatts at a fast charger, it can get to 80%181 miles (291 kilometers)in 45 minutes.

Newer EVs can be charged even faster. But they far exceed the capacity of most fast chargers. Ford's Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning can take in 150 kilowatts per hour. Hyundai's Ioniq 5 and Porsche's Taycan are over 200 kilowatts.

The Hyundai, with 300 miles (480 kilometers) of range, can go from a 10% charge to 80% in just 18 minutes, much closer to gasoline fill-up times. (Automakers tend to quote charging times to 80% of battery capacity because it takes much longer to go from 80% to 100%; the final 20% is often slowed down to prolong battery life.) Hyundai knows there aren't many chargers now that can fill the Ioniq that fast. But it says it's ready for a future when more quick chargers are more widely available.

This Thursday, April 1, 2021 file photo shows parking spots with charging stations for electric vehicles at a public park in Orlando, Fla. If the auto industry is to succeed in its bet that electric vehicles will soon dominate the roads, it will need to overcome a big reason why many people are still avoiding them: Fear of running out of juice between Point A and Point B. Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux

"Hopefully the infrastructure will improve across the U.S. for this to be a whole lot more viable," said John Shon, senior group manager of product planning.

Tesla, which has its own private charging network of 25,000 plugs worldwide, leads just about every automaker. Its newer chargers can crank out up to 250 kilowatts and 175 miles (282 kilometers) of range in about 15 minutes.

Electrify America, a charging network funded with money paid by Volkswagen as punishment for its emissions cheating scandal, says it's ready for the newer EVs. Having installed fast chargers since 2018, it runs more than 600 stations with 2,600 plugs nationwide. All can pump out 150 kilowatts. That means they can charge a typical EV with 300 miles (480 kilometers) of range to 80 percent of battery capacity (240 miles (386 kilometers) ) in roughly 45 minutes. Over half of Electrify America's stations can pump out 350 kilowatts, which charge twice as fast.

A fast-charge fill-up to 80% of battery capacity varies by state but typically costs around $16.

Even Tesla owners, who can access the nation's biggest fast-charging charging network, risk running out of juice on road trips, especially in rural areas. On Monday, one such driver, Dan Nelson, said he had to stop at a Tesla station near Ann Arbor, Michigan, for more than 20 minutes to make sure his Model 3 had enough charge to reach his rural home 25 miles (40 kilometers) away.

"There's definitely improvements that can be made," said Nelson, who charges at home most of the time.

Bruce Westlake, president of the East Michigan Electric Auto Association, suggested that such anxiety tends to ease as people gain more experience with EVs. He said he is now comfortable running his two Teslas as low as 5% of battery capacity to go farther between charges on trips.

Research by J.D. Power shows that most people think charging stations are needed at locations where gas stations are now. But in fact, according to the Energy Department, most EV owners charge at home more than 80% of the time.

That means super-fast chargers, which can cost close to $100,000, should be built mainly along highways where people are traveling long distances and need to charge quickly, experts say. They also may be needed in urban areas where people live in apartments with no access to a home charger.

It's far from clear that the automakers can depend on a proliferation of fast chargers across the country to build customer confidence and propel EV sales in the years ahead. The high cost and heavy load on utility grids likely will limit the number of fast chargers to areas where they're needed for quick fill-ups, said Jessika Trancik, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies EV charging.

"As we're approaching this transition," she said, "it's important to be more strategic than just putting them everywhere."

Charging companies have time to figure out where to build fast chargers, because it would take more than 17 years to convert the entire U.S. fleet of 279 million passenger vehicles from petroleum to electricityeven if every motorist were willing to make the switch, said Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint, a charging station company. But the chargers can't come fast enough for automakers, who want more people to buy their EVs to spread development costs over more vehicles.

Romano says fast chargers will be needed about every 75 miles (120 kilometers) on roads that connect metro areas, and that the United States should get there in about two years. As more EVs are sold, he said, more stations will be built.

"You don't want to put all the infrastructure in for 20 years starting with vehicle zero," Romano said. "This is about the natural organic growth."

Explore further Plug it in: Electric car charging station numbers are rising

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
This Boeing handout photo obtained June 7, 2021 shows the Boeing MQ-25 T1 drone as it transfers fuel to a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet three days earlier.

The US Navy successfully used a Boeing drone to refuel an airplane during flight, the manufacturer said on Monday.

The Boeing MQ-25 T1 unmanned aircraft linked up with an F/A-18 Super Hornet during a June 4 test flight, "demonstrating the MQ-25 Stingray's ability to carry out its primary aerial refueling mission," the company said in a statement.

The T1 has already completed 25 test flights evaluating both its aerodynamics and air refueling systems, and is scheduled to be sent by the end of the year to an aircraft carrier in Virginia for further testing.

The Defense Department in 2018 awarded Boeing a $805 million contract to develop the aircraft.

It is intended to fill the tanker role currently played by the F/A-18, "allowing for better use of the combat strike fighters and helping extend the range of the carrier air wing," Boeing said.

The aircraft's development marks another step in the increasingly common integration of drones into military activities.

In 2013, a prototype stealth drone, the Northrop Grumman X-47B, made its first landing on a US aircraft carrier.

Explore further US tests pilotless combat jets controlled from another aircraft

 2021 AFP
Russia-based ransomware hackers forced the shutdown of the largest fuel network in the eastern United States, run by Colonial Pipeline.

The US Justice Department announced Monday that it had recovered more than half of the $4.4 million paid by Colonial Pipeline to Russia-based ransomware extortionists Darkside, who had forced the shutdown of a major fuel network.

"Today, we turned the tables on Darkside by going after the entire ecosystem that fuels ransomware and digital extortion attacks, including criminal proceeds in the form of digital currency," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

The seizure came one month after the group gave the US government a security scare by breaking into the computer systems of Colonial and forcing the shutdown of its 5,500 mile (8,850 kilometers) pipeline serving much of the eastern United States.

The cyberattack caused short-term fuel shortages and drew attention to the broader threat that the burgeoning ransomware "industry" posed to essential infrastructure and services.

The Justice Department said the US Federal Bureau of Investigation was able to track the 75 bitcoin Colonial paid in ransom$4.4 million at the timeas it moved through multiple anonymous transfers.

Eventually it was able to seize from a cryptocurrency wallet 63.7 bitcoin, which due to the digital currency's fall over the past month, was only worth $2.3 million on Monday.

Colonial boss Joseph Blount thanked the FBI for its "swift work and professionalism," saying the company had "quietly and quickly" contacted its agents when the attack was detected on May 7.

"Holding cyber criminals accountable and disrupting the ecosystem that allows them to operate is the best way to deter and defend against future attacks," he said in a statement.

It was the first seizure of a paid ransom by the Justice Department's new Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force, tasked to go after the so-called "ransomware as a service" industry that has extracted hundreds of millions of dollars from targets like schools, hospitals, local governments, and businesses over the past several years.

US President Joe Biden has said he is "looking closely" at possible retaliation against Russia over their alleged involvement in the ransomware hacking of global meat processing giant JBS.

"Ransom payments are the fuel that propels the digital extortion engine, and today's announcement demonstrates that the United States will use all available tools to make these attacks more costly and less profitable for criminal enterprises," said Monaco.

Monaco gave no details on how the money was recovered from Darkside, but analysts believe it could have involved both FBI investigators and possibly the US military's offensive cyber warfare operations.

One week after Colonial was forced to shut its operations on May 7, an online comment believed to be by Darkside operator "Darksupp" admitted that it had lost control of part of its operating infrastructure, including payment and other servers, and that ransom payments had been removed from its servers.

Its dark-web site also went down.

Cyber security experts say many of the independent ransomware extortionists appear to be located in Russia or former Soviet satellites in eastern Europe.

The attacks have grown so frequent that the issue has been elevated in seriousness in the Justice Department to the level of terror attacks.

On May 31 the US subsidiary of the world's largest meat processing group, Brazil-based JBS, said its systems had been hacked by ransomware extortionists, whom the US government tied to Russia.

Last week the company that operates the ferries between the Massachusetts mainland and the popular tourist destinations Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard was also hit, just as the summer season was opening.

After the JBS attack, last week US President Joe Biden said he was "looking closely" at possible retaliation over the cyberattacks.

The issue is likely to figure in Biden's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva later this month.

Explore further Colonial Pipeline paid hackers nearly $5 million in ransom

 2021 AFP
Samsung stretchable device. Credit: Samsung

With the established success of flexible computer screen displays, many users are wondering how display technology will advance next. So far, free-form displays have grown popular as a next-generation product that offers both portability and high-resolution visuals.

While this technology is still quite new, a wealth of research already exists into the stretchable displays that make up free form displays, products that can stretch into any direction like rubber.

On June 4, 2021, research at Samsung appeared in the well-known journal Science Advances discussing a technology that bypasses the limitations of stretchable devices. The associated experiment showed stable performance even when the display was significantly elongated. As these products can already be used in existing semiconductor processes, Samsung researchers have high hopes about what this could mean for the commercialization and salability of stretchable devices.

In fact, the research team at Samsung managed to implement a stretchable organic LED (OLED) display and a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor into just one device to measure and display the user's heart rate in real time. This process allowed for an electronic stretchable device capable of assessing bodily metrics via the skin.

Samsung stretchable device. Credit: Samsung

Indeed, this skin display can stretch up to 30 percent. The material that makes this possible comes from what is known as an elastomer structure, a polymer compound with outstanding elasticity and resilience that utilizes existing semiconductor fabrication processes for adaptation to the substrates of stretchable OLED displays and optical blood flow sensors. This development in elastic endurance comes as the first in the semiconductor industry.

By and large, the research team explains that the overall goal here is to enable wearers of these stretchable devices to check their heart rate and other biometric data throughout the day without worrying about performance degradation due to excessive movement. Research even showed that this sensor could detect a heartbeat signal 2.4 times more strongly than would have been identified by a fixed silicon sensor. Moreover, because the monitor automatically displays the data, the user need not take time to transfer the stretchable product to an external device to read results.

Fortunately, researchers confirm that this product can be safely worn by adults, children, infants and patients with certain diseases. The team attributes the high-scale durability of these devices to the elasticity of elastomer, whose material exists across all product components, including the electrode, emission material layer and sensor, substrate and thin film transistor.

Thus, instead of a more fragile plastic material, elastomer equips these stretchable devices with the capabilities of large-area processing and micro-patterning. Coupled with close adherence to the wearer's skin, these devices prove the most efficient yet for displaying biometric data on a day-to-day basis.

Explore further Air stable intrinsically stretchable color-conversion layers for stretchable displays

More information: Yun, Y. "Samsung Researchers Prove the Viability of Commercialized 'Stretchable' Devices."  Samsung Global Newsroom, Samsung, 6 June 2021, Journal information: Science Advances Yun, Y. "Samsung Researchers Prove the Viability of Commercialized 'Stretchable' Devices."  Samsung Global Newsroom, Samsung, 6 June 2021, news.samsung.com/global/samsun  -stretchable-devices

 2021 Science X Network
The two biggest Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce fundraisers of the year, Chamber Experience and Business & Bites, have been combined into one event for the first time. And it wont be the last.
Local_news

Construction instructors lend a hand to tiny house project serving homeless veterans

Lauren McDonald/The Brunswick News Golden Isles College and Career Academy construction pathway instructor Jeff Holland, left, talks with Golden Isles Veterans Village Initiative, Inc., board member John Bartosh about new shelving built last week for six tiny homes in the village, which will serve homeless veterans in Brunswick. Lauren McDonald/The Brunswick News Construction pathway instructors from across the state built shelving for six tiny homes in the new village that will soon serve homeless veterans in Brunswick.

Many hands are needed to build the envisioned tiny house village for homeless veterans in Brunswick.

A group of skilled carpenters volunteered their talents and time last week to the Golden Isles Veteran Village Initiative, which is making gains toward its goal of creating a 30-home village that will include a community center and wrap-around services for residents.

During the annual Camp T&I event at the Golden Isles College and Career Academy, which brings career education instructors from around the state to the school each summer for professional learning, a group of construction pathway teachers built cabinets for the first six tiny homes in the village.

I thought, well weve got 40-something construction teachers from around the state of Georgia coming down here the first week of June. What can we do? said Jeff Holland, construction pathway instructor at GICCA, who led the cabinet construction effort.

The first tiny homes were delivered May 24 to the one-acre village site on G Street. The village will be a transitional community where veterans can reside and receive counseling, job training, and physical and mental health support.

Residents in the village will be able to receive training in cooking, housekeeping, technology and more. Theyll also have a chance to enroll in the Nine Line Foundation Aquaponics training program and other job placement services.

Each home will feature a combination living room and bedroom, a small kitchen and a bathroom. The community center will offer a laundry area, office space and counseling rooms.

Staff members at GICCA have been in discussion for months with leaders of the Golden Isles Veterans Village Initiative in hopes of collaborating and lending support to the project.

Holland said he hopes his students in the construction pathway class next year will be able to contribute to building the tiny homes.

Its a great hands-on project for my class, the carpentry/construction class, he said. Thats a real world, hands-on experience that not only do they get to learn technical skills but they get to give back to the community at the same time.

The Georgia Department of Education has hosted Camp T&I  or Camp Trade & Industry  at GICCA for many years, bringing CTAE instructors from around Georgia to the career academy for professional learning with industry experts.

The three-day event, which took place June 2-5, also offers a networking and collaborative opportunity for instructors working alone.

Youre the lone ranger, Holland said. Im the only guy in Glynn County that teaches what I teach. Theres nobody else in the county that does this, and its the same for all the other programs out here. Theres one of us.

The state education department funds the Camp T&I program. Monetary support for the cabinet project also came from the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia and the Associated General Contractors of America, Holland said.

Camp T&I also brought instructors in pathways like audio/visual technology, graphic arts, machining and auto mechanics to GICCA last week. In total, around 150 teachers participated, including GICCA instructors.

Everyones glad to be back, said Patrick Mahaffey, a construction instructor from Gwinnett County. We missed the camaraderie.

The event created an ideal opportunity for the skilled group of construction teachers to support a great local cause, Holland said.

Anything we can do for (the initiative), its one less thing they have to devote their limited funds to, he said.

The plan is to have at least five houses in the village open by the end of July.

The project is also seeking financial support. Those wishing to donate or learn more can do so at goldenislesveteransvillage.org.
The parent organization, Meals on Wheels America, supports more than 5,000 community-based programs across the country with more than 2 million staff members and volunteers dedicated to addressing senior hunger and isolation. The person who delivers the meal is often the only person they see throughout the day.

A lot of attention has been showered upon essential worker as well as individual acts of sacrifice and compassion during the past year, and rightly so. I have not seen similar recognition of the efforts of Meals on Wheels volunteers and the organizations efforts to, as Meals on Wheels America says, enable Americas seniors to live nourished lives with independence and dignity.

In The Conversation, David R. Buys, an associate professor and state health specialist at Mississippi State University, notes that services like this nonprofit meal-delivery program are becoming more important than ever before. And they make a difference beyond providing nutrition.
College Station leaders are looking into pursuing road improvements, including separated bike lanes along George Bush Drive and a shared-use path project on Harvey Mitchell Parkway.

At their last meeting in May, council members voted unanimously to authorize grant applications to the Texas Department of Transportation for the projects. If received, the grant will cover 80% of construction costs. The city would be responsible for 20% of construction costs and 100% of design costs. The funds would be for fiscal year 2023 or 2024. The city will be notified if it received the grants by October.

The separated bike lanes project would add a short vertical barrier on each side of George Bush Drive from Wellborn Road to Texas Avenue to protect riders, at an estimated cost of $1.4 million, with the citys portion being about $515,000.

Venessa Garza, bicycle, pedestrian & greenways planning administrator, said the vertical barrier would be similar to a curb, made of concrete and no more than six-inches high. The project is one that could be expanded upon in the future.

I think it is a terrific model, Councilman John Crompton said of the project. Weve been trying to do it for a long time.
Due to several factors caused by the pandemic, the council last year adopted a $312.6 million budget  a $28.5 million decrease from the FY20 adopted budget. Woods said that he doesnt think such drastic measures will be necessary this year and said he hopes things will be normal from residents and businesses perspectives. Even so, he said precautions will still need to be taken.

We know that things are getting better, Woods said. Weve done a good job up to this point, but we still dont have a really clear picture as to what this next year will look like. So its about trying to do a good job of planning for that, and also being in a position to adjust to what I hope are good things to come, but also just whatever comes of this next year, because its certainly not back to business as usual.

The new city hall building that is being built right next to the current one on Texas Avenue was in its early stages of construction when Woods left but is now taking shape. Woods said weather permitting, the city employees should be moving into the new space by the end of the year. The supply chain has been strained for the construction industry as a whole, Woods said, making getting materials more difficult. But since the construction had started ahead of those problems, he added that the project has not been as severely impacted as other places were.
Richwood, TX (77531)

Today

Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 94F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

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The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Friday charged a Latvian woman for her alleged role as a programmer in a cybercrime gang that helped develop TrickBot malware.

The woman in question, Alla Witte, aka Max, 55, who resided in Paramaribo, Suriname, was arrested in Miami, Florida on February 6. Witte has been charged with 19 counts, including conspiracy to commit computer fraud and aggravated identity theft, wire and bank fraud affecting a financial institution, and money laundering.

According to heavily redacted court documents released by the DoJ, Witte and 16 other unnamed cohorts have been accused of running a transnational criminal organization to develop and deploy a digital suite of malware tools with an aim to target businesses and individuals worldwide for theft and ransom.

Since its origin as a banking Trojan in late 2015, TrickBot has evolved into a "crimeware-as-a-service" capable of pilfering valuable personal and financial information and even dropping ransomware and post-exploitation toolkits on compromised devices, in addition to recruiting them into a family of bots. The group is said to have primarily operated out of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Suriname.

Largely propagated through phishing and malspam attacks, TrickBot is designed to capture online banking login credentials and hoover other personal information, such as credit card numbers, emails, passwords, dates of birth, social security numbers, and addresses, with the captured credentials abused to gain illicit access to online bank accounts, execute unauthorized electronic funds transfers, and launder the money through U.S. and foreign beneficiary accounts.

TrickBot also emerged on the threat landscape coinciding with the disbanding of the malware crew behind Dyre after the latter's rapid rise to prominence was curtailed in November 2015, when Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) purportedly made numerous arrests of individuals suspected of being part of the group.

"In the months and years following the Russian authorities' purported actions, the Dyre actors regrouped and created a new suite of malware tools known as Trickbot," the DoJ said.

Accusing the defendants of plundering money and confidential information from unsuspecting businesses and financial institutions in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and Russia, the DoJ said Witte was a malware developer "overseeing the creation of code related to the monitoring and tracking of authorized users of the Trickbot malware, the control and deployment of ransomware, obtaining payments from ransomware victims, and developing tools and protocols for the storage of credentials stolen and exfiltrated from victims infected by Trickbot."

TrickBot notably suffered a huge blow to its infrastructure following twin efforts led by the U.S. Cyber Command and Microsoft to eliminate 94% of its command-and-control (C2) servers that were in use as well as any new servers the criminals operating TrickBot attempted to bring online to replace the previously disabled servers.

But these takedowns have only served as a temporary solution. Not only has the malware proven to be resilient to law enforcement actions, the operators have also bounced back by adjusting tactics and hosting their malware in other criminal servers that make use of Mikrotik routers.

"Witte and her associates are accused of infecting tens of millions of computers worldwide, in an effort to steal financial information to ultimately siphon off millions of dollars through compromised computer systems," said Special Agent in Charge Eric B. Smith of the FBI's Cleveland Field Office. "Cyber intrusions and malware infections take significant time, expertise, and investigative effort, but the FBI will ensure these hackers are held accountable, no matter where they reside or how anonymous they think they are."

If convicted on all charges, Witte faces a maximum penalty of no fewer than 90 years in prison.
The biggest change in the field over the years was technology, Treffer said. When he first started out he had a slide rule and then was able to upgrade to a calculator. Computers also became a necessary tool, going from the old card readers, to the software systems of today.

The technology has changed dramatically, said Treffer, there is something new every year.

Another change Treffer noted was the Extension moving from generalist work, to much more specialization. For instance, the Extension educator position requires a masters degree and trainings, such as tractor safety, are now done by experts.

Treffer recalled his work with 4-H, noting children have become much busier as more opportunities have become available. He said it was pleasing to see multiple generations of a family come up through 4-H and then go on to be leaders in their community.

He also said the satisfaction with seeing people succeed in 4-H where they might not have otherwise due to the wide range of opportunity it provides.
Wickham wrote that Bowers agreed to allow the man to get out before trial, provided that he left the state. As long as he remained out of Nebraska, he would not be extradited for his failure to appear, Wickham wrote.

In notes from a 2014 hearing, Judge Noakes wrote: Counsel for defendant believes defendant has left the state. Court records indicate that the case is still pending, seven years later.

Wickham said that case differed from other cases in which Bowers required defendants to plead guilty or no contest before allowing them to flee.

For his part, Wickham noted that the deals  which he referred to as banishment plea bargains  were beneficial to his clients. And his job was to get good deals for them.

Although they got exactly what was requested, my conduct did not live up to the responsibilities I have as (a) lawyer, he wrote. This clearly was not proper and the county attorney and myself should have disclosed the entirety of both plea agreements to the court ... that (these defendants) would (not) be appearing and had left the State of Nebraska with no intention of returning.
I asked Camacho to step out of the vehicle and he did so, but not before dropping an unknown item inside the tractor cab. This item was later determined to be his wallet containing his Nebraska drivers license, the officer wrote in his report to the court. I asked Camacho his name and he told me it was Jay. I told Camacho that I knew his name was Keshawn and he denied it, reiterating that his name was Jay. I escorted Camacho back to my patrol car and instructed him to sit in the back seat while I conducted my investigation. Camacho refused and tightened his body and refused to be placed in the car. Upon the arrival of (a police sergeant), Camacho told (the other officer) his name was Jay Williams. Camacho continued to refuse to sit in my patrol car and pulled his arms away from officers as we tried to secure him. Camacho was eventually placed in the back seat of my patrol unit.
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:
"I'm going to fight harder, because I'm stronger, I'm better and I'm wiser. ... The last five months have been a roller coaster of hurt and anger and depression and pain and not knowing what people are thinking about you," he said, his voice breaking at times.

To support Pfleger, church members have held rallies, flooded archdiocese phone lines, threatened to withhold church dues and launched a letter-writing campaign. On Sunday, some wore T-shirts featuring the priest's photo and the message "Pfleger is back." Among those in attendance was filmmaker Spike Lee, who is friends with Pfleger and whose 2015 movie "Chi-raq" featured a character inspired by Pfleger and played by John Cusack.

Pfleger is known for his anti-violence activism and for bolstering neighborhood development in the largely low-income neighborhood surrounding the church. He's also been in the spotlight for clashing with church leaders, having been suspended twice before this year, including in 2008 during Barack Obama's presidential campaign when he mocked Obama's primary opponent Hillary Clinton.

Ordained in 1975 and assigned to St. Sabina, Pfleger became pastor six years later and lived at the nearby rectory until earlier this year, when he temporarily moved to an apartment during the investigation.
JACKSONVILLE  The state is issuing guidelines for reopening next week, more than 14 months after Gov. J.B. Pritzker first issued pandemic restrictions for the state.

Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois plan goes into effect on Friday, marking a full reopening of businesses and activities.

The Illinois Department of Public Health said the move comes as Illinois recently reached a test positivity rate of less than 2%, more than half of the population has been fully vaccinated, and key hospitalization metrics have been declining since early May.

"This pandemic has robbed us of many freedoms, such as going to ballgames and concerts, celebrating graduations, weddings and birthdays, going to dinner with friends, and even sharing a hug with loved ones we don't live with," Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike said. "The vaccine is giving us our freedoms back and allowing us to move to Phase 5."
SPRINGFIELD  The Illinois Supreme Court will delay its transition to implement new appellate court boundaries that were created by a recently approved judicial district map until further notice.

Appeals and other matters shall continue to be filed in the judicial districts as they existed on June 3, 2021, until further order of the Court, according to the court order released on Monday.

Last month, lawmakers redrew four of the five judicial districts along with the states legislative districts, the latter of which is a process required by the state constitution every 10 years following the decennial census. Gov. JB Pritzker signed the maps into law on Friday, June 4.

The delay is needed in view of the numerous changes to the processing of appeals and the administration of the justice system in Illinois necessitated by (the new judicial map), according to the order. That includes changes to e-filing and case management systems, redistribution of staffing and judicial resources, training for judicial stakeholders and education of the public and members of the bar.

The five judicial districts that are used for electing the seven Illinois Supreme Court justices are the same district boundaries used to elect judges within the five appellate court districts.
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OCSD studying schools; repairs needed, enrollment declining

MARTHA ROSE BROWN, T&D Orangeburg County School District has studied the conditions of its schools. The original, unoccupied portion of Vance-Providence Elementary School is the building of greatest concern.

The Orangeburg County School District is in the process having its 26 campus facilities assessed in an effort to better allocate resources and understand maintenance needs.

The district also had a demographic study done to assess enrollment trends and projections.

The final piece of this puzzle will come from the performance contracting report where well learn more about the status of mechanical units within our buildings, Superintendent Dr. Shawn Foster said. Well take all of this information out into the community in the coming months as we search together for solutions.

The school district commissioned the facilities study to help it plan for school maintenance and improvements.

LS3P Associates Ltd., an architecture and planning firm, was hired to conduct the facilities study.

OCSD presents bell schedule survey results The Orangeburg County School District recently conducted a parent and employee survey to assess the best options for its 2021-2022 districtwide school start and end time schedule.

Most schools are in good condition and need just minor repairs, such as replacing single-pane windows and walkway canopies.

Others are in need of more extensive renovations, such as creating interior corridors to replace exterior-facing classrooms and investigating moisture issues.

Of greatest concern is the state of an original, unoccupied portion of Vance-Providence Elementary School, which is no longer in use. The school is the district's oldest, having been built in 1930.

Orangeburg County School District finance officials promoted Two people with nearly a half-century of combined experience in educational finance have been promoted by the Orangeburg County School District.

There are visible signs of mold and structural instability, LS3P Associate Principal and Project Manager Jason Likas said. The school is in really, really bad shape."

The ceiling is caving in, and I could actually see through the holes in the floor from all of the termite damage, he said. We are basically recommending that it be demolished, not necessarily the whole school, but at least the part that is closed off from use currently.

That one has some safety and health considerations, and is one of those immediate things that needs to be remediated.

In addition to highlighting some of the maintenance issues with each of the district's schools, the study also mapped out school locations, percent utilization of the schools and the annual cost in energy to operate each school.

The study revealed that several schools in the district all had a use capacity of less than 30% last year. Those schools are Elloree Elementary School, North Middle High School, Hunter-Kinard-Tyler High School and Lake Marion High School and Technology Center.

Elloree and North Middle have had under 30% usage for every year since 2017, except for 2019-2020. Hunter-Kinard-Tyler and Lake Marion have not had greater than 30% usage any year since 2017.

The schools most utilized in the district are Marshall Elementary School, Edisto Elementary School, Bethune-Bowman Middle High School and Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School.

Despite the challenges facing the district, Likas praised it for the work it has done on its schools.

You all are taking great care of the schools that you have, he said. I was really impressed with how well maintained the schools are.

Likas was joined at the school board meeting by Allen Taylor, also with LS3P.

The next steps will await board guidance on what schools to review further as well as the consideration of renovations and additions. A priority list of maintenance work will be compiled.

The district will also look at facility energy performance, such as HVAC replacement and lighting replacements.

Discussions will also be had on the possibility of building new school buildings and a prioritization of the projects.

Demographic study

The school district engaged Virginia-based ARCBridge Consulting to provide an analysis on school locations, attendance areas, facility capacity, enrollment projections and forecasts.

It shows a trend of declining enrollment in Orangeburg Countys schools that matches the general decline in population throughout the county.

Priti Mathur, principal at ARCBridge, said school facilities are underutilized throughout the county.

Schools across the country have experienced dwindling enrollment numbers since the pandemic, Mathur said.

Because enrollment numbers from the last two years would have skewed the data, the firm went back all the way to the 2017-2018 school year and charted utilization for each level, coding schools under 50% utilization in green, under 40% utilization in orange, and under 30% in red, he said.

Since 2017, enrollment has declined in almost all the schools in the district. The district has seen its school utilization drop from 51.5% in 2017 to 41.6% in 2020.

The district had 14,195 students enrolled in 2017 and currently has an enrollment of 11,339.

Using historic data from the 2017-2018 school year up to the current term, forecasted enrollment continues a downward trajectory.

Mathur said in the enrollment decline over the coming five years shows some of the schools are not looking good at all.

Impacting the enrollment forecast is the decline in number of children being born in Orangeburg County, with 1,335 live births in 2009, decreasing by nearly 400 babies to just 951 in 2019.

Stewart W. Haig, with the County Permitting and Inspections Department, noted from January 2020 to March 2021, about 161 new single family home permits were issued. Permits are spread out throughout the county. This is equivalent to 80 new students.

This is a very small number, Mathur said.

Additionally, there were no new multi-family apartment or condominium complex permits granted.

Currently, about 39% of the county's land use is considered residential. Residential land usage is expected to increase into the future with about 56% of land usage being allocated as residential.

The comprehensive reports and studies will be made publicly available on the districts website under the Operations, Maintenance and Facilities Department page.
The phenomenon of cryptocurrency is on its way to transforming the global monetary system. Thats not going to happen right away, or next year, or any specific time in the foreseeable future, but its here to stay. You might compare it to the advent of coins made of precious metals as the way to buy and sell products a few thousand years ago rather than simply trade one product for another. Or perhaps to understand its enormity, consider the rise of paper currency in place of coins or perhaps the advent of accounts to and from which money flows by paper checks.

At last, the Treasury Department has taken the initiative by decreeing that the Internal Revenue Service has to know about any movement of cryptocurrency above $10,000. The whole point is to make it more difficult to avoid taxes by investing in cryptocurrency, but enforcement will be difficult considering that so many transactions are outside the U.S. Whos to know whats going on?

Now, with the rise of the internet, cryptocurrency is so easily used as a medium of payment, of buying and selling, even of saving money, that its tempting to ask why all of us are not getting into it. The answer is that cheating, scamming, theft of life savings, and wholesale fraud on a massive scale are all too easy. Cryptocurrency at this stage is for those who know what theyre doing, definitely not for the rest of us.
What if scientists decided to create a virus that could kill all humanity? What if the scientific community had become so compromised by the woke cancel culture that no one would risk his/her job by challenging weak theories? What if the media and academia had become so politicized that the vast majority believed a fictional narrative and failed to investigate false claims? We would have a recipe for chaos.

Nicholas Wade, a science writer, editor, and author who has worked on the staff of Nature, Science, and the New York Times, addressed the question of the title of his article published May 5 in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: The origin of COVID: Did people or nature open Pandoras box at Wuhan?

Until recently, the media have nearly unanimously debunked the theory that the virus was created in the Wuhan Institute of Virology and escaped in the fall of 2019. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo began an investigation into the origin of the virus in fall of 2020, but President Joe Biden shut it down in March. Suddenly Biden reversed course and asked the intelligence community to research the origin of COVID-19 and report findings to him within 90 days.
In rural South Carolina, wild hogs are a growing threat. They reproduce rapidly, eat most any plants or meat, and have no natural predators. Most of the $115 million in damage each year in the state occurs to agriculture. Wild hogs destroy crops, decimate rural land and spread disease.

Stopping the spread will be difficult enough with the wild hog population that is present now, but the new law gives hope that the spread from other sources can be stopped.

The feral hog issue encompasses multiple state agencies. The S.C. Department of Agriculture, Clemson University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and SCDNR are in agreement that action is needed.

The S.C. Farm Bureau Federation was out front on the legislation and worked hard to convince small pig farmers in the state there would be no negative impact on them. FB says here is what people need to know:

1. Farmers transporting hogs will need "an official form of identification" to transport hogs. This identification will be another tool to aid SCDNRs ability to enforce the existing law that prohibits the transport of feral hogs.

2. The "official form of identification" will be determined by the state veterinarian after consultation with hog farms of all sizes to ensure ease of access.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  Government health officials on Monday approved the first new drug for Alzheimer's disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasn't been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease.

The Food and Drug Administration said it granted approval to the drug developed by Biogen for patients with Alzheimer's disease.

It's the only drug that U.S. regulators have said can likely treat the underlying disease, rather than manage symptoms like anxiety and insomnia.

The decision, which could impact millions of older Americans and their families, is certain to spark disagreements among physicians, medical researchers and patient groups. It also has far-reaching implications for the standards used to evaluate experimental therapies, including those that show only incremental benefits.

The new drug, which Biogen developed with Japan's Eisai Co., did not reverse mental decline, only slowing it in one study. Named Aduhelm, the medication is is given as an infusion every four weeks.

The FDA's top drug regulator acknowledged in a statement that "residual uncertainties" surround the drug, but said Aduhelm's ability to reduce harmful clumps of plaque in the brain "is expected" to help slow dementia.
ROCK SPRINGS  Christopher James Nielsen has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the death of a 5-year-old boy in his care.

Nielsens sentencing for first-degree murder was conducted via video before Judge Suzannah Robinson on Thursday in Sweetwater County Third District Court.

Nielsen, 27, was arrested Nov. 14, 2019, and originally charged with aggravated child abuse due to injuries sustained by a boy in his care in Green River. The 5-year-old was transported to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County and then flown to Primary Childrens Hospital in Salt Lake City. The boy died on Nov. 28, 2019, due to excessive brain trauma, according to court documents. The aggravated child abuse charge was dismissed and the first-degree murder charge filed after the boy died.

After originally pleading not guilty, Nielsen changed his plea to no contest in April 2021. He admitted to losing his temper with the boy and shaking him. When the boy began to have a seizure, Nielsen said he shook him again to try and get him to wake up.

Nielsen had lived in Sweetwater County for just short of a week before the boy was hospitalized. He was staying with Vanessa Kidner, the mother of the boy who died, and Stacy Willeitner, her fiance, in exchange for babysitting Kidners two children.
What does this tell us about Wyomings future? It tells us that Wyoming is not immune to national trends of increased urbanization. More people are moving to large metro areas and even though none of Wyomings cities could be classified as large, the migration from smaller to larger is evident here. This means that the future of Wyoming is likely to be less focused on the natural resource and agriculture-based communities and more focused on the more economically diversified communities and their interests.

This data also shows that population follows economic opportunity. The areas with the highest growth were the areas with the most diverse local economies. The other areas of the state that also had growth between around four and seven percent  Crook, Park, and Sheridan counties  all have economies that have significant tourism sectors. While this is oversimplifying the issue somewhat, it is a useful shorthand. The areas in Wyoming that have been least affected by loss of population, especially loss of those raised in Wyoming who choose not to live here as adults, are those that provide the most economic options to its population.
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.
Spare a thought and/or prayer for frontline workers.

So croons Chris Garcia over emotional keys and heart-tugging strings on his new release Hear Their Prayer.

An ode to medical and protective personnel, Garcias tune calls for national appreciation and support for those risking their lives during this countrys deadliest surge in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Research News

UB gives Buffalo world billing at Venice exhibit

View of the room inside the Palazzo Mora in Venice, Italy, where the School of Architecture and Planning is showcasing the story of Imagine LaSalle with an exhibit as part of the Time Space Existence exhibition. Photo courtesy of gerda studio

By DAVID J. HILL

The School of Architecture and Planning is once again putting Buffalos urban design on the global stage. After debuting a documentary film on the city at the 2018 Time Space Existence exhibition in Venice, Italy, the school returns to the international architecture event this month to showcase the world-class park emerging on Buffalos waterfront.

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park  a public-private initiative to transform the former LaSalle Park into an enchanting landscape on the eastern tip of Lake Erie  is one of the citys highest-profile development projects in decades.

The School of Architecture and Plannings exhibition in Venice will zero in on the multiyear civic planning process that is shaping the parks design. Since 2018, the school and its UB Regional Institute research center have engaged more than 2,000 citizen voices in Imagine LaSalle, a community visioning process to drive the parks future with broad and meaningful public input.

Buffalo Constructing Buffalo: From Olmsted to Van Valkenburgh opened May 22 at Palazzo Mora in Venice. The international Time Space Existence exhibition is organized by the European Cultural Centre and held in conjunction with the Venice Architecture Biennale, the worlds leading architectural exhibition. Time Space Existence runs through November.

The parks redevelopment is the result of a historic gift to the city by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, in partnership with the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, a New York-based landscape architecture firm, has led the parks design. The City of Buffalo is an active project partner represented by its Division of Parks and Recreation, the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, the Department of Community Services and Recreational Programming, and the Mayors Office of Strategic Planning.

The exhibition interprets the civic planning process behind the park, the foundation of city plans that informed it, and the best practices research that inspired it. That process has been guided by the faculty and students of the School of Architecture and Planning, whose engagement with the city dates to the schools founding in 1969.

The vision of the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has always been to make this a grand park, not only in its design but in its authenticity as a park of the people, says School of Architecture and Planning Dean Robert G. Shibley, who led the Imagine LaSalle effort with the UB Regional Institute and has played a key role in developing much of the citys planning framework.

Buffalo will stand apart for this park because every design gesture, landscape element and programming decision began with the aspirations of our community, adds Shibley, curator of the exhibition in Venice. Its a process that has evolved over decades in line with a city that elevates design in service to the public. It is the next chapter in a decades-long narrative of Buffalo constructing Buffalo.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has apologised for the vaccine fiasco last week, but said it was just one bad day.

After more than a year of managing and attempting to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus in Trinidad and Tobago, Rowley admitted that the Government made a blunder by allowing walk-in vaccinations at health centres across the country.
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After 15 months of living with Covid-19, it is clear that uncertainty is the only certainty.

A week ago, T&T was flush with the expectation of mass vaccinations and the re-opening of the countrys borders. A week later, elation has been quelled by the sober realisation that the vaccination route out of this pandemic is not assured for the foreseeable future given the realities of global supply.
We havent had an unhappy group leaving the building yet. Every single time we play, everybodys like, Oh my god, what a great idea, asking me the same question of how I came up with it, Reid said. And then just how much fun it was, and if they could come back.
A dozen Tucson-area students have been awarded college-sponsored National Merit scholarships.

The awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship.

The winners are: Miles J. Reidhead of Mountain View High School; Ray Xiang of Basis Oro Valley; Logan E. Chung, Sophia L. Konrad, Carol Y. Lu, Jordan E. Rodriguez and Mila E. Tomizuka of University High; Muhammad A. Dahshan, Claire G. Kross and Maxon B. Rubin-Toles of Catalina Foothills High School; and John H. Hartman and Carter C. Hollings of Canyon del Oro High School.

The students entered the National Merit Scholarship program when they took the 2019 Preliminary SAT, which served as an initial screener. The highest-scoring students were named semifinalists. To be considered for the finalist level, the semifinalists had to submit a detailed scholarship application with information on extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record and be recommended by a high school official.

About 16,000 students advanced to finalist standing and about half of those would be named Merit Scholarship winners for 2021.
Arizona defeats UC Santa Barbara for the second straight night; the UA will host Ole Miss or Southern Mississippi next weekend for a berth in the College World Series.
Two decades ago, chemical giant DuPont retreated from plans to mine outside the Okefenokee after meeting fierce resistance. Twin Pines wants permits to mine a small fraction of the acreage DuPont pursued. Steve Ingle, president of Twin Pines, declined to answer questions about potential environmental impacts. Ingle has previously insisted his company can mine the site without harming the swamp.

Government scientists have been skeptical. In February 2019, the Fish and Wildlife Service wrote that the proposed mine could pose substantial risks to the swamp, including its ability to hold water. Some impacts, it said, "may not be able to be reversed, repaired, or mitigated for.

Ingle has said mining will occur on a ridge above the swamp and wont go deep enough to cause underground leaks.

Georgia environmental regulators are weighing five permit applications for the project. After an initial review, regulators in April sent Twin Pines 10 pages of questions and requested changes. Once those get answered, the agency plans a meeting for the general public.

We see the EPD being extremely careful, said Neill Herring, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club in Georgia. The agencys response is greater than it would have been prior to the Corps removal from the field.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a White House visit this summer.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden extended the invitation during a phone call on Monday with Zelenskyy, who has publicly raised concerns about the U.S. presidents plan to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and about a nearly completed Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline that would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine.

Biden made the invitation during a call that had been planned in advance of Bidens trip to Europe that culminates with a stop in Geneva next week for a face-to-face meeting with Putin as tensions in the U.S.-Russia relationship remain high.

Zelenskyy tweeted his response: Thank you @POTUS @JoeBiden for inviting me to visit the @WhiteHouse in July during our phone conversation. I look forward to this meeting to discuss ways to expand strategic cooperation between Ukraine and #USA.

Sullivan said Biden and Zelenskyy had the opportunity to talk at some length about all of the issues in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship and President Biden was able to tell President Zelenskyy that he will stand up firmly for Ukraines sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its aspirations as we go forward."
MIAMI (AP)  Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings on Monday announced plans to set sail from two Florida ports requiring passengers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 despite state legislation banning businesses from asking for proof.

Norwegian announced sailings from New York, Los Angeles, Port Canaveral and Miami.

Carnival Cruise Line, also based in Miami, announced sailings from the Port of Galveston, Texas, with vaccinated guests and was working with Florida officials for a ship to leave from PortMiami.

The cruise lines' plans appear to be at odds with the new state law. The sailings are contingent on obtaining a certificate from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it remains unclear how the plans can be reconciled with Florida law. Norwegian said in a statement that it is contact with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office on the requirements.

We are currently in communication with his staff and legal counsel to ensure that we can offer the safest cruise experience for our passengers departing from the cruise capital of the world, said Norwegians CEO, Frank Del Rio.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  About 100 supporters of a Louisiana minister gathered outside a federal appeals court in New Orleans on Monday to show support as his lawyers asked to revive a lawsuit he filed last year challenging the state's coronavirus restrictions.

Tony Spell repeatedly flouted the public health restrictions at his Life Tabernacle Church in the Baton Rouge suburb of Central, and faces six state criminal counts as a result. His supporters assembled at a public park across from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where they prayed, listened to speeches and waved flags reading An Appeal to Heaven. Spell then walked into the courthouse, escorted across the street by one man carrying a pole with a large cross affixed at the top, while a man nearby waved an American flag.

A federal judge in Baton Rouge dismissed Spell's lawsuit in November. U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson said the suit against Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and others was largely moot because the restrictions had been repeatedly eased over several months. Since that ruling, almost all state restrictions have been lifted.

Lawyers for Spell also are appealing Jackson's ruling that Spell is not entitled to damages. Spell's attorneys include Roy Moore, a former Alabama judge and failed U.S. Senate candidate.
Adrian, 34, said he saw racial discrimination in Chile and Tijuana, where he worked in data entry for a company that assembled neck braces and other medical devices. He said he saw Mexicans getting paid more than twice as much for the same work.

He lost his job when his temporary work visa expired and heard that Ciudad Juarez had work. A straight shot by bus, he decided to take another chance on a new life.

During his first week in Ciudad Juarez last month, Adrian asked downtown merchants to let him sell items on the streets, which are still half-empty amid COVID-19. No one let him. Factories are known to hire foreigners, but he no longer had a work permit.

Adrian wants to settle in Ciudad Juarez and save money, saying he may try to get to the U.S. one day. For now, he fears being sent back Haiti too much to risk applying for asylum or enter the country illegally.

A scar on the back of his head is from being pistol-whipped by an attacker in 2016, he says, and one on his left hand is from being tied up. He said his mother was targeted at her home and killed because she refused to participate in rallies for the Tet Kale party, whose presidential candidate, Jovenel Moise, won the 2016 election.
"We had not known that Auschwitz existed," he said.

Dushman was just one of just 69 men in his 12,000-person unit to survive the war, but he did not leave unscathed. One of his lungs was removed after he was seriously wounded, according to Reuters.

Following his military career, Dushman went on to become an international fencer and fencing coach. He was the USSR's best fencer in 1951 and coached the Soviet women's team from 1952 to 1988, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). His fencers won two gold medals, two silver medals and three bronze medals at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich.

Thomas Bach, the German president of the IOC and a former fencer, knew Dushman personally. Bach said in a statement that he was "deeply saddened" by the news of Dushman's death.

"When we met in 1970, he immediately offered me friendship and counsel, despite Mr. Dushman's personal experience with World War II and Auschwitz, and he being a man of Jewish origin. This was such a deep human gesture that I will never ever forget it," Bach said.

___
It's allowed in our religion, Sanaa said. I didn't agree to it.

He came back to the West Bank in April for what she says was one of his yearly visits to see the children. He had also sought treatment for paranoia after having been institutionalized in the U.S. in recent years, according to a deposition he gave to her lawyer.

Sanaa said she knew nothing about the attack and had no indication he was planning anything.

People commit crimes far worse than this in America and they dont demolish their homes," she said. Whoever committed the crime should be punished, but its not the familys fault.

When the soldiers showed up after the attack they ransacked the home and briefly detained her 17-year-old son. She said they had a large dog that terrified her and her two younger children, a 12-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl. The soldiers came back weeks later to map out the house for demolition.

Now Sanaa says her children spend all day in bed and refuse to go to school. I know my children and they were never like this," she said. My son, Ahmed, has to take his final exams and he cant study. He opens his book, reads a couple pages and then he walks off.
PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (AP)  Spain jump-started its summer tourism season on Monday by welcoming vaccinated visitors from most countries as well as European tourists who can prove they are not infected with coronavirus. It also reopened its ports to cruise ships.

The move opened borders for the first tourists from the United States and other countries outside of the European Union since those travelers were banned in March last year, when the pandemic hit global travel.

Matthew Eisenberg, a 22-year-old student, excitedly stepped out of Madrid airport, ready to enjoy the Spanish capital along with two more American friends.

We came to Spain the first day we could, because we are very excited to travel here, Eisenberg said, showing a certificate for the two Moderna vaccine jabs he received in February and March.

But Spain is still banning nonessential travelers from Brazil, India and South Africa, where virus variants have been been a major source of concern.

Visitors need proof they were fully vaccinated at least 14 days before the trip or that they overcame a COVID-19 infection in the past six months. The certificates can be in Spanish, English, French or German  or their equivalent translations in Spanish, the government order said.
Families of 10 fallen heroes of the fire and rescue services are escorted to their seats for a combined 2020-2021 service at The Maryland Fire-Rescue Services Memorial. (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun)
So it does require quite high levels of vaccination, particularly in the context of more transmissible variants, to be on the safe side, Ryan added.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHOs technical lead on COVID-19, noted the delta variant is spreading in more than 60 countries, and is more transmissible than the alpha variant, which first emerged in Britain.

She cited worrying trends of increased transmissibility, increased social mixing, relaxing of public health and social measures, and uneven and inequitable vaccine distribution around the world.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, meanwhile, called on leaders of the developed Group of Seven countries to help the U.N.-backed vaccination program against COVID-19 to boost access to doses in the developing world.

With G-7 leaders set to meet in England later this week, Tedros said they could help meet his target that at least 10% of the populations in every country are vaccinated by the end of September  and 30% by year-end.

To reach these targets, we need an additional 250 million doses by September, and we need hundreds of million doses just in June and July, he said, alluding to the summit involving Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
OPINION: A lot of frustration about our elected officials is the theme of today's letters. What do you think about our Senators and other elected officials? Write a letter at tucson.com/opinion.
OPINION: "I am disheartened by our current administrations pattern of blanket giveaways, as opposed to judiciously allocating the funds to where they are most needed," writes Tucsonan John Newport.
Redfearn had appealed a verdict in favor of his insurance provider, which had a clause indicating the policy did not cover losses caused directly or indirectly by invasion, insurrection, riot, civil war or commotion, or military or usurped power, or by order of any civil authority.

The record notes the conflicting narratives of white and Black Tulsa in testimony provided for the case.

The evidence shows conclusively that there was rioting in the city of Tulsa from about 10 oclock p.m., May 31, 1921, until about noon of the following day; and during that time all the buildings in the negro section of the city of Tulsa, where the buildings involved in this suit were located, were entirely destroyed by fire, the appellate court wrote.

Browning said many records about the violence either disappeared or were forcibly removed, which was why it was unusual to see the 1926 Supreme Court decision in Redfearns case have so many details about the massacre.

He said he was hopeful the information contained in the journal is informative about lesser-known aspects of Oklahomas Black history.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  The head of the Senate Republican political arm says he expects former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt to challenge Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada next year.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott, the chair of the National Republican Senate Committee, told The Associated Press that he has been in touch with Laxalt, whom he considers a great candidate.

I think Adam will run, Scott said in a recent interview. He has not told me that he for sure will run. But Ill actually be surprised if he doesnt."

Laxalt, a close ally of former President Donald Trump's and part of a Nevada political dynasty, would give Republicans a boost in their quest to seize the Senate majority in next year's midterm elections. The GOP needs to flip just one seat nationally to take control of the Senate, which would break up the Democrats' hold of the White House and Congress.

Beyond Trump, Laxalt is well-connected to some of the Republican Party's most ambitious leaders, who have been drawn to the first-in-the-West presidential caucus state in recent years to attend his annual Basque Fundraiser. The headliners for this August's cookout in northern Nevada include 2024 presidential prospects, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was Laxalts roommate in the Navy.
Today is Monday, June 7, 2021. Let's get caught up.

These headlines are in the news this morning: Vice President Kamala Harris is in Latin America to announce new measures to tackle trafficking and corruption; Meghan and Harry announce birth of Lilibet Diana; and Simone Biles won her seventh US gymnastics title.

Read on for these stories, other top headlines, celebrity birthdays and more.

TOP STORIES

Harris targets corruption, immigration on Latin America trip

GUATEMALA CITY (AP)  With Kamala Harris visiting Guatemala and Mexico on her first foreign trip as vice president, the Biden administration is expected to announce new measures to fight smuggling and trafficking, and hopes to announce additional anti-corruption efforts as well on Monday, a senior administration official said.

The official, who briefed reporters traveling with Harris on Sunday, spoke on condition of anonymity to preview announcements before they have been made public. No further details were provided.
The measure put guardrails in place for managed care.

Sen. Greg McCortney, R-Ada, and Rep. Marcus McEntire, R-Duncan, were the authors of the measure. Both opposed the version of managed care put forward by Stitt.

I believe what the governor will do is probably use Winchesters dissenting opinion for a springboard for his next move, McEntire said. I think the Oklahoma Health Care Authority will most likely go back in and quickly promulgate emergency rules and try to rebid those requests for proposals.

Winchester is married to Susan Winchester, a former Republican House member Stitt recently named as Secretary of Licensing and Regulation.

The concern with that is the Oklahoma Health Care Authority still doesnt have the legislative authority to do that, McEntire said.

If McEntire is correct, he said the issue will likely wind up back in court. He said he wouldnt be surprised to see the petitioners, several health care organizations that brought the suit, seeking an injunction to get it stopped.

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority referred questions about the matter to Stitts office, which shifted inquiries about it to the agency and a statement Stitt issued earlier.
We all know the drill about stereotypical socialist countries in which everyone has a job but nothing much actually gets done, with red tape that could stretch from Thanh Hoa to Tbilisi.

Well, its time to shatter another myth as some of the best service in Vietnam comes from a place Id least expect: the post office!

The other day I saw a Vietnam Post (Buu Dien Viet Nam in Vietnamese) delivery motorbike screech to a halt in front of a woman waiting on the sidewalk and the driver offered three products for her consideration. The lady rejected two items with a marked frown, selected the other, paid, and the driver disappeared down the road in a cloud of dust.

It turns out that new selection service is extremely popular, reducing personal contact in busy shops during these tumultuous times. Buu Dien Viet Nam returns the unwanted goods to the seller without any charge to the customer, so everybody is happy.

Internet shopping and delivery in Vietnam require an adjustment of mindset for foreigners because the post offices processes are actually  brace yourself for this: designed with the customer in mind!

Eureka!

In developed countries, customer service has slowly deteriorated into a tug of war between vendor and customer whenever there is an issue, pushing the envelope back and forth until one or the other finally gives in, and thats very often the party whos paying the bill.

Lets say youre getting a home delivery, which typically takes place on weekdays during business hours, with limited service available evenings and weekends.

If youre not at home to receive the item the first time, chances are youre working and probably wont be home the next business day either. So, what the hell, they deliver again, and if the second attempt is also futile, a note will be left saying the item has been returned to the post office or their warehouse.

Suddenly, the shoe is on the other foot, with you, the customer and recipient, performing the very activity you already paid someone else to do.

Its tantamount to the service provider saying, Nya nya nya - youre it!

I have never used one of the slick global courier services, but not for lack of effort on my part. I investigated only to discover that those outfits have double-digit delivery options, as many potential surcharges, and even more service add-ons available on top of all that.

I was looking for something simple such as: Relatively normal person mailing normal letter to or from Vietnam but normal in much of this world is obsolete due to endless versions and varieties of products.

It was more like Mail letter weighing not more than 74.5821 grams for international delivery in less than 3 days, if our airplanes fly those days and there are no lithium batteries or grandmas brownies included, and its a weekday, unless its one of a plethora of various religious holidays, assuming the neighbours dog doesnt bite, and the designated recipient is right-handed for signatory purposes.

Needless to say, that was the end of that.

Back to Vietnam, where I was recently awaiting two letters  one from overseas, the other from a domestic source. A Buu Dien Viet Nam delivery guy arrived at the building in which I live, domestic letter in hand, couldnt figure out how to find my apartment, then made several calls to the sender.

Several calls! To the sender! He actually tried to resolve the issue!

In many countries, the guy would have disappeared like a fart in a windstorm, probably off to sip a cold one at the end of the afternoon.

The building security guard intervened, aided and abetted by the housekeeper. Note there are usually two people involved in such scenarios in Vietnam  teamwork being a principal theme, plus there is an instant witness should any extenuating circumstances arise.

I was asleep at the switch upstairs, oblivious to the entire scene unfolding between the security guard, housekeeper, and Buu Dien Viet Nam guy, but I have a damn good idea how it went:

Buu Dien Viet Nam guy: Letter for a foreigner named Ellis.

Security guard: Yes, he told us, Ill take it for him.

Buu Dien Viet Nam guy: Not so fast, this is valuable stuff.

Housekeeper: Its his passport.

Buu Dien Viet Nam guy: Lady, I know, I do this all day long. I can feel a passport in an envelope at 50 paces.

Security guard: Fork it over.

Buu Dien Viet Nam guy: Ease up, I have to hand this directly to the recipient.

Housekeeper: Foreigner said you could give it to us. Buu Dien Viet Nam guy: Tough tamales, guys, nobody told me.

The security dude, a strong company man (and loyal workmate  I know because he keeps trying to hook me up with the housekeeper, but thats another tale for another day) tried everything short of ripping the envelope out of the Buu Dien Viet Nam guys hands, but it was a no-go.

And so the standoff ended with the Buu Dien Viet Nam guy riding off into the sunset, letter in side satchel like the Pony Express, while I was upstairs, blissfully unaware of the entire drama. (I was unaware because I turn off all the buzzes, beeps, blinking lights, and rings on my phone because they bug me, so none of the senders calls attracted my attention, but that too is a story for another day.)

The sender, also like a dog with a bone, kept phoning the Buu Dien Viet Nam guy though by that time its 6:00 pm. They ultimately agreed that hed deliver the next day, and hand the letter over to the security guard if I was absent.

Vietnam Post delivery still works at 6:00 pm?

Hell yes they do.

It seems theyre always on the job  I know because I frequent a cafe right beside a small neighbourhood branch and that post office is open evenings, weekends, you name it.

Now comes the best part: as promised, the Buu Dien Viet Nam guy phoned the sender back the next morning promising to deliver at an indicated time.

Not only did he answer his phone in the first place, he followed up the next day, called back, and provided a schedule for delivery!

When the sender relayed that status and plan to me, I was amazed because in our highly developed countries Rule #1 for service providers is to be very, very difficult to contact, especially by customers with issues.

Anyway, just to be safe, I showed up on time  actual time, not VST (thats Vietnam Standard Time, between 20 and 30 minutes later than the real time)  only to learn that the Buu Dien Viet Nam guy already delivered the letter half an hour early.

He actually delivered both letters, which can only mean he looked through his entire pile of goodies to be delivered before setting sail that morning, realized he had two items for me, and combined them.

Pretty slick, thatll teach me to doubt the post office in this country.

Cynics would say labour is cheap here in Vietnam, so its easy to throw bodies at issues instead of using sophisticated processes, but Im not buying it. As proven in this example, all thats needed is a phone coupled with the right attitude. No doubt those drivers are busier than ants at a picnic.

Then naysayers would argue that Buu Dien Viet Nam delivery drivers receive an incentive for each successful delivery, which is true, but its peanuts, certainly not worth two trips and a boatload of phone calls.

Lets say the post office guy in a developed country earns ten times more than his counterpart in Vietnam but salaries and overheads are also 10 times more, so its even up, with only attitude and effort making the difference.

Ive sent and received at least a dozen important documents domestically and internationally over the years using Buu Dien Viet Nam and the service has always met or exceeded expectations.

I had a hunch something good was cooking with them because any outfit whose delivery vehicles play Jingle Bells whenever theyre thrown into reverse gear, winter and summer, 12 months of the year, is clearly an organization with a bright future.
The attack on Hy-Shin Williams, 67, and her sister, Hye-kyong Yun, 66, was captured by surveillance cameras and seen widely across the city. The sisters were left bruised and bleeding from their faces and heads. Both women were hospitalized and continue to suffer headaches and dizziness, according to the indictment. A plastic surgeon was needed to stitch closed one of the gashes to Williams head. An online fundraiser collected more than $84,000 for them.
One hundred former presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers have urged the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations to pay for global coronavirus vaccinations to help stop the virus mutating and returning as a worldwide threat.

The leaders made their appeal ahead of a G7 summit in England which begins on Friday, when U.S. President Joe Biden will meet the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan.

In their letter to the G7, the former world leaders said global cooperation had failed in 2020, but that 2021 could usher in a new era.

"Support from the G7 and G20 that makes vaccines readily accessible to low- and middle-income countries is not an act of charity, but rather is in every country's strategic interest," the letter said.

Among the signatories were ex-British premiers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, former U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon and 15 former African leaders.

They said the G7 and other leaders invited to the summit should guarantee to pay what would amount to about $30 billion a year over two years towards fighting the pandemic worldwide.

"For the G7 to pay is not charity, it is self-protection to stop the disease spreading, mutating and returning to threaten all of us," Brown said.

"Costing just 30 pence ($0.43) per person per week in the UK, is a small price to pay a for the best insurance policy in the world," he added in a statement.

Their plea coincided with a poll by the Save the Children charity which found strong public support in the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Canada for the G7 paying towards the $66 billion needed for COVID-19 vaccines globally.

In Britain, 79% were in favour of such a policy, while 79% of Americans backed the proposal, the poll showed. Support was lowest in France, where 63% were in favour.

($1 = 0.7065 pounds)
Hanoi authorities have discovered 29 quick test kits for COVID-19 screening in a medical supply store in Hoang Mai District, whose owner failed to present any accompanying proof of purchase or certificate of origin for the products.

The cargoes in question consist of 29 boxes of rapid COVID-19 test kits, with the label 'HANGZHOU TESTSEA BIOTECHNOLOGY CO.LTD CHINA,' seemingly the product manufacturer, printed on the packaging.

They were found in a medical equipment store run by Lam Khang General Joint Stock Company in Dai Kim Urban Area, Hoang Mai District.

The store owner failed to present any receipt or certificate of origin for the test kits, admitting that they were sourced on the Internet.

A team of market surveillance officers, who spotted the illegitimate test kits, have seized them for further investigation.

In recent weeks, Vietnamese customers have noticed various types of COVID-19 test kits with questionable origin to be put up online for sale.

Addressing this issue, the General Department of Market Surveillance under the Ministry of Industry and Trade affirmed that they are keeping an eye on these test kits.

They are working to prevent unauthorized sales of test kits, as well as circulation of unapproved test products on the market.

They will also investigate the source of these products to deter future contraband attempts.

The market surveillance authority suggests that residents do their research on the products to steer away from pieces of unknown origin.

Nguyen Dinh Anh, head of communications at the ministry, said Vietnamese citizens should not purchase these kits, for substandard quality can contribute to the spread of the novel coronavirus due to false negatives, online newspaper VnExpress reported.

Vietnam has applied two main methods of SARS-CoV-2 testing  the real-time RT-PCR technique and antibody diagnosis, or serology tests.

Real-time RT-PCR tests look for the virus genetic material in samples collected from patients throats or noses, while antibody tests, rather than looking for the virus itself, detect antibodies or proteins in the blood that patient's bodies develop in order to fight it off.

The RT-PCR tests have been produced by the Vietnam Military Medical University and Viet A Company for nationwide use and export.

The test kit has also been recognized by the World Health Organization for meeting all standards defined by the agency after undergoing five rounds of testing and quality evaluation.

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As COVID-19 cases have been detected and treated at hospitals across Vietnam, many people are jeopardizing their health by avoiding hospital care, even in medical emergencies, for fear of contracting the coronavirus.

There are cases of patients who ended up suffering serious injuries or even death.

The latest example is the fatality of a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Hanoi on May 27 after he battled with the deterioration of the disease for more than a week at home.

According to the Hanoi Medical University Hospital, N.V.X., an 85-year-old patient in Thanh Xuan District with a history of chronic pulmonary heart disease, sought emergency treatment from the infirmary on May 26.

But it was too late for doctors to save him as he had refrained from going to hospital for ten days since first experiencing difficulty breathing, thinking that he may become infected with COVID-19 there.

Luckier than X., N.V.T., an 80-year-old patient in Ho Chi Minh City with pre-existing conditions of Type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia, was timely rescued by doctors at Gia Dinh Peoples Hospital after she had been hospitalized in a critical condition, with acute kidney and liver damage, due to her familys delay in taking her to the hospital over similar fears of COVID-19.

At the end of May, Thu Duc City Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City also recorded two cases of patients with severe complications due to re-taking old prescription medications without going to hospital for help.

These patients were afraid of contracting the coronavirus at hospitals.

The aforementioned cases are not uncommon, according to Dr. Nguyen Thai Yen, deputy head of the cardiology department at Gia Dinh Peoples Hospital.

Objecting to these COVID-19 fears, Dr. Yen said that non-coronavirus patients, especially the elderly with chronic diseases, are subject to periodical health checks, despite the pandemic situation.

Dr. Hoang Bui Hai, head of the intensive care unit at the Hanoi Medical University Hospital, emphasized that those with underlying diseases and abnormal symptoms such as increased shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, sweating, and lack of coherence must receive timely emergency treatment.

Both Dr. Yen and Dr. Hai assured that hospitals have activated a thorough screening system to classify patients at risk for COVID-19 while ensuring timely support for patients in critical conditions.

Dr. Nguyen Lan Hieu, director of the Hanoi Medical University Hospital, advised that people contact doctors for their consultation before visiting hospitals to not only avoid the risk of COVID-19 infection but also to save time for both sides.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health confirmed 44 new coronavirus cases on Monday morning, of which 24 were detected in Bac Giang Province, the largest epicenter in Vietnam now, 12 in Ho Chi Minh City, six in Bac Ninh Province, and two in Ha Nam Province.

The new cases have taken the Southeast Asian countrys tally of patients to 8,791, including 53 deaths, since early 2020.

Since April 27, when the pandemics fourth wave appeared in Vietnam, 5,666 domestic infections have been documented nationwide.

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Police in the Mekong Delta Province of An Giang said on Sunday that they had started legal proceedings against two men for attacking an officer stationed at a local COVID-19 checkpoint with a knife while under the influence of alcohol.

According to the indictment, Luong Ba Dat, 21, from An Giangs Thoai Son District, and Tran Thanh Dien, 25, from Vinh Thanh District in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho face a charge of deliberately inflicting injury."

Dat has been arrested while Dien is still wanted after managing to escape a chase by functional forces.

At around 11:25 pm on June 3, when Dat was carrying Dien on a motorbike after both of them had been drunk, they were stopped to have their body temperature measured by Tran Van Dao, who was stationed at the COVID-19 checkpoint near the Sanh 2 Bridge in Thoai Son District.

Dat and Dien left after the measurement, before returning to the station about 35 minutes later and using a knife to slash Dao on his arm.

Dien then ran to the Sanh 2 Bridge to throw the knife into the river below before Dat picked him up to run away on their motorbike.

The local police, military force, and residential security forces chased after Dat and Dien, but were only able to catch Dat while Dien managed to escape.

Dao was taken to Thoai Sons medical center before being transferred to An Giang General Hospital, where his injury was estimated at two percent of his total body.

At the police station, Dat admitted that he and Dien committed the act under the influence of alcohol, claiming they were angry at Dao for checking their body temperature.

The police are working hard to search for Dien to strictly handle the case according to the law.

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A vegetable vendor in Hanoi has tested positive for the novel coronavirus following her health check at a local hospital, while her source of infection remains unknown.

The Hanoi Center for Disease Control on Monday morning announced a new local COVID-19 case  a 45-year-old woman from Dong Anh District.

The patient has yet to be confirmed by the Ministry of Health.

The woman, named D.T.H.N., sells vegetables at a market in Dong Anh Town, Dong Anh District and did not travel out of the area in May.

She had taken two days off before having symptoms such as a sore throat and runny nose on May 30.

The woman took over-the-counter medicine and stayed at home with her husband and two sons from May 30 to June 4.

The husband stayed at home the whole time as he previously suffered a stroke.

At 2:00 pm on June 4, N. headed to Bac Thang Long Hospital in Dong Anh District to seek treatment for her mild fever, coughing with mucus, and chest tightness.

The patient filled in a health declaration at the entrance of the infirmary and was transferred to an area reserved for patients with COVID-19 symptoms such as fever and coughing.

She underwent cardiopulmonary bypass and was diagnosed with bronchopneumonia.

N. was advised to remain at the hospital for treatment and stayed in a temporary quarantine room.

She had her samples collected for coronavirus testing on Saturday.

Her mother and younger brother visited her on Sunday, before her test result came back positive for the novel coronavirus later the same day.

Local authorities are carrying out necessary procedures to transfer the patient to another facility for quarantine and treatment.

They have so far identified 13 direct contacts, who have been subject to quarantine and testing.

The patients source of infection has yet to be determined.

Vietnam has documented 8,791 COVID-19 cases as of Monday morning, with 3,368 recoveries and 53 deaths, according to the health ministry.

The country has documented 5,666 local infections in 39 provinces and cities since April 27, including 438 cases in Hanoi.

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A police officer who was on duty at a COVID-19 checkpoint in Ho Chi Minh City has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The officer works at the police station in Phu Trung Ward, Tan Phu District, Pham Minh Man, the district chairman, confirmed on Monday morning.

From May 28 to 31, he was on duty at a checkpoint at Tan Phu District Hospital, which was temporarily locked down following the detection of some COVID-19 patients.

On June 1, the police officer had his samples collected for coronavirus testing, and the result on Sunday suggested that he might have been infected with the disease.

He went to the Ho Chi Minh City Police Hospital in District 5 on the same day for another test and the result came back positive.

Local authorities have been tracking all of his direct and indirect contacts for quarantine and testing.

As of Monday morning, one of his direct contacts, who is the head of the Phu Trung Ward military command, had also tested positive for the pathogen.

Another direct contact and 89 indirect contacts of the policeman work at the headquarters of the Tan Phu Peoples Committee, according to Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper.

Therefore, the Tan Phu Peoples Committee has suspended all face-to-face interactions and only provides online services.

Local residents can contact the administration via its hotline.

Vietnam has documented 8,883 COVID-19 cases as of Monday afternoon, with 3,368 recoveries and 53 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country has reported 5,758 local infections in 39 out if its 63 provinces and cities since April 27, including 402 cases in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Border guards nationwide have handled 319 cases of illegal entry into Vietnam via land borders from its neighboring countries during the past three days, border guard forces reported on Sunday.

These unlawful border crossings were discovered in boundary areas between Vietnam and China, Laos and Cambodia from June 4 to 6.

Cases of illegal entry into Vietnam through trails along borderlines have increased in recent weeks while the country has been trying to prevent coronavirus spread, including from its neighbors, warned the Vietnamese Border Guard High Command.

Particularly, the period between May 27 and June 3 saw the number of unlawful entries from Cambodia rose 3.5 times compared to the previous week.

Border guard units across the country have strengthened their patrols to prevent border jumping, helping curb the possible spread of coronavirus to Vietnam through illegal entrants, the agency stated.

In addition, the forces have encouraged people to detect and report illegal migrants to them or police or other relevant agencies.

At the same time, border guards are required to improve their skills, comply with discipline and must not abet any border jumping, the high command said.

Two months ago, the border guard command of Lao Cai Province arrested a COVID-19 patrol team member for joining hands with a gang in organizing sneak border crossings between Vietnam and China.

The patroller, 33-year-old Ly Chu, who was also head of a grassroots-level military command board, was detained for facilitating 91 cases of illegal border crossings involving around 200 people since April 2020, local police reported.

The Ministry of Health on Monday noon confirmed 92 new COVID-19 cases nationwide, which have taken the countrys tally of patients to 8,883, including 3,368 recoveries and 53 deaths, since early 2020.

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The Ministry of Health announced 211 new domestic coronavirus cases on Monday, most recorded in a hotbed in northern Vietnam.

One hundred and twenty-two of the locally-transmitted infections were registered in Bac Giang Province, which is the countrys largest epicenter.

Ho Chi Minh City, a busy economic hub in the south, reported 46 patients, the majority linked to a religious group.

Vietnam has logged 5,833 local infections in 39 out of its 63 provinces and cities since April 27, when the fourth wave broke out.

Bac Giang is in the front with 3,211 patients, followed by Bac Ninh with 1,122, Hanoi with 438, Ho Chi Minh City with 422, and Da Nang with 158.

Vietnam has documented an accumulation of 8,983 COVID-19 patients, including 7,402 community cases and 1,581 imported ones, since the virus first hit it on January 23, 2020, according to the health ministrys data.

Recoveries have reached 3,509, including 141 announced on Monday, while 53 patients have died so far, most having suffered underlying medical conditions.

The government has administered 1,248,559 vaccine shots to medical staff and other frontline workers since mass inoculation was rolled out on March 8.

A full two-dose course has been given to 33,643 people as yet.

Vietnam has already received almost 2.9 million AstraZeneca doses from direct purchases and the COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme.

The health ministry last week claimed to have secured 120 of the targeted 150 million vaccine jabs to immunize at least 70 percent of the countrys population of nearly 98 million people this year.

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ABC managing director David Anderson has denied pulling an episode of Four Corners and backed the current affairs team.

Last week media reports suggested Anderson had pulled an episode alleging links between PM Scott Morrison and a QAnon member. The episode was due to air last night, but yesterday the ABC boss expanded on the editorial outcome to a Senate Estimates committee.

He confirmed the episode had been upwardly referred to him by News boss Gaven Morris.

As editor in chief I independently reviewed that story and wrote a note back suggesting that I felt there were concerns about a couple of areas, and was looking for other things to be strengthened within the story. But otherwise to proceed on. So it would be incorrect to say that I pulled the story. I didnt pull the story. The story is still underway and look it very well may go to air, he said.

He added, I will add there are many other things that are important at the ABC, but I do have absolute faith and the utmost respect for the Four Corners team. Theyre an outstanding award-winning team and I think theyll take on board my feedback and I look forward to reading it.

Asked if the story was in the public interest he replied, Senator with respect, thats for us to judge and something that I will continue to look at and make a decision on prior to publication, rather than discuss the merits of the story before its aired.

Anderson also added, I cant tell you how unfortunate it is that somehow its reported in the media that were working on this story, to be in the situation that were discussing the merits of a story before its publication. Other than, whatever we publish, when we do publish it, we do believe that its in the public interest. At the moment we havent published yet.

Separately he also confirmed telling Morris that a tweet by executive producer Sally Neighbour on the Christian Porter defamation case was incorrect and addressed.

ABC was grilled over staff using personal Twitter accounts to comment on government matters. Anderson indicated it was an evolving matter and staff were last reminded of policy in March.

Related
Tickets are now available in Sydney for Australias Got Talent auditions.

Filming will take place at The Star Event Centre, Pyrmont, from Wednesday June 30 to July 6. You must be aged 10 or over to attend.

Ricki-Lee Coulter returns as host for the talent series produced by Fremantle. Judges are yet to be revealed.

It will screen on Seven later this year.

For tickets apply here

Meanwhile audition entries are also still open.

Do you have a talent you need to show the world? Something that needs to be seen to be believed? The worlds biggest talent show is back in 2021. We are searching for the most astounding and spectacular acts from around the nation, on a scale never before seen, a casting notice announces.

Australias Got Talent can catapult you in to global stardom. No one is too old or too young to have a crack  the title is yours for the taking!

Auditions apply here.

Related
Officers found evidence of a shooting in the 1600 block of Olmstead St. in Curtis Bay and found the victim shot in the leg in the 3700 block of Fairhaven Ave., nearly a half-mile away, police said. That victim, whose name also was not released, was expected to survive.
Screen Queensland is calling on nominations for its inaugural Equity and Diversity Taskforce.

Drawn from inside and outside the screen industry, the primary role of the Taskforce, to be established by July this year, is to develop a comprehensive, three-year Diversity Plan to guide the state screen agency in setting strategic goals and measurable performance targets for systemic change.

The Taskforce would also provide a safe forum for representatives from the screen industry, equalities groups and civil society to contribute to the Diversity Plan, which will be reviewed and endorsed by Screen Queenslands Board.

Screen Queensland CEO Kylie Munnich said, Increasing diversity and inclusion in the Queensland screen industry is a key priority for Screen Queensland and establishing a Taskforce with representation from diverse groups with a shared commitment to this goal is a critical first step.

Both globally and locally, the screen industry has had to evolve significantly in order to be more representative of the wider community and there is still much work to be done.

We recognise that Screen Queensland is in a privileged position to lead change for groups and individuals who, in the past, have not had equal access to screen opportunities. The whole team at SQ is inspired and energised to drive this change for our local screen industry, Ms Munnich said.

Screen Queensland Chief Creative Officer Jo Dillon, outgoing Co-Chair of the Screen Diversity Inclusion Network (SDIN), said, Historically, screen audiences had access to a very narrow range of human experience and representation; the fact that this is changing on a rapid and global scale is very exciting  both for audiences and the under-represented creatives behind this new wave of storytelling.

The appetite for diverse screen stories, capturing the lives and perspectives of the broadest range of human experience is at all all-time high, but without true diversity in our industry we wont be tapping into these fresh and original stories.

Im proud to be part of an industry and an organisation supporting such an essential shift in how we make content and see the world reflected back to us on screen.

Nominations can be submitted by 5pm, Friday 18 June 2021.

Related
Veteran showbiz star Dick Van Dyke, 95, was venerated at the annual Kennedy Centre Honors in Washington D.C.

Joined by Debbie Allen, Joan Baez, Garth Brooks, violinist Midori, the artists were honoured in scaled-back event with about 120 people at tables at the Kennedy Centers opera house. Gloria Estefan hosted proceedings.

Julie Andrews introduced Van Dyke, whose credits include The Dick Van Dyke Show, Diagnosis Murder, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bye Bye Birdie and Night at the Museum.

She compared him to his famed chimney sweep character in Mary Poppins.

Like his character Bert in that movie, Dick seems to have found the secret to happiness, and like Bert, Dick is many things: Hes an artist, a one-man band, a profound philosopher, a high-stepping showman and spreader of charm. Good luck does rub off when he shakes hands with you, she said.

Bryan Cranston called Van Dyke his boyhood idol and an inspiration in becoming an actor, while Lin-Manuel Miranda said: Spend five minutes with Dick Van Dyke, and youre more alive than you were before. Hes the kind of performing legend you hope to meet one day and say, Thank you for showing us how it should be done.

"All those numbers reminded me of how much fun I had over the years."  Hear what the Kennedy Center Honors meant to #DickVanDyke (@iammrvandy), and tune in for some incredible tributes to him this Sunday at 8/7c on @CBS!  pic.twitter.com/MicNKyKlTw  The Kennedy Center (@kencen) June 5, 2021

Meanwhile Shonda Rhimes called dancer-choreographer-director-producer Debbie Allen an inspiration and a symbol of power.

She was one of those pivotal forces in the world who made feel like I could be whoever I wanted to be, said Rhimes. Debbies vision is to create opportunity for talented people who might otherwise not have been given a chance.

Vanessa Hudgens performed the title song from Fame, the 1982-87 series on which Allen starred and served as choreographer.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Related
"Ckfather" Ships the 888poker XL Spring Series 6-Max ($8,372)

June 07 2021 Jason Glatzer

Short-handed poker enthusiasts were in for a treat on Saturday, June 5 as it was 6-Max day in the $1 million guaranteed XL Spring Series at 888poker.

Russia's "Ckfather" was the biggest winner of the day after shipping the XL Spring #20 - $30,000 6-Max for $8,372, while "COMINGEASY" and Vadym "vaduwka" Khabarov also won XL Spring Series titles on Saturday.

Check out the results from the seventh day of the XL Spring Series at 888poker.

Play in the XL Spring Series at 888poker! Satellites to the XL Spring Series now running at 888poker Get 20 FREE

XL Spring #20 - $30,000 6-Max

Buy-in Date Entries Prize pool $109 June 5 364 $36,400

The XL Spring #20 - $30,000 6-Max attracted 643 entries for a $32,150 prize pool to smash the $30,000 guarantee.

After more than eight hours of play, Russia's "Ckfather" defeated Soraya Estrada "railerita" Gonzalez (second - $5,824) in heads-up play to win the title which came with a huge $8,372 top prize.

Romania's "IonelSimion" was also on the podium after finishing in third place for $4,368 while "ESARJE87" (fourth - $2,912), "drPokermarv" (fifth - $2,184), and "mywifesT7i" (sixth - $1,492) also managed to add four-figures to their 888poker account at the final table in this event.

XL Spring #20 - $30,000 6-Max Final Table Results

Place Player Prize 1 Ckfather $8,372 2 Soraya Estrada "railerita" Gonzalez $5,824 3 IonelSimion $4,368 4 ESARJE87 $2,912 5 drPokermarv $2,184 6 mywifesT7i $1,492

XL Spring #21 - $15,000 Mini 6-Max

Buy-in Date Entries Prize pool $16.50 June 5 1,094 $16,410

The XL Spring #21 - $15,000 Mini 6-Max also crushed its guarantee of $15,000 after 1,094 entries generated a $16,410 prize pool.

United Kingdom's "COMINGEASY" made things like easy as they skated their way to victory in this event for $2,954 after defeating Romania's "Lucian2211" (second - $2,215) in heads-up play.

Russia's Anton "toshapiter86" Vinokurov (third - $1,641) and Brazil's Tiago "TTigela" Tigela (fourth - $1,149) also banked four-figure scores in this event.

XL Spring #21 - $15,000 Mini 6-Max Final Table Results

Place Player Prize 1 COMINGEASY $2,954 2 Lucian2211 $2,215 3 Anton "toshapiter86" Vinokurov $1,641 4 Tiago "TTigela" Tigela $1,149 5 sash2016ura $821 6 mongol75 $492

XL Spring #22 - $15,000 Late 6-Max

Buy-in Date Entries Prize pool $55 June 5 309 $15,450

Ukraine's Vadym "vaduwka" Khabarov shipped the XL Spring #21 - $15,000 Mini 6-Max for $3,554 after sending "sjollema22" to the rail in second-place for $2,472.

Sweden's "Ilikepugs" (third - $1,854) and "vedat01" (fourth - $1,236) also added four-figures to their 888poker accounts after deep finishes at the final table.

The event itself squeezed past its $15,000 guarantee with 309 entries creating a $15,450 prize pool.

XL Spring #21 - $15,000 Mini 6-Max Final Table Results

Place Player Prize 1 Vadym "vaduwka" Khabarov $3,554 2 sjollema22 $2,472 3 Ilikepugs $1,854 4 vedat01 $1,236 5 cankiller15 $927 6 brunocasadei $633

2021 888poker XL Spring Schedule

Date Time (GMT) Event Buy-in Guarantee May 30 6 p.m. XL Spring #1 - $50,000 Opening Event $55 $50,000 6 p.m. XL Spring #2 - $25,000 Mini Opening $16.50 $25,000 6:30 p.m. XL Spring #3 - $10,000 Micro Opening $5.50 $10,000 8 p.m. XL Spring #4 - $15,000 Late Opening $33 $15,000 May 31 6 p.m. XL Spring #5 - $20,000 R&A Event $33 $20,000 6 p.m. XL Spring #6 - $8,000 Mini R&A $5.50 $8,000 8 p.m. XL Spring #7 - $8,000 Late R&A $11 $8,000 June 1 6 p.m. XL Spring #8 - $50,000 High Roller $320 $50,000 6 p.m. XL Spring #9 - $25,000 Mini High Roller $55 $25,000 8 p.m. XL Spring #10 - $20,000 Late High Roller $109 $20,000 June 2 6 p.m. XL Spring #11 - $30,000 PKO $109 $30,000 6 p.m. XL Spring #12 - $15,000 Mini PKO $16.50 $15,000 8 p.m. XL Spring #13 - $10,000 Late PKO $33 $10,000 June 3 6 p.m. XL Spring #14 - $40,000 PKO 8-Max $160 $40,000 6 p.m. XL Spring #15 - $15,000 Mini PKO 8-Max $22 $15,000 8 p.m. XL Spring #16 - $15,000 Late PKO 8-Max $55 $15,000 June 4 5 p.m. XL Spring #17 - $30,000 DeepStack $55 $30,000 5 p.m. XL Spring #18 - $15,000 Mini DeepStack $16.50 $15,000 7 p.m. XL Spring #19 - $10,000 Late DeepStack $33 $10,000 June 5 6 p.m. XL Spring #20 - $30,000 6-Max $109 $30,000 6 p.m. XL Spring #21 - $15,000 Mini 6-Max $16.50 $15,000 8 p.m. XL Spring #22 - $15,000 Late 6-Max $55 $15,000 June 6 5 p.m. XL Spring #23 - $500,000 Main Event $250 $500,000 5:30 p.m. XL Spring #24 - $50,000 Mini Main Event $33 $50,000 6 p.m. XL Spring #25 - $15,000 Micro Main Event $5.50 $15,000

Claim Your $888 Welcome Bonus Today

Head to 888poker between May 30 to June 6 if you want to get your teeth into the XL Spring events.

If you dont have an account simply download 888poker through PokerNews and you will be awarded an $88 bonus (20 in the UK) without making a deposit.

Once you are ready to make your first deposit, it will be matched in the form of a bonus of up to $888, or more than twice as much advertised on the site.
Niklas Astedt Wins the WSOP Super Circuit Online Series Main Event at GGPoker ($758,443)

June 07 2021 Jason Glatzer

Niklas Astedt added a WSOP Circuit ring to his many accomplishments as Saturday evening he was the last player standing in the 2021 WSOP Super Circuit Online Series $525 Main Event at GGPoker to collect $758,443.

Astedt needs no introduction as he has been ranked as the top online poker player in the world at PocketFives over several long periods with the site crediting the Swedish superstar more than $22 million in online tournament cashes. Even more amazing is that he doesn't have his GGPoker screenname listed on his profile where he has won nearly $11 million according to GGPoker's PokerCraft.

The Swedish poker sensation began the final table with the chip lead but was facing a nearly 4:1 deficit against Yanfei "aoteman1888" Chi before coming back to win the event.

In addition to winning his first WSOP Circuit ring and a massive prize, Astedt became the inaugural member of Team Champions at GGPoker.

Team Champions benefits include a custom avatar, Platinum Fish Party status, a Team Champions badge, a unique affiliate code, and a whopping $50,000 tournament package which can be used for the GGPoker Online Series Main Event, the live WSOP Main Event, the live WSOP Europe Main Event, and other events upon agreement. In addition, Astedt will be granted access to GGPoker lounge at live events.

The tournament itself was another huge success story for GGPoker with the massive field generating an enormous $7,248,000 prize pool to smash the event's lofty $5 million guarantee.

WSOP Super Circuit Online Series Main Event Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Niklas Astedt Sweden $758,443 2 Yanfei "aoteman1888" Chi China $568,746 3 sssssAK China $426,499 4 Allan "Freedom35" Mello Brazil $319,829 5 Noksukow Poland $239,838 6 Fabian Spielmann Germany $179,853 7 Promoking United Kingdom $134,871 8 David Miscikowski United States $101,139 9 Patrick "Egption" Tardif Canada $75,843

Final Table Action

Niklas Astedt began the final table with the chip lead with Yanfei "aoteman1888" Chi and "sssssAK" closest on his tail.

GGSquad streamer Patrick "Egption" Tardif (ninth - $75,843) began the final table in the middle of the pack but he lost half his stack to Astedt and was down to nine big blinds when Astedt took the rest when his ace-seven was unable to hold against ace-deuce.

A break took place and the second hour was action packed with five players hitting the rail before the second break took place. A short-stacked David Miscikowski (eighth - $101,139) was the first of the five to hit the rail after he was unable to win a flip with deuces against the Chi's king-queen.

United Kingdom's "Promoking" was eliminated in seventh place for $134,871 immediately after when their big slick didn't win a flip against Chi's snowmen.

Fabian Spielmann (sixth - $179,853) also went out with big slick to Chi but his situation was more of a cooler than it was for "Promoking". Chi held ace-queen and improved to a flush after four spades appeared on the board.

Poland's "Noksukow" (fifth - $239,838) also hit the showers on a bad beat when their nines didn't hold against the ace-three suited held by Allan "Freedom35" Mello.

Despite just eliminating an opponent, Mello still held the shortest stack during four-handed play and was the next player to go in after his king-jack didn't get there against the big slick held by "sssssAK" to hit the showers in fourth place for $319,829.

Chi extended his chip lead during three-handed play and Astedt was finding himself low on chips. Both players laddered up after "sssssAK" (third - $426,499) didn't win a flip with ace-jack suited against Chi's nines.

Heads-Up Action

Chi began heads-up play with a nearly 4:1 chip advantage against Astedt before he extended it to a 5:1 chip edge. Astedt was down but not out as he battled his way back into contention after betting all three streets with cowboys including a jam on the river to double-up against Chi, who improved to a pair of tens holding ten-nine.

Astedt then managed to hit flushes in two hands to hold a commanding 4:1 chip advantage before the final hand took place.

Astedt jammed the button with ace-four and Chi called off for 18 big blinds with king-seven suited. The board ran blank for Chi and he was ousted by Astedt in second place for $568,746.

Niklas Astedt Wins the 2021 WSOP Super Circuit Online Main Event

Congrats again to Niklas Astedt for winning the WSOP Super Circuit Online Series $525 Main Event at GGPoker.
Vincent "Moist" Huang Wins the High Rollers Week Event #2: GGMasters High Rollers ($141,384)

June 07 2021 Jason Glatzer

GGPoker is celebrating its one year anniversary of its weekly $10,300 Super MILLION$ event in a huge way with High Rollers Week making its return on June 6-13.

The schedule boasts 27 action-packed events with a mouth-watering $15 million in guarantees. The highlight of the festival is easily the two-day $10,300 Super MILLION$ Anniversary, which features a massive $5 million guarantee.

Don't let the high buy-ins scare you off as you will have the opportunity to qualify at GGPoker via satellites and feeder tournaments for a fraction of the cost.

The opening day was huge with three players awarded titles and two others kicking off their opening flights. Vincent "Moist" Huang was the star of the day after shipping Event #2: $1,050 GGMasters High Rollers for $141,384.

Qualify to High Rollers Week at GGPoker

"CupidL4st" Wins High Rollers Week Event #1: $525 Bounty Hunters HR Main Event ($89,971); Felipe Ramos Takes Eighth

High Rollers Week kicked off with a bang at GGPoker with Event #1: $525 Bounty Hunters HR Main Event guaranteeing a whopping $1 million prize pool for a $525 buy-in.

Players turned out en masse to smash the guarantee with 2,226 entries generating a $1,113,000 prize pool with a total of 314 players cashing for at least a $701 min-cash in addition to any bounties collected along the way.

All eyes were on GGPoker Ambassador Felipe Ramos as he managed to navigate his way to the final table. Unfortunately for Ramos, he was unable to advance past eighth place. That being said, he did manage to parlay his $525 buy-in into a five-figure haul of $15,495 including $7,095 in bounties.

Marcelo Asensio (third - $35,562), "Kris_Petrova" (fourth - $43,523), Mario "NAlROBl" Del Valle (fifth - $35,603), Augusto "Betylafea" Hagen (sixth $15,077), and "Howzatt!" (seventh - $13,277) were all eliminated leaving Russia's "CupidL4st" and Stefan "Stiopata" Atanasov heads-up with both players locked in nearly $46,000 in prize money alone with a big bounty yet to play for.

"CupidL4st" came out on top to win the event for $89,971 while Atanasov padded his bankroll with a huge haul of $56,034.

Event #1: $525 Bounty Hunters HR Main Event Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize Bounty Total 1 CupidL4st Russia $45,965 $44,006 $89,971 2 Stefan "Stiopata" Atanasov Bulgara $45,851 $10,183 $56,034 3 Marcelo Asensio Brazil $33,593 $1,969 $35,562 4 Kris_Petrova Russia $24,582 $18,941 $43,523 5 Mario "NAlROBl" Del Valle Guatemala $17,988 $17,615 $35,603 6 Augusto "Betylafea" Hagen Argentina $13,163 $1,914 $15,077 7 Howzatt! India $9,632 $3,645 $13,277 8 Felipe Ramos Brazil $7,049 $8,446 $15,495 9 Majki365 Slovakia $5,158 $12,225 $17,383

Vincent "Moist" Huang Wins High Rollers Week Event #2: GGMasters High Rollers ($141,384)

The High Rollers Week Event #2: GGMasters High Rollers provided tons of value to those that cashed thanks to the 952 entries coming up $48,000 short on the generous $1 million guarantee.

Vincent "Moist" Huang won the event for a huge top prize of $141,384 after he defeated Fabio "TheBonas" Bonatto (second - $106,023) in heads-up play.

Jonathan Clark also joined this duo on the podium with a third-place performance worth $79,506 with other recognizable names including Luigi "shadinho94" Shehadeh (fourth - $59,621), Ravid "jerbi9999" Garbi (sixth - $33,528), Simone "spera91" Speranza (eighth - $18,854), and Alexandre "raking-even" Raymond (ninth - $14,138) also advancing to the final table four five-figure hauls.

High Rollers Week Event #2: GGMasters High Rollers Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Vincent "Moist" Huang Australia $141,384 2 Fabio "TheBonas" Bonatto Brazil $106,023 3 Jonathan Clark United Kingdom $79,506 4 Luigi "shadinho94" Shehadeh Italy $59,621 5 TheLuckster Japan $44,710 6 Ravid "jerbi9999" Garbi Israel $33,528 7 cbkme Canada $25,142 8 Simone "spera91" Speranza Italy $18,854 9 Alexandre "raking-even" Raymond Canada $14,138

Belarmino Souza Wins the High Rollers Week Event #4: $2,100 Omaholic Bounty ($77,132)

Belarmino Souza defeated Ami Barer (second $39,684) in heads-up play to win the High Rollers Week Event #4: $2,100 Omaholic Bounty for $77,132.

The event attracted 172 entries for a $344,000 prize pool to obliterate the event's $250,000 guarantee.

The final table was full of big names with Sebastian Trisch (third - $19,616), Bernardo "GGeKKo" Dias (fourth - $19,242), Marc "Face-O" Carola (fifth - $25,972), Jonas "Lampard10" Gjelstad (sixth - $18,639), and Manuel "OPPikachu" Fischer (seventh - $9,881) all coming just a few players away from the title.

Despite Fischer being the first player out at the final table, it was a heck of a day for the German as he also advanced to the final table in Event #3: $1,050 Sunday High Rollers, which will resume on Tuesday after a day off.

Event #4: $2,100 Omaholic Bounty Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize Bounty Total 1 Belarmino Souza Brazil $24,655 $52,477 $77,132 2 Ami Barer Canada $24,621 $15,063 $39,684 3 Sebastian Trisch Germany $19,616 $0 $19,616 4 Bernardo "GGeKKo" Dias Brazil $15,617 $3,625 $19,242 5 Marc "Face-O" Carola Mexico $12,433 $13,539 $25,972 6 Jonas "Lampard10" Gjelstad Norway $9,998 $8,641 $18,639 7 Manuel "OPPikachu" Fischer Germany $7,881 $2,000 $9,881

Alik "GODofMTT" Zazyan Leads High Rollers Week Event #3: $1,050 Sunday High Rollers

The $1,050 Sunday High Rollers kicked off on Sunday with a field of 957 entries at GGPoker. This created an extra $43,000 in extra value to the 100 players that cashed for at least a $2,798 min-cash thanks to the $1 million guarantee slapped on this event.

Day 1 played down to a final table which after a day off will begin on Tuesday, June 8 at 7 p.m. BST (2 p.m. EDT). In accordance with GGPoker's final table rules, blinds will be pushed back to Level 38 (125K/250K/30Ka) to assure an average stack of at least 40 big blinds. In addition, blinds at the final table will increase after a certain number of hands instead of by time as was the case during the first day of the event.

Russia's Alik "GODofMTT" Zazyan will begin the action as the table captain with a huge stack of 22,574,916 in chips for a huge stack of 90 big blinds.

Ioannis Angelou-Konstas, Tamas "szagos" Adamszki, and Jareth "UraizeIfold" East all bagged more than 10 million into Tuesday's final table with Viktor Ustimov, Manuel "OPPikachu" Fischer, Thomas Muehloecker, Andrew "BankruptYou" St Jean, and Elio Fox all advancing to the final table with shorter stacks.

Poker enthusiasts will be able to watch the final table with hole cards exposed on Tuesday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m. BST (2:30 p.m. EDT) and PokerNews will also be live reporting the final table on a 30-minute delay as to not give away any spoilers.

High Rollers Week Event #3: $1,050 Sunday High Rollers Final Table Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 Alik "GODofMTT" Zazyan Russia 22,574,916 90 2 Ioannis Angelou-Konstas Greece 17,302,252 69 3 Tamas "szagos" Adamszki Hungary 12,716,174 51 4 Jareth "UraizeIfold" East United Kingdom 11,327,684 45 5 Viktor Ustimov Russia 8,790,931 35 6 Manuel "OPPikachu" Fischer Germany 7,402,157 30 7 Thomas Muehloecker Austria 6,515,444 26 8 Andrew "BankruptYou" St Jean Canada 5,801,824 23 9 Elio Fox United States 3,268,718 13 Total 95,700,100 383 Average 10,633,344 43

Final Table Payouts

The final nine players are each guaranteed a payout of $17,071 with $170,705 slated for Tuesday's winner.

Place Prize 1 $170,705 2 $128,011 3 $95,995 4 $71,986 5 $53,982 6 $40,481 7 $30,356 8 $22,764 9 $17,071

Michael Addamo Bags Day 1a Chip Lead in High Rollers Week Event #27: $10,300 Super MILLION$ Anniversary

The $5 million guaranteed Event #27: $10,300 Super MILLION$ Anniversary is off to a smashing start at GGPoker with 188 entries contributing $1.88 million to the prize pool on Sunday's Day 1a.

Michael Addamo finds himself in a familiar spot as he virtually bagged the most chips out of the 24 Day 1a survivors and will head to Day 2 on Monday, June 14 with a huge stack of 2,030,511 in chips.

China's "judd trump", High Rollers Week Event #4 champion Belarmino Souza, Nicolas Chouity, Christofer Frank, and Pascal Hartmann all bagged more than 1 million in chips.

Meanwhile, Niklas Astedt continues to be on fire. The Swede was fresh off a win on Saturday, June 5 in the WSOP Super Circuit Online Series $525 Main Event for $758,443 and now will also head into Day 2 with a healthy stack of 785,192.

Also advancing with top ten stacks on Day 1a were three more impressive names in Daniel Dvoress, Sam Greenwood, and Ramiro Petrone.

The next opening flight for this event will be on Tuesday, June 8 at 7:05 p.m. BST (2:05 p.m. EDT) where many more big names will advance on Day 1b into Day 2.

Event #27: $10,300 Super MILLION$ Anniversary Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 Michael Addamo Australia 2,030,511 102 2 judd trump China 1,385,401 69 3 Belarmino Souza Brazil 1,223,374 61 4 Nicolas Chouity Lebanon 1,203,643 60 5 Christofer Frank Germany 1,191,430 60 6 Pascal Hartmann Germany 1,040,870 52 7 Daniel Dvoress Canada 828,603 41 8 Sam Greenwood Canada 788,552 39 9 Niklas Astedt Sweden 785,192 39 10 Ramiro Petrone Argentina 779,194 39

GGPoker High Rollers Week Schedule

Date Time (GMT) Event Name Buy-in GTD June 6 4:30 p.m. Event#1: Bounty Hunters HR Main Event $525, $1M GTD $525 $1,000,000 5:05 p.m. Event#2: GGMasters High Rollers $1,050, $1M GTD $1,050 $1,000,000 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 1A] $10,300 $5,000,000 6:05 p.m. Event#3: Sunday High Rollers ME $1,050, $1M GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $1,000,000 6:40 p.m. Event#4: Omaholic Bounty $2,100, $250K GTD $2,100 $250,000 June 7 4:30 p.m. Event#5: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $200K GTD $525 $200,000 6:05 p.m. Event#6: Monday Main Event $1,050, $200K GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $200,000 7:05 p.m. Event#7: Bounty $2,100, $250K GTD $2,100 $250,000 June 8 4:30 p.m. Event#8: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $200K GTD $525 $200,000 6:05 p.m. Event#9: Super Tuesday $1,050, $250K GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $250,000 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 1B] $10,300 $5,000,000 7:05 p.m. Event#10: High Roller $5,250, $300K GTD $5,250 $300,000 June 9 4:30 p.m. Event#11: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $200K GTD $525 $200,000 6:05 p.m. Event#12: Wednesday Main Event $1,050, $200K GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $200,000 7:05 p.m. Event#13: Bounty 6-Max $2,100, $250K GTD $2,100 $250,000 June 10 4:30 p.m. Event#14: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $200K GTD $525 $200,000 6:05 p.m. Event#15: Thursday Thriller $1,050, $250K GTD [Bounty, 2-day event] $1,050 $250,000 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 1C] $10,300 $5,000,000 7:05 p.m. Event#16: Bounty High Roller $5,250, $300K GTD $5,250 $300,000 June 11 4:30 p.m. Event#17: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $100K GTD $525 $100,000 6:05 p.m. Event#18: Friday Main Event $1,050, $100K GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $100,000 7:10 p.m. Event#19: Omaholic Bounty $2,100, $150K GTD $2,100 $150,000 June 12 4:30 p.m. Event#20: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $150K GTD $525 $150,000 6:05 p.m. Event#21: Saturday Main Event $1,050, $200K GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $200,000 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 1D] $10,300 $5,000,000 7:05 p.m. Event#22: Bounty $2,100, $250K GTD $2,100 $250,000 June 13 4:30 p.m. Event#23: Bounty Hunters HR Main Event $525, $1M GTD $525 $1,000,000 5:05 p.m. Event#24: GGMasters High Rollers $1,050, $1M GTD $1,050 $1,000,000 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 1E] $10,300 $5,000,000 6:05 p.m. Event#25: Sunday High Rollers ME $1,050, $1M GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $1,000,000 6:40 p.m. Event#26: Omaholic High Roller $5,250, $300K GTD $5,250 $300,000 June 14 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 2] $10,300 $5,000,000

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Over-25s in England are being called forward to get their Covid-19 vaccination from Tuesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told MPs.

The Health Secretary made the announcement that all 25 to 29-year-olds will be eligible for the jab in a statement to the Commons.

It comes after First Minister Mark Drakeford announced earlier all adults in Wales will be offered a coronavirus vaccine by next Monday,

All four UK nations previously said they would offer a first dose to everyone over the age of 18 by the end of July.

It comes as Spain has reopened to vaccinated tourists from Monday as the country reclaims its global leadership in tourism.

Spain is a safe destination, the countrys health minister, Carolina Daria said. Previously Spain allowed European visitors who had a negative PCR test taken within the previous 72 hours, but from Monday those visitors can take a cheaper antigen test.

Spain is still on the UKs amber list, meaning returning travellers must self-isolate for 10 days.

Follow the latest updates below

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Mishin receives NSF funding to study thermodynamics of interfaces

Yuri Mishin, Professor, Physics and Astronomy, is working to advance the fundamental understanding of interface thermodynamics and kinetics using atomistic computer modeling.

Mishin has several goals for this project.

First, he aims to understand the fundamental mechanisms of grain boundary (GB) segregation and GB diffusion in alloys systems.

Second, he aims to investigate 2D thermodynamics of GB phase transformations in alloys.

Third, he intends to uncover relationships between the thermodynamic (segregation) and kinetic (diffusion) GB properties.

Next, he aims to investigate the solute drag effect by moving GBs and establishing relationships between maximum drag force, alloy thermodynamics, and GB type.

Finally, he aims to investigate phase transformations in moving GBs by direct molecular dynamics modeling.

To accomplish these tasks, Mishin will use molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations in various statistical ensembles, along with other techniques, including kinetic Monte Carlo and jump correlation analysis.

Mishin received $232,190 from the National Science Foundation for this project. Funding began in June 2021 and will end in late May 2024.

###

About George Mason University

George Mason University is Virginia's largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls 38,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the last half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. Learn more at http://www. gmu. edu .

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
We were really good friends and I spent more time with Jean as a coordinator, because, like Jean, who went to Western Maryland College, me and my wife who went there were also English majors, said Robert Y. Dubel, who was superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools for 16 years before retiring in 1992. She had a great love for literature and reading, and the teachers loved her for spreading her love of literature and reading, and that includes me. She also was a great insister of correct grammar.
Of the 15 students selected for the Washington Program on National Security (WaPoNS), four are from the University of North Georgia (UNG).

The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization organizes the program, which will be June 16-30 in the nation's capital. The two-week program covers all costs except the students' travel to and from Washington, D.C.

UNG alumnus Jacob Malimban and current students Taylor Mullikin, Ella Reid and Thomas Vella look forward to the experience.

Vella, a senior from Atlanta, Georgia, is pursuing a degree in strategic and security studies with an international affairs concentration. A previous Critical Language Scholarship winner, Vella said the opportunity comes at the right time since he is scheduled to graduate in August.

"I want to network and meet people who are in positions I want to be in one day," Vella said. "This is a great steppingstone."

Possible speakers for WaPoNS include current and former officials in the White House, intelligence community, the Pentagon, Congress, and think tanks.

Mullikin, a junior from Peachtree Corners, Georgia, pursuing a degree in political science with a pre-law concentration, is president of Nighthawk Politics and the UNG Speech and Debate Club, as well as secretary of UNG's Model United Nations.

"I was interested in the program because of my history of traveling for debate, which inspired me to understand how other nations interact," Mullikin said. "I also am interested in national security based on increasing global connectivity and issues of shrinking resources facing countries moving forward."

Malimban, a Cumming, Georgia, resident who earned degrees in computer science and cybersecurity in December 2020, previously studied in Japan on a Boren scholarship. He wants to see where his cybersecurity skills fit.

"I want to meet other students who are interested in national security and have different perspectives," Malimban said.

Reid, a sophomore from Cumming, Georgia, is pursuing a degree in strategic and security studies with a concentration in intelligence and a minor in Chinese. She started learning Chinese in middle school. Once she found out about UNG's strategic and security studies degree, she realized how well it aligned with her growing proficiency as a member of UNG's Chinese Language Flagship program.

Reid, who is in UNG's Honors Program, is eager to add to her acumen through the Washington program and is grateful for the support of UNG faculty.

"I had no idea about this program until one of my professors sent me an email," Reid said. "The professors here are incredible at finding opportunities and pushing their students to excel."

This year's group brings UNG's total WaPoNS participants to seven after having two in 2019 and one in 2018.

Dr. Bibek Chand, assistant professor of political science and international affairs, has taught Mullikin and is excited for what awaits her and the others from UNG.

"You read about it in books, but when you talk with the professionals who put it in action, that's different," Chand said.

Dr. Victoria Hightower, assistant director of the Nationally Competitive Scholarships office and associate professor of history, assisted Malimban and Vella with their application process. Hightower is grateful that Dr. Bryson Payne, professor of computer science and director of UNG's Center for Cyber Operations Education, pointed out the program to faculty who were able to help students apply. And she continues to be impressed by UNG students, particularly their initiative to pursue WaPoNS after an unusual academic year.

"These four students chose to push themselves and keep moving toward their goals," Hightower said. "It speaks to their resilience, focus and ambition."
Geopolitical analysts routinely point to Central Asia as a likely potential flashpoint for conflicts over water resources, but one fresh development is serving to show how more virtuous scenarios are also possible. Eurasianet reports that this week, the mountain nation of Tajikistan agreed to divert 315 million cubic meters from its Bahri Tojik reservoir to Kazakhstan, thereby supplying its neighbor to the north with crucial irrigation water in the hot months of summer. The water will be delivered via Kyrgyzstan to Kazakhstans Turkestan and Kyzylorda regions.

The deal was reached after a meeting in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, between Kazakhstans Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources Minister Magzum Mirzagaliyev and the Tajik Energy and Water Resources Minister Daler Juma. Kazakhstan, in turn, will provide Tajikistan with material and technical support in the event of negative consequences from the depletion of the Bahri Tojik reservoir, Mirzagaliyev said.

This year, levels of the Syr Darya River, one of Central Asias two main water courses, dropped by almost one-third, which is more than usual. Lack of water is threatening to plunge Kazakhstans south into drought and cause devastation to harvests in the area.

Climate experts are profoundly concerned about the impact that climate change is likely to have on Central Asia, but this current situation at least appears to be part of a cyclical trend. Low river levels were reported in Kazakhstan last year too, at the start of summer, which some specialists attributed to insufficiently high temperatures in the mountains.

While negotiating water-sharing arrangements with former fellow Soviet republics like Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan has produced some results for Kazakhstan, China has proven a trickier customer. Beijing's inflexible policies have led to some of Kazakhstan's once-healthy rivers  most notably the Ili River  shriveling into small streams.

Scientists are warning that Chinas rapid development and expanding rice cultivation upstream poses a grave threat to Kazakhstans Balkhash basin. Locals around the Kapchagay Reservoir, which lies upstream from Balkhash, have spoken about how the water has withdrawn 200 meters from the shore in recent years.

Although the Tajik-Kazakh agreement points to a positive model of cooperation, the expert consensus tends to be grimmer. In an interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Anatoly Ryabtsev, director of Kazgiprovodkhoz, a formerly state-controlled body that designs hydroelectric dams and other riparian infrastructure, forecast that upstream nations would in future likely make supplying their own needs a priority over providing for neighbors.

Recent events on the border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are a troubling indicator of how local disputes over water among economically straitened rural border communities have the potential to spiral into something resembling all-out conflict. The fighting in late April, which involved troops from both sides exchanging gun and mortar fire, is known to have claimed the lives of at least 36 Kyrgyz nationals and 20 Tajik nationals. Tens of thousands of Kyrgyz people were forced to flee and dozens of their homes and businesses were set alight.

The Kazakhstan model demonstrates that violence is not the only option, however.
All deputies to the foreign minister of Armenia have handed in their resignation, the Foreign Ministrys press service reported on Monday, TASS informs.

"All deputies to the foreign minister of Armenia tendered their resignation with the notifications sent to the office of the prime minister last week with the respective requests," it said.

On May 31, Acting Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan official requested to step down from his post, along with his deputy Gagik Galachyan and Spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan. Experts and local media dont rule out that the resignations are linked to the process of interaction between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which implies specifying the state border issues.
The For Georgia political party, which was recently founded by former PM Giorgi Gakharia, has officially addressed the countrys Chief Prosecutors Office to investigate the allegations of the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze of an alleged coup attempt, Agenda.ge reports.

Kobakhidze accused Gakharia and the United National Movement opposition party of a coup attempt back in February 2021, when Gakharia was still the countrys PM.

He stated that Gakharia allegedly supported the postponement of the arrest of the head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia to allow the UNM to prepare for a coup.

Kobakhidze told Rustavi 2 that the ruling party received information about the UNMs planned coup from Kyiv and the UNM Tbilisi office. However they did not inform Gakharia, because they 'already had suspicions about him.'

He also said that up to 20 employees of the interior and defence ministries, who are not identified, were also involved in the process.

Gakharias party says that the accusations are very serious and they must be investigated.
Georgia and Armenia have agreed to resume the railway service suspended last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic

The news was announced by Georgia's Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava at a press briefing after the government meeting. She said the first train will leave June 15 Yerevan for Georgian Black Sea port and resort town of Batumi.

"I want to say that the railway communication between Armenia and Georgia has been restored. The first train will leave Yerevan for Batumi through Tbilisi on June 15. This means that tourists from our allied, neighboring country will come to Georgia, to our Black Sea resorts, to our capital , to other tourist destinations," TASS cited Turnava as saying.

Earlier, on June 1, Georgian government opened the country's land borders to foreign citizens, which had been closed since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Foreign citizens entering Georgia must complete an online application before crossing the border, and present a document confirming vaccination against COVID-19 (both doses) or a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours before the departure. However, in the latter case, foreign citizens will have to take another test in Georgia within 72 hours of entry. - 0--
Discussions are underway to restore passenger railway connection between Georgia and Azerbaijan, according to the Georgian Railways.

As reported, the movement of the Tbilisi-Baku-Tbilisi trains will be restored after the opening of the land borders of Azerbaijan.

The movement of passenger trains between the capitals of Georgia and Azerbaijan has been suspended since March last year due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Iranian minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ali Asghar Mounesan and Head of the Central Office of the Federal Agency for Tourism Zarina Doguzova signed an agreement on visa waiver for group tours.

Accordingly, Iranian and Russian group tours, including 5-50 members, can travel without visas.

Mounesan referred to Russia as one of the Iranian government's destinations for facilitating tourism.

He hoped for increasing Iranian and Russian tourists after signing the agreements and completing the COVID-19 vaccination process, IRNA reported.

Mounesan also pointed to Oman and China as two other destinations which implemented visa waiver with Iran.

Meanwhile, Doguzova said thanks to good relations between Iran and Russia and also great tourism capacities between two countries, it is necessary to increase the volume of tourists.
Her son later told investigators that his mother put $1,000 in an envelope for him, but he found an empty envelope with his name on it when he walked through the house after the fire, court records show.
Iran has promised Ukrainian prosecutors access to the case file on the downing of a Ukrainian airliner near Tehran last year, the Ukrainian deputy prosecutor general said on Monday, Sputnik reports.

Gyunduz Mamedov said on Twitter that Iran "promised to provide us with access to the case file in a court in Tehran, and information on the crime qualification and the liability measures."

A Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 was shot out of the sky shortly after takeoff on January 8, 2020. Iran later admitted that it confused the jet with an incoming missile.

The shooting came at a time of heightened tensions between the US and Iran over the killing of a top military commander in Iraq.

Ukraine, Canada, Sweden, the UK and Afghanistan, the countries whose nationals died in the crash, accused Iran of breaking international rules and demanded that it explained what happened.

Iran agreed to pay $150,000 in compensation apiece for 176 people who were on board, after several rounds of talks with Ukraine, but it argues that it was not at fault.
Armenian Colonel Koryun Gumashyan admitted the availability of maps of mined Azerbaijani territories, because he had personally been engaged in mines placement in Lachin and Kelbajar districts in 1993.

"In 1993, these areas were mined by me, according to the order of General Norat Ter-Grigoryants (Chief of the General Staff, acting Minister of Defense of Armenia at that time). Then, by the decision of President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Kelbajar was supposed to be returned to Azerbaijan, an order was issued with a signature and a seal in July so that we began to equip the border there. We buried mines at about 500-600 hectares of Kelbajar territory brought by 17 trucks," he said.



In this regard, Gumashyan appealed to both Azerbaijan and Russia with a warning that no one, except him, could give away the maps of mined territories in Kelbajar and Lachin. "Sergei Lavrov arrived, and they seemed to have agreed that our side would give the maps of mined areas to the Azerbaijani side. As far as I understand, our side agreed - but I did not agree with this. I stand by my case. I can give the maps of mined areas to Azerbaijan, but with only one condition - return our prisoners," the colonel demanded to hand over to Armenia all international terrorists taken under the control of Azerbaijan's special services after the war.

He also tried to intimidate the participants in the post-war settlement assuring that it was impossible to clear these mined areas. "We mined these territories very cleverly - even if they bring specialists from England or Russia, nothing will be done anyway. There are places mined with chain mines. Return our prisoners, and then I will give the maps, and you can clear the territories. I have the only copy of the map," Gumashyan said.



The colonel also noted that since only he has this map, the invaders from Armenia died more than once in the Kelbajar region during the years of the Karabakh war. "There were cases when our people were also killed in mine explosions, either they went to look for gold, or to hunt. They even say that these were officials. Although we warned the heads of local authorities that one should not move beyond a certain territory," he added.



Thus, this man, who calls himself a colonel of the occupation forces, in fact, is intimidating Azerbaijan and Russia: if only he has the map, then it depends only on his will whether the sappers will receive it and whether they can de-mine 500-600 hectares in the area of gold mines in Kelbajar effectively and safely. According to him, it turns out that all these years the site in Kelbajar was a dead zone, which was forbidden to enter even the invaders themselves due to the fact that no one except Gumashyan knew where the mines are - and the Armenian leadership did not try to take away this map.



The main question is shall we believe Koryun Gumashyan? On the one hand, his story looks rather strange - how could the "Karabakh clan" of the instigators of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Kocharyan and Sargsyan, allow such a dead zone near the gold mines that they have been plundering for 30 years? But on the other hand, given the general chaos of the First Karabakh war, it could be true that the head of the Armenian General Staff, having learned about the president's intention to voluntarily de-occupy the Azerbaijani region, ordered his subordinates to secretly mine the most important parts of Kelbajar, and as a result, after a series of deaths, there was the only map.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Council President Charles Michel discussed the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the crisis in Ukraine in a phone call on Monday, TASS reports citing the Kremlin press service.

Vladimir Putin and Charles Michel "discussed the current situation surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh with a glance to the importance of continuing consistently to put into practice the statements from the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia of November 9, 2020, and January 11, 2021," the Kremlin said.

They identified as priorities the tasks to unblock economic and transport links in the region, as well as to solve humanitarian problems facing the population. Michel expressed support for the work carried out, including that of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, the US, and France), it said.

"In exchanging opinions on the crisis in Ukraine, both sides stated that the 2015 Minsk Package of Measures remains the basis for the settlement having no alternatives," the press service said. "The Russian president put an emphasis on the necessity of Kiev authorities strict compliance with all earlier reached agreements, first of all  the establishment of direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk and the legal registration of a special status for Donbass," it concluded.
The current restrictions on exports of key food products will stay in place in Russia to protect the domestic market from price rises, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said on Sunday.

According to the minister, export curbs, which he called a price "shock absorber," are meant to encourage domestic manufacturers to invest more in the production. "This is one of our sources of growth by adding new value chains  grain moves animal husbandry forward, animal husbandry moves milk forward, and so on," The Financial Times cited the minister as saying.

Earlier, the Russian government imposed a temporary ban on exports of buckwheat for a period from June 5 to August 31 to ensure the countrys food security.

Russias government is looking at measures of support to its food exports and ways to control price growth on the domestic market, the minister added.

According to the newspaper, Reshetnikov said that Russia, one of the worlds biggest grain exporters, was considering ways of supporting its food exports and protecting the domestic market from rising prices.

Thus, the Russian minister noted that Russia may expand export control measures to include direct export curbs and "flexible export duties" on a number of goods if prices continued to go up. As for the domestic market, Russia has cancelled most of price restrictions but will continue to subsidize manufacturers of a number of key food products, such as bread and flour, Reshetnikov said.
A blaze broke out at a steel factory in Irans southern Kerman province Sunday morning, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said, the countrys fifth reported infrastructure fire in little more than two weeks.

A video of the fire, showed sparks and flames erupting into an explosion at the plant, owned by the Zarand Iranian Steel Co. The blast was a result of an overflow of molten iron causing a reaction as it hit a cooling pond, the companys public affairs office said. Nobody was hurt, and firefighters managed to contain the blaze by the afternoon, a provincial official said.

Iran has suffered a flurry of incidents in recent days. An oil pipeline caught fire in the southwest of the country on Thursday, a day after a blaze engulfed a refinery in southern Tehran. A week earlier, a worker was killed when an oxygen pipeline exploded at a petrochemical plant in Assalouyeh, and on May 22, three people were injured in a fire at a unit of the Abadan refinery in southwest Iran.

Earlier this week, an Iranian warship - one of the biggest vessels in the countrys navy - sank after catching fire while it was anchored off the coast of the Sea of Oman.

Iranian officials have said sabotage was not behind the refinery and pipeline fires. Theyve blamed unusually hot temperatures, which have also been the cause of widespread power outages. They are still investigating the cause of the warship blaze.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has proposed to hold a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council.



"I would like to invite Russia once again to take part in the meeting of the Russia-NATO Council as soon as possible," the NATO chief said, stressing that "we have so much to discuss, this is in the common interests of NATO and Russia."



Further, among the key topics of the talks, he named "mutual exchange of military maneuvers to prevent misunderstandings and possible escalation", as well as "transparency regarding military actions of the parties to prevent accidental accidents in the air and at sea."



According to Stoltenberg, negotiations are necessary because relations between NATO and Russia are currently at a low level. "We have not seen such a low level of bilateral relations since the end of the Cold War. Dialogue is the best way to reduce tensions," Die Welt cited him as saying.
Although travel packages for inoculating foreigners in Russia are ready, it is necessary to resolve the entry issue for such tourists into the country, the President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI) Andrei Ignatyev said, TASS reports.

"Travel agencies were ready to organize vaccination tours at the beginning of the year since they regularly received such requests from all over the world. The product is ready, but the issues of visa support and legal entry for foreigners wishing to receive the Russian vaccine are yet to be resolved," Ignatiev said.

Since a large percentage of the population in Europe has been vaccinated so far, the expert predicts that first of all residents of Asian countries, including India, the Middle East, and for example, Iran, could be interested in such tours, as well as countries in Africa and Latin America.

"The countries of Africa and Latin America showed great interest in such a tourist product during the entire period of the vaccination campaign in Russia, the RUTI received such requests," the head of the RUTI explained.

Vaccine tours could serve as support for tour operators now when the incoming tourist flow to the country has been next to zero for more than a year, he said. Three-week tours for foreigners can help kick-start its recovery.

"This is a combination of vaccination with a cultural and excursion program, which can be arranged very interestingly, capturing different regions of Russia. Another option is a two-week trip, and there are also such requests," Ignatiev pointed out.

The price of such vaccine tours for foreigners ranges from $1,500 to 2,500, excluding airline costs, Ignatiev told TASS.

"It is 1,500-2,500 dollars while staying in Russia for 21 days without air travel," he revealed.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday that there were "more or less" clear proposals as to the venue for the summit talks in Geneva between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden.

"Indeed, we have more or less clear proposals as to the venue [of the summit], but I wont pre-empt now since we will do it in synch with the Americans, I believe. For now, I will refrain from making any statements in this regard," TASS cited Peskov as saying.

Earlier, La Tribune de Geneve newspaper suggested that the summit in Geneva could take place at a villa and not at a hotel. Prior to that, Swiss media forecasted that Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden were likely to meet at the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva, where Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan met back in 1985. According to Le Tan newspaper, it has a convenient location close to international organizations.
Russia is ready to discuss issues of de-escalation and preventing incidents with the North Atlantic Alliance, but without engaging military experts this dialogue makes no sense, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel on Monday.

"Russia is not avoiding dialogue with NATO and is ready for a real discussion on the issues of de-escalation and preventing incidents. But without engaging military experts the talks on these issues would actually make no sense. Mr. Stoltenberg is well aware of this," Zakharova said, commenting on NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenbergs statement that Moscow had not responded to a proposal on holding a meeting.

Touching on Stoltenbergs remark that the ball was in Moscows court, the diplomat said: "Speaking about balls. Mr. Stoltenberg, please return your goalposts to the playing field, we will score."

Earlier, the NATO chief suggested resuming meetings of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), noting that Moscow had been invited to hold dialogue more than a year ago, but it never responded.

The NATO-Russia Council was established in 2002 based on the agreements brokered by the Italian government led by Silvio Berlusconi. The Council held its last meeting in July 2019.
As one of the fastest-developing countries in solar thanks to the current feed-in tariff, Vietnams billion-dollar solar panel market is mostly dominated by foreign investors and depending on imports.

The large solar panel market in this country is currently presided over by overseas investors.

The Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry a fortnight ago launched an anti-dumping probe into solar cells originating from China, Thailand, and Vietnam, following a petition by the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association. The move has shocked Vietnam-based panel producers.

The ministry said that solar panel products originating or imported from the three countries have a high margin of dumping, exceeding the minimum threshold of 2 per cent.

The Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said producers and exporters should contact the Indian ministry to register for questionnaires and keep abreast of relevant information coming from India. Any action deemed uncooperative could lead to India imposing anti-dumping duties, it warned.

The imposition of a high anti-dumping tax will reduce competitive advantages and lose part or all of the Indian export market to competitors from India and other countries, warned a representative of the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam.

However, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, last year Vietnamese groups imported 114.6 million photovoltaic (PV) panels with a value of up to $2.4 billion, a substantial increase on 2019s figures of 36.2 million panels imported at around $845 million.

Some developers as well as engineering and procurement companies said that with the boom in solar power in Vietnam over recent years, many projects have raced to commence operations and seize the incentives on offer, leading to large import demand.

Nguyen Thuy Ngan, brand director of locally-invested Solar BK, said that it is the only domestic enterprise producing solar cells with international standards at a competitive price, but accounts for less than 1 per cent of the market share in Vietnam. We have policies to encourage renewable energy but there is lack of policy for PV manufacturers. Therefore, the market share worth billions of US dollars is mostly in the hands of foreign enterprises, mostly China, Ngan said.

China is the worlds largest producer of PV equipment and some well-known Chinese manufacturers including Trina Solar, JA Solar, and Bowerway Group have their facilities to Vietnam.

The northern province of Bac Giang currently hosts eight projects belonging to Chinese and Taiwanese investors, which will form the largest solar energy equipment manufacturing chain in the country with a total capacity of 5,200MW per year.

In 2018, India imposed a safeguard duty on solar cells imported from China and Malaysia for two years, a move that was expected to increase costs and push up tariffs from record lows. Under that, a levy of 25 per cent was imposed on imports in the first year starting July 30, and 20 and 15 per cent for two subsequent six-month periods, respectively.

According to a TechSci Research report on Vietnams solar PV equipment market, it is forecast to cross $3.7 billion in value by 2025. Market growth can be attributed to the increasing electricity demand from industrial and commercial as well as residential end-user segments, rising investments in solar energy, and favourable regulatory scenarios, the report explained.

The electricity demand in Vietnam has grown by around 30 per cent since 2000 and is expected to continue growing over the next decade. By 2025, the solar PV equipment market is anticipated to witness robust growth on account of increasing investments in solar projects and a government focus on reducing carbon emissions.

VIR

Vietnams renewable energy: Key guidance to investors Solar power capacity is increasing thanks to significant changes in feed-in-tariff.
Soon detectives across the country were uploading DNA evidence from cold cases onto genealogy websites to locate family members of their suspects. A study in the journal Science found that a database of 1.2 million genetic profiles could identify a third cousin or closer match for 60% of Americans of European descent. One profile can lead to as many as 300 other people, said Natalie Ram, a law professor who researches genetic privacy at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
Vietnams mobile game market has huge potential and games can become one of the countrys major exports, experts have said.

A mobile music game from Vietnamese publisher Amanotes. Vietnams mobile gaming market has huge growth potential due to the popularity of gaming and enormous number of smartphone users.  VNS Photo Viet Dung

According to the mobile market data and analytic platform App Annie, in 2020 game companies from Vietnam ranked seventh in terms of downloads in the world and second in South East Asia.

For every 25 games downloaded, one was made in Vietnam.

Vietnam is home to a lot of mobile app and game publishers and has a heavily mobile-first consumer base, according to App Annie.

There are 68 million Vietnamese smartphone users, and the average daily time spent on gaming is nearly four hours.

Vu Quoc Huy, director of the Ministry of Planning and Investment's Vietnam National Innovation Centre, said game revenues topped VND12 trillion ($519.2 million) in 2020, double the 2015 value.

Gaming consumer spending grew by 50 per cent in 2020, according to App Annie.

Flappy Bird, a Vietnamese-made game for smartphones, became a global sensation in 2014, and since then many other local game companies have made a big impact on the global market.

Last year the countrys Amanotes announced total downloads of over one billion, making it the number one game publisher by downloads across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.

Tram Nguyen, country director for Google Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, said her company had been aiding applications developers and start-ups in Vietnam for a decade with networking and training events.

Nguyen Quang Dong, rector of the Institute for Policy Studies and Media Development in Hanoi, said that Vietnams video game industry had huge potential and is currently Vietnams only digital product export to the world.

But there were misconceptions and prejudices towards game businesses, and changing societys outlook and getting rid of legal barriers could help boost the development of the industry, he said.

Understanding and identifying the video game industry as a high-potential digital industry could help Vietnam come up with new policies and make changes to existing regulations to enable its growth, he added.

Global revenues from video games grew by 9 per cent in 2020 to US$159.3 billion, with mobile-only games revenues accounting for half the figure.

VNS

Can Vietnams game industry reach out to the world? Many industries have been promoted in the digital era and during the Covid-19 crisis. However, Vietnams game industry is still outside the game.
In recent decades, the Vietnamese wood industry, from a small craft industry, has grown rapidly to become a global processing industry.

Vietnamese wood enterprises need to step up design in order to make wooden products with domestic brands.

Last year, thanks to its shift to "online sales" and changes in product structure that was in line with consumer trends in the world in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, Duc Thanh Woodwork Company obtained high revenues. In 2021, it completed 50% of the whole-year plan within the first two months of the year.

Not only happy when revenue in 2020 increased by 40%, Ms. Pham Thi Hong Quang, General Director of Nguon Viet Handicraft Company, said that her company was able to sell products that had gone unsold for years. The unsold noise-resistant boards were turned into unique tables for meeting rooms. This product was advertised online and became a hot product, which was favored by many foreign customers.

Earning high revenue in 2020, Dau Tieng Wood Company plans to build a new factory on an area of 10 hectares specializing in making refined products for export. Its current factory has been operating at full capacity.

US$13 billion roadmap

According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the export of wood and wood products in 2020 hit about $13 billion, an increase of more than 16% compared to 2019. In the first quarter of 2021, this sector earned nearly $4 billion, 46% up year on year.

Former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan once said that the pandemic had affected the entire forestry industry, in the period from March to May 2020, orders decreased, both exports and import of raw materials stagnated, and these factors hit production.

However, necessity is the mother of invention. When direct sales are restricted, wood businesses have to switch to online sales. They have taken advantage of the opportunities from the change of the market to make connections with major markets such as the US, China and others to make records.

In recent decades, the Vietnamese wood industry, from a small craft industry, has grown rapidly to become a global processing industry.

Mr. Nguyen Chanh Phuong, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Handicraft and Woodworking Association, said that in 2020, Vietnam surpassed Poland, Germany and Italy to rise to second place, just behind China, in the worlds top wood and wood products exporters.

The export turnover of Vietnam's wooden furniture rose from $219 million in 2000 to $13 billion in 2020, the highest growth rate for an export item of Vietnam. Vietnamese furniture holds the top position in the "billion-dollar export club" of Vietnam. Vietnamese wood products are exported to 140 countries and territories around the world.

More importantly, the Vietnamese wood industry has transformed into a green way. Most Vietnam's consumer wood products are made from plantation timber. In recent years, the import of wood materials has decreased significantly, as the rate of raw materials from planted forests increased. The forest industry is developing in a sustainable way. Currently, Vietnam has 4.3 million hectares of planted forests, providing about 48 million m3 of wood.

According to experts, in agriculture, the key commodity groups only do well in the production stage, while the chain link and the processing stage are still the weaknesses that hinders their development.

The wood-furniture industry is a special case as it has built an almost complete value chain with close links between the stages of afforestation, processing, and trade. Therefore, the labor productivity of the wood industry in 2010 reached about $17,000/person/year and at present is about $25,000/person/year.

The rise of Vietnamese woodwork
Getting out of a rut and choosing to follow his own way, Dinh Tien Dat wants to help next-generation students to pursue their own path.

Dinh Tien Dat

Dat is a first-year student at IE Business School in Spain, which is among the worlds best business schools, according to The Financial Times.

Dat said he chose the school mostly because of the strong entrepreneurial spirit among the students and lecturers.

Dat was born in Hong Linh Town in Ha Tinh province to a family that was not well off. Because of a family event, Dat and his older brother moved to live with their mother, who was a primary school teacher.

Because of the modest pay, the mother had to struggle to raise the children. However, it was this difficulty that made Dat realize that he needed to seek opportunities for himself. The 13-year-old student at the time thought that he needed to study abroad. And he made every effort to implement his plan.

The seventh grader, whose major was math, bought a lot of books to learn English on his own. Believing that the best way was to learn from his predecessors, Dat caught the bus to Ha Tinh City to borrow books and materials from excellent students with whom he had made friends via social media.

Because of the modest pay, the mother had to struggle to raise the children. However, it was this difficulty that made Dat realize that he needed to seek opportunities for himself.

When finishing the 9th grade, Dat took the entrance exam to Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, famous for high quality teaching and extracurricular activities.

He passed, but was the lowest on the list. Dat admitted that he did not have a favorable beginning, so he vowed to study properly.

With great effort, he joined the group of the best students in the class when he was in the 11th and 12 grades. He won second prize at the national competition for excellent students in English in those years.

During his years at high school, Dat won a scholarship, and gave private tutoring to students to earn money to pay room rent and cover basic needs.

When he was a 10th grader, Dat won a full scholarship to attend a 3-week learning and discovery camp in Chicago and Wisconsin (USA). In the same year, he won a full scholarship to the International Youth Camp in China organized by UWC and IDEAS.

One year later, he won a scholarship (only 1 percent out of 2,000 candidates chosen) to a discovery program in Japan.

His dream

Dat dreamed of studying in the US. But he realized that with the financial capability of the family, he would not be able to afford study there, even if he could get support from schools. So he began thinking of applying to European schools when he was in the 12th grade.

Obtaining a full scholarship to study at IE Business School, Dat has had wonderful experiences after one year of study.

The school attaches a lot of importance to entrepreneurship. A lot of students start a business when they are in the first year. I think the school is very suitable for my character  always turning to the community and having high entrepreneurial spirit."

According to Dat, many professors at the school have their own businesses. So students can easily get advice from them.

Dat said he always strives to be a "typical representative of Vietnam". He participates in international competitions, and is a member of the school's management board. He said he wants to "increase the presence of Vietnamese people".

After completing his first year at the school, with a high grade point average (GPA) of 9.67/10, he ranked first in his major at the school.

In addition, Dat was the only first-year student winning the World Association of Business Schools essay contest. He will have an article published in Global Voice eMagazine in June. It is about the use of the circular economy and biomimetic design in sustainable development.

Having grown up in a village and struggled to find the right direction, Dat decided to launch VSPACE Education, with the desire to help and connect talented young people, who have won scholarships to top-tier schools such as Cornell University, Monash University, University of Melbourne, and others.

With Dat's support, some students have also won high prizes at provincial and national competitions.

Thuy Nga

Vietnamese student earns highest score at Asian Physics Olympiad All eight Vietnamese students participating in the 2021 Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO) have won prizes, bringing home two golds, one silver, three bronzes and two certificates of merit, reported the Ministry of Education and Training on May 23.
Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his Lao counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith on June 6 highlighted their countries mutual support in the COVID-19 combat and identified ways to augment bilateral relations.

Foreign Ministers Bui Thanh Son of Vietnam (R) and Saleumxay Kommasith of Laos meet in Chinas Chongqing city on June 6

The bilateral meeting took place in Chinas Chongqing city, on the sidelines of the Special ASEAN - China Foreign Ministers Meeting and the 6th Lancang - Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers Meeting.

Son expressed his delight at the first official meeting between the foreign ministers of Vietnam and Laos since their respective countries national Party congresses and the establishment of their new-term governments.

He spoke highly of the two sides coordination to effectively carry out many major bilateral diplomatic activities, thus maintaining frequent meetings and contact at all levels despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hailing bilateral cooperation and mutual assistance in the COVID-19 fight, he thanked the Lao Party and State leaders for extending sympathies to Vietnam on the pandemic situation in Vietnam.

The minister also voiced his hope that Vietnams financial aid, medical supplies, and health experts sent to Laos will help with the latters efforts against the pandemic.

Kommasith congratulated Vietnam on the successful organisation of the elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and all-level Peoples Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure amid complex COVID-19 developments in many localities.

He thanked the Vietnamese Party, State, and people for their precious material and spiritual support for Laos in the pandemic combat, affirming that his country is always ready to stand side by side with Vietnam in line with the spirit of the countries great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation.

To continue intensifying bilateral relations, the two foreign ministers agreed to jointly promote mutual visits and contact at all levels in various forms; make the best use of bilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially meetings of the Inter-Governmental Committee; and unceasingly improve the effectiveness of cooperation in defence, security, trade, and investment.

They also discussed coordination to step up important joint programmes, especially transport connectivity projects so as to optimise the Vietnam - Laos International Seaport (Vung Ang Seaport).

Both agreed to enhance ties in border management to prevent illegal exit from and entry into their countries, sustain cross-border trading, and soon review the one-stop-shop model applied at the Lao Bao - Densavan border gate pair.

Vietnam and Laos also concurred in increasing coordination and mutual support at international, regional, and sub-regional forums and joining hands with other member countries to firmly maintain ASEANs solidarity and strengthen the blocs centrality in order to effective respond to common challenges.

Regarding their ministries cooperation, the two foreign ministers pledged to continue implementing the cooperation agreement for 2021 - 2025, including organising political consultations at the ministerial and deputy ministerial levels, boosting information sharing and strategic research, and holding more exchanges between the ministries key units.

They emphasised the importance of economic diplomacy, agreeing to increase experience sharing and effectively carry out the action plan for cooperation in this field for 2020 - 2025.

The two countries will early start preparations for celebrations of the 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and 45 years since the signing of the Vietnam  Laos Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation next year, according to the officials./.VNA
The high turnout (99.6 percent) at the elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and all-level Peoples Councils for 2016-2021 demonstrates peoples political awareness, patriotism and trust in the Party and the State, an official has said.

The May 23 elections are a success and held in a democratic and fair manner. (Photo: VNA)

Bui Van Cuong, NA Secretary General, Chairman of the NA Office and Chief of the National Election Council (NEC) Office, told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) that the May 23 elections are a success and held in a democratic and fair manner.

The council will meet on June 10 under the chair of chief legislator and head of the NEC Vuong Dinh Hue to make a general assessment of the political event, according to the official.

Notably, all of the NA deputies have been chosen, as compared with only 99.2 percent recorded in the previous election, he said, adding that the rates of Peoples Council members at all levels were also higher.

The structure of deputies has met the set target, and the early voting was held smoothly, Cuong said.

He also highlighted achievements in COVID-19 prevention and control during the elections, and creative and effective methods in the communication work.

The NEC and all-level Election Committees will announce the outcomes and the list of deputies as scheduled.

Denunciations and complaints regarding the elections will continue to be handled in line with legal regulations in the time ahead, he said./.VNA
Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh has asked the Ministry of Health to consider administering COVID-19 vaccines to foreign experts in Vietnam, according to a notice from the Governments Office.

COVID-19 vaccine jabs being administered for frontline workers in Vietnam.  VNA/VNS Photo

The Deputy PM made the request based on the business communitys proposals that have been collected by the Private Economic Development Research Board under the Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform, aiming to deal with difficulties facing enterprises amid the pandemic.

Ministries, cities and provinces should report obstacles to the implementation work to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, he said.

According to the board, businesses proposed the Government extend the priority list in the national vaccine rollout to foreign experts who are in charge of business activities of firms and foreign countries in Vietnam, and the shots could be paid by themselves or the companies instead of being given for free like other priority groups.

The experts travel frequently and face a high risk of infections. However, they havent been inoculated in their respective countries as they live and work in Vietnam.

The initiative is expected to contribute to COVID-19 prevention and control while promoting investment and trade in the country.

VNS

Covid-19 vaccine technology to be transferred to Vietnam from foreign partners Two Deputy Ministers of Health will go to Japan and Russia to receive the transfer of vaccine technology from foreign partners, according to the Governments monthly press conference on May 5.
More than a year after being infected with SARS-CoV-2 and recovering from COVID-19, the woman known as Patient 14 in Vietnam can't get over what she experienced.

Photo courtesy of the World Health Organization.

Almost everyone accused me of spreading the disease to my village. Everyone including my relatives kept away from me and said bad words to me, the woman from Son Loi Commune, Binh Xuyen District in the northern province of Vinh Phuc said.

Many people told her that she was so irresponsible towards the community for partly causing a 14-day lockdown of the commune from February 13, 2020.

I did not know what to say but apologise, she said.

Son Loi Commune was the first COVID-19 cluster in Vietnam when the pandemic hit the country early last year.

At that time, COVID-19 patients and residents greatly feared the new and largely unknown disease.

Their fear rose when they saw reports about the increasing number of COVID-19 deaths in Chinas Wuhan City at that time.

Fear and worry can tear communities apart and begin dividing the world into 'us' and 'them'. Thats how stigma starts.

The patient from Vinh Phuc said that she did not accuse the girl who infected her with the coronavirus as she understood she was also suffering from public outrage and discrimination.

She apologised to me but I told her that it was not her fault or my fault, it wasn't anyone's fault as no one intended to get the virus, she said.

In her neighbourhood, SARS-CoV-2 positive people were seen as different from others as were medical workers who took care of the COVID-19 patients. So were their family members.

A medical worker of Binh Xuyen District said discrimination from her neighbours and acquaintances was worse than the hardships of her job.

Some medical workers reassured themselves that as people kept away from them, the risk of infection would reduce.

Time has passed and Vietnam is now facing the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fight against COVID-19 is now tougher than ever with new variants of SARS-CoV-2, increasing the number of infections in industrial zones and crowded cities.

However, things have changed greatly as we have learnt a lot about the virus. We have accumulated experience to trace and identify suspected cases to stop the virus from spreading. We have experience treating and dealing with COVID-19 cases. We are well aware that solidarity can help us win in the fight against the pandemic like in the three previous waves.

But, sadly, the stigma against COVID-19 patients remains.

Early last month, a group of 12th graders in Bac Ninh Province tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after serving food and drinks at a wedding party in Mao Dien District, Thuan Thanh District.

One of the students said that he agreed to serve the wedding party to get VND230,000 (less than US$10) as his family faced financial difficulties.

As soon as he learned people positive for SARS-CoV-2 had attended the party, he and his friends submitted health declarations at the local healthcare centre and were taken to a quarantine area.

However, his personal information including his name, age, his parents and his house address were publicised regularly via the local loudspeaker system.

Many villagers said that just to earn some money, we brought the disease to the village, he said.

Villagers criticised not only me but also my parents, he said.

When I returned home, I didn't dare to go around my village, he added.

A woman in Hanois Cau Giay District said that when she was suspected to be infected with the virus and taken to a quarantine centre in an ambulance, right after she showed up at her buildings entrance, there was a group of people waiting, taking photos and videos of her.

For the first time in my life, I felt that I was an A-list celebrity. Just kidding, she said. Honestly, they made me feel like I was a criminal, she said, noting that at that time, she had just had contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case and was not confirmed as infected yet.

According to the World Health Organization, stigma and discrimination towards one person is a risk for all people.

Evidence shows that stigma due to coronavirus leads to a reduction in people seeking medical care or testing and a reduction in people adhering to interventions like self-isolation.

This can lead to cases not being reported and more people being exposed which makes responding to outbreaks more difficult.

Viruses dont discriminate and neither should we.

Responsible communications

To help authorities quickly trace, identify and contact people who are vulnerable to COVID-19 exposure, people positive for the virus in Vietnam are required to provide their personal information, travel itinerary and contact history.

In cases where there is a high possibility of a disease cluster, a COVID-19 patients travel and contact history are made public via mass media so people who went to certain places at certain times related to the travel history could be informed and then, contact authorities for health declaration and testing.

The information is mostly announced by provinces/cities Centres of Diseases Control based on what patients report. The information is first publicised on mass media and then goes viral on social networks, drawing much public attention as it is useful to curb the disease spreading in the community.

However, in some cases, rumours and modified stories have superseded the original information.

As a result, many COVID-19 patients had to suffer not only illness but also stress, discrimination, rumours, accusations and public outrage.

Seeing the disadvantages of such communications, the Ministry of Information and Communication recently asked the Ministry of Health to adjust what kinds of information about COVID-19 patients it publishes.

The health ministry and relevant agencies have agreed to publicise less detailed identity information and travel and contact history of COVID-19 patients.

Only places where SARS-CoV-2 positive cases went to will be made public so people who went there at certain times can take measures to protect themselves and others.

The change has been in place since late last month and has been praised by many people.

Better late than never, the change could help ensure the privacy rights of COVID-19 patients and reduce public stigma against them.

VNS

Three keys to fight against Covid-19 in Vietnam Along with the 5K message, Vietnam is strictly implementing three counterattacks: large-scale testing; implementation of a vaccine strategy; and application of technology for Covid-19 tracing.
The current COVID-19 fuss has caused adverse effects on the business industry. However, as businesses transform seamlessly to accommodate changes caused by the pandemic, the e-commerce industry has experienced a boom for a niche of products. Even in a marketplace platform such as Amazon, sellers have noticed at least 8 products that customers frequently add to their carts.

Buying Trends in 2021

Industry influencers often determine buying trends, and the current customer behavior is fast shifting towards trending products. Thankfully, social media has a hand in promoting buying trends for most products in 2020 and 2021.

8 Amazon Items That Are Flying Off The Shelves

With thousands of products today, some people rely on social media recommendations and reviews that back bestsellers in the online market. In this regard, let us explore 8 Amazon Items you can feel confident purchasing this spring.

1. Little Green Machine
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On Monday, Kamala Harris emphasized the importance of restoring hope for residents of struggling Central American nations, helping address the recent migration increase, as she pleaded with them not to make the dangerous trek.

The Biden administration is demonstrating their concern about the increasingly controversial issue of migration; Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to government officials and nongovernmental organization workers about trafficking and corruption in Guatemala to allay growing anxieties over the Biden administrations policies on the issue.

The primary goal of the mission is to allow the vice president to establish his or her credentials by traveling to a poor and unimportant place that he or she would not be generally associated with while also experiencing the rigors of an early presidential campaign.

Ms. Harris met with President Giammattei on Monday and made her priorities clear.

According to Ms. Harris, most people dont want to move away from the location where they were raised. If it is a safe place where their language is spoken, their culture is accepted, and familiarity with it is experienced.

And when they do leave, it usually happens because of two different issues. Either they are trying to escape some harm or simply unable to fulfill their most basic needs.

After she met with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, she addressed everything from vaccine sharing to corruption in the region.

She began her address by explaining the plight of Guatemalans, whom she claimed did not want to leave their homeland but were forced to by the deplorable living conditions.

Harris encouraged people not to attempt the dangerous journey, promising that the United States would enforce its immigration laws.

No one should come. Coyotes profit the most from this arrangement.

The Department of Justice announced creating a law enforcement task force tasked with combatting human trafficking and smuggling groups in those locations.

President Biden selected Ms. Harris to contribute to the neighborhoods efforts to keep its vulnerable residents from heading north in search of a better life.

As part of the departments campaign to fight corruption in Central America, the announcement was made that an additional effort was being put in place.

Ms. Harris has already made a $310 million pledge for investment in the Central American economy that forms part of a $4 billion, four-year strategy for economic growth and stability in the region that is part of the Biden administrations plan to prevent migration.

A few weeks ago, Ms. Harriss team said that twelve private companies, including MasterCard and Microsoft, had made a number of commitments to boost economic development in Central America.

These will be additional facilities that the administration will build throughout Guatemala. People will be informed about asylum protections in the Central American region rather than making the long journey to the U.S. border.

Giammattei explained that the two governments would have to find a consensus if they want to collaborate.

From this moment forward, I offer you the most perfect, historical relationship that could exist between the United States and Guatemala, where you will find a country that wants to cooperate and a country that wants to unite efforts, he said.

However, the most significant questions remain about how Ms. Harris will ensure that U.S. aid reaches those who need it most, as she works with a Guatemalan government that has demonstrated a lack of interest in rooting out corruption.

Speaking on behalf of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, Harris has expressed his concern to the Guatemalan government over its criticism of a lead prosecutor in the region.

Mr. Giammattei has accused the prosecutor of having a political agenda to the left.

Ms. Harris has come under attack from the Republican Party to coordinate efforts with Central American countries.

At a recent press conference, a group of Republicans displayed a milk carton that had been mocked up to depict Ms. Harris, whose photo was photoshopped to feature the title MISSING AT THE BORDER.

According to reports, this will be the most border-crossing encounter since the Biden administration, if the reports are correct.

Harris heads to Guatemala to address immigration crisis
AACPS staff had been serving these students for years on an individual basis, working closely with families to provide the personal support each child needed and desired. But as the national debate over which bathroom to use roiled in the media and the courts, it was clear that our transgender students needed a more codified and public show of support. If the school system truly believed all students deserved a safe, supportive and respectful learning environment, then it needed to publicly show that for some of the most vulnerable children.
Finally, a statement we can all agree on: Ice cream is a chilled delight thats celebrated across the globe.

Food historians dont have a definitive answer on when or where the first batch of ice cream was created, but some have surmised that something very similar to what we now know as ice cream was first served up in China during the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618 to 906).

No matter where or when it was born, ice cream is a hugely popular dessert all over the world. It comes in many different forms and flavors, depending on local palates and available ingredients.

Here, we list several types of ice cream varieties that are enjoyed by different cultures, each with its own unique spin on the creamy confection:

1. Gelato

Italy churns out a lot of its beloved gelato  157 million gallons a year  for locals and the overseas market. Its a hugely popular tasty treat thats much like typical ice cream with ingredients like sugar, milk and cream. But properly made gelato uses a greater proportion of milk and has no egg yolks. As a result, you get a dense, thick and flavorful mouthful of bliss. Popular flavors include vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, hazelnut and stracciatella, vanilla ice cream studded with shaved chocolate. Gelato is such a national treasure in Italy that the government wants to crack down on producers who serve up gelato made with artificial ingredients and puffed up with air. Offenders may be fined more than 12,000 euros  the equivalent of nearly $15,000  if the bill passes.

2. Sorbetes

To survive hot muggy days in Manila, it helps to order a cone of sorbetes from a street hawker pulling a colorful hard cart. This frozen treat resembles American ice cream, though traditional sorbetes is made at times with milk from the carabao (a native water buffalo), coconut milk and cassava flour. It comes in several popular flavors such as ube (a purple yam with a mild, nutty flavor), mango, coconut, jackfruit and chocolate. Keso sorbetes is studded with cheese nuggets. You eat sorbetes in a wafer cone or enjoy it a la ice cream sandwich: inside a pandesal, a salty, sweet bread roll.

3. Kulfi

Kulfi, Indias homegrown ice cream, is a fragrant frozen treat that was probably first served during the Mongol Empire in the 16th century. To make authentic kulfi, cooks must simmer fresh milk until its thick and has lost half of its volume. This evaporated milk, which will have developed a rich, caramelized flavor, is then mixed with sugar and exotic flavorings such as cardamom, saffron and pistachio before being frozen. Typical kulfi flavors in India and Pakistan include rose, mango and lychee. New wave flavors of strawberry and avocado have also become popular. In the streets of India, you can easily snag kulfi from a street vendor at popular tourist spots and have it dressed with a coating of nuts and other toppings.

4. Dondurma

Stretchy, dense and resistant to melting, Turkeys dondurma is the countrys delicious answer to ice cream. Its a frozen treat made with milk, cream and sugar but Turks give it their own spin with the inclusion of mastic tree sap that imparts a piney flavor, and salep, powder ground from the tuber of a local purple orchid. Salep  as well as extensive kneading with a long metal stick  is what gives dondurma its distinctive texture and elastic qualities. Dondurma comes in vanilla, chocolate, cherry, mint and mulberry and is typically served in a cone. Its a common sight at dondurma stalls for workers to pull pranks with customers; they perform sleight-of-hand tricks, teasing customers by giving them a cone, only to take it away and then give it back again.

5. Helado

Italians started to immigrate to Argentina in the 18th century, but the flow of people reached its peak from the late 19th century to the second half of the 20th century, adding an Italian accent to the countrys chorus of immigrants and indigenous people. Italys gelato morphed into Argentinas beloved helado, a tasty frozen dessert  still dense but lighter than its ancestor. Helado is huge in Argentina, where it can be delivered to your home past midnight. Popular traditional flavors are dulce de leche, chocolate, Nutella, crema (vanilla) and sambayon, a custardy Italian cream with egg yolks, sugar and Marsala wine. Newer, trendy flavors include mojito and mascarpone.

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Its kind of a no-brainer thing, said Lindaman. Still, it feels so amazing to be the first K-12 program that gets to be a part of this alignment.

The career center, which opened in 2016 with 37 students in two programs, had 18 programs and about 1,800 students during the past year. Students from seven other public school systems and three private schools can enroll in classes there, as well. It is located at 1348 Katoski Drive in the same building as Central Middle School.

Ann Lebo, director of the Iowa Department of Education, also spoke at the event.

These partnerships are exactly what we need to rethink how we do school and what we think about opportunities  and what that means for our kids and our communities, she said. So, I am more than thrilled to promote this partnership.

Holcomb noted that the state is funding a college and transition counselor at the career center starting this fall that will help students as they consider such opportunities, including the Cedar Valley Degree Links program.

Lindaman said a new initiative being launched in the fall will begin preparing students as early as kindergarten to think about their post-high school future.
State law caps the citys General Fund tax levy, making it increasingly difficult to provide more public safety resources, city officials have said. Public safety costs account for about 61% of Davenport's annual budget.

The tax levy has been capped at $8.10 per $1,000 in valuation since the late 1980s, according to city officials, while Iowa's urban areas have grown in population and geography, necessitating more public safety resources to protect a larger community.

"This means that even if the residents of Davenport wanted their City Council to raise the tax levy to fund more public safety initiatives, they would not be able to do so," Matson wrote in a Feb. 7 guest column. "Ultimately, we believe the residents of Davenport should have a say in such an important decision."

Matson on Monday reiterated the city's call for the Iowa Legislature "to give us the authority to ask the public" whether its willing to pay more in property taxes to provide additional resources dedicated to reducing crime.

"If any legislators doesnt know what is going on here, I would encourage them to please come meet with me, and I would meet with any of them," Matson said. "Im trying to use every tool possible and every resource possible to help us."

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The administrator explained to inspectors that the corporate office had approved room-sharing among positive and negative residents on their theory that everyone in the home had already been exposed. A nurse aide told inspectors she came to work with COVID-19 symptoms for more than a week and was never sent home, despite reporting her symptoms to management.

The state proposed a fine of $7,250 and then held that fine in suspension to let federal regulators act. But according to CMS Care Compare website, no federal penalties have been imposed against Montrose Health Center during the past three years.

In February of this year, the Azria Health Center in Winterset was cited for placing residents in immediate jeopardy for failing to provide appropriate infection control measures; for allowing staff to work after showing signs and symptoms of COVID-19; for failing to ensure all staff were screened before entering the facility; for failing to prevent staff from screening themselves; and for failing to ensure the staff was properly educated on COVID-mitigation protocols.
Lubbock, TX (79423)

Today

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 98F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 69F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph.
The cases of Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) have gone up in Delhi-NCR during the second COVID wave. An estimated 300 cases have been reported in the last two weeks. "There is no centralised data on MIS-C in India and doctors make efforts on their own to update the list in big cities. This is not an accurate mechanism to collect data. We also fail to assess the spread of MIS-C in rural areas and cities," says Dr Dhiren Gupta, paediatric intensivist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi.

Experts believe that if we witness the third wave, children could be the next target. With practically no medical infrastructure to provide intensive child care at a large scale, India appears ill-equipped at present to deal with any unprecedented surge in MIS-C cases if there is any third wave.

"Doctors and other members of the medical teams in cities and rural areas must be trained to treat and take care of medical needs of infants, toddlers, and grown-up children. Training must be imparted to the medical staff at a war footing if we seriously want to protect the children from the possible third wave," says Dr Neelam Mohan.

Dr Neelam leads the pediatric Covid department at Medanta Medicity and has been part of the task force of various government panels dealing with COVID-19. "Children can't be treated like adults and medical teams dealing with adults must be trained to provide medical care to children keeping in mind the special needs of children," says Dr Neelam Mohan

MIS-C is a condition where different body parts of children can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. A child presents with MIS-C symptoms between 2 to 8 weeks of being exposed to the coronavirus.

"The symptoms of MIS-C include high fever for more than three days, abdominal pain, rashes, swelling of hands and feet, redness of eyes, vomiting and difficulty in breathing, says Dr Dhiren.

MIS-C requires intensive care and the treatment is costly. "Nearly 80% MIS-C cases require ICU facility. This means four children out of a total of five children with MIS-C syndrome require ICU facility," says Dr Dhiren Gupta.

Are we equipped to deal with any big surge in MIS-C cases in future?

Some health experts believe that no serious efforts are being made to develop physical infrastructure for the critical care of children.

"When the governments are not willing to quantify the spread of MIS-C, it shows the lack of commitment to deal with the problem. We have done precious little in developing health infrastructure after Independence. We could be heading for a major disaster, but sadly governments are not coming out with exact infection numbers, forget about addressing the problem," said one senior doctor on condition of anonymity.

This is a race against time. Unless all concerned come together and act immediately, nothing much will change.

Also Read: COVID-19: Protect children from Coronavirus third wave, MISC syndrome big concern
Lubbock, TX (79423)

Today

Lots of sunshine. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 98F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 69F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph.


Sayona Embarks on Next Phase of Pilbara Gold Exploration

Brisbane, June 7, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Sayona Mining Limited ( ASX:SYA ) (DML.F) ( OTCMKTS:DMNXF ) is ramping up its Western Australian gold exploration, with the Company committing to a A$2 million budget for calendar 2021.Recent success in identifying 16 new target anomalies during April's airborne magnetic surveying (refer ASX release 12 May 2021) has encouraged the increased exploration activity. Budgeted work is focused on testing anomalies and building the geological knowledge and potential in the search for hi-Mg diorite intrusions, host to De Grey Mining's nearby Hemi gold discovery.Specifically, the following exploration activities are planned:- Mt Dove Project: located 10km south-west of Hemi; commence 3,500m aircore/RC drill testing of five magnetic features, structural targets and test for bedrock gold anomalism;- Deep Well Project: located 8km northwest of Mallina resource (307,000oz Au, De Grey Mining); commence 3,200m aircore/RC drill testing of 11 magnetic anomalies with Hemi-style characteristics and six stocks of the Portree intrusive complex within the tenement area;- Tabba Tabba Project: located 30km north-east of Hemi; first geophysical surveying, geological studies, geochemistry and provisional aircore drilling, testing for hi-Mg diorites on structural corridors paralleling the Tabba Tabba shear zone;- Wodgina and other areas: geophysical surveying to advance geological and drill targeting.Sayona's Managing Director, Brett Lynch commented: "Sayona is keen to advance its Australian gold business and this investment in exploration is a clear demonstration of our confidence in our projects' potential."Our Pilbara gold projects all lie within a 10-50 km radius and encircle the expanding Hemi, which is shaping up to be a large footprint, world-scale deposit. With our recent efforts to identify drill targets, we look forward to advancing this exploration activity and unlocking further value for shareholders, in addition to our flagship lithium projects in Canada."The budgeted exploration for the remainder of calendar 2021 includes drill testing of airborne magnetic anomalies at the Mt Dove and Deep Well Projects on the completion of statutory requirements and heritage clearance. Additionally, regional programs are underway to advance identification of geology, structures and prospective intrusions for the drill ready exploration phase.The Company's recent earn-In agreement with Altura Mining Limited over its West Australian lithium projects (refer ASX release 2 June 2021) has allowed Sayona to focus on its gold projects in Australia, while still benefitting from the potential upside of any lithium discoveries by Altura.Mr Lynch added: "Sayona is in a unique position to drive increased shareholder value, with interests in both lithium and gold - two of the most exciting mineral commodities globally."We now plan to accelerate the exploration and development of our gold leases to establish a significant gold portfolio in Western Australia, following in the footsteps of the development of our lithium assets in Quebec, where we are set to become a world-scale producer."This will provide our investors with exposure to the accelerating EV revolution globally together with the counter-cyclical benefits of gold, with our assets located in world-class mining districts and stable investment jurisdictions. These are exciting times for Sayona and we look forward to advancing these assets as quickly as possible for the benefit of all stakeholders."To view tables and figures, please visit: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


Success at Second Rougemont Gas Well

Brisbane, June 7, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - State Gas Limited ( ASX:GAS ) is pleased to announce that its second Rolleston-West well, Rougemont-2, has intersected gas-bearing Bandanna coal measures very similar to the coals identified during drilling last month at its Rougemont-1 well in Central Queensland.The strong correlation of the results of Rougemont-1 and 2 validate the Company's hypothesis that the extensive Bandanna Formation within the Rolleston-West Gas Project (ATP 2062) hosts significant volumes of gas.The Rougemont-2 well, approximately 2.7km north west of Rougemont-1, was spudded on 29 May and reached total target depth of 540 metres at 8.00am on 5 June 2021. As at the Rougemont-1 well, core samples have been taken from the well, the well geology has been logged, and further testing is currently underway.Both Rougemont wells intersected approximately 8 metres of net coal, hosted in a number of seams with the thickest seams in excess of 2 metres (2.8m at Rougemont-2 and 2.2m at Rougemont-1). The coal measures in Rougemont-2 were encountered at approximately 295 metres depth (i.e. approximately 200 metres shallower than at Rougemont-1).Gas was observed bubbling from the coal samples taken from both wells, and field values for the gas content of the coals from both are similar. While final gas contents will be determined by laboratory analysis in due course, the field values suggest the gas content is likely to be within expectations for a commercial development. The visual appearance of the coals from each is also similar.These similarities between the results from the wells so far suggest good consistency across the Bandanna coal measures at a range of depths. The Bandanna coal measures are extensive throughout this eastern arm of the Rolleston-West Gas Project, and correlate with the Bandanna coals at the Arcadia Valley Coal Seam Gas project (Santos/GLNG) and under development at Mahalo (Santos/APLNG/Comet Ridge).Executive Chairman, Richard Cottee, said that he was very encouraged by the results so far and their consistency."These results suggest good consistency across the extensive Bandanna coal measures in this region of the Rolleston-West Project.""Assuming further positive results from the wells, a gas project of significant scale may be possible in this area, to complement our neighbouring project at Reid's Dome," Mr Cottee said.The Rolleston-West Gas Project is contiguous with the Company's Reid's Dome Gas Project and is located 30 kilometres from major pipeline infrastructure interconnected with the east coast gas transmission network and the export LNG facilities at Gladstone.To view figures, please visit:About State Gas Limited

State Gas Limited (ASX:GAS) is a Queensland-based developer of the Reid's Dome gas field, originally discovered during drilling in 1955, located in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland. State Gas is 100%-owner of the Reid's Dome Gas Project (PL-231) a CSG and conventional gas play, which is well-located 30 kilometres southwest of Rolleston, approximately 50 kilometres from the Queensland Gas Pipeline and interconnected east coast gas network.

Permian coal measures within the Reid's Dome Beds are extensive across the entire permit but the area had not been explored for coal seam gas prior to State Gas' ownership. In late 2018 State Gas drilled the first coal seam gas well in the region (Nyanda-4) into the Reid's Dome Beds and established the potential for a significant coal seam gas project in PL 231. The extension of the coal measures into the northern and central areas of the permit was confirmed in late 2019 by the Company's drilling of Aldinga East-1A (12 km north) and Serocold-1 (6 km to the north of Nyanda-4).

State Gas is also the 100% holder Authority to Prospect 2062 ("Rolleston-West"), a 1,414 km2 permit (eight times larger than PL 231) that is contiguous with the Reid's Dome Gas Project. Rolleston-West contains highly prospective targets for both coal seam gas (CSG) and known conventional gas within the permit area. It is not restricted by domestic gas reservation requirements.

The contiguous areas (Reid's Dome and Rolleston-West), under sole ownership by State Gas, enable integration of activities and a unified super-gasfield development, providing economies of scale, efficient operations, and optionality in marketing.

State Gas is implementing its strategic plan to bring gas to market from Reid's Dome and Rolleston-West to meet near term forecast shortfalls in the east coast domestic gas market. The strategy involves progressing a phased appraisal program in parallel with permitting for an export pipeline and development facilities to facilitate the fastest possible delivery of gas to market. State Gas' current focus has been to confirm the producibility of the gas through production testing of the wells.


MNF Signs Term Sheet with Vonex

Sydney, June 7, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - MNF Group Limited ( ASX:MNF ) (M2S.F) today announced that it has signed a conditional term sheet with Vonex Limited ( ASX:VN8 ) ("Vonex") for the sale of part of its direct business ("Direct Business"), for $31 million. The term sheet is non-binding other than customary matters including exclusivity.The sale is in-line with MNF's strategy to simplify the business, grow recurring revenues and focus on growing the MNF wholesale business, Symbio.The Direct Businesses that form the sale agreement include those that provide cloud phone, mobile and internet services directly to small business and residential customers in Australia. These customers are predominantly served by the MyNetFone brand; however the brand is not part of the sale and MNF will retain the Enterprise and Government clients.Importantly, the term sheet includes a requirement for the parties to enter into an exclusive Symbio wholesale supply agreement for phone numbers and minutes with a five-year contract term. The wholesale supply agreement means MNF retains over $3.0 million per annum in existing revenue for the domestic wholesale business.Assuming all conditions are satisfied, MNF expects that an asset sale agreement will be executed in July 2021. Conditions to finalising the agreement include: a satisfactory outcome of due diligence on MNF, funding for the transaction being secured and board approval for both Vonex and MNF.Commenting on the milestone, MNF Group CEO Rene Sugo, said:"The divestment of these direct businesses is in line with our strategy to simplify MNF's business and drive growth in our CPaas and UCaas voice services, which are in high demand. Importantly, funds from the sale will be reinvested into our growing wholesale business and our expansion offshore."Assuming all conditions are met, we expect the sale to be completed by end of July 2021."The agreement would value the direct business at approximately 2x revenue. This doesn't include the benefit from the retained long-term wholesale supply agreement.Reaffirmation of GuidanceThe Company would like to take this opportunity to re-affirm earnings guidance of EBITDA for the 2021 financial year of $40.0 million to $43.0 million.About MNF Group Ltd

MNF Group Limited (ASX:MNF) is one of Asia-Pacific's fastest growing technology companies. Listed on the ASX since 2006, it is now capitalised at around $380m, and twice winner of the Forbes Asia-Pacific "Best under a Billion" award. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, the company has over 500 people located across Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. MNF develops and operates a global communications network and software suite enabling some of the world's leading innovators to deliver new-generation communications solutions.



As the world moves to IP, MNF Group is building the brands, services, network and technology to lead the way. For further information about MNF Group Limited please visit: http://mnfgroup.limited/
The campaign, spearheaded by nonprofits Open to All and Hollaback as well as the Retail Industry Leaders Association, comes as workers face increased harassment as they try to enforce social distancing and mask protocols during the pandemic. Among those who have been the targets of abuse are people of color, those with disabilities and those who identify as LGBTQ.
1,000 employees to hire back: The Hilton Chicago had more than 1,000 full- and part-time workers before COVID-19. The number fell below 50 after the hotel closed March 27, 2020. There will be almost 200 workers when the hotel reopens, and hiring to get to 1,000 will ramp up as reservations increase, Wells said. Many workers have gone through retraining and orientation after being away so long. The staff has been great, and theyre so glad to be back, Wells said.
The GOP hates the idea of giving money to parents who are collecting unemployment benefits. They insist that it will discourage them from even looking for a job. That wrongly implies that poor people dont mind being poor. It suggests that their hearts dont break hearing their babies cry themselves to sleep at night because theyre hungry. It ignores the fact that most people would do better if they could. Often, they cant, for reasons out of their control.
Instagram Celebrity

After reports emerge that Durk's older brother OTF DThang was shot and killed over the weekend, the 'TROLLZ' MC posts disrespectful messages on his Instagram Story and in the comments of Durk's post.

Jun 7, 2021

AceShowbiz - 6ix9ine a.k.a. Tekashi69 shows no sympathy to Lil Durk despite a recent family tragedy that hit the latter. After learning of news that the Chicago rapper's brother DThang was killed in alleged shooting, the New York City native wasted no time to troll his nemesis.

The "GUMMO" spitter took to Instagram Story on Sunday, June 6 to taunt Durk, calling for the latter to avenge his brother's death. "WHEN WILL YOU SLIDEEEEEERE," so he wrote. "I know 'excuses.' 'The feds watchin.' 'You Tranna get n***as caught up.' "

As he continued to rub salt into the wound, Tekashi, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, added, "YOUR BROTHER JUST GOT A BULLET IN HIS HEADGOOOOO SLIDEEEE."

6ix9ine called for Lil Durk to avenge his brother's death.

He didn't stop there as he continued to mock Durk over his brother's death in the comments of the latter's Instagram post, in which the Only the Family record founder promoted 4TF merchandise. "Your brother just died and you want to sell sweaters [rolling on the floor laughing emojis]," Tekashi wrote.

6ix9ine continued to taunt Lil Durk over DThang's death.

As reported before by TMZ, Durk's older brother DThang was found dead on the 7900 block of S. Loomis Blvd. in Chicago over the weekend. Cook County officials confirmed it, but the cause of death remains unclear as an autopsy has to be performed to determine the cause.

However, reports say that DThang, who was also a rapper, was shot in the head outside of a nightclub. Alleged witnesses reportedly saw as the shooting went down and said that DThang died on the spot. He was 32 years old.

Durk himself has not spoken up on his brother's death. Meanwhile, condolences have poured in from the hip-hop community, including producer Murda Beatz, Dreezy and Chicago rapper Calboy.

The 28-year-old, who has collaborated with the likes of Future, 21 Savage, A Boogie wit da Hoodie and Meek Mill among others, mourned the death of his label mate King Von, who was shot by one of Quando Rondo's associates in November 2020.
Instagram Celebrity

Accused of attacking his partner at his Chicago, Illinois home on the night of May 29, the 'GetBackMood' rapper was said to have pulled his girl's hair and punched her in the face.

Jun 7, 2021

AceShowbiz - Rapper Lil Reese is facing a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery following an alleged bust-up with his girlfriend.

The star stands accused of attacking his partner at his Chicago, Illinois home on the night of May 29 after a heated argument turned physical, with the woman telling police Reese pulled her hair and punched her in the face.

Officers responding to calls about the incident noted an injury to her lower lip, and took Reese into custody.

He was subsequently released on $10,000 (7,000) bond, but a representative for the rapper claims Reese is innocent.

In a statement issued to TMZ, the spokesperson wrote, "That story is false, nobody was hit... the court narative is based off someone saying Lil Reese was physical, but he was not [sic]."

The news of his arrest only emerged on Saturday, June 5, weeks after the artist was hospitalized with an eye wound following a shooting in Chicago on the morning of May 15. He was one of three people shot in the incident, which is currently under investigation by authorities. The rapper suffered from serious gunshot wound but was reported to be in a stable condition.

A graphic video featuring him at the scene later hit the web. In the video, Reese was seen struggling as he was seen bleeding heavily from his mouth and eyes. The "GetBackMood" rapper was lying on the ground as he was barely conscious. Chicago Police Department officials claimed he sustained an eye wound.
WENN/Dinendra Haria Celebrity

Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton are also reported to have sent a gift for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's newborn baby girl named Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

Jun 7, 2021

AceShowbiz - Queen Elizabeth II is sending a warm congratulatory message for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle after they announced on Sunday, June 6 that they welcomed their daughter Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. Among those who were happy for the couple were the Queen and the rest royal family members.

In a statement, they claimed to be "delighted" with the news. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said in the statement, "The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex."

Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton issued a separate statement on their official Instagram account. "We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie," so they wrote alongside a black-and-white picture of Meghan, Harry and their firstborn Archie.

It was also reported that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sent Lili a gift. However, details about the sweet gesture remain to be seen.

Back in May, Prince William talked about sharing "plenty of [parenting] advice" with his brother. "I wish him all the best and hope the next few days they can settle down and enjoy having a newborn in their family and all the joys that come with that," William said at the time.

"We're absolutely thrilled and looking forward to seeing them in the next few days as things quiet down. I'm very pleased and glad to welcome my brother to the sleep deprivation society that is parenting," he continued.

Meghan and Harry announced the arrival of their second child on Sunday. The couple's daughter was born at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California on Friday morning. They name the baby girl Lilibet Diana, paying tribute to both Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and his late mum, Diana, Princess of Wales.

"It is with great joy that Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, welcome their daughter, Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, to the world. Both mother and child are healthy and well, and settling in at home," read their statement. "Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet. Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honour her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales."
Celebrity

The former POTUS delivers yet other controversial remarks during his speech at a North Carolina rally, but it's his outfit that draws attention the most as it appears that there's no zipper on his pants.

Jun 7, 2021

AceShowbiz - Donald Trump has once again caught attention for a potentially embarrassing reason. The former president made an appearance at a Republican rally in North Carolina on Saturday, June 5, during which he delivered a speech, but it's his outfit that drew most comments on social media.

After pictures and videos of the 74-year-old at the event hit the web, many were puzzled over his pants, which appeared to have no zipper. This prompted people to speculate that he wore his pants backwards and Twitter has since erupted with savage comments on it.

"Others are noting this, but it can't be shared enough: Donald Trump gave his big speech today with his pants on backwards," New York Daily News contributor Brandon Friedman wrote along with a clip of Trump moving away from the podium, exposing his pants. "Look close and tell me I'm wrong."

Many compared Trump's outfit to '90s hip-hop duo Kris Kross' eccentric style. "Kris Kross will make ya, Trump Trump.I hate myself.#TrumpSpeech," one noted. Another commented, "Want to feel old? This is what Kris Kross looks like today." A fourth person joked, "Kriss Kross & DaddyMac were ahead of their time."

Another user quipped, "No fly on Trump's pants? I think I know where it went," referring to the fly that landed on Mike Pence's head during the Vice Presidential debate. Someone jested, "Just like everybody else he puts his pants on, no legs at a time."

"Just incredible that at no point did he go 'huh something's a little off here' as he zipped himself up on the a**," another trolled Trump, while an amused user simply tweeted, "I can't stop laughing..."

As for Trump's speech at the rally, he doubled down on his controversial remark that China is responsible for the COVID-19 outbreak. He said China should pay reparations to the world. He also defended Russian president Vladimir Putin, asked for credit for the vaccine and falsely claimed that he won the 2020 election.
Instagram Celebrity

Talking about the pressure he put on himself, the 'In My Blood' hitmaker praises Calm mental wellness app for being an 'integral part' of his 'mindfulness routine.'

Jun 7, 2021

AceShowbiz - Shawn Mendes finds it tough to live up to the high expectations he sets for himself.

The "In My Blood" star - who taught himself to play guitar at the age of 14 before finding viral fame on short-form video hosting service Vine at 15 - admitted he sometimes puts too much pressure on himself.

He told Wonderland magazine, "I still struggle with trying to fit into the shoes of who I believe 'Shawn Mendes' should be..."

"At some point along the line, my expectations and my standard of who I should be, the music I should make, and the way I should look, became so high that no matter what I did and no matter how hard I was trying with my music, I couldn't fit those shoes."

"If I even struggle to [live up to] what I think I should be, I definitely don't want to make it harder for the 14-year-old kid in Canada to be who they are."

Meanwhile, Shawn and his girlfriend Camila Cabello recently teamed up on a new mental wellness series, partnering with the app Calm to discuss their mental health journeys in a multi-part series called "Breathe Into It".

Their new venture will also include the introduction of a free mental wellness resource hub and donations from Calm to activists, companies and young people in need of support.

Shawn praised the app as being an "integral part" of his "mindfulness routine," which improved his life on and off the stage.

He said, "Calm is an integral part of my mindfulness routine. Meditation has really changed my life and has made me both a better performer and has helped me immensely off the stage as well. My goal is for anyone to feel empowered to embrace these tools, create their own mental wellness routines, and look out for others."
Instagram Celebrity

In a now-deleted Instagram post, Kenya Duke, who filed for divorce from the comedian and actor, claims that he hasn't supported her and their kids for months since April of this year.

Jun 7, 2021

AceShowbiz - The divorce between Gary Owen and his estranged wife Kenya Duke continues to get ugly. On Sunday, June 6, Kenya took to her social media account to slam the actor, calling him a "deadbeat" father as he hasn't seen his kids nor supported them financially for months.

Tagging "The Gary Owen Show" star, Kenya wrote in the now-deleted Instagram post, "@garyowencomedy I have never gone to the media. The media goes looking for the paperwork. I have allowed you to tell your family, friends, and fans any false narrative that you want or need it to be about us, the relationship and our kids. Because I DON'T care or feel a need to defend or explain myself." She added, "You and I know what it really is! But when you go and make these dumb passive aggressive posts in these insensitive a** t-shirts, I am triggered and you now have my attention."

Accusing the actor and comedian of not supporting her and their kids financially, she went on to say, "You haven't supported us since April 1st. Nothing, nada, zero not electric, water, gas, not insurance (medical, dental, life, car, house, etc.), not groceries, not maintenance for the house, not the gas or maintenance of the cars, not the platinum card I got for us (because you wanted one) and you couldn't get one (on your own), not the cell phone you had for 23 years; instead you just got another phone number and didn't pay the bill." She also claimed, "All of our bills are attached to my SSN and credit. You have paid the $4500 mortgage that is attached to your SSN and credit (for the 1st time) but that is it."

According to Kenya, Gary also hasn't "seen your daughter in over 6 1/2 months, you haven't seen your son in over 4 months. This is your choice. You do remember us right???? I 'guess' we were useful when your content was needed. Or when I allowed you to live your best life while I stayed back with our kids, the house and taking care of the business."

"This is what it is after 23 years, of being the only one to have your back 100% of the time, wow! The new you is a Mofo. Do you even recognize right anymore? You've shown lack of care for me maintaining the financial stability and sole emotional support for our kids. I am the only person that has always protected you and you treat me like this, says more about your character than any of your antics. You are not a good guy, so cut it out and get a shirt that says DEADbEAT. I will let you get back to living your best lifelying, clout chasing, side chicks, and looking for a black celebrity friend group," so she concluded her lengthy social media rant.

Kenya filed for divorce from Gary in March, ending their marriage after nearly two decades together. The pair got married in 2003 and share two adult children.
Instagram/WENN/Joseph Marzullo Celebrity

Three years after her fashion mogul aunt took her own life in her bedroom, the 'Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' actress shares a heartfelt tribute with a throwback picture post.

Jun 7, 2021

AceShowbiz - Actress Rachel Brosnahan has remembered her late aunt Kate Spade on the third anniversary of her death.

"The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" star took to social media to post a tribute to the famous fashion designer, born Katherine Brosnahan, who took her own life on June 5, 2018.

Alongside a throwback picture of the fashion mogul, Rachel wrote, "Missing Katy B today and every day [sic]." In the picture, the actress' late aunt could be seen wearing a silver ball gown while socializing with friends.

She previously paid tribute to Kate in 2019, when she became the face of the designer's accessories line, Frances Valentine.

Rachel said at the time. "In the wake of Katy's passing, my family and I were so overwhelmed and encouraged by the love and support we received from those who were touched by Katy's work, many of whom were strangers from around the world."

"When you lose someone you love, you search for boundless ways to keep their memory alive. This felt like a way to do that through her beautiful creations and an opportunity to share them with all of those who her work meant so much to."

Kate was pronounced dead after being found hanging herself with a red scarf in her bedroom at her and husband Andy Spade's Park Avenue home in Manhattan. Her body was found by a housekeeper. She allegedly left a suicide note to her only child Frances Beatrix that read, "Bea - I have always loved you. This is not your fault. Ask Daddy!"
It was a feeling of, Were free and were doing something to bring awareness to everything thats going on  the murder of George Floyd, the deaths of other individuals, Easterly said. And just the relief of being able to gather. It was a celebration. For some people the celebration was, I was able to finish 15 miles and I didnt pass out.
Hope has returned to the small city of Serrana, Brazil, after researchers vaccinated almost its entire adult population in a city-wide medical experiment this spring.

"Everything is practically open now, and the atmosphere is so different, so much lighter and joyful. We feel safe while the other cities around us are in a very difficult situation," says Ricardo Luiz, owner of a well-known restaurant in Serrana.

Four months after the kickoff of the experiment known as Project S, this quiet city surrounded by sugar plantations has acquired an atmosphere of pre-pandemic days, Luiz says.

His business is getting back on its feet after one year of hardship and it's currently bringing in 70% of the revenue it made before the pandemic.

"People feel safe to leave the house," he says, adding that he no longer feels afraid for his family or acquaintances traversing the city's hot and dry streets. "We know everyone here, and nowadays it's rare to hear about cases and deaths," he says.

Nationwide, Brazil has the second-highest number of deaths from Covid-19 in the world, after the US, and it is heading to its third wave with daily cases and deaths on the rise. Only 10% of Brazils population is fully vaccinated.

But people living in Serrana say they're experiencing a very different reality, thanks to Project S.

The project was coordinated by the biomedical center Butantan Institute in partnership with the Sao Paulo University of Medicine in Ribeirao Preto. This spring, researchers gave the full two doses of the vaccine Coronavac to 27,160 adults -- about 95% of the city's adult population. The Coronavac, designed by Chinese pharmaceutical Sinovac and produced in part in Brazil in partnership with Butantan, has shown a global efficacy of 50.8% in Phase III tests.

Researchers' full findings from Project S have not yet been peer-reviewed or published. However, according to preliminary results released on June 1, the study showed an 80% reduction in the number of symptomatic cases. Covid-related hospitalizations have fallen by 86% and mortality by 95% -- figures hailed by Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria as a good omen for the rest of the country.

According to the study, the immunization generated a kind of "immune belt" in Serrana, drastically reducing the transmission of coronavirus in the municipality even as the virus raged throughout the country.

"The most important result was to understand that we can control the pandemic even without vaccinating the entire population. When coverage reached 70%, 75% (of Serrana's population), the drop in incidence was noticed even in the group that had not yet completed the vaccination schedule," said Ricardo Palacios, medical director of clinical research at Instituto Butantan in an interview with CNN International a day after the news conference.

But until the Butantan Institute releases its complete study data and it is peer-reviewed, not everyone is leaping to applaud the results -- nor to relax hygiene precautions.

Jose Angelo Marques owns a beauty salon in Serrana, and was fully vaccinated back in April. His business is operating with protocols established by Sao Paulo state government such as limited attending capacity and distancing between customers, and Marques says he won't lift them until he sees the numbers behind the percentages.

"I wish I could see the numbers. That would make me feel safer," he says.

He, his wife and his parents all were infected with Covid-19 last year. Most had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic, but Marques' 81-year-old father died from Covid-19 less than a month later.

Being vaccinated has helped the family to deal with their grief, however, Marque admits. "We have now loosened up a bit. We are now close to each other, hugging each other and that has been helping us a lot to cope with the absence of my father."

Why Serrana

About 330 kilometers away from the state capital Sao Paulo, Serrana is considered a bedroom community, with much of its population commuting to work in larger neighboring cities like Ribeirao Preto. That flow of people caused a high prevalence of Covid-19 infections at the beginning of 2021, according to Marcos Borges, main researcher at Project S.

"More than 10,000 people here go to work in other cities. This leads to the vast spread of these infectious and contagious diseases," said Borges. "One out of 20 people in Serrana was infected and transmitting the disease and that caught our attention."

"We were suffering so much with Covid-19 here at the beginning of the year. It hit us very hard. Our small health system collapsed. It was like a very dark cloud was above the town," says Serrana Mayor Leonardo Capitelli.

Brazil has struggled to acquire sufficient vaccines for its population of 211 million. Knowing that herd immunity could be a long time coming for the country, Butantan Institute Director Dimas Covas and Borges sought to vaccinate a high percentage of the population in Serrana in a short period of time, to see if herd immunity could be achieved locally.

"So we wanted to test whether vaccination can prevent the transmission of the virus, reduce serious cases and hospitalization," Borges says. Serrana's then-high prevalence of Covid-19, small population and proximity to the medical university in Ribeirao Preto and the state hospital, made it an ideal candidate.

The method used in the clinical trial is called a stepped-wedge trial, in which the city was divided into 25 sub-areas, forming four large population groups that received the vaccine in successive weeks between February and April.

Ricardo Palacios says that scheduling vaccinations sequentially allowed the research team to evaluate and compare the areas.

"By the time the third group received its second dose, about 75% of the eligible population, we noticed that the outbreak was effectively under control across the city," he said, adding that it signaled that widespread vaccination could indirectly protect even non-immunized populations, such as children and adolescents.

"The reduction in cases in people who did not receive the vaccine indicates a drop in the circulation of the virus. This reinforces vaccination as a public health measure, and not just an individual one," he said.

Mayor Capitelli says Serrana's two primary care hospitals are much less crowded today.

"Forty, fifty days ago we had about 160 to 180 people coming every day to our hospitals showing symptoms of respiratory syndrome, and about 69% tested positive for Covid-19. Now, hospital attendance has gone down to 30, 35 people a day and only 20 to 25% test positive for Covid-19," he said.

"We had one Serrana before Project S, and another after. Our economy is growing, many new companies are interested in investing here, people are back to their lives and we are getting better by the day," the mayor added.

But the masks stay on

Yet life isn't entirely back to normal.

Because the virus remains out of control in the region, Serrana residents are still required to wear masks and social distance, a basic sanitary order enforced across the state.

Businesses in Serrana also maintain state government restrictions limiting capacity, in contrast to complete closures imposed in some nearby cities.

"This still has to be followed because the region is in chaos, with cities and health systems collapsed," says Mayor Capitelli.

The study's full results are expected to be published by the beginning of July. But Project S. will continue until February next year, with researchers continuously monitoring Serrana's residents. As new viral variants keep appearing, researchers hope that the Coronavac retains its effectiveness -- and that Serrana will continue to enjoy its apparent victory.

"The important conclusions of the study may support the immunization strategies in Brazil and in the world, and offer hope for the control of the pandemic with vaccines such as Coronavac," said Dimas Covas, head of Butantan Institute.

For now, Ricardo Luiz, the restaurant owner, says he can already feel the psychological benefit of participating in Project S.

"My hope is restored. Even my self-esteem is back," he says.

"Four months ago it was difficult to see the end of all of this. We are a small city and we know everyone. We felt the pain of others as if it was ours. It was hard. But now we can see light at the end of the tunnel, we can see it is possible to go back to normal, and we can feel happy again."
CHICO, Calif. - Mayor Andrew Coolidge said the City of Chico now has until June 25 to come up with a homeless shelter compromise.



On April 23, a Federal judge extended the eviction ban in Chico for three weeks which set the deadline to June 11.

RELATED: Federal judge extends eviction ban for homeless in Chico

This banned the City of Chico from evicting homeless people from camps and parks until the city comes up with a solution.

A 2019 U.S. Supreme Court did not review a petition in the Martin vs. Boise case which left in place an earlier ruling that the homeless cannot be punished for sleeping on public property without adequate alternatives.

This is a developing story. Action News Now will keep you updated with new information.
A comfortable change of pace is finally on the way to northern California this week, but we're also going to be dealing with elevated fire danger in your Monday Forecast. Mostly clear skies are on tap for the start of our work week, but some thin clouds will track over northern California today as low pressure drops down towards our region from the Pacific Northwest. This is going to result in much cooler temperatures on the way for this afternoon, but will also produce gusty southwest winds later today. The strongest winds are expected in our eastern zoned, and a Red Flag Warning for high fire danger has been issued for portions of Plumas, Lassen, and Modoc Counties today. This warning will be in effect from noon through 11pm tonight in portions of Lassent and Plumas Counties, and in effect from 2pm through 8pm in Modoc County. Southwest winds to 25mph look likely, and gusts up to 45mph will be possible. We'll also be dealing with humidity down into the 7 to 20 percent range in these areas this afternoon, so it wil be very dry. Fire danger will be a big concern with the dry and windy conditions. Temperatures are starting out in the 50's to 60's in the valley, 40's to 50's in the foothills, and in the 30's to 40's in our mountain zones this morning. Winds are out of the north early today, but will shift to become out of the south or southwest this afternoon depending on where you are. Most of us will have mostly sunny skies today, but the Northern Mountains, and far northern valley will have partly cloudy conditions on the way for this afternoon. High temperatures are projected to top out in the mid to high 80's in the valley, upper 60's to upper 70's in the foothills, and mid 690's to mid 70's in our higher elevations this afternoon.

Low pressure will move into northern California from Tuesday into Wednesday, and this will result in much cooler high temperatures across northern California. Low temperatures in the 50's can be expected in the valley and foothills, while mountain areas end up in the 30's to 40's. High temperatures are projected to end up in the mid to high 70's in the valley on Tuesday and Wednesday, while foothill and mountain areas mostly end up in the 60's. We'll also have the potential for scattered showers and thunderstorms in areas from Shasta County to the north both of those days. Thursday will still be cool, and we'll have less of a chance for active weather in our region as the low pressure tracks off to our northeast.

The forecast from Friday through this weekend starts to get a little tricky as models start to show some big differences. Most models agree that an area of low pressure will be dropping south from the Gulf of Alaska, but are keeping it well off our coast in the Pacific. The current forecast brings a chance for showers to areas closest to the coast, with a slight chance for some light showers making it into the northern portions of the valley. We'll have partly cloudy skies on Friday, and that's also when we'll have the best chance for showers. Models are currently hinting at high pressure building back into the west this weekend, and bringing dry and hotter conditions back into our forecast. The latest projections put valley areas back into the upper 80's to mid 90's this weekend.
Award-winning agency network, dentsu international announces the appointment of Chief Equity Officer in APAC, Rashmi Vikram.

Rashmi joins dentsu from Microsoft, where she was Group Diversity & Inclusivity Practice Lead, responsible for delivering success by making inclusion a habit, with the aim of creating inclusive products and services for Microsofts customers. Prior to Microsoft, Rashmi was Country Head for India at Community Business, an NGO that champions inclusive business practices in Asia. Her other roles have included Diversity & Inclusion Specialist at Thomson Reuters.

As part of dentsu internationals mission to create sustainable value for all, its Global Executive Team committed to hiring Chief Equity Officers in each of its three regions. Rashmi joins Christina Pyle, Chief Equity Officer, Americas and recently appointed Pauline Miller, Chief Equity Officer, EMEA. These appointments demonstrate dentsus commitment to making long-term sustainable change within our business and in society.

On Rashmi joining dentsu, Ashish Bhasin, CEO of dentsu international Asia Pacific said, Dentsus strength lies in making a difference. To do that, we seek out diverse perspectives, celebrate difference and empower everyone to bring their most authentic self to work. We encourage our leaders to build diverse teams, teams with a healthy, vibrant culture. A culture that enables every employee to do great work, build a phenomenal career and know they belong. We are very excited to have Rashmi on board to champion Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and we look forward to working with her to chart meaningful progress for our businesses in APAC.

Kinch Ong, Regional Human Resource Director, dentsu Asia Pacific added, Rashmi has a solid track-record in the DEI space, and I have no doubt she will inspire and make a difference. She will ensure that DEI is interwoven into the fabric of our organisation, fostering an even richer culture and experience for our people, clients and partners. Along with our colleagues in the region, I look forward to working with her to create and communicate the future state vision of DEI and roll out detailed plans of long and short-term initiatives.

On joining dentsu, Rashmi Vikram said, I am passionate about the work I do and am excited to be working with the global, regional and country teams at dentsu to champion, reinforce and build an inclusive culture.

Rashmi will report to Ashish Bhasin, CEO of dentsu international Asia Pacific and Kinch Ong, Regional Human Resource Director, Asia Pacific.

The appointment commences with immediate effect.
EbixCash Private Limited, a subsidiary of Ebix, Inc., a leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial, healthcare and e-learning industries announced the appointment of Mr. SP Kothari, as a new independent director to the EbixCash Board. Professor Kothari has senior executive experience in government, academia, and industry with expertise in strategic and policy issues, securities regulation, auditing, and corporate governance.

S.P. Kothari is Gordon Y Billard Professor of Accounting and Finance at MITs Sloan School of Management. Most recently, from 2019 to 2021 he served as Chief Economist and Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis at the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

In academia, Kothari was deputy dean of MIT Sloan School of Management (2010-15), and previously he headed the Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting at MIT. In addition, he Co-Chaired the Board of Governors of Asia School of Business, Kuala Lumpur, served as faculty director of the MIT-India Program, and edited the world-renowned academic publication Journal of Accounting & Economics.

In 2008-09, Kothari was global head of equity research for Barclays Global Investors (acquired by BlackRock); he was a director of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) (2015-19); and he has consulted extensively on valuation and reporting, risk management, auditing, and management compensation.

Kothari is a recipient of numerous awards for his scholarship, including one of Indias highest civilian honors  the Padma Shri award in 2020, Honorary Doctorates from London Business School, University of Cyprus, and University of Technology, Sydney, and American Accounting Associations Distinguished Contributions to the Accounting Literature award.

SP Kothari said, I am grateful for the honor of serving as a director of EbixCash that promises to transform the financial & insurance service sectors, and the leisure and healthcare industry by offering seamless connectivity and ease of access to millions of consumers. The resulting productivity gains are crucial for the growth of national and individual incomes.

SP brings a rich blend of leadership level regulatory, accounting, strategic, and corporate governance experience across the industry, government and academic sectors to the Board. We are excited to have him on the EbixCash Board. Robin Raina, Chairman, President & CEO Ebix Inc, said. His experience and skills will provide us with the strategic guidance and direction that EbixCash needs as we embark on the next cycle of growth and a prospective IPO for EbixCash.

Kothari received his B.S. in Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science and his MBA (PGDM) from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Dr. Kothari earned his PhD from the University of Iowa.
Google has been hit by a 220 million ($267 million) fine by Frances competition regulatory body, Autorite de la Concurrence, for abusing its market leadership in the online ad tech space.

Following a complaint lodged against Google by News Corp, Belgian media group Rossel and French newspaper Le Figaro, Frances competition regulatory body carried out an investigation against the Internet giant. As per media reports, the investigation revealed that Google was giving preference to its own ad listing platform SSP AdX, which holds ad auctions, and its own advertising server. The investigation revealed the complex algorithm process by which Google was able to favour itself over the competing platforms.

Meanwhile, in a blog on June 7, 2021, Google announced some changes in its ad technology. In the blog, Google stated that, Over the past two years, we have been working with the French Competition Authority (FCA) to answer their questions about our advertising technology, and more specifically about Google Ad Manager, our publisher platform. It maintained, Our ad tech tools are built to work with our partners and competitors alike  its why we share access to advertising data to support publisher monetization and why we provide access to more than 700 rival advertiser platforms and 80 publisher platforms across our products.

Some of the changes that Google will be rolling out include:

Increased access to data

Google will work to create a solution that ensures that all buyers that a publisher works with, including those who participate in Header Bidding, can receive equal access to data related to outcomes from the Ad Manager auction. In particular, Google will be providing information around the minimum bid to win from previous auctions.

Increased flexibility

Google will further increase the flexibility of Google Ad Manager to meet the evolving needs of its partners, including allowing them to set custom pricing rules for ads that are in sensitive categories and implementing product changes that improve interoperability between Ad Manager and third-party ad servers.

Affirming commitment to transparency

Google also reaffirmed its promise not to use data from other SSPs to optimise bids in its exchange in a way that other SSPs cant reproduce. The Internet giant is also reaffirming its promise not to share any bid from any Ad Manager auction participants with any other auction participant prior to completion of the auction. Additionally, Google will give publishers at least three months notice for major changes requiring significant implementation effort that publishers must adopt, unless those are related to security or privacy protections, or are required by law.
As the devastating second wave of COVID-19 infections spread across the nation in April 2021, lockdowns and restrictions were re-imposed by all states and UTs. The second wave which started from Maharashtra, soon engulfed the entire nation. The Maharashtra government was quick to impose statewise lockdown, which put strict restrictions on movement of people and various activities. Non-essential retails outlets, malls, gyms, movie halls, parks, public transport all were shut down.

Offices were told to ask employees to work from home. While journalists and news establishments could function following strict COVID-19 protocols, no film, web series, TV serials and ad shootings were allowed. This brought to a halt all shootings in Maharashtra and producers shifted to neighbouring states such as Goa, Daman, Karnataka, even Delhi to carrying on with their shootings amid bio bubbles and following all COVID-19 protocols.

Now, with the number of new COVID-19 cases coming down, the Maharashtra government has announced its phase-wise unlock strategy after 52 days of lockdown, which come into effect from today (June 7, 2021). As per the new guidelines, the districts and the cities will be divided into five levels. Those cities and districts, which have less than 5 per cent positivity rate and less than 25 per cent occupancy rate of oxygen beds, will be put in Level 1 and will be free of all restrictions.

The cities and districts, which have up to 5 per cent positivity rate and 25-40 per cent occupancy rate will be placed under Level 2 of the plan. The districts and cities having a 5-10 per cent positivity rate and 40-60 per cent occupancy rate will come under Level 3. While those areas with a 10-20 per cent positivity rate and 60-75 per cent occupancy rate will be put under level 4, the areas with a positivity rate of 20 per cent and occupancy rate above 75 per cent will be placed under level 5 and will not see any relaxation.

Mumbai falls under Level 3 according to the new unlock plan. The Government has allowed resumption of film and TV shoots from June 7, 2021, which have to take place in a bio bubble and all shooting activity for the day will have to be wrapped by 5 pm.

Issuing a Government Resolution (GR), the Cultural Affairs Ministry said that producers will have to conduct pre-production and post-production works by adhering to the guidelines laid down by the government, as per media reports. As in the case of the Unlock protocols last year, limited number of people will be allowed on the sets, who will have to follow all COVID-29 protocols like social distancing, maintaining proper hygiene, wearing masks, and packing up on the given deadlines. The Government has warned that strict action will be taken against the industry people who fail to adhere to the set guidelines, which could also include stopping of work.

Reacting to the new guidelines, the industry bodies have requested the Maharashtra Chief Minister to increase the shoot timings from 7 am to 7 pm, and have pleaded that they need at least 12 hours to function on an optimal basis.

Meanwhile, many shootings for films and TV serials continue to take place outside Maharashtra, where the producers have created a bio bubble for their units. As of now, several of these producers see no point in returning to Mumbai as long as the curtailed shooting hours are in place.
The Nigerian government suspended microblogging site Twitters all operations in the country on Friday, according to the media reports.

The suspension was made after Twitter removed a post by Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari, which threatened to punish those responsible for recent attacks on electoral offices and police stations and mentioned the countrys 1960s civil war that killed 1 million people.

The company removed the post saying that Buharis post had violated Twitters abusive behaviour policy.

As per media reports, Nigerian Information Minister Lai Mohammed said the government had acted because of the persistent use of the platform for activities capable of undermining Nigerias corporate existence.
Ogilvy launched two digital campaigns for United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The two digital campaigns on Wildlife Trafficking were released on World Environment Day.

Conceptualized by Ogilvy for UNEP in association with WCCB (Wildlife Crime Control Bureau), MoEFCC (Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change), and TRAFFIC, this campaign was released on World Environment Day, June 5, 2021 by e 2021, by Prakash Keshav Javadekar, the Honourable Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Mr. Javadekar unveiled two campaigns titled, Not Your Medicine & #SadEmojis.



Rampant smuggling and slaughter of several Indian wildlife species exists due to superstitious beliefs and myths. Body parts are traded and prescribed to cure people from numerous diseases despite the lack of substantial scientific proof. The campaign Not your medicine delivers a hard-hitting point through its visuals by calling out species that suffer due to fake remedies.



The next campaign uses Emojis but of a different kind. Emojis are an integral part of our day-to-day conversations. All human expressions are covered by different emojis. To raise awareness about the most trafficked wildlife species and their plight, a special set of emojis of endangered species have been created. However, these emojis show just one type of expression, sadness. Netizens who wish to support the cause can join in by using these Sad Emojis in their conversations.



Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy India: The first campaign #NotYourMedicine highlights the plight of trafficked wildlife species suffering in the name of fake remedies even today. The second one - #SadEmojis, is a digital campaign wherein we launch a new set of sad emojis of endangered species, through which we aim to spread awareness with every single social conversation.



Atul Bagai, Country Head, United Nations Environment Programme: India Office, reiterated that The COVID -19 pandemic has been a wake-up call to the human race to respect nature and to learn to coexist. Illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest global crime. It is driven by demand for trophies, fashion accessories, exquisite cuisine, exotic pets and products based on cultural/ superstitious beliefs. One of the main reasons for illegal poaching and trade is their unsubstantiated use in traditional medicines. In building back better, we need to remember that these species, traded illegally for false remedies is one of the most serious threats to the existence of wildlife are- Not your medicine!



Celebrities like Dia Mirza, Akshay Kumar and many have joined in the cause by sharing both the campaigns far and wide. They have actively used #SadEmojis in their conversations and encouraged their followers to join in. In doing so, they have increased awareness as well as started a dialogue about wildlife issues prevalent today.







CREDITS

Agency: Ogilvy

Sukesh Nayak (India Chief Creative Officer)

Harshad Rajadhyaksha (India Chief Creative Officer)

Kainaz Karmakar (India Chief Creative Officer)

Sunil Sharma (Creative Director)

Rajesh Tiwari (Associate Creative Director)

Sheldon Dsouza (Copy Supervisor)

Prathamesh Pawaskar (Art Director)

Siddhesh Desai (Account Director)

Client: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Atul Bagai (Country Head UNEP)

Madhur Das (Senior Consultant, UNEP)

Production House: Conceptual Pictures




Pooja Hegde has time and again taken to her social media to have candid engagement with her fans. Updating her fans about her routine and much more, she makes it a point to be active. In this video, the message is what all strong women can relate to.



The actress on her social media page posted a short 15 second video where she explains why strong women refuse to give up. The caption reads, "Strong women... if you are one..or know one, you KNOW this to be true. #wonderwomen"

Pooja is one strong women herself who has set examples with the exemplary work she has done in every sphere. Lip syncing to the words 'strong women never give up', this message is sure to empower many women out there.



On the work front, the Indian actress has films panning across India from Rohit Shetty's Cirkus with Ranveer Singh, Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali with Salman Khan, Pan-India release, Radhe Shyam opposite Prabhas Acharyaa with Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan, Most Eligible Bachelor as well as Thalapathy 65 opposite Thalapathy Vijay.
People are looking at summer as a time to recharge their batteries, to get away from the stress, for their kids to have fun and play again, and maybe take a family vacation. ... Everyone is burned out and needs a break, said Cunneen, who spent a recent morning trying to recruit teachers for District 149s expansive summer school program slated for the last three weeks of June.
Global brand and customer experience agency VMLY&R, has appointed Mukund Olety as its Chief Creative Officer with immediate effect. Mukund will be a part of VMLY&R Indias senior leadership council and have a dual reporting line into Anil Nair, CEO of VMLY&R India and Valerie Madon, Chief Creative Officer, VMLY&R Asia. His last assignment was with BBDO China as Group Creative Director.



Before joining VMLY&R, Mukund led award-winning creative teams at BBDO China on Mars Wrigley, Visa, and Volkswagen. A tenured agency professional, Mukund has also previously partnered with Ogilvy in Beijing to create digital and integrated campaigns for Nestle and Audi.



With experience in India, China, and South-East Asia; Mukund, at the rudder of the creative team, will be instrumental in developing and strengthening the creative capabilities in India in tandem with VMLY&Rs positioning of creating connected brands that add value for clients by harnessing creativity, technology, and culture. Mukunds mandate will include driving the agencys creative vision and nurturing its creative talent.



Mukund Olety, Chief Creative Officer, VMLY&R India, said, If there is one agency that is poised to become The Agency of this Decade, it is VMLY&R. It has this potent mix of creativity, technology, culture, and commerce. That is everything you need to create connected brands for the new age. What bowled me over was the ambition that Anil and the team have for the India office. With industry legends like Tripti, Valerie and Anil at the helm, there is not a better group of people I want to take this ride with. I am looking forward to creating connected, future-facing and awesome work for our key clients and brands.



Anil Nair, Chief Executive Officer, VMLY&R India commented, I couldnt have thought of a better person to lead our creative team in these thought-provoking times. Mukund has extensive experience working on both local and global brands and working at both Indian and international levels. This grasp of both, coupled with his passion for creativity, makes him an outstanding addition to the VMLY&R family.



With a career spanning nearly two decades, Mukund has also had stints with agencies such as Leo Burnett- Malaysia, O&M India, JWT, DDB Mudra and has worked on a host of reputed brands such as Mercedes, McDonalds, Carlsberg, Samsung, Durex, Unilever, Maxis Telecom, Nike, ESPN, Bingo and Coke, just to name a few.

He has served on Jury panels and partnered with One Club to mentor young creatives. A winner of multiple awards, Mukund has won at Spikes, WARC, EFFIES, LIA, just to name a few.
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Bern, 07.06.2021 - Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis received on 7 June 2021 in Bern all of the members of the State Council of the Canton of Ticino and the federal parliamentarians of Ticino and the Italian-speaking part of Graubunden. The representatives of the governments and parliaments of the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland discussed current issues such as the management of the pandemic and relations with the EU, as well as topics of particular interest to Switzerland's Italian-speaking community.

Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), maintains a regular political dialogue with the cantonal governments of Ticino and Graubunden, as well as with parliamentarians of the canton Ticino and the Italian-speaking part of Graubunden in the Federal Assembly. Having met with the members of the governments of Ticino and Graubunden on 28 September 2020 in Bellinzona, Mr Cassis decided to meet with them in Bern together with the parliamentarians of the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland in the Federal Assembly.



They discussed topics of common interest such as the promotion of multilingualism in Switzerland and abroad, and various aspects of relations with Italy, in particular the issue of cross-border commuters.

He briefed them on the FDFA's recent efforts to ensure an equitable representation of Switzerland's language communities in the Federal Administration and in federal businesses and to promote the rights of minorities in Switzerland and abroad. He also underscored the fact that "the coexistence of different linguistic communities is central to Switzerland's identity and an essential component of its international image."

The FDFA and the governments of Ticino and Graubunden intend to follow up on the 'Piccolo Erasmus' initiative  an exchange programme for apprentices and young professionals from both cantons  proposed at the last meeting in Bellinzona. A pilot project will be launched this year involving the mutual secondment of staff from the cantonal administrations of Ticino and Graubunden on the one hand and the FDFA in Bern on the other. This cultural and linguistic exchange is intended to create added value for all administrations concerned.

Another topic of discussion was the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular the Federal Council's plan to ease restrictions and facilitate the gradual resumption of international travel. Recent developments in European policy were also addressed: Mr Cassis emphasised the Federal Council's determination to continue working with the EU in the various areas covered by the bilateral agreements.

The president of Ticino's State Council, Manuele Bertoli, who is also the president of the Forum per l'italiano, underscored that "these meetings and the projects they lead to chime perfectly with the Forum's goals." For National Councillor Rocco Cattaneo, the president of the parliamentary group that represents Ticino in Bern, the meeting provided an opportunity to discuss how the various political representatives of Italian-speaking Switzerland can work together: "Uniting and aligning our efforts more and more will allow us to achieve tangible results for our region and our culture."

Address for enquiries

FDFA Communication

Federal Palace West Wing

CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland

Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53

Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55

E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch

Twitter: @SwissMFA

Publisher

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html




Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Bern, 07.06.2021 - After supplying aid to India and Nepal, Switzerland is also helping Sri Lanka to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday 7 June 2021 Swiss Humanitarian Aid dispatched medical supplies worth CHF 3.5 million to Colombo, including half a million antigen tests, 50 ventilators, 150 oxygen concentrators and testing materials.

In response to the serious public health situation in Sri Lanka and calls for assistance from the Sri Lankan authorities, Swiss Humanitarian Aid immediately set up a crisis unit to provide aid supplies as quickly as possible to help Sri Lanka's efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the requirements issued by the Sri Lankan authorities, a list of supplies Switzerland was able to provide was drawn up in close cooperation with the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport and the Federal Department of Home Affairs.

An aircraft left Zurich today with 16 tonnes of supplies on board. In addition to the 50 ventilators provided by the Armed Forces Pharmacy, the supplies included 150 oxygen concentrators and other medical equipment (such as devices for measuring oxygen levels). The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) also added half a million antigen tests to the consignment. Before assembling the supplies, it was clarified that they would not be needed for the Swiss population.

The consignment will be received in Colombo by representatives of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health and then distributed to the different locations. The Swiss embassy in Sri Lanka is in close contact with the local authorities to ensure that the supplies are distributed fairly and in line with humanitarian principles.

Last year, Switzerland also contributed CHF 1 million to Sri Lanka's efforts to combat COVID-19. In October 2020, it funded a device for PCR testing in Colombo airport and provided 39,000 test kits  with the aim of helping Sri Lankan migrant workers who had lost their jobs abroad because of COVID-19 to return home. The Swiss embassy has also given CHF 100,000 to local partners providing emergency COVID-19 aid to the neediest people, especially low-income families.

Today's consignment to Sri Lanka is the third Swiss Humanitarian Aid supply mission to South Asia within a month. Swiss Humanitarian Aid, which is part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, sent 13 tonnes of supplies to India and 30 tonnes to Nepal in recent weeks. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Swiss Humanitarian Aid has been continuously monitoring public health developments around the world and is ready to provide as much support as it can upon request.

Address for enquiries

FDFA Communication

Federal Palace West Wing

CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland

Tel. Communication service: +41 58 462 31 53

Tel. Press service: +41 58 460 55 55

E-mail: kommunikation@eda.admin.ch

Twitter: @SwissMFA

Publisher

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html



Federal Office of Public Health

http://www.bag.admin.ch



General Secretariat FDHA

http://www.edi.admin.ch



General Secretariat DDPS

https://www.vbs.admin.ch/



Defence

http://www.vtg.admin.ch




Autism is a world of behaviors. And behaviorists. We are familiar with negative reinforcement. And we do not like it. Torture is the ultimate negative reinforcement. I can't help but wonder if there are those in the demented world of Public Health who would choose to waterboard citizens to increase uptake.



Negative reinforcement is a method that can be used to help teach specific behaviors. With negative reinforcement, something uncomfortable or otherwise unpleasant is taken away in response to a stimulus.



I would say that if this story is accurate from India, the Indian public health agency is using negative reinforcement on the villagers. How far is that from the only slightly more subtle version of what is happening elsewhere? Like here in the USA. If you don't get your Covid vaccine there will be no college. Sporting events. Seating in restaurants.



###

Over 100 families of Chhibramau village in Kannauj district are living in darkness for the last three days because they didnt want to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

A team from the health department had visited our village on Wednesday morning. They wanted the entire village to be vaccinated. However, around 40 per cent of the villagers refused to take the vaccine because they believed that their immunity level would go down for a few days and they might fall sick, a villager, who didnt want to be named, told reporters on Friday.

The medical team called the sub-divisional magistrate and informed him about the resistance.

The SDM arrived in the village and tried to convince us to get vaccinated. When we kept refusing, he suddenly got furious and called the electricity department officials. They disconnected the power supply in our houses on the order of the officer, the villager added.

Even on Friday, some officers came and asked us to get inoculated, failing which they would take legal action against us. We know that they cannot take any legal action, but the way they are threatening us is alarming, Mahendra Singh, another villager, said. Read more at Telegraph India.
Editors note: This article is part of a series featuring women members of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.

LODI, Wis.  Theres a lot of pride in taking care of land and animals to produce delicious dairy products for people, says Sydney Endres, who plans to return to the farm one day. She currently serves as an area representative and type-traits appraiser for the American Jersey Cattle Association. Endres also serves as the Young Farmer and Agriculturalist chair for the Columbia County Farm Bureau.

When and why did you begin farming?

Endres: I fell in love with cows growing up around them on my family farm, Jazzy Jerseys. I plan to return to the farm because its rewarding to work with cows and family every day, though sometimes challenging. Every day theres something new on the farm.

What do you produce on your farm and why?

Endres: We raise Jersey cows; we milk about 800 cows. With young stock and dry cows we have about 1,700 head of cattle. Their milk is mainly used for producing Mozzarella cheese. We farm 1,200 acres, growing different crops to feed our herd. We also contract-grow sweet corn and peas for a canning company. We recently became seed dealers for Becks Hybrids.

We milk cows because we were raised on dairy farms and continue to love it. My dad is the first generation at our current farm but he comes from a long line of farmers.

Does your family help with the farm?
When thinking about agriculture in Montana, words like grain, cows, and sugarbeets come to mind. However, FFA members Gwen Collins of Shields Valley FFA and Lauren Neibur of the Big Timber FFA are proving that agriculture is about more than sows, cows, and plows as both young ladies have found success raising honeybees for a Specialty Animal Production Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE).

None of that stereotypical agriculture could happen without honeybees. Crops wouldnt be pollinated and there would be nothing to feed your cattle, sheep, and hogs. Bees are the most underrated part of agriculture, said Neibur, a senior at Sweet Grass County High School.

Neibur cant really articulate what drew her to honeybees in the first place. Her childhood bedroom was honeybee themed, so maybe the small buzzing creatures carried a bit of nostalgia. Whatever the reason, after winning a $1,000 SAE grant, she invested the money into bees and hives.

After getting the hives up and going, Neibur still had a couple hundred dollars leftover from her grant and got the hankering to take the idea of raising honeybees to the next level.

I got to thinking I should try to make a little bit of a business out of this, which was never the idea in the beginning. I just wanted to learn more about honeybees, but I got to thinking this may be an opportunity to make some money, she reflected.

With that entrepreneurial spirit, Neibur developed the brand Crazy Bee Honey, a homage to her home beneath the Crazy Mountains.
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by Bernardo Cervellera

The fifth ordinand is guilty of taking part in World Youth Day in 2016. For detained Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin, The seeds planted are now in full bloom and now know joy. The patriotic Church is trying to sinicise Chinas Catholicism and promote Xi Jinpings New Era

Rome  The Diocese of Shanghai has four new priests. Ordained on Saturday, they were supposed to be five, but one deacon was not ordained on government orders because he attended on his own World Youth Day, in Krakow (Poland), from 25 to 31 July 2016.

For this reason, although he was ordained deacon a day earlier, Friday, together with the other four, he saw his priestly ordination put on hold until a later date.

The ordination ceremony was held in St Ignatius Cathedral (Xujiahui). Bishop Joseph Shen Bin, vice president of the Council of Bishops and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), led the Mass.

Bishop Shen Bin is in charge of Haimen (Jiangsu), a nearby diocese; he was recognised by both the Holy See and the Chinese government when he was ordained in 2010.

Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin of Shanghai could not attend the service. He was placed under house arrest at the Sheshan seminary in 2012 after he resigned from the CPCA. Since then, he has not been allowed to have any contact with the public or exercise any episcopal functions.

In addition to the relatives of the ordinands, the ceremony saw the presence of civil and religious authorities, many priests and nuns from the local diocese. Only a few believers were able to attend.

Due to anti-COVID regulations, the church could accommodate only a limited number of people who had to wear masks and keep a strict social distance.

The four new priests are: Fr John Ning Yongwang, 30, from Baotou (Inner Mongolia); Fr John Zhou Jia, 34, from Bayanzhuoer (Inner Mongolia); Fr Matthew Mi Jizhou, 29, from Xingtai (Hebei); and Fr Francis Wu Shun, 31, from Jinzhong (Shanxi).

The deacon whose ordination was not allowed is Paul Yang Dongdong, 34, from Nantiangong (Lucheng, Shanxi).

They stopped him only because he went to participate in World Youth Day, said a Catholic man speaking about Deacon Yangs exclusion from the priesthood (hopefully only temporarily).

Usually an ordination is stopped when the ordinand has done some base things, or does not live the faith properly. But in this case, he (Yang) and other young Catholics from around the world simply went to meet Pope Francis. Thus it seems that in China having relations with the Pope and the rest of the Church is a sin.

Bishop Ma Daqin, whose personal blog has been censored for years, managed to send a short message on WeChat (the Chinese Whatsapp). Today is a beautiful day, he writes. Four new priests have been added to the Diocese of Shanghai: Fr Ning Yongwang, Fr Zhou Jia, Fr Mi Jizhou, Fr Wu Shun, plus Yang Dongdong, a deacon of the sixth class. Let us give thanks to God for rewarding us with five more workers in God's field, with priests for the younger generations of the Church and spiritual fathers of the faithful.

I give my sincere offering to the Lord. I give offerings of thanksgiving and the rosary to the new priests and to the new deacon. I pray that God's grace will always be with them. I also pray that God will grant us more priests, more nuns and more vocations. The seeds planted are now in full bloom and now know joy. May God be forever praised.

After Bishop Ma was placed under house arrest, the Sheshan seminary was closed. Only in 2017 did priestly ordinations resume.

Last Friday, before the five candidates were ordained into the diaconate, Bishop Shen Bin gave a lecture on Adhering to the sinicisation of Catholicism and doing a good job at teaching the New Era.

Sinicisation and New Era are two slogans by President Xi Jinping with an ultimate goal of setting up a national church closely linked to Chinese culture and the Communist Party, and supporting a New Era in which China outclasses the nations of the world.
It is cancel culture, that is all it is  they did not agree with what we were doing so they desperately tried to muddy our reputation and discredit us, he said. They come after us in the comments and call us Grandma killers. Whatever they want to throw at us frankly leaves no room for personal responsibility and personal accountability, and that is not what America is all about.
I think people realize were tremendously blessed to have this funding, especially as a low-income school district where even before the pandemic, we were dealing with the achievement gap every day, Cunneen said. My first reaction was, Oh my goodness! What are we going to do with this money? But we have to be innovative, and we have to change the paradigm, and not do the same thing, as thats not really changing anything.
Lake Charles, Louisiana (70615)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 95F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms overnight. Low 74F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Not since the glove in the O.J. Simpson murder case has a piece of fabric received more notoriety and discussion than the modern mask. Even after Joe Biden shuffled up to the mic to take what was supposed to be a verbal victory lap for COVID decline, a surprising number of Americans were still reluctant to believe in the safety of "facing" the world without it.

In a contentious America whose resentments are played out publicly in the name of race, sex, social status, and political affiliation, it is perhaps not surprising that one's choice to wear or discard a mask has also given rise to controversy.

Yet even now, there are far fewer objections to wearing a mask than to getting inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccines, despite the fact that the latter has been determined virtually fool-proof and the former just about useless.

For the first time since his presidency, Biden was conspicuously mask-less as he delivered the CDC verdict to the effect that vaccinated Americans  or those who gained immunity from having had the disease  were now free, with some exceptions, to remove their masks. As he droned on, Chameleon Joe tried to transform himself from the long-dark-winter, doom-and-gloom candidate into the triumphant victor over the virus. In fact, he had the chutzpah to taunt so-called "naysayers" over whom he himself had pessimistically presided.

One would think this long anticipated good news might send compliant Americans pouring into the streets to make bonfires of their well worn masks. But perhaps due to Biden's general flip-flopping on issues, a surprising number of skeptical people  ironically, most of them Democrats  did not take him at his word.

My own celebration proved premature. Having removed the various masks hanging on my doorknobs and burying them in a dresser drawer, I showed my face in the corridors of my apartment complex, only to be reprimanded by management for not wearing a mask. I was brusquely informed that state and local jurisdictions had their own set of rules regardless of the latest CDC recommendations.

The next day, I was surprised to find that masks and social distancing signs had been removed from my local supermarket. When I entered the store, however, I felt like a looter. What was I doing in a place where at least 95% of the shoppers were still covering their faces? And worse, their disapproving eyes seemed to be searching me out!

I was struck by the absurdity of it all. Despite the fact that our government had spent millions on vaccine research, development, testing, distribution, and injection, the preponderance of shoppers in that market still felt that the ultimate protection from viral illness or death lay in an unspecified, flimsy piece of fabric suspended over half their face. Justin Bieber may be unpopular now, but JustIn Case is riding high.

Weeks later, this trend persists. Check out the background people in TV news stories, and note that only one or two in the crowd are not wearing masks. Some of them could be unvaccinated, but that hardly jibes with the CDC reports that most eligible Americans have already rolled up their sleeves for the shots or have natural immunity from having had COVID. Now there is the further absurdity of trying to bribe Americans to get vaccinated. It is like staying put in a burning building until the fireman agrees to brings you a free hamburger, French fries, and beer.

Naturally, face coverings are less invasive than inoculations and lack the possible side effects. Mandated at the inception of the pandemic and well before the slightest possibility of a vaccine, masks were universally unpopular in the beginning. Yet we learned to clap them on our faces, ignoring the constant confusion as to their effectiveness. What other choice, after all, had we been given? Masks appeared to be the only thing that we could do as a group to stop the spread of the disease. People who refused to wear them were eventually viewed as unpatriotic pariahs. The ugly term "spreader" came to mean something more than a means of fertilizing a lawn. The only thing that excused the mask's absence and exceeded its mandate was unfettered participation in a BLM protest. In fact, leftist news sources knocked themselves out trying to "prove" that such mask-less events did not escalate COVID cases.

In any event, donning a mask wasn't all that big a deal. It was sort of like signing on to the idea of global warming. While there has never been unassailable proof that windmills, solar panels, etc. can actually save us from disaster  or, in fact, that we even need saving -- the idea itself is embraced because it sounds so intrinsically noble and  best of all  takes so little personal sacrifice to support.

After a while, we got used to the idea of wearing a mask. For some, it even became convenient. With it in place, the need for facial grooming plummeted, even as the rest of our bodies swelled from the consumption of comfort foods, often conveniently delivered to our place of shelter. Under the circumstances, it might even be considered a blessing not to be recognized.

I won't go so far as to suggest that a spiritual belief system developed around the mask, in the manner, say, of the Shroud of Turin. But there's little doubt that for some, it became a scrap of security always on hand  or on face  like Linus' beloved blanket. Though countless masks slipped below noses or hung by threads, the supposition behind them was always, in truth, more talisman than guarantee. Rather than argue, it simply became the thing to do.

The mask might also have some significance in terms of our national psyche: a small action that in some way united us all. It's possible that because of the mask, we no longer registered people as black or white, male or female, old or young. We were the masketeers  all for one and one for all. Speaker Pelosi tried to elevate the mask to an attention-getting fashion statement, a rather flippant and narcissistic gesture under the grim circumstances. Manufacturers jumped into the burgeoning market with different designs, features, and materials. It was American ingenuity at its best.

As the pandemic worsened, few believed anything our leaders told us. And the biggest whopper was that "we are all in this together," suggesting that the pandemic was an equal-opportunity destroyer. Nothing was farther from the truth. Bureaucrats determined what trades could continue and which had to close. The livelihoods of some Americans were suspended, leaving them anxious and financially strapped. Others were barely impacted, their jobs managed remotely, their income streams steady.

Later, the government slowed down recovery by giving the unemployed more money than they could earn by returning to work.

In the course of the pandemic, some families lost loved ones; others did not. Seniors were singled out early on as most vulnerable, but even those who managed to survive the lockdowns would never be the same.

And the frustrating injustices did not stop there. Public officials who mismanaged the pandemic have yet to pay the price. Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose foolhardy decision to return active COVID sufferers to their nursing homes, was responsible for the deaths of thousands of elderly New Yorkers.

Yet there he sits in his Albany mansion, enriched by a book deal and thus far immune from charges of sexual misconduct. On the other coast, hypocrite Governor Gavin Newsom is handing out federal taxpayer monies to mollify enraged constituents. The once Golden State has in place a gubernatorial recall system, but while there may be a way, is there a will?

Who knows how much longer the mask fetish may remain? Next to the mismanagement, deceit, lies, and ignorance on display by those in power during this debilitating siege, it is perhaps the least of our concerns. If vaccinated, there's less chance of getting infected than of being struck by lightning. But those who are still without immunity should not expect the mask to hedge their bets.

Image via Pexels.

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Did leftists learn nothing from the adventures of Wile E. Coyote forever trying to catch the Roadrunner but always failing? New York prosecutors under District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. have convened a grand jury to investigate The Trump Organization (TTO) owned by former President Trump and his family (replacing the one already convened in 2018).

There is nothing to stop an indictment of Trump, other than remembering what happened to the Duke Lacrosse player prosecutor. But the deep states attempt to arrest and indict Trump will fail.

It is starting to look as if the endless adrenaline high is the real point. If the New York prosecutors investigation is measured in news headlines, then they have already accomplished what they hoped.

Getting leftists stirred up with breathless anticipation that President Trump is about to be hauled away in handcuffs isnt about the truth. Its about whipping up their campaign volunteers into a frenzy and demoralizing Trump voters.

Prosecutors seem eager to convince people that their investigation is a real threat.

The leaks tell us that possible crimes  by the businesses, not Trump individually -- range from tax fraud by undervaluing real estate for tax purposes, bank fraud (in loans), and insurance fraud by overvaluing the same real estate on loan applications and for insurance coverage. The amount lost is apparently $0.00. The banks, insurance companies, and tax authorities have only lost time and money responding to District Attorney Vance.

Valuation of commercial real estate is an art, not a science. To say that TTOs valuation is wrong or false is like nailing jello to a wall. Does one use the original construction cost? The cost to rebuild it today? The income potential? Recent sales of similar properties, which for this type of real estate are not easily comparable? An owners opinion of value is too uncertain to be wrong. Thats why no lender pays any attention to it.

For real estate taxes, New York City has a tax assessor. They dont ask you how much your office building is worth. They tell you. If you dont agree, you can file a protest. Good luck.

What about the deduction for mortgage interest? That also has nothing to do with the actual value of the real estate. The lender issues a Form 1099 to show how much interest a borrower actually paid to the mortgage lender.

Trumps tax returns have been continuously audited. An audit means, by definition, looking at the underlying financial records to see if they match the tax returns. The documents that New York prosecutors just obtained have been in the possession of the IRS and New York tax agencies for years, if not decades. The 2018 grand jury asked to see the same documents that tax agencies already hold in confidence. The audits found nothing wrong after examining all the records.

The same with bank fraud. No mortgage lender issues a loan without hiring their own independent real estate appraiser. The lender, not the borrower, hires the appraiser. The appraiser answers to the lender in all questions. No lender cares what you think your property is worth.

There might be some Stormy Daniels in the investigation (money laundering by hiding the transaction), even though the Federal Election Commission dropped that case. Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferers have always argued the wrong legal test: Getting a hair transplant, teeth whitening, new suits, cosmetic surgery, or a new car could have been motivated explicitly to improve a candidates chances in an election campaign. But those are personal expenditures. Trumps settlement with Daniels was a personal expense, even if it benefitted his campaign.

The statute of limitations for relevant crimes under New York law ranges from three to six years under New York State law depending on what kind of crime is alleged.

First, prosecutors hope to toll (pause) the limitations periods under Criminal Procedure Article 30, Section 10, Paragraph 4. New Yorks statute of limitations is extended for any period when the defendant was continuously outside this state. In every rational State, this means when a defendant was actually evading prosecution as a fugitive from justice, not when they just went to Disney World for the weekend. New York courts mangle the continuously requirement.

However, Trumps business never left New York State. It is a New York legal entity with its operations and headquarters at all times in New York. Thats why New Yorks local prosecutors are involved. So, the statute of limitations has never stopped running.

Second, unlike the Harvey Weinstein case, Donald Trump remained a citizen of New York State up through October 2019. Thats when Trump declared Florida as his primary residence. Until that point, Trump declared his intent to return to living at Trump Tower after leaving office. Indeed, Trump critics complained about the cost of Secret Service protection at Trump Tower, inadvertently conceding that Trump still lived there.

The case of People v. Cruciani turned on whether a doctor had remained a citizen of New York. The case noted that the result could be different for a defendant merely away from home.

The law in every state requires that someone on a temporary sojourn -- like a soldier stationed overseas or a student going away to college  retains citizenship until they choose to relocate. Trump was legally present in New York State up through October 2019.

Furthermore, Trump still has a domicile or abode at Trump Tower up to this very moment. Legally Trump never left New York State. He just chose one of his residences as primary.

Third, prosecutors leak that they might use a conspiracy charge. Thats complicated. But New Yorks statute of limitations regarding criminal conspiracies expire three years after the last overt act by a particular participant. It does not matter if the conspiracy continues. What matters is when a specific individual last took some action in furtherance of the conspiracy.

The same is true for New Yorks state-law version of racketeering laws. It does not matter for these purposes how long the alleged racketeering enterprise was active. What counts is when did a particular individual last do something to advance the racketeering enterprise. The statute of limitations on that is five years.

Cyrus Vances office could end up screaming at the sky alongside other frustrated #NeverTrumpers.

Image: Manhattan District Attorney's Office

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Many majority Democrat cities have fallen victim to progressive prosecutors. Rather than drive down crime, improve public safety, and promote common sense tough-on-crime policies, these zealots campaign on platforms of structural racism, outcome equity, and restorative justice. In these cities, such performances have in fact become a requirement for the office of district attorney (DA). Aspiring DAs must protest the disproportionate prosecution of minorities without examining the underlying causes; they must clamor for the elimination of cash bail in the name of racial fairness; and they must recommend sentence reduction or alternatives to incarceration to mitigate past injustices.

Committed to reimagining the criminal justice system in the service of woke rhetoric, these DAs are neither acting in the public interest to enforce the law nor honoring their oath of office. They forget that their principal duty is to uphold the law, not crusade for changes driven by their political agenda. In the process, they are emboldening offenders, fostering disrespect for the law, unleashing dangerous criminals on society, and  worst of all  robbing victims of due justice. San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin, who wears his ideological lineage on his sleeve and currently faces a recall campaign, arrogantly claims that a DA can challenge the legitimacy of a law by declining to bring charges in certain cases.

Progressive policies have time and again been proven to be misguided, even inimical to public safety.

A study by the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF) found that in six jurisdictions with social justice prosecutors, reduced conviction rates and fewer guilty outcomes for serious felonies accompanied rising crime rates. It questioned the supplanting of the standard requirement of competency and experience for DAs with ideological zeal. In his foreword to the study, former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III wrote that elected leaders, law enforcement, and the media should realize that leftist ideas of social justice and true criminal justice are not compatible.

The radicalization of DA offices and the clamor for defunding the police comes as crime rates are skyrocketing and Americans are worried. A recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll found that 49% of respondents said that violent crime was their top concern, ahead of the pandemic, the economy, political correctness, and race relations.

Homicide rates rose 30% in 2020 in 20 major cities, with an additional 28% from January to March of 2021. Not surprisingly, Minneapolis, the epicenter of the defund-the-police movement, has a shortage of officers and a homicide rate that rose 108% between 2019 and 2020.

Los Angeles County, the largest county in the U.S., where murders have increased nearly 200% so far this year compared to the same months in 2020, demands special attention. So does its progressive DA, George Gascon, who publicly endorses Black Lives Matter (BLM) and indirectly supports the defund-the-police movement.

The countys sheriff, Alex Villanueva, believes that Gascons policies have emboldened criminals and endangered citizens. Like Boudin, Gascon too faces a recall movement thats gathering huge momentum, a measure of public objection to his uber-liberal policies on crime.

Gascon  who was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1954, and was brought to the U.S. by his immigrant parents in the 1960s  joined the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) after military service in 1978. From patrol officer, he moved up the ranks to assistant chief, completing a Juris Doctor degree in 1996.

In 2009, San Franciscos then-mayor Gavin Newsom appointed him police chief. Two years later, Newsom named Gascon DA, replacing Kamala Harris when she became attorney general for California.

As San Francisco DA, Gascon expunged misdemeanor and felony convictions for more than 9,000 drug offenders. When he left San Francisco to run as a Democrat candidate for LA district attorney, former prosecutor Nancy Tung wrote: its no wonder San Francisco has gone by the wayside, crooks commute into San Francisco to commit crimes, and why many were celebrating his departure.

Gascons campaign against incumbent DA Jackie Lacey was supported by wealthy donors who support criminal justice reform. Billionaire funder of all causes radical, George Soros, donated $2.5 million. He was also backed by Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Kamala Harris, Governor Gavin Newsom, and BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors, a self-admitted trained Marxist organizer whose supporters mobilized for his campaign.

On winning, Gascons first major meeting was with BLM organizers when he pledged to reevaluate 20,000 potential cases of convictions with enhancements under Californias three-strike law. The 1994 law doubles punishment for serious crimes on a second conviction; the third conviction brings a life sentence with a minimum imprisonment of 25 years. He also announced that he would end the death penalty and commute the sentences of death-row inmates to life in prison; that he would end the practice of trying juveniles committing serious or violent felonies as adults; that he would reevaluate the sentences of those who have served more than 20 years; and that he would reopen dozens of fatal officer-involved shooting cases. He proposed the elimination of cash bail, a potentially explosive situation that could release dangerous criminals into the general population with no assurance that they would appear in court, a proposal opposed by 56% of California voters. The shocked Los Angeles Police Protective League stated: Victims and law-abiding residents lost a voice today while criminals and gang members gained an ally in the prosecutors office.

In December 2020, after being sworn in, Gascon wrote an open letter to the members of the Los Angeles County law enforcement community, accusing the LAPD of unconstitutional policing and practices that severely hindered the standing and safety of us all. He announced his belief in the revolution-seeking, anarchist, terrorism-supporting BLM, an organization that doesnt just want to defund the police but abolish the entire justice system. While describing the summer of unrest as degrading our standing in the communities where we both work and live, he ignored the rioting, arson, assaults, and murders of civilians and police officers unleashed by BLM, Antifa, and other left-wing groups.

Other policies Gascon pursues include the cessation of prosecution for first-time offenders who have committed nonviolent offenses, reduction of prosecution of low level crimes, and limitations on the arrest of criminal illegal aliens to avoid deportation. He has also ordered the dismissal of a dozen misdemeanors on the books, including criminal threats, being under the influence of a controlled substance, trespassing, disturbing the peace, and resisting arrest  all without conditions. He charged prosecutors with the responsibility of searching out instances of racial injustice in order to vacate convictions rather than perform their traditional role of ensuring public safety by prosecuting criminals. He even issued a directive to assist the families of felons with funeral and mental health services at taxpayer expense.

Under Gascons orders, all sentences of those who have served more than 15 years must be reevaluated. He has forbidden deputy DAs from supporting victims by attending parole hearings, even for serial and child rapists, writing anything but neutral parole letters, and ordered his prosecutors to support parole in most cases.

Public horror at Gascons radical policies that put criminals rights above that of victims, the marked uptick in crime in Los Angeles county, and lack of justice for victims of violent crimes and their families catalyzed the Recall Gascon movement this May. The movement has found support from the county sheriff, local district attorneys and mayors, crime victims and their families, and more than a dozen city councils. For a recall election, just under 600,000 signatures (10% of the countys registered voters) must be collected by October 27. Hopefully, Gascon will go  and Los Angeles will serve as a model for other jurisdictions plagued by rogue prosecutors who want to reimagine policing and undermine community safety.

Image: Shaun Calhoun

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Paul Ryan (I know, sorry for bringing him up) delivered a speech at the Reagan Presidential Library at the end of May in which he sought to reassert himself as a leader of the Republican Party. His shtick was the same spit wash that Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, and George Bush have tried rubbing on the Republican electorate time and again since Biden's official installation. We're better than this reality TV outsider who hijacked the party. Boo to populism; yay to True Conservatism, Inc.! This is serious, people; we're at a 'crossroads' here.

I'll tell ya, he sold me. If we act now and hand the party back to the likes of Romney, Bill Kristol, Nicolle Wallace, Steve Schmidt, Michael Steele, and all those Lincoln Project pedophile-protectors, then True Conservatism can finally be conserved most conservatively. It will be awesome! All that is required is a recurring hundred-dollar monthly donation and an annual vacation booking on Cruise Ship Bloviate, where D.C. "Smart People" will deign to entertain the riffraff from flyover country with their vacuous circumlocution, haughty preening, and selling of indulgences to those poor pensioners willing to buy whatever new book some intern wrote for the grifters to hock.

Boy, just thinking about all those yahoos makes me that much more thankful that Donald Trump came around to expose the Republican Brahmin class for what it is. To be so off-putting yet so capable of putting on airs is a tremendous talent that distinguishes the serpent-tongued Republicans of D.C. from the unkempt and unworthy horde of voters who know only how "to say what they mean and mean what they say." Honest plain speaking is for the rubes; real sophistication requires lying to voters every two years and then mocking them for their beliefs while wine-and-cheesin' it up with Chuck Schumer's friends on the cocktail circuit in Northwest D.C.

After all these years, Paul Ryan and his "Washington Generals" cohorts are still so blinded by their hatred for Donald Trump that they'd prefer the double-team of Mao's Cultural Revolution and Stalin's dissident purge (Where did everyone go? I don't know; they just "disappeared.") presently napalming freedom in America to taking a hard look at why Republican voters abandoned them in the first place. Why not? Introspection is hard, but status quo ante is easy. The "utopian" collectivism of Mao and Stalin killed only a hundred million people last century, but surely Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" patriotism is more evil than the Democratic Party's resurrection of those mass murderers' policies here in America. Let's roll the dice, take back the Republican Party from the party-crasher, and see if we can compromise and find some sensible middle ground with those on the political left who have started to build guillotines for our executions on the public square right next to where the cicada-soy ice cream Antifa vendor set up shop. Deep down, we're all Americans, right? Right?! What opiated denialism!

What was Paul Ryan's biting critique of Donald Trump's policies? He's a dreaded "populist"! Oh, no! He may have been one of the most conservative American presidents in U.S. history, but he tweets his thoughts contemporaneously and refuses to act "presidentially." His behavior is coarse, appealing to coarse in kind, and all that was too much for one Christian to bear. Forget about Trump's substantive accomplishments; it's his style over which we must obsess. And in Paul Ryan's Republican Party, style wins over substance every time.

While recognizing that Trump actually succeeded in expanding the party's appeal to a diverse electorate (a truth that most every other NeverTrump has buried while ignoring that President Trump won more votes in 2020 than any sitting president in history  and nearly ten million more than Obama won in re-election), Ryan concludes that voters want Republican leaders who have "independence and mettle," not mere "flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago." That's it, Ryan. You got it! Republican voters who grew so disillusioned by decades of Establishment Republican betrayals that they opted to toss them all aside for a non-politician are now eager to reward true leadership and grit again by seeking a return to power of the same crippled conservatism and Republican gimpiness that led them to choose Donald Trump in the first place. What independent thinking! What brawny displays of virility and mettle! When we voted for Trump the outsider, what we actually wanted was a NeverTrump insider this whole time. Brilliant!

Deriding Trump as nothing more than a "populist" too lowly for the high principles of the Brahmins sort of reveals the whole D.C. aristocratic power palace for what it is  a hunting ground for "club members" only. Their spoils, their rules. If we were talking about democratic elections here, popularity might be kind of a nice arrow to have in the quiver. Can you win a national presidential election and not be popular with the people? Only if you're Joe Biden and a "secret cabal of wealthy and politically connected elites" conspire "to manipulate the rules and laws of an election in order to win." Otherwise, elections run on "popularity."

When Ryan levels the "populist" label against Trump as a pejorative, he's really crying that Donald Trump managed to succeed in 2016 (and 2020  go ahead, Facebook, censor away) after being denied the blessings of the one percent of the one percent who hoard power in the United States and did so by loudly proclaiming his loathing and vitriol for all the corrupt Washington institutionalists who have sold out America for the last thirty years. Trump told the permanent oligarchy to shove it where the sun don't shine, and the oligarchy said, Egads, this is a proper democracy. Who allowed the little people a say in our choice for president? Someone print some more money, mail out a "stimmy," and tell the NASCAR crowd to shut up.

Is it any wonder after decades of being led by a bunch of mealy-mouthed Washington neoconservatives who go out of their way to demean regular, everyday Americans, Republican voters finally said enough? That we'll go with the most outsidiest outsider we can find, the one who most successfully proves he hates all you people in D.C. and the crony culture you represent? And if he happens to actually want to make America great in the process, rather than China or corporate multinationals or all the foreign nationals illegally crossing the border, then hell, we'll take a double-scoop of that, too?

Michael Moore predicted that a 2016 Trump victory would be the biggest middle finger "ever recorded in human history." I don't know about that, but I definitely think it was the biggest middle finger to the Washington ruling class since the real Washington was stacking up corpses of redcoats.

In reacting to Paul Ryan's speech, an online commenter going by the name Zendor summed it up with a clever portmanteau: "The only leadership shown by Rinosaur Ryan is leading other rinos to extinction." I think Zendor nails the truth, and I think Ryan is still missing how massive the Trump meteor has been. The time of Romney-Ryan Republicanism is over. The Trump Era has only just begun.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.

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The article of faith that unites all who condemn Israel's response to Hamas rockets in the latest escalation with Gaza, from the most rabid Islamists to the hyper sophisticated (or so they think) pundits from the New York Times and dwellers of the ivory tower of academia, is captured by a single word "occupation." We keep hearing from them that Gaza is occupied, that Gaza is an open-air prison, that Gaza is a "penal colony." Gazans are oppressed, the theory goes, and Israel is the oppressor.

But let's take a closer look at the occupation of Gaza: like so much else, the term "occupation" is very relative. While under occupation, Gaza's rulers -- Hamas -- managed to amass huge military infrastructure, complete with weapons manufacturies, with thousands of trained soldiers, with a vast network of underground tunnels hundreds of miles long which the Israelis dubbed "the metro" to allow for undetected movement of weaponry and soldiers, with a huge arsenal of rockets, and even with a navy commando unit. Hamas' police control the day-to-life of Gazans. It levies taxes and pays salaries to its followers.

Given that the "occupiers" are so lenient as to let the locals do what they want, isn't it unreasonable to ask whether the "occupation" only allows militarism to thrive? Are peaceful activities forbidden? Would the "occupation" let Gazans build houses, toil the land, educate their children if they wanted to?

Clearly, it allows that, too, as long as Gazans are willing. In fact, there are some who argue that for all practical purposes, there is no occupation at all. Gaza is self-ruled. Gaza's strategic choice of its policies -- to funnel taxes, international aid, and materiel like concrete and pipes towards military use, to pay its fighters, and to build rockets and tunnels -- is determined by Gaza's Hamas rulers. That Gaza has its own rulers is highly atypical of an occupation -- the "occupation," by any definition, being the rule by an external power, which clearly does not apply in the case of Gaza, making the whole idea that it is "occupied" suspect -- to say the least. But this is an aside. Gazans say that they are occupied, so let's take their word for it. Yet given that Gazans follow their own policies and chart their own destiny, and that it is not the Israelis who occupy Gaza, since they pulled out fifteen years ago (and besides, if Israelis occupied Gaza, none of its military development that threatens Israel would have happened), who, or what is that "occupier"?

Since, in practical terms, the "occupiers" are those who rule, and the ruling power in Gaza is Hamas, then to identify what "occupies" Gaza we should ask, what is it that drives Hamas' policies?

The obvious answer is -- hate. Hamas may love Palestinians -- but it hates Jews far more. And hate is an extremely strong passion; it is stronger than love and stronger even than fear. It is, in fact, stronger than the instinct for self-preservation (and presumably, nothing in nature should be stronger.) The self-destructive power of hate has been noticed since time immemorial. Aesop told a fable of a man who, when asked by gods to make a wish on a condition that his neighbor would get twice as much, asked not for a billion dollars (or, I guess, "drachmas"), but to have his eye gouged out. A Sherlock Holmes' story, "The Problem of Thor Bridge" is about a woman who killed herself to frame the rival she hated. And the most telling and terrible example comes not from fiction, but from real life -- Hitler's hatred of the Jews so exceeded his love of Germans that, as Germany faced an ever-increasing scarcity of war materiel, he diverted it from the front to concentration camps to kill more Jews. The price -- more dead Germans -- was not too high.

A similar hatred engulfs Hamas, blinding it to the plight of Gazans. Why use pipes to bring Gazans water when they could be used to build rockets to kill the Jews? Why waste concrete to build housing when it could be used for building tunnels? Why pay the teachers when you can spend the money on soldiers?

Hamas being the occupiers of Gaza, and hatred being the occupier of Hamas, what really occupies Gaza? Hate. It is hate that denies Gazans normal lives. I am not the first to make that observation; Golda Meir observed decades ago that peace will come only when Palestinians start loving their children more than they hate the Israelis.

The self-declared deep thinkers in the media and academia, and the Israel-hating "progressive" politicians and their followers would reply that it is Israel that causes this hate. Eliminate Israel, and there will be love and peace in the Middle East.

The argument that the Syrian civil war (which turned into a regional war and became a battlefield for Russia, Turkey, Iran, Israel, Iraqi militias, and Lebanese Hezballah), the rise of al Qaeda, of ISIS, of the Iranian regime, have nothing to do with Israel and that, moreover, the PA and Hamas hate each other with a deadly passion, is, though true, is I think besides the point. The point is that Palestinian hate toward Israel is utterly unfair, and is based on a deliberate, willful self-deception.

The claim that Israel occupies Arab land that animates Hamas and their ilk and pumps up their hate is a result of Palestinians deliberately ignoring their own history. Are Israelis "colonial settler-occupiers?" Sorry to ask, but what are Palestinians? And what are the Arabs living outside of Western Saudi Arabia? Didn't they hear about Arab conquests in which, after the death of Mohammed, Arabs stormed out of Arabia (present day Saudi Arabia) to conquer, and "colonially settler-occupy" half of the then-known world, from Spain in the West to the border of India in the East? Palestine came under their "settler-colonial" control in about 636 AD. The modicum of basic honesty should have made the Palestinians admit that Arab conquest justified rival claims to the land by others -- like the Jews whose land it was for well over a millennium, well before the Arabs arrived on the scene. A fair and just admission that the Jews may have a reasonable claim to the title to the land would have opened up the realization that the way forward is negotiations, not fighting. Instead, Palestinians self-righteously reject all offers of accommodation, declaring themselves to be wronged innocents, and keep pumping up the hate.

So who really occupies Gaza? Or rather, what really occupies Gaza? The answer is -- the self-righteous, self-created, self-inflamed hate that those who are in the wrong, feel towards those who are in the right. Willful ignorance, and the hate that it generates, are the real occupiers of Gaza.

UPDATE: This article was updated to clarify that the Islamic conquest pre-dated the current Saudi nation.

Image: Guilherme Paula, Oren neu dag

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On May 16, President Biden issued a brief video ostensibly dedicated to expressing his support for the religious freedom of "all" people (though in reality dedicated to only one religious group):

All people should be able to practice their faith with dignity, without fear of harassment or violence. We will defend the right of all, as we stand with you. That's why I ended this shameful Muslim travel ban. And that's why this administration will speak out for religious freedom for all people, including Uighurs in China and Rohingya in Burma. We also believe Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live in safety and security and enjoy equal measure of freedom, prosperity, and democracy. My administration is going to continue to engage Palestinians and Israelis and other regional partners to work toward sustained calm.

It is hypocritical for Biden to claim that he cares about the religious rights of "all" people  when he clearly means only "all Muslims." So too is it vexing to note that, unlike those whom he totally ignores  for example, the hundreds of millions of Christians currently being persecuted at the hands of Muslims  those Muslims whom he does mention as deserving protection are not exactly innocent.

Consider the three Muslim peoples he singled out: the Palestinians, the Uighurs in China, and the Rohingya in Burma. Far from trying to live peaceably with their non-Muslim neighbors, and like other Muslim populations living alongside or under the authority of non-Muslims, all three have been known to engage in hostile, subversive, and terroristic activities.

One need not dwell much on the well documented scourge of Palestinian terrorism  primarily in the guise of Hamas and Hezb'allah  which, as is well known, is the root cause for conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. But consider the other two lesser known Muslim peoples.

The Rohingya of Burma have been committing the same sort of anti-infidel mayhem, violence, terrorism, and rape that one is accustomed to associating with "radical Islam"  though news of it seldom reaches the West. The main difference is that, unlike, say, the West, Burma has responded with uncompromising ruthlessness  thereby making it the "bad guy" in the media. Consider the words of popular Buddhist leader Ashin Wirathu, whom the media refer to as the "Burmese bin Laden": "You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog," says the monk in reference to Muslims: "I call them troublemakers, because they are troublemakers."

Similarly, Reuters quotes the Chinese government saying that it "destroyed 1,588 violent and terrorist gangs" in Xinjiang, where most Uighurs and other Muslims live, "arrested 12,995 terrorists, seized 2,052 explosive devices, punished 30,645 people for 4,858 illegal religious activities, and confiscated 345,229 copies of illegal religious [jihadi] materials." The same report says that 30 Islamic terror attacks occurred between 1990 and 2016, killing 458 and injuring 2,540.

Critics argue that China is untrustworthy and essentially fabricating claims of Islamic terrorism to demonize and persecute the Uighurs. And yet, history and current affairs indicate that wherever and whenever Muslim minorities live amid non-Muslim majorities, they tend to instigate, agitate, subvert, and resort to terrorism. Either way, like Burma and unlike the West, no doubt, the Chinese have been intolerantly brutal in the crackdown on their Muslim population.

The point here is not to argue that all Muslims are troublemakers and therefore "deserve" whatever treatment they get; rather, it is to highlight another instance of humanitarian hypocrisy, this time by Joe Biden. For, while he never mentions the persecution of those minorities who do no wrong, seek to live peaceably with their neighbors, and certainly never resort to terrorism  and yet are persecuted solely on account of their religious identity, as millions of Christians throughout the Muslim world are today  he expresses concern only for Muslims, who are notorious for provoking others into prolonged conflicts.

Incidentally, it's worth adding that, unlike most of Islam's persecuted Christians  who are indigenous to the land, often many centuries before Islam invaded it  Muslims in Burma, China, and Israel are not indigenous, but rather the descendants of Muslim conquerors or forced converts, another inconvenient fact that helps shed light on the current conflicts.

Raymond Ibrahim, author of Sword and Scimitar, is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute.

Image: Public Domain.

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Governor Gavin Newsom of California does not want to give up the near-dictatorial powers he took in the name of fighting COVID-19, even though California has one of the highest rates of adult vaccination in the nation and has the lowest rate of new cases in the nation. Caroline Downey of National Review reports:

During a vaccine lottery event Friday, Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom reneged on his promise to lift the state's emergency declaration after June 15, allowing him to retain the powers to mandate sweeping COVID restrictions. "The one thing I am certain of is: There's uncertainty in the future," said Newsom. "The emergency remains in effect after June 15." When asked for his justification for backtracking on his pledge to Californians, the governor responded, "Because we're still in a state of emergency. This disease is still in effect. It is not taking the summer off."

Remember when Donald Trump was derided as a mere game show host who "used the White House as a game show set"? Nothing Trump ever did came close to the cheesiness of Newsom's Wheel of Fortunelike set, used to extend his dictatorship:



YouTube screen grab (cropped).

Lest you think "dictatorship" is an overstatement, Newsom has the power to change laws all by himself. Via the L.A. Times:

Though the California Constitution gives the power to create laws only to the Legislature, a state appeals court ruled just last month that the 1970 California Emergency Services Act grants the governor the power to change state law during a crisis.

The three-judge panel of the Sacramento-based 3rd District Court of Appeal said the Emergency Services Act is constitutional because it provides only temporary powers and contains "an important safeguard." The court said that safeguard was a requirement that the governor, or the Legislature, proclaim an end to the emergency at the earliest possible date.

With many other states returning to normal, it would seem the "earliest possible date" requirement set by the appeals court for ending the emergency has already passed.

Last Friday saw a double-dose of absurdity from Newsom as he defended donations to his wife's "charity" that funds her making of films by companies with business before the state. Sophia Bollag of the Sacramento Bee reports:

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday he sees no conflicts of interest in companies donating to his wife's nonprofit as they lobby his administration on policy. A Sacramento Bee investigation published online Thursday found more than $800,000 in donations to the nonprofit Representation Project from companies that have lobbied the governor, including PG&E, AT&T and Kaiser Permanente. Those donations have helped fund Jennifer Siebel Newsom's six-figure salary at The Representation Project, which she founded to finance her documentary films and promote feminism. Newsom said his wife has received global recognition for her work and that he sees no conflict related to the donations and his role as governor.

Does Newsom think this will help him defeat his recall?

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Nina Metz: This feels very disorganized, which is a bad thing in real life but not necessarily in a fictional TV drama. And Im willing to suspend my disbelief a little. But heres whats eating me: There are police abolitionists  academics and activists alike  who have thought through a lot of these ideas already, like how conflict resolution and restorative justice and mutual aid might work. Why is their existence entirely absent here? It makes it seem like theres no scholarship on this issue  when in fact there is. Im not saying if a city actually defunded its police department it would go smoothly from the jump. But the show makes it seem like nobody has thought about this before, hence the well-intentioned but ad hoc effort from Trig and Tracy as they figure it out on the fly. This storytelling approach also erases the long history of violence interrupters in Chicago. Steve James made a whole documentary about this in 2011! Why are Tracy and Trig reinventing the wheel instead of hooking up with organizers who have been doing some of this work already?
I was not surprised to see graphic evidence, in the form of a winning photo contest entry, that shows floating in the ocean one of the 129 billion disposable face masks used since the pandemic started. Seventy-five percent of them, along with an equal percentage of 65 billion gloves, all made with plastics that take hundreds of years to break down, will end up there.

New York state just ended mask mandates for schoolkids. Compared to California's new standards, that's an enlightened move. Here, we're exchanging one set of COVID restrictions for another, even more ominous one, but calling it freedom, a freedom that sees us using masks at a steady pace.

Children in school will still be required to wear masks. There appears to be no exception to this rule. It doesn't take a scientist to know that wearing a mask all day does far more harm to children's mental and physical health, than the illusory protection a mask might confer.

California universities are requiring returning students to get vaccinated as well.

Here in California, only 23 children under the age of 18 have died from COVID, despite nearly 500,000 cases being reported in that age group. I'd bet the farm that most of those deaths (each one a tragedy) were in children with other medical conditions that compromised their ability to fight the infection. In the 18- to 34-year-old group, there have been a total of 860 deaths so far from COVID. That too is a number to make one sad, but keep in mind that it is less in total than the number who died from suicide at 34 years old or less so far this year. I wonder how many of the suicides could be attributed to COVID rules, including masking.

As for working adults, California is going to pressure the unvaccinated by punishing everyone around them if one person doesn't get the jab. As of the 15th of June, the state is mandating that only in 100% vaccinated workplaces can people go mask-free. If one worker refuses  no matter the reason  everyone in that workplace will be forced to mask up.

The vaccinated are not supposed to get sick with COVID, so protecting them with masks from the unvaccinated is totally illogical. People who have had COVID have antibodies against the virus and also can suffer more complications from taking the shots than those who didn't have the infection. I guess we're not supposed to notice such things.

There are effective treatments available should anyone actually get COVID. The only people really at risk, at this point, are the infirm elderly and those with co-morbidities that make them vulnerable  and those who can't access such treatments as ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and monoclonal antibodies, all of which have proved worthy in treating the illness. Our government has systematically made it difficult to get such treatments, preferring mass vaccination.

VAERS reports, as of yesterday, 5,165 deaths after taking the vaccine and 25,359 serious injuries. If the trends continue, that means over 10,000 people will die from the vaccine this year. Compare this to the 108 deaths following the measles vaccine over the last ten years.

VAERS also reports 40 cases of heart inflammation and 16 cases of blood clotting disorders in kids ages 1217 who got vaccinated. Yet California is pushing for younger teens to get vaccinated next.

Beyond these medical absurdities, what will be the legal and societal effects of these new mandates? Will employers be pressured, by their own workers, to fire anyone that won't take the vaccine? Yes, they will! If you were willing to be a guinea pig, you're going to be a bit self-righteous about it. You are going to want the perks, your reward for taking the shots. You're going to resent the heck out of people who take those perks away. That appears to be the idea, to create back-door vaccine passports without calling them by name.

We've all experienced how stringent our HIPAA rules are. They're supposed to protect medical privacy. Now that's out the window. We are going to be forced down a certain medical path, no matter our beliefs or individual circumstances, and if we don't "share" our vaccine status, we will, perforce, be out of a job.

One of the most vocal opponents of such rules, Naomi Wolfe, former Hillary Clinton aide, just got banned from Twitter for her anti-vax, anti-passport, and anti-lockdown views. I've listened to several interviews with her, and she makes a lot of sense on the legal front. She's one leftist who still believes in liberty.

Where are all the women who scream about choice? Does choice not extend to these vaccines? We marinate in misinformation about COVID, with all discussion that might be fruitful canceled and censored, in the name of justifying continued illogical and nonsensical rules, meant only to keep people afraid and subjugated.

Image: Litter from masks. YouTube screen grab.

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David Bedein of the David Bedein Center for Near East Policy Research is getting the word out that, starting on Wednesday, June 8, 2021, Congress is going to consider renewing American funding for UNRWA, AKA the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. While all other refugees fall into the U.N.'s general welfare section, UNRWA oversees 59 "temporary" refugee facilities housing the five million descendants of the Arabs who vacated what's now Israel during the Arab-Israeli war.

While it once may have been a purely charitable organization, UNRWA is now an aggressively activist organization that works with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to demonize Israel and Jews and to arm and train Arab paramilitary groups seeking Israel's destruction. Rather disgustingly, America has long been one of UNRWA's biggest funders.

In 2018, Donald Trump stopped funding, arguing (rightly) that the only refugees were those who were actually displaced in 1948. With Trump gone, and Biden's administration firmly on the side of Hamas and others, the money is going to start flowing again. Cynically or naively, Biden claims that UNRWA has committed to "zero tolerance for racism, discrimination, and anti-Semitism." That's almost certainly a lie, right up there with "I'll still respect you in the morning."

Because there's no reason to respect UNRWA's promises, David Bedein is asking that people contact every member of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on State & Foreign Operations to push them to place some restrictions on the organization to limit its genocidal malevolence:

Cancel the new UNRWA war curriculum, based on Jihad, martyrdom, and the "right of return by force of arms", which have no place in UN education, whose theme is "Peace Begins Here". Disarm UNRWA schools and cease paramilitary training in all UNRWA schools. It is an absurdity that UNRWA, a UN agency with a purported commitment to "peace education", allows such arms training and missile fire from its premises. Insist that UNRWA dismiss employees affiliated with Hamas in accordance with laws of donor nations that forbid aid to any agency that employs members of a terrorist organization. Introduce UNHCR standards to advance resettlement of fourth and fifth generation refugees from the 1948 war who have spent seven decades relegated to refugee status. Current UNRWA policy is that any Arab refugee resettlement would interfere with the "right of return" to pre-1948 Arab localities. By adopting the stance of Arab maximalists, UNRWA flouts its commitment to the future of Arab refugees from 1948 and their descendants. Demand an audit of donor funds that emanate from 68 nations. This would address documented reports of wasted resources, duplication of services, and an undesired flow of cash to the terror groups that dominate UNRWA operations.

(For more information about the problems with UNRWA, check out the UNRWA Monitor website.)

To make contacting the Congressional Subcommittee members as easy as possible, David Bedein has compiled a list with their names and contact information:

DEMOCRATS

Chairwoman Barbara Lee: Staff: Gregory Adams, Gregory.Adams@mail.house.gov ; 202-225-2771

Grace Meng (NY): Staff: Helen Beaudreau, Helen.Beaudreau@mail.house.gov ; 202-225-2601

David Price (NC): Staff: Elizabeth Adkins, Elizabeth.Adkins@mail.house.gov ; 202-225-1784

Lois Frankel (FL): Staff: Bradley Solyan, Bradley.Solyan@mail.house.gov ; 202-225-9890

Norma Torres (CA): Staff: Maryam Janani, Maryam.Janani@mail.house.gov ; 202-225-6161

Adriano Espaillat (NY): Staff: Todd Sloves, Todd.Sloves@mail.house.gov ; 202-225-4365

Jennifer Wexton (VA): Staff: Mike Lucier, Mike.Lucier@mail.house.gov ; 202-225-5136

REPUBLICANS

Ranking Member Hal Rogers (KY): Staff: Austin Gage, Austin.Gage@mail.house.gov ; 202-225-4601

Mario Diaz-Balart (FL): Staff: Chris Sweet, Chris.Sweet@mail.house.gov ; 202-225-4211

Jeff Fortenberry (NE): Staff: Alan Feyerherm, Alan.Feyerherm@mail.house.gov ; 202-225-4806

Guy Reschenthaler (PA): Staff: Mike D'Orazio, Mike.D'orazio@mail.house.gov ; 202-225-2065

Please take the time to reach out to Congress.

Image: UNRWAs terrorist connections. YouTube screen grab.

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If you haven't noticed, it's June. Well, the month formerly known as June. Perhaps you didn't realize the change, so let me provide a brief history and bring you up to speed.

In the late 1500s, Pope Gregory XIII instituted the use of the Gregorian calendar, of which June is the sixth month. Gradually, over the centuries, this style of calendar gained popularity and spread around the globe, becoming the international standard in most places. It normalized planting and harvesting schedules; holidays; events; historical records; and, especially, in more modern times, vital dates for international finances and global commerce.

Despite the centuries of history and accepted practice, June is being canceled and replaced with Pride month. Ironically, the month of June is named after the Roman goddess Juno, the goddess of marriage and women, and the wife of Jupiter  a much too gender-conforming construct for 2021. All you have to do is explore social media or corporate websites for a few minutes to see the communal proclamations of Pride month everywhere  superfluous imagery of rainbow-blazoned corporate logos, men in garish makeup, ads for drag queen storytime, or celebrations of young people transitioning.

But isn't this all a bit much? Why does the sentiment of a few override centuries of common cultural practice? Shouldn't we get a vote as to whether June should be renamed for a month of celebrations for gay, lesbian, pansexual, non-binary, transgender, queer, etc. people? The answer given by LGBT advocates and corporate America is a resounding no! We do not get to maintain the Judeo-Christian values held dear by centuries of Americans. Instead, we are force-fed the idea of acceptance, and if you don't, you'll be canceled.

We should be concerned as a society when a small minority of people can unilaterally change our culture, customs, and history without ever asking our opinion. This has happened time and time again over the past year, with the overwhelming consent and support of media and corporate America. Whether it is the destruction of statues, renaming of buildings, or the continued alteration of our calendar, we're discarding our history as if it's an old, used tissue.

It was once considered cute when we humorously named June 4 national doughnut day or January 24 national peanut butter day. But today it seems that everyone needs a celebration, and so we have heritage and inclusion months throughout the year.

February is African-American history month, March is women's history and Irish-American heritage month, May is Asian Pacific and Jewish American heritage month, June is now Pride month (too many identifiers to call it Gay and Lesbian month any longer), September is Hispanic-Latino heritage month, October is Italian-American heritage month, and lastly November is American Indian heritage month. But to list some is to exclude many. Where are the months to celebrate Caribbean, German, Scandinavian, French-Creole, or people from India? When is enough enough?

Unfortunately, we live in a time when identity politics reign supreme. People want to claim this label or this identifier so that they can feel a sense of belonging. They want to feel as if they're a part of something bigger than themselves, a cause or group of people that needs to fight perceived injustices. We have several generations (Millennials and Z) that have been taught to hate their own country, and so they hitch their cart to the cause du jour like BLM or transgender rights.

The side-effect is that when we divide ourselves by ethnicity, sexuality, or politics, we identify only differences, and we lose sight of our commonalities. Instead of seeing other Americans, we categorize them by perceived ethnic, sexual, or political labels. This is dangerous. Our relationships must be based off our character alone, not our looks or proclivities.

We are a nation comprising many different types of people, but we are all American. We are a nation with many different languages, but we are all American. We have different religious and political beliefs, but we are all American. It's time to recall the old saying: "United we stand, divided we fall."

The more we divide ourselves and identify our differences the harder it will be to see what we have in common. We are a great nation where people can pursue their dreams with hard work, where you can go from rags to riches in a single generation, where people worship freely, where people love and care for their families as they choose. We live in a great nation, a nation of many people, blessed by our Creator, but we can no longer afford to divide ourselves into disparate groups.

We must forgo Pride month and all the other heritage and inclusion months. Forget the countless labels. Instead, let's get back to calling ourselves Americans and celebrating what makes our country great: all Americans.

Image: Pride parade by Silar. CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Over the last few months, Senator Joe Manchin has been the talk of Washington. He represents West Virginia, a state that President Trump carried by over 35 points. Over the weekend, Senator Manchin dropped a bomb confirming that he was out on both federalizing elections and the filibuster. This is what he wrote:

The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen.

With that in mind, some Democrats have again proposed eliminating the Senate filibuster rule in order to pass the For the People Act with only Democratic support. They've attempted to demonize the filibuster and conveniently ignore how it has been critical to protecting the rights of Democrats in the past.

So goodbye, Biden Agenda, and hello, headaches for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The left will now get even crazier and call on Senate Democrats to do whatever is necessary to go around the filibuster.

To be honest, it did not take a lot of courage for a U.S. senator from West Virginia to oppose the Democrat left. Nevertheless, Senator Manchin did the right thing in opposing the more extreme agenda.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Image: Third Way Think Tank.

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Yesterday was the 77th anniversary of D-Day. Many people think of World War II in terms of battles won or lost, ground lost or gained, terrible deaths and miraculous moments of survival. However, World War II was also the clash of two ideologies. On the one side was Hitler's variation on socialism, one that allowed for some private ownership in a totalitarian state. On the other side was the concept of individual liberty birthed in England and given full meaning in America.

While Hitler lost, America didn't necessarily win. Socialism survived in the Soviet Union, China, Latin America, Africa, and Europe (in a soft form), and it is aggressively alive on American college campuses. Because the battle rages on, let us remember what it was that our Greatest Generation fought and died for, from the deserts of North Africa and the beaches of Normandy to the gates of Berlin:

The freedom of Jews to live their lives in peace without fear of persecution or violence in the streets.

The freedom from violence by Brownshirts who would terrorize and beat our citizens into submission.

Peace and freedom from the pillaging and blitzkrieg of our great American cities by evil forces.

A government that does not pursue and persecute minor offenders while allowing savages to roam free.

A government that preserves electoral integrity and does not seek tyrannical control of elections.

A government that does not actively engage in or promote blatantly hostile and racist ideologies.

A government that promotes peace and domestic tranquility under the rule of our just laws.

A Fourth Estate dedicated to the free flow of information with the objective of a well informed electorate.

A government dedicated to the preservation of our treasured heritage, culture, history, and art.

A government dedicated to the well-being of our children and the principle of enlightened education.

A government that promotes true freedom, justice, and liberty for every American citizen.

A government that does not politically weaponize its many institutions against We The People.

A government that does not seek to disarm its law-abiding citizens and make fighting tyranny infeasible.

A government that does not seek to turn our Armed Forces into a politicized paramilitary wing.

In 1945, we Americans believed that we had established those principles. Now, in 2021, we must ask ourselves, how has all that been working out so far? It was a nice run, anyway. Who saves us from tyranny?

Image: Into the Jaws of Death  D-Day 1944. Public domain.

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The beyond filthy rigged politics of one-party California has always led many to suspect that leftists will do anything to halt Gov. Gavin Newsom's recall referendum.

Nothing quite tops Newsom's money-raking from Hollywood moguls that is coming as a result of his exempting those businesses from COVID restrictions.

Remember this?

This is the most heartbreaking thing I have watched in 2020.

These people are monsters

Wow. pic.twitter.com/yTPNDeXw9c  Benny (@bennyjohnson) December 5, 2020

A small restaurantowner in Sherman Oaks, California is seen crying on a video as she is forced to shutter her life's work, her restaurant establishment called the Pineapple Hill Saloon, while just feet away, a Hollywood film crew chomps happily on a big buffet together in close quarters, completely exempt from COVID restrictions, based on Newsom's mercurial orders deciding who is and who isn't a COVID hazard to public health. The lady raised more than $222,000 for her establishment on GoFundMe, the last donation of which was just five days ago.

I wrote about that here.

Susan Crabtree at RealClearPolitics has an excellent report about how it's gone since then:

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his supporters have shot ahead in the recall money chase in recent weeks, far outpacing an early show of force from groups looking to eject him from office. Those backing Newsom have raised a total of $13.2 million while recall proponents have collected $4.7 million, burning through nearly all of it, according to state fundraising records. As megadonors and special interest groups cut big checks to keep the governor in office, some of the donations, especially those from Hollywood, are drawing new scrutiny. Paramount Pictures this week provided $40,000 to the anti-recall effort. That check follows a $3 million infusion in late May from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, the most from any single donor. Such fundraising largesse from Tinseltown to a Golden State Democratic leader in a fight for his job may seem par for the course. But the checks are providing a reminder that Newsom carved out a special COVID lockdown exemption for the television and movie industries, deeming them "critical infrastructure" and allowing them to continue operating throughout the pandemic. At the same time, regular citizens, restaurants and other businesses faced some of the strictest lockdowns in the country. Plenty of studios took advantage of the carve-out, including Netflix, which started filming a new season of "The Kominsky Method," a comedy starring Michael Douglas, in November.

So it was all about campaign contributions, and Newsom himself is now being rewarded by the rich elites who benefited from it. The saloon-owner was left destitute by Newsom's lockdowns, but the Hollywood film studios carried on happily, able to make money so as to donate to Newsom with all that questionably gotten wealth, the result of the lockdowns on others. So much for "we're all in this together," as the lefties liked to say to justify their lockdowns on the little guy.

Where's the Hollywood donations to the small businessowners whose businesses were shut down while theirs flourished? Nope, not hearing of any donations from that bunch. But Newsom? He's profiting handsomely, running away with it as Hollywood cash now floods his anti-recall coffers.

Bad guys profit, it seems, as Democrats set their carve-outs for them. One hand washes the other. If this isn't an argument for Newsom's recall, just on this ground alone, what is? One hopes the voters of California at long last will take notice.

Image: Twitter screen shot.

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The past year has seen many record-breaking increases in bad things. In Democrat-run cities across America, crime has been skyrocketing, with murders, rapes, assaults, and other violent crimes going through the roof. In places with endless lockdowns (again, Democrat-run), we've also seen an increase in overdoses and suicides. And now, on the Democrat-run southern border, it turns out that there's been a 3,166% rise in the number of sex offenders caught trying to enter the U.S.

The report about the rise in sex offender apprehensions comes from the Border Patrol (hat tip: RedState):

U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to Del Rio Sector arrested 10 convicted sexual offenders May 17 to May 24, shortly after they crossed into the United States illegally. "The majority of these criminals were apprehended in our sector's most remote areas, attempting to avoid detection by crossing far from populated areas, "said Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Austin L. Skero II. "Our agents' sign cutting and tracking skills were instrumental in capturing these criminals, preventing them from infiltrating our communities." On May 24, Border Patrol agents arrested two Mexican nationals with prior convictions. Record checks revealed one individual had a felony conviction for lewd and lascivious molestation. The second had a felony conviction for lewd and lascivious acts with a child. Between May 17 and 23, Border Patrol agents arrested Mexican nationals with felony convictions including forcible sexual abuse, sexual assault of a child under 14, sexual assault of a child, sexual assault, sexual conduct with a person under 13 and a registered sexual offender. Agents also arrested two Honduran nationals with felony convictions for statutory rape, and second-degree sexual assault of a child. Since the start of Fiscal Year 2021, Oct. 1, Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents have arrested 95 convicted sex offenders, a 3,166 percent increase over the same timeframe last fiscal year.

Admittedly, 95 sex offenders out of the hundreds of thousands of aliens illegally entering America is not a big number, so that 3,166% claim is a bit of a head fake. But when you realize that the number represents only the ones who are caught and already have a record, things take on a frightening perspective. You can bet that the actual number of people with a propensity for rape and pedophilia cross a border lacking any controls is going to be substantially higher than just 95 people.

To give you a sense of the problem with illegal aliens and sex crimes, an organization called North Carolinians for Immigration Reform and Enforcement has spent years keeping track of the number of illegal aliens arrested just for child rape, as opposed to raping adults. Here are their records just for the past sixteen months in one relatively small state:

2021 Monthly Child Rapes by Illegal Aliens 4) April 2021 21 illegal aliens arrested for 200 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 3) March 2021 17 illegal aliens arrested for 70 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 2) February 2021 33 illegal aliens arrested for 100 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 1) January 2021 17 illegal aliens arrested for 55 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 2020 Monthly Child Rapes by Illegal Aliens 12) December 2020 21 illegal aliens arrested for 379 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 11) November 2020 8 illegal aliens arrested for 23 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 10) October 2020 15 illegal aliens arrested for 39 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 9) September 2020 28 illegal aliens arrested for 100 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 8) August 2020 22 illegal aliens arrested for 107 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 7) July 2020 17 illegal aliens arrested for 63 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 6) June 2020 22 illegal aliens arrested for 238 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 5) May 2020 23 illegal aliens arrested for 70 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 4) April 2020 15 illegal aliens arrested for 29 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 3) March 2020 22 illegal aliens arrested for 145 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 2) February 2020 15 illegal aliens arrested for 40 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here 1) January 2020 38 illegal aliens arrested for 140 child rape/child sexual assault charges in NC here

The above is not meant to say that all illegal aliens are rapists. However, to the extent that illegal aliens shouldn't be here in the first place, it does mean that every single one of those child rapes is a crime that happened only because of lax immigration enforcement.

Moreover, with the Border Patrol announcing an increase of more than 3,000% in known sex offenders whom they managed to catch, know that the number of sex crimes in America is going to go up very soon.

Image: North Carolina illegal alien sex offenders for April 2021.

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The Biden Pentagon has gone all in on subjecting the American military to the worst excesses of the social justice movement: troops are being indoctrinated into Critical Race Theory and the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, has ominously announced that he's going to purge all extremists  and he doesn't mean jihadists who are plotting America's downfall. Using January 6 as a hook, it's clear he intends to get rid of Trump-supporters and others with similar traditional American values (liberty, strong borders, strong economy, colorblind society, etc.). In a startling moment of sanity, however, the Pentagon has announced that it will not fly the gay rainbow Pride flags.

It turns out that the Defense Department is being forced to reckon with its own rule from last year about displaying flags, a rule that it put into place to ban Confederate flags from military installations:

The decision came after a reevaluation of existing policy put in place last year to ban the display of Confederate flag without specifically naming it. Authorized flags include the American flag, flags representing US states and territories, prisoners of war and flags of US allies as well as a few others. Defense officials had decided against making an exception for the Pride flag.

Of course, the decision came with a grovel:

'This in no way reflects any lack of respect or admiration for people of the LGBTQ+ community, personnel in and out of uniform who serve in this department,' Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday. 'We're proud of them.' Kirby said there was concern for the potential that 'other challenges' could arise should an exception be made for one flag.

Unlike the modern American military, I will never respect or admire someone merely because he claims allegiance to the LGBTQ+ alphabet soup. In the same way, I have no interest whatsoever in gay pride. If I know someone who is gay, I'm not proud of him for that. My pride in or respect for a person is tied to that person's accomplishments. Thus, I have nothing but respect for the memory of Mark Bingham, one of the brave souls who saved the Capitol on 9/11. That he was gay mattered to his social circle but not to me.

Moreover, nowadays, considering that it's "in" to be gay, the notion of there being pride attached to announcing that one is gay is ridiculous. Bruce Jenner (AKA Caitlyn Jenner), who seems like a nice if somewhat mixed up person, expressed this perfectly when he said, "One thing, and I've talked to all my family about running for governor and, to be honest with you, it was easier to come out as trans than as a Republican candidate for governor, it was a lot tougher to sell."

The military is an organization dedicated to America's defense. Its focus should be on training and unit cohesion. Using the Defense Department to single out people because of their race, sex, or sexual orientation is a way to break down morale and unit cohesion. It's a terrible idea and, as with all the left's terrible ideas, needs to stop yesterday.

Image: Navys gay flight crew. Twitter screen grab.

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When Ivan the Terrible died in 1584, he left behind two sons, neither of whom was suitable to carry forward their fathers heirloom. One was Fyodor Ivanovich, who, growing up under the shadow of a terrible father and denied of motherly love, turned out to be shy and timid and sickly of health. He was the complete opposite of his father: a pious young man, fond of visiting churches and spending hours in prayer and contemplation. Ivans other son, Dmitri Ivanovich, was a three-year-old infant. Ivan did have a capable heir, his eldest son Ivan Ivanovich. But three years previously, Ivan the Terriblein an act befitting his namedelivered a fatal blow upon the head of his son in a fit of rage and killed him. With no competent heir to the throne, Ivan the Terrible was forced to appoint Boris Godunov as the regent to Fyodor and rule on his behalf, while the three-year-old Dimitri along with his mother were sent to exile to Uglich, some 120 miles north of Moscow.

Seven years later, in 1592, Dimitri was found dead with his throat slit. Foul play was suspected, and Dimitris supporters summoned an insurrection by ringing the great bell of Uglich. Suspicions naturally fell on Boris Godunov and a violent riot ensued during which enraged citizens lynched fifteen of Dmitry's supposed assassins, including the local representative of the Moscow government. Godunov immediately sent troops and the riot was swiftly quelled and the rioters arrested. Even the bell was not spared.

In the Russian Orthodox faith, bells are believed to have souls and since only living creatures can have one, bells are considered alive and very much like humans. The church bell, in particular, was once considered a prominent citizen of the village. They had human-like names and parts of the bells body were given names after human body parts. A Russian bell had a head, a waist, a lip, a tongue, and ears.

In Russian history and culture, church bells occupy a mysteriously important position. Their tolling, Father Roman told me, has been known to bring miserly or hard-hearted people to repentance, and to dissuade would-be murderers and suicides. In Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov falls into a guilt-induced fever, hearing the ringing of Sunday church bells; he gives himself away by returning to the scene of the crime and compulsively ringing the murder victims doorbell. In War and Peace, the Kremlins bells ring during Napoleons invasion, disquieting the Grande Armee. Considered in Russian folklore to be animate beings, bells exercise a profound power over humankinda power that lay dead or dormant for most of the twentieth century. The New Yorker, April 2009

The anthropomorphism of church bells has one drawback. Time and again church bells have been tried and punished, like human wrongdoers, for sounding at the wrong time, or for the wrong person.

Death of Tsarevich Dmitry. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

For instigating the riot, Godunov ordered Uglichs 320-ton bell to be removed and dragged into the city square, where a blacksmith removed the bells clapper, which would be equivalent to tearing out the bells tongue. The blacksmith also cut the bells earssmall metal hooks by which the bell is hung. To get his message across, Godunov even ordered the bell to be flogged with heavy whips. It was then exiled to Siberia along with the rioters. About 60 families from Uglich spent a year dragging the immensely heavy bell to Tobolska distance of 1,400 miles.

Once the bell arrived at Tobolsk, the local authorities locked it up in a cell and made an inscription on it: The first inanimate exile from Uglich. Years later, the bell was installed at the St. Sophia Cathedral, where it was used to mark the time and as a fire alarm.

The bell was studied and described for the first time in 1869, and in 1892, at the behest of Emperor Alexander III and to mark the 300th anniversary of the bells exile, the bell was pardoned. A delegation of Uglich people then took the bell back to where it belonged, to Uglich, where it has been kept ever since.

The exiled bell of Uglich. Photo: kukmor.livejournal.com

While the tale of Uglichs bell is indeed very odd, the death of Tsarevich Dmitri is no less peculiar. At first glance, the case appears open and shut. With Fyodor unfit to rule, the only true heir to the throne was Dmitri, and so by eliminating the kid, Godunov could ensure his progress to the throne. It was not uncommon for princes, and sometimes entire families, to meet with sudden and unnatural deaths following the death of a king. There is but one problem with this theoryDimitry was never legally in line for the throne. Dmitry was Ivan's son from his fifth wife (or perhaps seventh), which made him illegitimate by the canon law as the Russian Orthodox Church allowed a maximum of only three marriages. By killing of Dimitry, Godunov would have gained nothing but decades of bloody chaos that his death set in motion.

This leaves us with only one possible scenario, however unlikely it might seem, that Dimitrys death was accidental. But how did Dimitry accidentally stab himself in the throat? Because Dimitry suffered from epilepsy. Modern historians now believe that Dimitry was playing with a knife when he had an epileptic seizure, during which the tragedy occurred. Dimitry was most likely playing svaika, a knife throwing game, where the knife is held with the blade pointing towards the body. With the knife in that position, it was possible for Dimitry to inflict an wound upon himself in the throes of a grand mal seizure.

Other executed bells

The execution of Uglichs bell was not an isolated incident. As already mentioned, bells were treated as persons in Russia and were subjected to trials and executions. Bells were often taken down from their towers after a city was captured. In 1327, after suppressing an uprising against the Mongol-Tatar tax collectors, Ivan Danilovich Kalita (1288-1340), a Muscovite Prince who used Mongols to defeat the princes of Tver, burned down the town and took possession of the bell. It was transported to Moscow and melted down.

Removal of the Novgorod veches bell. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The same fate befell the bell of Novgorod veche. In 1478, after Ivan III of Moscow conquered Novgorod, he ordered the veche bell removed from the belfry. The veche was the highest legislative and judicial authority of the republic, and its bell was a symbol of republican sovereignty and independence. Taking control of the city would not have been completed without the capture of the all important bell.

Similarly, when the Grand Prince Vasiliy III of Moscow (father of Ivan the Terrible) made Pskov people swear allegiance to Moscow, it relocated about 300 most important Pskov families to Moscow. But the bell was punished by having its ears cut and tongue torn out.

References:

# Georgy Manaev, How Russians executed BELLS, Russia Beyond

# Elif Batuman, The Bells, The New Yorker
The shooting happened about 9 p.m. in the 11700 block of South Michigan Avenue when, according to police, witnesses said they saw someone open fire from a red vehicle. The girl was taken by a family member to Roseland Community Hospital and was said to be in serious condition, police said.




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Indian coronavirus tally just above 1 lakh mark:- The fresh cases of coronavirus seem to decline for now after the wave reported more than 4 lakh new cases. The wave is slowly calming down and a total number of 1,00,636 new cases for coronavirus are reported in the country in the last 24 hours. The total number of reported cases in India now reached 2,89,09,975. A total number of 1,74,399 people got discharged in the country in the last 24 hours and the total number of discharges reported stands at 2,71,59,180. With 2427 new deaths, the total death tally reached 3,49,186 and there are 14,01,609 active cases of coronavirus in the country for now. The total number of people who took up the vaccination shot for coronavirus reached 23,27,86,482.

A new variant of coronavirus, B.1.1.28.2 is detected in India by the National Institute of Virology in Pune. Tamil Nadu continued to be the most impacted state with 20,421 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala continued to report high number of cases and deaths. The lockdown restrictions are eased in Delhi and Maharashtra from today in various phases. Delhi metro is all set to operate with 50 percent occupancy. Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan addressed a meeting with a group of ministers about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Lawsuits against Google have no end, and in the newest case, French Competition Authority has accused Google of manipulating the ad market and prioritizing its ad marketplace.

The search giant must pay $267 million (220 million) to the French government. According to the French watchdog, Googles actions in the country have led to the weakening of publishers. In fact, Googles advertising policies have created an unfair atmosphere in the advertising market.

The investigation, carried out particularly quickly, made it possible to reveal the processes by which Google, relying on its considerable dominant position on advertising servers for sites and applications, favored itself over its competitors on both advertising servers and SSP platforms. President of the French Competition Authority Isabelle de Silva noted in her statement. These very serious practices have penalized competition in the emerging online advertising market, and have enabled Google not only to preserve but also to increase its dominant position.

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Google will pay the fine from the French ad marketplace lawsuit

Google also seems to have accepted this issue and has no objections to the vote. The company is committed to making changes to its advertising technology while paying the fine. Also, Google promised to provide equal access to data related to outcomes from the Ad Manager auction.

Moreover, Google wants to add more flexibility to its Ad Manager. According to the Legal Director of Google in France, Maria Gomri, the company is allowing publishers to set custom pricing rules for ads that are insensitive categories and implementing product changes that improve interoperability between Ad Manager and third-party ad servers.

Applying no restriction of publishers over negotiating specific terms or pricing directly with other sell-side platforms (SSPs) is promised. Also, providing them with more control is said to be done by Google.

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Google recently encountered similar problems

This is not the first time that Google is facing fines for abusing market dominance. Only weeks ago, Italys antitrust watchdog made Google pay $123 million fines. The reason was Google didnt allow Enel X Italia to release its JuicePass app for Android Auto.

In similar cases, Arizonas attorney general found new documents over Googles efforts for obscuring location tracking and making it difficult for users to turn off location. Moreover, the German antitrust watchdog recently accused Google of misusing data and violating competitive rules.
OnePlus last week announced that it will host an Invite Code hunt for the OnePlus Watch Cobalt Limited Edition on June 7th. Well, the challenge is now live on the companys official Instagram pages in Europe, including the UK. If youre looking to grab this special edition OnePlus Watch, head over to your regional OnePlus Instagram page now.

In its announcement last week, OnePlus didnt reveal what the challenge will consist of. The company simply said the announcement post on its forums includes a clue: it can be obvious. It has now gone on to detail what you have to do to win an invite code to buy the OnePlus Watch Cobalt Limited Edition.

In todays challenge, youll have to look for and find the hashtag #WatchThisInvite across the companys Instagram account. Once youve found it, youll have to take a screenshot and share it in your story tagging your regional Instagram page. OnePlus says it has put clues all over the place in its account. So pay close attention to small details.

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OnePlus will randomly select some winners who will get invite codes to buy the OnePlus Watch Cobalt Limited Edition immediately, before everyone else. Moreover, on June 17th, the company will hide the website link to buy the special edition OnePlus Watch on its Instagram page. Users will have exactly one hour to find it if they want to purchase the watch. Remember that you will have to pay the full price of 209/219 for the watch. Getting an invite code from the company wont make you eligible for any discount.

This challenge is only open to residents in Europe where the OnePlus website is shipping. Participants also must be above 18 years of age. You can find the full terms and conditions here.

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The OnePlus Watch Cobalt Limited Edition finally goes for sale

OnePlus announced the OnePlus Watch Cobalt Limited Edition Watch back in March, alongside the standard edition. Months later, this limited edition OnePlus Watch is finally up for sale, albeit in a weird fashion. The company seemingly wants to build some hype around the watch to grab peoples attention.

This Cobalt Edition OnePlus Watch offers the same set of specifications as the standard model. The only major difference is it comes with a Cobalt Alloy frame that you usually find only in luxury Swiss watches. Cobalt Alloy is twice as hard as stainless steel.

To compliment an ultra-strong frame, OnePlus is also offering an exceptionally scratch-resistant sapphire glass at the top. With a Mohs rating of 9, sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness. Anyways, if you want to buy this limited edition watch, you might want to check out our OnePlus Watch review to find if its worth your money and the effort you put to solve the clues.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 may not include an under-display camera after all. This information comes from South Korea, as Samsung allegedly decided not to include such tech inside the Galaxy S22.

The Galaxy S22 will allegedly come without an under-display camera

The reason behind this decision is the image quality. Samsung wasnt satisfied with the image quality that the camera was able to produce. On top of that, the production yield is too low, and the company would be required to include such a camera inside millions and millions of devices.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3, on the other hand, will include an under-display camera. The thing is, that camera wont be completely hidden, it seems. Ice Universe revealed some information about that earlier today.

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Well see how will it look once the Galaxy Z Fold 3 launches, but if it ends up being visible in most situations, that wont exactly be in the same category as the under-display camera included in the ZTE Axon 20.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 will include an under-display camera, but with one caveat

The under-display camera inside the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is expected to offer much higher light transmittance, and generally good image quality. Samsung may reach for new under-display camera tech with the Galaxy Note next year, though.

Samsung is expected to bring back the Galaxy Note series in 2022, though nothing is certain just yet. If that ends up happening, that device will likely include an under-display camera, the same goes for the Galaxy S23.

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Unfortunately for those of you who wanted to see an under-display camera inside the Galaxy S22, well, it seems like that wont happen. Samsung will likely go for a display camera hole yet again.

Chances are not that many people will complain about that, though. Those display holes are not that big of an issue, plus you do get better image quality than an under-display camera would be able to provide at this point. The Galaxy S22 is expected to arrive in Q1 2022.
Samsung Vice Chairman and de facto leader Lee Jae-yong has been in jail since January this year. He is serving a 2.5 years sentence in a bribery case involving former South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Since Lee has decided against appealing the sentence, he will have to serve out the full term. In the meantime, calls seeking a presidential pardon for the imprisoned Samsung chief have been growing over the past few weeks. Now, the Chairman of the South Korean ruling party has thrown his weight behind this idea as well.

In an interview with Korean news outlet Yonhap News Agency, Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil said that Samsung needs Lee in office, not in jail, so he could facilitate the companys investments in two major challenges the world is facing right now: global semiconductor chip shortage and COVID-19 pandemic.

Song also suggested that Lee may indeed walk out of the jail soon. (Lee) could possibly be freed on parole, not limited only to a pardon, he said. It was Songs first press interview since taking over the leadership duties of the ruling Democratic Party last month.

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Democratic Party leader calls for a pardon for imprisoned Samsung chief

Ever since a semiconductor shortage hit the smartphone and automotive industry, there have been growing calls seeking a presidential pardon for imprisoned Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong. The Korean conglomerate is the worlds largest memory chip maker. Its also the second-largest company in the foundry segment, behind Taiwans TSMC.

So its quite evident that Samsung needs to be at the forefront of a combined effort to try and resolve this chip shortage problem as early as possible. It needs to invest big and expand its chip production capacity. However, the absence of a leader is delaying the companys investment-related decisions. In the meantime, rival companies such as TSMC and Intel have already made significant progress with their respective investment plans.

South Korean businesses fear that this delay could have disastrous implications on the countrys economy. Major business lobby groups in the country submitted a petition to the President in April, asking him to pardon Lee. They have also gained support from several religious groups and even some US companies.

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South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been open to the idea as well. However, its not an easy decision for him, especially because presidential elections are coming near. Fairness, precedents, and public sentiment must be considered, Moon had said last month.

He also recently met senior executives from Samsung, Hyundai, LG, and SK Group over a luncheon, where this topic was brought to his attention again. He didnt immediately reject the idea but didnt reach any conclusive decision either. It will now be interesting to see whether President Moon grants a pardon to Lee Jae-yong, the wealthiest person in South Korea and the heir to the most significant GDP contributor to the countrys economy.
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(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 7 - An 18-year-old Pakistani girl who has been missing from a town near Reggio Emilia since the end of April after refusing an arranged marriage in Pakistan had a violent argument with her family the night before she disappeared, according to an arrest warrant for the five suspect relatives published Monday.

Saman Abbas allegedly shouted "give me my documents".

Her father reportedly asked her "do you want to marry someone else" to which she replied "no, I want to go away".

Prosecutors said Monday that the five suspects were under investigation for premeditated murder and that Saman was not in Belgium as her father had said.

A young member of the family reportedly told police "I think he (the uncle) strangled her, also because when he came home he didn't have anything in his hands".

Saman's uncle referred to a "job well done" to a friend in an Internet chat room, Italian police said at the weekend, saying he was probably referring to her murder and the disposal of her body.

Danish Hasnain, 33, reportedly wrote "we did the job well", according to the Gazzetta di Reggio Emilia newspaper.

Abbas also reportedly overheard her family saying that murder was "the only solution" for women who did not obey the Pakistani Muslim way of life, and she suspected "they are talking about me", the paper said.

Abbas told her boyfriend about this family conversation, police said.

Saman's parents, her uncle Danish and two cousins have been placed under investigation for homicide and disposing of a body.

They are all on the run except for a cousin, Ikram Ijaz, arrested last week in the French city of Nimes.

The parents flew to Pakistan at the beginning of May, and the uncle and the other cousin are believed to be somewhere in Europe.

The Union of Italy's Islamic Communities (UCOII) on Wednesday issued a fatwah (ban) on arranged marriages after Saman's case.

UCOII issued the ban, along with one on infibulation, together with the Islamic Association of Imams and Religious Guides. The fatwah is against "conduct that cannot find any religious justification and are therefore absolutely to be condemned, and still more to be prevented".

UCOII said the case of Saman Abbas "has shocked and concerned us from the start".

Abbas went missing from her home in Novellara at the end of April.

Police said they had CCTV footage of three people carrying two spades, a bucket with a blue bag, a crowbar and another tool heading for the fields behind the Abbas family house.

The suspected body-disposal party left the house at 19:15 on April 29 and came back at 21:50 on the same evening. (ANSA).


We have been trying to land an agreement that respects our students, our families and the educators who serve them for three years, Urban Prep math teacher Dana Wilson said. Roughly 30% of our students need special education services that are chronically shortchanged. Classrooms desperately need resources and our schools need stable staffing, instead of bloated bureaucracies and foot-dragging on vital student needs.
(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 7 - An 18-year-old Pakistani girl who has been missing from a town near Reggio Emilia since the end of April after refusing an arranged marriage in Pakistan was strangled by her uncle, who confessed to her younger brother, a preliminary investigations judge (GIP) said Monday.

The GIP adjudged as "credible" the brother's testimony that the uncle, Hasnain Danish, confessed the murder to him but refused to say where her body was, judicial sources said.

Saman's father wept over her alleged murder, the boy added.

Saman had a violent argument with her family the night before she disappeared, according to an arrest warrant for the five suspect relatives published Monday.

Saman Abbas allegedly shouted "give me my documents".

Her father reportedly asked her "do you want to marry someone else" to which she replied "no, I want to go away".

Prosecutors said Monday that the five suspects were under investigation for premeditated murder and that Saman was not in Belgium as her father had said.

A young member of the family reportedly told police "I think he (the uncle) strangled her, also because when he came home he didn't have anything in his hands".

Saman's uncle referred to a "job well done" to a friend in an Internet chat room, Italian police said at the weekend, saying he was probably referring to her murder and the disposal of her body.

Danish Hasnain, 33, reportedly wrote "we did the job well", according to the Gazzetta di Reggio Emilia newspaper.

Abbas also reportedly overheard her family saying that murder was "the only solution" for women who did not obey the Pakistani Muslim way of life, and she suspected "they are talking about me", the paper said.

Abbas told her boyfriend about this family conversation, police said.

Saman's parents, her uncle Danish and two cousins have been placed under investigation for homicide and disposing of a body.

They are all on the run except for a cousin, Ikram Ijaz, arrested last week in the French city of Nimes.

The parents flew to Pakistan at the beginning of May, and the uncle and the other cousin are believed to be somewhere in Europe.

The Union of Italy's Islamic Communities (UCOII) on Wednesday issued a fatwah (ban) on arranged marriages after Saman's case.

UCOII issued the ban, along with one on infibulation, together with the Islamic Association of Imams and Religious Guides. The fatwah is against "conduct that cannot find any religious justification and are therefore absolutely to be condemned, and still more to be prevented".

UCOII said the case of Saman Abbas "has shocked and concerned us from the start".

Abbas went missing from her home in Novellara at the end of April.

Police said they had CCTV footage of three people carrying two spades, a bucket with a blue bag, a crowbar and another tool heading for the fields behind the Abbas family house.

The suspected body-disposal party left the house at 19:15 on April 29 and came back at 21:50 on the same evening. (ANSA).


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One officer left his unmarked police SUV and called Eaton over for an interview, but she refused and began to run away, prosecutors said. The officer gave chase, and when he was a few feet behind her, she reached back with a gun and fired at the officer while she ran, prosecutors said.


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Vice President Kamala Harris has offered an optimistic outlook for improved cooperation with Guatemala on addressing the spike in migration to the U.S. But after her meeting with Guatemala's president Monday, Harris also delivered a direct warning to migrants considering making the trek: Do not come
The Supreme Court says it wont take up a case that asked it to decide whether its sex discrimination for the government to require only men to register for the draft when they turn 18
But lawmakers arent scheduled to head back to the Capitol until the fall. Villegas should move ahead now. Tourist season is here and Navy Pier, Chicagos premier destination for out-of-towners, should not go another summer and fall without agreeing to more transparency measures. Navy Pier Inc. doesnt have to reveal who it contracts with, what those contracts are worth or how it spent the $2.48 million Payroll Protection Program loan that it got in 2020 as part of Washingtons COVID-19 relief package. Or what it did with the $115 million in taxpayer money that McPier handed it years ago.
The family of a 13-year-old boy who died after he was pushed into a river could pursue a private prosecution against the teenager responsible, campaigners have said.

Christopher Kapessa was pushed into the River Cynon in South Wales by a 14-year-old boy in July 2019, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to charge the teen and described the incident as a foolish prank.

Christophers family has accused the CPS and South Wales Police of institutional racism, and on Thursday lawyers representing his mother Alina Joseph will go to the High Court to ask for a judicial review of the CPS decision.

Speaking to BBC Wales Investigates, Suresh Grover of anti-racism campaigners The Monitoring Group, who have been supporting the family, said they would not give in if the application for a review is rejected by justices.

We are not going to give in we will look at everything possible including a private or criminal prosecution, he said.

Christopher Kapessa is the acid test for the criminal justice system in South Wales.

If they fail on this the damage done for the CPS and the police will be irreparable.

Ms Joseph told the BBC programme, which will be broadcast on Monday evening: As a mother, you dont just stop parenting once they have died.

Christopher is not allowing me to just sit down and give up.

So even if it is going to take 10 years, 15 years, I just have to deal with it  I have got no choice.

She added: I do believe if Christopher was a white child and amongst however many children were there and those children were black the investigation from the get-go all the way to the end would have been very different.

South Wales Police passed a file of evidence to the CPS, who said there was no public interest to bring a manslaughter case against the boy involved despite evidence to support a prosecution.

The decision was confirmed in a review carried out by the CPS in July last year after Christophers family appealed against the original decision.

A spokesperson for the CPS said: Our thoughts remain with Christophers family following his tragic death.

We are incredibly conscious when looking at cases involving young people.

A specialist prosecutor reviewed the evidence and found that our legal test for prosecuting the young suspect was not met.

Race played no part in our decision making and there was nothing in the statements of the young witnesses to suggest any racial issues or that this was a hate crime.

BBC Wales Investigates Christopher  The Boy Who Never Came Home is on Monday June 7 at 8.25pm on BBC One Wales and afterwards on BBC iPlayer.
A fundraising father who has worn fancy dress to work meetings over the past year plans to don his 100th costume this week  and hopes the public will join him.

Nick Jemetta, from Hitchin in Hertfordshire, has attended hundreds of Zoom meetings during lockdown, dressed as characters ranging from Batman to Gordon Ramsay.

The father-of-two wore his first outfit for a work video call after a fancy dress Friday PE with Joe Wicks class.

Nick Jemetta has been entertaining his work colleagues throughout the past year (Nick Jemetta/PA)

Everyone was just laughing, smiling and asking questions, the 37-year-old told the PA news agency.

It was lifting people up in a time when people were struggling.

Mr Jemetta said he knew some of his colleagues were living alone and had very little human interaction so he wanted to make them smile.

He has since continued the tradition, raising more than 9,000 for mental health charities and attending hundreds of Zoom calls in costume.

On Friday, he will pull on his 100th outfit and aims to take his total raised for charity past 10,000.

He hopes the public will join him by donning creative outfits of their own and sharing pictures of themselves on social media with the hashtag #FancyDress4MentalHealth.

Nick Jemetta has raised more than 9,000 so far (Nick Jemetta/PA)

Lets see if we can make this Friday one of those days where something positive is happening in the world it would be the cherry on top.

Mr Jemetta said he has faced mental health issues himself and always struggled with worrying and overthinking, culminating in a particularly difficult period in 2018.

Since Ive been more vocal about my lived experience, Ive taken my mask off, and Im less bothered about what people think, he said.

He added that the discourse surrounding mental health has changed in recent years, and he wears fancy dress to make it a less daunting topic of conversation.

Nick Jemetta said the costumes can help to make conversations about mental health easier (Nick Jemetta/PA)

Mental health conversations dont have to be scary  in my experience, having a conversation wont be a trigger to someone taking an action that you might not want them to take, he said.

Its more likely to get them talking.

We all have mental health, were all going to struggle with our mental health at some point, but those bad weeks, those bad days, and those bad months, they dont define you  they dont limit you and they dont place any cap on your potential or your happiness.

Mr Jemetta is raising money for Mental Health UK, Samaritans North Hertfordshire, Age UK Hertfordshire, Phase Hitchin, the Alzheimers Society and NHS Charities Together.

His fundraising page can be found at https://www.justgiving.com/team/workinfancydress
NEW YORK (AP)  A dozen retailers including Gap and H&M are collaborating on a campaign this fall to enlist customers to combat bad behavior against retail workers.

The campaign, spearheaded by nonprofits Open to All and Hollaback as well as the Retail Industry Leaders Association, comes as workers face increased harassment as they try to enforce social distancing and mask protocols during the pandemic. Among those who have been the targets of abuse are people of color, those with disabilities and those who identify as LGBTQ.

Calla Devlin Rongerude, director of Open to All, said the campaign is not asking customers to step in to physically stop altercations, but rather to help de-escalate the situation and show support for workers.

Participating retailers will have signage in their stores with QR codes, allowing customers to sign a pledge of support. There will also be a tool kit designed by Hollaback to show how customers can help, including how to create a distraction for the abuser as well as documenting the situation and bringing in someone else to help.

Even as the spread of COVID-19 slows, retailers fear abusive behavior will worsen as stores anticipate big crowds for the back-to-school and holiday seasons. With many states and businesses relaxing mask mandates and customers experiencing pandemic fatigue, workers worry about their safety.

There is a lot of ambiguity, Rongerude said. People have a lot of fatigue. That is when tempers flare.

The Open to All coalition is made up of about 600,000 businesses, mostly retail establishments, that have collaborated on training and hiring practices. It launched in 2018 with companies like Levi Strauss & Co. and Gap pledging not to discriminate against employees or customers based on race, sexual orientation, or other characteristics. The movement was spurred by controversies such as florists refusing to provide flowers for gay weddings and stores turning away Muslim customers.

The pandemic has since exposed the vulnerabilities of front-line workers. Last September, a group of retailers felt they needed to do something more to protect their employees against discriminatory and racist behavior, Rongerude said. Although these abusive customers are a minority, she said they still have damaging effects on shoppers and workers alike.

Emily May, founder of Hollaback, says she has seen a spike in interest among average citizens as well as corporations wanting bystander training from her organization. Last year, she had 25,000 people sign up for a free one-hour Zoom training, up from 5,000 in 2019. So far this year, 130,000 people have registered.

Chris Nelson, senior vice president of asset protection at Gap Inc., said the chain had seen an increase in incidents against store workers of color, though he couldn't disclose a number.

We spent a lot of time with COVID-19 responses, but there was another global pandemic  systemic racism," Nelson said. It is not OK. That is not part of our values.

______

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LEXINGTON -- Jennifer Enskats journey to the warm heart of Africa all started with a handmade brick she found in her late fathers office.

Enskat found the brick while sorting through her fathers belongings after he passed away. She had no idea why it was there or what significance it held until a family friend revealed the origins of the mysterious brick.

It came from Kanyenyeva Orphan Care Ministries, a community center in Malawi that serves orphans and families.

Robert Enskat, who retired as manager of Mansfields General Motors plant, was a humble man who preferred to give in secret. She had no idea his sizable contribution helped build a facility half a world away.

I keep that brick on my desk to remind me that one person truly can change the world, Enskat said. He made a difference here and he made a difference in the third-world country without ever shining the spotlight on himself.

"And if he can do it so can we. So there's no excuse.

A decade after her fathers' death, Enskat found herself in Malawi making a difference in her own way. She and her cinematographer partner Andy Gardner spent three weeks filming a documentary on child marriage in Malawi with support from the Malawi Orphan Care Project, a non-profit partner of Kenyenyeva Ministries in Mansfield.

The Bride Price focuses on forced marriage, its impact on middle- and high school-age girls and the Malawian leaders trying to end the practice.

Child marriage is illegal in Malawi, but still very common. Orphans are particularly vulnerable due to the high poverty rates and lack of government resources or safety-net programs.

If a child is suddenly orphaned, there is no governmental body that takes care of them. The family will do it, but they're basically subsistence farmers, so they're struggling to support their own children, Enskat said.

Nearly 80 percent of Malawians work in agriculture, according to The World Bank. The country has a 51-percent poverty rate -- making a high-school education a luxury. High school is not free in Malawi; and the fees are often too much for families to afford.

Rather than paying for a high-school education, families often believe selling their daughters into marriage is the best way to provide for them. As a result, girls as young as 12 years old are married off, sometimes to men twice their age.

Enskat noted while child marriage is illegal, tribal tradition often supersedes the law in the peoples everyday lives.

Thats why government officials, tribal chiefs, activists and citizens are fighting against child marriage by working to change its cultural perception.

This is not a film about a Westerner trying to make them change. This is a film about them making the change, Enskat said. This is absolutely their story, they are making the difference themselves. They're the ones who are trying to change the culture.

Enskat worked with a small crew in Malawi who helped arrange interviews with government officials, human rights leaders and chiefs opposed to child marriage.

Her greatest desire was an interview with Chief Theresa Kachindamoto, tribal ruler of the Dedza District of nearly one million people. Kachindamoto has made international news for cancelling child marriages and paying for former child brides to return to school.

She landed the interview with Kachindamoto, who brought nearly 40 people with her, including a dozen former child brides.

During interviews with each girl, Enskat asked them to share their bride price -- how much their family received for offering their daughter in marriage.

The crew also got to interview Alinafe, the woman whose story prompted the making of the film.

At 15 years old, Alinafe was thriving in school and had big plans to become a nurse. At 16, she was sold by her family to marry a man 20 years her senior.

Alinafe is still married and was never able to return to school. The crew was able to secure the interview only after paying her husband a fee. Alinafe also had to promise her husband she wouldnt say anything negative about him.

She did talk about her regrets and these were not the plans she had for herself, that she wanted to be an educated person and accomplish something, Enskat said. Her marriage took place maybe a year before they passed the resolution (outlawing the practice), so the only way she can get out of it is to divorce him and she has no money.

The Bride Price has already won multiple accolades and been accepted to three film festivals, but Enskat said no award or review will top the endorsement of Kachindamoto.

The chief requested a copy of The Bride Price dubbed into Chichewa so she can take it to villages across Malawi and screen the film from her laptop.

I already see it as a success in that regard, the fact that she wants to do that, she said.

Profits from The Bride Price will go towards the Alinafe Girls Rescue Center, a developing project that will provide housing, day care, high school completion and skills training for girls who escape their forced marriages.

The Bride Price has already raised $10,000. The film is available for streaming on Vimeo and will soon be available on Amazon Prime.

I just hope maybe one day Alinafe can be there herself. I don't know how to make that happen but I can dream, Enskat said.
Already there is talk that the Freedom Day may be shifted to July 5, so it is getting more and more difficult to plan too far in advance

Freedom day is supposed to be June 21, and we are longing to get out of this cycle of lockdowns. But of course, things can never be so simple when you are dealing with a mutating virus. Will we actually be able to walk out on that day and do what we used to before the virus attack last year? Or will Freedom day arrive with a set of rules once again? There is a scramble to get as many vaccinated as possible  and particularly the 18 plus. It is possible that the time between the two vaccines might be reduced from 12 to eight weeks.

Everything depends on the number of infections of course. One can only hope! Already there is talk that the Freedom Day may be shifted to July 5, so it is getting more and more difficult to plan too far in advance.

Canny, clever Carrie Symonds has once again come up with a winning strategy to deflect any criticism against her. She organised her own surprise wedding at the beautiful Westminster Cathedral  and to ensure that this would be the much-married Prime Ministers final nuptial ceremony, it was a Catholic ceremony, as in the Catholic faith divorces are practically impossible. For someone who had been a live-in girlfriend and an unwed mother  this  return to the Church private ceremony was sufficiently old fashioned to melt the hardest hearts.

I must confess that I have always liked her spunk, and the fact that she can outwit most other people. To throw everyone off the scent, she had sent out save-the-date invitations for next year just earlier last month  so that the media would think that the wedding would be much later. The ceremony on the Bank Holiday weekend had only a few family members attending  amid claims that even the Prime Ministers children from his previous marriages/relationships were not invited.

But the real game changer was the long white dress that the bride wore. As always, the moment the photographs were published, fashionistas began their research and it was discovered that this was a dress which cost a little less than 3,000 pounds. But within minutes, all dresses, of all sizes, in that style were immediately sold out. And then  there was yet another surprise! Carrie, herself, had not bought the dress  she had merely hired it! All for 45, for a few days from a website, My Wardrobe HQ. The company later said that since she often hires clothes from them, no red alerts flashed when she asked for this dress.

That is the smartest thing she has ever done, especially after the impression some in the media have been trying to create that the newlyweds were living beyond their means, often requesting rich donors to support them, be it holidays or refurbishments. But this was thrifty move. And that made one wonder why so many of us have always thought of getting a brand new wedding dress (or in my case, saree)  when in reality you only wear it once!

Taking the idea forward, she has also (if media reports can be believed) hired more formal dresses and coats for the G7 summit! Let us hope they once again publish the hiring rates  as this will certainly lead to decreased unnecessary consumption, and maybe reversal of climate change!

While the dress created its own media frenzy  many people were wondering how did the PM manage to convince the Church that his previous marriages did not matter, and he could be married in a Catholic ceremony?

More or less since Henry the Eighth (the other one with many wives) broke with Rome because the Catholic Church would not grant him a divorce, no English Prince or Prime Minister has taken to the Catholic Church for marriage while in office!

And meanwhile, the terrible two, Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex still managed to remain in the news. Their move to the US has made not a jot of difference, to the British media. This time the excitement is over their second child, a daughter  expected to arrive this week. So the race for guessing-the-name has begun, with bets being placed in two countries, the UK and the US. The most popular choice seems to be Diana (after Harrys late mother) but it could also be Pip, to honour Prince Philip, who recently passed away. The baby may also arrive on Prince Philips birthday. Another popular choice is Lily, after the Queen. The latter two are certainly unconventional names. But then what can you expect from a couple who names their first child Archie? Perhaps they would like to create a bridge of names between UK and the US.
Valencia is the fifth candidate to announce a bid for the Democratic nomination to run in the November 2022 election. All are seeking to succeed Jesse White, who is retiring after more than two decades in office.
The depiction of a miner on Leadvilles Mineral Belt Trail, which partly follows former rail lines through the mountain towns historic mining district.
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Codenamed F16X and referred to as FUV for Ferrari Utility Vehicle as well, the Purosangue is currently testing with Maserati Levante body panels and tons of camouflage to keep the carparazzi in check. Imagined by Bernhard Reichel with pop-out door handles and a rather familiar design for the front fascia, the most practical Fezza of them all will be a strict four-seat affair.Confirmation for the four-seat layout comes courtesy of the Ferrari Industrial Plan 2018 - 2022 , which also suggests a transaxle for the dual-clutch transmission and up to four powertrain choices. The Italian company is currently developing a brand-new family of V6 engines while continuing to upgrade the twin-turbo V8 of the SF90 Stradale and V12 of the 812 series. All three of them are ripe for electrification, but not full electrification because the first-ever Ferrari EV is planned to roll out sometime in 2025.Purosangue is the Italian word for pureblood, and the Prancing Horse promises to give us a thoroughbreds handling rather than off-road capability. Bentley, Lamborghini, and even Rolls-Royce developed their Bentayga, Urus, and Cullinan for off-road shenanigans, but Ferrari is anything but interested in conforming to the auto industrys expectations.Expected to arrive in showrooms at some point next year for the 2023 model year, the Purosange will ride on the same platform that underpins the Roma grand tourer. Even with electrification, the V6 could be a little underwhelming for such a high-riding vehicle, which is why most people are looking forward to a torquey V8 or the glorious howl of a V12.
This weird-looking manned drone has only two huge rotors that have approximately three feet (90 cm) in diameter. As explained on the CopterPack website, the airframe is light and made of carbon fiber honeycomb.Overall, the vehicle looks kind of bulky yet controllable and stable enough to dare lift it off the ground. In the YouTube video, its pilot takes off from a hill near the shore and gets to an impressive height over the beach.The entire demonstration doesnt take too long, and the most logical explanation is the battery pack which doesnt look too big. It is also probably why the two rotors have those large fans, to solve the energy storage issue because they lift the vehicle way faster than smaller rotors.We are still waiting for further details on this cool-looking invention and its plans, hoping that we can see it in production as soon as possible.These flying backpacks are no longer a utopia, but the fact that the CopterPack is electric instead of running on kerosene is indeed an interesting and greener achievement.Weve also recently seen the Royal Navy soldiers toying around with Gravity Industries jet engine-powered suit that uses over 1,000 hp of thrust and reaches 37 mph (60 kph).Then theres also British inventor Richard Browning, whos also the founder of jetpack manufacturer Gravity Industries, and who recently made the Guinness World Records with his triathlon in a jet suit. His gravity-defying device helped him break Usain Bolts 9.58 seconds record in a 100-meter challenge, with Browning achieving 7.69 seconds and flying at a speed of 35 mph (56 kph).Richard also broke the world record for the fastest 400 meters hurdles in a body controlled jet engine-powered suit, with 42.06 seconds.His third challenge was to fly 40 meters (131 ft) up to a pole, then climb up to six meters (19.6 ft), and land on a mat, all of these in just 15 seconds. He beat this record too, with a result of 13.09 seconds.
Israel Capistran, 45, was taken into custody Sunday on a charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, prosecutors said. When Waukegan police arrested Capistran, he was in his car and during a search of the vehicle, police found a handgun. Authorities lodged additional charges against Capistran for not having a firearm owners identification card, officials said.
In 1987, Romano Artioli bought the Bugatti trademark rights and kickstarted the revival of the legendary company. On September 15, 1990, he officially inaugurated a new factory in Campogalliano, a small Italian city northwest of Modena. A year later, to mark Ettore Bugattis 110th birthday, the EB 110 was unveiled at Versailles and in front of the Grande Arche de la Defense, near Paris.One of the most cutting-edge supercars of its time, it featured a 3.5-liter V12 with four turbochargers, all-wheel drive, and a lightweight carbon monocoque chassis. It quickly became popular, and a few years later, legendary Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher purchased a yellow Super Sport variant. He subsequently crashed it into a truck soon after, blaming the "inadequate brakes" for the incident.Questionable brakes aside, the 603-hp Italian-made Bugatti was undoubtedly fast. Able to reach 218 mph (351 kph), it held the record for the fastest production car of the period, but Artioli wanted more than just a place in the record books. He was hellbent on bringing Bugatti back to the world of motorsport.Thus, in addition to the GT and the Super Sport, two official race-spec variants boasting up to 690 hp were manufactured at the time. The first one was a blue EB 110 LM, which competed in the 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans but sadly did not finish the race. However, the car piqued the interest of Gildo Pallanca-Pastor, a wealthy Monegasque businessman, race car driver, and Bugatti enthusiast. In March 1995, he set a speed record on ice in a stock Super Sport. Still, he was actually more interested in entering official races, so he commissioned a bespoke race version to participate in the U.S. IMSA and other endurance races that year.Engineers extensively revamped a stock EB 110 SS , making it lighter, faster, and ready to dominate the track. Named Sport Competizione, it was ready to compete in just six months after development started.Pallanca-Pastor competed in a handful of events that season, and although the car performed adequately, it never managed to impress. Unfortunately, the supercar market began to collapse at the time, and so did the Italian reincarnation of Bugatti.Even though spare parts were scarce, the Monegasque driver didnt give up on the EB 110 SC and managed to prepare it for the next season, planning to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. In June, he entered the two-hour race in Dijon, France but soon after the start, during the second lap, he was involved in a crash. Due to extensive damage, he could not continue. The lack of spare parts meant that the mechanics were unable to repair it in time, so the EB 110 Sport Competizione didnt make it to Le Mans, which started a week later.Although the incident ended the short motorsport career of the last factory race car built by Bugatti to date, it was eventually repaired and sold to a collector that kept it in perfect shape. Recently, it made its way back to Dijon for a photoshoot, 25 years after its last race. You can admire the (in)glorious machine in the gallery above.
The Charlotte center was announced by GM in January 2020. However, the original 75,000-square-foot (6,968-square-meters) facility was repurposed by GM Defense for manufacturing the new Infantry Squad Vehicle, a light troop transporter built for the U.S. Army.Now, after more than a year, ground was finally broken at the new, larger center. The location of the site was selected for its proximity to a number of key racing partners, teams, and major technical suppliers.GM will also have a greater chance of hiring top personnel in software engineering, computational science, electrical engineering, and other fields because of its strategic location in the heart of one of the country's largest cities and close proximity to colleges and institutions.According to Jim Danahy, GM vice president of Global Safety, Systems and Integration, the new Charlotte Technical Center will expand the company's engineering footprint and will increase the speed and capability in both racing and vehicle production.Inside, the facility will include virtual simulation and physical testing to fulfill the short development time periods required by motorsports teams. The new testing methods will offer more insight to GM's vehicle engineers.Furthermore, three cutting-edge Driver-in-the-Loop simulators, aero development, and other software-enabled vehicle modeling technology will be available, allowing for faster analysis and development. The center will allow GM to gather and analyze much more data, allowing the racing and engineering teams to enhance designs early in the development process.The new Charlotte Technical Center is scheduled to open its gates next year. This will coincide with NASCAR's Next Gen racecar, which is also set to debut in 2022. The Next Gen will have enhanced aero and downforce packages and will introduce new technologies on the track.
The new version of Android Auto that users can download today is 6.6.1122, while the previous update that landed on May 28 was 6.5.1119. Android Auto 6.5 was the second update to see daylight in May after version 6.4 was published earlier the same month.So whats new in Android Auto 6.6 ? If youve been using the app for a while, you probably know already that Google doesnt provide any changelog for the Android Auto updates that it ships, unless theres something truly big, in which case Google celebrates with an official announcement published on its blog.But otherwise, Android Auto updates come without a changelog, letting users who install them figure out on their own whats been improved.On the other hand, we already know that several new Android Auto features are in the works, and theres a chance this update paves the way for their introduction, in addition to introducing a series of bug fixes and optimizations.For example, Google announced at I/O 2021 in May that Android Auto would support Fast Pair in some cars, which means users would need just a single tap to pair their Android smartphones with head units in their vehicles. Therefore, setting up Android Auto will be a lot more straightforward and will require minimal configuration on our side.Furthermore, its been discovered that Google might also be working on an Android Auto connection troubleshooter for those still relying on the wired mode. In other words, the troubleshooter will help users deal with problems encountered when launching Android Auto with a cable, even being able to detect a bad cord. No ETA has been provided, however, as to when the troubleshooter could land.
In this industry, one seldom gets any bigger than Rolls-Royce. The company is presently engaged in several projects that should reshape aerial transportation in the years to come. Weve already talked about the Spirit of Innovation electric aircraft, or the worlds largest aero engine, the UF001 , but Rolls is also developing something it describes as the most powerful hybrid-electric aero power and propulsion system in aerospace.Developed as a powertrain for future regional aircraft, the technology is currently in early testing stages. The things first elements, including the specialist controls, thermal management system, and a system integration generator are on the bench at a facility in the UK, the same place where the engines of the Army Air Corps Apache and Royal Navy Merlin helicopters have been put through their paces.The propulsion system is developed as part of the 2.5 megawatt Power Generation System 1 (PGS1) demonstrator program. Later this year, the company plans to test a fully operational generator and a 3,000-volt power electronics system, both currently being assembled at the Rolls facility in Norway.After that, the ground testing should begin. The exact details of the finished system are unknown, but Rolls-Royce says the resulting generator will be used as part of a more-electric system designed for larger aircraft.There is no date set for when the system should be finished. Still, the companys director for aerospace technology, Alan Newby, claims it should be ground-breaking in the world of aviation when ready, not only in terms of performance but also sustainability.
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One of the main products rolling off Saabs lines presently is the Gripen . Introduced in 1996, the single-engine fighter is presently in the service of over 30 nations in under ten different variants. Before getting on board one, though, pilots have to fly it in the simulator.This task will be getting increasingly easier thanks to a new human eye resolution mixed reality (XR) technology Saab will be integrating into the simulators for the E/F Gripen. Developed by Finnish company Varjo Technologies, the tech is described as having the highest resolution and widest field of view in the industry.More to the point, the hardware comes in the form of virtual reality glasses with separate screens for each eye, instead of the single one used in domes. Each screen comes with a built-in 3D feature and allows for the wearer to see everything in the middle of the field of vision in ultra-high resolution, while peripheral vision comes with lower resolution.That is done thanks to infrared LEDs that project patterns on the surface of the eye. Tracked by small cameras, these patterns allow for the image to be adapted to the eye's movement. This approach allows the system to operate without the help of a supercomputer, as all the computing power is focused on delivering great details only of the point the pilots eyes are trained on.This setup lets the wearer read text and see even the smallest details of the simulated environment and should significantly increase the quality of training.Saab did not say when its simulators for the Gripen will be fitted with the new tech.
BEV

The main image in this article  extracted from the Facebook post  shows where the hydrogen tanks for the SCG Boot FCEV will be. With only two hydrogen tanks located inside the cabin, the regular road version would give the electric pickup truck more than 600 miles of range.To endure the total 600 miles to 900 miles the competition may have  depending on the course, they may add a third hydrogen tank in the truck bed. To Autoweek , Chris Voorhees said they are still evaluating which would be the best solution considering refueling penalties. Voorhees is the president of First Mode, the engineering company helping SCG develop the Boot FCEV.According to the Facebook post, Tesla, Ford, and Volkswagen are all in on pure battery electric vehicles. At the same time, SCG has decided fuel cells alone or with batteries are a more capable clean energy option than pure batteries alone.The reasons for that are clear. As much as battery electric cars present better energy efficiency, they are heavier and take a lot more time to charge than filling a hydrogen tank demands. Another issue is how costly battery packs still are.One way to tackle that disadvantage would be to adopt a battery swapping strategy, as Nio has successfully done in China. Yet, battery packs would still be cumbersome. The only solution for that would be a new technology such as solid-state batteries, which also have the advantage of being safer than batteries with liquid electrolytes.BEVs main advantage is that they can be charged at home, while FCEVs need a hydrogen network that is yet not in place. While that needs to be addressed, using a reasonable battery pack associated with fuel cells could allow them also to be recharged at home, leaving the hydrogen tank for longer trips.SCG ends its challenge by saying that Tesla , Ford, and Volkswagen already have vehicles well developed or already for sale, while the Boot FCEV is still a clean sheet of paper. Yet, SCG is confident it will be able to beat anycompetitor  if any of them dares to accept the challenge.
SUV

Quite literally, because the company premiered the Bigster Concept as a way of ushering in a new era where the Duster wont be alone in playing the crossovergame. Even better, the upcoming production version of the Bigster prototype will attack the highly disputed compact segment. That one is on fire in Europe, with just about everyone vying for a piece of the money pie.Dacia has been quite busy officially introducing the all-new fully electric Spring or the third-generation Sandero to markets across the Old Continent, so its not that surprising the company gets a helping hand from the rumor mill.As such, we now have an exclusive render coming from Reichel Car Design to corroborate the recent finds. Its not long since we checked out the alleged patent images that got leaked, showing that Dacia fully intends to get the Bigster into production with very little changes compared to the conceptual version.Now were getting all that set into the proper perspective, and the red Bigster we see here courtesy of pixel master Bernhard Reichel has all the right cues to seem almost a part of the real world. It will arrive above the Duster as the companys new SUV flagship, but we expect the new model to remain as affordable as possible Of course, its not going to be on par with the bargain Duster, which kicks off at just 11,990 ($14,599 at the current exchange rates) in Germany in Access trim. But it probably wont come with a base price tag going above what Dacia wants for the most expensive Duster, the Urban special model (16,990/$20,687) either.
The connection between human muscle health and plain, old worms might not be obvious, but its an important one, according to scientists. We have much more in common with worms, biologically speaking, than we would like to think, and the important thing here is that they can also be affected by certain factors in space, which can lead to muscle alterations. This is why these tiny creatures can be of great help in not only researching the causes of muscle loss during spaceflight , but also in trying to develop possible therapies for that.A research team led by scientists from Nottingham and Exeter University is conducting an experiment based on sending worms into space, in a project thats funded by the UK Space Agency . C. elegans worms were flown to the International Space Station (ISS), where they will be staying for almost a week.At the end of last week, the SpX-22, a Commercial Resupply Service mission contracted by NASA and flown by SpaceX, has launched the worms into space , with the help of a Cargo Dragon 2. The precious cargo is so small that it fit into 24 containers no larger than matchboxes, developed by the Oxfordshire-based company Kayser Space. Each of them contained 3 culture bags where the little guys were placed. Once they arrived on board of ISS, the worms were transferred into an incubator in ISSs Columbus science laboratory.Through this study, scientists hope to find solutions not only for preventing astronauts health conditions, but also for fighting against muscular dystrophies in general and helping people live longer. The experiment is the first of 3 research projects that are currently funded by the UK Space Agency.
We are indeed in the Silicon Age as this element is one of the most useful ones for mankind. Silicon has the symbol Si and the atomic number 14. It is a semiconductor which makes it great in the computer industry, so its no surprise that an entire valley in California was named in its honor: Silicon Valley.Now a team of scientists at the Carnegie Institution for Science has come up with a new form of silicon that could prove to be even more useful. Silicon can take different crystalline forms or allotropes, according to Carnegie Science . Its widely used form nowadays, especially for electronics, solar panels, and computers, is a cubic one that is structured like a diamond. But that doesnt unlock the full potential of this valuable element, and this particular form were using it in is not the most optimized one.So, scientists started running lab tests and have come up with a new form they called 4H-silicon. It has a hexagonal structure and has four repeating layers, hence the number in its name.This is not the first time someone has tried to synthesize silicon in a hexagonal form, but it is the first time they succeeded in producing such high-quality, stable, bulk crystals. Scientists claim this new form will serve as the basis for future research activities.The new hexagonal silicon could be used to manufacture high-performance transistors, photovoltaic devices to charge EVs, and other next-gen electronics with enhanced properties. We are still waiting for more information regarding the scientists discovery and its future applications.
On March 23rd, Consumer Reports stated, "Tesla's reliance on in-vehicle cameras to record and broadcast passengers' video to build self-driving tech is raising privacy concerns, according to a statement on Reuters. The report added that Tesla Inc's usage of built-in car cameras undermines the safety perks in driving monitoring systems. In fact, Consumer Reports' Jake Fisher says, "If Tesla can determine when a driver isn't attentive, it should warn them in real-time as other automakers do.

Monitoring systems owned by automakers like Ford Motors don't record or share video footage. Instead, they monitor drivers' eye movement and head position using infrared technology and alert them if they seem distracted or impaired. While in-car cameras fitted in Tesla automobiles seem to undermine safety, these digital automotive add-ons make cars smarter and safe. Below are a few benefits of in-vehicle cameras as safety features.

Ideal Solutions For Undisciplined Drivers

Safe driving should be a top priority for all drivers. Unfortunately, some individuals don't value road safety as expected. Irresponsible drivers tend to speed, tailgate, use mobile phones, and overtake vehicles in front of them, putting other road users' lives in danger. One of the best ways to combat reckless driving is reporting careless drivers to traffic authorities using recordings on your dashcam. Since dash-cams record your car's surroundings from the moment you start your engine, you can easily capture undisciplined drivers around you. And then use the footage as evidence to report them hence promote road safety.

In-Car Cameras Provide Evidence Of Car Accidents

Resolving car accident claims isn't an easy task, as parties involved tend to deny responsibility. As a result, both parties end up taking equal liability, and in some cases, the innocent party takes the blame for the incident. To ensure everyone gets fair justice, car accident lawyers recommend using video footage on your dashcam. In-vehicle cameras record your journey in real-time, providing efficient proof of when the car crash occurred. Your auto accident attorney will then use the evidence to negotiate a fair settlement with insurance companies.

Perfect Tools For Preventing Parking-Related Accidents

Parking a car can be daunting, especially for beginner drivers, as they often scratch other vehicles or hit objects behind them. Installing a dashcam helps you park without much hassle because you'll have a clear view of your driving environment. Another benefit of investing in dashboard cameras is that they can stay on at night even when the engine is off. This feature helps capture vandals who attempt breaking into your car when parked in poorly lit areas. Moreover, you can operate in-car cameras remotely via your smartphone or laptop.

Dashboard cameras or in-vehicle cameras are small and cost-effective automobile add-ons that enhance road safety. Ideally, dash cams provide a clear view of your driving surroundings to prevent you from hitting other vehicles, people or objects. Dashboard cameras also help you capture events before and after a crash, providing you with enough evidence to file an accident claim.
Luis Raposo, a 74-year-old retired Portuguese jurist, has been fascinated with the characters used in the Chinese language since he started to learn Chinese at the University of Lisbon's Confucius Institute in 2009.

"My name means Huli (fox) in Chinese, and they call me 'fox'. In Portugal, the fox is a symbol of cleverness, and I like this name very much," he told Xinhua.

The written Chinese language is really interesting, he said. The Chinese characters have a logic of their own. Simple strokes are used to form them, and these characters in turn are used to form words and sentences, said Raposo, who joined the one-month summer camp organized by Tianjin Foreign Studies University in 2010 as the oldest student. "This (language) is very interesting, very ancient, (dating back) thousands of years. The unique charm of Chinese characters is fascinating."

He has familiarized himself with more than 2,000 Chinese characters over the years and has compiled a large database of his understanding and explanation of them.

Raposo, who now teaches Chinese at a local community college, said his explanations have aroused the interest of his students and inspired them to learn more about Chinese culture.

He said he was happy to have realized his dream by studying the Chinese language and becoming a Chinese language teacher in the first 10 years after his retirement.

His home resembles a showroom of Chinese culture: the walls are decorated with Chinese paper cuts and traditional face masks, Chinese knots are hanging on the pillars and hundreds of Chinese books are stacked on the shelves.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Lisbon awarded him the title of "honorary student" in 2018 in recognition of his passion for the Chinese language and his perseverance in learning Chinese characters.

Professor Teresa Cid, former Portuguese director of the Confucius Institute, praised Raposo as an intelligent student and a respectable teacher, whose devotion has helped several Portuguese people learn Chinese and understand Chinese culture.

Wang Jincheng, Chinese director of the Confucius Institute who has also taught Chinese in Portugal, said he was moved by Raposo's enthusiasm and perseverance.

During his studies at the Confucius Institute, Raposo had often volunteered as a teaching assistant, explaining the meaning of Chinese characters to his fellow students and comparing notes with Chinese teachers after class.

"Huli's love for the Chinese language has become an inspiration for the people around him," Wang said.

Raposo's plan for the next decade is to publish a Portuguese-language dictionary of Chinese characters.

He said he hopes that the traditional Portuguese-Chinese friendship will last for generations to come and that he can continue to promote Chinese studies in Portugal through his knowledge and devotion.
(Photo : What Happens if Your Car Insurance Is Canceled )

You have to regularly pay your car insurance since it's an essential bill, like your other routine bills.

It's crucial to contact your insurance company once you realize you're behind your insurance payments.

What if you can't afford your car insurance payment or miss the payment?

The key is communication. As soon as you miss a payment, or you think you can't make your payment, call your insurance company and let them know about your situation.

If your payment is not due yet, but you already know you won't be able to afford future payments, you might have an option to postpone your payment or extend the due date.

Talk to the agent, and if you have a credible reason why you can't make the payment, you can be eligible for things like partial payment or additional perks.

What happens if the insurance gets canceled?

It's illegal to drive without car insurance, and the longer you go without insurance, the bigger the price will be after you purchase it again.

But sometimes insurance companies can cancel the policy. Why would they do that?

Common reasons why an insurer may cancel a policy include:

Non-payment of premiums

A DUI/DWI charge

Frequent insurance claims

Costly payouts

Not providing the correct documentation

Cancellation Based on Non-payments

This is one of the most common reasons for policy cancellations. People simply forget to pay due to their busy lifestyle or they just can't afford it.

The biggest mistake people make is they delay payments or ignore notices. The best thing you can do is contact your agent and discuss what kind of options you have.

What happens when an insurer usually cancels a policy due to nonpayment?

Understand that whenever you default on payments, whether you just forgot or the check got lost in the mail, you stand a chance of losing coverage. Besides, you also need to make sure your check doesn't bounce because of non-sufficient funds (NSF).

While your insurance company likely won't cancel your policy due to an NSF charge, it may add extra processing fees, plus it will cost you in bank fees.

You can get away with one or maybe two NSF payments. However, if your payment checks repeatedly bounce, you're at risk of losing your policy due to nonpayment. To find out about specific details in this regard, you should consult your policy agreement.

What do you do after your car insurance gets canceled?

You have two basic options after your car insurance gets canceled. First is to shop around. If the cancellation wasn't your fault, just shake it off. Shop around, search for the best deals, and gather several quotes for insurance policies from reputable companies.

If you don't want to do some research, simply ask your insurer to take you back. Write an official letter, and see if your state can help. For example, in Illinois, you can appeal to the state Department of Insurance, which holds hearings for these types of situations.

Your car insurance provider may also refuse to renew your policy rather than just cancel it. Here are a few reasons that may happen:

You were cited for drunk driving or other serious driving violations

You've made too many claims, especially if you caused those accidents

The insurer has discontinued offering that type of coverage

What happens if your carrier dropped you?

You can apply for insurance again if your provider drops you. Don't hide anything from your new provider - be honest about why the previous insurer dropped you.

Misrepresenting yourself on an insurance application can lead to having your policy canceled all over again.
Driven down a road to success, Bryce Atkas has taken his company ACI Dynamix from a small business to one of the largest auto service companies on the east coast. A self proclaimed one-stop-shop for auto customs work, Bryce puts his hard work and God in the forefront of his mind as he pushes towards a path to success. With an extensive background in the automotive industry, dealership experience, and public and private sector experience, Bryce believes in working hard and grinding towards accomplishing any goal he has set for himself.

Currently, ACI Dynamix is one of the busiest auto shops on the east coast. They focus hands-on to cover decal, clerical, and any additional work to satisfy their cars and customers to the highest standards. Having recently worked with several high-end clients, they've expanded their services, including spending two years working on an Indy car team's vehicle for Santino Ferrucci. This included vinyl wrapping the car and windshield protection, ACI Dynamix has also done recent builds for the New York Auto show.

Bryce Atkas attributes his success and ability to overcome failure to his faith. Calling his company's growth a blessing, Bryce tells us to press on through failures, and see any shortcomings as a learning experience. "Let your losses and wins define you, not just one or the other. Put God first and always remember where you came from" Bryce says.

Growing over the years as a manager and business owner, Bryce knew from that he wasn't cut out for school and a normal job. He wanted to work for himself and build the foundation for his future on his own goals and passions. Working in self proclaimed "organized chaos" he has to learn how to structure his teams and staff to deliver the highest quality services in his sector.

Following Bryce Atkas's success, ACI Dynamix has teamed up with multiple charities, two of the biggest being The Hometown Foundation and Rally 2 Give. Being driven to success and following through his faith, Bryce Atkas has his sights set on developing ACI Dynamix into a global brand, servicing and detailing automobiles around the world.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken told "Axios on HBO" the Biden administration is determined to "get to the bottom" of COVID-19's origins, and said the U.S. will hold China accountable.

Why it matters: "The most important reason we have to get to the bottom of this is that's the only way we're going to be able to prevent the next pandemic or at least do a better job in mitigating it," he said during a wide-ranging interview in the State Department's Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room.

Blinken said China still hasn't "given us the transparency we need," access for international inspectors and experts, or real-time information sharing.

"That has to happen," he added. "(A)t the end of the day, it's profoundly in China's interest to do this, as well."

Blinken said that if China "purports to be a responsible international actor," it will have "to do everything it can to provide all the information it has to make sure we can hopefully prevent this from happening again."

On U.S. companies doing business with China, Blinken said it's "very important" they not "aid and abet ... China's ability to use surveillance technology to repress its own people, or to export that technology to allow other autocratic or authoritarian governments from doing the same thing."
Secretary of State Tony Blinken told me during an "Axios on HBO" interview that President Biden is meeting with Vladimir Putin nine days from now "not in spite of" the cyberattacks that disrupted U.S. meat and gas supplies: "It's because of them."

Why it matters: Biden will tell Putin "directly and clearly what he can expect from the United States if aggressive, reckless actions toward us continue," Blinken told me in the grand Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room.

Blinken said the U.S. "would prefer a more stable relationship" with Russia.

"I can't tell you whether I'm optimistic or not about the results," he added. "I don't think we're going to know after one meeting, but we'll have some indications ... We're prepared either way."

Blinken sees his Job 1 as reconnecting with allies, and he said he's found a real thirst for U.S. engagement.

"Our partners see the same thing that we do," he said. "If you're looking at all of the really big problems that we're trying to solve  ... like the pandemic, like climate change, like emerging technologies ...  no one country can do it alone."

see the same thing that we do," he said. "If you're looking at all of the really big problems that we're trying to solve  ... like the pandemic, like climate change, like emerging technologies ...  no one country can do it alone." Blinken added that when the U.S. isn't leading, China and others fill the vacuum, "and maybe not in a way that advances our interests or values": "We've certainly seen China ... try to fill voids where we've been relatively disengaged."

On the Israel-Gaza conflict, I asked Blinken what'll happen if Israel produces no smoking-gun evidence that Hamas was occupying the building, housing AP and Al-Jazeera, that Israel bombed after a warning.

"President Biden's been very clear: Israel has the right to defend itself, and it was on the receiving end of indiscriminate rocket attacks," Blinken began.

been very clear: Israel has the right to defend itself, and it was on the receiving end of indiscriminate rocket attacks," Blinken began. "However, having said that: Israel, as a democracy, I think has an added burden to make sure it is doing everything possible to avoid civilian casualties. ... I think one of the things that we found ourselves, speaking only for the United States, is that the more transparency you can provide, the more legitimacy you're going to have."

Go deeper: Blinken vows to hold China accountable on COVID origins
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approaches what may be the end of his leadership, U.S. lawmakers and interest groups alike are trying to figure out what this change could signal for the United States, the Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: The U.S.-Israel relationship has become more divisive with recent events in Gaza as well as ongoing criticism from some Democrats over Netanyahu's hard-right policies.

Netanyahu is expected to be replaced by Naftali Bennett, another hard-right figure, who has signaled that he would take a unifying approach, per the Post.

What they're saying:

The United States and Israel have a strong relationship, but its run into previously unheard-of problems in the last five years, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) said in a statement to the Post.

From our perspective, its not about an individual, its about the relationship, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters.

Bibi Netanyahu made a decision to try to create and exploit partisan division about Israel in the United States, Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) told the paper. That was a horrible mistake, because support for Israel needs to be bipartisan.

Hes been in power, hes clung to power, hes machinated to stay in power for all these years, and hes an ethno-nationalist, Levin added.

Netanyahu worked magic in Washington, but there is no question that he identified himself so much with the Republican Party that he has a big hand in turning many Democrats to what some people might call less pro-Israel, said Shira Efron, an Israeli scholar at Rand Corp. and the Israel Policy Forum.

Go deeper: Israeli "change coalition" announces new government to oust Netanyahu.
Twenty-six political parties and blocs are vying for at least 101 seats in the next Armenian parliament that will decide the political future of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

The parties will need to win at least 5 percent of the vote in order to be represented in the National Assembly. The legal vote threshold for blocs is set at 7 percent.

The main challengers of Pashinians Civil Contract party are the two opposition parties represented in the outgoing parliament as well as blocs led by the countrys three former presidents: Levon Ter-Petrosian, Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian. They blame Pashinian for Armenias defeat in the six-week war with Azerbaijan stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement last November.

Most major election contenders began holding meetings with supporters weeks before the official start of the campaign. Pashinian has traded increasingly bitter accusations and insults with Kocharian and Sarkisian. In particular, the latter have accused the incumbent of misrule and inability to confront grave security challenges facing Armenia even after the war.

As he campaigned in Armavir province west of Yerevan on Monday Pashinian again lambasted the two ex-presidents and said that they will be brought to justice for what he called past corrupt practices if he retains power. He also reiterated his calls for voters to hand him a landslide victory in the upcoming elections.

We expect at least 60 percent of the vote  We must uproot the political forces that want to provoke a civil war in Armenia, he said at a rally held in the village of Parakar.

According to an opinion poll commissioned by the Washington-based International Republican Institute (IRI) and conducted from April 8 through May 4, only 26 percent of Armenians were ready to vote for Pashinians party.

Kocharian and his opposition allies making up the Hayastan (Armenia) bloc campaigned, meanwhile, in southeastern Syunik province. The ex-president was scheduled to hold a rally in the provincial capital Kapan on Monday evening.

Unlike Kocharian, Sarkisian is not seeking to become prime minister or even a parliament deputy. His Republican Party (HHK) has formed an alliance with the opposition Fatherland party of Artur Vanetsian, a former head of Armenias National Security Service.

Vanetsian tops the list of the alliances election candidates. He kicked off its election campaign in northern Tavush province.

Edmon Marukian, the leader of the parliamentary Bright Armenia Party (LHK), expressed serious concern over mounting tensions between the ruling party and the radical opposition forces led by the two ex-presidents. He claimed that they could plunge the country into a civil war.

Marukian said Armenians can prevent it by voting for his party in large numbers. Or else, if one of those sides succeeds it will seek to destroy the other, he told reporters while marching through Yerevan together with his associates.

Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), the other opposition party represented in the outgoing parliament, was due to hold its first campaign rally in Abovian, a town 15 kilometers north of Yerevan has long been BHK leader Gagik Tsarukians political stronghold.

Other senior BHK members presented the partys campaign platform at a news conference in Yerevan. The BHK promises, among other things, to further deepen Armenias security ties with Russia through a new military-political treaty.

The document also reaffirms Tsarukians controversial pledge to write off every Armenians debts commercial banks not exceeding 3 million drams ($5,800).
Armenias Defense Ministry said its troops took counteractions on the Armenian side of the frontier near the village of Verin Shorzha in eastern Gegharkunik province.

It released a short video that purportedly showed Azerbaijani excavators digging trenches and then leaving the scene after what appeared to be gunshots fired from nearby Armenian positions.

They [the excavators] worked here both yesterday and today. But nothing is being done right now, Verin Shorzhas mayor told RFE/RLs Armenian Service.

Azerbaijani troops reportedly crossed several sections of the border and advanced a few kilometers into Gegharkunik and another Armenian province, Syunik, on May 12-14, triggering a tense standoff with Armenian army units reinforced in recent weeks. Yerevan has repeatedly demanded their unconditional withdrawal. Baku maintains that they did not cross into Armenian territory.

In a weekend statement, the Defense Ministry in Yerevan said Azerbaijani forces halted last Thursday similar fortification work at a Gegharkunik section of the border after Armenian warning shots.

The ministry also said that Armenian and Azerbaijani troops deployed near another Gegharkunik village, Kut, exchanged gunfire on Saturday. It accused Azerbaijani soldiers of firing at an Armenian shepherd who tried to herd livestock that approached their post back to Kut.

The gunfire stopped after retaliatory actions taken by the Armenian side, the ministry said, adding that no one was wounded in the incident.

Local residents told RFE/RLs Armenian Service on Monday that about 80 cows belonging to five Kut families ended up in Azerbaijani-controlled territory. They said Armenian military officials are negotiating with their Azerbaijani colleagues in a bid to return the cows to their owners.

The Azerbaijani military did not report shooting incidents in the area in recent days.
Ter-Petrosian claimed that they are ready to do everything to win the snap elections scheduled for June 20.

Its a battle between their resources and supporters for now, he said. They will not content themselves with that. There will be thousands of irregularities by both sides during the elections. In case of thousands of irregularities there will definitely be incidents inside polling stations that could get out of control.

Speaking during the official presentation of the election manifesto of his Armenian National Congress (HAK) party, Ter-Petrosian also said Pashinian and Kocharian are motivated by personal revenge and never fulfill their promises. They have said one thing but done a totally different thing, he said.

Last month Ter-Petrosian publicly called on Kocharian and the other former Armenian president, Serzh Sarkisian, to lead together with him a broad-based opposition alliance and try to unseat Pashinian. He said they also must also pledge not to seek the post of prime minister in the event of their blocs victory. Both men turned down the proposal.

Ter-Petrosian, who had served as Armenias first president from 1991-1998, insisted that an electoral alliance of the three ex-presidents would have left Pashinian without any chance of reelection.

Pashinian last week invited Ter-Petrosian, Kocharian and Sarkisian to a live televised debate. All three men dismissed the offer.

I turned down Pashinian out of pity, Ter-Petrosian explained on Monday. I took pity on him because that debate could have meant a [political] suicide for Nikol.

Pashinian played a major role in Ter-Petrosians 2008 opposition movement. He subsequently fell out with the 76-year-old ex-president and set up his own party.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese power battery giant CATL and automaker Great Wall Motor (GWM) signed on June 2 a framework agreement for a ten-year strategic partnership, according to a posting on GWM's WeChat account.

GWM, CATL signing agreement; photo credit: GWM

Under the agreement, both parties will leverage their respective advantages to co-promote the progress of new energy vehicle (NEV) technologies and contribute to achieving the China's goals of carbon neutrality and emission peak.

GWM and CATL started the cooperation on the joint development of vehicle models as far back as 2016. Then both parties carried out collaboration on technology R&D and auto parts supply for such brands as Haval, WEY, and ORA.

GWM said it is moving faster on the transition to being a global technology company. It currently owns five auto brands, namely Haval, WEY, ORA, Great Wall Pick, and TANK. In the NEV sphere, based on the three technology brands L.E.M.O.N TANK, and Coffee Intelligence, it is simultaneously developing all-electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs).

CATL said it is dedicated to replacing the stationary and mobile energy systems primarily supported by traditional fossil energy with a highly efficient electric system powered by such renewable energy such advanced batteries, wind, light, as well as hydraulic power.


The COVID-19 pandemic heavily changed the business landscape of many industries, and the fashion industry in Australia is no exception.

However, the transformation of people's life and work style under the pandemic also means opportunities. The just-ended Australian Fashion Week (AAFW) in Sydney not only witnessed a successful return of one of the country's most important fashion events, but also showcased the shift in local brand designing and retail behavior after an involuntary hiatus.

Featuring the work of about 70 designers, the fashion week brought the fashion community back together after it was cancelled last year. During a pivotal moment in history, the resilient market readjusted and repositioned artistic fundamentals of the industry to reinvention.

Ingrid Bonnor, founder of the Australian sleepwear brand Homebodii, told Xinhua that she found more ideas for her design and greater profitability under the enforced lockdown, when people had to work from home for a long time.

Bonnor said the orders doubled last year since people are more concerned about their house dresses, and customers not only buy for themselves but also send them as gifts.

Bonnor also found that people are more likely to have casual and wearable clothes outside their homes. In order to meet their needs to look presentable and feel comfortable, she created more designs of pajamas that could be worn outside for short-time casual work.

"We want our sleepwear not just designed as pajamas, because when you cost per wear, you're getting more value out of the garment, and it is more comfortable and versatile now. You can wear it to bed, to the beach, to lunch."

Last year was also a potential period for Katya Komarova and her leather bags.

"It was a very difficult year, my brand was actually so inexperienced before, but with a lot of development, because I was collaborating with other brands," Komarova told Xinhua.

The label has achieved its growth and driven transformation by cooperating with clothing brands, Morrison and Banded Together, creating more exclusive colors for her iconic leather bag designs. The rich tones of wine, chocolate and olive are in line with Komarova's aesthetic, proving to be ideal for its partners' creative direction and expanded its target demographics.

Komarova said the collaboration and support in the industry expanded her brand in the Australian market during the challenging period. She has debuted a new modernized and fresh version of their logo to reflect the brand's evolution over the past six years.

"It is a win-win solution," she said. "We met each other last year and decided to launch a joint collection. They also used my bags in the runway. It is a very cool challenge for me to see how can I complement what they are already selling with the styling of my bags."

Meanwhile, the lockdown measures accelerated the shift from physical to online retail, and an increasing number of fashion brands or platforms are trying to create online experiences to provide similar levels of customer service as in-store.

"We used the body scanning to enable retailers to produce and send garments to fit that person," said Garo Iskenderian, General Manager from Daniel Avakian. "Customers just need to simply input their basic information and use smartphone to scan their bodies, and that technology can enable us to produce garments, which has already been applied now."

Eric Berchtold, CEO of the Sydney-based brand the Iconic, said the functions of customization and personalization from artificial intelligent have also been used in the platform to help predict the consumers' size and preferences based on their purchase and return history, and the size they are in other brands.

"There is all sorts of other visualize tools that we use that you can actually just use with your own mobile phone. Have a look at what a different sneaker might look like on your phone, because that's actually something that people like to do in store," Berchtold said.

In response to the impression of Australia's fashion this year, most designers used the word "resilient."

Iskenderian said despite all the difficulties of the last nine months, there has been a "very strong and resilient growth" in the industry.
Ayvazian announced his decision hours after an emergency session of the Armenian governments Security Council which discussed mounting tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Speaking at a May 31 farewell meeting with the Foreign Ministry staff, Ayvazian hinted that he is quitting because of disagreeing with government decisions which he believes could put the countrys sovereignty and national security at risk. He did not go into details.

It emerged afterwards that one of Ayvazians deputies, Gagik Ghalachian, also handed in his resignation on May 27. Some Armenian media outlets reported last week that the three other deputy ministers -- Artak Apitonian, Avet Adonts and Armen Ghevondian -- followed suit.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed those reports on Monday. It told RFE/RLs Armenian Service that the resignations of Apitonian, Adonts and Ghevondian were submitted to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians office for approval last week.

None of the vice-ministers has been formally relieved of his duties so far.

Speaking at the May 27 meeting of the Security Council, Pashinian called for the deployment of international observers along contested portions of the frontier where Armenian and Azerbaijani troops have been facing off against each other for the last four weeks.

Some opposition figures and other critics of Pashinian denounced the proposal, accusing him of failing to defend Armenia against foreign aggression and plotting to cede Armenian territory to Baku. The prime minister and his allies deny that.

Ayvazians remarks gave Pashinians detractors more ammunition. An Armenian government spokeswoman challenged the outgoing minister to publicly clarify who, where and how was going to take some steps or to make decisions contradicting our countrys national and state interests.
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Prince Harry and Meghan may have stepped away from their royal duties  but family appeared to be top of mind in naming their second child, Lilibet Lili Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, who was born Friday in California.

The name pays tribute to both Harrys grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, whose family nickname is Lilibet, and his late mother, Princess Diana.

Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family, Harry and Meghan, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, wrote in a statement that accompanied the birth announcement Sunday.

The baby is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers weve felt from across the globe, they continued.

The baby girl was born at 11:40 a.m. at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, and weighed in at 7 lbs, 11 oz, a spokesperson for the couple said. The child is eighth in line to the British throne.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the queen; Harry's father, Prince Charles; his brother, Prince William; and other members of the family had been informed and are "delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also congratulated the couple in a tweet.

Harry and Meghan Markle  formerly an actor  married at Windsor Castle in May 2018 and welcomed their son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, a year later.

No photos of the newborn or the Sussexes accompanied the announcement. The couple has said that in lieu of gifts, they request those interested learn about or support nonprofit organizations working for women and girls, including Girls Inc., Harvest Home, CAMFED or Myna Mahila Foundation.

The birth of the healthy baby girl opens a happy chapter for the couple following a miscarriage in July 2020. Meghan gave a personal account of that traumatic experience in hope of helping others.

Months before the miscarriage, the couple announced they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media. They live in Montecito, an upscale area near Santa Barbara, California.

In the wake of quitting royal duties, they gave an explosive TV interview to Oprah Winfrey in March, in which the couple described painful comments about how dark Archies skin might be before his birth and Meghan talked about the intense isolation she felt inside the royal family that led her to contemplate suicide.

Buckingham Palace said the allegations of racism made by the couple were concerning and would be addressed privately.

Winfrey and Harry recently collaborated on the Apple TV+ mental-health series The Me You Cant See.

In the interview with Oprah, Meghan also talked about the fact that her son was not given the title of prince. Harry said the royal family cut him off financially after he announced plans to step back from his roles  and that he was able to afford security for his family because of the money his mother left behind.

Despite leaving royal duties, Harrys place in the order of succession to the throne remains.

The first seven places remain unchanged: Prince Charles; Prince William; Williams children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis; Prince Harry, and his son, Archie.

Lilibets birth moves Prince Andrew, who was born second in line in 1960, down to ninth place.

___

Read all AP stories on Prince Harry and Meghan at https://apnews.com/PrinceHarry.
The owners and operators of 57 wine grape farms in Texas on Friday sued two large companies that they allege sold a faulty seed system and a volatile weedkiller thats crippled vineyards, threatening the fate of many in the Panhandle, believed to be home to one of the nations largest wine industries.

The suit, filed in Jefferson County, alleges a drifting herbicide has damaged productive grapevines on dozens of farms since Monsanto and Germany-based BASF began marketing a dicamba-based seed systems for cotton and soybean. The High Plains vineyards account for 85 percent of grapes produced, sold or used by the states industry, lawyers representing the plaintiffs said.

Dicamba is used on crops to kill weeds but can move off-target and damage nearby crops and vegetation not genetically modified to withstand it, according to the suit. The plaintiffs seek at least $560 million at trial, per the suit, in damages and lost economic opportunity.

In a statement, BASF officials said they disagreed with the allegations in the suit.

We formulated our dicamba product to significantly reduce off-target movement and conducted extensive testing before receiving EPA approval to market Engenia herbicide in 2017, the statement said. In addition, because of BASFs commitment to stewardship, we continue to provide training to applicators and emphasize the importance of following the label requirements for Engenia herbicide to achieve on-target applications.

A spokesperson for Monsanto did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Many of these vineyards have taken 20 to 30 years to cultivate in an area where only cotton was grown, Ted Liggett, a lawyer with a Lubbock firm representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement. They gave new purpose to the land, delivered a far more lucrative crop and created an industry thats recognized for its excellence around the world. Now all that grit, hard work and community pride is at risk of being lost, sacrificed to Monsantos reckless pursuit of corporate profit.

Dicamba can damage neighboring, unintended targets when it is applied to a crop, evaporates and moves into the air, traveling before settling on another plant; by physically drifting; and when it is sprayed during a temperature inversion and hangs in a mass of cool air above soil before falling once the air mass warms, potentially moving miles away, according to the suit.

Plaintiffs alleged Monsantos release of the Xtend system, a crop system of genetically modified seeds that are resistant to dicamba, spurred an exponential increase in use of the herbicide over the last six years.

Monsanto developed the system to address the problem of herbicide resistant weeds (e.g., pigweed) that have afflicted cotton and soybean crops, the lawsuit reads. This is despite the fact that the use of over-the-top dicamba application (a necessary component of any herbicide-resistant seed system for cotton or soybeans) has never been encouraged in the past due to the herbicides volatility and susceptibility to secondary movement (post-application).

Monsanto and BASF released a version of dicamba that was supposed to be less volatile by 2017, but reports of damaged crops continued throughout the Midwest and South, according to the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, some growers felt forced to buy the Xtend system as a defense mechanism against their neighbors spraying. There was no recourse for growers of crops without a dicamba-resistant seed available, such as grapes, according to the suit.

The cause of the destruction of plaintiffs crops and businesses is defendants willful and negligent release of their dicamba-based seed system on the market, the suit reads. Defendants methodically engaged in a coordinated, systematic plan to release their defective products onto the market, thereby ensuring that crops that were not dicamba tolerant would be destroyed.

To individuals who grow grapes, the impact has appeared in shorter canes and tinier leaves unable to generate enough carbohydrates for the plants to perform their basic functions: keeping itself alive, preparing for the winter, producing the bud that will be fruit the following year and maturing fruit.

Reduced leaf area means less photosynthesis, which creates the carbohydrates. Even seemingly normal, tight crop sets struggle to mature grapes into their expected level of sugar, growers say.

We just dont have enough carbohydrate production, said Andy Timmons, 53, who owns and operates vineyards in Brownfield and another in Lubbock. Youre supposed to be running at 100 percent, you know. These vineyards are not running at that and so some fruit never, ever gets mature.

Neal Newsom, who operates vineyards under the company name Cornelious Corp., said among the most difficult aspects at the moment is the death loss. Over the years, so many vines have been beat up and reserves knocked down that hes replacing vines like crazy.

When he plants new vines, they become twisted as soon as they get out of the top of the grow tube, which is about 2.5 feet, and then they dont have a chance.

This is my livelihood and its being squeezed out of me by no fault of my own, he said. This cant go on. Im going to be squished like a bug. Financially, this cannot continue for me. I dont know how else to say it.

alejandro.serrano@chron.com

twitter.com/serrano_alej
The final round of the Zimbabwean edition of the 20th Chinese Bridge contest was held at the University of Zimbabwe in the capital Harare on Saturday.

The Chinese Bridge is an annual worldwide Chinese speaking and performance competition for international students that aims to strengthen the world's understanding of the Chinese language and culture.

This year's contest was held under the theme "One world, one family".

Through speeches and cultural performances, six contestants from different departments of the university shared their Chinese learning stories and showcased their mastery of the Chinese language.

The contestants also had to answer five cultural and current affairs knowledge quiz about China, before a second round to highlight their talents through various cultural performances.

Rebokile Setoboli, a final year Economics student, won the highest scores after impressing the judges with her mastery of the Chinese language and her appreciation of the Chinese culture.

Speaking to the media after the contest, Setoboli said she expects to represent Zimbabwe at the final Chinese bridge completion for international students in China later this year.

"I am supposed to take part in the international competition, and I am going to do my best to represent this country well and learn more," she said.

"Mostly, I just want to learn more about Chinese, increase my Chinese level and keep on getting better because it's still not that good but it's improving," she said.

As an economics major, Setoboli decided to minor in Chinese due to China's increased economic engagement with Zimbabwe.

"But when you look at how China is like a world superpower in terms of economics, and also the good relationship between Zimbabwe and China in terms of economics, again, I think being an economist who can speak Chinese is very necessary in Zimbabwe and in the world," said Setoboli.

The Chinese Bridge competition, which is open to college students under the age of 30, is organized by Beijing-based Confucius Institute Headquarters.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Zimbabwe opened its doors in 2007. Since then, the institution has been the anchor for the exchange of language and culture between Zimbabwe and China.
A protester against Myanmars junta holds a placard criticizing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in Mandalay, Myanmar, June 5, 2021.

Chinas backing is crucial to ASEANs efforts to foster a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Myanmar, Jakartas top diplomat said Monday.

Beijing can help the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to follow through on a five-point consensus that member-states reached at a special summit in late April, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in China between top envoys from across ASEAN and their Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

Chinas support for ASEAN to follow up on the five-point consensus will be highly appreciated, because this will contribute to efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis, Retno said of her bilateral talks with Wang in Chongqing, southwestern China.

We also discussed the importance for the political crisis in Myanmar to be resolved immediately and Chinas support for ASEANs effort will be crucial.

This was the first in-person meeting between foreign ministers from ASEAN and China in more than a year. Wunna Maung Lwin, the foreign minister appointed by the Burmese junta, also attended the talks, according to The Global New Light of Myanmar, a state-owned publication.

Analysts expected ASEAN ministers and Beijing to discuss the political crisis in Myanmar, but neither Marsudi nor Singapores foreign minister gave details about Chinas response.

The Chinese foreign ministry merely said that Beijing backed ASEANs non-interference principle and was talking to all stakeholders in Myanmar.

We support joint efforts to explore effective means to ease the situation and resolve issues within the ASEAN framework, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin told a press conference on Monday.

China will maintain close communication with ASEAN and support its mediation efforts, while reaching out to all parties in Myanmar in its own way, so as to secure an early soft landing for the situation in Myanmar.

Notably, in a Facebook post on Saturday, the Chinese embassy in Naypyidaw referred to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing as The Leader of Myanmar, months after Beijing had congratulated Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party for winning national elections held last November.

After toppling the NLD government in a coup on Feb. 1, Myanmars junta jailed Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders. In addition, more than 800 people  mostly anti-coup protesters  have been killed by the Burmese military and police in post-coup violence.

On April 24, ASEAN member-states settled on the five-point consensus during a special summit in Jakarta. Min Aung Hlaing attended the meeting and endorsed the consensus. Its points included the appointment of a special envoy from the regional bloc to Myanmar, and a call for an immediate end to the violence.

But days after the summit, the junta said it would not implement the ASEAN consensus unless there was stability in the country.

Developments on ASEAN consensus painfully slow

On its side, ASEAN has not done any better on the consensus.

More than six weeks after the Jakarta meeting, the bloc has not named an envoy, although two emissaries from ASEAN met with the Myanmar junta chief late last week and gave him the names of prospective candidates for a special ASEAN envoy.

It was not immediately known what Min Aung Hlaing had to say about the topic.

Some observers had said that Chinas Wang would assist ASEAN foreign ministers in agreeing on an envoy at the meeting in Chongqing.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of ASEAN members Malaysia and Singapore on Monday openly expressed their frustration at the blocs inaction to date on Myanmar.

Malaysias top diplomat, Hishammuddin Hussein, said the consensus was important to help Myanmar toward normalcy.

However, we must admit that developments on the consensus is painfully slow. The international community is awaiting ASEANs further action, he said on Twitter, as his deputy attended the Chongqing meeting because Hishammuddin was in COVID-19 quarantine.

Singapores foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, echoed these sentiments.

To be honest with you, we are disappointed at the slow  very, very slow progress. Unfortunately, we know that there are still civilians who have been hurt or killed, he told Singapore reporters in a call from Chongqing, according to Channel News Asia.

There has been no release of political detainees, there has been no real sign of meaningful political dialogue and negotiation. So well have to watch this space.

On Saturday, the Chinese embassy in Myanmar said that Min Aung Hlaing had reportedly told the Chinese ambassador that he was willing to work with ASEAN on implementing the consensus. It was not known whether they spoke about an ASEAN envoy.

It is difficult to assess how much ASEAN has acted upon the consensus because there was no clear timeline for implementing it, said Dinna Prapto Raharja, an international relations expert at Synergy Policies in Jakarta.

Even among ASEAN members, their views are not unanimous about Myanmar, Dinna told BenarNews.

She expressed doubt that ASEAN would be able to move quickly to facilitate dialogue in Myanmar.

They seem to conveniently dwell on procedures.

South China Sea issue raised at meeting

ASEAN foreign ministers and Wang Yi also discussed the contentious South China Sea issue.

Malaysia, for its part, conveyed Kuala Lumpurs stand on the intrusion of 16 Chinese military planes into its maritime airspace over disputed South China Sea waters near Borneo Island last week, Foreign Minister Hishammuddin said.

Malaysia objects to the presence of foreign military assets contrary to freedom of navigation and overflight/air crossing under international law, as well as without the prior approval of the Malaysian Government, the minister said on Twitter.

On the South China Sea, Malaysia will ensure our maritime zones are safe for peace to prosper. As CoC negotiations continue, the presence of military assets has potential to increase tension, which in turn may result in miscalculation, he said about negotiations on a code of conduct in the South China Sea.

Discussions on the code of conduct were halted last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Indonesias Retno called on ASEAN and China to immediately resume negotiations on the CoC. She described the progress as very slow, and offered to host the talks in the near future.

I emphasize that our ability to manage the South China Sea will be a test for ASEAN-China relations, Retno said, while calling on all parties to exercise restraint in the disputed waterway.

I reiterate that our ability to manage the South China Sea will strengthen our equal, mutually beneficial and indispensable partnership for global peace and stability. And everything must be done in accordance with UNCLOS 1982, she said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea region as its own while the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have their own territorial claims.

While Indonesia does not regard itself as a party to territorial disputes over the South China Sea, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of the maritime region that overlap Indonesias exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Indonesia has had several stand-offs with China over allegations that Chinese fishing boats, escorted by China Coast Guard ships, operated in its EEZ off the Natuna Islands.

Tria Dianti contributed to this report from Jakarta.
Subsistence fishermen haul a catch from their boat to shore in Infanta, a town in the northern Philippine province of Pangasinan, which faces the South China Sea, May 26, 2021.

A former solicitor-general urged Manila on Monday to identify individual reefs and islets in waters that it claims in the South China Sea, and delineate their maritime boundaries, to assert the Philippines rights in the disputed maritime region.

Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza, who was Manilas solicitor general in its successful maritime arbitration case against Beijing, said he had urged President Rodrigo Duterte through a letter to endorse a proposed law that names and provides coordinates to 128 features in Philippine-claimed parts of the South China Sea, and defines baselines for 35 of them, from which to measure 12-nautical-mile territorial seas.

I sent today a letter to the president expressing some concern that five years have lapsed and yet the country remains divided on how best to enforce the Arbitral Award, Jardeleza told an online news forum.

The proposed legislation names the individual features; thus, it constitutes an act of sovereignty in relation to each feature.

Jardaleza is not a member of Congress, which is dominated by Duterte allies. But as a former member of the Philippines top court, he is considered one of the countrys legal luminaries.

A bill he helped draft includes the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, the site of a 2012 standoff between Philippine and Chinese government vessels. Manila subsequently filed a successful arbitration case, which nullified nearly all of Chinas claims in the South China Sea.

Beijing, however, has steadfastly ignored the courts 2016 ruling and maintains a presence in the reef. Meanwhile, the Philippines has been protesting the continuous presence of Chinese fishermen escorted by maritime militia ships elsewhere in the South China Sea since April.

The bill not only enforces the [arbitral] award but also ensures that the Philippines is the first claimant to legislate the individual names and baselines of the claimed features, Jardeleza said.

Contested rocks

The proposal is premised on the Permanent Court of Arbitration finding that none of the geological features in the South China Sea may be considered islands under international law. Thus, none of them entails an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to overlap with the Philippine EEZ, which the tribunal affirmed in its July 2016 ruling.

What are commonly referred to as islands in the Spratlys group in the South China Sea are, at best, rocks that generate only a territorial sea.

As some of these rocks and their territorial seas are occupied by a foreign state, it is necessary to delineate where the contested territorial seas end and where our uncontested EEZ begins, Jardeleza said.

This bill draws baselines around the contested rocks precisely to enable the Philippines to exercise its rights in its uncontested EEZ, he added.

On Monday, presidential spokesman Harry Roque confirmed to BenarNews that the presidential palace had received the letter from Jardaleza but that officials were withholding comment until after they had studied it. The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a query from BenarNews.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea as its own, but five other Asian governments  Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam  have territorial claims. While Indonesia does not regard itself as a party to the South China Sea dispute, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of the sea overlapping Indonesias exclusive economic zone.

Whats in a name?

Beijing has claimed and militarized at least seven reefs in the South China Sea, despite an earlier agreement among claimant nations to desist from actions that could further inflame tensions.

It has also named, mapped and registered trademarks for hundreds of features scattered in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

In recent years, officials in Manila have complained about unauthorized Chinese vessels in Philippine-claimed waters, at times edging out Filipino fishing boats from traditional fishing grounds or blocking resupply missions to Philippine naval outposts.

In March, defense officials flagged the presence of some 200 trawlers they suspected to be manned by Chinese maritime militias anchored at Whitsun Reef within the Philippine EEZ. Manila demanded an exit, but Beijing insisted the area was within Chinese territory, and the trawlers were merely fishers taking shelter from bad weather.

The Chinese vessels lingered and reportedly even spread out to other reefs and islets, prompting Manila to file diplomatic protests with Beijing daily since April.

Amid these developments, Duterte refrained from condemning Beijing, insisting it was a friend and that Manila was grateful for assistance, including a badly-needed million doses of Chinese-made coronavirus vaccines.

Jardeleza and other experts on maritime law had been urging the government to capitalize on the 2016 award to rally international support and exert pressure on Beijing to comply with it.

Unable to match Beijings naval prowess, Manila has largely been unable to prevent incursions in its EEZ and claimed territories in the South China Sea. Its military modernization program has prioritized the acquisition of naval assets, but the pace hardly enables Manila to keep up with its rival.

But if Manila hastens to name individual reefs and islets for itself, then it effectively asserts its rights in its EEZ and claimed maritime territories that it refers to as the West Philippine Sea, according to Jardeleza.

This bill is the most inexpensive and yet most effective means of enforcing the arbitral award, and strengthening our territorial and maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea, he said.

But Antonio Carpio, a retired Supreme Court justice who helped argue the arbitration case, said he believed that Jardelza's proposed bill was unnecessary.

He said Duterte could simply issue a presidential proclamation listing the geologic features, complete with names and coordinates, and that this would be faster than passing legislation.

The status of the geologic features may change because of sea level rise. It is not practical to put the status of the geologic features in a law, he said on Monday.
People hold their plaster patches after being administered doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Narathiwat Hospital compound in Narathiwat, Thailand, June 7, 2021.

Thailand on Monday kicked off a long awaited national campaign to inoculate the general population against the coronavirus disease, amid a soaring wave of infections during which Thais have heavily criticized the government for being slow to roll out vaccines.

More than 4 million people of the nearly 70 million population have received at least one jab since the limited rollout began on Feb. 28, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said Monday.

Today we administered vaccine in all [77] provinces based on the severity in respective areas to prevent the spread [of COVID-19, Prayuth said while visiting a stadium in Bangkok that had been converted into a vaccination center.

Since Feb. 28, we have administered over 4 million dose of Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines.

Opas Kankawinpong, director-general of the Disease Control Department, said 143,116 people were inoculated in 986 centers nationwide on Monday.

As of Sunday, about 4.2 million people had gotten COVID-19 jabs, with 2.8 million of them having received their first shot and 1.3 million being fully vaccinated, officials said.

The mass campaign began after Thai company Siam Bioscience, in cooperation with Anglo-Swedish firm AstraZeneca, delivered 1.8 million of the 6 million doses it announced that it would produce, officials said. They did not say when Siam Bioscience would deliver the remaining vaccines.

The mass inoculation comes when new COVID-19 infections have risen more than six-fold and related deaths have increased 12.5 times since a third coronavirus wave began on April 1 from nightlife spots in downtown Bangkok, data from the national anti-COVID task force showed.

Thailand logged 2,429 new cases on Monday, lifting the cumulative caseload to 179,886, while the virus-related death toll rose to 1,175, after 33 overnight deaths.

To meet the demand for vaccines, Thailand signed a contract with Johnson & Johnson on Monday, Prayuth and his spokesman said. The country expects a total of 25 million doses from Johnson and from Pfizer, whose officials signed an initial agreement with Thailand last week.

So far, Thailand has received 6.5 million doses from Chinas Sinovac and almost 2 million doses from AstraZeneca via South Korea and Siam Bioscience.

Today, weve signed a booking for vaccines from Johnson and Johnson, Prayuth said, adding that he now expected to acquire 100 million doses from various drug makers so far.

The Thai PM gave no details about when the country would receive all these doses.

The U.S. government has donated $30 million in total COVID-related assistance to Thailand.

Last week, the U.S. government announced a framework for sharing 80 million vaccine doses globally by the end of June.

The plan for the distribution of the first 25 million doses includes 7 million for Asia, including Thailand. This is in addition to the $4 billion U.S. commitment to COVAX.

Thailand is not a participant in COVAX because it is not a low-income country, according to the public health minister.

Criticism of rollout

Opposition leaders and others have criticized the Thai government for what they say is a slow rollout of vaccines and confusing apps to sign up for the jabs.

I signed up via the Mor Prom app and secured an appointment but it was voided. The government was not ready [with vaccines] and flip flopped, Dokfai Krongkul, a 41-year-old businesswoman in Bangkok, told BenarNews.

We have to call the hospital which cannot give us a definite answer either. I wish the government can arrange easy access for us.

A woman who identified herself as Janjira, 36, said she believed the vaccine would protect from being severely infected.

I read some research, and though the vaccine cannot shield us from infection 100 percent, it prevents death and severe sickness, so I took the jab.  The country could be back on track like other countries, Janjira, a Bangkok resident, told BenarNews.

Meanwhile, Thais via social media also criticized the government for arms deals amid the COVID-19 pandemic, after information leaked about a purchase of tanks from China.

Last week, a report said that three VN-16 amphibious light tanks from China were set to arrive at a Thai port on May 31.

A Thai Navy spokesman confirmed the 398 million baht (U.S. $12.8 million) purchase but defended the acquisition as one that had been planned before the spread of COVID-19.

The purchase plan of the VN-16 amphibious was in line with Fiscal Year 2020 under the navys minimal acquisition plan for maintaining security, Adm. Chettha Jaipiem told BenarNews last week.

The procurement was conducted before the spread of COVID-19.
500 Brushstrokes by artist Wu Jian'an. The art pieces involve efforts of residents to the Fuliang event. XU HAOYU/CHINA DAILY

On the first day of May, the project Art at Fuliang officially raised its curtain in Fuliang county, Jingdezhen municipality, Jiangxi province.

Twenty five artists from five different countries brought 22 art works and turned the 18-square-kilometer county into a roofless art museum after more than five months of intensive preparation.

These art works were constructed with local resources, built by local workers, and they tell stories about local people.

Fuliang is famous for the quality porcelain and tea it produces. It used to export these two products overseas through the Maritime Silk Road in ancient times.

The tea trade in the county started in the Han-Jin period (220-280), and flourished in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). According to documental material from ancient times, Fuliang's tea attracted people from across China, and the place "produced seven million packets of tea every year, contributing a tax of more than 150,000 guan (the unit of currency back then)".

Bai Juyi, one of the most famous Chinese poets from the Tang Dynasty, wrote in his renowned work Song of the Pipa Player, "the merchant cared for money much more than for me, one month ago he travels to Fuliang to purchase tea; leaving his lonely wife alone in an empty boat, shrouded in moonlight, on the cold river I float"
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Associate features editor

Margaret Button is the associate editor of Berkshires Week and writes a weekly food. She has been with The Eagle since 2014. Maggy can be reached at mbutton@berkshireeagle.com and on Twitter at @ButtonMaggy.
Community News Editor / Librarian

Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989. She can be reached at jmaschino@berkshireeagle.com.
Berkshire Community College is offering free college courses to local high school juniors and seniors this summer and fall.
Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@yahoo.com, on Twitter @BE_cfanto or at 413-637-2551.
Happy Pride month: A look back at the ways Berkshire County has flown its Pride flag
The world is expected to see the commercialization of 6G around 2030, said a report released on Sunday.



The next-generation mobile communication technology will integrate with advanced computing, big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain, according to a white paper issued by the IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group that was established in June 2019 under the guidance by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The report said the 6G network will realize the deep integration of the real physical world and the virtual digital one, and build a new world of "intelligent connection of everything and digital twin."

According to the report, the international organization on telecom technologies 3GPP is expected to initiate the research and development (R&D) of the 6G international technical standard by around 2025 before the expected commercialization around 2030.

China granted 5G licenses for commercial use and started 6G R&D in 2019. The country has proposed making forward-looking layout in 6G technology.
Lauren R. Stevens | The View from White Oaks: Smoking out some history in light of recent forest fire
DThang, the brother of rapper Lil Durk was reportedly found dead in Chicago over the weekend. He was 32 years old.

TMZ, citing Cook County officials, reported that DThang, whose real name is Dontay Banks Jr. was found dead outside a nightclub with a shot in the head. There were witnesses who allegedly saw the shooting.

RELATED: Bad Girls Club Star Deshayla Harris Killed In Virginia Beach Shooting

Officials were expected to perform an autopsy on DThang, who was also a rapper, to determine the cause and manner of his death.

This adds to other recent fatal shootings in the rappers inner circle. In November, rapper King Von, who collaborated with Lil Durk and was signed to his label, was shot and killed outside an Atlanta nightclub.

RELATED: Rapper King Von Killed In Police-Involved Shooting

Many people took to Twitter to give condolences to Lil Durk and his family.
Over the weekend, several Black celebrities took to social media to celebrate what would have been Breonna Taylors 28th Birthday on Saturday, June 5.

Beyonce, Michelle Obama, and Viola Davis wished Taylor a happy birthday, according to Complex. The emergency room technician was just 26 when she was shot and killed by officers in Louisville, Ky., on March 13, 2020, during a botched raid in her own apartment. The slaying sparked protests around the nation against police violence.

RELATED: Breonna Taylor: Family Of A Louisville Woman Mistakenly Killed By Police Wants To Be Sure Her Story Is Told
News

Smiths Grove apartment complex put on hold

A proposal to develop nearly 300 apartments at Stanley Rice Road and McKinley Road in Smiths Grove will have to wait to have its fate decided.

In its first in-person meeting in more than a year, the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County heard more than an hour of discussion Thursday about Future Land Use Map and rezoning applications that would lead to a 288-unit apartment complex on 16.725 acres just outside the Smiths Grove city limits.

With planning commission members raising questions about compatibility with the neighborhood, uniformity of the planned 36 buildings, maintenance of the property and other issues, developer Bryan Groce agreed to withdraw the application and re-submit it for the July 1 meeting.

Commissioner Tim Graham had suggested that the applications be tabled so Groce could come back with a more detailed concept plan for completion of the hearing at a future meeting; but, after planning commission Executive Director Ben Peterson pointed out that impending changes in how the commission will hear future applications will change the makeup of the commission, Groce agreed to a withdrawal through his attorney, Tad Pardue.

An amended joint agreement among Warren Fiscal Court and the countys five cities that will change how voting takes place on rezonings and other property-specific actions is working its way through all those legislative bodies.

Peterson said the commission could be operating under the new rules by July.

We still dont know when the new agreement will be in effect, Peterson said during the meeting in the Bowling Green City Commission chambers. If its re-submitted for July 1, then whatever the commission makeup is at that time will hear the application.

Those commissioners will almost certainly be hearing applications differently in many regards from those presented Thursday.

Pardue had already agreed to a number of changes in the development plan conditions, looking to address the concerns raised by commissioners and by attorney David Broderick, who was representing some of the nearly two dozen Smiths Grove residents who showed up for the meeting.

In an opening statement, Broderick pointed out that the property has been identified as low-density in the Future Land Use Map since adoption of a countywide comprehensive plan in 2012.

The proposed FLUM amendment from low-density to high-density and the zone change from agriculture to multi-family residential isnt consistent with the neighborhood, Broderick argued.

He pointed out that building the apartments would result in a density of more than 17 dwelling units per acre on property that is adjacent to a single-family neighborhood with a density of 1.45 dwelling units per acre.

Pardue countered that the proposed development is adjacent to a 24-unit apartment complex, built about a year ago by Groce, that has a density of 15.29 dwelling units per acre.

But the sheer size of Groces latest plan caught the attention of Smiths Grove residents concerned about traffic congestion and other issues.

One of them, Diana Varner, was pleased that commission members were raising some of the very concerns that she and her neighbors have.

I was happy to see that they were asking for more specific details, Varner said after the meeting. We live on the opposite side of the tree line from this development, and we already have water pressure issues. I would like to see that addressed, as well as the traffic.

Im usually not one who comes to a lot of meetings, but Ill probably be back.
The Chinese mainland on Saturday reported seven new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, all in Guangdong Province, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Sunday.

The same day also saw 23 new imported cases on the mainland. Of them, seven were reported in Shanghai, six in Sichuan, two each in Guangdong and Yunnan, and one each in Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Shaanxi.

Two new suspected cases arriving from outside the mainland were reported in Shanghai. No new deaths related to the disease were reported.
Senate Bill 458, Require governor notify legislature when traveling out of state: Passed 20 to 16 in the Senate

To require that when leaving the state and on return, the governor must notify the lieutenant governor, and require this person to notify legislative leaders in writing within 12 hours.

 33 Sen. Rick Outman R - Six Lakes Y

 35 Sen. Curt VanderWall R - Ludington Y

Senate Bill 458, Irwin legislative leader "domestic terrorist" amendment: Failed 16 to 20 in the Senate

To add an exception to SB 458, waiving the "governor has left the state" reporting requirement for a legislative leader believed to present "a security risk to this state because of his or her affiliations with a domestic terrorist organization." This was proposed by Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor.

 33 Sen. Rick Outman R - Six Lakes N

 35 Sen. Curt VanderWall R - Ludington N

Senate Bill 429, Establish sand and gravel mining regulatory regime, fees: Passed 19 to 17 in the Senate

To impose a state permit mandate on "aggregates" mining (sand and gravel), which are needed for road repair and reconstruction projects. The bill would preempt locally imposed restrictions and permit requirements (with exceptions), and authorize a $5,000 permit application fee.

 33 Sen. Rick Outman R - Six Lakes Y

 35 Sen. Curt VanderWall R - Ludington Y

House Bill 4631, Reduce a limit on government civil asset forfeiture takings: Passed 77 to 33 in the House

To create an exception to a 2019 law that prohibited government civil asset forfeitures, which are takings of property that may be associated with a suspected drug-related crime, unless the individual is actually convicted or accepts a plea bargain. That only applies to police seizures of property worth $50,000 or more, and the bill would lower this to $20,000 for property seized by public airport authority police.

 97 Rep. Jason Wentworth R - Clare Y

 100 Rep. Scott VanSingel R - Grant Y

 102 Rep. Michele Hoitenga R - Manton N

House Bill 4823, Shift more online gambling tax revenue to horse race industry:

To remove a cap on the amount of state online gambling tax revenue that can be given to the horse race industry and tracks. Fiscal agency analysts note this could cause a modest reduction in revenue for schools.

 97 Rep. Jason Wentworth R - Clare Y

 100 Rep. Scott VanSingel R - Grant Y

 102 Rep. Michele Hoitenga R - Manton Y

House Bill 4667, Ban government vaccination passport": Passed 62 to 47 in the House

To prohibit the state or local governments from producing or issuing a COVID-19 vaccine passport, subject to a $1,000 penalty per violation. The bill would also ban governments from providing an incentive to a person to require or use a vaccination passport.

 97 Rep. Jason Wentworth R - Clare Y

 100 Rep. Scott VanSingel R - Grant Y

 102 Rep. Michele Hoitenga R - Manton Y

SOURCE: MichiganVotes.org, a free, nonpartisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, nonpartisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate. Permission to reprint this legislative summary in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that MichiganVotes.org is properly cited.

Y = Yes, N = No, X = Not Voting
GUATEMALA CITY (AP)  Vice President Kamala Harris offered an optimistic outlook for improved cooperation with Guatemala on addressing the spike in migration to the U.S. after her meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday. She also delivered a direct warning to migrants considering making the trek: Do not come. Do not come.

Her comments, during a press conference after she met privately with Giammattei, underscored the challenge that remains even as Harris engages in substantive talks with the Guatemalan and Mexican presidents during a three-day visit to the region this week, her first foreign trip as vice president.

I want to emphasize that the goal of our work is to help Guatemalans find hope at home," Harris said. At the same time, I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come, do not come.

In conjunction with Harris' trip, the Biden administration announced that the Justice Department would create an anti-corruption task force and an additional task force to combat human trafficking and drug smuggling in the region. Harris also promised a new program focused on creating education and economic opportunities for girls there, among other new initiatives. And she told Giammattei that her goal in the region was to restore hope to residents so they no longer felt the need to flee their homeland for better opportunities in the U.S.

But for all the talk about new ways to cooperate, reining in corruption and improving living conditions in the region have been long-running challenges that previous administrations have been unable to achieve in their efforts to stem the tide of migration to the United States.

Part of the challenge remains that, despite the best efforts of U.S. officials, corruption underpins many of the regions governments. Indeed, Giammattei himself has faced criticism over his handling of the issue.

Last month, two lawyers who are outspoken critics of Giammatteis administration were arrested on what they say were trumped-up charges aimed at silencing them.

And the selection of judges for Guatemalas Constitutional Court, its highest, was mired in influence peddling and allegations of corruption. Giammattei picked his chief of staff to fill one of the five vacancies. When Gloria Porras, a respected force against corruption, was elected to a second term, the congress controlled by Giammatteis party refused to seat her.

On Monday, Giammattei seemed less than eager to address those issues.

Asked by The Associated Press about criticism of his record on corruption, Giammattei initially ignored the question. When pressed by another journalist to answer for the complaints against him, Giammattei seemed to bristle at the allegation that he was at fault, insisting there were zero allegations of corruption against him and labeling drug traffickers the biggest corruption issue in his nation.

Still, Harris expressed optimism about their ability to work together, telling reporters that the two had a very frank and very candid conversation that included the importance of anti-corruption and the importance of an independent judiciary.

Harris said the Justice, Treasury and State departments would work together on anti-corruption investigations and train local law enforcement to conduct their own.

We are creating this task force to address corruption. We are working on a task force that is about human smuggling. We are doing the work of requiring certain progress be made if we are going to attract U.S. investment, private investment, to this region, Harris said.

Giammattei said that the U.S. and Guatemala also agreed to collaborate on a very simple process through visas to allow for regular migration to the U.S., and that the two countries would work to prioritize family reunifications.

The White House also announced a $7.5 million commitment through USAID to support entrepreneurs and innovators in Guatemala, as well as millions more in investments in affordable housing, agribusinesses and loans to small businesses in the country.

Besides her meeting with Giammattei, Harris participated in a roundtable with Guatemalan community and civil society leaders and met with young female engineers and entrepreneurs.

In addressing the root causes of migration, Harris has laid out an approach centered on creating better opportunities and living conditions in the region through humanitarian and economic aid.

Harris had previously announced plans to send $310 million to provide support for refugees and address food shortages, and she recently secured commitments from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in the Northern Triangle countries to promote economic opportunity and job training.

Washington won some goodwill through its vaccine diplomacy this past week. Giammattei and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador both received calls from Harris on Thursday telling them the U.S. would be sending 500,000 doses and 1 million doses, respectively, of COVID-19 vaccine.

While in Latin America, Harris is also navigating the politics of immigration. Congressional Republicans have criticized both President Joe Biden and Harris for not visiting the U.S.-Mexico border and contend the administration is ignoring what they say is a crisis there. April was the second-busiest month on record for unaccompanied children encountered at the border, following Marchs all-time high. The Border Patrols total encounters in April were up 3% from March, marking the highest level since April 2000.

On Monday, Harris defended her decision not to visit the border, telling reporters she was focused on addressing the root causes of migration in a way that delivers tangible results as opposed to grand gestures.

But even as Harris made the case for reforms in the nations capital, those very migrants she hoped to help were still streaming to the nations borders.

On Monday, Henry Armando Rodriguez, 27, from El Paraiso in south-central Honduras, rested outside the migrant shelter in Tecun Uman at the Guatemala-Mexico border on his journey toward the United States. He didnt know about Harris visit but described reasons for leaving that touched on the hopelessness the vice president wants to address.

Life is very bad in Honduras right now, he said.

It was his first time attempting to migrate, he said. He decided to make the journey because it was impossible to find any agricultural work because of droughts at home.

When he was able to find work, he couldnt make enough money to pay for a decent home. He said that, because of poverty in Honduras, we have to flee from there to be able to look for new opportunities. And he wasnt impressed with the politicians who he says only claim to want to help when theyre fishing for votes around election season.

They promise you the sun and the moon, and then in the end they forgot all of that, he said. What interests them is only themselves, how they live, and the life of the poor is of little importance to them.

___

Associated Press writers Christopher Sherman in Mexico City, Sonia Perez D. in Guatemala City, Santiago Billy in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
New York, NY  From January 2017 to January 2021, the 45th President of the United States presided over an especially intense period for the United States of America.

From the pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands, to the speedy development of the vaccine, to the rise of the economy, to the global challenge from China, Donald Trump was the dominant decision-maker and the most powerful person in the world.

In a series of live conversations across the country, Mr. Trump and Historian/Journalist Bill OReilly will discuss exactly how things were accomplished, as well as challenges, both good and bad!

Dubbed The History Tour, President Trump will provide a never before heard inside view of his administration - which will be historical in and of itself.

These will be wonderful but hard-hitting sessions where well talk about the real problems happening in the U.S., those that the Fake News Media never mention. I will be focusing on greatness for our Country, something seldom discussed in political dialogue. If we dont make our Country great again, we will soon no longer have a Country! I look forward to working with Bill, who right now has the #1 bestselling book, to openly discuss the real problems of our Country, and how to solve them. Additionally, it will be fun, fun, fun, for everyone who attends! President Trump said.

My job as a historian/journalist is to get important things on the record in a fact-based way. These conversations with the 45th President will not be boring, Mr. OReilly said.

The tour opens on December 11, 2021 in Sunrise, FL at the BB&T Center and continues on December 12, then in Houston, TX on December 18, and Dallas, TX on December 19.

Tickets are on sale Monday, June 14th at 10:00 AM.
The third Temasek Shophouse Conversation raised awareness on the importance of care from pregnancy through the first two years of life

The first 1,000 days of life is a critical window that holds opportunities for strong foundations to be established towards optimizing an individuals health, well-being, learning, and development throughout his or her life course. Discussions among international and local experts on the latest advances impacting our understanding, everyday practice, and policymaking in this topic took center stage today at the third Temasek Shophouse Conversations

(TSC), organised by Temasek Foundation, in partnership with KK Womens and Childrens Hospital (KKH). With close to 700 registered participants, the virtual event brought leaders from the public, private, and community sectors together to discuss multi-sector collaboration and propel actions to address societal challenges to achieve common good, in the region and globally.

This edition of TSC is titled First 1,000 Days  Maternal and Child Wellness, and featured a keynote speech by Singapores Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for Health, Mr Masagos Zulkifli.

The event also included two-panel discussions, helmed by local and international speakers in health and related fields, such as from the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), Australias Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, and the US Nurse-Family Partnership and Child First, as well as from the Singapore Ministry of Social and Family Development, and KKH.

Mr Ng Boon Heong, Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Foundation said: We believe that a strong and healthy family plays an important role in contributing to community and social resilience. Through the conversations today, we hope to raise awareness on the criticality of the first one thousand days of a childs life. The key distinction of every Temasek Shophouse Conversation is to convert concepts into opportunities, and to translate these discussions into meaningful actions".

Key findings from local studies and programmes, such as the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO), of which KKH is a part of, include:

Antenatal depression and anxiety in mothers impact foetal neurodevelopment, with changes in microstructure, functional connectivity, epigenetic expression that influence infant temperament and behaviour.

Parenting stress in mothers impacts on the development of internalising problems in children.

In the longer term, school readiness of the child is also impacted, particularly for low-income families.

Early detection and intervention is effective in treating perinatal depression.

Enhancing maternal foetal attachment can buffer impact of toxic stress, and help to nurture mother-child bonding for downstream optimal developmental outcomes.

Holistic and integrated support for the mother and family  including public education, screening for antenatal depression and early intervention  with a whole of society approach, such as bettering workplace support, is key to addressing and better supporting maternal and child health needs.

Calling for society to act:

The event concluded with the launch of three calls to improve maternal and child wellness and support parenting in the first thousand days and beyond, through babys nutrition and evidence-based learning.

The first call was for the public to pledge to support mothers to breastfeed for the first six months and share an educational resource with a new mother to support her in breastfeeding. Mothers are also invited to register to get more information on how they can be a recipient of pasteurized donor human milk or donate their excess breastmilk to the Temasek Foundation Community Milk Bank Programme.

The second is an invitation to parents and caregivers to be a part of the Temasek Foundation ParentWise Programme. Created by Temasek Foundation in partnership with the Seed Institute, the programme seeks to provide parents and caregivers with the tools, strategies and support they need to help their children reach full potential. They can register to join ParentWise learning groups to learn from other supportive parents, or contribute stories and tips on ParentWise.sg about parenting triumphs and challenges.

The third was an invitation to youths under the age of 40 from Singapore and the region to be advocates and changemakers to improve maternal and child wellness in their societies. Supported by Heartware Network, the Youth Action for Maternal and Child Wellness initiative called for youths to contribute ideas or propose projects that can ultimately build social resilience and foster healthier outcomes. Businesses and organisations were also encouraged to step forward to mentor youths, and to help shape and support these projects.
Assam has been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic with a slew of measures, the recent one being the Community Surveillance Plan Phase III. Dr Dipjyoti Deka, State Programme Manager, National Health Mission, Assam, reveals more about the measures undertaken

Tell us about the Assam Community Surveillance Plan Phase III. How is it going to help bring down the number of positive cases especially in rural areas?

During the first wave of COVID-19 management in 2020, Assam carried out Assam Community Surveillance Plan (ACSP) phase I in May 2020 for one month and based on the positive response of phase I of ACSP. The state decided to carry out ACSP phase II in the name of Assam Targeted Surveillance Plan (ATSP) with the tag name of 'NISCHAYATA' from June to September 2020, where active testing was focussed on hotspot points, like bus terminals, petrol pumps, truck terminal, hotels, police staff, health staff, municipality staff etc. The targeted approach helped us to find out many positive cases and then immediately isolate them and to put them for appropriate treatment.

Under ACSP, a house visit was made in all villages of Assam by ASHA to line list all the potential cases with SARI (Severe Acute Respiratory Infections) / ILI (Influenza-like illness) / fever or any other health issues (malaria, diarrhoea, dengue, JE etc). So, effectively, the approach was 'COVID PLUS'. Based on the potential cases listed by ASHAs, testing was done on the following day by the Medical Team (constituted by the respective Block PHC) and the positive cases were isolated immediately to stop the further spread of the virus. Those who were tested negative or had any other issues were given suggestions/prescriptions based on the nature of complaints by the medical team lead.

Seeing the positive outcome of the last ACSP phases I & II, the state has decided to start the ACSP-Phase III from June 1, 2021, in all the districts of Assam. The ACSP Phase III has been planned to further break the chain of transmission through active community surveillance of chasing the virus.

With the third wave of COVID-19 imminent, how is the state health department going to cope with the pandemic?

Based on the assumption that there will be a third wave of COVID-19, the state government has been discussing this issue and has started planning to deal with the situation, even if it comes. Because it is predicted that children will be the worst sufferers in the third wave, extra importance is given to making the facility ready to manage more paediatric COVID cases.

The Chief Minister of Assam has already taken stock of the situation in a high-level meeting and it has been decided that each of the district hospitals will have paediatric ICU and the number of beds in medical colleges ICU for paediatric management will be increased manifold. Accordingly, the State Child Health Consultant of NHM, Assam has already prepared an action plan and trained district trainers from medical colleges, who in turn will train other identified officials from the health facilities of the district.

Moreover, the ongoing strengthening of the COVID response mechanism will continue with the addition of more facilities to manage COVID cases, more trained HR to deal with COVID-19 patients, uninterrupted supply of drugs and diagnostics, mass community awareness on DOs and DONTs of COVID-19. Maximum thrust is given on COVID Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) so that citizens come forward voluntarily for testing, which will help in isolating positive cases early and thus slowing the spread of the virus. So, it is hoped that with this kind of holistic preparation, the state will be able to cope up with the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

How many people have been inoculated with vaccines till now? Given the fact that there is a shortage of vaccines, what are the challenges being faced by the department?

Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Assam has been giving utmost importance to vaccinating its citizens at the shortest possible time. Vaccination for both the groups (above 45 years and 18-44 years age group) has started in the state. The government of Assam keeps giving daily statements (in social media) of vaccination coverage so that people get the right messages about vaccination. In each district, one officer (at the rank of Additional Deputy Commissioner) has been named as Nodal Officer for vaccination and recently revised SoP has been made public for vaccination drive.

The state has named a few vaccination centres in each district as 'model vaccination centres' to attract more and more beneficiaries for vaccination. There are more than 1800 CVCs ready including private facilities. Each day more than 55,000 people are vaccinated. Free vaccination is provided to targeted beneficiaries at government-run health facilities. The vaccination centres are also being monitored by senior government officials as well as members of the development partners so that the identified gaps can be addressed, and the vaccination programme can be made successful. The state has not faced an acute shortage of vaccine so far, as the state has been getting vaccines from the Government of India and people are also cooperating in getting vaccinated. The vaccination status as of 29.05.2021 is as under:

Total Number of Doses administered Vaccinated

( till 29th May 2021 @4:00 PM - Source: CoWIN Portal) 40,66,160 1st Dose : 32,39,760 2nd Dose : 8,26,400

Rural areas across the state can only be accessed by boats. What were the challenges faced by Asha workers travelling to the remote locations during the lockdown?

Since ASHA works in the same village, where she resides, she did not find many issues during the lockdown in accessing her area to extend healthcare services, largely promotive and preventive. Moreover, as and when she needs fast mobility to ferry needy patients, she immediately gets connected to the Block PHC Authority and 108 referral ambulances are sent in her area to transport the patient to the appropriate health facility for timely care. Other than these, ASHA always maintains a good rapport with the community, so as and when she finds any emergency then community members come forward to help her so that she, in turn, can help the needy person from the community.

Recently a doctor was attacked at one of the covid centres in Hojai. How do you plan to prevent these types of incidents?

The Chief Minister of Assam has taken serious cognizance of the barbaric incident, when on duty doctor at Udali Model Hospital in Hojai (Assam) and directed the Director-General of Police Department to apprehend the culprits and to give exemplary punishment so that such horrifying incidents are not repeated. Moreover, during the pandemic, the way medical and paramedical staff have been working hard in managing the pandemic, such type of unruly behaviour against them can never be accepted and society does not recognise such behaviour. All the 28 culprits have been booked, including three juveniles. The legal procedure has been initiated against them to give justice to the victim. In the meantime, the Chief Minister has visited Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and met the doctor (Dr Seuj Kumar Senapati  the victim) and asked the GMCH Authority to provide him with the best of treatment.

With monsoon round the corner, how do you plan to inoculate babies and carry on with regular vaccine programmes like saying polio, measles etc? How well prepared is the state to tackle malaria and dengue which sees a spurt during the monsoon?

Yes, true, monsoon is round the corner. The state is very much aware of this and for this, the state has focused on strengthening surveillance at villages, tea gardens, forest area habitations. To begin with, the state has decided that while the medical team under Assam Community Surveillance Plan (ACSP) will be in villages, tea gardens, forest area habitations, they will also see all patients with physical discomfort, not restricting to only COVID-19 symptoms. The approach of COVID Plus itself will help in identifying all cases (including seasonal disease like malaria, dengue) and to take appropriate action as deemed fit and proper by the Medical Team lead during the village visit. Moreover, dedicated ICU has been made functional in all the district hospitals and medical colleges for keeping JE patients and if anyone takes admission at a private health facility then the government will pay treatment cost up to Rs 1 lakh for JE treatment. So, the government is fully prepared and committed to deal with any crisis.

Sanjiv Das

(sanjiv.das@mmactiv.com)
The Unlikely Secret Agent will be staged at The Drama Factory in Somerset West, Cape Town from 10 to 20 June 2021.

I am thrilled that the dramatic story of a young womans courageous battle with the South African security police in the 1960s is coming to the stage, says Ronnie Kasrils. This is a brilliant script about what led a single mother to join Umkhonto we Sizwe, and how she managed to defeat her interrogators. Erika Marais has captured Eleanor, my girlfriend at the time, quite brilliantly. You will question yourself: Could you have stood up against Apartheid as this slender young woman did?

The Unlikely Secret Agent is described as a story of bravery and hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Tell me more about this.

You mentioned that this is one of those South African stories that simply must be told.

How relevant is the story in the world we live in today?

What do you think makes a person heroic?

How challenging was the writing of the play?

Did you work closely with Kasrils during the writing of the play?

Did you write the play with the prospect of directing it?

You are also stepping into the shoes of Kasrils? Was this a daunting task?

How do you personally relate to Kasrils and his story?

Did your writing the play inform your decisions as director and actor?

You have cast Erika Marais as Kasrils wife, who also steps in as producer. Tell me about this.

How do you see the future of theatre in South Africa after the devastating blow of the pandemic?

Will the play travel elsewhere after its run at The Drama Factory?

Tell me about your future plans.

Writer, actor and director Paul du Toits latest play The Unlikely Secret Agent is based on Ronnie Kasrils award-winning book and will enjoy its world premiere on 9 June at The Drama Factory in Somerset West, Cape Town.The play tells a true story of bravery and hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.Set in 1963 South Africa when political protest, sabotage and violence has engulfed the country as the government forces of the Apartheid regime, under Hendrik Verwoerd, brutally suppress resistance. Under the State of Emergency, the feared special branch of the police arrest anyone suspected of being involved in underground activities. The plot focuses on Eleanor, an unassuming, young single mother who is arrested in Griggs Bookstore where she works in Durban and taken for questioning. The police are on the hunt for her lover, the notorious terrorist, Red Ronnie Kasrils.There is no point in her resisting, the police know everything. But do they? Eleanor is keeping a secret. She is a clandestine agent for the Underground ANC. But she must protect her comrades and Ronnie. She makes the daring decision to fake a nervous breakdown to be transferred to a psychiatric institution. From there, she begins to plot her escape.The cast includes Du Toit as Ronnie himself; Erika Marais in the role of Eleanor, Kasrils wife; Ntlanhla Morgan Kutu, making his professional theatre debut; Gideon Lombard (Kyknets Suidooster, Treknet and on stage Stressed to Kill, Orpheus in Africa); and Sanda Shandu, multi-talented actor and TV star (Netflixs The Kissing Booth and SAs Skemerdans).Paul Du Toit shares a few thoughts with Daniel Dercksen.It is first and foremost a love story. Two young lovers  heady with the flush of romance and filled with the brave spirit of youth  decide to act on what they believe to be right. They become politically active. They feel the rush of being freedom fighters.This is one of those South African stories that simply must be told. A story of sacrifice from someone who, though she would never consider herself one, is nothing short of a national hero. A story that reminds us of just how much these heroes were prepared to risk fighting oppression in our country.Ive always had a keen interest in history, especially South African history, but this was a story I had never heard before. Bravery and tenacity in the face of frightening odds. And all these virtues found in the most unlikely person: a young white middle clerk from a bookstore. Thabo Mbeki put it perfectly when he said: This little, ordinary woman with the heart of a lioness confirms the truth that our freedom was not free.We do not fully know just how much we owe some of our previous generations. How difficult it must be for those of them who are still with us to see us squander that freedom they earned us.Humility. Something Eleanor epitomises. In my eyes, she is nothing short of a national hero but she never wanted any accolades.It started as a one-woman play, but I found it more interesting to have her interrogators on stage with her. And then suddenly I had four actors who could play all the other characters in the story!The fact that this play is based on real events did mean that I was restricted as to what I could allow my characters to do. Luckily, I had Ronnie and his book to inspire me and provide motivation for my characters. But there came a time where I had to not so much leave the facts behind but use them as a foundation and let my imagination take over. I had to take certain liberties with events and characters for dramatic effect. The truth, however, always remained paramount. Of course, I couldn't put the whole book into the play. I had to choose which events best illustrated the qualities of Eleanor I wanted to bring across to the audience. The other challenge was how to cram three years of events that played off over thousands of kilometres as well as a myriad of characters into one and a half hours?Ronnie was very supportive. We had many Zoom meetings where we peppered him with questions. He was incredibly generous with his answers. And, of course, he gave us permission and the freedom to adapt his book. It was very encouraging to get his feedback on every draft. I had to know if he thought the script rang true.It was never a certainty, but always a possibility, given Covid budgets! I am an actor first and foremost, so it was natural that while I wrote, I had a picture in my head of how I saw it playing out on a stage.Very much so. From the point of view of playing such a well-known personality and also having to wear the writers hat, actor's hat and directors hat at the same time. But given the financial restrictions in our industry, this is fairly commonplace. We are used to compromising. The festival circuit prepared me for this. We are very used to playing in a barn, with no lights or sound equipment and 10 minutes to move your set in before the audience arrives! What has really helped me is the assistance my cast has given me in terms of providing an outside eye. This has been a very democratic process. Each actors input matters and is given full consideration. There is very little hierarchy. I think Eleanor would have liked that.The biggest question I ask myself is: Had it been me, at that time, in that situation, would I have had the courage to follow my convictions? Would I have been prepared to sacrifice my liberty so that others could have theirs?My ideas and decisions as an actor, director and writer evolved as one. What I am lucky to get from my company is their critique. The more ideas get thrown into the mix the bigger the magic! Though the final decision does rest with me, I like to think of myself as a director in the mould of the benign dictator!Erika Marais was the driving force behind the project. I think after winning the Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival she was looking for a new project. She had read the book some years previously, but it was then that she approached me to adapt it into a one-woman play for her to perform. I tried to write the one-woman play, but no cigar. Now the producer has four extra salaries to pay! Sorry, Erika! We have a stunning cast: Gideon Lombard, Sanda Shandu, Ntlanhla Kutu, Erika Marais and myself. I am very lucky to have them.I am very hopeful. I think the lockdown especially has made people long for contact and to be moved by others and to be amazed by our fellow human beings. What better place than in a theatre.There has been really interesting foreign interest from Hong Kong and London, but I would really like to play this in South Africa to audiences who can most relate.I will be playing Satan in a film called From the Ashes. Weve shot most of it in Ireland already. The movie is scheduled to shoot in the US later this year and also features South African actress Jean Nelson.I will be exploring the industry in Canada, with my wife and kids who are based there now, and will always be drawn to South African stories.Audience members can sponsor tickets for underprivileged audiences. If anyone wants to get involved, please contact The Drama Factory
Courtney Hodgson

What was the inspiration behind Kiffkak?

How would you describe your aesthetic and style when it comes to your designs?

What has the response been like since launching?

What have been some of your career highlights?

Winning a silver Loerie award for the Kiffkak brand identity

Ranking fifth-best creative student in Africa and the Middle East (according to the Loeries 2019 official rankings)

Becoming a Design Indaba Emerging Creative in 2020, where I got to showcase the Kiffkak product range in Cape Town

Getting invited to talk about the brand on The Home Channel show Africa Modern.

And being interviewed for an article in The Sunday Times, where Kiffkak was referred to as "the quirkiest local brand you'll ever find."

Can you tell us more about your plans for expanding the brand to Kiffkak Cares and Kiffkak Collabs?

What advice would you give to aspiring young creatives?

If you could give a message to your younger self what would it be?

Always be ready to lend a helping hand, but dont overextend yourself and neglect your own dreams in the process.

Stop worrying about what everyone thinks. Theyre all too concerned about the same thing to notice what youre doing.

A handful of good friends is better than a collection of acquaintances. Friendships are about quality, not quantity. Surround yourself with like-minded goal-orientated people, it will only make you more comfortable and motivated to succeed.

And above all, dont be kak  be kiff.

Where do you see yourself in five years' time?

Growing up as the only white person in a school in Crystal Park, my passion for other cultures grew from a very young age. Before every formal school event, braiding my hair in cornrows was a must! Moving to a school in Benoni later on, the unique humour we have as South Africans (especially when making a small town like Benoni the brunt of our jokes) became a big part of my creative outlook on life. Going to varsity in Pretoria, surrounded by Afrikaans culture, I quickly realised that I dont identify with any single culture; at the core of it, Im a South African. As a young creative, South African culture has truly become my biggest inspiration. We have such an amazing mix of people in this country, all working and living together to create the ultimate ubuntu! I started my business Kiffkak to represent just that  presented through a wide range of proudly South African products.The use of South African slang, the spirit of our cultures and communities and my unique sense of humour all play a major role in my work. A lot of the products I create rely heavily on the use of typography. In these instances, my typographical work is heavily inspired by the hand-painted letterforms that can be found on signage in township areas. When using imagery for my products, I try to include a quirky, childlike, nostalgic quality in my illustrations. With a lot of the products I create (such as the Kiffkak lucky packet, enamel mugs, iron-ons and sticker book) I am trying to bring back those products that we used to engage with as children. Who says you cant still make fun purchases when youre all grown up? If Kiffkak can bring that nostalgic feeling  along with a little giggle and smile  to a South Africans day, thats a pretty lekker thing!Im sure that every business owner would share a similar sentiment, but I truly have the 'kiffest' customers! Besides the odd tannie and ouma who get offended by the name (and some of the colourful language on the products), the response from my fellow South Africans has been nothing but encouraging! When people see the Kiffkak stand at the markets that I do, there is usually a specific series of reactions that follow: 1) a pointed finger at the name, 2) a big smile and giggle, 3) the sentence Kiffkak!? That is so South African! If Kiffkak can continue to make people smile, laugh and celebrate South Africa  then I know that the brand is headed in the right direction.To date, some of my career highlights have been the following:I would also have to add that every single time someone places an order, my heart does a little happy dance. Without the customers that have supported the brand, Kiffkak would not be able to continue growing. Every new order is not only a career highlight but also a highlight of my day as well!A little background for those who may not be familiar with the business structure, I plan to grow in the coming years: Kiffkak, at its core, is a celebration of South African culture. The long-term dream is to open up a chain of Kiffkak stores in South Africa that directly serve the local market by providing access to proudly South African gifts and merchandise while helping communities and aiding job creation within the BBBEE spectrum. The plan is to have three distinct sections in each store, namely Kiffkak Cares, Kiffkak Collabs and the Kiffkak product range.Kiffkak Collabs will serve as a monthly initiative where an up-and-coming South African creative will have the opportunity to work with the brand to create a selection of products that will be sold in Kiffkak stores. Often the same (already well-established) creatives are chosen to work with South African brands. Because of this, it becomes increasingly difficult for young creatives that are trying to establish themselves to break into the industry. Kiffkak Collabs will hopefully bridge this gap by helping unestablished creatives get their name out there. Kiffkak Cares aims to serve South African communities. South Africa has a large thriving informal economy (particularly within the scope of the arts and crafts) that provides many opportunities to unemployed entrepreneurs. When Kiffkak isnt working to bridge the gap between the informal and formal sector by selling these goods in the store (and giving all the profits back to the communities where the products come from), I will be creating products that are specifically made to raise funds for local NPOs.Because both Kiffkak Cares and Kiffkak Collabs rely heavily on having a physical Kiffkak store in place, these business models are mostly in the planning stages. I am, however, extremely excited to announce that Kiffkak Collabs first-ever project Lekka Lunchboxes is being released at the end of June! Kiffkak has partnered with the amazing NPO Ladles of Love to raise funds for their Munch Club school feeding scheme initiative. Kiffkak will be releasing three individual lunch box designs for this project and, for every lunchbox sold, a portion will be donated to Ladles of Love.My biggest piece of advice to young creatives would be: Never discount the importance of celebrating your own story through your art. Personally, the reflection of ones story always draws me to a creatives work. By presenting an unapologetic, unique perspective on how you see the world  your personality is really able to shine through, solidifying what you can offer as a brand. There are so many eclectic mixes of people in South Africa, and so many personal stories yet to be told. When it comes to owning a brand (whether your brand is you as an artist or something you start like Kiffkak), something I have found is that people are much more likely to become invested in your craft when they also have a story to invest in.Because I am only 22, I am sure there are a lot more lessons to come. But If I had to give my younger self some advice from where I sit today, it would be the following:In five years' time, I would love for Kiffkak to be a household name! In order to achieve that, I hope that the next few years allow the dream of having Kiffkak stores around South Africa to be realised. Along with having stores, I hope that in five years Kiffkak is making a significant contribution to South African NPOs, creating jobs in the BBBEE spectrum, helping young creatives get their names out there and allowing entrepreneurs from rural areas to sell their goods and help their communities thrive.
As part of our ongoing #BehindtheBrandManager series, we interviewed the Marketing Achievement Awards' Rising Star finalists - said to be the best and the brightest under the age of 35 who have consistently demonstrated excellent performance and who have the potential to become outstanding leaders in their profession.

Itumeleng Matlare

Itumeleng, tell us more about your role and what it entails exactly?

Growing up, what did you want to be?

Tell us about your career: what you studied and why, and how you ended up where you are today?

What do you enjoy most about brand management and working in the FMCG space specifically?

Tell us more about your experience and work with brands?

You were recently shortlisted as a finalist for the MAAs Rising Star of the Year Award. Firstly, congrats, and secondly, tell us what this recognition meant to you?

A significant part of your role is to manage the growth and development of a junior individual who reports to you, ensuring that this person advances in knowledge, experience and position in your team. Tell us more about this aspect of your job?

What career advice would you give to aspiring young marketing and branding professionals?

How has the pandemic and subsequent national lockdowns affected your work and Tiger Brands or All Gold and Mrs Balls specifically?

Tell us about your latest or most successful campaigns or ads to date, and the rationale behind them?

Anything youd like to add?

Itumeleng Matlare manages the All Gold and Mrs Balls brands. Her responsibilities range from engaging with advertising agencies and suppliers to demand planning with her team to ensure that the logistics and distribution of products are on track across the country.Here, she tells us why she believes being a brand manager at Tiger Brands is like being the CEO of your own businessI always say being a brand manager at Tiger Brands is like being the CEO of your own business. My tasks range from engaging with the internal team on procurement, new product development and logistics, all the way to managing advertising agencies that are hired to provide creative content for my campaigns and activating these across multiple platforms. Im always busy, but it is so much fun!Growing up I was always the creative kid. I studied art and design in high school. Ive always loved writing. Back when I was younger, I thought Id be a lawyer like my grandfather but there was an element of creativity that was missing for me. So, after my first degree at UCT, I went to work at TBWA Hunt Lascaris in the strategy department and found my calling. Branding! If you ask me what Id like to be now, my answer would be a branding guru.Initially I went to UCT to study law. I quickly changed my tune and decided to complete a BA in English Language, Politics and French. Honestly, I wasnt sure of my career path at that stage. After my first degree, I worked at TBWA Hunt Lascaris and found that I loved being in a creative, fast-paced environment. I went to an open day at Vega and loved what I saw. I enrolled to do my Honours in Brand Management and Brand Leadership, which was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I made it. I was lucky enough to get an internship at Tiger Brands, working on the rice business. From there, it was all about hard work and dedication.As South Africans, theres nothing like the relationship we have with food, and our brands have been a part of every meal, every moment and every celebration for as long as we can all remember. Most of our culinary brands are over 100 years old. Thats over 100 years of giving South Africans products that are made with the best ingredients, carefully sourced for their quality and delicious flavour.At Tiger Brands, we believe in nourishing and nurturing more lives every day. This form part of our promise to our consumers who we are passionate about. We want to make sure they get the best ingredients and best products; made by the brands they love.The best part of it is how much it allows me to grow because of the responsibility I have, not only to the business or to the brand but to our consumers, because they are the reason we do what we do.As mentioned, I am extremely passionate about what I do and its that passion and drive I put into the campaigns that I have worked on, like Tastics Rise Against Hunger campaign in 2019.The ambition for the partnership with Rise Against Hunger was to support the United Nations in their mission to end world hunger by 2030, as part of their sustainable development goals. This was a campaign that was particularly close to my heart as my mother works in early childhood development, so I knew first-hand the importance of sustainable nutrition for children. As brands working in food, we at Tiger Brands believe that it is important for us to play an active role in uplifting the communities in which the brand lives.Thank you so much. This came as a surprise for me. I think as marketers we sometimes spend so much time looking down and focusing on the next campaign or the next launch that we at times forget to look up and appreciate all the work that we do and what we have achieved. The recognition is always great because it grounds you and reminds you that hard work actually does pay off!I form part of a bigger team where I have someone who reports to me. My job is to make sure that she learns, grows and gets promoted. Being able to lead and influence people is a big part of brand management. The corporate world is tricky at the best of times, so having the opportunity to help nurture young talent is one of the greatest achievements. The rest of my team are like family. We are very close and make sure we are constantly helping each other better our reporting, presentations skills, campaigns, insights and overall output.Hard work is never overlooked. Read every day. Dont ever think that because you are the most junior person in the room, that you have no value to add. You were given the opportunity for a reason, show them what youre worth.In my current role, I was appointed the lead on the Tiger Brands Culinary Divisions Add a Twist campaign, which was born during the lockdown in 2020. The trend we picked up as a team during the lockdown period was that deal seeking, consumption reductions and product stretching were a significant trend. In response to this, we created the Add a Twist platform to deliver value to consumers throughout the recessionary period.Understanding consumers and what is important to them in their everyday lives is probably the best part of my job. Im passionate about people and I believe in using our brands to help make their lives better.The current campaign I have on Mrs Balls has been such fun and so exciting to execute. Mrs Balls is known as the most iconic chutney in the world, but people often forget about it, and unless theyre making stews, it stays in the fridge and never gets used.My latest campaign shows the versatility of Mrs Balls and variety of usage in different types of meals. I think my favourites are the Mrs Balls Chutney & Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream, and of course Mrs Balls Sweet Chilli Sauce in my pasta! All the meals you like can be turned into ones you love, just by adding Mrs Balls.The work I do is grounded in my values and I make it a point of working on brands whose values align with my own personal values of integrity, reliability, compassion, honesty and dependability.The abovementioned values are important to me. They were instilled in me by my parents and ground me in many ways. I come from a close-knit family. To give you context, there isnt a single day that I dont speak to my mother in person or on the phone. I always tell her that she is my biggest fan. She and my dad are extremely supportive of everything I do right from the time I was six years old and played my first piano concert all the way to my freelance writing for magazines and blogs.I am incredibly grateful to have had such great role models in my life. On my first day of work at Tiger Brands, both my parents gave me advice. My mother said, You arent important until they cant start a meeting without you. Work towards that, as I walked out of the door, rushing to make sure I made it on time. After a bewildering first day, I returned home to my family at the dinner table. My father looked at me, squinting slightly at the sight of my high heels in my right hand and my bare feet wriggling on the cool tiles. He could tell that I had had a rough day, so he walked up to me and said, Remember, the road to success is always under construction. Dont be too hard on yourself, it was your first day and Im sure you did well.Looking back now, I understand the advice my parents gave me and it is advice I now give others regardless of their chosen career. You must consistently put in the work, but hard work does pay off.
Leading fashion and lifestyle retailer TFG shared its strategy to revolutionise the omnichannel experience and transform into Africa's leading high-tech omnichannel retailer. "We are laying the foundations to become the largest, most reliable and most profitable e-commerce destination on the continent; via a simplified, customer-centric approach, aimed at maximising group scale, minimising duplication and cost, and leveraging our incredible assets," shared newly appointed co-chief omni officer Claude Hanan. The announcement came as part of the retailer's 2021 financial year-end presentation.
Taiwan on Sunday reported 343 local COVID-19 cases, including 335 new infections and eight backlogged local cases, the island's disease monitoring agency said, noting that 36 new deaths were registered.

Of the new local cases, 189 were male and 146 female with the onset of symptoms occurring between May 24 and Saturday.

Among the eight backlogged cases, three were male and five female, who experienced symptoms between Tuesday and Wednesday, the agency said.

The 36 fatalities included 22 men and 14 women -- in their 50s to 90s -- who died between May 28 and Friday.

Taiwan is struggling to contain the worst outbreak of COVID-19, with its mortality rate exceeding 2.4 percent from May 15 to June 6.

The high number of deaths can be attributed to many factors, including most COVID-19 patients in Taiwan's current outbreak being older and having chronic illnesses, the agency said, adding that the number of deaths tends to peak in the 10 to 14 days after a spike in cases.

The total number of confirmed cases on the island since the epidemic began has risen to 11,298, including 10,100 local cases. A total of 260 deaths have been recorded, the agency said.
You are here: China

The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Sunday asked its residents not to leave the city unless necessary as a precaution against the latest COVID-19 resurgence.

The city's headquarters on COVID-19 control and prevention also said starting on Monday noon, those leaving the city must provide a negative nucleic acid testing result within 48 hours before departure.

China's Guangdong Province on Saturday registered seven locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and three locally transmitted asymptomatic cases, the provincial health commission said Sunday.

All of the confirmed and asymptomatic cases were reported in the provincial capital Guangzhou, it said.

The city has reported a total of 94 infections, including 80 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 14 asymptomatic carriers in the latest round of COVID-19 resurgence starting on May 21.

On Saturday, Guangzhou expanded its latest nucleic acid testing drive to cover all residents, after another four districts announced the launch of all-inclusive tests.


Speakers:

Li Xiaojun, head and second-level inspector of the Publicity Department of the Bureau of Human Rights Affairs of the State Council Information Office (SCIO);





Li Xiaomei, special representative for human rights at the Department of International Organizations and Conferences of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;





Li Xiao, first-level inspector of the Research Office of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) and SPC senior judge;





Chang Jian, professor and director of the Research Center for Human Rights of Nankai University;





Zhang Yonghe, professor and executive dean of the Human Rights Institute of Southwest University of Political Science and Law.





Chairperson:

Shou Xiaoli, deputy head of the Press Bureau of the SCIO and SCIO spokesperson





Date:

May 31, 2021

Shou Xiaoli:

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to this briefing held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). The briefing is on the implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2016-2020). Today, we are joined by Mr. Li Xiaojun, head and second-level inspector of the Publicity Department of the Bureau of Human Rights Affairs of the SCIO; Ms. Li Xiaomei, special representative for human rights at the Department of International Organizations and Conferences of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ms. Li Xiao, first-level inspector of the Research Office of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) and SPC senior judge; Mr. Chang Jian, professor and director of the Research Center for Human Rights of Nankai University; and Mr. Zhang Yonghe, professor and executive dean of the Human Rights Institute of Southwest University of Political Science and Law. First, our speakers will take turns to brief you on the issues and will then take questions.

Now, let's give the floor to Mr. Li Xiaojun.

Li Xiaojun:

Good afternoon, everyone. The National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2016-2020) is the third plan of its kind formulated and implemented by China since 2009. It is also the first action plan that meshes with China's five-year plan for national economic and social development. Over the past five years, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, central and local government bodies, departments and all sectors of society have worked together to secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. China has won a complete victory in its fight against poverty, and effectively safeguarded people's lives and health in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Given this, the action plan has been implemented in a comprehensive manner. The main targets and tasks have been met as scheduled, and dozens of indicators have been completed ahead of schedule or surpassed. The Chinese people's sense of gain, happiness and security has been significantly enhanced.

Living a happy life is the primary human right. The action plan espouses a people-centered development philosophy, striving to address the difficulties and shortages in developing human rights in China. It highlights efforts to remedy deficiencies and strengthen weak links, focusing on safeguarding the rights of poor people, disadvantaged groups and vulnerable groups, in a bid to achieve fairness and justice. The implementation of the plan has strengthened China's capacity to safeguard people's economic, social and cultural rights. People's civil rights and political rights have been protected more effectively, and the rights of ethnic minorities, women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities have been fully safeguarded. Human rights knowledge has been publicized, and human rights education has been ingrained into people's minds. International communication and cooperation on human rights have also been fruitful.

We have also gained new experience through implementing the action plan. This includes adhering to the leadership of the CPC, the guidance of the government, legal protection, public participation, as well as supervision from multiple sectors. The SCIO and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took the initiative to set up the joint meeting mechanism for the National Human Rights Action Plan, which functions as a coordinating body. Over 40 central departments and people's organizations have taken their due responsibility to implement and supervise the action plan in an orderly manner. Media outlets, national human rights education and training centers, social organizations and enterprises have all played vital roles in the cause.

China's formulation and implementation of national human rights action plans has been well recognized by the international community. Currently, more than 60 countries have formulated national human rights action plans, and China is one of the few countries that has formulated more than three phases of such plans. In November 2018 when China's human rights record was examined for the third time by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), more than 20 countries spoke highly of China's efforts to formulate and implement national human rights plans. For the UPR session of the UNHRC, this is not common. China is willing to share our useful experiences in promoting and safeguarding human rights with the rest of the world. Meanwhile, China is also working toward making new contributions to the sound development of international human rights and global governance on human rights.

The implementation of the action plan could not happen without effective supervision and evaluation. The joint meeting mechanism for the National Human Rights Action Plan has conducted periodic research, examinations and evaluations on the action plan's implementation, continuously strengthening the efforts. Last year, we also commissioned a third-party research body to evaluate the implementation situation, and detailed reports will soon be published.

As the world's biggest developing country, China completed the eradication of extreme poverty  one of the targets of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development  10 years ahead of schedule. China is also moving up on the UN's Human Development Index. Chinese people enjoy extensive and real democracy and freedom, and China has made remarkable progress in its protection of human rights. In order to provide all Chinese people with better and happier lives, we still need to make efforts in the field of human rights.

China is currently formulating the fourth phase of its National Human Rights Action Plan. We will work in accordance with the target of "promoting the comprehensive development of the human rights cause" put forward by the fifth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025). As China embarks on a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country, we will better put into practice the principles of respecting and protecting human rights as stipulated in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Constitution of the CPC. The fourth phase of the action plan will soon be published and implemented.

There is no best, only better human rights protection. We have faith that China's human rights cause will see a brighter future. Thank you.

Shou Xiaoli:

Next, let's give the floor to Ms. Li Xiaomei.

Li Xiaomei:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good afternoon. I'm very pleased to be taking part in this briefing on the implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2016-2020) on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Formulating and implementing the National Human Rights Action Plan of China is an important move for the Chinese government in practicing the constitutional principle of "respecting and protecting human rights," comprehensively promoting the development of China's human rights cause and fulfilling its international human rights obligations. Over the past five years, China has achieved remarkable accomplishments in terms of international communication and cooperation of human rights, making great contributions to the sound development of the international human rights cause. These achievements can be outlined in four main aspects:

First, we have been taking an active part in international human rights governance. In 2020, China was once again elected as a member of the UNHRC. Being one of the very few nations that have been elected as a member five times, China firmly upholds multilateralism, safeguards the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, actively participates in the multilateral human rights mechanism work and advocates promoting human rights through peace, development, cooperation and justice. We have proposed a series of proposals and initiatives at the U.N., and advanced the establishment of a fair, just, rational and efficient international human rights system. Thanks to China's efforts, the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind has been written into resolutions of the UNHRC a dozen times.

Second, we have firmly defended national interests and image. China advocates conducting human rights dialogue and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect, and opposes the politicization of human rights, double standards, and interfering in other countries' internal affairs under the pretext of human rights. China has firmly safeguarded national interests and dignity, winning support from other friendly and developing countries.

Third, we have earnestly performed our international human rights duties. In 2018, China underwent its third cycle of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UNHRC. The development notions, practices and achievements with Chinese characteristics were highly commended by more than 120 countries and China accepted 284 suggestions proposed by other countries. We timely submitted the implementation reports on several human rights conventions, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Considering China's national conditions, we accepted and implemented reasonable and plausible suggestions.

Forth, we conducted a wide range of communication and cooperation on human rights matters. Over the past five years, we have held human rights dialogues and negotiations with over 20 countries and organizations. We have communicated and cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, received the UNHRC special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, and an independent expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons on visits to China. We hosted important activities like the 10th Anniversary Meeting of the Adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the International Symposium on the 30th Anniversary of the Adoption of the United Nations' "Declaration on the Right to Development."

Friends from the media, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the restoration of China's lawful seat at the United Nations. Being a responsible member of the U.N. family, China has always been an important participant, contributor and constructor in the field of international human rights. This February, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi took part in the 46th Session of the UNHRC and delivered a speech by video. He put forward four proposals, namely, that we should embrace a human rights philosophy that is people-centered, uphold both the universality and particularity of human rights, systemically advance all aspects of human rights, and continue to promote international dialogue and cooperation on human rights, which were received enthusiastically.

In the future, we will be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, continue to earnestly fulfill our international human rights obligations, comprehensively get involved in global human rights governance, advocate common values featuring peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom, voice words of justice on international occasions, inject positive strength into international cooperation, help all countries join hands to promote and protect human rights and advance building a community with a shared future for mankind. Thank you.
When Apple released it coin sized AirTags, it said proclaimed a supereasy way to keep track of your stuff. In reality, it now appears that your stuff may include your children, co-workers, ex-spouses, enemies, lovers and complete strangers.  TN Editor

Alison Kessler told police she was suspicious when her sons father, John Stacey, seemed to know that she had paid a visit to the courthouse. She didnt see him following her. How did he know?

When a mechanic found a tracking device stuck to the underside of her car, it made sense. Kessler went to the police and accused Stacey of planting it.

It would have been that easy. Planting small tracking devices on cars to monitor peoples real-time locations is simple, cheap and, in many cases, illegal, according to lawyers and private investigators in South Florida.

The proliferation of tracking devicesparticularly the type of popular gadgets being sold to help you find your belongings, such as your wallet, keys or luggagehave led to an increase in fears of stalking, experts say.

Five years ago, two Hallandale Beach commissioners and one candidate complained to police when they found GPS trackers planted under their cars. A private investigator named Victor Elbeze pleaded no contest to the rarely invoked criminal charge and was fined $293.

More recently, Apple released its new AirTags, coin-sized $30 wireless devices that the company says are a supereasy way to keep track of your stuff.

But amid concerns the Bluetooth trackers instead are enabling stalking, Apple last week pledged to update the devices to boost privacy. Now, the AirTags emit an audible tone whenever separated from the device owner for more than eight hours, which would warn someone whos being followed without her or his knowledge. (Originally, the tone emitted after three days.)

Prosecutions for planting a tracker are rare, with police usually focusing on proving a case of stalking or domestic violence.

Stalking cases are notoriously difficult to put together, said former Broward prosecutor Sasha Shulman, now a criminal defense lawyer. Everything is so circumstantial. Did someone see him put it there? No? Were his fingerprints on it? No? Then how would you prove it?

Records show the GPS device that Stacey was accused of using was an Optimus 2. The device, sold online for about $40, boasts hundreds of four- and five-star customer reviews (some of the negative reviews are tongue-in-cheek, such as the one-star review from a customer who complained that the device was no match for the hammer her husband took to it when he found it on his truck).

Its not impossible to figure out who purchased a device if the manufacturer or seller records serial numbers and sales, Shulman said, but it can be a time-consuming process. And in the most dangerous cases of stalking, time is a precious commodity.
In a pre-recorded video, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele made a somewhat shocking announcement in the final hours of the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami on Saturday afternoon.

Bukele said Saturday he will send a bill to the Central American countrys Congress next week to make bitcoin legal tender.

#Bitcoin has a market cap of $680 billion dollars. If 1% of it is invested in El Salvador, that would increase our GDP by 25%. On the other side, #Bitcoin will have 10 million potential new users and the fastest growing way to transfer 6 billion dollars a year in remittances.  Nayib Bukele  (@nayibbukele) June 6, 2021

If the legislation is passed by lawmakers (Bukele does have a majority of votes in El Salvadors congress), El Salvador would become the first country to formally adopt the digital currency.

In the short term this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy, Bukele said.

As Decrypt reports, Bukeles video played during a talk by Jack Mallers, founder of Strike, a crypto wallet built on the Lightning Network.

Mallers said on stage that he had lived in El Salvador for three months and discovered that some 70% of the population there does not have a bank account, and 20% of the countrys GDP comes from remittances sent by migrants to family members.

Strike launched in El Salvador in March, and Mallers said the app has been onboarding 20,000 El Salvadorans per day.

He framed Bukeles forthcoming legislation as the next step in a partnership between Strike, which will open an office in El Salvador, and the local government there.

Mallers called the announcement a shot heard round the world for Bitcoin.

Whats transformative here is that bitcoin is both the greatest reserve asset ever created and a superior monetary network.

a brilliant government move and said entrepreneurs and investors will be on the next flights to El Salvador. VC and Bitcoin flag-waver Tim Draper praised it as

Caitlin Long of Avanti Bank & Trust in Wyoming called it a historic day in Bitcoin but also predicted a knockdown fight to get approval because recognizing Bitcoin as legal tender would likely give it the same status as foreign currencies by banks, a level of legitimacy for the top cryptocurrency that many do not want to see granted.

We hope that this decision will be just the beginning in providing a space where some of the leading innovators can reimagine the future of finance, potentially helping billions around the world.  Nayib Bukele  (@nayibbukele) June 6, 2021

Bitcoin advocates see the move as both an important precedent for developing nations and a breakthrough for cryptocurrency, which many countries have fought.

There is not a dry eye on bitcoin Twitter tonight, podcast host Daniel Prince said. El Salvador adopting bitcoin as legal tender in order to escape the tyranny of central banks to rescue their people is what this is all about.

There is not a dry eye on #Bitcoin Twitter tonight.#ElSalvador adopting #Bitcoin as legal tender in order to escape the tyranny of central banks to rescue their people is what this is all about.@JackMallers

Speechless. pic.twitter.com/mXBKe55rc9

 Daniel Prince.sov (@PrinceySOV) June 5, 2021

Bukele didnt go into details on how the policy would work. But he said it would be used alongside the U.S. dollar, which the nation has used as its official unit of currency since 2001.
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FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's chief medical officer confirmed Monday the province had failed in its bid to have 75 per cent of the population, age 12 and over, receive a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the day.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs speaks with the media after receiving his second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Fredericton, on Friday, June 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's chief medical officer confirmed Monday the province had failed in its bid to have 75 per cent of the population, age 12 and over, receive a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the day.

Dr. Jennifer Russell told a news conference that with 70.3 per cent of the eligible population vaccinated with one dose, the province's plan to enter Phase 1 of its reopening plan had to be put on hold.

"As good as this is, it's not good enough," Russell said, adding that a premature decision to loosen health-protection rules could lead to another wave of infections.

"I am confident we'll get there in the coming days ... and we'll take a step toward the normal summer that everyone wants."

Russell made a point of encouraging young people to get vaccinated, noting those under the age of 30 had the lowest vaccination rates in the province.

"Realizing that this group has been eligible for only the last month  and for those under 18 it's be less than two weeks  there's no time like today to book a first dose appointment," she said.

She then made a direct appeal to the province's young people.

"When you get vaccinated, opportunities will open that you have not had in more than a year. Spending time this summer hanging out with friends at the beach or at the camp, having bonfires and barbecues  that can happen as soon as enough of us are vaccinated."

In the past week alone, the vaccination rate for those between the ages of 12 and 19 has risen from 16.5 per cent to 44.7 per cent, health officials said.

Premier Blaine Higgs said the province's vaccination rate has been climbing steadily in recent weeks, but he confirmed it will take another four or five days for New Brunswick to reach its goal and for the reopening plan to kick in.

"While we have not reached 75 per cent, we have made great strides towards reaching this goal," he said. "It's everyone's job to put us over the finish line."

Despite the setback, Higgs said he's confident the province will succeed in its plan to open New Brunswick to the rest of Canada, with certain conditions, on July 1.

As of Monday, New Brunswick's vaccination rate was higher than that of its Atlantic neighbours, and it was higher than the rates posted in Alberta and Manitoba, Russell said.

"There's a path to a normal summer, and it leads through a vaccination clinic," she said.

On May 27, New Brunswick unveiled its road map to have all of its COVID-19 restrictions lifted by Aug. 2. In the first stage of a three-stage plan, which was to start on Monday, isolation and testing will no longer be required for those travelling within Atlantic Canada, with the exception of Nova Scotia.

The next stage could be reached as early as July 1, but only if at least 20 per cent of New Brunswickers over the age of 65 have received their second dose of vaccine and the entire province is at the yellow alert level  the second-lowest level. At that point, the Atlantic travel bubble will be reopened to Nova Scotia and travel registration will no longer be required for those in Atlantic Canada.

Canadians coming to the province from outside the Atlantic bubble with at least one dose of vaccine will be permitted entry with no isolation required. Those with no vaccinations will be required to isolate with testing. These rules will also apply to travellers from Maine, but they won't be implemented until federal travel restrictions change.

In the second stage, restaurants, gyms and salons will be permitted to operate at regular capacity if they maintain contact lists for clients.

On Aug, 2, New Brunswick Day, all health restrictions will be lifted if 75 per cent of New Brunswickers aged 12 and over have received a booster shot.

Meanwhile, health officials reported one new case of COVID-19 on Monday  an individual in their 30s in the Fredericton area who is a contact of a previously confirmed case. As of Monday, the province was dealing with 111 active cases, including three people recovering in a New Brunswick hospital.

The province has reported 2,266 confirmed cases since the pandemic began, including 44 deaths.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2021.

 By Michael MacDonald in Halifax
With the discovery of a mass burial site of 215 Aboriginal children on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School comes an increased need to get to the truth.

With the discovery of a mass burial site of 215 Aboriginal children on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School comes an increased need to get to the truth.

These children, whose stories have not been heard, are now being heard through the help and the efforts of a few determined leaders and technicians utilizing new technologies. These remains confirm the assertions made by survivors that there was loss of life as well as confirming horrific abuses suffered by these children.

Imagine the heartbreak of parents prevented by Indian Agents with the help of RCMP from having any contact with their children as they were delivered to the church-run schools. The Brandon residential school also has secrets that have yet to be brought into full view.

Church and Government records being what they are did not properly document the number of children which today makes it near impossible to put all the pieces together. Children buried in small unmarked plots make the task all the more difficult.

The Brandon residential school property was much larger than the current 17.5 acres under the control of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation. Research conducted on the site revealed anomalies throughout the site in and around the former school. Thankfully the federal department, which has control of the property north of the school, was assisting and co-operating with our requests to look into the anomalies, but sadly the next phase of doing an excavation of these anomalies did not proceed. Elections have consequences and it appears that children lying in unmarked graves are not a priority for the people in charge of the process.

Until today.

The problem that existed back when this work began  and which continues to be an obstruction  is that not all the sites where we wanted to utilize the new technologies were owned or under the control of Sioux Valley. The difficulty with dealing with private landowners is in trying to balance the interests of all parties.

With the promise of new dollars, I fear, some of these landowners will see this as an opportunity to cash in on renewed efforts to repatriate the remains of children. As a former chief I would not be surprised if land is offered for purchase at three or ten times the original purchase price. Simply to enable us to find our lost children.

In my view, I dont believe Sioux Valley Dakota Nation or the City of Brandon should purchase any private property. This should not be about making a profit on such a sad event in our recent history. How about co-operating because its the right thing to do?

I do believe in compensation for lost revenue while work is underway etc but Im not for making millionaires out of work that needs to be done. As stated in the TRC report. There are 130 schools across Canada, $75 million is not a lot of money to do the work that will be required. In addition, the federal and provincial governments need to revise existing laws respecting potential burial grounds and cemeteries and the protection of any remains.

Parents and grandparents went to their graves not knowing what happened to these children. Some of these children were as young as three and four years. My hope is that we can help locate the missing children. They had a horrific life without family and the very least we can do is bring some peace and closure to the survivors that remain.

 Vince Tacan is the senior self-government consultant for the Winnipeg office of BDO Canada, and is a former chief of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Louis DeJoy is uninterested in the niceties of Washington. The wealthy longtime businessman with an outer borough New York accent prides himself as a problem solver ready to disrupt an unwieldy bureaucracy. And he's facing potential legal troubles.

FILE - In this Aug. 24, 2020, file photo, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on the Postal Service on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  Louis DeJoy is uninterested in the niceties of Washington. The wealthy longtime businessman with an outer borough New York accent prides himself as a problem solver ready to disrupt an unwieldy bureaucracy. And he's facing potential legal troubles.

In other words, the postmaster general may be the closest thing to former President Donald Trump left in the nation's capital. But there's little President Joe Biden can do about it.

Get used to me, DeJoy told critics in Congress during a hearing earlier this year.

As he approaches his first anniversary at the U.S. Postal Service's helm, DeJoy is under mounting pressure to resign. He's been criticized by lawmakers from both parties for changes to the agency that have resulted in service slowdowns. Democrats are particularly worried that he's purposefully undermining the post office, which is critical to the conduct of elections and is one of the few federal agencies a vast majority of Americans like.

The scrutiny of DeJoy, 63, has intensified as the Justice Department investigates him over political fundraising at the North Carolina-based company he ran prior to his work at the post office.

Postmaster General DeJoy would not be in his job if he worked for any other company, said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat who chairs the House oversight committee.

DeJoy spokesman Mark Corallo said the postmaster general never knowingly violated campaign finance laws.

DeJoy was born in Brooklyn and still retains its distinct accent, despite long living in Greensboro, North Carolina. After growing up in New York, he took over his father's small, declining trucking business in the 1980s, transforming it into New Breed Logistics, which he sold in 2014. His firm offered logistical services nationwide, which critics are quick to note sometimes competed with the post office.

DeJoy became postmaster general shortly after Trump declared the post office a joke. DeJoy implemented cost-cutting mechanisms he said would help make the agency  which has lost $9.2 billion in the 2020 budget year  more fiscally solvent. Those included reducing employee overtime and removing mail-sorting machines from postal facilities around the country.

I am direct and decisive, DeJoy said in a video message to employees last summer. And I dont mince words.

After the changes, mail slowed enough that Democrats worried about an electoral crisis. The coronavirus pandemic prompted a voting-by-mail surge in last year's presidential election, and widespread delays sparked concerns that millions of ballots wouldn't arrive on time.

A federal judge wrote in September that the Postal Services actions are not the result of any legitimate business concerns but instead consistent with the Trump administration's goals to disrupt and challenge the legitimacy" of elections.

Ultimately, while there were complaints about mail delays affecting some balloting and counting, fears of widespread electoral disruptions from DeJoy's larger changes mostly proved unfounded. The Postal Service says it delivered at least 135 million ballots to or from voters  and delivered 99.89% of those mailed after Sept. 4, ahead of Election Day on Nov. 4, within seven days, as promised.

Some people may have breathed a sigh of relief, Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, which represents more than 200,000 post office employees, said of passing the election test. "But as important as mail ballots are ... all mail is important."

DeJoy nonetheless apologized to customers affected by service delays that occurred during last year's holiday season rush, and said his whole agency would "strive to do better amid bipartisan criticism at a House hearing in February.

Such frustrations were new. A Pew Research Center poll released before DeJoy took over found that 91% of Americans had a favorable view of the post office.

I think the postmaster generals intentions were good but the implementation was far less so, said John McHugh, a former New York Republican congressman who now heads the Package Coalition, an advocacy group of businesses that rely on package delivery. Id like to think hes learned his lesson.

The Postal Service lost $87 billion over the past 14 budget years, according to the Government Accountability Office. While much of the budgetary concerns stem from a 2006 law requiring the agency to fully fund costly retiree health benefits for the next 75 years, the post office has also been hurt by an inevitable, internet-fueled decline in mail volume. That was exacerbated by the pandemic.

In March, DeJoy announced a 10-year plan he says can help the post office avoid $160 billion in further projected losses over the next decade by cutting post office hours, relaxing delivery standards so some mail takes longer, and other austerity measures.

The Postal Service is also seeking to increase the cost of a first-class stamp to 58 cents in late August.

DeJoy's proposed overhaul could help the post office operate more like a business than a public service. But he's bristled at suggestions he's a Trump holdover with an ideology that now conflicts with a Democratic administration.

I'm not a political appointee," DeJoy told the House hearing. I was selected by a bipartisan board of governors and I'd really appreciate if you'd get that straight. When pressed on how long he'd remain in his post, DeJoy responded, A long time. Get used to me.

Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, who organized a letter signed by 90 House Democrats in August calling for DeJoys removal, said the postmaster general "is a guy who obviously has a lot of confidence in himself.

He doesnt seem to understand that one of the few services that the federal government does thats in the Constitution is the Postal Service," Pocan said "and we have a higher obligation to do the job correctly.

DeJoy can only be removed by a vote of the Postal Services governing board, which has nine members in addition to DeJoy and the deputy postmaster general. The Senate recently approved three new, Biden-appointed members. By law, though, no more than five of the nine voting board members can be from the same party and two existing, Democratic members have publicly supported DeJoy and his 10-year plan.

Biden could dismiss existing board members and replace them with his own appointees who might support replacing DeJoy  but he'd have to show cause for doing so.

Meantime, Congress may forge ahead with post office changes with DeJoy still in charge. A bipartisan plan to scrap requirements that the Postal Service pre-fund retiree health benefits, potentially saving the agency billions of dollars, is advancing. That's surprising because lawmakers have fought over that issue for years.

Republican supporters say the move would complement DeJoy's 10-year plan rather than supplant it. A Democratic proposal that could defy the postmaster general's overhaul remains stalled.

When Pocan pressed him during another House hearing about what grade he would give himself as postmaster general, DeJoy resisted answering, then finally replied, An A for bringing strategy and the planning and effort.

Recalling the exchange, Pocan joked that almost no one would give DeJoys performance an A, Unless it was followed by a derogatory name.

This story has been corrected to show that McHugh is a former congressman from New York, not Ohio.
A Tamil asylum seeker familys hopes of returning to the Queensland town of Biloela appear to have been dashed by the Morrison government, with resettlement in the United States or New Zealand now appearing more likely.

The development came after the evacuation of the youngest daughter of the Murugappan family from Christmas Island to the mainland for urgent medical treatment following two weeks of illness.

Tharnicaa and her sister Kopika in hospital on Christmas Island on June 6.

Family friends have lashed the cruel delay in treatment, which has led to a pledge from the towns mayor to continue fighting to get them home to Biloela.

But late on Tuesday afternoon, Foreign Minister Marise Payne appeared to rule out a Queensland homecoming for the family.

I understand that there are two options that are being looked at, she told Sydney radio station 2GB.

I understand the United States is the first of those and that New Zealand is also an option.

Tharnicaa Murugappan, 3, was diagnosed with pneumonia after she was flown from the Christmas Island detention centre in the Indian Ocean, having fallen ill in detention.

Along with the rest of her family - mother Priya, father Nadesalingam and older sister Kopika, 5 - Australian-born Tharnicaa has been detained on Christmas Island since August 2019 as the federal government attempts to deport them.

That deportation is being fought in the courts.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews hinted at a possible resolution when asked about the case earlier on Tuesday.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW), a joint venture between General Motors and two Chinese automakers, announced on June 3 it is about to launch an all-new nine-seater vehicle model to meet the future travelling demands from larger families, appearing to be the first car manufacturer respond directly to China's three-child policy by releasing a new product.

Photo credit: SGMW



According to a posting on SGMW's WeChat account, the yet-to-be-launched model will adopt a 2+2+2+3 seating arrangement to enhance the space utilization, and features a sliding side door to facilitate passengers in getting into/out the vehicle.

The joint venture teased the new 9-seater minivan after China unveiled on May 31 a policy that would allow all married couples to have up to three children, in place of the current universal two-child policy, in order to cope with an increasingly aging society that presents many social and economic challenges.

The policy will come with supportive measures, which will be conducive to improving our country's population structure, fulfilling the country's strategy of actively coping with an ageing population and maintaining the advantage, endowment of human resources", according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

China scrapped its decades-old one-child policy in 2015, replacing it with a two-child limit, which still failed to lead to a sustained growth in births after a temporary upsurge in 2016. Last year, only 12 million babies were born in China, the lowest level since 1961, according to a once-in-a-decade census released last month.
The Morrison government has called on Labor to help pass an aviation security bill before Federal Parliament following revelations law enforcement agencies believe Qantas has been infiltrated by organised crime groups.

Labor hit out at the governments legislation, which has stalled in the Senate, and called for a comprehensive review of aviation security to tackle vulnerabilities being used by sophisticated drug importation syndicates.

It has also emerged that the same fears about vulnerabilities in aviation were put to the federal government in a classified review 10 years ago, which highlighted flaws in background checks of staff that have still not been addressed.

A joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 Minutes revealed on Sunday that a federal law enforcement operation determined that up to 150 Qantas staff are linked to criminality, including bikie gangs, and the suspected infiltration represents a very high threat to the Australian border.
The council could act at any time with a heritage order. Advertising for the property points to a rare generational opportunity with scope to renovate or rebuild and then adds in brackets (STCA*). *Subject to Council Approval. Setches stunt? Readers might recall the fuss over Labor Party preselection for the new federal seat of Hawke, named after our 23rd prime minister, which notably roped in ALP grande dame Kay Setches. The 76-year-old former Cain and Kirner government minister stood for preselection for the seat because she was angry and disappointed the party was overlooking the partys affirmative action policies.

There were some polite mutterings at the time that the preselection push by Setches (who is actually two years younger than Joe Biden) was a stunt organised by factional forces loyal to Bill Shorten. But last week the preselection nomination was publicly denounced by one of the ALPs own lawyers when Labors factional feud hit the Supreme Court. Eleven unions are challenging Labors federal takeover of the Victorian branch, after Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin were parachuted in as administrators after allegations of branch stacking. Some prominent members were forced to hand in their phones in a digital strip search as part of a legal discovery process. Last week Justice Tim Ginnane was questioning if the preselection process was unfair, when Peter Willis SC, acting for the federal ALP executive against the unions, said that the nomination of Setches, whose form was signed by her son, Plumbers Union boss Earl Setches, was a stunt. Justice Ginnane: A stunt?

Willis: A stunt. It was designed to create uproar not to  it was a piece of theatre, if I could put it in those terms, Your Honour, perhaps more politely for the benefit of a wider public, if not for the court. It was not a genuine attempt. There were several other candidates  there were three candidates who complied with the rules and were able to do so in the time, and theyre not by all means all of the same ilk or of the same mind. Party games And just to show barminess is not confined to one political party, along comes Liberal shadow treasurer Louise Staley, mounting a one-woman royal commission into Daniel Andrews back injury. Staley has crunched the numbers and pointed out that the Premiers 91 days off means he has earnt $110,000 while on sick leave. And no, shes not a fan of the welfare safety net. Staleys press release of 12 angry questions demands answers to such queries as: who made the decision to take the Premier to Peninsula Private? And has Andrews been interviewed either formally or informally by the police in relation to anything that occurred over that long weekend? Grubby indeed. Of course, the government could nip this in the bud by providing more information about the slip down the stairs that felled the Premier. They will know that in 2021 any information vacuum is immediately filled by a conspiracy theory, and the more outlandish the quicker the spread.
The company said it would be investing $50 million over a decade in exchange for a range of benefits from state governments, including payroll tax relief, tourism marketing funding, property rebates, training support and directive incentives. NSW Treasurer Dominc Perrottet has been working on a $50 million bid to keep Qantas in NSW. Credit:Edwina Pickles A Qantas spokesman told the Herald it had received the draft offer from the NSW government about a week before it finalised its decision to remain in Sydney. It does not reflect the final agreement which, as we said in our announcement of 6 May, is still being negotiated, the spokesman said. We wont be commenting on any detail of the agreements with any of the states because they are commercial-in-confidence.

In principle, though, these agreements are about states recognising the significant value that the Qantas Group will bring to each local economy in the years ahead. A spokesperson for Mr Perrottet said: A final binding deal with Qantas is yet to be agreed, and we continue to work on the details after reaching an in-principle agreement in May. Any final agreement will protect and grow jobs, support what is a vital sector for the economy, and be in the best interests of the people of NSW. Mr Perrottet fired off his offer to Qantas within days of receiving a request from the company on April 21. In his April 29 response, Mr Perrottet said the airline would receive $50 million over four years if it abided by a series of conditions set by the government.

The NSW governments aim in presenting this offer is to lay the foundations for a 30-year partnership that will create economic value to NSW, he wrote. The conditions included Qantas remaining in NSW until at least 2051 and establishing a simulator centre and a centre for service excellence for pilots and cabin crew within the state. The airline had to commit to no net job losses and the creation of at least 2000 full time-equivalent jobs over the first five years. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce. Credit:Janie Barrett Qantas loyalty staff had to be relocated from Melbourne to Sydney and Project Sunrise had to be based exclusively in Sydney for at least five years.

Project Sunrise will see non-stop flights launched from the east coast of Australia to London and New York. Qantas was required to vacate its simulator facility by next April to avoid delays to the Sydney Gateway motorway project, which will link the WestConnex with Sydney Airport. The airline was also to commit to Indigenous and gender diversity employment targets. Should only a subset of the sought conditions be delivered, the state will claw back the financial incentives package in proportion to the reduction in benefit to the state, the proposal said. Reallocation of funds for anything other than the purposes set out in this term sheet will require repayment of such amounts by Qantas.

I look forward to continuing this conversation and finalising an agreement reflecting the conditions set out below that delivers for the residents of NSW as well as meets your strategic objectives. Loading The letter was forwarded in an email chain to bureaucrats within the Department of Premier and Cabinet. They subsequently reproduced it, unredacted, in response to a call for papers about the deal by Labor MLC Daniel Mookhey. Mr Joyce said the property review was part of a cost-cutting drive to recover from a revenue hit as a result of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Daniel Taylor, the son of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim, has told a court he was devastated and in shock when he read a series of newspaper articles about himself and his family that are now at the centre of a defamation case.

Mr Taylor is suing News Corps The Sunday Telegraph over a 24-page newspaper spread in June 2019 titled Inside the House of Ibrahim: Unauthorised. Mr Taylor alleges the stories about his family wrongly suggest he is a mobster, a member of the mafia, and a criminal involved in organised crime.

Daniel Taylor leaves the Federal Court on Monday during a break in his defamation case. Credit:Brook Mitchell

In a defence filed in the Federal Court, the newspaper has denied any of the defamatory meanings about Mr Taylor are conveyed. As a fall-back defence, the newspaper argues it is substantially true to say Mr Taylor is involved in organised crime.

On Monday, Mr Taylor told the court he saw the newspaper stories on June 23 and read them from beginning to end, experiencing disbelief. The stories detailed matters revealed on police phone taps tendered in court, including Mr Taylors tense relationship with his father.
He said there was a high rate of transmission for this virus within households.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the virus had spread between the two grade 5 students, who were in the same classroom, then to their teacher, and among the students and teachers families.

The school has been closed since last Wednesday. Two year 5 students, a prep student and a year 5 teacher have tested positive to the Delta strain of the coronavirus.

Another case of COVID-19 was reported at North Melbourne Primary School on Monday, with the Department of Health investigating if the person was infectious when they attended the large state school.

Without saying that the actual incubation period is different for this virus, we do see that for the infectious cases its gone from a family of four, through those kids to another family, then to the entire family, to the teacher ... the attack rate within those households is higher. I think weve had about three-quarters of those exposed in households in our current cluster become cases, Professor Sutton said.

Despite concerns about transmission at the North Melbourne school, Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said returning to in-person classes should be a priority for Victoria. Kids have lost enough time out of school over the last 18 months, he said.

While more than 200 members of the school community in Melbournes inner north have been identified as tier-one contacts who must isolate for 14 days, some have been recruited for a new research project examining how the virus spreads in schools, kindergartens and childcare centres.

Parents and children have in recent days visited the school to give saliva samples. The school of about 900 students is otherwise closed until further notice, even for vulnerable students and children of permitted workers.

The study will also analyse the impact of school closures on children and families via a number of surveys in coming weeks. It is run by the Murdoch Childrens Research Centre, whose senior researchers have called for school closures to be a last resort during outbreaks, operating on a traffic light system rather than a blanket switch to remote learning.
Without question, Victorians mental health has suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The restrictions put in place to protect the communitys physical health have pushed an already struggling mental health care system to breaking point.

The Productivity Commission report into mental health and the Royal Commission into Victorias Mental Health System have reported extensively on the impact of mental ill-health both from an economic perspective and at an individual and community level. This was before the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant social isolation, uncertainty, job losses, school closures and economic implications for business owners.

Lockdown restrictions in Melbourne were extended for another seven days. Credit:Getty

Victorians have borne the brunt of this.

We cannot keep delaying real and immediate action, we cannot rely on Band-Aid solutions or vague plans for the future that may or may not come to fruition.
Parties battle over proposed elections changes in Ohio

Max / Aaron Doster A Hamilton County election department employee handles ballots during the general election at the Hamilton County Board of Elections, Nov. 3, 2020, in Norwood, Ohio.

The Republican sponsors of a bill proposing numerous changes to Ohio election law say they are open to some compromise with Democratic opponents.

But this olive branch comes with a warning.

(Democrats) have so far given the back of their hand to a balanced bill, said Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati. And the risk that they are taking is that by being disingenuous in their opposition, we might just say OK, well, you dont like a balanced bill, we might move it the rightward direction and then give you something really to howl about, OK?

House Bill 294, sponsored by Seitz and fellow Republican Rep. Sharon Ray of Wadsworth, has a ways to go before it becomes law. Ohio Democrats are preparing for the long fight.

Democrats sparred with the bill sponsors during its initial legislative hearing, and eventually walked out in protest of the committee chairman ending debate after about 90 minutes had elapsed.

Seitz and Ray addressed the early criticism of what they call the Ohio Election Security and Modernization Act in a Statehouse press conference on Wednesday. That evening, a number of Democratic lawmakers traveled to Cincinnati to kick off a Freedom to Vote Tour building opposition to the bill.

In its totality, HB 294 reflects a mixed bag for Democrats. It is among the hundreds of bills introduced in 2021 that include at least one provision to restrict voting access, per research from the Brennan Center for Justice.

But it also includes provisions to make voter registration and absentee ballot requests more convenient; The latter improvement, to allow for online requests, has long been a wish list item for voting rights advocates. (There are complaints about the proposed ID requirements for these online requests.)

Democrats are choosing to oppose the whole bill and have characterized it as an attempt at voter suppression.

Wanting a

semblance of

cooperation

Ray said the sponsors are open to discussion on some of the bills proposed changes.

That is, Seitz said, if we get some semblance of cooperation, which of course so far we havent.

One such issue is the absentee ballot request deadline.

Those who do not want to vote in person can request a ballot be mailed to them. Currently, the deadline to request a ballot is noon on the Saturday before Election Day.

This has led to some logistical headaches for postal workers and elections officials alike. Some have advocated for the deadline to be rolled back to ensure there is enough time for ballots to reach voters and to get the completed ballots turned in.

Last year, a bill supported by House Republicans and Secretary of State Frank LaRose proposed a new deadline of seven days before Election Day.

HB 294 goes even further, calling for a deadline of 10 days before Election Day. Ray said she is open to discussing this further.

She also described being willing to hear opposition regarding drop boxes. As introduced, HB 294 would limit drop boxes from only being placed at boards of elections offices and available only during the 10 days preceding an election.

Ballot drop boxes have been a contentious issue over the past year. Democrats want to see a major expansion of drop box usage across the state. Despite Seitz having raised suspicions about their security, elections officials maintain boxes are both secure and popular among voters.

Other proposals in HB 294 appear to be more inflexible. Among them is the elimination of early in-person voting the day before an election.

Current law allows for six hours of early voting on such Mondays, but the Ohio Association of Elections Officials wants to see this changed. The groups executive director, Aaron Ockerman, has said that Monday would better be spent preparing for the big day ahead.

The Monday before is just  chaotic would not even be close to an appropriate description of the day before the election, Ockerman recently told members of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. There are literally hundreds of tasks that election officials are having to complete the 24 hours before we actually open up the polling locations all over (each) county.

Seitz and Ray have pledged to shift these six hours to earlier in the early voting schedule. Democrats, meanwhile, argue the Mondays before elections are popular early voting days and they want to see the schedule remain as is.

Seitz has pointed out that even with HB 294 changes such as this would still leave Ohio as being a national leader for voting access. Across the country, the average early voting period for states is 19 days, according to research from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

With HB 294 in place, Ohio would still have 27 days of early in-person voting available for citizens. The last such day of would be the Sunday before an election, which itself is unique: Ohio is one of only a few states that offers early voting on Sundays.

Nothing but a dogwhistle

Seitz said there were a number of provisions that conservative lawmakers asked for that werent included in HB 294 because we wanted to present a balanced bill.

Democrats still see it differently, and outlined their criticisms at a Freedom to Vote Tour event at the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio headquarters in Cincinnati.

Democratic lawmakers and other supporters at the town hall attributed the efforts to pass HB 294 on a number of motivations besides concern for ballot security.

State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Cleveland, said the bill is connected to the idea of The Big Lie and what happened Jan. 6, and we need to be honest about that conversation.

While some cosponsors of HB 294 have baselessly alleged widespread fraud occurred in the 2020 election, neither Seitz nor Ray have made such claims during their pursuit of this legislation.

Rickell Smith, executive director for the Urban Leagues Center for Social Justice, claimed the primary motivation for the slew of bills to restrict voting access is racism.

This bill, like others introduced across the country, is nothing but a dog whistle used to suppress the votes of communities that came out in record numbers to change our country in 2020, Smith said. Ohio will not be the next state to join the systemic effort to suppress our vote.

The bill awaits its next committee hearing.
Lansdale, PA (19446)

Today

Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 75F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Showers and thundershowers likely. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
SA is seeking approval from regulators after bidding to buy French steel assets from beleaguered tycoon

The steel giant is planning to buy the majority of the shares in Liberty Steel France Holding SAS, which owns the Ascoval and Hayange plants, according to European Commission documents. The mills sought creditor protection in April amid financial distress at Guptas GFG Alliance, which owns the assets.

Gupta has been struggling to refinance his metals empire after the collapse of Greensill Capital, its biggest lender. GFG is now the target of a U.K. probe into possible fraud and money laundering, which scuppered an attempt to secure new working capital for its British businesses from White Oak Global Advisors LLC.

A spokesperson for confirmed it had bid for the assets and said it planned to invest in them.

A spokesperson for Liberty Steel, GFGs steel arm, said it was taking prudent steps to explore sale options for these businesses after they faced a significant reduction in working capital support since the collapse of Greensill Capital.



The EU has not given a deal fast-track simplified status that would allow for a quick approval. The deadline for ruling on the deal is July 9.

sold a string of European steel mills to GFG Alliance in 2019 to assuage antitrust concerns raised when it acquired the Taranto, Italy-based Ilva steelworks. It has since sold the majority of its stake in the plant, which was once the largest in the Europe, to the Italian state.
Hyatt Regency on Monday said it has shut its property due to the financial crunch facing its asset owner (West). The five star property issued a notice informing the staff on its roll that no funds are being infused from the property owner to meet the operational expenses of the hotel including payment of salaries. The hotel, therefore, has to be closed until further notice.

As a result of no funds forthcoming from to sustain the operations of the hotel, a decision has been taken to temporarily suspend all operations for Hyatt Regency The hotel will remain closed until further notice, said Sunjae Sharma, Vice President & Country Head  India, Hyatt in a statement. At Hyatt, our guests and colleagues are a top priority, and we are working closely with the hotels owner to resolve this situation, he said.

Hyatt is managing the property in Mumbai on a contract basis on behalf of Sushil Kumar Gupta is the chairman and managing director of Asian Hotels. On May 28, in a notification to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Asian Hotels said it has defaulted on an interest payment of Rs 4.32 crore to its lender Yes Bank. Total financial indebtedness of the listed entity including short-term and long term debt stood at Rs 262.54 crore as on May 1, 2021

Hyatt is an American hospitality brand that manages and franchises hotels. Located near Mumbais international airport, the hotel said that it will not accept reservations through Hyatt booking channels and will remain temporarily unavailable.
company Neuberg will be crossing the Rs 1,000 crore revenue milestone by the end of FY22, said a top company official. The company is planning to set up 10 more labs in the northern and eastern parts of the country for deeper penetration, said GSK Velu, Chairman & Managing Director at Neuberg

It will also be setting up technology incubation centers in the USA and Europe to access the latest technologies and make developing countries ready for precision diagnostics in the evolving personalised medicine arena. The company had closed FY21 with a revenue of around Rs 800 crore.

We are also planning to open diagnostics facilities in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Ghana. In West Asia, we are looking to set up labs in a few middle eastern countries with the new lab we are commissioning acting as a hub at Dubai, said Velu. It has earmarked Rs 100 crore for expansion plans for FY22.

The Chennai-headquartered company has seen testing load grow 4-5-fold since the pandemic hit for which it has hired more than 1,500 people across portfolios to ensure smooth functioning. Neuberg now employs more than 4,000 employees with over 120 laboratories and over 1,200 collection centres with direct lab presence in four countries namely India, the US, South Africa and UAE.

In March last year, the company was testing from four ICMR approved labs in India. It added 14 more labs in FY21 and is currently doing RT-PCR tests from 18 labs across India, the USA, and South Africa.

Overall, the diagnostics industry is seeing a robust growth trend even though Covid test rates have come down substantially due to government price controls, said Velu.

The company which has grown mostly through inorganic expansion will continue to scout for more such deals. We are continuously looking for M&A opportunities with like-minded labs and would consider the same if we see shared values and strategic fit, said Velu.

Neuberg was launched in 2017 after a spree of acquisitions such as Anand Laboratory in Bengaluru, Supratech Micropath in Ahmedabad, Ehrlich Laboratory in Chennai, Global Labs in South Africa, and Minerva Diagnostics in Dubai.
In an internal email to employees on Monday, IPO-bound firm has asked if they would like to sell their shares.

In the communication, has explained it will be filing its Draft Red Herring Prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) soon, and told shareholders, "You may, in your sole discretion, participate in the Offer by offering either all or a part of the Equity Shares held by you (which are eligible to be offered in the Offer) in the Offer for Sale. We wish to inform you that the Offer for Sale component has to be finalised before filing the DRHP with SEBI," the firm said.

The board of One97 Communications Ltd, which owns Paytm, has given an in-principle approval to the offering plan. A formal approval for this is expected once the prospectus is finalised. Morgan Stanley is steering the offering process on behalf of One97 Communications.

The firms annual general meeting is scheduled for June 30.

Employees will sell their shares as a part of the IPO and have choice of selling either a part or their entire stake. Shares which they do not sell during the IPO will be subject to a one year lock in condition.

If existing shareholders want to sell more in aggregate than allowed during the IPO, the ability to sell stock will be determined on a pro-rata basis, according to the documents.

Indias listing rules require float 10 per cent of shares within 2 years and 25 per cent within 5 years.

The other investors of One97 communications include Softbank, Berkshire Hathaway, and the

Paytms IPO is expected to be the biggest ever in India, at a valuation of $30 billion.

Unlike many of its peers, has started to expand its merchant payment ecosystem. It has realized that though it can always try to take maximum share of the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) transactions, from a revenue generation point it will not have any impact.

The firm has an installed user base of about 350 million, 50 million active users, and over 20 million merchant users, while its payments bank has about 60 million accounts.

Paytm's realignment of its position from being a mere payments service provider to merchant payments, with its credit tech vertical leading the next wave of growth its payments bank leading to lending-based monetisation and its talent pool were among the highlights in a recent pre-IPO Bernstein report.
platform said Monday it was going to provide additional benefits and support to its 150,000 delivery partners, including paid time off and insurance and hospitalisation cover.

Under the care package, called " Suraksha", all Covid-19 affected delivery partners will be eligible to receive support of Rs 14,000 for two weeks without worrying about earning a livelihood during their recovery period. The company has been offering this support throughout the past year.

Delivery partners and their families who test positive will receive enhanced hospitalisation cover of upto Rs 1.5 lakh. It will also provide enhanced life insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh in the event of an untimely death of a delivery partner due to Covid-19.

In Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, if delivery partners choose to, Swiggy will provide doorstep delivery of homestyle meals prepared in Swiggys cloud kitchens.

In addition, Swiggy will provide income support for one week for delivery partners during bereavement (death of dependents/ parents/ siblings/ grandparents). This is not limited to Covid-19 related bereavement

As part of its ongoing efforts to ensure the health and safety of delivery partners, Swiggy has introduced a number of initiatives throughout the pandemic.

This includes in-app access to free telemedicine consultations, vaccination cover and loss of pay cover during vaccination, safety kits with masks and sanitizers, hygiene stations at restaurants, tech-enabled features including safety gear audit, promoting no-contact delivery for safety of consumers and delivery partners and RT-PCR tests in cities in mandated cities.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said 28,252 cases of mucormycosis have so far been reported from 28 states/UTs in the country, of which 86 per cent cases have a history of COVID-19 and 62.3 per cent with a history of diabetes.

Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of mucormycosis cases (6,339) followed by Gujarat (5,486), he said after chairing the 28th meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 via video conferencing, a health ministry statement said.

V K Paul, member (Health), NITI Aayog presented a brief snapshot of the country's vaccination status, preparedness for pediatric COVID-19 care, and the way forward to prevent the third wave of the infection, at the conference.

He said India took 141 days to reach the 23 crore-mark in terms of cumulative doses administered, which remains the second highest in the world after the US which did the same in 134 days.

"India is also one of the world's fastest countries in terms of number of doses administered so far. Out of 88.7 crore people who have been administered at least one dose globally, India accounts for 17.9 crore, which is 20.2 per cent of the global coverage," Paul maintained.

He also remarked that India is fully prepared to deal with pediatric COVID-19 care, but caution remains the key.

Vardhan noted that till Monday morning, 23,27,86,482 vaccine doses were administered to citizens in various categories. Talking specifically about the 18-44 age group, the first dose has been given to 2,86,18,514 people, he said.

"As of today, over 1.4 crore doses are still available with the states," he said.

About other categories, the minister noted that first doses have been given to 6,06,75,796 people in the above 60 category' and 7,10,44,966 in the 45-59 age group.

On the testing front, he stated that 36,63,34,111 Covid tests have so far has conducted and the laboratories for testing purposes have also gone up to 2,624 in the country.

"Daily positivity rate has also been declining and is at 6.34 per cent and even though this is less than 10 per cent positivity rate for 14 consecutive days, there still are 15 states where the daily positivity rate is greater than 10 per cent," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

In the second wave of COVID-19, the health minister said continuously daily cases are declining and are outnumbered by new recoveries.

He said 83 per cent of active cases are in 10 states and the remaining 17 per cent in 26 states/UTs. Seven states/UTs, namely, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand, have less than 1,000 COVID-19 cases, he said.

Five states and UTs (Jammu, Punjab, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh) have less than 2,000 cases. Even the most affected states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have observed decline in the number of cases at a significant rate. The growth rate has declined from 14.7 per cent (May 5) to 3.48 per cent (today), the statement said.

Vardhan added that Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) sequencing labs are looking at the mutants which have significant potential of severely affecting the disease transmission.

As of now, 10 national labs under INSACOG have sequenced around 30,000 samples and 18 more labs have been added to the consortium recently to boost the capacity of sequencing, he said.

The recovery rate has been climbing up and stands at 93.94 per cent today. In the last 24 hours, we have had the least number of daily new cases in the last 61 days with just over 1 lakh cases (1,00,636).

A total of 1,74,399 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours and our case fatality rate has been 1.2 per cent. Today is the 25th day in succession where our daily recoveries outnumbered new cases, he said.

On emerging cases of mucormycosis, the Union minister said, "So far, 28,252 cases have been reported from 28 states. Out of these, 86 per cent (24,370 cases) have a history of COVID-19 infection and 62.3 per cent (17,601) have a history of diabetes. Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of Mucormycosis cases (6,339) followed by Gujarat (5,486)," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

Giridhar Aramane, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways gave an overview of oxygen availability in the country and measures taken to ramp up production and supply chain.

He mentioned that various initiatives have been undertaken to enhance oxygen availability and distribution through increase in production capacity, setting up of Pressure Swing Adsorption plants, import of LMO and oxygen concentrators.

He said oxygen production has increased from 5,700 MT in August, 2020 to more than 9,500 MT in May, 2021, and around 1,718 PSA plants (1,213 under PM Cares by MoHFW & DRDO, 108 by MoPNG, 40 by MoCoal, 25 by MoPower, 19 from foreign aid and 313 by state governments) are being established, the statement said.

Further, the senior official highlighted that procurement of 1 lakh oxygen concentrators have been sanctioned under PM Cares Fund and an Oxygen Digital Tracking System (ODTS) has been developed to enable real time tracking of LMO movement in the country.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Minister for Civil Aviation on Sunday informed that more than 9 million people have been facilitated under the Mission so far.

The Mission was started in early May last year to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus-induced travel restrictions.

Taking on Twitter, Puri said that the Mission has been a learning experience.

"World's largest repatriation mission, VBM has been a learning experience and has given us a template for managing missions of this magnitude in the future. More than 9 million people have been facilitated since May 6, 2020," the Union Minister tweeted.

The Minister also informed that as many as 3,479 people have returned to India under the Vande Bharat Mission on June 6.

This includes 65 from Saudi Arabia, 320 from UAE, 47 from Qatar, 93 from Malaysia, and several other countries.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
recorded 223



fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 29,336, a senior health official said here on Monday.

The COVID-19 death toll in the state increased to 125 with two more persons succumbing to the disease on Sunday, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

As many as 381 patients recuperated from the disease on Sunday taking the number of recoveries in the northeastern state to 25,618, Jampa said.

The Capital Complex region recorded the highest number of fresh cases with 88, followed by Papumpare (34), Changlang (28), Upper Subansiri and Lower Siang at 11 cases each.

Nine cases each were also reported from Lohit and East Kameng, six each from Kra Daadi, Tawang and West Kameng, three each from Anjaw, Dibang Valley, East Siang and Upper Siang and one each from Lower Subansiri, Namsai and Pakke Kessang district respectively, he said.

Of the fresh cases 213 were detected through rapid antigen tests, 3 through RT-PCR and 7 through TrueNat method, the official said adding, 76 people have symptoms of COVID-19.

now has 3,593 active COVID-19 cases.

The COVID-19 recovery rate is now 87.33 per cent while the active percentage stands at 12.25 and the positivity rate at 3.87 per cent, Jampa said.

The Capital Complex Region - comprising Itanagar, Naharlagun, Nirjuli and Banderdewa areas - has the highest number of active cases at 690, followed by Tawang (368), Changlang (338), Namsai (260), Lower Subansiri (226), Lohit (225) and West Kameng with 217 cases.

Altogether, 6,30,180 samples have been tested for Covid-19 in the state so far, including 5,758 on Sunday, Jampa said.

State Immunisation Officer Dr Dimong Padung said that a total of 3,82,064 people have been administered COVID-19 vaccine doses so far in the state since the inoculation drive began in January.

The state as on June 6 has a total of 1,46,470 vaccine doses available including, 1,29,730 supplied from the Centre and 16,740 purchased by the state government from Serum Institute of India, Dr Padung informed.

Meanwhile the state government has extended the total lockdown for seven more days in Tawang and Upper Subansiri districts till June 12, keeping in view the surge in Covid-19 cases.

The government also announced district-specific containment measures till July 1 in all other districts to be announced by the respective district administration in consultation with the health department, the order stated.

(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.)
At least 18 workers, mostly women, were charred to death in a devastating fire that broke out at a chemical firm in an industrial area in district on Monday afternoon, officials said.

One worker suffered burn injuries in the incident, they said.

According to the officials, the fire broke out at SVS Aqua Technologies, which manufactures chlorine dioxide among other chemicals and is located in the Pirangut MIDC area of Mulshi tehsil on the outskirts of city.

"So far, 18 bodies have been recovered from the firm's premises. We have stopped the search operation due to darkness and heat caused due to the blaze.

"The search operation will resume on Tuesday morning to find out if any worker is still missing," said Sandesh Shirke, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Mulshi division.

He said as per company officials, there were around 17 employees, including 15 women, at the site where the blaze started.

All the bodies, which were completely charred, were sent to the government-run Sassoon General Hospital for autopsy, Shirke said.





ALSO READ: Pune fire: PM Modi announces Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of deceased

The bodies were burned beyond recognition and their identify will have to be ascertained by conducting DNA testing, he said.

A worker escaped with burn injuries and was admitted to the Sassoon General Hospital, where he is stated to be out of danger, Shirke said.

Fire brigade officials said the bodies were found in multiple groups with the victims clinging each other in a desperate attempt to stay together and escape the inferno.

Devendra Potphode, Chief Fire Officer, PMRDA ( Metropolitan Region Development Authority), Fire Services, said six to seven fire tenders were rushed to the chemical unit to douse the flames.

Asked about the possible cause of the blaze, Potphode said as per the company officials, the fire started during packing of plastic materials in the premises.

"Due to some spark at the (packaging) section, the fire broke out and as there was plastic around, it spread rapidly," said Potphode.

District Collector Rajesh Deshmukh, who visited the spot, said an inquiry has been initiated into the tragic incident.

"A committee, led by the SDM, Mulshi, with the chief fire officer of MIDC, PMRDA and other officials as its members, has been formed to probe the incident and they will submit their report," he said.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, in a statement, said an inquiry has been ordered to find out the exact cause of the fire and a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each will be given to the next of the kin of the deceased.

The firm, located near Uravade village, around 40 km from the city, is into manufacturing of chemicals, including chlorine dioxide, which are used in water purification.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An Inter-Ministerial Central



Team (IMCT) reached on Sunday to make on-the-spot assessment of damages caused by Yaas that hit the state's coast on May 26, official sources said.

The seven-member team headed by Ministry of Home Affairs Joint Secretary Sunil Kumar Barnwal arrived at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here. The team includes four Odia officers, they said.

The team is scheduled to visit Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada and Mayurbhanj districts on Monday and Tuesday to assess the damages caused by the

The IMCT will be divided into two sub-teams and each unit will visit two districts in the next two days, a member of the central team said.

Before leaving for New Delhi, the team members will hold a meeting with Chief Secretary S C Mohapatra and Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena.

After undertaking an aerial survey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on May 28 announced Rs 500 crore relief assistance for the state and also said that a central team will visit the state soon.

The state has pegged post- damage at Rs 610 crore. Of this, Rs 520 crore is loss to government infrastructure and Rs 90 crore is damage to private properties.

Modi had made the announcement after a meeting with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

(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.)
China has announced a new policy to allow all couples to have three children in a bid to meet the future challenge of an aging population and improve the country's demographic structure.



It marks a historic shift in the country's family planning policy, but the proposal is not a catch-all solution to reverse a declining birth rate; more preferential measures related to the cost of living, childcare and education should be considered to supplement the new policy.

China's fertility rate was above six before the 1970s. By the 1980s, the country's reform and opening up had created a massive flow of rural to urban migration, which saw cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen boom and completely rewriting the country's economic structure.

In an urbanized society, having children is a more expensive commitment as they do not constitute an extension of economic activity, and new considerations, including housing, food, childcare, tertiary education and time itself all come into the mix.

This means the new policy adopt a more fertility-friendly social environment for couples willing to have three children. These could include policies such as government subsidizing childcare or housekeepers, more affordable education, housing and university funding that must be considered.

In the meantime, China's progress in automation and artificial intelligence are aspects that cannot be ignored when it comes to the population challenge, as such development is playing a growing role in manufacturing and production in the country, reducing demand for human labor.

Already a growing number of factories in China are automated. For example, the Chinese appliance company Midea, based in Guangdong, is pursuing a three-year plan to raise its automation level in 25 factories by 2023. In the factories where it is already relying heavily on robotics, efficiency has increased by nearly 30%.

The three-child policy shows China's endeavors to maximize the role of population in economic and social development so as to respond to a declining fertility rate. It is not so much a gamechanger, but China is always well organized and well suited to adapting to new economic conditions in the bid to continue prosperity.

Tom Fowdy is a British political and international relations analyst and a graduate of Durham and Oxford universities. He writes on topics pertaining to China, the DPRK, Britain and the U.S. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/TomFowdy.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.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked party leaders to continue working for the masses with dedication amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He urged them to be present in their respective areas and be available to people in their time of need and strengthen the organisation.

The remarks of the Prime Minister came at his meeting with BJP chief JP Nadda and national general secretaries held on Sunday.

"The PM has asked everyone present to work for the masses with full dedication. If people need help they should approach them and no one else. With or without political post, people should know them for the help they are extending," a source said.

The Prime Minister held meetings with party top brass and morcha chiefs of Bharatiya Janata Party at his residence which went on for hours on the weekend. Sources said he gave suggestions on how each of the leaders present can improve on the tasks given to them.The PM asked the leaders as to what they did during lockdown and tasks undertaken by them to help people, the source said.

"The PM was interested in hearing our ideas. He shared his own experiences and motivated us to think out of the box," the source added.

Sources also said that the Prime Minister was more interested in knowing what unique initiatives were undertaken by morchas and the organisation, apart from the tasks allocated by the party."Activities on social media and communicating important information by using various platforms was also reviewed in general," sources added.

They said the Prime Minister made suggestions to ensure the effectiveness of their handles on social media.

Those who went in thinking that they will give a briefing on the tasks they did and were expecting the meeting to be over within an hour were in for a surprise as the Prime Minister kept them engaged for hours.

PM's had held a meeting with party morcha chiefs on Saturday. Nadda and B L Santhosh, national general secretary (organisation), too were present at the meeting. The meeting on Saturday lasted nearly four hours and the meeting with national general secretaries on Sunday went on for five hours.

"He is a visionary who has planned 50 years ahead of his time. National security is paramount," said another source while refusing to elaborate on the discussions at the meeting.In meetings held by Nadda, it has been decided that each morcha will strengthen teams at district and panchayat levels.

Apart from this, they have been asked to take government schemes to the masses.Efforts will also be made for strengthening verticals and institutions associated with every morcha, constituting teams till panchayat level, and increasing social media presence, sources 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.)
India on Sunday reported a net reduction of 76,190 in active cases to take its count to 1,401,609. Indias share of global active cases now stands at 10.80 per cent (one in 8). The country is second among the most affected countries by active cases. On Sunday, it added 100,636 cases to take its total caseload to 28,909,975. And, with 2,427 new fatalities, its Covid-19 reached 349,186, or 1.21 per cent of total confirmed infections.

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The Delhi government Monday informed the Delhi High Court that it has directed all government centres, private hospitals and nursing homes here that Covaxin will only be administered to those in the age group of 18-44 years who received it as first dose of anti-COVID vaccine.

The court was hearing three pleas filed by persons who were finding it difficult to get the second dose of Covaxin after getting the first jab.

The Delhi government and the Centre also told the court that an additional of 40,000 vials of Covaxin have been provided to national capital on June 6 to tide over the current situation.

Justice Rekha Palli expressed happiness over the development and the proactive steps taken by both the Central and Delhi government to address the issue of shortage of Covaxin, especially for those who have taken the first dose and finding it difficult to get the second dose before the six weeks window expires.

The court was informed that the Delhi Chief Secretary has issued an order on June 6 that the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has directed that all private hospitals and nursing homes functioning as COVID Vaccination Centres for Covaxin shall ensure that it shall be used for vaccination to only those people (of age group 18-44 years) who are eligible for receiving it as second dose of vaccination during the month of June, 2021 or till further orders.

The Health Department of Delhi government, on June 3, has already issued similar directions in this regard to all government COVID Vaccination Centres.

One of the petitions has been filed by petitioner and advocate Kushal Kumar, seeking direction to the authorities to urgently provide second dose of Covaxin vaccine to them as their allotted time period for the second dose is about to end.

Kumar and co-petitioners Mansi Sharma and advocate Shashwat Tripathi, said the allotted time period for the second dose of vaccine is between May 31 too June 14.

Another petition has been moved by lawyer Ashish Virmani, who received the first dose of Covaxin on May 3 and since May 29 has been unable to book a slot for receiving the second jab which has to be taken within six weeks of the first.

Subsequently, he had to travel to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh to receive the second dose of the vaccine, advocate Pallav Mongia, representing Virmani, had told the court.

During the hearing, the petitioners raised a grievance that as no doses of Covaxin were available between May 25 to June, there are a number of persons who are going to complete six weeks period on June 14 and therefore, if they do not get the slot in that time period, the whole exercise would be rendered futile.

The government counsel sought time to take instructions on this aspect and the court listed the matter for further hearing on June 11.

The court asked advocate Anuj Aggarwal, representing the Delhi government, and advocate Anurag Ahluwalia, appearing for the Centre, to examine the issue whether the slots being opened for second dose vaccination can be increased.

The counsel are also asked to examine the issue of utilising the data bank and messaging the persons whose second dose if due before June 14.

The Centre, in its affidavit filed through advocate Anurag Ahluwalia, said the CoWin system provides the list of beneficiaries due for the second dose on a given day, containing the name and contact details of the persons to enable the state and district officials to actively track the beneficiaries due for the second dose.

It said the CoWin system also send automatic SMSs to the beneficiaries, every third day, starting from 3 days before the second dose due date, till such time as the beneficiary does not get vaccinated with the second dose or books an appointment for it.

On June 4, the Delhi government had told the high court that it made preparations for vaccinating people with Covaxin based on the assurance of Bharat Biotech, the manufacturer of vaccine, that the national capital will receive 5 lakh doses in May and four times that in June.

However, the Delhi government received only 1.5 doses of the vaccine in May and due to the Centre's instructions not to set aside any stock for the second jab, all of it was used to provide the first dose to 1.5 lakh people in the 18-44 age group.

On June 2, the court had said if the Delhi government could not ensure that people get both the doses of Covaxin within the stipulated time, it should not have started so many vaccination centres with "much pomp and splendour".

(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.)
Fugitive diamantaire on Sunday (local time) disclosed the names of his alleged abductors to Antiguan police.

Antigua police have commenced an investigation into the possible abduction of from Antigua on May 23, 2021, reported Antigua News Room.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that Choksi's lawyers wrote to the Police Commissioner providing the names of the people he believes abducted him.

Browne said that the police and the government are taking the allegations seriously, reported Antigua News Room.

Choksi, accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab Bank scam got interim relief from immediate repatriation to India by the Dominican court which adjourned the matter of his detention on Thursday. As the next date of hearing is yet to be fixed and the court proceedings are likely to take time.

According to local media reports, his team of lawyers connived with opposition leaders to pressure the judiciary, which rather than questioning Choksi's illegal entry from Antigua to Dominica, believed his lawyers' version that he was abducted.

However, evidence suggests that Choksi was planning to escape to Cuba.

Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab Bank fraud case. Choksi fled the country. He was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018. He is involved in a legal battle to prevent his extradition to India.

Choksi had gone missing from Antigua on May 23 after going out for dinner and was soon caught in Dominica. He was charged with illegal entry by the police in Dominica after he allegedly escaped from Antigua and Barbuda in a possible attempt to evade extradition to India.

In order to save Choksi from deportation, a team of four lawyers was hired from London. Choksi's cousin is camping in Dominica and has reportedly cut the deal with opposition to save Mehul, according to local reports.

Mehul Choksi's younger brother Chetan Chinu Bhai promised Dominican opposition leader election funding for pushing the abduction theory, local reports stated, adding that the businessman's cousin disclosed details.

Choksi is an Indian citizen that is also mentioned in the red corner notice. In Antigua where he was residing, he misrepresented the facts and got citizenship.

Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne wanted his citizenship to be cancelled, he wrote a letter in 2019, he has clearly said that Choksi will not be allowed entry in Antigua and he should be deported back to India.

(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.)
Chief Minister Uddhav



Thackeray on Monday directed the state administration to stay alert and be prepared to tackle any eventuality in the wake of the forecast of in Mumbai and other coastal areas of the state during this week.

The CM in a statement said patients, including of COVID-19, should not face any hurdle in their treatment.

People living in low-lying areas, dilapidated buildings and landslide-prone areas should be moved to safer places, he told the state administration.

He also asked guardian ministers to convene meetings of district disaster management authorities.

"There is a forecast of from June 9 to 12 in the Mumbai Metropolian Region and Konkan region...prepare yourself to face any eventuality," he said.

Thackeray directed the administration at the state and district levels to work in co-ordination and ensure people do not face any hardships.

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) at Mumbai in a tweet said, "Severe weather warnings over the region during next 5 days. Increase in rainfall activity expected over Konkan and adjoining ghat areas of Madhya from 10th June."



In another tweet, the RMC said thunderstorm accompanied with lightning, gusty winds and moderate to intense spells of rain very likely over Thane, Raigad, Palghar, Ahmednagar, Pune, Beed, Jalna,Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded, Aurangabad and Latur during next three-four hours.

The IMD's head SID, Climate Research & Services at Pune, K S Hosalikar in a tweet said, "Pl see the severe weather warnings given by IMD today for coming 5 days. From 10th June onward enhancement in rainfall is seen over Konkan, with possibility of heavy to very heavy at isolated places. Trend is likely to continue. pl watch IMD updates.

(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.)
From reactivation of herpes infection to loss of hair, several Covid patients in recovery phase are facing one dermatological complication or another due to lowered immunity, say doctors.

Skin care experts at leading facilities in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities concurred that patients even after being discharged from hospitals or having finished their home quarantine period should watch out for any skin inflammation or consult a doctor immediately if "it grows uncontrollably".

Dr D M Mahajan, senior consultant, dermatology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in Delhi, says many post-Covid patients with skin complications are rushing to OPDs, fearing they have contracted mucormycosis or black fungus but people should be cautious not paranoid.

"Several Covid patients in recovery phase are facing skin complications and the most common one being reported to us are cases of herpes. In many patients with a history of herpes it is get retriggered and in others they are just contracting it afresh, both due to lowered immunity," he told PTI.

Infection with herpes simplex virus, commonly known as herpes, can be due to either herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). Herpes labialis which occurs around the lip area with lesions in cluster preceded by burning pain is caused by HSV.

Herpes zoster is viral infection that occurs with reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus. It is usually a painful but self-limited dermatomal rash.

Skin experts, who are seeing post-Covid patients, say cases of herpes zoster are being reported more than herpes from HSV.

Mahajan said cases of infection from Candida fungus have also been seen among the Covid patients who are in recovery phase. It is a mould like infection and can result from excessive medication or use of steroids. This infection can cause white patches on genitalia.

Candidiasis is a fungal infection caused by a yeast (a type of fungus) called Candida.

Mumbai-based dermatologist and hair transplant surgeon Dr Sonali Kohli said COVID-19 compromises the of a patient leading to multifarious complications, including in skin, hair and nails.

"Though there is no clinical study to correlate the two but herpes infection is being reported in large number of Covid patients during recovery phase even a month later. Besides hair loss and nail complications are too happening with many patients," she said.

As far as nail complications are concerned, cases of melanonychia or Beau's lines are also being seen in such patients. Melanonychia entails whitish or brown lines on nails, she said.

Kohli, consultant dermatologist, Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai, said patients should consult a specialist if hair loss persists.

Nikhita Kumar, 24, a Delhi-based student, who is recovering from Covid contracted in April, said, she had suffered "copious loss of hair in the initial days of recovery".

"I had consulted a dermatologist who prescribed some serum. He had said it will subside in a month or two. Also, while reading online on post-Covid complications, I found out that a famous Bollywood actress too had suffered hair loss after Covid," she said.

Dr Nidhi Rohtagi, senior consultant, at Fortis hospital, Vasant Kunj, said post-Covid hair loss is being seen more in women.

"Patients suffer skin complications during treatment too and during recovery may still exhibit some sort of inflammation or spots on forehead or back. But many times these are simple, self-limiting rashes which subside with time after applying appropriate ointment," she said.

But post-Covid patients need to watch out for "invasive" inflammations on skin and immediately consult a doctor if it increases and causes pain or serious discomfort, Rohtagi said.

"The other skin infection being seen in such patients is of pityriasis rosa, in which a mother patch of infection occurs on parts of the body with baby patches around it," she said.

In some patients, cases of 'Covid toes' is also being seen in which ulcer or necrosis occurs on the tip of a toe and the neighbouring toe, the doctor said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the wake of incidents of assault on doctors by relatives of patients, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Monday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in ensuring "optimum milieu" for medical professionals so that they can work without fear.

Underlining the need for curbing the purposeful spread of misinformation against modern medicine and COVID-19 vaccination by certain people with vested interests, the IMA has appealed to the prime minister to resolve their long pending pleas.

In a letter to Modi, the doctors' body said persons spreading misinformation against the COVID-19 vaccination drive must be booked and punished in accordance with law, including under relevant provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, the Indian Penal Code and the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

"All such acts of omission and commission on behalf of any person raising doubts in the minds of the common public against the protocol guidance issued by the Ministry of Health for treatment of COVID-19 infected patients ought to be suitable punished and simultaneously, any attempt of any person to fool the gullible public and promote so-called 'magic remedies' or 'wonder drugs' without the approval of the Ministry of Health, Government of India ought to be immediately curtailed," the IMA said in the letter.

In its appeal, the doctors' body said the government should promote universal free vaccination to all above 18 years of age without leaving the vaccines to the extent of 50 per cent to the states and private hospitals.

"In the midst of this pandemic, we are also deeply hurt to see the increasing incidents of physical violence against the doctors and the health care professionals in this country. The brutal assault on our young doctor in Assam and the assault on lady doctors and even on veteran practitioners across the country - are really causing mental trauma amongst the practitioners," the letter stated.

"The Health Services Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property) Bill, 2019, which seeks to punish people who assault on-duty doctors and other healthcare professionals by imposing a jail term of up to 10 years which, apparently, was dismissed by the Home Ministry during an inter-ministerial consultation over the draft law, ought to be promulgated immediately along with the incorporation of provisions from the IPC/CrPC and with stipulations for a fixed time schedule for speedy conclusion of trials," it said.

The doctors said all those involved in such heinous crimes ought to be punished to also create an effective deterrent for other antisocial elements who may indulge in attacking any health care professionals.

The IMA said doctors who have lost their lives in the war against the COVID-19 pandemic ought to be recognised as Covid martyrs with due acknowledgment of their sacrifice and that their families ought to be duly supported by the government.

The doctors' body highlighted that due to various obstacles in the procedural implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana scheme under which insurance benefits are being extended to such families, out of 754 doctors who had lost their lives in the first wave, families of only 168 doctors have been able to apply under this scheme.

It urged the prime minister to create an effective mechanism for identifying and verifying all these victims through the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) and also ensure that support is given to all the said families as solatium at their door steps.

The post COVID-19 complications of lung fibrosis, increased thrombotic events and fungal infections are on the rise and everyone needs to be prepared for the same, the IMA said.

Noting that drugs needed for the mucormycosis fungal disease were not available with ease, the doctors thanked Modi for the efforts taken to import the drugs and simultaneously augment indigenous production.

"We appeal to you to set up a separate research cell to study these post COVID-19 complications in detail and to come out with multi-faceted treatment guidelines in all disciplines of medicine," the IMA said.

"The IMA has decided to continue to seek your intervention on the above issues and also to organise various intellectual meets, dialogues, and finally the Protest Day on June 18 to secure smooth, cooperative and optimum milieu for Modern health care professionals which will enable them to work with much more compassion and dedication and without any fear of mental or physical harm," the letter 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.)
Over 100,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 100,636 fresh infections on Monday, taking the cumulative caseload to 28.9 million, according to central health ministry data. The daily rise was the lowest in 61 days. The country saw 2,427 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 349,186. The active caseload is at 1.4 million, while the total recoveries have surged to 27.1 million. As many as 232 million shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, nearly 1.4 million were given on Sunday. Read more





More antibodies produced by Covishield than Covaxin: Study

Two doses of the vaccine, known as Covishield in India, produced more antibodies than Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, but there were fewer instances of 'breakthrough infections' after the latter, a report in The Hindu said that cited a study of healthcare workers in India. As many as 515 healthcare workers from 13 States and covering 22 cities were evaluated from January to May for the study. The study is being peer-reviewed and has been submitted to a journal but appears as a preprint in MedrXiv, an online repository. It is among a few studies on the real-world effectiveness of vaccination in India, the report said. Read more

Six UP districts among states with the lowest vaccination coverage

Six districts from Uttar Pradesh are part of the 10 districts with the lowest vaccination coverage in India, an analysis piece on the Scroll said that cited official data from the Centre's Co-Win platform. The district with the worst vaccine coverage is South Salmara-Mankachar in Assam, which has administered only 3.2 doses for every 100 people. South Salmara-Mankachar is not the only Assam district to feature in the bottom ten. There is also Baksa, one of the four districts that make up the Bodoland Territorial Region. The six Uttar Pradesh districts at the bottom of the pile are Sambhal, Hardoi, Kannauj, Lakhimpur Kheri, Etah and Sant Kabir Nagar.

Two north Tamil Nadu districts, Ranipet and Kallakurichi, complete the bottom ten, the report said. Read more



Centre willing to rethink vaccine procurement policy

As more and more states request the Centre to take over vaccine procurement after having seen little success in purchasing vaccines through global tenders, the central government is considering going back to centralised procurement, a report in The Indian Express said citing a top government source. If all states want the Union government to centrally procure, we will discuss it. We are willing to consider such a request, the source told the newspaper. Read more





Maharashtra: Price caps on Covid care not rationalised, say IMA doctors

Several hospital managements have expressed reservations about the government's move to carry on with the upper limit in prices for Covid-19 treatment, a report in The Indian Express said. The pricing was fixed without a thorough study of costs borne by private hospitals and ignored the rise in expenditure on oxygen, medicines, biomedical waste management among others, some hospitals said. Read more
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Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday inaugurated a Chinese built sugar factory constructed in the east African country's northern Amhara regional state.

Speaking at the inauguration of Tana Beles No.1 sugar factory project, Ahmed praised the China CAMC Engineering Corporation Limited (CAMCE) for finishing the project in less than two years.

"When the sugar project was first started, it was supposed to be finalized within an 18-month period, but had been delayed by eight years by the original contractor, the local firm Metal Engineering Corporation (MeTeC)," Ahmed said.

The Tana Beles No.1 sugar factory project was started in 2012, with a planned completion date of around 18 months, but by end of 2017, only about 60 percent of the project was completed.

CAMCE, a corporation which belongs to China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH), took over from the sugar project and started construction in September 2019.

Agegnehu Teshager, President of Amhara regional state, similarly praised CAMCE for the speedy completion of the sugar project despite COVID-19 related challenges.

"I would like to thank CAMCE for finishing the sugar plant project in collaboration with the Ethiopia Sugar Corporation and the Amhara regional administration in less than two years period, despite COVID-19 related challenges," Teshager said.

Ethiopia has registered 272,805 COVID-19 cases and 4,201 COVID-19 related deaths so far.

"This project will have multifaceted side benefits including the sugar byproduct molasses being able to be used to produce ethanol, alcohols, sanitizer, cattle feed and pulp factory," he further said.

Speaking to Xinhua, Sun Jianshan, project manager of Tane Beles No.1 Sugar plant project, said the project has the processing capacity of 13,000 tons of sugarcane and 1,500 tons of refined sugar per day respectively.

Sun also said the sugar plant is equipped with a 45 MW generator set, which can generate 30 MW to the external power grid.

Ethiopia expects the completed project to produce 200,000 tons of refined sugar annually, while creating job opportunities for nearly 10,000 Ethiopians.

Despite COVID-19 related logistical challenges, CAMCE and its subcontractors were able to process the first sugar canes on May 28.

CAMCE has also contracted the construction of Welkait Sugar factory with a production factory of 24,000 tons of sugar cane per day located in Ethiopia's Tigray regional state.

The Chinese firm has also previously constructed the 400 KV Sululta Substation and the 400 KV Yirgalem Substation, contributing to Ethiopia's electrification ambitions.

Ethiopia plans to increase its current 4,280 MW electricity generation capacity to 17,300 MW by 2025, with power generation projects in hydro, wind, geothermal, solar and biomass sectors.

The Ethiopian government is also working to increase electrification coverage across the country from around 60 percent currently to 100 percent by 2025.
The government has told the High Court that 37 of 51 districts in the state do not have a government-owned CT scan machine.

The information was part of the 7th Interim Action Taken Report which was submitted last week in the HC in a suo motu case on the state government's preparedness in tackling the COVID-19 outbreak, the court-appointed amicus curiae (impartial adviser) in the case, Naman Nagrath, told PTI on Monday.

Nagrath said almost all symptomatic COVID-19 patients have to undergo a CT (computerised tomography) scan as it is crucial to diagnose the extent of lung damage caused by the virus, but the state government had failed to install a single of these crucial machines in 37 districts despite the pandemic raging since March last year.

As per some media reports, MP received Rs 3,712 crore from the State Disaster Relief Management Fund till March this year, with the Centre allowing states to use up to 50 per cent for measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Since the chief minister announced unlocking measures over the weekend, Bharat Ahuja has spent most of his time in and around his shop at Bhagirath Palace  one of the largest trading hubs for electrical goods in the country. Ahuja, who presides over the Electrical Traders Association (DETA), has recently recovered from Covid-19. But that has not stopped him from negotiating the congested lanes of Chandni Chowk in the walled city of since Sunday afternoon, overseeing the work to mark all business outlets in the area with odd-even signs.

It was a difficult task. With over 4,100 outlets in dozens of labyrinthine lanes and obscure alleys, Ahuja and his team could only manage to finish numbering the ground floor shops by Monday evening, leaving the rest for the next day.

Like Delhis other business hubs, the Chandni Chowk market was also shut for over one-and-a-half months, but since Monday morning a large section of traders showed up to lift their shutters. And a massive sanitisation drive was organised before business could resume. But what remained missing was the flock of buyers that is known to choke the markets narrow lanes at any given time of the day, every day.

DETA estimated that while over 50 per cent of the traders and staff were present on Monday, the number of customers was miniscule. Only those desperately in need of electrical goods came by as the fear of Covid and lack of public transport kept many indoors. Now we are considering to deliver at locations as queries over the phone are growing, said Ahuja.





ALSO READ: Free Covid-19 vaccine for all above 18 years from June 21: PM Modi

Far from the old-world Chandni Chowk, in the posh DLF Promenade Mall at Vasant Kunj, Pushpa Bector, executive director, DLF Retail, was busy inspecting the malls preparedness in the afternoon. The high street destination managed to call in all its staff and half of its retailers  as stipulated by the new guidelines  on Day One, but hardly any customers turned up.

Bector said providing a safe environment to the customers is the top priority at the moment and may help boost confidence among buyers. Very few people have showed up for till now, but unlike earlier, almost all of them are serious buyers. Window-shoppers have so far avoided visiting our establishments, she said.

Retailers and traders are expecting the situation to normalise by next week. Leading electronics chain Vijay Sales, which has chalked out a plan to follow the odd-even rule, has 26 outlets in the national capital region, of which less than half could be opened on Monday. But Director Nilesh Gupta is confident that sales of essential durable items will pick up soon. Refrigerators, kitchen appliances and notebook computers are in high demand. We have enough stock to meet the expected surge from pent-up demand, he said, adding that there was a bit of a rush at some of their outlets in today, since shops were open up to 4 pm only. We saw a similar trend last year, too, after the national lockdown," he said. Vijay Sales has 45 stores in Maharashtra: 33 in and 12 in Pune.



ALSO READ: Pfizer supports deployment of oxygen and ICU beds in Delhi, Mumbai

A recent study by the Retailers Association of India noted that durable retailers would likely be the first ones to recover from localised lockdowns this year, as the need for upgrades and replacements push people to buy products.

However, the impact of the severe second Covid wave on overall consumer sentiment could spoil the party. According to Manish Sharma, president and CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia, the gradual opening up of the economy will improve sales. But the consumer sentiment is low and people are not keen to step out. We may see a loss of nearly 60-65 per cent against sales projections during the ongoing quarter, he said.

For now, the durables maker is keeping a close watch on both  its internal operations and buyers behaviour. Apart from maintenance work at its facilities, Panasonic has also resumed operations in a phased manner.

Given the summer season is at its peak, air conditioners and refrigerator will see healthy growth now. We also expect an increase in the demand for televisions, washing machines and microwaves since a lot of people are still working from home with limited household help, said Deepak Bansal, vice-president of corporate planning at LG Electronics India. Gupta agrees, adding phones, laptops to the category that will be in demand. "We did notice that curiosity levels for new phones and laptops were high at some of our stores in This should translate into sales going ahead."

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, beauty and wellness retailers also expect walk-ins to improve with non-essential shops opening up. Monday, though, saw few walk-ins at most stores.





ALSO READ: PM announcement on Covid vaccine to help ensure quick rollout: India Inc

Enrich Salons Director Bhupesh Dinger said enquiries at the company's call centre were growing. "People are lining up appointments in Mumbai. While the men seem to be responding quicker than women for their grooming needs, the latter will also line up appointments shortly, since organised players such as us are safe," Dinger said.

Of the 53 Enrich Salons in Mumbai, 45 were open on Day One. Eight outlets in malls were shut, since centres in the financial centre have not been permitted to operate yet, unlike in Delhi.

"It is a little disappointing that malls have not been permitted to re-open in Mumbai yet. Formal retail spaces are safe places to shop," said Mukesh Kumar, CEO, Infiniti Mall, which has properties in the Mumbai suburbs of Andheri and Malad. Kumar said the revenue loss to malls in April-May was to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore and quick re-opening would aid recovery.
A few passengers of Vistara's Mumbai-Kolkata flight were injured on Monday as the aircraft encountered severe turbulence just 15 minutes before landing, the airline said.

"Flight UK775 operating Mumbai-Kolkata on June 7 encountered severe turbulence 15 minutes before landing," Vistara's spokesperson said in a statement.

"According to preliminary reports, the turbulence caused injuries to a few passengers, who were provided first aid during flight and immediate medical assistance upon arrival in Kolkata," the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson said the airline is saddened by this unfortunate experience its customers had, and is closely monitoring the health status of those injured.

"We are investigating the incident on priority, and will share a further update at the earliest," the spokesperson mentioned.

(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.)
Dominica Prime Minister Rooseveltt Skerrit said the rights of "Indian citizen" will be respected and courts will decide on the future course of action.

In a first public statement since Choksi, wanted in a Rs 13,500-crore bank fraud case in India, was held in the Caribbean island country after his disappearance from Antigua and Barbuda on May 23, Skerrit said, "The rights of Mehul Choski will be respected."



The statement reported by local media outlet 'natureisle' quoted the Prime Minister as saying that court will decide what happens to Choksi next.

"The matter with this Indian citizen is before the courts. The courts will decide what happens to the gentleman and we will allow the court process to go through. I do not like to get involved by making public statements in these matters," Skerrit said.

"His rights will be respected as has been done thus far and let the court decide what will happen. We have no issues in so far as the matter relates to Antigua and or India, we are part of our own community and we must recognize our duties and responsibilities in this regard," he was quoted by the website.

Choksi had mysteriously gone missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda where he has been staying since 2018 as a citizen.

He was detained in neighbouring island country Dominica for illegal entry after a possible romantic escapade with his rumoured girlfriend.

His lawyers alleged that he was kidnapped from Jolly Harbour in Antigua by policemen looking like Antiguan and Indian and brought to Dominica on a boat.

He was also brought before a Roseau magistrate, on the orders of Dominica High Court, which is hearing a Habeas Corpus petition filed by his lawyers, to answer charges of illegal entry where he pleaded not guilty but was denied bail.

A team of Indian officials had gone to Dominica to try deportation of Choksi, having pending Interpol Red Corner Notice, but returned after High Court adjourned the matter.

(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 e-committee of the on Monday released the Draft Model Rules for and Recording of Court Proceedings which is aimed at bringing greater transparency, inclusivity and access to justice".

The draft rules made it clear that matrimonial matters, including transfer petitions arising thereunder, cases concerning sexual offences, including proceedings instituted under Section 376 (rape) of Indian Penal Code, cases concerning gender-based violence against women among others will be excluded from

The final decision as to whether or not to allow the of the Proceedings or any portion thereof will be of the Bench, however, the decision of the Bench will be guided by the principle of an open and transparent judicial process. The decision of the Bench shall not be justiciable, an official release said.

It said the committee has invited inputs, feedback and suggestions on the draft rules from all the stakeholders.

Further, it said it is expedient to set up infrastructure and the framework to enable live-streaming and recording of Proceedings.

A sub-committee consisting of judges of the Bombay, Delhi, Madras and Karnataka High was constituted to frame model live streaming rules.

The sub-committee held extensive deliberations and it took into account



the principles enunciated in the decision of the in Swapnil Tripathi including the concerns of privacy and confidentiality of litigants and witnesses, matters relating to business confidentiality, prohibition or restriction of access to proceedings or trials stipulated by Central or State legislation and in some cases to preserve the larger public interest owing to the sensitivity of the case.

These model rules provide a balanced regulatory framework for live streaming and recording of court proceedings, the release said.

The draft rules said that cameras will be installed in the courtroom covering at least five angles, one towards the Bench, the second and third towards the advocates engaged in the concerned matter, the fourth towards the accused (where applicable) and the fifth towards the deponent/witness, as required.

In the event that the Court has employed an electronic evidence presentation system, an additional feed shall be captured therefrom.

A remote-control device shall be provided to the presiding judge on the Bench to pause or stop the Live-streaming at any time. Advocates, witnesses, accused, or any other person permitted by the Bench, shall use appropriate microphones while addressing the Court, the release said.

The draft rules said that in order to decongest the court rooms, dedicated room(s) for viewing the Live- stream may be made available within the Court Premises. Access shall be given to law researchers, staff, litigants, academicians, and media personnel authorised to enter the Court



Premises upon receipt of necessary permissions/approvals. Appropriate arrangements shall be made to enable viewing of Live-streams from multiple Benches within this/these room(s). Special arrangements will be made for differently-abled persons, it said.

These Rules are framed by the High Court of *Judicature* in the exercise of powers under Article 225 or relevant statute where applicable, and Article 227 of the Constitution of India. These Rules will apply to the High Court of *Judicature* and to the and tribunals over which it has supervisory jurisdiction, the release stated.

(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 government is planning to vaccinate all 21,493 Adivasis or tribals in the Nilgiri district by the end of this month.

The state's Public Health Department in a statement on Sunday night said that it will get all the tribes of the district inoculated.

State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ma Subramaniam during his visit to Udhagamandalam on Sunday told reporters that of the 21,493 Adivasis in Nilgiri district, only 3,000 were vaccinated so far. The state aims to vaccinate all.

The Office of Public Health said that the minister had visited the tribal colony of Chemmanatham along with state Forest Minister K. Ramachandran, Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan, and Nilgiri District Collector Innocent Divya.

Subramaniam told IANS: "Yes, I have visited Chemmanatham tribal settlement and have called upon the district administration to inoculate all the 172 tribal people living there.

"We have also planned a special drive to vaccinate all the Adivasi and tribal people and 18,000 doses of vaccine will be brought to the district for this to fulfill the June end deadline."

The minister also said that the state has so far received 1.15 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses and another 42 lakh doses were expected in June.

The minister inspected the construction of the Government medical college and hospital and also the oxygen storage tank at Udhagamandalam.

--IANS

aal/in

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
: has registered 19,448



new COVID-19 infections and 351 deaths, pushing the total till date to 22,56,681 and 27,356 respectively, the Health Department said on Monday.

Recoveries eclipsed new cases with 31,360 people walking out of health care facilities. So far, the recoveries total 19,97,299, leaving 2,32,026 active infections, a medical bulletin said.

The State had reported its highest daily infection at 36,184 cases on May 21 and it has been reporting a declining trend since.

On May 30, the State saw its daily cases dropping below the 30,000-mark.

Among districts, Coimbatore recorded the highest number of new infections at 2,564 followed by Chennai with 1,530, Erode 1,646 and Tiruppur 1,027.

The State capital, however, leads in the number of total infections with 5,18,162 cases overall.

The number of deceased also remains high in Chennai with 7,516 fatalities till date.

The number of samples tested today was at 1,70,838 pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 2,88,92,497.

Chengalpet, Kanyakumari, Namakkal, Nilgiris, Salem, Thanjavur and Tiruchirappalli, reported new cases each in excess of 500 infections today while the rest were spread across other districts.

Among the 351 deceased, 83 succumbed to the virus sans any pre-existing illness, including two 29-year-old men - one belonging to Chennai and the other to Tiruvannamalai.

Two of those who tested positive today include returnees from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the bulletin said.

Meanwhile, Medical Minister M Subramanian inaugurated a COVID-19 Care Centre in Namakkal. The centre consists of 10 beds and a separate ward to treat children.

A special Covid newborn unit was also established at the facility.

Later, the Minister inspected the facilities at government hospitals in Kallakurichi and inaugurated two new wards equipped with oxygen-supported beds.

"In one government hospital, we inaugurated 46 new beds equipped with oxygen support and in another hospital we inaugurated 30 oxygen-supported beds," he said.

To a query on black fungus, he said it has infected 938 people in the State so far and the government has urged the Centre to enhance the supply of Amphotericin medicine to treat them.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinas cautious consumers offer clues on post-pandemic world

Consumers in remained cautious even though the Covid-19 outbreak has been under control for much of the past year. Thats offering clues for the kind of spending patterns that emerge globally once pent up demand fades. While didnt pump up consumers with stimulus checks, its aggressive control over the virus allowed the economy to quickly re-open and drive real household income growth to 13.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year. Yet the consumer recovery has been weaker than expected with economists identifying two major reasons: an unequal distribution of savings from the pandemic and lingering virus worries thats prompted more conservative habits and has lowered spending on services. Read here





Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 173,315,599

Global deaths: 3,729,410

Vaccine doses administered: 2,109,878,745

Nations with most cases: US (33,362,629), India (28,909,975), Brazil (16,947,062), France (5,774,361), Turkey (5,287,980).



Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Booster shots for Covid. But when? and which ones?

Scientists are asking a lot of questions about booster shots, but they dont yet have many answers. The US recently has begun a new clinical trial of people fully vaccinated  with any authorized vaccine  to see whether a booster of the Moderna shot will increase their antibodies and prolong protection against getting infected with the virus. No one is sure how exactly the vaccine immunity lasts, and that makes it even more important to further push for studies on booster shots. Here's what scientists know so far... Read here





looks to debut vaccine passport this summer

intends to issue vaccination certificates this summer to vaccinated residents traveling abroad, hoping to give business travel and other economic activities a boost, according to a report in the Nikkei. Such so-called vaccine passports are gaining use around the world. The European Union will adopt them in July ahead of lifting restrictions on travel within the bloc. has lagged other developed nations in vaccinations, but now is procuring and distributing more doses made by Pfizer and Moderna. The country has been inoculating residents 65 and older since April, and vaccinations in corporate workplaces will start on June 21. Read here





Climate crisis to shrink G7 economies twice as much as Covid: research

G7 countries, that are world's biggest industrial economies, will shrink by twice as much as they did during the if they fail to tackle rising threat of climate change, according to a new research. The G7 countries will lose 8.5 per cent of GDP a year, or nearly $5 trillion wiped off their economies, within 30 years if temperatures rise by 2.6 C, as they are likely to on the basis of government pledges and policies around the world, according to research from Oxfam and the Swiss Re Institute. Read here
Defence Minister on Monday released a list of 20 reforms undertaken by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 2020.

The booklet is a reflection of the resolve of the government, under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to make the defence sector stronger and more efficient, he said.

The reforms focused on the PMs Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) initiative, on boosting defence exports, accelerating procurement, strengthening border infrastructure, participation of women in the military, transforming research and development (R&D) to boost innovation, and assisting in the fight against Covid-19.

Chief of Defence Staff & Department of Military Affairs



Former Army chief, General Bipin Rawat, was appointed Indias first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and head of the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DMA). The CDS was created to increase coordination between the three services. The DMA was established to improve civil-military integration.

Aatmanirbharta in defence



To promote Make in India in defence, a list of 101 defence items was notified in August 2020, which would be embargoed for import on laid down dates. A second list of 108 items was announced last week.

In addition, the new Defence Acquisition Procedure of 2020 (DAP 2020) was promulgated. Of the capital budget for 2020-21, Rs 52,000 crore was earmarked for indigenous defence equipment. In May 2020, the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) was corporatized for greater productivity.

Indigenous weaponry nearing completion included a Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile and Pinaka rocket launcher, both developed by the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO).

Increased defence exports



Defence exports rose from Rs 1,941 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 9,116 crore in 2019-20. With exports to more than 84 countries, India now finds mention in the lists of defence equipment exporting nations.

Modernisation and defence acquisitions



Rajnath claimed the highest-ever thrust towards modernisation in last 10 years, with the capex budget increasing by 10 per cent in 2020-21 over the previous year. In fact, the defence allocation for 2020-21 fell short by 25 per cent (Rs 1.02 trillion) compared to the militarys financial projections.

The arrival in India of the first five Rafale fighters in July 2020 and several more since then, added firepower to the Indian Air Force.

Reforming Defence R&D



To promote innovation by young minds, five DRDO Young Scientists Laboratories were launched in 2020 in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, said the MoD.

Digital transformation



Several MoD organisations went digital, with the Directorate General Quality Assurance (DGQA) starting online pre-delivery inspection in May 2020. Armed Forces Tribunals began digital hearing of cases in August 2020. Meanwhile, Defence Estates, Canteen Stores Department, Cantonment services, MoD pension and National Cadet Corps (NCC) also went online, providing faster and transparent services.

Strengthening border infrastructure



Reforms within the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) enabled it to achieve targets ahead of schedule. The Atal tunnel at Rohtang, on the Leh-Manali Highway, was inaugurated by the PM in October 2020. The tunnel provides all-weather connectivity to Ladakh.

Stree Shakti in the military



In 2020, the MoD says historic decisions were taken to increase womens participation in the military. Ten branches of the Army were opened to women officers for Permanent Commission. The navy operationalised women pilots for the first time. Sainik Schools were thrown open for girl students from the 2020-21 academic session.

Reforms in NCC



On Independence Day last August, the PM announced expansion of the NCC to remote locations. More than 1,075 schools and colleges in border and coastal areas were identified and the enrolment began in November 2020. It was also decided to give preference to NCC cadets for enrolment in the Central Armed Police Forces from May 2020.

Aid to combat Covid-19



The three services mobilised maximum resources to aid the government in fighting the pandemic. Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) provided emergency support, mobilised healthcare professionals and established quarantine facilities across the country. The DRDO set up hospitals to treat Covid patients, passed on technology expertise to the private sector for manufacturing ventilators, oxygen plants, medicines, test kits and PPE kits.

Help beyond boundaries



To help neighbouring countries, the Navy mounted eight relief missions during 2020-21, providing Covid-19 medicines and doctors to five countries. Meanwhile, the IAF executed 800 relief missions. Indians stranded in Iran, Sri Lanka and Maldives were evacuated under the Vande Bharat Mission.
The Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday approved Piramal Groups resolution plan for the beleaguered Dewan Housing Ltd (DHFL), which has been reeling from the insolvency process since 2019.

The plan put forward by Piramal Group, which has offered to pay Rs 37,250 crore, has been approved by the committee of creditors (CoC), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

At NCLT level, the corporate insolvency resolution process is complete, said a source aware of the development.

While the bankruptcy tribunal has approved the overall plan, it has asked for reallocating funds to fixed-deposit holders and small investors. That said, it has not sent the plan back to the CoC; rather, it has said the final decision is left to the lenders.

The NCLT has rejected the erstwhile promoters plea to get a copy of the resolution plan.

We are pleased with the judgment ... This follows the endorsement of 94 per cent of the lenders and the subsequent approvals from the RBI and CCI, and reiterates the strength and quality of our bid, said in a statement.

We are committed to collaborating with all relevant authorities, regulators, creditors, and investors involved in this resolution and look forward to a speedy culmination of the resolution process, the statement added.





ALSO READ: Sebi fines Franklin MF Rs 5 cr, asks it to return Rs 512 cr fund mgt fees

The creditors have claimed Rs 87,000 crore. The liquidity crisis after the collapse of IL&FS in 2018 led to going to the wall.

After the order, Piramal Groups shares soared almost 2 per cent to Rs 1,960.75. Similarly, shares of the mortgage lender were up 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, Kapil Wadhawan, the erstwhile promoter of DHFL, has moved the Supreme Court, asking for a stay on the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal order, which stayed an earlier order of the Mumbai Bench of the NCLT asking the CoC to consider the settlement offer he had put forward.

Wadhawan has contested that his settlement offer is Rs 50,000 crore more than what the successful resolution applicant has proposed. So, at least the commercial viability and feasibility of the plan should be considered by the CoC. But, they should not shut it out on technical grounds, considering there is a larger amount that is being offered.

Even if the Supreme Court were to reinforce the NCLT view, this issue will have to be decided by the lenders one way or the other. Considering the 94 per cent of the lenders have approved Piramals resolution plan, coupled with the fact that they are resisting the one-time settlement proposal, it is not very difficult to guess which way the lenders are likely to go, said Nirav Shah, partner, DSK Legal.



ALSO READ: Print money and finance fiscal deficit? Why RBI doesn't agree with idea

Ashish Pyasi, associate partner, Dhir & Dhir Associates, said: If any order is passed in the appeals which will affect the implementation of the resolution plan then it will be binding on all.

Rajkiran Rai G, managing director and chief executive officer, Union Bank of India, said the NCLT decision paved the way for a quick resolution. There are challenges (matters in the appellate tribunal and Supreme Court) but hopefully, they will be addressed. In the best-case scenario, we are expecting inflows from the resolution of in the second quarter of the current financial year.

Regarding suggestions by the NCLT on fixed-deposit holders, Rai said the tribunal had suggested a re-examination and the CoC would look at it. But one should understand that these creditors (especially deposit holders) had voted against the resolution. So according to the IBC mechanism, they are eligible for the liquidation value. That is a call that the CoC has to take so.

Last month, the lenders, the RBI-appointed administrator of DHFL, and moved the appellate tribunal, challenging the order passed by the NCLT, which asked them to consider Wadhawans offer. The appellate tribunal gave the appellants relief by staying the NCLTs order.
You are here: World

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At least two people were killed and 18 others wounded as a car bomb explosion hit a district police station in Afghanistan's northern province of Balkh on Sunday, according to provincial sources.

The incident occurred around noon in the Balkh district police station located in the northwest of the provincial capital Mazar-i-Sharif, a source told Xinhua anonymously.

The official said the blast sent a column of thick smoke into the sky and caused panic and damages.

Adil Shah Adil, provincial police spokesperson, told Xinhua that head of the district police's criminal investigation department and one police officer were killed and 18 other people, including the district police chief and several civilians were wounded in the incident.

Local residents told media that a Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden hijacked military vehicle at the front gate of office of the police station, destroying several buildings and vehicles.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. However, Afghan officials have blamed the Taliban militant group for the bomb explosions in recent months.
Amid a surge in violence following US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan, a security official said that 119 people, including 102 security force members were killed in clashes and security incidents in just two days--June 3 and 4.

Details provided by a security official who wished not to be named indicated that 196 security force members were wounded in just two days, reported Tolo News.

The source said that casualties are similar to those of Afghan forces in the same time period, but the Defense Ministry reported that 183 were killed in Afghan defensive operations in eight provinces on June 3 and 181 were killed in Afghan forces operations in six provinces on June 4.

Analysts said that this shows the gravity of the intensifying conflict. The Defense Ministry reports clashes in at least 10 provinces daily on average.

"There are clashes in 24 to 27 provinces every day. Security forces casualties have increased, but it is not as much as the Taliban," said Khan Agha Rezaee, the head of the internal security commission of the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of Parliament.

The clashes have intensified on multiple fronts as heavy fighting was reported in Faryab in the last 24 hours in which at least a dozen security force members were killed, a member of the provincial council said.

"The figures provided by Afghan forces on Taliban casualties and by the Taliban on Afghan forces casualties are not accurate," said Ilyas Wahdat, former Paktika governor.

Meanwhile, the Taliban rejected these figures. Casualties of security forces and Taliban are usually not stated in public with exact figures, and in most cases, they are not confirmed by independent sources, reported Tolo News.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) presented a list of nominations for the post of Myanmar's special envoy in the organisation to Tatmadaw ( military).

ASEAN's Secretariat said the Chairman of its Foreign Ministers' meeting Erywan bin Pehin Yusof and the bloc's Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi visited and met the country's senior officials late last week, including the military chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, reported NHK World.

The Secretariat said they discussed the appointment and role of the chair's special envoy to Myanmar, and presented the list of nominees proposed by the bloc's member countries for the position.

The secretariat did not disclose the names of the nominees.

The envoy will be tasked with mediating dialogue between the country's military and its pro-democracy entities, reported NHK World.

Participants in the Leaders' Meeting in April agreed to the "Five-Point Consensus" for a peaceful solution to the situation in It calls for the envoy's dispatch and the immediate cessation of violence.

The appointment of an envoy was one of five points agreed at the regional summit in Jakarta in April, which Min Aung Hlaing attended over the objection of opponents who said the invitation legitimized his power grab.

But Myanmar's military, which launched a coup in February, appears hesitant to agree to a swift implementation of the consensus.

The military leader recently indicated that he would consider the possibility of a visit by the envoy after the domestic situation has stabilized, reported NHK World.

Security forces in Myanmar have brutally suppressed widespread popular protests against the military takeover, firing live ammunition into crowds and carrying out waves of the arrest.

Brunei is taking the lead in negotiating with the Myanmar junta because it currently holds ASEAN's rotating chairmanship. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

(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 Group of Seven rich democracies will try to show the world at a summit this week that the West can still act in concert to tackle major crises by donating hundreds of millions of Covid-19 vaccines to poor countries and pledging to slow

US President Joe Biden, on his first foreign trip since winning power, will try to use the summit in the English seaside village of Carbis Bay to burnish his multilateral credentials after the tumult of Donald Trumps presidency.

Whether on Covid-19 or climate change, the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States want to illustrate that the West can compete with the power of China and the assertiveness of Russia.

This is a defining question of our time: Can democracies come together to deliver real results for our people in a rapidly changing world? Biden, 78, asked in a June 5 opinion piece in The Washington Post.

Will the democratic alliances and institutions that shaped so much of the last century prove their capacity against modern-day threats and adversaries? I believe the answer is yes.



At the weekend, the G7s finance ministers agreed a deal on a minimum corporate tax rate, which US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said reflected a desire to work together. It shows that multilateral collaboration can be successful, she said.

Biden meets British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, chair of the summit, on Thursday, the day before the start of the leaders' three-day meeting. On Sunday, Biden will become the 13th serving US President to meet Queen Elizabeth II, 95, who will receive him at Windsor Castle.

He then travels to Brussels for a Nato summit and a European Union summit before he meets Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16.

The was founded in 1975 as a forum for the richest nations to discuss crises such as the Opec oil embargo. Its countries have a combined annual GDP of $40 trillion, or just under half of the global

The West, though, feels insecure. The coronavirus ravaged the United States and Europe and has challenged the assumptions of many of its economic models. It faces a truculent Kremlin in Moscow and the spectacular re-emergence of China as a great power.

The summit in Carbis Bay, 300 miles west of London, will be the first for Biden, Italy's Mario Draghi and Japan's Yoshihide Suga, and the first post-Brexit for Johnson.

It will be Angela Merkels last G7 before she steps down as German Chancellor after an election in September, and Emmanuel Macrons last before a 2022 election in France. The leaders of Australia, India, South Korea and South Africa were invited, though Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to miss the meeting due to the Covid-19 situation at home.

Behind the public pronouncements, diplomats say, G7 leaders will talk about how to deal with China and Russia, how to win back the trillions of dollars in wealth wiped out by Covid-19 and how to ensure free trade in a world tilting towards China.

China, the world's second largest economy, has never been a member of the G7. Russia, admitted as a G8 member six years after the fall of the Soviet Union, was suspended in 2014 after it annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine. Moscow and Beijing have both told the G7 to stop meddling in their affairs.
Israeli police burst into the home of a prominent family in the contested Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of on Sunday, the family said, arresting a 23-year-old woman who has led protests against attempts by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in the area.

The young woman was later released, but her twin brother turned himself in and remained in custody.

The arrests came a day after Israeli police detained a well-known Al Jazeera reporter covering a demonstration in the neighbourhood. The reporter, Givara Budeiri, was held for four hours before she was released and sent to a hospital to treat a broken hand. It was not clear how her hand was broken, but her boss blamed police mistreatment.

Earlier this year, heavy-handed police actions in Sheikh Jarrah and other parts of east fueled weeks of unrest that helped spark an 11-day war between and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

Those tensions are simmering again this week and could flare anew if Israeli ultranationalists follow through on plans to march Thursday through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.

Israeli police were expected to hold consultations on whether the parade, which was originally set to take place when the war erupted on May 10, would be allowed to proceed.

Renewed violence could complicate the task of embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opponents, who formed a fragile and disparate coalition last week, of passing a parliamentary vote of confidence needed for them to replace him and take office. A close ally of Netanyahu oversees the police.

In Sheikh Jarrah, Jewish settlers have been waging a decades-long campaign to evict the families from densely populated Palestinian neighbourhoods just outside the walls of the Old City.

The area is one of the most sensitive parts of east Jerusalem, which is home to sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims and which captured in 1967 and annexed in a move not recognized internationally.

views the entire city as its capital, while the Palestinians want east as the capital of their future state.

Settler groups and Israeli officials say the Sheikh Jarrah dispute is merely about real estate. But Palestinians say they are victims of a discriminatory system.

The settlers are using a 1970 law that allows Jews to reclaim formerly Jewish properties lost during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, a right denied to Palestinians who lost property in the same conflict.

The al-Kurd family in Sheikh Jarrah has been at the forefront of months of protests against the planned evictions.

Early Sunday, police took Muna al-Kurd, 23, from her home.

Her father, Nabil al-Kurd, said police stormed the house in large numbers and in a barbaric manner.

I was sleeping, and I found them in my bedroom, he said. Police then searched the house and arrested his daughter. Video posted on social media showed her being taken away in handcuffs.

The reason for the arrest is that we say that we will not leave our homes, and they do not want anyone to express his opinion, they do not want anyone to tell the truth, he said.

They want to silence us.

Police also searched for her brother, Muhammad al-Kurd, but he was not there. Later, he turned himself in to Jerusalem police.

The siblings' lawyer, Nasser Odeh, told journalists outside the police station that his clients were accused of disturbing public security and participation in nationalistic riots.

Late Sunday, Muna al-Kurd was released. But before she was freed, police briefly clashed with a crowd outside the station, throwing stun grenades. Her brother remained in custody.

The arrests came a day after Al Jazeera's Budeiri, wearing a protective vest marked press, was dragged away by police at a protest in Sheikh Jarrah.

According to witnesses, police asked Budeiri for identification. Colleagues said police did not allow her to return to her car to retrieve her government-issued press card.

Instead, they said she was surrounded by police, handcuffed and dragged into a vehicle with darkened windows.

In video footage posted online, Budeiri can be seen in handcuffs, while clutching her notebook and shouting, Don't touch, enough, enough.

Israeli police said entrance to the neighbourhood is limited due to the tense situation, and only accredited journalists are allowed in. They said that when Budeiri was unable to provide her press pass, police removed her.

They added that Budeiri was arrested after becoming hostile and pushing an officer.

The Israel Police will allow the freedom of press coverage, provided that these are done in accordance (with) the law while maintaining public order," according to a statement. The statement did not reference her broken hand.

Budeiri was held for four hours before she was released and sent to the hospital, said Walid Omary, the Jerusalem bureau chief for Al Jazeera.

In addition to the broken hand, Omary said Budeiri also suffered bruises on her body. He said her cameraman's video camera was also heavily damaged by police.

As part of her release, Budeiri is banned from returning to the neighbourhood for 15 days, Omary said.

They are attacking the journalists in east Jerusalem because they don't want them to continue covering what's happening inside Sheikh Jarrah," he said.

The Foreign Press Association, which represents hundreds of journalists working for news organizations, said the treatment of Budeiri was the latest in a long line of heavy-handed tactics by Israeli police against the media in recent weeks. It said journalists have been hit by stun grenades, tear gas, sponge-tipped bullets and putrid-smelling water.

"We call on police to punish the officers who needlessly injured an experienced journalist and broke professional equipment. And once again, we urge police to uphold Israel's pledges to respect freedom of the press and to allow journalists to do their jobs freely and without fear of injury and intimidation," the FPA said.

Last month's war was triggered by weeks of clashes in Jerusalem between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint holy site.

The war erupted on May 10 when Hamas, calling itself the defender of the holy city, launched a barrage of rockets at Jerusalem. Some 254 people were killed in Gaza and 13 in Israel before a cease-fire took effect on May 21.

Al Jazeera's acting director general, Mostefa Souag, noted that Budeiri's detention came after Israel's May 15 war-time destruction of a Gaza high-rise that housed the local office of Al Jazeera. The tower also housed The Associated Press' office.

Israel has alleged that Hamas military intelligence was operating from the building. The AP has said it has no indication of a purported Hamas presence and has called for an independent investigation.

(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.)
By Laila Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices pulled back on Monday after touching two-year highs on expectations of improved demand and producers keeping supply curbs in place.

Prices retreated from session highs early, and analysts cited pressure from Chinese data showed crude oil imports fell to a year's low in May.

"That took away some of the enthusiasm that the oil bulls had seen," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Brent crude settled at $71.49 a barrel, falling 40 cents after hitting $72.27 a barrel, its highest since May 2019.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate settled at $69.23 a barrel after touching $70 for the first time since October 2018.

Investors may have sold some contracts to take profits when WTI hit the round number of $70, said Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates.

"Regardless, fresh highs suggest sustainability of this bull move with some higher values likely lying ahead," Ritterbusch said.

Crude has risen for two weeks, with Brent up by 38% this year and WTI rising 43%, helped by nascent recovery from pandemic-related demand disruptions and supply curbs by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies.

The producer group known as OPEC+ has boosted oil prices by sticking to supply restraints through July. On Monday, Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said OPEC+ expects inventories to fall further in coming months.

Analysts expect oil prices to remain buoyant, with pullbacks brief, due to increased global demand following decisions by the United States and Europe to loosen COVID-19 restrictions, while India has begun to ease its latest lockdown.

"With some improvement in the pandemic situation in India and the recovery in the U.S., China and Europe remaining on track, oil should remain a buy on dips," said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at brokerage OANDA.

(Additiona reporting by Alex Lawler and Florence Tan; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)

(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.)
By Florence Tan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil extended gains to hit fresh multi-year highs on Monday, underpinned by a brighter economic and fuel-demand outlook, while investors eyed the outcome of talks between Iran and world powers over a nuclear deal that is set to boost crude supplies.

Brent crude futures for August rose 28 cents, or 0.4%, to $72.17 a barrel by 0107 GMT, their highest since May 2019. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for July touched $70 for the first time since October 2018 and was at $69.91 a barrel, up 29 cents, or 0.4%.

Both contracts have risen for the past two weeks as fuel demand is rebounding in the United States and Europe after governments loosened COVID-19 restrictions ahead of summer travel.

Global oil demand is expected to exceed supplies in the second half despite a gradual easing of supply cuts by OPEC+ producers, analysts say.

A slowdown in talks between Iran and global powers in reviving a 2015 nuclear deal and a drop in U.S. rig count also supported oil prices.

Iran and global powers will enter a fifth round of talks on June 10 in Vienna that could include Washington lifting economic sanctions on Iranian oil exports.

While the European Union envoy coordinating the negotiations had said he believed a deal would be struck at this week's talks, other senior diplomats have said the most difficult decisions still lie ahead.

Analysts expect Iran to increase its production by 500,000 to 1 million barrels per day once sanctions are lifted.

In the United States, the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating fell for the first time in six weeks as growth in drilling slowed.

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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II and the royal family have congratulated and on the birth of their daughter Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, the monarch's 11th great-grandchild.

This is the second child for the couple, who have a two-year-old son named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

The royals, including Harry's father Prince Charles and brother Prince William, were delighted with the news of the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's baby girl in Los Angeles on Friday, the Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

Harry and Meghan's second child is named after the Queen, who was affectionately nicknamed Lilibet by her family, and her late grandmother, Princess Diana, it said.

"Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the birth of Lilibet Diana," the statement said.

"The Queen, the Prince of Wales (Charles) and The Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (William and Kate Middleton) are delighted with the news," it said.

William and Kate tweeted separately from their Kensington Palace Twitter account to say: "We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie."



British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also sent a message of goodwill through Twitter, saying: "Many congratulations to the Duke & Duchess of Sussex on the birth of their daughter."



Lili is the first of the Queen's great-grandchildren to be born outside the United Kingdom as Harry and Meghan relocated to California in the US last year after they stepped back as frontline royals.

A statement from the couple's press secretary said that their second child was born at 11:40 am on Friday.

"It is with great joy that and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, welcome their daughter, Lilibet Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, to the world. Lili was born on Friday, June 4 at 11:40 am in the trusted care of the doctors and staff at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, the statement said.

The new-born weighed 7 lbs 11 oz (3.48 kg), and both mother and child are said to be healthy and well and settling in at home, it said.

"Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty the Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet. Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honour her beloved late grandmother, the Princess of Wales, the official statement from the couple said. Harry and Meghan, who live in Montecito, are now on parental leave and on their official Archewell website, they have elaborated on the arrival of their baby daughter, it said.

"On June 4, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili. She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family," the statement said.

Lilibet was first used when Princess Elizabeth was a toddler and unable to pronounce her own name properly.

Her grandfather, King George V, would affectionately call her Lilibet', imitating her own attempts to say Elizabeth and from then on she became Lilibet, including to Prince Philip, the Queen's late husband.

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The chairman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) has hinted at the potential parole of Lee Jae-yong, the de facto head of Group.

Business conglomerates have recently called for Lee to be pardoned, especially ahead of the August 15 Liberation Day, an anniversary on which South Korea's presidents have often used their right to grant a special pardon as part of efforts for promoting national unity.

"(Lee) could possibly be freed on parole, not limited only to a pardon," Rep Song Young-gil said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Sunday.

It is his first press interview since taking the party leadership.

Song also stressed that needs the leader of the conglomerate in office, not in jail, in order for investments to be made.

"There are growing public calls that Lee needs to work in the semiconductor and vaccine sectors amid the pandemic," Song said.

Business lobby groups have sent similar letters to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae to ask for Lee to be pardoned, raising concerns over the absence of leadership at Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker, when its rivals are ramping up investments to address a global chip shortage.

More than six out of every 10 South Koreans support the idea of pardoning Lee Jae-yong, the jailed de facto leader of Samsung Group, a poll showed last month.

Only 27 percent opposed the idea, while the remaining 9 percent said they are undecided on the issue.

Those who support giving clemency to Lee outnumbered those who objected in all age and regional groups, according to the poll.

--IANS

na/

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The G7s weekend agreement on a global minimum corporate tax rate and arrangements for taxing multinationals paves the way for a broader deal in the coming weeks that could reshape cross-border for years to come.

Hailed as historic by its backers, the deal nonetheless contains much detail that still needs to be hammered out in time for countries of the wider grouping to give it their support at a meeting scheduled for next month.

Here is what we know so far and what remains unclear:



Will the G7 deal apply worldwide?



Leigh Thomas | Reuters, which is a June 30-July 1 online meeting of the 139 nations negotiating future rules for cross-border at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

The countries aim to reach a consensus at the meeting on the details, as much technical work has already been done. Any accord from that meeting will then go before finance ministers for endorsement when they meet in Venice on July 9-10. The OECD and the US have said a final sign-off might not be possible until a meet in October, because the US position may not be firm by July as a domestic tax package will be going through Congress.

Is this the end of tax havens?



If the deal does not kill off tax havens entirely, it will make them far less attractive for many firms looking to cut their tax bill but also burnish their credentials with investors focusing on environmental, social and corporate governance. The whole idea of the global minimum tax is that it gives countries the right to add a top-up tax on company profits in countries with tax rates lower than the global minimum.

How will this apply to multinationals?



A separate part of the tax talks deals with how to divvy up governments rights to tax excess, or non-routine, profit of the biggest multinationals, among them major digital The G7 agreed that governments should get the right to tax at least 20 per cent of the profit earned in their country by a multinational over a 10 per cent margin. All indications are that the excess profit would also be subject to the global minimum. That said, a lot of the metrics still need to be worked out



Will this mean big government windfalls?



The OECD calculated in October that a global minimum tax could yield $100 billion a year, or 4 per cent of global corporate income tax. That's probably on the low side as it was based on a 12.5 per cent rate, which was the focus of talks at the time.
 Flash

The relations between China and ASEAN have grown from strength to strength since the two sides established dialogue relations 30 years ago, bringing about tangible results in all-round cooperation and recent joint efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic, said a former Malaysian ambassador to China.

"For the last 30 years, ASEAN-China relation has been a model for regional cooperation," said Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, Malaysia's ambassador to China from 1998 to 2005.

When China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) established dialogue relations 30 years ago, the two sides had to explore ways of cooperation and build mutual trust in each other, recalled Majid, who was involved in the process as a seasoned diplomat.

"After 30 years, the mutual trust and confidence have gone up, which can be seen from the tangible effects from the cooperation between ASEAN and China," he told Xinhua on Sunday.

He pointed out the frequent leaders' visit between China and ASEAN countries, the close economic relations as ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner last year, people-to-people connectivity, among others, as concrete proof of the dynamic and close relations between the two sides.

"China is one of the most active partners of ASEAN by coming up with many initiatives to advance the cooperation. China has also responded positively and signed up to various ASEAN policies and initiatives. China has always emphasized and respected ASEAN centrality in regional cooperation," said Majid.

As a diplomat who has involved from the very beginning of the development of ASEAN-China relations, Majid said he was happy to see the foundation which was laid three decades ago had led to fruitful and concrete results.

The joint efforts between ASEAN and China against the COVID-19 pandemic, including the sending of medical assistance and expert teams by China to ASEAN countries, are also "very positive signs of the mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship," said Majid.

China has made good of its pledge to offer its COVID-19 vaccines as a global public good by prioritizing the supply to ASEAN countries, not only providing finished vaccines but also willing to embark on the transfer of technology through joint manufacturing cooperation with countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, he said.

"China has delivered what it says on making its vaccines global public goods," said Majid.

As China and ASEAN are holding a Special Foreign Ministers' Meeting in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of dialogue relations on Monday, Majid expects that ASEAN and China will strengthen cooperation against COVID-19 and for the economic recovery, and that the relationship will emerge even stronger.

"The relations will become stronger as China is playing a bigger role in regional issues and the RCEP would further foster regional cooperation," said Majid, referring to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership signed last year by 10 ASEAN members and Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
By Deena Beasley

(Reuters) -U.S. regulators on Monday approved Inc's aducanumab as the first treatment to address an underlying cause of Alzheimer's disease despite controversy over mixed clinical trial results for the drug.

Aducanumab aims to remove sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid beta from the brains of patients in earlier stages of Alzheimer's in order to stave off its ravages, which include memory loss and the ability to care for one's self.

The Food and Drug Administration said that the clinical trials for the treatment, to be sold under the brand name Aduhelm, showed a reduction in the plaques that is expected to lead to a reduction in the clinical decline of patients.

"Although the Aduhelm data are complicated with respect to its clinical benefits, FDA has determined that there is substantial evidence that Aduhelm reduces amyloid beta plaques in the brain and that the reduction in these plaques is reasonably likely to predict important benefits to patients," the agency said in a statement.

Biogen's drug had been hailed by patient advocates and some neurologists eager to have an effective option for patients with the lethal disease. Other doctors said clinical trial results were inconsistent and more proof was needed.

The FDA said must conduct a post-approval clinical trial to verify the drug's clinical benefit.

"If the drug does not work as intended, we can take steps to remove it from the market," it said.

Aducanumab was studied in patients with early disease who test positive for a component of amyloid brain plaques. Some trial patients experienced potentially dangerous brain swelling.

has estimated that around 1.5 million Americans would be eligible for treatment with aducanumab, which is given by monthly infusion, raising concerns about costs to the healthcare system.

Shares were halted pending the news.

(Reporting by Deena Beasley in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Kirsten Donovan and Shounak Dasgupta)

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With visiting and on her first foreign trip as vice president, the Biden administration is expected to announce new measures to fight smuggling and trafficking, and hopes to announce additional anti-corruption efforts as well, a senior administration official said Sunday.

Harris has been tasked by President with addressing the root causes of the spike in migration to the U.S.- border. Corruption, which the administration sees as directly related to the increased migration, is expected to be a central focus of her meetings with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday and Mexico's Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday.

The official, who briefed reporters traveling with Harris on Sunday, spoke on condition of anonymity to preview announcements before they have been made public. No further details were provided.

The trip got off to a rocky start when Harris' plane returned to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland about 30 minutes after takeoff because of what her spokesperson said was a problem with the landing gear. She departed on another plane about an hour and a half later.

Harris is seeking to secure commitments from and for greater cooperation on border security and economic investment, but corruption in the region a far more intractable challenge will complicate her efforts.

It's already had a significant impact on her work in Central America. Harris has yet to engage substantively with the leaders of Honduras and El Salvador, who are both embroiled in corruption scandals. And it's an issue that experts say will need to be addressed to make any lasting changes.

Corruption is a cancer in the region, said Jason Marczak, director of the Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. Addressing corruption is fundamental to creating hope and creating the potential for opportunity.

Marczak noted that corruption affects human rights protections, employment opportunities, the cost of goods and much more. Jobs, he said, will come "with investment, and investment comes where there is certainty in the rule of law. Without that, efforts to improve living conditions can only go so far.

Harris has laid out an approach centered on creating better opportunities and living conditions in the region through humanitarian and economic aid. She announced plans to send $310 million to provide support for refugees and address food shortages, and recently secured commitments from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in the Northern Triangle countries to promote economic opportunity and job training.

Washington won some goodwill through its vaccine diplomacy this past week. Giammattei and Lpez Obrador both received calls from Harris on Thursday telling them the U.S. would be sending 500,000 doses and 1 million doses, respectively, of COVID-19 vaccine.

While in Guatemala, Harris also plans to meet community leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs. In Mexico, she will speak with female entrepreneurs and hold a roundtable with labor workers.

She's underscored the need to address corruption in public remarks and events. In a May meeting with a number of leading voices on Guatemala's justice system, she noted her work as a prosecutor and said that injustice is a root cause of migration.

Part of giving people hope is having a very specific commitment to rooting out corruption in the region, she said.

Harris has also raised the issue during virtual meetings with the leaders of both countries, and aides say she will do it again during meetings on her trip. During their past conversations, they have discussed areas of mutual interest improving port security, combatting smuggling networks, going after corrupt actors and the goal of this trip is to turn that talk into action, aides say.

While the vice president will make announcements concerning new efforts at cooperation and new programs, she's not expected to announce any new aid during her trip.

While in Latin America, Harris will also have to navigate the of immigration. Congressional Republicans have criticized both Biden and Harris for deciding not to visit the border, and contend the administration is ignoring what they say is a crisis there. April was the second-busiest month on record for unaccompanied children encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border, following March's all-time high. The Border Patrol's total encounters in April were up 3% from March, marking the highest level since April 2000.

Conservatives will be watching Harris closely for any missteps, hoping to drag her into further controversy on an issue that they see as a political winner.

In her efforts to win commitments on corruption from the region's leaders, Harris can point to a number of moves by the Biden administration last week.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the problem during his own recent trip to Central America. The White House issued a memo elevating foreign corruption to a major national security issue, and directed all federal agencies to prioritize it and modernize their foreign corruption-fighting tools.

Eric Olson, director of policy at the Seattle Foundation, which works to promote good governance in Central America, said that addressing corruption will take particular diplomatic skill. Harris will need to hold the leaders of and Mexico accountable while also deepening trust and cooperation with the two nations.

The challenge that she faces is how to, on the one hand, have a conversation, keep the door open while not seeming to ignore the obvious elephant in the room, which is this incredible penetration of the state by corrupt actors, he said.

In Mexico, Lpez Obrador continues to face a complicated security situation in many parts of the country. Nearly three-dozen candidates or pre-candidates were killed before this weekend's midterm elections as drug cartels sought to protect their interests. The government's inability to provide security in parts of the country is of interest to the U.S. in an immigration context, both for the people who are displaced by violence and the impact it has on a severely weakened economy trying reemerge from the pandemic.

The number of Mexicans encountered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection rose steadily from December through April. Mexico remains a key U.S. ally in trying to slow immigration, not only of its own citizens, but those crossing its territory. Successive U.S. administrations have effectively tried to push their immigration enforcement goals south to Mexico and Guatemala.

Nongovernmental organizations placed Guatemala's widespread corruption at the top of their list of concerns before Harris' visit. Last month, two lawyers who are outspoken critics of Giammattei's administration were arrested on what they say were trumped-up charges aimed at silencing them.

The selection of judges for Guatemala's Constitutional Court, its highest, was mired in influence peddling and alleged corruption. Giammattei picked his chief of staff to fill one of the five vacancies. When Gloria Porras, a respected force against corruption, was elected to a second term, the congress controlled by Giammattei's party refused to seat her.

Harris' visit comes with high expectations, but experts say clear progress on corruption may be elusive.

These are societies built on corruption, said Olson. You're not gonna have an impact in six months.

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Yemen's Houthi rebels said they launched a bomb-laden drone attack on the King Khalid Air Base in Saudi Arabia's southern city of Khamis Mushait.

"The hit was accurate," militia spokesman Yehya Sarea said in a statement on Sunday aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

However, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported that "the Saudi-led coalition intercepted and destroyed a bomb-laden drone that the Houthi militia launched early Sunday towards Khamis Mushait", reports Xinhua news agency.

The Houthi attack came a day after an Omani high-level delegation arrived in the capital Sanaa as part of diplomatic efforts to convince the rebels to accept a recent UN-proposed ceasefire between the Yemeni warring sides.

The Iran-backed Houthis began in February a major offensive against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government army to capture the oil-rich province of Marib, which hosts nearly 2 million internally displaced people.

The UN has warned the offensive on Marib could lead to a major humanitarian catastrophe.

A Houthi missile attack on a gas station in Marib on Saturday killed 17 residents, including a five-year-old girl.

--IANS

ksk/

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Asia-Pacific borrowers more than doubled issuance of bonds tied to environmental, social and governance (ESG) themes to a record $69 billion this year, data showed, as they sought to burnish their sustainability credentials and tap red-hot investor demand.

Bankers say the trend will continue, boosting their fee incomes. Some of the biggest global investment banks are bulking up their teams to cope with the increased ESG-related bond deals.

ESG-related issuances from companies, government bodies and other institutions in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) this year have outpaced those by U.S. issuers for the first time in two years.

Asia-Pacific entities are fast-tracking their ESG plans, taking advantage of abundant liquidity and soaring demand from global investors who are keen to increase their exposure to the region as economies recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with the growing rollout of vaccinations.

Data from Refinitiv showed that of the $69.1 billion in ESG bonds issued in Asia-Pacific so far this year, were the most common, accounting for 70% of the deals and ahead of sustainability-linked bonds, which made up 20%.

Chinese entities issued 51.3% of the ESG bonds in the region, ahead of South Korea which accounted for 21.2%.

"Demand for green deposits, loans and access to capital is running at record levels versus prior years and is gathering further momentum," said Kaleem Rizvi, Citigroup's head of corporate banking in Asia Pacific.

"More clients are realising they need a clear ESG strategy. Investors and other stakeholders are demanding it and they don't want to be left behind."

So far in 2021, Citi has been involved in ESG-related financing deals in Asia Pacific worth nearly $25 billion, six times more than the year-ago period - including a Hong Kong government $2.5 billion green bond.

China Development Bank raised $3 billion in a green bond in March and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank carried out a $2.9 billion deal in January, the data showed.

Climate change and other green issues are high on the agenda of most Asian governments, and financial regulators, such as in Hong Kong and Singapore, have also begun changing rules to force companies to better disclose their environmental impact.

Hong Kong announced in December that financial institutions and listed companies will have to disclose the financial impact of climate change on their businesses, as outlined in a major global standard, by 2025.

'GREENWASHING' RISK

There have been 234 ESG-linked bond issuances in Asia- Pacific this year, nearly trebling from the same time-frame last year, Refinitiv data showed.

In the United States, there have only been 86 deals, which raised $53.1 billion. In Europe, the traditional ESG market leader, $248.1 billion in ESG-related bonds have been issued in 2021, at least three times more than the same time last year.

A risk for investors in ESG-related bonds in China and other Asia-Pacific is 'greenwashing', or issuers exaggerating their environmental credentials which has led to caution among some bond buyers.

"Investors have an expansive appetite at the moment but there is also an increasingly discerning approach to investing; they don't want to get burnt with a greenwashing label," said Kamran Khan, Deutsche Bank's head of ESG for Asia Pacific.

"They have a lot of capital, they want to invest it in ESG transactions, but they want them to be of very high quality with substantiated impact."

(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Hong Kong; Editing by Anshuman Daga and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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In a major blow for Asset Management Company (AMC), the has barred the fund house from launching any new debt scheme for two years, while imposing a penalty of Rs 5 crore for violation of regulations in the shutting down of six debt schemes last year.

In its order on Monday, the capital market regulator said that Mutual Fund has been found to have violated the provisions of the Regulations and also certain circulars.

"As a result of the irregularities in the running of the debt schemes inspected, loss has been caused to the investors. The noticee was under a statutory obligation to abide by the provisions of the Mutual Regulations and circulars issued thereunder, which it failed to do.

"Each of the provisions contained in Sections 15A(b), 15D(b), 15D(f), 15E and 15HB of the Act mandate a maximum penalty of Rs 1 crore. Accordingly, I am of the view that a monetary penalty of Rs 5 (five) crore be imposed under Section 15I of the SEBI Act read with Rule 5 of the SEBI Inquiry Rules, on the Noticee for the violations," Securities and Exchange Board Of India's Whole Time Member G. Mahalingam said in the order.

will have to pay the penalty within 45 days of the order.

The order also said that it shall refund the investment management and advisory fees collected from June 4, 2018, till April 23, 2020, with respect to the six debt schemes inspected along with simple interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum, to the respective schemes, within a period of 21 days from the date of this order, for utilisation towards repayment of the concerned unitholders.

In the event of failure to comply with the direction, the noticee shall pay simple interest at 12 per cent per annum, which shall commence from the date the amount becomes payable.

In addition, the findings in the instant proceedings have brought on record several irregularities in the running of the debt schemes inspected, contrary to the interests of the unitholders in such schemes.

The irregularities also extend to failures to exercise adequate due diligence, carry out valuation of securities as per the principles of fair valuations and ensuring a robust risk management framework.

"In my view, the employees of FT-AMC may be liable for the aforementioned irregularities arising during the course of business of the noticee. From the records made available before me, I note that SEBI has initiated adjudication proceedings against certain employees of FT-AMC including the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and the Directors," the order said.

The SEBI noted that the matter examines the compliance of the AMC of a mutual fund to the norms during the period leading up to the winding up of the six schemes managed by the AMC, in April 2020.

So far, the fund house has distributed Rs 14,572.34 crore among the concermed investors in three tranches.

The unitholders of the six shut schemes will get Rs 3,205.25 crore in the week starting from Monday, the CEO had informed the investors in a letter.

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Equity mustered solid gains to close at all-time highs on Monday as risk sentiment improved after multiple states began easing Covid-19 restrictions amid falling cases.

A sharp recovery in the rupee added to the momentum, even as lacklustre global cues capped the gains, traders said. After starting on a tepid note, the Sensex saw good buying in energy, IT and bank stocks in afternoon trade. It finally finished 228.46 points or 0.44 per cent higher at its new closing record of 52,328.51.

Similarly, the broader Nifty surged 81.40 points or 0.52 per cent to its all-time peak of 15,751.65.

PowerGrid topped the Sensex gainers chart with a jump of 4.44 per cent, followed by NTPC, UltraTech Cement, (RIL), IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and L&T. Index heavyweight RIL contributed around half of the benchmark's gains.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC, Dr Reddy's, SBI and ONGC were among the laggards, tumbling up to 4.43 per cent. Domestic equities extended gains with benchmarks recording fresh all-time highs as sharp decline in daily caseload and states started easing business curb lifted sentiments, said Binod Modi, head (Strategy) at Reliance Securities.





ALSO READ: Bajaj Finance investors feel heat of 2nd Covid wave, stock falls over 4%

A sharp rebound was seen in private banks, auto and IT which supported market, while metals and pharma witnessed profit booking.

He further noted that midcap and smallcap stocks were again in focus as investors appeared to be lapping up these counters in the backdrop of improved visibility of earnings recovery.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, "Domestic equities extended its gains in today's volatile session ahead of PM Modi's address to the nation. Hopes of easing restrictions and Centre's Covid-19 vaccination policy pumped optimism into the market." Sector-wise, BSE utilities, power, telecom, energy, oil and gas, industrials and IT indices surged as much as 3.33 per cent, while realty, finance and metal ended in the red.



ALSO READ: Top 100 companies' share in cash market turnover drops over the last year

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices rallied up to 1.38 per cent.

World stocks were in wait-and-watch mode after the G7 economies agreed on a minimum global corporate tax rate of 15 per cent, even as experts said a lot of ground needs to be covered before G20 nations reach a similar agreement.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul ended with gains, while Hong Kong was in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were largely trading with losses in mid-session deals.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.58 per cent lower at USD 71.47 per barrel.

The rupee appreciated by 19 paise to end at 72.80 against the US dollar, buoyed by persistent fund inflows into capital

India reported 1,00,636 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest in 61 days, while the number of active cases dropped to 14,01,609, according to the Union Health Ministry's data updated on Monday.

The death toll due to coronavirus reached 3,49,186 with 2,427 new fatalities, the lowest in around 45 days.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shares of dipped 11 per cent to Rs 387.30 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Monday after the company reported a weak set of number for the March quarter of FY21 with a consolidated loss of Rs 144 crore, due to weak operational performance of the Global Lighting Business (VLS). The auto ancilaliry company had posted loss of Rs 137 crore in Q4FY20.

The companys reported revenue from operations grew 32 per cent year on year (YoY) to Rs 3,619 crore against Rs 2,745 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margin contracted 70 basis points (bps) at 3.5 per cent from 4.2 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter at Rs 127.5 crore increased by 11 per cent YoY; India EBITDA margins improved by 360 bps while VLS EBITDA margins were adversely impacted mainly by Semi-conductor shortages and poor revenue mix, said.

The company further said it launched Project RACE (Rapid Achievement of Competitive Edge) to bring VLS EBIT level in line with industry benchmarks with the support of a global consulting firm. The benefits of this project are expected to be visible over the next 12-18 months.

The management said the company has seen a strong recovery in Two-wheeler and Passenger Vehicle volumes across in India in Q4FY21. The global (Ex China) passenger vehicle volumes in Q4FY21 declined mainly due to severe semi-conductor shortages. As the current demand for chips is continuing to outstrip supply, suppliers are adding capacities. This additional capacity is expected to help meet auto sector demand starting end of Q2 FY22, it said.

The group designs, manufactures and supplies exterior lighting systems, plastic and polymer components, electricals-electronics components, and precision metallic components to passenger car, commercial vehicle, two-wheeler, three-wheeler and off-highway vehicle OEMs directly worldwide.

At 09:55 am, the stock was down 10 per cent to Rs 391 on the BSE, as compared to 0.02 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 540,000 shares have chnaged hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE, so far.
With reference to the news item dated 4th June 2021 captioned 'Axis Bank to buy Spandana Sphoorty,' Axis Bank clarified that the said news item is speculative and the bank does not comment on market speculation. The bank has not taken any such decision in this regard.

PNB reported a net profit of Rs 586.33 crore in Q4 FY21 as against a net loss of Rs 697.20 crore in Q4 FY20. The bank's total income increased by 37.5% to Rs 22,531.73 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20. The bank's operating profit (before provisions & contingencies) surged 43.3% to Rs 5,634.31 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

MOIL reported net profit of Rs 116 crore in Q4 FY21, steeply higher compared with 13.47 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales grew 81% to Rs 450.14 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 248.66 crore in Q4 FY20. Profit before tax stood at Rs 159.37 crore in Q4 FY21, steeply higher than Rs 21.62 crore in Q4 FY20.

Credit ratings agency India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) assigned Jubilant Ingrevia (JVL) a long-term issuer rating of 'IND AA' with a stable outlook. The ratings agency assigned a credit rating of 'IND AA/Stable/IND A1+' on the company's fund-based limits of Rs 475 crore. It has assigned 'IND A1+' rating on the non-fund-based limits of the company worth Rs 772.5 crore.

On a consolidated basis, Jubilant Pharmova's net profit (from continuing operations) dropped 18.64% to Rs 172.68 crore on 0.71% rise in total revenue from operations to Rs 1,579.78 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020.

Force Motors announced that its total production stood at 1,306 units in May 2021, steeply higher than 26 units in May 2020. Total domestic sales surged 410.15% to 1,306 units in May 2021 as against 256 units in May 2020. Total exports were at 154 units in May 2021. There were no exports during the same period last year due to Covid-19 pandemic.

RBL Bank said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the re-appointment of Vishwavir Ahuja as the Managing Director & CEO of the bank, for further period of one year, with effect from June 30, 2021.

On a consolidated basis, Varroc Engineering reported net loss of Rs 144.32 crore in Q4 FY21, higher than net loss of Rs 137.10 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales jumped 31.9% to Rs 3,619.26 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 2,744.75 crore in Q4 FY20. Pre-tax loss stood at Rs 117.76 crore in Q4 FY21 as against a pre-tax loss of Rs 136.72 crore in Q4 FY20.

Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDHANI) on Friday announced that it has raised Rs 50 crore by allotting commercial papers to Union Bank on private placement basis.

Welspun Corp said that American Petroleum Institute, USA has granted license to the company, to manufacture SAWH pipes as per API Specification 5L & to apply API monogram on the pipes from company's Madhya Pradesh facility with effect from 26 May 2021.

IOL Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals reported 17% drop in net profit to Rs 75 crore on 4% rise in total revenue from operations to Rs 467 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

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Power Grid Corporation of India rose 2.52% to Rs 231.85 after the state-run company said it has acquired two special purpose vehicles (SPVs) from REC Power Distribution Company.

REC Power Distribution Company (RECPDCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of REC under Ministry of Power, has handed over two projects specific special purpose vehicles (SPVs) 'Fatehgarh Bhadla Transco' & 'Sikar New Transmission' to Power Grid Corporation of India.

The selection of Power Grid Corporation was carried out through tariff based competitive bidding (TBCB) for selection of transmission developers in line with the standard bidding documents and guidelines thereof as notified by Ministry of Power, Government of India.

Fatehgarh Bhadla Transco was incorporated for transmission system strengthening for evacuation of power from solar energy zones in Rajasthan (8.1 GW) under Phase II-Part B.

Sikar New Transmission was incorporated for transmission system strengthening scheme for evacuation of power from solar energy zones in Rajasthan (8.1 GW) under Phase II - Part C.

The entire shareholding of both the SPVs, comprising of 50,000 equity shares, presently held by RECPDCL, has been transferred at par value along with all its assets and liabilities on 4 June 2021 to Power Grid Corporation of India.

On a consolidated basis, Power Grid Corporation of India reported a 26% jump in net profit to Rs 3,367.71 crore in Q3 FY21 on an 8.3% rise in net sales to Rs 10,142.48 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

Power Grid Corporation of India was established by the Government of India (GoI) as the central transmission utility of India. As of 31 March 2021, the Government of India holds 51.34% in the electric utility manufacturing company.

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The Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) announced on Friday that it has decided to open a separate liquidity window of Rs 15,000 crore with tenors of up to three years at the repo rate till March 31, 2022 for certain contact-intensive sectors i.e., hotels and restaurants; tourism - travel agents, tour operators and adventure/heritage facilities; aviation ancillary services - ground handling and supply chain; and other services that include private bus operators, car repair services, rent-a-car service providers, event/conference organisers, spa clinics, and beauty parlours/saloons. Under the scheme, banks are expected to create a separate COVID loan book.

By way of an incentive, such banks will be eligible to park their surplus liquidity up to the size of the COVID loan book created under this scheme with the Reserve Bank under the reverse repo window at a rate which is 25 bps lower than the repo rate. Banks desirous of deploying their own resources without availing funds from the Reserve Bank under the scheme for lending to the specified segments mentioned above will also be eligible for the incentive.

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Fourteen people have been killed due to heavy rains in Sri Lanka while over 245,000 people have been affected, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said in its latest update here Sunday.

Out of the 14 killed, five deaths have been reported from Kegalle, located 88 kilometers away from capital Colombo, while three deaths have been reported from the Ratnapura District.

Two people have been reported missing while two more have been injured.

According to DMC statistics, 15,658 people have been moved to safer locations while over 800 houses have been damaged.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Navy said that following rising concerns, there was no threat of furnace oil from tanks at the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery being mixed into the Kelani River in the outskirts of Colombo.

Tanks containing furnace oil at the oil refinery had overflown with rainwater following the heavy downpour on Saturday.

The navy said it had taken action together with the Sri Lanka Coast Guard to skim the furnace oil exposed to the external environment and to prevent further spread as it could have an adverse impact on the water distribution of the main Ambathale and Biyagama water treatment plants.

Navy Spokesman Captain Indika De Silva said that operations were continuing to skim the furnace oil from the flood waters using floating boom.

Due to the adverse weather,the Health Ministry said the vaccination program on COVID-19 had also suffered a setback.

Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath told local media that while the vaccination rollout in the districts had not been suspended, officials however could not perform their 100 percent due to heavy rains.

The Meteorology Department in its latest weather report said that heavy falls of 150 mm could be expected in the coming days and the public were urged to be cautious especially from heavy lightning.
SGX Nifty:

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could rise 40 points at the opening bell.

Goods and services tax revenue for April, collected in May, remained above the Rs 1 lakh-crore-mark, even as the second wave of Covid-19 infections hurt economic activity. The GST collections for April were at Rs 1,02,709 crore, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance on Saturday. That's 27% below the Rs 1.41 lakh crore collected in March.

Global markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Monday as investors looked ahead to Chinese trade data for May. Markets in Malaysia and New Zealand are closed today for holidays.

In other developments, finance ministers from the Group of Seven over the weekend backed a U.S. proposal that calls for firms globally to pay at least 15% tax on earnings.

U.S. stocks closed higher Friday after the May nonfarm-payrolls report showed a less-than-expected gain, leading investors to bet that the Federal Reserve will maintain its easy-money policies for longer.

The U.S. economy added 559,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department said on Friday. The number came in slightly lower than an estimated from economists, but still showed a healthy rebound in the labor market. It's an improvement from the upwardly revised 278,000 payrolls added in April.

The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1%, which was better than the estimate. As per reports, the jobs report, while solid, is not strong enough to trigger the Federal Reserve to dial back its bond buying program.

Domestic markets:

Back home, the domestic equity benchmarks ended with small losses on Friday, tracking negative global cues. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 132.38 points or 0.25% to 52,100.05. The Nifty 50 index lost 20.10 points or 0.13% to 15,670.25.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,499.37 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,175.01 crore in the Indian equity market on 4 June, provisional data showed.

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residents on Monday held placards during a 12-hour hunger strike against the alleged anti-people policies brought in by the administration.

Protestors including women and children held placards outside their homes demanding the alleged draconian laws to be revoked. The "Save Forum" is in forefront of the protest.

People of the island are protesting against the new reforms being introduced by administrator Praful Khoda Patel, which they allege are against the interest of the people of islands.

People are protesting against the draft legislations like Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation (Goonda Act), Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation and Lakshadweep Panchayat Regulation, 2021 among others.

Adi, a participant in the protest said, "We want to safeguard the interests in these islands. The administration is ignoring our demands. Thus, we have taken a part in these "

Another protestor said, "We want to ensure peace in Lakshadweep. Thus, we will protest peacefully outside our residences by adhering to Covid protocols."

On June 1, a delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Lakshadweep met party chief JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday and discussed the situation in the union territory and the concerns of the locals. Amit Shah assured the BJP delegation that all concerns of the locals will be addressed, BJP's in-charge for Lakshadweep, AP Abdullakutty had said.

Over the last week, several leaders have called for a new administrator in the Lakshadweep islands, including Lakshadweep MP and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Mohammed Faizal. Faizal accused Administrator Praful Khoda Patel of implementing anti-people rules and regulations and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to 'listen to the outcry of the local people and send in a new Administrator'.

Youth Congress Kerala President and Congress MLA Shafi Parambil had even written to the Chief Minister of Kerala, Opposition Leader and the Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly requesting to pass a resolution "as a solidarity of the Malayalee community to the struggle of the people of Lakshadweep" against the new authoritarian decisions taken by the current Administrator of Lakshadweep Praful Patel.

Congress had written to President Ram Nath Kovind alleging that the current Administrator of Lakshadweep Praful Patel had taken "authoritarian measures" and demanded his recall.

In a letter written to the President, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that there is apprehension among the people of Lakshadweep and resultant widespread "owing to the authoritarian measures taken by the current Administrator Praful Patel".

Patel, who was appointed as the Administrator of Lakshadweep in December 2020 is facing opposition over policies introduced by him from the people of the union territory and politicians, both from within Lakshadweep and neighbouring state Kerala.

The Collector had defended the laws imposed by Administrator Praful Khoda Patel earlier as well and said people with vested interests are propagating misinformation about him.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ruling Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Maitra has challenged Governor Jagdeep Dhankar to sue her for disclosures of 'extensive nepotism' at the Kolkata Raj Bhavan.

Responding to BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu's allegations that Maitra had furnished a 'pack of lies' while dishing out a list of six Officers on Special Duty (OSD) appointed by the Governor, Mahua Maitra said: "Why is BJP rising to his defence? Is he a BJP functionary or a Governor? Can't he defend himself?"

Mahua Maitra challenged Jagdeep Dhankar to take her to court over her remarks and tweets on the issue.

"I dare him to sue me for defamation," Maitra said.

She told journalists that if the BJP had won, the state would be full of such appointments from other parts of the country.

"We in Bengal are not parochial, but someone who gets a job here should be worth it. He or she should not get it just because they have a saffron uncle here to do their bidding," Maitra said.

She said Bengal taxpayers should not be asked to foot the bill for the OSDs appointed by Governor Dhankar at Kolkata Raj Bhavan.

"Having failed to deliver Bengal to the BJP, Uncleji (Dhankar) must seek out a job in Delhi. He is running around raising hell over the state's law and order, so BJP should rehabilitate him somewhere, she said, quipping: "Dont forget to take your extended family with you."

Mahua Maitra also lampooned BJP leaders "who have the temerity to castigate Bengal voters for rejecting the saffron brigade".

"You guys have the audacity to question a popular verdict, you think Bengalis don't know what is good for them," said Maitra, who has emerged as India's one of most noticed parliamentarians.

"We did not question Indian voters when they elected BJP to power. It is for them to judge whether the BJP government has totally failed or not. We rest our case with voters and hope they see the obvious and vote in future elections," she said.

Maitra said she was shocked by a statement of a RSS functionary likening Hindus to frogs.

"Are they out of their minds," she asked.

Rajesh Srivastava, the RSS intellectual cell president of the unit, has compared Hindu community with frogs and said it can be extremely difficult to evaluate them on one scale (weighing machine).

This remark was made by him during a virtual discussion organised by the election cell of the Bihar unit of BJP under the chairmanship of Radhika Raman on Sunday. The theme of the discussion was violence and democratic threat that arose after the election.

"The Hindu community behaves like a frog and its evaluation on one weighing machine is extremely difficult," Srivastava said while quoting this statement made by former RSS chief late Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.

"Mamata Banerjee and some extremists have united the Muslim community and is doing conspiracy to separate chicken from the neck. We have to foil their conspiracy," Srivastava said.

Maitra said Bengalis see themselves as Bengalis and Indians and not as Hindus or Muslims.

"The BJP failed to see this and kept flaunting their religious binary which backfired on them," she said.

"You guys have your chintan sabhas, dont you evaluate your mistakes honestly," she asked, quipping: "Do you forget what Gokhale said."

Gopal Krishna Gokhale is famous for "What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tommorow' comment.

Maitra said the BJP defeat in Bengal, after the huge effort they put in, might turn out to be a 'watershed.'

--IANS

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Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister on Sunday asserted that there was no proposal before the ruling BJP's high command to seek Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa's resignation.

"There is no proposal before the high command for seeking Yediyurappa's resignation," Joshi told reporters at Hubballi in the state's northwest region hours after the Chief Minister said that he was ready to resign if the party's leadership wanted him to do so.

Joshi is BJP's fourth-term Lok Sabha member from Dharwad constituency, about 430km northwest of Bengaluru.

Ruling out change of leadership, Joshi said the party was focused only on containing the Covid pandemic's second wave, which claimed 31,580 lives and infected 26,95,523 people across the southern state till Saturday.

"The party is seized of only one issue and that is how to handle the Covid-19 situation and not leadership change," reiterated Joshi.

Echoing Joshi, party's state unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel said there was no discussion on change in the Chief Minister's post.

"As the party has not discussed the issue at any level, the question of a change of leadership does not arise," Kateel told reporters at Mangaluru on the state's west coast, about 375km from Bengaluru.

Kateel is the third-term Lok Sabha member from Dakshina Kannada seat.

Denying that attempts were being made to oust Yediyurappa by a faction of party's members, Kateel said a meeting of all Legislators and Ministers would be convened this month in Bengaluru to sort out differences,if any.

"Yediyurappa will continue to be Chief Minister for the rest of the (Assembly) term, which is up to May 2023. He is our leader who has vast experience in governance and administration," added Kateel.

State Revenue Minister R. Ashoka also told reporters here that Yediyurappa was the BJP's legislative party leader and would continue in the top post.

"There is no question of leadership change in the state. Yediyurappa is leading the fight against the pandemic from the front, visiting hospitals and meeting Covid patients and holding meetings daily on containing the virus spread," said Ashoka after meeting the chief minister at his official residence.

Yediyurappa,78, became Chief Minister for the fourth time on July 26, 2019 after the 14-month-old Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S)-Congress coalition government fell when its Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy resigned on losing the confidence vote in the state legislative assembly on July 23, 2019.

Though Yediyurappa took oath as chief minister for the third time on May 17, 2018, he resigned three days later on May 19, as the BJP was 8 seats short of a simple majority (113) in the 225-member lower house after the party won only 104 seats in the assembly elections three years ago.

--IANS

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The late Sunday night suspended the Jaipur Greater Municipal Corporation mayor and three councilors for allegedly misbehaving with the local body's commissioner, a move that angered the BJP.

The government also decided to conduct a judicial inquiry in the matter.

The Department of local self-governance issued the orders suspending mayor Somya Gurjar, and councilors Ajay Singh Chauhan, Paras Jain (all three from the BJP), and Shankar Sharma (independent) for allegedly manhandling, pushing and abusing the commissioner.

The alleged incident happened Friday when the commissioner, Yagya Mitra Singh Deo, had gone to the mayor's chamber for attending a meeting on a matter related to the company engaged in door-to-door garbage collection.

During the meeting, a heated argument broke out between the two and the commissioner, a civil servant, proceeded to leave midway. In the middle of this, the councilors allegedly manhandled and abused him.

Condemning the action against the four, BJP state president Satish Poonia said the party "will fight for justice".

"The suspension of the mayor and the councilors is unfortunate. This will lead to the fall of the Congress," he said.

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said it would make changes to its global business to ensure it did not abuse its dominance, bowing to antitrust pressure for the first time in a landmark settlement with French authorities.

The deal with the French competition watchdog could help rebalance the power over in favour of publishers, which held sway over the business in the pre-internet era but lost control with the rapid rise of and Facebook.

The settlement, which was announced on Monday and also saw fined ^220 million ($268 million), is the first time the US tech giant has agreed to make changes to its huge business, which brings in the bulk of its revenue.

The decision to sanction Google is of particular significance because it's the first decision in the world focusing on the complex algorithmic auction processes on which the online ad business relies, said Frances antitrust chief Isabelle de Silva.

The watchdog found that Googles ad management platform for large publishers  Google Ad Manager  favoured the company's own online ad marketplace  Google AdX  where publishers sell space to advertisers in real-time.





Ad Manager provided AdX with strategic data, such as the winning bidding prices, while AdX also enjoyed privileged access to requests made by advertisers via Google's ad services, the authority said. AdX, in turn, exchanged data more smoothly with Ad Manager than it did with other advertising management platforms.

Under the terms of the settlement, Google made commitments to improve the way Ad Manager services worked with rival ad servers and ad space sales platforms, the French watchdog said.

Some changes would be implemented by the first quarter of 2022, it said, adding that Google would not appeal the decision.

Google also said it had agreed to make it easier for publishers to use its data and tools. We will be testing and developing these changes over the coming months before rolling them out more broadly, including some globally, the company added.

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platform is learnt to have approached the government seeking more time to comply with the new IT rules.

According to sources, the micro-blogging site has said that it intends to comply with the rules but needs more time due to the pandemic situation in India.

" has written to Meity seeking more time to comply with the IT rules. It has expressed its intent to comply with the rules but has been unable to do so because of the pandemic," a source told PTI.

The response from comes after the government, last week, issued a strongly-worded final notice to the company regarding its non-compliance with the new rules.

When contacted, a Twitter spokesperson said Twitter has been and remains deeply committed to India, and serving the vital public conversation taking place on the service.

"We have assured the Government of India that Twitter is making every effort to comply with the new guidelines, and an overview on our progress has been duly shared. We will continue our constructive dialogue with the Indian Government," the spokesperson said.

In its notice, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had said that Twitter's refusal to comply with the rules demonstrated the micro-blogging site's "lack of commitment and efforts towards providing a safe experience for the people of India on its platform".

"Despite being operational in India for more than a decade, it is beyond belief that Twitter Inc has doggedly refused to create mechanism that will enable the people of India to resolve their issues on the platform in a timely and transparent manner and through fair processes, by India based, clearly identified resources," the ministry had said.

The new IT rules for companies that came into effect last month mandate large platforms like Facebook and Twitter to undertake greater due diligence and make these digital platforms more accountable and responsible for the content hosted by them.

The rules also require significant intermediaries -- providing services primarily in the nature of messaging -- to enable identification of the "first originator" of the information that undermines the sovereignty of India, the security of the state, or public order.

Under the rules, significant social media intermediaries -- those with over 50 lakh users -- are required to appoint a grievance officer, a nodal officer and a chief compliance officer. These personnel have to be residents in India.

Further, social media companies will have to take down flagged content within 36 hours, and remove within 24 hours content that is flagged for issues such as nudity and pornography.

As per the ministry's notice, though with effect from May 26, 2021, "consequences follow" given Twitter's non-compliance with rules, "as a gesture of goodwill, Twitter Inc is hereby given one last notice to immediately comply with the rules, failing which the exemption from liability available shall stand withdrawn and Twitter shall be liable for consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws of India".

However, the notice did not mention about a specific date for the micro-blogging site to comply with the rules.

Non-compliance with the rules would result in these platforms losing their intermediary status that provides them immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by them. In other words, they could be liable for criminal action in case of complaints.

According to the central government, the new rules are designed to prevent abuse and misuse of platforms, and offer users a robust forum for grievance redressal.

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is set to soon launch the Super Follows feature that will enable some users with at least 10,000 followers to charge for providing exclusive additional content like extra tweets, joining a community group or receiving a newsletter.

announced earlier this year it was working on a Patreon-like service, as the micro-blogging platform aims to drive new revenue streams.

showed a mock-up screenshot during a virtual event with investors, where a user charges $4.99 per month for exclusive additional content.

App researcher Jane Manchun Wong first tweeted screenshots of the new Super Follows feature on Sunday.

"Twitter is working on Super Follows application. Requirements: Have at least 10,000 followers, have posted at least 25 Tweets in past 30 days and be at least 18 years old," Wong said in the tweet.

Wong also discovered a list of content categories that Super Follows users would choose from to describe their content.

"Notably, 'Adult content' and 'OnlyFans' are mentioned in the category and platform sections," the app researcher informed.

In an another monetisation move, Twitter last week rolled out its first-ever subscription offering called Twitter Blue in Australia and Canada, that will give users a 30-second Undo Tweet option to erase any typo, which has been the biggest demand by its users for years.

The users can set a customisable timer of up to 30 seconds to click 'Undo' before the Tweet, reply, or thread they have sent posts to their timeline, and correct mistakes by previewing what your Tweet will look like before the world can see it.

"As a Twitter Blue subscriber, you will get these features and perks for the monthly price of $3.49 Canadian dollar or $4.49 Australian dollar," the company said in a statement.

The subscription service will be gradually rolled out to other countries including India in near future.

Twitter acquired Scroll in May, the $5-per-month subscription service that removes ads from websites that participate.

Twitter aims to more than double its total annual revenue to over $7.5 billion in 2023 with at least 315 million mDAU (monetisable daily active users), according to its CEO Jack Dorsey.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will attend the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Dialogue Relations and the sixth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Chongqing, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Sunday.

The meetings will be co-chaired by Wang Yi and diplomats from relevant ASEAN countries from June 7 to 8, according to spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

Wang Wenbin said that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN, which sees special significance for the bilateral relations to build on the past achievements and pursue new progress.

As the most successful and dynamic example of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, China-ASEAN cooperation has grown in leaps and bounds over the past three decades, Wang Wenbin said, adding that the face-to-face meeting under the ongoing grim COVID-19 situation reflects how countries attach great importance to and hold high expectations of China-ASEAN relations under the new circumstances.

Wang Wenbin said that the Chinese side expects to work with ASEAN to take stock of and summarize the outcomes and experience of China-ASEAN cooperation in the past 30 years, focus on combating COVID-19 and promoting economic recovery, better dovetail strategic plans and foster new highlights in practical cooperation to upgrade the relationship and make new contributions to peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region.

He introduced that on the sidelines of the special meeting, Wang Yi will also hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of ASEAN states and the ASEAN Secretary-General.

Wang Wenbin said as a new-type sub-regional cooperation mechanism featuring extensive consultation between China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, the LMC has developed rapidly and achieved remarkable results, promoted the economic and social development of the six riparian countries vigorously and brought tangible benefits to the people.

Since last year, amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the six countries have vigorously carried out cooperation to fight the epidemic, resume work and production and strengthen cultural and people-to-people exchanges and maintained the momentum of LMC growing from strength to strength, he said.

"To convene the sixth Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the launch of LMC bears important significance to breaking new ground on the basis of past achievement," Wang Wenbin said, adding that China hopes to take stock of progress made in the past five years together with the five Mekong countries, summarize the experience and further deepen cooperation in various fields.

"We will work together to develop the Mekong-Lancang Economic Development Belt, reinvigorate regional economic recovery and prosperity in the post-pandemic era, and contribute to ASEAN Community building and regional economic integration," Wang Wenbin said.
New Delhi [India], June 7 (ANI/NewsVoir): JK Lakshmipat University (JKLU), located in Jaipur, Rajasthan, a new-age University promoted by the JK Organisation with a 125 year legacy of philanthropy and nation building, has appointed Prof (Dr) Dheeraj Sanghi, reputed computer scientist and academic known for teaching and innovation at several Institutions like IITs, IIIT and Ashoka, as the next Vice-chancellor.

His appointment signals JKLU's move to join the ranks of handful of private universities which are working to bring world-class higher education to students in India.

With decades of teaching, research and academics leadership at leading Institutions such as IIT Kanpur, IIT Gandhinagar, IIIT Delhi, Ashoka University, and as former Director of LNMIIT Jaipur and Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, Prof Dheeraj Sanghi is known for his innovative ideas and student-centric approach. He also writes a very popular blog on contemporary issues in higher education, computer science and inter-disciplinary teaching.

"It's an honour to accept this position and be part of building the most innovative University in India. Jaipur and JKLU are not new to me having led LNMIIT in its early years and being on Advisory Board of JKLU for several years. We are going to bring joy of learning and excitement of discovery in higher education for our students," says Prof Dheeraj Sanghi, VC-Designate, JK Lakshmipat University.

"The induction of Prof Dheeraj Sanghi, an accomplished computer scientist, respected higher-education leader and proven institution-builder as the next VC, will accelerate JKLU's journey to be one of the most innovative University in the country. With his energy, expertise and experience with inter-disciplinary teaching and learning, he will help bring global education and opportunities to students and faculty in India at JKLU," shares Bharat Hari Singhania, Chancellor JKLU.

"It is my privilege to hand over the baton of leading the University to Prof Dheeraj Sanghi, an eminent academic in the field of technology and a seasoned institution builder. He is uniquely suited to take forward the mission of the University and build JKLU as one of the most sought-after institutions of higher education for students. I wish JKLU to grow multiple folds under his leadership and create a mark in the field of research and multidisciplinary education at global standards," added Prof R. L. Raina, VC, JK Lakshmipat University.

Eminent academician Prof Dheeraj Sanghi is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kanpur where he had also been the Dean of Academic Affairs from 2011-2014. He was a JEE topper who earned a B Tech in computer science from IIT Kanpur and PhD from the US, but returned to India to pursue a career in academics.

Passionate about improving quality of higher education in India, prior to his stint at JKLU he was the Director at the venerable Punjab Engineering College Chandigarh. With a deep understanding of existing and future scope in higher education, Prof Sanghi has plans to make learning more interdisciplinary, connected with reality and focused on developing 21st century skills of critical thinking, collaboration and communication.

"We want to have programs which combine multiple fields. And, we want to promote research that helps solve difficult problems of our world," Prof Sanghi adds.

JK Lakshmipat University (JKLU), Jaipur, is a multi-disciplinary new-age University situated in Jaipur offering undergraduate, masters and doctoral programmes in Engineering, Business and Design.

For more information, please visit: (www.jklu.edu.in).

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Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 7 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Continuing on its record-breaking spree in the broking industry, Fintech broker Angel Broking has now surpassed its own record in terms of monthly client acquisition.

The fintech broker has reported the acquisition of 0.43 million clients in May 2021, ~13% higher than its previous record of 0.38 million clients in March 2021. This is also 298.2% higher vis-a-vis the year-ago period.

Angel Broking's remarkable growth is backed by its extensive use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to augment its client experience. Its client base has now reached 4.84 million, which is 140.4% higher as compared to May 2020. The average client funding book has also simultaneously increased by 108.9% and is now at Rs. 11.74 billion. Leveraging its robust technological infrastructure, Angel Broking processed 86.49 million trades in May 2021, which is a growth of 117.9% over the year-ago period.

Speaking on the development, Prabhakar Tiwari, Chief Growth Officer, Angel Broking said, "At Angel Broking, we have developed an advanced IT infrastructure, wherein all of our operations are driven by technology. We have given special emphasis to AI and ML to ensure superior wealth creation for our clients. This technological edge proves its volume in gold for investors and traders, which is why they are actively joining Angel Broking. We thank all of the stakeholders including the team Angel Broking, our partners, and, above all, our brand patrons for this achievement."

Narayan Gangadhar, Chief Executive Officer, Angel Broking said, "The Indian broking industry has reached an inflection point and marked its entry to the high growth trajectory. Going forward, people will only choose those brokerages that transfer them a complete peace of mind. Here, the suite of client-centric services and platforms will make all the difference. Angel Broking has a considerable advantage on this front with its full-stack products and services. We cater to investors and traders of all proficiency levels with technology being the cornerstone of our organization."

Dinesh Thakkar, CMD, Angel Broking said, "Angel Broking takes pride in serving its clients the best way possible. Over the yesteryears, we have made a lot of changes to our business model and integrated technology into our across-the-board operations. It is a delight to say that the fruits of our efforts are finally paying off."

The Overall ADTO of the fintech broker increased by 778.0% YoY in May 2021 to Rs. 4.75 trillion. The development also marks an increase of 1,599 bps in terms of overall retail equity turnover market share to 23.5% in May 2021. The respective figure has increased by more than three-fold in a year.

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New Delhi [India], June 7 (ANI/PRNewswire): Furthering its resolve to help the society, (https://www.impetus.com)Impetus Technologies donated medical equipment for the treatment of Black Fungus (Mucormycosis) to the ENT department of M.Y Hospital, Indore on June 4, 2021.

The equipment included FHD Endoscopy Camera Set with USB recording, Digital Debrider & brushless German Micro Motor Combo Shaver Systems, and other accessories. It will ensure accurate nasal or ENT assessment and seamless penetration into the lumen for the necessary tissue or bone removal. This medical assistance is expected to save over 200 lives from the disease.

The equipment was handed over by Sanjeev Agrawal, Vice President - Operations & Human Empowerment Group, to the ENT department. "We ensure to provide aid that helps the people and community on-ground. We will continue to extend our best endeavors in the fight against diseases impacting people and society at large," added Sanjeev.

Dr Yamini Gupta, Professor and HOD ENT, Dr Sanjay Dixit, Dean, with other significant members from MGM Medical College Indore, expressed their gratitude towards the organization and Sanjeev for this noble assistance.

With a motto to #MakeADifference, the company has been regularly coming up with all possible ways to support its employees, families, and the society at large.

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Having tasted the flexibility and commute-less convenience of working from home, a section of white-collar employees do not want to return to offices at all even after the pandemic ends, prompting many to consider changing jobs if forced to return.

While it's still early days as companies have not started calling employees back, metros Delhi and Mumbai, which house several big firms, have decided to allow private offices to function at 50 per cent capacity.

Pandemic or not, what's the point of wasting so much time commuting when the job can be done from home and in a more productive way, employees ask.

"I don't have to set aside time to get ready for work, book a cab or travel to work. I save around three hours of commute time, which is huge in a 9-5 working day," said a Delhi-based user experience designer working with a leading e-commerce app.

Working from home (WFH) also saves her time spent on longer lunches with colleagues, lets her nap when she wants to and gives her a comfortable environment to work in, she adds. "Ours was an open plan office and we had to find a seat for ourselves every day."

"I will definitely leave if they force me to return. I'm already looking for options anyway." She is confident that the UX design industry has plenty of opportunities, with remote work opening up opportunities abroad as well. "I'm sure some company will be willing to offer me remote working."

Also read: Apple to shift to 3-day work weeks from September

Not many may quit at once when asked to return to office, but several of them BT spoke to said they would renegotiate working arrangements with the HR manager. If all else fails, looking for another job, which permits remote work is the way ahead, employees admitted.

"If asked to come back, I have to go back. But there is the option of finding another job in Bengaluru with remote options. The next job I look for will definitely be one with a remote option," said a 26-year-old investment manager, who has moved to Mandya, a small town some 120 kilometres away from Bengaluru, to be with his family.

"I used to travel for 3 hours on an average every day for work. I give that time to family and personal needs."

Just before the second wave of the pandemic took over the country in April, major companies had begun chalking up plans to call employees back. But the resistance from employees may require companies to rethink their strategies this time around in order to avoid costly attrition.

To be sure, those open to switching jobs belong to fields such as IT, e-commerce, marketing, investment management, user interface design, data sciences etc, whose digital quotient makes them suitable for remote working.

These professional areas also see a much better job market, despite the pandemic, compared to other industries like manufacturing, travel and tourism among others. Meanwhile, there are still several jobs that require physical presence in the office.

A latest CMIE report pegs 15 million jobs were lost in May 2021 alone. This is second only to April 2020 when 114 million jobs were lost during a complete nationwide lockdown. But hiring has not picked up uniformly across sectors, experts said.

Further, still others prefer going to office once the pandemic wanes because WFH has blurred lines between work and life, sucked out the scope for social connections, networking and organic and informal learning. Yet, several women, especially working mothers, said the flexibility that WFH has afforded them trumps the many disadvantages it has brought in.

A 35-year-old data scientist with a leading oil and gas company calls it a difficult option if asked to return to office. She has had to take a few career breaks already because of her husband's transferable job and to care for her 5-year-old. She moved to Mumbai a few months ago, while her workplace is in Chennai.

"I am keen on progressing in my career. So, I'll forfeit 5-10% of my pay to continue WFH until I find another job that permits remote working for a long time, if it comes to that. Besides, data sciences is a thriving field. I'll find another job," she said.

ABC Consultants managing director Shiv Agrawal said he has been seeing many requests on professional networking site LinkedIn for fully remote roles, which was not the case before. "Typically, manufacturing firms will lead the pack in calling employees even in non-factory roles back to office because that's what happened in the previous wave. But mostly, it will depend on how leaders of the organisation think."

Also read: How Productive is Work From Home?

Meanwhile, recruiting firm Randstad India has seen a trend of borderless employment opportunities, where in the past few months employees have asked if they can work for a company abroad but remotely. "These are for mid- and senior-level roles in Europe, North America, Singapore and Hong Kong across the entire gamut of tech roles like AI, app development, machine learning, creative roles like web design, consulting, functional roles like HR, marketing and communications," said Sanjay Shetty, head of strategic account management.

But he said employees quitting because of lack of remote working options is unlikely to hit attrition rates because most organisations will be considerate and accommodative. "In a post-pandemic world, less than 35-40 per cent of the entire workforce in India may be fully remote," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced that from June 21 onwards the Centre will provide free COVID-19 vaccines to all state governments for inoculation of citizens above the age of 18. PM Modi added that 25 per cent work being done by states related to COVID-19 vaccination will now be handled by the Central government. This means that going forward there would only be a centralised vaccine drive managed by the Central government. The Centre will procure COVID-19 vaccine from manufacturers and give them to the states for free.

"Today, it has been decided that 25% of vaccination work being done by states will now be handled by Central government. This system will be implemented in the next two weeks," the Prime Minister said.

"Both State and Centre will work as per new guidelines in the coming two weeks," explained PM Modi.

"Government of India will buy 75% of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by vaccine manufacturers and will give these to the states free of cost," added the Prime Minister. "This means, that states would not have to spend any money on procuring vaccines," he added.

"Till now, crores of citizens of India have received vaccines for free, now people above the age of 18 will also be added to this number," stated PM Modi.

The Prime Minister added those who do not want to get vaccines for free can opt-out of doing so. He added that 25 per cent of vaccines produced by vaccine manufacturers will be available for private players. "Private hospitals can only charge Rs 150 as service charge on vaccines," added the Prime Minister.

Also Read: Centre to procure 75% COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturers, 25% available for pvt players: PM Modi

Also Read: COVID-19 vaccine supply to improve, trials ongoing for 2 vaccines for children: PM Modi
Can people who have received both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine travel without RT-PCR tests? Sounds likely, and the government is considering the idea. This would make domestic travel hassle-free for fully-vaccinated passengers. Many states currently require an RT-PCR negative certificate.

Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the discussion on the issue is underway among representatives of different ministries, including the Health Ministry.

"A joint team from several ministries and stakeholders, including the Health Department, are in discussion to take a final decision on allowing travelling by air without an RT-PCR test for those who have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine," Minister of Civil Aviation (MoCA) Hardeep Singh Puri said.

The minister pointed out that health is the domain of states and to ask passengers for a negative RT-PCR report is solely the right of a particular state.

Such a mechanism is also being contemplated globally. However, India is not keen on a 'Vaccine Passport' currently. At the G7 countries' meeting, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan opposed vaccine passport at this juncture of the pandemic. "With vaccine coverage as a percentage of population in developing countries is still low compared to developed countries, such an initiative could prove to be highly discriminatory," he said.

Puri's hint comes at a time when domestic air travel fell to 19-20 lakh in May as compared to 57.3 lakh in April, according to a report by ratings agency ICRA. This drop is a sequential decline of 65-67 per cent. Air travel saw this dip due to the second wave of COVID-19 that limited travel to necessary travel, while business and leisure travel remained curtailed. While air traffic is likely to increase as cases fall, removal of RT-PCR negative report is likely to be an added incentive.

Also read: COVID 2nd wave: Domestic air traffic down 67% in May, reaches June-July 2020 levels

Also read: Indemnity, disputes in US courts: Pfizer's demands before bringing vaccine to India
While Indians are expecting Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine candidate's entry into the country under the vaccination programme soon, the US pharma giant has held up a complex list of demands. Apart from indemnity that's also been sought by other vaccine makers, including Adar Poonawalla-helmed Serum Institute of India, Pfizer is also asking for disputes related to COVID-19 vaccine supplies in the country to be adjudicated only in US courts.

Talks between the government and the company are on for import of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The government is likely to grant indemnity but is not too keen to give in on legal jurisdiction, as mentioned in a report in The Economic Times.

An official in the know told the daily that if the indemnity waiver is given to one company, it will be granted to other companies, including domestic manufacturers. The second aspect of Pfizer's demands is whether jurisdiction for dispute will be outside the country.

While the government has ensured multiple steps to ease imports of foreign vaccines in the country, including advance payments without guarantees, restricting jurisdiction to overseas locations is not likely to go down smoothly in the Parliament.

The official said that the government is trying to work around the issues that the company has raised.

Meanwhile, India has allowed import of vaccines approved by United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Japan's Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) and Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Vaccines on the emergency use list of World Health Organisation will also be allowed.

Niti Aayog member VK Paul said during a press briefing on May 27 that they are engaged in talks with Pfizer because they have indicated availability of a certain volume of vaccines in the coming months, possibly in July.

Also read: India, Pfizer seek to resolve dispute over COVID-19 vaccine indemnity

Also read: Pfizer, Moderna, Serum & the indemnity issue; what is it and what it means for India?
The Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda has started investigations into the alleged abduction of absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi to neighbouring Dominica on a complaint filed by his lawyers, Prime Minister Gaston Browne told a local media outlet. Browne said that Choksi's lawyers gave the names of people involved in the alleged abduction to the police commissioner in a complaint, the Antigua News Room reported.

The Antigua and Barbuda prime minister also said that if the claims are true, then it is a serious matter. Browne said police are taking the complaint seriously, the report said.

"Choksi has filed a complaint with the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda to the extant that he was abducted. He made a formal claim through his attorneys that he was abducted from Antigua and taken to Dominica so it is a report that police is taking seriously and they are currently investigating the abduction," Browne said.

Another report in the Associates Times poked holes in the theory of Dominica opposition leader Lennox Linton, who had reportedly claimed that Choksi was brought to Dominica in the Yacht Calliope of Arne around 10 pm on May 23.

The family of Choksi had claimed that he was in Antigua till 5 pm on May 23 which makes it impossible to cover a 120-mile distance in four to five hours, which approximately takes about 12-13 hours, the publication said.

The report said that according to Customs document, the boat had left Antigua at 10 am on May 23, whereas Choksi's domestic staff had said that he was in his residence till 5 pm which indicates that Choksi did not travel by the boat which Linton is claiming. It quoted unnamed doctors of the Dominica China Friendship Hospital, where Choksi is admitted, that a nail injury cited by his lawyers is an old one while other bruises could be new and could have been caused by even by a "slight push".

Choksi had mysteriously gone missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda where he has been staying since 2018 as a citizen. He was detained in the neighbouring island country, Dominica, for illegal entry after a possible romantic escapade with his rumoured girlfriend.

His lawyers alleged that he was kidnapped from Jolly Harbour in Antigua by policemen looking Antiguan and Indian and brought to Dominica on a boat.

Choksi was brought before a Roseau magistrate, on the orders of the Dominica high court, to answer charges of illegal entry where he pleaded not guilty but was denied bail.

He was admitted in the Dominica China Friendship Hospital. The Dominica High Court has adjourned the hearing of the habeas corpus petition filed by his lawyers.

Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi had fled India in the first week of January 2018 weeks before Rs 13,500 crore scam in Punjab National Bank (PNB) rocked the Indian banking industry. The duo allegedly bribed the officials of the state-run bank to get Letters of Undertaking (LoU) on the basis of which they availed from overseas banks which remained unpaid. The allegedly corrupt officials did not enter these LoUs in the core banking software of PNB, thus evading any scrutiny. The non-payment of these LoUs or bank guarantees worth Rs 13,500 crore resulted in default and became a liability on bank.

Modi escaped to Europe and was finally held in London where he is contesting his extradition to India while Choksi took citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 where he had been staying since his escape from Delhi.

Also read: Qatar Airways' private jet sent by India to get Mehul Choksi leaves Dominica
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation announced that private hospitals in the country can add a maximum of Rs 150 service charge to the Covid-19 vaccine price. He also said the Centre will provide free vaccines to the states for all citizens above the age of 18 years, starting June 21.

"The private hospitals may charge up to a maximum of Rupees 150 per dose as service charges. State governments may monitor the price being so charged," said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in a letter to all states and union territories.

The government has set the maximum price private hospitals can charge for the three COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the country -- Covishield Rs 780 per dose, Covaxin Rs 1,410 and Sputnik V Rs 1,145.

MoHFW suggested that appropriate strict action be taken against private vaccination centres for overcharging.

The maximum price of Covishield for private COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs) has been fixed at Rs 780 per dose, while that of Covaxin is Rs 1,410 per dose and Sputnik V Rs 1,145 per dose, it said.

MoHFW also asked states to ensure that the prices declared by various private CVCs do not exceed the ceiling.

The Health Ministry also requested states and union territories to regularly monitor the prices being charged by the private CVCs from the citizens.

"It is also requested that wherever instances of overcharging as compared to the price declared by the CVC come to notice, appropriate strict action is taken against any such private CVCs," it added.
China has authorised the emergency use of CoronaVac, a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Chinese firm Sinovac, for children aged between 3 and 17 years, Sinovac Chairman Yin Weidong said.

"But when the vaccine will be put into (emergency) use, and starting from what age in the group has yet to be decided," he was quoted as saying by the state-run Global Times on Sunday.

Sinovac has finished the Phase I and II clinical research stage, involving several hundred volunteers in this age group, which has proved that the vaccine is as safe and efficient as it is for adults, Yin told China Central Television in an interview on Friday.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has granted approval on June 1 to China's second COVID-19 vaccine, Sinovac, which was expected to strengthen China's vaccine diplomacy.

Earlier, WHO granted a similar approval to China's Sinopharm. Besides administering the vaccines at home, China has been donating and exporting the vaccines to number of countries as part of its vaccine diplomacy.

China's National Health Commission said on Sunday that over 763 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered across China so far.

For its part, China has approved about five of its vaccines for emergency use.

China has offered 10 million vaccine doses to COVAX facility which is WHO backed initiative to provide vaccines to developing countries.

Also read: Coronavirus mutates over 30 times in HIV positive woman with COVID-19 infection
Over 200 world leaders, including former presidents, prime ministers and ministers have backed a campaign urging the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations to help vaccinate the world's poorest from low-income economies against COVID-19 by paying two-thirds of an estimated USD 66 billion required.

A letter, seen by the Guardian' newspaper ahead of the G7 summit to be hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Cornwall from this Friday, warns that the leaders of the UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada must make 2021 a turning point in global cooperation because fewer than 2 per cent of people in sub-Saharan Africa have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

It is the first time the G7 leaders are meeting since the start of the pandemic. The three-day summit will cover a range of issues, with a particular focus on how the group can lead the global recovery from coronavirus.

The letter, whose signatories include former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, argues the investment needed is affordable for the world's richest economies and vital to stopping the spread of new coronavirus variants that could undermine current vaccines.

The year 2020 witnessed a failure of global cooperation, but 2021 can usher in a new era. No one anywhere is safe from COVID-19 until everyone is safe everywhere, reads the letter.

Support from the G7 and G20 that makes vaccines readily accessible to low and middle-income countries is not an act of charity, but rather is in every country's strategic interest, and as described by the IMF [International Monetary Fund] is the best public investment in history', it notes.

According to the British newspaper, prominent figures who have signed the letter include former UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon, former Irish President Mary Robinson and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and 15 former African leaders.

Other signatories include the UK's former overseas development minister Lynda Chalker, Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, and the economist Lord O'Neill.

They say that polling suggests the public backs the concept, with a survey commissioned by Save the Children revealing that 79 per cent of people in the UK who have a view think the G7 should pay to make the world safe.

An estimated USD 66 billion over two years is needed for the global vaccine effort. The former leaders say the G7 should pay two-thirds of the cost, according to the size of their economies.

For the G7 to pay is not charity, it is self-protection to stop the disease spreading, mutating and returning to threaten all of us, said Gordon Brown.

Costing just 30p (pence) per person per week in the UK, is a small price to pay for the best insurance policy in the world. Savings from vaccination are set to reach around USD 9 trillion by 2025, he said.

Over the weekend, Boris Johnson said he would ask his G7 counterparts at the G7 summit to rise to the greatest challenge of the post-war era by vaccinating the world by the end of next year . While there are no details on funding or dose-sharing yet, Downing Street said the UK will be laying out details of its contribution to global vaccination as part of its presidency of the G7 Summit.

India has been invited as a guest country to the three-day event, scheduled between Friday and Sunday, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to join discussions on health and climate change virtually.

The coronavirus has claimed over 3,730,500 lives, along with more than 173,360,900 cases of confirmed infections across the world, according to Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker.

Also Read: G7 deal for minimum 15% global corporate tax to benefit India: Experts
Popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin fell to $36,279.11 as China blocked various accounts related to cryptocurrency on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform, with a message reading 'each account "violates laws and rules"' but recovered slightly on Monday. Bitcoin traded at $35.946.06 on Sunday (June 6) midnight.

One of the crypto commentators or key opinion leader (KOL) who got blocked was known as "Woman Dr. bitcoin mini". Her last post on Weibo was, "It's a Judgment Day for crypto KOL".

China's Supreme Court is likely to publish a judicial interpretation to link illegal crypto activities with the Chinese criminal law, according to NYU Law School's adjunct professor Winston Ma.

Ma, who has authored the book 'The Digital War' also told Reuters these laws are likely since the Chinese government is in no mood to allow "Chinese Elon Musk" to exist in the Chinese crypto market. Bitcoin has been unpredictable due to the uncertainty surrounding the Chinese regulations around the digital currency.

"Uncertainty about China crypto regulations are still a headwind," head of over-the-counter and institutional sales at crypto derivatives exchange Jonathan Cheeseman FTX said. "So far it's been pretty piecemeal, focusing on mining, new issuance, and retail influencers, "Cheeseman added.

Chinese news agency Xinhua has also stepped up its reportage against the digital currency. China's state broadcaster CCTV also mentioned since crypto is a lightly regulated asset, it can often be used for purposes of black market trade, money laundering, arms smuggling, gambling and drug dealings.

Bitcoin was on a furious rising spree since the beginning of the year surging to almost $65,000 amid endorsement by Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk and many other investors like Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller. Since then, the digital currency has fallen by more than $25,000 and is currently trading at $36, 279.11.

Edited by Mehak Agarwal; with agency inputs

Also read: Gold rebounds from over two-week low as US non-farm payrolls fall short of expectations
Share of DHFL hit a 10 per cent upper circuit at Rs 20.8 in early trade on BSE today after the company posted earnings for the quarter ended March 2021 ahead of a final verdict in the insolvency case.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved Piramal Group's overall resolution plan for Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL) today.

In January, Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Ltd, a subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises Limited, had won a bid for acquiring DHFL. Piramal made Rs 37,250-crore bid to acquire the housing finance company.

The resolution plan had received approvals from RBI in February 2021 and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in April 2021.

Last year, Wadhawan had made his settlement offer to the CoC which was rejected due to lack of credibility and the valuations attached to the proposed asset sales. In the plan, Wadhawan had proposed to repay lenders by selling assets.

On May 25, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) stayed an order passed by the Mumbai bench of NCLT asking the lenders of bankrupt Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) to consider the resolution plan of the company's former promoter Kapil Wadhawan.

NCLAT's final order is pending on this matter.

The stock has gained 43 per cent in the last 12 months. It stands higher than 5 day, 10 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day, and 200 day moving averages. Market cap of the firm rose to Rs 652.75 crore on BSE.

The NCLAT has asked the company's Committee of Creditors (CoC) to consider giving more money to small fixed deposit (FD) holders.

"We are not remanding the plan back to CoC; we respect their commercial wisdom," it said.

DHFL is currently being run under an administrator appointed by the RBI in November 2019. It is the first finance company to be referred to the NCLT by the RBI.

DHFL had gone bankrupt with more than Rs 90,000 crore in debt to various lenders, including banks, mutual funds and individual investors who kept fixed deposits with the company.

The lenders of the company classified the account as a fraud on alleged fund diversion by promoters Kapil Wadhawan and his brother Dheeraj Wadhawan.

The company posted a profit of Rs 96.75 crore in the January-March quarter. It had posted a net loss of Rs 7,507.01 crore in the year-ago quarter, while it reported a loss of Rs 13,095.38 crore in the October-December quarter of 2020.

It also reported a widening of its FY21 consolidated net loss to Rs 15,051.17 crore as compared with a loss of Rs 13,426.85 crore in FY20.

Total income declined to Rs 8,802.79 crore in FY21 from Rs 9,578.85 crore in FY20.

DHFL said it did not make any provision for interest on borrowings amounting to Rs 1,912.13 crore and Rs 7,651.55 crore for the quarter and year ended March 31, respectively, because of the company's corporate insolvency process.
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COVID-19 Delta variant, first identified in India, 40% more transmissible: UK Health Minister

The Delta variant of coronavirus, or the B1.617.2 variant first identified in India, is about 40 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha or so-called Kent variant of concern, making unlocking plans set for June 21 more difficult, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday. Hancock attributed the recent rise in coronavirus infections in the country to the spread of Delta variant.

CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine for children above 3 years approved in China

China has authorised the emergency use of CoronaVac, a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Chinese firm Sinovac, for children aged between 3 and 17 years, Sinovac Chairman Yin Weidong said. Sinovac has finished the Phase I and II clinical research stage, involving several hundred volunteers in this age group, which has proved that the vaccine is as safe and efficient as it is for adults

UK PM Boris Johnson urges G7 to vaccinate world by end of 2022

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday called for leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations to make a commitment to vaccinate the entire world against COVID-19 by the end of 2022 when they meet in Britain next week. Johnson will host the first in-person summit in almost two years of G7 leaders.

Paytm to lend Rs 743 crore to two Vijay Shekhar Sharma companies ahead of IPO

One97 Communications Ltd, parent company of online payments app Paytm is set to extend Rs 743 crore funding to two companies owned by founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. This development comes ahead of the $3 billion IPO planned later this year. The proposal will be put to vote at the company's annual meeting on June 30.

G7 deal for minimum 15% global corporate tax to benefit India: Experts

The historic pact inked by G7, a group of the world's richest nations, to back a minimum global corporation tax rate of at least 15 per cent will benefit India as the effective domestic tax rate is above the threshold, and the country would continue to attract investment, as per tax experts. The Group of Seven on Saturday reached a landmark deal to close cross-border tax loopholes used by some of the world's biggest companies

New drug for COVID-19 treatment? CSIR, Laxai Life begin phase II trials for Niclosamide

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in collaboration with Hyderabad-based Laxai Life Sciences Pvt Ltd, has initiated phase II clinical trials of anti-helminitic drug Niclosamide for treatment of COVID-19. Niclosamide has been extensively used in the past for treatment of tapeworm infection in adults as well as children.
The RBI on Monday imposed penalty aggregating to Rs 6 crore on Bank of India and Punjab National Bank for contravention of norms, including one related to "Frauds - Classification and Reporting". A penalty of Rs 4 crore has been imposed on Bank of India and Rs 2 crore on Punjab National Bank.

In a statement, the RBI said the statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (lSE) of Bank of India was conducted with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2019.

The bank had also conducted a review and submitted a Fraud Monitoring Report (FMR) dated January 1, 2019 pertaining to detection of fraud in an account.

Examination of the risk assessment report pertaining to the ISE and the FMR revealed non-compliance with/contravention of directions, viz., breach of stipulated transaction limits; delay in transfer of unclaimed balances to DEA Fund; delay in reporting a fraud to RBI and sale of a fraudulent asset, the statement said.

In a separate statement, the Reserve Bank said the statutory ISE of Punjab National Bank was conducted with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2018 (ISE 2018) and March 31, 2019 (ISE 2019).

The examination of the risk assessment reports pertaining to ISE 2018 and 2019 revealed non-compliance with/contravention of the aforesaid directions, viz., delay in reporting of frauds and not ensuring data accuracy and integrity while submitting data on CRILC platform/ to RBI, it said.

In both cases, notices were issued to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on them for such violations of the directions.

The RBI, however, added that the penalties have been imposed based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and are not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into them with their customers.

Also Read: Centre to procure 75% COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturers, 25% available for pvt players: PM Modi
Highlights Microsoft is set to launch the new Windows at the June 24 event.

It is very likely that this will be Windows 11 that will feature visual overhaul.

Microsoft's Satya Nadella and Panos Panay will present at the event.

Microsoft's upcoming event on June 24 will be all about the next-generation Windows. Although the software giant has not revealed what this upcoming version of Windows is going to be, it looks like the days of Windows 10 will soon be over. Everything available as evidence points to Windows 11, which will replace the long-running Windows 10 as the new platform for PCs. Microsoft has already teased that the next Windows will be visually better and rid of the Windows 95-era icons, but besides the visual overhaul, the next Windows is going to be important as software for the next-generation devices.

Back when Windows 10 arrived, Microsoft said it would not upgrade the Windows version anymore. However, instead, it would change the elements of the operating system to make it up-to-date. And even though Microsoft has not confirmed yet that the next-generation Windows will bring an end to Windows 10, there are certain hints to pick. For example, Microsoft's June 24 event will kick off at 11 am ET. If this does not give you a hint that the next OS could be Windows 11, you cannot ignore the fact that there is no time conversion for the PT zone. This event is going to be an important one, given both Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and chief product officer Panos Panay will be presenting it.

Nadella previously created the hype around this next generation of Windows by saying that it is going to be the biggest update to Windows in more than a decade. A lot of focus was on developers and creators that are going to find this upcoming version of Windows a lot more productive. Although the specifics are not available, Nadella may be hinting at better compatibility for various formats, support for more advanced technologies and access to tools that creators mostly find useful. Whatever is in the pipeline for Windows 11, rumours suggest that it will be available under Sun Valley, a codename for the update that has been doing rounds on the internet for quite some time.

Sun Valley will bring an overhauled Microsoft Store with probably better design, support for more app structures, and third-party payments systems. And if Microsoft is actually trying to take on Apple, according to the current discourse, it may even lower the commission on purchases made through the Microsoft Store. There may be support for more Android apps that will run on Windows without the need for emulators, alongside support for big-time apps such as Google Chrome that you cannot find in the Microsoft Store right now.

Functionality-wise, Windows 11 is going to take inspiration from Windows 10X, which Microsoft killed last month. Windows 10X was going to be a platform meant for dual-screen devices, such as the Microsoft Surface Neo, but later, the company changed the focus of the OS to support only single-screen laptops. And now that it is cancelled, Microsoft confirmed it is going to use its learnings from Windows 10X and implement them in the next generation of Windows. This means we can see Windows 11-powered foldables and devices with unconventional form factors.

Windows 11 will probably be out by fall this year, typically following the Windows version rollout schedule from the past.
Agendia, Inc., a world leader in precision oncology for breast cancer, today announced that data from the landmark MINDACT study will be shared at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in an oral presentation. The presentation will detail an additional risk threshold previously established within the MammaPrint Low Risk category, identifying patients with an Ultra Low Risk of distant recurrence, essentially meaning the patients tumor is very unlikely to recur or metastasize over at least 20 years of follow-up, according to prior studies. This information could be helpful in further tailoring adjuvant treatment for patients with early stage breast cancer.

In the oral presentation, titled Outcome of patients with an ultralow risk 70-gene signature in the MINDACT trial, Josephine Lopes Cardozo, MD, first author of the abstract, PhD Candidate at the Netherlands Cancer Institute and fellow at the EORTC, will outline that in the MINDACT study, patients with an UltraLow Risk signature have an excellent prognosis, with 8-year breast cancer specific survival above 99% regardless of clinical risk status, and an 8-year distant metastasis free interval of 97%. The presentation, part of ASCO 2021s Breast Cancer track, can be accessed here.

The Ultra Low threshold identifies patients who may be candidates for further de-escalation of treatment, said Dr. Lopes Cardozo. To give the patients care team this kind of prognostic insight at the time of diagnosis will hopefully allow for many patients to avoid over treatment and further reduce the risk of side effects while maintaining excellent survival.

The MINDACT trial, an independent, phase III, prospective, randomized clinical trial sponsored by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), was conducted with the primary goal of determining whether Agendias 70-gene MammaPrint test could be used to de-escalate clinically high risk patients with early stage breast cancer from chemotherapy treatment. The study enrolled nearly 7,000 patients with newly-diagnosed breast cancer, and at median long-term follow-up of 8.7 years, 46% of clinically high risk patients with a MammaPrint Low Risk result could forgo chemotherapy without negatively affecting their outcomes. These data were recently published in The Lancet Oncology.

The current study to be presented at ASCO focuses on the clinical characteristics and outcomes of the 1,000 women with a MammaPrint Ultra Low risk status enrolled in MINDACT. Consistent with three prior studies presented since 2017, these data show a nearly 100% breast cancer specific survival at 8 years, with 5 years of anti-estrogen therapy, and excellent outcomes (97.8% DMFI) for the 157 Ultra Low Risk women who received no systemic therapy.

The confirmation of the clinical importance and excellent prognosis of the MammaPrint Ultra Low Risk category provides further support for the inclusion of this information in the management of endocrine therapy, particularly for those women experiencing severe side effects, and struggling to remain on their prescribed treatment, said William Audeh, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Agendia. We are extremely proud to have contributed to the EORTCs MINDACT study, which has influenced the clinical treatment of patients and will inspire ongoing translational research that will contribute to the library of data we need to personalize the treatment of breast cancer.

Beyond answering the traditional adjuvant chemotherapy question, the MINDACT study continues to produce a wealth of insights with immediately meaningful clinical implications and access to an unprecedented full genome dataset for further research, resulting in widespread health system cost savings.

At ASCO 2021, Agendia also presented a larger suite of data from the companys groundbreaking FLEX registry, a large-scale, prospective, observational breast cancer study using whole transcriptome sequencing, recruiting patients from various ethnicities, ages and genders representative of the total breast cancer population as part of an ongoing effort to increase representation of diverse populations and data in clinical trials.

About Agendia

Agendia is a precision oncology company headquartered in Irvine, California, committed to bringing patients with early stage breast cancer and their physicians the information they need to make the best decisions for the full treatment journey. The company currently offers two commercially-available genomic profiling tests, supported by the highest levels of clinical and real world evidence, that provide comprehensive genomic information that can be used to identify the most effective breast cancer treatment possible for each patient.

MammaPrint, the 70-gene breast cancer recurrence assay, is the only FDA-cleared risk of recurrence test backed by peer-reviewed, prospective outcome data and inclusion in both national and international treatment guidelines. BluePrint, the 80-gene molecular subtyping assay, is the only commercially-available test that evaluates the underlying biology of a tumor to determine what is driving its growth. Together, MammaPrint and BluePrint provide a comprehensive genomic profile to help physicians make more informed decisions in the pre- and post-operative treatment settings.

Agendia develops evidence-based novel genomic tests and forges partnerships with groundbreaking companies to develop next-generation digital treatment tools. The ongoing research builds an arsenal of data that improve patient outcomes and support the evolving clinical needs of patients with breast cancer and their physicians every step of the way, from initial diagnosis to cancer-free.

Agendias assays can be ordered on core biopsies or surgical specimens to inform pre- and post-operative treatment decisions. For more information on Agendias assays and ongoing trials, please visit www.agendia.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210605005013/en/
Angel Broking

News Summary

Continuing on its record-breaking spree in the broking industry, Fintech broker Angel Broking has now surpassed its own record in terms of monthly client acquisition. The fintech broker has reported the acquisition of 0.43 million clients in May 2021, ~13% higher than its previous record of 0.38 million clients in March 2021. This is also 298.2% higher vis-a-vis the year-ago period.
Visa (NYSE:V) today announced a global strategic partnership with Goldman Sachs Transaction Banking to help businesses  large to small  move money effortlessly around the world.

Through its implementation of Visa B2B Connect and Visa Direct Payouts solutions, Goldman Sachs will help its commercial and corporate banking clients simplify complexities and costs associated with existing systems and inefficient processes. These solutions will enhance Goldmans cross-border business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) payments program for high and low value payments. Goldman Sachss corporate clients can move funds quickly and securely, have near real-time visibility into their payment status, obtain necessary reconciliation and compliance data, ultimately helping improve organizations cash flow.

There is an immediate need for modernization of global money movement to help businesses around the world simplify and enhance how they pay and get paid across borders, said Alan Koenigsberg, global head of new payment flows, Visa Business Solutions. Visas partnership with Goldman Sachs Transaction Banking is an important milestone in our efforts to break down traditional processes and silos and help spur innovation in this critical industry segment for the decades to come.

Goldman Sachs Transaction Banking clients can begin using Visas solutions right away through their existing connections, whether that be API, file or online web platform.

For high-value cross-border B2B payments, Goldman Sachs will leverage Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral B2B cross-border payments network, available in 97 markets globally, to help optimize payments for its corporate client base. Built from the ground up, Visa B2B Connect is designed to shorten time spent on cross-border corporate payments by facilitating transactions from the bank of origin directly to the beneficiary bank, helping significantly streamline settlement. The platform helps increase visibility and predictability into the transaction flow, giving Goldman Sachs clients an opportunity to track the status of payments from the originator bank to the destination bank in near real time, while improving transaction accuracy and simplifying the reconciliation process.

With Visa Direct Payouts capabilities, Goldman Sachs will bring push-to-account functionality for lower value, high volume cross-border Business-to-Small-Business (B2SB) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) payouts, eliminating complexities often associated with businesses having to manage multiple networks and intermediaries worldwide. Through a single connection to billions of endpoints in over 90 markets, Visa Direct Payouts expands the payment options Goldman Sachs can offer to its corporate clients.

We believe paying someone halfway around the world should be just as easy as paying someone around the corner, said Eduardo Vergara, global head of Transaction Banking Product and Sales at Goldman Sachs. We are proud to partner with Visa to introduce fast and easy ways our clients can make payments across the globe.

Goldman Sachs Transaction Banking clients will benefit from this partnership in numerous ways:

One simple workflow for all payment types

Start using Visa services right away, with no changes to existing setup

Additional payout options for high and low value payments

Fee optimization

Comprehensive information reporting for easy reconciliation

Visit Visa Direct Payouts and Visa B2B Connect to learn more how Visa helps its clients and partners move money globally.

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the worlds leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The companys relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.

About Goldman Sachs

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world.

About Goldman Sachs Transaction Banking

Goldman Sachs Transaction Banking, through Goldman Sachs Bank USA, is a modern, digital-first, and cloud-based business helping clients build the future of their Treasury. The business combines the strength, heritage, and expertise of a 150-year-old firm with the agility and entrepreneurial spirit of a tech start-up.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005119/en/
Heres todays ranking of the top 10 most-read domestic stories in China, in economics, finance and current affairs. We want to help you get a sense of whats trending in the Chinese language sphere.

Internet users are showing great interest in a 17-year-old girl in the central city of Wuhan who was arrested for alleged drug trafficking but remanded on bail to take this years gaokao, which set a new record of 10.78 million candidates. They are also concerned about a coal mine accident in northeastern China and a knife attack in eastern China, with the latter leading to six deaths and more than a dozen injuries.

1. A 17-year-old girl arrested for alleged drug trafficking granted bail for gaokao

A 17-year-old student in Wuhan, Central Chinas Hubei province, who was arrested Friday for alleged drug trafficking, has been remanded on bail to take this years national college entrance exam, or gaokao, her lawyer said (external source, in Chinese).

2. Beijing responds to the case of an imported Covid-19 patient from Taipei

Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the central governments Taiwan Affairs Office, said (external souce, in Chinese) that mainland authorities have summoned representatives of Taiwanese Uni Air which allowed a traveler with a positive Covid-19 test result to arrive in Xiamen, Fujian province. Ma urged the airline to rectify and plug loopholes in its prevention and control work for Covid-19.

3. Beijing rewards three Good Samaritan volunteers with permanent residency status

Municipal authorities in Beijing said (external source, in Chinese) three people who committed acts of bravery have qualified for permanent residency in the city since the citys points-based settlement policy was launched in 2018.

4. Third dose of Sinovacs vaccine can increase antibody response tenfold, chairman says

Yin Weidong, chairman and CEO of Sinovac Biotech Ltd., told the national broadcaster CCTV (external source, in Chinese) Saturday that the company recently completed a phase II clinical trial of its inactivated vaccine. The trial found that when volunteers received a third vaccine dose three to six months after the first two doses, their antibody count jumped tenfold in a week and twenty-fold in half a month, Yin said.

5. China clears Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use on children above three

China authorized the emergency use of Sinovacs coronavirus vaccine for children, becoming the first major country to grant approval for those as young as three.

6. Eight missing miners in a coal mine accident in Heilongjiang found alive

Eight people who went missing on Saturday following an incident at a coal mine in Jixi, Northeast Chinas Heilongjiang province, have been rescued, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported (external source, in Chinese).

7. A knife-wielding man kills six in eastern China

A man armed with a knife has killed six people and injured 14 others in Anqing, East Chinas Anhui province. An investigation found the 25-year-old suspect surnamed Wu committed the killings because of family troubles and pessimism, local police said (external source, in Chinese). He was detained by police.

8. ByteDance says six of its products were banned by Tencent over the past three years

Chinas tech giant ByteDance Ltd. released a report Friday, saying (external source, in Chinese) that Tencent Holdings Ltd. banned six of its products over the past three years, which affected more than 1 billion users. Due to the restrictions, more than 49 million people had problems sharing Douyin videos via their WeChat or QQ acount, according to the report.

9. China to formally establish its first batch of national parks

China will formally establish its first batch of national parks this year, as pilot work has achieved initial results since its launch in 2015, a spokesperson for the National Park Administration said (external source, in Chinese) on Saturday, which was also World Environment Day.

10. Chinas brain-computer interface technology can catch up with Elon Musks in five years, Chinese expert says

Pu Muming, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said during a forum (external source, in Chinese) Thursday that the gap between the development of brain-computer interface (BCI) in China and the U.S. is five to 10 years. Although much efforts to develop closed-loop human BCI are still needed, I believe we can catch up with Elon Musk in five years, Pu said.

Read the top 10 global news on the same day.

Translated by reporter Wang Xintong.

The daily ranking of most read news stories among Chinese people, about China and global affairs, is jointly provided to you by Caixin Insight and HANA Data, an artificial intelligence technology team.

The key indicators calculated on the list are based on mass data sourced from Chinas mainstream social media platforms and online news websites. Click here for a detailed introduction of our methodology.
Heres todays ranking of the 10 most-read international stories in China that weve compiled to help you get a sense of whats trending in the Chinese language sphere.

Chinese netizens have been sensitive to the Covid-19 virus surge in Taiwan where vaccines are urgently needed. They are also interested in the U.S. President Joe Bidens new round of effort to blacklist Chinese companies.

1.Apple fined about $2 million in Brazil for selling iPhone without a power adapter

2.Taiwan reports a surge in the number of passengers flying to the U.S. to get Covid-19 vaccines

3.Global prices of coffee and tea rise significantly this year, data from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization shows

4.Chinese foreign ministry condemns the U.S. for blacklisting Chinese companies

5.NASA to launch 128 baby squid to the international space station as part of a study investigating the relationship between bacteria and their animal hosts

6.The Chinese womens volleyball team lose to Belgium 3-2

7.Former U.S. President Donald Trump says during a fundraising speech that he will take back the White House sooner than you think

8.Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko says Minsk intends to abandon European and American techonology in response to Western countries sanctions against Belarus

9.Chinas Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine approved for emergency use in Nepal

10.Bill Gates and Warren Buffett plan to build a new nuclear reactor which TerraPower said last year would cost about $1 billion

Read the top 10 domestic news on the same day.

Translated by reporter Wang Xintong.

The daily ranking of most read news stories among Chinese people, about China and global affairs, is jointly provided to you by Caixin Insight and HANA Data, an artificial intelligence technology team.

The key indicators calculated on the list are based on mass data sourced from Chinas mainstream social media platforms and online news websites. Click here for a detailed introduction of our methodology.
China Youran Dairy Group Ltd., a spinoff of dairy giant Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., is seeking to raise as much as HK$6.2 billion ($799 million) in a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO).

The company and private equity firm PAG are selling 715 million shares at a suggested offering price range of HK$6.98 to HK$8.66 a share, 10% of which would be sold in Hong Kong and 90% globally, according to a prospectus filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Investors can order shares starting Monday, and the offering is expected to be priced June 10. The stock is set to begin trading June 18.

At the high end of the suggested offering price range, the dairy company would be valued at HK$32.87 billion, compared with about HK$13.2 billion for its main rival China Modern Dairy Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of China Mengniu Dairy Co.

At the high end of the expected offering price, Youran Dairy would have a 17.7 price-to-earnings ratio, the highest among Hong Kong-listed Chinese diary producers.

Hong Kongs new listings are tracking at a slow pace. The most recent offering, property manager Central China Management Co., dropped 12% on its debut last week, while the $3.2 billion IPO of JD Logistics Inc., the warehouse and shipping arm of e-commerce giant JD.com Inc., priced toward the lower end of its marketed range last month.

Youran Dairys share sale attracted two cornerstone investors, Citic Prudential and Harvest Private Wealth, which agreed to subscribe for about HK$388 million of shares, based on the mid-point of the price range, the prospectus shows.

The company plans to use 75% of the proceeds for investment projects in the next two years, including ongoing construction and new pastures; 15% will be used to purchase cows; and the rest will be for general business purposes.

Founded in 1984, Youran Dairy produces and sells fresh milk and engages in related animal farming activities in Inner Mongolia. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Yili until Hong Kong-based private equity firm PAG invested in 2015.

PAG holds 42.9% and Yili 40% of the business. After the IPO, PAGs stake will be reduced to 31.5%, and Yilis to 34.8%. PAG also owns convertible debt of the company. If converted, it would own 40% of the company, leaving it the controlling shareholder.

Youran Dairy recorded a net profit of 1.54 billion yuan ($241 million) in 2020, up from 801.9 million yuan in the previous year, according to its prospectus. Yili is its biggest client, contributing about 57% of revenue last year.

Huatai International and Credit Suisse Group AG are joint sponsors for the listing.

Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)

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The first-day gain was the eighth biggest of the year on a U.S. exchange, out of more than 450 listings of $100 million or more

Jun 12, 2021 01:02 PM
Here you'll find our latest collection of Caledonian-Record reports on the coronavirus outbreak and local response, from the beginning of April. Our January, February and March stories are here: https://www.caledonianrecord.com/news/local/our-coronavirus-coverage/collection_5885178c-692e-11e
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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- GAC AION, the BEV (battery electric vehicle)-focused wholly-owned subsidiary of GAC Group, announced it delivered 10,395 new vehicles in May 2021, representing a robust year-on-year leap of 154% and for the first time recording monthly deliveries of over 10,000 units.



Aion S; photo credit: GAC Aion



The BEV manufacturer currently owns four mass-produced models for sale, namely the AION S, the AION LX, the AION V, and the AION Y. The 100,000th AION S rolled off the assembly line in early May, only two years after the model hitting the market in late April 2019.

As the first production model of the AION series, the AION S is built on the GAC Electric Platform (GEP) 2.0. Its refreshed model made its first appearance at the Auto Shanghai 2021. The new AION S gets power from the combined effort of a ternary-lithium battery pack that enables a NEDC-rated range of 510km and a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) that pumps out up to 150kW and 350 Nm. It will vie with such models as the BYD Qin PLUS EV and the Geely Geometry A Pro.

AION S Plus; photo credit: GAC Aion



To shore up a sustained sales growth, GAC Aion is moving faster on improving its product portfolio. GAC Aion unveiled on June 3 the images of the Aion S Plus, which will features upgrades in sizes and power performance over the existing model. The company said the new model will carry the DNA of the ENO.146, the concept unveiled at the Auto Shanghai 2021 and boasting the lowest drag coefficient of any four-door sedan at 0.146Cd.
News at 4Cs

Cape Cod Community College to Host Live Pinning Ceremony for 2021 Nursing Graduates

Cape Cod Community College will celebrate the 2021 graduates from their Nursing program on Wednesday, June 9 at 6:00 p.m., during a live ceremony on campus in the Tilden Arts Center. While the event is closed to the public, a small number of friends and family members will be in attendance, following the relaxation on COVID-19 related guidelines by Governor Baker. The event will also be live streamed via YouTube.

Along with the pinning of graduates the event will also feature remarks from 4Cs President John Cox, Vice President Arlene Rodriguez, Faculty Speaker Cheryl Brennan and Student Speaker Emily Weston.

What: 4Cs Nursing Program Pinning Ceremony

When: Wednesday, June 9 at 6:00 p.m.

Where: Livestreaming on the 4Cs YouTube Channel

Who: graduating Nursing Program students, President John Cox, Vice President Arlene Rodriguez, Program Director Audrey Kilcoyn, Faculty Speaker Cheryl Brennan, Student Speaker Emily Weston
Do you have an athlete in mind that contributes to the team or sport, holds sportsmanship and team spirit, has epic playmaker moments and/or in general makes the the sports fun? If yes, please make your nominations for our edition of Athlete Spotlight.

CLICK TO NOMINATE
Boulder - Barbara Ann Keirana, of Boulder, Colo., passed away on May 12, 2021. She was 87 years old. An out of state celebration of her life will be held at a future date. Barbara's final resting place will be with her husband, Alan Keiran, at Ft. Logan Naional Cemetery in Denver. Howe Mortu
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Photo: LandQuest

As the B.C. real estate market continues to heat up and people start to look farther afield for property to invest in, one Lower Mainland real estate company is offering a rural escape that could see you be the owner of your own island.

From tiny parcels of land for $40,000 to semi-remote 10,000-acre cattle ranches, LandQuest Realty bills itself as "The Source' for Oceanfront, Lakefront, Islands, Ranches, Resorts & Land in British Columbia."

Among its listings is a two-and-a-half acre private island a few minutes from Saltery Bay on the Sunshine Coast, just 30 minutes from the town of Powell River.

Listed at $1,089,000, Dragonfly Island has what LandQuest is calling a small "starter cabin" and a dock, and more than enough room for a nicer, more permanent structure.

It has "panoramic seascapes" looking out onto Texada and other islands, as well as lots of trees, including one "beautiful gnarled mature Arbutus tree... found outcropping on the ledge of the south eastern tip bordering this site."

"Presenting various resourceful attributes, the Island's surroundings gift abundant oyster beds, clams, salmon, cod and prawn fishing," the listing adds.

In the heady atmosphere of Vancouver real estate, $1 million puts buyers in teardown territory, making this island an attractive option.
Last February, the Biden administration announced it was working with Australian company Ellume to provide more of its fully at-home COVID-19 quick tests to the United States. Andy Slavitt, White House COVID-19 senior adviser, said the Ellume test can detect COVID-19 with 95% accuracy within roughly 15 minutes.



North of the border, on CBC's Cross Country Checkup (April 25), global health professor Dr. Prabhat Jha said overall, rapid testing strategy in Canada has been a huge failure". He continued: We cant just vaccinate our way out of the pandemic. He said rapid testing should be expanded in hotspots such as schools and workplaces, and also be available in pharmacies.

Data showed most of the nearly 42 million rapid tests sent last year by the federal government to provinces and territories were still unused. Prime Minister Trudeau had suggested even two months previous that Ottawa may begin sending the rapid tests directly to pharmacies rather than see them go to waste.

On May 28, Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and assistant professor at the Faculty of Information (University of Toronto) was interviewed on CBC's Daybreak South. He said the rapid tests the government bought are high quality tests. "The overall usage rate has been about three per cent. In BC, it's actually been more like about one and a half per cent, so almost complete non-use, and I think this is a tragic missed opportunity to keep people safe."

Just a few days ago, on US television, I saw a commercial for the BinaxNOW COVID-19 Self Test, from Abbott Laboratories. According to their website, this rapid test is available over-the-counter at retailers across America. It is packaged with two tests per box so you can test yourself twice within 3 days.

Why the lack of rapid testing in Canada? Furness explains: "There are public health authorities, public health leaders who don't understand rapid tests, don't understand testing theory, who don't understand public health surveillance, who don't understand what this tool is really good for, and they point to flaws which aren't real, or aren't relevant. And the big problem is when governments are not hearing a clear, consistent message from public health leaders, they're not going to act, and I think that's the situation we have."

Many people think rapid tests produce false positives. Furness refutes that belief: "Rapid tests do not produce false positives. They just don't, and anyone in public health who says they do -- and there are people saying that -- are just flat-out wrong. They don't know their domain. They don't know their material, and they're misleading."

What about the "gold standard" PCR test? Furness: "So a PCR test will tell you if there's COVID in your body.... A rapid test will tell you if you are contagious. It will not tell you, necessarily, if you have just COVID in your body, so it answers the most important question, which is: 'Are you a risk to other people right now?' That's the question it answers, and it does it extremely well, close to 100 per cent."

Furness also said if we want to see a return to large gatherings and a fully operating economy, we need to do rapid testing at schools and for all high-risk occupations, such as restaurant servers. He works with a Toronto long-term care home that uses rapid tests daily on all workers and visitors. The BC Care Providers Association has also called for rapid testing at long-term care homes.

On June 9, the Kelowna-based Society for Learning in Retirement will be hosting a free 12 noon presentation & discussion with BC Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie on Zoom: "What Can be Done to Improve Long Term Care in B.C." Hosts: Donn Watt and Nan Shearing. If you are a retired senior and wish to attend, go to the SLR website for information on how to register.

From time to time we learn of yet another care home -- some in our city -- where one or more staff members and residents have contracted COVID-19.

Recent statistics show four in five of the over 25,000 Canadians who have died of COVID-19 were over the age of 70, and almost three in five were care home residents -- that's close to 15,000 of our citizens:



They say that you can judge a society by how it treats those who are the most vulnerable. How many of these residents would still be alive today if all care home workers and visitors had been rapid-tested daily?

As far as I know, every case of COVID-19 found in a BC care home originated with a staff member, never a visitor. Last December, Dr. Bonnie Henry said as much at a press briefing: visitors are not causing outbreaks, which are more often caused by staff unknowingly spreading the virus. If it wasn't for the fact that care home nurses, aides and other workers are in such short supply, I would hope the BC government would require a two-dose vaccination to be a condition of employment.

If you have a loved one who resides in a care home, ask the executive director: "What's the total number of staff members (including occasional workers/temps)? How many of the staff have refused the vaccine?"

This pandemic has also shown the need for national standards for things such as categories of worker salary, and the ratio of care workers to residents. There are even disparities within our own province. Read the 2020 report "A Billion Reasons to Care" on the Office of the BC Senior Advocate website.

Is it fair that a nurse or care aide receive five to six dollars less an hour, because they work in a for-profit care facility?

Is it fair to residents who live in a for-profit care facility, to receive on average, less one-on-one care hours per month than a resident who lives in a publicly-funded care facility?

Last November, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) called for national standards for long-term care facilities. Google the report: "A Higher Standard: Setting federal standards in long-term care and continuing care".



David Buckna, Kelowna
Photo: The Canadian Press London Police investigate the scene of a car crash in London, Ontario on Monday, June 7, 2021. Police in London, Ont., say four people have died after several pedestrians were struck by a car Sunday night. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins

A family of five Muslims out for an evening early summer stroll were mowed down by a driver in an "act of mass murder," the mayor of London, Ont., said on Monday.

The horrific incident on Sunday evening left four of them dead and a boy with serious injuries, police said.

"Words fail on a day as dark as this but words matter," Mayor Ed Holder said. "This was an act of mass murder perpetrated against Muslims, against Londoners, and rooted in unspeakable hatred."

A 20-year-old city man was arrested in the parking lot of a mall seven kilometres away. He now faces four counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder, police said.

Police Chief Steve Williams said relatives had asked no names be released but identified the four victims as a 74-year-old woman, a 46-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl. A nine-year-old boy was in hospital in serious condition.

"We believe that this was an intentional act and that the victims of this horrific incident were targeted  because of their Islamic faith," Williams said. "All of the victims in this matter are members of the same family."

Det. Supt. Paul Waight said the family was waiting to cross the road at an intersection on a dry clear day in the city's northwest end when a black pickup mounted the curb, struck them, then sped off.

Police identified the accused as Nathaniel Veltman.

One woman who witnessed the aftermath of the deadly crash said she couldn't stop thinking about the victims. Paige Martin said she was stopped at a red light around 8:30 p.m. when the large, pickup flew past her. She said her car shook from the force.

I was shaken up, thinking it was an erratic driver, Martin said.

Minutes later, she came upon a gruesome scene at an intersection near her home: First responders in full sprint, a police officer performing chest compressions on one person and three others down on the ground.

A few dozen people were on the sidewalk, and several drivers got out of their cars to help.

I cant get the sound of the screams out of my head, Martin said.

From her apartment, Martin said she could see the scene, watching an official drape a sheet over a body at about midnight.

Police said one woman died at the scene. The second woman, the man and the teen died in hospital. The child was expected to survive. Autopsies were scheduled for Tuesday.

Zahid Khan, a family friend, said the three generations of victims comprised the grandmother, father, mother and teenage daughter. The family had immigrated from Pakistan 14 years ago and were dedicated, decent and generous members of the London Muslim Mosque, he said.

They were just out for their walk that they would go out for everyday, Khan said through tears near the site of the crash. I just wanted to see.

Qazi Khalil said he saw the family last Thursday when they were out for their nightly walk. The families lived close to each other and would get together on holidays, he said.

This has totally destroyed me from the inside, Khalil said. I cant really come to the terms they were no longer here.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims said it was beyond horrified, saying Muslims in Canada have become all too familiar with the violence of Islamophobia.

"This is a terrorist attack on Canadian soil, and should be treated as such, said council head Mustafa Farooq. "We call on the government to prosecute the attacker to the fullest extent of the law, including considering terrorist charges."

Williams acknowledged the tragedy might stoke fear and anxiety, especially among Muslims or others targeted by hate.

"There is no tolerance in this community for individuals who, motivated by hate, target others with violence," Williams said.

About a dozen police officers searched the crash scene on Monday as they combed the area looking for evidence.

Blue markers on the ground dotted the intersection and officers were performing line searches for several hundred metres in the field next to the sidewalk.

Police were asking anyone with possible information about the incident to contact them.

Holder said flags would be lowered for three days.
As many others, my heart goes out to the survivors and their families. The thought of 215 children and the suffering they endured has me in tears. In 1963, as a boy of 13, I was sexually abused over three months, by a Catholic priest. Over the years with the help of SNAP (survivors network of people abused by priest ) I was able to trace the priest movements. The same priest who abused me worked in a residential school in Northern Ontario.

I have done extensive research into the sexual abuse carried out by the Catholic church in Canada and around the world. The priest in question was moved 27 times between 1958 and 1980. The Catholic cardinals, bishops and priests are all complicit in these crimes. They were aware of his actions and moved him to cover up his crimes. Yes I use the word crimes, because sexually abusing children is a crime. All of the children in these schools suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of these nuns and priests.

Further investigations into these schools across Canada I fear will bring more traffic news.

With my experiences and the work I have done with SNAP I want to add my voice to this. Some of the nuns and priests who committed these crimes are alive today. I am sure some of them are housed at SouthDown institute in East Gwillimbury Ontario. We should be searching these people out and bringing them to Justice . As well the cardinals and bishops be held responsible for covering up these crimes. Apologies are worthless, we should demand justice.

In 2015 the movie Spotlight that won the academy award for best picture. The movie documents the work done by the Boston Globe in exposing the sexual abuse carried out by the catholic church. The priest I mentioned was one of the priests whose crimes were covered up by the Cardinal of Boston. Remember the movie only focused on the church in Boston initially. Yet a priest in a school 1,227 km away in another country was involved. This is all on public record.

Jim DeLuca, Kelowna
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Catholic churches in Hong Kong reportedly received threats for holding a Eucharistic Celebration commemorating the Tianenmen Square Massacre last Friday.

According to The Christian Post, the Chinese Communist Party has threatened seven Catholic churches in Hong Kong for the Tiananmen Square commemoration Mass days before it was set on June 4. Threatening signages were posted on the said churches by groups believed to be pro-CCP.

The posters contained a photo of former Hong Kong Bishop Cardinal Joseph Zen and a warning that such a remembrance violates the National Security Law. The local authorities also banned the annual candlelight vigil set last Friday.

Despite the threats, Hong Kong's diocesan Justice and Peace Commission that their plans will push through. Thousands did come on Friday for the candlelight vigil where many were seen using phone flashlights to signify their unity in the commemoration.

The Telegraph reported that local police tried to put a stop in the candlelight vigil by arresting Hong Kong Alliance In Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China Vice Chairwoman Chow Hang Tung who organized the event. The police also arrested a food delivery man who participated in the "unauthorized assembly" by promoting it.

The Christian Post pointed out that the National Security Law has categorized crimes into: local terrorist activities, collaborating with foreign or external foreign forces that threatens national security, state power subversion, and succession. The law was said to have been implemented despite not being reviewed by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

Meanwhile, the Catholic News Service pointed out this year's remembrance of the Tiananmen Square Massacre was the first one banned ever since the National Security Law was put in place in Hong Kong. The police reasoned that the ban was due to social distancing rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"We believe that celebrating a Catholic Mass is a religious activity protected by our basic law. Under the current situation, we have to adhere to relevant policy, which includes current hygiene guidelines, so as long as we keep the church at 30% capacity, the Mass should be legal," Hong Kong Diocese Project Officer Porson Chan told the Catholic News Service in an interview.

"In our current situation, I think churches may be the only legal space to have such (events)," Chan added, pointing out that the seven churches are set to accommodate 2,500 people only following the guidelines and because they can not gather in Victoria Park like they used to.

Official records of the United Kingdom, as per BBC News, show that "at least 10,000 people" died in June 4, 1989 at the Tiananmen Square after simple protests turned out into a massacre by the Chinese army. China however reported that there were only "more than 1,000."

The National Geographic's documentary on the event said that pro-democracy students marched into Tiananmen Square in Beijing to demand from the Chinese government an increase in democratic rule. The protest began on June 3, 1989 after the death of Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang who was reported to liberalize Chinese politics and supported the pro-democracy students.

China responded by sending 200,000 troops and 100 tanks who opened fire to the protestors on June 4 and then hid the incident from the international community. Smuggled photographs on the event that leaked paved the way for the world to learn of China's crime, which the National Geographic said they never acknowledged nor apologized for until this day.
The Canadian Cement Association teams up with government to target net-zero carbon concrete

07 June 2021

A new the partnership has been made between the Canadian government and Canadas cement sector as represented by the Canadian Cement Association (CAC) to support the development and implementation of a 'Roadmap to Net-Zero-Carbon Concrete'.



This work is designed to provide Canadian cement and concrete industry with the technologies, tools and policy needed to achieve net-zero carbon concrete by 2050.

The roadmap, when completed in December 2021, is consistent with goals of Canada's strengthened climate plan, A Healthy Environment and Healthy Economy, as well as Budget 2021, which identify the cement sector as a key contributor to Canada's net-zero future.

The deal has the potential to reduce over 15Mt of GHGs cumulatively by 2030, and then ongoing reductions of over 4Mta.

The partnership will establish an industry-government working group, led by CAC, the National Research Council (NRC) and the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), in collaboration with Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED). The working group will be asked to:

 develop strategic objectives that will identify short and long-term actions to move towards building a low-carbon economy in the cement sector, including both federal government and industry activities that need to be put in place to drive change

 demonstrate the role of the cement and concrete industry in Canada's transition to a prosperous, resilient, and clean economy

 advance the commercialisation of low-carbon cement and concrete solutions and enhance the competitiveness of Canada's cement sector in a clean economy

 secure Canada's contribution toward the global ambition of net zero carbon concrete by 2050, including by establishing GHG reduction milestones for the sector and identifying supporting market and policy frameworks

 collect the data necessary to track progress against milestones

 support Canada's Directive on the Greening of Government and the Canada-US Greening of Government Initiative, with the aim of accelerating market demand for low-carbon cement and concrete

 support the ongoing collaborative work of the CAC and its members as well as federal, provincial and territorial governments to advance the objectives above.

The agreement was made by Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Cement Association of Canada (CAC) Chair, Marie Glenn, and Michael McSweeney, president and CEO.

Published under
Uzbekistan cement imports surge in 4M21

ICR Newsroom By 07 June 2021

Uzbekistan imported 1Mt of cement worth US$50.5m in the January-April 2021 period, more than doubling the year-ago volume of 515,100t, according to Trend reporting the latest data from the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan.



Kazakstan was the largest importer with 498,900t of cement, followed by Kyrgyzstan (278,500t) and Tajikistan (234,700t).



In March, the Uzbekistan government suspended the 30 per cent customs duty on cement imports until 1 October 2021. The suspension is expected to prevent the rise in building materials prices, particularly in view of the significant growth in construction expected in the coming months.



State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan had earlier reported that Uzbek cement companies had produced 2.2Mta in the first quarter of 2021 with producers in the Navoi region accounted for the largest share of this total  41 per cent. Cement companies in the Tashkent and Fergana regions accounted for 40.5 and 9.6 per cent, respectively.

Published under
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge reportedly sent a gift to Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan for Lilibet.

According to Us Weekly, Prince William and Duchess Catherine were informed about the birth and have sent Lilibet a gift.

The couple offered their congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after it was confirmed that in their second child was born in Santa Barbara on June 4.

The Duke and Duchess admitted they were "delighted" to hear the news that Harry and Meghan have become parents to a little girl, whose full name is Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

A tweet posted on the Kensington Royal official account read: "We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie."

While the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall shared on their page: "Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie on the arrival of baby Lilibet Diana. Wishing them all well at this special time."

Buckingham Palace issued a statement to reveal the Royal Family were thrilled to hear about the baby's arrival.

The statement released by the family read: "The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex."

The couple's happy news was confirmed on Sunday (06.06.21) by their spokesperson.

They said in a statement: "It is with great joy that Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, welcome their daughter, Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, to the world.Lili was born on Friday, June 4 at 11:40 a.m. in the trusted care of the doctors and staff at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Both mother and child are healthy and well, and settling in at home."
Chatham, VA (24531)

Today

Cloudy early with peeks of sunshine expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Chatham, VA (24531)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
One of the most famous personalities in Hollywood but relatively unknown in Tennessee is the late gentleman by the name of Clarence Leon Brown (1890-1987). Until recently he was also the largest financial contributor to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville having left a $12 million bequest at his death in 1987, contingent on the death of his fourth wife, Marian Spies.

Brown was born in Clinton, Massachusetts and at the age of 12 moved to Knoxville. After graduating from UTK with degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering, he initially worked for the Stevens-Duryea Automotive Company before forming the Brown Motor Car Company in Alabama. He then traveled to Fort Lee, New Jersey to serve as an assistant in the motion picture industry to French director Maurice Tourneur at the Peerless Studio in 1913.

After service as a flight instructor in World War I, he migrated to Hollywood and became a producer-director in the fledgling movie business during the silent film era with three non-talkies. In 1920 he co-directed the film, The Great Redeemer and The Last of the Mohicans starring Wallace Beery with his mentor Tourneur. When Maurice became ill, Brown took over and completed the Mohicans film.

His first solo internship starred actor John Gilbert, thus starting a movie career that ran from 1923-1952 with Brown receiving credit for 53 films as director, 28 credits as producer and 14 editor credits. He also performed as an actor in four films including Ben Hur in 1925 as a chariot race spectator.

Brown was a favorite director of the top female actresses of the era at MGM having directed Joan Crawford six times and Greta Garbo seven. Other actors and actresses that he directed over the years included Rudolph Valentino (The Eagle), Angela Lansbury and Elizabeth Taylor (National Velvet), Gregory Peck (The Yearling), Mickey Rooney (National Velvet), Spencer Tracy (Edison the Man) Clark Gable (Never Let Me Go) and Norma Shearer.

Overall his films received a total of 38 Academy Award nominations and won nine Oscars. Although he was nominated five times by the Academy Award as a director and once as a producer, he never won this top prize. However, he was recognized for his production of William Faulkners Intruder in the Dust and won the British Academy Award in 1979.

Brown became wealthy dealing in California real estate and retired from the cinema in 1952 at the relatively young age of 62. It was reported that he would not watch new movies because he did not want to be tempted to re-enter the film industry.

Ironically, one dubious record that he held was being nominated for an Academy Award the most times without winning the Oscar - six.

Whether this setback had anything to do with him refusing to commence directing films after 1952 would have to be a matter of conjecture.

The University of Tennessee named the Clarence Brown Theater on the main campus in Knoxville in his honor. The large gift that he donated to this school helps maintain and renovate the theater and also to provide scholarships and faculty salary supplements.

Brown died in Santa Monica, California from kidney failure on August 17, 1987 and is interred at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

One of the last public recognitions for him was receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960 for his contributions to the motion picture industry.

He truly did have an outstanding career in Hollywood.

* * *

Jerry Summers



(If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com)
The problem of poverty is both perplexing and perpetual. Its plagued humanity since the beginning of time, and despite the posturing and protests, lacks simple solutions.

Years ago I had the opportunity to visit an inner city ministry in Atlanta, Ga. on several occasions, observing firsthand how leaders there were striving to help equip down-and-outers to one day become up-and-outers. In the process of gathering information for articles I wrote about this work for various publications, I gained some unexpected insights.

Ill never forget, for instance, touring a ministry-supported home goods store. Merchandise at the store had been donated, so it could be sold at greatly discounted prices to low-income residents of the community. I met a young man who had been working there for a few weeks, carrying out whatever responsibilities he was assigned. Having been told it was his first-ever job, I asked him what he had learned. His response caught me off guard: I learned how to use a ruler, and that I need to show up on time.

As I thought about it, however, what he said shouldnt have been so surprising. Think about it: If you dont have much, theres no need to measure it. And if you have nowhere that you must be, what difference does it make what time you get there? This helped me to realize that lifting folks from poverty involves more than telling them, Get a job. Because lacking basic life and job skills, in many cases not even knowing how to fill out a job application or conduct oneself in a job interview, many hurdles stand in the way of being able to obtain suitable employment.

But perhaps my greatest insight into the broad and complex dilemma of helping the poor was an observation from Bob, the ministry leader. He said simply, The greatest poverty is the inability to give. He had seen this vividly during the Christmas holidays in the ministrys initial years, when they would go to different homes and bring gifts for the children. Their motivation, of course, was to ensure that the kids wouldnt wake up on Christmas morning without any presents to open.

The moms were always receptive and appreciative, but dads were rarely seen. For them, having someone bring gifts for their children was a painful reminder of their own failure to provide for the material needs of their families. Unwittingly, generosity from others only intensified the awareness of their poverty.

Wisely, the ministry changed its strategies and developed many ways for enabling the disadvantaged to effectively help themselves and protect their dignity in the process.

Ironically, studies have shown that increase in material wealth does not result in a corresponding increase in willingness to give. In fact, one study of giving patterns revealed that proportionately, the poor were inclined to give 44 percent more of what they had, than wealthy people. So keenly aware of their own poverty, they were typically more highly motivated to help when they saw others in need.

We see a powerful example of this in the Scriptures: Jesus sat down opposite the place where offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything  all she had to live on (Mark 12:41-44).

If anyone could have offered an excuse for not giving, it was this widow. She gave all she had, as meager as it was, not holding back even a single cent. And yet, its likely she did not feel any pangs of regret. Despite her impoverishment, she was a cheerful giver, as 2 Corinthians 9:7 describes it.

This is not the only biblical illustration of poor people displaying extravagant giving. Earlier in his letter to the church in Corinth, the apostle Paul points to the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saintsthey gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with Gods will (2 Corinthians 8:2-5).

We tend to perceive poverty as the inability to acquire stuff, whatever and whenever we want. But could it be that, as my friend Bob said years ago, the greatest poverty indeed is the inability to give? And as we participate in helping the poor to one day help themselves, were enabling them to escape this most profound, most painful aspect of poverty?



* * *

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.
A woman said she was riding in her red Land Range Rover on Brainerd Road while her father drove. They stopped around the 5300 block of Brainerd Road in order to let a fire truck and police go by. At this point, a gray VW SUV started to honk at them. The woman said her father could not move because the fire and police were coming through. He threw up his hands inside the car, telling the vehicle directly behind them that they could not move. The Range Rover began moving again and the VW started driving erratically around them. The light turned red around the block of 490 View Drive and the woman and her father had to stop. At this point, a male driver and female passenger pulled up to the right side of the Range Rover and got out of the vehicle. The man tapped on the driver's door saying he could have had a gun, but the woman was unsure. Also, the female suspect began hitting the rear right side of the Range Rover and ripped off the gas door. The two then got back in the VW and left.

* * *

A bartender at 5017 Rossville Blvd. told an officer that two women were in a verbal altercation that then became physical. She said the women were separated and that they both left before police arrived.

* * *

A security officer at the Chambliss Center at 315 Gillespie Road called police saying she saw a suspicious man walking inside of the building. There was, however, a misunderstanding between her and CPD communication's call-taker, who wrote a line on the card that said the complainant believed the suspicious person may be an employee of Chambliss. Believing the caller was an

outsider looking in, the officer knew there were employees in the building, and did not hurry to the call. The security officer called again, asking to speak with officers. Upon arrival, the officers cleared the confusion. Because she was not clear who it was, except a man, she would only feel secure if officers checked the building. Two officers cleared the entire building with the help of maintenance, and found no suspicious people.

* * *

Police were called to Cypress Street Court where the driver and a passenger of a 2008 maroon Mazda CX9 said a man, thin build, wearing a white T-shirt and red shoes with possible dark pants, had come to the car, reached in and took the keys. They said he ran toward Poplar Street. The driver said he did not touch her, just grabbed the keys. The approximate replacement value of the keys is $200. Police searched the area but did not find the suspect. Police assisted in taking the positive battery cable off so the car would not start.

* * *

A man on Garfield Street said his dog got loose and he believed his ex attempted to take the dog. While out with the man, police didn't see the ex and the man was not certain if anyone had let his dog loose. Police checked the area and did not locate anyone. The man said he did not need further police assistance.

* * *

The manager at Academy on Highway 153 said a customer had found a small bag of weed and turned it into her. The officer took the weed and turned it into CPD's Property Division.

* * *

The manager at Douglas Heights on Douglas Street said one of the apartment residents believed that someone had been entering her apartment and moving things around for the past couple days. She wanted the officers to look through her home to make sure no one was hiding inside. Officers did not find anything after clearing the apartment. The manager said she would be changing the locks so the woman would feel safer.

* * *



A man said he was rear-ended on East Brainerd Road and followed the other vehicle who pulled over at 2020 Gunbarrel Road. Police spoke with the man and after getting out of the car he decided he did not want to make a report due to it just being a scratch.

* * *

The manager at the gas station at 3410 Campbell St. called police to report that a man has been coming into the store on a regular basis and makes verbal threats to him. He just wanted a police report to document this incident and wants this man trespassed from the property.

* * *

A woman on Gillespie Road said her front door was shattered by an unknown object. She said she believes it to be a man in his 60's that was on her porch. They got into an argument and she told him to leave and then 30 minutes later the door was broken. The damage is roughly worth $300.

* * *

Police were again called to 3410 Campbell St. where the employees of the store showed police video footage of a woman who came into the store and was mad because the gas pump was not working properly. She began yelling and throwing merchandise around the store. She left and will be charged with disorderly conduct pending identification.

* * *

A man on McCallie Avenue told police he thought people were following him earlier in the evening and he was scared. He told the officer several vehicles were behind him while he was driving and he believed while he stopped at a gas station earlier one of them may have slashed his tire because it went flat. The officer inspected the tire and could not see any evidence of an intentional puncture, however it appeared a section of the tire had blown out. Another man was in the car and did not believe anyone was following them. The first man requested the officer follow him home to ensure he got home safely, which the officer did without incident.

* * *

Two officers were called to West Martin Luther King Boulevard where a man was sitting in an electric scooter in the middle of the roadway. An EPB employee was already on scene with his vehicle's emergency lights activated to keep any potential traffic from unintentionally hitting the man. The man told police he was trying to return home to Gateway Avenue when his electric wheelchair lost its battery charge while in the road. The officers pushed the man in his wheelchair into the Holiday Inn lobby to get him out of the roadway and rain. The man asked one of the officers to go to his apartment to get his wheelchair charger. The officer checked with the Holiday Inn management, and they said the man was welcome to charge his chair at the hotel. The officer went to the man's apartment, found his charger, and returned to Holiday Inn. Once the man's wheelchair was plugged in he said he needed no further assistance.

* * *

Police were called to Chestnut Street on the report of an abandoned vehicle. They found a tan Toyota Sienna and a white Winnebago mobile home. Both vehicles did not appear to be abandoned and were parked properly. Police tried to get in contact with the owner of the vehicles but were unable to reach them.

* * *

A man told police he had found his stolen car. He said it was parked at the Baymont Inn on Shallowford Road and had keys on the driver side floor. The man took possession of the car and it was taken out of NCIC. No suspect information is known at this time. The Baymont Inn does have cameras but no one was working at this time that was able to view the cameras.

* * *



A man on Hal Drive told police his trailer was stolen and he had the suspects on camera. He said a silver Ford Ranger arrived, along with a man on a bike. He said the suspects then cut the lock on his trailer and drove away. He did not have any serial or part numbers for the trailer and he didn't recognize anyone in the video. The man gave the officer a copy of the video on a USB and it was turned into property.

* * *

A server at the Huddle House on Brainerd Road told police four women came inside the business and began screaming and causing a scene. After a few minutes, the suspects paid for their meals and left the area. Police told her to contact dispatch if they return.

* * *

A person said they were waiting to use an ATM on Brainerd Road when an armed security guard told them to not to. The security guard said he was there to service the ATM and he put his hand on his gun when he saw a vehicle come towards him. He said that he did not draw his weapon or make any threats. The person said they did not approach or make any threats to the security guard. No legal matter was at hand and the people parted ways.



* * *



A woman on Heritage Park Drive told police she had reported her car as stolen but then found it and had never taken it out of NCIC. Police verified the vehicle was hers and then took it out of NCIC.

* * *

A woman at 7822 East Brainerd Road said someone attempted to break into three storage units by prying the halves part of the storage where customers place their locks. She said the management team had to bend them back but will need to replace them.

* * *

An anonymous caller said two people were passed out in a gold Chevy at 2020 Gunbarrel Road. Police found the vehicle and spoke with a man and woman who said they didn't need EMS and were not found to be doing anything illegal.
A Catholic priest was arrested over the weekend for simply praying against abortion in an abortion clinic in Ohio.

The Catholic Theology posted on Saturday, June 5, that Fr. Fidelis Moscinski, CFR was arrested by police for praying against abortion. The photos showed that the Franciscan priest was dragged out of a building with the address 2127 State Road in handcuffs while on his knees and brought to the parking lot by two policemen who stopped at a Cuyahoga Falls Police 911 car. The police assisted the priest who was on his knees in his gray cassock get up and get into the car while still in handcuffs behind his back.

The Red Rose Rescue, a pro-life movement Moscinski is engaged in, posted on Facebook on Friday that their mission in the Ohio abortion clinic Northeast Ohio Women's Center at 2127 State Road was successful although the priest and three other "rescuers" of the unborn were arrested. The post included photos of the facility and members of their group holding signages to discourage pregnant women coming in the facility from having an abortion.

"Red Rose Rescue mission today in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Many mothers were reached with compassion and love inside the killing center. An number (sic) of cars left. Thank God!" Red Rose said.

"Sadly, four unjust arrests of peaceful rescuers: three young ladies and Fr. Fidelis, CFR," Red Rose added. "Please pray for their immediate release. Pray especially for those threatened with the lethal violence and exploitation of abortion, and those committing these heinous crimes against humanity."

Moscinski, as per LifeSite, is accustomed to being arrested from various abortion centers due to his advocacy of "witnessing" for the unborn as part of the Red Rose Rescue.

According to the Akron Beacon Journal, the 51-year-old Moscinski and his three companions were arrested for refusing to leave the abortion facility. The police were then called by the facility and likewise asked them to leave or they will be arrested on account of "criminal trespassing," which is a misdemeanor subject to one month's imprisonment. Moscinski and companions were then arrested and taken to the Stow Municipal Court for arraignment.

"The individuals stated that they were not going to leave and were willing to be arrested," the Akron Beacon Journal quoted the Cuyahoga Falls Police Department from a released statement.

Red Rose Rescue is a known pro-life group who actually go to abortion clinics and hold protests outside while enticing those who have come in to change their decision from having an abortion.

Meanwhile, 3News reported that Moscinski and his companions--a 56-year-old Laura Giles from Pennsylvania, an 18-year-old Audrey Whipple from Michigan, and a 62-year-old Clara McDonald from New York--falsified their identity to be able to get inside the clinic to give those waiting for their abortion procedure some red roses and cards with pro-life messages on it.

The protesters were also said to have blocked people from coming in forcing the facility owner and director to call the police. A $500 fine was also imposed against the group in addition to the imprisonment.

"These people are known to do this all over the country. We continue to provide legal reproductive health to people who seek out our care," the unnamed owner and director of the facility told 3News in an interview.

Red Rose rebutted the said allegations from 3News' report as "false" in their Facebook post on Friday. The post included a link to the said report.

"A news report from the local Ohio news. It's quite objective and fair. Although we strongly object to the false allegations made by the money grubbing abortionists. We did not block anyone or prevent anyone from entering the killing facility. We merely offer life giving, healthy, affirmative, loving, sustainable aid, and nonviolent options," Red Rose sternly stated.
I enjoy life too much to attempt to keep up with all of the hogwash in Washington. Too often it's Republicans versus Democrats instead of whats truly best for the American people and I have no respect for any elected official who joins a gang instead of being true to himself. We elect individuals for their singular stance, yet both parties are vicious towards any family member who dares cross the aisle. Thats what made me just take extra notice of West Virginias Democratic Senator, Joe Manchin.

Some believe Manchin is the second most powerful man in Washington  this a close second to the other Joe. With the Democrats controlling Congress and  in essence  the Senate, it is believed the ruling party is poised to bring a very partisan document called the For The People Act to the floor and both advocates and opponents contend it will change how America votes.

The Democrats hold a four-vote edge over the Republicans in a very partisan Congress. The Senate is a 50/50 split with very liberal vice president Kamala Harris voting if there is a tie.

In short, the Dems gang can over-rule the Repubs on any and every thing. The For The People Act cant fail in theory  but then there is Democrat Joe Manchin who has stood to say, It is not in the best interest of the American people  I will not vote for it. If I cannot go home and explain it, I will not vote for it. In a Sunday Op-Ed, he goes so far as to write, It has been said by much wiser people than me that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Well, what Ive seen during my time in Washington is that every party in power will always want to exercise absolute power, absolutely.

So yesterday, in the Sunday editions of the Charleston (West Va.) Gazette-Mail, his Op-ed was the most quoted article among both parties in Washington circles last night. He also appeared on the Fox News Sunday program and, at one point in the interview with Chris Wallace, said, I think it's the wrong piece of legislation to bring our country together and unite our country and I'm not supporting that because I think it would divide us further. I don't want to be in a country that's divided any further than I'm in right now. I love my country and I think my Democrat and Republican colleagues feel the same.

If they think theyre going to win by subverting and oppressing people from voting, theyre going to lose. I assure you they will lose, he said.

So, here is Manchins Op-ed that stands for what he personally believes (just like me):

* * *

WHY I AM VOTING AGAINST THE FOR THE PEOPLE ACT

By Joe Manchin, Senator, West Virginia.

The right to vote is fundamental to our American democracy and protecting that right should not be about party or politics. Least of all, protecting this right, which is a value I share, should never be done in a partisan manner.

During my time as West Virginias secretary of state, I was determined to protect this right and ensure our elections are fair, accessible and secure. Not to benefit my party but all the people of West Virginia. For example, as secretary of state I took specific actions to establish early voting for the first time in West Virginia in order to provide expanded options for those whose work or family schedule made it difficult for them to vote on Election Day. Throughout my tenure in politics, I have been guided by this simple philosophy  our party labels cant prevent us from doing what is right.

Unfortunately, we now are witnessing that the fundamental right to vote has itself become overtly politicized. Todays debate about how to best protect our right to vote and to hold elections, however, is not about finding common ground, but seeking partisan advantage. Whether it is state laws that seek to needlessly restrict voting or politicians who ignore the need to secure our elections, partisan policymaking wont instill confidence in our democracy  it will destroy it.

As such, congressional action on federal voting rights legislation must be the result of both Democrats and Republicans coming together to find a pathway forward or we risk further dividing and destroying the republic we swore to protect and defend as elected officials.

Democrats in Congress have proposed a sweeping election reform bill called the For the People Act. This more than 800-page bill has garnered zero Republican support. Why? Are the very Republican senators who voted to impeach Trump because of actions that led to an attack on our democracy unwilling to support actions to strengthen our democracy? Are these same senators, whom many in my party applauded for their courage, now threats to the very democracy we seek to protect?

The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen.

With that in mind, some Democrats have again proposed eliminating the Senate filibuster rule in order to pass the For the People Act with only Democratic support. Theyve attempted to demonize the filibuster and conveniently ignore how it has been critical to protecting the rights of Democrats in the past.

As a reminder, just four short years ago, in 2017 when Republicans held control of the White House and Congress, President Donald Trump was publicly urging Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster. Then, it was Senate Democrats who were proudly defending the filibuster. Thirty-three Senate Democrats penned a letter to Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warning of the perils of eliminating the filibuster.

It has been said by much wiser people than me that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Well, what Ive seen during my time in Washington is that every party in power will always want to exercise absolute power, absolutely. Our founders were wise to see the temptation of absolute power and built in specific checks and balances to force compromise that serves to preserve our fragile democracy. The Senate, its processes and rules, have evolved over time to make absolute power difficult while still delivering solutions to the issues facing our country and I believe thats the Senates best quality.

Yes, this process can be frustrating and slow. It will force compromises that are not always ideal. But consider the alternative. Do we really want to live in an America where one party can dictate and demand everything and anything it wants, whenever it wants? I have always said, If I cant go home and explain it, I cant vote for it. And I cannot explain strictly partisan election reform or blowing up the Senate rules to expedite one partys agenda.

The truth is there is a better way  if we seek to find it together.

The Voting Rights Act, for example, was monumental in the fight to guarantee freer and fairer elections in the United States. Since its original passage, it has been reauthorized with overwhelming bipartisan votes five separate times. In addition, there is bipartisan support to pass the latest iteration of this legislation, the rightfully named John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would update the formula states and localities must use to ensure proposed voting laws do not restrict the rights of any particular group or population. My Republican colleague, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, has joined me in urging Senate leadership to update and pass this bill through regular order. I continue to engage with my Republican and Democratic colleagues about the value of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and I am encouraged by the desire from both sides to transcend partisan politics and strengthen our democracy by protecting voting rights.

Of course, some in my party have argued that now is the time to discard such bipartisan voting reforms and embrace election reforms and policies solely supported by one party. Respectfully, I do not agree.

I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For the People Act. Furthermore, I will not vote to weaken or eliminate the filibuster. For as long as I have the privilege of being your U.S. senator, I will fight to represent the people of West Virginia, to seek bipartisan compromise no matter how difficult and to develop the political bonds that end divisions and help unite the country we love.

American democracy is something special, it is bigger than one party, or the tweet-filled partisan attack politics of the moment. It is my sincere hope that all of us, especially those who are privileged to serve, remember our responsibility to do more to unite this country before it is too late.

* * *

Joe Manchin is a Democrat representing West Virginia in the U.S. Senate. He is a former West Virginia governor and secretary of state.

royexum@aol.com
Cleveland State Community College has welcomed a new director of Human Resources. Kellie Frank started her position at the college in May after the former director of Human Resources, Joan Bates, retired after 41 years.

Replacing an employee who has served the college for over 40 years, such as Joan Bates, is a challenging task, said Dr. Seymour. However, we are very fortunate to find an outstanding new director who brings excellent experience from within the Tennessee Board of Regents family. The transition has been very smooth and we have great confidence in Kellie Frank's ability to strengthen our HR functions.

Ms. Frank has a Bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a Masters degree in Human Resource Management from Argosy University. She has over 13 years of experience within Human Resources, handling public and private employees. Seven of those years shes worked with the TBR system working on finance, payroll, counseling, case management, and benefits administration.

Since working in her career, Ms. Frank takes pride in providing employee relations support that improves performance and relationships. She has experience in organizational effectiveness and development while taking an effort to value the employees well-being.

I am very excited to be at Cleveland State Community College, said Ms. Frank. Having already worked for a community college and understanding the large impact a community college has on their community, I was drawn to Cleveland State. The college has an integral role in enriching the community in which I reside, and I wanted to be a part of serving my own community.




Dr. Russell Dyer, director of Cleveland City Schools, has named Nathaniel Akiona as the new Principal of Cleveland Middle School. Mr. Akiona will replace Dr. Leneda Laing after she transitions into the role of supervisor of Secondary Education on July 1.

Mr. Akiona is completing his twenty-fourth year in education and has most recently served as the principal of Michigan Avenue Elementary School. Prior to his time at Michigan Avenue, Mr. Akiona was the principal of Walker Valley High School and North Lee Elementary School.

Mr. Akiona was honored as the Southeast CORE Principal of the Year in 2015 and has led two different schools to Tennessee Department of Education Reward status. He holds a Masters Degree in Educational Administration and Supervision from Tennessee Technological University along with a Bachelor's Degree in Secondary English Education from Lee University.

Prior to his time as a school administrator, Mr. Akiona was a classroom teacher at both Walker Valley High School and Bradley Junior High School.

Dr. Dyer said, Mr. Akiona brings many years of successful school administration to his new role as principal of Cleveland Middle School. He is widely respected as a school administrator across the Cleveland and Bradley County community, and I look forward to working with him to provide the best possible educational experience for the students at Cleveland Middle School.






Prosecutors said Judge Curtis Collier should not recuse himself from a retrial of the Pilot Flying J fraud case.

Former Pilot president Mark Hazelwood earlier said Judge Collier is biased against him and should not preside over his retrial.

Prosecutor David Lewen said the federal 6th Court of Appeals had already ruled on the issue.

He said, "Specifically, the Sixth Circuit found that 'nothing in the record suggests that the district court would have substantial difficulty in setting aside previously expressed views' and that 'the record demonstrates the district courts unwavering dedication to the integrity of the criminal justice process.' 

Convictions against Hazelwood were overturned by two members of a three judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based on Judge Collier allowing the jury to hear racist songs and banter during a Pilot sales party attended by Hazelwood.

New attorneys for Hazelwood said the recordings were highly prejudicial to Hazelwood and tainted the jury against him.

Hazelwood, in a 29-page memorandum, said, "I believe the Court has a personal bias and prejudice against me and in favor of the government, and that a reasonable and informed person (a) would conclude that the Court has such a bias and prejudice, and (b) might question the Courts impartiality."

Hazelwood is now represented by attorneys Jim Walden and Bradley Henry of New York City and Robert M.

Cary of Washington, D.C.

The government is also opposing an attempt by defense attorneys to move the trial out of Chattanooga.

Other defendants are Scott Wombold and Heather Jones.

Prosecutors say Pilot management bilked trucking firms out of millions of dollars of promised rebates.

The case was pushed back because prosecutor Lewen is the lead prosecutor in a complex, multi-defendant Vice Lord gang case scheduled for trial beginning July 7 before U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan in Knoxville. That trial is expected to last approximately 4-6 weeks.
Fans of Freeforms The Bold Type have long praised the comedy-drama for its relatable storylines and the way it addresses serious concerns in the workplace and in personal relationships. For actor Katie Stevens, who plays Jane Sloan in the series, one plotline from The Bold Type hit a bit too close to home. Stevens recently opened up once again about a health concern she faced back in 2019 and how her character inspired her to be more proactive about monitoring her health.

Katie Stevens attends the SCAD aTV Fest in 2020 | Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SCAD aTVfest 2020

What is The Bold Type?

The Bold Type follows three young women  Jane, Kat (played by Aisha Dee), and Sutton (Meghann Fahy)  who work together at Scarlet Magazine in New York City. The series depicts the ups and downs of running a magazine from several perspectives, including social media and editorial. In addition, The Bold Type explores the friendship between Jane, Sutton, and Kat, as well as their personal lives.

Since its launch in 2017, the series has covered topics ranging from sexuality to workplace harassment to womens health. The Bold Type is currently in its fifth and final season.

Jane Sloan tested positive for a BRCA gene mutation on The Bold Type

Aisha Dee, Meaghann Fahy, and Katie Stevens holding hands on The Bold Type. | Jonathan Wenk via Getty Images

RELATED: The Bold Type: Fans Are Calling Out the Show for Kat and Suttons Story Lines

In the early episodes of The Bold Type, viewers learn that Janes mother died of breast cancer when Jane was young. Later in season 1, Jane tests positive for BRCA mutations, a harmful gene mutation that increases the risk of cancer. Much of season 2 shows Jane coping with her test results and deciding how she will take action against the risk of breast, ovarian, and cervical cancers.

After learning more about the fertility issues that she may face as a result of a cancer diagnosis, Jane chooses to freeze her eggs, which fans saw more of in season 3. Finally, Jane opts to get a preventative double mastectomy. Season 4 follows the young writer on her journey to recovery post-surgery, both physically and emotionally.

In an interview with Bustle in 2018, Stevens shared how important she felt it was to pursue this storyline for Jane. I really love that the writers wanted to incorporate [the story] and show the struggles that women who are diagnosed with BRCA have Im happy we could showcase that and I can help show that story, she said.

Katie Stevens had a breast cancer scare in 2019

Stevens recently opened up about a real-life experience she had that felt similar to Janes story. As People reported, the actor appeared on Good Morning America last week amid The Bold Types season 5 launch. During her interview, she spoke about finding a lump on her breast in 2019 and how Janes story motivated her decision to check herself every day.

A year and a half ago I did find a lump that I would not have found had I not been checking myself, she said, assuring viewers that she is fine and the lump was benign. I think that it just taught me that even though information like that can be scary, its better to get the information because knowledge is power.

Stevens went on to encourage viewers to be mindful of their bodies and monitor their health, because its life-saving.

New episodes of The Bold Type air Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on Freeform.
Fans of MTVs The Challenge adored The Challenge: All Stars. Mark Long brought fan-favorite competitors from years past together to compete for $500,000, and they seemed to have a blast. Recently, Mark celebrated his 50th birthday with a huge party. While many Challenge competitors accepted the invite, Cara Maria Sorbello noted on her Instagram she never received one.

Mark Long invited a number of MTVs The Challenge contestants to his birthday party

Mark did incredibly well on The Challenge: All Stars, and the show reconnected him with plenty of his reality TV peers. He recently turned 50 years old and decided to have a huge party in Los Angeles to celebrate. Ayiiia Elizarraras, a contestant from The Real World, posted photos and videos of the event to her Instagram Stories.

Im so excited to be a part of Marks 50th birthday, she said. Im excited. Its in the Hills, were in L.A.

In her Instagram Stories alone, she featured Ruthie Alcaide, Derrick Kosinski, Syrus Yarbrough, KellyAnne Judd, Aneesa Ferreira, Nehemiah Clark, Jonna Mannion, and Yes Duffy, the winner of All Stars. Johnny Bananas Devenanzio also made an appearance. While he has yet to compete on All Stars, its clear he has a great relationship with Mark. When he handed over his gifts to Mark, Mark told him, I love you.

Cara Maria Sorbello noted she never got the invite

Cara Maria Sorbello at MTVs The Challenge: Rivals II final episode and reunion party | Mike Coppola/Getty Images

While many fan favorites from MTVs The Challenge attended Marks birthday party, not everyone got the invite. Cara Maria is an ultra-polarizing player from the show. While shes won multiple seasons, many of her fellow cast members noted shes unpleasant to be around.

Cara Marias last season was War of the Worlds II in 2019. Jordan Wiseley, an enemy of Caras, got down on one knee and proposed to Tori Deal on the show  and Cara Maria made it known she wasnt happy for the couple. This certainly didnt earn her many friends.

Now, it seems shes not getting invites to all of the fun Challenge events her peers create. A fan asked her via Instagram why she didnt attend Marks birthday party. Oh, thats what you guys are talking about, she stated in a video posted to her Instagram Stories. Well, I guess my invite got lost in the mail because nobody told me anything about it. But, I hope Mark had a freakin awesome birthday. Happy birthday, Mark!

Did Cara Maria retire? She hasnt been on MTVs The Challenge in a few seasons

CT won 0 challenges in 8 years (give or take). He now has 4. Ive been keeping myself busy in my time off. I dont plan on ever losing again and thats not me being cocky, thats just me learning from my losses and being humbled. Its very hard to keep me from making a final. https://t.co/tezDrdDARH  Paul Calafiore (@PaulCalafiore_) April 22, 2021

RELATED: The Challenge Season 37: Rumors Suggest the New Format Calls for Many International Rookies

Will Cara Maria come back to MTVs The Challenge anytime soon? It sounds like she and boyfriend Paulie Calafiore took a much-needed break from the show and are ready to jump back in. Shes reportedly not cast for season 37, but she stated her phone is on in case production wants to give her a call.

As for Paulie, hes also hopeful hell come back strong. But it doesnt look like MTVs casting him, either. CT won 0 challenges in 8 years (give or take). He now has 4, Paulie tweeted on April 21, 2021. Ive been keeping myself busy in my time off. I dont plan on ever losing again and thats not me being cocky, thats just me learning from my losses and being humbled. Its very hard to keep me from making a final.

Well have to wait and see if Cara and Paulie get the callback from MTV. For now, were not expecting them back for season 37 or the next season of All Stars.

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With heavy subject matter and impactful performances, The Handmaids Tale is one of the most powerful shows on TV. In The Handmaids Tale, O-T Fagbenle plays Luke Bankole, the husband of the shows main character, June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss). After years apart, June and Luke finally reunite in the Hulu series fourth season. In an interview with ELLE, Fagbenle discussed June and Lukes reunion and how the cast of The Handmaids Tale handle emotional scenes.

[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for season 4 episode 6 and season 4 episode 7 of The Handmaids Tale.]

O-T Fagbenle in The Handmaids Tale | Sophie Giraud/Hulu

The actors have boxes of tissues on the set of The Handmaids Tale

In season 4 episode 6 of The Handmaids Tale, titled Vows, Moira (Samira Wiley) helps June escape to Canada. At the end of the episode, June and Luke see each other for the first time in several years. While speaking with ELLE, Fagbenle shared what it was like to film scenes with Moss now that June is in Canada.

Its no revelation to say that shes a really special artist, and anytime I get to do scenes with her Im excited because I dont know whats going to happen. Shes a very intuitive actress, and we work in a way that really follows more what happens in the moment than married to any specific line in the script or any prescribed movement, Fagbenle told ELLE.

According to the actor, he and Moss needed boxes of tissues while filming together.

So those scenes were very moving, he said. I mean, there were lots of takes where we had to have boxes of tissues out, because when wed finish the scene the tears would continue and youd have to reset for another take. One of the great joys of acting is getting to do stuff like that.

Is June the same woman Gilead took away from Luke? Episode 7 is now streaming on @Hulu. pic.twitter.com/kGZhWnOT4T  The Handmaid's Tale (@HandmaidsOnHulu) May 26, 2021

RELATED: The Handmaids Tale Episode Recap: June Faces Fred and Serena

What to expect from Luke in season 4 of The Handmaids Tale

After June and Luke see each other again, June moves in with Luke, Moira, and Nichole, her daughter that she shares with her Gilead lover Nick Blaine (Max Minghella). While June and Luke clearly still love one another, the two have trouble reconnecting. June also feels drawn to the rage she has toward Gilead, while Luke prioritizes recovery and starting over.

I dont think there is any, from Lukes perspective, righting of the wrong, Fagbenle told ELLE. In a way thats almost like a past-based mentality. I think for him, what he wants is to start his life with June, and to get his daughter back, and to build from there and to help them recover and potentially help others in the community recover from that trauma. I think the paradigm of the erasing or rebalancing scale isnt how he thinks.

O-T Fagbenle has a favorite scene from the fourth season

In season 4 episode 7 of The Handmaids Tale, Home, June attempts to acclimate to her newfound freedom in Canada. During her first day in Canada, she tells Luke about seeing their daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake) in Gilead. The two cry and bond over their love for Hannah, and Fagbenle told ELLE this was one of his favorite scenes to film.

June is free, but what does this mean for Hannah? pic.twitter.com/FGQ7IXC2Fa  The Handmaid's Tale (@HandmaidsOnHulu) May 25, 2021

RELATED: The Handmaids Tale Season 4: Serena Joy Gets More Dangerous With Each Episode, Sam Jaeger Says

I really love the scene where June and Luke get to have that first conversation and June tells Luke about the last time she saw Hannah, when theyre on the hotel bed. I mean, shes lying to him so its a complicated moment, but I was so moved by the writing the first time I read it. Some tears may have leaked from my face. That scene always moves me, he said.

New episodes of The Handmaids Tale premiere every Wednesday on Hulu.
In The Handmaids Tale, June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) was separated from her husband Luke Bankole (O-T Fagbenle) for several years. While June was in Gilead as a Handmaid, she fell in love with another man, Nick Blaine (Max Minghella), and the two had a daughter named Nichole.

Luke began raising Nichole along with Junes best friend Moira in the third season of The Handmaids Tale. Despite June telling Luke she would understand if he needed to move on, he chose to wait for her instead. June and Luke finally reunite in season 4 episode 6 of The Handmaids Tale, Vows. In an interview with ELLE, Fagbenle gave insight into why Luke waited so long for June.

[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for season 4 episode 8 of The Handmaids Tale.]

O-T Fagbenle and Elisabeth Moss in The Handmaids Tale | Sophie Giraud/Hulu

June told Luke to move on in season 3 of The Handmaids Tale

After her daughter Nichole makes it to Canada safely, June manages to get a recorded message to Luke. In the tape recording, June tells Luke that Nichole was not a product of rape and is not Commander Fred Waterfords (Joseph Fiennes) child.

June also tells Luke that she fell in love with Nick, and she encourages Luke to move on if that is what he needs, saying:

Its not easy to tell you this cause I am ashamed. I had to build a life here. Of a sort. And you should, too. You deserve a life, a full life, Luke. You deserve love. And youll always have Youll always have mine but I understand if you maybe need more than that. I need you to know that Nichole She was born out of love. Her real names Holly. And her Her father is a driver named Nick. You met him. He helped me to survive. I need to believe that you can forgive me. Im not the woman you remember. Shes part of me. But Im doing what I need to, to survive. You should, too.

RELATED: The Handmaids Tale: Elisabeth Moss Thinks It Was Important That June and Lukes Reunion Was Not Perfect

O-T Fagbenle explains why Luke never gave up on June

Despite June trying to convince Luke to move on, he never does. Instead, Luke continues to raise Nichole with the hope that one day June will escape with their daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake). Speaking with ELLE, Fagbenle says Luke never gave up on June because of his optimism.

Well, I think one of the core attributes of Luke as a character is his optimism in the face of quite overwhelming evidence that he shouldnt be optimistic. I mean, at the end of the day, he hasnt started another relationship. He hasnt gone Oh well, you know what, my wifes been captured by one of the most brutal regimes of all time, which doesnt look like its on the edge of falling, and so I should just move on with my life,' the actor told ELLE.

Fagbenle continued, He hasnt moved on. And thats because he has indefatigable hope and resilience. That doesnt mean its not hard for him, it doesnt mean that it may not break him, ultimately. But it does mean that hes going to do everything he can to rescue his wife and daughter to the best of his own incompetent abilities.

Is June the same woman Gilead took away from Luke? Episode 7 is now streaming on @Hulu. pic.twitter.com/kGZhWnOT4T  The Handmaid's Tale (@HandmaidsOnHulu) May 26, 2021

RELATED: The Handmaids Tale Showrunner Says June and Lukes Relationship Will Change

Luke hopes his marriage with June will work out in The Handmaids Tale

In season 4 of The Handmaids Tale, June and Luke have quite a bit of rebuilding to do. While Luke clearly wants to focus on reconnecting, Junes focus is on enacting revenge against Gilead. These differences demonstrate how much June and Luke have changed in their time apart. Still, Fagbenle told ELLE that he thinks Luke wants his family back together.

I think for him, what he wants is to start his life with June, and to get his daughter back, and to build from there and to help them recover and potentially help others in the community recover from that trauma, he said.

New episodes of The Handmaids Tale premiere every Wednesday on Hulu.
Some call it the "oil of the future." This is because demand for scandium is growing, especially due to its potential as a material for lightweight construction of aircrafts and cars, but also for fuel cells. Concurrently, the supply of this critical raw material in Europe is not secure. Therefore, new ways of extracting the high-tech metal are being intensively sought out. In a recently published pilot study, scientists from Jacobs University Bremen and the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources have now investigated an unusual source of scandium: industrial garnet sand and its waste products.

Worldwide, only 15 to 20 tons of scandium are mined annually as a mining by-product. Most of the deposits are located in China, Australia and Ukraine. Experts anticipate demand to multiply in the coming years. This is mainly due to new scandium-aluminum alloys, which have a low density combined with high tensile strength. Their use can help significantly reduce the weight of aircrafts or automobiles, resulting in lower fuel consumption, emissions and overall costs. Scandium is thus a raw material that is of enormous importance, especially for Bremen's industry.

The light, silvery-white metal does not form its own deposits, but falls off as a by-product in mining. The mineral garnet, whose large crystals are very popular as gemstones in the jewelry industry, has high scandium contents. Smaller garnets are mined as industrial garnet sand and used as abrasives to remove coatings or rust. In the cutting and sandblasting industries, it is recycled several times before it finally ends up as waste and must be disposed of.

Garnet sands from Australia, India and the USA, as well as from commercial suppliers in Germany, were examined by Franziska Klimpel, PhD student in Geosciences at Jacobs University, and geochemist Professor Michael Bau. The results show that garnet sands that have not yet been processed and recycled several times have similarly high concentrations of scandium. The extraction of scandium  but also of rare earths  from garnet sand waste will not be able to eliminate the bottlenecks in supply because of the rather small quantities. It could, however, help reduce its disposal costs, produce less waste, and thus come one step closer to a minimum-waste concept, the researchers conclude. And since scandium is in high demand as a critical raw material for enabling technologies, demand and prices are expected to continue to rise sharply in the near future.
In this May 17 photo, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks during a news conference in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled Gov. Kevin Stitts plan to privatize much of the states Medicaid program is unconstitutional. The court determined in a 6-3 ruling on June 1 that the Oklahoma Health Care Authority did not have the legislative approval to move forward with the plan.
China's Chinese Communist Party reportedly wants to build more bio labs despite facing worldwide outrage for COVID-19, which is linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Fox News reported that China plans to build a dozen more of biosafety laboratories since its Wuhan laboratory is the only level four lab in their country. Chinese authorities intend to add to their level three labs and another level four lab in the next five years despite investigations on them for the coronavirus pandemic.

While the Financial Times (FT) reported that China intends to build 25 to 30 biosafety level three laboratories and one level four biosafety laboratory in China's Guangdong province.

FT said that London's George Mason University Associate Professor of Biodefence Gregory Koblentz exposed the plans to create 59 maximum biosafety level four laboratories in 23 countries that included Africa, China, Gabon, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Maximum security laboratories are said to be where the most dangerous bio research take place. Koblentz warned that the security of such laboratories are in danger and could lead to future leakages that caused the current pandemic.

Koblentz said in his report that 42 laboratories are already old having been built ten years ago and require upkeeping. He said there is a rapid expansion of such facilities, "particularly in countries like China" where leakages of very dangerous substances are now being given focus and concern.

The Financial Times cited Rutgers University Chemical Biology Professor Richard Ebright in highlighting the need to secure strong biosafety standards to avoid future leakages like that attributed from Wuhan.

"Accidents and leaks already happen in very large numbers, especially in places that have weaker biosafety standards. We need to strengthen biosafety and biosecurity rules around the world," Ebright told the FT.

Fox News pointed out that China has a "medium" level of biosecurity preparedness although it has passed a biosafety law in 2020 before it ordered all information on the COVID-19 virus to be kept from the public.

Former CIA Moscow Station Chief Daniel Hoffman, in an interview in Fox News last June 3, said in line with investigations on the Wuhan laboratory leak that there's no need to go to China to actually attain evidence since evidence on it is already surfacing.

"We're not going to go in there and see the evidence anyway, doesn't matter if it was there, if it wasn't there. The Chinese aren't going to give us the evidence, but all that matters is there was evidence at one time," Hoffman stated.

Reports have shown that the COVID-19 virus has leaked from the Wuhan Laboratory with its scientists being the first to be afflicted by it. Investigations have also linked National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci with the Wuhan laboratory experiments.

However, despite calls for further investigation from United States legislators and various individuals, President Joe Biden has already shut down the probe into the Wuhan laboratory leak days before May ended. Biden reportedly ordered a ban on any inquiries that began under former State Department Secretary Mike Pompeo due to "the quality of its work." He even prohibited people from referring to COVID-19 as the "China Virus" or "Wuhan Virus" in federal communications.

The investigations under Pompeo, however, found evidence pointing to the virus as having come a laboratory in Wuhan, and not from nature as some have alleged.
Lausanne North America (L-NA) is committed to extending the influence and passion of Lausanne Movement by connecting influencers and ideas on mission and evangelism for Christ and His Kingdom. Read more from this column.

Image: Lausanne Movement

About the series: In this series, we want to share with you the five questions Lausanne is asking as well as the most recurring answers/themes to those questions coming out of North America. We hope this series will be informative as well as catalytic. If you have additional thoughts, suggestions, or answers to the questions posed in this series, please send them to Dr. Josh LaxtonAssistant Director of Lausanne North Americawho has been compiling this list for the Lausanne Movement. His email is Joshua.laxton@wheaton.edu.

Question 3: In what areas is greater collaboration most critical in order to see the fulfillment of the Great Commission?

Christians have been told since the inception of the church they are to be unified. By our unity, according to our Savior and King, the world may believe that God sent Jesus (John 17:21).

Let us be clear upfront, unity isnt attending church together. Unity isnt Twitter shaming other believers for their social media posts. Unity isnt you do your thing, Ill do mine. Unity begins with the understanding of our mission, and it then moves to believing that our mission isnt ultimately about us but about Jesus. As we focus on Jesus and his mission for us, we identify the roles and responsibilities that together build up the body to accomplish the mission.

An element of deep or thick unity is collaboration. The Apostle Paul called it partnership. Collaboration is simply the act of working with someone to produce or create something.

It does seem that deep unitygospel partnership and collaborationhas waned in the West. This statement isnt meant to say that gospel partnership and collaboration dont exist, but that in general, it has waned.

Realistically, we dont believe the churchin its current statein the West is positioned in a healthy place to engage and reach a rapidly changing, secularly progressing culture. However, we believe for this is to change deep unity, gospel partnership and collaboration must be a part of the churchs strategy moving forward.

So, what does this look like? Based upon our listening call a couple of months ago, here are three key areas and ways that are most critical in gospel partnership and collaboration.

Generational Collaboration

In the first article of this series, we addressed gaps that the church needed to close in order to accelerate the Great Commission in North America. One of the present gaps in North American churches is generational. One of the best ways to close this gap lies in generational collaboration.

If you dont know by now, but every generation is different. Each generation has its songs, shows, and cultural environments that shape its generational cohort. For instance, Boomers were shaped by the civil rights movement, Woodstock, and the Vietnam War. This generation heard the famous line uttered by President Kennedy, Ask not what your country can do for youask what you can do for your country. GenZ, on the other hand, has been raised on technology. In fact, this generation doesnt know what a dial tone is, nor can they imagine a world without the internet. It is widely known that GenZ is not only the most connected generation, digitally speaking, but also the generation with higher rates of anxiety and depression.

According to Pew Research, beginning with the Silent Generation (Traditionals), each generational cohort has fewer people identify as Christians and fewer people attend religious services.

The church, particularly in North America, has struggled to reach Millennials, and the struggle now continues with GenZ. The answer to reaching both Millennials and GenZ doesnt lie within GenX or Boomers, it lies in mobilizing each generation to reach their peers. But to do so will require collaboration.

If we want to see the church get younger, collaboration must happen. And the first step to collaboration is elevation. Once you see that the other has something valuable to offer the team, you elevate them by inviting them to the table. Churches, denominations, networks, ministries, and organizations are in desperate need of having every generation at the table solving the issue of the Great Commission.

Multi-Ethnic Collaboration

The North American demographic landscape has significantly changed over the last few decades, and it shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and other racial minorities will make up a majority of the population by the year 2050.

As missiologists, we believe God has been on mission to bless all the families of the earth since the call of Abraham (Genesis 12). We also believe that in Jesus God is creating one people from all peoples. When it comes to shifting demographics in the U.S., there seems to be a move of God where the nations are coming to us. We understand that many people have various views about such a shiftand the implications of that shift. Nevertheless, for the church, there is a missiological implication that we must embrace.

Churches, denominations, networks, ministries, and organizations will need to embrace and employ a more multi-ethnic strategy for mission and ministry. While the last sentence was an easy sentence to write, we understand the complexity to multi-ethnic mission and ministry. Within the realm of multi-ethnicity, there are multi-languages, multi-cultures, multi-races, multi-tribes, etc. Each layer of multi-ethnicity adds a layer of complexity. Thus, the U.S. has and will continue to become a cross-cultural mission field.

To reach a shifting demographic, collaboration is essential. Again, true collaboration invites all people to the table. Multi-ethnic collaboration will not only aid the church and the various extensions of the church in reaching a diverse demographic, but it will also reflect the presence and power of Jesus to unify a diverse people for his glory and renown. This kind of unity in diversity is the example that a divided country like the U.S. desperately needs to see.

Multi-Field (or Cross-Disciplinary) Collaboration

Humans tend to cluster in homogenous groups. Homogeneity doesnt just happen around race or culture, but it also happens around fields of study or disciplines. In other words, birds of a feather flock together. Thus, academics tend to fly with other academics; scientists tend to fly with other scientists; politicians tend to fly with other politicians; etc.

The same tends to happen in Christian circles. Pastors tend to fly with other pastors and church leaders (practitioners); academics tend to fly with other academics, and denominational leaders tend to fly with their own denomination. In short, hasnt seemed to be a lot of cross-pollination of spheres and disciplines in the church.

To become more effective at reaching our cities and communities in North America, churches, non-profits, academic institutions, and denominational and network organizations must become better at cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Im aware of a few examples of cross-disciplinary collaboration.

First, the listening call in which this series of articles was birthed is a good example. That call contained professors, practitioners, leaders of non-profits, pastors, and business leaders. They all brought their unique perspectives in answering the questions that the Lausanne Movement laid before us. Second, the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center is another example of multi-field collaboration. We seek to be a hub that brings Christian leaders from the church, ministries and organizations, denominations and networks, and academic institutions together for greater gospel impact. Third, EveryCampus is a collaborative initiative seeking to mobilize prayer and gospel communities on every college campus in the U.S. Last, City Gospel Movements led by the Palau Association is another example of an organization reaching across denominations, networks, fields, and churches to see a gospel movement among North American cities.

Our prayer is to see more collaboration across churches, denominations and networks, and ministries and organizations in hopes that we might see greater gospel engagement and impact in North America.

In closing, a huge component to engaging in mission is partnering with others in collaboration. This mission of God for His church is simply too big to accomplish on our own.
Cara Whitney, Wife of Larry the Cable Guy, talks passion for evangelism and exclusivity of Christ

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When Cara Whitney, wife of comedian Dan Whitney (also known as Larry the Cable Guy), wants to spend time with God, she carries out an unlikely activity: She shovels manure on her 180-acre horse farm in Nebraska.

I shovel manure because I find such satisfaction in getting a job done. But also, no one's bugging me when Im shoveling manure because they dont want to participate. For me, its time alone, correlating things with the Lord, and just really discovering the character of God through picking up manure, Whitney told The Christian Post.

I think things are busy and chaotic and crazy for so many people, so its so important to be purposeful in thinking about God and moving closer to Him daily. If youre in the Word, even just four times a week, your life is significantly different from somebodys whos not. You will see a significant change in your life.

The bestselling author understands firsthand the transformative power of the Gospel. Growing up on a cattle farm in Northern Wisconsin, the wife and mother said she was surrounded by secular ideology that gave her a false impression of God.

I didn't really have a baseline for anything, she recalled. You kind of get this weird impression of who you think God is based on what you pick up along the way, and so I thought, maybe He's like this old grandfatherly looking figure in the sky.

In her 20s, Whitney launched a career in radio that took her to various markets, including Las Vegas, and soon became curious about Christianity. But after a negative experience at a church  they told me I wasnt welcome because I wasnt a member, she said  Whitney decided, Maybe I just missed that window. Maybe I was created for bad.

Still, Whitney felt pulled toward Christianity, and one day rented the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ.

I rented the movie like a porno, like it was so shameful," she said. But Jesus spoke to me in it when He said, Forgive them, Father, they know not what they're doing. I thought, I think I have a chance. And so I went on this quest to figure out who Jesus was. I studied the resurrection  that's the whole crux of our faith. I went all-in on it. It took my heart a few years to get in step with it, but it became so clear to me that Jesus is Christ; He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Now, Whitney, who has two children with her husband, Dan, who she married in 2005, wants everyone to experience the same life-changing transformation she did. She recently released her latest book, Fields of Grace(Thomas Nelson, June 1), in which she shares stories about how ordinary people can share their faith in extraordinary ways.

I really believe so strongly in evangelism, she explained. I think evangelism intimidates people. Its become a dirty word these days. But I want to tell people not to be intimidated by it, that it's actually relational, and they just need to find little windows to talk about Christ when they talk to people in their daily lives. That could be grabbing a cup of coffee with someone and just working it into a conversation or showing up for somebody when theyre going through grief.

In a society where truth has become relative and Bible engagement is at an all-time low, Whitney stressed the importance of presenting the full Gospel to others, focusing on the exclusivity of Christ.

Jesus says He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, she emphasized. Why would I tell anybody any different? I love them. I don't want them to go to Hell. So I tell them the truth. Not my truth, His truth. I think the most hateful thing you can do is not tell someone how they can get to Heaven.

An avid horseback rider, Whitney believes animals can teach humans about love, loyalty and forgiveness  but more importantly, she believes they provide a medium for evangelism.

You go to a horse barn and these people are so wrapped up in these animals they start giving them human emotions and human thoughts, she said. What they are really missing is a relationship with Jesus. So I realized that horses, dogs, all things farm life were a good way to reach those people on a very private, personal way, so they can start seeing that they're loved by something other than their horse.

I think animals are purposeful; God put them here for us. But if you had to sell your horse, they would go live with someone else and they wouldn't think twice about you a couple months later, she added. God is there for you, Jesus is there for you, He will never leave you, He will never abandon you. He loves you, and no matter where you go, no matter what is going on.

Whitneys 2018 devotional, Unbridled Faith, became an instant bestseller. Her latest book, Fields of Grace, includes longer, more in-depth stories highlighting the beauty of a simple, God-honoring life, she said.

I tell stories where I missed my window of opportunity to tell someone about Jesus, she shared. I think about all the times before I was a Christian that I missed. When I was living in Las Vegas and working next to a girl that I knew was stripping or even giving her body away  if I just knew then what I know now, I could say, You don't have to do that. I want to tell people, Dont miss your window to tell people you love them by telling them about Jesus.

Whitney is the first to admit shes not perfect  I dont want people to put me on this huge pedestal, she said  but she can point readers to a God who is.

I hope this book grows people spiritually and just motivates them to want to go out and tell people about Jesus, she said. That begins with a personal relationship with Jesus and putting Him first.

Fields of Grace is now available.
Theres no way back for us: Pastor of congregation that fled China says their suffering is part of God's plan

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Two years after fleeing severe persecution in China, 60 members of a house church, including 30 children, have been living in a small rented house on an island off the southern tip of South Korea with little or no hope of returning to their homeland or getting asylum in the East Asian country.

The Chinese Christians, who are from the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church in Chinas southern city of Shenzhen, and is considered illegal in China, fled to South Koreas Jeju island in the fall of 2019 and have been struggling to earn a living while trying their best to meet the requirements of the asylum process, The Wall Street Journal reports.

South Korea reviewed about 12,000 refugee applications last year, but only 0.4% of them got approved, according to a refugee-rights center in Seoul, called Nancen.

Pan Yongguang, the pastor of the house church, which was founded in 2012, is a 43-year-old former doctor and told the Journal that the families from his church would like to resettle in the United States. Last month, he spoke to an American diplomat.

Pan, who was trained by pastors from a U.S.-based Reformed Presbyterian church, had been detained and questioned by authorities in China. A couple of church members who returned to China also faced retribution. Their homes were raided and their movements restricted.

Most of the 60 church members in South Korea are surviving by doing menial jobs. Some wanted to go back to China but Beijing had tightly secured its borders due to COVID-19.

According to reports, religious persecution in China intensified in 2020, with thousands of Christians affected by church closures and other human rights abuses.

The Christian families from Pans church also suspect that Chinese authorities are trying to find their whereabouts, as they have received some alarming phone calls.

Pastor Pan tells the members of his church that their suffering is part of Gods plan, and, Theres no way back for us.

Under the direction of President Xi Jinping, CCP officials are enforcing strict controls on religion, according to a report released in March by the U.S.-based persecution watchdog China Aid.

Christians in both official, state-run churches and house churches were ordered to fly the Chinese flag and sing patriotic songs in services, it said.

China is ranked as one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians, according to Open Doors USAs World Watch List.

The communist regimes crackdown on religious freedom has also led the U.S. State Department to label it as a country of particular concern for continuing to engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom.

In an earlier interview with The Christian Post, the then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it was certainly the case that the Chinese Communist Party [engages in] efforts to stamp out religious freedom every place that they find.
Manchin denounces HR 1 voting rights bill, says it will 'destroy binds of our democracy'

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One of the congressional Democrats legislative proposals, H.R. 1, has run into a significant roadblock as one of the most influential Democrats in the U.S. Senate has announced that he will vote against the legislation.

In an op-ed for The Charleston Gazette-Mail Sunday, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced that he would vote against the For the People Act, which Democrats bill as a necessary measure to protect the right to vote.

Since Democrats have a narrow 50-50 majority in the Senate and all Republicans are expected to vote against the legislation, Manchins decision will likely deal a fatal blow to the bill also known as H.R. 1.

Manchin, who represents one of the most conservative states in the country, maintained that congressional action on federal voting rights legislation must be the result of both Democrats and Republicans coming together to find a pathway forward.

He warned that by embracing a wide-reaching bill without Republican support, his fellow Democrats risk further dividing and destroying the republic we swore to protect and defend as elected officials.

I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, and for that reason I will vote against the For the People Act, he added. For as long as I have the privilege of being your U.S. Senator, I will fight to represent the people of West Virginia, to seek bipartisan compromise no matter how difficult and to develop the political bonds that end divisions and help unite the country we love.

The For the People Act passed the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives earlier this year but has always faced long odds in the Senate because of the filibuster rule, which requires most legislation to receive 60 votes instead of a simple majority.

While Democrats have proposed eliminating the legislative filibuster to enable legislation to pass with a simple majority, Manchin poured cold water on that effort as well, vowing that I will not vote to weaken or eliminate the filibuster.

The 73-year-old former governor of the Mountain State acknowledged that while the legislative process under the current Senate rules can be frustrating and slow and force compromises that are not always ideal, the alternative is much worse.

Do we really want to live in an America where one party can dictate and demand everything and anything it wants, whenever it wants?" he asked. "I have always said If I cant go home and explain it, I cant vote for it. And I cannot explain strictly partisan election reform or blowing up the Senate rules to expedite one partys agenda.

As an alternative to the For the People Act, Manchin suggested that the Senate work on passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which has already secured the support of one Republican: Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

According to Manchin, this bill would update the formula states and localities must use to ensure proposed voting laws do not restrict the rights of any particular group or population.

The senator stressed the importance of opposing laws that seek to needlessly restrict voting while acknowledging the need to secure our elections.

Conservatives and Republicans have warned that the For the People Act will have negative implications for Americans trust in the outcome and legitimacy of elections.

In a previous interview with The Christian Post, Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, asserted that H.R. 1 would make it easier to cheat and easier to manipulate election results.

A group of 20 Republican attorneys general reached a similar conclusion. They expressed particular concern about the Acts regulation of congressional elections, including by mandating mail-in voting, requiring states to accept late ballots, overriding state voter identification (ID) laws, and mandating that states conduct redistricting through unelected commissions.

Additionally, they argued that mandated nationwide automatic voter registration and Election Day voter registration would provide too many opportunities for non-citizens and others ineligible to vote, to register, and cast fraudulent ballots before officials can take preventive action.

In addition to the For the People Act, Manchins opposition could hurt Democrats' chances of passing the Equality Act, another top legislative priority for congressional Democrats that would codify protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity into federal discrimination law.

Manchin opposed the Equality Act when it was first introduced in 2019, but his opposition did not matter since the Republican-controlled Senate never brought the bill up for a vote.

While Manchin has not explicitly opposed the Equality Act this time around, he is expected to vote against the legislation. Conservatives worry about the Equality Acts implications for religious liberty and womens sports.

Manchin has explicitly announced that he will not support a bill that would make Washington, D.C. a state, a decision that will likely cause the demise of the Democrat-backed legislation.

Even if Manchin supported the aforementioned legislative initiatives, his opposition to the filibuster would likely prevent them from becoming law because of the lack of Republican support.
Pakistani Christian man demands justice for wife abducted, raped and beaten by wealthy Muslim captor

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A wealthy Muslim man in Pakistans Punjab Province ordered his workers to abduct a Christian mother of five and then he repeatedly raped, drugged and beat her for 20 days, according to a report.

The 30-year-old Christian woman, Venus Bibi, who is from Sahoo Ki Malian village near Sheikhupura city, had gone out for household shopping on April 1 when she was abducted and held captive until April 20, according to her husband, Warris Masih, the Pakistan Christian Post reported.

When she was returning home, some Muslim men blocked her way and told her to accompany them without making a noise, Masih said, adding that before she could respond, they grabbed her by the hand and dragged her to a car that was parked nearby.

Masih identified the abductor as Muhamad Akbar, a wealthy and influential Muslim man who had previously kidnapped a separate Christian woman but escaped punishment. After several attempts, Masih said policemen forced Akbar to release Bibi, who was later found on a roadside near her village but she was unable to walk.

Bibi and Masih are both brick kiln workers, and they suspect that police accepted a bribe from Akbar.

I want justice for my wife, Masih was quoted as saying. I want all the kidnappers arrested and punished for their crimes so they can stop kidnapping more Christian women.

Commenting on the incident, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern said, With the second-largest Muslim population in the world, Christians in Pakistan are seen as second-class citizens and are provided little protection by their government.

As a result, Christian girls and women are often kidnapped, tortured, and killed without consequence for their perpetrators.

The incidence of abduction of Christian girls and women, and, in many cases, also their forced marriage and conversion to Islam, is high in Pakistan.

International persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA ranks Pakistan No. 5 on its 2021 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution due to an extreme level of Islamic oppression. Pakistan is also listed by the U.S. State Department as a "country of particular concern" for tolerating in or engaging in egregious violations of religious freedom.

Last month, a 32-year-old Christian man, Arif Masih, was allegedly poisoned and killed by a group of radical Muslims for defending his sister from harassment on the street in the Muslim-majority Tariqabad village of the Punjab province on May 23, the Union of Catholic Asian News reported.

Earlier that week, two young men dragged his sister into the street and stripped her naked after following her home from the store and breaking into the home.

They fought her brother, Masih, who filed a complaint against Muhammad Tariq and Muhammad Majid, the two men who harassed his sister on May 20.

According to Asia News, the men were not arrested and Masih was reportedly threatened for not dropping the complaint and was attacked by the perpetrators three days later.

The perpetrators allegedly loaded Masih on their motorcycle, beat him, poisoned him and threw him into the street. He was taken to the hospital but did not survive his injuries.
An appeals court in Vermont reportedly ruled that the state cannot deny tuition fee funding for students in religious schools.

The Christian Post (CP) said the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction that requires the state of Vermont to include students from religious schools in their Town Tuition Program. The case was filed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington together with Catholic high school students and their parents against the state of Vermont. The injunction issued by the circuit court last Wednesday ruled in the side of the Catholic plaintiffs.

The Town Tuition Program, as per CP, provides educational vouchers for students attending religious schools out of the absence of public schools in their towns. However, students from the diocese's schools like the Rice Memorial High School were not given the said benefit because they were denied it.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals presiding justice on the case, Judge Steven Menashi, stressed that said studies are entitled to the benefits of the Town Tuition Program.

"(The students are) entitled to TTP funding to the same extent as parents who choose secular schools for their children, regardless of Rice's religious affiliation or activities," Menashi said.

"The Court emphasized that '[s]tatus-based discrimination remains status based even if one of its goals or effects is preventing religious organizations from putting aid to religious uses' and that a state cannot justify discrimination against religious schools and students by invoking an 'interest in separating church and State more fiercely than the Federal Constitution," he stressed.

Menashi also pointed out in the decision that the Supreme Court had reminded states four years ago that denying benefits on the sole account of religious identity "imposes a penalty on the free exercise of religion" that the state can only justify if it is for "the highest order." He said that the Court had already clarified last June that the rule on the said benefits does not allow a state to apply its constitutional prohibition "on aid to religion that would bar religious schools from public benefits'" just because the character of the school is of religious nature.

Vermont state, as per Menashi, has violated the First Amendment by "discriminating against religious schools and students" out of denying them the benefits of the TTP program.

"The Supreme Court has made clear that the prevailing practice in Vermont--maintaining a policy of excluding religious schools from the TTP--is unconstitutional," Menashi pointed out.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, the plaintiff's legal counsel, said that the judge's decision is a powerful affirmation of the need to provide equal access to people of faith for public benefits. They disclosed in a statement by their Legal Counsel Paul Schmitt that the state of Vermont has long been forcing "families to choose between exercising their religion or enjoying a publicly available benefit," which is unconstitutional

"Once Vermont chose to subsidize private education, it could not disqualify some private schools solely because they are 'too religious.' When the state offers parents school choice, it cannot take away choices for a religious school," Schmitt stressed.

CP said that the case filed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington is but one of several cases filed against a state in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals where religious schools can not receive benefits similarly given to other private schools on account of them being "religious."
'Taking back the rainbow': Freedom March declares move of God among ex-LGBT people

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WASHINGTON  Men and women who once lived and identified as part of the LGBT community are confident that a "rainbow revival" is at hand.

Gathered under the blazing sun with temperatures in the mid-90s at the Sylvan Theater in the shadow of the Washington Monument, approximately 200 attended the Freedom March, an event for formerly LGBT-identifying people who share testimonies of how Jesus transformed their lives.

The gathering was first held in the same location in 2018. Last year's Freedom March was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With many sporting T-shirts decorated with rainbow flags and the words "Rainbow Revival," march participants spoke with The Christian Post about the transforming power of Jesus.

Angel Colon, who miraculously survived after Omar Mateen shot him several times at the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting in Orlando in June 2016, said the "rainbow revival" is a sign of God's covenant.

"We are taking back the rainbow," Colon said. "It's His. For us, it's something beautiful."

"We are here and we're loud, letting the world know that the rainbow is something beautiful," he added. "And we shouldn't be ashamed of what it really is."

Colon and his compatriots are hearing from increasing numbers of people who desire to leave the LGBT life to follow Jesus, as Freedom March events have continued. He believes that the COVID-19 pandemic was a blessing in disguise because it forced many to go deep with the Lord.

"Especially now during Pride month, we want to say we love you" to the LGBT community, Colon said.

"We want to tell the gay community that we love them. We don't want to judge you or condemn you and welcome you with open arms and be a reflection of Jesus. We're not the Holy Spirit. We don't want to do anything but love everyone."

Freedom March co-founder Jeffrey McCall told CP that he noticed an uptick in emails he received from people wishing to leave the LGBT life and identity behind last summer. He was especially encouraged to hear pastor Kent Christmas of Regeneration-Nashville speak prophetically at The Return intercessory prayer event in September that the Lord would bring healing and salvation to the LGBT community.

That uptick in correspondence "has never stopped since last summer," McCall said.

"We are getting more emails, more people reaching out and wanting help than we've ever had in the past three years," he continued. He believes that the Church is at the beginning stage of reaching out effectively to LGBT individuals with the transformational power of life in Christ.

In some church environments in the 1980s, including the one Drew Berryessa was raised in, how homosexuality was treated was harsh and condemning. Not knowing what to do with his struggle with same-sex attraction, the Medford, Oregon-based pastor who leads A Living Letter Ministries shared from the stage how he consistently felt disqualified from God's love.

"In 20 years of ministry to the LGBT community, I know there are many people that they were Christians, that they loved Jesus in their childhood, but they just felt disqualified from His love and grace and redemption because of what they experienced," he told CP.

"And I'm here to say  and I know that we all are  that the blood of Jesus speaks a better word. We are qualified for His redemption and grace."

Kim Zember, who is Catholic and on the march's board of directors, shared with CP that the phrase "conversion therapy" is misleading.

"It's not about 'converting' someone," Zember said. "When Jesus walked the earth, he didn't walk around converting people. He invited people to be transformed. And we're transformed in a relationship with Jesus Christ."

"Jesus went into the dark places," She stressed. "He encountered those who were sick, those who were blind and broken."

The Freedom March board member said that those who participated in the event believe they have been "touched by who we believe is the Physician, Jesus Christ."

"He transforms our lives, not forcing us, not changing us because we have to," Zember explained. "[It's] not a doctrine or certain church teaching, but because Christ Himself has encountered each one of us and we want to share that, not only the transformation He has brought to our lives but [it's] continuing as well."

In order for churches to posture themselves effectively to reach the LGBT community, she said the Church needs an increase in humility and realize "we ourselves are broken as well and allow Jesus to mend our own brokenness." She says churches must be "willing to be transparent with others struggling about our own battles and share about Jesus who is our only hope for complete healing."

After three hours of sharing testimonies and worship, participants marched with a banner from the Sylvan Theater, looping around the pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial and back.

The Freedom March is one of several events in which formerly LGBT-identified people who traveled to the nation's capital participated.

Although the Equality Act appears to be stalling in the U.S. Senate, men and women with the CHANGED movement spent part of Friday speaking with congressional staffers about their concerns with the pending legislation. The movement is a cohort of formerly LGBT-identifying people who have publicly declared their testimonies of restoration through Jesus.

The legislation would codify discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity into federal law. The bill passed the Democratic-controlled House and is supported by President Joe Biden.

Those who met with staffers are particularly concerned about efforts to limit counseling options for those experiencing conflicting or unwanted sexual feelings and impulses or gender confusion related to their faith. Faith-based approaches to help individuals deal with these unwanted attractions are often derisively referred to as "conversion therapy."

Speaking at a press conference outside the Capitol building at Union Square near the reflecting pool, CHANGED movement co-founder Elizabeth Woning said it is incredibly unjust for lawmakers to outlaw such avenues for women, who have long been ignored.

Woning, a pastor with Equipped to Love in Redding, California, who helped co-host the Freedom March, said the lesbian experience was often diminished in favor of male priorities within the LGBT community.

She believes that they are the true liberals in this debate.

"A truly liberal posture seeks understanding. It seeks to incorporate multiple ideas from multiple sides," Woning told CP in an interview Friday. "It's constantly learning and constantly flexing and willing to accommodate multiple views for the sake of valuing another person. Truly liberal ideas are being squashed in America."

She warned that "seeking understanding and having dialogue should not be frightening and it shouldn't be considered abusive or harmful."

"We should be going for enlightened discussion and discourse," she argued.

The conversation over "conversion therapy" continues to harm many women, Woning added.

She recently spoke to a married lesbian who said she had been sexually assaulted and raped by a man. The experience impacted her entire life of sexual expression, even with her wife. The woman also acknowledged that pursuing a counseling route to resolve the trauma from being raped to recognize that there could have been harm to her sexuality that would have implicated her sexual orientation was anathema.

"She couldn't speak of that in her circles," Woning recalled. "She could never be allowed the opportunity to dialogue on that with the option of resolution. But what if those traumas were resolved?"
Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren announces search for his successor: 'Timing is everything'

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Influential Pastor Rick Warren has announced that after more than 40 years as the lead pastor of Saddleback Church in California, he will be soon stepping back from his current role with the church and has begun the process of searching for his successor.

This next week, we are going to begin the official search for my successor, Warren, who oversees the 25,000-member, 19-campus Saddleback Church based in Lake Forest, announced in a June 6 sermon.

That's a big deal, the official search for my successor," the 67-year-old pastor said. "This isn't the end. It's not even the beginning of the end. It's the beginning of the beginning, but we're going to start looking for the next-generation pastor who will replace me and lead our family into the future.

Since they launched the church in 1980, Warren said that he and his wife, Kay, knew this day would eventually arrive. But he promised to dedicate 40 years of their lives to the church.

We've been waiting on God's perfect timing, began the process, finding our next lead pastor, and letting me make the smooth transition into a less visible role as founding pastor," he said. "Now, this is such a significant decision because I'm the only lead pastor our church family has ever had.

As the church neared the 40-year mark in January 2020, Warren said that he and his wife attended a prayer retreat to uncover Gods calling on their lives.

We went out, we prayed and we both felt that God wanted us to stay on in leadership past the 40-year commitment, he said. Neither of us had any comfort in leaving, we had no idea what the future would hold, but we decided we're gonna stay on until God gives us His timing."

And then we didn't understand it then, but three weeks later, after our 40th anniversary, the COVID pandemic would shut everything down for a year and a half, he continued. As we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel of the COVID pandemic, we started feeling that God was saying, Now is the time to at least start the process, start looking for your successor for your replacement.

Warren, whose church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, stressed that the Saddleback staff doesnt know all the details of what searching for his replacement will entail. But he explained, you don't have to see the ultimate step to take the first step. You just take the first step in faith.

The Purpose Driven Life author added he has no intention of leaving the church and that hes looking forward to the transition into a less visible role with the church.

He said that while he and Saddleback elders dont have a particular successor in mind, they will be looking at the biblical qualifications for a pastor, including someone who will love you as much as somebody who's willing to sacrifice their life for your benefit and is already doing purpose-driven ministry.

Earlier in his message, Warren said that one verse that has guided his ministry is Acts 13:36, which reads, Now when David had served Gods purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.

You might think that's a funny life verse  but to me, that statement is the definition of a successful life serving God's purpose in your generation. That would be a wonderful verse to have on your tombstone, he contended.

There is a right time for every activity. That includes every activity in your life, he added. We're not supposed to just do the right things, the things that God wants us to do. We are to do it at the right time. Timing is everything in life.

Warrens announcement comes just weeks after Saddleback ordained three women pastors, drawing criticism from Southern Baptist leaders, including Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler, who said the church acted in "violation" of SBC doctrine. SBC President J.D. Greear also criticized the move.
Teacher placed on leave for opposing transgender pronouns sues Virginia school district

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A teacher in Virginia has filed a lawsuit against his school district after its leadership put him on leave for rejecting policies that would implement transgender ideology in local schools.

Byron Tanner Cross, a physical education teacher at Leesburg Elementary School, filed suit last week against the Loudon County School Board for disciplining him for expressing concern over a proposed policy.

Filed in Loudon County Circuit Court, the suit accused the board, Interim Superintendent Scott A. Ziegler and another official of viewpoint-based retaliation.

 this case is not about how schools should treat students who struggle with gender dysphoria, stated the legal filing.

It is about whether public schools can punish a teacher for objecting, as a private citizen, to a proposed policy, in a forum designated for the purpose of considering whether to implement such policies, where the policy would force him to express ideas about human nature, unrelated to the schools curriculum, that he believes are false.

Cross is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal nonprofit based in Scottsdale, Arizona, that has successfully argued several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer said in a statement that he believes public schools cannot suspend someone simply for respectfully providing their opinion at a public meeting.

The school district favors a certain set of beliefs on a hotly contested issue, and it wants to force Tanner to cry uncle and endorse them as well, stated Langhofer. Thats neither legal nor constitutional, and neither was the schools move to place Tanner on leave.

Last month, Cross told the Loudoun County School Board at a meeting that he could not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa.

My name is Tanner Cross, and I am speaking out of love for those who suffer with gender dysphoria, said Cross at the May 25 meeting.

I love all of my students, but I will never lie to them regardless of the consequences. Im a teacher, but I serve God first and I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa because its against my religion.

Two days after the meeting, the school informed Cross that he was placed on administrative leave with pay "pending an investigation of allegations that [he] engaged in conduct that had a disruptive impact on the operations of Leesburg Elementary School.

The proposed policy, known as Policy 8040, would require both staff and students of Loudon schools to use the chosen pronouns of students who identify as transgender or gender-expansive.

LCPS staff shall allow gender-expansive or transgender students to use their chosen name and gender pronouns that reflect their gender identity without any substantiating evidence, regardless of the name and gender recorded in the students permanent educational record, a draft of the policy explains.

Inadvertent slips in the use of names or pronouns may occur; however, staff or students who intentionally and persistently refuse to respect a students gender identity by using the wrong name and gender pronoun are in violation of this policy.

His attorneys filed a motion for temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction that would halt the school district's actions against Cross while the lawsuit is adjudicated.

Cross is not the only Virginia public school teacher recently caught in the controversy over transgender ideology and gender identity in the classroom.

In 2019, a high school French teacher named Peter Vlaming sued the West Point School Board over his firing for using a trans-identified student's chosen name instead of their preferred pronouns.

West Point Superintendent Laura Abel said in a statement released in December 2018 that they considered Vlamings actions discriminatory, noting that the student felt disrespected.

That discrimination then leads to creating a hostile learning environment. And the student had expressed that. The parent had expressed that, Abel stated at the time.
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Evangelical Christians who have become used to the effective leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels longest serving prime minister, may have grave concerns about the newly formed coalition government. But I believe there is good reason to hope that this new government might be just what Israel needs.

When I was asked by the New York Times about evangelical reaction to the potential ouster of Netanyahu, I replied, Your average American evangelical would think its a tragedy if Netanyahu is out. It will be similar in many of their minds to Trump losing to Biden.

Despite those concerns, however, the great majority of evangelicals from whom Im hearing are expressing their support for the new government, wanting to continue to stand together with Israel and have a positive, supportive relationship.

Given that Netanyahu was such an effective leader on so many fronts, what, then, could be good about his ouster? And what could be positive about the new government?

First, Netanyahus latest attempt at forming a government caused him to lurch further to the right, to the point of embracing some dangerously anti-Arab ideologies. Increasingly, he was not serving as the leader of the whole country.

Second, in order to form a coalition, he needed to cozy up to the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, whose almost exclusive focus is on the wellbeing of their communities. This often comes at the expense of the rest of the nation, which is forced to subsidize these devoted, ultra-Orthodox families (also known as Haredim).

Almost all of the men do not serve in the military, and many of them study rabbinic texts day and night rather than work secular jobs, underwritten by taxpayer money. (In their view, this is their sacred calling and is a spiritual key to the nations preservation.)

Not only so, but these ultra-Orthodox parties always demand control over certain important positions, including the Ministry of the Interior, which then works against the interests of Messianic Jews in the Land.

This is a perspective often missed by many Christians in the West: within Israel, while Netanyahu certainly has his backers, and while he has done much good, the believing community is hardly united behind him.

In keeping with this, one of my friends who emigrated to Israel in the 1970s and has been a citizen ever since, underscored these issues to me, adding: I always saw Netanyahus lack of interest in promoting the good for Israels Arabs as unbiblical. For most of the years, the Israeli Arabs have been decent citizens for the most part. But their cities were unpoliced, and lately are often ruled by gangs which are terrorizing the normal citizens of Israeli Arab towns. They need infrastructure on a level with all of Israel. They are Israeli citizens.

There needs to be more fairness in giving Arabs reasonable rights to build housing, even though the country is tiny, and there isnt enough room for anyone.

And this is where I see hope for the new coalition.

First, the incoming, two-year prime minister, Naftali Bennett, himself strongly to the right, seems to have put the good of the country ahead of partisan interests.

According to Bennetts long-term advisor George Birnbaum, in all his private conversations with Bennett, he never spoke against Netanyahu. The enemy, for Bennett, was a fifth election in under two-and-a-half years. His main driving force was not vitriol against Bibi, Birnbaum said. He said we need to do what is best for Israel, and what is worst for Israel is a fifth election.

To be sure, Bennett, like Netanyahu, is a shrewd politician, emerging as incoming, two-year prime minister while garnering less than 10% of the total vote. This is quite a political feat. Yet, I am hopeful that it is not only personal ambition driving him and that he does want to see the nation move forward.

With the new coalition, no one got everything they wanted. Everyone had to compromise somewhere. Idealism had to yield to pragmatism.

Second, as much as I have concerns about an Islamist party serving as part of the government (as opposed to simply having votes in the Knesset), Arab Israelis do make up more than 20 percent of the nation and their needs and interests must be addressed. (This number is separate from the self-identified Palestinians living in Gaza and Judea-Samaria, also known as the West Bank. They total almost 6 million.)

As noted by my friend in Israel, Bennett, Yair Lapid [leader of Yesh Atid, who would serve as the next prime minister for two years after Bennett) and Mansour Abbas [leader of the Islamist party] have spoken in reasonable, even caring speeches, while Netanyahu has blasted and blasted and was at his best with his fearmongering, anger and hate-filled attacks against Bennett and company.

If Abbas will genuinely seek to better the lives of his people, he will be the very first Arab politician to do this. If he breaks the mode, it will be a great breakthrough for the betterment of the Israeli Arabs and the entire nation.

Yet the challenges are immense: this new coalition is new. It is going to have horrific challenges, especially in dealing with Jerusalem and Har HaBayit [a Temple Mount controversy that could erupt into terrible violence]. A war can always start in a second. Iran and Biden are tremendous challenges. This Bennett/Lapid coalition is going to need all the prayer power and angelic protection it can possibly get. Only a small percentage of Israelis believe this government will last.

Still, there is reason for hope.

In any case, the end of the current Netanyahu reign of power could turn out benefitting the nation more than hurting it. All the more reason for ongoing prayer.
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A recent Barna poll found that support for Israel among younger Evangelical Christians is falling. Since 2018, backing for Israel dropped from 75% to 33% among evangelicals aged 18-29.

But while young evangelicals are less supportive of Israel than ever before, theyre also less informed. The same poll found that 65% of young evangelicals say they seldom or never hear about the importance of Israel. Only 12% say they hear about the importance of Israel every week.

These statistics fit into a broader picture of Gen Z Christians and their disengagement from the church. According to Barnas Gen Z Report, only 4% of Gen Z holds a biblical worldview. And among GenZ Christians, only 9% say they are an engaged Christian.

Younger evangelicals arent simply losing their confidence in Israel as a force for good; rather, they arent connecting with Israel and with their faith through their church community in the same way as their parents and grandparents. Whats more, anti-semitism is on the rise on college campuses. Disconnected from their faith lives and exposed unknowingly to antisemitism on college campuses, its no wonder that young evangelicals dont feel the same about their faith and about Israel as they used to.

What American evangelicals need is an opportunity to see for themselves the intimate connection between Biblical Christianity and the people and places of Israel. And theres no better way to do this than by learning about Israel first-hand through an overseas trip.

Israel is the birthplace of the Bible. Its in the lands of Israel that the Biblical stories of King David, Solomon, Jesus, and the disciples were lived and experienced. In many respects, when Christians study the Bible, they are studying the sacred record of God interacting with His people in Israel.

For Christians living in America, there is no amount of familiarity with the Bible that can bring the heart and mind closer to Gods story of salvation than seeing with your own eyes the places where the history of Gods people took place. Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Mount Tabor, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River arent just a part of Christianitys past; they are living and breathing cities, towns, and locations that are still full of Gods presence up to this very day.

By traveling to Israel, Christians can experience their faith more deeply and more passionately. But they can also connect more closely with the Jewish people who share with them the Old Testament and the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. One of the most unique things about being Jewish is that it is more than a religion; it is also an ethnicity and a heritage. In more ways than one, Christians can find a lot of their own Biblical faith reflected in the Jewish heritage that has been lived in the lands of Israel and is still being lived today.

With so much shared history and faith between Christians and Jews, it really should be no surprise that American Christians have long been some of the most ardent supporters of the state of Israel. Israel is the homeland for the Jewish people and the only safe place in the entire world for Jews to exercise their powers of self-determination as a people. Christians should not feel guilty for wanting their Jewish brothers and sisters to have a home in the birthplace of their shared history.

The youngest generation of Christians, however, havent experienced this shared history first-hand. On top of that, these Christians are being told that they have to pick one side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Disconnected from their shared history with the Jews and confronted with an unfair moral binary, its no wonder that many younger Christians are showing less support for Israel.

But it doesnt have to be this way. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians shouldnt be used to drive a wedge between Christians and Israel; instead, this conflict is an opportunity for Christians to engage both Jews and Palestinians with love, compassion, and empathy. Most importantly, no modern-day conflict can ever erase the centuries of sacred meaning in Israel for both Jews and Christians.

Learning about that sacred meaning first-hand should be an essential rite of passage for Christians today. Younger Christians owe it to themselves to see Israel for themselves and experience the presence of God in the lands described so richly in the Bible. There may be no better way for Christians to connect with their faith, their history, and their Jewish friends.
Ex-LGBT men, women to share stories of transformation at 2nd Freedom March in Washington, DC

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Men and women who once lived and identified as LGBT are set to proclaim how encountering Jesus transformed their lives for the second time in the nation's capital this weekend.

The Freedom March, founded by Jeffrey McCall, is diverse group of Christians who have left the active practice of homosexuality and transgenderism behind and are testifying to the power of the Holy Spirit who set them free from sexual sin and wounds of all kinds.

I was transformed through the grace of Jesus and found that others have been as well. These marches are a way to ensure that others who have overcome are not feeling isolated and alone," McCall explained in a statement sent to The Christian Post.

"There is an entire community of people that have made this transformation, and we are here to support them.

The march will occur Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. at Sylvan Theatre, which is situated near the Washington Monument, where it was held last year

The purpose of the march, according to McCall, is to connect those who have left the LGBT life, reach out to the LGBTQ community in each city, and equip local churches that are seeking to know how to minister to LGBT-identified persons.

McCall noted that the march functions as a platform a to both bring people together and build community, and allow those who have been changed by Jesus to share their stories.

Luis Javier Ruiz, who is a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando 2016, spoke at last year's march and will do so again Saturday. He is instrumental in setting up an upcoming Freedom March next year in Orlando and emphasizes the centrality of knowing God.

Ive always said its not about gay to straight. Its about lost to saved, Ruiz remarked.

Through the Freedom Marches, we want to spread messages of love and acceptance for people who have shed their LGBTQ identity and show others that we do exist. These marches are our platform to educate, encourage others and share in a community. Weve had a great response from people, other community groups and churches.

Fellow Pulse survivor Angel Colon will also be speaking at the march Saturday.

Vocalist and Freedom March worship leader Edward Byrd noted in a Tuesday email to CP that the greatest misunderstanding about those who have left the LGBT life behind is that they are self-loathing and are suppressing their sexual desires.

"They think we are not happy, they think we are unfulfilled when in all actuality we are living our best lives. Not saying its always easy but the real joy, peace and freedom we have is nothing I ever known before," Byrd said.

While this is the second such rally to occur in Washington, D.C., another Freedom March was held in Los Angeles in the fall. Similar gatherings are planned for St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 23 and in Orlando on Sept. 14.

The march comes amid intensifying debate in both Congress and in state legislatures across the country as they consider outlawing counseling options for those with unwanted same-sex attraction and gender confusion, known as "conversion therapy" bans, as well as adding "gender identity" as a protected category in civil rights law.

The whole notion of "conversion therapy" is misleading, Byrd told CP, "because the majority of us has never experienced conversion therapy; our experiences were encounters with the Holy Spirit that changed our lives."

"I had never even heard of conversion therapy. Ive seen references of it in the past but didnt come into the knowledge of what it really was until recently," he said.

"None of us were ever forced to change or put in a camp; it was a decision that we made to follow after Jesus and His love."
McCall had been diagnosed by a doctor with gender dysphoria and lived "in homosexuality" and as a trans-identified woman.

"I identified as Scarlet, Scarlet was the name I went by," he said.

That is until "in 2016, I got radically saved and my whole identity changed," he explained.

McCall organized the Freedom March in Orlando earlier this month where he and others shared how Jesus Christ transformed their lives and delivered them from the LGBT lifestyle. They proclaimed to the hundreds in attendance, "We do exist."

Today, McCall said, his "life is joy and peace and love." "I love to help people. I love to bless people. I just love people and that's God.

When asked if he believed Jesus sets people free from homosexuality, McCall answered, "Yes, He does.

I've seen testimony after testimony, person after person who was set free from that identity and [now] knows that the Lord created a man and a woman to be together in marriage and that that is a covenant, that is holy to God and it's a beautiful thing, he said. I've even seen people that later on, years after healing, wound up getting married and having children. It's a restoration of the true form that God created.

"I will say if you're struggling with anything of your desires and you're dealing with any LGBTQ identity, that Jesus loves you, He died for you. If you weren't worth anything, Jesus Christ would not have been crucified for you. You are worth more than jewels and diamonds and pearls. He has a new identity for you. He predestined you to be in His image, He knew when you were formed in your mother's womb. Take time and just call out to the Lord and I promise you He'll meet you where you're at.

Luis Javier Ruiz is a survivor of the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse nightclub and a board member of Freedom March. He has left homosexuality and started a ministry called Fearless Identity with another Pulse survivor, Angel Colon. Their ministry helps churches effectively share the love of Jesus with the LGBT community and he said that, in turn, brings about the change.

"I was like a lot of people, I was struggling with same-sex attraction. I was struggling with a lot of rejection, a lot of pain, not even sexuality. There was so much rejection in that, Ruiz told CP. Long story short, I ended up at Pulse nightclub and came to Jesus. A lot of people say, 'Well, it was PTSD.' And I'm like, 'Well, I'm glad that I had PTSD with Jesus.'

Ruiz, a pastors kid, has praying parents and testified that it was a combination of their prayers, the Pulse tragedy and finding out that he was HIV positive after the shooting that brought him to a place of full surrender in God. The former U.S. Army soldier is now devoted to sharing the love of Jesus with the LGBT community because it was Gods mercy over him that changed his life.

Through persecution, a lot of people just did not understand our heart. They thought that we were these people that bash the LGBT, they thought that we were this hateful group. We're not at all, we love the LGBTQ. God loves gay people. We love gay people. And we just want to bridge between the LGBT and the church, to let them know, 'You're welcome back home. We want you to come back home. We want you to meet Jesus first. We want to introduce you to the man on the cross, and then get good discipleship. Get under a pastor that loves you,' Ruiz stated.

We're pointing people to the church so we're building that bridge. And that's what Fearless Identity does. It was birthed through persecution.

Laura Perry shared her testimony at the Freedom March and she wants people to know how she found her identity in God after years of identifying as a man.

I grew up in a Christian home and I was at church every time the door was open but I really felt rejected by my mom. I felt like my mom didn't love me and she paid a lot more attention to my brother so I began to act like my brother and the more I acted like my brother, the more the girls rejected me, Perry recounted.

The Oklahoma native recalled feeling so rejected by women all of her life. Perry said she became a male chauvinist but was still a girl, which further confused her. After being molested and becoming addicted to porn, she decided she wanted to be a male.

I became an absolute slave to porn and it just destroyed my heart and destroyed any sense of identity in me. I begin to fantasize more and more about being a man and as I did, I just fully embraced that identity in 2007, Perry confessed. I really believed that was who I was and I begin to take hormones and I had two major surgeries for that, including a chest surgery. I never ever, ever thought I would leave that lifestyle.

Despite taking hormones for years and the surgeries, she still found herself missing something.

I was so empty and so broken. I finally had to admit to myself that it was all a lie, that I could not be a man, no matter how hard I tried, all I had done was change the outer appearance  Perry acknowledged. I was just empty and broken but then the Lord in His great mercy reached down to me and He reached into a horrible pit that I was in. He just reached His hand, and He said, 'Do you trust me?' He asked me to walk away to leave it all behind and follow Him.

Perry found herself being transformed by the Word of God after helping her mother run a Bible study website.

"This speaks of a God who had mercy on a sinner like me, I felt like one of the most deprived people on the planet. I was just at the lowest of the low, so ashamed of everything I've done and I really didn't believe that God would ever love me or save me again ... I began to confess my sins, I didn't believe He would save me. I was trying to pray the sinner's prayer, but I didn't believe He would still want me, but it was about two days later, where He gave me an opportunity to show me that He wasn't done with me yet. I was totally transformed and totally set free, she testified.

The first Freedom March was held in Washington, D.C., on May 5, 2018. The group of millennials behind it intends to continue to take the march nationwide and will be heading to Georgia in October and back to Washington in May 2020.

Each march is meant to share their transformation in Christ, equip the Body of Christ on how to reach out to the LGBT community and offer a safe place for those in the LGBT community to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.








Supreme Court denies Colorado churches' request for relief from COVID-19 worship restrictions

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The United States Supreme Court has rejected a request for emergency relief from two churches that are challenging Colorado's restrictions on worship in response to COVID-19.

Denver Bible Church in Wheat Ridge and Community Baptist Church in Brighton filed the request in response to several worship restrictions implemented by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch rejected the request without comment on Tuesday, with the justice also not referring the case to the full court for consideration.

The denial follows a series of other recent rulings on the courts shadow docket in which the court has granted emergency relief to religious groups seeking exemptions from state limits on in-person gatherings, according to SCOTUSblog.

Among those rulings was an April decision in Tandon v. Newsom, in which the court ruled 5-4 that group prayer meetings were entitled to an exemption from Californias policy limiting gatherings in homes during the pandemic.

Last year, the churches sued Colorado over public health orders that they argued, among other things, gave houses of worship fewer exemptions than various secular entities.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico ruled in favor of the churches last October, granting them a preliminary injunction against the public health orders.

The Constitution does not allow a state to tell a congregation how large it can be when comparable secular gatherings are not so limited, or to tell a congregation that its reason for wishing to remove facial coverings is less important than a restaurants or spas, wrote Domenico.

With each exception Colorado makes for secular institutions, the failure to make the same exemption for houses of worship becomes increasingly problematic.

However, a two-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit issued a brief order overturning the injunctive relief.

Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the Colorado Disaster Emergency Act  violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, either as applied to plaintiffs or on its face. Plaintiffs motion is therefore denied, stated the order.

Over the course of the litigation by Denver Bible and Community Baptist against Colorado, the restrictions on in-person worship in the state have been gradually loosened.

According to Colorados official COVID-19 response website, last updated on May 2, noted that worship services, as well as weddings and funerals, were deemed critical, meaning they can ... make exceptions to state public health guidelines if they cannot conduct their essential activity within those restrictions.

It is still strongly recommended that places of worship in counties with high rates of COVID-19 transmission substitute in-person service with online programming and prioritize outdoor activities over indoor, they added.

As with all essential establishments, places of worship must comply with required guidelines  unless doing so would make it impossible to carry out essential activities.
Does your counselor share your faith?

We are an affiliate for Faithful Counseling and we may receive compensation for purchasing through our link.

The decision to see a counselor is not an easy one. Whether youre struggling due to the pandemic or have dealt with mental health issues for a while, you may have decided its time to seek help from a professional mental health provider.

A starting point when selecting a counselor is ensuring that person is trained, experienced, and credentialed. When you find a counselor, that type of information should be on his or her website or searchable through their states credentialing board. While all credentialed counselors are educated in mental health practices, not all have the exact same educational background.

At Faithful Counseling, all their counselors are psychologists (PhD / PsyD), marriage and family therapists (LMFT), clinical social workers (LCSW / LMSW), or licensed professional counselors (LPC). All went through extensive training to become qualified and certified by their state's professional board. This includes at least three years and 1,000 hours of hands-on experience.

While these credentials are important, we also encourage Christians to consider a qualified Christian counselor rather than a secular counselor or someone from another faith. A non-Christian may be equally qualified with credentials and experience, but the differing worldview is important.

Consider the origin of life. How did we get here and why are we here? If we evolved and the only life for us is the one we see, theres no real hope. We do the best we can until we die and believe thats the end. A Christian counselor knows we are created by God with a unique purpose and the promise of an eternal home. That provides hope and serves as a guiding light in todays tough times.

What about who we serve? If there is no God, we can do whatever we believe will make us happy. We make our own rules based on how we feel. However, if there is a God, we believe that He authored the Bible which is our guidebook for living. As Christians, should remember Philippians 2:5 that tells us to have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Christian counselors will help clients examine behaviors that are not in line with Gods will and apply biblical solutions.

A client of Faithful Counseling noted the importance of this in a recent review of one of their counselors:

Her foundation in the Bible guides our sessions to help me focus on God's truth even in my difficult situation. In just 3 sessions with her I am already feeling much more peace and confidence in Christ. I have a clearer picture now of how God wants me to move at this stage of my life. I thank God for her and for the Faithful Counseling service.

Faithful counselings statement of faith affirms the Christian values of their counselors. If you are ready to seek counseling from a fellow believer, Christian Post readers can get started with 10% off the first month. While Christian counseling may be of interest primarily to Christians, clients are not required to be Christian to benefit from this approach.
High school valedictorian slams Texas heartbeat abortion law in graduation speech

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A graduating Texas high school senior has received praise from liberal politicians and celebrities after using her valedictory speech to condemn the state's new abortion restrictions.

Paxton Smith, the valedictorian at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas, Texas, used part of her graduation speech to share concerns about losing the autonomy over her body without using the word abortion directly.

A video of her speech, which took place Sunday, quickly went viral.

I have dreams and hopes and ambitions, Smith said. Every girl graduating today does, and we have spent our entire lives working towards our future. And without our input and without our consent, our control over that future has been stripped away from us.

Smith said that she is "terrified" that if her "contraceptives fail" or if she is raped, her "hopes and aspirations and dreams and efforts for my future will no longer matter."

"I hope that you can feel how gut-wrenching that is," she said. "I hope you can feel how dehumanizing it is to have the autonomy over your own body taken away from you.

I cannot give up this platform to promote complacency and peace when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights, a war on the rights of your mothers, a war on the rights of your sisters, and a war on the rights of your daughters, she continued. We cannot stay silent.

Smith acknowledged that she initially planned to talk about TV and media and content but switched the topic of her speech in light of the recent passage of the heartbeat bill in Texas that will ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually around six weeks gestation.

The valedictorian argued that six weeks into a pregnancy is before women realize they are pregnant and have a chance to decide if they are emotionally, physically and financially stable enough to carry out a full-term pregnancy. She contended that such a decision has been made for them "by a stranger."

In an interview with the Dallas-based D Magazine, Smith stated that she was glad her speech received a lot of attention.

It feels great. It also feels a little weird," she said. "Whenever I have opinions that can be considered political or controversial, I keep them to myself because I dont like to gain attention for that kind of stuff. But Im glad that I could do something.

Smith, who plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin in the fall, urged people to register to vote in the next election and to stay involved in local elections because those have more power than I think the media gives them credit for.

Prominent Democrats and Hollywood celebrities quickly took to Twitter to express solidarity with Smith.

Hillary Clinton, the Democrats presidential nominee in 2016, remarked that this took guts and thanked the graduating senior for speaking out.

Beto ORourke, a former Democratic congressman from Texas who has made unsuccessful bids for the United States Senate and presidency, shared a longer message of support.

Paxton, thank you for having the courage of your convictions and inspiring Texas with your refusal to accept injustice as the price of participation in civic life, he wrote. May we all use our place in this democracy to fight for what we believe to be right and follow your example!

Paxton, thank you for having the courage of your convictions and inspiring Texas with your refusal to accept injustice as the price of participation in civic life.



May we all use our place in this democracy to fight for what we believe to be right and follow your example! https://t.co/PS3ZR80Gl7  Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) June 2, 2021

Comedian Sarah Silverman retweeted a video of the speech, accompanied by the word Brave. Comedian Kathy Griffin, who faced enormous pushback after posting a picture of herself holding a depiction of former President Donald Trumps decapitated head on social media, asked, Isnt it nice to see someone trending for the right reasons?

We stan a queen. Presenting Paxton Smith, speaking with courage, integrity, and intelligence, wrote author Jodi Picoult.

Conservatives strongly criticized the implication in Smiths speech that having children and having a career and professional life are mutually exclusive.

Podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey devoted a Twitter thread to pushing back on Smiths argument.

Theres no war on womens bodies, Stuckey asserted. Abortion is a war on the babies right to live, and no high school graduation speech will ever change that.

She puts forth the classic lie that a baby is nothing more than an impediment to success. Shes imbibed propaganda," Stuckey added. "She couldnt begin to logically explain why a job is a good reason to end a human life.

She puts forth the classic lie that a baby is nothing more than an impediment to success. Shes imbibed propaganda. She couldnt begin to logically explain why a job is a good reason to end an innocent human life.  Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) June 2, 2021

Smith is not the first person to express this point of view. During an acceptance speech at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards, actress Michelle Williams credited her abortion for enabling her to have a successful career. Williams proclaimed, I wouldnt have been able to do this without employing a womans right to choose.

Earlier this year, actress Jameela Jamil told fans in a YouTube video that her life was a million times better because she had an abortion. She added that a baby can just f***ing ruin everything if its not something that you feel comfortable with and that you are ready for. Jamil also alleged that the only side effect she had from her abortion was relief.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump killed two birds with one stone this week when he reacted to the news that Facebook decided to extend a ban on his accounts for the next two years. Condemning their decision to reinstate his account so he could speak directly to his 35 million followers, Trump lashed out and warned Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg that he would never entertain requests for meetings with him again.

"Facebook's ruling is an insult to the record-setting 75M people, plus many others, who voted for us in the 2020 Rigged Presidential Election," Trump wrote on Saturday on Telegram, which he uses prior to the launch and the recent permanent shut down of his microblog, From the Desk of Donald J. Trump. "They shouldn't be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing, and ultimately, we will win. Our Country can't take this abuse anymore!"

According to The Blaze, Facebook Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg spoke out on their decision to extend Trump's ban, saying that their decision will be "controversial" no matter what the outcome, especially when many people believe "it was not appropriate for a private company like Facebook to suspend an outgoing president from its platform."

Trump issued a stern warning to Zuckerberg, writing on Saturday, "Next time I'm in the White House there will be no more dinners, at his request, with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. It will be all business!"

According to Reuters, Facebook decided to extend Trump's ban until January 2023. The company banned him following the attacks on Capitol Hill on January 6, accusing Trump of urging his followers to descend on the Capitol and violently protest the rigged elections. The suspension will last for another two years since its initial block and will only be lifted once the "risk to public safety" is no longer there. Trump had also been permanently banned by Twitter and suspended by Google's YouTube following the attacks.

The former Republican president then established From the Desk of Donald J. Trump, a microblog that this week was permanently shut down less than a month after its launch. Trump's senior aide Jason Miller told CNBC that the microblog "will not be returning."

"It was just auxiliary to the broader efforts we have and are working on," Miller told the media outlet. He also responded to a question posed on Twitter asking if the shutdown was a "precursor to [Trump] joining another social media platform," to which Miller said, "Yes, actually, it is. Stay tuned!"

Meanwhile, Trump is positioning himself to take back the White House after he was cheated on in the 2020 Presidential Elections. Forbes reported that he recorded a GOP fundraising video in which Republicans ralled to "take back Congress and the White House 'sooner than you think,'" which may mean sooner than the 2024 Presidential Elections.

"We're going to take back the Senate, take back the House, we're going to take back the White House - and sooner than you think," Trump declared in the video. "It's going to be really something special."

But aside from a 2024 presidency, Trump is also open to the possibility of taking a seat in the Congress, saying on Friday that it is an "interesting" possibility during a conversation with right-wing commentator Wayne Allyn Root. Trump's next destination in his early campaign trail is the North Carolina GOP convention, which will be held on Saturday evening.
Pakistani court acquits Christian couple on death row for 7 years of blasphemy charges

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A Pakistani court acquitted a Christian couple of their blasphemy charges after being left to die on death row for nearly eight years over false allegations that they insulted the Islamic prophet Muhammad through text messages.

Police arrested Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagufta Kausar in July 2013 when Maulvi Mohammed Hussain, a mosque leader, claimed Emmanuel used his wifes phone to send him an offensive message insulting Muhammad with other blasphemous statements.

A two-member bench of the Lahore High Court finally ordered their release from jail on Thursday after hearing arguments from both sides, Daily Pakistan reported.

Emmanuel claims that the police extracted a false confession from him by torturing him in front of his wife and children, according to the United States-based persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern.

The couple was charged with "insulting the Quran" and "insulting the prophet," though little evidence was presented regarding the couples charges.

Saif-ul-Malook, the couples attorney, told ICC he was just happy to get justice for this couple.

Malook had previously told the Union of Catholic Asian News that it was a bogus case that judges were afraid to hear.

A session judge who visited the Faisalabad jail described Shafqat as a hopeless case, Malook said. It means that being Christian and a blasphemy accused is itself sufficient for being hated by police, judges, lawyers and the overall society. They are left to die.

The phone that sent the blasphemous messages was registered in Kausars name, but she claims Hussain stole her National Identity Card to purchase a SIM card in her name to send the incriminating messages to himself to frame her.

The texts were also written in English, which the couple does not even speak.

The couple claims the arrest stemmed from a minor quarrel between their children and neighbors six months before the arrest.

Emmanuel, who is a paraplegic and suffers from deteriorating health due to a lack of adequate medical care, was sent to a separate prison from his wife in 2014.

Amnesty International wrote an appeal to the inspector general in April urging the prison to provide Shafqat with adequate healthcare as he was in sharp decline due to painful bedsores and reliance on prison guards for his care.

The couple should not be in jail at all, let alone at risk of execution, Amnesty International wrote in the letter. Pakistans blasphemy laws do not meet human rights law and standards, they lack essential safeguards to minimize the risk of rights violations and illustrate the dangers faced by the countrys religious minorities. The urgency with which the injustices in this case must be remedied is heightened by Shafqats pain and lack of access to appropriate health care. 

I strongly urge you to grant Shafqat prompt, regular and unrestricted access to adequate health care as necessary, the letter added. In addition to that, [he] and his wife Shagufta should be immediately and unconditionally released. I call for the couple and their lawyer to be provided with adequate security upon their release.

The couples children remained in hiding as their parents case was delayed since the blasphemy accusations could lead to extremist attacks against them.

ICC Regional Manager William Stark said it was "great to see such a prolonged blasphemy case justly resolved, even though the family remains in danger.

However, we remain deeply concerned for the safety of the Christian couple and their family," Stark said in a statement. Extremists in Pakistan are known to target individuals accused of religious crimes, like blasphemy, even after they have been acquitted."

"The abuse of Pakistans blasphemy laws must be curbed, and false allegations must be rooted out and punished," he continued. "Too often these laws have been a tool in the hands of extremists seeking to stir up religiously motivated violence against minorities. Without reform, religious minorities will continue to face false blasphemy accusations and the violence that often accompanies these accusations.

A Christian mother of five, Asia Bibi, was acquitted by the Pakistan Supreme Court in 2018 after sitting on death row for around eight years after being falsely accused of blasphemy. Bibi wrote a memoir entitled Finally Free about her ordeal.

Blasphemy charges against minority faiths are common in Pakistan. While no one has been executed on a blasphemy charge, many accused of blasphemy are impacted by retaliatory mob violence, mass lynchings or vigilante murders carried out by extremists.

False accusations of blasphemy are widespread in Pakistan and often stem from ulterior motives, religious hatred and personal vendettas. Many charged with blasphemy never reach the courtroom.

Pakistan is the fifth-worst country in the world for Christian persecution due to Islamic extremist oppression, according to Open Doors USAs 2021 World Watch List. It is also ranked as the second-most dangerous country in Asia for Christians.

The U.S. State Department recognizes Pakistan as a "country of particular concern" for tolerating or engaging in egregious violations of religious freedom.

The U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom reports that human rights activists have advocated for decades to reform Pakistans blasphemy laws that disproportionately charge religious minorities and are often based on false accusations.

Vague provisions found in sections 295 and 298 of Pakistans Penal Code criminalize any speech or acts insulting a religion or belief or defiling the Quran, the [Islamic] prophet Muhammad, a place of worship, or religious symbols, according to USCIRF.

Lisa Curtis, the senior director for South and Central Asia at the U.S. National Security Council during the Trump administration, said at the 2019 State Department Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom that more people are imprisoned for blasphemy in Pakistan than all the other countries in the world combined.
DETROIT (AP)  If the auto industry is to succeed in its bet that electric vehicles will soon dominate the roads, it will need to overcome a big reason why many people are still avoiding them: fear of running out of juice between Point A and Point B.

Automakers have sought to quell those concerns by developing EVs that go farther per charge and fill up faster. Problem is, most public charging stations now fill cars much too slowly, requiring hours  not minutes  to provide enough electricity for an extended trip.

Concerned that such prolonged waits could turn away potential EV buyers and keep them stuck on gas-burning vehicles, automakers are trying to cut charging times to something close to the five or 10 minutes of a conventional gasoline fill-up.

Its absolutely the target to get faster and faster, said Brett Smith, technology director at the Center for Automotive Research, an industry think tank. Its not there yet, but its one of those things that moves the needle more toward a competitive vehicle for a lot of people, this ability to fast charge.

The latest generation of EVs, many with ranges around 300 miles (480 kilometers) per charge, can accept electricity at a much faster rate than previous models could. So fast, in fact, that most charging stations cannot yet accommodate the vehicles' advanced technology.

It can now require hours to fully charge an electric vehicle because most stations operate on a home-like alternating current. Direct-current fast-charging stations, by contrast, are hours faster. But they can cost tens of thousands of dollars more.

The high cost is something the Biden administration will have to consider as it develops incentives to encourage companies and governments to build 500,000 charging stations nationwide by 2030. Among the possibilities being discussed are grants, with $15 billion in spending over five years to build the network, including fast chargers along highways and in communities. Details are being worked out as the administration negotiates its infrastructure plan with key members of Congress.

Of the roughly 42,000 public charging stations in the United States, only about 5,000 are considered direct-current fast chargers, according to the Department of Energy. The rest are like home chargers; they require roughly eight hours to fully charge longer-range batteries, longer than anyone wants to wait to charge a vehicle on a road trip.

And most fast chargers can pump out only about 50 kilowatts per hour  requiring roughly an hour to charge an average EV to 80%  even though newer EVs are capable of being charged must faster than that.

Its one of the big barriers for someone who is not living with a battery-electric vehicle yet, said Alex Tripi, who heads Volvos electric vehicle marketing. It will continue to be for a while.

Limited by technology, early electric vehicles charged at ridiculously low speeds when compared with recent models. When Nissan's Leaf first went on sale more than a decade ago, for example, it could take in only 50 kilowatts per hour from a fast charger. That meant it took a half hour to charge it to 80% of its small battery, with a range of just 58 miles (93 kilometers) .

A new long-range version released in 2019 nearly tripled the range per charge. Because it can take 100 kilowatts at a fast charger, it can get to 80%  181 miles (291 kilometers)  in 45 minutes.

Newer EVs can be charged even faster. But they far exceed the capacity of most fast chargers. Ford's Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning can take in 150 kilowatts per hour. Hyundai's Ioniq 5 and Porsche's Taycan are over 200 kilowatts.

The Hyundai, with 300 miles (480 kilometers) of range, can go from a 10% charge to 80% in just 18 minutes, much closer to gasoline fill-up times. (Automakers tend to quote charging times to 80% of battery capacity because it takes much longer to go from 80% to 100%; the final 20% is often slowed down to prolong battery life.) Hyundai knows there aren't many chargers now that can fill the Ioniq that fast. But it says it's ready for a future when more quick chargers are more widely available.

Hopefully the infrastructure will improve across the U.S. for this to be a whole lot more viable," said John Shon, senior group manager of product planning.

Tesla, which has its own private charging network of 25,000 plugs worldwide, leads just about every automaker. Its newer chargers can crank out up to 250 kilowatts and 175 miles (282 kilometers) of range in about 15 minutes.

Electrify America, a charging network funded with money paid by Volkswagen as punishment for its emissions cheating scandal, says it's ready for the newer EVs. Having installed fast chargers since 2018, it runs more than 600 stations with 2,600 plugs nationwide. All can pump out 150 kilowatts. That means they can charge a typical EV with 300 miles (480 kilometers) of range to 80 percent of battery capacity (240 miles (386 kilometers) ) in roughly 45 minutes. Over half of Electrify America's stations can pump out 350 kilowatts, which charge twice as fast.

A fast-charge fill-up to 80% of battery capacity varies by state but typically costs around $16.

Even Tesla owners, who can access the nations biggest fast-charging charging network, risk running out of juice on road trips, especially in rural areas. On Monday, one such driver, Dan Nelson, said he had to stop at a Tesla station near Ann Arbor, Michigan, for more than 20 minutes to make sure his Model 3 had enough charge to reach his rural home 25 miles (40 kilometers) away.

Theres definitely improvements that can be made, said Nelson, who charges at home most of the time.

Bruce Westlake, president of the East Michigan Electric Auto Association, suggested that such anxiety tends to ease as people gain more experience with EVs. He said he is now comfortable running his two Teslas as low as 5% of battery capacity to go farther between charges on trips.

Research by J.D. Power shows that most people think charging stations are needed at locations where gas stations are now. But in fact, according to the Energy Department, most EV owners charge at home more than 80% of the time.

That means super-fast chargers, which can cost close to $100,000, should be built mainly along highways where people are traveling long distances and need to charge quickly, experts say. They also may be needed in urban areas where people live in apartments with no access to a home charger.

It's far from clear that the automakers can depend on a proliferation of fast chargers across the country to build customer confidence and propel EV sales in the years ahead. The high cost and heavy load on utility grids likely will limit the number of fast chargers to areas where they're needed for quick fill-ups, said Jessika Trancik, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies EV charging.

As we're approaching this transition," she said, it's important to be more strategic than just putting them everywhere.

Charging companies have time to figure out where to build fast chargers, because it would take more than 17 years to convert the entire U.S. fleet of 279 million passenger vehicles from petroleum to electricity  even if every motorist were willing to make the switch, said Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint, a charging station company. But the chargers can't come fast enough for automakers, who want more people to buy their EVs to spread development costs over more vehicles.

Romano says fast chargers will be needed about every 75 miles (120 kilometers) on roads that connect metro areas, and that the United States should get there in about two years. As more EVs are sold, he said, more stations will be built.

You don't want to put all the infrastructure in for 20 years starting with vehicle zero, Romano said. This is about the natural organic growth.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)  Outdoing his fellow billionaires in daredevilry, Jeff Bezos will blast into space next month when his Blue Origin company makes its first flight with a crew.

The 57-year-old Amazon founder and richest person in the world by Forbes' estimate will become the first person to ride his own rocket to space.

Bezos announced his intentions Monday and, in an even bolder show of confidence, said he will share the adventure with his younger brother and best friend, Mark, an investor and volunteer firefighter. He said that will make it more meaningful.

Blue Origin's debut flight with people aboard  after 15 successful test flights of its reusable New Shepard rockets  will take place on July 20, a date selected because it is the 52nd anniversary of the first moon landing by Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

The Bezos brothers will launch from remote West Texas alongside the winner of an online charity auction. Theres no word yet on who else might fill the six-person capsule during the 10-minute flight that will take its passengers to an altitude of about 65 miles (105 kilometers), just beyond the edge of space, and then return to Earth without going into orbit.

Bezos said he has dreamed of traveling to space since he was 5.

To see the Earth from space, it changes you. It changes your relationship with this planet, with humanity. Its one Earth, Bezos said in an Instagram post. I want to go on this flight because its a thing Ive wanted to do all my life. Its an adventure. Its a big deal for me.

Added his brother: I wasnt even expecting him to say that he was going to be on the first flight, and then when he asked me to go along, I was just awestruck.

Bezos will step down as Amazon's CEO 15 days before liftoff. He announced months ago that he wants to spend more time on his rocket company as well as his newspaper, The Washington Post.

His stake in Amazon stands at $164 billion, which will make him by far the wealthiest person to fly to space.

Until now, thrill-seeking billionaires have had to buy capsule seats from the Russian space program or, more recently, Elon Musk's SpaceX, which plans its first private flight in September. These orbital trips, generally lasting several days, with visits to the International Space Station, have cost tens of millions of dollars per person.

The flight by Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule, named for Alan Shepard, the first American in space, will last five minutes less than Shepard's history-marking suborbital ride aboard a Mercury capsule in 1961.

But Blue Origin's capsule is 10 times roomier with a huge window at every seat  the biggest windows ever built for a spacecraft, in fact.

The company, based in Kent, Washington, is working to develop an orbital rocket named after John Glenn, the first American to circle the Earth.

The Bezos flight will officially kick off the company's space tourism business. The company has yet to start selling seats to the public or even to announce a ticket price for the short trips, which provide about three minutes of weightlessness.

Blue Origins launch and landing site is 120 miles southeast of El Paso, close to the Mexican border. After the capsule separates, the rocket returns to Earth and lands upright, to be used again. The capsule, also reusable, descends under parachutes.

Virgin Galactics Richard Branson  a "tie-loathing," mountain-climbing, hot-air-ballooning daredevil  also plans to ride into space aboard his own airplane-launched rocketship later this year after one more test flight over New Mexico. Virgin Galactic completed its third test flight into space with a crew two weeks ago; the company doesn't want him climbing aboard until the craft is thoroughly proven.

The 70-year-old Branson on Monday offered congratulations to Bezos, a tame, bookish Wall Streeter by comparison. Branson tweeted that their two companies "are opening up access to space  how extraordinary!

Like Blue Origin, Branson's company will send paying customers to the lower reaches of space on up-and-down flights, not Earth-orbiting rides.

Musk's SpaceX already has transported 10 astronauts to the space station for NASA and sold several seats on private flights. Musk himself has yet to commit to going into space, though he has repeatedly said he wants to die on Mars, just not on impact.

Until recently, Blue Origin had been criticized by some for proceeding too slowly, especially when compared with SpaceX. Bezos adopted as the company's motto Gradatim ferociter, Latin for Step by step, ferociously, and had it emblazoned on the so-called lucky cowboy boots he wears to his company's space launches.

Blue Origin, admirably, has gone about it carefully and has built a reliable and less ambitious vehicle and is likely to succeed, the director of Vanderbilt Universitys aerospace design lab, Amrutur Anilkumar, said in an email Monday. It is noteworthy that Bezos feels comfortable taking his brother for a ride; that is probably the best exclamation for safety and reliability.

While Blue Origins and SpaceXs capsules are fully automated, Virgin Galactic has two pilots in the cockpit for every spaceflight. A 2014 accident left one pilot dead and the other seriously injured.

As for the seat that is being auctioned off, Blue Origin opened online bidding on May 5, the 60th anniversary of Shepard's flight. It's up to $2.8 million.

The auction will conclude Saturday, with the winning amount donated to Club for the Future, Blue Origin's education foundation, which encourages youngsters to pursue careers in science. Nearly 6,000 people from 143 countries have taken part in the auction.

In an Instagram video posted by Bezos, Mark Bezos' reaction when his brother invited him on the flight was: "Are you serious? ... Seriously? My God!

What a remarkable opportunity not only to have this adventure, but to be able to do it with my best friend," the younger brother said.

___

AP business writer MIchelle Chapman contributed to this story.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Opposition to coronavirus vaccination stubbornly persists across the globe. Even in Israel - the world leader in vaccinating its population - the fraction vaccinated appears to have hit a plateau with one third of the population unvaccinated. In the U.S., some states are facing vaccine gluts.

One common response to this is mandatory vaccination. The California university systems, and one in 10 U.S. universities and colleges, almost all in blue states, have announced that vaccination would be required for anyone attending in the fall. Even where demand for vaccination exceeds supply, vaccinations are being made mandatory. In March, the government of Galicia in Spain required vaccinations for adults, subjecting violators to substantial fines. Italy has mandated vaccinations for care workers.

READ ALSO: Vaccinated? Some United Airlines fliers have chance to win year's worth of travel

Mandating vaccination may be unavoidable in some cases. But our new evidence from Germany suggests that it could hurt voluntary compliance, prolonging the pandemic and raising its social costs.

--Survey evidence from Germany shows growing resistance to enforced vaccination.

We looked at the attitudes of a representative sample of 2,653 Germans surveyed during the first and second German lockdowns, in April/May and in October/November of 2020. Respondents were asked: "If there is an approved vaccine against the coronavirus: To what extent would you agree to be inoculated yourself if: ... vaccination is strongly recommended by the government but remains voluntary? ... vaccination is made mandatory and checked by the government?"

More than two thirds of respondents supported (either fully or somewhat) voluntary vaccination in both waves. But the fraction fully supporting vaccinations if they were enforced dropped from 44% to 28% over the same period, even though the infection rate had increased 15-fold between the two waves of our survey.

--Trust in government and in science is critical for vaccination acceptance.

The most important factor predicting vaccine willingness (and how it changed between the two waves) was whether the respondent trusted public institutions. We measure this by averaging respondents' expressed trust in the federal government and specifically in its information about covid-19, as well as trust in state governments, science, and the media.

IN TEXAS: Texans ignoring social distancing guidelines? They're probably not vaccinated

We found that the fall in support for enforced vaccination was disproportionately high among those whose public trust had also declined. The effect is substantial, accounting for a large fraction of the observed reduction in support for enforced vaccines.

But the growing opposition to enforced vaccination was not a result of increased skepticism about the vaccine itself, or a general reduction in trust, neither of which changed on average between the two waves. About as many people became more trusting as lost trust. Our survey evidence, instead, points to increased opposition to enforcement itself because it "restricts your freedom."

--Mandated vaccinations may provoke distrust.

There are three reasons that we think may explain why a government mandate may make people more resistant to vaccinations. First, people resist being manipulated. Behavioral experiments have shown that positive incentives (carrots) and controlling or negative incentives (sticks) often backfire - producing the opposite of their intended result - because they provoke what economists term "control aversion."

Second, people may be affected by what psychologists call "moral disengagement." This happens when people think that the decision is predetermined by explicit rules or incentives, so that their own ethical convictions are not relevant. This is one of the reasons traffic engineers now consider traffic lights to be more hazardous than roundabouts. The late Elinor Ostrom described how good citizenship can get crowded out when the government takes responsibility for doing the right thing.

Something like this may be happening with vaccination, with enforced vaccination crowding out altruistic motivations. In the second wave of our survey, those who were more altruistic (they said they were "willing to help others") were also more likely to support voluntary but not enforced vaccinations.

Finally, enforcement may crowd out intrinsic motivation by diminishing trust. Citizens may take enforced vaccination as evidence that the government thinks people would not get the vaccine if they have a free choice. This may suggest either that there is something wrong with the vaccine, or that the state does not trust its citizens to respect a social norm of protecting others by getting vaccinated. The citizen's tit-for-tat response to being distrusted may be to oppose the government's vaccination program.

READ ALSO: COVID testing's value shrinks as vaccines beat back virus

--Effective vaccination policies can exploit herd behavior to achieve herd immunity.

Resistance to mandated vaccinations could lead to a downward spiral. Initial public distrust could limit the numbers willing to be vaccinated, prompting mandatory vaccination, kindling further distrust of government and science. Alternatively, if the government were to start off by mandating vaccines, our results suggest that this might squander a substantial initial willingness to be vaccinated if it were voluntary, forcing a more expansive vaccine mandate and further heightening public distrust.

In other words, implementing a policy may change citizens' beliefs and preferences in ways that undermine the policy. The officials in charge of vaccines face a specific version of this problem: mandates may reduce vaccine willingness.

And voluntary policies may be sufficient even if initial vaccine willingness is limited. In our recent PNAS article, we model how herd behavior can propel a population from vaccination hesitancy to a herd immunity target.

The reason is that those initially volunteering to be vaccinated send a positive signal about their willingness to cooperate and their belief in the vaccine's safety and effectiveness, which may influence others. By contrast, complying with enforced vaccination sends a much weaker signal, dampening the positive herd effects of others having been vaccinated.

To be clear: our research does not show that policymakers should avoid vaccine mandates. Legally required vaccination against measles and other diseases play an essential role in public health policies around the world. Instead, our findings concern the design of policies - showing how mandated policies may provoke pushback, how enhancing public trust might mitigate this, and how, under a voluntary policy, herd behavior may be sufficient to reach herd immunity.

- - -

Katrin Schmelz is a behavioral economist and psychologist at the University of Konstanz and the Thurgau Institute of Economics.

Samuel Bowles directs the Behavioral Sciences Program at the Santa Fe Institute and is the author of "The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives are No Substitute for Good Citizens" (2016).

For other analysis and commentary from The Monkey Cage, an independent blog anchored by political scientists from universities around the world, see www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm issued a warning to American companies: our adversaries have the capability to shut down the entire U.S. power grid.

When Granholm was asked by CNNs Jake Tapper about vulnerabilities in the electricity grid and whether a foreign actor has the ability to shut it down, Granholm said, Yeah, they do. There are thousands of attacks on all aspects of the energy sector and the private sector generally.

She added, Its happening all the time. This is why the private sector and the public sector have to work together.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm warns US adversaries have the capability to shut down the power grid: "I think that there are very malign actors who are trying even as we speak" #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/40wB6AQh8z  CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 6, 2021

In recent months, cyberattacks have led to temporary shutdowns of the countrys largest fuel pipeline network and the worlds largest meatpacking company, both believed to have been carried out by Russian hackers. The hackers target companies through weaknesses in their cybersecurity and then hold hostage certain data and systems, demanding payment to restore control back to the company.

Granholm emphasized that companies need to defend themselves against this threat by increasing their cybersecurity measures. Everyone needs to wake up and up their game in terms of protecting themselves, but also in terms of telling the federal government if they are a target of attacks, she said.

The secretary also noted that new regulations from the Transportation Security Agency now mandate that pipeline companies report cyber incidents to the federal government immediately when they happen, but Granholm urged companies not to pay the ransom, saying that it only encourages the bad guys.

Granholms comments echoed those of FBI Director Christopher Wray, who told the Wall Street Journal last week, The scale of this problem is one that I think the country has to come to terms with.
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On Saturday, Sharon Stone, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, George Takei and more gathered in plastic hard hats, ready to dig shovels into the ground. A bystander yelled, You look like you know what youre doing, Sharon, to which Stone replied: I grew up in the country. I know how to use shovels.

June 5th marked the 40th anniversary of the first cases of AIDS being reported in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control. And to commemorate the date, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in the West Hollywood Park, the future site of STORIES: The Aids Monument. The memorial is a joint effort between the Foundation for The AIDS Monument and the City of West Hollywood, a town striving to be the first HIV Zero city. To date, AIDS has killed an estimated 725,000 people in the United States and over 32.7 million globally. The forthcoming monument, which will open in late 2022, will be a 7,000 foot installation that includes an audio tour and stories that honor those lost to AIDS, as well as the many activists who have pushed for new research, treatments and cures.

The afternoon kicked off with speakers reading the words of those that have passed from AIDS. West Hollywood Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath invited audience members to speak the names of loved ones lost and explained that the new monument will symbolize hope, and since researchers are on the cusp of a cure, today I have hope.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl took the stage and joked, Im a little over-stimulated. I havent been with this many people in one place in a year and a half. She told Variety she was excited to celebrate the launch of an important monument that will continue to grow as more stories are added, and one that will commemorate a time a lot of people lived through and have different memories about. One of the important things is bringing these memories together, people who we lost, people who we didnt lose and are still around, and the great variety of experiences that people had through that pandemic  and what might we learn from this in the middle of another pandemic, she explained.

Black AIDS Institute founder Phill Wilson read a passage from his former partner Chris Brownlie, who passed away from AIDS. Im lucky I got to tell my story, but others didnt, he proclaimed. Jewel Thais-Williams, Minority AIDS Project co-founder and owner of the former Catch-One Nightclub, shared tales of those in her life she had lost to AIDS. And Dr. Michael Gottlieb, a UCLA immunologist who, along with his colleagues, first identified what is now known as HIV in his Los Angeles patients in 1981, read off the names of his first five HIV-infected patients, whose names will be recognized in the monument. He touched on the inequities in the prevention and treatment of AIDS, and reminded people that the HIV pandemic is by no means over.

Stone got emotional while reflecting on her long-standing advocacy work with AIDS activism. The main thing I learned from being an AIDS worker was that it wasnt just about AIDS. Its about looking at the person next to you and accepting them no matter what. Because you know what? Were in it together, she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

Also in attendance was Jeanne White-Ginder, the mother of the late Ryan White, the 13-year-old who was diagnosed with AIDS after a blood transfusion in 1984 and made headlines for rallying to return to school following his diagnosis. The monument, says White-Ginder, is also for all the people who have cared for those with HIV/AIDS. When you go by this, I would love for everybody to blow a kiss into the wind like I do all the time, she said. Ryan always told me, Everything is going to be okay. Well everything is going to be okay!

Star Trek legend Takei shared the history of the heroic activism of Kiyoshi Kuromiya, a civil rights, anti-war and AIDS activist who worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. And the crowd fiercely applauded Jake Glaser, a spokesman for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and a 37-year-old living with HIV, who noted that HIV/AIDS advancements have allowed for him to be able to discuss having his own children one day with his non-HIV positive partner.

The 40th anniversary brought back a lot of memories for Takei, who told Variety: Ive lost dear friends who suddenly got sick, started drastically losing weight, and the weight loss continuing and continuing until they were skin and bones. And then they were gone. Im gay. I could have gotten it, he said. The anxiety, and the grieving, and the loss  all that is what were remembering from 40 years ago. Takei also took a moment to praise the work of Dr. Anthony Faucci, who he deems a hero of the movement. He was amazing back then. He was articulate, wise, forceful, consoling, and here he is now 40 years later. He is eternal. He is as we say on on Star Trek, living long and prospering.

Waters told Variety, So many people made so many sacrifices. All of that must be honored and this is what a monument does.

A reception following the groundbreaking was held nearby at new Robertson Boulevard restaurant Soulmate, where Waters recalled her early days in government and asking then Pres. Bill Clinton for money to help fight the epidemic.

Marc Malkin contributed to this report.

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Cruise fans hoping to depart from Galveston on a Carnival-owned ship will need to be vaccinated.

The cruise line confirmed in a Monday news release that its plan to restart operations with July 3 and July 15 sailing dates for the Carnival Vista and Carnival Breeze out of Port of Galveston includes a COVID-19 vaccination measure.

READ ALSO: These Houston hotels offer day passes to their pools

"These cruises are available for guests who have received their final dose of a CDC-approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior to the beginning of the cruise and have proof of vaccination," the official communication said.

The policy is congruent with CDC guidelines. The company said cruising with unvaccinated guests would hinder staff from providing the usual vacation experience.

"We appreciate the progress and support for our U.S. restart from the CDC and other key federal agencies; however, the current CDC requirements for cruising with a guest base that is unvaccinated will make it very difficult to deliver the experience our guests expect, especially given the large number of families with younger children who sail with us," Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy said in the release. "As a result, our alternative is to operate our ships from the U.S. during the month of July with vaccinated guests."

READ MORE: Stunning Hamilton Pool Preserve waterfall closed for summer due to falling rocks

Carnival Horizon is also expected to return to service out of PortMiami in July. Carnival is working with the CDC and Florida officials on protocols specific to those sailings, according to the release.

The Carnival president noted the "strong support" of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott for making vaccines available to cruise line employees, which she credited for speeding up the restart.

Royal Caribbean also has a trip departing from Galveston in August. Though vaccines are "strongly recommended," the line is making getting the shot optional for guests if they agree to "undergo testing and follow other protocols," according to a June 4 announcement.
Summer is in full blaze, and for some, the weather change spurs the desire to acquire a new hobby.

Maybe you suddenly have more free time on your hands, or you simply want to explore new and exciting activity avenues. When it comes to picking a new hobby, theres a lot to consider, but maybe one of these options in our great city will prove right for you.

Citizen science is a great way to get in touch with nature and help conserve it. While it may sound inaccessible if you dont have a science background, with the San Antonio River Authority, all you need is a smartphone and a birth year before 2006. The organization has a variety of projects for the eco-curious volunteer and prospective hobbyist. Some projects involve using apps, like iNaturalist to submit photos of wildlife, like migrating butterflies, to a scientific database.

Others require a bit more training, like participating in the Texas Stream Team, which involves capturing water samples to monitor quality once a month. This fall, the organization is launching a new Citizen Science program through the app Litteratti and its all about cataloguing litter in an effort to know where its coming from in other words, it involves taking pictures of trash.

We have this amazing space that we live in, so much outdoor opportunity, so much biodiversity, and doing Citizen Science is the coolest way for [people] to really get to know their spaces much better, said Minna Paul, Education and Volunteer Coordinator at the San Antonio River Authority.

What are the birds that come through our yard? What are the trees that live along the river banks?.

Wouldnt you like to know?

Navigating escape rooms

For those who think they might want an immersive challenge, navigating an escape room with your friends, family (and most enticing, your enemies) is a great way to challenge your brain and feel like youre in a high-budget action film. It might also cultivate bonding, since you have to work as a team. Your crush might think youre noble for cracking the codes, and when you come to your parents' rescue, they finally might start to feel proud of you.

There are several harrowing escape rooms based in San Antonio, including Escape the Room, which might place you in a Western bank heist. Other escape rooms include The Exit Game, which challenges you to escape an apocalypse-like scenario, and The Great Room Escape, which has you dodging zombies.

RELATED: San Antonio trail receives big honor from national park service

Texas hiking

A tried and true hobby, hiking is a beautiful way to decompress and unplug while enjoying all the natural beauty our state has to offer. Texas has scores of park destinations that are ripe for adventuring, including nearby gems like Enchanted Rock, Pedernales State Park, Garner State Park and Lost Maples.

If youre looking to explore more of the many Texas hiking trails, you can visit the Texas State Park website for maps and park passes. Just make sure to pack lots of water.

Sipping on locally made brews

Its hard to dispute that cracking open a cold brew on a hot summer day elicits a special kind of joy. Maybe youre already a big beer fan, but you havent yet dived into the diverse catalogue of brews made here in San Antonio. For a laid-back, low-effort hobby that you can do anywhere between the comfort of your backyard to tubing town the Frio River, perhaps consider running the gambit of Bexar beers this summer. Some local breweries to start crossing off your list include: Freetail Brewing, Alamo Beer Company, Roadmap Brewing and more.

Becoming a party person

Its no question that this past year or so has required all of us to lay a little lower than we might have wanted. Maybe youve been secretly partying all corona long, or maybe the pandemic turned you into a certified hermit. If the latter is true, then it could be time you start to come out of your shell. Your new hobby may be moonlighting as a party person. Flutter about, channel your social butterfly impulses, rub elbows with your fellow San Antonians. Become a Strip rat. If there arent already any events decorating your social calendar, local establishments have got you covered. Looking for a place to start? For the 25 and up crowd, Midnight Swim is hosting a much hyped millennial-only event The White Tee Ball honoring 00s culture on Saturday, June 12.





RELATED: A 'White Tee Ball' for the 25 and up crowd is happening at the St. Mary's Strip
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  The University of Alaska Anchorage has announced a new partnership with a university in Oregon to expand opportunities for current and future students interested in law degrees.

Qualified students in Alaska who meet certain academic requirements will be guaranteed admission to Willamette College of Law's J.D. program under the partnership, Alaskas News Source reported Sunday.
NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP)  Myanmar's military junta will begin presenting its case against deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi in court next Monday, her lawyers said.

The military arrested Suu Kyi in February when it overthrew her elected government. Public resistance to the coup remains strong and in recent months has taken the form of a low-level armed insurrection.

Government prosecutors will have until June 28 to finish their presentation in the court in Naypyitaw, the capital, where she is being tried on five charges, after which Suu Kyis defense team will have until July 26 to present its case, said Khin Maung Zaw, the teams senior member.

Court sessions are to be held on Monday and Tuesday each week.

Khin Maung Zaw spoke to journalists after a procedural hearing on Monday for Suu Kyi and two fellow defendants, ousted President Win Myint and former Naypyitaw Mayor Myo Aung.

Suu Kyis supporters say the charges against her are politically motivated and are meant to discredit her and legitimize the militarys takeover. If convicted of any of the offenses, she could be banned from running in an election promised by the junta within one or two years of its takeover.

She and her two co-defendants are charged with spreading information that could cause public alarm or unrest.

Suu Kyi also faces two counts of violating the Natural Disaster Management Law for allegedly breaking COVID-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign; illegally importing walkie-talkies that were for her bodyguards use; and unlicensed use of the radios.

A sixth charge that Suu Kyi faces is the most serious one: breaching the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a penalty of up to 14 years imprisonment. It has been handled separately from the other charges and was filed in a court in Yangon, the countrys biggest city. It was recently transferred to the Union Supreme Court in Naypyitaw, said San Mar La Nyunt, another of her lawyers.

Another of her lawyers, Min Min Soe, said that when they met with her, she asked them if they could help pay for her food expenses because her cash resources were low and she did not want to rely on being fed by her captors.
President Joe Biden's administration has forbidden its State Department from using the terms "Abraham Accords" to describe the set of Trump-era agreements established between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Bahrain in 2020. Brokered by the U.S.' Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz, the agreements were signed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, UAE's Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and former President Donald Trump.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the Biden administration has discouraged the use of the terms "Abraham Accords" to refer to these historic peace agreements between Israel and its neighboring Arab countries. Instead, the directive was to refer to them as "normalization agreements."

An insider close to the Biden administration's internal decision-making process leaked the news. Any mention of the words "Abraham Accords" has been scrubbed off any communication from the State Department.

Two leaked internal emails from the State Department showed how the Biden administration instructed employees to only use the term "normalization agreements" to refer to the Abraham Accords. There was no provided reason for the change in language and communication. Senior department officials were also reported to have been tightlipped about the new directive.

This is not new, however, as The Blaze reported such a policy had surfaced in April, when Associated Press diplomatic correspondent Matthew Lee reportedly spoke with State Department spokesman Ned Price, who called the Abraham Accords "normalization agreements." When Lee asked Price what the agreements were called, Price replied "normalization agreements."

When Lee pressed on and asked what their name was, Price said again, "normalization agreements." Lee asked what their "specific name" was, telling Lee, "I believe you know what it is." Lee became visibly uncomfortable despite saying he is "not averse" to using the term "Abraham Accords," later admitting, "We call them normalization agreements."

"We refer to the agreements originally called the Abraham Accords as such," a State Department spokesperson told Arab News. "This administration is not focused on what these agreements are called but what they mean."

Victoria Coates, who served as a senior official at the White House National Security Council under the Trump administration, condemned the Biden administration's move to erase the terms "Abraham Accords" from U.S. history.

"The Biden administration's attempt to diminish and marginalize the Abraham Accords by referring to them as 'normalization deals' is both unfortunate and insidious," Coates argued. "It's a shame to try to undermine such a monumental, historic achievement because it was reached by the previous administration."

Coates argued further that it is wrong to use the term "normalization" because it carries a "regional stigma, particularly with the Palestinians, of being a sell-out."

Former State Secretary Mike Pompeo took to Twitter to criticize the Biden administration's move to prohibit the use of the terms "Abraham Accords" in all official communication. He offered two explanations as to why President Joe Biden would give such an order.

"They can't stand Trump admin successes," Pompeo said. "Or they so despise religious freedom that the faith-driven name we gave to these historic deals upends their anti-religious outlook. Maybe both?"
HAPPY VALLEY, Ore. (AP)  Authorities say a Clackamas County, Oregon, sheriffs deputy shot and killed a person after a vehicle pursuit and short foot chase.

KOIN reports that the Clackamas County Sheriffs Office says a person led a deputy  who is assigned to the City of Happy Valley  on a vehicle pursuit shortly after 2 a.m. on Monday. The chase ended and the suspect exited the car.

After getting out, the suspect fled foot  but the deputy fired his gun and struck the person. Authorities did not clarify if the person had fired any shots.

Deputies reportedly recovered a handgun near the person. They also say the person had been driving a stolen car.

An investigation is continuing. Authorities haven't released the names of the person killed or the deputy.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Republican Louisiana lawmakers have taken aim at the coronavirus vaccine, sending Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards two bills that would keep state and local government agencies from mandating the immunization in order to receive certain services.

Separate votes Monday gave final passage to the the anti-vaccine proposals from Republican Reps. Danny McCormick and Kathy Edmonston. Edwards  who has championed the vaccine and is regularly urging his state's residents to get the shot  hasn't taken a position on the legislation, and no agency in his administration has publicly proposed requiring the immunization for services.

He will review the bills when they reach his desk and see how they conform with recommendations from doctors and public health experts as well with current Louisiana law relating to vaccines, which does allow for certain exemptions, Edwards spokesperson Christina Stephens said in a statement.

But Stephens' statement also defended the coronavirus vaccines as safe and effective and said they have already saved lives and are our way out of this pandemic.

McCormick's proposal would ban agencies from refusing to give a permit, business license or professional license to someone based solely on a business decision that it wont require the coronavirus vaccine for employees or customers. It also would give employers a broad exemption from civil lawsuits if they dont require workers or customers to get the coronavirus vaccine and someone contracts COVID-19.

A 23-12 Senate vote Monday sent the bill by the Oil City Republican to the governor's desk. The House earlier had backed the legislation in a 65-27 vote.

Edmonston's proposal would prohibit the state Office of Motor Vehicles from requiring someone to be vaccinated to get a drivers license or state-issued identification cards or to put immunization information on that license or ID card. It would cover all vaccinations, not just the coronavirus vaccine.

The House voted 71-18 for the bill by the Gonzales Republican. A 33-3 vote of the Senate on Monday gave the measure final passage.

Edmonston's proposal appears to be largely moot. Staci Hoyt, deputy commissioner with the Office of Motor Vehicles, testified during committee debate that the agency cant add anything to the license or a state-issued ID card or add requirements for getting one without lawmakers authorizing it.

Also nearing final passage is a second Edmonston bill that would prohibit state and local government agencies from refusing to issue licenses, permits and degrees or barring access to public facilities  such as college campuses or state office buildings  to someone who isnt vaccinated against COVID-19. The ban would only remain in place until the vaccination has full authorization from the U.S. Federal Drug Administration. Current coronavirus vaccines are authorized under an emergency use regulation from the FDA.

___

The bills are filed as House Bills 103, 349 and 498.

___

Follow Melinda Deslatte on Twitter at http://twitter.com/melindadeslatte.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Max Margulies, United States Military Academy West Point and Amy Rutenberg, Iowa State University

(THE CONVERSATION) The Supreme Court has declined to hear arguments in the case of National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System. In doing so, it acceded to the Biden administrations wishes that it not address the question of whether women should join the millions of young men required to register each year with the Selective Service  the federal agency responsible for the draft. It will now be up to Congress to decide what, if anything, to do with the law governing registration and the draft.

As scholars ofthe draft, we have seen Congress grappling with the question of selective service for years. A bill to include women in the draft was introduced in 2020 after a national commission studied the issue for four years. Congress is also considering two other proposals to dismantlethe entire Selective Service System.

The future of the draft, and registration for it, depends on two questions. One is about the role of women, but the bigger one is about the role of the registration itself.

A brief history of registration

Registration and the draft are not the same thing, although they are related. Registration is the process by which people identify themselves to the government as potentially eligible to be drafted to serve in the military.

In the U.S., Congress and the president must pass a law authorizing a draft, at which point the government agency known as the Selective Service System oversees the administrative process of conscription. There has not been a draft in the U.S. since 1973, when Congress allowed the existing draft authorization, conscripting men into service in the Vietnam War, to expire.

Two years later, President Gerald Ford suspended mens responsibility to register for the draft. But in 1980, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter reversed Fords position, reinstating registration  though not the draft itself. Since then, all male permanent residents of the United States, both citizen and noncitizen, between the ages of 18 and 26, have been required to register and update their information with the Selective Service every time they move.

Women, who have served in every U.S. war, and legally in all combat roles since 2016, have remained exempt from this requirement; they may not even voluntarily register.

Its not really about women

Politicians and activists are rehashing the same decades-old arguments about gender stereotypes and traditional gender roles.

But women serve honorably and effectively in every military role and branch of service. The rationale used by the Supreme Court in 1981 to exclude them became moot as soon as all available positions, including combat positions, opened to women in 2016.

If registration continues, and if there ever again is a draft in the U.S., we and many others believe that women clearly deserve to share equally in the responsibility to serve and the opportunity to earn the benefits of military service.

So the real question is about how draft registration serves society, or doesnt.

Mind the civil-military gap

One common belief is that maintaining draft registration bolsters the link between civilians and soldiers, which has weakened significantly since the U.S. military became an all-volunteer force. Through the last two decades of war, only 1% of Americans have served in the military.

Some experts suggest that such a weak civilian-military connection contributes to a number of problems, including a lack offamiliarity with the military, a military that is not representativeof society and an unfairdistribution of the human costs of war.

But the Selective Service System is not designed to address those issues. Most registrants do not give much thought to the ramifications of checking the box when they renew their drivers licenses or register to vote. In early 2020 a viral misinformation campaign about an imminent draft led a flood of worried information-seekers to crash the Selective Services website.

And normally, as the 2020 national report noted, the mere act of registration without any real chance of being drafted does not greatly affect peoples lives.

A force for social change?

Evidence shows that registration shapes society only when it is accompanied by a draft  though not always in ways that national leaders might hope. During the Cold War draft, men factored military service into their life choices by marrying, having children, going to college or choosing professions that offered them legal deferments from the draft.

That, in turn, introduced inequities into the draft, undermining the legitimacy of the process. Men with means, especially white men, were significantly more likely to obtain a deferment than working-class men, particularly men of color.

The government seems to have learned from that experience. If the draft ever were renewed, these types of deferments would likely not be allowed.

But many more Americans reach draft-eligible age each year than the military could possibly use. Any new draft would still raise new questions about the fairness of who serves and who does not.

A mobilization mechanism?

Without the draft, registration on its own has been likened to an insurance policy against any future threat. Any major conflict with a greatpower adversary  however unlikely  would require a much larger military than the country has at present.

Registration is supposed to provide Selective Service with a list of everyone eligible to be drafted and their contact information. So registration theoretically speeds up the process of bringing hundreds of thousands of soldiers into the military. And planning is important. Failure to plan adequately for bringing large numbers of recruits into the military has made wartime mobilization complicated in the past, as in the U.K. at the start of World War I.

But its not clear that registration as currently organized would work this way. Historically, relatively few people keep their addresses up to date, and the agency is more focused on getting men to register  not on what happens after theyre on the list.

The mobilization process itself is a massive production. During World War II, more than 183,000 volunteers helped evaluate men at over 11,000 local draft and appeal boards. Every person was examined; classified as available, deferred or exempt; and then processed through the system appropriately, including considering appeals.

In 1967, during the Vietnam War, with a much smaller draft than in World War II, more than 31,000 people staffed thousands of local and appeal boards around the nation. The present system has just 11,000 volunteers identified as ready to help.

With no real way to immediately conduct a draft, its not clear that registration serves any purpose. For one thing, 97% of registrations are handled electronically, and much of the information duplicates data already stored in other government databases, including drivers license records.

In rejecting National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service, the Supreme Court has made it clear that Congress needs to act. But as it does so, policymakers need to evaluate whether the law is able to meet its objectives. If policymakers have other goals, like improving social equity or better linking civilian life with those who serve in the military, perhaps something less abstract and less bureaucratic  and less expensive  might serve the nation better than simply adding women to the existing legislation.

[Youre smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversations authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter.]

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/congress-considers-future-of-the-military-draft-while-supreme-court-holds-off-161152.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP)  Maine wildlife officials are warning residents that a dry summer this year could lure bears to residents' backyards.

Dry summers can cause shortages of the natural foods black bears eat, such as berries and beechnuts. Hungry bears then go looking for bird feeders, grills, trash cans and livestock.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said conflicts between people and bears are most common in the spring and early summer. That's when bears emerge from their winter dens.

The wildlife department said nuisance bear visits can be avoided by removing or securing the food sources that attract them. That also includes grills and compost.

Maine's home to the largest population of black bears in the eastern states.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Louisiana has for years owed millions of dollars to residents whose homes flooded because of interstate construction work, but lawmakers continue to balk at making the payment, even after a proposed settlement deal appeared within reach.

After the state constructed Interstate 12 across a watershed four decades ago, more than 1,000 residents in south Louisiana's Tangipahoa Parish saw their homes and businesses flooded or entirely washed away in a 1983 flood. They sued the state for negligence and won, with courts determining the transportation department failed to conduct a proper analysis and its construction caused 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 meters) of floodwater in the town of Robert.

The Advocate reports that Louisianas Supreme Court in 2006 finally ordered the state to pay the victims $91 million in reparations. But lawmakers have refused to appropriate the money ever since. The interest has ballooned so the flood victims are now owed in excess of $330 million.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Tangipahoa Parish native, struck a tentative settlement agreement with the families this year to pay out $130 million over a five-year period, while the state treasury was flush with cash. But senators are suggesting they may not need to pay the families at all.

Flood victims are infuriated, saying theyve been ignored for far too long.

Theyre taking our tax money  that they owe us  and spending it on people more influential than the poor people that lost everything, Todd Morse, whose childhood home was swamped in the 1983 flood, told The Advocate.

The House set aside $30 million in its budget plan for the first installment of the settlement. But Senate leaders slashed that payment down to $15 million  and said they may have found a reason to dodge the obligation altogether. Senate President Page Cortez, a Lafayette Republican, pointed to an obscure 1946 law that he said could nullify all legal judgements against the state that are over 10 years old.

We got legal opinions that said you may not even owe this judgement, Cortez said.

Even without that statute, the Legislature doesnt have to pay the judgment if it doesnt want to, because state courts can't force lawmakers to appropriate money.

Still, Edwards' top lawyer Matthew Block told the newspaper that if lawmakers dont want to pay the flood victims, they should just say so and be honest with the people who have waited 38 years for this, instead of digging up an obscure law as justification.

Senate Finance Chairman Bodi White, who handles the budget bills in the Senate, said he was nervous about the precedent set by paying off such a large legal judgment. He pointed to a pending lawsuit filed by Livingston Parish residents who claim a 19-mile (30-kilometer) concrete barrier on I-12 acted as a dam during 2016's catastrophic floods.

I dont know if the state can make everyone whole every time we have a flood, said White, a Central Republican. He said he believes the victims deserve some compensation but there wasnt a great will in the rest of the Senate.

Rep. Bill Wheat, a Ponchatoula Republican who pushed to get the initial $30 million payment included in the budget, said hed hope that anybody pointing to the 1946 statute to absolve lawmakers from the debt would understand thats not the way we do business.

This was something the state was absolutely, 100% responsible for. Its our responsibility to make these folks whole, Wheat said.

The storm that struck the region in 1983 wasnt particularly unusual for south Louisiana. But I-12, which had been constructed in 1975, acted like a dam, causing several feet of water from the Tangipahoa River to back-up into the nearby town of Robert. Before that, the area rarely flooded and few homeowners had flood insurance.

Still, to this day, I have nightmares about that flood, said Devona Milton, one flood victim. You cant just sweep this under the rug. It took life away from a whole lot of people.
Just 34 days before the end of World War II, a U.S. Navy cruiser was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sunk in the Philippine Sea.

The USS Indianapolis had been the ship of state of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and had just delivered core components of the Hiroshima-bound atomic bomb "Little Boy" off the coast of Japan four days earlier.

After unloading her top-secret cargo at Tinian and then making a quick stop in Guam to await further orders, the crew of the Indy were soon bound for the Philippine island of Leyte, unaware that their location had just been discovered by an enemy submarine.

A Japanese sonar man had picked up on the sound of rattling dishes in her kitchen from some six miles away. The submarine began stalking her through the water until it was close enough to engage.

The sub's commanding officer, Mochitsura Hashimoto, gave the order to fire six torpedoes into her side at 12:04 a.m. on July 30, 1945. Two of the torpedoes hit their mark, and it took the Indy just twelve minutes to capsize and sink, forever entombing some 300 of her 1,195-man crew 18,044 feet beneath the surface of the moonlit water.

For the next five days, the nearly 900 sailors who had survived the sinking found their numbers whittled down as crew member after crew member fell victim to saltwater poisoning, drowning, delirium and shark attacks. Only 316 survived the horrific ordeal.

Survivor Harlan Twible later recounted his time in the water: "I saw some great heroism, and I saw some great fright, and I saw some things I wouldn't ever want to talk about."

When the survivors were first spotted on the fourth morning by 24-year-old U.S. search and reconnaissance air pilot Chuck Gwinn while he was looking for enemy vessels in the area, they had drifted apart from each other and were found in several groups across nearly 200 miles of ocean.

Their collective rescue took about 24 hours to complete - leaving some survivors in the water for five harrowing days. One of the discovered clusters of men contained the Indy's captain, Charles McVay.

Despite the nightmare he'd just experienced and survived at sea, Captain McVay soon found himself in a different kind of fight - this one with the United States Navy.

The Navy had bungled many things regarding the Indianapolis and they knew it: They denied McVay the escort he'd requested for protection while traveling through enemy waters; they failed to respond to any of the distress signals sent from the Indy that listed its coordinates in the final moments of its sinking (the Navy has since disputed receiving any distress signals, though multiple servicemen claimed to have received them); they failed to recognize or report that the Indy had not arrived at Leyte when it was scheduled to; and they had provided McVay with an incomplete intelligence report in the first place - withholding the vital information they had come by through a top-secret code-breaking program that confirmed enemy submarine activity along the route the Indy would be taking to Leyte.

To prevent such blunders from getting out and possibly overshadowing the triumphant news of the likely ending of the war (the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima just two days after the survivors were rescued with "This one is for the Boys of the Indianapolis" written on its side), the Navy ordered a news blackout about the incident once the survivors were sequestered and convalescing on a nearby island.

In Washington, the Navy had already begun preparing for a court inquiry as requested by Admiral Chester Nimitz. Nimitz's inquiry requested an investigation of the cause of the sinking, the culpability of any servicemen involved, and how the survivors had been discovered entirely by accident after the base at Leyte failed to report the ship as missing.

In the end, a few servicemen were reprimanded for their respective roles in not recognizing the Indy's absence, but only McVay would be taken to trial and charged for the sinking of the ship once he arrived back on American soil.

The Navy all but spelled out their reasons for doing so in a letter their judge advocate general (JAG) sent officials at the time: "Full justification for ordering the trial...springs from the fact that this case is of vital interest not only to the families of those who lost their lives, but also to the public at large."

In other words, "the Navy needed someone to blame for what The New York Times had already called 'one of the darkest pages of our naval history,'" said Doug Stanton, author of "In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors."

Initially, Navy prosecutors tried to charge Captain McVay with two counts of negligence: "failure to abandon ship in a timely manner" and "hazarding his ship" by failing to steer her in diagonal lines, a since-abandoned defensive maneuver known as zigzagging.

But the prosecutors soon realized they could not prove the first charge because the ship sank so quickly. So they put all their effort into making the second charge stick. McVay had already admitted that the Indy had not been zigzagging at the time of the attack, citing weather conditions. The Navy insisted on proving that his lack of doing so had been consequential.

Among the list of witnesses the prosecution called to testify against McVay was none other than the submarine commander who had sunk the Indy in the first place: Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto. The decision caused an uproar among members of the press and politicians alike.

"American military prosecutors calling Hashimoto to testify against McVay regarding the loss of his ship would have been as outrageous as the New York City district attorney calling a 9/11 hijacker to testify against the NYC fire commissioner regarding the loss of the World Trade Center," said Lynn Vincent, co-author of "Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man."

Nonetheless, Hashimoto had been asked to testify at the court martial and he obeyed - just not in the way prosecutors had hoped he would.

During his testimony, he was asked to confirm that the Indy had not been zigzagging at the time he fired upon her - a point he readily conceded. But he went on to seemingly mock the maneuver by explaining that zigzagging would have made "no change" in the way he fired the torpedoes and that he would have sunk the defenseless ship either way.

Despite the unexpected blow that Hashimoto's testimony had been to the prosecution, Captain McVay was still convicted of hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag.

"The conviction meant that of the almost 400 U.S. captains whose ships had been sunk during the war, McVay was the only one to have been court-martialed," Stanton said. Indeed, he was the only captain in the entire history of the Navy to be court-martialed whose ship was sunk by an act of war.

That distinction stayed with McVay for the rest of his life as he endured anguished letter after anguished letter ("Hate mail," Indy survivor Granville Crane Jr. later called it), from the families of the fallen sailors whose deaths had been blamed on him. "He read every letter he received and took them all personally," Stanton said.

In the end, McVay took his own life on November 6, 1968 - a gift from his father of a toy sailor clutched in his hand when he died.

His death marked a turning point for the remaining Indianapolis survivors as they had never held their captain responsible for the sinking and resented the way he'd been made to carry that unnecessary burden. "Once the captain was court-martialed, my first thought was how can we get these guys for doing this?" Twible later recounted.

Indeed, for more than fifty years, the survivors had tried and failed to get the Navy to reverse the court-martial and to clear their captain's name. At last, they decided to try another way: by making his exoneration a matter of law by appealing directly to the United States Congress.

The survivors gathered signatures and lobbied members of Congress in visit after visit to Washington. Finally, New Hampshire Sen. Robert Smith agreed to champion their cause, and he introduced an exoneration resolution that, as he put it at the time, "expresses a sense of Congress that Captain McVay's court martial was morally unsustainable."

Smith's resolution wasn't enough, however, because it was up to Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former Navy secretary, to decide whether to take the exoneration resolution to the Senate floor for a vote.

For several months, Vincent said Warner had opposed the measure and been "utterly immovable" until he received a letter from the most unlikely of people: Mochitsura Hashimoto.

Once again, 54 years after he'd testified at McVay's court martial, the submarine commander was coming to his old enemy's defense. Hashimoto told Warner that he wanted to join the "brave men who survived the sinking of the Indianapolis ... in urging that your national legislature clear their captain's name." He added: "Our peoples have forgiven each other for that terrible war and its consequences. Perhaps it is time your peoples forgave Captain McVay for the humiliation of his unjust conviction."

His heartfelt words were enough to soften Warner's resolve. "With the addition of Hashimoto's voice," Vincent said, "it was as though the entire matter had reached a kind of cosmic critical mass, and Warner realized it was time to finally lay it to rest."

With Sen. Warner at last allowing the resolution to be considered, Congress voted to exonerate Captain Charles McVay on October 12, 2000. Hashimoto died 13 days later.

In a show of support for the survivors, Hashimoto's daughter, Sonoe Hashimoto Iida, and his granddaughter, Atsuko Iida, bravely attended the 60-year anniversary of the ship's sinking in 2005. Though nervous about how they may be received by the survivors who had been meeting together on the anniversary of the Indy's sinking every year since 1960, they felt connected to the men of the Indianapolis through their father and grandfather and wanted to attend.

They soon found their role as spectators change to participants, however, when at the close of that anniversary celebration the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the survivors were asked to stand together and sing God Bless America. Atsuko was invited to take her two sons up to the front of the room to sing along with the other grandchildren and great-grandchildren. "She seemed nervous," Vincent's co-author, Sara Vladic, said, "but she agreed to go with a cautious smile."

Singing as one, the moment was a fitting demonstration of healing between two peoples who had once called each other "enemy" - brought together by their shared desire to vindicate an innocent man.

"The survivors had fought for fifty years to exonerate their captain," Vincent said. "In an ironic twist of history, the man who first put them in peril was the same one who came to their aid."
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  Police in North Carolina say an infant was accidentally shot during a domestic dispute in Charlotte.

Multiple news outlets reported that the 1-year-old was shot in the hand Saturday during an altercation between two family members. The reports did not say how the family members were related to the child.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, a Shiite cleric who as Iran's ambassador to Syria helped found the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and lost his right hand to a book bombing reportedly carried out by Israel, died Monday of the coronavirus. He was 74.

A close ally of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mohtashamipour in the 1970s formed alliances with Muslim militant groups across the Mideast. After the Islamic Revolution, he helped found the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Iran and as ambassador to Syria brought the force into the region to help form Hezbollah.

In his later years, he slowly joined the cause of reformists in Iran, hoping to change the Islamic Republic's theocracy from the inside. He backed the opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi in Iran's Green Movement protests that followed the disputed 2009 re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

If the whole people become aware, avoid violent measures and continue their civil confrontation with that, they will win," Mohtashamipour said at the time, though Ahmadinejad ultimately would remain in office. No power can stand up to peoples will.

Mohtashamipour died at a hospital in northern Tehran after contracting the virus, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. The cleric, who wore a black turban that identified him in Shiite tradition as a direct descendant of Islams Prophet Muhammad, had been living in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq, over the last 10 years after the disputed election in Iran.

Iran's current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised Mohtashamipour for his revolutionary services, while President Hassan Rouhani said the cleric devoted his life to promote Islamic movement and realization of the revolutions ideals.

Hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi, now considered the leading candidate in Iran's presidential election next week, also offered condolences to Mohtashamipour's family.

The deceased was one of the holy warriors on the way to the liberation of Jerusalem and one of the pioneers in the fight against the usurping Zionist regime," Raisi said, according to IRNA.

Born in Tehran in 1947, Mohtashamipour met Khomeini as the cleric remained in exile in Najaf after being expelled from Iran by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In the 1970s, he crisscrossed the Mideast speaking to militants groups at the time, helping form an alliance between the future Islamic Republic and the Palestinian Liberation Organization as it battled Israel.

Once arrested by Iraq, Mohtashamipour found his way to Khomeini's residence in exile outside of Paris. They returned triumphant to Iran amid the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In 1982, Khomeini deployed Mohtashamipour to Syria, then under the rule of dictator Hafez Assad. While ostensibly a diplomat, Mohtashamipour oversaw the millions that poured in to fund the Guard's operations in the region.

Lebanon, then dominated by Syria, which deployed tens of thousands of troops there, found itself invaded by Israel in 1982 as Israel pursued the PLO in Lebanon. Iranian support flowed into the Shiite communities occupied by Israel. That helped create a new militant group called Hezbollah, or "the Party of God."

The U.S. blames Hezbollah for the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people, as well as the later bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in the Lebanese capital that killed 241 U.S. troops and another attack that killed 58 French paratroopers. Hezbollah and Iran have denied being involved.

"The court finds that it is beyond question that Hezbollah and its agents received massive material and technical support from the Iranian government," wrote U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in 2003.

Lamberth's opinion, quoting a U.S. Navy intelligence official, directly named Mohtashamipour as being told by Tehran to reach out to the nascent Hezbollah to "instigate attacks against the multinational coalition in Lebanon, and to take a spectacular action against the United States Marines.

An IRNA obituary of Mohtashamipour only described him as one of the founders of Hezbollah in Lebanon" and blamed Israel for the bombing that wounded him. It did not discuss the U.S. allegations about his involvement in the suicide bombings targeting Americans.

Hezbollah, in a statement issued in Beirut, extended its condolences, praising Mohtashamipour for his role in the service of the revolution and in providing all forms of support toward the launching of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon and the Palestinian cause.

The bloody wounds on his hands, face and chest as a result of the assassination attempt are evidence of his great jihadi position, particularly at that stage of the conflict with the Zionist enemy, the statement said

At the time of the assassination attempt on him, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency had received approval from then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to pursue Mohtashamipour, according to Rise and Kill First," a book on Israeli assassinations by journalist Ronen Bergman. They chose to send a bomb hidden inside a book described as a magnificent volume in English about Shiite holy places in Iran and Iraq on Valentine's Day in 1984, Bergman wrote.

The bomb exploded when Mohtashamipour opened the book, tearing away his right hand and two fingers on his left hand. But he survived, later becoming Iran's interior minister and serving as a hard-line lawmaker in parliament before joining reformists in 2009.

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Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  Las Vegas is hosting its first big trade show since the start of the pandemic this week.

The four-day World of Concrete trade show is set to begin Monday at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which recently completed a new $1 billion exhibition hall.

Some are embracing it has a sign of a return to normalcy in Las Vegas.

Local tourism officials say COVID-19 health and safety protocols will be followed.

Observers like Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal people will be eying the trade show as a test run for resuming large conventions and meetings.

The World of Concrete typically has 60,000 masonry professionals in attendance.

Dow says having even half of the attendance in 2019 would be considered a success.

Several conventions are on the schedule in Las Vegas in the remaining year including the National Mining Expo and the National Association of Broadcasters' meeting.

According to tourism officials, a record 6.6 million visited Las Vegas for a meeting or convention in 2019. Trade shows annually make an estimated $11.4 billion in economic impact to the region.
Todd Nettleton, host of "The Voice of the Martyrs Radio," urged American Christians to learn from the examples of Chinese Christians who have prepared themselves and their children to stand firm in faith.

"One question I often ask persecuted Christians when I visit and interview them is this: How did you get ready for persecution?" Nettleton wrote for an op-ed in the Western Journal.

"It's a question I ask to delve into details of their own story, of course. But it's also a question American Christians are asking: If persecution is coming, how can we prepare our hearts, our minds and our children to stand firm in faith?" he added.

After personally interviewing hundreds of persecuted Christians throughout his 20+ years at VOMS, Nettleton said he'd observed the following themes in their responses.

Persecuted Christians get ready because they decided to get ready.

"Part of getting ready is acknowledging that persecution may come," he pointed out, "That I, myself, may have to pay a price for what I believe."

According to Nettleton, though many saw the cross as a lovely symbol to wear on a chain around their neck, when Jesus commanded his disciples to pick up their cross and follow him (Matt. 16:24), they recognized the cross as a way of cruel torture and death. Additionally, Jesus instructed his disciples to count the cost (Luke 14:28).

Persecuted Christians get ready by knowing God's Word.

The late VOM Canada director Glenn Penner, wrote that "The Bible (especially the New Testament) was written by persecuted believers to persecuted believers." Nettleton noted that there's no better book to prepare for persecution than the Bible.

He said that the Bible speaks directly to Christians' troubles and tells them on how to respond - by loving their enemies and praying for those who persecute them.

Persecuted Christians get ready by watching and learning from those who've already suffered.

Nettleton thought of a pastor he had met years earlier, Elder Zhang Chunlei, who was completely prepared for persecution. A consensus was reached among the church leaders, including him, who were prepared to bear any hardship rather than deny their faith or give up their ministry. Additionally, they vowed to see any future imprisonments not as severe injustices or insurmountable difficulties, but as opportunities to bear testimony for Christ.

"When Chinese Christians speak of 'prison ministry,' this is what they mean: A Christian gets arrested, goes to prison and shares the gospel," he noted.

The church leaders agreed to stop what they are doing to gather at 5 p.m. every day to pray for one other, whether they are in prison on not. Because of this, wherever Elder Zhang is, he knows people are praying for him daily at that time.

As mentioned by Nettleton, members of the Chinese Christian community such as Elder Zhang are acquainted not just with Biblical figures like Peter and Paul, but also have knowledge of prominent examples from their own culture, such as Watchman Nee, Pastor Samuel Lamb, and Pastor Allen Yuen.

The VOM presenter recommended that Christians in America and other free nations reflect on experiences of Christians who have gone through similar hardships for their faith by checking the Voice of the Martyrs.

"Every time we read the story of a persecuted Christian, the simple question, 'What would I do in that situation?' can help us think and pray and grow strong in our faith-strong enough with God's help to endure any coming trial," he concluded.

Cases of repression that are hard to ignore

According to Aid to the Church in Need's (ACN) 2021 report on Religious Freedom in the World, there has been an increase in "polite persecution" in the West. This new kind of persecution is characterized by "restrictive measures" embedded in public policy and legislation.

Aside from bans or restrictions on worship capacity, belief in traditional values is criminalized in the United States via laws under the pretense of fostering "equality." One way this is accomplished is by expanding the meaning of "hate" speech to include statements about Biblical beliefs.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Louisiana senators Monday put the brakes on a bill that would have required motorists to use a handsfree device or speaker mode to talk on a cellphone while driving.

The proposal by Republican Rep. Mike Huval fell one vote short of passage in the Senate, getting only 19 votes instead of the required 20. The House earlier had voted 77-20 for the bill.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Louisiana senators advanced several transportation financing proposals in a rare Sunday debate session, as lawmakers negotiated behind the scenes on ways to steer more tax money to roads and bridges before the legislative session wraps up this week.

Senate leaders are proposing to make a temporary 0.45% state sales tax passed in 2018 permanent and send the dollars to infrastructure, rather than letting the tax expire as planned in mid-2025. But that idea appeared to be in trouble, facing significant opposition in the House.

With that proposal struggling to gain traction, senators have started looking for other approaches that could bolster state spending on projects in a $15 billion list of backlogged state-identified transportation needs. The Senate Finance Committee on Sunday approved two House-backed road financing bills that senators previously had shelved. Those measures were sent to the Senate floor, where they could become part of any eventual deal between the House and Senate.

It gives us some choices of what we're going to do, said Finance Chairman Bodi White, a Republican from Central.

Those bills  sponsored by Republican Reps. Jack McFarland and Mark Wright  would phase in a requirement that vehicle sales taxes pay for infrastructure projects; limit the use of the Transportation Trust Fund to pay for operational expenses in the state's transportation department; and enact other provisions aimed at lessening administrative costs in the agency.

All the ideas would make more money available for road and bridge projects, though that could leave financing gaps to cover health, education and other programs across state government by shifting existing tax dollars to transportation work with no means of replacing them.

Republican Senate President Page Cortez, White and other senators have made coming up with more money for infrastructure a top priority in the final days of a session that must end Thursday. But their favored approach, centered on the state's sales tax, has failed to gain support so far in the House.

That proposal, added by Senate leaders into an unrelated House bill, would strip the expiration date for the temporary 0.45% state sales and send the nearly $400 million received annually to road and bridge work beginning in 2025.

But the Louisiana Conservative Caucus  41 GOP lawmakers in the House  oppose the idea, calling it irresponsible to keep the temporary sales tax on the books when the state is receiving billions of federal dollars with more infrastructure money possibly on the way. Louisiana currently has the second-highest combined average state and local sales tax rate in the nation at 9.52%, according to the Tax Foundation.

Lawmakers in the Conservative Caucus represent more than one-third of the 105-member House, enough to stall the bill that requires a two-thirds vote to pass. In addition, some Democrats have raised objections to making the tax permanent.

Already lawmakers have allocated $560 million in federal coronavirus aid to pay for infrastructure, including several phases of widening of Interstates 10, 12 and 20, port projects and work on I-49 South. They've also added millions of dollars in legislative earmarks to budget bills that would provide financing for specific transportation projects favored by individual lawmakers.

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Follow Melinda Deslatte on Twitter at http://twitter.com/melindadeslatte.
SALEM, Ore. (AP)  A Dallas man was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for sexually abusing a child, prosecutors said.

Christopher Stebbins, 47, was found guilty of 12 counts of first-degree sexual abuse by a jury in May, the Statesman Journal reported.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  The mask policy played a part in the decision by at least one New Hampshire school district to release students early Monday because of 90-degree-plus temperatures and humidity.

Making matters more difficult, students are still expected to wear masks in classrooms and outdoors is not a suitable option," Kathleen Murphy, interim superintendent at the Concord School District, wrote in a letter to families on Sunday. I am sorry for the imposition on families, but for the overall safety and health of the students I felt it was a prudent decision."
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  A rural, western Nebraska lawmaker said Monday that he will undergo treatment again for a rare form of cancer that he has faced before.

State Sen. Tom Brewer, of Gordon, said a series of medical tests this spring revealed that his hairy cell leukemia has returned, and he will need chemotherapy to treat it. Brewer said he plans to take some time off from his duties for treatment, and will have to cancel or reschedule some of his upcoming events.
GHOTKI, Pakistan (AP)  An express train barreled into another that had derailed in Pakistan before dawn Monday, killing at least 51 people and setting off a desperate effort to search the crumpled cars for survivors and the dead, authorities said.

More than 100 other people were injured. Cries for help pierced the night as passengers climbed out of overturned or crushed rail cars. The pleas continued to echo throughout the day at the scene in the district of Ghotki, in the southern province of Sindh.

Heavy machinery arrived to cut open some cars, and more than 15 hours after the crash, rescuers carefully removed wreckage as they looked for anyone who might remain trapped  though hopes were fading for survivors. The military deployed troops, engineers and helicopters to assist.

The Millat Express train derailed around 3:30 a.m., and the Sir Syed Express train hit it minutes later, said Usman Abdullah, a deputy commissioner of Ghotki. It was not immediately clear what caused the derailment, and the driver of the second train said he braked when he saw the disabled train but did not have time to avoid the collision.

About 1,100 passengers were aboard the two trains, rail officials said.

The challenge for us is to quickly rescue those passengers who are still trapped in the wreckage," said Umar Tufail, a police chief in the district.

The death toll steadily rose through the day, and the chances of finding survivors were diminishing, said Rizwan Nazir, a district administration official.

Authorities brought in lights so rescuers could work through the night. Relatives of some of the missing passengers waited nearby.

Passengers with critical injuries were to be brought by helicopter to a nearby hospital.

Engineers and experts were trying to determine what caused the collision, said Azam Swati, the minister for railways who headed to the scene of the crash. He told The Associated Press that all aspects would be examined, including the possibility of sabotage.

The segment of the railway tracks where the crash took place was old and needed replacing, Habibur Rehman Gilani, chairman of Pakistan Railways, told Pakistans Geo News TV. He did not elaborate.

Aijaz Ahmed, the driver of the Sir Syed Express, told the station that on seeing the derailed train, he tried his best to avoid the crash by braking but failed. Railway officials said Ahmed was slightly injured, and villagers pulled him from the train's engine after the crash.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his deep sorrow over the tragedy, saying on Twitter that he asked the railway minister to supervise the rescue work and ordered a probe into the crash.

According to local media, some of the passengers on the Millat Express were heading to a wedding party.

Mohammad Amin, one of the passengers on the Millat Express who had minor injuries, told the AP from a hospital that before the train departed from the southern port city of Karachi, he and his brother saw mechanics working on one of the cars.

That led them to believe there was something wrong with it, but they were reassured all was fine. Amin said he believed the car that was being worked on was the one that later derailed. Railway officials said they were recording statements of survivors, including the drivers.

Train accidents are common in Pakistan, where successive governments have paid little attention to improving the poorly maintained signal system and aging tracks.

In 1990, a packed passenger plowed into a standing freight train in southern Pakistan, killing 210 people in the worst rail disaster in the nation's history.

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Associated Press Writer Munir Ahmed contributed to story from Islamabad.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  About 100 supporters of a Louisiana minister gathered outside a federal appeals court in New Orleans on Monday to show support as his lawyers asked to revive a lawsuit he filed last year challenging the state's coronavirus restrictions.

Tony Spell repeatedly flouted the public health restrictions at his Life Tabernacle Church in the Baton Rouge suburb of Central, and faces six state criminal counts as a result. His supporters assembled at a public park across from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where they prayed, listened to speeches and waved flags reading An Appeal to Heaven. Spell then walked into the courthouse, escorted across the street by one man carrying a pole with a large cross affixed at the top, while a man nearby waved an American flag.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP)  Authorities are investigating after a police officer fatally shot someone Monday near a Jefferson City shopping mall.

Missouri State Cpl. Kyle Green said the shooting happened around 1:45 p.m. between the Capital Mall and a Walgreens store located directly across the street.

He said he was headed to the scene and didn't immediately know the name, age, gender or race of the person who was killed or what led up to the shooting.

He also said he had no information about the Jefferson City police officer who fired the deadly shot. The patrol urged the public in a tweet to avoid the area near the mall.

Police Lt. Dave Williams said in a news release that the department had asked the patrol to investigate. Williams said police had no information to release at this time.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP)  A South Carolina man has been charged with murder in the death of a women who was found dead in a camper after a fatal blow to the head, the Greenville County Sheriff's Office said Monday.

Keith Layne Camden, 33, of Greenville was arrested Friday and is being held in the death last month of Stephanie Bridgeman, news outlets reported.
South Africa: 56 complaints lodged against soldiers last year

The Office of the Military Ombud says it has finalised 70 percent of the cases received from members of the public against soldiers on duty during the 2020/21 financial year.

The South African Military Ombud Office briefed the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans on cases lodged by the members of the public regarding the official conduct of the members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).

The office has finalised 70 percent of the 56 complaints lodged by members of the public regarding the conduct of the SANDF members deployed to enforce lockdown regulations due to COVID-19.

This is the highest number of cases brought by the public against soldiers in a single year since the establishment of the Military Ombud Office in 2012.

The complaints range from allegations of assault, damage to property, use of excessive force and general heavy-handedness by soldiers when enforcing the lockdown regulations.

The South African Military Ombud, Lieutenant General (Ret) Vusumuzi Masondo informed the Portfolio Committee that some of the challenges encountered by his office during the investigations of the complaints were the travel restrictions and social distancing protocols.

We were only able to commence with investigations in the third quarter of the financial year. The turnaround times for investigations was therefore negatively impacted, Masondo said.

Masondo said they have dismissed few complaints due to lack of evidence.

Members of the public must provide all the necessary details to assist with the investigations, Masondo said.

Those who lodge complaints should try to get the name of the soldier concerned from their name badge, car registration and provide a recording of the incident if available to assist with the investigations.

Amongst the cases dealt with by the Office was a matter reported by a tavern owner who alleged that on one particular afternoon, members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and SANDF visited his premises, stole and drank his alcohol, threw empty cans at him and thereafter assaulted him.

They allegedly stole cash amounting to R25 000 from a cash register and alcohol worth thousands of rands which they loaded in their police vans.

He was unable to get the names of the soldiers, however, the incident was captured on video and the identity of the soldiers were confirmed by the video footage.

The investigation is finalised with the preliminary report issued to the interested parties. The complainants name or identity is upheld by the Office.

To download a complaint form, members of the public are advised to visit www.milombud.org. Once completed, forward it via email to intake@milombud.org or fax 086 523 2296 respectively.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- SAIC Motor said its complete vehicle wholesales reached 406,735 units in May 2021, dropping 14.02% compared to the same period in 2020 and representing the first-time year-on-year decrease after eleven straight months of increase.

In the Jan.-May period of the year, the Shanghai-based auto giant sold 1,968,664 vehicles in total, recording a year-over-year jump of 25.42%, versus the 42.44% increase in Jan.-Apr. sales.



The decline in May sales mainly resulted from the double-digit sales decrease confronting both SAIC Volkswagen and SAIC-GM. The two joint ventures, who ranked second and third respectively among all subsidiaries by May sales, sold 110,000 and 80,350 vehicles last month.

As of May 31, 2021, SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW) had been honored the No.1 subsidiary for the third month in a row. The joint venture is always very nimble in rolling out new products to adapt to changing demands from consumers. It announced on June 3 its plan to launch an all-new nine-seater minivan in response to China's newly-issued three-child policy.

SAIC Motor PV, SAIC Motor's self-owned PV arm that operates Roewe, MG, and R Auto, saw its wholesales in May inch up 1.42% from the previous year to 53,000 units, the winner of the fourth place among subsidiaries.



Hongguang MINIEV; photo credit: SGMW



In May, there were over 52,000 consumers taking delivery of SAIC Motor's new energy vehicles (NEVs), representing a year-over-year hike of 364.9%. To be specific, the deliveries of the Hongguang MINIEV reached nearly 30,000 units, and SAIC PV Motor delivered more than 11,000 NEVs, a 175.7% surge from the year-ago period.
On Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, addressed the plethora of emails sent and received by senior government epidemiologist Anthony Fauci, which caused outrage from Republicans, including the Republican senator.

According to the emails, Fauci took queries about whether the virus spilled from a lab early in the pandemic before discounting the notion later. BuzzFeed received the emails initially via a Freedom of Information Act request.

"I got to say this e-mail dump that came out makes clear that this is not just being sloppy, it is systematic, and it is systemically an effort to mislead the American people," Cruz told Fox News presenter Maria Bartimoro.

"He [Fauci] wasn't doing it alone," Cruz said, "but he was doing it with much of the U.S. government behind him and with Facebook and Big Tech operating as an extension of the U.S. government in order to silence any views that disagreed, not with the science because he wasn't looking for the science, he was suppressing the science, but rather trying to silence anything that disagreed with the political narrative that was convenient that he was pushing at that moment."

On Facebook and Big Tech

Concerns about Facebook's and other social media companies' COVID-19 content restrictions have come from both sides of the political spectrum. Republicans, including Cruz, have accused platforms of suffocating unfettered debate, including talks on the lab leak allegation. The senator continued that Facebook was "utilizing their monopoly position to censor on behalf of the government" when it came to knowledge about COVID-19 and its origins.

On May 26, Facebook announced that content implying that COVID-19 is man-made or produced will no longer be prohibited.

"In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of COVID-19 and in consultation with public health experts, we will no longer remove the claim that COVID-19 is man-made or manufactured from our apps," the Big Tech company stated in its website. "We're continuing to work with health experts to keep pace with the evolving nature of the pandemic and regularly update our policies as new facts and trends emerge."

The recent revelation was a U-turn for Facebook, which had previously said that it would delete postings alleging the virus was "man-made or manufactured" after talks with prominent health institutions, including the World Health Organization which had so often reportedly "debunked" the allegation.

"These latest breakthroughs have real consequence because it now is clear that Facebook was operating at the direction of and in the direct benefit of the federal government and operating as the government's censor, utilizing their monopoly position to censor on behalf of the government," Cruz asserted.

"A very dangerous admission that is now out there for Facebook," Cruz went on adding that anybody whose speech on the subject was suppressed by Facebook may face legal repercussions.

"If you went out and posted the facts that led a year ago to the very strong likelihood that the COVID virus escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan, China," he said, "if you posted that a year ago and they took it down, I think there's a very good argument you have a cause of action against Facebook."

Cruz pointed out that Facebook would surely try to weasel its way out by saying that it is a private company.

"Well, you know what, when they act at the behest of the government, when they contact [Anthony] Fauci, when they say, 'Should we censor this?' and Fauci says, 'Yes' and they censor it for the federal government and then magically when the government changes its mind, and say, 'Oh, all those facts that were there a year ago, now you're allowed to talk about it,' they stopped censoring it with a flip of a switch, that lays a very strong argument that Facebook is operating as a state agency and that opens very significant legal liability," he maintained.

Cruz also predicted that the Biden administration will not "do anything to hold them [Facebook] to account."
WRENTHAM, Mass. (AP)  A Massachusetts State Police trooper charged with domestic assault over the weekend has been relieved of duty pending an internal department hearing, an agency spokesperson said Monday.

Trooper Michael Atton, 34, was arrested Saturday night at his Wrentham apartment by local police, The Sun Chronicle reported.
TOKYO (AP)  Japanese automaker Toyota has reached a settlement with the family of an engineer whose suicide was ruled a job-related death due to harassment from his boss.

Toyota Motor Corp. vowed to crack down on harassment in the workplace to ensure employees safety and expressed deep remorse, facing up with true sincerity to the fact that a precious workers life was lost.

The engineer, then 28, was repeatedly ridiculed by his boss, prevented from taking days off and told to die. His suicide in 2017 was ruled by a regional labor bureau as a job-related death in 2019, entitling his family to compensation. His name has been withheld due to privacy concerns, standard in Japan.

To prevent future harassment, Toyota will improve workers' health care, better evaluate management, educate workers and encourage a workplace culture where employees can speak up, the company said in a statement Monday.

Toyota promises to work on developing people who, each and every one, can take an interest in those around them, under our stance that power harassment should never be tolerated, it said.

The attorney for the victim and his family, Yoshihide Tachino, said Toyota was responsible for mismanagement in allowing the harassment to continue. The amount of compensation the family will receive was not disclosed.

He stressed the settlement includes the preventive measures promised by Toyota as well as a thorough investigation into the death. Company President Akio Toyoda met with the family of the deceased and promised to bring about change, but the company needs to be monitored to make workplace culture changes, Tachino said.

We believe that the legacy of efforts to curtail power harassment pays respect to his tragic death, which came too soon at 28, although nothing will ever be enough, he said.

The case has drawn attention as highlighting a common problem in workaholic Japan, where such abuse often goes unchecked or undetected.

Complaints in Japan about various workplace abuse, including sexual harassment and problems over parental leave, have climbed to about 88,000 cases a year, more than tripling in the last 15 years.

They have been widespread, involving the police force, schools and judo athletes, as well as various companies.

In the Toyota case, the young engineers boss bullied him constantly, including referring to his educational background. Although he had a graduate degree from the prestigious University of Tokyo, his undergraduate degree was from a less elite school, according to an investigation into the case. Such background details can be painfully crucial in conformist Japan.

The engineer, who joined Toyota in 2015, told those around him that he would rather die than endure the suffering. He took some time off in 2016, citing mental stress. When he returned to work, Toyota assigned him to another section, but he was still working on the same floor as his former boss, records show.

The family said in a statement that their son won't return despite the compensation.

My heart still aches over what has happened to my beloved son. And when I think of him, all I want is to have him back, the statement said.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
The Huron Daily Tribune is proud to welcome Teresa Homsi as its summer intern through WCMU Public Medias internship program.

"Were excited to have Teresa as part of our team this summer," Tribune Editor Eric Young said. "She has already come with a bunch of great ideas and I think shes going to be a great addition to the Tribune during her time here."

A native of Houston, Texa,s whose family used to live in Cheboygan County, Homsis first day in the office was on June 1. She will be a senior at Central Michigan University this upcoming school year.

Some of the topics she is interested in writing about include agriculture, sustainability, and education.

Im looking forward to gaining experience and learning to adapt to a new place, Homsi said.

The internship program places Central Michigan University students at local newspapers. According to a WCMU press release, the Michigan News Group internship program started in 2019 between WCMU and two newspapers. Since its launch, the program has doubled in size each year, with eight CMU students being placed in eight communities around central and northern Michigan.

"This is our second year partnering with Central Michigan University on their internship program," Young said. "Last year presented some challenges with the pandemic, but was still beneficial for both parties. Were excited about partnering again this year during a hopefully more normal year."

In addition to Bad Axe, WCMU's program placed students in newsrooms in Alpena, Big Rapids, Cadillac, Greenville, Leelanau, Midland, and Traverse City.

I think this is going to be a great summer for WCMU and our communities, WCMU News Director Amy Robinson said in the release. We have a talented group of interns hitting the ground today, in eight communities around Michigan. I've been training the students over the past two weeks, and I'm so impressed. These are just the right people to take on the challenges this internship brings. We have already aired stories from every one of them, and lots more are coming.

Homsi said she was drawn to the field of journalism for the typical things that attract people, wanting to understand things, making information more accessible, and giving people a platform to tell stories.

Beyond this internship, Homsi is looking at enrolling in a graduate program for sustainable development, as she wants to work in either sustainable community development or environmental reporting.

While working on stories for the Tribune, Homsi will contribute those stories to WCMU Public Media, along with working on her own separate stories for the NPR-affiliated station. To reach out to Homsi, email teresa.homsi@hearstnp.com.
BOSTON (AP)  Closures last year during the pandemic along with international workers having difficulty getting visas is leaving many lifeguard positions unfilled this summer.

That will mean some pools and beaches will be closed, even as people flock to the water and the shore to cool off and relax as the coronavirus pandemic eases in many New England states, the Boston Globe reported on Sunday.

Many certification or recertification classes were shut down during the pandemic and when they reopened, social distancing guidelines kept classes small, the American Lifeguard Association told the newspaper.

There is also a backlog for processing visa applications for seasonal workers, B.J. Fisher, the association's director of health and safety, said.

The shortage of certified lifeguards has been a problem for years.

The town of Barnstable is still trying to recruit another two dozen lifeguards to reach its goal of having 105 on staff. That's despite offering referral bonuses and recruiting at schools, swim teams and a youth job fair.

Its been a challenge, Cindi Machado, Barnstable's recreation director, told the newspaper.

Lifeguard training includes certifications in first aid and CPR as well as passing a swimming test. Some employers are offering to pay for the certifications or reimburse certain fees for lifeguards they hire.

The scramble to train and hire lifeguards also comes as many pools were shut down at points during the last year, meaning missed swimming lessons for some young children.

As we go into summer, as children have even more access to water, I think the message is just for parents and those who supervise children to be extra vigilant about supervision this year, said Lindsay Mondick, YMCA director of innovative priorities.
CHICAGO (AP)  The University of Chicago will grant a doctorate degree to a student who was killed during a series of shootings last winter.

Colleagues got access to key documents in Yiran Fan's Dropbox account and successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation about bank behaviors and risky lending, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  A record 22 captive-born Mexican gray wolf pups have been placed into dens in the wild in the southwestern U.S. to be raised by surrogate packs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday.

The agency called this years cross-fostering season a success, saying the endangered predators that have been part of the fostering program over the last six years have helped to boost genetic diversity among the wild population in New Mexico and Arizona.

Officials said that over the last two months, nine pups were fostered into three different packs in eastern Arizona and 13 were placed with five packs in western New Mexico. Last year, 20 pups were placed into dens in the wild.

Jim deVos, the Mexican wolf coordinator with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said in a statement that the fostering program is built on partnerships with private organizations that are part of a nationwide captive breeding effort.

The captive-born pups came from litters at facilities in New Mexico, Texas and Missouri.

Without this important partnership, genetic recovery would be essentially impossible, he said. Importantly, we are now seeing Mexican wolves that have been fostered producing litters themselves.

Cross-fostering involves placing pups less than 14 days old from captive breeding populations into wild dens with similarly aged pups to be raised as wild wolves. Officials said cross-fostered pups have the same survival rate  about 50%  as wild-born pups in their first year of life.

According to the wolf recovery team, at least 12 of the wolves fostered over the years are still alive and surviving in the wild. Seven of these wolves have reached breeding age and four have subsequently produced pups in the wild.

Since pups are too young to mark when fostered, officials said only those that are recaptured can be confirmed as being alive, so its likely more have survived.

Some environmentalists questioned those numbers and said cross-fostering doesnt go far enough to put the species on track for recovery. The Center for Biological Diversity is among those pushing for wildlife managers to release breeding pairs along with their pups as bonded family packs.

Michael Robinson with the Center for Biological Diversity suggested that captive-born, well-bonded packs released into the wild have a lower mortality and disappearance rate than cross-fostered pups. He also raised concerns about illegal killings, noting that the fate of many of the 50 pups placed into wild dens between 2016 and 2020 is unknown.

Aside from whatever is ailing cross-fostered pups in the short term, (the Fish and Wildlife Services) failure to address illegal killing casts a pall on genetic conservation of released wolves no matter what manner of release is employed, Robinson said in an email.

The most recent survey of Mexican wolves determined there were at least 186 of the animals spread between New Mexico and Arizona. Over the last five years, the wild population has nearly doubled.

Meanwhile, ranchers in the recovery area have said they are continuing to see more livestock killed by the wolves despite efforts to scare the animals away. They have been vocal with their opposition to more wolf releases, including one planned at Ted Turners ranch in southwestern New Mexico.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott signed into law Monday a bill that will make it easier for Vermonters to vote in general elections.

The new law will send general election ballots to all active voters ahead of the election, making permanent a policy used last year during the pandemic.

In the system which was used last November during the pandemic, voters will be able to cast ballots by mail, take them to polling places to vote early or cast their ballots in-person on election day.

The law also provides a mechanism for correcting defective ballots and makes other changes to the state's voting laws.

Scott said he didnt think the law went far enough and he urged lawmakers when they return in January to extend the provisions of the law to primary elections, local elections and school budget votes.

Im signing this bill because I believe making sure voting is easy and accessible, and increasing voter participation, is important, Scott said in a statement.

Around the country we are witnessing an assault on voting rights, as state legislatures use conspiracy theories and lies as cover to restrict the Constitutionally guaranteed rights of American voters, Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos said in a statement.

Here in the Green Mountain State we chose a different path, Condos said.

Condos said the new law represents the largest expansion of Vermont voter access in decades, making Vermont one of the most voter friendly states in the country.

Condos believes expanding the mail-in voting system to elections beyond general elections right now is too complicated. For example, in primary elections voters are provided ballots for all major parties. They choose one to vote, and must return the other, unvoted ballots in addition to their voted ballot.

He said election officials would work with lawmakers to further expand the voting policy as appropriate.
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Hobby Lobby sued a former Oxford professor over the sale of stolen Bible fragments.

Dirk Obbink, a former lecturer at Oxford University and general editor of the school's Egyptian Exploration Society (ESS), sold a number of Bible artifacts which include fragments of the Christian Gospels, to the retail company for $7 million. But on Wednesday, the Hobby Lobby filed a lawsuit against the professor, seeking to recover its payment for the items found to have been stolen from the university, Courthouse News reported.

A 2019 New York Times article said that 13 fragments of Oxford's Oxyrhynchus Papyri, a collection of papyrus and fragments discovered in Egypt which date back from the third century B.C. to the seventh century A.D., were found at the Museum of the Bible in Washington. The museum was founded by Hobby Lobby in 2017. ESS said that 11 of these fragments were sold by Obbink. While the two others were purchased from an antiquities dealer in Israel, the museum's spokeswoman Heather Cirmo revealed.

"The exact circumstances of how those items moved from Oxford to Israel are unknown to us," Cirmo said at that time.

Also in 2019, Oxford started investigating the professor for the sale of these ancient artifacts, after the ESS secured a copy of the contract.

In its June 2019 statement, ESS uncovered that Obbink entered into a January 2013 contract with Hobby Lobby, agreeing to the delivery of ancient Biblical texts to the retail company. These include one parchment fragment of Matthew and papyrus fragments of the books Mark, Luke and John, which the professor claimed were dated circa 100 A.D.

In March 2020, Obbink was arrested for the alleged stealing of 120-piece ancient papyrus owned by the university.

In the complaint filed last week through its lawyers from Pearlstein and McCullough, the retail company states that "to date, thirty-two (32) items have been identified as having been stolen by Obbink from EES and sold directly to Hobby Lobby."

"The fact that some unknown number of the fragments were stolen renders all the fragments unsalable and worthless to Hobby Lobby, which stands to lose both the fragments and the entire value of the purchase price it paid to Obbink," the complaint further says.

The arts-and-crafts store wanted to be refunded in full, stating that Obbink had fraudulently claimed ownership of all the items he sold to the company.

The former professor has yet to comment on the lawsuit filed by Hobby Lobby as of writing time. However, in a statement to the Waco Tribune-Herald released through his lawyers in 2019, Obbink denied the accusations.

"The allegations made against me that I have stolen, removed or sold items owned by the Egyptian Exploration Society collection at the University of Oxford are entirely false. I would never betray the trust of my colleagues and the values which I have sought to protect and uphold throughout my academic career in the way that has been alleged," he said.

Further, he stated that the documents used against him were "fabricated in a malicious attempt to harm [his] reputation and career."
A. Transportation. There's a strong need for a long-term mobility plan, especially on U.S. 19 and State Road 44.

B. Resiliency. Crystal River needs blueprints for the future, especially focusing on sea level rise and health of bay waters.

C. Downtown. Areas within the city's CRA need more projects like the Town Square.

D. Revitalization. Abandoned shopping centers and older structures like the mall need a makeover.

E. Residential neighborhoods. Interconnecting communities and maximizing the potential in Crystal River neighborhoods is the key to happy living.

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The lack of foreign credential recognition affects immigrant integration into the health-care sector, making it even more difficult to address labour shortages.

Job vacancies in Canadian health care reach all-time high amid pandemic The lack of foreign credential recognition affects immigrant integration into the health-care sector, making it even more difficult to address labour shortages.

Job vacancies in Canadian health care reach all-time high amid pandemic The lack of foreign credential recognition affects immigrant integration into the health-care sector, making it even more difficult to address labour shortages.

Job vacancies in Canadian health care reach all-time high amid pandemic The lack of foreign credential recognition affects immigrant integration into the health-care sector, making it even more difficult to address labour shortages. Mohanad Moetaz Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Despite increased demand due to COVID-19, Canada is still short thousands of health-care workers.



Vacancies reached an all-time high in the Canadian health-care and social assistance sector. By the end of 2020 there were 100,300 vacant positions in these sectors, according to a study by Statistics Canada. Labour shortages in health care has been a long-standing issue that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Challenges to fill vacancies may grow in the coming decades as the majority of Canadas labour force ages into retirement. Furthering these demographic challenges, Canadas already low birth rate may have dropped due to the pandemic. While complete national data are still not in, the province of British Columbia alone reported fewer births in 2020 compared to 2019, and preliminary data show a drop to just 1,781 new babies in May. For context, not one month dipped below 3,000 B.C. newborns in 2020 or 2019.

The results of this could mean that without high levels of immigration to support population growth, the working-age population will have to pay more with their time and money to support older generations. More seniors will also call for more health-care workers.

First-generation immigrants already make up nearly a quarter of the labour force. Unfortunately for newcomers wanting to work in Canadas health-care sector, they have to overcome barriers related to credential recognition.

Discover if you are eligible for Canadian immigration

Canadian credentials put on a pedestal

Many immigrants who work in nursing or health-care support occupations did not come to Canada intending to work in the field.

A large proportion of immigrants in nursing and health-care support occupations had transitioned into these jobs after having difficulty finding work. They typically would go back to school. After completing their studies, they would find it less of an issue to integrate into the sector because their Canadian credentials were suddenly recognized.

Those who received their formal training abroad often found it difficult to break into the health-care sector, because their credentials were not recognized.

A profile of immigrants in Canadian health care

Immigrants who came to Canada as adults were found to be overrepresented in the health-care sector.

In 2016, a total of 28 per cent of workers in nursing support occupations were immigrants, who made up just 24 per cent of the employed population.

Among those working in these occupations, 22 per cent were immigrants who arrived in Canada as adults, who made up just 16 per cent of the total employed population.

The representation of those from the Philippines and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular has increased significantly from 1996 to 2016. Nearly one third of adult immigrants in nursing and health-care support occupations were from the Philippines.

Most who wanted to come to Canada to work in health care were admitted to Canada under an economic class program as the principal applicant. Half who wanted to work in nursing and support positions were admitted under a permanent residence program specific to caregivers. The vast majority, however, who immigrated under the economic class and had gotten health-care jobs did not intend to work in these occupations at the time of their admission.

Getting employed in nursing was no easy feat for these newcomers, and two thirds were overqualified when they did land a job.

In the case of those from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, the majority completed their highest level of education in Canada.

The overrepresentation of immigrants in the nursing and health-care support sector is largely due to the increase of migration from the Philippines and Sub-Saharan Africa. There was also stable growth in immigrants from the Caribbean working in health care, which has been the case for several decades.

The reason for this overrepresentation is unclear, as there have not been many studies on it. We do know the relationship between immigrants and Canadas labour market varies by gender, and place of origin. The findings in this particular Statistics Canada study raises questions about what motivates some immigrants to turn to health care and nursing occupations following their arrival in Canada.

Discover if you are eligible for Canadian immigration

 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
Business process improvement has been a top enterprise concern of late, and German software company SAP has heeded the call with Process Insights, a new process mining tool announced during last weeks Sapphire event.

With Process Insights, SAP aims to help customers streamline their operations by reporting on the speed and efficiency of existing business processes before benchmarking them against 300 key performance indicators (KPIs) generated from aggregated SAP customer data. The tool, which will use SAP's Intelligent Robotic Process Automation to recommend improvements, leans heavily on data SAP has amassed about what makes any given process efficient for its customers, SAP CEO Christian Klein said during a media and analyst Q&A.

This brings that knowledge into one tool to allow customers to not only measure and benchmark their business processes but use this expertise and these insights to design the business processes in a way that helps them to grow the business, automate, and drive productivity, he said.

Process mining software examines enterprise data sources to give customers a fuller picture of how their processes are running, where there are bottlenecks, and where there are opportunities to streamline. When paired with robotic process automation (RPA) software, vendors promise customers the ability to identify inefficient business processes and opportunities to automate them.

SAP has a wealth of business process information connected to its popular enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, and with its acquisition of business process management software provider Signavio in January and RPA vendor Contextor in 2018, it now has all the pieces in place to model, mine, and eventually streamline those processes for customers.

This follows the archetypical model of SAP to react to a missed capability, Constellation Research principal analyst Holger Mueller says. Buy a smaller competitor; replace the partner; tout the solution as essential. The partner Mueller refers to here is process mining pioneer Celonis, which recently raised $1 billion in funding at a valuation of $11 billion and already counts the likes of Uber, Dell, LOreal and AstraZeneca as customers.

Gartner analyst Paul Saunders agrees that SAP is late to the process mining game, adding that they should have had this five years ago when they launched S/4HANA, because this is the hardest thing for companies to understand and change.

Despite being late to market with this sort of capability, the company believes it will have a huge leg up on the competitionat least with existing customers who already run large parts of their business (from accounts to finance to procurement and logistics) on SAP, and mining those processes for better efficiency should be fairly straightforward.

The solution provides business professionals with out-of-the box capabilities to very quickly analyze business processes that run through SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA systems and get tailored recommendation on how to fix or improve them. However, for non-SAP systems, organizations are able to benefit from our recent acquisition of Signavio that is able to provide analysis and modelling, Wassilios Lolas, global vice president for business process intelligence at SAP told CIO.com via email.

Where the vendor will need to prove itself is in how it blends these SAP data sources with external systems so that organizations can get a full picture of their end-to-end processes.

SAP customers dont live in a world of just SAP processes. They live in a world where the business processes, from order to cash, hire to retire, procure to pay, campaign to order, are almost always outside of SAP, Ray Wang, principal analyst at Constellation Research said. Just like analytics, where the data outside of the system is as important as the data inside the system, process intelligence works the same way, so an SAP-centric tool doesnt necessary help a customer.

SAP Process Insights will be made generally available to customers in the third quarter of 2021 and there will be a six-month free trial offered under a new promotional offer.
Thats all folks.

The scheduled end of session came Thursday (or early Friday morning if youre in the Assembly), bringing to a close a year of both major progressive victories and other disappointments. But that doesnt mean that lawmakers cant come back over the summer or later in the year to pass things that didnt make it over the finish.

In classic Albany fashion, the day began with reports that lawmakers and the governor reached a deal to pass the Clean Slate Act and Gov. Andrew Cuomos bill to split the MTA leadership position. By the end, the deal fell through and neither passed.

Assembly Member Tom Abinanti told City & State that he drafted a memo he sent to leadership and circulated among colleagues Thursday evening summarizing his concerns with the bill, including issues with removing full background checks for certain jobs and the definition of crimes eligible for sealing, and seeking a revision. He said his memo had an impact on members who had any reservations about the bill. A large majority of the Assembly members support the principle, Abinanti said. But the details of the bill are problematic. He said many expected the bill would not come for a vote because of the issues, but other Assembly sources said it was unclear whether or not there were actually not enough votes.

Clean Slate wound up being just one of several progressive agenda items that falled. Several parole reform bills stalled, the Assembly never passed sexual harassment reform legislation and major climate change bills never moved. The year overall had some big wins, from repealing the walking while trans ban and legalizing marijuana, but a lackluster end of session left some disappointed.

State Senate Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins in her closing remarks, declared the year a success and celebrated the many bills passed, including in the past week. But she also seemed to leave the window open for her chamber to reconvene to address items that werent voted on. While its not very common, keep an eye out.

Heres how other big end-of-session agenda items landed.

Criminal justice

Three parole reforms awaiting passage by both chambers could make it easier for people over age 55 to get paroled as well as incarcerated people more generally, and make it harder to revoke someones parole. In the end, only one parole reform bill passed, much to the chagrin of criminal justice reform advocates, who pushed for passage through the last day. A fourth bill would automatically seal convictions after people serve their prison term and any probation. Although lawmakers said they reached a deal to pass the Clean Slate Act after a drafting error required fixing and a message of necessity from Cuomo to pass, session ended without a new version even getting introduced.

Passed: Less is More

Not passed: Elderly parole, Fair and Timely Parole, Clean Slate

Adult Survivors Act

This bill is modeled after the Child Victims Act, which suspended statutes of limitations to allow survivors of sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits. Their advocates want people who were attacked as legal adults to also have a chance to take advantage of a one-year look-back window. The state Senate passed the bill unanimously  but the Assembly never voted on it before breaking for the year. Sources say Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie had reservations about the bill, and those reservations seem to have won out since he never allowed it to come to the floor for a vote, despite fairly widespread support.

Gun control

After the state Senate passed a package of gun control, it fell to the Assembly to act one them. New Yorkers could sue gun manufacturers for civil damages under one bill. Two pieces of legislation aim to make it harder to assemble so-called ghost guns by buying a key part called the receiver without a serial number, while another would criminalize the possession of ghost guns. A fourth bill passed by the state Senate would enact a 10-day waiting period for all gun purchases no matter how quickly a background check gets done.

Passed: Gun manufacturers, ghost guns

Not passed: Background checks

Environment

Activists are disappointed that legislators did not pass any high-profile bills addressing climate change this year, but several other items that were still on the table wound up dead as well. This includes a bill making it easier for electric vehicle manufacturers to sell directly to consumers, which has not passed either chamber. Another bill aims to establish a clean fuel standard that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by vehicles through the use of bio methane that has not passed either chamber. A legislative dark horse worth watching is a bill that would make it harder to use former fossil fuel plants to mine cryptocurrency, which requires lots of electricity to create.

Not passed: Electric vehicles, clean fuel standard, cryptocurrency

Appointments

Perhaps most contentious is the nomination of Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas to the Court of Appeals. Singas appointment is being opposed by public defenders and left-wing activists. Despite opposition from a handful of progressive lawmakers who voted against her appointment, the state Senate approved her nomination. The state Senate also confirmed Cuomos former counsel Steven Cohen to the Board of Commissioners at the Port Authority following Cohen's abrupt resignation as vice chair of the authority several years ago. And Cuomos bill to split the MTA leadership only passed the Assembly, but the possibility remains that the Senate may act over the summer. His pick for chair, Sarah Feinberg, didnt get confirmed, but if the legislation is approved, she and Janno Leiber, who he tapped for CEO, could get the Senate thumbs up before current Chair and CEO Pat Foy leaves.

Sexual harassment

After landmark changes to strengthen the states sexual harassment laws in 2019, lawmakers and survivor advocates are looking to further build on those protections with another slate of legislation.The state Senate passed several bills already, including making all public employees subject to the Human Rights Law and protecting employees who sign a nondisclosure agreement but speak anyway.Another bill would make it explicitly illegal for employers to release personnel documents to retaliate against someone who has made harassment allegations. Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes released a statement pointing to past action the chamber has taken on sexual harassment and said members continue to work on the issue even though the chamber didnt pass any related bills this year. The statement was lambasted by the Sexual Harassment Working Group, which expressed disappointment the Assembly didnt act.

Not passed: Human Rights Law, nondisclosure agreements, personnel file retaliation

Reforming the Joint Commission on Public Ethics

In the wake of questions about Cuomos $5 million book deal on handling the pandemic, lawmakers have a renewed drive to reform JCOPE, the states beleaguered ethics agency. While a state constitutional amendment is needed to totally overhaul the commission, a package of bills that passed the state Senate seeks to improve its operations in the meantime. The legislation would update JCOPE appointments to make them less partisan, simplifying the process to launch an investigation and make it easier to remove the executive director.

Not passed: Appointment reform, investigation votes, removing executive director

Election reforms

The state Senate passed a slate of election reform legislationback in January, including bills that would permit the counting of absentee ballots to begin earlier, permit absentee ballot drop boxes, create an absentee ballot tracking system and add more early voting sites. In the end, only two of those bills made it through the Assembly. The state Senate has also passed legislation that would allow someone who votes at the wrong polling place to still have part of their ballot count, addressing the so-called wrong church, wrong pew problem.

Passed: Absentee counting, early voting sites

Not passed: Absentee drop boxes, absentee tracking, Wrong church, wrong pew

Miscellaneous

The state Senate has passed legislation to strengthen antitrust laws. A recently introduced bill would fund a potential impeachment trial of Cuomo. A bill to make it easier to convert commercial properties into residences would create a program to spend the $100 million allocated to buy such properties for conversion. Lawmakers wanted to create a lockbox for money from opioid settlements to be used for addiction services. Another bill would prevent the state from using certain hybrid voting machines, which combine touch screen and paper ballots, that election experts say pose a security risk. Many labor activists were hoping to see the so-called SWEAT Act, which would protect workers against wage theft, pass in the Legislature again after the governor vetoed it in 2019. Lawmakers also considered extending to-go cocktails for another year.

Passed: Opioid lockbox, commercial property conversions, impeachment funding

Not passed: Antitrust, voting machines, SWEAT Act, to-go cocktails
In March, as he faced calls to resign, the scandal-plagued Gov. Andrew Cuomo tried to paint himself as an outsider, claiming that hes not part of the political club. The assertion didnt make much sense. Since taking office in 2011, Cuomo has dominated state politics by combining an unmatched understanding of how to exert power in Albany, a no-holds-barred approach to governing and an obsession with conquering any potential rival. Since City & State launched its annual Albany Power 100 list 2013, Cuomo has ranked No. 1 every single year. (In 2019, we even depicted Cuomo as the all-powerful supervillain Thanos.)

However, for the first time in over a decade, Cuomo is not only under threat but at risk of being deposed. While he has held on, he has not been his usual formidable self following a series of sexual harassment and abuse allegations and the opening of multiple investigations into those and other credible claims of misconduct. Cuomos vulnerability has reverberated through Albany, with progressives smelling blood and Cuomo loyalists in retreat.

This years Albany Power 100 reflects these disruptions to the state Capitols power structure. After much internal debate, we opted to omit from this list the women who have accused the governor of sexual assault and harassment  because while they have undoubtedly altered the status quo in Albany, they made the choice to come forward with their stories in pursuit of justice, not influence. The Albany Power 100 does highlight many prolific lawmakers, key commissioners, leaders of major businesses, nonprofits and labor unions, outspoken advocates and activists  and a new No. 1.

1. Letitia James

State Attorney General

Letitia James-Kyle OLeary.png Alt Text: Letitia James Title Text: Letitia James Caption: Letitia James Description: Letitia James Image Credit: Kyle OLeary

Letitia James upended the status quo in Albany when she released a report in January that showed the Cuomo administration undercounted COVID-19 nursing home deaths. Then, two months later, she ordered an independent probe into sexual harassment allegations against the governor. James, who has sought to ensure the attorneys she appointed to review the complaints will do so without bias, is also investigating former President Donald Trump, taking on the National Rifle Association and pressing for more police reforms.

2. Andrew Cuomo

Governor

cuomo-march 24-office ofgov.jpg Alt Text: Gov. Cuomo on March 24, 2021. Title Text: Gov. Cuomo on March 24, 2021. Caption: This week we discovered that Gov. Cuomo and the state Department of Health provided priority coronavirus tests at the beginning of the pandemic. Description: This week we discovered that Gov. Cuomo and the state Department of Health provided priority coronavirus tests at the beginning of the pandemic. Image Credit: Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

As coronavirus cases skyrocketed last year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo seemed steady and statesmanlike  especially as other leaders bumbled their way through the crisis. But after gaining a national audience for his daily COVID-19 briefings, Cuomos fortunes have turned. Investigations into sexual abuse claims, obfuscation of COVID-19 nursing home deaths and other alleged misconduct have weakened the governor, who ceded to legislators on matters ranging from recreational marijuana legalization to tax hikes on the wealthy. So far, he has rebuffed calls to resign.

3. Andrea Stewart-Cousins

State Senate Majority Leader

State Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins call for the governor to resign in response to multiple sexual harassment allegations could mark the beginning of the end of Gov. Andrew Cuomos decade-long reign. With a veto-proof majority, she has also re-established herself as a progressive leader as she boosted aid for education and undocumented immigrants, legalized recreational marijuana and hiked taxes on the wealthy. She raised eyebrows for appearing with the governor in her Yonkers district in April  and promptly called again for him to resign.

4. Carl Heastie

Assembly Speaker

Carl Heastie - Assembly.jpeg Photo of Carl Heastie New York State Assembly

Carl Heastie has been more cautious than his state Senate counterpart in pressuring Gov. Andrew Cuomo to step down. The Bronx politician urged the governor to seriously consider his ability to lead the state, while launching impeachment proceedings whose scope has gone beyond harassment claims. The inquiry could take months, but Heastie may have the votes to impeach with support from both parties. Meanwhile, his conference notched several major budget victories such as; an excluded workers fund to aid undocumented immigrants, increased school aid and funding for COVID-19 recovery and relief.

5. Chuck Schumer

U.S. Senate Majority Leader

Its Charles in charge. The senior senator from New York ascended to leadership in the U.S. Senate in January, thanks to two long-shot runoff victories in Georgia that gave Democrats 50 seats, and a tie-breaking vote by the vice president. The Brooklyn lawmaker has since teamed up with President Joe Biden to force through a $1.9 trillion relief measure, and is strategizing on a similarly sized infrastructure bill that would pour even more money into New York.

6. Joe Biden

President

joe-biden-mccv-shutterstock.jpg Alt Text: President Biden during his inauguration on Jan. 20. Title Text: President Biden during his inauguration on Jan. 20. Caption: President Biden during his inauguration on Jan. 20. Description: President Biden during his inauguration on Jan. 20. Image Credit: mccv/Shutterstock

President Joe Biden advised his old friend Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign if sexual harassment and abuse allegations are confirmed true through an investigation. Bidens administration has emphasized that the women who accused Cuomo of misconduct should be heard and respected. If thats a mixed bag for the governor, the White House has been helping New York as a whole with the $1.9 trillion relief package delivering billions of dollars to the state, and a pending infrastructure plan that could fund badly needed upgrades and investments.

7. Melissa DeRosa

Secretary to the Governor

Melissa DeRosa - Celeste Sloman.jpg Alt Text: Secretary to Gov. Andrew Cuomo Melissa DeRosa Title Text: Secretary to Gov. Andrew Cuomo Melissa DeRosa Caption: Secretary to Gov. Andrew Cuomo Melissa DeRosa Description: Secretary to Gov. Andrew Cuomo Melissa DeRosa Image Credit: Celeste Sloman

As Gov. Andrew Cuomos top aide, Melissa DeRosa has stood by the governors side as the state navigated the earliest stages of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the severe economic slowdown it brought to New York. While cases are plummeting and the state is reopening, DeRosa has turned to defending her boss as he faces the toughest stretch of his decade-long tenure. Despite the rough period, DeRosa continues to be the governor's top point person in pushing his agenda in Albany and throughout the state.

8. Thomas DiNapoli

State Comptroller

Thomas DiNapoli.PNG Alt Text: TD

The coronavirus pandemic ballooned the states budget gap to $15 billion in January,thanks to state tax receipts that were $2.8 billion below 2019 levels. But the economy slowly rebounded, and Thomas DiNapoli revealed that receipts were $1.7 billion higher than estimated earlier this year while the government kicked in $23 billion in aid for the state. Regardless, DiNapoli is still concerned about sales tax revenue, which fell 3.9% in the first quarter this year as the state reopens.

9. Michael Gianaris

State Senate Deputy Majority Leader

Michael Gianaris-NYS Senate.jpg Alt Text: Michael Gianaris Title Text: Michael Gianaris Caption: Michael Gianaris Description: Michael Gianaris Image Credit: NYS Senate

When all the ballots were counted for last years election, it soon became clear that a blue wave had created a Democratic supermajority in the state Senate. Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who also heads up the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, helps run a conference that now can threaten to override any veto while demanding tax hikes on the wealthy, unemployment benefits for undocumented immigrants and more school aid in the state budget. The Queens senator was also an early voice calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign following sexual harassment allegations.

10. Crystal Peoples-Stokes

Assembly Majority Leader

20210225-CityAndState-RepPeoplesStokes-LM-002.JPG Alt Text: Assembly member Crystal Peoples-Stokes Title Text: Assembly member Crystal Peoples-Stokes Caption: Assembly member Crystal Peoples-Stokes Description: Assembly member Crystal Peoples-Stokes Image Credit: Libby March

Crystal Peoples-Stokes reached a career milestone in March when the state legalized recreational marijuana after her almost decade-long campaign to decriminalize it. The Buffalo lawmaker struck the deal that steers 40% of pot revenue to communities impacted by the drug war, and added a provision to the budget requiring nursing homes to increase staffing. Shes a key voice in the governors impeachment inquiry, having co-written a letter against Gov. Andrew Cuomos immediate resignation.
After Joe Biden won the presidency, his long history in the spotlight, and a demeanor that starkly opposes his predecessor, raised many questions about what types of visuals his presidency would produce. Would Biden be hampered by years of gaffes and quirky photo-ops? To what extent would health precautions under Covid-19 limit his visual impact? How well would Biden marshal the power of imagery, especially in the depths of crisis? And, after Donald Trumps domination of the photo lens and the mediascape, how much and how well would Biden fill out a frame?

So far, the early visual returns have been positive. Bidens political photo history is well known to be frivolous or embarrassing. After four years of Trumps bombast, omnipresence, and his dismissal or politicizing of major issues, however, Bidens low profile and appeal to facts and compassion seemed to have earned him a reset.

Bidens early legislative and administrative successes against the virus have translated into winning, even commanding, scenes. His limited exposure, message discipline, and appeals to compassion seem to have opened the lens to themes of decency and care.

More than any other inauguration image, this photo by the Associated Presss Evan Vucci signaled that the United States was no longer in Trumps grip. Marking the transfer of power, the photo introduces intimacy and selflessness as new coins of the realm.

Trump was preoccupied by the power and luster of the office, and his own reflection. This picture epitomizes the opposite. It is candid, as opposed to staged. The mirror is prominent, yet incidental, and the grand chandelier and presidential seal are out of focus. And when did you ever see anyone else in Trumps eyes?

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The big question at the outset of Bidens presidency was his ability to lead the country out of the Covid crisis. Was he the right man for the job?

Taken in Bidens third week in office, Samuel Corums portrait for the New York Times captures the president passing by an enormous cross in a snowstorm. The scene of Biden walking through the graveyard of his church in Delaware after Sunday mass projects a steadfast faith and momentum in taking on a virus that, mismanaged by his predecessor, had already cost America over a half-million lives.

Bidens first press conference, two months into his tenure, was highly anticipated. The dignity of the imagery again proved notable as Biden touted the successful passage of his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Taken from the more stately side angle, this photo by Jim Watson for Agence France-Presse positions Biden between George Washington and Theodore Roosevelt, while his hands-in-the-pocket gesture is reminiscent of John F. Kennedy.

Perhaps the most powerful, and certainly most artful, shot of Bidens first press conference was taken as he exited the room. Using the floor as a mirror, the image by Oliver Contreras for European Pressphoto Agency equates Bidens success with an image of walking on water.

In many other photos, Biden has a lower profile and marginal placement. They indicate a quiet command, or the mark of a steward mindful of goals and principles much greater than himself. Take, for example, this impressionistic image in Arlington National Cemetery, by Brendan Smialowski, a photographer for Getty Images.

This image of Biden standing behind Kamala Harris on March 19 demonstrates a similar dynamic. Taken by Carlos Barria for Reuters, it was featured in a Washington Post summary of the highlights of President Bidens first hundred days in office.

In the past, the scene of Biden obscured would have seemed typical, even deprecatory. In the current atmosphere, however, its as reflective of Bidens humility as it is indicative of the respect, weight, and responsibility Biden has given his vice president.

After Biden addressed Congress in a joint session on April 28, Gettys Chip Somodevilla featured an image on his Instagram page, taken on the House floor after his speech. Biden and Troy Nehls, a conservative representative from Texas, are seen pointing fingers at each other. It seems antagonistic.

But the photo actually demonstrates that Bidens efforts at bipartisanshipor else, his leveraging of the concept to splinter the GOP oppositionis showing some return. According to the Washington Post, Nehls, a former sheriff who voted against the certification of the presidential election results, was communicating his desire to help Biden on criminal justice reform.

The following morning, Biden and the First Lady crossed the White House lawn to Marine One. The couple was departing for a one-day trip to Georgia to promote Bidens legislative agenda. Suddenly, in the middle of the lawn, Biden stopped and picked Jill Biden a dandelion. The moment captured the fascination of the photo pool, and the gesture lit up social media.

The history of White House news photography is filled with incidental scenes that plumb deeper qualities. In this case, it seems like Bidens gesture drew wide attention for the way it captured any number of characteristicscompassion, thoughtfulnessthat in Washington, at least, had been in short supply.

There is no way of telling how Bidens term and the visual narrative will progress from here. At least for the moment, however, Bidens character, and how it informs his political nature, seems to be taking center stage.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Michael Shaw is publisher of the nonprofit visual-literacy and media-literacy site ReadingThePictures, an analyst of news photos and visual journalism, and a frequent lecturer and writer on news imagery, photojournalism, and documentary photography. Follow ReadingThePictures via Twitter and Instagram.
On Friday, the New York Times revealed that when the Biden Justice Department disclosed ongoing attempts to seize email records from four Times reporters to executives at the paper in March, they also imposed a gag order, preventing those executives from sharing the information, even with their colleagues at the Times. On Friday, a federal court lifted the order; on Saturday, the Biden White House denied having any knowledge of the matter until Friday night. Then, the Justice Department announced on Saturday that it will discontinue the practice of seizing reporters records during leak investigations. The procedural reversal follows recent reports that the Justice Department had obtained records from reporters at CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times during the Trump administration, leading to an outcry from media advocates. Though Saturdays news is welcome, the Biden administrations full-fledged commitment to government transparency is far from certain.

The Justice Departments practice of obtaining reporters phone or email records in service of investigations has a long, sordid history in American politics. Richard Nixonfamously adversarial toward the presswiretapped reporters phones. In 2005, the Bush administration put together a task force to track down sources for James Risen and Eric Lichtblaus explosive Times article about warrantless NSA surveillance of American citizens. In 2013, the Justice Department under then-President Obama revealed that it had secretly obtained phone records from the Associated Press covering two months of more than twenty separate phone lines listing outgoing calls for both individual reporters and AP bureaus. Just a few days after the news broke about the AP incident, The Washington Post reported that the Obama Justice Department had tracked Fox News correspondent James Rosens movements within the State Department and obtained a search warrant for his personal emails during an investigation into a possible leak of classified information in 2009.

Still, the Trump administration saw a marked increase in leak investigations; in 2017, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions boasted that his Justice Department was conducting twenty-seven investigations into classified leaks, referring to the frequency of leaked information as an epidemic. The Intercept reported in March of this year that the Trump administration referred a record number of classified leaks for criminal investigation. The number of referrals surpassed three hundred. (For his part, James Risen wrote in the early days of the Trump presidency, If Donald Trump Targets Journalists, Thank Obama, noting that the Obama administration prosecuted nine cases involving leaks or whistle-blowers and used the Espionage Act to go after leakers.) In 2018, the prosecution of a Trump aide who leaked information to the press revealed that the Justice Department had secretly seized years of email and phone records from Times reporter Ali Watkins. Last month, the DOJ told The Washington Post that it had obtained phone and email records from three of its reporters in 2017. Soon after, CNN learned that the Trump administration had obtained two months of email and phone records from their Pentagon reporter that same year; then the Times broke the news that the DOJ had seized phone records for four of their reporters.

ICYMI: Over and Forgotten: Why journalists must continue investigating the Trump era

The Biden administration seems more amenable to the rights of a free press, at least in terms of its public message. Responding to recent weeks reporting on the Trump administrations actions, President Biden called the seizure of journalists records simply wrong, in a May briefing vowing that his Justice Department would cease the practice; Saturdays announcement would seem to uphold this promise. Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Saturday that the issuing of subpoenas for the records of reporters in leak investigations is not consistent with the Presidents policy direction to the Department. The Justice Departments statement also seemed to suggest that it would not compel reporters to reveal the identity of whistleblowing sources in court. (Times reporting suggested that some veteran national security officials are uncomfortable with the new mandate). Attorney General Merrick Garland has a somewhat encouraging record on press freedom rulings; in 2005, while serving on the US Court of Appeals, he dissented in a case holding Times reporters in contempt of court for refusing to identify their anonymous sources, saying that the decision undermined the Founders intention to protect the press so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Rendering legal judgments and making operational decisions, however, are two different things. And it cant be ignored that the current Justice Department carried on an unsuccessful attempt to obtain Times email logs from Google and also attempted to shield the effort from the public (Google, for its part, successfully resisted). As for the White House, Psaki cited the independence of the DOJ in presiding over criminal cases and maintained that the White House was unaware of any such order.

Fred Ryan, the publisher of The Washington Post, called the Justice Departments gag order an unprecedented assault on American news organizations, noting that the Post still has not received further communication after recently requesting an explanation about the seizure of records from three of their reporters in 2017. The inconsistency between presidential words and Justice Department deeds dictates the need for full accountability and transparency, Ryan wrote.

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The Biden administrations reversal of the seizure policy signals a philosophical shift, prioritizing press freedom over government secrecy; a true reversal, however, will require them to keep their word.

Below, more on press, presidents, and precedent:

Other notable stories:

ICYMI: The Tokyo Olympics, Naomi Osaka, and the death of sports access

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Lauren Harris is a freelance journalist. She writes CJR's weekly newsletter for the Journalism Crisis Project. Follow her on Twitter @LHarrisWrites.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Foreign keyboard criminals with scant fear of repercussions have paralyzed U.S. schools and hospitals, leaked highly sensitive police files, triggered fuel shortages and, most recently, threatened global food supply chains.

The escalating havoc caused by ransomware gangs raises an obvious question: Why has the United States, believed to have the worlds greatest cyber capabilities, looked so powerless to protect its citizens from these kind of criminals operating with near impunity out of Russia and allied countries?

The answer is that there are numerous technological, legal and diplomatic hurdles to going after ransomware gangs. Until recently, it just hasnt been a high priority for the U.S. government.

That has changed as the problem has grown well beyond an economic nuisance. President Joe Biden intends to confront Russias leader, Vladimir Putin, about Moscows harboring of ransomware criminals when the two men meet in Europe later this month. The Biden administration has also promised to boost defenses against attacks, improve efforts to prosecute those responsible and build diplomatic alliances to pressure countries that harbor ransomware gangs.

Calls are growing for the administration to direct U.S. intelligence agencies and the military to attack ransomware gangs technical infrastructure used for hacking, posting sensitive victim data on the dark web and storing digital currency payouts.

Fighting ransomware requires the nonlethal equivalent of the global war on terrorism launched after the Sept. 11 attacks, said John Riggi, a former FBI agent and senior adviser for cybersecurity and risk for the America Hospital Association. Its members have been hard hit by ransomware gangs during the coronavirus pandemic.

It should include a combination of diplomatic, financial, law enforcement, intelligence operations, of course, and military operations, Riggi said.

A public-private task force including Microsoft and Amazon made similar suggestions in an 81-page report that called for intelligence agencies and the Pentagons U.S. Cyber Command to work with other agencies to prioritize ransomware disruption operations.

Take their infrastructure away, go after their wallets, their ability to cash out, said Philip Reiner, a lead author of the report. He worked at the National Security Council during the Obama presidency and is now CEO at The Institute for Security and Technology.

But the difficulties of taking down ransomware gangs and other cybercriminals have long been clear. The FBIs list of most-wanted cyber fugitives has grown at a rapid clip and now has more than 100 entries, many of whom are not exactly hiding. Evgeniy Bogachev, indicted nearly a decade ago for what prosecutors say was a wave of cyber bank thefts, lives in a Russian resort town and is known to enjoy boating on the Black Sea, according to the FBIs wanted listing.

Ransomware gangs can move around, do not need much infrastructure to operate and can shield their identities. They also operate in a decentralized network. For instance, DarkSide, the group responsible for the Colonial Pipeline attack that led to fuel shortages in the South, rents out its ransomware software to partners to carry out attacks.

Katie Nickels, director of intelligence at the cybersecurity firm Red Canary, said identifying and disrupting ransomware criminals takes time and serious effort.

A lot of people misunderstand that the government cant just willy-nilly go out and press a button and say, well, nuke that computer, she said. Trying to attribute to a person in cyberspace is not an easy task, even for intelligence communities.

Reiner said those limits do not mean the United States cannot still make progress against defeating ransomware, comparing it with Americas ability to degrade the terrorist group al-Qaida while not capturing its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who took over after U.S. troops killed Osama bin Laden.

We can fairly easily make the argument that al-Qaida no longer poses a threat to the homeland, Reiner said. So short of getting al-Zawahiri, you destroy his ability to actually operate. Thats what you can do to these (ransomware) guys.

The White House has been vague about whether it plans to use offensive cyber measures against ransomware gangs. Press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that were not going to take options off the table, but she did not elaborate. Her comments followed a ransomware attack by a Russian gang that caused outages at Brazils JBS SA, the second-largest producer of beef, pork and chicken in the United States.

Gen. Paul Nakasone, who leads U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, said at a recent symposium that he believes the U.S. will be bringing the weight of our nation, including the Defense Department, to take down this (ransomware) infrastructure outside the United States.

Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who is a legislative leader on cybersecurity issues, said the debate in Congress over how aggressive the U.S. needs to be against ransomware gangs, as well as state adversaries, will be front and center of the next month or two.

To be honest, its complicated because youre talking about using government agencies, government capabilities to go after private citizens in another country, he said.

The U.S. is widely believed to have the best offensive cyber capabilities in the world, though details about such highly classified activities are scant. Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden show the U.S. conducted 231 offensive cyber operations in 2011. More than a decade ago a virus called Stuxnet attacked control units for centrifuges in an underground site in Iran, causing the sensitive devices to spin out of control and destroy themselves. The cyberattack was attributed to America and Israel.

U.S. policy called persistent engagement already authorizes cyberwarriors to engage hostile hackers in cyberspace and disrupt their operations with code. U.S. Cyber Command has launched offensive operations related to election security, including against Russian misinformation officials during U.S. midterm elections in 2018.

After the Colonial Pipeline attack, Biden promised that his administration was committed to bringing foreign cybercriminals to justice. Yet even as he was speaking from the White House, a different Russian-linked ransomware gang was leaking thousands of highly sensitive internal files _ including deeply personal background checks _ belonging to the police department in the nations capital. Experts believe its the worst ransomware attack against a U.S.-based law enforcement agency.

We are not afraid of anyone, the hackers wrote in a follow-up post.

About the photo: This poster provided by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Maxsim Yukabets. Yakubets, 33, is best known as co-leader of a cybergang that calls itself Evil Corp. Foreign keyboard criminals with no fear of repercussions have paralyzed U.S. schools and hospitals, leaked highly sensitive police files, triggered US fuel shortages and, most recently, a now could be responsible for a disruption in global food supply chains. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP)

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
ICAN Obtains and Releases Nearly 3,000 Fauci Emails from The Beginning of the Pandemic; Twitter Account Suspended NEWS PROVIDED BY

Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN)

June 7, 2021 AUSTIN, Texas, June 7, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- In early 2020, ICAN made FOIA requests to NIH for documents regarding COVID-19, including two requests for emails sent by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. When NIH failed to respond to those requests, ICAN brought a lawsuit against the agency on June 29, 2020. In response to that lawsuit, NIH agreed to produce Dr. Fauci's emails on a rolling basis. To date, ICAN has received 2,957 pages of Dr. Fauci's emails, sent from early February 2020 through May 2020. There is some overlap between these emails and those recently made public by BuzzFeed. Del Bigtree, ICAN's founder, said, "We must hold our government health officials accountable when they make false claims" and "we're pleased to provide the public with Fauci's emails reflecting what he was saying privately in early 2020 regarding masks, therapeutics, vaccines, ventilators, and many other COVID-19 topics." Twitter suspended ICAN's account after it tweeted the Fauci emails it obtained would shortly be released to the public. Mr. Bigtree explained that "one can only assume that Twitter is concerned that Fauci's own emails undermine the narrative it has been pushing regarding coronavirus and the coronavirus vaccine." A copy of Fauci's emails obtained by ICAN can be downloaded here. Highlights from these emails are outlined below and watch "The Highwire with DelBigtree" weekly at 2 pm Eastern for additional coverage regarding these emails and other health topics. February 5-6, 2020 (000239) -- Fauci asked to recommend names for WHO group with the broad mission to "look at the origins and evolution of 2019n-CoV." Fauci responds by seeking to reframe the mission in a manner that would only look for natural and not lab made origin. He does this by restating the mission one to "examine the evolutionary origin of the 2019-nCoV" and later that day as the "coronavirus evolution working group."



February 7, 2020 (000189) -- Fauci sent an internal NIAID communication reflecting that it was unlikely that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated in a wet market.



February 16, 2020 (000447) -- Fauci tells CBS reporter that if the mortality turns out to be 0.2% to 0.4%, then SARS-CoV-2 should be treated like a severe seasonal flu. But when the case fatality rate was later revised to between 0.2% and 0.4% by CDC, Fauci continued to act as if the virus was something far more dangerous.



February 17, 2020 (000422) -- Fauci receives communication from a Chinese citizen that is part of an international student program in the United States stating that, based on his contacts back in Wuhan, including correspondence from a nurse working in a Wuhan hospital, there is far more spread of the virus and far more deaths than China is admitting.



February 21, 2020 (000300) -- Fauci asks a Deputy Director at NIAID to "Please handle" an email received by a group of doctors and scientists, including a virologist, that opined that "we think there is a possibility that the virus was released from a lab in wuhan (sic)."



February 23, 2020 (000257) -- Fauci states "Transmission is definitely by respiratory droplet" and that "Children have very low rate of infection."



February 22, 2020 (000274-277) -- Fauci confirms "The vast majority of people outside of China do not need to wear a mask. A mask is more appropriate for someone who is infected than for people trying to protect against infection."



February 28, 2020 (001059) -- Fauci giving personal update to Mark Zuckerberg regarding developing a COVID-19 vaccine including telling Zuckerberg that "We may need help with resources" and that if there is a delay in the development timeline he just told Zuckerberg about, "I will contact you."



March 1, 2020 (000937) -- Despite media reports, Fauci makes it crystal clear he was not being muzzled by the White House.



April 2, 2020 (001778) -- Fauci and Bill Gates have phone call where they agreed to a "collaborative" and "synergistic approach to COVID-19 on the part of NIAID/NIH, BARDS and the BMGF (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)." It is concerning that one private person, Bill Gates, and his organization, BMGF, can exert that much behind-the-scenes influence on decisions that will impact the civil rights of all Americans during the pandemic.



April 8, 2020 (002351-2352) -- Fauci rejects most requests for calls, but accepts without any questions a request to arrange a call with the CEO of a Lilly, a major pharmaceutical company.



April 11, 2020 (002263-2264) -- Fauci confirmed the continued filming of "a film that will celebrate the importance of your [Fauci's] life, science and public health" including filming during his "drive to NIH  once or twice a week," "capture your working/appropriate conversations," and "work on the Task Force."



April 12, 2020 (002229) -- Fauci writes "Many tests that have been used thus far are not accurate and ARE MISLEADING."



April 16, 2020 (002142) -- Fauci advises that even in the health care setting the mask policy should remain "voluntary."



April 27, 2020 (002910) -- Fauci appears to dismiss potential live saving treatment. Fauci receives a report from the Chief, Section of Viral Pathogenesis at NIAID, Dr. Paolo Lussa, that "they treated a first group of five patients with potent anti-aggregant therapy (Tirofiban/Aggrastat) and apparently in all of them the p02 started to rise within less than 2 hours, they got off the ventilator and went on to full recovery." In response to this incredible news, Fauci merely writes "Thanks, Paolo." Apart from pushing Remdesivir, made by Gilead, a company with which Fauci has deep and long-standing connections, Fauci's response to Dr. Lussa accords with his otherwise singular focus on developing and pushing a vaccine.



May 1, 2020 (002838) -- While pushing one narrative regarding ventilators publicly, Fauci writes in a private email that "You are correct in that there is a more recent tendency to use ventilators only as a very last resort since oxygenation rather than ventilation appears to be key to recovery."

SOURCE Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) CONTACT: Catharine Layton, 512-677-6726 Related Links https://www.icandecide.org/ican_press/ican-obtains-nearly-3000-fauci-emails-from-the-beginning-of-the-pandemic-and-twitter-blocks-icans-account-to-prevent-their-release/ https://www.icandecide.org

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A South Carolina Supreme Court opinion published Thursday nullifies auto insurance policy provisions that step down the maximum payout in instances where the insured was committing a felony or attempting to flee a law enforcement officer.

The 3-2 decision provides an additional $250,000 in insurance coverage to the victims of a 2008 crash that killed one person and seriously injured the driver and two passengers. The majority overturned a Court of Appeals ruling that found Nationwide was liable only for the $50,000 statutory minimum instead of the $300,000 policy limit.

The two dissenters said the majority was overreaching. In so ruling, the Court is legislating. Make no mistake about it, the dissenting opinion written by Justice John W. Kittredge said.

Sharmin Christine Walls was a passenger in her car, a Chevrolet Lumina, while she and several friends drove around Anderson, South Carolina on July 11, 2008. Korey Mayfield was driving.

When a South Carolina state trooper spotted Mayfield speeding and crossing the yellow center line, he flashed his emergency lights and siren. Instead of stopping, Mayfield speeded up. The trooper followed in a chase where speeds exceeded 100 mph.

The trooper abandoned pursuit for public safety reasons, but Mayfield didnt stop speeding. The passengers in the car begged him to stop, but Mayfield refused. He lost control of the vehicle and crashed, killing passenger Christopher A. Timms and injuring Walls, Deborah Timms and Randi Harper.

Mayfield was paralyzed by the crash. He pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in 2010. Judge Cordell Maddox sentenced him to two years of unmonitored home incarceration and five years probation, according to a report by the Independent Mail newspaper.

Walls policy with Nationwide had a $300,000 per occurrence and $100,000 per person coverage limit. But after the accident, the insurer sought declaratory judgment that it could reduce the total benefit to $50,000 because of a provision in the policy that reduced the maximum benefit to the statutory minimum if the accident occurred while the insured was committing a felony or fleeing law enforcement. Both parties agreed that Mayfield was insured because he was a permissive user of Walls car.

The Circuit Court Judge refused, but Nationwide appealed. The Court of Appeals ruled that the policy language reduced the amount of coverage owed and ruled in favor of the insurer.

United Policyholders and the South Carolina Association for Justice filed amicus briefs when the case was appealed to the state Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court majority said its ruling was required by Section 38-77-140 of South Carolina statutes. That law states that any policy provision which purports or seeks to limit or reduce the coverage afforded by the provisions required by this section is void.

The state Supreme Court had cited that law to restrict the use of step-down provisions once before. In Williams v. Government Employees Ins. Co. (2014) the high court ruled that reduced benefits to the statutory minimum when a family member of the at-fault insured was the claimant.

The Supreme Court majority said the same reasoning requires it to void the step-down provision in Nationwides policy.

The dissenters said the court majority was using judicial sleight of hand to create policy under the guide of interpreting a statute.

The dissenting opinion says every other jurisdiction in the United States that follows a similar statutory scheme permits criminal conduct exclusions that reduce liability coverage to the statutory minimum where the injury is caused by an insured.
DURANGO, Colo. (AP)  As the Missionary Ridge Fire raged in 2002, the Valley Fire, a second fire, broke out and destroyed six homes within hours near the Falls Creek Ranch subdivision north of Durango.

When residents returned after the Valley Fire, they saw red and green ribbons hanging on trees next to driveways and houses.

Red, they learned, meant firefighters were not able to defend their homes during the fire. The brush and trees were too overgrown for firefighters to access safely, said Paulette Church, a resident of 22 years, recalling a community discussion with fire officials after the fire.

When we came home from the meeting that day, you could hear chainsaws all over the ranch, Church said. People were trimming up their junipers and oak brush.  Everyone was looking at what they had around their house very differently.

Close calls with wildfire have spurred several La Plata County communities into action on wildfire risk mitigation. But getting a community to keep that momentum can be a puzzle  one that takes years, even decades, to solve.

About 3,500 structures burn each year in the United States by wildfire. Reducing risks, such as hazardous plant life near buildings, before a fire can help communities adapt to living with fire, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

But not everyone is ready or willing to invest the time, effort or money to mitigate. Three La Plata County community mitigation leaders say a mixture of know-how, a sense of community and neighborly persuasion can help.

Changing attitudes is the most difficult thing you can do, said Church, who has been nationally recognized for her role in the Falls Creek community mitigation effort.

More than 70,000 communities and 44 million homes nationally are at risk from wildfire in the wildland urban interface, or WUI, where vegetative fuels and the built environment meet.

That includes communities in La Plata County, like Durango. On wildfire risk maps, the city is surrounded by seas of reds and oranges indicating higher-than-average wildfire risk.

There are many ways to reduce that risk, such as creating community wildfire protection plans, defensible spaces around structures like homes and businesses, and carefully chosen construction materials and building codes, according to the Forest Service.

Many people move to subdivisions in the WUI, such as Falls Creek, Rafter J Association and Elk Stream Ranch, because they want to live within a wildland environment.

The residents value seeing wildlife inhabiting nearby trees or wandering through bushes, and they want to protect the natural forest landscape. Some resist cutting down plant life, even when its limited to hazardous fuels, according to mitigation leaders in some communities.

Several communities have bylaws prohibiting tree removal to preserve the forest and worry that assessing risks might deter people from moving to the area or negatively impact insurance rates.

Removing hazardous plant life can be too time-intensive or costly for some residents. Others are interested but do not know where to start.

I think a lot of people are concerned that if they take too many trees out, its not going to have that forest feel or its not going to be healthy for the forest, said Charlie Landsman, La Plata County coordinator for the Wildfire Adapted Partnership, a nonprofit that connects communities to mitigation resources.

Really, when it comes down to it, fire mitigation is directly beneficial for the forest, Landsman said. The forests are over-densely populated because of our historical fire suppression.

Wake-Up Call

In La Plata County, 85 community volunteers with the Wildfire Adapted Partnership, called firewise ambassadors, in 61 communities are trying to get their neighbors involved in pruning back hazardous plant life.

For three of those communities interviewed by The Durango Herald, it was a brush with wildfire that ultimately motivated residents to take action.

The Rafter J Association, about 7 miles southwest of Durango, is a subdivision within the Rafter J Ranch. Its 170 homes are built on ridgetops with views of gullies and ravines, said Lou Fontana, a firewise ambassador and resident of 21 years.

In 2017, the Lightner Creek Fire burned 412 acres within sight of Fontanas home.

You could see what was going on down there for most of the people on Ridge Road, Fontana said. At one point, they did a pre-evacuation order for Rafter J.

Before the fire, fewer than 10 people in the Rafter J subdivision were regularly mitigating their land.

The most weve had participate is 90  which is good, but its still not 100% participation, Fontana said.

Elk Stream Ranch, made up of 35 lots and 15 homes, sits in East Canyon along the border between Montezuma and La Plata counties. The residents created a community wildfire protection plan in 2008.

I remember hearing about the local fire department saying they might not come into our canyon if they cannot safely do so, said Gertine Gem Ganje-Boone, a firewise ambassador for Elk Stream since 2012. Well, thats a pretty good wake-up call. Then of course, there is nothing more convincing than an actual fire.

In 2012, the Weber Fire swept through the area, burning 10,000 acres. Then came the 2,905-acre East Canyon Fire in 2020.

I would say everyone that has a home participates in some form of fire mitigation, Ganje-Boone said. Its much harder to convince vacant landowners to participate in fire mitigation, but we have had success with about half of the lots.

In Durango, it was only after the 416 Fire burned 52,778 acres in 2018 that city and La Plata County leaders began several concerted efforts to leverage community, state and federal partnerships to address the areas wildfire risk.

Theres an incredible amount of work being done on pretty much every level, from homeowners to the city, county, state and federal level, Landsman said. One of the main limiting factors is theres always going to be more to do. And theres only so much capacity, people, time and energy to do the work on the ground.

Falls Creek residents have volunteered thousands of hours since 2002 to mitigate fire risk on their land and roads. In 2018, that work helped firefighters redirect the 416 Fire. After nearly two decades, about 80% of the 96 households in Falls Creek remove plant life from communal property each year and about 90% of the landowners mitigate their own properties.

Its a high percentage, but there are still hold outs who dont want to mitigate, Church said.

Theres only a couple, Church said. And theyve done more than we ever did before.

Finding Solutions

The neighborhood mitigation leaders found success through a mix of community-building events, continuous outreach, financial assistance and results.

At community meetings, Rafter J brought in fire experts from the Durango Fire Protection District, the Close calls, or worse, spark push for wildfire mitigation, the Forest Service and Wildfire Adapted Partnership. Their first step: drafting a community preparedness assessment, Fontana said.

They focused on road improvements, then clearing the ignition zone around homes. They used grants to pay for mitigation projects, such as cutting and chipping scrub oak, which went over budget because of higher-than-expected participation, Fontana said.

I would like to see it codified that you couldnt sell property in any community in Southwest Colorado without proper mitigation being included, he said. You require a septic system, you require mitigation. Do it.

In Elk Stream Ranch, ambassadors speak at annual meetings and hand out literature, continually bringing information back to the community. The association used a cost-share program to create fuel breaks along roads and is seeking grant funding to continue the project, said Ganje-Boone.

When it comes to creating a community consensus, Ganje-Boone said she focuses on the idea of when, not if, a wildfire will come.

Being better prepared is key to saving lives and property, she said. Having conversations with your neighbors and volunteering to help has worked for our community.

Falls Creek ambassadors, like Church, also continually send out educational information about reducing wildfire risk. The neighborhood brought in experts to help identify mitigation projects. Residents have used grants and other funding sources to complete thousands of hours of mitigation projects.

Landsman has worked with dozens of communities on fire mitigation projects with the Wildfire Adapted Partnership. Addressing concerns, he said, comes down to having open and honest conversations with people.

Learning what their concerns are, instead of going in there and saying, `You need to do this, and here are the reasons you need to do it, he said.

Churchs secret to success: the potluck.

After you work together on a project like that, everyone is really tired, hot and dirty, she said. You come together and you celebrate  and you see the results immediately. It builds an enthusiasm and a shared vision for what a healthy forest looks like.

Seeing the results of mitigation projects  that did not include clear-cutting the forest, as some neighbors feared  helped convince more people to participate over time.

People thought  our forest would never burn. There was no risk. When they saw the Valley Fire and Missionary Ridge burn, there was risk, Church said. Seeing people they respected do the work, they realized `Yeah, I dont want to be the neighbor to burn my neighbors house down. I want to do my share.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Beachwood, OH (44122)

Today

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 80F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low around 60F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
I dont know about you, but commitment can be hard in the world we live in today.

All you have to do is look at statistics such as the increasing divorce rates and decreasing career lengths and you start to see that our culture today struggles with commitment. When things arent as you want them to be, the world tells us its ok to give up and search for a better option.

Yet, what scares me most is Ive found this consumerist mindset has pervaded my mindset towards God. Like a product, Ive tried to customize the Bible, pick and choose the areas I wanted to believe in and disregarded the rest instead of committing to Him wholeheartedly.

But the Bible is clear that to have a full and complete relationship with Jesus, we have to pursue Him wholeheartedly and with all we have. Luke chapter 18, verse 18-23 (NIV) is a good illustration of this:

A certain ruler asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Why do you call me good? Jesus answered. No one is good  except God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honour your father and mother.

All these I have kept since I was a boy, he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.

More than just about money

It very easy to simply view this parable on its face value  that is, it concerns only money. However, to dismiss it as merely regarding greed removes its richness. The Greek used for wealthy simply means an abundance of something.

Whilst some may have an abundance of money, others may have an abundance of time; an abundance of opportunities; an abundance of comfort or even an abundance of control over their lives. Yet, Jesus calls us to submit all this to Him if we are to follow Him.

But, if were honest with ourselves, do we really pursue Him at the expense of all else? Or are there aspects of our lives we still hang onto control of?

We all have goals, ambitions, things that we want to achieve in our lives  I know I do. Whether wanting to have a certain job or wanting to live in a specific country, we all have an idea of how we want our lives to look like.

Surrendering all to God can be scary because it means sacrificing our carefully constructed plans that we have made to achieve happiness and fulfilment.

It means we run the risk of God asking us to do things that dont fit with our life plan. The truth is that sometimes we doubt whether God really knows and wants what is best for us. We believe that the life we have planned for ourselves is better than the one God has envisioned for us.

But when we hold onto certain areas of our lives, we prevent God from performing the radical change and transformation that He has envisioned. Like excess cargo, holding onto things only ends up slowing us down and preventing us from reaching top speed in the life God has planned for us.

Sure, life at high speed can be frightening and feel like were out of control, but it can also give us a thrill like nothing on this earth ever could. A life with God is the only life that makes us truly alive because it is the very life we were created for before sin got in the way.

If we want to experience this life, and life at its full (John cahpter 10, verse 10) as Jesus has promised, we have got to lay our life in His hands.

But, if you think about it, what are we truly sacrificing? As Strahan Coleman says, True sacrifice in that sense doesnt exist in the kingdom because how can it be a sacrifice when we gain something of greater worth than were leaving behind?1.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust Him and He will do this:

He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,

your vindication like the noonday sun (Psalm chapter 37, verse 5-6).

Life, and life at its full

And so, if we want this life, and life at its full (John chapter 10, verse 10) that Jesus came to offer, we need to ask ourselves these difficult and scary questions:

What excess cargo might we be carrying on board? What areas of our life, regardless of how small, are we holding onto and not giving God full control of? Are we allowing the non-committal culture of our world today to pervade our relationship with God?

God requires our full commitment, not because he wants to restrict us or diminish our happiness, but rather because it is only when we pursue God with all we have can we discover the fullness of the life that Jesus came to offer.

In the words of John Piper, Being satisfied with all that God is for you in Jesus magnifies him as the greatest treasure and brings you more joy  eternal, infinite joy  than any other delight ever could.

So, what are waiting for?
Beachwood, OH (44122)

Today

Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low near 60F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Beachwood, OH (44122)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Low near 60F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7)  D&L Industries, a plastic and food input producer listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange, expects to post stronger figures this 2021, with optimism buoyed by the country's vaccine rollout development.

"[We're] looking a little more optimistic... [Our performance will be] ahead of 2020, even ahead of 2019," D&L president and chief executive officer Alvin Lao said in the group's annual stockholders meeting on Monday.

In the first period, D&L saw its net income rise to 695 million from 515 million in the same period last year. The company's sales also increased by 23% to 7 billion from last year's 5.67 billion.

RELATED: D&L net income jumps 35% in January-March period

Lao said the strong trend is expected to continue for the majority of its products, catering to basic essential industries such as food, oleochemicals, plastics and cleaning chemicals as Filipinos have started embracing the new normal arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

In a media briefing, the D&L official said the company may also have a lift from the 2022 elections, having witnessed a similar "boost from the 2016 elections."

D&L shareholders also approved on Monday the plan to raise up to 5 billion from its maiden bond offering consisting of a principal amount of up to 3 billion and an oversubscription option of up to 2 billion. Proceeds from this issuance will help finance its expansion plants in Batangas.

The listed firm also declared cash dividends amounting to 1.36 billion.

D&L's shares went up 1.39% to finish at 8.05 each on Monday.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7)  Essential workers who make up priority group A4 would only need to present their job identification card to get an anti-coronavirus shot, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Monday.

"Kasi ngayon, ang definition ng A4 ay [Because right now, the definition of A4 is] broad enough to include anyone who works outside of his home, and a work ID would be sufficient," Roque said in a media briefing.

READ: IATF trims A4 priority group, orders dedicated vaccination lanes for A1-A3

For informal workers, Roque said they can present any ID that proves their nature of work. For instance, market vendors who are part of an association can show their membership card, while drivers can present their professional driver's license.

Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano, who was present at the briefing, added that in her area in particular, local authorities could also look for a certificate of employment.

"Meron po kaming registered barangay inhabitants, nandoon na rin po ang klase ng skills ng aming mamamayan at kung ano po 'yung trabaho nila," she said. "Pwede rin po namin sila hingan ng certificate na sila ay driver...na sila ay nagtitinda sa palengke, sila ay kasambahay."

[Translation: We have a record of registered barangay inhabitants, and included there are the kinds of skills of our residents, as well as the nature of their work. We may also ask them to provide a certificate proving they're drivers, market vendors, or house helpers.]

If such documents are unavailable, however, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. said eligible workers could still be inoculated, as barangay captains would know which residents in their respective localities are part of the informal economy.

"Alam nila kung sino 'yung mga drivers, sino 'yung mga market vendors and also 'yung daily wage earners," he said. "Kaya nga ang ginagawa ng ating mga LGU, ino-organize 'yung master list. Kasama sa master listing nila 'yung mga informal workers."

[Translation: The barangay captains know who the drivers, the market vendors, the daily wage earners are. Our LGUs are also organizing a master list, which includes informal workers.]

The vaccination of the A4 group, which the Health Department estimates to account for 22 million of the country's population, officially began on Monday. The group covers employees in private companies who are working outside their homes, government employees, informal sector workers, the self-employed who work outside their homes, and those employed in private households.

Due to limited supplies, the rollout for the particular group is being implemented first in Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7)  Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque doesnt believe 1Sambayans assertion that Filipinos will reject a Duterte-Duterte tandem in 2022, saying non-supporters only make up a fraction of the entire population.

Nakapagtataka naman no, bakit kaya ang akalain ay sila ang tagapagsalita ng taumbayan eh kung titignan mo ang mga surveys, wala pa pong 5% ang hindi sumusuporta sa ating Presidente, Roque said in a media briefing on Monday.

Bagamat sinasabi nating kayo ang boses ng taumbayan, baka boses lang kayo ng isang barangay, he added.

[Translation: Its puzzling why they would think theyre the peoples spokesperson when surveys show non-supporters of the President dont make up even 5% of the respondents. While youre saying youre the voice of the people, you may be just the voice of one barangay.]

One of 1Sambayans convenors, Atty. Howard Calleja, earlier said the possible tandem of President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Davao City mayor Sara, which he calls the "Davao formula," will likely not work in the upcoming national elections.

Duterte has been urged by his political party to run for vice president while Sara is being eyed as a presidential bet.

Calleja said the opposition coalition believes the political pairing would not gain enough support from Filipinos, who would see it as selfish and nothing but a way to perpetuate power to one family.

Meanwhile, responding to statements that Duterte joining the vice-presidential race would violate the Constitution or just a move to circumvent it, Roque maintained there is no provision that explicitly prohibits such a move.

To date, the President and the Davao City mayor have not publicly commented on whether they have considered running for the top two posts in the government next year.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7)  An official from the World Health Organization urged the Philippine government on Monday to prioritize vaccinating economic frontliners who are 45 years old and above to further cut the COVID-19 death toll.

In a virtual briefing, Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, who is WHO Representative to the Philippines, said the country must "maximize" the available coronavirus shots to protect those who are at most risk.

"If we look at the data in the Philippines, we know... deaths have happened in people over 45 years of age," the official said.

"So it is very important that we use the vaccines to reduce the deaths by prioritizing this group," he added.

The Philippine government on Monday started the inoculation of the A4 priority group or those who are forced to work outside their residences.

RELATED: IATF trims A4 priority group, orders dedicated vaccination lanes for A1-A3

While the government earlier released a list of essential workers who can receive coronavirus vaccines, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque told a media briefing that an individual can just present his office ID to be eligible for the shot.

"We welcome any attempt to increase coverage, and we recognize the importance of vaccinating frontline workers as a key measure to get economic revival," said Abeyasinghe.

Under the memorandum of the Department of Health, the distribution and administration of the vaccine for individuals under the A4 priority group are divided into two phases as the government would still prioritize the places inside the so-called NCR+8 or Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Pampanga, Batangas, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao.

Areas outside the NCR+8 will continue the deployment of vaccines among A1 to A3 priority groups, the DOH said.
(CNN) -- It was a beautiful March afternoon, and as June Tatelman walked her dog in her Boston neighborhood, she was flying high.

Tatelman had recently received her second dose of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine, and the end of the pandemic was finally in sight. Maybe soon she could play with her grandchildren and return to her volunteer work helping children in foster care. Maybe in a few months, when her husband turned 75, they could go out to a restaurant to celebrate.

As she walked, she ran into her family physician -- who killed her buzz very quickly.

To treat inflamed blood vessels in her lungs, Tatelman, 73, takes a drug that suppresses her immune system. Her doctor had been reading recent medical studies suggesting the vaccine might not work well for some people taking medications like hers.

He asked her to get a blood test to see if the vaccine had worked -- if she had antibodies against the virus.

She did the test and had no detectable antibodies against Covid-19.

"It was a total shock," she said.

Tatelman was now full of questions for her doctor. Did her low antibody levels mean the vaccine didn't work? Should she get a third dose of the vaccine? Should she cut back on the drugs that suppress her immune system to give the vaccine a better chance of working? Was there anything else she could try to make a Covid-19 vaccine work for her?

There's very little data to help Tatelman and her physician answer these questions. Millions of other Americans are also taking immunosuppressive drugs that might weaken the effect of the Covid-19 vaccine, and they find themselves in uncharted territory, scared -- with good reason -- that their vaccinations might not have worked.

If their vaccinations did not work, they rely on the rest of the population to get vaccinated.

This should inspire people who have not been vaccinated to roll up their sleeves, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins told CNN Thursday.

"Even if you think you don't need to, think about this as a donation of your own goodwill to those who are more vulnerable," Collins said. "That's the best hope they have."

Vaccines never tested in people with immune deficiencies

While there's no clear number of how many Americans are taking medications that might prove to be a challenge for the Covid-19 vaccine, a new study can help give an estimate. In a paper published last month, Dr. Beth Wallace, a rheumatologist and her team at the University of Michigan, looked at a database of more than 3 million Americans to see how many took immunosuppressants.

Based on that data, Wallace estimates that about 6 million Americans are taking immunosuppressants that could interfere with the vaccine.

She said that's conservative, since her database did not include people who are on Medicare and might be more likely to take such drugs. Her estimate also didn't include people taking oral corticosteroids, which might, at large doses and over long periods of time, be a problem for the vaccine.

When pharmaceutical companies tested the Covid-19 vaccines in clinical trials last year, they specifically excluded people who were taking immunosuppressive drugs.

That left those patients "stuck in a pickle," not knowing if the vaccines would work for them, said Dr. Kathryn Stephenson, an infectious disease specialist and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

After the vaccine rolled out to the public, researchers started to check how well it worked -- or didn't work -- on immunocompromised people.

Some of the news has been good.

One small study at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City showed that patients taking certain medications to treat ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease had "robust" antibody responses to the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. The study has been published on a preprint server.

A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine showed organ transplant patients did not fare nearly as well. In the study of more than 650 organ recipients -- who take drugs to suppress their immune system so they won't reject their new organs -- 46% had no antibody response after two doses of Pfizer or Moderna.

In another study, Washington University School of Medicine looked at patients with conditions such as lupus, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease and found that two types of drugs they were taking -- glucocorticoids and B cell depleting agents -- "substantially" impaired the ability of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to provoke an immune response.

"No one really anticipated the vaccine responses would look so bad," said Stephenson, director of the clinical trials unit at the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said of the studies as a group.

She said every day, immune compromised patients flood her office with calls and emails asking what they should do.

"It's become such a frequent question, such a point of anxiety for patients, that last week we had three different meetings and conferences and seminars all taking about this and trying to figure out strategies about what to tell them," Stephenson said.

For now, she and her colleagues tell patients it's not worth checking their antibodies after vaccination, because at this point it's difficult to know exactly what antibody level would confer protection against Covid-19.

The US Food and Drug Administration and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also advise against checking antibodies. Various medical societies, such as the American College of Rheumatology, the American Society of Transplantation, and the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, essentially say the antibody tests won't fully answer patients' questions about whether their vaccinations worked.

"For those patients who do not have antibodies or do not produce as robust an antibody response, we don't yet know if you will be protected," according to a statement by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. "There are other types of immunity which may provide protection. Immune cells known as T cells may play a role in the ability of our immune system to protect us against COVID-19."

The CDC goes on to advise against giving extra doses of the vaccine to people who are immunocompromised.

But some patients aren't listening.

Patients getting extra doses on their own

Dr. Robert Montgomery is one of them.

Montgomery is director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, where he himself received a heart transplant in 2018.

After a test showed he'd had "virtually no response" to two doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine, Montgomery said he felt "profound disappointment" and got a dose of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine.

He said getting a third dose is "uncharted territory," but he did it because he's exposed to patients with Covid-19, and he has seen how immunocompromised transplant patients like himself often get very sick when they contract the virus.

He says it worked: After receiving the third vaccine dose, his antibodies went up.

Things did not turn out so well for Tatelman, the grandmother in Boston.

Like Montgomery, she received a dose of J&J's vaccine to supplement her two Pfizer doses.

A few days ago, she learned that even with that third dose, she still has no detectable antibodies to Covid-19.

"My doctor sent me a note saying, 'I'm sure you're disappointed,' and I said ''disappointed' doesn't even come close to how I feel,' " Tatelman said. "It was incredibly depressing."

Looking to the future

The National Institutes of Health is setting out to determine what approaches might work best if the vaccine is failing people who are immune compromised.

"[We're] going to have to figure out what do we need to do if we want to adequately protect these people," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN.

This summer, researchers hope to start recruiting about 200 vaccinated kidney transplant patients to take part in a study, according to Dr. Daniel Rotrosen, director of the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation at NIAID.

If tests show the Covid-19 vaccine didn't work well, that study participant will be offered an extra dose of vaccine to see if it helps, Rotrosen added.

Some doctors are skeptical that it will. They place more hope in giving immunosuppressed patients regular doses of an antibody drug currently being used to treat Covid-19.

Regeneron, a biotechnology company that makes a Covid-19 monoclonal antibody drug, is considering research proposals to test out its medication prophylactically on immunosuppressed patients, according to a company spokeswoman.

"We strongly agree that this group of patients could benefit from REGEN-COV," Alexandra Bowie wrote in an email to CNN, referring to the company's drug.

While these studies start to get underway, Tatelman feels as if she'd never been vaccinated, and has to rely on other people whose vaccines did work.

She knows she shouldn't hug her younger grandchildren who are unvaccinated. She hasn't gone back to her volunteer work with foster children. Wednesday was her husband's 75th birthday, and they did not go out to a restaurant to celebrate.

"Even close friends of mine don't understand why I won't go to a restaurant with them. They say, 'of course you can go to a restaurant,' and I say 'absolutely, no I can't," she said. "Where am I safe? Where am I not safe? There are so many things that I just don't know."

Correction: This story has been updated with revised numbers from Dr. Beth Wallace.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Caught in a 'pickle,' millions of Americans might not have had an adequate response to the Covid-19 vaccine".
Through topics ranging from sexual dimorphism to natural selection, Penn State associate professor of anthropology David Puts applies his passion for the subject to his teaching.

After his graduate advisor at the University of Pittsburgh told him about a job at Penn State, Puts applied and arrived at Happy Valley in 2007.

Puts has taught the anthropology class titled Sex and Evolution since his second year at Penn State.

Gradually, Puts class increased in popularity, with student numbers growing from 30 to more than 150.

Its not that much more work to teach more students  if I have good [teaching assistants]  which I have had, Puts said. So Ive been happy to increase the enrollment to reach more people and bring more people into the conversation.

Anthropology is a subject Rabab Rahman now enjoys after taking Puts class, and she said she believes Puts passion for the subject enhanced her learning experience.

I thought that he was a very knowledgeable man who is very passionate and dedicated to what he is doing outside of the classroom, Rahman (junior-international politics) said via email. His passion and knowledge shined through in the classroom, which also made the class very enjoyable.

Amy Guadagno, one of Puts TAs last fall, said she learned many lessons from her work with the professor.

He would emphasize, Always ask questions to deepen your understanding, and it wasnt until I really had to do this as a TA that I started approaching all of my classes this way, Guadagno (junior-nanomedicine) said via email. So really, Dr. Puts not only taught me class content but also how to learn.

When crafting his curriculum, Puts said he keeps in mind the balance between giving students a thorough education without overloading them with information.

MORE CAMPUS COVERAGE

Things Penn Staters can do in State College and on Zoom this week During the first full week of June, there will be several in-person and online events to kee

Teaching isnt like an information download People will actually learn less if you try to teach them too much, Puts said. I want my students to understand things in a sophisticated and high level, so it's really just a matter of, What are the important points to get there?

Moreover, Puts said he strives to make his class interesting and accessible to each of his students.

You want it to be something thats attainable for everybody and is challenging for the average student, but they dont feel hopeless, Puts said. Some of that has to do with the quantity, and some of it has to do with the quality of the concepts.

Guadagno said Puts has an effective way of engaging students during class lectures as well.

His enthusiasm definitely encouraged me to be a better student and a better TA, Guadagno said. It was also amazing to see how well he connected with students.

Anela Brown, one of his students, said she enjoyed Puts method of teaching and said she was consistently surprised by the content of each lecture.

My dad is a high school teacher Hes very structured and has his lessons planned out [for students] each day. With Dr. Puts, we didnt know what he was going to be telling us, Brown (sophomore-business) said. It definitely made his class more exciting.

Brown said being in Puts class was definitely a wild ride.

Hes very authentic about himself, Brown said. I very much appreciated that.

Out of the many aspects of teaching at Penn State, Puts said he finds classroom engagement the most rewarding.

I love the interactions with the students especially. I miss [being] in person where I can see if they get it or if theyre [confused] from their blank stares, Puts said. I really do think that the interactions with the students are the number one most rewarding part of teaching at Penn State.

MORE CAMPUS COVERAGE
During the first full week of June, there will be several in-person and online events to keep Penn State students and community members busy.

Monday, June 7

Noon  Students interested in learning more about Penn State Great Valleys Master of Software Engineering program can attend its webinar, which will discuss curriculum, admissions information and scholarship opportunities.

Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies offers masters degrees and graduate certificates in a number of fields including business, engineering and healthcare.

5:30 p.m.  The Schlow Knitting Club will meet on June 7 and June 21. The club is open to knitters of all skill levels and will meet in Schlows virtual community room.

Those who wish to attend can register here.

Tuesday, June 8

5 p.m.  3 Dots Downtown will host its second Tuesdays on the Terrace event. The event series features live music, food and beverage providers, and different surprise experiences that 3 Dots innovation director and Penn State class of 2008 graduate Spud Marshall said will help animate the community.

This weeks event will feature Prachis Bohemian Art community macrame. Jewelry artist and owner of Prachis Bohemian Art Prachi Singh will sell jewelry and demonstrate how to make macrame earrings.

Axemann Brewery will provide drinks, and Brazilian Munchies will provide food. The event will also feature a performance by Doug Irwin and Bill Ritzman alongside an open mic.

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Penn State to replace WebAccess login July 7 Penn State account holders will no longer use WebAccess login to sign into applications like

Thursday, June 10

Noon  Penn State Great Valley will host a webinar for students interested in an overview of its Master of Leadership Development program.

Great Valley will also host a digital information session to discuss its three-course integrated digital marketing certificate at the same time.

Saturday, June 12

4 p.m.  The borough of State Colleges LGBTQ Advisory Committee and the Centre LGBTQA Support Network will host a Pride Ride car caravan to celebrate Pride month.

Community members who register their vehicles to follow a pre-planned route around the State College area are encouraged to adorn their vehicles with Pride-themed decorations in celebration of the LGBTQ community.

Following the ride, an after party will take place at the Sidney Friedman Parklet.

7 p.m.  Women in their 20s and 30s are welcome to attend State College 20s/30s Womens Bunco Night & Wine Night, which will include appetizers, wine and prizes at 114 W. Lytle Ave.

Space is limited to 16 guests, who can register here, and participants are encouraged to bring their own drinks and snacks.

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Editors note: The Daily Collegian does not trust  or support  Mr. Dyreson with reporting on anything related to medicine. Take his words with caution.

Researchers in a joint task force with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Penn State University have discovered what they are calling a miracle drug. They have developed a cure for the terrible and widespread disease of being a dumbass.

Approximately one in three Americans suffer from being a dumbass and one in four people across the world. Being a dumbass can be life-threatening, but mostly its just awful for people around the dumbass.

While most people are rejoicing about the cure to this disease, public health officials have run into an unexpected problem: The cure for being a dumbass is a vaccine, and dumbasses wont get vaccines.

The many symptoms of being a dumbass include the inability to use common sense and thinking you are smarter than literal experts. Dumbasses have been known to refuse vaccines and claim to know more than medical doctors, researchers, public health officials and anyone who is not a dumbass.

Studies show that people who are anti-vaxxers almost always suffer from being a dumbass. Other possible symptoms of being a dumbass include commenting on Facebook, not using a turn signal, not wearing a mask and eating Canyon Pizza sober.

Because of this, many are worried about the dumbasses, as they are already prevalent in most communities. There has also been pushback against the vaccine from major institutions. The University of Pittsburgh announced it will not require the dumbass vaccine for its undergraduates because if dumbasses disappeared, so would most of its student body.

Mo Ron, a dumbass, explained his stance on the vaccine: Im not gonna take a vaccine because a dumbass on the internet said it has microchips in it, and a dumbass podcast I listen to said it would make me infertile.

Im proud to be a dumbass. My refusal to question my own thoughts and actions and just blame other people is a defining part of my personality. I raise dumbasses, and I only ever talk to other dumbasses, Ron (sophomore-economics) said.

Doctors and public health officials are holding their breath as everyone is at risk because dumbasses wont take a vaccine.
The Colorado Democratic Party is sponsoring a series of virtual town halls devoted to contentious issues through the year, featuring experts and elected officials in what the party says are intended to be conversations that lead to solutions.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a crucial 50th vote for Democrats on President Joe Biden's proposals, walks with reporters as senators go to the chamber for votes ahead of the approaching Memorial Day recess, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, May 27, 2021. Senate Republicans are ready to deploy the filibuster to block a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection, shattering chances for a bipartisan probe of the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol and reviving pressure to do away with the procedural tactic that critics say has lost its purpose.
The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
As the US IT jobs market remains steady in its post-COVID recovery, salaries have started to increase as organizations struggle to fill some positions. Thats based on a survey to be releasd June 15 by IT employment consultancy Janco Associates. Janco provided Computerworld a preview of that survey.

That salary survey shows that IT executives in large enterprises are getting the largest salary boosts, with a median rise of 3.2%. IT execs in midsize enterprises are seeing median rises of 1.2%. For lower-level positions, IT pros do better at midsize enterprises than at large ones: Middle managers at large enterprises are seeing 0.6% boosts, while those at midsize enterprises are seeing 1.3% rises.

IT staffers are seeing the least improvement  an ongoing phenomemon across all company sizes, in which IT execs continue to be rewarded more  with those at large enterprises registering 0.4% gains and those at midsize enterprises seeing 0.7% gains.

The US IT employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has been very volatile in 2021, with the agency reducing its prior-month estimates several times this year. The agency, for example, reduced its 2021 job gain count by 14,100 from earlier estimates. The BLS data shows a May rise in IT hires of 7,700, and  even with the downward BLS revisions for prior months  the net growth for US IT jobs this year stands at about 47,700, according to Jancos analysis.

At its worst, more than 100,000 IT jobs were lost during the depths of the pandemic in spring 2020, though two-thirds of those came back as the year progressed. Still, 2020 ended with 33,200 fewer IT jobs in the US compared to 2019. With the 47,700 estimated job gains so far in 2021, the US IT job market at the end of May is at 13,500 more than the 2020 peak in February  and nearly 150,000 ahead of the 2020 nadir in July.

There are more than 3.6 million IT pro jobs in the US, Janco estimates.

The monthly tech jobs report released by the CompTIA industry association calculated that there were 10,500 new US tech sector jobs in May, following gains in each previous month of 2021. CompTIA calculates both technical and nontechnical positions at tech vendors, with roughly 44% being technical and 56% being nontechnical, whereas Janco looks at IT positions, including software developers, in all industries.

Still, the US tech sectors job numbers have not yet matched their March 2020 peak of 4.76 million positions. As of last month, there were 4.74 million, a number that continues to grow.

CompTIAs unemploment rate estimate for the tech sector stood at 2.4% in May, within its range over the last few months  versus 5.8% in May for the national rate for all industries. For previous months, CompTIA calculated a 2.5% tech unemployment rate in April, 1.9% in March, and 2.4% in February. The rise in the overall tech unemployment rate may reflect a loss of sales jobs in the tech sector, even as technologist jobs grew.

CompTIA also saw the number of tech-related job listings jump in May, to about 365,000 versus the 307,000 estimated for April. Job postings have grown by about 158,000 so far in 2021.

Software developers constituted the largest pool of listed openings at 112,200, with listings for IT support specialists coming in second at 28,200 and for system engineers and architects third at 27,200  all represent significant increases from May.

The top sector for tech job postings in May was manufacturing, which had 70,970 positions open. Professional and technical services followed at 58,783, then finance and insurance at 31,054, and information services at 20,244.

The Washington, D.C. metro area had the most job postings, 21,611, followed by the New York metro area with 20,481; the Dallas metro area with 14,796; the Los Angeles metro area at 12,825; and the Atlanta metro area at 12,825. The San Francisco metro came in sixth at 11,918, just 117 more postings than in April. And the adjacent San Jose metro came in ninth at 8,746.

The Chicago metro had the greatest decline in postings, with 10,526 postings  down 1,025 from April. On the West Coast, slight declines in job postings were recorded in the Los Angeles area (205 fewer), the Seattle area (51 fewer, for 80,080 in May), and the San Jose metro area (466 fewer, wiping out the 117 gain in the adjacent San Francisco metro).
Apples WWDC 2021 announcements lacked the edge of last years Apple Silicon announcement, and the sad lack of MacBook Pro news is a tough pill to swallow for those hoping for new hardware. But there was plenty of interesting news for enterprise professionals using Macs, iPads, and/or iPhones.

Heres a short tour of what CEO Tim Cook and other execs talked up at Monday's event:

Think remotely

Apples staff has been working primarily remotely for over a year and the company faces justifiable pushback from workers who want to continue to do so, rather than returning to a culture of presenteeism.

Along with the transformation of work practices, the COVID-19 pandemic also means Apples people have direct experience with some of the pain points of working remotely; WWDC 21 saw the arrival of numerous useful improvements to take the edge off some of these.

Take FaceTime, for example. It may not yet be truly cross-platform, but Apple will now let you use FaceTime to videochat with people on the Windows and Android platforms (using a web app).

Thats not a perfect solution, of course, but it means remote workers will be able to use FaceTime to speak with colleagues on other platforms. (Lets face it, that bird has flown and right now we all use Zoom.) Apple also knows that; why else would it already allow third-party video-calling apps to exploit new FaceTime enhancements, including Voice Isolation, Wide Spectrum Audio, and Portrait mode?

Of course, yet another signifier of the remote working world in which most of us have lived, Slack users can now share user status in conversations.

iPad for Mac

We had anticipated Apple might do some work on the iPad user interface following its decision to pop an M1 processor inside the iPad Pro. It didnt let us down.

Multitasking has been made a lot more intuitive, making Split View and Slide Over easier to use and far more flexible with your own workflow, including a multitasking menu that appears at the top of apps.

You also get widgets across the entire Home Screen, and subsequent pages. One little tweak involves the introduction of a larger-size widget, which should make the Files app more useful, though this may become more useful if OneDrive or Dropbox become supported archives.

Perhaps the most profound improvement in terms of productivity is in the new support for keyboard and mouse via Universal Control. This lets you use one keyboard and one mouse to control multiple iPads and a Macs. It requires zero set-up, and means you can simply flick between the screens. It makes the iPad and the Mac both extensions of the same screen, and support extends to drag-&-drop between these devices.

This feature makes the experience of using multiple Macs and iPads together feel far more unified.

Xcode Cloud: Remote testing

This wasnt the only platform improvement Apple made that boosts enterprise workflows, remote or otherwise. Xcode Cloud, a new tool coming next year, will let you commit your Xcode projects to iCloud where they can be collaborated upon, tested, and distributed to beta testers once made. Parallel testing in the cloud means developers can test on a simulated version of every current Apple device.

Another useful update: its now possible to use your iPad to create Swift UI code, and you can share beta apps with Macs using TestFlight. These useful features for any developer also make it easier for enterprise app development teams to work on projects remotely and engage in ad hoc internal testing with your own trusted teams.

The capacity to test apps will be warmly welcomed by many, while B2C app developers and enterprises will want to make use of the new tools to A/B test different App Store page descriptions the company has introduced.

Augmented reality

Blink and you may have missed the introduction of a new AR view in Maps that shows you visual directional cues to help you get where you are going.

What you wont miss is Apples sassy statement that it is now the worlds largest augmented reality platform with more than a billion AR-capable devices and its own tools to create experiences for that platform.

The new macOS Monterey Object Capture API means Apple has made it possible to create photo-realistic 3D models of real-world objects in minutes using images captured on iPhone, iPad, or DSLR and transform them into 3D models optimised for AR.

Focus and Mindfulness

Apple also introduced new apps that work across its platforms and could be designed for remote working. Focus, for example, is a contextually sensitive notifications and interruptions manager that helps you filter out external interruptions when youre attempting to get work done. Focus users can automatically filter notifications unrelated to their current activity. When Focus is set on one device, it automatically sets across all your other devices.

Focus suggestions are based on context, so youll get a different set of filters during work hours than when winding down for bed. Focus also lets you create customized pages of applications, which should help you keep your eyes off the Twitter stream.

Spotlight gets a boost

Any image you have that contains text, such as handwritten notes, becomes searchable. Youll also be able to use the Camera app on your iPhone/iPad to recognize and copy text in the moment, such as the Wi-Fi password displayed at a local coffee shop.

Spotlight now uses intelligence to search photos by location, people, scenes, or objects, and  using Live Text  Spotlight can find text and handwriting in photos.

Another little feature that may pay dividends for CRM: Contacts search now surfaces recent emails, messages, images, and shared locations, which might come in handy when you want to personalize that next business call.

Shortcuts for Mac

Of course, as work becomes remote well all be seeking ways to automate repetitive tasks. The mighty AppleScript and Automator always helped with this on the Mac, and now Shortcuts helps automate tasks across Apples ecosystem, including on the Mac.

Monterey will bring Shortcuts to the Mac, which means most workers (including remote employees) will be able to personalize the robotic process automation promise of getting a computer to do the tedious work for them simply by creating relevant Shortcuts that work on all their devices.

While it may not be immediately obvious given the consumer-focused treatment Apple gave this news, when used with third-party apps such as the wonderful OmniFocus Shortcuts it should help make business process automation a reality on the Mac. If nothing else, it means developers now have an even better reason to support Shortcuts.

AirPlay to Mac

Youll be able to beam presentations and other assets directly from your iPhone or iPad to a Mac using AirPlay to Mac. This may come in useful when visiting clients.

Mail Privacy Protection

Enterprise security gets a boost (and perhaps additional protection against phishing) with Mail Privacy Protection. This prevents senders from using invisible pixels to learn whether an email has been opened, and hides IP addresses so senders cant learn a users location or use it to build a profile on them for phishing. iCloud+ (the new and improved iCloud, same price) gets additional security tools that should be useful to business pros, not least the capacity to share unique, random email addresses that forward to their personal inbox.

Mic activity

The Mac recording indicator shows which app is accessing the Macs microphone.

Live Text

Apple now has Apple Lens, but calls it Live Text. This uses on-device machine learning to detect text in photos, and uses data detectors to make text useful. A telephone number picked up in an image can be called, or a tracking number followed up. You can also grab the text from an image and paste it like text into a document.

When used with Apples translation tools and indoor mapping at airports, business travellers (if there are any in the future) wont get lost again.

Keys and IDs

Apple is bringing driving licenses to iPhones. Travelers visiting Hyatt hotels will find that their Wallet now carries digital keys to their room. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is working to enable airport security checkpoint support for digital Identity cards on iPhones.

New iPhone setup tools

This is a great improvement. When setting up a new iPhone, existing iPhone users will be able to temporarily back up data to iCloud  even without a subscription  to easily transfer their data to a new iPhone. Apple has also improved the Move-to-iPhone software for switchers. Every enterprise adopting or updating their iPhones should benefit.

Privacy improvements

Intelligent Tracking Prevention will also hide a users IP address from trackers, preventing them from using this information to track what and where they go.

Another useful privacy feature lets users check how frequently apps are exploiting permissions they have been given to share data about them and with whom that data may be being shared.

Summing up, Apple really seems to have focused on productivity and security at the heart of this year's WWDC.

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
Corsicana, TX (75110)

Today

Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. Hot and humid. High near 95F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low near 75F. Winds light and variable.
L'Oreal will reportedly no longer sell its makeup products in Japan as of the end of 2021, according to a report in The Mainichi.

According to the publication, L'Oreal decided to focus on its hair care and hair color businesses, which have grown as a result of home-based demand.

The company began selling its products in Japan in 1969.
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Crossville, TN (38555)

Today

Mostly sunny early then increasing clouds with some scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High around 85F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable.
Date night is always tricky. Once we've decided on where and what to eat, there's the big decision: movie theatre or home theatre? Most of the time, my husband and I opt for home merely because, well, pajamas, pillows, and blankets typically trump sitting still, not kicking the back of the chair in front, and the trauma of spilling popcorn without the option of refills.

Once we've determined that we're staying home, then comes the larger hurdle. That is, finding a movie we can both agree on. If you do a quick search on the Internet for date night movies, you'll get the bullet point lists of rom-coms, otherwise known as "chick flicks." I find this interesting that they're listed under "date night movies," merely because I've yet to find a man who's anxious to curl up on the sofa and watch Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson lock lips. But then again, no judgment towards guys who enjoys a good rom-com; it's just not stereotypical. There's also the conundrum caused when the wife/girlfriend prefers to watch a high-octane action film for date night, and the husband/boyfriend was thinking Les Mis. Or visa-versa. Add in the debate of whether the movie is appropriate for Christian viewers, whether PG-13 or R is the limit, and if we need to revert back to G.

However you spin it, the point remains solid and firm: finding a movie we can both agree on watching that also doesn't leave us feeling like we compromised on our faith, is problematic.

The good news is, if you're choosing to stay home to watch a movie, your options are far more endless in comparison to whatever is on the matinee at the theatre. This means we have a litany of streaming services, rental places, and even just plain ol' network television to offer up suggestions.

So here are some non-stereotypical, across-the-gamut, genre-busting options for date night. Some of them are obviously meant for a Christian audience, and others, maybe not so much. Hopefully, you can find something on this list that is agreeable to you both, doesn't create a crisis of faith, and avoids the presupposition that somehow all couples prefer rom-coms for date night. That being said, if you can't agree on a movie from this list, do what my husband and I do, and opt to watch two movies--his and hers. Worst case scenario, the romance will heighten when one of you falls asleep.

Option #1: Hitch (2005)  PG-13  Will Smith & Kevin James

Well, let's hop right into what some may categorize as a rom-com, but is more appropriately labeled a comedy. While it's not a newly released movie by any means, its comedic elements stand the test of time. Kevin James plays the role of a single, can't-find-a-date guy who hires "Hitch," played by Will Smith, a smooth, classy, and well-refined dating expert. Probably the funniest moments are between James and Smith, whose on-screen chemistry pretty much negates any romantic chemistry between their female counterparts. James plays an awkward, unattractive accountant to the nines, and while all the dates "Hitch" negotiates are meant to be superb, catastrophe is just a second away. All in all, while finding true love is; the main point of the plot, it's quickly overshadowed by laugh-out-loud moments that will satisfy any comedy lover's heart.

Recommended for viewers who like to laugh, enjoy playful romance, and need to learn how to dance.

Christians: Enjoy the positivity of healthy male friendships, relationships based on character and personality rather than looks, and a feel-good ending.

Option #2: Oklahoma (1954)  G  Gordon McRae, Gloria Grahame

Never underestimate the power of a classic musical. Universally loved, Oklahoma takes us into the romance of competition, jealousy, honesty versus smarmy, and the good ol' West and cowboy hats. Throw in ranchers, ladies in beautiful dresses, and a traveling salesperson, and you've got a recipe that would make any viewer burst into song. The classiness of an old-time musical will have both of you yodeling in the kitchen when you refill your popcorn, and the nostalgia of a movie made in the Golden era of Hollywood will definitely garner some warm fuzzies. It's a great movie to snuggle up to.

Recommended for old-time movie lovers who prefer to watch light-hearted, non-intense cinema and talk during the film.

Christians: Enjoy the clean, old-fashioned fun of a classic, where language and sexual content are non-existent.

Option #3: Dances with Wolves (1990)  PG-13  Kevin Costner

If the Wild West calls to you, and you and your significant other are full-time historical and western movie lovers, this is a classic! Set around the era of the Civil War, Costner plays Lt. John Dunbar, whose successful career in the war has earned him a position of his choice. Headed west, he quickly encounters the vast challenges that come at a post on the plains. His interactions with the Native Americans, his hesitant romance with a captive white woman, and his struggle between being a white man, and his newfound loyalty to the Tribe, make this movie a story of tug and pull.

Recommended for those who enjoy dramatic, Western tales, can tolerate some historical fictional liberties, and aren't afraid of wolves.

Christians: Enjoy an excellent historical flick with superb acting. Brace yourself for a brief sex scene, but not ultra-graphic. If historically-based violence and mild language bother you, you may want to pass this film.

Option #4: Braven (2018)  R  Jason Momoa

For many of us, we want action in our movies. Look no further. Starring Jason Momoa in a far cry from his Aquaman role, we find a logger with an intense devotion to family. Caring for his dementia-suffering father, he and his family head to their secluded log cabin, where they enter their own personal nightmare. With drug runners threatening his family, Joe Braven (Momoa) embarks on defensive combat to protect his family and property. It has a gripping, fast-action storyline and a relatable female lead, played by Jill Wagner. Your heartstrings will be pulled as you root for Joe's father, Linden, played by Stephen Lang. Together, the family will fight for each other, and that is what makes this movie relatable. At all costs, defend your family.

Recommended for viewers who don't mind violence and crude language and who prefer fight scenes over smooching scenes.

Christians: A blessedly free-of-gratuitous-sex movie. If you are okay tolerating multiple fight scenes, gun violence, and intense action, you will enjoy this film. It heralds strong family ties and will leave you cheering for a strong male character with devotion to family. If raw language bothers you, avoid.

Option #5: God's Not Dead (2014)  PG  Kevin Sorbo, Shane Harper

If you're in the mood for both a feel-good and faith-challenging movie, look no further than one classified as "Christian"! God's Not Dead takes the viewer on a powerful journey into the validity of faith, God's existence, and whether or not He is worth taking a stand for. Follow the journey of a college student who spars with his atheist professor who adamantly wants his student to renounce his faith. You'll walk away with some thought-provoking concepts, and hopefully, you'll be inspired to grow in your own faith and stand stronger than ever before.

Recommended for viewers who want a feel-good, Christian-inspired movie with no fear of outside Hollywood influences.

Christians: With no language, sex, drugs, or violence (outside of a car accident), you can safely watch this movie without fear.

Option #6: Breakthrough (2019)  PG  Chrissy Metz, Josh Lucas

Nothing will rip your heart out more than a movie where a mother fights for the life of her child. In Breakthrough, you'll be introduced to the story of Joyce Smith, who must go into spiritual battle to save the life of her son, John. When John falls through the ice, is rescued, and is considered brain-dead, Joyce drops to her knees to plead for his life. Through a miraculous series of events, this heartwarming but anxiety-riddled tale tells Joyce's story. Based on a true story, this movie will leave its viewers with a fresh perspective on the power of prayer, the fierceness of a mother's love, and the bonds of family, church family, and pastoral presence that create a circle of family and faith.

Recommended for viewers who enjoy a family drama, medical storylines, and an ending that will leave you satisfied and warmed.

Christians: No need for a filter on this movie. Language is mild, if any. The film focuses on strong family relationships and the importance of faith.

The truth of the matter is that we all have varying degrees of interests, tolerance, and even what we see as good quality for date night. The fun part about movie watching is finding what suits both of you together. Once you discover that equation, date night for Christians can be a lot of fun.

Photo credit: GettyImages/Jovanmandic

Jaime Jo Wright is the winner of the Christy, Carol, Daphne du Maurier, and INSPY Awards. She's also the Publishers Weekly and ECPA bestselling author of three novellas. Jaime works as a human resources director in Wisconsin, where she lives with her husband and two children.
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NEWTOWN - You think you know what youre watching the moment the homecoming soldier in camouflage fatigues is caught on a cell-phone video, right up to the scene where he approaches a woman at the dining room table, listening to a home movie on a laptop.

But suddenly its clear this is not the homecoming its supposed to be, and when the woman shrieks with inconsolable wailing that can only mean one thing, its too late to click away, and the viewer is caught reacting to an scene no one wants to see.

When (we) watched this for the first time, we all cried, said Po Murray, chairwoman of the homegrown nonprofit Newtown Action Alliance, about the groups debut PSA entitled Not Coming Home. But we felt it was important for Americans to see the true reality of the impact of gun violence in our country every day.

Hosts of a CNN morning news show agreed.

The people in that video are actors but the grief that they show is far from fantasy, said John Berman, co-host of New Day, which aired the Newtown Action Alliance PSA on Friday. Its both chilling and gut-wrenching.

The nonprofits hope is to convert views into petition signatures to pressure senators to pass a bill requiring background checks for internet and gun show firearms sales.

The House of Representatives passed expanded background check legislation in March. The companion bill, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, hasnt moved out of the Judiciary Committee.

The Newtown Action Alliances PSA aims to change that, Murray said.

It is very difficult to watch but its an important message because mothers are grieving in every corner of this country because of gun violence, Murray said. We need Americans to demand more from their senators.

The 90-minute video, conceived and produced without charge to NAA by the Munich-based advertising giant, Serviceplan Group, follows the release of three PSAs by another homegrown nonprofit founded after the 2012 massacre of 26 first-graders and educators at Sandy Hook School.

The trio of PSAs released in mid-May by Sandy Hook Promise conveys the emotional charge of ticking bombs about the powder keg of turmoil threatening the lives of school-aged youth.

Sandy Hook Promise has become known for its provocative PSAs, which have juxtaposed a school shooting with a back-to-school commercial, and satirized cultural complacency about school shootings.

The Newtown Action Alliance PSA borrows a page from Sandy Hook Promises book by transforming a soldiers homecoming into a gruesome scene of unrelenting grieving.

Are they in there? The soldier says to the camera.

Everybodys waiting except for Annie, the cameraman says.

As the song Im Coming Home kicks in and the soldier shows trepidation about going in, the viewer sees the family seated and waiting for the soldier to approach a young woman with her back to the room.

When the soldier places his hands on her shoulders, she breaks down inconsolable wailing, and the viewers sees what shes been watching - a video of the little girl in fairys wings, reading a book

As the soldier closes the laptop cover the viewer sees a memorial display of candles, the girls portrait, and a little stuffed giraffe. Over the fading scene comes the text:

To date, more Americans have died from gun violence than in all U.S. wars combined.

The statement was fact-checked by The Washington Post and PolitiFact, with caveats.

Fred Guttenberg, a Newtown Action Alliance board adviser and the father of a Florida teen slain in a 2018 Florida high school mass shooting, released a statement with the Not Coming Home PSA on Friday.

I remember pulling off to the side of the road and telling my wife that our daughter was murdered. This film brought me back to that moment, Guttenberg said. Every American should watch this film to understand that we are at a war in America, and its against the epidemic of gun violence killing our children and the ones we love.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342
Tara ONeill / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRIDGEPORT  Detectives are investigating after a man was shot at the Greene Homes apartment complex on Sunday afternoon, officials said.

Officers were dispatched around 2:40 p.m. to Greene Homes on Highland Avenue for a reported shooting, according to Scott Appleby, the citys director of emergency communications and emergency management.
BAMAKO, Mali (AP)  Mali coup leader Col. Assimi Goita was sworn in Monday as president of a transitional government, solidifying his grip on power in the West African nation after carrying out his second coup in nine months.

The inauguration ceremony in the capital, Bamako, came as Mali faces increasing isolation from the international community over the juntas power grab. Already the African Union has suspended Malis membership and France has temporarily suspended its joint military operations with the Malian military to exert pressure on Goita to step aside.

Goita, who first grabbed power in August 2020 by overthrowing Malis democratically elected president, eventually agreed to a transitional government led by a civilian president and prime minister. But two weeks ago he ousted those civilian leaders after they announced a Cabinet reshuffle that sidelined two junta supporters without consulting him. Malis constitutional court also approved him as interim president.

During his inauguration speech, Goita called on Malians to display cohesion and solidarity. He pledged to reduce government spending and to facilitate access to drinking water and primary health care.

He also promised that presidential elections would be held on schedule.

I would like to reassure the international community that Mali will honor all of its commitments, he said.

Goita faces international pressure to hold an election in February 2022, as required by the original transitional government agreement last year. Given the latest developments, however, it is unclear what will happen on the election front.

Continued political instability in Mali, many fear, could further embolden Islamic extremists, who have been carrying out attacks for nearly a decade in the countrys volatile north.

The West African regional bloc, known as the Economic Community of West African States, has been supporting mediation talks in Mali. ECOWAS also called for a new civilian prime minister in Mali to be nominated immediately, and a new inclusive government to be formed.

Choguel Kokalla Maiga was appointed Mali's new prime minister on Monday, according to a statement read out on the countrys national broadcaster a few hours after the inauguration. Maiga is a veteran politician who was a leader in the M5, a popular movement whose protests precipitated the fall of formerPresident Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in the August 2020 coup.

The regional bloc, and the AU, have made clear that the head of the transition government, the vice president and the prime minister should not under any circumstances be candidates in the next presidential election.

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is returning to Mali this week to continue mediation on behalf of ECOWAS.

Islamic extremists took control of major towns in northern Mali after the 2012 coup. Only a 2013 military intervention led by former colonial power France pushed the extremists out of those towns. France and a U.N. force have continued to battle the extremists, who operate in rural areas and regularly attack roads and cities.

___

AP writer Carley Petesch contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal.
NORWALK  A stabbing in a Norwalk Hospital parking lot on Saturday morning that left the victim in serious condition is believed to have been a random act of violence, officials said.

An individual called the citys 911 dispatch center around 10:40 a..m to report the incident.

While police said later Saturday it was unclear why the victim was attacked, hospital officials confirmed Sunday it was apparently random.

We have been advised that this was a random act of violence, which could have occurred anywhere, Andrea Rynn, spokesperson for Nuvance Health, the hospitals parent company, said in a statement. Our security team took immediate action as did Norwalk Police, for which we are very grateful for their assistance.

Rynn said Nuvance Healths primary concern is for the victim and his family. She would not comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.

Norwalk police Lt. Joseph Dinho also said authorities could not provide more information other than what was shared in a press release on Saturday, also citing the active investigation.

Following the incident on Saturday, Sgt. Sofia Gulino said the victim had parked his car in the hospital parking lot off Rhodonolia Park to pick up a patient who was being discharged. Gulino said as the victim was putting the patients items into the back of the vehicle, an unknown man rushed up and stabbed him twice.

The alleged attacker ran off in the direction of Woodward Avenue, as the victim made his way back inside the hospital for help. The victim sustained serious injuries, but is expected to recover, Gulino said.

Multiple officers responded to the area and searched for the alleged suspect, described as a man in his mid-20s, possibly about 5-foot-8, with short hair. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Hudyma at 203-854-3189 or dhudyma@norwalkct.org. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling 203-854-3111, online at www.norwalkpd.com or by texting TIP411 with NORWALKPD and the information in the text field.
Thank you for tuning in to episode 112 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your host, Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com. This episode is brought to you by our friends at PSCU. As the nations premier payments CUSO, PSCU proudly supports the success of more than 1,500 credit unions.

My guest on todays show is Patty Corkery, the recently-appointed President & CEO of the Michigan Credit Union League. In this episode, we discuss Pattys journey from litigation attorney to league president and the leadership lessons shes learned along the way. Patty also shares tips to help leaders think strategically and plan ahead.

Listen in as we chat with Patty about being the first female CEO in the history of Michigan Credit Union League and one of five female league CEOs across the country. Patty shares the importance of finding community personally and professionally and steps shes taken to build and maintain those strong relationships. She believes that the credit union motto, People helping people, is not just about helping members but also one another.

Patty walks through her perspective on credit union consolidations and our unique position to successfully meet community needs at any size. She believes the credit union industry will stay relevant by embracing the rapid digital shifts and discovering more opportunities for engagement with virtual education and advocacy.

During the rapid-fire questions we learn what Patty was like in high school and how that shaped her career path. We also chat about an interesting opportunity Patty turned down and the impact that had on her leadership style. Take a listen to find out who Patty thinks about when she hears the word success and much more. Enjoy!

Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher

Books mentioned on The CUInsight Experience podcast: Book List

How to find Patty:

Patty Corkery, President & CEO of the Michigan Credit Union League

patty.corkery@mcul.org

https://www.mcul.org

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Show notes from this episode:

A big shout-out to our friends at PSCU, an amazing sponsor of The CUInsight Experience podcast. Thank you!

Check out all that Patty and her team are doing at MCUL here.

To learn more about CUInsights Mini-Con Series, click here.

Shout-out: CUNA GAC

Shout-out: Dave Adams, CU Solutions Group

Shout-out: Jill Nowacki

Shout-out: Diana Dykstra, CCUL

Shout-out: Caroline Willard, Cornerstone League

Shout-out: Debbie Painter, KYCUL

Shout-out: Tracie Kenyon, MCUN

Shout-out: Jenny Blake

Book mentioned: Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One by Jenny Blake

Shout-out: Zoom

Shout-out: Pattys daughter

Shout-out: Women Credit Union Leaders in Michigan

Shout-out: CUNAs Hill Hike

Place mentioned: Washington, DC

Shout-out: Bank of America

Shout-out: Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase

Shout-out: Amazon

Shout-out: Apple

Shout-out: Randys mom

Shout-out: Pattys dad

Shout-out: Chuck Holzman

Shout-out: Pattys brother

Shout-out: Pattys special someone

Shout-out: Ben & Jerrys

Shout-out: Randys sister

Shout-out: MCULs DEI Team

Shout-out: Peloton

Book mentioned: Untamed by Glennon Doyle

Book mentioned: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

Album mentioned: The River by Bruce Springsteen

Album mentioned: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

Album mentioned: Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution

Previous guests mentioned in this episode: Jenny Blake, Debbie Painter, Caroline Willard, Diana Dykstra, Dave Adams, Tracey Kenyon, Jill Nowacki (episodes 4, 18, 37, 64, 82 & 101)

In This Episode:

[01:58]  Patty, welcome to the show!

[03:44]  Patty speaks about being one of five women who are CEO of leagues.

[05:07]  Patty shares some hacks for thinking strategically while putting out fires.

[07:56]  Who do you surround yourself with? Who has helped you along the way?

[10:15]  Patty discusses what she envisions for the credit unions of Michigan and the Michigan Credit Union League.

[12:50]  Patty shares how valuable virtual learning is and how they will strategically incorporate it in the future.

[14:13]  How do you make sure you are purpose-driven personally and professionally.

[17:20]  Patty speaks about what she believes the credit union industry can do better.

[19:47]  Patty stumbled into credit unions after quitting her job at a law office, but she knew she wanted to go into law.

[21:57]  The people, especially the people in the collections department, kept Patty in the credit union industry.

[23:45]  Patty shares her inspiration to become the President and CEO of the Michigan Credit Union League.

[25:44]  Patty asks many questions, and her team is comfortable with her casual nature.

[27:16]  Patty discusses a leadership myth that makes her skin crawl.

[29:19]  What do you do when you arent working to recharge?

[30:57]  Patty said no to working at a larger law firm and is so glad she didnt take it.

[33:01]  Patty talks about what she was like in high school and when she got into memorable trouble.

[34:17]  Is there a book you think everyone should read?

[35:08]  What is the greatest album of all time?

[36:15]  Brene Brown is someone she thinks about when she hears the word success.

[39:16]  Patty shares some final thoughts.

[40:43]  Thank you for being on the show!
Bill synopsis

HB1711 amends the Animal Welfare Act and provides for the following:

 A pet shop operator may offer for sale a dog or cat only if the dog or cat is obtained from an animal control facility or animal shelter.

 An animal control facility or animal shelter that supplies dogs or cats to pet shop operators to be offered for sale shall not be a dog breeder or a cat breeder or obtain dogs or cats from a dog breeder, a cat breeder, a person who resells dogs or cats from a breeder, or a person who sells dogs or cats at auction in exchange for payment or compensation.

 Defines the term "offer for sale" and modifies the definitions of "pet shop operator" and "animal shelter."

 Would be effective 180 days after becoming law.
Elizabeth City, NC (27909)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. High 81F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 67F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.
KINGSTON, N.Y.  The need for Kingston police to have an "armored rescue vehicle" was determined through an analysis by the U.S. Department of
Ulster County

Delgado touts aid

Ulster County will have flexibility in spending $68M in coronavirus relief aid, U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado says

County will have ample ways in deciding how to spend $68M in relief funds, congressman says
Ashland, KY (41101)

Today

Partly cloudy early. Thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 89F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds light and variable.
Sunbury, PA (17801)

Today

Cloudy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 79F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
The Gay Street Open-Air Market Place is set to return June 16, after the start date was pushed back due to underground PECO transformer work.
After leaving No 10 in fairly ignominious fashion having failed over Brexit, Theresa May was praised for her commitment to public service by remaining as a backbench MP.

What a different tone, some felt, she struck from Tony Blair and his pursuit of riches, or David Cameron's toe-curling attempts at lobbying.

Most MPs assumed the vicar's daughter would speak out only occasionally, offering wise and distinguished counsel from the backbenches. How wrong they were!

For the increasingly loud and critical Mrs May is fast assuming the mantle of Ted Heath, who spent years attacking his successor Margaret Thatcher at every opportunity in what was dubbed the longest sulk in political history.

Most MPs assumed the vicar's daughter would speak out only occasionally, offering wise and distinguished counsel from the backbenches. How wrong they were!

Today, Mrs May is at the centre of the revolt over the Tories' popular 4 billion cut in international aid  a move that could see a stunning defeat for Boris Johnson in Parliament  while fellow former PM Sir John Major is also on manoeuvres, insisting the Government lets 'compassion prevail to aid those in dire need'.

And this is just the latest example of Mrs May's backseat driving. In September, she was one of 20 Tory MPs to abstain on a crucial Brexit Bill. In October, she attacked planning reforms to speed up house-building, something that had stalled on her watch.

In November, she gave a speech criticising a second lockdown: Boris left the Commons rather than sit through it. And in March this year, she criticised a Bill giving police more powers to take on protesters.

A disgruntled ex-minister mutters: 'A speech by a former PM in the Commons used to be a rare and significant event. But May never shuts up and is sounding more like Ted Heath. He damaged his own reputation. Theresa is making the same mistake.'

For the increasingly loud and critical Mrs May is fast assuming the mantle of Ted Heath, who spent years attacking his successor Margaret Thatcher at every opportunity in what was dubbed the longest sulk in political history

Gauke uncorks pop at you-know-who

He was once an all-powerful Lord Chancellor. Now David Gauke  who was kicked out of the Tory Party over his undying opposition to Brexit before losing his seat at the last election  is earning a crust as a columnist on the Left-wing magazine New Statesman. Says Gauke rather archly: 'In general I think it's better that politicians become columnists rather than columnists become politicians.' Whoever could he mean?

It has been speculated that if Piers Morgan doesn't return as an anchor on Good Morning Britain, ITV executives might replace him with a woman. As if that would stop him! The defiantly un-woke broadcaster, who stormed off set in March during a furious row over Meghan Markle, now mischievously tweets: 'I could identify as a woman if that helps.'

Energy minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan takes to Twitter to push her energy supplier, E.ON, into responding to complaints.

'There is an irony,' she moans, 'to the energy minister not being able to get through to customer services to sort out her house moving issues.' Welcome to our world, Minister!

Some scratched their heads when twice-divorced Boris Johnson was able to marry Carrie in a Catholic ceremony. But the 'mother of all churches' could be the right spiritual home for the PM.

Oscar Wilde, who converted to Catholicism on his deathbed, once quipped that 'every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future'. With his rackety private life, the PM certainly has a past. His supporters hope he has a political future, too, whatever his sins.

A costly degree of stupidity

Cambridge University's Jesus College is planning to remove from its chapel a memorial to Tobias Rustat, a 17th-century benefactor now cancelled by Left-wing students and academics due to his links to the slave trade.

The removal from the Grade I-listed building requires legal sanction, and a Freedom of Information request by Charles Moore, former editor of The Spectator, has revealed the costs 'will be around 55,000 and more if we need to go to appeal'.

That is on top of relocation itself, which 'will cost very roughly 30,000'. Varsity, the university magazine, reports that Jesus is currently facing the biggest financial challenge in its history because of the pandemic, including rent strikes from dissatisfied students.

Doesn't it have more pressing matters to deal with? During these puritanical times, apparently not.
After weeks of autumn weather in May, I find it hard to begrudge anyone a flight to sunny Spain, though I am in no great rush myself.

I used to love flying and, from the age of six, I had clearly thought-out ideas about carry-on bags, outfits and in-flight routines. As an Emirates-bound, unaccompanied minor flying to and from boarding school in Scotland in the 1980s, I felt I knew my way around Heathrow as well as any British Airways minder.

These days, relishing flying seems so last century. Even before Covid and journalist-hating dictators at airports, all the fun had gone out of it.

There is the inconvenient truth of it being calamitous for the environment. And then there is the sheer bloody inconvenience of everything else: the booking systems designed to catch you out; the endless queues; the on-board bag rules that everyone else seems to flout or the boorishness of your fellow passengers.

Patricia Nicol reveals a selection of the best books about flying, including Fear Of Flying by Erica Jong (pictured left) and Maggie Shipsteads Great Circle (pictured right)

British Airways new advert featuring its staff and the slogan Its you that make us fly made me a little nostalgic, until I remembered that a booking would not come with a free G&T, wee bag of snacks or guaranteed space in the overhead locker.

Those glory days of flying did, however, inspire some fine fiction. Fear Of Flying by Erica Jong is the eye-opening, sometimes bracingly funny account of psychoanalyst Isadora Wings sexually liberating (and occasionally humiliating) European journey of discovery.

There is little fear of flying in Maggie Shipsteads 20th-century-spanning novel, Great Circle, which tells the story of fictional pioneering female aviator Marian Graves, and a Hollywood actress trying to make a biopic of her story.

Paula McLains Circling The Sun is a fictional account of the real-life English-Kenyan pilot Beryl Markham who, in 1936, became the first person to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic from Britain to North America.

Transatlantic by Colum McCann is partially a retelling of the first flight across the Atlantic, in 1919, by Great War vets, Jack Alcock and Arthur Brown. If you are getting away, take a book like one of these to distract you from all the sitting around.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, on-demand service platform Meituan, and Li Auto-backed autonomous driving startup Neolix were licensed on May 25 to run their self-driving delivery vehicles on designated public roads at Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BDA or E-Town), the first companies that received such permit.

Neolix's unmanned delivery car; photo credit: Neolix



The decision was announced at the 8th International Congress of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles Technology (CICV 2021). The vehicles to be tested are code-named JD0001, MT0001, and NX0001 respectively.

According to a local report, JD.com and Meituan have already deployed nearly 100 self-driving delivery cars in delivery stations, residential area and industrial parks to offer end-to-end delivery service. Neolix's cars have also been launched in such locations as Nanhaizi Park, Yicheng International Center, BDA International Enterprise Avenue, and Yongchang Industrial Park to sell foods to pedestrians.

At the CICV 2021, the regulator of the Beijing High-Level Autonomous Driving Pilot Zone issued the rules on the regulation of unmanned delivery cars. According to Kong Lei, deputy director of E-Town, the rules clearly normalize many technical and testing indexes of unmanned delivery vehicles, including size, load, speed, and power performance. To ensure safety, self-driving delivery cars are required to carry multiple types of sensors, high-performance computing units, drive-by-wire chassis and other intelligent controlling software.

Beijing announced in last September it was building in E-Town a cloud-based pilot zone for high-level autonomous cars that covers 60 square meters and features integrated smart roads, smart vehicles, real-time cloud data transmission, a reliable network, and precise digital maps.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced the birth of their new baby daughter, Lilibet Diana - and decades-old data has revealed that they arent alone in picking an old-fashioned name.

The 7lbs 11oz baby  whose middle name is Diana  was born on Friday evening, British time in Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, a private facility where births cost up to 20,000.

The Queen's great-grandchild was named in her honour as Lilibet was coined by the 95-year-old monarch when she was too young to pronounce her own name. Harry and Meghans daughter, who is eighth in line to the throne, will be known as Lili Diana.

While not the most common traditional choice, researchers from the family history platform, MyHeritage, revealed the name Lilibet sits outside the top 10,000 for births in the USA and in number 4686 in the UK.

While not the most common traditional choice, the name Lilibet sits outside the top 10,000 for births in the USA and in number 4686 in the UK. Pictured, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex

Yet in recent months, new additions have been given old adages. From Princess Eugenies son August to Boris Johnsons son Wilfred, many new parents are looking to the past while naming their child.

Now, researchers have opened up their archives to find out the traditional baby names are seeing a resurgence in popularity.

Among the findings include that the most popular names when records began in 1780 were Mary, John, William and Elizabeth.

Alfred, Bertie, Frank, Fred, Leonard, and Sidney all saw a 21st-century peak in 2012, while Olive, Violet and Elsie have all reached or eclipsed their original Victorian-era peak in 2019.

The research found that the name Alfred, Bertie, Frank, Fred, Leonard, and Sidney all saw a peak in 2012, while Olive, Violet and Elsie all reached or eclipsed original Victorian-era peak in 2019 (pictured)

The results also revealed that the most popular names of the 1950s and 60s are yet to see a resurgence, as almost all now sit lower than the top 500 in popularity - with exceptions being David, Michael and John.

Meanwhile, those seeking a timeless adage for their child have helped boost the popularity of Bertie, which is up 1,646 places in the rankings, as well as Olive, which has almost reached its 1800s peak once more after almost a century out of the top 100.

Some names have eclipsed their original heyday - including Violet and Elsie which saw higher rankings in 2019 than they did 200 years ago.

Elsewhere, names like Agnes, which peaked in 1910 but dropped out of the top 100 names in 1935, have started to make their way towards the top 100 again.
Royal fans have been left amazed after Meghan Markle gave birth her daughter Lili exactly 25 years after Princess Diana visited her alama matter Northwestern University.

The Duke, 36, and Duchess of Sussex, 39, who are currently living in their $14 million Californian mansion, announced yesterday that they had welcomed their second child, Lili Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, on June 4.

The date is already particularly poignant for the couple, because it is exactly 25 years to the day that Harry's late mother visited Meghan's former college during a trip to Chicago.

Royal followers were quick to point out the significance of the date for the couple, with one fan account writing: 'On June 4th 1996, Princess Diana visited Northwestern Univeristy - Meghan's alma matter. 25 years later on June 4th 2021, Northwestern graduate Meghan gives birth to Diana's granddaughter.'

Royal fans have been left amazed after Meghan Markle gave birth her daughter Lili exactly 25 years after Princess Diana visited her alama matter Northwestern University (pictured, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their son Archie)

Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan Markle, 39, who are currently living in their $14 million Californian mansion, announced yesterday that they had welcomed their second child, Lili Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, on June 4

In 1996, Diana spent several days visiting the university and the Chicago area where she met with students and stopped by a local hospital.

The royal wowed locals on the whirlwind trip, which took place between 4-6 June.

The main reason for her visit was to raise money for the University's Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center, because Diana was President of London's Royal Marsden Hospital and its Cancer Fund at the time.

During the visit, Diana wowed staff and students by stepping out for a fundraising gala in a purple gown the same shade as the university's official colour.

The date is already particularly poignant for the couple, because it is exactly 25 years to the day that Harry's late mother visited Meghan's former college during a trip to Chicago (pictured, Diana on a walk-about of Northwestern University with the then-president Henry S. Bienen)

Former Northwestern president Henry Bienen told North by Northwestern in 2016: 'I asked if she knew that purple was the color of Northwestern, because it could just simply be the royal color, and she just laughed. I think she did it on purpose.'

The royal went on to be spotted in a Northwestern sweater, which she regularly wore as part of her more low-key gym attire.

Meanwhile Meghan was a student at the university from 2000 to 2003, and was a member of its Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

The royal graduated from the Illinois-based college's school of communication in 2003 with a bachelor's degree and a double major in theatre and international studies.

The main reason for her visit was to raise money for the University's Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center, because Diana was President of London's Royal Marsden Hospital and its Cancer Fund at the time (pictured, on June 5 1996)

During the trip, Diana wowed staff and students and was seen hugging children on a hospital visit

After graduating she moved back to her hometown, LA, to pursue a career as an actress, landing various movie and small screen roles before getting her big break - being cast as Rachel Zane in the smash hit legal drama Suits.

Many fans were amazed by the link between the dates, with one person commenting: 'Such amazing news . Lili Diana is such perfect name . Congratulations to the duke and Duchess of Sussex. Their little family is complete.'

Another wrote: 'Omg Im crying! That is fate! There is definitely a High being, a force, or whatever you may call it, thats at work here. So happy for Harry & Meghan.'

One commented: 'Bless them. Diana would be so proud. May and June is going to be a super busy time for them from now on.'

Many royal fans were amazed by the coincidence, with some calling it 'fate' and others saying the birth was 'destiny'

Others called it 'destiny', while a fourth wrote: 'The connection is so beautiful.'

Lilibet Diana, named after her great-grandmother the Queen and grandmother Princess Diana, was born on Friday at 11.40am at a Californian hospital.

It is not known when relatives on her father's side of the family will first meet the young royal.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge said they were 'delighted' by the arrival of baby Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

They wrote: 'We are delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie.'

Lilibet Diana, named after her great-grandmother the Queen and grandmother Princess Diana, was born on Friday at 11.40am at a Californian hospital (pictured, Prince Harry, Meghan and their firstborn son Archie)

A source has told Us Weekly the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have also 'sent Lilibet a gift'.

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall posted: 'Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie on the arrival of baby Lilibet Diana. Wishing them all well at this special time.'

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: 'The Queen, The Prince of Wales & The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.'
Royal fans have hailed the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge 'class acts' for their response to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's baby news.

Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born on Friday 4, weighing 7lbs 11oz at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Prince Harry, 36 and Meghan Markle, 39, revealed on the website of their Archwell Foundation yesterday.

Prince William, 38, and Kate Middleton, 39, were among the first members of the royal family to congratulate the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the birth of their daughter, taking to social media to say they were 'delighted' with the news.

Royal fans said parents-of-three Kate and William were being 'class acts' and were 'taking the high road' for extending an olive branch to Harry after a year of tensions between the two brothers, and Meghan telling Oprah that Kate had made her cry during a row over flower girl dresses.

Royal fans praised the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, pictured in Scotland on May 26, for celebrating the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's daughter Lilibet on social media yesterday

Fans said the couple had taken 'the high road' to congratulate Harry and Meghan after a year of tension between the two brothers

'We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie,' the couple wrote on their official Instagram page shortly after the birth of Baby Sussex II was announced.

They shared the message alongside a picture of Harry and Meghan's pregnancy announcement from February 14, where the couple embraced in front of a tree in their Montecito property.

Royal fans applauded the second in line for the throne and praised him for acknowledging his brother on social media after months of tension.

'Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for your kindness and generosity,' one said.

Prince William and Kate Middleton were among the first royals to congratulate Harry and Meghan on social media

'Taking the high road once again. This is why you are the future of England,' another wrote.

'So happy to see The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge take the high road and acknowledge this,' one wrote.

'So very gracious of you after everything - first class as always,' one said.

Royal fans said the couple were being 'gracious', while some called it Cambridge Class and said they were kidn and generous

'Your kindness fascinates me Your Royal Highnesses,' another said.

'Great respect for that post,' another wrote.

Prince William and Kate joined other senior royals in congratulating Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on the 'happy news' of their daughter's birth.

They well-wishes were joined by Harry's father Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall who shared congratulations on social media.

The Prince of Wales also noted Lilibet's middle name, Diana, given in honour of his late wife and Harry's mother Princess Diana.

Well wishes were sent out by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Harry's father Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, congratulating Harry, Meghan and their son Archie on the birth of Lilibet Diana

'Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie on the arrival of baby Lilibet Diana. Wishing them all well at this special time,' they said.

Earlier, The Queen sent her best wishes in a joint statement with the Cambridges and the Prince of Wales who had made a touching tribute to her by naming their daughter 'Lilibet', short for Elizabeth.

The official Royal Family Twitter account tweeted: 'Congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the birth of Lilibet Diana!

'The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted with the news. Lilibet is Her Majesty's 11th great-grandchild.'

An earlier shortened statement had been given out by Buckingham Palace, confirming that the senior royals had been 'informed' of the birth.

The Queen, Prince Charles , Camilla and Prince William and Kate released a joint statement announcing that they had been 'informed' of the news. Pictured: Harry and Meghan other senior royals on the Buckingham Palace balcony in June 2018

The official Royal Family Twitter account tweeted: 'Congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the birth of Lilibet Diana! 'The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted with the news. Lilibet is Her Majesty's 11th great-grandchild'

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: 'The Queen, The Prince of Wales & The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge have been informed & are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.'

A source has told Us Weekly that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have also 'sent Lilibet a gift' after hearing of her birth.

Princess Eugenie, who gave birth to her son August in February, congratulated her 'dear cousins' in a post on her Instagram stories.

She shared a picture taken of Meghan and Harry when they announced the duchess was pregnant, and wrote: 'Congratulations dear cousins.. we couldn't be happier for you all.'

The royals have not met the Duchess of Sussex or baby Archie in person since they left in March 2020 initially for Canada before settling in the US.

They were however reunited with Prince Harry in April after he flew back from California to attend the funeral of his grandfather Prince Philip.

News of the royal birth took two days to be announced, with Meghan confirmed to be back at home settling in the newborn today after her press secretary broke the news earlier.

Unlike with their son Archie who was born in 2019 the couple Harry have not yet released a photo of their daughter.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: 'The Queen, The Prince of Wales & The Duchess of Cornwall , and The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge have been informed & are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex'

A statement from their press secretary said: 'It is with great joy that Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, welcome their daughter, Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, to the world'

The new baby will be entitled to be a princess and Archie a prince - both with HRH styles - after the death of the Queen and when Charles becomes king. This is because they will have moved up the line of succession to become the children of a son of a monarch.

Despite Harry and Meghan quitting as senior working royals, the baby still has a place in the line of succession.

She is eighth in line to the throne, coming after Archie, who is seventh in line, and before the Duke of York, who has dropped to ninth place.

The new baby is also a first cousin of Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis and a fifth grandchild for Charles, but will grow up across the Atlantic, thousands of miles away from the royal family - at a time of heartbreak and division within the Windsors.

Harry and Meghan revealed they were expecting a girl in March during their explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. It was a lighter moment during a series of bombshells that left the monarchy in crisis.

Meghan accused an unnamed member of the royal family - not the Queen nor Duke of Edinburgh - of racism, saying they expressed concern about how dark Archie's skin tone might be before he was born.
The life and legacy of the Duke of Edinburgh will be celebrated at special displays at Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse this summer.

Prince Philip - the nation's longest serving consort who died aged 99 on April 9 - was set to have marked his 100th birthday this Thursday.

The two separate exhibitions will chart significant events and achievements in the duke's life through a total of more than 150 objects, the Royal Collection Trust announced - including his navy logbook and coronation robe.

Holyroodhouse's show will be filled with touching mementoes from his wedding day to Princess Elizabeth in 1947, including the invitation, order of service and breakfast menu.

The life and legacy of the Duke of Edinburgh will be celebrated at special displays at Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse this summer. Pictured, the Coronation robe worn by the Duke of Edinburgh at Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953

Prince Philip (pictured left in 2014) - the nation's longest serving consort who died aged 99 on April 9 - was set to have marked his 100th birthday this Thursday. Pictured right, the Chair of Estate made for the Duke of Edinburgh

The menu included 'Filet de Sole Mountbatten' - a tribute to the groom's family name - and 'Bombe Glacee Princesse Elizabeth' - a nod to the royal bride.

Philip and the Queen were together for 73 years, with the duke devoting himself to supporting the monarch in her duties as head of state at home and abroad.

Highlights of Prince Philip: A Celebration at Windsor will also include the Coronation Robe and Coronet worn by the duke during the Queen's Coronation in 1953 and his Chair of Estate which is usually located in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace.

Philip played a key role in the planning of the Coronation, and was instrumental in the decision to broadcast the service live on television.

Some of the gifts presented to the duke during state visits, overseas tours and official engagements will be on public view - including a First Nations feather headdress he was given in Canada in 1973 - embroidered with HRH.

Some of the gifts presented to the duke during state visits, overseas tours and official engagements will be on public view - including a First Nations feather headdress he was given in Canada in 1973 - embroidered with HRH (pictured left). Pictured right, George A Weymouth's portrait of Philip standing in the shell of St George's Hall

Holyroodhouse's show will be filled with touching mementoes from his wedding day to Princess Elizabeth in 1947, including the invitation (pictured)

The exhibition will also include the order of service (pictured right) and breakfast menu (pictured left) from the royal couple's wedding day

On show will also be two of the architect Sir Hugh Casson's original design sketches for the Royal Yacht Britannia's sun lounge and dining room, pictured

The drawing of the spacious, light-filled sun lounge (pictured) features a reclining green sun lounger and a table showing what appears to be a pair of white rimmed sunglasses and some binoculars

There will also be a wine cooler in the shape of a giant grasshopper presented by President Pompidou of France in 1972.

Many of the objects in the Windsor display will focus on the duke's close associations with the castle and the local community.

His mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was born at Windsor in 1885, and visitors will be able to see the journal in which her great-grandmother Queen Victoria recorded the birth and described the newborn as 'very pretty'.

The duke was chair of the Restoration Committee following the Windsor Castle fire of 1992.

George A Weymouth's portrait of Philip standing in the shell of St George's Hall in the aftermath of the blaze, holding a roll of floorplans, will be exhibited.

There will also be a wine cooler in the shape of a giant grasshopper presented by President Pompidou of France in 1972, pictured

At Holyroodhouse, the display will include a section charting Philip's early life and naval career including his Midshipman's log book from 1940-1, pictured left. Pictured right, the journal in which Queen Victoria recorded the birth of the Duke of Edinburgh's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, at Windsor Castle in 1885

At Holyroodhouse, the display will include a section charting Philip's early life and naval career including his Midshipman's log book from 1940-1 in which he described his role operating the ship's searchlight during the Battle of Cape Matapan while stationed on the HMS Valiant off the coast of Greece.

Philip was granted the royal dukedom of Edinburgh ahead of his wedding and the exhibition will explore his connections to Scotland and its capital city.

The duke took a keen interest in the design of the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was built in the Clydebank shipyard in Scotland and launched by the Queen in 1953.

On show will be two of the architect Sir Hugh Casson's original design sketches for the yacht's sun lounge and dining room.

The duke was also an avid collector of contemporary Scottish art. Paintings from his collection, including pieces by Robin Philipson and James Orr (pictured), will be on display at the palace

A picture of the 'Cock and hen' by Sir Robins Philipson, purchased by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1958

A silver model of the Royal Yacht Britannia produced by Garrard and Co and presented to Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh by Lloyd's Register of Shipping in 1972

The drawing of the spacious, light-filled sun lounge features a reclining green sun lounger and a table showing what appears to be a pair of white rimmed sunglasses and some binoculars.

Notes on the side describe the natural wood strip panelling, with the added suggestion that the furniture be 'outdoor' type and upholstered in linen or canvas in 'bright clear colours'.

The duke was also an avid collector of contemporary Scottish art, and between 1958 and 1996 he acquired a large number of works from the annual exhibitions of the Royal Scottish Academy.

Paintings from the collection, including pieces by Robin Philipson and James Orr, will be on display at the palace, with many reflecting Philip's interests in Scottish landscapes and wildlife.

Prince Philip: A Celebration is part of a visit to Windsor Castle from June 24 until September 20 2021, and part of a visit to the Palace of Holyroodhouse from July 23 until October 31 2021.

Tickets must be pre-booked via www.rct.uk or 0303 123 7300.
A 14-year-old girl who was born with an incredibly rare condition that limits all her physical movements has found fame online by sharing details about her illness, which has required her to undergo more than 30 agonizing surgeries, including an operation on her spine and a painful jaw-lengthening procedure.

Grace Novacheck, from Texas, was born with a rare condition known as Escobar's Syndrome - a genetic condition which affects a person's joints, leaving them very tight and therefore severely restricting their range of motion.

Doctors believe that both of Grace's parents, Sunny, 48, and Marcus, 47, are likely passive carriers of the gene, but Grace is the only one affected in her family - who have been forced to shell out $100,000 for her treatment because insurance companies refuse to cover it.

Because her condition is so rare and there are so few sufferers in the US, many of the operations that Grace has had to endure are considered 'experimental' and as a result, insurance companies will not pay for it, which has left her parents to foot the bill, even though the procedures have helped to drastically improve her quality of life.

Brave: Grace Novacheck, 14, was born with a rare condition that affects the joints, and she has had to endure more than 30 surgeries to try and treat it

Fighter: The Texas native suffers from Escobar's Syndrome, which causes the joints to tighten and thereby restricts a sufferer's movements. It also impacts her growth and development

Looking ahead: Grace underwent her first major operation at just six months old, and has had regular procedures since then to try and make her condition more manageable

After Grace was born in August 2006, she was placed into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for nearly three weeks, due to doctors being concerned about her viability. However, she wasn't diagnosed with the condition until the day she was discharged, when they visited an orthopedic surgeon.

Due to her condition, Grace's physical development has been stunted and she didn't hit her milestones until very late on. She didn't begin crawling until she was almost one year old and only started walking at three years old.

Grace is also petite in height at just four-foot-six-inches - but she has learned how to adapt and become more resilient each day.

At six months old, Grace had her first surgery which was a mandibular distraction - a method used to increase the length of the jaw bone.

Her condition meant that she was born with a very small jaw that would have severely restricted her ability to move her mouth and the aim of the operation was to give her a better range of movement.

As she was so young, the treatment required an in-depth surgery which included cutting her jawline and inserting a lengthening device.

Since then, she has had 32 further surgeries which have included two sets of fixators being placed on each leg to help straighten them, a cleft palate repair at 18-months-old and most recently, a spine fusion to help treat scoliosis - curvature of the spine.

She has also had her thumb released on her right hand to help relieve some tightness and a tracheotomy, which helped open up her airways.

Grace's parents believe her most challenging surgery was her first, as it kept her in hospital for over three weeks and post-surgery, they had to continually turn the screws which were protruding out from her neck every eight hours.

To make matters all the more distressing for Marcus and Sunny, they discovered that many insurance companies are not willing to pay for their daughter's treatment; because the condition is so rare, her procedures are considered 'experimental' and therefore are not covered by traditional policies.

But determined to ensure Grace has the best quality of life, the couple have done all they can to provide any treatment she needs - to the cost of $100,000 in medical bills thus far.

Marcus and Sunny worry daily about their daughter's future, as they are concerned about her independence as she gets older.

Risky: Grace had her first surgery at six months old, a mandibular distraction, which is a method used to increase the length of the jaw bone

Painful: As Grace (pictured with her dad Marcus) was so young, the treatment required an in-depth surgery which included cutting her jawline and inserting a lengthening device

Ongoing: Since then, she has had 32 further surgeries, including a cleft palate repair at 18-months-old and most recently, a spine fusion to help treat scoliosis

Upset: Grace's parents say that insurance companies will not cover the cost of her medical care because the treatment is considered 'experimental'

Despite this, Grace is an avid piano player which she started at just six years old and also enjoys playing the cello and guitar, as well as participating in volleyball. She also has a YouTube channel where she spreads awareness for her condition.

Luckily, most of the comments received have been very supportive and complimentary such as, 'You're so beautiful' and 'Wow, this is amazing' - but there have been a few trolls who have commented 'You're ugly' and 'Your appearance is hideous.'

'During the first trimester of Sunny's pregnancy, it was identified that Grace had a very small jaw and that she wasn't moving much,' said Marcus.

'During the third trimester, we expected her to be incredibly active like most babies - but Grace was rather docile and essentially curled up into a tight little ball.

'Whilst she wasn't diagnosed during pregnancy, doctors were concerned about her viability, so once she was delivered via C-section she was placed into the NICU for two-and-a-half-weeks where she was visited by specialists and students who would observe her.

'We felt at times frustrated as it seemed like she was a science project, so as soon as she was discharged we took her to an orthopedic surgeon's office who diagnosed her right away with Escobar's Syndrome.

'All of Grace's joints are overwhelmingly tight and lack a range of motion. Everything from her neck, mouth, arms, legs, hips - you name it, it's excessively tight. This leads to multiple joint contractures and difficulty in almost any movement, where all aspects of life are impacted.

'Although this condition is genetic, no-one else in our family has physical symptoms. Myself and my wife were both tested and it's likely that we are passive carriers, which given our different ethnicities, the odds of us both being carriers is extremely rare.

Costs: The couple has therefore had to pay $100,000 in medical bills thus far - and their daughter still requires more procedures

Concern: The couple also fear how their daughter's condition will affect her life as she grows up and admit that they are worried about whether she will ever be able to live alone

'After she came home, we noticed that the syndrome began affecting her physical development in many ways. She didn't start crawling until she was almost one-year-old and didn't walk until she was three-years-old, so physical milestones were rather delayed.

'At six-months-old, she was admitted for the first of many surgeries where she had surgery to help bring her jaw forward and open her airway more. This was one of the more in-depth surgeries since she was so young and they had to cut her jawline and insert a lengthening device.

'Post-surgery, we had to turn the screws protruding from her neck every eight hours and as parents, we were losing it internally - but did our best to be calm for Grace.

'So far, she has had 33 surgeries to date which have mostly consisted of craniofacial and orthopedic surgeries.

'These have included two sets of external fixators on each leg to help straighten and lengthen them, as well as multiple surgeries on her jaw area and a cleft palate repair.

'She's also had a spine fusion to help treat her scoliosis, a tracheostomy and has had her thumb released on her right hand to relieve some tightness and to allow her to grip and function better.

'Initially, all of these have been successful - but over time, her body's natural tendency is to stiffen up and revert back as she grows and essentially, genetics try to undo all of the progress we have tried to make.

'Usually, the surgeries only take around four to six hours, but the ones on her legs took almost ten hours to complete. Her recovery is usually just a few days and she's up and bossing people around right away - but some do take longer than others.

'I think the hardest part is letting go - you do everything you can as parents and then you walk her back to the operating room, give her meds and then she falls asleep. You have to sit and wait patiently whilst the doctors do their work and you sit there with no news for hours whilst your mind starts to imagine the worst - after thirty-three surgeries, we still cry every time.

'A lot of her medical bills haven't been covered by insurance, as due to the small number of Escobar patients and even fewer studies on treatment, many of her procedures were deemed 'experimental' or 'unproven' and for a young family, that has been a huge financial burden.

'Grace will still need surgeries in the future, such as another mandibular distraction for her jaw and orthopedic surgeries on her legs - but to date, we have spent well into six figures on her medical care.'

Marcus and Sunny worry daily about their daughter, particularly as she is getting older, such as about her being able to live by herself, her physical development as she reaches womanhood and her ability to find a career that fits her abilities.

'We worry about her emotional well-being given how her life is so different from that of her peers and it can be challenging to make friends when you have such unique experiences that others cannot relate to,' said Marcus.

'Of course, we worry about her heart and hope that she will find her soulmate and that she'll be able to realize her dreams in both a personal and professional way - life is hard enough, but even more difficult as a disabled member of society.

'However, mentally and academically she is thriving. Grace began taking piano lessons when she was just six years old and it has helped her brain development to an extent. She also loves playing the cello and guitar, as well as drawing and other art.

'She also likes to look at different fashion magazines and plays volleyball in a recreational league. Currently, she is enrolled in an International Baccalaureate public school, which offers support for her disability.

Looking ahead: 'We worry about her emotional well-being given how her life is so different from that of her peers,' her father said

Moving forward: Grace will have to undergo more procedures throughout her life, including another jaw-lengthening surgery

'We started a YouTube channel around two years ago with the purpose to spread awareness and joy - we try to educate, tell stories that demonstrate the struggles that most are unaware of and try to make the world better.

'I don't think it's really sunk in yet that she has nearly nine-thousand-subscribers and thousands of viewers on each video and I don't think she recognizes the impact she's had on people either.

'As long as we stay true to the message of kindness, awareness and making the world better, we are generally fine with its influence and the vast majority of comments are really supportive.

'Sometimes she wants to engage with trolls, who leave comments such as 'You're weird' and 'Ugh, so spoiled' and we have to encourage her to take the high road. She once read the saying 'Hurt people hurt other people' which has really stuck with her and makes it easier to forgive others.

'Grace's future is wide open; she has four years of high school left where we will continue to expect strong academic and piano performance, as well as expecting her to take part in extracurricular activities such as volunteering.

'She will take a gap year after she graduates high school where she will have the majority of her final surgeries, which will prepare her for adult-hood and then she will be off to university to explore different career paths.

'I think the most challenging part of Grace's journey so far is maintaining toughness through the whole journey. We've made it through a lot, but we still have a long way to go.

'There are the regular things that parents worry about, but we worry if she will be able to do those things independently and if not, whether we'll be able to get her the help she needs.

'Although we have a good support system in our friends and family, who are always there to take care of her when we need a break and just for encouraging words, understanding friends have sometimes been hard to come by.

'I think a lot of other kids cannot relate to what she is going through, but I think that is part of teen life as they all develop into different people.

'Our advice to Grace is to always work hard and know that her family is always there for her. You can't take 'no' for an answer in your career or life and although her version of doing things may look different to others, she can accomplish whatever she puts her mind to.

'Try not to focus on the setbacks or the difficult parts - there's a time and place where you can feel sorry for yourself, but eventually you have to either accept reality or change it.

'Be grateful for the many wonderful things in life and stay kind, be generous and make the most out of the gifts and talents you've been blessed with.'
American luxury brand Halston has created a limited edition capsule collection inspired by original costumes showcased in the Netflix miniseries starring Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Dayan.

Halston x Netflix is a ten piece eveningwear collection by Halstons Chief Creative Officer, Robert Rodriguez, available for pre-order starting June 7 on Halston.com.

'Jeriana San Juan, the costume designer for the series did an amazing job of capturing the essence of Halstons in the styles that she designed,' said Robert.

'I modernized the styles by changing fabrications, proportions and silhouettes.'

Iconic American luxury brand Halston has created a limited edition capsule collection inspired by original costumes showcased in the Netflix original miniseries

Halston x Netflix is a ten piece eveningwear collection by Halstons Chief Creative Officer, Robert Rodriguez, available for pre-order starting June 7 on Halston.com

'I started by looking at the key looks in the series and narrowed those down to the 10 most iconic designs that I felt would resonate most with our customer,' explained Robert

To begin, 'I started by looking at the key looks in the series and narrowed those down to the 10 most iconic designs that I felt would resonate most with our customer,' explained Robert.

While the designer brought his own creativity and sensibility to the line, he paid homage to the American glamour that Roy Halston Frowick became synonymous with.

'Halston loved color, so I was sure to highlight that, and I focused on shimmer jersey fabrics and batik prints, which he was known for.'

Noteworthy styles in the capsule collection include the Elsa, a sapphire blue batik printed silk chiffon caftan, a key look in the miniseries.

'I love the Liza. Its a shimmering silver sheer pleated caftan with a bodysuit. 'I love that the silhouette is very reminiscent of Halston yet the bodysuit modernizes it. It also has amazing movement when its on the body.'

While Halston turned to Liza Minelli and Elsa Peretti for inspiration, Robert says he doesn't have one particular muse

Each of the ten pieces, named after the Halstonettes (Halston's entourage of models, a term coined by fashion editor Andre Leon Talley), embody the luxe, sexy glamour of the 1970s and 80s, an era defined by Halston.

The collection will be launching for Pre-Order June 7th on Halston.com, and will be shipping to customers and arriving in Saks + Neiman Marcus stores in late July.

While many of the iconic Halston archive dresses appear in the Netflix series, a noteworthy style in the capsule collection includes the Elsa, a sapphire blue batik printed silk chiffon caftan, a key look in the miniseries.

Also the Beverly, a red and fuchsia printed silk chiffon cascade gown, and the Anjelica, a ruched viscose jersey one shoulder gown.

The Liza" is admittedly Robert's favorite.

'Its a shimmering silver sheer pleated caftan with a bodysuit. I love that the silhouette is very reminiscent of Halston yet the bodysuit modernizes it. It also has amazing movement when its on the body.'

Each of the ten pieces, named after the Halstonettes (a term coined by fashion editor Andre Leon Talley for Halston's entourage of models), embody the luxe, sexy glamour of the 1970s and 80s, an era defined by the American fashion designer.

The collection will retail between $995-$1595.

'Fluidity and femininity have always been part of my DNA and theres a certain sexiness we both love,' said Robert

'Roy Halston Frowick single-handedly created luxury American fashion,' said Robert.

'Halston has always had a tremendous influence on my career, in an industry where his imprint remains decades later.'

Robert was appointed CCO in January of 2020, after succeeding Marie Mazelis, who exited the company just as quietly after a seven-year run.

'In one way or another Halston and I are very similar. We are both minimalists when it comes to designing collections.

'Fluidity and femininity have always been part of my DNA and theres a certain sexiness we both love.'

'Jeriana San Juan, the costume designer for the series did an amazing job of capturing the essence of Halstons in the styles that she designed,' said Robert

'I dont have one particular muse. I believe that all women are inspiring today'

'I try to stay true to the core aesthetic Halston was synonymous with by keeping designs minimal and streamlined yet modernize and reinterpret it for todays woman.'

While Halston turned to Liza Minelli and Elsa Peretti for inspiration, Robert says he doesn't have one particular muse.

'I believe that all women are inspiring today.

'I think Halston was very forward thinking, he wanted to dress the world and when designing for Halston today, I keep that in mind and try to be inclusive of women of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds.'

'Im thrilled to now carry forward his legacy through this Netflix capsule collection in collaboration with Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.'

The collection retails between $995-$1595.
The Duchess of Cambridge has said she recognised struggles families faced during the pandemic while praising a volunteer who worked at a food bank for his 'real community spirit' after he appeared in her Hold Still photography contest.

Sami, who only gave his first name and came to the UK with his partner Helen last year, began helping out at the Community Food Hub, in Hackney, east London, while his partner was working at one of the Nightingale Hospitals.

During his first day, photographer Grey Hutton was taking pictures of volunteers at the food hub as part of the National Geographic's Covid-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists when he decided to take a picture of Sami.

The image of Sami, which shows him standing outside of the food bank wearing PPE and smiling, is among 100 photographs chosen for Kate's Hold Still project.

In a phone call with Sami, which was published on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's YouTube channel today, Kate said his story was 'fascinating' and had been included as the role of the exhibition was to highlight the 'amazing work' being done by communities during the pandemic.

The Duchess of Cambridge (pictured) has said she recognised struggles families faced during the pandemic while praising a volunteer who worked at a food bank for his 'real community spirit' after he appeared in her Hold Still photography contest

Kate, who is a keen amateur photographer, launched the Hold Still initiative during lockdown and asked the public to submit their images which captured the period for a digital exhibition.

She was then joined by a panel of five judges to select the best photos from more than 31,000 submitted for the nation-wide contest and said she was 'overwhelmed' by the response and that it was 'so hard' to whittle the images down to a top 100.

During the five-minute call, which was recorded in Autumn 2020, Kate thanked Sami for his hard work while volunteering.

She said: 'I just wanted to call, Sami, to say a huge thank you for sending in your photograph, and how thrilled we were to have it as part of the final selection.

'This is really to celebrate you guys and all the amazing community work that was happening around lockdown and to really celebrate that and highlight it as well because the work you were doing was off your own back

Sami (pictured), who only gave his first name and came to the UK with his partner Helen last year, began helping out at the Community Food Hub, in Hackney, east London, while his partner was working at one of the Nightingale Hospitals

'I think it shows real community spirit, so the thanks goes to you and the well done goes to you really.'

A photograph of a casual-looking Kate, wearing a Whistles blouse and black trousers, and a snap of Sami appeared while a recording of their call plays in the background.

Kate said: 'I think there is a real desperate need, wasn't there? I think the struggles that families, the kids had were there anyway but then everything's been exacerbated.

'That's exactly how it was,' Sami added. 'I learnt so much in my time as a volunteer there.'

During his first day, photographer Grey Hutton was taking pictures of volunteers at the food hub as part of the National Geographic's Covid-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists when he decided to take a picture of Sami (pictured)

The duchess said she was 'thrilled' to have his image as part of the final selection, while Sami said it felt 'really awesome' to have been chosen.

Kate added: 'There's lots of great work going on out there and actually it's being able to bring it to the forefront and to remind people that although it might not be on their doorstep, but actually, this sort of amazing work is going on in communities

'And that's why part of the photography project is really just highlighting different acts of kindness and different ways in which we've all pulled together. And we felt that was really important.'

The Hold Still project encouraged the public to document life through photographs during the pandemic. It has since been turned into an exhibition and book.

Sami, who moved to the UK with his girlfriend Helen, has since moved back to be with his family in Rio.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry paid tribute to both the Queen and Princess Diana with their daughter's name, but it seems there's a secret nod to the duchess' mother Doria Ragland too.

Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born on Friday, June 4 at 11.40am at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California.

She was named in honour of the Duke of Sussex's late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as the Queen, whose nickname - used by Prince Philip and her grandfather King George V - was Lilibet.

But the name Lili, which the Sussexes plan to call their daughter, also holds special meaning for Meghan and Doria because the duchess was given the childhood nickname Flower by her adoring mother.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry paid tribute to both the Queen and Princess Diana with their daughter's name, but it seems there's a secret nod to the duchess' mother Doria Ragland (pictured together) too

In a blog post on her now-defunct lifestyle site, The Tig, Meghan shared her nicknames, writing: Meg, MM, M&M, and Flower (which my mom has called me since I was little),' reported People.

Journalist Afua Adom also insisted Baby Sussexs name was not just about being named after the Queen when appearing on Good Morning Britain today.

Joined by royal biographer Angela Levin, who was critical of the moniker, the journalist said: Lilibet is such a pretty name, it's such a cute name. It is not just about being named after the Queen.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are joined by her mother, Doria Ragland, in May 2019 as they show their son to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle following his birth

Sweet family nickname for Queen that inspired Harry and Meghan's name for their baby daughter Lilibet - the Queen's family nickname - was first used when Princess Elizabeth was just a toddler and unable to pronounce her own name properly. Her grandfather King George V would affectionately call her 'Lilibet' imitating her own attempts to say Elizabeth. The sweet nickname stuck and she became Lilibet to her family from then on. The Duke of Edinburgh also referred to his wife as Lilibet, writing to his mother in law after their wedding: 'Lilibet is the only "thing" in the world which is absolutely real to me.' Harry and Meghan's new baby daughter will be known as Lili. Her middle name Diana honours Harry's later mother, the Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in 1997 when Harry was just 12. Advertisement

It is a bit of a nod to Meghan's mother Doria as well, because Meghan's mother's nickname for her is flower, hence why we've got Lili in there for Lilibet.

But host Susanna Reid wasn't convinced, saying: It is a bit of a stretch.

Since Meghan and Harry moved to California last year, the Duchess of Sussex has spent more time with her mother, who lives nearby in Los Angeles.

Its thought the grandmother frequently visits her grandson Archie and his parents in Montecito.

Last night the delighted Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced: On June 4, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili.

She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers weve felt from across the globe.

'Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family.

Lili  who is eighth in line to the throne  was born in Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, a private facility where births cost up to 20,000.

Omid Scobie, a journalist favoured by Harry and Meghan, tweeted that the couple would not be sharing a photograph at this time of Lili and that they were now on 'parental leave'.

He said the couples office was encouraging anyone who wanted to send gifts to support organisations working for women and girls.
McDonald's has launched a new McFlurry flavour in Singapore - complete with creamy soft-serve and caramelised swirls of Lotus Biscoff crumbs.

The vanilla ice cream has been paired with the famous Belgian biscuits, which are typically served as a complimentary snack with a cup of coffee in hotels across Europe.

'Crunchy, caramelised crumbs and a whole lot of goodness. Our creamy soft-serve is swirled with Lotus Biscoff crumbs for that extra crunch,' the description read.

A McDonald's Australia spokesman told Daily Mail Australia there are no plans to unveil the McFlurry Lotus Biscoff Down Under any time soon.

'However, we're always listening to customer feedback and watching other markets, so you just never know,' the McDonald's spokesman added.

McDonald's has launched a new McFlurry flavour in Singapore - complete with creamy soft-serve and caramelised swirls of Lotus Biscoff crumbs

The vanilla ice cream has been paired with the famous Belgian biscuits, which are typically served as a complimentary snack with a cup of coffee in hotels across Europe

Singaporean diners can order the treat via takeaway, Drive-Thru, or McDelivery.

In addition to the Lotus Biscoff McFlurry, McDonald's has also delighted Singaporean diners with the launch of a blueberry cream cheese pie.

'I want to try both of these, looks damn good,' one wrote, while another added: 'Love the pie so much. I went back and bought another six. The cream cheese was smooth and the blueberry jam wasn't overly sweet. Surprise the duo worked so well in a pie.'

While another added: 'I tried the new Lotus Biscoff McFlurry. It was really nice and I liked that there was Biscoff biscuits throughout the entire vanilla ice cream. Every spoonful contained biscuits and the biscuits complemented the ice cream very well.'

In addition to the Lotus Biscoff McFlurry, McDonald's has also delighted Singaporean diners with the launch of a blueberry cream cheese pie

Earlier this year, McDonald's brought the hugely popular Cookie Time McFlurry to Australia

Earlier this year, McDonald's brought the hugely popular Cookie Time McFlurry to Australia.

Packed with triple chocolate chunk cookie crumb and hot fudge sauce, the flavour is a collaboration between Macca's and cult Kiwi biscuit brand Cookie Time, which has become a national treasure since it was founded in Christchurch in 1983.

If the chocolate and fudge mix doesn't do enough to sate your taste buds, McDonald's recommends adding Cadbury Flake, mini M&Ms and extra caramel topping to your ice cream for 55c each.
Bots were the primary driver behind the spread of COVID-19 misinformation online, a new study suggests.

Researchers looked at the sharing of different links related to the pandemic in more than 300,000 posts, mainly regarding the use of masks, made to Facebook groups.

They used the timing of certain links shared in these groups to measure the activity of bots. Frequent sharing, or multiple posts of the same link in groups only seconds apart, were a sign of bot activity.

The team - led by the University of California San Diego in collaboration with researchers at George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University - are asking for Facebook and other social media giants to tighten restrictions - but not all public heath experts agree that platforms should 'censor' misinformation.

It comes as many assumptions about COVID-19 early on in the pandemic, once classified as 'misinformation', are now being reexamined - such as the origins of the virus and the theory it may have come from a lab in Wuhan.

Researchers found that a large portion of misinformation about Covid-19, masks and the vaccines were spread by bot accounts on social media.

'The coronavirus pandemic has sparked what the World Health Organization has called an "infodemic" of misinformation,' lead author Dr John Ayers, a scientist who specializes in public health surveillance at the University of California, San Diego,

'But, bots...have been overlooked as a source of COVID-19 misinformation.'

One of the links the researchers explored was to a study in Denmark that found inconclusive data on whether or not wearing a mask reduced transmission of COVID-19.

The study was misinterpreted, and used as a source of misinformation by many on social media, especially Facebook.

Researchers found that the post was often being shared by multiple accounts to multiple groups many times in the span of seconds, a sign that the accounts sharing the post were bots operating in the same network.

Almost 40 percent of times the post was shared on Facebook, it was done so in groups that the researchers flagged as having heavy bot activity.

One in five of those posts lied about the results of the study, saying researchers determined masks were harmful to wearers - a conclusion that never appears in the research.

Posts of the study in Facebook groups with detected bot activity were 2.3 times more likely to share the false claim that masks hurt their wearer.

'Bots also appear to be undermining critical public health institutions,' said Brian Chu, study coauthor and medical student.

'In our case study, bots mischaracterized a prominent publication from a prestigious medical journal to spread misinformation.'

'This suggests that no content is safe from the dangers of weaponized misinformation.'

Researchers are calling for Mark Zuckerberg (pictured), CEO of Facebook, and other leading figures in the tech industry to take a stronger stance against public health misinformation. Not all members of the research field agree, though

The researchers are asking for Facebook and other social media giants to tighten restrictions on the spread of disinformation.

They believe that companies like Facebook can easily detect and censor false information produced by bots, as they themselves were able to detect much of the disinformation and bot-active groups themselves.

Researchers also fear that bots may be manipulating the algorithms used by these companies, as the massive sharing of these stories by bots may cause the algorithm to think they are more popular than they are, and boost them on users feeds.

'Our work shows that social media platforms have the ability to detect, and therefore remove, these coordinated bot campaigns,' said Dr David Broniatowski, associate director of the GW Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics, and study coauthor.

'Efforts to purge deceptive bots from social media platforms must become a priority among legislators, regulators, and social media companies who have instead been focused on targeting individual pieces of misinformation from ordinary users.'

Not all researchers agree, however.

Kamran Abbasi, executive editor of The BMJ, one of the oldest medical journals in England, wrote in an op-ed that social media platforms censoring these stories could be dangerous.

'It seems 2020 is Orwell's 1984, where the boundaries of public discourse are governed by multibillion dollar corporations (in place of a totalitarian regime) and secret algorithms coded by unidentified employees,' Abbas wrote in reference to Facebook potentially censoring or labeling stories about the Danish study as 'misinformation'.

'Where is Facebook's accountability for the lies and damaging misinformation that it has peddled on controversial topics such as mental health and suicides, minorities, and vaccines?

'Facebook in particular purports to allow freedom of speech on its platform but acts selectively, seemingly without logic, consistency, or transparency.

'That is how control of facts and opinions furthers hidden agendas and manipulates the public. '

Misinformation regarding Covid-19 has spread across the world as fast as the virus.

Last week, prominent feminist writer Naomi Wolf was suspended by Twitter after a series of posts spreading misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccines.

Naomi Wolf had made controversy in recent months due to a series of posts spreading misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines. The feminist writer was suspended on Twitter last week

Recent claims she had made on Twitter included saying that vaccines were software platforms that can receive uploads, and that sewage from vaccinated individuals could be dangerous to the drinking water supply, both claims with no scientific backing.

Facebook, Instagram and other platforms have also added features to combat vaccine misinformation, linking information about the vaccines automatically to any post made about the shots.

Facebook has even said they will outright remove certain posts making baseless claims about the vaccines.

The study will be available in the Journal of American Medicine on Monday.
The first drug to treat Alzheimer's disease in nearly 20 years was approved by the FDA on Monday.

Aducanumab is one of a long list of medications aimed to remove sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid beta from the brains of patients in earlier stages of Alzheimer's.

This helps hold off the disease, which causes memory loss and destroys the ability to care for oneself.

Clinical trials for the treatment, to be sold under the brand name Aduhelm - made by Biogen Inc - showed a reduction in the plaques which is expected to lead to a reduction in the clinical decline of patients.

However, some critics dispute the drug's effectiveness and say the science of whether or not aducanumab actually works in shaky.

The authorization of the drug comes via the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) accelerated approval pathway, which provides earlier access for patients with diseases that have few therapies and where there is an expectation of benefit despite some uncertainty.

Biogen still will have to run trials showing 'clinical benefit.' If the trials have negative results, the FDA can rescind its approval.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved on Monday the first drug to treat Alzheimer's disease in 30 years, made by Biogen Inc

Biogen launched two clinical trials for aducanumab in 2016, according to The Washington Post.

Both were stopped midway because researchers concluded that neither would end up reaching its goal.

But later, the company revealed updated data from the second study that showed patients had a 22 percent decrease in the speed of their cognitive decline.

The company was hoping the data would be enough for the FDA to approve the drug because a third trial could take four to six more years to complete.

In a statement, released Monday, Dr Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the agency was aware of the controversy.

HOW TO DETECT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory, thinking skills and the ability to perform simple tasks. It is the cause of 60% to 70% of cases of dementia. The majority of people with Alzheimer's are age 65 and older More than six million Americans have Alzheimers. It is unknown what causes Alzheimer's. Those who have the APOE gene are more likely to develop late-onset Alzheimer's. Signs and symptoms: Difficulty remembering newly learned information

Disorientation

Mood and behavioral changes

Suspicion about family, friends and professional caregivers

More serious memory loss

Difficulty with speaking, swallowing and walking Stages of Alzheimer's: Mild Alzheimer's (early-stage) - A person may be able to function independently but is having memory lapses

Moderate Alzheimer's (middle-stage) - Typically the longest stage, the person may confuse words, get frustrated or angry, or have sudden behavioral changes

Severe Alzheimer's disease (late-stage) - In the final stage, individuals lose the ability to respond to their environment, carry on a conversation and, eventually, control movement Advertisement

'We are well-aware of the attention surrounding this approval,' she wrote.

'We understand that Aduhelm has garnered the attention of the press, the Alzheimer's patient community, our elected officials, and other interested stakeholders.'

'With a treatment for a serious, life-threatening disease in the balance, it makes sense that so many people were following the outcome of this review.'

Advocates say that while the drug is not perfect, it can delay cognitive decline.

An estimated six million Americans of all ages were living with Alzheimer's disease in 2018.

Sufferers experience a decline in cognitive, behavioral and physical abilities, and there is no cure.

Prior to Monday's approval, there were no drugs cleared by the FDA that can slow the mental decline from Alzheimer's, the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S.

Biogen has estimated that around 1.5 million Americans would be eligible for treatment with aducanumab, which is given by monthly infusion, raising concerns about costs to the healthcare system.

The Alzheimer's Association is supportive of the drug, hoping that it can provide temporary help for patients, while also calling for further trials even after approval.

'We don't think this is the end all or be all,' Harry Johns, president and chief executive of the Alzheimer's Association, told The Post.

'It will take more advances, but it does appear from the science that people, especially at early stages, could be real beneficiaries and that the benefits accumulate over time.'

Critics of the drug said approving the drug too early could hurt patients more than it would help, due to the wasted time and resources that may go into delivering a product that does not work.

They also criticize Biogen's conclusion from the second trial, describing it as finding a conclusion then building the process to get there backwards in order to get the results they wanted.

'The worst thing for people with Alzheimer's would be to put out a product that doesn't work,' Aaron Kesselheim, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, told the newspaper.

'It will be sold at an extremely high price and waste resources that could go to other things.'
More than three-quarters of Americans who are not planning on getting vaccinated against COVID-19 are unlikely to change their minds, according to a recent poll.

Conducted by Gallup between May 18 and May 23, the survey found that 24 percent of adults do not plan on getting vaccinated.

Of that group, 78 percent reported that they are unlikely to change their stance on receiving the vaccine, with more than half reporting they are 'not likely at all.'

Only about 20 percent of those who said they do not plan on getting the COVID-19 shot indicated that they were open to changing their mind.

The results indicate the crisis public health officials currently face, as vaccine demand slowly continues its fall around the country, and the potential of reaching herd immunity seems to dwindle.

There is no strong reason for why many Americans are hesitant to receive the vaccine, per the Gallup data.

The most common reason is that many are still skeptical of the safety of the vaccines, with 23 percent citing this.

All three vaccines that are available in the United States are deemed safe for use, and have received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

They are all pending full approval from the FDA, but that may not come until late 2021 or early 2022.

Another group, 20 percent, believe that they are not at risk from the virus.

About 16 percent each said they are worried due to the hasty nature of the vaccines' releases or are skeptical of vaccines in general.

Nearly half of Republicans (46 percent) say they do not plan to receive the vaccine, compared to only 6 percent of Democrats and 31 percent of independents.

And nearly a third of non-college educated Americans (31 percent) say that they will not get vaccinated, compared to 12 percent of college-educated Americans.

West Virginia Gov Jim Justice (pictured) announced a vaccine sweepstakes in his state last week, incentivizing residents in the state the get the shots by giving away guns, trucks and cash. The state joins many others that have put similar programs in place to combat falling vaccine demand

Demand for the vaccines in America have stagnated in recent weeks, after reaching highs in April. President Joe Biden has set a goal to get 70 percent of Americans at least partially vaccinated by July 4, and the goal remains in reach despite a recent slowdown in the vaccine rollout

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show more than 63 percent of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a COVID -19 vaccine.

Additionally, 51.5 percent of the total population has had one dose and more than 40 percent of the country is fully vaccinated, per the CDC.

Experts predict that between 70 and 85 percent of the U.S. population may need to get fully vaccinated in order for the country to reach herd immunity, meaning the country is about half way there.

According to the data from Gallup, if America is to reach a point where 80 percent of its population is vaccinated, health officials are going to need to start convincing some Americans to get jabbed.

Gallup predicts that 80 percent is the ceiling as to how many Americans will receive at least one dose of the vaccine.

Some states have resorted to vaccine lotteries and other sweepstakes to convince their populations to get the shots.

In Ohio, five vaccinated residents will be chosen to receive $1 million each over the next few weeks.

West Virginia instituted a creative vaccine sweepstakes, giving away hunting rifles, shotguns and customized trucks as incentives to get residents vaccinated.

The efforts have been successful so far, as the vaccination rate - especially among younger Americans - has increased since the giveaways were announced.

In the shorter term, President Joe Biden set a target of getting 70 percent of American adults at least the first shot of a Covid-19 vaccine by July 4.

The Gallup poll estimates that 12 percent of Americans are unvaccinated but willing to get vaccinated soon, meaning that the president's goal in still in reach with a month to go.
Medicine has progressed at an astonishing rate over the past 40 years. If, in the late 1970s, a child had contracted leukaemia, their chances of survival would have been around 20 per cent  today it would be 80 per cent.

Similar impressive rates of improvement can be found in almost every other area of medicine. With one exception: mental health.

In this area, not only have clinical outcomes broadly flatlined but, according to some measures, they have actually got worse.

And this is despite tens of billions of pounds having been spent on psychiatric research in the past two decades; despite 18 billion being spent on mental health services annually in the NHS; and despite nearly a quarter of the entire UK adult population now being prescribed a psychiatric drug each year.

Public conversations around mental health have proliferated. This, of course, is a good thing. But it is clearly insufficient in making things better.

Research published in the British Journal of General Practice back in 1998 found that patients prescribed antidepressants stopped getting better after three months, while a group who didnt receive the drugs continued to improve

According to the NHSs Independent Mental Health Taskforce (set up to create a national strategy for improving mental health services), mental health outcomes have worsened in recent years, as have rates of suicide. And there has been no reduction at all in the prevalence of mental disorders since the 1980s.

Why? Is this all just down to sparse resources, or is there something more ominous about our approach to mental health?

The answer lies in something I, as a fledgling psychotherapist, had not expected to encounter when I started working in the NHS in the early 2000s. I soon realised that the vast majority of people whod been diagnosed and prescribed psychiatric medication were not mentally ill or dysfunctional in any substantiated or medical sense.

Rather, they were people experiencing the inevitably painful human consequences of being engulfed by lifes difficulties or severe misfortunes. Far from being pathological, they were having sane yet painful reactions to factors such as poverty, trauma, family breakdown, social discrimination, abuse and so forth.

My first placement, in 2004, was at a small family-centre charity on a council estate. Most of the people I saw were living with very difficult situations, yet the human and social causes of their suffering went largely ignored.

Emotion labelled as 'mental illness'

Instead, after a seven-minute consultation with a GP, they ended up being prescribed psychiatric medication (antidepressants, tranquillisers), which they took for extended periods, while nearly every one of them had been given a psychiatric label, usually that of a depressive or anxiety disorder.

After 12 months, I moved to an NHS clinic in a more affluent area, serving a mostly white, middle-class and well-educated clientele. Here, once again, most people had been prescribed medication and given labels  anxiety, depression and, sometimes, more severe diagnoses: bipolar, personality or psychotic disorder.

But here, too, I never met anyone I felt comfortable calling mentally ill. Instead, there were relationship problems, sexual problems, unhappiness at work, low self-esteem, bereavement and loneliness.

But these understandable yet painful experiences had been recast as symptoms of a specific psychiatric disorder, to which a specific psychiatric drug was then matched.

In the UK, our attachment to psychiatric drugs appears to be stronger than ever. We are now witnessing long-term prescribing for milder and moderate problems  for the kinds of mental health issue managed by GPs

Harms of chemical 'imbalance theory'

This is the typical response to anyone who opens up about their mental distress today: completely overlooking harmful social, political and work environments and, instead, relying on drug interventions which may do more harm than good in the long run. I often wondered: How did we get here?

Mental suffering is blamed on faulty minds and brains  the so-called chemical imbalances  despite there being no known tests or other kind of physical examination that can prove this or verify any diagnosis.

Whats more, recent research has shown that believing mental illness is rooted in biological abnormalities can have an adverse impact on someones recovery.

For example, people diagnosed with depression who believe their problems are due to chemical imbalances experience greater pessimism about their recovery, as well as more depressive symptoms after their treatment has ended (according to a Harvard study published in 2020).

I say this not to shame anyone who takes medication for their real distress. There may be some rational use for psychiatric drugs, particularly in the short term, for the most severe forms of distress.

Nor do I mean to diminish the often overwhelming effects of suffering, nor to deny that those affected deserve care and support  quite the opposite.

But since I moved from clinical practice into research (in 2014, I co-founded the Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry, which advises the All Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence), my work with others has shown, among other things, the great difficulty many people have in coming off medications such as antidepressants.

And the problems run deeper, with over-diagnosis and overtreatment of mental distress that is driven by a medical model  which in turn is driven by drug manufacturers.

The truth is that since the 1990s, the pharmaceutical industry has significantly shaped psychiatric research, training and practice through financial sponsorship. It has funded many influential mental health charities, patient groups and heads of psychiatry departments.

Furthermore, the industry has paid for, commissioned, designed and conducted nearly all the clinical trials into psychiatric drugs.

Even the two questionnaires that have been widely used in the NHS to help doctors determine if a person has depression or anxiety  the PHQ-9 questionnaire and the GAD-7 questionnaire respectively  were originally developed by Pfizer, which, incidentally, makes two of the most prescribed anti-anxiety and antidepressant drugs in the UK: Effexor and Zoloft.

Faster recovery without the pills

It is little wonder that the over-medicalisation  and subsequent medicating  of emotional distress has proliferated.

Yet in nations where antidepressant prescriptions have doubled in the past 20 years (including the UK, U.S., Australia, Iceland and Canada), we have also witnessed the doubling of people claiming disability payments due to mental health problems, as the work of Robert Whitaker, a U.S. researcher (and the author of Mad In America, a book on psychiatric treatment) has shown.

This is the opposite of what you would expect if the drugs were working  and it cant simply be put down to an increase in awareness of mental health conditions. If psychiatric medications were effective long-term treatments, then an increase in diagnosis and treatment shouldnt lead to a rise in disability.

There is a large body of evidence that could explain the link  that psychiatric drugs appear to worsen long-term outcomes.

For example, a large 2017 study into long-term antidepressant use assessed the progress of 3,300 patients over nine years. It showed that medicated patients had significantly more severe symptoms after nine years than those who had stopped treatment.

In fact, even people who received no treatment at all did better than those who received medication over the long term.

It is far from the first finding of this nature. Research published in the British Journal of General Practice back in 1998 found that patients prescribed antidepressants stopped getting better after three months, while a group who didnt receive the drugs continued to improve.

In 2007, the most comprehensive study of long-term psychiatric drug use at that time was published in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.

It followed a large cohort of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, asking how they were doing five, ten and 15 years after their first diagnosis and course of antipsychotic treatment.

Medications can shrink the brain

After four-and-a-half years, 39 per cent of those who had stopped their medication had fully recovered, compared with only six per cent of those who had continued taking their medication.

After ten years, that gap had widened further. In fact, the longer people stayed on the drugs, the worse their outcomes on every measure, including anxiety, cognitive function and capacity to work.

More recently, in 2019, researchers at Zurich University of Applied Sciences found that in the long term, antidepressants might increase the risk of re-hospitalisation in patients diagnosed with both depression and bipolar.

As they stated: Our findings, therefore, challenge the alleged long-term benefit of antidepressants and raise the possibility that, in the long run, antidepressants may do more harm than good.

Most unnervingly, there is evidence that long-term use of psychiatric drugs can change the brain, which may explain the increased risk of relapse or worsening symptoms described in other studies.

For example, in 2011, one of the foremost neuroscientists in the U.S., Professor Nancy Andreasen, led a team exploring long-term drug use. MRI scans revealed that long-term use of certain anti-psychotics was associated with smaller brain tissue volumes.

Crucially, this degeneration was not a symptom of the disease, as previously thought, but an outcome of long-term psychiatric drug use.

And although the study looked at people being treated for schizophrenia specifically, the researchers noted that anti- psychotics are increasingly used for other conditions (such as bipolar and depression).

This is just a small sample of the evidence. It suggests that our drug-heavy approach may at least partly explain why mental health outcomes are falling far behind other areas of healthcare, especially since the long-term use of psychiatric drugs is associated with an increase in a whole host of other problems such as weight gain, risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, and sexual dysfunction.

Yet in the UK, our attachment to psychiatric drugs appears to be stronger than ever. We are now witnessing long-term prescribing for milder and moderate problems  for the kinds of mental health issue managed by GPs.

Today, about 4.4 million people in England have been taking antidepressants for longer than two years.

One reason why people seem unable to come off medications such as antidepressants is widespread misunderstanding about the withdrawal effects, which have been assumed  incorrectly  to be mild and short-lived, resolving in a week or two.

In fact, we now know that many people experience severe symptoms  such as increased anxiety, trouble sleeping and even suicidal thoughts  for months and beyond when they try to stop their medication.

Truth about the CBT success story The main type of mental health therapy offered on the NHS  Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)  has been heralded as a big success, with nearly ten million people treated since its inception in 2006. It is claimed that almost half of people recover as part of their IAPT treatment, which generally involves up to six sessions of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy, which is largely about changing peoples perspectives; helping them adapt better to the circumstances in which they found themselves). It was built on the promise that it was a quick, cost-effective way to get people back to work. Yet underneath the impressive headline figures, there is evidence that IAPT is, in fact, failing hundreds of thousands of patients annually. In 2010, Dr Michael Scott, a clinical psychologist at the University of Manchester, noticed something odd when he was assessing IAPT patients. Alongside his work as an academic and clinician, Dr Scott acted as an expert witness for the courts  where he heard time and again that peoples IAPT treatment had not helped. He decided to conduct his own  admittedly small  review. Looking at 65 cases of those who had passed through IAPT services, he found that whatever the condition being treated, only about 16 per cent of people could be said to be recovering  an outcome seriously at odds with the results reported by IAPT. Why? It turns out that IAPT only includes patients who complete the course of treatment in its results. This means that a full half of all IAPT patients  those who dont turn up or drop out  are simply not factored into the success rates. And when you include those who drop out of treatment  as the University of Chesters Centre for Psychological Therapies did in a 2013 study  the number recovering plummets to about 23 per cent. In other words, only around two in ten people recover as a result of IAPT  woefully below the nearly five in ten reported. In fact, this is also no more effective than no treatment at all, when you consider that a large review of data by Australian researchers in 2012 showed that 23 per cent of people spontaneously overcame their symptoms of depression within three months, without receiving treatment. Advertisement

The origins of this myth can be traced to a decision by a committee at a 1996 symposium, funded by the drug company Eli Lilly.

This myth made its way into clinical guidelines internationally, despite no real corroborating research. As it took root, doctors who encountered more severe or protracted withdrawal would assume that their patients were relapsing and the drugs would often be reinstated.

This may partly explain why, since the guidelines on withdrawal were issued in 2004, the length of time the average person in the UK spends on an antidepressant has doubled.

In 2018, a review I conducted along with Professor John Read, a clinical psychologist at the University of East London, finally helped to debunk the withdrawal myth.

Our study showed that withdrawal affected more than half of antidepressant users, with up to half of those reporting it as severe  and that a significant proportion experienced withdrawal for many weeks, months or more. This research and other studies led to the UKs guidelines being revised  as well as to a U-turn by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Of course, many people take psychiatric drugs simply because there are so few alternatives. In England last year, 7.4 million adults were prescribed an antidepressant in the NHS, while just over a million were referred for a psychological therapy.

Could Covid change our approach?

This isnt because people prefer the drugs. Research shows that the majority of people consulting a GP for help would prefer a talking therapy or some form of social support. Even when people do receive some form of counselling, the results are often unsatisfactory (see box above).

This matters now more than ever. In a post-Covid world, there is every chance that the psychological aftershocks of the pandemic will be reframed as rising mental illness, with psychiatric prescriptions further rising in response.

In April 2020, with lockdown already taking its toll, the Royal College of Psychiatrists warned of a coming tsunami of mental illness.

By July, the Office for National Statistics reported that rates of depression had doubled in four months, while the London School of Economics concluded that, by the end of the year, the nation as a whole had pretty much reached the threshold for psychiatric illness.

But what was being medicalised as a mental illness epidemic did not look like illness at all.

Data emerging during the 2021 lockdown showed that the worst-affected people were women with small children, the ill, the bereaved, those losing their jobs, and young people aged between 18 and 24.

At the root of this distress were not misfiring brain chemicals or a genetic predisposition to mental illness, but the obvious social stressors to which these groups were exposed.

In this sense, Covid may yet prove an opportunity to re-evaluate and tackle the bigger problems that underpin our nations apparently declining mental health.

When YouGov undertook the largest survey into the national outlook, only nine per cent of people reported wanting life to return to normal after the pandemic.

Many of them were relieved to be temporarily away from jobs they disliked or found dissatisfying. Others found unsought-for opportunities to spend more time with family, to deepen connections, to read, to reflect, to walk and to exercise.

Covid, then, has changed our sense of what matters most and least in life. And it has transfigured our understanding of what makes us tick, what brings us down  and what is really necessary to raise us up.

James Davies is a reader in medical anthropology and mental health at the University of Roehampton. He is a qualified psychotherapist and co-founder of the Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry.

Adapted from Sedated: How Modern Capitalism Created The Mental Health Crisis, by James Davies (Atlantic Books, 18.99).  James Davies 2021. To order a copy for 16.90 (offer valid to 30/6/21; UK P&P free), visit www.mailshop.co.uk/books
More and more products on the market claim to care for the Earth as well as for us.

It's essential to find ways to lessen our impact on the world around us, say experts.

Tracy Lyons, a pharmacist at Poole Hospital in Dorset, with a special interest in planet-friendly pharmacy, explains: 'I've recently been in a medical meeting where we discussed how the impact of Covid will be dwarfed by that of climate change in the next few years. It's the largest health crisis we will ever face.'

Tracy plus Hampshire pharmacist Sultan Dajani and James Goolnik, a London dentist, gave their verdicts on the eco-friendliness and effectiveness of products. We then rated them.

Bamboo plasters

Patch aloe vera plasters,

25 for 6.99, hollandandbarrett.com

Patch aloe vera plasters

Claim: Made of 100 per cent biodegradable natural bamboo fibres. The gauze contains aloe vera extract to soothe minor burns, blisters and abrasions. 'Free of chemicals and suitable for all sensitive skin types,' the manufacturer claims.

Expert verdict: 'These are very good,' says Sultan Dajani. 'Aloe vera is soothing and acts as an anti-inflammatory, while moisturising the area to minimise damage to the skin and promote healing.'

Tracy Lyons adds: 'If these are plastic-free and made purely of bamboo, there is no reason they shouldn't biodegrade easily. We use these at home and have found them just as effective as normal plasters for everyday cuts and grazes.'

8/10

Petroleum-free jelly

Beauty Kitchen Natruline Vegan, 20g for 2.99, lloydspharmacy.com

Claim: 'Scientifically proven to hydrate and protect,' says the maker of this natural carnauba wax and castor seed oil treatment. It contains no petroleum or parabens (chemicals thought to disrupt hormones).

Expert verdict: 'Petroleum jelly [such as Vaseline] is a by-product of the petroleum manufacturing process [part of the fossil fuel industry],' says Tracy Lyons.

Sultan Dajani adds: 'Some people are allergic to Vaseline but it's effective for protecting the skin and locking in moisture. The oils and waxes [used here] won't provide moisture and castor seed oil could be an allergen.'

4/10

Beauty Kitchen Natruline Vegan

Biodegradable anti-bac wipes

Cheeky Panda biodegradable handy wipes, 12 wipes for 75p, cheekypanda.com

Cheeky Panda biodegradable handy wipes

Claim: These bamboo wipes are '100 per cent biodegradable, naturally hypoallergenic' and contain no chlorine or 'chemical nasties'.

The wipes are biodegradable but the packaging isn't currently widely recyclable in the UK.

Expert verdict: 'There's nothing in these to harm the skin  it looks like just water and aloe vera for a bit of moisturising,' says Tracy Lyons.

Sultan Dajani adds: 'The antibacterial action of aloe vera is very mild. And just because it's a mild antibacterial doesn't make it antiviral. But at least they're biodegradable. These would be good for cleaning a small cut but not for disinfecting  so you won't find them in my first-aid kit.'

6/10

Organic sanitary pads

TOTM organic cotton pads, ten pads for 3.35, tesco.com

Claim: These sanitary pads are 100 per cent organic cotton. They come wrapped in a compostable cornstarch film, packed in recyclable cardboard.

Expert verdict: 'These appear to be as absorbent and comfortable as traditional pads, so you could easily make the swap,' says Sultan Dajani.

Tracy Lyons adds: 'Compostable pads are infinitely better for the environment than normal sanitary pads, which it is estimated can each contain up to four carrier bags worth of plastic.

'Compostable pads have the potential to tackle a significant pollution problem  and they have good reviews.'

9/10

TOTM organic cotton pads,

Forest friendly muscle rub

Little Green Skincare & Soap Muscle Balm, 65g for 8, peacewiththewild.co.uk

Little Green Skincare & Soap Muscle Balm

Claim: Comfrey and yarrow reduce swelling and aid healing of sore muscles, and lavender oil has pain-relieving properties. Not tested on animals.

Expert verdict: 'This seems quite 'green'  but not terribly effective,' says Sultan Dajani.

'Muscle rubs work in several ways. One is by using anti-inflammatory ingredients, such as ibuprofen, to reduce inflammation.

'The action of massage also increases blood flow to the area, removing lactic acid that can build up during exercise, causing muscle pain. But none of the ingredients in this balm have been proven to help in any other way than as a nice massage oil.'

Tracy Lyons says this product is palm oil-free  the market for palm oil is a major contributor to deforestation.

3/10

Khakibos insect-repellent gel

'Natural' insect repellent

Khakibos insect-repellent gel, 60ml for 7.95, peacewiththewild.co.uk

Claim: This contains aloe vera, citronella, geranium and lemon eucalyptus oils, 'renowned for their insect-repellent properties', says the manufacturer.

Expert verdict: 'You cannot risk your health with something like this,' says Sultan Dajani.

'If you're going to a foreign country that has malaria, you mustn't risk it with anything weaker than 50 per cent DEET [an insect-repelling chemical]. None of these natural alternatives match up. It's great that it's eco-friendly but the bottom line is it is not effective.'

1/10

Ethique The Perfector

Moisturiser in a recyclable box

Ethique The Perfector, 65g for 26.99, hollandandbarrett.com

Claim: Made with kokum butter for dry and mature skin, this moisturiser is sold as three bars in a compostable box. Each pack is equivalent to three 60ml plastic bottles and 500ml of water saved. One tree is planted for every order, the maker says.

Expert verdict: Sultan Dajani says: 'The ingredients are kind to the skin and much the same as in many moisturisers  hyaluronic acid [to attract moisture], vitamin B5 [for skin health], and kokum butter helps form a barrier to keep moisture locked in.'

'Compostable is the best option for anything disposable,' adds Tracy Lyons.

8/10

Green People scent-free sun cream SPF30

Ocean-kind sun screen

Green People scent-free sun cream SPF30, 200ml for 25, greenpeople.co.uk

Claim: SPF30 broad-spectrum protection cream in recyclable packaging, Green People promises the formula is reef-safe (as it does not contain common UV-blocking chemicals oxybenzone or octinoxate, which studies have shown can cause coral bleaching).

Expert verdict: 'I like the fact it's SPF30  the minimum protection I'd recommend,' says Sultan Dajani.

'Most creams claim to suit sensitive skin but it's great this one doesn't contain oxybenzone or octinoxate.'

Tracy Lyons adds: 'This product also has a great social link-up with the Marine Conservation Society.'

9/10

Bio-plastic toothbrush

Tepe Good Soft Toothbrush

Tepe Good Soft Toothbrush, 2.75, ocado.com

Claim: Made from bio-based plastic  96 per cent sugar cane  and produced using renewable energy.

Expert verdict: 'A lot of eco-friendly toothbrushes are fine for a weekend but get soggy, smelly and not very good at removing food and plaque,' says Dr Goolnik.

'I like the Tepe Good as the handle is made of renewable sugar cane, so it's good for the planet but also lasts the three months a toothbrush needs to last. The filaments are effective at removing food and plaque. The issue with many other toothbrushes is they are not made from recycled or renewable materials.'

8/10

Brushd toothpaste tablets with added fluoride

Toothpaste tablets in a jar

Brushd toothpaste tablets with added fluoride, 62 for 5, boots.com

Claim: Packaged in glass jars, the maker urges you to 'Bite. Chew. Brush' with these 'no paste, no waste' toothpaste tablets.

Expert verdict: 'These contain similar ingredients to normal toothpaste, including fluoride, and are better for the environment,' says Sultan Dajani.

'Brushing is the most important element and I am concerned these would not bite down into a uniform paste.'

Dentist Dr Goolnik adds: 'Brushd contains sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, which can lead to mouth ulcers.'

3/10
Regulation of e-cigarettes by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can continue after the Supreme Court declined to hear a case on Monday that would have limited the government's authority to oversee the vaping industry.

The appeal from Big Times Vapes Inc, a Mississippi vape shop, centers around the 2009 Tobacco Control Act (TCA), in which Congress gave the FDA broad authority to regulate tobacco products.

This allowed the federal agency to restrict ingredients, block the sales of certain products and limit advertising.

In 2016, the FDA said it would start regulating e-cigarettes, vape pens, cigars and hookah because, under federal law they were all classified as 'tobacco products.'

Big Time Vapes argued that Congress had violated the U.S. Constitution by giving the FDA such sweeping power.

Big Times Vapes Inc, a Mississippi vape shop, filed an appeal before the Supreme Court arguing that Congress violated the Constitution by giving the FDA power to regulate the vaping industry, but the high court rejected the case (file image)

'The authority to decide the circumstances under which a given activity or product shall be subjected to federal regulation is quintessentially one of legislative policy,' the company wrote, according to Bloomberg.

Big Times Vapes also argued that the law gave the FDA 'no guidance as to the circumstances under which the Secretary should regulate additional products.'

The company says this means that decisions, such as to block sales of new products, fell to the FDA's 'unbridled discretion.'

In response, the FDA argued that the law allowed the agency to regulate products that could lead to nicotine addiction.

'In the definitions, findings, and statements of purpose that it included in the TCA, Congress laid out intelligible principles with appropriate boundaries for FDA to apply,' the FDA wrote in a brief, according to Fox Business.

'[T]hat FDA should comprehensively regulate the tobacco industry to protect the public from nicotine dependence, tobacco-related health risks, and false and misleading advertising  with a particular emphasis on protecting children from such dangers.'

President Joe Biden's administration advocated for the Supreme Court to decline to hear the appeal, according to Bloomberg.

Officials argued that the FDA need to protect the public, especially children, from health risks and false advertising.

'In the definitions, findings, and statements of purpose that it included in the TCA, Congress laid out intelligible principles with appropriate boundaries for FDA to apply,' acting U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in court papers, viewed by Bloomberg.

'That is more than Congress was required to do to satisfy the non-delegation doctrine.'

Use of e-cigarettes has surged since they were introduced to the U.S. marketplace in 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And they continue to be the most used tobacco product among American teens.

A recent CDC report found that nearly 20 percent of high-schoolers use e-cigarettes and other vaping products.

This means they have surpassed cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and other conventional products in popularity in that age group.

Some studies have found that e-cigarettes have negative effects on health while others tout them as healthier than combustible tobacco products.
The NHSs greatest asset  thats how the 67 million files containing patients medical records and held by GP surgeries across the UK have been described.

This vast library of information, detailing every diagnosis and treatment each of us has ever had, is a precise account of the nations wellbeing and a vital tool for tracking illness and improving standards of healthcare.

But in May, NHS Digital  the body that oversees the use of data in the health service  revealed plans for a new scheme, called General Practice Data for Planning and Research, to upload records of all NHS patients in England from GP surgeries to its own central database from July 1.

NHS Digital has given every adult and child in England until June 23 to opt out of the initiative (see box). If you dont, your confidential data, or parts of it, will be shared with organisations requesting it for medical research, or to help plan a more effective use of the NHS in future.

The Governments chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, has backed the scheme, pointing out that such data proved its worth in the pandemic.

Yet doctors leaders fear it is being rushed through and will shatter patients faith in GPs, who are the legal custodians of our records but are legally required to upload data to NHS Digital.

The NHSs greatest asset  thats how the 67 million files containing patients medical records and held by GP surgeries across the UK have been described

Your notes have been shared for years

It may surprise you to learn that the sharing of confidential NHS patient data is nothing new  its been going on for at least 30 years.

Each time you visit a hospital for emergency treatment, a routine test or planned surgery, it is recorded in the hospital episode statistics, which are collated by NHS Digital.

Every year, it collects around 16 million of these episodes of care, including patient details such as name, address, sex and medical problems.

This data is made available to interested parties, such as NHS bodies, universities, data analysts and commercial companies  for use in research, but with safeguards to prevent patients from being identified.

A small fee is charged to cover the cost of processing the data requests.

Similarly, the anonymised records of nearly five million people across the UK are already stored on the General Practice Research Database.

Set up in 1987, it is run by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the government body that vets the safety and use of medical treatments.

This regularly gathers data from 480 GP surgeries, which it then passes on to universities, government departments, drug companies and charities for research.

Any application for data is carefully vetted and the MHRA says it makes no money from the scheme. GPs, meanwhile, get a one-off fee of 10p per patient for sharing their records.

But the controversial new database takes NHS data harvesting to another level, by including every single person  adult and child  in England. Its the scale of the scheme, and therefore who might be interested in the data, that is setting off alarm bells.

It's vital for breakthroughs

Britain's health records are regarded as among the best in the world, because of the amount of detail in them. And there is no doubt patients  around the world  have benefited from the sharing of this data.

The General Practice Research Database, for example, has played a crucial role in ground-breaking research down the years.

In 2004, it was used to carry out a study, later published in The Lancet, which proved that the measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine did not cause autism, as had been alleged by controversial medic Dr Andrew Wakefield.

And in 2008, scientists used the database to confirm that painkilling drugs known as Cox-2 inhibitors, taken for arthritis, increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes in some people, leading to new guidance on their use.

Meanwhile, at the start of the pandemic, the NHS set up a store of Covid-related patient data to identify those who should shield.

Being able to use GP records in this way is vital, says John Appleby, director of research and chief economist at the Nuffield Trust, an independent think-tank which investigates ways to improve NHS healthcare. This is invaluable if we are to make NHS services more effective.

There is already a constant flow of important NHS data to interested parties  latest NHS Digital records show that in April 2021, it released 4,660 separate batches of patient data.

Britain's health records are regarded as among the best in the world, because of the amount of detail in them. And there is no doubt patients  around the world  have benefited from the sharing of this data

The vast majority were organisations such as clinical commissioning groups (health authorities that organise care at a local level), universities, or private data analysis firms that carry out work on behalf of the NHS. Topics ranged from latest figures on the performance of maternity services to cancer waiting times.

According to John Appleby, this data release is very secure. Anyone wanting access to it has to fill in lots of forms, detailing exactly why they want the data and what they plan to use it for. Its a very rigorous process.

NHS Digital told Good Health that data is only ever released when applicants have demonstrated a legitimate need for it.

It said: It must be used for health and care planning and research purposes. It would be disingenuous to suggest applicants use it for other activities.

Its most recent figures show that pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca was sent patient data covering heart disease rates in England, for example. Clearly there is a research purpose to such work, but it may be fair to assume that its driven by commercial interest  and the industry is getting such data very cheaply.

Tell patients what's going on

Critics of the new scheme say access to good data is vital for medical research.

But they accuse NHS Digital of trying to rush the database through while the public is distracted by the pandemic.

One reason for doing this, some argue, is that a similar government scheme  called care.data  was scrapped in 2016 after an outcry over the alleged failure of NHS England to fully inform patients about the plans. The latest scheme, some claim, is just the same idea in different clothing.

This has been dropped on us in the middle of a pandemic, with little notice, says Dr Neil Bhatia, a GP from Hants with a special interest in patient confidentiality.

NHS Digital sees this as an opportunity to hitch a ride on the groundswell of public support for how well data has been used to tackle Covid-19. But they have done nothing to promote it to the public: its brazen opportunism.

I have no objection to the ethos behind it. But people have a right to say yes or no because once your data goes to NHS Digital, you have no say in what happens to it. I have chosen to opt out because I dont like the idea of losing all control of my medical records.

Dr Bhatia adds: For example, some people may object to their records going to companies that may be interested in privatising the NHS. Others might be ethically opposed to it being shared with companies that produce drugs used in abortions.

Phil Booth, from campaign group MedConfidential, which lobbies for greater transparency on medical data use, says: We are all in favour of using anonymised data for research  but it has to be ethical research that has the fully informed consent of the patient.

So who will see your files?

Public trust in the safety of confidential records has been undermined by a series of controversial data releases.

In 2018, Public Health England came under fire after sharing data on nearly 180,000 lung cancer patients with a U.S. consulting firm that had affiliations with tobacco companies, although PHE insists it did nothing wrong.

And in 2017, the Information Commissioners Office ruled that a high-profile research trial run by the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust in London and Google (specifically, its artificial intelligence arm, DeepMind) breached data protection rules when details on 1.6 million patients were handed over to the tech giant.

These patients were not adequately informed that their data was going to be shared.

So who will see the data from the new database? On its website, NHS Digital says we do not sell health and care data  nor does it share it with marketing and insurance companies.

But it doesnt say who it does share information with.

Its figures show commercial companies make up less than 5 per cent of the bodies allowed to access NHS patient data. And around one in five applications fails because they do not meet our standards or are withdrawn before approval.

Yet even the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), which backs the scheme, wants the Government to be clearer with patients about how data will be used.

RCGP chairman Dr Martin Marshall says: Patients must have confidence and trust in how the NHS and other bodies might use their information.

And while every application to access UK medical records is scrutinised by an independent panel of experts, comprising medics, lawyers and members of the public, some experts say there are cracks in the system.

A fair amount of patient data goes to universities that may have connections with commercial firms, says Phil Booth from MedConfidential. For example, academic research groups often have close ties with drug company representatives, with whom they may share data.

How to opt out If you dont want to have your GP medical records on the new database, search online and print off a type 1 opt-out form  or ask your GP for one. Return the completed form to your GP practice. Alternatively, call NHS Digital on 0300 303 5678 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday and ask for one to be sent to you. (Calls to 0300 numbers cost up to 10p per minute from landlines, and up to 40p per minute from a mobile.) Return the form to your GP practice on or before June 23 to allow time for it to be processed before NHS Digital starts collecting the data on July 1. If you miss this deadline, you can still opt out, but this only stops new information on your records being added to the database  it wont erase information already there. To opt out of having your hospital data shared, visit digital.nhs.uk/services/ national-data-opt-out. Advertisement

How 'anonymous' will details be?

The new database will release information in pseudonymised form. So details such as your NHS number, date of birth and postcode are replaced with unique codes generated by special software.

Unlike fully anonymised data, where the patient is completely unrecognisable and cannot be traced, pseudonymised data can be reversed, using a special code that means the patient becomes identifiable.

NHS Digital is adamant this would only ever happen in exceptional circumstances, such as when scientists setting up clinical trials need to find suitable volunteers for their studies  and it would only then apply to patients who have given consent for their data to be shared.

But Dr Bhatia adds that if data users, such as drug firms, can justify it to NHS Digital, they can re-identify you.

However, John Appleby of Nuffield Trust says that in a career spanning 40 years, he has never come across a single case where a patient has been identified.

Patients need to be aware that NHS Digital does not allow commercial companies to use their data unless there is a very good reason, he adds.

I wont be opting out because I know the real value of the data.

At least charge properly for data

If the controversial scheme is to go ahead, shouldnt the NHS at least make a profit from our data  which can then be ploughed back into improving services?

NHS Digital insists that, as a publicly funded body, it can operate only on a cost-recovery basis. This means users pay only an admin fee.

So a single batch of data  which could cover thousands of patients  could be picked up for 930  a tiny amount for a multi-million-pound pharmaceutical giant.

Dr Bhatia and other campaigners want NHS Digital to put the database plan on ice. This is a blatant data grab  and its going to leave a very sour taste.
Reckitt Benckiser has suffered a huge 2.5billion loss from the sale of its struggling Chinese baby milk arm to private equity firm Primavera.

The Slough consumer goods giant, which owns Lysol disinfectant and Dettol soap, took on the business when it bought Mead Johnson in 2017 for 13billion  at the time Reckitts largest-ever deal.

But Reckitt struggled against slowing birth rates and intense local competition, and yesterday it announced it is selling the Chinese division for 1.6billion to Beijing- based Primavera.

Sell-off: Reckitt Benckiser's Chinese baby milk arm struggled due to slowing birth rates and intense local competition

Reckitt expects a loss of about 2.5billion as a result of a goodwill writedown. Analyst Martin Deboo, from Jefferies, said Reckitts shareholders would be happy to be out at almost any price.

Reckitt had already written 5billion off the value of its baby milk business last year, around a third of its book value, before snipping another 985million off in February.

This means the decision to buy Mead Johnson four years ago has, so far, cost Reckitt a whopping 8.5billion.

Shares fell 0.7 per cent, or 47p, to 6400p yesterday  a market capitalisation of 46.3bn.

The loss adds another black mark against the name of former chief executive Rakesh Kapoor, 62, who raked in close to 100million of pay as boss from 2011 to 2019.

Kapoor wanted to refocus Reckitt towards higher-margin consumer healthcare products.

The board will be unable to claw back his massive bonuses as the rules only apply in cases such as gross misconduct and the complete failure of the business.

When he retired, his supporters pointed to an increase in the share price from 30 to around 60 during his eight-year tenure.

But critics said he left a legacy of sluggish growth, business disasters and unrest over his pay.

In the three years before he left, the firm was hit by disruption at its Dutch factory, product failures, an exodus of bosses and a cyber-attack costing 100million.

A scandal in South Korea saw one of its disinfectants blamed for the deaths of children.

Reckitts infant formula business in China represented 6 per cent of group sales of almost 14billion in 2020. It will retain an 8 per cent stake in the Chinese division after the sale.
HSBC has shaken up its team of top executives as the banking giant doubles down on China.

The lender announced that it will now have two chief executives focused on its key Asia Pacific region  veteran bankers David Liao, who is likely to zone in on HSBCs profit engine of Hong Kong and China, and Surendra Rosha, who will oversee the rest of the area.

They will replace Peter Wong, 69, who prompted a backlash from British and US politicians last year when he signed a petition backing Chinas draconian national security law in Hong Kong.

Protesters stage a demonstration outside an HSC branch in Hong Kongin 2019. The London-headquartered lender now makes the vast majority of its profits in Asia

The move was seen as a sign of HSBCs support for Beijing, and an abandonment of the former British territorys pro-democracy protesters who were threatened with imprisonment for speaking out.

But Wong, a member of a political advisory body to Chinas Communist party, will stay on as chairman of HSBC Asia Pacific  and will serve as an adviser to the banks group chairman Mark Tucker and chief executive Noel Quinn.

The promotion of Liao and Rosha, both of whom have been with the lender, which has its headquarters in London, for more than 20 years, show how much effort HSBC is putting into its Asia expansion.

In firing line: Peterr Wong has overseen a period of protest at HSBC

John Cronin, a banking analyst at Goodbody, said the appointment of two bosses for Asia Pacific was not a surprising move as the bank seeks to forge closer ties with China.

It already makes most of its profits in Asia, at 9.1billion compared to losses of 3billion in Europe last year, though most of this comes from Hong Kong, where HSBC was established by a Scottish trader in 1865.

China has a rapidly growing middle class, who are looking for wealth management advice and other banking services.

HSBC has more than 150 outlets in the country, employing more than 7,000 staff  the largest network of any foreign bank in mainland China. Despite being the epicentre of the pandemic, China was the first country to regain its pre-Covid levels of economic output.

Figures released yesterday showed its imports ballooned at their fastest pace for a decade in May, as manufacturing picked up further. HSBC is hoping to take a slice of this expanding economy, and Liao and Rosha bring a wealth of experience with them.

But by zoning in on China, HSBC is treading a fine line between East and West.

The bank has already drawn sharp criticism from US politicians for kowtowing to Beijing. Last year, then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted the bank for its show of fealty in the face of coercive bullying tactics.

British MPs have been equally unimpressed  the Foreign Affairs Committee accused HSBC of aiding and abetting one of the biggest crackdowns on democracy in the world.

Quinn has insisted that the lender must follow the rules of the countries it operates in  even the controversial laws imposed on Hong Kong by China.

Yesterday, he said: I am very excited to have David and Rosha. Their collective experience of our markets across Asia Pacific, together with their combined knowledge of the bank and our customers mean they are ideally placed to grow the business.

'We are investing $6billion (4.2billion) in Asia in the next five years and David and Rosha will lead this next phase of our Asia strategy.
I married a guy in 2004 who years before had worked as a manager for a bank. Unfortunately we divorced in 2007, but by 2010 I was his full-time carer, although we did not live together.

During that time my ex-husband named me as the beneficiary of the bank pension.

He also made me his full beneficiary in a will bought from the Post Office, and he named my daughter as beneficiary if anything happened to me before he died.

Rejected beneficiary: My late ex-husband wanted me to inherit his bank pension, but the scheme refuses to pay me

My ex-husband asked me to check his pension and make sure I would be looked after. We emailed the bank which stated I was the named beneficiary, but on death they would look at the pension pot and probably offer a lump sum, rather than small payments per month, which my ex thought fair.

He died in 2019. I had insured him so his funeral was covered and obviously I and my daughter made all arrangements to clear his house and inform all agencies.

I informed the bank pension scheme and sent a copy of his will. They replied that I could not make a claim for his pension, as we were not married.

I cannot find copies of the emails we previously exchanged about the pension.

My question is, is this correct, fair and lawful? Because if this so, what is the point of someone making a spouse or a friend a beneficiary in the first place?

The bank knew we did not live together and I spoke to them on phone informing them we were divorced but I was my ex's carer.

I took what they said at face value, but feel that my ex was cheated. He died believing I would get a little cash from his pension.

SCROLL DOWN TO FIND OUT HOW TO ASK STEVE YOUR PENSION QUESTION

Steve Webb replies: I can understand your sense of unfairness about what happened to your ex husbands pension after he died.

It sounds as though you were clearly the person he wanted to benefit. Unfortunately, the way things work in practice is not always in line with the wishes of the person who has died.

Steve Webb: Find out how to ask the former Pensions Minister a question about your retirement savings in the box below

It may be helpful to distinguish between an ongoing regular pension and any lump sum death benefit (particularly relevant if someone dies while still in service).

Starting with an ongoing pension for a widow or widower, any occupational pension scheme will have scheme rules and it is these which decide who gets any regular pension after a member has died.

In some schemes the rules will state that a survivors pension can only go to someone who was married to (or in a civil partnership with) the person who died.

In other schemes the rules will have been updated to include partners who have lived together and were financially inter-dependent.

But it is the scheme rules that matter rather than a will or any other paperwork. If your late ex-husbands scheme only provided for a widow to receive a pension then unfortunately they could not pay out to you once you were divorced.

Turning now to a lump sum benefit, the trustees have to use their discretion to decide who should benefit.

In many cases this is relatively straightforward. If the person who died was married and they had completed an expression of wishes form in favour of their spouse, then there is little doubt as to what the trustees would do.

Things have however got much more complex in a world where it is far more common for people to marry more than once during their life or where they may live together in a couple with someone to whom they are not married.

In the latter case this can vary between something short-term and informal where the two remain largely independent to cases where couples live together for decades and are entirely financially interdependent.

The trustees can sometimes face a tricky choice between different people who have a competing claim to receive the lump sum, and sometimes will even split the lump sum to reflect this.

One tricky scenario  and I am not for a moment suggesting that this is relevant in your case  is where the person who died had other relationships and/or other children.

In this case the trustees have to be particularly careful not to disclose any confidential information and may simply be unable to explain to someone who did not benefit as they expected why this was the case.

In summary, if the only potential payout was a scheme pension (albeit rolled up into a single lump sum payment in this case), and the scheme rules did not provide for divorcees to benefit, then unfortunately you would not be entitled.

But if there was a discretionary lump sum then you should certainly be making the case to the trustees that you had the strongest case to receive it.

If your late ex-husbands scheme knew that you were divorced and still told you that you would benefit then it is very worrying if that information turned out to be incorrect.

You could complain to the scheme and ultimately to the Pensions Ombudsman, though the most you could expect to get would be compensation for distress and inconvenience.

Unfortunately, the Ombudsman could not force the scheme to pay a pension in breach of scheme rules.

For anyone else in a potentially similar situation, the most important things to do are:

- To make sure that expression of wishes forms reflect your latest preferences about where any discretionary payments should be made; this should be done for any pension scheme of which you were a member, as well as for life insurance and similar policies;

- To check pension scheme rules to see if survivor pensions are still paid only to spouses (and civil partners) or whether the scope has now been extended; if it has not, the member could approach the scheme trustees and ask for this to be reviewed.
Hunter Biden and a former FBI director were hired by a Romanian tycoon later convicted of bribery - and represented him in meetings with top U.S. officials - emails from Hunter's laptop show.

Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel Popoviciu was convicted in his home country in 2016 of bribing a university official to buy a 550-acre plot of government-owned land for a drastically reduced price.

Popoviciu hired Hunter earlier that year as part of an influence campaign to persuade anti-corruption prosecutors to cut a deal or drop the case.

The hiring was revealed in 2019, but DailyMail.com can now reveal the extensive propaganda and persuasion campaign planned by Hunter for the Romanian criminal, all while Hunter's father was Vice President.

Emails on Hunter's abandoned laptop reveal how Joe Biden's son and his colleagues leveraged their US government connections and plotted a propaganda campaign for the grafting Romanian tycoon.

The arrangement raises more questions about Hunter's dodgy business deals that threatened to compromised his father - the vice president.

Hunter Biden was hired by a Romanian tycoon later convicted of bribery - and represented him in meetings with top U.S. officials  emails from Hunter's laptop show

Romanian real estate tycoon Gabriel Popoviciu was convicted in his home country in 2016 of bribing a university official to buy a 550-acre plot of government-owned land for a drastically reduced price

Emails show Hunter brought in political heavyweight and family friend Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI, to use his U.S. law enforcement contacts for Popoviciu's advantage, and was offered a referral fee as a result

Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), anyone advocating for foreign entities to US government officials, or acting as a publicist for a foreign entity in the US, must add themselves to a Department of Justice public register.

Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI and close family friend of the Bidens

However, an exception applies for attorneys representing a client in a foreign court case, who are not required to register under FARA.

Emails show Hunter's colleagues, partners in law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, Christopher Boies and Michael Gottlieb, seeking to set up meetings with the US Ambassador to Romania, after discussing among themselves whether he would intervene in Popoviciu's case.

Hunter brought in political heavyweight and family friend Louis Freeh, the former director of the FBI, to use his US law enforcement contacts for Popoviciu's advantage, and was offered a referral fee as a result.

Hunter and his colleagues also discussed a media campaign, including to major U.S. publication the Wall Street Journal, to support their client who was later found guilty of bribery.

None of them were required to register for this work under FARA, due to various exemptions including those for lawyers of foreign defendants.

Popoviciu was first mentioned in Hunter's emails in September 2015. At the time Hunter worked at law firm Boies Schiller Flexner.

Firm partner Chris Boies wrote to Hunter and his business partner Devon Archer with the subject line 'Popoviciu', and the message: 'Let's discuss when convenient One of my partners is best friends with the newly appointed Ambassador to Romania.'

The property tycoon didn't appear again in Hunter's inbox until May 2016, when he was on the brink of a bribery conviction in a Romanian court.

Hunter and his colleagues scrambled into action, with then-Boies Schiller attorney Michael Gottlieb even seeking the help of then-US Ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm in a last-ditch effort to stop the corruption conviction.

'I have reached out to Klemm and asked him to help us broker the meeting [with Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors],' Gottlieb wrote to Hunter on May 17, 2016.

'We should put together a persuasive deck with all the procedural and substantive defects in the indictment / case against Gabs, and we should also probably put together the start of what would be a press strategy. And we'll want to line up the big names to bring over.'

A legal source involved in the discussions told DailyMail.com that they never went through with the planned action.

'All of the ideas discussed in this email, including the preparation of a deck and press plan, were never implemented or executed,' the source, who was a member of Popoviciu's legal team, said.

'All of this was being discussed as part of a potential strategy, which depended entirely on scheduling a meeting with the Romanian Government on the case. But that meeting was never scheduled, and never happened, because the Romanian Government declined.'

Hunter and his colleagues scrambled into action, with then-Boies Schiller attorney Michael Gottlieb even seeking the help of then-US Ambassador to Romania Hans Klemm in a last-ditch effort to stop the corruption conviction. 'I have reached out to Klemm and asked him to help us broker the meeting [with Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors],' Gottlieb wrote to Hunter on May 17, 2016

Hunter and his colleagues also discussed a media campaign, including to major US publication the Wall Street Journal, to support their client, who was later convicted of bribery

The following week Gottlieb wrote an email to Hunter saying that he had spoken to the US ambassador  but was reluctant to describe his conversation in an email. 'Hans called me to discuss a development that is best relayed over phone. Can we connect either tonight or first thing tomorrow? Bottom line is that we should proceed with requesting the meeting,' he wrote

Gottlieb complained to his colleagues about a Politico article praising Romanian prosecutors for cracking down on corruption.

'This kind of article is likely to make our efforts with the USEMB [the US embassy] an uphill battle, and why I expect HK [Klemm] has had little interest in taking any kind of public position,' Gottlieb wrote.

Hunter weighed in, suggesting they enlist the help of Biden family friend and former FBI director Louis Freeh.

'Agreed Michael. Is now the time to begin to assemble a more high profile team that can speak to the injustice here,' Hunter wrote. 'Who do we have at the firm that can speak with authority about anti-corruption. Mike I was going to reach out to Judge Freeh and if you can think of others of that stature I think now is the time to read them into the situation and see if they are willing to help. Ambassador Gittenstein mentioned names like former US Atty Patrick Fitzgerald.'

The following week Gottlieb wrote an email to Hunter saying that he had spoken to the US ambassador  but was reluctant to describe his conversation in an email.

'Hans called me to discuss a development that is best relayed over phone. Can we connect either tonight or first thing tomorrow? Bottom line is that we should proceed with requesting the meeting,' he wrote.

In a March 24, 2016 email titled 'Re Meet with H. Klemm', Hunter wrote to Gottlieb: 'Where are we meeting?'

A source involved in the meeting told DailyMail.com that Hunter did join Gottlieb and the U.S. ambassador in at least one meeting.

The source on Popoviciu's legal team told DailyMail.com that 'at no point did we ever ask the U.S. Ambassador (or anyone else at the Embassy) to make any statement about the case, or to intervene in any way.'

The lawyer said the U.S. team explained to Popoviciu's foreign representatives 'the reality that the U.S. Embassy, and U.S. Ambassador, would not intervene with the Romanian Government regarding a pending anti-corruption prosecution.'

'The legal team was always attentive to limiting any ''ask'' to the U.S. Embassy to be the making of an introduction to the relevant Romanian Government officials, or the provision of advice about Romanian law or protocol,' the lawyer said.

Boies Schiller Flexner declined to comment. Gottlieb, who has since left the firm, also declined to comment.

The overtures to American diplomats ultimately failed to prevent Popoviciu's conviction. But on June 18 Hunter emailed Freeh for help, saying he had become 'very close to the client personally' and claiming the tycoon was 'being very badly treated by a suspect Romanian justice system.'

Days later the ex-FBI director had signed a retainer with Popoviciu and described in an email a plan to 'intervene with the special Romanian anti-corruption prosecutor' and even launch a propaganda campaign in the US.

'They were talking about us doing a report and then 'going to the WSJ.' I said this would most likely just inflame the prosecutor and make things worse for the client,' Freeh wrote.

'We suggested doing a 'report' (perhaps being retained by a business partner or investor (client owns a $.5B real estate development in Bucharest), and then using that report to establish a dialogue with the prosecutor-resulting in some possible deal or remediated outcome.'

Emails show Hunter's fellow partners in law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, Christopher Boies (right) and Michael Gottlieb (left), seeking to set up meetings with the U.S. Ambassador to Romania, after discussing among themselves whether he would intervene in Popoviciu's case

Freeh did not respond to requests for comment, and it is unclear whether anyone on his team spoke to the Wall Street Journal about the case. No favorable articles about Popoviciu appeared in the paper during that time.

But the former FBI director did quickly bring his extensive law enforcement contacts to bear to help the tycoon.

Flaunting his international connections, he wrote to Hunter on June 21: 'I will see my good friend, Ron Noble [the former secretary general of international police organization Interpol], in NY on Thursday and most likely he knows this DNA [Romanian anti-corruption office] chief prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kobesi, very well.

'Let me talk to him and see what the possibilities may be to meet with her and to initiate a dialogue which would remediate the situation. I want to make sure I can add some value to this equation before proceeding.'

Freeh then began to approach US government officials about the case.

He emailed Hunter on July 8 that he had spoken with the head of the FBI's criminal division about the case  and offered to pay Hunter a referral fee for involving him.

'I wanted to thank you again for referring Gabriel to us and we have finalized an attorney letter of engagement with him,' Freeh wrote to the then-Vice President's son on July 8, 2016, two weeks after Popoviciu was sentenced to nine years in prison. 'I will meet him in Paris Sunday and then we'll deploy to Bucharest and get to work.

'FYI, I have had conversations with the head of the FBI's Criminal Division and there is a sincere Bureau interest in meeting and debriefing Gabriel on other matters he may be willing to discuss. FBIHQ will relay its interest to the Legat [legal attache] in Bucharest, with whom we'll meet next week.

'There is the 'timing' issue about when to make contact with DNA and SRI [Romanian intelligence service], which we'll strategize about with Gabriel next week. We have fortunately been able to enlist for our team a former FBI Legat in Bucharest--she's Romanian-American--who is a fluent speaker with excellent SRI contacts. We may also try to see the Ambassador.'

In the email, Freeh also offered to give a referral payment to Hunter for getting him the job with Popoviciu.

'I would also like to make a small payment to you for this referral-and for your continuing work on this matter,' Freeh wrote. 'This is a standard practice. It's strictly your call as I don't know your relationship with the client. We would just need your bank information in order to make a remittance.'

Despite the extensive planned influence and media campaign, Hunter and his colleagues' attempts failed. On June 23, 2016 Popoviciu was sentenced to nine years in prison.

But when police showed up to his Romanian home, they reportedly found the real estate mogul had fled. He was later arrested in London in August 2017.

Flaunting his international connections two days before the conviction, Freeh wrote to Hunter on June 21: 'I will see my good friend, Ron Noble [the former secretary general of international police organization Interpol], in NY on Thursday and most likely he knows this DNA [Romanian anti-corruption office] chief prosecutor, Laura Codruta Kobesi, very well'

Freeh signed a retainer with Popoviciu and described in an email a plan to 'intervene with the special Romanian anti-corruption prosecutor' and even launch a propaganda campaign in the US

Despite the planned influence and media campaign, Hunter and his colleagues' attempts failed and Popoviciu was sentenced to nine years prison on June 23, 2016

In a press release following the sentencing, Freeh claimed the verdict was 'not supported by either the facts or the law' and that there were 'numerous factual and legal deficiencies in the case against Mr. Popoviciu.'

Freeh did not respond to requests for comment.

In a bizarre twist, the former FBI director then enlisted the help of Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani  who had criticized Hunter for his dealings with allegedly corrupt Eastern Europeans.

After his commission Giuliani wrote a letter to Romanian president Klaus Iohannis criticizing the anticorruption prosecutions and calling for an amnesty for recent convicts  including Popoviciu.

Federal agents raided Giuliani's New York City home and office in April, seizing his electronics, as part of their investigation into whether the former mayor broke FARA rules by lobbying the Trump administration in 2019 on behalf of Ukrainian officials and oligarchs.

The attorney and former New York mayor denies wrongdoing and claimed to Fox News this week that 'they are trying to frame me'.

The Giuliani investigation grew out of a federal investigation of his associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who worked on gathering information about the Bidens during the election.

The two Soviet-born men were charged with federal campaign finance violations.

The two, who pleaded not guilty, were arrested at an airport outside Washington carrying one-way tickets to Europe. That investigation is on-going and faced some delays due to the COVID pandemic.

Giuliani's lawyer Robert Costello blamed the investigation on 'Trump derangement syndrome' and claimed that even though his client had copies of Hunter's laptop hard drive in his apartment, agents ignored them during their search.

'Keep in mind that the agents could not read the physical hard drives without plugging them in, but they took Mr. Giuliani's word that the hard drives were copies of Hunter Biden's hard drive and did not contain anything pertaining to Mr. Giuliani,' Costello said in a statement.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison's builder nephew had no shortage of excuses for why he failed to finish clients' work - including 'stress' and even bleeding from the backside.

Texts obtained by Daily Mail Australia show the litany of reasons tradie Mitchell James Cole, 29, offered one client for repeated alleged worksite no-shows in 2018.

A Sydney woman spent about $5,000 on Cole for pool and timber decking work that September. But the work was never finished and the scorned client couldn't recover her lost funds because Cole wasn't a licensed builder.

In one message explaining why he'd failed to show up on site, Cole claimed: 'I've been in hospital since Sunday afternoon I get out this afternoon.'

The woman replied: 'Hope you are ok. What happened? I wish you had of sent me a message. When can we sort out my place? I need to discuss course of action with you at my place.'

Cole then claimed that he had suffered 'stress an (sic) was bleeding from backside.'

Uncle ScoMo: Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his nephew by marriage Mitchell James Cole during a Christmas shindig at Kirribilli House in 2018

Mitchell Cole told a client he hadn't been working as 'I've been in hospital since Sunday afternoon'. Mr Cole claimed that he'd been suffering stress and bleeding

Cole was blunt when describing what had happened to him. He had suffered stress and bleeding from the backside, but quickly bounced back from his ailments

However, he quickly bounced back from those ailments, asking if the woman was available the following afternoon, so he could start work the next day.

The woman agreed to make arrangements to be home about 5.30pm. But the next day he texted her, saying: 'Can we change to tomorrow morning I'll be there.'

Cole never showed up that day or the next, she alleged, despite pledging '100%' that he would be there.

'I called again and he said that he had been in hospital as he was "stressed and bleeding from the backside",' the woman said in a statement to NSW Fair Trading.

Stress an bleeding from backside Mitchell Cole on why he had been hospitalised and could not attend work

'He stated he wanted to finish the job "100%" and would complete the job. He promised to come the next day to do the work but he didn't show up as usual.

'Cole continued to ask me for more money even when he wasn't even turning up to finish the job.'

A few days later, Cole insisted that he had finished a task, even though the client said she couldn't see what work was done.

'Each day he said he would either come to fix it or continue work or said he had actually been at my place (I was at work),' she said.

'He never went or did any of the things he said in the messages that he was doing. All lies.'

Mr Cole has been operating under a series of business names over the past few years, including Nexo Build

Repeated assurances: Messages show that Cole often said he would 'be there 100 per cent' - however his client alleged to NSW Fair Trading that he rarely showed

She claimed to have only seen apprentices working on site.

The woman later demanded he remove his skip bin from her property, which she claimed he loaded up with waste from other sites. Cole replied to say the bin was in 'my company name witch states I'm aloud to put my waste and material in (sic)'.

Another client, James McCall, from Menai in Sydney's south, said Cole told him at one point that he had a medical issue involving his lungs and couldn't work for months.

Cole operated by contacting prospective clients through local Facebook pages. Mr McCall said Cole came out to his home and 'genuinely came across like he knew what he was doing'.

'He was reasonably priced. He had all the gear - he looked legit.'

He bragged to Mr McCall of being related to the nation's leader, showing photographs of himself at Kirribilli House in Christmas 2018, barely a metre away from the Prime Minister.

Mr McCall said he paid Cole $23,000 to tile his pool and erect some fencing but alleged the tradesman would rarely show up and claimed what work he did was riddled with issues.

'I'd ring him and text him and he'd never get back to me,' he claimed.

Mr Cole is seen in 2019 when he was confronted by an A Current Affair reporter on the street in an unedifying moment for a relative of the nation's leader

James McCall alleged that he would call Cole and text him but he wouldn't show up

Mr McCall said he handed $23,000 over for work on his pool plus fencing

Daily Mail Australia revealed this week that Cole has been charged with 20 offences by NSW Fair Trading.

Among them were six charges of doing residential work while unlicensed and five charges of performing building work without insurance.

His case will come before Parramatta Local Court next Thursday.

Cole has previously been convicted of six counts of doing building work unlicensed and fined $60,000. He did not respond to a request for comment.

As for the prime minister, Mr Morrison has previously said he was 'deeply concerned' about allegations against his nephew.

'Mitchell is my nephew by marriage and as a result occasionally attends family events,' he said.

'However, that is the extent of contact I have with Mitchell. Mitchell, like anyone else, should be held fully accountable for any of his actions.'
An Australian teenager has revealed his torment as his engineer father endures 61 days of imprisonment in Iraq after he was detained and placed in solitary confinement with no explanation.

Robert Pether, from Sydney's North Shore, was arrested on April 7 when he arrived at a scheduled meeting with his client, the Central Bank of Iraq, in Baghdad.

The father-of-three has spent the better part of 10 years working throughout the Middle East as he helps rebuild Iraq after it was decimated by war.

Robert Pether, from Sydney's north shore, was arrested on April 7 for questioning after arriving at a scheduled meeting with his client. Pictured with his two sons

He was arrested after being lured to Iraq under the guise of attending a critical meeting to discuss strained relations between his employer and the state government.

Mr Pether's family claim they've endured 'different levels of hell every day' as their efforts to have him released continue to go unanswered.

'I just want my dad home,' Mr Pether's 18-year-old son Flynn told Daily Mail Australia.

'He did nothing but work hard and help [Iraq].'

Mr Pether's oldest son, Flynn (right) is pleading with the Iraqi government to 'do the right thing' and let his dad go after 61 days with barely any contact

Flynn is in his final year of school and trying to juggle the workload with the stress of wondering whether his dad is alive and safe each day.

Up until this ordeal, he'd planned to study engineering at university so he could work in the Middle East like his father.

'He was making a real difference,' Flynn said.

Given the pressures of the last two months, Flynn is leaning toward deferring his degree for next year to take some time to reassess his ambitions and plans.

The only contact Flynn has been able to have with his dad was one quick phone call and a letter for his 18th birthday, which was passed on through the embassy in Baghdad.

But he had to fight hard just to get that.

Mr Pether's wife Desree understands that her husband's detention is a blatant attempt to extract money from his employer. Pictured together on their wedding day

Ms Pether said before his arrest he had been communicating with Iraqi locals about the need for more banks and discussing future projects, including a hospital. Pictured: Mr Pether with his daughter on an international trip in 2013

For the first 19 days of his detention, Mr Pether spent his days in solitary confinement and had just two hours' freedom to speak with a lawyer.

In total, the family have spoken with him just five times in the 61 days since he was arrested.

'It's an absolute nightmare,' Mr Pether's wife Desree said. 'He feels massively betrayed.'

Ms Pether understands that her husband's detention is a blatant attempt to extract money from his employer.

She claims Mr Pether's lawyer has been told 'all of this can go away' if their demands are met regarding getting out of paying for a four year contract.

'They're blatant about it. It's not even hidden. They were literally tricked into the country and then trapped and are blatantly being held as pawns,' Ms Pether said, adding her husband remains 'terrified' about what could happen next.

Ms Pether couldn't bring herself to tell their eight-year-old daughter (pictured together) right away that her father was in prison

'The Iraq government and the client are scrambling trying desperately and using every trick they can muster to justify imprisoning Robert and his colleague.'

Ms Pether separately assured her husband is 'so straight up the line' that he 'wouldn't even take a bottle of wine off someone he works with'.

Mr Pether has not been charged with an offence.

'Being completely innocent and having no charges laid doesn't seem to make an iota of difference in Iraq,' his wife said.

Prior to Mr Pether's arrest, he was a vocal advocate for Iraq and was proud to be contributing to the nation's rebuild.

The Department of Foreign Affairs told Daily Mail Australia they are providing consular assistance to an Australian detained in Iraq.

Ms Pether claimed her husband is 'so straight up the line' that he 'wouldn't even take a bottle of wine off someone he works with' and has no idea why he has been detained
Gisselle Vasquez, who worked at a Yonkers school, sued the city school district claiming she was sexually harassed by the school's female principal, female assistant principal and male assistant principal

A Westchester County school worker was forced to take racy photos of her boss - a female high school principal - endured sexual harassment by multiple school officials and was retaliated against, according to a federal lawsuit filed this month.

The allegations spanned almost two years, but Yonkers school superintendent, Edwin Quezada, did nothing, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court on May 24.

Gisselle Vasquez, a 35-year-old mom of a six year old, was a secretary for Principal Evelina Medina, 42, at the Robert C. Dodson School on May 24, 2018, when the allegations started, according to the suit.

Medina texted Vasquez a photo of a man lying in bed in his underwear and told her to save the photo for her, according to the lawsuit.

The next day, Medina gave Vasquez her phone and asked her to take a photo of her and 'then proceeded to lower her pants to her ankles, turned around and exposed her buttocks in thong underwear and posed,' the lawsuit says.

'She hands me the phone and says, "Close the door,'" Vasquez told The New York Post. 'When I looked back her pants were already down.

'I was shocked. I didnt know what to think. I really just froze. I worried that if I just left her office there could be a student or employee or anyone there. Her office is in the main office and there is a lot of traffic,' Vasquez told The Post.

Medina is no longer principal at the school, according to the Post, but the school district wouldn't detail the circumstances of her leaving her post. It's unclear if she's still employed with the district. The district told the newspaper it wouldn't comment on 'pending litigation.'

Vasquez filed the lawsuit in White Plains federal court, which is the courthouse in the background, on May 24

Four days later - May 29, 2018 - Medina texted Vasquez 'a photo of a man lying in bed holding his exposed erect penis' and told her secretary to save it for her.

At that time, Vasquez has been working in Yonkers school district for about five years but just a month at the magnet school Robert Dodson, which has less than 900 students.

That week of alleged interactions was followed by months of buying lingerie, booking a hotel room for Medina and a time when Medina 'forcibly grabbed (Vasquez) by the throat to show what she wanted to do with her lover' and showing her explicit photos of her lover, the lawsuit says.

'On more than one occasion, Medina made comments about her lovers penis size and how it satisfied her more despite being smaller than her husbands penis size,' the lawsuit says.

During that time, the secretary told at least two school officials, including a letter to Human Resources, according to the suit, but nothing happened.

Vasquez was then allegedly subject to sexual harassment by two assistant principals - Sandra Guzman and Christopher Cassano, according to the lawsuit.

Yonkers Superintendent of Yonkers Schools District Dr. Edwin M. Quezada and Robert Dodson assistant Principal Christopher Cassano were as named in the lawsuit

Guzman said, 'You dont really look like a sexual person' and asked her, 'How many times a week do you have sex?'

Around March 2019, Cassano allegedly asked Vasquez how many times she says sex and forcibly kissed her multiple times.

In April 2019, Vasquez made another complaint to Human Resources and talked to the superintendent, who allegedly said, 'Thank you,' the lawsuit says.

Her human resources complaint was passed around by the other teachers, and by the end of the month, Vasquez was transferred to Chavez Public School - another Yonkers school district school - but in a different role with a different schedule.

The transfer and schedule change presented issues for plaintiff due to her familial status and childcare obligations, the suit says.

She said the move was retaliation from bringing up her bosses' alleged transgressions.

During the pandemic, she requested a medical accommodations because she suffers from asthma, a heart murmur and anxiety and attached a doctors note, but the school denied it, according to the lawsuit.

Vasquez has been out on family leave, the Post reported.

'My professionalism exceeds the expectations of that facility,' Vasquez told The New York Post. 'To this day I cant believe that this happened to me. I didnt see it coming. Its disturbing. Im disgusted and embarrassed.'

The allegations took place in the Robert Dodson School in the city of Yonkers, New York

The lawsuit is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

The city of Yonkers, the Yonkers school district, the Dodson and Chavez schools (both in Yonkers), Medina, Cassano, Guzman, and Quezada are named in the lawsuit.

The New York Post reported that Medina is no longer principal at Dodson. A man answering her phone hung up when a New York Post reporter called.

DailyMail called Dr. Quezada for comment, but no one was around Sunday.
David Dushman, pictured last January, was the last surviving Allied soldier involved in the liberation of Auschwitz

David Dushman, the last surviving Allied soldier involved in the liberation of Auschwitz, has died aged 98.

The Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria said on Sunday that Dushman had died at a Munich hospital on Saturday.

As a young Red Army soldier, Dushman flattened the forbidding fence around the notorious Nazi death camp in Poland with his tank on January 27, 1945.

After the war he helped train the Soviet Union's women's national fencing team and survived the attack on the Munich Olympics.

Later in life, Dushman visited schools to tell students about the war and the horrors of the Holocaust.

'Every witness to history who passes on is a loss, but saying farewell to David Dushman is particularly painful,' said Charlotte Knobloch, a former head of Germany's Central Council of Jews.

Dushman in 2015 attended a wreath laying ceremony at the Russian War Memorial in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany

He became emotional during the ceremony - as he marked the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War

Dushman mourned on a memorial in Berlin on a statue with a Russian tank. He helped to liberate Auschwitz by smashing a fence there with his tank as a Soviet Red Army soldier

Soviet Red Army soldiers of the First Ukrainian front with liberated prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland in 1945.

Survivors of Auschwitz leaving the camp at the end of World War II, Poland, February 1945. Above them is the German slogan 'Arbeit macht frei' ('Work makes one free').

'Dushman was right on the front lines when the National Socialists' machinery of murder was destroyed.'

Along with other heroes of Auschwitz, Dushman has saved many lives, she said.

Details on funeral arrangements and survivors were not immediately known.
Five people from the same family including four children were killed in a head-on crash on a Kentucky Interstate caused by a driver heading the wrong way.

The driver of the car heading the wrong way, Jamaica Natascha Caudill, 38, of Madison County, was going southbound in the northbound lanes of Interstate 75 when she hit the other car in Lexington, police said.

All six people involved in the crash on Saturday were killed. Caudill was alone in her car.

The victims in the northbound car were identified as Catherine Greene, 30, her step daughters Santanna, 11, and Karmen, 9; and her children Brayden, 5, and Jack, 2.

Dad Jon Greene said in a heartbreaking statement online 'they were my babies and my wife.'

Heartbroken Dad Jon Greene (left) has spoken out after his wife Catherine , 30, her step daughters Santanna, 11, and Karmen, 9; and her children Brayden, 5, and Jack, 2 (pictured), were killed when a driver heading the wrong way on Interstate 75 in Kentucky struck their vehicle

Jon Greene (pictured, right) has spoken out over his grief at losing his wife (pictured, left) and four children in the crash on Saturday

A southbound car being driven in the northbound lanes struck the family's car just after 12:30 p.m. on Saturday in Lexington

Police said they had received a call about the wrong-way driver before the crash, which occurred before officers could locate the vehicle.

Witness Don Stowe said Greene's car was moving into the fast lane and could not have seen Caudill driving the wrong way down the interstate before the crash.

He told WKYT that, as a former first responder, he believed there would be no survivors.

'The way that crash happened, there had to be no survivors', he said.

Another eyewitness Krista Larmore said she and her family had narrowly avoided being hit by the wrong way driver.

'We literally almost died... That really almost happened. And why we were spared and they weren't, I don't know.', she told LEX18.

Karmen (left) was pronounced dead at the scene. The four other victims were taken to hospital, where they later died, police said

Footage obtained by WKYT of the car driving down the wrong side of the interstate was captured by witnesses moments before the fatal collision

Viewer discretion is advised.@WKYT has obtained cell phone video showing the wrong-way driver on I-75 before the crash that killed six people (including four children).



We have decided not to show the moment of impact.



Details: https://t.co/bYFWV3KtfH pic.twitter.com/E0OUNMdKtz  Garrett Wymer (@GarrettWKYT) June 6, 2021 Twitter Privacy Policy

Caudill and Karmen Greene died at the scene while the others were pronounced dead at a hospital, the statement said.

Catherine and Jon met in 2017, according to a GoFundMe page set up by the children's grandmother Trish Bryant to help cover the cost of five funerals.

The pair immediately fell in love and went on to create a blended family of two step-daughters, mothered by Cheyenne Bass, and two sons after losing a child to miscarriage.

'This man has lost his whole family now. He desperately needs help financially. Please help no matter how little it will help during this time', the page reads. It had raised $10,430 by Monday.

A second page was set up to help Bass cover the cost of the funeral. By Monday, the page had received $9,775.

The family were killed in a car crash after a driver going the wrong way down the interstate collided with them head on

A second page was set up to help Santanna and Karmen's mother, Cheyenne Bass, cover the cost of the funeral. By Monday, the page had received $9,775

Santanna and Karmen, pictured here with Dad Jon Greene, were killed in the crash on Saturday

Father Jim Sichko, a priest in Lexington, has offered to cover the four children's funeral expenses.

He told WKYT: 'A whole family, or part of a family, I mean, what else do you do? Their lives are changed forever'.

The crash remains under investigation. The interstate was closed for hours to allow a crash reconstruction unit to examine the scene. It re-opened just after 4pm.

Father Jim Sichko, a priest in Lexington, has offered to cover the four children's funeral expenses

It was the second multiple-fatality crash involving a wrong-day driver on I-75 in Lexington since 2019.

In January 2019, six people died when a suspected drunken driver heading the wrong way struck a vehicle carrying five vacationing family members from Michigan.

A coroner later said the wrong-way driver had a blood-alcohol content more than three times the legal limit.

The victims were named as 42-year-old Issam Abbas, his 38-year-old wife Rima, their 14-year-old son, Ali, and two daughters, 13-year-old Isabella and seven-year-old Giselle.

I-75 is a bustling north-south corridor crossing the nation's midsection from South Florida to the U.S. border with Canada.
A 'major winter weather event' is set to sweep across Australia this week, bringing widespread snow to the eastern states and freezing temperatures.'

The unseasonal weather system will hit the South Australian mainland on Monday afternoon and bring with it rain, hail and snow to regions as far north as southern Queensland by Tuesday.

The thermostat is forecast to fall to 6C in Sydney by 8pm on Monday and as low as 0C in Canberra.

A marine weather warning for gale-force winds of 90-100km/h is in place for South Australia as the cold front makes landfall.

A cold front is expected to bring widespread snow to the eastern states and freezing temperatures for millions this week. Pictured are the chilly temperatures as the front is forecast to move eastwards this week

Forecasters meanwhile have warned as much as 100cm of snow could fall in alpine regions of Victoria and New South Wales in the next 10 days.

Up to 30cm of snow could fall across the Central Tablelands of NSW and the Blue Mountains, with five to 15cm forecast in the Northern Tablelands.

Land as low as 1000m in Victoria, NSW and southern Queensland is likely to see 'quite significant' fall.

The worst-affected areas are expected to be from eastern Victoria across to coastal and inland southern New South Wales from Tuesday as the front moves eastwards.

The Bureau of Meteorology said those regions could receive at least one month's worth of annual rainfall in just two days.

'The heaviest rainfall appears to be centred over eastern Victoria and coastal parts of southern NSW and adjacent inland areas,' BoM senior meteorologists Sarah Scully told Daily Mail Australia.

A snowy Perisher resort last week. As much as 100cm of snow could fall in alpine regions of Victoria and New South Wales in the next 10 days

'Potential rainfall totals could be in excess of 100mm, with Wednesday and Thursday the wettest days,' Ms Scully said.

Emergency information provider NSW Incident Alerts called the developing weather system this week 'a major winter weather event'.

Wind speeds are expected to reach 70km/h in Adelaide by midday on Monday before the front moves eastward towards Hobart and Melbourne.

Those cities are forecast to brace through gusts of up to 60km/h.

In South Australia, the strong winds could even whip-up dust storms in inland parts of the state.

Pictured: The forecast for snow over the next 10 days. Up to 30cm of snow could fall across the Central Tablelands of NSW and the Blue Mountains during that period

Thunderstorms are predicted across south eastern Australia as part of a wild weather system that includes icy winds literally drawn to mainland Australia from Antarctica. Melbourne (pictured) will be one of the first cities to feel the chill

The BOM on Saturday said it was preparing to issue a series of severe weather warnings as the cold front meets a low pressure system as it heads north-east.

There is particular concern for farmers.

'We are expecting to issue sheep grazier warnings for farmers indicating very wet and windy conditions that may impact livestock,' Ms Scully said.

It's going to be wet! Get set for a cold, wet and miserable week across south-eastern Australia

'There are likely to be flood warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings across south-eastern Australia.'

Ms Scully said areas that flooded recently will be particularly vulnerable to flooding again because the soil has not fully dried out since the March floods.

'We are confident this will be a significant weather event with heavy rain, small hail damaging winds and snow to low levels.'
Up to 150 Qantas staff including a mid-level manager have criminal links, a federal intelligence operation has found.

The findings from the classified operation, Project Brunello allege the mid-level Qantas manager is connected to the Comanchero motorcycle gang and linked to Hakan Ayik, the head of an international drug cartel.

The intelligence report from July 2020 claims the manager 'recruited' criminals to Qantas for the purpose of importing narcotics into Australia.

It concluded that the criminal activity represents 'a very high threat to the Australian border'.

Australian Hakan Ayik is alleged to be the head of an international drug cartel that had used Qantas staff and exploited security gaps at Australia's borders to run its operations

Criminals are allegedly infiltrating airports and airlines to help smuggle drugs into Australia (pictured, stock image of Sydney Airport)

'Given we follow all of the government's vetting procedures, we find these claims disturbing,' Qantas chief security officer Luke Bramah told a Nine newspapers and 60 Minutes report, adding that the airline hadn't been made aware of any investigations of employees linked to organised crime.

Project Brunello found that Qantas' air freight, ground crew, and baggage handling divisions were at highest risk of infiltration by criminal links.

Almost 60 Qantas staff could be linked to 'serious' drug offences or organised crime groups, and another 23 employees had used their job to 'facilitate various criminal activities',' the report claimed.

Examples include a contractor in Darwin with links to the Hells Angels and another in Perth who used his position as a trusted Qantas employee to make 'large drug deliveries'.

The report alleged Sydney racing identity Damion Flower imported $1 billion worth of cocaine through Qantas channels with the aid of a corrupt Qantas baggage handler.

Flower pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of importing $68.5 million worth of cocaine into Australia.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission believes a group of nine men with membership of Australian bikie gangs and Middle-Eastern crime syndicates formed an 'Aussie Cartel', responsible for smuggling up to $1.5 billion in drugs through Australian borders.

Members with links to Qantas employees are believed to be associated with the Comancheros gang, according to Project Brunello.

Project Bonello revealed Sydney racing identity Damion Flower was involved in importing $1billion in cocaine through his links to a corrupt Qantas baggage handler

The allegations include that a Comanchero bikie gang affiliate is working as a Qantas manager at Sydney Airport, recruiting criminals to help import narcotics

Following the reports, Labor highlighted that it had been 15 years since there was a review of airport security.

'It is highly disturbing that the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission has revealed... federal law enforcement officials and dozens of Qantas employees might be facilitating the entry of drugs into Australia,' Labor spokeswomen Kristina Keneally and Catherine King said in a joint statement.

'The combination of these revelations and the challenges of Covid-19 mean that it's now time for a new independent review.

But Labor also raised objections to proposed new laws that would allow criminal intelligence to be used, rather than just criminal convictions, in assessing the employment of a person at Australian airport and maritime borders.

Qantas is on record supporting legislation still before the Parliament which would allow the use of intelligence checks before staff were given security ID cards.
A Chinese military scientist with ties to the United States reportedly filed a patent for a COVID-19 vaccine well before the disease was declared a global pandemic.

Yusen Zhou, who worked for the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), lodged the paperwork on behalf of the Chinese political party on February 24 2020, according to The Australian newspaper.

That date was just five weeks after China first confirmed human transmission of the coronavirus.

Zhou is also said to have 'worked closely' with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), including Shi Zhengli - the deputy director of the lab who is famous for her research on coronavirus in bats.

Their relationship is likely to strengthen speculation that the virus leaked from the lab and that China was aware that it was spreading between humans long before they alerted the international community.

Zhou mysteriously died less than three months after he filed the patent. The New York Post claims his death was only reported in one Chinese media report, despite the fact he was one of the country's most prominent scientists.

Zhou had previously worked on research linked to the US institutions, including the University of Minnesota and the New York Blood Center, the newspaper reported.

A Chinese military scientist with ties to the United States reportedly filed a patent for a COVID-19 vaccine well before the disease was declared a global pandemic. He is said to have worked closely with the deputy director of Wuhan Institute of Virology (pictured)

Stock image: An employee of Sinovac works in a lab at a factory producing its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for COVID-19 named CoronaVac in Beijing, China

In recent weeks, many of the world's top scientists have pushed to determine whether the virus was leaked from the WIV.

The lab leak theory was initially dismissed by many in the media and academic communities.

US President Joe Biden last week ordered intelligence agencies to launch a probe into whether COVID was man-made after all.

More than a dozen national Labs run by the Department of Energy have been ordered to assist the intelligence community in a 90-day sprint to examine the origin of the virus.

The labs have been tapped 'because of their ability to crunch massive amounts of data' with their advanced supercomputers, a White House official told CNN.

Zhou is also said to have 'worked closely' with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), including Shi Zhengli (pictured) - the deputy director of the lab who is famous for her research on coronavirus in bats

'We want the science to be a big part of this,' the White House official told CNN. 'We are going to use the full resources of our intelligence and scientific community to try to get to the bottom of this.'

Biden is also urging U.S. intelligence agencies and those of allies to hunt for new information that could shed light on whether China covered up a lab leak.

Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, said the Biden administration's response was 'better late than never, but far from adequate.'

'Our intelligence community has been looking at this now for 15 months. They've done good work on it, but in the end the answer lies in the hands of Chinese communists, not people working for American intelligence agencies,' he told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Cotton said that officials in Beijing have not been forthcoming about how the pandemic began. 'We should be insisting that they come clean, that they provide us a clear and unvarnished look at what was happening in the Wuhan labs,' he said.

Circumstantial evidence has long raised questions about the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where researchers were known to be conducting experiments on bat coronavirus strains similar to the one responsible for COVID-19.

Researchers are seen at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Biden's new 90-day probe will examine whether evidence supports the lab leak theory of the pandemic

China insisted early and often that the virus did not leak from the lab, claiming that crossover to humans must have occurred at a 'wet market' in Wuhan that sold live animals.

Perhaps driven by animosity for Donald Trump, who embraced the lab leak theory early on, the mainstream U.S. media and academics heaped scorn on the possibility, calling it an unhinged conspiracy theory.

But new evidence, including reports of three workers at the Wuhan lab who fell seriously ill with COVID-like symptoms in November 2019, has forced a sober reassessment among doubters.

Frustration with China increased this week after Beijing said that it would not participate in any further investigations by the World Health Organization.

Biden rebuked China in his announcement of the new intelligence review, calling on allies to help 'press China to participate in a full, transparent, evidence-based international investigation and to provide access to all relevant data and evidence.'
A free trade deal between Australia and the UK will send a 'powerful signal' to China and provide a huge boost to exporters in both nations, according to UK Trade Secretary Liz Truss.

Ms Truss believes a deal will show the world that London and Canberra support 'free and fair trade' and slammed Beijing for what she called 'pernicious practices'.

Over the past year China has blocked major Australian exports including barley, wine, coal, seafood, timber and beef and has also been accused of unfairly subsiding failing state-owned companies.

The trade restrictions came after Scott Morrison called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic in June last year.

A free trade deal between Australia and the UK will send a 'powerful signal' to China, according to UK Trade Secretary Liz Truss (pictured with Trade Minister Dan Tehan)

Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers assembling during military training at Pamir Mountains in Kashgar, in northwestern China's Xinjiang region in January

Writing in The Australian, Ms Truss singled out China and said Australia and the UK would work together to promote fair trading around the world.

'Together, we can stand up for rules-based trade against those who threaten to undermine it with pernicious practices such as unfair subsidies,' she wrote.

Ms Truss, who is in the final stages of negotiating a free trade deal with Trade Minister Dan Tehan, said Australia and the UK have an 'unshakeable bond' due to the countries' shared history.

'I have great affection for your nation and admire your principled stand as a great pro-trade champion against pernicious practices from the likes of China,' she wrote.

The agreement, which could be agreed in principal this month and signed by November, will allow tariff free trade access to the UK market of 65 million people for Australian exporters.

Some tariffs are currently as high as 20 per cent, providing a huge barrier to trade.

Chinese president Xi Jinping plants a tree in Beijing in April

The agreement will be the UK's first negotiated from scratch since Brexit, which allowed the UK to leave the European Union and control its own trade policy.

Ms Truss said it would 'right a historical wrong' where the UK joined Europe's common market in 1973 and then traded less with Australia.

'At this critical time, the UK and Australia can send a powerful signal that the best way forward for us all lies in free and fair trade,' she wrote.

'Together, we can demonstrate our readiness to lead the world as great trading nations.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will visit counterpart Boris Johnson in London next week after the G7 summit in Cornwall.

The pair will discuss the free trade deal, which is almost agreed. The sticking point is agriculture for which the UK wants a transition period of several years to protect its farmers from sudden increased competition.

British farmers have expressed concerns about the pending deal, saying they struggle to compete with countries that don't have their high animal welfare and environmental standards.

They claim Australian meat imports do not meet UK benchmarks, and warn the deal will create an uneven playing field.

Mr Tehan has rejected the assertion and said Australia wanted to offer British consumers the option of high-quality goods over other imports.

In April Ms Truss said that the post-Brexit deal will help UK exports of products such as popular cake brands like Mr Kipling and high tech British-made cars and trains.

The UK also wants to remove tariffs on trains and train parts to gain a larger share of rolling stock sales to run on Australia's 22,400 miles of track.

'From our world-famous food and drink industry to our car and train manufacturers, we're pushing to slash tariffs on iconic British exports,' Ms Truss said.

'We know that export-led jobs are typically more productive and higher paying, supporting jobs across the country which will help us build back better from the pandemic.

'A gold standard agreement with our allies Australia, which is now in sight, would mark the next generation of trade deals and will deliver big benefits for people and business across the whole of the UK.'
The family of murdered schoolboy Daniel Morcombe has demanded convicted child killers be left to die in jail as the rapist who strangled a 12-year-old schoolgirl tries to walk free.

Barrie Watts abducted, raped and murdered Sian Kingi on the Sunshine Coast on November 27, 1987 with the help of his then-wife and mother-of-six Valmae Beck.

The pair lured Sian by asking her to help look for a 'white poodle with a pink bow' before Watts abducted her in the backseat of a Holden Kingswood station wagon.

While the duo were both sentenced to life behind bars, Beck died in custody back in 2008 with Watts now lodging an application for parole.

Bruce Morcombe, father of tragic schoolboy Daniel, 13, who was abducted and murdered on the Sunshine Coast in 2003, told Daily Mail Australia such killers should 'die in jail'.

The man who killed 12-year-old school girls Sian Kingi (pictured) on the Sunshine Coast in 1987 is making a bid for freedom, much to the dismay of friends and family

He wants child sex killers and multiple murderers to live out their life in jail without any hope of release, and has appealed to the parole board to block the evil killer's bid for freedom.

'These people are the worst of the worst,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'They should never be let out. They should die in jail. Life should mean life.

Bruce Morcombe (pictured with wife Denise) wants child sex killers and multiple murderers to remain in jail without any hope of release

Poll SHOULD CHILD KILLERS GET LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE? Yes - throw away the key No SHOULD CHILD KILLERS GET LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE? Yes - throw away the key 155 votes

No 2 votes Now share your opinion





'They should throw away the key. You cannot let this man out.'

Mr Morcombe believes it may not require a change in legislation by politicians to bring in the hardline policy, just a change of heart from members of parole boards.

'They just need to decline these kind of applications at parole board level,' he said.

'A simple test for those on the board is: 'Would you let Barrie Watts babysit your kids or grandkids?' And if the answer's no, then don't let him out.

'Make it personal, with Barrie Watts and others in that bracket. Look after their own children or grandchildren and if there are any reservations, don't let him out.'

Mr Morcombe - who has set up the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to campaign for better child safety in Australia - has been in touch with Sian's family ahead of the parole bid.

'They're a very private family, and they're not taking it all that well, to be honest,' he said.

'It's certainly a struggle and they don't need to be put under this enormous pressure, reliving all those horrible events that occurred to their much-loved daughter.'

Barrie Watts (pictured) who raped, abducted and murdered Sian Kingi has applied for parole

After gagging Sian and driving her to a remote forest, Watts performed a fantasy he shared with Beck by repeatedly sexually assaulting Sian before strangling and stabbing her.

Sian's family are understood to have had to relive the nightmare in a victim impact statement to go before the parole board.

'They shouldn't have to go down that path,' said Mr Morcombe. 'It's rubbing salt into the wound.'

Mr Morcombe fears the Sian Kingi case is now a prelude for what his family will face in 10 years when Daniel's killer Brett Peter Cowan can apply for parole, 20 years after his 2011 arrest and subsequent conviction.

Schoolboy Daniel Morcombe, 13, (pictured) was abducted and murdered on the Sunshine Coast in 2003. His killer, Brett Peter Cowan, can apply for parole in 10 years

'We don't know what's going to happen in 10 years - maybe Cowan will have passed away in jail and we won't need to worry about it,' he said. 'But this could be deja vu for us.

'In my view, the intent of the law is for them to die in jail. The worst of the worst will not be released. Their final days will be in jail.'

A Change.org petition was created on Saturday by State Member for Ninderry Dan Purdie urging the government to reject Watts' plea for freedom.

In just 48 hours, more than 34,000 people signed.

Mr Purdie expressed outrage at Watt's plea and said it sent 'a shockwave through my community, police and Sian's family.'

Watts brutally killed young school girl Sian Kingi in 1987 with the help of his then-wife and mother-of-six Valmae Beck (pictured)

'All  including her parents who I spoke to again this morning  have grave concerns for the persons living in any community in which Barrie Watts may be released into.'

Mr Purdie said Watts deserved to serve his entire life sentence in prison.

'If Watts is given parole, what precedent would this set? How many others child killers would be released while they still represent an unacceptable risk to the community?' he said.

'It's not necessarily about people being further punished. The worst of the worst should lose their right to be integrated back into society because they will forever be a risk to any community they are released into.'

Sian's schoolmates say her death stripped an entire generation of their innocence, and that the killer should never be released

Former Queensland police commissioner Bob Atkinson, who investigated Sian's murder as a detective, said Watts 'would be an unacceptable community risk.'

Retired detective Neil Magnussen also joined the chorus of dismay and said Watt's will 'never, ever be rehabilitated, ever.'

Mr Magnussen added: 'He's got a thing about young women and girls. He'll never stop. He's a danger to the public.'
A distressed whale which was filmed dragging two bouys along the water after becoming tangled in its netting has been freed.

The whale was spotted swimming erratically off the coast at Coogee Beach, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, at 4pm on Sunday.

An onlooker along the coastline filmed the whale dragging two white bouys across the surface of the water.

It quickly became apparent the mammal had become caught in its netting and was struggling to break free.

We saw this as well. pic.twitter.com/JWs6AsdeZk  theJoeAverage (@theJoeAverage) June 6, 2021

The whale was spotted swimming erratically off the coast at Coogee beach, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, at 4pm on Sunday

Marine Area Command were immediately alerted before sea crews were sent out to try and free the whale

Marine Area Command were immediately alerted before sea crews were sent out to try and free the whale.

'In a delicate and difficult operation, the officers managed to pull in close enough to the mammal to cut the ropes attached to both buoys and freed the whale,' a New South Wales Police spokesperson said.

Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia, and National Parks and Wildlife have continued to monitor the movements of the whale amid concerns it might still be tangled.

Police officers managed to pull in close enough to the mammal to cut the ropes attached to both buoys and freed the whale

It is understood the whale had been swimming towards Clovelly before it became stuck in the netting.

Humpback whales tend to swim up Australia's eastern coastline during migration season between May and November.

Coogee is a popular spot for whale watching with the sea mammals frequently spotted in the water.

Wildlife groups have continued to monitor the movements of the whale amid concerns it might still be tangled
People looking for love online will be able to see whether their potential match has been vaccinated against coronavirus from today in a Government bid to drive uptake.

Dating apps including Tinder and Hinge, as well as websites such as Match and Plenty of Fish, will add features allowing users to show others whether they have had the jab.

In-app bonuses will be given to those who say they are jabbed  though the process will be voluntary with no official verification.

Dating apps including Tinder and Hinge, as well as websites such as Match and Plenty of Fish, will add features allowing users to show others whether they have had the jab. Pictured, some of the stickers available to Tinder users

In-app bonuses will be given to those who say they are jabbed  though the process will be voluntary with no official verification. Pictured, examples of how the stickers appear on the Tinder profiles of users

Jab lines stretch for 'MILES' as Britons wait up to three hours for vaccine after NHS offers shots to over 18s Young people in London and Scotland yesterday formed huge queues reportedly stretching miles to get vaccinated as the NHS began offering jabs to over-18s as the Indian variant puts so-called 'Freedom Day' under threat. Footage from Troon, South Ayrshire showed a line of young people queuing for up to three hours to use the town's drop-in vaccination centre at Walker Hall, which is offering jabs until 6pm. Meanwhile in Stanmore, Greater London, Belmont Health Centre saw long queues over the weekend after opening for walk-in appointments to over-18s who live or work in Harrow and have yet to have their first jabs. It comes as daily coronavirus cases rose 65 per cent in a week to 5,341, while 33,496 cases were recorded over the last seven day - an increase of 11,022, or nearly 50 per cent, on the previous week. Deaths fell in a week from six to four as evidence of the efficacy of the vaccines mounts, as official figures reveal 76.6 per cent of adults have now received their first vaccine jab, and 52.5 per cent have had their second dose. But Cabinet ministers have admitted they are 'open' to delay the final lockdown easing on June 21 if coronavirus data turns 'bad' in the next week, and are understood to be making contingency plans to keep restrictions such as masks and work-from-home guidance in place beyond 'Freedom Day'. Asked if the easing could be postponed if the data on cases and hospitalisations turns sour, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: 'We are absolutely open to doing that, if that is what needs to happen. 'We have said in the roadmap that the 21st of June is the date by which we would not take step 4 before that date and we would look at the data. That is exactly what we are doing.' Advertisement

Dating platforms will give people badges to display their vaccine status, and some - including Tinder and Muzmatch  will publish information to help educate users.

Bumble will also let people share their Covid preferences, such as whether they are comfortable dating indoors or outdoors, and their expectations about masks and social distancing.

A recent poll by YouGov suggested people are more likely to date someone who had taken the vaccine.

Ministers hope the partnership between the Government and dating apps will help boost jab take-up in the young, with under-30s set to receive their invites this week.

Some 31 per cent of adults surveyed said they would prefer to date someone who was vaccinated, while 28 per cent would not date someone unless they had received the jab.

Bumbles vice president for Europe, Naomi Walkland, said: The Covid conversation is already front of mind for two in three people on Bumble so its important to make it easier to feel comfortable and safe on a date.

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: I am thrilled that we are partnering up with dating apps to boost vaccine uptake across the country.

This is another incredible asset to our vaccination programme - the biggest and most successful in our history.

The vaccine is our way out of this pandemic and we have made incredible progress so far with over three quarters of adults receiving at least one dose.

I encourage everyone who is eligible to roll up their sleeves and get the jab - it could save your life and protect your loved ones.

Shahzad Younas, founder and CEO at Muzmatch, said: "We at Muzmatch are really thrilled to be working with the UK Government on the vaccine campaign.

"We understand the concerns young Muslims have regarding the vaccination, in particular those that are in the process of getting married.

"Misinformation has been spreading at an alarming rate in our communities, which is why we're glad to work with the NHS to clear up myths about the vaccine and encourage our members to get vaccinated.
As Melburnians face an agonising wait to learn their lockdown fate, the call for rapid testing of infected communities continues to get louder.

On Monday, Victoria recorded nine new cases of Covid-19 amid fears a fast-moving strain from India had somehow infected a section of West Melbourne.

Australian health officials have long feared the Delta strain breaking out in the community and remain baffled as to how it has emerged out in the wild.

Healthcare workers in action at the Albert Park COVID-19 testing facility in Melbourne last month.

Premier Daniel Andrews claims to follow the advice of health officials. Some argue he doesn't listen to all of them

Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar has become the face of Victoria's latest lockdowns

With Melbourne's fourth hard lockdown scheduled to end on Thursday, diagnostic experts believe rapid tests could stop the spread of the virus while releasing Melburnians from isolation.

As it stands, the use of rapid tests in Australia is largely restricted to just a handfull of businesses that get approval to test inhouse staff.

While veterinarians can quickly ascertain whether an animal has traces of the virus, Australians are effectively reliant on the slower polymerase chain reaction tests, which can take hours if not days to return results compared to just minutes.

The silence over Australia's reluctance to embrace the rapid test technology has been deafening.

But as Melbourne enters its 11th day of lockdown, its citizens are becoming increasingly hostile to the notion of extending it further.

An international expert in the field of rapid antigen tests, who asked to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail Australia their use had the ability to end lockdowns.

'When they find fragments of virus in the waste water and the reason they haven't detected those cases is because about half the people with Covid are asymptomatic,' he said.

'The big problem with the current policy is: (they say) if you have symptoms, get tested and PCR will pick it up. That's correct. The problem is if you don't have symptoms you don't go for a test and you don't get picked-up.

'That's why when there's fragments in a town, they should go in and screen everybody in that town because it's the asymptomatic people causing that reading otherwise if they had symptoms they'd have gone and got tested.'

Rapid antigen tests could be Melbourne's way out of future lockdowns

Health workers conduct COVID-19 testing at the Montague Street centre in South Melbourne last month

A woman receives a PCR test in Melbourne. Calls for more rapid tests have increased as Melbourne's lockdown continues

RAPID TESTS ENDED SLOVAKIAN LOCKDOWN In October and November, Slovakia tested a large percentage of its population in several rounds of mass rapid antigen testing. Determined not to enter another lockdown, two rounds of rapid mass testing saw the prevalence of Covid drop by more than half. While the approach may not work everywhere, the findings supported population-wide rapid testing, when combined with other measures, as an important tool for combatting the pandemic. Advertisement

Facing further lockdowns last year, the Slovakian government screened everybody over the age of 16 - more than three million people - in just days.

Those that returned positive results were isolated while the rest of the country got on with life.

'Let's say a town of 60,000 people has waste water in its treatment with Covid, there's no reason why you couldn't go out and screen those 60,000 people at home in a day, find five people that are asymptomatic and get them into quarantine. Then you're not waiting for an outbreak,' the source said.

Mary-Louise McLaws, a professor in epidemiology at the University of New South Wales, threw her support behind rapid testing after they were pulled from the Howard Springs quarantine facility in the Northern Territory for PCR tests.

The facility's medical director, Di Stephens, claimed the rapid tests did not have the sensitivity and specificity to pick up the people that had Covid and also had returned false positives.

Professor McLaws said the rapid antigen tests were an important tool in the infection control arsenal because they could be more effective at detecting coronavirus in its early stages and variants.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton continues to provide health advice that sees Melburnians locked up

Healthcare workers transport a person into a patient transport vehicle at Arcare Aged Care where Covid breached

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley is being advised by health officials that have shunned rapid testing

HOW RAPID TESTS COULD HELP AGED CARE AND TRAVEL Until now, the elderly in aged care have been tested for Covid once a month via PCR tests. In Victoria, Covid managed to again infiltrate a facility in Melbourne's west. Experts claim it makes little sense to conduct the monthly tests. 'You can get infected and be infectious within a week so what's the rationale for testing once a month?' a source said. 'It's been well proven that doing more regular antigen tests has better chance of picking up infection over a period.' The rapid tests would also allow loved ones to visit more often. 'You can't test everybody visiting an old peoples home and give them a result in 10 minutes with PCR. You can't screen everybody at the airport before they get on a flight and give them a result when they're checking in.' Advertisement

'I'm concerned that they're setting themselves up to have breach, because while PCR is an excellent approach to diagnosing people  particularly when they have symptoms  a rapid antigen test is the new science that provides really excellent results during that pre-symptomatic period,' she told the ABC.

'The flights back to Australia are going to have more infected return travellers and if they bring with them a variant of concern, there is a likelihood that that mutation may prevent the PCR test from testing positive.'

Those in the diagnostic field believe the tests have been shunned by Australia's top medical advisers out of sheer bloody-mindedness.

'Australia has a diagnostics environment that is almost entirely dictated by the pathology groups to the point where the group in public health in NSW that advises the state government and the public health service on diagnostics is not called Diagnostics NSW - they're called Pathology NSW,' the source said.

'That gives you some idea who their stakeholders are and what their interests are. Their interests are to continue to have pathology as the only viable and accredited way of doing testing in the state and that is a problem at federal level because on the reimbursement committee all of the diagnostic and medical expertise is from the pathology group and it's all out of the Royal College of Pathologists therefore there's a vested interest in that side of the industry to the point Australia doesn't really have reimbursement for rapid testing.'

The PCR tests are eligible for a Medicare rebate of $42.50, but the rapid antigen tests are not.

Melbourne will remain a ghost town for days to come, maybe weeks.

A resident gestures from an aged care facility in the Melbourne suburb of Maidstone last month after being placed in lockdown

Elderly residents at Arcare in Melbourne were locked down after Covid got in from a worker

'So it's very expensive for health care providers to use because they don't get the reimbursement for using it,' the source said.

The rapid tests can be bought over the counter in the United States and United Kingdom where they have been lauded for quickly identifying potential carriers and preventing lockdowns.

In Australia, health officials continue to discredit the tests and encourage those businesses that can utilise them not to do so.

While diagnostic experts agree PCR tests are the 'gold standard' they insist a combination with rapid testing added even more benefits.

'That narrative doesn't suit them. So it's being completely ignored and PCR is really the only thing that they'll talk about because it's the only thing that goes through their lab now and what keeps providing them with revenue,' the source said.
The little girl was born just days before what would have been Prince Philip's 100th birthday.

So Harry and Meghan's decision to name their daughter after the Duke of Edinburgh's favoured pet name for the Queen was poignantly fitting.

The Queen is known as 'Lilibet' by close members of the Royal Family, although it is believed that her late husband was the last to call her directly by the nickname.

The Duchess of Sussex has given birth to a daughter named Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, after the family nickname for the Queen and the duke's mother Princess Diana

The Sussexes chose Lilibet - the name used by Prince Philip for the Queen - for the name of their daughter who was born just days before the Duke of Edinburgh would have turned 100

Writing to the Queen Mother after his wedding day, Philip said: 'Lilibet is the only 'thing' in the world which is absolutely real to me.'

The nickname originated when she was a child and struggled to pronounce Elizabeth, and was used by her father King George VI, who in adoring correspondence described 'Lilibet' as 'my pride'.

The Sussexes also announced that their daughter, who will be known as Lili, has the middle name Diana, to honour her 'beloved late grandmother'.

Lili will not be the first member of the Royal Family whose name commemorates Diana, who would have celebrated her 60th birthday on July 1.

The new baby will be entitled to be a princess and Archie a prince - both with HRH styles - after the death of the Queen and when Charles becomes king. This is because they will have moved up the line of succession

Her cousin, Princess Charlotte, has Diana as one of her middle names and Elizabeth as another in tribute to the Queen.

Like her two-year-old brother Archie, Lili will use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.

However, under rules set down more than 100 years ago, both Lili and Archie are not initially entitled to be a prince and princess or to be styled HRH.

They will only become princess and prince once Prince Charles takes the throne.
Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has killed himself in a fight against rival jihadist fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) according to audio obtained from the group on Sunday.

It comes two weeks after reports emerged that he had died.

His death marks a major shift in Nigeria's 12-year-old jihadist insurgency that has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million in the northeast.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau holds a weapon in an unknown location in Nigeria in this still image taken from an undated video obtained on January 15, 2018

Boko Haram has not yet officially commented on the death of their leader while the Nigerian army said it was investigating the claim.

'Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the hereafter to getting humiliated on Earth. He killed himself instantly by detonating an explosive,' said a voice resembling that of ISWAP leader Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, speaking in the Kanuri language.

The audio, which was not dated, was given to AFP by the same source who conveyed previous messages from the group.

ISWAP described in the audio how it sent fighters to Boko Haram's enclave in the Sambisa forest, that they found Shekau sitting inside his house and engaged him in a firefight.

'From there he retreated and escaped, ran and roamed the bushes for five days. However, the fighters kept searching and hunting for him before they were able to locate him,' the voice said.

Leader of the Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau at an undisclosed location in Nigeria

After finding him in the bush, ISWAP fighters urged him and his followers to repent, the voice added, but Shekau refused and killed himself.

'We are so happy,' the voice said, describing Shekau as 'the big troublemaker, persecutor and destructive leader of the nation.'

ISWAP split from Boko Haram in 2016, objecting to Shekau's indiscriminate targeting of Muslim civilians and use of women suicide bombers.

'This was someone who committed unimaginable terrorism and atrocities. For how long has he been leading people astray? How many times has he destroyed and abused people?' the voice said.

In the past two years, ISWAP emerged as the more dominant force in the region, carrying out large-scale attacks against the Nigerian military.

As the group now looks to absorb Shekau's fighters and territory, Nigeria's army potentially faces a more unified jihadist force, analysts say.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau speaks in front of guards in an unknown location in Nigeria in this still image taken from an undated video obtained on January 15, 2018

But ISWAP may also struggle to control or persuade Boko Haram factions loyal to Shekau outside Sambisa, especially in border areas.

'It may not be over yet,' one security source said. 'ISWAP will have to subdue or convince these camps to coalesce (them) into its fold to fully consolidate its control.'

Jihadist infighting may present opportunities for Nigeria's army to seize.

But should ISWAP absorb part of Shekau's men and weapons, it might be in a position to cut off roads to and from the Borno state capital Maiduguri, said Peccavi Consulting, a risk group specialising in Africa.

'If ISWAP convinces Shekau's forces to join them, they will be controlling the majority of the enemy forces as well as having a presence in most of the ungoverned spaces in the northeast,' it said in a note.

Since 2019, Nigeria's army has pulled out of villages and smaller bases to hunker down in so-called 'supercamps', a strategy critics say allows jihadists to roam free in rural areas.

Following its takeover of Sambisa, ISWAP sent messages to locals in the Lake Chad region, telling them they were welcome to its self-declared 'caliphate', said Sallau Arzika, a fisherman from Baga.

Locals were chased out of the lake islands after ISWAP accused them of spying for the military. Al-Barnawi said they could now return for fishing and trading after paying tax, with the assurance they would not be harmed, Arzika said.
A trendy Italian eatery frequented by social media models, influencers and reality TV stars has been fined $204,000 for underpaying its most vulnerable staff.

Gilson on South Yarra was last week ordered to pay the mammoth fine - in the midst of a fourth statewide Covid lockdown - following a 11-month Fair Work investigation.

The chic Italian restaurant, which is a mainstay on the Instagram pages of Melbourne's social media set, underpaid vulnerable international visa holders by a sum of $53,850 in six months from December 2017 to July 2018.

In total, 40 employees were underpaid during the period, and more than half were visa holders from non-English speaking countries, including France, Brazil, Chile and Nepal.

Love Island Australia season two winner Anna McEvoy (pictured left) was seen dining at the restaurant in March 2021, in between Melbourne's Covid lockdowns

Ruby Brownless, the daughter of AFL legend Billy Brownless, also frequents the restaurant, uploading this picture at the trendy spot earlier this year and revealing she could 'eat this every day'

Fourteen staff were under 25 when they were employed, and Federal Circuit Court judge Philip Burchardt said they represented a particularly vulnerable portion of the community.

Judge Burchardt said restaurateur James McBride was 'at the very least, wilfully blind' to 'his breaches of the award obligations... if not deliberate'.

The court heard staff were paid as little as $18 per hour and management failed to offer proper meal breaks during work hours.

McBride was personally fined $34,020 while his company Domain Botanical Business copped a $170,100 penalty.

The fines will be sorely felt after 15 months of uncertainty for the Melbourne hospitality industry due to repeated Covid lockdowns.

The trendy dining spot attracted Melbourne's influencer crowd, who regularly upload photos of their aesthetic meals and brunch attire. Freelance presenter and meditation guide Lauren James shared this photo at the restaurant

Judge Burchardt said restaurateur James McBride (pictured) was 'at the very least, wilfully blind' to 'his breaches of the award obligations... if not deliberate'

In order to stay afloat Gilson crafted a take away menu and in-house delivery service to avoid closing their doors all together during stage four restrictions.

At the time, Mr McBride said he was 'devastated to say the least' with the requirements and begged customers to 'bare with us' as staff worked round the clock to get the new systems up and running.

The 'neighbourhood Italian' restaurant on Domain Rd in South Yarra opened in 2016 serving brunch, woodfired pizza and pasta, antipasto and meat dishes.

The trendy dining spot, which charges $11 for a side of fries, attracted Melbourne's influencer crowd who regularly upload photos of their aesthetic meals and brunch attire.

Anna McEvoy, the 2019 Love Island Australia winner, was last pictured at the restaurant in March, while Adidas ambassador Britt Cutts was spotted dining in January.

Adidas trainer and PT Brittney Cutts is another social media personality who dines at the venue. Pictured in January

The 'neighbourhood Italian' restaurant on Domain Rd in South Yarra opened in 2016 serving brunch, woodfired pizza and pasta, antipasto and meat dishes

Ruby Brownless, the daughter of AFL legend Billy Brownless, in January shared photos dining with friends and said she could 'eat this every day'.

The Fair Work Ombudsman notified Mr McBride of the serious breaches in July 2020 after auditing the restaurant, and the company quickly rectified the underpayments.

But Judge Burchardt said the failure to pay certain employees correctly was heightened by the 'disadvantaged nature of the employees' in particular when handing down his decision.

Fair Work Ombudsman spokeswoman Sandra Parker said after the proceedings that the exploitation of any worker would never be tolerated.

'All workers in Australia have the same rights, regardless of citizenship or visa status,' she said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Gilson Restaurant for comment.
The former head of the Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottlieb, has said Dr. Anthony Fauci told world leaders in the spring of 2020 that the coronavirus may have escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China.

U.S. researchers around that time still were considering whether the virus came from a lab break, and Fauci told the health leaders gathered that the newly identified strain of the coronavirus 'looked unusual,' according to Gottlieb.

The disclosure from the former FDA chief comes as an increasing number of mainstream scientists and media figures no longer are parroting the line from the Chinese Communist Party that the virus came from a bat.

Even President Joe Biden has ordered government agencies to investigate the possibility that it might have come from a lab.

Now, Gottlieb says Fauci last year at least considered that COVID-19 could have come from a lab - before closing ranks around the idea that it occurred naturally.

Gottlieb, who served under President Donald Trump, said a former senior member of the Trump administration told him at the time of Fauci's 2020 talk. Gottlieb said he'd recently reconfirmed with that person that Fauci had given the talk.

'I think early on, when they looked at the strain, they had suspicions,' Gottlieb recalled Sunday on CBS Face the Nation, speaking of U.S. scientists. 'And it takes time to do that analysis, and that dispelled some of those suspicions,' he added.

Meanwhile, Gottlieb said it was a mistake to only look at the virus from a scientific perspective: It also needs to be examined from a national security lens, he said.

It comes on the heels of news that a virologist who emailed Fauci to raise the possibility that the virus may be man-made has deactivated his Twitter account.

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said he was told Dr. Fauci had briefed world leaders on the possibility that the novel coronavirus leaked from a lab

Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb says he was informed by a senior Trump administration official in spring that Dr. Fauci briefed world health leaders in Europe that this could have been a potential lab leak...so those discussions were going on. pic.twitter.com/2OlTg8bMof  Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 6, 2021

U.S. First Lady Jill Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci visited a vaccination clinic at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem

Dr Kristian Andersen, a virologist at California's Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, who emailed Fauci in January 2020 to raise the possibility of the virus being man-made has deleted his Twitter account

'A scientific mindset looks at the virus and the virus' behavior and draws a conclusion,' he said.

'A national security assessment looks at that and then looks at the behavior of the Chinese government, the behavior of the lab, other evidence around the lab - including the infections we now know took place - and that changes the overall assessment,' he said.

Although some experts still believe the virus was transmitted from a bat to some other species of animal, then to humans, its origins remain unproven.

The Wuhan lab was famed for conducting tests on bat coronaviruses, with experts who support the leak theory saying the same city being ground zero for the outbreak is too great a coincidence to ignore.

Fauci is now facing accusations that he mishandled and downplayed the theory the virus leaked from the lab in Wuhan.

Among those who wrote to Fauci to raise the question is Dr Kristian Andersen, a virologist at California's Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California in emails obtained by The Washington Post and BuzzFeed last week under the Freedom of Information Act.

While China has tried to insist the virus originated elsewhere, academics, politicians and the media have begun to contemplate the possibility it escaped from the WIV - raising suspicions that Chinese officials simply hid evidence of the early spread

The idea the coronavirus escaped from a Wuhan lab was at best a 'fringe theory' until recently, when the Biden administration ordered a review

The Wuhan lab was famed for conducting tests on bat coronaviruses, with experts who support the leak theory saying the same city being ground zero for the outbreak is too great a coincidence to ignore. (file photo from inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology)

Chinese scientist 'filed a patent for a vaccine BEFORE virus was declared a pandemic' A Chinese military scientist with ties to the United States reportedly filed a patent for a COVID-19 vaccine well before the disease was declared a global pandemic. Yusen Zhou, who worked for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), lodged the paperwork on behalf of the Chinese political party on February 24 2020, according to The Australian newspaper. That date was just five weeks after China first confirmed human transmission of the coronavirus. Zhou is also said to have 'worked closely' with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), including Shi Zhengli - the deputy director of the lab who is famous for her research on coronavirus in bats. Zhou mysteriously died less than three months after he filed the patent. The New York Post claims his death was only reported in one Chinese media report, despite the fact he was one of the country's most prominent scientists. Zhou had previously worked on research linked to the US institutions, including the University of Minnesota and the New York Blood Center, the newspaper reported. Advertisement

On January 31, 2020, Andersen references a Science magazine article about how researchers around the world were racing to share 'full sequences of the virus from patients' to understand how it related to viruses found in animals.

'The unusual features of the virus make up a really small part of the genome (<0.1%) so one has to look really closely at all the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered,' he wrote.

At the time, the lab leak hypothesis was largely dismissed by many experts. It has recently gained traction.

Andersen said he and his team found that 'the genome [is] inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory.

'But we have to look at this much more closely and there are still further analyses to be done, so those options could still change,' he added.

By the next month, it turned out, they had.

He and his colleagues published an article in Nature Medicine in which they concluded that it was 'improbable that SARS-CoV-2 emerged through laboratory manipulation of a related SARS-CoV-like coronavirus.'

In May, Andersen was referenced in a New York Times article about scientists calling into more investigations into the origins of the virus.

On Sunday, Anderson's Twitter account was deactivated. He has not released a statement as to why.

In another email, Fauci was thanked by the head of a nonprofit that helped fund research at Chinas Wuhan Institute of Virology, 'for publicly standing up and stating that the scientific evidence supports a natural origin,' which he said 'will help dispel the myths being spun around the virus origins.'

Andersen, the scientist who wrote the 'engineered' email, has tried to offer further explanation.

'As I have said many times, we seriously considered a lab leak a possibility.

'However, significant new data, extensive analyses, and many discussions led to the conclusions in our paper. What the email shows, is a clear example of the scientific process,' he tweeted amid the backlash.

White House backs Dr Fauci: Jill Biden attends Harlem vaccination with under-fire-Fauci as protesters gather outside calling for him to be fired

First Lady Jill Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci toured a COVID-19 vaccination site at a historic Harlem church on Sunday as the White House was standing by the top medical adviser after he's come under fire for his handling of the virus.

Biden, Fauci and U.S. Sen Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, watched as people got their shots in the basement of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in the New York City neighborhood.

But outside the place of worship there were dozens of protesters chanting against Fauci, who advocated for lockdowns and mask-wearing when some now are saying those measures went too far.

Meanwhile, he's taken heat for flip-flopping on whether COVID-19 is man-made - perhaps leaked from a Wuhan lab - or whether it is naturally occurring, coming from a bat as China contends.

Former President Donald Trump, who brought Fauci on as a top adviser, has now recently blasted him. On Saturday night, he called him 'great promoter, not a great doctor.'

President Joe Biden, meanwhile, who kept Fauci on board, has said he will not fire the doctor and has praised his work.

First lady Jill Biden, center left, standing with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, makes a statement while visiting a vaccine clinic at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem on Sunday

An activist holds a surgical mask during a protest of a visit by first lady Jill Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci

Demonstrators protest outside Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where the infection rate has been higher than the rest of the city but the vaccine rate is roughly only seven percent

'Fire Fauci!' many shouted while a man with a bullhorn said 'We will not comply, Dr. Fauci!'

Several dozen people protested outside the church where Dr. Jill Biden and Dr. Fauci were attending a vaccination clinic

Outside the church, however, dozens of protesters railed against Fauci, slamming his handling of the pandemic

Officers from the NYPD prevented protesters from getting too close

Protesters who had gathered outside had messages that looked to be centered on lockdowns - and their opposition to them. Some even compared the lockdown orders and mask-wearing that Fauci had pushed to fascism.

'Fire Fauci!' many shouted while a man with a bullhorn said 'We will not comply, Dr. Fauci!'

One demonstrator told a pair of NYPD officers to take Fauci into custody.

'Arrest Fauci. He was right there,' he said to the New York Post. 'You should have arrested Fauci.'

Inside, Fauci spoke to a small number of the press who had gathered.

'We're going to end this outbreak with absolute certainty and the vehicle to ending it is vaccination,' the doctor said. 'And that's why I'm so impressed by being here and so honored to be here.'

Anti-vaxers were among those who gathered outside the church

One person appeared to be suspicious about masks, vaccines and even fluoride

There was little sympathy for the nation's top infectious disease expert

'We will not comply, Dr. Fauci!' one man shouted through a bullhorn

Around 15 people were vaccinated during the visit which lasted for just over half an hour.

Biden asked a teenager about to get his shot how old he was, and when he said he was 14, she responded, 'You're 14, that's exactly what we want! Twelve and over.'

'Thank you for setting an example,' Biden told Annette Gausney, who got the shot after being encouraged by her grandson, Shareif Jones.

'I'm not really afraid of needles anyway but, you know, it's pleasant when people are pleasant and Biden certainly was,' Gausney said.

The 92-year-old had been hesitant to get the vaccine because 'news makes it hard to know what to 'really believe and what not to believe,' Jones explained.

'I understand where she's coming from, though, since, like, what she's been through growing upIt's hard to convince somebody, who is an elderly black woman in America, going through what they go through.'

First lady Jill Biden, center left, and Dr. Anthony Fauci were present for just over half an hour

Around 15 people managed to receive their vaccine in the time Biden and Fauci were present

'We're going to end this outbreak with absolute certainty and the vehicle to ending it is vaccination and that's why I'm so impressed by being here and so honored to be here,' Faucie said

Chinese scientist 'filed a patent for a vaccine BEFORE virus was declared a pandemic' A Chinese military scientist with ties to the United States reportedly filed a patent for a COVID-19 vaccine well before the disease was declared a global pandemic. Yusen Zhou, who worked for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), lodged the paperwork on behalf of the Chinese political party on February 24 2020, according to The Australian newspaper. That date was just five weeks after China first confirmed human transmission of the coronavirus. Zhou is also said to have 'worked closely' with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), including Shi Zhengli - the deputy director of the lab who is famous for her research on coronavirus in bats. Zhou mysteriously died less than three months after he filed the patent. The New York Post claims his death was only reported in one Chinese media report, despite the fact he was one of the country's most prominent scientists. Zhou had previously worked on research linked to the US institutions, including the University of Minnesota and the New York Blood Center, the newspaper reported. Advertisement

The Abyssinian Baptist Church has often hosted elected officials and other dignitaries, including in February when former President Bill Clinton and former Sen. Hillary Clinton attended a memorial service for actor Cicely Tyson.

The church first started offering vaccine doses in January in an effort to boost the vaccination rates in New York City's black and Hispanic communities and so far more than 12,000 people have been vaccinated.

'I think it's important for Dr. Biden, First Lady and Dr. Fauci, come to emphasize the importance, especially in the Black and brown community of the church in being the first line of defense against COVID-19,' Rev. Calvin Butts of the church said.

'We have been extremely successful in the pandemic, HIV tubes held the live demonstration house we made an effort that not only changed attitudes, but saved thousands of lives. We have doing that again, to choose healthy life.'

The call to 'Fire Fauci' has been gathering pace, particularly in Republican circles in recent weeks.

House Republican Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy called for Fauci to resign or be fired from his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Fauci has been a political lightning rod since the early days of the pandemic, lionized by the left and condemned by the right for flip-flopping on issues including face masks and the theory COVID-19 leaked from a Wuhan virus lab.

But with the release of a trove of Fauci's emails this past week, Republicans have upped the pressure on Fauci, with McCarthy the highest profile figure so-far to turn on him.

'The American people don't have trust in Dr. Fauci,' McCarthy told the Breitbart News Saturday radio show. 'Let's find a person we can trust. Take politics aside, I mean we're talking about American lives here.'

When asked by the interviewer if that meant 'You think he needs to go?' McCarthy said 'yes'.

'Yea, because you do not have the trust in him,' he replied.

On conservative news channels, President Joe Biden's pandemic adviser has been pilloried as a liar who misled the American people about the origins of COVID-19 to protect the Chinese government.

Fauci has branded the claims against him 'nonsense.'

But Republican calls for his resignation have grown louder, as have demands for new investigations into the origins of the virus.

How Fauci flip-flopped on the origins of COVID April 2020: Fauci repeatedly made public statements suggesting that that COVID was the result of an 'unusual human-animal interface' in a Chinese 'wet market' and that 'the mutations that it took to get to the point where it is now is totally consistent with a jump of a species from an animal to a human.' May 2020: Still adamant that he didn't believe the coronavirus was man-made. 'If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what's out there now, [the scientific evidence] is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated,' he told National Geographic in an exclusive interview published May 4, 2020. 'Everything about the stepwise evolution over time strongly indicates that [this virus] evolved in nature and then jumped species.' Late May 2021 to early June 2021: During an event called 'United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking,' Fauci was asked if was 'still confident' that the virus evolved naturally. 'No, actually  I am not convinced about that. I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened,' Fauci said. 'Certainly, the people who investigated it say it likely was the emergence from an animal reservoir that then infected individuals, but it could have been something else, and we need to find that out.' He added: 'So, you know, that's the reason why I said I'm perfectly in favor of any investigation that looks into the origin of the virus.' Advertisement

'Its just science,' he later added. 'Boring, I know, but its quite a helpful thing to have in times of uncertainty.'

Speaking about the emails on Sunday, Gottlieb said there was nothing that concerned him about their contents.

'I didn't think there was anything remarkable in those emails. I don't think there was anything that Tony said that expressed any ill intent, and nothing that was new,' Gottlieb replied, explaining that there had always been two theories on the origins of the virus but there had been little real evidence to support either one.

'We have other information now that fits into this picture. The science is one piece of information, but there is a lot of other information that points in the direction that this could have come out of a lab, that we need to have a broader view about the potential risk that this was a lab leak,' Gottlieb continued.
Plans to allow an NHS system to extract patient data from doctors surgeries in England should be paused to address concerns around privacy, Labour says.

The scheme will collect information on peoples treatments, referrals and appointments over the past ten years, alongside other data.

In a letter to NHS Digital, junior shadow minister for primary care Alex Norris has called for a public consultation and information campaign to allay fears of the public and medical experts over the scheme.

The scheme will collect information on peoples treatments, referrals and appointments over the past ten years, alongside other data

He said patients needed answers on which aspects of their data will be made available and which third-party organisations will have access to any sensitive health information.

The British Medical Association has said patients have until June 23 to decline having their coded health data given to NHS Digital under the scheme.

Daily extracts of the coded data from practice systems to NHS Digital will begin from July 1, it said.

A Government spokesman said: Patient data saves lives, and we could not have delivered the Covid-19 vaccine rollout if we had not used data.
Nine Australians who organised themselves into a $1.5billion drug-running 'Aussie cartel' were responsible for one-third of all drug importations into Australia, intelligence agencies allege.

Michael Phelan, the head of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission said the nine men were designated 'priority' targets because of their alleged criminal activities at Australia's borders.

Members of the cartel were drawn from bikie gangs and Middle Eastern crime syndicates and described as 'the baddest of the bad' by Mr Phelan.

Former national president of the Comancheros bikie gang, Mark Buddle, is alleged to be a member of the 'Aussie Cartel'

Michael Phelan, chief executive, of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, said the criminal activities of the cartel pose a threat to Australia's justice system and government institutions

The operations of the Aussie cartel posed a major threat 'to the integrity of our justice system and other government institutions', he told Nine newspapers and 60 Minutes.

The intelligence boss indicated the cartel included senior members of Hell's Angels and Comanchero bikie gangs who were formerly bitter rivals but now shared information on supply routes and ways to smuggle drugs through Australia's borders.

Routes into Australia, known as 'doors', included using corrupt 'insiders' working for the national airline, Qantas, the 60 Minutes report revealed.

'They share any corrupt networks they may have here to swap information to each other,' Mr Phelan said.

Australians involved allegedly include Hayan Ayik known as the 'Facebook gangster', living in Turkey and accused of running the cartel; former Comancheros' president Mark Buddle; Hells Angels' head Angelo Pandeli; and Michael Tu, linked to Hong Kong Triads, police sources told.

Turkey-based Australian Hayan Ayik is considered a founding member of the Aussie Cartel

Cartel members had used 'insiders' working for the national carrier, Qantas, to facilitate drug importation into Australia (stock photo of Qantas jet pictured)

The cartel is believed to be behind major drug importations into Australia in recent years, including $1 billion of meth into Western Australia in 2017 and another into Melbourne early in 2020.

Mr Phelan said encrypted phone apps such as Ciphr and Anon were useful in helping the cartel establish itself but also helped track their activities.

He also indicated the Commission would 'not play fair' in hunting down members of the cartel and their associates.

Special extradition procedures and pressuring family and friends in Australia believed to be assisting the cartel would be targeted by the Commission, he said.

Proposed laws to tighten the grant of security IDs to those who work at Australia's airport and maritime borders, and to allow intelligence agencies to 'pierce' encryption technology used in criminal activity, remain before Parliament.
The United States' energy grid is vulnerable to an enemy attack, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Sunday.

CNN's Jake Tapper asked Granholm point blank on 'State of the Union' if the nation's adversaries have the capability of shutting the energy grid down.

'Yeah, they do,' she said in ghastly warning to the country.

'There are thousands of attacks on all aspects of the energy sector and the private sector generally. It's happening all the time. This is why the private sector and the public sector have to work together.'

Granholm's statement comes at a time when cyberattacks are on the rise.

Late last week, the U.S. Department of Justice elevated the priority of ransomware attack investigations to a similar priority as terrorism in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline hack, a senior department official told Reuters.

Scroll down for video.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm (right) on CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday said the nation's enemies have the capabilities to shut down the energy grid

Aerial view of Colonial Pipeline fuel tanks. On May 7th, cyber-criminal group, DarkSide attacked the Colonial Pipeline, shutting down the supply of fuel for several days

The Colonial Pipeline hack in early May shutdown the largest pipeline on the East Coast for several days, and some Southern states are still reeling from the shutdown as many gas stations are still empty a month later.

Colonial paid the hackers the demanded $4.4 million in ransom, something that Granholm personally is against doing.

In separate Sunday interview - this time on NBC's 'Meet the Press' - she said cyberattacks are a 'huge issue' in this United States right, and paying ransoms 'exacerbates' the problem 'by sending a bad message.'

'Everyone has to up their game - not just to protect themselves, but to tell the federal government if they are a target of an attack,' she said on 'Meet the Press.'

An immediate change is making sure energy companies, which are mostly private companies, immediately notify the federal government if they're a victim of a cyberattack.

In the long run, President Joe Biden is expected to make international cyberattacks a priority during his first foreign trip to talk with European leaders and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland, CNN reported.

The energy secretary praised the Biden administration's efforts to combat cyberattacks and said in the CNN interview.

'Working with other countries, working with the private sector, working inside of our own government  the president has been issuing these executive orders, to make sure our own house is in order  [and] making sure that citizens are able to protect themselves' is necessary to prevent cyberattacks.

Some southern states are still feeling the effects of the Colonial Pipeline shutdown from early May, with many gas stations still without fuel

And military action is option, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Sunday, according to the New York Post.

Raimondo was asked on ABC's 'This Week' if the US should take a more aggressive approach to ransomware attacks that appear to largely be originating in Russia.

'We won't stand for a nation supporting or turning a blind eye to a criminal enterprise,' Raimondo told host George Stephanopoulos.

'And as the president has said, we are considering all of our options and we're not taking anything off the table as we think about possible repercussions, consequences or retaliation.'
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Thousands of separated and divorced parents have lost contact with their children because of the effects of the pandemic on the courts.

A record 9,000 applied to the courts last year for help to see their children as contact arrangements among divided families broke down, Whitehall figures show.

But the slowdown in hearings during lockdown has meant that only a handful have won assistance from judges to re-establish their rights.

Judges have complained that warring couples now ask the courts to settle the simplest disputes

The effective breakdown of the family court system follows an increase in conflict between separated parents after the imposition of Covid rules last year.

A large number of separated parents with custody of children  almost always mothers  are thought to have taken advantage of lockdown to shut ex-partners out of their childrens lives.

Tensions among separated families have been stoked by a series of errors and official decisions, including mistaken advice from Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove to not let children leave home to meet their other parent, and a ruling that family contact arguments should go to the back of the queue for court time during lockdowns.

The Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett warned MPs last month that there is now a threat to the safety of judges in family courts, where emotions run very high and some disappointed litigants have behaved very badly indeed.

Figures prepared by the Ministry of Justice show that numbers of complaints to the courts by separated parents shot up by a third as the first lockdown started.

These complaints, in the form of applications to judges for orders enforcing family contact rules, went up from 1,944 in the first three months of 2020 to 2,583 over the three following months.

Overall, there were an unprecedented 8,798 enforcement applications made during 2020, which is 12 per cent up on 2019, and more than four times the total in 2011. But very few of the fathers asking to see their children won the backing of a judge. Just 24 contact enforcement orders were issued in 2020, fewer than one for every 350 applications.

Lawyers blamed the willingness of mothers to use lockdown to break relationships between children and fathers. Katie Welton-Dillon of Hall Brown Family Law said: Some parents seem to have taken advantage of the circumstances and simply stopped contact altogether.

The figures which have been published suggest that what we have seen may not be an exception.

Lawyers blamed the willingness of mothers to use lockdown to break relationships between children and fathers

Certainly, almost all the applications to enforce a child arrangements order that I have dealt with over the last year have been because one parent used Covid as something of an excuse to break off contact.

She said that because of Covid restrictions in the courts, rules were put in place to prioritise certain types of case, explaining: While situations that carried a risk of serious physical harm to a child or the parent with whom they lived have been dealt with swiftly, enforcement has not.

Miss Welton-Dillon pointed to the potential for children to suffer serious emotional harm if they cant have a relationship with both parents where safe and possible.

About 1,000 separated couples each week go to the family court to ask a judge to settle whether and how they should share time with their children.

Judges have complained that warring couples now ask the courts to settle the simplest disputes.

In one case last year, a couple went to court to settle which M4 junctions they should meet at to hand over their children.
Rebel Tory MPs are cautiously optimistic that Boris Johnson will be forced to reverse a cut to foreign aid.

The Prime Minister has temporarily reduced aid from 0.7 per cent of national income to 0.5 per cent, breaking a Conservative manifesto commitment.

Thirty Tory MPs, including former prime minister Theresa May, support an amendment that would require new legislation to make up the shortfall left by the cut.

The Prime Minister has temporarily reduced aid from 0.7 per cent of national income to 0.5 per cent, breaking a Conservative manifesto commitment

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC the cut was entirely reasonable given that the pandemic had caused a once-in-300-year economic interruption. Former Cabinet minister Esther McVey said: Its trade not aid that gets countries out of poverty, and now were no longer in the EU we should be working to secure trade agreements with poorer countries, helping them to develop industry and trade their way out of poverty.

But last night one of the rebels, former immigration minister Caroline Nokes, said: The cuts represent just one per cent of what the Chancellor is borrowing this year but they mean funding for the UNs reproductive health programme has been cut by 85 per cent.

It will be up to Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to decide whether the rebels amendment is selected for consideration today.

Thirty Tory MPs, including former prime minister Theresa May, support an amendment that would require new legislation to make up the shortfall left by the cut

Asked if there are enough rebels, amendment-supporting Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told Sky News: Were cautiously optimistic... Britain has a huge opportunity to shape the world at the moment of extraordinary flux and this, along with our defence and diplomatic and trade capabilities, is part of that.

A letter to the Government from charities including Oxfam and Save the Children has claimed the aid cut could undermine the countrys credibility at the G7 meeting in Cornwall, which starts on Friday.
A pathology collector has created an Instagram account featuring the dogs driving past her testing site.

Swab Dogs of Insta was set up by Tiffany White, who works at different Covid testing sites around the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

It has 11.2 thousand followers from around the world who have called the puppers 'adorable' and 'gorgeous.'

Gorgeous blue-eyed Fonzie stuck his tongue out at Ms White when she took his pic

Shitzus Indy showed off her pink hair bow and neckie at the Covid-19 testing clinic

Blue Heeler pup Red put out a paw as he went to a testing clinic on Thursday

Blue staffy Etta was shown off through the window at a Covid-19 testing clinic

Ms White told Daily Mail Australia she started the account to help her and other staff get through her shifts.

'I started the account because we were meeting heaps of dogs in the drive through testing centres who were too cute not to share,' she said.

'Seeing everyones dogs cheered up all the staff on site so much.'

There are around 280 photos on the Instagram page, including a few cats that came along for a drive as their owners got tested.

'We have photos coming in from testing sites all over Victoria as all the site staff are just as excited to meet the pets,' she said.

'Totally fabulous' Gonzo showed off her pink hairdo at the testing clinic

Tiny puppy Tofu got snapped when he came through a clinic on Friday June 4

Described as a 'lil sweetie' by people on social media, Iddy went through a drive-thru on Thursday

Ms White hoped the photos would bring some joy to Victorian's locked up in the state's fourth lockdown.

'At the end of the day all we want to do is spread some joy, and there is nothing more joyful than a slobbery dog sticking their head out a window,' she said.

'For people in lockdown or isolation thats so important. Its been a very tough year and smiling dogs are such a joy, its just nice and wholesome.'

The lockdown was scheduled to end on Thursday but as cases continue to emerge, there are fears it will be extended.

Eleven new cases were reported on Monday, including two linked to the Arcare Maidstone aged care facility in Melbourne's northwest.

One is a 79-year-old resident who has had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine and another case is a registered nurse who worked at the nursing home on Saturday.

French bulldog Spike (left) and cocker spaniel Molly (right)
NYC mayoral hopeful Maya Wiley says she plans to combat the Big Apple's gun violence epidemic by siphoning millions of dollars from the NYPD to fund 'community-based' prevention programs.

The far-left Democrat - who wants to defund the NYPD by $1 billion overall - detailed her unorthodox plan on the 'Maya for Mayor' website after admitting that shootings have surged by 83 percent this year.

Calling the situation a 'crisis', Wiley revealed she wants to take $18 million from the NYPD to specifically create a 'Participatory Justice Fund' to curb gun violence.

The unusual initiative would see money be given directly to local community leaders in neighborhoods plagued by shootings. The leaders can then fund their own 'innovative solutions' to help stop gun crime.

Such solutions could include the 'expansion of evidence-based therapeutic supportive programs' including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) for at-risk youths.

CBT is popular type of therapy that 'helps people learn how to identify and change destructive thoughts' by becoming more self-aware about their thinking patterns.

DBT, on the other hand, 'helps patients find ways to accept themselves and manage their emotions'. Techniques include 'self-soothing'.

Wiley has also proposed that the money could also be used to expand Summer Youth Employment Programs to keep youngsters off the street and away from gangs.

NYC mayoral hopeful Maya Wiley says she plans to combat the Big Apple's gun violence epidemic by taking millions of dollars away from the NYPD to create a 'Participatory Justice Fund'

The far-left Democrat - who wants to defund the NYPD by $1 billion overall - detailed the unorthodox plan on her 'Maya for Mayor' website (pictured)

Wiley was recently endorsed by fellow defund the police supporter Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said Saturday: 'We have an option of a candidate who can center people, racial justice, economic justice and climate justice'.

'(Wiley) didn't just come up to run for mayor but has experience and has a lifetime of dedication to this,' she added.

Speaking earlier this month, Wiley said: 'I'm going to take a billion dollars from the New York City Police Department and shift that money to create trauma-informed care in our schools, because when we do that violence goes down and graduation rates go up' she said.

But she spoke out on the issue even after being exposed for paying $550 a month for a private security car to patrol the leafy street where she lives in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Shootings have surged by 83 percent this year. A shooting victim is pictured being wheeled away on a gurney following a shooting in Brooklyn on Thursday

This chart shows how serious crimes - including felony assaults and murders - have soared in NYC over the last 12 months

Asked about the apparent hypocrisy by the New York Daily News last December, Wiley said: 'I think it's ridiculous and we shouldn't have it.

'It's neither effective nor does it create the sense of community that I support. And I don't think it reflects the actual reality of our community in terms of whether it's even needed.'

Wiley claimed her partner Harlan Mandel had begun paying the $550 annual fee for the service without telling her, having initially done so after being 'traumatized' by a 2001 mugging that hospitalized him for six weeks.

She said: 'The complicating factor is that Harlan was mugged after September 11th.

'To this day, if it's dark out he walks down the middle of the street, he doesn't walk on the [poorly lit] sidewalk. And he said, one night he was coming home from work and he saw the car at the end of the block and it just made him feel better.

'And so he started paying again and then I had a very hard time saying, 'don't do it'.

'It's not necessarily rational but it is his trauma response so it's a complicated one for our family.'

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (left) threw her support behind civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley (right) for New York mayor

Wiley and neighbors cough up $550 a year for a private security car to monitor the Brooklyn neighborhood

Wiley, who previously worked as counsel for outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio, said: 'I've lived here 20 years and in that time there was Harlan's mugging, which was horrible, and one other mugging that I'm aware of on our block. So it's horrible, but that's how likely you are to be a victim.

'And then there's just the trauma or the fear because it's so devastating if you are. It's complicated from that standpoint, but I don't believe it makes folks safer and I believe there are lots of ways we could accomplish the same goals differently.'

Announcing her delight at being endorsed by AOC on Saturday, Wiley said: 'Having the support of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez means the world to me,' Wiley said. 'AOC is a fearless champion for our city in Congress.

Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement could help swing the election for Wiley, with a primary due to take place on June 22.

Wiley, (pictured) who is running on a defund the police platform, pays for private security to patrol her Brooklyn neighborhood

AOC was even more unequivocal than Wiley on defunding, saying: 'Defunding police means defunding police.

'It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education's budget so the exact same police remain in schools.'

Defund the police has drawn criticism from those who believes it intends to get rid of law enforcement and encourage lawlessness.

Figures from the NYPD's Compstate website show serious crime rose by 23.4 per cent in May, compared to the same month last year.

Robberies rocketed to 1,082 over the 28 days to May 30, up from just 726 for the same period in 2020.

Felony assaults also soared over by 22.6 per cent the same period, from 1,443 in May 2020, to 1,769 in May 2021.

Mayor de Blasio has repeatedly been accused of being 'pro-criminal' by critics. They say his bail reforms - intended to avoid leaving people who can't afford bail languishing in jail for months or years for petty crimes - releases suspects back onto the streets to go on to reoffend.

Morale among the NYPD has slumped amid lukewarm support from de Blasio. Crime on the city's transit network - including its buses, subways and trains - doubled in May compared to May 2020, up from 78 last year to 154 this year.
India is battling a surge in cases of a deadly inflammatory syndrome striking children who have caught Covid-19.

The Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) affects children who have seemingly recovered from Covid-19, two to six weeks after the infection.

MIS-C largely affects children aged between 5 and 15.

Over 2,000 cases have been reported across the country, with 200 in Delhi alone.

The illness first develops as a high fever and leads to inflammation of the organs.

Around 70 per cent of children affected require intensive care.

India is battling a surge in cases of a deadly inflammatory syndrome striking children who have caught Covid-19. Above, a health worker takes a nasal swab sample of a child to test for COVID-19 during a door to door testing drive in Gauhati, India

Dr Harish Pemde, director of paediatrics at Lady Hardinge Medical College in Delhi, told the Times: 'It can lead to heart, respiratory or renal failure.

'The long-term quality of life of children who recover depends on how badly the organs were affected.

'It's crucial to catch it early when it is fairly easy to treat.'

In April, a study found that half of all children who develop the rare inflammatory condition linked to COVID-19 have neurological symptoms or signs.

Researchers looked at youngsters diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a condition in which different body parts become inflamed.

The most common symptom was headache, but children could also develop more serious side effects such as hallucinations or seizures.

The team, from The the American Academy of Neurology, says the findings show why it's important for doctors to carefully monitor pediatric patients with COVID-19 to see if they develop any of these worrying signs.

In a new study, researchers looked at 46 pediatric patients diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), 24 of whom develop neurological symptoms and signs

MIS-C was originally thought to be linked with Kawasaki disease, a condition that causes inflammation in the walls of the blood vessels and affects mostly children under five years old.

Cases were first reported in Britain, Italy and Spain in April 2020 and began cropping up in the U.S. in May.

Not every child who has developed the condition has tested positive for coronavirus, but 98 percent have - enough for doctors to believe the conditions are linked.

Doctors have revealed the most common locations and types of skin rash found in children with a rare coronavirus-related hyperinflammation condition.

Named MIS-C, patients were first diagnosed in 2020 after doctors noticed some children developed inflammation in a range of organs after exposure to SARS-CoV-2, with the Centre for Disease Control saying it can be fatal, but most children survive.

Experts from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia say diagnosing MIS-C has proved difficult as many of its symptoms, including rash, fever and gastrointestinal distress, are similar to other childhood conditions.

Small 5p sized plaques appear on the back of a child with MIS-C with tiny red spots inside

The team found that while there was no single location for rashes to appear - they commonly occurred on the lower limbs, inner thigh, chest and upper extremities.

In more than half of the seven patients examined, they usually presented as small to medium circles the size of a 5p coin with tiny red spots in the centre.

Authors hope that by highlighting common coronavirus rashes in children, their findings may help doctors and parents know when a rash needs further study.
An Australian worker's epic meltdown over the vintage features of his brand new work ute has gone viral after he posted the rant on TikTok.

CrankyAussie uploaded the foul-mouthed review after he was stunned by his new company Toyota Landcruiser ute which looks like a throwback to a previous age.

Unlike the slick interior of the latest Toyota Hilux utes, the no-nonsense Series 79 Landcruiser abandons mod-cons in favour of bulletproof unbreakable components.

But it sent bearded mineworker CrankyAussie into overdrive.

CrankyAussie uploaded the foul-mouthed review after he was stunned by his new company Toyota Landcruiser ute which looks like a throwback to a previous age

'This is our new work ute,' he says on the video. 'They paid $90,000 for this once the trailer's been put on.

'And LOOK at that f***ing air con set up!'

The camera zooms in on archaic slider controls and dial with a caption 'This is going to Russell (sic) a few feathers.'

'What the F***,' he screams as he jiggles the controls in disgust. 'What is this, nineteen-ninety-f***ing-three??'

As he points the camera at the steering wheel, he blasts: 'It's got a steering wheel that looks like it's out of a Camry from 2001.

The shape of 70-series Toyota LandCruisers - which includes the the 79-series ute model (pictured) - dates back to 1984, and still sells in large numbers, with 604 sold last month alone

'WHERE'S ME F***ING BUTTONS, YOU C***S!

'Arrgggh,' he sighs in horror. ' And the dash? Like, it's 2020 (sic) you c***s and this is NINETY grand.

'Look at this!'

The mineworker opens the plastic centre console to reveal limited storage space and he demands: 'LOOK! What do I put in there? A box of TicTacs?

'Why people buy these f***ing things is f***ing beyond me!'

The clip ends with a close up of the ute's manual window winder, with no electric button in sight.

'It's got a steering wheel (pictured left) that looks like it's out of a Camry from 2001 - where's my f***ing buttons, you c***s?' demands CrankyAussie in the foul-mouthed tirade against the Landcruiser ute. The plastic centre console (right) in the Landcruiser ute has limited storage space, barely enough for a box of TicTacs according to the mineworker's clip

'Oooooooooo,' yells CrankyAussie. 'WHAT IS THAT??'

The shape of 70-series Toyota LandCruisers - which includes the the 79-series ute model - dates back to 1984, and still sells in large numbers, with 604 sold last month alone.

CrankyAussie's hilarious video has been seen over 1.2 million times since it was posted on Sunday.

Viewers defended the ute by insisting it was built for function and reliability rather than creature comforts.

Unlike the slick interior of the latest Toyota Hilux utes, the no-nonsense Series 79 Landcruiser abandons mod-cons in favour of bulletproof unbreakable components

'It's a Landcruiser - I don't think you understand what that means,' wrote one. 'It's exactly what it's supposed to be.'

Another added: 'Toyota made it like this to keep things simple.'

Others questions the value for money the ute represented, while one added: 'How many vehicles is that thing made out of?'

But most just found the clip funny. 'I'm dead,' said one. 'Epic dramatic melt down, lol!'
A man suspected of killing his neighbour and hanging her upside down in a stairwell remains in a mental hospital weeks after his arrest.

The body of the 63-year-old woman - believed to be his neighbour 'Barbara' - was located in an open air stairwell of their South Yarra housing commission complex on May 15.

The man, referred to as 'Delusional Dan', had been paraded before waiting television reporters as he was taken into custody by homicide detectives at the time.

A South Yarra man was arrested after a woman's body was found in a open air stairwell in Melbourne housing commission complex last month

The South Yarra housing commission complex remained cordoned off by police in May

Residents were left shocked when he was later released 'pending further investigation'.

Daily Mail Australia has since learnt the man was immediately admitted to hospital over concerns for his mental health.

Worried neighbours had feared the worst when police confirmed the suspect had been released without charge hours after being hauled in over the brutal killing.

A source told Daily Mail Australia while the man had not been formally charged, he remained the only suspect.

'He's off the streets,' the source said.

It is understood detectives plan to interview and charge the man with murder upon him being given the all-clear by doctors.

In a series of videos uploaded by the man, referred to as 'Daniel', he was seen accusing his now deceased neighbour of 'throwing excrement' on his front door and stealing his mate's bicycle wheel.

The woman could be heard counter accusing him of stalking her for the full eight years she had lived in the government housing flat.

'Daniel is absolutely obsessed with me,' she said on a video posted on the very day she would die.

'You're obsessed with me because you have no friends, no life, you're all inside having your mental delusions.'

The woman could be heard berating the man for being a welfare 'sponger' and having an apartment that 'looks like a tip'.

'You're hogging a two bedroom flat - you're a selfish little 'pr**k,' she called the man.

Police were called to the Surrey Road apartment complex shortly before 9pm that night after horrified neighbours reported the grim discovery.

A barefoot man in handcuffs - believed to be the man identified as Daniel in the videoes - was filmed being escorted by two Homicide Squad detectives from the complex shortly after midday.

He denied murdering his neighbour when questioned by waiting reporters and by Sunday evening had been released by detectives.

Police arrest a 41-year old after the alleged murder on Saturday. He denied any wrongdoing

The South Yarra housing commission complex remained cordoned off by police last month

The man had provided a graphic insight into a housing commission building in turmoil via eight videos he posted online.

One video showed two young men charging at the camera threatening to bash him if he filmed them.

Others showed long suffering neighbours begging him to go to sleep as he loudly ranted in the middle of the night about the state of Victoria.

The man identified as Daniel, who appears to originate from Adelaide, claimed to suffer from a disability that confined him at times to a wheelchair.

He also claimed to suffer from some form of visual disability that he claimed should have seen the Victorian Government provide him with a seeing eye dog.

On the day the woman was killed, Daniel accused her of stealing his friend's bicycle wheel, which she then turned into an art piece for her backyard.

The accusation saw the woman accuse him of faking his blindness and riding his bicycle.

That allegation enraged her neighbour, who is heard furiously ranting at the woman from behind his safety screen door.

'I can't ride a bike to save my f**king life Barbara. I'm blind you f**king moron,' he shouted.

'Looks like you're going to having to front the f**king tribunal. Off with your f**king head.'

As the video drew to an end, Daniel screamed for Barbara to 'leave him alone' before another neighbour intervened.
A socialite who stole thousands of dollars from those closest to her claims she was a 'target' during her 'frightening' and humiliating prison sentence.

Annabel Walker served 10 months behind bars, including a stint in Silverwater prison, after being jailed for fraud and deception in September last year.

Walker stole and extorted about $26,000, including defrauding her former employer, hotel operator Australian Leisure Group, out of $17,000.

The conwoman used corporate credit cards to buy herself designer clothes, home-delivered booze, and meals at high-end Sydney restaurants.

The conwoman (pictured) was jailed last year on separate charges after defrauding her employers, landlords and friends thousands of dollars

In an interview on No Filter published on Monday, she said many of her victims did not come forward but wants them all to 'look back [and] be proud' of her as she reinvents herself as a women's prisoner rights advocate.

Walker said while in jail she was a 'target' for being eloquent.

'I definitely did have a target on my back because I was well-spoken and I also was just oblivious to everything going on,' she said.

'Theres two kinds of people in jail. Theres the ones that look at you and just see that youre suffering and you might be weak and they might want to help you. And then theres ones that see that as "Im gonna walk all over you."'

'Belle' Walker used to show off her lavish lifestyle on social media, drinking champagne at expensive Sydney eastern suburbs restaurants, wearing designer handbags, and holidaying in luxurious resorts - using other people's money.

But while wearing prison greens at Silverwater Correctional Centre she said she was bailed up by another inmate.

'You call an officer, I wouldve been labelled a dog... so you have to ride it out and thats probably the worst,' she said.

'Its not a safe place, its a frightening place.

'There may be fights. And Ive seen some shocking things in there, but theres also a lot of love.'

The 32-year-old (pictured) was sentenced to 14 months behind bars with a seven-month non parole period after stealing $3,100 from a friend and running a Gumtree rental scheme in 2019

The former socialite said she watched a prisoner in the block across from her have a stillborn baby at eight months pregnant after shooting up while in jail.

'Theres a lot of drugs in prisons, but women that are pregnant like a woman shot up something at eight months pregnant and lost her baby,' she said.

'Shed stayed sober for eight months, got the temptation and then she had a stillborn.'

Walker described having regular 'degrading' strip searches at all hours of the day and night.

'If you have your period you have to pull your tampon out and show them that its not drugs. And Ive had that happen where I've had my period and pretty degrading,' she said.

She said her uncle and grandmother both died while she was behind bars, meaning she missed both of their funerals.

Socialite Annabel Walker (pictured left) said she is reformed and will 'never commit another crime'

The former inmate described her crimes of stealing and defrauding those closest to her as 'a web of destruction'.

While on bail, Walker was found to have lied to police while on bail by providing fake letters saying she was receiving treatment at Southern Highlands Hospital.

When asked whether she had other victims who did not come forward out of embarrassment, Walker said: 'Yeah that is true. And that is something that I live with every day.'

She claimed to have stolen around $25,000, despite being charged for stealing $26,000 and admitting to having more victims.

Walker said she would never commit another crime, but hoped her victims would look back and 'be proud' of the changes she had made to her life.

'I can say this on air, I will never commit another crime. And you can hold that to me,' she said.

'I hope [my victims] see that this person that committed those crimes is not gonna do that again and doesnt do it again. I hope one day they might look back be proud.'

She was being found to have stolen money off a friend's credit card in November 2019

Despite admitting to stealing to fund her lavish lifestyle, Walker insisted she was still a 'kind and caring' person.

'I am a really kind, caring person. Thats probably one of my biggest flaws. Id had such low self-worth I used to try and make everyone like me more,' she said.

She said she put her former partner and his children 'before anything' despite admitting to stealing from him using credit cards.

I still am a kind and caring person. And I always the life that I had with my partner and his kids, I put them before anything,' she said.

Her boyfriend stayed with her throughout prison, but the pair have since split up.

However, Walker insists he is still her 'person' and is hopeful they will get back together.

Annabel Walker, 32, leaves Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a number of fraud and obtaining financial advantage charges totaling close to $26,000

Walker gave different explanations for her crimes, claiming at one point she was just trying to keep up a 'normal lifestyle' and pay bills.

She also said: 'I was constantly trying to keep up this life and lifestyle that I was in, but I didnt do it the right way.'

'When youre in that mind frame youll do anything to survive or anything to try and get out of something.'

Walker said she was on Centrelink as she waited to see if she got a job in 'women's justice' through a prisoner reform program.

She said she is living with 'a family' rent-free and has paid back most of the money she owed victims.

She said she still feels stigmatised by her time in prison, and has created an Instagram account calling herself a 'former inmate, presently evolved and in the process of womens prison and justice advocacy.'

'You feel like youve got a sign on your head that says I just got out of jail, and I still feel like that everywhere I go and its awful,' she said.
Victoria won't 'snap back' to normal when lockdown is due to end in Melbourne on Thursday, Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton has warned.

Dr Sutton made the admission while speaking on Monday - where it was also announced the state had reported just 11 new cases of Covid-19, all of which are linked to known cases with eight already in isolation before testing positive.

Melburnians have been waiting patiently to come out of lockdown after restrictions were extended for another week last Thursday.

It came as the state grapples with its latest Covid-19 outbreak, which now sits at 94 active cases with 81 cases linked to an outbreak across four Melbourne clusters.

Dr Sutton said it was too early to determine which restrictions would finally be lifted and what a lockdown-free Melbourne would like - but insisted no matter what some rules would remain.

'It's frustrating,' he said. 'People want to know what things will look like three days from now.'

'We see different changes every day and they can be something from left field, there can be something very short in terms of new linkages, no wastewater deductions, no new exposure sides, we need to see it play out,' he said.

Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton has warned the state will not 'snap back' to normal when lockdown is expected to ease in Melbourne on Thursday

Melburnians have been waiting patiently to come out of lockdown after restrictions were extended for another week last Thursday

When asked about the upcoming long weekend, Dr Sutton said it won't look like a normal holiday weekend - as he urged millions to stay vigilant.

'The long weekends should have the same messages for everyone,' he said.

'It is certainly not a snap back to large gatherings and a full MCG. People need to consider all of those key messages around isolating if they have symptoms and getting tested and all of the other messages that we have.'

All the 11 new cases that were reported on Monday have been locally acquired and linked to previous clusters, meaning no new dreaded mystery cases.

Victoria has recorded 11 new Covid-19 cases as it approaches decision day for whether Melbourne's strict lockdown will be lifted as planned on Thursday (pictured, Melburnians line up outside a vaccination hub)

Four of the new cases were linked to the West Melbourne cluster and included three children and an adult - bringing the total to 14.

Three were linked to the Whittlesea cluster, bringing the total to 32, and three to the Arcare Maidstone aged care facility, raising the total to nine.

The last case has been connected to the Port Melbourne construction site, raising the total to 31.

Eight of the 11 new cases had been quarantining before they tested positive to Covid-19.

It comes after 24,265 tests were received and 17,719 vaccine doses were administered at state-run sites in the last 24 hours.

Dr Sutton said health authorities had to take the outbreak on a day by day basis before considering what restrictions could be eased.

'As I've always said, we're looking at numbers every day, and we make those decisions on a day by day basis,' he said.

'Today brought some positive signs - nine of 11 cases are effectively in quarantine, not many new exposure sites. And we are releasing a number of primary close contacts.'

State Health Minister Martin Foley said he acknowledged it had been a difficult time for Victorians and reminded them that the fight to beat the latest outbreak was not yet over.

'We do know that this has been a tough period for Victorians,' he said.

'We do know there are many challenges if we are going to stick together and get through this challenging period. These figures give us confidence that all the cases are linked.

'But as part of the way ahead, there is still much to do and still much to do about making sure we bring all Victorians along that journey.'

Victoria's Health Minister Martin Foley said on Monday all the new cases were locally acquired and linked to previous clusters

The return to double digit infections was the highest number for 11 days, and comes as six train services were added to the state's growing exposure list - bringing the total to an overwhelming 354 venues (pictured, Covid-19 testing clinic on Bourke Street in Melbourne)

The new locally acquired cases were announced on Monday and include two that were reported yesterday and linked to the Arcare Maidstone aged care facility, including a 70-year-old resident (pictured, healthcare workers outside the aged care facility)

Mr Foley admitted lockdowns were 'not great' for anyone: 'They have all sorts of impacts, which is why we don't want anyone to be there for a moment they don't have to be.'

'We need to make sure we get on top of this outbreak as quickly as we can get back to the kind of 86 continuous days of community free transmission that we did have in this state and get the people, the mental health, families, schools, and businesses back operating safely as quickly as we can.'

Dr Sutton was also asked to respond on the severity of the lockdown following previous comments from prime minister Scott Morrison.

Mr Morrison had suggested Victoria should consider only locking down certain parts of the state in the future.

'No one has handled similar outbreaks,' Dr Sutton said. 'Outbreaks previously across the country have often been single cases who have had some community exposures.

'We have seen a circuit breaker lockdowns, it is not as though they haven't occurred, they have occurred a couple of times in Perth, a couple of times in Brisbane, with single cases or just a couple of cases.'

Six train services running along the Upfield Line have also been listed as Tier Two exposure sites, joining busy supermarkets and shopping centres on the swelling list (pictured, the Covid-19 positive case had caught the train to Flinders Street Station)

That's Alotta Donuts at 2/882 Cooper Street in Somerton, north of Melbourne, has been added to the list

Chick Chick/ Sir Duke at 97-99 Puckle Street at Moonee Ponds was also placed on the list with a confirmed case visiting from 3.10pm to 3.40pm on May 30

Health authorities have also added six train services to Victoria's Covid-19 exposure list, which now sits at 354.

Six train services running along the Upfield Line were listed as Tier Two exposure sites, joining busy supermarkets and shopping centres.

Health authorities made the announcement on Sunday after discovering a confirmed case had travelled on the public transport system.

A doughnut store, construction site, restaurant and BP have also been added to the growing list.

The Covid-19 positive commuter had travelled from Merlynston Station to Flinders Street Station from 6.03am to 6.34am on June 2, 3, and 4.

They then later travelled from Melbourne Central Station to Merlynston from 3.55pm to 4.19pm on the same days.

Anyone who caught the train around the same time has been urged to get tested for Covid-19 and isolate until they receive a negative result.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton admitted it will not be a total 'snap back' to normal when restrictions are lifted in Melbourne on Thursday (pictured, residents lining up outside a vaccination hub)

Health officials have warned there is no 'magic number' of people getting vaccinated before future coronavirus lockdowns can be avoided (pictured, Melburnians queuing to get the Covid jab on Saturday)

The train services are the latest addition to Victoria's exposure list that now sits at 354.

That's Alotta Donuts at 2/882 Cooper Street in Somerton, north of Melbourne, has been added to the list.

A confirmed case visited the venue between 4.10pm and 5.20pm on May 30.

Probuild Construction Site at 100 Queen Street, in Melbourne, has also been flagged as a tier 1 exposure site after a worker tested positive to Covid-19.

Anyone who was at the venue from 7am to 4pm on May 30 and 31, June 1, 2 and 3 has been told to get tested.

The same advice applies to anyone who visited the site between 7am and 12.30pm on June 4.

Chick Chick (Fried Chicken)/ Sir Duke at 97-99 Puckle Street at Moonee Ponds was also placed on the list with a confirmed case visiting from 3.10pm to 3.40pm on May 30.

BP/David Jones Food Merrifield at 470 Donnybrook Road at Mickleham was also added to the list.

Anyone who visited the venue between 5.40pm and 6.10pm on May 30 has been advised to get tested.

Victoria's Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said it was difficult to say what proportion would need to be vaccinated to avoid future lockdowns

LATEST COVID-19 EXPOSURE SITES Health authorities added on the weekend several new venues to Victoria's list of exposure sites, which now sits at 354. Below is a list of venues that have been added to the list as well as the times that they were visited by confirmed Covid-19 cases. 1) Upfield Line: -Merlynston Station to Flinders Street Station from 6.03am to 6.34am on June 2 -Melbourne Central Station to Merlynston Station from 3.55pm to 4.19pm on June 2 -Merlynston Station to Flinders Street Station from 6.03am to 6.34am on June 3 -Melbourne Central Station to Merlynston Station from 3.55pm to 4.19pm on June 3 -Merlynston Station to Flinders Street Station from 6.03am to 6.34am on June 4 -Melbourne Central Station to Merlynston Station on from 3.55pm to 4.19pm June 4. 2) That's Alotta Donuts at 2/882 Cooper St in Somerton from 4.10pm and 5.20pm on May 30. 3) Probuild Construction Site at 100 Queen St from 7am to 4pm on May 30 and 31, June 1, 2 and 3, and 7am to 12.30pm on June 4. 4) Chick Chick (Fried Chicken)/Sir Duke at 97-99 Puckle St, Moonee Ponds from 3.10pm to 3.40pm on May 30. 5) BP/David Jones Food Merrifield at 470 Donnybrook Road, Mickleham from 5.40pm to 6.10pm on May 30. 6) Fish Pier at Craigieburn Central on 340 Craigieburn Road, Craigieburn, between 4pm an 5.30pm on May 31. 7) Pinoy Tayo Asian Grocery Craigieburn Central on 340 Craigieburn Rd, Craigieburn, between 4pm an 5.30pm on May 31. 8) HS Quality Food at Craigieburn Central on 340 Craigieburn Rd, Craigieburn, between 4pm an 5.30pm on May 31. 9) Fergusson Plarre Bakehouse at Craigieburn Central on 340 Craigieburn Rd, Craigieburn, between 4pm an 5.30pm on May 31. 10) Quality Fresh Meats at Craigieburn Central on 340 Craigieburn Rd, Craigieburn, between 4pm an 5.30pm on May 31. 11) BP Greenvale on 910 Mickleham Rd at Greenvale between 5:25pm - 5:58pm on June 2. View a full list of the exposure sites at: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites Advertisement

The new venues were added as the state recorded just four new local cases on Sunday, including two linked to the Arcare Maidstone aged care facility in the city's northwest.

One is a 79-year-old resident who has had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine. They live close to two other residents, aged 99 and 89, who have previously tested positive.

Despite being asymptomatic, the resident has been taken to hospital.

The other case is a registered nurse who worked at the nursing home on Saturday, is also asymptomatic and has received a first COVID-19 shot.

Victorians have been warned there is no 'magic number' of people getting vaccinated that would guarantee the government stops using lockdowns to control future outbreaks of coronavirus.

The current lockdown - Victoria's fourth in 14 months - was scheduled to end on Thursday but the continued emergence of new cases in the current small outbreak raised the prospect it will be extended.

Professor Cheng said it was difficult to say what proportion would need to be vaccinated to avoid future lockdowns.

Melburnians are experiencing their fourth lockdown within 14 months. Pictured is a deserted Federation Square on Saturday

'There isn't one single magic number,' Professor Cheng said.

'Once you get up to much higher coverage rates, then it makes a whole lot of things easier.

'We may not need the intensity of restrictions. We may be able to only do contact tracing without having to do other things quite to the same level, and that is the benefit of vaccination.'

Victoria had administered 1.4 million doses of vaccine in a state with a population of 6.5 million.

Professor Cheng expects Melbourne will be able to ease restrictions on Friday.

'We don't want to be in this any longer than we need to. So if we can, we will lift it early,' he said.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Sunday announced an additional 100,000 vaccines are being made available for Victoria.

The federal government has also extended its suspension of JobSeeker mutual obligation requirements until June 15.
Two U.S. experts have penned a damning essay saying that science strongly suggests the novel coronavirus was manufactured inside a Chinese laboratory.

The claim was made by Drs Stephen Quay, CEO of biopharmaceutical company Atossa Therapeutics Inc, and Richard Muller, a physics professor at the University of California Berkeley, in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

In the op-ed, the men say their proof lies in genome sequencing, or analyzing the DNA, of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

There are 36 DNA segments - made up of three-letter 'words' - that viruses use to make an amino acid known as L-arginine.

L-arginine helps make proteins but is also often used in so-called 'gain of function' research, which alters viruses to make them more transmissible and more deadly.

The new virus contains a segment called CGG-CGG, which is considered rare even in experiments in which researchers are trying to manipulate virus.

But even more telling is that this combination has never been found naturally in any other type of coronavirus, including in SARS and MERS, both of which are cousins of the new virus.

'A virus simply cannot pick up a sequence from another virus if that sequence isn't present in any other virus,' Quay and Muller wrote.

'The CGG-CGG combination has never been found naturally. That means the common method of viruses picking up new skills, called recombination, cannot operate here.'

The essay comes after an explosive study last week claimed that Chinese scientists created COVID-19 in the Wuhan lab, then tried to cover their tracks by reverse-engineering versions of the virus to make it look like it evolved naturally from bats.

SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid, carries all the information needed for it to spread in around 30,000 letters of genetic code, known as RNA. But it is the only coronavirus of its type to carry 12 unique letters that allow its spike protein  which it uses to bind to human cells and infect people  to be activated by a common enzyme called furin, which in turn makes it better at invading neighbouring cells. The top bar shows the section of the 30,000 letters that accounts for the spike protein (purple). The middle purple bar is the spike protein section, with the white line highlighted being the location of the 12 letters: CCUCGGCGGGCA. The bottom bars show how that specific section of the virus differs ever so slightly to RaTG13, the closest known relative of SARS-CoV-2

Dr. Stephen Quay and Richard Muller have penned a damning essay claiming the genome sequencing of COVID-19 strongly suggests that the virus was manufactured inside a Chinese laboratory

COVID-19 has the genome sequencing 'CGG-CGG' - one of 36 sequencing patterns. That combination is commonly used by scientists in gain-of-function research, but is otherwise considered extremely 'rare'. Researchers are pictured inside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in January 2020

Chinese military scientist 'filed a patent for a COVID-19 vaccine BEFORE the virus was declared a global pandemic and worked closely with 'bat woman' at Wuhan institute' A Chinese military scientist with ties to the United States reportedly filed a patent for a COVID-19 vaccine well before the disease was declared a global pandemic. Yusen Zhou, who worked for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), lodged the paperwork on behalf of the Chinese political party on February 24 2020, according to The Australian newspaper. That date was just five weeks after China first confirmed human transmission of the coronavirus. Zhou is also said to have 'worked closely' with scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), including Shi Zhengli - the deputy director of the lab who is famous for her research on coronavirus in bats. Their relationship is likely to strengthen speculation that the virus leaked from the lab and that China was aware that it was spreading between humans long before they alerted the international community. Zhou mysteriously died less than three months after he filed the patent. The New York Post claims his death was only reported in one Chinese media report, despite the fact he was one of the country's most prominent scientists. Zhou had previously worked on research linked to the US institutions, including the University of Minnesota and the New York Blood Center, the newspaper reported. Advertisement

In the new essay, Quay and Muller go on to state that those who believe COVID-19 began by being transferred from animals to humans 'must explain why it happened to pick its least favorite combination: CGG-CGG. Why did it replicate the choice the lab's gain-of-function researchers would have made?'

The pair conclude: 'Yes, it could have happened randomly, through mutations. But do you believe that? At the minimum, this factthat the coronavirus, with all its random possibilities, took the rare and unnatural combination used by human researchersimplies that the leading theory for the origin of the coronavirus must be laboratory escape.'

In recent weeks, many of the world's top scientists have pushed to determine whether the virus was leaked from the WIV.

The lab leak theory was initially dismissed by many in the media and academic communities.

President Joe Biden last week ordered intelligence agencies to launch a probe into whether COVID was man-made after all.

Circumstantial evidence has long raised questions about the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where researchers were known to be conducting experiments on bat coronavirus strains similar to the one responsible for COVID-19.

China insisted early and often that the virus did not leak from the lab, claiming that crossover to humans must have occurred at a 'wet market' in Wuhan that sold live animals.

Perhaps driven by animosity for Donald Trump, who embraced the lab leak theory early on, the mainstream U.S. media and academics heaped scorn on the possibility, calling it an unhinged conspiracy theory.

But new evidence, including reports of three workers at the Wuhan lab who fell seriously ill with COVID-like symptoms in November 2019, has forced a sober reassessment among doubters.

Frustration with China increased this week after Beijing said that it would not participate in any further investigations by the World Health Organization.

Biden rebuked China in his announcement of the new intelligence review, calling on allies to help 'press China to participate in a full, transparent, evidence-based international investigation and to provide access to all relevant data and evidence.'

Meanwhile, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr Scott Gottlieb, has said Fauci told world leaders in the spring of 2020 that the coronavirus may have escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China.

U.S. researchers around that time still were considering whether the virus came from a lab break, and Fauci told the health leaders gathered that the newly identified strain of the coronavirus 'looked unusual,' according to Gottlieb.

The disclosure from the former FDA chief comes as an increasing number of mainstream scientists and media figures no longer are parroting the line from the Chinese Communist Party that the virus came from a bat.

Even President Joe Biden has ordered government agencies to investigate the possibility that it might have come from a lab.

Now, Gottlieb says Fauci last year at least considered that COVID-19 could have come from a lab - before closing ranks around the idea that it occurred naturally.

Gottlieb, who served under President Donald Trump, said a former senior member of the Trump administration told him at the time of Fauci's 2020 talk. Gottlieb said he'd recently reconfirmed with that person that Fauci had given the talk.

'I think early on, when they looked at the strain, they had suspicions,' Gottlieb recalled Sunday on CBS Face the Nation, speaking of U.S. scientists. 'And it takes time to do that analysis, and that dispelled some of those suspicions,' he added.

A worker is seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan back in 2017

While China has tried to insist the virus originated elsewhere, academics, politicians and the media have begun to contemplate the possibility it escaped from the WIV - raising suspicions that Chinese officials simply hid evidence of the early spread

Covid 'has NO credible natural ancestor' and WAS created by Chinese scientists who then tried to cover their tracks, explosive study claims An explosive study last week claimed that Chinese scientists created COVID-19 in a Wuhan lab, then tried to cover their tracks by reverse-engineering versions of the virus to make it look like it evolved naturally from bats. The paper's authors, British Professor Angus Dalgleish and Norwegian scientist Dr. Birger Srensen, wrote that they have had 'prima facie evidence of retro-engineering in China' for a year - but were ignored by academics and major journals. Dalgleish is a professor of oncology at St George's University, London, and is best known for his breakthrough creating the first working 'HIV vaccine', to treat diagnosed patients and allow them to go off medication for months. Srensen, a virologist, is chair of pharmaceutical company, Immunor, which developed a coronavirus vaccine candidate called Biovacc-19. Dalgleish also has share options in the firm. The shocking allegations in the study included accusations of 'deliberate destruction, concealment or contamination of data' at Chinese labs, and it noted the silencing and disappearance of scientists in the communist country who spoke out. Advertisement

And it's also important, Gottlieb said, to look at the virus beyond a scientific perspective: It also needs to be examined from a national security lens, he said.

'A scientific mindset looks at the virus and the virus' behavior and draws a conclusion,' he said.

'A national security assessment looks at that and then looks at the behavior of the Chinese government, the behavior of the lab, other evidence around the lab - including the infections we now know took place - and that changes the overall assessment,' he said.

Although some experts still believe the virus was transmitted from a bat to some other species of animal, then to humans, its origins remain unproven.

It comes after study last week claimed that Chinese scientists created COVID-19.

That paper was authored by Professor Angus Dalgleish, an oncologist at St George's University, London, and Dr Birger Srensen, a Norwegian virologist and chair of pharmaceutical company Immunor.

The shocking allegations in the study included accusations of 'deliberate destruction, concealment or contamination of data' at Chinese labs, and it noted the silencing and disappearance of scientists in the communist country who spoke out.

The journal article, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, is set to make waves among the scientific community, as the majority of experts have until recently staunchly denied the origins of COVID-19 were anything other than a natural infection leaping from animals to humans.

While analyzing COVID-19 samples last year in an attempt to create a vaccine, Dalgleish and Srensen discovered 'unique fingerprints' in the virus that they say could only have arisen from manipulation in a laboratory.

They said they tried to publish their findings but were rejected by major scientific journals which were at the time resolute that the virus jumped naturally from bats or other animals to humans.

Even when former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove spoke out publicly saying the scientists' theory should be investigated, the idea was dismissed as 'fake news.'
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A bikini model has gone head-to-head with her local council and won after 'jealous' neighbours complained that her 54 pets were keeping them awake at night and attracting vermin.

Hayley Bramhall tends to 22 rabbits, nine dogs, 17 birds, two ferrets, two cats and two guinea pigs from 'morning to night' at her Ermington home in Sydney's northwest.

The 30-year-old says she doesn't have children because her animals 'are her babies' and claims she suffered a nervous breakdown when Parramatta Council arrived on her doorstep threatening to have them all removed.

Ms Bramhall's neighbours made official complaints over three years to authorities claiming the incessant chirping of birds and other animal noises keep them awake all night and said there were just too many on her property.

Hayley Bramhall tends to her 22 rabbits, nine dogs, 17 birds, two ferrets, two cats and two guinea pigs from 'morning to night' at her Ermington home in Sydney's west

Her first ever animal was a pomeranian puppy named Milly when she was just 16 years old (pictured)

Last week, after a long legal battle, Ms Bramhall won the fight to keep her many pets.

'It felt like I was having my children taken from me,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'I just kept on crying and crying, but I knew I couldn't give up on them and that's why I kept pushing. Because I knew my animals had a good home here.'

Ms Bramhall, who still lives in the home where she was raised by her mum, believes neighbours are 'jealous' of her and her family.

Of what, she's not so sure.

Ms Bramhall insists she takes great care of her animals, and that they all have separate spaces to play but also interact well together. Pictured: Rabbit pens

Ms Bramhall's two cats are both indoor cats and play well with her dogs and birds (pictured with one of her cats)

She claims a neighbourhood feud between her own family and the complainant dates back to when she was a little girl and that they've always 'had it out' for her mother.

'When I got older, that attention just turned to me I guess,' Ms Bramhall said.

Even before she started collecting pets aged 16, the neighbours were quick to lodge complaints about 'whatever they could,' she claimed.

Ms Bramhall was drawn to animals from a young age, and when she was 16 she adopted a Pomeranian dog named Milly.

When Milly died years later, she filled the void of loss with two more Pomeranians, before a friend bought a pet bird and piqued her interest in the species.

Ms Bramhall says she'll never be able to live without owning Pomeranians - which are her favourite animals

Caring for all the animals is a big job for one person, she said, but she's never once questioned that this was her life's calling

Her animal obsession snowballed to get to the point, now, where she tends to 54 animals each and every day.

It's a big job for one person, she said, but she's never once questioned that this was her life's calling.

'I was meant to be in this world for animals. That is just what my life is about, to have them and care for them and fight for them. Ultimately I'm here on this Earth for them,' she said.

Ms Bramhall has a particularly close bond with her birds, many of whom can have conversations with her or sing her songs

Ms Bramhall also works as a bikini model and does promotional work (pictured) which is her other passion

One neighbour said while Ms Bramhall clearly looks after her pets well, she's 'gone too far' with the numbers living there.

But the 30-year-old said her pets all have plenty of space to roam on her property and are all happy and healthy.

Most of Ms Bramhall's money goes to tending to the animals, as well as basically all of her time.

'From the time I wake up, I start on the birds and then move to the rabbits and so forth, feeding them, playing with them and talking to them... Some days it's from the time I wake up until night time,' she said.

Ms Bramhall has 22 rabbits (pictured) and ensures she gives them all

Ms Bramhall also has enormous outdoor averies for her birds, which she cleans out at least once a week

Ms Bramhall is also her mother's primary carer.

While the legal proceedings have left her depressed and exhausted, Ms Bramhall feels like she's accomplished 'something big' by taking on the council and her neighbours on her own.

'It's just been complete bullying,' she said. 'And they almost won and took everything from me.'

City of Parramatta Councillor Steven Issa described Ms Bramhall's win as 'outrageous'.

'If my neighbour had nine dogs, 22 rabbits, 17 parrots and a partridge in a pear tree, I'd be very concerned too,' Mr Issa said.

'Domestic houses on 500, 600sqm blocks aren't appropriate for that many pets I empathise with the neighbours, and will look into it to make sure [Ms Bramhall] abides by the conditions imposed.'

Ms Bramhall has two Pomeranians - which she got after grieving the loss of her first pet, Millie
Victoria should lift its crippling coronavirus restrictions 'as soon as possible', Scott Morrison has said.

The Prime Minister particularly wants to see children at school after the state government only allowed students in years 11 and 12 to go back to class this week.

Since the start of the pandemic Victorian children have been stopped from going to school for 23 weeks, compared to just seven weeks in New South Wales, raising fears they will be left behind students in other states.

Students at Lysterfield Primary School return to school in Melbourne in October after a lengthy lockdown due to Covid-19

Students get off the the Sydney Light Rail at Moore Park on their way to school on May 25, 2020

'Kids have lost enough time out of school, over the course of the last 18 months, and it's very important we get those kids back to school as soon as possible,' Mr Morrison told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

'I am hopeful these restrictions in Victoria will be lifted as soon as possible I would be urging that we move to lift those restrictions as soon as possible.'

However, Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton has warned the state won't 'snap back' to normal when lockdown is due to end in Melbourne on Thursday after a two-week shutdown.

On Monday the state reported just 11 new cases of Covid-19, all linked to known cases with eight already in isolation before testing positive.

The cases took the state's latest outbreak - which originated in hotel quarantine in Adelaide - to 81 cases.

Health workers carry out tests to detect COVID-19 at the Montague Street Drive-Through Testing Facility in South Melbourne on Monday

Professor Sutton said it was too early to determine which restrictions would finally be lifted and what a lockdown-free Melbourne would like - but insisted some rules would remain.

'It's frustrating,' he said. 'People want to know what things will look like three days from now.'

'We see different changes every day and they can be something from left field, there can be something very short in terms of new linkages, no wastewater deductions, no new exposure sides, we need to see it play out,' he said.

When asked about the upcoming long weekend, Professor Sutton said it won't look like a normal holiday weekend - as he urged millions to stay vigilant.

'The long weekends should have the same messages for everyone,' he said.

'It is certainly not a snap back to large gatherings and a full MCG. People need to consider all of those key messages around isolating if they have symptoms and getting tested and all of the other messages that we have.'

In total, Victoria has suffered five and a half months of lockdown during the pandemic, costing the state an estimated $26billion.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is joined by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian during a press conference in Richmond, Sydney on Monday

The government has been slammed over its struggling contact tracing system and for failing to implement a mandatory universal QR code check-in system until May 28, five months after New South Wales.

The Liberal-National Opposition has said it would only use lockdowns as a 'last resort' and would make them targeted and proportionate rather than across the whole state.

Opposition leader Michael O'Brien also said he would publicly release health advice that lockdowns are based on if he were in power.

Premier Andrews - who is the nation's best-paid premier earning $441,439 - intends to return to the job later this month after breaking his back in a fall at a holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula on March 9.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has angrily snapped at a reporter that a dog bite in the backyard was why she had the Pfizer vaccine rather than getting the AstraZeneca jab despite being over the age of 50.

After weeks of concern about her perceived vaccine hesitancy or lack of urgency, Ms Palaszczuk finally got the jab on Monday morning.

The 51-year-old received the Pfizer vaccine despite government advice that people over the age of 50 should receive AstraZeneca.

The example of Ms Palaszczuk and Prime Minister Scott Morrison getting Pfizer jabs had been cited by many over-50s who had refused the AstraZeneca vaccine that is available to them now.

Instead many are holding out for Pfizer or Moderna when they become available later this year, believing the leaders' example indicated they were better options.

The Premier says she had to get Pfizer to ensure she got her second dose before a possible trip to Tokyo next month as part of Brisbane's 2032 Olympics bid.

The Queensland premier is the last Australian state or territory leader over the age of 50 to get the jab (pictured on Monday)

'There may be a requirement for the state to present to the whole (International) Olympics Committee about the Olympics, and I wouldn't have been unvaccinated and that's why I had the Pfizer,' Ms Palaszczuk told reporters.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would not be travelling to Tokyo, but he would meet his Japanese counterpart at the upcoming G7 in the UK.

The Queensland Premier is the last Australian state or territory leader over the age of 50 to get the jab.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young, 57, got the AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday morning.

As part of the Queensland's 1B cohort, Ms Palaszczuk and Dr Young have been eligible to get a vaccine since late March.

The premier said she had been offered the vaccine on day one of the rollout in Feburary but had turned it down because she did not want to jump the queue.

In mid-April, Ms Palaszczuk said she was unable to get her COVID-19 jab because she had had a flu shot first and had to wait two weeks.

Ms Palaszczuk said last week she had initially delayed her COVID-19 vaccination because she had to get a tetanus jab after her dog bit her during a play-fight in her backyard.

Gladys Berejiklian has already received her second shot of AstraZeneca (pictured on June 2)

Queensland launched a vaccination blitz over the weekend resulting in 17,032 doses being administered across the state.

The state government opened up 18 vaccine hubs to any aged care workers or people aged 40-49 who had registered for the jab.

More than 936,000 doses have been delivered in Queensland with about 92,500 people fully vaccinated.

Pharmacies will also join the vaccine drive on Monday, with Queensland becoming the first state to give chemists the green light to do so from the federal government.

Almost 50 pharmacies in remote and regional areas will be allowed to give customers the jab.

Meanwhile, Ms Palaszczuk threw down the gauntlet for the federal government after she received a list of criteria for a dedicated Commonwealth quarantine facility to be built in Queensland.

'If the Commonwealth wants to set the criteria they can design the facility, they can construct the facility, they can pay for the facility, and they can run the facility,' she said.

'After all quarantine is a federal government responsibility.'
Two people have been arrested in connection to a road rage shooting in California that killed a six-year-old boy.

Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, and Wynne Lee, 23, were taken into custody outside their home in Costa Mesa in Orange County on Sunday over the shooting death of Aiden Leos.

The California Highway Patrol said the pair, who are boyfriend and girlfriend, are expected to be charged with murder over the little boy's death.

Eriz works in the auto industry, according to online jail records.

They are both being held in county jail on $1 million bail each and are scheduled to face court on Tuesday.

Aiden was fatally shot while sitting in the backseat of his mother Joanna Cloonan's car as they drove along the 55 Freeway in Orange County en route to his kindergarten on May 21.

Aiden Leos was fatally shot while sitting in the backseat of his mother's car on 55 Freeway in Orange County, California on May 21. Two people, a man and woman, have been arrested over the little boy's death

Family members and friends of 6-year-old Aiden Leos tearfully remembered the little boy who was shot and killed in the incident on a Southern California freeway, at his memorial service on Saturday

Highway patrol officials said the road rage incident stemmed from 'a perceived unsafe lane change'.

According to accounts from the mother and witnesses who stopped to help her, the road rage ordeal unfolded when the driver of a white Volkswagen Golf Sportswagen cut Aiden's mother off in the carpool lane.

The boy's mother stuck up her middle finger at the driver before the other car slipped in behind her and someone inside fired a shot at the rear of her car.

The bullet struck Aiden in the back.

Aiden's mother pulled over to the side of the road and cradled the little boy until an off-duty police office stopped to perform CPR and paramedics arrived.

The boy was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A $500,000 reward had been offered for information that led to an arrest in the case.

Aiden Leos was fatally shot while sitting in the backseat of his mother Joanna Cloonan's car as they drove along the 55 Freeway in Orange County en route to his school on May 21. The boy is pictured with his mother and sister Alexis

Police say a gunman opened fire on Aiden's mother's car during a road rage incident. They say the little boy suffered a gunshot wound to the back. Pictured above is a bullet hole in the car

Aiden Leos (pictured), from Southern California, was fatally shot on the 55 Freeway in Orange, California, by a driver reportedly driving a white Volkswagen station wagon last month

A GoFundMe fundraiser started by Aiden's family made up the initial $50,000. Since then, the district attorney, local businesses and two Orange County supervisors have all contributed to boost the reward.

'On behalf of Border Division Chief Omar Watson and the Santa Ana Area, we are deeply grateful for the professionalism and tireless commitment of our investigators who have worked on this case from day one to find those responsible for Aiden's death,' California Highway Patrol Commissioner Amanda Ray said in a statement on Sunday.

'The Department has been in regular contact with the victim's family and I assure you they, like us, are committed to seeing justice served.'

Eriz and Lee are being held in custody in Orange County ahead of an initial court appearance on Tuesday.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has last week urged those responsible to turn themselves in.

'The longer this goes on... the less sympathy I'll have. You killed a 6 year old boy for God's sake. Come forward. Turn yourself in,' he tweeted.

The reward to track down the suspects has now grown from an initial $50,000 to $500,000. Pictured above is a memorial set up on an overpass near when Aiden was gunned down

Aiden's sister Alexis is pictured above at a memorial that was erected on the overpass near where the little boy was shot

The arrests came just one day after an open casket memorial service was held for Aiden at Calvary Chapel in Yorba Linda where the little boy was a kindergarten student.

He was remembered as a child with a vocabulary beyond his years who exuded warmth and tenderness.

'He gave us such joy, giving us purpose to our life. I felt so honored to be Aidens mommy,' the boy's mother said.

'I want nothing more than to find justice, though it wont bring you back into my arms. My precious son had his life ripped away for absolutely no reason.'
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Plunging vaccination rates are threatening President Joe Biden's goal to have 70 percent of American adults receive their first COVID-19 shot by Independence Day.

Less than 500,000 adults are now being vaccinated each day, down from a peak of 3.4 million in April, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Bloomberg.

As of Monday, 51.5 percent of the U.S. population - or 170.8 million - have received an initial dose, which includes adult and children between ages 12 and 17.

When counting just adults, 63.5 percent have had at least one jab.

In order to reach the 70 percent goal by July 4, about 16 million more adults will need to have their first shot in the next 28 days.

That is now going to be an extremely hard task, with the country missing preliminary targets by almost two million doses last week.

Only 2.4 million adults who got their first shots last week, The Washington Post reported. Officials calculate that number needs to be 4.2 million a week to meet Biden's July 4 goal.

The slowdown is throughout the U.S., with every state's vaccination rates are down by at least two-thirds since their peaks. The South, especially, is dragging down national numbers with seven states not even vaccinating half of all adults.

Alabama, for instance, has only given 45.9 percent of its adult residents their first dose of the vaccine, and last week the state had 'just four people per 10,000 residents get vaccinated,' according to the newspaper.

Plunging vaccination rates are threatening President Joe Biden 's goal to have 70 percent of American adults receive their first COVID-19 shot by Independence Day

Less than 500,000 adults are now being vaccinated each day, down from a peak of 3.4 million in April

Most states on the East and West coasts, however, are surging ahead of expectations.

Thirteen states - California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington - have already vaccinated 70 percent of adults.

Several others, including New York, California and Oregon, have already had more than 60 percent of adults receive their first vaccine dose and will likely reach Biden's target.

To get 16 million more Americans to roll up their sleeves, the president has announced incentives including free Anheuser-Busch beer for 200,000 people and a visit to the White House.

Other states have tried stunts like lotteries for cash prizes.

Additionally, pharmacies that have teamed up with the White House will be open for 24 hours on certain days and centers will be offering free childcare for parents

But a new poll recently found that these incentives may not convince the one in five Americans who do not want to get the COVID-19 shot.

Published by Gallup on Monday, 78 percent of respondents not planning to get vaccinated are unlikely to change their minds or will not change their minds.

Only 19 percent said they are somewhat likely to change their minds and two percent are very likely to decide to get vaccinated.

Of this group, the most common reasons for why they did not want to get immunized include uncertainty over whether or not the vaccine is safe and belief that, even if they get the virus, they will not get seriously ill.

To get 16 million more Americans to roll up their sleeves, Biden announced incentives including free Anheuser-Busch beer for 200,000 people and even a visit to the White House

CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky could not answer questions last week about how the US would meet this threshold, instead replying that 'every shot in the arm is a win

Late last week, TODAY host Savannah Guthrie asked CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky if the current pace of vaccinations is enough to hit the president's target or if a push is need to increase the daily numbers.

She appeared to side-step the question, saying that she anticipates the incentives will 'meet [people] where they are' by providing people with more information and access to shots.

'I think that any singular day's counts of how many vaccines we're doing is not necessarily reflective. We've launched this push now. We anticipate we'll be able to reach more and more people,' she answered.

'Every shot in every arm is a win because that person is now safe and protected from getting COVID-19.'

Guthrie also asked if the 70 percent benchmark is a goal for political purposes or if there is a public health threshold.

'We know that the more and more people that get one vaccine and then two - get fully vaccinated - the more we as a nation are protected,' Walensky said.

'We know that the vaccine not only protects individuals, it protects communities, it protects their families. And so the more people who get vaccines...there is no magic target for herd immunity.

Despite fears around the vaccine race, COVID deaths and infections continue to decline.

On Sunday, the US reported 376 new COVID deaths, down from the seven-day rolling average of 437.

Meanwhile, 13,908 new infections were reported across the country. That is also down on the 7-day rolling average of 14, 592.

In total, 597,628 Americans have died from COVID-19, while more than 33.3 million have been infected.

Meanwhile on Sunday, First Lady Jill Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci toured a COVID-19 vaccination site at a historic Harlem church on Sunday as the White House was standing by the top medical adviser after he's come under fire for his handling of the virus.

Biden, Fauci and U.S. Sen Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, watched as people got their shots in the basement of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in the New York City neighborhood.

First lady Jill Biden, center left, and Dr. Anthony Fauci were present for just over half an hour at the Harlem, New York, church where they were part of a push to get people vaccinated

Biden asked a teenager about to get his shot how old he was, and when he said he was 14, she responded, 'You're 14, that's exactly what we want! Twelve and over.'

As of this past week, nearly a quarter of all children between ages 12 and 17 have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine in the U.S.

Since the Pfizer-BioNTech shot was approved for emergency use in teenagers on May 10, 6.3 million out of 25 million have gotten an initial dose.

An additional 2.2 million youngsters are fully vaccinated, according to data from the CDC.
Australians are a long way off from having enough to retire on with average superannuation balances of less than $145,000.

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia recommends a single retiree have $535,000 banked up to live out their twilight years in comfort.

But average super savings in 2018-19 stood at just $143,979, new Australian Taxation Office released on Monday showed.

Men typically had $162,275 in their retirement fund compared with $128,068 for women, a 21 per cent gap.

Average super savings in 2018-19 stood at just $143,979, new tax office data showed. Pictured are women

Average super savings ALL INCOMES: $143,979 $180,000 PLUS EARNERS: $608,283 MEN: $162,275 WOMEN: $128,068 Source: Australian Taxation Office data for 2018-19 Advertisement

The top 3.5 per cent of professionals, earning more than $180,000, had average super balances of $608,283, making them the only income group to have more than enough to comfortably retire on.

Above-average income earners, on salaries of $90,000 to $180,000, had mean balances of $257,695.

The 41.7 per cent of Australians earning between $37,000 and $90,000 had $121,119 in average retirement savings.

From July 1 this year, the threshold for voluntary super contributions qualifying for the concessional 15 per cent rate is increasing to $27,500 from $25,000.

Compulsory employer super contributions on that date are also increasing to 10 per cent from 9.5 per cent.

They will be increasing in half a percentage point increments at the start of each financial year until it reaches 12 per cent by July 2025.

Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating, the architect of the compulsory super scheme that debuted in 1992, wants a 15 per cent rate.

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia recommends a single retiree have $535,000 banked up to live out their twilight years in comfort. Pictured is a stock image

When can Australians access their super? For those born before July 1, 1960, it's 55 The rises to 56 for baby boomers born between July 1, 1960 and June 30, 1961 It's 57 for those born between July 1, 1961 and June 30, 1962 It's 58 for those born between July 1, 1962 and June 30, 1963 It's 59 for those born between July 1, 1963 and June 30, 1964 It's 60 for anyone born after July 1, 1964 Source: moneysmart.gov.au Advertisement

Money expert Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon, the author of How to Get Mortgage-Free Like Me, said putting away a few hundred a month from a young age was the key to being able to retire in luxury with $1 million in superannuation savings.

'If you start tipping in later, it's going to be a really hard slog to get to that magic million,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

She recommended a 20-year-old university student living at home put aside $381 a month.

The longer someone delayed voluntarily topping up their super, the more they would have to chip in later to meet the seven-figure goal.

A worker actively contributing to their super would have to put aside $820 a month from age 30 rising to $1,921 a month for someone starting at 40 and $5,778 for an individual leaving it until age 50.

Australians at least have more opportunity to add to their super with the ANZ job ad series showing a 7.9 per cent increase in May to a 12-year high of 213,894 available positions.

The number of jobs advertised on the internet has risen for 12 successive months to be up 219.8 per cent from a year ago and 38.8 per cent above the pre-pandemic level of early 2020.

CommSec senior economist Ryan Felsman said international border closures and skills shortages were a major obstacle for employers.
Thomas Markle, who has begged his daughter Meghan to reconcile with him, has sent his 'love and best wished' to his daughter and new granddaughter

Thomas Markle today sent his 'love and best wishes' to his estranged daughter and his new granddaughter Lilibet.

The retired Hollywood lighting director, 76, who lives 70 miles away from the Sussexes LA mansion, has not spoken to Ms Markle, 39, since she married Prince Harry three years ago.

Meghan's estranged father Thomas Markle, who has met neither Harry nor grandson Archie, said: 'I am very pleased with the announcement of the safe and healthy delivery of my new granddaughter, and I wish her and her mother all my love and best wishes.

Harry's family said they are 'delighted' at the news, and a brief, joint statement from Buckingham Palace was followed by tweets from the official accounts of the Queen, Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, and Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The statement read: 'The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.'

A tweet from Kate and William's Kensington Royal account sent congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie on the 'happy news of the arrival of baby Lili'.

The tweet from Charles and Camilla's Clarence House account wished them well 'at this special time' and was accompanied by a picture of Harry, Meghan and Archie during their royal tour of Africa in 2019.

Thomas Markle has had a strained relationship with his daughter ever since the royal wedding, with Meghan telling Oprah recently that her father had 'betrayed' her and she 'found it hard to reconcile' with him. She said: 'I look at Archie, I think about this child, and I genuinely can't imagine doing anything to intentionally cause pain to my child'.

Fighting back in March, Thomas denied her claims before branding his son-in-law Harry 'snotty' and accusing him of failing to properly support her when she was suicidal.

Meghan Markle's father Thomas is estranged from Meghan after his daughter accused him of 'betraying' her when she married Harry

The little girl - whose middle name is Diana in honour of Harry's mother - arrived on Friday evening, June 4, weighing 7lbs 11oz, and is now settling at home (couple pictured when they announced Meghan was pregnant in February)

Piers Morgan: 'Ironic' for Meghan and Harry to use the Queen's nickname for their new daughter after 'trashing the royal family and the monarchy' Piers Morgan says Harry and Meghan's decision to use the Queen's nickname for their new baby daughter is 'ironic' given the couple spent weeks 'trashing the royal family and the monarchy'. The DaillyMail.com editor-at-large was responding to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announcing the birth of Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor on Sunday. Whether the couple had consulted the Queen before using her nickname for their second child - who was born on Friday evening British time - was unclear. It came after Harry and Meghan had made explosive claims about the Royal Family and complaints about royal life during Oprah Winfrey interviews in recent months. 'It's quite ironic isn't it,' he said when asked by Today show host Karl Stefanovic what he thought of the name. 'You have this couple who have been trashing the Royal Family and the monarchy for the last few weeks and they have named the baby after the Queen.' Advertisement

Mr Markle says that he's apologised '100 times' for doing a deal with a paparazzi photographer before the Royal Wedding in 2018 and urged the couple to see him with Archie now they only live '70 miles away' from his Mexico home. He said: 'We all make mistakes - but I've never played naked pool or dressed like Hitler like Harry did'.

Mr Markle has repeatedly slammed his daughter's decision to refuse to see or speak to him, declaring in a recent interview with ITV in the UK: 'The biggest problem here is she's pretty much ghosted all of her family'.

Mr Markle said that while he did let her down, she had 'let me down too' by cutting him off after heart surgery almost three years ago. He said: 'The bottom line is she didn't lose me, she made a statement saying she lost me, she didn't lose me, I would've always been there for her, I'm there for her now if she wants me'.

He added: 'I'd like to say again. I'm sorry for what I've done. This was two years ago. But I've tried to make it up to her. I'm now only 70 miles away. I've never stopped loving her. I don't agree with all the things that my children they do. But I will always love them. And I certainly love Meghan'.

Harry and Meghan's daughter will be known as Lili Diana. Her late grandmother's 60th birthday would have been next month.

Last night the delighted Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced: 'On June 4, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili.

'She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family.'

Lili  who is eighth in line to the throne  was born in Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, a private facility where births can cost up to 20,000.

The Queen, senior royals and the Prime Minister led worldwide tributes, with Boris Johnson tweeting: 'Many congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the birth of their daughter.'

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are joined by her mother, Doria Ragland, as they show Archie to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. They have now named their second child Lilibet, after Her Majesty

Happy families: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's official Twitter account shared a reaction to the news with a post that read: 'We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan and Archie'

Lili is the couple's second child after Archie, who is two years and one month older than her. The new baby is the Queen's 11th great-grandchild, and the first to be born outside the UK.

The tribute to the Queen may be seen as an olive branch after Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, plunged the Windsors into crisis with their explosive Oprah Winfrey interview in March, when they accused an unnamed royal of making a racist remark about Archie's skin tone and claimed the royals failed to help the duchess when she was suicidal.

Buckingham Palace officials were unaware the baby had been born until the announcement came out at 5pm last night on social media.

They finally released a statement hailing the 'happy news' at 6.34pm, emphasising the gulf that exists between the Sussexes and the palace. Buckingham Palace declined to discuss when the Queen was informed of the safe arrival of her 11th great-grandchild or whether she was advised of the tribute to her in Lili's name.

However The Times reported that Harry had spoken to his grandmother before yesterday's announcement was made. The name Lilibet was coined by the Queen and used by her sister Margaret and their parents. Her father, George VI once said: 'Lilibet is my pride. Margaret is my joy.'

Lili arrived six days before what would have been the Duke of Edinburgh's 100th birthday.

It is less than a month since Harry reportedly upset the Queen by making 'very personal' criticisms of her and Prince Charles's parenting skills. He said in a podcast in the US that he and Prince William had been made to 'suffer' as children with their father, telling them: 'Well, it was like that for me, so it's going to be like that for you.'

The Buckingham Palace statement came more than an hour after Hollywood stars such as William Shatner had shared their best wishes on Twitter.

The palace said: 'The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.' Lili is entitled to become a princess and Archie a prince when the Queen dies and Charles becomes king.

She is eighth in line to the throne, coming after Archie, and before Prince Andrew, who has dropped down a place to ninth.

Omid Scobie, a journalist favoured by Harry and Meghan, tweeted that the couple would 'not be sharing a photograph at this time' of Lili. He said the couple's office was encouraging anyone who wanted to send gifts to support organisations working for women and girls. When Archie was born in 2019, Harry and Meghan went to extraordinary lengths to keep it a secret and even refused to confirm, either before or after the birth, where he was delivered.

The Daily Mail later revealed that the Duchess had given birth in the London Portland Hospital. It is not known when the Royal Family will get to see Lili. They have not seen Archie since his parents left the UK in November 2019.
Daniel Andrews is under pressure to answer eleven questions about his mysterious fall to 'prove there is no cover up' after effectively vanishing from public view for 91 days.

The Liberal-National state Opposition is demanding answers after Daily Mail Australia first questioned why the Victoria premier, one of the most prominent figures in Australia, has hidden himself away during his recovery, allowing numerous conspiracy theories to circulate.

Since his accident on March 9, Mr Andrews has only been seen in three social media photos, including one posted by his wife Catherine on Saturday which showed her cutting his hair with his face covered by a comb.

Mr Andrews suffered five broken ribs and a fractured T7 vertebrae after falling on 'wet and slippery' stairs at a holiday home on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, at 6.30am.

In a statement six days after the incident, Mr Andrews said 'I landed flat on my back and hit the steps hard directly below the shoulder blades' - but the scant details have sparked a range of conspiracy theories including that he was beaten up by a union official or bashed by a businessman upset about Covid-19 lockdowns.

Dan Andrews was pictured in his wife's Instagram story on Saturday evening receiving a DIY lockdown haircut - but it didn't show his face

Mr Andrews was injured on March 9 and spent 10 days in hospital. Conspiracy theorists claimed this image was photoshopped to show his head on some-one else's body

The 11 questions Daniel Andrews must answer about his injuries  Who was in the house at the time of the incident?  What is the address of the house where it occurred?  Who owns the property?  What time was an ambulance called?  Who called the ambulance?  What time did the ambulance arrive?  Which ambulance station was the ambulance dispatched from?  Who made the decision to take the Premier to Peninsula Private?  Were the police contacted?  Did the police attend?  Has Daniel Andrews been interviewed either formally or informally by the police in relation to anything that occurred over that long weekend? Source: Liberal-National Opposition Advertisement

Some conspiracy theorists even claimed a social media image showing Mr Andrews in his early recovery stage was photoshopped to show his head on some-one else's body. Those close to the premier say the theories are nonsense.

The Liberal-National Opposition believes Mr Andrews - who is the nation's best-paid premier on $441,439 - owes it to taxpayers to reveal more details about the incident and prove there is no 'cover up' as he clocks up 91 days off sick on full pay.

MPs want to know who was in the house at the time, as well as the home's address and the name of the owner.

They also want to know if police were called and if Mr Andrews has been interviewed by officers 'either formally or informally' over anything that happened that weekend.

'If there is no cover up then there is no reason not to provide answers to these simple questions,' said shadow treasurer Louise Staley.

'Victorians need honesty and transparency from Daniel Andrews about the circumstances of his injury.

'Everyone is entitled to privacy about their health, but these questions are not about the nature of his injuries, only how he got those injuries.'

Liberal MP James Newbury joined calls for more details, telling Daily Mail Australia: 'No-one is questioning whether Daniel Andrews is sick - but as the elected leader of 6.7 million people, he owes Victorians a proper explanation as to what really happened to him.'

'Victoria is in the middle of its fourth lockdown and people's lives and livelihoods are on the line. We deserve more from Daniel Andrews than a couple of social media posts or a photo of his wife cutting his hair.'

During his time off sick, Mr Andrews has earned $110,057.22 - almost double the average annual salary of Victorians which is $63,000.

Members of parliament are not employed but get paid for the office they hold, meaning they have no leave limits.

Aussies employed in the private sector only get a minimum of 10 days personal leave per year.

Ms Staley said Mr Andrews should only take an MP's base salary of $182,413 while off sick.

Absent Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured with his wife) was criticised for saying that Victorians are having 'another week off work' in his first social media post since April 18

A closer look at the message posted by Daniel Andrews on Wednesday as he recovers from a back injury

'Enough is enough, Daniel Andrews can't continue to get paid for a job he's not doing. He should only be getting the basic MP's pay while he's off work,' she said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the premier's office for comment.

Mr Andrews, who oversaw Melbourne's 112-day lockdown last year, said on Wednesday he would return to work later this month.

It was the first time he had addressed the public since a social media post on April 18, when he said he was making 'slow and steady progress'.

In a statement posted on social media the premier called on Victorians to remain strong as they faced another seven days in lockdown.

Dan Andrews (pictured with daughter Grace, 18) in April as he recovers from a serious back injury

Daniel Andrews issued this message to Victorians on social media on Wednesday night after weeks of silence

'I have more scans and a meeting with my medical team next week. I'll let you know how that goes and exactly when I'll be back on deck later this month,' he wrote.

However, one turn of phrase in his message sparked outrage from opponents.

'But I did want to send a message to Victorians facing another week off work, away from school, or with the kids at home,' he wrote.

The sentence sparked accusations that Mr Andrews was failing to grasp the damage caused by lockdowns.

David Hodgett, shadow education minister, wrote: 'This is a Premier completely out of touch with ordinary Victorians.

'No, Premier, these workers are not having ''another week off work''. They are being financially ruined by your government.'

A sign on the door of a business in Melbourne after the extension of lockdown was announced

Victorian Shadow Treasurer Louise Staley is leading the push (above)

It comes after Scott Morrison said Victoria should lift its crippling Covid-19 restrictions 'as soon as possible'.

The Prime Minister particularly wants to see children at school after the state government only allowed students in years 11 and 12 to go back to class this week.

Since the start of the pandemic Victorian children have been stopped from going to school for 23 weeks, compared to just seven weeks in New South Wales, raising fears they will be left behind students in other states.

'Kids have lost enough time out of school, over the course of the last 18 months, and it's very important we get those kids back to school as soon as possible,' Mr Morrison told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

'I am hopeful these restrictions in Victoria will be lifted as soon as possible I would be urging that we move to lift those restrictions as soon as possible.'

However, Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton has warned the state won't 'snap back' to normal when lockdown is due to end in Melbourne on Thursday after a two-week shutdown.

On Monday the state reported just 11 new cases of Covid-19, all linked to known cases with eight already in isolation before testing positive.

The cases took the state's latest outbreak - which originated in hotel quarantine in Adelaide - to 81 cases.
A south-east Queensland man has been found guilty of masterminding a cross border gun-running operation that has resulted in more than 80 weapons likely still circulating in the criminal underground.

Wayne John Yanko pleaded not guilty to four charges of cross-border disposal and acquisition of firearms at the start of the Brisbane District Court trial two weeks ago.

But after deliberating for just a few hours, a jury found the 59-year-old guilty on all four counts on Monday.

John Wayne Yanko, 59, (pictured) was found guilty of four charges of cross-border disposal and acquisitions of firearms in Brisbane District Court on Monday

Yanko (right) was accused of masterminding an elaborate gun-running operation where he legally bought 131 handguns from shops in Brisbane and Sydney to sell on the black market

Yanko - who was accused of orchestrating the operation with Perth brothers Trevor and Gregory Manuel - legally bought 131 handguns from Brisbane and Sydney through West Australian company Wyworrie Holdings with the intention of selling them unlawfully.

The trio allegedly sourced the weapons, buying them for about $1000 each, from five gun shops over two weeks from February 27, 2017.

Authorities blocked the shipment of some weapons and recovered others, but more than 80 remain unaccounted for and are believed to be circulating in the criminal underground, crown prosecutor Lincoln Crowley said earlier.

'You can conclude they have ended in the hands of people who are certainly not authorised to have them ... these weapons have effectively disappeared off the grid,' he told the jury.

Mr Crowley told the jury Yanko, of Tamborine, was the 'prime mover of this whole deal' to amass the guns and sell them on the criminal black market.

The court heard Trevor Manuel obtained a firearm dealer licence under the company name Wyworrie, registered in WA, to buy weapons during shopping expeditions in Queensland and NSW.

The jury rejected Yanko's version that he was in a 'subservient' role to the Manuel brothers, and simply obtaining stock for a 'legitimate' and lawful business.

Yanko (right) was accused of conspiring with Perth brothers Trevor and Gregory Manuel, with the trio purchasing 131 handguns for $1000 each over two weeks from February 27, 2017

'The best ones to get and easy to sell is the Glock - I think Australian made, even the knockoffs. Trust me mate, even the knockoffs are good,' Yanko said in messages intercepted by police

The trial was shown messages intercepted by authorities in which Yanko and Gregory Manuel tell Trevor Manuel to 'get moving' in obtaining the dealer licence.

When they finally got the licence in February 2017, they were 'ready to roll' with the trio preparing a 'wishlist' of handguns.

'The best ones to get and easy to sell is the Glock - I think Australian made, even the knockoffs. Trust me mate, even the knockoffs are good,' Yanko wrote.

'I've seen a few, and they're not bad. It all depends on the price ... the quantity, that is. I think get 50 or so together ... we will soon know what is what, and what is not.'

Judge Katherine McGinness is expected to sentence Yanko on Thursday.
A brave Australian expat is being hailed a hero in the United States after helping stop a man from storming the cockpit of a passenger jet.

Wesley Campbell, who grew up on Queensland's Sunshine coast, leaped into action when a deranged man allegedly overpowered a flight attendant and rushed to the cockpit door.

The alleged hijacker can be heard in video captured by other passengers saying, 'we gotta stop this plane! We gotta stop this f**king plane!'

The rock band manager who now lives in Nashville, jumped out of his seat and wrestled the alleged assailant to the floor before using his own belt to tie down the 6'4 (193cm tall) man.

This was our view from the 3rd row right after the @Delta attendants and passengers apprehended the person who attempted to get into the cockpit. He was screaming Stop the plane. pic.twitter.com/8CG7zNFpTq  Jessica Robertson (@jesscribe) June 4, 2021

A brave Australian expat, Wesley Campbell (pictured with wife Tracy Campbell) is being hailed a hero in the US after helping stop a man from storming the cockpit of a passenger jet

It started out as just another routine trip for Wes and his wife Tracy - returning home to Nashville from Los Angeles onboard Delta flight 386 with 162 passengers and six crew members on board.

'My wife nudged me and said, 'Quick! The flight attendant is fighting with a passenger! Quick! Help him!' ,' Mr Campbell told Zenger News.

'So I jumped out into the aisle.

'They had already hit the deck. The [male] flight attendant was a little bit underneath this passenger.

'He [the alleged attacker] was trying to get up, with all his might,' Campbell said. 'I had my knee on his back. And then a couple of other people got up to help.'

The flight attendant later told Mr Campbell it was only his sixth day on the job.

With a group of passengers pinning down the alleged hijacker, a second flight attendant came over with a set of plastic handcuffs.

Mr Campbell and the passengers used the restraints along with his belt to hogtie the man and drag him to the back of the aircraft.

Mr Campbell and the passengers (pictured) used the restraints along with his belt to hogtie the man and drag him to the back of the aircraft

Tracy took to Facebook to heap praise on her husband after the plane was diverted to Albuquerque for an emergency landing.

'Wes and I just survived a attack today... (but) Wes jumped up and helped force the guy to the ground,' she said.

'Plenty of other heroes on our flight. Truly proud of my Wesley.'

Friends and family of the couple also flooded social media to celebrate the Australian-born hero.

'Wes is so brave! I am wowed! God bless him!,' one person said.

'Wes is a beast! Talk about a brave hero!' another said.

'Great work and response Wes!! We are very proud of you, and thankful that you and Tracy are okay,' another said.

Delta Air also thanked the brave passengers and crew for keeping everyone safe.

'The aircraft landed without incident and the passenger was removed by law enforcement,' the airline said in a statement.

The FBI is now investigating the incident.
A high-ranking Rebels bikie has been cleared of plotting a daylight shopping centre 'ambush' as an outlaw rival was shot in the leg.

Alleged Logan chapter president Joshua John Lucey and fellow member Lucas James Pain fought charges over the shooting in the Brisbane District Court.

Lucey was supported in court by his girlfriend and several other associates on Monday to hear the verdict.

Arriving at court, the bikie boss could be seen greeting associates as he clutched his girlfriend's hand as she walked by his side toting a $3590 Burberry designer bag.

Joshua John Lucey (centre) arrives at the District Court in Brisbane on Monday with his girlfriend

Lucey was accused of plotting a daylight ambush on a rival at the Logan Hyperdome in February 2019. He is pictured outside court on Monday

A jury found Lucey not guilty after more than eight hours of deliberation, but was unable to reach a verdict for co-accused Pain.

The events unfolded in broad daylight at the Logan Hyperdome, a major shopping centre south of Brisbane, in February 2019.

Lucey was accused of organising the ambush after a chance encounter with Bandidos member Harley Cranston, crown prosecutor Greg Cummings told the court on the opening day of the trial.

He said several Rebels members arrived at the shopping centre later that day and, according to the prosecution case: 'Mr Cranston was always going to get shot.'

'This was an ambush organised by Mr Lucey, linked to whatever the disagreement was about earlier that day,' he said.

It was Pain that ultimately fired the gun after a pursuit involving up to 11 men, Mr Cummings said.

Pain and Lucey were both charged with unlawful striking using a projectile with intent to disable.

However, the jury was unable to reach a majority verdict for Pain.

As the chase spilled onto the street, the Bandidos member armed himself with a machete, the court was told.

'Mr Cranston, about 30 seconds before he was struck with the bullet, had armed himself with a machete and ran back towards these people that were chasing him,' Mr Cummings said.

Lucey was found not guilty of unlawful striking using a projectile with intent to disable. He is on Monday arriving at court

Joshua John Lucey stands with several associates, his girlfriend, and legal team outside court on Monday

If he fired the shot in defence of himself or others, then it was not unlawful, the defence argued.

The prosecution had to also prove Pain's act of shooting Cranston wasn't an accident that occurred when he was trying to scare him, Judge Tony Moynihan said in his summing up on Friday.

Only one bullet was fired from the revolver capable of carrying six rounds, and a case against Lucey would only be considered if Pain acted unlawfully, the jury was told.

Much of the evidence relied on various CCTV footage from in and around the shopping centre.

While Lucey has been cleared of the charge, Pain will face a retrial.
The disappearance of Madeleine McCann 'could be solved within months' after a successful appeal for witnesses, the German prosecutor leading the investigation has said.

Hans Christian Wolters said his team had received 'very interesting tips' but that there were still questions to be answered.

'We hope we can solve the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, although this will take several months.

'We are pleased with the response to our appeal for witnesses. But unfortunately not all our questions have been answered,' he told The Mirror.

Wolter said suspect Christian Brueckner would be questioned 'at the end of the investigation', adding that the public will be informed of the result and any further details once the probe had concluded.

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann (left) 'could be solved within months' after a successful appeal for witnesses, the German prosecutor leading the investigation said, adding that suspect Christian Brueckner (right) would be questioned at the end of the probe

Hans Christian Wolters (pictured) said his team had received 'very interesting tips' but that there were still questions to be answered

Three-year-old Madeleine, known as Maddie, vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal's Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.

She had been left sleeping alone with her younger twin siblings while her parents were dining in a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann Madeleine McCann, known as Maddie, disappeared from a holiday apartment in Portugal's Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007. She was on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann; her two-year-old twin siblings; and a group of family friends and their children. She and the twins had been left asleep at the apartment, while the McCanns and friends dined in a restaurant 55 metres (180 ft) away. The parents checked on the children throughout the evening, until Kate discovered she was missing at 10pm. What followed is widely regarded as one of the most reported on missing person investigations in the world. Portuguese authorities closed their enquiries in July 2008 but Maddie's parents continued with private detectives. Scotland Yard launched their own investigation - Operation Grange - in 2011 and enquiries are ongoing. Advertisement

Brueckner, a 44-year-old convicted rapist, was living in a camper van near Praia da Luz at the time of the disappearance.

Last June, German and UK police revealed Brueckner as a suspect after first becoming aware of his potential connection to the case in 2017.

He is currently serving a prison term in Germany on unrelated charges.

Brueckner's phone pinged close to where Madeleine vanished from just an hour before her parents noticed she was gone, investigators have said.

Wolters told The Mirror his team had not uncovered who the suspect called that night.

Brueckner has denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, refusing to speak to police or prosecutors so far.

Investigators have interviewed a number of potential witnesses in Germany and Portugal, including Brueckner's British ex-girlfriend, who claims he assaulted her.

Brueckner is serving seven years for raping an elderly woman in Praia da Luz.

He is also being investigated for allegedly exposing himself in a playground while children were present.

Wolters, who believes Madeleine is dead, said authorities have not spoken to her parents Kate and Gerry McCann.

Last month, the McCanns said they 'hang on to hope, however small' that they will see their daughter again as they marked the 14th anniversary of her disappearance.

In a message shared online, they noted that this year's anniversary was even more poignant because it would have been Maddie's 18th birthday.

The message, which was shared on the Find Madeleine website, read: 'Every May is tough  a reminder of years passed, of years together lost, or stolen.

'This year it is particularly poignant as we should be celebrating Madeleine's 18th birthday. Enough said.'


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Boris Johnson today insisted 'there still remains nothing in the data' to mean June 21's 'Freedom Day' has to be pushed back, despite mounting calls for the end of social distancing to be delayed so millions more Britons can get fully vaccinated and be protected against the Indian Covid variant.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said today that No10 had 'always expected' cases to rise when the main lockdown ended in May  which they did last week, alarming scientists. They added that ministers will 'look very closely at the data over this coming week' to check hospitals aren't being crippled again, before pressing ahead with any decision on June 21.

Another 5,683 positive tests were recorded across Britain today, up 68 per cent on last Monday's count. Just one death was recorded  but fatalities are known to lag weeks behind cases because of how long it takes for infected patients to fall severely ill. Hospital admissions have crept up by 16 per cent in a week.

MailOnline analysis today showed the Indian 'Delta' variant is now dominant in more than 200 of England's 300-plus council areas, compared to the 102 authorities it had taken a hold of the week before. Bolton and Blackburn are the two parts of the country worst-hit by the mutant strain.

No10's statement came amid growing calls for June 21's lockdown-ending to be postponed, with Downing Street's former chief scientific adviser today saying the Indian variant meant restrictions should continue for a few weeks and jabs be rolled out to teenagers as soon as possible.

Sir David King, who held Sir Patrick Vallance's role for eight years before stepping down in 2008, said the data was 'in now' to show plans to ease restrictions must be pushed back 'right away'.

He told Sky News Covid hospitalisations were 'slowly rising'. Department of Health data showed there were 932 people in the UK's hospitals suffering from Covid on June 3, the latest available. This was up by around 7.5 per cent on the 867 the week before.

Sir David said: 'Im very reluctant to say that we should not go out of lockdown on June 21 but I think the figures are in now, and it will be wise for the Government to announce right away a delay in opening, just so that we can all plan for the post June 21 period.'

Asked for how long, he said: 'I would give a few weeks' delay and see how the figures are emerging. So, I dont know how long. As the Prime Minister has said, its data, not dates, that we should be governed by, and thats response as well.'

Meanwhile, another Government adviser said delaying the June 21 lockdown by a few weeks would be the best way of preventing another full-blown lockdown.

Professor Ravi Gupta, a member of NERVTAG, told BBC Breakfast: 'I think that to go completely back to normal may not be in everyones best interests. We want this to be the last lockdown that we ever go into, and we do not want to go into a reverse situation which would be much more damaging to the economy, peoples businesses and long-term welfare.'

Mr Johnson's spokesman said today: 'There still remains that there is nothing in the data currently to suggest Step Four can't go ahead at the earliest date. But we do need to look very closely at the data over this coming week.'

Boris Johnson (left, pictured today) will 'look very closely at the data over this coming week', his spokesman said. Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser, urged ministers to delay lockdown easings 'right away' because hospitalisations had risen

The spokesman continued that this week 'will be crucial to decide and really to get a sense of the data, particularly on hospitalisations and whether or not the excellent vaccine rollout programme has sufficiently severed that link between the increase in cases, which we always expected to happen, particularly after Step Three, and that subsequently leading to hospitalisations and deaths'.

Asked if there is evidence of a third wave, the spokesman said: 'We can see that the cases are rising in the UK, that is both due to the increased transmissibility of the Delta (Indian) variant, and to a certain extent the opening up of measures taken in Step Three.'

Britain's mammoth vaccination rollout has reached more than three-quarters of adults but scientists have warned that a third wave triggered by a highly transmissible variant could cripple the NHS once again.

SAGE models cautioned Covid hospital admissions could pass 5,000 per day in August if the Indian variant is 40 per cent more transmissible than the Kent strain, which Matt Hancock yesterday suggested it was.

But Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers which represents hospitals across the country, slammed the mathematical predictions made throughout the pandemic as being crude and unreliable.

He told the Telegraph trust leaders were 'sceptical' about the predicted sky-high surge and Indian variant hotspots had not seen the huge spike in admissions predicted and many were coping well because vaccines have 'broken the chain' between infection and serious illness. Bolton  the first place to experience an outbreak of the Indian variant  is now seeing hospitalisations fall.

Sir David said: 'Im very reluctant to say that we should not go out of lockdown on June 21, but I think the figures are in now, and it will be wise for the Government to announce right away a delay in opening, just so that we can all plan for the post June 21 period.'

Children aged 12 and over could receive doses in August Ministers are making plans to vaccinate children aged 12 and over as early as August, the Daily Mail understands. The Government's key advisory group on vaccines will advise in the coming weeks on how to proceed with the rollout. But plans are afoot to give jabs to secondary school pupils before the end of the summer holidays if it is recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Last week the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine in those aged 12-15. Yesterday Matt Hancock said there were 'plenty of good reasons' for inoculating children, despite it being 'very rare' that young people are 'very negatively' affected by the virus. The Health Secretary told Sky News' Trevor Phillips on Sunday programme: 'The spread among children does have an impact on others and, critically, we know how much it disrupts education as well. There is this problem of long Covid in some children who test positive. 'So, there are plenty of good reasons to do this but we will also want to be very careful and listen to the scientific advice on exactly what approach to take.' Mr Hancock also confirmed that adults under the age of 30 will be invited to book their vaccine appointment from this week. The Government has set a target for every adult in the UK to be offered a first dose by the end of July, and expects all adults over 50 to have been offered two doses by June 21. Mr Hancock said the vaccines had 'severed but not broken' the link between a rise in cases and an increase in the number of people being admitted to hospital. He said: 'The majority of people going into hospital right now are unvaccinated.' The Royal College of General Practitioners said that in some areas, GPs have already vaccinated all those eligible and so have already moved to the under-30s cohort. The news comes as people who have been contacted to bring forward their second vaccine appointment are being urged to rebook as soon as possible, in a bid to combat the spread of the Indian strain. The JCVI recommended in May that the second dose interval should be reduced from 12 weeks to eight for those aged 50 and over, as well as the clinically vulnerable. More than 40million people across the UK have so far had a first jab. Advertisement

It comes as:

Adults under the age of 30 will be invited to book their coronavirus vaccine appointment from this week;

An NHS chief said patients being admitted to hospital with Covid-19 were now younger, got less sick and went home sooner;

It emerged that ministers downgraded Portugal from the green travel list to amber after just 1.5 per cent of arrivals from the country tested positive for Covid;

Tony Blair said fully-vaccinated Britons should be given more freedom to travel abroad in a bid to boost the jabs take-up;

Figures showed that thousands of separated and divorced parents have lost contact with their children because of the pandemic's impact on the courts;

Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, said there were 'strong suggestions' that Covid-19 leaked from a laboratory in China;

People looking for love online will be able to see if their potential match has been vaccinated in a government bid to increase uptake of the jab;

Britain recorded 5,341 cases yesterday, up 64 per cent in a week, and four deaths from the virus.

Calling for Freedom Day to be pushed back by a few weeks, the Cambridge University professor said any pause should last for at least a few weeks.

'I would give a few weeks delay and see how the fingers are emerging. So, I dont know how long,' he told Sky News.

'As the Prime Minister has said, its data, not dates, that we should be governed by, and thats response as well.'

Professor Gupta echoed his words, saying returning to normal life on June 21 'may not be in everyone's best interests'.

'The views of scientists such as myself and others reflects the fact that we want this to be the last lockdown that we ever go into, and we do not want to go into a reverse situation which would be much more damaging to the economy, peoples businesses and long-term welfare.'

Professor Gupta added that people should not forget the virus is 'still mutating' to become better at avoiding vaccine-triggered immunity.

'The more transmissions that are allowed to happen, the greater the chance of these new added variants arising.

'We are not achieving the limitation of new infections in the way that we need to remain fully open as a society in the long term.

'I think that, once we do suppress the virus and get vaccination up to 80 per cent, including young people, then we can continue that strategy with boosting in the years to come.

'We are in a situation where we could obtain huge gains just by a little bit more work.'

Officials identified a new variant of the virus last week linked to travel to Nepal, which could spark a slowdown in lockdown easing plans.

Scientists fear the strain combines the worst features of the Indian variant with the South African variant, which is better able to dodge vaccine-triggered immunity.

Chris Hopson, chief executive at NHS Providers which represents hospital trusts across England, slammed modelling by SAGE advisers of surges in Covid hospitalisations throughout the pandemic. He said these were crude and unreliable. Professor Ravi Gupta, who has advised the Government's Covid response, said a delay of 'a few weeks rather than months' may be needed in order to closely monitor hospitalisations

Furious Tory MPs urge ministers not to 'move the goalposts' after Matt Hancock said he was 'absolutely open' to delaying Freedom Day Tory MPs reacted with fury last night after Matt Hancock said he was 'absolutely open' to delaying Freedom Day. The Health Secretary refused to rule out keeping face masks and home working beyond June 21, when the Government had hoped to remove all legal limits on social contact. Mr Hancock said the unlocking could be pushed back if the data called for it  amid suggestions there could be a two-week delay. But his downbeat comments triggered anger among senior backbenchers. Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne said ministers were 'wasting the advantages afforded by the success of vaccinations'. He added: 'The original mission statement was to save lives by protecting the NHS. We've done that. 'The more it moves the goalposts, the more people will be made redundant.' The Daily Telegraph today reported that measures including face masks, social distancing and working from home were likely to remain in place past June 21 due to lingering concern over the Indian variant. Advertisement

Surveillance has spotted its genome at least 43 times in the UK, according to COG-UK, with the first case spotted in Britain on April 24. Almost 40 per cent of total infections were analysed last week.

It has already been blamed for sparking holiday misery for millions after Portugal was switched to the 'amber list' for travel, with the Nepal variant thought to have played a part in the move. Ministers also say cases are rising in the country, which could be re-imported to the UK.

But No10's top scientists have said Britain cannot keep 'running down a rabbit hole' every time a new strain of the virus is identified.

Ministers will not decide whether to delay lockdown easing plans until June 14, a week before restrictions were due to be lifted. Sources told the Telegraph the decision hinged on the impact of the Indian variant in Covid hotspots. Data shows admissions are already falling in Bolton.

A source told the newspaper: 'The scientists are more in favour of a two-week extension and that is certainly one of the options that has been put in the papers for ministers.'

It reported that the Government was concerned over a faster-than expected increase in Covid cases. But sources said the absence of a spike in hospitalisations would reassure ministers when making the decision next week.

It comes as Mr Hopson slammed SAGE scientists for their predictions of sky-high admissions during the first and second waves, telling The Telegraph these were repeatedly crude and unreliable.

He said: 'For the record, trust leaders are sceptical of the value of predictive statistical models here, given their performance of the last 15 months.

'Leaders point to crude assumptions that have to be made and the huge shifts in outcome if small changes are made to those assumptions.'

He added: 'Leaders in "front of wave" hotspots are now seeing community infection and Covid inpatient numbers declining.

'They feel they've coped well with this latest surge. Nobody wants to be too definitive, but there is increasing confidence that in hotspots for this pattern of variant, vaccines have broken the chain between Covid infection and high levels of hospitalisation and mortality in previous waves. This confirms trial data and feels very significant.'

Covid cases in Bolton  a hotspot for the Indian variant  began to fall on May 17 after ministers sparked surge testing to root out every case of the virus. Its neighbour Blackburn with Darwen is now the nation's hotspot

Data from Bolton NHS Foundation Trust shows hospitalisations with the virus in the area are now also starting to fall

Blackburn with Darwen  the nation's Covid hotspot suffering a major outbreak of the Indian variant  is still seeing its cases rise. But its pandemic curve is behind Bolton's

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which provides medical care in Blackburn with Darwen, has published data showing its Covid hospitalisations remain largely flat at present

Just 1.5% of Portugal travellers tested positive for Covid before ministers downgraded country's travel status Ministers downgraded Portugal's travel status from green to amber after just 1.5 per cent of travellers tested positive for Covid over two weeks in a sample, it emerged yesterday. Three positive cases were spotted out of 200 travellers coming from Portugal between May 6 and May 19. The positive samples were sent for genomic sequencing for detecting mutant variants, but it is not clear if any were found. The figures were compiled by the Joint Biosecurity Centre for the Government. JBC data is used by ministers to decide whether countries should be ranked green, amber or red under the Covid traffic light travel system. They downgraded Portugal on Thursday, citing a near doubling of the country's infection rate and the discovery of the Nepal virus mutation. The travel industry reacted with fury to the JBC data last night, saying it was proof of the very low risk posed by people arriving from Portugal. It insisted the country should have stayed green. Separate figures showed that, between May 18 and 24, the seven-day rolling average of new Covid cases per 100,000 of Portugal's population was 30.2. On May 31, the rate in the UK was 35.9. A leading epidemiologist said he did not understand the Government's thinking. Professor Tim Spector, of King's College London, said: 'If you travel from London to Manchester at the moment, it's a much greater risk than going to Portugal, Spain, Italy, France. Are we protecting the Portuguese from problems? Is it that way around? Because, otherwise, I don't really get it.' He told Times Radio: 'We can't stop variants coming into this country unless we completely lock down the country. I think we just ought to start settling down and dealing with our own outbreaks and not try to have this haphazard travel policy which is causing a lot of fear and confusion.' It came as more details emerged of the heated Cabinet meeting last week in which Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps clashed angrily. Mr Hancock is said to have been the driving force behind ministers' decision to ignore JBC advice that Malta and a list of other islands should be added to the green list. He is also said to have rejected the idea that Portugal should be put on a 'watchlist' rather than immediately turned amber. The watchlist option acts as an early warning sign, designed to give people more time to return home before a country goes fully amber if the Covid data gets worse. Mr Hancock was said to have been backed by Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove and the Home Office. They also opposed Malta being added to the green list. One Whitehall source claimed Mr Hancock and Mr Shapps had a 'massive barney'. Advertisement

Sir David, who also chairs Independent SAGE, added the roll out should be expanded to younger age groups more quickly amid rising cases.

He said: 'The Pfizer vaccine has already been given the green light in this country to over 12-year-olds. I think we should run that programme forward quickly.

'But were opening schools today and the Government has said 12 to 18-year-olds no longer need to wear face masks at school  I dont think that was a wise thing to do and I do hope the Government will rethink this in the light of the current figures.'

He added: 'Let me ask you, if I may, to ask the Government, are they actually believing in herd immunity amongst school children?

'Is that why theyre saying, take masks off it, so that the disease spreads rapidly and they all become immune by having had the disease?

'If that is a policy, shouldnt we be honest with the public, and tell us that is the policy?

'I believe that herd immunity was the policy from the beginning back in February, March last year, so have we returned to that now with the high vaccination level?'

Echoing calls for the jabbing drive to be expanded to younger age groups, Professor Sridhar told Good Morning Britain over-12s would need to be jabbed to prevent further disruption to education.

'If we want schools to continue without disruption in the autumn and lift restrictions so children can have a normal experience, we need to vaccinate them, and if we wait and watch for the evidence it will be too late in the next few weeks,' she said.

'We have the supply  its not a large amount, its a couple of million doses to cover that population of 12-plus.

'And we cant use AstraZeneca  the main supply we have  in younger age groups, so we should export AstraZeneca and help countries abroad, send those doses, as well as focusing on our adolescents to make sure they dont have another year disrupted, because that would be an absolute shame.'

She added: 'Children can still get long Covid and can still be chronically ill from this.

'Given that we know children can transmit, where we are going to see problems going forward is not going to be in care homes, its not going to be in hospitals, its going to be in schools, because this is where youre going to see large groups of unvaccinated kids together, and we are going to have outbreaks.

'We might as well just do it, roll it out in the summer, get those kids covered so secondary schools can go back, normally, this autumn.

'I think itd be a huge shame for backing blended learning or having kids doing home learning in the autumn.'

It came as Tory MPs vented their fury at suggestions lockdown easing could be delayed last night, with backbencher Sir Desmond Swayne warning ministers were 'wasting the advantages afforded by the success of vaccinations'.

He added: 'The original mission statement was to save lives by protecting the NHS. We've done that. The more it moves the goalposts, the more people will be made redundant.'

Former Tory Cabinet minister David Jones said last night: 'Matt Hancock has acknowledged that most people in hospital [with Covid-19] have not been vaccinated.

'The answer is therefore to get as many people as possible vaccinated as quickly as possible.

Genome sequencing almost certainly proves Covid was deliberately made in a Chinese lab before it leaked to the world Two US experts have penned a damning essay saying the genome sequencing of COVID-19 strongly suggests that the virus was manufactured inside a Chinese laboratory. Dr. Stephen Quay and Richard Muller, a physics professor at the University of California Berkeley, made the claim in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, amid growing speculation that the coronavirus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). 'The most compelling reason to favor the lab leak hypothesis is firmly based in science,' the experts wrote, stating that 'COVID-19 has a genetic footprint that has never been observed in a natural coronavirus.' Quay and Muller assert that the Wuhan lab was known for conducting 'gain-of-function' research where scientists would 'intentionally supercharge viruses to increase lethality'. COVID-19 has the genome sequencing 'CGG-CGG' - one of 36 sequencing patterns. That combination is commonly used by scientists in gain-of-function research, but is otherwise considered extremely 'rare'. The experts assert that no naturally occurring coronavirus - such as SARS or MERS - has ever had a CGG-CGG combination. 'The CGG-CGG combination has never been found naturally. That means the common method of viruses picking up new skills, called recombination, cannot operate here,' they wrote. 'A virus simply cannot pick up a sequence from another virus if that sequence isn't present in any other virus.' The essay comes after an explosive study last week claimed that Chinese scientists created COVID-19 in the Wuhan lab, then tried to cover their tracks by reverse-engineering versions of the virus to make it look like it evolved naturally from bats. The paper's authors, British Professor Angus Dalgleish and Norwegian scientist Dr Birger Srensen, wrote that they have had 'prima facie evidence of retro-engineering in China' for a year  but were ignored by academics and major journals. Advertisement

'It is not to delay the lifting of lockdown, with the attendant damage to people's mental and physical wellbeing and to the economy.'

Former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers called on the Government to 'give us as much freedom as possible'  with priority given to weddings, events and hospitality.

She said that while 'most people' could live with face coverings and some travel restrictions, 'we've got to allow the hospitality business to open up again fully'.

Senior Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said there was 'increasing frustration' among his colleagues over the restrictions.

He added: 'We've got to be really, really careful about getting panicked about every variant that comes along until we are absolutely sure there is one that is going to defeat the vaccine.'

The MPs' warnings were echoed by UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls, who said the 'ongoing uncertainty' was causing 'significant distress' to the sector, especially as 'healthcare data does not indicate a need for deviation'.

The evidence 'demonstrates that the vaccination programme is working and breaking the link between cases and hospitalisations and deaths', she said. 'It is crucial that the Government commits to dropping the restrictions on June 21. Any delay in the roadmap would have a devastating effect on an already fragile sector.'

The wedding industry is also desperately seeking clarity on whether the 30-person cap on guests will be removed this month. UK Weddings Taskforce spokesman Sarah Haywood said: 'It is unacceptable to just say we have to wait because an industry like ours doesn't have a seven-day ramp-up window  it's much longer than that.'

While UK cases have been rising in recent weeks, fuelled by the Indian variant, hospital admissions have remained flat.

Official data shows that Britons who have received two vaccine doses make up less than 5 per cent of those hospitalised with the new strain. And around two-thirds of people attending A&E with the variant do not even need to spend the night in hospital.

Another 5,341 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus were recorded in the UK yesterday and a further four deaths were announced, down from six a week earlier.

Mr Hancock was asked yesterday whether the removal of restrictions on June 21 could be postponed if data on the Indian variant worsens.

'We are absolutely open to doing that if that's what needs to happen,' he told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show.

'We said in the roadmap that June 21 is the date by which we would not take step four before that date and that we would look at the data. That is exactly what we are doing.'

Asked if the wearing of face coverings and work-from-home measures could continue in the long-term, the Health Secretary added: 'Yes, I wouldn't rule that out.'

Labour yesterday signalled it could support some restrictions remaining in place.

Education spokesman Kate Green said: 'If we have to maintain some protective measures beyond June 21, that is what the Government should do, but I think it is really important that it's a decision taken on the basis of the data.'

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Munira Wilson urged ministers to 'remain cautious, especially given rising case numbers, and to follow the evidence before making a final decision about opening up'.
A young humpback whale entangled in fishing equipment has been freed by rescue crews after a dramatic six-hour operation.

The humpback calf was intercepted by Sea World rescue crews off Broadbeach on Queensland's Gold Coast about 10:30am on Monday.

It's believed the juvenile whale became entangled in buoys and netting in waters off the NSW coast and had dragged the ropes several hundred kilometres up to the Gold Coast.

Sea World Gold Coast posted a photo of the whale surrounded by emergency crews to their Facebook page and confirmed the young calf had been cut free.

It took Sea World rescue crews six hours to cut away buoys and netting from the juvenile whale, who could have become entangled in the ropes as far south as Tasmania

'After a six hour rescue operation, the Sea World Rescue team have successfully managed to cut away buoys and netting from a sub-adult whale off the Gold Coast seaway', the post read.

'Following the removal of the equipment, the team monitored the whale and it headed north on its migration path.'

Whale researchers have been desperately tracking the whale for over a week, after the calf was sighted offshore from Crescent Head, around 40km north of Port Macquarie, and off the coast at Coogee Beach in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.

The juvenile humpback was spotted swimming erratically at the popular Sydney beach at 4pm on Sunday.

An onlooker standing along the coastline filmed the young whale dragging two white buoys across the surface of the water.

We saw this as well. pic.twitter.com/JWs6AsdeZk  theJoeAverage (@theJoeAverage) June 6, 2021

The humpback calf (pictured) was intercepted by Sea World rescue crews off Broadbeach on Queensland's Gold Coast about 10:30am on Monday

Wayne Phillips, head of marine sciences for Sea World, said the dramatic rescue began in Evans Head, eight hours north of Sydney on Friday.

Mr Phillips said the calf could have become entangled in the fishing ropes as as far south as Tasmania.

He estimated the humpback had been trapped in 200 metres of rope and six buoys on Friday, with rescue crews removing the rest of the equipment on Monday.

'Today was day three for us to try and help him out,' Mr Phillips told the ABC.

'We were able to attach some big buoys to the whale to help slow him down and enabled us the opportunity to cut free the fishing debris.'

Up to 40,000 humpback whales are due to begin heading north along Australia's east coast from now - migrating to the southern Whitsundays area where they mate and calve

He said that while the whale had received minor injuries from the ropes, it was still swimming strong.

'A fair bit of damage was done to that tail region,' he said.

It is understood the whale had been swimming towards Clovelly in Sydney's east before it became stuck in the netting.

Humpback whales tend to swim up Australia's eastern coastline during migration season between May and November.

The species numbers are thriving in Australian waters, with around 40,000 whales expected to head north to mate.

Their destinations are thought to be along the Great Barrier Reef, concentrated around the southern Whitsundays area.
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The Queen will be 'desperately unhappy' that Harry and Meghan have used her 'very private' and 'special' nickname Lilibet to name their second child after they were so 'rude' about her and the Royal Family, a royal expert claimed today.

Angela Levin told ITV's Good Morning Britain that Her Majesty will be offended - but others claim the Sussexes' tribute is an olive branch to the monarch after dropping months of 'truth bombs' including accusing Harry's family of racism.

Piers Morgan, who quit GMB after claiming that he didn't believe a word Meghan had said during her bombshell Oprah interview in March, said the choice of name was 'ironic' given the couple had spent weeks 'trashing the Royal Family and the monarchy'.

Ms Levin explained that the moniker Lilibet was given to her by King George V, her grandfather, because she couldnt pronounce her name Elizabeth as a toddler - and her late husband Prince Philip also used it until he died this year.

When asked if the Queen would be happy about Lilibet being used by the Sussexes, she replied: 'Not after whats happened, I think shes desperately unhappy because they were desperately rude about her. I don't think it's a good idea. I think it's quite rude to her Majesty the Queen'.

She added: 'It was a very private nickname from her husband who hasn't been dead for very long. Prince Charles would never dream of referring to his mother as Lilibet. He's never used it - it was a special name, especially for the the Duke of Edinburgh'. She added she believes it was 'demeaning' for the Sussexes to have used it.

Angela Levin claims the Queen will be unhappy, not delighted, that Harry and Meghan have used her nickname to name their second child, born in LA on Friday

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are joined by her mother, Doria Ragland, as they show Archie to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. They have now named their second child Lilibet, after Her Majesty

Journalist Afua Adom, who was also on the show, hit back saying: 'To say the Queen would be unhappy is frankly ridiculous. Its a bit of a nod to Meghans mother Doria as well, her nickname for Meghan is flower'.

She added: 'Its also a bit of a stretch to say that the Queen is fuming that her great grandchild is named after her. I think its a nod of affection'.

Piers Morgan has said Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to use the Queen 's nickname for their new baby daughter was 'ironic' given the couple had spent weeks 'trashing the Royal Family and the monarchy'.

The DailyMail.com editor-at-large was responding to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announcing the birth of Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, which appeared to have caught Buckingham Palace on the hop.

'Lilibet' was the name coined by the Queen when she was too young to pronounce Elizabeth. The 7lbs 11oz baby, whose late grandmother Diana's 60th birthday would have been next month, was born on Friday evening, UK time.

Buckingham Palace declined to say when the Queen was informed of the safe arrival of her 11th great-grandchild, who is eighth in line to the throne, or whether she was advised of the tribute to her in Lili's name. However The Times reported that Harry had spoken to his grandmother before yesterday's announcement was made.

The birth came after Harry and Meghan made a series of explosive claims about the Royal Family and complaints about royal life during bombshell interviews with Oprah Winfrey over the past few weeks months.

Last night Mr Morgan appeared on Australia's Today programme on Channel 9, and was asked by host Karl Stefanovic what he thought of the name. He replied: 'It's quite ironic, isn't it? You have this couple who have been trashing the Royal Family and the monarchy for the last few weeks and they have named the baby after the Queen.'

Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, plunged the Windsors into crisis with their interview with Oprah in March, when they accused an unnamed royal of making a racist remark about their son Archie's skin tone and claimed the royals failed to help the Duchess when she was suicidal. They refused to name the royal who allegedly made the remark.

Last month, Harry also spoke to Oprah about mental health for Apple TV+ and suggested his father, Prince Charles, had allowed his children to 'suffer' when it came to the media because of his own negative experience.

Mr Morgan - a fierce critic of the couple - said he wondered if the decision to honour the Queen with their daughter's name was Harry and Meghan's way of trying to rebuild bridges with the rest of the Royal Family.

He said: 'Maybe it's their way of reaching out, as the Americans say, to the royals and wanting some kind of end to this on-running feud.

Mr Morgan, 56, then offered a few words of support to the couple - adding the birth of a child was not the right moment to put across a negative opinion.

'I always think when a new baby is born - I've had four myself - it's churlish to put any negative slant,' he said. 'At such a moment. I wish them all the very best. There is four in the family now. I wish them every success and a long and happy life.'

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (pictured with their first child Archie in May 2019) have announced the birth of Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. Daily Mail Australia's editor-at-large Piers Morgan has mocked the 'irony' of Harry and Meghan's decision to use the Queen's nickname 'Lilibet' for their new baby daughter

Morgan pictured right on Monday morning appearing on the Today show. He has mocked the 'irony' of Harry and Meghan's decision to use the Queen's nickname 'Lilibet' for their new baby daughter

Sweet family nickname for Queen that inspired Harry and Meghan's name for their baby daughter Lilibet - the Queen's family nickname - was first used when Princess Elizabeth was just a toddler and unable to pronounce her own name properly. Her grandfather King George V would affectionately call her 'Lilibet', imitating her own attempts to say Elizabeth. The sweet nickname stuck and she became Lilibet to her family from then on. The Duke of Edinburgh also referred to his wife as Lilibet, writing to his mother in law after their wedding: 'Lilibet is the only 'thing' in the world which is absolutely real to me.' Harry and Meghan's new baby daughter - the Queen's 11th great-grandchild - will be known as Lili. A variation on Lily, the flower is often seen to symbolise purity, commitment, rebirth and fertility. Lili's middle name Diana honours Harry's later mother Diana, Princess of Wales. It is no surprise the couple chose to pay tribute to Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997 when Harry was just 12. Lili has been born almost a month before the princess would have celebrated her 60th birthday on July 1. Her cousin Princess Charlotte also has Diana as one of her middle names, as well as Elizabeth. She is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Advertisement

On Sunday night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced: 'On June 4, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili.

'She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family.'

Lili  who is eighth in line to the throne  was born in Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, a private facility where births cost up to $37,000.

Omid Scobie, a journalist favored by Harry and Meghan, tweeted the couple would 'not be sharing a photograph at this time' of Lili and that they were now on 'parental leave'.

He said the couple's office was encouraging anyone who wanted to send gifts to instead donate to organizations working for women and girls.

Morgan on Sunday evening meanwhile sounded off Meghan, calling her a 'downright liar' in an explosive interview with Stefanovic on the Australian 60 Minutes.

Morgan left his hosting role on ITV's Good Morning Britain in March after a clash with the show's weatherman Alex Beresford, who tried to chastise Morgan on air for his questioning of Harry and Meghan's claims in the Oprah interview.

Morgan had declared he didn't believe her claims, and after the Duchess lodged a complaint, he was pressured by ITV executives into making an apology, but had declined, amid complaints lodged to UK media regulator Ofcom.

One of the Sussex's claims he took aim at was that the Duke and Duchess tied the knot in private three days before their official ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2018.

'Well, that's not true. They couldn't have got married three days before they said they did because that would make the Archbishop of Canterbury a criminal,' Morgan said.

'There were a lot of things coming out of Meghan Markle's mouth that I knew to be untrue.'

The Duchess of Sussex has given birth to a daughter named Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, after the family nickname for the Queen and the duke's mother Princess Diana, who died in 1997. Pictured: Harry and Meghan in February

Morgan (pictured) on Sunday evening also launched a fresh attack on the Sussexes in a heated interview on Australian TV

'I'm sorry to call her that but she tells lies... We've proven that,' Morgan said about Meghan

Piers Morgan took issue with Markle's claim she tied the knot with Harry three days before their official ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2018

'There were downright lies coming out of the interview and I saw my job to hold these two people to the same account I would hold a government minister.

'For doing that, within 36 hours I had to leave the job.'

Unbeknownst to the morning TV host at the time, Markle had personally contacted the station's top brass to complain about his criticism.

The bestselling author of 'Wake Up: Why the World has Gone Nuts' said nowadays your 'not allowed to have strong opinions'.

'You're not allowed to disbelieve a liar like Meghan Markle. I'm sorry to call her that but she tells lies... We've proven that,' he said.

Australian TV veteran Stefanovic has as times been one of Morgan's fiercest critics in Australia and previously defended the young couple against Morgan's attacks.

Talking about Morgan's feud with Meghan, Stefanovic said in 2018: 'I mean, what is that guy on? He's lost the plot completely.

'I don't know how his poor co-host puts up with it. Imagine putting up with a dude like that who is so up himself and so egotistical that he would assume to say those things about her.'

'It's disgusting. You wouldn't put up with it. He needs to go. He's off the mark here.'

In Sunday night's TV confrontation, Stefanovic asked Morgan if he's just an angry old man' - triggering laughter from the media veteran.

Morgan hit back by insisting that 'freedom of speech is actually more important than the Meghan Markle debacle'.
A prison officer has received a series of love letters from Britain's most dangerous female prisoner.

Joanna Dennehy, 38, who is serving life in prison for killing three men, wrote 'graphic' letters to a 58-year-old male officer at HMP Bronzefield near Ashford, Surrey.

But the romance only came to light after the officer was being investigated for an alleged inappropriate relationship with another female prisoner.

Police who raided his home were said to be shocked to discover the passionate notes from Dennehy.

Surrey Police said the man from Slough was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault in May 2020, following reports of alleged offences taking place over two years from May 2018.

A source told The Sun the officer was 'quite senior', 'very cocksure' and could 'move around various wings, including the one where Dennehy is housed.'

Joanna Dennehy (pictured), who is serving life in prison for killing three men, wrote 'graphic' letters to the male officer at HMP Bronzefield near Ashford, Surrey

They added: 'It's surprising she was writing to a man as she has said she wants to marry a woman.'

It is understood the officer, who is under investigation on suspicion of sexual assault, lives just ten miles from HMP Bronzefield.

A spokesperson for HMP Bronzefield said: 'While we do not comment on individual cases, we can confirm that this person no longer works for us.'

A spokesperson for Surrey Police said: 'A 58-year-old man from Slough was arrested in May 2020 on suspicion of sexual assault after a report to Surrey Police.

'The man is currently on conditional bail.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between May 2018 and May 2020. The investigation remains ongoing.'

The prison, which is the largest female prison in Europe, has held a number of infamous murderers including Rosemary West.

Alongside West, mother-of-two Dennehy is the only other woman in Britain to be serving a whole-life prison term.

The romance only came to light after the officer was being investigated for an alleged inappropriate relationship with another female prisoner. Pictured: Joanna Dennehy

Joanna Dennehy is one of Britain's most notorious serial killers who murdered three men in Peterborough in March 2013.

Her victims were all murdered over a ten-day period and found in ditches in Cambridgeshire.

Dennehy's first victim was housemate Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, who she allegedly convinced to meet her implying they would have sex.

The following week she stabbed to death 56-year-old Falklands veteran John Chapman, also believed to be a housemate.

Her final victim was her 48-year-old landlord Kevin Lee.

HMP Bronzefield women's prison, which is the largest female prison in Europe, has held a number of infamous murderers including Rosemary West

It is understood the officer, who is under investigation on suspicion of sexual assault, lives just ten miles from HMP Bronzefield (pictured)

Dennehy also recruited an accomplice, Gary Stretch, who she was said to have 'cast a spell over'.

The pair drove to Hereford where Dennehy stabbed two more men, who both survived.

Stretch was later jailed for life after he was found guilty of attempted murder.

In January 2017 Dennehy's mum, Kathleen, told a documentary team that her daughter was a sensitive child growing up.

She told the Crime + Investigation channel: 'She was very sensitive. If she stood on a worm or something she would be really upset if it died  she used to take them to bed with her. So she was a loving girl.

'She was polite to everybody. Teachers always said that she was a nice girl.'
An Iranian couple accused of sedating, stabbing and then dismembering the body of their son in an honour killing have also confessed to murdering their daughter and son-in-law in the same way.

Akbar and Iran Khorramdin, 81 and 74, were arrested three weeks ago in Tehran on suspicion of murdering their film-maker son Babak after his dismembered body was found in a dumpster near their house.

While being questioned by police, the pair admitted to having killed him because he was unmarried before confessing to killing son-in-law Faramarz and daughter Arezou years earlier for their 'immoral' behaviour, Iranian media reports.

'I don't have a guilty conscience for any [of the killings]. Those I killed were highly morally corrupt,' the father said during an initial court appearance.

Akbar and Iran Khorramdin, 81 and 74, have confessed to killing their son, daughter, and son-in-law in a series of honour killings spanning 10 years (faces muzzed by Iranian media)

Iran, Babak's mother, added: 'We both [planned the murders]. My husband said it and I said, "OK." I'm not sad at all. I suffered a lot because of them.'

Police are still investigating the crimes, according to Iranian news site Tasnim.

The pair face up to 10 years in jail for killing their children under Iran's strict interpretation of Islamic law that grants lighter penalties for parents who murder their children.

However, they could face life in prison if convicted of murdering their son-in-law.

The grisly story first came to light on May 16 when garbage workers in Tehran discovered a dismembered body in a dumpster near the Ekbatan neighbourhood.

Police were called, fingerprinted the body, and identified the victim as Babak Khorramdin, a filmmaker who studied and worked in London starting in 2010 before returning to Iran to teach.

Officers went to the parents' house and arrested them after discovering evidence of a murder inside.

The pair initially denied the killing, but later confessed - saying they had put sedatives in Babak's food and then stabbed him while he was semi-conscious.

They then took Babak's body to a bathroom where they dismembered it, put the body parts in a suitcase, and dumped it in the trash, according to Iranian reports.

Police say the pair then confessed to killing daughter Arezou three years ago and to killing her husband Faramarz 10 years ago, using similar methods.

Faramarz was killed because he was abusive and Arezou was killed because she was using drugs and bringing boyfriends home, Tehran police chief Hussein Rahimi said.

The couple claimed that both Faramarz and Arezou had gone missing, suggesting they had run away to live abroad, and police never investigated the disappearances.

The pair were caught after the body of son Babak (pictured) was found dismembered in a bin in Tehran three weeks ago, leading police to their house

Officers are now investigating the pair, and are looking into whether any other family members have gone missing in suspicious circumstances.

Akbar and Iran have two other children - Afshin and Azar - both of whom are alive.

Police said last week that no other crimes have so-far been uncovered, but investigations are still ongoing.

Babak graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Tehran in 2009 with a master's degree in cinema.

The following year, he moved to London to further his study of film, before returning to Iran to teach film to students.

He made a number of short films while in London including Crevice and Oath to Yashar, which focused on his experience moving country and being away from his family.

Middle East Analyst and Editor at Iran International TV, Jason Brodsky said: 'I think the horrific death of Babak Khorramdin is only the latest example of a long pattern of domestic violence that we have seen in Iran.

'It follows the tragic death of Ali Fazeli Monfared, who was killed by family members after they found out he was gay.

'That is not to mention the case last year of Romina Ashfrafi, a 14-year-old girl who was beheaded by her father in an honour killing.'

He added: 'Despite a child protection law being passed in 2020 in Iran, honour killings and domestic violence continue more broadly, and this is an area the international community needs to address with Iran.'

There has been a rise in domestic violence and family homicides during the pandemic while people spend time with relatives at home.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has come under after defending her decision to get the Pfizer jab - despite being eligible for AstraZeneca - so she can travel overseas.

Ms Palaszczuk finally got her first dose of the jab on Monday morning after weeks of public backlash about her perceived vaccine hesitancy or lack of urgency.

The 51-year-old, who was the last state or territory leader to be vaccinated, later took to Twitter to explain why she had the Pfizer despite government advice that people over the age of 50 should receive AstraZeneca.

'Today I got the Pfizer vaccine in the event I need to travel to Tokyo for the Olympics,' she later wrote on Twitter, alongside a link to register for a vaccination with Queensland Health.

The Queensland premier is the last Australian state or territory leader over the age of 50 to get the jab (pictured on Monday)

But outraged Australians slammed her reasoning as 'tone deaf' and 'elitist', as international travel restrictions remain in place for the public.

'Oh youre going to Tokyo? How nice for you,' one person commented. '

'I mean, many of us havent seen our families in years but hey, we cant all be very important people doing very important things. Have such a fun time!'

Another added: This is messed up. Millions of Australians want to see their families but cant leave and youre getting vaccinated so that you might be able to go to the Olympics.'

'Absolutely tone deaf when people havent seen family for over a year,' someone else chimed.

Others shared their personal stories about how they had been personally impacted by border closures, with one describing Ms Palaszczuk's move as a 'slap in the face'.

'It took me over six months, seven cancelled flights and $10,000+ to fly back to Australia to hug my terminally ill mum one last time and you are talking about needing to go to the Olympics? Absolute joke and a kick in the guts to stranded Aussies. Assuming home isolation on return too,' one person wrote.

'Well that's a smack in the face twice. First you obviously held off getting the AZ as long as possible, because it would take to long to get 2nd dose and second leaving the country for no reason. What a life..I get no choice! Not something I would of bragging about on social media,' another added.

The Queensland premier later took to Twitter (pictured) to defend her choice to receive the Pfizer vaccine over AstraZeneca

The example of Ms Palaszczuk and Prime Minister Scott Morrison getting Pfizer jabs had been cited by many over-50s who had refused the AstraZeneca vaccine that is available to them now.

Instead many are holding out for Pfizer or Moderna when they become available later this year, believing the leaders' example indicated they were better options.

The Premier said earlier on Monday she had to get Pfizer to ensure she got her second dose before a possible trip to Tokyo next month as part of Brisbane's 2032 Olympics bid.

'There may be a requirement for the state to present to the whole (International) Olympics Committee about the Olympics, and I wouldn't have been unvaccinated and that's why I had the Pfizer,' Ms Palaszczuk told reporters.

Outraged Australians took to the comment's section of the premier's tweet to slam her reasoning for breaking protocol

Many blasted Ms Palaszczuk for travelling overseas while international border restrictions have kept families separated for months

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would not be travelling to Tokyo, but he would meet his Japanese counterpart at the upcoming G7 in the UK.

However, some felt there was no reason for Ms Palaszczuk to be travelling abroad while everyday Australians were stuck on home soil.

'I am only a couple of months into 50, with a compromise immune system yet I still had to AZ! Why should anyone involved with the Olympic Games be treated with special treatment,' one woman replied to Ms Palaszczuk's tweet.

'This is bad optics. I get that the intended message is that get vaccinated is our ticket to travel/open borders but this reeks of political elitism that alienates people,' another added.

But a minority of people defended Ms Palaszcuk's Japan trip, claiming it was 'part of her job' as she needed to push Australia's 'national agenda'.

The Queensland Premier is the last Australian state or territory leader over the age of 50 to get the jab.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young, 57, got the AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday morning.

As part of the Queensland's 1B cohort, Ms Palaszczuk and Dr Young have been eligible to get a vaccine since late March.

The premier said she had been offered the vaccine on day one of the rollout in Feburary but had turned it down because she did not want to jump the queue.

In mid-April, Ms Palaszczuk said she was unable to get her COVID-19 jab because she had had a flu shot first and had to wait two weeks.

Ms Palaszczuk said last week she had initially delayed her COVID-19 vaccination because she had to get a tetanus jab after her dog bit her during a play-fight in her backyard.

Gladys Berejiklian has already received her second shot of AstraZeneca (pictured on June 2)

Queensland launched a vaccination blitz over the weekend resulting in 17,032 doses being administered across the state.

The state government opened up 18 vaccine hubs to any aged care workers or people aged 40-49 who had registered for the jab.

More than 936,000 doses have been delivered in Queensland with about 92,500 people fully vaccinated.

Pharmacies will also join the vaccine drive on Monday, with Queensland becoming the first state to give chemists the green light to do so from the federal government.

Almost 50 pharmacies in remote and regional areas will be allowed to give customers the jab.

Meanwhile, Ms Palaszczuk threw down the gauntlet for the federal government after she received a list of criteria for a dedicated Commonwealth quarantine facility to be built in Queensland.

'If the Commonwealth wants to set the criteria they can design the facility, they can construct the facility, they can pay for the facility, and they can run the facility,' she said.

'After all quarantine is a federal government responsibility.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Palaszczuk's office for comment.
Amazon may not be 'captured' by a new global deal designed to force large companies to pay more tax in the countries where they operate, experts have claimed.

G7 finance ministers agreed to a two-part plan at the weekend aimed at targeting online tech giants, with the first-part setting a corporation tax base level of 'at least 15 per cent'.

The second-part will ensure major firms, especially those with a strong online presence, will pay taxes in the countries where they operate and not just where they have headquarters.

However, experts have argued the way in which the second-part has been drafted means some companies may escape paying significantly more in tax.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown criticised the agreement and said 'there are so many loopholes' which must be closed.

The G7's tax plan, agreed following two days of talks in London and after years of discussion, was hailed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as a 'historic' moment

Experts have claimed that Amazon may not be 'captured' by a major part of the G7's new tax plan

A communique from G7 finance ministers seen by Reuters said: 'We commit to reaching an equitable solution on the allocation of taxing rights, with market countries awarded taxing rights on at least 20 per cent of profit exceeding a 10 per cent margin for the largest and most profitable multinational enterprises.'

Amazon has a market value of more than $1trillion and had reported sales in 2020 of almost $386billion.

The firm had sales income of an estimated 38billion in Europe in 2020 but paid no corporation tax. However, its profit margin was reportedly 6.3 per cent.

Mr Brown told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that the agreement represented a step in the right direction but 'there are so many loopholes and 'we really havent solved the problem.

He said: The principle is right that there has got to be a global minimum corporate tax rate what has happened is they have stopped short.

The rate of taxation is only 15 per cent whereas Britain is going to charge 25 per cent and America 28 per cent.

So there is an incentive still to stick with the tax haven that is giving you the lowest rate.

Companies like Amazon dont seem to be covered by this and yet they are making massive profits and of course the money is going back to the headquartered companies if it goes back to anybody and that is mainly in America.

So it is not a good deal for most of the poorest countries in the world who are still losing billions over years from tax avoidance and tax abuse.'

Sir Edward Troup, former permanent secretary at HMRC, questioned how significant the deal would be for the UK.

He told the BBC that 'in the UK we have got to remember this probably wont mean much more money for us'.

He added: Most of the companies affected by this are US-based multinationals and they are the ones who will pay more tax. They may pay a bit more in the UK, they are probably going to pay more in the US and in other countries.

Some experts said the profit margin aspect of the plan means Amazon may not be subject to the second-part of the G7 tax strategy.

Paul Monaghan, chief executive of the Fair Tax Foundation, told The Guardian: 'Based on the communique Amazon is not captured.

'If there's another layer of detail that suggests Amazon will be captured that's great, but it hasn't emerged yet.'

Richard Murphy, visiting professor of accounting at the Sheffield University Management School, told the newspaper the 10 per cent threshold was 'inappropriate' and added: 'This could turn out to be a false hope unless they get the detail right.'

An Amazon spokesman said: 'We believe an OECD-led process that creates a multilateral solution will help bring stability to the international tax system. The agreement by the G7 marks a welcome step forward in the effort to achieve this goal.

'We hope to see discussions continue to advance with the broader G20 and Inclusive Framework alliance.'

Mathias Cormann, the new Secretary General of the OECD, said the plan is a 'big step forward' and he believes Amazon will be covered by it.

He told the BBC: Our advice certainly is that a company like Amazon will be captured but there is still more detailed work to be done.

The G7's tax plan, agreed following two days of talks in London and after years of discussion, was hailed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as a 'historic' moment.

Mr Sunak said the changes will make the global tax system 'fair so that the right companies pay the right tax in the right places'.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown criticised the G7 agreement and said 'there are so many loopholes' which must be closed

Mr Sunak said the changes agreed by G7 finance ministers, pictured at Lancaster House in London on June 5, will make the global tax system 'fair so that the right companies pay the right tax in the right places'

The UK corporation tax rate is due to rise from 19 per cent to 25 per cent by 2023 under proposals announced by the Chancellor at the Budget in March.

Explaining the agreed tax reforms, a Treasury spokeswoman said: 'Under pillar one of this historic agreement, the largest and most profitable multinationals will be required to pay tax in the countries where they operate  and not just where they have their headquarters.

'The rules would apply to global firms with at least a 10 per cent profit margin  and would see 20 per cent of any profit above the 10 per cent margin reallocated and then subjected to tax in the countries they operate.

'The fairer system will mean the UK will raise more tax revenue from large multinationals and help pay for public services here in the UK.'

Former UK deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg, who is now Facebook's vice president for global affairs, said the social media giant recognised that the proposed tax reform could mean it pays 'more tax, and in different places'.
Relatives of MH17 victims have told Vladimir Putin to stop 'denying proven facts' as judges today started summarising the painful evidence of their loved ones' deaths.

MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in July 2014 when it was shot down by a missile fired from pro-Russian rebel territory during the war with Ukraine, international investigators say.

Two-thirds of those killed were Dutch nationals and three Russians and a Ukrainian man are being tried in absentia for murder at a high-security courtroom next to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

Putin faced a letter this morning from families of the victims demanding that he acknowledge the 'massacre,' which the Dutch government blames on Russia. Moscow denies any involvement.

'Your denial is challenging proven facts, and you know it,' said the letter which ran in the Moscow newspaper, Novaya Gazeta.

'We cannot accept your denial of the irreparable events of that July day.

'We are sorry for seven years that you refuse to acknowledge our pain, instead deepening it.

'We sincerely believe that this policy of denial is damaging to the legacy of your homeland - a legacy that you, as president, must especially defend.'

Relatives of those who died on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 are preparing to hear painful details of their loved ones' last moments today as the trial over the crash reaches a critical stage. Pictured: The crash site [File photo]

Judges will summarise evidence of the 2014 disaster that claimed the lives of all 298 people on board. Pictured: A photo of Bryce Fredriksz and his girlfriend Daisy sits among 298 empty chairs opposite the Russian embassy in The Hague on March 8, 2020 [File photo]

A spokesman for relatives said they wanted to know what had happened 'but the price you pay for that is that there is also information released that could be shocking'. Pictured: Angela Rudhart-Dyczynski and Jerzy Dyczynski from Australia visit the crash site in 2014 where they lost their 25-year-old daughter Fatima [File photo]

MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by a missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels during fighting with Ukrainian government troops, international investigators say. Pictured: Judges and lawyers view the reconstructed wreckage

Pictured: Piet Ploeg (centre) and Anton Kotte (right), relatives of those who died on MH17 walk in the Schiphol Judicial Complex on Monday

The letter, authored by bereaved relatives of the MH17 Truth Working Group, continued: 'A proud nation must also be able to accept its mistakes and failures. Working on them, the nation only gets better. Pride can only exist when combined with truthfulness and responsibility.

'Unfortunately, we are still here to remind you of the downed MH17 flight in July 2014.

'It was the massacre of 298 innocent, defenceless civilians, including 80 children.

'Our children. Our parents, sisters, brothers,' the letter said.

The relatives added: 'We are not here to blame the Russian Federation for this murder. The court has yet to determine responsibility.

'However, we accuse the Russian government of denying any involvement in this.'

They attacked Moscow's 'refusal to cooperate with the investigative team created by the UN Security Council in July 2014, and compliance with resolution 2166, which was unanimously adopted, including by the Russian Federation.'

Putin should use the Russia Day holiday on June 12 to change tack, they said, but feared he would not do so.

This showed that strongman Putin did not feel his country was 'strong enough' to accept its 'downs', they added.

The letter told Putin: 'It is sad to see a president who does not strive for true greatness for the nation he leads.

'Mr. President, we recognise that the situation is very difficult. It would be easier for you to reject our appeal and bring your own accusations. But in the end, it is the ability to cope with difficulties that determines the leaders.

'We are working towards the transparency and accountability that is essential for justice for the 298 victims of Flight MH17.

'This, Mr. President, is not difficult at all and depends solely on your decision.'

After years of collecting evidence, a team of international investigators concluded in May 2018 that the missile launcher used to shoot down the aircraft belonged to Russia's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. Pictured: Judges and lawyers view the reconstructed wreckage

Two-thirds of those killed were Dutch nationals and the murder trial of three Russians and a Ukrainian man accused of having responsibility for the downing has been taking place at a high-security courtroom next to Amsterdam's Schipol airport. Pictured: Dutch and Ukrainian officials hold a minute of silence in 2014 for the victims of the air crash ][File photo]

Putin's spokesman said: 'We have indeed seen reports about the letter, but there is no reaction so far.'

Russia is not 'part of a mechanism to investigate the incident,' he said.

'We were in fact removed from the investigation mechanism. Of course, those who wrote the letter should just understand this.'

He made clear Russia believes there are a 'variety of versions' as to how the Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur plane was downed.

International investigators concluded in May 2018 that the missile launcher used to shoot down the aircraft belonged to Russia's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade.

'We are not part of the investigation, we cannot directly influence what happens,' said the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.

Three Russian nationals - Oleg Pulatov, Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky - and one Ukrainian citizen, Leonid Kharchenko, are being tried in absentia.

Prosecutors, who say the four defendants all held leading positions in pro-Russian militias operating in Ukraine, will present evidence and may call witnesses, court officials said.

Prosecutors, who say the four defendants all held leading positions in pro-Russian militias operating in Ukraine, will present evidence and may call witnesses, court officials said. Pictured: The crash site [File photo]

After the prosecution presents its view on the judges' summary of the case file on June 17 and 18, the defence will have an opportunity to respond. Pictured: The crash site [File photo]

No date has yet been set for closing arguments, but the court said that victims' families could address the judges directly about the impact of the crash on their lives in hearings in September. Pictured: The crash site [File photo]

None of the defendants are in custody. One, Russian Oleg Pluatov, is represented in the proceedings and has said that he had no involvement in the crash.

The other three are being tried in absentia and have not appointed lawyers to represent them.

Prosecutors say the investigation into MH17 is still ongoing and they are looking at other possible suspects, including the people who manned the missile system and ordered its firing.

After the prosecution presents its view on the judges' summary of the case file on June 17 and 18, the defence will have an opportunity to respond.

No date has yet been set for closing arguments, but the court said that victims' families could address the judges directly about the impact of the crash on their lives in hearings in September.
The global automotive brake system market is anticipated to witnessing a substantial growth due to fresh prospects of the automotive industry in emerging along with developing economies and increased safety concerns by the government. It was stated in the report that the overall growth of the market is expected to reach a market value of above US$ 25 Billion through 2022, exhibiting a strong 5.7% of CAGR throughout 2017-2022.

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In modern cars mostly two kinds of brakes are used which are drum brakes and disc brakes. Every new car has disc brakes on the front wheels, whereas the rear wheels may possibly use whichever drum or disc brakes. Of these, the disc brakes category has a comparatively bigger share in the overall market during 2017 and will account for a market evaluation of US$14 Billion for the duration of the forecast 2017 to 2022. On the other hand, the expansion rate for the drum brakes segment will be on the climb in the approaching years.

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In terms of the sales channel, the worldwide market is categorized into aftermarket and OEM. The OEM category reflects a revenue share of about fourth-fifth and will foresee a remarkable 5.5% CAGR for the duration of the assessment, 2017-2022. The aftermarket category is relatively a lot smaller and consists the share of residual revenue in the worldwide market for the duration of the assessment. By, vehicle type, the worldwide market is categorized into premium passenger cars, heavy commercial vehicles, light commercial vehicles, luxury passenger cars, compact passenger cars, and mid-sized passenger cars. Of these, the compact cars will have the benefit of being trouble-free to maneuver together with being undemanding on the wallet at the fuel pump. Therefore, it isnt astounding to acknowledge that compact cars will expand market share for the duration of the assessment. The mid-size car category abides by compact cars on the basis of popularity, however, are yet probable to lose market share. The advanced technologies used in the modern cars are electronic stability control (ESC), anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) and traction control system (TCS).

Europe to foresee a lucrative market with the highest contribution and the companies in the market are proposed to centralize their efforts on this region with lucrative prospects for a good ROI. With the market in Europe, the companies are trying to center on APEJ or North America, since both the regions will have worldwide market evaluations valuing billions of dollars for the duration of the assessment.

The foremost market players active in the worldwide market are Continental AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, Wabco Holdings, Inc., ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Aisin Seiki Co, Ltd., Knorr-Bremse AG, Akebono Brake Industry Co. Ltd., TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., Halla Mando Corp., Brembo S.P.A. and others.

Request For Report Description : https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/automotive-brake-system-market
Joe Biden is set to warn Boris Johnson not to renege on the Northern Ireland Brexit arrangements when they hold talks at the G7 this week.

The US president is coming to Cornwall for his first foreign trip as the PM hosts the face-to-face gathering of world leaders.

But although he is vowing to 'affirm the special relationship' with the UK, Mr Biden is also expected to lay down a marker on the wrangling with the EU over Northern Ireland.

The tough line comes as Brexit minister Lord Frost admitted that the government 'underestimated' the impact of the protocol when it signed up to the deal.

The peer - who is meeting his EU counterpart for the latest talks on the situation this week - urged the bloc to abandon 'legal purism' and recognise that 'time is running out' to find a way through the impasse.

Joe Biden (pictured) is set to warn Boris Johnson not to renege on the Northern Ireland Brexit arrangements when they hold talks at the G7 this week

The US president is coming to Cornwall for his first foreign trip as the PM (pictured this morning) hosts the face-to-face gathering of world leaders

The agreement struck by Mr Johnson over Northern Ireland has fuelled fears over rising sectarian tensions. Pictured, protests in Belfast in April

The agreement struck by Mr Johnson over Northern Ireland has fuelled fears over rising sectarian tensions.

A raft of checks on goods at the ports of Belfast and Larne have sparked unionist fury about obstacles to trade with the British mainland.

Writing in the Washington Post ahead of his trip at the end of this week, Mr Biden said: 'In the United Kingdom, after meeting with prime minister Boris Johnson to affirm the special relationship between our nations, I will participate in the G7 summit.

'This group of leading democracies and economies has not met in person in two years due to the coronavirus.

'Ending this pandemic, improving health security for all nations and driving a robust, inclusive global economic recovery will be our top priorities.'

According to The Times, Mr Biden will also make clear that he sees the protocol as a crucial part of maintaining peace in Northern Ireland - suggesting that a trade deal with the US would be at risk if it is not honoured.

However, he could also deliver a message to Brussels that they must be more 'flexible' and less 'bureaucratic'.

Lord Frost said the UK Government had 'underestimated' the impact the Northern Ireland Protocol, which he helped to negotiate as part of the initial Brexit deal, would have on the region.

He has called on the European Union to forgo 'legal purism' and instead embrace 'pragmatic solutions' to help resolve the difficulties related to the protocol.

The protocol has angered unionists by effectively creating a barrier between Great Britain and Northern Ireland by leaving the region tied to a range of EU customs and regulatory rules.

Talks are continuing between the EU and the UK Government to solve some of the issues but many unionists have called for it to be scrapped over fears Northern Ireland is being separated from the rest of Great Britain.

In an article for the Financial Times before his meeting this week with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic in London, Lord Frost set out his call for a shift in attitude from the bloc.

Lord Frost, who was Boris Johnson's chief negotiator during the divorce talks, said the UK had put 'huge resources' into making the protocol work but that operating under the EU's legal terms meant 'we have very limited discretion to operate the rules in a way which makes sense on the ground in Northern Ireland'.

He said the end result had been 'political turbulence' and 'real world impacts on lives and livelihoods'.

'We underestimated the effect of the protocol on goods movements to Northern Ireland, with some suppliers in Great Britain simply not sending their products because of the time-consuming paperwork required,' the minister said.

'We've seen manufacturers of medicines cutting supply.

'And there is less choice on supermarket shelves for consumers.

'The NI Retail Consortium has warned that when the grace period ends in October, supermarkets will face 'real, severe problems'.'

In a bid to advance progress on a solution, the peer, who visited Northern Ireland last week, said there needed to be a 'common sense and risk-based approach from the EU', along with UK responsibility.

He said that despite putting together 'a range of policy papers' outlining solutions, the UK had received 'very little back' from Brussels counterparts.

'The EU needs a new playbook for dealing with neighbours, one that involves pragmatic solutions between friends, not the imposition of one side's rules on the other and legal purism,' he said.

'But time is starting to run out. We need to see progress soon. I hope we can this week.'

New DUP leader Edwin Poots said: 'The Northern Ireland Protocol is bad for business in Northern Ireland and it is bad for every one of our citizens.

Lord Frost (right) has been negotiating with Maros Sefcovic (left) over changing the Northern Ireland protocol rules

'Those who argued the Protocol was a 'win win' are as silent on that as they are about their demands for 'rigorous implementation'.

'All of us who want to make Northern Ireland work must speak with one voice against the absurd barriers placed on trade with our biggest market...

'Animals with full traceability pose no threat to the Single Market yet centuries of trade is being strangled in its name.

'It is equally absurd that it took my intervention to prevent checks on pets and guide dogs for diseases that have not been found in the British Isles since 1922.

'The delivery of the Protocol as proposed when the grace periods end with 15,000 checks per week, will be impossible.

'We do not have the infrastructure or staff to do it.'
Boris Johnson told Joe Biden that he hates the UK's relationship with the US being branded the 'special relationship' because it makes Britain seem 'needy', it was revealed today.

The Prime Minister made the comment to the new US president in an early call after the Democrat was installed in the White House in January.

The claim came in a new profile of Mr Johnson in the US magazine the Atlantic, in which he says he is 'self-evidently' not a populist in the style of Donald Trump.

He also declined to discuss Brexit for the piece, saying: 'Do we have to talk about Brexit? We've sucked that lemon dry.'

Aides of the PM told the magazine he informed the president he disliked the phrase 'special relationship', after Mr Biden used it in one of their first phone calls.

The claim may raise some eyebrows however, as the term was popularised by his political hero, Winston Churchill, in a postwar speech.

Mr Biden also used it in an article this weekend, ahead of his arrival in Britain this week, where he will meet the Queen and attend the G7 heads of state meeting in Cornwall.

Downing Street confirmed today that Mr Johnson does not like the phrase. His official spokesman said: 'He is on the record previously saying he prefers not to use the phrase.

'That in no way detracts from the importance with which we regard our relationship with the US, which is our closest ally.'

The Prime Minister made the comment to the new US president in an early call after the Democrat was installed in the White House in January.

Aides of the PM told the magazine he informed the president he disliked the phrase 'special relationship', after Mr Biden used it in one of their first phone calls.

The admission may raise some eyebrows however, as the term was first used by his political hero, Winston Churchill, in a postwar speech.

Churchill and the special relationship The use of the phrase 'special relationship is believed to stretch back to the 19th century when Britain was the dominant world power and the United States a growing industrial nation. But the term was popularised by Winston Churchill when he used it in a historic postwar speech in the US. The address in Fulton, Missouri, in March 1946 is best known for coining the term 'Iron Curtain' to describe Soviet Russia and its Eastern European allies. But Mr Churchill, who had been boosted out of Downing Street by Labour the previous year, used the term to describe the closeness between the US, then the global superpower, and Britain and its Commonwealth allies. In a speech highlighting the risks posed by Communism in the atomic age, he said: 'Neither the sure prevention of war, nor the continuous rise of world organisation will be gained without what I have called the fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples. 'This means a special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States. 'This is no time for generalities, and I will venture to be precise. Fraternal association requires not only the growing friendship and mutual understanding between our two vast but kindred Systems of society, but the continuance of the intimate relationship between our military advisers, leading to common study of potential dangers, the similarity of weapons and manuals of instructions, and to the interchange of officers and cadets at technical colleges. 'It should carry with it the continuance of the present facilities for mutual security by the joint use of all Naval and Air Force bases in the possession of either country all over the world. This would perhaps double the mobility of the American Navy and Air Force. It would greatly expand that of the British Empire Forces and it might well lead, if and as the world calms down, to important financial savings. 'Already we use together a large number of islands; more may well be entrusted to our joint care in the near future.' Advertisement

It has since been repeatedly used by leaders of both countries to describe the close political, economic and military co-operation between the two countries, especially during the Cold War.

However, more recently questions have been raised over how special the relation continues to be, with the US under successive leaders switching its attention westward to the indo-pacific region, and the growing threat of Communist China.

In 2015, a leaked memo for members of Congress said that 'the UK may not be viewed as centrally relevant to the United States in all of the issues and relations considered a priority on the US agenda'.

In the wide-ranging Atlantic piece - which he was advised against taking part in - Mr Johnson accused people of being 'ignorant' if they thought he was like Donald Trump.

'I'm laboriously trying to convey to an American audience that this is a category error that has been repeatedly made,' the Prime Minister said.

'The point I'm trying to get over to you and your readers is that you mustn't mistake this government for being some sort of bunch of xenophobes or autarkic economic nationalists.'

It came amid reports that Mr Biden is set to warn Boris Johnson not to renege on the Northern Ireland Brexit arrangements when they hold talks at the G7 this week.

The US president is coming to Cornwall for his first foreign trip as the PM hosts the face-to-face gathering of world leaders.

But although he is vowing to 'affirm the special relationship' with the UK, Mr Biden is also expected to lay down a marker on the wrangling with the EU over Northern Ireland.

The tough line comes as Brexit minister Lord Frost admitted that the government 'underestimated' the impact of the protocol when it signed up to the deal.

The peer - who is meeting his EU counterpart for the latest talks on the situation this week - urged the bloc to abandon 'legal purism' and recognise that 'time is running out' to find a way through the impasse.

The agreement struck by Mr Johnson over Northern Ireland has fuelled fears over rising sectarian tensions.

A raft of checks on goods at the ports of Belfast and Larne have sparked unionist fury about obstacles to trade with the British mainland.

Writing in the Washington Post ahead of his trip at the end of this week, Mr Biden said: 'In the United Kingdom, after meeting with prime minister Boris Johnson to affirm the special relationship between our nations, I will participate in the G7 summit.

'This group of leading democracies and economies has not met in person in two years due to the coronavirus.

'Ending this pandemic, improving health security for all nations and driving a robust, inclusive global economic recovery will be our top priorities.'

According to The Times, Mr Biden will also make clear that he sees the protocol as a crucial part of maintaining peace in Northern Ireland - suggesting that a trade deal with the US would be at risk if it is not honoured.

However, he could also deliver a message to Brussels that they must be more 'flexible' and less 'bureaucratic'.

Lord Frost said the UK Government had 'underestimated' the impact the Northern Ireland Protocol, which he helped to negotiate as part of the initial Brexit deal, would have on the region.

He has called on the European Union to forgo 'legal purism' and instead embrace 'pragmatic solutions' to help resolve the difficulties related to the protocol.

The protocol has angered unionists by effectively creating a barrier between Great Britain and Northern Ireland by leaving the region tied to a range of EU customs and regulatory rules.

Talks are continuing between the EU and the UK Government to solve some of the issues but many unionists have called for it to be scrapped over fears Northern Ireland is being separated from the rest of Great Britain.

In an article for the Financial Times before his meeting this week with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic in London, Lord Frost set out his call for a shift in attitude from the bloc.
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On the bitterly cold night of April 14, 1912, Frederick Barrett was working hard in his role as the Titanic's chief stoker when the ship hit an iceberg and thousands of gallons of water began flooding into the vessel.

Within three hours, the 'unsinkable' ship had slipped beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, taking the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew.

Barrett had been among the first crew members to see water gush into the ship and worked to try to keep its engines going by stoking the furnaces powering its boilers, before it became clear the vessel was going to sink.

The worker became one of only 212 passengers and crew to survive after he was put in charge of one of the lifeboats which held mostly women and children. They were then saved by rescue vessel the Carpathia.

Remarkably, Barrett  who is portrayed in James Cameron's 1997 Hollywood film about the disaster - also saved the lives of an estimated 70 people when his quick-thinking averted a disaster as the lifeboats were being lowered into the water.

Without his action in cutting the ropes of his boat and pushing it free after it had landed in the water, another rescue vessel full of survivors would have crashed on to them, likely killing many of the passengers in both boats.

But despite his heroics, Barrett then tragically died in 1931 from pulmonary tuberculosis - after his wife and two daughters lost their lives to the same disease.

It left his son Harold, aged just ten, as an orphan who had to be raised by his uncle and his 'cold as ice' wife.

Now, Barrett's granddaughter  66-year-old mother of four Sue Thompson  has told MailOnline of her and her twin brother Fred's pride in the man who is ultimately responsible for their existence.

Speaking from her home in Seaforth, near Liverpool, married Mrs Thompson said how she feels 'very proud' of Barrett and his heroic actions and spoke of the resemblance she sees between him and her son Alex.

She added that her father, who passed away in 1974 while in hospital, rarely spoke of his childhood trauma but was a 'devoted family man' who gave her and her brother a 'wonderful childhood'.

On the bitterly cold night of April 14, 1912, Frederick Barrett was working hard in his role as the Titanic's chief stoker when the ship hit an iceberg and thousands of gallons of water began flooding into the vessel. Barrett (left) had been among the first crew members to see water gush into the ship and worked to try to keep its engines going before it became clear the vessel was going to sink. Remarkably, Barrett  who is portrayed in James Cameron's 1997 Hollywood film (right) about the disaster - also saved the lives of an estimated 70 people when his quick-thinking averted a disaster as the lifeboats were being lowered into the water

Within three hours, the 'unsinkable' ship had slipped beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, taking the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew

Barrett was born in Bootle, Lancashire, in January 1883. Whilst Mrs Thompson is not certain about his full seafaring history, records show that he was serving as a stoker  or fireman  on the Campania liner in 1903.

A year later, he served on board the Parisian and Cedric ships before returning to the Campania in 1906. He also worked on the SS City of New York.

Barrett's life changed forever when he signed up to serve on the brand new Titanic, for its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

Shortly after the ship's departure, Barrett was among those who responded after a fire was discovered on board.

He later claimed to have witnessed the damage caused by the flames to one of the ship's dividing walls  known as a bulkhead.

Experts believe the fire could have contributed to the ship's sinking by weakening its hull  making it more vulnerable to being pierced by the chunk of ice which sealed its fate.

At the time that the Titanic collided with the iceberg  at just before midnight on April 14  Barrett was on duty in boiler room six.

After hearing a loud crash, he witnessed water gushing into the ship. Along with engineer James Hesketh, he then retreated into the adjacent boiler room five.

But despite his heroics, Barrett then tragically died in 1931 from pulmonary tuberculosis - after his wife and two daughters lost their lives to the same disease. It left his son Harold (pictured left and right, while serving in World War Two), aged just nine, as an orphan who had to be raised by his uncle and his 'cold as ice' wife

Now, Barrett's granddaughter  66-year-old mother of four Sue Thompson  has told MailOnline of her and her twin brother Fred's pride in the man who is ultimately responsible for their existence

When he returned to boiler room six around 15 minutes later, he said the water was eight feet deep.

Later, the stoker witnessed the violent rush of water when the bulkhead separating the two stricken boiler rooms gave way.

Barrett was then ordered to the top deck of the ship and was put in charge of life boat number 13.

After it was lowered into the water, the wash from the sinking ship caused the boat to rescue vessel to drift underneath life boat 15 as it too slowly descended.

Calls for its lowering to be stopped then went unheard, forcing Barrett to scramble to cut number 13's ropes and push it out of the way.

At the subsequent inquiry into the disaster in New York, Barrett testified that there were around 70 people on board. They would have likely lost their lives had the other boat been dropped onto them.

Barrett then took the tiller of his life boat and only gave it up to someone else when he became too cold in the freezing conditions.

At the subsequent inquiry into the disaster in New York, Barrett (pictured above with other surviving crew members in the city) testified that there were around 70 people on board his life boat. They would have likely lost their lives had the other boat been dropped onto them

He and the other 705 people who ultimately survived the Titanic's sinking were then rescued by the RMS Carpathia before being taken to New York  their original destination.

Within weeks, Barrett was back serving on the White Star Line's RMS Olympic and he then testified at the New York and later British inquiry into the disaster.

The horrific 1912 Titanic tragedy Constructed by Belfast-based shipbuilders Harland and Wolff between 1909 and 1912, the RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat of her time. Owned and operated by the White Star Line, the passenger vessel set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on April 10, 1912. The liner made two short stops en route to her planned Atlantic crossing  one at the French port of Cherbourg, the other at Cork Harbour, Ireland, where smaller vessels ferried passengers on and off board the Titanic. Nearly five days into her voyage, the Titanic struck an iceberg at around 23:40 local time, generating six narrow openings in the vessel's starboard hull, believed to have occurred as a result of the rivets in the hull snapping. At just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg while travelling on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. Within three hours, the 'unsinkable' ship had slipped beneath the waves of the freezing Atlantic Ocean, killing more than 1,500 people The Titanic took on water some fifteen times faster than could be pumped out, with the hull damage proving too extensive for the vessel's watertight bulkheads to keep the flooding from spreading across the liner's compartmentalised lower decks. After around two-and-a-half hours, the vessel broke into two sections and sank, each settling to the seafloor around a third of a mile apart. Around 1,500 people were believed lost in the tragedy, including around 815 of the liner's passengers. At its launch, the luxurious Titanic was the largest ship in the world, and was carrying some of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as hundreds of people from Britain, Ireland, and elsewhere who were seeking a new life in the United States. Advertisement

In 1915, Barrett married Mary Ann Jones in Liverpool and the couple had two daughters  one of whom Mrs Thompson knows was called Rosie - and their only son Harold.

After leaving his role at sea, Barrett worked as a timber labourer.

But he and his family were then the victims of a disease which was then tragically common.

Barrett left his son as an orphan when he lost his life in March 1931, after his wife and daughters had already died.

It meant that Harold had to be raised by his mother's brother in Bootle.

Mrs Thompson, a midwife, knew little of her family's history until, while off work with cancer, carried out her own research.

She said: 'I was off work eight years ago, it gave me time to look into things. There was nobody else going to do this. I went and got the birth and death certificates.

'We had sort of buried it for years after my father's death because you get married and have kids and life goes on. But then I decided to come back to that.'

Speaking of her discovery of his heroic actions, she added: 'He cut the strings. Only when I read it, I thought wow.

'I just feel proud of him. I'm even more proud that I've managed to uncover it all. I don't know how much would have been uncovered if I hadn't of done it. It could have died with us.

'My father was a serious man and spoke very little. He didn't express his emotions. My mum and me and Fred were everything to him. He was a devoted family man. He didn't speak a lot.

'I didn't speak to him about what happened. I was 18 and getting married and he died three months after that. I thought I would have time after that.

'The story that we were told was, he was the chief stoker down in that boiler room that was hit with the iceberg. So he was one of the first to be aware of the leak.

'It meant very little to us when we were young to be honest. It was only when you come into your teens that it's quite a biggie really.'

Although her father kept quiet about the death of his family, he showed how he wanted his father's memory to live on by naming Mrs Thompson's brother after him.

Mr Barrett has three daughters and is very close to his sister.

Mrs Thompson said she feels she has now honoured her grandfather's memory by finding out more about his remarkable actions.

'I feel that somewhere he will be thinking thank goodness,' she said.

'He certainly wouldn't have been craving fame. It's just nice for my family.'

Before carrying out her research, Mrs Thompson had never seen a photo of her grandfather and so had no idea what he looked like.

The 705 people who ultimately survived the Titanic's sinking were rescued from their lifeboats by the RMS Carpathia. Pictured: Some of the survivors in their lifeboat

Barrett and the other 705 people who ultimately survived the Titanic's sinking were then rescued by the RMS Carpathia before being taken to New York  their original destination. Pictured: Passengers on the Carpathia sewing items of clothing for survivors after they had come onboard

She was delighted when she saw that her third son, Alex, bears a striking resemblance to his grandfather.

'It's nice when you can find one you can see a likeness between your child,' she said.

Mrs Thompson said that her father's aunt 'didn't really want to take on this son' when the orphaned boy needed a home.

'She didn't give him a happy time. She was cold as ice and they were very strict with my father,' she said.

'They were certainly lacking in a lot of direction and love. It must have been hard for him. Really hard. I can only imagine because it has never been verbalised to me.'

Before carrying out her research, Mrs Thompson had never seen a photo of her grandfather and so had no idea what he looked like. She was delighted when she saw that her third son, Alex, bears a striking resemblance to his grandfather

Harold went on to serve in the Second World War before also going into the timber trade. He passed away while having a medical procedure.

In a touching tribute to him, Mrs Thompson added: 'We had a wonderful childhood. Our mum and dad between them did their best.

'We never had any money. We always knew we were loved and cherished. We knew we were loved.

'I think he had a happy life. We were everything to him. He was a well-liked man. He had a lot of friends. He had a quiet dignity about him, my father. He never wasted his words.'

Is everything you think you know about the Titanic WRONG? New documentary claims Captain Smith wasn't reckless, the ship was not poorly built and third class passengers WEREN'T locked below deck as it sank

By Harry Howard for MailOnline

At just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg while travelling on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

Within three hours, the 'unsinkable' ship had slipped beneath the waves of the freezing Atlantic Ocean, killing more than 1,500 people.

Now, a new documentary released on Netflix-style platform History Hit dispels some of the common beliefs about the Titanic's sinking.

Debunking the Myths of the Titanic hears from the world-leading expert about the disaster, Tim Maltin.

One claim made about why the ship sank is that members of the ship's watch did not have binoculars on the fateful night and so did not spot the iceberg quickly enough.

But Mr Maltin, the author of three books on the Titanic, argues that if the crew had had binoculars they would have taken longer to warn of the iceberg.

Among the other claims, which are all debunked below, are that Captain Smith was reckless by sailing too quickly, that the ship was poorly built and that poorer passengers in third class were locked below deck.

At just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg while travelling on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. Within three hours, the 'unsinkable' ship had slipped beneath the waves of the freezing Atlantic Ocean, killing more than 1,500 people. Now a new documentary released on Netflix-style platform History Hit dispels some of the common beliefs about the Titanic's sinking

Captain Smith was reckless by going too fast

The judge who led the British inquiry into the Titanic disaster, John Charles Bigham, 1st Viscount Mersey, wrote in his journal that the ship was travelling at 'excessive speed' and there was 'no reduction of speed' in the icy environment.

However, Mr Maltin said that 'every captain' who testified at the inquiry said they would have 'done the same thing'.

'The night the Titanic sank it was actually extremely clear and they were keeping a very sharp lookout,' he said.

'They knew they were getting into the ice region, but critically they believed they could see the ice in time.'

It has also been suggested that Captain Smith may have been drunk or was not even on the ship's bridge when it hit the iceberg.

But Mr Maltin said that while Captain Smith did dine with passengers at around 7 or 8pm, he was on the bridge 'the whole time' when the ship hit the ice at 11.40pm.

Debunking the Myths of the Titanic hears from the world-leading expert about the disaster, Tim Maltin

Among the other debunked myths is the claim that Captain Edward Smith was reckless by sailing too quickly

'In fact, his suite of rooms, his navigating room and his chaise lounge area and his bedroom area are actually part of the bridge. He was always on the bridge,' he said.

'And he had left instructions to be called immediately if anything happened.

'And in fact, as soon as they went full astern and he heard the ship starting to stop, he came straight through and he was there.

'But he was working out positions and he was alert and around the bridge the whole time.'

Mr Maltin also said that Captain Smith was the Commodore of the White Star Line and had captained all their flagship vessels.

He was also popular with the crew, who 'loved sailing under him'.

Instead of seeking out a life boat himself, the Captain chose to help women and children get to safety, Mr Maltin said.

The ship was poorly constructed

It has previously been claimed that the Titanic's hull was held together by second-rate rivets, meaning that part of it was weak and so vulnerable to being torn open by the iceberg which sealed its fate.

Science writer Dr Richard Corfield made the claim in 2012 and said the answer for why she sank could be found partly 'within the science of the Titanic's construction'.

But Mr Maltin hit back against this claim, saying the vessel was 'one of the best built ships in history'.

He said: 'She was so well built. I have been lucky enough to go and see a huge 40-ton piece of the Titanic and just the scale of it and size and the weight of it, is utterly incredible.'

The White Star Line had famously claimed the Titanic was 'unsinkable'.

It has previously been claimed that the Titanic's hull was held together by second-rate rivets, meaning that part of it was weak and so vulnerable to being torn open by the iceberg which sealed its fate. But Mr Maltin hit back against this claim, saying the vessel was 'one of the best built ships in history'. Pictured: The ship in Belfast shortly after being constructed

Mr Maltin said the reason for this was that the ship could actually have been 'sliced in to three pieces and each piece would've floated.'

'She was also designed to float even with the first four watertight compartments flooded and she was designed to float even with a collision at the point of two watertight compartments,' he said.

But he said the ship was not designed for the 'side swipe disaster' which saw the iceberg hit the vessel at an angle after its crew took avoiding action.

He said the iceberg ended up doing 'a little bit of damage along 200ft of Titanic's length.'

'That Dan was five watertight compartments and she could sail with the first four flooded but not the fifth one,' he added.

And even though the ship did sink, Mr Maltin said she did so 'on an even keel' and it took two and a half hours.

By contrast, he highlighted the example of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which 'rolled over much more quickly' during the disaster in 2012 off the coast of an Italian island.

'So actually you could say Titanic was safer than modern ships are today,' Mr Maltin claimed.

The crew didn't have binoculars and so could not spot the iceberg in time

Before the Titanic left Southampton, there was a reordering of the officers  with Henry Wilde coming over from the RMS Olympic with Captain Edward Smith.

As a result Second Officer David Blair left the Titanic and it is thought he took the key to the cabin with him, which would have given officers access to a binoculars case.

Speaking to presenter and fellow historian Dan Snow, Mr Maltin conceded in the History Hit documentary that 'there were no binoculars in the crow's nest that night.'

However, he explained that the best way to detect icebergs at night is with the naked eye.

Speaking to presenter and fellow historian Dan Snow, Mr Maltin conceded in the History Hit documentary that 'there were no binoculars in the crow's nest that night.' However, he explained that the best way to detect icebergs at night is with the naked eye. Pictured: The Titanic's lookout, Frederick Fleet, who issued the warning about the iceberg

'That's because the naked eye has a wide field of vision and that helps the way that we detect objects,' he said.

'Whereas, if you're trying to look through binoculars, it is really hopeless because the binoculars are used to inspect an object you've already detected.'

Mr Maltin in fact argued that, had they had binoculars, the crew would have been slowed down in declaring news of the iceberg to the ship's bridge.

He added: 'Instead of thinking "is that an iceberg or not" and checking it out with the binoculars, they just rang the bell three times which meant "iceberg, dead ahead".

Captain Smith then ordered the ship's crew to take evasive action but was not able to turn quickly enough to fully avoid the ice.

Titanic tipped up and sank horizontally

In the 1997 Hollywood film about the disaster, which stars Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet, the Titanic splits in two before the bow (front) tips up horizontally.

However, Mr Maltin said this is not how the vessel actually sank.

Because the iceberg struck the ship near the front on its starboard (right) side, that was were water flowed into the vessel.

It meant that the stern was lifted out of the water and then broke away.

But because it was 'so well sub-divided', Mr Maltin said it 'crashed back down' on to the water.

In the 1997 Hollywood film about the disaster, which stars Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet, the Titanic splits in two before the bow (front) tips up horizontally

The passengers who were on the stern, which was 'almost everyone at that stage' actually then thought they were 'going to be fine'.

However, because the bow was having a 'tug of the war' with the stern as it sank, it did terminal damage to the still-floating rear part.

Mr Maltin said: '[It] did so much damage pulling at her keel that the damage to the stern that was caused by the bow was greater than the damage caused by the iceberg.'

Despite the film scenes of the Titanic violently sinking as passengers clung on to its rails, Mr Maltin said the stern in fact 'sank very quietly', allowing remaining passengers to swim off it.

One passenger remarked that his head did not get wet as he swam away, Mr Maltin said.

The third class passengers were locked below deck while the others escaped

In James Cameron's 1997 film, third class passengers are seen being locked below deck beneath huge metal gates.

However, this is not actually what happened.

Mr Malton said: 'In fact, first class stewards were sent straight down to the third class to tell people exactly where the boats were.'

It is true that there were gates which separated first, second and third class. But this was a legal requirement set by US immigration authorities to avoid the spread of infectious diseases.

'The law was that no passenger ship could go to America without these gates shut. It was only in a state of emergency that the gates were allowed to be opened,' Mr Maltin said.

In James Cameron's 1997 film, third class passengers are seen being locked below deck beneath huge metal gates. However, this is not actually what happened

On the Titanic, the gates were opened as soon as a state of emergency was declared, 47 minutes after the ship hit the iceberg.

Addressing the fact that more third class passengers died than those in second class, Mr Maltin said it was because they 'did not want to' get in life boats.

He said that, in 1912, boys were classed as adults from the age of 13, meaning teenagers were only allowed into life boats after women and children had taken their places.

Because poorer families were going to America in search of a new life, they did not want to lose teenage or male members of their family.

'So you could imagine these women and men with families going to America,' Mr Maltin said.

'What you don't want to do is leave behind your 13-year-old son, your 14-year old son, your 15-year-old daughter.

'So what they did is they decided they would be better off sticking together.

'If they were going to leave the breadwinner behind dead in the icy waters of the Atlantic, what hope would there be for the mother on her own?'

Titanic didn't have enough lifeboats

Much has been made of the fact that the Titanic only had 20 lifeboats, which was enough to carry just over 1,000 of the 2,208 passengers.

However, Mr Maltin said that, because half the lifeboats would have been put out of action by the listing of the ship, the Titanic would have in fact needed to carry twice as many everyone needed if they were to save all souls onboard.

'The fact is, if you want to have enough life boats on a ship for everyone, you need to have twice as many as everyone needs,' he said.

Much has been made of the fact that the Titanic only had 20 lifeboats, which was enough to carry just over 1,000 of the 2,208 passengers. Pictured: Some of the Titanic survivors in a lifeboat

'Every ship almost settles on an uneven keel, it lists to the port or starboard. When it's listing, half the lifeboats are put out of action.

'So if the Titanic needed 30 lifeboats, then she actually needed to carry 60 to allow for that eventuality,' he said.

Because this was impractical, the Board of Trade instead opted to have 'ships properly built and properly subdivided', Mr Maltin said.

'What the authorities said was that any properly subdivided ship could actually carry a limited number of lifeboats in order for the lifeboats to act as a ferry from a stricken liner to get people to nearby vessels,' he added.

Rudder was too small

It has also been argued that the Titanic's rudder was too small to effectively manoeuvre the enormous ship.

However, Mr Maltin said it was the same size as the one which was on the Titanic's sister ship, the Olympic.

The Olympic remained in service until 1935 and its captain said it had the best handling of any ship he had ever commanded, Mr Maltin said.
Ashif Zackaria, 52, used his position as finance chief at Coventry-based healthcare manufacturers Abena UK Ltd to steal the money from his bosses through VAT fraud and false accounting

A hospital finance director who stole 2.7 million and spent 500,000 on luxury fountain pens has been jailed for three years.

Ashif Zackaria, 52, used his position as finance chief at Coventry-based healthcare manufacturers Abena UK Ltd to steal the money from his bosses through VAT fraud and false accounting.

He had used business cheques to buy at least 180 luxury fountain pens from high-end makers like Mont Blanc and Philippe Patak between 2009 to 2015.

Zackaria also used a Harrods loyalty card to spend 117,000 on designer goods, including a luxury watch worth more than 14,000.

The finance boss had made false entries into the company's accounting system and on VAT returns between August 2007 and January 2015, resulting in an estimated VAT loss of 2.1 million.

He was caught in 2015 when a new managing director took over the firm and became suspicious over numerous transactions and alerted police.

Zackaria admitted several charges of employee theft and one count of VAT fraud, and was jailed for three years at Birmingham Crown Court on June 4.

Police had raided Zacakria's Nuneaton home in 2015 and found the stash of luxury fountain pens along with designer watches.

He had used business cheques to buy at least 180 luxury fountain pens from high-end makers like Mont Blanc and Philippe Patak between 2009 to 2015

Police had raided Zacakria's Nuneaton home in 2015 and found the stash of luxury fountain pens along with designer watches

Detectives discovered he had made out cheques to pay off his credit cards and signed off cheques totalling 222,000 to family members.

Zackaria also wrote cheques for 219,000 to a Northampton-based firm run by a friend who had no clear business links to his employer, and paid more than 1million in cheques to an office supplies firm run by associate Dean Powell.

It was suspected Powell, 53, was hugely overcharging for readily available printers and ink.

When officers quizzed Zackaria, he confessed to hatching a plot to split the profits 50-50 behind the backs of his fellow directors.

Zackaria paid more than 1million in cheques to an office supplies firm run by associate Dean Powell (pictured)

Powell, 53, of Batsford, Gloucestershire, admitted money laundering. He was given a suspended two year sentence and 200 hours unpaid work.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Peter Christie, of West Midlands Police's Economic Crime Unit, said: 'This was a vast and complex financial investigation: we had to analyse nearly 17,000 pages of evidence and over 14,000 cheque stubs and understand where each of the cheques ended up.

'We uncovered theft and fraud on a huge scale that had been going on for at least six years.

'Abena calculated the total loss over the course of his employment in stolen funds, HMRC fines and investigation costs approached 4.4-million.

'Zackaria has repaid 2.8million by selling assets, including property, but we will use Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) powers to go after any outstanding debt.'

Ian Hackett, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: 'This was a significant and sustained attack on the public purse.

'Zackaria pocketed hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money to fund a lavish lifestyle he could not legitimately afford.'
A driver who used a digger to flip over a car left parked on his land is believed to be a farmer who was fed up with being taunted by 'anti-social thugs', MailOnline can reveal.

Dramatic footage shows a man using a telehandler to overturn the silver Vauxhall hatchback before carting the vehicle away and bundling it out onto the road.

A shirtless man is seen on footage kicking the tractor as the car is hauled away from a gate it was blocking at the farm in Barnard Castle, County Durham, which is run by Robert Hooper. However, it is not clear who was driving the tractor.

The video was posted on Snapchat by a man called Elliott Johnson, who included a jokey caption calling the hatchback his 'courtesy car'.

But it was not clear whether he was the shirtless man seen in the film and there is no suggestion he was involved in anti-social behaviour.

Incredibly, Mr Hooper can be seen checking to see if any other traffic was coming before pushing it down the country lane.

He appeared to knock the car driver to the ground as he swung back round to return to his farm, leaving the road littered with glass and debris.

A source told MailOnline: 'The lads had parked their car onto his drive. He asked them to move but they didn't seem to want to obey.

'He had no choice but to take matters into his own hands and remove the ruffians from his property himself.'

Friend Mark Nicholson said the farmer had been 'driven mad by these lot' with anti-social behaviour leaving him at 'the end of his tether'.

Durham Constabulary confirmed they had been called out to the incident just after 5pm on Saturday.

Police were called to the scene in the aftermath of the run-in between farmer and driver

A shirtless man - believed to be the owner - tried to remonstrate with the digger driver

The car driver seemed to kick the farm machinery as the penny dropped as to the situation

The motorist was filming what was happened on his phone as the car was suddenly tipped up

A police spokesman told MailOnline: 'We were alerted to reports of an incident at a farm in the Teesdale area shortly after 5.45pm on June 5.

'Officers attended the scene and an investigation into the circumstances is ongoing.'

It is understood that no arrests have been made over the shocking fracas.

There were further claims yesterday the farmer may have been the victim of repeated anti-social behaviour.

It was said the youths had subjected him to fires on his land as well as property damaged.

Dairy farmer Mark Nicholson said: 'A lot more to this story, hes a friend of a colleague, hes been driven mad by these lot, starting fires, pushing walls over just to name a few things, not saying its right but they pushed him to the end of his tether.'

Charlie Finnerty, of Rochdale, Gtr Mancs also posted the video yesterday on Sunday on Facebook and it has already racked up over one million views.

BBC Radio 2 host Jeremy Vine tweeted the video and said: 'Driver has blocked farm gate with his car.

'Motorist has smartphone. Farmer has forklift. Who's gonna win this one?'

He said: 'Wow, don't park in front of farmer's gates.'

However, the farmer's actions divided opinions.

The tiny silver hatchback was scooped up by the telehandler and flipped over in the video

The car was tumbled down the street with the farm machinery as the incident unfolded

The driver seemed to be in utter disbelief as the farm machine came to a stop after the lift

The lifter driver then calmly went back to the land, leaving the car in the middle of the road

Mary Harris joked: 'I love the way the farmer looks right to check no oncoming vehicles before pulling out.'

Mike Hillen said: 'There was an easier solution to this, farmer should have chained and padlocked his gate closed.

'Stopping the car from leaving then waited for car owner to knock on his door, he could of then charged him whatever amount to open the gate.

'No court, no lawyer bills.'

Thomas Williams added: 'As satisfying as it is to see someone who is clearly pondlife get his just desserts.

'This is definitely criminal damage and perhaps even GBH when he hits him with the vehicle.'

But one cyclist - called Hannah - said: 'I fully condone this.

'Well done farmer for getting rid of this car in front of his gate.'
The website lilibetdiana.com was bought up in the US on the day Meghan gave birth to her second child - and two days before the news was made public, it was revealed today.

The owners of the domain has been kept secret because it was purchased via an intermediary in Scottsdale, Arizona, whose motto is: 'Your identity is nobody's business but ours'.

But royal experts insist they believe that the Sussexes are behind it because it was registered before the world knew the child, due this week, had been born or named Lilibet Diana by her parents.

It is also common for celebrities to purchase websites in their child's name before announcing a birth, to avoid having to buy it at an inflated price later.

The domain lilibetdiana.co.uk has also been bought up, but this was done yesterday, amid rumours the couple plan to set up a foundation their daughter's name, just like Archewell for their eldest child Archie.

Royal expert Angela Levin told Good Morning Britain today: 'They've made a domain, Lilibet Diana. The domain is that nobody can use that email and they can use that for any sort of commercial work they want to. They've licensed it'.

The website lilibetdiana.com was bought up in the US on the day Meghan gave birth to her second child - but before the world knew the news, the public register of websites has revealed

It is not known if Meghan and Harry have bought the URL because it was purchased via an intermediary that guarantees anonymity to clients

Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born at 11.40am on Friday at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, weighing 7lb 11oz.

On the same day the website in her name was secured, according to a public registry of domain names.

The Sussexes announced her birth and name at 5pm yesterday, UK time, meaning only close friends, family and aides will have known the news when the URL was set up.

It was bought up via US company Domains By Proxy, which calls itself the Internet's very first privacy service and charges people a fee to buy up websites for anyone who does not 'want their personal information available for everyone to see'.

As a result the owner of lilibetdiana.com is not contained on the 'Whois' record - a register that shows the owners of the world's websites. MailOnline has asked the Sussexes to comment.

Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior working royals in early 2020 in a quest for personal and financial freedom after struggling with royal life. They have signed multimillion-pound deals with Netflix and Spotify, and set up their Archewell Foundation.

In February last year, a month after they emigrated, the Queen ordered they must drop their 'Sussex Royal' label after deciding to step down as working royals.

Last year Harry and Meghan spent tens of thousands of pounds on a new Sussex Royal website, sussexroyal.com, to complement their hugely popular Instagram feed before the Royal Family ordered a rebrand and they plumped for Archewell

Her Majesty and senior officials are said to have agreed it is no longer tenable for the couple to keep the word 'royal' in their 'branding'.

Harry and Meghan spent tens of thousands of pounds on a Sussex Royal website to complement their hugely popular Instagram feed.

They also sought to register Sussex Royal as a global trademark for a range of items and activities, including clothing, stationery, books and teaching materials. In addition, they took steps to set up a new charitable organisation: Sussex Royal, The Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

But they were later forced to accept defeat and changed to Archewell.

Harry and Meghan first began using the Sussex Royal branding in 2019, after they split their household from that of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge  known as Kensington Royal.

Dozens of trademark applications were made for everything from bandanas to notebooks  although sources have always stressed that these were preventative measures to protect the trademark from others, and never intended for commercial use.

It placed the Queen in an invidious position, given her long-held conviction of refusing to allow working members of the family to profit from their positions.

If Harry keeps true to his pledge, their daughter will be their last child. He told activist and chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall in 2019 that he would only have two children for the sake of the planet.

Home for the new family-of-four is Harry and Meghan's 11 million forever mansion in Montecito, California.
A young mother has warned how a 'creep' tried to lure her six-year-old son and his friend into a vehicle by offering them lollies.

Police on Sydney's Northern Beaches said it was the first of two 'child approaches' reported in the area this week, which both appear to be connected.

The terrifying incident occurred at about 3:30pm on Saturday, when a 'middle-aged man with grey hair' approached two six-year-old boys playing in the front yard of a Manly Vale home on Lovett Street.

Police on Sydney's Northern Beaches said there have been two 'child approaches' reported in the area this week, which both appear to be connected

'Yesterday my son and his friend were approached by an older man in a white car who offered them lollies to try to entice them into his car,' a mother of the boy said in a chilling post shared on a local buy, sell and swap Facebook page.

'Luckily the boys ran away, back into the house and got away.'

'It makes me so sad that creeps like this man in our neighbourhood but it's a reality.'

She warned other parents on the Northern Beaches to speak to their children about 'stranger danger' and said it's 'lucky our boys knew how to respond quickly and told us all about it'.

Police said the suspected child predator was driving a vehicle described only as being white with a circular sticker on the back.

A young mother has warned how a 'creep' tried to lure her six-year-old son and his friend into a vehicle by offering them lollies

A second, almost identical incident also occurred at about 7pm later that same day when a man of similar description 'was seen acting in an intimidating manner towards another young person as she walked in nearby Campbell Parade, Manly Vale'.

Detectives are now probing the area to find clues and are calling on help from the local community.

'Anyone who was in the area of either incident and saw someone acting suspiciously, or who may have dashcam or CCTV of either incident, is urged to to call police immediately,' police said.
A lion has died from Covid-19 at an Indian zoo where eight others also tested positive for the virus.

The state-run zoo on the outskirts of the south Indian city of Chennai announced the nine-year-old Asiatic lion's death on Friday.

'A 9-year old lioness Neela succumbed to the disease on the evening of 3rd June,' the Arignar Anna Zoological Park, also known as Vandalur Zoo, said.

The outbreak was first observed on Thursday when the lioness 'showed some nasal discharge'. The others appear to have been asymptomatic.

The affected animals have been quarantined and given antibiotics. They are under observation by the zoo's veterinary team and an expert team from Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.

There have been various coronavirus cases reported in animals, including two white tiger cubs thought to have died from the virus in Pakistan.

Lions have also tested positive in Spain and two other Indian cities, including Hyderabad, where eight lions tested positive last month at Nehru Zoological Park.

A lion has died from Covid-19 at an Indian zoo where eight others also tested positive for the virus. Pictured: A lion at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park

The affected animals have been quarantined and given antibiotics. They are under observation by the zoo's veterinary team and an expert team from Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. Pictured: Lions at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park

'All animal keepers and helpers for these animal houses are vaccinated against COVID-19. A separate set of animal keepers is engaged for each group of lions. PPE kits are mandatory for the animal keepers, veterinary doctors and field staff visiting the area,' the zoo said.

'Samples of tigers and other large mammals are being sent for testing,' the zoo's statement added.

Officials added that a sample from the zoo's only pregnant lioness would not be sent for now as sedating her could weaken her immunity.

A second sample from the deceased lion has also been sent to rule out a false positive result.

On Sunday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin visited the zoo to assess the situation.

Expert teams explained the lions' care and measures taken to monitor them, according to local media.
A three-month-old girl has been mauled to death in a dog attack at home in Ireland.

The baby was savaged in her bedroom in the early hours of Monday in the village of Clashmore, County Waterford. She sustained serious head injuries.

Police and paramedics treated the infant at the scene before she was rushed to Cork University Hospital, around 40 miles away.

She was pronounced dead at the hospital after 3.15am, according to RTE.

Police officers outside the home in Clashmore, County Waterford, on Monday

Police are investigating the death of an infant after she was mauled to death at this home in Clashmore in the early hours of Monday

Her home in the village was cordoned off today as the police continued their investigations.

A post-mortem will be carried out on the body of the child at Cork University Hospital.

Father Milo Guiry, who is administrator of the parish that encompasses the village of Clashmore, said local people were in shock.

'This was a young baby, it's terribly, terribly sad,' he said.

Father Guiry said the parish would be offering support to the family involved.

'We offer our sympathy and our support to the family at this terrible time for them,' he said.

Mayor of Waterford, Damien Geoghegan, said the local community had been stunned by the 'awful and terrible' incident.

'It was very sad news to wake up to this morning that a three-month-old child had lost her life in such tragic circumstances,' he said.

The baby was rushed from her home in Clashmore to Cork University Hospital in the early hours of this morning but was pronounced dead a short time later

'It has rocked the community here in west Waterford and particularly in the village of Clashmore, which is a lovely, quiet, rural village in west Waterford.

'My sympathies certainly go to the family and everybody's thoughts and prayers will be with them in the coming days and weeks and months ahead.

'People are just stunned today at the news - everybody is just really, really saddened.'

While Ireland has laws on muzzling certain dog breeds in public, there are no banned breeds such as Pit Bull Terriers in the United Kingdom.
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Nearly two in ten over-70s from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds have not turned up for their second Covid vaccine dose compared to less than four per cent of white adults, official data revealed today.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed 17.6 per cent of people from Pakistani backgrounds did not get their second dose by May 9, at least eight weeks after their first jab. For Bangladeshi people it was 17.3 per cent.

This was despite these groups being more willing to get first doses, with between 80 and 83 per cent of them coming forward for the first dose.

ONS data shows elderly people of Black African heritage living in England were least likely to turn up for their first jab, with 67.4 per cent attending appointments. Sixteen per cent of these individuals did not book to get their second dose.

When broken down by region, eight of the 10 councils where people were least likely to get a second dose were in London. They were: Newham, Tower Hamlets, Brent, Lambeth, Southwark, Hackney, Barking and Dagenham, and Haringey.

Experts say it is essential to get both doses of the jab because the second boosts the immune system to improve protection against hospitalisation and death from the virus. Experts say this is especially important with the now-dominant Indian variant, which makes first doses less effective.

Public Health England research on the Kent variant published last month showed AstraZeneca's jab was 90 per cent effective at stopping symptoms of the disease, but only between 55 and 70 per cent effective after just one dose. Pfizer's shot is also thought to be less effective after just one dose. The same trend is true for the Indian strain but the efficacy numbers are expected to be lower.

The national drive was expanded to under-70s on February 21, after ministers said everyone in older age categories had been offered at least one dose. The ONS data considered all over-70s who had got their first jab by March 15.

More than 40million Britons  or three in four adults  have got one dose of the Covid vaccine to date, and 27.6million had got a second dose  or half of all adults.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) published data on uptake of the second dose based on the NHS-run vaccination system

The ONS data was based on details in the NHS-run National Immunisation Management System (NIMS), a national programme which holds information on people's ethnicity and what vaccines they have received.

Statisticians said it allowed them to sift through figures to identify ethnic groups with lower first and second dose uptake rates.

But they warned it did not cover the entire population because it excluded those who did not take part in the 2011 Census. Data from this year's Census is yet to be added to the system.

Two doses of AstraZeneca's Covid jab are up to 90 per cent effective against symptomatic disease Two doses of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine are up to 90 per cent effective at stopping symptoms of Covid, according to official estimates. Public Health England's analysis of real-world data published last month found the British-made jab was just as effective as a double-dose of the Pfizer vaccine. No10's vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi hailed the data, saying it highlighted the 'incredible' importance of getting both doses of the jab. He added: 'There is no better weapon to send this virus into retreat than our life-saving vaccines. 'A second dose is vital to ensure you have the strongest possible protection so we can return to normality and get back to the things we love.' Independent experts also praised the findings, describing the AstraZeneca vaccine as a 'key weapon' in the global fight against the pandemic. Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, said: 'It is reassuring to see the data from both the Pfizer and Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines. 'They are essentially comparable in terms of effectiveness against symptomatic disease, which is very high after two doses. 'Oxford AstraZeneca really is an excellent vaccine. It will be a key weapon in the global rollout, and a key tool for use in lower income countries.' Advertisement

ONS figures showed people who identified as Pakistani were least likely to turn up for a second dose  5,900 people in this group did not get a second dose within 11 weeks out of 33,300 who got a first dose.

They were followed by people of Bangladeshi heritage (1,700 of 10,000), Black African (2,400 of 15,100) and Black Caribbean (13 per cent did not get a second dose, or 5,200 of 40,000).

White British adults were most likely to get a second dose after their first (only 3.7 per cent missed appointments, or 219,900 of 5,893,400). They were followed by those identifying as 'white other' (5.1 per cent, or 10,300 of 200,800).

Data also showed Black African people over 70 were least willing to get a first dose (7,400 people in this group out of 22,500 not turning up for a first dose). They were followed by elderly adults of Black Caribbean heritage (14,300 of 54,300), and Pakistani groups (8,500 people of 41,800).

White Britons were most likely to get their first dose (94 per cent turning up, or 5,893,400 adults out of 6,267,100), followed by people from Indian backgrounds (91 per cent, or 98,200 of 108,000).

When the data was broken down by local authority, it showed the proportion of over-70s turning up for their second dose after their first jab was lowest in Newham (11.5 per cent, or 1,400 people of 12,100), Tower Hamlets (11 per cent or 1,000 of 8,900), Brent (10 per cent, or 2,100 of 20,400), Lambeth (9 per cent or 1,200 of 12,200), and Southwark (8.9 per cent or 2,400 of 15,800).

On the other hand, the proportion of people turning up for a second dose after a first was highest in the Ribble Valley, (98.6 per cent or 9,800 people out of 9,900), Tewkesbury (98.1 per cent or 12,000 out of 12,900), Selby (98.1 per cent, or 12,000 of 12,200), Stratford-on-Avon (98 per cent or 20,300 of 20,700) and Wychavon in Worcestershire (98 per cent or 19,900 out of 20,300).

The NHS has repeatedly urged Britons to make sure they get their second dose.

Britain brought forward doses for over-50s last month amid an outbreak of the Indian variant. Instead of sticking to the original 12-week gap, advisers said it should be chopped to just eight weeks.

Dr Emily Lawson, the health service's lead for the Covid vaccine programme, said: 'If you are contacted to bring forward your second dose appointment I would urge you to do this as soon as possible, as getting both doses is what will give everyone the maximum possible protection against Covid.

'The vaccine is our most effective weapon against the virus and there has never been a more important time to get protected so if youre contacted by the NHS, book your jab or bring forward your second dose.'

After getting his second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week, Boris Johnson said: 'Second jab done. When it's your turn, get the jab.'

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi has previously said: 'When youre called to take up your second dose, do not delay booking in that appointment so you can get as much protection as possible as soon as you can.'

A PHE analysis of real-world data published last month found AstraZeneca's shot is more effective at blocking deaths and hospitalisations after a second dose and was just as effective as Pfizer's vaccine.

Rigorous studies of the jab to get it approved showed it was 76 per cent effective at blocking symptomatic Covid.

But the study confirmed the efficacy in the real-world, where jabs are normally slightly less effective than in carefully controlled studies.

PHE warned their figures were primarily based on older adults, who were first in line to get both doses because they are most at risk of hospitalisation and death if they catch the virus.

It gave no figures for how well it prevented hospitalisation or death  but academic trials showed two doses had an efficacy rate of up to 100 per cent.
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Table of Content

Preface Executive Summary Quick Release Hook  Industry Analysis Value Chain Analysis Impact Analysis Of Covid-19 Outbreak Global Quick Release Hook Analysis By Product Type Global Quick Release Hook Analysis By Application Global Quick Release Hook Analysis By Geography Competitive Landscape Of The Quick Release Hook Companies Company Profiles Of Quick Release Hook Industry

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Downing Street today refused to endorse the former head of the much-criticised Test and Trace programme after she confirmed that she is interested in running the NHS.

Baroness Dido Harding, a Tory peer, said she is 'thinking about' applying to run the health service in England.

The former Talk-Talk chief executive said she is considering applying for the crucial post, saying her work with the health service had been the 'privilege of my life'.

The comments, on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, come amid claims she has already sounded out senior figures about replacing Sir Simon Stevens, who is stepping down next month and becoming a peer himself.

But Lady Harding's application is likely to prove controversial after her time in charge of Test and Trace, which ended earlier this year.

In March the former head of the Treasury branded NHS Test and Trace the 'most wasteful and inept public spending programme of all time'.

Last year Boris Johnson faced calls to sack Lady Harding and replace her over the continued poor performance of what was meant to be a 'world-beating' system under her management.

Asked by reporters in a conference call today if the PM would give the peer a reference if she applied for the NHS's top post, there was an audible chuckle on the line before Mr Johnson's spokesman said: 'You wouldnt expect me to comment during this ongoing recruitment process, I believe applications close on the 14th of June.'

Asked repeatedly about her intentions in an interview this morning, Lady Harding said: 'I haven't applied for the NHS job yet, I'm thinking about what I want to do with my life

'It means I am thinking about it. I have loved working in the NHS for the last three and a half years. It's been the privilege of my life to work alongside our NHS people.'

Lady Harding said she had only just returned from holiday. 'It is literally the first day back at school for me,' she added.

Baroness Dido Harding is said to be considering putting herself forward to run the health service in England.

Harding is reported to have sounded out senior health leaders about replacing Sir Simon Stevens (right). Justin Madders (left), Labour's shadow health minister said today: 'We hope the recruitment process takes candidates' recent achievements into account, but Test and Trace's performance speaks for itself.'

A report earlier this year said T&T had ''minimal impact on transmission' despite receiving 37billion of funding.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee said in March there was no evidence the tracing scheme had made a dent in Covid transmission, despite its 'unimaginable' budget.

Last year No10 spent 22bn on Test and Trace and the Chancellor promised to throw another 15bn at it in 2021, bringing the total cost to 37bn.

The PAC report said the Government was treating British taxpayers 'like an ATM machine'.

Sir Nicholas Macpherson, a member of the House of Lords and former permanent secretary at the Treasury, also waded into the row. He posted a cutting tweet that added: 'The extraordinary thing is that nobody in the government seems surprised or shocked. No matter: the BoE will just print more money.'

Baroness Harding's leadership of Test and Trace last year prompted senior backbencher Sir Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the Liaison Committee, to join Labour in suggesting she be replaced.

At one point in October last year, ahead of the second lockdown which came in in November, the system hit a record low with just 59.6 per cent of the contacts of people who tested positive for the disease being successfully contacted and told to self-isolate.

Sir Bernard, who chairs the Liaison Committee of senior MPs which questions the Prime Minister twice a year, said the peer should be given a 'well-earned break' so she and others could 'reflect on the lessons learned so far'.

Last September she was ridiculed when she claimed nobody was 'expecting' to see the 'really sizeable increase in demand' for Covid checks ahead of the start of the school year.

Baroness Harding's comments, which come despite the return of schools and more people heading back to work, sparked outrage as she told MPs 'none of the modelling' had suggested there would be such a steep uptick in requests.

The head of the NHS Test and Trace programme blamed the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) for seemingly getting its predictions wrong as she said testing capacity had been built based on the panel's recommendations.

There were also numerous reports of staff at deserted walk-in testing centres turning people away if they didn't have an appointment or weren't showing obvious coronavirus symptoms.
A 'happy and healthy' seven-month-old boy who went to sleep at a daycare centre and never woke up was left face-down in a bassinet for 40 minutes before being found blue and not breathing, an inquest into his death has heard.

Jack Loh was being cared for at a family daycare centre run out of a home in Randwick, in Sydney's east, when he was put to bed on March 4, 2019.

Helen Rateau, who was a subcontractor for Kidstart Family Day Care, discovered him not breathing and immediately gave first aid but he was pronounced dead at Sydney Children's Hospital that afternoon.

A 10-day inquest is now being held by the NSW Coroner's Court to uncover the litany of failings that may have contributed to Jack's death.





The hearing is also expected to make improvements on the regulatory framework which governs the NSW childcare industry.

Jack Loh (pictured) was being cared for at a family day care centre run out of a home in Randwick, Sydney's east, when he was placed in a bassinet and left unmonitored for up to 40 minutes on March 4, 2019, an inquest has heard

Both Mr and Ms Loh believe their son's tragic death could have been prevented (pictured together), the inquest heard

Jack's parents, Margot and Joseph Loh, both gave evidence at the inquest on Monday, describing their horror to learn that their child had been placed in a bassinet against recommendations, news.com reported.

'We thought he was a healthy, happy, normal baby,' Ms Loh said. 'To find out otherwise, it was a huge shock.'

The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) advises that babies should not be left in bassinets to sleep as they are far less safe than a regular cot.

The childcare body also recommends children be closely monitored and checked on every 10 to 15 minutes.

Little Jack was left unattended for between 30 to 40 minutes, the inquest heard.

The inquiry heard that although there was a baby monitor in the room, it was not turned on.

Katherine Richardson, Senior Counsel assisting the inquest, said Ms Rateau had been on the phone for a period of that time - sending texts, calling her sister and offering details to another parent about enrolling at the centre.

The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) advises that babies should not be left in bassinets (pictured) to sleep as they are not safe

'When Ms Rateau next checked Jack, he was facedown in the bassinet with a blue face and not breathing,' Ms Richardson said.

The inquest heard that Ms Loh had dropped off a sleep suit for Jack at the daycare centre, but he was not wearing it at the time of his death.

It was also revealed that Jack had been placed in a dribble bib - something Ms Loh said she would 'never put him to sleep in' because it was dangerous.

Although an autopsy ruled Jack died of pulmonary hypertension - a type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in your lungs and heart - the inquest is examining if other factors may also have contributed to his death.

Jack had previously suffered from bronchiolitis and a slight heart murmur - but doctors told the young parents these types of ailments were 'normal'.

Both Mr and Ms Loh believe their son's tragic death could have been prevented, the inquest heard.

Kidstart Family Day Care in Randwick, Sydney's east, was run out a suburban home

Ms Rateau and Kidstart have both had their approval to provide childcare cancelled by the Department of Education in the wake of the saddening case.

Last month Kidstart was slapped with nine charges relating to adequately protecting children.

Ms Rateau pleaded guilty to not protecting children from harm, along with other child safety offences.

She was hit with a $7500 fine and ordered by the court to undergo a conditional release order for 18 months.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Ms Rateau or Kidstart contributed to the death of baby Jack.

The inquest continues.
A top doctor has warned of the serious health effects of readily available and highly toxic vapes that are being purchased by teenagers for just $14.

Nicotine e-cigarettes are being bought by schoolkids as young as 13, with one in five teenagers in Australia estimated to be using the highly-addictive devices.

The illegal vape pens contain 50 milligrams of salt nicotine, which some experts claim is equivalent to smoking six packets of cigarettes.

While the devices are designed to help smokers quit nicotine, a top respiratory doctor has warned the vapes could have the adverse effect on non-smokers.

A top respiratory doctor has warned of the serious health affects of readily available and highly toxic nicotine e-cigarettes that can be purchased for just $14

The pocket-sized devices can be purchased in various flavours including blueberry, banana and lychee and can be easily concealed for use at school

Matthew Peters, Head of Respiratory Medicine at Concord Hospital, told Today he has noticed a spike in the purchase of e-cigarettes in the last 12 months.

'Nicotine is toxic, it's addictive,' Professor Peters said, explaining the vape pens could be easily purchased on Facebook Marketplace and convenience stores.

The pocket-sized devices can be purchased in various flavours including blueberry, banana and lychee and can be easily concealed for use at school.

To test the availability of the illegal devices, Professor Peters went online under the guise of purchasing a vape.

'As an experiment this morning I went on Facebook Marketplace, I typed in 'fruit' - the second item was for $14', he said.

'I could buy a disposable vaping device, that packs the punch of six packets of cigarettes, something that would cost kids $300 plus, they can buy online very easily for $14.'

The respiratory doctor said many of the devices were sold without a warning label that stated nicotine was present in the product.

Online tobacco store Puff Bar Australia (pictured) sells the nicotine e-cigarettes for under $20

The highly-addictive vape pens contain 50 milligrams of salt nicotine, which some experts claim is equivalent to smoking six packets of cigarettes

He said the 'fruity smells' and 'pleasurable part' of the vape pens were the perfect disguise for the irritant nature of the high dose of nicotine.

'Your child will not come home smelling like an ashtray, and it's easily done in a bedroom, in a classroom - a teacher may not notice,' he said.

'The people who are selling it, the people who are harming our kids and making money, are really vultures in my mind, preying upon the health of young Australians.'

Meanwhile, parents and teachers across the country are growing increasingly concerned as the disposable vapes become more accessible to teens also unaware of the risks.

A 14-year-old student from Queensland told ABC Radio Brisbane that smoking the e-cigarettes gave a 'nicotine buzz for about two minutes'.

She said the e-cigarettes were becoming increasingly popular at her school because kids could learn to do smoke tricks with their friends.

But in reality, vaping made the young student feel sick.

The illegal and highly addictive e-cigarettes (pictured) are being used by one in five teenagers, a top respiratory doctor has said

Online store Vape Pen Zone (pictured) offers to send the flavoured vape pens to buyers in discreet packaging

'It doesn't feel that good. I remember the first time I did it I was coughing so bad, but no, really it just makes you feel sick, because you get all shaky and you kinda can't stand up. It's like a mini-high for two minutes,' she admitted.

Last month Aquinas College in the Gold Coast were forced to lock their bathrooms to stop students from meeting in the toilets and vaping during class.

Students were required to undergo a 'check-in' procedure to get their teacher's permission in an effort to combat the use of the addictive pens.

A concerned mother told the ABC she busted her daughter using a vape after finding a message on her phone and searching for the device online.

'At first, I was sad that your child is involved in that, then I understood it because I was a teenager and I get it  and then I was angry,' she said.

'I was angry that these exist, that there is flavoured nicotine which appeals to kids.'

The mother said students as young as 12 and 13 were being pressured to try the vape pens, and called for better education in schools about the risks involved.

The pocket-sized devices can be purchased in various flavours including cool mint, sour apple, blue raspberry and banana ice for as little as $10 in convenience stores and online

Tobacco stores across Australia sell the addictive e-cigarettes for less than $20, offering to send the products in 'discreet packaging'.

Teenagers can also purchase the vape pens from dealers who buy their stock internationally and sell to kids on social media sites such as Instagram.

Most tobacco stores don't require their customers to provide proof of age, despite it being illegal to sell a minor nicotine in Australia.

However new restrictions on the nicotine e-cigarettes due to come into force in October will make it illegal to import the pens for vaping without a prescription.

A statement from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said that stopping consumers from purchasing e-cigarettes from overseas websites would be difficult.

But 'from October 1, the Australian Border Force, working with the TGA, will have powers to intercept them at the border', the statement read.

Lung Foundation CEO Mark Brooke said young people are especially at risk when using e-cigarettes, as exposure to the high doses of nicotine can harm the developing brain

Lung Foundation Australia CEO Mark Brooke previously told Daily Mail Australia it was extremely concerning to see young people have access to and smoke the illegal e-cigarettes.

'We know that disposable nicotine e-cigarettes are harmful to overall health, and particularly harmful to respiratory health', he said.

'Many nicotine e-cigarettes, such as puff bars, contain high levels of nicotine and other harmful chemicals to create flavours.'

Mr Brooke said young people are especially at risk when using e-cigarettes, as exposure to the high doses of nicotine can harm the developing brain.

'Exposure to nicotine can affect aspects such as learning, memory, mood and attention. What's more, it increases the risk of addiction to these products', he said.

Mr Brooke encouraged young people to be curiously critical of why the disposable e-cigarettes were being marketed to their age-group, as well as question what was actually in the devices and who they can trust for accurate information.
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More migrants were picked up by officials and taken to Dover on Monday as a Tory MP described Border Force as 'little more than a taxi service for illegal migrants'.

Border Force officials were seen bringing groups of people believed to be migrants to Dover, Kent, on Monday following an extremely busy week in English Channel crossings.

Migrant children wrapped in lifejackets have been arriving in Dover after crossing the Channel on Monday, as local children's services say they are at breaking point.

Pictures showed a young boy with bare feet was seen being helped ashore after making the perilous 21-mile journey across the water.

Today's arrivals in Dover come as Conservative Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh described Border Force as 'little more than a taxi service for illegal migrants'.

More migrants were picked up by officials and taken to Dover on Monday (pictured) as a Tory MP described Border Force as 'little more than a taxi service for illegal migrants'

Groups of people who appeared to be migrants were seen being taken to Dover, Kent, following an extremely busy week in English Channel crossings

Asking in the Commons what the Home Office is doing to tackle people smuggling, Sir Edward said: 'Does the minister recognise the public anger at us being made fools of with this? Border Force is little more than a taxi service for illegal migrants, it's ridiculous.

'So will the minister assure me that he will use his powers under the 1971 Immigration Act to arrest all illegal immigrants, put them in detention, prosecute them, imprison them and deport them so that we can stop this horrible trade dead in its tracks?'

Responding Home Office minister Chris Philp said: I completely share [Sir Edward's] anger at this situation and the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister does as well.

'As I say we are actively prosecuting the facilitators and in the forthcoming Sovereign Borders Bill as part of the new plan for immigration we plan to significantly strengthen the section 24 illegal entry offence that he refers to in the 1971 act to make it easier to use and easier to implement in practice.

'And at the same time we're going to be increasing the sentence for illegal entry and the sentence for facilitation under section 25 of that same act.'

Meanwhile, Kent County Council has threatened legal action against the Home Secretary, saying it faces extreme pressure on its services for unaccompanied child migrants.

The council is threatening Priti Patel with legal action in a row about what happens to unaccompanied children who arrive in the town seeking asylum.

Migrant children have been arriving in Dover after crossing the Channel on Monday, as local children's services say they are at breaking point

Border Force officials were seen towing two boats as groups of migrants were seen being taken to Dover, Kent, following an extremely busy week in English Channel crossings

One young boy wrapped in a lifejacket was seen holding hands with his father as they both stepped off the boat at Dover and were greeted by Border Force officials

Migrants crossing the Channel in small boats January 2020 - 87

February 2020 - 192

March 2020 - 187

April 2020 - 530

May 2020 - 741

June 2020 - 702

July 2020 - 1118

August 2020 - 1,468

September 2020 - 1,954

October 2020 - 463

November 2020 - 757

December 2020 - 211

January 2021 - 223

February 2021 - 308

March 2021 - 831

April 2021 - 746

May 2021 - 1,619 Advertisement

The authority said it may no longer be able to accept new unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) within days - a situation which came to pass in August 2020.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: 'We recognise the longstanding role that Kent County Council has played in supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and are extremely grateful for their contribution.

'We continue to encourage more areas to join the National Transfer Scheme and do their part.'

The proposed judicial review asks Ms Patel to use existing powers to direct local authorities other than Kent to receive their fair share of UASCs.

Clare Moseley, founder of migrant charity Care4Calais, said: 'These children are completely alone and incredibly vulnerable.

'They have arrived in the UK after making a dangerous journey that would terrify most adults.

'The Government has a duty of care but once again it appears that legal action is the only way to make the Home Secretary to recognise this.'

The dangerous sea journey from France - made by more than 3,000 people including children so far in 2021 - has claimed many lives in the past.

On Monday, police confirmed that the body of a baby found on a Norwegian beach is that of a Kurdish-Iranian boy who went missing in the English Channel last year.

Fifteen-month-old Artin was onboard an overcrowded migrant boat heading for the UK with his parents and two siblings when it capsized, claiming all five of their lives.

His parents Rasoul Iran-Nejad and his wife Shiva Mohammad Panahi, died along with their other two children when their boat capsized on October 27, 2020.

Pictures showed young children wrapped in wooly hats and jackets with bare feet being escorted at Dover after making the perilous 21-mile journey across the water

Today's arrivals in Dover (pictured: one family arriving in Border Force boat) come as Conservative Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh described Border Force as 'little more than a taxi service for illegal migrants'

The number who have crossed so far this year currently stands at 4,521, with over 1,000 of those individuals making the journey in the last week alone

Artin was reported missing following the tragedy and it was not until Monday that police confirmed that a body found on the Norwegian coast was that of the young boy.

His body is set to be returned to his family in his home country of Iran, Norwegian police said.

Artin's family had sold their house before leaving Iran and paid 14,000 to get on to the boat, with a further 8,200 supposed to be due when they arrived safely in the UK.

Ms Patel said at the time that the deaths were 'an ultimate tragedy' and one that 'could have been avoided'.

Yesterday, Border Force officers detained 89 migrants in four separate incidents as they intercepted four boats trying to reach the UK in small boats across the English Channel.

It takes the number who have crossed so far this year to 4,521, with over 1,000 of those individuals making the journey in the last week alone.

French authorities stopped a further 28 people in one boat from making the treacherous crossing, according to the Home Office.

The busy week for Border Force began the Friday before last, May 28, when 336 migrants arrived in 19 boats - the highest daily figure recorded so far this year.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Criminal gangs are putting profits before people's lives through these dangerous and unnecessary crossings.

'More than 4,000 people have been prevented from making the dangerous crossing so far this year and we are cracking down on the despicable criminal gangs behind people smuggling.

'Inaction is not an option whilst people are dying. The Government is bringing legislation forward through our New Plan for Immigration which will break the business model of these heinous people smuggling networks and save lives.'

Another 83 migrants crossed the Channel in four small boats on Friday making last week the busiest week for migrant crossings with more than 1,000 people attempting to reach the Kent and Sussex coast from France.

Border Force officials bring a boat filled with people, believed to be migrants, wearing life jackets and face masks into Dover, Kent, on Monday

Meanwhile, Kent County Council has threatened legal action against the Home Secretary, saying it faces extreme pressure on its services for unaccompanied child migrants. Pictured left and right: Child is accompanied by a Border Force official

Another 83 migrants crossed the Channel in four small boats on Friday making last week the busiest week for migrant crossings. Pictured: A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover on Sunday

Almost a quarter of the migrants who have crossed the Channel by small boat this year made the dangerous journey last week A total of 1,058 people arrived in the seven day period between May 28 and June 3, in 50 boats, according to official Home Office figures. That is 24.3 per cent of the 4,349 who have embarked on the perilous trip in 218 boats throughout 2021 so far. The busy week for Border Force began the Friday before last, May 28, when 336 migrants arrived in 19 boats setting a new daily record for the year. They were followed by 144 in seven vessels on Saturday, May 29, 17 in one crossing on Sunday May 30, and 71 migrants in three boats on Monday May 31, completing a hectic Bank Holiday. And that continued in the first three days of June, which saw 490 arrive in 12 boats. It includes 132 in six boats on Tuesday June 1 and 157 more in a further six vessels on Wednesday June 2, and 201 migrants made the perilous journey in eight boats earlier on Thursday June 3. Advertisement

On Friday the French intercepted eight crossings preventing 130 people from reaching the UK.

Sea fog has prevented crossings on Saturday and today.

It comes as Kent County Council warned it may not be able to accept unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) who arrive on the Kent coast saying the service has reached 'breaking point for the second time in under a year'

The council says it may no longer be able to accept new UASC arrivals within days.

In a statement released today they said: 'KCC continues to urge a strong and mandatory National Transfer Scheme and has served a formal Letter Before Action to the Home Office.

'Following last year's crisis, which saw vastly increased UASC numbers arriving in small boats in Kent, the Home Office and Department for Education promised to reform national systems so that Kent services would not be put under the same unreasonable strain this year.

'In the intervening nine months, although the council welcomed government support in the transfer of some UASC out of Kent, assistance with age assessments and additional funding the substantive changes needed to the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) to prevent a repeat have not been made, and once again Kent services are at risk of being overwhelmed by the number of new UASC arrivals by boat, which already stands at 60 more children than at the same time last year.

'Kent currently has nearly double the number of UASC children in care the government says it is safe to have.

'KCC has now taken the first steps in legal proceedings to implement a long-term solution that will prevent this crisis from occurring again.

'The proposed Judicial Review asks the Home Secretary to use her existing powers to direct local authorities other than Kent to receive their fair share of UASC. It refers to the 'refusal and/or continuing failure by the Home Secretary to exercise her powers to prepare a mandatory scheme to transfer some of the functions of KCC in respect of its responsibility to UASC's to other local authorities in England, and to direct other local authorities in England to comply with that scheme.'

The Director of Children's Services has advised the Leader that the current pace of arrivals and strain on care services is likely to mean he will no longer be able to safely accept any further new UASC arrivals in Kent before the end of this week.

The annual total of Channel migrants arriving in the UK this year is expected to exceed the 8,400 who made the journey in 2020

KCC says Border Forces will then be asked to place new arrivals directly into other local authorities around the country from the port, as they did for three months last year.

How many migrants have arrived in recent days? The number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats over each day of last week is: Sunday June 6: 89

Saturday June 5: 0

Friday June 4: 130

Thursday June 3: 201

Wednesday June 2: 157

Tuesday June 1: 132

Monday May 31: 71

Sunday May 30: 17

Saturday May 29: 144

Friday May 28: 336 (busiest day of the year so far) TOTAL: 1,277 (approximate figure, from Friday May 28 to Sunday June 6) Advertisement

Roger Gough said: 'I am deeply saddened that we are now seeing a repeat of the same crisis of 9 months ago.

'While there have been a number of welcome measures from government - to the benefit of the Kent council taxpayer - we have not seen what is most needed: a robust National Transfer Scheme that prevents port authorities such as Kent coming under unmanageable pressure. Over this last year we have argued consistently and repeatedly that this must be done through a mandatory system.

'The Home Office consulted on changes to the National Transfer Scheme (NTS) in August and September last year and have yet to publish any new proposals or a response to the consultation. The scheme remains voluntary with insufficient incentive for other UK Local Authorities to transfer UASC from Kent.

'Kent residents deserve a resolution to this issue. We still do not have one. The wholly disproportionate strain on Kent's Children's Services continues to be overlooked.

'We must ensure that all UK local authorities with capacity share in the support of these children.

'Enough is enough. A robust, long-term solution is well overdue and critical for the future welfare of all children supported by KCC, whatever their background, and the continuation of the excellent services that support them.'

Between 1 January and 1 June this year 242 UASC have arrived on Kent shores and been passed to Kent Children's Services.

Of these, only 52 have been transferred to other local authorities under the voluntary NTS. The current scheme does not keep pace with the rate of arrivals and the burden on Kent becomes unsustainable.

KCC says this remains a small problem to solve for the nation, but a huge problem for Kent in the meantime.

They warned: 'In the absence of any substantive Home Office response to the council's proposal by June 17, KCC will proceed to issue a claim for Judicial Review against the Home Secretary.'
Israel has appealed to Matt Hancock to allow a two-year-old suffering from irreversible brain damage to be treated in Tel Aviv.

The plea comes after UK doctors won permission to switch off life support treatment against the wishes of the girl's ultra-Orthodox Jewish parents.

Alta Fixsler was born in the UK and suffered brain damage during birth. She has been hooked up to a ventilator at the Royal Children's Hospital ever since, with her doctors saying that she cannot breathe, eat or drink without sophisticated medical treatment.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust - which has responsibility for her care - asked a High Court judge to decide whether it is in Alta's best interests to withdraw life-sustaining treatment and put her on a palliative care regime.

Lawyers representing the trust told the court that there is 'no prospect of her ever getting better'.

Her parents say their faith means they cannot agree to steps which would lead to her death and want to take her to a hospital in Israel, where they are citizens.

Alta Fixsler (pictured) suffered a severe brain injury at birth and her doctors say she cannot breathe, eat or drink without sophisticated medical treatment

Last month, a High Court judge ruled that it was 'in Alta's best interests for the treatment that is currently sustaining her precious life now to be withdrawn'.

However, Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein has now appealed to the British government through his counterpart, Matt Hancock, to reverse the decision after being informed of Fixler's parents' request that she be treated in Israel.

'The hospital has petitioned the Supreme Court for permission to disconnect Alta from the device to which she is connected, which will result in her death.

'According to a legal opinion attached to the request on behalf of the family members, and in our opinion acceptable, according to Israeli law in circumstances where the parents oppose the cessation of medical treatment that could lead to the child's death and that life expectancy exceeds six months - medical treatment must not cease.

'Alta's parents are Orthodox Jews and Israeli citizens, living their lives according to Hebrew law, and they are interested in transferring Alta to one of the two hospitals in Israel that have expressed a willingness to treat her. I would appreciate if you could help the Fixsler family bring Alta further treatment in Israel.'

The High Court's current position is that a transfer to hospital in Israel should be refused on the grounds that Alta's suffering should not be prolonged.

Alta's parents will find out by tomorrow if they are allowed to appeal the High Court's decision.

Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein (left) has appealed to the British government through his counterpart, Matt Hancock (right), to reverse a High Court decision to allow doctors to remove Alta from life support

Speaking before the High Court decision, the family's barrister Victoria Butler-Cole QC said: 'They would like her to be treated in Israel by doctors who share their religious beliefs and ethical framework, and struggle to understand why the trust will not agree to this.

'Hospitals in Israel are willing to accept Alta, the risks of transfer are very low, and the costs of transporting Alta safely will be met.

'The parents implore the trust to reconsider their position.'

But Mr Justice MacDonald said taking the young girl to Israel for treatment to continue there would 'expose Alta to further pain and discomfort during the course of transfer for no medical benefit in circumstances where all parties accept that the treatment options now available for Alta provide no prospect of recovery'.

The judge added: 'The parents cannot be criticised for having reached a different decision informed by the religious laws that govern their way of life.

'But applying the secular legal principles that I must, and according due respect to the deeply held religious convictions of the parents, I cannot agree with their assessment and am required to act accordingly.'

Mr Justice MacDonald concluded: 'It is not in the best interests of Alta for life-sustaining medical treatment to be continued, and [...] it is in her best interests for a palliative care regime to be implemented.'

Alta suffered irreversible brain damage during birth. She has been hooked up to a ventilator at the Royal Children's Hospital (pictured) ever since

In a statement released after the ruling, Mat Culverhouse, a solicitor at Irwin Mitchell law firm representing Alta and her family, said: 'Naturally, Alta's parents are disappointed with today's decision.

'They are devastated at the prospect of her treatment being withdrawn and are now considering their options with regard to appealing.

'We'll continue to support them throughout this difficult time.'

A fundraising website set up for Alta has raised 275,907 as of early Monday afternoon.

The page claims her condition had at one point improved to the extent that doctors were preparing to discharge her for care at home.

'Not too long ago, the hospital was ready to send Alta home - which is where every child belongs! The hospital trained Alta's parents to look after her independently.

'Unfortunately, due to a few complications, the move home was delayed,' the site reads.

Meanwhile, The Jewish Weekly has set up a change.org petition to support Alta's right to life.

The petition, entitled Support the Right to Appeal to Save a Life has gained 20,841 signatures.

The newspaper said a self-funded medical plane is being readied to take Alta to Israel, if the UK allows it.
France has fined Google 190million after finding the tech giant abused its dominant market position while selling online adverts.

French regulators found Google had pushed publishers to use its platforms for selling adverts while unfairly punishing rival platforms, using a range of tactics which included charging opaque and variable commission fees.

The ruling, which blasted Google for an 'extremely severe' infringement of the rules, came after claims by three media groups - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, French newspaper Le Figaro, and Belgium's Groupe Rossel.

It is the first legal case to target the complex algorithms that tech firms use to sell online advertising and opens the door for rival tech firms and media companies to make claims for damages.

Google has been fined 190million by France's competition watchdog for abusing its market dominance to sell online advertising (file image)

Damien Geradin, who acted for the complainants, told MailOnline: 'This is the first antitrust decision that finds that Google breached competition law for its anticompetitive practices in ad tech.

'The first of several as Google is also being investigated in Italy, UK and by the European Commission, and subject to lawsuits in the US. It will give ammunition to the other authorities.

'The language used by the French decision is quite strident. The decision qualifies the infringement as 'extremely severe'. It prejudiced both smaller ad tech rivals and news publishers.

He added that the ruling also comes with remedies that Google has agreed to implement to stop the unfair practices happening in the future.

'The devil is in the details and it is early to comment on the impact of these remedies, their presence is a great plus and more important than the fine,' he said.

'It also opens the door for damages claims by ad tech rivals and news publishers for the losses suffered by Google's anticompetitive behaviour.'

As part of the case, Google was accused of taking data from its DoubleClick advertising server - which is used by publishers such as news sites to put adverts up for sale - to optimise sales on its ad auction house software, AdX.

Media groups looking to sell ad space on their internet sites or mobile apps using rival platforms often found that Google's services were unfairly competing against rivals, using a variety of methods.

For example, regulators found that Doubleclick would vary the commission it took when making a sale based on prices offered by other so-called ad servers.

At the same time, Google arranged for AdX to give preferential treatment to offers emanating from Doubleclick - effectively squeezing out competitors such as Xandr or Index Exchange.

'The practices are particularly serious because they are penalising Google's competitors in the SSP market as well as the editors of websites and mobile apps,' the regulator said in a statement.

The ruling comes after three media giants complained that Google was unfairly pushing publishers to use its software to sell ads, while punishing rivals (file image, one of the complained-about Google advertising platforms)

Media groups saw their online ad revenues crimped 'even as their business model has been strongly undermined by the decline in paper subscriptions and the associated drop in advertising revenue,' it said.

Google did not contest the findings, and the regulator said the company has committed to operational changes including improved interoperability with third-party ad placement providers.

'We are going to test and develop these changes in the coming months before deploying them more broadly, including some on a global scale,' Maria Gomri, legal director at Google France, said in a statement.

The changes Google has committed to making will only be binding in France, and will only apply for three years.

However, with similar legal cases underway in other jurisdictions, it is hoped the changes will form part of a blueprint for how the company operates in the future to avoid fines and sanctions elsewhere.

Gomri said Google will be testing its changes 'over the coming months before rolling them out more broadly, including some globally.'

The fine represents just a tiny fraction of the $55.3 billion in revenue booked by Google in the first quarter of this year alone, mainly from online ad sales.

The ruling comes as American technology firms are drawing closer scrutiny from European authorities, which are giving themselves new resources to better understand the complex workings of fast-evolving markets.

Last week, Germany's competition regulator said it was expanding an antitrust investigation into Google and its parent company Alphabet to include Google News Showcase, a service aimed at increasing revenue for media publishers.

Facebook also found itself targeted last week by parallel competition inquiries from the European Union and Britain, into whether the social media giant uses data from advertisers to unfairly dominate the online classifieds market.

Google had already been fined 150 million euros by the French regulator in December 2019 over 'opaque' operating rules for its advertising platform, which were deemed to be applied in 'an unfair and random manner.'

And in December last year, Google as well as Amazon were fined a total of 135 million euros by France's privacy watchdog for placing advertising cookies on users' computers without consent.
Police are looking for a man who was caught on surveillance fleeing after he tried to rape a woman on a New York City sidewalk Saturday morning.

The 27-year-old woman was walking on the sidewalk at 7am in Manhattan's Midtown neighborhood when the man grabbed her from behind.

The suspect grabbed the woman by the throat with both of his hands and pushed her against a storefront on East 33rd Street.

Police said the suspect then pulled down his pants and tried to rape the woman.

Police are hunting a man who was caught on surveillance video fleeing after he tried to rape a woman on a sidewalk in Manhattan's Midtown neighborhood on Saturday at 7am

The woman fought back against the suspect during a brief struggle, according to police.

She was eventually able to break free of his grip.

Police said the suspect fled the scene on foot.

Surveillance footage showed the suspect running down the street as he fled the scene.

The streets appeared to be deserted of pedestrians and there were very few vehicles around at the time. It is not clear where the woman was headed at the time.

Surveillance footage showed the suspect running down the street as he fled the scene

The streets appeared to be deserted of pedestrians and there were very few vehicles around at the time of the early morning attack

She suffered a minor cut to her head during the attack. The woman was evaluated and treated at the scene by first responders.

The suspect was wearing black pants, a gray T-shirt and white sneakers at the time.

He had a face mask around his chin as he was spotted running from the scene.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
Much to the chagrin of his critics, Donald Trump did not wear his pants backwards at a speech in North Carolina over the weekend and videos suggesting that he had were merely taken from a bad angle.

A video clip from Trump's rally on Friday in Greenville, North Carolina raced around the internet over the weekend. It showed Trump's pants oddly wrinkled around the front thighs, with no visible fly.

But new high resolution pictures and videos from the same event prove the pants were on the right way after all.

Trump critics leaped on the footage and compared him to the 90s hip hop duo Kriss Kross.

High resolution photos of Trump at the rally on Friday show his pants were on the right way, despite other videos and pictures suggesting the opposite

A cell phone video clip of the TV broadcast drove Trump critics into a frenzy, appearing to show him wearing pants with no front zipper fly and oddly bunched in the thighs

'Others are noting this, but it can't be shared enough: Donald Trump gave his big speech today with his pants on backwards.

'Look close and tell me I'm wrong,' tweeted New York Daily News columnist Brandon Friedman.

Theories and speculation ran wild as the video made the rounds, with others proposing that the pants might be elastic-waisted pull-ups with no button or front zipper.

'His pants aren't backwards. His tailor made him pull-up trousers to match the jacket, they're held up with an elastic waist and/or suspenders,' one Twitter user proposed.

'In other words, it looks like he is struggling with incontinence and needs to get his pants down quick,' the person added.

Trump haters seized on the video clip with glee, including the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, which contrasted a still from the video with a photo of President Joe Biden smiling on his bike

Trump haters seized on the video clip with glee, including the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, which contrasted a still from the video with a photo of President Joe Biden smiling on his bike.

However, Trump supporters fired back furiously, claiming the video had been doctored.

'I can't believe how many leftist morons, namely @ProjectLincoln, fell for the horribly photoshopped pic of Trump's pants,' tweeted conservative commentator John Cardillo.

The video that made the rounds on Twitter consisted of cell phone footage of a television broadcast of the rally, but a DailyMail.com investigation suggests that it has not been digitally altered.

The same footage can be seen in a WHNS-TV broadcast of the event, and no fly is visible in the original, clearer footage.

However, high-resolution photos from the event offer a clearer view of Trump's slacks than the video offers

The controversy sparked an avalanche of comparisons to Kriss Kross, the youth hip-hop duo that went platinum at age 13, and famously wore their clothes backwards as a gimmick

In several photos, a seam of some kind is clearly seen running down the front of Trump's trousers, suggesting that the pants did have a zipper.

Trump haters remained adamant that the seam was too long to be a zipper, suggesting that it was just a seam of the type found on the back of typical men's slacks.

The controversy sparked an avalanche of comparisons to Kriss Kross, the youth hip-hop duo that went platinum at age 13, and famously wore their clothes backwards as a gimmick.

'Kriss Kross will make ya Trump Trump,' tweeted actor Brian Guest, spoofing the lyrics of the group's smash hit debut single, 'Jump'.

'Now let's wait and see if the rest of his supporters turn their pants around backwards. It'll be like Kriss Kross in the 90s but with the GOP.....' another person tweeted.

Some cracked puns, with one person asking: 'Was the speech given in a no-fly zone?'

Others predicted that Trump would soon address the pants rumors head on with his typical brio and antagonism.

'The next Trump rally will feature 15 minutes of brand new content on his very normal pants,' tweeted screenwriter Bob Schooley.
Liz Cheney claimed Trump did 'the most dangerous thing' a president has ever done by 'inciting' the January 6 Capitol attack as she revealed many GOP lawmakers didn't vote for impeachment because they feared for their safety.

'I think what Donald Trump did is the most dangerous thing, the most egregious violation of an oath of office of any president in our history,' Cheney told David Axelrod on an episode of his The Axe Files podcast, which was recorded Saturday but released Monday.

'I have had a number of members say to me, 'we would have voted to impeach, but we were concerned about our security,'' Cheney said during another part of the interview.

'I think that in some ways people have sort of glossed over that, but I think that's a very important point to pause and contemplate, that you have members of the United States House of Representatives for whom, you know, security  their personal security or their family security, their concerns about that affected the way that they felt they could vote,' she continued. 'That's a really significant thing to say about the current state of our politics.'

Cheney's comments come as it was revealed last week that she spent more on personal security in Washington and her home district in the first quarter of 2021 than she did in any previous quarter  especially in a non election year.

During the discussion with Axelrod, Cheney also railed against House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for visiting with Trump just three weeks after the Capitol attack, which she says the ex-president 'incited'.

'The idea that a few weeks after he did that, the leader of the Republicans in the House would be at Mar-a-Lago, essentially, you know, pleading with him to to somehow come back into the fold, or whatever it was he was doing, to me was was inexcusable,' Cheney said of McCarthy's trip to visit Trump at his Palm Beach residence.

Wyoming's at-large Representative Liz Cheney said that Donald Trump's actions and rhetoric surrounding the January 6 Capitol attack were 'the most dangerous thing, the most egregious violation of an oath of office of any president in our history'

She slammed Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's visit with Trump at Mar-a-Lago shortly after the attack as 'inexcusable'. 'I could not imagine any justification for doing that,' Cheney said

Wyoming's at-large representative, who was recently ousted as GOP Conference chairwoman, said she was 'stunned' McCarthy visited with Trump so shortly after the riot, for which the former president was impeached  and acquitted.

'I could not imagine any justification for doing that,' Cheney said. 'And I asked him why he had done it, and he said, well, he had just been in the neighborhood, essentially.'

Cheney was booted from her No. 3 leadership post among House Republicans last months after she continued to break with the former president  leading to her colleagues accusing her of not being in line with the party any longer.

In January, Cheney was the highest-ranking Republican who voted for Trump's second impeachment, which was brought by Democrats who claimed his rhetoric directly incited the violent attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters on January 6.

Trump was ultimately acquitted for the second time in the then-Republican-led Senate.

During Cheney's talks with Axelrod, who served as a senior adviser to Barack Obama, she compared Trump's rhetoric to leaders in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

She said his continued claims of a 'rigged' election and questioning the validity of the U.S. election system is comparable to CCP trying to discredit American democracy.

'When you listen to Donald Trump talk now, when you hear the language he's using now, it is essentially the same things that the Chinese Communist Party, for example, says about the United States and our democracy,' Cheney said.

'When he says that our system doesn't work,' she added, 'when he suggests that it's, you know, incapable of conveying the will of the people, you know, that somehow it's failed  those are the same things that the Chinese government says about us.'

'And it's very dangerous and damaging,' Cheney insisted. 'And it's not true.'

Cheney was replaced by New York Representative Elise Stefanik, who, while she has a less conservative voting record than Cheney, voted against Trump's impeachment and objected to certifying the 2020 election results for Joe Biden.

Cheney was ousted as GOP Conference chairwoman in May for continuing to break with Trump. She speaks with reporters on May 12 after the vote to oust her where she said her new goal is to forge a path forward for the party without the ex-president

Cheney was replaced by Rep. Elise Stefanik, who announced Saturday with husband Matt Manda she is pregnant with her first child

McCarthy helped Cheney survive a vote trying to oust her as No. 3 ranking Republican in February for her impeachment vote, but after that, the two lawmakers' relationship devolved and he ultimately backed her removal from leadership.

The California representative's thoughts on the Capitol riot  mainly Trump's involvement  has flip-flopped.

Just one week after the attack, McCarthy said Trump 'bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters.' He did, however, not support impeaching Trump.

Two weeks later, McCarthy visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, where the two discussed strategy for winning back the House majority in the 2022 midterms.

McCarthy also said in May he did not back efforts to create a committee to investigate the January 6 attack  the measure ultimately was blocked by Republicans in the Senate.

Since leaving leadership, Cheney has said her new goal is to forge a new path forward for the GOP without Trump and make sure he never gets a second term as president.
A man shot dead his 38-year-old girlfriend and a 15-year-old boy before killing himself Monday at a Florida apartment complex in an incident that left three other children injured.

Police said the 42-year-old gunman opened fire at an apartment complex near the Homestead Air Reserve Base, south of Miami, at about 2am.

The 38-year-old woman and 15-year-old boy were found dead at the scene.

An 11-year-old girl, 16-year-old boy and 18-year-old boy were all rushed to hospital after being shot.

Police said the 42-year-old gunman opened fire at an apartment complex in Miami-Dade overnight, killing his girlfriend, 38, and a 15-year-old boy. An 11-year-old girl, 16-year-old boy and 18-year-old boy were all rushed to hospital after being shot. One of the victims is pictured above being transferred to hospital

The shooting unfolded at an apartment complex (above) near the Homestead Air Reserve Base, south of Miami, on Monday at about 2am. Photo courtesy of NBC 6

The gunman later killed himself outside the apartment as police officers tried to negotiate with him, news outlets reported.

The 11-year-old remains in a critical condition in hospital, while the 16-year-old boy is now stable. The 18-year-old also is stable.

Police have not released the identities of the gunman or victims.

The relationship of the children to the adults was not immediately clear but police said it appeared to be a domestic situation.

Authorities have released no other details regarding the shooting.

It unfolded at an apartment complex near the Homestead Air Reserve Base.

The gunman later killed himself outside the apartment as police officers tried to negotiate with him. Police have not released the identities of the gunman or those who were shot

The shooting is the latest in a string on gun-related incidents across Miami in recent days.

Two people were killing and 25 others were injured after gunmen opened fire on a crowd at a Miami-Dade rap concert on May 30.

The gunmen were armed with assault rifles when they pulled up to the El Mula Banquet Hall in Northwest Miami-Dade in a white SUV and started shooting into the crowd.

They fled the scene soon after.

Meanwhile, three people were killed and five more wounded overnight in a gunfight outside a Miami hookah lounge where a graduation party was being held.

One of the victims who was shot and died in hospital was a female corrections officer.

The other two were men in a car that crashed near the scene and were found dead. A gun was found inside the car.

The gunfight happened at about 2am on Monday in the Kendall district of southern Miami.

Revelers had been celebrating a graduation party and were milling around outside the venue when two cars - a dark colored Chevy Malibu and a white Toyota Camry - pulled into the parking lot and those inside opened fire.
The global Benzene Market is anticipated to reach USD 111.1 billion by 2026 according to a new study published by Polaris Market Research.

Benzene is an aromatic hydrocarbon and a commodity petrochemical product. It is produced as by-product in stream crackers and refineries, thus its supply and demand is driven by other products derived from it. Benzene is a basic chemical and a building block for many other chemical synthesis of the global chemical and petrochemical value chain.

Benzene is used in a broad range of economic sectors such as electrical & electronics, construction, consumer products, transportation, and medical. This petrochemical product has many derivatives such as ethyl benzene, nitrobenzene, cumene, cyclohexane, alkyl benzene, chlorobenzene, aniline, and phenol.

The rapidly growing industries such as packaging, construction, bulk chemicals & materials, automotive, textiles and building & construction have substantially driven the applications for the benzene derivatives globally influencing the benzene market growth. Rising population in tandem with the increase in disposable incomes has led to growth of many consumer products and bulk materials. Low cost of the feedstock and economical commodity product prices have also contributed to the higher consumption of benzene derivatives.

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Benzene is a petrochemical derivative and thus is subjected to price volatility. The fluctuations in the prices of crude oil directly affect the prices of the by-products derived from its hydrocarbon stream in refineries. The benzene industry is highly regulated in terms of policy frameworks as benzene is a toxic chemical where its highlevel exposure can lead to serious environmental implications.

Asia Pacific is the largest regional market for the benzene market due to high consumption in China. Despite a gradually slowing economy, China has witnessed all the additional benzene requirements in the past five years (2012-2017). The consumption has shifted from North America and Western Europe towards Asia and Middle East over the past decade.

The diverse needs of a growing middle class in China, significant expansion in refinery capacities, large-scale p-xylene plants to feed the downstream petrochemical sector has majorly driven the benzene demand in the country. However, the performance of the Chinas economy in the near future is expected to be a vital driver for benzene consumption. Albeit a slower pace, additional benzene capacities are expected to be on-stream by 2021, but just for the production of ethylene.

Complete Summary with TOC Available @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/benzene-market

The global benzene market comprises of large number of international and domestic producers. Global benzene industry has witnessed a shift in competitive landscape towards closer proximity of the refineries. Some of the major benzene market players include Sinopec, BASF, China National Petroleum Corporation, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Dow DuPont, ExxonMobil Corporation, and Royal Dutch Shell plc.

Benzene Market Size and Forecast by Derivative, 2018-2026 Ethyl Benzene Cumene Cyclohexane Nitro Benzene Others

Benzene Market Size and Forecast by Regions, 2018-2026 North America US. Canada Europe Germany UK France Asia Pacific China India Japan Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa



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Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities.

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India's Covid variant is now dominant in 201 authorities in England and has spread to more than 85 per cent of the country, data revealed today as infections started to rise in more parts of Britain than at any point since early January.

Surveillance data showed the mutant strain was responsible for more than half of infections in two thirds of England over the two weeks to May 29, the latest available.

This was double the number from the previous week, when it was the dominant variant in 102 areas, and eight times more than at the start of May when it was the main strain in just 23 areas.

It was dominant in every borough of Greater Manchester and Liverpool, and in every council area in Birmingham except Sandwell. In London it was dominant in every borough except Greenwich, Havering and Waltham Forest.

The 'Delta' variant  known to scientists as B.1.617.2  was spotted in a total of 272 of 317 council areas in England.

It was behind 10,477 infections over the 14-day period, or almost 75 per cent of cases in the two-week period. Only 3,171 were due to the previously dominant Kent variant, which sparked the second wave in December.

Bolton was battling the biggest outbreak of the strain over the two weeks to May 29, when it detected 1,674 cases. Its neighbour Blackburn with Darwen was suffering the second biggest outbreak, recording 813 cases, followed by Manchester (493 cases) and Bedford (451 cases). Indian variant infections also surged in Birmingham, doubling from the previous week, while in Salford and Bury they tripled.

Separate data today showed nearly three quarters of councils across the UK, or 283 out of 380, saw their Covid infection rates start to rise over the seven days to June 2 amid the spread of the mutant strain.

This was the highest number since January 6, when the country was in the grips of the second wave. Blackburn with Darwen is the nation's hotspot, with an infection rate at 515.7 cases per 100,000 people.

Matt Hancock yesterday warned the Indian variant may be around 40 per cent more transmissible than the previously dominant Kent variant, but studies show it is still susceptible to vaccine-triggered immunity.

There are mounting fears rising cases could put England's June 21 'Freedom Day' into jeopardy, but Boris Johnson said today there was still 'nothing in the data' to suggest a pause would be needed. No10 sources say no decision on whether to delay the reopening will be made until June 14, a week beforehand.

Britain today recorded another 5,683 Covid cases, up 68 per cent in a week, and one death from the virus. More than 40.4million Britons have received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine, as the drive was today opened to all over-25s across the country.

Mr Johnson's spokesman said today: 'There still remains that there is nothing in the data currently to suggest Step Four can't go ahead at the earliest date. But we do need to look very closely at the data over this coming week.'

The above map shows the areas of England where the Indian variant of Covid was responsible for more than half of infections (coloured from red to black) over the two weeks to May 29, the latest available. Data showed it was dominant in 201 of 317 local authorities, or two thirds of England

This is more than double the number in the previous two-week period to May 22 (left) when it was dominant in 102 areas, and higher than during the two weeks to May 15 (right)

The Indian variant (light green) is now behind around 75 per cent of infections recorded in the UK. It has become the dominant strain, displacing the Kent variant (purple). The green and orange areas represent the original virus

Boris Johnson said today he could still see 'nothing in the data' which showed England's June 21 'Freedom Day' should be delayed. The Prime Minister is pictured today in Chesham campaigning in a by-election

Ministers are watching Covid hospitalisation rates closely in case these rise following new outbreaks but in Bolton  which was first hit by the Indian variant  the number of Covid patients on wards is already falling.

Latest NHS figures show there were 42 people in hospital in the Royal Bolton Hospital with the virus on June 1, last Tuesday, down from 49 at the peak of the new variant scare a week earlier. The same pattern may be unfolding in neighbouring Blackburn with Darwen.

COVID HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS DOWN IN BOLTON The number of patients needing hospital treatment for Covid is falling Bolton, the first area to be hit hard by the now-dominant Indian variant. Latest NHS figures show there were 42 people in hospital in the Royal Bolton Hospital with the virus on June 1, last Tuesday, down from 49 at the peak of the new variant scare a week earlier. The number of people being admitted to hospital each day has tumbled, too, to just three on May 30 compared to 14 five days before. The numbers are trailing a decline in cases which appears to show a spike in new variant cases has come under control. The same pattern is hopefully beginning to unfold in neighbouring Blackburn, the UK's current hotspot which has also been hit by the Indian 'Delta' strain, where infection numbers among over-60s have started to fall following a rise. Although the borough's infection rate was still rising at the end of May, a decline in infections among older people should help officials to keep hospital admissions and deaths under control. More than 12,000 cases of the B.1.617.2 variant have been spotted so far in the UK and Public Health England last week admitted for the first time that it has become the most common variant in Britain. Almost one in five officially recorded cases  2,149  have been in Bolton, with another 724 in Blackburn with Darwen. But the fact that Bolton has turned the tide of the super-infectious strain suggests it can be successfully controlled without lockdowns, instead using testing, contact tracing and vaccinations. The number of people being admitted to hospital with Covid in Bolton began declining in the final week of May, as did the total number of people on wards Advertisement

Surveillance data from the Sanger Institute  Britain's largest centre for monitoring variants  showed the Indian variant was now dominant in more than 200 local authorities in England.

Its figures do not include infections picked up through surge testing or in tests done on perople returning from abroad, meaning they only reflect which strains of the virus are spreading in the community.

The proportions are based on the number of Indian variant cases compared to those from all variants identified over the two weeks to May 29. Local authorities with no cases of the variant either had no cases identified from this particular strain or no data available.

Scientists can find out which variant is behind an infection by analysing a swab in a lab for key mutations.

Among areas that recorded more than 100 infections with the Indian variant in the latest week, Oldham recorded the biggest surge in infections. It registered 128 infections, an almost five-fold increase from 22 in the previous seven-day spell.

It was followed by Cheshire East, where infections with the mutant strain spiked more than four-fold to from 20 cases to 112. Stockport saw the third sharpest rise, after they also jumped four-fold to 171, and Hyndburn saw the fourth biggest rise by more than two-fold to 114 cases.

Separate analysis compiled by the PA news agency showed Covid cases were now rising in more local areas across the UK than since the peak of the second wave.

But although cases ticked up in nearly three-quarters of local authorities, in just under half of these the increase was still in single digits.

A growing number of areas were recording sharp jumps in rates, however, with some of them large enough to push the area above 100 cases per 100,000 people.

Twenty-eight local authorities now have infection rates above this level, compared to none in April.

There are mounting fears rising cases could lead to a slowdown in the roadmap, because of concern they may spark rising hospitalisations.

But the Prime Minister's official spokesman said today that No10 had 'always expected' cases to rise when the main lockdown ended in May  which they did last week, alarming scientists. They added that ministers will 'look very closely at the data over this coming week' to check hospitals aren't being crippled again, before pressing ahead with any decision on June 21.

The spokesman continued that this week 'will be crucial to decide and really to get a sense of the data, particularly on hospitalisations and whether or not the excellent vaccine rollout programme has sufficiently severed that link between the increase in cases, which we always expected to happen, particularly after Step Three, and that subsequently leading to hospitalisations and deaths'.

Asked if there is evidence of a third wave, the spokesman said: 'We can see that the cases are rising in the UK, that is both due to the increased transmissibility of the Delta (Indian) variant, and to a certain extent the opening up of measures taken in Step Three.'

Hospitalisations in Bolton have already begun to fall after surge testing turned around a spike in infections.

Covid hospital admissions started rising in Bolton in the first week of May around 10 days after cases began to rise from the third week of April.

The town, home to around 200,000 people, was the first alarm bell that the Indian variant was taking off in Britain, as cases exploded there and a testing surge discovered hundreds of people infected with the strain.

Its infection rate spiked 10-fold from just 44 cases per 100,000 people on April 22 to a peak of 453 per 100,000 a month later on May 21.

Cases have been most common in under-55s, who are least likely to have had two doses of a vaccine, but hospital admissions rose in the wake of the rocketing cases.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock last week admitted the link between infections and hospital admissions, which vaccines should separate, has so far been 'broken but not completely severed'.

Positive tests in Bolton started to come down in mid-May, falling from an average 186 per day on May 18 to 148 by May 29, with signs suggesting they fell even further last week. The most recent infection rate is 355 per 100,000.

The turning point in hospital admissions appeared to come a week later, peaking on May 25 with 14 people taken in to hospital, with the total number in hospital appearing to have started dropping on May 28.

Leader of the local vaccine programme Dr Helen Wall said last week that hospital admissions were 'stabilising and staying stable', the Manchester Evening News reported.

"We are not seeing the same rapid spikes that we have previously, but we can't rest on that, she said.

'I believe it is because of the vaccines and because of the number of people that we have got vaccinated in this time, that we have seen that benefit.'

Public health chiefs will hope the same trend plays out in Blackburn with Darwen, a nearby borough in Lancashire that is home to around 150,000 people.

Top scientists warned today that Britain's lockdown easing plan should be delayed 'right away' because rising cases of the Indian variant were leading to more people being hospitalised nationally.

Sir David told Sky News Covid hospitalisations were 'slowly rising'. Department of Health data showed there were 932 people in the UK's hospitals suffering from Covid on June 3, the latest available. This was up by around 7.5 per cent on the 867 the week before.

The emeritus professor at Cambridge University said: 'Im very reluctant to say that we should not go out of lockdown on June 21 but I think the figures are in now, and it will be wise for the Government to announce right away a delay in opening, just so that we can all plan for the post June 21 period.'

Asked for how long, he said: 'I would give a few weeks' delay and see how the figures are emerging. So, I dont know how long. As the Prime Minister has said, its data, not dates, that we should be governed by, and thats response as well.'

Another Government adviser said delaying the June 21 lockdown by a few weeks would be the best way of preventing another full-blown lockdown.

Professor Ravi Gupta, a member of NERVTAG, told BBC Breakfast: 'I think that to go completely back to normal may not be in everyones best interests. We want this to be the last lockdown that we ever go into, and we do not want to go into a reverse situation which would be much more damaging to the economy, peoples businesses and long-term welfare.'
A man was lifted from his kayak by a US Coast Guard helicopter Saturday night after making it just five days into a planned 64-day solo trip from California to Hawaii.

Cyril Derreumaux, 44, departed from Sausalito, four miles north of San Francisco, on May 31 with a goal of reaching Honolulu by August 3 to break the world record for the impressive 2,400-mile journey.

News of the Frenchman's attempt made it far and wide, appearing in papers all over the world.

But by June 2 - just two days into his trip - Derreumaux was forced to anchor his kayak and hunker down in his cabin as rough winds and powerful waves that were 'crashing' on top of his vessel left him seasick.

Cyril Derreumaux's 2,400-mile kayak trip from Sausalito to Honolulu came to an end on Saturday night when he was rescued by a US Coast Guard crew after just five days at sea

Derreumaux is seen departing from Sausalito on the morning of May 31 with a goal of reaching Honolulu in 64 days

A US Coast Guard crew is seen rescuing Derreumaux via helicopter on Saturday night

His trip was cut short by bad weather and an anchor that could no longer keep him in place

'I paddled non stop for 7 hours and am super tired,' the French-born 'entrepreneur' and 'motivational speaker' said in an update.

'Still a bit weak from yesterday's sea sickness so can't eat much. Forcing myself. Wind is increasing tonight and stronger and stronger until Saturday.'

That's when his trip came to a premature end.

His ground team lost track of him, his anchor was damaged, and he found himself 'violently tossed from side to side, along with all the equipment that was stored in the cabin,' he said in a statement posted to social media after his rescue.

The French-born 'entrepreneur' and 'motivational speaker' had previously rowed from California to Hawaii as part of a team, but had never done a trip this far by himself

'Still a bit weak from yesterday's sea sickness so can't eat much. Forcing myself,' Derreumaux said in a live update posted by his team to his social media accounts two days into his voyage

While hidden inside the tiny cabin on his kayak, Derreumaux was said to have soothed himself with old episodes of Seinfeld

Losing his anchor amid winds projected to reach 45 knots made it clear he had to call it quits on his odyssey, which he had prepped for for three years, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

A crew of Coast Guardsmen was deployed via helicopter and a diver was lowered into the water to pull Derreumaux to safety. They landed at the San Francisco International Airport on Saturday night.

The father-of-two made it 60 nautical miles, slightly less than 70 land miles, into the 2,400-mile trip.

Derreumaux, pictured barefoot in center, was lifted up by a diver and taken to land on June 5

The father of two made it 70 miles offshore before the weather forced him to abandon his expedition

But Derreumaux, whose boat remains adrift in the Pacific Ocean, remains undeterred.



'If it looks like I can go in the next three weeks, then Ill do it,' he said. 'But Ill be assessing the stress I put on my family and particularly my girlfriend. It might be too much to take off again this year.'

Derreumaux moved to the United States from a 'rural French village' at 18 for an exchange program, according to his website.

He took up paddling in 2009. In 2016, he participated in the second Great Pacific Race, where he and a team rowed from San Francisco to Waikiki, Hawaii in 39 days.

Some of his rowing buddies had warned of the precariousness of his trip before he left.

'Hes stepping off into the abyss,' said Carter Johnson, Derreumaux's friend and the world record-holder for long distance paddling.

In September, rower Lia Ditton successfully completed a solo trip from San Francisco to Hawaii in 86 days, beating Roz Savage's 2008 record of 100 days.

At least Derreumaux was not alone while he braved the high seas.

Comments wishing him good luck poured into his social media accounts as he was holed up in his cabin, which had just enough room for him to lie down and watch episodes from season three of Seinfeld.
Fury has today erupted over the Parole Board's decision to allow notorious child killer Colin Pitchfork to be freed from prison after 33 years.

Double-murderer Colin Pitchfork will be allowed to leave prison after being jailed for life for strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.

The Parole Board ruled that Pitchfork, now in his 60s, had 'made progress' while in custody and could be released with a series of conditions imposed.

But it has sparked anger from local MP Alberto Costa, who described him as 'dangerous' and said his constituents would be 'appalled' by the Parole Board's decision.

The Tory MP South Leicestershire told the BBC: 'I, like many of my South Leicestershire constituents, am appalled at this decision that the Parole Board has made.

'Even though some 30 years have passed this isn't the sort of crime that one can ever forget.

'My constituents remember the victims, people who went to school with these victims, and they look to me as the member of Parliament to do everything I can to inform the state that it would be immoral, wrong and frankly dangerous to release this disgraceful murderer of two children.'

Both victims' families have said on previous occasions that they believe Pitchfork - who has been in an open prison in recent years and who was seen ambling around shops in Bristol in 2017 - remains a danger to the public.

Pitchfork's release comes as politicians scrutinise new policy which would increase the likelihood of child killers ever being eligible for parole.

Under new legislation, proposed by the Government, murderers who kill multiple people, or who kill children, would face a starting point of a 'whole life order'.

Unlike life-sentences, which are set with a minimum sentence to be served in prison, whole life orders mean a person will never leave prison.

One of Britain's most evil child killers Colin Pitchfork will learn next month if he will be released from jail

Pitchfork - the first person ever to be snared by DNA evidence - was jailed for life in 1988 for raping and murdering 15-year-old Leicestershire schoolgirls Lynda Mann (left) and Dawn Ashworth (right) in 1983 and 1986

How a revolutionary DNA trial helped to snare child killer Colin Pitchfork DNA evidence - then in its early use in criminal cases - played a key role in solving the murders of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth. It was first used in the investigation following the death of Pitchfork's first victim - Lynda Mann. Then 15, Lynda was grabbed, raped and murdered as she walked home from babysitting earlier that day. DNA was used at the start of the investigation, when a sample of semen taken from her body was found to be from a person with type-A blood. It also matched an enzyme profile of just 10 per cent of males. But with few leads and no direct suspects, police left the case open. In 1986, a second 15-year-old girl, Dawn Ashworth, left her home to visit a friend's house. When she did not return, a search was launched and, like Lynda, her body was found having been raped. Police again found similar DNA, and with the murder having been carried out in a similar way, detectives realised they were looking for a double murderer. Officers had another suspect in mind at the time, Richard Buckland - a 17-year-old with learning difficulties who had confessed to the second murder and had knowledge of the first. He would later be exonerated. But it wasn't until Sir Alec Jeffreys, a genetics researcher at nearby Leicester University, became involved that his innocence was proved. Sir Alec first developed genetic profiling along with Peter Gill and Dave Werrett. And he used it to compare DNA samples found on both bodies. It proved the killer was the same person - but not Buckland. Later, police launched a DNA drive and up to 5,000 men in three villages were asked to volunteer blood or saliva samples. However, no matches were found. But in 1987 a bakery colleague of Pitchfork was overheard boasting how he was set to receive 200 to pose as Pitchfork and give a sample. The conversation was reported to the police and Pitchfork was later arrested. Advertisement

Pitchfork, who at the time was a baker and known to police as a serial flasher, attacked his victims and dumped their bodies on dark, secluded footpaths in Leicestershire.

He raped and strangled Lynda in Narborough after dropping his wife off at an evening class and while his baby son slept in the back of his car.

Three years later he raped and murdered Dawn in a similar attack in nearby Enderby.

The killer was the first criminal to be caught by the revolutionary DNA profiling process pioneered by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester.

He was eventually caught after the world's first mass screening for DNA, as 5,000 men in three villages were asked to volunteer blood or saliva samples.

No matches were found. But in 1987 a bakery colleague of Pitchfork - who had been there as an apprentice and had expressed a desire to set up his own cake-making business - was overheard boasting how he was set to receive 200 to pose as Pitchfork and give a sample.

The conversation was reported to the police and Pitchfork was later arrested.

Pitchfork was jailed for life in 1988.

He admitted two counts of murder, two counts of rape, two of indecent assault and one of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

His minimum term of imprisonment was set at 30 years, later reduced to 28 years in 2009 on appeal.

Pitchfork's case was most recently refused by the Parole Board in 2018.

Since then, he has been kept at Leyhill Prison, an open prison in Gloucestershire.

In accordance with the law the Parole Board must review cases every two years.

Today Mr Costa accused the Parole Board of 'playing politics' and said he would be lobbying the Justice Secretary.

'The Parole Board has received criticism before in the past - let's not forget only three years ago the John Worboys fiasco that the Parole Board went through when they tried to release that repugnant individual,' Mr Costa said.

'The Parole Board back then had the opportunity of hearing Pitchfork but because of representations that I made to the then secretary of state for justice, they acted politically as a Parole Board and chose to delay listening to having a hearing for Colin Pitchfork, so the Parole Board aren't short of playing politics in this as well.'

Mr Buckland has the power to urge the Parole Board to reconsider the decision - though the MoJ would not be drawn on whether he would or would not in this case.

A source close to Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told the BBC that government would take legal advice to explore the use of the 'reconsideration mechanism'.

Ahead of his December hearing, MP for South Leicestershire, Alberto Costa had raised concerns to Chief Executive of the Parole Board for England and Wales Martin Jones.

He said he met Mr Jones to reiterate the grave concerns of his constituents about Pitchfork's potential release.

Volunteers taking tests in 1987 to help police find the murderer of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth

Police initially arrested another man on suspicion of murdering Dawn Ashworth, but he was later exonerated. Pictured: A police van transports the other prisoner in August 1986

Pitchfork's case was most recently refused by the Parole Board in 2018. Since then, he has been kept at Leyhill Prison, an open prison in Gloucestershire

'Code of a Killer': The TV drama which detailed the DNA investigation into Colin Pitchfork's murders The investigation into the Colin Pitchfork's murders had a huge impact for DNA testing in police operations. So much of an impact did it have, that the investigation was turned into a TV drama. Produced for ITV, 'Code of a Killer' dramatised the real-life work of Sir Alec John Jeffreys - a British geneticist known for developing techniques for genetic fingerprinting and DNA profiling. The ITV drama, which aired in 2015, starred 'Life on Mars' actor John Simm as Sir Alec It was Sir Alec's work that was used by real-life detective Detective David Baker in the Pitchfork murder investigation. Baker, convinced the murderer was local, approached Jeffreys to utilise his scientific technique as a way to solve the murders. The first ever DNA manhunt and blood testing of many men followed  all in the aid of catching the killer. The ITV drama, which aired in 2015, starred 'Life on Mars' actor John Simm as Sir Alec. 'Shameless' star David Threlfall starred as Detective Baker. Advertisement

Speaking in November last year, Mr Costa said: 'I am of course hugely concerned at the prospect of convicted child-killer Colin Pitchfork being released on parole.

'His abhorrent crimes cast a shadow over parts of South Leicestershire for many years, and while the tragic of murders of Lynda and Dawn were some decades ago, they continue to live long in the memory of many of my constituents.

'I have consistently raised the issue of public safety with successive justice ministers, and with Pitchfork's hearing now due on the horizon I was pleased to make further representations to the Chief Executive of the Parole Board for England and Wales'.

Speaking in November last year, Chief Executive of the Parole Board for England and Wales Martin Jones said the decision was up to the independent parole board.

In a statement released today to MailOnline, a Parole Board spokesman said: 'We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Colin Pitchfork following an oral hearing.

'Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.

'A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

'Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.

'Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.

'The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.

'Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.

'The decision is provisional for 21 days.'

The panel, who met in March before releasing their findings today, considered more than 1,100 pages of information, victim statements and heard evidence from Pitchfork as well as his probation officers, police and a psychologist.

Pitchfork raped and strangled Lynda (pictured left as a schoolgirl and right aged 15) after dropping his wife off at an evening class and while his baby son slept in the back of his car. Three years later he raped and murdered Dawn in a similar attack.

A spokesperson said that there will be 35 separate conditions Pitchfork will have to abide by including tagging, polygraph testing, extensive exclusion zones, bans on contact with children, victims, as well as restrictions on electronic devices and vehicles.

According to the document, at the time of his offending Pitchfork thought 'about sex a lot', used 'violence and excessive force' and 'sex to demonstrate power and control over women'.

He also struggled to cope with anger, loneliness and had a willingness to 'seek revenge'.

During his time behind bars he has taken part in several courses to address his behaviour and the panel heard Pitchfork's 'behaviour in custody had been positive and had included extensive efforts to help others', including learning skills to help disabled people, the document said.
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Child migrants continued to make dangerous journeys across the Channel today as it was revealed the body of a young Kurdish boy who drowned making the crossing last year has been found in Norway.

Several infants, including one in barefeet, landed unaccompanied in Dover today after making the 21-mile voyage - amid a fresh wave of migration that has seen more than 1,000 land in a week and which local councillors say has pushed their services 'near breaking point'.

Underscoring the dangers of the journey, Norwegian investigators revealed today that the body of Artin Iran-Nejad - an 18-month-old Iranian Kurdish boy - has been found near their shores some 900 miles from where he drowned near Dunkirk in October last year.

Four members of Artin's family - including father Rasoul, mother Shiva, both 35, nine-year-old sister Anita and brother Armin, six - were confirmed dead after the small boat they were attempting to cross in capsized near the French coast in rough seas, but the toddler's body was never found.

Today, Norwegian investigators revealed that his remains washed up near Karmoy, in the country's southwest, on January 1 but they had been unable to identify him until this week.

Detectives suspected the boy was born overseas because there was no missing person report matching his description in Norway and his jacket was foreign-made. That led them to the French coast guard, who had photos of Artin wearing the same jacket shortly before he embarked on his journey.

DNA testing subsequently confirmed that the body and the boy were one and the same. His surviving relatives have been informed, and his body is expected to be flown back to Iran for burial.

Meanwhile, migrants continued to risk their lives by sailing across the Channel today, with 1,000 arriving last week alone and more than 4,500 making the crossing since the start of the year.

Child migrants continued to cross the Channel today despite the dangers of the journey being underlined by the discovery of a drowned 18-month-old boy's body in Norway

Border police escort child migrants ashore in Dover amid a fresh wave of migration that has seen more than 1,000 people make the crossing in the last week, and 4,500 since the start of the year

Councillors say the number of arrivals has pushed their services 'near breaking point'. as migrants take advantage of recent good weather to make their crossings

A dinghy full of migrants, including at least one child, is discovered in the English Channel by French coast guard while attempting to make the crossing today

Artin Iran-Nejad, aged 15 months, was listed as missing after a boat carrying his family across the Channel capsized near France last year. His remains have now been identified by investigators in Norway, who say his body washed up on January 1

Norwegian investigators have released images of the clothes that Artin was wearing when his body was found in the ocean off Karmoy, in the southwest of the country, on New Year's Day (pictured, his jacket is seen from the front)

A photo released by Norwegian police shows the back of the jacket that Artin was wearing when his body was found. The jacket is the same as one that he was pictured wearing shortly before he died

An image released by the Norwegian coast guard shows a life jacket that baby Artin was found wearing when his body washed up on January 1. It took detectives until this week to identify him

Mr Iran-Nejad (left) and his wife, Shiva, (far right) with two rescue workers (centre) in a French migrant camp. The children are seen from left to right: Artin, Anita and Armin

Border Force officials were seen towing two boats as groups of migrants were seen being taken to Dover, Kent, following an extremely busy week in English Channel crossings.

Migrant children wrapped in lifejackets have been arriving in Dover after crossing the Channel on Monday, as local children's services say they are at breaking point.

Pictures showed a young boy with bare feet was seen being helped ashore after making the perilous 21-mile journey across the water.

Today's arrivals in Dover come as Conservative Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh described Border Force as 'little more than a taxi service for illegal migrants'.

Meanwhile, Kent County Council has threatened legal action against the Home Secretary, saying it faces extreme pressure on its services for unaccompanied child migrants.

The council is threatening Priti Patel with legal action in a row about what happens to unaccompanied children who arrive in the town seeking asylum.

The authority said it may no longer be able to accept new unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) within days - a situation which came to pass in August 2020.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: 'We recognise the longstanding role that Kent County Council has played in supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and are extremely grateful for their contribution.

'We continue to encourage more areas to join the National Transfer Scheme and do their part.'

Artin's tragic journey had begun in Iran on August 7 last year after his parents 'sold everything' and left, in the hopes of making a better life for themselves in the UK.

Their exact reasons for leaving Iran were not made clear by family members who spoke at the time, but Kurds are an oft-persecuted minority in Iran.

It is thought the family then made their way to Turkey, before catching a ferry to Italy and then riding in lorries into France where they arrived almost a month before the tragic sinking.

They then made three attempts to cross to the UK, where it is thought they had family. Two attempts via train failed, before their third doomed attempt on a boat.

Artin and his relatives had been crammed into the sightseeing boat with as many as 23 others - despite it only being designed to carry 18.

The family are thought to have been put in a cabin below deck, meaning they were trapped when the boat capsized on October 27 in rough seas.

They had reportedly paid smugglers 21,000 for the voyage.

On Monday, Norweigan police revealed the child's body had been found on New Year's Day in the southwest of the country near Karmoy

Rasoul Iran-Nejad, 35, with Artin, (left) and his wife, Shiva Mohammad Panahi, 35, (right). The family are pictured in a French migrant camp hours before attempting the perilous crossing

The bodies of Armin, six, and Anita, nine, were recovered from the Channel near Dunkirk by French coastguard last year

The family were sleeping in a two-man tent in a makeshift camp in the Puythouck woods that is home to at least 200 immigrants, mainly from Iraq and Iran. A pair of shoes, a frying pan and a toy were outside the tent. Pictured: The family's tent (on the right)

Fifteen other migrants also on the boat were taken to hospital and an investigation into the sinking was launched in France. Two more were listed as missing.

Artin's devastated family previously told how they were left facing a 90,000 bill to bring the bodies home for burial, before the Iranian foreign ministry said it would step in to help. It is unclear when or if the bodies were repatriated.

The family had been sleeping in a two-man tent in a makeshift camp in the Puythouck woods that was home to at least 200 immigrants, mainly from Iraq and Iran. A pair of shoes, a frying pan and a toy were left outside their tent.

A series of text messages, thought to have been sent by Artin's mother a few days before the family boarded the boat included one saying they 'have no choice' but to cross the Channel.

The family's perilous route from Iran: Smuggled by boat, truck and two failed crossings from France by train - as two migrants remain missing The Iran-Nejad family left West Azerbaijan Province in Iran on August 7 to travel to Turkey and on to Greece, where they were arrested. They were deported back to Turkey after they were arrested, strip-searched and tear-gassed by Greek police, Iranian Kurds have revealed. One migrant who travelled with them from Turkey back to mainland Europe claimed that they had 'lost all their belongings' and were given money to 'buy new clothes' after their deportation from Greece. The migrant, who asked not to be identified, said he had taken pity on them when he met them in Turkey. 'They had lost all their belongings,' he told The Times. 'I gave them some money to buy new clothes.' The Iran-Nejads then sailed across the Aegean Sea a second time, but to Italy where they avoided arrest. From Italy, the family crossed the border from Italy into France in lorries, stopping in several cities along the way, unnamed migrants said. According to Mr Iran-Nejad's brother Khalil Irannazhad, the patriarch had initially decided to stay in Germany or Switzerland before changing his mind and carrying on to France. Family members claim that the Iran-Nejads then stayed on a camp near Calais before moving to Puythouck, but were evicted by police and moved to a nearby hotel after social services found them a room. Sources told The Times that Mr Iran-Nejad was leant money to pay smuggling gangs to get them into Britain. The family made three attempts to cross to the UK. The first two times, they wanted to cross by train, and the last time they wanted to cross by boat. 'It was the third time that they had attempted to cross to the UK. Two times they wanted to cross via train and the last time they wanted to cross by boat,' said Khalil. 'We begged him to not try to cross by boat. He insisted on going.' Advertisement

Another message said: 'If we want to go with a lorry we might need more money that we don't have,' the BBC reported.

A third said: 'I have a thousand sorrows in my heart and now that I have left Iran I would like to forget my past.'

Camp residents described hearing the family's desperate cries in the days before they departed for Britain as they argued about whether to make the crossing.

They told how Shiva agonised over whether they should take the three young children across the Channel on such a tiny boat.

Ahmed, 30, who slept in the next-door tent, told the Mail: 'The last night before he left, the father was fearing for the children's lives. They were all desperate and crying. And they were worried about the money, too, as they had borrowed it so had to go. They were really desperate.'

He added: 'Rasoul was saying, ''I want to be in peace, I don't want to fear for my life any more''. But his wife had second thoughts about going. Rasoul told her it was the only way as the [asylum] process is quicker in the UK. They could have stayed in Germany or France.

'They only wanted for their children to go to school in England and have a better life.'

Following the sinking, it was announced that the Iranian captain of the sunken boat was facing 10 years in jail for aggravated manslaughter.

The Iranian skipper of a migrant boat which capsized in the Channel killing a family of five faces 10 years in prison after being charged with 'aggravated manslaughter'.

The 37-year-old, who was not identified at the time, was arrested the day after the sinking and charged with aiding illegal immigration, manslaughter, endangering human life and association with a criminal gang.

Sebastien Pieve, the Dunkirk prosecutor, told MailOnline: 'A male person born in Iran 1983 appeared in court today before an examining magistrate.

Following interviews with survivors of Tuesday's tragedy it emerged that this person was said to be driving the boat which capsized off Loon Plage.

The suspect was one of 15 people picked up following the capsizing of the boat. One of these people is still in hospital suffering from serious injuries .

'The man described himself as a simple migrant attempting to reach the UK but investigators believe that he was involved in this senseless transport of migrants.

'The migrants rescued and questioned also describe him as being closeto the smugglers who organised the trip.

The man told the court he was simply one of the migrants attempting to cross the Channel in rough seas, but other survivors told police he had been captaining the vessel as part of a people smuggling operation.

The current status of his legal case in unclear.

Fellow migrants described seeing a people smuggler forcing people to board the flimsy boat amid perilous conditions, including winds of up to 47mph.

It is thought that at least 300 migrants, including 36 children, have perished trying to cross the Channel in the last 20 years.

However, that has not stopped people from attempting the dangerous journey, driven from their homes by war, famine and discrimination with promises of a better life overseas made by unscrupulous people-smugglers.

Just yesterday, Border Force officers said they had detained 89 migrants as they tried to reach the UK by sailing across the Channel in four boats.

It takes the number who have crossed so far this year to 4,521, with over 1,000 of those individuals making the journey in the last week alone.

French authorities stopped a further 28 people in one boat from making the treacherous crossing, according to the Home Office.

The busy week for Border Force began the Friday before last, May 28, when 336 migrants arrived in 19 boats - the highest daily figure recorded so far this year.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'Criminal gangs are putting profits before people's lives through these dangerous and unnecessary crossings.

'More than 4,000 people have been prevented from making the dangerous crossing so far this year and we are cracking down on the despicable criminal gangs behind people smuggling.

Toddler Artin was officially listed as missing following the accident as French coastguard failed to find his body, which has now been identified in Norway where it washed up on New Year's Day

The migrant boat was spotted by Marbuzet, a pleasure boat. This graphic - based data from shipping tracker Marine Traffic - shows the Marbuzet's course on Tuesday morning

'Inaction is not an option whilst people are dying. The Government is bringing legislation forward through our New Plan for Immigration which will break the business model of these heinous people smuggling networks and save lives.'

Iran has a long history of discrimination against ethnic Kurds, with thousands travelling to Europe each year with the help of people smugglers.

The discrimination is partly based on religion as the majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims while the majority of non-Kurdish Iranians are Shia.

While equality of religions is guaranteed in Iranian law, in reality Sunni Muslims struggle to establish places of worship and schools for their children.

According to an Amnesty International report from 2008, Iranian Kurds have been subjected to discriminatory hiring policies that make it hard to get jobs, with their home regions under-funded and neglected, leading to 'entrenched poverty'.

Kordestan, the centre of the Kurdish community in Iran, is one of the country's poorest provinces. Its economy relies heavily on farming and handicrafts.

Kurds have also been subjected to forced evictions and live in largely substandard housing, lacking proper sanitation and water supplies. Some Kurdish housing has not been sufficiently rebuilt since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, according to UN reports, when the Kurds were targeted by Saddam's forces.

The town of Sardasht, where the migrant family who drowned hailed from, was among those targeted  struck by poison gas dropped from Iraqi fighter planes. At least 113 people died while thousands more were injured.

Kurdish leaders say the victims were never given proper medical care, and some still suffer from debilitating lung conditions.

Kurdish children are often forbidden from speaking their native language in schools, and Iran bans mothers from giving their children certain Kurdish names.

Literacy rates are also significantly lower for Kurdish students  particularly women  than in the Iranian population as a whole.

Those who do speak up about the plight of the Kurds face arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and the death penalty.

According to the UN, there were around 1,800 Kurdish political prisoners being held in Iran in 2017. Charges against them ranged from eating during Ramadan, to cheering the results of a referendum on Kurdish independence in neighbouring Iraq.

In a major incident in 2005, Iranian security forces shot and killed Kurdish opposition leader Shawan Qaderi and two other men in the city of Mahabad, the capital of the Kurdish region, tied their bodies to a jeep, and hauled them through the city.
Theresa Balboa, 29, is pictured in her new mugshot after arrived at Harris County jail on Friday to face charges in the death of Samuel Olson. Balboa's neighbor says she heard scratching coming from next-door the evening after court documents say Olson may have died

The neighbor of a woman accused of killing her boyfriend's five-year-old son says she heard scratches from the apartment a day after the boy is believed to have died.

Theresa Balboa, 29, was arrested last week in a motel room with the child's decomposing body stuffed in a bin, court documents reveal.

Officials believe the boy had been dead since May 10.

Tiffany Schultz, 25, along with her fiance and newborn son had moved into their new apartment in Webster on May 11 - the day after next-door neighbor Balboa allegedly told her roommate that Samuel Olson, 5, had died, according to court documents.

Roommate Benjamin Rivera had reportedly rushed home from work to find the boy, bruised and unresponsive in bed, and the two allegedly moved the body into their bathtub.

It was late the next evening, when Schultz said she heard the eerie sounds.

'The second day we were here, it was probably about 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, we heard loud scratching noises, really, really loud,' she told The Sun. 'It lasted for a good ten or fifteen minutes.'

Her fiance, she said, started banging on the wall to make the noises stop.

'I've heard loud scratching from animals before and it wasn't that, I don't believe they had animals,' Schultz recalled. 'We didn't hear any other noises, it was strange.'

By the next day, on May 13, Rivera told police he purchased duct tape and a plastic bin from Walmart, and he and Balboa allegedly wrapped the boy's body and placed it in the bin before transporting it to a nearby storage locker.

Balboa wouldn't report the boy missing until May 27.

She is so far the only person arrested in connection with Samuel's disappearance, and in a brief court appearance Monday a judge increased bail for an earlier assault charge to $100,000 in addition to $500,000 for criminal tampering.

Balboa's new neighbor Tiffany Schultz (pictured) said the noises she heard next door were strange, but didn't realize they could be related to the missing boy until weeks later. She said it was 'creepy'

Balboa at this time is suspected of hiding Samuel's corpse on May 13, two weeks before reporting the child missing

Tiffany Schultz says she moved in next door to Balboa at this Webster apartment complex on May 11, a day after Samuel is believed to have died

Samuel's father, Dalton Olson (pictured with Balboa before the grim find) said the 5-year-old is his 'whole world.' He has not been named a suspect

It has also been revealed that Balboa lost custody of two of her own two young daughters in 2019

On Tuesday police discovered her with the bin, filled with what is believed to be the boy's decomposing body, at a Best Western Motel in Jasper.

Court documents claim she was fleeing to Louisiana when she was arrested.

She was arrested for criminal tampering with more serious charges expected as medical examiners work to confirm whether the remains are Samuel's.

'My fiance also saw a truck outside and is convinced he saw a bin in the back, which Samuel could have been in, it's creepy,' Schultz said.

She said she was aware of a missing boy around the time when she moved in, with police and media presence as well as crowds searching a field opposite their apartments.

'We saw police and 4-wheelers, camera people out here, and they all started to come in here [in the community], right in front of our door,' Schultz said.

The map above shows the four locations associated with the search for missing Samuel Olson

Police recovered the remains believed to be that of Samuel wrapped with duct tape and stuffed inside a black plastic bin in room 106 at this Best Western motel in Jasper, Texas on Tuesday

'We looked it up and realized it was a young boy missing, then she [Balboa] was arrested. It's all sad.' she said. 'It makes me really nervous thinking someone like that was living next door, you just never know.'

Prosecutors alleged Friday that she had been attempting to flee to Louisiana with the body.

TIMELINE OF SAMUEL OLSON CASE: April 30: Samuel Olson, 5, seen for the last time by anyone outside his family May 8-9: Samuel's paternal grandmother, Tonya Olson, says she spent the weekend with her grandson May 10: Theresa Balboa, girlfriend of Samuel's father, Dalton Olson, allegedly calls a roommate to tell him that Samuel had died. The two allegedly place the body in their bathtub May 13: The roommate and Balboa allegedly wrap the body in duct tape and place it in a plastic bin before taking it to a storage unit in Webster May 27: Balboa reports Samuel missing in Houston June 1: Police in Jasper, Texas, receive anonymous tip that leads them to Best Western motel, where they find Balboa and later child's body in a plastic bin June 2: Police in Houston announce discovery of body, Balboa's arrest and evidence tampering charge, with ID of remains still pending. June 3: Details of Balboa's meeting with a man in Walmart emerge, as its claimed he helped transport child's body. Balboa is also revealed to have lost custody of her own young daughters in 2019. June 4: Balboa is transferred from Jasper County to Harris County jail and is ordered held on $500,000 bond Advertisement

If Balboa is released on bond, she will be required to wear a GPS ankle

On Thursday, Samuel's father Dalton Olson told KPRC2, 'I don't know what's going on. I can barely breathe.

'Why? He loved you so much. I do not understand what happened. Why did you, why did you do this?'

Samuels parents had been involved in a bitter custody battle after filing for divorce in January 2020.

His mother, Sarah Olson, had primary custody but she had not seen Samuel since summer 2020, her lawyer, Marco Gonzalez, told reporters this week. Gonzalez accused Dalton Olson of keeping Samuel from his mother and avoiding being served court paperwork that would have ordered him to return the boy to her.

Gonzalez said Samuels mother also blames Dalton for their sons death and believes he should be charged. Houston police say Olson is not a person of interest but that more charges could be filed.

'Her utmost priority is that justice is done for her baby Samuel,' Gonzalez said. 'Shes completely heartbroken.'

Samuel Veenstra, an attorney for Dalton Olson, said his client denies any wrongdoing.

'He had nothing to do with the death of his son,' said Veenstra. '[The] family is in mourning, shocked and in disbelief.'

Veenstra said he didnt think Samuel had been living with Balboa. But when asked if the boy had been living with his father at the time he was reported missing, Veenstra said, 'I dont know how to answer your questions on this one OK.'

'Theres nothing in place on the family case that says who Sam could or could not go around,' Veenstra said.

When cops were first investigating Samuel's disappearance, Balboa had claimed that the boy's mother, and a person dressed as a police officer showed up and took the boy from the home.

Police, however, said they were unable to verify Balboa's claim.

Authorities were led to Balboa after she reportedly called a friend on Monday, and asked him to pick her up at a Walmart parking lot in Cleveland, and the two drove nearly 70 miles south to retrieve the bin at the storage facility in Webster.

They then reportedly drove another 160 miles northeast to the Best Western.

Once there, they carried the bin inside room 106, with the man so horrified by the smell coming from it that he made an anonymous call to CrimeStoppers tipline to report it.

Sarah Olson, Samuel's birth mother (pictured together, left), said through a lawyer that she had primary custody of the boy but had not seen him since the summer of 2020

Samuel was last seen alive by his paternal grandmother, Tonya Olson, who says she spent the weekend with him on May 8. His last verified sighting by someone outside of his family was on April 30 at his school.

Meanwhile, it emerged on Wednesday night that Balboa previously lost custody over her two young daughters in 2019 over claims she was a bad mom.

Court records obtained by Click2Houston revealed that the girls - now aged six and eight - were removed from their mom's care after she failed to show up to court for a custody hearing.

The father of Balboa's children was also a no-show, and the children were given to a family member, who was appointed their guardian.

The woman told the station that Balboa was not taking good care of her daughters.

'She wasn't born to be a mom,' the guardian said.

Shortly before the discovery of the child's body and Balboa's arrest, Tim Miller, the founder of the volunteer search group Texas Equusearch, was said to have confronted the woman about apparent inconsistencies in her story concerning Samuel's disappearance.

'I told her, I said, 'I'm so damn disappointed in you,'' Miller told KHOU11. 'I said, 'You know, every word you're saying is a lie.' And that's when things started unravelling, I think.'
A father-of-three out jogging on Saturday morning in Atlanta's wealthiest neighborhood, Buckhead, was shot twice by a 'mentally ill' man who police say also opened fire on two other people and mowed down a neighbor with his car.

Atlanta police arrested and charged 22-year-old Gaelen Newsom with attempted murder, three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime in connection with the weekend crime spree.

The first shooting was in the 1200 block of West Wesley Road in Buckhead, Atlanta's richest section, which has been making a push to form its own police force and secede from the rest of the city amid skyrocketing crime rates.

Data analysis shows that Buckhead's population accounts for 20 per cent of Atlanta's population, but more than 40 per cent of the city's assessed property value.

Gaelen Newsome, 22 (left) is accused of shooting jogger Andrew Worrell, 41, twice in the leg and hip during a Saturday crime spree in Atlanta

Worrell was a mile into his regular 3-mile run on West Wesley Road in Buckhead, Atlanta, on Saturday when a silver sedan drove up to him, and a man pointed a gun at him and fired

Buckhead is Atlanta's wealthiest neighborhood, where residents have been making a push to secede from the rest of the city amid skyrocketing crime rates

Anne Worrell said her husband, 41-year-old Andrew Worrell, was out for his regular 3-mile morning run when she got a call at 8.40am from a stranger saying her spouse had been shot.

In a Facebook post from Saturday afternoon, Anne revealed that her husband was about a mile into his run when a car approached him.

'He thought they may be asking for directions so he stopped,' recounted the wife. 'The very tinted window rolled down and the guy pointed a gun at him and shot him, hit him in the upper thigh.

'Andrew turned to run and the guy shot him again, this one entering his left hip, hitting his ball and socket before traveling horizontally through this lower abdomen and lodging itself in his right hip area.

Andrew, pictured above with his wife and three children, suffered gunshot wounds to his leg and hip. Good Samaritans stopped the bleeding and alerted his wife

Anne wrote in an update that Andrew underwent surgery and was expected to be released from the hospital on Monday

'The guy shot again but missed him as Andrew dove behind a tree. The guy fled. Andrew called 911 and flagged down a couple wonderful people who called me and took off their shirt and tried to stop the bleeding. They stayed with him until police, fire and paramedics arrived.'

BUCKHEAD, GEORGIA: ONE OF THE NATION'S WEALTHIEST ZIP CODES Buckhead is known as Atlanta's commercial and residential district, famed for its high-rise buildings and shopping centers, hotels and mansions. The neighborhood is a historically wealthy district and was once ranked the ninth richest zip code in the country with a median price of homes of $1,460,595, according to Forbes. American suburban luxury home in Buckhead, Atlanta Bloomberg named Buckhead the 20th richest zipcode in the nation in 2011, when the average household net worth there was $1,353,189. The average household income was $280,631. Because of this, Buckhead is often called the 'Beverly Hills of the East/South', in reference to the upscale city in California. Buckhead is also known to have a few notable residents, including Georgia Republican Kelly Loeffler. Loeffler was among the wealthiest members of Congress until she lost her seat in January. In 2009, she and her husband spent more than $10million on a European-style mansion named Descante in the Buckhead neighborhood. Advertisement

First responders found Andrew suffering from gunshot wounds to his leg and hip. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery and remained hospitalized as of Sunday night.

His wife wrote in a Facebook update on Sunday that her husband was on IV antibiotics to avoid getting an infection from the bullets. She said he could be discharged as early as Monday.

Meanwhile, as Andrew Worrell was being taken to the hospital on Saturday morning, police received calls that two more joggers in the area had been targeted by gunfire, though neither was hit, Deputy Atlanta Police Chief Charles Hampton Jr. told news outlets. Witnesses said the shots came from a passing silver sedan.

Police found a Kia Forte that matched that description about three hours later, at 11.30am, when the cars driver ran into a man taking out the trash at the Collier Ridge Apartments complex at 1714 Noble Creek Drive.

Atlanta police said the victim, described as a man in his 20s, was seriously injured, having been pinned between the sedan and an unoccupied pickup truck. He was rushed the same hospital as Worrell for surgery.

Police arrested the driver of the car, identified as Gaelen Newsom. Inside the vehicle, they also found shell casings from fired bullets. Hampton said investigators believed the casings will match bullets fired at the joggers.

'We have information that he may have been suffering from some type of mental health crisis,' Hampton said of Newsom.

Buckhead has seen several high-profile instances of violence in recent months, including the fatal shooting of a 7-year-old girl in December.

The sharp increase in crime rates has prompted Buckhead's residents to form the Buckhead Exploratory Committee to create its own police force and look into the possibility of breaking away from Atlanta, after around 200 officers left the city's police force in the wake of the shooting death of black man Rayshard Brooks by a white cop in June 2020.

'Our residents are genuinely concerned for their safety and the safety of their family members,' members of the committee told the Wall Street Journal in March.

City officials have opposed the idea to separate the wealthy, largely white neighborhood from the rest of Atlanta, which is predominantly black, arguing it would siphon away much of the city's tax base and, in turn, its budget.

According to data analysis done by Atlanta Journal Constitution in April, if Buckhead were to secede, it would remove 41 per cent, or $14billion, of the assessed value of Atlanta's property, and eviscerate its budget.

Buckhead's population is 73.5 per cent white and 23.9 per cent black. This compares to the wider Atlanta population which is 50.7 per cent black and 38 per cent white, according to Data US.

Homicides were up 63 percent across Atlanta in the period running January 1 to May 23 compared to the same period last year, crime data show.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms admitted in December she doesn't know how to stop the alarming wave of violence and is 'open to suggestions.'

Homicides were up 63 percent across Atlanta in the period running January 1 to May 23 compared to the same period last year, rape rates skyrocketed 108 per cent, shooting incidents rose 45 per cent, robberies inched up 2 per cent and aggravated assaults jumped 29 per cent

Back in December, seven-year-old Kennedy Maxie (pictured) was fatally shot in the back of the head while riding in a car with her aunt and mother in Buckhead

Rayshard Brooks (pictured) was shot dead in the drive-thru lane of an Atlanta Wendy's by a white cop back on June 12

Rape rates skyrocketed 108 per cent, shooting incidents rose 45 per cent, robberies inched up 2 per cent and aggravated assaults jumped 29 per cent.

In terms of raw data, Atlanta had 57 murders, 302 shootings, 75 rapes, 298 robberies and 986 aggravated assaults.

Adjusting for population, a person living in Atlanta is more likely to be a victim of a serious crime, including murder and aggravated assault, than in Chicago, where crime rates are higher, reported 11Alive.
Mo Brooks accused Representative Eric Swalwell of having his 'team' illegally enter his home to serve a Capitol riot lawsuit to his wife  and demands the California lawmaker get a year in jail.

'Well, Swalwell FINALLY did his job, served complaint (on my WIFE),' Brooks, the pro-Trump representative for Alabama's 5th congressional district, wrote in Twitter Sunday.

'HORRIBLE Swalwell's team committed a CRIME by unlawfully sneaking INTO MY HOUSE & accosting my wife!' he continued. 'Alabama Code 13A-7-2: 1st degree criminal trespass. Year in jail. $6000 fine.'

Brooks previewed: 'More to come!'

Along with the tweet came an image taken of a computer screen showing the Alabama law regarding criminal trespassing.

The lawsuit attempts to partially blame Brooks for inciting the January 6 Capitol attack.

Rep. Mo Brooks claims Eric Swalwell's 'team' illegally trespassed on his home Alabama home and 'accosted' his wife to serve a lawsuit partially blaming him for inciting the Capitol riot. He demanded the Democratic representative receive a year in jail and $6,000 fine for the crime

Swalwell's lawyers had a hard time serving the papers to Brooks and had to hire a private investigator. The team said they finally successfully informed Brooks' wife Martha Jenkins (right) of the lawsuit

The Alabama congressman made remarks during Trump's 'Stop the Steal' rally in front of the White House that day, which saw thousands of the ex-president's supporters gather to protest Congress certifying the Electoral College results for Joe Biden's victory.

Following the rally, Trump's supporters descended on the Capitol and breached the building, forcing lawmakers to shelter in place for hours.

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene backed up Brooks' complaint against Swalwell.

'Your team unlawfully snuck in [Mo Brooks] house?' Greene directed to their Democratic colleague in the House.

'You really did learn a lot from Fang Fang, your Chinese spy girlfriend,' she continued. 'Alabama judges aren't as forgiving as Pelosi.'

Greene was referencing Swalwell getting off the hook from fellow Democrats after it was revealed he engaged in a relationship with a woman who turned out to be a Chinese spy.

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green backed Brooks' complaints against Swalwell, claiming he 'learned a lot from Fang Fang', the Chinese spy with whom he allegedly had a relationship

Swalwell filed a lawsuit against Brooks holding him partially accountable for the Capitol riot.

The California representative's team, however, had a hard time serving Brooks with the lawsuit over the last few months and ended up hiring a private investigator to finally deliver him the court filing.

Matthew Kaiser, the attorney for Swalwell's case, told CNN on Sunday that the private investigator was successfully able to deliver the papers to Brooks' wife of 35-years Martha Jenkins at their Alabama home.

If Brooks somehow feels he was not properly served the papers, he would be able to contest that in court.

He also claims that Swalwell's team illegally trespassed into his home to give the papers to his wife, and says the punishment for that in Alabama is a year in prison and $6,000 fine.

The lawsuit partially blames Brooks for 'inciting' the Capitol riot on January 6. Here the Alabama representative speaks at the rally in front of the White House

Another attorney for Swalwell, Philip Andonian, told CNN that no one illegally entered Brooks' residence.

'No one entered or even attempted to enter the Brooks' house,' Andonian said. 'That allegation is completely untrue. A process server lawfully served the papers on Mo Brooks' wife, as the federal rules allow.'

'This was after her initial efforts to avoid service,' he added. 'Mo Brooks has no one but himself to blame for the fact that it came to this. We asked him to waive service, we offered to meet him at a place of his choosing.'

'Instead of working things out like a civilized person, he engaged in a juvenile game of Twitter trolling over the past few days and continued to evade service. He demanded that we serve him. We did just that.'

'The important thing is the complaint has been served and Mo Brooks can now be held accountable for his role in inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol,' Andonian concluded.

In response to the CNN report, Brooks pushed back on Twitter, insisting Swalwell's team did commit a crime.

'[Eric Swalwell's] team committed Criminal Trespass INSIDE Mo Brooks' home,' he wrote with a link to the comments from Swalwell's attorneys to CNN.

He demanded that the lawyers release a video of the agents serving his wife the lawsuit.

'Swalwell attorney Phillip Andonian denies agent's crime. Agent's video is PROOF! Release it!' Brooks wrote. 'Experts to download home security video tomorrow. Arrest warrant to be sought.'

Swalwell's attorneys claim they did not trespass, but Brooks demanded the agents release video that will prove they did so

Swalwell's lawsuit alleges that Trump, his son, Donald Trump Jr., his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Brooks all broke Washington, D.C. laws, including an anti-terrorism act, by inciting the riot.

He further claims they aided and abetted the rioters and inflicted emotional distress on lawmakers.

Trump, his son and Giuliani have all acknowledged receiving the lawsuit, but argue their words are protected under the First Amendment and did not cause the siege.
Disgraced former New York Congressman and mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner is considering selling the infamous photo of him in his underwear, which ultimately led to his downfall.

He told the New York Times on June 3, he is thinking about getting into the business of digital collectibles, known as non-fungible tokens.

An NFT is a unique digital token encrypted with an artist's signature and which verifies its ownership and authenticity and is permanently attached to the piece.

It allows 'original' versions of popular online content - like viral memes and tweets - to be sold as if they were physical pieces of art.

Weiner said he has some of his own he could sell, including the photo that was tweeted in 2011 showing the congressman in his underwear.

He said he would also consider selling a picture of then-FBI Director James Comey's search warrant for his laptop  which Comey later claimed included emails prompting him to reopen the investigation into presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's emails.

Also up for sale could be an email from his former roommate and good friend Jon Stewart apologizing for the jokes he made on air about Weiner's sex scandals, and a check former President Donald Trump wrote to one of his earlier campaigns.

'Cashing in would be nice,' Weiner said, but he said he would also like to make a career out of it by selling 'my own stuff, but also to create a new category that lets people buy and sell political collectibles as a form of political fundraising and contributing.'

Disgraced former New York Congressman and mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner is considering selling the infamous photo of him in his underwear that he tweeted out in 2011 and which ultimately led to his downfall.

Anthony Weiner's political career fell apart after tweeting a picture of him in his underpants in 2011, which prompted journalists to search for other illicit messages and photos he took, including this one

He announced shortly thereafter that he was resigning from Congress

What are NFTs? What is a NFT? A Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is a unique digital token encrypted with an artist's signature and which verifies its ownership and authenticity and is permanently attached to the piece. What do they look like? Most NFTs include some kind digital artwork, such as photos, videos, GIFs, and music. Theoretically, anything digital could be turned into a NFT. Where do you buy them? At the moment, NFTs are most commonly sold in so-called 'drops', timed online sales by blockchain-backed marketplaces like Nifty Gateway, Opensea and Rarible. Why would I want to own one? There's an array of reasons why someone may want to buy a NFT. For some, the reason may be emotional value, because NFTs are seen as collectors items. For others, they are seen as an investment opportunity similar to cryptocurrencies, because the value could increase. When were NFTs created? Writer and podcaster Andrew Steinwold traced the origins of NFTs back to 2012, with the creation of the Colored Coins cryptocurrency. But NFTs didn't move into the mainstream until five years later, when the blockchain game CryptoKitties began selling virtual cats in 2017. Advertisement

'If you do believe in this butterfly effect,' Weiner said, 'I've got the butterfly's wings and antenna.'

Weiner was somewhat of a political celebrity in the early 2000s, representing a New York City congressional district for about 10 years.

In July 2010, he was the first congressman to go viral for a speech on the House floor screaming at Republicans for not backing a bill to give health care to those caught in the September 11 attacks, according to Buzzfeed.

But by May 2011, a lewd photo of him in his boxers was posted to his Twitter account.

In a series of tweets after the picture went viral, Weiner claimed his account was hacked, writing 'Touche Prof Moriarity. More Weiner Jokes for all my guests! #Hacked!' and 'Tivo shot. FB hacked. Is my blender gonna attack me next? #TheToasterIsVeryLoyal.'

Journalists then began to search for other illicit photos and messages Weiner sent, and by June 6, he held a press conference, confessing that he had sent sexual photos and messages to women online over the course of a few years.

He said at the time he 'deeply' regretted his actions, but would not resign from Congress.

Just 10 days later, though, he did.

In 2013, he tried using a New York City mayoral race to mark his comeback and was leading in the polls for a while, but in July, a young woman from Indiana named Sydney Leathers shared explicit photos and messages he sent her using the alias 'Carlos Danger.'

Weiner soon admitted he had never stopped sexting, Buzzfeed reported, and around the same time, a former campaign intern decided to write a tell-all about her experience on the campaign.

His campaign soon unraveled as a documentary crew filmed every moment of his downfall, which ultimately led to the rise of Mayor Bill de Blasio.

He said that even at the time, he knew his campaign was doomed.

'I was famous for being famous, and I was a candidate because I had been a candidate and I had all the money from past campaigns,' he told the New York Times earlier this month.

In 2013, Weiner held a press conference with his wife Huma Abedin, an aide to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, announcing he never stopped sexting

But, he said, the social media storm he was in felt new at the time. 'We didn't know what we were working with at the time, and I was lying to everyone around me.'

He seemed to have dropped from the media scrutiny after that for a few years, but in 2016 DailyMail.com exclusively reported that he was exchanging explicit messages with a 15-year-old who claimed he asked her to dress up in 'school-girl' outfits for him and pressed her to engage in rape fantasies.

Weiner seemed to have known that the girl was underage at the time, but sent her bare-chested photos of himself, repeatedly called the girl 'baby,' complimented her body and told her that he woke up 'hard' after thinking about her.

In one particularly lewd message, he told the teenager: 'I would bust that p***y so hard and so often that you would leak and limp for a week.'

He did not deny sending the messages when DailyMail.com approached him about them and said in a statement: 'I have repeatedly demonstrated terrible judgment about the people I have communicated with online and the things I have sent. I am filled with regret and heartbroken for those I have hurt.'

After the texts were published, former FBI Director James Comey got a warrant for his laptop, later writing a letter to Congress saying new emails discovered on the laptop led him to reopen the investigation into then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's emails.

Text messages from the time show he once told her he woke up 'hard' thinking about her

Weiner was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison in Massachusetts and three more in a Bronx halfway house. He is seen here leaving the halfway house in May 2019

Weiner and his wife Huma Abedin, an aide to Clinton, announced they were getting divorced that August, and in 2017, Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in prison for sending obscene material to a minor.

He served 15 months in federal prison in Massachusetts and three more in a Bronx halfway house.

He has spent most of the past year running a Brooklyn-based environmentally sustainable countertop company, the Times reports, which offers job interviews to former felons.

He is now in the process of stepping down as chief executive of the company, called IceStone, to try to turn the company into a 'worker-run' cooperative.

There is no indication of how much Weiner's underwear snap could sell for as an NFT, but the creators of popular memes have been raking in thousands by selling the 'original' versions online.

Chris Torres, creator of Nyan Cat, sold his iconic meme for roughly $590,000 earlier this year and finally gained attribution for the artwork - which he said was a huge factor in why he first sought out NFTs.

Nyan Cat - which shows a gray kitty with a Pop Tart for a body, flying through space - first went viral back in 2011.

'Nobody knew who owned it,' he said to Los Angeles Magazine. 'It was just kind of free-rein on the internet. It didn't just appear even though memes are kind of thought that way sometimes.'

Chris Torres, creator of Nyan Cat, sold his iconic meme for roughly $590,000 and finally gained attribution for the artwork

Tardar Sauce, aka Grumpy Cat, became the most beloved cat in the world and has been featured in all types of work. Even though she died in 2019, the NFT of her notorious meme has sold for $100,859.54.

Chris Crocker's infamous 'Leave Britney Alone' video dominated when it first hit the scene in 2007, getting parodied in movies and on television. With the #FreeBritney movement in full swing, Crocker has sold the video as a NFT for more than $43,000.

NFTs - sometimes pronounced 'nifties' - are a unique digital token encrypted with the creator's signature which verifies its ownership and authenticity and is permanently attached to the piece.

The tokens are similar to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum in that they live on blockchain networks - a decentralized, distributed ledger that records transactions of digital assets.

But unlike traditional cryptocurrencies, NFTs are non-fungible, meaning that one cannot be exchanged for another. The digital assets have collectors value, and can represent items including still images, GIFs, videos, music and more.

More than $10 million in NFT transactions are now taking place daily, according to the website DappRadar. The exchanges happen in cryptocurrencies on specialist sites such as Nifty Gateway and OpenSea, on the fringes of the art world. Sales of NFTs are made in Ether, a cryptocurrency that has a fluctuating value.

The phenomenon is now becoming more mainstream with traditional auction houses keen to cash in, lending the craze, and digital artists, even more credibility.

For creators like Torres, the selling of the NFTs has inspired the internet artists to buy up other NFTs, even going as far as to help set up an auction for meme-makers to sell their work.

'It's digital trading cards, but it's also a new way for artists to make art. Every artist kind of struggles,' Torres added. 'They'll make art and then it sells, but NFTs give you the option where when you sell your art, if it gets sold again, you still get a percentage of that sale.'

Bad Luck Brian, the meme of Kyle Craven's hilariously bad yearbook photo, sold for more than $45,000.

Overly Attached Girlfriend, spawned from a YouTube video of Laina Morris satirically showing her love for Justin Bieber, has sold for $459,260

Success Kid, the photo of photographer Laney Griner's at the time 11-month-old son Sam, has sold as a NFT for approximately $35,000. Sam is almost 15.

Overly Attached Girlfriend, spawned from a YouTube video of Laina Morris satirically showing her love for Justin Bieber, has sold for $459,260.

And in March, Twitter boss Jack Dorsey's first tweet - 'just setting up my twttr' - sold as an NFT for just over $2.9million.

It was snapped up by Sina Estavi, the CEO of Malaysia-based blockchain company Bridge Oracle.

Each NFT has its own blockchain-based digital signature, which serves as a public ledger, allowing anyone to verify the asset's authenticity and ownership.

Valuables' parent company Cent confirmed Dorsey's tweet-turned-NFT was sold to Estavi, who told Reuters he was 'thankful' when asked for comment about the purchase.

It was bought using the cryptocurrency Ether, for 1630.5825601 ETH, which was worth $2,915,835.47 at the time of sale, Cent CEO and founder Cameron Hejazi said.

Estavi was also rumored to be eyeing an NFT of one of Elon Musk's tweets, before the eccentric Tesla CEO turned down his $1.1million offer.

Musk had tweeted out a two-minute original song on March 15 that he claimed he was willing to sell to the highest bidder.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken warned that Vladimir Putin will have to answer for the ransomware attacks that caused meat and gas prices to skyrocket when the Russian president meets with President Joe Biden next week.

'We would prefer to have a more stable, predictable relationship with Russia. Weve made that clear. But weve made equally clear that if Russia chooses to act aggressively or recklessly toward us or toward our allies and partners, well respond,' Blinken told Axios' Mike Allen in an interview that aired on HBO.

The series of cyber attacks, which included hits on the Colonial Pipeline and meat processer JBS USA, were conducted by hackers in Russia.

'When it comes to these ransomware attacks, of course, weve already talked to the Russians about this. One of the things were seeing is that criminal enterprises seem to be engaged in these attacks. And it is an obligation on the part of any country, including Russia, if it has a criminal enterprise acting from its territory against anyone else, to do whats necessary to stop it, to bring it to justice,' the secretary of state said.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken warned that Vladimir Putin will have to answer for the ransomware attacks on US companies

President Joe Biden is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on June 16 at the end of his trip to Europe; it's his first sit down with Putin since he was elected president

Biden is meeting with Putin next Wednesday in Geneva for their face-to-face meeting since Biden became president. Tensions have risen between Washington and Moscow as Biden has taken a heavy-handed approach when dealing with Russia. He has taken Russia to task for its interference in US elections; Moscow's aggressive posture toward the Ukraine and the government's treatment of dissent Alexei Navalny.

Blinken said one of the reasons Biden is meeting with his Russian counterpart is because of the ransomware attacks, 'to tell him directly and clearly what he can expect from the United States if aggressive, reckless actions toward us continue.'

He said the meeting would be a test of the administration's goal to have a 'stable, predictable relationship' with the Kremlin.

'I cant tell you whether Im optimistic or not about the results of that test, but its important to do that. And also, I dont think were going to know after one meeting, but well have some indications and well see. Were prepared either way,' Blinken noted.

'If Russia chooses to continue reckless and aggressive action  were prepared to deal with that, as we have  on the other hand, if it chooses a different course, were prepared to engage,' he added.

Last week, Biden did not rule out retaliation against Putin for the series of cyber attacks on American companies.

'We're looking closely at that issue,' Biden said when asked if he would retaliate. But he dismissed concerns he was being tested by his Russian counterpart.

'No,' he said when asked if he thought Putin was testing him.

The meeting between Biden and Putin will come at the end of the president's first foreign trip, capping off his nine-day trip to Europe.

Biden's first stop will be the UK will be a visit with US troops. He and first lady Jill Biden, on Wednesday, will visit US Air Force personnel and their families stationed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall. RAF Mildenhall is home to the 100th Air Refueling Wing, the only permanent U.S. Air Force air refueling wing in the European theater.

Biden will hold his first face-to-face meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday when the two leaders sit down ahead of the G7 meeting.

Schedule for President Biden's Europe Trip President Joe Biden makes a seven-day trip to Europe next week. Here's the itinerary thus far: June 9: Visit US Air Force personnel and their families stationed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall June 10: Meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson June 11-13: Attending G7 Summit in Cornwall June 13: He and Dr. Jill Biden meet with The Queen at Windsor Castle June 14: NATO Summit in Brussels June 15: U.S.EU Summit in Brussels June 16: Meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva Advertisement

Given it's Biden's first international trip as president, he's crammed in a packed schedule: the G7 meeting, a NATO meeting, an EU summit and the sit down with Putin.

Biden held off on foreign travel due to the coronavirus pandemic but is making up for it with this trip that includes meetings with foreign leaders, Queen Elizabeth II, the king of Belgium, and his Russian counterpart.

First lady Jill Biden will join him for the British portion of the trip but will return to the United States after the first couple meets with the Queen at Windsor Castle next Sunday.

Biden will be the 13th American president the Queen has met since ascending to the throne in 1953.

There is speculation that the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will also meet the American couple at some point during their visit to the UK.

At his sit down with Johnson, Biden will 'affirm the enduring strength of the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement last week.

Biden and Johnson have spoken on the phone multiple times since Biden was elected president.

'There's a range of issues of mutual interest,' Psaki said Thursday at her White House press briefing when asked about the sit down. 'From the future of economic growth in the world to addressing the COVID pandemic to security issues around the world so they have a range of topics they can clearly discuss.'

Johnson will also asked the American president to exempt vaccinated British and American travellers from quarantine restrictions to facilitate travel between the two nations.

The PM wants to create a 'green channel' for those fully vaccinated, The Times reported, as the summer holiday season approaches.

Afterward their meeting, Biden will attend the G7 summit, where he will hold bilateral meetings with fellow G7 leaders. The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

After his meeting with The Queen, Biden will travel to Brussels, Belgium, to participate in in a NATO meeting and an EU Summit.

President Joe Biden will hold his first face-to-face meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday, June 10

First lady Jill Biden will join President Biden when he meets with The Queen at Windsor Castle on Sunday, June 13

The Carbis Bay Hotel in Cornwall still 'looks like a building site' with just weeks before it hosts the G7 summit

The hotel - where US President Joe Biden and Boris Johnson will be staying  is littered with construction materials

There, the president will discuss transatlantic security and the collective defense of Europe.

He will also meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Biden also will participate in the U.S.EU Summit while in Brussels. That meeting with focus on global health and the world economy. Leaders will discuss climate change, trade, and democracy.

President Biden will also meet with His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

Then Biden travels to Geneva for his sit down with Putin on June 16. He will also meet with Swiss President Guy Parmelin and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- DiDi Autonomous Driving, the self-driving technology arm of Didi Chuxing (DiDi), is about to raise over $300 million, of which $200 million will be invested by GAC Group, according to a local media outlet.

Photo credit: DiDi



The new funding will value DiDi Autonomous Driving higher than Chinese autonomous driving startup Pony.ai, said a person briefed on the matter. The latter completed its Series C financing in February, bagging $367 million in total.

DiDi Autonomous Driving last month entered into a strategic partnership with GAC Aion, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAC Group, for the development of fully self-driving new energy vehicles (NEVs) available for volume production.

Under the agreement, the duo will explore a joint venture partnership and project cooperation for smart vehicle development, combining DiDi Autonomous Driving's hardware and software R&D capabilities with GAC Aion's NEV engineering and manufacturing expertise. The two parties will co-develop a self-driving NEV model for large-scale commercial application and move at full force for the vehicle's volume production, through the innovation across such basic areas as drive-by-wire chassis, autonomous driving sensors, and system integration.

Apart from GAC Group, DiDi Autonomous Driving also works with BAIC Group. In June 2020, the two companies signed a framework agreement to have an in-depth cooperation on fields of automobile, AI and car sharing. At the 2020 World Intelligent Connected Vehicle Conference (WICV), a BEIJING EU7 that carries DiDi's autonomous driving solution made its world's debut and offered trial rides to the public.

DiDi launched its autonomous driving project in 2016 and upgraded it to a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2019. For the time being, DiDi Autonomous Driving has been permitted to test autonomous cars on open roads in Beijing, Shanghai, Hefei, Suzhou, and California.
The requirement for airway cleaners is rising with the betterment in the reimbursement structure as well as the rising worries on a sound living. So as to conform to the developing necessity, the companies functioning in the market have made an effort to improve work. The airway clearances are hence arising to be the vital choice since they change liquid medication into mist or aerosol. In addition, the increase in per capita earnings in determining individuals to expend more on health care therefore worries about healthcare is growing with rising standards of living. The other aspects which are profiting the North America market for airway clearance systems are the enlargement of third-party payer reporting by producers, expansion of institutional and home care market, a higher occurrence rate of chronic ailments, usage of the Affordable Care Act as well as the bringing down price of the therapy settings. On the other hand, it is nevertheless to be determined that whether the rigid regulation scenario acts the same as a difficulty or not.



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Market players in the overall market are majorly centering on increasing in other regions, establishing advanced airway clearance technology fitting into the consumers requirement with the purpose of gaining a comparatively bigger market share. The global market for airway cleaner systems is likely to record a XXCAGR for the duration of 2017 to 2025. Increasing from an evaluation of US$ XX Million during 2016, the market is projected to account for an evaluation of US$ XX Million before the finish of 2025.

Region-wise, North America market is likely to take over the worldwide market because of growing disposable income together with expanding elderly populace all through the years to come. On the contrary, Europe market is likely to anticipate an upright expansion over the years to come. The price structure of institutional services or hospitals and home care in Europe alters substantially because of the value of services extended by respiratory care service manufacturers or providers that constitute another type of hospitality and monitoring services.

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Based on the device type, the global market includes mechanical cough assist, intrapulmonary percussive ventilation, high-frequency chest wall compression, OPEP (oscillatory positive expiratory pressure) and PEP (positive expiratory pressure). Based on the application type, the overall market includes immotile cilia syndrome, bronchiectasis, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, and others. Based on the end user, the overall market includes home care settings, ambulatory surgical centers, hospitals and clinics, and others.

Conventional participants have determined a value and brand image throughout the years that have made market infiltration very composite for novel players. The foremost companies operating in the global market are Monaghan Medical Corporation, Vortran Medical Technology, General Physiotherapy, Inc., Electromed Inc., Thayer Medical, Aptalis Pharma US, Inc., Philips Respironics (Koninklijke Philips N.V.,), Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. and others.

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Part of Hyde Park has been cordoned off after police recovered the body of a man in his 30s.

Pictures of the London park show officers and an ambulance at the scene this morning following the discovery in the early hours.

Officers had attended the scene after being tipped off about an 'unresponsive man' at 6.36am today.

The London Ambulance Service and Fire Brigade attended alongside police, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives are not treating the death as suspicious. His next of kin have not yet been told.

Pictures of the London park show officers and an ambulance at the scene this morning following the discovery in the early hours

Officers had attended the scene after being tipped off about an 'unresponsive man' at 6.36am today

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson told MailOnline: 'We were called at 6.38am today (7 June) to reports of an incident in Hyde Park near Bayswater Road.

'We sent an ambulance crew and a medic in a car to the scene.

'Sadly, despite the efforts of medics, a person died at the scene.'

A Met Police spokesman told MailOnline: 'Police were called at approximately 06:36hrs on Thursday, 7 June to Hyde Park following reports of an unresponsive man.

Pictured: a Police officer takes away small tent in Hyde Park. The London Ambulance Service and Fire Brigade attended alongside police, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene

'Officers, the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade attended and a man in his 30s was pronounced dead at the scene.

'The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.

'The man's next of kin have not yet been informed.'
Minneapolis is a city in crisis. Violent crime has 'sky-rocketed,' and its citizens have been thrown to the wolves by a mayor and a city council who have not only failed to protect them but have sent a clear message to criminals that 'it's open season' on the city's streets.

This is the stark reality as presented by Don and Sondra Samuels and this, they told DailyMail.com, is what has driven them and six neighbors to sue the City and Mayor Jacob Frey for failing to protect and police Minneapolis.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com the couple, who have lived in the city's embattled northside for more than two decades, have described their shock at the council's pledge to defund and 'dismantle' the Minneapolis Police Department.

They have recounted the violent crime and shootings that have bloomed in the vacuum left behind as police officers quit in their droves. And they have told how the city's children are losing their lives because misguided liberals championed the disastrous notion of defunding police in the wake of George Floyd's death.

Former City Council member, Don Samuels (left) 72, and wife Sondra Samuels (right) 55, are suing the city of Minneapolis and Mayor Jacob Frey as gun violence and crime runs rampant on the streets

The city of Minneapolis has been under siege and under policed since chaos erupted over George Floyd's death last May. One year later, police are once again trying to restore peace in the streets after protests broke out over the death of Winston Boogie Smith Jr

The community has responded to police killings with a campaign to defund or even 'abolish' the police department - which has had dire consequences on the city

Former City Council member, Don, 72, explained how he and his wife watched the mayhem that followed Floyd's death under the knee of Derek Chauvin last year with growing concern.

'We were pretty frightened and disturbed by the disrespect of the police and the institution of policing,' he told DailyMail.com.

'We know there are problems for sure but when they burned down the Third Precinct, for us a new watermark had been reached and it was putting our safety at risk.'

Sondra, 55, president and CEO of Northside Achievement Zone, a collaborative of nearly 30 non-profits and schools, recalled: 'After that, the violence just started to swell  gunshots all the time, so many stories of people getting shot.

'We need to reform policing and police, but we need an 'and/both' approach not an 'either/or.'

'So, we feel like we're under siege and then we turn on CNN and we see nine of our 13 council people standing on a stage that has a big, "Defund" sign in front of it, taking a pledge to do away with police.'

There had been no consultation with constituents before the pledge was made and as the Samuels looked on in disbelief, they felt in their guts that what criminals heard was, 'it's open season.'

Don said: 'We both looked at each other and the reason our jaws hit the floor was that we absolutely foresaw that community violence would become mayhem [and rise] to a level of outlandish proportions.'

The Samuels have lived in their expansive home for 24 years. It sits on a leafy street. A neighborhood library box stands out front. There is a children's playground just down the road on the corner. But any sense of security is an illusion.

Don and Sondra, the president and CEO of Northside Achievement Zone, say the city council's plans to defund the police sends criminals a message that it's 'open season' on Minneapolis' streets

The Samuels and six of their neighbors argue in their lawsuit that the mayor and the city have an obligation to provide a certain number of police officers per population capita, set down in the city charter

The house where nine-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith was struck by a shoot-out's stray bullet as she played with friends is a three-minute walk away on a street that abuts the Samuels'.

The corner on which six-year-old Aniya Allen was shot dead in a similar fashion is just a few minutes further. A 19-year-old was shot just a couple of streets away the night before DailyMail.com's visit and shots ring out in the surrounding streets at all hours.

The night before the Samuels sat down with DailyMail.com, they hosted a block club meeting  one of the first since pandemic restrictions were lifted.

Don recalled: 'We're sitting back there [on our deck] and we hear about 60 shots.

'They sounded like fireworks because they were erratic 'cause usually automatic gunfire is "pop, pop, pop, pop, pop."

'These ones were very scattered and erratic because it was two or more guns going off at each other at the same time.'

The Samuels called the police who were already aware of the gunfire. By the time they arrived it could be heard traveling through the neighborhood, as the shooters were on the move.

Sondra tried to console the children who were there that night  an eight-year-old and a three-year-old. The older of the two was trembling and traumatized she said.

The younger looked up at her and said: 'Sondra. Gunshots!'

'That just broke my heart that he knows gunshots,' she said.

But according to the Samuels they are an all too familiar sound.

The Minneapolis Police Department should employ 743 officers based on the city's current population, however, there are currently only 643 since many cops have quit, retired, or have gone on disability since the start of 2020

Sondra's offices have been shot up twice in recent weeks  the boarding put up over the shot-out windows is now peppered with bullet holes itself.

One of the teachers with whom she works narrowly avoided getting shot by a stray bullet in the parking lot of her school, while teachers and children were inside.

MINNEAPOLIS UNDER SIEGE: How violent crime has sky-rocketed in the city since the death of George Floyd As of last week, there have been 36 homicides in Minneapolis so far this year - more than double the number at this point last year and more than four times that seen in 2019.

Car-jackings are up a staggering 222 per cent.

Shootings have risen 153 per cent and 80 per cent of the victims are black.

At time of writing, 211 people had suffered gunshots wounds so far this year. This time last year that figure was 81.

Gun theft from vehicles is up more than 100 per cent while the police department has seized 100 fewer guns this year than they had at the same point in 2020.

Meanwhile, Minneapolis Police Department has lost one third of its force.

Disenfranchised and de-humanized, more than 200 police officers have either permanently left the already stretched department or signed off on disability. Advertisement

A 13-year-old girl was shot in the back, again by a stray bullet.

And where are the police and where is the outcry? The Samuels ask.

Sondra said: 'If you are a black mother and your son is going to get murdered and you have a choice of a police officer killing your child or somebody from the community, you better choose a police officer because then people will march and rally.

'They'll say his name, he'll be on T-shirts, they'll demand justice. Nobody's demanded justice for Trinity [Ottoson-Smith] for LaDavionne [Garrett Jr] for Aniya [Allen]. It's just not happening.

'Then what's the difference, right? Two mothers are losing their children. The difference is that a white police officer in a minority of cases kills the person versus the majority of the cases where it's community.'

In the face of this stark truth, Sondra described the move to defund the police as 'a lack of wisdom.'

'I'm angry about the police in terms of the George Floyds and Breonna Taylors of this world. It has to stop. We have to have transformation,' Sondra said.

'But what about the harm that is coming to the black community [from community violence] in terms of businesses that are hurting? They are begging police to come open up George Floyd Square [where Floyd was murdered] so that they don't lose their livelihoods.

'These are people who don't come from a whole bunch of money but scraped it together, the American way and now it's being threatened. They may lose their livelihoods and then of course we have children who are absolutely losing their lives.'

According to the lawsuit, the mayor and the city have an obligation to provide a certain number of police officers per population capita, set down in the city charter.

By that calculation, Don said, MPD should employ 743 officers. At the beginning of 2020 Chief Medaria Arradondo had 825 officers in his force.

Uptown Minneapolis has been taken over by protestors and looters for the last three days

Sondra has described the move to defund the police as 'a lack of wisdom,' saying the city needs both police reform and law enforcement to protect its citizens

One year after the death of George Floyd saw this city become ground zero for the defund the police movement, its people are paying for it in their blood

But in the first seven months of 2020 at least 80 officers retired or quit  a dramatic increase from the annual average of 45. And that trend has only grown.

According to their lawsuit: 'The exodus continues unabated.'

In his 2021 Budget address, Mayor Frey said that he expected 100 officers to retire from the force by the end of the year and stated his intention to include those eliminated positions in a hiring freeze.

Police training academies have been cancelled meaning that the 2020 class that Chief Arradondo had proudly proclaimed was the most diverse cadet intake ever has been scrapped and as officers left the force in the wake of Floyd's death they were not replaced.

By the end of July 2020 more than 200 officers had applied for disability  about 20 per cent of the entire force.

On July 17 a total of 111 officers were on some sort of medical leave including 40 PTSD claims filed since May 26, the day after Floyd's death.

The motion to defund the police has not yet been passed and is likely to be on the ballot in November but, according to the Samuel's lawsuit, it has already begun by stealth.

Last July the City Council diverted $1.5million from the MPD to an Office of Violence Prevention.

In addition, the $193million police budget for 2020 will be cut by $10million as the pandemic has impacted on all the city's funds.

The suit concludes: 'With a hiring freeze, no training programs, and an encouragement of officers to leave the Minneapolis police force, the City Council is accomplishing its stated goal of a quick (but illegal) dismantling of the Minneapolis Police Force.'

Trinity Ottoson-Smith (left) nine, was shot in a drive-by May 15 while jumping on a trampoline. Two days later, six-year-old Aniya Allen (center) took a bullet to the head while eating McDonald's in her mom's car. And ten-year-old LaDavionne Garrett Jr (right) was shot in the head April 30 as he sat in the backseat of his parents' car. Trinity and Aniya later died from their injuries, while LaDavionne remains in hospital

A harrowing photo shared by the family of six-year-old Aniya Allen lays bare the heartbreaking reality of Minneapolis's surging gun violence and understaffed police force. The young girl's grandfather, Kay G Wilson, is seen weeping over her casket on Tuesday, two weeks after she was shot in the head

Right now, the number of officers employed by the MPD is just 643 and, with many of them out on disability, the already strapped force is down close to a third of its officers on the streets.

Meanwhile, the Samuels' lawsuit notes: 'While the City Council claims that a sufficient number of armed police are not required for public safety, when it comes to their own safety, the City Council has protected themselves with armed guards at the citizens' expense.

'Media reports indicate that the city has paid $152,400 for armed protective agents for three City Council members.'

According to Don and Sondra, the notion of defunding the police has proved disastrous and was wrongheaded from the start.

Sondra explained: 'Huge crowds want to have a simple solution. So, police hurt people. Let's get rid of police.

'Wisdom would say: "If I make this decision and I take this action what's the collateral damage? What else gets impacted? And does that outweigh the benefit of this decision?"

'That's what wisdom does. Unfortunately, we have leaders who lack wisdom quite frankly.

'You have to really start unpacking and getting at real issues [to come up with real solutions]. But that's not what they want to do.'

Nine-year-old Trinity was caught in the crossfire of a shoot-out as gun-toting thugs drove along the alleyway behind her friend's house in this pretty neighborhood. She died in hospital less than two weeks later

Balloons idle above the trampoline where Trinity Ottoson-Smith was playing on May 15 when she was struck by a stray bullet

The Samuels' lawsuit is not, they say, a publicity stunt. It is a genuine desire to force the change that they believe is vital for their community and their city.

The suit is already moving forward and will be before a judge in a few weeks.

'Success would be that the judge comes back and says [to the City] you are violating your charter and so you need to get enough police officers with full speed,' Sondra said.

'That is success. And then we get behind Chief Arradondo and we support his reform efforts, and we support his efforts to have a diverse talent pool and we support his new oath of office which is beautiful. And we do it by any means necessary.

'We recruit more officers. We get them in here. Even if we have to have some on a temporary basis while we're building. That becomes what we do because we're protecting our children and our elderly and our most vulnerable and all of our citizens.'

The Samuels believe that a strong force is peopled by officers who live in the communities rather than those who live elsewhere and clock in and clock out at the end of their shifts.

And they believe that, however dire the situation seems right now, there is hope for positive change.

Local resident Monique arrived at a Peace Walk on Sunday with a fist-full of fliers, showing Trinity, Aniya and LaDavionne's pictures and giving information about the $35,000 reward offered for any information that leads to the shooters' arrests

Last week more than 300 people turned up to walk between the N. Penn Ave - the site of Aniya's fatal shooting - and northern Memorial Hospital, where LaDavionne is in a medically induced coma

Don said: 'The cops are in pain because they're losing respect. We are in pain because our people are getting killed.

'The council members, the defunders are in pain because we're coming at them. And so, everybody's in a place of pain.

'But there's a unique opportunity [in that]. It's an opening  openings for change are always crises.'

Sondra agreed: 'I'm extremely hopeful. We need each other. We need to evolve.

'There was one time when we thought slavery was okay, right? We evolved from that.

'There was one time when we thought women could be property and not vote. We evolved from that.

'There was one time we though gay people, their love wasn't as valuable. We evolved from that.

'So, we're constantly doing this evolving and we're at that place again. Pain has to have communal solutions.'

And, as far as the Samuels and many like them are concerned, Minneapolis has to have police.
A Queensland vet got more than he bargained for after discovering a mysterious orange-sized lump on a cat's stomach during a routine check-up.

Michael Burke, from the West Toowoomba Vet Surgery in Harristown, Queensland, was examining Riker the cat when he felt a hard lump on the animal's abdomen.

Fearing the worst, the veterinarian rushed the feline into surgery, while his worried owners anxiously awaited their cat'ss diagnosis.

In an unexpected twist, Mr Burke discovered the eight-year-old cat had swallowed 61 hair ties which had formed a large ball about ten by seven centimetres.

Riker, a white and ginger domestic shorthair had swallowed 61 hair ties (pictured) over time, that had combined in a hard orange-sized ball in his stomach

'Riker came in for his annual check-up and vaccination and he had no history or symptoms to indicate he was feeling unwell,' Mr Burke told the Courier Mail.

'When we investigated we found a whole lot of hair ties had conglomerated together along with food and other things.'

The Queensland vet said Riker would have ingested the hair accessories over time, rather than in one sitting.

Mr Burke said the elderly cat most likely suffered from a syndrome called Pica, where cats become obsessed with chewing on household items.

'Riker does have a history of chewing foreign objects  a couple of years ago he ate a corn cob and had to get it surgically removed but he hadn't any problems since', the vet said.

Despite the strange discovery, Mr Burke said it was just another day at the surgery, having removed odd socks, underwear, large bones and even nectar seeds from the stomach's of both cats and dogs.

The Queensland vet discovered the eight-year-old cat had swallowed 61 hair ties which had formed a large ball about ten by seven centimetres (pictured)

'If you have a pet that is into chewing things try and lock it away and keep it out of reach', the Queensland vet advised.

'But this also just shows the importance of getting your annual health checks and vaccinations because you never know what you're going to find and it would have only got worse until there were issues.'

The West Toowoomba surgery posted a photo of the individual hair-ties recovered from the feline's stomach on their Facebook page.

'How many hair bands can one cat swallow without being sick? Apparently 61! One of our lovely (but crazy) cats came in for vaccination', the caption read.

'Michael felt this mass in the abdomen and we thought the worst. But it was a tangle of hair bands and food.

'Riker recovered beautifully but it shows the value of annual health checks.'

Michael Burke from the West Toowoomba Vet Surgery said Riker would have ingested the hair accessories over time, rather than in one sitting

Social media users rushed to the comments to share similar stories of their own cats ingesting the strange item.

'We had a similar case in the last month. Cat that intermittently vomited for two years came in for an annual check-up. Stomach was full of hair ties', one user wrote.

'We had to change hair ties from rubber to stretch material after watching our cat throw up at least a dozen a day', another shared.

'Poor little buddy. The owner must have been wondering where the hell she lost all her hair ties', a third commented.

'That's stretching it! One life down perhaps?', another user joked.
Mexico's midterm elections descended into violence over the weekend as five indigenous people were ambushed and executed while delivering ballots in the southern state of Chiapas.

The election board workers came under fire while they were dropping off ballots town of Arellano Buenavista on Saturday afternoon.

Mexican newspaper El Universal reported that Bernandino Sanchez, who was managing the towns voting center, was shot and placed in another vehicle so that he could be rushed to a nearby medical facility before the driver was intercepted down the road.

The pickup truck flipped on its side and the assailants opened fired, killing Sanchez.

The attackers also murdered two of his children, Moises Sanchez and Elisa Sanchez; his son-in-law, Hector Lopez; and police officer Ramiro Diaz.

That incident was one of more than 170 criminal events linked to the elections held on Sunday - which saw a mayoral candidate assassinated and severed heads placed outside voting sites.

Community residents set fire to a vehicle to protest the elections in Arantepacua, a town in the western Mexican state of Michoacan on Sunday. Consulting firm Etellekt reported more than 900 violent incidents against political party members during midterm election campaign season, including 172 criminal acts in over 100 cities on Sunday

Polling station officials count the votes for governor of Guerrero, Mexico, on Sunday

Five indigenous people were ambushed and executed while delivering ballots in the southern state of Chiapas

A 16-year-old boy who survived the Chiapas attack told authorities that 'the armed group said that this had happened to them because they did not comply with the orders of Enoch Diaz'.

Diaz was mayor of Pueblo Nuevo Solistahuacan from 2012 to 2015 under the Party of the Democratic Revolution, but switched camps and sought his old seat under the Solidarity Encounter Party ticket.

The teen was later reportedly shot and wounded for revealing details of the incident to the police.

They victims were all members of the Tzotzil Mayan community, local media outlets reported.

According to data from consulting firm Etellek, 91 politicians who sought or held office were killed after campaigning for the midterm elections started in September 7, 2020.

Rene Tovar, Citizens Movement party nominee for the mayors seat in Cazones, Veracruz, was shot dead outside his home Friday night.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's MORENA party appeared poised to maintain their majority in Mexico's lower chamber of the congress, but fell short of a supermajority

A investigator takes a photo of a vehicle that was attacked by gunmen, who assassinated five indigenous peoples in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas on Saturday after they had dropped off ballots for Sunday's midterm elections

People try to enter at a polling station after polls closed on midterm election day in Mexico City on Sunday

Etellekt reported more than 900 violent incidents against political party members during midterm election campaign season, including 172 criminal acts in over 100 cities on Sunday as Mexican residents showed up at polling stations and elected more than 20,000 officials.

Security analysts said most electoral violence tends to occur at the municipal level, where gangs exert pressure to influence the outcome in the hope of securing more control over drug trafficking and other criminal rackets.

A man lobbed a severed human head at a voting station in the border city of Tijuana and plastic bags filled with body parts were found nearby.

In a separate incident, someone threw an inactive grenade into a voting station in Mexico State, authorities said. One voter, who asked not to be named, told Reuters that the crowd dispersed but then returned.

Pictured are the covered bodies of three of the five election board workers murdered in southern Mexico on Saturday

In Sinaloa, armed men robbed electoral material from voting stations, a source at the state prosecutor's office said.

Erik Ulises Ramirez, a candidate for the left-wing opposition Citizen's Movement party who survived an assassination attempt last month in Cocula, Guerrero state, said two of his allies had been kidnapped, beaten and then released on Sunday.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's party and its allies appeared poised to maintain their majority in Mexico's lower chamber of the congress, but fell short of a supermajority, as some voters boosted the struggling opposition, according to initial election results.

Electoral authorities released 'quick count' results based on voting samples that allow estimates of the voting trends to determine the rough potential makeup of the Chamber of Deputies late Sunday.

A vehicle was set on fire in Michoacan, Mexico, by residents in the municipality of Ocampo who were protesting Sunday's midterm elections

A body is covered next to a pickup truck that was ambushed on a road in Chiapas, Mexico. The five victims were indigenous peoples from the Tzotzil Mayan community

Lopez Obrador's Morena party will have to rely on votes from its allies in the Workers Party and Green Party, but together they were expected to capture between 265 and 292 seats in the 500-seat chamber. Morena alone was expected to win 190 to 203 seats.

That would signal a significant decline for the president's party. In the current congress, Morena has a simple majority, holding 253 seats on its own.

It would also deprive the president of a qualified majority of two-thirds required to approve constitutional reforms.

Lopez Obrador appeared to acknowledge that new reality Monday. He praised the election as 'free, clean' and said Mexicans had shown a degree of political maturity 'never seen'.
NYC is planning a mega concert in Central Park to celebrate reopening after COVID-19 and in an effort to make the city an appealing vacation destination again amid a spiraling crime problem and void of tourists.

The concert was announced by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. It is scheduled for August 21 and will take part on the Great Lawn at Central Park.

There will be sections for vaccinated people and unvaccinated people, most of the tickets will be free but with some VIP packages for sale.

De Blasio has asked legendary producer Clive Davis to provide eight iconic stars to perform at the event, which he says will kick off a week of celebrations known as 'Homecoming Week' for the city.

'This concert is going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Its going to be an amazing lineup.

'The whole week is going to be like nothing youve ever seen before in New York City,' de Blasio told The New York Times in an interview.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a mega concert in Central Park in July that he wants Clive Davis to help him organize

The event will take place on the Great Lawn in Central Park on August 21. It'll be free with some VIP packages for sale and there will be a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated sections

No stars have been confirmed yet.

While de Blasio hopes it'll bring an end to a year of gloomy restrictions that have stamped out the city's tourism and nightlife, it comes amid climbing crime figures that have many worried New York is turning back into the dangerous city it was in the 70s and 80s.

Violent crimes across the board are up 30 percent from last year and NYPD unions are begging for change.

They blame de Blasio's bail reform and a series of budget cuts for the rise in crime.

Figures released by Compstat reveal there were 1,754 major crimes across the city last week alone.

There were 35 shootings, 39 rapes, 105 other sex crimes, 1,600 incidents of theft, 708 misdemeanor assaults and 14 hate crimes. In almost every category, crime is up.

The only categories where there was a decrease were murder and burglary.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said last week the city was getting too dangerous and efforts to revive it after COVID-19 will be hampered.

Figures released by Compstat reveal there have been 1,754 major crimes across the city last week alone

THEFT - Theft is up by 40 percent this week compared to the same week last year

ASSAULT - Misdemeanor assaults are up by 15 percent. There were 700 last week

SEX CRIMES - Sex crimes are up by 120 percent across the city - a terrifying jump

TRANSIT CRIMES - Subway attacks are driving a spike in transit crime, which was up 105% last week

'We have a major crime problem in New York City. Everything we just talked about, with the economy coming back, you know what the first step is? People have to feel safe.

'We're building new projects, stimulating new business - what comes before that is public safety, otherwise none of it works.

'New Yorkers don't feel safe and they don't feel safe because the crime rate is up.

'It's not that they are being neurotic or overly sensitive - they are right.'

New York City's iconic Soho neighborhood has been left almost unrecognizable due to a surge in graffiti and vandalism
Doorbell footage captured the moment a thug posing as an Amazon delivery driver pulled a gun on a homeowner, only to have the weapon grabbed from his hand as he was wrestled to the floor by the victim and his dog.

Vicente Forde, 32, knocked on the door dressed in a high-vis jacket and carrying an empty package before pulling the loaded shotgun from his jacket, in East Dulwich, south London. at 9.30am on July 13 last year.

Forde pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence at Croydon Crown Court today.

Doorbell footage shows the victim - who had been at home with his young daughter and was on the phone to a friend at the time - prise the firearm from Forde and throw it under a nearby car.

He pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence at Croydon Crown Court today

Vicente Forde, 32, knocked on the door dressed in a high-vis jacket and carrying an empty package before pulling the loaded shotgun from his jacket, in East Dulwich, south London

Forde kicks and punches at the victim during the struggle, threatening to stab the young man if he doesn't let go of the gun.

The victim's dog, believed to be a French Bulldog, is seen jumping up at the thug in an effort to protect his owner.

Members of the public, including some builders working nearby, came to the victim's aid and restrained Forde until police arrived to detain him.

The firearm was seized and found to be viable and loaded with two live cartridges.

Forde was arrested and taken into custody, while the victim was taken to a south London hospital for treatment for bruising and a broken nose. Forde was later charged and remanded in custody.

The shotgun Forde brandished at another man as he opened his front door (pictured)

The attack took place at at 9.30am on July 13 last year, as the victim was on the phone and at home with his daughter

He pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence at Croydon Crown Court today. He is due to be sentenced at the same court next month.

The circumstances around the incident continue to be investigated by detectives.

Detective Constable Imran Hansraj, of the Met's Specialist Crime Command, said: 'The victim had no idea what was about to unfold when he saw what he thought was a delivery man bringing a parcel to his address.

'He had been home with his young daughter and was going about his business as usual when he was thrust into an incredibly frightening ordeal in which he fought for his life.

'His life was turned upside down in a split second by Forde's actions, which were wicked and cowardly in the extreme.

'He was disguised and armed with a lethal weapon but the victim displayed incredibly bravery to disarm him.

'He was lucky that a number of members of the public took heed of his cries for help and came to his aid.

'They too deserve enormous recognition. I hope Forde will now spend a substantial amount of time in prison, and I am sure that London will be all the safer for it.'
Covid vaccine manufacturer Moderna has today asked European drug regulators for permission to give its jab to children.

The US-based company submitted its request to the European Medicines Agency with the aim of dishing out its vaccine to 12-17 year olds.

Data showed two doses of the jab was up to 100 per cent effective at blocking Covid symptoms in adolescents, while one jab was 93 per cent effective. No extra side effects were recorded.

MailOnline has approached Moderna to work out when it plans to submit final safety and efficacy data to British regulators.

Moderna found that its two-dose vaccine was 100 per cent effective in a study that jabbed 2,500 children (Pictured: A teenager is given the jab in Florida, US)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which polices the safety of drugs in the UK, must give the jab the green light for it to be used in Britain.

But No10 has still yet to decide whether children will even be offered jabs, despite sources saying Whitehall are gearing up to jab schoolchildren in August.

MHRA bosses last week approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine  which is an mRNA jab like Moderna's  for over-12s. It had already given the green light for over-15s in December.

Pfizer's jab, known as Comirnaty on the continent, was granted European approval in May for use on 12 to 15-year-olds following safety trials.

Moderna plans to ask the US Food and Drug Administration, which fulfills the same role in the US, and other agencies around the world to expand use of its vaccine to younger age groups.

It presented data from a trial of nearly 2,500 children given the two-dose vaccine.

Results showed there were no cases of coronavirus and no safety concerns among fully inoculated volunteers.

UK daily Covid figures released on 6 June show that 5,341 people tested positive for the virus, four died with the virus and 154 were admitted to hospital, while total vaccines seconded doses reached 27.7 million

WALES COMMITS TO JABS FOR ALL OVER-18s BY MONDAY Wales today committed to offering jabs to all over-18s by Monday. First Minister Mark Drakeford said the milestone will be hit six weeks ahead of the UK target for giving vaccines to everyone over the age of 18 by the end of July. Wales has given a first jab to 2.18million people, or 86 per cent of the adult population, which is currently the best record of any country in the world. However, Wales is lagging behind England and Scotland when it comes to the proportion of the population who have received both doses. Mr Drakeford told a press conference in Cardiff: 'We will make the offer of vaccination to all eligible adults six weeks ahead of schedule and we expect to reach 75 per cent take-up across all priority groups and age groups a month ahead of target. 'This is a remarkable achievement and a tribute to the hard work of all those involved in the programme  to all those doing the complex work of planning behind the scenes and to the thousands of people vaccinating and helping to run the clinics across the country.' He said the government would now 'switch our efforts to accelerate second doses', with a target of covering the whole population by September. 'Subject to supply, we're confident that we can deliver second doses as fast and as successfully as we have first doses,' he said. The updated strategy expects to deliver around 28,000 second doses every day over the summer months. Advertisement

Moderna calculated the Covid vaccine was, therefore, up to 100 per cent effective at blocking symptoms after two doses.

Mild or moderate adverse effects included sore arms after receiving the injection, as well as headaches, tiredness, muscle pain and chills following the second jab.

Stephane Bancel, Moderna's chief executive officer, said the company's vaccine was 'highly effective' at preventing adolescents from catching coronavirus.

An independent committee is continuing to examine safety data from the trial and all of the participants will be monitored for 12 months from their second injection.

The company has already asked the Canadian regulator Health Canada for approval to use the jab 12 to 18-year-olds and plans to ask the US Food and Drug Administration and other agencies around the world to expand use of its vaccine to younger age groups.

The UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)  which normally decides on who should get a vaccine  is yet to set out their position on giving the vaccine to children.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons today that despite evidence showing that the impact of Covid on children is 'usually minimal', there is 'higher transmissibility among children'.

He also confirmed that he has asked the JCVI to advise the government on vaccinating 12 to 17-year-olds. 'We will listen to that clinical advice, just as we have done throughout the pandemic,' Mr Hancock said.

While the decision is yet to be made, the now-dominant Delta variant continues to spread in the UK.

Public Health England said the strain, first detected in India, has overtaken the Alpha variant to become the dominant variant in the UK.

PHE's data suggests that the Delta variant poses a greater risk of hospitalisation and is spreading quicker through schools in England.

Data also shows that one jab is less effective against the variant, with two offering better protection.

Some scientists say it is necessary to jab children to stop the spread of Covid and protect high-risk children.

But experts have expressed concern over giving vaccines to children in wealthier countries ahead of high-risk individuals in poorer countries.

Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said it is 'completely wrong' for vaccines to be rolled out to children who have a 'near-to-zero' risk of severe disease or death from Covid ahead of priority groups from poorer countries.

The scientists, who helped developed the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab, told the All Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus last month that it felt 'completely wrong' to allow that to happen.

Over six million under-17s have received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the US after it became the first country to approve the jab for children last month.
The youngest daughter of the Biloela family detained on Christmas Island has been medically evacuated to Perth with a suspected blood infection.

A flight carrying three-year-old Tharnicaa and her mother Priya landed at Perth Airport on Monday evening, advocates for the family confirmed.

They said Tharnicaa had been unwell for 10 days and might have septicaemia.

Tharnicaa Murugappan, (pictured in bed) the youngest daughter of the Biloela family detained on Christmas Island has been medically evacuated to Perth with a suspected blood infection

Nadesalingam Murugappan, his wife Priya and their Australian-born children Kopika, five, and Tharunicaa, three (pictured together) are Tamil asylum seekers currently detained on Christmas Island

'I am feeling very scared and worried for my little girl,' Priya said in a family statement.

'She has been sick for many days, it took a long time for her to get to the hospital.

'She is already asking for her papa, it is going to be very hard being away from her Dad and sister. It is very hard for our family to be separated when our daughter is sick.'

Advocates said Tharnicaa had experienced vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness and a temperature of more than 40 degrees.

They said detention centre staff didn't take Tharnicaa to the hospital on Christmas Island until Sunday, despite multiple requests from her mother.

Priya, Nades and their two Australian-born daughters, Tharnicaa and six-year-old Kopika, have been held on Christmas Island since August 2019 as the government tries to deport them to Sri Lanka, despite a community campaign to let them stay.

Kopika (right) and Tharunicaa (left), were born in Australia but being held in immigration detention

The family are stuck on Christmas Island. Pictured: A detention centre on the island

Tharnicaa (pictured) had been unwell for 10 days and might have septicaemia

They were removed from their home in the rural Queensland town of Biloela and placed into immigration detention in 2018.

The federal government has spent more than $6 million keeping the family in detention for the past three years.

Family lawyer Carina Ford said Tharnicaa's condition had gotten significantly worse over the weekend.

She said the family had received medical reports indicating the two girls were suffering from both physical and mental health issues.

'I think their day-to-day life is getting harder and harder, and there is no doubt that there is a greater impact on the children,' she told ABC News.

Advocates also said guards had been stationed outside Tharnicaa's hospital room on Christmas Island and had prevented a family friend from visiting the girl.

Priya and Nades met in Sydney before getting married and settling in Biloela, Queensland where they had two children

The family are not allowed to visit friends on the island and must get approval to go to a playground where they are accompanied by guards

In response, The Department of Home Affairs said both the department and the Australian Border Force were committed to the welfare of detainees in immigration detention.

'Healthcare services for detainees on Christmas Island are broadly comparable with those available within the Australian community under the Australian public health system,' a spokesperson for the department said in a statement.

'The ABF facilitates access to nurses, doctors and specialists for all members of the family.'

Labor Senator Kristina Keneally expressed concern for Tharnicaa and her family.

'A medical emergency and family separation is the last thing they need,' she said.

'This family should not be in detention. They should be in their community in Biloela.'

Greens Senator Nick McKim said the family's treatment had been 'appalling and disgraceful'.

'They must be resettled in our community urgently, before any more damage is done,' he said.
An ambulance operations manager offered to help out at the scene of the Manchester Arena bombing was put in charge of parking instead, the public inquiry into the terror attack heard today.

Derek Poland from North West Ambulance Service was on call on May 22, 2017 and made his way to the arena following the attack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, the inquiry was told.

Mr Poland said when he arrived at the arena at 11pm he spoke to colleagues Dan Smith, who became the operational commander, and Paddy Ennis, who was the first paramedic to go into the City Room, where suicide bomber Salman Abedi had detonated the device which killed 22 people and injured hundreds of others.

He agreed that it was an 'unsatisfactory state of affairs' that Mr Ennis was the only paramedic in the City Room for a period of time.

Mr Poland said he spoke to Mr Smith and offered to go into the area to support Mr Ennis but the offer was turned down and he was given the role of parking point officer.

Derek Poland, an operational commander from North West Ambulance Service, offered to help out at the scene of the Manchester Arena bombing was put in charge of parking instead

Scene close to the Manchester Arena after the terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert

He said: 'I was needed to help set up command and control within the foyer.'

Paul Greaney QC, counsel to the inquiry, said: 'At the time, bearing in mind you knew Paddy Ennis wouldn't be able to cope on his own, did you think that was a mistake?'

Mr Poland said: 'No, I knew others would be coming shortly afterwards.'

The inquiry heard the Hazardous Area Response Team, which Mr Poland was expecting to join Mr Ennis, arrived at the scene at about 11.15pm and only two members of the team went to the City Room.

Mr Greaney asked: 'You were highly experienced as a paramedic and senior within the organisation, was putting you in charge of parking the best use of your abilities and experience that night?'

Mr Poland replied: 'I think so, yes, because we need to get the vehicles to scene, we need to get the vehicles away from scene, we need to make sure the teams are briefed properly so that they can go and treat the casualties.'

He said it was not satisfactory that only three paramedics entered the City Room that night.

He added: 'It isn't, I think it needed more within that room but they needed to go in there together.'

But he said none of the paramedics who went into the room made him aware that they were struggling or needed more help.

Mr Greaney said: 'Is it not obvious someone in a command role ought to have gone into that room to find out how those three were coping?'

Mr Poland said yes.

He also told the inquiry there were problems with communications over the radios and mobile phones were used instead.

Handout photo issued by Greater Manchester Police of the CCTV image of Salman Abedi at Victoria Station making his way to Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017

The scene outside the arena after suicide bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 innocent people

The inquiry previously heard how just three ambulance staff went into the scene of the Manchester Arena explosion because it was not declared safe to enter by firearms police.

Paddy Ennis was the first emergency responder from North West Ambulance Service to enter the City Room foyer in the aftermath of the attack - but only two colleagues joined him during the night.

Casualties were evacuated on crash barriers, noticeboards and tables by police officers, arena staff and members of the public following the suicide bombing, the inquiry heard.

Mr Ennis told the inquiry that when firearms officers were deployed into the City Room they were 'restricting the access into that area somewhat'.

He said: 'The firearms police officers made it clear to me on several occasions they felt it was not yet declared safe.'

Shortly before Mr Ennis entered the foyer - more than 20 minutes after the explosion at 10.31pm - he was told by a police constable 'every NWAS, they need every NWAS there'.

He went on to speak with Inspector Mike Smith, of Greater Manchester Police, who moments earlier had messaged on his radio: 'Looks to me like a bomb's gone off here, I would say there are about 30 casualties.

Paddy Ennis (pictured) was the first emergency responder from North West Ambulance Service to enter the City Room foyer in the aftermath of the terror attack in May 2017

'Could we have every available ambulance to me please?'

Mr Ennis said he completed his own 'sweep' to gain as much information as he could to pass back to his control room and followed his training in not treating anybody so that an 'overall grip' could be placed on managing the response in its initial stages.

He then told another police constable: 'We have got ambulances coming soon, we have got as many as we can get into Victoria Station.

'In a minute we need to start thinking about trying to get some casualties moved out.

'Basically at the moment it's going to be providing first aid to those that are heavily bleeding, I have not got enough equipment... basic stuff until we get some people here'.

He left the City Room briefly and updated his line manager, Dan Smith, before he re-entered and was later joined at 11.15pm by two members of the Hazardous Area Response Team.

Mr Ennis said he did not believe he specifically told Mr Smith the police wanted further paramedic resources in the City Room but agreed with counsel to the inquiry, Paul Greaney QC, his boss would have known there were critically injured patients in the room.

He told the inquiry when firearms officers were deployed into the City Room they were 'restricting the access into that area somewhat'.

Pictured: CCTV still image of Salman Abedi at Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017, moments before he detonated his bomb which killed 22 people

He said: 'The firearms police officers made it clear to me on several occasions they felt it was not yet declared safe in the City Room.

'I was aware despite the fact there were a number of people, myself included, but also lots of police officers working within the City Room, the firearms police were the ones who appeared to be in charge in terms of ensuring the safety of that area and made it clear, I felt, that that area was not yet deemed safe.

'So I believed that was one of the reasons why it was not possible to deploy further paramedics as they arrived into that area.'

He accepted that no police officer, whether armed or not, indicated he should leave the City Room or that other paramedics would not be allowed in.

But he said: 'There seemed to be a little bit of a lack of communication between the different branches of the police in terms of their interpretation of safety within the City Room.'

Mr Greaney asked: 'Do you think there is a risk that over time, thinking over and over about your decision making, you have persuaded yourself that a safety concern inhibited your decision making when at the time it didn't cross your mind?'

Mr Ennis replied: 'I think it is fair to say that at no point was I worried about my own safety, however, I was aware and was made aware by the firearms police officers that they didn't think that the area was safe.'

He later told Austin Welch, representing the 22 bereaved families: 'The decision to request more paramedics into that area was one I was not comfortable with.

'The other thing as well is at that point there were no paramedics available and the HART team were the people that I felt would be the most appropriate to deploy into that area given that it was not yet declared safe.

'In the meeting I had with Dan Smith I did, I believe, explain there were a number of agencies working in that area but what I didn't do was specifically say 'these people have taken this level of risk therefore we should deploy our staff into that area'.

'I didn't do that, no.'
The Supreme Court ruled at the urging of the Biden Administration that for now it'll be up to Congress, not the court, to decide whether to change the requirement that only men must register for the draft.

In a statement released on Monday, three justices said Congress is weighing whether to change the Military Selective Service Act, which requires men but not women to register for the draft when they turn 18. They said that was a reason for the court to kick the matter back to lawmakers.

'It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Act,' Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a statement for herself, Justice Stephen Breyer and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

'But at least for now, the Courts longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue.'

The Supreme Court has ruled that for now it'll be up to Congress, not the court, to decide whether to change the requirement that only men must register for the draft (file photo)

Men who do not register for the draft can lose eligibility for student loans and civil service jobs, and failing to register is also a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison

In recent years, bills to require women to register for the draft have been proposed in the House but not gone anywhere. Just last year, however, a congressional commission concluded that the 'time is right' to extend the obligation to register to women.

The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the report this year, and Sotomayor pointed to the report and the hearing, suggesting Congress is currently studying the issue.

The question of whether it's unconstitutional to require men but not women to register could be viewed as one with little practical impact. The last time there was a draft was during the Vietnam War, and the military has been all-volunteer since.

But women's groups are among those arguing that allowing the male-only requirement to stand is harmful.

Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project, who had urged the court to take up the issue, said that requiring men to register imposes a 'serious burden on men that's not being imposed on women.'

Men who do not register can lose eligibility for student loans and civil service jobs, and failing to register is also a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison. But Tabacco Mar said the male-only requirement does more than that.

'It's also sending a tremendously harmful message that women are less fit than men to serve their country in this particular way and conversely that men are less fit than women to stay home as caregivers in the event of an armed conflict,' said Mar, who represents the National Coalition For Men and two individual men who challenged the law. 'We think those stereotypes demean both men and women.'

Even if the draft is never used again, retaining the requirement sends a 'really damaging message,' she said.

On Monday, she urged Congress in a statement to 'update the law either by requiring everyone to register for the draft, regardless of their gender, or by not requiring anyone to register.'

Justices Sonya Sotomayor (bottom right corner), Brett Kavanaugh (top left) and Stephen Breyer (2nd R, bottom row) said Congress is weighing whether to change the Military Selective Service Act, which requires men but not women to register for the draft when they turn 18

A group of retired senior military officers and the National Organization for Women Foundation were among those that had urged the court to take the case.

The issue of who has to register for the draft has been to the court before. In 1981, the court voted 6-3 to uphold the men-only registration requirement. At the time, the decision was something of an outlier because the court was regularly invalidating gender-based distinctions in cases about other areas of the law.

Many of those cases were brought by the founding director of the ACLU's Women's Rights Project, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who became a justice in 1993.

The last time the high court considered the Military Selective Service Act, then-Justice William Rehnquist explained that the purpose of registration 'was to prepare for a draft of combat troops.' He said that because women could not serve in combat, the law was not unlawful sex discrimination that violated the Constitution.

But military policy has changed. In 2013, the Defense Department lifted the ban on women serving in combat. Two years later, the department said all military positions would be open to women without exception.

The Biden administration had urged the justices not to take the case and to let Congress instead tackle the issue. Administration lawyers wrote in a brief that any 'reconsideration of the constitutionality of the male-only registration requirement ... would be premature at this time' because Congress is 'actively considering' the issue.
Litchfield (06759)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

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Showers this evening then thundershowers developing overnight. Low 57F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
A police officer who battered a Wetherspoons drinker over the head with his baton has avoided jail after a judge showed clemency because of his 'exemplary' character and record during six years at the Met.

Pc Jack Wood, 26, was convicted of assaulting Jake Smith, 26, who suffered a gaping gash to his skull following the clash in Romford, Essex on January 5 2020 that was also captured on CCTV.

PC Wood insisted he had no alternative but to draw his baton and said he was aiming for Mr Smith's shoulder when he hit him on the head - but he was convicted of one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Mr Scott.

But sparing him jail Judge Nina Tempia told Pc Wood she accepted he had 'misjudged' the situation. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for 12 months. The officer was also ordered to pay a total of 1,322 in court costs.

PC Jack Wood hit Jack Smith over the head with his baton while on duty after dealing with a row that spilled out of a JD Wetherspoon pub in January 2020 - but has been spared jail

Mrs Justice Tempia said: 'You are a man not only of good character, but exemplary conduct. This was a moment that was totally misjudged by you. I have taken into account that you have been a police officer of exemplary character for six years. There is no risk to the public'.

Pc Wood, who could now be sacked by Scotland Yard following the conclusion of the case, and colleague Pc Archie Payne, 27, were also convicted of assaulting Mr Smith's friend Scott Rooney, 26, after he told a court how he was grabbed by the throat and thrown to the ground.

PC Payne, who left the Met to become a train driver following the incident, was fined 600 and was ordered to pay 1,000 in costs in addition to a 34 victim surcharge. Mr Rooney, a railway engineer, said he was attacked by the officers after he tried to take a picture of Pc Wood and his officer number.

CCTV footage of the assault was shown in court, where the victim was cracked over the head with a baton

CCTV footage shown to the court captured the moment Pc Wood strikes Mr Smith to the head while body worn footage showed PC Payne grabbing Mr Rooney's throat, pushing him to the wall and lying on top of him.

Mr Smith suffered two wounds to his head, 1.5cm and 1cm in length, as well as 6cm of bruising to his chest wall.

Prosecutor Nicola Shannon said there had been an argument between Mr Rooney and another drinker, prompting two security guards to ask them to leave. She said they stayed for one more drink but, upon leaving, realised the man they had clashed with was lurking outside with a number of others.

GRAPHIC IMAGE WARNING: Jake Smith, 26, was left with a gaping head wound

The group was standing between the pub and the bus stop that Mr Rooney, who lived locally, needed to get to.

The pair had asked Pc Wood and Pc Payne, who were outside the pub on patrol, to escort them to the bus stop past the group, the court heard.

Ms Shannon said: 'The officers declined to do so, telling the group if he was their friend it's not their responsibility to help, and returned to their patrol duties.

'Mr Rooney was attacked by the group... but shortly after that Pc Wood ran into the scene, came behind Mr Smith, raised his baton and inflicted between three to four strikes.'

Mr Rooney, a railway engineer, said he was the victim of an unprovoked onslaught after trying to take a picture of Pc Wood and his officer number

Scott Rooney being pinned to the ground by officers following a bust-up in Romford, Essex

While Mr Smith had his back towards the officer 'Pc Wood appears to go from right to left with the baton held above his head in an overarm motion..brings it down towards Mr Smith.'

Pc Wood's colleague Pc Archie Payne, 27, (pictured) was also convicted of assaulting Mr Smith's friend Scott Rooney, 26, after he told a court how he was grabbed by the throat and thrown to the ground

Pc Payne is seen on the footage making a 'kicking motion' at Mr Smith while he was on the ground.

After Mr Smith was treated in an ambulance the officers returned to arrest him for affray, but the charge was later discontinued, the court heard.

Giving evidence Pc Wood insisted he had no alternative but to draw his baton and said he was aiming for Mr Smith's shoulder when he hit him on the head.

Robert Morris, defending Pc Wood, had claimed Mr Smith and his friend were binge drinking for ten hours and then 'rugby tackled' other punters outside the pub.

Mr Morris said: 'Mr Smith had engaged in violence, rugby tackling two people to the floor right in front of him at the point that Mr Wood decided to use force.

'This was a case as you noted that was disproportionate use of force when the defendant believed that he was trying to stop a fight in the middle of Romford town centre.'

Mr Morris told the court Pc Wood was of 'had derived his community bravely' for six years and had now lost 'everything.'

He said: 'He is a hardworking dedicated police officer but obviously as a result of the conviction...he will be dismissed from the police. He will be placed on the barred list.

'He has served his community well. He has literally lost everything. His good character, his career and vocation.

'It is unfortunate that a 26 year-old man of good character is in this position, but ultimately this comes down to poor judgment, on your finding, involving disproportionate use of force for not more than seven seconds.'

Pc Wood, based at Romford Police Station, denied but was convicted of one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Mr Scott and assault by beating against Mr Rooney.

He was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for 12 months.

The officer was also ordered to pay a total of 1,322 in court costs.

No compensation was ordered as Mr Smith is starting civil proceedings against Pc Wood where he will be requesting redress.

Pc Payne, based at Romford Police Station before he left to become a train driver following the incident, denied but was convicted of common assault against Mr Rooney.

He was ordered to pay a total of 1,632 in compensation and court costs following the trial last month.
An 80-year-old hospital patient has died after a security guard posed as a doctor and performed surgery on her in Pakistan.

Shameema Begum died on Sunday two weeks after Muhammad Waheed Butt attempted to treat her back wound at Lahore's Mayo Hospital.

Butt, who has been charged and is in police custody, took payment from her family before performing the surgery in an operating theatre, where a qualified technician was also present.

'We can't keep up with what every doctor and what everyone is doing at all times. It's a large hospital,' explained a hospital official, who did not want to be named.

Lahore's Mayo Hospital, a public hospital in eastern Pakistan. Pakistan's public hospitals, where people are required to pay some money towards treatment, can often be inefficient and chaotic.

Police said the security guard has also been accused of posing as a doctor on other occasions, even making home visits to patients.

The hospital claimed the security guard was fired two years ago for trying to extort money from patients.

Pakistan's public hospitals, where people are required to pay some money towards treatment, can often be inefficient and chaotic.

Begum's family paid Butt for the operation, and two further home visits to dress her wound.

But when the bleeding and pain worsened, her family returned her to the hospital, where they discovered what had happened.

Her body is being kept for an autopsy to ascertain whether her death was a result of complications from the botched surgery.

'The guard has been charged and is in police custody,' Lahore police spokesman Ali Safdar told AFP.

'Butt had posed as a doctor and made home visits to other patients in the past also.'

Earlier in May a man was arrested for posing as a doctor at Lahore General Hospital and extorting money from patients in the surgical ward.

In 2016 it was revealed a woman posing to be a neurosurgeon conducted operations for eight months alongside qualified doctors at Lahore's Services Hospital, the second-largest health facility in Pakistan.
All adults in Wales will have been offered a coronavirus jab by Monday, Mark Drakeford said today.

The First Minister said the milestone will be hit six weeks ahead of the overall UK target for giving vaccines to everyone over the age of 18 by the end of July.

Wales has given a first jab to 2.18million people, or 86 per cent of the adult population, which is currently the best record of any country in the world.

However, Wales is lagging behind England and Scotland when it comes to the proportion of the population who have received both doses.

Mr Drakeford told a press conference in Cardiff: 'We will make the offer of vaccination to all eligible adults six weeks ahead of schedule and we expect to reach 75 per cent take-up across all priority groups and age groups a month ahead of target.

All adults in Wales will have been offered a coronavirus jab by Monday, Mark Drakeford said today

Wales is ahead on first doses but lagging behind England and Scotland when it comes to the proportion of the population who have received both doses

'This is a remarkable achievement and a tribute to the hard work of all those involved in the programme  to all those doing the complex work of planning behind the scenes and to the thousands of people vaccinating and helping to run the clinics across the country.'

He said the government would now 'switch our efforts to accelerate second doses', with a target of covering the whole population by September.

'Subject to supply, we're confident that we can deliver second doses as fast and as successfully as we have first doses,' he said.

The updated strategy expects to deliver around 28,000 second doses every day over the summer months.

Mr Drakeford said he expected a first dose uptake of 75 per cent across all priority and age groups, and that Wales' success was because its programme 'uses every drop of vaccine, stores it in people's arms, not in fridges, and absolutely minimises the waste of the vaccine so we can use every single drop'.

He said having a high level of second dose uptake 'gives us more options for the future, hopefully meaning that we can live with fewer restrictions'.

Mr Drakeford said the emergence of the Indian variant  also known as the Delta variant  highlighted the importance of getting both doses.

There are still 97 confirmed cases of the variant in Wales, with clusters located in Conwy in the north-east.

Mr Drakeford said the government was 'very confident' vaccinations were breaking the link between illness and hospital admissions with the Kent variant, but more information was needed whether that was true with the latest mutation.

'The preliminary evidence is a bit mixed on it,' he said.
A 65-year-old Connecticut man was killed after crashing his Harley-Davidson into a bear which had wandered onto the state highway in Connecticut, state police said.

Thomas Kovalik, of Plymouth, was driving a 1995 Harley on Route 222 in Harwinton when he crashed into the bear at about 10:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Kovalik was thrown from the motorcycle in the freak accident and landed in the road.

Thomas Kovalik, 65, was killed when his motorcycle hit a bear, Connecticut state police said

Thomas Kovalik, of Plymouth, was driving a 1995 Harley-Davidson on Route 222 in Harwinton when he crashed into a bear at about 10:30 p.m. on Saturday

Thomas Kovalik was thrown from the motorcycle in the freak accident and landed in the road, where he was found by state troopers (pictured, the scene of the crash)

He was found by state troopers and transported to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington, where he was pronounced dead.

Tributes poured in for the Harley-Davidson driver on Facebook. 'Ride on my friend!', one wrote.

'I'm glad to have met him! He was the meaning love, definitely gonna miss his laugh and smile. Ride Free My Friend', wrote another.

Police said it had not yet been determined if alcohol or speed played a part in Kovalik's death.

Initial reports stated Kovalik likely lost control of the motorbike after hitting the bear, ctpost reported.

Thomas Kovalik (pictured, right) was transported to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington, where he was pronounced dead

Tributes poured in for the Harley-Davidson driver Thomas Kovalik (pictured, right) on Facebook. Police have opened an investigation into the freak accident

They added it remains unclear how the 65-year-old managed to hit the bear, or whether the animal survived.

Route 222 was closed for several hours between Delay and Hayden Roads following the fatal accident. It has since reopened.

An investigation into the crash is ongoing.
A paedophile has admitted to posing as a rich stockbroker 'sugar daddy' to force youngsters to engage in sexual activity before selling depraved 'box sets' of the abuse to nearly 2,000 people across the globe.

Abdul Elahi, 26, who admitted to 158 offences, used fake names to befriend women and children online, and offered them cash to send him back pictures and videos of themselves.

Elahi, from Sparkhill in Birmingham, then persuaded his victims to send him more depraved material including humiliating videos of them taking part in abuse with other children and siblings.

He forced some of his victims to self-mutilate and blackmailed women to send him footage of themselves abusing young children.

Elahi was arrested by the NCA in December 2018 but released, after which he was able to continue his offending until August 2020 despite being on bail.

Abdul Elahi, 26, who admitted to 158 offences, used fake names to befriend women and children online, and offered them cash to send him back pictures and videos of themselves

Elahi then sent his footage online as 'box sets' to fellow paedophiles across the world and even ran encrypted 'Masterclasses' to help them avoid detection.

He posed as a wealthy middle-aged 'sugar daddy' who had worked as a stockbroker, using fake personal details including a photo and summary of his wealth.

He forced some of his victims to self-mutilate and blackmailed women to send him footage of themselves abusing young children.

His victims were as young as eight-months-old.

Elahi will be sentenced in September after he admitted 157 offences at Birmingham Crown Court.

As many as 550 women in the UK have been identified by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as victims of Elahi, in 20 countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Officers also found Elahi more than 67,000 indecent images of children on the pervert's devices.

Most of his victims were in the US and the CPS and NCA worked with the FBI and Department of Justice in the US to build the case against Elahi.

Elahi was snared in December 2018 by NCA agents, after an allegation he was blackmailing a teenage girl in the United States.

His mobile phone and computers were seized and forensically examined, leading investigators to uncover his 'industrial-scale' offending.

Kirsty Nicholls, 35, of Northolt, west London, knew Elahi from a sugar daddy website and together they admitted two sexual assaults against a child and both admitted making indecent images of the child

Elahi admitted offences against a total of 79 victims, ranging from children aged under one to adults, carried out between January 2017 and August 2020.

Tony Cook, NCA Head of CSA operations, said: 'The investigation team have been horrified by Elahi's sadistic depravity and stunned by the industrial scale of his worldwide offending.

'Elahi sought sexual gratification from having power and control of his victims and he's displayed zero empathy for them.

'He often goaded them to the point of wanting to kill themselves.

'The effects on the victims in this case will continue throughout the rest of their lives.

'I commend the victims for their bravery and I urge anyone who is being abused online to report it. There is help available.

'Sadly there are very many offenders like Elahi who mask their real identities with convincing personas to exploit both children and adults.

'I urge parents to speak with their children about who they communicate with online and what they share.

'People need to understand these offences can happen to anyone.

'Our investigation has sparked a series of other inquiries into Elahi's associates and there is ongoing work to bring others to justice.

'We thank our international partners especially the FBI for the support given to us on this case.'

Sophie Mortimer, of the Revenge Porn Helpline, said: 'We have been working with the National Crime Agency to remove the online content on behalf of the victims for over 18 months.

'We have managed to remove thousands of images but there is more outstanding and this work will continue for many months to come.

'This content is some of the most extreme that the Helpline has ever dealt with.

'It is not simply nudity or sexually graphic, it is violent, degrading and deeply harmful.

'The impact of the sharing of this content is devastating and life-changing and should not be underestimated.'

Sarah Ingram, CPS specialist prosecutor, said: 'The crimes that Elahi committed worldwide were horrifying and sadistic. He coerced vulnerable children and women to engage in sexual activity and then blackmailed them for his own gain.

'The extent of the offences is almost unheard of. This level of depravity is shocking and will impact the victims for their whole lives. I commend the victims for their bravery and urge anyone who has been abused online to report it so that justice can be served, whether the crimes were committed in England or abroad.'

Elahi previously admitted 158 offences including blackmail, disclosing private photos, distributing indecent images, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, fraud, possessing extreme pornography, causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child and possessing more than 65,000 indecent images of children - including babies being raped.

The offences were committed between 1 January 2017 and 7 August 2020.

Kirsty Nicholls, 35, of Northolt, west London, knew Elahi from a sugar daddy website and together they admitted two sexual assaults against a child and both admitted making indecent images of the child.

She will be sentenced with Elahi on September 9 and 10.

A ban on reporting Elahi's pleas was lifted by a judge at Birmingham Crown Court today.
Dr. Anthony Fauci avoided questions on his emails and growing demands for him to be fired as he joined Jill Biden for an interview on Live! with Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest on Monday morning.

The pair were instead asked when they have diners with their families and discussed Jill's recent birthday trip to Delaware, a day after protesters greeted them at a vaccine center in Harlem and called for the embattled White House medical adviser to be axed.

Fauci got only a few basic questions about vaccines for children and if the US public need booster shots.

But he wasn't pressed about his emails that suggest he publicly quashed evidence that COVID leaked from a Wuhan lab and revealed his close relationship with Chinese scientists at the start of the outbreak.

'There was a birthday last week. how did you celebrate?' host Ryan Seacrest asked. Biden responded with a description of her 'beautiful birthday' celebrations with the president at their beach house in Delaware.

At another point, host Ripa noted that she and Dr. Biden were from neighboring towns in Jersey, calling Biden's hometown of Hammonton the 'blueberry capital of the world.'

The White House has thrown their support behind Fauci in the aftermath of the release of his emails. President Biden has said has 'full confidence' in his adviser and insists he won't be fired under any circumstances.

LOTS OF LAUGHS: Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Jill Biden were asked about their childhoods and their evening dining rituals in an appearance on 'Live! with Kelly and Ryan.' Fauci was able to avoid questions about an email dump and the origins of the coronavirus

'Is a good to be back in New York City, or do you find yourself on a friends and family tour?' Rip asked Fauci

The hosts toggled between calling the pair 'Jill and Anthony' and and calling them both doctors  a reference to early online traffic over Biden's Ph.D in Education.

Ripa asked the Brooklyn-born Fauci about his first trip to New York since the pandemic.

'Is a good to be back in New York City, or do you find yourself on a friends and family tour?' she wanted to know.

10 QUESTIONS FAUCI SHOULD HAVE BEEN ASKED AFTER THE RELEASE OF HIS EMAILS 1) Should you have gone public earlier with suggestions that the: 'The typical mask you buy in the drugstore is not really effective at keeping the virus out, which is small enough to pass through the material'. 2) Should you have pressed the Wuhan labs harder on whether they were using US grants to research gain-of-function theory? 3) Should President Biden be pressing China harder to hand over more evidence about the origins of COVID. 4) Do you think there is any chance the virus was engineered? 5) What do you say to members of the American public and Republican lawmakers who have called for you to be fired? 6) Will you answer the growing demands to release your unredacted emails and testify to Congress about COVID origins? 7) Should you have pressed Ecohealth Alliance president Dr. Peter Daszak harder about how he was distributing the NIH grant? 8) Why did you thank Daszak for his email giving you praise for publicly quashing the lab leak theories? 9) Do you agree with the Lancet statement signed by 27 scientists - including Daszak - urging 'solidarity with all scientists and health professionals in China'. 10) What do you say to accusations that you lied to Congress about Wuhan lab using US taxpayer money for 'gain of function' research Advertisement

He described driving into the city after landing at LaGuardia airport and looking at the city where he grew up. Seacrest asked if he put the window down to look around. 'They don't let you put the window down,' Fauci quipped  in a brief reference to his security protection amid threats.

But there were plenty of topics the hosts didn't broach  including new questions about whether government scientists considered the possibility of a lab leak of the virus from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, whether the public was fully informed of the possibility as the idea got officially dismissed, as well as early missteps on masking and other protections.

Fauci has said repeatedly that the most likely origin is a virus that jumped from an animal like a bat to another animal or humans, although President Biden has now ordered an intelligence review.

Fauci is currently at the center of storm of questions about the origins of the virus  with former President Donald Trump calling him a 'promoter' during a weekend speech in North Carolina, and Republicans in Congress calling for investigations and even demanding his ouster.

He and Biden were greeted by a small group of protesters when they visited a vaccine clinic at Abyssinian Baptist Church on Sunday. Some carried signs saying 'Fire Fauci' and blasting vaccines, as the Biden administration pushes to get 70 percent of Americans with at least one shot. One protester held a sign calling him a 'criminal' while other held up a mask emblazoned with the word 'fascism.' Fauci has repeatedly inveighed against a politicization of mask-wearing.

The interview repeatedly circled back to family matters, with the bulk of the questions going to Biden.

Seacrest asked Biden when she does get alone time with the president, 'What is it that you guys like to do?' She said she liked to exercise, and go for walks and bike rides. 'We always have dinner together,' she said. 'Quiet, no phones, the candles are on the table,' she said.

'I like a pretty table,' Dr. Biden said.

Fauci was shielded in part by his seat-mate, who fielded a number of questions on safe topics.

'What time is dinner and how long does it last?' Ripa wanted to know.

When it came to Fauci's eating time of 9pm or 9:30, Ripa found they were simpatico.'Dr. Fauci and I totally could have been married,' she riffed. 'The one thing I wanted was to have dinner every night with my children,' Fauci said.

When matters got around to health care, some of the questions to Fauci pertained to his family pharmacy, where he delivered goods on his Schwinn bike.

'We love a Schwinn,' Seacrest told him.

'I could spend the rest of my life meandering through a pharmacy. I'm not kidding. It is my favorite thing to do,' joked Ripa.

Ripa later brought up progress in vaccine distribution and declining cases.

'We're going to hit 70 percent of the population, the adult population, by the Fourth of July,' Fauci said, amid a drop in daily vaccine doses. Other questions came on boosters and child vaccinations.

Demonstrators protest outside Abyssinian Baptist Church on June 6, 2021 in New York City. Abyssinian Baptist Church has been offering COVID-19 vaccines in Harlem, where the infection rate has been higher than the rest of the city but the vaccine rate is roughly only seven percent

Protesters inveighed against covid passports and called Fauci a 'criminal'
Donald Trump said on Monday he is considering tapping Florida Governor Ron DeSantis instead of Mike Pence as his running mate if he enters the 2024 race.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox Business' Stuart Varney on Monday morning, the ex-president also lashed out at Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and railed against bitcoin as a 'scam'.

He also previewed a potential trip to the southern border 'soon', as Vice President Kamala Harris began her first meetings to address the 'root causes of migration' in Guatemala.

Trump said, 'Sure I would,' when asked by Varney in the phone interview if he would consider the Florida governor for his No. 2.

'But, you know, there are numerous people that are great,' he deflected. 'I would certainly consider Ron.'

'I was at the beginning of Ron. I was the first one to endorse him when he came out as a congressman that a lot of people didn't know and my endorsement helped him tremendously and I know him very well. He's a great guy,' Trump added.

Early polling for the 2024 presidential race shows DeSantis as the second choice among Republican voters. Trump remains at No. 1.

Donald Trump told Fox Business' Stuart Varney in a Monday morning interview that he is considering Ron DeSantis as his running mate if he decides to run in 2024

Early polling for the 2024 presidential election shows Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is the second choice among Republican voters  with Trump as No. 1

During the wide-range interview, Trump also railed against Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg after the platform imposed a two-year-minimum suspension on his account. He said the CEO used to suck up to him and congratulate him for being 'number one on Facebook'

'We have other great people, I mean you look at some of the people, the Republican people, that have done a great job with states.'

Trump has not officially said if he will launch a bid for the White House in 2024, claiming he would wait until at least after the 2022 midterms to make any sort of announcement.

Since the end of his presidency on January 20, Trump and Pence have had a rather stale relationship. It seems the two have not spoken since leaving office.

Trump feels that Pence could have done more to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College results for Joe Biden's victory when he presided over the joint session on January 6.

The former president told Varney that Zuckerberg is a 'dangerous' person, just days after the social media platform imposed a minimum two-year-long suspension of his account.

Facebook and Twitter suspended Trump's accounts and booted him from their social media sites after the January Capitol 6 riot, which led to the former president being impeached  and acquitted  for a second time.

Trump said during his Monday morning interview that Zuckerberg used to visit him at the White House and congratulate him for being 'number one on Facebook.'

Trump considering other running mates shows his continued break with former Vice President Mike Pence and his willingness to ditch him if he made another White House run

'You know, Zuckerberg would come to the White House to have dinner with me, couldn't have been nicer,' Trump said. 'Sir, you're number one, congratulations, number one on Facebook.' All of this crap. He would bring his wife.'

'They have to be stopped and they will be stopped eventually they are going to be stopped,' Trump said of Big Tech and social media platforms.

He called the bans 'a danger' to America.

Twitter permanently banned Trump, while Facebook used a panel of experts to look into their policies and make a recommendation on what to do about the former president's account.

Ultimately the oversight board extended Facebook's ban for six months and said the company would need to decide on its own what to do with Trump's presence on their platform.

When Varney asked Trump why he thinks he was stripped of his social media platforms, Trump said: 'Because my voice is very strong and my voice is very powerful,' and claimed Facebook doesn't want to hear his 'sane voice.'

'We don't have free speech anymore, and who are they to tell us what ideology we should be talking about, what politics we should be talking about. They are a disgrace.'
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that up to 400,000 immigrants who gained temporary protected status but came here illegally won't be able to get green cards  with liberal Justice Elana Kagan such status 'does not come with an admission ticket.'

The Supreme Court was unanimous in its refusal to let immigrants who have been allowed to stay in the United States on humanitarian grounds apply to become permanent residents if they entered the country illegally.

it impacts thousands of immigrants who fled to the U.S. following hurricanes and other disasters and who established residency with special protected status.

It came in a case where the Biden administration, which has been seeking to roll back Trump administration immigration policies, weighed in against the immigrants who sued.

The justices, acting in an appeal by a married couple from El Salvador who were granted so-called Temporary Protected Status, upheld a lower court ruling that barred their applications for permanent residency, also known as a green card, because of their unlawful entry.

The case could affect 400,000 immigrants, many of whom have lived in the United States for years.

It came down on a day when Vice President Kamala Harris was visiting Guatemala as part of a trip to address 'root causes' of immigration amid a flood of unaccompanied minors from Central America at the southern border.

President Joe Biden, who has sought to reverse many of Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies, had opposed the immigrants in this case, placing the president at odds with immigration advocacy groups and some of his fellow Democrats.

The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously refused to let immigrants who have been allowed to stay in the United States on humanitarian grounds apply to become permanent residents if they entered the country illegally. The case involves Jose Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez from El Salvador (above), who entered the US twice illegally

A federal law called the Immigration and Nationality Act generally requires that people seeking to become permanent residents have been 'inspected and admitted' into the United States. At issue in the case was whether a grant of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which gives the recipient 'lawful status,' satisfies those requirements.

Writing for the court, liberal Justice Elena Kagan said that 'because a grant of TPS does not come with a ticket of admission, it does not eliminate the disqualifying effect of an unlawful entry.'

'The question here is whether the conferral of TPS enables him to obtain [Legal Permanent Residency] status despite his unlawful entry. We hold that it does not,' Kagan wrote.

She wrote that an admission is defined as 'the lawful entry of the alien into the United States after inspection and authorization by an officer.'

'The TPS program gives foreign nationals nonimmigrant status, but it does not admit them.'

Foreign nationals can be granted Temporary Protected Status if a humanitarian crisis in their home country, such as a natural disaster or armed conflict, would make their return unsafe.

There are about 400,000 people in the United States with protected status, which prevents deportation and lets them work legally.

Immigrants here under TPS come from such countries as El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Haiti, and Yemen, nations which have experienced war, disasters, and other hardships.

The case involves Jose Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez, who live in New Jersey and have four children.

The couple twice entered the United States illegally: in 1997 and 1998. After a series of earthquakes in 2001, the United States designated El Salvador as covered under the Temporary Protected Status program. The couple received protection under the program that same year.

The ruling comes as Vice President Kamala Harris (L) visited Guatemala to address root causes of migration. On Monday, she met with the President of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, greet after a meeting at the National Palace of Culture, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, 07 June 2021

Biden, who has sought to reverse many of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies, had opposed the immigrants in this case, placing the president at odds with immigration advocacy groups and some of his fellow Democrats

THE SALVADORAN COUPLE BEHIND THE SUPREME COURT'S GREEN CARD RULING FOR MIGRANTS Jose Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez have been living here on Temporary Protected Status, but have not been provided a green card The case ruled on by the Supreme Court involves Jose Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez, who live in New Jersey and have four children. The couple twice entered the United States illegally: in 1997 and 1998. After a series of earthquakes in 2001, the United States designated El Salvador as covered under the Temporary Protected Status program. The couple received protection under the program that same year. In 2006, Sanchez's employer filed a petition to immigration officials to keep her on as a skilled worker . Initially, immigration officials approved the petition and also let his wife stay. However, the government later denied their request for lawful permanent resident status, ruling that their original illegal entry disqualified them. That meant to apply for a green card the couple would have to leave the US. But they would have been barred from reentering for 10 years because they were in the US for more than 365 days without authorization. Petitioners challenged the denial of their application for adjustment of status and won at district court, but it was overturned on appeal in the 3rd Circuit. Their case went through the courts until reaching SCOTUS, where the nine justices ruled that they could not apply for a green card. LEGAL TIMELINE OF THEIR CASE July 22, 2020: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey's ruling, that the couple's TPS status did not give them grounds to apply for a green card and permanent residency. September 8, 2020: Jose Santos Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. January 8, 2021: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. When the case was originally accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court, the case name was Sanchez v. Wolf. April 19, 2021: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument. June 7, 2021: The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit's ruling which reversed the decision to uphold their temporary protected status. (Source: Ballotpedia) Advertisement

U.S. officials rejected their 2014 applications for green cards because they had not been lawfully admitted.

They sued in federal court, saying that those with lawful status, including Temporary Protected Status recipients, are deemed to have been lawfully admitted, and may apply for permanent residency.

Last year, the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the couple.

Besides El Salvador, 11 other countries currently have such designations: Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. Myanmar was the latest addition to the list, placed there by Biden's administration in the wake of a Feb. 1 military coup there.

The Supreme Court ruled in the case on a day when U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visits Guatemala as part of the Biden administration's efforts to lower migration to the United States from that country as well as El Salvador and Honduras.

Conservative justice Clarence Thomas initially suggested the Supreme Court would be reluctant to let immigrants with protected status apply for permanent residency when the case was first presented to the court on April 19.

'They clearly were not admitted at the borders, so is that a fiction, is it metaphysical, what is it? I don't know,' conservative Justice Clarence Thomas asked.

Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law, told CNN: 'Today's decision is not just a setback for those immigrants currently in Temporary Protected Status who did not enter the United States lawfully; it also reinforces the barriers that Dreamers would face until and unless Congress provides a statutory path to some kind of permanent lawful status.

'The Executive Branch may have some authority to confer forms of temporary legal status on those who crossed the border without permission, but the Supreme Court today reinforced, however indirectly, that only Congress can provide a permanent answer.'

Michael Kagan, a University of Nevada law professor and immigration lawyer, tweeted: 'SCOTUS decision on TPS (Sanchez) is just one more measure forcing large numbers of immigrants to live precariously, depending for their futures on the result of the next presidential election, at a time when free and fair elections themselves are increasingly less than certain.'

He added that the court's decision was 'just another reason why local communities need to fund deportation defense and end ICE detainers if they want to protect their immigrant neighbor.'
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Weekday road traffic has exceeded pre-Covid levels for the first time, according to new official figures, while London Underground rides are up 20% of last month as the mothballed Waterloo & City line reopened today.

The number of vehicles on Britain's roads on May 28 was at 104% of the figure before the virus crisis began, according to Department for Transport data.

The rise in vehicle use on that date was driven by it being the Friday before a bank holiday weekend, but traffic for the previous four days still averaged 96% of pre-pandemic levels, while weekend road traffic has been at or near 100% since mid April.

The Waterloo & City line reopened today, ahead of schedule on June 21, after its drivers were drafted onto the busier Central Line during the pandemic. This comes after a surge in demand, with ridership on the Tube having increased by more than 20% since May 17.

Mobility data from Apple also shows that on June 5 London was above pre-pandemic levels across driving, walking and public transport.

The number of vehicles on Britain's roads on May 28 was at 104% of the figure before the virus crisis began, according to Department for Transport data. Bus travel has also increased (pictured are commuters in London today)

Mobility data from Apple shows that on June 5 London was above pre-pandemic levels across driving, walking and public transport

Data from satellite navigation service provider TomTom shows that hourly congestion in London was consistently above 2020 levels and at times peaked above 2019 levels across the last week

Analysis also shows a significant rise in congestion from Week 15 of 2021 - the week after the April 12 easing of 'Stay at Home' rules - with traffic levels now above those recorded in May and June 2019

Waterloo & City line reopens in London for the first time since March 2020 The Waterloo & City line will reopen today for the first time since the start of the pandemic, Transport for London (TfL) has announced. The important London commuter link, which connects Waterloo and Bank stations in the centre of the capital, closed in March 2020. Services will now run every five minutes Monday to Friday from 6am to 10am and 3.30pm to 7pm. TfL said the operating hours will enable customers to stagger their journeys during rush hour and provide extra capacity for people who have to travel at peak times. The line had been due to reopen on June 21 this year. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: 'I'm delighted that the Waterloo & City line is returning from today, ahead of schedule. 'As London's economy continues to reopen and more people return to the offices, having this key artery connecting Waterloo and Bank stations up and running will be vital.' During the pandemic, Waterloo & City line Tube drivers were drafted onto the Central Line to help manage the extra services required to ensure social distancing was maintained. TfL said the number of people using the Tube had increased by more than 20% since May 17. Catherine McGuinness, policy chairwoman at the City of London Corporation, said: 'Today's reopening of the historic Waterloo & City line is an exciting and vital moment in the Square Mile's recovery as it marks a huge step on our journey back to normality. 'The Waterloo & City line will support the return of the City's commuting workforce back to the Square Mile as the easing of restrictions allows. 'The additional footfall generated will also provide reassurance to the many businesses that rely on commuter traffic for trade.' TfL said there will be occasions when social distancing is not possible as more people return to using the network, and advised people to consider waiting for the next service when necessary. Face coverings must still be worn across the transport network. Advertisement

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: 'Despite the seemingly inexorable rise of forecourt fuel prices over the last year, the arrival of good weather and the prospect of getting out and about over the bank holiday weekend saw road traffic levels back up to pre-pandemic levels.

'Whether traffic will continue to grow as the remaining lockdown measures are lifted remains to be seen.

'That growth could create a big challenge for highway bosses if it comes back stronger than ever in the morning and evening peaks despite the apparent popularity of home-working.

'Official data shows that pump prices of both petrol and diesel have risen for the 28th week in a row, with the per litre price of petrol now 22% higher than a year ago.'

Major firms including Google and KPMG last week revealed their post-pandemic plans to let staff work from home - as firms consider how much time staff should spend in the office as normality returns.

Accounting firm KPMG told its 16,000 UK staff on Wednesday that they will work in the office for up to four days in a fortnight starting next month under a hybrid working model drawn up following the recent decline in British Covid cases.

And U.S. tech giant Google revealed plans to allow 20 per cent of its 140,000 employees to permanently work from home starting September 1.

The company had originally plan to have all of its employees return to work at its offices at least three times a week.

A spokesperson for Google said that starting in September, the company will also transition to a 'hybrid model' with a majority of employees required in the office for at least three days per week.

According to an email circulated by CEO Sundar Pichai, around 60 per cent of Google employees are expected in the office each week while another 20 per cent will be assigned to new office locations.

The remaining 20 per cent will be permitted to work from home full-time.

'Before the pandemic, we had thousands of people working in locations separate from their core teams,' Pichai wrote to his work force of more than 140,000 employees on Wednesday.

'I fully expect those numbers to increase in the coming months as we develop more remote roles, including fully all-remote sub teams.'

Pichai wrote that the company will offer more details next month on how employees who are interested in requesting to work from home on a permanent basis can request to do so.

KPMG spokeswoman Zoe Sheppard said in an emailed statement: 'As part of the firm's new hybrid way of working, from June onwards, the expectation will be that KPMG's people spend up to four days in the office spread over a fortnight, with the rest spent at home or at client sites.'

The number of passengers on the London Underground (pictured today) has increased by more than 20% since May 17

It comes amid reports that the government could instruct millions of Britons could be told to continue working from home past June 21 as the price for lifting the rest of the lockdown.

Ministers are thought to be examining keeping the guidance for people to avoid unnecessary trips to offices and other workplaces to offset the spread of the Indian variant.

They hope that this mitigation will allow the rest of the lockdown rules due to be lifted in little over a fortnight as planned, despite fears that hospitalisations and deaths could increase.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick did not deny the claims reported in the Telegraph.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme last week: 'There are options that are clearly available to the government.

'We set out with the roadmap what would be expected to happen at the next stage and we want to try to stick to that if we possibly can, all of us are moving everything we can to achieve that.

'But of course we keep these things under review and we are also asking people to continue to exercise caution in their daily lives.

'What can we do as citizens? Follow the rules as far as we can. If we dont need to go into the office then obviously dont do unnecessary trips in. And above all go out and get vaccinated.'

Commuters, some wearing face coverings, walk outside Victoria Station in central London on June 7

A new poll by flexible workplace provider Orega has suggested half of workers could go into the office just three days a week after lockdown.

Yet working from home could lead to Britons losing out on career opportunities and create discrimination in offices, according to a recent study.

So-called 'hybrid working' models which give staff the flexibility to work between home and the office could be 'dragging businesses back decades', according to a team of business psychologists at the Cambridgeshire-based firm, OE Cam.

Researchers claim people working from home are missing out on opportunities given to their colleagues in the office, and are less likely to be given a promotion.

The study also suggests that those working remotely, such as parents, disabled and minority groups, will be put at a disadvantage because they are left 'unnoticed, without a voice or the ability to contribute or progress.'

A raft of top City firms and banks have already embraced a hybrid model or full-time home working as pandemic habits become more commonplace, even as the crisis subsides.
A Tory MP has been fined after his puppy caused a stampede when he chased a 200-strong herd of deer in London's Richmond Park.

Danny Kruger, 46, who was the Prime Minister's political secretary before his election as MP for Devizes in Wiltshire at the 2019 general election, admitted losing control of his 11-month-old Jack Russell, Pebble, during a walk with his family on March 20.

Kruger, David Cameron's former speechwriter, appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday, wearing a blue suit, white shirt and purple tie, as well as a black face mask.

He spoke to confirm his name, address and date of birth before pleading guilty to causing or permitting an animal to chase or worry another animal in a royal park.

Prosecutor Dominic Hockley said: 'On March 20 this year, Danny Kruger's white Jack Russell dog, Pebble, chased a large herd of fallow deer.

'It's been said it only takes one pebble to start an avalanche. In this case it only took one Pebble to start a stampede.'

Prue Leith's son and Tory MP Danny Kruger, 46, has been fined 719 after he admitted losing control of his 11-month-old Jack Russell, Pebble, during a walk with his family on March 20

Mr Kruger's Jack Russell terrier Pebble (pictured) is said to have 'worried' fallow deer in violation of regulations governing the Royal Parks during the afternoon of March 20

The court heard that Kruger had been on a long walk in the busy park with his wife and three children on the afternoon of March 20, when PC Samantha Riggs spotted his dog running across the road towards a herd of around 200 fallow deer.

Mr Hockley said the deer, many of which were pregnant, were left in a 'panicked state', while PC Riggs called out for the owner, who was 'at that point nowhere to be seen', to bring the dog under control.

Volunteer ranger Duncan MacCallum said he asked Kruger to call his puppy back, 'which seemed to spur him into action', the court heard.

In footage filmed by a member of the public, Donald Milton, and the police officer's body-worn camera, Kruger can be heard repeatedly shouting 'Pebble' before putting his dog on a lead.

The MP, who lives in Hammersmith, west London, was said to have been 'contrite and apologetic' following the incident, which lasted around 45 seconds, telling police: 'I'm sorry, I had no idea, I didn't see the deer. Anyway, obviously he needs to be on a lead.'

Jae Carwardine, defending, said Kruger's 'attention was momentarily drawn away' because his youngest son, aged seven, was tired after walking for around two hours.

The court heard Mr Kruger, the son of TV chef Prue Leith (pictured), deeply regrets his actions

'This was a brief lapse while juggling his responsibilities as a parent, quite understandable, but something Mr Kruger deeply regrets,' she said.

'Of course, he will take much greater care in the future.'

The lawyer described Kruger as an 'avid dog walker', while Pebble was said to be a 'very friendly, good-natured family pet who interacts well with other animals'.

'Mr Kruger takes dog training and dog obedience seriously. He has trained Pebble and he has been effective in that training,' she said.

'He of course takes responsibility for the temporary loss of control of his dog.'

Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram fined Kruger 120 and told him he must pay 575 costs and a 34 surcharge, totalling 719.

It is understood no animals were hurt. Pictured: Herd of deer in Richmond Park in March 2020

He told Kruger: 'The video says it all really, doesn't it? You should have known better, especially in Richmond Park, where everyone knows there are wild deer.

'Your dog was not under control, he was able to frighten the deer and here you are in court today.

'The deer were clearly startled and frightened. It could have caused injury, fortunately it didn't.'

The 2,500-acre park is London's largest royal park and is home to around 300 red deer and 300 fallow deer.

The park has protected status and is a national nature reserve as well London's largest Site of Special Scientific Interest and a European Special Area of Conservation.

Richmond Park's manager Simon Richards said in a statement to the court there were 36 recorded incidents of dogs chasing deer over a four-month period last year, while around six of the animals a year are killed by dogs.

'Dogs chasing deer cause great distress and it often leads to physical attacks on the deer,' he said.
The woman was with Ramsey a few hours before the stabbing at the Best Value Inn and told detectives she escaped when he went to get more drugs and fled to Callahans. She hoped Ramsey would not find her there but warned Callahan that Ramsey would come looking and was crazy as [expletive], records show.
Smyth County Sheriff Chip Shuler said cops were the victims of an 'unprecedented assault'

A twice-elected Virginia sheriff has become the third in the state to quit the Democratic Party over its relentless calls to defund the police.

Sheriff Chip Shuler announced on May 26 that he was quitting the party he normally represented, saying in a statement that it had been 'difficult to watch his deputies' trying to work during the 'unprecedented assault' on their profession.

'My deputies work hard to serve and protect the citizens of Smyth County.

As sheriff, it has been difficult to watch my deputies try to move forward during this 'unprecedented assault on our profession.

'We (law enforcement) remain an honorable profession and should not be judged by the bad acts of a few.

'I have always been a conservative throughout my law enforcement career of 38 years,' he said.

He is the third Virginia sheriff to make the switch.

Last year, Sheriff Brian Hieatt of Tazewell County and Sheriff John McClanahan of Buchanan County both quit over the same issue.

Shuler was welcomed with open arms by the Virginia GOP.

Sheriff Chip Shuler is shown filing his membership application to join the Republican Party in Smyth County, Virginia, after quitting the Democrats - the party he ran with twice and was elected with - over its repeated calls to defund the police

'I congratulate Sheriff Shuler on taking this bold move to leave the Democratic Party and join the Republican Party.

'We are thrilled to have him as a member of the Republican Party in Smyth County,' Smyth County Republican Party chairman Adam Tolbert told WJHL.

Hieatt told Fox News in a recent interview: 'When we hear talks about defund the police, take away resources, the bottom line is, you get what you pay for and thats with any profession.

'So if you take away money and have to pay bottom dollar for certain for all the service and not have the resources to properly train, not have the money to properly test all the new applicants and new people coming in, then youre not going to get the best.

Sheriff Brian Hieatt of Tazewell County (left) and Sheriff John McClanahan (right) of Buchanan County both switched to the Republican Party over the same issue

Sheriff McClanahan posted this on Facebook when he quit the Democratic Party in September. He said in part he could no longer be associated with the party

'If you want better people in law enforcement, then there needs to be more funding to be able to do more testing, to be able to offer better pay as the people come in.

'When we arrest somebody, when we convict somebody, theres been a victim of a crime.

'When youre changing laws to try to make things better for [criminals], whats making things better for the victims who had to suffer?' he said.

Virginia - where Democrats have a slim majority - has passed multiple police reform bills.

There is a ban on no-knock warrants and now there is statewide, mandatory racism training for officers.

Sheriff John McClanahan said in his statement in September: 'As we know, Law Enforcement is taking a hit in this country.

'There is unrest in areas and there is a cry for police reform. This I can agree with, our field is an ever-changing field that requires constant changes and updates to effectively do the job and protect our citizens.

'The Democratic Party that we know today is no longer the party my grandfather was involved in.

'The ideologies of the party have shifted away from those traditional values.

'Currently, the Democratic Party is going against everything I stand for, pushing for defunding the police and the taking away of safeguards that have been in place for us.

'If law enforcement is defunded, we will not have the proper means to adequately protect our citizens.

'This will also mean less training for your law enforcement officers.

Last year there was an uprising of calls to defund entire police departments across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd. Police departments largely welcomed calls for more antiracism training but they said the way to improve their forces was to invest more in them - to pay for such training - rather than cut budgets that would end up putting people's safety at risk

'I can no longer be associated with the National Democratic Party due to them introducing bills that negatively affect my community and my livelihood,' he said.

Last year there was an uprising of calls to defund entire police departments across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd.

Police departments largely welcomed calls for more antiracism training but they said the way to improve their forces was to invest more in them - to pay for such training - rather than cut budgets that would end up putting people's safety at risk.

Biden won in Virginia 54 percent to Trump's 44 percent. It has been a blue state since 2008 and its General Assembly is also controlled by Democrats.

The State Senate is controlled by Democrats 21 to 18, and the State House of Delegates is controlled by Democrats 55 to 45.

Governor Ralph Northam was slammed last year by House Republicans after calling the ongoing efforts to 'defund the police' a matter 'semantics'.

House of Delegates Minority Leader Todd Gilbert responded saying it did matter and was not just 'semantics'.

'Respectfully, Governor, the effort to defund the police is about more than semantics. Its a clear attempt to punish all law enforcement officers for the actions of a few, rather than providing them with the resources they need to keep our communities safe -- a task made more difficult by your decision to release murderers and other dangerous felons before they finish their sentences.

'House Republicans will work to make sure our law enforcement professionals have the resources and support they need to do their jobs.'

The next election in Virginia is in November.
More than 600 earthquakes have been recorded near the border of California and Mexico since Saturday, including one with a magnitude of 5.3 that was felt nearly 600 miles away.

The 603 tremors were centered in the small town of Calipatria near the San Andreas Fault, just 35 miles from the border with Mexico.

The 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit three miles deep at 10.55am on Saturday about seven miles west of Calipatria.

Calipatria, California is home to just over 7,300 people, according to the US Census Bureau

The San Andreas Fault, pictured above in a section near Mecca, California, stretches 750 miles along the western edge of the Golden State

People as far away as San Francisco and Arizona reported feeling the shake to the US Geological Survey, according to the Sacramento Bee.

The USGS considers a 5.3 magnitude earthquake to be 'moderate,' while a 6.3 is 'strong.' Quakes between 2.5 to 5.4 are 'often felt, but only causes minor damage,' according to Michigan Technological University.

All of the recorded earthquakes registered a magnitude of at least one, Geophysicist Randy Baldwin told CNN.

Four of the quakes measured greater than four, and 29 were greater than three.

Magnitude refers to the physical size of an earthquake, according to the USGS. The actual shaking varies depending on 'distance, type of surface material, and other factors'.

The quakes rattled the nearby Salton Sea, but its shallow waters are not cause for concern

'Today's swarm is not close enough to the San Andreas fault to raise concern,' seismologist Lucy Jones tweeted on Saturday.

'We have never seen a foreshock more than 10 km from its mainshock and this swarm is about 25 km from the end of the San Andreas fault.'

The 750-mile San Andreas Fault stretches through most of the western edge of California.

It is the boundary between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates, which slide past each other at a rate of 0.79 to 1.38 inches per year.

The area where the quakes happened, in Imperial County bordering the Mexican sate of Baja California, is known for seismic activity and is not heavily populated.

The area last experienced an earthquake swarm in 2005, according to AP.

The earthquakes were 'not close enough to the San Andreas fault to raise concern.' Above, a geothermal energy plant taps underground heat from the fault near Calipatria, California

Jones said there's not much to worry about with the nearby Salton Sea.

'Salton Sea can get a-sloshin', but the shallow depth means it will not be moving much water,' she added Sunday.

So far, there have been no reports of deaths or injuries from the trembles.
A retired academic is facing jail for making her neighbour's life a misery for 25 years - after they fell out over her playing Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' too loudly.

Dr Elizabeth Hall, 74, was hauled before a court charged with harassment after a bitter dispute stretching back decades with Christine Penny, 73, turned ugly.

The pensioner claims the row first broke out when Mrs Penny began belting out the 1968 Frank Sinatra hit from her home at Melville Hall, in leafy Edgbaston, Birmingham, in 1996.

Since then the pair have been at loggerheads with accusations flying both ways.

Hall is accused of bombarding former hotel owner Mrs Penny with 52 emails in just a six-week period, which led to her starting to take anti-depressants.

On Monday, she appeared at Birmingham Crown Court for sentencing after she previously pleaded guilty to harassment and breaching a restraining order.

A retired academic is facing jail over a dispute going back 25 years - after they fell out over her playing Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' too loudly. Dr Elizabeth Hall, 74, was hauled before a court charged with harassment after a bitter dispute stretching back decades with Christine Penny, 73, turned ugly

However the case was adjourned for another month after Hall failed to co-operate with the Probation Service and claimed she would be appealing the convictions.

Representing herself, Hall, who entered court in a wheelchair, told the ten-minute hearing she didn't have enough money to afford a lawyer and would rather go to prison.

She said: 'I haven't got lawyers and it's a very complex case but I just can't afford to pay somebody to come to court for possibly 10 minutes.

'I don't have the funds and I don't qualify for legal aid so I'm afraid I will just have to fight my way through it.

'I am entitled to defend myself.

'The probation service never rang me and didn't contact me and I don't want to be subjected to probation.

Frank Sinatra's hit My Way allegedly sparked the dispute

'But I was told this was the point to appeal after this hearing and the magistrates. I shall be appealing and I want to appeal against everything.

'I am however quite prepared to talk to probation but I don't wish to accept probation as part of any sentence but they did not phone me.

'I've been described as a neighbour from hell, that is what I'm dealing with.'

Judge Roderick Henderson agreed to adjourn the case and said: 'I'm going to adjourn the case for a month.

'I'm going to direct the prosecution to confirm whether there has been any allegations of further trouble since May last year.

'As that will make a very big difference in terms of sentencing if there's not been any trouble for a year. This will need to be gone into in any event.

'If you are going to appeal against these convictions you must do the paperwork straight away.

'You are already out of time as the limit is three weeks.

'I can tell you for sure if you're back next month without the paperwork or permission to appeal a judge will carry on with sentencing.'

Hall, a doctor of science who was once accused by the BBC of helping students cheat, has lived in her flat for 26 years.

She shares the property with friend Jane Jones who suffers from multiple sclerosis and has continually protested her innocence.

Grandmother-of-four Mrs Penny said her life has been made a 'living hell' by Hall, who branded her 'nasty', 'evil' and a 'mad monkey' in the letters posted through her door.

Mrs Penny, who is also a mother-of-two, added: 'It's just been one problem after another.

'This has been going on since 1996 for a quarter-of-a-century.

'The row over playing Frank Sinatra is just one part of a bigger problem. I have lost count of the times I have had the police out.

'When it started Tony Blair wasn't Prime Minister and Lady Diana hadn't died - that's how long this has been going on for.

'One of my neighbours moved out because of her. My daughter stopped bringing her children here because of her.

'I have had my plants pulled out, she sits on her balcony with a cigar just looking at me sometimes.

The woman have been neighbours at Melville Hall, in leafy Edgbaston, Birmingham, since 1996

'I don't know how many notes I've had in total, I've lost count. Other times she would just place notices around the flats about me.

'Some of them just say I'm a nasty person, or that I'm evil and she even called me a mad monkey.

'When the police collected the notes they found they had been typed on her machine and she had handwritten the addresses, so they knew it was her.

'I just want to put it all behind me. It has been a living hell.

'She has accused me of spitting on her door, throwing pasta on her balcony, stealing her Christmas decorations - it is all complete nonsense.

'She accuses me of everything and anything, the only thing she hasn't accused me of is setting her on fire.

'I get on with everybody here, I don't know why she has targeted me.

'She is obsessed with hatred towards me and it is hounding.

On Monday, Hall appeared at Birmingham Crown Court for sentencing after she previously pleaded guilty to harassment and breaching a restraining order

'She truly believes these things. And if she doesn't go to prison, she won't stop.

'I can't believe it has been adjourned again as this case alone has been going on for three years.

'I'll be very glad once its all over.'

But speaking outside court, Hall said of Mrs Penny: 'We've been neighbours since 1996 and she's upstairs from me and I've had a lot of aggravation from her over the years.

'I was firstly irritated about something and she took it the wrong way.

'But what's been the key to it is over the last couple of years she won't open the door so if anything happened you had to send her a note.

Grandmother-of-four Mrs Penny said her life has been made a 'living hell' by Hall (pictured), who branded her 'nasty', 'evil' and a 'mad monkey' in the letters posted through her door

The case was adjourned for another month after Hall failed to co-operate with the Probation Service and claimed she would be appealing the convictions

'And she's claimed she's being harassed and took the notes to the police.

'If the police would have looked at them properly they would have cleared them but it went to the CPS.

'And then I was arrested in May 2019 when the police smashed my door down as she had supposedly received some letters.

'I thought they were letters put together by my friends and supporters but it turned out they had been put on my machine and there was forensic evidence.

'I've lost all my employment as I used to be a top end academic ghost writer.

'It's been hell for me and for my housemate it's just been hell.'
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Britain recorded another 5,683 positive coronavirus tests today in a 68 per cent spike on last Monday's count as separate data showed the Indian variant has now taken over in two thirds of areas in England.

Hospital admissions have crept up by 16 per cent, with 154 infected people admitted on June 1  the most recent day figures area available for. One more death was added to the toll, the same amount as last Monday.

But figures on hospitalisations and fatalities lag behind cases because it can take infected patients several weeks to fall severely ill, so a rise in positive tests now could make the other numbers increase in the coming weeks.

MailOnline analysis today also showed the Indian 'Delta' variant is now dominant in more than 200 of England's 300-plus council areas, compared to the 102 authorities it had taken over the week before.

Bolton and Blackburn remain the country's hotspots but cases are rising fast in other areas, with numbers doubling or tripling in Birmingham, Bury and Salford.

Despite the surging cases and growing threat of the Indian strain, Boris Johnson today insisted 'there still remains nothing in the data' to mean June 21's 'Freedom Day' has to be pushed back. His official spokesperson said No10 'always expected' infection numbers to rise when lockdown rules were lifted in May.

He added that ministers will 'look very closely at the data over this coming week' to check hospitals aren't being crippled again, before pressing ahead with any decision on June 21.

Meanwhile, Matt Hancock said it was too early to say whether England's remaining coronavirus restrictions will be lifted on June 21. But the Health Secretary  who revealed over-25s will be able to book vaccines from tomorrow  said he was confident 'one day soon, freedom will return'.

No10's unchanged position came amid growing calls for June 21's lockdown-ending to be postponed, with Downing Street's former chief scientific adviser today saying the Indian variant meant restrictions should continue for a few more weeks and jabs be rolled out to teenagers as soon as possible.

Sir David King, who held Sir Patrick Vallance's role for eight years before stepping down in 2008, said the data was 'in now' to show plans to ease restrictions must be pushed back 'right away'. He said Covid hospitalisations were 'slowly rising'.

He added: 'Im very reluctant to say that we should not go out of lockdown on June 21 but I think the figures are in now, and it will be wise for the Government to announce right away a delay in opening, just so that we can all plan for the post June 21 period.'

Asked for how long, he said: 'I would give a few weeks' delay and see how the figures are emerging. So, I dont know how long. As the Prime Minister has said, its data, not dates, that we should be governed by, and thats response as well.'

Meanwhile, another Government adviser said delaying the June 21 lockdown by a few weeks would be the best way of preventing another full-blown lockdown.

Professor Ravi Gupta, a member of NERVTAG, told BBC Breakfast: 'I think that to go completely back to normal may not be in everyones best interests. We want this to be the last lockdown that we ever go into, and we do not want to go into a reverse situation which would be much more damaging to the economy, peoples businesses and long-term welfare.'

Mr Johnson's spokesman said today: 'There still remains that there is nothing in the data currently to suggest Step Four can't go ahead at the earliest date. But we do need to look very closely at the data over this coming week.'

Boris Johnson (left, pictured today) will 'look very closely at the data over this coming week', his spokesman said. Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser, urged ministers to delay lockdown easings 'right away' because hospitalisations had risen

The spokesman continued that this week 'will be crucial to decide and really to get a sense of the data, particularly on hospitalisations and whether or not the excellent vaccine rollout programme has sufficiently severed that link between the increase in cases, which we always expected to happen, particularly after Step Three, and that subsequently leading to hospitalisations and deaths'.

Asked if there is evidence of a third wave, the spokesman said: 'We can see that the cases are rising in the UK, that is both due to the increased transmissibility of the Delta (Indian) variant, and to a certain extent the opening up of measures taken in Step Three.'

Indian Covid variant is now dominant in 200 areas The Indian 'Delta' Covid variant is now dominant in 201 authorities in England, data showed today as infections begin to rise in more parts of Britain than at any point since the peak of the second wave in early January. Surveillance data showed the mutant strain was responsible for more than half of infections in two thirds of England over the two weeks to May 29, after spreading from hotspots in the North West and London. This was double the number the previous week, when it was dominant in 102 areas, and eight times more than at the start of May when it was the main strain in just 23 areas. The 'Delta' variant  dubbed B.1.617.2  was also spotted in 272 of 317 council areas in England, or more than 85 per cent of the country. It was behind 10,477 infections over the 14-day period. For comparison, the previously dominant Kent variant was blamed for just 3,171 infections in the same time, fewer than a third of those blamed on the Indian variant. Bolton was battling the biggest outbreak of the strain over the two weeks to May 29, the latest data available, after detecting 1,674 cases. Its neighbour Blackburn with Darwen was suffering the second biggest outbreak, after recording 813 cases, followed by Manchester, 493 cases, and Bedford, 451 cases. Indian variant infections also surged in Birmingham, doubling from the previous week to 151, Salford, tripled to 233, and Bury, more than doubled to 199. Advertisement

Britain's mammoth vaccination rollout has reached more than three-quarters of adults but scientists have warned that a third wave triggered by a highly transmissible variant could cripple the NHS once again.

SAGE models cautioned Covid hospital admissions could pass 5,000 per day in August if the Indian variant is 40 per cent more transmissible than the Kent strain, which Matt Hancock yesterday suggested it was.

The Health Secretary today said he was 'open' to the idea of extending social distancing but that it was still too soon to tell whether it would be needed.

Speaking in Parliament he said the vaccine was breaking the previously 'rock solid' link between infections and hospital admissions.

He said: 'No one wants our freedoms to be restricted a single day longer than is necessary.

'I know the impact that these restrictions have on the things we love, on our businesses, on our mental health.

'It is still too early to make decisions on Step Four. The road map has always been guided by the data and, as before, we need four weeks between steps to see the latest data and a further week to give notice of our decision.

'I know that these restrictions have not been easy and with our vaccine programme moving at such pace Im confident that one day soon freedom will return.'

Further praising the vaccine rollout, Mr Hancock added: 'The latest estimates indicate the vaccination programme has averted over 39,000 hospitalisations and over 13,000 deaths...

'Despite the rise in cases, hospitalisations have been broadly flat.

'The majority of people in hospital with Covid appear to be those who havent had the vaccine at all.

'I want to update the House on some new information that we have on this. As of the third of June our data show that of the 12,383 cases of the Delta variant, 464 went on to present at emergency care and 126 people were admitted to hospital.

'Of these 126 people, 83 were unvaccinated, 28 had received one dose and just three had received both doses of the vaccine.'

He said: 'The jabs are working, we have to keep coming forward to get them and that includes vitally that second jab which we know gives better protection against the Delta variant.'

It comes as:

Adults from age 25 and up will be invited to book their coronavirus vaccine appointment from tomorrow morning;

An NHS chief said patients being admitted to hospital with Covid-19 were now younger, got less sick and went home sooner;

It emerged that ministers downgraded Portugal from the green travel list to amber after just 1.5 per cent of arrivals from the country tested positive for Covid;

Tony Blair said fully-vaccinated Britons should be given more freedom to travel abroad in a bid to boost the jabs take-up;

Figures showed that thousands of separated and divorced parents have lost contact with their children because of the pandemic's impact on the courts;

Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee, said there were 'strong suggestions' that Covid-19 leaked from a laboratory in China;

People looking for love online will be able to see if their potential match has been vaccinated in a government bid to increase uptake of the jab;

Britain recorded 5,341 cases yesterday, up 64 per cent in a week, and four deaths from the virus;

Jab-maker Moderna is applying for permission for its vaccine to be used on 12 to 17-year-olds in Europe.

All over-25s can get Covid jabs from TOMORROW, Matt Hancock announces All over-25s in England will be able to get a Covid vaccine from tomorrow morning, Matt Hancock confirmed today. The Health Secretary announced the change in Parliament as he said Britain's rollout is moving at an 'extraordinary pace'. Until now only over-30s had been able to book appointments, save for surge clinics in some areas where they had been temporarily opened to younger groups. People in their 20s are the adults at lowest risk from Covid but the NHS has now given a first dose to 76 per cent of people already so only around one in four are left. The chief of the NHS, Sir Simon Stevens, said England is now entering the 'home straight' of the vaccine programme and added 'getting the jab is the most important thing you can do'. Britain is now in a race against the Indian variant as medics try to vaccinate as many people as possible to protect them from the strain which Mr Hancock said is likely 40 per cent more transmissible than the Kent variant was. Public Health England warned last week that a single dose of vaccine does not appear to work as well against the now-dominant 'Delta' variant as it did against the Kent strain, meaning getting the booster jab is crucial. Scientists have said as many people as possible  including teenagers  need to get vaccinated to stop the new variant from spreading. Wales's First Minister Mark Drakeford said the NHS there will have offered vaccines to all adults over 18 by Monday, putting it six weeks ahead of the end-of-July schedule Advertisement



Former chief adviser Sir David said: 'Im very reluctant to say that we should not go out of lockdown on June 21, but I think the figures are in now, and it will be wise for the Government to announce right away a delay in opening, just so that we can all plan for the post June 21 period.'

Calling for Freedom Day to be pushed back by a few weeks, the Cambridge University professor said any pause should last for at least a few weeks.

'I would give a few weeks delay and see how the fingers are emerging. So, I dont know how long,' he told Sky News.

'As the Prime Minister has said, its data, not dates, that we should be governed by, and thats response as well.'

Professor Gupta echoed his words, saying returning to normal life on June 21 'may not be in everyone's best interests'.

'The views of scientists such as myself and others reflects the fact that we want this to be the last lockdown that we ever go into, and we do not want to go into a reverse situation which would be much more damaging to the economy, peoples businesses and long-term welfare.'

Professor Gupta added that people should not forget the virus is 'still mutating' to become better at avoiding vaccine-triggered immunity.

'The more transmissions that are allowed to happen, the greater the chance of these new added variants arising.

'We are not achieving the limitation of new infections in the way that we need to remain fully open as a society in the long term.

'I think that, once we do suppress the virus and get vaccination up to 80 per cent, including young people, then we can continue that strategy with boosting in the years to come.

'We are in a situation where we could obtain huge gains just by a little bit more work.'

Officials identified a new variant of the virus last week linked to travel to Nepal, which could spark a slowdown in lockdown easing plans.

Scientists fear the strain combines the worst features of the Indian variant with the South African variant, which is better able to dodge vaccine-triggered immunity.

Surveillance has spotted its genome at least 43 times in the UK, according to COG-UK, with the first case spotted in Britain on April 24. Almost 40 per cent of total infections were analysed last week.

Chris Hopson, chief executive at NHS Providers which represents hospital trusts across England, slammed modelling by SAGE advisers of surges in Covid hospitalisations throughout the pandemic. He said these were crude and unreliable. Professor Ravi Gupta, who has advised the Government's Covid response, said a delay of 'a few weeks rather than months' may be needed in order to closely monitor hospitalisations

WALES COMMITS TO JABS FOR ALL OVER-18s BY MONDAY Wales today committed to offering jabs to all over-18s by Monday. First Minister Mark Drakeford said the milestone will be hit six weeks ahead of the UK target for giving vaccines to everyone over the age of 18 by the end of July. Wales has given a first jab to 2.18million people, or 86 per cent of the adult population, which is currently the best record of any country in the world. However, Wales is lagging behind England and Scotland when it comes to the proportion of the population who have received both doses. Mr Drakeford told a press conference in Cardiff: 'We will make the offer of vaccination to all eligible adults six weeks ahead of schedule and we expect to reach 75 per cent take-up across all priority groups and age groups a month ahead of target. 'This is a remarkable achievement and a tribute to the hard work of all those involved in the programme  to all those doing the complex work of planning behind the scenes and to the thousands of people vaccinating and helping to run the clinics across the country.' He said the government would now 'switch our efforts to accelerate second doses', with a target of covering the whole population by September. 'Subject to supply, we're confident that we can deliver second doses as fast and as successfully as we have first doses,' he said. Advertisement

It has already been blamed for sparking holiday misery for millions after Portugal was switched to the 'amber list' for travel, with the Nepal variant thought to have played a part in the move. Ministers also say cases are rising in the country, which could be re-imported to the UK.

But No10's top scientists have said Britain cannot keep 'running down a rabbit hole' every time a new strain of the virus is identified.

Ministers will not decide whether to delay lockdown easing plans until June 14, a week before restrictions were due to be lifted. Sources told the Telegraph the decision hinged on the impact of the Indian variant in Covid hotspots. Data shows admissions are already falling in Bolton.

A source told the newspaper: 'The scientists are more in favour of a two-week extension and that is certainly one of the options that has been put in the papers for ministers.'

It reported that the Government was concerned over a faster-than expected increase in Covid cases. But sources said the absence of a spike in hospitalisations would reassure ministers when making the decision next week.

It comes as Mr Hopson slammed SAGE scientists for their predictions of sky-high admissions during the first and second waves, telling The Telegraph these were repeatedly crude and unreliable.

He said: 'For the record, trust leaders are sceptical of the value of predictive statistical models here, given their performance of the last 15 months.

'Leaders point to crude assumptions that have to be made and the huge shifts in outcome if small changes are made to those assumptions.'

He added: 'Leaders in "front of wave" hotspots are now seeing community infection and Covid inpatient numbers declining.

'They feel they've coped well with this latest surge. Nobody wants to be too definitive, but there is increasing confidence that in hotspots for this pattern of variant, vaccines have broken the chain between Covid infection and high levels of hospitalisation and mortality in previous waves. This confirms trial data and feels very significant.'

Covid cases in Bolton  a hotspot for the Indian variant  began to fall on May 17 after ministers sparked surge testing to root out every case of the virus. Its neighbour Blackburn with Darwen is now the nation's hotspot

Data from Bolton NHS Foundation Trust shows hospitalisations with the virus in the area are now also starting to fall

Blackburn with Darwen  the nation's Covid hotspot suffering a major outbreak of the Indian variant  is still seeing its cases rise. But its pandemic curve is behind Bolton's

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which provides medical care in Blackburn with Darwen, has published data showing its Covid hospitalisations remain largely flat at present

Just 1.5% of Portugal travellers tested positive for Covid before ministers downgraded country's travel status Ministers downgraded Portugal's travel status from green to amber after just 1.5 per cent of travellers tested positive for Covid over two weeks in a sample, it emerged yesterday. Three positive cases were spotted out of 200 travellers coming from Portugal between May 6 and May 19. The positive samples were sent for genomic sequencing for detecting mutant variants, but it is not clear if any were found. The figures were compiled by the Joint Biosecurity Centre for the Government. JBC data is used by ministers to decide whether countries should be ranked green, amber or red under the Covid traffic light travel system. They downgraded Portugal on Thursday, citing a near doubling of the country's infection rate and the discovery of the Nepal virus mutation. The travel industry reacted with fury to the JBC data last night, saying it was proof of the very low risk posed by people arriving from Portugal. It insisted the country should have stayed green. Separate figures showed that, between May 18 and 24, the seven-day rolling average of new Covid cases per 100,000 of Portugal's population was 30.2. On May 31, the rate in the UK was 35.9. A leading epidemiologist said he did not understand the Government's thinking. Professor Tim Spector, of King's College London, said: 'If you travel from London to Manchester at the moment, it's a much greater risk than going to Portugal, Spain, Italy, France. Are we protecting the Portuguese from problems? Is it that way around? Because, otherwise, I don't really get it.' He told Times Radio: 'We can't stop variants coming into this country unless we completely lock down the country. I think we just ought to start settling down and dealing with our own outbreaks and not try to have this haphazard travel policy which is causing a lot of fear and confusion.' It came as more details emerged of the heated Cabinet meeting last week in which Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps clashed angrily. Mr Hancock is said to have been the driving force behind ministers' decision to ignore JBC advice that Malta and a list of other islands should be added to the green list. He is also said to have rejected the idea that Portugal should be put on a 'watchlist' rather than immediately turned amber. The watchlist option acts as an early warning sign, designed to give people more time to return home before a country goes fully amber if the Covid data gets worse. Mr Hancock was said to have been backed by Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove and the Home Office. They also opposed Malta being added to the green list. One Whitehall source claimed Mr Hancock and Mr Shapps had a 'massive barney'. Advertisement

Sir David, who also chairs Independent SAGE, added the roll out should be expanded to younger age groups more quickly amid rising cases.

He said: 'The Pfizer vaccine has already been given the green light in this country to over 12-year-olds. I think we should run that programme forward quickly.

'But were opening schools today and the Government has said 12 to 18-year-olds no longer need to wear face masks at school  I dont think that was a wise thing to do and I do hope the Government will rethink this in the light of the current figures.'

He added: 'Let me ask you, if I may, to ask the Government, are they actually believing in herd immunity amongst school children?

'Is that why theyre saying, take masks off it, so that the disease spreads rapidly and they all become immune by having had the disease?

'If that is a policy, shouldnt we be honest with the public, and tell us that is the policy?

'I believe that herd immunity was the policy from the beginning back in February, March last year, so have we returned to that now with the high vaccination level?'

Echoing calls for the jabbing drive to be expanded to younger age groups, Professor Sridhar told Good Morning Britain over-12s would need to be jabbed to prevent further disruption to education.

'If we want schools to continue without disruption in the autumn and lift restrictions so children can have a normal experience, we need to vaccinate them, and if we wait and watch for the evidence it will be too late in the next few weeks,' she said.

'We have the supply  its not a large amount, its a couple of million doses to cover that population of 12-plus.

'And we cant use AstraZeneca  the main supply we have  in younger age groups, so we should export AstraZeneca and help countries abroad, send those doses, as well as focusing on our adolescents to make sure they dont have another year disrupted, because that would be an absolute shame.'

She added: 'Children can still get long Covid and can still be chronically ill from this.

'Given that we know children can transmit, where we are going to see problems going forward is not going to be in care homes, its not going to be in hospitals, its going to be in schools, because this is where youre going to see large groups of unvaccinated kids together, and we are going to have outbreaks.

'We might as well just do it, roll it out in the summer, get those kids covered so secondary schools can go back, normally, this autumn.

'I think itd be a huge shame for backing blended learning or having kids doing home learning in the autumn.'

It came as Tory MPs vented their fury at suggestions lockdown easing could be delayed last night, with backbencher Sir Desmond Swayne warning ministers were 'wasting the advantages afforded by the success of vaccinations'.

He added: 'The original mission statement was to save lives by protecting the NHS. We've done that. The more it moves the goalposts, the more people will be made redundant.'

Former Tory Cabinet minister David Jones said last night: 'Matt Hancock has acknowledged that most people in hospital [with Covid-19] have not been vaccinated.

'The answer is therefore to get as many people as possible vaccinated as quickly as possible.

Genome sequencing almost certainly proves Covid was deliberately made in a Chinese lab before it leaked to the world Two US experts have penned a damning essay saying the genome sequencing of COVID-19 strongly suggests that the virus was manufactured inside a Chinese laboratory. Dr. Stephen Quay and Richard Muller, a physics professor at the University of California Berkeley, made the claim in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, amid growing speculation that the coronavirus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). 'The most compelling reason to favor the lab leak hypothesis is firmly based in science,' the experts wrote, stating that 'COVID-19 has a genetic footprint that has never been observed in a natural coronavirus.' Quay and Muller assert that the Wuhan lab was known for conducting 'gain-of-function' research where scientists would 'intentionally supercharge viruses to increase lethality'. COVID-19 has the genome sequencing 'CGG-CGG' - one of 36 sequencing patterns. That combination is commonly used by scientists in gain-of-function research, but is otherwise considered extremely 'rare'. The experts assert that no naturally occurring coronavirus - such as SARS or MERS - has ever had a CGG-CGG combination. 'The CGG-CGG combination has never been found naturally. That means the common method of viruses picking up new skills, called recombination, cannot operate here,' they wrote. 'A virus simply cannot pick up a sequence from another virus if that sequence isn't present in any other virus.' The essay comes after an explosive study last week claimed that Chinese scientists created COVID-19 in the Wuhan lab, then tried to cover their tracks by reverse-engineering versions of the virus to make it look like it evolved naturally from bats. The paper's authors, British Professor Angus Dalgleish and Norwegian scientist Dr Birger Srensen, wrote that they have had 'prima facie evidence of retro-engineering in China' for a year  but were ignored by academics and major journals. Advertisement

'It is not to delay the lifting of lockdown, with the attendant damage to people's mental and physical wellbeing and to the economy.'

Former Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers called on the Government to 'give us as much freedom as possible'  with priority given to weddings, events and hospitality.

She said that while 'most people' could live with face coverings and some travel restrictions, 'we've got to allow the hospitality business to open up again fully'.

Senior Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said there was 'increasing frustration' among his colleagues over the restrictions.

He added: 'We've got to be really, really careful about getting panicked about every variant that comes along until we are absolutely sure there is one that is going to defeat the vaccine.'

The MPs' warnings were echoed by UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls, who said the 'ongoing uncertainty' was causing 'significant distress' to the sector, especially as 'healthcare data does not indicate a need for deviation'.

The evidence 'demonstrates that the vaccination programme is working and breaking the link between cases and hospitalisations and deaths', she said. 'It is crucial that the Government commits to dropping the restrictions on June 21. Any delay in the roadmap would have a devastating effect on an already fragile sector.'

The wedding industry is also desperately seeking clarity on whether the 30-person cap on guests will be removed this month. UK Weddings Taskforce spokesman Sarah Haywood said: 'It is unacceptable to just say we have to wait because an industry like ours doesn't have a seven-day ramp-up window  it's much longer than that.'

While UK cases have been rising in recent weeks, fuelled by the Indian variant, hospital admissions have remained flat.

Official data shows that Britons who have received two vaccine doses make up less than 5 per cent of those hospitalised with the new strain. And around two-thirds of people attending A&E with the variant do not even need to spend the night in hospital.

Another 5,341 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus were recorded in the UK yesterday and a further four deaths were announced, down from six a week earlier.

Mr Hancock was asked yesterday whether the removal of restrictions on June 21 could be postponed if data on the Indian variant worsens.

'We are absolutely open to doing that if that's what needs to happen,' he told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show.

'We said in the roadmap that June 21 is the date by which we would not take step four before that date and that we would look at the data. That is exactly what we are doing.'

Asked if the wearing of face coverings and work-from-home measures could continue in the long-term, the Health Secretary added: 'Yes, I wouldn't rule that out.'

Labour yesterday signalled it could support some restrictions remaining in place.

Education spokesman Kate Green said: 'If we have to maintain some protective measures beyond June 21, that is what the Government should do, but I think it is really important that it's a decision taken on the basis of the data.'

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Munira Wilson urged ministers to 'remain cautious, especially given rising case numbers, and to follow the evidence before making a final decision about opening up'.
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Kamala Harris finally revealed Monday that she does not plan to visit the southern border because it would just be a 'grand gesture' as opposed to a genuine trip as she warned illegal migrants they are not welcome in the U.S.

During a press conference in Guatemala, more than 2,000 miles away from the Rio Grande, she vowed to take on corruption and insisted climate change was one of the driving forces behind people fleeing their homes and heading North.

'On the issues of Republicans' political attacks or criticism or even concerns, the reason I am here in Guatemala as my first trip as vice president of the United States is because this is one of our highest priorities,' Harris said during a question and answer portion of her press conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei.

'I came here to be here on the ground, to speak with the leader of this nation around what we can do in a way that is significant, is tangible and has real results,' she continued.

'And I will continue to be focused on that kind of work as opposed to grand gestures.'

Congressman Andy Biggs, Republican of Texas, didn't buy Harris's reasoning for not visiting the southern border.

'It is not a grand gesture for Vice President Harris to inspect the damage and inhumanity fueled by the Biden Administration at the southern border,' Biggs said in a statement to DailyMail.com. 'However, Kamala would rather turn a blind eye to the mounting chaos than reinforce Trump's policies that would bring security and stability back to our border.'

Other Republicans also have been open about their criticism of Harris refusing to visit the border even after being named 'border czar' by President Joe Biden in March. They claim her avoiding the region is proof she is not committed to solving the problem.

Harris said she 'believes' any migrants who attempt to enter the U.S. through non-legal channels will be turned away if they arrive at the border.

'I want to emphasize that the goal of our work is to help Guatemalans find hope at home,' Harris said after her bilateral meeting with Giammattei.

'At the same time, I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come,' she said, and repeated for emphasis: 'Do not come.'

'The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border,' the vice president insisted. 'There are legal methods by which migration can and should occur, but we, as one of our priorities, will discourage illegal migrations. And I believe if you come to our border, you will be turned back.'

Vice President Kamala Harris and Guatemalan President Alejandro Giamattei held a bilateral meeting in Guatemala on Monday as part of talks to deal with 'root causes' of mass migration from Latin America to the U.S.

Harris' first international trip was met with protesters demanding she 'mind your own business'

'Kamala go home' one sign read outside the Guatemalan Air Force facility

Harris' first foreign trip comes as migrants continue to risk their lives making the trek from Central America to the U.S. southern border. Here people ride rafts across the Suchiate River between Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico and Tecun Uman, Guatemala on June 7, 2021

Kamala spoke at a press conference in Guatemala City, 2,142 miles away from the Rio Grande, where families were seen crossing in rafts to reach the US

Republicans were not happy with Harris calling a trip to the border a 'grand gesture.'

'Traveling to our Southern Border is not a grand gesture; it is her responsibility as the 'Border Czar' and Vice President of the United States,' Republican Florida Representative Byron Donalds told DailyMail.com.

'Vice President Harris is refusing to travel to the border because she will be forced to acknowledge the crisis she and the President have created if she does,' he continued.

'Local, State, and Federal leaders and law enforcement officials will be the first to let the Vice President know that there is a growing crisis on the border and that ignoring it or evading her responsibility by examining the root causes will only exacerbate this crisis.'

Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy also tore into Harris' bid to tackle the crisis as 'spend now strategize later'. In a statement he wrote: 'Today marks 75 days since President Biden chose Vice President Harris as his administration's point person to '[stem] the migration to our southern border.' She still has yet to travel to our southern border and see the extent of the crisis she and President Biden have created over the past six months.

'Instead of upholding her responsibilities to the American people and our communities impacted by the border crisis, Vice President Harris decided to focus her efforts on studying the 'root causes of migration' from Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries.

'That's why she's in Guatemala today, her first foreign trip since becoming Vice President, where she just held a press conference during which she dismissed going to the border as nothing more than 'grand gestures,' and declined to say when she'd actually go.

'This unconventional approach is nothing more than a cynical political decision to ensure the blame doesn't fall on her shoulders by distancing herself from Biden's Border Crisis.

'Now Vice President Harris and the Biden administration want to take the typical Democrat approach of throwing more taxpayer dollars at a problem without first thinking through a coherent strategy. Over the next four years, President Biden is proposing we send $4 billion in aid to Central America with the pretense this will help curb the historic migration happening at our southern border. But there are two glaring problems to their proposal of spending our way out of the border crisis: Aid programs have failed to stem migration in the past and border order apprehensions of individuals from countries outside of Central America are rapidly increasing.

'As Vice President, Biden has already tried spending our way out of a migration surge. He 'led an enormous push to deter people from crossing into the United States by devoting hundreds of millions of dollars to Central America.' However, that never panned out. In fact, in Guatemala specifically, the $1.6 billion America provided in aid over the last decade proved ineffective.

'Vice President Harris won't find the root cause of the border crisis on her Central America tour because it's her and President Biden's policies that are actually responsible. And word that our southern border is open reached significantly further than just Central America. The Border Patrol reported that encounters with individuals from nations other than Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador jumped by 35 percent since March 2021, and individuals from over 160 countries have recently been apprehended.'

GOP Senator Rick Scott called Harris' refusal to visit the border 'disgraceful' and an 'insult' to border law enforcement.

He said: 'Months after being chosen to lead the Biden administration's response to the border crisis it created, Vice President Harris has shown she'll do anything to avoid taking responsibility and showing real leadership. Her continued refusal to address the border crisis  which threatens the safety of American families  is disgraceful and an insult to our brave Customs and Border Protection agents. Buy in from Guatemala and Mexico is critical to getting this crisis under control, but first, Biden and Harris must acknowledge the humanitarian and national security chaos their policies have created here in America and see it firsthand at our border. Anything less is an unacceptable failure.'

Harris affirmed during her bilateral press conference Monday that she told Giammattei the U.S. will be donating 500,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to Guatemala.

Harris was greeted with protesters when she arrived for her first international trip as vice president in Guatemala City, which is 2,142 miles from where families are streaming across the U.S.-Mexico border.

'Kamala go home,' one white flag with black painted letters read, while another demanded she 'mind her own business'.

As the vice president rode in her motorcade from her hotel to Palacio Nacional de la Cultura, reporters spoted a group of pro-Trump demonstrators with signs reading: 'Kamala, Trump won.'

During the press conference, Giammattei vowed Guatemala would set up 'returnee centers' where they would accept their citizens who the U.S. sent back after crossing the border illegally.

Harris began her meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei with quick remarks where she said: 'I very much have been looking forward to this trip, we have had many conversations, but it is good to see you in person.'

The two have spoken on the phone previously.

'I am very proud that this is my first foreign trip as vice president,' Harris continued. 'It is a reflection of the priority that President Biden placed on this region.'

As Harris commenced her two-day trip south of the border, migrant families continue to stream over into the U.S. either by foot or on inflatable rafts.

Harris doubled-down that she will not be visting the border during her trip  or any time soon. 'I will continue to be focused on [addressing root causes of migration and corruption] as opposed to grand gestures'

The border is closed: During the press conference, Harris warned those thinking of crossing illegally: 'Do not come!' She said, 'I believe if you come to our border, you will be turned back'

Ahead of the meeting, Giammattei made a statement in English.

'Thank you very much for your visit,' he said to Harris. 'For us, it's very important to have you here because it means that Guatemala and the United States can work as partners with common goals.'

He details some of the main goals as addressing narcotics trafficking, immigration, corruption in the region and building up prosperity walls within departments near the border with Mexico.

In a press conference following the meeting, Giammattei said  in Spanish this time  that the two nations would work toward more 'orderly migration' that would 'allow people to migrate regularly to the United States.'

'We also spoke about the need to support the United States with a returnee center that will be located in the western part of the country,' he continued, adding they are wording on a 'strong family reunification program.'

These efforts, he ensured, would 'help to ensure that the flow of persons in the southern border of the United States be controlled.'

Harris' first international trip and press conference on the crisis took place in Guatemala City, which is 2,142 miles from where families are continuing to stream across the U.S.-Mexico border in mass numbers. Critics decry the vice president for avoiding a trip to the border despite being put in charge of the migration crisis

A 33-year-old Guatemalan man transports people and goods across the Suchiate River between Tecun Uman, Guatemala and Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico

Harris' trip started off bumpy on Sunday when Air Force 2 was forced to turn around minutes after take-off due to 'technical issues', which appeared to stem from an unusual noise coming from the landing gear.

'I'm good, I'm good. We all said a little prayer, but we're good,' Harris told reporters as she deplaned Air Force 2 and waited for another plane to get ready.

The vice president's team has made it clear that Harris' role as 'border czar' is to address the 'root causes' that lead to a mass amount of Central American citizens fleeing their home countries and migrating to the U.S.

Harris chief spokesperson Symone Sanders told reporters climate and economic downfall were among 'main drivers' of the surge in migrants.

Critics claim, however, that President Joe Biden is to blame for the crisis after he immediately rolled back Trump-era border restrictions upon taking office this year.

The Biden administration has denied that they are sending the message that the border is 'open', and instead is blaming it on 'root causes' in Northern Triangle nations like climate, poverty, crime and corruption.

More than 178,000 migrants crossed the border in April alone, which was a continuation of a spike in February and March. Numbers for May have not yet been released.

Harris arrived in Guatemala City on Sunday and held a bilateral meeting with Giammattei and their teams

Following the meeting, the two held a press conference where they made statements and fielded questions from reporters

The bilateral meeting between Harris, Giammattei and their team was held Palacio Nacional de la Cultura

Harris listens as Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei speaks at their bilateral meeting

Demonstrators urged Harris to 'respect Guatemala's constitution'

Customs and Border Patrol number show record numbers of encounters with illegal crossers with a record-high of 178,622 in April alone, continuing on from massive spike in February and March

The Supreme Court sided with President Joe Biden by unanimously refused on Monday to let immigrants who have been allowed to stay in the U.S. on humanitarian grounds apply to become permanent residents if they entered the country illegally.

The justices, acting on an appeal by a married couple from El Salvador who were granted so-called Temporary Protected Status, upheld a lower court ruling that barred their applications for permanent residency, also known as a green card, because of their unlawful entry.

The case could affect 400,000 immigrants, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for years.

Biden, who has sought to reverse many of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies, had opposed the immigrants in this case, placing the president at odds with immigration advocacy groups and some of his fellow Democrats.

The Biden administration is facing a massive crisis at the southern border, which includes record-high levels of illegal crossers and all-time high numbers of unaccompanied minors in U.S. custody.

In March, Biden put Harris in charge of the migration crisis  but the administration has still not referred to the situation as such.

As it appeared the problem wasn't going anywhere at the southern border, the administration quickly rebranded to indicate Harris is focused on addressing root causes that lead to mass migration to the U.S. from Northern Triangle countries  Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Reports show the vice president's office didn't want to give her something that could be seen as a failure on her part.

Since taking over, Republicans have slammed the vice president for not once visiting the southern border, where enforcement groups are overwhelmed and facilities reached near 2,000 per cent capacity at some points.

A man polishes shoes of police officers standing guard on the street during Harris' visit to Guatemala City on June 7, 2021

People wait in line at a checkpoint around the perimeter of the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura as Harris holds her bilateral meeting with Giammattei

Harris said she will go to Mexico during her trip south of the border, but maintained that she will still not stop at the U.S. side of the border.

She has also already spoken on the phone with Guatemalan President Giammattei and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Harris is meeting with Giammattei on Monday and will afterwards engage in events with Guatemalan community leaders and entrepreneurs afterwards.

On Tuesday, she will travel to Mexico City to meet with President Lopez Obrador and participate in roundtables with women entrepreneurs and labor leaders in Mexico.

People protesting the Guatemalan government hold signs during Harris and Giammattei's bilateral meeting

Supreme Court unanimously BLOCKS 400,000 immigrants who entered the US illegally and were allowed to stay on 'humanitarian grounds' from applying for a green card

The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously refused to let immigrants who have been allowed to stay in the United States on humanitarian grounds apply to become permanent residents if they entered the country illegally, siding with President Joe Biden's administration.

The justices, acting in an appeal by a married couple from El Salvador who were granted so-called Temporary Protected Status, upheld a lower court ruling that barred their applications for permanent residency, also known as a green card, because of their unlawful entry.

The case could affect 400,000 immigrants, many of whom have lived in the United States for years.

The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously refused to let immigrants who have been allowed to stay in the United States on humanitarian grounds apply to become permanent residents if they entered the country illegally. The case involves Jose Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez from El Salvador (above), who entered the US twice illegally

Biden, who has sought to reverse many of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies, had opposed the immigrants in this case, placing the president at odds with immigration advocacy groups and some of his fellow Democrats.

A federal law called the Immigration and Nationality Act generally requires that people seeking to become permanent residents have been 'inspected and admitted' into the United States. At issue in the case was whether a grant of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which gives the recipient 'lawful status,' satisfies those requirements.

Writing for the court, liberal Justice Elena Kagan said that 'because a grant of TPS does not come with a ticket of admission, it does not eliminate the disqualifying effect of an unlawful entry.'

Foreign nationals can be granted Temporary Protected Status if a humanitarian crisis in their home country, such as a natural disaster or armed conflict, would make their return unsafe.

There are about 400,000 people in the United States with protected status, which prevents deportation and lets them work legally.

The case involves Jose Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez, who live in New Jersey and have four children.

The couple twice entered the United States illegally: in 1997 and 1998. After a series of earthquakes in 2001, the United States designated El Salvador as covered under the Temporary Protected Status program. The couple received protection under the program that same year.

Biden, who has sought to reverse many of his Republican predecessor Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies, had opposed the immigrants in this case, placing the president at odds with immigration advocacy groups and some of his fellow Democrats

U.S. officials rejected their 2014 applications for green cards because they had not been lawfully admitted.

They sued in federal court, saying that those with lawful status, including Temporary Protected Status recipients, are deemed to have been lawfully admitted, and may apply for permanent residency.

Last year, the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the couple.

Besides El Salvador, 11 other countries currently have such designations: Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen. Myanmar was the latest addition to the list, placed there by Biden's administration in the wake of a Feb. 1 military coup there.

The Supreme Court ruled in the case on a day when U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visits Guatemala as part of the Biden administration's efforts to lower migration to the United States from that country as well as El Salvador and Honduras.

Conservative justice Clarence Thomas initially suggested the Supreme Court would be reluctant to let immigrants with protected status apply for permanent residency when the case was first presented to the court on April 19.

'They clearly were not admitted at the borders, so is that a fiction, is it metaphysical, what is it? I don't know,' conservative Justice Clarence Thomas asked.
A California landlord who offered women cheap rent in exchange for sex has been ordered to pay fines of up to $230,000 in restitution to his victims in a landmark court decision.

The Justice Department announced last Thursday that it had reached an agreement with Larry Nelson to resolve a Fair Housing Act lawsuit which alleged that he sexually harassed female tenants while owning and managing rental properties in the San Diego area.

The lawsuit alleged that for nearly 20 years Nelson had engaged in a pattern of 'unwelcome sexual touching, offers to reduce monthly rental payments in exchange for sex, making unwelcome sexual comments and advances, making intrusive and unannounced visits to female tenants homes to further his sexual advances, and evicting or threatening to evict female tenants who objected to or refused his sexual advances'.

'People deserve to be safe in their homes,' Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division said in announcing the agreement.

'Sexual harassment in housing deprives them of that security. The Justice Department will not tolerate landlords who abuse their power by sexually harassing their tenants and will continue vigorously to pursue allegations of sexual harassment.'

California landlord Larry Nelson was ordered to pay $200,000 fines to female tenants whom he offered cheap rent in exchange for sex. Pictured are two of his rental properties

'Abusive landlords in San Diego and Imperial counties should be on notice that protecting the civil rights of citizens in our district is a top priority, and we do not tolerate discrimination and harassment in housing,' said Acting US Attorney Randy S. Grossman for the Southern District of California.

'Holding a key to someones property is a position of trust, not a license to engage in illegal sexual harassment and sexual demands.'

Under the agreement, Nelson must pay at least $205,000 to $230,000 in damages to tenants harmed by his harassment, as well as a $25,000 civil penalty to the United States.

A judgment for an additional $350,000 also was entered against Nelson in favor of the United States, but was suspended for the time being based on sworn disclosure statements reflecting Nelsons financial situation.

Any misrepresentation or omission by Nelson on those disclosure statements will trigger immediate collection of the suspended $350,000 judgment, according to the Justice Department.

Nelson is also prohibited from being involved in property management of rental units in the future, and must hire an independent professional property manager.

He must also implement 'a nondiscrimination policy and complaint procedure' and must release judgments obtained against victims whom he wrongfully evicted, according to court documents.

Nelson reached an agreement with the Justice Department last week to resolve a lawsuit that alleged he sexually harassed female tenants over a nearly 20-year period

As the Daily Mail reported last month, British lawmakers were looking to pass a piece of similar legislation that would make prosecuting such creepy landlords much easier - helping facilitate prosecutions with sentences of up to seven years in prison.

'Sex for rent' is exploitation  pure and simple,' Labor's schools spokesman Peter Kyle said in a statement last month. 'This government is refusing to act even when it sees routine sexual exploitation like this.'

'Labor have acted. We've drafted powerful new offences to crack down on these vicious landlords, and on the websites that host them. Now it's up to the Government to help us pass these amendments.'

Nelson's case was jointly litigated by attorneys in the Civil Rights Division and the Civil Division of the US Attorneys Office for the Southern District of California.

The goal of the department is to address sexual harassment by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, loan officers, or other people who have control over housing, according to the Justice Department.

Since launching the initiative in October 2017, the Department of Justice has filed 21 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment in housing and recovered over $2.5million for victims of such harassment.
The suicide belt worn by Fishmongers' Hall terrorist Usman Khan when he was shot by police was 'an elaborate hoax' which looked like a realistic device capable of mass destruction and death, an expert has told an inquest.

Khan, 28, was said to have used items including parts from an Xbox controller, an Energizer battery charger, cling film, bandages, Gorilla Glue and a weightlifting belt to fashion the device he wore under his coat to a prisoner education event in central London on November 29 2019.

Khan fatally stabbed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, before fleeing to nearby London Bridge where he was tackled to the ground by members of the public and then shot at 20 times by police, in two spells eight minutes apart.

Police giving evidence at Khan's inquest previously described how they were trained to treat devices as viable until proven otherwise.

Matthew Middleditch, the technical lead of the Met's explosives ordnance disposal unit, described how he agreed with a report from the UK's Bomb Disposal Centre that Khan's device was 'an elaborate hoax, with what appears to be some effort made to manufacture a reasonable facsimile of a suicide belt'.

Mr Middleditch told inquest jurors at the Guildhall in the City of London on Monday: 'I would agree with that statement entirely.

'The make up is a very good facsimile of a person-borne IED (improvised explosive device).'

Usman Khan, 28, is said to have used parts of an Xbox controller, battery recharger, cling film and more to construct the 'elaborate hoax' suicide belt he before being shot by police

Police giving evidence at Khan's inquest previously described how they were trained to treat devices as viable until proven otherwise. Pictured, the fake suicide vest

Khan stabbed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, (left) and Saskia Jones, 23, at a prisoner education event in Central London in November 2019

Middleditch said the hoax belt compared well with real devices he had seen during his quarter-century career as an explosives expert, including several years serving with the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He added: 'With the experience I have, I wouldn't be able to recognise it (Khan's) as a hoax without carrying out further examination of it.

'I would have thought I was looking at a real person-borne IED.'

Mr Middleditch said he would not expect police officers called to the scene to have been able to differentiate between Khan's hoax and a viable device.

Jonathan Hough QC, counsel to the inquest, asked: 'Would you expect any officer to be able to recognise this device as a hoax device, whether by close inspection or by inspection from a distance?'

Mr Middleditch replied: 'No I wouldn't, sir.'

An officer, known only as WS5 to protect his identity, recalled how he came face to face with homegrown jihadi Usman Khan as bystanders pinned the armed killer to the ground on London Bridge.

Giving evidence last week, WS5 said: 'I got myself involved, started to pull people off and noticed an IED on Khan on the floor.

Wiring detectives believe was part of the fake suicide vest

The Fishmongers' Hall terrorist fled to London Bridge (above), where he was shot at 20 times by armed officers

Jurors concluded that 'missed opportunities' by the agencies contributed to the killing of Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, by homegrown jihadi Usman Khan

'If you'd seen films you would have believed it was a viable device - various packages of cigarette packet size, tape, wires coming out.

'To me, it looked viable and real. If I'm honest, I didn't think I was going home.'

The inquest heard Khan struck 11 months after being released from prison after serving eight years for planning a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.

Khan, from Stafford, is alleged to have shouted 'Allahu Akbar' after first being shot by police, before writhing around on the ground for eight minutes, then sitting upright and staring at firearms officers who opened fire.

His death was confirmed roughly an hour later when the scene had been made safe.

The inquest is due to conclude later this week.
A Nicaraguan boy who made headlines in April when he was filmed crying and begging a US Border Patrol agent for help after smugglers abandoned him has finally been reunited with family in Florida.

Cell phone video captured 10-year-old Wilto Obregon and his mother Meylin Obregon hugging relatives on Sunday at Miami International Airport after landing on a flight from Texas.

I am excited to be together and to be with my child, Meylin told Univision.

Meylin and Wilto will be staying with her brother Misael Obregon at his home in Miami while their asylum process is resolved in immigration court.

Misael Obregon with his nephew Wilto Obregon and his sister Meylin Obregon, who arrived in Miami on Sunday night. The 10-year-old boy and Meylin were kidnapped in March in Mexico. Wilto was freed after his uncle paid a $5,000 ransom and Meylin later released without any ransom being paid. The child made headlines April 1 when he was seen in a video crying to a U.S. Border Patrol agent for help after he had been abandoned by smugglers in Texas. He and his mother reunited in Texas on May 28

Misael Obregon (rear center) with his two sons (first and second from left to right), his nephew Wilto Obregon (front center), his sister Meylin Obregon (second to the right) and his girlfriend Yubelki Aragon (right)

Screen grab from a video recorded April 1 that showed Wilto Obregon crying and pleading to a Border Patrol agent for help. It spread throughout social media and highlighted the ongoing crisis at the United States-Mexico border

The trip capped off the pairs whirlwind voyage across the United States-Mexico border, which included both mother and son being kidnapped by an armed gang.

Misael previously told Univision he agreed in March to foot the expense of the dangerous trip so that Meylin could travel with her son and his two teenage boys without the children knowing that they were on their way to America.

While his two sons were permitted to remain in the United States as part of the Title 42 policy that President Joe Bidens administration amended so that Border Patrol officers would not return unaccompanied minors back to their countries of origin, Meylin and Wilto were not as fortunate and were expelled to Mexico.

Misael was reunited with his children on April 6.

Once in Mexico, Meylin and Wilto were abducted, requiring Misael to borrow $5,000 to secure his nephews freedom while his sister remained in captivity.

Days following his release, Wilto was smuggled with a group of migrants but was left behind in the Texas desert area.

An off-duty Border Patrol agent came to the boys rescue after spotting him on the side of the road east of Rio Grande City, Texas, on April 1.

'I was coming with a group and they abandoned me and I do not know where they are at,' the child told the agent in Spanish.

The officer then asked the boy if he had instructed by smugglers to seek an immigration or law enforcement agent in the area for help, but Wilto replied: 'No, I am coming because if I did not, where am I going to go? Somebody could abduct me, kidnap me. I am scared.'

Meylin was eventually released by her captors in mid-April, and turned herself over to immigration officials at the United States-Mexico border where she requested asylum.

She was later transferred to a migrant shelter in Texas and was granted custody of her son, who had been staying at a shelter for unaccompanied minor.

Wilto Obregon and his mother Meylin Obregon were kidnapped in Mexico near the border with the United States after they were expelled by border officials in Texas

At one point Lazaro Gutierrez, who remained with the former couple's other son at home in Nicaragua, along with Nicaraguan government petitioned the Biden administration to return Wilto. However, Gutierrez relented after Meylin was released by the kidnappers and he recognized his son's wish to stay with his mother in the US.

US Customs and Borders Protection last monthly report, released May 11, showed that Border agents detained 17,171 unaccompanied children in the southwestern border region in April, down nine percent from 18,890 in March when a record number of unaccompanied migrant children entered US custody.

Overall, Border Patrol agents encountered 178,622 undocumented immigrants seeking to enter the United States in April, surpassing March's total by 5,274.

A border southwestern border report for the month of May is scheduled to be released this week.

Wilto Obregon, a 10-year-old Nicaraguan national, was kidnapped in Mexico in March and freed after his uncle paid a $5,000 ransom. He was later smuggled across the Mexico-United States border, but was abandoned by smugglers in the Texas desert before a U.S. Border Patrol agent rescued him the morning of April 1

United States Vice President Kamala Harris and Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei met at the National Palace in Guatemala City on Monday to discuss the massive flow migrants from the Central America nation and its neighboring countries across the U.S.-Mexico border

The Biden administration said Monday it will be creating task force of prosecutors to combat human smuggling and corruption in Central America as US Vice President Kamala Harris visited Guatemala for talks with President Alejandro Giammattei.

The group will complement other US prosecutors who are working with counterparts in the 'Northern Triangle' countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to build cases against corrupt actors in the region, the statement said.

'It is in our collective interest that we work together,' Harris said at the start of a meeting with Giammattei.

The Guatemalan president urged the United States that going after drug trafficking organizations should also be a key component of tackling corruption.

Vice President Harris is scheduled to meet with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday.
Four inmates at a federal prison camp in Texas used dummies to outsmart their guards and skip out for the night, and at least two were in a mission to bring back some form of contraband.

Security at a complex in the city of Beaumont was lax enough that guards didn't notice the prisoners were gone for more than 12 hours despite three overnight inmate counts, according to a memo published Friday by the US Department of Justice Inspector General.

The office is the internal watchdog for the federal agency, which is responsible for about 153,000 federal inmates spread across 122 prisons throughout the country.

FCI Beaumont houses a total of 1,917 male inmates. Four of them were able to evade guards and escape for an overnight romp recently

The DOJ Inspector General found a series of relaxed protocols that grant inmates more freedom than they're supposed to have

Friday's report, which was addressed to Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal, did not identify the inmates or specify the date of the incident or how many dummies were used.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz said his office uncovered a wide range of security failures at the Bureau of Prison's prison camps and satellite campuses, from leaving doors unlocked or using locks that were susceptible to tampering, to having limited fencing or not enough video surveillance.

Such facilities typically house inmates deemed low-risk, such as those convicted of minor drug crimes or white-collar offenses.

They have have 'dormitory housing, a relatively low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited or no perimeter fencing,' according to the report.

Horowitz's office found that unlocked doors made it easy for inmates to 'pose' as each other during overnight counts, thus evading detection by prison guards

Horowitz's memo was addressed to Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal

The inmates managed to escape by having others pose as them to make it look like they were in their cells.

In a move straight out of the 1994 film Shawshank Redemption, some even use dummies to make their beds look occupied.

'We found that unsecured doors allow inmates to move freely within the (Satellite Prison Camp) even when they were not permitted to do so and, thus, make it easier for them to both pose as other inmates during counts and escape from the SPC,' the report said.

SPCs are 'small, minimum security camp adjacent to the main facility that typically provide inmate labor to the main institution and offsite programs,' according to the report.

The technique used by the prisoners harks back to the 1994 film Shawshank Redemption

The subterfuge succeeded even though guards made three overnight inmate counts.

The guards are said to have flouted BOP rules.

According to the Correctional Services Procedure Manual, staff are not supposed to rely 'upon movements, sounds, or configurations from a covered bed.'

The manual stresses that guards must ensure they are 'positively observing human flesh.'

The disappearance of the four men was later discovered during a morning count of inmates, the memo said. Two of the four apparently left the prison to obtain some form of contraband, it added.

'We found that the outer doors of separate buildings within the satellite prison camp at FCC (Federal Correctional Complex) Beaumont were unsecured in that they were unlocked, were unmanned, were not equipped with surveillance cameras, and had either nonfunctioning alarms or alarms that could be manipulated by inmates,' Horowitz said.

'Gaps in security at federal prison camps and satellite prison camps present risks that inmates will escape and, if they return, smuggle contraband back into facilities undetected, which endangers the community.'

A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In most places on land, the average richness of native species  the sheer number of plants and animals that have been there historically  has dropped by 20% since 1900. One out of three of the worlds freshwater fish species is threatened with extinction. So far, 80 freshwater fish have been declared extinct  and 16 disappeared in 2020 alone. And last spring a major United Nations report found that one million species face extinction, many in the coming decades.
A British woman is fighting for her life in hospital in Mexico after being rescued from the jaws of a crocodile by her identical twin sister.

Melissa Laurie, 28, was swimming in a lagoon at twilight with her twin Georgia 10 miles from Puerto Escondido, a surfing resort popular with British holidaymakers, when the beast struck and dragged her beneath the water.

In the chaos, Georgia called out for her sister and dived under water to search for her when she didn't reply.

Grappling desperately in the gloom, she found Melissa floating face-down on the surface after several minutes of frantic searching.

Melissa Laurie (left) had been swimming in a loagoon at twilight when she was attacked by a crocodile, prompting sister Georgia to wade in after her

Tourists flock to Manialtepec Lagoon, pictured, to swim in the glow-in-the-dark waters - despite warnings that 10ft crocodiles lurk under the surface

The crocodile attacked both sisters as they waded for shore, with Georgia forced to punch it several times to escape (stock image)

But as she cradled her sister in her arms and swam to the boat, the crocodile attacked the women again as Georgia fought it off, punching the predator until it let go.

The sisters' mother Sue Laurie, from Sandhurst, in Berkshire, said both women had terrible bite injuries while Melissa came close to drowning.

Speaking to MailOnline Sue said both sisters were rushed to hospital where Melissa remains in a coma.

Her mother Sue Laurie told MailOnline: 'We have twin daughters who are travelling around Mexico were attacked by a crocodile yesterday.

'Melissa is alive, but we don't know if her injuries are life-threatening or not.

'She has water on her lungs and she has been coughing up blood. So we don't know if she has a punctured lung or not.

'She has been put into a medically induced coma.'

Her father Sean told how Melissa, a zookeeper, was saved from certain death by her sister.

Twins Melissa and Georgia Laurie, now both 28, when they were babies dressed in identical clothing

Melissa and Georgia Laurie, pictured as schoolchildren, had been on a dream trip to Mexico when tragedy struck

He said: 'Georgia fought off the crocodile.

'It was only because she is a diver and has life-saving experience that she was able to save her.

'They were swimming after dark in the bioluminescent waters when Georgia heard Melissa cry out.

'She called for her but she didn't reply. She could hear other members of the tour group but not did not hear anything from her sister.

'So she went under looking for her. She was very brave.

The twins' parents, Sue and Sean Laurie, said both their daughters had bite injuries from the predator

'After several minutes she found Melissa floating face down on the surface.

'But when she was bringing her back to the boat the crocodile attacked again.

'Georgia had to fight it off. She kept punching it in the head. She suffered lacerations, bite wounds too.'

The twins had taken a boat trip to the Manialtepec Lagoon, which is a coastal lagoon described as a bioluminescence natural phenomenon.

A place rich in biodiversity, the lagoon is created by saltwater from the Pacific Ocean, freshwater from the Manialtepec River and the deep water of the lagoon itself.

Swimmers are warned that crocodiles that can grow up to ten feet long - live in the lagoon.

Despite the warnings, the twins' father claims that the sisters were assured by their tour company that there were no crocodiles in the water.

Parents Sue and Sean with their daughters Hana (left) and twins Melissa and Georgia during a day out in London

Melissa (left), a zookeeper, was saved from certain death by her sister who bravely entered the water to look for her

The twins had been assured by the tour company the lagoon was free of crocodiles before the croc attack

Mr Laurie, 63, a business consultant, explained: 'The girls asked specifically if it was safe to go swimming and the guide had said it was.'

The sisters had been back-packing around the world. They left the UK in March and planned to return in November.

However the twins parents are now considering whether they need to fly out to Mexico to bring them home.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'We are supporting the family of two British women who are in hospital in Mexico, and are in contact with the local authorities.'
A woman's body has been recovered at a popular seaside resort as temperatures rocketed to 71F.

Emergency services were called to the beach in Chalkwell, Essex, this morning at about 10.15am following reports of a person in difficulties.

A stretch of the beach was closed off as Essex Police, Southend Coastguard, the air ambulance and the RNLI attended the scene.

The woman's body was recovered from popular Chalkwell beach in Essex (stock image)

Officers later confirmed a woman had died.

A spokesman for Essex Police said the unidentified woman's death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.

They added: 'We were called by colleagues in the coastguard to concerns for the welfare of a woman in the water at 10.15am this morning, Monday 7 June.

'We arrived and sadly found a woman had died.

'We are at the scene alongside colleagues in the ambulance service and will issue a further update when we can.'

Witnesses suggested the beach was already busy with sunseekers when police arrived this morning, according to the Evening Standard.

It was suggested the beach area was already busy with people when emergency services arrived today (stock image)

An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson said: 'I can confirm EEAST responded to an emergency call shortly after 10am regarding an incident in Chalkwell.

'We sent an ambulance and two rapid response cars to the scene.

'Sadly, despite the best efforts of all involved, the patient had died.'
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Cornwall is busy readying itself to be the centre of the free world as police officers comb the coast with metal detectors and the US Air Force drop off Joe Biden's helicopter ahead of the G7 summit.

The summit, which begins on Friday in Carbis Bay, will last for three days and see the world's seven largest advanced economies come together to discuss big topics.

Leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States will come together in Cornwall because the region is seen as central to the UK's green technology sector.

The summit is believed to be the largest police operation Devon and Cornwall Police has ever seen and officers from as far as Scotland are being deployed to help.

Temporary villages in fields are being erected to accomodate the sheer volume of security.

And a luxury cruise liner which will be used to accommodate more than 1,000 officers has arrived in Falmouth, after furious locals slammed police for hiring out the 1990s vessel.

More than 6,500 police from forces across the UK are set to be deployed across the summit, and around one sixth of them will spend their off-duty time on the massive 202m long MS Silja Europa.

Yesterday a huge US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III plane was seen dropping Joe Biden's helicopter (pictured) at Royal Navy airbase Culdrose near Helston

Police officers search the beach with metal detectors at Carbis Bay, Cornwall, ahead of the G7 summit

The huge cruise ship Silja Europa, which has been hired to accommodate many of the 6,500 police officers who will be policing the G7 Summit in Cornwall, has docked in Falmouth as the Cornish town prepares to welcome world leaders

More than 6,500 officers from forces across the UK are set to be deployed across the summit, and hundreds of police will spend their off-duty time on the massive 202m long MS Silja Europa

The 14-deck vessel, which was built in Germany in 1993 and can reach speeds of 21 knots, can carry more than 3,000 passengers with hundreds of cocktail-tray waiters, maids and other crew to look after their every need

The summit is believed to be the largest police operation Devon and Cornwall Police has ever seen and officers from as far as Scotland are being deployed to help

The 14-deck vessel was built in Germany in 1993 and comes with a grill house, moonlight disco, pools and a spa and can reach speeds of 21 knots. It can carry more than 3,000 passengers, with hundreds of cocktail-tray waiters, maids and other crew to look after their every need.

It is usually sent on cruises between Helsinki and Tallinn, and was described by its operator Estonian shipping company Tallink as 'the biggest and most beautiful cruise ship on the Baltic'.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the liner has been hired for 10 days and used by officers for accommodation, catering and 'other essential facilities'. Whoever gets one of the executive suites will even have their own sauna.

However, cruise liners have come under fire from climate change activists for their role in polluting the world and causing carbon emission damage on a grand scale - just one of the issues on the cards for the G7 leaders.

The Prime Minister (pictured getting his second jab last week) will call on world leaders to agree a plan to end the pandemic by ensuring every person has access to a jab within the next 18 months

And disgruntled locals have slammed the force for chartering the vessel 'for what will be little more than an ego trip for BoJo where Devon and Cornwall council taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill'.

Boris Johnson will use the G7 summit in Cornwall to issue a rallying cry for world leaders to pledge to vaccinate the globe against Covid-19 within 18 months Boris Johnson will use the G7 summit to secure a global pledge to vaccinate the world's population against Covid-19 by the end of 2022. The Prime Minister will call on world leaders to agree a plan to end the pandemic by ensuring every person has access to a jab within the next 18 months. He hailed the summit, which will be held in Cornwall, as 'historic'. The G7 starts on Friday, when the leaders will gather for a face-to-face meeting. Mr Johnson said the premiers  which include United States President Joe Biden on his first foreign visit since taking office  must use the event to 'rise to the greatest challenge' since the war. Speaking ahead of the summit, Mr Johnson said: 'The world is looking to us to rise to the greatest challenge of the post-war era: defeating Covid and leading a global recovery driven by our shared values. 'Vaccinating the world by the end of next year would be the single greatest feat in medical history. 'I'm calling on my fellow G7 leaders to join us to end to this terrible pandemic and pledge will we never allow the devastation wreaked by coronavirus to happen again.' Advertisement

Yesterday a huge US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III plane was seen dropping Joe Biden's helicopter at Royal Navy airbase Culdrose near Helston.

Pictures show the massive four-engine aircraft landing and dropping off a khaki and white helicopter with 'United States of America' written on it.

A police spokesperson for G7 planning said: 'We will be deploying over 6,500 officers and staff to this event and we are supporting a vast range of local businesses and suppliers as part of our extensive logistical arrangements.

'This includes using over 4,000 rooms at almost 200 venues across Devon and Cornwall which will support local communities and accommodate police officers and staff deployed from across the UK.

'In order to secure further essential capacity, we reviewed a number of options and recently agreed to hire the MS Silja Europa, operated by Tallink; taking into account impacts to the environment, community, the operational needs, and those of our officers and staff.

'The vessel will remain static, moored in Falmouth, used for a 10-day period, with only the accommodation, catering and other essential facilities in use.

'We are working closely with the vessel owners, ports authorities and health partners to ensure the safe use of this accommodation. Those staying onboard will strictly follow all the applicable Covid safety guidelines, enhanced by daily testing - consistent with staff staying at all other accommodation sites across the force area.'

The Silja Europa has seven restaurants and coffee shops, a nightclub, live music venue and full spa and beauty salon. But police insist most facilities will be closed, with only the restaurants available to officers, and the showtime theatre may be used but only for 'daily police briefings'.

Boris Johnson will use the G7 summit to secure a global pledge to vaccinate the world's population against Covid-19 by the end of 2022.

The Prime Minister will call on world leaders to agree a plan to end the pandemic by ensuring every person has access to a jab within the next 18 months.

He hailed the summit, which will be held in Cornwall, as 'historic'. The G7 starts on Friday, when the leaders will gather for a face-to-face meeting.

Mr Johnson said the premiers  which include United States President Joe Biden on his first foreign visit since taking office  must use the event to 'rise to the greatest challenge' since the war.
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Jen Psaki was grilled by a room full of maskless reporters on Monday about President Joe Biden's upcoming Europe trip and his relationship with Joe Manchin as the White House press briefing room returned to its full capacity in more than a year.

All 49 seats in the room were filled and reporters stood in the aisle, despite a request from the White House for them not to.

'Please make sure you are not standing in the aisles before the briefing begins,' was the overhead announcement from the press office ahead of the briefing.

But about two dozen journalists stood around the room to ask questions of Psaki and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who was discussing the president's nine-day foreign trip.

It was the first time of Biden's presidency the room was at capacity. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the White House Correspondents' Association cut back on the number of journalists at the briefing to observe social distancing guidelines.

The White House press briefing room returned to full capacity on Monday for the first time in over a year with all 49 seats filled

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki briefed reporters about foreign and domestic matters

White House press secretary Jen Psaki fields questions at Monday's briefing

Schedule for President Biden's Europe Trip President Joe Biden makes a seven-day trip to Europe next week. Here's the itinerary thus far: June 9: Visit US Air Force personnel and their families stationed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall June 10: Meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson June 11-13: Attending G7 Summit in Cornwall June 13: He and Dr. Jill Biden meet with The Queen at Windsor Castle June 14: NATO Summit in Brussels June 15: U.S.EU Summit in Brussels June 16: Meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva Advertisement

The association announced Sunday that the room was returning to its pre-pandemic levels. That followed a previous announcement that fully vaccinated reporters did not have to wear face masks, in accordance with CDC guidelines.

Psaki noted the occasion, greeting the journalists by noting it's 'our first full briefing room day since the president took office.'

Sullivan started things off with talk of Biden's Europe trip this week.

'We believe the President Biden goes on this trip from a position of strength and dramatic progress against the pandemic in home, strong projected growth that will help power the global economic recovery as well,' he said.

Biden leaves Wednesday for his first international trip as president. It includes a stop in the UK for a meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the G7 summit and a meeting at Windsor with The Queen. Then the president heads to Brussels for a NATO meeting and the EU Summit. He'll cap off the journey with a sit down in Geneva with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On the president's agenda will be the coronavirus pandemic, the global economy, the threat from cyber hackers, the climate, and relations with Russia and China.

'When President Biden returns to Washington next week we believe that we will be in a material stronger position to manage the major threats and challenges this COVID climate, China, cyber, Russia,' Sullivan said.

Biden's sit down with Putin comes amid growing tensions between the two nations. He has taken Russia to task for its interference in US elections; Moscow's aggressive posture toward the Ukraine and the government's treatment of dissent Alexei Navalny.

The United States is 'clarifying what our expectations are and laying out that if certain kinds of harmful activities continue to occur, there will be responses from the United States,' Sullivan said.

'We do not regard a meeting with the Russian president as an award. We regard it as a vital part of defending America's interests,' he said.

Sullivan also revealed President Biden spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday ahead of his trip.

Zelensky told Axios he learned Biden decided to stop trying to block the Nord Stream 2, a Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline, that would allow the Kremlin to by pass the Ukraine. Currently, Russian gas currently flows through Ukraine en route to Europe but the new pipeline would change that.

'This is a weapon, a real weapon ... in the hands of the Russian Federation,' Zelensky told Axios.

Sullivan said Biden invited Zelensky to meet with him at the White House this summer after the president returns from his European trip and his meeting with Putin.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said President Biden's meeting with Vladimir Putin was not a reward for the Russian president

White House press secretary Jen Psaki briefs a full room of reporters

West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said in an op/ed Sunday that he will vote against President Joe Biden's For the People voting rights act because it includes ending the filibuster

Psaki, meanwhile, fielded many questions about Senator Joe Machin, a Democrat from West Virginia who announced this weekend he will vote against voting rights legislation, effectively killing it.

With a 50-50 Senate, Biden needs every Democratic vote. Last week he called on Machin and fellow moderate Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema to support the Democrats' bill.

The White House press secretary rebuffed any questions on what the administration was doing to handle the matter.

'I'm just not going to get into any channels of private conversation with Senator Manchin or any other senator,' she said.

She declined to answer when asked if the White House hoped Manchin would have a change of heart.

'I'm not going to make a prediction about Senator Manchin's position,' she said.

I will say the president considers Senator Machin a friend. He knows that they may disagree on some issues - as they do on this particular piece of legislation - he's going to continue to work with him reach out to him engage with him directly and through his staff on how we can work together on those,' she said.

Machin wrote in of his opposition in his home town paper on Sunday.

'Unfortunately, we now are witnessing that the fundamental right to vote has itself become overtly politicized,' Manchin wrote in the op/ed published Sunday morning in the Charleston Gazette-Mail. 'Today's debate about how to best protect our right to vote and to hold elections, however, is not about finding common ground, but seeking partisan advantage.'

'I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For the People Act,' he added.

Psaki dismissed a question about Biden's support for veterans after the president didn't mark the the 77th anniversary of D-Day on Sunday.

She said that 'his value for the role that many of the men who served on D Day, and the memory of them, the families who have kept their memories alive over the course of years on this day, something that President spoke to many many times in the past. It's close to his heart, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to say on it.'
A Southern California man who killed his wife - an aspiring domestic violence counselor - and propped up her body on a sofa as her children opened Christmas presents has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

William Wallace, 39, of Anaheim, was convicted of second-degree murder in April for the 2011 killing of 26-year-old Za'Zell Preston.

Authorities said Preston suffered repeated abuse from Wallace during the marriage.

Preston's mother spoke at his sentencing hearing, the Orange County Register reported.

William Wallace, 39 (left), of Anaheim, California, has been sentenced to 15 years to life for the December 2011 beating death of his wife, mom-of-three Za'Zell Preston (right)

'He beat and tortured my daughter and at the same time mentally assassinated her children,' Saidell Preston said. 'He showed her no mercy. Let's show him no mercy.'

Prosecutors said Preston was taking college classes in hopes of becoming a domestic violence counselor when she was beaten to death on December 24 or early December 25 , 2011, by Wallace, who already had served jail time for assaulting her.

Prosecutors said the couple had gone to a neighbor's Christmas Eve party, and a neighbor described hearing an argument later that night.

Preston tried to flee but Wallace dragged her back inside the apartment and continued his attack.

The next morning, according to the prosecution, Wallace dragged his wife's body from the bedroom to the living room couch, placed sunglasses on her and told the children: 'Mommy ruined Christmas, she got drunk and ruined Christmas.'

Prosecutors said after beating Preston to death, Wallace propped her dead body on a sofa, then made her children open their Christmas presents in front of her dead body

He then had them open their Christmas presents in front of their dead mother, authorities said.

Wallace's attorney argued that Preston died from injuries after she drunkenly tripped and fell into a glass table, shattering it.

Preston was slumped over on the couch when paramedics arrived. She left a 7-week-old son and two daughters from a previous relationship, who were then 3 and 8 years old.

After Preston was found dead, Wallace is alleged to have told one of her relatives that he was 'on my way to the penitentiary.'

He also told relatives that he was defending himself from Preston.

Wallace claimed that it was Preston who had attacked him, bit him, and that she fell and hit her head while he was defending himself.

Wallace told one of Preston's relatives that 'we were drinking and during the argument I tossed her around a bit,' the prosecutor said.

Prosecutors said Preston was taking college classes in hopes of becoming a domestic violence counselor when she was beaten to death by Wallace, who had already served time for attacking her

Investigators said they found blood stains throughout the home. There were also holes punched in the wall and a door was knocked off its hinges.

Wallace's defense attorney said during his trial that after Preston fell into the table, her older daughter removed glass from her mother's body and helped clean her wounds.

Wallace then moved Preston into a bathtub but that her head struck something else in the bathroom.

Lorri Galloway, a longtime friend of Preston, who was also an Anaheim city council member, told The Orange County Register that Wallace regularly beat Preston during their three-year relationship.

Galloway, who ran a home for abused women and children, said she and others begged Preston to leave Wallace.

'This is the story of a girl who had access to resources, but she thought she could handle it,' Galloway said.

On July 29, 2011, Preston posted on Facebook a picture of her and Wallace kissing under the caption, 'Lovebirds for life'

'These men are experts at apologizing. The women think they can change them.'

In 2008, Wallace was convicted of battery against a cohabitant. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail, probation and was required to attend a batterers treatment program.

Soon afterward, Preston got a restraining order against Wallace, but relatives said that on several occasions he managed to convince her to forgive him.

Wallace was arrested at least two times for violating the restraining order. Nonetheless, Preston would visit him in jail.

At one point, when she was pregnant with Wallace's child, she visited him behind bars, where he told her that he had 'found Jesus.'

'He was going to live life as a man of faith,' Galloway said Preston told her. 'She believed it.'

Preston told her mother and grandmother that she intended to marry Wallace.

'We begged her not to marry this guy,' her mother, Saidell Preston, told OCR.

'I told her I had a bad feeling about her marrying him,' her grandmother, Sallie Baker, said.

In the summer of 2011, just months before her death, Wallace was released from jail. Preston allowed him to move into her apartment in Anaheim.

On July 29, 2011, she posted on Facebook a picture of her and Wallace kissing under the caption, 'Lovebirds for life.'

District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the statement in April: 'A young mother finally losing her life after years of violence at the hands of her husband is a heart-wrenching tragedy.

'That heartbreak is only exacerbated by the fact that her children witnessed much of the violence and were forced to celebrate Christmas in the presence of their dead mother. That is not a Christmas memory any child should be forced to have.'
Travel bosses on both sides of the Atlantic are urging Joe Biden and Boris Johnson to lift their 'overly cautious' ban on open travel between the UK and US at the G7 next week.

Since March 2020, travel between the two countries has been mostly banned.

Americans can go to the UK now but they must quarantine for 10 days on arrival and take multiple negative COVID tests - for more than $200 - even if they're vaccinated.

British people cannot come into the US, unless they have special circumstances that exempts them from the ban.

The ongoing ban has been slammed as 'stuck in time' and 'outdated' when considering the fact that both countries have now vaccinated 41 percent of their populations.

COVID cases in the UK are rising but the number of people being hospitalized with the virus is not and Boris Johnson has said there is no reason the June 21 planned day of freedom can't go ahead.

On Monday, the bosses of British airlines BA and Virgin joined executives from London's Heathrow Airport at a press conference to urge Biden and Boris to lift the ban.

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss said travelers should be able to enter the UK from the US without needing to quarantine.

Travel bosses on both sides of the Atlantic are urging Joe Biden and Boris Johnson to lift their 'overly cautious' ban on open travel between the UK and US at the G7 next week

41 percent of Britain have been vaccinated now and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the country is on course to reopen fully on June 21

Some 41 percent of the US population has been fully vaccinated and half have had their first dose

'There is no reason for the US to be absent from the UK green list. This overly cautious approach fails to reap the benefits of the successful vaccination programs in both the UK and the US.'

'While transatlantic links with the US are restricted, it's costing UK economy 23 million each day. We urge Prime Minister Johnson and President Biden to lead the way in opening the skies, making it a top priority at the G7 summit.

'Customers, families and businesses need to book and travel with confidence. After 15 months of restrictions, the time to act is now.'

Sean Doyle, chairman and chief executive of British Airways, called on the men to 'look to the science and base their judgments on a proper risk analysis'.

He said: 'In the UK this means making the traffic light system fit for purpose, including a pathway to restriction-free travel for vaccinated travelers, and getting rid of complexity surrounding amber list countries, eliminating quarantine and reducing the number of tests passengers are required to take.'

People from any other country can fly to the US, so long as they have a valid visa and a negative COVID-19 test, and Americans can also enter the US from anywhere in the world so long as they also test negative. That includes traveling from countries like some in Africa, where the vaccine roll-out is barely off the ground, and Nepal, where a frightening new variant has been detected

Ministers are not adding any countries to its so-called 'green list', dashing hopes that places such as Malta, Jamaica and Grenada could be added to the roster thanks to easing coronavirus rates

Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye said: 'Connectivity between the UK and the US is one of the great engines of the global economy.

'The scientific data shows transatlantic travel and trade can be reopened safely, and every day that policymakers delay puts jobs, livelihoods and the economic chances of hardworking folks across our countries at risk unnecessarily.

'We cannot continue to keep locked up indefinitely.'

Their calls echo those of American travel bosses who have been begging Biden to lift the ban for months.

Former Assistant Homeland Secretary C. Stewart Verdery Jr. is among those who says the ongoing ban is not only divorced from data, but that it is damaging the US economic recovery from COVID. Verdery Jr. worked in Homeland Security from 2003 and 2005. He was among officials who came up with new travel rules to adapt to the post 9/11 world.

In an interview with DailyMail.com on Thursday, he described how Biden's policy is outdated, and why the reasons to excuse it before no longer stand.

'I accept that they inherited a tricky situation. They inherited policies that were in place but there hasn't been a re-look at them in light of the fact those countries have been leaders on vaccinations.

BA Ceo Sean Doyle, Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye and Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss appeared at a press conference on Monday to call for the ban to be lifted

'Especially among the traveling public - the chances of the average person who's going to be traveling, being vaccinated, is 90 percent. On top of that you have the testing requirement.

'You've got this odd situation where you van fly into the US from half the world regardless of their conditions or vaccine rollouts, then the other half of the world that are doing well, they're not taking into consideration. It's like they're stuck in time.'

The ban was first implemented by Trump last March, at the very beginning of the crisis.

Shortly before he left office, Trump announced that he was lifting the ban. Biden reinstated it within a day or two of taking office.

Verdery said by doing so, he backed himself into a corner that now the administration is struggling to get out of.

'Once they revoked Trump undoing it, they put themselves in a box. And unless there was a bulletproof plan that all of the doctors and advisers agreed on, they weren't going to press ahead with it.

'They backed themselves into a corner. I thought that corner might last a month or two, but not five,' he said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to be hopeful that Biden will reopen the border this summer and that they can discuss a UK/US travel corridor at the G7 from June 11 until June 13.

The White House is stonewalling journalists who ask about it and behind the scenes, experts say the Biden administration is hesitant to allow travel from one of the banned countries without allowing it to resume from all of them including India - where COVID-19 is spiraling out of control.

'The government is trying to solve the whole problem, all of the challenges at once, recognizing variants as an issue.

'Rather than starting with what they can, it seems like they want to conquer the whole issue and we think that from an economic standpoint, that will continue to damage the US economy.

'We know the science tells us that we can safely reopen with the UK. The process is moving forward and there are ongoing conversations but they are just not there yet.

'We plan to continue to press on them that we can't wait any more,' Tori Emerson Barnes, executive vice president of public affairs and policy at the U.S. Travel Association, told DailyMail.com.

Verdery said that plan is flawed and the administration should go country by country.

'We ought to be doing a country by country analysis on the health front just like we do on immigration and terrorism. I was in Homeland Security after 9/11...we had to rebuild all of our policies and look for the needle in the haystack - it took a while but our work with the Brits was at the forefront of that.

'There is no reason to hold the British travel corridor hostage to facts on the ground in India.

'And this isn't irreversible - if a country starts back-sliding, it can be changed again.'
New York City police are searching for a nine-month-old girl who was allegedly abducted by her father after he assaulted her mother in Harlem.

An Amber Alert was issued for baby Mi Angel Gaines on Monday after authorities say her dad Antonio Armstrong, 22, took off with the child from Frederick Douglass Boulevard near 131st Street in Harlem at around 2.30am.

The NYPD report Mi Angel was 'taken under circumstances that lead police to believe that they are in imminent danger of serious harm and/or death'.

Armstrong is the girl's non-custodial father and took her without permission, according to authorities.

The NYPD issued an Amber Alert for nine-month-old Mi Angel Gaines (pictured) on Monday after she was allegedly abducted by her father in Harlem

Police said Mi Angel's father Antonio Armstrong, 22, (pictured) assaulted her mother before fleeing with the child at about 2.30am Monday

Armstrong was last seen with Mi Angel in a baby stroller around 2.50am on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, police said.

The infant was last seen wearing a red, white and blue onesie, according to police.

Authorities say the girl has long black hair with brown eyes and is approximately 15 inches tall, weighing 19 pounds.

Police described Armstrong as 5-foot-10 and about 200 pounds with black hair and brown eyes and a tattoo of a microphone on his neck.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's 32nd Precinct at 212-690-6315 or dial 911 to provide information on a report or sighting.
Justin Wallace, a 10-year-old from Far Rockaway, Queens has been identified as the victim in Saturday's shooting in the neighborhood. Police are still looking for a suspect in the killing

A 10-year-old boy who was shot in the stomach and killed in an alleged argument with a neighbor in New York has been named by police.

Justin Wallace had earlier in the day enjoyed his first beach day with his family since the lockdown, but was gunned down that night by an unidentified shooter.

It was around 9:30 p.m. when police said he was killed on 342 Beach 45 Street in the Edgemere neighborhood of Queens.

His cousin, 29-year-old Kyle Forrester, was hit in the shoulder in the shooting, and is expected to survive.

The gunman remains at large and is being hunted by police.

Friends and family lamented the senseless killing, which is believed to have been sparked by a dispute over a driveway that relatives of Wallace share with a next-door neighbor.

'Can you imagine that, man? Three days before his birthday,' the boys father, Albert Wallace, who witnessed killing, told the Daily News. 'I dont know how Im going to deal with this .... For a driveway? Youre gonna kill my son over stupid things?'

Justin was going to turn 11 on Tuesday.

Video of the shooting released by police on Sunday begins with a dark-colored SUV that police believe is connected to the crime.

Police are looking for this vehicle, but it's unclear if the suspect drove it to the crime scene or if there was a getaway driver.

Carleada Lee a classmate of Justin's recalled her friend's kindness. 'He never left me sad,' she said

The video cuts to a man sporting a gray camouflage jacket with a sliver of a white t-shirt poking out from underneath the jacket, black pants and black sneakers.

The video appears to cut again to a man running up to a black fence, sticks a gun through an opening and firing several times.

Eight flashes of light come from the gun before the suspect runs out of the picture.

The boy's father recounted the day of the fateful day.

Wallace, 57, had taken his son to the nearby beach that afternoon along with a schoolmate.

Albert Wallace, Justin's father, said his son was a people person. He is seen outside his home on Monday

Lee's family placed balloons outside of the home where Justin was shot

A sign written by Kaylah Lingerin, 11, a classmate of Justin's

A friend scribbled 'Live long Justin' on a t-shirt placed at the location of the boy's death

'I said "Listen, lets go!" Because with the pandemic situation these kids dont get out of the house. So thats why I said, let me make it my point of duty to take him, because thats where he wants to go,' the father recalled. 'They were all there, playing. One hour turned into four hours. I said, "You know what, you need this." I said "OK, have fun, son."'

As day turned to night the father and son headed to a relatives' barbecue, the Daily News reported, but as they were leaving Wallace said he was waylaid to the home's basement to check on a home maintenance issue.

'Thats when I turned back with my son,' Wallace said. 'If I didnt turn back, my son would be alive today.'

Justin was standing in the doorway when the gunman opened fire. Upon hearing the shots, Wallace rushed upstairs to see Forrester lying in a pool of blood. Beyond him, was his son.

Blood could still be seen on the stoop where Justin fell to the ground

Justin was standing in the doorway when the gunman opened fire, his father recounted

The gunman fired eight shots through the door at a relative of Justin's home, where he had been attending a family barbecue that night

'I see my son laid down at the door, curled up,' he said. 'When I turn him over, I see this puddle of blood. And Im saying, "No no no." And at the time I heard a [sigh], so I dont know, that could probably be the last breath he take, because he had internal bleeding.'

Police said the boy was rushed to St. John's Episcopal Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Carleada Lee, a classmate of Justin's spoke out after the boy's death.

Police released video of the shooting. The suspect can be seen firing eight times into the doorway of the house, where Justin was standing.

Video of the shooting opens with a picture of this dark-colored SUV

The video cuts to a clip of this man walking up to the property

Suddenly the suspect runs up with this fence and sticks a gun through the opening, opening fire

'He never left me sad. He always had a smile, and he's always had a good personality,' she told the Daily Mail. 'He was always friends with everybody.'

The girl said she had last spoken to him on the day of his death.

He had texted her, 'rawr I'm a dinosaur,' she said.

When she found out what had happened to him on Sunday, she said she started crying and 'felt miserable.'

When asked what she thought of the person that killed her friend she was rendered speechless, but for Justin, she said, 'I miss him and I hope he's in a good place.'

Wallace too said his son was known for his kindness and jovial attitude, as well as his smarts, noting that his nickname was the 'calculator for his love of math.

'My son is a people person,' he said. 'He dont care if youre white, Black, whatever it is. Hes there for you. Hes charming, hes caring, hes so intelligent.'

Wallace told the Daily News that he believed the shooter had been a next-door neighbor, whom his nephew had gotten into a fight with earlier in the night. Police sources told the outlet that they had ruled out that suspect but still believed the shooting was somehow related to the dispute over the shared driveway abnd its maintenance.

A woman speaks with police at the scene of a fatal double-shooting near 342 Beach 45th St. in Queens

An officer is seen burying his face into his hands while another appears to cover his mouth in horror outside of the scene where the boy was killed

Police gather at the scene where a 10-year-old boy was shot in his stomach and died and a 29-year-old man was injured after an alleged argument with a neighbor on Saturday night

An officer with the NYPD stands guard over evidence at the scene of a deadly shooting in New York City

An investigator looks at the ground where two markers appear to indicate bullet casings

NYPD data shows that gun violence and shooting victims continue to surge in New York City even as the number of murders fell from 13 in 2020 to 6 in 2021 for the week of May 24 to May 30. That marks a 52.8 percent drop year-over-year.

There have been 173 total murders this year so far as of May 30, with just 147 by the same date in 2020  marking a 17.7% increase year-over-year.

The murder rate appears to have fallen some year-over-year for the week of May 24 to May 30 compared to earlier weeks in April and May.

NYPD data shows that for the week of May 5 to May 9, there were nine murders in New York City  compare to two in 2020, marking a 350% increase year-over-year.

By that time, there were a total of 146 murders in New York City in 2021 compared to 115 by the same date in 2020, then a 27% increase.

It was not immediately clear why the murder rates appear to be declining again even as the city continues to grip with the alarming spate of gun violence.

The NYPD recorded 35 shooting victims for the May 24-30 recording period in 2021, up 45.8% from the 24 shooting victims for the same period in 2020. So far this year there have been a whopping number of 637 shooting victims by May 30, with just 360 by the same point last year  for an increase of 76.9%.

The number of shooting incidents were also up 43.5% in 2021 from 2020 for May 24 to May 30 recording period. There were 33 shooting incidents in 2021 compared to 23 shooting incidents in 2020 for that time frame.

There have been 564 shooting incidents so far this year compared to just 318 last year, for an increase of 77.4%.

The category of crimes that have seen the largest jump from 2020 to 2021 are hate crimes, which climbed 104.3% year-over-year by May 30. There have been 239 hate crimes in 2021 with 117 by the same date in 2020. There were 14 hate crimes recorded in the Big Apple for the week of May 24 to May 30.

A chart shows crime levels are significantly up in 2021 compared to 2020 for most crime categories, though burglaries are notably down
The editor of respected medical journal The Lancet has refused to reveal if he still supports a controversial letter debunking claims that COVID-19 started in a Chinese laboratory.

The letter was published in The Lancet last February and was signed by 27 eminent public health experts who described speculation about the origins of the virus from a Wuhan laboratory as rumours and misinformation.

When MailOnline contacted The Lancets editor, Dr Richard Horton about the decision to publish and support the letter, both he and his office declined to comment.

The editor of respected medical journal The Lancet (pictured, Richard Horton) has refused to reveal if he still supports a controversial letter debunking claims that COVID-19 started in a Chinese laboratory

The letter played a key role in suppressing early debate on the pandemic's origins, but its credibility has since been questioned after details emerged of the involvement of Peter Daszak, a major financial backer of the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIU).

He signed and organised the letter while his group has funnelled US taxpayer dollars to the organisation for carrying out controversial gain-of-function research.

Controversy is swirling around the letter and those who publicly denounced the lab leak theory with US infectious diseases director Anthony Fauci coming under intense scrutiny for publicly denying it was a possibility while published emails suggest he was entertaining the idea behind closed doors.

One of the letter's signatories, Dr Peter Palese, a microbiologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, last week softened his stance when he told MailOnline a 'thorough investigation was needed'.

The letter played a key role in suppressing early debate on the pandemic's origins, but its credibility has since been questioned after details emerged of the involvement of Peter Daszak (pictured), a major financial backer of the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIU)

He was one of three of those named on the letter to respond to request for comment  all 27 were asked. Dr Jeremy Farrar and Professor Leo Poon did not offer substantive opinions on the developments but Dr Farrar said: 'We must stay open-minded'.

Weeks after the letters publication, Dr Horton praised Mr Daszak on Twitter writing: Peter Daszak rejects conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19; and he knows more than most of us about coronaviruses.

Dr Horton has also publicly slammed conspiracy theories about Chinas role in the pandemic, referring to it as Sinophobia.

He has also called for greater co-operation between scientists in the country and those in the west.

In The Lancet last July, he wrote: The global emergency of COVID-19 is sharpening the confrontation between China and the west, exacerbated by President Trumps insistence on referring to the "China virus."

Controversy is swirling around the letter and those who publicly denounced the lab leak theory with US infectious diseases director Anthony Fauci (pictured) coming under intense scrutiny for publicly denying it was a possibility while published emails suggest he was entertaining the idea behind closed doors

He added: The present wave of anti-China sentiment has now evolved into a Sinophobia that threatens international health.

Theories that the coronavirus emerged in a lab rather than in an animal at a market have been circulating since the start of the pandemic, initially branded conspiracies.

They were fuelled by the existence of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, one of the country's top virus research centres, in the same city that the pandemic started.

Some scientists have claimed there are elements of the virus that make it look potentially engineered while other sceptics have tried to link it to 'gain-of-function' research.

This type of research is done by lab scientists who try to force viruses to mutate in certain ways to work out how they could cause serious illness in humans in future  and in this way get ahead of them to produce cures or vaccines, for example.

Pictured: A nurse prepares a dose of Covid-19 vaccine

There are claims this was being done in Wuhan with a coronavirus  extremely similar viruses to Covid already existed, such as SARS  and that the bug accidentally escaped the lab and spilled into the population.

US President Joe Biden last week ordered intelligence agencies to launch a probe into whether Covid was man-made after all.

But China immediately hit back and called the suggestion a 'conspiracy'.

Most scientists maintain the belief that the virus evolved naturally in animals; probably bats and then other small or medium-sized mammals before transferring to humans.

The Wellcome Trust's Dr Farrar, who signed the letter alongside Dr Horton last year, said in a statement last week: 'The origins of Sars-Cov-2 are not yet certain  it is possible the origin will never be fully established  but nature is a powerful force and, in my view, the most likely scenario is that the virus crossed from animals to humans and then evolved in humans.

'The best scientific evidence available to date points to this. It is most likely it crossed the species barrier to infect and then adapt to humans at some point in 2019, but there are other possibilities which cannot be completely ruled out and retaining an open mind is critical.

'There is no place for unsubstantiated rumour, or conspiracy theories often fuelled for political purposes

'The answers can only be found in robust scientific evidence, with full transparency from all involved. There has been too much conjecture and theory without data or evidence, although still there is not enough transparency.'

Another of the signatories, Professor Palese, 77, made a U-turn on his original rebuttal of the theory and admitted a full review is needed.

He told MailOnline: 'I believe a thorough investigation about the origin of the Covid-19 virus is needed.

'A lot of disturbing information has surfaced since the Lancet letter I signed, so I want to see answers covering all questions.'

Asked how he was originally approached to sign the letter and what new information had come to light specifically, Professor Palese declined to comment.

Dr Palese spoke out as America's leading pandemic expert Dr Anthony Fauci continues to face fevered calls to resign after emails revealed that leading virus experts warned Covid could be man-made even as he downplayed the possibility.

The emails also showed he communicated with Dr Daszak, the head of the non-profit that funnelled U.S. taxpayer dollars to the Wuhan lab.

Biden threw his support behind the embattled expert on Friday, saying: 'Yes I'm very confident in Dr Fauci.'
A Georgia school board member is defending the teaching of critical race theory after the state Education Board banned it from classrooms.

Everton Blair Jr., chairman of the Gwinnett County Board of Education, took to Facebook on Friday one day after the State Board of Education passed a resolution banning the theory in schools.

He said that officials were 'manufacturing outrage around a problem that isn't even present, over a concept that most of us haven't even understood.'

Critical race theory is an educational concept that claims racism is a social construct that has been embedded in American legal systems and policies.

It has sparked a fierce nationwide debate in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests around the country over the last year and the introduction of the 1619 Project, with opponents claiming it promotes racism by categorizing people and supporters arguing that it is vital to eliminate racism.

'There have been abundant, recent discussions and even adopted resolutions from statewide elected officials regarding the teaching of race in America and the concerns over critical race theory,' Blair wrote. 'But it's confusing as there is already nothing remotely racially critical in Georgia's social studies or history curriculum.'

Gwinnett County Board of Education Chairman Everton Blair Jr. defended the teaching of critical race theory in a Facebook post on Friday

In the post, he argues that Georgia officials were 'manufacturing outrage around a problem that isn't even present, over a concept that most of us haven't even understood.'

CRITICAL RACE THEORY: WHAT DOES IT MEAN? The fight over critical race theory in schools has escalated in the United States over the last year. The theory has sparked a fierce nationwide debate in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests around the country over the last year and the introduction of the 1619 Project. The 1619 Project, which was published by the New York Times in 2019 to mark 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived on American shores, reframes American history by 'placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the center of the US narrative'. The debate surrounding critical race theory regards concerns that some children are being indoctrinated into thinking that white people are inherently racist or sexist. Those against critical race theory have argued it reduces people to the categories of 'privileged' or 'oppressed' based on their skin color. Supporters, however, say the theory is vital to eliminating racism because it examines the ways in which race influence American politics, culture and the law. Advertisement

'To be candid,' he said, 'America is a country with an undoubtedly inextricable history of racism. Because of this fact, vestiges of our racially discriminatory past show up across discrepancies in economic security, health care, educational access and more.'

'And I get it,' he continued, 'we're very ashamed. We don't want our children to feel bad for things that they did not do.

'It is also uncomfortable and difficult to reconcile  even for black Americans.'

Blair, who was the first African-American elected to the county school board in 2018. said focusing the debate over whether the state is or is not racist 'misses the educative point' and 'centers our pride and desire for exceptionalism instead of contending with the ways in which we can acknowledge past harm and move forward in making things better.'

'It affirms the very type of political indoctrination that it seeks to resist,' he wrote, adding: 'Masking our fear of confronting the truth by rejecting only the elements of which we are ashamed teaches our children that they can cherry-pick data, falsify evidence and fabricate reality.'

'It further fails to recognize their potential as learners who are capable of complex, intersectional thought. We can do better than that. But we will only do better when we acknowledge where we must improve.

'And if we only spent a fraction of the time working to address and reckon with our history as we do trying to sanitize or deny intractable aspects of it, perhaps we could get there sooner.'

'Interestingly,' Blair concluded, 'this is exactly why critical race theory exists.'

The post received 1,000 likes and more than 400 comments, some of which supported Blair's message, others which denounced it.

Lacole Flemister wrote: 'Thank you for your honest assessment of the current manufactured outrage,' and Shelly Dinet Hutchinson commented: 'And that's my school board chair.'

Jeff Teems, meanwhile, said Blair should not 'use the word truth and CRT in the same sentence. We're not LA or New York. You can't sell this racist c*** to free-thinking people,' and Linda Shiver said: 'CRT is Marxism. It is stated in their doctrine. Why should we be teaching it in our schools?'

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp wrote a letter to the State Board of Education on May 20 urging the board to pass a resolution banning the teaching of the critical race theory

Then, on June 3, the State Board of Education (seen here) adopted such a policy

Backlash against the critical race theory grew in April when the Department of Education unveiled new federal grant priorities that used the infamous 1619 Project, which spreads the theory, as an example of how 'American History and Civics Education programs can play an important role in this critical effort by supporting teaching and learning that reflects the breadth and depth of our Nation's diverse history and the vital role of diversity in our Nation's democracy.'

Several Republican-led states have since adopted laws banning the teaching of the theory, with many more advancing similar legislation.

The Georgia State Board of Education voted 11 - 2 on June 3 to pass a resolution banning the teaching of critical race theory in schools, after Republican Governor Brian Kemp wrote the board a letter urging them to adopt such a policy.

In the letter, Kemp writes: 'It is ridiculous that the Biden Administration is considering using taxpayer funds to push a blatantly partisan agenda in Georgia classrooms.

'Parents, educators and local communities here in the Peach State know how best to educate their students  not the federal government,' he wrote, adding: 'Education in Georgia should reflect our fundamental values as a state and nation  freedom, equality and the God-given potential of each individual.'

The state has now joined Tennessee, Oklahoma, Montana and Idaho in banning the teaching of the critical race theory, which critics claim promotes racism by labeling people

The state's new policy 'no state education agency, school district or school shall teach or instruct' any concepts about race in the classroom that make 'an individual feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex.'

Board members Leonte Benton and Kenneth Mason were the only two dissenting votes, with Mason, a black man telling CBS Atlanta, 'The statement, when I read it, made me feel like I don't belong, because it excused the existence of racism.'

Helen Rice, a white board member, however defended the move, saying: 'We are respecting equality. That means treating people like you'd like to be treated.'

The state has now joined Tennessee, Oklahoma, Montana and Idaho in banning the teaching of the theory, as debate over the concept continues throughout the state.

Here's a breakdown of the states that have banned critical race theory in public schools or are considering a ban:

Georgia - BANNED

The Georgia State Board of Education voted 11 - 2 on June 3 to pass a resolution banning the teaching of critical race theory in schools, after Republican Governor Brian Kemp wrote the board a letter urging them to adopt such a policy.

In the letter, Kemp writes: 'It is ridiculous that the Biden Administration is considering using taxpayer funds to push a blatantly partisan agenda in Georgia classrooms.

'Parents, educators and local communities here in the Peach State know how best to educate their students  not the federal government,' he wrote, adding: 'Education in Georgia should reflect our fundamental values as a state and nation  freedom, equality and the God-given potential of each individual.'

The state's new policy 'no state education agency, school district or school shall teach or instruct' any concepts about race in the classroom that make 'an individual feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex.'

Board members Leonte Benton and Kenneth Mason were the only two dissenting votes, with Mason, a black man telling CBS Atlanta, 'The statement, when I read it, made me feel like I don't belong, because it excused the existence of racism.'

Helen Rice, a white board member, however defended the move, saying: 'We are respecting equality. That means treating people like you'd like to be treated.'

Montana - BANNED

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen issued a binding opinion on May 27 that labeled critical race theory and some antiracism programs taught in schools as 'discriminatory' and said they violate federal and state law, the Associated Press reported.

Knudsen's decision came after Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen requested the AG to weigh in on the issue.

'Committing racial discrimination in the name of ending racial discrimination is both illogical and illegal,' Knudsen said in a statement. 'Montana law does not tolerate schools, other government entities, or employers implementing CRT and antiracist programming in a way that treats individuals differently on the basis of race that creates a racially hostile environment.'

The order states that certain activities that fall under the umbrella of critical race theory teaching violate the U.S. and state constitutions.

The activities include grading students differently based on race, forcing people to admit privilege or reflect on their racial identities, assigning fault, blame or bias to a race, and offering training or assignments that force students or employees to support concepts such as racial privilege, AP reported.

Schools and government and public workplaces in Montana that offer critical race theory training or activities could lose state funding and could be liable for damages from lawsuits, AP reported.

Knudsen's office also encouraged students and parents who believe they experience illegal discrimination under critical race theory programming to sue their schools directly or file complains with the U.S. Department of Education.

Tennessee - BANNED

A Tennessee law that bans teachers from teaching the critical race theory was signed by the Governor Bill Lee on May 24, after months of debate about the bill.

The Republican governor had previously claimed he would sign the bill, but black Democrats in the majority-white Legislature spoke out against the bill, claiming it would make teachers fearful to teach the history of racial relations in America.

'Critical race theory is rooted in critical theory, which argues that social problems are created and influenced by societal structures and cultural assumptions,' Sen. Katrina Robinson, a black Democrat from Memphis, said.

'How ironic that a body made up of a simple majority of white privileged men can determine whether even my grandchildren can see reflections of themselves in the history lessons at their school.'

Republican Sen. Brian Kelsey, also of Memphis, however, argued that teaching the theory was 'harmful to our students'.

'Critical race theory teaches that American democracy is a lie. It teaches that the rule of law does not exist and is instead a series of power struggles among racial groups,' he said.

'It is harmful to our students and is antithetical to everything we stand for as Americans and as Tennesseans.'

Idaho - BANNED

Idaho's Republican Governor Brad Little signed legislation in April that prevents schools and universities from 'indoctrinating' students with critical race theory.

The state's bill allows for the teaching of critical race theory but bans curriculums from forcing belief systems onto students that claim groups of people are inferior or superior to others because of their race, gender or religion.

It also prevents teachers from making students 'affirm, adopt or adhere to' belief systems that claim individuals of any race, sex or religion are responsible for the past actions of other members of the same group.

Idaho's Republican-controlled Senate had earlier passed the bill with a 28-7 vote. One Republican, Senator Dan Johnson, broke rank and joined Democrats in opposing the bill.

Idaho's Republican Governor Brad Little signed legislation in April that prevents schools and universities from 'indoctrinating' students with critical race theory. Students filled the gallery as the legislation was passed in the Senate last month

Governor Brad Little became the first to sign the critical race theory ban into law last month

'The claim that there is widespread, systemic indoctrination occurring in Idaho classrooms is a serious allegation,' Little said. 'Most worryingly, it undermines popular support for public education in Idaho.'

State Democrats had accused Republicans of holding crucial education budget bills hostage while they focused on passing the bill - as they argued the bill was contrary to First Amendment rights.

Senator Janie Ward-Engelking argued the bill was 'not needed' and said the idea that schools are 'brainwashing' children with 'a liberal leftist indoctrination' false.

'Our universities and school districts districts already have procedures in place that will deal with any problem we have in curriculum,' she told the Idaho Press.

'What's happening is we have a group that's put out for public release comments that our teachers are brainwashing our children with a liberal leftist indoctrination. And that's simply not true.'

Oklahoma - BANNED

Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed his state's bill into law on May 7 after the GOP-controlled House voted 70-19 in its favor.

Under the law, Oklahoma City public school teachers are prohibited from teaching certain concepts of race and racism, including critical race theory.

The bill, which takes effect on July 1, also prevents colleges and universities from requiring students to undergo training on gender or sexual diversity.

Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed his state's bill into law last Friday after the GOP-controlled House voted 70-19 in favor

Stitt said that the new law will allow history to be taught without labeling a 'young child as an oppressor'.

'As governor, I firmly believe that not one cent of taxpayer money should be used to define and divide young Oklahomans about their race or sex. That is what this bill upholds for public education,' he said.

'We must keep teaching history and all of its complexities and encourage honest and tough conversations about our past. Nothing in this bill prevents or discourages those conversations.

'We can and should teach this history without labeling a young child as an oppressor or requiring that he or she feel guilt or shame based on their race or sex. I refuse to tolerate otherwise.'

The bill has received pushback from some, including the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education who unanimously voted on Monday to denounce the law.

All eight board members took turns criticizing Stitt's bill, including Ruth Veales who argued that the legislation was attempting to shut off conversations about racism to 'protect white fragility'.

'As a district that's over 80 percent students of color, this is definitely an insult,' Veales said. 'It is a situation that is so egregious to me.'

Texas - IN PROGRESS

The Texas Senate passed legislation on May 19 that would ban schools from requiring staff to discuss or teach critical race theory.

The bill passed the state's lower chamber on May 11, but the state House will have to approve it again after changes were made in the Senate, according to KXAN.

'House Bill 3979 makes certain that critical race philosophies, including the 1619 founding myth, are removed from our school curriculums statewide,' Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said.

'When parents send their children to school, they want their students to learn critical thinking without being indoctrinated with misinformation charging that America and our Constitution are rooted in racism,' he continued, adding: 'Texans roundly reject the 'woke' philosophies that espouse that one race or sex is better than another and that someone, by virtue of their race or sex, is innately racist, oppressive or sexist.'

The bill requires teachers who talk about race relations and how they shaped history to look at viewpoints 'from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective.'

A number of teaching organizations have opposed the legislation, however, by arguing that it is attempting to downplay the role of racism in America's history.

'By telling teachers what and how to teach and ordering TEA to play police, HB 3979 may be one of the most disrespectful bills to teachers I've seen the #txlege dignify with debate,' Mark Wiggins, a lobbyist for The Association of Professional Educators, tweeted over the weekend.

Texas is in the process of approving similar legislation to ban critical race theory in public schools. Texas Gov Greg Abbott has already expressed support for it and is expected to sign it into law

Mark Wiggins, a lobbyist for The Association of Professional Educators, called the bill 'one of the most disrespectful ... to teachers I've seen'

Arizona- IN PROGRESS

An Arizona bill banning 'biased' topics in schools, such as critical race theory, has advanced.

The Arizona House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill to ban racist, sexist, politicized or other controversial topics in schools and penalize teachers with fines earlier this month.

Under the bill, which is now with the Senate, charter schools and state agencies would be banned under the Unbiased Teaching Act from discussing controversial issues with students unless teachers give equal weight to divisive topics.

Violations would result in $5,000 fines.

House Democrats voted against the bill and argued it was unconstitutional. They said it was reminiscent of a 2010 law that banned Mexican-American studies but was later struck down in court.

Republican state Rep. Michelle Udall hit back at arguments the bill is trying to ban conversations regarding racism.

'We cannot allow children in our public schools to be taught that their skin color or ethnicity or sex somehow determines their character or actions. No forms of racism should be allowed to enter our classrooms,' Udall said.

'Biased teaching needs to be stopped.'

Iowa - IN PROGRESS

A bill that will ban Iowa students from being taught that the US or the state is systemically racist is currently with Republican Governor Kim Reynolds.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the bill in a 53-35 vote earlier this month. The Senate also passed it 30-18.

In Iowa, the pending legislation will limit the 'divisive concepts' that can be taught in schools and in diversity training in government-related jobs.

Republicans who support the bill argue that it will prevent students from being indoctrinated.

While debating the bill earlier this month, Republican Rep. Steven Holt said it would not ban discussions about slavery, sexism, racism or discrimination.

He argued, however, that teachers didn't need to 'use racism to teach against racism'.

'Of course these issues must be taught. They must be discussed, and they can be without scapegoating entire groups of people,' Holt said.

Missouri - IN PROGRESS

Republicans in Missouri are currently trying to ban school districts from teaching critical race theory and anything related to 1619 Project.

The ban was included in an amendment to House Bill 1141 that was introduced last month.

The amendment seeks to ban teachers from identifying any people or institutions as racist, biased, privileged or oppressed.

Representative Nick Schroer, who sponsored the amendment, said at the time: 'I sponsored the amendment to stop 'critical race theory,' including the erroneous and hate-filled 1619 Project, from being shoved into our curriculum in our Missouri schools.

'For those trying to push scare tactics claiming this is about 'white washing' history, you are dead wrong. This is about ensuring no one taints a factual teaching of our American history.'

The ACLU of Missouri has since launched a campaign to stop the legislation from being approved, arguing it is 'loaded down with harmful amendments seeking to undermine the rights of people all across the state'.

Rhode Island - IN PROGRESS

Republican legislators introduced a bill back in March that seeks to ban teaching divisive concepts in schools.

The bill, known as H.6070, has since stalled after being debated by the House Committee on Education.

Republican Rep. Patricia Morgan, who is behind the bill, argued that teachers should not make white students, in particular, feel bad because of their skin color.

When the bill was first put to the committee, more than 150 people submitted written testimony objecting to it.

There is currently no law banning critical race theory in Florida but Governor Ron DeSantis has publicly vowed not to let it be taught in the state's schools

Florida - IN PROGRESS

There is currently no law banning critical race theory in Florida but Governor Ron DeSantis has publicly vowed not to let it be taught in the state's schools.

DeSantis declared back in March that critical race theory would not be taught in the state's schools because it 'teaches kids to hate their country and each other'.

He made the comments as he proposed a $106 million boost in funding for civics education in across the state using money from President Biden's COVID-19 aid package.

DeSantis said $17 million would be targeted for developing civics curricula with 'foundational concepts' - and not 'unsanctioned narratives like critical race theory'.

'Let me be clear: There is no room in our classrooms for things like critical race theory,' he said.

'Teaching kids to hate their country and to hate each other is not worth one red cent of taxpayer money.'

New Hampshire - IN PROGRESS

Lawmakers in New Hampshire are currently debating a critical race theory amendment that is included in the state's proposed budget.

Republicans are now trying to compromise with Democrats in the House about the amendment that seeks to ban 'divisive' topics regarding race and gender in schools.

West Virginia - IN PROGRESS

Republican lawmakers first introduced a bill in February that seeks to ban schools from promoting 'divisive concepts'.

The bill was referred to the state House's Workforce Development Committee.

The ACLU West Virginia is objecting to the bill, arguing it would prevent discussions 'in curriculum regarding the racial history of the United States, implicit bias, and privilege'.

South Dakota - IN PROGRESS

Likewise in South Dakota, there is no legislation banning critical race theory.

Governor Kristi Noem, however, has put her name to the '1776 pledge' that opposes the teaching of critical race theory in public schools.

'Teaching our children and grandchildren to hate their own country and pitting them against one another on the basis of race or sex is shameful and must be stopped,' Noem said earlier this month.

The 1776 Pledge was launched as an attempt to counter the 1619 Project, which posits the true founding of America in 1619, when the first African slaves arrived, rather than 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has boasted of signing the '1776 pledge' that opposes the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) in public schools

North Carolina - IN PROGRESS

North Carolina House Republicans approved a plan on May 19 to prohibit public schools from embracing certain ideas related to critical race theory.

The measure passed by a vote of 65 to 48 and now heads to the Senate.

If approved, it would go to Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's desk.

House Bill 324, if approved, would prevent schools from endorsing the view that any person should feel guilty because of their race or sex, or that the person's race or sex makes them inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, even if unconsciously.

North Carolina's proposal doesn't prohibit teachers from introducing the ideas to students as long as they make it clear that the school isn't endorsing such concepts.

Democrats and racial justice advocates in the state have accused Republicans of trying to rewrite history and deprive pupils of a fulfilling curriculum.

Louisiana - IN PROGRESS

A bill to ban schools and colleges from teaching 'divisive concepts', including critical race theory has now stalled in Louisiana amid opposition from some lawmakers and education officials.

Efforts by the House Education Committee late last month to kill the bill failed in a 7-7 vote, which means the bill can resume being debated later.

Rep. Ray Garofalo, who is chairman of the committee, has already said he intends to try to push forward with the bill.

GOP House Speaker Clay Schexnayder was among those who raised concerns about it.

Garofalo said he was trying to take the 'politics out of the classroom' and ensure 'a learning environment free of discrimination' with the bill.

'I have no doubt there are certain factions in this country that are trying to infiltrate and indoctrinate our students,' he said.

Those who oppose it said the proposal was a distraction from the real education problems Louisiana faces and is an attempt to whitewash American history.

Rep. Gary Carter, a New Orleans Democrat, said: 'The state of Louisiana was fundamentally, institutionally racist in the past.'
While marijuana stores would be legal, cities and towns would have the right to decide whether or not to restrict them within their municipal borders. Under the bill, if at least 10% of voters in a town sign a petition, the town must hold a referendum to ask all voters: Shall the sale of recreational marijuana be allowed in (Name of municipality)? The results of the vote would take effect the first Monday of the following month and be binding until an additional vote. Marijuana shops could also be blocked through local zoning rules. Cities and towns that do allow marijuana stores would collect a 3% local tax.
A woman mysteriously died after riding on a roller coaster at an Indiana theme park over the weekend.

Dawn R Jankovic, 47, was found unconscious after riding the roller coaster at Holiday World & Splashin Safari in Jasper, Indiana, on Friday night, according to the Evansville Courier and Press.

According to the theme park's Facebook post, Jankovic visited Holiday World in Santa Claus on Friday and was riding The Voyage when she lost consciousness.

Holiday World emergency medical technicians treated Jankovic on scene before an ambulance arrived to rush her to nearby Memorial Hospital. She was pronounced dead hours later.

The results of Jankovic's autopsy have not yet been released as officials say an inspection found nothing wrong with the roller coaster itself.

Dawn R. Jankovic, 47, (pictured) was found unconscious after riding a roller coaster at Holiday World & Splashin Safari in Jasper, Indiana, on Friday. She died soon after at a hospital

Officials say an inspection of The Voyage roller coaster Jankovic went on showed no issues

'A full inspection of the roller coaster has been performed, and it was determined that the ride operated as it was intended to,' the theme park said in a statement posted to Facebook.

'Holiday World & Splashin Safari officials ask for your thoughts and prayers for the Guest and her family, as well as for Team Members who were onsite.'

An autopsy on Jankovic - who lived in Brunswick, Ohio - has already been completed but the results are being withheld pending family notification, Dubois County Coroner Katie Schuck said.

A Facebook account for Jankovic shows an electric guitar in her background photo and a series of pictures of 1980s heavy metal music.

The autopsy results are being withheld pending family notification, per Dubois County Coroner Katie Schuck

A GoFundMe was created by friend Alice Tackett to help offset funeral costs as well as the costs of transporting Dawn's body back to Ohio

'Im shocked over this tragic news. Rest In Peace, Dawn Renee Jankovic,' friend Alice Tackett wrote on the Facebook page.

'We sure had some good times! Ill never forget your spunky attitude and love for rock n roll. Keep it rockin in the sky my friend. Youll be missed by many.'

A GoFundMe was created by Tackett to help offset funeral costs as well as the cost of transporting Dawn's body back to Ohio.

As of Monday, the page had raised $7,950 from 143 donors, well past the initial $4,000 goal.

The Voyage ride remained closed for the rest of Friday night 'out of respect for the family,' according to Newsweek.

WDRB reported that it could take up to six weeks to determine what exactly killed Jankovic.

The Voyage ride remained closed for the rest of Friday night 'out of respect for the family' following Jankovic's untimely death
Authorities in central Mexico state of Puebla have launched a manhunt for an alleged gang leader who escaped from a prison where he was awaiting trial for the murders of three medical students and their Uber driver last year.

Felipe El Piruli Hernandez, 36, fled the San Miguel Social Readaptation Center in the municipality of Puebla on Sunday, according to newspaper El Universal.

The Puebla State Attorney Generals Office confirmed the jail break and said at least one person had been arrested in connection with Hernandezs escape.

Investigators said the individual, whose name has been withheld, entered the prison and provided street clothes to the jailed street gang leader.

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The Puebla State Attorney General's Office said Felipe Hernandez (pictured) escaped from a prison in Puebla, Mexico, on Sunday. The 36-year-old fugitive had been jailed since November 24, 2020 for his connection to the murders of three aspiring doctors - including two interns from Colombia - and a Uber driver whose bodies were found on a field February 25, 2020

Colombian medical students Ximena Quijano (left) and Francisco Javier Tirado (right) were two of four people killed on February 24, 2020 in Puebla, Mexico. The leader of the gang that murdered them escaped from a prison Sunday

Francisco Javier Tirado was one of the three aspiring doctors whose life was cut short February 24, 2020, in Mexico when they were killed moments after attending a local festival

Hernandez was arrested November 24, 2020, for the murders of Colombian nationals Jose Antonio Parada, 22, and Ximena Quijano, 25; Mexico native Francisco Javier Tirado, 22  all who were aspiring doctors  and their Uber driver, Jose Manuel Vital, 28.

The bodies of the four victims were discovered on a grass field February 24, 2020, just two days after the friends had attended a festival in Santa Ana Xalmimilulco, a neighborhood in the municipality of Huejotzingo.

Area residents made the gruesome discovery and contacted the police.

Quijanos body was found lying on top of the other two students and Vitals body was located bearby.

Three suspects identified as Pablo Jesus, 46; Angel, 23; and Lisset, 22, were apprehended November 25 for their purported roles in the killings.

The lifeless body of Ximena Quijano was found on an empty lot lying on top of one of the other two medical students who along with their Uber driver were executed in the central Mexican state of Puebla on February 24, 2020

Three suspects (from left to right) identified as Pablo Jesus, 46; Angel, 23; and Lisset, 22, were apprehended November 25, 2020 for their purported roles in the murders of three aspiring doctors and an Uber driver on February 24

Quijado, Parada, and Tirado were all interns at Cholula General Hospital in the Puebla city of Tlaxcalancingo.

Quijado and Parada left their homes in Colombia in August 2019 to participate in a foreign exchange program at the Popular Autonomous University of the State of Puebla.

Surveillance images showed the moment the three students placed their belongings in the Vitals vehicle before they were killed.

Pictured above are two of the three men, who along with a Colombian female medical student, were assassinated in Puebla, Mexico. They were seen getting into an Uber ride the night of February 24, 2020 and found dead the next day

The future doctors had ordered a ride on the Uber app at 10.15pm local time after leaving the Huejotzingo Carnival.

According to Colombian news magazine Semana, Parada had spoken to his mother, Angelica Cerpa, at 9.31 pm.

'He told me that he was at a friend's house and that he was going to take an Uber, they were going to go to Puebla,' Cerpa said.

'I was following his cellphone's GPS and they never left the sector. I was dialing him, but he didn't answer.'
Authorities have released digitally enhanced images of an unidentified boy who was found murdered and dumped on a hiking trail near Las Vegas last month.

The new photos were developed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children based on images shared by the medical examiner.

They were released Thursday along with news of a $10,000 reward for anyone with information pointing to the boy's identity.

The renderings paint the most vivid picture yet of the eight-to-10-year-old Hispanic boy dubbed John 'Little Zion' Doe.

The FBI describes the boy as 4'11' and 123 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.

Authorities released these digitally enhanced images of an unidentified boy who was found murdered and dumped on a hiking trail near Las Vegas last month

The boy's body was found by hikers behind a bush on Mountain Springs Trailhead between Las Vegas and Pahrump, Nevada

The boy's body was spotted at around 7.30am on May 28 by a group of hikers on Mountain Springs Trailhead, near mile marker 20 off State Route 160 between the cities of Las Vegas and Pahrump.

The Las Vegas Metro Police Department and the FBI's Las Vegas division say the child was a victim of homicide.

They believe the body was found within 24 hours of his death.

'I was just shaken,' said Shawna Burke, 63, who lives close to where the body was found, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 'Nothing ever happens up here.'

'I was just shaken. Nothing ever happens up here,' said one area resident after learning that the boy's body was found near her home

The FBI and the LVMPD both say the child was a victim of homicide. They believe he was found within 24 hours of his death.

The new images were created on Adobe Photoshop, and authorities hope they will help identify the boy sooner thanks to the stark details drawn by the artists.

Colin McNally, the supervisor for the imaging unit at the NCMEC, told Las Vegas station KVVU that the new images 'open up the eyes, sort of clean up the tissue damage, (and) change the perspective of the image so that its turned upright'.

'These images are really important to make sure were capturing what this child wouldve looked like - it's not just creating a face to put out with the case, but making this truly specific to this child based on the image that we have ... to go along with the case information in the hopes that someone will recognize him and give the child his name back,' McNally said.
A former Bunnings warehouse will be transformed into a makeshift mass coronavirus vaccination centre by the New South Wales government.

The former site at Belmont in the state's Lake Macquarie region will have the capacity to administer up to 20,000 vaccines each week when it opens in mid-July.

It will be the second mass vaccination hub to be opened in NSW and will administer both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines.

'Our mass vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park has been a huge success, vaccinating more than 5,000 people a day already,' Premier Gladys Berejiklian Berejiklian said.

The former site at Belmont in the state's Lake Macquarie region (pictured) will have the capacity to administer up to 20,000 vaccines each week when it opens in mid-July

NSW's second mass vaccination hub will be set up in the state's Lake Macquarie region. Pictured is Premier Gladys Berejikilian getting her second coronavirus jab

'We are planning to replicate that model in the Hunter region, so we can quickly and safely vaccinate as many people as possible across NSW.'

The centre will employ up to 100 nurses, 25 pharmacists or pharmacy technicians plus around 200 other support staff.

'More than half a million people to date have fronted for testing, so I am confident the community will register online to get vaccinated at this new centre, or with their GP, and encourage others to do the same,' NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said.

About 150 workers will spend the next six weeks converting the former Bunnings site.

Hunter New England Local Health District chief executive Michael DiRienzo was delighted to host the state's second mass vaccination centre in the Hunter.

'It is no small task to transform an empty warehouse into a vaccination centre capable of inoculating thousands every day. It's a great service you're doing for our community,' he said.

Bookings will be required to receive the jab at the new vaccination centre.
President Joe Biden on Monday invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit him at the White House after his summit with Vladimir Putin.

The offer was meant to be a boon to the Ukraine as it struggles to fend offer Russian aggression.

Zelensky, in an interview with Axios for HBO, expressed disappointment that Biden decided to stop trying to block the Nord Stream 2, a Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline, that would allow the Kremlin to by pass the Ukraine.

Currently, Russian gas currently flows through Ukraine en route to Europe but the new pipeline would change that, depriving the Ukraine of lucrative transit fees.

'This is a weapon, a real weapon ... in the hands of the Russian Federation,' Zelensky said.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden invited Zelensky to meet with him at the White House this summer after the president returns from his European trip and his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

'President Biden was able to tell President Zelensky that he will stand firmly, raising sovereignty, territorial integrity, and aspirations. And he also told him ... he will welcome him to the White House here in Washington this summer after he returns,' Sullivan said.

President Biden invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet with him at the White House this summer after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin

President Biden is meeting with Putin in Geneva next week as part of his nine day trip to Europe

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said President Biden's meeting with Vladimir Putin was not a reward for the Russian president

Biden's decision to spare the German company operating the pipeline comes as he looks to mend relations with a key ally that were unsettled during the Trump administration.

Zelensky said he understood that dynamic but worried about the affect on his country.

'How many Ukrainian lives does the relationship between the United States and Germany cost?' Zelensky asked in his interview.

He argued Biden could still stop the German pipeline.

'If this is not the case, that will be a great pity, not only for me,' he said. 'There will be a feeling that in these circumstances Russia will have a great chance to prevail over the United States.'

Republicans were critical of Biden's decision.

'First Joe Biden waives sanctions on Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, now he is meeting with Putin but snubbing the Ukrainian President. It's like Biden is actively trying to signal weakness regarding Russia's aggression and coercion,' Senator Ted Cruz of Texas wrote on Twitter before the White House announced the sit down with Zelensky.

Biden leaves Wednesday for his first international trip as president. It includes a stop in the UK for a meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the G7 summit and a meeting at Windsor with The Queen. Then the president heads to Brussels for a NATO meeting and the EU Summit. He'll cap off the journey with a sit down in Geneva with Putin.

On the president's agenda will be the coronavirus pandemic, the global economy, the threat from cyber hackers, the climate, and relations with Russia and China.

'When President Biden returns to Washington next week we believe that we will be in a material stronger position to manage the major threats and challenges this COVID climate, China, cyber, Russia,' Sullivan said.

Biden's sit down with Putin comes amid growing tensions between the two nations. He has taken Russia to task for its interference in US elections; Moscow's aggressive posture toward the Ukraine and the government's treatment of dissent Alexei Navalny.

The United States is 'clarifying what our expectations are and laying out that if certain kinds of harmful activities continue to occur, there will be responses from the United States,' Sullivan said.

He defended Biden's sit down with his Russian counterpart.

'We do not regard a meeting with the Russian president as an award. We regard it as a vital part of defending America's interests,' he said.

Biden first stop on the nine-day trip will be the UK will be a visit with US troops. He and first lady Jill Biden, on Wednesday, will visit US Air Force personnel and their families stationed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall. RAF Mildenhall is home to the 100th Air Refueling Wing, the only permanent U.S. Air Force air refueling wing in the European theater.

Schedule for President Biden's Europe Trip President Joe Biden makes a seven-day trip to Europe next week. Here's the itinerary thus far: June 9: Visit US Air Force personnel and their families stationed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall June 10: Meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson June 11-13: Attending G7 Summit in Cornwall June 13: He and Dr. Jill Biden meet with The Queen at Windsor Castle June 14: NATO Summit in Brussels June 15: U.S.EU Summit in Brussels June 16: Meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva Advertisement

Biden held off on foreign travel due to the coronavirus pandemic but is making up for it with this trip.

First lady Jill Biden will join him for the British portion of the trip but will return to the United States after the first couple meets with the Queen at Windsor Castle on Sunday.

Biden will be the 13th American president the Queen has met since ascending to the throne in 1953.

There is speculation that the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will also meet the American couple at some point during their visit to the UK.

At his sit down with Johnson on Thursday, Biden will 'affirm the enduring strength of the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement last week.

Biden and Johnson have spoken on the phone multiple times since Biden was elected president.

'There's a range of issues of mutual interest,' Psaki said Thursday at her White House press briefing when asked about the sit down. 'From the future of economic growth in the world to addressing the COVID pandemic to security issues around the world so they have a range of topics they can clearly discuss.'

Johnson will also ask the American president to exempt vaccinated British and American travellers from quarantine restrictions to facilitate travel between the two nations.

The PM wants to create a 'green channel' for those fully vaccinated, The Times reported, as the summer holiday season approaches.

Sullivan on Monday declined to say when travel restrictions might be eased.

'This is a process being driven by science and public health guidance and so it is ultimately up to the public health professionals in the US government to make that determination,' he said.

'We have heard very clearly, the desire of our friends in Europe and in the UK, to be able to reopen travel across the Atlantic. And we want to see that happen. But we have to follow the science and we have to follow the guidance of our public health professionals so we're actively engaging with them to determine the timeframe, and I can't give him a date today but I will tell you that we recognize the concern and we are fundamentally being guided by objective analysis,' he added.

Afterward the meeting with Johnson, Biden will attend the G7 summit, where he will hold bilateral meetings with fellow G7 leaders. The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

After his meeting with The Queen, Biden will travel to Brussels, Belgium, to participate in in a NATO meeting and an EU Summit.

First lady Jill Biden will join President Biden when he meets with The Queen at Windsor Castle on Sunday, June 13

The Carbis Bay Hotel in Cornwall still 'looks like a building site' with just weeks before it hosts the G7 summit

There, the president will discuss transatlantic security and the collective defense of Europe.

He will also meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Biden also will participate in the U.S.EU Summit while in Brussels. That meeting with focus on global health and the world economy. Leaders will discuss climate change, trade, and democracy.

President Biden will also meet with His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

Then Biden travels to Geneva for his sit down with Putin on June 16. He will also meet with Swiss President Guy Parmelin and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.
A group of Republican senators wrote Attorney General Merrick Garland Monday to say January 6th rioters who are being prosecuted may be receiving 'unequal justice'  and called for similar treatment of those who clashed with police in protests sparked by the death of George Floyd last summer.

The senators did not defend the rioters who stormed the Capitol during the electoral vote count  saying they 'fully support' prosecutions of those who took part. But they called into question what they cast as a disparity and demanded information from DOJ about tactics authorities used to run down Capitol rioters, while seeking similar information on protests last summer that sometimes turned violent.

'The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is currently dedicating enormous resources and manpower to investigating and prosecuting the criminals who breached the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. We fully support and appreciate the efforts by the DOJ and its federal, state and local law enforcement partners to hold those responsible fully accountable,' the senators wrote Garland.

A mob of supporters of then-U.S. President Donald Trump climb through a window they broke as they storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. A group of Republican senators wrote AG Merrick Garland to say there may be 'unequal justice' in the treatment of people who took part in 'mass unrest' last summer and those who stormed the Capitol.

The complaint about 'unequal' prosecutions comes as some Republicans have sought to soften the melee that took place at the Capitol, with Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) comparing rioters to those on a 'normal tourist visit.'

But they pointed to people who 'used peaceful protests across the country to engage in rioting and other crimes that resulted in loss of life, injuries to law enforcement officers, and significant property damage.'

It was a reference to clashes between protesters and police in Portland, Seattle, and other U.S. cities over the spring and summer.

'A federal court house in Portland, Oregon, has been effectively under siege for months. Property destruction stemming from the 2020 social justice protests throughout the country will reportedly result in at least $1 billion to $2 billion in paid insurance claims,' they wrote.

The senators sought information on arrests from protests this summer

They sought information about 'mass unrest, destruction, and loss of life throughout the United States' in the spring and summer of 2020

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., in April compared the riot to a 'peaceful protest'

The letter was signed by Rick Scott (l), Ron Johnson (second from l) and Tommy Tuberville (r), all Republican senators

'We join all Americans in the expectation that the DOJs response to the events of January 6 will result in rightful criminal prosecutions and accountability,' the senators wrote Garland.

Among them were Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida, and Ted Cruz of Texas.

Tuberville has said he spoke by phone with former President Trump on Jan. 6th. He says he informed Trump that Secret Service agents had taken former Vice President Mike Pence out of the building  a sign of just how risky the event had become. The episode featured in the impeachment debate.

'Mr. President, they've taken the vice president out. They want me to get off the phone, I gotta go,' Tuberville says he told Trump, who maintained in weekend remarks that he was the victim of election fraud. He said 2020 would 'go down as the crime of the century.'

Scott, who runs the GOP's Senate campaign arm, went to Mar-a-Lago this past spring to present Trump with a new 'Champion of Freedom' award.

Johnson has compared Jan. 6th in comments on Fox News to a 'peaceful protest.'

'Even calling it an insurrection, it wasn't,' Johnson said in April. 'You know, I condemned the breach. I condemned the violence, but to say there were thousands of armed insurrectionists breaching the Capitol intent on overthrowing the government is just simply false narrative.'

The senators wrote Garland: 'As you are aware, the mission of the DOJ is, among other things, to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. Today, we write to request information about our concerns regarding potential unequal justice administered in response to other recent instances of mass unrest, destruction, and loss of life throughout the United States.'

The senators asked a series of questions which appeared to put a focus on hardball police tactics.

'Did federal law enforcement utilize geolocation data from defendants cell phones to track protestors associated with the unrest in the spring and summer of 2020? If so, how many times and for which locations/riots?' they asked.

'How many individuals who may have committed crimes associated with protests in the spring and summer of 2020 were arrested by law enforcement using pre-dawn raids and SWAT teams?

'How many individuals were incarcerated for allegedly committing crimes associated with protests in the spring and summer of 2020?'

'How many of these individuals are or were placed in solitary confinement? What was the average amount of consecutive days such individuals were in solitary confinement?'

'How many of these individuals have been released on bail?' they asked Garland.

They asked the same series of questions about the Capitol riots  where a series of indictments contained snippets of information about how law enforcement tracked down people who breached the Capitol despite making few arrests on Jan. 6th, when a mob overran police.
She has been accused of handing down genetic pain and suffering and her family tarnished by racism claims, but the Queen clearly does not hold a grudge against Prince Harry.

I hear the monarch has invited her grandson to join her for lunch at Windsor Castle when he flies over from California for the unveiling of the Princess Diana statue next month.

Its a typically magnanimous gesture by Her Majesty, a courtier tells me. The lunch will be a chance for them to talk things through.

I hear the monarch has invited her grandson to join her for lunch at Windsor Castle when he flies over from California for the unveiling of the Princess Diana statue next month

Pictured: Meghan and Harry sit next to the Queen during her Young Leaders Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace in March

The invitation is said to have been made before the birth of the Duke and Duchesss daughter last Friday. Harry and Meghan announced that they had called her Lilibet after the Queens family nickname.

Meghan is expected to stay behind at the couples 11 million mansion in Montecito, California, with baby Lilibet and their two-year-old son, Archie.

It would be the first time that Harry has had a tete-a-tete with his grandmother since he and Meghan announced that they were quitting Britain more than a year ago.

In his and Meghans now infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey (pictured), they made a string of distressing claims about the Royal Family and accused an unnamed royal of racism

After the rancour of the Sandringham summit and tense Megxit negotiations, she hosted an informal Sunday lunch for Harry in March 2020  a month before he and Meghan formally stepped down as working members of the Royal Family. They ate in the Queens dining room in her Windsor Castle apartment. When Harry attended the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip, he spoke to the Queen only outdoors with other members of the Royal Family.

They will certainly have much to discuss. In his and Meghans now infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey, they made a string of distressing claims about the Royal Family and accused an unnamed royal of racism. In a string of public appearances since, Harry has blamed his family for his mental anguish and said just the thought of flying back to London was enough to fill him with dread.

The Queen, by contrast, has made clear that Harry and Meghan will be much-loved family members. A Buckingham Palace spokesman declines to comment.
A Melbourne CBD construction site is a key remaining focus for contact tracers as they hunt down virus cases linked to the current Victorian outbreak.

Authorities have confirmed the virus spread from a cleaner who had tested positive to another worker at the ProBuild site at 100 Queen Street around the start of June.

There are 492 close contacts linked to the site, with more than 400 returning negative tests as of Monday night.

If all the contacts are traced and test negative, it is likely to give health authorities hope they can ease restrictions safely as planned at midnight on Thursday.

The department of health is again reminding people who have been to several CBD exposure sites at specified times to get tested, including Woolworths Metro on Little Collins Street, Aki Sushi on Queen Street, and two buildings on Collins Street.

The department of health is again reminding people who have been to several CBD exposure sites at specified times to get tested, including two buildings on Collins Street (pictured)

The state recorded 11 locally acquired cases on Monday, bringing the total number of active local cases to 82.

The new cases are all close contacts of existing cases, or people who are in quarantine.

There are no fresh exposure sites relating to these cases.

At a press conference on Monday, health authorities said they were on track to lift restrictions on Friday, but have warned Victorians not to expect an immediate return to the relaxed restrictions they enjoyed before the current outbreak.

The state recorded 11 locally acquired cases on Monday, bringing the total number of active local cases related to the cluster to 82 (pictured, testing on Monday)

Four of the new cases reported on Monday are infected with the more infectious Delta strain, which originated in India.

The Delta variant outbreak now totals 14, though authorities are no closer to finding out how a family from West Melbourne first contracted the strain.

More than 5800 people are still in quarantine, but about 1000 people finished quarantine on Monday after returning day 13 negative tests.

More than 550,000 tests have been administered in Victoria since the outbreak started two weeks ago.
Furious relatives of two schoolgirls murdered by a notorious paedophile have condemned a decision to let him go free.

The Parole Board has approved the release of Colin Pitchfork, who raped and strangled the 15-year-olds in sadistic attacks in the 1980s.

The mother of Dawn Ashworth said the killer  the first to be convicted on DNA evidence  'will always present a danger'.

And the sister of his first victim Lynda Mann said she believed he was incapable of rehabilitation.

Pitchfork, now 61, could be free in weeks. But Justice Secretary Robert Buckland ordered officials to look into whether he could trigger a formal review last night  as another MP vowed to get the Parole Board decision overturned.

It plunged the Parole Board into crisis just three years after its chairman Nick Hardwick was forced to resign over its decision to free black-cab rapist John Worboys.

Double-murderer Colin Pitchfork, who was jailed for life for strangling 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth to death in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986, will be allowed to leave prison after being approved for release by the Parole Board

Pitchfork was handed a life sentence in 1988 for the murders of Lynda and Dawn three years apart in neighbouring Leicestershire villages.

At the time the then Lord Chief Justice, Lord Lane, said: From the point of view of the safety of the public I doubt if he should ever be released.

The killer was handed a minimum term of 30 years, cut to 28 years in 2009. He has previously been denied parole twice  in 2016 and 2018.

Barbara Ashworth, whose daughter was strangled to death after a particularly violent rape in 1986 as she walked home in Enderby, told of her heartache last night at the news Pitchfork had been approved for release.

And she warned that the devious monster could be pulling the wool over the Parole Boards eyes.

She said: This news is so upsetting. There are still 15-year-old girls wandering around and this man could still have 20 years of his life to abuse them.

Victims: Furious relatives of two schoolgirls murdered by a notorious paedophile have condemned a decision to let him go free

Barbara Ashworth (pictured with husband Robin), whose daughter was strangled to death after a particularly violent rape in 1986 as she walked home in Enderby, told of her heartache last night at the news Pitchfork had been approved for release

He cant hurt me any more than he has done  Pitchfork ripped my family and I apart  but he can hurt other young girls. I cant understand how he has suddenly been judged fit for release when he was turned down before.

Mrs Ashworth, 75, from Liskeard, Cornwall, added: This is a man who has displayed psychopathic tendencies  a man who thought he was clever enough to outwit police at the time of the murders by dodging the mass blood testing exercise. He nearly succeeded.

I wouldnt put it past him to have duped the authorities into believing he was reformed and rehabilitated now. He will always be a danger.

Sue Gratrick, 55, whose sister Lynda was killed in 1983 less than a mile away from the attack on Dawn in the village of Narborough, said the decision to release Pitchfork was crazy.

Mrs Gratrick, a taxi office worker, said: As a family we are so upset by this news. I dont believe somebody guilty of acts such as those he did is capable of being rehabilitated.

Every time he comes up for parole, or there is some other development such as him being granted day release, our pain is heightened once more.

How his sentence was reduced When Colin Pitchfork was convicted, the most senior judge in England Lord Lane said: I doubt if he should ever be released. But the decision on how long such offenders should serve before eligibility for parole was political. Then Home Secretary Douglas Hurd set the minimum tariff at 30 years. In Pitchforks case there was never any public discussion about his suitability for a tougher whole life tariff. Years later, Labours Criminal Justice Act 2003 allowed serious criminals to apply for a review of their minimum terms. When Pitchfork used this to win an appeal in 2009, senior judges discussed the issue of a whole life tariff. Their ruling said Lord Lane and the original trial judge could not anticipate he would cease to represent a danger to public safety. They reduced his term to 28 years because he had made exceptional progress behind bars. Advertisement

Dawns uncle Philip Musson, 67, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, added: We are totally opposed to the notion of killers  let alone child killers  having parole.

A life sentence ought to mean life because a life is something that wasnt afforded to Dawn as a result of the actions of this man.

South Leicestershire MP Alberto Costa branded the Parole Boards decision appalling and disgusting, and said his constituents have never forgotten Pitchforks repugnant crimes.

He added: There are some crimes so heinous that those responsible should not be released. Raping and murdering teenage girls is as bad as it gets.

He added that he would lobby for a rethink of the parole ruling.

Pitchfork was the first man convicted of murder on the basis of DNA evidence  although he tried to escape a mass test by sending a workmate to give a sample.

He also stood by as Richard Buckland, a 17-year-old local with learning difficulties, was accused of one the crimes.

He was jailed for life at Leicester Crown Court in 1988 after pleading guilty to two offences of murder, two of rape, two of indecent assault and one of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Pitchfork, who now calls himself David Thorpe, was moved to Leyhill open prison in Gloucestershire in 2017 and has been spotted on day release walking the streets of Bristol.

A new Parole Board hearing on his case took place in March and the decision was published yesterday.

A document detailing the ruling said: After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was satisfied that Mr Pitchfork was suitable for release.

Ministry of Justice officials are considering if it is appropriate to order the Parole Board to use a new reconsideration mechanism after the Justice Secretary intervened.

The procedure was introduced in 2019 in the wake of scandal surrounding the boards decision to approve the release of Worboys, who was convicted of attacks on 12 women in his London taxi.

Pitchfork's case was most recently refused by the Parole Board in 2018. Since then, he has been kept at Leyhill Prison, an open prison in Gloucestershire

Mr Buckland can apply for a review if an internal review by prisons and probation experts concludes the decision was procedurally unfair or irrational.

A source close to Mr Buckland said: We will take legal advice to see if its worth using the mechanism in this case. If Pitchfork was sentenced under the reforms were making... hed have got life without the possibility of parole.

Pitchforks release would be subject to conditions including lie detector tests, wearing an electronic tag and observing a curfew at a specified address.

The root and branch review of the Parole Board was ordered by Mr Buckland last year and is due to be completed this summer.

Sadist put his baby in the back of the car  then raped and strangled teenager nearby

By David Barrett Home Affairs Correspondent

Colin Pitchforks sadistic sexual murders were among the most notorious crimes of the Eighties.

In November 1983, he attacked 15-year-old Lynda Mann as she took a shortcut home from babysitting in the Leicestershire village of Narborough.

Baker and cake decorator Pitchfork, a 23-year-old father of two, raped her and then strangled her to death with her own scarf.

Throughout the incident his car was parked nearby, with his baby son asleep in the back of it.

Lyndas half-naked body was not found until the next day.

Years later, under police interview, Pitchfork described how his first victim had been terrified and in fear of her life.

Colin Pitchforks sadistic sexual murders were among the most notorious crimes of the Eighties. Pictured: Pitchforks mugshot after his eventual arrest in connection to the killings

Just under three years later, less than a mile away from the scene of Lyndas murder, Pitchfork viciously claimed another young life.

Dawn Ashworth, also 15, was attacked in the village of Enderby as she was walking home.

Legal papers in one of Pitchforks appeals said described his assault on the schoolgirl as a particularly violent rape.

The girl herself had put up a considerable struggle. There was substantial bruising consistent with at least two punches to the side of her face, and another to the front, it went on.

There were large grip marks, bruises to her upper arms. The pathologist described a brutal sexual attack.

The pathologist also concluded that sexual assaults may have continued after Dawn was strangled to death. Her body, too, was half-naked when it was discovered two days later.

The killer had form for other sex crimes. He indecently assaulted a 16-year-old girl in 1979, and in 1985  between the two murders  he attacked another girl, also 16, holding a screwdriver to her throat while he sexually assaulted her behind some lock-up garages.

In November 1983, he attacked 15-year-old Lynda Mann as she took a shortcut home from babysitting in the Leicestershire village of Narborough. He raped her and then strangled her to death with her own scarf. Pictured: The crime scene

After Dawns murder, police obtained a forensic sample of her attacker from her body and, in early 1987, launched what was then a groundbreaking DNA trawl in a bid to find the killer. Local men were asked to give saliva and blood samples to rule themselves out of the police inquiry.

Pitchfork, knowing that he would be caught if he took part, persuaded a colleague at the bakery where he worked to impersonate him and give a blood sample under his name.

However, the colleague later boasted about the masquerade while drinking with fellow workers in a Leicester pub, and police were informed. Pitchfork was arrested in September 1987  nearly four years after he first killed  and was charged with the murders and rapes.

He pleaded guilty. A psychiatric report at the hearing described a personality disorder of psychopathic type accompanied by serious psychosexual pathology.

It observed that Pitchfork will obviously continue to be an extremely dangerous individual while the psycho-pathology continues.

The judge who oversaw his sentencings, Mr Justice Otton, observed that Pitchforks rapes and murders were of a particularly sadistic kind.
Donald Trump furiously asked his advisers during the 2020 election how he could be losing to a 'mental r**ard' when he saw polls that showed Joe Biden beating him, a new book claims.

Trump hadn't paid much attention to going after Biden when campaigning, the book says, because the former president hadn't considered him much of a threat.

He thought Democrats would replace him with Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama because he was 'too old', the book says.

In Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, Michael Bender claims Trump was furious at his campaign team when he saw he was trailing to the then 77-year-old in voter surveys.

He allegedly interrupted an Oval Office policy meeting in early 2020 and asked: 'How am I losing in the polls to a mental r***rd', according to an extract obtained by Vanity Fair.

Donald Trump called Joe Biden a 'mental r***rd' when he saw he was losing in the polls during the 2020 campaign and believed the Democrats would replace him with Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama because he was 'too old', a new book claims

Trump, pictured on an October 28 rally in Arizona, was convinced that the election had been stolen from him, according to a new book to be released in August

For the book, set to be released on August 10, Bender interviewed more than 150 people, including Trump at least twice during two trips to Mar-a-Lago.

For the book set to be released on August 10, Bender interviewed more than 150 people, including Trump at least twice during two trips to Mar-a-Lago

A month before the COVID pandemic hit the U.S., Trump said in a meeting that the Democratic leadership would 'realize [Biden is old] and they're going to give it to someone else.'

Dick Morris, a former Clinton White House adviser who was working for Trump 'quietly' last year, told the president that Biden was 'was too old and too prone to gaffes to be the nominee.'

Others in Trump's inner circle, including Fox News' Sean Hannity, believed Biden would be forced out of the race if Trump started on the offensive on the campaign trail.

'The president, meanwhile, had often complained that his early attack on Elizabeth Warren had damaged her presidential bid, which he regretted because he viewed her as an easier opponent than Biden,' Bender writes.

'Now he worried that a heavy blitz of attack ads would hasten the secret plot being hatched by Democrats, and his mind raced with who they might select in Biden's place.'

Trump was so wedded to the idea that Biden would drop out of the race, or be forced out, that he even blocked spending on ads to attack him.

Bender writes that Trump 'had cited it as a reason to hold off on heavy spending against Biden earlier in the month.'

Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio, Bender writes, tried to stop a belief that spread through the team that the Democrats were going to steal the nomination at the convention.

In a memo, Fabrizio wrote: 'I know there is some concern (which I strenuously disagree with) that if we go after Biden too soon, we can collapse him, and the Dems will replace him at their convention. I know POTUS tends to share this opinion.

Bender adds that Fabrizio tried to make clear that the remaining Democratic primaries had 'no significant challenger' and Biden 'had the delegate map to secure the nomination'.

Bender also writes that Trump held off on attacking Biden in the early stages of the primary because he believed Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama would take over the candidacy by the time of the general election

The title of Bender's book comes from Trump's statement on November 4, 2020 - two days after the election, with millions of votes still uncounted, but with Biden looking like he may secure a victory.

He said: 'We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election.

'This is a major fraud on our nation. We want the law to be used in a proper manner. So we'll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop.

'A very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise' the millions of people who voted for Trump, he said in his statement at the White House.

Since then he has maintained that he won the vote and claims it was mired in 'election fraud'.

He has now backed audits and recounts in several states including Arizona and Pennsylvania in his continued bid to get the results overturned.
And so this is our chance to further this cause, because women died yesterday, women are dying today, and they will die tomorrow, Kavros DeGraw said. We just reached the two year mark for Jennifer Farber Dulos on May 24. I know that, because I spoke with her just three days before she disappeared.
A teenager is fighting for life with a broken neck and severe head injuries after a humpback whale body-slammed his boat, as the young man's stepdad is praised for making the call that saved his life.

Nick, 18, and Matt, 39, were fishing in North Narooma, on the far south coast of New South Wales, on Sunday morning when the enormous mammal leapt out of the water and hit the deck of the vessel.

Matt, who had cuts on his face and a concussion, reportedly 'saved Nick's life' when he acted quickly and made an emergency call to marine rescue.

Despite escaping death, the young man's shattered family said in a statement to Daily Mail Australia that he is in a coma and they don't know if he'll ever wake up.

Humpback whales can reach 18 metres in length and weigh up to 40 tonnes.

Pictured: Nick, 18, was severely injured when a humpback whale hit his fishing boat on Sunday

Pictured: Matt, who saved his stepson Nick's life when a whale landed on their fishing boat on Sunday

Pictured: The boat Matt and Nick were in when the whale leapt out of the water and body-slammed the deck

'Matt was able to quickly get them back to shore, using the VHF [radio] to make a mayday call on the way to organise an ambulance to meet them on arrival at the boat ramp,' the family said.

'Matts actions no doubt saved Nicks life.'

Both fishermen were taken to Moruya Hospital but the teenager was later flown to Canberra Hospital with serious injuries.

Nick is expected to be in hospital for 'some time' and his medical expenses continue to mount.

Humpback whales can reach up to 18 metres in length and weigh up to 40 tonnes (stock image)

Pictured: The damaged boat Nick and Matt were in when a humpback whale breached the deck

The family added: 'Matt and Nick are seasoned fishermen, and this was an accident that could have happened to anyone.'

Family friend Carmen Bartley set up a Go Fund Me campaign to help cover the medical bills.

'At this stage, we don't know when he will wake up, or how this has affected his brain,' Ms Bartley said.

She explained the family will likely need to pay for modifications to their home to accommodate for Nick's injuries, or move to a larger home.

Pictured: The fishing boat Nick and Matt were in when a 40,000kg whale landed on it on Sunday

'We also need to help Nick's family survive financially through this ordeal, including paying for accommodation in Canberra to be with him, hopefully without them having to leave Nick's side to return to work too soon,' she wrote.

Marine Area Commander, Superintendent Joe McNulty, said Maritime NSW has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

'While inquiries are in their infancy, the incident demonstrates the dangers these mammals can pose to those on the water,' Supt McNulty said.

'In recent days, the number of whales migrating north has dramatically increased, and maritime authorities have received reports they're travelling closer to the coast than in previous years.

They were taken to Moruya hospital (pictured), but the teenager was later flown to Canberra Hospital

'Given the close proximity to the shoreline, there is potential for some spectacular whale watching, but we encourage anyone hoping to get a closer look to maintain a safe distance.'

It is believed the whale may have also been injured during the incident.

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service will work with Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia to monitor the mammal.

Humpback whales start to migrate from Antarctica in March and reach the warmer waters of Queensland by June.

The pair scrambled to Narooma boat ramp (stock image) and paramedics raced them to hospital

Authorities have urged skippers to be aware of surroundings and maintain safe distances while on the water during this season's migration.

Supt McNulty reminded coastal residents not to approach a whale and to remain at least 100m away while on a boat, and 300km away on a jet ski.

'For those lucky enough to view from above the water, unmanned aircraft (drones) must not encroach closer than 100m,' he said.

Other aircraft must maintain a distance of 300m, except helicopters and gyrocopters, which must maintain a distance of 500m.
New photographs show the degrading treatment an elementary school secretary in New York claims she was forced to endure, when the female principal she worked for asked her to take raunchy photos to send to her lover.

The cache of dirty documents also includes screen shots of text messages the principal is alleged to have forced her secretary to write.

It apparently was all part of an effort by the principal to keep her extramarital affair from her husband, according to the suit: If she had raunchy pictures and texts stored on her secretary's phone, her thinking apparently went, then her husband wouldn't find out.

Gisselle Vasquez, a 35-year-old single mother of a six year old, was secretary for Evelina Medina, 42, at the Robert C. Dodson School, a school with kids from pre-kindergarten through the 8th grade.

Vasquez is suing for damages, in a lawsuit filed on May 24 in federal court, and alleges that she endured sexual harassment by multiple school officials and was retaliated against.

Evelina Medina, 42, the former principal at the Robert C. Dodson School in Yonkers, made her secretary Gisselle Vasquez take this photo, according to a lawsuit filed on May 24

Medina asked Vasquez to take the photo of her in her underwear at school, in her office, in 2018

Evelina Medina is pictured with her husband (center) and the mayor of Yonkers, Mike Spano (right) at the Hispanic Professionals Association awards in 2019

Medina said the bizarre behavior began on May 24, 2018.

The allegations spanned almost two years, but Yonkers school superintendent, Edwin Quezada, did nothing, according to the court documents.

Gisselle Vasquez, who worked at a Yonkers school, sued the city school district claiming she was sexually harassed by the school's female principal, female assistant principal and male assistant principal

Medina texted Vasquez a photo of a man lying in bed in his underwear and told her to save the photo for her, according to the lawsuit.

The next day, Medina gave Vasquez her phone and asked her to take a photo of her and 'then proceeded to lower her pants to her ankles, turned around and exposed her buttocks in thong underwear and posed,' the lawsuit says.

'She hands me the phone and says, "Close the door,'" Vasquez told The New York Post.

'When I looked back her pants were already down.

'I was shocked. I didnt know what to think. I really just froze. I worried that if I just left her office there could be a student or employee or anyone there.

'Her office is in the main office and there is a lot of traffic.'

Medina is no longer principal at the school, according to the Post, but the school district wouldn't detail the circumstances of her leaving her job.

Vasquez said she was also sent screenshots of explicit conversations from her boss, who wanted to hide them from her husband, according to the suit

It's unclear if she's still employed with the district.

The district told the newspaper it wouldn't comment on 'pending litigation.'

Four days later - May 29, 2018 - Medina texted Vasquez 'a photo of a man lying in bed holding his exposed erect penis' and told her secretary to save it for her.

At that time, Vasquez has been working in Yonkers school district for about five years but just a month at the magnet school Robert Dodson, which has less than 900 students.

That week of alleged interactions was followed by months of buying lingerie, booking a hotel room for Medina and a time when Medina 'forcibly grabbed (Vasquez) by the throat to show what she wanted to do with her lover' and showing her explicit photos of her lover, the lawsuit says.

'On more than one occasion, Medina made comments about her lovers penis size and how it satisfied her more despite being smaller than her husbands penis size,' the lawsuit says.

During that time, the secretary told at least two school officials, including a letter to Human Resources, according to the suit, but nothing happened.

Vasquez was then allegedly subject to sexual harassment by two assistant principals - Sandra Guzman and Christopher Cassano, according to the lawsuit.

Vasquez filed the lawsuit in White Plains federal court, which is the courthouse in the background, on May 24

Yonkers Superintendent of Yonkers Schools District Dr. Edwin M. Quezada and Robert Dodson assistant Principal Christopher Cassano were as named in the lawsuit

Guzman said, 'You dont really look like a sexual person' and asked her, 'How many times a week do you have sex?'

Around March 2019, Cassano allegedly asked Vasquez how many times she says sex and forcibly kissed her multiple times.

In April 2019, Vasquez made another complaint to Human Resources and talked to the superintendent, who allegedly said, 'Thank you,' the lawsuit says.

Her human resources complaint was passed around by the other teachers, and by the end of the month, Vasquez was transferred to Chavez Public School - another Yonkers school district school - but in a different role with a different schedule.

The transfer and schedule change presented issues for plaintiff due to her familial status and childcare obligations, the suit says.

She said the move was retaliation from bringing up her bosses' alleged transgressions.

During the pandemic, she requested a medical accommodations because she suffers from asthma, a heart murmur and anxiety and attached a doctors note, but the school denied it, according to the lawsuit.

Vasquez has been out on family leave, the Post reported.

'My professionalism exceeds the expectations of that facility,' Vasquez told The New York Post. 'To this day I cant believe that this happened to me. I didnt see it coming. Its disturbing. Im disgusted and embarrassed.'

The allegations took place in the Robert Dodson School in the city of Yonkers, New York

The lawsuit is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

The city of Yonkers, the Yonkers school district, the Dodson and Chavez schools (both in Yonkers), Medina, Cassano, Guzman, and Quezada are named in the lawsuit.

The New York Post reported that Medina is no longer principal at Dodson. A man answering her phone hung up when a New York Post reporter called.

DailyMail called Dr. Quezada for comment, but no one was around Sunday.
Advocates have renewed calls for a family detained on Christmas Island to be resettled in Australia after the youngest daughter was flown to Perth with a suspected blood infection.

A medical evacuation flight carrying three-year-old Tharnicaa and her mother Priya Murugappan landed at Perth Airport on Monday evening, advocates for the family confirmed.

They said Tharnicaa had been unwell for 10 days and might have septicaemia.

Tharnicaa is currently being medically evacuated to Perth after being hospitalised on Christmas Island with a suspected blood infection.

Three-year-old daughter Tharnicaa from the Biloela family has contracted suspected sepsis

'I am feeling very scared and worried for my little girl,' Priya said in a family statement.

'She has been sick for many days, it took a long time for her to get to the hospital.

'She is already asking for her papa, it is going to be very hard being away from her Dad and sister. It is very hard for our family to be separated when our daughter is sick.'

Tharunicaa (pictured) has been rushed to hospital in Perth with sepsis and has spent the vast majority of her life in detention

Advocates said Tharnicaa had experienced vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness and a temperature of more than 40 degrees.

They said detention centre staff didn't take Tharnicaa to the hospital on Christmas Island until Sunday, despite multiple requests from her mother.

The Department of Home Affairs said both the department and the Australian Border Force were committed to the welfare of detainees in immigration detention.

Kopika (left) gets taken to school by guards while Priya stays inside to look after three-year-old Tharunicaa (right) - who has now gone to Perth for treatment for sepsis

Figures released last year showed the government has spent more than $6million detaining the family. Pictured: Priya and Nades

'Healthcare services for detainees on Christmas Island are broadly comparable with those available within the Australian community under the Australian public health system,' a spokesperson for the department said in a statement.

'The ABF facilitates access to nurses, doctors and specialists for all members of the family.'

Family lawyer Carina Ford said it was long overdue for the family to be resettled in Australia.

Priya, Nades and their two Australian-born daughters, Tharnicaa and six-year-old Kopika, have been held on Christmas Island since August 2019 as the government tries to deport them to Sri Lanka, despite a community campaign to let them stay.

Priya and Nades Murugappan and their two young daughters (pictured) are being detained in a demountable building on Christmas Island at a cost of $4,000 a day

They were removed from their home in the rural Queensland town of Biloela and placed into immigration detention in 2018.

The federal government has spent more than $6 million keeping the family in detention for the past three years.

Labor Senator Kristina Keneally said the family should not be in detention.

'They should be in their community in Biloela,' she said.

Greens Senator Nick McKim said the family's treatment had been 'appalling and disgraceful'.

'They must be resettled in our community urgently, before any more damage is done,' he said.
Archaeologists have identified an 'exceptionally unusual' skeleton of a Roman slave in Rutland, who could have been a criminal thrown to a degrading death.

The adult male was found buried in a ditch, secured at the ankles with a locked set of iron fetters, which indicates 'ill will' from those who had power over him at the time he died, according to experts.

He was discovered in an 'awkward' burial position  slightly on his right side, with his left side and arm elevated on a slope  which suggests he was disposed of informally in a ditch rather than a proper grave.

The 'internationally significant' find marks the first burial of a man wearing lockable ankle shackles found in Roman Britain, and was discovered by builders working on a home extension in the village of Great Casterton.

Radiocarbon dating undertaken by Leicestershire Police showed the remains date from somewhere between AD 226 to 427.

The Great Casterton Roman burial shackles. Analysis of the skeleton suggests the man who had the shackles attached to his ankles led a physically demanding life

He was discovered in an 'awkward' burial position  slightly on his right side, with his left side and arm elevated on a slope  which suggests he was disposed of informally in a ditch rather than a proper grave

Studying the burial itself, the awkward burial position - slightly on his right side, with his left side and arm elevated on a slope - suggests he was buried informally, in a ditch rather than a proper grave cut

Archaeologists at the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) have been brought in to fully analyse the internationally significant find using X-rays and other methods.

'For living wearers, shackles were both a form of imprisonment and a method of punishment, a source of discomfort, pain and stigma which may have left scars even after they had been removed,' said Michael Marshall, a finds specialist at MOLA.

'However, the discovery of shackles in a burial suggests that they may have been used to exert power over dead bodies as well as the living, hinting that some of the symbolic consequences of imprisonment and slavery could extend even beyond death.'

Examination of the skeleton suggests the man led a physically demanding life, according to MOLA.

A bony spur on one of the upper leg bones may have been caused by a traumatic event, perhaps a fall or blow to the hip, or else a life filled with excessive or repetitive physical activity.

While this injury had healed by the time he had died, the cause of his death remains unknown.

Marshall told the Guardian that he may have been somebody who had 'earned the ire of other people'.

'Equally it could be that the people who buried him were tyrannical and awful,' he said. 'We can't really understand the moral dimensions.'

Artist's impression of Roman slaves in shackles in a tin mine, overseen by a Roman legionary

The slave was found by builders working on a home extension in the village of Great Casterton in the county of Rutland

Tellingly, there is a Roman cemetery around just 200 feet (60 metres) away from where he was found.

So, there was likely a conscious effort by people at the time to separate or distinguish him from those buried in the cemetery, as part of his demeaning punishment.

Slavery was commonplace in the Roman Empire and the practice is described in written sources from the time, but shackles are very rarely found with human remains.

An x-ray of the Great Casterton shackles and padlock. The man's cause of death remains unknown

Iron shackles are one of the only artefacts from the period with a strong direct link to slavery and have been found on archaeological sites across the Roman Empire.

There are a small number of burials that have been found in the UK with heavy iron rings around the limbs and some of these individuals had also been beheaded.

However, unlike the Great Casterton shackles probably would not have been functional restraints worn in life.

They might have been added in death and so are likely symbolic shackles meant to demean the dead or brand the wearer as a criminal or slave in the afterlife.

To help build a picture of the life and identity of the man buried at Great Casterton and to try and understand the significance of the shackles, MOLAs experts undertook detailed research, including x-ray analysis

A few Roman written sources also mention the use of iron restraints to prevent the restless dead from rising and influencing the living.

The identity of the man from Great Casterton will never be known for sure. Experts are also unsure whether or not he had been enslaved during life, or why his shackles were not removed to be reused.

'The chance discovery of a burial of an enslaved person at Great Casterton reminds us that even though the remains of enslaved people can often be difficult to identify, that they existed during the Roman period in Britain is unquestionable,' said MOLA Archaeologist Chris Chinnock.

'Therefore, the questions we attempt to address from the archaeological remains can, and should, recognise the role slavery has played throughout history.'

MOLA told MailOnline it would not release images of the man's skeleton to online outlets because of a policy governing the use of images of human remains.

The findings have been published in the journal Britannia.
Nearly two per cent of the 1,000 highest grossing apps on Apple's App Store are scams, new analysis has found.

The offending apps have conned customers out of an estimated $48 million (34 million), according to market research firm Appfigures, and Apple profits from them because it takes up to 30 per cent commission on App Store transactions.

Last month the US tech giant revealed it had rejected or removed more than one million malicious apps from its App Store and stopped more than $1.5 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2020.

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Scamming apps: The 18 apps listed above have tricked Apple customers out of almost $30 million (21m), according to market research firm Appfigures

Apple's 1.5 billion legal battle: What is the claim and why is it being brought? Apple is facing a 1.5 billion legal battle over accusations it has 'overcharged' millions of UK customers for apps in its App Store. The claim applies to the most popular apps on iPhones and iPads, such as Fortnite, YouTube and Tinder, which require payment at point of download, subscription payments, or allow for in-app purchases. It does not apply to apps providing 'physical goods or services that will be consumed outside of the app'. These include Deliveroo and Uber, which are not required to use Apple's payments system or pay Apple the disputed 30 per cent commission. Affected app purchasers, on whose behalf the class action is brought, will not pay costs or fees to participate in the action, funded by Vannin Capital. The action has been brought by Dr Rachael Kent, an expert in digital economy and a lecturer at King's College, London who specialises in consumer welfare issues relating to smart mobile technology. At King's College, her research focuses on how consumers use apps and digital platforms, and the impact apps have on choice, spending and other aspects of consumers' everyday lives. Dr Kent is represented by Hausfeld & Co LLP, and Mark Hoskins QC, Jennifer MacLeod and Aaron Khan of Brick Court and Ronit Kreisberger QC of Monckton Chambers. Dr Kent has also been advised on the claim by a consultative group with expertise and experience in group claims management, digital markets and consumer rights matters. This group consists of Dame Elizabeth Gloster, formerly a judge in the Court of Appeal; James Walker, an adviser to the Scottish government on consumer protection and founder of Resolver, which helps customers resolve complaints with companies; and Kevin Jenkins, former CEO of Visa UK. Advertisement

But the latest analysis, carried out by The Washington Post, suggests that scammers are still a major problem.

Several apps were found to be falsely presenting themselves, claiming to be linked to major brands such as Amazon and Samsung, while 'fleeceware' apps are also rife.

These use fake customer reviews to artificially inflate their App Store rankings and trick consumers into paying higher prices for a service which is usually offered free or cheaper elsewhere by an app lower in the rankings but with more legitimate customer reviews.

One QR code reader app, which is still on the App Store, cons customers into paying $4.99 a week for a service included in the iPhone camera app, according to the analysis.

A spokesman for Apple said: 'We hold developers to high standards to keep the App Store a safe and trusted place for customers to download software, and we will always take action against apps that pose a harm to users.

'Apple leads the industry with practices that put the safety of our customers first, and we'll continue learning, evolving our practices and investing the necessary resources to make sure customers are presented with the very best experience.'

Unlike other mobile operating systems, the App Store has no competition and is the only way to get apps on to an iPhone or an iPad.

Some experts claim that because Apple has a monopoly over how consumers access apps there is little incentive for the company to spend money improving it.

Dr Rachael Kent, an expert in digital economy and a lecturer at King's College, London, has brought a 1.5 billion legal action against Apple over claims it has broken UK competition law by 'overcharging' millions of people using its apps.

The California-based tech giant is alleged to have deliberately shut out competition and instead forced people to use its own payment system.

Apple's policy of taking up to 30 per cent commission on such transactions is 'unjustified' and has generated 'excessive' profits, the claim argues.

Dr Kent said: 'Thirteen years after its launch, it [the App Store] has become the only gateway for millions of consumers.

'Apple guards access to the world of apps jealously, and charges entry and usage fees that are completely unjustified.

'This is the behaviour of a monopolist and is unacceptable.'

Apple has faced continued concerns over its anti-competitive nature of its App Store (stock)

Problem: Figures from the US tech giant, displayed here in a graphic from the firm, show the scale of fraud on the App Store. This is how Apple said it had protected its users during 2020

Damages of up to 1.5 billion are being sought - and could see as many as 19.6 million users in the UK eligible for compensation.

In response to the legal claim, Apple said: 'We believe this lawsuit is meritless and welcome the opportunity to discuss with the court our unwavering commitment to consumers and the many benefits the App Store has delivered to the UK's innovation economy.'

UK app developers rake in more cash in 2020 App developers have seen a boom in business due to the coronavirus pandemic, Apple revealed in March. The tech giant, valued at more than two trillion dollars, says 2020 saw a 22 per cent boost in earnings compared to 2019 for developers. Apple did not give exact figures for either year. As a result, more than 330,000 Britons are, at least in part, now employed with money from the App Store. This figure is up 10 per cent year-on-year, Apple claims. Read more: UK App Store developers rake in 22% MORE cash in 2020 than in 2019 Advertisement

Apple has tried to appease concerns over its commission fee within the App Store. Earlier this year, it halved the rate from 30 per cent to 15 per cent for smaller app developers.

But it has faced continued concerns over the anti-competitive nature of its App Store.

In April, the European Commission said Apple had 'abused its dominant position' within the distribution of music streaming apps.

Addressing the problem of scammers in an online post last month, Apple said: 'Threats have been present since the first day the App Store launched on iPhone, and theyve increased in both scale and sophistication in the years since.

'Apple has likewise scaled its efforts to meet those threats, taking relentless steps forward to combat these risks to users and developers alike.'

The tech giant revealed that more than 180,000 new developers launched their first app on the App Store last year  and that there's now around 1.8 million apps available to purchase.

Of the one million malicious apps that were rejected or removed, 215,000 were rejected for privacy violations, while 48,000 were rejected for containing hidden or undocumented features.

Another 150,000 were rejected for being spam, copycats or misleading to users, while 95,000 were removed for 'fraudulent violations'.

As well as preventing $1.5 billion in fraudulent translations on the store, Apple said three million cards were prevented from being used to purchase stolen goods and services last year.
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Amazon founder and outgoing CEO Jeff Bezos has announced he will fly into space with his brother next month, beating billionaire space-sector rivals Elon Musk and Richard Branson to the punch.

It will be the first human flight launched by his space company, Blue Origin, and is scheduled to take place on July 20  the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Bezos and his younger brother Mark, a former advertising executive and volunteer firefighter, will be joined by the winner of an auction who will have paid at least $2.8 million (1.98 million) for their seat.

In an Instagram post, the billionaire said he had dreamed of travelling to space ever since he was five years old, adding: 'I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.'

Bezos  who has an estimated personal worth of $186.2 billion (131.5 billion)  is one of a number of billionaire entrepreneurs fuelling what has been dubbed the 'new space race', with each pumping billions of dollars into their respective start-ups with the aim of creating cheap, commercialised space travel.

But while Virgin Galactic founder Branson is expected to make a suborbital flight later this year, and SpaceX's Musk has vowed to 'die on Mars', it is Bezos who will win the race to become the first of the trio to reach the edge of space.

Musk is yet to comment on the news, but Branson congratulated his rival, saying their two firms are 'opening up access to space.'

He tweeted: 'Many congratulations to @jeffbezos & his brother Mark on announcing spaceflight plans. Jeff started building Blue Origin in 2000, we started building Virgin Galactic in 2004 & now both are opening up access to Space - how extraordinary! Watch this space'

There has been no love lost between Musk and Bezos, who have gone head-to-head on several projects for more than a decade.

Musk has branded his tech titan foe a 'copycat' over some of Amazon's business ventures, while Bezos mocked the SpaceX CEO's plan to send humans to Mars.

Blue Origin, founded in 2000, touts itself as means to provide cheaper access to space through the use of reusable rockets- specifically the New Shepard that has flown 15 times already

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos inspects New Shepard's West Texas launch facility. One seat on the flight, scheduled for July 20, is being auctioned

The two Bezos brothers - seen here in a video posted to Jeff's Instagram - will be part of a crew of six on New Shepard

THE BILLIONAIRE SPACE RACE: HOW BRANSON, MUSK AND BEZOS ARE VYING FOR GALACTIC SUPREMACY Jeff Bezos in front of Blue Origin's space capsule Dubbed the 'NewSpace' set, Jeff Bezos, Sir Richard Branson and Elon Musk all say they were inspired by the first moon landing in 1969, when the US beat the Soviet Union in the space race, and there is no doubt how much it would mean to each of them to win the 'new space race'. Amazon founder Bezos looks set to be the first of the three to fly to space, having announced plans to launch aboard his space company Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft on July 20. The billionaire mogul will travel with his younger brother Mark, a former advertising executive and volunteer firefighter, and the winner of Saturday's multi-million pound auction. However, a report has suggested Branson might beat him to it, by making a suborbital flight two weeks before Bezos and his brother. The suggestion is the Virgin Galactic founder would travel on his VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo rocket plane on the July 4 weekend. Although SpaceX and Tesla founder Musk has said he wants to go into space, and even 'die on Mars', he has not said when he might blast into orbit. SpaceX appears to be leading the way in the broader billionaire space race with numerous launches carrying NASA equipment to the ISS and partnerships to send tourists to space by 2021. On February 6 2018, SpaceX sent rocket towards the orbit of Mars, 140 million miles away, with Musk's own red Tesla roadster attached. Elon Musk with his Dragon Crew capsule NASA has already selected two astronauts who will be on-board the first manned Dragon mission. SpaceX has also started sending batches of 60 satellites into space to help form its Starlink network. Musk hopes this will provide an interconnected web of satellites around Earth which will beam down free internet to people worldwide. Branson and Virgin Galactic are taking a different approach to conquering space. It has repeatedly, and successfully, conducted test flights of the Virgin Galactic's Unity space plane. The first took place in December 2018 and the latest on May 22, with the flight accelerating to more than 2,000 miles per hour (Mach 2.7). More than 600 affluent customers to date, including celebrities Brad Pitt and Katy Perry, have reserved a $250,000 (200,000) seat on one of Virgin's space trips. Branson has previously said he expects Elon Musk to win the race to Mars with his private rocket firm SpaceX. Richard Branson with the Virgin Galactic craft SpaceShipTwo can carry six passengers and two pilots. Each passenger gets the same seating position with two large windows - one to the side and one overhead. The space ship is 60ft long with a 90inch diameter cabin allowing maximum room for the astronauts to float in zero gravity. It climbs to 50,000ft before the rocket engine ignites. SpaceShipTwo separates from its carrier craft, White Knight II, once it has passed the 50-mile mark. Passengers become 'astronauts' when they reach the Karman line, the boundary of Earth's atmosphere. The spaceship will then make a suborbital journey with approximately six minutes of weightlessness, with the entire flight lasting approximately 1.5 hours. Bezos revealed in April 2017 that he finances Blue Origin with around $1 billion (720 million) of Amazon stock each year. The system consists of a pressurised crew capsule atop a reusable 'New Shepard' booster rocket. Bezos is one of the richest men in the world and Blue Origin has successfully flown the New Shepard rocket 15 times. At its peak, the capsule reached 65 miles (104 kilometres), just above the official threshold for space and landed vertically seven minutes after liftoff. Advertisement

His launch into space is the culmination of more than two decades of work for Bezos, who has already announced plans to step down as CEO of Amazon just 15 days before the flight date.

Instead he will become executive chairman of the company he started in his garage in 1994  giving him 'time and energy' to focus on other ventures.

Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000, will blast into space on the first crewed flight of his New Shepard rocket ship and will spend at least 10 minutes floating in zero gravity inside the capsule during the suborbital sightseeing trip.

Blue Origin named the New Shepard program after astronaut Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly into space exactly 60 years ago.

The flight will mark a huge milestone in the mission to send paying customers to the edge of space.

'Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space,' Bezos posted to his Instagram account.

'On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.'

In a short video announcement, he said: 'I want to go on this flight because it's a thing I've wanted to do all my life. It's an adventure. It's a big deal for me.'

His brother added: 'I wasn't even expecting him to say that he was going on the first flight.

'And then when he asked me to go along, I was just awestruck. What a remarkable opportunity, not only to have this adventure, but to be able to do it with my best friend.'

There are five days to go before the auction for the third seat closes on June 12, with bidding having so far reached $2.8 million.

Last month a Blue Origin spokesman told DailyMail.com that the company had seen 'more than 5,200 bidders from 136 countries.'

While Musk is yet to comment on the news, Branson has congratulated Bezos, describing how their two firms are 'opening up access to space'

'On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend,' said Bezos

The highest bid to ride on the New Shepard rocket is now $2.8 million, as shown in this shot of Blue Origin's website

The announcement from Bezos comes two months after Musk trolled him on Twitter, joking that he 'can't get it up (to orbit)', after Blue Origin filed a protest against NASA for giving SpaceX a $2.89billion contract to build a lunar lander.

The pair have also sparred publicly over their competing satellite plans. In January Musk again took aim at Bezos on Twitter, accusing the Amazon founder's Project Kuiper of trying to 'hamstring' his Starlink venture.

Branson, founder of the other major sub-orbital space tourism operator, Virgin Galactic, is set to fly to the edge of space later this year, while SpaceX is due to launch the world's first all-civilian space mission on September 15.

Called Inspiration4, it will go further than either Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin by soaring into orbit around the Earth.

It will feature a four-person team, launched on a Crew Dragon spaceship atop a Falcon 9 rocket, under the command of billionaire CEO of Shift4 Payments Jared Isaacman.

The other three on-board will be Sian Proctor, a community college educator in Arizona, Chris Sembroski, a former Air Force missileman from Washington, and Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee.

Dubbed Inspiration4, its mission is designed primarily to raise awareness and support for the pediatric cancer centre, which successfully treated Arceneaux for bone cancer when she was a child.

Virgin Galactic, meanwhile, is aiming for commercial operations aboard its VSS Unity spacecraft to begin next year, following testing and several months of downtime for maintenance and other upgrades.

That testing will include a flight that will take Branson to the edge of space, currently scheduled to happen by the end of the summer, Virgin Galactic has confirmed.

The company is expected to charge more than $250,000 for new reservations but has not announced final pricing. Sales will reopen following Branson's flight.

The two Bezos brothers will be part of a crew of six on New Shepard, along with the highest bidder from the public auction. The remaining places will be taken by Blue Origin staff.

According to the company's website, the highest bid from the public for the exclusive spot is $2.8 million (1.98 million). It has stayed at this figure since the end of May.

Blue Origin closed the first round of the auction last month and said it had received more than 5,200 bidders from 136 countries, without disclosing the highest bid from the round.

Until June 10 (the second phase), the bidding will occur unsealed and online for everyone to see. Bidding concludes on June 12 with a live online auction.

The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin's foundation, Club for the Future, to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in space.

Blue Origin touts itself as a means to provide cheaper access to space through the use of reusable rockets  specifically the New Shepard, which has already flown 15 times.

Jared Isaacman, from left to right, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski form the Inspiration4 crew. Inspiration4, spearheaded by SpaceX, is the world's first all-civilian mission to space

Pictured, Inspiration4 mission commander Jared Isaacman, founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments

BLUE ORIGIN: THE SPACE LAUNCH FIRM FOUNDED BY JEFF BEZOS Amazon founder and outgoing CEO Jeff Bezos entered the space sector in 2000, two years before SpaceX was formed by Elon Musk. Based in Kent, Washington, it originally focused on sub-orbital spaceflight services, building cheaper, more reliable and reusable launch vehicles. They are gradually moving from suborbital to orbital flight in an incremental way and will launch humans to space on July 20. Bezos will be on that first crewed flight along with his brother Mark, the winner of an auction, and three members of Blue Origin staff. The firm currently has two launch vehicles, the suborbital New Shepherd, named for the first American in space, Alan Shepherd, and New Glenn, named for John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. Bezos has announced they are also working on New Armstrong, after the first man on the Moon, Neil Armstrong, although no details have been revealed. Advertisement

This is similar to the mission of SpaceX, which has already moved on to orbital and larger format rockets and successfully launched astronauts to the space station.

The Blue Origin New Shepherd rocket's sole mission is to take tourists to space, who would travel inside a sleek, white capsule atop the vehicle.

The capsule is designed with the iconic Blue Origin feather across the exterior and inside are six reclining seats that mirror those inside a helicopter.

Blue Origin's grand plans are to send tourists who pay vast amounts of money 62 miles above Earth's surface as they float in orbit.

At this altitude, passengers will experience weightlessness due to the zero gravity and see the curve of the planet with the darkness of space as the backdrop.

This is similar to the mission profile of Virgin Galactic, which, instead of launching its spaceship from the ground on a large rocket, flies up 44,000ft on a mothership, is released and then fires rockets to travel up to about 60 miles altitude.

Bezos has bigger ambitions for Blue Origin, with the New Glenn rocket currently scheduled for launch in 2022, it is a two stage launch vehicle enabling heavier lift launches to orbit and even reach the moon.

The firm are also working on New Armstrong, named after the first man to walk on the Moon, but haven't unveiled any specific details about the rocket.

Speculation is that it will have a larger profile than New Glenn, able to carry more.

Unlike Musk, whose very public goal is to make humanity a multi-planetary species with bases on Mars by 2050, Bezos is a supporter of larger space stations with artificial habitats, which could be one of the reasons for the rumoured development of the larger New Armstrong rocket.
An Australian company has shared video of the first test flight of its electric-powered backpack helicopter.

Unlike gas-fueled jetpacks, the CopterPack appears to uses battery power to propel the device's dual rotors.

The unnamed pilot took off from a standing, stationary position, similar to a drone, and made an equally smooth landing after less than a minute in the air.

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CopterPack released a video of a pilot demonstrating its prototype helicopter pack, which usual dual rotors to provide lift

CopterPack released a video of the launch on YouTube, but has kept most details close to the vestincluding the device's design, maximum speed and altitude and flying range per charge.

In the 69-second clip, the pilot takes off by the seashore from a standing, stationary position, similar to a remote-controlled drone.

After gaining an altitude of about 50 feet, the pilot hovers and glides through the air for roughly 40 seconds before making a smooth standing landing.

Early last year I came up with the idea to build a backpack helicopter and experience a very unique kind of flight, the CopterPack's inventor, who would only share his first name, Matt, told DailyMail.com.

The aircraft is currently in the early trial stages and requires more development,' he added. 'The next step for CopterPack is to develop and test a version of the aircraft that has mechanical and electronic redundancy.

There's throttle lever for the right hand and a three-axis joystick for the left, Matt explained.

The craft moves in the direction you tilt the joystick but if the pilot lets go, the autopilot will level the aircraft, he said, by tilting forward and back.

CopterPack's carbon-fiber rotors have a 'self-leveling autopilot' feature, which causes them to tilt back and forth to maintain stability

About three feet in diameter, the rotors connect to a backpack with a battery packs and a pair of flat armrests with hand controls

The rotors, about three feet in diameter, connect to a rigid-framed backpack with 'some underslung battery packs and a pair of flat armrests with hand controls,' according to New Atlas.

The safety of such a device is questionable, given the altitude reached by the pilotwho wears just a leather jacket and motorcycle helmetand how close he is to the fast-moving rotors.

After gaining an altitude of about 50 feet, the unnamed pilot glided through the air for roughly 40 seconds before making a smooth standing landing

The safety of such the CopterPack is questionable, given the altitude reached by the pilotwho wears just a leather jacket and motorcycle helmetand how close he is to the fast-moving rotors.

The race to develop a safe and practical personal jetpack has been on for years though.

In their current form, jet packs have 'very short ranges and are not equipped to be flying in dense airspace,' according to The Drive.

In February 2020, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum posted footage showing a jetpack-wearing pilot soaring above Jumeirah Beach at a speed of 150 miles per hour.

Taking off from a launchpad at Skydive Dubai, French skydiver Vince Reffet quickly stabilized over the water, then flew off for a three-minute flight before pulling his parachute at an altitude of about 4,900 feet.

Controlled by an operator on the ground, the Jet Wing is capable of hovering, changing direction and performing loops.

Built by Jetman Dubai, the device can reach a maximum altitude of 20,000 feet and a top speed of 253 miles per hour.

Jetman pilots had previously launched from elevated platforms, such as a helicopter, CNN reported, but Reffet was the first to launch from the ground.

Reffet, 36, died in November 2020 during a training accident, in which he lost control and went into a backflip 800 feet off the ground.

Video from a camera attached to his helmet showed Reffet's parachute only deployed after he crashed into the ground.

In August 2020, two pilots landing at LAX reported seeing a man zooming in a jetpack above the airport.

At the time David Mayman, CEO of Jetpack Aviation, claimed current technology would make such sightings almost impossible.

'It's very, very unlikely with the existing technology,' Mayman told CBS.

'They'd run out of fuel, they use fuel too quickly. If it's a real jetpack, it's noisy. People would have heard it take off and land.'

He believes that if the pilots did see a jetpack, it's likely that 'whoever flew this probably built it themselves.'

Just six weeks later, on October 14, the crew of China Airlines Flight 006 reported seeing a man flying through the skies in a jetpack as they descended into LAX in the early afternoon.

A person at a ground control tower asked whether it could be some sort of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), to which the pilot replied: 'It's like a jet pack. Too shiny'.

It is certainly possible for jet packs to reach that height, but they quickly run out of fuel and those who are flying with them usually parachute back to earth.

In December 2020, video footage appeared to show a man soaring 3,000 feet over the water near Palos Verdes, about 10 miles from the LAX sighting.

'The video appears to show a jet pack, but it could also be a drone or some other object,' a pilot for Sling Academy, which posted the footage, wrote in a caption.

Perfecting jetpack technology has also attracted novices, as well, including design student Sam Rogers.

In 2019, Rogers demonstrated a homemade jetpack that can reach speeds of 50 mph and climb to an altitude of 10,000 feet.

Rogers created his $433,000 suit entirely from a 3D printer as part of his final project at Loughborough University in central England, where he held his demonstration.

'Five turbojet engines spooling up on your body is a very intense and visceral experience,' Rogers said at the time.

'To learn to balance, control and fly under that power feels very dynamic and the freedom of movement once airborne is like nothing else.'
Apple has agreed to pay 'millions of dollars' in compensation to a 21-year-old student after iPhone repair techs posted personal explicit images and videos of her to social media.

The settlement, first reported by The Telegraph, notes that a 21-year-old student in Oregon took her phone to a repair center in California in 2016, operated by Apple contractor Pegatron.

A pair of techs working on repairing the device subsequently posted '10 photos of her in various stages of undress and a sex video' to Facebook, making it seem as if she posted them.

The images were later deleted only after the woman's friends told her about them.

The breach happened at a repair facility in a suburb of Sacramento, California

Apple was not named in the lawsuit, only referred to as a 'customer' to keep the matter private.

Apple has paid 'millions of dollars' in compensation to a 21-year-old student that had explicit images and videos posted to social media by iPhone repair techs

Apple has put a lot of time and effort into making privacy one of its selling points

The company was then later named as the 'customer' in a separate, unrelated lawsuit, The Telegraph added.

The woman, who has not been named, sent her phone to the tech giant after it stopped working.

The employees were subsequently fired.

It's unclear the exact amount Apple compensated the student with, but legal filings show her lawyers were asking for $5 million for 'severe emotional distress.'

Apple has not yet responded to DailyMail.com, but a company spokesperson told The Telegraph it took immediate action after becoming aware of the situation.

'We take the privacy and security of our customers' data extremely seriously and have a number of protocols in place to ensure data is protected throughout the repair process,' the spokesman told the news outlet. 'When we learned of this egregious violation of our policies at one of our vendors in 2016, we took immediate action and have since continued to strengthen our vendor protocols.'

Apple, of course, has put a lot of time and effort into making privacy one of its selling points.

At the company's worldwide developer conference on Monday, the Cupertino, Calif.-based is expected to announce new privacy-related features to its operating systems and devices, including the iPhone.

As recently as 2019, Apple had continued to take steps to undercut 'unauthorized' repairs to its devices from third-parties, saying it would impact customer privacy.

That mindset began to change later that year, after the company unveiled the Independent Repair Provider program.

At first, this program only allowed iPhones that were out of warranty to be fixed by third-party providers.

In 2020, Apple signed a deal with Best Buy to allow the Minneapolis-based retailer's technicians fix iPhones at any Best Buy store in the United States.

Earlier this year, Apple said the Independent Repair Provider program was expanding around the globe to more than 200 countries to 'to offer safe and reliable repairs for Apple products.'

There are now more than 1,500 Independent Repair Provider locations serving customers across the US, Canada, and Europe.
A 500-year-old wooden box which was uncovered in a perfectly preserved state when a glacier in Norway melted contains the remains of a beeswax candle used to help Vikings find their farms, archaeologists have announced.

Archaeologists removed the tight lid of the pine box with the leather straps, uncovered in Norway's Lendbreen ice patch, discovering the candle that was essential to Vikings hundreds of years ago.

The team suggests the box - which was first uncovered in 2019 - was used to transport the long candles that were used by Vikings to light the path between their main farm and summer farm.

The Lendbreen ice patch has become a sought out destination for archaeologists since 2011, when teams discovered thousands of artifacts sticking out from the melting Norwegian glacier.

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Melting glaciers in Norway's Lendbreen ice patch have revealed an ancient wooden box that has been sealed for up to 500 years and archaeologists have opened the lid, revealing remains of beeswax candles

At first, the team thought it was a tinderbox that was lost accidently in the pass, but a further analysis proved otherwise, The History Blog reports.

It is radiocarbon-dated to AD 1475-1635, so 400-500 years old, glacial archaeologists from the Secrets of the Ice team shared in a statement.

'The content of the box was analyzed at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo: We were in for a big surprise - the content is beeswax!

What we are seeing inside the box is very likely the remains of a beeswax candle.

The team suggests the box was used to transport the long candles that were used by Vikings to light the path between their main farm and summer farm

Climate change is creating a valuable archaeological in Norway, which was an ancient passageway used by Vikings for thousands of years and littered with forgotten artifacts. The Lendbreen ice patch has produced more than 6,000 artifacts since archaeologists began investigating the area

Candle boxes were a common item among Vikings that were used to house expensive beeswax candles as Vikings made their travels to different farms.

The melting glaciers, brought on by climate change, is creating a valuable archaeological site in Norway, which was an ancient passageway used by Vikings for thousands of years and littered with forgotten artifacts.

The Lendbreen ice patch has produced more than 6,000 artifacts since archaeologists began investigating the area.

Last November, teams unearthed nearly 70 arrow shafts, plus shoes, textiles and reindeer bones on a mountainside in Jotunheimen, about 240 miles from Oslo.

Last November, teams unearthed nearly 70 arrow shafts, plus shoes, textiles and reindeer bones on a mountainside in Jotunheimen, about 240 miles from Oslo

Clothes, tools, equipment and animal bone have also been found by a team in Norways mountainous region. Pictured is an ancient snow shoe

Based on radiocarbon dating, the oldest arrows are from around 4100 BC, with the most recent dating from 1300 AD.

Clothes, tools, equipment and animal bone have also been found by a team in Norways mountainous region, according to the journal Antiquity.

Researchers collected a haul of more than 100 artefacts at the site includes horseshoes, a wooden whisk, a walking stick, a wooden needle, a mitten and a small iron knife.

Although a warming world is revealing these extraordinary relics, archaeologists are in a race against time because the ice is what is keeping them preserved.

Archaeologist Regula Gubler told AFP in October 2020: 'It is a very short window in time. In 20 years, these finds will be gone and these ice patches will be gone.'

'It is a bit stressful.'

She explained that materials like leather, wood, birch bark and textiles can be destroyed by erosion.

And the only reason they have stayed preserved is because of the ice.
Packs of white snow atop the French Alps covered with 'glacier blood' caused by a mysterious microalgae could be a precursor to understanding climate change.

Researchers with the AlpAlga project are studying the red snow, which is actually green algae living in the snow, with the hopes of learning more about the changing climate.

Although this phenomena is well-known, scientists are now measuring it to understand if glacier blood could be a possible biomarker for climate change, essentially acting as a precursor.

Microalgae found in the Alps increases in growth when carbon dioxide levels rise in the atmosphere.

Packs of white snow atop the French Alps covered with 'glacier blood' caused by a mysterious microalgae could be a precursor to understanding climate change

Scientists have long known about microalgae that turns snow red or orange, but the life and formation of the organisms on the mountains has remained a mystery.

These organism contain carotenoids, the pigment found in carrots, which is why they turn orange or red in bloom.

The carotenoids also act as an antioxidant and a natural shield to protect the organisms from ultraviolet rays.

AlpAlga aims to uncover secrets by organizing and pooling research efforts on snow microalgae and is analyzing five different areas of the French Alps.

Researchers with the AlpAlga project are studying the red snow, which is actually green algae (pictured is a green algae cell) living in the snow, with the hopes of learning more about the changing climate

The AlpAlga aims to uncover secrets by organizing and pooling research efforts on snow microalgae and is analyzing five different areas of the French Alps. The team is investigating microalgae living in the mountains 3,280 to 9,842 feet above sea level

The team is investigating microalgae living in the mountains 3,280 to 9,842 feet above sea level, LiveScience reports.

Eric Marechal, a coordinator of the AlpAlga consortium and a director of the Laboratory of Cellular and Plant Physiology, a research facility in Grenoble, France, told LiveScience that the algae on the mountains is 'just like in the ocean, but it's in the snow. It's in the interstitial water between tiny crystals of ice.'

Samples were gathered from five sites: Chamrousse, Loriaz, Anterne, Ristolas and Vieux Chaillol, according to the study published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science.

Samples were collected in the summer of 2016, following the areas' snow melt, which allowed experts to gather DNA samples from the surrounding region.

This gave scientists a better picture of what algae grew at which altitudes and what environmental conditions specific organisms thrived in.

The genus Sanguina, for example, which gives a characteristic red color to the snow, has only been found at altitudes of 6,561 feet and above. In contrast, the green microalgae Symbiochloris only lives at altitudes below 4,921 feet.

'We were maybe expecting something, but not such a spectacular zonation of the species, with many species exclusively confined to either high or low elevations,' Marechal told the news outlet.

Although this phenomena is well-known, scientists are now measuring it to understand if glacier blood could be a possible biomarker for climate change, essentially acting as a precursor

The team plans to attempt another expedition later this month that will focus on tracking how the blooms change throughout seasons.

This analysis will look at both white and 'bleeding' snow to see what are the exact conditions causing blooms.

Samples of algal cells will then be sent to labs for further analysis.

The team hopes these samples will reveal the secrets of glacier blood, along with open a window into how the Alps ecosystem might change as the climate warms, Marechal said.
Federal coronavirus relief funds, which can be used for projects tied to the pandemic, could help. Advocates have pushed the state to use the money for upgrades, but the funding comes with conditions that will make using it for new schools difficult.
Bidding to be the first paying customer, on Blue Origin's New Shephard rocket topped $3 million on Monday, flying alongside company founder Jeff Bezos and his brother.

According to the company's website, the highest bid to ride on the July 20 flight is $3.2 million, up from $2.8 million in late May.

The identity of the top bidder is not yet known and will not be known until bidding has stopped on June 12, concluding with a live auction.

Bidders need to raise their bid limit by June 10 5PM EST to be a part of the June 12 auction.

The highest bid to ride Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket is now $3.2 million, up from $2.8 million at the end of May

Bidding ends on June 12, with a live auction. Bidders must raise their bid limit by June 10 5PM EST to be a part of the June 12 auction

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A company spokesperson told DailyMail.com on Monday it had no further updates to share regarding the number of bidders or where they were from.

DailyMail.com had previously reported there were more than 5,200 bidders from 136 countries.

The new bid comes just hours after Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos announced that he and his brother, Mark a former advertising executive and volunteer firefighter, will be on the New Shepard spacecraft when it flies next month, coinciding with the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Blue Origin, founded in 2000, touts itself as means to provide cheaper access to space through the use of reusable rockets- specifically the New Shepard that has flown 15 times already

The two Bezos brothers - seen here in a video posted to Jeff's Instagram - will be part of a crew of six on New Shepard

'Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space,' Bezos posted to his Instagram account where he announced he would fly to space.

'On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.'

The other three passengers on the New Shephard flight are Sian Proctor, a community college educator in Arizona, Chris Sembroski, a former Air Force missileman from Washington, and Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee

The six passengers will spend at least 10 minutes floating in zero gravity inside the capsule during the suborbital sightseeing trip.

Blue Origin named the New Shepard program after astronaut Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly into space exactly 60 years ago.

Washington state-based Blue Origin is largely self funded by Bezos, who has been selling over $1 billion worth of stock in Amazon per year to fund the company.

In sending tourists to space, Bezos has beaten Richard Branson and Elon Musk and their firms, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX to the punch.

While Musk is yet to comment on the news, Branson has congratulated Bezos, describing how their two firms are 'opening up access to space.'

He tweeted: ' Many congratulations to @jeffbezos & his brother Mark on announcing spaceflight plans. Jeff started building Blue Origin in 2000, we started building Virgin Galactic in 2004 & now both are opening up access to Space - how extraordinary! Watch this space'

While Musk is yet to comment on the news, Branson has congratulated Bezos, describing how their two firms are 'opening up access to space'

All three firms have also competed for both media attention and contracts in the space tourism industry.

Blue Origin, founded in 2000, touts itself as means to provide cheaper access to space through the use of reusable rockets, specifically the New Shepard that has flown 15 times.

The rockets sole mission is to take tourists to space, who would travel inside a sleek, white capsule atop the vehicle.

The capsule is designed with the iconic Blue Origin feather across the exterior and inside are six reclining seats that mirror those inside a helicopter.

Blue Origins plans are to send tourists 62 miles above Earths surface and spend at least 10 minutes in orbit.

At this altitude, passengers will experience weightlessness due to the zero gravity and see the curve of the planet with the darkness of space as the backdrop.

Blue Origin also recently conducted its first astronaut rehearsal in preparation for sending the first manned New Shepard into space.

The mock crew traveled the designated path of future spacefaring tourists, which included traveling to the launch pad and climbing up the tower to the passenger capsule.

While celebrities and the uber-rich appear to be a core market for space tourist jaunts, at least initially, industry sources expect Blue Origin to include some philanthropic component to its ticket strategy.

The idea of sending paying customers to the edge of space was once only a plot in science fiction films, but many companies other than Blue Origin are turning the epic journey into a reality.

A college science professor and an aerospace data analyst are among a four-member crew for a launch into orbit planned later this year by Elon Musk's SpaceX, part of a charity drive billed as the first all-civilian spaceflight in history.

Virgin Galactic also aims to fly private customers in early 2022, after a first flight with Branson on board later this year.

Its zero-gravity experience is anchored by its SpaceShipTwo plane, and the company has ambitious plans to offer point-to-point travel between far-flung cities at near-space altitudes.

Virgin says it will charge more than $250,000 for new reservations but has not announced final pricing. Sales will reopen following Branson's flight.
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A leopard sipping warily from a waterhole, an eagle preying on a red fox and a macaque with a pilfered mobile phone.

These are just a few of the eye-catching scenes captured in stunning images featured in a new coffee table book that's been created to inspire readers to reconnect with nature - and protect it.

Mother: A Tribute to Mother Earth, published by teNeues (www.teneues.com), has been put together by award-winning nature photographer Marsel van Oosten, who is the only snapper to date to have won the hat trick of accolades that is Wildlife Photographer of the Year, International Nature Photographer of the Year and Travel Photographer of the Year.

The book features more than 200 of the landscape and wildlife images that Marsel has taken over the past 15 years and has chapters on Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Antarctica.

In the introduction to the book, he writes: 'Mother is a tribute to Mother Earth. I like the word. Its simple and powerful, familiar, warm, and full of emotion. We all have a primal connection to our mother, and similarly to Mother Earth. We are all bonded.

'But she is under serious threat and desperately needs our protection. We are more likely to protect something we feel close to, so Im hoping that Mother will reconnect people to nature.' Scroll down to see a selection of some of the most powerful images from the book...

Marsel titled this incredible image, which he took in Kenya, 'Panzer division'. He explains: 'To get this wide-angle, low-viewpoint image of a crash of rhinos, I lay motionless in a narrow ditch that was located in the direction they were heading. Their eyesight is quite poor, so they rely on their sense of hearing and smell. When they got really close to check me out, I used silent mode on my Nikon Z7 to not startle them'

Taken in Japan, this unusual shot won Marsel the People's Choice Award in the 2014 Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. He reveals: 'When a tourist got too close to a macaque to get some closeups with her smartphone, the macaque snatched it from her hands and started playing with it in the hot spring. At some stage, it held it just like a human. This image has gone viral on the internet, and it is my most stolen image'

'When a panda cub is born, it is pink, blind, and toothless, weighing only 90 to 130g (3.25 to 4.5 oz), proportionally the smallest baby of any placental mammal,' Marsel explains in the book. 'One to two weeks after birth, the cubs skin turns grey where its hair will eventually become black. A month after birth, the colour pattern of the cubs fur is fully developed.' He took this cute snap in China

This powerful image is named 'Eternal Adversaries' and was taken in Japan. Marsel says: 'On average, the Stellers sea eagle is the heaviest eagle in the world, at about 5 to 9kg (11 to 20lb), and it is one of the largest raptors overall. They mainly feed on fish, but they occasionally prey on red fox and even small domestic dogs. Foxes often try to steal fish from the eagles, and this eagle was chasing it off for that reason'

This majestic image of a tiger and her cub was snapped in South Africa. Marsel reveals: 'Tigers are like humans - they all have different characters, and different behaviour. Over the years, I have spent a lot of time with this particular female as she was not only very pretty but also very relaxed. As a result, her cubs were also very relaxed almost from the moment they set foot outside their den for the first time'

These golden snub-nosed monkeys were snapped by Marsel in China and this amazing image helped him win the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2018. He says: 'Male golden snub-nosed monkeys have very long, golden guard hairs on their backs, and I wanted to create an environmental portrait showing how amazing that looks. I used off-camera flash to bring out their colours and to create this magical atmosphere'

In the book, Marsel reveals how this incredible image, taken on a windy morning in Botswana, came together. He explains: 'There was a lot of dust in the air, which can create very colourful sunrises and sunsets. This giraffe was annoyed by the red-billed oxpeckers that were harassing it. Every now and then it would violently shake its head, which made the birds fly off, only to return a few seconds later'

Marsel snapped this striking photo after spending a 'long afternoon in a hide next to a waterhole in the remote eastern corner of Botswana'. It was getting too dark to take pictures, but then an opportunity for a stunning picture arose. He explains: 'As I was packing up, a leopard came down to drink and I quickly got my camera out again. I used a small headlamp and bumped up the ISO to 51200 to get this shot'

This heart-warming shot, called 'Distracted', was taken in Finland. Marsel says: 'I like photographing young mammals because theyre often full of energy, playful, and inquisitive - especially when temperatures are low. As this young brown bear cub walked past my hide, it started playing with that little tree. Then it suddenly got up on its hind legs to check out a gull, lost its balance, and fell backwards'

Taken in Iceland, this amazing shot is called 'Portal to Winter'. Marsel explains: 'Glacial caves are among the most inspiring places to photograph. Each year theyre different, but always fascinating and mind-blowingly beautiful - its hard to beat natures architecture. As so often in my landscape photography, I decided to include a human element. Without it, it would be impossible to appreciate the scale here'
Paul McKenna checks into our travel Q&A

This week hypnotist and author Paul McKenna checks into our travel Q&A.

He talks about his favourite hotel, his essential travel item, helping people on flights - and more.

Earliest travel memory?

I was four. We were flying to Majorca or Menorca and I recall the engines' roar. It was an extraordinary experience as the plane raced down the runway and the sun glinted off the wings. I got goosebumps.

Have you helped people on flights?

A few years ago I was reading about a technique where you tap the body to take away fear or trauma. The person travelling with me said: 'Ooh I'm dying for chocolate'. So I said how much on a scale of one to ten and she said ten. She tried the tapping and then had no desire at all.

Why are some people afraid of flying?

People run these horror movies in their heads, so are terrified by the time they fly. They have imagined all sorts of disasters, none of which is likely to occur. I think about sitting back and relaxing.

Travel essential?

A brown leather doctor's bag from Ghurka. They used to have a shop on New York's Fifth Avenue. Many people have coveted this bag, including my friend Simon Cowell, so I've left it to him in my will.

Favourite hotel?

La Reserve de Beaulieu in the South of France. It's small, beautiful and old-school. In every room there is a picture of a famous former guest  Walt Disney, Paul McCartney.

Ever forgotten something?

Paul once went to New York for a seminar and realised he'd packed no underpants

I went to New York for a seminar and had packed no underpants. Usually, at any decent hotel, you can get a razor or toothbrush but underpants were a challenge.

How have your holidays changed?

Once I would take work with me. There's a Japanese word karoshi, which means working yourself to death. Some people get addicted to it and I certainly was  the stress, that whole busyholism. Now I work hard at relaxing when I go somewhere. I bring some books. I meditate.

Ideal travelling companion?

My wife Kate. If she's with me, the world's a better place.

Favourite restaurant?

The White Rabbit in Moscow. It has traditional Russian food  fish, meat and the caviar is rather good. Moscow is very well-lit at night and from there you see a mix of old buildings and Cold War-era skyscrapers.

Dream destination?

Majorca is Paul's dream destination. He says he likes the way it is 'understated and quiet'

Majorca, which is understated and quiet.

Favourite part of the UK?

London. It's so diverse, with its extraordinary art and culture and amazing restaurants.

Is travel even more important now?

Even though we've been in lockdown, you can't lock down the human imagination. It's important to have things to look forward to.
Casey Batchelor has given birth to her third daughter in three years with fiance Dane Goodson.

The glamour model, 36, took to Instagram on Monday to share the exciting news about her baby's arrival .

The doting mother wrote: 'We now have three little princesses,' alongside three separate photos of each of her daughters' tiny hands.

Casey had sweetly numbered each photo, and wrote above them: 'And then there were three.'

Another little girl: Casey Batchelor has given birth to her third daughter in three years with fiance Dane Goodson

Famous friends: The doting mother's famous friends were quick to share their congratulations, with Vicky Pattison writing: 'Huge congrats baby girl,' while Danielle Armstrong added: 'Awe, congratulations my darling,' and Imogen Thomas sweetly penned: 'Eeeek congrats darling.'

Former Celebrity Big Brother star Casey had been documenting her pregnancy on social media and is also a mother to her older children Florence, three, and Sadie, 16 months.

The doting mother's famous friends were quick to share their congratulations, with Georgie Shore's Vicky Pattison writing: 'Huge congrats baby girl,' while Danielle Armstrong added: 'Awe, congratulations my darling,' and Big Brother's Imogen Thomas sweetly penned: 'Congrats babe.'

The yoga teacher first confirmed her pregnancy to OK! magazine in February, insisting that although she'll have a 'crazy' household to manage, she feels 'happy and fortunate' at how easy she they have found it to conceive.

The brunette previously confessed she wants to have a son, reasoning: 'It would be lovely to have a boy, because we have two girls. But three girls would be amazing because it would a girl gang and Dane would be the king of the castle.'

Candid: Former Celebrity Big Brother star Casey had been documenting her pregnancy on social media

Casey also revealed why she planned a C-section after a horrific experience giving birth to first daughter Florence - suffering pain that was equivalent to a brain tumour.

The reality star explained: 'I had to have an epidural at 8.5 cm because my body was going into so much shock. I was just having fits and being sick all over myself, because I had no breaks between contractions.

'I'm 36 now and by the time I've had the next one it'll be like I've spent my whole 30s pregnant.'

Doting: The yoga teacher is also a mother to her older children Florence, three, and Sadie, 16 months (pictured in March)

Taking the next step: The TV star previously revealed she plans to marry the supply owner, 36, by the time she's 40 amid her two-year engagement (pictured last year)

The TV star, who has suffered from fatigue and swelling over the past couple of months, defended having her kids within a three-year span as she insisted she's used to 'disrupted sleep and early mornings'.

The fitness enthusiast added that she's open to expanding her family and is planning to walk down the aisle by the time she's 40 amid her two-year engagement to the office supply owner, also 36.

Casey told The Sun: 'If we do have the fourth I would have spent the whole of my thirties being pregnant.

'It will be quite nice to have some normality back in my forties. I cant wait to get married. I want all the children at the wedding.

'Whether we go for a fourth one will determine when the wedding happens. I said I want to be married by the time I am 40. When you are in that baby mode, you are used to disrupted sleep, used to early mornings.'

Earlier this year, Casey shared her thoughts about using gender selection, insisting she 'wouldn't mess with nature'.

Updates: Former Celebrity Big Brother star Casey had been documenting her pregnancy on social media

She also said having two such young children had left her at the point of a breakdown: 'I felt really, really bad. Some days I would just sit there and cry.'

The Yoga Blitz founder told new! magazine: 'I mentioned once that people had suggested we should do gender selection and a clinic approached me on Instagram but I feel like we should do what's natural. I feel it's messing with nature.'

Aside from her plans for more babies, Casey has spoken at length about her body and changes in her shape since becoming a mother.

The former FHM star shed a staggering 2st 7lbs following the birth of Sadie, and 6.5st over the course of her first two pregnancies.

Casey claimed she believed she'd 'never thought I'd see abs again' after having Sadie, stating: 'Some lockdown inspo for you! I never thought I'd see abs again after having my first bubba.

'I know how tough it can be when you feel like your body is not your own any more. But taking that first step is the best thing - and then just keeping on keeping on!

'I don't think anyone else had ever thought of putting yoga with HIIT but that combo of yoga and high intensity exercise really worked for me - not just once but twice now after having my second princess!'
The executive producer of Sunrise has revealed an extraordinary behind-the-scenes secret about the show's famous Cash Cow mascot.

Michael Pell told McKnight Tonight that one of the staffers tasked with wearing the suit had a habit of whispering 'dirty things' to the hosts in order to distract them.

Fortunately, everybody on the Sunrise panel was in on the joke, so the Cash Cow's rude language didn't lead to an HR investigation.

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Too hot for breakfast TV! The executive producer of Sunrise, Michael Pell (second from left), has revealed an extraordinary behind-the-scenes secret about the show's famous Cash Cow mascot. Pictured (left to right): Natalie Barr, Michael, Sam Armytage and David 'Kochie' Koch

The Seven executive, 38, who has held the top job at Australia's No. 1 breakfast show since 2010, said: 'We had another guy who used to wear the cow suit and he used to whisper dirty things to them [the hosts].

'Actually, Sam Mac mentioned it in his book [Accidental Weatherman] and that was a lot of fun.

'A lot of what happens behind the scenes is a lot of fun too, and you have to carry the energy through to the screen, and hopefully to the viewers.'

Better call HR! Mr Pell said one of the staffers tasked with wearing the suit had a habit of whispering 'dirty things' to the hosts in order to distract them. Pictured (left to right): the Cash Cow, Edwina Bartholomew, Natalie Barr, David Koch and Mark Beretta

The Cash Cow pops up during Sunrise's daily giveaways, and the person underneath the novelty outfit is usually one of the show's guest greeters.

In October, the mascot's head famously fell off during a live segment outside Brekky Central in Sydney's Martin Place.

The character's energetic dance routine caused the head of the costume to topple off, revealing the young male staffer underneath.

The Cash Cow pops up during Sunrise's daily giveaways, and the person underneath the novelty outfit is usually one of the show's guest greeters

He pretended to be a ski jumper using two umbrellas as poles, and as he threw his head back to simulate a leap off the ramp, his head flew into the air.

The man wearing the costume immediately dropped the umbrellas and covered his face with his hands, then rushed off camera.

Sunrise airs weekdays from 5:30am on Seven
Adam Levine and his wife Behati Prinsloo have been enjoying a family holiday in Hawaii.

And on Sunday, with the temperature hovering around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the Maroon 5 front man decided it was the perfect day to hit the scenic beach of Maui with their kids.

The celebrity couple spent much of the afternoon playing on the shore with daughters Dusty Rose, four, and Gio Grace, three, while they were also able slip away and enjoy a few brief moments to frolic in the water by themselves.

Fun in the sun: Adam Levine and wife Behati Prinsloo got playful in the gorgeous ocean water of Maui on Sunday during their family trip with their two daughters

During one of their moments alone in the gorgeous ocean, Levine couldn't hold back his enthusiasm and lifted Prinsloo up several feet and then threw her back in the water.

With equally beaming smiles, the couple laughed out loud as they splashed about while their kids were being attended to on the beach.

The Namibian model then decided to take charge and grabbed her husband and led him farther out from the beach for a little more alone time.

Playful: During one of their moments alone in the gorgeous ocean, Levine couldn't hold back his enthusiasm and lifted Prinsloo up several feet and then threw her back in the water

Wak this way: The Namibian model decided to take charge and grabbed her husband and led him farther out from the beach for a little more alone time

The musician, 42, flaunted his tattooed physique in black swim trunks with black-and-white checkers along the side.

He also sported his newly shaved head with a full beard and mustache that were well manicured.

The 5ft 11in model, 33, showed off her catwalk curves dressed in a pink and white white Triangl bikini.

She wore her blonde tresses long and flowing well past the middle of back, but with the sun glaring down she decided to cover up with a straw hat when they made their way back to their kids.

Attentive parents: The couple spent much of the afternoon attending to their daughters Dusty Rose, four, and Gio Grace, three, on the sand and in shallow water

Taking the lead: The couple's girls also kept them busy, running up and down the shoreline

Commanding their parents' full attention, Dusty and Gio then spent a chuck on time running up and down the sand and playing in the water with mom and dad.

Both Prinsloo and Levine took turns swinging their girls around in a circular motion on the sand and in the water.

The couples have been vacationing together at a multi-million dollar oceanfront estate on the Hawaiian island.

I'm flying! Prinsloo, 33, swung her baby girl in a circular motion on several occasions

Weekend fun: The Maroon 5 frontman, 42, also got into the swinging act with their baby girl

Festive: Levine also got playful with his friend's child while jumping about in the ocean water

Levine and actor friend Eric Christian Olsen have been working out regularly with a personal training at a private gym as part of their fitness regimen.

Married since 2012, Olsen, 44, and wife Sara Wright, 37, joined Behati and Adam, bringing along their three children: son Wyatt, six, and daughters Esme, four, and Winter, eight months.

During their trip, the group have been out and about, enjoying the spoils of Hawaii with near daily walks and hikes in residential areas, as well as in more rural regions.

Levine, who recently made a one-off return to The Voice, and his wife will celebrate seven-years of marriage on July 19.

Prinsloo was born in Grootfontein, Namibia, in 1988, which was then part of South Africa

Going strong: The couple are celebrating their seventh wedding anniversary in July

Life is beautiful: At one point, The Voice alum took a moment to soak in the moment
She bid a tearful farewell to Channel Seven's Sunrise in March, after eight years hosting Australia's most-watched breakfast show.

And Sam Armytage could be reliving some of her most cherished and outrageous memories from the program, with rumours surfacing on Monday that she's set to release a 'tell-all book' about her time in the TV industry.

According to New Idea, the 44-year-old has been approached by a publisher to write her own memoir, and 'no one is exempt' from being written about.

New project? Sam Armytage could be reliving some of her most cherished and outrageous memories from her eight years on Sunrise, with rumours surfacing on Monday that she's set to release a 'tell-all book' about her time in the TV industry

'She has her sights on her next big project, which by every report will be a blockbuster tell-all book about her years at the helm of Sunrise,' a source said.

'She has the most extraordinary memories on just about everyone at the network since the day she took over as main host from Mel [Doyle] - no one is exempt!'

Samantha is also said to be impressed by the success of Sunrise weather presenter Sam Mac's book Accidental Weatherman, and wants to follow suit.

If he can do it, so can I! Samantha is said to be impressed by the success of Sunrise weather presenter Sam Mac's book Accidental Weatherman (pictured), and wants to follow suit

'The whisper around the corridors is she's planning a huge "whooshka" and will stop at nothing to spill the beans on her notoriously tough TV industry,' the insider added.

The source went on to claim that Sam, who is notoriously private, will likely discuss her marriage to millionaire businessman Richard Lavender in the book.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Sam's manager, Anthony Bell, for comment.

It would certainly be an interesting read from the former Seven star-turned-podcast host, who made headlines over the past year by criticising the TV industry.

Not happy: It would certainly be an interesting read from the former Seven star-turned-podcast host, who made headlines over the past year by criticising the TV industry. Pictured here with her husband, Richard Lavender, on March 13 in Sydney

In an interview with Stellar magazine published weeks before she quit Sunrise, Sam said the television business was 'a dangerous environment'.

'TV isn't a place that's necessarily very healthy,' she said. 'It's full of sociopaths and narcissists - it can be a dangerous environment, let me tell you.'

She also revealed last month she'd unfollowed people on Instagram who 'annoy or irritate her'.

While she still follows some of her colleagues, including Kylie Gillies, Sam Mac and Edwina Bartholomew, she doesn't follow current Sunrise hosts Natalie Barr and David 'Kochie' Koch.
Controversial Byron Bay influencer Ruby Tuesday Matthews has made it clear she won't be appearing on upcoming Netflix series Byron Baes.

And on Thursday, the 26-year-old mother-of-two took another swipe at the upcoming controversial series, saying that almost all of the cast don't even live in the area.

'Half the crew aren't even from there,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'Half the crew aren't even from there!' Ruby Tuesday Matthews, 26, (pictured) has slammed upcoming Netflix series Byron Baes and said there is 'no way' she will appear on the show

Ruby, who was approached to appear on the show by producers, said that she had no interest in starring on the controversial program.

When asked if there was any possibility she would reconsider appearing on the show Ruby said: 'No ... No way.'

The streaming giant announced it had commissioned an eight-episode series about the glamorous lives of Byron Bay's biggest Instagram stars in April.

'Half the crew aren't even from there,' she told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday when asked if she would be appearing on the show

No chance! When asked if there was any possibility she would reconsider appearing on the show after she declined the offer, Ruby said: 'No ... No way'

And while Ruby, who boasts 229,000 Instagram followers could have been a fascinating addition to the cast, the brunette has made it clear she won't be making an appearance.

Back in April, Ruby posted a promotional image for Byron Baes on Instagram Stories, and wrote: 'For everyone asking if I'll be on this show, I declined the offer.'

'Goodbye Byron, you are officially cooked. How embarrassing,' she added.

Thanks, but no thanks: Ruby posted a promotional image for Byron Baes on Instagram Stories, back in April and wrote: 'For everyone asking if I'll be on this show, I declined the offer'

Unimpressed: 'Goodbye Byron, you are officially cooked. How embarrassing,' Ruby declared

Ruby also used the hashtag #ShireRepeat? in reference to Channel 10's short-lived 2012 reality show about the glamorous residents of Sydney's Sutherland Shire.

Byron Baes will follow the influencers in their everyday lives, but won't criticise influencer culture.

Netflix's director of content for Australia and New Zealand, Que Minh Luu, said giving the show the green light was a 'no brainer'.

Remember this? Ruby also used the hashtag #ShireRepeat? in reference to Channel 10's short-lived 2012 reality show about the glamorous residents of Sydney's Sutherland Shire
He's back in New York City after spending time in Italy filming The House of Gucci for Ridley Scott.

And on Sunday, Jared Leto made the most of a day off from filming his latest project, the Apple TV+ series WeCrashed.

The actor, 49, kept it casual with a white t-shirt and purple track pants and stepped out in black trainers.

Relaxed: Jared Leto enjoyed a casual Sunday in New York City, stepping out in a white t-shirt and purple track pants with black trainers

Leto carried a backpack with bright red straps.

He wore a pale pink face mask and carried a matching pink cap in one hand along with his phone.

In his other hand, he had a bottle of water and he also wore a fanny pack on a long strap.

Out and about: The actor, 49, Leto carried a backpack with bright red straps. He wore a pale pink face mask and carried a matching pink cap along with his phone and a bottle of water

Leto is sporting a shaggy hair cut for his role as disgraced WeWork CEO Adam Neumann in WeCrashed.

According to Variety, the streaming show is based on the podcast of the same name and will document the 'greed-filled rise and inevitable fall of WeWork and the narcissists whose chaotic love made it all possible.

Leto co-stars with Anne Hathaway, who plays his on-screen wife Rebekah, and the pair are also serving as executive producers on the production.

Last month they were seen filming on location in Astoria, Queens.

New role: Leto is sporting a shaggy hair cut for his role as disgraced WeWork CEO Adam Neumann in Apple TV+ series WeCrashed and was seen filming in Queens last month with co-star Anne Hathaway

The streaming show is based on the podcast of the same name and documents the 'greed-filled rise and inevitable fall of WeWork and the narcissists whose love made it all possible'

The Dallas Buyers Club Oscar winner endured five hours of hair and makeup to transform him into his character for Ridley Scott's The House Of Gucci, which wrapped filming in Italy in mid-May.

The star-studded movie tells the story of the famous Italian fashion family and the murder of Maurizio Gucci in 1995 in a murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by his ex-wife Patrizia.

Adam Driver plays the ill-fated Maurizio and Lady Gaga plays Patrizia, who ended up spending 16 years in prison for her crime.

Leto plays Maurizio's cousin Paolo Gucci, the son Of Aldo Gucci played by Al Pacino, and photos from the location sets in Italy showed Leto completely unrecognizable thanks to prosthetics and makeup.

Chameleon: For his last role, Leto endured five hours of hair and makeup to transform him into his character for Ridley Scott's The House Of Gucci, which wrapped filming in Italy in mid-May
Former Neighbours actress Jodi Gordon looked sensational in a Bally trench coat worn as a dress as she arrived at Australian Fashion Week last Monday.

And the 36-year-old narrowly avoided a wardrobe malfunction as she posed for photos at the Carriageworks venue in Redfern, Sydney.

In footage shared to YouTube by Kobie Thatcher, Jodi was seen quickly readjusting her blue coat after nearly exposing her underwear.

Whoops! Jodi Gordon narrowly avoided a wardrobe malfunction last Monday as she posed for photos at Carriageworks in Redfern, Sydney, during Australian Fashion Week

Proving she's a total pro, the model-turned-soap star kept calm and composed during the blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.

The mother of one amped up the sex appeal on day one of Fashion Week, showcasing her toned legs in a pair of $1,400 stocking boots by Fendi.

Jodi toted a leather Fendi bag and swept her hair up into a high ponytail.

Keeping calm and carry on! Proving she's a total pro, the model-turned-soap star, 36, kept calm and composed during the blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment

The hairstyle also allowed Jodi to showcase her youthful, line-free complexion.

Her sighting at Australian Fashion Week came after reports she'd split from her boyfriend Sebastian Blackler after just six months of dating.

However, a recent sighting suggests they may still be on.

Back to it! Jodi posed up a storm after the wardrobe mishap

Last month - the same day a Sydney newspaper claimed they'd broken up - they were pictured arriving at the former Home and Away star's eastern suburbs home.

In photos that prove there may be hope for the couple yet, Jodi looked casual as she exited her vehicle and walked up to her house with her daughter, Aleeia.

Sebastian, who was travelling as a passenger in Jodi's car, entered her house separately carrying a large hold-all suitcase and carrier bag.

Parting ways? Her sighting at Australian Fashion Week came after reports she'd split from her boyfriend Sebastian Blackler (pictured) after just six months of dating

The Sunday Telegraph previously reported the couple had parted ways after the relationship 'fizzled out'. They also unfollowed each other on Instagram.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Jodi Gordon for comment.

Jodi had confirmed her relationship with Sebastian last year, going Instagram official on November 21, 2020.
At a high-level meeting with health minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas and top officials, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has taken a decision to extend the lockdown up to June 20 as the existing period will be over by June 10. (Photo: DC)

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government has extended the ongoing lockdown up to June 20 with two more hours relaxation up to 2 pm from 6 am in a day to curb spread of Coronavirus in a more effective manner in the state.

At a high-level meeting with health minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas and top officials, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has taken a decision to extend the lockdown up to June 20 as the existing period will be over by June 10. The Chief Minister has also ordered for extension of curfew relaxation time from 6.00 am to 2.00 pm unlike earlier practice of up to 12.00 noon to facilitate economic activity for two more hours and has also directed the authorities to allow working of public/private offices from 8.00 am to 2.00 pm in a day. With this, the curfew period will remain operational from 2.00 pm to 6.00 am of the next day imposing curbs on movement of general public and other activities in the state.

Even as curfew relaxation timings are extended up to eight hours in a day, the Chief Minister cautioned, Even though the number of daily Coronavirus infections are dipping, we should be on high alert all the time until the Covid-19 positivity rate comes down further and the Covid-19 situation comes under control. The entire administration should maintain all precautionary measures and no slackness to be allowed to creep in.

Meanwhile, the officials briefed the Chief Minister about the impending third wave of the Coronavirus pandemic especially targeting the children in the state and also about the expected number of children to be affected. The officials wanted the ongoing nutrition and routine immunisation programmes to be continued for the kids and also explained about the medicines, medical equipment and other requirements to be prepared to face the third wave of the pandemic.

Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials to bring about awareness among parents on severity and impact of the third wave on children and also to train the Asha and health workers to identify the paediatric symptoms of the infection to provide timely healthcare. He instructed the officials to set up paediatric wards in all teaching hospitals in compliance with national standards to provide the best medical treatment to the infected kids and also to provide health care at PHCs and area hospitals based on feasibility.

He also directed the officials to procure quality medicines in advance and recruit doctors for providing healthcare to the kids. He asked for identification of hospitals to treat the infected kids and empanel them and also to identify private teaching hospitals and get them ready for it in addition to keeping a tab on setting up oxygen generation plants hospital-wise.

Jagan Mohan Reddy instructed the health officials to set up three paediatric care centres at Visakhapatnam, Krishna-Guntur area and also at Tirupati and asked them to come up with estimates at nearly Rs 180 crore for each centre.

The Chief Minister was briefed about the gradual dip in daily Covid-19 cases in the state by the officials. They informed him that the Covid-19 positivity rate was down to 10.73% from 25.56% reported on May 16 and active cases to 1.23 lakh from 2.11 on May 17 while recovery rate touched 92.33%. The officials said that out of 1,551 black fungus cases registered in the state, 99 infected patients succumbed to the virus while the remaining are undergoing treatment in the hospitals in the state.
Her new Apple TV+ show The Mosquito Coast has been picked up for another season.

And Melissa George looked in great spirits as she attended Apple's FYC Awards Summer Screening Series at The Ford Amphitheater in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The 44-year-old Australian actress stunned in a floral Chanel dress that featured a thigh-slit to show off her toned legs.

The thigh's the limit! Melissa George showed off her slender legs in a daring floral dress as she attended Apple's FYC Awards Summer Screening Series at The Ford Amphitheater in Los Angeles on Sunday

The auburn-haired beauty accessorised with a pair of chic peep-toe heels and a black Chanel handbag.

She added a pop of colour by wearing a slick of red lipstick on her pout and had her hair out in a natural wave.

Melissa was joined at the event by her co-stars Gabriel Bateman and Logan Polish.

Justin Theroux also stars and acts as an executive producer on the series.

The dramatic thriller, about an idealistic man (Theroux) who relocates his family to the wilds of Latin America, is based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Paul Theroux, Justins uncle.

Glamorous: The auburn-haired beauty accessorised with a pair of chic peep-toe heels and added a pop of colour by wearing a slick of red lipstick

Justin is also named for the celebrated travel writer and novelist, as his middle name is Paul.

The Mosquito Coast was previously adapted into a 1986 film starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, along with the late River Phoenix.

The new iteration featuring Justin co-stars Melissa, Kimberly Elise and Logan.

Melissa ended her five-year marriage to Jean David Blanc, 52, in September 2016, and has since been embroiled in a bitter dispute over the custody of their sons Raphael, six, and Solal, four.

Discussion: Melissa was joined at the event by her co-stars Gabriel Bateman and Logan Polish

Melissa and Jean David met in 2011 at a BAFTA after-party and began a relationship the following year.

In early 2017, Melissa and Jean David were convicted of assaulting each other following an alleged domestic dispute in 2016.

Jean David later said in a statement at the time: 'Regarding the supposed violence against Melissa George, I strongly contest it and have thus filed an appeal against the judgment, which is not final.'

Melissa starred as Angel Parrish on Home and Away from 1993 to 1996, and made her big-screen debut in the United States in 1998 film Dark City.

She has also featured in 2001's Mulholland Drive and 2005's Derailed.
The Loki character is revealed to be is gender-fluid in a new clip for the Disney+ Marvel show Loki.

In a preview trailer for the Tom Hiddleston show, which is set to begin streaming this week, a file documenting Loki Laufeyson's Time Variance Authority has 'FLUID' listed under the gender.

The series also stars Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer and Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, as well as Sophia Di Martino and Richard E. Grant.

The latest: The Loki character is revealed to be is gender-fluid in a new clip for the Disney+ Marvel show Loki

The timeline of the show follows the Asgardian in the wake of 2018's Avengers: Endgame.

Hiddleston was first seen as the character in Thor in 2011, and has gone on to appear in the role in 2012's The Avengers, 2013's Thor: The Dark World, 2017's Thor: Ragnarok and 2018's Avengers: Infinity War.

Loki's gender has been speculated upon in the wake of a comic book in which Odin called Loki, 'my son, and my daughter, and my child who is both.'

Loki's gender fluidity was also topical in the 2019 book Loki: Where Mischief Lies from writer Mackenzi Lee.

In a preview trailer for the Tom Hiddleston show, which is set to begin streaming this week, a file documenting Loki Laufeyson's Time Variance Authority has FLUID listed under the gender

The timeline of the show follows the Asgardian in the wake of 2018's Avengers: Endgame

'I think queer undertones are intrinsic to Loki and his magic,' Lee told Comics Beat in 2019. 'Being a shapeshifter already makes him fluid, and as far back as versions of him in the Norse myths, we see Loki manipulating his gender and taking a variety of partners.

'It would have felt disingenuous to portray him as anything else. And, while weve come a long way with representation in comics, we still have a long way to go. As for direct references on the page - like many people, Im tired of queer rep being only subtext in media. We need to bring identity onto the page.

It's set to debut with new episodes each Wednesday beginning June 9 on Disney+.

Staple: Hiddleston was first seen as the character in Thor in 2011, and has gone on to appear in the role in a number of MCU motion pictures

Coming soon: The series set to debut with new episodes each Wednesday beginning June 9 on Disney+
Kyle Sandialnds has joined the growing list of celebrities who have openly criticised the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for naming their baby girl Lilibet (shortened to Lili) after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen.

The Australian radio shock jock, who is a monarchist, said he was aghast when he heard the news, given that Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan Markle, 39, have spent weeks criticising the royal family.

'I heard Brooklyn (KIIS FM newsreader) mention this at 5.30 this morning on my way in, and I nearly had a coronary,' the 49-year-old said on Monday's Kyle And Jackie O Show.

'I was not happy, because they want to distance themselves so much from the royal family but every name [was inspired by royal family members],' he raged.

Lilibet - the Queen's family nickname - was first used when Princess Elizabeth was just a toddler and unable to pronounce her own name properly.

The moniker stuck, and was affectionately used by both her father grandfather King George V and husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

'I nearly had a coronary': Australian radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands, 49, (left) has voiced is disapproval after learning that 'royal haters' Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan Markle, 39, (both pictured right with baby Archie) named their newborn daughter Lilibet after the Queen

Lili's middle name Diana honours Harry's later mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

'And then along come the haters, who hate the royal family... and then they [name their daughter] Lilibet,'' Sandilands said of Harry and Meghan.

While Sandilands said he could understand why the Sussexes wanted to honour Diana with their daughter's middle name, he simply couldn't understand why the name Lilibet made the cut.

'I like the name [Lilibet] but I don't want them using it': Sandilands, who is a monarchist, said he was aghast when he heard the news, given that Harry and Meghan have spent weeks criticising the royal family

'I like the name [Lilibet] but I don't want them using it,' he declared, adding that he 'instantly didn't like it'.

Sandilands' comments come after former Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan voiced a similar opinion on the name during an interview with Nine's Today show.

Speaking to host Karl Stefanovic, said Harry and Meghan's decision to use the Queen's nickname for their new baby daughter is 'ironic' given the couple spent weeks 'trashing the royal family and the monarchy'.

Criticism: Sandilands' damning review comes after former Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan (right) voiced a similar opinion on the Lilibet's name during an interview with Nine's Today show. Pictured left is Today host Allison Langdon, centre is co-host Karl Stefanovic

'It's quite ironic, isn't it? You have this couple who have been trashing the royal family and the monarchy for the last few weeks and they have named the baby after the Queen,' Morgan said.

Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, plunged the Windsors into crisis with the televised interview in March, when they accused an unnamed royal of making a racist remark about their son Archie's skin tone and claimed the royals failed to help the Duchess when she was suicidal.

Last month, Harry also spoke out during a series with Winfrey on mental health for Apple TV+ and suggested his father, Prince Charles, had allowed his children to 'suffer' when it came to the media because of his own negative experience.

Not a fan: 'It's quite ironic, isn't it? You have this couple who have been trashing the royal family and the monarchy for the last few weeks and they have named the baby after the Queen,' Morgan said on Monday's show

Morgan - a fierce critic of the couple - said he wondered if the decision to honour the Queen with their daughter's name was Harry and Meghan's way of mending fences.

'Maybe it's their way of reaching out, as the Americans say, to the royals and wanting some kind of end to this on-running feud,' he said.

Morgan then offered a few words of support to the couple - adding the birth of a child was not the right moment to put across a negative opinion.

'I always think when a new baby is born, I've had four myself it's churlish to put any negative slant,' he said.

Sweet family nickname for Queen that inspired Harry and Meghan's name for their baby daughter Lilibet - the Queen's family nickname - was first used when Princess Elizabeth was just a toddler and unable to pronounce her own name properly. Her grandfather King George V would affectionately call her 'Lilibet', imitating her own attempts to say Elizabeth. The sweet nickname stuck and she became Lilibet to her family from then on. The Duke of Edinburgh also referred to his wife as Lilibet, writing to his mother in law after their wedding: 'Lilibet is the only 'thing' in the world which is absolutely real to me.' Harry and Meghan's new baby daughter - the Queen's 11th great-grandchild - will be known as Lili. A variation on Lily, the flower is often seen to symbolise purity, commitment, rebirth and fertility. Lili's middle name Diana honours Harry's later mother Diana, Princess of Wales. It is no surprise the couple chose to pay tribute to Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997 when Harry was just 12. Lili has been born almost a month before the princess would have celebrated her 60th birthday on July 1. Her cousin Princess Charlotte also has Diana as one of her middle names, as well as Elizabeth. She is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. Harry and the Duke of Cambridge are due to unveil a statue of their mother at Kensington Palace on her birthday, but the arrangements have yet to be confirmed, amid a long-reported rift between the brothers. The Sussexes' tribute to the Queen is likely to be seen as an olive branch to the monarch and the rest of the family. Pictured: Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California where Lilibet was born. The hospital is a private facility where births cost up to $37,000. Harry and Meghan plunged the Windsors into crisis with their Oprah Winfrey interview in March when they accused an unnamed royal of making a racist remark about their son Archie's skin tone before he was born. They also said the institution failed to help Meghan when she was suicidal. But during the televised interview with Winfrey, the Sussexes lauded the Queen. Harry spoke of his respect for his grandmother, while Meghan said: 'The Queen... has always been wonderful to me.' Advertisement

'At such a moment. I wish them all the very best. There is four in the family now. I wish them every success and a long and happy life.'

On Sunday night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced: 'On June 4, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili.

'She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family.'

Lili  who is eighth in line to the throne  was born in Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, a private facility where births cost up to $37,000.
Time

Rating:

The Scottish Island That Won The Lottery

Rating:

Sean Beans face is so lined, it looks like a child has drawn eyes on an inky thumbprint. Hes more wrinkly than a tramps boot thats been left under a sunlamp, and twice as tough.

Compared with Sean, action hero Jack Reacher is as soft and snooty as Jacob Rees-Mogg. So its hard to understand why other inmates, in the prison drama Time (BBC1), take one look and decide hes a pushover.

Hes Sharpe, hes Boromir in Lord Of The Rings, hes Ned Stark from Game Of Thrones for heavens sake. He doesnt get these roles because hes the diffident type.

Loaded with scenes of self-harm and vicious assaults, Time has echoes of the Ray Winstone 1979 classic, Scum

Even Sean Bean playing a timid teacher called Mark, in jail for the first time in his life after a drunken car accident, looks like hes carved from weathered granite and boiled in vinegar.

But bullying Johnno (James Nelson-Joyce) swans into Marks cell and nicks his sugar. Then he barges him out of the queue for the payphones, and punches him on the nose.

Mark trudges sheepishly away. A fellow inmate warns him that he should have punched back: Your life wont be worth living now.

Youd expect a bloke who has spent his life in classrooms to be more confident about dealing with bullies. And for all his swagger, Johnno looks like hes made from twigs. Sean could knock him over with a sneeze.

The distractions of casting aside, Time is a visceral and violently scary drama. Writer Jimmy McGoverns script conveys how dehumanising the experience of prison is, from the moment the first iron door slams.

Are you suicidal? asks one prison officer in the dull voice of somebody asking for a shoe size. Have you ever suffered depression? inquires another and, when Mark starts to say something about his youth, she snaps: Yes or no?

Stephen Graham cuts a menacing figure as Mr McNally, a Scouse version of Mr Mackay from Porridge  short temper, narrow eyes, not noted for his forgiving nature.

He expects inmates to call him Boss and seems to hanker for the American prisons of movies like Cool Hand Luke. Boss McNally would like to carry a shotgun and send his convicts out to work on chain gangs.

But hes being bullied, too: the prisoners have heard McNallys own son is serving a sentence in another jail. If the Boss doesnt start doing people favours, Junior might come to harm.

Loaded with scenes of self-harm and vicious assaults, Time has echoes of the Ray Winstone 1979 classic, Scum.

This charming documentary painted a leisurely portrait of a community built on the principle of make do and mend

Another archetypal British film, the Ealing comedy Whisky Galore!, was evoked by The Scottish Island That Won The Lottery (C4). The folk of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides (Like the Bahamas without the heat, said one local) were sharing an extraordinary bit of luck  not a shipwrecked cargo of booze, but a 3 million windfall.

This charming documentary painted a leisurely portrait of a community built on the principle of make do and mend. It followed a few of the winners, including Pamela and husband Angus, who have two teenage children. The couple work six jobs, but their 193,055 share means they can enjoy a holiday.

Trouble is, they cant decide between a week in Inverness, or a long weekend in the bright lights of Glasgow.

Their neighbour Duncan, 83, who still heats his cottage with bricks of peat he digs himself, has decided to invest in a new frying pan and a wheelbarrow. The old wheelbarrow is rusted through with a wonky wheel, but Duncan is worried about the extravagance of getting rid of it.

Ill probably try to sell it, he decided.
She established an unbreakable friendship with the TikTok icon prior to the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

And Kourtney Kardashian showed that things were as good as ever between her and her social media star friend Addison Rae, 20.

The 42-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star enjoyed a low-key day at home on Sunday as she filmed a lip sync video for her own TikTok account with Addison at her side.

Besties: Kourtney Kardashian, 42, and her TikTok star friend Addison Rae, 20, looked like twins in matching hoodies as they lip synced in a new TikTok clip

Kourtney and Addison continued their twinning trend by wearing identical baggy tan hoodies featuring an anime figure on the chest, which was obscured by their long hair.

The reality star wore her raven locks parted down the middle and straight, while Addison sported shorter blond-dyed hair cascading over her shoulders.

The two didn't appear to have bothered with pants, though their hoodies were so large that they practically served as dresses.

'It's the spins for me...' Kourtney captioned the clip, referring to the twirls that she and Addison both took in the middle of the song.

Cute style: Kourtney and Addison continued their matching trend by wearing identical baggy tan hoodies featuring an anime figure on the chest, which was obscured by their long hair

Contrast: The reality star wore her raven locks parted down the middle and straight, while Addison sported shorter blond-dyed hair cascading over her shoulders

They were excitedly lip syncing to Tell Me About Tomorrow, a hard-charging rocker by Jxdn, the alias of Addison's friend and fellow TikTok star Jaden Hossler.

The two appeared to be letting loose in a bathroom, as the counter and mirror were framed behind them.

Even though Addison is one of the most popular TikTok figures, she regularly appears in her friend Kourtney's videos instead of posting them to her own account.

The social media star turned actress is set to make her big screen debut in the gender-flipped remake of the 1999 teen comedy She's All That, retitled He's All That.

Addison plays a popular high schooler who takes her mind off her recent breakup by agreeing to transform a nerdy classmate into prom king material on a dare.

Rocking out: They were excitedly lip syncing to Tell Me About Tomorrow, a hard-charging rocker by Jxdn, the alias of Addison's friend and fellow TikTok star Jaden Hossler

Helping out: Even though Addison is one of the most popular TikTok figures, she regularly appears in her friend Kourtney's videos instead of posting them to her own account

Her latest video with Kourtney was just the most recent instance of the two rocking identical outfits.

On Saturday, the reality star shared photos of the two lying on a grassy hill while wearing cute white cropped tank tops and cut-off jean shorts with black sneakers.

Their display came on the same day that Kourtney was spotted hugging and passionately kissing her new beau Travis Barker.

Just chilling: On Saturday, Kourtney shared photos of the two lying on a grassy hill while wearing cute white cropped tank tops and cut-off jean shorts with black sneakers

Yum! Later on Sunday, Kourtney revealed that her boyfriend Travis Barker was a 'matcha expert' in a short clip of him seasoning a pot of the milky green concoction

Later on Sunday, Kourtney revealed that Travis was a 'matcha expert' in a short clip of him seasoning a pot of the milky green concoction.

Travis has been a family friend of the KardashianJenner clan for years, but it wasn't until January of this year that fans suspected they might be dating after he wrote several flirty comments on her Instagram posts.

Sources officially linked the two later in the month, and since then they've gone from just sharing hints of their relationship on social media to being unabashed about displaying their affections.

The relationship has led to tensions with Travis' ex-wife Shanna Moakler, who accused Kourtney and the Kardashians of 'destroying my family' to TMZ.

She complained of being alienated from her children, though Travis' daughter Alabama previously said on Instagram Live that she hadn't seen her mother in more than seven months, well before Kourtney and Travis are believed to have been dating.

Inseparable: She has been dating the Blink-182 drummer since January of this year, and their loving displays have only gotten more explicit on social media over time
She played high school 'mean girl' Amber in the iconic 1995 teen film Clueless.

And Elisa Donovan resurfaced on Australian television this week looking every inch the silver-screen siren, more than two decades after her rise to fame.

The 50-year-old was interviewed on Today Extra on Monday and reflected on the success of Clueless, which also starred Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd and Stacey Dash.

Remember me? Clueless star Elisa Donovan, 50, resurfaced on Australian television this week looking every inch the silver-screen siren, more than two decades after her rise to fame

When asked whether she'd expected the film to become such a cult classic, Elisa replied: 'I can pretty unequivocally say no, I did not expect that to be the case.'

'But, I mean, we certainly kind of knew there was something magical going on. It seemed like all the pieces were fitting together, and everybody was just really at the top of their game, and so we kind of knew it would be successful,' she added.

'But I don't think we figured we would still be quoted on the street today.'

She's barely aged a day! She was interviewed on Today Extra on Monday (right) and reflected on the success of '90s comedy Clueless. Left: Elisa in the mid '90s

After appearing in the Clueless movie, Elisa reprised her character in the spin-off television series of the same name, which aired for three seasons from 1996 to 1999.

She went on to nab a starring role on the popular teen sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch as Morgan, playing one of Sabrina's college housemates.

During her interview, Elisa heaped praise on her Sabrina co-star Melissa Joan Hart, describing the actress as 'inclusive, super fun and very smart'.

Success story: After appearing in the Clueless movie, Elisa reprised her character in the spin-off television series of the same name, which aired for three seasons from 1996 to 1999. Pictured with Stacey Dash (left) and Alicia Silverstone (right)

Elisa also spruiked her new memoir Wake Me Up When You Leave, which lifts the lid on a number of personal tragedies - including the cancellation of Sabrina, losing her relationship and her father's death from cancer.

'My life turned upside down,' she told Today Extra.

'I went from having a clear understanding of who I was, where I was going and what was happening to everything kind of systematically being taken away.'

Iconic roles: She went on to nab a starring role on the teen sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch as Morgan, one of Sabrina's college housemates. Pictured in an episode of Sabrina from 1996

Elisa said she used writing as a way to cope with the grief that marred her formative years in the film industry.

'I've always been a writer and that's always been a way that I've used to express my creativity and also to heal and work through things,' she said.

Despite the 'depressing' circumstances that inspired her memoir, Elisa insisted that book itself is actually 'very funny' and positive.

'I really hope that this book is a hopeful book to people, and that it really allows people to see that we can come through challenges, and come to the other side and these things can enhance our lives,' she said.
Porsha William's fiance Simon Guobadia has provided 'receipts' he says show his estranged wife Faylnn Guobadia cheating on him during their marriage.

Simon posted security footage taken from their shared home which he says shows Jaylan Banks, the man accused of having an affair with Faylnn, arriving to his 'home on different days to sleep with my wife'.

The images were posted on his Instagram account on Sunday and showed Jaylan arriving to his house in his car when Simon was out of town in Miami.

The post also included security footage of Faylnn and Jaylan arriving to the property, but allegedly taking measures to not be captured by the camera at the front door.

Alleged evidence: Simon Guobadia posted security camera footage he says show his wife Faylnn cheated on him during their marriage

Suspicious: The post also included security footage of Faylnn and Jaylan arriving to the property, but allegedly taking measures to not be captured by the camera at the front door

However, in an interview with The Shade Room, Jaylan denied the cheating allegations and insisted that as Faylnn's personal assistant he had his own living quarters on property.

The video Simon posted showed Faylnn and Jaylan walking through the front gate together, before parting ways in an apparent attempt to make it appear as though Faylnn was arriving alone on camera.

Jaylan could be seen walking across the front yard, nowhere near the front door.

'When I say I have receipts of a cheating wife, this is what it looks like when Jaylan Duckworth (AKA Jaylan Banks) comes to my home on different days to sleep with my wife while I'm out of town in Miami,' Simon wrote in the caption.

'Wait for the video showing them coming back to my home at the end of a night out trying to avoid front door cameras. The dumb f**ks forgot the security cameras cover 360 degree view of the property. You cannot come on the property without being noticed by security cameras. Smdh. There are more receipts if needed.'

Allegations: Simon says these alleged discrepancies occurred when he was out of town

In his interview with The Shade Room, Jaylan shot down allegations he was in a romantic relationship with Faylnn: 'This is not news to Simon. He has taken some random footage that Falynn has access to as well and has spinned it into lies.'

Jaylan, who says Simon knew about his friendship with Faylnn, alleges Simon left for two months for Miami and Costa Rica on Valentine's Day, however did not tell his wife about the trip until after he left.

As for the video Simon posted of them, Jaylan said that was of their home's side door. It was broken at the time, leading Faylnn to express safety concerns.

'At that time, I was not only her best friend but also her assistant. I was there for a whole week (which Simon knew about). I even have my own quarters in the home which is located on the first floor down the hall from the kitchen,' Jaylan told the site, adding he is 'very aware' of the security cameras on property as he was present at the time the home was under construction.

'There are more receipts if needed': Simon teased more 'receipts' showing the alleged affair

Different direction: Jaylan could be seen walking across the front yard, nowhere near the front door

Not only that but Jaylan says Simon issued him a code to the house.

Simon accused Faylnn of cheating on him just last week, claiming Faylnn, Porsha's Real Housewives of Atlanta costar, cheated on him with Jaylan and is currently pregnant with his child.

It came after Falynn, 31, posted a teaser clip from a tell-all interview where she will talk about the end of her marriage to Simon and his new relationship with Porsha.

Messy: Porsha Williams' new fiance Simon accused his estranged wife Falynn (right) of cheating on him during their marriage

Sharing the clip to his own account, Simon, 57, wrote: 'The Face of Cheating Wife...'

He then claimed that Falynn was unfaithful and identified the man she allegedly cheated with, Jaylan Banks, by sharing his Instagram handle.

He added that Falynn is pregnant with the man's child and they are living together in a home that Simon is paying for.

'Let's start with why I filed for divorce,' Simon in the caption of his post. 'Let's start with who she cheated with and currently pregnant for and living in a home I paid for  post divorce.

'This is how your generosity gets twisted when you allow a hookah boy/mama's boy become your wife's assistant. Let's get started there.'

Accusations flying: It came after Falynn posted a teaser clip from a tell-all interview where she will talk about the end of her marriage to Simon and his new relationship with Porsha

'Simon doesn't get caught unless Simon wants to be caught.' Falynn responds when asked if she cheated on Simon

Getting ugly: Simon claims that Falynn was unfaithful and identified the man she allegedly cheated with, Jaylan Banks, by sharing his Instagram handle

In the clip where Falynn is interviewed by YouTuber Adam newell, she addresses the speculation that she cheated on Simon.

'Simon doesn't get caught unless Simon wants to be caught.' Falynn responds.

In another part of the clip Falynn wells up with tears as she's asked if she resents welcoming Porsha into her life.

'I meant what I said when I took my vows... It hurts, it hurts like hell,' she says, adding, 'I love hard, I love really hard.'

Simon and Falynn were married just under two years before they announced their split in April.

'I meant what I said when I took my vows... It hurts, it hurts like hell,' Faylnn says, adding, 'I love hard, I love really hard.'

Claims: Simon claims his estranged wife (pictured) is pregnant and living with a man in a home that he still pays for

Less than a month later, Simon and Porsha went public with their engagement after a month of dating.

Earlier this week Porsha, 39, revealed she now has a tattoo of Simon's middle name on her neck.

She explained that she became engaged on the Thursday before Mother's Day with a 'very, very special' proposal.

Moving fast: Fans noticed Porsha wearing a massive diamond ring in a photo she shared on Mother's Day posing alongside Simon and her ex, Dennis McKinley, who she shares two-year-old daughter Pilar

Fans then noticed the Bravo star wearing a massive diamond ring in a photo she shared posing alongside Simon and her ex, Dennis McKinley, who she shares two-year-old daughter Pilar.

'Dennis and myself and Simon  my fiance  were sitting there, and it was such a magical moment of just being grown adults and being mature and wanting to do the best thing,' she recalled on Dish Nation.

'I was like, 'Let's seal this moment with a picture and we posted it.' And then I woke up and I was like, 'What's happening? Why is everybody going crazy?''

'We are crazy in love,' Porsha said of Simon, when confirming their relationship on social media. 'I know it's fast but we are living life each day to its fullest. I choose happiness every morning and every night.

'For all of you that need facts, I get the optics but Simon filed for divorce from a previous marriage in January. I had nothing to do with their divorce filing. That's between the two of them.' Porsha told her 6.4 million followers last month

'We are crazy in love,' Porsha said of Simon, when confirming their relationship on social media. 'I know it's fast but we are living life each day to its fullest. I choose happiness every morning and every night. Tuning out all negative energy and only focused on positive wishes. He makes me so happy and to me, that is what matters most.'

She later explained that she and Falynn were not friends and that Simon and Falynn separated earlier in the year.

'For all of you that need facts, I get the optics but Simon filed for divorce from a previous marriage in January. I had nothing to do with their divorce filing. That's between the two of them.' she told her 6.4 million followers.

'Falynn and I are not friends, and Simon's divorce has been settled. Our relationship is a positive, loving step forward in everybody's lives.'
They are estimated to have a combined net worth of $40million.

And Hamish and Zoe Foster Blake put just some of that wealth on display on Friday while inspecting the renovations to their $9million home in Vaucluse, Sydney.

Lego Masters host Hamish, 39, spared no expense with his outfit, wearing a Rolex Submariner wristwatch valued at more than $19,000.

Work in progress: Comedian Hamish Blake inspected the renovations to his $9million home in Vaucluse, Sydney, on Friday

The father of two kept warm in a Canada Goose puffer jacket worth more than $1,500 as he sipped a cup of tea.

He was joined by his wife of nine years, cosmetics entrepreneur Zoe, who looked sharp in a checkered coat worn over a lime green blouse.

The Go-To skincare founder, 40, added a casual touch by donning a pair of sneakers.

Expensive taste: The father of two kept warm in a Canada Goose puffer jacket worth more than $1,500 as he sipped a cup of tea. He also wore a $19,000 Rolex Submariner wristwatch

Big spender: Hamish and his wife, Zoe Foster Blake, were on site for a meeting between the architect and contractors who are renovating their $8.925million house in Sydney's east

The pair were on site for a meeting between the architect and contractors who are renovating their $8.925million house in the affluent eastern suburb.

The Blakes recently moved with their children from Melbourne to Sydney.

Before the big move, Hamish had announced on social media: 'Exciting times ahead: we are moving to Sydney baby!'

Rugged up: The Blakes recently moved with their children from Melbourne to Sydney

Winners are grinners: The jacket worn by Hamish retails for more than $1,500

'For a long time I have known that stealing my wife from Sydney would mean one day we'd venture there to live for a while,' the comedian added.

'The loose plan is for a few years, but however long it's for, we're excited for this adventure with our little family.'

The sighting comes after Hamish recently hit Bondi Beach with a camera crew in tow to film a new project.

Better half: He was joined by his wife of nine years, cosmetics entrepreneur Zoe, who looked sharp in a checkered coat worn over a lime green blouse

Breadwinner: Zoe's estimated $36million net worth accounts for the vast majority of the couple's value. She is the founder of cosmetics company Go-To skincare

Well-heeled: She added a casual touch with a pair of sneakers

The funnyman was spotted last month dressed in a wetsuit and carrying a surfboard.

After heading into the ocean with his board, Blake stretched out on the sand and posed for the cameras.

While it's unclear exactly what he was filming, it was most likely something for Tourism Australia.

Brains trust: The Blakes spoke with the team of professionals overseeing renovations on their Vaucluse home, which they bought in December for almost $9million

Melbourne boy: Before the big move to Sydney, Hamish had announced on social media: 'Exciting times ahead: we are moving to Sydney baby!'

Back home: 'For a long time I have known that stealing my wife from Sydney would mean one day we'd venture there to live for a while,' he added

The Channel Nine presenter and his wife have already featured in several adverts for Tourism Australia's 'Holiday Here This Year' campaign.

The couple appeared on Sunrise shortly after debuting their first TV spot.

But things took an awkward turn after a joke about the comedian's tight-fitting wetsuit, with host Natalie Barr asking a question which had everyone scratching their heads.

Long term? 'The loose plan is for a few years, but however long it's for, we're excited for this adventure with our little family,' Hamish explained

Side hustle: The Channel Nine presenter and his wife have already featured in several adverts for Tourism Australia's 'Holiday Here This Year' campaign

'How embarrassed have you been?' Natalie, 53, said to Hamish.

After a brief pause and a giggle, Zoe asked: 'Of him? In general?'

'...being on this campaign?' Natalie then clarified, as the couple laughed uproariously.

Round two? The funnyman was spotted last month dressed in a wetsuit and carrying a surfboard, presumably while filming a Tourism Australia advert

Awkward: The couple appeared on Sunrise shortly after debuting their first TV spot. However, things took an awkward turn after a joke about the comedian's tight-fitting wetsuit, with host Natalie Barr asking a question which had everyone scratching their heads

'Oh, on the campaign. I was like, welcome to a special six-hour edition of Sunrise!' Hamish joked.

Zoe chimed in: 'We all actually put those [wetsuits] on afterwards, as we just wanted to get in the water. He wore it well, I thought!'

'That's love!' Natalie's co-host David 'Kochie' Koch added.
Celebrity Apprentice contestant Shaynna Blaze has hit back at Lord Alan Sugar after the British businessman said last week she had a 'face like a slapped a**e'.

The phrase 'face like a slapped a**e' is British slang for when a person has a stern or unhappy expression and doesn't necessarily suggest they are unattractive, but Shaynna took the remark as a criticism of her physical appearance.

Reacting to the insult on Nova FM's Fitzy and Wippa on Monday, the Block judge, 58, rejected the excuse that it was just UK slang that got lost in translation.

Not having it: Celebrity Apprentice contestant Shaynna Blaze (pictured) has hit back at Lord Alan Sugar after the British businessman said last week she had a 'face like a slapped a**e'

'Yeah I think you can give an excuse if that's a British term, [but] if you're coming to another country you need to read the room of the country,' Shaynna said.

'I'm grateful to come here today to talk about this,' she added.

'He's apologised but we need to talk about this in public about what actually happened. You can't talk about people and their physical appearance in a derogatory way to get a cheap laugh. We've gone past that. The world isn't like that anymore.'

Harsh words: The phrase 'face like a slapped a**e' is British slang for when a person has a stern or unhappy expression and doesn't necessarily suggest they are unattractive, but Shaynna took the remark as a criticism of her physical appearance. Pictured: Lord Sugar

The interior design expert also criticised radio hosts Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald and Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli for allowing Lord Sugar, 74, to make the remark unchallenged on their show last week.

'[By] not calling [him] out publicly or straight away, you're enabling that and meaning they feel they can get away with it,' she said.

Wippa, who is also starring on Celebrity Apprentice, then apologised to Shaynna.

Laying down the law: Reacting to the insult on Nova FM's Fitzy and Wippa on Monday, the Block judge, 58, rejected the excuse that it was just UK slang that got lost in translation

'It happened on our show and I almost led him [Lord Sugar] into it because I made the comment that Shaynna looked upset in the boardroom, so I felt a responsibility too,' he said.

Lord Sugar made the 'slapped a**e' comment on Fitzy and Wippa last Monday after Wippa and co-host Sarah McGilvray noted how she rarely smiled on Celebrity Apprentice.

'Oh, bloody hell. She's got a face like a slapped a**e, doesn't she most of the time?' he said. '[She's] Like a rabbit in the headlights.'
General Hospital star Kirsten Storms took to Instagram on Sunday with an update on her health after she underwent brain surgery after her doctor found 'a very large cyst that had split into two' after she sought treatment for severe neck pain.

'First, thank you for all of the well wishes Ive received over the last few days,' the 37-year-old actress said following the procedure. She said she's dealt with 'random health issues' in recent years that she disregarded as aging or medication side effects.

The Orlando native said her 'amazingly thorough orthopedist' ordered an MRI of her head, at which point doctors 'stumbled upon a rather large, very full of fluid, cyst that was attached to the lower portion of brain.'

The latest: Kirsten Storms, 37, took to Instagram on Sunday with an update on her health after she underwent brain surgery after her doctor found 'a very large cyst that had split into two' after she sought treatment for severe neck pain

She said that she felt fortunate that her situation 'wasnt more serious and that [she] had a wonderful neurosurgeon who immediately knew how to fix it.'

She continued, 'Im not gonna lie, brain surgery had me nervous, but Im immensely thankful to my family, friends, and incredible "work family" who have been supportive, kind and loving during a time when Ive been feeling a lot of emotions.'

Storms, who's played Maxie on the soap opera since 2005, said that work 'is a great place to be everyday' and that she's 'found a lot of comfort' around cast and crew 'for so many years.'

Storms, who's also been seen in Clubhouse and Days of Our Lives, said she was 'excited to get back to it after [her] recovery.'

Stalwart: Storms has played Maxie on the soap opera since 2005

Storms shared a shot of knitting as she relaxed in the wake of the procedure

She said that she felt fortunate that her situation 'wasnt more serious and that [she] had a wonderful neurosurgeon who immediately knew how to fix it'

She noted that medical staff 'shaved a portion of [her] head' to perform the procedure, adding, 'Please no comments if you dont like my hair. Its temporary.'

The one-time Disney Channel star opened up about the procedure she underwent in a post Friday, providing details on the procedure she underwent.

'What they had to drain and remove was not cancer - I want to clarify that right now before the internet goes crazy wild with rumors about this,' said Storms, who said she will 'be on the mend for the next several weeks' amid her recovery.

Storms' confidante and and one-time co-star Emme Rylan was seen helping her amid her recovery
Hyderabad: Lockdown is helping Cyberabad traffic police to improve road safety infrastructure across its jurisdiction. They have identified around 30 junctions in the commissionerate limits for improving infrastructure in such a way that it would inculcate road sense among users and also prevent jaywalking.

For instance, at the cyber tower junction, its centre is marked with yellow lines to indicate to the drivers that they are forbidden from stopping their vehicle on those lines.

Good road infrastructure coupled with civic sense can improve road safety. Towards this, they have started redesigning various junctions by taking up zebra marking, installation of signboards, railing on the central median and bollards at vulnerable road curves, among others.

According to Cyberabad traffic police, after close analysis and inputs from engineers, they have identified around 30 accident-prone junctions, including Cyber tower junction, Gachibowli junction, Nizampet junction, Aramghar junction, and others.

Also identified are high-risk roads which report frequent accidents like the NH65 stretch from Moosapet to ICRISAT, Old Mumbai Highway, road under the PVNR Expressway and others.

Explaining about the yellow boxes, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad Traffic S. M. Vijay Kumar said, "In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the city, we have laid yellow boxes at the junction. They denote that once a vehicle enters the area it should not stop but keep moving. In others words, vehicles should enter the area when the way is clear for them."

They have analysed accident data and identified accidents that were mainly reported at the intersection of internal roads with the main roads. Either the sudden entry of vehicles coming from internal roads to main roads or vice-versa are resulting in accidents.

"To prevent this, we are planning for arrow marks at intersections, indicating that there is an internal road and a possibility of vehicles coming in. This cautions the road users and he can change gears accordingly," explained Vijay Kumar

"We can't deploy police personnel at each and every place to ensure compliance of rules. The problem is that most pedestrians lack civic sense. They cross the road wherever they want and indulge in jaywalking. To prevent this, we are preparing designated places for crossing the road so as to bring about orderliness. We have installed railings on medians to prevent jaywalking," he said, adding that lockdown has been helping in going about works aimed at improving road infrastructure.
She has been busy filming her new TV series Wolf Like Me in Sydney.

And Isla Fisher enjoyed a well-deserved break over the weekend with her husband Sacha Baron Cohen.

The couple went for a romantic lunch and looked adorable in near-matching outfits.

If the shoe doesn't fit! Isla Fisher wore one shoe as she went for a romantic lunch in Sydney with her husband Sacha Baron Cohen on Saturday

But while the Borat star was comfortable strolling around in a pair of New Balance sneakers, his wife was seen wearing just one trainer on her foot.

The Wedding Crashers favourite held onto one of her sneakers as she walked along the pavement.

The 45-year-old actress dressed comfortably for the outing - rocking a grey tracksuit and a P.E Nation puffer jacket.

What happened? The Wedding Crashers favourite was seen holding one of her sneakers in her hand as she walked along the pavement

Cosy: The 45-year-old actress dressed comfortably for the outing - rocking a grey tracksuit and a P.E Nation puffer jacket

She accessorised with a Chanel handbag and some pink acetate sunglasses.

Meanwhile, statuesque Sacha, 49, also rocked a pair of grey trousers, a matching jumper and a black cap.

Back in April, Stan announced that Wolf Like Me would be filmed in Australia.

The upcoming series is written by Aussie filmmaker Abe Forsythe, and is based on his own life experience.

It tells the story of a fortysomething single parent, with Josh Gad and Isla heading up the show's cast.

Near-matching! Meanwhile, statuesque Sacha, 49, also rocked a pair of grey trousers, a matching jumper and a black cap

The six-part series will also be directed by Forsythe, 39, and is being made in conjunction with NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock in the U.S.

Each episode of the drama series will run for 30 minutes.

Isla spoke about her marriage to the funnyman and their decision to relocate to Australia with their three children.

The notoriously private actress admitted to Marie Claire magazine felt 'very lucky to have met' the Sacha at a party in Sydney in 2002.

'I'm always surprised that I'm employed, married and have my family  everything else feels like a bonus,' she added.
Taylor Swift is having Evermore success on the charts.

The 31-year-old pop megastar's latest album - which originally debuted in December 2020 - has returned to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart for a fourth nonconsecutive week on top.

As the talented star sold 192,000 copies according to MRC Data, it marks the biggest sales week of 2021 and even surpasses the previous large sales week of the year as Swift's Fearless (Taylors Version) sold 179,000 in its first week at the end of April.

Evermore's fourth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 puts her cumulative total weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 across her entire discography at 53 weeks as she passed Garth Brooks who has had 52 weeks.

Top of her game: Taylor Swift's album Evermore - which originally debuted in December 2020 - has returned to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart for a fourth nonconsecutive week

She now has the third most cumulative weeks with No. 1 albums behind Elvis Presley with 67 and The Beatles with 132.

Swift's latest surge in album sales comes from multiple avenues including modern-era record-breaking vinyl LP sales (102,000), Swift-signed CDs and deep discounting on its digital album.

Just days ago it was reported that Swift had broken the record for the largest amount of vinyl album sales in one week in the United States, with her triumphant ninth studio album.

The Grammy award winner's sister record to Folklore, which was released in 2020, managed the feat in just three days.

Success! Just days ago it was reported that Swift had broken the record for the largest amount of vinyl album sales in one week in the United States, with her triumphant ninth studio album

According to MRC Data, the album shifted a whopping 40,000 copies between May 28 and May 30.

Taylor has overtaken Jack White's Lazaretto LP, which sold the same amount of vinyl in one whole week, ending June 15th 2014.

The Shake It Off songstress also broke several records with with her previous album Folklore including the Guinness World Record for the biggest opening day for an album by a female artist on Spotify.

She previously admitted that she loved the 'escapism' that came with writing 'imaginary or not imaginary tales' on the two albums, which deals with rejected marriage proposals, infidelity, revenge and murder.

Ahead of the release of Evermore, she wrote on social media: 'To put it plainly, we just couldnt stop writing songs. To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music.

Cover art: The Grammy award winner's, 31, sister record to Folklore, which was released in 2020, managed the feat in just three days

'We chose to wander deeper in and my collaborators and I are proud to announce that my 9th studio album and folklores sister record is here. Its called evermore.

'Ive never done this before. In the past Ive always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one as soon as an album was released. There was something different with folklore.'

She continued: 'In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning. I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales.

'I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found. So I just kept writing them. And I loved creating these songs with Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, W B, and Justin Vernon.

'Weve also welcomed some new (and longtime) friends to our musical kitchen table this time around'

She went on to detail the stories woven into her new songs, as she said: 'Before I knew it there were 17 tales, some of which are mirrored or intersecting with one another.

'The one about two young con artists who fall in love while hanging out at fancy resorts trying to score rich romantic beneficiaries. The one where longtime college sweethearts had very different plans for the same night, one to end it and one who brought a ring.

'Dorothea, the girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams  and what happens when she comes back for the holidays and rediscovers an old flame.'

Accomplishment: According to MRC Data, the album shifted a whopping 40,000 copies between May 28 and May 30

She added: 'The "unhappily ever after" anthology of marriages gone bad that includes infidelity, ambivalent toleration, and even murder. The most righteous motive, to avenge the fallen.

'The realization that maybe the only path to healing is to wish happiness on the one who took it away from you. One starring my grandmother, Marjorie, who still visits me sometimesif only in my dreams.

'I wanted to surprise you with this the week of my 31st birthday. Youve all been so caring, supportive and thoughtful on my birthdays and so this time I wanted to give you something!

She concluded: 'I also know this holiday season will be a lonely one for most of us and if there are any of you out there who turn to music to cope with missing loved ones the way I do, this is for you.' (sic)
He moved from Melbourne to Sydney back in January.

But Dave 'Hughesy' Hughes appears to still be on the hunt for a permanent NSW home, according to an image shared by Sydney buyer agent Jack Henderson last week.

In the Instagram post, the Henderson Advocacy owner posed for a selfie with the 2Day FM breakfast host, 50, who he said he would teach 'a thing or two about property'.

Still looking: Dave 'Hughesy' Hughes (left) appears to still be on the hunt for a permanent NSW home, based on an image shared by Sydney buyer agent Jack Henderson (centre) last week

The comedian, wife Holly Ife and their three children 'expected to make the move by Easter' according to realestate.com.au.

He recruited Henderson to help with the search four weeks ago.

'I have always wanted to live in Sydney and to be able to work and live there will be an absolute treat,' he told Mediaweek at the beginning of the year.

The last home purchased by Hughes was an Elsternwick cottage renovated by Josh Barker and model Elyse Knowles.

Long time loves: The comedian, wife Holly Ife (pictured with Dave last year) and their three children 'expected to make the move by Easter' according to realestate.com.au

Big spender: The last home purchased by Hughes was an Elsternwick cottage renovated by Josh Barker and model Elyse Knowles

The home featured in the 2017 season of home renovation show The Block and was purchased by Hughes for $3 million.

It was announced in November that Ed Kavalee and Dave Hughes would be moving from their afternoon drive-time slot on 2Day FM to host the breakfast show, even relocating for the opportunity.

Erin Molan was announced as their co-host, after parting ways with Nine Radio.

Lavish: The home featured in the 2017 season of home renovation show The Block and was purchased by Hughes for $3 million

Winners: The Block stars Josh Barker and model Elyse Knowles pictured here

'To be trusted with this role is a huge honour, and I can't wait to embark on this new adventure with two of Australia's comedy greats,' she said at the time.

Since its launch six months ago, the breakfast show has continued to plunge in the ratings.

It went from a 4.1 in the first survey, to a 3.8, and most recently, dropped to a 3.3.
Kate Mara has been hard at work shooting the drama film Call Jane with such stars as Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver since April.

But on Sunday the actress played the role of doting mom to her two-year-old daughter when they enjoyed some play time in a park in Los Angeles.

And the House Of Cards alum, 38, used the outing to debut her new short-cropped platinum blonde tresses.

New look! Kate Mara, 38, debuted her platinum blonde tresses during a trip to a park in Los Angeles with her two-year-old daughter on Sunday

The new York native, who's the great-granddaughter of both New York Giants founder Tim Mara and Pittsburgh Steelers found Art Rooney Sr., styled her new hairdo with a part on the left.

She kept it casual in the fashion department in black sweatpants with a white crop top, a light green cropped jacker and white sneakers.

With the sun glaring down on another warm day in Southern California, she also donned a pair of dark sunglasses much of the time.

Casual: The House Of Cards alum kept it casual in the fashion department in black sweatpants with a white crop top, a light green cropped jacker and white sneakers

So far, there's no telling whether she dyed her hair for a new role or it was just a personal style choice.

Mara shares her daughter with husband and actor Jamie Bell, 35.

The couple have opted to keep details about their daughter to a minimum since announcing her arrival in May 2019 with a photo of her tiny feet.

Gridiron ties: Kate and her sister Rooney Mara are the great-granddaughters of New York Giants founder Tim Mara and Pittsburgh Steelers found Art Rooney Sr

Mara and Bell met on the set of 2015's Fantastic Four, and eventually got married in July 2017, following Bell's divorce from actress Rachel Evan Wood.

The British actor also has a seven-year-old son with Wood.

So far there's no word on when Call Jane will make its premiere.

The film centers around a 1960s housewife who finds herself pregnant unexpectedly, before discovering an underground abortion movement.

It also stars Wunmi Mosaku, Chris Messina, Cory Michael Smith, Aida Turturro, Grace Edwards and Bianca DAmbrosio.
Doctor Strange writer Michael Waldron has opened up about how he's giving a new spin on the classic comic book character in a new interview.

The screenwriter revealed to Vanity Fair that the character's newest iteration was inspired both by the late chef and writer Anthony Bourdain and the legendary actor Harrison Ford, 78.

Benedict Cumberbatch, 44, will be reprising his role in the upcoming sequel Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, which is expected in theaters in 2022.

Role models: Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness screenwriter Michael Waldron revealed to Vanity Fair that his version of Doctor Strange was inspired by Anthony Bourdain and Harrison Ford; still from Doctor Strange (2016)

According to Waldron, Bourdain inspired him to imagine a version of Doctor Strange that was more a man of the people, as opposed to the know-it-all elitist of the first film.

'I gravitated toward [travel documentarian and chef] Anthony Bourdain,' he said. 'Strange is an elitist as a neurosurgeon and a sorcerer. Anthony Bourdain was a man of the people, but there was that intense intellect.

'You always felt like he could eviscerate anybody with his words at any time. But yet, Anthony Bourdain never really punched down,' Waldron explained. 'That was the first ingredient in the stew for Doctor Strange.'

Although Bourdain cultivated a name for himself as the executive chef of several high-profile New York City restaurants, his greatest success came as a writer and then the host of popular food documentaries.

Mix and match: Waldron wanted Strange to be both a 'man of the people' and a strong 'intellect,' like Bourdain, while also being 'a hero who can take a punch,' like Ford

New scribe: Waldron took over writing duties on the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel; seen in 2019 with Kate Herron (R)

In 1999, The New Yorker published his popular tell-all article Don't Eat Before Reading This, which was later expanded into his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures In The Culinary Underbelly.

The memoir mixed in behind-the-scenes gossip about the restaurant industry with details of his own life and his passion for food.

Bourdain was best known to the public for his television appearances and his Travel Channel series No Reservations and its CNN sequel Parts Unknown, both of which featured him traveling the world and sharing international cuisines with his viewers.

The chef and docuseries star was 61 when he died by suicide on June 8, 2018, while filming Parts Unknown in France.

Bourdain's identification with travel was also part of why Waldron was inspired by his life.

'Anthony Bourdain had been everywhere, seen everything. What surprises you at this point? I think for all of the heroes in the MCU, in a post-Endgame world, how do you rally yourself to fight the stand-alone movie villains after you fought Thanos?'

Tragic death: Bourdain was a respected chef, writer and docuseries star who died by suicide in 2018 while filming his CNN series Parts Unknown

Raiders Of The Lost Ark star Harrison Ford was also a major influence on Doctor Strange 2.0.

In addition to Bourdain, Strange's world-hopping persona led Waldron to think of the character as 'Indiana Jones in a cloak.'

'Hes a hero who can take a punch,' he explained. 'Thats what made those Harrison Ford heroes so great. Those guys get their a**es kicked.

'Look at Stephen Strange in the first movie,' he continued. 'Hes really getting beat up but hes very capable and everything. I can tell you that its a ride.'

Ford will likely be taking a few more punches as Indiana Jones when he puts on the character's iconic fedora for a fifth time.

However, his longtime director Steven Spielberg will only be producing this film after he turned it over to Logan director James Mangold amid reports of creative differences with the creative team.

Iconic character: Waldron said he imagined Strange as 'Indiana Jones in a cloak' and complimented Ford's action heroes because they 'get their a**es kicked'; seen in 2019 in Beverly Hills

The newest Doctor Strange film will see Cumberbatch's title character accidentally unleashing a powerful evil force amid his continuing research on the Time Stone, one of the Infinity Stones that powered Thanos' rise in the last two Avengers films.

The film was originally to be directed by Scott Derrickson, who directed and co-wrote the first film, but he left the project after producers balked at his desire to create a weirder version of the character and a horror-inspired story.

Sam Raimi, who previously directed the Tobey Maguirestarring Spider-Man films, was later installed as the director with Waldron co-writing the screenplay.
She announced in March that she's expecting her first child with husband Johnny Barbara.

And on Sunday, Devon Windsor showed off her blossoming baby bump in a series of bikini snaps on Instagram.

She modeled a skimpy two-piece as she posed in her living room with beloved pup Winston keeping her company.

Blooming: She's expecting her first child and on Sunday, Devon Windsor showed off her blossoming baby bump in a series of bikini snaps on Instagram

Devon married businessman Johnny in November 16, 2019, on the Caribbean island of St. Barts.

In April, she shared that they are expecting a girl after celebrating a gender reveal party.

The baby is due in September.

Pregnant: The Missouri native, 27, modeled a skimpy two-piece as she posed in her living room with beloved pup Winston keeping her company

Expectant mom: She's expecting her baby with businessman husband Johnny Barbara whom she married in 2019

Glam: Devon was in full makeup with arched brows, shimmer shadow, blush and matte red lip color

Just chillin': She also shared some selfies as she relaxed in the sun wearing a pair of large shades

Missouri native Windsor took to Instagram on March 12 to share two black and white snaps of herself with Barbara.

She held the image of her ultrasound scan in the snaps as she shared her happy baby news.

In the caption she wrote: 'Mom & Dad. I'm pregnant!! Johnny and I are so excited to finally share the news with you guys!'

She added: 'I have dreamt of being a mama my whole life. We are so grateful for this little angel in my belly, and are so excited for this new chapter in our lives!'

Pregnant: Devon announced her happy news via Instagram in March and the couple are due to welcome their baby in September

Happy news: 'I have dreamt of being a mama my whole life,' she shared on Instagram. 'We are so grateful for this little angel in my belly, and are so excited for this new chapter in our lives!'

Windsor got her start as a model in St. Louis in 2008 when she was just 14.

A year later, she moved to Los Angeles and in 2010 she signed with IMG Models in New York.

Windsor became an in demand catwalk model and became a regular in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show from 2013 onwards.
Kayla Itsines was spotted out with a mystery man less than a year after splitting from her ex-fiance, Tobi Pearce.

The 30-year-old fitness queen was seen outside her Adelaide home with the man on Sunday.

He was unloading cases of beer from Kayla's white BMW SUV, which had been parked outside on the street.

Feeling good: Kayla Itsines was spotted out with a mystery man less than a year after splitting from her ex-fiance, Tobi Pearce

The mystery man strongly resembled someone known simply as 'Mitch G', who is believed to be Kayla's new boyfriend.

The man had an identical butterfly tattoo on his inner right bicep as the one seen in Mitch's profile picture on Instagram.

Furthermore, his bio includes the letters 'K.I' - Kayla's initials - with a red love heart written after it.

Stepping out: The 30-year-old fitness queen was seen outside her Adelaide home with the man on Sunday

Heavy lifting: He was unloading cases of beer from Kayla's white BMW SUV, which had been parked outside on the street

Moving on: Kayla confirmed she had found love again in an interview with Australian Women's Health last month

According to his Instagram bio, Mitch works as an ADL videographer, and has a keen interest in 'family', 'fitness' and 'film'.

Mitch also follows Kayla on Instagram, and while she doesn't appear to follow him back, her mother, Anna, is one of his 1,760 followers.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Kayla for comment.

Coincidence? He strongly resembled a man known simply as 'Mitch G', who is believed to be Kayla's new boyfriend

Matching ink: The man had an identical butterfly tattoo on his inner right bicep as the one seen in Mitch's profile picture on Instagram

Telling: His Instagram bio includes the letters 'K.I' - Kayla's initials - with a red love heart written after it

Kayla confirmed she had found love again in an interview with Australian Women's Health last month.

But she stopped short of revealing the mystery man's identity.

'It's early days, so I won't share too much. But I'm super happy. We have a strong sense of family and a love for fitness [in common],' she said at the time.

Personal info: According to his Instagram bio, Mitch works as an ADL videographer, and has a keen interest in 'family', 'fitness' and 'film'

Shop girl: A casually dressed Kayla was spotted emerging from her car with a paper shopping bag from Adelaide boutique Denim + Cloth

Like for like: Mitch also follows Kayla on Instagram, and while she doesn't appear to follow him back, her mother, Anna, is one of his 1,760 followers

Meanwhile, a casually dressed Kayla was spotted emerging from her car with a paper shopping bag from Adelaide boutique Denim + Cloth.

She wore a pair of beige-coloured tracksuit pants, which she paired with an oversize brown sweatshirt.

Kayla also wore white sneakers, and her long brunette hair was styled loose as she carried a bottle of wine tucked under one arm.

Intimate celebration: Speaking to Australian Women's Health, Kayla said she's 'not a party girl', and would only celebrate her 30th birthday with 'something small'

Talking it out: Kayla was spotted briefly conversing with her male friend as they stood out on the street together

Letting her hair down: Kayla also wore white sneakers, and her long brunette hair was styled loose as she carried a bottle of wine tucked under one arm

The alcohol may have been for an upcoming house party, after Kayla celebrated her 30th birthday on May 21.

But speaking to Australian Women's Health, Kayla said she's 'not a party girl', and would only celebrate with 'something small'.

The renowned personal trainer appeared fresh-faced on the outing, and seemed to be in high spirits, smiling as she stepped out of the car.

Makeup-free: The renowned personal trainer appeared fresh-faced on the outing, and seemed to be in high spirits, smiling as she stepped out of the car

Heavy lifting: The alcohol may have been for an upcoming house party, after Kayla celebrated her 30th birthday on May 21

Kayla was spotted briefly conversing with her male friend as they stood out on the street together.

They appeared to make several trips between the house and the car as they unloaded their purchases.

Kayla confirmed her split from Tobi, who is the father of her two-year-old daughter, Arna Leia Pearce, in August last year.

Back and forth: They appeared to make several trips between the house and the car as they unloaded their purchases

Business partners: Kayla and her ex, who were together for eight years, co-founded the Bikini Body Training Company after meeting in late 2012

The former couple, who were together for eight years, co-founded the Bikini Body Training Company after meeting in late 2012.

The popular brand went on to amass a following of more than 20 million fitness enthusiasts worldwide thanks to their workouts, app and ebooks.

They were named joint fifth on the Australian Financial Review's Young Rich List for 2018, making them the wealthiest self-made twenty-somethings in Australia.

Rich girl: Kayla and her ex were named joint fifth on the Australian Financial Review's Young Rich List for 2018, making them the wealthiest self-made twenty-somethings in Australia

'After eight years together, Tobi and I have come to the difficult decision to separate as a couple. We will always be family, and remain good friends and devoted parents to Arna,' Kayla said after splitting from Tobi

That year, Forbes estimated the then-couple's shared net worth to be $696million.

Their fitness programs help people transform their bodies and achieve dramatic weight loss at the gym or from home.

At the time of their separation, Kayla said in a statement that she and Tobi would remain friends and business partners.

Ex factor: Kayla confirmed her split from Tobi Pearce (left), who is the father of her two-year-old daughter, Arna Leia Pearce, in August last year

'After eight years together, Tobi and I have come to the difficult decision to separate as a couple. We will always be family, and remain good friends and devoted parents to Arna,' she said.

'We have grown up together in Adelaide, sharing a lifetime of experiences and special memories from moving into our first apartment and starting SWEAT from our lounge room to becoming parents to our beautiful daughter.

'Our friendship remains strong as we parent Arna together and run SWEAT as business partners. Thank you for your support and kindness during this time.'
She made a name for herself on the 2019 series of Love Island.

And, Belle Hassan, 23, left little to the imagination in a very daring sunset print mini dress for a night out at Jin Bo Law Skybar in London, on Sunday.

The make-up artist put on a leggy display in the pink and orange bodycon frock, which boasted an eye-catching strung-together neckline.

Wow! Belle Hassan, 23, left little to the imagination in a daring sunset print mini dress for a night out at Jin Bo Law Skybar in London, on Sunday

Belle's unusual dress featured one orange sleeve with no shoulder, and an incredibly short Asymmetric hemline.

WIth her tanned pins on display, the TV personality boosted her height with slip-on fuchsia heels and carried her belonging in a bright orange handbag.

Her blonde hair extensions were styled into bouncy curls and ditched using fake eyelashes, instead opting for a bronzed make-up look and dark lip.

Belle rose to prominence on the 2019 summer series of Love Island, where she struck up a short-lived romance with Anton Danyluk, which ended just five weeks after they left the villa.

Strutting her stuff: The make-up artist put on a leggy display in the pink and orange bodycon frock, which boasted an eye-catching strung-together neckline

It comes after Belle had a candid discussion about her mental health with her dad, British actor and Hollywood hardman Tamer Hassan on his podcast Family Business.

Revealing how difficult things were for her when she was younger, a clearly emotional Belle said: 'It's not something that's easy for me to talk about. I don't mind talking about it but it's not easy.

As you know dad, when I was a kid I did go through a stage of self harming. For me that was something I really struggled with, and again it all came from a thing of'

Finishing touches: WIth her tanned pins on display, the TV personality boosted her height with slip-on fuchsia heels and carried her belonging in a bright orange handbag

Belle could then be heard struggling to compose herself, as her dad told the audience: 'We're all welling up here. Take your time.'

Expressing sympathy for those in similar situations, Belle continued: 'Mental health has been something that has been close to me.

'I think when I've worked with young girls, I've seen that in so many of them.'

'It's normal to hate yourself, it's normal to feel like you're not enough, you're worthless, you're this, you're that. Being young and feeling like that about yourself is horrible.'

For help and advice on suffering with self-harm, contact MIND at mind.org.uk
She's been enjoying an idyllic holiday in Portugal with her family.

And Billie Faiers sent temperatures soaring as she flaunted her incredible physique in a striped green and white bikini.

The former TOWIE star, 33, appeared to be in great spirits as she beamed in the post which she shared to her Instagram Stories on Sunday.

Sizzling: Billie Faiers sent temperatures soaring as she flaunted her incredible physique in a striped green and white bikini while enjoying her break in Portugal on Instagram over the weekend

Posing in front of a swimming pool and scenic backdrop, Billie flaunted her lithe pins in the high-waisted bikini bottoms.

She ensured all eyes were on her as she displayed her taut midriff in the matching bikini top, which tied at the front.

The Mummy Diaries star let her golden tresses cascade down to her waist in beachy waves as she fixed the camera with a smile.

Adam Frisby, founder of clothing brand In The Style shared the snap of Billie first, as she posed with a bag and kept cool with a handheld fan.

Larking around: Billie then reshared another of Adam's Stories, as she posed in a stunning red bikini while holding an inflatable crocodile

He wrote on the snap: 'This was the fan. She actually couldn't stop laughing.'

Billie then reshared another of Adam's Stories, as she posed in a stunning red bikini while holding an inflatable crocodile.

She showcased her lithe frame in the two piece, and added a matching hairband to her ensemble.

The mother-of-two has been enjoying her time in the sun with husband Greg Shepherd, 35, and their daughter Nelly, six, and three-year-old son Arthur.

Billie has been sharing several snaps from their holiday, including one of Friday in which looked sensational as she posed for a candid mirror selfie inside their hotel.

She looked stunning in a neon green bikini, as she beamed next to her husband and children.

Billie wore a chic white shirt, left unbuttoned, and added touches of glamour in the form of a chunky gold necklace, gold hoop earrings and Christian Dior sunglasses.

She kept light on her feet in a pair of flip flops, and tied her blonde locks back off her face into a sleek chignon at the nape of the neck.

Nelly looked cute as a button in a flamingo print jumpsuit, while Arthur wore a black T-shirt and blue starfish swim shorts.

One hot mama! Billie showed off her figure in a neon green bikini for a candid mirror selfie shared to Instagram on Friday

Despite clearly enjoying her family break, Billie, who is still abroad, could face a mad dash back from Portugal to avoid a 10-day quarantine, after the country was placed on the UK government's 'amber travel list.'

The change means that those returning to the UK either to quarantine at home for ten days on their return and take a PCR test on days two and eight, as well as a lateral flow test before the return flight.

Or they can pay for an additional third 'Test to Release' on day five to end self-isolation early.

British families of four in Portugal now face having to pay 1,500 to buy three sets of PCR tests at 125 each, if they go under the 'Test to Release' scheme.

Adding this to the cost of a lateral flow test, which can be bought at Faro Airport for 30 (25), the total cost for a family of four would be about 1,600.
They have been happily together for two years.

And AJ Pritchard and Abbie Quinnen looked more loved-up than ever as they packed on the PDA while attending An Evening With Shirley Ballas at the Clapham Grand on Sunday night.

The former I'm A Celebrity star, 26, and dancer, 24, kissed each other as they made their way home after supporting his former Strictly co-star.

Smitten: AJ Pritchard and Abbie Quinnen packed on the PDA as they kissed after showing their support to his former Strictly co-star Shirley Ballas at event at the Clapham Grand on Sunday

Abbie looked stylish in a long-sleeved black turtleneck top that she tucked into a pair of sleek, pleated shorts for the occasion.

She boosted her height in a pair of velour heels and kept her personal items in a small black pleated handbag that had red detailing along the seams.

AJ, meanwhile, wore a white short-sleeved shirt that had a black fern print, which he paired with white shorts and monochrome Nike trainers.

The outing comes after Abbie suffered horrific burns in a freak fire accident while she was filming a YouTube video with the dancer in January.

Glamorous: Abbie looked stylish in a long-sleeved black turtleneck top that she tucked into a pair of sleek, pleated shorts for the occasion

Sweet: AJ and Abbie looked more loved-up than ever

Chic: Abbie boosted her height in a pair of velour heels and kept her personal items in a small black pleated handbag that had red detailing along the seams

Abbie needed three skin grafts after a YouTube video she was filming with her boyfriend went horribly wrong and saw a wine bottle explode and set fire to her hair and clothing on January 19.

She detailed the fears she felt for her life during the accident while her beau AJ spoke about how 'seconds felt like a lifetime' when he attempted to quell the flames consuming her during an appearance on Lorraine.

And despite the ordeal, Abbie remained positive about her recovery as she said: 'I'm doing OK a lot better than I was, that's for sure. My face has almost healed now.'

Casual chic: AJ, meanwhile, wore a white short-sleeved shirt that had a black fern print, which he paired with white shorts and monochrome Nike trainers

Event: AJ and Abbie came out to support Shirley with her show (pictured with beau Danny Taylor)

Incident: The outing comes after Abbie suffered horrific burns in a freak fire accident while she was filming a YouTube video with the dancer in January

She continued: 'I think when it happened I was just thinking the worst, my face is never going to look the same again, I'm always going to have scars on my body.

'I'm never going to be able to dance or perform and do what I love doing, so I instantly thought that was it for me. Luckily my face is healing really well.'

Abbie revealed last month that she struggles to find clothes to wear because she has to wear a compression vest '23 hours a day' and keep her scars out of the sun.

Recovery: Abbie needed three skin grafts after a YouTube video she was filming with AJ went horribly wrong and saw a wine bottle explode and set fire to her hair and clothing, in January

Taking to Instagram, the dancer made the candid admission, revealing that she is always left 'panicking' before she leaves home.

Abbie penned: 'There's only a few things I feel comfortable wearing at the moment and this dress is one of them.

'Definitely am finding it hard to find what to wear at the moment as I have to wear a compression vest 23 hours a day under my clothes and keep my scars out of the sun.

'I'm always panicking about what I'm going to wear before I leave the house so it's always so lovely to get so many compliments from you all about what I'm wearing! Thank you.'

Candid: Abbie took to Instagram last month where she admitted that she struggles to find clothes to wear because she has to wear a compression vest '23 hours a day'
The impact of the pandemic on state economy and government finances would come up for discussion at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. (Photo: Twitter @TelanganaCMO)

Hyderabad: With the second wave of Covid-19 hurting government finances, the state Budget numbers are set for major revisions for the third consecutive year. Substantial sums have to be kept apart for expenditure in the health sector and for subsidized distribution of food for poor for a few more months.

The impact of the pandemic on state economy and government finances would come up for discussion at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Officials said decisions on increasing budget funds for health and police departments to fight Covid19 and cutting down funds for a few other departments are likely.

The government is incurring additional expenditure on the Covid-19 front and to provide additional ration to the poor caught in the pandemic and lockdown situations besides extending financial assistance and ration to teachers and staff working in private schools. The government is also incurring huge expenditure for upgrading the facilities in hospitals for Covid treatment.

Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao had pruned the 2019-20 Budget by 20 per cent citing the economic slowdown then and in view of the drastic cuts in Central government funds and grants. The budget size was slashed from Rs 1.82 lakh crore to Rs1.46 lakh.

In 2020-21, the year of the Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, the Budget was of Rs1.82 lakh crore but this was later downsized to Rs1.66 lakh crore as the state government suffered a revenue loss of Rs 50,000 crore due to the Covid-19 situation.

For the fiscal 2021-22, the state government presented an even more ambitious budget of Rs 2.30 lakh crore, hoping for revival of the economy from April. But the Covid-19 second wave since April and subsequent lockdowns dashed its hopes again.

The state government has to earn nearly Rs 20,000 crore per month to meet this target. In April, it earned Rs 9,980 crore and in May, the collections fell to Rs 5,100 crore due to the lockdown.

During a review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan on the impact of Covid-19 on state finances, the Chief Minister asked finance minister T. Harish Rao to identify the departments from where funds can be diverted to health and police departments.

The government has decided to auction government lands and plots, as also flats of the Telangana housing board to raise additional funds besides seeking Central nod for an increase in the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) limit by 3 to 5 per cent to borrow more from external sources as was done last year.
Chloe Ferry has said she is planning a 'hot girl summer' as she took to Instagram on Sunday to share a collection of sizzling swimwear snaps after splitting from Hollyoaks hunk Owen Warner.

The Geordie Shore star, 25, left little to the imagination in a tiny mint green bikini as she posed up a storm in the skimpy ensemble.

It comes after Chloe confirmed she had split from Owen over the weekend amid claims he reportedly messaged glamour model, Apollonia Llewellyn, begging to meet up.

Newly-single: Chloe Ferry has said she is planning a 'hot girl summer' as she took to Instagram on Sunday to share a collection of sizzling swimwear snaps after splitting from Hollyoaks hunk Owen Warner

Putting the drama behind her on Sunday, the reality star looked to the future as she said on her Instagram Story: 'My plan this summer... hot girl summer with me and the girls.'

Chloe shared the caption alongside a slew of sultry swimwear snaps where she could barely contain her very ample assets in a tiny triangle top and matching skimpy high-rise bottoms.

The reality star revealed that she was relaxing in her lavish hot tub at home and penned on a different sizzling photo: 'If I want it I'm gonna have it.'

It comes after Chloe confirmed she had split from Hollyoaks hunk Owen, 21, over the weekend, saying that they live 'very different lifestyles' and that it wasn't the 'right time' for their romance.

Work it: The Geordie Shore star, 25, left little to the imagination in a tiny mint green bikini as she posed up a storm in the skimpy ensemble

It's OVER! It comes after Chloe confirmed she had split from Owen over the weekend amid claims he reportedly messaged glamour model, Apollonia Llewellyn, begging to meet up (pictured together in May)

The Geordie Shore star went Instagram official with the actor in May during her recent Portugal break and hinted they were engaged at the time.

Writing a lengthy caption to her Story, Chloe penned: 'Getting a lot of messages asking if me and Owen are together just to clarify I am SINGLE.

'We just live very different lifestyles and it's just not the right time at the moment... what will be will be... also I'm very grateful to have had some amazing memories with the boy amazing person inside and out.'

Over the weekend, The Sun reported that Owen was sliding into the [Instagram] DMs of OnlyFans model Apollonia Llewellyn, just days before he went public with Chloe.

Work it: Chloe shared the caption alongside a slew of sultry swimwear snaps where she could barely contain her very ample assets in a tiny triangle top and matching skimpy high-rise bottoms

Statement: It comes after Chloe confirmed she had split from Hollyoaks hunk Owen, 21, over the weekend, saying that they live 'very different lifestyles' and that it wasn't the 'right time' for their romance

A source told the publication: 'They met when she was an extra on Hollyoaks. Owen had his eye on Apollonia as soon as he saw her on the set of Hollyoaks and slid right into her DMs.

'He has been desperate to get her to go on a date with him and was trying to pin her down in late April and early May. They made plans a few times but the weather and work got in the way.

'Chloe clearly has no idea what he was up to before going official with her and has been telling everyone how into him she is.'

According to the insider, he began 'putting the moves' on Apollonia straight after his split from The Apprentice star, Camilla Ainsworth.

Claims: Over the weekend, The Sun reported that Owen was sliding into the [Instagram] DMs of OnlyFans model Apollonia Llewellyn, pictured, just days before he went public with Chloe

Following the claims, Chloe stopped following Owen on social media.

MailOnline contacted both Chloe and Owen's representatives for comment at the time.

Only last week, Chloe revealed her new romance with Owen was going swimmingly as she spoke to MailOnline about their passionate union - even revealing she could see herself marrying the 'Greek God'.

The Geordie Shore legend spoke at the launch of her best pal and co-star Bethan Kershaw's BB The Label clothing collection, during which she lauded praise on the hunk who she says has helped with her many insecurities.

Former flame: The Geordie Shore star went Instagram official with the actor in May during her recent Portugal break and hinted they were engaged at the time

She said: 'So me and Owen have been meeting before. He's absolutely lush - that body is to die for - I said he looks like a Greek God...

'We're not official but we're just seeing how we go. It's good. I know that he would be the perfect husband and he's the sort of person I would marry. I've never felt passion like I do with him, I can't believe it.'

On how he quells her insecurities, she went on: 'Do you know what it is with him. He gets annoyed when I put myself down. He says what are you talking about? And I'm so insecure but you wouldn't thinking it looking at me and that's what I need...

Moving on? Following the claims, Chloe stopped following Owen on social media and MailOnline have reached to her and the Hollyoaks star's reps for further comment

'I went for the wrong people before but now I'm working on myself. I'm buying my own house, it was the right person.'

On her recent holiday and her upcoming plans, excited Chloe said: 'Hot girl summer - all about it! It was good to get back to normal life and it was so hard. Not seeing people was the hardest in lockdown.'

Chloe is believed to have been single for more than a year following a turbulent relationship with Sam Gowland which began in 2017. The on-and-off couple parted ways for good in February 2020.

Since then, the reality star has been embracing the single life, having appeared on the 2020 series of Celebs Go Dating.

She built a connection with Kieran Bishop and they reportedly spent time together when they left the show's mansion. However, the alleged romance didn't last long as Chloe failed to confirm they were ever dating.

She even shared a series of flirty exchanges with her Celebs Go Dating co-star Wayne Lineker, 59, who sent fans wild when he posted a fake engagement photo.
She never puts a foot wrong in the fashion stakes.

And model Lara Worthington turned the Sydney streets into her runway when she left a business meeting in Chippendale on Monday.

The 33-year-old looked effortlessly chic in a nude printed blouse which she teamed with an oversized taupe blazer and matching culottes.

Suits her! Lara Worthington, 33, cut an effortlessly chic figure in a taupe blazer and matching culottes as she left a business meeting in Sydney on Monday (pictured)

Lara kept light on her feet in a pair of black trainers and carried her essential items in a black shoulder bag.

The mother of three concealed her gaze behind black narrow-frame sunglasses, and added touches of bling in the form of gold sleeper earrings and rings on her fingers.

Lara's cropped blonde locks were sleek and straight, and she appeared to wear minimal makeup, drawing attention to her natural beauty.

Details: The model's ensemble also consisted of a nude printed blouse and black trainers

The future's bright: Lara concealed her gaze behind black narrow-frame sunglasses and carried her essential items in a black shoulder bag

Tresses: The mother of three styled her cropped blonde locks sleek and straight, and added subtle touches of bling in the form of delicate gold sleeper earrings and rings on her fingers

Lara and her actor husband Sam Worthington, 44, arrived back in Australia with their children in January.

Sam returned to Australia to star in the Sydney Theatre Company production of the Wesley Enoch directed comedy, Appropriate.

Reports surfaced last year that the couple were planning to move Down Under on a permanent basis after living in Los Angeles.

Beauty: The entrepreneur appeared to wear minimal makeup, drawing attention a radiant and blemish-free visage

Down Under: Lara and her actor husband Sam Worthington, 44, arrived back in Australia with their children in January

The couple have been based in the US with their sons Rocket, six, and Racer, four, for a number of years.

In June 2020, they welcomed their most recent addition, a baby boy, whose name is yet to be revealed.

Lara and Sam began dating in 2013 and married in secret a year later.

Change of pace: The couple have been based in the US with their sons Rocket, six, and Racer, four, for a number of years
The show has suffered with plummeting ratings since the departure of Piers Morgan.

And, Good Morning Britain viewers were left cringing over Richard Madeley, 65, and Susanna Reid's, 50, 'excruciating' interview with a family of nudists, on Monday.

With nudism on the rise, the co-hosts were tasked with finding out why it's so appealing to bare all, but the 11-minute segment didn't find favour with viewers.

Cringe! Good Morning Britain viewers were left cringing over Richard Madeley, 65, and Susanna Reid's, 50, 'excruciating' interview with a family of nudists, on Monday

Speaking from a field in Doncaster, Carol and Colin Wood along with their daughter Angie explained why they preferred life without clothes.

Covering their naked bodies by kneeling behind straw bales, Colin explained: 'It's enjoyable, it's convenient, you're not struggling to change your clothes in a small tent, and people trust each other.

'I've had many ladies go with me in a Land Rover across the field and there's a trust that isn't there in other societies.'

Asked by Richard if they ever feel judged, Colin insisted: 'No, not at all. By the time you've taken to naturism you're happy with your body.

Nudist life: Speaking from a field in Doncaster, Carol and Colin Wood along with their daughter Angie explained why they preferred life without clothes

Discovering all: With nudism on the rise, the GMB co-hosts were tasked with finding out why it's so appealing to bare all, but the 11-minute segment didn't find favour with viewers

'The young people are frightened and keep covered up, and you get older and you're body goes out of shape, you're not bothered anymore.'

Viewers took to Twitter to voice their opinions of the 11-minute segment, with many branding it 'cringe' and 'awkward.'

One person wrote: 'The nudists on #goodmorningbritain were too funny. They couldn't keep a straight face.'

'omg it was so funny & cringy seeing these nudists so early on me telly' tweeted someone else, while another insisted: 'Watching you interview those 3 nudists is EXCRUCIATING!'

Convenient! Covering their naked bodies by kneeling behind straw bales, Colin explained: 'It's enjoyable, it's convenient, , you're not struggling to change your clothes in a small tent...'

'@GMB really scraping the barrel with news. A proper cringy interview about nudists! Poor form from @susannareid100,' blasted one viewer.

'How torturous is GMB this morning? This nudist interview has to be the worst ever shown on live TV. How not to do a live interview,' tweeted another.

Someone else asked: 'Am I the only one who thought the nudist interview was like pulling teeth and beyond awkward ? #GMB.'
Vin Diesel paid tribute to his late co-star Paul Walker on Sunday as he shared an emotional throwback snap to Instagram taken on the set of Fast & Furious.

In the weeks leading up to the release of the ninth film in the franchise, the actor, 53, said that he hoped to make Paul 'proud'.

Paul tragically passed away on November 30, 2013, at the age of 40 as a passenger in a single car crash alongside friend and driver Roger Rodas.

Emotional: Vin Diesel paid tribute to his late co-star Paul Walker on Sunday as he shared an emotional throwback snap to Instagram taken on the set of Fast & Furious

Writing a heartfelt caption alongside the photo, Vin revealed that Paul's daughter Meadow, 22, had sent him the picture as it makes her 'happy'.

In the emotional tribute, the actor wrote: 'Weeks away from the F9 release... in preproduction for the finale that starts only months from now...

'@meadowwalker sends me this image and tells me how happy the photo makes her feel.

Tribute: In the weeks leading up to the release of the ninth film in the franchise, the actor, 53, said that he hoped to make Paul 'proud' (pictured together in 2001 still)

'Naturally, one gets filled with emotion, purpose and ultimately gratitude. Eternal brotherhood is a blessing beyond words. Hope to make you proud... All love, Always.'

It comes after Paul's brother Cody said he is happy with the way that Vin and the Fast & Furious franchise has honoured Paul's legacy.

The 32-year-old actor spoke to TMZ when he was stopped outside of Sancho's Tacos in Huntington Beach on Saturday.

Sticking together: Writing a heartfelt caption alongside the photo, Vin revealed that Paul's daughter Meadow, 22, had sent him the picture as it makes her 'happy' (pictured together with Vin's daughter Hania, 13, in a throwback snap shared by Meadow in May)

'Vin and the whole family have done a really good job of tastefully kind of letting the character ride off into the sunset,' he told the media outlet.

He continued: 'I think Paul would get a kick out of where it's gone. It's gotten so crazy you know It's a wild wild ride at this point.

'Paul was very much the purist, you know, the real car guy I couldn't speculate what he would think, I just know that Vin always takes a very serious approach when it comes to keeping Paul's legacy in mind.

Honouring his memory: It comes after Paul's brother Cody said he is happy with the way that Vin and the Fast & Furious franchise has honoured Paul's legacy (pictured in 2019)

Filling in: At the time of his death, Paul and the Fast & Furious cast were in the middle of filming Furious 7. The movie eventually was finished after several rewrites with Cody and Paul's other brother Caleb acting as stand-ins for Paul

'He's always done a really nice job when it comes to paying tribute to his character. They worked together and were brothers for years.'

At the time of his death, Paul and the Fast & Furious cast were in the middle of filming Furious 7.

The movie eventually was finished after several rewrites with Cody and Paul's other brother Caleb acting as stand-ins for Paul's lead character Brian O'Connor along with CGI. It was released in 2015.

The ninth instalment, Furious 9, will be released on June 25, 2021.

When asked if it would have beyond Paul's wildest dreams that the franchise has reached this point, Cody said: 'Absolutely, absolutely. They were all so young when this whole thing started and I was even younger.

'I was in middle school when this whole thing started and that's where my love of cars came from.

'I meet people all the time that go, "Your brother is the reason I love cars", to which I say, "Me too."'

Meanwhile, Vin has stayed close with Paul's daughter Meadow.

Long-running: The franchise began in 2001 and the ninth instalment, Furious 9, will be released on June 25, 2021. Still from Fast & Furious 7 in 2015

Recently she made it clear that the actor was also 'family' in a sweet photo she posted to Instagram in May.

The 22-year-old model included a black-and-white throwback snap of herself with the action star and his 13-year-old daughter Hania.

She expressed similar sentiments in June of 2020 when she shared a cute photo of herself surrounded by Vin's other two children, Vincent, 11, and Pauline, six, which she captioned 'family, forever'.
Susanna Reid looked radiant on Sunday as she displayed blonde highlights and a fake tan for a new glowing snap shared to Instagram.

The Good Morning Britain presenter, 50, admitted in the caption she had filtered the photograph and joked: 'Hair colour & suntan not model's own.'

Susanna shared the radiant snap before her return to GMB on Monday with guest presenter Richard Madeley following a week-long break.

Radiant: Susanna Reid looked radiant on Sunday as she displayed blonde highlights and a fake tan for a new glowing snap shared to Instagram

In the photo, the presenter looked incredible as she appeared to go makeup-free and debuted new lighter locks compared to her signature brunette hair.

Susanna wore a navy T-shirt which she teamed with a pair of sunglasses on her head and a delicate gold chain necklace.

Captioning the selfie, the presenter joked: '#SUNSHINE! Hope you have had a gorgeous weekend - back @gmb tomorrow with the legend Richard Madeley, after a wonderful week off

'(Disclaimer: pic most definitely filtered; hair colour & suntan not model's own).'

Funny: The Good Morning Britain presenter, 50, admitted in the caption she had filtered the photograph and joked: 'Hair colour & suntan not model's own.'

New look! In the photo, the presenter looked incredible as she appeared to go makeup-free and debuted new lighter locks, left, compared to her signature brunette hair, right

Susanna's 570K followers were quick to react to the picture as they commented on her new hair colour, even though she revealed it was filtered.

One person said: 'Your hair looks fantastic .'

A different fan put: 'You're looking gorgeous and happy .'

While another follower commented: 'Looking beautiful love the hair .'

Back to it! Susanna shared the radiant snap before her return to GMB on Monday with guest presenter Richard Madeley following a week-long break (pictured on Monday)

They're a fan! Susanna's 570K followers were quick to react to the picture as they commented on her new hair colour, even though she revealed it was filtered

Susanna returned to Good Morning Britain on Monday with Richard, 65, as a guest co-host.

Richard, 65, has been a stand-in presenter on GMB since 2017 and he presented the show alongside Charlotte Hawkins last week.

It comes after it was reported that ITV bosses are considering a female co-host to replace Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain, if he doesn't return to the show.

The presenter, 56, left GMB earlier this year after refusing to apologise for his remarks over Meghan Markle's interview with Opera Winfrey.

Regular star: Richard, 65, has been a stand-in presenter on GMB since 2017 and he presented the show alongside Charlotte Hawkins last week (pictured in 2018)

Claims: It comes after it was reported that ITV bosses are considering a female co-host to replace Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain , if he doesn't return to the show (pictured in March)

Channel chiefs are hoping to make Susanna their main presenter and hire a permanent co-host from their existing pool of talent - which could mean a second full-time female would front the show, The Sun reports.

Since Piers' departure from the breakfast show a number of presenters have taken turns co-hosting the programme, including Richard, Charlotte Hawkins, Ranvir Singh, Kate Garraway, Bill Turner and Alastair Campbell, among others.

And an insider told the publication: 'It is very possible that we will have two women fronting the show. Susanna will take the lead, but the job of her co-host is up for grabs, and it will come down to who is most popular with viewers.

'The attitude behind the scenes is there is no rush to find a replacement for Piers this year, the bosses want to make the right choice. They want to give lots of people a chance and, as time goes on, focus more on the most popular hosts.

Host? It's been reported channel chiefs are hoping to make Susanna Reid their main presenter and a second full-time female could front the show (pictured Ranvir Singh and Kate Garraway)

Dramatic: The presenter, 56, left GMB earlier this year after refusing to apologise for his remarks over Meghan Markle's interview with Opera Winfrey

'The feeling is if Piers doesn't come back, it'd be unfair to draft in a replacement straight away, both on Piers and his replacement.'

MailOnline has approached ITV representatives for comment.

Last week Piers claimed ITV bosses had been in touch asking him to return to GMB, telling The Sun he believes he could 'take the ratings back to where he left them' after a slump in viewing figures.

Previous presenters: Last week Piers claimed ITV bosses had been in touch asking him to return to GMB, and believes he could 'take the ratings back to where he left them'

He said: 'They reached out  there have been approaches. Never say never.

'I have no doubt I could take the ratings back to where I left them  but the doubt is, would anyone be allowed to do it that way again?

'I was hired to give very strong, honestly held opinions, which I did. But in the end I was asked to apologise for a genuinely held opinion.'

He added: 'I have had some quite random third-party feelers put out to see if I would consider a return to the show.'

Existing talent: Laura Tobin and Charlotte Hawkins (both pictured on GMB in 2018) could be among the candidates considered to fill Piers' empty chair

Piers stormed off GMB in March as he discussed the Harry and Meghan interview, where he expressed his belief that Meghan was lying during the chat with Oprah Winfrey and that the couple damaged the royal family's reputation.

The outspoken host left the daytime series after he insisted he 'didn't believe a word' of Meghan's account of suffering suicidal thoughts and experiencing racism at the hands of the royal family.

Piers then walked off set after a fierce debate with Alex, in which the weather presenter accused Piers of unfairly 'trashing' Meghan, and branded him 'diabolical'.

When Piers walked off screen, Alex continued: 'I'm sorry but Piers just spouts off on a regular basis and we have to sit there and listen.'

Quit: The outspoken host left the daytime series after he insisted he 'didn't believe a word' of Meghan's account of suffering suicidal thoughts and experiencing racism (pictured in September)

Piers, who refused to apologise, later announced his resignation and tweeted his thanks to the GMB team, praising them for their 'hard work and dedication' that led to them beating their main breakfast TV rival.

And Piers shared his own reflections on the events of that fateful week in a piece for the Mail On Sunday shortly afterwards.

Piers called Alex 'GMB's occasional stand-in weatherman' and 'uptight' in the telling account, adding that the presenter hasn't messaged him since his exit unlike others on the show.

It comes as viewing figures for GMB's show on Tuesday plunged to just 450,000.

Viewership for the ITV breakfast show has been in steady decline since Piers quit back in March, after peaking at 1.9 million viewers days before he left the show.

Tuesday's GMB was hosted by Adil Ray and Ranvir Singh, with a small number of viewers watching following the May Bank Holiday.

A mere 450,000 viewers tuned into the programme, one of the lowest figure in the show's seven-year history, and a far cry from the heyday when Piers was on the panel.

It was just twelve weeks earlier that GMB brought in its highest ever viewership, with a peak of 1.9 million viewers watching the panel react to the Megan and Harry Oprah interview which had aired overnight. Its viewership averaged out at 1,151,400 million.

The following day, March 9, an average of 1.29 million viewers saw Piers storm off GMB after clashing with Alex Beresford about the Meghan and Harry interview following its broadcast on UK screens.

Testing: It comes as viewing figures for GMB's show on Tuesday plunged to just 450,000 (pictured Adil Ray with Ranvir)

That programme ended up being Piers' last, as just hours later he announced he'd quit the show.

Following news that Piers had quit, the first show following his exit on March 10 saw ratings quickly take a hit, with an average of 1.24 million viewers watching Susanna react to her presenting partner's exit alongside stand-in Ranvir.

Numbers continued to slide as the week went on, and by the week's end ratings had slipped to just 850,000 viewers.

By Monday March 15, average viewers were down by 255,700 compared to the previous Monday.
She recently returned from Portugal, after the country was put on the amber list and joined a hoard of holidaymakers racing back before the change in quarantine rules.

And Amanda Holden put on a stylish display as she arrived at work at Global radio studios in London on Monday.

The Britain's Got Talent judge, 50, looked sensational while she showed off her legs in a red wrap-front dress that had a floral print.

Outing: Amanda Holden put on a very leggy display in a red floral wrap-front dress as she arrived in style at Global Radio studios in London on Monday, after returning from Portugal

Amanda's ensemble featured a short pleated skirt and puffy sleeves that gave her look a glamorous flair as she strolled into work.

She boosted her height in a pair of open-toe black heels and kept her personal items in a small red clutch bag.

Her golden locks were brushed into loose waves that fell over her shoulder and she used a light palette of make-up for the occasion.

Amanda complemented her look by shielding her eyes with a pair of chic shades, and she accessorised with a bee pendant necklace.

Chic: Amanda's ensemble featured a short pleated skirt and puffy sleeves that gave her look a glamorous flair as she strolled into work

Legs for days! Amanda boosted her height in a pair of open-toe black heels

Looking good: Amanda's golden locks were brushed into loose waves that fell over her shoulder and she used a light palette of make-up for the occasion

Amanda also relished her return to work as she posed for a snap she shared via Instagram and wrote in the caption: 'Morning back with my radio #family.'

Thousands of British travellers in Portugal have faced chaos at airports, with many describing boarding flights with just minutes to spare while others will be forced to quarantine because they cannot book PCR tests.

As Portugal moves into the amber list, passengers have until 4am Tuesday to return to the UK or quarantine for 10 days, and must have proof of a negative PCR test taken no more than three days before their departure or face a 500.

Smile and wave: Amanda was seen saying hi to onlookers as she arrived at work

Delighted: Amanda appeared to be in good spirits as she smiled while heading to work

Stunning: Amanda complemented her look by shielding her eyes with a pair of chic shades

She's back! Amanda also relished her return to work as she posed for a snap she shared via Instagram and wrote in the caption: 'Morning back with my radio #family'

Last week, Amanda sizzled in a dreamy shot that saw her cooling off in the sea while showing off her stunning figure in her skimpy beachwear.

In the picture shared to Instagram, she had teamed her almost see-through swimsuit with a chunky pair of shades and sported wet locks as she flashed a smile while making her way back up onto the sand from the ocean.

Using the shot as a perfect opportunity to flirt with her fans, Amanda sent temperatures soaring as she teased alongside her post: 'Fancy a dip?'

Insane: Last week, Amanda looked incredible in a plunging mesh swimsuit as she got flirty with fans on Instagram while making the most of her sun-soaked family break overseas

Sizzling: Amanda joked that her risque swimsuit gave her 'an ab' as she kicked back on a rock

She was also seen championing her saucy swimsuit from Melissa Odabash over on her Instagram story as she kicked back on a rock and joked: 'This swimsuit makes me look like I have an ab.'

Her followers were all for the talent show panellist's risque swimwear, as they littered the comments with flame emojis.

Amanda's vacation upload came after she was seen having a proud mum moment with her lookalike daughters.

Following a trip to the beach, Amanda posted an image of sisters Lexi, 15, and Hollie, nine, in matching red outfits after spending the day relaxing in the picturesque sunshine.

Lexi was dressed in a stylish red swimsuit for the snap, while her sister Hollie wore a matching red top and printed skirt.

Clearly proud of her two girls, Amanda uploaded the snap to social media with the caption '#sisters.'

'Sisters': Amanda was every inch the proud mother as she shared a sweet Instagram snap of her lookalike daughters Lexi, 15, and Hollie, nine, while on holiday in Portugal
EastEnders star Max Bowden has said that his 'heart is in bits' after the death of his friend Luke Goodings.

The actor, 26, who plays Ben Mitchell on the hit BBC One soap, took to his Instagram Story to share an emotional tribute to his late pal on Sunday, saying: 'I will always love you, my bro.' His cause of death is unknown.

It has been a devastating year for Max following the death of his other friend and celebrity agent, Terry Mills, in February and his grandfather in September.

Posting a picture of Luke, Max shared his upset on Sunday as he penned: 'Heart's in bits right now.

Tragic: EastEnders star Max Bowden, pictured in 2020, has said that his 'heart is in bits' after the death of his friend Luke Goodings

'Lukey, will always love you my bro. Rest easy now. Freestyle the s*** out of it up there.' (sic)

MailOnline has contacted Max's representative for further comment.

It has been a devastating year for Max following the death of his other friend and celebrity agent, Terry Mills, who passed away in February after contracting Covid-19 in Mexico and falling into a coma.

Cancer survivor Terry, 38, originally from Devon, caught Covid-19 during a business trip to Cancun which later developed into pneumonia.

So sad: The actor, 26, who plays Ben Mitchell on the hit BBC One soap, took to his Instagram Story on Sunday to share an emotional tribute to his late pal, pictured, saying: 'I will always love you, my bro.' His cause of death is unknown

EastEnders star and close friend Max announced Terry's death on Instagram earlier this year, saying: 'I will love you until my last breath'. It is thought Terry died in hospital in Mexico.

The Big Talent Group chief looked after clients including TOWIE'S Yazmin Oukhellou, Gogglebox's Amy Tapper, and Callum Izzard from Ibiza Weekender and was well liked within showbiz circles.

His friends had set up the fundraising page to pay for the 'astronomical' cost of treatment costs as well as a flight home, with stars including Natalie Cassidy, Alison Hammond, Max, Gillian Taylforth, Letitia Dean and Chizzy Akudolu chipping in.

Difficult time: It has been a devastating year for Max following the death of his other friend and celebrity agent, Terry Mills, who passed away in February after contracting Covid-19 in Mexico and falling into a coma

Sharing a heartfelt tribute, Max, who plays Ben Mitchell in EastEnders, wrote: 'I will love you until my last breath. You took me in when no one else would have me. You looked after me, and protected me when I was at my lowest.

'You nurtured me and helped me see light. You sprayed my feet when they were stinking out the house.

'All you did was care about the people you loved. When things got bad, we'd cuddle each other on that sofa in Marylebone like two toddlers, and tell each other we've got this.

'You battled everything, daily, and won. And this time this c*** of a virus got you. But you still fought. I don't know a life without you.

Heartbreaking: EastEnders star and close friend Max announced Terry's death on Instagram earlier this year, saying: 'I will love you until my last breath'. It is thought Terry died in hospital in Mexico

'I don't want a life without you. But I know you'll be with me. You made my family feel like they were the only people in the world.

'I will never forget when you ran down the red carpet at the NTAs to make my Nan feel like a queen. The last messages we sent each other before you fell ill, were that we loved each other. And I always will Tel.

'Thank you for every thing you gave me. My life will never be the same. Sleep well, my wonderful friend (sic).'

It is not clear when Terry travelled to Mexico, which had counted more than 1.7 million Covid-19 cases and more than 150,000 deaths at the time.

Friends: Max penned: 'Thank you for every thing you gave me. My life will never be the same. Sleep well, my wonderful friend (sic).'

In October, Max revealed that his grandfather had passed away after a cancer battle in September as he shared an emotional tribute to his Instagram.

The actor posted a picture of himself holding his grandfather's hand as he praised Macmillan Cancer for their support.

Max penned: 'Hi all. On Monday evening I lost my grandad to his battle with cancer. In his last weeks he was overwhelmed by the amazing love and care the @macmillancancer nurses provided him with.

'For that reason I am reposting my longest day challenge website in the hope of raising more money for them. Please give generously if you can. Thank you. The website is https://longestdaygolf.macmillan.org.uk/Team/raysgeese.'
MasterChef left a bad taste in the mouths of some viewers during Monday's controversial episode.

The show's judges and contestants hit the road for a tour around Australia, with their first stop being Apollo Bay in Victoria.

Judge Jock Zonfrillo then got to work showing the contestants how to cook a crayfish using all the animal's innards, including its ovaries.

Grossed out: MasterChef left a bad taste in the mouths of some viewers during Monday's controversial episode. Pictured, judge Jock Zonfrillo

'So all too often, and we've seen it in the MasterChef kitchen already, we see only the tail being used. Not good enough,' he said.

Fellow judge Melissa Leong then encouraged the contestants to 'push the boundaries of what is typically done with cray'.

But many of the show's viewers were left disgusted as some contestants chose to incorporate ovaries into such things as an aioli.

Zero waste: Jock got to work showing the contestants how to cook a crayfish using all the animal's innards, including its ovaries

Plenty to say: Many of the show's viewers were left disgusted as some contestants chose to incorporate ovaries into such things as an aioli

Minoli De Silva served up an entree of crayfish doughnuts with an ovary aioli, with one fan tweeting that 'it shouldn't be a thing'.

'Nope. Sorry. Ovaries in food just does not do it for me. Just doesn't,' tweeted one unimpressed viewer.

'Is this proof ovaries don't belong in aioli?' added another after Minoli failed to wow the judges with her sauce.

'So all too often, and we've seen it in the MasterChef kitchen already, we see only the tail being used. Not good enough,' said Jock

'Nope. Sorry. Ovaries in food just does not do it for me. Just doesn't,' tweeted one unimpressed viewer

Wrote one person: 'I know I shouldn't be squeamish about the word "ovaries". (After all, I have them.) But... ew. (Though "Ovary Aoili [sic]" would make a great punk band name...)'

Another fan questioned if they'd heard right: 'I tuned in late did she just say ovaries?'

'Call me boring but I just don't want to eat ovaries, tripe, brains, guts, fish scales, organs or whatever else gross thing they come up with on this show...' tweeted another viewer.
Natalie Portman arrived in Australia late last year ahead of filming scenes for Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder which has now officially wrapped.

And the Hollywood actress, 39, commanded attention when she stepped out in Sydney recently.

The Black Swan star covered her petite figure in an oversized black and white Christian Dior slogan sweater from their 2018 collection, teamed with blue jeans.

Cool style: Natalie Portman, 39, commanded attention in a statement black and white Christian Dior sweater and blue jeans as she stepped out in Sydney (pictured)

Natalie kept light on her feet in a pair of white Nike hi-top sneakers and slung a black crossbody bag across her frame.

She concealed her gaze behind black Rayban Eyewear and tied her brunette locks into a sleek style at the nape of the neck.

The mother of two appeared to sport minimal makeup, drawing attention to her natural beauty.

Effortless: The Hollywood actress wore a pair of white Nike hi-top sneakers and slung a black crossbody bag across her frame. She concealed her gaze behind black Rayban Eyewear

Production on Thor: Love and Thunder began in January at Fox Studios in Sydney.

The blockbuster will see Natalie's character, astrophysicist Jane Foster, take up the mantle of Thor after transforming into a female version of the Norse god.

Natalie previously revealed her excitement at returning to the franchise during an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Blockbuster: Natalie arrived in Australia late last year ahead of filming for Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder which has now wrapped. The film will see Natalie's character, astrophysicist Jane Foster, take up the mantle of Thor after transforming into a female version of the Norse god

Making her return: Natalie was absent for 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, but was a key player in the first two Thor films, released in 2011 and 2013. Pictured is Thor star Chris Hemsworth in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok

'It's going to be really silly and funny and great. We've got [director] Taika Waititi. He's wonderful, so I'm very excited,' she said.

Natalie was absent for 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, but was a key player in the first two Thor films, released in 2011 and 2013.

Thor: Love and Thunder is scheduled for cinematic release in February 2022.
In last week's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kim Kardashian finally admitted that her marriage to Kanye West was over in the penultimate episode.

And days later, Kim Kardashian shared a family portrait - with her estranged husband.

The 40-year-old reality star shared a black and white throwback snap of her with her four children.

Family portrait: In last week's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kim Kardashian finally admitted that her marriage to Kanye West was over in the penultimate episode. And days later, Kim Kardashian shared a family portrait - with her estranged husband

Kim posed with her youngest son Psalm in the snap, who at the time was a newborn.

Psalm, who is now two years old, napped in her arms for the sweet photo while her other children Chicago, three, North, seven, and Saint, five, sat around her.

The image was taken in 2019 soon after Psalm's birth in May.

She captioned the photo: 'Baby love.'

Former couple: The 40-year-old reality star shared a black and white throwback snap of her with her four children; pictured February 19, 2021

Noticeably missing was Kanye, 43, from the image.

Just days prior, Kim sobbed in the penultimate episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashian as she admitted her marriage to Kanye had ended.

Following a 'big fight' with her estranged husband, the famous family took its last filmed trip together on the episode, which aired on Thursday, with the group seen together at a luxurious home in Lake Tahoe, California.

The star, who was previously married to Damon Thomas and Kris Humphries, said through tears: 'I feel like a f***ing failure that it's, like, a third f***ing marriage. Yeah, I feel like a f***king loser' as she insisted she could no longer be 'stuck' with Kanye.

In February, Kim and Kanye confirmed they were set to split and have since been going through legalities and sorting custody.

Previous: Kim sobbed in the penultimate episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashian as she admitted her marriage to Kanye West had ended - which aired last Thursday

While she keeps her relationship fairly removed from KUWTK, Kim played out some of the split in the latest episode as she confirmed the end.

Kim upon arrival hated on a platter of cookies and stated: 'I just want to go to my room and never come out'.

In her confessional, Khloe explained: 'Kim has been struggling privately behind camera about her relationship...

'And it's tough because Kim is clearly redirecting so much of her frustration and sadness and anger, and you know, sometimes you just take things out on something that has nothing to do with what you're going through. It's not the cookies fault'.

Penultimate episode: Kim Kardashian sobbed in the penultimate episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashian as she admitted her marriage to Kanye West had ended

Khloe in a spacious living room then asked Kim how she was doing with Kanye. Kim said: 'There's no fighting. Like, now, it's all calm. I just roll with it.'

Khloe spilled in a confessional that Kim was dealing with a lot because she and Kanye had a 'big fight' before they left on the trip.

Black-and-white footage showed Kim crying while surrounded by her sisters including Kourtney, 42, Kendall Jenner, 25, and Kylie Jenner, 23 in the aftermath of the argument with Kanye.

Last trip: Kim broke down while her sisters attempted to console her while she ate cookies and stated: 'I just want to go to my room and never come out'

'I just, like, honestly can't do this anymore,' Kim wept after saying she was 'stuck' while Kanye moves to a 'different state every year'.

'I think he deserves someone that can go support his every move. And go follow him all over the place and move to Wyoming. I can't do that...

'He should have a wife that supports his every move and travels with him and does everything, and I can't,' Kim said as Kylie wiped away tears.

Big fight: Khloe spilled in a confessional that Kim was dealing with a lot because she and Kanye had a 'big fight' before they left on the trip

'I feel like a f***ing failure that it's, like, a third f***ing marriage. Yeah, I feel like a f***king loser,' Kim cried as her sisters tried to console her.

Kim said she couldn't think that way because she wanted to be happy.

Khloe back in Tahoe told Kim that she could always talk to her about whatever.

'There's, like, honestly nothing to talk about. I mean, I won't live with, like the fighting stuff. Like if it was constant,' Kim told her.

Feeling down: 'I feel like a f***ing failure that it's, like, a third f***ing marriage. Yeah, I feel like a f***king loser,' Kim cried as her sisters tried to console her

That was then: She was previously married to Damon Thomas and Kris Humphries (Kris and Kim in 2011)
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese autonomous driving startup ZongMu Technology announced on June 3 the completion of its Series D funding with a total of $190 million raised.



Photo credit: ZongMu Technology



The newly-fulfilled financing was advanced in three tranches. Notably, the D3 round was led by Xiaomi Changjiang Industrial Fund, a fund backed by Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi.

ZongMu Technology said it is among the first companies Xiaomi invested in after the smartphone maker announced its foray into intelligent EV domain on March 30.

As a provider of ADS (autonomous driving system) and ADAS (advanced driver assistance system)-related technologies and products, ZongMu Technology has built full-stack technologies that covers the entire process from basic R&D to volume production application, said the company. It has already formed the ability to supply corresponding products, including ADS/ADAS (domain) controllers, cameras, millimeter-wave radars, ultrasonic radars, as well as algorithms and cloud services for core perception, localization and mapping. The company works on businesses including intelligent driving system, high-power wireless charging facilities for new energy vehicles (NEVs), and the products and services for smart city.

ZongMu Technology has teamed up with many Chinese automakers to offer them autonomous driving technologies. Its autonomous valet parking technology has been applied in a number of vehicle models like the Hongqi E-HS9, the Dongfeng VOYAH FREE, and the UNI series of Changan Automobile. The company announced in late March that it had contracted with Meituan to supplier the latter with 4D millimeter radars.


So far, none of these hypotheses have shown the origins of the virus. (Photo: Representational)

Montreal: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been various hypotheses to explain the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

So far, none of these hypotheses have shown the origins of the virus. One of the first scenarios put forward  that the Wuhan seafood market allowed for a rapid dispersion of the virus  seems less certain now. After a year of intensive research, the virus has still not been identified in any animals.

Animal-human transmission, however, remains one of the strongest hypotheses explaining the appearance of the new coronavirus: the coronavirus was transmitted from bats to humans through an intermediate host. It would not be the first time this happened.

In the case of MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), camels likely served as the intermediate host. For SARS-CoV-2, pangolins, scaly anteaters sold illegally in the Wuhan market, may be the host, although this hypothesis requires more convincing evidence.

I am a professor in the department of biological sciences at Universite du Quebec in Montreal, an expert in virology, particularly in human retroviruses, and in human coronaviruses.

Gain-of-function' research

The idea that SARS-CoV-2 had accidentally leaked from a maximum-security biological laboratory  biosafety level-4 (BSL-4)  at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) began to circulate soon after the onset of the pandemic.

The possibility resurfaced in recent weeks, placing Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in an embarrassing situation. Some newspapers assert that the United States was funding this research laboratory and claim that the projects being funded there focused on gain-of-function studies. An opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal claims that NIAID may have supported some of these experiments that were underway at WIV.

Although there may be benefits to gain-of-function experiments, there are also risks.

So, what are gain-of-function studies? Although the term is sometimes used broadly to refer to gain-of-function studies of proteins, in medical terms, it is associated with research on viruses. The goal of gain-of-function research is to create a virus with new properties that make it more pathogenic or more transmissible to humans.

Traditionally, this type of change focused on the growing the virus in animal or human cells. Recently, there have been important advances in animal models and in molecular biology techniques to make precise, targeted changes to viral genes. This process can lead to the rapid generation of new viruses (as opposed to the natural evolution of viruses, which takes several years) that are better adapted to humans, possibly changing their virulence and their ability to be transmitted between humans.

The rationale for this type of research is that by isolating these new viruses, researchers will be able to identify the specific changes in the genome that are responsible for the new characteristics. This knowledge could make it possible for scientists to better predict the arrival of new pandemics. It could help scientists develop vaccines and treatments adapted to new infectious agents.

Research that is too dangerous?

However, the principle underlying gain-of-function research has been widely challenged over the past decade.

A classic and oft-cited example, which concerns many scientists, is Ron Fouchier and Yoshihiro Kawaoka's research on the highly dangerous avian H5N1 influenza virus. Using a technique that passed the virus from one ferret to another many times over, these researchers were able to create an H5N1 influenza virus that could be transmitted to the species by aerosols.

The study was widely debated and the research was eventually put on hold. The US government even urged scientific journals not to publish its full results, arguing that the information could be used by bioterrorists. The research was resumed in 2013.

Gain-of-function research has the potential to help prevent animal-to-human transmission of a virus with pandemic potential. However, this type of research must be carried out in highly secure laboratory, such as those known as BSL-4.

These laboratories are built to protect staff and researchers from becoming infected, and to prevent organisms from escaping. However, documents from US Embassy officials have revealed that the biosafety standards at the BSL-4 laboratory at the WIV were not sufficiently rigorous. In addition, a number of researchers have suggested that the institute's gain-of-function studies on bat coronaviruses were risky and might be harmful to humans if it escaped.

The Wuhan lab-leak hypothesis is revived

So, the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a leak from the Wuhan lab is now being taken seriously.

Although a WHO-formed committee that visited the Wuhan facility concluded that no evidence appeared to support a human-made origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, several prominent scientists questioned whether China was being fully transparent during that visit. In an open letter published in May in Science, these scientists called for further investigation.

In a May 11 interview, Fauci called for a more thorough investigation into the origins of SARS-CoV-2. On May 26, U.S. President Joe Biden instructed his intelligence agencies to double-down on their investigation into a possible laboratory leak of the virus responsible for the current pandemic.

New evidence has also been put forward by different media outlets: the Wall Street Journal recently revealed that several WIV researchers became sick in the fall of 2019 with symptoms similar to both COVID-19 and common seasonal illnesses, and that at least three were hospitalized, adding support to the need to investigate whether the COVID-19 virus escaped from the Wuhan lab.

The WHO, Biden and Fauci, among others, are calling for further investigation of the hypothesis, and the gain-of-function studies on animal coronaviruses at WIV is central to these inquiries.

Although a conclusive evidence on the origins of SARS-CoV-2 may never be obtained, the latest developments raise new concerns about gain-of-function experiments in general, and may lead to a re-evaluation of both the experimental approach and the safety regulations of the laboratories that use it.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
They're the Married At First Sight stars who are currently enjoying a romantic getaway in Far North Queensland.

And on Monday, Michael Brunelli caught Martha Kalifatidis by surprise just before they were about to enjoy 'tub time' in Port Douglas.

In footage shared to Instagram, the 30-year-old person trainer is seen documenting their intimate moment, but he ends up capturing more than they both bargained for.

Too rude! Married At First Sight's Michael Brunelli caught his girlfriend Martha Kalifatidis off guard as they got ready to enjoy 'tub time' during their romantic getaway on Monday

The footage begins with Michael filming their inviting bathtub, which is filled with water and bubbles, as a bottle of what appears to be alcohol sits within arm's reach

He then flips the camera on his phone, and Martha is seen lying on the bed behind him, crouching down in nothing but a blue G-string.

'Tub time,' he cheekily captioned the post, while Martha looked on bemused.

Off guard: He then flips the camera on his phone, and Martha is seen lying on the bed behind him in nothing but a blue G-string

The post comes after Martha showed off her ample cleavage in a floral two-piece bikini paired with tiny white shorts and some Yeezy slides.

Earlier in the day, the brunette reality star took a video of her holiday look as her shirtless buff boyfriend flaunted his muscles in the background.

The lovebirds decided to take an impromptu trip to Port Douglas over the weekend.

Holiday Martha! The post comes after Martha showed off her ample cleavage in a floral two-piece paired with tiny white shorts and some Yeezy slides during the trip

The couple's getaway comes after Martha revealed that the pair could be getting married for real - and sooner, rather than later.

After a fan on Instagram asked when they plan to legally tie the knot, Martha replied: 'Soon, I think!'

Despite this, Michael is yet to propose to his long-term girlfriend.
He's been recovering from an electric bike accident for the last year, and was spotted out for dinner with a medical breathing apparatus last week.

And Simon Cowell showed off his slim figure as he stepped out for a walk with two friends in London on Monday.

The music mogul, 61, put on a casually chic display by wearing a dark blue shirt with white 3/4 length shorts for the outing.

Outing: Simon Cowell, 61, showed off his slim figure in a blue shirt and white shorts while enjoying a walk with friends... after being seen with medical breathing apparatus

Simon completed his look by teaming a pair of black trainers with matching socks, while he accessorised with dark shades.

The America's Got Talent judge kept safe amid the coronavirus pandemic by having a black face mask, though he wore it under his chin while he spoke with his friends.

Simon was seen chatting away with the pair while they strolled around a London neighbourhood, and he appeared at ease as they walked.

Comfy: Simon completed his look by teaming a pair of black trainers with matching socks, while he accessorised with dark shades

Safe: The America's Got Talent judge kept safe amid the coronavirus pandemic by having a black face mask, though he wore it under his chin while he spoke with his friends

Talkative: Simon was seen chatting away with the pair while they strolled around a London neighbourhood, and he appeared at ease as they walked

Simon's outing comes after he was spotted out for dinner with a portable oxygen tank on Friday.

The music mogul had the medical equipment next to him alongside a packet of cigarettes, after climbing into a waiting car outside Harry's Bar in London.

The product is often prescribed to patients in the hospital who are in need of lung expansion therapy, with a mouthpiece and goals levels designed to help deeper breath in and open up the alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs.

Keeping fit: Simon makes sure to go on regular walks after his bike accident

Oxygen tank: Simon's outing at the Derby comes after he was spotted out and about with a portable oxygen tank on Friday (pictured)

Unrelated: Sources have said that the apparatus has nothing to do with his recovery from an electric bike accident last year but that he has long used the equipment for 'air flow'

A source told MailOnline: 'Simon has been using this type of breathing equipment for some time, it's not been prescribed as part of the rehab from his bike fall.

'He appreciates the benefits and being a heavy smoker for a number of years it improves his air flow. He's got no qualms about it whatsoever.'

In August, Simon was rushed to hospital to undergo six hours of surgery after injuring himself in an electric bike accident accident.

Confirmation: A source told MailOnline: 'Simon has been using this type of breathing equipment for some time, it's not been prescribed as part of the rehab from his bike fall'

But the record executive has been determined to do everything he can to ensure he makes a full recovery, including walking for several hours a day and holding business meetings at 9AM so that he no longer lives like a 'vampire'.

Of his new fitness regime, a source told MailOnline: 'Simon said how he hasn't worn trainers as much as this in 20 years.

'He feels fitter than ever before and is keeping to a normal routine rather than being on the phone until into the early hours of the morning.'
Cyrell Paule revealed on Monday that her topless photo posted to Instagram had been reported.

The former Married At First Sight star showed off her new boob job in the picture, covering her nipples with her hands as supportive beau Eden Dally stood behind her.

Just hours after setting the post live, the 32-year-old mother of one laughed off the haters, teasing an even raunchier snap for her fans.

Getting people's attention: Former Married At First Sight star Cyrell Paule (pictured) laughed off her topless photo with beau Eden Dally getting reported on Monday, teasing an even raunchier snap

Dressed in sweats and seated on the couch of her Sydney home, Cyrell told her followers on her Instagram Stories: 'My first booby pic got reported.

'If that doesn't tell you that you know how amazing you are and how much you p**s people off because haters are gonna hate, I don't know what does.'

Cyrell said it's 'very unfair' for the photo to be reported, considering there are 'multiple women' out there who are also posting near-nude images.

Opinion: Cyrell, 32, said it's 'very unfair' for the photo to be reported. 'How come when a mother tries to empower other mothers to go get a breast augmentation because it makes them feel better, it gets taken down,' she said

Raunchy: Cyrell showed off her new boob job in the now-reported photo (pictured), covering her nipples with her hands as supportive beau Eden Dally, 28, stood behind her

'There's multiple females out there, I'm not going to mention who... that constantly post their breasts out,' she vented.

'That's great, that's their Instagram and whatever, but how come when a mother tries to empower other mothers to go get a breast augmentation because it makes them feel better, it gets taken down.'

Cyrell continued: 'But when someone does it just because it looks like a hot picture it doesn't get reported. But when this b***h does it, it gets taken down.'

Getting it off her chest: Cyrell last month revealed she'd secretly undergone breast augmentation after she was left with 'deflated' and 'lifeless' breasts following the birth of her son, Boston, one

The influencer added that the haters simply push her to 'do an even raunchier pic'.

Earlier on Monday, Cyrell posted the now-reported photo alongside the caption: '5 weeks post op. And as you can see I'm not the only one loving them'.

Eden, 28, shared the same photo on his Instagram page, where he proudly boasted about his girlfriend's new breasts.

'You can call me a sleaze but I'm enjoying these @cyrelljimenezpaule #tittycommitee,' he captioned the photo.

Nip tuck: The influencer exclusively told Daily Mail Australia post-surgery that she decided to go under the knife after she noticed that her body was changing. Pictured with son Boston

Cyrell last month revealed she'd secretly undergone breast augmentation after she was left with 'deflated' and 'lifeless' breasts following the birth of her son, Boston, one.

The MAFS star exclusively told Daily Mail Australia post-surgery that she decided to go under the knife after she noticed that her body was changing.

'After having Boston there was a lot about myself and my body that I wasn't happy with,' Cyrell explained.

Body confidence: 'After having Boston there was a lot about myself and my body that I wasn't happy with,' Cyrell explained

Candid confession: 'I hated staring at myself in the mirror as I got changed. I hated seeing myself naked and I lost confidence within myself,' she said

'I was no longer happy with my breasts and the way they looked. They were deflated and looked lifeless.'

She added: 'They truthfully... they looked like socks hanging from the clothes line.'

Cyrell went on to explain that her appearance began to get her down.

'I hated staring at myself in the mirror as I got changed. I hated seeing myself naked and I lost confidence within myself,' she said.
She has been sharing her gruelling workouts on social media as she continues her fitness journey after dropping three and a half stone.

And, Gemma Collins, 40, showed off her 3.5st weight loss in white skinny jeans, on Sunday, as she joined Willy Wonka and his Oompa Loompas at a sweet shop in London.

The TOWIE star teamed up with the characters for an event at Kingdom of Sweets, which sells GC lollies, and jumped aboard a Tuk Tuk to hand out her branded lollipops to the public

Here she is: Gemma Collins, 40, showed off her 3.5st weight loss in white skinny jeans, on Sunday, as she joined Willy Wonka and his Oompa Loompas at a sweet shop in London

Gemma looked ready for summer in her skin-tight trousers, which she teamed with a pretty floral blouse.

Her slinky top boasted pops of fuchsia along the shoulder, hem and cuffs, while The GC carried her belongings in a velvet burgundy Gucci cross-body bag.

Gemma stepped out in a black pair of double strap slides and sported a fluorescent pink pedicure which matched her manicure.

The blonde beauty's tresses were styled into tumbling waves and her make-up was finished off with baby pink eye-shadow and coordinating lipgloss.

Fun times: The TOWIE star teamed up with the characters for an event at Kingdom of Sweets, which sells GC lollies

Loving it! The TOWIE star teamed up with the characters for an event at Kingdom of Sweets

Getting fully involved in the promo: Gemma jumped aboard a Tuk Tuk with her nephew Hayden, to hand out her branded GC lollipops to the public

Stylish: Her slinky top boasted pops of fuchsia along the shoulder, hem and cuffs, while The GC carried her belongings in a velvet burgundy Gucci cross-body bag

Gemma's appearance comes after she returned to fighting form as she sipped on a glass of champagne after recently battling a mystery illness.

The former TOWIE star told fans last week she was convinced she had 'some sort of virus' and was feeling 'so unwell'.

However, Gemma looked in good spirits on Sunday as she shared a clip of herself enjoying a drink with a friend while out in the sunshine shortly after confirming she has her 'energy back'.

She had previously shared a photo of a tube attached to her arm, writing: 'Sorry been quiet guys I have been very poorly but I am feeling like I am back on the mend.'

Gemma had a private nurse at her home, looking after her, and later took to social media to reassure her fans that she was 'slowly getting there.'

Glam: Gemma stepped out in a black pair of double strap slides and sported a fluorescent pink pedicure which matched her manicure

Amazing! Gemma pulled out her mobile phone to capture the enormous GC stand of lollipops

Guest of honour: Gemma brought her nephew Hayden to enjoy the event with her

All aboard: Gemma looked delighted to be out and about on the Tuk Tuk

Since dropping weight, Gemma has been showing off her ongoing transformation on social media.

Gemma regularly shares snippets of her gruelling work outs with her personal trainer on her page.

She also recently shared a wardrobe clear out on her social media as she sold off her size 26 clothes, which are now too big for her following the weight loss.

She said: 'It's all got to go. It's kind of like the old me, I don't wear this stuff anymore and obviously I have lost a bit of weight so it doesn't fit anymore.'

'I have got hundreds of hoodies, I must have a hundred pairs of jeans and so many black leggings, it's all going, but the good news is it's all going on my Depop.'
Phillip Schofield has slammed the prospect of the lifting of lockdown restrictions being pushed back to July 5.

The This Morning presenter, 59, went on an explosive rant during Monday's edition of the show, saying he feels the June 21 'freedom day' should not be delayed, especially when suicide rates were up, and people were struggling with anxiety.

Speaking to Julia Hartley-Brewer and Matthew Wright, he said: 'It's pretty hard to pin down what anyone's thinking here, whether it's Matt Hancock or Boris Johnson.

'Suicide is up, anxiety is through the roof and businesses are folding': Phillip Schofield slammed idea of June 21 freedom day being pushed back in a rant on Monday's This Morning

'You saw businesses that spent a fortune on their Perspex screens and making their businesses safe and they got shut down anyway.'

Phillip went on to claim that because Covid cases were dropping the extension of lockdown was not necessary, especially when the public are struggling mentally and financially.

He added: 'We can see as clear as day that deaths are thankfully down, we can see hospital admissions are flat, we can see it was all to protect the NHS but the NHS isn't under pressure.'

Candid: Speaking to Julia Hartley-Brewer and Matthew Wright (pictured), he said: 'It's pretty hard to pin down what anyone's thinking here, whether it's Matt Hancock or Boris Johnson'

Matthew pointed out: 'When other countries were going into lockdown those countries had a lot lower death rate than us. Every decision about Covid is political.'

To which Phillip hit back: 'If suicides are up, if anxiety is through the roof and businesses are folding, there's a pub near me, that's gone, then what political decision keeps that happening?'

Matthew debated, 'There are other countries who have carried on like normal because they made political decisions different from ours, stronger decisions some might argue earlier, and we're playing catch up but the vaccine is our way out long term.'

Thoughts: Phillip claimed because Covid cases were dropping the extension of lockdown was not necessary, especially when the public are struggling mentally and financially

On Saturday, it was reported that England's 'Freedom Day' on June 21 may be delayed for two weeks by the Prime Minister.

According to ITV News, government sources have said that plans are being made to push the lifting of coronavirus measures back to July 5 to allow more people to get the second dose of Covid vaccinations.

'Government sources have again stressed that no decision has been made but I understand that in private other plans are being drawn up,' ITV's correspondent Richard Pallot said on Saturday evening.

'If there was a two-week delay then in theory all over 50s would get a chance of a second vaccine,' he added.

Health: He went on, 'Deaths are thankfully down, we can see hospital admissions are flat, we can see it was all to protect the NHS but the NHS isn't under pressure'

It was reported on Friday that secret plans were being worked on to delay the lifting of measures by two weeks in addition to retaining social distancing and limits of crowds past Freedom Day.

Saturday's report comes after a government scientist warned that pushing ahead with a full reopening later this month in England would be 'foolish' and a 'major risk', which followed Covid cases jumping by 70 per cent in a week on Saturday, reaching 5,765. However, health chief insisted vaccines do 'break the chain'.

There is currently enough evidence to say that due to the spread of the Indian variant, one of the Government's four key tests for its road map out of lockdown has not been met, Professor Stephen Reicher said.

Concerns: Phillip added, 'If suicides are up, if anxiety is through the roof and businesses are folding, there's a pub near me, that's gone, then what political decision keeps that happening?'

Multiple reports have suggested plans to lift all restrictions on June 21 could be scaled down, with social distancing and the wearing of face coverings set to continue amid concerns that the variant that originated in India, now known as Delta, is fuelling a surge in cases.

On Friday the UK recorded its highest number of new confirmed coronavirus cases - 6,238 - since late March, according to official figures. Saturday's figure was down slightly at 5,765 lab-confirmed cases.

Meanwhile figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested the number of people who had the virus in England has increased by around three-quarters in a week, taking it to its highest tally since mid-April, with the R value between 1 and 1.2.
Brittany Cartwright and husband Jax Taylor took their newborn son Cruz for his first trip to the beach over the weekend.

The couple were spotted in Santa Monica along with their former Vanderpump Rules castmate Kristen Doute as they celebrated their friend Megan Johnson's birthday.

Brittany, 32, and Jax, 41, couldn't stop smiling as they took turns cradling their eight-week-old and took him down to the water's edge so he could feel the wet sand under his toes.

Baby's first beach day! Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor took baby Cruz for his first trip to the beach in Santa Monica on Saturday

Cuddles: Brittany, 32, and Jax, 41, couldn't stop smiling as they took turns cradling their eight-week old

The first time mom looked great in a fitted black dress while former Sur bartender Jax opted for a black T-shirt and cuffed jeans.

Kristen, 38, was seen in a mismatched bikini, featuring a plunging gold top and high waist aqua blue briefs.

The former Bravo star was seen with boyfriend Alex Menache, who went shirtless in some turquoise swim shorts.

On Saturday, Brittany shared some photos from the beach day and revealed the new parents overprepared for the outing.

'First beach day! We brought wayyyy too much stuff and carried our stroller through the sand but we still had the best day celebrating @sculptedbymegan bday!! lol' the Kentucky native wrote alongside a collection of photos on Instagram.

Making a splash: Former Vanderpump Rules star Kristen Doute was also at the beach party for one of their friend's birthdays

The former Bravo star was seen with boyfriend Alex Menache who went shirtless in some turquoise swim shorts

First time in the ocean: The Kentucky native took eight-week-old Cruz down to the water so his toes could touch the wet sand

Family fun: The first time mom looked great in a fitted black dress while former Sur bartender Jax opted for a black T-shirt and cuffed jeans

Last month Brittany opened up about how the long process of healing from giving birth.

In a candid clip of her standing in front of her mirror, the former Sur waitress told fans she's 'got a long way to go' but is finally feeling more like herself.

She turned to the side and ran her hand over her tummy to flaunt her progress in the mirror.

Doting dad: The couple snapped photos of each other as they cuddled their little boy

Simple beach chic: The former Sur waitress wore her long locks loose in soft curls and donned some gold rimmed sunglasses

Precious first weeks: The baby welcomed baby Cruz on April 12

Well prepared: The couple came to the beach with a stroller and diaper bag

He's got this: Jax took on the tricky task of getting the stroller across the sand

'Got a long ways to go, can't wait until I can workout at six weeks,' the Bravo alum went on, adding: 'Starting to feel like myself again, not so sore and just loving my baby.'

'I think some of the craziest things about post partum for me has been... just how long you bleed and how long you're sore for.'

She wasn't shy about body talk, telling viewers: 'Sorry if this is TMI for some of you but, I know there are a lot of new moms out there or there's a lot of pregnant moms who follow me and it's just been a learning experience.'

'It's the happiest time of your life but nobody talks about what your body goes through,' Brittany went on, hoping to help fans by being open about her physical changes.

'It is very hard on your body and I didn't realize how sore I was gonna be or how long I was gonna be in those ugly diapers and pads,' Cartwright said with a laugh.

Mixing it up: Kristen, 38, was seen in a mismatched bikini, featuring a plunging gold top and high waist aqua blue briefs

Then she offered a word of encouragement, telling followers: 'Even though its all worth it, you really have to just push through those moments.

'I'm finally a little over five weeks post partum and I'm starting to feel good. My soreness has gone down a lot.

'So hang in there new mommas! You got this, you know nobody talks about these things but you're definitely gonna go through them. But it's all worth it because these cuddles are the best thing ever.'

The new parents welcomed their baby boy on April 12 and announced the happy news to social media.

'Yesterday, April 12th at 1:51pm, our lives changed forever in the absolute best way possible. Our beautiful son Cruz Michael Cauchi was born and we have never been more in love.' Brittany wrote in her post.

Going strong: The couple have been dating for over a year, with Alex supporting Kristen through her racism controversy in June last year which resulted in her getting fired from reality show Vanderpump Rules along with Stassi Schroeder

Laying low: Kristen has been keeping a low profile and enjoying her relationship since being fired from the Bravo show

'He is the most precious gift and I am so blessed to be his Mommy. [heart emoji] We are soooooo so happy, he is a dream come true!! [laughing and heart emojis] - Both Mommy & Baby are doing great! [heart emoji] (sic)'.

Jax also revealed he 'fell in love with [Brittany] all over again' during her pregnancy.

He said: 'I have the most beautiful son a man could ask for, hes an absolute blessing from god. I just want to say how absolutely amazing my wife has been through this whole process, it has not been an easy pregnancy for her but she did an absolute amazing job all the way till the end.

'I have always been in awwh of Brittany but I fell in love with her all over again. She is our families rock. We are so in love (sic)'.

Overprepared: Brittany shared some photos from the day and revealed the couple brought too many things too the beach

Beach days: One snap showed Jax giving his little boy a big kiss

Meanwhile, Kristen has been keeping a low profile following her big scandal last year.

Her beau Alex supported her through the racism controversy in June which resulted in her getting fired from reality show Vanderpump Rules along with Stassi Schroeder.

'This woman has been put thru the ringer [sic] these last few weeks and has taken it like a champ,' Alex wrote on Instagram on June 30. 'Anyone that knows you knows your heart is pure and kind.

'She has dealt with it with grace and strength, and is putting in the work behind the scenes,' he gushed. 'I honor you @kristendoute and will always be your #1 big idiot fan!'
She set the records straight after reports surfaced that all was not what it seemed with her recording company.

And Mariah Carey denied an 'explosive' argument with Jay-Z and Roc Nation as she shared a throwback clip from their 1999 Heartbreaker video on Monday morning.

The 51-year-old legend was responding to reports last week that she severed her business relationship with the rapper just three and a half years after signing with his management company Roc Nation.

Honest approach: Mariah Carey responded to reports last week that she severed her business relationship with the rapper just three and a half years after signing with his management company Roc Nation; seen

Mariah took to Twitter to assure her legions of fans that everything was OK between the two music moguls.

'The only "explosive" situation I'd ever "get into" with Hov is a creative tangent, such as our #1 song "Heartbreaker"!!' she wrote. 'To the people who make up these lies I say "Poof! Vamoose, sonofa*****"!'

The superstars allegedly had a 'blazing row' about the future of Carey's career, which reportedly inspired the star to look for a new manager with 'full belief in her.'

'Mariah and Jay had an explosive meeting which did not go well at all. She has made it clear she wants nothing more to do with him and has called it quits with Roc Nation,' a source told The Sun on Friday.

Blast from the past: The 51-year-old legend denied an 'explosive' argument with Jay-Z and Roc Nation as she shared a throwback clip from their 1999 Heartbreaker video on Monday morning

Not so fast! The superstars allegedly had a 'blazing row' about the future of Carey's career, which reportedly inspired the star to look for a new manager with 'full belief in her'; seen in 2019

The insider continued: 'She will formally depart in the next few weeks. It is a shame because they had done some great work in the last few years. But this meeting couldn't have gone much worse.'

Carey is said to have already begun 'talking to other managers' and is not letting anything 'stand in her way.'

Roc Nation has already removed the performer from their website, which lists the talent they represent.

A source close to the situation refuted earlier claims by telling DailyMail.com that reports of a 'row' between Mariah and Jay-Z are 'simply not true.'

'Mariahs relationship with Roc Nation ended amicably and Mariah and Jay-Z are on great terms,' said the insider.

DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Mariah and Jay-Z for comment.

Not the right fit: The superstars allegedly had a 'blazing row' about the future of Carey's career, which reportedly inspired her to look for a new manager with 'full belief in her'; Jay-Z pictured in 2020

'Mariah and Jay had an explosive meeting which did not go well at all. She has made it clear she wants nothing more to do with him and has called it quits with Roc Nation,' a source told The Sun (pictured together all the way back in 2005)

Mariah is currently finalizing her 'R&B- influenced album' and is in the midst of planning a coinciding world tour.

During Carey's time with Jay-Z's management company, she released her 30th anniversary album The Rarities and published her best-selling memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey, just last year.

Additionally, she signed a deal Apple TV+ for Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special for the 25th anniversary of her holiday hit.

In 2018, while on better terms, she reflected on their first collaboration together for her 1999 track Heartbreaker.

Departing soon: Roc Nation has already removed the mom-of-two, who shares her twins Moroccan and Monroe, ten, with ex-husband Nick Cannon, from their website, which lists the talent they represent; seen in 2006

'We were at Mr. Chow's in New Yorkthis is before everybody in the world knew who he was,' she recalled of their their friendship during an interview with iHeart Radio.

She added: 'But we lovers of hip-hop knew who he was, and were very in awe of him, his talent, where he came from, his whole story and everything. So we talked all night and ended up collaborating.'

The same year she was featured on his song, Things That U Do, because she said they had a 'history as friends and as collaborators.'
Comedian Tiffany Haddish has reportedly written 80 pages for the follow-up to her 2017 memoir The Last Black Unicorn, which spent four months straight on the New York Times best-seller list.

The 41-year-old Emmy and Grammy winner has received offers between $2M-$3M for the tell-all, which includes a tale about drinking marijuana tea with Sharon Stone - according to Page Six.

A source told the mag: 'When Stone tried to convince Haddish to join Jane Fonda's climate protest on the steps of the Capitol at the time, Haddish told Stone that she couldn't because "they'll never let me out of jail."'

Literary effort: Comedian Tiffany Haddish has reportedly written 80 pages for the follow-up to her 2017 memoir The Last Black Unicorn, which spent four months straight on the New York Times best-seller list (pictured March 13)

It's unclear whether Tiffany will rehire her controversial ghostwriter Tucker Max to help her pen the book.

'As you well know, thinking and talking and writing are all very different things. Writing is a distinct skill. Tiffany's a fantastic storyteller and speaker but she's not a very good writer,' the 45-year-old men's rights activist told Jezebel back in 2017.

'My job was to get her whole self into that. Her contract is with my company [Scribe Media] not me personally. There were other people on my team who worked on aspects of it. It was a team effort.'

Post-fame stories: The 41-year-old Emmy and Grammy winner has received offers between $2M-$3M for the tell-all, which includes a tale about drinking marijuana tea with Sharon Stone

'No, I did not transition to become a black woman': It's unclear whether Tiffany will rehire her controversial ghostwriter Tucker Max to help her pen the book

The 45-year-old men's rights activist (pictured in 2020) told Jezebel back in 2017: 'Writing is a distinct skill. Tiffany's a fantastic storyteller and speaker but she's not a very good writer'

Haddish is currently training to produce and star as the three-time Olympic gold medalist Florence Griffith Joyner in an upcoming biopic on the late track and field runner.

'My heart is so full right now!' the LA native - who boasts 12.9M social media followers - tweeted last Thursday.

'I can't even explain how hard I am going to work to honor her legacy!'

'I can't even explain how hard I am going to work to honor her legacy!' Haddish is currently training to produce and star as the three-time Olympic gold medalist Florence Griffith Joyner in an upcoming biopic on the late track and field runner

Busy busy busy! The LA native - who vacationed in the Bahamas last week - also recently completed parenting classes required to adopt a child over age five (pictured last Tuesday)

Tiffany - who vacationed in the Bahamas last week - also recently completed parenting classes required to adopt a child over age five.

Audiences can next catch Haddish voicing a toucan called Tuca in the second season of Lisa Hanawalts' adult animated series Tuca & Bertie, which premieres next Sunday on Adult Swim.

The Here Today actress also portrays La Linda in Paul Schrader's crime thriller The Card Counter - hitting US theaters September 10 - alongside Oscar Isaac, Willem Dafoe, and Tye Sheridan.

Premieres next Sunday on Adult Swim! Audiences can next catch Tiffany voicing a toucan called Tuca (L) in the second season of Lisa Hanawalts' adult animated series Tuca & Bertie
The Boss just can't quit Broadway.

Bruce Springsteen will return to Broadway this summer for a limited run of his one-man show Springsteen On Broadway, with performances at the St. James Theatre beginning June 26 with an end date set - at least for now - for September 4.

'I loved doing Springsteen on Broadway and I'm thrilled to have been asked to reprise the show as part of the reopening of Broadway,' the rocker said in a statement.

The show is a milestone for theater, marking the first production to open on Broadway since the pandemic shut down performances in March 2020, according to the New York Times.

Stage presence! Bruce Springsteen is returning to the stage to reprise his Springsteen On Broadway show. He's seen during a December 2018 performance above

Springsteen on Broadway debuted in 2017 and was extended three times, finally closing in late 2018.

Columbia Records put out a two-disc soundtrack of Springsteen on Broadway and a filmed version of the show is on Netflix.

In the show, Springsteen performs 15 songs - including My Hometown, Thunder Road, and Born in the USA - and tells stories about growing up in New Jersey.

Some of the stories will be familiar to readers of his autobiography, and he even reads from it. His wife, Patti Scialfa, accompanies him for Brilliant Disguise.

The original was a sure hit, selling $113 million in tickets and playing to a total of 223,585 attendees.

Passion: 'I loved doing Springsteen on Broadway and I'm thrilled to have been asked to reprise the show as part of the reopening of Broadway,' the rocker said in a statement

Audience members will be required to provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination in order to enter the theater.

Further health precautions include staggered entry times as well as a mandatory Covid-19 health screening to be completed within 24 hours of the show.

Opening night proceeds will be donated to a number of charities, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monmouth County in New Jersey, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Food Bank for New York City.

Tickets go on sale Thursday at noon Eastern time through SeatGeek.
It's clearly time to wrap up a Made In Chelsea lockdown getaway when these three things happen in an episode:

1. Tom Zanetti's latest single - titled Didn't Know (in case you want to Spotify it, which you really don't!) is used as the soundtrack to the opening scene.

2. This apparent deep friendship between Miles and Inga is still a thing.

Oh no: Cracks begin to form between Sophie Hermann and Tom Zanetti in Monday's episode of Made In Chelsea

3. Maeva is upset because James wants skateboard lessons.

Back to Tom Zanetti. He's speeding through the countryside with Sophie in his sights, having driven four hours from Leeds.

He's listening to his own song. Here are some lines from it:

1. 'Eye-contact and I can't stop, won't stop! She want it hard and I won't flop! Kiss her in the car and we had it in a phone-box (ah, hello!)'

Look of (doomed) love: Back to Tom Zanetti. He's speeding through the countryside with Sophie in his sights, having driven four hours from Leeds

2. 'So fly, like a pelican!'

3. 'She from South and I come from Leeds (up North). I'm gonna date her in Manny like Meekz!'

It's thoughtful that he clarifies that Leeds is 'up North' but it would be more helpful to know what 'Manny like Meekz' means please.

Elsewhere, James is being compared to Clare Balding when Inga starts talking about her penchant for skateboarding. James then brags about how he's really good at it too, but for some reason still requires lessons. Inga says she'll help him steer her long-board.

Maeva is informed of this and is absolutely fuming. She has literally zero reason to be but nothing spices things up like superfluous fit of rage about a futile encounter. Plus, things are getting a bit dry at the Wilderness Reserve.

Steamy: Tom blindfolds Sophie and leads her out to surprise her with a hot tub. No, not to push her into it, but to drink champagne in it

Cheers to us? He acts as if he's had it installed himself, as if it hasn't been there the whole time as Sophie enjoys some champagne

So dry in fact that producers have wheeled out Miles' dad Jacques again for a Skype call.

Miles is talking about Ruby. If you'll recall, last week he told her to 'hurry up and dump Reza'.

'You fancy her a bit!' his father observes. Well done, Jacques! Thank goodness your French WiFi wasn't down.

Sophie and Tom are conversing in her room. 'Apart from me, what else do you want to do here?' she says, a twinkle in her eye.

Mix another song? Let's hope not!

Wow: 'You're going to love Leeds!' he tells her. No she's not. 'Do I need security?' she asks. Yes she will

Julius points out that Reza has word 'Trust' tattooed on his wrist. He uses it as a way of pointing out Ruby should be able to 'Trust' him but the real catastrophe here is that someone would get a word like that permanently inked on themselves.

Why not something a bit more original? 'Procrastination is the thief of time...' perhaps?

Tom blindfolds Sophie and leads her out to surprise her with a hot tub. No, not to push her into it, but to drink champagne in it. He acts as if he's had it installed himself, as if it hasn't been there the whole time.

'You're going to love Leeds!' he tells her. No she's not.

'Do I need security?' she asks. Yes she will.

Sophie Hermann in Leeds has Kim Kardashian in Paris vibes about it, let's be honest.

Support: Tom Zanetti gives Ollie and Gareth his blessing to be fathers. If you're going to seek anyone's blessing as you take your first steps along the path of paternity, it's clearly going to be the man who writes lyrics such as 'I'll take her mine so I can clap them cheeks'

Maeva is just so furious about James and Inga's skateboard lesson. Her fury is so unnecessary one would be forgiven for presuming she's been told she'll win a prize if she gets worked up over it for no reason.

She deserves one to be honest. 'Oh she's so hippy, she was in Bali, she's so bo-ho!' she screeches, before threatening to skateboard on James' head.

While everyone's eating what looks like spit-roasted boar outside, Miles is pondering life indoors on his own (for attention).

Inga - who needs to skateboard her way outta Miles' life if she knows what's right for her - emerges from what seems like the wallpaper. She's still upset that Miles asked her to go home the other week, as if he were Queen of the house.

'I don't think I've ever had what we had with any other guy!' she says.

Biggest mistake of his life: Tom then applauds the dads-to-be. If you're careful you can see that this is the precise moment Sophie gets the ick. It's in her eyes, clear as day. 'We're not landing somewhere on easyJet,' she recoils

Sorry but what even did they EVER have? They chatted on Instagram over lockdown and shagged with Miles' Waterfalls Of The Sinharaja playlist in the background.

Meava is thinking about sabotaging the skateboarding date but allows it to go ahead. It is the most un-sexless encounter ever to take place on Made In Chelsea. A scene between Mark Francis and cast member of yesteryear Andy Jordan would be more erotic. Yet later Maeva tells James: 'Inga has been inappropriate with you!'

This coming from a girl who spat on Sophie Hermann's mink.

Now that Ruby and Reza have strung along their inevitable break-up to its utmost capacity, they finally sit down and call time on their decades-long relationship.

Ruby blames it on the fact that she can't trust that Reza won't be 'messaging Tom Dick and Harry', which, to be fair, throws up a whole new set of problems.

He comes back with the most appropriate response to this: 'I want to marry you!'

Goodbye: Now that Ruby and Reza have strung along their inevitable break-up to its utmost capacity, they finally sit down and call time on their decades-long relationship

She says no and dumps him and he breaks the fourth wall and says 'you're dumping me on camera - is that what it's come to?' It's unclear how else he expected to be dumped given he is on Made In Chelsea. Although when Tristan and Liv break up they manage to do it off-screen, and they've split at least 37 times since being together.

The next day, there is some sort of turtle-neck lake-side event happening to mark the end of the trip.

Julius is 'over the moon for Ruby' now that she's free. It's not really clear why he's so invested in this, but each to their own.

Tom Zanetti gives Ollie and Gareth his blessing to be fathers. If you're going to seek anyone's blessing as you take your first steps along the path of paternity, it's clearly going to be the man who writes lyrics such as 'I'll take her mine so I can clap them cheeks'.

Tom then applauds the dads-to-be. If you're careful you can see that this is the precise moment Sophie gets the ick. It's in her eyes, clear as day. 'We're not landing somewhere on easyJet,' she recoils.

Could the cracks be starting to show between the Duchess and the DJ? (Yes!)

Made In Chelsea's current season concludes next Monday at 9PM on E4.
In what was, so far, the best baseball game of the week, the Jaguars pulled their 33rd win out of the fire and salvaged a gem of a start from their star pitcher.
They have been stalwarts of the small screen for years.

And Davina McCall and Amanda Holden looked sensational as they posed for a stunning snap together on Instagram on Monday.

The pair both showed off their incredible figures with plunging outfits as Amanda, 50, revealed they are working on a project together.

Braless: Davina McCall and Amanda Holden looked sensational as they posed for a stunning snap together on Instagram on Monday

Davina, 53, looked radiant in a bright pink blazer which she paired with matching trousers along with silver hoop earrings.

Amanda opted for a silver sleeveless dress with a plunging neckline while she cinched her waist with a chain belt.

Letting her blonde locks fall loose down her shoulders, Amanda completed her outfit with gold earrings as she joked she and Davina should fill in for Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman on Strictly Come Dancing.

Alongside the post, she wrote: '@davinamccall and I are taking the PLUNGE together  exciting project on the way. ( oh and if @tessdaly & @claudiawinkle need a night off...)'.

Insane: Last week, Amanda looked incredible in a plunging mesh swimsuit as she got flirty with fans on Instagram while making the most of her sun-soaked family break overseas

It comes after Amanda recently returned from Portugal, after the country was put on the amber list and joined a hoard of holidaymakers racing back before the change in quarantine rules.

Thousands of British travellers in Portugal have faced chaos at airports, with many describing boarding flights with just minutes to spare while others will be forced to quarantine because they cannot book PCR tests.

As Portugal moves into the amber list, passengers have until 4am Tuesday to return to the UK or quarantine for 10 days, and must have proof of a negative PCR test taken no more than three days before their departure or face a 500.

Last week, Amanda sizzled in a dreamy shot that saw her cooling off in the sea while showing off her stunning figure in her skimpy beachwear.

Sizzling: Amanda joked that her risque swimsuit gave her 'an ab' as she kicked back on a rock

In the picture shared to Instagram, she had teamed her almost see-through swimsuit with a chunky pair of shades and sported wet locks as she flashed a smile while making her way back up onto the sand from the ocean.

Using the shot as a perfect opportunity to flirt with her fans, Amanda sent temperatures soaring as she teased alongside her post: 'Fancy a dip?'

She was also seen championing her saucy swimsuit from Melissa Odabash over on her Instagram story as she kicked back on a rock and joked: 'This swimsuit makes me look like I have an ab.'

Her followers were all for the talent show panellist's risque swimwear, as they littered the comments with flame emojis.

'Sisters': Amanda was every inch the proud mother as she shared a sweet Instagram snap of her lookalike daughters Lexi, 15, and Hollie, nine, while on holiday in Portugal

Amanda's vacation upload came after she was seen having a proud mum moment with her lookalike daughters.

Following a trip to the beach, Amanda posted an image of sisters Lexi, 15, and Hollie, nine, in matching red outfits after spending the day relaxing in the picturesque sunshine.

Lexi was dressed in a stylish red swimsuit for the snap, while her sister Hollie wore a matching red top and printed skirt.

Clearly proud of her two girls, Amanda uploaded the snap to social media with the caption '#sisters.'
She has kept her nutrition plan and fitness regime consistent throughout the pandemic.

And Amber Turner looked incredible as she slipped into a skimpy bikini for a sunbathing session in Essex on Monday.

Making the most of the UK heatwave, the TOWIE star, 27, showcased her ample cleavage and taut midriff in a rust coloured halter bikini top as she smiled.

Wow: Amber Turner looked incredible as she slipped into a skimpy bikini for a sunbathing session in Essex on Monday

Amber paired this with matching bikini bottoms which displayed her bronzed legs as she posed on a sunlounger.

Her blonde tresses were styled sleek and straight, with a bandana holding them back from her face.

She sported a radiant palette of make-up for the afternoon.

This comes after Amber wowed in skimpy bikinis on Thursday as she larked around with her beau Dan Edgar in a hot tub at their Essex apartment.

The star highlighted her pert assets and sun-kissed glow in a scarlet two-piece as her boyfriend, 31, playfully patted her bottom in the bubbling water.

Wow! This comes after Amber wowed in skimpy bikinis on Thursday as she larked around with her beau Dan Edgar in a hot tub at their Essex apartment

Amber's ruched lettuce trim swimwear featured a strapless, peekaboo fit as she captured a series of stunning videos to Instagram.

She swept her signature blonde locks away from her visage in an updo and wore minimal make-up as she sipped on a cocktail.

Meanwhile Dan appeared to be wearing swimming trunks as he was seen rhythmically tapping Amber's posterior while she chuckled.

She captioned the video: 'He's having a great time,' alongside laughing emojis.

Lady in red: The star highlighted her pert assets and sun-kissed glow in a scarlet two-piece which featured a strapless, peekaboo fit

The TOWIE sensation then switched into a turquoise bikini and untied her locks, allowing them to fall down in tousled waves.

She amped up the glamour with full coverage make-up as she posed against a plain white wall indoors.

During a Q&A on Instagram last month, Amber posted an old picture from when she was 18 in which she had a visibly smaller pout.

She showed her followers the snap after one fan asked to see a photo of her with darker hair.

She captioned the upload: 'Think I was 18 here, pre any lip filler. I look so young...this was my natural hair colour.'

'He's having a great time': Meanwhile Dan, 31, appeared to be wearing swimming trunks as he was seen rhythmically patting Amber's posterior

In the picture Amber beamed as she displayed her honey tresses and wore an eye-catching tight yellow dress.

Since being in the limelight and joining The Only Way Is Essex in 2017 Amber has had larger lips as the result of cosmetic treatments.

Back in 2018 Amber looked unrecognisable yet again as she shared a slew of throwback snaps from 2015, alongside TOWIE pals Courtney Green and Chloe Meadows.

The reality star commented on her changing appearance as she posted the photo of her partying on her Instagram Stories and wrote: 'Lol how different do we look?'

In one snap, Amber looked fresh-faced as she posed with Courtney and Chloe on a night out in Essex.

Difference: During a Q&A on Instagram last month, Amber posted an old picture from when she was 18 in which she had a visibly smaller pout

The reality star, who is known for her peroxide blonde hair and glamorous make-up looks, sported a softer shade of blonde and an understated make-up look, while in another photo she displayed off her svelte figure in a lilac bodycon dress.

The Essex beauty has always discussed her cosmetic surgery journey with fans, often updating them via her Instagram page on the results of her procedures.

In 2017, the star got a boob job in a bid to improve her confidence and flew out to Turkey to get veneers. She also received a 3D non-surgical bum lift to get a perkier bottom.

The beauty previously discussed the boob job in which she boosted her cleavage from a B cup to an eye-popping D cup, as she branded the surgery 'the best decision of her life'.

Throwback: She captioned the snap: 'Think I was 18 here, pre any lip filler. I look so young...this was my natural hair colour'

Old pic: Back in 2018 Amber looked unrecognisable yet again as she shared a slew of throwback snaps from 2015, alongside TOWIE pals Courtney Green and Chloe Meadows

She said in 2018: 'Last year I had my boob job and I went from a B to a D and it was the best decision I've ever made in my life.

'I think if there's something you want to change, you shouldn't feel bad about having surgery. It's made me so much more confident and it's made me so much happier.'

Amber also discussed how she struggles with body image since being in the spotlight, as she said: 'Of course the public eye makes you feel under scrutiny...

'One bad picture can make you look twice the size you are and you do worry about it. It's not the end of the world though - you know what you look like and so do your friends and family.'
Oscar-winning duo Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto continued filming new show WeCrashed while in Manhattan on Sunday.

The starry pair were seen holding hands on set while filming the Apple TV+ series near the World Trade Center area in downtown New York City.

The 38-year-old Les Miserables actress executive produces and stars as disgraced WeWork chief brand/impact officer Rebekah Neumann in the show based on David Brown's 2020 Wondery podcast.

Anne got into character while clad in a white lacy turtleneck over a matching tank top tucked into blue flared-leg jeans and snakeskin booties.

Action! Oscar-winning duo Anne Hathaway (L) and Jared Leto (R) continued filming their Apple TV+ series WeCrashed, separately, while in Manhattan on Sunday

Stone faced: The Oscar-winning pair both sported stoic expression while shooting the scene in which they walked hand in hand, fingers interlaced

The real thing: Following revelations about erratic management and business practices, the Neumanns (pictured in 2018) resigned in 2019 from WeWork, which reported a $2.1B loss in May despite having 490K members

Hathaway also wore a long raven wig and shielded her eyes with large sunglasses as she strutted on to the set with her iPhone in her hand.

The Witches actress didn't have to travel far considering she was born and raised in Brooklyn.

Meanwhile, the evergreen 49-year-old executive produces and stars as hard-partying, disgraced WeWork CEO Adam Neumann, who's married to Rebekah.

The Oscar-winning pair both sported stoic expression while shooting the scene in which they walked hand in hand, fingers interlaced

In character: The starry pair were seen holding hands on set while filming the Apple TV+ series near the World Trade Center area in downtown New York City

Based on David Brown's 2020 Wondery podcast: The 38-year-old actress executive produces and stars as disgraced WeWork chief brand/impact officer Rebekah Neumann

Sheer shirt: Anne got into character while clad in a white lacy turtleneck over a matching tank top tucked into blue flared-leg jeans and snakeskin booties

Transformed: Hathaway also wore a long raven wig and shielded her eyes with large sunglasses as she strutted on to the set with her iPhone in her hand

New Yorker: The Witches actress didn't have to travel far considering she was born and raised in Brooklyn

Jared reported to set while wearing a black suit over a light grey T-shirt and dark grey sneakers.

Leto also donned a shoulder-length brown wig and appeared to be wearing a prosthetic nose to better inhabit the Israeli-born narcissist.

Showrunners Lee Eisenberg and Drew Crevello are heading up WeCrashed, which 'tells the greed-filled rise and inevitable fall of the $50B commercial real estate startup' - according to Variety.

Onscreen husband: The evergreen 49-year-old executive produces and stars as hard-partying, disgraced WeWork CEO Adam Neumann, who's married to Rebekah

Friendly wave: Jared reported to set while wearing a black suit over a light grey T-shirt and dark grey sneakers

Chameleon: Leto also donned a shoulder-length brown wig and appeared to be wearing a prosthetic nose to better inhabit the Israeli-born narcissist

At the helm: Showrunners Lee Eisenberg and Drew Crevello are heading up WeCrashed, which 'tells the greed-filled rise and inevitable fall of the $50B commercial real estate startup'

Following revelations about erratic management and business practices, the Neumanns resigned in 2019 from WeWork, which reported a $2.1B loss in May despite having 490K members.

WeCrashed marks the first time Anne and and the Hail to the Victor rocker have worked together.

On Monday, Hathaway - last seen in Amazon Prime Video series Solos - shared a snap of herself holding the New York Times crossword puzzle, in which she's number 33 down.

Chemistry test: WeCrashed marks the first time Anne and and the Hail to the Victor rocker have worked together (pictured May 25)

On Saturday, Jared - last seen in Zack Snyder's Justice League - shared a snap of himself ready to ascend a climbing wall.

Fans of Leto's band 30 Seconds to Mars can pay between $1,649-$7,149 to attend their all-inclusive three-day festival Mars Island, which happens August 20-23 on an island in Croatia.

The My So-Called Life heartthrob has penned 'over 100 songs' for 30STM's sixth studio album with his drummer half-brother Shannon as their lead guitarist Tomo Milicevic quit the band in 2018.

'I am very honored and proud to have been featured as a clue!' On Monday, Hathaway - last seen in Amazon Prime Video series Solos - shared a snap of herself holding the New York Times crossword puzzle, in which she's number 33 down
Justin Hartley got a visit from his new wife Sofia Pernas on the set of his new movie this week.

Justin is in Fairfield County, Connecticut, filming his new Netflix Christmas movie The Noel Diary, which he is executive producing.

The 44-year-old actor was spotted holding hands with Sofia as they strolled around the lot during a break in filming on Sunday.

Break in filming: Justin Hartley spent time with wife Sofia Pernas on the set of his new movie The Noel Diary in Connecticut on Sunday

The This Is Us star was seen in a dark sweater and pants while Sofia, 31, opted for a black bodysuit and skinny jeans.

On Monday the couple, who recently tied the knot following the finalization of Justin's divorce from Chrishell Stause, enjoyed an oyster lunch together.

Sharing a selfie of the loved up duo sat at a table with a seafood platter in front of them along with two cocktails, Justin wrote: 'This is how we Monday'.

The Noel Diary is based on the novel of the same name, published in 2017. Charles Shyer (Alfie and Father of the Bride) will direct.

Back to work: The 44-year-old actor was seen in dark pants and a dark sweater as he was seen on the set of the Netflix Christmas movie

One day after their on-set date, Justin shared this sweet selfie writing 'This is how we Monday'

Justin plays a bestselling author who returns home at Christmas to settle the estate of his estranged mother, who kicked him out of the house when he was just 16.

He then discovers a diary that may hold secrets to his own past and that of a beautiful young woman on a mysterious journey of her own. Together, they embark on an adventure to confront their pasts and discover a future thats totally unexpected.

Justin and Sofia's wedding news was revealed last month, just three months after the actor finalized his divorce from Selling Sunset star Chrishell, 39.

Married: Justin and Sofia's wedding news was revealed last month, just three months after the actor finalized his divorce from Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause, 39. They are pictured making their red carpet debut on May 16

They previously worked together on The Young and the Restless back in 2015 and started dating last year following Justin's split from Chrishell.

The actor cited 'irreconcilable differences' when he filed for divorce in November 2019, which blindsided the reality star.

Chrishell would go on to file for dissolution of the marriage the following month and claim her ex-husband told her of his intent to file for divorce in a text, sharing the news with her only 45 minutes before it was made public.
Jack Tweed has paid tribute to his late wife Jade Goody and marked what would have been her 40th birthday.

The widower, 33, shared a snap of himself and the Big Brother star together alongside a heart emoji and her date of birth, reports The Sun.

Jade died at the age of 27 in March 2009 following a battle with cervical cancer, just one-month after she tied the knot with Jack.

Always remembered: Jack Tweed has paid tribute to his late wife Jade Goody and marked what would have been her 40th birthday (pictured in 2008)

The mother-of-two would have turned 40 on June 5, with her widower ensuring the remember the star on the milestone date.

As well as marking Jade's birthday on social media, a source claimed that Jack will visit her graveside to privately pay his respects.

A pal told the publication: 'Jack will never stop loving and missing Jade. The years may pass by but it doesnt get any easier to deal with.

'He will spend the weekend, as he always does in significant anniversaries and parts of Jades life by paying his respects privately at Jades graveside

Tribute: The widower, 33, is said to have shared a snap of himself and the Big Brother star together alongside a heart emoji and her date of birth (pictured in 2019)

'Jack has tried to move on with his life since Jade dies but he has come to accept he will never meet anyone who comes close.'

Electrician Jack also paid tribute to his late wife back in March as he marked 12 years since her tragic death.

Taking to Instagram, Jack shared a sweet image of himself and Jade alongside her sons Freddie and Bobby, captioning the image: '12 years never forgotten, miss you.'

The photo sees the four in great spirits as Jack carries Freddie, now 16, on his shoulders while Jade and Bobby, now 18, flash huge smiles at the camera.

As well as his heartfelt caption, Jack added two red hearts and a prayer emoji.

'He will never stop loving and missing her': As well as marking Jade's birthday on social media, a source claimed Jack will visit her graveside to privately pay his respects (pictured in 2019)

Jack's tribute came after he discussed his alcohol and drug addiction after struggling to cope with the passing of his late wife Jade.

He revealed he's still 'not 100 per cent' after losing her and admitted to spending 100-a-day to withstand suicidal thoughts and the ongoing grief.

Speaking of the immeasurable loss, he said to The Sun on Sunday: 'Id just sit at home, think about Jade, start crying and then think the only thing to do was go out and drink vodka.

'So Id just have a drink every day, it would go from there. I started smoking weed after I stopped drinking, and I went through a stage where I got really, really depressed.

Gone too soon: Jack also paid an tribute to Jade as he marked 12 years since her death in March by sharing a sweet snap of the couple and her two sons Freddie, now 16, and Bobby, now 18

'I replaced the booze for weed and it took me a good four months to get rid of it, to get out of the habit of smoking every day - I was spending 100-a-day.'

According to Jack, he didn't know how else to manage the constant thoughts of Jade which occupied his mind, or how he could come to terms with her death.

The former Celebrity Big Brother star added that people would mistakenly think he didn't care due his reckless behaviour, which was masking his pain.

He eventually went to see his mother after his mental health reached an all-time low.

'All I could think about was committing suicide,' he said as he recalled visited her and 'crying for four hours' as he 'didn't want to be here anymore.'

Grieving: The electrician has previously admitted he 'compares everyone to Jade' and has been 'dumped' by girlfriends because of it (pictured with Jade, Bobby and Freddie in 2008)

It was ultimately his closest family members who encouraged him to get help. In addition to spending more time with his mother and taking anti-depressants, he began making small steps towards improving his wellbeing.

While he is no longer depressed, he admitted he is still not a 'hundred per cent,' and is focused on 'getting through' life, one step-at-a-time.

Jack now works as an electrician, the same occupation he had before meeting Jade.

Earlier in March, the 33-year-old also revealed his new girlfriend is not talking to him after he paid tribute to his late wife on their 12th wedding anniversary.

The former club promoter confirmed to the publication that he was in a relationship that is 'the most serious' he has had since Jade passed away.

Tragic: Jack has also candidly discussed his alcohol and drug addiction after struggling to cope with the passing of his late wife Jade (pictured together in 2006)

Their flourishing romance has however hit a speed-bump as he told The Sun that his new love interest was less than pleased when he shared a throwback from their wedding day, as she believed he should have given her warning.

Jack explained: 'She's not talking to me at the moment because I put something up on Instagram and she said I should've warned her. I would feel guilty and horrible if I didn't acknowledge the days that are special to me though.'

He reflected on how former loves have reacted to his widower status, saying: 'Girls have said in the past, "well you obviously don't like me and I'm not here to be compared to Jade. So let's just call it a day."

'So, Im just sort of waiting for that to happen with this one, basically. I compare everyone to Jade and its why I cant settle down - they always dump me over it'.

For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 116 123 or click here for details
Robert De Niro was seen with a large metal brace on his right leg while entering a building in New York City on Monday.

The acclaimed actor, 77, was with a female friend who held on to his cane and a small dog. Behind her was a child.

The star had torn a muscle in his leg in mid May while in Oklahoma to film Killers Of The Flower Moon from director Martin Scorsese. Last week the GoodFellas star said he was in 'excruciating pain' after the incident took place.

Looks bad: Robert De Niro was seen with a large metal brace on his right leg while entering a building in New York City on Monday

He looks healthy: The movie icon had on a blue cap with a matching blue shirt that had a blue pen in the pocket

The movie icon had on a blue cap with a matching blue shirt that had a blue pen in the pocket. He added gray shorts with dark slides that required no laces.

His lady friend wore a white shirt with light gray sweatpants and white Birkenstocks as she held on to his cane and a small fuzzy dog while blocking a child who had on the same shoes.

He told IndieWire the incident was 'unexpected.'

'I tore my quad somehow,' he said. 'It's just a simple stepping over something and I just went down. The pain was excruciating and now I have to get it fixed.

'But it happens, especially when you get older, you have to be prepared for unexpected things. But it's manageable.'

A new pal: The acclaimed actor, 77, was with a female friend who held on to his cane and a small dog. Behind her was a child

He noted that his role in the upcoming film is fairly sedentary and doesn't require a lot of movement, so production should go on as planned.

'What Im doing with Scorsese in Killers of the Flower Moon, Im pretty much a sedentary character in a way,' he said. 'I dont move around a lot, thank god. So well manage.

'I just have to get the procedure done and keep it straight in a certain position and let it heal.'

De Niro boarded a flight from Oklahoma to New York City to see a doctor last week after the incident, according to TMZ.

Ouch: The star had torn a muscle in his leg in mid May while in Oklahoma to film Killers Of The Flower Moon from director Martin Scorsese. Last week the GoodFellas star said he was in 'excruciating pain' after the incident took place

Slides make life easy: Robert had on gray slides that required no laces to be tied

De Niro was already slated to have a few weeks off before the injury happened.

De Niro plays William Hale in the drama, which is based on a true story chronicled in David Grann's book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.

The story follows a series of murders of wealthy Osage people in Osage County, Oklahoma, shortly after large oil deposits were discovered on their land.

A helping hand: The woman had on a white top, gray sweatpants and white Birkenstocks

Leonardo DiCaprio was originally slated to play the lead role, FBI agent Tom White who investigated the killings, but he lobbied to have his role changed.

Jesse Plemons came aboard to play White, while DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, the nephew of De Niro's character William Hale.

The cast also includes Tantoo Cardinal, Pat Healy, Scott Shepherd, Lily Gladstone and Sturgill Simpson.

The film will be the 10th feature film De Niro and Scorsese will have worked on, a relationship that goes back to the early 1970s.

Taking it easy: De Niro is recovering from a devastating leg injury while filming the new Martin Scorsese flick Killers of the Flower Moon

De Niro first starred in Scorsese's 1973 film Mean Streets, which he followed up by playing the iconic Travis Bickle in 1976's Best Picture nominee Taxi Driver.

He also starred in 1977's New York, New York, 1980's Raging Bull, 1982's The King of Comedy, 1990's Goodfellas, 1991's Cape Fear, 1995's Casino and 2019's The Irishman.

De Niro has a number of projects in post-production including Randall Emmet's directorial effort Wash Me In the River with John Malkovich and Jack Huston.

He also stars in an untitled David O. Russell project with Anya-Taylor Joy, Margot Robbie, Christian Bale and Zoe Saldana.

There are also projects such as Armageddon Time with Anne Hathaway, Cate Blanchett and Oscar Isaac in pre-production.
Bachelor alum Courtney Robertson has another bun in the oven.

The reality personality, 37, announced she and husband Humberto Preciado are expecting their second child via a sweet family photoshoot with People out Monday.

Robertson, who is already mom to nearly one-year-old son Joaquin Ramon, told the magazine: 'I am so excited to have a daughter, I can't wait to do all the girly things with her.'

Growing family! Bachelor alum Courtney Robertson is pregnant with her second child with husband Humberto Preciado

She went on to joke about how 'Dad has been joking that he and Joaquin can't wait for her first date.'

Robertson and family beamed in the accompanying photos, where Humberto held up pink glitter-filled balloons while mom held onto her first born.

Appearing more than ready to be a big brother, Joaquin donned a cute shirt which read: 'Did we just become best friends?'

Courtney and Humberto wed last fall in an intimate outdoor ceremony in beautiful Sedona, Arizona.

The wedding location held a special significance to Robertson, whose parents were wed near the Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village 40 years prior.

Girls just wanna have fun! Robertson, who is already mom to nearly one-year-old son Joaquin Ramon, said 'I am so excited to have a daughter, I can't wait to do all the girly things with her'

The spot was also a tribute to Courtney's mother, who passed away in 2019.

'My mom was in my heart all day,' she told People at the time.

'Tlaquepaque has always been a special place for my family. So I love that I can keep coming with Joaquin and Humberto and it's special for us too.'

'It was just surreal to watch my dream come to life,' she added. 'We've had so many life events this year. And I'm so excited for our next phase as a family.'

Bad girl: Robertson shot to notoriety on Season 16 of the hit show as a 'villain'

Robertson shot to notoriety on Season 16 of the hit show as a 'villain.'

The model won a proposal from Ben Flajnik in 2012, but the two split shortly thereafter.

Speaking about her now partner, Courtney revealed, 'I was giving up on dating. But I'm so glad I waited.'

She continued, 'Humberto feels like home to me. And I know I finally met the right one,' adding, 'hes been everything I ever dreamt of.'
She's a vocal critic of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, but Rebecca Judd has so far held her tongue on the politician's mysterious disappearance from public life.

Mr Andrews, 48, one of the most prominent figures in Australia, has been off sick on full pay since his mysterious fall on March 9 - and critics say he has failed to properly explain the circumstances of the accident, resulting in wild conspiracy theories and even claims of a government 'cover-up'.

The outspoken WAG, 38, was uncharacteristically quiet on the issue on Monday as she revealed how exercise was helping her cope with the ongoing lockdown.

Silenced: She's a vocal critic of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (right), but Rebecca Judd (left) has so far held her tongue on the politician's mysterious disappearance from public life

The wife of AFL great Chris Judd shared a photo of herself after a workout session at her $7.3million mansion in Brighton, Melbourne.

'Workout done,' she wrote in the caption.

'It's hard to be motivated to exercise in Melbourne right now so I've made a small change. I do my 20-minute routine on the rug while watching the Covid presser.

'I figure it's a good way to kill two birds with one stone and keeps my body moving.'

Holding her tongue: The outspoken WAG, 38, was uncharacteristically quiet on the issue on Monday as she revealed how exercise was helping her cope with the ongoing lockdown

Fitness: In a follow-up post, Rebecca outlined her Covid press conference workout in detail

In a follow-up post, Rebecca outlined her Covid press conference workout in detail.

She does the following exercises for 45 seconds each with 15 seconds of rest in between: burpees, a plank hold, jump squats, bicycle crunches, jumping lunges, heel touches, toe touches, Russian twists, a glute bridge hold and mountain climbers.

She then repeats the entire routine a second time.

Family: Rebecca (pictured with her husband, AFL great Chris Judd, and their children) made headlines last September when she criticised Mr Andrews for his draconian lockdown laws

Rebecca made headlines last September when she criticised Mr Andrews for his draconian lockdown laws.

She snuck in a swipe at the Labor premier in a sponsored Instagram post for a cardboard company, writing: '@the_little_cardboard_co perfect for iso and upcoming school holidays as it seems Dictator Dan will be locking Victorians in our homes even longer.'

The former Channel Nine weather presenter later deleted the post after facing backlash from Mr Andrews' supporters.

She has since maintained her silence on political matters, despite Victoria's latest lockdown drawing criticism across the political spectrum.

Dig: She snuck in a swipe at the Labor premier in a sponsored Instagram post for a cardboard company, writing: '@the_little_cardboard_co perfect for iso and upcoming school holidays as it seems Dictator Dan will be locking Victorians in our homes even longer'

Muzzled: The former Channel Nine weather presenter later deleted the post after facing backlash from Mr Andrews' supporters. She has since maintained her silence on political matters, despite Victoria's latest lockdown drawing criticism across the political spectrum

Meanwhile, Mr Andrews is under pressure to answer eleven questions about his mysterious fall to 'prove there is no cover up' after effectively vanishing from public view for 92 days.

The Liberal-National state Opposition is demanding answers after Daily Mail Australia first questioned why the Victorian premier has hidden himself away during his recovery, allowing numerous conspiracy theories to circulate.

Since his accident on March 9, Mr Andrews has only been seen in three social media photos, including one posted by his wife, Catherine, on Saturday which showed her cutting his hair with his face covered by a comb.

Mr Andrews suffered five broken ribs and a fractured T7 vertebrae after falling on 'wet and slippery' stairs at a holiday home on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, at 6.30am.

In a statement six days after the incident, Mr Andrews said 'I landed flat on my back and hit the steps hard directly below the shoulder blades' - but the scant details have sparked a range of conspiracy theories including that he was beaten up by a union official or bashed by a businessman upset about Covid-19 lockdowns.

Missing: Mr Andrews is under pressure to answer eleven questions about his mysterious fall to 'prove there is no cover up' after effectively vanishing from public view for 92 days

He was pictured on his wife's Instagram Story on Saturday evening receiving a DIY lockdown haircut - but it didn't show his face

Mr Andrews was injured on March 9 and spent 10 days in hospital. Conspiracy theorists claimed this image was photoshopped to show his head on some-one else's body

The 11 questions Daniel Andrews must answer about his injuries  Who was in the house at the time of the incident?  What is the address of the house where it occurred?  Who owns the property?  What time was an ambulance called?  Who called the ambulance?  What time did the ambulance arrive?  Which ambulance station was the ambulance dispatched from?  Who made the decision to take the Premier to Peninsula Private?  Were the police contacted?  Did the police attend?  Has Daniel Andrews been interviewed either formally or informally by the police in relation to anything that occurred over that long weekend? Source: Liberal-National Opposition Advertisement

Some conspiracy theorists even claimed a social media image showing Mr Andrews in his early recovery stage was photoshopped to show his head on some-one else's body. Those close to the premier say the theories are nonsense.

The Liberal-National Opposition believes Mr Andrews - who is the nation's best-paid premier on $422,562 - owes it to taxpayers to reveal more details about the incident and prove there is no 'cover up' as he clocks up 91 days off sick on full pay.

MPs want to know who was in the house at the time, as well as the home's address and the name of the owner.

They also want to know if police were called and if Mr Andrews has been interviewed by officers 'either formally or informally' over anything that happened that weekend.

'If there is no cover up then there is no reason not to provide answers to these simple questions,' said shadow treasurer Louise Staley.

'Victorians need honesty and transparency from Daniel Andrews about the circumstances of his injury.

'Everyone is entitled to privacy about their health, but these questions are not about the nature of his injuries, only how he got those injuries.'

Liberal MP James Newbury joined calls for more details, telling Daily Mail Australia: 'No-one is questioning whether Daniel Andrews is sick - but as the elected leader of 6.7 million people, he owes Victorians a proper explanation as to what really happened to him.'

'Victoria is in the middle of its fourth lockdown and people's lives and livelihoods are on the line. We deserve more from Daniel Andrews than a couple of social media posts or a photo of his wife cutting his hair.'

During his time off sick, Mr Andrews has earned $110,057.22 - almost double the average annual salary of Victorians which is $63,000.

Members of parliament are not employed but get paid for the office they hold, meaning they have no leave limits.

Aussies employed in the private sector only get a minimum of 10 days personal leave per year.

Ms Staley said Mr Andrews should only take an MP's base salary of $182,413 while off sick.

Absent Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured with his wife) was criticised for saying that Victorians are having 'another week off work' in his first social media post since April 18

A closer look at the message posted by Daniel Andrews on Wednesday as he recovers from a back injury

'Enough is enough, Daniel Andrews can't continue to get paid for a job he's not doing. He should only be getting the basic MP's pay while he's off work,' she said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the premier's office for comment.

Mr Andrews, who oversaw Melbourne's 112-day lockdown last year, said on Wednesday he would return to work later this month.

It was the first time he had addressed the public since a social media post on April 18, when he said he was making 'slow and steady progress'.

In a statement posted on social media the premier called on Victorians to remain strong as they faced another seven days in lockdown.

Dan Andrews (pictured with daughter Grace, 18) in April as he recovers from a serious back injury

Daniel Andrews issued this message to Victorians on social media on Wednesday night after weeks of silence

'I have more scans and a meeting with my medical team next week. I'll let you know how that goes and exactly when I'll be back on deck later this month,' he wrote.

However, one turn of phrase in his message sparked outrage from opponents.

'But I did want to send a message to Victorians facing another week off work, away from school, or with the kids at home,' he wrote.

The sentence sparked accusations that Mr Andrews was failing to grasp the damage caused by lockdowns.

David Hodgett, shadow education minister, wrote: 'This is a Premier completely out of touch with ordinary Victorians.

'No, Premier, these workers are not having ''another week off work''. They are being financially ruined by your government.'

A sign on the door of a business in Melbourne after the extension of lockdown was announced

Victorian Shadow Treasurer Louise Staley is leading the push (above)

It comes after Scott Morrison said Victoria should lift its crippling Covid-19 restrictions 'as soon as possible'.

The Prime Minister particularly wants to see children at school after the state government only allowed students in years 11 and 12 to go back to class this week.

Since the start of the pandemic Victorian children have been stopped from going to school for 23 weeks, compared to just seven weeks in New South Wales, raising fears they will be left behind students in other states.

'Kids have lost enough time out of school, over the course of the last 18 months, and it's very important we get those kids back to school as soon as possible,' Mr Morrison told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

'I am hopeful these restrictions in Victoria will be lifted as soon as possible I would be urging that we move to lift those restrictions as soon as possible.'

However, Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton has warned the state won't 'snap back' to normal when lockdown is due to end in Melbourne on Thursday after a two-week shutdown.

On Monday the state reported just 11 new cases of Covid-19, all linked to known cases with eight already in isolation before testing positive.

The cases took the state's latest outbreak - which originated in hotel quarantine in Adelaide - to 81 cases.
Frank Sinatra's 'closest confidant' Tony Oppedisano poured more cold water on the long-standing rumor that the late crooner secretly fathered Pulitzer Prize winner Ronan Farrow.

'There are only two ways Frank could have fathered Ronan, both absurd,' Oppedisano wrote in his book Sinatra and Me - hitting shelves Tuesday - according to People.

'Either Mia [Farrow] made a secret trip to shack up with Frank in his California home with [fourth wife] Barbara present. Or Frank, wearing his always romantic colostomy bag, made a quick trip to Connecticut between his Atlantic City performances.'

'Absurd': Frank Sinatra's (L) 'closest confidant' Tony Oppedisano poured more cold water on the long-standing rumor that the late crooner secretly fathered Pulitzer Prize winner Ronan Farrow (R)

Tony claimed Sinatra was too ill following his emergency diverticulitis surgery in late 1986, and that his schedule nine months before Ronan's December 1987 birth was too busy.

'If Ronan had been Frank's son, Frank would have acknowledged him,' Oppedisano insisted.

'People say, "Take a look at [Ronan]" and I say, "Well, take a look at Mia at the same age." They look like twins. I've got blue eyes too and I'm not Frank's son.'

The 76-year-old actress admitted she 'never really split' with the nine-time Grammy winner despite him blindsiding her with divorce papers on the 1968 set of Rosemary's Baby.

Oppedisano wrote in his book Sinatra and Me: 'There are only two ways Frank could have fathered Ronan...Either Mia [Farrow] made a secret trip to shack up with Frank in his California home with [fourth wife] Barbara present. Or Frank, wearing his always romantic colostomy bag, made a quick trip to Connecticut between his Atlantic City performances'

'If Ronan had been Frank's son, Frank would have acknowledged him': Tony claimed Sinatra (pictured in 1986) was too ill following his emergency diverticulitis surgery in late 1986, and that his schedule nine months before Ronan's December 1987 birth was too busy

Oppedisano wrote: 'People say, "Take a look at [Ronan]" and I say, "Well, take a look at Mia at the same age." They look like twins. I've got blue eyes too and I'm not Frank's son' (pictured in 2019)

In 2013, Mia told Vanity Fair that Ronan could 'possibly' be Frank's biological son, but his daughter Nancy told CBS in 2015 that it was 'nonsense' because he had a vasectomy before 1986.

'In my opinion, he's my child,' filmmaker Woody Allen told Vulture in 2018.

'I think he is, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. I paid for child support for him for his whole childhood, and I don't think that's very fair if he's not mine.'

Longtime love: The 76-year-old actress (R) admitted she 'never really split' with the nine-time Grammy winner (L) despite him blindsiding her with divorce papers on the 1968 set of Rosemary's Baby (pictured at their wedding party in 1966)

Is he or isn't he? In 2013, Mia told Vanity Fair that Ronan could 'possibly' be Frank's biological son, but his daughter Nancy (pictured) told CBS in 2015 that it was 'nonsense' because he had a vasectomy before 1986

Filmmaker Woody Allen (L, pictured in 1995) told Vulture in 2018: 'In my opinion, he's my child...I think he is, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. I paid for child support for him for his whole childhood, and I don't think that's very fair if he's not mine'

The 33-year-old journalist plays coy about the topic in most interviews, most recently telling Real Time host Bill Maher in 2019: 'You can ask my mom.'

'I appreciate how hilarious it is. I mean, it's a ridiculous situation. That said, I'm pretty unfazed by it in substance, because it's been out there both publicly and privately for so long,' Ronan (born Satchel) told Vulture in 2013.

'You know, I have a relationship that I'm very happy with, you know, with all parties involved. For me, the imperative is "Alright, we've talked about it, I get a kick out of it, everyone gets a kick out of it."'
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Ellie Kemper has apologized for taking part in a 1999 Missouri pageant that once banned black members and celebrated the wealthy white elite, saying she was not aware at the time of its 'racist, sexist and elitist past'.

The 41-year-old actress spoke out on Monday after a photo of her being crowned the winner of the St Louis-based Veiled Prophet Ball when she was 19 years old started going viral on Twitter.

The Veiled Prophet Organization has been criticized in the past for its racist history and ties to white supremacy.

In an Instagram post, Kemper said her ignorance about the organization's past as a teenager wasn't an excuse.

'When I was 19 years old, I decided to participate in a debutante ball in my hometown. The century-old organization that hosted the debutante ball had an unquestionably racist, sexist, and elitist past,' she wrote.

Ellie Kemper spoke out on Monday after a photo (above) of her being crowned the winner of the St Louis-based Veiled Prophet Ball when she was 19 years old started going viral on Twitter

Sorry: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Ellie Kemper apologized on Monday for participating in the Veiled Prophet Ball when she was 19 years old

'I was not aware of this history at the time, but ignorance is no excuse. I was old enough to have educated myself before getting involved.

'I unequivocally deplore, denounce, and reject white supremacy. At the same time, I acknowledge that because of my race and my privilege, I am the beneficiary of a system that dispensed unequal justice and unequal rewards.

"There is a very natural temptation, when you become the subject of internet criticism, to tell yourself that your detractors are getting it all wrong. But at some point last week, I realized that a lot of the forces behind the criticism are forces that I've spent my life supporting and agreeing with.'

Kemper went on to apologize for those she had 'disappointed'.

The controversy erupted a week ago after the photo of her being crowned the winner resurfaced and started spreading on social media.

The image, which was originally printed in St Louis Dispatch newspaper, sparked controversy after a person referred to Kemper as the 'KKK queen' for being crowned the winner.

While an historic Veiled Prophet image showing a person dressed in a hood and robe has drawn comparisons to the KKK, there are no known links between the organization and Klansman.

The latest: Ellie, whose real name is Elizabeth, was a 19-year-old Princeton University student when she was crowned Queen of Love and Beauty in 1999

The latest: During her five slide long apologize, Ellie said she wasn't aware of the history of the organization but added 'ignorance is no excuse' and that she should 'have educated myself before getting involved'

Speaking out: She posted her apology on Monday morning to her Instagram page

Historians have previously pointed to how the organization was started in the late 1870s, which is decades before the KKK was formed in the early 1900s.

The Veiled Prophet Organization has, however, been criticized in the past for its racist history and ties to white supremacy.

The Veiled Prophet Organization was started as a secret society in St Louis back in 1878 by a group of wealth white businessmen.

Its founder Charles Slayback was a grain executive and former Confederate cavalryman.

The organization banned black and Jewish members until 1979.

It still holds its annual Veiled Prophet Ball each year, which is similar to a debutante event where members present their daughters to society.

During the ball, one girl is crowned Queen of Love and Beauty.

The winner is crowned by the 'Veiled Prophet' - a member of the organization who covers their face with a white veil so their identity remains secret. The member who is the Veiled Prophet is believed to change each year.

The ball's website says 60 to 70 young women are chosen each year for 'their outstanding community service efforts.

The actress, who has starred in The Office and Bridesmaids, was the organization's 105th winner. She hails from one of Missouri's wealthiest banking families and her father, David Kemper, is the chairman of Commerce Bank

The history: While an historic Veiled Prophet image showing a person dressed in a hood and robe has drawn comparisons to the KKK, there are no known links between the organization and the white supremacists

The ceremony: The annual Veiled Prophet Ball is still held each year where the winner is crowned by a 'Veiled Prophet' (pictured on left) - a member of the organization who covers their face with a white veil so their identity remains secret

They 'walk down the magnificent 72-foot-long Veiled Prophet runway in fashionable couture gowns, and in front of family and friends, are presented and honored for their contributions'.

Kemper, whose real name is Elizabeth, was a 19-year-old Princeton University student when she was crowned Queen of Love and Beauty in 1999.

The actress, who has starred in The Office and Bridesmaids, was the organization's 105th winner.

She hails from one of Missouri's wealthiest banking families and her father, David Kemper, is the chairman of Commerce Bank.

Twitter erupted after the resurfaced image of Kemper started going viral as some branded her a racist, white supremacist and a 'KKK queen'.

They drew comparisons to her role in Kimmy Schmidt where she plays a young woman who escapes an Indiana cult and restarts her life in New York City.

Others, however, argued that Kemper had no known history of being racist.

Those with knowledge of the Veiled Prophet argued that it was a stretch to compare Kemper to a white supremacist just because she was crowned queen.

The organization still hold the ball and a parade each year but the latter has been rebranded as the 'America's Birthday Parade'.

'Many things have changed since 1878, but the Veiled Prophet Organization will always continue its largest gift to the community: a spectacular parade that has become one of St. Louis most enduring family traditions,' its website reads.
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Nacogdoches, TX (75965)

Today

Mixed clouds and sun this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 93F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 75F. Winds light and variable.
FOLKSTON, Ga. (AP)  More than 160 years after her great-great-grandfather settled on a patch of land surrounded by water in the Okefenokee Swamp, Sheila Carter takes visitors on guided canoe tours for firsthand looks at the swamp's abundant alligators and stilt-legged birds wading among blooming water lilies.

Even when she's not working, Carter often paddles the tea-colored waters to find peace amid the vastly unspoiled wilderness. She fears it could be irreparably harmed if a mining company is allowed to dig for minerals just outside the Okefenokee, home to the largest U.S. wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi River.

I've paddled the swamp all my life, said Carter, whose ancestors first came to the Okefenokee in 1858. They cannot 100% guarantee they would not destroy or harm the swamp. And I dont want them there.

Twin Pines Minerals of Birmingham, Alabama, has spent the past two years seeking government permits to mine titanium dioxide on land 2.9 miles (4.7 kilometers) from the southeastern boundary of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The plan sparked an outcry that reaches far beyond this sparsely populated community near the Georgia-Florida line.

Federal scientists have warned that mining near the Okefenokee's bowl-like rim could damage the swamp's ability to hold water. Environmental groups have rallied thousands to write or call regulators and elected officials.

For now, the decision on whether the mine gets approval rests with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. The state agency often considers permits for such projects in tandem with federal regulators. The U.S. government initially had a role in assessing the Twin Pines project near the Okefenokee until then-President Donald Trump changed the rules, narrowing the types of waterways that qualify for federal protection under the Clean Water Act.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which had been reviewing a federal permit for the Twin Pines mine, declared in October that as a result of those rollbacks it no longer had jurisdiction over wetlands on the 739-acre (299 hectare) site outside the swamp.

That left state regulators in Georgia with sole permitting oversight of the project.

Were in uncharted waters," said Bill Sapp, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. Federal agencies like the Corps and the Environmental Protection Agency have always been involved in making these types of permit decisions involving wetlands, especially when youve got a natural resource of the caliber of the Okefenokee.

The proposed mine near the Okefenokee refuge is just one high-profile example of federal regulators sidestepping projects that could pollute streams or drain wetlands because of the rule changes under Trump.

Since the new rules took effect last June, the Army Corps has evaluated more than 40,000 wetlands, streams and other water features facing potential impacts from development. The agency found just 24% qualified for protection under U.S. environmental laws, said Doug Garman, an Army Corps spokesman in Washington.

Garman said comparable data from before the rule was changed was not readily available. However, an online database maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency shows that under the prior rules, 42% of waters and water features evaluated by the Army Corps since August 2015 met the criteria for federal protection.

President Joe Biden's administration has ordered a review of Trump's rule changes and could move to undo them. But some conservation groups fear that would take too long and hope to get Trump's rollbacks overturned by a judge.

Impacts are occurring across the country, said Kelly Moser, a Southern Environmental Law Center attorney challenging the rollbacks in U.S. District Court in South Carolina. With that sort of rate of waters losing protection, there is no time to waste.

The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge covers nearly 630 square miles (1,630 square kilometers) in southeast Georgia and is home to alligators, bald eagles and other protected species. The swamps wildlife, cypress forests and flooded prairies draw roughly 600,000 visitors each year, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge.

Two decades ago, chemical giant DuPont retreated from plans to mine outside the Okefenokee after meeting fierce resistance. Twin Pines wants permits to mine a small fraction of the acreage DuPont pursued. Steve Ingle, president of Twin Pines, declined to answer questions about potential environmental impacts. Ingle has previously insisted his company can mine the site without harming the swamp.

Government scientists have been skeptical. In February 2019, the Fish and Wildlife Service wrote that the proposed mine could pose substantial risks to the swamp, including its ability to hold water. Some impacts, it said, "may not be able to be reversed, repaired, or mitigated for.

Ingle has said mining will occur on a ridge above the swamp and wont go deep enough to cause underground leaks.

Georgia environmental regulators are weighing five permit applications for the project. After an initial review, regulators in April sent Twin Pines 10 pages of questions and requested changes. Once those get answered, the agency plans a meeting for the general public.

We see the EPD being extremely careful, said Neill Herring, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club in Georgia. The agencys response is greater than it would have been prior to the Corps removal from the field.

Mine supporters include Charlton County's elected commissioners, who were swayed by Twin Pines' promise to bring $300 million in investment and roughly 400 jobs to the area.

Dixie McGurn, who owns a Folkston shop where tourists stop for lunch, ice cream and souvenirs, admits shes torn. Many Okefenokee visitors are day-trippers, she said, who don't spend enough for local businesses to thrive.

I dont want anything to happen to our great wonder," said McGurn, a former Folkston mayor. But I worry about our workforce. We need something else to stimulate our economy here.

Georgia's new Democratic U.S. senators are pushing for federal scientists to stay involved even if they have no formal oversight role.

Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock asked the Fish and Wildlife Service in an April 28 letter to offer to help Georgia regulators review the state permit applications. Ossoff again called for the agency to "participate intensively during a recent Okefenokee tour.

The offer got a cool reception from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. Agency spokesman Kevin Chambers said he expects federal scientists to offer input during the public comment process on Twin Pines applications.

Chambers said several thousand people have already submitted public comments.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp also has gotten an earful. A campaign by the Georgia River Network to mobilize opponents of the mine generated 8,000 letters and 2,000 phone calls to Kemps office, said Rena Peck, the groups executive director.

Kemp has declined to take a position. During an April stop in Folkston, he said: Im going to let the process play out.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Government health officials on Monday approved the first new drug for Alzheimers disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasnt been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug from Biogen based on study results showing it seemed reasonably likely to benefit Alzheimer's patients. Its the only therapy that U.S. regulators have said can likely treat the underlying disease, rather than manage symptoms like anxiety and insomnia.

The decision, which could impact millions of Americans and their families, is certain to spark disagreements among physicians, medical researchers and patient groups. It also has far-reaching implications for the standards used to evaluate experimental therapies, including those that show only incremental benefits.

The new drug, which Biogen developed with Japans Eisai Co., did not reverse mental decline, only slowing it in one study. The medication, aducanumab, will be marketed as Aduhelm and is to be given as an infusion every four weeks.

Dr. Caleb Alexander, an FDA adviser who recommended against the drug's approval, said he was surprised and disappointed by the decision.

The FDA gets the respect that it does because it has regulatory standards that are based on firm evidence. In this case, I think they gave the product a pass, said Alexander, a medical researcher at Johns Hopkins University.

The FDA's top drug regulator acknowledged that residual uncertainties surround the drug, but said Aduhelm's ability to reduce harmful clumps of plaque in the brain is expected to help slow dementia.

The data supports patients and caregivers having the choice to use this drug, Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni told reporters. She said the FDA carefully weighed the input of people living with the devastating, debilitating and deadly disease.

Under terms of the so-called accelerated approval, the FDA is requiring Biogen to conduct a follow-up study to confirm benefits for patients. If the study fails to show effectiveness, the FDA could pull the drug from the market, though the agency rarely does so.

Biogen said the drug would cost approximately $56,000 for a typical year's worth of treatment, and said the price would not be raised for four years. Most patients won't pay anywhere near that thanks to insurance coverage and other discounts. The company said it aims to complete the FDA-mandated follow-up trial by 2030.

Biogen shares jumped 38% in trading Monday on the news, with analysts forecasting billions in future sales. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company plans to begin shipping millions of doses within two weeks.

The non-profit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, which studies drug value, said Biogen's drug would have to halt dementia entirely to justify its $56,000 per-year price tag.

Some 6 million people in the U.S. and many more worldwide have Alzheimers, which gradually attacks areas of the brain needed for memory, reasoning, communication and basic daily tasks. In the final stages of the disease, those afflicted lose the ability to swallow. The global burden of the disease, the most common cause of dementia, is only expected to grow as millions more baby boomers progress further into their 60s and 70s.

Aducanumab (pronounced add-yoo-CAN-yoo-mab) helps clear a protein called beta-amyloid from the brain. Other experimental drugs have done that but they made no difference in patients ability to think, care for themselves or live independently.

The pharmaceutical industrys drug pipeline has been littered for years with failed Alzheimers treatments. The FDAs greenlight Monday is likely to revive investments in therapies previously shelved by drugmakers.

The new medicine is manufactured from living cells and will be given via infusion at a doctors office or hospital.

Researchers dont fully understand what causes Alzheimers but theres broad agreement the brain plaque targeted by aducanumab is just one contributor. Evidence suggests family history, education and chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease may all play a role.

This is a sign of hope but not the final answer, said Dr. Richard Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, which wasnt involved in the Biogen studies but funds research into how Alzheimers forms. Amyloid is important but not the only contributing factor.

Patients taking aducanumab saw their thinking skills decline 22% more slowly than patients taking a placebo.

But that meant a difference of just 0.39 on an 18-point score of cognitive and functional ability. And its unclear how such metrics translate into practical benefits, like greater independence or ability to recall important details.

The FDAs review of the drug has become a flashpoint in longstanding debates over standards used to evaluate therapies for hard-to-treat conditions. On one side, groups representing Alzheimers patients and their families say any new therapy  even one of small benefit  warrants approval. But many experts warn that greenlighting the drug could set a dangerous precedent, opening the door to treatments of questionable benefit.

The approval came despite a scathing assessment in November by the FDAs outside panel of neurological experts. The group voted no to a series of questions on whether reanalyzed data from a single study submitted by Biogen showed the drug was effective.

Biogen halted two studies in 2019 after disappointing results suggested aducanumab would not meet its goal of slowing mental and functional decline in Alzheimer's patients.

Several months later, the company reversed course, announcing that a new analysis of one study showed the drug was effective at higher doses and the FDA had advised that it warranted review. Company scientists said the drugs initial failure was due to some patients not receiving high enough doses to slow the disease.

But the changes to dosing and the companys after-the-fact analysis made the results hard to interpret, raising skepticism among many experts, including those on the FDA panel.

The FDA isnt required to follow the advice of its outside panelists and has previously disregarded their input when making similarly high-profile drug decisions.

About 900 U.S. medical facilities are ready to begin prescribing the drug, according to Biogen, with many more expected in coming months. But key practical questions remain: How long do patients benefit? How do physicians determine when to discontinue the drug? Does the drug have any benefit in patients with more advanced dementia?

With FDA approval, aducanumab is almost certain to be covered by most insurers, including Medicare, the government plan for seniors that covers more than 60 million people.

Insurers could try to manage the drugs costs by requiring strict conditions, including brain scans to confirm plaque, before agreeing to cover it.

Additional scans will be needed to monitor potential side effects. The drug carries a warning about temporary brain swelling that can sometimes cause headaches, confusion and dizziness. Other side effects included allergic reactions, diarrhea and disorientation.

Although Biogen studied the drug in people with mild dementia or early-stage Alzheimer's, the FDA label approved the drug for anyone with Alzheimer's, a sweeping population given doctors have broad leeway in diagnosing the condition.

The FDA is empowering the physician to make the decision on diagnosis, Biogen CEO Michel Vounatsos said in an interview.

For patients already enrolled in Biogen's trials, Monday's announcement means they can continue taking a drug many believe has helped.

Phillip Lynn, 63, was diagnosed with Alzheimers in the spring of 2017 after having trouble with conversation and memory, including forgetting a recent vacation to Hawaii.

His husband Kurt Rehwinkel says Lynn's cognitive ability has stabilized since starting on Biogens drug more than three years ago. And his performance on short-term memory tests has actually improved, though the couple acknowledges most patients are unlikely to see similar results.

But even for those who it has little or no effect, I think hope is a good thing, said Rehwinkel. I dont think theres such a thing as false hope.

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Follow Matthew Perrone on Twitter: @AP_FDAwriter

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AP writers Lauran Neergaard and Tom Murphy contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Infections are dropping statewide, but researchers are cautioning they have discovered several COVID variants in Connecticut that may have fueled Indias deadly second wave of the pandemic.

The latest report on variants from the Yale School of Public Health, the state Department of Public Health and Jackson Laboratories shows 18 cases of two variants first detected in India have been found in Connecticut.

Two of the cases involved the B.1.617.1 variant, while 16 involved the B.1.617.2 variant. Cases of B.1.617.2 comprised just over 3 percent of all positive COVID-19 test kits studied by the researchers in the past week through genomic sequencing.

Both of the variants could escape the bodys antibodies created by either vaccines or from monoclonal antibodies used to treat someone with COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But health officials in the United Kingdom said last month the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca proved effective against the Indian strain in an official study, the Associated Press reported. The AstraZeneca vaccine has not been approved for use in the United States. The European Unions head also expressed confidence that vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson should be effective against the variant, the Associated Press reported.

So someone whos fully vaccinated might still catch one of the variants, but the vaccine would keep them from getting seriously ill.

The plan isnt every single person, no one gets the virus when we get the vaccine, said Dr. Keith Grant, senior system director for infection prevention at Hartford HealthCare. He said he would prefer to tell patients who are considered high risk for COVID complications that because theyre vaccinated they have a high probability of surviving, versus what we saw a year ago.

Of the two variants first detected in India now found in Connecticut, its B.1.617.2, also known as Delta in the nomenclature adopted by the World Health Organization, that has researchers worried.

As a variant, its concerning, said Nathan Grubaugh, an assistant professor of epidemiology who heads the genetic sequencing efforts at the Yale School of Public Health. It combines a couple of the factors of other variants into one.

The strain seems to be as transmissible as the variant first detected in the U.K., Grubaugh said. That variant is believed to spread about 40 percent easier than the original strain of COVID-19, according to the CDC, and is now widespread in Connecticut. And from early lab studies, the B.1.617.2 appears to escape the bodys immune response as well as a variant first detected in South Africa, Grubaugh said.

Grant, citing data from the U.K., said the variant is believed to be more than twice as transmissible as the original strain detected in the U.K. Were basically mimicking very closely what were seeing in the U.K. he said.

It rivals two of the main things  transmisiblity and immune evasiveness  of two different variants that were a concern for very different reasons, Grubaugh said. Whether or not that is a local concern ... I think really depends on the continued vaccination and how much transmission we have because it could be 100 percent of the cases, but if were down to handfuls of cases, on a population level, its not that big of a concern.

COVID-19 cases have plummeted throughout the spring in Connecticut, mirroring similar declines in virus metrics nationwide.

On Monday, the state reported a positivity rate of 0.55 percent over the previous three days, as 197 new cases were detected out of 35,968 tests. Hospitalizations for the virus fell by a net 10 patients, bringing the statewide total to 72. Seven more fatalities were reported, bringing the states official death toll to 8,253.

The declining metrics come as nearly 55 percent of the states total population is considered fully vaccinated, according to CDC data released Sunday. A little more than 64 percent of the states population have received at least one dose of vaccine.

The total number of cases from the two variants from India is small compared to cases of the variant first detected in the U.K., known as B.1.1.7. As of Thursday, when the data was last updated, 3,035 of that strain have been identified in Connecticut, and the variant comprised more than 67 percent of cases sequenced by the researchers in the past week.

How exactly the new variants arrived in Connecticut is something researchers are still trying to figure out. Grubaugh said data indicates it could have passed through travel from the U.K. and India, but the cases that are showing up now are not associated with international travel and it seems the variant has been circulating for the past month to six weeks.

Both the Indian-originating variants found in Connecticut have a mutation in the virus spike protein  the thorny-looking outcroppings on the exterior of the virus that give its crown-like appearance  known as L452R. That mutation is thought to reduce the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody treatments, according to the CDC.

But the Delta variant is not the so-called double-mutant, a name given to a variant that emerged in India with the L452R mutation and second alteration thought to help it escape the immune system. Still, Grubaugh described it as the most concerning variant on the planet, despite not seeming to pose much of a threat based solely on its genome.

Both he and Grant argued the variants are more reason for those who have not yet been vaccinated to do so.

Grant noted Pfizer had concluded its vaccine had proved about 88 percent effective against the variant.

Even with mutations, this vaccine is still holding, Grant said. However ... viruses do what viruses do  they mutate. And if at some point we get a mutation that we no longer have 88 percent ... then we have a huge problem.

Grubaugh gave the example of one vaccinated person being surrounded by 100 people who are not vaccinated. With an outbreak of the variant and reduced effectiveness of the vaccine, theres a chance that person would get infected. But if half of the 100 were vaccinated, then the chances of exposure drop, he pointed out.

Vaccines work, but they only work to a point, he said. The less work you give your vaccines to do, the more protective youre going to be. It seems obvious, but its not like a free pass to do anything you want.
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Bollywoods Malaika Arora also recently posted Instagram Reel, which has her talking about how a gua sha message is the simple secret to her flawless youthful skin.

The resurgence of an ancient beauty treatment, gua sha, has been trending in the celebs world, with many endorsing its youthful effect. Advocates of the treatment include Hollywoods Emilia Clarke, Jennifer Anniston, Miranda Kerr and Zendaya. Bollywoods Malaika Arora also recently posted Instagram Reel, which has her talking about how a gua sha message is the simple secret to her flawless youthful skin. Previously, even Miranda had taken to her Instagram about it and wrote, Gua Sha is one of my favourite techniques to lift and sculpt my face (sic).

We spoke to a couple of skin experts in the country to understand a little more about this treatment.

Whats all the fuss about?

According to senior consultant dermatologist Dr TN Rekha Singh, gua sha involves press-stroke treatment of the skin. It is an effective folk therapy for various symptoms, which is widely accepted in East Asia, begins the dermatologist who also urges caution. However, the mechanisms underlying its therapeutic effects have not been clarified.

Dr Rekha does point out that articles and studies from the Chinese language database cover an array of conditions responsive to gua sha, which include headache and migraine and neck, shoulder, back, and knee pain, as well as acute diseases such as fever, flu, earaches, asthma and bronchitis in children and adults.

Very few studies show the anti-inflammatory effects gua sha has a therapeutic impact in inflammatory conditions, such as active chronic hepatitis involving liver inflammation, explains the skin doctor. There are limited evidence-based studies to prove the efficacy of Gua Sha and although one study even claimed showed benefits of the treatment method in relieving breast engorgement and two studies that reported pain reduction.

Another dermatologist, Dr Preeti Kothari, MD, further describes gua sha as a treatment method that uses a smooth-edged tool to stroke the skin. The use of this tool has gained a lot of traction and has become a new trend, leading to many skincare brands providing it with their products or as part of homecare tools for skin, says Dr Preeti. It essentially helps in improving blood circulation, which can increase the amount of oxygen and nutrients to the skin in turn improving skin health. It may even help in relieving tension in the facial muscles.

Dr Rekha tells us that gua refers to the scratching of the skin, while sha refers to the petechiae (cherry red spots caused by the breakage of skin capillaries) and texture appearing after scratching.

The doctor goes on to define gua sha as a repeated, unidirectional, press-stroke of the lubricated skin area with a smooth-edged instrument until shaor blemishesappear due to blood congestion. While the symptoms alleviate immediately or in a few hours, the blemishes fade and completely resolve within two to five days, says Dr Rekha.

She further states it as hypothesised that gua sha-induced extravasation of blood and controllable skin tissue damage leads to the wound-healing process. Gua sha is assumed to improve the immunological functions of the skin and body by acting as a physical adjuvant, as shown by the increased immune responsive cells in the skin, she adds.

A fair share of warning

Like every other beauty treatment, however, gua sha also comes with a set of warnings.

Dr Preeti cautions for practitioners of this treatment to be mindful about not applying too much pressure. Always move in upward directions while working with it. Too much pressure can cause petechiae or bruising, explains the doctor. Hence, it is important to use gua sha in the right way.

She further points out that users must not expect miracles with this tool. Some fans of the tool claim that this may help reduce wrinkles or sagging or even help in contouring and building a sharper jawline, which is not true. Such results should be left to in clinic procedures like botox, fillers, ultherapy, etc., which need to be performed by experts, adds Dr Preeti.

Dr Rekha also cautions that gua sha treatments can aggravate pre-existing dermatological conditions such as atopic eczema and acne and spread the existing infections to the surrounding skin while transferring the infections if the tools used are not disinfected properly.

It can even cause hives or other issues such as wheals in those who have a tendency for pressure urticarial, elaborates Dr Rekha matter-of-factly. Those on blood thinners may have bruises and red spots, which can last for longer. Hence, it is recommended to stay away from such treatments.

The dermatologist also spells out that the treatment can cause redness, itching, irritation, dryness, burns and contact dermatitis as well as resultant blemishes secondary to scratches or pressure caused by the gua sha tools. The clinical picture may mimic physical abuse especially when seen in youngsters or children and if one is unaware of this practice, points out Dr Rekha. The treatment many not be suitable especially for people with medical conditions affecting the skin or blood vessels, active infections or wounds, conditions such as deep vein thrombosis or pacemakers and for people on blood thinners.

Reiterating that there is very little scientific evidence backing up this therapy for both facial skin and body Dr Rekha emphasises that more evidence is needed to prove the efficacy of this therapy despite it being used to treat a range of medical illnesses. One has to weigh the pros and cons and take expert opinion or guidance before resorting to any therapy as every skin is unique in itself. Also, one therapy doesnt work for all, she warns.

The supposed next big thing

Facial gua sha is currently trending on social media with many blogs on Instagram speaking about this treatment. It is claimed to be an easy and effective way to make the skin look and feel good, is assumed to be similar to any other facial massage.

According to senior consultant dermatologist Dr TN Rekha Singh facial Gua sha uses the same method used in treating body ailments that uses jade stone rollers or rose quartz. She adds, Unlike other dermatological procedures which need an expertise and trained and certified professional, facial gua sha is very inexpensive and an easy DIY tool that can be used at home. This may be one of the reasons it is so popular these days. It might improve the micro-circulation of the skin to some extent as well as the appearance of the ski for a transient period while providing a feel good factor. However, it cannot be considered on par with the medical treatments such as chemical peels, micro-dermabrasion or dermarollers or laser treatments to improve or enhance the skin condition and health.

Benefits of gua sha

According to the personal experience of bridal make-up artist Gazal Surana, gua sha message instantly puts one in a relaxed mood. It promotes lymphatic drainage, which means it helps move lymph fluid out of the body and increase circulation and thereby detoxing your skin. The end result is a natural face lift and glowing skin, says Gazal. However, while its very easy to buy a jade stone and start practice, Id recommend that people do their research and understand the massage techniques and the face oils you need to use with the gua sha. If used wrongly, it can do more harm than good.

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He had joined the Congress in 2013, after quitting as MLC, expressing displeasure over BJP's decision to name Nadrendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate. (Image credit: Youtube)

Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Minister Prof. Mumtaz Ali Khan passed away on Monday at his city residence, due to age related ailments, sources close to him said.

He was 94 and is survived by his wife and a daughter.

Khan had served as Minister for Minority Affairs, Haj and Wakf during the previous BJP government led by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in 2008.

He was soft-spoken, and had served as sociology professor at the University of Agricultural Sciences here.

His family also runs an unaided primary and secondary school in the memory of his late son.

He had joined the Congress in 2013, after quitting as MLC, expressing displeasure over BJP's decision to name Nadrendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate.

Expressing condolences over Khan's death, Chief Minister Yediyurappa said, he has lost a "close friend", and a simple and well-mannered politician.

He also recalled his service as MLC, Minister, and to education and literary fields.

Several of Yediyurappa's cabinet colleagues, state BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel, have expressed grief over Khan's death.
The chief Minister said that the SIT is conducting a comprehensive probe into this matter of black money. (Photo: PTI/File)

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said the police had handed over details of the probe into the Kodakara hawala heist case, allegedlyinvolvingthe BJP state leadership, to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the central investigation agency had sought the same.

Vijayan, who was replying to an adjournment motion on the issue, said the ED sought the details on May 27 and the police submitted them on June 1 itself.

However, the hawala heist case led to a war of words between the Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan and Vijayan in the state Assembly after the Congress leader asked whether there was a plan on part of the Left government to compromise the case for the BJP.

Vijayan retorted and said his party never had any history of compromise with the BJP and said all the culprits in this case will be brought before law.

"We doubt whether the police and the Left government have effectively investigated the source and funding of black money at the behest of BJP leaders in Kerala. One fine day, the central investigation agencies almost ended the probe in Kerala over the gold smuggling case just before the elections. We doubt whether you both will reach a compromise," Satheesan said.

The adjournment motion was moved by Congress MLA Shafi Parambil, who said the BJP was trying to destroy the democratic set-up of the country by pumping black money during elections and asked the police to act in an unbiased manner.

However, Vijayan attacked the opposition Congress and pointed out that it was the then Oommen Chandy government which had withdrawn the case against Pravin Togadia.

"We all know who are experts in compromise. The case against Praveen Togadiya was withdrawn by the Congress party. We are not worried. We are not from your school of politics. We will not compromise," Vijayan said.

The Oommen Chandy government had in 2014 withdrawn a case registered against Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Togadia for his speech in Kozhikode on July 8, 2003.

Vijayan also said it was the Congress government which had withdrawn the case against Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) workers who had bombed a police constable during a violence at a college here.

He said theuse of black money during election time is to subvert the democratic process in the country.

The chief Minister also said that the special investigation team is conducting a comprehensive probe into this serious matter of black money.

"We will not allow any culprit to escape the law. If there was any attempt to destroy the democratic set-up of our land, this probe will bring it out too," he said.

Explaining the timeline of the hawala case, Vijayan said there was a complaint filed that a gang waylaid the car of Shamjeer and fled with Rs 25 lakh.

However, when the police questioned Dharmarajan, the person who handed over the money, they found that there was Rs 3.5 crorein the car.

"Further, the police charged sections 412, 212, 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The state police have recorded the statements of 96 witnesses. Twenty persons were arrested in connection with the case and were remanded to judicial custody. The police have also found Rs 1,01,12,001 out of that Rs 3.5 crore and 347 grams gold which was purchasedusing the stolen money," Vijayan said.

He said theED had on May 27 sought the detailsof the probe and the investigating officers handed over the necessary documents on June 1.

Attacking the union government on the issue, Vijayan said the November8, 2016 demonetisation which theBJP claimed as a step to eliminate black money, had only affected the unorganised and common people of the country.

"The union government said through demonetisation, the cash-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio could be reduced to six per cent from the earlier 12 per cent. However, now five years have passed, the currency as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is 14," Vijayan said in the Assembly.

Other than destroying the unorganised sector and the common public, we need to introspect what other achievements were there due to demonetisation, he said.
The instruction from NTCA comes less than a month from the mandatory closure of all tiger reserves in the country for the monsoon season - from July 1 to September 30 with no tourism activities allowed inside the reserves during this period. (PTI Photo)

HYDERABAD: Tiger tourism in the country is taking a break. Till October this year, all tiger reserves will remain shut as per order from the National Tiger Conservation Authority. This is due to the possibility of transmission of Covid19 from humans to tigers and other wild animals.

Telangana has two tiger reserves  Amrabad and Kawal  while Andhra Pradesh has one, the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve.

The instruction from NTCA comes less than a month from the mandatory closure of all tiger reserves in the country for the monsoon season - from July 1 to September 30 with no tourism activities allowed inside the reserves during this period.

Tiger tourism is a money-spinning activity in states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand, bringing in hundreds of crores of rupees each year for the reserves and these states. However, in Telangana's two tiger reserves, tourism activities are rudimentary at best.

On May 1, the Telangana forest department had ordered the closure of all zoos, wildlife sanctuaries and tiger reserves in the state, following instructions from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change on April 30. This was as part of the efforts to stop the spread of Covid19 from humans to wild animals.

Telangana has seven wildlife sanctuaries, three national parks, two tiger reserves and two zoos, one in Hyderabad and the other in Warangal.

In its latest advisory, the NTCA referred to the death of a lion at the Vandalur Zoo in Tamil Nadu from possible Covid19 infection. Several other lions too in the zoo were suspected to have contracted the disease.

"This latest instance of a zoon animal getting infected by Covid19 once again indicates the likelihood of a disease transmission from affected human beings to captive wild animals," the letter said.

It also said: "A similar transmission may also happen in tiger reserves. In view of this, it is once again reiterated that for preventing possible transmission of Covid19 from human beings to wild tigers and other wildlife, all tiger reserves under your jurisdiction need to be closed for tourism activities until further orders."
The fans of the actor erected a 40-foot-long flag post and hoisted on it a white-coloured flag with Jr NTR's picture on it at the Mulakalapalli village. (Photo: Twitter)

TIRUPATI: Adding fuel to the persistent demand from Telugu Desam functionaries to bring in Tollywood actor Junior Nandamuri Tharaka Ramarao to active politics and project him as the face of the party, his fans hoisted a flag with his image imprinted on it in Kuppam constituency. Kuppam is the bastion of TD chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

The fans of the actor, grandson of legendary NTR, erected a 40-foot-long flag post and hoisted on it a white-coloured flag with Jr NTR's picture on it and raised a banner with this demand at the Mulakalapalli village.

The activists raised slogans in support of Jr NTR and pleaded with him to return to active politics and take over the reins of the party from former chief minister Naidu, whose stocks are steadily down.

Ever since the TD faced a humiliating defeat in the 2019 assembly polls and in recent local body elections, there has been plea that Jr NTR take over the leadership of TD. Else, if the party perishes, it would be suicidal for the rank and file.

Whenever Naidu held a meeting with his party workers, it became a routine practice among activists to echo this demand.

When Naidu was addressing the public at Santhipuram mandal in his own constituency on February 26, he faced a tricky situation. Party activists raised slogans in support of Jr NTR and Naidu was embarrassed. A few TD leaders also opined that if Jr NTR could be projected as the next chief ministerial candidate, the partys fortunes would revive and help it win the 2024 polls.

The flag-hoisting event turned many heads towards Kuppam. Some prominent TD leaders in Kuppam are upset and in despair after the party faced humiliating defeats in 2019 elections and in the recent local body elections.

Currently, anti-TD winds are blowing strong in Kuppam. A few leaders have approached the party high command, saying they see less chances of reviving the party as CM Jagan with his welfare programmes is outwitting the Opposition.

In the meantime, a section of TD rank and file, mainly the young lot, has come to the conclusion that Junior NTR can be the saviour for the party. The actor has, on several occasions in the past, made it clear that he would work as an activist for the party and do more if a situation so required.

On the other hand, Naidu is trying his best to establish his son Nara Lokesh as the face of the party. Hence, Naidu is remaining tight-lipped about the call to get the actor to the forefront. For him, this is a tricky situation.
All medical postgraduates and house surgeons would join the protest to press the demands like ex-gratia/health insurance for all frontline workers. (DC file photo)

VIJAYAWADA: Junior doctors in Andhra Pradesh have served a strike notice on the government by saying they would boycott all duties including covid care in a phased manner from June 9.

All medical postgraduates and house surgeons would join the protest to press the demands like ex-gratia/health insurance for all frontline workers, Covid incentives for all junior doctors including postgraduates and interns, a step-up of security measures in hospitals to prevent incidents and resolving of the TDS (tax cut) issue in the stipend pay.

The junior doctors will not attend duty dealing with non-Covid electives on June 9, Covid electives on June 10, non-covid emergencies on June 11 and Covid emergencies on June 12.

In the strike notice addressed to the director of medical education here on Monday, the junior doctors thanked the state government for responding to their plea and ordering a hike in the stipend for senior residents and also for considering payment of an equivalent stipend for the final-year post graduates.

However, they said their genuine demands for ex-gratia/insurance and Covid incentives were not yet addressed.

The junior doctors said it was not their motive to cause suffering to the common man and they were aware of the pain of the suffering people. Yet, they are upset that their main demands remained unattended.

The doctors said they had been involved in providing healthcare to the patients during the first wave of the pandemic and also extending the same in the second wave without getting any additional benefits. They did so at grave risk to their lives and this affected their academic pursuits.

Several neighbouring states, the doctors said, were extending incentives to Covid warriors, they said, and urged the chief minister to come to their rescue and resolve their issues so that they can avert the protest action.
Major projects included in Derrys City Region Deal could take another two years before they are signed off, the Derry News has learned.

The 210m City Deal and Inclusive Future Fund economic package will be invested in a number of transformative projects.

Chief among those in Derry is 84m worth of funding for Ulster University (UU) to invest in a new-build Medical School and Centre for Industrial Digitisation, Robotics and Automation (CIDRA), Cognitive Analytics Research Lab (CARL) and a Health Research Institute (HRI).

Other projects include the regeneration of Strabane Town Centre, central riverfront regeneration in Derry - including Queens Quay reconstruction - and a Derry North Atlantic (DNA) Museum.

In addition, there will be a programme of digital and smart cities interventions which will provide a future proof digital infrastructure by delivering next-generation connectivity.

This will dovetail with Smart City investment to support pre-market testing and validation of new smart technologies.

A Derry City & Strabane District Council spokesperson said: The projects are at various stages of development.

Business cases for a number of projects eg medical school and the DNA museum have already been completed and, subject to Government sign-off, Council is hopeful that these can progress in the coming months.

In relation to the medical school the first student intake of 70 students will be in September 2021 on the existing campus.

In relation to the remaining projects, business case work is now rapidly progressing following Heads of Terms sign-off and Council is hopeful that all business cases can be finalised and signed off by Government within a 2 year period.

Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill previously said she hopes the DNA museum will open in 2024.

Construction timelines and opening dates remain unclear in respect of other projects.

'ASSURANCES'

Meanwhile, the local council has insisted that City Deal funding wont be released until assurances are given that projects will not be moved.

Campaigners for an independent university in Derry have raised concerns that Ulster University (UU) could move projects or courses to other campuses down the line.

Over the years courses have been transferred from the Magee campus to Belfast and Coleraine.

UU will be the one of the main benefactors of City Deal and Inclusive Future Fund monies for the aforementioned projects.

In response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request lodged by the Derry News, the council was asked if anything has been written into contracts with UU to ensure that projects receiving investment will not be relocated.

And if commitments around future growth at the campus formed part of that agreement.

In response a council spokesperson said: No contracts will be in place and no funding will be released to projects until business cases are completed and agreed.

This will include required assurances that the projects will not be moved.

The council also explained that UU outlined its expansion plans through Vice Chancellor Paul Bartholomew in February 2021.

Currently, there are 4,498 students at Magee  3,640 full-time.

There will be an additional 70 medical students and 40 Paramedic Practice students for the next academic year with 850 Health Sciences students coming to the Magee campus for the 2022/23 academic year.

The Vice-Chancellor stated that growth to 6,000 students at Magee is broadly achievable by 2022/23 but going beyond that will require a different operating environment as it has different governmental and political parameters to it.

In 2014/15, Magee campus had 1,000 more students than it does today with an overall figure of 5,098  of those 3,883 were full-time.
Derry council has provided assurances that City Deal funds will reach and benefit people living in the most deprived areas of the city.

It has been over two years since the British government announced a 105m City Deal/Inclusive Future Fund package for Derry and Strabane.

The NI government matched funding raising the total to 210m.

Key projects include those at Ulster University (UU), a Derry North Atlantic (DNA) museum at Ebrington, Walled City Tourism project and riverfront regeneration.

However, the objective of the Inclusive Future Fund in particular is to support local young people by providing jobs and skills opportunities.

It is also aimed at tackling the causes and consequences of long-term social deprivation.

Specific to the Inclusive Future Fund are Ulster University's Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS) and the Personalised Medicine Centre of Excellence (T-HRIVE), which will together receive 45m from the Inclusive Future Fund pot.

Strabane town centre regeneration will be allocated 10m from the Inclusive Future Fund.

Derry and Strabane features in five of the top ten most deprived areas in the county, those include parts of Creggan and The Diamond area.

Questions have been raised about whether City Deal projects will reach the most deprived in the city.

In answer to those questions, the council insists that it will work with government to enable social, economic and environmental wellbeing in the implementation of the City Deal and Inclusive Future Fund Investment Plan.

A spokesperson said: This will include the use of social value criteria in the award of contracts required to deliver the transformational projects.

The investment will be implemented in accordance with the councils strategy Green Transformation of the City and Region, by assisting the transition towards a smart, low carbon, sustainable and inclusive economy. 

She added: The investment will be channelled through circular, zero-waste and resource-efficient initiatives and sustainable transport systems and climate change mitigations, such as flood and infrastructure protection will be in built into capital and infrastructural developments where possible.

The regions precious natural heritage and biodiversity will be protected, restored and enhanced.

Building on a community wealth building approach, partners will ensure that there is socially inclusive growth in the local economy and local people from all sections of the community have the opportunity to benefit and prosper.

APPRENTICESHIPS

Following Heads of Terms, all projects will now progress to detailed outline business case preparation.

As projects progress through Outline Business Case, the skills and employability interventions that will deliver the greatest impacts will be supported.

A spokesperson explained that within this catalyst programme partners want to complement existing initiatives.

Indicative actions could include for example, an Apprenticeship and Skills Hub, Intermediate Labour Market Programmes, interventions to support young people and those who are economically inactive as well as digital skills and re-skilling and up-skilling initiatives.

These interventions are crucial to support local job creation opportunities, reduce unemployment and improve wellbeing outcomes, she added.

In terms of safeguards that are in place to ensure investments are targeting all of those entitled to support in deprived areas, a spokesperson said: The key governance structures committed to within the Heads of Terms represent all stakeholders and partners within the public, private and community/voluntary/social enterprise sectors.

Oversight of adherence to meeting the commitments made within the City Deal/IFF to target those most marginalised within society and ensure inclusivity is at the core of the City Deal/IFF and will reside with this group who will comprise representatives from across all sectors, geographies and demographies.

It is this group that will ensure that all of the commitments made in the Heads of Terms are adhered to fully.
A 19-year-old Derry man has pleaded for one more chance while telling a judge that his brother was murdered in June 2019.

The defendant is the brother of Caoimhin Cassidy-Crossan whose body was found in a burnt-out stolen car in the Galliagh area of the city on June 1, 2019.

Daryl Cassidy, with an address on his charge sheet of Rose Court, has three cases before the court.

He is charged with assaulting a police designated person on June 5, 2021 and resisting police, disorderly behaviour, criminal damage and theft on May 3, 2021.

The 19-year-old is further charged with an attempted hijacking on June 30, 2020.

Cassidy appeared at Derry Magistrate's Court today in relation to breaches of bail which included a condition prohibiting him from entering Derry and another banning him from the consumption of alcohol or drugs.

Objecting to bail, a police officer said the PSNI attended Altnagelvin Hospital on June 5 after the defendant was admitted for a seizure.

The court was told that Cassidy had consumed a considerable amount of drugs.

The police officer said the defendant was granted bail on May 19 but when G4S attended his address to install an electronic tag he was not present and has been reported missing since.

At Strand Road Police Station Cassidy became agitated after a police search, spitting on an officers back, the court heard.

The police officer said he has no belief that the 19-year-old will abide by any bail conditions and added that there is a risk of reoffending.

He cited 15 previous breaches of bail and 69 previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley said his client was in Derry visiting his grandmother.

He was going to get a bus when he had an epileptic seizure, he added.

Mr Quigley suggested that the police may be mistaken about one of the breaches as he believed Cassidy had been staying at the bail address in Omagh.

Addressing the court from police custody, a visibly emotional Cassidy said: I know Ive made many mistakes but Im asking for one more chance.

My brother was murdered on the 1st of June, 2019. His life was taken so suddenly and I dont want to waste mine.

Please, Im asking you to give me one more chance.

Mr Quigley submitted that Cassidys brother died in tragic circumstances in a car that went on fire in suspicious circumstances.

He died a horrific and tragic death, the defence solicitor added.

He also explained that his client has experienced his own difficulties, as he struggles with foetal alcohol syndrome, adding: He never had much of a chance.

Deputy District Judge McStay said he was satisfied that the alcohol condition had been breached but not the condition of residence.

Based on the passage of time Judge McStay decided to grant the defendant bail on the same terms as before.

Cassidys case will appear before the court again on June 10.
Work is today expected to begin on the introduction of a new one-way traffic system in part of Derry's city centre.

The one-way system from Carlisle Road through Ferryquay Street into the Diamond had been due to start in April.

However, the Derry News last week revealed that the plans had been delayed.

The Department of Infrastructure, however, has now said that the work will begin today.

The scheme, which is part of a range of measures being introduced to support businesses during the post-Covid period, is due to be fully up and running by June 18.

The scheme is being carried out by the department in collaboration with Derry City and Strabane District Council and the City Centre Initiative.

The new traffic management system will allow traffic to flow from Upper Carlisle Road along Ferryquay Street towards the Diamond, creating more space and greater ease of movement for pedestrians using this busy street.

The project will also involve the temporary reallocation of on-street parking spaces at the Diamond outside Austins, and the installation of seating and planters to create a more user friendly environment and public space in the heart of the Walled City.

The works are part of a two-phased regeneration strategy aimed at supporting local businesses and city centre visitors, as they adapt to a changing retail and social environment following the pandemic.

The second phase of the work will see the installation of a number of temporary 'parklets' on designated on-street car parking spaces to facilitate pavement extensions.

These will safely accommodate outdoor trading for participating cafes along a section of Bishop Street, supporting businesses in the area as they embark on the path to successful recovery.

This second phase is expected to be completed by August.

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said she was pleased that the new measures were being introduced in the city centre.

We are all learning to adapt in these changing times and collaborative projects such as this are helping transform our public spaces into areas where we can move around, relax and socialise with friends in a safe environment.

"I wish to thank all local businesses for their co-operation while the work is being progressed and I hope they will now reap the benefits as we emerge from the Covid pandemic and look forward to recovery.

I would also appeal to road users to be patient, follow all temporary traffic signs and be alert to increased number of pedestrians while the work is being completed and as they get used to the new one way system.

Helped

Jim Roddy, Derry's City Centre Manager and Chief Executive of City Centre Initiative, also welcomed the new measures.

"I would like to thank all the stakeholders who have helped bring this project to fruition and we really hope that it works for all our city centre users and businesses in these areas, as they commence trading in the aftermath of the recent prolonged lockdown, said Mr Roddy.
CON: You have been SDLP leader since 2015 and have been credited with reviving a struggling party? What has been toughest part of that process?



CE: Well, I suppose the party has a tremendous pedigree, history and record really, of changing society. I always think we're the most successful political party in Irish history, because I think we changed the course of Irish history, through John (Hume) and Seamus (Mallon) and everybody else, by basically ending the Anglo-Irish conflict, which is something that nobody else was able to do.

And then we had the post agreement period, which was very difficult and bedding down and all of that. And two governments who I think thought maybe the two extremes need to be brought into the middle.

That's all understandable and fine but it didn't really work well for the public, I don't think. So we were kind of...and the things we did ourselves that should have been done a lot better. We were a bit too slow to refresh and to renew and to realize that the job isn't just to protect the agreement, it's to tell people what's next and what the next phase of politics is going to be. All understandable, nobody's fault, but we just needed... We needed to refresh. The hardest part I suppose was bringing in so many new people. Big generational change. And doing it at a time when we had six or seven elections within a very short period of time.

So surviving was the hard part at the start, getting through that, and then showing that we could look different, sound different and actually have a vision for the future that wasn't just about the past.

The job's not done. It's far from done. We passed the last test, which was the Westminster election. I think we showed people that there's life left in us and that we're worth voting for.

CON: You came up through the local council and the Assembly, before winning the Westminster seat. Given your background in local politics, what relevance do you think Westminster has to the people of Derry?

CE: Well, for me, it's all about Derry, frankly. I'm first and foremost a representative of the people of Derry, even more so than the SDLP. I've always viewed myself in that light.

So there's two of us and even if we won every seat in Northern Ireland there'd be 18 of us.

So we're not going to run the government or anything like that, but what we are going to do is make sure they know we exist and Derry exists. And I am very determined to make sure that when we're there, that our voice is heard.

And I think we've been a very loud and active, Claire (Hanna) and myself. We are able, I think, to bring in support from the Labour party, from the SNP, Plaid Cmyru and also even from some more moderate Tories to make sure that the voice of people here is heard at Westminster.

You don't win a lot of votes when Boris Johnson has an 80-seat majority. We know that. We accept that. But that's not always the job of politicians.

The job is to speak up for the people that you represent. I wish we had been there in that '17 to '19 period because there were votes on Brexit that were lost by three votes. Of course, we know that some of my political opponents don't turn up, which is their prerogative, but I think it's a mistake, particularly at times when votes are important.

The reality is you don't count if you're not there and you don't count if you're not in the chamber and you're not speaking up for the people that you represent. And there are issues that Derry needs to be represented on, issues of legacy, issues of the economy. But there are also issues that I think many people in Derry care about that aren't just Derry issues, so international issues, environmental issues.

We're doing a lot on climate change. I'm working with other parties and people from across different parties to try to make sure that those issues are dealt with. But, I think we punch above our weight in the chamber and I think we've been recognized as that. And I just frankly, I think you go wherever you have to go to represent the people that you care about.

I've represented at most levels now, the people of Derry, from council, being mayor, to the assembly, now to Westminster. I take the exact same approach, no matter where it is.

We've a very, very active constituency office, we've top class representatives in council and the assembly. I represent the party in Westminster. But if you look at my constituency inbox, it's mostly local issues that we're dealing with and I'm very happy to be doing that.

CON: The SDLP recently launched its New Ireland Commission. We already have the Shared Ireland Unit from the Irish government and the Ireland's Future group. Is the New Ireland Commission not just another nationalist talking shop?

CE: Well, first of all, in terms of Shared Ireland Unit I was very happy to see the Irish government bring that it. So it's a unit that'll look at a lot of the different issues across the island, but it's more than that. It's 500 million pounds that can be spent in the north. I worked very closely with the Taoiseach to make sure that happened and we're delighted that it did and we'll be working to get some of that money up our direction. That's a key priority for me.

In terms of what the SDLP are doing the New Ireland Commission is... So it'll be a whole lot of different things but the panel that we launched recently, is a panel of experts, but it isn't a nationalist talking shop. I can talk to myself all day long if I want to.

We have a lot of people in there, the former moderator of the Presbyterian church, the former secretary of the Ulster Unionist Party. We've people from right across the political divide. We have a former blanket man. We won't win anything or build anything across this island, if we only speak to ourselves.

I mean, I know how I am voting in a referendum no matter when it comes. I know how Edwin Poots is going to vote. I don't know quite how that middle ground is going to vote.

And the middle ground is very broad. It involves people who class themselves as nationalists, people who class themselves as unionists, people who class themselves as other.

But unless we're learning and listening and figuring out what the issues are, health service, for example. I know a lot of people who see themselves as Irish nationalists, who wouldn't vote for a united Ireland if they had to pay to go and see their GP, for example.

So all of those issues need ironing out. What we're planning to do is listen, talk, have big conversations, particularly with people who disagree with us so that we can figure our thinking on all of that.

And by the end of it, be able to put to the public a prospectus for change when the referendum comes, and it will come, that has got all the boxes ticked and all the... I didn't want to be fighting a referendum campaign where we haven't solved the problems yet, where we're not clear about what we're saying to people.

I actually think a lot of that is very easy to do, but it's really important from our perspective that we put the British unionist concerns front and centre, because... especially as unionist parties aren't going to engage in this until it's too late, probably. So we're going to have to do a lot of the arguing for them.

We talk about a new Ireland. A new Ireland is not going to be just full of Irish nationalists. There's a million Protestant unionist people living on this island and more probably, and there's a lot of people who've come from all over the world.

And all of those things need to be put right front and centre in the new nation that we want to build. And this will challenge the South in a big way, as much as it challenges us because if you look at the last hundred years, I don't think that British unionist tradition was properly respected or celebrated within the Irish southern state. That needs to be fixed.

So there's a great opportunity actually, to build a nation and to put reconciliation and all the different strands of opinion right at the heart of that. That's a vision that goes back a long time. It's never been delivered, but it's what we believe in. That new Ireland where everybody feels comfortable and celebrated and part of it and bought into it.

It'll be uncomfortable. It'll be difficult.

But this is why we're doing the work early, because I think that needs time, those difficulties need ironed out. We need an exciting prospectus that everybody can buy into not just... You don't want people just voting for something because their parents would. You want people excited about a new opportunity. And I think young people will be very excited about this.

People will want to be part of a open, progressive world, part of the European Union. They don't want any more to be run by a political party in London who is basically an English nationalist party, doesn't care, about Northern Ireland, Scotland, even Wales.

They have a very narrow vision of the world. I just don't think young people want that regardless of what religion they are, what religion their parents are or whatever. They want a new, progressive, open world.

And this is an opportunity I think, to be part of that.

CON: Is it time for a new message from the likes of the SDLP to unionism. I think there's always been that attitude within unionists that basically the message they're getting from nationalism is Come to a United Ireland with us and we'll look after you. For many unionists, that is not enough. How can you as SDLP leader reach out to unionists?

CE: Well, there's no future without them is what I would say. Yeah, I agree. You just get a rhetoric around and we want to involve you. That's lovely. But actually doing that and putting their concerns front and centre and challenging ourselves and our maybe, image of what a new Ireland would look like is the real challenge.

So I have asked all of my elected representatives right across the north, and we've been doing this now for some time, to go out and have lots of conversations, but mostly to listen to people from, traditionally unionist backgrounds.

People who don't necessarily agree with us. And we're collecting all that information, we're very deliberately going to have lots of meetings with people who disagree with us, who are from a different background.

And it actually is fascinating to hear how people are interested in what we're talking about. And people are engaging, but political parties aren't engaging, unionist political parties, and that's fine. Almost you think, why would they. But we have a job to do, to engage with people from a unionist background, from that big block of the people called other.

And I think if we can listen to them properly, we can then plan for a new Ireland. We're going to have to do I think we're arguing for unionist people, because unionist parties aren't going to do this. They're going to wait until it's too late. So I think there's a.... So it'll be very practical. We'll be listening to their concerns. We'll be challenging Dublin because you can't you couldn't imagine a new Ireland where unionists will have to walk into Leinster House for example, where there's no real respect given or even acknowledgement given to the unionist tradition, to the British tradition on the island. It's all understandable and we know how that all happened, but that needs fixing. It needs resolved.

A lot of this will be symbolic. I think you can add symbolism in to a lot of these places rather than taking away.

If you look at the Guildhall, for example in Derry, the SDLP, largest party in Derry City Council for many, many years. We could have taken the approach where we'll strip all that out, we'll take away any vestiges of British imperialism, we'll take down Queen Victoria that's already damaged from the bomb and all that.

We'll take all the stained glass windows that reference the empire, take all that away, but we didn't. And if we did do that, you'd be knocking down the city walls.

What you have to recognize, I think is that history happened. Everybody's got their own version of it. We're all raised in different ways and we're all affected and infected by all the different strands of it.

So you have to embrace that as a history, learn from it, but include other symbolism and other cultures and be prepared to be opened up.

So if you look at Guildhall again, you have the memorial to Bloody Sunday, and then you have Queen Victoria and you have Union Jacks all the around. There's something in that. There's something in embracing all the different strands of our history.

So I do think there's a job to do, in Stormont for example, of having much more of the nationalist tradition being seen. But there's a huge job to do in Leinster House and having the unionist tradition being front and centre.

We have to make people comfortable. We have to be very honest and very determined to ensure that people know that this is their place, this is their nation, they're going nowhere.

It's a shared Ireland that we want to create, it's a shared home place as Seamus Mallon used to talk about it.

We have to, whatever happens by the way, in the constitutional settlement, we have to find better ways of sharing this piece of ground together. The unionists aren't going anywhere. They're here. They're part of our community. We're all part of the one community.

I think we need to use that language a lot more often. And we have to just be very deliberate and determined not to get distracted or side-tracked by tribalism or us versus them.

We have to be determined to create one place for everybody. We've done an awful lot of that over the last 20 odd years. There's much further to go, I think. But Derry, frankly is a brilliant example of it. I remember, I told the story a few times now, but I remember being at the Diamond. I was 16 or 17.

I was standing beside John Hume and the Apprentice Boys were marching around the city and I was kind of angry and young and saying, what are they doing here and all this kind of stuff.

And John, very, as he was brilliant at, very quickly just demolished my argument by saying how are we going to have a united Ireland if we can't accommodate the Apprentice Boys marching around Derry. I was just like, that's absolutely the case and it's always stuck with me.

We want to have a new Ireland, the Protestant tradition, unionist tradition, the Orange tradition has to be an integral part of it.

It's just uncomfortable for some people, but that's the way it has to be.

CON: Do you see the recent change of leadership in the DUP and the divisions within the party as dangerous?

CE: It has the potential to be dangerous but my gut actually is that Poots will become the pragmatist. I think he will run to... if he has any sense, we'll see, but he will take that hardcore, hard line position and move it a bit more to the centre.

We see last night that he's now saying that they're going to attend north south ministerial councils.

He told me that they want to implement all of the NDNA commitments, which of course includes Irish language.

But it also needs to include expansion of university provision in Derry. It needs to deal with waiting lists, it needs to deal with all the commitments in the NDNA agreement.

So we'll see. My sense is, if he has any sense, that's where he'd go. I think he might be beginning to signal that. But again, unionism is in a strange place.

It all goes back to Brexit, when the DUP leadership, previous leadership got them into this situation where they backed a Brexit which could only do them damage.

And then they backed the hard right of the Tory party, even when they had a way out with Theresa May which brought Britain out of the customs union and the single market. Which meant that she ended up having to have a border in the Irish sea and that was all self-defeating stuff.

A lot of us were saying, this is madness. What are you doing? But then they have to blame Europe and Leo Varadkar and everything else. But this was their own making, but it doesn't make the sense of loss or betrayal within ordinary unionist people any less and we understand that.

There has to be a realistic approach. You can't have a hard line Brexit and not have borders. You can't have a border on the end of Ireland even if it was politically palpable, it's totally impractical.

So it had to go somewhere. If you want to get rid of that, you have to do a vetinary SPS agreement between Britain and Europe.

Who's stopping that? The British government.

So, I think people should learn that within unionism, the British government are not your friends. They have never done anything to look after you or to help you. In fact, they keep letting you down.

And I think there's a lesson in that that if we actually work together here for our own common interests we'd be much better off than relying on people like Boris Johnson.

CON: How do feel about the recent decision by Sinn Fein to ask their two Foyle MLAs, Martina Anderson and Karen Mullan, to stand down from their Assembly seats?

CE: I'm reluctant to speak too much about what other political parties do internally although I did think it was very strange.

Look, Sinn Fein had a bad election obviously. We don't rest on our laurels or think the job's done or anything like but we do think the people want a change. They are fed up with, I think what was seen as kind of arrogance, but most importantly, a lack of delivery.

So Sinn Fein and the DUP in government, running the government for 14 years and that's... Stormont is where decisions are made. Magee is still not expanding, jobs crisis, lots of things just not done or delivered for people in Derry.

And then they see one political party with an awful lot of influence in certain community groups and all of that, and I think people find that very difficult to take.

In terms of the individuals, Martina Anderson is somebody who I have argued with many times over the years. But she is somebody who gave an awful lot in their terms to the Republican movement.

Karen Mullan, as far as I can see, is a very hard worker and diligent MLA who came from the community sector. I think it's a strange way to treat people who frankly gave an awful lot over the years and particular Martina.

And I just don't know how that will end up for them. I think they need to think more about how Sinn Fein in government, running the government jointly with the DUP hasn't delivered for the people of Derry.

That's the real problem, I think that's the real political problem. And they've had many opportunities. I am on their back constantly to actually do that and they still haven't done it.

To blame Martina Anderson or Karen Mullan for that I think it's probably short-sighted and maybe does not understand exactly the dynamic going on in Derry.

CON: The SDLP have had their own issues recently locally with Mary Durkan leaving the council. There are two candidates seeking to replace her. We have seen in the past where such selection processes have caused deep division within the SDLP locally. Are you concerned about the potential for division?

CE: No, I'm not concerned actually. Of course, we've had our issues in the past. We've largely, well, I think we've got rid of that but the team in Derry is united and when you're united you win.

And you can see how well we've done from the council election right through the Westminster election.

And that has been united teamwork together at all levels across the city.

There will be a selection convention, I think it's going to be Tuesday night. The membership in the area will decide.

And I think we're going to have a very good councillor in that position after that's done.

And regardless, whoever wins I'm absolutely confident the other person will be fully behind them, fully behind the team, because we've learned that lesson. Division doesn't get you anywhere, it just lets your opponents grow and we're not doing that anymore.

CON: The last few weeks have shown the brutality of politics. You are a relatively young man with a young family. You have been involved with the SDLP for many years but do you have any ambitions outside of politics?

CE: I suppose you don't know what will come. And as you say I've been involved in the party for a long time, kind of unnaturally young when I started.

And so I've seen an awful lot of leadership contests and all of that. I'm under no illusions about the fragility of a political career.

And you don't plan for a long career in politics.

But I'm genuinely just totally committed to this. You never know what will come. I have lots of other interests.

But right now I've been elected not that long ago to represent the city in Westminster. I intend to do that for as long as I can and continue to take the fight to the people like Boris Johnson and Brandon Lewis and the rest of them.

And I have a plan for the party in the long term.

We were kind of interrupted by three years of no government and lots of elections.

We have a two election strategy that we're working on. The next test of that is going to be next May, hopefully. I think we'll do well and then we'll bounce up from there.

So what I'm constantly trying to do is build up the team, particularly at the assembly level and have as many good people as possible.

I don't want to be the kind of leader who's always on TV on my own and not having other people there. So we've built up that capacity. Personally, it is difficult being a politician, particularly being a political leader and having young kids and family. Rachael has her own businesses. And we both work very hard.

But I suppose we have this strong policy of whenever we're here, we're here. And the kids come first in everything.

And I make sure I spend as much time as I possibly can when I'm actually around. And one thing about the pandemic, it's been good because I've been able to be at home a lot more.

Working from home with two young kids is not the easiest thing in the world and I spend an awful lot of time in the car doing very important meetings from the driver's seat on Zoom. But no, I'm fully focused on the job at hand, whatever comes later that's another day's conversation.

CON: Do you think you will see a United Ireland in your lifetime?

CE: Absolutely. I think, maybe I'm being optimistic here, but I think there'll be a referendum before the end of this decade. And if not, shortly after that, and I think we'll win it.

The job is actually managing that process. I think the UK is coming to an end, if you look at what's happening in Scotland. Even Wales now is thinking in that direction. But Scotland is going to go and I think we'll go after.

Our job because of our particular circumstances is to monitor, to make sure it's done in a respectful way, a democratic way.

That means that we don't have trouble on the streets. All that is very possible. It's only possible if you do the work and you talk to each other.

If we get rid of all these culture wars, if we have the DUP and Sinn Fein and everybody else focusing on actually delivering, dealing with the waiting lists, getting jobs to places like Derry, stopping our young people having to leave, that's, I think the politics of the next period.

And if we can show that politics works then I think we can build towards a new Ireland.

And I think it will be done in relatively short order.

I studiously avoid putting a date on it, because I hear all these chants for border polls and all that.

I think it's the most stupid thing I've ever heard, because I think let's do the work now.

Let's convince people. And then the poll is the last thing you have, because I don't think we can afford to lose it. We have to win it.

And it isn't just about a referendum. It's about building a nation and that's a massive opportunity for our generation when others had to go through hell just to get peace.

So I think there's a big burden on us to get it right. I think we can get it right. I think sometime towards the end of this decade is when the referendum will be.

We just need to be aware. Right now the British government hold the cards. They can call a referendum whenever they want.

So we shouldn't be, I don't think we should be baiting them into calling a referendum that we can't win.

So we have to do the work, have the referendum when we can win it. And then win it. And then build a nation.

But we shouldn't hold back and wait for a magical Irish unity to begin to bring people together and create a shared home place.

That's the easiest route to winning a referendum and it's the only positive thing we can do.
Mid Ulster District Council have appointed their Chair and Vice Chair for the incoming year, with representatives coming from the DUP and SDLP.

Experienced Magherafelt councillor Paul McLean has assumed the chain from outgoing Chair Cathal Mallaghan of Sinn Fein.

Cllr McLean has held the role of Chair on the old legacy Magherafelt Council on two separate occasions since first being elected in 1989, but this will be his first stint as Chair on the new Mid Ulster District 'super-council'.

The Magherafelt man also holds the role of DUP leader on Mid Ulster, and just last week clashed with nationalist representatives over a proposed working group on Irish unity.

In his maiden speech to council, he said the incoming year would be a 'challenge'.

"I know a little bit of what I'm letting myself in for," he said.

"Taking up this role for a third time, in a much larger council, will be a huge challenge. While 2012 doesn't seem that long ago, plenty has changed.

"You only need to look at the last 15 months to know how rapid change comes and how challenging it can be."

Cllr McLean paid tribute to outgoing Chair, Sinn Fein's Cathal Mallaghan, and outgoing Deputy Chair, Meta Graham of the UUP.

While the outgoing chair and myself have little in common in terms of political aspirations and views, it would be remiss of me not to comment on his fairness and frankness in the debating chamber.

"He made every effort to ensure every councillor was given ample time to express varied opinions and put over their points of view. For this, it is only right he is commended.

"While I didn't, on many occasions, agree with his decisions, or those of his party, I believe he represented this council well under the most unusual and difficult circumstances any of us have experienced.

"I pay tribute to outgoing Vice Chair, Cllr Graham, who has carried out her responsibility very well and as this year progresses, I will welcome the support of the Vice Chair as we represent the council."

Working alongside Cllr McLean as Deputy Chair will be the SDLP's Christine McFlynn, also from the Magherafelt DEA.

Cllr McFlynn was first elected in 2011, initially to the Cookstown DEA, before being re-elected to the Magherafelt DEA in 2014.

After her appointment to the role, she said she was hopeful brighter days lay ahead.

"We have to have hope the days ahead will be brighter and Mid Ulster Council will have its part in that. There are many projects across the district that will help," she said.

"I'd like to thank my colleagues in the SDLP for nominating me as Vice Chair and to all the people who have worked on the front line over the past year.

"I wish our outgoing Chair and Vice Chair Cathal and Meta all the best for the coming year. Family is important to me, and I couldn't do this without their support, so I thank them for that."
Community groups in Derry say they have 'no fears' about a proposed audit of some of their practices.

An 'independent audit' is to be carried out into governance and recruitment procedures in council-funded community groups in the local area.

Derry City and Strabane District Council recently agreed to initiate the audit after a councillor raised concerns about reports of 'widespread nepotism, poor governance and recruitment procedures' within the community sector in the city.

A motion put forward on the issue by People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin was passed at the council's monthly meeting last month.

Cllr Harkin claimed that the alleged issues within the local community sector undermined confidence 'in the ability of the sector to provide crucial services and support to the public in an impartial manner'.

In response to the proposed audit, the North West Community Network (NWCN), which represents local community groups, organised a meeting last week for the groups they represent.

'Diverse'

A NWCN spokesperson said the community sector in the north west is a 'diverse grouping delivering a wide range of services to local communities'.

The consensus amongst groups is that there are significant frameworks and legislation, such as employment legislation, Charity Commission NI regulations and SORPs (Statements of Recommended Practice) that groups already adhere to, alongside having their own policies and procedures for dealing with complaints and grievances.

Groups have no fears with regard to the audit which DC&SDC is proposing to undertake and will work in partnership with DC&SDC in order to ensure appropriate terms of reference and methodology for the audit will be carried out.

The spokesperson said groups attending the meeting with NWCN expressed concern that the council motion and the publicity surrounding it has 'the potential to damage the reputation of the community sector in the Derry & Strabane area'.

Roisin McLaughlin, Network Coordinator, said: The feeling amongst groups is that the majority of community workers undertake their work because they want to make a difference and the core of their work is to support their communities.

They deliver this work with often limited resources and hold themselves accountable to funders and the communities they serve.

Over the last year during the pandemic the community sector has provided incredible support and continues to provide outstanding services and support to address the mental and physical well-being needs of the communities in the Derry & Strabane area.

Liam Milligan, NWCN Chairperson, said they are seeking a meeting with the council to discuss the 'concerns' raised by the motion and the proposed audit and its scope.

As a Network we are also here to support any organisation who may need it at this time.

Community groups have indicated they will engage in the independent audit and are confident the findings will demonstrate that community organisations governance, policies and practices are indeed transparent, accountable, ethical and that groups are more than able to manage the conflicts of interest which inevitably arise from time to time.
Dilip Kumar Is Stable And Will Be Home In A Few Days; Is Being Monitored Closely

Legendary actor Dilip Kumar, who was admitted to a hospital here on Sunday after experiencing episodes of breathlessness, is stable and is expected to be discharged in a few days. Kumar, 98, was taken to the suburban Khar-based Hinduja Hospital, a non-COVID-19 facility, around 8.30 AM.

"Saab is stable. Thank you for your heart-felt duas and prayers. As per doctors, he should be home in 2-3 days. Insh'Allah," the latest update on Kumar's official Twitter handle read. The post also included an appeal to fans and followers to stay away from speculation. "Don't believe in WhatsApp forwards," it stated.

Dont believe in WhatsApp forwards.

Saab is stable.

Thank you for your heart-felt duas and prayers. As per doctors, he should be home in 2-3 days. InshAllah.  Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) June 6, 2021

Dr Jalil Parkar, who is monitoring the condition of the actor, said Kumar has been diagnosed with bilateral pleural effusion and is on oxygen support. "He was feeling breathless, his oxygen was getting low, so he is on oxygen support. He has bilateral pleural effusion, which we are monitoring closely," he told PTI.

According to Parkar, bilateral pleural effusion refers to the collection of fluid in the thin cavity which acts as a buffer between the lung and inner chest wall. Earlier in the day, Kumar's wife and veteran actor Saira Banu told PTI that he was unwell. "He had breathlessness. He is now here at Khar Hinduja non-COVID hospital for investigation," she said. The actor was admitted to the same hospital last month for a regular health check-up.

Kumar, who made acting debut with Jwar Bhata in 1944, has appeared in several iconic films in his career spanning over five decades, including Kohinoor, Mughal-e-Azam, Devdas, Naya Daur, Ram Aur Shyam, among others. He was last seen on the big screen in Qila in 1998.
Kareena Kapoor Khan Quotes A Sum Of 12 Crores To Portray Sitas Role; Makers Reconsider Casting

After welcoming baby number 2 into the world, Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan is now gearing up to resume work. The beauty currently has Laal Singh Chaddha with Aamir Khan in her kitty, which she has completed, along with Veere Di Wedding 2 and Hansal Mehta's next. Well, it was recently reported that she is also in talks with Alaukik Desai for a retelling of Hindu epic Ramayana, from Sita's point of view. While Bebo might portray the role of Sita, Ranveer Singh has reportedly been approached to play Ravana.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kareena Kapoor Khan (@kareenakapoorkhan)

In a recent report shared by Bollywood Hungama, a source was quoted saying that the actress will shoot Hansal Mehta's next and Veere Di Wedding 2 before moving on to Sita, as they are smaller films whereas the mythological project will take at least 8-10 months to complete. The source further revealed, Bebo who usually asks in the Rs. 6-8 crores range for her films has quoted a sum of Rs. 12 crores which has put the producers in a jiffy.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kareena Kapoor Khan (@kareenakapoorkhan)

The source added that as a result, makers are reconsidering their decision and are also taking the film to a younger actress as well. But Kareena remains to be their first choice. Well, lets hope things work out between the actress and the makers because fans are looking forward to this exciting project.
Shweta Tiwari Said Yes To Khatron Ke Khiladi 11 For This Reason; Reveals How Shes In Constant Touch With Her Children

Shweta Tiwari jetted off to Cape Town, South Africa last month to participate in the 11th season of Rohit Shettys stunt reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi. It has been a tough month for the actress. She misses her children Palak and Reyansh, who are back home, and was also in the news recently due to a controversy that stirred up after her estranged husband Abhinav Kohli accused her of abandoning their son. Well, the good thing is that Shweta is in constant touch with her children, who are also her biggest cheerleaders! In fact, her daughter is one of the reasons why she said yes to the show.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shweta Tiwari (@shweta.tiwari)

In a chat with ETimes, Shweta shared that she has participated in every reality show possible. Talking about the stunt reality show, she stated, Khatron Ke Khiladi is a unique show in which you face your fears and attempt stunts that you dont in your normal life. So, I decided to participate in it because of the element of adventure. Also, my daughter told me that if I didnt take it up now, it would be too late for me to participate in this show in the future.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shweta Tiwari (@shweta.tiwari)

She went on to share that she talks to her children every day and at night they sleep with their video calling app switched on so that they can see each other every time they wake up. Shweta was quoted saying, We talk at every opportunity. I talk to my daughter before every stunt and after it to tell her how I have fared. My son wants me to get him a hippopotamus, which he calls hippomonatus from South Africa to India for him. So, if in an episode I get to meet a hippopotamus, I am going to take him home, because my son wants it (laughs!).

Well, Shweta has had the chance to make many new friends on this journey while fighting her fears through the show. We wish her all the very best as we eagerly wait for KKK11 to air on TV.
The Poco M3 Pro is barely a day away from from being launched in India. The phone will be unveiled tomorrow, with the company also set to reveal its pricing at the virtual launch event. However, the announcement may not be interesting for a lot of fans as the phone's price has already been leaked online. The leak comes courtesy of Twitter user @theleaksguy.

The phone is set to become the first 5G smartphone from Poco, and will come to India after being launched in China earlier in the year. The phone offers quite a few things to like, with its highlights being a 6.5-inch FHD+ 90Hz DynamicSwitch DotDisplay and a fast Dimensity 700 chipset under the hood. And all this will reportedly be available at an aggressive price.

As per leaks, the Poco M3 Pro 5G in India will be launched at Rs 17,999 for the 6GB/128GB version. However, the phone is expected to be launched in a 64GB variant also which is expected to be more affordable. The phone is tipped to be available via Flipkart once launched.

Poco M3 Pro: Expected specifications

If this is the same phone as the Poco M3 Pro 5G launched in China, we already know the specs it will offer. The Poco M3 Pro 5G comes with a 6.5-inch full-HD+ display that can refresh up to a 90Hz refresh rate. This display also supports DynamicSwitch feature and 1,500:1 contrast ratio. Under the hood, it comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC which has been paired with up to 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage. For cameras, we have a triple-lens set-up at the back, that includes a 48-megapixel main camera with f/1.79 aperture. There's also a 2-megapixel macro camera with f/2.4 aperture and another 2-megapixel depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture.

The cameras onboard support a host of features, including Night mode, AI camera 5.0, movie frame, time-lapse, slow motion video, and macro mode. For selfies, we have an 8-megapixel lens with f/2.0 aperture that offers support for features like AI Beautify, Timed Burst, AI Portrait, and Movie frame. Apart from this, the Poco M3 Pro comes with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and AI Face Unlock. Lights on the Poco M3 Pro 5G are kept on by a 5,000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging.
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By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER

AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON  U.S. employers added 559,000 jobs in May, an improvement from April's sluggish gain but still evidence that many companies are struggling to find enough workers as the economy rapidly recovers from the pandemic recession.

Last month's job gain was above April's revised total of 278,000, the Labor Department said Friday, yet well short of employers' need for labor. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1%.





. . .
Subscriber content preview

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)  Supporters of efforts to limit cruise ship traffic in Juneau said they failed to gather enough signatures to qualify their proposals for a vote.

A group of Juneau-area residents behind the effort needed to collect signatures from nearly 3,000 registered Juneau voters for each of the three proposed measures to qualify the questions for an Oct. 5 municipal election. Karla Hart, a leader of the group, said the group failed to do so.





. . .


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The wonderful family business, Jinnys Bakery, is looking to treat your family to a two night stay in their charming traditional Irish Red Door Cottages which are found overlooking Acres Lake and its floating boardwalk and the Shannon Blueway in Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim.

Home to the best soda bread in Ireland, you will also be treated to a welcome pack of delicious goodies from Jinnys' Bakery and Tearooms on your arrival.

This family run business has much to celebrate at the moment and they want share a little of the joy with you!

Baking bread is a family thing and has been for generations of Irish families. Its something we did with our Mams and Nans and the scent of bread baking can transport us back to when we were knee-high to a grass hopper begging to be allowed to stir the bowl, knead the dough or have the first slice!

For Jinnys Bakery, baking bread certainly is a family thing. Run by husband and wife team  Pascal and Sinead (Jinny) Gillard, Jinnys bakery has grown to a team of 11 people supplying brands like SuperValu, Centra, Tesco, Gala and Independent retailers in 70 locations nationwide.

Great News for this Leitrim Bakery - For the second year running, Jinnys has been shortlisted for the Grow with Aldi programme in partnership with Board Bia. This means that from June 6th  19th, their delicious Jinnys Stout Bread Mix which proved hugely popular during the programme last year, will make its return. It will sit beside Jinnys brand new Porridge Oat Bread Mix which launches this week and will also be available in all 145 Aldi stores nationwide.

Like many small businesses Jinnys Bakery has had to think differently to get through Covid 19. Part of that adaption is diversifying their product so it can travel and have a longer shelf life  hence the focus and development of their Bread Mix range. Their stout bread was awarded the Best soda bread in Ireland at the Irish Quality Food Awards in 2019. John and Sally McKennas Irish Food Guide described us as one of the great Irish BakeriesJust try a slice of that Irish Stout Bread and succumb to its tartness, its subdued sweetness, its classy confidence.

If like many Irish people you were reared on home-baked bread but just cant seem to get it right or if you love that nostalgic and warm feeling of the scent of bread baking in the oven but dread the baking part? You will love the Jinnys Bakery Bread Mix packs. They take just 2 mins to prepare and when done, youll have 2 delicious home-baked loaves to share or silently devour! Jinnys bread mixes are wholesome with no artificial colours nor preservatives, they are naturally yeast free with no added sugar. And they will fill your home with the wonderful scent and warmth of home baking!

To Celebrate Jinnys Bakery would like to give you the chance to win a family staycation!

Jinnys Bakery and Tea Rooms are found on the site of the Red Door Cottages (https://selfcateringleitrim.ie/) also owned and managed by Sinead and Pascal.

To celebrate the launch of their new Porridge Oat Bread Mix and their success in being short listed for the Grow with ALDI programme there is a weekend staycation getaway to the charming Red Door Cottages, in beautiful Drumshanbo with delicious Jinnys Bakery welcome pack to be WON!

To enter: Follow Jinnys Bakery on Facebook (jinnys Bakery & Tearooms) or Instagram (jinnysbakery.tearooms) and privately message Jinnys with the name of the new Jinnys Bread Mix with is launching this week in your local Aldi store.

Terms and conditions

Subject to availability

Based on two adults + 2 Children sharing

No cash alternative

Valid June 2021-June 2022

Closing date Midnight Sunday, June 13

Prize includes, accommodation (2 nights) in the traditional Red Door Cottages and Jinnys Bakery and TeaRooms Welcome Pack on arrival.

For more information see the following links

https://www.instagram.com/jinnysbakery.tearooms/

https://www.facebook.com/JinnysBakery

The Red Door Cottages - https://selfcateringleitrim.ie/
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Lawrence - Madeleine "Maddy" (Waye Descoteaux Brown), 87, passed away on April 5, 2020. Maddy was born to Irene and Charles Waye in Nashua, N.H., on December 17, 1932. She was predeceased by her parents; a brother Charles Waye; and husbands, Louis G. Descoteaux of Nashua, N.H., and George Br
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has announced in a recorded message played at a Bitcoin conference in Miami that next week he will send proposed legislation to the countrys congress that would make the cryptocurrency legal tender in the Central American nation
Spain is jump-starting its summer tourism season by welcoming vaccinated visitors from most countries as well as European visitors who can prove they are not infected with coronavirus
ENTERPRISE  The early beginning of Oregons wildfire season was brief, but spectacular. Just one day after the Interagency Team 7 overhead te
Just after his first week of official practice, new transfer Jesse Miritello persuaded sever
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In this Friday, May 8, 2015 file photo, Soviet war veteran David Dushman, 92, center, speaks to people holding Ukrainian flags as he attends a wreath laying ceremony at the Russian War Memorial in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany. Dushman, the last surviving Allied soldier involved in the liberation of Auschwitz, has died. The Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria said Sunday, June 6, 2021 that Dushman had died a day earlier in a Munich hospital at the age of 98. As young Red Army soldier, Dushman flattened the forbidding fence around the notorious Nazi death camp with his tank on Jan. 27, 1945. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
In this Feb. 28, 2021, photo, former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Fla. Multiple people who have spoken with Trump and his team in recent weeks say they sense a shift, with the former president increasingly acting and talking like he plans to mount another White House bid. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
Witness appeal to Peel altercation

Police are appealing for witnesses after an altercation involving four males in Peel.

It happened at the bus stop outside Peel Town Commissioners on Derby Road on Friday evening.

Two of the males involved received facial injuries.

Two males were subsequently arrested and have been bailed pending further investigations.

Officers are now appealing for witnesses to come forward by contacting Police Headquarters.
Mrs. Alberta Hamley Griffin, 97, of Athens, Alabama, died Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at Athens Health and Rehab. A Graveside Service will be 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Copeland Cemetery with Keith Griffin officiating. No visitation is planned. Spry Funeral Home in Athens is directing the services. Mr
Beijing (Gasgoo)- Even though all of Chinas top 5 new energy vehicle startups saw higher May deliveries than the same period of last year, the members of the top 3 have changed. Last month, Hozon Auto, the parent company of Nezha brand, outsold Li Auto and ranked third by monthly deliveries for the first time. But Li Auto was still the third best-selling automaker in terms of cumulative deliveries of the first five months of this year.

Not all top 5 startups delivered more vehicles than the previous month. Deliveries of NIO and Li Auto declined 5.5% and 22% respectively. Chip shortage is one of the reasons that caused the decrease. According to NIOs statement, its vehicle delivery has been slightly impacted by the volatility of semiconductor supply and certain logistical adjustments. In order to make up for the delivery loss, NIO will speed the delivery in June to realize its quarterly target.

The shortage also brought certain impact on Li Auto. On an earnings call in mid-May, Shen Yanan, co-founder and president of Li Auto, the shortage slowed down its production pace and daily production of its Changzhou factory were less than 500 units. And customers may wait to buy its 2021 Li ONE, whose deliveries start from June 1 and boasts numerous upgrades. According to the executive, the new model has received very positive feedback and strong recognition from users and the company's total orders in May jumped to a record high.

Thanks to the sales increase of the P7, XPeng Motors had both year-on-year and month-on-month increase in May deliveries. For the Guangzhou-based automaker, there are also some supply challenges in several chips and the impact of the shortage may intensify in the second quarter and may be alleviated in the third quarter of this year.

Battery cell supply also posed difficulties for XPeng. He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of XPeng, revealed last month, his company was stepping up efforts to lift the production capacity of LFP-battery cell manufacturers to satisfy the version's demands, which were so strong to drive the total deliveries of the P7 to record high in May.

Hozon ranked third by May deliveries with 4,508 new vehicles sold. Currently, Hozon offers two models, the Nezha V and the Nezha U Pro. The cumulative sales of the Nezha V, since its deliveries started from last November, totaled 14,000 units and are expected to surpass 30,000 units by the end of this year.

In terms of Jan.- May deliveries, Li Auto was still the third, 6,475 units more than those of Hozon. But Hozons total deliveries of the first five months of this year have exceeded its annual deliveries of last year. XPengs year-to-date deliveries are expected to surpass its 2020 sales in June.

Both NIO and Li Auto have reiterated its delivery guidance for the second quarter in 2021. NIO wants to sell 21,000 vehicles at least while Li Auto said its confident that it will achieve the high range of its quarterly outlook, namely 15,500. XPeng expects its quarterly deliveries will be between 15,500 and 16,000 vehicles and by the end of May, it has completed nearly 70% of its target.

To support its delivery increase, NIO, XPeng and Li Auto are also busy with expanding their sales and service network. NIO will build 20 more new NIO Houses in 2021 to create more enjoyable life style for more users. And Li Auto has 83 retail stores covering 57 cities by the end of May and its annual target for direct-sale retail stores is to surpass 200. For XPeng, it expects to expand its stores to over 300 covering 110 cities.




Pat Buchanan: The thinking mans principled conservative

By Sam Jacobs



Pat Buchanan continues to be a conservative icon for generations in the United States, holding the line on conservative issues at a time when conventional wisdom said that it was time to give up the ship. While many on the right hate the very idea of journalism today, Pat Buchanan is a journalist through and through  he received his training in journalism and continues to work in it to this very day.

The Formative Years of Pat Buchanan

Buchanan was born in Washington, DC, to an accountant and a homemaker. He was one of nine children in a devout Catholic family and attended Jesuit-run Gonzaga College High School . Following high school, he attended Georgetown University where he was active in the ROTC . He was drafted upon graduation in 1960, but the military declared him 4-F due to reactive arthritis. He continued his education at Columbia University and graduated with a masters in journalism in 1962. His thesis later landed him a job at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat , where he remained for many years.

In 1964, he was promoted to assistant editor of the editorial page. This was also the year that he worked on Barry Goldwaters ill-fated Presidential campaign. He was an active member of Young Americans for Freedom, which was formed to provide youth support for the Goldwater campaign. Buchanan wrote many press releases for this organization.

Pat Buchanan: The White House Years

The year 1966 was a transformative year for Buchanan, as he was hired by the Presidential campaign of Richard Nixon as an opposition researcher and speechwriter. Buchanans speeches tended to be red meat for the most hardcore supporters of Nixon, leading his colleagues to nickname him Mr. Inside. He was also a constant travel companion of Nixon on the campaign trail. It was during this period that Buchanan coined a phrase that would be almost synonymous with Richard Nixon  Silent Majority.

This phrase was part and parcel of crafting a strategy to attract Democratic voters to the Nixon campaign. While it is often repeated that the Nixon campaign employed a Southern strategy that directly appealed to segregationists and racists, this is simply not true. Buchanan addresses this in his book, The Greatest Comeback . The Nixon path to the White House sought votes from Northern Catholics and Southern Protestants, the latter of which included black voters. It is important to note that the Nixon campaign did little to court black voters as black voters, due to their comparatively small portion of the electorate.

Buchanan remained a Nixon loyalist until the end, despite the accusation that he was Deep Throat . Buchanan stayed on in the Ford Administration and was offered his choice of ambassadorships. He chose South Africa , but the offer was rescinded after his appointment was leaked to the press and became the center of controversy.

After parting ways with the Ford Administration, Buchanan turned to broadcast journalism. He was a co-host on a three-hour program with liberal commentator, Tom Braden, known as the Buchanan-Braden Program . This became the basis for the later and much more well-known TV series, Crossfire . He earned national attention with his regular appearances on The McLaughlin Group and The Capital Gang .

Buchanan returned to work in the White House under the Reagan Administration , where he served as White House Communications Director from February 1985 to March 1987. It was around this time that his sister began his Presidential aspirations, circulating Buchanan for President materials in 1986. Buchanan was unsure that he was interested in electoral politics and in 1988, bowed out to allow a clear playing field for Jack Kemp  a man whom he greatly admired at the time, but later became his rival and adversary.

Pat Buchanan Runs For President

In 1992, Buchanan launched a primary campaign against incumbent President George H.W. Bush , getting three million votes in the primary or 23 percent of the vote, including 38 percent of the vote in New Hampshire. Buchanan ran on issues that will be well familiar to Trumpist Republicans today: anti-immigration, anti-multiculturalism, anti-abortion, and social conservatism.

As part of a deal to ensure his support in the general election, Buchanan was given a prime time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention where he delivered his infamous culture war speech. Much derided by the press at the time, the speech would be well at home in the Republican Party of today and was very much ahead of its time. After Bushs defeat, he returned to journalism before his 1996 Presidential campaign.

The 1996 Presidential campaign was arguably the highlight of Buchanans political career. The time was considered ripe for a Buchanan campaign, with former President Bush bowing out and presumptive front-runner Bob Dole largely seen as a weak candidate. Among the issues championed by Buchanan was a fierce opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement , which even then was destroying the American manufacturing base.

Buchanan had a strong showing in the primaries, nearly defeating Dole in the Iowa caucuses and winning the crucial New Hampshire primary , as well as Alaska, Missouri, and Louisiana. His campaign came to an end on Super Tuesday, with Dole winning handily. Buchanan said that if Dole chose a pro-choice running mate that he would run as a third party candidate on the U.S. Taxpayers Party (now the Constitution Party), which was tailor-made for a third-party Buchanan bid. When Jack Kemp was selected as Doles running mate, Buchanan endorsed the ticket.

Buchanan made a third bid for the presidency in 2000, which did considerably worse than his 1996 efforts. He ran for the Reform Party nomination, which largely became a battle for the resources of the Party after it had been abandoned by Ross Perot .

In 2002, Pat Buchanan founded The American Conservative magazine with long-time ally Taki Theodoracopulos , as a means to criticize President George W. Bush from the right, particularly about the Iraq War.

Pat Buchanan always held the line on conservative issues and defended the interests of the American worker and family. For Buchanan, conservatism was never a euphemism for what was good for Wall Street, Big Business or the military-industrial complex . It was always what was good for and what matched the values of the American worker and his family. This is what earned him the ire of both the left and the conservative insiders whose whole raison detre is losing with grace while raking in the donations.

His influence is evident in the political movement that elected Donald Trump as President, and his stamp is likewise seen in conservative firebrands like Ann Coulter. For decades when the conventional wisdom was that the conservative movement needed to compromise, Pat Buchanan simply said no.

Sam Jacobs is a writer for Ammo.com where this originally appeared.
As Americans slowly begin to emerge from our year-plus COVID quarantines, our navigational skills may not be quite as sharp as they were when lockdowns went into effect last March. During its WWDC 2021 keynote address on Monday, Apple announced a slew of new features for its Maps that will help even the most easily lost among us navigate the unfamiliar outside world with confidence.

To start, Maps is sporting a heavily upgraded UI that offers additional details like elevation as well as brighter road colors, more prominent labels, and hundreds of custom icons for area landmarks, like Coit Tower (above) or the Golden Gate Bridge. There's also a slick night-time mode that bathes everything in subdued blue hues.

Maps' depictions of roadways have also been improved with greater levels of detail and highlights to pedestrian infrastructure to help drivers better navigate complex intersections and freeway interchanges alike. These features are expected to roll out to CarPlay later this year.

Transit riders also have new features to crow about. If you ride the same bus to work every morning, you'll now be able to pin that route to the top of Maps for easier access. You'll be able to track your commute progress on your Apple Watch so you won't have to keep flashing your iPhone on the crosstown  your Watch will even buzz a notification when you reach your stop. And if you find yourself discombobulated when stepping out of an unfamiliar subway station, Maps can now pinpoint your location by capturing a couple images of the buildings and landmarks around you.

These features will roll out to a select number of North American and European cities by the end of 2021, with more locations arriving throughout next year.
Google has agreed to pay a 220 million ($267 million) fine and change its ad practices after France's competition authority found it had abused its dominant online ad position. Following a 2019 complaint by News Corp. and French newspaper Le Figaro, France ruled that Google was favoring its own advertising services to the detriment of rivals.

"The decision sanctioning Google is significant because it is the first in the world to deal with the complex algorithmic auction processes used for online ads," said Isabelle de Silva, head of the Autorite de la concurrence. "The investigation... revealed how Google used its dominant position on ad servers to favor its own services over competitors on both ad servers and SSP [sell-side] platforms."

In a blog post, Google explained how it planned to change its ad rules by offering publishers "increased flexibility" by improving interoperability between its ad manager and third-party ad servers. "Also, we are reaffirming that we will not limit Ad Manager publishers from negotiating specific terms or pricing directly with other sell-side platforms."

Google's ad division has faced scrutiny from French regulators in the past. In 2019, the watchdog fined Google 150 million ($167 million) for opaque and unpredictable advertising rules after it suspended the Google Ads account of a French company without notice. Google has also clashed with regulators and publishers in the nation over the use of snippets of content in its news section.
Nissan's next-gen Ariya EV was set to arrive in the US and Europe by the end of this year, but the company is now saying that those dates will be pushed back. "We have delayed the start of sales of Ariya, which will now be available in the U.S. starting in 2022 with reservations beginning later this year," a company spokesperson told Green Car Reports in a statement.

The reason cited for the delay is the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and a global chip shortage that has hit automakers particularly hard. "Nissan is facing various industry challenges, including the semiconductor shortage. Our priority is to ensure that we deliver the all-new, all-electric Nissan Ariya to customers with the highest level of quality and care," the company said.

Sales in Japan have also been pushed back from mid-2021 to "this winter," with sales to follow in Europe and the US about two months later, according to executive vice president Asako Hoshino. She added that demand could be highest in Europe when it first arrives, with overall sales expected to be in the tens of thousands during the first year, Autoblog reported.

The Ariya is Nissan's first new EV in a decade and has a markedly futuristic look compared to the Nissan Leaf. It will come in single motor FWD (215 HP) and dual-motor e-4ORCE AWD (389 HP) versions. Theres also two different battery options, with an 63kWh battery and an optional 87kWh battery  in the single-motor, 2WD version it should be capable of up to 300 miles of range on a charge.

The US version is expected to start at around $40,000 with the 63kWh battery, which could drop to as little as $34,000 with the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. In France, buyers could get up to 12,000 ($13,100) off with a 7,000 tax credit and 5,000 credit for trading in an older diesel car.
Ive long wanted an ultra-short-throw projector, which has the convenience and space-saving pros of a projector without all the logistical cons of where to install the thing. This convenience has always been expensive, though, with decent models starting at around $2,800  yes, theres a guide for that. Even the reasonably priced Xiaomi Mi Laser Projector is still sub-$2,000.

Richard Lai/Engadget

But JMGO might have hit a price point that even Id be happy with. The Chinese brand is launching two models: the $699 O1 and $859 O1 Pro, the latter "co-engineered" with Leica. While theyll both be coming to Indiegogo to gauge interest, Engadgets Richard Lai has played with the cheaper O1 and was pleasantly surprised. You can check out his impressions here, and while its still only a 1080p projector, at that price (and in the short-throw form-factor), its easy to be tempted. Just remember that Indiegogo/Kickstarter dreams dont always come true  and that youd be liable for any import charges depending on where youre shipping to.

 Mat Smith

There would be a dedicated app and audience requirements.

Twitter

Jane Manchun Wong has discovered evidence of a Super Follows app that suggests Twitter is nearly ready with its Patreon-style offering. The leak offers some insight on who might qualify for the new way of earning money from fans and followers. Youll need to be 18 or older, have 10,000 or more followers and post at least 25 times over the previous 30 days. Continue reading.

People in the US and elsewhere couldn't find 'tank man' on Bing.

Microsoft is once again coming under fire for a botched approach to China web searches. Reports over the weekend explained that Bing inadvertently blocked searches for "tank man," the Tiananmen Square protester, in countries like the US, France and Singapore. According to a spokesperson, the block was due to "accidental human error" that the company was trying to fix. Sites that license results from Microsoft, such as DuckDuckGo, also suffered as a result. Continue reading.

'Regular' Plaid might be good enough for the CEO.

Tesla

You might never get to drive Tesla's supercar-level Model S Plaid+ sedan. Elon Musk told Twitter followers that the Plaid+ trim is "canceled" as the imminent, lower-priced regular Plaid model is "just so good." The Plaid+ trim option remains listed in the automaker's configurator tool at writing, but it's grayed out.

It could be a matter of product overlap. The next-gen Roadster was meant to be Tesla's beastly performance EV  until the Model S Plaid+ showed up. Continue reading.

There might also be a mental health app.

Engadget

While were literally hours away from WWDC 2021, developer Khaos Tian has discovered App Store profile info referencing unannounced Apple Watch-native versions of the Contacts and Tips apps found on other Apple devices. While there isn't much to see beyond the names, this suggests watchOS 8 might offer more independence, able to do more without your iPhone in close proximity. Continue reading.

But wait, theres more...

What to expect from Apple's online-only WWDC 2021

Can AI unlock the secrets of animal communication?

The best streaming devices you can buy

Apple employee group rejects planned return to the office
The Service celebrating and honoring the life of Thomas "Tommy" Crawford, 74, of Enid are pending under the direction of Brown-Cummings Funeral Home. Condolences and special memories may be made to the family online at WWW.Brown-Cummings.Com
Engaged couple Sammi Giancola and Christian Biscardi have unfollowed each other on social media. Are their engagement still on?

The couple has been engaged for over 2 years now, and while their social media behaviors are telling, no one has announced their engagement having been called off.

Should fans just speculate?

According to E! News, Giancola revealed her engagement to Christian Biscardi in March 2019 with an Instagram post.

But things have changed since then. As of now, Sammi's fiance seems to have deleted all posts related to her or both of them on his personal Instagram account.

Meanwhile, the former "Jersey Shore" starlet hasn't posted about her beau since February 2020.

Sources have already reached out repeatedly to Sammi, but there are still no responses if they have ended their relationship.

Sammi and Christian's Wedding, Delayed or Cancelled?

Based on this article by Life and Style, the former "MTV" reality star made an early claim that she will not be returning to any new season of the "Jersey Shore" series.

"I've decided to focus on me, my future, and what truly makes me happy. I will forever be grateful to Jersey Shore and everything it has brought to me."

According to the article, Giancola's refusal to partake in any reality show is "partially out of respect for Christian."

"I have chosen not to join the show this season because I am at a completely different place in my life right now focusing on my businesses and my relationship," she shared as a caption in one of her Instagram posts back in March 2018.

READ ALSO: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro Arrested: 'Jersey Shore' Star In Custody For Another Domestic Violence Charge

'Jersey Shore' Season 4 Brought Back Snooki, Fans Want Sammi Too

As the former reality show star keeps hush about her love life, fans can't seem to brush the idea of Sammi returning to the limelight.

According to NJ Advance Media, Sammi is busy preparing to open her "Sweetheart Coast" boutique located in Boardwalk Ocean City, New Jersey. The shop is set to open in June and promises "positive beach vibes" to its customers.

However, the timing can't be any more perfect for the "Jersey Shore" sweetheart to return to the show. As the show confirmed the appearance of Nicole Polizzi or better known as "Snooki' in the new season of "Jersey Shore Family Vacation," fans want Sammi to return, too.

Simultaneously, Giancola's ex-boyfriend and former co-cast Ronni Ortiz-Margo have decided to leave the "MTV" reality show.

If Sammi truly has broken up with the cause of her decision to stay away from the show, fans now have reason to anticipate Sammi returning and completing the old "Jersey Shore" gang.

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Kim Kardashian now amuses fans with another Photoshop fail for SKIMS' new commercial. Fans naturally called her out on it.

In a new commercial that was shown on national television, Kim Kardashian appears on the screen, lying down wearing their collection for SKIMS.

SKIMS is a 2-year old range of shapewear, previously called the infamous "Kimono" after being called out for disrespecting Japanese culture.

It was described on their official website as a solutions-oriented brand creating the next generation of underwear, loungewear, and shapewear.

The brand has asserted itself as "setting new standards by providing solutions to everybody," which means everyone can enjoy SKIMS, no matter their body type.

While the brand is now well-loved, its new commercial is not.

SKIMS Commercial Ridiculed by Fans

The said commercial was called out by a user from TikTok, which gained more than 19 million views, 1 million likes, and 16,000 comments all in 2 days since its creation.

The video shows the said commercial called "spaghetti fingers" after Kardashian runs over her waist with distorted hands. The user mumbles, "You know what bounces right back, the finger after it completely distorts," as the video cuts until its last frame.

@alexkelly2014Who approved of this editing???#kardashian #photoshopfail #kim #skims #editingfail #kimk #kimkardashian #onceyouseeityoucantunseeitoriginal sound - Alex Kelly

One commenter said, "They refused to do anything natural, huh.." hinting at the number of times the Kardashians have already caused incidents like these failures.

Another one said, "I wouldn't be surprised if they did this on purpose to get the people talking," which would also make sense since negative publicity is still publicity.

Kim Kardashian's Recent Photoshop Fails

It has not been that long since the last time Kim Kardashian was ridiculed for a photoshop fail. While this happened numerous times already, she responded to the haters by eventually just turning off the comments to the said photo. It was not a direct statement, but it showed how affected she was.

READ MORE: Kim Kardashian Attends Mysterious Billionaire Jamie Reuben's Birthday Bash in A Sultry Skimpy Skirt

The Kardashians and Jenners are often targeted for their Photoshop fails, and this particular pic turned out to be one major Photoshop disaster for Kim.

As reported by Republic World, in March 2018, Kim Kardashian visited Washington DC to support a cause that she felt strongly about. In the said picture, the Photoshop in question could be seen in a car in the background, which has been altered heavily to the point where it loses its identity as a car.

She had released a statement speaking about the alleged Photoshop on her website, but the statement has hence been removed.

Another fail was reported by the Sun last May. In the photo, the KUWTK star can be seen relaxing by the beach, Her curves in a black two-piece were in full display, and although her saucy pose wowed many, many found something peculiar about the image.

Someone said she looked like she had had six toes.

READ ALSO: Kourtney Kardashian 'Insulted' With Scott Disick Reconciliation Talks, Very Happy With Travis Barker?

READ MORE: Kim Kardashian Attends Mysterious Billionaire Jamie Reuben's Birthday Bash in A Sultry Skimpy Skirt

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R. Kelly is getting ready to face court after a series of sexual assault allegations charged to him.

It will be uncomfortable for the famed rapper and the potential jurors on the case.

According to AllHipHop, jurors for his first trial in Brooklyn, New York, will be asked to answer several personal questions that could help find a pool of jurors who may favor the rapper.

In the official document obtained by the outlet, the musician's lawyers warned that though the potential jurors will be asked some questions that may appear to be personal in nature, they pleaded to "please understand that these questions will help the parties and the court select a fair and impartial jury."

Some of the questions on the list include asking the potential jurors if they have ever contracted sexually transmitted diseases since R. Kelly has been accused of purposely giving one to his alleged victims herpes.

The question reads, "Have you, a family member, or close friend ever contracted or been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease? Please explain who and indicate how this impacted you."

Another question also asks if the potential juror or their family member "have been accused of, or investigated for, or been involved in a charge or litigation regarding sexual harassment."

They're also asking the juror to explain the nature of the allegations and the outcome, and how it has affected them.

The Impact of #MeToo

R. Kelly's lawyers are also reportedly worried about the "Me Too Movement" impact, which is currently rising and popularized by actress Alyssa Milano in 2017.

It is also included in the questions for the potential jurors, which asks, "Have you supported or participated in the 'Me Too' movement in any way?"

Some personal questions that possibly don't connect with the case are the potential juror's favorite TV series, music icons, websites and if they attended a rock concert.

READ ALSO: R. Kelly Facing New Federal Charges for Drugs, STDs & More!

R. Kelly Awaiting Trial

A couple of days ago, a tweet set off a media firestorm after a picture of R. Kelly leaving jail was shared online.

However, the tweet was later said to be old, as R. Kelly, whose real name is Robert Kelly, is still in jail awaiting trial.

This picture is from 2019 tho  siyasamkela (@siyamtitshana) June 3, 2021

He hasn't been freed from jail. Not only is the "Ignition" rapper awaiting trial in New York, but he also has another one in Chicago on several sexual assault charges.

R. Kelly has been charged with sex trafficking, obstruction of justice, producing indecent pictures of minors and racketeering.

In the past couple of years, the rapper has been dogged with these allegations, even receiving international attention on the "Surviving R. Kelly" documentary where alleged victims detailed their horrifying experiences.

R. Kelly was detailed in 2019, and since then, there have been numerous delays on his case because of COVID. But everything will proceed this August.

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Just right after being honored at "Kennedy Center Honors" for the year 2021, Garth Brooks, along with his wife, teases that they are eyeing to replace "The Ellen Show" with their new talk show.

Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks have hinted on having their talk show one day. According to Variety, however, it has to be produced in their home of Nashville, Tenn., if it pushes through.

Country music stars Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks showed off their talk show hosting trials when they appeared as guest hosts for "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" together for May 2021.

USA Today reported that DeGeneres is preparing to say goodbye to her long-running show. Yearwood revealed she would be interested in hosting a show permanently, but she had some requirements. DeGeneres announced plans to leave "Ellen" after Season 19 ends next year in May.

Trisha Yearwood Gets A Call From Food Network About Possible Talk Show

When promoting her new cookbook, "Trisha's Kitchen," on "TalkShopLive," broadcasted last Saturday, June 5, Yearwood opened up about the possibility of hosting a show with husband Brooks.

Just as mentioned after they appeared in "The Ellen Show," proving they just might have what it takes to become full-time hosts after DeGeneres. Yearwood pointed out that when filming her cooking show, "Trisha's Southern Kitchen," Food Network was able to come to her and that it would be ideal if a talk show could do the same.

"When we first started doing the cooking show, we were living in Oklahoma, and I told Food Network I would love to do the show, but I'm living in Oklahoma. To be able to film the show then go home at night is important, so I would not say that it's something we wouldn't consider, but I think they'd have to come to us," the wife continued her statement about the proposed talk show.

Yearwood would be all for it once the show would take place near their home, considering that Nashville has plenty of resident celebrities that the two could interview.

"Not just country artists, a lot of artists from all forms of music live in this town," Yearwood said. "So I'm just sayin', Nashville's a cool city. Think about it guys, think about it!"

READ ALSO: Kelly Clarkson Performs Emotional 'The Dance' In Front of Garth Brooks, Feels Comforted After Brandon Blackstock Divorce

Garth Brooks Gets Emotional At Kennedy Center

According to Fox News, it was recently announced that Garth Brooks "nervously" made his comeback in the music scene after a 14-year hiatus, celebrating a remarkable appearance at "Kennedy Center Honors," and getting performances from Kelly Clarkson, James Taylor, and Jimmy Allen.

According to Brooks, he was "scared to death" when he wanted to come back with country music. But, to his surprise, he found that people are welcoming him back with open arms. The country music icon has won more than 90 awards for his songs, including "If Tomorrow Never Comes," "The Dance," and "Friends in Low Places."

Brooks has sold more than 157 million copies of his 16 studio albums, in two live albums and 51 singles, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, since 1989. Not only that, but he also bagged dozens of gold, diamond, and platinum certifications from the recording association.

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Prince Harry suffered from a major snub after his royal title got dropped from Princess Diana's exhibition.

In an exclusive report of Sunday Times, the display panel on the Princess of Wales' exhibits shows the words "Lent by HRH the Duke of Cambridge and HRH the Duke of Sussex.

However, a spokesman for the Royal Collection Trust revealed that the Duke of Sussex's HRH title will be dropped. The new line will go "loaned by HRH the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex," per Mirror UK.

It reasoned out that the His Royal Highness title was only added due to an "administrative error, for which the Royal Collection Trust was responsible."

At the same time, the Royal Collection Trust promised to correct and update the label - which means that Prince Harry is no longer an HRH even on the exhibition.

The Kensington Palace panels started the exhibition titled "Royal Style in the Making." The display includes Princess Diana's 1981 wedding dress. David and Elizabeth Emanuel designed the dress with a sequined train. At 25ft trail, it remains the longest wedding gown in royal history.

It also exhibits Princess Diana's pink suit she wore during their honeymoon. She donned it during her 1983 tour in Australia with Prince Charles.

People Want Prince Harry, Meghan Markle to Be Stripped Off Of Their Titles

Due to the Sussexes' continuous bombshell revelations, royal watchers and supporters called them out and demanded their tiles to be removed.

Piers Morgan penned a column for Mail Online in January 2020, suggesting that Queen Elizabeth II should have removed the couple's titles as soon as they announced their exit.

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"Today, the case for cutting him off from his royal status is even stronger, yet I suspect the Queen is still resisting all calls to do so, because she is an inherently decent woman and has a far greater loyalty to her family than Harry is showing," he wrote.

The former "Good Morning Britain" host added that Queen Elizabeth II did not want to do it for the sake of her great-grandchild, Archie.

Meanwhile, Lady Colin Campbell started a change.org petition "Invitation to Prince Harry to request that The Queen put his titles into abeyance." Currently, it gains nearly 62,000 signatures of its 75,000 goals.

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Comparing the Canadian and the American Right  updated to 2021 (Part Two) By Mark Wegierski

In regard to immigration, Canada has received about a quarter-million immigrants a year  about 75% - 80% of them from non-European sources -- since 1988. The mass, dissimilar immigration began in the mid-1960s, but the total immigration since that time had been about 100,000 persons a year. Indeed, it had reached a mere 54,000 in Pierre Elliott Trudeaus last year in office (1983-1984). It was Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney who had raised it precipitously, where it has basically remained ever since. The population of Canada is now close to 38 million. Unlike the U.S., where there is some degree of criticism of mass, dissimilar immigration permitted, this is virtually a closed issue in Canada. Indeed, Justin Trudeau has raised immigration to the unprecedented levels of over 400,000 a year, in the next three years. Related to policies of mass, dissimilar immigration are policies of multiculturalism. Canada has been a pioneer in the area of multiculturalism  the city of Toronto today is probably the most diverse city in the world, with probably close to 200 groups represented. All levels of government (federal, provincial, and municipal) are required to support the cultural endeavours of ethnic groups, at least to some extent. Ethnic groups also claim absolute cultural self-determination, rejecting the earlier assimilation model. Multiculturalism today may really be called multiracialism, as it is visible minorities (a term officially used in Canada), rather than white ethnics such as Ukrainian-, Italian-, Portuguese-, and Polish-Canadians, who are overwhelmingly the focus of government, media, and corporate concern. Related to multiculturalism is employment equity (the Canadian term for affirmative action), which operates on behalf of the following designated groups  women, visible minorities, aboriginal peoples, and persons with disabilities  in all levels of government, as well as in much of the private sector. In one major pay-equity settlement, the Canadian Human Rights Commission (a quasi-judicial tribunal) ordered the Federal Government to pay about $3.5 billion (Canadian) to women working or formerly working for the Federal Government. (By contrast, the entire budget for the Canadian military in the year 2000 was about $10 billion.) In August 2002, there was an attempt to further entrench employment equity in the Federal Civil Service  twenty percent of all new hires were to be visible minorities, and senior managers were to receive performance bonuses depending on how many visible minorities they hired. Although there were a few scattered voices of protest, this is fact seemed like a continuation of policies that had been in place for at least thirty years. The Harper government had several years ago promised some kind review of employment equity policies, but this did not go anywhere. Ironically, in the wake of BLM in the United States, Canada is awash with claims of systemic racism and a group of Black civil servants has launched a lawsuit against the Federal Government, claiming pervasive discrimination, and asking for $900 million (Canadian). As far as disabled persons, they have probably been included under employment equity to give the policy an increased aura of kindness and compassion. It could be argued that there is not all that much being done for most disabled persons today, apart from giving them disability support payments and some subsidies for housing and assistive devices, which are not excessively generous. However, the inclusion of disabled persons as a designated group inclines this rather heterogeneous category of people (and their care-givers) to support the current-day equity regime, and increases still further the social stigma of publicly challenging employment equity. Canada is also permeated by the bilingualism (French and English) policy. This means that Canada is an officially bilingual state, and that most positions (and especially senior positions) in the Federal Civil Service require knowledge of both French and English. The effect of this has been to increase the chances of French-Canadians and members of Canadas liberal English-speaking elites (more of whom tend to be bilingual) to obtain civil service positions. It has tended to discriminate against ordinary, English-speaking Canadians. New Brunswick, an Atlantic Maritime province with a French-speaking population of about 35%, is fully officially bilingual, and Ontario, with a French-speaking population of about 5%, has been urged to move to full official bilingualism. However, the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec, where one of seven inhabitants doesnt have French as a first language, embraces unilingualism in its government and official policy: French only. Government (typically white-collar) jobs at the federal, provincial, or municipal levels are often considered to be relatively easy to do, with comparatively large benefits (relative to private sector compensations), so policies such as employment equity tend to exclude increasing numbers of persons (especially white males) from remunerative employment. And it now sometimes happens that persons are typically hired only if they bridge two or three designated categories. The government sector is also clearly permeated by varying degrees of political correctness, so a person with more conservative or traditionalist views is unlikely to be hired, and, even if hired, they may sometimes end up in a rather miserable situation, with constant stress and little chance for advancement. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are taking things between them seriously - and quickly!

Only a few weeks since Lopez and Affleck rekindled their relationship, the couple is no longer hiding things anymore. In fact, the two seemingly started living in each other's houses already.

Over the weekend, the 51-year-old "On The Floor" hitmaker was spotted in Brentwood, California, as her assistant drove her car away from Affleck's home. Although Lopez kept her head down, eagle-eyed fans knew it was her.

Meanwhile, the "Justice League: Synder's Cut" actor also did the same. The public witnessed him drove away from Lopez's mansion near Bel Air.

Despite the pandemic, going into their houses is not really a problem especially since they live near each other's houses.

This, of course, gave life to speculations that the couple already started living together. Still, their recent public outings explain that they are yet to reach that point - but it might happen sooner.

Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck Planning For The Future

The new revelation came only a few weeks after the two expressed how serious they are in their current relationship.

For what it's worth, People reported that Lopez and Affleck work out their relationship as they plan to take it to the next level.

"This is not a casual relationship. They are taking it seriously and want it to be long-lasting," it added.

Lopez and Affleck first met on the set of the 2002 movie "Gigli." They began dating that year and lasted until 2004.

READ MORE: Lil Durk's Brother OTF DThang Tragically Died At 32: Was He Involved In A Crime?

Unfortunately, they tried to make things worth it that they even scheduled their marriage in September 2003. The couple postponed the ceremony one day before the scheduled date. Following their official break up in January 2004, Lopez quickly married Marc Anthony while Affleck tied knots with Jennifer Garner in 2005.

Like the actress, Affleck also feels crazily in love with Lopez that he thinks of marrying her for real soon.

According to E! insider, the actor remains the same caring and charming person Lopez met decades ago.

"He's a man's man, and she finds him so attractive and strong. She's in it for the long term and sees her future with him," the source went on.

Lopez reignited her relationship with Affleck earlier this year after she had enough of her ex-fiance, Alex Rodriguez. It is worth mentioning that Lopez cut Rodriguez off because he was being too needy.

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Caitlyn Jenner might have a secret weapon in overturning Governor Gavin Newsom in the upcoming recall election.

Fox LA described Caitlyn Jenner as an "Olympian, reality TV Star, and transgender activist" in an article, after interviewing her about planning to challenge the current governor of California.

The host, Elex Michaelson, discussed Jenner's qualifications for office. Still, the main topic that stuck was if the reality star asked Kim Kardashian to give her legal advice and be her advisor during her campaign.

The multimillionaire businesswoman is known to have a background in California law and legal advocacy.

"I have not asked her [Kim Kardashian] to be involved in my campaign, but I guarantee you, as time goes on and I become Governor, I'm sure she'll have my ear," the former Olympian confidently reveals.

Jenner continues to praise her daughter by saying that the business mogul "has done an amazing job with criminal justice reform" and describes her expertise as "spot on."

Caitlyn Jenner Confesses Running For Office Is Harder Than Coming Out

Jenner shares her experience in announcing her intent in campaigning for the position of California governor.

The former Olympian was on an interview with "Fox 11 Los Angeles" when she explains how coming out as trans was more manageable than telling her family about the prospects of her candidacy.

Based on this article, the reality star joked that the idea of her becoming a Republican governor candidate was "tougher to sell" than becoming transgender.

"I've talked to all my family about running for governor, and to be honest with you, it was easier to come out as trans than as a Republican candidate for governor. It was a lot tougher to sell," Jenner answered when asked about Kim Kardashian's possible involvement.



READ MORE: Kourtney Kardashian 'Insulted' With Scott Disick Reconciliation Talks, Very Happy With Travis Barker?

Caitlyn Jenner's Reason For Going Into Politics: "I Am That Poster Child For Change"

Jenner points out "the decline of California" in the past years and claims to want to be an example of change.

When asked about choosing a potential politician to fill if a Senate vacancy would arise, Caitlyn states that she would pick "the best person qualified" regardless if they're a republican or democrat.

"I am that poster child for change, but I've seen a lot in my life, I've seen a lot, so I would pick the best-qualified person for the job," says the political activist.

"I would pick the best person qualified for the job... I don't care if you're Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, vegetarian"@Caitlyn_Jenner discusses who, as Gov., she might pick to succeed @SenFeinstein, should the opportunity arise.@Elex_Michaelson hosts @TheIssueIsShow pic.twitter.com/wj8vLtHfA9  The Issue Is (@TheIssueIsShow) June 4, 2021

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2021-06-07

Maeci

On Monday, 7 June 2021 at 14:30, the press conference to launch the 20th International Food Exhibition Cibus 2021 will be streamed live on www.esteri.it.

The programme includes speeches by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio; the President of ICE-Agenzia, Carlo Ferro; the President of Federalimentare, Ivano Vacondio; the President of Fiere di Parma, Gino Gandolfi; and the CEO of Fiere di Parma, Antonio Cellie.

CIBUS, together with Tuttofood Milano, is the leading trade fair for the Italian agri-food industry, an internationally renowned showcase for businesses and an iconic event for the Made in Italy brand.

Cibus 2021  which will take place from 31 August to 3 September  is part of the process for revitalising the Italian agri-food industry after the lockdown due to the Covid pandemic, as it is the first event of the year for the entire sector. The fair will showcase new products that should hopefully drive the recovery of domestic consumption and exports, thus enabling foreign operators to return to Italy and visit the main Italian companies operating in the sector.
2021-06-05

Maeci

On June 5, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, attended the ceremony for the 207th Anniversary of the Arma dei Carabinieri, a national law enforcement agency committed to ensuring lawfulness, security, justice and democracy for citizens in Italy and abroad.
2021-06-07

Maeci

Vice Minister Sereni held talks, by videoconference, with the FAO Director General, Qu Dongyu. The talks focused on the G20 joint Foreign Affairs and Development Ministerial Meeting scheduled in Matera, on 29 June, and on the organisation of the pre-Summit meeting for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, which will be held in Rome, from 26 to 28 July.

The Vice Minister emphasised that Italy is working with the other G20 partners on the issue of food security, focusing in particular on the Food Coalition initiative launched by Italy within the FAO, which has now become a central programme of the organization, aimed at responding to the effects of the pandemic on the worlds agri-food systems. Italy's challenge, Vice Minister Sereni stressed, is to encourage a global mobilisation of all countries, bringing together the public and private sectors and civil society for the great common goal of achieving Zero Hunger.

Regarding the other topic addressed at the talks, the UN pre-Summit in Rome, Vice Minister Sereni reaffirmed the importance of this event in helping to transform food systems in a more inclusive and sustainable way. It is essential for our future, she concluded, to be able to recognise and value diversity, as well as the different traditions and cultural paths that underpin food models and systems, which are a source of wealth for the whole mankind.
2021-06-06

Maeci

Italy warmly welcomes the renewal for another year of the mandate of the EU Operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI by the UN Security Council, via the extension of Resolution 2292 of 2016.

Pursuant to that Resolution, IRINI will be able to continue operating for compliance with the arms embargo on Libya, contributing concretely to the implementation of the commitments undertaken at the Berlin Conference on January 19, 2020.

IRINI will be able to continue to carry out its mission effectively and impartially, as it has done up to now and as is recognised by the United Nations.

Being determined to contribute to the goal of a lasting and sustainable stabilisation of Libya, Italy has been actively involved in IRINI since it was established, taking on specific responsibilities such as operational command and the provision of resources and personnel.
2021-06-04

Maeci

Mr. Marco Zennaro has been detained in Khartoum since 1 April, following allegations of fraud made by his business partners. The Italian Embassy in Khartoum has been following the case constantly, from the beginning, with regular consular visits to the detained Italian citizen (over 60 visits, to date, since 1 April) and keeping permanently in touch with his family.

Ambassador Gianluigi Vassallo has never ceased to raise the case with the highest Sudanese authorities, requesting official clarifications and his release, in the absence of reasons justifying the detention measure. A similar message was conveyed by the Foreign Ministry to the Sudanese Embassy in Italy.

On 24 May, on the instructions of Minister Di Maio, Vice Minister Sereni stressed to her Sudanese counterpart the attention with which Italy is following this case.

On 30 and 31 May, on Minister Di Maios instructions, the Director General for Italian Citizens Abroad, Luigi Vignali, travelled to Khartoum, where he visited the detained Italian citizen several times and managed to obtain some improvement in the conditions of his detention. On 2 June, Marco Zennaro was transferred to a more organised detention facility, where he now has a bed in a non-overcrowded cell and has access to outdoor facilities and spaces; he can also use his mobile phone to communicate with his family and receive visits from family members and Embassy staff at predefined times.

The Director General also asked the highest Sudanese authorities to allow the detained Italian citizen to be held under house arrest at a hotel.

Director Vignalis mission also included making contact with the Sudanese private counterparts to take stock of the negotiations for an out-of-court settlement of the trade dispute that has given rise to the case.
Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf of the organization they represent.

1. Modeling study suggests that schools can safely reopen with proper mitigation strategies

With adherence to masking and distancing, cases introduced into a school unlikely to lead to community transmission

Abstract: https:/ / www. acpjournals. org/ doi/ 10. 7326/ M21-0600

Editorial: https:/ / www. acpjournals. org/ doi/ 10. 7326/ M21-2291

URL goes live when the embargo lifts

A modeling study found that with controlled community transmission and moderate mitigation strategies in place, schools can reopen safely. Asymptomatic screening is one mitigation strategy identified that could facilitate reopening at higher local incidence while minimizing transmission risk. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Massachusetts General Hospital used a simulation model to assess the risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission in schools. The model considered average U.S. classroom sizes for both elementary and high schools. Interactions within schools and homes, as well as those between households outside school, were incorporated. Mitigation strategies included were isolation of symptomatic individuals, quarantine of an infected individual's contacts, reduced class sizes, alternative schedules, staff vaccination, and weekly asymptomatic screening. Transmission was projected among students, staff, and families after a single infection in school and over an 8-week quarter, contingent on local incidence.

The data showed that school transmission varied according to student age and local incidence and was substantially reduced with mitigation measures, such as teacher vaccination, masking, social distancing, and asymptomatic screening. Testing was impactful because when transmission occurs, it may be difficult to detect as most school-aged children experience asymptomatic or mild infections. While the data suggest that reopening with careful mitigation strategies in place is safe, the authors noted that the risk for transmission was substantially higher in high schools than elementary schools.

An accompanying editorial from New York City Health + Hospitals suggests that during the pandemic, emergency department visits for children aged 5 to 11 and 12 to 17 years that were mental health-related increased approximately 24% and 31%, respectively. Isolation associated with remote learning may be partially to blame. As such, in-person learning is one of the most powerful tools available to support children's and adolescents' mental health. Based on the science, local, state, and federal agencies should prioritize effective interventions that permit the benefits of in-person education while protecting the safety of both students and educators.

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Angela Collom at acollom@acponline.org. To speak with the corresponding author, Dr. Meagan Fitzpatrick, please contact January Payne at January.payne@som.umaryland.edu.

2. Simultaneous screening for lung cancer and aortic valve calcification could identify people at risk for aortic stenosis

Abstract: https:/ / www. acpjournals. org/ doi/ 10. 7326/ M20-5507

URL goes live when the embargo lifts

A brief research report finds that aortic valve calcification (AVC) can be found using low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) during lung cancer screening, identifying those at high risk for aortic stenosis (AS). Cardiovascular events are known to have the same modifiable risk factors as lung cancer, suggesting that screening for the two at the same time could be useful. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers from Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland studied more than 6,600 older smokers/ever-smokers who were enrolled in the MOLTEST BIS lung cancer screening program between 2016 and 2018 to assess the usefulness of LDCT performed during lung cancer screening in determining the degree of AVC as an additional finding. The researchers arbitrarily determined a calcium cutoff point indicating a positive test result. Positive patients were sent for an echocardiogram for confirmation of diagnosis.

Any degree of AVC was identified in 869 (13.1%) of the patients using the author's measure. Fifty-four participants provided informed consent and were enrolled in the study. Of those, 0.5% were diagnosed with at least moderate AS upon echocardiogram. Most of the participants with AS (55.1%) were unaware of their valvular heart disease, including the 23% with severe AS. Based on these findings, the authors propose that AVC assessment become a routine procedure in the LDCT protocol for lung cancer screening.

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Angela Collom at acollom@acponline.org. To speak with the corresponding author, Marcin Fijalkowski, MD, PhD, please contact mfijalkowski@gumed.edu.pl.

Also new in this issue:

How Would You Manage This Patient With Nonvariceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding?

Grand Rounds Discussion From Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Zahir Kanjee, MD, MPH; Akwi W. Asombang, MD, MPH; Tyler M. Berzin, MD, MS; and Risa Burns, MD, MPH

Beyond the Guidelines

Abstract: https:/ / www. acpjournals. org/ doi/ 10. 7326/ M21-1206

Media contacts: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Angela Collom at acollom@acponline.org. To speak with a discussant, please contact Kendra McKinnon at kmckinn1@bidmc.harvard.edu.

In the Clinic: Multiple Sclerosis Update

Michael J. Olek, DO

In the Clinic

Abstract: https:/ / www. acpjournals. org/ doi/ 10. 7326/ AITC202106080

A Historic Opportunity to Update Asylum Law's Outdated Assumptions about Trauma

Erin Shortell, JD, MPH; Aldis H. Petriceks, BA; Francis X. Shen, JD, PhD; and Judith G. Edersheim, JD, MD

Ideas and Opinions

Abstract: https:/ / www. acpjournals. org/ doi/ 10. 7326/ M21-0489

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ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the IEEE Computer Society have named Margaret Martonosi, the Hugh Trumbull Adams '35 Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University, as the recipient of the 2021 Eckert-Mauchly Award for contributions to the design, modeling, and verification of power-efficient computer architecture.

Martonosi has made significant contributions in computer architecture and microarchitecture, and her work has led to new fields of research. She has authored more than 175 publications (with 17,000 + citations) on subjects including parallel architectures, memory hierarchies, compilers, and mobile networks.

Power/Thermal Aware Architectures

Martonosi was an early innovator in the design and modeling of power-aware microarchitectures, including using narrow bit-widths, modeling and responding to thermal issues, and performing power estimation, e.g., as embodied in the ubiquitous Wattch tool.

In the area of narrow bit-widths, Martonosi co-authored (with David Brooks) the paper "Dynamically Exploiting Narrow Width Operands to Improve Processor Power and Performance." Martonosi and Brooks introduced two optimizations that greatly reduced processor power consumption. The paper earned the HPCA Test of Time Award, and the optimizations were licensed to Intel. Martonosi developed subsequent microarchitectural proposals that expanded on this work.

In a later (2001) paper with David Brooks "Dynamic Thermal Management for High-Performance Microprocessors," Martonosi investigated dynamic thermal management as a technique to control CPU power dissipation. Martonosi and Brooks demonstrated that, with appropriate thermal management, a CPU can be designed for a much lower maximum power rating, with minimal performance impact for typical applications. This was the first computer architecture paper to explicitly focus on thermal issues.

In a series of papers, Martonosi was also the first researcher to demonstrate how to use formal control-theoretic approaches to balance power and performance for dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS).

Power Simulation and Estimation

Martonosi recognized early the need for microarchitecture- and architecture-level power modeling and measurement infrastructure. She was a co-developer (with David Brooks and Vivek Tiwari) of Wattch, an architectural simulator that estimates CPU power consumption, which is used by thousands of researchers today. Wattch broke ground by demonstrating (against conventional wisdom) that accurate early-stage power models could be developed for early- stage microarchitectural design tradeoffs before more detailed computer-aided design (CAD) tools can be used. Martonosi also developed live runtime measurement tools for detailed power assessments of widely used and complex microprocessor systems.

ZebraNet Full-Stack Computing Platform

Martonosi broadened her scope beyond conventional computers to energy issues in mobile sensor networks, where energy fundamentally dictates system lifetime and data- gathering success.

Martonosi's ZebraNet Wildlife Tracking Project established the new research field of Mobile Sensor Networks. ZebraNet collected thousands of data points on Plains Zebras in Kenya. ZebraNet developed energy- efficient protocols for short- range, pairwise data transfers. Martonosi's work demonstrated that sparsely deployed mobile sensors could offer high data delivery rates and sensor coverage over large areas, at practical power budgets. ZebraNet provided biologists with never-before-seen animal behavior data. The work resulted in two test-of-time awards and several widely cited papers.

Memory Consistency Model Specification and Verification Martonosi's ground-breaking work has demonstrated the potential of fast, early-stage, formal methods to verify the correctness of memory consistency model implementation. This work, embodied in the Check suite of verification tools, has had immediate and significant impact.

Modern hardware complexity also presents security challenges, and the Check suite includes efforts to provide rigorous and automated approaches for determining if a microarchitecture is susceptible to specified classes of security exploits. This kind of automatic checking will be fundamental to future information security.

Martonosi will be formally recognized with the ACM-IEEE CS Eckert-Mauchly Award during ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA), which is being held virtually this year from June 14th-19th.

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About the ACM-IEEE CS Eckert-Mauchly Award

ACM and IEEE Computer Society co-sponsor the Eckert-Mauchly Award, which was initiated in 1979. It recognizes contributions to computer and digital systems architecture and comes with a $5,000 prize. The award was named for John Presper Eckert and John William Mauchly, who collaborated on the design and construction of the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the pioneering large-scale electronic computing machine, which was completed in 1947.

About ACM

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.
The legal war: Hamas war crimes and Israels right to self-defense By Amb. Alan Baker

The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket attacks during the May 2021 hostilities, in which the two terror groups proudly boasted of firing over 4,300 rockets and other missiles against Israels towns and other civilian centers, generated an outpouring of international consternation and condemnation. Israels defensive Iron Dome anti-missile defense system succeeded in intercepting over 90% of the incoming missiles. Had those rockets reached their civilian targets in towns throughout Israel, one can only imagine the number of fatalities, casualties, human suffering, and material damage that the willful, deliberate, and indiscriminate firing of over 4,000 rockets could have caused. The success of Israels Iron Dome system in reducing and neutralizing the missile threat cannot in any way minimize or reduce the extent of Hamas criminal liability for severe war crimes in willfully and deliberately directing such massive barrages of missiles towards civilian centers in Israel.

A Gaza teenager in a Hamas summer camp The deliberate and cynical abuse and exposure by Hamas and Islamic Jihad of their own civilians, as human shields, as well as the irresponsible, criminal usage of mosques, hospitals, schools, and private houses as weapons storage facilities, weapons emplacement zones, and firing platforms, are no less severe war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law. The mobilization of children and their use for armed conflict complements the war crimes committed by Hamas and its colleagues. The construction and use of the extensive underground web of tactical tunnels beneath urban civilian areas, hospitals, public facilities, and urban roads, thereby endangering an entire civilian population living and conducting their everyday existence above such a web of strategic, military tunnels, are war crimes and grave violations of international humanitarian law. Hamas and PIJ Leaders Are Prosecutable for War Crimes For all such crimes, Hamas and PIJ leaders and commanders are accountable and prosecutable. Much has been written and spoken in the international media and by leaders in the international community regarding the violence between the Hamas terror entity in the Gaza Strip and Israel, especially given the graphic pictures displayed by various media sources. After an overall acknowledgment by the international community that Israel has the right to defend itself and its civilians against the barrage of rockets, it did not take long for the routine wave of international criticism and condemnation of Israel to materialize and grab the international headlines. This is particularly the case with a resolution by the UN Human Rights Council, initiated by Pakistan and the Palestinian leadership, dated May 27, 2021, which decided: to urgently establish an ongoing independent, international commission of inquiry to investigate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since April 13, 2021, and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability, and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity. (A/HRC/S-30/L.1) Given all of the above, there are pertinent legal points that do not always figure in this barrage of selective, often inaccurate, and even malicious commentary, criticism, and condemnation. The following points summarize some of the legal aspects of this situation. The Inherent Character of Hamas as a Terrorist Entity As set out in its national Charter and borne out by its actions of indiscriminate terror directed against Israeli towns, villages, and citizens, Hamass ideological foundation clearly defines its character as a terrorist entity. This is reflected in the fact that Hamas has been formally outlawed in major states. The professed ideological foundation of Hamas, as set out in its national Charter,1 aligns it integrally with the Muslim Brotherhood and clearly identifies it as a terrorist entity. According to Hamas ideology, Israel has no place in the world; Hamas declared goal is the destruction of the Jewish state: Hamas strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine. In addition, the organization promotes an anti-Semitic ideology that glorifies Jihad and the killing of Jews. Whether the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip is regarded as a component of the Palestinian Authority, following the failed April 2014 unification accord with PLO head Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen),2 or as a quasi-state, a non-state entity, or even as a state (with borders and government), its character as a terrorist entity is well-established and universally recognized. Such recognition includes formal and legal classification and outlawing of Hamas as a terror organization by the United States, Canada, Jordan, Egypt, Japan, and the Organization of American States, an international coalition of 35 countries in North and South America. In its declaration dated May 17, 2021, the Organization of American States, in qualifying Hamas as a terrorist organization, stated: The recent attacks launched by Hamas against the Israeli civilian population undoubtedly constitute attacks of a terrorist nature. Their violence and the objectives they pursue clearly have this characteristic. Hamass terrorist aggression is unlimited and always seeks civilian victims, seeks to escalate conflict dynamics and armed actions, as well as sowing terror among innocent populations, be they Israeli or Palestinian. The immoral and unworthy use of children and women as human shields, as well as the militarization of residential areas, constitute in themselves acts that deserve the most absolute repudiation and condemnation. The initiation of attacks of this nature against a country with a clear terrorist objective of its civilian population makes the invocation of the principle of legitimate defense by Israel essential. The Hamas attacks constitute an attack against the peace and security of Israel and the region and make it imperative to categorize Hamas as a terrorist organization for the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS). Hamas and PIJs declared modus operandi advocates and espouses terror against Israel as the means to achieve its ends: It views every Israeli man, woman, and child as a legitimate military target, thereby justifying its terrorist attacks by rockets, suicide bombings, murders, and abductions.

It openly admits its strategy of terrorizing Israels civilian population by using rockets and missiles indiscriminately aimed at Israels cities, towns, and villages.

Its leaders and spokesmen are on public record admitting their responsibility for such acts of terror.

Thus, indiscriminate rocket fire is consistent with its ideology, which sees Israeli civilian casualties as strategic and tactical military successes. Terrorism in International Law International law and practice, outlaw the use of terror for whatever reason or justification. This is confirmed in several resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council, especially following the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States. In its Resolution 1269 (1999), the Council, in the first operative paragraph: Unequivocally condemns all acts, methods, and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, in all their forms and manifestations, wherever and by whoever committed, in particular those which could threaten international peace and security. More specifically, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1566, dated October 2004, passed under Chapter VII of the UN Charter: Condemns in the strongest terms all acts of terrorism irrespective of their motivation, whenever and by whomsoever committed, as one of the most serious threats to peace and security. [C]riminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act, which constitutes offenses within the scope of and as defined in the international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism, are under no circumstances justifiable by considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other similar nature. No less than 16 international conventions and protocols have been adopted between 1963 and the present day by the United Nations, criminalizing all aspects of international terror, including significant landmark resolutions of the UN General Assembly. Together they represent the clear consensus of opinion of the international community in outlawing all forms of terror. One such UN Convention is the 1997 International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, which criminalizes the targeting by explosive devices of government facilities or public transportation. Similarly, in this context, the operative provisions of the unanimously supported 1994 UN Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism unequivocally condemn and criminalize all forms of terror. In addition to the multinational instruments outlawing terror, there is an extensive series of regional counter-terror conventions, encompassing the African Union, OAS, ASEAN, CIS, SHARC, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Council of Europe, EU Action Plan, Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Conference. International Crimes and Criminal Responsibility by Hamas The terrorist actions practiced by Hamas  both indiscriminate targeting of Israeli cities and civilians, as well as the exposure of its own residents as human shields  are violations of international law and internationally accepted humanitarian norms, specifically, the violation of the rule of distinction, which requires combatants to limit attacks to legitimate military targets. As such, these constitute both crimes against humanity and war crimes, prosecutable before the International Criminal Court (ICC), as well as before municipal courts and tribunals that are guided by universal criminal jurisdiction. Advocating a religious holy war aimed at creating a regional Islamic entity encompassing the whole of the territory of Israel, and the call to liberate Palestine and to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, appear to contravene the provisions of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention of Genocide. The 1998 Rome Statute that founded the International Criminal Court (ICC) established that the Court is intended to deal with the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole. Specifically, it gives the Court jurisdiction regarding the above-mentioned crimes, and in the absence of a referral by a state, it enables both the UN Security Council and the Courts prosecutor to initiate investigations. Under international law, non-state actors are bound by customary norms of international humanitarian law when they become a party to an armed conflict. Hamas has its own structured military force, political and social institutions, and de facto control over a defined territory and has launched thousands of rockets towards Israeli cities, terrorizing and jeopardizing the lives of millions of Israelis. Hamas, even as a non-state entity, or part of a non-state entity, is considered by all accepted criteria to be fully accountable under international humanitarian law for its actions in carrying out its terror attacks against Israeli civilians and for using its own civilians as human shields. Thus, its leadership, commanders, and fighters are punishable for crimes against humanity and war crimes. In her article Accountability of Hamas under International Humanitarian Law [IHL], jurist Sigall Horowitz states: Under international law, non-state actors are bound by customary IHL norms when they become a party to an armed conflict. Thus, the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone held as follows: It is well settled that all parties to an armed conflict, whether states or non-state actors, are bound by international humanitarian law, even though only states may become parties to international treaties. Regarding the individual criminal responsibility of Hamas members, Horowitz adds: [T]he use by Hamas members of Qassam and Grad rockets in connection with the armed conflict, may amount to a war crime under the Rome Statute. Accordingly, these acts may entail the individual criminal responsibility of Hamas fighters who committed, ordered or assisted them, or otherwise contributed to their commission. These acts may also entail the individual criminal responsibility of Hamas military commanders and political leaders, under the principle of superior responsibility. In addition to the crime of conspiring and attempting to commit genocide referred to above, the following acts of terror carried out by Hamas constitute serious crimes of concern to the international community: Indiscriminate Targeting of Israeli Towns and Villages and Civilians with Rockets The 1907 Hague Regulations19 stipulate: Article 25: The attack or bombardment, by whatever means, of towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which are undefended is prohibited. The 1977 Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions20 includes: Article 48: Prohibition on targeting civilian objects

Article 51(2): Prohibition of terrorizing the civilian population

Article 51(4): Prohibition of indiscriminate attacks

Article 57: Duty to minimize incidental loss of civilian life and injury Using Civilians as Human Shields Deliberately storing and firing rockets from within or in close proximity to hospitals, mosques, schools, and houses in densely-populated areas, both to shield and camouflage rocket emplacements and in order to generate Israeli military action against such emplacements deliberately, thereby endangering Palestinian civilians, constitutes a war crime. The storing of rockets in an UNRWA school in Gaza is perhaps a typical example of this crime, which generated a statement of condemnation by UNRWA itself. The use of one of Gazas central mosques  the Al-Farouq Mosque in the Nuseirat refugee camp  for storing rockets and weapons and as a compound for Hamas operations is a further example of this crime. Article 51(7) of the 1977 Protocol I to the Geneva Convention24 states: The presence or movements of the civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations, in particular in attempts to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield, favor or impede military operations. The Parties to the conflict shall not direct the movement of the civilian population or individual civilians in order to attempt to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield military operations. Article 58(b) of the Protocol requires avoiding locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas. The following provisions of the ICC Statute refer to such crimes: Article 7: crimes against humanity  the multiple commission of widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.

Article 8: war crimes  large-scale commission, as part of a plan or policy of intentional attacks against the civilian population or against individual civilians and civilian objects; intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians; attacking or bombarding towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which are not military objectives; utilizing the presence of civilians to render certain points, areas or forces immune from military operations; and using children under fifteen to participate in hostilities. Abuse of Children in Violation of International Humanitarian Law From the fundamental viewpoint of international humanitarian law and accepted norms of humanity, using civilians, and especially women and children, as human shields to conceal the presence of Hamas terrorists and terror infrastructure, as well as deliberately displaying children during combat activities, are cynical and cruel violations and abuse of such women and children. This is in violation of several international treaties protecting children and prohibiting their involvement in warfare, to which the state of Palestine has become a party and thus committed to implementing. Israels Right to Self-Defense International law recognizes Israels right to defend itself, whether by the conventional international right of self-defense as set out in the UN Charter or by the international customary right to self-defense. In conventional international law as set out in Article 51 of the UN Charter: Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations. The second right is that of customary international law, based on the Caroline case (1837), which established a right of self-defense in the face of a necessity which is instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means, and no moment of deliberation. In several key resolutions, the Security Council has made clear that international terrorism constitutes a threat to international peace and security and has affirmed the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense as recognized by the Charter of the United Nations in the face of such terror. This has been reiterated in Resolution 1368 (2001),27 adopted only one day after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, in which the Security Council invokes the right of self-defense in calling on the international community to combat terrorism. Similarly, in Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001),28 adopted pursuant to Chapter VII of the Charter, and following the September 11 attacks, the Council reaffirmed the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense as recognized by the Charter of the United Nations as reiterated in Resolution 1368 (2001). More recently, marking the 20th anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1373 and the establishment of the UNs Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC), the President of the Security Council, in an official statement dated January 12, 2021, reaffirmed the central provisions of Resolution 1373 (2001), including: The Security Council reaffirms that terrorism in all forms and manifestations continues to constitute one of the most serious threats to international peace and security and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever and by whomsoever committed. None of these resolutions and declarations imposed any limit on their application to terrorist attacks by state actors only, nor was an assumption to that effect implicit in these resolutions. Claims Being Made against Israel Collective Punishment The claim that Israel is collectively punishing the population of the Gaza Strip is flawed as it is based on misleading legal assumptions. Israels actions in self-defense are directed toward one strategic and tactical purpose  to halt the indiscriminate rocket fire and the use of infiltration tunnels to carry out acts of terror against Israels civilian population. There is no strategy of collectively punishing the people of the Gaza Strip. However, Hamas and PIJs deliberate and systematic exposure and endangering of civilians in populated areas in the Gaza Strip by locating rocket emplacements, tactical military installations, tunnels, and ammunition stores in close proximity to homes, schools, and hospitals, and within high-rise residential and commercial buildings, are flagrant and willful violations of the norms of international humanitarian law. Willfully exposing civilians to the danger of being harmed by Israels responses to rocket attacks constitutes a cynical manipulation of international humanitarian law through collectively punishing Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip. Deliberate Targeting of Residences Israel has been falsely accused by the United Nations and others of deliberately and willfully targeting residences. Tragically, one of the many violations by Hamas of international humanitarian norms is the conduct of its terror activities within residential areas throughout the towns and villages in the Gaza Strip, including the use of commanders own homes, where their families and other civilians may be residing. These houses have been used for weapons storage, and command, control, and communication centers. The use of houses and tunnels beneath residential structures for military purposes endangers them and renders them as legitimate military targets under international law. The use of residential structures for military purposes or excavating tunnels beneath them endanger the structures and render them as legitimate military targets under international law. Even so, the IDF employs advanced methods to minimize harm to civilians. Article 52(2) of the First Geneva Protocol specifically refers to the obligation to limit attacks to military objectives, defined as  objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage. To accurately determine military targets, the IDF employs advanced methods, including multiple levels of intelligence, extensive prior training provided to operational commanders, as well as ongoing legal monitoring of the actions of commanders in the field. Even when a structure is considered by all relevant legal criteria to be a legitimate military target because of its use for purposes of planning acts of terror, storing weapons, hiding tunnels, or serving as rocket emplacements, the Israeli forces minimize potential harm to the surrounding civilian population through real-time visual surveillance to assess the civilian presence at a target; provision of advance warning before striking a target; and the careful choice of weaponry and ammunition in order to minimize harm to civilians. Israel has no policy of deliberately targeting civilians or civilian property and makes every effort to give effective advance warning of impending strikes that could potentially affect the civilian population. The Israeli concern for Gazan civilians was acknowledged by the Director of the UNRWA office in Gaza, much to Hamas anger. Matthias Schmale told an Israeli television station on May 22, 2021, There is a huge sophistication in the way the Israeli military struck over the last 11 days. [The IDF did] not hit, with some exceptions, civilian targets, but the viciousness and ferocity of the strikes was heavily felt. So the precision was there, but there was an unacceptable and unbearable loss of life on the civilian side, he said. Israels Destruction of the Al-Jalaa Building. News Agencies Stockholm Syndrome? On May 15, 2021, the IDF attacked the Al-Jalaa building in Gaza City, which, in addition to housing the offices of international media agencies such as AP and Al-Jazeera, also housed Hamas and PIJ military intelligence-gathering installations that occupied three floors of the building. Hamas maintained a military intelligence facility in the building and used it as a base for equipment used to try to jam Israeli communications and satellite navigation systems. Hamas and PIJ utilized the presence of international media headquarters in the building as a cover for their military activities. As such, they prejudiced and endangered the civilian nature of the building, rendering it a legitimate military target. The Hamas military intelligence technological research and development compound situated in the building was responsible for coordinating and guiding terrorist activities against Israel. The unit, located on three floors of the building, operated offensive cyber or SIGINT (signal) capabilities, while the antennas on the roof of the building were utilized by this unit to carry out its operations against Israeli targets, both civilian and military. The attack on the building was designed to neutralize Hamas military intelligence gathering capabilities that constituted a clear and imminent danger against Israeli civilians and was thus necessary to attack the building, destroying Hamas technological military infrastructure, even at the cost of evacuating the offices of AP and Al-Jazeera. The news agencies objected to the Israeli attack and denied that they had any knowledge of Hamas presence. Israels Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, reportedly told Israeli press, that AP journalists drank coffee every morning in the cafeteria on the entrance floor of the building with Hamas electronics experts, whether they knew it or not. Disproportionate Force The allegations in the international media and by international organizations and some governmental representatives that Israels actions are disproportionate and violate international law are factually and legally incorrect. The requirement of proportionality in armed conflict is a measure of the extent of force needed in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated. It is not a comparison between casualties of the parties involved nor of the damage caused during the fighting. A monograph entitled Applying the Principle of Proportionality in Combat Operations, published by the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict,39 states: [H]arming civilians is not in itself illegal. An injury to civilians or damage done to civilian objects as a side-effect of a military operation may be permissible provided that it is proportionate to the military gain anticipated from the operation. This principle is considered part of customary international law, which binds all states. It has become part of the positive law of armed conflict (IHL) with its codification in the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1977. Article 51, para. 5b states: [A]n attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated, is prohibited. That there were more civilian casualties and property damage within the Gaza Strip than there were in Israel is not a function of disproportionate use of force by Israel. The tragic and regrettable fact that there were more civilian casualties and property damage within the Gaza Strip than there were in Israel is not a function of disproportionate use of force by Israel, or use of disproportionate weaponry, but of the fact, as outlined above, that Hamas forcibly and deliberately utilizes civilians and civilian structures and homes as human shields. The buildings are used for their rocket emplacements and command centers, thereby knowingly exposing the residents to harm with a view to both preventing Israeli actions against their rocket launching and other military facilities and to cynically parade dead civilians in front of television cameras that transmit these gruesome pictures around the world with captions blaming Israel. In so doing, Hamas committed a double war crime by deliberately targeting Israeli civilians while at the same time embedding its weapons, leaders, operatives, tunnels, and infrastructures amid uninvolved Palestinian civilians. Similarly, the fact that Hamas prevented civilian access to secure sections of its underground web of tunnels and bomb shelters, reserving them for its military commanders, movement of fighters, and for storage of weaponry, and the fact that Israel had developed an extensive framework of shelters as well as its Iron Dome anti-missile defensive system, cannot be used as a basis for accusing Israel of disproportionate force. The Comparison of Casualties Perhaps one of the most reprehensible and underhand phenomenon by the international media is the so-called body-count comparison, which repeats itself every time there is violence between Israel and Hamas. This sad phenomenon is exemplified by claiming that there is disproportionality in the fact that more Palestinians were killed than Israelis.40 The absurdity of such a comparison is that it intimates that more Israeli casualties would be preferable to even-out the count. This absurdity is all the more inane when Israels Iron Dome missile defense system, which has prevented thousands of potential Israeli civilian casualties from Hamas rockets, is blamed as the cause of this disparity in casualties. Clearly, Israel cannot be held responsible for such an equation, even more so when it is clear that many of the Gaza casualties are the result of hundreds of Hamas rockets that malfunctioned and fell short on Gazan civilian areas. As in any armed conflict, civilians are tragically killed and injured. Unlike Hamas, Israel does not have a policy of deliberately targeting civilians, but regrettably, whether due to the fact that Hamas deliberately exposes its civilians to shield targets, or whether due to the occasional human or targeting error or inaccurate mapping, civilians are casualties. Israel has stringent policies of investigating such instances, and in cases of alleged war crimes or negligence, takes the appropriate legal and disciplinary action. Threats to Institute Action against Israeli Leaders in the International Criminal Court (ICC) Among the media hype and political declarations by Palestinian leaders and senior elements within the international community, there is a constant wave of threats to institute proceedings for alleged war crimes against Israels leaders and military commanders before international and national criminal tribunals. As outlined above, Israels code of military law and command structure require strict conformity with international humanitarian norms, and any allegations of violation of such norms by soldiers or commanders are duly investigated and, where appropriate, legal proceedings are instituted within Israels military justice framework. As such, the threats to institute action in the ICC are unrealistic and fail to consider the requirements of the statute of the ICC. However, the openly admitted and blatant series of war crimes committed by Hamas and its leaders as detailed in this chapter and the lack of any will, capability, legal framework, or means within the Hamas or Palestinian legal structure of investigating and trying such crimes, require that they be referred to the ICC with a view to ensuring that the leaders and instigators of the Hamas terror infrastructure be brought to criminal justice. In Conclusion Armed conflict in any circumstances involves situations in which civilians are regrettably affected. International law aims to limit harm to innocent civilians by ensuring that the involved parties conduct the hostilities in accordance with humanitarian norms with a view to preventing, as much as possible, civilian casualties. Israel, a sovereign state with an army that conducts itself under such norms, is making every effort to abide by them, despite the blatant, willful, and indiscriminate violation by Hamas, both vis-a-vis its own population as well as vis-a-vis Israels population. One hopes that the crimes against humanity and the war crimes committed by the leaders and senior terrorist commanders of Hamas will not go unpunished and that the international community will act to ensure that they do not benefit from impunity. Amb. Alan Baker is Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center and the head of the Global Law Forum. He participated in the negotiation and drafting of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, as well as agreements and peace treaties with Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon. He served as legal adviser and deputy director-general of Israels Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as Israels ambassador to Canada. Home
If you're a beer drinker, you've noticed that hoppy beers have become increasingly popular. Most of the nation's hops come from the Pacific Northwest. However, commercial hop production regions have expanded significantly. In Michigan hop production nearly tripled between 2014 and 2017 and in 2019, Michigan growers harvested around 720 acres of hops.

Michigan hop growers contend with unique challenges as a result of frequent rainfall and high humidity during the growing season. In 2018, growers approached Michigan State University researchers and the Michigan State University's Plant & Pest Diagnostics lab with concerns about a leaf blight they had never seen before. This was followed by reports of hop cones shattering during harvest and yield losses in fields with the affected leaves.

Michigan State University scientists, including Doug Higgins, investigated, observing a fungus growing in the symptomatic leaves. They set out to determine if the fungus was causing the symptoms and if the leaf and cone symptoms were linked to the same pathogen. They also wanted to determine how far the disease had spread in Michigan.

They determined that the fungus was the same on both the leaves and the cones. "The fungus was shown to infect and cause disease in healthy hop plants," said Doug Higgins. "Interestingly, genetic testing showed that DNA from the fungal pathogen did not match DNA from other known fungal species. We concluded that it is novel species and for now called it Diaporthe sp. 1-MI."

As this novel fungal pathogen causes yellow margins to form around leaf lesions and the browning of cones, Higgins and colleagues named the disease "halo blight." Their surveys indicated that halo blight is widespread in Michigan, and that other production regions with similar climatic conditions might also be at risk.

"In Michigan, hop is a niche crop used by many local breweries. A disease outbreak could impact the supply of local hops to many small and independent businesses," explained Higgins. "Additionally, cone discoloration can alter hop quality and may have downstream implications on beer quality." Higgins recommends that additional research be conducted to understand how the disease moves and develop management strategies.

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For more information about halo blight and this research, read "Etiology of Halo Blight in Michigan Hopyards" published in the April issue of Plant Disease.
Extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs), also known as gun violence restraining orders, are civil court orders that grant temporary restrictions on purchasing and possessing firearms for individuals determined by a civil court judge to be at extreme risk of committing violence against themselves or others. A new study examined ERPO use in Oregon in the first 15 months after it was adopted. The study found that while ERPOs are commonly considered as a tool to remove guns from dangerous individuals, they should also be considered as a tool to prevent gun purchases by dangerous individuals.

The study was conducted by researchers at Michigan State University (MSU), Columbia University, the University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University. It appears in Criminology & Public Policy, a publication of the American Society of Criminology.

"The findings from our study can help us better understand how these laws are being used, including what types of behaviors are prompting others to file an ERPO petition," explains April Zeoli, associate professor of criminal justice at MSU, who led the study.

As of 2020, 19 states and the District of Columbia had passed laws establishing ERPOs. Due to the newness of these laws, there is little research on the circumstances under which ERPO petitions are filed and the individuals for whom they are filed. Oregon enacted its ERPO law at the start of January 2018. Under the process, a law enforcement officer or family or household member may file a petition, and a hearing is held within one judicial business day. The petitioner has the burden of proving to the civil court judge that the respondent is at high risk for injury to themselves via suicide attempt or to others.

This study examined 93 petitions for ERPO cases through March 2019; petitions were accessed through public records requests.

At least one ERPO petition was filed in 22 of Oregon's 36 counties during the study period. Most ERPO respondents were reported by petitioners to have histories of interpersonal violence (75 percent) or suicidality (73 percent), and more than half of those were reported to have threatened suicide by using a gun. More than half of ERPO respondents reportedly made both suicide threats or attempts, and threats or use of violence against others, which is higher than in other states, the authors note.

In 56 percent of ERPO petitions, the petitioner specifically referred to the respondent as having a mental illness or mental health concern, despite the fact that Oregon law does not list mental health as a factor to be considered in ERPO petitions. Petitions filed by law enforcement were more likely to report mental illness or mental health concerns than petitions filed by others.

Also, more than half of death threats, suicide threats, or suicide attempts with known timing occurred within one week of the petition being filed, the study found, suggesting that the petitions are being used in times of immediate crisis.

The study also found that 74 percent of petitioners reported that respondents had a gun at the time of the filing, and 49 percent said respondents had recently acquired or tried to acquire a deadly weapon, 96 percent of which were firearms.

In 26 percent of cases, the petitioner did not explicitly indicate that the respondent currently had a gun. Some petitioners said they filed the ERPO petition to prevent a respondent without a gun from acquiring one out of concern about the increased risk of harm that would pose. This use of ERPO may be overlooked by policymakers and other stakeholders because ERPOs are more commonly thought of as a tool to remove guns from dangerous individuals than as a tool to prevent gun purchases by dangerous individuals, the authors suggest.

Most petitions (65 percent) in Oregon were filed by law enforcement, which is lower than in other states where non-law-enforcement individuals can file ERPOs, according to the authors. Petitions filed by law enforcement were more likely to be granted than petitions filed by family or household members.

The study concluded that ERPO petitions and orders are overwhelmingly being used as intended, that is, for cases of imminent risk of harm to self or others. Yet it is possible they could be used more.

"The number of ERPO petitions in Oregon and the number of counties without a single petition in the first 15 months of the law suggest that ERPOs may be an underused tool," suggests Jennifer Paruk, a doctoral student in criminal justice at MSU, who coauthored the study. "Greater dissemination of public information about ERPOs could increase their appropriate use so high-risk individuals and their families could benefit, especially when dangerous individuals are prevented from purchasing guns."

The authors clarify that their work, in characterizing and describing information in ERPO petitions, should not be viewed as a systematic measurement of characteristics of ERPO respondents. The study, they note, was limited by their reliance on petitions completed by individuals who may or may not know respondents' full histories. In addition, sometimes language used by petitioners was imprecise, leaving the researchers to estimate meanings. Finally, the study provides a view of ERPOs in one state and so its findings should not be generalized to other states.

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The study was funded by the NIH/NICHD supported Firearm Safety among children and Teens Consortium The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the funding agencies.
Bdelloid rotifers are multicellular animals so small you need a microscope to see them. Despite their size, they're known for being tough, capable of surviving through drying, freezing, starvation, and low oxygen. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on June 7 have found that not only can they withstand being frozen, but they can also persist for at least 24,000 years in the Siberian permafrost and survive.

"Our report is the hardest proof as of today that multicellular animals could withstand tens of thousands of years in cryptobiosis, the state of almost completely arrested metabolism," says Stas Malavin of the Soil Cryology Laboratory at the Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science in Pushchino, Russia.

The Soil Cryology Lab specializes in isolating microscopic organisms from the ancient permafrost in Siberia. To collect samples, they use a drilling rig in some of the most remote Arctic locations.

They've previously identified many single-celled microbes. There also has been a report of a 30,000-year-old nematode worm. Mosses and some plants also have been regenerated after many thousands of years trapped in the ice. Now, the team adds rotifers to the list of organisms with a remarkable ability to survive, seemingly indefinitely, in a state of suspended animation beneath the frozen landscape.

Rotifers had been reported to survive up to 10 years when frozen, based on earlier evidence. In the new study, the researchers used radiocarbon-dating to determine that the rotifers they recovered from the permafrost were about 24,000 years old.

Once thawed, the rotifer, which belongs to the genus Adineta, was able to reproduce in a clonal process known as parthenogenesis. To follow the process of freezing and recovery of the ancient rotifer, the researchers froze and then thawed dozens of rotifers in the lab.

The studies showed the rotifers could withstand the formation of ice crystals that happens during slow freezing. It suggests they have some mechanism to shield their cells and organs from harm at exceedingly low temperatures.

"The takeaway is that a multicellular organism can be frozen and stored as such for thousands of years and then return back to life--a dream of many fiction writers," Malavin says. "Of course, the more complex the organism, the trickier it is to preserve it alive frozen and, for mammals, it's not currently possible. Yet, moving from a single-celled organism to an organism with a gut and brain, though microscopic, is a big step forward."

It's not yet clear what it takes to survive on ice for even a few years and whether the leap to thousands makes much difference, he says. That's a question that requires further study. The researchers say they'll continue exploring Arctic samples in search of other organisms capable of such long-term cryptobiosis.

Ultimately, they want to learn more about the biological mechanisms that allow the rotifers to survive. The hope is that insights from these tiny animals will offer clues as to how better to cryo-preserve the cells, tissues, and organs of other animals, including humans.

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This work was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Genomic Science Program.

Current Biology, Shmakova et al.: "A Living Bdelloid Rotifer Recovered from 20,000 Year Old Arctic Permafrost" https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00624-2
ITHACA, N.Y. - Building lights are a deadly lure for the billions of birds that migrate at night, disrupting their natural navigation cues and leading to deadly collisions. But even if you can't turn out all the lights in a building, darkening even some windows at night during bird migration periods could be a major lifesaver for birds.

Research published this week in PNAS found that over the course of 21 years, one building sustained 11 times fewer nighttime bird collisions during spring migration and 6 times fewer collisions during fall migration when only half of the building's windows were illuminated, compared to when all windows were lit.

In the study, the factors that had the strongest effect on bird collisions were the intensity of the migration (more birds migrating = more collisions), the wind direction (westerly winds = more collisions), and area of illuminated windows (more surface area lit = more collisions).

The authors also calculated that if half of the building's windows had been darkened during peak migration periods, bird kills would have been reduced by around 60% over the past two decades.

The sheer strength of the link between lighting and collisions was surprising," says Benjamin Van Doren, a postdoctoral researcher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and lead author of the research. "It speaks to the exciting potential to save birds simply by reducing light pollution."

To reach their conclusions, researchers from the Cornell Lab, the University of Michigan, and the Field Museum in Chicago, Colorado State University, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst examined bird data from McCormick Place, a 3-story convention center in the eastern section of Chicago, over 21 years (2000-2020).

At the heart of the study were the records of over 40,000 dead birds--including when they were killed, which window, and what species--collected at the convention center since 1978.

Since 2000, these records have also included information about which windows bays were illuminated when each bird kill happened. By comparing this data from McCormick Place with other potential collision-risk factors such as weather conditions, moonlight, and migration intensity, researchers teased apart which conditions were deadliest for migrating birds.

Building strikes kill hundreds of millions of birds a year, and many of these occur at night and during the migration seasons, when hundreds of species of songbirds are moving across the hemisphere under the cover of darkness.

In response, a growing number of "lights out" initiatives and green building guidelines call for reductions in lighting to aid migrating birds. Lights Out Chicago is among the oldest of over 40 initiatives across North America and brings together building managers, local conservation organizations, city staff, and scientists at the Field Museum. The results of the study strengthen the science behind lights out programs by showing that darkening windows can directly reduce bird mortality.

The researchers also aim to engage people in lights-out efforts with local migration alerts, which give advance warning of nights with large bird migration events. "Although permanently reducing light pollution is the ultimate goal, we hope to raise awareness through BirdCast migration forecasts. Our forecasts predict the nights when large numbers of migrating birds will be at risk and turning off lights is critically important," says Van Doren.

Previous studies have shown that lights from city buildings, installations and events can attract and disorient migrating birds, shifting migration routes toward urban areas. And a 2018 study showed Chicago is the highest-ranked U.S. city for light pollution exposure risk to night-migrating birds; as many as 100 million birds pass through the greater Chicago area in the spring, and over 150 million in the fall.

Ben Winger, an assistant professor and curator at the University of Michigan and a senior author on the research, says one of the powerful things about this study is that it confirms a number of phenomena that have been observed, but not previously quantified. "We identified specific weather conditions during which collisions happen more frequently," says Winger, "but the importance of illumination from the building emerged as a very important part of the story."

The study also speaks to the importance of natural history collections in documenting global change. "These collision data are even more valuable because they are backed up by specimens that are available for study in the Field Museum," Winger says. "This will allow future scientists to go a step further in connecting different aspects of avian biology to the hundreds of millions of birds killed each year by window strikes."

Dave Willard, now collections manager emeritus at the Field Museum, started collecting dead birds around McCormick Place in 1978, and hopes that having a data-driven analysis of the hazards of nocturnal lighting can help inform positive change in the ways cities build and the ways buildings use their lights at night. "This paper brings together weather, radar and bird-collision data and shows unequivocally that reduced building lighting at night can substantially reduce bird fatalities."

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Terpenoids are omnipresent in almost all living organisms. Prenylated indoles are prominent representatives that usually display potent medicinal properties (e.g. tryprostatin B). Therefore, significant efforts have been devoted to indole prenylation over the past decades. The known protocols often require a multi-step procedure and rely on the use of stoichiometric promoters. From the viewpoint of step- and atom-economy, developing a direct catalytic C2 prenylation of indoles is highly desirable yet challenging, because the nucleophilicity of C2 site is weaker than that of other two positions (N, C3).

In biosynthesis, enzymatic indole prenylation proceeds through a Friedel-Crafts S N 1-type alkylation with a prenyl cation-pyrophosphate ion (PPi) derived from dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP). Inspired by this mechanism, recently, a team led by Prof. Qing-An CHEN from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) developed a regioselective C2 prenylation of indoles enabled by Lewis acid catalysis. By employing cheap 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol (tert-prenol) as precursor and Lewis acid AlCl 3 as catalyst, various tryptophol and tryptamine derivatives can undergo C2 prenylation with high selectivity. Notably, this practical strategy can be applied to the late-stage diversification of tryptophan-based peptides. These results were published in Chinese Journal of Catalysis.

Prof. CHEN stated: "Our work represents an old reaction for new use. For anyone engaged in chemistry, it is difficult to imagine that tryptophol and tryptophan-based peptides can undergo Friedel-Crafts reaction with high selectivity, because of the presence of diverse free NH and OH. More importantly, this strategy can greatly shorten the synthesis of indole alkaloid tryprostatin B."

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The research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (21801239, 22071239).

About the Journal

Chinese Journal of Catalysis is co-sponsored by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Chemical Society, and it is currently published by Elsevier group. This monthly journal publishes in English timely contributions of original and rigorously reviewed manuscripts covering all areas of catalysis. The journal publishes Reviews, Accounts, Communications, Articles, Highlights, Perspectives, and Viewpoints of highly scientific values that help understanding and defining of new concepts in both fundamental issues and practical applications of catalysis. Chinese Journal of Catalysis ranks among the top six journals in Applied Chemistry with a current SCI impact factor of 6.146. The Editors-in-Chief are Profs. Can Li and Tao Zhang.

At Elsevier http://www. journals. elsevier. com/ chinese-journal-of-catalysis
UPTON, NY--What happens when very short pulses of laser light strike a magnetic material? A large international collaboration led by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory set out to answer this very question. As they just reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the laser suppressed magnetic order across the entire material for several picoseconds, or trillionths of a second. Understanding how magnetic correlations change on ultrafast timescales is the first step in being able to control magnetism in application-oriented ways. For example, with such control, we may be able to more quickly write data to memory devices or enhance superconductivity (the phenomenon in which a material conducts electricity without energy loss), which often competes with other states like magnetism.

The material studied was strontium iridium oxide (Sr3Ir2O7), an antiferromagnet with a bilayer crystal structure and a large magnetic anisotropy. In an antiferromagnet, the magnetic moments, or electron spins, align in opposite directions to neighboring spins. Anisotropy means the spins need to pay an energetic cost to rotate in any random direction; they really want to sit pointing upwards or downwards in the crystal structure. The X-ray Scattering Group of Brookhaven Lab's Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science (CMPMS) Division has previously studied this material (and a single-layer sister compound, Sr2IrO4), so they entered this study with a good understanding of its equilibrium state.

"The very short laser pulses disturb the system, destroying its magnetic order," said first author Daniel Mazzone, former group member and now an instrument scientist at the Continuous Angle Multiple Energy Analysis (CAMEA) spectrometer at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. "In this study, we were interested in seeing how the system relaxes back to its normal state. We knew the relaxation occurs on a very fast timescale, and to take a picture of something that moves very fast, we need very short pulses of illumination. With an x-ray free-electron laser source, we can generate pulses short enough to see the movement of atoms and molecules. Such sources only exist at five places around the world--in the United States, Japan, Korea, Germany, and Switzerland."

In this study, the team ran experiments at two of the five facilities. At the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free-electron Laser (SACLA) in Japan, they conducted time-resolved resonant elastic x-ray scattering (tr-REXS). At the x-ray pump-probe instrument of the Linac Coherent Light Source--a DOE Office of Science User Facility at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory--the scientists performed time-resolved resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (tr-RIXS). In both scattering techniques, x-rays (probe) strike the material almost immediately after the laser pulse (pump). By measuring the energy and angle of scattered particles of light (photons), scientists can determine the material's electronic structure and thus magnetic configuration. In this case, the x-ray energy was tuned to be sensitive to the electrons around iridium atoms, which drive magnetism in this material. While tr-REXS can reveal the degree of long-range magnetic order, tr-RIXS can provide a picture of local magnetic interactions.

"In order to observe the detailed behavior of spins, we need to measure the energy change of the x-rays with very high precision," explained co-corresponding author Mark Dean, a physicist in the CMPMS Division X-ray Scattering Group. "To do so, we built and installed a motorized x-ray spectrometer at SLAC."

Their data revealed how magnetic interactions are suppressed not just locally but everywhere. This suppression persists for picoseconds before the magnetic order returns to its initial antiferromagnetic state.

"The bilayer system does not have energetically low-cost ways to deform the magnetic state," explained Dean. "It gets stuck in this bottleneck where the magnetism is out of equilibrium and is not recovering, at least not as quickly as in the monolayer system."

"For most applications, such as data storage, you want fast magnetic switching," added Mazzone. "Our research suggests systems where spins can point whichever direction are better for manipulating magnetism."

Next, the team plans to look at related materials and hopes to manipulate magnetism in more targeted ways--for example, changing how strongly two neighboring spins "talk to" each other.

"If we can change the distance between two spins and see how that affects their interaction, that would be really cool," said Mazzone. "With an understanding of how magnetism evolves, we could tweak it, maybe generating new states."

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The complexity of setting up and operating the spectrometer required a large collaboration including former and current Brookhaven X-ray Scattering Group members Daniel Mazzone, Derek Meyers, Yue Cao, Jiaqi Lin, Vivek Thampy, Hu Miao, Tadesse Assefa, John Hill, Ian Robinson, and Xuerong Liu. James Vale, Cameron Dashwood, and Desmond McMorrow of University College London; Diego Casa and Jungho Kim of DOE's Argonne National Laboratory; laser experts Alan Johnson and Roman Mankowsky of the Paul Scherrer Institut, Michael Forst of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, and Simon Wall of Aarhus University; and the beamline teams from SLAC and SACLA were also crucial to the success of the experiments. Theoretical collaborations included Robert Konik of Brookhaven and Neil Robinson and Andrew James, both formerly at Brookhaven.

The other collaborating institutions are Oklahoma State University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, The Open University, University of Amsterdam, ShanghaiTech University, RIKEN, Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, and University of Tennessee.

This research is supported by the DOE Office of Science, Swiss National Science Foundation, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of UK Research and Innovation, ShanghaiTech University startup fund MOST of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Fundacio Privada Cellex, Fundacio Mir-Puig, Generalitat de Catalunya, European Research Council, and National Science Foundation.

Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https:/ / energy. gov/ science .

Follow @BrookhavenLab on Twitter or find us on Facebook.
Health has always been affected by climate and weather, but is increasingly clear that the change in climate is a significant threat to human health. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 24% of global deaths are linked to environmental factors [1]. Climate change and pollution can lead to undernutrition, mental disorders, and noncommunicable diseases including chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury [2].

The burden of addressing the death and disability associated with climate change falls to nephrologists and other healthcare professionals. At the same time, the healthcare sector makes a major contribution to the climate crisis, producing 4.4% of the global carbon footprint [3]. The treatment of kidney disease is particularly resource intensive; for example, current hemodialysis practice is energy demanding, uses large quantities of water and creates substantial waste.

ERA-EDTA President Professor Christoph Wanner commented: "The ERA-EDTA was one of the first international medical societies to urge investment in the transformation to a greener healthcare [4]. The theme of this year's fully virtual Congress, Healthy Environment, Healthy Kidneys, underlines the ERA-EDTA's commitment and the important role of nephrologists in addressing climate change."

The burden of climate change will fall heavily on younger people. During the ERA-EDTA Congress, a symposium* will provide the opportunity to hear the views of younger healthcare professionals on climate change and health. There will also be a 45-minute discussion following the symposium between the speakers and medical students and nephrologists.

Dr Martin Herrmann, President of the German Alliance for Climate and Change and Health, will discuss the threat of climate change to the public health achievements of the last century. At the same time, there is a major opportunity in addressing climate change, since climate protection measures are associated with great health benefits. Climate activists have shown how citizens, including health professionals, can take the lead in building momentum to achieve real change that transforms policy.

Professor Christian Witt (Germany) will highlight the morbidity and mortality induced by climate change in people with chronic diseases. More research is needed to identify the patients most vulnerable to global warming. Adaptive strategies are essential, especially in the heat islands of metropolitan areas, which will be 11C warmer than rural areas. Examples include the green, climate-adapted hospital of the future, and telemedicine and early-warning systems to prevent disease exacerbation caused by heat stress.

Dr Sylvia Hartmann, Vice Chair of the German Alliance for Climate Change and Health, will present the perspectives of the coming medical generation on the climate crisis. Healthcare professionals have a unique responsibility to take action. Beyond daily medical routines, healthcare professionals must demonstrate the health emergency represented by climate change. It is essential to act at once to protect the climate, and conserve and restore the environment. This calls for personal, professional and political action, and for the support of all of society.

"Throughout the world younger people are in the vanguard of action against global warming, and have shown us that addressing climate change is everyone's responsibility. I look forward to hearing their views on climate change and health during the ERA-EDTA Congress," concluded Professor Wanner.

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*S 0.7 Climate change and health: the opinion of the younger generation. June 7, 2021, 8:00-09:30.

[1] World Health Organization. Health and environment. https:/ / www. who. int/ data/ gho/ data/ themes/ public-health-and-environment (last accessed 15 May 2021)

[2] Borg M & Bi P. Nature Rev Nephrol 2021;17:294-5

[3] Healthcare without Harm. 2019. https:/ / noharm-global. org/ documents/ health-care-climate-footprint-report

[4] Blankestijn PJ, et al. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2018;33(6):901-3
In the course of the project, a high-quality machine translation platform will be developed for general web and news texts, crisis information, legal and military texts, to be used by public institutions, translation agencies, freelance translators as well as developers from companies in the fields of IT and artificial intelligence.

According to Mark Fisel, Professor in Natural Language Processing of the University of Tartu, the project aims to do more than just to develop the existing machine translation engines further. Project partners will test new cutting-edge approaches to advance the state of machine translation in Estonia and make it practically useful to a wide variety of end-users.

"We will try different approaches to domain-specific machine translation, test brand new methods such as modular transformer-type neural networks, integrate neural machine translation with dictionaries and lexicons as well as develop solutions for both text and speech translation," explained Fisel. He also emphasised that the training of the new models would not be possible without the High Performance Computing Centre of the University of Tartu, which supports the university as well as the language technologists of Tilde throughout the project.

Pekka Myllyla, Managing Director of Tilde Eesti, says that the quality of Estonian machine translation has made a breakthrough and can be used for real-life translation tasks. "Machine translation has an important role in the Estonian digital development by removing language barriers and facilitating multilingual information exchange," said Myllyla. According to him, the best results can be achieved by consistently teaching the terminology and style of a particular text domain to the translation engine.

"Representing the contracting authority, I am glad that the winning consortium comprises the two leading centres in the field of machine translation in Estonia - the University of Tartu and Tilde," said Arvi Tavast, Director of the Institute of the Estonian Language, expressing hope that this provides assurance not only for this year's project but also for the continuous development of Estonian machine translation in the future.

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The project is funded via the Estonian public procurement "Development of public sector machine translation technology". The total budget is 600,000 euros and the project ends in December 2021. The responsible funding authority is the Institute of the Estonian Language and the project has been initiated and supported by the Ministry of Education and Research.
The Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) has presented this week at the headquarters of the National Science and Technology Museum in Madrid the main results of the 10th Social Perception of Science Survey carried out in 2020.

The presentation was attended by Pedro Duque, Minister of Science and Innovation, Josep Lobera, Professor of Sociology at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and scientific co-director of the Survey and the subsequent study, and Rosa Capeans, Director of the Scientific Culture and Innovation Department of FECYT. Pampa Garcia, Editor-in-Chief of the SINC Agency, moderated a debate in which the results were presented in six blocks: Interest in scientific and technological issues; Image of scientific and technological research in Spain; Science and technology: media; Use of therapies without scientific evidence; Robotisation and artificial intelligence; and Climate change.

Among the survey results, a large majority of the Spanish population believe that more should be invested in science and technology at all levels of public administration and private companies. This demand is higher in relation to the Spanish government, supported by 85 % of the population. Eighty percent believe that regional governments should increase investment in science and technology research, along with 71% who believe that local administrations and private companies should do so.

In terms of interest in science and technology issues, the survey reveals that around one in seven people (14 %) spontaneously express an interest in science and technology issues, a similar proportion to those who express an interest in economy (16 %), education (15 %) and environment (10 %). This is similar to the interest detected in the 2018 survey (16 %).

A spontaneously declared interest in science and technology continues to be higher among men (19 %) than among women (10 %). However, women show a greater interest in topics with a very direct relationship to science and technology, such as medicine and health. Thirty-two percent of women show a spontaneous interest in these issues, compared to 20 % among men. Women were also more interested in issues related to the pandemic (50 %, compared to 43 % of men), a central theme this year and closely linked to the development of scientific evidence.

Use of therapies without scientific evidence

The survey includes a specific module dedicated to researching the social perception of some aspects of science applied to health. In a previous press release in February, the results concerning attitudes towards vaccination were explained.

On the other hand, one in six Spaniards (17 %) say they trust the beneficial effects of homeopathy, eight percentage points less than two years ago, while 11 % trust reiki (the laying on of hands), five percentage points less than two years ago. This decline seems to be linked to information campaigns on these treatments but also to a general decrease in confidence, which extends to conventional treatments such as vaccination.

Robotisation and artificial intelligence

The population is divided on the risk-benefit balance of the applications of robotisation and artificial intelligence. Overall, 34 % of the population believe that the benefits of job robotisation outweigh the risks, while 53 % believe that the risks outweigh the benefits and 13 % have no opinion.

Science and technology: media

Television continues to play an important role as a channel for scientific information at all ages. Seventy-two percent of the population say that they obtain information on science and technology-related issues through this medium. Television has played a particularly important role in information related to covid-19: it has been the main source of information on the disease for 65 % of the population, followed by the Internet for 25 %.

The survey has shown in recent editions that the Internet has established itself as a fundamental means of scientific information and communication in Spain. In this edition, 61 % of the population say that they get information about science and technology on the Internet, mainly through social networks and through the digital versions of the general media.

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Survey fact sheet:

For the 10th Social Perception of Science and Technology Survey, 7,953 interviews have been carried out, distributed in each Autonomous Community in Spain. The population studied are people aged 15 and over who have been residents in Spain for 5 years or more.

The information collection work took place from 14 July to 19 October 2020 (no fieldwork was carried out in the month of August). The sampling error for the sample as a whole is 1.12 percentage points for a 95 % confidence level.
Researchers used protein mapping to show how abnormal levels of the neurotransmitter glutamate impair the functioning of neurons and oligodendrocytes. The findings could serve as a basis for more effective treatment

A study conducted by a group of Brazilian researchers contributes to a deeper understanding of the molecular basis for schizophrenia, and potentially to the development of more specific and effective treatments for the disease. The medications currently available on the market act generically on the brain and can have severe adverse side effects.

Treatment of post-mortem samples from the hippocampus of schizophrenic patients with an NMDA receptor antagonist pointed to biological processes associated with the disease that are specific to neurons and oligodendrocytes. NMDA receptors are neurotransmitter receptors located in the postsynaptic membrane of neurons, and receive signals across the synapse from previous nerve cells.

The antagonist in question was MK-801, a drug that alters the neurotransmitter function of glutamate, mimicking in vitro what happens in schizophrenia (glutamate is the brain's primary excitatory neurotransmitter). Neurons treated with the substance displayed oxidative stress, one of the factors that can lead to brain degeneration, and apoptosis (programmed cell death). Oligodendrocytes, which synthesize the myelin sheath that insulates axons, were not altered in the same way. On the other hand, oligodendrocytes displayed differences associated with protein synthesis and myelin membrane organization.

The Laboratory of Neuroproteomics at the Institute of Biology of the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) used post-mortem brain tissue samples from patients with schizophrenia. The results, obtained in collaboration with the group led by Helder Nakaya, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo's School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (FCF-USP), are reported in an article published in European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience.

"After culturing neurons and oligodendrocytes in the lab and treating them with MK-801, we analyzed the proteins in the brain and each cell type, cross-referencing the data. This enabled us to identify differences specific to neurons or oligodendrocytes, or common to both," said Daniel Martins-de-Souza, principal investigator for the study and head of the laboratory, which is supported by Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP.

Previous research found abnormal levels of glutamate in the brains of schizophrenic patients and linked glutamatergic neurotransmission dysfunction to NMDA receptor hypofunction. Glutamatergic neurotransmission is essential for cognition, learning and memory in humans.

"The treatment of neural cells with MK-801 revealed that neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes are affected but present different responses to NMDA receptor hypofunction. NMDA receptor activation in oligodendrocytes is involved with their maturation, metabolic modulation and myelination around axons," the researchers write in the article.

An axon is part of a neuron that carries nerve impulses away from the cell body. Each neuron typically has one axon that connects it with other neurons via their synapses. Its filaments are insulated by a sheath made of myelin, a lipid-rich substance that prevents loss of energy during the transmission of electrical impulses between neurons.

"Thus, understanding the effects of glutamatergic dysregulation in both neurons and oligodendrocytes is crucial to a grasp of the role of these cellular counterparts in schizophrenia, especially in the hippocampal context," the article continues, adding that "we were able to find proteomic signatures in common between the hippocampus and MK-801-treated neurons, and between the hippocampus and the MK-801-treated oligodendrocytes". These findings will contribute to the development of treatments better targeted to the different dysfunctional biological processes in the various brain cell types.

According to PhD candidate Giuliana da Silva Zuccoli, first author of the article, lack of myelin or improper sheath formation may be part of the reason for cognitive and memory problems in schizophrenia.

Last year a study conducted at UNICAMP's Laboratory of Neuroproteomics with FAPESP's support had associated schizophrenia with dysfunctional oligodendrocytes that produce defective myelin.

FAPESP also supported the research that resulted in the article through funding for six other projects: 2018/14666-4, 2017/25588-1, 2019/00098-7, 2017/50137-3, 2012/19278-6 and 2013/08216-2.

23 million cases worldwide

Considered a severe debilitating mental disorder, schizophrenia affects some 23 million people worldwide, including 1.5 million Brazilians, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). It is characterized by thoughts or experiences that seem out of touch with reality, disorganized speech or behavior, and reduced participation in daily activities. Treatment involves a combination of medications, psychotherapy and specialized care. A clinical assessment is required to diagnose schizophrenia.

A promising methodology was developed last year to create a blood test that can diagnose schizophrenia by Brazilian researchers affiliated with the Federal University of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP) and UNICAMP. The test is the first to detect the disorder by analyzing biochemical and molecular alterations (more at: agencia.fapesp.br/34356).

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About Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- A more reliable way of estimating the size of megalodon shows the extinct shark may have been bigger than previously thought, measuring up to 65 feet, nearly the length of two school buses. Earlier studies had ball-parked the massive predator at about 50 to 60 feet long.

The revised estimate is the result of new equations based on the width of megalodon's teeth - and began with a high school lesson that went awry.

Victor Perez, then a doctoral student at the Florida Museum of Natural History, was guiding students through a math exercise that used 3D-printed replicas of fossil teeth from a real megalodon and a set of commonly used equations based on tooth height to estimate the shark's size. But something was off: Students' calculations ranged from about 40 to 148 feet for the same shark. Perez snapped into trouble-shooting mode.

"I was going around, checking, like, did you use the wrong equation? Did you forget to convert your units?" said Perez, the study's lead author and now the assistant curator of paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum in Maryland. "But it very quickly became clear that it was not the students that had made the error. It was simply that the equations were not as accurate as we had predicted."

Although the equations have been widely used by scientists since their publication in 2002, the classroom exercise revealed they generate varying size estimates for a single shark, depending on which tooth is measured.

"I was really surprised," Perez said. "I think a lot of people had seen that study and blindly accepted the equations."

For more than a century, scientists have attempted to calculate the size of megalodon, whose name means "big tooth." But the only known remains of the fearsome shark that dominated oceans from about 23 to 3.6 million years ago are fossilized teeth and a few, rare vertebrae. Like other sharks, the rest of megalodon's skeleton, including its jaw, was composed of lightweight cartilage that decomposed quickly after death. Tooth enamel, however, "preserves really well," Perez said. "It's probably the most structurally stable thing in living organisms." Megalodon sharks shed thousands of teeth over a lifetime, leaving abundant traces of the species in the fossil record.

The most accepted methods for estimating the length of megalodon have used great white sharks as a modern proxy, relying on the relationship between tooth size to total body length. While great white sharks and megalodon belong to different families, they share similar predatory lifestyles and broad, triangular teeth serrated like steak knives - ideal adaptations for hunting large, fleshy marine mammals such as whales and dolphins, Perez said.

But these methods also present a challenge: To generate body length estimates, they require the researcher to correctly identify a fossil tooth's former position in a megalodon jaw. As in humans, the size and shape of shark teeth vary depending on where they're located in the mouth, and megalodon teeth are most often found as standalone fossils.

So, Perez was ecstatic when fossil collector Gordon Hubbell donated a nearly complete set of teeth from the same megalodon shark to the Florida Museum in 2015, reducing the guesswork. After museum researchers CT scanned the teeth and made them available online, Perez collaborated with teacher Megan Higbee Hendrickson on a plan to incorporate them into her middle school curriculum at the Academy of the Holy Names school in Tampa.

"We decided to have the kids 3D-print the teeth, determine the size of the shark and build a replica of its jaw for our art show," Hendrickson said.

Perez and Hendrickson co-designed a lesson for students based on the then-most popular method for estimating shark size: Match the tooth to its position in the shark jaw, look up the corresponding equation, measure the tooth from the tip of the crown to the line where root and crown meet and plug the number into the equation.

After a successful pilot test of a few teeth with Hendrickson's students, he expanded the lesson plan to include the whole set of megalodon teeth for high school students at Delta Charter High School in Aptos, California. Perez expected a slight variability of a couple millimeters in their results, but this time, variations in students' estimates shot to more than 100 feet. The farther a tooth position was from the front of the jaw, the larger the size estimate.

After Perez detailed the lesson's results in a fossil community newsletter, he received an email from Teddy Badaut, an avocational paleontologist in France. Badaut suggested a different approach. Why not measure tooth width instead of height? Previous research had suggested tooth width was limited by the size of a shark's jaw, which would be proportional to its body length.

Ronny Maik Leder, then a postdoctoral researcher at the Florida Museum, worked with Perez to develop a new set of equations based on tooth width.

By measuring the set of teeth from Hubbell, "we could actually sum up the width of the teeth and get an even better approximation of the jaw width," Perez said.

The researchers analyzed sets of fossil teeth from 11 individual sharks, representing five species, including megalodon, its close relatives and modern great white sharks.

By measuring the combined width of each tooth in a row, they developed a model for how wide an individual tooth was in relation to the jaw for a given species. Now when a paleontologist unearths a lone megalodon tooth the size of their hand, they can compare its width to the average obtained in the study and get an accurate estimate of how big the shark was.

"I was quite surprised that indeed no one had thought of this before," said Leder, now director of the Natural History Museum in Leipzig, Germany. "The simple beauty of this method must have been too obvious to be seen. Our model was much more stable than previous approaches. This collaboration was a wonderful example of why working with amateur and hobby paleontologists is so important."

Perez cautioned that because individual sharks vary in size, the team's methods still have a range of error of about 10 feet when applied to the largest individuals. It's also unclear exactly how wide megalodon's jaw was and difficult to guess based on teeth alone - some shark species have gaps between each tooth while the teeth in other species overlap.

"Even though this potentially advances our understanding, we haven't really settled the question of how big megalodon was. There's still more that could be done, but that would probably require finding a complete skeleton at this point," he said.

Perez continues to teach the megalodon tooth lesson, but its focus has changed.

"Since then, we've used the lesson to talk about the nature of science - the fact that we don't know everything. There are still unanswered questions," he said.

For Hendrickson, the lesson sparked her students' enthusiasm for science in ways that textbooks could not.

"Victor was an amazing role model for the kids. He is the personification of a young scientist that followed his childhood interest and made a career out of it. So many of these kids had never worked with or spoken to a scientist who respected their point of view and was willing to answer their questions."

Leder and Badaut co-authored the study.

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New study finds that yes, they do, but not in the ways you may think

Key Takeaways:

Study finds non-tiered customer loyalty programs create a more sustainable customer base.

Non-tiered customer loyalty programs are not as likely to generate increases in spending per transaction or accelerate transactions.

CATONSVILLE, MD, June 7, 2021 - Customer loyalty programs have been around for decades and are used to help businesses, marketers and sellers build a sustainable relationship with their customers. But do they work? A recent study sought to find out and researchers learned that while yes, customer loyalty programs do work, perhaps not in ways most may assume.

There are two basic types of customer loyalty programs, tiered and non-tiered. Airlines and hotels often use tiered customer loyalty programs that increase rewards as program members reach higher thresholds of spending over time. Retailers and service industry businesses are more likely to offer non-tiered customer loyalty programs, in which members are rewarded with frequent, but not increasing rewards, such as "buy 10 get one free."

This research investigated if those non-tiered customer loyalty programs actually do what they are designed to do.

The study to be published in the June issue of the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, "Can Non-tiered Customer Loyalty Programs Be Profitable?", is authored by Arun Gopalakrishnan of Rice University, Zhenling Jiang of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and Yulia Nevskaya and Raphael Thomadsen of the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

The authors found that non-tiered customer loyalty programs increase customer value by almost 30% over a five-year time period. They discovered that the program's effectiveness is not so much through increased spending per transaction or frequency of purchasing but rather through the reduction of attrition. In other words, the chief benefit is that the customer loyalty program reduces customer fall-off and turnover.

"We found that a non-tiered customer loyalty program's reduction in attrition accounts for more than 80% of the program's total lift or success," said Thomadsen. "On the other hand, increased frequency accounts for less than 20% of the program's lift or effectiveness."

Jiang added, "One of the more interesting findings was that the impact of the loyalty program does not necessarily contribute to increased spending per transaction or increased frequency of transactions. Rather, the benefit to the business is creating more sustainable and lasting relationships with customers."

To conduct their research, the authors worked with a company to collect data of more than 5,500 new customers who first started purchasing from that company in the same three-month period. This helped to ensure that the customers were comparable in terms of the amount of time they had to become acquainted with the selling firm. For the next 30 months, the researchers collected all subsequent transaction data from those consumers. During that period, a non-tiered customer loyalty program was introduced.

In the process, some of these new customers were automatically enrolled into the loyalty program. This helped researchers better gauge pre-program visit frequency and spending and then compare it to post-enrollment visit frequency and spending. "We were able to analyze the behaviors of consumers absent a customer loyalty program, and then after the rollout of the program," said Nevskaya. "We evaluated frequency and actual spending amounts, and whether customers come back for repeat transactions."

Gopalakrishnan summarized, "In the end, the primary value of a non-tiered customer loyalty program is not a means to increase frequency or spending. It's a way to nurture a long-term and lasting relationship with the customer to reduce the defection of loyal customers over time. Non-tiered loyalty programs may provide psychological benefits that help cultivate such loyalty."

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About INFORMS and Marketing Science
'Worldwide, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women.'

Oncotarget published "Landscape of somatic mutations in breast cancer: new opportunities for targeted therapies in Saudi Arabian patients" which reported that the association between genetic polymorphisms in tumor suppressor genes and the risk of BCa has been studied in many ethnic populations with conflicting conclusions while Arab females and Saudi Arabian studies are still lacking.

The authors screened a cohort of Saudi BCa patients by NGS using a bespoke gene panel to clarify the genetic landscape of this population, correlating and assessing genetic findings with clinical outcomes.

They identified a total of 263 mutations spanning 51 genes, including several frequently mutated.

Among the genes analyzed, the highest mutation rates were found in PIK3CA, BRCA2, BRCA1, TP53, MSH2, PMS2, BARD1, MLH1, CDH1, RAD50, MSH6, NF1, in addition to others.

They identified multiple common recurrent variants and previously reported mutations.

They also reveal the landscape of the mutations associated with BCa in Saudi women, highlighting the importance of routine genetic sequencing in implementation of precision therapies in KSA.

Dr. Malak Abedalthagafi from The King Fahad Medical City and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology said, "Worldwide, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women."

"Worldwide, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women."

A positive ER and/or PR, either positive HER2 or negative HER2, and high levels of Ki67 suggest a luminal B BCa subtype, which makes up less than 20% of all BCa cases and has lower survival rates than luminal A.

The absence of ER and PR expression accompanied by high expression of HER2 and proliferation gene clusters and low expression of luminal and basal clusters, as detected by IHC, suggests a HER2-enriched BCa subtype, which accounts for 10% to 15% of all cases and has a poorer prognosis than luminal cancers.

Three significant pathways govern mammary gland and BCa stem cell development:

Estrogen receptor signaling;

HER2 signaling; and

Canonical Wnt signaling.

In ER signaling, estrogen binds membrane estrogen receptors and triggers a cascade of events that ultimately promote the binding of nuclear estrogen receptors with estrogen response elements.

Other pathways involved in BCa development include cyclin-dependent kinase signaling, notch signaling, sonic hedgehog signaling, breast tumor kinase signaling, and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling.

WES also facilitated both the identification of the FANCM gene as a susceptible gene for triple-negative BCa and the association of XCR1, DLL1, TH, ACCS, SPPL3, CCNF and SRL with BCa.

In this study, they screened a cohort of Saudi BCa patients using a cancer-specific gene panel to ascertain the mutation spectrum and explore the possible clinical implications of the identified somatic variants in BCa development.

The Abedalthagafi Research Team concluded in their Oncotarget Research Output that the authors identified somatic mutation variants in Saudi BCa patients; BRCA1, BRCA2, TP53, and PIK3CA were found to be among the most common.

In total, they identified 39 novel mutations that were not reported before and were predicted to be pathogenic.

Their study has pertinent limitations.

Further, their limited sample size, particularly for limited somatic genomics aberrations analyzes, may limit generalizability.

More regional studies are still needed.

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DOI - https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 18632/ oncotarget. 27909

Full text - https:/ / www. oncotarget. com/ article/ 27909/ text/

Correspondence to - Malak Abedalthagafi - malthagafi@kfmc.med.sa

Keywords - breast cancer, PIK3CA, BCa, Saudi Arabia, BRCA
Chemical engineers have found a way to load more drug into a tablet, which could then be made smaller and easier to swallow

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- About 60 percent of drugs on the market have hydrophobic molecules as their active ingredients. These drugs, which are not soluble in water, can be difficult to formulate into tablets because they need to be broken down into very small crystals in order to be absorbed by the human body.

A team of MIT chemical engineers has now devised a simpler process for incorporating hydrophobic drugs into tablets or other drug formulations such as capsules and thin films. Their technique, which involves creating an emulsion of the drug and then crystallizing it, allows for a more powerful dose to be loaded per tablet.

"This is very important because if we can achieve high drug loading, it means that we can make smaller dosages that still achieve the same therapeutic effect. This can greatly improve patient compliance because they just need to take a very small drug and it's still very effective," says Liang-Hsun Chen, an MIT graduate student and the lead author of the new study.

Patrick Doyle, the Robert T. Haslam Professor of Chemical Engineering, is the senior author of the paper, which appears today in Advanced Materials.

Nanoemulsions

Most medicines consist of an active ingredient that is combined with other compounds called excipients, which help to stabilize the drug and control how it is released in the body. The resulting tablets, capsules, or films are called formulations.

Currently, to create formulations of hydrophobic drugs, pharmaceutical companies use a process that requires milling the compound down to nanocrystals, which are easier for human cells to absorb. These crystals are then blended with excipients. One excipient that is often mixed with hydrophobic drugs is methylcellulose, a compound derived from cellulose. Methylcellulose dissolves easily in water, which helps drugs to be released faster in the body.

This method is widely used, but has many inefficiencies, according to the MIT team. "The milling step is very time consuming and energy intensive, and the abrasive process can cause changes in active ingredient properties, which can undermine the therapeutic effects," Chen says.

He and Doyle set out to come up with a more efficient way to combine hydrophobic drugs with methylcellulose, by forming an emulsion. Emulsions are mixtures of oil droplets suspended in water, such as the mixture formed when an oil and vinegar salad dressing is shaken up.

When these droplets are on the scale of nanometers in diameter, this kind of mixture is called a nanoemulsion. To create their nanoemulsion, the researchers took a hydrophobic drug called fenofibrate, which is used to help lower cholesterol, and dissolved it in an oil called anisole. Then they combined this oil phase with methylcellulose dissolved in water, using ultrasonication (sound waves) to create nanoscale oil droplets. Methylcellulose helps to keep the water and oil droplets from separating again because it is amphiphilic, meaning that it can bind to both the oil droplets and the water.

Once the emulsion is formed, the researchers can transform it into a gel by dripping the liquid into a heated water bath. As each drop hits the water, it solidifies within milliseconds. The researchers can control the size of the particles by changing the size of tip that is used to drip the liquid into the water bath.

"The particle formation is nearly instantaneous, so everything that was in your liquid drop gets converted to a solid particle without any loss," Doyle says. "After drying, we have nanocrystals of fenofibrate uniformly distributed in the methylcellulose matrix."

Smaller pills, more drug

Once the nanocrystal-loaded particles are formed, they can be crushed into powder and then compressed into tablets, using standard drug manufacturing techniques. Alternatively, the researchers can pour their gel into molds instead of dripping it into water, allowing them to create drug tablets in any shape.

Using their nanoemulsion technique, the researchers were able to achieve drug loading of about 60 percent. In contrast, the currently available formulations of fenofibrate have a drug concentration of about 25 percent. The technique could be easily adapted to load even higher concentrations by increasing the ratio of oil to water in the emulsion, the researchers say.

"This can enable us to make more effective and smaller drugs that are easier to swallow, and that can be very beneficial for many people who have difficulty swallowing drugs," Chen says.

This method can also be used to make thin films -- a type of drug formulation that has become more widely used in recent years, and is especially beneficial for children and older people. Once a nanoemulsion is made, the researchers can dry it into a thin film that has drug nanocrystals embedded in it.

It is estimated that about 90 percent of the drugs now in development are hydrophobic, so this approach could potentially be used to develop formulations for those drugs, as well as hydrophobic drugs that are already in use, the researchers say. Many widely used drugs, including ibuprofen and other anti-inflammatory drugs such as ketoprofen and naproxen, are hydrophobic.

"The flexibility of the system is that we can choose different oils to load different drugs, and then make it into a nanoemulsion using our system. We don't need to do a lot of trial-and-error optimization because the emulsification process is the same," Chen says.

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The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Singapore National Research Foundation, and the Think Global Education Trust.
The Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society, the oldest and most representative academic outlet of the Bulgarian Geographical Society, now boasts an improved publishing infrastructure after moving to the technologically advanced ARPHA Platform and signing with scholarly publisher and technology provider Pensoft.

The Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society is an international scientific journal dedicated to all fields of geography and interrelated fields of earth, ecological, social, economic and geoinformation sciences. It has a global geographical scope with a focus on Southeastern Europe and the Balkans, and its first issue dates back to 1933.

Having already acquired its own glossy and user-friendly website provided by ARPHA, the journal also takes advantage of the platform's signature fast-track publishing system, which offers an end-to-end solution from submission to publication, distribution and archiving.

With features such as machine-readable XML format for papers, automated data export to aggregators, automated email notifications and reminders, and web-service integrations with major global indexing databases, the easy-to-use, open-access platform ensures that published research is easy to discover, access, cite and reuse by both humans and machines all over the world. The journal is now indexed in the likes of Crossref, Google Scholar, OpenCitations, Publons and Scibey, and archived in CLOCKSS, Portico and Zenodo.

The very first publications for 2021 (vol. 44) are out now. An opening editorial presents the background, the new mission and perspectives of the journal. A paper, authored by Stanley D. Brunn, communicates the mapping morality and its visible and invisible geographies. The rest of the issue's articles will be published upon approval, following a "flow publishing" schedule.

"In the autumn of 2020, the editorial team and the executive committee of the Bulgarian Geographical Society agreed upon a new mission of the journal. It aims to respond and to adapt to the newest developments in scholarly publishing by providing a platform for high quality and innovative papers in all fields of geography and interrelated fields of earth, ecological, social, economic, and geoinformation sciences. The geographical scope of the journal will cover the entire world with special attention to Southeastern Europe and the Balkans," comment the journal's editors.

"In these days of continuous speeding up of paces of work and life, the idea of facilitating the sharing of existing knowledge in order to create synergies, new knowledge, and innovation is more than timely and our journal can join the efforts to achieve these goals. That is why we are excited by the launch of JBGS on the ARPHA platform - a next-generation publishing solution that supports the full life cycle of a manuscript, from authoring and reviewing to publishing and dissemination."

This partnership is the latest addition to Pensoft's track record of collaboration with scientific societies. Earlier this year, three of Senckenberg Nature Research Society's journals - Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny, Vertebrate Zoology and Geologica Saxonica, transitioned to ARPHA's platform.

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Follow the Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society on Facebook and Twitter.

Additional information

About ARPHA:

ARPHA is the first end-to-end, narrative- and data-integrated publishing solution that supports the full life cycle of a manuscript, from authoring to reviewing, publishing and dissemination. ARPHA provides accomplished and streamlined production workflows that can be customized according to the journal's needs. The platform enables a variety of publishing models through a number of options for branding, production and revenue models to choose from.

About Pensoft:

Pensoft is an independent academic publishing company, well-known worldwide for its innovations in the field of semantic publishing, as well as for its cutting-edge publishing tools and workflows. In 2013, Pensoft launched the first ever end to end XML-based authoring, reviewing and publishing workflow, as demonstrated by the Pensoft Writing Tool (PWT) and the Biodiversity Data Journal (BDJ), now upgraded to the ARPHA Publishing Platform. Flagship titles include: Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO), One Ecosystem, ZooKeys, Biodiversity Data Journal, PhytoKeys, MycoKeys and many more.

Contacts:

John Pickles, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society

Email: jpickles@email.unc.edu

Lyubomir Penev, founder and CEO at Pensoft and ARPHA

Email: l.penev@pensoft.net
It's hard to see more than a handful of stars from Princeton University, because the lights from New York City, Princeton and Philadelphia prevent our sky from ever getting pitch black, but stargazers who get into more rural areas can see hundreds of naked-eye stars -- and a few smudgy objects, too.

The biggest smudge is the Milky Way itself, the billions of stars that make up our spiral galaxy, which we see edge-on. The smaller smudges don't mean that you need glasses, but that you're seeing tightly packed groups of stars. One of the best-known of these "clouds" or "clusters" -- groups of stars that travel together -- is the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters. Clusters are stellar nurseries where thousands of stars are born from clouds of gas and dust and then disperse across the Milky Way.

For centuries, scientists have speculated about whether these clusters always form tight clumps like the Pleiades, spread over only a few dozen lightyears.

"We call them 'open clusters' -- the 'open' part refers to the expectation that these things formed in a much denser group that then dispersed," said Luke Bouma, a graduate student in astrophysical sciences at Princeton and the lead author on an upcoming paper published by the American Astronomical Society. "But we never thought we'd be able to find the stars that were lost."

Then, two years ago, a machine-learning algorithm using data from the Gaia satellite identified that many far-flung stars are moving at the same speed and direction and could therefore be part of the same open cluster -- but as more of a stream or a string than a clump.

Now, a team of astrophysicists led by Bouma can confirm that one of these streams of stars, NGC 2516, also known as the Southern Beehive, extends at least 1,600 light-years -- 500 parsecs -- from tip to tip. To an Earth-based stargazer, that would look as big as 40 full moons, side by side, stretching across the sky.

"Gaia data let us trace the process of star cluster formation and dissolution in unprecedented detail -- but to complete the picture, we need independently estimated ages," said Lynne Hillenbrand, a 1989 Princeton alumna and a professor of astronomy at Caltech, who was not involved in this research. "Bouma's paper brings together several different methods to consistently age-date stars at both the core and the outer reaches of this cluster."

"In retrospect, the existence of this large stellar stream is not too surprising," said Bouma, who recently won the prestigious 51 Pegasus b Fellowship. One interpretation could be that a cluster starts as a tight clump that expands through time to form "tidal tails" stretching in front of it and behind it, as it moves through the Milky Way.

"The broader implication is that there are bound to be other enormous open clusters like this," he said. "The visible part of the cluster, where we can easily see the stars close together, may be only a small part of a much, much larger stream."

"I have seen the Southern Beehive many times through a pair of binoculars under the dark skies of Chile," said Gaspar Bakos, a professor of astrophysical sciences and the director of Princeton's program in planets and life, who was a co-author on the paper. "The cluster nicely fits the view of the binoculars, because its apparent size in the sky is something like the tip of my thumb at arm's length. It is curious to know, thanks to Luke's research, that the cluster actually spans an area as big as my entire palm held toward the sky."

Bouma and his colleagues used data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to precisely measure the rotation rates of stars that the Gaia study had assigned to NGC 2516. The researchers demonstrated that many stars with similar masses are all spinning at (or very near) the same rate, confirming that they were born in the same stellar nursery.

Bouma has spent years developing the tools to measure a star's rotation so that he can calculate its age, a technique called gyrochronology (from the Greek words for "spin" and "time"). Our sun, which at the age of 4.6 billion years old is in its sedate middle age, rotates once every 27 days. The stars Bouma measured in NGC 2516 are rotating 10 times faster than our sun, because they are so much younger. Those stars are barely out of their infancy, only about 150 million years old.

"In addition to expanding our knowledge of this and other star clusters, Luke has given us an expanded list of young stars that we can search for planets," said Joshua Winn, Bouma's adviser and co-author and a professor of astrophysical sciences. "Finding planets around young stars will help us understand how planetary systems form and change with time."

"What's so surprising about this work -- what's so exciting -- is that we confirmed that Gaia, because it really precisely measures the positions and the motions of stars, can find these 'needles in the haystack' of the Milky Way," Bouma said. "Gaia can identify all the stars that are moving in the same direction, at the same rate. And we don't have to just trust the machine learning algorithm saying that they're related -- we can verify it with TESS data, using our gyrochronological technique."

This open cluster also has an intriguing connection with Greek mythology, Bouma said. "In the southern night sky, NGC 2516 is near a constellation called the Argo Navis, which was the boat sailed by Jason and the Argonauts to obtain the golden fleece." He added with a smile: "Jason and the Argonauts are sailing on a stream of stars made by the open cluster NGC 2516."

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The research team also included Joel Hartman, a research scholar in astrophysical sciences, and Jason Curtis, a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University.

"Rotation and Lithium Confirmation of a 500 Parsec Halo for the Open Cluster NGC 2516," by L. G. Bouma, J. L. Curtis, J. D. Hartman, J. N. Winn and G. A. Bakos, has been submitted to the journals of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and will be shared with the media at the 238th AAS meeting on Monday, June 7. The research was supported by the TESS Guest Investigator Program (G04032). L.G.B. was also supported by a Charlotte Elizabeth Procter Fellowship from Princeton University. This study was based in part on observations at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory at the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab (NOIRLab Prop. ID 2020A-0146; 2020B-0029 PI: L. Bouma), which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. This paper includes data collected by the TESS mission, which are publicly available from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). Funding for the TESS mission is provided by NASA's Science Mission directorate.
A traditional Vietnamese meat snack could hold the key to developing a safe and natural food preservative, addressing the twin global problems of food waste and food-borne illnesses.

Key Points

Bacteria-killing compound discovered in Nem Chua, a fermented pork snack

Toxic to bacteria but safe for humans, it's a natural alternative to artificial food preservatives

New study reveals ideal growth conditions to potentially make the bacteria-killer at industrial scales

The fermented pork snack, Nem Chua, is eaten raw but does not cause food poisoning when prepared correctly.

This is because friendly bacteria that thrive in the fermented meat make a special compound that destroys more dangerous bacteria.

Now researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have shown how this natural bacteria-killing compound could be used to keep food fresh for longer.

Food waste is a global issue that costs around $US680 billion annually in industrialised countries, consumes nearly a quarter of the water used in agriculture and produces 8% of global greenhouse emissions.

Food-borne diseases like Listeria or Salmonella affect millions each year and can be life threatening for pregnant women, older people and those who are immunocompromised.

Co-lead researcher Professor Oliver Jones said changes in consumer habits have led to a greater demand for natural alternatives to artificial food preservatives.

"Scientists have known about these bacteria-killing compounds for many years but the challenge is to produce them in large enough quantities to be used by the food industry," said Jones, Associate Dean of Biosciences and Food Technology at RMIT.

"The Nem Chua compound is colourless, odourless, tasteless and very resilient.

"Through this new research, we've identified the right growth conditions that would enable us to make it in large amounts, potentially at industrial scales.

"With further development, we hope this could be an effective, safe and all-natural solution for both food waste and food-borne disease."

Bacteria-killing weapon

A team of RMIT researchers was inspired to investigate Nem Chua for its potential antibacterial properties after travelling to Vietnam and observing people eating the raw meat snack without getting sick, despite the hot and humid climate.

The team, led by Professor Andrew Smith (now at Griffith University) and Dr Bee May, discovered a new type of bacteria-killing compound in Nem Chua.

Plantacyclin B21AG is one of a group of compounds known as bacteriocins, which are produced by bacteria to destroy rival bacterial strains.

Bacteriocins form holes in the membranes of target bacteria. This causes the contents of the cell to leak out - effectively killing the bacteria.

The problem is most bacteriocins only work against one or two types of bacteria and they are not very stable in different environmental conditions.

Only one - Nisin, which came to market in the 1960s - is currently licensed for use as a food preservative, in a market estimated to be worth more than $US513 million in 2020, but this compound is temperature and pH sensitive limiting its use.

Tough and effective

The Nem Chua-derived compound is more robust than Nisin and is effective against a wide range of bacteria even after exposure to a range of environments typical in food processing.

It can survive being heated to 90C for 20 minutes and remains stable across high and low pH levels.

The compound can also destroy a range of disease-causing organisms commonly found in food including potentially life-threating Listeria, which can survive refrigeration and even freezing.

Co-lead researcher Dr Elvina Parlindungan, who completed the new study as part of her PhD research at RMIT, is now a postdoctoral fellow at APC Microbiome, part of University College Cork in Ireland.

"Using bacteriocins as food preservatives effectively means we are turning bacteria's own toxic weapons against them - harnessing nature's smart solutions to tackle our big challenges," Parlindungan said.

"In the future, these compounds might also be useful as an antibiotic in human medicine."

Researchers at RMIT's School of Science have begun experimenting with methods to further purify the compound and are planning to incorporate it into test food products.

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The team is keen to collaborate with potential industry partners to further develop the technology.

This work was supported by a PhD scholarship from the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP), part of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, awarded to Parlindungan.

'Factors that influence growth and bacteriocin production in Lactiplantibacillus plantarum B21,' with co-author Dr Chaitali Dekiwadia (RMIT Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility), is published in Process Biochemistry (DOI:?10.1016/j.procbio.2021.05.009).
HOUSTON - (June 7, 2021) - Computer scientist Lydia Kavraki of Rice University's Brown School of Engineering has won a prestigious National Institutes of Health U01 grant to develop a new approach to model and analyze protein-ligand interactions in cancer research.

The end goal is to create a proteomics toolkit, PROTEAN-CR, focused on the structural analysis of protein-ligand interactions. Researchers will use PROTEAN-CR to understand key biological mechanisms of cancer as well as to suggest novel cancer therapies. Pilot projects will include peptide-based cancer vaccination and analysis of mutations in the context of T-cell based immunotherapy.

The three-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will advance Kavraki's ongoing collaboration with co-investigator Gregory Lizee at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

In cancer, proteins can suffer modifications that favor the maintenance and proliferation of malignant cells. One way to fight cancer is using ligands with anti-tumor properties to inhibit these proteins. But the discovery of molecules with anticancer properties isn't easy. There are hundreds of thousands of different proteins and possible ligands to assess. Proteins and ligands can assume different three-dimensional conformations, and even the same protein can have multiple mutations; both these issues affect protein-ligand binding. Kavraki said PROTEAN-CR is needed because of these challenges and a persistent knowledge gap with structural analyses of protein-ligand interactions.

Kavraki, Rice's Noah Harding Professor of Computer Science, a professor of bioengineering, mechanical engineering and electrical and computer engineering, and director of the Ken Kennedy Institute, said the long-term goal of the U01 grant is to enable broad structural analysis of protein-ligand interactions so cancer researchers can mix, match and test small anti-tumor molecules for personalized cancer therapies.

PROTEAN-CR will also allow researchers to manipulate the 3D structures of known molecules and their possible forms, making it easier for researchers to screen possible protein-ligand complexes and predict how they will bind to and destroy tumor cells. To assess the best binding modes, machine learning methods will be used to create new scoring functions. PROTEAN-CR also will be linked to publicly available biological databases to retrieve updated information on protein mutations and modifications.

Kavraki said her unified data science-inspired approach will accelerate cancer research by complementing wet-lab and clinical studies. Additional collaborators include Dinler Antunes at the University of Houston and Jin Wang at Baylor College of Medicine.

"There is a real gap in incorporating large-scale structural analysis to understand the role of proteins and protein-ligand interactions in complex diseases such as cancer," Kavraki said. "Our work will fill this gap and complement the tools that are currently in development through NCI's informatics program."

Kavraki's lab has already developed some PROTEAN-CR core functions through a prototype web server being tested by MD Anderson researchers for drug discovery and immunotherapy applications. Since March 2017, it has had more than 9,752 unique users from 109 countries.

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Related materials:

NIH grant abstract: https:/ / reporter. nih. gov/ search/ ZNqyYliAjk2LTcH_LhjAAQ/ project-details/ 10188196#details

Kavraki Lab: http://www. kavrakilab. org

Department of Computer Science: https:/ / csweb. rice. edu

George R. Brown School of Engineering: https:/ / engineering. rice. edu

Image for download:

https:/ / news-network. rice. edu/ news/ files/ 2021/ 05/ 0517_KAVRAKI-1-WEB. jpg

CAPTION: Lydia Kavraki. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

This news 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.
The friendship paradox is the observation that the degrees of the neighbors of a node within any network will, on average, be greater than the degree of the node itself. In other words: your friends probably have more friends than you do.

While the standard framing of the friendship paradox is essentially about averages, significant variations occur too.

In the Journal of Complex Networks, Santa Fe Institute and University of Michigan researchers George Cantwell, Alec Kirkley, and Mark Newman address this by developing the mathematical theory of the friendship paradox.

Some people have lots of friends, while others have only a few. Unless you have good reason to believe otherwise, it's reasonable to assume you have roughly an average number of friends.

But if you compare yourself to your friends, you may see a different picture. In fact, a simple calculation -- provided by Scott L. Field's 1991 paper entitled "Why your friends have more friends than you do" -- shows it's likely many of your friends are more popular than you.

Almost by definition, your friends are likely to be the sorts of people that have lots of friends. Perhaps worse, this effect means your friends might not only be more popular than you but also more wealthy and more attractive.

These kinds of friendship paradoxes have been explored by network scientists for 30 years.

"Standard analyses are concerned with average behavior, but there's a lot of heterogeneity among people," says Cantwell. "Could the average results, for example, be skewed by a few outliers? To get a fuller picture, we studied the full distribution describing how people compare to their friends -- not simply the average."

The researchers found that applying mathematics to real-world data reveals a slightly more nuanced picture. For example, popular people are more likely to be friends with one another, whereas less popular people are more likely to be friends with less popular people.

Conversely, some people have just one or two friends, while others have hundreds. "This has a tendency to magnify the effect," says Cantwell. "While there are surely other effects at play, around 95% of the variation within social networks can be explained by just these two."

We should all "simply be wary of impressions we get about our success and social status from looking at the people around us because we get a distorted view," Cantwell adds. "In the offline social world, the bias is partially mitigated by the fact we tend to end up around similar others. On online social media, however, the effect can be exacerbated -- there's virtually no limit on the number of people who can follow someone online and no reason to only look at 'similar' people."

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Citizen opposition to COVID-19 vaccination has emerged across the globe, prompting pushes for mandatory vaccination policies. But a new study based on evidence from Germany and on a model of the dynamic nature of people's resistance to COVID-19 vaccination sounds an alarm: mandating vaccination could have a substantial negative impact on voluntary compliance.

Majorities in many countries now favor mandatory vaccination. In March, the government of Galicia in Spain made vaccinations mandatory for adults, subjecting violators to substantial fines. Italy has made vaccinations mandatory for care workers. The University of California and California State University systems announced in late April that vaccination would be required for anyone attending in the Fall.

The research, published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), extends an earlier PNAS study by first author Katrin Schmelz, a psychologist and behavioral economist at the University of Konstanz, documenting that a major source of vaccine hesitancy is distrust of government. She found that enforced vaccinations reduce people's desire to be vaccinated, particularly among those with low levels of trust in public institutions.

In the new study, Schmelz and economist Samuel Bowles of the Santa Fe Institute exploit a large panel survey implemented in Germany during the first and second waves of the pandemic. Despite infections in Germany being 15 times more common in the second wave of both the pandemic and the survey, the researchers observed increased opposition when they asked participants a hypothetical question about how they'd respond if vaccinations were to be legally required (the German government is publicly committed not to require vaccinations). In contrast, there was a higher and undiminished level of support for the voluntary vaccinations now in force.

The authors also draw on evidence from the dynamics of diffusion of novel products and technologies such as TVs and washing machines in the last century. They reason that as those who are hesitant or opposed to vaccination see that others are getting vaccinated, they might change their mind. Learning from others' vaccination decisions - "conformism" in psychology - means that even if initial vaccination hesitancy is substantial, as more become vaccinated it may be possible to get to a herd immunity target without mandating vaccines.

They also use experimental evidence from behavioral economics showing that explicit incentives, whether in the form of carrots or sticks, may crowd out intrinsic or ethical motives. Policies that aim to incentivize a desired behavior, such as getting vaccinated, can actually undercut individuals' sense of a moral or ethical obligation to do the right thing.

This is evident in their data. Mandating vaccinations by law directly reduces the desire to be vaccinated. Their model also suggests an adverse indirect effect: enforcement will reduce the extent to which others being vaccinated will induce vaccine hesitators to become willing, as this carries a weaker signal. Schmelz says "How people feel about getting vaccinated will be affected by enforcement in two ways -- it could crowd out pro-vaccine feelings, and reduce the positive effect of conformism if vaccination is voluntary."

Bowles says this should be a caution to governments considering mandated policies: "Costly errors may be avoided if policymakers reflect carefully on the costs of enforcement. These could not only increase opposition to vaccination, but also heighten social conflict by further alienating citizens from the government or scientific and medical elites," he says. Nonetheless, he says government enforcement "may still be necessary if the number wishing to be vaccinated is insufficient to control the pandemic."

Schmelz concludes that "Our findings have broad policy applicability beyond COVID-19. There are many cases in which voluntary citizen compliance to a policy is essential because state enforcement capacities are limited, and because results may depend on the ways that the policies themselves alter citizens' beliefs and preferences," adding that "... examples include policies to promote lifestyle changes to reduce carbon footprints or to sustain tolerance and mutual respect in a heterogeneous society."

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BATESVILLE, Ind., June 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillenbrand, Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE: HI) announced today that Joe A. Raver, President and Chief Executive Officer, plans to retire at the end of 2021. The Board of Directors has appointed Kimberly K. Ryan to succeed Raver as Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2022, at which time she will also join the Hillenbrand Board. She will become Executive Vice President of Hillenbrand effective immediately.

"On behalf of the Board of Directors, the management team, and Hillenbrand's 11,000 employees, we want to thank Joe for his leadership and impact over his more than two decades with the organization," said Joe Loughrey, Hillenbrand Chairperson. "A steadfast and strategic leader, Joe has guided Hillenbrand since 2013. During his tenure, he played a significant role in transforming the Company from a $600 million death care business in North America to the approximately $2.5 billion global diversified industrial company it is today. In addition, Joe has been instrumental in the evolution of the Hillenbrand Operating Model and the Company's inorganic growth strategy, including the transformative acquisitions of Coperion and Milacron. The Board is sincerely grateful to Joe for his dedication to Hillenbrand and wishes him nothing but the best in this next chapter."

Ryan's selection is the culmination of a robust, multi-year leadership development and succession planning process led by the Board with the help of an independent external management consultant.

"With an experienced leadership team guided by the Hillenbrand Operating Model, a focused portfolio and a strong balance sheet, Hillenbrand is poised for success through this transition," added Loughrey. "For the past six years, Kim has led Coperion, and with her deep experience and strong track record of global leadership and execution, she is the right choice to lead Hillenbrand through its next phase of continued growth and shareholder value creation."

Ryan joined the Batesville Casket Company in 1989 and in her 33 years with Hillenbrand, has held many senior roles, including President of Batesville. Since 2015, she has been President of Coperion, Hillenbrand's largest business, where she built a strong management team and drove excellent results  achieving 30% revenue growth to approximately $1 billion in 2020 and over 500 basis points of improved EBITDA margin  while establishing Coperion as a clear global industry leader.

"It has been an honor to serve as CEO of Hillenbrand during this period of transformation and growth, and I want to offer my sincere thanks to our employees whose hard work and dedication have allowed us to achieve so much," said Raver. "I also want to thank our customers, communities, colleagues, shareholders, and the Board of Directors for their ongoing support. I have worked with Kim for many years and am confident she will be an excellent leader for Hillenbrand. I look forward to working closely together for the balance of the year to ensure a smooth transition."

The CEO transition begins June 2, 2021. Effective immediately, Ryan will have responsibility for the Company's businesses, including Mold-Masters, Milacron Injection Molding & Extrusion, Coperion, and Batesville. The leaders of these businesses will report directly to Ryan, and she will lead the development and execution of their strategies and business plans to drive profitable growth. The other members of the Company's Executive Management Team will continue to report to Raver during the transition. As EVP, Ryan moves out of her role as President of Coperion. Ulrich Bartel, President of Coperion's Polymer Division, has been named Coperion President and joins the Hillenbrand Executive Management Team, effective immediately.

"I want to thank Joe Raver for his distinguished leadership at Hillenbrand and also the Board for its confidence in me as I step into this role," said Ryan. "I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to work with our talented leadership team and employees around the world to advance Hillenbrand's profitable growth strategy."

About Hillenbrand

Hillenbrand (www.Hillenbrand.com) is a global diversified industrial company with businesses that serve a wide variety of industries around the world. We pursue profitable growth and robust cash generation to drive increased value for our shareholders. Hillenbrand's portfolio includes industrial businesses such as Coperion, Milacron Injection Molding & Extrusion, and Mold-Masters, in addition to Batesville, a recognized leader in the death care industry in North America. Hillenbrand is publicly traded on the NYSE under "HI."

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SOURCE Hillenbrand, Inc.
Concerned youths worldwide today delivered a policy vision for policy-makers to address the declining state of the world's ocean.

A carbon neutral economy, preserving biodiversity, achieving sustainable seafood production, and reforming ocean governance are the four fundamental pillars supporting policy recommendations debuted in the Global Blue New Deal, an ocean policy framework built around crowd-sourced youth priorities.

"Healthy oceans are essential to human survival and well-being, and environmental health must be a global priority as we recover from the pandemic and build a sustainable blue economy," says Mark Haver, Chair of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance's Youth Policy Advisory Council.

He and 14 fellow Young Ocean Leaders on the Council spent a year gathering and synthesizing more than 100 survey responses in five languages from the SOA global youth community in 38 countries on how to end the cycle of ocean decline.

"Today's oceans are overfished, rife with plastic, and overexploited for minerals, fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources. We need to end this cycle of decline and generational injustice that threatens us all."

Today, June 7, 2021, is the first step of integrating public comment into the Global Blue New Deal. Our event, "Defining The Blue New Deal: A Youth Led Workshop For The Future of Our Ocean," seeks to collect feedback on our framework from youth and stakeholders ahead of larger public comment periods.

Starting in July, our public comment period seeks to engage the UN Major Group for Youth and Children, UN Ocean Decade affiliates, the NGO sector, more youth, and other ocean stakeholders in gathering input ahead of our official launch of the final Global Blue New Deal before COP26.

The Global Blue New Deal consists of four pillars. Each pillar has sub-pillars with specific ocean policy solutions.

In brief:

Pillar 1

Carbon Neutrality: Transition to a Zero Carbon Future

Limiting carbon emissions is of utmost importance to preserve ocean health due to its impact on ocean acidification levels, marine biodiversity, sea level rise and livelihoods of coastal communities, especially in Small Island Developing States.

Subpillars:

End offshore drilling and invest in renewable ocean energy, in accordance with a recent International Energy Agency report stating there is "no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply in our net-zero pathway."

Decarbonize the shipping industry, which produces approximately 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and use revenues from economic tools such as carbon pricing to research and develop zero-carbon shipping.

Reduce land-based marine pollution which is responsible for about 80% of all marine pollution. Halt or curb manufacturing and use of plastic nurdles (small beads used in various products), plastic bags, and microplastics through use of bans, taxes, and other disincentives.

Transition to a circular economy to shift from today's linear take-make-waste model to a sustainable economic system where we reduce what we take and reuse and recycle what we already have.

Strengthen legislation and enforcement against ocean contamination to build accountability and affirm commitments to the London Protocol.

Pillar 2

Preserve Biodiversity: Apply Nature-based Solutions to Promote Healthy Ecosystems and Climate Resilience

Prioritize conservation of the planet's ecosystems, which remove carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases from our atmosphere while providing cleaner air and water, reducing coastal erosion, bolstering climate resilience and providing habitat.

Subpillars:

Support the global movement to protect 30% of the world's ocean by 2030 and establish Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) with a robust scientific foundation and "no-take zones" where extractive activities are prohibited.

Enforce against non-compliance in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to prevent "paper parks."

Establish a global moratorium against deep-sea mining -- an unjustified threat to unique deep-sea biodiversity.

Transition from "gray" manmade infrastructure, such as culverts and seawalls, to nature-based blue carbon infrastructure including the restoration of wetlands, mangroves, marshes, oyster reefs, coral reefs, kelp forests, and the installation of living shorelines to sequester carbon and promote biodiversity.

Pillar 3:

Sustainable Seafood: Match Increasing Global Demand Sustainably

With one-third of global fish stocks overfished and climate change exacerbating the pressures placed on already vulnerable fish populations, feeding future generations depends on the viability of ocean ecosystems.

Subpillars:

Encourage sustainable governance of capture fisheries to sustainably manage the fish stocks within and outside countries' Exclusive Economic Zones, and adopt precautionary and ecosystems-based approaches to fisheries management.

Enforce against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing with clear supply chain inspection processes to certify the origin and legality of the fish landing in ports. Direct greater funding and technological support (including Vessel Monitoring Systems) to detect IUU fishing.

Eliminate capacity-enhancing fisheries subsidies, amounting today to tens of billions of dollars that promote overfishing, and redirect the funds to fisheries management and research, marine protected areas, and increased economic opportunity for coastal communities.

Provide a sustainable path for aquaculture, with low-impact production and feed supply to ensure that as we feed ourselves, we can also feed the generations of tomorrow.

Fund research and development of plant-based and cell-cultured seafood, to provide an alternative supply while assessing potential risks and benefits.

Pillar 4:

Stakeholder Engagement: Include Local Communities in Natural Ocean Resource Management

Ocean governance should be built on sound legal and institutional mechanisms that are horizontally integrated to ensure full transparency in decision-making processes and building self-sufficient community management.

Subpillars:

Ensure the sustainability of coastal ecotourism, where current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts are taken into full account with full stakeholder participation. Create financial incentives to support the most sustainable ecotourism companies and incentivize others to become more and more sustainable.

Promote ocean research and innovation to scale ocean solutions and map 100% of the global seafloor by 2030.

Emphasize ocean literacy and capacity building to build the skills and networks for effective leadership, policy development, stakeholder engagement, and communication to conserve and protect oceans through community management.

Build stakeholder participation in ocean governance, embrace inclusion and diversity, and involve as many stakeholders as possible in management of marine and coastal ecosystems, particularly those who are directly affected.

Background

Young Ocean Leaders, all under 35 years of age, are part of SOA's global community of youth, entrepreneurs, and experts from 165 countries and territories -- the world's largest youth-led network of ocean allies working to solve the greatest challenges facing our oceans.

"Youth are the greatest stakeholders in the future health of the ocean environment," says Marina Porto of Brazil, Co-Chair of the Youth Policy Advisory Council. "They need to be directly involved in building a sustainable blue economy that ensures the health of the ocean ecosystem while providing economic opportunities."

The United Nations has recognized the increasingly degraded state of our ocean and declared 2021-2030 a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, which officially launched June 1.

The UN has called on global ocean stakeholders to develop and support a common framework to deliver "the ocean we need for the future we want".

The ocean provides an estimated USD $3 to $6 trillion in ecosystem services, jobs, and cultural services. Fisheries and aquaculture alone contribute USD$100 billion per year and 250+ million jobs.

"We see this as our opportunity to rewrite the long history of an increasingly compromised ocean," concluded Mark Haver. "Each generation has inherited an increasingly degraded ocean environment with the poorest, most vulnerable communities feeling the impacts the most severely."

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SOA's Youth Policy Advisory Council (YPAC) is comprised of 15 Young Ocean Leaders recognized for their policy acumen and dedication to furthering environmental regulation in their region.

North America / Caribbean

Mark Haver

YPAC Chair, USA

Mark is an ocean policy and communications advisor based in Washington, DC. He's been active at the intersection of youth organizing, ocean climate policy, and politics. Mark has been involved with SOA for four years and has been driving the development of the Blue New Deal to rally global youth around an intergenerational call for a healthy ocean and just future.

Nicolas P Florestal

Haiti

Nicolas has successfully worked on establishing Haiti's first official network of Marine Protected Areas and has worked in them as an ecodiver since 2011.

Latin and South America

Marina Porto

YPAC Co-Chair, Brazil

Marina has engaged in several projects related to sustainable production and consumption, climate change and marine litter. She holds a masters degree in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics and is a sustainability consultant at Sofies UK.

Diwigdi Valiente

Panama

Diwi is a member of the indigenous Guna people of Central America, whose islands may disappear under the rising sea within his lifetime. He develops and leads initiatives to raise awareness and inspire political action against climate change and plastic pollution in Panama.

Europe

Leonie Meier

YPAC Secretary, Germany

Leonie is passionate about the ocean, having researched microplastic pollution for her Master's thesis. She has worked on a wide range of environmental and sustainability issues for various UN organizations and the public sector in Germany.

Lucie Guirkinger

Belgium

Half-French, half-Colombian, Lucie is a passionate marine conservationist who recently graduated from the University of Cambridge where she investigated fishers' non-compliance and how this can be addressed. She has also managed several projects on corals, sharks, rays and turtles.

Africa

Pauline Owiti

Kenya

Pauline has been serving as a Project Lead in initiatives that aim to declare the Arctic Ocean as a Marine Protected Area. She currently serves as the National Coordinator of Kenya at the United Nations Conference of Youth, the Kenya Coordinator at Extinction Rebellion, and part of Kenya Youth Biodiversity Network.

Emerson Neves

Mozambique

Emerson works for the Marine Megafauna Foundation in Mozambique. He has been recognized as a 2021 Top 100 Young African Conservation Leader, a 2021 Climate Ambassador with the Global Youth Climate Network through the World Bank, and a 2020 Disney Conservation Hero.

Oceania and Small-Island Developing States

Jeremy Raguain

Seychelles

Life in Seychelles depends on the ocean. Jeremy works with the Seychelles Islands Foundation, a non-profit organisation which manages Seychelles' UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In this role, and through his volunteering with Global Shapers and SOA, Jeremy contributes his efforts towards SDGs 13, 14 and 17 through evidence based management with environmental justice in mind.

Alanna Smith

Cook Islands

Alanna, who works for the environmental NGO 'Te Ipukarea Society,' has actively opposed Cook Islands seabed mining, worked on Marine Spatial Planning projects and biodiversity surveys, and helped raise public awareness of plastic pollution.

Asia

Surangika Jayarathne

Sri Lanka

Surangika works as a researcher in the areas of sustainable blue economy, climate change and maritime security in South Asia.

Lu Fang

China

Lu Fang leads the seafood sustainability assessment effort of an NGO, the Qingdao Marine Conservation Society. She also provides scientific and analytical support to several sustainable fisheries and aquaculture projects.

Roger Joseph (Rocky) Guzman

Philippines

Rocky is a lawyer and ocean policy specialist involved with environmental non-profits, where he handled policy campaigns related to fisheries management and ending illegal fishing, marine conservation and strengthening the rule of law.

Fidan Karimova

Azerbaijan

Fidan works to bridge the gap between water and wastewater utility needs and available technologies. She has helped entrepreneurs worldwide to bring ideas to market. A University of Maryland graduate with a Bachelor's degree in business and a Master's in environmental management, Fidan is an avid ocean supporter and artist.

Andreas Aditya Salim

Indonesia

Andreas is a lawyer dedicated to eradicating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and improvement of ocean management in Indonesia. He served as a legal counsel for the Commander of the Republic of Indonesia's Presidential Task Force to Combat Illegal Fishing for four years prior to his participation in the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. He obtained his law degree from the University of Indonesia and is enrolled in the Berkeley Law LL.M. program
Russian paleontologists discovered the skull of a Pleistocene small cave bear with artificial damage in the Imanay Cave (Bashkiria, Russia). A bear aged 9-10 years was killed with a spear during hibernation about 35 thousand years ago. If the assumptions of scientists are confirmed, the find will become the world's first direct evidence of a Paleolithic man hunting for a small cave bear. The description of the skull was published in the Vestnik Archeologii, Anthropologii I Ethnographii.

"The hole in the skull could be either natural or artificial," said senior researcher of the laboratories at the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Ural Federal University Dmitry Gimranov. "In the first case, for example, a stone could fall on the bear's head, or water dripped onto the skull during thousands of years. But this is highly unlikely. Most likely the animal was killed by ancient people."

To establish whether the bear was killed or not, scientists have to find out when the hole was made - during life or after the death of the animal. In the second case, the hole can be evidence of a ritual.

"In the Paleolithic, ritual, sacred practices were widespread," said Dmitry Gimranov. "These are handicrafts made of bones, and drawings on the walls of caves not only mammoths' and much more. Therefore, a hole in the skull could have been made after the death of the bear as a ritual practice. The facts of hunting for bears in general at that time are extremely rare. For example, in Europe, many cave bears' bones of were found. But for millions of finds, only 20-30 bones have traces of felling, which means that the meat was removed from the animal for eating. And there is only one fact of the hunt. European researchers have found a stone tip in the vertebra of a bear. There have been no such finds in Russia before. Moreover, all found with traces of human hands belong to large cave bears."

As Gimranov said, hunting for large mammals was essential for life support of ancient humans. However, hunting for small cave bears was not a specialty of the ancient hunters who left traces of their stay in the Imanay cave. At the same time, Paleo human has such strength that he could pierce the bear skull with a spear at close range with relative ease.

Note

The excavations in the Imanay cave, which is located in the Bashkiria National Park, have been carried out by researchers for three years. During this time, paleontologists have collected more than 10 thousand remains of the Late Pleistocene period. Researchers from Yekaterinburg, Moscow, Ufa take part in this study.

Cave bears inhabited the territory of northern Eurasia in the Late Pleistocene (250-10 thousand years ago). These animals were often found in the faunas of Western Europe, the Russian Caucasus, and the Urals. Finds of cave bear bones are common in caves and sometimes form huge clusters. But the caves were inhabited not only by animals but also by ancient man. Therefore, the joint finding of the bones of a cave bear and artifacts is not uncommon. However, the Pleistocene small cave bear is not a very common type of cave bear. For the first time, its remains were found in Great Britain in 1922. Later, the Russian academician Aleksey Borisyak collected and described more voluminous material in Krasnodar (Russia). He named the new species the Russian cave bear. Subsequently, it became known as the "small cave bear". Both in Russia and the West, "traces" of this species are very rare.

Really large finds are associated with excavations in the 1970s - 1980s in the Kizel Cave in the Perm Region (the finds are stored in St. Petersburg). Ural paleontologists were fortunate enough to discover the Imanay cave, where the bones of a small cave bear turned out to be several times larger than in Kizel Cave. Today, Imanay Cave is the largest deposit of the remains of a small cave bear in the world.

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Decades of research has revealed the remarkable morphological adaptations of sea snakes to aquatic life, which include paddle-shaped tails, salt-excreting glands, and the ability to breathe through their skin.

In a new study published in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, researchers at the University of Adelaide detail the enlarged touch receptors that evolved in male turtle-headed sea snakes (Emydocephalus annulatus), to help them locate and court females in aquatic environments.

Lead author, Jenna Crowe-Riddell, PhD graduate at the University of Adelaide's School of Biological Sciences, says on land, snakes use tongue-flicking to sense and follow sex pheromones left by other snakes, but in the water these chemicals are diluted.

"What's more, turtle-headed sea snakes can't see very clearly underwater; they've been known to court anything long and dark, including sea cucumbers. To make matters worse, once a female is found the male must overcome buoyancy force so he doesn't float away from his potential mate.

"Most snakes have thousands of touch receptors all over their face that look like a dusting of freckles. These touch receptors have become much larger in sea snakes, potentially to sense vibrations made by swimming mates, prey or predators.

"When we took a closer look at museum specimens, we discovered male turtle-headed sea snakes have larger touch receptors overall than females. We also found mature males have enlarged scale structures on their snout and chin, and their cloaca - an all-purpose hole used for reproduction and excretion."

Crowe-Riddell and colleagues used a range of microscopy techniques to characterise the ultrastructure of enlarged scale structures. They found that the structures on the chin and cloaca have specialised cells indicative of touch receptors - which suggests they provide sensory feedback for the male.

The researchers suggest that chin receptors may help males orient towards the direction of the female's swimming, whereas the cloacal receptors may help the male to align himself for successful reproduction.

"We think these receptors evolved to help males maintain the correct points of contact with the female during mating, which is a tricky task when you're a tube-shaped limbless snake," said Crowe-Riddell.

Males also have a spine-like structure on the snout known as a 'rostral spine' that is used to prod the back of females during courtship.

"The rostral spine may be used to stimulate the female, such types of tactile foreplay are thought to be important for mating in snakes because they can cause beneficial hormonal changes and receptive behaviours in females," said Crowe-Riddell.

"Reptiles are not typically appreciated for their intimate interactions, but our research is revealing that sea snakes have fascinating tactile adaptations for intra-species communication."

The evolutionary transition from terrestrial to aquatic life has influenced the signaling systems of many secondarily aquatic animals.

"As we build a more complete picture of underwater perception, sea snakes are becoming a fantastic example of how evolution creates opportunity from constraints," said Crowe-Riddell.

Further research could examine the role that tactile sensory modalities play in mate selection, an often overlooked aspect of snake social behaviour.

There are at least three species of turtle-headed sea snakes. These species occur in shallow-water habitats in Australia, south-east Asia and the Indo-Pacific.

In the study, researchers examined 59 specimens collected from offshore reefs in the Timor Sea, and accessed from the Australian Museum, the Art Gallery of Northern Territory, and the Western Australian Museum. The study was co-authored by researchers at the University of Melbourne and the University of New Caledonia.

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Evidence showing intensive land use for farming and fishing more than 3,500 years ago helps researchers better understand the history of a culturally significant area and is counter to the often-held notion of a pristine Amazon before Europeans arrived

ORLANDO, June 2021 - A new study co-authored by University of Central Florida researchers shows that pre-Columbian people of a culturally diverse but not well-documented area of the Amazon in South America significantly altered their landscape thousands of years earlier than previously thought.

The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show evidence of people using fire and improving their landscape for farming and fishing more than 3,500 years ago. This counters the often-held notion of a pristine Amazon during pre-Columbian times before the arrival of Europeans in the late 1400s.

The study, which was conducted with experts from the UK's Northumbria University, also provides mores clues to the past of the diverse, but not well-documented, cultures that live in the area known as the Llanos de Mojos in northeastern Bolivia.

"This region has one the highest diversity of languages in the world, which reflects distinct ways of life and cultural heritage," says study co-author John Walker, an associate professor in UCF's Department of Anthropology. "We know something about the last 3,000 to 4,000 years of, say Europe or the Mediterranean, but we don't have some of that same information for the people here. That makes this an incredible story waiting to be written."

Part of the way researchers hope to write these stories is to uncover the economic practices of the distant past.

The flat, wetland landscape of the Llanos de Mojos is used for cattle ranching today, but archaeologists have noted for years the evidence from remnants of pre-Columbian raised fields and fish weirs for aquaculture. These remnants indicated the land was once used instead for farming and fishing. The archaeologists just didn't know when or how far back in time these activities started -- until now.

Previous research pointed to a date of about 300 C.E., or about 1,700 years ago. However, the new study combined expertise from multiple disciplines, such as anthropology, paleoethnobotany and paleoecology, to indicate that intensive land management started much earlier, at about 1,500 B.C.E, or about 3,500 years ago.

"This finding is important because it provides evidence that the Amazon is not a pristine wilderness but has been shaped and designed by indigenous people thousands of years before the Spanish arrived," Walker says.

This is new information for both the history of the cultures of the Amazon, which have not been studied as much as other cases, like the Mayas or Incas, and for the area, which is often thought of as an untouched world before the arrival of the Spanish.

Neil Duncan, the study's lead author and a paleoethnobotanist in UCF's Department of Anthropology, specializes in studying archaeological and paleoenvironmental plant remains to learn how humans and plants interacted in the past.

With help from the research team, Duncan extracted two, five-foot long cores of earth from two locations about 13 miles apart in the Llanos de Mojos.

By examining these cores, Duncan found corn and squash phytoliths dating as early as 1380 B.C.E and 650 B.C.E, or about 3,000 years ago. Phytoliths are microscopic silica particles from plant tissue, and the findings suggest these were crops grown in the numerous raised fields that dot the area.

Colleagues from Northumbria University in the United Kingdom examined the cores for charcoal, pollen and diatoms, which are single-celled alga indicative of aquatic environments.

Both cores showed similar trends of initial dry conditions in the oldest layers of earth, followed by increased wet conditions and increased use of wood burning, as evidenced by the presence of high diatom concentrations and charcoal concentrations, respectively. The researchers say wood burning could be for cooking, pottery, warmth and more.

"This is the first time that we've been able to show in the past how people managed their land and water resources in a coupled system," says Bronwen Whitney, an associate professor of geography and environmental sciences who led the research by the Northumbria University team. Whitney is an expert in historic environmental changes, particularly in South and Central America.

"The intensification of plant, fire and water management occurred at the same time, which emphasizes how farming or fishing were equally important to the people of the region," Whitney says.

Also of note is that the shifts in the two cores to more intensive land management happened at different periods, the researchers say.

One core, known as the Mercedes core, showed the shift to wetter conditions and increased fire use starting at 1,500 B.C.E, or about 3,500 years ago. The other, extracted from a location about 13 miles farther south and known as the Quinato-Miraflores core, showed the shift occurring at about 70 B.C.E., or about 2,100 years ago.

Since broadscale climate changes would have affected both areas at the same time, the time difference between the two cores suggests humans were purposefully engineering the land, including draining water in some areas, retaining it in others, and using trees for fuel.

"So, what's happening in the landscape is that that it's becoming wetter, and we think that some of those trees are being flooded out and so they're not as well represented," Duncan says. "And if things are getting wetter then we shouldn't see more charcoal. So, the interpretation is that we would only see these high amounts of charcoal if it's humans doing some very intentional and intensive burning."

The researchers say the next steps are to investigate the function, history, and role of the area's fish weirs and to apply new techniques to date earthworks directly and reconstruct a more detailed agricultural history for the region.

As part of this study, the researchers commissioned an illustration by artist Kathryn Killackey. The illustration is a representation of the pre-Columbian landscape around 3,500 years ago, based on their reconstruction, and details what they believe the region would have looked like at the time.

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The research was funded by a U.S.-U.K. collaborative funding partnership with the National Science Foundation (1758273) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/S00128X/1).

Study co-authors were Nicholas J.D. Loughlin and Emma P. Hocking with the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences at Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

The researchers also worked closely with the Bolivia Ministry of Cultures, Unidad Nacional de Arqueologia y Museos, Museo Regional Arqueologico "Yacuma," and researchers and students from the Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz.

Duncan received his doctorate in anthropology from the University of Missouri and joined UCF's Department of Anthropology, part of UCF's College of Sciences, in 2015. Walker received his doctorate in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and joined UCF's Department of Anthropology in 2006.

CONTACT: Robert H. Wells, Office of Research, robert.wells@ucf.edu
The German Research Foundation (DFG) has extended its funding for two Gottingen Collaborative Research Centres (CRC) from 1 July 2021. This means that CRC 1073 "Atomic Scale Control of Energy Conversion" at the Faculty of Physics at Gottingen University will go into its third successful funding period. The CRC started in October 2013, coordinated by Professor Christian Joo from the Institute of Material Physics. CRC 1286 "Quantitative Synaptology" at the University Medical Center Gottingen (UMG) has won support for a second funding period. The research lead is Professor Silvio Rizzoli, Director of the Institute of Neuro- and Sensory Physiology and research lead for the Centre for Biostructural Imaging of Neurodegeneration (BIN) at UMG. The funding amounts to around ten million euros per year over four years.

CRC 1073 Atomic Scale Control of Energy Conversion

The CRC Atomic Scale Control of Energy Conversion is based at the Faculty of Physics and the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Gottingen, as well as the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (MPIBPC) in Gottingen. In addition, one research group each from the Clausthal University of Technology, the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg and the Helmholtz-Zentrums fur Materialien und Energie in Berlin are involved.

New materials that enable better control of energy conversion are of great importance for advanced applications in the fields of both solar cells and electrochemical energy storage. In recent years, the CRC has succeeded in making a whole series of breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of the elementary steps in energy conversion in these fields. At the heart of this is the understanding that materials can exist in a state markedly different from their standard state of equilibrium due to "correlated excitations". This refers to the stimulation of particles in a material - in the same way that you might shine a light on electrons in a solar cell - affecting their behaviour to create a new state of the material where the particles strongly interact. This new state allows the energy to be controlled, converted and harnessed for a number of applications. In our example, "hot" electrons excited in a solar cell can be stabilised with the potential to increase their efficiency far beyond that of conventional systems.

Innovative, high-resolution and ultra-fast experimental methods developed by the CRC researchers are of marked significance for this research theme. "The application of these unique methods to our model systems has been a crucial contribution to the remarkable insights into the processes of energy conversion," says Joo. In the third funding period, which starts now, the scientists want to work out a new strategy for controlling energy conversion in materials through correlated excitations in an overarching way and find out how this can be transferred to applications.

Further information can be found at https:/ / www. uni-goettingen. de/ en/ 437142. html

CRC 1286 Quantitative Synaptology

The aim of CRC 1286 Quantitative Synaptology is to describe presynaptic and postsynaptic processes so precisely that a computer-assisted simulation of a functional, virtual synapse is made possible. In the future, the computer-assisted simulation of synapses could help to understand neurological and neurodegenerative diseases and, potentially, their healing mechanisms more precisely.

In the first funding phase, the scientists at CRC 1286 collected as much structural and functional data as possible for an "ideal" model synapse. To this end, they researched the molecular composition of synapses during their resting and active phases, the exact positions of synaptic organelles and proteins as well as their number, post-translational changes and interactions. In the second funding phase, these data can now be refined through further experimental work in the laboratory. At the same time, new projects in the field of Computational Neuroscience complement the CRC, which strongly strengthens the computational aspects. These now address several questions on synaptic transmission, from protein movement and nanoscale organisation to long-term dynamics and plasticity. "The results of these projects will optimally position us to establish models of synaptic function in the third funding period," says Rizzoli. "In the third funding period, our work will then reach its peak. In this final phase, we then want to focus on in computer modelling," says Rizzoli.

Scientists from 27 research groups from fields as diverse as neuroscience, physics, chemistry, and medical statistics across the Gottingen Campus are working together in 26 individual projects. Researchers from eight institutes and clinics of the UMG, four institutes of the University, the Max Planck Institutes for Biophysical Chemistry, for Experimental Medicine and for Dynamics and Self-Organisation as well as from the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE - Gottingen site), are involved. In addition, the following are involved: the Institute for Medical Systems Biology of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research (MPI MF) in Heidelberg, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE-B - Berlin site) and the Leibniz Forschungsinstitut fur Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) in Berlin.

Further information can be found at https:/ / www. sfb1286. de/ ?lang= en

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Contact:

Professor Christian Joo

University of Gottingen

Faculty of Physics - Institute of Material Physics

Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Gottingen, Germany

Tel: +49 (0)551 39-5303

Email: jooss@material.physik.uni-goettingen.de
The aurora borealis, or northern lights, that fill the sky in high-latitude regions have fascinated people for thousands of years. But how they're created, while theorized, had not been conclusively proven.

In a new study, a team of physicists led by University of Iowa reports definitive evidence that the most brilliant auroras are produced by powerful electromagnetic waves during geomagnetic storms. The phenomena, known as Alfven waves, accelerate electrons toward Earth, causing the particles to produce the familiar atmospheric light show.

The study, published online June 7 in the journal Nature Communications, concludes a decades-long quest to demonstrate experimentally the physical mechanisms for the acceleration of electrons by Alfven waves under conditions corresponding to Earth's auroral magnetosphere.

"Measurements revealed this small population of electrons undergoes 'resonant acceleration' by the Alfven wave's electric field, similar to a surfer catching a wave and being continually accelerated as the surfer moves along with the wave," says Greg Howes, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Iowa and study co-author.

Scientists have known that energized particles that emanate from the sun--such as electrons racing at approximately 45 million miles per hour--precipitate along the Earth's magnetic field lines into the upper atmosphere, where they collide with oxygen and nitrogen molecules, kicking them into an excited state. These excited molecules relax by emitting light, producing the colorful hues of the aurora.

The theory was supported by spacecraft missions that frequently found Alfven waves traveling Earthward above auroras, presumably accelerating electrons along the way. Although space-based measurements had supported the theory, limitations inherent to spacecraft and rocket measurements had prevented a definitive test.

The physicists were able to find confirmatory evidence in a series of experiments conducted at the Large Plasma Device (LPD) in UCLA's Basic Plasma Science Facility, a national collaborative research facility supported jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation.

"The idea that these waves can energize the electrons that create the aurora goes back more than four decades, but this is the first time we've been able to confirm definitively that it works," says Craig Kletzing, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Iowa and a study co-author. "These experiments let us make the key measurements that show that the space measurements and theory do, indeed, explain a major way in which the aurora are created."

The phenomenon of electrons "surfing" on the electric field of a wave is a theoretical process known as Landau damping, first proposed by Russian physicist Lev Landau in 1946. Through numerical simulations and mathematical modeling, the researchers demonstrated that the results of their experiment agreed with the predicted signature for Landau damping.

The agreement of experiment, simulation, and modeling provides the first direct evidence that Alfven waves can produce accelerated electrons, causing the aurora, says Troy Carter, professor of physics at UCLA and director of the UCLA Plasma Science and Technology Institute.

"This challenging experiment required a measurement of the very small population of electrons moving down the LPD chamber at nearly the same speed as the Alfven waves, numbering less than one in a thousand of the electrons in the plasma," Carter says.

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James Schroeder, assistant professor of physics at Wheaton College and the study's corresponding author, earned a doctorate at Iowa. Frederick Skiff, professor in the UI Department of Physics and Astronomy, is a study co-author. Stephen Vincena and Seth Dorfman, with UCLA's Space Science Institute, are contributing authors.

More detailed information is available at: https:/ / homepage. physics. uiowa. edu/ ~ghowes/ research/ aurora. html .

The U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and NASA funded the research.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A new book written and illustrated by two recent alumnae of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign introduces third graders to the nuts and bolts of automotive mechanics and engineering.

"Jenny Saves a Convertible" is the first book written and illustrated by U. of I. students to be published through a project with Illinois Engineering Ambassadors, a public outreach and professional development group for students in the Grainger College of Engineering.

The group reaches more than 1,000 schoolchildren each year, providing high-quality educational events and hands-on activities on the U. of I. campus and in elementary and secondary schools in the Champaign and Chicago areas.

Bioengineering professor Jennifer Amos, who co-founded and co-directs the group, said she intends for "Jenny" to be the inaugural volume in a series of children's books that will pique young people's interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

"The book project started as a way to enhance the outreach that we're doing in schools and get kids excited before we visit," Amos said.

Amos raised the funds for the University of Illinois Press to publish 100 copies of "Jenny" and other stories written by engineering students who participate in the project. The "Jenny" book will be provided to schoolteachers this fall to read with their students and will complement learning activities led by Illinois Engineering Ambassadors during classroom visits or virtually.

Alumna Taylor Tucker

Alumna Taylor Tucker is the author of "Jenny Saves a Convertible."

Photo provided

The author, Taylor Tucker of Winnetka, Illinois, who graduated in May with a master's degree in curriculum and instruction and also earned a bachelor's degree in engineering mechanics in 2017, said writing the book fulfilled a longtime aspiration.

"I've always loved to write in any form, and I had thought several years ago about doing a children's book because I wanted to reach that young audience somehow," Tucker said. "But I knew I would need a good illustrator and the right opportunity to make something like that happen. I put that in the back of my mind and decided, when the time is right, I will do this."

Opportunity knocked in 2019 when Amos discussed her book project idea at a meeting. Undergraduate students in engineering and graphic design would write and illustrate children's stories with STEM themes for credit toward their degrees.

In "Jenny Saves a Convertible," a young girl dreams of refurbishing her own car as she helps her grandfather in his auto repair shop. While Jenny and her grandfather work, they discuss how internal combustion engines operate, and by the end of the tale, Jenny has gained enough knowledge that she fixes up a convertible by herself and drives it in a parade.

While the story is fictional and employs bits of "magical realism," Tucker said it was inspired by her family's interest in cars.

The character Jenny in illustrations from the children's book "Jenny Saves a Convertible"

Author Taylor Tucker, who based the story on her family's interest in cars, hopes the character's adventures will spark girls' curiosity about how objects operate and empower them to create design improvements.

Photo by Fred Zwicky

The story also involves female empowerment, another theme inspired by Tucker's family. Her grandfather, an automotive engineer, and her grandmother encouraged Tucker's mother and her three sisters to be independent and transcend societal gender expectations of the time.

Tucker said she hopes the story will spark girls' curiosity about how objects work and empower them to think about design improvements they could make if they were to become engineers.

Tucker wrote "Jenny" during her first year in the College of Education's Digital Environments for Learning, Teaching and Agency graduate program. Nicole Dowling of Louisville, Kentucky, her partner on the project and a senior at the time, created the illustrations for credit toward a bachelor's degree in graphic design. She graduated in 2020.

Tucker will participate in future school visits with Illinois Engineering Ambassadors when she returns to the U. of I. in 2022 for a doctoral program in engineering.

Amos said learning how to explain their work to younger people benefits the engineering students too - something that Amos discovered when she taught seventh graders twice a week during graduate school.

"Being able to explain the research I was doing to my students changed the way I thought about it, and helped me focus on the impact and stay motivated," she said.

"The engineering students who wrote the books had that same experience. Communicating what they do to younger people makes them better engineers."

To make the "Jenny" book more broadly available, Tucker and Dowling also self-published it through Amazon and recently made it available in digital form. The two women found their collaboration on the book so rewarding that they decided to embark on a second book project on their own, Tucker said.

"The story uses weather science and a child's fear of thunderstorms to teach methods for coping with anxiety, such as taking deep breaths to calm down," Tucker said.

Amos is finalizing a second book in conjunction with Illinois Engineering Ambassadors that she expects to publish in the fall. Written by engineering alumna Samantha Park and illustrated by graphic design alumna Felicia Phillips, the story introduces children to computer science through the experiences of two girls who are curious about cellphone apps.

With the pandemic limiting in-person activities during the 2020-2021 academic year, Illinois Engineering Ambassadors conducted its school visits over Zoom, Amos said.

Even when schools allow in-person visits to resume, the group may continue providing some activities virtually to reach greater numbers of children. Accordingly, the group is working on a set of YouTube videos and creating a STEM-themed coloring book for very young children to broaden its audience, she said.

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Research between the University of Liverpool, UK and National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan has revealed a new charge storage mechanism that has the potential to allow rechargeability within calcium-air batteries.

In a paper published in the journal Chemical Science, Professor Laurence Hardwick from the University of Liverpool's Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy (SIRE) and colleagues discover a distinctive form of charge storage at the electrode interface described as trapped interfacial redox. This new finding introduces a new mechanism of charge storage that could be harnessed in practical devices.

Lead author of the paper, Yi Ting (Leo) Lu, is a joint PhD student in the dual PhD programme between the University of Liverpool and National Tsing Hua University. He said: "We started investigating these electrolyte systems as part of understanding how to develop a metal-air battery based upon calcium metal, which is a highly earth abundant element, creating a highly sustainable battery technology."

"The research explores the formation of an electrochemically generated interlayer coating on electrode surfaces that confines the reduced form of oxygen gas known as superoxide, allowing it to then be readily oxidised."

The research was carried out in an electrolyte designed for a calcium-air battery, which had so far been shown to be practically irreversible. The research team noticed that, when the electrode was cycled many tens of times, the electrochemical process became steadily more reversible, and a series of experiments were conducted to fully understand the mechanism.

Dr Alex Neale, who is also part of the research team, said: "Through systematic electrochemical and spectroscopy investigations, we began to understand the origins of this reasonably strange and exciting new process appearing in our measurements. The new mechanism of trapped interfacial redox we defined facilitates a previously unseen degree of reversibility for systems based on the calcium-air battery."

Further work will explore how readily this phenomenon is observed in different electrolyte systems and to understand whether the charge stored can be further exploited, scaled up and used in a practical system for energy storage.

Due to the UK lockdown in March 2020, Yi Ting (Leo) Lu returned to Taiwan 6 months earlier than planned, so to complete the study the team set up parallel experiments within both Liverpool and NTHU labs to cross compare results and ensure reproducibility of observations.

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The collaborative research between the two University research groups in Liverpool and NTHU was made possible by support through the Dual PhD Programme and funding from the EPSRC for the project Earth-Abundant Metal-Air Batteries (EP/R020744/1) and The Calcium-Air Battery (EP/R000441/1).

The research has benefited from battery research and characterisation facilities at the Stephenson institute for Renewable Energy, University of Liverpool

The paper ' Trapped interfacial redox introduces reversibility in the oxygen reduction reaction in a non-aqueous Ca2+ electrolyte' (doi.org/10.1039/D0SC06991D) is published in Chemical Science.
PHILADELPHIA (June 7, 2021) - An article written almost 30 years ago helps frame social constructs around the COVID-19 pandemic. By reviewing the essay, an historian of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) extends that construct to include nurses and patients, delivering a local and personal meaning to the epidemic experience.

In an essay in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Julie A. Fairman, PhD, RN, FAAN, Endowed Chair, the Nightingale Professor in Honor of Nursing Veterans, and Professor of Nursing at Penn Nursing, reviews Charles Rosenberg's 1992 article about the AIDS epidemic. Using Rosenberg's theme, she further develops the meaning of an epidemic from the nursing perspective.

"Even as we have experienced different kinds of infectious epidemics over the last century (Ebola, AIDS), Rosenberg's three interrelated stages still help us understand, from a sociological perspective, how society constructs the meaning of epidemics and manages policies, structures, and post-epidemic explanations," says Fairman. "Asking the question 'What is an epidemic?' from the perspective of nurses illustrates how a different cast of expert actors generate meanings that can then be part of a broader understanding of epidemics in general."

Fairman argues that the meaning of epidemics from the perspective of nurses, their patients, and their history injects a more layered approach to the question. Where Rosenberg wrote from the perspective of the history of medicine with the intent to understand the relationship between social structure, meaning and ideology, Fairman writes from the perspective of nurses and patients.

"A nursing perspective illustrates the construction of the meaning of an epidemic from the experiences of the patient and professional nurse, from the ground up rather than from the top down," writes Fairman. "It offers different questions exploring the experiences of patients, families, and practitioners, as well as their hopes, expectations, fears, and needs."

"Epidemics from the Perspective of Professional Nursing: Beyond Germs, Public Health, and Pot Banging" is available online.

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About the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is one of the world's leading schools of nursing. For the sixth year in a row, it is ranked the #1 nursing school in the world by QS University and is consistently ranked highly in the U.S. News & World Report annual list of best graduate schools. Penn Nursing is ranked as one of the top schools of nursing in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Penn Nursing prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through innovation in research, education, and practice. Follow Penn Nursing on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & Instagram.
An international research team, including the University of South Florida Health Informatics Institute, created and validated a predictive model with potential for early monitoring of infants at risk for type 1 diabetes

TAMPA, Fla. (June 4, 2021)  Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which a misdirected immune system gradually destroys healthy pancreatic islet  cells, resulting in a lack of insulin. The exact cause of T1D remains unknown. However,  cell-reactive autoantibodies can be detected in circulating blood months to years before diagnosis, raising the possibility of intervening to stop or delay T1D before children develop the disease.

Monitoring the number, type, and concentration of autoantibodies appearing in the blood can help predict the long-term risk of progression from autoimmunity to symptomatic T1D.

Now new findings suggest that measuring how patterns of gene expression in white blood cells change in children starting in infancy - before autoantibodies appear indicating an autoimmune reaction against the  cells - can predict earlier and more robustly which genetically-susceptible individuals will progress to T1D. The comprehensive international study included co-investigators from the University of South Florida Health Informatics Institute (HII).

The research was published on March 31 in Science Translational Medicine.

HII Director Jeffrey Krischer, PhD, a professor in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine's Department of Internal Medicine, and Hemang M. Parikh, PhD, an assistant professor of bioinformatics in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics, were co-investigators of the study led by the UK researchers at the University of Cambridge.

"Our identification of specific changes in the blood related to natural killer cells provides evidence for the potential involvement of these immune cells in the onset or progression of type 1 diabetes in asymptomatic children," Dr. Parikh said. "This creates a possible new target for early therapeutic intervention using immune modulation."

This study was based on blood samples longitudinally collected from 400 children in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) consortium as they grew older, from birth to age 6. (TEDDY follows children at risk of developing T1D, collecting blood and other samples long before disease symptoms emerge.)

Using genomic approaches and bioinformatics analytical methods, the blood samples were processed to measure the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously. This allowed researchers to identify which genes were switched on and off in each child at varying points in time.

Among the study's key findings:

Discovered dynamic, early changes in white blood cell gene expression: Whether or not they progressed to autoimmunity or T1D as they matured, all children in the study showed marked changes in patterns of gene expression in their blood within the first few years of life. This observation highlights the dynamic context in which healthy infants develop early autoimmune disease.When the researchers adjusted for the large changes in gene expression patterns with age, very specific patterns correlating with the rate of progression toward T1D diagnosis became apparent. They identified changes in blood gene expression not seen in healthy children, and these changes began before any other evidence of autoimmunity. Furthermore, the faster the changes occurred, the quicker the children progressed toward T1D onset.

Linked NK cell signature with T1D progression: By comparing a specific pattern of gene expression associated with T1D progression to groups of genes expressed by many different cell types, the researchers found that this pattern came from a distinct immune cell population known as natural killer (NK) cells. Although NK cells have been observed in the pancreas of children with recent-onset T1D, the role of these immune cells does not figure prominently in current theories explaining how the immunopathology of T1D develops. A more detailed study is needed to determine whether NK cells actively contribute to the T1D-related autoimmune process destroying -cells in the pancreas, reflecting a pathophysiological response.

Created a robust predictive model, independently confirmed: The researchers used their new knowledge about longitudinal changes in gene expression patterns to build a model to predict which infants would get T1D and when disease onset was likely to happen. The predictive model incorporates the latest evidence about how the seroconversion of autoantibodies influences progression to T1D. Its accuracy was validated using a second, independent group of prediabetic children from the Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Study.

"This type of large-scale research is only possible through the collaboration of many people, including healthy children at risk for T1D, patients with T1D, their families, and countless others," Dr. Parikh added. "USF is fortunate to play a part in such huge international efforts to tackle this complex autoimmune disease."

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The work was supported by multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health. USF Health's Dr. Krischer leads the coordinating center for the NIH-funded TEDDY consortium.

USF Health's mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the Taneja College of Pharmacy, the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, the Biomedical

Sciences Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs, and USF Health's multispecialty physicians group. The University of South Florida is a high-impact global research university dedicated to student success. Over the past 10 years, no other public university in the country has risen faster in U.S. News & World Report's national university rankings than USF. For more information, visit health.usf.edu
Today

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By 2034, nearly one-quarter of Americans will have reached retirement age, according to the United States Census Bureau. But as people age, the brain becomes more susceptible to developing disorders, such as essential tremor, Parkinson's disease, and tumors.

Clinicians and researchers are looking to emerging noninvasive ways to interact with living brain tissue that can be precisely targeted to specific areas. Focused ultrasound, when guided by integrated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is a promising new technology that is already used to treat patients with a variety of movement disorder conditions and solid tumors.

Now, with support from a $1.8-million grant from the Edward N. & Della L. Thome Memorial Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee, the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC is investing in an MRI-guided focused ultrasound facility.

"The ability to treat major disorders in both human and animal patients that impact deep structures in the body, including the brain, without invasive surgical procedures has been a major goal of medicine for years," said Michael Friedlander, Virginia Tech's vice president for health sciences and technology and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's executive director. "MRI-guided focused ultrasound affords this opportunity."

Researchers from the institute and across Virginia Tech will soon be able to carry out research to advance this technology for improved clinical use.

The new facility, located in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute on the Virginia Tech Carilion Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke, will also be available for potential future use by physicians and veterinarians to treat their patients.

Therapeutic focused ultrasound procedures target tissues deep in the body - without incisions or radiation - by using sound waves to heat up particles in a targeted region. The treatments are sought after and many patients are on waiting lists to receive therapy for various conditions, including essential tremor and Parkinson's associated tremor.

MRI-guided focused ultrasound can deliver precisely targeted energy to alleviate symptoms associated with several disorders more common with aging.

Recently, a team of Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists, led by biomedical engineer and associate professor Stephen LaConte, worked closely with Insightec and Siemens Healthineers to integrate Siemens' magnetic resonance imaging with Insightec's focused ultrasound system.

Friedlander said this research investment will help Virginia Tech and collaborators improve treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, as well as for treating certain solid tumors, to improve human and animal health.

"With the Thome Foundation's generous support, we will bring together Virginia Tech's expertise in neuroscience, cancer research, biomedical engineering, and veterinary medicine to catalyze innovation in this important area for modern medicine," Friedlander said. "There will be increasing opportunities to apply the discoveries and technological innovations in the clinic that will emerge from this interdisciplinary research program."

In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first focused ultrasound device to treat essential tremor in patients who had not responded to medication. During this procedure, clinicians use the device to make tiny thermal lesions in an area of the brain that prompts tremors, often instantly and painlessly clearing this symptom for patients.

Researchers continue to study ways to apply MRI-guided focused ultrasound to ablate a variety of solid tumor types. In December 2020, the FDA approved focused ultrasound to relieve pain in patients, including children, with bone tumors called osteoid osteomas.

Researchers at the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus, where Virginia Tech will open a research program on brain cancer research this fall, are also planning to use MRI-guided focused ultrasound in brain tumor clinical trials to transiently open the blood-brain barrier, allowing cancer-targeting drugs to pass through this protective layer in the brain and deliver potent therapeutics on target.

This is the first Thome Foundation grant to be awarded to Virginia Tech.

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Carried like stowaways in the guts of international travelers, new and potentially deadly strains of antimicrobial resistant superbugs may be coming to a community near you, suggests new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew that international travel was contributing to the rapid global increase and spread of antimicrobial resistance," said Alaric D'Souza, an MD/PhD student at Washington University and a co-first author of the study to be published June 6 in Genome Medicine. "But what's new here is that we've found numerous completely novel genes associated with antimicrobial resistance that suggest a worrisome problem on the horizon."

The research confirms that international travelers often return home with an unexpected bounty of new bacterial strains jostling for position among the thousands that normally reside within the gut microbiome.

Poverty, poor sanitation and changing agricultural practices have turned many low-income, developing regions into hot spots for diseases spread by bacteria, including infections that are increasingly resistant to a range of antibiotic drug treatments.

High-population densities make it easy for these bacteria to be shared among community residents and travelers through exposure to contaminated drinking water and food, or poorly sanitized restrooms, restaurants, hotel rooms and public transportation. Back at home, travelers run the risk of transferring these novel bacteria to family, friends and other community residents.

The research, conducted with Maastricht University in the Netherlands, involved analyzing bacterial communities in the gut microbiomes of 190 Dutch adults before and after travel to one of four international regions where the prevalence of resistance genes is high: Southeastern Asia, South Asia, North Africa and Eastern Africa.

Fecal samples analyzed as part of the study were randomly selected from a larger, multicenter investigation of about 2,000 Dutch travelers, the majority of whom were tourists, known as the Carriage Of Multi-resistant Bacteria After Travel (COMBAT) study.

"We found significant travel-related increases in the acquisition of resistance genes, abundance and diversity encoded by bacteria that are endemic to the region visited," D'Souza said. "These findings provide strong support for international travel as a vector for the global spread of clinically important antimicrobial resistance genes and highlight the need for broader surveillance of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in the gut microbiomes of returning travelers."

The new study was designed by co-senior authors John Penders, a medical microbiologist at Maastricht University, and Gautam Dantas, PhD, a professor of pathology & immunology at Washington University. Manish Boolchandani, PhD, a member of the Dantas Lab during the research and a 2020 graduate of the university's doctoral program in Computational and Systems Biology, is also a first author on the paper.

The World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies have described the rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance as one of the most serious public health threats now facing the world -- a looming medical catastrophe that could outweigh the chaos created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"While previous studies have scanned travelers' stool samples for well-known antimicrobial resistant bacteria, we used a combination of whole metagenome shotgun sequencing and functional metagenomics to identify both known and novel genes that code for antimicrobial resistance," Dantas said.

More traditional genomic techniques look for distinctive genetic signatures of individual pathogens. But such tests can only find known pathogens, while metagenomic sequencing can identify all organisms present in a given sample: good bacteria, dangerous bacteria and even those that are completely new.

In all, the researchers detected 121 antimicrobial resistance genes across the gut microbiomes of the 190 Dutch travelers. More than 40% of these resistance genes (51 of them) were only discovered using the more sensitive metagenomics technique, suggesting that potentially dangerous genes are being missed by the more conventional approaches.

Equally concerning, the study's results confirmed that 56 unique antimicrobial resistance genes had become part of the travelers' gut microbiomes during their trips abroad, including several mobile, high-risk resistance genes, such as extended-spectrum -lactamases (ESBL) and the plasmid-borne colistin resistance gene, mcr-1.

Resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics is emerging worldwide and confers broad resistance to treatment by penicillins and other important antibiotics.

The mcr-1 genes protect bacteria from another antimicrobial drug called colistin, which is the last-resort treatment for infections by multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria. If colistin resistance spreads to bacteria that are resistant to other antibiotics, those bacteria could cause truly untreatable infections, the CDC has warned.

Because metagenomic analysis allows researchers to study all the bacteria and genes in a collection of gut microbiome samples as one, large mixed community of organisms, it also provides opportunity to explore complex ecological interactions between these organisms.

While bacteria may slowly evolve resistance from repeated exposures to antibiotics over time, diverse bacterial communities also share antimicrobial resistance genes through a more rapid process known as horizontal transfer, usually via the exchange of mobile genetic elements that allow snippets of DNA to jump from one bacterium to another.

"Since genes that code for resistance to different classes of antibiotics are often located on the same mobile elements, a single horizontal exchange has the potential to convert bacteria previously susceptible to antibiotics into a multi-drug resistant organism," said Dantas.

Researchers also used metagenomic techniques to piece together important contextual information about resistance gene location and function.

"There was significant association of resistance genes with mobile genetic elements, a primary way that resistance genes spread among bacteria," D'Souza said. "Though our study was unable to demonstrate resistance genes are carried by pathogenic bacteria, it's clear that this is possible. Additionally, international travelers have the potential to introduce resistance genes into their own communities when they return home, and future studies directly addressing this possibility are a priority."

Added Dantas: "Identifying new antimicrobial resistant bacteria and genes could play an important role in slowing the global spread of resistance and guide potential treatments for related diseases. Our study lays the groundwork for those efforts by offering new insight into the genetic mechanisms that underlie the rapid acquisition and sharing of antimicrobial resistance genes across people's gut microbiomes during international travel."

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Thousands of Canadians took to the streets to call for more government action after the remains of 215 children were discovered at a former residential school for indigenous children.
Microblogging site Koo is planning to foray into Nigeria after the African country banned rival Twitter on Friday. The US-based social networking platform was banned after it deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari for violating rules.

@kooindia is available in Nigeria. Were thinking of enabling the local languages there too. What say? the companys co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna wrote on Twitter.

In response to the ban in Nigeria, Twitter said: We are deeply concerned by the blocking of Twitter in Nigeria. Access to the free and #OpenInternet is an essential human right in modern society. We will work to restore access for all those in Nigeria who rely on Twitter to communicate and connect with the world."

Recently, Koo had raised $30 million in Series B funding. Tiger Global has led the investment round with existing investors Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures and Dream Incubator also participating in the round. IIFL and Mirae Assets are other new investors who have come on board the cap table with this round.

The fresh round of funding will be utilised mainly to strengthen engineering, product and community efforts across all Indian languages at Koo.

Founded by serial entrepreneurs Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka, Koo has garnered nearly 6 million downloads in just a year of operations with an impressive community posting content every day.

Aprameya Radhakrishna had said We have aggressive plans to grow into one of the worlds largest social media platforms in the next few years. Every Indian is cheering for us to get there soon. Tiger Global is the right partner to have onboard to realize this dream."
GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Falls as Aussie Boosted by Positive Chinese Economic Data

The Pound Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate dipped by -0.2% today as the Chinese economy  the worlds second-largest and Australias biggest trading partner  continues to grow, with imports growing at their fastest pace in decades. The pairing is currently fluctuating around AU$1.82.

The risk-sensitive Aussie has benefited from an improving outlook for the Chinese economy as the global economic outlook continues to improve, buoying demand for riskier assets like AUD.

Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, was more dovish, however, commenting about the slump in exports:

Exports surprised a bit on the downside, maybe due to the COVID cases in Guangdong province which slowed down the turnover in Shenzhen and Guangzhou ports.

In Australian economic data, Sunday saw the release of the AiG performance of services index for May, which rose to 61.2.

However, rising numbers of Covid-19 in Victoria have dampened confidence in the Australian economy and has limited the appeal of the risk-sensitive Aussie.

Pound (GBP) Exchange Rate Dips as Investors Fear Delay of Junes Easing of UK Lockdown Measures

The Pound (GBP) dipped against the Aussie today as UK Covid-19 infection rates continue to head higher. However, the death toll and hospitalisations still remain low.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is now expected to further elucidate whether the full lifting of Covid-19 restrictions will go ahead on June 21.

As a result, GBP investors are becoming worried that rising infections could delay the further easing of lockdown measures this month.

In UK economic data, the latest Halifax house price figure rose by 1.3% month-on-month last month  a seven year high  according to Halifax data.

Russell Galley, the managing director of Halifax, commented on the report, highlighting post-pandemic lifestyles as boosting house prices:

Whilst these effects will be temporary, the current strength in house prices also points to a deeper and long-lasting change as buyer preferences shift in anticipation of new, post-pandemic lifestyles  as greater demand for larger properties with more space might warrant an increased willingness to spend a higher proportion of income on housing.

GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Forecast: Could Falling UK Joblessness Boost Sterling?

Australian Dollar (AUD) traders will eye tomorrows release of the Reserve Bank of Australias (RBA) meeting minutes.

Any bullishness from the RBA about the outlook for Australias economy would be AUD-positive.

Tomorrow will also see the release of the National Australia Banks (NAB) business confidence report for the second quarter.

If Australias business morale continues to improve, then the AUD/GBP exchange rate would head higher.

In UK economic data, tomorrow will see the publication of Aprils UK ILO unemployment rate report.

The Pound Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate would head higher if the outlook for the UKs labour market continues to improve.
From: Carol M. Swain -- Political Scientist and Commentator For Immediate Release: Dateline: Nashville , TN Sunday, June 6, 2021

Dr. Carol Swainhttps://carolmswain.com/ Dr. Swain is host of the podcast Be The People on the America Out Loud Podcast Network. Passionate about empowering others to raise their voices in the public square, she is an author, public speaker, and political commentator. ABOUT BE THE PEOPLE PROJECT Be the People Project is a 501 C(3) nonprofit dedicated to changing the direction of America's culture by relentlessly educating people about conservative Judeo-Christian values and principles. Be the People will make available to the public resources that can be downloaded and shared. Website: http://www.BeThePeopleNews.com


Monday, June 7, 2021

The Stevie Awards, organizer of the worlds premier business awards programs, announced the winners of six Grand Stevie Award trophies in its eighth annual Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards. The Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards are the only awards to recognize innovation in the workplace throughout the entire 29-nation Asia-Pacific region. All organizations in the region are eligible to submit nominations to the competition.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners in the various categories were announced on 5 May . Those awards were determined by the average scores of more than 100 executives worldwide acting as judges in March and April. Winners will be celebrated during a virtual awards ceremony on Wednesday, 14 July at 2:00 pm KST. Tickets for the event are now on sale .

The 2021 Grand Stevie Award for Most Honored Organization of the Year goes to Telkom Indonesia, with 89 award points. This is the sixth time Telkom Indonesia has earned a Grand Stevie Award in the Asia-Pacific Stevies. This award could not be applied for directly. The award is determined by a points system based on the total number of awards won in the competition, with a Gold Stevie win counting for 3 points, a Silver Stevie for 2 points, and a Bronze Stevie counting for 1.5.

Grand Stevie Awards are also presented to the highest-scoring nomination from each of the four nations that submitted the most nominations to the competition:

Australia: The nomination of VivoPower International PLCs organizational turnaround by Arowana (North Sydney), which won a Gold Stevie for Innovative Achievement in Organization Recovery.

China: The nomination by CITIC Telecom International CPC Limited, Hong Kong, of AR Remote Hand - an AR-based operations and maintenance solution to transform customer experience. The nomination won a Gold Stevie Award for Innovation in Technology Development.

Indonesia: Telkom Indonesias nomination of their collaboration with other state-owned companies on the National Vaccine Distribution System (NVDS), winner of a Gold Stevie Award for Most Valuable Service During COVID-19.

Philippines: There is a tie for the highest-scoring nomination from the Philippines, which is second only to China in the number of nominations submitted. Both of the following nominations will receive Grand Stevie Awards:

Prime Metro BMD Corporation (Pasay City), winner of a Gold Stevie Award for Most Valuable Corporate Response During COVID-19, for their role in the rapid construction of medical facilities at the outset of the pandemic.

SM Supermalls / SM City Clark (Angeles City), for their release of SM Buddy, a virtual shopping assistant developed during the pandemic, which tied Prime Metro BMDs nomination for the Gold Stevie for Most Valuable Corporate Response During COVID-19.

The 2021 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards have recognized organizations in 20 nations including Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China including Hong Kong and Macao, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam. More than 900 nominations about innovative achievements in the 29-nation of the APAC region were considered by the judges this year.

So many of the nominations we received this year address how organizations and people have met the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, so it makes sense that a majority of our 2021 Grand Stevie Awards will go to nominations that recognize those efforts, said Maggie Gallagher, President of the Stevie Awards. We commend all of this years Stevie Award winners for their achievements, and we look forward to celebrating them on 14 July.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Janice S. Litvin 415.518.2202

Janice@JaniceLitvin.com

Janice Litvin Wellness Expert Invited to Speak at

WELCOA Institute for Wellness Studies

Banish Burnout: Move from Stress to Success

Jun 7, 2020

(San Francisco, CA) Janice Litvin, San Francisco Bay Area workplace wellness speaker, and author of Banish Burnout Toolkit, has been invited to represent WELCOA (Wellness Council of America) in their new Institute for Wellness Studies' premiere event with her keynote, "Banish Burnout Move from Stress to Success" on June 9th, 2021 via Zoom.

Stress and depression levels have increased significantly since the onset of Covid. Today Forbes columnist Edward Segal reported that seventy-seven percent of tech leaders have work-related stress because of Covid. When stress goes on unabated workers become exhausted physically and mentally, they feel ineffective at work, and they begin to avoid daily situations. Absenteeism and lost productivity ensue. Leaders across the globe are concerned about the mental health of their employees as well as the effect that employee burnout has on the organization as a whole.

Janice Litvin is on a mission to help leaders and teams banish burnout in their organizations, as well as get their employees healthy and productive, so they can come to work every day happy, healthy, and ready to work. Through her keynote speeches, workshops, and accountability groups, she helps employees prevent burnout through her unique program, Banish Burnout: Move From Stress to Success, and her new book, Banish Burnout Toolkit.

Welcoa (Wellness Council of America) is one of the most respected resources for building high-performing healthy workplaces. More can be found at https://www.Welcoa.org. As part of Welcoa's Wellness Institute Litvin has developed Ten Burnout Tools which will be placed in Welcoa's continuing education library.

For workplace wellness and human resource professionals this workshop will earn continuing education credits. To register for this impactful workshop go to https://www.welcoa.org/training/webinars-current-events/.

To learn more about Janice Litvin's Banish Burnout and other programs visit https://www.JaniceLitvin.com, and to book Janice for your next conference or corporate event, email: Janice@JaniceLitvin.com or call Janice at (415) 518-2202.

To claim a free chapter of Janice's book, Banish Burnout Toolkit visit https://www.JaniceLitvin.com/book.

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Amazon's Jeff Bezos will go into space on July 20.

Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000. And after 21 years, his company is preparing to take its first crew into space. Bezos and his brother will be on that flight.

"Ever since I was five years old, Ive dreamed of traveling to space," Bezos said on Instagram. "On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend. #GradatimFerociter"

The last uncrewed flight: Blue Origin gets crew dress rehearsal before launch from West Texas

Bezos previously said he would step down as Amazon's CEO and become the company's executive chair in the third quarter of this year. The third quarter runs July through September.

He will fly on Blue Origin's New Shepard reusable rocket system. Its capsule can hold six people, and one of the other seats is being auctioned off to the highest bidder.

As of Monday morning, the highest bid was $2.8 million.

The bidding began May 5 - May 19 with a sealed bid (no bids were visible). Unsealed bidding began May 19 and will continue through Thursday. On Saturday, a live online auction will be used to select the highest bidder.

The money raised through this auction will be donated to Blue Origins foundation, Club for the Future, that seeks to inspire future generations to pursue STEM careers and help invent the future of life in space.

Blue Origin has launched its New Shepard system 15 times without a crew. This system consists of a 60-foot-tall rocket booster and a crew capsule.

The combined vehicle launches together for about 2 minutes. Then the engine shuts off and the capsule separates from the booster to coast above the Karman line, which is largely identified as the boundary of space 62 miles above the Earth. The booster returns for a controlled, rocket-powered vertical landing.

In the spacecraft, which descends more slowly, occupants would have three minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth. Parachutes slow it down and then, right before landing, a retro-thrust system creates an air cushion for the capsule.
San Antonios City Council will tilt further left with the addition of young progressives who prevailed in runoff elections, but whether that translates into policy outcomes is still guesswork.

Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, 26, a math teacher at Madison High School, and Teri Castillo, 29, also an educator, trounced more moderate opponents in their path to win seats Saturday on the citys East and West sides, respectively.

Challenger Mario Bravo ousted District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino and pledged to work on an environmental agenda.

McKee-Rodriguez ousted first-term District 2 Councilwoman Jada Andrews-Sullivan  for whom he previously worked as a communications director  with a commanding lead of 26 percentage points.

In the runoff to replace outgoing District 5 Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales, Castillo soundly defeated retired city employee Rudy Lopez, who had drawn Gonzales support. Castillo beat Lopez by more than 15 percentage points.

Castillo and McKee-Rodriguez had the backing of former Mayor Julian Castro, the Democratic Socialists of Americas San Antonio chapter and the Texas Organizing Project, a progressive group that specializes in community and election organizing and that spent heavily and deployed legions of block walkers to get the pair elected.

Matthew Busch, Contributor / For The San Antonio Express-News

Each will now represent parts of town with high poverty and poor public infrastructure, and they took their wins as a sign that voters there have had enough of decades of discriminatory practices that led to a lack of investment in Black and Hispanic areas.

Folks are tired of the status quo, Castillo said Saturday night. Theyre ready for bold change, to meet the material needs of the established communities in District 5.

To push an agenda that includes reforming police, boosting investment in affordable housing and giving more legal protections to renters, the pair will have to navigate a council that leans left but whose work on these issues has not been aggressive enough, in their view.

I consider sometimes what Ive witnessed as being a bit wishy-washy, McKee-Rodriguez said Sunday. I think having the presence of two people who you know the perspective they come from, you know that were both progressive and you know were fighting for working-class people  I dont think its ever going to be a question of where were going to vote or how were going to vote.

To get majorities on the council to vote with them, the two will have to get Mayor Ron Nirenberg in their corner, said veteran political strategist Christian Archer. Nirenberg, for his part, will likely have to court the young progressives to get them on board with his third-term agenda.

Theyve all got bright ideas, but how do you take those ideas and turn it into policy? Archer said. Youre going to need the mayor behind you.

McKee-Rodriguez will be the seventh person to represent the East Side council district since 2014. He won by a wide margin, capturing 63 percent of the vote against Andrews-Sullivan, who was elected in 2019.

In District 5, Castillo beat Lopez with 58 percent of the vote.

In the fight to represent the citys urban core, Bravo, an environmental activist and project manager for the Environmental Defense Fund, denied Trevino, a third-term councilman, a fourth term, taking 54 percent of the vote.

On the North Side, District 9 incumbent John Courage fended off conservative challenger Patrick Von Dohlen to win a third term. Courage, a longtime Democrat whose nuts-and-bolts constituent service has won over many voters in the Republican-leaning district, defeated Von Dohlen with 54 percent of the vote.

On the Southeast Side, Phyllis Viagran roundly defeated former state Rep. Tomas Uresti for the District 3 seat soon to be vacated by Viagrans younger sister Rebecca Viagran, who was prevented from running again by term limits.

In the lead-up to Saturdays election, some candidates tried to tar their opponents as radical leftists. Lopezs campaign put out a mailer stating that Castillo advocates for Socialist and Marxist ideals, which she called a distraction. Von Dohlen relentlessly labeled Courage as a Marxist.

Neither Castillo nor McKee-Rodriguez plans to show up to council meetings with guns blazing. Both candidates faced rhetoric alleging their presence on the council would introduce polarization and partisanship to a fairly tranquil body.

Not even District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry, the councils lone conservative, buys that.

People make a lot out of those kinds of things, but weve got business to do here in San Antonio, Perry said. Thats what theyre in it for, thats what Im in it for. We just need to work together.

Castillo said one of her immediate priorities will be neighborhood stabilization and helping homeowners rehabilitate their homes to prevent demolition.

In upcoming talks over the citys next annual budget, McKee-Rodriguez said he plans to push for a city crime prevention office staffed with criminologists, as a means to ensure that money thats allocated for public safety is being spent on public safety needs.

Bravo has been a frequent critic of CPS Energy over the years, calling for more transparency and the increased use of environmentally friendly power generation by the city-owned utility.

He believes the city hasnt gone far enough to enact measures to reduce the regions carbon emissions, including the implementation of its own Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, a set of goals aimed at reducing those emissions and curbing the worst effects of climate change on local residents.

Weve been slow-walking this, Bravo said. Im determined to make sure that we start to take action.

On the police reform front, Bravo has floated the idea of establishing an independent office to investigate police misconduct that perhaps would double as a vehicle to investigate city ethics violations.

Each of them know the bulk of a council members job is dealing with the mundane work of sidewalks, streets and zoning cases.

Im a progressive, but Im a pragmatic progressive, Bravo said.

McKee-Rodriguez, who identifies as a Democratic Socialist, echoed that.

I think people are scared of progressives, thinking were these like radical, crazy people, he said. But really, were just representing people like us, people who make $45-50K a year, people who make less than that, people who are one mistake away from poverty.

Voter turnout in the runoffs fell significantly, compared with the May 1 election, when they flocked to the polls to cast ballots in the mayors race and narrowly defeated a ballot proposition that would have taken away collective bargaining rights from the police officers union.

More than 63,000 voters cast ballots in the five council races that went to runoffs. That turnout dropped by more than a third in those runoffs. Some 39,000 cast ballots in Saturdays election  representing a little more than 10 percent of the 379,000 people eligible to vote in the five races.

Staff writers Liz Hardaway, Scott Huddleston, Guillermo Contreras and Bruce Selcraig contributed to this report. jfechter@express-news.net.
Letter-by-letter, he typed with his eyes. He fought off pneumonia. His left lung collapsed more than once. Eliseo Eddie Ilarraza withdrew from his college program five times after starting in 2017.

And, yet, he pushed forward, overcoming a series of obstacles, mentally and physically, in pursuit of his dream. This spring, at the age of 51, Ilarraza graduated cum laude from Our Lady of the Lake University with a masters degree in social work.

Now, Illaraza hopes to organize a group of social workers that will help others with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a neurological condition that paralyzed him from the neck down. Hes currently applying for admission to the University of Southern Californias Doctorate of Social Work program.

I need to say it is a miracle that I am alive and got to see my graduation, he wrote in a Zoom chat. I believe strongly (that) my strength comes from my spiritual strength perspective. I was born again and accepted Jesus Christ in my heart.

Kimberly Gallegos, one of Ilarrazas professors, said his commitment speaks to who he is and his character. When Ilarraza graduated, he had achieved a 100 on his final seven-page research project.

I would have not known this student had challenges had I not been informed, Gallegos said. It still came down to him.

On ExpressNews.com: A band of brothers - San Antonio Army vets nonprofit serves homeless veterans, refugees

Originally from Dorado, Puerto Rico, Ilarraza was one of 13 children born to Antolino Ilarraza and Gloria Maria Sierra. Raised in nearby Maguayo, his favorite pastime was running barefoot through the barrio, chasing wild animals and climbing trees.

But domestic violence was ever-present from his father, an alcoholic who fought with Ilarrazas mother. In 1981, Ilarrazas mother left his father, moving the children to an apartment in Brooklyn, New York.

Photo courtesy of Eliseo Ilarraza

Ilarraza earned good grades at Dewey Junior High School, where he was shy and kept to himself until breakdancing became his gateway to popularity. Enthralled by a breakdancer named Anthony, Ilarraza learned how to spin in dizzying ways. He practiced until he felt confident to dance on the streets and house parties with his crew, called Pop and Spin.

His nickname was El Bailarin, or the dancer.

In 1999, Ilarraza graduated from New York City Technical College with a bachelors of Science in Human Services. And, in an ironic twist, he worked as a case manager and drug counselor at the New York University Lutheran Medical Center during the week, but he drank beer and wine and smoked weed on weekends.

On ExpressNews.com: Fitness knows no age: San Antonio woman, 85, finds freedom through yoga

Ilarrazas life took a dramatic turn one night on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 49th Street in Brooklyn. He heard the call of peace from pastors Joseph Mattera and Lenny Weston during their street service. Ilarraza was intrigued by people who testified about how faith had rescued them. Later, a play about Jesus as a champion spoke to him, and Ilarraza accepted Jesus Christ in his heart.

He attended services at Resurrection Church and became a worship leader for a few years, but the temptations of the streets lured him back to the fast lane.

Then, his days of dancing and running the streets came to an abrupt stop. Ilarrazas body began to fail him. He lost his ability to talk. Later, his legs gave out.

On Nov. 23, 2002, doctors diagnosed him with ALS. He was given five years to live. Ilarraza cried out as doctors tried to comfort him, and the diagnosis terrified him. He lost sleep, plagued by thoughts of dying at the young age of 32.

Within weeks, Ilarraza was paralyzed from the neck down; a trachea tube allowed him to breathe.

He found support through family, friends, social workers and medical personnel. Friend Judith Natt helped him at night, and personal care aides provided his basic needs during the day.

For more than 10 years, Ilarraza got help from ALS Association Greater New York Chapter social worker Sue Zimmerman. According to the associations blog, the chapters equipment loan program provided the eye-tracking device Ilarraza used to express his passion for life. An infrared camera tracks the graduates pupils as he focuses on one letter at a time to form words that become sentences.

His niece, Janet Cordero, helped him apply to take online courses at Our Lady of the Lake, and the device helped Ilarraza complete his degree.

Ilarraza shared details of his life in one of four books he published on Amazon, titled The Zealot Besotted Purpose: The Journey of Sunset Park and Our Lady of the Lake University.

On ExpressNews.com: Freedom not taken for granted by San Antonio resident who emigrated from Soviet-controlled country

Even as he continues to fight his own battles, the Brooklyn resident has served others in difficult times as a counselor on a crisis text line.

Ken Rodriguez, senior writer and media relations manager with the university, said Ilarraza used texts to help a woman with thoughts of suicide ideation and provide an intervention.

Ilarraza shared his feelings as the keynote speaker to his fellow Worden School of Social Service graduates during their online graduation. His nephew, Anthony Morales, read a PowerPoint presentation outlining Ilarrazas philosophy, medical journey and his amazing life.

The last slide was titled Words from My Heart to Inspire. Morales said immovable faith and resilience saved Ilarraza, and those beliefs could also benefit fellow graduates in their personal and professional lives.

Stephen Hawking, the famous scientist who also had ALS, said, While there is life, there is still hope, Ilarrazas nephew read from his uncles closing words. I would add there is hope to believe in the impossible to be possible.

vtdavis@express-news.net
After serving 12 years as an Army combat medic, 59-year-old George Johnson now sleeps on a pool table in the middle of the woods on San Antonios Northeast Side.

Around his makeshift bed, Johnson fashioned walls using planks of wood. Theyre decorated with blankets, and various shirts and jerseys are hung tidily. As the smell of burning firewood wafted from a small grill Johnson occasionally uses to barbecue or make fajitas, he explained that the fire keeps the bugs away.

His plight belies a slight easing of the regions homeless crisis, despite the economic downturn and job losses sparked by the pandemic.

Each year, the the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless conducts a count on a single night in January to document the number of homeless in the area and capture key demographics such as gender, age, race, veteran status, disabilities and health care needs.

The so-called Point-In-Time census counts homeless people in shelters as well as those living unsheltered in parks, beneath highway overpasses and elsewhere.

Photos by Jessica Phelps / San Antonio Express-News

Normally, volunteers fan out across the area to count the unsheltered, but the pandemic prevented that this year. Instead, the alliance estimated the unsheltered population based on the number of homeless people who received outreach services from various agencies.

More than 2,000 people living on the streets received outreach services from January 2020 to January 2021, the alliance says in a new report.

An additional 1,499 people were staying in shelters across Bexar County as of Jan. 26. That was the lowest in 10 years and a 10 percent decrease from 2020, the report said. The number of families in shelters also dropped significantly, from 269 in January to 158 this year.

The report attributed the drop to eviction moratoriums put in place during the pandemic. The Texas Supreme Court, Bexar County and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suspended evictions resulting from lost income amid the outbreak. The court let its order expire in March, but the CDCs moratorium ends July 1.

Jessica Phelps /San Antonio Express-News

Residents also benefited from federal stimulus payouts as well as San Antonios rental assistance programs. For example, county residents who made 80 percent or less of the area median income were eligible for up to nine months of rental and mortgage assistance.

Though the number of homeless veterans living on the streets was unavailable, 82 received street outreach services, and the number staying in shelters was down from previous years to 123  a 23 percent decrease from 2020.

Johnson moved to the woods in October after a breakup. He was struggling to figure out how to afford an apartment when a friend encouraged the move. After his time in the Army from 1980 to 1992, Johnson said he knows how to survive.

Itd be hard to find the veteran, or anyone living in the encampment, without knowing where to look.

To get to this camp, Trevor Baker, a clinical homeless outreach worker with the citys Department of Human Services, had to go on foot. He traversed a thick, muddy path bordered by trees and tall grass until he came across the tiny settlement. The land Johnson shares with 10 people is on the eastern end of Wurzbach Parkway.

Johnson had been waiting for a ride to work on a sewer line project to earn extra cash digging when he encountered Baker. After asking what was going on, Johnson said his daughter, with whom he speaks on the phone every day, was just diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

The veteran added that his grandson recently graduated from high school, and he beamed, reaching for his phone to search for photos.

Youve got a future there, outside of this, Baker said. He gave Johnson a phone number for the American GI Forum, which helps homeless veterans.

Johnsons grandson was even more reason for us to get this going, Baker said. Use that to leverage yourself.

The veteran nodded.

Ive got to be there (for them), he said. But he also sees his time in the woods as a learning experience.

Things can go wrong, he said. Its not the falling  its the getting back up.

On ExpressNews.com: You cant call this population - Christian Assistance Ministry brings vaccine to San Antonios homeless community

Banning homelessness

Camps like Johnsons, along with tents under the highways downtown, havent been legal in San Antonio since 2005. But they will soon be banned statewide.

The Texas Legislature recently passed a bill to ban camping in public places, and it is now in the hands of Gov. Greg Abbott. If he signs the bill, anyone camping in public could be slapped with a Class C misdemeanor, starting in September.

But Baker doesnt think more laws are the answer.

We cant arrest ourselves out of this, Baker said. Though a Class C misdemeanor reaps at most a $500 fine, someone who is unsheltered could get arrested for trespassing if they refuse to leave private property.

Baker and many other outreach workers interact with San Antonios homeless every day, trying to get them on track to stable housing. That could mean getting them proper identification, which many unsheltered people lose on the streets, or conducting a survey to assess their vulnerability and place them on a housing list.

There were 1,055 people on this housing waitlist as of Friday, according to Katie Vela, the executive director of the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless.

Most of the time, Baker said, the people theyre trying to help dont want it.

People will say, No, Im not ready for change, and thats OK, Baker said. But that doesnt mean we need to demonize them as a result of where theyre at.

Many unsheltered people become entrenched, according to Baker.

Theyll create their own communities, such to where they forget about the world thats going on around them, Baker said. Thats going to definitely invite a much more stigmatized approach, not only from the community but from the individuals, too. Theyre going to try to fight harder to be that much harder to find.

The city doesnt often enforce its ordinance without providing assistance, according to Patrick Steck, assistant director of the Department of Human Services. First, it tries to get people services and let them know where they can go before issuing a fine. But sometimes, the city needs to clear entire homeless camps because of excessive litter, criminal activity or neighborhood complaints.

Steck doesnt think the new state law will change much in San Antonio, but his team will sit down with attorneys to make sure theyre in compliance.

The city is also in the process of hiring more outreach staff. Since Baker started in February, nine of 12 outreach positions have been filled  two of the new employees are starting in the next two weeks, Steck said.

Organizations such as Christian Assistance Ministry, Corazon Ministries and Centro San Antonio also do outreach. They are focused on helping their clients get to a better place.

These encampments can be very dangerous, said Dawn White-Fosdick, president and CEO of Christian Assistance Ministry. We are focused on helping our street homeless having better options, whether it be shelters, houses or sanctioned encampment areas that have approved health and safety plans built in.

Who is homeless?

About 1,500 people were staying in shelters in late January. A fifth of those were children under age 18.

Fifteen percent of those in shelters were considered chronically homeless, meaning they have a disability and have been continuously homeless for a year or more. This is a 66 percent increase from the previous year.

Additionally, more than 2,000 people received homeless street outreach services throughout the year.

According to the report from the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless, almost 80 percent of people on the streets reported at least one disability, with 71 percent reporting a mental health condition. Nearly a fifth were survivors of domestic violence.

More than a third said they had substance use issues with alcohol, drugs or both.

Maria Garcia, 51, lives under the Interstate 37 bridge, but she stayed briefly in a shelter while battling addiction. She said she needed help but felt that specialists didnt want to dig deep to solve her underlying issues.

Theres a lot of things I have to deal with, she said while waiting for a shower at Christian Assistance Ministry.

Nikisha Baker, president and CEO of homeless provider San Antonio Metropolitan Ministry, also known as SAMMinistries, noted a disproportionate number of Black and Latino individuals experiencing homelessness.

The report reflected this. The Black community endures the most socioeconomic barriers that cause disparity among the nonhomeless population, and even more so, the homeless population, the report states.

Additionally, the Black community has the most vulnerability to become and stay homeless due to systemic racism, which creates barriers such as redlining and higher mortgage rates.

Homeless clients often feel discriminated against, not only based on their racial or ethnic backgrounds, but also because of their mental health or substance abuse issues or their criminal histories, according to Valerie Salas, Christian Assistance Ministrys director of homeless services.

On ExpressNews.com: To serve until I die - Retired Army pediatrician strives to help the poor, homeless and victims of COVID

After living on the streets or in the woods for so long, some people start to prefer those living conditions instead of a shelter. Greg Cheney, 63, said he feels that way, and he has been homeless on and off for 20 to 30 years.

He also said it takes too long to get permanent housing.

One option for providing permanent housing is increasing the availability of shared apartments or homes, according to Baker of SAMMinistries. Many people choose encampments over shelters because its a community.

They tell her, I know the folks that are sleeping along beside me, and I know they will look out for me.

We can create that same sense of community through a shared housing model  so that we can provide supportive services in a singular setting, rather than individually, Baker said.

It also would allow agencies to stretch their dollars to help more people.

The city and the alliance are launching a coordinated homelessness prevention and eviction response system to prevent homelessness. The system aims to help people facing housing instability because of the pandemic.

Those needing assistance can contact the Homeless Connections Hotline at 210-207-1799. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com | Twitter: @liz_hardaway
San Antonio city negotiators and the police union still cant agree on how to punish bad officers, nearly four months after talks began on a new five-year contract.

Negotiations between the city and the San Antonio Police Officers Association to hammer out a new contract resumed Monday. It was the first meeting between the two sides since the narrow defeat in May of Proposition B, which would have taken away the police unions right to bargain collectively to reach a contract.

The two sides are deadlocked on the most controversial aspect of the negotiations dealing with officer discipline.

City negotiators want to make it harder for a third-party arbitrator to overturn punishments handed down by Police Chief William McManus. By various estimates, about two-thirds of the officers McManus fired who appealed their terminations in the past decade have returned to the force  either reinstated by McManus to avoid a drawn-out appeals process or by independent arbitrators who hear and rule on officers appeals.

Thats too many, city officials and police reform advocates have argued. Arbitrators should be able to overturn an officers punishment only if the facts of the case dont add up, city negotiators say, not if an arbitrator thinks the chief was too hard on the officer.

For its part, the union agrees. But the negotiations have ground to a halt as both sides scuffle over the standards they need to overturn the chiefs decision.

The city thinks a third-party arbitrator should be able to overturn punishment only if there isnt substantial evidence of the misconduct. On the contrary, the union feels an arbitrator should be able to toss out punishment if there isnt a preponderance of the evidence  a standard considered harder to meet than substantial.

Youve created a system where your intent is that you will not lose, said Ron DeLord, the police unions chief negotiator.

City officials contested that.

I think what you see on the table today to us represents our priorities and it provides a system by which the employee can have an appeal process, said Maria Villagomez, deputy city manager and head of the citys negotiating team. And if there is a mistake made by the chief, that theres a process for the employee to get reinstated.

Union officials have made some attempts to meet the city halfway. The union pitched a three-person arbitration panel that would hear appeals, rather than just one person. The city and union would each get to pick their own arbitrator, who would then pick a neutral third.

City negotiators rejected the idea on the grounds that it would still allow arbitrators wide latitude to overrule the chief, which they dont want.

We seem to be trying to chase down a moving target, said Christopher Lutton, who chairs the unions negotiations committee.

On ExpressNews.com: Hell-bent on doing nothing: San Antonio police reform agenda dies at Texas Legislature

But the two parties are finding common ground on other fronts. Negotiators for both sides seem likely to strike a compromise on the so-called 180-day rule. That rule, set out in state law and the citys contract with the union, gives McManus six months to discover alleged misconduct by an officer and discipline the officer.

If the police chief finds out about the misconduct after that, he cant punish the officer.

The city wants the chief to have six months after learning of potential misconduct to hand down discipline, a change the union seems willing to accept on more severe matters.

Both sides also agree that aspiring police officers should get a leg-up on their entrance exam if they live within city limits. The thinking goes that community trust will be easier to build if officers live in the city they patrol. Less than half the citys police force lives within city limits.

The city and union have yet to bridge the gap between their differing proposals on wages and health care benefits. City leaders have proposed that police officers should get an 8 percent pay increase over five years. The union wants a 12 percent increase and to lower officers health care contributions.

Union leaders contend they dont feel pressure to make further concessions on officer discipline in the wake of the May election on Prop B. Lately, theyve tried to downplay the slim margin of 3 percentage points, given low voter turnout in municipal elections. In the May 1 election, that turnout was 17 percent.

Everybody keeps saying that this is an edict dropped down, but it was 17 percent of the voters, Lutton said. From the association standpoint, we look at it as we need to go out and earn some more votes and at the same time take into consideration the items that (Fix SAPD, the organization that pushed the measure) brings up.

Police reform advocates pushed the initiative to remove the unions influence over how the police chief disciplines officers accused of misconduct.

James Dykman, a Fix SAPD board member, attended the negotiations Monday and wasnt impressed.

We need people coming to the table with good faith to solve this problem of arbitration, too many officers getting their jobs back, Dykman said. Hopefully were going to see that change throughout.

jfechter@express-news.net
Texas businesses cannot require their customers to prove their COVID-19 vaccine status under a bill signed Monday by Gov. Greg Abbott.

The measure, Senate Bill 968, outlaws so-called vaccine passports and prevents businesses from asking consumers to show their vaccine cards to receive services. Abbott had issued a similar executive order in April, though that applied only to state agencies and other organizations that receive public funding.

Texas is open 100 percent, and we want to make sure that you have the freedom to go where you want without limits, Abbott said in a video posted to Twitter Monday evening.

After he signed the legislation, he held the bill up and declared: Vaccine passports are now prohibited in the Lone Star State.

The move comes amid both local and national debate over allowing private businesses to mandate proof of vaccination. Fourteen other states have banned vaccine passports in some capacity, including at least four that have also moved to restrict business policies.

Meanwhile on Monday, unvaccinated nurses planned a walkout at Houston Methodist Hospital to protest the hospitals policy of firing any employee who is not immunized. They have also filed a class action lawsuit challenging the vaccine mandate.

The Senate approved SB 968 unanimously in April, and the House passed it by a vote of 146-2 in May. Because it earned two-thirds support in both chambers, the bill took effect immediately after Abbott signed it.

Any business that does not comply with the law is not eligible to receive a grant or enter into a contract payable with state funds. State agencies may also require compliance  as a condition for a license, permit, or other state authorization necessary for conducting business in this state.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Abbotts signature came hours after Carnival Cruise Line confirmed plans on Monday to resume operations in Galveston next month. The cruise line said it would require passengers to show proof of vaccination, based on requirements from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The current CDC requirements for cruising with a guest base that is unvaccinated will make it very difficult to deliver the experience our guests expect, especially given the large number of families with younger children who sail with us, said Christine Duffy, the president of Carnival Cruise Line, in a release.

As a result, our alternative is to operate our ships from the U.S. during the month of July with vaccinated guests.

The cruise line is based in Florida, where GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has similarly barred businesses from mandating that consumers certify their vaccine status. Florida sued the CDC in April, seeking that it remove all restrictions on cruise ship operations.

Vaccine researcher Peter Hotez, of Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Childrens Hospital, said that cruise ships, with their close quarters, put travelers at higher risk of contracting COVID-19. The Diamond Princess cruise in Japan, he noted, was associated with 14 deaths and roughly 700 cases.

The only way to make cruise ships safe again is through vaccination, Hotez said. This really requires everyone to be fully vaccinated.

It is unclear how the cruise industry will be impacted by the state laws, as the businesses operate across state lines and in international waters. The issue may ultimately be settled in court.

SB 968 explicitly outlaws vaccine passports, but it does not stop businesses from implementing COVID-19 screening and infection control protocols in accordance with state and federal law to protect public health, the bill states.

We are evaluating the legislation recently signed into law in Texas regarding vaccine information, Vance Gulliksen, a Carnival spokesperson, said in an email. The law provides exceptions for when a business is implementing COVID protocols in accordance with federal law, which is consistent with our plans to comply with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Preventions guidelines.

A spokesman for state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, who authored the bill, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. The senator told a conservative news outlet earlier this month that individual rights always trump corporate and business rights.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
Republican Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman has announced her resignation from the bench without stating a reason, fueling speculation she may have her sights set on running for a different office in 2022.

Guzman, 60, an alumna of the University of Houston and the South Texas College of Law in Houston, became the first Hispanic woman elected to statewide office in Texas when she won her first full term on the Supreme Court in November 2010. According to her bio, in 2016 she received the most votes ever in a Texas Republican Party primary with 1.27 million votes and won re-election that November with 4.88 million votes  at that time, the highest vote total for any candidate in Texas election history.

As I begin a new chapter, I pledge to continue to work for Texas families, and I remain dedicated to advancing the rule of law, she said in a statement Monday evening.

Guzman, whose second term ends Dec. 31, 2022, would have been up for re-election next year for another six-year term. Her resignation is effective Friday, according to a letter she sent to Gov. Greg Abbott and obtained by Hearst Newspapers.

With utmost gratitude for the opportunity and gift of public service, I write to inform you that I am resigning from my office, she wrote. It has been the honor of a lifetime to answer this high calling.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

She also thanked the voters and the colleagues with whom she worked on two Texas Supreme Court panels: the Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families and the Texas Access to Justice Commission.

Responding to her resignation, Chief Justice Nathan Hecht praised Guzman as a powerful and effective advocate for improving access to justice for the poor and others and for developing strategies to enhance our judicial systems ability to serve adults and children facing mental health and intellectual disability challenges.

One race that Guzman could be contemplating began heating up last week: the Republican primary for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's seat. Land Commissioner George P. Bush  whose uncle, former Gov. George W. Bush, first appointed Guzman to the 309th District Court in Harris County in 1999  opened up his campaign last week.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: George P. Bush announces bid to unseat embattled Texas AG Ken Paxton

In 2001, she was appointed by then-Gov. Rick Perry to the Houston-based 14th Court of Appeals, where she served until 2009 when Perry appointed her to fill a vacancy on the high court.

Governor, I am confident you will fill the impending Supreme Court of Texas vacancy with a jurist who will bring honor to the office and exemplary service to the people of the Lone Star State, Guzman wrote in her resignation letter.

Gilbert Garcia contributed to this report.
Throughout the pandemic many folks looked around at their walls and decided that they need something to spruce up their spaces. If youre looking for a piece of art that is completely original (and doesnt bear a live, laugh, love mantra), consider turning to some critter creators.

In Connecticut, you can actually register to paint with wildlife, then keep the masterpieces you make with animals like goats, seals, sea lions and even penguins.

Sure, you could attend a paint-and-sip and follow a prompt to create your own painting. But imagine the kinds of stories you can share at dinner parties as you explain to guests that, oh, that painting over there? I made it with a seal.

Farm painting

Bradley Mountain Farm / Contributed photo

Bradley Mountain Farm in Southington is all about the goats. Terri Battaglia, farm event leader at Bradley Mountain Farm, said they offer 15 different goat programs at the farm, including goat yoga, goat snuggles, goat strolls and Go-at Painting.

You come in and you get a canvas and you get to create the painting with the goat. You get to pick out your own two colors, and we just apply the paint on the canvas and put it on the floor, and you work with the goat to get them to walk over the canvas.

For more information about painting with goats, visit bradleymountainfarm.com.

Sea creature paintings

Courtesy of Mystic Aquarium

Kendall Rabeneck, communications manager at Mystic Aquarium, said they offer in-person and virtual painting sessions with their animals. Currently folks can register to paint in-person with seals and sea lions. Mystic also offers virtual painting programs with beluga whales and penguins.

We came up with the program to provide an inside look at enrichment behaviors and provide guests with a painting to take home to reminisce on the experience, she said.

The humans select which colors they would like their selected animal to use. From there, the critter will channel its inner Picasso and apply the paint to the canvas.

Visitors who do a painting program at Mystic will also get a biography about the critter that helped them make their creation.

The painting programs help the animals to engage, learn and interact with their environment, benefiting them physically and mentally, Rabeneck said.

Of all their painting critters, the penguins are the only ones who arent trained to paint with their mouths. Instead, the birds step in paint and walk over the canvas to create their works of art.

For more information about the painting programs at Mystic, visit mysticaquarium.org.

Pet painting at home

Anyone looking to paint an animal might consider enlisting the help of a pet. To create a pet-made painting, all you need is a tarp, some non-toxic, animal-safe paint and a canvas. Lay the canvas and some paint down on a tarp and have your house pet step in the paint and step on the canvas with their paws. (Keep in mind: this could easily get messy, so it might be easier to create your pet-designed art work outside.) For additional pet painting tips the American Kennel Society offers techniques on different ways to teach fido how to paint.

tinamarie.craven@hearstmediact.com
Based on a real-life story, The Courier, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, is one of the most compelling Cold War espionage thrillers of recent years. Yet it got lost during the pandemic.

In the early 1960s, blandly unassuming British businessman Grenville Wynne (Cumberbatch) was recruited by MI-6 and CIA operative Emily Donovan (Rachel Brosnahan) to form a secret partnership with Soviet official Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) to provide the crucial intelligence necessary to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Under the code name Ironbark, Col. Penkovsky runs the state committee for scientific research, and hes become so alarmed by the fast pace of Nikita Khrushchevs arms race that he offers to pass Russian nuclear secrets to the West: Krushchev frightens me. Hes impulsive, chaotica man like that should not have nuclear commands.

Having conducted legitimate business in the Eastern Bloc, Wynnes well-mannered expertise in trading in scientific machinery, puts him in a position that would place him above suspicion.

Would I be putting myself in danger? likable Wynne naively inquires at the beginning of his mission.

What no one expected on his many trips from London to Moscow was that Wynne would actually become friends with the high-ranking mole Penkovsky. They met each others families and developed a warm, caring trust and camaraderie which they plan to continue after Penkovskys defection.

We are only two people, Penkovsky says, But this is how things change.

Originally titled Ironbark, it was written by Tom OConnor and directed by Dominic Cooke (On Chesil Beach). It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020. Tension-filled, the script delves into each of the primary characters, keeping the audience emotionally invested in the outcome.

Although the premise is reminiscent of Steven Spielbergs Bridge of Spies (2015), the acting is remarkably convincing, even totally-change-of-character Mrs. Maisel (Brosnahan).

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, The Courier is a suspenseful 7  now available in Redbox kiosks and on Vudu, Fandango and Prime Video.

Susan Granger has been an on-air television and radio commentator and entertainment critic for more than 25 years. Raised in Hollywood, Granger appeared as a child actress in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, and Lassie. She currently resides in Westport.
Many school districts across the state have announced plans to dismiss students early on Monday, with forecasts calling for temperatures in the high-80s.

The National Weather Service said high temperatures will be more reminiscent of the middle of summer rather than early June across much of the northern United States, including the Interstate 95 corridor from Washington to the Boston metropolitan area.

Temperatures along that corridor are expected to hit the high-90s, the weather service said. In Connecticut, the latest forecast is calling for the temperature to hover around 88 degrees on Monday.

A hazardous weather outlook statement was issued by the weather service early Monday morning for southern Connecticut. The statement indicated there is a possibility of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon with gusty winds.

The NWS said the low temperature Monday night will be around 70 degrees. Partly cloudy skies, a slight breeze and a roughly 20 percent chance of rain are also in the forecast.

Hartford and Tolland counties are under a heat advisory through 8 p.m. Monday, with the weather service warning residents that hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illness to occur.

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors, the NWS said. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside.

Dozens of schools statewide have announced plans to dismiss students early because of the weather, including public schools in Bethel, Bridgeport, Danbury, Litchfield, Milford, Naugatuck, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, North Haven, Seymour, Stratford and Torrington.

All Fairfield public and parochial schools will dismiss early on Monday. Evening events will go on as scheduled. Afternoon preschool is canceled. On-site elementary after-care is also canceled.

Nathan Hale, West Rocks, Naramake, Rowayton, Tracey and Wolfpit schools in Norwalk are all on early dismissal schedules Monday. There are no after-school programs or activities.

Public schools in Ashford, Ellington, New Hartford, Simsbury, Southington and Windsor Locks are planning early dismissals for students on Monday, NBC Connecticut reported.

The latest weather service forecasts indicate the hot weather will continue throughout the week.

Showers and thunderstorms are likely on Tuesday, mainly after 10 a.m., with a high near 81 degrees, the weather service said. The temperature falls to a low around 69 degrees Tuesday night as a light wind moves in.

Wednesdays forecast is also calling for showers and thunderstorms, with partly sunny skies and a high near 85 degrees. By night, the temperature drops to a low around 65 degrees.

Itll be partly sunny on Thursday, with a high near 81, the weather service said. By night, the temperature will drop to a low around 55 degrees with mostly cloudy skies.

Friday will bring mostly cloudy skies and a high near 70 degrees. Theres a 30 percent chance of shower late Friday night, with mostly cloudy skies and a low around 55 degrees.
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GILLETTE  Rachel Rasse and Dan Stroup had met once before, but dont know each other. Not really.

Regardless, they share an indelible and powerful connection.

Rasse was responsible for one of police Cpl. Stroups most memorable days of his 19 years in the Gillette Police Department. Stroup was one of the first people Rasse ever met in her life.

They havent seen each other in almost 18 years, but their history finally caught up with their present with a serendipity that only a small town can provide.

The rite of passage that is graduation marks the crossing of high school seniors into their adult lives. With that comes a reflexive and unavoidable look back at the 17 or 18 years that came before. The past comes through in the themes of graduation speeches, the selection of class songs and slideshows that begin with baby photos.

Looking back, you just tell stories, said Rasse, 17. You talk about, Oh, remember in fourth grade when we did The Polar Express and had hot chocolate or we got the frogs? Its a very sentimental time in life.

Its hard to move on to the next chapter because you look through the first part of the book before you turn that chapter.

Parents and grandparents also play an important role in that backward-looking focus around graduation time. Its the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Stroups own family was no different in that sense. His wife, Tonya, recently posted on her Facebook page two photos of their son, Jake: one from his very first day of school, missing at least one tooth and holding a Spider-Man lunch box, and the other from his last day of school as a high school senior. He was soon to graduate with the Thunder Basin High School Class of 2021.

A busy graduation and wedding season had seen countless pieces of mail coming to Stroups home in recent weeks and months. Thats why an invitation in his mailbox at the police station didnt faze him.

I go by my mailbox, and I see an envelope that says The Stroup Family, he said. I figured its either a wedding invitation or something about my sons graduation; throw it in my bag, hand it over to my wife.

He wasnt even the one who ended up opening the envelope. Tonya took care of that.

Inside was anything but a typical graduation invitation.

It was a trip down memory lane. The envelope also included an article from the June 29, 2003, edition of the Gillette News Record with a note across the top that read: In case you were wondering why you were getting a grad announcement from an unknown girl 

It was from Rasse. She wasnt an unknown to Stroup, but the newspaper story reminded him of something hed never forgotten  the day they met.

Nearly 18 years ago, Stroup was a relatively new police officer in Gillette and just coming off a long shift. At 6:11 a.m., he was driving home and his radio crackled to life. He wasnt quite done yet, despite more than 12 hours on the clock.

I dont remember the guy I arrested the night before, but I remembered it was a pretty serious felony, and it was pretty impactful, Stroup said. As a newer officer, you hit those cases, you put a lot of effort into it, a lot of paperwork and things like that. I was headed home.

He was at the intersection of 4J and Boxelder roads when the dispatcher asked where he was because they knew his route home, he said.

They said, Theres someone having a baby, like, two blocks away. You need to get there, Stroup remembered. I went from half asleep to wide awake.

Barb Rasse was giving birth in her homes bathroom at 1910 Chestnut Circle.

Her parents, Monte and Nancy Hanson, were there with her and planning to go to the hospital, but Rachel had other plans.

Nancy remembers how quickly things happened that morning.

(Barb) kind of made a noise, Nancy said. She said, Mom, lift up my robe. And it was Rachels head. The first thing I said was, Call 911!

Nancy laughs now recalling the memory.

She and I were the only ones in the house, she said. I was the one who was supposed to be calling.

Barbs father, Monte Hanson, had loaded up his other granddaughter, then 2 years old, and went back outside to tend to her.

As I get downstairs, here comes this cop car into the cul-de-sac, Monte said. I mean, hes moving. He slides to a stop, jumps out, and I say, Upstairs, to the left; you cant miss it.

In a way, though, Stroup had missed it.

He got to the bathroom not to find Barb in the throes of labor, but standing there holding her newborn daughter.

I just kind of helped out at the end, Stroup said.

He said he never really thought about what would have happened if hed actually had to deliver a baby on that day. He hoped his training would have kicked in, and he would have done what needed to be done.

Fortunately, our emergency services in this town are very rapid to respond, and I doubt I would have been alone long, Stroup said. I hadnt thought much about being relieved or not. I guess upon looking back at it, Im just grateful that everything worked out and that I was a part of it.

He remembered how calm Barb was and marvels at it all these years later.

It was the grandma that was really stressing out, pacing up and down the hallway, Stroup said.

But that was understandable, seeing as how shed just helped deliver a baby.

I didnt deliver her, Nancy said, eschewing any credit. Barb delivered her.

During this entire event, Barbs husband, Nick Rasse, was absent. He was in Tennessee going through officer training for the Air National Guard.

Nick said it was a whirlwind of calls and messages coming to him there, and he remembered getting yelled at by a major for being on the phone.

As soon as she found out my wife was going into labor, she went from this hardcore instructor to mom-mode, Nick said.

A group effort began to get Nick home as soon as possible. People from his unit cleaned out his locker and packed him a bag, and he was flying out of Knoxville soon after getting the news. He flew into Rapid City, South Dakota, where Monte picked him up and they drove Gillette.

Stroup remembered the fact that Nick had been gone. Hed been doing training around the time his wife was to give birth to Jake, and he felt a connection in that sense. It was just another detail that made the day so memorable.

We deal with so much stuff youd like to forget, but you cant, Stroup said. We meet people on some of the worst days of their lives. This was one of the best days.

The positivity stands out through all of the negativity, all the more noticeable for its contrast to the norm.

Ive forgotten a lot of things Ive done around here, but thats not one of them, Stroup said.

Despite the memorable nature of Rachels arrival, the details faded over time and names on both sides became something that was glossed over in each sides respective retellings of the story.

The story, as widely shared and oft-cited as it was in Rasses family, didnt always focus on the name of the police officer who got there first. Though Rasse had been a classmate of Stroups son since seventh grade, the name never registered as familiar. Jake had no reason to know either, as Stroup said he didnt think his son had ever heard the story.

Barb suggested to her daughter that they send an invitation to the police officer who delivered you, she said. After re-reading the article, Rasse thought the name sounded familiar, and through a mutual friend asked if Jakes dad was the same Stroup whod welcomed her into the world.

Stroup lost track of the Rasse family, too. Gillette is a transient energy town and police officers see a lot over the course of nearly two decades on the job. But in all that Stroups seen over his long career, Rasse is still the only newborn baby he met in the line of duty.

I did not know they were still here, Stroup said. Id always hoped and prayed that things had gone well.

The Rasse family stayed in Gillette and Rachel was a classmate and friend of Stroups son, Jake. She also graduated from TBHS last weekend and walked across the stage just 28 places ahead of Jake in the ceremony.

Not only had things gone well for her, she was one of four students to graduate from Gillette College with an associate degree before she graduated from high school. She was recognized by the high school as its Outstanding Senior. But neither she nor Jake knew of their families connection. Until graduation rolled around and invitations needed to be sent, that magical time in which past, present and future all collide.

Its often said that a person cant truly know where shes going until she knows where shes been. Perhaps that is a reason graduation celebrations become a tug of war between the past and the future.

Telling the story of where Rachels been, where she came from, is a family tradition at this point.

Everyone when they hear that story, theyre like, What?! Thats crazy! and it just gets everyones attention, Rachel said. It was just fun to be able to tell that story and have something to say and share with my classmates.

I cant even begin to imagine how many people weve told, Monte said. Not very many people get the opportunity to have something like this happen.

Its just a point of interest in our lifetime, one of those memorable occasions. There was a lot of adrenaline. Nobody panicked. It was just one of those things that happened that you aint never going to forget.

Its always a story that Im always telling and thinking about, Barb said. Anytime a coworker is pregnant and getting ready to deliver, I think about her birth. They always have the icebreakers that are like, Share something unique about you, and thats the story I always share.

As for Rachel, she knows exactly where shes from.

Perhaps shell tell the story in her own round of icebreakers as she goes off to the University of Wyoming in the fall. But in reliving the story for graduation, and adding a new chapter to it by sending the invitation to Stroup, she was reminded how much there is to learn even about stories that are considered well-settled.

The world is a wondrous place, full of unknown connections and serendipity. There could hardly be a more appropriate time in her life to be reminded of that.
As part of its efforts to commemorate the 100th year since the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Oklahoma Bar Association dedicated the bulk of its May journal issue to stories about Black Oklahomans and legal achievements they've made since statehood.

Among the most notable findings, according to one researcher: Oklahoma at one point before 1921 had more Black lawyers practicing than any other state  estimated at more than 60, at least four times the number in Texas at the same time. Then came the events of May 31 and June 1, 1921.

"This underscores how much of a land of opportunity Oklahoma was for so long for Blacks," said researcher John Browning, a lawyer and retired judge who is licensed to practice law in Oklahoma and Texas.

"Oklahoma was famed for, among other things, having a number of all-Black communities and having opportunities, like in Tulsa, for Black people to have greater and economic upward ability."

Browning, who helped curate the Oklahoma Bar Association Journal's May issue, wrote about three of the state's earliest Black lawyers and their work before the massacre occurred in 1921. The list included Sugar T. George, who represented a town as a member of the Muscogee National Tribal Council in 1868 and later a judge who  after having been born into slavery in Georgia  was known as being successful in the field before he died in 1900.

Another of Oklahoma's first Black lawyers, George Napier Perkins, was also born into slavery in Tennessee but moved to Oklahoma in the 1890s to practice law. However, Perkins opted to start a newspaper in Guthrie  which became a guide for Black people seeking to move to Oklahoma  after unsuccessfully running for elected office amid a climate of racial discrimination.

Browning's chronology also showed Perkins repeatedly lobbied for the repeal of the Jim Crow-era grandfather clause, though he died before the U.S. Supreme Court did so.

Finally, Kentucky resident William Henry Twine was among the first Black lawyers in Texas before moving to Chandler in 1891 during the Sac and Fox Land Run opening. He opened a law farm with two partners and was the first Black attorney admitted to practice in U.S. District Courts from Indian Territory before also deciding to enter the newspaper business.

Twine additionally helped create the Oklahoma Anti-Lynching Bureau in 1905 and pushed for more social acceptance of Black lawyers, writing about his and others' exclusion from Bar Association Activities based on their race.

As Jim Crow laws continued to take effect, Browning said the research he's found shows it became exceedingly difficult for Black lawyers to pursue a legal career. And by the 1940s, a separate Bar Association for Oklahoma-based Black lawyers was no longer in existence.

In another law journal article from OU Law professor Cheryl Wattley, she detailed the case of Ada Lois Sipuel, a Black woman who sought admission to the university's law school and had to fight to the U.S. Supreme Court. Wattley said the case was a precursor to the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

She said segregation played a role in the creation of a separate law program named the Langston School of Law, which she said was "farcically heralded as 'substantially equal' to the one in which white students could enroll. The school's existence was cited as the basis for OU Law to deny Sipuel admission to its law school with white students in 1948.

"The Langston School of Law consisted of three rooms rented in the state Capitol, including a classroom that was a converted storage closet," Wattley wrote. "Resolutions were passed adopting the OU law school bulletin and course descriptions. An agreement was made that Langston Law School students would be allowed access to the state Capitol law library. A part-time dean and two part-time professors had been hastily hired."

The U.S. Supreme Court later found that Black students had a right under the 14th Amendment to an education and could secure admission "as soon as it is afforded to any other applicant." The opinion resulted in Dr. George McLaurin, whose argument cited the opinion in Sipuel's case, becoming the first Black student to enroll at OU.

Tulsa World archives from the Oklahoma Historical Society included a photo of Tulsa attorney B.C. Franklin  the father of historian John Hope Franklin  working out of a tent after the attack on Greenwood destroyed his office in 1921. While an attorney, Franklin successfully challenged an ordinance that would have limited the materials that could be used to restore the Greenwood District based on the belief it would prevent Black residents from acquiring resources to rebuild.

Franklin became known in his career for helping those, like him, who lost their possessions during the massacre. His account of events has received renewed attention in recent years, but a little-known 1926 Oklahoma Supreme Court decision on an insurance dispute case filed by William Redfearn, a white building owner in Greenwood, also contains significant details.

"On the criminal end there were no white people charged criminally, but a number of African-Americans were charged with inciting the riot," Browning said of the situation. "Ultimately those were dropped but that just goes to show how upside down the treatment by the legal system was."

He said the record in Redfearn's case, though not a criminal matter, revealed local authorities were "not just passively standing by but actively participating in the violence" against African-Americans at the time.

Redfearn had appealed a verdict in favor of his insurance provider, which had a clause indicating the policy did not cover losses caused "directly or indirectly" by invasion, insurrection, riot, civil war or commotion, or military or usurped power, or by order of any civil authority."

The record notes the "conflicting narratives of white and Black Tulsa" in testimony provided for the case.

"The evidence shows conclusively that there was rioting in the city of Tulsa from about 10 o'clock p.m., May 31, 1921, until about noon of the following day; and during that time all the buildings in the negro section of the city of Tulsa, where the buildings involved in this suit were located, were entirely destroyed by fire," the appellate court wrote.

Browning said many records about the violence either disappeared or were forcibly removed, which was why it was unusual to see the 1926 Supreme Court decision in Redfearn's case have so many details about the massacre.

He said he was hopeful the information contained in the journal is informative about lesser-known aspects of Oklahoma's Black history.

"I think everybody in society would benefit from knowing more about this aspect of our history, this aspect of Oklahoma history and certainly this aspect of tragic events like the Tulsa Race massacre," he said. " A lot of people look to us lawyers as leaders in the community and sometimes we as lawyers are less informed than we'd like to be.

"I thought it would be a service to the Bar to put this information out there and a service to the community as a whole."
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A 79-year-old sheep farmer has died of injuries he sustained after becoming trapped under a tractor which had fallen on him.

John Jameson, from Ballybregagh, Co Antrim, was airlifted to Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast on Friday (4 June) following the incident.

It is believed the elderly farmer, who lived alone, died as a result of crush injuries sustained.

Causeway Coast and Glens councillor Joan Baird, who is a cousin of Mr Jameson, told The Belfast Telegraph that he farmed in area all of his life.

The family encouraged him over the years to give up the sheep but it was just his way of life. He just kept the interest going with the sheep.

Tractors are so treacherous, as is anything to do with farming and machinery nowadays. Its so risky no matter what age you are.

It follows a recent incident in which an 11-year-old boy sustained severe leg injuries after he fell from a tractor on a farm in Nottinghamshire.

He was taken by ambulance to the Queens Medical Centre last week, where he is currently being treated for his injuries.

The latest available figures by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that between 2019-2020, a total of 21 people in Britain were killed in agriculture.

This consisted of 20 farm workers and 1 member of the public - a four year old child.

The report, released in July 2020, shows that the biggest cause of these fatalities was farm transport.
Farming co-operative Scottish Agronomy has appointed Fife farmer Jim Mason as the new chair of its 12-strong board.

Following three years as vice chair, Mr Mason, of Denbrae Farm in North-East Fife, takes over from Thomas Pate, of South Powrie Farm near Dundee.

Growing cereals, potatoes, onions and broccoli across owned, rented and contracted land in Fife, he brings with him 15 years of board experience with East of Scotland Growers (EOSG), four years as chair.

Scottish Agronomy, which offers advice based on over 20,000 cutting edge trials plots, has more than 250 members from arable and potato enterprises.

I joined Scottish Agronomy in 1989, soon after it was established, because I wanted to access independent advice that had my best interests at heart, Mr Mason said.

I am looking forward to working with the board, staff and executive team at Scottish Agronomy to take the cooperative into the next era, navigating the challenges and maximising the opportunities.

The industry is facing a rising wave of change, instigated by Brexit, withdrawal of more agrochemical products and a government agenda urging farmers to produce more food for less.

However, Mr Mason said this was not all negative: "It will test us and there is risk but theres also opportunity," he added.

"Its an exciting time for members and the cooperative. Our role on the board is to look further ahead to allow management to run the business.

"We are constantly adapting to deliver an agronomy service that gives our members and staff stability and security to make decisions, keep motivated and always pointing to business improvement.

Mr Mason said he was 'proud' to be chairing an organisation that had been integral to his own farming enterprise for over 30 years.

I know from my years as a member the value of being part of the membership, both the savings Ive made through recommendations untethered by sales targets, and what Ive learned and continue to learn from others in my agronomy group.

"It constantly challenges you to think. Learning from the experience of the agronomists and other farming members is priceless.
Increased openness to beef imports from the global market could lead to significant competitive pressures for producers in Scotland.

The latest market commentary from Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) examines the sensitivity of Scotlands beef sector to imports.

While Scotland is a significant net exporter of beef, the challenge is that different supply chains demand different types of beef products at varying price points.

Therefore, cross-border trade within the UK and international trade acts to balance out these demands, but pending future UK trade deals could impact the home market, even if imports are in small volumes.

In contrast to Scotland, Defras UK meat balance sheets show that the UK as a whole is a net importer of beef, albeit that UK production accounted for a higher 86% of the product available for use in 2020, compared to an average of 81% between 2013 and 2018.

The UK and Australia are entering the closing stages of negotiations on a free trade agreement and increased beef market access is a key offensive trade interest for the Australian side.

Iain Macdonald, QMS senior economics analyst said: One concern for many is that a zero tariff zero quota deal would make the UK a much brighter prospect for Australian exporters, who would then find it economic to scale up their supply chains which are compliant with UK import controls.

There must also be a concern that offering such favourable terms to Australia would set a precedent for trade talks with other major agricultural exporting nations.

With Scottish R4L steer prices closing May at 4.17p/kg, increased openness to imports from the global market could lead to significant competitive pressures for local producers.

Australia has a number of different farmgate price indicators, but the trade steer abattoir price was quoted at 3.52/kg in week 22 of this year, up from around 2.75/kg in the same week of 2019, reflecting the sharp fall in slaughter due to a herd rebuilding phase.

In comparison, US farmgate prices are currently trading just under the 3/kg mark, with cattle backing up on farms due to abattoir labour shortages.

And in Brazil, export demand has seen steer prices surge from around 2.10/kg in early June 2019 to 2.85/kg this year. NZ steers are currently equivalent to 2.63/kg.

Despite being a net importer overall, UK traders export products to countries with stronger demand than can be realised in the home market, such as lower value cuts of frozen beef to Hong Kong.

Exports have averaged around 16% of annual production over the past decade, climbing to 18% in 2019 and 2020.

A further concern for the industry with the trade negotiations currently underway is that they seemingly offer limited opportunity for UK beef exports to increase to these markets, given their large domestic beef sectors and significant non-tariff barriers, including distance.

Due to the level of export activity, imports therefore make up a higher share of net beef supply than the gap between home production and total market supply would initially suggest.

Over the past decade, import volumes have averaged around 30% of total UK beef market supply, peaking at 32.4% in 2018 before falling back below 30% in 2019 and 2020.

Mr Macdonald said: However, the multipliers used in these calculations to convert the product weight of imports into a carcase weight equivalent may understate the true level of import penetration.

"This is particularly true for imports from outside the EU which have tended to arrive under reduced tariff or zero tariff import quotas for a small volume of premium cuts of boneless beef.

"A relatively small volume of beef from non-EU countries can therefore displace the higher value parts of a large number of home-produced beef carcases."

Beef arriving from non-EU countries will have largely been produced in a segregated supply chain specific to the terms of the quota to ensure that the product is compliant with food safety controls aiming to protect animal and public health.

HMRC import statistics show that between 2011 and 2020, imports of beef to the UK from non-EU countries have fallen sharply.

Non-EU share of import volumes halved from 11% between 2011 and 2015 to 5.5% between 2016 and 2020; though this dropped as low as 2.1% in 2020 when import demand from catering sector buyers contracted sharply.

This product averaged 53% more expensive than imports from the EU between 2016 and 2020, at 5.87/kg to 3.82/kg, highlighting the different supply chains entered by these products, said Mr Macdonald.

Of the beef imported from non-EU countries in the 2016-20 period, 62% of the volume was in the form of fresh boneless cuts of beef averaging 6.91/kg, 50% higher than the EU average price, with another 36.5% being frozen boneless cuts at 4.18/kg, 27% dearer than EU imports.

For imports from the EU, Mr Macdonald notes that lower price points and much higher quantities suggest that these products are likely to have been beef for mincing and dicing.

These products are destined mainly for food manufacturing and event catering, though some will have been used in retail as a value offer, including some steak cuts.
Welsh farmers looking to boost their business skills are being encouraged to apply for this year's Agri Academy programme.

Those in the industry who are wanting to develop more business acumen and achieve their potential as an individual are being told to consider the programme.

With two distinct schemes, the Business & Innovation programme is aimed at supporting the next generation of farming innovators and entrepreneurship.

Meanwhile, the Junior programme - a joint collaboration with Wales YFC - will support young people (16-19 years) who hope to follow a career in the food and farming.

The application window for this years Agri Academy opened from today (7 June) until Wednesday 30 June.

Einir Davies, development manager with Menter a Busnes, said: If you are ambitious, keen to develop more business acumen and achieve your potential as an individual, we want you to apply for this years Agri Academy programme.

For many of the 260 individuals all living, working or studying in rural Wales, who have in the last eight years, been through the ranks of the academy, the experience proved life-changing.

The academys unique formula of providing mentoring, training, study visits and networking, all centred around three short but intensive study periods."

Because of Covid's impact on arranging overseas study visits in advance, this years academy candidates will be combining online meet and greets and sector-specific webinars with visits to different parts of the UK.

Ms Davies said this brings its own benefits: During the height of the pandemic last summer, it was apparent that there is a ready audience of individuals delighted to join online webinars.

"Which means, of course, that we can widen our speaker and mentor bookings to include experts from almost anywhere in the world that has WIFI.

So, no fact-finding missions in Europe this year, but a speaker line-up that might take you much further afield, she said.

All arrangements for this years programme will adhere strictly to any Covid-19 travel and social distancing restrictions which may be in place.
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While the average workplace is a seemingly safe environment, no business is immune to safety and security threats.

In order to foster an environment where employees always feel safe, it's critical that you promote good safety practices and implement proper security systems in the workplace.

Here are eight ways for you to make your business a safer place for employees to work.

1. Check your building for safety risks

There are all sorts of risks and hazards that can exist within the workplace yet go undetected.

For example, although asbestos has been banned in over 50 countries, it has yet to be banned in the United States. Particularly if your office building was built before 1970, don't rule out the possibility of asbestos being present in your building. Schedule a hazardous materials survey to ensure that you're not exposing employees to asbestos in the workplace.

Beyond harmful chemicals, it's also critical that you check all of your building's fire alarms, smoke detectors, and sprinkler systems-confirming that they are in working order.

2. Provide safety training for employees

The truth is that employees need to be properly trained on safety practices if you hope to keep your building safe. Make sure all employees know where emergency exits and fire extinguishers are located and are aware of what to do in the event of an emergency at work.

Make it protocol to provide safety training whenever you onboard a new employee. It might also be in your best interest to provide employee safety training annually or whenever safety protocols are amended.

3. Give responsibility to the right employees

Beyond safety training, it's important for your business to limit security privileges to certain staff members.

Be careful when providing passwords, giving building keys, or when assigning opening and closing responsibilities to employees. You only want to entrust employees who value company security and have a proven track record of responsible behavior.

4. Create data backup systems

At many companies, hard drives and external storages have seemingly eliminated the need for stacks of paperwork. However, there are circumstances in which not having physical records could be potentially disastrous.

All it takes is a lightning storm, surge, or power outage to cause your business to potentially lose important information. For this reason, make sure your business has backup systems in place and uses them daily. While 90% of companies back up their data, only 41% back up their data on a daily basis.

5. Hire employees wisely

Hiring the wrong employees can have a negative impact on not only company culture but also the well-being of other employees.

Issues such as fraud and theft are not particularly uncommon in the workplace. Before hiring any applicant, perform a thorough background check to ensure that you're not hiring someone who will jeopardize the safety of others.

6. Keep an eye out for substance abuse

One of the biggest threats to employee safety is drug or alcohol abuse in the workplace. Not only can the use of drugs or alcohol affect performance and have implications for your business but it can also put the physical and emotional wellbeing of other employees at risk.

Whenever it's clear that an employee is abusing drugs or alcohol, be quick to address the issue and urge the employee to seek treatment.

7. Invest in cybersecurity

Protecting your business's networks, systems, and data against cyber attacks is critical for not only the safety of the company but also the safety of your employees. In 2020, over 1,000 data breaches occurred in the United States alone.

Although the majority of information stored in your systems may relate to business affairs, it's likely that sensitive employee information is also scattered throughout. It's vital that you invest in cybersecurity-software that will safeguard all devices and information against outside attacks.

8. Clean the office frequently

The recent COVID-19 pandemic impacted businesses all over the world and reminded us of the importance of keeping the workplace clean. To prevent illness from ravaging through your office, make a point of cleaning the entire workspace each week-vacuuming, sanitizing, and wiping down all surfaces.

If one of your employees gets sick, don't put the health of your other employees at risk. Make sure the sick employee stays home until the illness has passed and is no longer contagious.

A Gartner survey revealed that 82% of company leaders plan to allow employees to work remotely, realizing that employees can be equally as productive working from home. If an infected employee is still able to work, consider allowing him or her to work remotely for the time being.
Image: @daebak.dorama If you have been an avid watcher of K-Dramas, you would definitely know the various tales of the nine-tailed fox. One of the most popular mythological characters, the nine-tailed fox, also known as the Gumiho, is a common fictional character in Dramas. One such drama that has stolen our hearts is My roommate is a Gumiho, starring Hyeri and Jang Ki Young. The story revolves around a college student Lee Dam, who accidentally swallows a marble of a male Gumiho named Shin Woo Yeo, who is very close to turning into a human after 999 years. It is believed that if a human swallows a marble, they can only live for one year and if the marble breaks, the Gumiho will not be able to turn into a human. So Shin Woo Yeo suggests Lee Dam to live together, which sparks an unexpected romance. This drama is the perfect blend of Fantasy, Romance, and Comedy and will get you hooked in no time.
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Legendary actor Dilip Kumar was admitted to Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai yesterday after he had complained of breathlessness. While prayers for his speedy recovery were conducted all across the country with Twitter trending his name for more than 24 hours now, his wife, actress Saira Banu has confirmed that the actor is stable now. Saira told a news portal that Kumar had been unwell for a few days now and hence, he had gotten admitted into a non-COVID hospital. She went on to add that the doctors were examining why the actor had complained about breathlessness and had a mild fever as well. Signing off, Banu urged everyone to pray for the 98-year-old star's well-being.

Yesterday, following much speculation about his health, she had also taken to Kumar's official Twitter handle to rubbish the rumours doing the rounds on social media. "Dont believe in WhatsApp forwards. Saab is stable. Thank you for your heart-felt duas and prayers. As per doctors, he should be home in 2-3 days. InshAllah," she had tweeted. According to media reports, the Mughal-E-Azam actor was diagnosed with bilateral pleural effusion along with a drop in oxygen saturation. Hence, he had been put under oxygen support.
Starting a restaurant can be a daunting task, especially finding the right staff. Read on to know what steps you can follow when it comes to hiring staff.

You have completed almost all preparations to open your restaurant, fixed the menu, stocked the bar, decorated the entire restaurant. But what counts most is having the right staff to serve the food and show off your restaurant. Otherwise, having great food, perfect decor, and expensive liquor is just not going to cut it. Getting the right staff for the restaurant is often an overlooked matter. If you have the right staff, your restaurant will stand out among the others because of the quality of the service it provides.

The service quality needs to be ensured and maintained by all staff, starting from the chef to the servers and dishwashers. You need to ensure that each and every member of the staff member is performing their responsibilities with proper precision. Go through our list to find out how you can build the best team to maximize your restaurant's profit.

Look To Hiring Employees From Other Cities

There are many culinary agents and job posting boards that can make your search easier by allowing you to post jobs and look for talent across multiple cities. You might think that many people won't be interested in changing the city they are living in just for a job, but there are plenty of people out there who will welcome a change in scenery. All you need to do is post a compelling job opening by presenting your restaurant as a fun and exciting place to work and be sure to offer them the opportunity to grow.

Check Out The Culinary Schools

Hiring staff from people who attended reputed culinary schools is always a popular choice. But you need to be careful to not just go for the names of the institutes and the programs they offer when you hire. You can even find some great staff members who attended lesser-known programs at not so reputed schools as well. So instead of sticking to the well-known, keep an open mind and explore different schools when hiring staff for your restaurant.

Seek Out Passionate People

In the restaurant business, having an experienced staff definitely is advantageous. If you find someone who does not have much experience but is passionate to learn and grow, that person might actually be a better hire. The attitude of a staff member cannot be measured by the experience one has. The perfect employee will have a mix of the right attitude and the appropriate experience, but you should not discard a candidate just because they don't have a certain length of experience. Be equipped with a good set of restaurant interview questions to judge which employee is more suited for the job.

Promote Your Restaurant Positively

If you want your new staff to give their hundred percent, you need to present your restaurant as a great workplace. The best way to do this is to show your employees that they are working for an excellent brand and they can further grow their skills by working at your restaurant. You need to keep your employees motivated by offering them on-the-job training, a chance to continue their education, and more opportunities to keep learning new things.

Lead Your Staff By Example

You should model your behavior to how you want everyone else to behave. If you treat your staff with respect, they will mirror that respect to your customers. This does not just stop with the customer/server relationship. Your staff will also treat each other in the same manner you treat them. This is why you need to lead by example, treat your employees, and behave with them in the manner you want them to behave with each other and your customers.

Reward The Staff

Good behavior or a positive achievement should always be acknowledged and rewarded. Your employees might get lazy by only just getting the things done. Rewarding their efforts will encourage them to go above and beyond what is expected of them. You don't necessarily give them expensive rewards; handing out a gift card or movie tickets will do the trick. Singling them out in staff meetings to hand out the reward in front of their peers will go a long way to make your employees feel appreciated and motivated.

Allow Your Staff To Be Free

There is no restaurant that doesn't have to deal with complaints from disgruntled customers. You need to give your staff the freedom to solve these problems on their own. This way both your customers and employees will be happy. It doesn't really take a lot of effort to solve some of the customer's complaints. Many of them can be resolved by offering a free drink or dessert. You need to allow your employees and give them the freedom to make these decisions so that they can improve the experience for the dining customers. This way they can solve most of the problems before they get out of hand.

Listen To Your Employees' Opinions

It's your employees who interact the most with the customers of your restaurant. So you need to see your staff as the voice of your customers. They can best assess any situation and work out better ways of getting things done. They can offer you valuable insight into simple things like the layout of the tables in your restaurant to more complex things such as what color of paint should the ceilings have. You need to encourage your staff to voice their opinions freely.

Parting Thoughts

At the end of the day, your staff should feel that they are a part of your family. So make an effort to know them personally and find out what is going on in their lives. Find out what their interests and hobbies are. This way they will feel more connected to the workplace and will try to exceed your expectations. It will strengthen the bond between them and your restaurant, making it a healthy, happy, and prosperous place to work in.
The second season of The Family Man has just dropped and has been earning rave reviews on social media and from critics. The Amazon Prime Video original stars actor Manoj Bajpayee in the lead role as Srikant Tiwari with a strong supporting cast consisting of Sharib Hashmi, Priyamani, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Sunny Hinduja, Shahab Ali, Ashlesha Thakur, Seema Biswas and Vedant Sinha. The second installment of the series also stars Samantha Akkineni as the antagonist and the actress has received much love and respect for her role as Raji. However, there is another character who has become a surprise hit amongst netizens and that is 'Chellam Sir' who has been portrayed by actor Udhay Mahesh.

Chellam Sir's character is a search engine personified and seems to know everything that is going on due to his vast experience. Mahesh's character has gone viral on social media and spawned hundreds of memes already. Another addition to the Chellam Sir fanclub is actor Vicky Kaushal. The Raazi actor took to his Instagram stories to share a brief note comparing Chellam Sir to Google. "#ChellamSir > Google," he wrote.

Meanwhile, Bajpayee has opened up about a third season of the popular show. "There's a lot of work that goes into making a season. I will be very happy if Amazon, and Raj and DK decide to do a season three but before that the writing has to be complete. All the formalities need to be finished. I'm ecstatic that people have started demanding season three," Bajpayee told PTI. "What all season three will have, I myself don't know. I'm waiting for the script to come to me," he added.
CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - China will on Monday release May figures for imports, exports and trade balance, headlining a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Imports are expected to skyrocket 51.5 percent on year after jumping 43.1 percent in April. Exports are called higher by an annual 32.1 percent after rising 32.3 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $50.5 billion, up from $42.85 billion a month earlier. Australia will see May results for the Performance of Services Index from the Australian Industry Group and for job ads from ANZ. In April, the services index score was 61.0, while job ads jumped 4.7 percent on month. Japan will see preliminary April figures for its leading and coincident economic indexes; in March, their scores were 102.5 and 93.0, respectively. Finally, the markets in New Zealand (queen's birthday) and Malaysia (Yang Dipertuan Agong's birthday) are closed on Monday and will re-open on Tuesday. 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.
BASEL (dpa-AFX) - Novartis (NVS) said that an investigational iptacopan or LNP023- an oral, targeted factor B inhibitor- met Phase II study primary endpoint in rare kidney disease IgA nephropathy or IgAN. The phase II data showed that iptacopan reduced protein in the urine or proteinuria, an increasingly recognized surrogate marker correlating with progression to kidney failure, and showed promise in stabilizing kidney function in patients with IgA nephropathy. In the phase II study, dubbed as NCT03373461, patients with IgAN were randomized to placebo or different doses of iptacopan. The primary endpoint was met with a statistically significant dose response effect on reduction in proteinuria with iptacopan vs. placebo, at 90 days. At the highest dose of 200mg twice daily a 23% reduction in proteinuria was predicted, compared with placebo, at 90 days. Iptacopan also demonstrated a trend towards stabilizing kidney function, as assessed by estimated glomerular filtration rate, a key measure of kidney clearance function that estimates the rate of blood passing through and being filtered by the kidneys. Additionally, iptacopan showed a favorable safety and tolerability profile. Iptacopan is the most advanced asset in the company's nephrology pipeline and targets the alternative complement pathway, a key driver of complement-driven renal diseases (CDRDs). Novartis has plans to initiate additional Phase III studies in other renal indications. The company noted that Iptacopan is also in development for a life-threatening blood disorder, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). Based on disease prevalence and positive data from Phase II studies, iptacopan has received EMA orphan drug designation in IgAN10, orphan drug designations from the FDA and EMA in C3G and PNH11, FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation in PNH12, and EMA PRIME designation for C3G. 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.
Linas Agro Group, agribusiness, food production and international trade company,is borrowing funds fromLuminor, Swedbank and SEB banks. The syndicated loan will be used to finance the acquisition of companies of the KG Group, andwill be granted under the permission to execute the said acquisition issued by the Lithuanian Competition Council.

AB Linas Agro Group entered into a Share Purchase Agreement regarding the acquisition of controlling interest of AB Kauno Grudai, AB Kaisiadoriu Paukstynas, AB Vilniaus Paukstynas and related companies on 1 October last year. Permits have already been obtained from the competition authorities of Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Russia. The decision of the Lithuanian Competition Council regarding the implementation of the concentration is expected in July.

'We have been cooperating with all three banks for quite a number of years, and they are well aware of the specifics of both agribusiness and food industry activities, as well as of the growth potential of our group of companies. The successful previous cooperation and mutual trust will allow us to take a big step forward in expanding the scope, areas and geography of our activities,' says Mazvydas Sileika, Finance Director at Linas Agro Group.

The amount of the syndicated loan is not disclosed, as it would reveal the value of the transaction, which would be contrary to the agreement between the sellers of the companies of the KG Group and the buyer on the confidentiality of the transaction.

According to M.Sileika, around one third of the transaction amount is planned to be financed from own funds, and the amount of the loan syndicated by the banks will make up 70% of the transaction value. As for now, Linas Agro Group is not in a position to disclose any further information about the agreement with the banks.

Experts of the banks financing the transaction consider the planned acquisition to be a positive impetus for the development of the agricultural and food production companies and their competitiveness in international markets.

'This is a significant transaction on the country scale: the merge of two large market participants operating in overlapping markets, both of which are extremely successfully managed and vertically integrated groups of agricultural and food industry companies. We appreciate the confidence of Linas Agro Group in choosing SEB Bank as the main agent in the transaction concerning this exceptional investment. The enterprise has been successfully developing both local and international trade in agricultural products so far; therefore, the present acquisition will enable the group of companies to significantly increase its operations in the Baltic States, Poland, as well as in the Scandinavian and other Eastern and Western European markets. Granting of the syndicated loan to finance the present acquisition proves that local banks are ready to finance the business development of Lithuanian companies based on the best international practices and successful mutual cooperation,' states Vilius Juzikis, Member of the Board and Head of Corporate Banking Division at SEB Bank.

Jonas Urbonas, Head of Corporate Banking Division at Luminor Bank, notes that there are large transactions and there are systemic transactions that change the entire business conjuncture. 'To my mind Linas Agro is preparing to conduct the latter, so we are really happy to be a part of this process. The process will result in the creation of a champion of the Baltic States' integrated agricultural and food production sector, who will become an even stronger competitor in the international market. According to our observations, the competition in the above-mentioned business sectors has been transcending national borders for some time now and is taking place at the regional level, so the ability to offer a wide range of products will promote the establishment and growth in the entire Europe,' says J. Urbonas.

'Being a long-term financial partner of Linas Agro Group, we are happy to not only contribute to the financing of this transaction but also advise our client on the issues concerning the acquisition of the KG Group. We believe that this transaction will help the client to become a leading company in the region and give a competitive advantage in the export markets,' says Antanas Sagatauskas, Head of Corporate Banking Division at Swedbank in Lithuania.

About AB Linas Agro Group

AB Linas Agro Group together with the subsidiaries is a group of companies established in 1991 and carrying out operations in four countries: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine. Over 2,100 employees work with the companies of the group. The consolidated revenue of the Group in the 2019/2020 financial year totalled 658 million euros.

The companies of the group engage in the production and trade in agricultural raw materials and food products, as well as supply goods and provide services to farmers. The group has its own network of grain elevators consisting of thirteen such facilities and is one of the largest exporters of Lithuanian and Latvian grain. It is also among the leaders in Lithuania in the field of the supply of goods to farmers (certified seeds, fertilizers and agricultural machinery), as well as has a seed preparation plant. Furthermore, the group owns seven agricultural companies in Lithuania and is a large milk producer. In Latvia, the group owns four poultry companies: AS Putnu Fabrika Kekava, CIA Lielzeltini, SIA Broileks, and SIA Cerova.

For m ore information contact :

Mazvydas Sileika,

Finance Director at AB Linas Agro Group

Mob.+370 619 19 403

E-mail m.sileika@linasagro.lt
TAIPEI, TAIWAN / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / Go CarGo Asia (GCG Asia), a leading provider of cold chain logistics and supply chain monitoring solutions, officially announced that it has won an award for General Excellence in Data & AI category in the Asia Logistics Awards 2021.

Go CarGo Asia (GCG Asia) is a leader in real-time supply chain monitoring for industries such as pharmaceuticals and life sciences, and food and beverage sectors.

'We feel honoured to have GCG Asia's innovative services acknowledged by a renowned industry award. For the past few years, GCG Asia has been heavily investing in the digital transformation of cold chain logistics and supply chain monitoring so our customers and clients all over the world but specifically in Asia, can continue their mission to deliver their goods and services at their most efficient levels,' said GCG Asia founder and CEO Morgan Chua.

Speaking from his Malaysia office, GCG Asia's Chua said that the company's award is validation for their relentless focus on the digitalisation of their services. Customers can use Go CarGo Asia (GCG Asia) 's IoT, API connectivity and cloud-enabled analytics to reduce costs, improve traceability and automation.

'Go CarGo Asia's AI and data-driven technologies enable our customers to continue serving customers in critical areas such as medicines, vaccines, foods and other products that save and improve lives. These services not only improve efficiency, but result in significant cost-savings,' said GCG Asia's Chua in an official announcement.

Chua explained that the pandemic had exposed long-standing gaps within the global supply chain. 'There is an urgent need for supply chains to improve and to manage high operational costs at the same time. GCG Asia is known for customer service and our investments into digitalisation and AI meant that we were well positioned to capture new clients, particularly in the USD$300 billion temperature-controlled supply chain,' he said.

Go CarGo Asia (GCG Asia) 's technology connects in real-time all the activities along the value chain, enabling increased automation and streamlining workflows. 'All our data is accessible to all stakeholders when needed at any point along the process. This helps increase reliability, transparency, safety and security for our customers. Real-time access to GCG Asia's data is critical for us and our customers who are able to act on information quickly,' explains Chua.

The Asia-Pacific cold chain logistics market is seeing a surge in refrigerated warehousing and the explosive growth of processed food sectors and pharmaceuticals. However, fragmentation across the supply chain, lack of standardization, and high operational costs hinder growth. The global pandemic additionally slowed demand and supply while upending the sector with lasting impacts.

'We believe that our adoption of automated software and availability of RFID technologies in applications will open up lucrative opportunities for us. Despite the resurgence of COVID-19 in the region dims our outlook, I believe GCG Asia is resilient and agile enough to capture these opportunities, 'said Chua.

Go CarGo Asia (GCG Asia) currently sees an opportunity for expansion into Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam, where the market for refrigerated or frozen foods is rapidly increasing due to urbanisation and changing consumer tastes.

Chua sees opportunities for disruption through the deployment of advanced technologies. 'We estimate that 90% of Southeast Asia's food waste is created during transport. It is a legacy sector that is primed for modernisation. We also see the explosion of e-commerce has additionally bolstered the growth of cold storage facilities and infrastructure support in the region,' he explains.

Go CarGo Asia (GCG Asia) also sees an emerging business application in the COVID-19 vaccine transportation and delivery flows in the region. GCG Asia in Singapore and Japan has seen a significant uptick in enquiries for this service.

'Our extensive cold chain expertise and our real-time data access allow customers to track quality conditions and locations of highly sensitive materials such as vaccines. At the same time, we can achieve cost savings, reduce losses and increase optimisation and communication along the supply chain from end-to-end,' explained GCG Asia's CEO Chua.

Although currently privately-owned, the company is gearing up for a possible IPO in the near future, with GCG Asia CEO and founder Chua fielding investor inquiries and providing investors with the latest updates about GCG Asia and the industry to drum up interest. 'This award adds significant validation to our business model and increases investor interest in our business,' he said.

Go CarGo Asia (GCG Asia) is a cold chain logistics provider based in Taiwan. For more information, visit cgexperience

Company Details

Company: Go CarGo Asia (GCG Asia)

Address: Taipei, Taiwan

Email: info@cgexperience.cloudpage.me

Website: https://cgexperience.cloudpage.me/

SOURCE: Go CarGo Asia (GCG Asia)

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/650639/Go-CarGo-Asia-GCG-Asia-Wins-Award-for-Excellence-in-Cold-Chain-Logistics-and-Supply-Chain-Services
Crescent Capital Group LP, a leading alternative credit investment firm, announced today that its European Specialty Lending strategy has provided a unitranche facility to Nurture Landscapes, a UK-based B2B provider of grounds maintenance, landscaping, and winter gritting services.

Crescent European Specialty Lending is providing this refinancing to help support organic growth and strategic M&A opportunities for Nurture Landscapes. Graphite Capital will retain a minority ownership interest, having made its first investment in Nurture Landscapes in 2018.

"We look forward to working with Peter Fane, Founder of Nurture Landscapes, and the management team to support its continued growth initiatives," said Christine Vanden Beukel, Managing Director and head of Crescent's European Specialty Lending strategy. "Nurture Landscapes continues to maintain its market leadership position in the UK and has shown remarkable resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic through its strong brand loyalty."

Nurture Landscapes has established a significant group of blue-chip customers who are typically engaged on multi-year contracts, including the Royal Parks. Since inception, Nurture has grown through 27 acquisitions and completed the flagship acquisition of the Gavin Jones brand in February 2018.

Nurture has appeared in The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 league table four times since 2014, a ranking of Britain's 100 private companies with the fastest-growing sales over their latest three years. It has also been named six times by the London Stock Exchange as one the fastest-growing and most dynamic small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) on its list of 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain

About Crescent Capital Group

Crescent is a global credit investment manager with approximately $30 billion of assets under management. For nearly 30 years, the firm has focused on below investment grade credit through strategies that invest in marketable and privately originated debt securities including senior bank loans, high yield bonds, as well as private senior, unitranche, and junior debt securities. Crescent is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in New York, Boston, and London and more than 180 employees globally. For more information about Crescent, please visit: www.crescentcap.com.

About Nurture Landscapes

Nurture is an award-winning national horticulture and landscape maintenance business, enhancing asset value and enriching the environment. Equally committed to its people and its clients as well as working sustainably. Nurture has pioneered environmental initiatives to reduce carbon and improve energy efficiency. Nurture has ISO 14001, ISO 9001 and OHAS 18001 accreditation and constantly reviews operations to ensure clients receive the greenest solution possible. The company works in collaboration with clients across the public and private sectors, maintaining assets to the highest standards of safety and quality. For more information, please visit: www.nurturelandscapes.co.uk.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005245/en/

Contacts:

Crescent Capital Group

Mendel Communications

Bill Mendel, +1-212-397-1030

bill@mendelcommunications.com
Expects To Generate First Cash From Sale of Gold And Silver Concentrate

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. (the "Company") (CSE:BLLG)(FSE:7BL)(OTCQB:BLAGF) is pleased to provide the following update on its, Dome Mountain Gold / Silver Project, an all-year road accessible project located a short 50-minute drive from Smithers B.C., that holds both an Environmental Management Act Permit (EMA) and a Mining Permit providing for up to 75,000 tonnes production annually. In addition, the property has 15 known high grade gold veins with 90% of the nearly 19,000 hectare property yet to be explored (see the Company's news release dated May 4, 2020).

FIRST MINERALIZED MATERIAL READY FOR

SHIPPING AND PROCESSING

With the last underground mining at Dome Mountain taking place in 1992, the Company estimates that there is more than 6,000 tonnes of high-grade mineralized material that was never removed and remained stored underground. Having completed all the needed health and safety requirements outlined by the Ministry of Mines, including extensive underground bolting, and with a favourable trucking contract secured, the Company is ready to start removing this valuable material from its presently stored location underground and ship it to its toll milling partner, Nicola Mining, that has a state-of-the-art milling facility located in Merritt BC.

"We're very excited to be in a position to remove this high-grade material from the mine and ship it for processing and monetization," said Rana Vig, President and CEO of Blue Lagoon Resources. "The sale of this material will not only add cash to our treasury but will also give a clear signal to our current and potential shareholders that we are continuing to hit on our key milestones as we execute on a carefully thought-out plan that continues to move the Company forward towards its goal of completing the three key amendments required before getting the green light to recommence gold and silver mining production," he added.

Pictures above show first truck load of Dome mineralized material arriving at Nicola Mining in April 2021 that was sent by the Company to refine logistics and finalize optimal trucking routes.

In September 2017, over 5,000 tonnes of the mineralized material - that will be shipped to Nicola Mining for processing - was assayed and yielded the following results.

Grade Sampled g/t Gold Estimated Tonnes Location of Sample 11.5 100 Outside pile at 120 level 13.2 50 Vent RSE Upper level 14.8 100 Vent RSE back 18.9 80 Dwpt 10.5 11.6 500 Dwpt 11 10.2 150 Dwpt 12 17.6 1000 Dwpt 13/14 41.5 40 750 RSE Arg 1370 level 10.7 1500 Tag 068 11.9 1500 End of drift 1290 level

The above results of quantity and grade provide a range only and are insufficient to define a mineral resource. There can be no assurance that a mineral resource will be defined from further exploration.

The Company has started to remove the mineralized material from its underground mine and will begin to accumulate and store it in its newly constructed ore storage building. Once the final snow melts, the yearly spring break-up complete, and weight limits removed from the local roads, trucks will immediately begin transporting the material to Nicola Mining. This is currently scheduled to begin during the week of June 14th, 2021.

The company will evaluate a production decision once all permit requirements are in place. Any production decision in advance of obtaining a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability of the project is associated with increased uncertainty and risk of failure.

OCEAN PARTNERS CONTRACT SECURED

TO BUY DOME CONCENTRATE

The Company is pleased to announce that its toll milling partner, Nicola Mining, has signed an agreement with Ocean Partners UK Limited to buy the concentrate generated from the Dome mineralized material. Ocean Partners, a leading European based commodities trading company with offices in six countries around the world, will buy the processed material in the form of concentrate and pay Nicola Mining and the Company based on receiving every 50 tonnes of concentrate material.

MINE RESCUE AND SAFETY TRAINING COMPLETE

The Company is also pleased to announce that during the week of May 28, 2021, eight members of the Company's mining team participated and completed the Ministry of Mines mandated Rescue and Safety Training course which must be completed by all personnel that intend to work in and around a producing and operating mine. The successful completion of this extremely intensive course is not only required but an important step towards ensuring the health and safety of all company personal in case of an unfortunate mine incident.

QUALITY ASSURANCE AND CONTROL

Rock samples were collected from underground mineralized material piles. Strict chain of custody and shipping protocols were maintained. The rock samples were crushed up to 80% passing 10 mesh, riffle split (250 g) and pulverized (mild steel) to 95% passing 105 included cleaner sand. The 30g sample was mixed with fire assay fluxes (borax, soda ash, silica, litharge) and with Ag added as a collector and the mixture is placed in a fire clay crucible, the mixture is preheated at 850C, intermediate 950 C and finish 1060 C, the entire fusion process should last 60 minutes. The crucibles are then removed from the assay furnace and the molten slag (lighter material) is carefully poured from the crucible into a mould, leaving a lead button at the base of the mould. The lead button is then placed in a preheated cupel which absorbs the lead when cupelled at 950C to recover the Ag (dore bead) + Au. The sampling program was undertaken by and under the direction of Dr. Mathias Westphal P.Geo.

The scientific and technical data contained in this news release was approved by William Cronk, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined in NI 43-101 and a consultant to the Company.

For further information, please contact:

Rana Vig

President and Chief Executive Officer Telephone: 604-218-4766

Email: rana@ranavig.com

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. (the "Company") expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include results of exploration activities that may not show quality and quantity necessary for upgrading mineralization classification or for further exploration and exploitation of minerals deposits, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, permitting and other approvals, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

SOURCE: Blue Lagoon Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/650613/Blue-Lagoon-Ready-to-Ship-6000-Tonnes-of-High-Grade-Mineralized-Material-to-Mill-for-Processing
Online discussion with UNDP's Administrator, Achim Steiner

VIENNA, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Achim Steiner, Head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), will discuss, with a panel of scientists from the University of Vienna and other experts, how to unlock the transformations that need to strengthen both our social and planetary systems, so that people and the planet prosper together. The event will take place on Monday, June 14, 2021, 6:00 p.m. CEST.

The age of humans, or the Anthropocene, is confronting them with very serious questions about their own future. The devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have taken the world's attention, while other layered crises - from climate change to rising inequalities -- continue to take their toll, exposing how planetary and societal imbalances are deeply intertwined.

At these crossroads, how do people find a new pathway: one that expands human wellbeing, ends poverty, and promotes peace while easing planetary pressures?

UNDP, through its recently published 2020 Human Development Report, calls for a redesign of the path to progress and advocates for nothing less than a great transformation in the way people work, live and cooperate. It presents the new Planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index, an experimental measure to fully account for the dangerous pressures people put on the planet.

Following his keynote speech, Achim Steiner will be joined by environmental economist Alexandra Brausmann, meteorologist Andreas Stohl - both from University of Vienna - as well as by Katharina Rogenhofer, federal spokeswoman for the popular climate petition and University of Vienna alumna. Martin Kotynek, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper "Der Standard" will moderate the event.

About Achim Steiner

Achim Steiner is a global leader on sustainable development, climate change action and international cooperation. A vocal advocate for 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, he is currently the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and Vice-Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group. From 2016 to 2017, he was the Dean of Oxford Martin School and Professorial Fellow of Balliol College, University of Oxford. Previously, he headed the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Office at Nairobi, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, among other positions. Achim Steiner grew up in Brazil and has lived and worked in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and the United States. He graduated in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (MA) from Worcester College, Oxford University and holds an MA from the University of London/School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

About UNDP

The United Nations Development Programme is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with a broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, UNDP helps nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.

Semester question of the University of Vienna

Each semester, the University of Vienna poses its academics a question that is of particular relevance to today's society. The University of Vienna runs the semester question in cooperation with the Austrian daily newspaper "Der Standard" - starting with online contributions and ending with a discussion at the end of the semester.

HOW DO WE HUMANS IMPACT THE PLANET?

Monday, June 14, 2021, 6:00 p.m.-7: 15 p.m. CEST

LIVE STREAM: https://youtu.be/wYWsaqRO3Kg

Editorial support of the discussion with live ticker. Join the discussion!

Please share questions and suggestions on the topic using the hashtag semesterfrage on our social media channels.

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Press contact

Mag. Alexandra Frey

Press Office of the University of Vienna

Research and Teaching

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univie.ac.at
BEDFORD, NS / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / Silver Spruce Resources Inc. ("Silver Spruce" or the "Company")(TSXV:SSE)(FRA:S6Q1) is saddened to report the passing of Dr. Brian Penney, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and past CEO and CFO of the Company. Brian was born in London, England on June 6th, 1944 and passed on June 5th, 2021 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, his home for many years, at the age of 76 years.

The Company extends its deepest condolences to his family and friends for our collective loss.

Dr. Penney was chairman of Silver Spruce Resources Inc. since 2016. He also served extended periods as CEO and CFO, and as chairman of the audit committee. He had extensive experience and success in guiding early-stage companies, both as CEO and Chairman. He had been a board member of several government and academic-industry boards and held various research and academic positions in physics and in computing science and worked as a software engineer, system architect and development manager at several companies in the telecommunications industry.

Brian, a professional engineer, held a Ph.D. in high energy nuclear physics from Imperial College of Science & Technology, University of London, was licensed as a commercial pilot. He was an avid investor and enjoyed great red wine.

"I had the distinct pleasure of working closely with Brian, though from afar and for only four years. I will miss his spirited conversations, his humour, his counsel, his attention to detail, his unwavering support, and his genuine interest in all subjects regarding the business and his colleagues," said Greg Davison, PGeo, Vice-President Exploration and Director. "My late father kept an accolade reserved for those deserving respect - 'he was scholar and a gentleman' - and Brian truly earned that compliment in every way."

About Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

Silver Spruce Resources Inc. is a Canadian junior exploration company which has signed Definitive Agreements to acquire 100% of the Melchett Lake Zn-Au-Ag project in northern Ontario, and with Colibri Resource Corp. in Sonora, Mexico, to acquire 50% interest in Yaque Minerales S.A de C.V. holding the El Mezquite Au project, a drill-ready precious metal project, and up to 50% interest in each of Colibri's early stage Jackie Au and Diamante Au-Ag projects, with the three properties located from 5 kilometres to 15 kilometres northwest from Minera Alamos's Nicho deposit, respectively. The Company also is pursuing exploration of the drill-ready and fully permitted Pino de Plata Ag project, located 15 kilometres west of Coeur Mining's Palmarejo Mine, in western Chihuahua, Mexico. Silver Spruce Resources Inc. continues to investigate opportunities that Management has identified or that have been presented to the Company for consideration.

Contact:

Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

Greg Davison, PGeo, Vice-President Exploration and Director

(250) 521-0444

gdavison@silverspruceresources.com

Michael Kinley, CEO and Director

(902) 402-0388

mkinley@silverspruceresources.com

info@silverspruceresources.com

www.silverspruceresources.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements," Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future, including but not limited to, statements regarding the private placement.

Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with mineral exploration and difficulties associated with obtaining financing on acceptable terms. We are not in control of metals prices and these could vary to make development uneconomic. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate.

SOURCE: Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/650646/Silver-Spruce-Reports-the-Passing-of-its-Chairman-of-the-Board-Dr-Brian-Penney
Carbon Streaming Corporation ("CSC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has formed a strategic joint-venture partnership ("JV") with WilsonZinter Enterprises Ltd. ("WZ"), an established First Nations business in British Columbia ("BC

The purpose of the JV is to source and finance investment opportunities in collaboration with First Nations and develop projects within their territories to combat climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions. In addition, these projects support biodiversity protection, grow and enhance local community and social programs, foster business and employment opportunities, and deliver important environmental education and capacity building. Projects once developed will result in GHG emissions reductions that will be marketed for sale as carbon credits once fully validated and certified.

WZ is led by Candice Wilson and Amanda Zinter, both of whom have spent nearly a decade working together reviewing environmental and industrial projects and assessments located within, and on behalf of, the Haisla Nation ("Nation")of northern British Columbia. WZ is an industry leader in environmental and social responsibility.

In partnership, CSC and WZ will meet with First Nations officials to finance and develop offsetting projects, realizing the many anticipated project benefits:

Natural Resources Management such as reforestation and improved forestry management, wetland restoration, and associated efforts to protect the area's rich biodiversity (native species include: Sikta Spruce, Western Hemlock, Red Cedars, bears, wolves, deer, foxes, and wolverines, among others).

Partnership with First Nations offering sustainable economic development, employment, and environmental education opportunities for self-sufficient communities in recognition of and respect for their proud tradition as land and water defenders.

Justin Cochrane, President CEO of the Company stated, "Carbon Streaming is thrilled to be partnering with WZ and together, collaborating with First Nations in BC." Mr. Cochrane continued, "This joint venture not only demonstrates our sustained commitment to our shared environment and the communities that depend on them, it presents a unique opportunity to work with a female-Indigenous owned organization, demonstrating our commitment to supporting equal opportunity business relationships."

The Company will provide further updates as the JV sources and finalizes investment opportunities with First Nation communities in BC.

About WilsonZinter Enterprises Ltd.

WilsonZinter Enterprises partners with private sector businesses that demonstrate high levels of environmental and social responsibility. An aspect of this commitment to social responsibility is contracting with a female-Indigenous owned organization to provide transparent, equal opportunity business relationships. Candice Wilson and Amanda Zinter's intent is to pave the path for excellence in environment and social governance and to pass on the knowledge to other individuals with the same vision. The formula to the successful development of major industrial projects in British Columbia includes maximizing benefits and WilsonZinter is able to help find the solution. They have collaborated on six LNG (liquified natural gas) projects and participated in six environmental assessments.

Contact: info@wilsonzinter.ca

About Carbon Streaming Corporation

Carbon Streaming Corporation is a unique ESG principled investment vehicle offering investors exposure to carbon credits, a key instrument used by both governments and corporations to achieve their carbon neutral and net-zero climate goals. The Company intends to invest capital through carbon credit streaming arrangements with project developers and owners to accelerate the creation of carbon offset projects by bringing capital to projects that might not otherwise be developed. Many of these projects will have significant social and economic co-benefits in addition to their carbon reduction or removal potential.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain information which constitutes 'forward-looking statements' and 'forward-looking information' within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to: statements regarding the finalization of definitive documentation and closing of the carbon credit stream transaction, statements and figures with respect to the development, implementation, validation and verification of carbon projects; statements and figures with respect to the generation of local community benefits; statements with respect to the conservation and protection of forestry and endangered species; statements with respect to the annual creation of carbon credits; and, statements with respect to the business and assets of the Company and its strategy going forward. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, most of which are beyond the Company's control. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties underlying these forward-looking statements materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results, performance or achievements could vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this release and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

No securities regulatory authority has approved of the contents of this news release.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005266/en/

Contacts:

Justin Cochrane, President and CEO

info@carbonstreaming.com

www.carbonstreaming.com
Ethiopian PM inaugurates Chinese-built sugar factory

Xinhua) 09:01, June 07, 2021

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (R) speaks during the inauguration of Tana Beles No.1 sugar factory project in Amhara regional state, Ethiopia, on June 6, 2021. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday inaugurated the Chinese built sugar factory constructed in the east African country's northern Amhara regional state. (Xinhua)

ADDIS ABABA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday inaugurated a Chinese built sugar factory constructed in the east African country's northern Amhara regional state.

Speaking at the inauguration of Tana Beles No.1 sugar factory project, Ahmed praised the China CAMC Engineering Corporation Limited (CAMCE) for finishing the project in less than two years.

"When the sugar project was first started, it was supposed to be finalized within an 18-month period, but had been delayed by eight years by the original contractor, the local firm Metal Engineering Corporation (MeTeC)," Ahmed said.

The Tana Beles No.1 sugar factory project was started in 2012, with a planned completion date of around 18 months, but by end of 2017, only about 60 percent of the project was completed.

CAMCE, a corporation which belongs to China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH), took over from the sugar project and started construction in September 2019.

Agegnehu Teshager, President of Amhara regional state, similarly praised CAMCE for the speedy completion of the sugar project despite COVID-19 related challenges.

"I would like to thank CAMCE for finishing the sugar plant project in collaboration with the Ethiopia Sugar Corporation and the Amhara regional administration in less than two years period, despite COVID-19 related challenges," Teshager said.

Ethiopia has registered 272,805 COVID-19 cases and 4,201 COVID-19 related deaths so far.

"This project will have multifaceted side benefits including the sugar byproduct molasses being able to be used to produce ethanol, alcohols, sanitizer, cattle feed and pulp factory," he further said.

Speaking to Xinhua, Sun Jianshan, project manager of Tane Beles No.1 Sugar plant project, said the project has the processing capacity of 13,000 tons of sugarcane and 1,500 tons of refined sugar per day respectively.

Sun also said the sugar plant is equipped with a 45 MW generator set, which can generate 30 MW to the external power grid.

Ethiopia expects the completed project to produce 200,000 tons of refined sugar annually, while creating job opportunities for nearly 10,000 Ethiopians.

Despite COVID-19 related logistical challenges, CAMCE and its subcontractors were able to process the first sugar canes on May 28.

CAMCE has also contracted the construction of Welkait Sugar factory with a production factory of 24,000 tons of sugar cane per day located in Ethiopia's Tigray regional state.

The Chinese firm has also previously constructed the 400 KV Sululta Substation and the 400 KV Yirgalem Substation, contributing to Ethiopia's electrification ambitions.

Ethiopia plans to increase its current 4,280 MW electricity generation capacity to 17,300 MW by 2025, with power generation projects in hydro, wind, geothermal, solar and biomass sectors.

The Ethiopian government is also working to increase electrification coverage across the country from around 60 percent currently to 100 percent by 2025.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
"Sweat," performed by the National Theater Company of Korea (NTCK) / Courtesy of NTCK



By Park Ji-won



A series of plays and dance performances focusing on the lives and deaths of factory workers are running in local theaters in June and July.



The musical, "1976 Harlan County," which runs from May 28 to July 4 at the Chungmu Arts Center, revolves around miners in the United States who went on strike against their employer in 1973. The piece is inspired by the Oscar-winning documentary film, "Harlan County, USA," which was released in 1976.



Director Yoo Byung-eun said, "I wrote the first edition of this work in 2016. As a father raising children, I started to write the script while thinking about how to express the tragedy of the Sewol ferry disaster."



The National Theater Company of Korea (NTCK) will perform "Sweat," a play written by Lynn Nottage that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2017. It won the prestigious award for its nuanced depiction of hardships facing factory workers who continue to strive for the American dream, according to the prize giver. Its plot summary reads, "A group of friends have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when picket lines chip away at their trust, and union jobs and factory machinery can disappear overnight, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a gut-wrenching fight to stay afloat."



The NTCK selected the piece as part of its effort to introduce trending and quality plays in Korea, it said in a press release, while aiming to keep an eye on concurrent social issues such as labor, gender and racial discrimination and economic inequality in hopes of supporting debate around the subjects.



Director Ahn Kyung-mo said, "The work is talking about human dignity beyond the subjects of labor and racial discrimination. I would like to question whether we are working simply for money. Also, I wanted to show how human dignity can be damaged after losing work, while talking about the possibility of coming together with others in those extreme situations."



"7 Minutes," or "Sette Minuti" in Italian, a play written by Stefano Massini, will be performed by art troupe Watchman at Art One Theater from June 16 to 27. The work was inspired by a true story that occurred in France in 2012 where a dozen or so workers were facing fates parallel to that of a factory about to be taken over by a textile multinational. A film with the same title was also made in 2016. The play revolves around seven factory employees who are tasked with voting at the request of the new company on the behalf of other employees. Eleven actors perform the textile factory employee roles throughout the show without leaving the stage.



Theater Company Gorae will also premier, "Waiting for Chimney," a play based on the true story of FineTek workers who held a "chimney protest" atop a 75-meter smokestack for 426 days in 2018, the longest sit-in in history, calling for job security against the display equipment company's layoff plan. The title was inspired by Samuel Beckett's play, "Waiting for Godot."



"Waiting for Chimney," which will be performed at Theater Yeonwoo from June 10 to 27, revisits the life of factory workers as well as the value of labor which has been replaced by machines in Korean society.



"Trigger," a play inspired by a poem by Geppetto, who is famous for leaving poems on online commentary sections, is about a young worker who died when he fell into a five-meter-high melting blast furnace after taking the wrong step in the factory where he worked in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province in 2010. The poem drew huge popularity online and made the poet and the incident famous. The play will be performed at Theater Kum from July 7 to 18.



"A Seventh Man," a dance piece by choreographer Jung Young-doo that deals with the issues around migrant workers, has been performed again, 11 years following its creation in 2010. It started its tour from LG Arts Center (June 4-5) and it will go to Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Center (June 11-12) and Guri Arts Hall (June 18-19).



The work, inspired by the book with the same title, "A Seventh Man," (1975) by John Berger and Jean Mohr about the lives of migrant workers in Europe, explores the movements of people and their emotions working and living in other parts of the world.


NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Monotherapy is cost-effective and gives deliverable action directly to the site of action in a few minutes, and is said to be a safe and effective method for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). According to Persistence Market Research (PMR), request for pulmonary fibrosis treatment is predicted to increase, enabling the market to surpass US$ 2.7 Bn by 2021. Over the coming years, rising cases of IPF will support expansion of the market.

High number of research & development projects, increasing investments, and favourable regulatory policies are some other factors supporting growth of the market for pulmonary fibrosis treatment. Majority of the population living with pulmonary fibrosis is being treated with traditional corticosteroid combination drugs with limited efficacy. With the arrival of new novel therapies, unaddressed populations in middle- and lower-income countries, as well as developed countries, can offer significant revenue generation opportunities.

Request for sample report: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/30070

Key Takeaways from Market Study

The global pulmonary fibrosis treatment market is expected to rise at a healthy CAGR over more than 6% through 2031.

Increasing focus on effective treatment in the U.S is lending high Y-o-Y growth to the market in the country.

Germany and France are expected to exhibit increasing demand to tackle concerns pertaining to rising incidence of IPF.

and are expected to exhibit increasing demand to tackle concerns pertaining to rising incidence of IPF. Overall, the global market is set to expand 2X over the next ten years.

Monotherapy to account for over 70% market share by 2031.

Get customized report by asking an expert: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/ask-an-expert/30070

"Rising prevalence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and importance of early diagnosis are creating growth opportunities for market players in the long term," says a Persistence Market Research analyst.

Collaborations and Product Approval - Imperative Strategy for Market Players

Leading market players are strengthening their market position through collaborations with various other organizations.Global leading companies are focusing on research activities and approvals for increased market penetration

Roche, in March 2020 , received Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) from the U.S FDA for Esbriet (pirfenidone), for use in adults with unclassifiable interstitial lung disease (uILD).

, received Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) from the U.S FDA for Esbriet (pirfenidone), for use in adults with unclassifiable interstitial lung disease (uILD). In June 2019 , Boehringer Ingelheim entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Bridge Biotherapeutics Inc. ( South Korea ), with the aim to fast-track the development of Bridge's auto tax in inhibitor BBT-877 for treatment against fibrosing interstitial lung diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare lung disease.

, Boehringer Ingelheim entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Bridge Biotherapeutics Inc. ( ), with the aim to fast-track the development of Bridge's auto tax in inhibitor BBT-877 for treatment against fibrosing interstitial lung diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare lung disease. In October 2020 , Cipla introduced the generic version Nintedanib for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. In India , this drug will be marketed under the brand name Ninitb. Nintedanib will be available in two formulations of 100 mg and 150 mg.

Get full access of report: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/30070

What else is in the report?

Persistence Market Research offers a unique perspective and actionable insights on the pulmonary fibrosis treatment market in its latest study, presenting historical demand assessment of 2016 - 2020 and projections for 2021 - 2031, based on therapy (monotherapy, combination therapy and symptomatic treatment), indication (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), familial PF, and others), and distribution channel (hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies, and mail order pharmacies), across seven key regions of the world.

Browse Research Release at: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-reports.asp

Browse End-to-end Market:Healthcare

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Cutaneous Fribrosis Treatment Market: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/cutaneous-fribrosis-treatment-market.asp

https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/cutaneous-fribrosis-treatment-market.asp Kidney Fibrosis Treatment Market: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/kidney-fibrosis-treatment-market.asp

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To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / Northern Lights Resources Corp. ("Northern Lights" or the "Company") (CSE:NLR)(OTCQB:NLRCF) is pleased to announce that it has closed the first tranche of US$890,000 (C$1,079,463) of the total US$2,000,000 (approximately C$2,425,760) of funding available under financing agreement (the "Agreement") entered into with Precious Metals Capital Group, LLC ("Investor") as announced by the Company on May 28, 2021.

Under the terms of the Agreement, the Investor has purchased a unsecured zero-coupon non-redeemable convertible security ("Convertible Security") from the Company with a principal amount of US$890,000 for a purchase price of US$800,000.

Northern Lights has received US$800,000 (approximately C$970,304) cash payment from the Investor. The Company has issued to the Investor (i) a Convertible Security certificate for a principal amount of US$890,000; (ii) 3,122,743 Shares in satisfaction of a one-time fee (the "Fee Shares"); (iii) an initial issuance of 1,800,000 conversion shares (the "Initial Conversion Shares") to be counted towards the conversion of the Convertible Security or otherwise applied as set forth in the Company's May 28, 2021 news release; and (iv) 2,800,000 warrants, as a one-time issuance, each warrant entitling the holder to subscribe for one Share at the exercise price of C$0.068509 for the 48 months from the date of issue.

Please refer to the Company's news release of May 28, 2021 for details on the means and pricing of conversion of the Convertible Securities.

In addition, the Company announces that 3,420,000 previously issued common share purchase warrants exercisable at $0.075 per share expiring July 4, 2021, have had the exercise expiry date extended to July 4, 2024.

For further information, please contact:



Albert Timcke, Executive Chairman and President

Email: rtimcke@northernlightsresources.com

Tel: +1 604 608 6163

Jason Bahnsen, Chief Executive Officer

Email: Jason@northernlightsresources.com

Tel: +1 604 608 6163

Shawn Balaghi, Investor Relations

Email: shawn@northernlightsresources.com

Tel: +1 604 773 0242

About Northern Lights Resources Corp.

Northern Lights Resources Corp is a growth-oriented exploration and development company that is advancing two projects: The 100% owned, Secret Pass Gold Project located in Arizona; and the Medicine Springs silver-zinc-lead Project located in Elko County Nevada where Northern Lights, in joint venture with Reyna Silver, are earning 100% ownership. Northern Lights Resources is a member of the Arizona Mining Association.

Northern Lights Resources trades under the ticker of "NLR" on the CSE. This and other Northern Lights Resources news releases can be viewed at www.sedar.com and www.northernlightsresources.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the terms and conditions of the proposed private placement; use of funds; the business and operations of the Company after the proposed closing of the Offering. There is no assurance any further advances of funds from the Investor will be forthcoming. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; and the uncertainties surrounding the mineral exploration industry. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Northern Lights Resources Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/650599/Northern-Lights-Closes-First-Tranche-of-Financing-Raising-Cash-Proceeds-of-US800000
Key addition to Leadership Team brings more than two decades of industry experience in biotechnology corporate development and strategy

VANCOUVER, BC, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Incisive Genetics Inc. ("IG"), a biotech company specializing in the research and development of a novel non-viral delivery platform for targeted CRISPR-based gene therapies, announced today the appointment of Kevin Chow, Ph.D. as President. As a member of IG's leadership team, Dr. Chow will focus on financing and business development strategy among other areas of responsibility.

"We are very excited to welcome Kevin to the Incisive Genetics team," stated Dr. Blair R. Leavitt, co-founder and CEO. "He brings a wealth of knowledge and adds immense value to our company. We are looking forward to the benefits his experience and knowledge will bring as we look to broaden Incisive's strategy and vision."

Dr. Chow brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, Dr. Chow was co-founder, President and CEO of Vitaeris, which was acquired by CSL Behring. He previously served in senior business development roles at Alder Biopharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences. Dr. Chow received his B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia.

"Incisive Genetics has continued to innovate and demonstrate the significant capabilities of its Omnia platform," said Dr. Chow. "I am very excited to join this dedicated team, and look forward to helping shape the next stage of the company's growth to become a leader in enabling CRISPR-based gene therapy."

About Incisive Genetics Inc.

Incisive Genetics Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company based in Vancouver, Canada established in 2018. IG is focused on developing the cutting-edge Omnia non-viral delivery platform for genetic therapies. This disruptive and transformational delivery platform enables a one-step encapsulation of the active CRISPR components. The company's preclinical pipeline includes programs addressing neurologic and ocular genetic diseases. IG is actively seeking partnerships with pharmaceutical companies developing gene therapies to be enabled by its novel Omnia delivery platform.

For more information, please visit www.incisivegenetics.com

FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Austin Hill

info@incisivegenetics.com

604-409-0660

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COLORADO SPRINGS, CO / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / Fortitude Gold Corp. (OTCQB:FTCO) (the "Company") declares its monthly dividend of $0.03 per common share payable on June 30, 2021 to shareholders of record as of June 21, 2021. Fortitude Gold is a gold producer, developer, and explorer with operations in Nevada, U.S.A.

Dividends may vary in amount and consistency or be discontinued at the Board of Directors' discretion depending on variables including but not limited to operational cash flows, Company development requirements and strategies, construction, spot gold and silver prices, taxation, general market conditions and other factors described in the Company's public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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/650616/Fortitude-Gold-Declares-June-Monthly-Dividend
VANCOUVER, BC, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Surge Battery Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Surge") (TSXV: NILI) (OTC: NILIF) (FRA: DJ5C) would like to provide its shareholders with an update on the Company and the state of the current commodity markets.

The Company is pleased to report that due to its financings over the past four-month period, the Company now has approximately $2,800,000 in order to carry out its corporate plans for 2021. With the conversion of the associated financing warrants from the recently completed Unit offering, the Company could add another $2,200,000 into the Company's treasury, allowing it to be fully financed for 2021 and beyond.

"We are very happy that our shareholders continue to support our Company and its exploration programs in Canada," comments Mr. Greg Reimer, President & CEO of Surge. "The funds that we have received recently will go towards our acquisition and exploration focus on projects for high value battery metals required for the electric vehicle (EV) market. These projects will complement our Caledonia Copper exploration project in British Columbia. The Company is actively looking for both established and prospective exploration projects that seek high value metals such as copper, nickel and lithium." Mr. Reimer continues, "We have both the team and the funds in place to pursue additional mineral exploration assets of high quality, and we plan to build a much larger mineral exploration company focussed on several key metals needed to support the manufacturing of high-tech products like EVs and mobile phones."

Mr. Reimer continues, "A recent publication in www.mining.com calls for a need of US$1.7 Trillion in mining investment over the next fifteen years to fuel a low carbon world, in order to fund EV adoption and other green initiatives (May 10, 2021 Mining.com article). Mining companies need to invest in projects to help supply enough copper, cobalt, nickel, lithium and other metals needed for the shift to a low carbon world.

The United States, Britain, Japan, Canada and others raised their targets on cutting carbon emissions to halt global warming at a summit in April hosted by US President Joe Biden. Meeting those targets will need large-scale deployment of electric vehicles, storage for power generated from renewables and electricity transmission, all of which require industrial materials, such as lightweight aluminium and metals used in batteries such as cobalt and lithium.

To this end, Joe Biden'sUS$2.3 trillion + infrastructure bill would help create bull conditions in commodity markets, particularly in steel and cobalt, lithium, and copper - materials of the energy transition.

Another recent article in www.mining.com further states that China sold roughly one million more EVs than the US and that the key component materials for EV batteries, nickel, lithium, copper and cobalt have created a shortage in supply last year. They go on to state that forecasts that real growth in the EV industry in the US could strain a supply chain currently focused on Europe and Asia in a way that would send prices to stratospheric levels (April 9, 2021 Article) and tests both the elasticity of demand and the viability of the supply chain.

We believe that the future is bright for our Company, and we are looking to unlock this potential by seeking additional high quality North American exploration properties. Our focus for this year will be on the key metals of copper, nickel and lithium as we believe the demand for these commodities will only continue to grow in the low carbon economy.

Thank you for supporting us on this journey."

About Surge Battery Metals Inc. surgebatterymetals.com

The Company is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company which has been active in the resource sector in British Columbia and elsewhere in Canada.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

"Greg Reimer"

Greg Reimer, President & CEO

604-428-5690

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to, comments that involve future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Except for statements of historical facts, comments that address resource potential, upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt and security of mineral property titles, availability of funds, and others are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guaranteeing future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements.

Surge Battery Metals Inc.

1220 - 789 West Pender Street

Vancouver, BC, Canada V6C 1H2

604- 428-5690

www.surgebatterymetals.com

info@surgebatterymetals.com
LONDON and SYDNEY, Australia and JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FXCM, the leading international provider of online foreign exchange trading, CFD trading and related services, announced that FXCM Pro, the institutional arm of the business, is partnering with Fortex, a leading multi-asset trading technology platform.



The partnership between FXCM Pro and Fortex integrates FXCM Pro's liquidity with Fortex's XForce 2.0 platform. XForce 2.0 is a multi-asset trading platform that packs liquidity aggregation, order and risk management, MT4/5 Bridges, FIX API, hosting, and multiple trading GUI into one valued cloud native SaaS offering in NY4/LD4/HK1.

FXCM Pro will combine its world leading multi-asset trading technology solution with Fortex's market leading service, providing institutions and professional traders with a first-class trading experience and access to key industry platforms.

Daniel Chen, CEO and Co-founder at Fortex, commented: "Fortex specializes in helping enterprise clients innovate and re-orient their trading business to fuel continuous growth. From exchange products to FX/CFD to crypto derivatives, we discover deep values for our clients by leading changes and overcoming pain points, armed with superior computing power and data insights. Our team holds a client first, liquidity neutral and broker agnostic principle. FXCM Pro's transparent and pure agency model resonates with our core value. We are very excited to partner with FXCM Pro."

Mario Sanchez, Managing Director and Global Head of FXCM Pro Sales, commented: "FXCM Pro's liquidity management team continues to work hard to develop partnerships that will enhance execution and trading efficiency. Our latest partnership with Fortex provides us with an additional channel, and we are both aligned in our strategy of easing connection and offering customized trading solutions. Through this partnership, we are ensuring that FXCM Pro's liquidity is easily accessible to a wide pool of brokers, hedge funds and professional traders."

Disclaimers:

This communication is intended for institutional and professional clients only.

About FXCM:



FXCMis a leading provider of online foreign exchangeprovides retail brokers, small hedge funds and emerging market banks access to wholesale execution and liquidity, while providing high and medium frequency funds access to prime brokerage services via FXCM Prime. FXCM is a Leucadia Company.

Trading Forex/CFDs on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors.



Leverage can work against you. The products are intended for retail, professional and eligible counterparty clients. Retail clients who maintain account, Product Disclosure Statement, and Terms of Business. Our FX and CFD prices are set by us, are not made on an Exchange and are not governed under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. The FXCM Group may provide general commentary, which is not intended as investment advice and must not be construed as such. Seek advice from a separate financial advisor. The FXCM Group assumes no liability for errors, inaccuracies or omissions; does not warrant the accuracy, completeness of information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these materials. Read and understand the Terms and Conditions on the FXCM Group's websites prior to taking further action.

About Fortex

Founded in 1997, Fortex Technologies aims to revolutionize trading with its powerful, neutral, multi-asset trading platform focused on the FX, equities, and crypto markets. Fortex's XForce solution, ECN, MT4/5 bridges, infrastructure hosting and more are used by regional banks, hedge funds, asset managers, broker dealers and professional traders around the world to enhance liquidity access, improve execution workflows and support sophisticated trading strategies. For more information about Fortex, please visit www.Fortex.com

Media contact:

Chatsworth Communications

+44
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / Gaia Metals Corp. (the "Company") (TSXV:GMC)(OTCQB:RGDCF)(FSE:R9G) announces that the Board of Directors have approved a consolidation of the Company's common shares on the basis of one (1) post-consolidated share for every three (3) pre-consolidated shares (the "Consolidation").

Currently, the Company has 32,692,817 common shares issued and outstanding. Following the Consolidation, the Company will have approximately 10,897,605 common shares issued and outstanding. No fractional shares will be issued but will instead be rounded as provided for in section 83(1) of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).

In conjunction with the Consolidation, the Company will be changing its name to "Patriot Battery Metals Inc." The Company also intends to change its trading symbol on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

The Company will issue a further news release announcing the effective date in which the Company will commence trading under the new name, symbol and CUSIP number.

About Gaia Metals Corp.

Gaia Metals Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of mineral projects containing base and precious metals, including platinum group elements, and lithium.

The Company's flagship assets are the wholly owned Corvette Property, and the FCI Property (held under Option from O3 Mining Inc.) located in the James Bay Region of Quebec and the Freeman Creek Gold Property, located in Idaho, USA.

In addition, the Company holds the Pontax Lithium-Gold Property, QC; the Golden Silica Property, BC; and the Hidden Lake Lithium Property, NWT, where the Company maintains a 40% interest, as well as several other assets in Canada.

For further information, please contact Adrian Lamoureux, CEO & Director at Tel: 778-945-2950, E-mail: adrian@gaiametalscorp.com or visit www.gaiametalscorp.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

"ADRIAN LAMOUREUX"

Adrian Lamoureux, CEO & Director

Forward Looking Statements:

Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

SOURCE: Gaia Metals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/650557/Gaia-Metals-Corp-Announces-Share-Consolidation-and-Name-Change
Company Will Fully Cooperate With SEC In A Timely Manner

ANN ARBOR, MI / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / Minerco, Inc. (OTC PINK:MINE) today announced that on May 26, 2021, the Company was notified by the SEC that it had ORDERED, pursuant to Section 12(k) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that trading in the securities of the above-listed Company is suspended for the period from 9:30 a.m. EDT on May 27, 2021, through 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 10, 2021.

Julius Jenge, Chief Executive Officer of Minerco, Inc. said: "The Company has hired SEC counsel and will fully cooperate with the SEC in a timely manner. We will provide additional information and updates as permitted, to our shareholders and the markets as the matter develops."

The Order of Suspension of Trading stated that: " It appears to the Securities and Exchange Commission that the public interest and the protection of investors require a suspension in the trading of the securities of Minerco, Inc. ("Minerco" or "the Company")(CIK # 0001451514), formerly a Nevada company, because of questions and concerns regarding the adequacy and accuracy of information about the Company in the marketplace and unusual and unexplained activity affecting the market for its securities. These include questions and concerns about the status of its corporate organization, its ownership, the accuracy and completeness of its public statements to investors about its activities, inconsistencies between its statements on social media and in its press releases as compared to its financial disclosures on www.OTCMarkets.com, and the possibility of manipulation of the market for its securities. As of May 21, 2021, the Company's common stock was quoted and traded on OTC Link whose parent company is OTC Markets Group Inc., under the symbol MINE. As of May 21, 2021, the Company's common stock, had seven market makers, and was eligible for the "piggyback" exception of Exchange Act Rule 15c2- 11(f)(3) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934.

The Commission is of the opinion that the public interest and the protection of investors

require a suspension of trading in the securities of the above-listed Company."

About Minerco, Inc.

Minerco, Inc., "The Magic Mushroom Company" (OTC Pink: MINE), is the pioneering company specializing in the research, production, and distribution of psilocybin mushroom products ("Magic Mushrooms"). The Blockchain token SHRU can be used for purchases relating to psilocybin and cannabis. SHRU can be purchased at www.shrucoin.com. Consumers can also utilize the SHRUCOIN Pay app by visiting www.shrucoinpay.com. To learn more about Minerco, Inc. please visit www.minercoinc.com.

Follow us on twitter

@minercoinc

Investor relations

miners@minercoinc.com

MINERCO, INC. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains statements that the Company believes to be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than historical facts, including, without limitation, statements regarding the investment offerings and the terms thereof, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as we "expect," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "should," or the negative thereof or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such statements. Investors should not place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

# # #

Minerco Investor Relations

Phone: 323-380-4500

SOURCE: Minerco, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/650682/Minerco-MINE-Responds-To-SEC-Suspension-of-Trading-on-OTC-Markets
- Players that are expanding portfolio in minimally invasive laparoscopy devices focus on precision and ergonomics, urological surgeries to garner substantial benefits

- Steep learning curve for clinicians and high cost of robotic devices key challenges, market to clock CAGR of 6.5% during 2020 - 2030

ALBANY, N.Y., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past few decade, laparoscopic surgical procedures have grown in numbers especially for urology, and is a key trend shaping the landscape of laparoscopy devices market. Low incision, faster post-surgery pain, and reduced recuperation time in hospital are some of the salient benefits driving the demand for laparoscopy surgeries. The market prospect is growing remarkably in gynaecology, general surgery, urological surgery, bariatrics, and colorectal surgery. In 2019, a large share of laparoscopic surgeries were done in gynecology. Companies focusing on precision surgical instruments are expected to commit substantial R&D funds on developing robotics for laparoscopy devices.

Striking technological advancements have been made in hand access instruments, trocars, and closure devices used in such surgeries. Recurrent focus on optimizing the energy system has expanded the avenue for players in the market. By the end of 2030, the global laparoscopy devices market is estimated to cross the mark of US$ 16.4 Bn.

Request for Analysis of COVID-19 Impact on Laparoscopy Devices Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/covid19.php

Key Findings of Laparoscopy Devices Market Study

Devices with Better Designs and Energy Efficiency Dot the Landscape: Various component manufacturers in laparoscopy devices market are keen on ensuring an ergonomic and modular designs. Ergonomics will not just save space but will gain preference among surgeons. Modular designs facilitate disassembling and cleaning. Thus, technological advancements in designs will spur growth potential for players in the market. Some companies are focusing on innovating on slide-lock graspers. Rise in need for novel designs in laparoscopic urological procedures will bolster the prospects in the market.

Request Brochure of Laparoscopy Devices Market Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/brochure.php

Benefits of Robot-assisted Laparoscopy in Gynaecology Spurs Uptake: The demand for ready-to-go in operating rooms in gynecology for emergency procedures has bolstered the demand for sterile storage containers. In recent times of risk of Covid-19 infection transfer among patients and healthcare workers has made these increasingly popular. On the whole, the prospects for robot-assisted surgeries have risen remarkably in the developing and developed world. The use of robotics by trained surgeons bring in new level of accuracy and precision. However, steep learning curve has restrained the uptake of robotics in the laparoscopy devices market, thereby stalling new growth prospects. Nonetheless, device manufacturers are relentlessly working to reduce the cost of the technology and are collaborating with healthcare organization to upskill the clinicians. Continuing medical education for surgeons will help boost the uptake rate. Ultra-remote robot-assisted laparoscopic surgeries are seeing new streams of revenues in laparoscopy devices market.

The demand for ready-to-go in operating rooms in gynecology for emergency procedures has bolstered the demand for sterile storage containers. In recent times of risk of Covid-19 infection transfer among patients and healthcare workers has made these increasingly popular. On the whole, the prospects for robot-assisted surgeries have risen remarkably in the developing and developed world. The use of robotics by trained surgeons bring in new level of accuracy and precision. However, steep learning curve has restrained the uptake of robotics in the laparoscopy devices market, thereby stalling new growth prospects. Nonetheless, device manufacturers are relentlessly working to reduce the cost of the technology and are collaborating with healthcare organization to upskill the clinicians. Continuing medical education for surgeons will help boost the uptake rate. Ultra-remote robot-assisted laparoscopic surgeries are seeing new streams of revenues in laparoscopy devices market. Urology Surgeries Present Panoply of Opportunities: Growing interest of laparoscopy devices in high-risk surgeries has propelled the growth prospects in the market. Robotic laparoscopy devices that fit into small spaces are gaining traction in hospitals settings for urology surgeries. A number of new entrants including startups are tapping into the growing revenue potential.

Purchase the Laparoscopy Devices Market Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php

Laparoscopy Devices Market: Key Driving Factors and Avenues

The drive for minimally invasive surgeries is a key factor shaping the contours of product development in the laparoscopy devices market.

Rise in awareness about the benefits of robotics and concomitant advances being made in the healthcare infrastructure in the developing world are key drivers for growth in the laparoscopy devices market.

Growing prevalence of chronic diseases particularly cardiovascular diseases is a key trend expanding the avenue for companies in the market

Request for Custom Research - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/custom-research.php

Laparoscopy Devices Market: Key Participants

A growing number of players are keen on bringing innovations in their product development, are entering into collaborations, and inking distribution deals to consolidate their market shares. Some of the well-entrenched players are:

Boston Scientific

Cook Medical, Inc.

Olympus Corporation

Stryker Corporation

Fujifilm Holding Corporation

Aesculap, Inc.

Medtronic

CONMED Corporation

Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Healthcare Industry:

Minimally Invasive Surgery Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/mis-market.html

3D Laparoscopy Imaging Systems Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/3d-laparoscopy-imaging-systems-market.html

About Us

Transparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals.

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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All Event Sponsorships Include Editorial, Feature Article And Multimedia And Social Media, Networking And Press Opportunities; Social Life Magazine Is The Luxury Magazine For The Hamptons

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / Green Stream Holdings Inc. (OTC PINK:GSFI) ("the Company") (http://www.GreenRainSolar.com ), an emerging leader in the solar utility and finance space, which recently announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Chuck's Vintage (https://chucksvintageoriginal.com), an iconic brand and retail location renown among celebrity elite and fashion enthusiasts alike, has opened a new retail location in New York City at 173 East 91st Street, Basement, New York, NY 10128 as of 5/21/2021, today announced that it will be a sponsor for the Polo Hamptons Polo Match and Event.

This match and event are produced each summer in the Hamptons by Social Life Magazine, the Luxury Magazine for the Hamptons, the top luxury publication in the world-renowned Hamptons. https://sociallifemagazine.com

Polo Hamptons is a luxury event held annually in the Hamptons (Bridgehampton). This Polo Match and Event is the perfect setting and market for any luxury brand to connect with a high-net-worth and high-income demo. Outstanding social media and celebrity opportunity. Event date is June 27, July 4, 2020.

All Event Sponsorships Include Editorials, Feature Articles And Multimedia And Social Media, Networking And Press Opportunities.

Established in 2006, Chuck's Vintage is a store unlike any other; a true American original. The moment you step over the threshold at 16618 Marquez Ave, Pacific Palisades 90272, you find yourself amid abundant treasure. The selection of vintage denim has to be seen to be believed. The blue jeans in her store range from Strongholds found in the California Gold Rush mines to World War II-Era Levi's, Lees, and Wranglers, as well as 1960's ladies high-waisted and groovy deadstock Levi's bells. Come to Chuck's for the denim, but stick around and complete your look with the founder's sampling of vintage American workwear: rugged military and work boots, buttery leather bomber jackets, and soft, perfectly worn-in vintage 70's rock tees. Classic American Cool.

Chuck's Vintage was founded by GSFI former CEO Madeline Cammarata (fka Madeline Harmon), who hailed from an illustrious background in fashion. Her career began as a fashion model, where she was soon discovered by the iconic and provocative fashion photographer Helmet Newton, launching Cammarata to the runways of Europe. Returning to the US, Madeline found a powerful niche in the high fashion world of denim, where she was instrumental in providing fabric development for powerful brands like 7 For All Mankind and provided thousands of pieces to celebrity and business elites from Steve Jobs to Morrisey and everywhere in between.

?About Green Stream Finance, Inc.

Green Stream Finance, Inc., a solar utility and finance company with satellite offices in Malibu, CA and New York, NY, is focused on exploiting currently unmet markets in the solar energy space, and is currently licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Colorado, Hawaii, and Canada. The Company's next-generation solar greenhouses constructed and managed by Green Rain Solar, LLC, a Nevada-based division, utilize proprietary greenhouse technology and trademarked design developed by world-renowned architect Mr. Antony Morali. The Company is currently targeting high-growth solar market segments for its advanced solar greenhouse and advanced solar battery products. The Company has a growing footprint in the significantly underserved solar market in New York City where it is targeting 50,000 to 100,000 square feet of rooftop space for the installation of its solar panels. Green Stream is looking to forge key partnership with major investment groups, brokers, and private investors in order to capitalize on a variety of unique investment opportunities in the commercial solar energy markets. The Company is dedicated to becoming a major player in this critical space. Through its innovative solar product offerings and industry partnerships, the Company is well-positioned to become a significant player in the solar space.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. That includes the possibility that the business outlined in this press release cannot be concluded for some reason. That could be as a result of technical, installation, permitting or other problems that were not anticipated. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Green Stream Finance, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. Except for any obligation under the U.S. federal securities laws, Green Stream Finance, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For All Inquiries Contact:

+1 (424) 280-4096

president@greenstreamfinance.com

SOURCE: Green Stream Holdings Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/650691/Chucks-Vintage-Inc-A-Wholly-Owned-Subsidiary-Of-Green-Stream-Holdings-Inc-Is-Sponsoring-Polo-Hamptons-2021
Rep. Park Yong-jin from the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea, center, poses with members of the nation's financial union in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, June 1. Yonhap



By Lee Min-hyung



Financial firms here are crying foul over what they call "excessive regulations" against their top management, after a liberal ruling party lawmaker pushed for legislative reforms introducing term limits for banking group chairpersons.



Under the planned revision to the act on financial firms' governance structures, leaders of financial holding firms here will be able to extend their terms only once, and they will only be able to stay in office for up to six years, according to lawmaker Rep. Park Yong-jin of the Democratic Party of Korea.



But officials from the nation's major financial firms argue that such a move leaves much to be desired and goes against basic market logic.



"It is unfair for legal authorities to intervene in the governance structure of financial firms, as most of them are privatized and operated by investors' capital, not with financial support from the government," an official from the industry said.



Woori Financial Group is the only major financial firm that is not 100 percent privatized. As of Monday, the government-owned Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) owns a 15.25 percent stake in the company. But the government plans to sell this entire stake in Woori by the end of 2022.



Other top-tier banking groups, such as KB, Shinhan and Hana, are different. Even if the biggest shareholder for all four major groups is the National Pension Service, the pension fund's stakes in the aforementioned firms reaches only about 10 percent, so it is hard for the fund to wield much critical decision-making influence over the top management of the financial firms.



"Most existing leaders of banking groups have been able to extend their tenures largely due to their performance in helping the groups achieve earnings growth, and they are able to serve another term only after receiving approval during a shareholders' meeting," the official said.



"If shareholders reject the idea of their term extension, it is understandable, but in this case, the unilateral decision by the politicians appears to be against the basic capitalistic logic of the market."



The combined net profit of KB, Shinhan, Hana and Woori almost doubled during the past six years, according to data from the banking groups. In 2014, they generated 5.63 trillion won in combined net profit, but the figure jumped to 10.48 trillion won in 2020.



Nevertheless, Park and the nation's financial union did recognize the need to place an upper limit on any financial leader's term.



The arbitrary, emperor-like management of these financial groups blocks the nation's financial development and economic growth, so it is time for the political circle to put the brakes on the long-standing culture of tolerating financial leaders' term extensions, which sometimes last almost a decade, according to Park.



It remains to be seen whether the revision act will be approved by the National Assembly. But members of the financial industry here are expressing frustration over the proposal.



"Financial firms have been willing to provide financial support for the public since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020," another source said. "This move was in line with authorities' requests, and we thought it was a step in the right direction, due to the emergency situation the economy was facing."



The source added, "Most of the top management from the big financial groups has also remained open-minded about fulfilling their environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) management criteria after the pandemic shock engulfed the economy. On top of that, the financial groups achieved major earnings growth, despite the virus-induced uncertainty, which helped drive up their stock prices. Against this backdrop, there are no obvious reasons for financial firms to decide to carry out any leadership reshuffle."



The leaders of the major financial groups have been exposed to legal risks after most banks here were mired in a nationwide scandal surrounding the mis-selling of fund products last year.



"Banking groups are tightening their internal monitoring, so as to stop the recurrence of such scandals, but it is inappropriate for politicians to push for term limits of financial leaders, citing their involvement in the scandal," the official said. "Such a political initiative will hamper management autonomy and does no good to the longer-term growth of financial players here."




Specialty Brands Team Up for Unique Father's Day Gift

RACINE, WI / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / World-renowned O&H Danish Bakery and Highland Park Whisky have teamed up to launch a limited-edition, small batch Whiskey Kringle just in time for Father's Day.

'We're thrilled to be releasing this first-of-its-kind Whiskey Kringle for fathers and single malt whisky lovers around the country to enjoy,' said Eric Olesen, third generation co-owner of O&H Danish Bakery. 'Highland Park is extremely proud of its history and doing things the right way. We thought they were absolutely the ideal partner when we looked for a new offering that would taste great and appeal to dads this Father's Day.'

The Whiskey Kringle, available now in the bakery's locations and online for delivery, features O&H's classic tender pastry filled with a Highland Park Whisky infused caramel and topped with buttery streusel. The pastry is then coated with a honey whisky glaze and topped with a smoky drizzle of vanilla icing.

'Just like Highland Park, O&H Danish Bakery combines time-old tradition and the very best craftsmanship to achieve perfection of its products,' said Lindsey Nauman, Senior Brand Manager, Highland Park, Edrington Americas. 'We're delighted to be part of this partnership featuring O&H's innovative take on a Kringle which prioritizes quality and taste just as we also do when making Highland Park Whisky.'

This small-batch Kringle is only available until Father's Day and customers can visit any of O&H's five bakery locations in Wisconsin or shop online for Kringle, gourmet gift packages, and more at www.ohdanishbakery.com.

About O&H Danish Bakery

O&H Danish Bakery was started by Christian Olesen, who emigrated from Denmark in 1924 and created the bakery 25 years later. The bakery is now run by the third and fourth generation of the Olesen family. O&H Danish Bakery has five locations located in Racine, Sturtevant and Oak Creek. The award-winning bakery, that was recently featured in the New York Times 2019 Holiday Gift Guide, showcased on Food Network's 'The Best Of' program and had its Kringle named Best Bakery Item in Trader Joe's annual Customer Choice Awards, also delivers right to your doorstep all across the country. View the website here and follow O&H Danish Bakery on Facebook and Instagram.

About Highland Park Whisky

Highland Park is a renowned single malt Scotch whisky from Orkney, a remote set of islands off the far north coast of Scotland. Established in 1798, Highland Park draws influence from the finest sherry-seasoned oak casks, Orkney's unique treeless environment and over 220 years of whisky-making craftsmanship to create a single malt Scotch whisky that is rich, smoky, and like no other. Highland Park's range of single malt whiskies are consistently acclaimed by whisky lovers around the world, with the brand receiving the title of 'Best Spirit In The World' from Paul Pacult, America's foremost expert on distilled spirits, on three separate occasions.

CONTACT:

Alicia Wilson, 608-577-4717

alwilson@laughlin.com

SOURCE: O&H Danish Bakery

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/650695/OH-Danish-Bakery-and-Highland-Park-Whisky-Partner-for-Limited-Edition-Whiskey-Kringle-Just-in-Time-for-Fathers-Day
Leading academic, research and industry group led by Broad Institute to help speed drug discovery

PerkinElmer, Inc., a global leader committed to innovating for a healthier world, today announced that it is providing its PhenoVue Cell Painting Kits to the Joint Undertaking in Morphological Profiling-Cell Painting (JUMP-CP) consortium. The consortium, spearheadedby the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and including leading pharmaceutical companies and non-profit research organizations, isfocused on creating and sharing the world's largest, public cell imaging data set to help scientists determine the mechanism of action of new therapeutics before they are introduced into patients in clinical trials. When completed, the dataset will feature information from over one billion cells responding to more than 140,000 small molecule and genetic perturbations. A current lack of comprehensive and open access to this type of valuable data including compound activity and toxicity reactions and disease matching insights has been a major bottleneck in drug discovery, leading to longer development cycles.

Using the PerkinElmer PhenoVue kit, which features validated, preoptimized fluorescent-probes, consortium scientists will benefit from the convenience and simplicity of its ready-to-use format and compatibility with high-content screening applications. This will help save the researchers both time and resources.

Commenting on the importance of the JUMP-CP collaboration, Dr. Alan Fletcher, senior vice president of Life Sciences at PerkinElmer, Inc. said, "One of the key challenges for drug discovery today is anticipating how potential new drugs will act when they enter the human body. Cell Painting is an exciting new way to combine cell and computational biology to conduct more predictive drug discovery which can help accelerate time to market for novel therapies while reducing late stage failures at clinical trial. We are delighted to be playing a role in this groundbreaking research and dataset development."

Also speaking to the goals and value of the innovative effort, Dr. Anne Carpenter, senior director of the Imaging Platform at the Broad Institute, said, "Cell Painting is proving to be such a powerful data source for identifying phenotypic patterns in cells that have been impacted by compounds, gene alterations, or disease. I'm delighted that the members of JUMP-CP Consortium have come together to help create the world's largest public gene/compound Cell Painting dataset which will benefit drug researchers around the globe."

The PhenoVue kit is part of PerkinElmer's complete workflow solution for Cell Painting and relevant disease-related cellular models, including CellCarrier Ultra microplates, Horizon Discovery Edit-R CRISPR and Dharmacon RNAi Reagents and Libraries, the customized explorer G3 Cell Painting workstation, the Opera Phenix Plus and Operetta CLS high content imaging systems, the Harmony and Columbus high-content analysis and storage software systems, and the PerkinElmer Signals Screening data and workflow management and visualization platform with TIBCO Spotfire analysis.

For more information please visit:

https://www.perkinelmer.com/category/phenovue-cell-painting-kits;

https://jump-cellpainting.broadinstitute.org/

About PerkinElmer

PerkinElmer enables scientists, researchers, and clinicians to address their most critical challenges across science and healthcare. With a mission focused on innovating for a healthier world, we deliver unique solutions to serve the diagnostics, life sciences, food, and applied markets. We strategically partner with customers to enable earlier and more accurate insights supported by deep market knowledge and technical expertise. Our dedicated team of about 14,000 employees worldwide is passionate about helping customers work to create healthier families, improve the quality of life, and sustain the well-being and longevity of people globally. The Company reported revenue of approximately $3.8 billion in 2020, serves customers in 190 countries, and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Additional information is available through 1-877-PKI-NYSE, or at www.perkinelmer.com.

About the JUMP-Cell Painting Consortium

Funded in part by the Bits to Bytes Capital Call of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), the JUMP-Cell Painting Consortium is creating a new data-driven approach to drug discovery based on cellular imaging, image analysis, and high dimensional data analytics. We believe it will transform drug discovery by relieving a major bottleneck in the pharma pipeline: determining the mechanism of action of potential therapeutics prior to introduction into patients. We will create an unprecedented public data set to validate and scale up this image-based drug discovery strategy. This valuable public resource will then be available for other applications, including predicting compounds' activity and toxicity, matching drugs to disease states, and more.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005615/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Jennifer McNeil

jennifer.mcneil@perkinelmer.com

+1 508.380.2902
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / Logistics are a difficult thing to master for any business. Entrepreneurs often come in with an idea that they are very good at, perhaps even an expert, but do not think about the coordination that often goes into creating a successful business. This is where Sure Group comes in to help businesses manage various aspects of logistics so that they can focus on crafting their business.

Sure Group is a specialist group of companies operating in the Recruitment, Logistics, Commercial and Healthcare sectors. Their unique approach offers a one-stop shop solution for businesses that have ongoing demands for recruitment and logistics requirements. The company is divided into four distinct companies that specialize in various areas that provide expertise that businesses need.

The first company is Sure Staffing . Many companies struggle with finding the right fit for their teams. Unfortunately, the wrong pick can completely cripple a company, so Sure Group is helping companies make smarter hiring decisions. With expert consultants in six different job sectors, they help connect employers with the right employees. This can help lead to business success and a good team that can function together.

What is particularly interesting about this company is that it takes the guesswork out of hiring practices. Sure Staffing knows how to find the red flags hidden within resumes and cover letters that people with less hiring experience may not pick up on. This saves companies many headaches and allows them to focus on business.

Sure Staffing has connected the right employees with the right employers with a high success rate. With people looking to go back to work after maybe losing their job during the pandemic, feeling dissatisfied with their work after a hard year, or whatever reason, there is a market for finding new talent everywhere, but without proper guidance, that may not be possible. This is why Sure Staffing seeks to help both employers and employees.

The other three companies are made up of Sure Logistics , Sure Commercial, and Sure Healthcare . Sure Logistics is a company consisting of 30 vehicles that focus on distribution, handling, storage, home delivery, and import and export. Finding a reliable delivery service can be difficult and risking your product being damaged can be very worrisome for a budding company. Sure Commercial is working with UK's largest retail, pharmaceutical and logistics businesses across the country to provide assistance with commercial investments. Finally, their last company, Sure Healthcare, provides a reliable recruitment service that offers dependable permanent and temporary healthcare staffing solutions to a wide variety of clients across the UK.

Offering four services under one umbrella company was not an easy task for creator Charles Draper. He was first inspired to try something like Sure Group after learning about business in school and deciding to apply it to the real world. His goal is to help starting businesses, but also businesses that need a logistical bump to get themselves back moving after a difficult year.

"Aged just 28, as the founder and managing director of the Sure Group, I transformed an innovative idea of earning some money to support my university studies, to a company with an annual turnover of over 10 million. I believe my story demonstrates what can be achieved through entrepreneurship, creativity, hard work and dedication. Having enrolled on a business management degree in Leeds at 21-years-old, I took a part-time job working in logistics. I was constantly thinking about how I could make more with the hours I had free. From there I decided to launch my first business in logistics recruitment," Charles explains.

With so many more people to help, Sure Group is planning on expanding out further. To find out more about their future plans, check out their website here .

CONTACT:

SURE GROUP

info@sure-grp.co.uk

www.sure-grp.co.uk

SOURCE: SURE GROUP

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/650723/Hiring-Commercial-Logistics-and-Healthcare-All-Provided-Under-One-Organization-This-Is-Sure-Group
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. (TSXV: PEX) ("Pacific Ridge" or the "Company") is pleased to report that a 550-metre drill program has commenced at its Spius copper porphyry project ("Spius" or the "Property"). The Property is located 40 km southwest of Merritt, British Columbia, and is currently under option to Arctic Fox Ventures Inc.

Drilling will test below the high-grade surface showing area, where grab samples of mineralized porphyry from float and a small outcrop exposure range from 1.11% Cu to 2.53% Cu, and will also test for mineralization at depth near hole SP-19-03, which ended in porphyry-style copper mineralization at a depth of 276 metres.

"It's great news for Pacific Ridge's shareholders," said Blaine Monaghan, President and CEO of Pacific Ridge. "We maintain significant exposure to Spius, but the drill program is being funded by Arctic Fox. Further, this allows us to focus on the upcoming drill program at our flagship Kliyul copper-gold porphyry project. The fully-funded drill program at Kliyul will begin next month."

About Spius

Spius was explored for its porphyry potential in the 1960's and early 1970's. Exploration focused on a gossan area where work included an IP survey, trenching and 27 percussion and core drill holes. The drilling was shallow, with none of the drill holes exceeding 100 metres. Most of the records from this early exploration work have been lost, including the drill logs. The Property was optioned by Pacific Ridge in 2018 and surface exploration was completed, including soil sampling and an IP survey. In 2019, Pacific Ridge drilled 1,087 metres in four holes. The best mineralization was encountered at the bottom of hole SP-19-03, drilled at the northern end of the Copper Zone, encountering 51.8 m averaging .099% Cu (224.3 to 273 m), including 39.0 metres at .113% Cu. All drill holes encountered porphyry-style mineralization and alteration top to bottom, with variably anomalous Cu and Mo values.

Spius option terms

Arctic Fox can earn a 60% interest in Spius by making payments of $60,000, issuing 1,000,000 shares and spending $550,000 on exploration by December 31, 2022.

About Pacific Ridge

Our goal is to become one of the leading copper-gold exploration companies in British Columbia. Pacific Ridge's flagship project is the advanced-stage Kliyul copper-gold project, located in the Quesnel Trough, approximately 50 km southeast of Centerra Gold's Kemess project. Historic drilling at Kliyul encountered significant porphyry copper-gold mineralization, drill hole KL-15-34 returned 245 metres of 0.75% CuEQ1 (see Pacific Ridge press release dated December 2, 2020). The Company plans to launch a drill program at Kliyul this summer.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Blaine Monaghan"

Blaine Monaghan

President & CEO

Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd.

Corporate Contact:

Blaine Monaghan

President & CEO

Tel: (604) 687-4951

www.pacificridgeexploration.com

https://www.linkedin.com/company/pacific-ridge-exploration-ltd-pex-

https://twitter.com/PacRidge_PEX

Investor Contact:

G2 Consultants Corp.

Telephone: +1 778-678-9050

Email: ir@pacificridgeexploration.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.

The technical information contained within this News Release has been reviewed and approved by Gerald G. Carlson, Ph.D., P.Eng., Executive Chairman of Pacific Ridge and Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 policy.

Forward-Looking Information: This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling and other activities and events or developments that Pacific Ridge Exploration Ltd. ("Pacific Ridge") expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding a drill program at Kliyul this summer. Although Pacific Ridge believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploration successes, and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. These statements are based on a number of assumptions including, among other things, assumptions regarding general business and economic conditions, that one of the options will be exercised, the ability of Pacific Ridge and other parties to satisfy stock exchange and other regulatory requirements in a timely manner, the availability of financing for Pacific Ridge's proposed programs on reasonable terms, and the ability of third party service providers to deliver services in a timely manner. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Pacific Ridge does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

1Copper equivalent (CuEQ) is equal to ((Cu (per cent) multiplied by $2.25 multiplied by 22.0642) plus (Au (g/t) multiplied by $1,650 multiplied by 0.032151)) divided by ($2.25 multiplied by 22.0642).

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86680
Gastech 2021 to be held under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai

The event is supported by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates

World's largest exhibition and conference for the gas, LNG, hydrogen, and energy industry relocated from Singapore due to COVID-19 uncertainties and travel restrictions

LONDON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Gastech, the world's largest exhibition and conference supporting the gas, LNG, hydrogen, and energy industry, will take place in Dubai, from 21-23 September 2021, the event's organisers, dmg events, announced today. The event is to be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai.

Gastech 2021 was due to be held in Singapore, which has an excellent record in managing COVID-19 and a strong reputation as a safe, innovative, and trusted destination for business and leisure events. However, recent COVID-19 outbreaks across South-East Asia have created uncertainty around accessibility and travel, making it necessary to find an alternative venue to host Gastech 2021.

Gastech 2021 is supported by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates. H.E. Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure commented that "The UAE is delighted to be hosting Gastech, one of the world's leading events for the gas, LNG, hydrogen, and energy industry. Gastech comes at an important time for the energy industry with a shared global mandate to lower carbon emissions and provide clean affordable energy for all. Gastech is a key enabler of conversations and connections that drive the energy transition agenda."

Explaining the decision to move Gastech 2021, Christopher Hudson, President, dmg events, said: "Singapore and its stakeholders have provided us with great support and commitment. However, the uncertainty created by the rising rate of infection across the region have made it challenging for our industry to plan its participation in Singapore, and we had to look for an alternative location. When the time is right, we look forward to returning to Singapore".

"Thanks to its robust, world-leading vaccination programme and well organised testing and travel measures, Dubai is one of the safest and most accessible places in the world to travel to. It is a world-class location with a long and strong track record of successfully hosting major events, making it an ideal location for the global energy industry, partners, exhibitors and attendees to conduct business."

dmg events said it held multiple conversations with important Gastech stakeholders, the Gastech Governing Body, and participating companies before today's announcement. Those conversations underlined the need to meet face-to-face to address both the challenges and opportunities the energy industry faces, including the clear need for the industry to respond to the climate challenge, as well as the rapid acceleration of hydrogen as a possible clean source of future energy, and the adoption of CCUS technology as a decarbonisation tool.

Hudson said: "Gastech 2021 will provide the leadership that will enable the gas, LNG, hydrogen, and energy industry to thrive in post COVID-19 energy markets. Alongside the disruptive forces accelerating the transition to cleaner energy, Gastech provides unparalleled opportunities to build the long-term sustainable business relationships required to address climate change issues, and the decarbonisation of energy."

Gastech 2021 will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre. It will be attended by more than 25,000 attendees, including senior decision-makers and energy industry thought leaders, and over 400 exhibiting companies, who will set the agenda for the global gas, LNG, hydrogen, and energy industry for decades to come.

About Gastech

Gastech, which takes place annually in a different location, is the world's largest gas, LNG, hydrogen, and energy event, attracting upwards of 25,000 international visitors and providing heads of state, government officials, ministerial and global business leaders, disruptors, innovators, and students with a platform to engage in conversation.

Gastech 2021 is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai and is supported by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates.

Gastech will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre, from 21-23 September 2021. Delegate registration is now open. Companies wishing to enquire about booking a stand can visit https://www.gastechevent.com/the-gastech-exhibition/book-a-stand/

For more information, please visit www.gastechevent.com

About dmg events

dmg events is a leading organiser of face-to-face events and a publisher of trade magazines.

We aim to keep businesses informed and connect them with relevant communities to create vibrant marketplaces and to accelerate their business through face-to-face events.

dmg events organises more than 80 events across 25 countries, attracting over 425,000 attendees and delegates every year. The company's portfolio of products includes many industry-leading events in the energy, construction, hospitality & design, coatings and transportation sectors. ADIPEC, The Big 5, Gastech, EGYPS, The Hotel Show and INDEX are the company's flagship events. For more information visit www.dmgevents.com.

Click here to read our privacy policy.

Follow us on social media @Gastechevent and use Gastech21

For media enquiries, registration, and partnerships at Gastech 2021, please contact:

Laura Tavernor, Head of Marketing, lauratavernor@dmgevents.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1527591/Gastech_Exhibition.jpg
Urgency Needed or Tourism Operators will Close Forever

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - WHAT: Based on a new report by the Expert Advisory Panel to the federal Government on COVID-19 Testing and Screening, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) is announcing the launch of a new campaign to open the Canada-U.S. border that has been closed for nearly 15 months. The campaign focuses on getting Canadian decision-makers to acknowledge the urgent need and commit to a plan to reopen the border before the summer season is lost.

WHO: Beth Potter, President and CEO, Tourism Industry Association of Canada

Chris Bloore, President and CEO, Tourism Industry Association of Ontario

Scott Beck, CEO, Destination Toronto

Peter Doyle, General Manager, Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

Vito Curalli, Executive Director, International Sales and Industry Relations, Hilton

Representatives from Provincial and Territorial Tourism Industry Associations will be present on the virtual press event at 11am.

WHEN & WHERE: An in-person event and Virtual Press Option available Tuesday June 8, 2021

LIVE

Toronto, Ontario

Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

288 Bremner Boulevard, Toronto, ON M5V 3L9

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

In-person event 10:00 a.m. EDT

MEDIA LOCATION: Front entrance of Ripley's Aquarium of Canada

Virtual ZOOM Press Option

Virtual Press Conference via Zoom 11:00 a.m. EDT

Media are required to pre- register for the event

Register for the virtual press conference here: https://tiac-aitc-ca.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0SgsxUj1T0OnI8Vm60QARQ

Comments will be delivered in English, but French questions are welcomed.

WHY: Tourism was the first hit, hardest hit, and will be the last to recover. Given the expert advisory panel's recent report and the rise in vaccination rates, while keeping the health and safety of Canadians at the forefront, TIAC is calling on the federal government to commit to a plan to reopen borders before another summer season is lost.

- 30 -





To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7876/86741_0e84c581c42b4a0b_001full.jpg

About the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC)

Founded in 1930 to encourage the development of tourism in Canada, TIAC serves today as the national private-sector advocate for this $105 billion sector. Based in Ottawa, TIAC takes action on behalf of Canadian tourism businesses and promotes positive measures that help the industry grow and prosper.

Media Inquiries:

Madison Simmons

Director of Government Affairs, TIAC

msimmons@tiac-aitc.ca /613-864-3079

Source: Tourism Industry Association of Canada

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86741
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - SkyChain Technologies Inc. (TSXV: SCT) (OTCQB: SKTCF) announces that the Company has agreed to settle an outstanding debt (the "Debt Settlement") of CDN $190,000.00 owing to Houston BC Mining Power Corp. through the issuance of 243,590 common shares (the "Settlement Shares") at price of $0.78 per Settlement Share. Houston BC Mining Power Corp is arms' length to the Company. The Debt Settlement is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange").

SkyChain also announces that it proposes to undertake a private placement (the "Offering") of up to 522,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.78 per Unit for gross proceeds of $407,160 if the entire Offering is sold. The funds will be used for general and administrative expenses, working capital, and to help finance construction of the Company's Birtle cryptocurrency project located in Birtle, Manitoba. Each Unit shall consist of one common share and one share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase an additional common share (a "Warrant Share") of the Company at a price of $1.50 per Warrant Share until the end of business day on the sixth month anniversary of the issuance of the Units. The Offering is subject to the approval of the Exchange.

About SkyChain Technologies

Skychain Technologies is a Vancouver based company providing Blockchain Infrastructure services and power solutions. To learn more, visit www.skychaintechnologies.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Bill Zhang

President and CEO

______________________________________________________________________

Contact: 604-688-5464

bill@skychaintechnologiesinc.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this release.

Statements in this news release may be viewed as forward-looking statements. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. There are no assurances the company can fulfill such forward-looking statements and the company undertakes no obligation to update such statements. Such forward-looking statements are only predictions; actual events or results may differ materially as a result of risks facing the company, some of which are beyond the company's control.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATON INTO THE USA

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86759
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices drifted lower on Monday, coming off 2-1/2-year highs, after data showed a drop in China's crude oil imports in April. Traders also seemed to be weighing the prospects of Iranian oil coming into the market. Iran and global powers will enter a fifth round of talks on June 10 in Vienna that could include Washington lifting economic sanctions on Iranian oil exports. However, the downside was limited as traders continued to hope demand for energy will see a significant increase in the U.S. and Europe. In India, Delhi and Mumbai have begun to ease coronavirus restrictions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $0.39 or about 0.6% at $69.23 a barrel, coming off an early high of $70.00 a barrel. Brent crude futures shed about $0.40 or 0.6% at $71.49 a barrel. Data from China showed crude imports during January - May 2021 rose by 2.3% year-over-year. However, imports in May totaled 9.69 million barrels a day, down from 9.86 million barrels a day in the previous month. Year-over-year, that was down as much as 14.6%. 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.
As a recognized leader in site selection, Harte assists companies in leveraging location as a competitive advantage using data analytics, economic development tools and location incentives

Harte's experience and skill set will benefit SusGlobal as it closes on the acquisition of its second Ontario facility and pursues additional locations scaling its organic waste-to-fertilizer business as Leaders in the Circular Economy

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - SusGlobal Energy Corp. (OTCQB: SNRG) ("SusGlobal" or the "Company"), the developer of SusGro, a revolutionary pathogen free organic liquid fertilizer, is pleased to announce the appointment of Susan Harte, ESQ., MCR to the Company's Board of Directors.

Ms. Harte is a nationally recognized leader in site selection, location economics and incentives. She is currently a principal of the international site selection consulting firm Hickey & Associates. For over 25 years, she has combined her expertise in commercial real estate, site selection and economic development to assist her clients with leveraging location as a competitive advantage.

Throughout her practice, Ms. Harte has led her clients to achieve better business outcomes by integrating strategic planning techniques and implementation frameworks to drive internal stakeholder consensus around location decisions. She has managed major site selection projects for many Fortune 500 companies involving complex multi-jurisdictional competitive strategies. Pursuant to this work, she has structured, negotiated and secured over US$1billion in location incentives such as real estate and personal property tax abatements, sales tax exemptions, grants and specialty bond financing for her clients' projects.

"The appointment of Ms. Harte to the Board of Directors continues SusGlobal's strategy of expanding the strength and depth of its Board through the appointment of accomplished industry veterans," commented Marc Hazout, Executive Chairman, President and CEO of SusGlobal. "Susan brings significant experience in developing and implementing location strategies that align with our corporate goals and expansion objectives."

"Geography will be a key driver in SusGlobal's corporate performance as its model and regional strategy is ripe for export to municipalities across North America," commented Susan Harte. "I look forward to working with management and the Board and in being instrumental with implementing successful location strategies and in guiding the Company through state and local governmental and regulatory affairs."

Prior to her current position, Ms. Harte was a Senior Vice President at CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm, in the global Location Advisory and Transactions Services group. She previously was Director of the Business Economic Incentives Practice at Jones Lang LaSalle, having joined the company after seven years with the New York City boutique law firm of Stadtmauer Bailkin. She also served a term as the Director of National Incentives Practice at Grant Thornton one of the largest accounting firms in the world and as Director of Industry Development at Empire State Development Corporation, New York State's economic development agency.

Following this appointment, SusGlobal's Board of Directors is comprised of four directors, three of them being independent.

About SusGlobal Energy Corp.

SusGlobal Energy Corp., the developer of SusGro, a revolutionary pathogen free organic liquid fertilizer, is a renewables company focused on acquiring, developing, and monetizing a portfolio of proprietary technologies in the waste to energy and regenerative products applications globally. It is management's objective to grow SusGlobal into a significant sustainable waste to energy and regenerative products provider, as LEADERS IN THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY. For more information, please visit the Company's website at: www.susglobalenergy.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the Company's objectives. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, lack of sufficient financial resources; variations in market conditions, currency and our stock; the Company's ability to obtain any necessary permits, approvals, consents or authorizations required for its activities; the Company's ability to produce energy, biogas, compost or organic fertilizer from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, or to be fully able to implement its business strategies and other risk factors described in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which may be viewed at www.sec.gov.

Contact

SusGlobal Energy Corp.

Marc Hazout, President and CEO

(416) 223-8500 or Toll Free: 1-866-512-7374

Email: info@susglobalenergy.com

Investor Relations Contact

Lytham Partners, LLC

Ben Shamsian

New York | Phoenix

(646) 829-9701

Email: shamsian@lythampartners.com

SOURCE: SusGlobal Energy Corp.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86725
Issuance of Incentive Stock Options and Deferred Share Units

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / Gabriel Resources Ltd. ("Gabriel" or the "Company") announces that it has granted an aggregate of 160,392 incentive stock options under the Company's stock option plan (the "Option Plan") and 100,264 deferred share units under the Company's deferred share unit plan (the "DSU Plan") to certain directors of the Company as non-cash directors' fees for service during Q1 2021 (the "Director Grant"). All incentive stock options issued under the Director Grant are exercisable for a period of ten years at $0.30 per share and vest immediately from the date of grant.

The Director Grant was deferred pending re-financing of the Company and following the announcement of a non-brokered private placement on May 27, 2021, the Director Grant has now been effected.

The Option Plan allows for the issuance of up to 10% of the issued and outstanding share capital of the Company in the form of incentive stock options. As of the date hereof, a total of 32,125,105 common shares of the Company are allocated for issuance in respect of outstanding incentive stock options granted under the Option Plan, representing approximately 5.1% of the issued and outstanding share capital. 3,839,732 common shares of the Company are currently allocated for issuance in respect of outstanding deferred share units granted under the DSU Plan.

For information on this press release, please contact:

Dragos Tanase

President & CEO

Phone: +40 730 399 019

dt@gabrielresources.com

Richard Brown

Chief Financial Officer

Mobile: +44 7748 760276

richard.brown@gabrielresources.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About Gabriel

Gabriel is a Canadian resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's principal focus has been the exploration and development of the Ro?ia Montana gold and silver project in Romania. The Rosia Montana Project, one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in Europe, is situated in the South Apuseni Mountains of Transylvania, Romania, an historic and prolific mining district that since pre-Roman times has been mined intermittently for over 2,000 years. The exploitation license for the Rosia Montana Project is held by Ro?ia Montana Gold Corporation S.A., a Romanian company in which Gabriel owns an 80.69% equity interest, with the 19.31% balance held by Minvest Ro?ia Montana S.A., a Romanian state-owned mining company.

Upon obtaining the License in June 1999, the Group focused substantially all of their management and financial resources on the exploration, feasibility and subsequent development of the Rosia Montana Project. Despite the Company's fulfilment of its legal obligations and its development of the Rosia Montana Project as a high-quality, sustainable and environmentally-responsible mining project, using best available techniques, Romania has blocked and prevented implementation of the Rosia Montana Project without due process and without compensation. Accordingly, the Company's current core focus is the ICSID Arbitration. For more information please visit the Company's website at www.gabrielresources.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking information" (also referred to as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of the Company's operating environment. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements.

In this press release, forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies that may cause the Company's actual financial results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied herein. Some of the material factors or assumptions used to develop forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the uncertainties associated with: the ICSID Arbitration, actions by the Romanian Government, conditions or events impacting the Company's ability to fund its operations (including but not limited to the completion of further funding noted above) or service its debt, exploration, development and operation of mining properties and the overall impact of misjudgments made in good faith in the course of preparing forward-looking information.

Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors including those set out below, that may never materialize, prove incorrect or materialize other than as currently contemplated which could cause the Company's results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, identified by words or phrases such as "expects", "is expected", "is of the view", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "assumes", "intends", "strategy", "goals", "objectives", "potential", "possible" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events, conditions or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of fact and may be forward-looking statements.

Numerous factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including without limitation:

the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) may affect the Company's operations and/or the anticipated timeline for the ICSID Arbitration;

the duration, required disclosure, costs, process and outcome of the ICSID Arbitration;

the advancement of Romania's nomination of the "Rosia Montana Mining Landscape" as a UNESCO World Heritage site;

changes in the liquidity and capital resources of Gabriel, and/or the group of companies of which it is directly or indirectly parent;

access to funding to support the Group's continued ICSID Arbitration and/or operating activities in the future;

equity dilution resulting from the conversion or exercise of new or existing securities in part or in whole to Common Shares;

the ability of the Company to maintain a continued listing on the TSX Venture Exchange or any regulated public market for trading securities;

the impact on business strategy and its implementation in Romania of: any allegations of historic acts of corruption, uncertain fiscal investigations; uncertain legal enforcement both for and against the Group and political and social instability;

regulatory, political and economic risks associated with operating in a foreign jurisdiction including changes in laws, governments and legal regimes and interpretation of existing and future fiscal and other legislation;

volatility of currency exchange rates; and

the availability and continued participation in operational or other matters pertaining to the Group of certain key employees and consultants.

This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements.

Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and investors should not infer that there has been no change in the Company's affairs since the date of this press release that would warrant any modification of any forward-looking statement made in this document, other documents periodically filed with or furnished to the relevant securities regulators or documents presented on the Company's website. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements or the foregoing list of assumptions or factors, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, subject to the Company's disclosure obligations under applicable Canadian securities regulations. Investors are urged to read the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulatory agencies which can be viewed online at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE: Gabriel Resources Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/650788/Gabriel-Resources-Ltd-Incentive-Scheme-Issuance
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, left, and McKinsey Global Managing Partner Kevin Sneader



Event will be livestreamed through daily's official YouTube channel





By Park Jae-hyuk



The Korea Times will host a global ESG forum, "ESG, strategy for survival," at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) building in Seoul, Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.



Although it is widely known that environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors are having a significant impact on the global movement of money, Korean companies are still considered to be in the early stages with their ESG efforts, compared to their foreign peers.



Domestic businesses have therefore been advised to learn about the latest perspectives of global investors not only for their international reputation, but for their very survival.



The event, designed to highlight the importance of ESG and help Korean companies fulfill their pledges toward this new paradigm, has been jointly planned with global consulting firm McKinsey & Company in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and Finance.



Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki will deliver an opening speech on the Korean government's ESG strategies for sustainable growth, followed by McKinsey Global Managing Partner Kevin Sneader, who will speak on why focusing on ESG is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do in the post-COVID-19 world.





Institute for Global Economics Chairman Jun Kwang-woo, left, and American Chamber of Commerce in Korea Chairman James Kim



Two panel discussions  Session 1 on the "Post-COVID agenda for the financial industry: ESG management and investing" and Session 2 on "ESG becomes the new normal in the business world"  will be conducted via a hybrid online-offline format, moderated by Institute for Global Economics Chairman Jun Kwang-woo and American Chamber of Commerce in Korea Chairman James Kim.



The panelists will include chief executives from ESG powerhouses and global experts.





From left are KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, National Pension Service Chairman Kim Yong-jin, Carlyle Global Head of Impact Megan Starr, MSCI APAC ESG Client Coverage Head Chitra Hepburn and BNP Paribas Asset Management APAC CEO Steven Billiet.



KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, the head of the nation's leading banking group in terms of sustainability and profitability, will share his ideas about ESG for the financial industry. National Pension Service Chairman Kim Yong-jin will introduce the world's third-largest state pension fund's latest strategies for socially responsible investments.



Carlyle Global Head of Impact Megan Starr will speak on how the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the private equity firm and other global investors to prioritize ESG. MSCI APAC ESG Client Coverage Head Chitra Hepburn will share the leading ESG index provider's efforts to implement practices and policies that are most meaningful to its clients, shareholders and employees.



BNP Paribas Asset Management APAC CEO Steven Billiet will express his view on the Korean financial authorities' ESG policies and talk about the French firm's focus on energy transition, the environment and equality.





From left are Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Executive Vice Chairman Woo Tae-hee, BlackRock Investment Stewardship Team Director Won Shin-bo, IKEA Korea CEO Fredrik Johansson and P&G Korea CEO Balaka Niyazee.
MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / June 7, 2021 / Quebec Precious Metals Corporation ("QPM" or the "Company") (TSXV:QPM)(OTCQB:CJCFF)(FSE:YXEP) is pleased to announce the appointments of Ms. Paola Farnesi and Ms. Julie Robertson to its Board of Directors as independent non-executive directors, effective immediately.

Paola Farnesi

Ms. Paola Farnesi is a senior financial professional with over 30 years of experience in corporate finance, financial reporting, M&A and risk management. She is currently a Vice President and Treasurer of Domtar Corporation, responsible for negotiating and arranging in excess of $1 billion in corporate financings, overseeing an insurance portfolio of over $20 billion in insurable values and managing the investments of pension fund assets in excess of $3 billion. From 1994 to 2008, Ms. Farnesi held several other leadership positions at Domtar Corporation, including Vice President, Internal Audit, where she was responsible for the implementation and subsequent compliance efforts related to Sarbanes-Oxley. Prior to joining Domtar Corporation, Ms. Farnesi worked at Ernst & Young for the assurance group in Montreal. She is an independent director and Chair of the Audit Committee of Falco Resources Ltd., and has served on the Board of the Centaur Theatre Company since 2010. Ms. Farnesi holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Graduate degree in Public Accountancy from McGill University, is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) of Quebec and obtained the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Julie Robertson

Ms. Julie Robertson is Vice-President Finance and Capital Projects at Centerra Gold Inc., a mining company listed on the TSX and NYSE, with annual Revenue of $2 billion. Prior to this position, she held a number of senior positions with Barrick Gold Corporation. She is a Canadian Certified Public Accountant with extensive experience in transformative leadership, external reporting, management reporting, planning and project management, and has an in depth understanding of IFRS and US GAAP. She is the Finance Committee Chair (Volunteer) of Boost Child & Youth Advocacy (CYAC), a registered charity committed to eliminating child abuse and violence in the lives of children, youth, and their families. Ms. Robertson is also the Chair of CPA Canada's Mining Industry Task Force on IFRS, created jointly with The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC). She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA), Accounting and Finance from the University of Western Ontario and a diploma of Accounting and Finance from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Charles Main

Mr. Charles Main has informed the Company that he will retire as a director and not stand for re-election to the Board at the Annual Shareholders' Meeting (scheduled to be held on July 21, 2021) as he focuses on personal priorities and fewer board committments.

Chuck's retirement combined with the recent resignation of Jean-Sebastien Lavallee as a director in order to concentrate on his own developing mining company, has provided an opportunity to appoint two new independent directors.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Paola Farnesi and Julie Robertson to our Board of Directors. The combination of their talent and vast experience in mining, financing and as directors and officers of publicly trading companies will further strengthen our Board. With their appointment, we are adding net one independent director and also improving the Board's diversity.", stated John Hick, Non- executive Chairman of QPM.

"We are most grateful for Chuck Main's commitment, professional acumen and expertise as a director and in particular as chair of QPM's Audit and Risk Management Committee, and wish him well in his future endeavours. The Committee and the Board will greatly benefit from the two new Board appointees.", said Normand Champigny, Chief Executive Officer of QPM.

About Quebec Precious Metals Corporation

QPM is a gold explorer with a large land position in the highly-prospective Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory, Quebec, near Newmont Corporation's Eleonore gold mine. QPM's flagship project is the Sakami project with significant grades and well-defined drill-ready targets. QPM's goal is to rapidly explore the project to advance it to the mineral resource estimate stage.

For more information, please contact:
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - Tudor Gold Corp. (TSXV: TUD) (FSE: TUC) (the "Company" or "Tudor Gold") is pleased to announce that two additional drill rigs have arrived at Treaty Creek (the "Project"), located in the heart of the Golden Triangle of Northwestern British Columbia. Diamond drilling continues with four rigs on the Goldstorm Deposit, which is on-trend from Seabridge Gold's KSM Project, located five kilometres to the southwest. Excellent progress has been made during the first two weeks of drilling on the fully funded 30,000 metre, Phase l exploration program (the "Program"). This deposit delineation and property exploration program will utilize up to six drills.

Tudor Gold's Vice President of Exploration and Project Development, Ken Konkin, P.Geo., states: "Despite higher than normal snowpack levels, crews have rapidly advanced the excavation of snow to expose drill sites allowing four diamond drill rigs to begin operations. We plan to prepare pad sites at other targets such as Perfect Storm (PSZ) and Eureka this month and will bring in two additional diamond drill rigs.

We are excited about drilling these promising new targets, however, the priority of our exploration program is to define the limits of the Goldstorm Deposit, as it currently remains open to expansion in all directions and at depth. In addition to potentially adding new gold equivalent (AuEq) ounces to the resource we will attempt to convert as much of the 7.9 million AuEq ounces of Inferred Resources to the Measured and Indicated Resource categories that currently total 19.41 million AuEq ounces. Concurrent with the drilling program, environmental base-line studies continue, including our water-sampling programs and installation of a weather monitoring station near our lower exploration camp.

Tudor Gold Corp. and our associated service companies have taken extreme measures to maintain the highest professional standards while working within COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Only essential personnel are permitted to enter the camp and staging areas. Of those workers who are at the project site and staging site, we have strict daily monitoring of the workers temperatures and general health conditions. We have a certified paramedic at the staging area to examine all in-coming and out-going Tudor personnel and all service providers."

Walter Storm, President and CEO, stated: "I am very pleased with the safe start-up of the 2021 exploration program at our flagship Treaty Creek Project thanks to the hard work and perseverance of our crew members. We look forward to increasing the pace and performance of this year's Program by expanding the number of drilling rigs at the Treaty Creek property. This start will help us complete the required drilling necessary to potentially expand and update the current resource estimate. The goal is to complete an updated Resource Estimate for the Goldstorm Deposit in 2022. We feel confident this will allow us to advance the Project with a Preliminary Economic Assessment study planned for 2022."

Qualified Person

The Qualified Person for this news release for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 is the Company's Vice President of Exploration and Project Development, Ken Konkin, P.Geo. He has read and approved the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for the disclosure contained in this news release.

About Tudor Gold

TUDOR GOLD Corp. is a precious and base metals exploration and development company with properties in British Columbia's Golden Triangle (Canada), an area that hosts producing and past-producing mines and several large deposits that are approaching potential development. The 17,913 hectare Treaty Creek project (in which TUDOR GOLD has a 60% interest) borders Seabridge Gold Inc.'s KSM property to the southwest and borders Pretium Resources Inc.'s Brucejack property to the southeast. In April 2021 Tudor published their 43-101 technical report, "Technical Report and Initial Mineral Resource Estimate of the Treaty Creek Gold Property, Skeena Mining Division, British Columbia Canada" dated March 1, 2021 on the Company's Sedar profile. The Company also has a 100% interest in the Crown project and a 100% interest in the Eskay North project, all located in the Golden Triangle area.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF

TUDOR GOLD CORP.

"Walter Storm"

Walter Storm

President and Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.tudor-gold.com or contact:

Chris Curran

Head of Corporate Development and Communications

Phone: (604) 559 8092

E-Mail: chris.curran@tudor-gold.com

or

Carsten Ringler

Head of Investor Relations and Communications

Phone: +49 151 55362000

E-Mail: carsten.ringler@tudor-gold.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including the completion and anticipated results of planned exploration activities. 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 connation thereof.

Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, that the Company's planned exploration activities will be completed in a timely 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.

There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's plans or expectations include risks relating to the actual results of current exploration activities, fluctuating gold prices, possibility of equipment breakdowns and delays, exploration cost overruns, availability of capital and financing, general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes, timeliness of government or regulatory approvals and other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators.

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 implied by forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that 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 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 otherwise required by applicable securities legislation.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86801
Plymouth, Massachusetts--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - Plymouth Rock Technologies Inc. (CSE: PRT) (OTC: PLRTF) (FSE: 4XA) (WKN: A2N8RH) ("Plymouth Rock", "PRT", or the "Company"), a leader in developing threat detection and unmanned technologies, today announced it has arranged a non-brokered private placement financing of up to 5,000,000 units (the "Units") of securities at a price of $0.40 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $2,000,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit will be comprised of one (1) common share and one (1) non-transferable common share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.50 for five (5) years from closing of the Offering.

Finders' fees, payable in 7% cash and 7% b-warrants, may be payable on a portion of the Offering.

The net proceeds of the private placement will be used for the Tetra Drones acquisition cost, ongoing research and development and for the commercialization of PRT's technologies, and for working general capital.

About Plymouth Rock Technologies Inc.

We are on a mission to bring engineering-driven answers to the most critical problems that threaten our safety. We work with government, law enforcement and military to innovate solutions for national security, defense and space systems.

The Company is developing the next generation of threat detection solutions and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).

The PRT X1 is a purpose-built multirotor UAS, utilizing Artificial Intelligence, cutting-edge sensors and the latest FLIR dual-camera module as standard, offering thermal capabilities alongside 1080p HD real-time air-to-ground streaming and 4K video recording, with the ability to mount multiple, various sensors, modules and payloads.

Our advanced threat detection methods fuse artificial intelligence with augmented reality interfaces to eliminate human operating error. Plymouth Rock products, both airborne and land-based, will scan for threat items at greater 'stand-off' distances than current existing technologies. Our unique radar imaging and signal processing technology creates new opportunities for remotely operated, non-intrusive screening of crowds in real time.

Plymouth Rock's core technologies include: (1) UAS platforms engineered to conform to H.R.4753 - Drone Origin Security Enhancement Act ("X1") ("XV"); (2) Millimeter Remote Imaging from Airborne Drone ("MIRIAD"); (3) A compact microwave radar system for scanning shoe's ("Shoe Scanner"); (4) A compact modular radar utilized for a variety of applications, from aircraft to weapon detection ("CODA").

www.plyrotech.com

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dana Wheeler

President and CEO

+1-774-404-7685

info@plyrotech.com

Investor Information:

Tasso Baras

+1-778-477-6990

tasso@plyrotech.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. WIRE SERVICES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86792
OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Enbridge Inc. (ENB, ENB.TO) Monday announced that it has agreed to sell its 38.9% non-operating minority ownership interest in Noverco Inc. to Trencap L.P. for $1.14 billion in cash. The deal represents a valuation of about 29x reported 2020 GAAP earnings of $39 million. The deal is expected to close by early 2022. Sale proceeds will initially be used to repay short term debt, and on this conservative basis the transaction is expected to be neutral to distributable cash flow per share. Noverco is currently owned 38.9% by Enbridge and 61.1% by Trencap L.P., a consortium lead by Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec. Noverco indirectly owns Energir, L.P. which is a Quebec-based business with interests primarily in gas distribution and power distribution in Quebec and Vermont. 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.
Detectives walk near Miami-Dade Kendall campus after a mass shooting and a possibly connected car crash killed three people and sent others to the hospital with gunshot wounds on June 6.

DANIEL A. VARELA/ MIAMI HERALD/TNS
Geneva, NY (14456)

Today

Mostly sunny. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
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When it comes to Android Wear OS based smartwatches, Fossil is quite a well known brand. The company is reportedly working on a new premium smartwatch that will be based on a new unified software experience, feature faster chips and improved battery life.

During I/O 2021, Google announced a new partnership with Samsung, where the two companies will work together to rebuild Google Watch OS, unifying with Samsungs Tizen ecosystem, and provide a better smartwatch experience for users.

In an interview, Fossils Chief Commercial Officer Greg McKelvey and Steve Prokup, senior vice president of connected devices, revealed that Fossils upcoming premium smartwatch will be in-line with Googles unified smartwatch experience. Tentatively called the Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch, the company hinted at major upgrades to their smartwatch lineup, including faster performance, longer batter life and improved health-tracking capabilities.

With regards to the Fossil Gen 6s design, Steve Prokup said:

Weve had, and still have, multiple configurations of buttons in the market at the same time, and thats able to be supported. I think youre still going to see a variety of offerings across even our products, as well as manufacturers  not so much that youre going to have a watch that ends up having four, five, six dedicated buttons or no buttons.

Fossil also confirmed that older generation Fossil Wear OS smartwatches will not be compatible with the new unified Wear OS platform. Fossil, along with Google and Samsung, have mentioned that these upcoming smartwatches will be Premium, which suggests that these devices will be on the higher price segment, similar to where the Apple Watch Series 6 is currently.

Source
Kasa Korea Chief Operating Officer Park Sang-il / Courtesy of Kasa Korea

By Park Jae-hyuk



Kasa Korea, a real estate investment platform operator that runs the country's only digital asset-backed securities exchange, recently appointed as chief operating officer (COO), Park Sang-il, who had worked previously for the corporate strategy group of the Korea Investment Corp. (KIC).



Born in 1965, the new COO graduated from Yonsei University and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the graduate school for public administration and international relations of Syracuse University in New York. He is known to be an expert on financial investment policies with experience in both the private and public sectors, because of his career built at a lawmaker's office, Hyundai Capital, Hyundai Card, Q Capital Partners and the KIC.



In particular, he was one of the founding members of the KIC, in charge of work related to the sovereign wealth fund's governance structure, business planning and institutional relations.



Kasa Korea plans to enhance its competitiveness in systematic and professional operations based on his experience in various private and public financial institutions and broad personal networks. According to the startup, he will supervise overall business operations to achieve growth.



"Recognizing the industry-leading Kasa Korea for its business philosophy, innovativeness and growth potential, I decided to join the company," Park said. "Based on trust from our customers, I will strengthen Kasa Korea's own investment services, and help it begin a new era of commercial real estate investing with my experience at KIC and my knowledge."



Kasa Korea CEO Yea Chang-whan expressed his gratitude to Park for his decision.



"With his expertise and know-how acquired at the sovereign wealth fund, he will strategically support our efficient operation, business expansion and fundraising, making efforts for us to pioneer the market as an innovative service provider in the real estate investment sector," the CEO said.


FORT MORGAN, Ala. (WALA) -- A Baldwin County sheriff's deputy died Sunday night after he went into the water to save three swimmers in distress.

A law enforcement source told FOX10 News two deputies were patrolling the area when they spotted the swimmers in trouble in the Gulf.

According to officials, Deputy Bill Smith died during the rescue attempt, the other deputy is hospitalized and expected to survive.

The swimmers rescued from the Gulf are also expected to survive.

In March, Deputy Smith was featured in a FOX10 News story about Baldwin County deputies assigned to patrol the Fort Morgan peninsula and be ready to respond to any calls for assistance or emergencies.

Sheriff Huey "Hoss" Mack said Smith was a seven-year veteran of the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office.

The City of Orange Beach on Monday morning released a statement indicating that a fellow deputy who also responded has been released from the hospital.

The statement reads: "Condolences to family & friends of Baldwin County Sheriffs Deputy Bill Smith who died Sunday while responding to swimmers in distress on the Fort Morgan peninsula. BCSO Deputy Sydney Wentworth has been released from hospital and is expected to recover after responding as well."
GULF SHORES, Ala. (WALA) -- Baldwin County Sheriff Huey "Hoss" Mack revealed more details about the water rescue in the Gulf that led to the death of Deputy Bill Smith.

The sheriff said Smith died while successfully saving the lives of swimmers in distress and is a true hero.

Deputy Smith and Deputy Sydney Wentworth were called to the area of Dune Drive in Fort Morgan around 6 p.m. Sunday after a report of a swimmer in distress. The sheriff's office said Wentworth went into the Gulf to rescue a woman who was struggling to stay above the water.

Sheriff Mack said a beach attendant noticed the swimmer and Wentworth in the water and rushed in to help, not realizing the deputy was rescuing the swimmer.

As the beach attendant swam out to the two women, he started going underwater himself. The attendant told investigators he then felt Deputy Smith grab him and tell him to hold on to a rescue buoy and swim to shore.

As Smith was towing the attendant to the shore, he was overcome by the heavy seas and went under. Deputy Smith and the attendant were pulled to the shore by Logan Lambert of the Gulf Shores Fire Department.

Deputy Smith was rushed to the emergency room where he was pronounced dead.

"Bill Smith did what Bill Smith always did," Sheriff Mack said. "He saw the need to put his life on the line to save somebody else's. And that's what he did. He saved a life."

Sheriff Mack said everyone else pulled from the water is expected to survive.

Smith had been with the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office for seven years and previously served with the Calhoun County Sheriffs Office in northern Alabama.

The sheriff said Smith played an essential role in starting up the Beach Patrol Unit serving Fort Morgan.

Smith's Beach Patrol vehicle will be on display at the sheriff's office in Robertsdale as a memorial for anyone wishing to leave flowers or say a prayer for Smith's family and coworkers.
MOBILE, Ala.  Austal USA has been awarded a $3.6 million contract by the United States Navy for the functional design of the Navajo-class Towing, Salvage and Rescue Ship (T-ATS).

According to the shipmaker, this marks the first steel new construction contract for the company after breaking ground on a new steel manufacturing line in Mobile in March. The line will be operational in April 2022.

Austal will define detailed requirements to construct, test, and deliver T-ATS ships in accordance with government ship specifications. T-ATS is a 263-foot (80 meter) steel hulled multi-mission platform scheduled to replace the capabilities of both the retiring Rescue and Salvage Ship (T-ARS 50) class and Fleet Ocean Tug (T-ATF 166) class mission requirements.

The company says the ships are able to support towing, salvage, rescue, oil spill response, humanitarian assistance, and wide area search and surveillance. T-ATS can also embark containerized systems including cyber, electronic warfare, and decoy and surveillance packages.
MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) -- Despite scattered showers, visitors made their way out to Battleship Memorial Park on this 77th D-Day anniversary.

Many will tell you passing by the U.S.S. Alabama doesn't do it justice and that climbing aboard the historic battleship is an entirely different experience.

"It's just pure awesome.... I can't imagine the power these ships have on them. It's impressive," said Tony Miller.

"It's big. A city in the ocean," said Bruce Cardenas.

While her size is something to marvel at -- so are the Alabama's accessories.

"Just all of the guns... On here. How well it is equipped to protect itself," said Denton Eller, visiting from Oklahoma.

The visit -- a birthday weekend for Ezekiel Brown. Visiting from Arizona -- he turned 12 on Saturday.

"I saw the Battleship movie and I thought that is the coolest thing ever -- and they used the USS Iowa or Missouri -- and I was like I have to get on one of these ships. So I've always wanted to get on one," said Ezekiel.

Surrounded by reminders of the price of freedom -- On this D-Day -- they're all extremely grateful.

"It's an honor to be able to come and observe stuff like this, especially on these kind of days -- where people that paved the way for our freedoms... It makes you think. Yeah, we owe these people all of our freedoms," said Miller.

"I think they deserve this and more... They've earned this. They worked hard and died and served for us... They definitely deserve this," said Ezekiel.

"I think it's pretty awesome. If it wasn't for them -- we wouldn't have the freedom we have today," said Eller.
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A Haitian man listening to music leans against a wall with the Mexican national flag and a framed image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, as he waits for a bed at the Padre Chava migrant shelter in 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico.Though Haitians living in the U.S. rejoiced when a recent extension was granted, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pointedly noted that it doesnt apply to Haitians outside the U.S. and said those who enter the country may be flown home.
World leaders expected to set rivalry against China



By Nam Hyun-woo



Seoul's balancing act between Washington and Beijing will face another tricky test at the upcoming G7 summit as it will likely be a meeting where world leaders will facilitate an initiative to contain China's Belt and Road initiative (BRI), according to experts, Monday.



Korea, along with India and Australia, have been invited as a guest country to the summit slated for June 11 to 13.



The South has been exercising a balancing act between the U.S. and China amid the two super powers' rivalry, although during the summit between President Moon Jae-in and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden, Seoul showed signs of titling toward Washington. Against this backdrop, the upcoming leaders' meeting in Cornwall, the United Kingdom, will be another opportunity for Seoul to join the Washington-led initiative against Beijing, the experts said.



Recent overseas reports  citing sources familiar with the matter  said the G7 countries  Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.  plan to launch a green alternative to the BRI.



The initiative, thought to be called the "Clean Green Initiative," was initially raised by the U.S., as an alternative to the BRI. In a March phone conversation between Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the former suggested democratic countries should create an infrastructure plan to rival the BRI, and the initiative will likely see a framework suggested during the G7 summit.



The BRI is a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure development plan but is being interpreted by the West as an attempt by China to spread its influence to neighboring countries through loans and investments, as it often creates debt dependency among the concerned nations.



For example, Sri Lanka used Chinese loans to develop a port in Hambantota but ended up leasing it to China Merchants Port for 99 years. Montenegro, which is a NATO member, also used a Chinese loan for a highway, but is struggling to repay it, and has asked the European Union for help.



In a response, the U.S. has been exercising indirect pressure to its allies and friendly nations to join its anti-China campaign.





Ministers attend a plenary session of the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers Meeting at Lancaster House in London, Britain, May 5, the second day of the meeting. EPA-Yonhap



In a communique after the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers Meeting last month, participants called on China to "respect human rights and fundamental freedoms," directly mentioning the issues of Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, which raised anger in Beijing.



Such a movement is also stretching to Seoul as well. During a virtual NATO foreign ministerial meeting June 1, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken encouraged NATO to deepen its cooperation with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Korea, stating that the U.S. and NATO should be capable of confronting systemic challenges from Russia and China.



Japanese media outlets including the Yomiuri and Mainichi Shimbun have already reported that the U.S. is pushing a trilateral meeting of Korea, the U.S. and Japan during or after the G7 summit to address regional security issues. Cheong Wa Dae refused to confirm this.



"As an invited country, Korea's role would be limited at the G7 summit, but it country appears to have been invited so as to become part of an anti-China axis with Washington and Tokyo," said Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University's Department of North Korea Studies. "One of the reasons why Korea was invited to the G7 summit is because the country is not joining the Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue).  Given Seoul's limited role in the G7, it may not amplify its presence in the meeting, but may sign on to a statement or agreement after the summit."



The Quad is an unofficial strategic forum comprised of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. which is viewed as a vehicle to contain an assertive China.



Such a movement pressures Seoul, whose largest trading partner is Beijing.





Foreign minister Chung Eui-yong, left, shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during their meeting in Xiamen, China, April 3. Yonhap
Keep the conversation about local news & events going by joining us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Recent updates from The News-Post and also from News-Post staff members are compiled below.
Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds ENE at less than 5 mph, becoming SSW and increasing to 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 79F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.
Black Desert Online developer Pearl Abyss has opened new offices in Los Angeles and Amsterdam called Pearl Abyss America and Pearl Abyss Europe, respectively.

The South Korean studio said both offices will help it cater to players in North America and Europe with dedicated live-ops, server infrastructure, community management, localization, customer support, and PR services.

Both new openings are also part of the company's plan to "significantly expand" its Western operations, and will help bring upcoming in-house projects like Crimson Desert, DokeV, and Plan 8 to new markets.

The news comes just under a year after Black Desert Online, a sandbox-oriented fantasy MMO for PC and consoles, eclipsed $2 billion in lifetime revenue. According to Pearl Abyss' own data, the title has also attracted over 40 million players since launching in 2014.
Ebbe Altberg, the CEO of Second Life creator and developer Linden Lab, has passed away.

The Linden Lab team shared the news on the Second Life community forum, and praised Altberg for ushering in a culture of "profound openness and transparency" during his tenure.

Altberg was appointed CEO of Linden Lab in February 2014, and prior to that worked at a range of high-profile technology companies including BranchOut, Yahoo!, and Microsoft.

The Linden Lab team explained that, under his leadership, employees were encouraged to engage with the Second Life community and "cherish" the platform. They added that Altberg also "worked internally on embracing all aspects of Second Life" to help cement its place as a leading virtual world, community, and platform.

"He took the helm of the company and immediately went to work on reinvigorating our spirit and culture," reads the obituary posted by the Linden Lab team. "Ebbe brought a profound openness, and transparency in his operation which was key and that had many effects on all of us internally, and externally. Rest in peace Ebbe, our fearless, kind, loving, gentle leader, and friend."

Other friends and colleagues have also shared their memories of Altberg, with Linden Lab founder and former CEO Philip Rosedale sending in a tribute to the New World Notes blog.

"I can't say enough about Ebbe," wrote Rosedale. "He was such a warm, smart, optimistic person who was loved by everyone he came into contact with. I will miss him a lot, and we were so lucky to have him."
The following are excerpts of statements from the ambassadors to Korea from the guest countries to this year's G7 Summit  India and Australia  and Korea's G20/G7 Sherpa during a roundtable co-hosted by The Korea Times and the Korea Foundation ahead of the G7 Summit slated for June 11 to 13 in the U.K. The excerpts are edited for clarity.  ED.



Korea pledges to become more responsible international player





Korea's G20/G7 Sherpa Choi Kyong-lim / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

In terms of priorities in attending this meeting, we have two: health and climate change. We believe that if the G7 Summit this year can produce actions and commitments in these two areas, it will send a very powerful signal to the world that the G7 is back.



On health, we have one immediate task and one medium- to long-term task. The immediate task is to address the serious gap in the distribution of vaccines between developed and developing countries. It is understandable that each government wants to take care of its own citizens first, but we must also keep in mind that nobody is safe until everyone is safe. So, we first have to make sure that we can substantially increase the supply of vaccines and then help developing countries acquire them.



In the medium- to long-term, we have to find ways to strengthen international health systems so that we can better prepare for and respond to future pandemics. We will have to strengthen the World Health Organization. We will also have to establish effective partnerships among governments, international organizations, private businesses and academia so that we can develop critical strategies to manage and prepare for future pandemics.



On climate change, I don't have to stress enough the importance of this issue. And the hosting country of this year's G7 Summit, the U.K., has set out ambitious goals on climate change, including securing the commitment for net zero emissions by 2050 and substantially increasing climate finance. We welcome this ambitious goals.



At the Leaders Summit on Climate in April, President Moon made a pledge to submit an updated plan for substantial greenhouse gas reduction before the end of this year. And he also pledged that we will stop public financing for overseas coal power plant projects.



With regard to the potential difficulties achieving the net zero goal by 2050, there are some experts who are not very optimistic about the prospects, but there are other groups of experts who believe that with the development of technology, it is not entirely impossible. Let's remind ourselves that only a few years back, automated driving without human driver and 100 percent electric-powered vehicle was seen as a dream for distant future. Now, they are very close to our everyday life. We cannot rule out the possibility that we will have very rapid development in technology that can help us achieve the goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The pace of technological development in many areas indeed encouraged us to think optimistically.



The government is now developing a couple of detailed scenarios, in which we can achieve our net zero commitment by 2050. And these scenarios will be finalized before the end of this year.



We also welcome the U.K.'s plans to discuss ways to cope with threats to democracy at the June summit. We agreed that it is important for leading democracies to issue a unified message supporting human rights, fundamental freedoms and economic openness as well as the rules-based multilateral system. With political commitment and close cooperation, we will be able to have a very productive G7 Summit. And if we can do that, it will represent a turning point for multilateralism.



Threats to open societies and democracy do not just come from a certain area or country. They come from across the globe and by focusing too much on a specific area, we may risk losing sight of threats coming from other parts of the world. We also have threats to democracy coming from within our own societies such as rising inequality, racism, extremism and decreasing tolerance toward differences.



The G7 is a group of leading economies and it does not intend to reach an agreement among themselves that they will impose on other countries and it cannot. But what it can do is set ambitious goals for themselves and hope that the other countries to follow suit.



India calls for developed countries to take more responsibilities





Indian Ambassador to Korea Sripriya Ranganathan / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

We are pleased to get the invitation from the U.K. in the upcoming G7-plus Summit and it is a great pleasure to have this opportunity to share what we see of this upcoming Summit and to also hear other guest countries' perspectives on what they are perceiving as the likely outcomes and the takeaways from this gathering.



I think that there are some very fundamental challenges that you face today and some of these have been identified by the U.K. presidency as top priority in terms of what could be the agenda for the G7 meeting. These are climate change, handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and what do we need to do, as fellow open societies, to advance the cause of democracy across the world.



What can we do to address this COVID-19 challenge? None of us is safe until all of us are safe, and I think this is a very clear perspective we have in India. We would be very keen to see what we can do to forge cooperation, bring genuine solidarity and bring about science-based approaches in dealing with this pandemic.



Vaccine development is one such area where I think we all need to join and genome sequencing is one area where there is a lot of scope for us to work together. We welcome the U.K.'s spotlight on the theme of protecting people's health and strengthening resilience during its presidency.



We are seeking the support of all G7 countries to the proposal that India and South Africa have together advanced to the WTO for a waiver from certain provisions of the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement, so that we will be able to enable COVID-19 vaccine access to countries around the world. This will be one of goals from the conversations at the summit.



We believe that the G7 countries are after all the richest and the most technologically and scientifically advanced countries of the world and they must demonstrate leadership in this issue and resist the tendency of vaccine nationalism, cornering the supply of vaccines for their own nationals which they must share with countries and peoples around the world.









We support the U.K.'s efforts to steer the agenda on climate change and climate action, in which we have a lot of interest and desire to contribute to. As many other things, including climate change, cannot be tackled in silos. We need to join hands and work together to achieve our goals.



Developed countries need to contain their emissions and provide that carbon space to developing countries so that they are able to bring about the sustainable development of their economies and bring up the people to a more acceptable level of development so that the equitable justice can be brought about.



In this context, we wholeheartedly welcome the U.K.'s call to the G7 and other developed countries to meet the legally binding commitments under the Paris Agreement and to meet the target of $100 million annually for climate financing. I think the G7 consensus on fresh commitments on climate finance and technology transfer, consistent with common but differentiated responsibilities, will be a big step forward.



As to what we have done in India, we are the only G20 country that is on track to achieve our Paris Agreement commitments and we have achieved a critical percentage reduction in emission intensity over the period between 2005 and 2016.



Another agenda that has been identified by the U.K. presidency is inclusive economic recovery. We would welcome the efforts of the G7 and its outreach partners to defend and promote economic openness that is anchored around a free and open trading system governed by international rules and standards.



The U.K. presidency has also come up with an open society statement in which India is very actively engaged. We have shared values of democracy, protection of human rights, freedom of expression, belief in a strong, inclusive, pluralist way of life. And we see the value of dialogue with like-minded countries to check the rate of threats that has been posed to all of us by rising vandalism, terrorism, violent extremism and economic coercion. We will be working with our partners to defend and promote our shared values. A strong and visionary statement emanating from the G7-plus Summit in this context, we believe, would be a very powerful message.



Australia shows effort in gender equality, women's empowerment





Australian Ambassador to Korea Catherine Raper / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Thank you to Dr. James Crane not only for his expertise, but also for his voice, which will put anyone at ease; and to Dr. Ramsey for overseeing my care, and being a straight shooter with informational updates. Also to Dr. Robert Laciak for his use of humor to keep me relaxed while skillfully completing his procedure.

Thank you to Kim, Karlie, Kara and Kyle from ICU. Thank you to Amanda, Lexie, Karlie and Micheal from the oncology unit, and thank you to Terrell, Leslie, Arielle, Fred, Anna, Tracy and June from 3 South. You made a horrible situation so much more bearable. You will be in my heart and prayers forever.

The community should know that you have access to caring and quality healthcare. I hope you never miss an opportunity to show your gratitude for this.

Diana Hicks

Cottage Grove

Music made celebrations special

The Cumberland Community Events Center would like to thank both the Calapooia Celtic Connection and the Oregon Oldtime Fiddlers Association for performing at our recent birthday celebrations.




The military was to begin administering Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine to soldiers under 30 years old Monday, the defense ministry said.







Of around 414,000 eligible service members, those who applied for the inoculation will be given the vaccine, according to the ministry.







Soldiers aged 30 and older were already given AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, with about 88 percent, or 116,900 members, of the age group agreeing to take their first shots, the ministry said.







South Korea is also scheduled to administer Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine to reservists and civilians affiliated with the defense and foreign affairs Thursday. Around 1.01 million doses were provided by the United States, and they arrived here Saturday.







Janssen vaccines will only be administered to those in their 30s and older due to concerns over blood clotting among younger generations.







As of 2 p.m. Sunday, the military had reported 982 COVID-19 cases among its population.







Nationwide, South Korea reported 556 more COVID-19 cases, including 541 local infections, raising the total caseload to 144,152, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. (Yonhap)


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.
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The Seoul Central District Court building / Korea Times file



By Lee Hyo-jin



An appellate court in Seoul upheld a lower court ruling on Monday that sentenced a man to one year in prison for assaulting two women of foreign nationality for "giving the wrong directions."



The appellate department of the Seoul Central District Court issued the sentence to the man, in his 40s, who was convicted of verbally and physically assaulting the women at around 6 p.m., June 6, 2020, in Seocho District, Seoul.



He attacked the women after they gave him the wrong directions. He threw a plastic bag filled with canned beverages and swore at them "for lying to him."



He was also additionally accused of assaulting an employee at a bar in the district, at around 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 of last year, who stopped him from repeatedly approaching foreign women at the bar. The women were trying to avoid him by changing seats. He shoved the employee and then ran away, but when the employee went after him, he assaulted the worker.



The lower court sentenced him to one year in prison, and the appeals court upheld the ruling, saying that the man has had seven previous convictions of assault since 2010, but yet again committed a crime in less than a year since he was released from prison in November 2019.



"He threw dangerous objects at the victims for no particular reason. Also, he did not put any efforts into rectifying the situation or seeking forgiveness," it said in the ruling.


A family member and an attorney representing South Korean victims of forced wartime labor by Japan speak during a press conference in front of the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, Monday, after the court dismissed their damages suit against Japanese companies. The 85 forced labor victims and their families filed the suit against 16 Japanese companies in 2015, but the court rejected it, saying individual legal rights cannot be exercised under the 1965 treaty between Seoul and Tokyo on resolving colonial-era issues. The plaintiffs said they would appeal. Yonhap



A local court on Monday dismissed a damages suit launched by 85 South Korean victims of wartime forced labor in Japan and their families against 16 Japanese companies, saying the plaintiffs don't have litigation rights.

The Seoul Central District Court said South Korean wartime forced laborers cannot claim individual legal rights to damages from Japan, while deciding to reject their collective suit.

The 85 forced labor victims and their families started their damages suit against 16 Japanese companies, including Nippon Steel Sumitomo Metal, Nissan Chemical and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2015.

This case is the largest among many similar lawsuits filed by South Korean victims of wartime forced labor in Japan. At first, 17 Japanese firms were sued but the plaintiffs dropped their suit against one of them.

Dismissal is a decision made without any trial due to the absence of litigation requirements. It can be viewed as tantamount to a ruling against the plaintiffs.

Referring to the 1965 agreement between Seoul and Tokyo on resolving colonial-era issues, the court said, "It cannot be said that individual claims are terminated or waived due to the Korea-Japan treaty. But it was decided that the individual rights cannot be exercised through lawsuits."

Japan has claimed that all colonial-era issues, including individual compensation, were resolved with the 1965 treaty.

The court said forced labor victims' individual compensation rights are covered by the Korea-Japan treaty considering treaty-related documents, the circumstances leading to the treaty, purported intentions of the concerned parties, and their follow-up measures.

"An acceptance of the plaintiffs' claim in this case may result in a violation of international law, including Article 27 of the Vienna Convention," the court said, adding that nonobservance of treaties cannot be justified by an invocation of internal laws that recognize the illegality of colonial rule.

The latest court ruling is in sharp contrast to an October 2018 ruling from the Supreme Court, which upheld an appeals court ruling in 2013 that ordered Nippon Steel to pay each of four Korean plaintiffs 100 million won ($87,720) in compensation for their wartime forced labor and unpaid work.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs criticized the district court ruling as "very unfair" and vowed to appeal.

"Today's ruling runs directly counter to a previous Supreme Court ruling on a similar case and is very unfair," Kang Gil, a lawyer, said.

Lim Cheol-ho, an 85-year-old plaintiff whose father was allegedly conscripted to work in Japan, condemned the court ruling as "pathetic."

"Is the judge a Korean national? Is it a Korean court? The ruling is deplorable and I can hardly open my mouth to speak on it," Lim said.

According to government data, more than 1 million Koreans were conscripted to work for Japanese companies and its military during World War II. Korea was under Japan's brutal colonial rule from 1910-45.

The damages suit was filed in May 2015, but the first hearing was held six years later last month due to delayed delivery of court documents and other problems.

Japanese companies did not take any action at first but appointed a Korean lawyer as their representative after the court decided on the public notice of the litigation.

The court had originally planned to hold the sentencing hearing on Thursday but suddenly decided to advance the schedule. (Yonhap)
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Nitsch Engineering/Courtesy photo/A petition circulating online calls for another traffic study be done for the new school planned to be built on the site of the current Veterans Memorial Elementary School and Mattos Field.
Kim Seong-jun, center, head of the Office of Personnel and Welfare at the Ministry of National Defense, presides over the first meeting of the military's task force to improve the military's sex crime prevention system, at the ministry headquarters in Yongsan District, Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense



By Jung Da-min



Following a series of sex crimes, the military is seeking measures to stop sexual violence by launching a task force to improve the military's sexual violence prevention system.



Still, criticism is mounting that such a move is belated, and that the fundamental problem lies not with the system, but with the military's practice of concealing problems and propagating distorted gender stereotypes.



The Ministry of National Defense on Monday launched the temporary taskforce to improve the military's sexual violence prevention system. The taskforce will be in operation until August.



Public outrage over the issue of the military's poor handling of such crimes within the organization recently escalated in response to the case of a female Air Force master sergeant, who was found dead at her residence, May 22, about two months after a fellow master sergeant sexually assaulted her in a car on their way back from a drinking session that she was forced to attend. It was alleged that the Air Force failed to properly investigate the case, did not provide the victim proper counselling and rather attempted to cover up the incident. Several other sex crimes cases have also since been made public, including a spycam case in the Air Force and a male senior service member's sexual assault of a junior member in the Marine Corps.



Despite the defense force's silence on such issues, many military sex crime cases have been revealed by Military Human Rights Korea, a civic advocacy group, a point that critics argue is proof that service members have lost confidence in the military's ability to deal with such issues internally.



"The retrograde awareness level and poor responses to sexual violence in the military, which were revealed in the sexual assault case of the Air Force, are shocking to the public," said Rep. Jun Joo-hyae, a spokeswoman of the conservative main opposition People Power Party.



"The Air Force police's poor investigation, which aimed at covering up the case, revealed the military's indifference to the protection of victims," Jun said, adding that the Air Force prosecutors' office did not follow the due procedures of confiscating the cell phone of the assailant immediately, but in fact did so five days after the search warrant was issued.



The PPP also proposed a parliamentary investigation and a hearing of the case.



The liberal minor opposition Justice Party leader, Yeo Young-guk, also said that a parliamentary hearing is needed.



"This is not the first case of sexual assault in the military. In the wake of the deaths of female soldiers who were sexually assaulted in 2013 and 2017, the military announced comprehensive measures for eradicating sexual violence and prepared measures, such as expanding education about sexual violence prevention and strengthening the organization dedicated to prevention. The military also created a work manual for supporting sexual violence victims in the military. But we have now seen yet another death," Yeo said.



"It is the inevitable result of the military's perverse gender-insensitivity and of the closed and hierarchical macho culture, which views female service members only as sexual objects, not fellow members," he said.



For his part, President Moon Jae-in called for overall follow-up measures to improve the military culture, saying that a fundamental improvement is needed to prevent the recurrence of sex crimes.


NAPPANEE [mdash] Daniel F. Chupp, 89 of Nappanee, Indiana, died at 9:46 a.m. Thursday, June 10, 2021 at Goshen General Hospital. Cremation will take place and a memorial service will be held at a later date.
La Bonne Vies Rachel Shenk has been an artisan baker for 30 years. Born and raised in Belgium, she has lived in Goshen since 1973. She has been writing about food, traveling and the good life for about 10 years. You can connect with her on her Facebook page, La Bonne Vie, or at her cheese shop in Goshen, The Wedge.
The Governors Official Program is comprised of a wide range of constitutional and legal duties and ceremonial and community engagements. Each year, the Governor hosts thousands of visitors to Government House to take part in investiture and award ceremonies, Open Days, receptions and meetings, and travels widely throughout Queensland to support the activities of Patron groups. View a chronological record of the Governors daily program below.

On Saturday, in the morning, at Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC attended and officially opened the Royal Queensland Regiment Annual Conference, and the Governor addressed guests.

Following, at Government House, His Excellency and Mrs Kaye de Jersey hosted a morning tea for Government House Alumni.

In the afternoon, at Government House, His Excellency welcomed members of the public to Open Day.

In the evening, at the Brisbane Club, Brisbane City, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey attended the Royal Historical Society of Queensland's annual Queensland Day Dinner, and the Governor addressed guests.
Max Verstappen will have to start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from third place. He will start behind Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Due to a red flag at the end of Q3, the Dutchman could not finish his lap. In The Build-Up Verstappen explains his expectations of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

"It's always an interesting track for racing and we have a good race car, so we need to always look forward. Nothing is won at turn 1, we just need to keep it clean and go from there. From our side we are confident," Verstappen revealed. According to the Dutchman, it is therefore important to stay out of trouble in order to strike later in the race.

Verstappen sees opportunities

"We just have to make sure we stay out of trouble. I think we have a good racecar, only we have to see how the others will perform". Verstappen still has a bitter feeling after qualifying, where it still feels that the Dutchman could have got more out of it.

"Yesterday was of course unfortunate in qualifying, but we do have a lot of confidence in today that we can have a good race. We have to wait and see what the rest will do and we have to handle our tyres well, then we can have a good result," Verstappen said.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was another spectacle with overtaking, crashes, a red flag and of course the Safety Car. Sergio Perez eventually won the race, but aside from his breakthrough at Red Bull Racing, here are the five conclusions after the race in Baku.

RB16B the best on the street

After the Monaco and Azerbaijan Grands Prix, it is clear that the Red Bull Racing RB16B is the strongest car on the streets. In Monaco, Red Bull had to beat Ferrari in qualifying, but in the race in Monaco and Baku, nobody could match the pace of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Another street race in Singapore was cancelled this weekend, leaving only the race in Saudi Arabia as a real street race.

Hamilton proves to be really vulnerable under pressure

Lewis Hamilton seemed as reliable as a tank in recent years. The Brit rarely, if ever, made mistakes, but was also not really under pressure from Valtteri Bottas. In 2017 and 2018, Sebastian Vettel gave it a go, but he couldn't shake Hamilton like Nico Rosberg did in 2016. That will be different in 2021, though.

After a big mistake in Imola and a bad weekend in Monaco, Hamilton made another huge mistake this weekend. He accidentally touched the button that changed his brake balance and shot straight on at the restart. Mistakes which used to be rare, we now see much more often with this seven times world champion. Pressure seems to be doing something to him as well.

Pirelli can't deliver reliable tyres

Since Pirelli returned to Formula 1 in 2011, the tyre supplier has been criticised more than once. The tyres are said to wear out too quickly when driving behind another car, making overtaking difficult, but that is not the worst of it. Pirelli tyres are unreliable.

Wear can be measured by the teams and often felt by the drivers. If there is vibration it is time to slow down or change the tyres. However, with Pirelli tyres, things can go wrong, and that can cause life-threatening situations. The crashes of Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen on the straight could have ended very differently at that speed.

It's not the first time Pirelli tyres have given up the ghost. During several editions of the British Grand Prix, drivers suffered a blowout out of nowhere, and also on other circuits with high wear, things went wrong. Pirelli has extended their contract with F1, however, as Verstappen pointed out after the race, they will probably blame track debris for the problem.

Vettel thrives when given confidence

Sebastian Vettel fell all the way back in recent years at Ferrari after the team started to focus more on Charles Leclerc. Vettel struggles under pressure and that pressure became too much for him at Ferrari. We didn't see the old Vettel of his time at Red Bull Racing, where he won four world titles.

After a difficult start, he has found his rhythm and takes the lead at Aston Martin. After a great performance in Monaco, a podium followed in Azerbaijan. The German is perfectly at home at Aston Martin. He's the clear frontrunner, without feeling the huge pressure to be champion.

Red Bull Racing finally has a strong second driver

After two years of struggling with Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon, Red Bull Racing has finally made its move. Sergio Perez showed he has the speed in Imola qualifying and in the races in Bahrain and Monaco he showed pace in the race. This weekend he tied it all together, showing his value to Red Bull.

Finally, it wasn't just Verstappen battling Lewis Hamilton, Perez also managed to hold off the Brit. A crucial role, because after Verstappen dropped out, Perez ensured victory, while Hamilton and Bottas both failed to score points. Now Red Bull can really fight for the world title.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was one for the books. A whirlwind finish and an uncommon podium. The most talked-about issue however is the whole Pirelli tyre problem that both Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen were victims of. It even cost the Dutchman a victory.

Criticism

Pirelli has been criticised for the whole incident up until now. Verstappen himself said after the race that he doesn't expect much from the investigations into the cause of the tyre damage. Ross Brawn, F1's Sporting Director, thinks the team will dig deep to find out the truth.

Debris?

In his column on F1.com he says: "First there was Lance and then Max. Fortunately, both remained unharmed after severe accidents, which was great to see. Pirelli will conduct a thorough investigation into what happened. One of the things with street circuits is that debris can often be a problem."

Brawn, therefore, calls for the emotion not to jump to its own conclusions on the issue: "We have to stay calm. Pirelli did a lot of work over the winter to give the tyres more margin and the FIA made changes to reduce aerodynamic downforce to give even more margin. Let's be patient and wait for the results of the analysis."
Chinas successful development experience inspiring for other countries: former Greek Foreign Minister

09:03, June 07, 2021 By Han Shuo ( People's Daily

China's successful development experience is inspiring for other countries as it has made absolute poverty a thing in the past, said former Greek Foreign Affairs Minister George Katrougalos in a recent interview with People's Daily.

Tourists enjoy a light show in the Lujiazui area of Pudong, east China's Shanghai, Nov. 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang)

Katrougalos, who's also the Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs from the main opposition SYRIZA Party, said he read news about China almost every day, and learned that Chinese President Xi Jinping announced China's eradication of absolute poverty on a grand gathering to mark the country's poverty alleviation accomplishments and honor model poverty fighters in February this year.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) adheres to a people-centered philosophy, and strives to deliver reform and development outcomes to all Chinese people in a fair way, the Greek politician said, adding that's what he calls real development.

"When I visited China for the first time in the 1990s, I found it full of hope and energy, nothing like what was depicted by the Western media," Katrougalos told People's Daily.

Both the SYRIZA Party and the Greek politician himself have been paying close attention to China's progress, and are exhilarated by the country's huge achievements, according to him.

After Katrougalos took office as the Greek Foreign Affairs Minister, he chose China as the first country to visit in March 2019.

On that trip, he noted that both Greece and China boast ancient civilizations, and Greece cherishes its friendship with China. He expressed his gratitude to China for giving a helping hand when Greece suffered its financial crisis, saying Greece always takes China as a trustworthy strategic partner and a sincere friend.

Despite a hectic schedule of the trip, he managed to attend the opening ceremony of the second session of the 13th National Peoples Congress of China. The report on the work of the Chinese government delivered at the session had a rich content and included a huge amount of information. I studied it thoroughly when I returned home, he said.

A month after the trip, Katrougalos came to China again for the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing.

In August 2018, China and Greece signed a memorandum of understanding to further promote cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), making the Mediterranean country the first developed country in Europe to ink such a deal with China.

Greece actively supports the joint construction of the Belt and Road, and is willing to further deepen cooperation with China under the framework to build Greece into a bridge connecting China, Europe and Africa, and better benefit the people in the two countries and even the rest of the world, Katrougalos said.

The Port of Piraeus, Greeces largest port, has become one of the fastest growing container terminals in the world under the operation of China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited. In 2019, its global ranking of throughput jumped to the 25th place, from the 93rd place in 2010.

Chinas investment in the Port of Piraeus has significantly increased its scale and throughput, Katrougalos pointed out, who considers the investment a huge success and a win-win opportunity.

The Port of Piraeus has also created enormous social benefits, and provided sound working conditions for local employees, which is of great significance for Greece, he told People's Daily. After the debt crisis, we not only want to improve economic indicators, but also hope to bring tangible improvement to people's livelihood, he said.

Katrougalos is confident in the future of the port. The BRI serves as a bridge on which countries pursue common development, and has effectively facilitated international trade, he remarked.

In 2017, Xi delivered a keynote speech titled Jointly Shoulder Responsibility of Our Times, Promote Global Growth at the opening session of the World Economic Forum annual meeting held at the Davos Congress Center in Switzerland.

Katrougalos said he still remembered Xi remarks on adapting to and guiding economic globalization, cushioning its negative impact, and delivering its benefits to all countries and all nations in his speech. What Xi said demonstrated a sense of responsibility of the CPC and the Chinese leadership, he said.

The Chinese leaders keen insight into the general trend of the world and sincere concerns for the future of mankind is also observed in the book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, said Katrougalos, who has been reading the book recently.

The book not only helped him gain a better understanding of the primary stage of socialism, a moderately prosperous society, two centenary goals, and other concepts, but also made him more aware that Xis thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era is a fully systematic, highly logical and science-based theory system that heralds a brighter future of China.

Xis thought and vision are conducive to world peace and development, as well as the economic and social construction of many countries, he added.

Katrougalos also sent his wishes to the CPC for its centenary, which falls on July 1 this year. I have great faith in and admiration for the determination and ability of the CPC to continuously reform itself, and I believe the CPC will burst with vitality and bring more surprises to the world in the next 100 years, just like it did in the past century, he said.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
LH headquarters in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province / Yonhap



The state-run Korea Land Housing (LH) will streamline its structure and focus on its core housing welfare services to prevent land speculation by its employees and address public distrust following a scandal, the land ministry said Monday.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation announced comprehensive reform measures three months after the revelation of speculative land purchases by several LH employees has rocked the nation amid soaring home prices.



The scandal has set off a string of complaints about suspicious land deals involving public servants and politicians nationwide, which even undermined public trust over the Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policy.



"The government concluded (the LH land speculation scandal) as a structural problem caused by monopoly power, a bloated structure and a lax internal monitoring system," the ministry said in a release. "The overhaul measures are aimed at transforming LH into a transparent corporation that can earn public trust."



LH was created as a behemoth public company in 2009 by merging a state land developer and a public housing corporation, now having nearly 10,000 employees and 185 trillion won (US$163.2 billion) of assets under management.



While the public developer is in charge of the government's land development, housing supply plan and housing welfare projects, the land ministry will pick new sites for land development projects to prevent a leakage of related information to LH employees.



The ministry said it will disperse LH's non-core functions to other organizations and slash its workforce, with a goal of reducing over 20 percent, or 2,000 employees, in line with the corporate restructuring.



The public corporation will also require all employees to register their assets and be banned from buying land except for actual living purposes.



The ministry said it and the ruling and opposition parties have been discussing separating its land development and housing supply functions, as well as establishing a holding firm to oversee its subsidiaries, adding that it will confirm a draft after collecting opinions from various circles.



The corporate restructuring proposal needs parliamentary approval to go into effect.



The Moon administration has vowed to increase the housing supply in the Seoul metropolitan area and other major cities to stabilize the heated real estate market, in a drastic shift from imposing a series of tougher regulations in the last three years.



Market watchers express concerns that the ambitious supply plan focusing on large housing site development and urban redevelopment may find it hard to earn support from existing land owners and residents due to rising distrust over projects involving public developers.



The rising property prices and tight lending rules have made it more difficult not only for low-income families but also high earners to buy a home in Seoul without financial support from their parents. (Yonhap)


Sergio Perez on Sunday responded to Dr Helmut Marko's recent "pressure" in the best possible way.

That is the view of former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos, after Perez shrugged off his earlier struggles to keep up with Max Verstappen by winning at Baku.

"First of all, I'm very sorry for Max about what happened to him but this is definitely a strong boost of confidence for myself and the team," Perez said.

Immediately after the chequered flag, many wondered if Toto Wolff would make good on his promise to potentially protest the legality of Red Bull's rear wing.

The Mercedes boss said: "We will not protest Sergio and look instead to the new FIA tests from France."

Therefore, Perez's victory stands - and Doornbos thinks it will lift a lot of pressure from the Mexican's shoulders.

"Helmut Marko has put quite a lot of pressure on him lately," the Dutchman told Ziggo Sport.

"But look at how he won - under pressure from a seven time world champion. Perez had Hamilton in his mirrors for the entire race."

Perez insisted he certainly has no hard feelings about the pressure Marko and Red Bull put on him to get up to speed with Verstappen in 2021.

"The team gave me a massive opportunity," said the former Racing Point driver.

"I found my adaptation harder than expected but we've been showing flashes of speed here and there," Perez added.

"But now I finally feel at one with the car. I understand a lot better how to drive it, and the team now has a better understanding of what I need from it.

"This weekend I had the feeling for the first time that I could show my full performance."

(GMM)
By Ngaire Woods and Ok Pannenborg





Ngaire Woods Ok Pannenborg
No time for complacency amid escalating US-China tensions



South Korea's dependence on Japanese materials and parts has hit an all-time low so far this year. This situation is the result of strenuous efforts by the government and enterprises to sharpen the country's industrial competitiveness in the wake of Japan's imposition of export controls on key products.



According to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, imports of Japanese materials and parts amounted to $9.69 billion in the January to April period, accounting for 15 percent of the country's total imports of these products. This figure represents a drop of 1.1 percentage points from the same period last year and the lowest since related statistics were first compiled in 2001. The percentage of materials and components imported from Japan peaked at 28 percent in 2003, before falling to 18.2 percent in 2014, and 15.9 percent in 2019.



In retaliation against a court ruling here that ordered Japanese companies to compensate victims of its forced wartime labor, Japan imposed export restrictions in July 2019 on chemicals vital to our semiconductor industry. Yet Japan's retaliation served as an occasion for us to awaken to the danger of our heavy reliance on Japanese products and redouble localization efforts, which had dragged on for decades. In a nutshell, Japan's export restrictions became a blessing in disguise.



Right now is no time for complacency, though. The trade deficit with Japan, in materials and parts, for the first four months of this year came to $5.4 billion, up $700 million from a year ago. And the percentage of such products imported from China exceeded 30 percent for the first time during the period, up from 29.1 percent a year ago. South Korea may be ahead of other countries in producing finished goods, but excessive reliance on a specific country  whether it's Japan or China  for materials and parts to produce them must be avoided. This situation is all the more important, considering that uncertainties over global supply chains remain high amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Foxconn and PTT have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in setting up an open platform for producing electric vehicles (EV) and key components to serve the EV sector in Thailand. The platform, comprising hardware and software services, will be available to all automobile players in Thailand looking to accelerate their production and sales of EVs in Thailand and elsewhere in the ASEAN region.

PTT is a Thai state-owned oil and gas company and the largest publicly listed conglomerate in Thailand.

Automobile players in Thailand that wish to assemble electric vehicles will be able to access the entire value chain of services offered by a newly formed JV being set up as part of this project. The intent is to help manufacturers not only access EV-specific services but also launch new models more quickly at a competitive cost.

The new platform will entail an ecosystem combining technologies across the EV value chain, including auto parts manufacturing. It will build on Foxconns recently-established MIH industry alliance, an open network that enables developers and manufacturers to offer a complete software and hardware platform to build electric cars.

The MIH platform has four key characteristics:

Its architecture is fully modularized, scalable, and easily customizable; The chassis is made with the latest lightweight material, with a unibody design that would optimize the EVs performance; It provides a powerful electrical architecture for all levels of applications; and It will allow for the development of autonomous driving technologies.

Auttapol Rerkpiboon, President and Chief Executive Officer, PTT Public Company Limited (PTT), said that this joint agreement was a significant milestone for PTTs EV value chain businesses to foster sustainable growth while addressing the changing era of future energyespecially transportation and mobility.
Youd probably place a bet that Starr Crawford was vaccinated for COVID-19.

The Bridgeport mother of a teenager wore a black mask as I approached her group of family and friends in Washington Park in the citys East Side neighborhood Thursday night. Im a germophobic, she said.

She worked in retail before the pandemic but hasnt gone back. Its too much contact, she explained.

Shes a big fan of Dr. Anthony Fauci, not just for his work in the coronavirus crisis. She remembers that decades ago, Fauci warned against AIDS as the highest ranking federal infectious disease expert. Crawford also blames former President Donald Trump for imperiling millions of people by denying the severity of the crisis.

No question, this is a vaccinated citizen, right? Nope.

As it comes clear that only one person in Crawfords group of five at the park gazebo has been vaccinated, she cites three reasons: Her good health and strong immune system; her skepticism of the vaccine; and her Christian faith. Im in Jesuss hand, she says.

Im scared because I feel like theyre using me as a guinea pig, she tells me. Im not going to be a guinea pig where years later I grow another ear or another toe.

She believes in the science, she explains, but wants to see years of vaccine results for people my age, my culture, my race. And she said her 14-year-old son begged her to let him have the inoculation.

I said, Give me a couple of more years, she recalled telling him.

Crawford and her family and friends tell the story of why people of color, especially in Americas larger cities, have been slow to roll up their sleeves for the COVID-19 vaccine. Their hesitancy stands as a big part of the reason some experts say the United States wont reach so-called herd immunity anytime soon, even in high-vaccination states like Connecticut.

Their voices matter as real people, not statistics, with reasons that are not simple. It certainly isnt about access, not now, six months after the first doses arrived. Everyone I spoke with in the neighborhoods of Bridgeport and New Haven knew full well where they could quickly gain a vaccine if they wanted one.

In New Haven just off Dixwell Avenue, 53-year-old Kevin Pettigrew told me, in late May, that hell take the shot, he just hadnt gotten to it yet. He and a friend were in a parking lot just a few hundred feet from a community clinic that, at that moment, was givng the vaccination to all comers  and Pettigrew knew that.

Im scared of needles, he said. My wifes going to make me. Were going to take it together.

All this hesitancy, this delay, this fear, this skepticism, is not, contrary to the medical establishments view, the result of ignorance. Some people I spoke with mentioned Black Americans cultural history. We think about Tulsa, said a woman in a large group that gathered after work in New Haven, who only gave her first name, Stephanie. We think about what happened there.

Thats a reference to the Black community that was burned down exactly 100 years ago in Oklahoma, with at least 300 people killed. And its a reference to the lack of trust many Black people have in the medical system, despite efforts to combat that  including appeals by prominent African American public health officials.

Im still getting input on this, Crawford told me, in Bridgeport.

Her cousins, Chaasia and Rasheeda Crawford, talk about their health and the pressures to get the vaccine, which they, like Starr and their friend, Marlon Standburry, have resisted.

Im going to avoid it as much as possible but I want to travel, said Chaasia Crawford, whos working as a bartender in a place that requires masks regardless.

Starr Crawford noted, No one in my household ever really catches colds, but she said when her son got a flu shot, he caught a runny nose.

That gave her pause. And theyre all put off by the fact that many people feel sick, albeit for a short time, after the vaccinations. My doctor scared me off, said Rasheeda Crawford, Chaasias mom. She said that for three days after she took it, she had body aches.

That doctor did urge her to seek the vaccine, she said.

Standburry, like Rasheeda Crawford, smoked cigarettes as we talked on a spring evening. If youve never been sick in your life, he said, why should you subject yourself to something thats going to make you sick?

Many people I spoke with in city neighborhoods said its split fairly evenly between people who are and are not vaccinated. And unlike politics, which can divide friends and family, just about everyone tol me theres no pressure either way.

Darlin Santiago, who had COVID-19 last year  I only suffered like three days  and also took the vaccination, talks about his friends and customers at El Tipo barbershop in Bridgeport. I know people that are saying no, he said. They think not to get it, but then they think its ignorant not to get it, and they get it.

Most everyone I know, they took the shots, said DJ Shawn Woo, who joined a large group of friends after work in a parking lot in New Haven one recent weekday.

Not him. I read too much. Its history repeating, he said. Theyre going to try to force people to do it.

A 73-year-old man sitting near him, smoking a cigarette, mentions Johnson & Johnson baby poweder, which for decades was made with talc and is the subject of lawsuits over alleged contamination with asbestos. I cant trust them, man....They dont know what its going to do in six months.

Its just about impossible to find a medical expert who says anything other than that the COVID vaccines are safe and that the rapid emergency FDA approval last fall was based on studies that followed all the precautions. Talking with people about their skepticism and hesitancy, I tell them I was fearful too and remain worried about young children getting the inoculations. But I took the 2-part Moderna vaccine.

That emergency approval doesnt sit well with many, including Edward Booker, whos in the Dixwell group. Its just too soon, he said. Everybody getting money out of it.

Booker clearly has a force of personality that brings influence. A Hamden resident, hes a longtime commercial painter, grew up in the projects, served years of jail time and now helps kids in the city neighborhood. He says hes not going to take the inoculation unless its mandatory.

Like the Crawfords in Bridgeport, this Dixwell group is divided on whether African Americans should show more skepticism, based on a history that includes the infamous Tuskeegee Study, in which the federal government infected Black men with syphilis in 1932.

Caucasians, said Stephanie, flashing long, pink nails, do anything to try to destroy our people, our history, everything.

For Booker, its more a matter of faith. If God meant for you to have it, he said, youre going to get it.

dhaar@hearstmediact.com
PARIS (AP)  A replica of the Statue of Liberty, smaller but based on the original plaster cast of its big sister on Liberty Island, a gift from France, was given a sendoff Monday before a trip to the United States where it will be displayed for Independence Day.

The nearly 3-meter-high (nearly 10-foot high) bronze will make a nine-day trip across the Atlantic Ocean later this month, sailing out aboard a container ship from the French port of Le Havre to Baltimore. It will then be transported to the U.S., arriving in time for July 4 celebrations.
GREENWICH  Elivate, a wellness spa on East Putnam Avenue in the Old Greenwich section of town, hosted a grand reopening last week.

First Selectman Fred Camillo and members of the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce joined the owner, Melissa Pulcini, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, June 4.

The event comes more than two weeks after the states official reopening on May 19, when Connecticuts remaining COVID-19 business restrictions ended. The states indoor mask mandate remains for people who are not fully vaccinated.

Elivate opened early last year, but like many businesses and public venues, the spa was forced to close last spring as pandemic restrictions prompted public officials to order many businesses nonessential closed. Elivate was able to reopen in May, the business said through a statement.

Pulcini managed to keep the business running through the past year.

Now that we have been open for one full year following the shut down, we wanted to officially celebrate and commemorate the news with the community, the companys statement said.

Elivate is a boutique aesthetic medicine and wellness practice that specializes in treatments and experiences, including injectables, IV therapies, facials and other skin care and beauty treatments.
GREENWICH  Signs placed around town that say, Stand Up Greenwich: Unmask our children, ban critical race theory, protect medical freedom are drawing the notice of officials and residents alike.

First Selectman Fred Camillo said Monday he has received many calls in recent days about the signs, which also urge residents to attend the June 17 meeting of the Board of Education.

Camillo said he does not know where the signs came from and said there is no order to take them down from public sites.

On a GoGetFunding webpage, a group called Greenwich Patriots appears to take credit for the signs. The group asks on the website for donations to fund medical freedom-oriented yard signs, anti-CRT marketing materials, flyers and posters for rallies, flags and pocket Constitutions for giveaways at our Flag Day Rally, Greenwich Patriots Newsletter, (and) other projects coming soon. Two images of the Stand Up Greenwich sign are among their pictures on the site.

As of Monday afternoon, 12 donors had contributed about $900 to the group, which did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

The signs echo many points that have been made during public comment sessions at several recent Board of Education meetings. An increasingly vocal group of parents have decried what they say is the presence of critical race theory  a controversial academic ideology that seeks to change the ways in which race and history are taught  in the towns schools. Some of those same parents have been outspoken about students wearing masks and receiving vaccinations as well as about other curricular materials that they say are evidence of liberal bias in the classrooms.

Although the signs dont say vaccines, Camillo said he interpreted the line about protecting medical freedom as a reference to the ongoing debate about vaccine requirements in schools.

In April, Gov. Ned Lamont signed a bill ending religious exemptions for vaccines but broadening medical waivers. The COVID-19 vaccine is not mandatory, but the state has encouraged residents, including eligible school-age children, to get the shot.

Signs stay up, Camillo says

Many callers over the weekend told Camillo they are not happy about the signs, he said.

There is no language in the towns municipal code that bans the placement of political signs on public property, although Camillo considered making the change last October, when arguments erupted over the removal of signs in the lead-up to the fall election.

Ultimately, he said, a limit on signs was not codified.

Theres a balance between the First Amendment and the norms of our community, Camillo said. No one likes to see the sign pollution, no matter what it is. So we try to be really careful with placement and be respectful of the aesthetics to not overdo it.

Primarily, it has been Republicans locally, as well as nationally, who have protested mask mandates, vaccination efforts and critical race theory  the issues raised in the signs. But Republican Town Committee Chair Dan Quigley distanced his group from them.

The Stand Up Greenwich signs are not in any way affiliated with the Greenwich RTC, Quigley said. However, the issues they have tapped into are current and meaningful and have struck a chord with parents throughout our community.

Following state guidelines

Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones said Monday that she was aware of the signs, but noted that for vaccines and masks, the district is following state guidelines.

There continues to be a misinformation campaign on these topics, Board of Education Chair Peter Bernstein said Monday.

As has been communicated to parents by the superintendent, masks remain mandated in schools by the Connecticut Department of Education, Bernstein said. Jones has also communicated that critical race theory is not part of our curriculum. Finally, while information has been provided, decisions about whether to vaccinate children for COVID remain a family choice.

Peter Yazbak, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, confirmed Monday that an executive order from Lamont mandates the use of masks inside school buildings. Mask guidance from the state was recently updated to allow optional mask wearing in outdoors settings, but recommended the continued use of masks even in outdoor settings where students and staff are in close proximity.

Greenwich schools are bound by the state to continue requiring masks, though the district can make the decision to alter policy for outdoor end-of-year events such as commencement, he said.

As for COVID-19 vaccines, Yazbak said the state has shared information with districts about how to host successful vaccine clinics and how to disseminate information about the vaccine in the hopes of encouraging more people to get vaccinated.

The state also has provided ideas, suggesting that districts leverage school email lists to share information, send out informational flyers or videos, film a public service announcement about the importance of getting vaccinated, or engage in event marketing, in which districts could brand the clinic date as big/fun/important event: encourage school colors, play music, generate buzz, according to state materials shared by Yazbak.

According to state data, about 34 percent of children ages 12 to 15; 59 percent of those ages 16 to 17; and 52 percent of those ages 18 to 24 have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, as of June 1.

And according to Camillo, who has urged Greenwich residents to get vaccinated, nearly 70 percent of people in town have gotten at least one dose of the COVID vaccine.

This is a minority of people who are bringing up the vaccine and their opposition to it., he said. Its not mandatory, so they dont have to get (the vaccine). But its working.

justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586
By Deauwand Myers





Many Americans think democracy is durable; that the United States, bloody and genocidal in its past, has been expanding the franchise to women and people of color and sexual minorities throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.



But that's just ahistorical, if we look at the long arc of human history. Most civilizations have been rigid monarchies of a kind, and pluralistic democratic nations have only emerged in the last few hundred years. Some philosophers and historians believe that though the most beneficial to the most people, democracies may not be able to endure the millennia that other forms of governing have.



It may very well be that there's something genetic in humanity's appetite for authoritarian, repressive regimes. Though a plurality of conservatives in America seem to have embraced the cult of personality embodied in disgraced ex-president Trump, the rise of right-wing, racist, anti-democratic, populist movements have gripped a lot of advanced democracies in recent years. Germany, France, Britain, Poland, Japan, and even Israel have seen an explosive rise in hate crimes and right-wing rhetoric. From anti-Semitic attacks in Europe and North America, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian mobs in Israel, neo-Nazi fascists in Germany and elsewhere, to anti-Asian murders, sexual assault, and random, casual brutality in major cities throughout the United States: we have a problem.

It doesn't stop there. Years ago, small gay pride parades never attracted homophobic, hyper-Christian protests in major Korean cities. Now, every year these protests get larger and more violent, particularly in Seoul. Japan's ultra-right wing, xenophobic political groups flood Tokyo, espousing toxic nonsense like Japan didn't commit war crimes and all foreigners should leave the country.



These are all happening in wealthy, well-educated societies, not some developing nation supplanted by military coups, e.g. Myanmar, a country which, not unlike China, has been pursuing a genocide of its Muslim ethnic minorities before and after the democratic government was summarily overthrown.



There are many reasons democracy is under siege in far too many places around the world. One is the failure of neo-liberal policies. Neo-liberalism, put far too simply here, favors policies promoting free-market capitalism, deregulation, and a reduction in government spending. Which, oddly, is the same definition you could give conservatism. Unfortunately, political parties on all sides of the ideological spectrum have subscribed to this by varying degrees in most advanced democracies.



Over time, these policies concentrate wealth and power to fewer and fewer people, and so instead of having a more hexagonal-shaped distribution of wealth (where you have a broad and thriving working and middle-class), you have a pyramid. Research countries whose economies stayed in that latter shape for too long: the governments collapse.



This steady concentration of wealth is interconnected to, at least in countries like the United States, white supremacy, itself merely a psychological tool to extract wealth from people of color and poor whites. It's really an effective tool, one, to the best of my knowledge, that arose organically. Unfortunately, this psychological crutch fashioned for wealth extraction may destroy the richest, most powerful nation in human history, or change it into a kind of autocratic, quasi-presidency like that of the late Korean President Park, or the exceedingly intelligent, ruthless President Xi of China.



I stand by my previous assertion that former President Trump, disgraced and increasingly delusional as he may be, is just a symptom of the broader social rot at the core of American society. But one can't deny the unique danger he and his ilk represent to the United States. If a plurality of one major political party believes that President Biden is illegitimate and that Trump is the rightful president, and more broadly, that elections in the United States are shod through with fraud, the work of geopolitical adversaries like Russia and China is being done for them from within.



January 6th, though horrific, was not nearly as costly in lives or property as white mobs mass murdering whole wealthy, black communities in the early 1900s. But the symbolic act of seeing grown white men and women storm the seat of democracy for all the world is a shock to the senses in ways no other racist American president achieved.



To be clear, these white Americans sought to overturn an election they lost because they believe two big lies. One, that Trump won and the election was fraudulent, but two, more insidiously, that black and brown people's votes should not count because they are inherently un-American. That a white person is the exemplar of what an American should look like is nothing new. Just ask black and Korean-Americans and Korean-Canadians, for example, trying to get English education employment in Korea and throughout Asia.



Neo-liberalism is an easier ideology to modulate than the sickness of white supremacy. White folks need to fix this problem for themselves, and quick, lest America will look like China come morning.





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.


STAMFORD  A former Wilton day care worker charged after police said an infant suffered abusive head trauma earlier this year while under her care had her case on Monday continued until next month.

Amy Tingets, who worked at the Goddard School, is also accused of failing to tell her employer that she was terminated from her previous job at the Childrens Day School of Greenwich for allegedly mishandling children, according to her arrest affidavit.

Tingets, 39, nor her attorney appeared Monday for the scheduled hearing in state Superior Court in Stamford after filing a motion to have the case continued.

Tingets, a Norwalk resident who has not entered a plea to the charges of first-degree assault and risk of injury to a child, is now scheduled to appear July 6. The case has been transferred to the Part A docket, where the most serious cases are adjudicated.

The charges stemmed from an incident on Feb. 9  a week after the victim, described by authorities as a then-6-month-old Weston boy, and his 2-year-old brother started to attend the Danbury Road facility.

The boy apparently suffered severe head trauma that day, with first responders rushing to the day care center for a report of an infant who was unresponsive after a nap, according to the affidavit. The boy was taken to Norwalk Hospital, then Yale New Haven Hospital, where a team of clinicians certified in child abuse assessed his injuries.

Doctors at the hospital reported that the boy suffered bilateral subdural hematomas, the affidavit said. Doctors and his parents reported issues with his vision after this date, the affidavit said. The boys mother told investigators that the family was told by several doctors that (the boy) had suffered from what appeared to be shaken baby, after and during care, the affidavit said.

A few days before that hospital visit, Tingets reported on Feb. 5 to the boys parents that he bumped his head on a toy and ended up with a slight red mark on his head. There was no swelling and the mark went away that same day. That was the only day the 6-month-old slept for more than about an hour at the day care, the affidavit said. The next time he did that was on Feb. 9, according to the affidavit.

A state Department of Children and Families investigation indicated that physical abuse and physical neglect claims were substantiated against Tingets, citing the boys serious physical injuries ... while in the care of Amy Tingets, the affidavit said.

Tingets was hired at the Wilton day care in August 2019.




Haiti - FLASH : 5 police stations attacked by bandits in less than 24 hours





On Saturday 5 June around 10 p.m., in the commune of Cite Soleil, heavily armed individuals simultaneously stormed four police stations in Duvivier, Sierra 2, Station Gonaives and Drouillard.



During the attack on the Drouillard Police station, Inspector Myradel ADOLPHE was shot dead and a policeman, Fedlin Luc, was injured. The bandits left with a booty that included 13 12-gauge rifles, 4 Galil assault rifles, a T-65 assault rifle, and communications equipment.



Sunday during a joint press briefing Leon Charles the Director General ai of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) accompanied by Prime Minister ai Claude Joseph condemned the gunshot assassination of Divisional Inspector Myradel Adolphe during a armed attack perpetrated against the Drouillard police station. He also denounced the attack on the La Saline sub-police station on Sunday 6 June.



Leon Charles calls on all law enforcement officers to mobilize in order to defend themselves and protect the population against the murderous assaults of bandits. He said that police will be deployed on the Martissant/Mariani highway and will be present in the streets to allow the population to go about their daily activities serenely.



Reacting to the attacks, Justice Minister Rockefeller Vincent said, "I learned with dismay of the assassination of Divisional Inspector Adolphe Myradel yesterday at the Drouillard Police station in full swing. I extend my condolences to his family and to his brothers in arms. This crime will not go unpunished. The DG of the PNH was formally instructed to take all legal steps to strengthen the police stations and put the gangs out of harm's way [...]"



For its part, the Office for the Protection of the Citizen deplores the fact that police stations and sub-police stations are the target of bandits against police officers lacking adequate equipment to defend themselves against this type of criminals.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





The question of the Referendum

According to the decree on the constitutional referendum published in "Le Moniteur" of January 5, 2021, the question that will be entered on the ballot paper for the referendum scheduled for June 27, 2021 is "Approuvez-vous le projet de Constitution ? / Eske w dako ak pwoje Konstitisyonan sa a ?" Citizens can either tick a green box with the words "yes / wi" or a white box with the words "No".



All Haitians must be vaccinated

Everyone should have early access to a vaccine. The Haitian Red Cross will fully support the national vaccination campaign against Covid-19, because no one will be safe until everyone is vaccinated.



Risk of fuel shortage

Due to armed conflicts since June 1 between the gangs, national road number 2 has now been blocked for 6 days, which prevents the Thor oil terminal from supplying gasoline stations in the metropolitan area and province. Armed clashes in Cite Soleil prevent the Varreux terminal from supplying gas stations as well. The risk of gasoline shortages in Haiti is very high, according to professional oil organizations, while fuel is available in the terminals of Thor and Varreux.



The decision to postpone the ballot is not up to the CEP

Faced with the increase in cases of Covid-19 in the country, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), specifies that the decision to modify the calendar does not fall to it https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33898-haiti-flash-the-covid-could-force-the-postponement-of-the-referendum-and-the-elections.html but ensures "to do everything so that June 27 is a success".



5 opposition parties signed an agreement

Friday, 5 political formations of the plural opposition, Dirpod, En avant, Entente, FND, "MTVAyiti" and "Operasyon Tet Ansanm" signed an agreement which aims at the installation of a "National Entente Government" excluding any idea of cohabitation and including the departure of President Jovenel Moise to the National Palace.



Covid : Biodiversity exhibition postponed

On the occasion of the International Days of the Environment (June 5) and of the Oceans (June 8,) the European Union, through the "Dwa Moun" program, has joined forces with an exhibition on Biodiversity designed by the Societe Audubon Haiti and Haiti National Trust, which was to be installed at UniQ. Due to the state of health emergency, the exhibition is postponed to an undisclosed later date.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















A Senate panel voted Wednesday to give themselves and their colleagues a big increase in their allowance  and do it as soon as possible.

You voted:
Last updated 6/7/2021 at 11:17am

Havre Police Department

A two-vehicle crash was reported at 10:11 a.m. on Third Avenue.

--

Nathaniel Sean Grey Bear of Poplar, 29, was issued a summons on a charge of shoplifting after a caller at a U.S. Highway 2 Northwest business reported a shoplifter Friday at 3:43 p.m. and officers investigated suspicious activity on First Street at 6:08 p.m.

--

A Second Street caller reported Friday at 3:52 p.m. that two handguns, a 9mm and a 45mm, had been stolen.

--

A Friday 6:38 p.m. caller on Third Street reported a hit and run crash.

--

David Taylor Eagleman of Havre, 61, was arrested on...
Last updated 6/7/2021 at 11:20am

From U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana

GREAT FALLS  A Havre man accused of receiving child pornography on his cell phone admitted to charges Thursday, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.

Joshua Daniel Kaupang, 38, pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography. Kaupang faces a mandatory minimum five years to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and at least five years to life of supervised release.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

Morris set sentencing for Sept. 19.

Kaupang was released pending further proceedings.

In court documents filed in the...
A crowded street in Seoul in the early part of the 20th century. Robert Neff Collection



By Robert Neff



In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, foreigners traveling about Korean streets, even in darkness, were fairly safe from crime. There were occasional scuffles and murders, but these were generally incidents in which both the perpetrators and victims were foreigners. However, there were some exceptions  especially when it came to lesser crimes like muggings.



In late October 1897, a Western woman traveling through the Korean section of Jemulpo (part of modern Incheon) in a palanquin noticed a rather large young Korean man keeping pace with her chair. At first she thought his interest in her was "actuated by that curiosity [of foreigners  particularly of women] which had not died out altogether even in the [open] ports."



However, it wasn't curiosity that compelled the youth to follow her but rather greed. According to a letter from a resident of Jemulpo and published in the English-language newspaper in Seoul, The Independent: "Suddenly the [young man] reached over and seized the lady's pocketbook and had it not been for her presence of mind in gripping it tight and screaming, he would have got away. In the confusion which resulted, the boy managed to escape."



The unidentified woman was lucky but others weren't as fortunate. Two weeks later, in Seoul, a Western woman was peacefully sitting under a tree at Gyeonghui Palace. This palace was better known to the Western residents of Seoul as "The Mulberry Palace"  due to the large number of mulberry trees planted during the previous decade in a failed attempt to establish a large-scale silk industry in the capital  and was a popular place for the foreign community to seek relief from the heat of summer or the stuffy confines of their own residences and compounds.





Carrying logs through a small street in Seoul in the early 20th century. Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection



While the woman was sitting, enjoying the brisk autumn weather and brilliant fall colors, a young Korean approached her and asked if she could tell him what time it was. Without thinking much about it, she pulled out her watch and held it so that he could read the watch's dials. Suddenly, he snatched the watch from her hand and "made his escape through the openings of the Palace wall."



The woman was devastated. The double-cased gold watch with chain was engraved with the initials "K.M.A." and the date "1890." In addition, she later reported that her "seal and pencil case"  which was inlaid with precious stones  had also been taken by the youth. The incident was reported but the authorities were not able to apprehend the young offender. Frustrated, the woman placed an ad in The Independent in which she offered a reward of $30 to anyone who could return her goods. This was a fairly large reward when one compares the daily wage of a Korean miner at the OCMC (an American-owned gold mining concession in northern Korea) was only 25 cents. Despite the reward, the woman apparently never recovered her possessions.



According to the Jemulpo resident, "the prevalence of this kind of sneak thieving is worthy of note." Usually, Korean thieves roamed about in gangs and spread ruin and terror in their tracks and were "as bad as bad can be." Generally, lone Korean thieves did not "grab things from a pedestrian" and he surmised that this new method had "been learned probably from foreigners."



What evidence he used to support his views is unclear. At the end of the 19th century, Jemulpo had a large transient population of sailors from merchant ships and naval vessels as well as itinerant merchants  not to mention, passengers from the steamships  so it is not unreasonable to assume there were muggings.



Incidents involving Russians did infrequently appear in the newspapers and magazines. On January 29, 1904, officials from the Korean Foreign Office complained to the Russian legation of "the disorderly actions of Russian soldiers in the street, who caught Korean women and forcibly kissed and otherwise insulted them." The Russian legation assured the Korean officials they would take "steps to stop the outrages," but apparently not soon enough.





The Royal Italian Circus in Seoul in June 1920. Robert Neff Collection



On February 6, two Russian soldiers allegedly seized and insulted a woman near a section of Seoul in which many Japanese resided. "A crowd gathered and assumed a most threatening attitude" and the Russians drew their weapons to keep the crowd at bay. Soon, some Korean gendarmes arrived and, "after a brisk fight," succeeded in disarming the Russians and escorted them to the Russian legation. What punishment  if any  they received is unclear, but within days the soldiers were needed as the Russo-Japanese War began.



Some crimes associated with Russians were a little tenuous. In May 1898, Kim Hong-gyoung committed a number of "lawless deeds" against residents of Seoul. He wore Western-style clothing and identified himself as a naturalized Russian  he also later claimed to be the brother of a powerful Korean official  but the authorities were unimpressed and he was imprisoned.



In October 1910, The Great Russian Circus (self-proclaimed as "the greatest circus of the world") arrived in Seoul and was greeted with tremendous excitement and anticipation. According to The Seoul Press  an English-language newspaper  it was "the first foreign circus" to visit Seoul and attracted large crowds of visitors. It was, declared the newspaper, the "chief subject of conversation among the townsfolk."



The circus lived up to its expectation: "The wonderful intelligence shown by some beautiful horse, which performed many remarkable feats under the command of Mr. Burrousky, elicited the loudest applause of the audience, while three performing dogs and the clown gave no end of merriment."



Too soon, however, the circus was gone, and so were some other things. Someone broke into Rondon & Company's warehouse in Seoul and made off with a number of items which were then sold to a Chinese merchant for 3.50 yen who  apparently  informed the authorities and the thief was arrested. The thief was a Chinese man who had been formerly employed by The Great Russian Circus.





A European visitor to the Korean section of Jemulpo in 1901. Robert Neff Collection
Last updated 6/7/2021 at 11:19am

From U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana

GREAT FALLS  A man who admitted assaulting a woman, causing serious injuries, on the Rocky Boys Indian Reservation, was sentenced Wednesday to 21 months in prison and to three years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.

Kelcey James Morsette, 31, pleaded guilty on Feb. 24 to assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. Morris also ordered $941 in restitution.

The government alleged in court documents that on Nov. 14, 2019, Morsette was highly intoxicated an...
Community spread still ongoing

Hill County Public Health Director and Health Officer Kim Berg said, in a Hill County Board of Health COVID-19 update last Friday, that the area has seen an uptick in cases these past few weeks.

Berg said by 11 a.m. that day the department had already found four new cases bringing the total for the county to 17 active cases with three hospitalizations.

She said contact tracing is still ongoing so the numbers may still go up, but for now, 60 people are in quarantine and being monitored by her department.

She said these new cases are not all connected and the area still has community sprea...
Dont think you need an emergency kit? Think again, says a Victorville family who needed one.
Trump makes endorsement in U.S. Senate campaign

RALEIGH  Speaking to a sold-out N.C. Republican Party Convention fundraiser, former President Donald Trump made an early endorsement in the 2022 primary for U.S. Senate, choosing 13th District Congressman Ted Budd over former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker and former Gov. Pat McCrory.

This gentleman is going to be your next senator, Trump said of Budd. He is going to be someone you are so proud of. He will fight like hell, and a lot of you people dont know him that well yet, but you will in about two minutes  Ted Budd.

As Trump called Budd to the convention stage, he added, I am giving him my complete and total endorsement. We are going to work with him. We are going to campaign with him.

Budd joined Trump on stage and thanked the former President.

Mr. President, Lara, this means the world to me, Budd said. We have a lot of work ahead, so lets win this together, and lets get back to making America great again.

In a clear shot at McCrory, Trump said, You cant pick people who have already lost two races.

McCrory, a former Charlotte mayor, was defeated twice in statewide races for governor in 2008 and 2016. In between the two losses, McCrory became just the third Republican governor in modern N.C. history with his successful election to the governors mansion in 2012.

McCrory released a statement moments after Trumps surprise endorsement. Im disappointed that President Trump has endorsed a Washington insider who has done more to oppose the Trump agenda than anyone in this race. We will win this race  the primary and the general.

Ted Budd opposed President Trumps plan to secure the border, to support our farmers, to repeal Obamacare, and he even voted against President Trumps COVID vaccines, McCrory continued. Now, hell do even more to defeat President Trumps agenda if hes the Republican nominee by giving our seat in the U.S. Senate to Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. Ted Budds bought-and-paid-for Washington insider voting record is not electable in North Carolina. If supporters of President Trump want his agenda to be supported in the U.S. Senate, they should not vote for Ted Budd, who has opposed him at every turn  and who would lose to the far-left next November.

Walker did not immediately comment on the Trump endorsement, but tweeted thanks to convention delegates for supporting him as the top choice in the convention straw poll.

Thank you NCGOP delegates for selecting me as the best choice in the U.S. Senate Republican primary, said Walker Together, we will take back Congress, stop the Biden-Harris agenda, & finally give NC a conservative senator.

Fox News reported Budd was at Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, in April and talked with the former president about his likely bid for the Senate.

Moments before the Budd endorsement Trumps daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, a Wilmington native and graduate of N.C. State University, announced she would not run for U.S. Senate. She referenced her two young children.

I am saying no for now, not no forever, Lara Trump said from the stage. At the right time, I would absolutely love to come back and consider running for something here in my home state because I love it dearly.

Carolina Journal was the first media outlet to report Lara Trump would likely reject a U.S. Senate bid, way back on Feb. 1.

A graduate of Davie County High School and Appalachian State University, Budd earned a masters degree in business administration from Wake Forest University. He owns a gun store in Rural Hall.

Budds 13th Congressional District currently includes some high-performing GOP counties that would be key in the 2022 U.S. Senate primary, including all of Davidson and Davie counties and parts of Guilford, Iredell and Rowan counties.

In May, Carolina Journal reported exclusively on an independent primary poll that showed McCrory leading the primary field. The poll of likely 2022 GOP primary voters showed McCrory leading the field with 40% of the vote followed by Walker with 10.5% and Budd at 4.8%. Forty-four percent of respondents said they were undecided.

Moments after Trumps endorsement of Budd, Republican consultant Chris Sinclair, who is not involved in the U.S. Senate race, told CJ: McCrory still has great numbers among GOP primary voters, the best numbers since Elizabeth Doles first run for U.S. Senate in 2002.

Does the Trump endorsement help Rep. Budd? Yes," he said. "Is it dispositive? No.
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Samsung SDI's booth at the International Electric Vehicle Expo, held on Jeju Island, in this file photo. Courtesy of Samsung SDI



By Kim Bo-eun, Kim Yoo-chul



Samsung SDI and SK Innovation (SKI) are considering establishing additional joint ventures with their clients in Europe in a move to provide stable supply sources for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and maintain optimal profit margins, according to multiple industry sources, Monday.



The move by the Korean firms is in line with an ongoing strategic realignment in the global battery industry spearheaded by global leaders, such as China's CATL and LG Energy Solution (LGES), which are bulking up their production might across the globe. They are also seeking to ride on leading automakers' shift toward EVs supported by administrative and financial incentives provided by governments.



For automakers that are seeking to cut their dependency by developing their own batteries, joining hands with the manufacturers is a good option as it will help them assess battery technology and production know-how.



"Nothing has been decided yet, but we are looking into the matter from the mid- to long-term perspective," a Samsung SDI official said.



Samsung sources said setting up a battery joint venture with BMW was "possible," but added the decision may have to await the clearing up of legal issues faced by jailed Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.



"In the case of a potential battery recall, who is responsible for the possible problems is a top consideration. Once legal risks are fully addressed, it will be possible for battery makers to establish joint ventures with automakers and I would say that scenario would be applicable for Samsung SDI's long-term plan to set up one with BMW," said one of the sources.





SK Innovation's battery plant in Georgia, United States / Courtesy of SK Innovation
Huntington, WV (25701)

Today

Thunderstorms, accompanied by locally heavy rainfall at times. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 88F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 65F. Winds light and variable.
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Samsung Biologics' office in Songdo, Incheon / Courtesy of Samsung Biologics



By Baek Byung-yeul



Samsung Biologics has inked a massive drug manufacturing deal with U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences, signaling that it is on the way to improving its mainstream contract manufacturing organization (CMO) business.



On Monday, Samsung Biologics reported the contract to the Financial Supervisory Service that its counterpart in the drug manufacturing contract has been changed to Gilead Sciences, from Immunomedics. The new contract amount has also increased to 300.58 billion won ($270.3 million) from 184.46 billion won.



"The contract was initially signed with Immunomedics, but Gilead Sciences acquired Immunomedics, and our counterpart was changed according to the final notice from the company that completed the acquisition process," Samsung said. Gilead announced the acquisition of Immunomedics for $21 billion last year.



The size of the contract represents 64.69 percent of Samsung Biologics' annual sales, and the contract period is until Jan. 31, 2025, the firm added.



The contract with Gilead Sciences can be interpreted as suggesting that the Samsung Group affiliate is on the path to expanding the competitiveness of its mainstream CMO business, while diversifying its business portfolio into vaccine production and contract-based drug development.



With biotechnology firms seeking to expand the manufacturing volume of their COVID-19 vaccines, Samsung Biologics has been highlighted lately for its contract-based vaccine production business, but the company has been on course to improve its shares in the CMO business.



During President Moon Jae-in's visit to the United States last month, Samsung inked a deal to manufacture Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine at its plant in Incheon, west of Seoul. Under the agreement, Samsung Biologics will provide large-scale, commercial fill-finish manufacturing for mRNA-1273, Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, starting in the third quarter of this year.



The company is the world's largest drug manufacturer with an annual capacity of 364,000 liters. Based on its competitiveness as a leading drug maker, the company is also seeking to diversify its portfolio into the contract development organization (CDO) business, an end-to-end biopharmaceutical project running drug development procedures from laboratory research to clinical trials.



As these businesses are growing, Samsung Biologics joined the 1-trillion won sales club for the first time last year, logging in 1.16 trillion won. In addition, the total number of CMO contracts was at 56, up by 20 from 2019.


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Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.


A preliminary sketch of a mixed-use proposed development of the former Hale block on Center Street in downtown South Haven is shown. The block right now consists of a three-story historic building whose restoration is nearing completion. Next to it would be a four-story and five-story mixed-use complex for retail use and residential units.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a ceremony showing appreciation to the health care system for their contribution to the fight against the coronavirus, Jerusalem, June 6. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday a newly formed Israeli coalition that is poised to unseat him was the result of "the greatest election fraud" in the history of democracy. AP-Yonhap



Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday a newly formed Israeli coalition that is poised to unseat him was the result of "the greatest election fraud" in the history of democracy.



Hours after Netanyahu's comments, Naftali Bennett, a nationalist set to replace him as prime minister, called on Israel's longest-serving leader not to leave "scorched earth" behind and accept that "people are allowed to establish a government  even if you don't head it".



Netanyahu made his sweeping accusation at a time when Israel's domestic security chief has warned publicly about the prospect of political violence.



"We are witnessing the greatest election fraud in the history of the country, in my opinion in the history of any democracy," Netanyahu said in comments to legislators from his right-wing Likud party.



He focused his allegations on a broken campaign promise from Bennett, who had pledged not to partner with left-wing, centrist and Arab parties.



On Wednesday, Bennett announced with opposition leader Yair Lapid that they had formed a governing coalition with factions from across the political spectrum following an inconclusive March 23 election, Israel's fourth in two years.



Under a rotation deal, Bennett will serve first as prime minister, followed by Lapid.



No date has been set for a vote in parliament to approve the new government.



In a televised speech, Bennett called on Yariv Levin, parliament's speaker and a Netanyahu loyalist, not to try to buy time to encourage members of the new coalition to defect, and said he should hold the vote on Wednesday. There was no immediate comment from Levin.



"Let go. Let the country move forward," Bennett said, addressing his remarks to Netanyahu, who has been in office since 2009. "Mr Netanyahu, don't leave scorched earth behind you. All of us, the entire nation, want to remember the good you did during your service."



Netanyahu's tenure has been clouded by a corruption trial, in which he has denied any wrongdoing, but he has won praise at home and abroad for Israel's quick rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations.





Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu / AFP-Yonhap
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Recommended for you
A child died from a 150-feet fall from a tower block after his parents placed him in his crib near an open window. The parents were reportedly having a drinking session as the one-year old falls from open window..

Alexander and Taisiya Akimov of Moscow, Russia only learned of the death of their child when police rang their doorbell to announce their son, Timofei, had died following his fall.

According to police authorities, the baby climbed out of a 14th-floor tower block window. The parents, who are 21 and 23, were arrested on suspicion of causing death by carelessness and might face up to two years in prison, reports say.

The couple also has a baby girl.

Parents left the boy while drinking, causing him to fall from the window

There were indications that they had been drinking when the boy crawled from his crib out the open window, said the investigators. Passers-by discovered Timofei's body underneath the residential tower block on Marshal Zakharov's Street.

The terrible incident prompted the Russian Investigative Committee, which oversees major crimes, to warn parents about the dangers of high-rise buildings for children.

Sources claim this was the third such incident in a single day. It occurred after Anna Kuznetsova, Vladimir Putin's children's ombudswoman, disclosed that 145 children died last year after falling from open windows in 1,339 incidents. "Our pain is the problem of youngsters jumping out of windows," she remarked, as per Daily Mail.

Read Also: Mob Attack Reportedly Injured Two New Jersey Police; Video Reveals Part of Controversial Encounter

The US also indicates increasing reports of similar incidents

Previously, two kids were taken to the hospital after falling out of a window and sustaining serious injuries in separate incidents in the US. After falling out of windows, the two boys were described as stable in the hospital. First responders in both situations said the youngsters will have a difficult time recovering, WXYZ reported.

One boy was killed after he fell out of a window on the seventh level of the New Center Pavilion in Detroit, near Woodward and Grand River. While both parents were present, he allegedly pushed through a screen.

The child is said to have survived the fall after landing into some landscaping mulch immediately below the window.

A 3-year-old boy fell from another apartment window on the second story in the 1500 block of West Grand Boulevard in a terrifying twist. His mother was cooking at home at the time, police said.

In all situations, officials are still looking into what happened. According to Adam Blank of Wallside Windows, safety latches are required on windows that are higher than 72 inches above the ground and lower than 24 inches from the floor.

Children may fit through gaps as tiny as 6 inches, according to the Mayo Clinic; stops should be set at 4 inches. Window guards, as well as moving furniture away from windows, are very helpful. Such precautions prevent cases like the one-year old falls from open window incident in Russia. Furthermore, experts advise against relying on screens to avoid falls or to serve as a substitute for monitoring.

Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), unintentional injuries, such as burns, drowning, falls, poisoning, and traffic accidents, are the greatest cause of morbidity and death among children in the United States. Every year, more than 12,000 persons aged 0 to 19 die as a result of unintentional accidents, and more than 9.2 million individuals are treated in emergency rooms for nonfatal injuries.

Related Article: Bail for 14-Year-Old Boy Set at $1 Million After Being Accused of Fatally Stabbing Woman 43 Times

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@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The son of the ex-president has been one of the harshest critics of the pro-Democrat news outlets when the opportunity presents itself.

Liberal outlets are swooping on the meme

Donald Trump Jr. has been acuused of making threats towards Dr. Fauci for sharing a joke referring to the disease expert's potential murder last Friday.

Trump Jr. posted a Fauci meme for his 4.5 million Instagram followers through a story around 7 p.m. Friday. "I'm just going to jump ahead on this and say I wouldn't think Fauci committed suicide," the meme, that Newsweek viewed, read. The words were pasted to a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio sipping a martini employing photoshop.

Next, Twitter joined the media, which had a field day about an everyday meme, posting every liberal cabal who took the opportunity to slam the ex-president's son for expressing a sentiment, reported Newsweek.

These tweets came from Mexican-American physician and biomedical data scientist Jorge A. Caballero, who said that @FBI should check for a veiled threat.

Twitter user @out5p0ken wrote that it is violence against Dr. Fauci.

Another user @brook-jaymes posted that Flynn started the threats, and accused Donald Trump Jr. of the same controversy.

One user @Pelgridge agreed it is a threat, but an empty one, to deflect and intimidate.

Immediately, many liberals overacted about the meme when allegedly compare to more threatening posts from mostly the alleged left and democrat supporters. A threat against Dr. Anthony Fauci created a frenzy over an ordinary tweet.

Read also: Arizona Senate Approves Major Audit of 2.1 Million Votes in the 2020 Presidential Election

Overall, the media and those who do not support Trump lambast the meme, connecting it to the January 6 capitol incident.

Some users suggested that Donald Trump Jr. be banned because he was allegedly inciting violence against Fauci.

Users of Instagram and Twitter were all reacting like almost like a social media mob, due to the alleged 'murder meme'.

Emails that might indict Fauci

Republicans began to renew their criticisms on the government's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, after the release of a cache of Fauci emails acquired via a Records request this week.

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri sought Fauci's dismissal and a Senate inquiry. "With what we now know, I'm not certain why anyone would have faith in him staying in a position of public trust and responsibility," he said added.

Another Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said that the expert should be ready to be held for everything that can be charged if there is any cover-up about the virus and his resigning, noted the Head Topics.

The suggestion that Fauci might just have known that the virus started in a Wuhan lab before publicly acknowledging the likelihood was one of the most startling revelations from the batch of emails.

In one talk show,he said that it was an attack on science, and said the accusations are fabricated.

The threat against Dr. Anthony Fauci may or may not be true. However, Trump Jr. may still be facing a lawsuit.

Related article: Trump Requests Arizona Governor Ducey to Secure 2020 Election Audit

@ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk appears to have received threats from Anonymous, the world-famous cyber activist group that has breached many governments and other agencies' systems. Anonymous has criticized the Tesla CEO for his apparent similarity to other corrupt billionaires, reported Newsweek vis MSN.

The video is three minutes and 47 seconds long and starts by saying that Anonymous has a message for Musk. The recording quickly went viral on social media platforms, gaining more than one million views within 24 hours.

The video lists various criticisms about Musk from several media reports in previous years. The video referenced Musk's alleged responsibility for the conditions at Tesla factories, calling them "intolerable" for employees. It also referenced an article claiming the CEO's family had an emerald mine in Zambia, Independent reported.

The voice in the recording also criticized many of Musk's previous public comments, such as when he wrote, "we will coup whoever we want" after the US-backed coup in Bolivia. Musk also joked about becoming the "imperator of Mars."

The voice on the screen said Musk was the same as other narcissistic billionaires who prioritized themselves over others. But the video's main focus was the CEO's previous post on Twitter regarding Bitcoin.

Anonymous Threats

The voice said Musk seemingly enjoyed destroying people's lives when he toyed with the crypto markets. It added that Musk was not concerned for the well-being of the average working person affected by his statements.

The video continued to warn Musk about the gravity and power of his words and how these words can affect other people. Near the end of the recording, the voice warned the CEO he was not the smartest man in the room now that Anonymous was out to get him, Forbes reported.

Read Also: Donald Trump Says Facebook Ban Until January 2023 Insults His Supporters, Teases Presidential Run in 2024

However, YourAnonNews, the most popular Twitter Anonymous account worldwide with about 6.7 million followers, denied being responsible for the video. Additionally, the @BscAnon account denied any connection to the viral threat video, saying it was not one of their videos.

In a June 5 blog post, the YourAnonCentral account with more than 5.9 million followers, affirmed that the video did come from Anonymous. The social media account said Anonymous created the video as a challenge to the billionaire after he allegedly crashed Bitcoin stocks on purpose. It added the hacktivist group wasted no time in bringing the CEO's controversies into the light.

Doubts over Anonymous

The YouTube channel where the video was posted only had 152,000 subscribers, increasing doubts it is from the real Anonymous. Since it was created on December 24, 2015, the page has only uploaded three videos, including the one targeting Musk.

In contrast, the YouTube account most popular among the public, the Anonymous Official channel, has been uploading videos since January 24, 2012. The video page has acquired more than 3.51 million subscribers since its inception and has not posted anything related to the threats on Musk.

Related Article: Nigerian Government Bans Twitter After Deleting Tweets from President

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Senator Joe Manchin, one of the most important swing votes in the US Senate, has stated that he will vote against the Democrats' election reform bill. His declaration almost guarantees the bill's defeat in the Senate's 50-50 split.

The West Virginia Democrat wrote in an op-ed for the Charleston Gazette-Mail published early Sunday morning that partisan voting changes would almost certainly assure that party tensions continue to develop across the country.

Manchin also stated that he remained opposed to any moves to abolish or weaken the filibuster, a Senate feature that requires 60 votes to advance most legislation. He also urged for a bipartisan reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act on the topic of voting rights.

Voter bill could eliminate the filibuster

Manchin, along with fellow Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema, has emerged as a key stumbling block for Democrats hoping to recover elements of President Joe Biden's plans in the Senate, where the party is 10 votes short of the majority required to pass most legislation.

In recent months, some Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, called the filibuster a "Jim Crow relic" and advocated for its abolition to protect voting rights. Democrats claim these rights are being threatened throughout the country by Republican-led state legislatures, The Independent reported.

Manchin has long stated that he will not support the repeal of the legislative filibuster, which states that at least 60 votes in the Senate are needed to approve significant legislation.

Due to the filibuster, Democrats require majority support within their caucus as well as 10 Republican votes to push significant measures through the national legislature. While Biden has supported the filibuster, several Democratic members have called for the filibuster to be removed from the Senate so that legislation may be passed with a simple majority vote.

Read Also: Infrastructure Plan: President Joe Biden Willing To Keep Trump Tax Cuts in Counteroffer; Proposes Minimum Rate of 15%

Manchin backs John Lewis Voting Rights Act, but not with political provisions

The West Virginia Senator is a strong believer in the significance of bipartisan cooperation. While Republicans and some Democrats commend Manchin's attempts to work with the opposition, progressive Democrats have attacked the senator's more conservative ideas and moderate approach to politics on several occasions, as per Newsweek via MSN.

Republicans may use a filibuster to block Senate Democrats from getting all they want. A filibuster is a procedural technique that keeps bills from reaching the floor for a vote.

The Democrats did the same thing when they were in the minority in the upper chamber. At the time, former President Donald Trump pressed Senate Republicans to end the filibuster. In response, 33 Senate Democrats wrote to Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, urging them to keep the filibuster in place.

The For the People Act now has overwhelming support among Democrats in Congress, although not a single Republican has expressed support for it.

With a 50-50 split in the Senate, Democrats can't afford to lose even one vote. If they can get all 50 Democrats on board and no Republicans, Vice President Kamala Harris will break the tie. Unfortunately, Manchin, a moderate Democrat, has proven to be a roadblock.

According to Daily Mail, Manchin made it clear that he supports the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, but not with political provisions.

The West Virginia senator's remarks come after President Biden made a dig at Manchin during a speech in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Tuesday.

Related Article: Joe Biden Trusts Kamala Harris To Lead Democrats Push on Voting Rights; Slams Republican's New Bills



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Former United States President Donald Trump recently criticized China in his latest attack against the Asian giant, demanding authorities to pay $10 trillion in reparations for the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In his first public address in the last three months, Trump said China was responsible for the damage caused by the COVID-19 virus. He also said any other countries that had financial debts to the Asian country should scratch off the amounts and consider it as a "downpayment."

Trump urged the American government to implement 100% tariffs on Chinese goods entering the country. "We demand reparations from the Communist Party of China. China must pay," Trump said in his speech, reported CNN.

Man-Made Virus

The businessman and former U.S. president once again expressed his belief that China and its leaders were responsible for the creation of the COVID-19 virus in human laboratories. "We had this horrible thing come in from China, we got that one right too, by the way, do you notice, you see what's going on, it's called the lab, that was an easy one, Wuhan," Trump said.

During his administration and as early as April 2020, Trump said he had evidence backing his claims China created the COVID-19 virus in a Wuhan laboratory. However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a statement at the time saying there was a general scientific consensus that the coronavirus was not made by human hands.

Read Also: Donald Trump Returns to Stage, But People Says His Pants Are Worn Backwards Sparking Twitter Memes

However, the conspiracy theory that Wuhan scientists created the virus inside a laboratory has been going viral in recent weeks. British spies have previously considered the notion that the COVID-19 virus leaking from a laboratory was a "plausible" situation, Business Insider reported.

Rallying Support

During his speech at the North Carolina Republican Convention, Trump urged his audience and the citizens of America to demand responsibility from China. He emphasized he had a great relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping before the coronavirus pandemic. He also noted the Chinese leaders were not fond of current U.S. President Joe Biden.

"In addition, all nations should work together to present China for a bill of minimum USD 10 trillion to compensate for the damage they have caused and that is a very low number, the damage is far far greater. As a first step, all countries should collectively cancel any debt that they owe to China as a downpayment on reparations," Trump said.

Additionally, Trump criticized Biden's administration, arguing the Democrat was being too gentle on China and shutting down investigations looking into the origin of the COVID-19 virus. "Joe Biden and his family took millions of dollars from the CCP. They bought him off, they flagrantly lied about it to American voters, the big tech and fake news media did not want to talk about it," he said, NDTV reported.

Trump also criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci for his sudden change in beliefs where he allegedly said no masks and then began to wear and recommend masks. However, the former president said the infectious disease expert's greatest mistake was when he denied the origin of the virus and how it came to be.

Related Article: Fourth Stimulus Check 2021 Status Update: Lawmakers See Its Positive Impact to Economy, Wants $2,000 Checks Released Monthly

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Pope Francis expressed on Sunday his pain over the discovery in Canada of the remains of 215 indigenous students of church-run boarding schools. He prompted religious and political authorities to shed light on the devastating affair. However, he did not proffer the apology sought by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

These were his remarks to worshippers convening in St Peter's Square. He also did not take responsibility for the fatalities on behalf of the Catholic Church.

Canada PM's Criticism

Trudeau had earlier criticized the church for its silence on the issue that over 150,000 indigenous children were coerced to attend Christian schools. Many of them were run by the Catholic Church.

These residential schools ran from 1831 to 1996. The discovery, which was closed in 1978, has reopened old wounds and is igniting outrage in Canada regarding the lack of accountability and information.

The Canadian government has disclosed that physical and sexual abuse was rampant in such schools. Students were beaten for speaking their native languages. In May, ground-penetrating radar was used to detect the remains of the children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, British Columbia.

The school was the country's largest such facility. The United, Anglican, and Presbyterian churches have made apologies for their roles in the abuse. The Canadian government has offered compensation.

Trudeau called on the church to formally release an apology. According to Trudeau, the Catholic Church should take responsibility for its role in running several of the schools, reported France 24.

The coercion of attending such schools was a campaign to assimilate them into Canadian society, reported 7 News.

Physical and Sexual Abuse

Pope Francis has expressed his sympathies over the news. He said that he is monitoring the news from Canada and is upset over the discovery of the remains of 215 children. He added this devastating discovery adds to the awareness of the sufferings and misery of the past, reported Euro News. Pope Francis called for recognition of the cultures and rights of native people. The pope in his remarks also called on the authorities to foster healing.

Read Also: 215 Remains of Children Found in Canada Residential School, PM Trudeau Calls It Heartbreaking

In his weekly blessing, Francis prompted Canadian political and Catholic religious leaders to coordinate "with determination" to shed light on the finding and to hope for healing and reconciliation.

Pope Francis stated these difficult moments represent a strong reminder for everyone to distance themselves from the model of colonizer and to walk hand-in-hand in dialogue and in mutual respect in the recognition of the cultural values and rights of all the young people of Canada.

Trudeau noted that when he discussed with the pope at the Vatican in 2017, he had requested him to "move forward on apologizing" and on making records available. However, the prime minister remarked they are still seeing resistance from the church, possibly from the Canadian church.

Related Article: Canada's 2050 Net-Zero Climate Goal: Will It Meet Emission Reduction Targets?

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Late Saturday, chaos erupted in Washington Square Park as a curfew standoff between police and people tested the park's new 10 p.m. closing hour.

Parks Department and NYPD Implemented Curfew Inside Park

In a recently published article in the PIX 11, residents inside the park complained about the noise, partying, and drug use in the area that disturbed their living. The Parks Department and NYPD immediately addressed the problem by implementing a 10 p.m. curfew.

According to the Parks Department spokeswoman, they are still working with the police department to achieve the correct mix of education and enforcement against unlawful and after-hours activities that affect the park and the community.

The spokeswoman also added that on weekends, enforced closures are focused on addressing large after-hours gatherings, amplified sound, excessive trashing, and other conditions. PEP police have also been collaborating with NYPD to educate parkgoers on skateboarding and bike restrictions, according to a published report in Yahoo News.

Read Also:One-Year-Old Boy Falls from Open Window of 14th Floor Moscow Apartment While Parents Drink Alcohol

Clash with the Police Officers Led to Some Arrests

During skirmishes with police in and around Washington Square Park Saturday night, over two dozen individuals were detained when the NYPD imposed a weekend curfew, according to a published report in NBC New York.

Meanwhile, hundreds of police officers came to the area to enforce the city's plan to shutter one of the busiest parks two hours earlier on weekends. It was reported the police officers arrived in the area before the mandatory 10 p.m. curfew.

Some of the Police Officers who were assigned in the area were seen using bicycles in a line to push people out of the park. However, some of the people pushed back and violently resisted the police officers.

According to the NYPD, 23 people were arrested and these numbers three of them were issued summons while 20 were given desk appearance. On the other hand, the Police Officers also said that eight of their members suffered from minor injuries during the incident while it is not clear how many civilians were injured.

Interaction Between Police Officers and the People Caught in Video

The clash was caught by a video when people departed the park, Police Officers were seen forcefully pushed two persons. When they turned back, another officer yelled for police to put them in handcuffs, according to the footage.

A different video circulated on social media showed police officers holding a guy to the ground as onlookers yelled "let him go," "find a doctor for that guy," and "he needs medical treatment right now." Later, officers were observed attempting to load the guy onto a stretcher while still shackled.

Drug Usage Has Been a Big Concern in the Community

Furthermore, drug usage has been a big concern in the community, according to Susan Lee, who is running for City Council in the region. She said through the PX 11, "There's rampant drug dealing and drug use at the park and it's really causing a public safety concern."

Lee advocated for additional community policing and drug treatment facilities. The curfew was imposed solely for Memorial Day weekend and this weekend, according to the charity Washington Square Park Conservancy.

Related Article: Andrew Cuomo Slams Mayor Bill de Blasio's Plans to Fully Reopen New York by July 1



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Women sift through the remains of a market blown up during an attack on September 20, 2018, Amarwa. Nine people were killed and nine others injured when Boko Haram fighters raided Kalari Abdiye and Amarwa villages in northeast Nigeria. AFP-Yonhap





A screengrab taken on May 12, 2014, from a video released by Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram and obtained by AFP shows a man claiming to be the leader of Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau. AFP-Yonhap
On Friday, June 4, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced the birth of their baby daughter on their Archewell website. The infant was delivered in Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California.

"Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, welcome their daughter, Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, to the world with immense joy. She weighed 7 pounds and 11 ounces. Both mother and child are in good health and are adjusting to life at home," the press announcement said.

The couple, who have a 2-year-old son named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, also posted a special thank-you message for supporters on the website. "On June 4th, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili. She is all we could have hoped for, and we are grateful for the love and prayers we've received from all around the world. Thank you for your continuous compassion and support as our family goes through this very important time," the Archewell founders wrote, as per Bustle.

During their joint interview with Oprah Winfrey in March, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle confirmed that their second baby will be a girl. The couple informed the host that they had no intentions to have additional children, but they were happy with their present family.

The Duke of Sussex remarked having any child, one or two, would be wonderful. However, having a boy then a girl is a lovely gift for their family together with their two dogs.

Meghan Markle, Prince Harry honor Queen, and Diana

Lilibet's name will have a particular meaning for Prince Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who was known as Lilibet as a kid by family members. Throughout their 73-year marriage, her late husband, Prince Philip, who died in April, adopted the nickname for her. Per The Sun, Queen Elizabeth left him a handwritten message at his funeral, which she signed with his childhood name.

Fans won't be surprised to learn that Prince Harry and Meghan selected a name that honors his mother. When Prince William and Kate Middleton named their baby Princess Charlotte, they paid tribute to Diana. Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana is the full name of the 6-year-old.

The latest addition to the Royal family joins older brother Archie and Prince William's children George, Charlotte, and Louis as the Queen's 11th great-grandchild. According to reports, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Archie, and their baby daughter may join the Queen on the Buckingham Palace balcony for her Platinum Jubilee. Many predict that Archie and his baby sister will make their maiden balcony appearances alongside the Royal Family at the June 2022 celebrations.

Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, Kate and William's children, have all made appearances on the historic Buckingham Palace balcony. Archie, who will be three before the Jubilee, may be among the family members present when Trooping the Color takes place on June 2.

Read Also: Australian Man Claiming He is Prince Charles and Camilla's Son Shocks Royal Watchers With 'Undeniable Proof'

Will Meghan's new baby change the Royal line to the throne?

The royal line of succession is expected to shift with the revelation that Meghan Markle has given birth. Succession to the throne is governed not merely via descent, but also by Parliamentary legislation, according to the official Royal Family Website. The order of succession refers to the order in which members of the Royal Family are in line for the throne.

According to Birmingham Mail via MSN, The present queen, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned for over seven decades. Her firstborn child, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, is first in line to the throne.

His son, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, will succeed him as King of the United Kingdom. William's three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are third, fourth, and fifth in line to the throne.

Following the Cambridge children, the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, is the sixth in line. Archie will be number seven among his kids. It means his younger sister will now be eighth in line to the throne, putting the Queen's son, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, farther behind.

Related Article: Prince Harry Is 'Selfish' and Immature, Claims Biographer; Royal Family Worries About His Mental Health



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A 10-year-old boy from New York was killed during a shooting that left his 29-year-old uncle wounded on Saturday night when an unidentified gunman opened fire inside their residence, authorities said.

The incident is the latest in a series of gun violence plaguing the United States in recent weeks, sowing fear among the public. Police identified the young victim as Justin Wallace and is the most recent victim of shootings that have significantly increased compared to last year. Data analysis showed that gun violence surged by 73% in May compared to last year's numbers.

Gun Violence

Authorities said the New York shooting occurred at around 9:30 p.m. in the Queens borough's Far Rockaway section. Police revealed the victim, and his unidentified uncle, who were inside their home, were shot by an unknown assailant who was on the sidewalk.

Officials said Wallace was shot in his torso and was immediately taken to St. John's Episcopal Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Medical professionals continued to treat his uncle for non-life-threatening injuries.

During a sweep of the scene of the crime, police discovered multiple shell casings on the sidewalk beside the home. Police said they were investigating to determine whether or not the gunman's motive was due to a dispute.

Albert Wallace, the father of the young victim, said during an interview the shooting may have resulted from a previous encounter with a man and a dispute because of a parking space earlier that evening. The incident involved his nephew, the victim who was injured during the shooting.

Read Also: One-Year-Old Boy Falls from Open Window of 14th Floor Moscow Apartment While Parents Drink Alcohol

The father said he and his son, who was in sixth grade, were out visiting relatives inside the home and were about to leave when the shooting occurred. Albert said he saw his son lying down on the ground curled up. He said he discovered a pool of blood when he turned him over and just heard a deep sigh.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio posted about the shooting on Twitter on Sunday. He expressed his sympathies to the family of the young victim and called the crime a "coward's act," ABC News reported.

Searching for Justice

Mayor de Blasio said the feelings of a parent who sees their child die before themselves is an immeasurable amount of pain.

Footage of the incident was caught on camera by the home's security cameras, which showed the gunman walking on the sidewalk before hanging on to the fence and shooting inside the home. The video showed the assailant fired at least eight shots inside the residence before quickly fleeing the scene of the crime.

On Tuesday, the young boy would have celebrated his 11th birthday. The boy's mother, Aretha Douglas Wallace, said on Sunday afternoon her son was her pride and joy, The New York Times reported.

Related Article: Mob Attack Reportedly Injured Two New Jersey Police; Video Reveals Part of Controversial Encounter

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Reports say that the air defense system at al-Asad Airbase knocked out and shot down drones targeting personnel in the bases. The Al-Asad Airbase is one of the biggest and oldest bases in Iraq. The US and Coalition troops use it for staging areas for operations in the region, reported CNN.

The base is located at the Anbar province, where Isis was very active in the western side of Iraq from 2014 and 2017.

Attacks by Iran

One rocket shot was shot down over Bagdhad, said the spokesperson for the US-Coalition forces, Wayne Marotto. He wrote in a tweet, "The missile landed close to the BDSC without any injuries or property damage. The attack is being investigated.", noted KDRV.

Attacks by anti-US forces have caused casualties, including civilians. The Biden administration wants Iran to go back for talks. However, Iran has held firm and refuses to abided by any agreements.

Marotto added that every attack on the Iraqis and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is intentional, which targets the authority of their institutions. The assault on Iraq is to undermine rule of law and national sovereignty cited Times of Israel.

Who sent the drones?

Intelligence has not pinpointed who carried out the stealthy attack with drones or the singular rocket attack directed at the BDSC.

Read also: US Navy Warns Foreign Ships in the Persian Gulf to Keep Distance or Face the Consequences

One year ago, the Al-Asad air base was struck by Iranian missiles in retribution for the US-sponsored assassination of the Revolutionary Guard commander, Qasem Soleimani. The killing strike was done when the general was near the Baghdad airport.

US withdrawal

Last April, the US indicated that it had intentions to leave the country, according to a joint statement from representatives of the US and Iraq. One of the reasons why the US is moving out is the end of the ISIS threat. Another reason cited is that local security forces are ready for the transition.

However, some US commanders have voiced their concerns if the US leaves the country. Some of these concerns include increased difficulty in monitoring the activities of terrorists and the loss of a convenient staging ground. There are also fears of the return of ISIS when the US withdrawal is complete, leaving Iraq vulnerable to ISIS and other Islamic insurgents.

Stationed in the country are 2,500 troops that are part of the international coalition Operation Inherent Resolve, made up of nations as a coalition to combat the forces of ISIS and defeat the organization. At some point, the ISIS Caliphate had been dominant in parts of Iraq and Syria.

Despite situations like the Iraqi drones shot down, most of the troops are not engaged in combat but are deployed for training and advisory tasks. The withdrawal of troops will allow for the redeployment of any remaining forces in the Middle Eastern country, added the joint US-Iraq statement.

Related article: US Ship Fires Warning Shots at 13 Armed Iranians After "Agressive" Boat Attacks





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Lawmakers are urging the White House to approve a fourth stimulus check for Americans who are struggling financially. Some are proposing that future aid be connected to economic circumstances, which would imply that stimulus funds would be automatically deposited into bank accounts.

Two letters, signed by 26 Democrats, have been delivered to the White House and urges the implementation of "automatic stabilizers" for larger unemployment and stimulus checks. They claim that doing so will help avoid the partisan deadlock that hampered aid efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These automatic stabilizers would assist legislators in avoiding negotiations for each relief package separately. However, the use of unemployment as a stabilizer is one option any economic indicator might apply.

Democrats continue to urge additional stimulus checks

With legislation that incorporates unemployment as an automatic stabilizer, a relief payment will occur if the number of unemployed Americans fell below a specified level. The aid will be immediately withdrawn if the unemployment rate rises over that threshold, as per GoBankingRates.

An increasing number of Democrats are pushing for additional financial assistance through one-time or periodic payments. President Joe Biden has not committed to a fourth payment, and neither does his most recent stimulus plans. Instead, tax incentives for child-care bills and other charges have been the priority.

However, many Americans believe that more stimulus money is required to assist individuals who continue to face financial hardship. Despite recent strong economic development - the economy grew at an annualized pace of 6.4 percent in the first quarter - many Americans remain in serious financial problems.

Read Also: Fourth Stimulus Check, If Approved, May Reach Only Fewer Americans: Why and How to Qualify

White House hints you may still be sent another payment

The White House suggested that it will consider a fourth stimulus check to aid struggling Americans in their recovery from the pandemic. More than 80 lawmakers, primarily Democrats, have already expressed support for a fourth and maybe fifth stimulus payment, as per The Sun.

Although no official proposal for further relief payments has been made, the Biden administration made optimistic remarks about the prospect this week. It comes three months after the third stimulus check was released and as Congress returns to work after the Memorial Day holiday.

On Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki stated, "The President is open to a lot of ideas." She was questioned about the scores of members of Congress who previously urged President Biden to launch a fourth stimulus package.

Biden already suggested solutions that he feels would be the most successful in the short run, she said. It contains his latest infrastructure investment plans as well as the Americans Families Plan.

It comes after a huge Democratic effort and a jobs report showing that many Americans are still suffering financially as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the most recent employment statistics, 9.3 million individuals are now unemployed. It's still a lot more than the 5.8 million individuals who were unemployed before the outbreak started in February.

According to Yahoo Finance, recent research from the University of Berkeley discovered that over six million Americans owe close to $20 billion in overdue rent.

The amount of money that might be spent in a fourth stimulus check has yet to be determined. Members of the House and Senate have requested $2,000 stimulus checks each.

A $2.3 million signed internet petition has also asked for a $2,000 payment. Up to 80 members of Congress have not written to Biden requesting additional funds. It includes seven members of the House Ways and Means Committee, who say it could keep another 12 million Americans out of poverty.

Related Article: New Stimulus Checks Are Coming; Better Than Previous Payments. Here Is How to Get Yours

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The head of Shin Bet, an Israeli security service, said that moves to remove current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might result in bloodshed. Nadav Argaman stated that he is not confident of a smooth transition of power should the current leader of Israel lose his position.

Argaman expressed concern at what the top Israeli official might do if he resists leaving office. Much of Argaman's concern is over a possible transition and how it will occur peacefully and without violence, reported the Daily Mail.

Netanyahu is offended by the Shin Bet head

The prime minister did not take the remarks of the head of Shin Bet lightly. Although Netanyahu did not point out Argaman specifically, he made it known that he did not approve of Argaman's public warning that likened the political atmosphere to a powder keg that can explode anytime.

Last Sunday, the Israeli leader alluded to a double standard. He said that remarks by the Right are regarded as incitement while those made by the Left are considered acceptable. To this, the prime minister chaffed at the power grab attempt of his competitors.

This situation comes as Netanyahu started the fight for his political career early this week, as competing parties signed a coalition deal that could bring an end to his 12 years in power.

Attempt to unseat Netanyahu

The Israeli leader posted on Twitter last Thursday that all "right-wing" politicians oppose what he called attempts to set up a "dangerous left-wing government." He also said that his rivals, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, have sold out to the United Arab List party, noted the Guardian.

Bennett and Lapid signed a last-minute arrangement with List Party Chairman Mansour Abbas late Friday night and handed the notice to Israel's longest-serving Prime Minister. This development further strengthened fears Netanyahu incites his supporters as means to criticize him.

Read also: Israel-UAE Peace Deal Should Be Credited to Obama, Says Joe Biden

To keep his position, Netanyahu needs to get a few members of Parliament to his side to diminish the numbers of his political rivals. He is currently collaborating with a friendly speaker, who can delay the confirmation up to 12 days.

Should Netanyahu succeed, the nation may be compelled to go to the poll for the sixth occasion in about three years. If he fails, he will be forced to run for office and face corruption charges in court.

Netanyahu is an experienced political campaigner and he began his new mission by trying to drive a wedge between the Arab List and its new allies, cited Tech Gate.

Netanyahu released an old video clip of Bennett stating that Abbas "visited terrorist murderers in jail."

According to political analysts, Netanyahu will likely pluck off at least some members of the right-leaning Yamina party who are unhappy about allying with Arab lawmakers as well as other leftist parties.

His opponents have referred to the criminal charges brought against Netanyahu as one of the main reasons for Israel's need for a new head, arguing that he is using a new term to enact immunity to shield himself.

Netanyahu is painted as a cunning politician. Not only using his position as a shield from prosecution but also, as Argaman fears, Netanyahu incites his supporters as his opponents make a play to unseat him.

Related article: UAE, Bahrain, and Israel Signed Agreement to Re-Establish Ties After a Quarter Century

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The first cruise ship in North America set sail on Sunday after the industry was forced to shut down and pause all operations last year when the coronavirus pandemic threatened the health of crew and passengers.

The Royal Caribbean Group owns the Celebrity Cruises that scheduled the departure of the Celebrity Millennium from Philipsburg, St. Maarten. The vessel has carried its passengers since Saturday. From March 2020, Royal Caribbean was not allowed to hold cruises because of safety protocols.

In a statement, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, said the sail of the cruise ship marked a significant moment for the company, the industry, and the Caribbean. She expressed her gratitude to the crew and passengers for making the endeavor possible.

Return of Celebrity Cruises

The Celebrity Millennium will go on a seven-day cruise from St. Maarten and will make several ports stops including in Aruba, Barbados, and Curacao. The ship is carrying about 500 passengers, 95% of whom have received their coronavirus vaccinations. Officials required children who were not yet eligible to get vaccinated to show negative COVID-19 test results before boarding the vessel.

Officials also made sure all crew members were fully vaccinated before allowing them to work on the ship and serve passengers. The Editor-in-Chief of Cruise Critic, Colleen McDaniel, who was also aboard the Celebrity Millenium, said they conducted a survey that showed more than 80% of passengers were willing to go on a cruise if other people on the ship were vaccinated.

Read Also: Australian Man Claiming He is Prince Charles and Camilla's Son Shocks Royal Watchers With 'Undeniable Proof'

McDaniel noted how the Celebrity Millennium was the first big ship to set sail since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, marking a special day for the company. She said the crew was excited to serve passengers once again and many people, including passengers, were clapping in celebration of the situation, CNN reported.

Waiting for Vaccines

Despite the success of the return of Celebrity cruises, many Caribbean residents are eagerly waiting for their chance at getting coronavirus vaccine shots. Many experts believe the restarting of cruises at a time when the region's rise in infections is doing more harm than good.

The Pan American Health Organization's Incident Manager, Dr. Sylvain Aldighieri, said officials had to tread carefully with the threat of the COVID-19 virus still in sight. While many cruises companies have increased their safety guidelines, Aldighieri and his PAHO colleagues there are no guarantees ships will be free of the coronavirus.

Last year, ships were responsible for many COVID-19 outbreaks in the region. The incidents forced authorities to close down Caribbean nation ports in March 2020. Officials were worried that sick passengers would bring the infection to the mainland and spread the pandemic even further, the Miami Herald reported.

The Caribbean has much fewer resources compared to other countries worldwide. Leaders are discussing the economic benefits of cruises and what they could mean for the nation. At the same time, they are worried passengers may cause potential public health calamities. Many islands in the Caribbean are still recording a high number of new infections per day, including St. Maarten.

Related Article: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Welcome Second Child: Here's Why Baby Girl Is Named Lilibet Diana

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The family of an 8-year-old boy who died by suicide after being bullied repeatedly is likely to strike a tentative $3 million agreement with the Ohio School District as they call for anti-bullying measures.

Bullies force a child to commit suicide

The victim, third-grader Gabriel Taye, is a student at Carson Elementary School who was bullied to the point that he died by suicide on January 26, 2017. His family went to court and filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) in 201, reported ABC News.

During a joint press statement by the CPS last Friday, lawyers for CPS and Gabriel's relatives disclosed a settlement agreement wherein the district and a city nurse decided to pay the family $3 million as compensation.

According to the CPS Board of Education, there will be a vote to decide if the deal is accepted.

What is included in the settlement?

There will be staff training, with efforts to identify repeat bullying perpetrators and sufferers, the capacity of nursing staff to report suspected incidents of harassment, and the use of "restorative justice principles" to intervene with students engaging in bullying will be part of the settlement.

Al Gerhardstein, the family's principal counsel, said in a statement, "The boy's family is using the compensation to safeguard present and future CPS students in their child's name. To make sure these changes remain and that bullying is eliminated across the CPS system," noted CPS-K-12.

Both CPS and the family's counsel will meet two times a year in the next two years to evaluate the changes, based on the agreement. The Ohio School District compensation for the family is a victory for anti-bullying.

Read also: Netflix Documentary on the Case of Elisa Lam: Elevator Scare, Floating Body Inside the Water Tank

In addition, the proposal calls for "a suitable memorial" for Gabriel to be erected at Carson Elementary School.

Aaron Herzig stated that the resolution is "in the best interests of all sides."

He added that the defendants had no part in what happened in the death of Gabriel. The CPS agree that bullying should stop once and for all.

Another is to improve how bullying is handled by the school via improved reporting, management, and training processes to deal with school bullies.

The case was settled to "avoid the cost and risk of continuing the disputes" between both parties.

Gabriel was found unconscious in the boy's restroom by one of the students on Jan. 24, 2017, when it happened. The incident was allegedly recorded on school security footage. These same bullies did the same thing and beat the boy up in the same bathroom. After school, the victim killed himself by hanging.

But his parents felt the school allowed the bullying to continue and ignored it, they knew that the boy was bullied severely in the school repeatedly. However, they did not take any action.

To this effect, the CPD answered the 2017 lawsuit that the death of their students at the hands of bullies has affected them deeply.

Investigators ruled out foul play in the death

Prosecutors investigated Gabriel's death and closed the case without charges. The coroner ruled his death a suicide. The Ohio School District compensation for the family will bring back Gabriel Taye but reforms will make a change.

Related article: Death of Elisa Lam on Crime Scene: The Vanishing; Unfolds More Theories, Speculations, Mystery

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On June 6, 1944, the most troops ever gathered from the United States, the UK, France and Canada hit arous expanse of beach in the coast of Normandy. These landing points were Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches that was kept from German intel that would have been slaughter if the Nazi's would have found out, reported CNN

Plans for D-Day

D-Day preparations were made more than a year in anticipation, and the Allies employed military deception, the codenamed Operation Bodyguard, would keep the Nazis wondering about invasion's actual date and where.

The operation was meant to begin on June 5, with the full moon and low tides will correspond with ideal weather, but thunderstorms forced a 24-hour delay.

The invasion itself

The amphibious landings, code-named Operation Overlord, included a massive bombing campaign seeking to destroy German defenses.

Germans were misled to believe that the initial attacks were just a decoy, and that the major invasion will start happening further out on the coast. On June 6, the allies plowed the waters to land at 6:30 a.m. on the five beach heads designated by military planners, cited KMBC.

The US Marines landed in force at Utah Beach on D-Day Operation Overlord, at the base of the Cotentin Peninsular, Omaha Beach, at the northernmost tip of the Normandy coast. The British landed on Gold Beach, joined by the Canadians at Juno, and finally the British at Sword were at the invasion's easternmost point.

Read also: Australia Expects Military Crisis if China Ever Invades Taiwan

At midnight of June 6, all troops controlled their beach heads and went in further from the landing points, after heavy fighting that took its share of casualties on allied troops.

Massive numbers on D-day

The numbers of ships used were about 7,000 with 213 warships including 4,127 landing craft.

The total number of Allied troops counted 24,000 men who were sent to the rear of enemy lines after midnight on the day of the invasion, plus a total of 132,000 troops were on the beach battling for every inch. Normandy's beaches were full of dead men, but a good number survived.

In the air was 12,000 aircraft while 10,000 vehicles brought in by marine's support units and engineers on the five landing beach heads.

Casualties were caused by heavy fire from German positions on the steep slopes that had not been completely destroyed by Allied bombings before the assault.

The dead

D-Day was a success but not without loss for about 4,414 Allied troops were casualties, and 9,000 were missing or wounded. But Germans may have lost a whopping 4,000 to 9,000 men who defended Normandy.

What followed was a push by the army and air forces to conquer German defense quickly, it was 77 days from landing to fighting all the way to Paris.

Despite securing a stronghold on the French coast on D-Day, the Allied forces faced the risk of bombardment by the Germans that could push them back into the sea, noted East Idaho News.

This allowed the Allies to gain total control of Normandy 77 days later and move on toward Paris, which they liberated in August 1944. It all began with D-Day Operation Overlord.

Related article: Chinese Warplanes Go All Out in Latest Military Exercise Simulating Anti-Ship Attacks With Live Ammunition

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With Kamala Harris visiting Guatemala and Mexico on her first foreign trip as vice president, the Biden administration is expected to announce new measures to fight smuggling and trafficking, and hopes to announce additional anti-corruption efforts as well on Monday
Britain's Harry and Meghan the Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive to attend the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, London, March 9, 2020. AP-Yonhap



Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced Sunday the birth of their daughter Lilibet Diana  named for Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and his late mother  in a moment of joy capping a year of increasingly strained ties between the couple and the British royal family.



The baby, who will be eighth in line to the throne, was born healthy on Friday in the southern California city of Santa Barbara and is now at home with Meghan there.



"Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty the Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet. Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor her beloved late grandmother, the Princess of Wales," said a statement from Harry and Meghan.



"She weighed 7 lbs 11 oz. Both mother and child are healthy and well, and settling in at home," the statement said of the couple's second child.



Shortly after the announcement, a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said the Queen and the British royal family had been informed and were "delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex."



Harry's father, Charles, and brother, William also sent their congratulations.



"Wishing them all well at this special time," tweeted the Prince of Wales, while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge said via tweet that "We are all delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili."



British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also sent his congratulations.



Celebrities also welcomed the news, with comedian Ellen DeGeneres, a friend of the couple, writing: "Congratulations Meghan, Harry and Archie. Welcome to the world Lilibet! I am more than a Lilibet excited to meet you."



The couple live in the United States following their decision to quit frontline royal duties early last year.



They sat in March for a bombshell interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, triggering the royal family's biggest crisis since Harry's mother died in a car crash in 1997.



During the two-hour sit-down, viewed by more than 17 million people in the US and over 11 million in Britain, Harry and Meghan said racism had played a part in them quitting Britain for North America.





Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Duchess Meghan, holding their son Archie, at the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation in Cape Town, South Africa, Sept. 25, 2019. EPA-Yonhap
Plans to return meal program in the works at the senior center
Students nationwide gear up for gaokao

China Daily) 09:12, June 07, 2021

Students wait in line at the Chongqing No.11 Middle School to check the venue one day ahead of the National College Entrance Exam on June 6, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

High school graduate Chen Siyin said that if she is able to enroll in her dream university, her rigorous study schedule in recent years will have been worthwhile.

Over the past three years, the 18-year-old from Wuhan High School in Hubei province has risen before 6 am and gone to bed after midnight while preparing for the national college entrance exam, or gaokao.

A record 10.78 million students around China are expected to take this year's gaokao, which starts on Monday and lasts two to four days, depending on the location.

Students from eight provincial-level regionsHebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong and Chongqingwill sit for the "new gaokao" this year, marking the third group of pilot regions in China to implement comprehensive reform of the examination. Zhejiang and Shanghai started the pilot in 2017, and Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong and Hainan followed suit last year.

The reform allows students to have more exam choicesup to 12 combinations of subjects, instead of the two choices between liberal arts and science subjects beforein accordance with their hobbies, interests and specialty subjects.

The eight regions adopted a"3+1+2" program: three compulsory tests, Chinese, math and a foreign language; one quasi-elective test, a choice between physics and history; and, two elective tests picked from four subjectspolitics, geography, chemistry and biology.

Chen has chosen history, politics and biology because she believes they are her best subjects.

"I still prefer liberal arts subjects but I was not good at geography, so I chose biology instead," she said.

She hopes she has chosen the correct subjects and wants to study politics at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, Hubei, and become a politics teacher after graduation.

Zhao Zhuoya, a first-year undergraduate student at Renmin University of China in Beijing, took the new gaokao in Tianjin last year. She took history, politics and geography for her elective subjects.

"Although I chose all three liberal arts subjects, I was determined to stick to the choices after I weighed up the different subjects," she said.

Zhao had the opportunity to take the English-language test twice as part of the gaokao reform in Tianjin, with the higher score reflected in her total score. She said she got a better mark in the first test in March, which gave her more time to prepare for other subjects.

Fa Xiaolin, a head teacher at a Wuhan high school, said the reform has enabled students to have more of a say in their future and allowed them to think more about their career path at an early age. The exam used to be criticized for forcing students to choose between liberal arts and science at an early age.

Giving students more choices, the reform also opens the way for more personalized development and allows them to learn subjects they are passionate about, she said.

Fa, who has taught high school classes for more than 20 years, said students nowadays are more aware of their interests and are not afraid to speak out about their preferences.

"As China's economy has grown rapidly in recent years, and with more job opportunities emerging, the gaokao cannot shape one's destiny as it did in the past, and students and parents have a more rational attitude toward the exam," she said.

However, it is still an important exam, as it offers students access to quality education resources, which give them more opportunities to land good jobs, she said.

Students from rural areas and places that have just been lifted out of severe poverty will continue to enjoy favorable policies when they apply for major universities this year, according to the Ministry of Education.

Special enrollment plans will continue to enable more students from rural and once impoverished areas to go to key universities and colleges, the ministry said in a notice in April.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
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(Photo : Asot Michael Won Argument for Antigua and Barbuda State of Emergency)

MP for the Parish of St. Peter's, Asot Michael, rose to the defense of an extended state of emergency for Antigua and Barbuda, giving a harsh lesson in constitutional law to opponents of the measure. Jamale Pringle, leader of the Opposition in the United Progressive Party, along with Trevor Walker of the Barbuda People's Movement have expressed misgivings over Antigua and Barbuda's state of emergency, arguing that by giving the government the ability to limit movement, the measure limits the personal freedoms of Antiguan and Barbudan citizens. MP Michael rebuked this argument, reframing the act of extending the state of emergency not as a means of infringing on citizens' rights, but as a means of protecting the citizens from a global pandemic that is still at large, referring explicitly to constitutional law and how without a state of emergency, the government has no way to legally set and enforce a curfew.

How Asot Michael's Argument Prevailed

In any political argument, framing is key. For Leader of the Opposition Pringle, the most potent weapon at his disposal is framing the debate as being about the limitation of personal freedoms. Trevor Walker of the Barbuda People's Movement spoke in explicit terms during the budgetary debate of Barbuda's lack of aid when independence was first declared. An island full of people left to their own devices very suddenly, with no resources to help them survive but their own wits. This overwhelming fear of lack of agency is a useful resource rhetorically. In any democratic nation, there are expectations of individual freedoms and self-determination that feel all the more precious in newly democratized nations like the twin-island state. Unfortunately for the opposition, that argument holds very little ground when brought to bear against the Antigua and Barbuda constitution and the very real necessity of a curfew.

Values Leading to Insight

These are difficult times for the twin-island state, but the MP of St. Peters is no stranger to difficult times. Asot Michael is a third-generation Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) member, his family's history tied inextricably with the highs and lows of the newly independent nation. Asot A. Michael, his grandfather paid the ultimate price for his support of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour party when anti-government protestors burned down his business in St. John's, Antigua. He died of a heart attack brought on by the riots the next day. His father, Patrick Michael, in Asot's words, "was an essential pillar supporting the Antigua & Barbuda Labour Party during its darkest hours [and] sacrificed his business to ensure its survival." Asot Michael's belief in his constituents and in the island as a whole is in equal measure a belief in the legacy of his family, his party, and the foundational strength of his Christian principles.

In his work in the House of Representatives in Antigua and Barbuda, he prioritizes the needs of an ethnic majority that so often suffers under the lax taxation policies that Antigua and Barbuda, like so many nations in the Caribbean, have employed for decades to encourage private development and tourism. In his New Year's speech, he commended the efforts of locales practicing cleanliness and safe social distancing and showed an understanding of the difficulties the average citizen faces under the new restrictions and challenges of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Antigua and Barbuda, MP Asot Michael, Layed Out the Facts

In the Antigua and Barbuda house of representatives, even after four arduous days of debate, the safety of the nation's citizens is the first and foremost priority of every member of parliament. MP's Pringle and Walker may argue that a state of emergency infringes on personal freedoms, but the effects of an unrestricted public are incontrovertible. When Antigua and Barbuda lifted their COVID restrictions in early 2021 it saw its largest uptick in cases in February. Pringle and Walker may not be in favor of the state of emergency, but they are in favor of curfew. Asot Michael argues emphatically that the two are inextricable and arguing for anything else is spreading misinformation.

"You're giving the impressions to the citizens and residents of the country that the Government is coming to this Parliament for over a year, extending the State of Emergency because the Government wants to curtail the freedoms and rights of the citizens, and that is not so. It is essential because the Government [...] has no power under the Public Health Act or any other legislation, except under Section 20 of the Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda to set curfew hours."

Antigua and Barbuda do not exist in a vacuum. Michael closed his remarks urging the opposition to keep an eye on the news as other countries had not only already extended their curfews, but in some cases entered a second or third lockdown. Not only is there already a precedent for such measures being taken, compared with other nations, Antigua and Barbuda opting to maintain their state of emergency rather than enter a full lockdown comes across as relatively relaxed. Factoring in the fact that even the opposition supports curfew renders the argument against continuing a state of emergency moot. MP Michael is quick to mention the disastrous spring break fiasco earlier that month in Miami Beach, Florida: "The Miami Beach police had to fire tear gas at all the people who were congregating on the South Beach!" The implications are clear. Without the legal ability to enforce a curfew, gatherings could spiral out of control, and just like in February, the twin-island state could experience another surge in cases.

The End Result

At the end of the debate, parliament gave the approval to extend the State of Emergency for another three months. Many, including Attorney General Steadroy Benjamin, praised Asot Michael's defense of the state of emergency, saying, "He has captured the law quite correctly, in a nutshell." Michael's clear, concise explanation of the state of emergency not only won the debate but set a moral precedent as he warned the speaker of Barbuda directly of the dangers of misinformation. "We can not be playing politics with people's lives and their livelihood," the MP of St. Peter opined, "especially during this period when our government is trying their best." He concluded, putting Opposition leader Pringle on the defense, "The leader of the opposition has not given one tangible reason why he's against the state of emergency. He's just against it. Why? How is it inflicting harm?" Any good teacher can not only explain a complicated subject but ask questions that challenge their students. MP Asot Michael not only made short work of any arguments against maintaining a state of emergency for Antigua and Barbuda but made it a learning experience for his fellow representatives as well.

 2015 Latinos Post. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Joe Nathan, formerly a Minnesota public school educator and PTA president, directs the Center for School Change. Reactions welcome, joe@centerforschoolchange.org or @joenathan9249 on Twitter. Columns reflect the opinion of the author
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(Photo : How to Choose the Right Masters Degree to Further Your Career)

Investing in further education can be complicated. If your dream career is to work within academia, it's an easy answer. If you want to work in a regulated field, then it's a no-brainer. However, if you want to work anywhere else, there is a fine line between further education being valuable and a waste of effort.

The short answer to whether or not a master's degree or higher is worthwhile for your career is it depends. A career-focused degree can give you the knowledge, skillset, and expertise necessary to spearhead your career ambitions and to blow the competition out of the water. In addition, it can give you the credentials to be heard and give you the options to direct your career in whichever direction you see fit.

In other instances, it will not be worth more than work experience.

Essentially, to get what you want out of a degree, you need to know your goals, what you want, and most importantly, what degree will help you prepare best for the working world.

Some degrees are suited for academics. Others that are suited to help you reach the next stage of your career. To choose the latter type, use this guide:

Know What Tasks You Want to Do in Your Dream Role

While it's great to have a dream job, you need to know the specifics to find a degree that will help you achieve it. For example, if you want to work in policy, then the information and education you will need will differ if you want to become an executive-level manager.

Job roles that require you to have a level of authority over a certain topic are almost always helped with the right degree. For example, if you want to work in education and dream of improving accessibility tools to learn at your own pace, you need to have the right credentials. In the case of policymakers, work experience alone is not enough. You need to have the theoretical understanding to back up your claims and to inform your suggestions.

Knowing what is expected of you in the role you want to work in can help you choose the right degree. After all, there are many, many options for each subject. Try to find a degree that covers topics that you need to be covered and even touches on new subjects that you did not consider, but it would undoubtedly become a boon for your career.

This method should give you a checklist of what to look for from your options. Once you have this checklist, you will then want to make sure that the degree in question is suitable.

What to Look for From Your Degree

Your degree should cover the topics you want to focus on in your career, and it should also include:

A Diverse Faculty

You are here to further your career in the private and public sectors, which means you need faculty from more than just an academic background. For example, a Master's in education aims to teach its students informed teaching methodologies and how to shape the future of education. In addition, graduates can work in so many different fields, from schools to museums to curriculum development to education policy. With such a wide range of fields, you can go into, and it only makes sense that the faculty themselves should come from a diverse range of backgrounds.

This applies to all career-advancing degrees. If there are members of faculty that have worked in your dream job before moving on to teach, then you can get the insight and information that you need to follow in their footsteps.

100% Online Education

It is entirely possible to pursue a 100% distance master degree UK and continue your work out in the field. Rather than your degree taking a year, however, it will take two. This small trade-off means you can continue to make leaps and gains and start to use the connections in your career department to make significant leaps forward for your career all at the same time.

It certainly isn't easy, but with the right routine and with an emphasis on maintaining good health, you can absolutely juggle both endeavors and see massive gains for your career.

Strong Careers Department

Every university has a careers department, but you need to investigate and even get in touch before you enroll to see if they have connections in the field or even with the businesses that you want to work for. Again, do this in advance, and there is the chance that the careers department can reach out and forge those connections before you enroll.

Your careers department can help in several ways. They are not just there to help you with interview techniques or with improving your resume. Many times, internships and job opportunities are passed their way that are only advertised to your university. While you may not have the time nor the inclination to take on an internship, you can definitely use your career department and alumni network to build up your network for the sake of career progression.

Read Reviews and Ask for Feedback



Everything so far should help you narrow down a shortlist of options that you can and should apply for. When it comes to choosing which option to accept, you'll want to dig into reviews, feedback and even consider getting in touch directly with previous graduates. This last option, in particular, can help you prepare for the degree and can even help you get the most out of it by letting you in on insider secrets from what certain professors or lecturers like, which courses were good, and which weren't more.

Not only that but getting in touch with previous graduates like this is a natural way to network. The alumnus that you speak to may even be interested in mentoring you or may have job opportunities in the future. So, keep track of them and stay in touch using LinkedIn so that you can truly get the most out of your master's degree.

 2015 Latinos Post. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Hello! I am the weekend anchor as well as a reporter for Your News Now! You can reach me with news tips (or just to say hello!) at khonigford@wlio.com.
Appointment

7 June 2021

The Business Travel Association (BTA), the authoritative voice of business travel, has appointed a new Chair of their Industry Partner Board: Christina Lawford, Founder and Managing Director at DiamondAir International.

Lawford joins the BTA's Industry Partner Board today and will work to raise awareness of the significant role business travel plays in the UK economy. She will ensure the ongoing success of the Association's business objectives and overall commercial plan following the Coronavirus pandemic.

Lawford is the Founder and Managing Director at DiamondAir International, the leading provider of luxury Meet and Assist services to destinations across the world. She has a wealth of industry expertise and is responsible for business development, strategic planning, partnership alliances, product development, and innovations with international airports and airlines.

For over 25 years, Lawford has organically developed the company into a global, multi-million-dollar business and has created an unsurpassed business model that manages an international network operating in over 600 airports and train stations globally. In addition to founding the award-winning service provider, in 2019 Lawford became a Co-Founder and Director of Evolvecar, a zero-emission chauffeur service offering premium electric vehicles in over 80 destinations around the world.
Press Release

7 June 2021

As part of the Arabian Travel Market thought leadership programme, Priyanka Kapoor, Senior Regional Director of Sales and Marketing  Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, and Group Director  Sales, Marketing, Branding and Communications, Swiss-Belhotel International participated in a panel discussion at the virtual International Tourism & Investment Conference. The panel was moderated by Dimitrios Buhalis, Director eTourism Lab & Deputy Director, International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research, Bournemouth University Business School, UK.

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Analysing the impact and challenges of digital transformation in the travel and tourism industry with the experts, Priyanka highlighted the role technology will play in the return of tourism not only in the immediate future but also for the long-term.

Priyanka stressed, In 2020 our revenue technology had come to a standstill. Historical data had become irrelevant. We had moved to manual ways of revenue management, and we still are in that stage with frequently changing restriction levels. However, this period made us realise, once again, that People are our Business. And when we say People, we dont only mean the guests, but also our owners, our staff, our trade partners, and our customers. We need the technology to focus on relationship management with these People to be ready for the return of Tourism and maintain it for the long term.

The experts believed, for continued success it is essential to bolster products and processes with more robust digital tools aligned with the realities of the current hyper connected business requirements.

When asked about how tourism technology is likely to evolve moving ahead to 2030, Priyanka replied, There are so many unknowns and so many developments that will happen from now till 2030 that will shape technology, but one learning that we have taken from the pandemic is that sustainability is key to our industry. This is the time to move towards more sustainable ways of working which are economically viable in the future for our hotel owners' net profits and also because sustainability will talk into the evolved emotions and needs of the travellers after the experience of Covid-19. As we navigate through the market challenges, our goal is to cater to evolving guest requirements with innovative and enhanced experiences in a safe environment.

Diversifying its market offering, Swiss-Belhotel International has recently opened two new hotels in Bahrain in May 2021  the stunning 4-star Swiss-Belsuites Admiral Juffair and the spectacular 5-star Grand Swiss-Belhotel Waterfront Seef.






Responsible for the assessment and coordination of patient care for the achievement of patient outcomes. Assesses, plans, implements, evaluates and coordinates patient care needs to facilitate the plan of care and timely discharge. Provides leadership for clinical coordination, staff development and collaboration among multidisciplinary caregivers. Completes assessment of patient's clinical course to provide ongoing patient care coordination, verify patient's need for acute hospital level of care and identify discharge planning needs. Assesses patient/family adaptation to illness/disability and capacity to provide for patient's care needs. Identifies obstacles to discharge. Collaborates with physicians, nurses, and other disciplines involved with care of the patient to foster a coordinated approach to patient care. Responsible for communicating with physician regarding the medical plan of care, anticipated discharge, and consideration of alternative setting. Facilitates and impacts process issues to avoid delays in patient care. Collaborates with UM nurse to assess patient's clinical course and verify need for acute hospital level of care or medical stability for care at the next level. Intervenes with appropriate individuals/department regarding delays in service that may have an impact on quality of care and/or length of stay. Collaborates with UM nurse to identify factors contributing to delays in service or delayed discharge. Report findings to Director of Clinical of Care Management. Prepare patients and families for transition from hospital to home or alternative setting. Involve patients in their discharge planning to encourage independence. Involve family in care while pt in hospital to create realistic expectations for post-hospital care. Assure appropriate teaching is started. Provide feedback to unit management regarding delays in patient care services. Maintains clear and concise documentation in each patient record to reflect physical and functional limitations, psychosocial characteristics, educational needs of patient & family, family/social support systems, financial, economic, and discharge needs. Initiates referrals to disciplines as indicated. Documentation will reflect plan of care to address post-hospital care needs and evidence of patient/family involvement in planning. Develops and arranges discharge plans for patients discharged to home with home health, Hospice, home infusion and routine sub-acute and skilled nursing facility placements and completes all necessary paperwork. Refers patients with complex discharge or psychosocial needs to Social Work. Communicates with Placement Specialists to ensure safe and appropriate transfers to lower levels of care. (Assisted Living, subacute, snfs etc) Participates in nursing unit and department clinical outcome projects as well as process improvement initiatives of care management. Seeks peer and director consultation regarding problematic cases or cases demonstrating deviations from the plan of care. Demonstrates commitment to work partners to help each other reach mutual goals and learn from each other. Demonstrates actions and behaviors that consistently promote trust, respect , a positive attitude and promote team morale. Required Experience: Previous home health, case management, or discharge planning experience. Excellent clinical knowledge and skills, strong communication, interpersonal, organization and leadership skills. Three to five years of staff nursing experience in appropriate nursing specialty. One year demonstrated leadership ability. Medium work: Exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 20 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 20 pounds of force to constantly to move objects. Required - Registered Nurse


Press Release

7 June 2021

Understanding carbon jargon is all about making up the balance: of the emissions caused, as well as what we can do about them. By knowing about carbon balance and using the right terms, decision-makers in the travel industry can take the necessary measures to set and achieve their carbon goals.

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Strictly speaking all these terms have different definitions according to the IPCC, the UN body for climate science. However, companies often use them interchangeably, without always specifying their application. As a result, their climate commitments vary widely. This poses a real challenge to distinguish between serious climate action (that is aligned with the Paris Agreement) and so-called greenwashing.

Companies have a responsibility to communicate clearly about their commitments. Sustainability action with all its dimensions should be transparently quantified, documented and audited to be sound. This not only spares you from allegations of greenwashing but also signals that you take your responsibility seriously, and offers a real chance to stand out against others in your industry. Here are some commonly-used terms and their definitions.

Science Based Targets

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) provides methods and tools for corporates to set emission reduction targets aligned with a max. 2-degree warmer world. This would be in line with the Paris Agreement, in which almost all countries agreed to limit global warming to a level still manageable. The targets are validated by the SBTi and give corporates competitive advantages and credibility for their real climate ambition. F or example, a number of airlines, including many leading U.S. carriers, the 13 members of the oneworld Alliance, and others such as Delta, Singapore Airlines and Etihad, have committed to a highly ambitious net-zero target by 2050, in line with a maximum 1.5C warmer future. Meanwhile, hotel chains such as Hyatt, Accor and Hilton have committed to reduce the emissions from company operations to keep global warming below 2C.

Greenhouse gas accounting

The preparation of a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory lays the foundation for any corporate climate action. It is the prerequisite for developing a climate strategy and expedient climate protection measures. It should be complete, consistent and accurate, regarding the full scope of climate impacts from all activities. A companys climate strategy often comprises a mix of measures, depending on the long-term targets and technical, organisational and financial possibilities. Only reduction measures that really change operations and processes lead to a real reduction of a companys footprint. As such efforts take time and until they show their full effect, many corporates decide to offset their emissions, as an intermediate measure. They can also do this for specific (unavoidable) categories such as their business travel emissions.

Carbon offsets

Offsetting is a bridge to a net-zero future by financing CO 2 mitigation in a wider, global context outside of the corporates own value chain. Offsets mostly support renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Such projects accelerate the global transformation towards a low-carbon society. For a transitional period, offsetting can constitute part of a wider corporate net zero strategy. However, offsetting should complement but not replace stringent emission reductions within the value chain if we want to reach the Paris goals. Effective offsetting projects with a strong added value can be recognised by quality audits such as the Gold Standard.

Carbon Insets

Insetting describes reducing the carbon emissions or abatement within a companys value chain. Carbon insetting is about changing operations and production processes. Thus, it really reduces a companys carbon footprint and helps to decarbonize industries. An example within the travel sector are sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), which (even in the near future) pose a substitute for fossil jet fuels. They potentially reduce flight carbon emissions by up to 80%. Currently, airlines like KLM and SAS are introducing SAFs in parts of their operations. Again, it is important to regard the whole lifecycle of such insetting products. Only if they are produced from renewable sources (e.g. by using green hydrogen) can they be considered truly carbon neutral.

Carbon neutral

According to the IPCC, carbon neutrality is achieved when carbon emissions are balanced by the same amount of carbon removals from the atmosphere. Such carbon removals do not include carbon offsetting through mitigation elsewhere. However, many companies currently use this term in an offsetting context, and there are numerous providers of carbon neutral certificates to acquire such labels  with varying, often non-transparent conditions. Since carbon offsetting without a Paris Agreement aligned emission reduction is not helping to limit global warming to max. 2 degrees, such practices are often related to greenwashing activities. As a corporate it is important to avoid the risk of such allegations.

Net zero (or greenhouse gas neutral)

In contrast to mere carbon neutrality, according to the IPCC, the definition net zero includes neutrality also of other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide. Net zero has become the defining lens through which many governments and businesses view decarbonisation. For example, the German government aims to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2045.

However, similar to carbon neutrality, this term is not protected and not used consistently. For example, greenhouse gases should not be offset but really removed from the atmosphere. To tackle this inconsistency, the SBTi currently develops an international standard for corporates aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. It requires from a corporate to take robust measures to significantly reduce multiple emissions. Companies that are currently pursuing this goal, such as Coca-Cola Company or BMW, can claim that they are on a path to net zero.

Climate positive/Carbon negative

A corporate can become climate positive when it goes beyond its net zero commitment. A company then, on top of its net zero commitment, mitigates its emissions through carbon offsets. The SBTi net zero standard will give a clear definition of how offsetting can be integrated into the net zero commitment to achieve a climate positive approach. Nowadays however, this term is often used by companies to simply describe that they offset more carbon emissions than they emit.

Climate neutral

This term is often used as substitute for carbon neutral, but according to its definition by the IPCC is actually comprising a far wider scope. It should include all corporate activities that have an effect on the global climate, including water systems and land use. Since almost all human action has an effect on climate, true climate neutrality is almost impossible to claim. The term is not protected and is often used by solely offsetting emissions by carbon credits, without validating to Paris Agreement aligned emission reductions. Therefore, every corporate should carefully evaluate whether this term really adequately represents their climate action.

An increasing number of stakeholders in the travel industry and beyond, are showing a commitment to true emission reductions and a goal of net zero/neutrality. Demystifying the jargon is a step towards a cleaner, and greener future.
Supplier News

7 June 2021

GWINNETT, Ga.  In support of AAHOAs recent $100,000 donation to organizations supporting COVID-19 relief efforts in India, M3 has matched the organizations contribution with an equal donation of $100,000 to Samaritans Purse, an international humanitarian aid organization providing ongoing COVID-19 relief efforts in India. The funding will provide food and medical supplies to families and hospitals throughout the nation.

India is currently averaging hundreds of thousands of new COVID-19 cases each day, leaving hospitals overwhelmed and patients unable to receive adequate care. By working with partners on the ground, Samaritans Purse is directly assisting individuals and providing support to Indias healthcare workers. M3s donation will provide essential food provisions, medical supplies and assistance with operational costs to help local hospitals manage surge capacities.

We are grateful for the incredible work of Samaritans Purse and other organizations providing their time, care and resources to help the people of India combat the virus, said John McKibbon, CEO of M3 and Chairman of McKibbon Hospitality. As hoteliers, we have experienced firsthand the struggles brought on by COVID-19 and are committed to helping those in need.

Many of our hospitality industry colleagues have strong ties to India, and we are very concerned with the escalating crisis the country is facing, said Cecil P. Staton, President & CEO of AAHOA. By matching our donation to help those who need it most, M3 has demonstrated its continuous commitment to supporting the hospitality industry however they can.

To learn more about Samaritans Purse or donate, please visit www.samaritanspurse.org

To learn more about M3 or to request a demo, please visit www.m3as.com.

To learn more about AAHOA, please visit www.aahoa.com
Opinion Article

7 June 2021

In the hotel business if you want to get ahead you better be ready to move. Its the way in which you can multiply your opportunities and increase your chance for greater personal prosperity. Thats the way it was explained to me many years ago and it has certainly been my experience. On the flip side, moving is not easy and it can take its toll on you and the people in your relationships.

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One aspect of moving is the accumulated experience it allows you to gain. The work exposure as well as life itself. Learning how to survive and excel in different work environments and locations is seducing and intoxicating. Once you get this into your system you want more, which means moving again.

I have moved 11 times in my life and career. When I say move, I mean pack it all up, yard sale and load up the truck. All over North America and I can honestly say that every move had a silver lining. I can also say that every move had its challenges and bumps in the road. I am going to take you on a spin thru each one and try and highlight the good and the not so positive. Because I believe life is about living and we never know at the time what looks like adversity may be exactly what propels us further.

For Part 1 of the story  read here (1981  2000).

Move #7 was out of the frying pan and into the fire. The COO was now the president and I called his office exactly two years to the day after arriving in Quebec City. His assistant was polite and took my message to have him call me about an agreement we had all the while Im thinking  he wont call. Well, he did and he punched my ticket and I was off again. This time it was Vancouver and I was given the job as the hotel manager. In life, you want to be careful about what you ask for. This move was very different in two ways. One, I was now 100 percent in operations, no more numbers, or so I thought. Two, it was the first time moving on my own, without my kids or ex.

A couple of months before I left Quebec, I started seeing a new lady. A couple of months after landing in Vancouver she joined me. We set up shop so to speak and settled into the new city and lives together. Vancouver was a challenging post. I learned a lot and we lived thru 9-11 which was a lesson in austerity and teamwork. My boss was the GM and RVP. He taught me many things and all I can say is there is a lesson in adversity that we dont always see right away.

I stayed in Vancouver until 2003. I would say overall it was a success. Opportunity in the hotel business can take many different forms. This time it came the way of someone looking out for me. The CFO at the time was in our hotel in Vancouver for some meetings. He was, to say the least, a great guy. We had a heart to heart, and I told him that I needed to move back to Toronto. I say back because I lived there in the 80s. But back because I missed my kids too much. Two years in Vancouver meant that I made frequent trips to see them and they came during the summer, but it wasnt the same or near enough.

The CFO told me he would look after me, be patient and we will find you something he told me. I believed him and I took some solace in the idea that I could move for some reason other than my career for a change. Through his stickhandling, I was offered a position as director of financial systems in our corporate office.

Move # 8. No getting away from the numbers, Mr. Lund.

Johanne and I bought our first house together and settled into the suburbs. I would go pick up my three girls every other weekend and life was once again back in balance. Work was also going well and my role had me changing the entire back office hardware, software, chart of accounts and month-end processes for every hotel in the company. We accomplished this in less than 18 months. No clouds in those days, just file servers and fat clients (remember those?).

There are a few things about working in corporate that you learn. One, its not a hotel and people are very siloed. Two, you dont really have a role, you have a part-time gig. In total, I was there for almost four years and there were several role changes that took place. Most were annoying but the last one was anything but.

I remember one day waiting for the elevator in the lobby, as the door began to open another elevator had just arrived and out walked the EVP of operations who was my masters master in Vancouver. I was pretty sure my name was not on his Christmas card list, or so I thought. Note to self, dont believe what you think because its just your imagination working the wrong way. I got back to my office and 10 minutes later my phone rang. It was him. He asked me if I could come to his office, I said. Sure, and hung up.

Into the elevator and up to the C floor or, as it was referred to, the Ivory Palace. All the while I was thinking it was curtains for me. He saw me and now he will finish the job. I arrived in his office and he was all smiles, asked about my kids, our house, Johanne. He could not be any nicer and I was thinking this isnt what getting fired looks like, is it? One thing to the other and he offered me a new job  as his personal numbers guy. You know the type, the guy who carries the briefcase and keeps track of the receipts.

For the next year and a half, I had more fun and experienced life like never before or since. Come back for Part 3 and Ill pick up the story.
Houston oil field service company McDermott International on Monday announced the resignation of CEO David Dickson, effective immediately.

Dickson was president and CEO of McDermott since December 2013. The company did not specify the reason for his resignation.

Lee McIntire, who has served on the companys board of directors since July 2020, was named as interim president CEO.

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McIntire, who has 35 years of industry experience, according to the release, was most recently the CEO at Terrapower, a nuclear reactor design company headquartered in BellevPublishue, Wash., from August 2015 to October 2018. Prior to that, he was president and CEO at CH2M HILL, an Englewood, Colo., global engineering services company, from 2006 to 2014.

McIntire was a partner and executive vice president at the Bechtel Corporation from 1989 to 2004.

Under Dickson, McDermott, facing enormous cost overruns at construction projects for two liquefied natural gas plants, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2020, some two months before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and the collapse of oil prices.

The company shed $4.6 billion of debt and emerged with more than $2.9 billion in fresh credit and loans as it came out of bankruptcy protection on June 30, 2020.
The pandemic wasnt yet upon us in November 2019 when Terri Clifton spotted a pirate ship sandbox on Pinterest and showed it to her partner, Michael Knight.

Their grandson, 8-year-old Weston, needed a new sandbox, and soon their second grandchild  2-year-old Bella Cruz  would be old enough to play in it, too.

Knight is both a dreamer and a tinkerer, so when asked to tackle a home improvement project, Clifton knows that hes always going to go big.

He got out some graph paper and started sketching ideas: a hull; a crows nest; a tower with fun things like trap doors, a drawbridge and hidden exits; plus places for kids to crawl, climb and swing.

The result was a substantial playground thats part pirate ship and part castle, evolving over nearly a year of design and construction that got its final touch  a water canon  in place in time for the recent Memorial Day weekend.

I knew I couldnt build a sandbox without continually upgrading it. Ive built five or six sandboxes through the years, said Knight, who refers to his garage workshop as his laboratory. My dad built one for me when I was a kid, and ever since, Ive wanted them to be more and more elaborate. I wanted to build a whole ship. At one point, Terri asked, Are you ever going to finish that thing?

With Houstonians forgoing travel and other luxuries during the pandemic shutdown, many launched decorating and home improvement projects theyd been putting off. One major theme among them has been installing pools, patios and playgrounds for adults and children alike.

Through the pandemic, both Clifton and Knight kept working at Better World Properties, the multifamily housing management company that Clifton founded and of which she is president. (Knight is executive vice president.)

You could say that Ive been planning this out in my mind for most of my life, Knight said. I always say that you have to get older, but you dont have to grow up. The pirate ship project afforded me an opportunity to incorporate all sorts of imaginative things, whatever I could come up with.

The couple frequented the Nautical Antiques & Tropical Decor shop in Galveston, which sells authentic ship salvage. Sometimes they found exactly what they were looking for and other times they found things they didnt know they needed until they spotted them.

Their Cypress-Fairbanks-area backyard playground  18 feet long and 6 feet wide  has a couple of authentic portholes positioned so the kids can look out or even climb out of them. Theres a ships wheel for those who want to play captain, an honor earned only when a child is able to climb the 14-foot-tall crows nest and ring the brass bell mounted on top.

From the beginning, Knight set some rules for himself, beginning with his process and materials. It had to be done as old school as possible, using wood, steel and brass, and no plastic. He event bent planks of wood himself, soaking them in the couples swimming pool.

The one exception to the materials rule is a small sheet of plexiglass installed  for safety  over a hand crank that kids use to raise and lower the drawbridge or gang plank, depending on whether theyre playing castle or pirate ship.

At one end is the bow, a triangular structure made of wood and with a teak grid that kids can remove to crawl inside. Theres a secret trap door, of course, so kids can crawl out another way.

A real anchor hangs off the exterior and ship rope is draped across the edge for imaginative children to conjure up ideas of an octopus with long tentacles.

The center, or mast, is the large sandbox with a crows nest made out of a telephone pole and round platform. Metal pegs are inserted up the pole so kids can scramble up, and theres another foot of sandbox below ground, with rock and gravel for drainage.

And if they dont make it on their first try, theyre simply falling into soft sand. Theyre taught to get up, dust themselves off and try again.

The third section is the tower, 8 feet tall and the most detailed part of the whole thing. Theres a ladder on one side for quick entry and a climbing wall on the opposite side for the more adventurous. You can enter through the door to the underside of the tower and look out secret windows  including a porthole that you could climb out of  or hand crank the drawbridge to open it up.

With children, you want to stimulate their imagination. I worry about children in this day and age just parking in front of a screen, Knight said. Those who grew up without them had to be more imaginative with playtime. As a kid, I was always making elaborate sandcastles or things to play with my friends. When theres a group out here playing, its amazing the things they come up with.

Knight says he spent $3,500 on materials, but Clifton notes thats simply where he stopped counting. Hundreds of hours of labor are invested in the project by Knight, Clifton and their three children, Felicia Clifton (Bellas mom), Cameron Knight and Peyton Russell (Westons dad), and others.

Several kids fit in the space atop the tower, where Knight installed a water cannon that he fabricated himself.

The word Sayeth and an eyeball are etched into the wooden exterior of the cannon, and the kid in Knight comes out when he demonstrates its commanding presence.

I enforce my will with my water cannon, sayeth I, Knight said with a hearty laugh as he sprayed water into the pool. The field of fire is all over the swimming pool but not quite to the house.

Westons eighth birthday party was, of course, pirate themed and held at his grandparents house, and Clifton and Knight devised a treasure map with tricky clues that led to a buried treasure chest full of party favors.

The next big event will be the Fourth of July. Clifton and Knight already had a tiki bar set up on one end of the yard, with a couple of different seating areas.

We dont feel a need to go anywhere, Knight said. We have everything we need right here.

If youve finished a great pandemic project, email diane.cowen@chron.com.
The city of Sugar Land knew right away that the local economy would need help as the pandemic started last year and people were told to stay home.

Through its #AllInForSLTX campaign, Sugar Land has spent roughly $500,000 to bolster area businesses, and further projects are in the works.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Fort Bend County program aims to hire up to 250 young people this summer

We didnt know what it was going to look like but that we would have to do something to support our business community in ways we never had before, said Elizabeth Huff, Sugar Land economic development director.

She said providing relief to small businesses, hotels and destination venues like Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land and Constellation Field was critical for their survival.

Within the first months of the pandemic, the city sought feedback from area businesses.

We tried to start putting that story together to really understand what it was our businesses needed, said Cam Yearty, Sugar Land public private partnership manager.

Huff explained that the feedback has continued to guide the citys actions throughout the last 15 months. A big driver, she said, was understanding that businesses would not survive repeatedly shutting down and reopening based on the pandemics changing climate. So the economic development team listened to businesses on what they needed to reopen when the time was right.

Sugar Land also kept an eye on the Small Business Administrations plans for its economic injury disaster loan program. For the governor to make a case to the president to declare a disaster in an area, local governments had to first understand what was going on with businesses in their communities.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Convicted sex offender who fled trial in Alabama apprehended in Fort Bend County

The city was able to watch everything happening in the rest of the nation and world. Seeing the terrible toll of lockdowns in Italy, Yearty wasnt sure whether that would come to Sugar Land but understood the city needed to have an economic plan ready.

The Sweet Cash program began last summer and encouraged community members to buy, get and give gift cards from local businesses. The city purchased around $97,500 to help businesses safely reopen and ensure that cash was flowing once they did. Initially, if someone bought a $40 gift card to a local business, they would submit their proof of purchase to the city and receive a $20 gift card from another local business. A frontline worker would also receive a $20 gift card as a token of thanks for their hard work. Later during the holidays, community members bought a gift card and received a gift card.

Between the more than 1,200 gift cards purchased by community members and gift cards purchased by the city, Yearty said the program injected about $206,000 into the local economy.

We were able to not only provide cash flow but then give people new experiences, hopefully got them into new businesses. And those businesses got additional revenues because people came in and bought gift cards as well, Huff said.

During the citys Healthcare Heroes Week, the mayor, city council members and staff members distributed some of the gift cards at area hospitals.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Fort Bend County recognizes mental health leaders

Sugar Land is actively working to purchase gift cards ahead of another Sweet Cash campaign that will be announced soon with a buy one, get one format.

Huff said hoteliers in Sugar Land have been some of the hardest hit businesses. The situation, she said, is improving with occupancy, revenues per available room and average daily rates picking up. Where many of the hotels used to be busier during the week with business travelers, Huff reported that weekends have more traffic now with more companies using more technology like Zoom to do business and leisure travelers wanting to get away for a couple of days.

Through a Request for Placemaking campaign, Sugar Land has been actively looking for project ideas to improve spaces to boost the local economy. The economic development team brainstormed what they could do with a fast impact. They knew many people felt safer with alfresco or outdoor dining experiences due to the coronavirus and wanted to encourage them to support local restaurants by eating out.

In addition to creating outdoor dining and shopping spaces, placemaking ideas have included facade redevelopment and touchless hardware installations. Sugar Land, Huff explained, is in a redevelopment phase, where the city doesnt have a lot of undeveloped land, so there is now a focus on reinvigorating older retail centers and the businesses within.

Art Museum TX opened in May at Sugar Land Town Square and was the citys first Request for Placemaking project to be approved.

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The Call for Artists initiative is working to beautify the city and support artists, who have largely been hit hard by the pandemic. The call has garnered more than 140 submissions from across the Houston area, Texas, United States and world. Nearly 20 came from the Houston area. Murals and other artwork out in the Sugar Land community would encourage people to patronize businesses.

Yearty said Sugar Land doesnt have an exact number on how many local businesses were lost during the pandemic. It did track when office and retail spaces went vacant. Other businesses that closed and may have been heading that way before the pandemic could have gone unrecognized, he said. But Huff added that some new businesses opened during the past 15 months.

She said Sugar Land small businesses are the heart of the citys economy and worth supporting.

They make us who we are, and were very proud of it. And you can really see our diversity shine in our business community, Huff said.

If you have an innovative idea for boosting the Sugar Land economy or want to learn more about the Request for Placemaking program, visit https://tinyurl.com/57kua5k2. For more information on the Call for Artists initiative, visit https://tinyurl.com/kp2r5cd5.

tracy.maness@hcnonline.com
PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney announced Monday that the city will be giving away cash prizes as part of a multiweek lottery to entice residents to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

The sweepstakes will include three drawings with chances to win up to $50,000 and is a partnership between the city, the Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania and the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium. Each of the drawings will award 12 prizes, with half being reserved for people in a designated undervaccinated zip code.

Several states including Ohio, New York, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon and Maryland are running financial incentive lotteries to increase the number of people seeking out vaccines. Researchers at UPenn said the lotteries have shown success in motivating people to get vaccinated in many of those states, but the Philadelphia partners said they wanted to design a program to target the neighborhoods with the lowest vaccine rates.

Incentives in general are raising a lot of interest around the country and in Philadelphia, said acting Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole, saying she was open to discussing other possible incentives. They seem to be powerful not as a sole way to get people vaccinated, but as a way to get some people vaccinated.

Bettigole said the sweepstakes might not motivate people who still have medical or other concerns about getting the vaccine to go, but could motivate others who have had issues making time in their work schedule, finding child care or prioritizing the appointments to make it to the neighborhood clinics where the city is now focusing its efforts.

The first drawing on June 21 includes six $1,000 prizes, four $5,000 prizes and two $50,000 prizes. People living in the 19126 zip code in north Philadelphia including parts of the East and West Oak Lane neighborhoods will be awarded half the prizes in those categories.

City health department officials have said that zip code is one of the 20 least vaccinated in the city, and was chosen at random. Department records showed about 721,000 people, more than half of the citys eligible residents, had been fully vaccinated as of Monday. Another almost 200,000 residents had received their first dose of the vaccine, meaning more than two-thirds of the city's eligible residents had received at least one dose.

The next two drawings on July 6 and July 19 will include the same prizes but will feature different under vaccinated zip codes to receive special consideration during those drawings, city officials said.

Wharton professor Katy Milkman, who studies behavioral economics and decision making, said that anyone who has already been vaccinated is also eligible for the drawing and encouraged people to sign up for the drawing on the city's vaccination sweepstakes website, by phone or by text to make sure that they are in the city drawing database. Chosen winners will be required to confirm they have received at least one dose of the vaccine and to approve a check with the jurisdiction where they received the vaccine.

Milkman said the program in Philadelphia is designed to pique people's sense of regret. If they sign up as interested but don't follow through on getting vaccinated, and their name is drawn, even for the $1,000 prize, there will be a sense of regret over not making time.

Knowing that that's a possibility is highly motivating, she said.
A Fort Bend County sheriff's deputy on Sunday shot and killed a 24-year-old man at a party in Needville where the deputy was providing security, according to the agency.

The Sheriff's Office said in a statement that the man had a knife at the Knights of Columbus Hall and refused to drop it despite deputy commands, making "continued efforts to assault citizens and the Deputy."

The victim's family offered a different story, though, telling the TV station Univision that he was protecting himself from a group of people that confronted him. The agency did not identify the victim, but Univision said it was Jose Angel Ibarra Ruiz. The station reported he was 25, not 24.

Our office is cooperating fully with our partner law enforcement agencies to investigate this unfortunate situation, Sheriff Eric Fagan said in a statement. Our hearts go out to the families and residents who have been affected by this tragedy.

Texas Rangers and the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office are assisting the investigation. The sheriff's office did not identify the deputy but said he is a veteran sergeant of the agency.

Video footage taken from the scene, obtained by Univision, shows a man lying on the ground as a deputy, with his gun drawn, tells people to return indoors.

"Everybody get inside. This is not the time to be filming," he says. Later, he tells another officer: "I shot him three times."

The agency said it is reviewing "more comprehensive videos of the incident, which are currently unavailable for release."

This is a developing story. Please check back later for more details.
A woman in her 20s is in stable but critical condition after a man shot her Sunday night at a Houston-area crawfish boil, officials said.

Residents had gathered for the boil in the 2500 block of East Wallisville in Highlands, when a man crashed the party, Dep. Thomas Gilliland said. When the host asked the man to leave, the partycrasher drew a small caliber handgun and shot her once in the stomach, Gilliland said. He then fled.
Carnival Cruise Line on Monday announced plans to begin cruising from the Port of Galveston on July 3  the first full-fledged cruise to leave from the port since pandemic shutdowns halted cruises nearly 16 months ago.

The cruise line will require travelers to show proof that theyre fully vaccinated. According to Carnival spokesperson Vance Gulliksen, the cruise line is evaluating whether a brand-new Texas law prohibiting vaccine passports would conflict with Carnivals protocol. Carnival believes it can proceed, Gulliksen said, since its following U.S. CDC orders.

Were still trying to figure out all these new laws, said Rodger Rees, CEO of the Port of Galveston. The cruise industry is a significant driver of Galvestons economy. In 2019, its economic impact was estimated $1.6 billion impact.

The national situation, Rees noted, is fluid. Besides the Texas law, Florida has sued the CDC, seeking for it to lift its COVID restrictions on cruise ships.

Vaccine researcher Peter Hotez, of Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Childrens Hospital, said that cruise ships, with their close quarters, put travelers at higher risk of contracting COVID-19. The Diamond Princess cruise in Japan, he noted, was associated with 14 deaths and roughly 700 cases.

The only way to make cruise ships safe again is through vaccination, said Hotez. This really requires everyone to be fully vaccinated.

The CDC still recommends that all people avoid travel on cruise ships, since the COVID-19 virus appears to spread rapidly in such close quarters. But, per CDC guidelines, cruise companies are beginning to operate test cruises with volunteer travelers.

The current CDC requirements for cruising with a guest base that is unvaccinated will make it very difficult to deliver the experience our guests expect, especially given the large number of families with younger children who sail with us, Christine Duffy, president of Carnival, said in a press release. As a result, our alternative is to operate our ships from the U.S. during the month of July with vaccinated guests.

The Carnival Vista will begin operations on July 3, followed by the Carnival Breeze on July 15.

Royal Caribbean International has announced that its Independence of the Seas will begin sailing out of Galveston on Aug. 15. Its previously announced policy states that those who are unvaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be required to undergo testing and follow other protocols, which will be announced at a later date.

Donna Tidwell, 77, is fully vaccinated and cant wait to begin cruising safely again. She mournfully reels off the list of cruises she has had canceled since the pandemic  cruises to Australia, Alaska, the Panama Canal, and Hawaii, plus two different Mediterranean cruises.

Im retired, she said. Im single. And its so easy to cruise.

lisa.gray@chron.com
Dozens of cheering supporters gathered outside the Houston Methodist Baytown campus Monday evening as several medical workers who refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine ended their last shifts working for the hospital system.

The act of protest was aimed at what workers said was the hospitals decision to suspend employees for two weeks without pay and then fire them for failing to immunize themselves.

Jennifer Bridges, a nurse who effectively lost her job at the Baytown facility for deciding not to be inoculated, said the goal was to stage a walkout but that did not go as planned. Participating employees who refused the vaccines first dose were told not to gather or linger on the hospital grounds after ending their shift, she said.

The hospital wouldnt let us do it, Bridges said.

She got out of work early, emptied her locker and gathered with others on a grassy medium near the ambulance entrance to the hospital. Bridges fished a paper out of a backpack  a suspension report  that she had been asked to sign. She refused, she continued.

About 117 employees in May filed a class action lawsuit against the health system for requiring its workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Bridges said the plaintiffs in the suit are a mix of those who want more trial data to emerge on the long-term effects of the vaccine before taking it, and those who simply dont want any shots.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston Methodist says it will fire hospital workers who refuse to take COVID vaccine

Were not against the vaccine, we just want to be more comfortable with this one and have thorough research out before we take it, Bridges in April said. When patients get care, they have the right to refuse treatment, but were not allowed that same exemption.

The suit alleged that the three major coronavirus vaccines are only authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, meaning employers cannot require them as a condition of employment. At least 50 more employees have expressed interest in joining the plaintiffs since the lawsuit went public, she said.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that oversees workplace laws, issued guidance on May 28 that said businesses can require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Houston Methodist employs 26,000 people in the region. Almost 100 percent of their employees have complied with the vaccination requirement, according to Methodist spokesperson Gale Smith, making the right decision to fulfill their sacred obligation to protect our patients.

Houston Methodists employees are required to receive a flu vaccine every year.

Unfortunately, a few employees have not met the vaccine requirements and are inviting other employees to join them as they end their shifts today, Smith said. The hospital system does not have an estimate of how many workers will be terminated as a result of the immunization requirement.

All employees who left Monday night were just leaving after their scheduled shifts, the hospital said.

Michelle Fuentes, a nurse in outpatient care at Methodists downtown Houston location, was escorted out of her building last month after refusing to sign what she said was a religious waiver.

She could keep her job, Fuentes said, if she agreed to not voice her opinions about the coronavirus or the vaccines to prevent it.

They told me they would get my stuff, my lunch, Fuentes said. They walked me out.

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: The ultimate guide on vaccines and viruses from the COVID Help Desk

Dr. Angelina Farella, a Webster pediatrician was wearing a white coat for the right-wing political organization Americas Frontline Doctors, on Monday led the group in prayer.

A car drove by the crowd minutes later and a driver cried out: Im fully vaccinated!

Another woman, Mona Wilson, stood with her husband and daughter after ending her last shift as a Methodist medical coder. She worked from home.

Wilson, 73, refused to be vaccinated and would not sign religious exemption paperwork, she said.

My managers, my bosses are really nice, she said. Theyre just following orders from HR.

Her husband, Allen Wilson, called the decision unfair.

Its not right, he said. She never interacts with anyone but me. She leaves the house twice a week  to go to the beauty shop and for church on Sunday.

As dusk descended, Fuentes joined the crowd as they marched toward the front of the hospital. Bridges hopped into the back of a pickup truck at one point and circled the building.

More than half of frontline medical workers across the U.S. have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based health policy think tank. As of April, 18 percent of frontline medical workers said they did not plan on signing up for a shot.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

nicole.hensley@chron.com
Clara Santos is among thousands in the Houston area bracing for the impact of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday that could prevent immigrants like her  who came under dire circumstances and earned Temporary Protected Status  from obtaining green cards.

Who is going to take care of my American kids if I lose TPS and there is no other solution for people like me to stay and work here legally? asked Santos, who came from El Salvador and has lived in the U.S. for 26 years. The 39-year-old who works in banquet services at a high-end Houston hotel feels desperate about the future for her six children, two with special needs and all but one of them U.S. citizens.

The unanimous ruling was shattering news for immigrants from Central America and other countries who crossed into the U.S. under duress due to unsafe or violent conditions in their homelands. It was written by Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee considered a stalwart of the progressive wing of the highest court. The court ruled there should not be a path to permanency for immigrants who entered without authorization or inspection and were later granted Temporary Protected Status.

TPS may be conferred on immigrants from 12 designated countries that have endured long stretches of hardship and turbulence. The list includes Myanmar, El Salvador, South Sudan, Yemen and Syria. Nationwide about 320,000 immigrants have TPS, including 42,000 in Texas. They have lived an average of 19 years in the U.S., according to court documents.

These foreign nationals who crossed illegally may not change their admission status to obtain green cards.

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However, Kagan noted in Mondays decision that it does not affect immigrants with TPS who entered the U.S. legally and then, say, overstayed their visa. They may still become permanent residents.

The case involves a couple from El Salvador who have been in the U.S. since the 1990s. It turned on whether people who entered the country illegally and were given humanitarian protections were ever admitted into the United States under immigration law.

Kagan wrote that TPS offers foreign nationals nonimmigrant status, But it does not admit them. So the conferral of TPS does not make an unlawful entrant  eligible for a green card.

The House of Representatives has passed legislation clearing a path for TPS recipients to become permanent residents, Kagan noted. The bill faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.

In the lead-up to the ruling, 19 states, the District of Columbia and advocacy organizations argued that many people who came to the U.S. for humanitarian reasons have lived in the country for years, given birth to American citizens and put down roots in the U.S. These entities urged the Biden administration to weigh in in favor of immigrants accessing permanent status, but the White House was in favor of keeping TPS exactly what it is: temporary.

The phone hasnt stopped ringing here at the office because people with TPS are very concerned now, said Teodoro Aguiluz, executive director of the nonprofit Central American Resources Center in Houston. The Supreme Court decision is a slap in their faces; many of them have worked in this country for decades, they have American children, they are essential to our communities.

However, Aguiluz said that the options are not exhausted for TPS holders after the court decision.

The Supreme Court doesnt grant residency, Aguiluz said. It is Congress who has to pass a law to create a path to residency for TPS holders, so the fight is not going to stop until it happens.

Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted his support for the ruling saying, Supreme Court rules that immigration laws must actually be followed. A unanimous Court, in an opinion by Justice Kagan, explains that in order to apply for legal residency, you must have been admitted to the country lawfully. To stay here legally, you must come here legally.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, whose family left Colombia decades ago to avoid violence and instability and eventually settled in the United States, said its vital to recognize the integral role of immigrants in this country.

America is stronger because since our inception we have served as a refuge for those fleeing violence, chaos and authoritarianism abroad, she said. This ruling highlights once again the dire need for Congress to modernize our outdated immigration system.

Gordon Quan, a veteran immigration lawyer in Houston, said he was not surprised the court found people with TPS couldnt transition to the green card process.

That has normally not been considered an admission, he said. I would have been surprised if they ruled the other way to tell you the truth.

A ruling in favor of the plaintiff would have opened the door for many thousands of others who applied from Central American and other countries facing violence or unrest.

Geoffrey Hoffman, director of the immigration clinic at the University of Houston Law Center, noted that the ruling focused narrowly on whether a person with TPS had formally been admitted into the U.S. despite an unauthorized entry.

The decision does not, however, stand for the blanket proposition that absolutely no one with TPS can ever adjust, Hoffman said. That is a misreading of the opinion. Rather it states that TPS  in and of itself  cannot serve as an admission.

Jose Santos Sanchez, the plaintiff in the case, wanted his entry or admission into the U.S. to be redefined as a legal crossing. The court determined people with TPS did not enter legally and that requirement bars them from getting a green card through admission.

People may still be able to adjust their status without an admission, Hoffman said. The decision does indeed make even more crucial the passage of legislation to assist people who have TPS and other people who are similarly situated.

Santos Sanchez, a Salvadoran national who came to the U.S. without immigration documentation in 1997, challenged the denial of his application for a green card. The circuit courts split in rulings on cases involving TPS.

TPS began in 2001 following a series of earthquakes in El Salvador. It allowed immigrants to remain in the U.S., despite crossing the border without authorization due to unsafe conditions in their home countries.

Sanchez and his wife had the status for 20 years. His employer then sought a visa for Sanchez as a skilled worker. He and his wife applied for permanent residency in 2014.

The snag came when they began a process to adjust their entry status. Immigration officials determined their illegal entry disqualified them from beginning the process to change their status. The Supreme Court agreed.

Carlos Argueta, another TPS holder from El Salvador with a small tax preparation business in Houston, said he was worried about his status being insecure for the past 20 years.

This has been a nightmare for us; we deserve a permanent legal solution, he said.

Argueta said he will be among the protesters at a daytime TPS vigil planned for Thursday outside the Mickey Leland Federal Building downtown to push for a path to residency.

Cayla Harris, Zach Despart, Jordan Rubio and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

gabrielle.banks@chron.com

olivia.tallet@chron.com
Seven-month-old Jayden Yker Metayer struggles to sleep at night without the comfort of his fathers arms.

The family made a long journey from Haiti in search of a better life, and the babys mother, Jouseline Metayer, was brought to a Family Transfer Center that opened last week in Houston to help the influx of migrants cleared at the border as they connect with their families or sponsors in the U.S. and go through the legal process to seek asylum.

Since the couple wasnt legally married, Customs and Border Enforcement didnt allow the man  who had the contact information for their American sponsor  to remain with them. The Houston center is working to reunite the family or find another sponsor for the Jouseline and Jayden.

They are treating us very well here in Houston, (but) I know that I cannot stay here forever, the mother said.

The Houston center is part of a growing network of nonprofits in Texas and other states that are scrambling to meet overwhelming demand for transitional services. About 225 migrants  all families with children from Haiti and Venezuela  were brought to Houston late last week from the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition, a nonprofit in Del Rio, Texas, said Carlos Villarreal, a senior leader for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We responded to a sort of crisis because Val Verde was already at capacity and couldnt take them, Villarreal said.

The coalition regularly served around 100 people in a busy month, but that number spiked to 2,000 in March, said Tiffany Burrow, director of operations at the center in Del Rio. It dipped again for April and May, but then jumped again last week, when they received over 1,000.

Thats when we got a tremendous amount, she said. Thats where the Family Transfer Center in Houston did a magnificent job of coming to our aid and offering up their facility.

The Border Patrol encountered 50,016 people arriving as family units at the southwest border in April, according to the latest available statistics. The number represent a big jump from only 738 coming as families during the same month in 2020, but its less than the 62,313 in the same month of 2019.

Villarreal said the church, headquartered in Utah, selected Houston to open the center because it is a large transportation hub and a region where there are about 70,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a large pool of volunteers to run the center.

Most of the migrants who took respite in Houston spent just one night or less at the center, located near the George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The 500-person capacity center features a kitchen, bathrooms, dining tables and a large area for cots.

The facility also has 24/7 in-house EMS service and a triage tent to isolate and treat COVID-19 cases. Villarreal said that migrants are monitored for body temperature and symptoms upon arrival, but no one has been sick or diagnosed with the virus.

Volunteers help migrants connect with relatives in the U.S. and make travel arrangements. The center shuttles them to the airport or bus station.

Families were excited about getting closer to their destination in Houston, Burrow said. A lot of the families were going to the East Coast and they really were grateful to have two international airports and many more options to get to their destinations.

A few migrant families, especially those with more complicated situation, planned to spend several nights as workers attempted to locate families and sponsors.

Similar to Metayer, Vallerie Stephanie Lamour is at the Houston center with her 7-year-old twins, Abisay Stephan Lopez Lamour and Neftali Elias Lopez Lamour.

In these cases, families were composed of women with their children who were separated by the government from their husbands and dont know where to go now.

My husband had the phone number of the people who were going to help us here, Metayer said.

Metayer said she went from Haiti to Chile and, after an unsuccessful attempt to obtain residency and a year without a job, she and her husband Ramson Fleurestil decided to initiate a long trip to the U.S. with the baby. They crossed Peru, Colombia and the Darien Gap forest to Panama before reaching Central America.

The family crossed the Suchiate River from Guatemala to Mexico arriving at the border city of Tapachula in the Mexican state of Chiapas. From there, just as many migrants do, they took a three days non-stop bus to Ciudad Acuna, a small city at the border where they crossed the Rio Grande towards Del Rio.

We crossed the river at about 4 p.m., Metayer said. Some people there told us to hurry up because the waters rose after four and that the river drags people who end up drowning.

The mother said that her husband carried the child mounted on his neck.

She said that already on the U.S. side of the border, they saw Cuban migrants who told them to run to evade authorities. Instead, they decided to surrender to Border Patrol. She says that Custom and Border Protection officers treated them well, but ended up separating them when they learned that they were not legally married.

The officer said that here in America my husband is not my husband but my boyfriend, said Metayer. But they dont understand that in Haiti many couples dont marry with papers I dont know where my husband is or where to go, she said, quietly crying.

According to Burrow and Villarreal, cases like them arriving at respites are the exception rather than the rule. They say that the vast majority arrives with arrangements previously made with relatives in the U.S. who are ready to pay for their trips to their destinations.

The costs related to the Family Transfer Center in Houston is paid by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and donations from partners and the public, said Villarreal. Among organizations partnering in this effort are Catholic Charities, The National Association of Christian Churches, YMCA International Services, Texas Adventist Community Services, Houston Responds, and The Houston Food Bank. The respite is located in the headquarters of the NACC, a disaster relief nonprofit that ran a shelter for unaccompanied girls for two weeks in April.

This initiative to help migrants is not a federally imposed solution, said Doug Andersen, spokesman for the church in Salt Lake City, who is in Houston for the 10 a.m. Monday announcement of the center. This is not a top down solution. This community has seen a problem and thats how we are responding to it. This is a community solution.

olivia.tallet@chron.com

Twitter.com/oliviaptallet
One persons election integrity is still another persons voter suppression  even after all the ink spilled in these pages to clarify the difference.

Today, we try a different format to supplement our editorials on voting: a straight-forward Q&A that strives to answer lingering questions with plain-spoken answers. Many queries are inspired by our readers.

This is not a finite document. We will add more questions and answers to this editorial online as the voting rights debate continues. Submit queries to viewpoints@chron.com, with the subject line Voting Question. We will do our best to answer and some will be selected for publication.

Q: Why is it racist to require a photo ID to vote? You need an ID to do anything  to drive, to board an airplane.

A: Driving and boarding an airplane are not fundamental rights enshrined by the Constitution. There should be as few barriers to voting as possible. Voter ID has been Texas law since 2018. One reason it was contested in courts for years is because, unlike other states, Texas made no effort to accommodate people whod have a hard time getting a driver license or other ID: the elderly and disabled who dont drive, or voters who cant afford an ID. One more thing: The kind of fraud that voter ID laws ostensibly target - voter impersonation - is virtually nonexistent.

Q: Why would anybody oppose legislation to securing our elections?

A: When we meet someone who opposes secure elections, well let you know. Everyone wants fraud-free elections we can trust. And in Texas, thats what we have. While ballot access isnt as free as it should be, the elections themselves are secure. The Texas Secretary of State, appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, declared the November election in Texas safe and secure. In 15 years of looking for election fraud among the 94 million votes cast in Texas elections since 2005, only 174 people ended up prosecuted for it  .000185 percent of total votes cast.

Q: One case is too much. Just how much fraud do you think is acceptable?

A: None. No fraud is acceptable. Thats why we have laws to prevent it or to catch it and prosecute it - even the minor offenses that make up the bulk of those 174 Texas prosecutions. None, by the way, were the criminal masterminds were told to fear at the polls. The 33 people who actually got jail time included felons who voted before they eligible, people who filled out another persons absentee ballot, small town politicians falsely registering voters and the harshest sentence, eight years, went to a legal resident from Mexico who says she didnt know she wasnt eligible to vote when she cast two votes for Republicans.

Q: You dont find what you dont look for.

A: Wed venture to say that nobody has looked harder for voter fraud than the officials here in Texas, including Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose political career hinges on support from President Trump, who wants very much to find voter fraud - whether real or perceived. Paxton even doubled the number of hours his taxpayer-funded staff has spent looking  alas, with only piddling results. Wed also venture to say that if there were real, serious fraud going on, the first folks to find it would be the candidates themselves, who monitor their own elections, just itching to report anything amiss so they can demand investigations and recounts.

Q: Surely, theres some reason Gov. Greg Abbott declared election integrity an emergency in the 2021 session.

A: Election integrity is indeed an emergency - if youre a Republican lawmaker who has been priming your political base for 20 years to believe in widespread voter fraud. GOP primary voters believed the hype, and President Trump turned it into a national crisis. Now GOP voters want action  or else.

Q: You expect me to believe that in court cases, and in legislative debates, the State of Texas and Republican leaders are just lying about voter fraud?

A: Yes. To be fair, though, Texas has been using the excuse of voter fraud for more than 100 years, ever since it banned former slaves and Mexican Americans from voting  and back then it was Democrats discriminating. Just name a voter suppression tactic and Texas has used it - poll taxes, literacy tests, all-white primaries - all of them justified by protecting election integrity. Texas has literally violated the Voting Rights Act every redistricting cycle since 1970, the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has noted, adding that Texas is the only state with this consistent record. The underhandedness continues today: a federal judge determined this year that Texas has for years been violating the 1993 Motor Voter law that required states to allow driver licenses applicants to register to vote. Texas extensive history of voter suppression is the reason we should be wary of any bill restricting voter rights.

Q: What do Republicans have to gain from lying about voter fraud?

A: The voter fraud narrative is a life raft for the GOP. Long before Trump, the party saw the country growing younger and more diverse and - recognizing that those groups tend to vote Democratic  some Republicans wanted to broaden the partys appeal while others chose a war of attrition at the ballot box. A few Republicans have admitted it. Back in 2007, Texas GOP political director Royal Masset told the Houston Chronicle Among Republicans, it is an article of religious faith that voter fraud is causing us to lose elections, and even though he didnt agree, he estimated that requiring photo IDs would boost the GOP vote 3 percent. In March, Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked a lawyer for the Arizona Republican Party, Michael Carvin, why the GOP had an interest in defending the states voting restrictions. Carvin did not argue fraud or integrity. Because it puts us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats. Politics is a zero sum game, he said in oral arguments. Every extra vote Democrats got by expanding access to the polls is the difference between winning an election 50 to 49 and losing 51 to 50.

Q: Why are Republicans so sure theyd lose if they made it easier to vote?

A: Good question. Reforms such as registering the same day you vote would benefit Republicans, too. But since many minority voters are lower-income, and may lack transportation or child care, for instance, they may have a tougher time overcoming each obstacle. Removing those obstacles may increase minority voting, which isnt necessarily bad for the GOP. We can look to Trumps strong showing in the Rio Grande Valley in November as proof that Republicans message, even today, resonates with some minority voters. But doing the outreach to win over minority

Q: Texas cant just ban Black people from the polls anymore. How are todays Republicans really blocking access or taking away voting rights?

A: Its true, fortunately, that through the years, federal courts blocked and banned Texas overtly racist voter suppression laws until the moles were sufficiently whacked out. But that hasnt stopped Texas and other states from trying in more subtle ways that appear neutral. Lawmakers last session tried to ban drive-thru and 24-hour voting, methods popular with minority voters. They proposed restricting the distribution of polling places and voting machines in counties such as Harris, which are Democratic strongholds with many minority voters. They tried to ban early voting on Sundays until 1 p.m., which critics said directly targeted Black churchgoers who participate in Souls to the Polls.

Q: Are you saying every Republican lawmaker who voted for SB7 was racist?

A: We cant see into their souls. Is it racist to vote for a policy that is likely to hurt a particular racial group? It certainly isnt anti-racist. The main goal, though, seems to be blocking Democrats from voting, any Democrats. Most election fraud warriors are likely equal opportunity oppressors. Theyd just as soon pass a bill  and they have  that makes it harder for a white liberal college student to vote as one that stymies a Black single mom working nights. Wed bet most would also offer that mom a ride to the polls  if she intended to vote Republican.

Q: If somebody really wanted to vote, they could find a way.

A: We dont disagree that a super-motivated voter hell bent on doing his or her civic duty could probably find a way around any obstacle Texas could dish out these days. But who are we to say youve got to be a super-motivated, model citizen to vote? Who is anybody to say you cant be a procrastinator, or a first-time voter who just got interested in a candidate a week before the election, or a stressed-out single mom who doesnt have a home printer to print out a voter registration application? The path to the polls should never be an obstacle course. Just as we no longer impose literacy tests on voters, governments shouldnt impose tests of worthiness or civic fitness. Voting is a fundamental right that should be made easier for all U.S. citizens who are eligible - not harder.
Accountability

Regarding Failure to lead: Legislature in a nutshell, (A12, June 3): It has been over two months after the collapse of the Texas electric grid, which left millions freezing in the dark and may have killed almost 200 Texans, yet we have very few answers about what happened or how to keep it from happening again. In the aftermath of the storm, our state leaders promised this session would not end without this problem being fixed. That has not happened. Billions over the normal costs were billed as ERCOT broke its own rules, yet no investigation occurred as to why. Worse, as we head into summer, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation has warned that Texas may experience yet another energy shortfall. Texans deserve an independent investigation into what happened during Winter Storm Uri and what can be done to prevent another devastating blackout. Texans who wish to hold our leaders accountable should join our petition demanding such an investigation.

William King, Houston

Women in leadership

Regarding SBC will test womens fight to be ordained, (A13, June 3): I am a committed Christian, so Susan M. Shaws article caught my attention. It recalled the days when my high-school-aged daughter, raised in the United Methodist Church, was seriously considering ordained ministry. In college, she fell in with a Southern Baptist Church and abandoned her dream of becoming a church leader. In my recent effort to write a book about Christianity, I researched the basis for women being excluded from church leadership. The exclusion of women from church leadership based on their role in the fall requires a biased reading of the biblical text (Genesis 3). It also ignores the first creation story (Genesis 1) in which men and women were both created in Gods image. It ignores Pauls assertion that in Christ there is neither male nor female (Galatians 3:28).

Secularly, women have led scores of major nations around the world, except of course the United States. Any assertion that women lack the talent to lead is nonsense. The unique experiences of women compared to men should never be excluded from being heard from the pulpit. I would encourage women of the Southern Baptist Convention to stand strong against the misogyny in their church. If that fails, then we of the United Methodist Church would welcome them as leaders in our churches.

John T. James, Houston
The claim: The filibuster, if it does not get reformed, still means that maybe 30 percent of the population potentially controls the majority of Senate seats.  Former President Barack Obama.

PolitiFact rating: Half True. In the Senates current makeup, senators representing 29 percent to 39 percent of the U.S. population would be sufficient to mount a filibuster and block a vote on legislation, in a sense controlling what can be passed in the chamber.

However, an alliance of states with a combined population that small couldnt secure a majority of seats in the chamber, unless you ignore todays strong partisan leanings in most states.

Discussion

Obama has repeatedly criticized the filibuster since leaving office. At the eulogy for John Lewis, the civil rights activist and congressman from Georgia who died in 2020, Obama called the filibuster a Jim Crow relic.

In particular, Obama said that states with a small percentage of the population could control the majority of Senate seats. Given todays partisan tendencies in each state, controlling an actual majority of seats would not be feasible for that small a percentage. However, a small percentage of the population could control enough seats to successfully wield the filibuster, which effectively gives them control over whether a majority can pass legislation.

About PolitiFact PolitiFact is a fact-checking project to help you sort out fact from fiction in politics. Truth-O-Meter ratings are determined by a panel of three editors. The burden of proof is on the speaker, and PolitiFact rates statements based on the information known at the time the statement is made. See More Collapse

The Constitution gives each state two senators, regardless of population, so Wyoming and Vermont have the same representation in the chamber as California and Texas, which have more than 30 times as many people.

The largest 15 states have 66 percent of the nations population, but just 30 seats in the Senate, according to a recent analysis by The Washington Post.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

While the articles conclusion is generally consistent with Obamas point, it doesnt have anything to do with the filibuster or the 60-vote threshold to end one. Rather, the article looked at representation throughout the entire chamber.

More importantly, the analysis ignores which party currently holds the smallest states Senate seats. In reality, those 35 smaller states have selected a mix of Republican and Democratic senators, so these states would not be likely to form a unified coalition.

But there are ways to look at the question of whether senators from a bloc of smaller states could effectively use the filibuster to steer the Senate for one party. One way is to ask: What is the smallest share of the U.S. population whose senators could block legislation by mounting a successful filibuster, once you factor in the prevailing party affiliation?

For that analysis, PolitiFact used the current partisan breakdown of the Senate. The results could change if seats flip in the next election, or if partisan trends in some states evolve.

PolitiFact looked at the smallest 21 states that currently have two senators from the same party  21 because thats the minimum number of states that would allow one party to prevail in a filibuster, and the same party because in the six states with mixed delegations, the senators votes would likely cancel each other out. (PolitiFact counted the Senates two independent members, Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as Democrats, since they caucus with the Democrats.)

The 21 smallest states that have two Republican senators account for 29 percent of the U.S. population. So, by themselves, these states could muster 42 votes to sustain a filibuster, thereby overruling the 71 percent of the population represented by the other 58 senators.

The 21 smallest states with two Democratic senators account for 39 percent of the U.S. population, meaning that Democrats from these states could mount a filibuster that thwarts senators representing the remaining 61 percent of the population.

So Obamas remark is a reasonable assessment of how much muscle a fraction of states can flex in order to block legislation in the Senate.

But Obamas claim that 30 percent of the population potentially controls the majority of Senate seats overreaches. In the Senates current makeup, 29 percent to 39 percent of the population could control 42 seats  but not a majority of seats in the 100-seat chamber.

In reality, neither party today can muster an actual majority, 51 seats, using just states that have unified partisan control of their Senate delegation.

Adding Texas and California to the previous tally, the 22 states that currently have two Republican senators represent 38 percent of the population, and the 22 states with two Democratic senators represent 51 percent of the population. (The other six states have mixed representation.)

These groupings of states produce only 44 seats for either party  not a majority.

In the big picture, however, Obama has a legitimate point, said Josh Ryan, a Utah State University political scientist and specialist in Congress.

Essentially a very small population of the country gets to veto legislation preferred by a large majority, Ryan said. They dont get to control the Senate, but they get to control what passes the Senate.
WASHINGTON  The fight over the Senate filibuster escalated sharply Tuesday, as President Joe Biden for the first time threw his weight behind changing the rules even as Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, threatened harsh reprisals if Democrats moved to weaken the procedural tactic.

In an interview with ABC News, Biden gave his most direct endorsement yet of overhauling the filibuster, saying that he favored a return to what is called the talking filibuster: the requirement that opponents of legislation occupy the floor and make their case against it.

I dont think that you have to eliminate the filibuster; you have to do it, what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days, the president said.

You had to stand up and command the floor, and you had to keep talking. The comments were a significant departure for Biden, a 36-year veteran of the Senate who has been frequently described by aides as reluctant to alter Senate procedure.

Its getting to the point where, you know, democracy is having a hard time functioning, he added.

Currently, senators need only to register their objections to legislation to force supporters to produce 60 votes to break the filibuster, which has become a near-daily part of Senate life. Requiring opponents to hold the floor would put more of the burden on them and theoretically make it harder for them to sustain their opposition.

Bidens comments came as McConnell issued his stark warning and as the presidents allies on Capitol Hill began building a public case for the elimination of the tactic.

After Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, called for changes to reduce the filibuster's power, McConnell, R-Ky., bluntly promised a scorched earth response and pledged to grind the Senate to a standstill and derail Bidens agenda if Democrats took that step.

Everything that Democratic Senates did to Presidents Bush and Trump, everything the Republican Senate did to President Obama, would be childs play compared to the disaster that Democrats would create for their own priorities if  if  they break the Senate, McConnell said.

He was referring to the prospect that Democrats might resort to a move known as the nuclear option, using their majority status to force a change in the Senate rules that allow lawmakers to block action on a bill unless proponents can muster 60 votes to move forward. That would effectively destroy the filibuster, allowing the majority party  currently the Democrats  to muscle through any measure on its own.

Progressives have been agitating for such a change to allow Biden to steer his agenda around Republican obstruction, and a growing number of Democrats are openly considering it. The idea has gained strength after the enactment of Bidens $1.9 trillion stimulus measure, which Democrats pushed through the Senate without a single Republican vote under a special budget process, delivering legislation that has so far been well received by the public and given Democrats a taste of the possibilities of a postfilibuster world.

Seeking to slow Democrats and get the attention of the White House, McConnell was adamant that Republicans would tie the Senate into knots in retaliation if they took the step. He made his declaration after Durbin, a respected veteran of the institution, had said Monday that it was time to stop allowing the minority party to routinely block legislation by requiring a three-fifths majority to advance most bills. It was the most explicit call yet by a Democrat leader to take action.

Durbin noted that it was McConnell who institutionalized the use of the filibuster, which historically had been used rarely before the Kentuckian was in charge. Durbin said the procedural weapon was a particularly sore point for him, since it is has for two decades prevented Democrats from enacting the so-called DREAM Act, a popular bipartisan bill that he wrote that would create a path to legal status for unauthorized immigrants brought into the United States as children. Though it has majority support, it has never been able to clear the 60-vote threshold.

I brought it to the Senate floor on five different occasions, and on five different occasions, it was stopped by the filibuster, Durbin said Tuesday.

In his speech Monday, Durbin argued that the burden should be shifted to opponents of a given bill to maintain a filibuster rather than on supporters to produce 60 votes to advance it, a view similar to the one expressed by Biden. Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va. and one of the partys leading opponents to ending the filibuster, has also said he would entertain the idea of requiring talking filibusters.

Democrats say they are not yet ready to move ahead with any attempt to overhaul the filibuster rules and they also lack votes in their own party to do so at the moment. For now, activists are urging them to build momentum by following the same strategy that they employed in 2013 before they used the nuclear option to effectively do away with filibusters against executive and judicial branch nominees.

That year, Harry Reid of Nevada, then the Senate majority leader, lined up a series of three highly regarded judicial nominees for vacancies on a prestigious appeals court to show that Republicans were going to block Obama administration nominees no matter how qualified they were. Democrats then brought up the nominees repeatedly for floor votes and failed to break Republican filibusters, a process that eventually persuaded enough senators in their ranks that they had no choice but to lower the 60-vote threshold for nominees to prevent the Obama administration from being denied its right to seat judges.

Proponents of changing the filibuster say Democrats could now do the same with progressive legislation that has majority support. Proposals include a voting rights measure now beginning to make its way through the Senate, immigration legislation, a gun safety bill, a gay and transgender rights bill, a pro-union organizing measure and potentially a large-scale public works measure. The House has spent the past several weeks pushing through many of the measures over unanimous or near-solid Republican opposition; the DREAM Act is scheduled for a vote Thursday.

We need to build a record that could be passed immediately that is failing on the filibuster, said Adam Jentleson, a former top aide to Reid during the 2013 showdown who has written a new book that attacks the filibuster, arguing that it has destroyed the Senate and impeded public policy that has broad national support.

Senators appear to be increasingly responsive to appeals to end the filibuster as it now exists as they look ahead to the possibility of months of Republican resistance to their agenda.

I think people have just had it, said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who leads the Rules Committee, about the blocking tactic that she had endorsed in the past. I dont think we should let an antiquated Senate rule undermine the foundation of our democracy and stop us from making progress.

Klobuchar intends to convene a hearing next week on the broad voting rights bill already passed by the House, and she acknowledged that it was likely to be a major test of the filibuster.

In his comments, McConnell threatened that Republicans would turn the rules against Democrats and try to make it virtually impossible to do anything in the Senate if they proceeded with the change. He referred to the fact that the chamber operates under arcane rules often bypassed through what is known as a unanimous consent agreement where no senator objects. If Democrats plunged ahead to gut the filibuster, he warned, Republicans would deny consent even on the most mundane of matters, effectively bogging down the Senate.

Let me say this very clearly for all 99 of my colleagues, McConnell said. Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin  can even begin  to imagine what a completely scorched-earth Senate would look like  none. None of us have served one minute in a Senate that was completely drained of comity, and this is an institution that requires unanimous consent to turn the lights on before noon.

McConnell, who noted that he had resisted aggressive demands by President Donald Trump to get rid of the filibuster and ram through Republicans agenda, said eliminating it would represent a transformative change in government and go far beyond what voters intended in electing Biden and the evenly divided Senate.

Does anyone really believe the American people were voting for an entirely new system of government by electing Joe Biden to the White House and a 50-50 Senate? he asked. There was no mandate to completely transform America by the American people on Nov. 3.

Klobuchar disagreed with that assessment, saying that Americans did vote for a new approach and that ditching the filibuster might be necessary to achieve it.

They voted for someone who is more moderate for president but someone who is going to do big things, she said. They voted for change.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Members of the Texas County Commission met on May 26-27, according to minutes it released.

Commissioners:

Met with some elected officials as to what day might work best for a group meeting and approved some handbook changes related to personal leave.

Heard from the assessor and county treasurer about professional issues affecting the county.

Approved a contract for services in the jail and heard the sheriff express concerns about time involved with the replacement of a new roof top HVAC unit and concerning the Missouri Department of Corrections granting early release of a prisoner to the custody of the sheriffs office.

Reviewed and acknowledged the request for the transfer of Patti Murray from part- to full-time status effective June 2 in the recorders office.

Heard from the coroner who had issues concerning the reporting of withholding, an update was given on her putting old records on computer, requested an X-ray machine and discussion of monthly reports.

Reviewed correspondence from Argo Group concerning insurance coverage in the future and its partnership with Sedgwick.

COMMISSION MEETS Members of the Texas County Commission handled several matters recently, according to recently released minutes from it.

Discussed issues that have surfaced with transferring the roof top unit.

Visited with Brett Hoffman of Rep. Jason Smiths office.

Met with Linda Bradford concerning ways Pierce Township is operating.

Met with Elizabeth Brown of Cabool Assisted Living as to the affects to clients with changes to insurance benefits. The commission will contact the public administrator.

Met with Glenn McKinney concerning a Memorial Day ceremony at the Texas County Administrative Center.

Visited with Chris Stickland, TCMH CEO, concerning professional services at the jail and funding related to the American Recovery Plan Act.

Entered into a closed session to discuss legal and personnel issues.
Wor-Wic Community College is accepting applications for a full-time faculty member to teach accounting and business courses, advise students and review curricula.

Requirements include a masters degree with either a bachelors or graduate degree in accounting or business administration or other relevant field and tax preparation and/or payroll processing skills.

Preference will be given to applicants with a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license, teaching experience, and the ability to incorporate electronic and Web-based technology into teaching.

This 10-month position begins August 15. The starting salary is competitive, depending on qualifications and experience, with excellent fringe benefits. T

o be considered for this position you must apply through Wor-Wics online employment application system at https://www.schooljobs.com/careers/worwic . This position will remain open until filled; applications received by June 20 will be given first consideration.

Wor-Wic Community College is an equal opportunity employer located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

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The following are excerpts from just some of the reports recently generated by the Texas County Sheriffs Department:

A deputy was dispatched May 30 regarding a report of a suicidal man with a firearm at a Bell Road residence at Success.

A man who lives in another state had called and said he had been on the phone with his brother, who was drunk and had made statements about shooting himself. The man said his brother had been dealing with mental issues caused by family circumstances last year.

The officer made contact with the brother, who was clearly drunk, but said he hadnt said anything about hurting himself. The deputy observed three guns in plain view in the living room, one of which was determined to be a BB gun, while the others were a .357 revolver and a .22 caliber rifle.

The officer asked the man if he thought having the guns accessible to him was a good idea in his condition, and the man said he didnt and asked the officer to take them.

The deputy took the guns for safekeeping and the man said thank you.

A deputy was dispatched to Texas County Memorial Hospital on May 31 regarding a report of a dog bite.

The officer made contact with a 46-year-old man and 53-year-old man there who told the officer the dog had bitten the older man when he tried to pet it. The younger man said the dog had already been put down due to the situation.

Texas County Jail admissions

May 29

Jimmy Fields  Shannon County warrant

Austin Johnson  probation and parole warrant

May 30

Kimbra Kassa  delivery of a controlled substance

June 1

Jesse L. Jennings  DWI, possession of controlled substance, unlawful possession of a firearm

Erica R. Johnson  assault, robber, armed criminal action, making false report

Andrew J. Morrison  assault, robbery, making false report

Jason D. Leonard  burglary, stealing

Billy Hayes Sr.  possession of child pornography, promoting child pornography

Dunn D. Spears Jr.  failure to appear

Gilbert Olague Jr.  Kansas warrant

June 2

Adam T. Reams  assault, resisting arrest

Brett M. Scholz  burglary, stealing

Gregory Johnson  stealing

June 3

Adam T. Reams  murder

David L. Griggs  driving while revoked

Lina Vaughn  96-hour commitment

June 5

Lawrence Campbell  3-day commitment

Brandon Pena  possession of controlled substance

Linda White  stealing

Marty Brooks  DWI (drugs)

June 6

Seth M. Clark  24-hour commitment

Lionel J. Finney  failure to appear
Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

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Salary $87,339.20 - $133,390.40 Annually Location Arlington *METRO-accessible*, VA Job Type Full-Time Department Community Planning, Housing and Development Job Number 3119-21C-PHD-SD Closing 6/24/2021 11:59 PM Eastern Position Information The Community Planning, Housing and Development (CPHD) Department is seeking a motivated and progressive Principal Planner to join our Policy, Research, and Information Management (PRIM) section, within the Zoning Division as the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) Coordinator to manage all aspects of the BZA Program and supervise two Associate Planners that support the program. The PRIM section is responsible for providing oversight and execution of operations for the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), records management of land use decisions, administration of zoning map corrections, and responding to written inquiries on behalf of the Zoning Administrator.



The Zoning Division is responsible for providing a wide range of services related to the administration and interpretation of regulations contained in the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance, including processing applications for public hearings and providing technical assistance to citizens and the development community.



Specific Duties: Providing staff support to the Board of Zoning Appeals which includes preparing, analyzing, and drafting BZA monthly public notices, staff reports, photos, PowerPoint presentations, meeting minutes, and disposition letters;

Providing technical assistance and information to citizens, staff, and the development community;

Training staff in the analysis of Use Permit and Variance requests and reviewing staff reports for technical accuracy and consistency of approach;

Evaluating property conditions pursuant to the State Code and ACZO, and drafting findings the BZA must make in granting a Use Permit or Variance;

Remaining knowledgeable of legislation that may affect the BZA, advising property owners and staff on requests and recommending alternative solutions to applicants when appropriate;

Maintaining the BZA website and its content, including regular updates for each public hearing;

Analyzing trends in applications to determine whether changes to the Zoning Ordinance should be considered;

Providing responses to information requests from the BZA, County staff, public, media, and other agencies including a database of requests and preparing an annual report to the County Board of BZA activities;

Working with Zoning Plan Reviewers to assess building permit requests and ensure that they comply with the drawings approved by the BZA as well as any conditions approval; and

Coordinating with Zoning Enforcement staff to enforce the BZA conditions of approval for use permit and variance requests, on behalf of the BZA;

The ideal candidate is a problem-solver, great communicator, with impeccable customer service skills; including knowledge of related legal principles, the ability to handle intense situations while managing multiple tasks, and a team-player that would love an opportunity to assist in achieving the organizations strategic goals.

Selection Criteria Minimum: Bachelor's Degree in Urban Planning, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, or related field;

Three (3) years of progressive experience in urban or community planning specifically in zoning, land use development and/or urban design. Substitution: Additional education may be substituted for experience.



Desirable: Preference may be given to candidates with a Master's Degree in a related field and experience in one or more of the following:

Reviewing development proposals and applying adopted land use policies and ordinances;

Working with, creating, and modifying GIS data;

Knowledge of land use law related to Zoning;

Preparing and conducting presentations in a public setting; and

Providing substantive support to BZA, Planning Commission or other advisory groups.

Special Requirements A pre-employment criminal records check will be conducted, which may include criminal records, driving records, education, professional licensure, and credit history. You may be required to sign a release authorizing the County to obtain your background information.



The applicant must possess, or obtain by the time of appointment, a valid Driver License. The applicant must authorize Arlington County to obtain, or the applicant must provide a copy of the applicant's official state/district driving record. Any offer of employment is contingent upon a favorable review of the applicant's driving record.



Completion of the Commonwealth of Virginia "Statement of Economic Interest (Financial Disclosure)" form will be required of the successful candidate upon hire and annually thereafter.

Additional Information Work Hours: Monday - Friday, flexible work hours generally between 8:00am and 5:00pm. Evening and weekend work will be required to attend Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meetings.



The official title for this position is Planner, Principal.



The salary listed at the top of this announcement is effective July 1, 2021



Your responses to the supplemental questionnaire are considered part of the selection process and are required for this position. Please do not give "see resume" as a response to the questions. Each section of the application must be completed. A resume may be attached; however, it will not substitute for the completed application. Incomplete applications will be rejected. Arlington County Government employee benefits depend on whether a position is permanent, the number of hours worked, and the number of months the position is scheduled.



Specific information on benefits and conditions of employment can be found on the Arlington County Human Resources Department website: (see application details)



Permanent, Full-Time Appointments

All jobs are permanent, full-time appointments unless otherwise stated in the announcement. The following benefits are available:



Paid Leave : Vacation leave is earned at the rate of four hours biweekly. Leave accrual increases every three years until eight hours of leave are earned biweekly for twelve or more years of service. Sick leave is earned at the rate of four hours biweekly. There are eleven paid holidays each year.



Health and Dental Insurance : Three group health insurance plans are offered - a network open access plan, a point-of-service plan, and a health maintenance organization. A group dental insurance plan is also offered. The County pays a significant portion of the premium for these plans for employees and their dependents. A discount vision plan is provided for eye care needs.



Life Insurance : A group term policy of basic life insurance is provided at no cost to employees. The benefit is one times annual salary. Additional life insurance is available with rates based on the employee's age and smoker/non-smoker status.



Retirement : The County offers three vehicles to help you prepare for retirement: a defined benefit plan, a defined contribution plan (401(a)), and a deferred compensation plan (457). The defined benefit plan provides a monthly retirement benefit based on your final average salary and years of service with the County. You contribute a portion of your salary on a pre-tax basis to this plan. General employees contribute 4% of pay; uniformed public safety employees contribute 7.5% of pay. Employees become vested in the plan at five years of service. The County also contributes to this plan.



For general employees, the County also contributes 4.2% of pay to a defined contribution plan (401(a)) . The County also matches your 457 contribution, up to $20 per pay period, in this plan. The 457 deferred compensation plan allows you to set aside money on either a pre-tax (457b) or post-tax (457 Roth) basis up to the IRS annual limit. New employees are automatically enrolled with a pre-tax contribution equal to 2% of your base pay.



Other Benefits: The County also offers health, dependent care, and parking flexible spending accounts; long-term care insurance; tuition assistance; transit and walk/bike to work subsidies; a college savings plan; wellness programs; training opportunities; and a variety of other employee benefits.



Permanent, Part-Time Appointments:

Part time employees who work ten or more hours per week receive paid leave and benefits in proportion to the number of hours worked per week.



Limited Term Appointments:

Benefits are the same as permanent appointments except that the employees do not achieve permanent status.



Temporary Regular Appointments:

Temporary regular employees who work 30 hours or more per week are eligible for health, dental, and basic life insurance as described above. They are also eligible for vacation, sick leave, and paid holidays.



Temporary Seasonal and Occasional Appointments:

Temporary employees who work on a seasonal basis or variable hours receive sick leave, but do not normally receive other paid leave or benefits. Exceptions are noted in individual announcements.


QUICK HITS: Tunecore adds Qobuz  Diversity @ The Orchard  Rumblefish + Adaptr  Round Hill gets LIT  Intl Fest Forum  WCM signs Solis

Music from TuneCore artists will now be available on Hi-Res streaming and download platform Qobuz.

 The Orchard announced that Naledi Nyahuma Seck has joined the company as Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Based in Los Angeles, Nyahuma Seck will report to Colleen Theis, The Orchards Chief Operating Officer, and work closely with Tiffany R. Warren, Executive Vice President, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Sony Music Group.

In her newly appointed role at The Orchard, Nyahuma Seck will continue the companys diversity and inclusion initiatives, and establish talent pipelines and employee development programs.

 HFAs Rumblefish has entered into an agreement with Feed Media Group, to provide music rights administration support for Adaptr, a B2B music platform offering licensing, distribution, UX, and curation for early-stage companies and app developers, while making it easy for rightsholders to analyze usage and get paid.

 Round Hill Music has acquired the publishing catalog of Nashville-based rock band Lit, including memorable hits My Own Worst Enemy and Miserable. Round Hill Records will also release the bands seventh studio album in 2022.

 The International Festival Forum announced that the event will return to in-person this year.

Set for London from September 28-30, the festival industry confab will feature showcases, conference sessions, keynotes, parties, and networking. As in past years, the IFF for 2021 will be invite-only with more than 800 delegates expected to attend the event which may well be the first major international confab for the festival industry in the last 18 months

 Warner Chappell Music has signed a three-year worldwide deal with legendary Mexican music figure Marco Antonio Solis. The deal covers future works as well as a majority of Solis extraordinary catalog including his most popular hits like Si No Te Hubieras Ido, Mas Que Tu Amigo, O Me Voy O Te Vas, and A Donde Vamos a Parar.

Throughout his over 40-year career, Solis has captivated the world with his romantic pop ballads, recording over 300 songs and releasing more than 30 albums. He currently holds the record for most No. 1s  12  on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and, as a songwriter, has the most No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is also the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and an online professor at the Berklee College Of Music.

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District Attorneys Office Renews Call For Information About Homicide

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The Berkshire District Attorney's Office is renewing a call for information about the 2014 murder of Joshua S. Bressette.

"This weekend, on June 6, his loving family should be celebrating Joshua's 33rd birthday but instead mourn their loss. They deserve closure and justice," District Attorney Andrea Harrington said.

Bressette was last seen at the former Price Chopper on Route 2 in North Adams on May 5, 2014. He was reported missing on May 7, 2014 and on May 8, 2014, New York Police discovered his body on a rooftop in Bronx, N.Y. He died from multiple gunshot wounds.

The Berkshire State Police Detective Unit and the North Adams Police are assisting New York authorities in the investigation with connections and potential crimes occurring in Massachusetts.

"The State Police and North Adams Police continue to work this case diligently to hold the perpetrator accountable and we ask the public to help us. We hope people who may now remember additional information or those who were unwilling to be forthcoming will break their silence, do the right thing, and help give this family closure," Harrington said.

The Berkshire State Police Detective Unit is asking for anyone with information to call troopers at 413-499-1112 or the North Adams Police Department at 413-664-4944.

Bressette was born in North Adams in 1988. He is the son of Kevin Bressette and Kenna Waterman. He attended North Adams Schools and worked last as a bicycle mechanic at The Spoke Shop in Williamstown. He enjoyed drawing, motorcycles, art, tattoo art, music, animals and the outdoors.

Bressette's family is carrying his memory on through the Josh Bressette Commit to Save a Life Foundation. The foundation provides financial support to people who seek recovery from substance use disorder.
X-Press Pearl: Data recovered as fire-ravaged ship with chemicals sinks off Sri Lanka

by Bharatha Mallawarachi

June 07,2021 | Source: Stuff

Experts recovered the data recorder of a fire-ravaged ship carrying chemicals that is slowly sinking off Sri Lankas capital, as salvage crews stood by to head off a possible environmental disaster, officials said Sunday.



The Singapore-flagged MV X-Press Pearl started sinking Wednesday, a day after authorities extinguished a fire that raged on the vessel for 12 days. Efforts to tow the ship into deeper waters away from the port in Colombo had failed after the ships stern became submerged and rested on the seabed.



Sri Lanka Ports Authority said experts, together with the navy on Saturday recovered the ships voyage data recorder, or VDR, commonly known as the black box.



The authority said on its website said that the VDR, which contains vital information related to the operation of the vessel, would be handed over to local law enforcement agencies investigating the fire.



Both the authority and the ships operator said the vessel's aft portion remains on the seabed at a depth of about 21 metres, and the forward section continues to settle down slowly.



Operator X-Press Feeders said salvors remain on the scene to deal with any possible spills. It has apologised for the disaster.



The port authority and the operator said there were no signs of oil or chemical spills. They said that Sri Lanka's navy, Indian coast guard, salvage crews and local authorities were capable of responding to any signs of oil pollution or debris, and were monitoring the situation around the clock.



The fire has destroyed most of the ships cargo, which included 25 tons of nitric acid and other chemicals. But there are fears that remaining chemicals as well as hundreds of tons of oil from the fuel tanks could leak into the sea.



Such a disaster could devastate marine life and further pollute the island nations famed beaches. The disaster has already caused debris  including several tons of plastic pellets used to make plastic bags  to wash ashore.



The government has banned fishing along about 80 kilometres of coastline.



Officials say there had been about 300 tons of oil on board and that experts believe it could have burned off in the fire.



A ship manifest seen by The Associated Press described the X-Press Pearl as carrying just under 1,500 containers, with 81 of those containers described as dangerous goods.



Environmentalist have warned that there's the potential for a terrible environmental disaster as hazardous goods, plastics, chemicals and oil could be released into the water and destroy marine ecological systems.



The fire erupted on May 20 when the ship was anchored about 9.5 nautical miles (18 kilometres) northwest of Colombo and waiting to enter the port. The navy believes the blaze was caused by the vessels chemical cargo, which it was carrying from the port of Hazira in India.



Sri Lankan police are investigating and a court in Colombo has banned the captain, the engineer and the assistant engineer from leaving the country. The government has said it will take legal action against the owners of the ship to claim compensation.

Theme(s): Others.
2 Vietnamese fishing boats caught, 9 crew arrested off Thailand

June 07,2021 | Source: Bangkok Post

Two Vietnamese fishing boats were caught illegally fishing in Thai territorial waters off this southern border province on Saturday, marine police said on Sunday. Nine crew members aboard were arrested.



Pol Maj Gen Somkuan Phuengsap, the provincial marine police commander, said the two boats -- identified as SM99771TS with five crew and CM921177S with four crew -- were spotted by a Thai marine patrol boat at 4.41pm on Saturday about 17 nautical miles from Narathiwat.



The two boats were taken to the marine police headquarters in Narathiwat. The nine crewmen were charged with illegal fishing in Thai territorial waters in violation of three laws related to fisheries and illegal entry under the Immigration Act of 1979.



Pol Maj Gen Somkuan said numerous fishing boats from Vietnam had been arrested for fishing in Thai territorial waters under the jurisdiction of the 7th Marine Police Sub-division, which is responsible for the area from the southern part of the Gulf of Thailand from Songkhla down to Narathiwat.

 2021 Bangkok Post Public Company Limited

Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods.
Restricted access, trawlers hurt small-scale fishermen in Philippines, says fishing group

June 07,2021 | Source: RFA

Restrictions in Philippine territorial waters and the open seas, along with threats from large-scale fishing operations, are the biggest issues facing subsistence fishermen in this archipelagic country of 7,100 islands, according to an organization representing them.



In recent years, governments of coastal municipalities have begun restricting their municipal fishing grounds, or waters up to 15 km (9 miles) from the shore, allowing only resident fishermen who register with local authorities, said Fernando Hicap, chairman of Pamalakaya, a Philippine fishermens organization.



Imagine, youre a Filipino fisherman, youre in the Philippines, and youre on municipal fishing grounds, but youre sued for illegal entry. How hurtful is that? Isnt that wrong? Hicap told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.



What misery. Add to that this [COVID-19] pandemic  no ones buying what little catch they bring home because of the lockdowns, said Hicap, adding that fishermen have little choice but to consume their own catch, or barter them for other small goods.



Municipalities are allowing outsiders to pay an annual fee, usually not lower than 1,000 pesos (U.S. $20)  a fee that subsistence fishermen, who use small-scale, low-technology practices, cannot afford to pay  according to Hicaps group. Besides, its not feasible to register and pay fees at every coastal municipality to be able to fish in waters that have traditionally been communal to Filipinos.



Restrictions were not an issue in past decades when there were more fish in the shallows, said Benjamin Sumaganday, a fisherman in northern Masinloc town.



There used to be huge catches in the past. But the population grew over the years, and we cant afford to just stay in municipal waters, the father of four told BenarNews.



Meanwhile on June 5, the world will mark the fourth International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU).



According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, a United Nations agency, IUU fishing includes many types of illicit activities, for example, fishing without a license or authorization, not reporting or misreporting catches, fishing in prohibited areas and catching or selling prohibited species, or fishing in areas not covered by a regulatory framework.



The Philippines Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has vowed to protect locals against such activities.



Calling on Filipinos to focus their fishing efforts in the West Philippine Sea  a region of the South China Sea that the Philippines claims as its territory  the government agency promised to boost patrols against illegal fishing put local fishers at a disadvantage.



[W]e remain committed in our mandate to address IUU fishing in Philippine waters, the bureau said in a news release earlier this year."



Even as municipal governments cite conservation as the reason for restricting fishing access to their waters, Hicap said those in power could be benefiting  otherwise, they would not let in commercial trawlers.



Small-time fishermen are not the reason there is depletion in municipal waters. The cause of that depletion is the commercial vessels who freely exploit those waters, Hicap said.



Anna Oposa, head of the advocacy group Save Philippine Seas, said enforcement must be stricter and commercial fishing must be prohibited.



Our fisherfolk are already some of the poorest, most marginalized groups in the country working hard to feed the country and the rest of the world. There can be no positive outcome for the Filipino people if we allow commercial fishing activities where they shouldnt be allowed, Oposa said.



Sumaganday, 52, said many fishermen in his community have joined fishing fleets to be able to fish farther out at sea even as territorial tensions pit Filipinos against foreign fishing fleets, specifically from China.



Most of the time it is not hostile, but there are times that we are being shooed away from territories that are traditionally ours, the fisherman from Masinloc said.



In March, government security officials reported the presence of about 200 Chinese trawlers at Whitsun Reef in the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and elsewhere in the contested South China Sea. The officials said the trawlers were crewed by maritime militias, but Beijing has denied the accusation and insisted the waters were within Chinese territory.



Manila has been filing daily diplomatic protests with Beijing since April, demanding it remove the ships. In addition, the Philippine navy, coast guard, and fisheries bureau have deployed more ships to Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands to try to drive out or at least challenge the Chinese trawlers.



Since Beijing took control of Mischief Reef in the Philippine EEZ in 1995, the presence of Chinese ships has increased steadily in the South China Sea. In 2012, China and the Philippines were involved in a months-long standoff at Scarborough Shoal.



Four years later, in 2016, an international arbitral court ruled in favor of Manilas territorial claims in the maritime region, but that has not slowed Beijings expansionist activities in the sea.



Hicaps group, Pamalakaya, recently petitioned the U.N. to nullify Beijings new coast guard law, investigate the environmental damage Chinese ships have caused in the South China Sea, and demilitarize the strategic and resource-rich waterway.



The law, which took effect in February, allows its ships to use weapons against any vessels found in waters that Beijing claims as its territory.



Philippine authorities who lack maritime assets have been hard pressed to catch poachers, including foreign ones from China and Vietnam.



Theres been significant damage to marine life in municipal waters. The numbers vary in different studies, but its been estimated that 60 percent to 75 percent of the Philippines fishing grounds are overfished, Oposa told BenarNews. Theres also a significant decline in coral reef health and cover, which is alarming because coral reefs are habitats of fishes.



An organization of fishermen who used to fish freely at the Scarborough Shoal said their catch  and income  had declined by as much as 80 percent.



We used to be able to go there, but not anymore, Sumaganday said.



Now are we are forced to fish elsewhere, he said, adding that the shoal, in bygone days, was the source for a bountiful catch.



Subsistence fishermen make up the largest sector of the Philippines fishing industry, according to the most recent data from BFAR.



Of the 1.9 million fishermen registered with BFAR, more than 927,000 do small-scale capture fishing, while more than 239,000 do gleaning or fishing with basic gear in shallow water. Paddle boats accounted for about 68 percent of registered vessels.



Meanwhile, much of government support for the industry goes into aquaculture  raising fish in ponds, nets or cages in natural or artificial bodies of water  which employs about 209,000, according to official statistics.



Most fishermen live hand-to-mouth and have few options to professionalize their livelihood including acquiring larger, more dependable boats and equipment. As Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen sport metal or wood-and-metal trawlers, many Filipinos use traditional-type wooden outriggers.



Hicap worries that as the Philippine Congress moves to amend the constitution to allow full foreign ownership of businesses in the country, Filipino fishermen, especially the poor, will sink even farther down the governments list of priorities.



The government should ensure municipal fishing grounds remain communal. They should be limited to subsistence fishers, with no commercial vessels, he said.

 Radio Free Asia

Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods.
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Computer Professionals for NJ based IT Firm

Sr. Network Engineer to: Plan, design, develop & deploy computer & information networks including LAN, WAN, Intranet, Internet & other data communications systems.

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Design network & computer security measures. Travel &/or relocation to various unanticipated locations throughout the US may be required. Apply with 2 copies of resume by clicking within.

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Residence Life Coordinators (RLCs) are masters level professionals responsible for creating a comprehensive residence life program in their respective geographical area that will typically consist of two to four residence hall complexes. RLCs are live-in professionals, student affairs generalists, who are charged with working to create communities that support the academic and polytechnic mission of the institution. RLCs are expected to be visible to residential students, engage in personal interactions with them and provide leadership and mentorship to them. Key responsibilities include supervision and operational duties, as well as planning and management skills. Supervision may include undergraduate and graduate student employees (depending on placement). Successful candidates will have demonstrated skills in student and community development including the intersectionality of identities.

Anticipated start date: August 2, 2021

Starting salary: $47,000

For complete vacancy announcement and to apply online visit: http://jobs.uwstout.edu . Applicants must submit a cover letter, resume, unofficial transcripts and contact information for a minimum of three current references. Screening will begin June 25, 2021 and may continue until the position is filled.

UW-Stout is a M/F/D/V employer. Employment is contingent upon passing a criminal background and reference checks.

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Magnolia, AR (71754)

Today

Sunshine this morning. Increasing clouds with thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Hot and humid. High near 95F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 73F. Winds light and variable.
Mina Khairi, a 27-year-old presenter of Ariana News, who was seriously injured in targeted explosion on June 3 in Kabul, later died in hospital the same day. The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) and its Afghanistan affiliate the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association (AIJA) is alarmed by the increased targeting of women journalists and urges action by the Afghan government.

Khairi, her mother and two others were killed by the car bomb attack, which occurred in the Chahar Qala area of Kabuls District 6 area on June 3. Khairis sister, Hasina Khairi, was also critically injured in the explosion and died three days later on June 6. The bombing targeted a public minivan carrying the journalist, her mother, sister and other passengers when it exploded at around 2 pm. Another six civilians were also injured in the explosion. The family was returning home after buying some food.

No group has yet claimed responsibility, while the Taliban has publicly denied involvement in the incident. The Taliban, however, issued a warning to Afghanistan journalists on May 5 against presenting one-sided news in favor of Afghanistans intelligence.

Mina Khairi is the fourth female media worker to be killed in 2021. On March 2, three female media workers from Enikass TVs dubbing division: Mursal Wahidi, Sadia Sadat, and Shahnaz Roafi, were gunned down in a targeted attack.

According to recently released IFJ South Asia Press Freedom Report Truth in a Time of Contagion: The Viral Frontline documented ten journalists' killings in Afghanistan in the period May 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021 as well as rising incidents of threats and intimidation of journalists.

The AIJA said: We condemn the incident terming it a 'barbaric act'. The AIJA urges the government of Afghanistan to do its utmost to prevent attacks on journalists and media workers.

The IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: The IFJ expresses its serious concern to the recent wave of murder of female journalists in targeted attacks in Afghanistan. This latest attack highlights the critical need for extra security for journalists and a clear strategy to combat the targeted attacks against women journalists.
Pakistani media stakeholders are calling on the Pakistan government to withdraw a proposed Pakistan Media Regularity Authority (PMDA) ordinance that they say will stop the flow of information in the country and restrict free, independent, and responsible media. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) call on the Pakistani government to immediately withdraw the proposed ordinance.

The ordinance, which was proposed in late May 2021 seeks to amalgamate all media regulatory structures in Pakistan to create one converged regulatory body.

Pakistani and international media stakeholders strongly opposed the proposed government move and instigated a coordinated response to the government. Among those, the International Press Institute (IPI) sent a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan outlining their great concern on the proposed new regulations, claiming that they will go against the democratic norms that Pakistan should uphold as a democracy. It also cautioned the danger of installing a new authority that had power to shut down any media entity without prior notice, without the capacity to be challenged in any court of law.

However, the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Farrukh Habib, continued to defend the move, claiming that the reformed regulatory structure would ensure job security for journalists and would protect freedom of press in the country  a stance strongly disputed by media campaigners.

According to the IFJs South Asia Press Freedom Report 2020-2021 , Pakistan suffered under the harshest clampdown on dissent by any government during 2020 and 2021. The IFJ said media rights and freedom of expression took a severe beating, with the government leaping at the opportunity of the Covid-19 pandemic to deprive the media of both freedom and funds, driving an already beleaguered media industry into deeper crisis.

The PFUJ secretary said This draft is against the freedom of the media ensured in the Constitution of Pakistan and against the freedom of speech and expression ensured in the UN charter.

The IFJ said: The proposed ordinance would be tantamount to depriving Pakistan of the media freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan that have been so hard fought for and defended by journalists and unions. The IFJ urges the Pakistani government to ensure freedom of expression in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan and its international commitments and obligations.
According to media reports, the arrest happened in a brutal manner despite the fact that she was clearly identified as a press worker and is accredited by Israel's Government Press Office. Budeiri was released several hours after the arrest.

Budeiri suffered a broken arm and remained under observation on Sunday at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital.

An Al Jazeera cameraman, Nabil Mazzawi, also had his camera broken during the events.



Al Jazeera's acting director-general, Mostefa Souag, condemned "the systematic targeting of our journalists", dubbing it "in total violation of all international conventions".

The PJS also reported that the following journalists suffered injuries and needed medical assistance in Jerusalem:

Najwan Samrin, Al Jazeera correspondent.

DialaJuwaihan, correspondent for Al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper.

Amjad Araf, a photojournalist.

Layali Eid, correspondent for Palestine TV.

Ahmed Sharif, photojournalist for Palestine TV.

Union solidarity

The PJS organized a solidarity march in support of Budeiri on Sunday, June 6.

In his speech, the head of the Journalists Syndicate Nasser Abu Bakr said that the unity of the journalism community is enough to stand up to the escalating occupation attacks against Palestinian media workers, especially in Jerusalem.

Walid Al-Omari, director of Al-Jazeera's office in Jerusalem, said that journalists need to stand by them in the face of the fierce attacks they are being subjected to by the Israeli forces and thanked the PJS for their solidarity actions with Al-Jazeera bureau and Budeiri.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: We stand in solidarity with all victimized Palestinian journalists who risk their safety to cover the recent events and demonstrations. We condemn once again the Israeli targeting campaign against Palestinian media workers, which has the aim of silencing critical media coverage on the ground.
The New York Times reported that the Justice Department under President Donald Trump secretly obtained the phone records of four of their journalists during four months in 2017. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemns this practice as a serious infringement of press freedom.

According to the newspaper, the journalists were working on a report regarding James Comey (the former FBI director) and his investigations into possible links between Russia and Trumps presidential campaign team in 2016. It is the third time in a month that a media outlet claims that Trumps administration seized data from journalists. The Washington Post previously revealed that the Justice Department had obtained phone records of journalists, who were at the time also covering the FBIs investigation on Russias interference during the 2016 presidential elections. A few days later, CNN announced that phone and email records of one of their reporters had also been seized.

By obtaining journalists data, the US government was trying to trace their sources. This seriously undermines the rule of protection of sources and threatens to silence them. As the New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet stated, such practice profoundly undermines press freedom. President Joe Biden also condemned Trumps administrations actions, and assured he would not allow his Justice Department to seize journalists phone or email records.

The New York Times revelation comes just days after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the UK government's mass surveillance regime violated media freedom for decades. Thanks to this landmark judgment, journalists in the UK but also European Member States now have a stronger legal basis to defend the anonymity of their sources.

The National Writers Union said: While we condemn the White House spying on journalists, we are certainly not shocked by the news, when in the past more than 400 journalists were assaulted, over 150 were attacked, and 100 or more reported having equipment damaged while working. The attack on journalists is in fact an attack on journalism and on the publics right to know, which strikes at the heart of any democracy.

Newsguild CWA added: While aggressive scrutiny of journalists also took place during the administrations of former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the recent revelations appear to be part of a growing trend threatening free, independent journalism worldwide.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: Illegal spying by governments is becoming a worrying global trend. From non-democratic countries to the United Kingdom, some other European countries and now the United States, were witnessing dozens of cases in which the authorities illegally tracked journalists records and spied on their work, in serious violation of their fundamental professional rights. IFJ affiliates must work together to stop this trend.
In addition to this intervention, on Friday, 4 June, the STC took over the office of Al Thawra Newspaper, a state-owned publication in Aden while in August 2019, it took over state-owned media '14 October Newspaper'.

According to the YJS, the STC authorities have now taken over the control of all state-owned media in Aden, the interim capital of Yemen.

It is clear that the Transitional Council, which is demanding the secession of the south, wants to control the official media institutions and operate them in its favor, the YJS. There are over 150 staff working for Saba including 70 journalists, they are at risk of losing their jobs if they don't conform to the STC political guidelines.

In 2015, when the Houthis seized power in Sana, they took over all state-owned media organizations, sacked journalists considered as critics who thought and appointed their own supporters.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: This reveals the failure of governments' media policies in Yemen, where public media is controlled by governments and operates as propaganda machines for their policies. We call on all parties to respect freedom of information and media plurality in Yemen and STC must relinquish its control of the media organisation and allow journalists to work free of fear and intimidation."
Hixson Lumber Sales has a mill on Arkansas 19 south of Magnolia. The location is part of a $375 deal that has sold Hixson to a Canadian company.
ASUS Republic of Gamers Philippines (ROG) is releasing the tigers with the UNLEASH THE LEGEND INSIDE Digital Launch, set for June 19, 2021, 8:00 PM on the ROG Philippines Facebook Page.

ROG Philippines is launching the latest and greatest ROG Zephyrus laptops that are powered by the new 11th Gen Intel Core CPUs on June 19, 2021

The new line of Zephyrus laptops is powered by the new 11th Gen Intel Core H45 CPUs with up to an 8 Core i9 CPU, which promises 19% improvement in multithreaded performance. This is an improvement from previous generations. Anchored by PCIE 4.0 support for ultra-fast storage, Thunderbolt 4 support for high-resolution displays, and docking stations, ultra-fast gaming performance is unleashed by ROG's new Zephyrus series.

ZEPHYRUS REVITALIZED

The legendary Zephyrus line-up, known for its thin-and-light yet still powerful form factor, will be joined by the all-new Zephyrus M16 and the new version of the Zephyrus S17.

First revealed in May, the Zephyrus M16 is the world's first 4-sided narrow bezel gaming laptop with a full-screen 94% screen-to-body ratio. The all-new Zephyrus S17 continues the tradition of the award-winning 17" thin-and-light gaming laptop series, with an innovative elevated Optical Mechanical Keyboard that also enables the patented Active Aerodynamic System Plus cooling system and up to a 4K 120Hz refresh rate gaming display.

Both laptops are powered by the latest Tiger Lake 11th Generation H45 8 Core processors, the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3000 series GPU's, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support, and many more features that will bring out the best in gaming and content creation.

Viewers who tune in to the launch will also have the chance to win exclusive ROG merchandise from the brand. The event will be hosted by ROG Hero, Ann B. Mateo, and will be joined by Coleen Trinidad of CANS TV.
Imperial Valley News Center

Madera Man Pleads Guilty to Poly-Drug Conspiracy

Fresno, California - Patrick Maldonado, 46, of Madera, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, in November 2018, Maldonado coordinated with Tan Minh Vo, 48, of San Jose, to send two shipments of marijuana to Halen Frazier, 34, of Kingsville, Missouri. The first shipment was seized from Frazier during a traffic stop after Tien Van Phan, 56, of Milpitas, delivered 92 pounds of marijuana to him in two suitcases at a hotel in Kansas City.

Later, agents intercepted calls between Maldonado, co-defendant Elias Zambrano Jr., 41, of Fresno, and Frazier in which they discussed the shipment of 384 pounds of marijuana to Frazier in Kansas City. Maldonado and Zambrano had packed the load in the trailer of a truck driven by co-defendant David McGowan, of Kansas City. Arizona State Troopers discovered the marijuana and $1,629 in cash after a traffic stop.

Following these seizures, agents executed a search warrant at Maldonados residence in Madera and found more than 3 kilograms of cocaine, 20 pounds of marijuana, a handgun, and approximately $45,281 in cash. In pleading guilty, Maldonado also agreed to the forfeiture of the firearm and cash.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force consisting of agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Tulare, Kings, and Fresno County Sheriffs Offices, the Fresno Police Department, the Arizona Department of Health, and the Kansas City Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Escobar is prosecuting the case.

Maldonado is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 23. He faces a minimum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a maximum statutory penalty of 40 years in prison, along with a $5 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

Frazier and Phan previously entered guilty pleas to the drug conspiracy and were sentenced to two years and three months and three and one half years in prison, respectively. Zambrano recently entered a guilty plea and is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 16.

Charges are pending against McGowan and Vo, who are scheduled for a status conference on July 28. As to these defendants, the charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Imperial Valley News Center

Parolee Pleads Guilty to Jailhouse COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits Fraud

Fresno, California - Christina Smith, 38, who was on parole and had previously been incarcerated at the Central California Womens Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges for the submission of fraudulent unemployment insurance claims to the California Employment Development Department (EDD) in the names of current CCWF inmates, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Sholanda Thomas, 37, a current CCWF inmate, sent her own and several other inmates personal identifying information to Smith to submit the unemployment insurance claims in their names. The underlying applications represented that the inmates had been working various jobs, which was untrue because they were incarcerated and therefore ineligible for benefits. The loss to the EDD and the United States is over $250,000. Smith split the proceeds with her co-conspirators.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations Investigative Services Unit, and the EDD. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton is prosecuting the case.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on Aug. 23. For the conspiracy charge, Smith faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. For the aggravated identity theft charge, she faces a mandatory two-year sentence consecutive to any other sentence and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

Thomas was indicted on December 17, 2020, along with Smith and is also facing federal prosecution. The charges are only allegations; Thomas is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Imperial Valley News Center

Nigerian National Arrested For Scheme To Conduct Cyber Intrusions To Steal Payroll Deposits

New York - Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Jonathan D. Larsen, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), announced Wednesday the arrest of CHARLES ONUS for charges in connection with a scheme to conduct cyber intrusions of multiple user accounts maintained by a company that provides human resources and payroll services to employers across the United States, in order to steal payroll deposits.

ONUS was previously arrested on April 14, 2021, in San Francisco and detained, and he will be presented later in Manhattan federal court before Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: Charles Onus allegedly participated in a scheme that stole nearly $1 million by hacking into a payroll processing companys system to access user accounts and divert payroll to prepaid debit cards he controlled. As alleged, Onus did this as effectively as someone who commits bank burglary, but with no need for a blowtorch or bolt-cutters. Thanks to the FBI and IRS-CI, Onus is in custody and facing serious federal charges.

FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said: Cyber intrusions ripple through everything our society relies upon  this one impacted peoples paychecks. The FBIs goal is to prevent cyber criminals from causing harm and holding them accountable, but we cant do it alone. Companies need to continuously improve their cyber hygiene and awareness. Taking steps like training the workforce to protect and frequently change passwords, and to use different login credentials across platforms, can have an impact. Each one of us, from the individual citizen to the biggest corporation, plays a critical role in defending the nation from cyberattacks.

IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen said: IRS Criminal Investigation will always work with our law enforcement partners to track down those who try to breach our countrys tax and financial infrastructure. We will continually endeavor to bring to justice criminals who think they can comfortably steal from victims in America while hiding behind their computer screens.

According to allegations in the Indictment filed in federal court[1]:

From at least in or about July 2017 through at least in or about 2018, ONUS participated in a scheme to conduct cyber intrusions of multiple user accounts maintained by a company that provides human resources and payroll services to employers across the United States (the Company), in order to steal payroll deposits processed by the Company.

During the course of the scheme, unauthorized access was obtained to over 5,500 Company user accounts through a cyber intrusion technique referred to as credential stuffing. During a credential stuffing attack, a cyber threat actor collects stolen credentials, or username and password pairs, obtained from other large-scale data breaches of other companies. The threat actor then systematically attempts to use those stolen credentials to obtain unauthorized access to accounts held by the same user with other companies and providers, to compromise accounts where the user has maintained the same password.

After ONUS successfully gained unauthorized access to a Company user account, he changed the bank account information designated by the user of the account so that ONUS would receive the users payroll to a prepaid debit card that was under ONUSs control.

From at least in or about July 2017 through at least in or about 2018, at least approximately 5,500 Company user accounts were compromised and more than approximately $800,000 in payroll funds were fraudulently diverted to prepaid debit cards, including those under the control of ONUS. The compromised Company user accounts were associated with employers whose payroll was processed by the Company, including employers located in the Southern District of New York.

* * *

ONUS, 34, a resident and national of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, was charged with one count of computer fraud for causing damage to a protected computer, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; one count of computer fraud for unauthorized access to a protected computer to further intended fraud, and one count of receipt of stolen money, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison to be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed.

The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and IRS-CI. Ms. Strauss also thanked the New York City Police Department, the FBI New York Cyber Task Force, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the FBI Field Office in San Francisco for their assistance in the investigation of this case.

The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Offices Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Sagar K. Ravi is in charge of the prosecution.
Imperial Valley News Center

California Man Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Producing Child Pornography

Sacramento, California - Javontae D. Rucker, 29, of Sacramento, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley to 27 years in prison for production of child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, between February and March 2017, while babysitting, Rucker took advantage of an infant in his care, and he used his cellphone to produce pornographic images and a video of the victim and himself. Rucker also admitted to possessing over a thousand child pornography videos and images of other victims.

Given the severity of this defendants conduct and the need to deter him and protect the public from further crimes by himespecially young, vulnerable children like the infant victimtodays sentence is necessary and appropriate, said Acting U.S. Attorney Talbert. We are committed to investigating and prosecuting those who create or possess these horrific images and will relentlessly pursue predators who sexually abuse children.

This case exemplifies the work the FBI and our law enforcement partners at the Sacramento County Sheriffs Office do to identify and investigate child predators who exploit innocence and trust in truly horrific ways, said Special Agent in charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. Javontae Rucker exploited his trusted role as a babysitter for a family, preying upon an innocent infant in his care. Cases like these remind us all of the important role the FBI has in protecting our countrys children from child predators who live among us.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, composed of various law enforcement agencies, including the Sacramento County Sheriffs Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosanne L. Rust prosecuted the case.
Imperial Valley News Center

15 Indicted in Large-Scale Sacramento Cocaine and Heroin Trafficking Conspiracies

Sacramento, California - A federal grand jury returned a 45-count indictment Thursday against 15 defendants for a conspiracy to traffic cocaine, cocaine base, and heroin in the Sacramento area, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

The indictment charges the following defendants: Tyrone Anderson, 40, of Sacramento; Maurice Bryant, 51, of Antelope; Yovanny Ontiveros, 41, of Sacramento; Alex White, 61, of North Highlands; Jason Tolbert, 44, of Sacramento; Andre Hellams, 38, of North Highlands; Michael Hampton, 57, of Vallejo; Steven Hampton, 61, of Sacramento; Wilmer Harden, 52, of Elk Grove; Charles Sidney Carter, 34, of Sacramento; Bobby Conner, 50, of Sacramento; Jerome Adams, 54, of North Highlands; Dwight Haney, 49, of Sacramento; Arlington Caine, 47, of Rio Linda; and Mark Martin, 62, of Sacramento.

The indictment charges Bryant, Harden, Anderson, Carter, Conner, Adams, Haney, Caine, Martin, White, Hellams, Tolbert, Steven Hampton, and Michael Hampton with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 5 kilograms of cocaine and 280 grams of cocaine base. The indictment also charges Anderson and Ontiveros with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin. During and in furtherance of these conspiracies, the indictment charges certain defendants with distributing cocaine and cocaine base, possessing with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, possessing with intent to distribute heroin, possessing firearms as felons, and using communication facilities to facilitate drug trafficking offenses. According to court documents, between March 1, 2018, and May 19, 2021, law enforcement seized over 5 kilograms of cocaine, a kilogram of heroin, a half kilogram of cocaine base, and multiple firearms.

This investigation and indictment results in the dismantling of a network of long-time leaders and organizers in a regional cocaine, heroin, and crack cocaine distribution chain that stretches beyond the Eastern District of California, through Southern California, and into Mexico, said Acting U.S. Attorney Talbert.

This criminal organization utilized an interstate drug pipeline that reached far beyond the Sacramento region, said DEA Special Agent in Charge Wade R. Shannon. These arrests underscore our commitment to rid communities of drug trafficking networks and the poison they peddle.

The FBI is proud to partner with its local, state, and federal Strike Force partners to disrupt and dismantle violent criminal organizations that threaten the safety of the communities we serve, said Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office. Together, we are stronger, leveraging seamless communication and our individual strengths to identify and disrupt illegal drug distribution networks.

The success of this indictment highlights the importance and necessity of law enforcement partnerships across the spectrum, said Special Agent in Charge Tatum King, who oversees HSI operations in Northern California. Strong partnerships among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are critical to apprehending those that profit from the purveyance of dangerous drugs to our communities.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California Department of Justice, the California Highway Patrol, the Sacramento County Sheriffs Office, and the Sacramento Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cameron L. Desmond and Aaron D. Pennekamp are prosecuting the case.

If convicted of the conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base charge, Bryant, Harden, Anderson, Carter, Conner, Adams, Haney, Caine, Martin, White, Hellams, Tolbert, Steven Hampton, and Michael Hampton face a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. If convicted of the conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin charge, Bryant and Ontiveros face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This prosecution is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. The Sacramento Strike Force is a co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. The specific mission of the Sacramento Strike Force is to identify, investigate, disrupt, and dismantle the most significant drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) shipping narcotics, firearms, and money through the Eastern District of California, thereby reducing the flow of these criminal resources in California and the rest of the United States. The Sacramento Strike Force leads intelligence-driven investigations targeting the leadership and support elements of these DTOs and TCOs operating within the Eastern District of California, regardless of their geographic base of operations.
Imperial Valley News Center

Bakersfield Resident Pleads Guilty to Unlawfully Possessing a Firearm

Fresno, California - Miguel Alberto Burgos, 28, of Bakersfield, pleaded guilty Thursday to being a felon in possession of a firearm, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, on Jan. 18, 2021, a law enforcement officer stopped Burgos for committing traffic infractions while driving a vehicle in Bakersfield. Burgos yielded his vehicle and fled on foot. The officer gave chase and eventually secured Burgos on the ground, but he broke free and continued flight. Shortly afterwards, officers caught and arrested Burgos. During the chase, Burgos possessed and discarded a Ruger LCP .380caliber handgun loaded with a high-capacity magazine. Burgos cannot lawfully possess firearms because he was convicted in 2013 of second-degree robbery.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the California Highway Patrol and the Kern County Fire Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher D. Baker is prosecuting the case.

Burgos is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on Sept. 3. Burgos faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justices violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
President Joe Biden says he wants to get 70 percent of America's adults vaccinated by July 4. Booze and burgers just may do the trick.

To juice America's vaccination rate--just 52 percent of the adult population is now fully vaccinated--an increasing number of businesses have joined state and local governments in using incentives to encourage people to get vaccinated.

Brewer Anheuser-Busch announced on Wednesday it will partner with the White House to give a free beer to any adult who receives a vaccine before America's birthday. On Thursday, the pharmacy division of Kroger, America's largest supermarket chain, announced it would provide vaccinated customers the chance to win $1 million every week for five weeks, and award 10 shoppers "groceries for a year."

Other popular campaigns include: one free doughnut a day from Krispy Kreme, free flights for a year on United Airlines, and a burger from Shake Shack, plus complimentary crinkle fries. If you prefer to catch or shoot your own food, the state of Maine is handing out free fishing licenses to vaccinated outdoor types, while West Virginia is giving away hunting rifles.

More conventionally, states such as Ohio and California will enter newly vaccinated citizens into lotteries that pay out as much as $1.5 million. And the state of New York is tempting teens with a chance to win a full scholarship to any state university.

So what's in it for businesses?

It's maybe the right thing to do, but also it might speed the end of the pandemic. Reaching the administration's goal would mean 160 million adults would be fully vaccinated. That is the level experts have said will keep the virus under control, allow restrictions to be lifted, ease pressure on health care workers, and get the country and economy fully reopen.

Businesses are also using vaccination incentives to stimulate sales and attract new customers. GG's Barbacoa Cafe, a Kansas City smokehouse, rolled out a 25 percent vaccination discount last month. Owner Gabriel Gonzalez says the promotion will run through the end of June to any customer who shows their vaccine card. Gonzalez says the promo has prompted customers to add more items to their orders, which has offset the discount.

Like many restaurants, this family-owned business has focused on saving money over the past year, but Gonzalez says the increase in revenue and number of new customers from the vaccine campaign is now contributing to GG's expansion. The cafe is moving to a bigger location in the coming months. More important, Gonzalez says the vaccine promotion "is a great opportunity to help the community."

And it's "fun" to win

Although business owners can require employees to be vaccinated, the government can't. So, with the help of businesses, states are using behavioral economics to get hesitant or vaccine-resistant people to act in their own best interest. That's what Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein explored in their 2008 book Nudge. A year and a half ago, Thaler, professor of behavioral science and economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, proposed an experiment to offer lottery tickets to people who got a flu shot. (The flu killed an estimated 24,000 to 62,000 people during the 2019-2020 flu season, according to CDC.)

The pandemic has prompted states to run Thaler's experiment in real time, the latest being Washington, where four residents could win $250,000, with one cashing a $1 million jackpot, an enticement that Thaler says "may well work."
For much of Steph Speirs's life, talking about her experiences with bias felt like oversharing. Now, she's leading a company amid a spate of anti-Asian violence, and it feels vitally important. Speirs is the CEO of Solstice, a "community solar" startup based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that aims to bring affordable solar energy to households that otherwise can't access it. She co-founded the company in 2016 with Sandhya Murali--who is also a woman of color--and expects to raise a Series A this summer. Here, Speirs, who grew up in Hawaii and moved to the mainland for college, reflects on how her attitude toward her Asian American identity has evolved, and how her upbringing unexpectedly set her on the path to entrepreneurship. --As told to Sophie Downes

I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. My dad was an entrepreneur and he had a business that failed, so I'd only seen the downsides, like the financial insecurity. We grew up on food stamps, and those money issues actually caused my family to split up. My mom ended up leaving my dad and raising three kids alone. I got to go to incredibly privileged schools as a scholarship kid; meanwhile, my mom was working minimum-wage jobs, and I saw how hard her life was. I grew up recognizing that there was deep inequality in our world, and I came to understand only later that the innovation from entrepreneurship could help address that inequality.

Living as an AAPI person in America, your daily experience often includes reminders that other people see you as foreign. Growing up in Honolulu, I didn't realize that I was a racial minority, because I was surrounded by people who looked like me. There are a lot of Asian folks in Hawaii. But I lived in Orlando from second to sixth grade. My dad was adopted from China by folks who lived in Florida, so he had this calling to go back there. That was a rude awakening for my whole family, including my mother, who had only lived in Hawaii after immigrating from Korea. I was one of only two people of color in school, and I was teased for being different. Kids would call me "slanty eyes," and adults would tell my mom or dad to go back to their own country. The 1980s and '90s were a pretty xenophobic time in America. My parents internalized that. They wouldn't even teach us their languages, because they were afraid we would grow up with an accent and be made fun of like they were. We went back to Hawaii after that. Those few years really reinforced to me that Hawaii was a more welcoming place to be Asian.

My first work experience after college was on the 2008 Obama campaign. In my first couple of weeks there, a co-worker said to me, "I love Asian women. Don't worry, I don't have yellow fever, but I think you're really attractive." I ignored it, but another co-worker heard and got the person fired. It would never have occurred to me to do that, because those kinds of comments were so prevalent in my life (outside of Hawaii). I would get ridiculous things said to me at bars and parties, mostly by White men, and I'd just learned to brush it all off. But that was a turning point for me--to realize, why didn't I think that was more messed up?

I am a woman, an Asian woman, and I also identify as a queer woman, so it's hard to say which of those non-dominant groups people will react to. A lot of the hypersexualized comments feel race-related: I've had that happen in fundraising situations, with investors making comments about my appearance, and in one case actually propositioning me. And even when you're talking to impact investors who are really good people trying to do a good thing, they also come with their biases. There was one instance when a funder called me up and said, "We're really interested in funding y'all, but I noticed your co-founder is pregnant. Can you tell me more about your maternity leave policy as part of due diligence?" I said, "How often do you ask male founders about their paternity leave policy?" He stammered and said, "Well, never, but that's different." In those instances, I find that pushing back in the most empathetic way possible is the best way to have the conversation. But someone needs to point out that the expectations for women founders are different. Still, for every unpleasant experience that has to do with stereotypes, there are investors and advisers who are incredibly supportive and are trying to help us be successful, because they recognize the rarity of seeing women of color leading organizations, particularly in clean energy and climate.

The cracking open that our society has experienced on many levels during the pandemic also applies to a reckoning within the AAPI community. There's an element of our culture that's about putting others before yourself and putting the needs of the community before your own needs, and that's a beautiful part of Asian culture, but it lends itself to being quiet about one's own struggles, or suffering, or hurt. I have watched my parents experience racism their whole lives, and yet I never had a conversation with my mother about race until this past year, when these attacks started happening.

We started a Slack channel for the AAPI folks at our company and offered them a forum, and I think it's really telling that we did the same thing after last summer's Black Lives Matter protests and everyone wanted to talk about it, but with this group, people said, "Thanks, I appreciate that but don't really want to talk about it." I think it goes back to this cultural predilection, which I also share. But I realized that in not speaking about these experiences, I was contributing to a culture of complicity. So I have shifted my thinking from "I don't want to complain about my own problems" to trying to foster those conversations in my personal and professional life, to make people feel like they're not as alone in this.
For a novelist who became famous writing hardcore erotica, EL James is surprisingly introverted. Im incredibly shy under all of it, she says.

It is hard to reconcile the notion of James as a quiet, reserved homebody with the billion-dollar fetish franchise she created. Since Fifty Shades of Grey was released in 2011, her Fifty Shades trilogy has sold 165 million copies worldwide and was adapted into a feature film series that James co-produced. It helped popularize niche sexual fetishes involving bondage, blindfolds and nipple clamps, bringing them into the commercial and cultural mainstream. James trademarked and licensed Fifty Shades-branded wine, lingerie, floggers, vibrators and handcuffs, designing many of the products herself. (I set about trademarking everything because I didnt want things on lunchboxes, she jokes. Just dont put it in a Happy Meal.)

Fans still wanted more. So James gave them more. In 2015, she published Grey, which retells the steamy saga of billionaire Christian Grey and his submissive, the demure Anastasia Steele. James, who first wrote Fifty Shades of Grey as Twilight fan fiction, rehashed the same plot but narrated it this time from Christians point of view instead of Anastasias.

James followed Grey with Darker, a second book from Christians perspective, then took a detour with a stand-alone romance novel titled The Mister. Dissatisfied readers begged her to finish the Christian-centric trilogy, sometimes posting photos of their bookshelves with an empty spot to fill.

When the pandemic struck last spring, James decided it was time to finish the project.

It kept me occupied during lockdown, she says. Theres only so many jigsaws you can do. It kept me sane during this insane year.

Its written for those hardcore fans who want it. Its not written for anyone who doesnt want to read it, you know? Its very simple EL James

In Freed: Fifty Shades Freed as Told by Christian, which Arrow released on 1 June, Anastasia and Christian are planning their wedding and fighting over their vows, while obsessive exes, ruthless corporate rivals and overbearing parents threaten their happiness.

Freed seems like the end of their story  marriage, happily ever after  again. But James isnt quite ready to shut it down, it seems. When asked if this marks the end of Christian and Anastasias story, I never say never, James says. Well see.

During a recent video interview from her home office in west London, James spoke about the evolution and impact of the series. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.

Q: Fifty Shades of Grey itself grew out of fan fiction, and your readers were already writing their own versions of Fifty Shades from Christians point of view. Was that partly what inspired you?

A: It was an interesting thing because, when it was fan fiction, I did write a couple of chapters from his point of view. So, you know, then people said, Oh, we want some more of this. Then, of course, they made the movies and as everyone knows, the first movie was a very trying time for me, so I came back, and I just wrote the book, and I didnt tell anyone. I just thought, I need to get back in touch with these characters, and thats what I did. I didnt realise that people would want more. That was probably a little shortsighted of me, but Im always amazed people read what I write anyway.

Q: So it grew out of wanting to reclaim the characters for yourself after being dissatisfied with the first movie?

A: Yes. Definitely. It was not a happy experience. Ive not really said anything about it, and I dont particularly want to say anything about it. Just to say, I was very pleased to be back in the book world.

James attends the premiere of Fifty Shades Darker at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, February 2017 (Getty)

Q: The books from Christians perspective have been very popular with many of your readers, but there were some fans who said it feels like youre trying to milk this franchise without advancing the story. What do you feel like the new book adds to the story?

A: Its written for those hardcore fans who want it. Its not written for anyone who doesnt want to read it, you know? Its very simple. And also, it goes back to seeing those five books. I feel the sense of, it wasnt complete, and now it is, and that goes back to the question, have you finished with this? I have for now. This, hopefully, will give me some freedom to go and explore something else.

Q: Rewriting your own books is almost like writing fan fiction of your own novels, but its tricky, too, because you dont want to contradict the plot of your earlier works, right?

A: Exactly. And thats what its like writing fan fiction. Its so funny because Im now in Clubhouse. I love it. And theres lots of authors talking in groups and what have you, and you see the difference between pantsters and plotters. You know, people who plot things out, or people who fly by the seat of their pants. Im a complete fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants. Ive got a vague idea of where Im going, not sure if Im going to get there.

Q: When did you join Clubhouse? What do you do on there?

A: Probably, maybe, March, April or maybe February of this year, but because time has no meaning anymore, thats the way it goes. Is it Thursday? Is it Saturday? Who knows! So some time this year, and Ive been on there for at least two months. It took me a long time to actually speak up, because Im incredibly shy. Theres a fantastic community of authors. And theres a bunch of magicians and comedians that I talk to as well. Theyre hilarious. A friend of mine, shes a stand-up comedian, and she was in Clubhouse, and I was a bit mischievous about it, but I followed her into this room, and it was full of magicians and comedians. What better company?

Q: What do you make of the impact that your books have had on publishing, after they helped bring more intense erotic romance into the mainstream?

A: It constantly surprises me. I will always be surprised by this kind of aberration. I would have been delighted to sell 5,000 books, and I thought Id carry on working in telly and doing all that stuff, and, you know, living my life peacefully and what have you, and its completely changed my life. Yeah. Its humbling and staggering, and I still cant quite believe it.

The new book was released on 1 June (Handout)

Q: I also think the series helped erase the stigma that was previously attached to hardcore erotica and proved that it can be massively profitable.

A: Women want to read this kind of stuff, you know? Its no secret. We all want to fall in love again. If you can do it in a book, its a fairly safe place to do it as well. So, I think, you know, anything thats female-centric is generally scorned, and you kind of get used to that, really, but its actually, you know, a billion-dollar industry. Im flabbergasted, really, by sometimes how dismissive people can be. And then, you see the movies did an amazing business as well, because people want to see a love story thats got some spicy bits. Now we say spicy. This is the word. Spicy is the word. This is what Im learning on Clubhouse. Spicy.

Q: What was the previous word?

A: Hot. Sexy. You know. All of those type words. Spicy is good. Theres more going on there with spicy.

Q: The books also had a huge cultural impact, in allowing women to feel like its OK to be more sexually adventurous, and open about it.

A: Absolutely. Yeah. Women are shamed. Were shamed all the time for whatever, you know? Thats life for women. Youre not a good enough mother. Youre not this. Youre not that. You dont read this or that. Its exhausting, is what it is. So, yeah. Its something I feel quite passionately about. Stop shaming us. Were just getting on with our lives.

Q: Given the extent to which some fans have embraced Fifty Shades as not just a story they enjoy, but one that they emulate in some ways, do you see yourself as a lifestyle guru?

A: No. No. No. Its not how-to. Its not a list. Its just an entertaining story for women.

 The New York Times
US turning G7 into anti-China, anti-Russia chorus wishful thinking

Global Times) 09:24, June 07, 2021

Xinhua file photos of Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and U.S. President Joe Biden

Before Joe Biden departs for Europe, embarking on his first trip abroad since he took office, the US president again tried to unite his major allies by playing the card of ideology and democratic values, in turning the Group of Seven (G7), which was designed as a framework for economic development, into a narrow-minded and outdated anti-China and anti-Russia club, Chinese experts said, echoing fresh warning from the Russian President that the US is walking the path of the Soviet Union.

"Whether it is ending the COVID-19 pandemic everywhere, meeting the demands of an accelerating climate crisis, or confronting the harmful activities of the governments of China and Russia, the US must lead the world from a position of strength," Biden wrote in an opinion piece published by the Washington Post on Sunday, three days before he left for the first overseas trip of his presidency. Scheduled to meet G7 partners, NATO allies and EU leaders, the US President is also scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. In the article, Biden urged the "major democracies" to offer a "high-standard alternative" to China in supporting global development.

As Biden tries to pump up the traditional democratic alliance and hopes to revive its influence, Chinese experts considered it na?ve thinking that the US could still lead the global system from a position of strength, as the world has been shifting from a uni-polar to a multi-polar structure at a much more rapid pace amid the pandemic, and the Western governance, with declining competitiveness, has become less effective in even correcting its own mistakes.

Russian president pointed out the problems with the US before his summit with Biden. Putin said that the US believes the country is still so powerful that they can afford to commit small errors and mistakes, Euronews reported on Saturday, citing a speech from the Russian leader at an economic forum in St. Petersburg. "And the US, with a confident gait, a firm step, is going straight along the path of the Soviet Union," Putin was quoted as saying in the report.

Anti-China, anti-Russia chorus

The G7 summit will be held from June 11 to 13 in Cornwall, England and the White House said that Biden's attendance at the meeting highlighted his commitment to restoring US alliances, revitalizing the transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with US allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure America's interests.

However, in the eyes of Chinese experts, the G7 is a relic of a past age, whose influence and power are no longer worth looking toward, as the world's economic and political center of gravity has shifted Eastward.

When the G7 was set up in 1975, the seven member countries were indeed the seven leading players in the world economy, Yang Xiyu, a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday. However, great changes have taken place in some Asian countries since the 1970s, and the past glory of these seven countries has now faded.

"There has been a decline in the competitiveness of US and Western-led governance. But they have been unable to initiate substantive reforms," Yang said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has in particular made the decline in competitiveness and their social governance much more obvious over the past year, when China, along with more East Asian countries took draconian measures in containing the virus' spread, leading the post-pandemic economic recovery. The five members of the G7 recorded coronavirus cases with their surging numbers ranked among the top 10 across the world.

Li Haidong, professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday that Biden's trip to Europe has a clear goal - to consolidate its alliance network in an attempt to maintain the US' dominant position in leading the West to confront China. Obviously, Biden sees the goal as Washington's top priority for its foreign policy, Li noted.

The US president determines friends or foes based on democratic values, but whether it is firm and reliable to take this as the fundamental ideal of the alliance network is very questionable as the US' European allies have their own interests, Li said.

Although there have been growing doubts overshadowing China-EU ties following the halted investment deal, accusations against China's Xinjiang and Hong Kong policies, As China being the largest trading partner of EU, China and Europe remain comprehensive strategic partners, according to Chinese and European officials. And some European officials also admitted that it's dangerous for the EU to be dominated by the US, which has been wanting to drag it into an predicament to confront China.

Biden is scheduled to travel to Brussels after the visit to the UK, to participate in the NATO summit and then the US-EU summit. The trip, for realizing his dream to "lead the world from a position of strength," is seen by Chinese analysts as "Arabian Nights" as the old international order in the post-World War II era led by the US has become increasingly unsustainable and a new world order is far from being established, with the global system shifting from uni-polar to multi-polar.

Also, the scandal about Denmark being accused of helping the US spy on European officials, which was exposed last week ahead of Biden's Europe trip would deliver a heavy blow to the transatlantic relationship, which also showed that there's no such thing as "mutual respect" in the transatlantic relationship and underscored the hypocrisy of the so-called allies of democracies, according to Chinese observers.

Wishful thinking

The biggest challenge for the Biden administration is how to repair the US' class antagonism, racial conflict and other domestic problems in the year-long COVID-19 outbreak, instead of going overseas to divide the world, Li said, echoing Putin's fresh warning to the Biden administration about the US now going down the same path of the Soviet Union.

"Like the Soviet Union, the US, although still enjoying leading national strength, abuses its power and creates policies going against globalization, international diversified development and domestic public demand, which would only lead to a dilemma of internal and external problems," the Chinese expert said.

As Putin discussed Russia's relations with the US ahead of a meeting with Biden as "at an extremely low point now," according to media reports, Putin said on Saturday that Russia-China relations have reached an "unprecedentedly high level" and the two sides have extensive shared interests between them.

Yang Jin, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believed that Biden is managing to ease US-Russia relations and even trying to woo Russia to confront China. However, this is merely wishful thinking from Biden, Yang noted, citing Putin's tough tone ahead of the summit criticizing that the US wants to "hold back" Russia's development.

And after Biden's visit, US' allies in Europe will definitely not blindly follow the US to decouple with China or Russia because they support globalization, he said, as the need for international cooperation is booming especially in the post-epidemic era.

"The role played by China and Russia is significant in the international community and European countries and even the US could not advance well without these two powers," Yang added.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
Chinas new policy of allowing couples to have three children (replacing the previous limit of two) is an attempt to respond to ageing population concerns and a slowing birth rate. But the policys implications for working women and their families mean few will welcome the change with open arms.

Population ageing is a significant concern in China. According to the latest national census in November 2020 , the number of people in the country aged 60 and above has reached 260 million  or 18.7 per cent of the population. By 2050, this number is expected to increase to 500 million.

Though societies are ageing around the world, the challenges are more acute in China due to the number of people involved (nearly 20 per cent of the global population), their relatively low income level, and the countrys stage of economic development.

While improved living standards have increased life expectancy, the states family planning policy  the one-child policy  has contributed most to the ageing trend. This policy was formally introduced in 1979 in response to concerns that uncontrolled population growth would jeopardise economic development and modernisation, and was strictly and effectively implemented in urban areas through workplace fines and other punitive measures.

But almost four decades on, the first generation of one-child policy children have now become parents themselves, placing on their shoulders the responsibility of potentially each having to support two parents and four grandparents.

Social media discussions among women commented on how unfairly the new policy initiative would affect their employment and family life

To address this inverse population pyramid, the state ended the one-child policy in 2015, introducing a national two-child policy in its place. Since the state had already (from the mid-1980s) allowed rural couples to have a second child if their first was a girl, this new policy targeted the urban population.

But few couples  just 5 per cent or 6 per cent  opted for a second child, given the inadequate childcare and increased family living costs in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

The new three-child policy has sparked a wave of online discussion among Chinese citizens, with many expressing shock and resentment about the states renewed efforts to manipulate citizens childbearing decisions.

Some posted online pictures of previous state slogans dating from the period of the one-child policy. One such slogan stated, if one person exceeds the birth quota, the villagers of the whole village have to undergo tubal ligation.

Social media discussions among women commented on how unfairly the new policy initiative would affect their employment and family life, given that childcare remains a womans job in China. Only a very small minority were hopeful that implementation of the three-child policy would lead the state to improve housing, education, medical and old-age care facilities.

Previous state slogans from the period of the one-child policy included, if one person exceeds the birth quota, the villagers of the whole village have to undergo tubal ligation (AFP via Getty Images)

Urban v rural

The policys impact will depend on where in China you look. In major cities and provincial capitals, my five-year study of Chinese family life reveals that only a very small proportion of couples born in the 1980s  the first cohort of the only-child generation  had a second child even once they were allowed.

So it seems unlikely that couples of the 1980s cohort would take advantage of the three-child allowance. Married interviewees born in the 1990s, acclimatised to only-child culture, have adopted a wait and see approach towards the possibility of having even a second child.

The comments of one interviewee (born in 1991) capture the dilemma facing him and his wife as they contemplate a second child:

Its possible. But I wont be making the final decision. If my wife suffers a lot from bringing up our first child, we will definitely not have a second child. Before their first child arrived, many of my friends were so confident in their plans to have a second child. But as soon as they had their first child, they all hesitated to have a second one. We will see if our future financial situation allows and it will also depend on whether our parents are in good health.

Younger couples in urban areas also showed no strong preference for sons.

By contrast, my study found that in rural areas many of the married cohorts of the 1980s and 1990s already had a second child. Whether or not rural couples respond positively to the new three-child policy will depend on the genders of their existing two children.

Despite the increased investment in girls education in rural China, I found consistent son preference across three generations. If a couples two children are both girls, it is therefore highly likely that they will try to have a third child. Indeed, in rural Fujian, where there is a much stronger lineage culture and custom than in many northern provinces, some villagers born in the early 1990s already had three or four children in their efforts to produce a boy heir.

In China childcare availability for infants under the age of three means that when a new mothers maternity leave ends, her mother or mother-in-law will take on childcare responsibilities (AFP via Getty Images)

The burden of care

Having three children will have gendered and generational consequences. Gender discrimination is deeply institutionalised in the Chinese labour market. When asked if they planned to have a second child, some of my women interviewees acknowledged that their employers unwillingness to bear the costs of their reproductive decisions made it difficult to decide. Unless gender discrimination in the labour market is addressed systematically, choosing to have three children will have a detrimental effect on womens employment trajectory.

The limited provision of childcare availability for infants under the age of three means that when a new mothers maternity leave ends (currently after around four months), her mother or mother-in-law will take on childcare responsibilities for their new grandchild. Given the shortage of good quality care homes for elderly people, these grandparents will also have to care for their own parents. In short, having three children will serve only to increase the burden of care on all generations.

Jieyu Liu is a reader in the sociology of China and deputy director of the China Institute, SOAS, University of London. This article first appeared on The Conversation.
A nine-year old lioness has died after testing positive for Covid-19 at a zoo in the South Indian city of Chennai, in what is believed to be the first reported death of an animal in the country due to the novel coronavirus.

Along with the lioness, Neela, who died on Thursday, eight more lions have also tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Zoo authorities said in a statement that the lioness showed symptoms, including nasal discharge, only one day before death, and that she started receiving treatment immediately.

Officials told the New Indian Express that the health condition of two lionesses aged 23 and 19 are also critical, and expect the number of positive cases to go up further as more samples are tested.

The in-house veterinary team and experts from the states leading veterinary university joined together to decide what treatment regimen to provide the sick animals.

Authorities at the Chennai zoo contemplated sending samples from the felines for testing in early May when eight Asiatic lions at another zoo in the South Indian city of Hyderabad tested positive for the coronavirus.

However, the officials reportedly decided against this as none of the felines at the centre exhibited any symptoms then, and also since collecting the samples required tranquillising the animals, which they feared could lower the felines immunity.

But the situation took a turn for the worse on 26 May when five lions in the zoos safari area began exhibiting signs of loss of appetite and occasional coughing, which are symptoms of Covid.

The authorities consulted veterinarians at the Bronx Zoo in the US and the Hyderabad zoo, which both had experience dealing with Covid outbreaks among lions, and began treatment based on symptoms.

But the samples were only sent to a dedicated centre for testing animals on 29 May, and by the time the results arrived on 3 June, Neela had died.

We chose not to send faecal samples because it was not an established testing technique. For instance, we sent all three samples of Neela - nasal, rectal and faecal samples  on 29 May. The result of nasal and rectal swab samples tested positive for Covid-19, while faecal sample results came negative, an official told the New Indian Express.

Zoo officials said they are yet to determine how the virus spread to the animals.

They believe it may have either spread via caretakers, or from those engaged in meat distribution to the lions.

However, the officials said the feeders are vaccinated, and that regular RT-PCR tests are conducted for all staff, making it more difficult to pinpoint the source.

All animal keepers and helpers for these animal houses [with sick lions] are vaccinated against Covid-19. A separate set of animal keepers is engaged for each group of lions. PPE kits are mandatory for the animal keepers, veterinary doctors and field staff visiting the area, the zoo officials noted in a statement.

The situation is being monitored round the clock at all levels. As a safety measure vaccination drive is being conducted and 61 per cent of [all] large cat animal handlers have been vaccinated by 3 June 2021, they added.
Two express trains collided in Pakistan early on Monday morning, killing at least 38 passengers and injuring dozens more people.

The crash happened before dawn in Sindh province in southern Pakistan when the Millat Express derailed and the Sir Syed Express train hit it soon afterwards. The reasons for the initial derailment and the subsequent collision were not immediately clear.

A total of eight carriages of the Millat Express and three  including the engine  of the Sir Syed Express were derailed in the incident. According to railway officials, almost 1,100 passengers were onboard the two trains at the time.

Rescuers and villagers were working throughout the morning to pull injured people and bodies from the wreckage.

Usman Abdullah, deputy commissioner for the Ghotki district, said the death toll steadily rose through the day, and hours later increased to at least 38.

Authorities said the toll could rise further because rescuers had not yet been able to access some of the mangled train compartments.

Umar Tufail, a police chief in Ghotki, said between 15 and 20 passengers were still trapped in the wreckage of the Millat Express and that authorities were trying to arrange heavy machinery to rescue them.

Several local news channels said that heavy machinery had still not reached the scene some four hours after the crash.

Footage of the accident on social media and local media showed ambulances taking the injured, some of whom were in critical condition, to hospital.

Mr Tufail said a medical relief camp had been set up at the accident site to provide urgent medical aid to the injured passengers.

Malik Aslam, a local villager, told Pakistans Geo News TV channel that about 100 people were injured and that he had counted at least 30 bodies of passengers during the rescue and recovery work.

Mohammad Amin, a passenger on the Millat Express who suffered minor injuries, told the Associated Press from a hospital that before the train departed from the southern port city of Karachi, he and his brother, who was also on the train, saw railway mechanics working on one of the coaches.

That led them to believe there was something wrong with it, but they were reassured at the time that all was fine. The train car that was being worked on was the one that later derailed, claimed Mr Amin.

Aijaz Ahmed, the driver of the Sir Syed Express, told Geo News TV that on seeing the derailed train, he braked in an attempt to avoid an accident but was unable to do so in time. Mr Ahmed did not explain how he survived the crash.

Pakistans prime minister, Imran Khan, expressed shock and asked the countrys railways minister to travel to the site.

Shocked by the horrific train accident at Ghotki early this morning leaving 30 passengers dead. Have asked railway minister to reach site & ensure medical assistance to injured & support for families of the dead. Ordering comprehensive investigation into railway safety faultlines, tweeted Mr Khan.

Azam Swati, the minister for railways who later travelled to the scene of the crash, said that engineers and experts were trying to determine what caused the collision and that all aspects would be examined, including the possibility of sabotage.

Habibur Rehman Gilani, the chairman of Pakistan Railways, said that the segment of the railway tracks where the accident took place was old and needed replacing but refused to elaborate further, reported Geo News TV.

Naz Baloch, a member of Pakistans national assembly, expressed sadness and tweeted: The colonial-era railway system of Pakistan requires complete revamp. #TrainAccident

The media reports quoted an official statement from the Pakistani army that said it was assisting in the relief and rescue operation. It said that a military doctor and paramedics, along with ambulances, had reached the incident site, and other resources had been moved to carry out necessary relief and rescue work.

The statement said a special army-engineer team was being airlifted to the crash site to speed up the relief and rescue efforts. The army also deployed two helicopters for casualty evacuation and to speed up relief measures.

Additional reporting by agencies
A mixed race couple in Singapore has shared a video in which a man can be seen racially abusing them and telling them to date people of their own race.

The video posted to Facebook by Dave Parkash on Sunday showed him in a verbal confrontation with a man who says that its racism if an Indian-origin person marries someone of Chinese origin.

In the caption, Mr Parkash said: Today I feel embarrassed, humiliated and hurt by how I was treated by another fellow Singaporean. My girlfriend and I were confronted by a man who told us that we should only be dating people of our own race.

In the video, the Chinese-Singaporean man can be seen saying that he has nothing against Mr Parkash personally, but I think its racist that Indians prey on Chinese girls. Its predatory.

He tells Mr Parkash that if he is proud of his own race, he should marry an Indian.

Mr Parkash says in the video that while he is half-Indian and half-Filipino, his girlfriend is half-Singaporean Chinese and half-Thai. We are the walking example of love is love. Colour doesnt matter, he says.

He said in the videos caption that both he and his girlfriend are mixed race but we are proud to be Singaporeans. I feel we shouldn't be publicly shamed just because of our skin colour. Love is love.

When he points it out in the video, the man says: Love is not love. There is a race and you should not come in and disturb the race.

Admitting that he is racist, the man also accuses Mr Parkash of being one. You dont see a Chinese guy preying on an Indian girl, he says, before turning to the woman who was filming the confrontation and asking her if her parents were happy with her dating an Indian.

The video has now gone viral and has already been shared 16,000 times since it was posted on Sunday.

The police are now investigating the incident after it drew a sharp reaction from the Singapore government.

Home affairs and law minister K Shanmugam called the incident quite unacceptable and very worrying.

In a Facebook post, he said that while he doesnt have the full facts about the incident, if the video is accurate then its horrible.

He said: It seems like more people are finding it acceptable, to make 'in your face' racist statements - openly. And some try to explain away, each time something like this happens.

The minister also said that he used to believe that Singapore was moving in the right direction on racial tolerance and harmony. Based on recent events, I am not so sure anymore.

Senior minister of state for communications, information and health Janil Puthucheary also said in a post that this is blatant racism and bigotry. Caused by ignorance, intolerance and anger.

He said such behaviour is unacceptable and should not be happening.
Vladimir Putin has said it is a myth that Russia is unconcerned about the threat posed by the climate crisis, but has warned against action which could harm the countrys energy industry.

Speaking as leaders from the G7 countries  which does not include Russia  prepared to head to Cornwall for the international summit, Mr Putin warned against the danger of transforming the drive for carbon neutrality into a tool of unfair competition.

Russia is the worlds biggest exporter of gas and the worlds second biggest exporter of oil.

Speaking at Russias annual economic forum in St Petersburg, Mr Putin defended the use of natural gas, which he described as clean, and said should be used during the transition to cleaner energy.

[There is] talk that Russia is not very interested in resolving the global problems from climate warming, but I can immediately say that is nonsense, a myth, if not outright misrepresentation, he said.

Like other countries, we feel the risks and threats in this area, but he added: We need to put aside political and other differences and not turn the transition to carbon neutrality into an instrument of unfair competition.

He also said issues such as the melting permafrost in areas such as Siberia was a threat as the country has entire cities built on permafrost in the Arctic.

We have whole cities built on permafrost , he said. Should it thaw, imagine the consequences for Russia. We are very concerned about that.

Speaking about the countrys gas exports, he said: We need to decrease emissions across the economy. Russia can play a role. We have the worlds biggest gas reserves. Of course gas is a fossil fuel, but its the cleanest one, and we cant go without it. We are also building infrastructure for hydrogen production.

While gas-fired power stations produce around half as much CO2 as a coal-fired plant, the contribution of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere remains a significant problem. Furthermore, the extraction and transport of gas also generates and releases other waste gases, most notably methane, which is 34 times more powerful than CO2 at trapping heat over a 100-year period and 86 times more powerful over 20 years.

In his address Mr Putin also sought to highlight Russias vast ecological wealth, including its forests and peatlands which provide vital carbon dioxide storage services, but one which it appears the Kremlin is eager to monetise.

Its not enough simply to reduce emissions  we need to take into account the absorption of greenhouse gases, he said, according to the Moscow Times.

Russia has colossal potential in our forests, tundra, agricultural lands and swamps. Our country accounts for one fifth of the worlds forests. They absorb a few billion tons of carbon dioxide on an annual basis.

Thanks to these natural competitive advantages, Russia can take a leading role in the world in the new market for carbon trading  a market which could be worth more than $50bn a year in revenue.

Additional reporting by Reuters.
The late Princess of Wales would have been a hands-on grandmother to Prince Harry and Meghan Markles new daughter because she always wanted a baby girl of her own, a royal expert has said.

On Sunday 6 June, Prince Harry and Meghan announced the arrival of their second child, a daughter named Lilibet Lili Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. She is the couples second child; they also have a two-year-old son, named Archie.

In a statement after her birth, Harry and Meghan said they had chosen her name to honour both the Queen and her late grandmother, Princess Diana.

Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet. Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honour her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales, Meghan and Harry said in a statement.

Now Ian Lloyd, royal photographer and author of The Duke has told The Independent he believes it was almost definite that Harry would choose to include Diana in his daughters name.

He absolutely adores his mother so its only right that the name should be theirs, he said, adding that the naming is quite poignant because Diana herself loved baby girls.

Diana herself wanted a baby girl, and she was always drawn to the daughters of her friends, he said.

Therefore, had she lived I think she would have been especially fond of Princess Charlotte [William and Kates daughter] and baby Lili. I think she would have been very much a hands-on grandmother, he added.

Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior members of the royal family in March 2020 and have since settled in Santa Barbara, California, where it is expected they will raise their children.

Both [the Queen and Princess Diana] are really feted in America. The Queen is adored, but Diana was particularly well received, Lloyd said, adding that he believes Lilis name will be to her advantage.

In a statement announcing Lilis birth, Harry and Meghan said: She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers weve felt from across the globe.
The Duke of Edinburghs life will be celebrated at two special exhibitions at Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse this summer, after what would have been his 100th birthday.

Prince Philip was the nations longest serving consort until his death at the age of 99 on 9 April. He would have turned a century old on Thursday 10 June.

The special displays will chart significant events and achievements in the dukes life through more than 150 objects, the Royal Collection Trust announced, including his wedding to Queen Elizabeth II.

Touching wedding mementoes from the day Philip married Princess Elizabeth in 1947 will be on show at Holyroodhouse, including the wedding invitation, order of service and wedding breakfast menu.

The menu included Filet de Sole Mountbatten, which was a tribute to Philips family name, and Bombe Glacee Princesse Elizabeth, in honour of the royal bride.

Visitors to the Windsor exhibition, titled Highlights of Prince Philip: A celebration at Windsor can view the Coronation Robe and Coronet worn by the duke during the Queens Coronation in 1953 and his Chair of Estate, which is usually located in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace.

The Coronation robe worn by the Duke of Edinburgh at Queen ELizabeth IIs Coronation in 1953, one of the items which will feature in Prince Philip: A Celebration (PA)

Philip played a key role in the planning of the Coronation and was instrumental in the decision to broadcast the service live on television. It became the first coronation to be viewed by millions and the first major world event to be broadcast internationally.

Gifts presented to the duke during state visits, overseas tours and official engagements will also be displayed, including a First Nations feather headdress he was given in Canada in 1973 and a wine cooler in the shape of a giant grasshopper presented by President Pompidou of France in 1972.

Many of the objects will focus on Philips close associations with Windsor Castle and the local community.

His mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was born at Windsor in 1885. Visitors will be able to see the journal in which her great-grandmother Queen Victoria recorded the birth, describing the newborn as very pretty.

After the Windsor Castle fire of 1992, the duke chaired the Restoration Committee. A portrait of Philip standing in the shell of St Georges Hall and holding a roll of floorplans in the aftermath of the fire, pained by George A. Weymouth, will be exhibited.

The exhibition at Holyroodhouse will include a section charting Philips early life and naval career.

His Midshipmans log book from 1940 will be shown, in which he described his role operating the ships searchlight during the Battle of Cape Matapan while stationed on the HMS Valiant off the coast of Greece.

The Duke of Edinburghs midshipmans logbook for 1940-1941, one of the items which will feature in Prince Philip: A Celebration (PA)

His connections to Scotland and Edinburgh will also be explored in the exhibition, as he was granted the royal dukedom of the Scottish capital city ahead of his wedding.

He took a keen interest in the design of the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was built in the Clydebank shipyard in Scotland, and was also an avid collector of contemporary Scottish art.

Philip acquired a large number of works from the annual exhibitions of the Royal Scottish Academy between 1958 and 1996, some of which will be on display at the palace.

The exhibition at Windsor Castle will be open to the visitors from 24 June until 20 September 2021, and at the Palace of Holyroodhouse from 23 July until 31 October 2021. Tickets must be pre-booked via the Royal Collection Trust website.

Additional reporting by PA
An OnlyFans star named Briatney Portillo suffered a heart-attack after trying out the popular dry scooping trend on TikTok that involves ingesting a spoonful of undiluted protein powder for a more productive workout.

The 20-year-old Florida stripper consumed the powder before her exercise and started feeling chest pains at her gym.

I never thought something like this would ever happen to me. Especially because Im so young, she told The New York Post.

Describing how things unfolded, Ms Portillo told Buzzfeed: After I took the pre-workout, I started to feel tingly and itchy all over my body, which wasnt a good feeling, but I googled it and it said that was a normal side effect.

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So I began to do my workout. I started to feel a heavy feeling in my chest and slight pain, but it wasnt too bad. I thought it was maybe anxiety or a bad panic attack, so I decided to just ignore it and push through my workout, she said.

After recovering from dizziness and nausea, Portillo said she was feeling better so she went to her job performing as a stripper.

In the locker room of my job, I started getting hot, even though it was cold in there.  I started sweating a lot and was drenched even though I was wearing a bikini. Then my chest pain came back and this time it was more intense, she said.

The pain went to my back and to my left arm and my left arm went slightly limp, so I knew those were symptoms of a heart attack. I called 911 and the ambulance came, she added.

At the hospital, after running some tests, the doctors saw that the dancers troponin (type of protein found in the muscles of the heart) levels were quite high, meaning that she either had a heart attack or her heart was very stressed.

It was later determined that she had an NSTEMI - non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction, which is a type of heart attack typically less damaging to the heart.

They said to stay away from caffeine and watch what I take  especially pre-workout, since it isnt regulated by the FDA. They said I was OK to work out within 34 days after my hospitalisation and to start watching my heart rate on either a Fitbit or a smart watch, said Ms Portillo.

I just felt so stupid for doing that dumb challenge and ending up in a hospital bed, she told The Post.

She said shell be steering clear of TikTok challenges from now on and cautioned other people against participating in dangerous trends.

Do not do what you see other people doing on TikTok thinking it will make you cool, she said. Its not worth risking your health or your life, Ms Portillo said.

This is not the first time a social media challenge went awry and led to a life-threatening situation.

Earlier this week, in another dangerous TikTok challenge, a 13-year-old girl landed in the intensive care unit (ICU) with third-degree burns after attempting to recreate a trend that involves setting fire to symbols drawn on a mirror using flammable liquid.

Similarly, last year a skull-breaker challenge went viral in which two people kick the legs of the third one from under to make the person fall over. The challenge led to aggravated injuries in several young people.
Boris Johnson is under increasing pressure to delay the final easing of lockdown restrictions in the UK on 21 June amid mounting concern over the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, first detected in India.

The new strain of Covid-19 caused cases to uptick in the northwest of England, parts of the Midlands and in London during May and into the first week of June, prompting fears that the prime minister pressing ahead with his roadmap to bring an end to precautionary measures could have disastrous consequences.

The UK recorded 5,341 new infections on Sunday as the caseload continues to increase, plus four more deaths within 28 days of testing positive, bringing the total number of fatalities since the pandemic began to 127,840.

But while the recent rise is unquestionably worrying, does it actually amount to a third wave?

Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser to the government and chair of the independent Sage group, told Sky News on Monday morning the current Covid-19 figures are evidence of another wave appearing.

There are 5,300 new cases of the disease per day in the United Kingdom and we're up about 2,000 on last week, he said.

Now weve been discussing whether or not we're going into a serious third wave and I don't think we can possibly wait any longer. This is the evidence of another wave appearing.

The question was previously put to microbiologist Professor Ravi Gupta  a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), which advises the government  on BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Bank Holiday Monday and he answered likewise: Yes, there has been exponential growth in the number of the new cases and at least three-quarters of them are the new variant.

Of course the numbers of cases are relatively low at the moment  all waves start with low numbers of cases that grumble in the background and then become explosive, so the key here is that what we are seeing here is the signs of an early wave.

He added: It will probably take longer than earlier waves to emerge because of the fact that we do have quite high levels of vaccination in the population, so there may be a false sense of security for some time, and thats our concern.

Professor Gupta pointed out that Mr Johnsons roadmap was formulated before the existence of the more transmissible variant became unknown and advocated delaying the final easing by a few weeks to allow more people to be vaccinated against it.

If you look at the costs and benefits of getting it wrong, I think it is heavily in favour of delay, so I think that's the key thing, the University of Cambridge expert said

People are not saying we should abandon the 21 June date altogether but just to delay it by a few weeks while we gather more intelligence and we can look at the trajectory in a clearer way.

On Times Radio, Professor Adam Finn of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation went further and questioned whether the restrictions already lifted might need to be reimposed.

Wed all be better off doing everything we can to minimise that risk so that we dont get to a position where we have to really go backwards in terms of the restrictions that were all having to endure, he said on Monday.

The experts are broadly in agreement about the threat posed by the Delta variant and the risk of a major setback being caused by ending restrictions prematurely.

Martin McKee, a professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told The Guardian that he also believes a third wave has already begun.

We can already see that the current measures are not stopping cases rising rapidly in many parts of the country. This looks very much as if we are now early in a third wave, he said.

A woman wearing a face mask walks past daffodils in Green Park in central London (AFP/Getty)

Unless there is a miracle, opening up further in June is a huge risk. The rise in cases we are seeing now should cause a reassessment of the most recent relaxation.

James Naismith, a professor of structural biology at the University of Oxford, likewise told the AP news agency: It seems almost certain that we will face a third episode of rising Covid-19 infections.

It seems likely that the Indian variant will mostly confine itself to the unvaccinated younger population. It is much less likely to cause serious disease in this group. However, less likely is not the same as zero. With large enough numbers of infections, appreciable numbers will get seriously ill.

It is feared that the NHS could once again be left struggling to cope in the event of a fresh explosion of cases as the health service begins the difficult job of addressing its non-Covid workload, which has piled up over the course of the pandemic as operations and treatments were sidelined in order to prioritise bringing the outbreak under control.

Staff have already come forward to warn that frontline workers in particular have been broken by the pandemic and are close to burnout.

Everyone in the NHS at the moment is kind of terrified, said Dr Megan Smith, legal and policy officer for campaign group EveryDoctor.

Dr Emily Bell, a GP from the northwest of England, added: We know there's still a lot of unclear messaging going on, and I think unfortunately peoples behaviour has been relaxing.

The NHS is still in crisis and we cannot cope as it is. Unlocking poses a real threat to it just collapsing, and my biggest concern is patient safety.

Downing Street has so far said it is too soon to make a call on delaying the 21 June unlocking and that more data is needed to determine the severity of the situation.

Health secretary Matt Hancock told Sky on Sunday: It is too early to make a final decision. Well keep watching the data for another week or so and, critically, watching that link on the number of cases to the number of people who end up in hospital.

And it is absolutely true that the number of people ending up in hospital is broadly flat at the moment.

When did the first and second waves begin?

Heres a reminder of how the previous two tsunamis of infections came crashing down on these shores last year.

Following the viruss outbreak in the city of Wuhan in China towards the end of 2019, it gradually spread from Asia to the Mediterrean, with Italy the first European nation to be badly hit.

In the first half of March 2020, the threat posed by coronavirus was becoming clear but the UK government was unsure how best to go about tackling it - as the PMs adviser Dominic Cummings made clear in his parliamentary testimony last week.

On 23 March, Mr Johnson reluctantly announced the first full national lockdown, telling the public they will only be allowed to leave their homes for limited reasons, including food shopping, exercise once per day, medical need and travelling for work when absolutely necessary. All shops selling non-essential goods were told to close, while gatherings of more than two people in public were banned.

After Mr Johnson himself had been hospitalised with Covid-19, he announced the first easing on 10 May, followed by more as the summer progressed.

But, by 30 July, Mr Hancock was warning of a second wave starting to roll across Europe. Six weeks later, on 18 September, Mr Johnson said the next round had reached Britain and introduced new restrictions later that week to contain its spread, stopping short of a second national lockdown. A total of 6,634 new coronavirus cases were recorded on 24 September, at that point the highest single-day figure since the outbreak began.

The tier system was then introduced on 12 October before being replaced by a new month-long second national lockdown between November and December, before a respite for the Christmas holidays.

A third national lockdown followed on 4 January as cases soared, before the situation gradually eased again and enabled the PM to announce his roadmap out of restrictions on 22 February, which we are currently on course to reach the end of on 21 June, unless the government does change tack in response to the aggressive Delta variant.
The man behind a Bafta-winning drama about the Windrush scandal has yet to receive compensation from the Home Office, The Independent can reveal.

Anthony Bryan, whose story inspired BBC drama Sitting in Limbo, said winning Best Single Drama was bittersweet given his ongoing battle with the government.

Just hours before the awards ceremony on Sunday, a representative from the Home Office contacted Mr Bryan to offer him a package he described as insulting.

The 62-year-old was similarly contacted about compensation by government officials days before the TV drama, written by his screenwriter and novelist brother Stephen S Thompson, aired in June 2020.

I feel great for my brother, really, and the win has lifted me up a bit, to be honest, Mr Bryan said. I didnt expect it to resonate with so many people ... I was surprised that it had such a big impact but am very glad that it did.

But it was all very bittersweet and it hasnt really sunk in; I was up until about 2am in disbelief over the fact that my story has won a Bafta but yet things havent moved on for me.

He added: It would be nice if I were able to move on with my life.

Mr Bryan, from north London, was unlawfully detained by authorities twice and told he would be deported back to Jamaica, which he left in 1965 when he was eight.

The former decorator said he feared being denied re-entry to the UK if he visited his mother in Jamaica, having learned her health was poor around the same time he felt the impact of the Governments hostile environment towards immigrants 2015.

Mr Bryan was abruptly dismissed from his job the same year and forced to rely on family members for financial assistance.

He finally received a biometric residence permit from the Home Office in May 2018.

I remember breaking down crying while detained  on one occasion Id just buried my son  and people around just ignoring me, Mr Bryan recalled.

When I think of what Ive been through, I break out in cold sweats.

I still get stressed out and, to this day, I cant cope with hearing the banging of doors because it makes me very nervous and takes me back to that dark time in my life.

The Windrush survivor has declined the Home Offices compensation offer which amounts to around 90,000.

Anthony Bryan flanked by fellow Windrush survivors, MPs Dawn Butler and David Lammy. (PA)

Last summer, Mr Bryan accepted an interim payment of 30,000 which was offered just before Sitting in Limbo was broadcast last year.

From this most recent offer, the government would deduct from that amount leaving him with 60,000.

It was a very insulting offer; thats what the Home Office thinks that I am worth after everything Ive gone through, he said.

Whats more, Mr Bryan said the government has not factored in his post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis which came as a result of his immigration ordeal.

Mr Bryan is experiencing additional health challenges including a recent diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which means he hasnt been able to work since last February and is sometimes unable to even venture outside on his own.

Im supposed to be able to move on by now but this process keeps dragging on and on, he said.

If I didnt have the support of my missus and my son, I wouldve been deported to Jamaica because I didnt have the strength to fight this on my own.

Mr Bryans case was one of many highlighted when it emerged members of the Windrush generation were being deported, detained, denied healthcare, work and housing despite having a legal right to be in the UK.

Having arrived as children, many assumed their citizenship was secured automatically and have struggled to prove their right to residence under tough conditions in the so-called hostile environment created under Theresa May when she was home secretary.

Windrush campaigner Patrick Vernon told The Independent: The recent National Audit Office report now makes the case that the compensation scheme needs to be removed from the Home Office.

The scheme was not designed in the spirit of restorative justice or righting the wrongs caused by the scandal, as the case workers and administration systems are not qualified to deal with complex nature of its financial, emotional and cultural impact because of the hostile environment.

With the success of Sitting in Limbo, I hope more people will sign my petition which calls for the compensation scheme to be taken away from the government.

Twenty-one dead and nothing said, he added, referring to the number of people affected by the scandal who died before receiving compensation.

It comes as Priti Patel insisted the Windrush compensation scheme has fundamentally changed in the last six months.

She told the House of Commons on Monday that, since an overhaul in December, the Home Office has paid out six times more than the previous total.
Stock Market Volatility Crash Course (VIX vs VVIX)  Learn How to Profit From Volatility

Volatility is the most common way to measure risk in the financial markets. While there are a plethora of methods, calculations, and derivatives to calculate volatility, they are all trying to accomplish the same goal: what is the price of a security going to do in the future? Without a crystal ball, theres no perfect answer, but lets go through a few common ways that we can estimate future volatility.

Lets Talk Volatility

Generally speaking, there are two types of volatility that traders and investors use in an effort to understand risk  historical volatility and implied volatility. Each of these can be used in different ways for different types of trades. Today were going to go through the basics of implied volatility, starting with the VIX. First proposed as the Sigma Index in 1987, the VIX got its start in 1993 when the CBOE reported implied volatility in real time using at-the-money options data from the S&P 100. While updates have been made to the VIX over time, its used as a fear gauge or a measure of the markets expectations of future price action. As the VIX increases, the market expects more risk ahead.

Take a look at the most recent recession in 2020  where we saw the VIX climb as high as 85. At that price, the market is expecting extreme risk. Ultimately, the VIX is the industry standard to help traders and investors have a standardized view of market risk through implied volatility.

The VIX is useful because it can give us a hint at what the market is expecting since it is an example of implied volatility. Typically, IV is derived using an options pricing model, such as the BlackScholes. Using these models, the theoretical value of an option can help guide us to the measurement of implied volatility at a particular point in time.

Traders and investors can use IV to find attractive options trades to hedge, enter or exit a position, or to speculate on a future outcome in the market.

Historical Volatility

While the VIX is a measure of implied volatility, there are many historical measures of volatility that can be useful. One common example is the beta coefficient. This is a historical calculation measured by taking the returns associated with a security and comparing the price action of the market over the same time period. A security with a beta less than 1 implies that the security is theoretically less volatile than the market as a whole. A security with a beta greater than 1 would be more volatile than the market.

For those that want to have a full picture of the risk of a security, the beta coefficient can help separate market risk from individual security risk. These types of measures can help you diversify properly with respect to your individual risk tolerance.

A historical volatility calculation like beta gives you a basic understanding of what the price of a security has done in the past. While past performance is not indicative of future results, historical volatility calculations can be used to help measure risk and ultimately help determine if a security is right for you.

The Volatility of the Volatility  VVIX

To further confuse new traders there is such a thing called the volatility of the volatility  AKA the VIX of the VIX (VVIX). No this is not an exercise in doublespeak. If you are a subscriber you will have heard me talk about this before. The VVIX is simply a measure of the change of volatility in the VIX volatility index. The VVIX is the VIX of the VIX like the VIX is the VIX of stocks. Ok, if you are not thoroughly confused by now then congrats because this stuff can get pretty mind-bending! Another way to put it is, the VVIX measures how rapidly S&P 500 volatility changes, and is thus a measure of the volatility of the index. Investors can use the VVIX and its derivatives to hedge against volatility swings on changes in the VIX options market. You can hedge the hedge!

Why You Shouldnt Be Afraid of Volatility

All told, volatility is just a measurement that can give you insight into the potential risk of a security. Its important to remember that actual volatility is almost always less than implied volatility. No measure of risk is going to be totally accurate, anything can happen in the financial markets. Even so, volatility measurements can offer a clear view of risk the market expects.

If you want to learn more about how to trade options, about how to take all factors of options pricing into consideration, and about how to account for volatility in your options trading, please look into our Options Trading Signals. We send trade alerts out weekly and do daily updates on our positions as to why we got in and out along with the factors to our strategies. We trade proprietary strategies you will not find anywhere else. Our goal is to make the market work for us and not try to work the market like everyone else.

You owe it to yourself to have the best tools and subject matter experts on had to ensure you are set up for ultimate success. Dont trade with one hand behind your back. Rather, expedite your learning curve with the Options Trading newsletter service.

Chris Vermeulen

www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic



Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better.



His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility.



He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk

Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.

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Joe Biden is expected to warn Boris Johnson not to renege on the commitments made in his Brexit deal when they meet for the first time at the G7 summit later this week.

The US president will use a meeting with the prime minister to back the Northern Ireland protocol and warn the prospect of a US-UK trade deal could be damaged if the current dispute with the EU remains unresolved, according to The Times.

However, Biden will also make it clear that he expects Brussels to stop being bureaucratic and adopt a more flexible approach to the implementation of the protocol, diplomatic sources told the newspaper.

There has been intense speculation about how UK-US ties might be under the Biden administration, but the president issued a statement of support for the special relationship ahead of his meeting with Mr Johnson on Thursday.

In an article for the Washington Post, he wrote: In the United Kingdom, after meeting with prime minister Boris Johnson to affirm the special relationship between our nations, I will participate in the G7 summit.

He said he wanted to rally the worlds democracies against major threats  including the Covid crisis and climate change  when he meets fellow world leaders at the three-day summit in Cornwall from Friday.

Mr Johnsons Brexit minister David Frost is due to meet EU Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic to discuss the ongoing dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol in London on Wednesday.

Lord Frost accused the EU of failing to understand the protocols "real-world impacts on lives and livelihoods. He also conceded in an article for the FT at the weekend that the government had underestimated the impact of the protocol.

Fellow minister, solicitor general Lucy Frazer, admitted on Monday that implementing protocol arrangements was more difficult than anticipated when the deal was struck with the EU.

She told Sky News: As it has panned out, on the ground it is more difficult than we anticipated, and we do need to sort out that trade arrangement ... It is very difficult on the ground in terms of trade.

Brexit minister and negotiator Lord Frost (PA)

It comes as the Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis faces was accused of an unhelpful intervention over the new DUP leaders decision not to become first minister of the province.

Mr Lewis suggested on Sunday that it would be a mistake and would make things more difficult if Edwin Poots did not take on the top role.

Mr Poots has said he will nominate a colleague as first minister, stating he wants to focus on the party. The DUPs Paul Givan is widely tipped to take on the role of first minister after Arlene Foster steps down.

Mr Lewis told the newspaper that Mr Poots would not necessarily have regular access to the secretary of state or prime minister.

However, Alliance leader Naomi Long said the intervention by Mr Lewis was not helpful, adding: The matter of who is going to be first minister is a matter for Edwin Poots.
Covid-19 vaccinations will be available to anyone aged 25 and over in England from Tuesday, the health secretary announced  as questions remain over whether the governments plan to lift lockdown by 21 June will go ahead.

Matt Hancock told MPs that text invitations will be sent out over the remainder of this week.

He also confirmed that the UKs medicines regulator has determined that the Pfizer vaccine is safe and effective for teenagers 12 years and older, adding that he would ask the JCVI to come forward with clinical advice on a timetable for vaccinating this age group.

The health secretary added that inoculating school-aged children was increasingly crucial as a large proportion of new cases were being detected in this age group.

The announcements come amid uncertainty over whether the government will be able to proceed with the next phase of its unlocking plan, which is due to take effect in a fortnight. The decisions on whether to lift the last remaining legal restrictions will be announced next week amid growing calls for caution over the emergence of the new Delta variant, which was first identified in India.

Professor Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser to the government and chair of the Independent Sage group, said on Monday the latest data was evidence of another wave appearing.

Mr Hancock stressed on Sunday the government was absolutely open to delaying the final unlocking if necessary, but said it was too early to make a decision.

A new analysis by the Press Association suggests that around three-quarters of local authorities reported a week-on-week rise in the week to 2 June  the highest proportion since early January. A total of 283 out of 380 areas recorded an uptick in cases, with the greatest numbers in London, northwest England and Scotland.

The government meanwhile estimates that vaccines have prevented an estimated 39,000 hospitalisations and over 13,000 deaths.

Speaking in the Commons, the health secretary said that for now the government wanted schools to resume twice-a-week home testing of children to allow infected pupils to self-isolate with the minimum disruption to education.

And he added that the government was still on track to offer all adults a vaccine by the end of this July.

Mr Hancock said: Speaking to those directly in their late 20s who will be able to book a jab from tomorrow, and others who might feel that in their age group they are unlikely to die of Covid: the honest truth is the best way for us to get our freedoms back, get back to normal, is for everybody to come forward and get the jab. It really matters that we all come forward and do this because that is the safest way out.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 12 June 2021 Oxfam campaigners wearing costumes depicting G7 leaders pose for photographers on Swanpool Beach near Falmouth, Cornwall EPA UK news in pictures 11 June 2021 Members of the Vaxinol team, who are commercial, industrial and residential cleaners specialising in disinfection and decontamination, use electrostatic spray systems to deep clean the Only Fools Bar in Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 10 June 2021 A woman walks her dogs as the incoming tide begins to wash away the heads of G7 leaders drawn in the sand by activists on the beach at Newquay, Cornwall AP 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

The new dates in the announcement apply to England, where the NHS is under control of the government in Westminster. Wales is ahead of schedule, and set to offer vaccines for all over 18 from next week.

Labours shadow health secretary asked the government to do more to drive up vaccination rates in those areas that have seen the Delta variant take off and where uptake remains low such as Blackburn, and my own city of Leicester.

He also suggested narrowing the timeframe between the first and second dose due to reduced protection after a first dose against the new variant.

But speaking earlier, Sir David told Sky News: [There are] 5,300 new cases of the disease per day in the United Kingdom and were up about 2,000 on last week.

Now weve been discussing whether or not were going into a serious third wave and I dont think we can possibly wait any longer  this is the evidence of another wave appearing.

We know that anyone vaccinated twice is relatively safe against the virus, but lets not forget the one in 25 new cases are people who have been vaccinated twice  that means 400 new cases a day are people who had the vaccine twice.

He added: The number of people in our hospitals, which the government says is relatively stable, its 932 per day going into hospital, which is up 65 from last week. Its not actually stable, it is slowly rising.

Im very reluctant to say that we should not go out of lockdown on 21 June, but I think the figures are in now, and it will be wise for the government to announce right away a delay in opening, just so that we can all plan for the post-21 June period.

I would give a few weeks delay and see how the figures are emerging.

Mr Hancock revealed on Sunday that the Delta variant was about 40 per cent more transmissable than the strain previously prevalent in the UK.

But he said vaccines were working and that very few people who had been fully vaccinated were ending up in hospital, adding that some under-30s would be invited for their jabs this week.

NHS leaders have said those being admitted to hospital are generally younger and less likely to fall seriously ill.

Ravi Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, said a few more weeks rather than months could be needed before leaving lockdown completely.

He told BBC Breakfast that options could include a modification of a full exit from lockdown. He suggested that this could involve both remote working and continued mask-wearing in workplaces.

Daily reported cases of Covid-19 remained above the 5,000 mark over the weekend, with a further 5,341 lab-confirmed cases recorded on Sunday. Meanwhile, a further four people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, as of 9am Sunday.

Additional reporting by PA
A 20-year-old truck driver was charged with four counts of first-degree murder after a hit and run in Canada that police allege was a planned, premeditated act against a family due to their Muslim faith.

Police in London, Ontario said that terrorism charges were also possible against Nathanial Veltman and that they were in discussions with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the countrys Attorney General.

"There is evidence that this was a planned, premeditated act motivated by hate. It is believed that these victims were targeted because they were Muslim," Detective Inspector Paul Waight said at a press conference on Monday.

Mr Veltman is also charged with one count of attempted murder in connection to a nine-year-old boy who survived with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Four members of the boys family died when they were struck by a black pick-up truck while walking along Hyde Park Road in Northwest London at about 8.40 pm local time, including a 74-year-old woman, a 46-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman, and a 15-year-old girl.

The family was waiting to cross the intersection when the truck mounted the curb, struck the victims, and speed off south at a high rate of speed.

"This is a devastating loss of four members of our community," police Chief Steve Williams said.

He added that investigators believe it was an intentional act based on information collected during the course of the investigation.

Asked by media how they knew it was a hate-crime motivated attack, police said they gathered evidence from a variety of sources, including online.

About eight minutes after the family was hit, the driver allegedly stopped near the Cherryhill Mall about four miles, or seven kilometres, away where he was arrested by police, Mr Waight said.

He was allegedly wearing what police called a vest that appeared to be like body armour, but investigators would not confirm nor deny whether he was carrying a knife at the time of the arrest.

Police said there was no known previous connection between the victims and the suspect, who does not have a previous criminal record with London police. Police said he had contact with other police services in the past but not for anything of a serious nature.

The mayor of London, Ed Holder, said the attack was an act of mass murder, perpetrated against Muslims  against Londoners  and rooted in unspeakable hatred.
A North Carolina high school student was denied his diploma at a graduation ceremony last week after he attended the event wearing a Mexican flag over his gown.

Ever Lopez, 18, had draped the flag over his blue gown at Asheboro High Schools graduation ceremony, where he was set to be the first member of his immediate family to graduate from high school.

But Mr Lopezs diploma was withheld after the principal of the school tried to unsuccessfully persuade him to take the flag off.

Videos of the incident showed Mr Lopez going to get his diploma as part of a line of students, which then gets held up as he stands in front of the principal. Booing can then be heard, before the student walks away without a diploma in hand.

When I got up there I went for the handshake and I wasnt thinking nothing of it and I heard her say, You cant wear that, recalled Mr Lopez in an interview with ABC News. And I was in shock and confused. I was like, What? She was like, The flag. You cant wear that."

Lopez says that he was sitting near teachers in the audience and the flag was not raised as an issue till he got up on stage, adding that he did not anticipate such a strong reaction. The video showed some other students also engaging in displays of national pride, including at least one Mexican-flag mortarboard.

The school said the problem was not about the Mexican flag itself, but a violation of the ceremonys dress code.

The heart of the issue is the fact that the student did not follow the established dress code for the event and detracted from the importance and the solemnity of the ceremony, Asheboro City Schools was quoted as saying by USA Today. Our dress code is in place to ensure the dignity of the event is upheld and is fair to all students. Graduation is a milestone event and it is grossly unfair for one individual to diminish this event by violating the dress code.

Mr Lopez, born in the US to Mexican immigrants, says that he wore the flag to recognise the sacrifices and struggle of his family.

It means everything to me, Mr Lopez said of the Mexican flag in an interview with ABC News. My parents, my whole family, is from over there. I did it for them because they had a rough childhood; they didnt get the scholarship that I got, or they didnt get to go to school like I did. So... representing my flag and getting a diploma was really important to me because I was basically doing it for my family.

Mr Lopezs mother Margarita Lopez told the New York Times that the school principal Penny Crooks had informed them they could still collect the diploma later this week.

Nonetheless, she said she wants an apology from the school for what she deemed an act of racism.

To me, this was an act of racism, not just to my son but to the entire Hispanic community, she said.
With Kamala Harris visiting Guatemala and Mexico on her first foreign trip as vice president, the Biden administration is expected to announce new measures to fight smuggling and trafficking, and hopes to announce additional anti-corruption efforts as well on Monday, a senior administration official said.

The official, who briefed reporters traveling with Harris on Sunday, spoke on condition of anonymity to preview announcements before they have been made public. No further details were provided.

Harris has been tasked by President Joe Biden with addressing the root causes of the spike in migration to the U.S.-Mexico border, and her aides say corruption will be a central focus of her meetings with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday and Mexicos Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday.

Corruption really does sap the the wealth of any country, and in Central America is at a scale where it is a large percentage of GDP across the region, said special envoy Ricardo Zuniga.

We see corruption as one of the most important root causes to be dealt with, Zuniga added.

The trip got off to a rocky start when Harris' plane returned to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland about 30 minutes after takeoff because of what her spokesperson said was a problem with the landing gear. She departed on another plane and landed late Sunday in in Guatemala City where she was met by Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo.

Harris is seeking to secure commitments from Guatemala and Mexico for greater cooperation on border security and economic investment, and aides say she will also discuss vaccine sharing during her meetings. But corruption in the region  a far more intractable challenge  will complicate her efforts.

Its already had a significant impact on her work in Central America. Harris has yet to engage substantively with the leaders of Honduras and El Salvador, who are both embroiled in corruption scandals.

Giammattei has faced criticism over corruption within his own government. Zuniga acknowledged that the U.S. government faces a challenge in working with him but argued Harris was in the country in part to have a direct conversation with the president about this and other issues.

The best way to deal with these cases where you have a very complex relationship in a country like Guatemala is to talk clearly and plainly as partners, as countries that have to get along he said.

Harris has laid out an approach centered on creating better opportunities and living conditions in the region through humanitarian and economic aid. She announced plans to send $310 million to provide support for refugees and address food shortages, and recently secured commitments from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in the Northern Triangle countries to promote economic opportunity and job training.

Washington won some goodwill through its vaccine diplomacy this past week. Giammattei and Lopez Obrador both received calls from Harris on Thursday telling them the U.S. would be sending 500,000 doses and 1 million doses, respectively, of COVID-19 vaccine.

While in Guatemala, Harris also plans to meet community leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs. In Mexico, she will speak with female entrepreneurs and hold a roundtable with labor workers.

Shes underscored the need to address corruption in public remarks and events. In a May meeting with a number of leading voices on Guatemala's justice system, she noted her work as a prosecutor and said that injustice is a root cause of migration.

Part of giving people hope is having a very specific commitment to rooting out corruption in the region, she said.

Harris has also raised the issue during virtual meetings with the leaders of both countries, and aides say she will do it again during meetings on her trip. During their past conversations, they have discussed areas of mutual interest  improving port security, fighting smuggling networks, going after corrupt actors  and the goal of this trip is to turn that talk into action, aides say.

While the vice president will make announcements concerning new efforts at cooperation and new programs, shes not expected to announce any new aid during her trip.

While in Latin America, Harris will also have to navigate the politics of immigration. Congressional Republicans have criticized both Biden and Harris for deciding not to visit the border, and contend the administration is ignoring what they say is a crisis there. April was the second-busiest month on record for unaccompanied children encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border, following Marchs all-time high. The Border Patrols total encounters in April were up 3% from March, marking the highest level since April 2000.

Conservatives will be watching Harris closely for any missteps, hoping to drag her into further controversy on an issue that they see as a political winner.

In her efforts to win commitments on corruption from the region's leaders, Harris can point to a number of moves by the Biden administration last week.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the problem during his own recent trip to Central America. The White House issued a memo elevating foreign corruption to a major national security issue, and directed all federal agencies to prioritize it and modernize their foreign corruption-fighting tools.

Eric Olson, director of policy at the Seattle International Foundation, which works to promote good governance in Central America, said that addressing corruption will take particular diplomatic skill. Harris will need to hold the leaders of Guatemala and Mexico accountable while also deepening trust and cooperation with the two nations.

The challenge that she faces is how to, on the one hand, have a conversation, keep the door open  while not seeming to ignore the obvious elephant in the room, which is this incredible penetration of the state by corrupt actors, he said.

In Mexico, Lopez Obrador continues to face a complicated security situation in many parts of the country. Nearly three-dozen candidates or pre-candidates were killed before this weekends midterm elections as drug cartels sought to protect their interests. The governments inability to provide security in parts of the country is of interest to the U.S. in an immigration context, both for the people who are displaced by violence and the impact it has on a severely weakened economy trying reemerge from the pandemic.

The number of Mexicans encountered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection rose steadily from December through April. Mexico remains a key U.S. ally in trying to slow immigration, not only of its own citizens, but those crossing its territory. Successive U.S. administrations have effectively tried to push their immigration enforcement goals south to Mexico and Guatemala.

Nongovernmental organizations placed Guatemalas widespread corruption at the top of their list of concerns before Harris visit.

Last month, two lawyers who are outspoken critics of Giammattei's administration were arrested on what they say were trumped-up charges aimed at silencing them.

The selection of judges for Guatemalas Constitutional Court, its highest, was mired in influence peddling and alleged corruption. Giammattei picked his chief of staff to fill one of the five vacancies. When Gloria Porras, a respected force against corruption, was elected to a second term, the congress controlled by Giammatteis party refused to seat her.

Harris visit comes with high expectations, but experts say clear progress on corruption may be elusive.

These are societies built on corruption, said Olson. Youre not gonna have an impact in six months.

___

Sherman reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer Sonia Perez D. in Guatemala City contributed to this report.
Guatemalas president said on Sunday that his government and the Biden administration remain at odds over the US approach to stemming Central American migration, while adding that he valued Vice President Kamala Harris as a negotiating partner.

In an interview with CBS News as Ms Harris visits his country following her appointment to lead the Biden administrations response to the surge of migration at the US southern border, Alejandro Giammattei stressed that the two sides differ over how to address the problem, but not in their beliefs regarding its causes.

"We are not on the same side of the coin. It is obvious," Mr Giammattei told CBS, adding of the crisiss causes and how to address them: "We are in agreement on the what, which is something. We are in not agreement on the how."

The Guatemalan president pointed to the Biden administrations pledges not to deport unaccompanied children, and the Democratic presidents efforts to end some of what many saw as inhumane practices carried out as part of the Trump administrations immigration enforcement efforts, as factors contributing to the surge of northern-bound migration.

The message [under the Biden administration] changed to, We are going to reunite families and we are going to reunite children, Mr Giammettei explained. "The very next day the coyotes here were organizing groups of children to take them to the United States."

The Biden administrations repeated statements urging families against migrating to the US, he added, were the result of his government and potentially others pushing back against what they saw as a muddled message that was continuing to drive some to leave their home countries.

The White House has been under increasing pressure from conservatives over the border issue, which reemerged as a top issue in recent weeks as reports indicated that some of the highest numbers of migrants seen in decades were attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in March that the US was on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years.

Harris departed the White House on Sunday for a trip to Guatemala and Mexico, and in both countries is expected to discuss with top officials the Biden administrations economic and anti-corruption efforts in the region which are aimed at addressing the root causes of migration.

Guatemala is one of three countries referred to as the Northern Triangle, with neighbors El Salvador and Honduras making up the other two, which are seen as the primary source of migrants headed north to safety in the US.

The three countries remain embroiled in struggles against organized crime and drug cartels; though the president of Honduras himself in the past was the target of a major US drug trafficking investigation, while allies of El Salvadors president are reportedly on a State Department list of corrupt Central American officials with potential ties to organized crime.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs criticism of former President Donald Trumps slow response to Hurricane Maria has upset Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

In response to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez pointing out the systemic neglect following Hurricane Maria by using her grandmothers house as an example, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a noted vocal supporter of Trump, told her to stop preaching victimhood and constantly playing the victim.

Her comments come after a blogger for The Daily Wire decided to troll AOC by raising money for her grandmother on the back of the story.

"This is a woman who gets paid $174,000 a year. She is not married, she does not support a family, Greene told Newsmaxs Greg Kelly.

"If her grandmother is living in squalor or having a hard time, she should be down there taking care of her. She should be paying for a place for her to live. She should be paying her bills and doing whatever she can to take care of her grandmother because thats what people should do, is take care of your own family.

Greenes comments were in response to a tweet by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez.

Just over a week ago, my abuela fell ill. I went to Puerto Rico to see her- my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID. This is her home. Hurricane Maria relief hasnt arrived, she wrote. Trump blocked relief $ for PR. People are being forced to flee ancestral homes, & developers are taking them.

Alongside the message, she posted a photo of her grandmothers house, which shows major damage to the roof and buckets collecting the leaking rain water. She also tweeted about how she felt the problems on the US island territory where systemic and not something she could solve merely as a family member or as one politician.

We immediately got to work reaching out to community advocates and leaders and following the money.Whats happening to Puerto Ricans is systemic. Much of it can be traced to La Junta, aka the Wall Street-connected fiscal control board that the US gave power to over the island, she wrote.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortezs personal experience was seized upon by the right.

Matt Walsh tweeted back that it is shameful that you live in luxury while allowing your own grandmother to suffer in these squalid conditions.

He then launched the trolling fundraiser which hit $100,000 before being removed by the site.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is the congressional representative for New Yorks 14th district, and despite it being a US territory, Puerto Rico has no formal means of representation in Congress or in the Senate.

Hurricane Maria hit the island in 2017 leading to 5,000 deaths and destroyed property, and an insufficient response from the federal government.

A report by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development was published last month that agreed with Rep. Ocasio-Cortezs assessment and placed blame at the inaction of the Trump administration.

At the time, President Trump came under fire for treating his relief response merely as photo-op.

Rep. Greene has a well documented history of expressing contempt for Rep. Ocasio-Cortez.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi threatened to suspend her for harassing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez on the floor of the House. Additionally, a video recently emerged of her coming to the Capitol Building in 2019 and demanding to be let into her office, which led to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez to call for the Republican party to remove the whip from her.

Rep. Greene has already had her House Committee roles removed her for her long list of infractions. Recently, she came under fire for comparing the public health measure of wearing masks to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany, but faced no consequences from the Republican party.

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Donald Trump on Saturday sidestepped a question on whether he would select Mike Pence as his running mate if he contested the presidential elections again in 2024.

Mike and I have a good relationship, Mr Trump said in an interview with Fox News at his Republican donor dinner in North Carolina. But its too early to be discussing running mates certainly.

The former president said that while he was not completely happy with everything Mr Pence did during his term, they still have a good relationship.

I was disappointed with Mike on one thing, as he understands and some other people understand, but overall, I had a very good relationship with Mike and hes a very fine person and a fine man, Mr Trump said.

He did not specify the reason for his disappointment in the interview, but his reference could likely be on the lack of support from Mr Pence when he hoped the vice president would use his position as president of the Senate to help with his challenge to the Electoral College vote, following the 6 January Capitol riot.

Last week, Mr Pence spoke about his strained relationship with the former president. January 6 was a dark day in the history of the US Capitol, Mr Pence was quoted by Insider as saying in New Hampshire. That same day we reconvened the Congress and did our duty.

You know, President Trump and I have spoken many times since we left office and I dont know if well ever see eye to eye on that day, he added.

Mr Pences visit to New Hampshire is also being viewed as a possible political move in preparation for a 2024 White House bid.

Mr Trump on the other hand has been hinting on a possible rerun several times, but he hasnt made an official announcement yet.

Ill make a decision in the not too distant future, maybe sooner than people think. And I think theyre going to be very happy, Mr Trump told Fox News on Saturday evening, when asked about the prospect.
Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann believe the case could be solved in months.

German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has said his team is pleased with the progress of the investigation since they announced Christian Brueckner as their prime suspect last year and said they had received very interesting tips.

We hope we can solve the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, although this will take several months, he told The Mirror.

We are pleased with the response to our appeal for witnesses. But unfortunately not all our questions have been answered.

He said Brueckner will be interviewed at the end of the investigation, adding: When we have completed our investigations, we will inform the public about the result and then also about further details.

Convicted pedophile Christian Bruckner is suspected of murdering Madeleine (Italian Carabinieri)

Brueckner, a convicted pedophile, is suspected of murdering Madeleine more than 10 years ago.

He was sentenced to seven years in jail for raping an American woman in Portugal in 2005 and is now reportedly being investigated over the disappearances of other children, as well as Madeleine.

He was living in a camper van close to Praia da Luz, on the Algarve, when Madeleine disappeared in May 2007.

He is also alleged to have confessed to abducting the three-year-old while talking to a criminal associate at a bar.

Brueckner denies being involved in Madeleines appearance and has refused to talk to police.

It is believed he has been under investigation for four years, Sky News reported.

Last year, investigators revealed his mobile pinged close to the resort where the McCann family were staying on the night Madeleine vanished.

Mr Wolters said his team have not tracked down who Brueckner called that night.

He also told The Mirror that authorities have not spoken to Kate and Gerry McCann about the case.
The French national financial prosecutors office has opened a preliminary investigation into the actions of Lebanons central bank governor involving potential money laundering, the prosecutors office said Monday.

The French move came months after Switzerland started a probe into possible money laundering and embezzlement at Lebanons central bank, which is now at the center of an unprecedented financial crisis roiling the small Mediterranean country.

The French prosecutors office said the investigation around Riad Salameh was opened in late May involving potential charges of money laundering and association with an organized criminal group. It gave no further details.

Salameh, 70, who has run Lebanons central bank for nearly three decades was for many years seen as the symbol of monetary stability in the tiny country. But Lebanon was in 2019 plunged into its worst economic and financial crisis. The Lebanese pound, pegged for more than 20 years to the dollar at 1,515, is now trading at nearly 13,000 on the black market.

Anti-government protesters now refer to Salameh  a former investment banker with Merrill Lynch  as a thief and protests have been repeatedly held outside his office in Beirut amid the crash of the local currency and contraction in the economy that crossed 20% in 2020, according to the World Bank.

In January, Switzerlands attorney general said he has asked Lebanon for cooperation into the probe of the central bank, without offering further details. Its also not clear what prompted the Swiss investigation.

Local media reported over the past months that Salameh and his brother as well as one of his aides have been involved in illegal businesses, including money transfers abroad despite the capital controls imposed at home. Salameh had denied making such transfers.

Salameh, who has held the central bank post since 1993, has defended his role, alleging a systematic campaign meant to hold him responsible for the countrys financial crisis.
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Slovenia has passed a new law which means rape is now defined as sex without consent in a move campaigners hailed as a historic victory for women.

The countrys criminal code will no longer mean coercion, the use or threat of force, or not being able to defend oneself are the only conditions for an incident to be deemed as rape.

Previous laws in Slovenia were in place despite the fact involuntary paralysis or freezing have been found to be a highly frequent physiological and psychological reaction to sexual assault by experts.

Nils Muiznieks, Europe Director at Amnesty International, said: This is a historic victory for women in Slovenia and an important step along the road to changing culture, attitudes and behaviour.

It is also a testament to years of campaigning by survivors who have helped to ensure that other women do not have to go through what they endured.

Shockingly, Slovenia is only the thirteenth country in Europe to recognise the simple fact that sex without consent is rape, although more countries are changing their legal definitions of rape.

There is still a great deal of work to be done to challenge the deep-seated attitudes to rape and harmful gender stereotypes, but today we take a moment to celebrate.

The UK, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Sweden and Germany are all European countries which define sex without consent as rape. While consultations on equivalent pieces of legislation are happening in Spain and the Netherlands at the moment.

In other European nations, the law stipulates the rapist must wield force or threats for the act to be deemed as rape, even though this is not what happens in a substantial majority of rape cases.

Slovenia ratified the Istanbul Convention, a pan-European convention tackling violence against women which defines rape as sex without consent, back in 2015.

The convention is the most comprehensive legal framework that exists to tackle violence against women and girls, covering domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, so-called honour-based violence and forced marriage.

In the UK, campaigners have long warned rape has been effectively decriminalised, with prosecutions and convictions for sexual assault and rape reaching record lows last year. Government data shows in the year to March 2020 that just 1.4 per cent of 55,130 rape cases recorded by police resulted in prosecution.
Shamima Begum has claimed she fled to join Isis in Syria because she did not want to be left behind by her friends.

The 21-year-old, who left east London with two classmates, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, said she was young and naive and wanted to help people in Syria.

Ms Begum told the Sky documentary The Return: Life After Isis that the three schoolgirls had been preyed upon by Isis supporters online.

The Bethnal Green schoolgirls, then aged 15 and 16, took a Turkish Airlines flight from Gatwick to Istanbul before crossing into Syria.

She said the recruiters preyed upon their guilt at seeing Muslims suffering in Syria and encouraged them to become part of something.

I knew it was a big decision but I just felt compelled to do it quickly. I didnt want to be the friend that was left behind, Ms Begum said.

The former child bride is being held at the al-Roj camp in northern Syria after her British citizenship was revoked.

In the documentary, she sobs while discussing the loss of her three children during the Syrian civil war.

She speaks of wanting to kill herself because of the grief she feels, adding: The only thing keeping me alive was my baby I was pregnant with. I felt like it was my fault for not getting them out sooner even though I didnt know why they died.

Ms Begum gave birth to three children in Syria, all of whom died during infancy.

The director of the documentary, Alba Sotorra, said Ms Begun was not a threat and needed help.

She told The Times: In the beginning, Shamima was like a ghost just sitting there, covered, lifeless, like a marionette, a doll.

The director met Ms Begum while making a film about a workshop run by Kurdish women inside the detention camp.

Her lack of ability to express her feelings made me feel deeply sad for her. Then, maybe two months after I met her, we had this game with the kids, she added.

The kids were playing with kites. Shamima was always very silent. And she sat on one of these carts watching. I saw a teardrop fall from her eye. It was the first time.

Ms Begum begs in the documentary for the UK to give her a second chance, because she was still young when she left.

I would ask that they put aside everything theyve heard about me and just have an open mind about why I left and who I am now as a person, she added.

I just want them to put aside everything they've heard about me in the media and just have an open mind about why I left and who I am now as a person."

The documentary can be seen on Sky Documentaries and the streaming service Now on 15 June.
Ahead of the visit of Joe Biden to the G7 Summit in Cornwall, the chief executives of all the UK-US airlines have issued a joint call for the reopening of transatlantic travel.

British visitors to the US have been banned by presidential decree for the past 15 months, while arrivals from amber list America to the UK are currently required to self-isolate for 10 days.

At an event hosted by Heathrow airport, the CEOs said that the successful vaccination programmes in both the UK and US provided a clear opportunity to safely open up travel between these two low-risk countries.

Sean Doyle, chairman and chief executive of British Airways said: As President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson meet this week, they must address the transatlantic ban that is separating our two low-risk countries at a major cost to our citizens and economies.

We urgently need them to look to the science and base their judgements on a proper risk analysis, allowing us all to benefit from the protection offered by our successful vaccine rollouts.

In the UK this means making the traffic light system fit for purpose, including a pathway to restriction-free travel for vaccinated travellers, and getting rid of complexity surrounding amber list countries, eliminating quarantine and reducing the number of tests passengers are required to take.

Virgin Atlantics chief executive, Shai Weiss, said: There is no reason for the US to be absent from the UK green list. This overly cautious approach fails to reap the benefits of the successful vaccination programmes in both the UK and the US.

The risk of coronavirus transmission on a plane travelling between the UK and US was put at one in one million by Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta. He said: As we see people reclaiming their lives and reconnecting with loved ones, its clear that the infection rates of our countries indicate an extraordinarily low risk to travel between the US the UK, provided travellers are vaccinated or can produce a negative PCR test prior to boarding a flight.

The host of the meeting, John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow, said: We cannot continue to keep locked-up indefinitely.

Politicians should seize on the successful vaccination programmes in our two countries to begin looking to a future where we manage Covid rather than letting it manage us.

Announcing a further tightening of travel restrictions last week, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said: The public has always known travel will be different this year and we must continue to take a cautious approach to reopening international travel in a way that protects public health and the vaccine rollout.
The G7 tax proposals, if approved globally, will impact Indias taxation of foreign or non-resident companies and digital enterprises without a physical presence. The proposals call for a global minimum corporate tax rate, puts forth a formula for taxation, and demands the elimination of digital services tax or equalization levy. India and other countries will be assessing if the gains from the measures, intended to prevent international tax avoidance, will suffice or prove more costly.

On Saturday, the Group of G7 advanced economies  US, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, and Japan  announced two major proposals that will impact the tax liabilities of multinational companies.

These proposals, namely taxation based on area of operation and the provision of a minimum corporate tax rate, could have revolutionary consequences for several countries, especially those that serve as tax havens, including the Netherlands, Ireland, and Luxembourg and some countries in the Caribbean.

After all, some of the worlds largest corporations like Apple, Google, Nike, Facebook, Starbucks etc. effectively pay very little in taxes, by setting up a network of subsidiaries incorporated in jurisdictions that have low tax arbitrage to move their profits out of their major markets.

The G7 proposals are now set to be examined by the G20 countries meeting at Venice in July, which include India and China.

Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is expected to reach a consensus on an inclusive framework on base erosion and profit sharing (BEPS) by October this year. The OECD comprises of over 130 members.

In this article, we briefly discuss the respective G7 tax proposals, the global consensus around them, and implications for various components of Indias corporate tax regime.

What are the new tax measures proposed by the G7?

At the latest G7 meeting in London, the finance ministers and central bank governors of some of the worlds most advanced economies came to an agreement over two proposals to counter international tax avoidance.

The first measure is to mandate companies to pay taxes in the area where they conduct business.

The second measure is to enforce a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent to counter the presence of low-tax jurisdictions.

The G7 communique reads: We commit to reaching an equitable solution on the allocation of taxing rights, with market countries awarded taxing rights on at least 20% of profit exceeding a 10% margin for the largest and most profitable multinational enterprises. We will provide for appropriate coordination between the application of the new international tax rules and the removal of all Digital Services Taxes, and other relevant similar measures, on all companies. We also commit to a global minimum tax of at least 15% on a country-by-country basis. We agree on the importance of progressing agreement in parallel on both Pillars and look forward to reaching an agreement at the July meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.

Is there a consensus around the G7 proposals?

In April, at a virtual speech given to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, US Treasure Secretary Janet Yellen lay the task before countries  to reverse a 30-year race to the bottom  which witnessed countries model their economies around low tax rates and minimal compliances to attract MNCs and create local jobs. This in turn resulted in major corporations not paying any taxes or minimal taxes in the multiple jurisdictions that they operated in, which meant market countries could not benefit from the high profit margins enjoyed by these MNCs.

That has disproportionately impacted advanced economies like the US, Germany, and France. As per findings from the Tax Justice Network Report, the US loses nearly US$50 billion a year due to corporate tax evasion; Indias annual tax loss is estimated at more than US$10 billion.

Nevertheless, the proposals to stabilize international taxation and check evasion by enforcing a global minimum will be expected to raise significant resistance by the G20 countries.

Many relatively lower-income and developing countries employ low tax regimes to attract multinational corporations to set up locally, which in turn creates positive externalities, such as through the growth of local service industries, reducing talent out-migration, and attracting much needed labor capital etc. Moreover, these countries may not be able to afford stimulus packages or engage in large public spending to plug gaps in productivity, boost consumption, and counter job losses, such as during the aftermath of the pandemic.

What are the implications for taxation in India?

As per the G7 proposals, India will be able to tax large MNCs doing business in the country  without a physical presence or permanent establishment  at 20 percent of their profits (exceeding a 10 percent margin). Thus, the measure, if globally approved, will impact digital companies in whichever markets they earn revenues and make profits based on their online presence. However, the G7 countries have also called for the elimination of the digital services tax or equalization levy.

Taxation of digital companies

Beginning April 1, 2020, India expanded the scope of its digital tax by imposing a two percent equalization levy on foreign entities selling goods and services online to customers in the country if they showed annual revenues more than INR 20 million (approx. US$275,404). In 2016, India had introduced a six percent equalization levy on the online advertising revenues of large MNCs like Google and Facebook. The taxes on cross-border digital transactions, in many cases, have been transferred onto consumers.

Tax experts in India thus feel that the country will stand against such a low minimum tax floor if the equalization levy has to be rolled back as taxing 20% of total net profits may not be enough.

Interestingly, India is also making a case for its internet user base (used for company algorithms) to be factored into the calculation of taxing digital multinational enterprises, as per a source close to the government quoted in the media (likely in its discussions at the OECD and G20 levels). This is not a consideration in developed countries.

Concept of significant economic presence

In the Finance Act of 2018, India amended its tax law to widen the scope of the existing term business connection to include the concept of significant economic presence (SEP).

Following a wait for a consensus to develop, which it did not, among OECD countries, India specified the threshold limits to implement the SEP principle in May (effective April 1, 2021).

SEP primarily targets digital multinationals operating without a permanent establishment in the country and the provisions stipulate the user base as a threshold for taxation.

India is setting a revenue threshold of INR 20 million (US$274,825.60) and a limit of 300,000 users for foreign technology firms to pay tax in India under the SEP principle. To quote directly, the threshold includes: download of data or software worth revenues exceeding 2 crore from Indians or a threshold of 3 lakh number of Indian users with whom such companies solicit systematic and continuous business activities or engage in interaction. (US$1=INR 72.77).

The legalistic ambiguity, however, in the SEPs provisions could prove to be litigious, an outcome that Indias tax landscape cannot afford if the country is to improve its appeal as an investment destination. For example, experts critique that services like systematic and continuous business solicitation etc. needs to be clearly defined.

Corporate tax

India cut the corporate tax rate for domestic companies in 2019, whereby new companies would be subject to a 22 percent rate and new domestic manufacturing companies, 15 percent. The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019 inserted Section 115BAA into the Income-tax Act, 1961, which provides the concessional tax regime (22 percent) for domestic enterprises if they do not avail of specific tax incentives or deductions. (The effective tax rate for these domestic companies is around 25.17 percent inclusive of surcharge and cess.)

Those companies opting for the concessional corporate tax rate also do not have to pay minimum alternate tax. As a result, Indias current effective tax rate brings it at par, on average, with leading Asian investment destinations and manufacturing hubs like China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea.
Indiana, PA (15701)

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Bollywood actor Parineeti Chopra has lately had a string of film releases such as Saina, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, and The Girl on the Train on several OTT platforms.



In a new interview, the actress makes a confession about knowing right from the beginning that a few of her earlier films will do not well and she was unhappy with them.

Parineeti Chopra / Twitter

The question then is, why did Parineeti Chopra choose to be a part of these projects?

Talking to Times of India , she said, Many scenes in many films in the last five years. I was very unhappy with the work I was doing. I had faith in myself but the filmmakers just wouldnt offer me the parts I was yearning for. I was signing films half-heartedly. I was in a constant state of dissatisfaction. I will be forever indebted to three directors-Amol Gupte (Saina), Dibakar Banerjee (Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar), and Ribhu Dasgupta (The Girl On The Train).

Parineeti Chopra / Twitter

When asked if the filmmaker would make any amendments to the scene? Parineeti Chopra said there were no such communication lines.

"Had that happened, the films would have turned out to be better. There hasn't been a two-way relationship with the makers, and so, there have been many occasions where I knew it was a bad film and went home unhappy," shared Parineeti.

Parineeti Chopra / Twitter

However, in a new Instagram post, Parineeti Chopra credits these three new films for giving her a new 'future'.

After a long time, I am looking up and forward into the future. You guys gave me that. Thankyou #SandeepAurPinkyFaraar #TheGirlOnTheTrain #Saina," Parineeti wrote.

Sounds like a new beginning for Parineeti Chopra.
A large number of farmers led by Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait stayed put outside Sadar police station in Fatehabad, Haryana, on Sunday, demanding the release of two farmers who were arrested for allegedly trying to gherao JJP MLA Devendra Singh Babli's residence last week.

The protesters also sought the withdrawal of the criminal case against the arrested farmers.

An FIR was registered against a group of farmers for allegedly trying to gherao Babli's residence here on Wednesday night. Two farmers, Vikas Sisar and Ravi Azad, were arrested in connection with the incident. They were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

AFP

Sisar and Azad have applied for bail in a local court and their plea will be heard on Monday, according to their counsel.

Led by Tikait, the protesting farmers held talks with police officials and demanded that the case against Sisar and Azad be withdrawn.



Tikait and some other farmer leaders assembled at the grain market here on Saturday night and marched towards the police station.

Addressing the gathering outside the police station, Tikait said the protesting farmers will not budge till their fellow farmers are released.

Protests to continue

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader also said the agitation against the Centre's farm legislations will continue till the government repeals them and enacts a law on minimum support price.

BCCL

Tikait alleged the Centre wants to shift the central point of the farmers' agitation from Delhi's borders to Haryana's Rohtak-Jind belt.

This "ploy" will not be allowed to succeed, he said.

Tikait to meet Mamata

Tikait is scheduled to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on June 9 in Kolkata.

According to sources, Tikait will discuss the strategy to further intensify the ongoing farmers' protest against the new central farm laws.

"Rakesh Tikait will meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on June 9. He will congratulate her on the massive electoral victory. They will discuss the farmers' protest," sources told ANI.

AFP

Notably, Tikait had visited West Bengal before the state assembly elections and campaigned for Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Cow in police station a "protester"

An unlikely 'protester' turned up at a police station in Fatehabad along with farmers.

In protest against the arrest of farmers in Tohana,Haryana,farmers brought a cow from their house in Tohana Police Station and tied it there.#FarmersProtest#ArdasFor1984Ghalugharapic.twitter.com/TpMy57Ahmn  Kanav Bawa (K.V) (@kanav_bawa) June 6, 2021

Protesting farmers brought in a cow as a protester, and said police officials will be responsible for giving the cow food and water.

The animal was seen tied to a small pole in the police station premises, with water and grass placed before it.
As soon as the economic activity resumed in Delhi on Monday with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions that was imposed during the second wave of pandemic, hundreds of migrant workers were seen at Anand Vihar ISBT and the adjoining metro station in the national capital on Monday.

People returned to the metropolis hoping to get back to work.

Owing to the decline in COVID-19 cases in the metropolitan city, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday permitted Delhi metro services to operate with 50 per cent capacity. Markets and shopping malls have also been allowed to open on odd-even basis.

As per the Delhi health bulletin, there are 5,889 active cases of Covid-19 in the state.

Markets & malls reopen

Jolted by the devastating second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the national capital moved slowly towards normal life as shops in markets and malls reopened on odd-even basis on Monday after nearly two months, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealing to people to take all precautions against coronavirus.

BCCL

Although all standalone and neighbourhood shops, including liquor vends, started functioning, cinemas, theatres, restaurants (except home delivery and take away), bars, gyms, spas, barber shops, salons, beauty parlours and weekly markets will remain closed till further orders.

The government has allowed all private offices to operate with 50 per cent capacity between 9 am and 5 pm. However, Kejriwal urged all those who can work from home to continue to do so.

Mumbai unlocks after two months

Restaurants, gyms, salons, public grounds and other commercial establishments reopened after nearly two months on Monday in Mumbai, which falls in level-3 of the Maharashtra government's five-level 'unlock plan'.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) appealed to citizens not to let their guard down and follow all precautions to check the spread of COVID-19.

Buses of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), the city civic body's transport wing, were allowed to ferry passengers with 100 per cent seating capacity, though local trains were restricted for those working in medical and essential services.

BCCL

The BMC in a tweet said, "Mumbai, a gentle reminder! While we are getting back on track with the phase-wise opening, we can't go off the rails on our common main goal - a Covid free Mumbai. Let's reopen, but with care. Follow all precautions!"

The Maharashtra government has announced a five-level plan to relax the coronavirus-induced restrictions in the state, based on the weekly positivity rate and the occupancy of oxygen beds.

Jammu reopens

The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) has started a massive sanitation drive in the city after the unlock process began from Sunday in the UT after nearly a month of COVID-19 lockdown.

Commissioner Jammu Municipal Corporation Avny Lavasa said, "After unlock, a massive sanitation drive has been started in Jammu which is important due to COVID. Apart from masking, social distancing, proper sanitation is also important."

UP relaxes coronavirus curfew

The Uttar Pradesh government also extended the relaxations in the coronavirus curfew to four more districts on Sunday. With this, curbs have been eased in 71 districts where shops and markets outside containment zones will be allowed to open for five days a week.

While the count of active cases have fallen below the 600-mark in these districts, a watch is being kept on the remaining four districts of Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Meerut and Saharanpur, and a decision on these districts may be taken on Tuesday, an official statement said

The Sikkim government, while announcing the state-wide lockdown for one more week till June 14, also allowed relaxation for shops selling groceries and hardware.

Even as the COVID situation has relatively improved in most of the northern and western states, southern and eastern parts of the country are still reporting a high number of cases.
Donald Trump on June 5 sharply attacked infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci over his handling of COVID, demanded reparations from China and denounced an investigation into his finances while giving a speech in North Carolina, as per Reuters.

Speaking in Greenville, North Carolina, during the Republican Party convention, Trump slammed Fauci for asking Americans to wear masks to guard against the virus.

Trump called Fauci "not a great doctor but a great promoter" for his frequent television appearances. "But he's been wrong on almost every issue and he was wrong on Wuhan and the lab also," Trump said.

The origin of the virus remains hotly contested and remains under study by US intelligence agencies.

Trump's own handling of the pandemic, in which nearly 600,000 people in the United States have died and he himself was infected, was a factor in his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2020 election.

Trump called on China to pay $10 trillion in reparations to the United States and the world for its own handling of the virus, and he said nations should cancel their debt to Beijing.

Trump's appearance had all the hallmarks of his signature campaign rallies complete with a musical playlist heavy on Elton John standards.

CNN

North Carolina Republican Party chairman Michael Whatley introduced Trump as "our president," a nod to the former president's baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him through voter fraud, which Trump called "the crime of the century."

Trump said a criminal investigation launched by the New York attorney general's office is "the ultimate fishing expedition," and said it was the latest attempt by Democrats to bring him down after two impeachment sagas when he was president.

"It's been a five-year witch hunt, hoax after hoax," said Trump. "They'll never stop until November of 2024."

New York Attorney General Letitia James has been investigating whether the Trump Organization falsely reported property values to secure loans and obtain economic and tax benefits.

ABC

Trump vowed to help Republicans in 2022 congressional elections and endorsed US Representative Ted Budd for a US Senate seat in North Carolina after his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, said she would not run.

He appeared to dangle a possible run himself for president in 2024, saying he was looking forward to that year. Advisers say Trump, who faces a potential indictment in New York over his business dealings, has been discussing the possibility of another presidential campaign.

Trump emerged from seclusion for the Saturday event, the first in a planned series of speaking engagements this summer.

The survival of America depends upon our ability to elect Republicans at every level, starting with the midterms next year," Trump said.

Lara Trump announced on stage she had considered running for the North Carolina Senate seat but opted not to do so in 2022 in order to care for her young children. But she did not rule out a run in the future.


Hoboken, New Jersey Mayor Ravinder Ravi Bhalla June 2 formally announced his re-election bid, pledging to serve as a regional and national leader in a post-pandemic world. The Indian American mayor, who was first voted into office in 2017, has the distinction of being one of the first mayors to issue shelter-in-place orders in March 2020. (photo courtesy of Ravi Bhalla)
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The bills for the Biden administrations multi-trillion dollar American Jobs and American Families plans are expected to be footed by additional revenues generated by The Made in America Tax Plan. A headline feature of the plan raises income taxes on the highest-earning American families, the 1.8 percent of households earning over $400,000 per year. Taxes on the remaining 98.2 percent middle class and poor American families would be unaffectedright? Wrong. A poorly-understood feature of the Biden plan penalizes the global reinsurance industry, which would make property insurance more expensive, especially for homes and businesses in Florida, where premiums are already rising steeply. The plan functionally introduces what may be viewed as a hurricane tax: raising corporate taxes and introducing new rules impacts international financial transactions, which increases the cost of reinsurance and adversely impacts primary insurers and buyers of homeowners insurance, especially in catastrophe-prone areas. Insurers and their customers should be concerned because homeowners in states like Florida are already seeing rate-driven double-digit premium increases.

Ending the BEAT

The main way the Made in America Tax Plan impacts global reinsurance is through its proposed replacement of the Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) with Stopping Harmful Inversions and Ending Low-Tax Developments (SHIELD). BEAT, a provision of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, was intended to generate close to $4 billion/year in additional tax revenue by, among other things, imposing a 10 percent (rising to 12.5 percent in 2026) tax on reinsurance cessions by U.S. insurers to affiliated offshore entities. BEAT has been recognized as a failure. The Made in America Tax Plan states that BEAT has been largely ineffective at curtailing profit shifting by multinational corporations. In 2018, the first year BEAT was in effect, it generated revenues of $1.8 billion, half of the Treasurys expectations.

BEAT failed to meet its expected revenue targets because, rather than be subject to BEATs 10 percent tax, insurers responded in two ways: they reduced cessions to affiliated offshore entities while increasing cessions to non-affiliated reinsurers; and they increased their retentions in the United States.

The chart below shows that in 2018, the first year BEAT took effect, cessions to affiliated offshore reinsurers plummeted while cessions to unaffiliated insurers skyrocketed.

(Source: Reinsurance Association of America, Offshore Reinsurance in the U.S. Market, 2018 data.)

2018 also saw an increase in the net-to-direct premium ratio for the property and casualty industry, indicating that insurers retained more risk in the United States than in foreign jurisdictions, as shown in the chart below. The net-to-direct ratio rose from just under 87 percent in 2016 and 2017 to over 91 percent in 2018. The combination of these two responses enabled U.S. insurers to beat BEAT.

(Source: S&P Global Intelligence)

The Made in America Tax Plan replaces BEAT with SHIELD, which introduces a global minimum tax rate. The initially proposed SHIELD rate of 21 percent was whittled down to 15 percent in late May. SHIELD is conceived as a more potent way to shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions. What is more, it would attempt to incentivize other countries to adopt higher minimum corporate taxes. Such a policy could erect a barrier to prevent companies from inverting, whereby a U.S. company merges with a foreign company to reduce its effective tax rate. Burger King and Coca-Cola are examples of companies that inverted.

The imposition of a global minimum tax is expected to have negative effects on all multinationals, including global reinsurers. Adverse impacts on reinsurers will lead to higher reinsurance rates, which will be passed on to primary insurers and insurance buyers for reasons unrelated to loss. There are many unknowns surrounding SHIELD, whose contours and numbers require elucidation. Implementation of SHIELD will require not only U.S. congressional approval, but also international agreement insofar as a global minimum tax would be introduced. Clarification of details involving SHIELD and other provisions of the Made in America Tax Plan that could impact global reinsurance were expected to be provided in the Treasury Departments Green Book, which provides explanations of the Administrations Revenue Proposals. The latest Green Book, released on May 28, is not entirely clear on how exactly SHIELD would operate. Because reinsurance is by its nature a global business and SHIELDs target is multinational companies, insurers need to pay close attention to the plan and push back where appropriate, lest they be put in the position of absorbing additional burdensome taxes they will have to pass on to their customers.

Florida Impact

Florida policyholders already pay the highest rates in the country for homeowners insurance. Premiums for homeowner insurance from the top 25 Florida homeowners insurers average $1,774. Rates are rising from factors unrelated to changing reinsurance costs. For example, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR) approved two residential homeowners rate increases in 2020a 12.4 percent rate increase effective in May and an additional 7.0 percent in December. If representative, these rates would drive average Florida homeowners premium to $2,134. Reinsurance accounts for a significant component of Florida homeowners premiumabout a third. Should the Biden plan be implemented, its SHIELD-related provisions will drive reinsurers to raise rates for insurers, who in turn will pass on the increase to homeowners, rendering Florida insurance costs exorbitant, exacerbating the already-near-crisis conditions in Floridas insurance market. So make no mistake about itthe Biden tax plan will hit middle and lower class Americans in the pocketbook. In the interest of Floridians and their insurers, we should oppose the Biden Made in America Tax Plan.

Topics Reinsurance
The president and CEO of a Taunton, Massachusetts, insurance agency has been indicted in connection with an alleged embezzlement scheme that left client companies uninsured, Attorney General Maura Healey announced.

David Pietro, of Sandwich, Massachusetts, and his company, DGP Miles Insurance Agency of Taunton, were indicted by a statewide grand jury on charges of larceny of more than $250 that carry five counts each. He will be arraigned in Bristol Superior Court at a later date.

The Attorney Generals Office alleges that Pietro, a licensed insurance broker, collected insurance premiums from clients through DGP and failed to remit the premiums payments to their insurance carriers. As a result of the alleged embezzlement of these premiums, his client companies had various commercial insurance policies canceled and were left uninsured.

In total, the Attorney Generals Office alleges that Pietro stole $270,423.65 in premiums from client companies.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Sara Yoffe of the Attorney Generals Insurance and Unemployment Fraud Unit with assistance from Senior Financial Investigator Philip Mantyla of Healeys Insurance and Unemployment Fraud Unit, and Victim Witness Advocate Megan Murphy, as well as by investigators at the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau.

Source: The Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey

Topics Fraud Abuse Molestation Massachusetts
ELEMENT, the Berlin-based white-label provider of digital insurance solutions, has raised 16 million (US$19.5 million), in additional investment from existing and new investors.

The additional capital will be used to continue the companys growth.

With the latest funding round, total investment in the insurtech ELEMENT comes to 66 million ($80.3 million), only four years after its inception.

New investors are the investment firm Witan Group and Luxembourg-based fintech investor Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital  both investing in ELEMENT for the first time. Existing investors that participated in the financing round include finleap, signals VC, Versorgungswerk der Zahnarztekammer Berlin, and the European VC Mundi Ventures.

We are Germanys strongest B2B insurtech in the property/casualty sector. Having just completed the five strongest sales months in the companys history, our B2B2X-approach has proven to be extremely successful, commented Dr. Christian Macht, CEO of ELEMENT.

The new investments show that not only our existing investors, but also new investors are convinced of our business model. Therefore, we will continue to follow our strategic approach and intensify the scaling process, he added.

ELEMENT reported 6.8 million (US$8.3 million) in gross written premiums in 2020.

ELEMENT Insurance AG is a fully cloud-based insurtech, holding a license from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) as a direct insurer for non-life insurance, which permits it to act as a risk carrier in all EU countries. The company is completely independent and serves the industry without restrictions of any group affiliation.

The company offers a variety of property/casualty products  from more traditional covers such as household and private liability to innovative products such as parametric weather insurance. ELEMENT works with over 30 partners in the insurance industry, telecommunication providers and automotive sector. In the first quarter of 2021, ELEMENT has entered into 10 new partnerships with companies from different industries.

During the first quarter, several new products were brought to market, including a pet health insurance.

Source: ELEMENT

Topics InsurTech Tech Funding Germany
More transparency is needed into what kind of cash payments are made after ransomware attacks, a top Democrat said, following a recent spate of cyber-attacks aimed at U.S. companies.

Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, spoke days after a top U.S. meat producer needed to shut down facilities that account for almost a quarter of American beef supplies after a cyber incident.

Not only are the companies often not reporting that they are attacked, but theyre not reporting the ransomware payments, Warner said on NBCs Meet the Press.

Its worth having a debate over whether to make paying ransoms illegal for U.S. companies, said Warner, whos also co-chair and founder of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, on NBCs Meet the Press, backed a possible ban on ransomware payments.

We need to send this strong message that paying of ransomware only exacerbates and accelerates this problem. You are encouraging the bad actors when that happens, she said.

The cyber-attack on JBS USA followed the incident in May where Colonial Pipeline Co. was forced to shut the largest East Coast gasoline pipeline network for days after a cyber-attack.

Both incidents have been tied to Russian-based hackers, and the issue will be on the agenda when President Joe Biden meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 16.

Senator Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and is also on the intelligence panel, said private companies should be subject to mandatory reporting of a breach but also receive liability protection, creating an entirely new relationship between the federal government and private sector.

There has to be trust. And there has to be real-time reporting, King said on CNNs State of the Union. I mean, the Colonial Pipeline, my understanding is, it wasnt reported to the government for four or five days. I think theyd already paid the ransom.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo stopped short of proposing that the U.S. government require businesses to security their technology in specific ways.

Instead, the Biden administration would urge companies to adopt higher standards and remain vigilant on cybersecurity, Raimondo said on ABCs This Week.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has compared ransomware attacks  when the victim is targeted by a type of malware and a ransom is demanded  to the challenges posted by the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. The FBI is investigating about 100 types of ransomware, he said last week.

Granholm said U.S. adversaries may have the capability of shutting down the nations power grid.

Yes, they do. I mean, I think that there are very malign actors who are trying. Even as we speak, there are thousands of attacks on all aspects of the energy sector and the private sector generally, Granholm said on CNN.

(Updates with Granholm comment from fifth paragraph.)

With assistance from Yueqi Yang and Tony Czuczka.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Cyber Washington
Its been a long road for OraSure to get to this point. The company has been working on the test for more than a year and announced in April 2020 that it had won a $710,000 federal contract to develop a COVID-19 in-home test. The company, at that time, anticipated a development cycle of about four to six months, hoping to bring the test to market by late summer or early fall.
The Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) top safety official said Wednesday he will step down effective June 30.

Ali Bahrami, the FAAs associate administrator for aviation safety since July 2017, had faced criticism from some U.S. lawmakers and family members of those killed in two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes that led to the planes 20-month grounding, which was lifted in November. Officials said it was Bahramis decision to leave the agency.

The FAA said it will begin an immediate search for a successor. Deputy Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Chris Rocheleau, a longtime FAA employee, will serve as interim head of the Office of Aviation Safety.

This was not an easy decision, Bahrami, who worked at the FAA in various positions for 30 years, told staff in an email. Ive been blessed with an incredible career, and now its time for me to spend more time with my family and focus on my next chapter.

In December, Congress passed sweeping legislation to reform how the FAA certifies new airplanes. It also boosts FAA oversight of aircraft manufacturers, requires disclosure of critical safety information and provide new whistleblower protections.

A House of Representatives report released in September said the two fatal 737 MAX crashes were the horrific culmination of a series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeings engineers, a lack of transparency on the part of Boeings management, and grossly insufficient oversight by the FAA.

An FAA survey released in August found some FAA employees reported facing strong external pressure from industry and raised alarms that the agency does not always prioritize air safety.

The survey quoted one anonymous employee as saying that the message was, Dont rock the boat with Boeing.

The United States has not had a fatal U.S. passenger airline crash since February 2009 and only one fatality due to a U.S. passenger airline accident in that period.

Bahramis email said the FAA had established a solid foundation to respond to congressional mandates and recommendations stemming from investigations and certification reviews after the two tragic 737 MAX accidents.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Topics Aviation Aerospace
Plaintiffs attorneys are looking deep into the weeds for evidence to support claims for business income lost because of COVID-19 public safety orders.

Lawyers for footwear wholesaler Marc Fisher LLC and its affiliates are asking a Connecticut state court to order the Insurance Service Office to produce documents relating to its 2006 regulatory filing that created a standard-form virus exclusion. A Tampa-based policyholder attorney known for his frequent blogs and webcasts has filed similar requests, and he is urging other plaintiffs attorneys to subpoena ISO as well.

We cannot allow insurance defense attorneys to argue out of coverage that their clients own internal manuals and documents show exist, Chip Merlin wrote in a May 19 post on his Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog.

There is some interesting material in these internal documents, said policyholder attorney Shugrue. It looks like there is certainly some smoke there and maybe some fire.

Marc Fisher, also known as Moda, is hoping to collect $100 million from Hartford Fire Insurance Co. for business income that it lost because of pandemic-related civil orders that shut down its retailers. The Connecticut-based company contends its two insurance policies dont have any viable virus exclusions, and its lawyers intend to show that The Hartford and other carriers knew that policyholders would expect coverage for virus damages if there was no specific exclusion.

The definition of direct physical loss is central to Fishers claim. The companys lawyers with the Finn Dixon and Herling law firm in Stamford aim to prove that The Hartford wrongfully denied a business interruption claim that was payable under both a package and a marine policy. They say they are entitled to background information from ISO that may shed light on whether the insurer considered virus contamination to be a potential direct physical loss.

Fishers lawyers entered into evidence several documents that suggest at least some in the ISO knew that virus contamination can cause a direct physical loss in the minds of policyholders. Notes of an ISO committee meeting quote a staff member as stating: I think an insured would have a reasonable expectation of coverage if ordered to cease business by government authority.

The Hartford counters that the Fisher policy unambiguously excludes virus-related losses and urged the court to reject irrelevant third-party discovery. The carrier argues that Fisher is entitled to examine only documents that are held within the claim and underwriting files.

Waterbury Judicial District Judge Barbara N. Bellis has scheduled a June 23 hearing on the case. She instructed the parties to prepare oral arguments on Fishers motion to compel the ISO and The Hartford to produce documents.

Merlin cheered on Fishers lawyers in two blog posts last month. He wrote that the secret ISO documents need to see the light of day.

During a telephone interview, Merlin said his law firm has also asked ISO to produce documents relating to its 2006 virus-exclusion filing.

Merlin said the documents found so far show that ISO members discussed a potential coronavirus pandemic in 2004 and 2005. At that time, the first cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome had been detected related to an earlier version of coronavirus, putting public health officials on alert worldwide.

Merlin said defense attorneys started saying that insurers never intended to provide coverage for a coronavirus pandemic almost as soon as the first U.S. cases of SARS-CoV-2 were reported.

They can say that all day long, but really? he said. They didnt have an exclusion, and why did they create an exclusion in the first place?

Policyholder attorney John Shugrue, a partner with Reed Smith in Chicago, said insurers have a history of telling regulators that losses caused by certain kinds of perils are not covered, even while filing exclusions to ensure they never can be.

Shugrue said when insurers started suffering major losses from pollution claims in the late 1960s, the ISOs forbearers created a pollution exclusion in commercial general liability policies that provided coverage only for sudden and accidental releases. He said rating organizations told regulators that the new language would not seriously limit coverage for pollution because virtually all pollution releases were intentional and not covered anyway.

As it turned out, there was an explosion of litigation over pollution claims because policyholders thought they were covered, and some won lawsuits against insurers when courts interpreted suddenly to include leakages that seeped out over time. Wisconsin environmental issues attorney David Dybdahl wrote for IRMI.com that pollution exclusions are the most litigated words in the history of insurance.

Shugrue said the industrys misrepresentations were so severe that the New Jersey Supreme Court called out the industry in a 1993 decision, titled Morton International v. General Accident Insurance Co. The court said the Insurance Rating Board and the Mutual Insurance Rating Board had submitted memorandums to regulators that grossly understated the impact of the language.

To characterize so monumental a reduction in coverage as one that clarifies the situation simply is indefensible, the court said.

The court refused to enforce the policy as written because doing so would contravene public policy to regulate the insurance industry in the public interest. The unanimous ruling held that insurance companies must provide coverage to insureds under standard form commercial general liability policies for unintentional pollution, even if the pollution occurs gradually.

As it turned out, the victory for policyholders didnt help Morton because the Supreme Court found that the company had intentionally released pollutants, which was clearly not covered even without the sudden and accidental policy language.

Shugrue said the ISO documents that have been turned up so far suggest that similar documents may exist to show that the industry misrepresented its intentions to state regulators when it created the virus exclusion.

There is some interesting material in these internal documents, he said. It looks like there is certainly some smoke there and maybe some fire.

Topics Claims Business Interruption
Florida has 90,000 private flood insurance policies in force now a 300% increase since passing legislation to encourage private insurers to offer the coverage in 2014, according to Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier.

Noting there are 5 million properties in the state that still have no private or government flood coverage at all, Altmaier acknowledges there is still a long way to go.

In this interview with Insurance Journal Southeast Editor Amy OConnor, Altmaier discusses how Floridas private flood market has grown, the challenges of educating consumers on their risk, and why he thinks changes to the National Flood Insurance Program could be a boon to private market development.

Southeast states looking to protect their residents from the ever-growing and costly threat of flood damage may be helped by Floridas experience.

Top Photo: The St. Marks River overflows into the city of St. Marks, Fla., ahead of Hurricane Michael, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Brendan Farrington)

Topics Trends Florida Flood Market
Kentuckys attorney general last week sued CVS Health, accusing its pharmacy chain of flooding the state with prescription opioids that contributed to the states addiction woes.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed the lawsuit in Franklin County Circuit Court in Kentuckys capital city. Cameron says the health care company played a role in fueling the crisis by inundating the state with millions of doses of powerful prescription painkillers. The state is seeking civil penalties and punitive damages in the suit.

As both distributor and pharmacy, CVS was in a unique position to monitor and stop the peddling of these highly-addictive drugs from their stores, yet they ignored their own safeguard systems, Cameron said in a news release.

Its the states latest legal action against companies it blames for supplying a massive pipeline of prescription pills into Kentucky. In 2015, drug overdoses accounted for about 60% of Kentuckys statewide accidental deaths, Cameron said. The Republican attorney general is pressing lawsuits against several opioid manufacturers and distributors. Many of those suits were filed by Camerons predecessor, Democrat Andy Beshear, who is now Kentuckys governor.

CVS Health, which operates one of the nations largest drugstore chains, said its prepared to defend itself against the states allegations.

Opioids are made and marketed by drug manufacturers, not pharmacies, the company said. Pharmacists dispense opioid prescriptions written by licensed physicians for a legitimate medical need. Pharmacists do not _ and cannot _ write prescriptions. Nor do they _ or can they _ examine patients, conduct tests, diagnose medical conditions or determine medical treatment. That is the role of physicians, who have the responsibility to write appropriate prescriptions.

The new Kentucky lawsuit says CVS Health used unlawful business practices and failed to guard against the diversion of the powerful opioids.

To highlight the massive supply, Cameron said one CVS store in Perry County purchased more than 6.8 million dosage units of oxycodone and hydrocodone from 2006 to 2014  enough opioids for each resident of the Appalachian county to have more than 26 pills every year during the same period. In western Kentucky, a CVS store in Crittenden County bought more than 2.8 million dosage units of the drugs, enough to supply everyone in the county with at least 34 pills every year, he said.

Since CVS had a dual role in the opioid supply chain as a distributor and pharmacy, the lawsuit says the companys compliance with the law was vital to safeguard consumers and control the rate of addiction, abuse and diversion of opioids.

Despite supplying staggering quantities of opioids in Kentucky, CVS reported zero suspicious orders for its Kentucky stores from 2007 to 2014, Cameron said. Even during the height of the opioid epidemic, CVS helped promote opioid products, he said.

CVS said Wednesday that it has been involved in the fight against prescription opioid abuse. The company developed educational programs for patients and providers, created thousands of safe medication disposal sites and expanded access to life-saving overdose reversal drugs, it said.

Drug overdose deaths spiked nationally and in Kentucky during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Kentucky, overdose deaths rose by 50% from September 2019 to September 2020, compared with the previous 12 months, according to preliminary figures released in April by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Courier Journal reported. Addiction experts say the pandemic left people stressed and isolated, disrupted treatment and recovery programs, and contributed to an increasingly dangerous illicit drug supply.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Kentucky
A beverage distributor that operates across Alabama and played a role in the states craft beer craze agreed to pay more than $800,000 to settle claims that it discriminated against Black employees for years by denying them jobs and promotions that went to white workers instead, the government said.

The 114-year-old Birmingham Beverage Co., which does business as AlaBev, also will review its personnel policies and provide anti-discrimination training under the agreement, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in announcing the settlement last week.

EEOC sued the company in 2017 claiming it failed to promote a Black driver supervisor, Ronnie Johnson, to a route sales job despite six years of exemplary job performance and previous experience. The post went to a less-experienced white worker instead, the agency said.

Multiple Black workers also expressed interest in promotions during the four years preceding the suit but none was selected, the suit claimed. At least 11 white applicants or workers got route jobs, and the companys only two Black route sales people were given routes in mostly African American areas, EEOC said.

The $825,000 settlement will go to Johnson and 34 current and former Black employees, EEOC said, and a three-year agreement is intended to prevent more discrimination.

The chair of the agency, Charlotte Burrows, said the case illustrated the destructive and demoralizing impact race discrimination can have on employees when they are denied employment opportunities based on their race.

For many years, African American workers at Birmingham Beverage demonstrated their fitness and desire for promotion but were denied employment opportunities because of the color of their skin, she said in a statement.

Accused of violating federal job protection laws, the company denied any racial bias in employment decisions, court records show. In a statement, the company said some of the people involved in the case were asked to apply for jobs but failed to do so.

The company said it has had many Black route salesmen in the Birmingham market and denied any discrimination.

The high costs of litigation of class claims made the continued vigorous defense of the suit economically infeasible and presented a distraction to our core business operations, it said in a statement.

With some 3,000 retail customers statewide, the family-owned Birmingham Beverage was part of the development of Alabamas craft beer industry more than 15 years ago, according to its website. It purchased the first kegs of beer produced by the Birmingham-based Good People Brewing Co. in 2008 and added Avondale Brewing and the Huntsville-based Yellowhammer and Straight to Ale later.

The company distributes beer from dozens of companies plus wine, liquor and nonalcoholic beverages, its website shows.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Claims Alabama
As the Missionary Ridge Fire raged in 2002, the Valley Fire, a second fire, broke out and destroyed six homes within hours near the Falls Creek Ranch subdivision north of Durango.

When residents returned after the Valley Fire, they saw red and green ribbons hanging on trees next to driveways and houses.

Red, they learned, meant firefighters were not able to defend their homes during the fire. The brush and trees were too overgrown for firefighters to access safely, said Paulette Church, a resident of 22 years, recalling a community discussion with fire officials after the fire.

When we came home from the meeting that day, you could hear chainsaws all over the ranch, Church said. People were trimming up their junipers and oak brush.  Everyone was looking at what they had around their house very differently.

Close calls with wildfire have spurred several La Plata County communities into action on wildfire risk mitigation. But getting a community to keep that momentum can be a puzzle  one that takes years, even decades, to solve.

About 3,500 structures burn each year in the United States by wildfire. Reducing risks, such as hazardous plant life near buildings, before a fire can help communities adapt to living with fire, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

But not everyone is ready or willing to invest the time, effort or money to mitigate. Three La Plata County community mitigation leaders say a mixture of know-how, a sense of community and neighborly persuasion can help.

Changing attitudes is the most difficult thing you can do, said Church, who has been nationally recognized for her role in the Falls Creek community mitigation effort.

More than 70,000 communities and 44 million homes nationally are at risk from wildfire in the wildland urban interface, or WUI, where vegetative fuels and the built environment meet.

That includes communities in La Plata County, like Durango. On wildfire risk maps, the city is surrounded by seas of reds and oranges indicating higher-than-average wildfire risk.

There are many ways to reduce that risk, such as creating community wildfire protection plans, defensible spaces around structures like homes and businesses, and carefully chosen construction materials and building codes, according to the Forest Service.

Many people move to subdivisions in the WUI, such as Falls Creek, Rafter J Association and Elk Stream Ranch, because they want to live within a wildland environment.

The residents value seeing wildlife inhabiting nearby trees or wandering through bushes, and they want to protect the natural forest landscape. Some resist cutting down plant life, even when its limited to hazardous fuels, according to mitigation leaders in some communities.

Several communities have bylaws prohibiting tree removal to preserve the forest and worry that assessing risks might deter people from moving to the area or negatively impact insurance rates.

Removing hazardous plant life can be too time-intensive or costly for some residents. Others are interested but do not know where to start.

I think a lot of people are concerned that if they take too many trees out, its not going to have that forest feel or its not going to be healthy for the forest, said Charlie Landsman, La Plata County coordinator for the Wildfire Adapted Partnership, a nonprofit that connects communities to mitigation resources.

Really, when it comes down to it, fire mitigation is directly beneficial for the forest, Landsman said. The forests are over-densely populated because of our historical fire suppression.

In La Plata County, 85 community volunteers with the Wildfire Adapted Partnership, called firewise ambassadors, in 61 communities are trying to get their neighbors involved in pruning back hazardous plant life.

For three of those communities interviewed by The Durango Herald, it was a brush with wildfire that ultimately motivated residents to take action.

The Rafter J Association, about 7 miles southwest of Durango, is a subdivision within the Rafter J Ranch. Its 170 homes are built on ridgetops with views of gullies and ravines, said Lou Fontana, a firewise ambassador and resident of 21 years.

In 2017, the Lightner Creek Fire burned 412 acres within sight of Fontanas home.

You could see what was going on down there for most of the people on Ridge Road, Fontana said. At one point, they did a pre-evacuation order for Rafter J.

Before the fire, fewer than 10 people in the Rafter J subdivision were regularly mitigating their land.

The most weve had participate is 90  which is good, but its still not 100% participation, Fontana said.

Elk Stream Ranch, made up of 35 lots and 15 homes, sits in East Canyon along the border between Montezuma and La Plata counties. The residents created a community wildfire protection plan in 2008.

I remember hearing about the local fire department saying they might not come into our canyon if they cannot safely do so, said Gertine Gem Ganje-Boone, a firewise ambassador for Elk Stream since 2012. Well, thats a pretty good wake-up call. Then of course, there is nothing more convincing than an actual fire.

In 2012, the Weber Fire swept through the area, burning 10,000 acres. Then came the 2,905-acre East Canyon Fire in 2020.

I would say everyone that has a home participates in some form of fire mitigation, Ganje-Boone said. Its much harder to convince vacant landowners to participate in fire mitigation, but we have had success with about half of the lots.

In Durango, it was only after the 416 Fire burned 52,778 acres in 2018 that city and La Plata County leaders began several concerted efforts to leverage community, state and federal partnerships to address the areas wildfire risk.

Theres an incredible amount of work being done on pretty much every level, from homeowners to the city, county, state and federal level, Landsman said. One of the main limiting factors is theres always going to be more to do. And theres only so much capacity, people, time and energy to do the work on the ground.

Falls Creek residents have volunteered thousands of hours since 2002 to mitigate fire risk on their land and roads. In 2018, that work helped firefighters redirect the 416 Fire. After nearly two decades, about 80% of the 96 households in Falls Creek remove plant life from communal property each year and about 90% of the landowners mitigate their own properties.

Its a high percentage, but there are still hold outs who dont want to mitigate, Church said.

Theres only a couple, Church said. And theyve done more than we ever did before.

The neighborhood mitigation leaders found success through a mix of community-building events, continuous outreach, financial assistance and results.

At community meetings, Rafter J brought in fire experts from the Durango Fire Protection District, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and Wildfire Adapted Partnership. Their first step: drafting a community preparedness assessment, Fontana said.

They focused on road improvements, then clearing the ignition zone around homes. They used grants to pay for mitigation projects, such as cutting and chipping scrub oak, which went over budget because of higher-than-expected participation, Fontana said.

I would like to see it codified that you couldnt sell property in any community in Southwest Colorado without proper mitigation being included, he said. You require a septic system, you require mitigation. Do it.

In Elk Stream Ranch, ambassadors speak at annual meetings and hand out literature, continually bringing information back to the community. The association used a cost-share program to create fuel breaks along roads and is seeking grant funding to continue the project, said Ganje-Boone.

When it comes to creating a community consensus, Ganje-Boone said she focuses on the idea of when, not if, a wildfire will come.

Being better prepared is key to saving lives and property, she said. Having conversations with your neighbors and volunteering to help has worked for our community.

Falls Creek ambassadors, like Church, also continually send out educational information about reducing wildfire risk. The neighborhood brought in experts to help identify mitigation projects. Residents have used grants and other funding sources to complete thousands of hours of mitigation projects.

Landsman has worked with dozens of communities on fire mitigation projects with the Wildfire Adapted Partnership. Addressing concerns, he said, comes down to having open and honest conversations with people.

Learning what their concerns are, instead of going in there and saying, You need to do this, and here are the reasons you need to do it,' he said.

Churchs secret to success: the potluck.

After you work together on a project like that, everyone is really tired, hot and dirty, she said. You come together and you celebrate  and you see the results immediately. It builds an enthusiasm and a shared vision for what a healthy forest looks like.

Seeing the results of mitigation projects  that did not include clear-cutting the forest, as some neighbors feared  helped convince more people to participate over time.

People thought  our forest would never burn. There was no risk. When they saw the Valley Fire and Missionary Ridge burn, there was risk,'Church said. Seeing people they respected do the work, they realized Yeah, I dont want to be the neighbor to burn my neighbors house down. I want to do my share.'

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Colorado
Cate Havstad-Casad, co-owner of Havstad-Casad Family Farms in Jefferson County, didnt hold back last week while speaking on a Zoom call with state representatives about the drought conditions affecting farmers in Jefferson County.

Speaking during a meeting of the House Water Committee chaired by Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, Havstad-Casad told the legislators in stark terms that Jefferson County farms are starving for water while farms in other parts of the Deschutes Basin have more water than they need, The Bulletin reported.

What is happening through the forced dry up of this district, because we are junior water rights holders, is a massive ecological and a social disaster that not many people truly understand is happening, said Havstad-Casad, a patron of the North Unit Irrigation District.

Havstad-Casad, a first-generation farmer, was highlighting concerns raised by others in Jefferson County, whose water allotments this year are so small that roughly half the countys farmland is fallow. When the wind kicks up, the exposed ground creates clouds of dust in the Central Oregon sky as topsoil gets blown off the landscape.

We watch it happen. We stand in the middle of it. Its like watching your childrens future blow away, she said.

She had been invited to speak to the legislators by the Coalition for the Deschutes, a nonprofit that works with both farmers and environmentalists to protect the Deschutes River.

Her stirring testimony compared the topsoil loss in Jefferson County to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Havstad-Casad asked legislators to support farmers to plant cover crops, which help to reduce the dust storms.

The farmers must be supported to cover that topsoil, she said. It is securing our futures.

In addition to topsoil loss, said Havstad-Casad, farmers are facing financial hardship because their costs remain just as high as a normal season, but their profits are slashed due to the lost acreage.

While we maintain 100% of our overhead costs, we are only able to farm 40% of our land because of the 40% allotment we have been given, said Havstad-Casad, who practices regenerative agriculture on 200 acres of land. She has been farming near Madras since 2017 after moving there from a smaller property near Bend. The farms products include organically grown potatoes, onions and winter squash, as well as cattle and turkeys.

Drought and low reservoirs are the primary reasons behind the drop in water allotments. Wickiup Reservoir, the source of water for the North Unit Irrigation District, was just 31% full as of Friday. In an average year on the same date, the reservoir would be 79% full.

At its current pace, the reservoir will be empty by early August. A similar scenario played out last year when the water dried up in early September, forcing some irrigation districts to shut off their water prematurely.

The reservoir is draining quickly even though North Unit patrons are getting just 1 acre foot of water. Water patrons of other irrigation districts, including the Central Oregon Irrigation District (COID), are getting three times that amount. Thats because districts like COID have older (senior) water rights, so when water resources are restricted due to drought, junior rights holders have to curtail their water usage. Junior water rights holders get cut off in times of shortages.

Gail Snyder, founder of Coalition for the Deschutes, backs Havstad-Casad, saying that too much of Central Oregons water is being wasted and more of it needs to be shared.

From watering sidewalks in the city to flooding fields in the county, our current use of water is wasteful and unsustainable, said Snyder. We need a cultural paradigm shift that leads to better stewardship by all of us.

And we need to address the glaring imbalance in the amount of water available to different groups of farmers so that some arent left like Oliver Twist, begging for drops while others have more than they need, she added.

Farmers are asking Oregons legislators to eliminate red tape that makes sharing water difficult.

Tod Heisler, director of the rivers program for Central Oregon LandWatch, said the barriers to sharing water are the result of a lack of legislation.

In response to drought, COID offered to allow patrons to share their water with farmers in Jefferson County, said Heisler. But without a program in place to do this, and a concerted communications effort to recruit patrons into the program, it is questionable what can actually happen.

Greg Mintz, legislative director for Rep. Ken Helm, D-Washington County, said state legislators are actively working to resolve the water crisis faced by Jefferson County farmers. House Bill 3103A could make a difference, he said. This bill seeks to fix Oregons broken statute for transfers of stored water, said Mintz.

The bill passed out of the House Committee on Water in April with bipartisan support and it is now awaiting consideration of necessary funding in the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, said Mintz.

We hope to see the bill pass out of Ways and Means and move to the House and Senate floor for votes, said Mintz.

While North Unit farmers like Havstad-Casad are hoping for a better way to move water around Central Oregon, its still going to take a fair amount of campaigning to get other irrigators interested in sharing their water.

Shon Rae, the deputy managing director for COID, said just two out of 3,600 of the irrigation districts patrons have expressed interest in sharing their water.

That is approximately 17 acres out of our 46,000 acres of irrigated land, said Rae.

Havstad-Casad said sharing water is the only short-term option, as current canal piping projects, which will also save water, are years away from completion.

We dont have time.The piping projects will take years to unroll, said Havstad-Casad. We are excited to see those projects send water this way, but I promise you, based on last season and the realities of this season, people who are seventh-generation farmers in this district are seriously considering throwing in the towel.

She also offered the legislators a message of hope and a warning.

We have the opportunity as a region to improve our management and share water more equitably, she said, because the farmers of North Unit do not have one more season in them like this one or the one last year.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Agribusiness Oregon
San Diego, Calif.-based ICW Group Insurance Cos. has named Nicole Rathsam senior vice president, chief financial officer.

Rathsam will oversee the companys premium audit and finance departments. She is in charge of driving the companys financial strategy to support long-term growth targets for its workers compensation, assumed reinsurance and catastrophe lines of business.

Rathsam has more than 15 years of property/casualty insurance financial experience. Prior to ICW Group, Rathsam was with CNA Insurance Cos., where she began her career in internal audit and most recently was vice president of corporate financial planning, analysis and consolidations. At ICW Group,

ICW is the largest a held insurance company domiciled in California. ICW Group represents a group of workers comp, assumed reinsurance and catastrophe insurance carriers, including Insurance Company of the West and Explorer Insurance Co.

Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance has added two regional field executives as part of the companys independent agent distribution organization.

The Pacific Region will now be headed up by Diane Mitchell, who assumes the role of senior vice president and pacific regional field executive. She will be based in Orange County, Calif. and serve California.

The Midwest will be led by Rich Meuret, who becomes the senior vice president and Midwest regional field executive, and he will be based in Indianapolis.

The combined distribution organization serves independent agents across Safeco personal lines and Liberty Mutual small commercial.

Mitchell has more than 30 years of experience at Liberty Mutual working with independent agents across all core aspects of the business. Most recently, Mitchell led the West Zone underwriting team focused on the small commercial segment. She was the Safeco California regional general manager from 2012 to 2018.

Liberty Mutual is headquartered in Boston, Mass., and offers a range of insurance products and services. Safeco Insurance sells personal automobile, homeowners and specialty products through a network of more than 10,000 independent insurance agencies throughout the U.S. Safeco is a Liberty Mutual Insurance company.

Topics California
Noting nearly 1,000 contributors, 50,000 commits building advanced support for multiple architectures including ARC, Arm, Intel, Nios, RISC-V, SPARC and Tensilica, and more than 250 boards; the Zephyr Project is throwing a virtual party that will run from June 8  10 this year.

The first-ever Zephyr Developer Summit is open to the public, free of charge, and full of Zephyr leaders from around the world presenting real-world use cases, best practices, mini-conferences, and more.

Zephyr is an open-source project at the Linux Foundation that builds a safe, secure, and flexible real-time operating system (RTOS) for resource-constrained devices. Led by Kate Stewart, Vice President of Dependable Embedded Systems at the Linux Foundation, a visionary behind the project since day one, participation continues to soar with new members.

Launched in 2016, this first Developer Summit has an "impressive line-up of Zephyr thought leaders and ambassadors for the growing Zephyr community of contributors and users," said Joel Stapleton, Chair of the Zephyr Project Governing Board and Principal Engineer Manager at Nordic Semiconductor.

"The strength of engagement the project has with its members and IoT solution providers reflects the importance of open-source efforts to build secure and safe embedded technologies for increasingly connected applications in industrial, smart home, wearables and energy; and for computing platforms integrating microcontrollers with ever-increasing capabilities and functions," Stapleton continued.

Sample summit sessions include power management, USB support, motor control, user presentations that showcase Zephyr with Renode and TensorFlow Lite and RISC-V, and contributor spotlights for securing MCUBoot, using OPC UA, energy-efficient device testing, and developing hardware. Proposals were reviewed by the Programming Committee, which includes Anas Nashif, Intel; Carles Cufi, Nordic Semiconductor; Jonathan Beri, Golioth; Keith Short, Google; Maureen Helm, NXP; and Olof Johansson, Facebook.

One of the hot topics being discussed at the summit is the U.S. Executive Order on Cybersecurity and how Zephyr helps address the surge in attacks.

Less than a month ago, the United States White House released an Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity that addressed the malicious cyberattacks that have become more frequent in the last few years. In a blog, the Linux Foundation responded how Zephyr RTOS, along with several other projects, has already built some of the support needed for a more secure future.

Zephyr now generates the Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) automatically during the build, and this capability will be available in the upcoming 2.6 release. It is one of the few open-source projects that is a CVE Numbering Authority (CNA) and has an active Project Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) that manages responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities to product makers.

Product creators using Zephyr can sign up for free to be notified of vulnerabilities.

"SBOMs can communicate details about a software package's contents; being able to understand exactly which source files are included in a resource-constrained software image is key to understanding if it may be vulnerable to an exploit," Stewart said. "SBOMs created by manual processes can often be incomplete, incorrect, or out-of-date as a software package advances. By being able to generate the SBOM during the build, and take it to the source file level, not just the component level, better diagnosis and detection of vulnerable states is possible and addresses some of the best practices mentioned in the EO. Zephyr is being used today in thousands of wearables and other products with constrained environments. By automatically creating SBOMs during builds, the development process becomes easier, more efficient, and improves maintainability in the field."

The Zephyr Project also announced a new array of members, including AVSystem, Golioth, Pat-Eta Electronics, RISC-V, and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, to its global RTOS ecosystem.

These new members join Adafruit, Antmicro, BayLibre, Eclipse Foundation, Facebook, Fiware, Foundries.io, Google, Intel, Laird Connectivity, Linaro, Memfault, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP, Oticon, Parasoft, SiFive, Synopsys, and teenage engineering, among others.

"We see amazing opportunities for IoT deployments involving resource-constrained devices operating in cellular LPWA networks," said Marcin Nagy, Product Director for IoT, AVSystem. "We are sure that combining the Zephyr RTOS with our expertise in the Lightweight M2M standard will contribute to the acceleration of secure and standards-based IoT launches."

"We can speak at length about the technical merits of Zephyr - the kernel design, native networking, scalable board support model, and so on - but the largest differentiator is the community," says Jonathan Beri, CEO of Golioth. "From chipset vendors to ecosystem players, it feels like we're rising the tide for everyone to make the most secure & reliable open-source RTOS in the market, and we couldn't be more excited to contribute to the project and community."

"We are happy to be part of the Zephyr Project and hope to bring it more into the academic environment, especially within STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)," said Sanyaade Adekoya, Developer, Programmer, and Lecturer at Pat-Eta Electronics. "It has been challenging to bring RTOSes within the academic research sector and getting them in the hands of undergraduate learners. Our research extends the use of Zephyr RTOS in IoT, Edge Computing, Robotics, Smart and Wearable devices. The Zephyr Project will be a driving platform for our students that will make it easier for them to create ideas, projects, innovations, and more. We look forward to showcasing our students' Zephyr-related projects."

"RISC-V and Zephyr were both designed to drive innovation in the hardware space with open-source technologies that are accessible to everyone," said Mark Himelstein, CTO of RISC-V. "Many of our members are already taking advantage of the flexibility of RISC-V and Zephyr to design end-to-end open-source solutions for resource-constrained devices. We look forward to collaborating with the Zephyr Project to offer even more opportunities for the open-source community to innovate."

"Zephyr RTOS enables us to rapidly prototype Thread wireless networks and is an excellent research platform for our work in IoT security," said Samuel Lindemer, Research Engineer at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. "The interactive shell and configuration menu make it intuitive for new users, and the open-source community support is unparalleled."

Videos and presentations from the Zephyr Developer Summit will be available on the website. Stay tuned at www.zephyrproject.org for more.

Edited by Luke Bellos
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Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020
Burma Daw Aung San Suu Kyis Trial to be Completed Within Six Months

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and Naypyitaw Council Chairman Dr. Myo Aung appear in court in Naypyitaw on May 24. / Commander in Chief of Defense Services Myanmar.

The junta judge overseeing the trial of detained leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw has said that he will complete the hearing of the five cases against her within 180 days.

His announcement came on Monday during Daw Aung San Suu Kyis second in-person court hearing.

As these cases are simple, the timeline for hearing them is 180 days. Since the cases were filed on Feb. 16, the court will hear the plaintiffs side until June 28. Therefore, the court proceedings will take place every Monday and Tuesday rather than every two weeks in order to complete the trial process, said U Khin Maung Zaw, the leading advocate of the ousted State Counselors legal team.

Her lawyers said that they met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for 30 minutes before the Monday morning hearing, as well as with President U Win Myint and Naypyitaw Council Chairman Dr. Myo Aung who are on trial alongside her. All three leaders were detained hours before the juntas Feb. 1 coup.

Six cases have been filed against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, all widely believed to be trumped up charges. They comprise two cases under Article 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law for breaching coronavirus regulations, one case under Article 8 of the Export and Import Law for alleged possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies and other foreign equipment, one case under Article 67 of the Telecommunications Law and one under Article 505(b) of the Penal Code for sedition.

The sixth charge, under the Official Secrets Act, was filed separately at the Yangon Eastern District Court.

The next hearing in Naypyitaw for three of the cases will be on Monday, June 14. The other two will be heard on Tuesday, June 15.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi also requested the Naypyitaw judge to allow her to meet with President U Win Myint and Dr. Myo Aung as they are charged alongside her. The judge told the legal team that they needed to speak to the people who detained those leaders, said Daw Min Min Soe, another member of the State Counselors legal team.

We demanded that, following our discussion with Amay (Daw Aung San Suu Kyi), she added.

The lawyer said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has also given her consent for the legal team to represent her in the sixth case under the Official Secrets Act that was filed against her in Yangon and then referred to the Union Supreme Court last month.

Detained Australian professor Sean Turnell and the former ministers of planning and finance  U Soe Win, U Kyaw Win and U Sett Aung  have also been charged with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for violating the Official Secrets Act.

Her lawyer U Khin Maung Zaw said that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is not yet aware of this hearing on June 23, with the Supreme Court listing the case as one in which the accused will defend themselves.

U Khin Maung Zaw added, She said that she has not yet received a subpoena for that case. Therefore, she told us to submit a letter saying that she had given us permission to represent her.

During the in-person meeting, Daw Min Min Soe said that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wishes the people to be in good health.

She has also asked her legal team to help arrange food supplies for her and eight other people detained with her, as well as for her beloved dog Taichito.



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Burma Myanmar Daily Post-Coup Update: June 5-6

Protesters set an ASEAN flag alight in protest at the regional blocs indecisive approach to Myanmars military junta.

To keep you updated on what happened in Myanmar in the last 48 hours, here are the main events of the period, more than four months after the putsch.

June 5

Four villagers, including a father and son, were shot dead by junta troops in Hlay Swea Village in Ayeyarwady Regions Kyonpyaw Township as locals confronted them with slingshots and homemade gas guns after junta troops falsely accused a banana seller of transporting weapons and detained him.

In Danubyu Township, junta forces shot two men on their motorbike on Saturday night, leaving one dead.

A bomb exploded outside the fire station in Athote town in Yekyi Township.

Three local resistance fighters of the Chinland Defense Force died in three bomb explosions in Hakha, the capital of Chin State. Around 40 civilians were also reportedly arrested by regime forces following the blasts.

In Kayah State, 20 junta troops died in a clash with the Karenni National Defense Force (KNDF). The KNDF said it also lost one of its members in the fighting.

Two civilians died after being shot by junta forces in Shwe Nyaung, southern Shan State.

An explosion took place in Taungdwingyi, Magwe Region.

In Kachin States Putao Township, junta troops seized 17 villagers, apparently to ward off Kachin Independence Army ambushes in Putao Township.

In Mogaung Township, junta troops took Man Ywet Village National League for Democracy (NLD) chairman U Kyaw Ohn away for interrogation. Junta troops also detained some NLD members in Bhamo.

Anti-regime protests continued in various locations across Myanmar.

June 6

In Karen State, the regime tore down mausoleums and monuments in honor of Myanmars independence hero General Aung San and his colleagues who were assassinated alongside him in 1947, in Hpa-an, Myawady, Kyarin Seikgyi and Kawkareik townships.

In Kayah State, houses were damaged by junta shelling in Demoso Township. A Catholic church in Dawngakar was also damaged by shelling.

Two civilians died as the military regime rammed their motorbike with a car in Mandalay.

An explosion took place at an eatery in Thaketa Township in Yangon. Another explosion was reported at the administration office of No. 10 Ward in Shwepyithar Township.

In Shan States Moe Bye, junta troops set houses on fire and looted groceries.

Anti-regime protests took place in various locations across Myanmar as well as in the US, the Netherlands, France and South Korea.



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Burma Myanmar Junta Hired Mon People to Join Coup Leader at Bridge Ceremony

Group photo of coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and other attendees at the bridges renaming ceremony on June 1.

The Mon Unity Party (MUP) reportedly hired people in traditional Mon dress to join coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing at the renaming ceremony of a controversial bridge in Mon State last week. The MUP, an ethnic Mon party, has joined the military regimes governing body, the State Administrative Council (SAC).

On June 1, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing changed the name of the General Aung San Bridge (Belu Island) to the Thanlwin Bridge (Chaungzon). The facility spans the Salween River linking Mon States capital Mawlamyine with Chaungzon Township.

The MUP offered 20,000 kyats per person for people to attend the ceremony in Mon costume. Only a few uneducated locals from Chaungzon did so. There were one or two locals from Mudon, and the rest were from the MUP and the city [Mawlamyine], said a Chaungzon local.

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaings renaming of the bridge is widely believed to be an attempt to gain the support of Mon people for his Feb.1 coup. When the bridge was originally named four years ago by the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government, many Mon people strongly opposed calling it after independence hero General Aung San, also the father of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Locals preferred names like Chaungzon Bridge or Yarmanya, which means Mon State in the Mon language.

SAC member Dr. Banyar Aung Moe, a former leading member of the central executive committee of the MUP and a former Upper House lawmaker, was also present at the ceremony on June 1 alongside the people clad in traditional Mon dress.

MUP ward-level leaders hired people to attend the ceremony, said a local who was offered 20,000 kyats to attend the ceremony in traditional Mon clothes. It was not clear how many people the MUP had hired, she said.

Both sides are wrong regarding the bridge. It is unusual to open a bridge twice, said another Mon youth.

I hate that they hired attendants in Mon clothes. They want to show that they have the support of the Mon people. It badly tarnishes the image of Mon ethnicity, he added.

A spokesman for the MUP declined to comment on the claims that the party had hired people to attend the ceremony.

The regime has also changed the background color of the bridges nameplate from red  a color associated with the NLD  to green.

However, local residents said that they do not have any strong feelings over the bridges name as they are only concerned with ending military rule, which is the enemy of the people.

Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly identified Banyar Aung Moe as a former member of the state legislature. He is a former member of the Upper House of the Union Parliament. The story was edited on June 8 to correct the error.

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Burma Myanmar Junta Jails Magwe Chief Minister in Incitement Case

Dr. Aung Moe Nyo / The Irrawaddy

Myanmars military regime on Monday sentenced the National League for Democracy (NLD)s detained Magwe Region chief minister, Dr. Aung Moe Nyo, who is also the partys secretary, to two years in prison on an incitement charge.

He is the first head of a state or region to be sentenced to a prison term by the regime since the Feb. 1 coup.

Dr. Aung Moe Nyo sits on the NLDs secretariat board. He was charged under Article 505(b) of the Penal Code, accused of publishing statements declaring the juntas State Administrative Council to be unlawful.

A regime court on Monday handed down the maximum penalty to the deposed chief minister, who has been detained for more than four months, an NLD member in Magwe Region said.

In addition to the case in which he was sentenced, Dr. Aung Moe Nyo faces an additional charge brought by the regime under the Natural Disaster Management Law, the party member said. If found guilty, he would likely face an additional three-year prison sentence.

The chief minister was reelected in his constituency in Magwe Region in the 2020 general election.

All 14 state and regional chief ministers appointed by the NLD were detained on Feb. 1 when the military staged a coup. Only the Chin State chief minister has been released; the 13 others are still in military custody or prison, or under house arrest.

Four other chief ministers have also been charged with incitement under Article 505(b).

The same charge was also brought by the regime against NLD chairwoman Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and vice chairs U Win Myint and Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, who were also arrested on Feb. 1.



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Burma Myanmar Regime's Ban on Imported Soap and Toothpaste Criticized for Aiming to Boost Military Profits

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing's visit to Dentomec toothpaste and toothbrush factory in Yangon in 2020. / Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services

Myanmar regimes recent ban on importing soap, detergent and toothpaste has sparked allegations that it is trying to promote military-run businesses that have been boycotted since the coup.

The juntas Ministry of Commerce banned the imports at border trade zones on Friday, saying the measures would protect Myanmars independent enterprises and reduce the use of foreign currency.

Imported shower gel, detergent, toothpaste and toothbrushes have dominated Myanmars markets due to their higher qualities and greater choice than domestic products.

The regime also banned imported instant coffee, soda and condensed milk from Thailand in April.

The regime leader Min Aung Hlaing has frequently tried to promote domestic products since the coup in an attempt to reduce foreign exchange spending on imports.

The ban came a few days after Min Aung Hlaings visit to the military-run Padonmar Soap Factory in Mon State last week. During the visit, he said the factory should strive to meet domestic soap demand and substitute imports, according to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar. Despite the papers claim that the factory has been making numerous products since 2002, the brand has not previously been seen on sale.

A trader said the regimes ban aimed to promote its products by robbing from the dominant brands rather than being competitive.

Ordinary people will suffer while those with connections would receive import licenses, he said.

The prices will be manipulated. People who can afford it will have to use substandard products, the trader said, requesting anonymity.

The military has been involved in the countrys economy through conglomerates like Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC). The businesses span banking, brewing, bus services, mining, toothpaste, condensed milk and other everyday items. According to a 2019 United Nations fact-finding mission, revenue generated by military-owned companies dwarf that of any civilian-owned company.

The MEC opened a toothpaste factory in Yangon in 2019 making Dentomec using specialized machinery from Germany and Sweden. Min Aung Hlaing visited the factory in July last year, according to the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services website. But like Padonmar soap, Dentomec toothpaste and brushes are a rare sight in Myanmar.

Campaign group Justice for Myanmar (JFM) said the military operates throughout the economy, like a criminal cartel which must be dismantled.

On the import bans, the JFM said it would come as no surprise that the military is now restricting trade in a desperate attempt to seek profits from its coup.

Meanwhile, boycotts of military products continue.

Myanmar Lager Beer has been the product most heavily affected, which is made by Myanmar Brewery. The countrys largest beer maker saw its first-quarter sales plunge by almost 50 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2021, according to Japanese brewer Kirin, which is the militarys partner in the joint venture that owns the firm.



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Burma Resistance Fighters Inflict Heavy Losses on Junta Forces in Myanmars Chin State

Junta soldiers patrol in Mindat, Chin State on Sunday. / Zalen

Around 50 junta soldiers were killed on Sunday as fighting intensified between regime troops and Chin civilian resistance fighters in Mindat, Chin State, prompting the regime to call in air strikes. Resistance fighters also claimed junta forces used chemical weapons during the clashes.

At about 10 a.m. on Sunday, Chinland Defense Force-Mindat fighters launched a defensive action against around 100 military soldiers traveling to raid Phayar Sakhan and other villages in northeastern Mindat.

A spokesperson for Chinland Defense Force-Mindat told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the civilian resistance fighters were later attacked in Mindat by an artillery unit based in Kyaukhtu, Magwe Region, 33 km to the east.

Civilian resistance fighters were also attacked with heavy explosives by junta troops based in Mindat and a nearby village.

In the shootout, around 40 junta soldiers were killed. Two Mindat civilian resistance fighters were killed and six injured.

After losing a large number of soldiers in the shootout, the military regime bombarded the civilian resistance fighters twice using fighter aircraft, according to a statement from the Mindat Peoples Administration.

A spokesperson for the Mindat Defense Force said most of their resistance fighters were armed with old-fashioned homemade hunting rifles, and some with homemade single-barrel shotguns. The junta used heavy explosives, artillery, automatic weapons and fighter aircraft.

The spokesperson also claimed that the junta troops used chemical weapons in attacking the civilian resistance fighters, saying some of the militarys explosives contained no shrapnel but left the civilian fighters unconscious or feeling dizzy.

At about 10 a.m. on Sunday, another shootout between military troops and the Mindat Defense Force broke out near Shat Village in northwest Mindat.

The shootout occurred when civilian fighters took defensive action against 80 junta soldiers traveling to conduct raids in villages that are sheltering internally displaced persons from Mindat.

During the shootout, civilian resistance fighters were also attacked by artillery from the militarys Battalion 271 based in the mountaintop town of Mindat.

In the firefight, about 10 junta soldiers were killed. Meanwhile, a civilian resistance fighter was killed and 15 were injured by the juntas artillery shells.

The shootout continued until Monday morning, a member of the Mindat Defense Force said.

The spokesperson for the Mindat Defense Force said the military regime is committing war crimes against the people as it is using powerful weapons including artillery, explosives, automatic rifles, and aircraft to attack civilian resistance fighters armed with old-fashioned homemade firearms. The spokesperson added that the junta soldiers are using narcotics.

The international community and Myanmar have already learned what kind of institution the military regime is. There are no words to describe the inferior status and brutality of the junta. So, we will keep fighting them, the spokesperson said.

Firefights between the military troops and civilian resistance fighters from the Mindat Defense Forces have been occurring continuously since May 12, when a ceasefire agreed in late April broke down.

Due to the firefights, 90 percent of Mindats population of 25,000 have fled the town. Most residents are now sheltering at camps opened in villages in the township.

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Burma Under Myanmar Regime's House Arrest, Suu Kyi Short on Cash for Food

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw in September 2020. / The Irrawaddy

Myanmars detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi requested that her legal team help provide food for her, eight other detainees held with her and her dog, Taichido.

During a court hearing in Naypyitaw on Monday, she told the legal team about her cash shortage and the need for medicines and other supplies as she and the other detainees are using their own money to buy food.

Amay [Mother, referring to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] said she and the others being detained together need cash for food and supplies every two weeks, said Daw Min Min Soe, one of the five-member legal team representing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

When the military seized power, ousting her National League for Democracy government, she was placed under house arrest and moved into isolation in an unknown location.

She told her legal team that she did not want support from those detaining her and asked the lawyers to help if possible.

Amay said those who detained her told her they would provide support but she wants to arrange it herself. Amay added that 5 million kyats (US$3,050) in cash would be enough for now. She said other supplies were needed, said the lawyer.

The junta has filed six charges against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, including two under Article 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law and one each under Article 8 of the Export and Import Law, Article 67 of the Telecommunications Law, Article 505(b) of the Penal Code for sedition and the Official Secrets Act.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and Naypyitaw Council chairman Dr. Myo Aung appeared in court on May 24 and June 7, while previous hearings were held via videoconferencing.

The judge on Monday agreed to hear five out of six charges against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi within 180 days of her arrest.



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She always told me, Jackie, you need to focus on your school, you need to go to school, you need to go to college,  Valenzuela said. She never had the opportunity. It was a dream she could never achieve because she never went to school in general. She inspired me, because she had to learn to read and write her own language and learn how to read and write English as well.
Editorial Trying to Legitimize Myanmars Regime Can Only Backfire for China

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Myanmar military chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw in January 2021. / Chinese Embassy

The ongoing instability and chaos in Myanmar pose a serious threat to the countrys neighbors, including China. In the days after the coup, anti-China sentiment spread quickly in Myanmar with daily protests mounted against the Chinese Embassy in Yangon and other Chinese facilities.

Last month, Myanmars self-defense forces also threatened to attack a facility near Mandalay that forms part of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline. Beijings staunch backing for the regime, particularly its diplomatic support on the UN Security Council (UNSC), arouses anger among the Myanmar public, most of whom see China as an untrustworthy neighbor.

Given the strength of anti-China feeling in the country, Beijing will have to treat the Myanmar issue carefully. China cant be seen as providing legitimacy to the military rulers.

Chinese Ambassador Chen Hai met with coup maker Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on Saturday. According to a post on the Chinese Embassys Facebook page, he stressed to the general that as Myanmars neighbor, China will continue to play a constructive role. The statement adds: China sincerely hopes for the [quick] restoration of peace and stability in Myanmar and supports the implementation of [the] consensus by ASEAN and Myanmar, referring to a five-point consensus among ASEAN members, reached at a special summit in Jakarta in late April, on the steps needed to begin resolving the crisis in Myanmar.

Minutes after the embassys message was posted, people inside and outside the country responded with a flood of angry and otherwise negative comments about China on social media.

In February, amid growing anti-China protests in Myanmar, the Chinese ambassador came out to say that the current development in Myanmar is absolutely not what China wants to see, though, as is common with Chinese diplomatic statements, he left room for interpretation. He also dismissed rumors that China had aided the military, saying he hoped people could distinguish right from wrong and guard against political manipulation, so as to avoid undermining the friendship between the two peoples.

On Friday, ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi of Brunei and Bruneian Foreign Affairs Minister Erywan Yusof met the senior general in Naypyitaw to discuss the Jakarta summit. Brunei is the current chair of ASEAN.

After the summit, the sultan of Brunei, in a statement issued in his capacity as ASEAN chair, announced the leaders five-point consensus calling for: 1) the immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar; 2) constructive dialog among all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people; 3) mediation to be facilitated by an envoy of ASEANs chair, with the assistance of the secretary-general; 4) humanitarian assistance provided by ASEANs AHA Center; and 5) a visit by the special envoy and delegation to Myanmar to meet all parties concerned.

But the regime has so far been noncommittal on all five of these feeble points. During the meeting with Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the delegation provided the names of the special envoys to be appointed to Myanmar under ASEAN. The bloc also called on the regime to free political prisoners. Earlier, the absence of a strong position on this issue had caused dismay among human rights activists and opponents of the coup.

But ASEAN faces its own internal conflict. Indonesia and Thailand are at loggerheads over the matter, according to several diplomatic sources within the bloc.

One of the hurdles to implementing the five-point plan has been a lack of consensus within the bloc on who should be appointed as the special envoy, and what their role and mandate should be.

Indonesia, the regions most populous nation, initially favored a single envoy to lead a task force while Thailand, whose military has close ties to neighboring Myanmar, pushed for a friends of the chair body of multiple representatives, the sources told Reuters. A compromise supported by most ASEAN states was for three envoys, most likely comprising representatives from Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei, the report said.

The Myanmar junta has yet to make any commitments, but it is understood that it wanted ASEAN to come and hear what the military leaders had to say.

Oddly, last week Washingtons No. 2 diplomat said the US remained confident in ASEANs five-point consensus plan.

The vote of confidence from Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman stood in sharp contrast to downcast remarks by unnamed ASEAN diplomats quoted in a news report a day earlier who claimed the bloc was hemorrhaging amid internal sniping over the matter, according to the South China Morning Post.

Last week, speaking to regional journalists, Sherman acknowledged frustration over the lack of progress, saying we all wish results would take place yesterday.

But we also understand that sometimes diplomacy needs to take time to make sure that all the ducks are in a row [so that] we can proceed forward and reach success, Sherman said in the telephone briefing.

Meanwhile, in a sign of its deep frustration and disappointment with ASEAN, Myanmars parallel civilian National Unity Government said it had lost faith in the bloc, as it had failed to engage with both sides, ignoring the NUGs approaches and only engaging with the junta.

On the topic of ASEAN, its time for some frank talk.

It is wrong to expect anything from ASEAN. Its no secret that Myanmar regimes past and present effectively used the bloc as a shield, knowing that ASEAN could be relied upon to do nothing. (When Myanmar began to open up in 2012, ASEAN leaders were quick to take credit, claiming their policy of engagement was bearing fruit.) In reality, ASEAN did nothing for all of the long decades during which the country lived under its previous dictatorial regimes, allowing the blocs own non-democratic members to continue with their own oppressive actions undisturbed.

On Sunday, the regimes Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin flew to Chongqing, China to attend the ASEAN-China Summit.

Questions are being asked over whether Chinas strategy is to use ASEAN as tool to legitimize the regime. If that is the case, one can predict more anti-China sentiment in Myanmar, and for the boycott of Chinese investment to intensify.

China appears resigned to the fact that its efforts to cultivate a relationship with Daw Aung San Suu Kyis government were for naught, and is prepared to cut its losses.

It is about time the leadership in Beijing spoke up more candidly on the reality in Myanmar and changed its policy on its neighbor to the south before Myanmars instability and chaos have serious negative impacts on China. Why? Unlike the regime that came to power after the coup in 1988, the current junta has been unable to control or manage the population, administer the country, prevent the rise of a new armed insurrection, contain widespread public discontent or save the economy. The chaos in Myanmar poses a serious risk to Chinese infrastructure investment in the country.

Anti-regime protesters have been calling on the international community not to recognize the junta or its governing body, the State Administrative Council. However, China has not denounced the coup and has prevented UNSC intervention while looking to influence ASEAN.

The illegitimate coup and the chaotic state of affairs in Myanmar have negatively impacted every aspect of Sino-Myanmar relations. If China endorses the murderous regime, an uprising against China inside Myanmar will follow.



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Following concerns about the state and federal government failing to reach an agreement over the fate of the cruise industry, the sides will be back in federal court in Tampa on Thursday.

The court set a hearing to address more issues surrounding Floridas lawsuit over safety regulations and vaccines for the states cruise industry.

Floridas lawsuit had been in settlement discussions at the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, in the Tampa division. The lawsuit involves the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and states with major ports, including Florida, Texas and Alaska.

The CDC is a defendant as well as the U.S. Health and Human Services agency.

The hearing Thursday is scheduled to review issues addressed incompletely in the earlier hearing, to evaluate the supplemental record and the consequent briefs, and any other matter, according to the court documents.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has been in support of the shuttered cruise industry but has created a conundrum because he is against businesses requiring guests to prove their vaccination status  a key element for people to travel on cruise ships.

DeSantis announced on Thursday that Florida is at an impasse to reach a compromise after failing to reach a compromise with the federal government over the fate of the cruise industry.

Parts of this report first appeared on the website of the Florida Phoenix, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to coverage of state government and politics from Tallahassee.
On Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed two bills - HB 7017 and HB 1523  intended to protect Floridas higher education institutions and government from foreign influence and combat corporate espionage.

The goal of these bills is to stop combat nefarious foreign influence in corporate espionage in Florida, DeSantis said. Our bills today focus on foreign influence writ large.

The bill-signing was held during a press conference at Florida National Guard Robert A. Ballard Armory in Miami.

I think if you look right now, there is no single entity that exercises a more pervasive nefarious influence across a wide range of American industries and institutions than the Communist Party of China, DeSantis said Monday.

House Bill 7017, prevents agreements between Florida public entities and the governments of seven foreign countries of concern  which include China, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea and Syria.

DeSantis said, We dont want bad actors involved in our colleges and university, and well hold you accountable if you run afoul of these new laws.

House Bill 1523, targets corporate espionage  prohibiting the theft and trafficking of trade secrets and increasing the penalties for the theft of intellectual property.

Anyone who willfully, without authorization, steals or attempts to steal a trade secret, and use it for their own benefit will now face a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, DeSantis said.

Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez, who was present Monday, said Florida is, yet again, proactively taking measures to safeguard our constituents, property, and public institutions.
Amazon Prime Day 2021 will be streaming a three-part Prime Day Show featuring artists Billie Eilish, H.E.R. and Kid Cudi.

Amazon Music announced the lineup on Twitter last Thursday, revealing the star-studded show which will be available starting June 17. The best part is viewers don't need to be Prime members to stream the three episodes.

Amazon Prime Day Show Performers

Ryan Redington, VP of music industry at Amazon Music, shared that working with the three artists, Billie Eilish, H.E.R., and Kid Cudi for their Prime Day show has been incredible as they brought their music to life through "imaginative experiences," Gadget reported.

The three shows created by the artists are unlike anything Amazon has ever done before, Redington shared. The three performances are said to fuse performance and storytelling and take the viewers to worlds inspired by Paris, the Dunbar Hotel, and outer space.

Billie Eilish Prime Day Performance

Billie Eilish's performance was produced by Fremantle and Amazon Studios, International Business Times reported. Director Sam Wrench and Eilish herself conducted the 27-minute performance.

Gadget said that the cinematic performance is a tribute to the timeless Parisian long-gone era and will feature new music from Eilish's upcoming album, "Happier Than Ever."

Read Also: Elon Musk Bitcoin Tweets Frustrate Hacktivist Group: Anonymous Warns Tesla CEO Over Constant 'Trolling'

H.E.R.

Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, known by her stage name H.E.R., had her 25-minute episode produced by Fremantle, Wolf + Rothstein, and Amazon Studios, according to IB Times.

She's taking the audience back to the Dunbar Hotel, a culturally significant hub for the Los Angeles Black community in the 1930s and '40s. Prominent figures to be hosted in the Dunbar Hotel include musicians Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, and Billie Holiday.

H.E.R. brings back the iconic hotel in her imagining of how it would look like now in 2021, Gadget added. She will be performing new music from her album "Back Of My Mind."

Kid Cudi

The 25-minute episode by Kid Cudi is produced by Fremantle, Wolf + Rothstein, Mad Solar, and Amazon Studios. Wrench will be at the helm and Ashely Edens is the executive producer, IBTimes said.

This outer space performance will bring you with Kid Cudi as he departs Earth to establish a new community on the moon.

Performing his new album "Man on the Moon III," Cudi has collaborated with the International Space Orchestra--the world's first orchestra composed of space scientists from NASA Ames Research Center, the SETI Institute, and the International Space University--as his backing band.

Talk about a cosmic performance!

Where to Watch Amazon Prime Day Show 2021

The three episodes will be available starting June 17 and will be up for the next 30 days. Amazon Music and Prime members can access the playlist through their Amazon devices like Fire TV, Echo Show, and Fire tablets on Amazon Prime Video.

Non-Amazon Prime members can also stream it on Twitch and IMDb TV.

Related Article: Amazon vs. Netflix: Jeff Bezos Spends $8 Billion in MGM Purchase Amid Streaming War
Dogecoin continues to be a popular cryptocurrency, but the latest price prediction has some good and bad news for investors.

In these last few months, the Dogecoin value continued to spike across the market, making record-breaking high and low prices. If you're willing to gamble with the investment risk, Dogecoin has the potential to get you a lot of quick cash. However, being one of the most unstable markets, profit depends entirely on a few volatile factors.

Dogecoin Price Prediction

Dubbed as the "People's currency" by Yahoo Finance's Muslim Farooque, Dogecoin continues to gain popularity among retail traders, influencers, and investors. It currently has a market capitalization of over $50 billion, making it one of the "most-exchanged" cryptocurrencies.

Since Dogecoin is one of the recently marketed cryptocurrencies, early adopters or first-time investors could "grow up" together with the coin. Last May, with the help of billionaire Elon Musk's tweets, Dogecoin's value rose into a frenzy, racing to a $1 value.

As such, the meme coin can gain another spike of value in the coming days. Dogecoin could get another price spike anytime from a tweet by Musk or a viral TikTok video.

Note that the price spike will only last for a brief period while the trend lasts. Predictions says that Dogecoin value will eventually fall flat in the future, despite the wild trading swings it experienced recently.

Read Also: Dogecoin Price Prediction: Meme Coin Value Still at Huge Risk of Decrease Despite Elon Musk Tweet

Expert Issues Warning About Meme Coin

Unlike the secure markets on Bitcoin and Ethereum, Dogecoin relies on enthusiasts, trends, hype, and in some cases, misinformation. Despite its market price, the cryptocurrency Dogecoin does not offer real value for owners and investors in the long run, per Farooque.

Dogecoin could face regulatory crackdowns globally. For example, China has banned cryptocurrency use for its financial institutions. Other countries might follow the suit. Since Dogecoin's value relies on its audience, losing the support of one continent could be devastating to its price value.

For the U.S. specifically, the Treasury Department is reported to soon implement stricter cryptocurrency compliance and address the tax evasion risk. Any transfer over $10,000 will be reported to the IRS. Other countries are in the process of developing their own set of regulations. Without a secure system, Dogecoin's market value might be blocked by these technicalities.

For now, Dogecoin still has some market value investors can take advantage of while the trend still lasts.

YouTuber TheFinanceValueGuy gives an exciting prediction for Dogecoin in the next 24 hours! Dogecoin is currently at an upward trend in these last few hours. Prediction says the value might continue to rise, up to a $0.5 value. However, a warning indicator has been set on a $0.2 value, so if the Dogecoin drops value near that number, it's better to sell stocks immediately.

Note, however, to take this prediction with a grain of salt. The price value for Dogecoin is ultimately unpredictable and could change at any given moment.



Related Article: Elon Musk Bitcoin Tweets Frustrate Hacktivist Group: Anonymous Warns Tesla CEO Over Constant 'Trolling'
The proposal for a fourth stimulus check is gaining support as it takes one step closer to becoming real. The Congress and White House officials have given their statement about another relief payment. Here is the latest update available for the possible next wave of stimulus check payments.

You probably came across multiple internet articles hinting about an ongoing fourth stimulus check payment. Most of these are probably fake. Instead, what is real is the fact that many different representatives of Congress have pushed proposals for another wave of relief payment to the White House.

As of time of writing, the White House is not ruling out the proposal for a fourth stimulus check. Yahoo! Finance reported that the president himself would support it.

$2000 Payment Still Possible

Proposals for relief aid to help Americans overcome the financial crisis of the pandemic continues to grow. Many different proposals have been submitted, and in the event that the White House finally approves it, you can expect one of these programs to be used as the fourth stimulus check.

An online petition on change.org proposes to give $2,000 recurring monthly payments for the whole duration of the pandemic. This is to support families and their children who run small business establishments and have lost all their income in the lockdown period of the pandemic.

A total of 21 members of the senator wrote to the president, saying, "We urge you to include ($1200) recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions in your Build Back Better long-term economic plan. This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads."

Seven members from the House of Ways and Means Committee also sent a letter addressing the president that a $1400 fourth and fifth stimulus payment will help 12 million people out of poverty. They expressed that stimulus check payments have been an effective solution for the crisis and should be supported while the pandemic continues.

Read Also: Fourth Stimulus Check Timeline and Update: $2000 Payment, Double Tax Refunds, and Plus-Up

Fourth Stimulus Check Update

Up to date, the White House has not rejected any of these proposals. On the flip side, however, it means that neither one has been accepted either.

President Biden has not responded directly to any of these pleas for a fourth stimulus check. However, press secretary Jen Psaki said that "The President is certainly open to a range of ideas... He's happy to hear from a range of ideas on what would be most effective and what's most important to the economy moving forward,"

With the growing support on the fourth "stimmy," it is possible for the proposal to move towards approval sometime soon.

While waiting, however, you can try reclaiming other financial benefits you might qualify for from the government. Some of the relief aid available are:



Related Article: Fourth Stimulus Check Tracker: $2000 Online Petition Update, Other Approved Payments You Can Receive
Huntsville, TX (77320)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 94F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 77F. Winds light and variable.
Ithaca, NY (14850)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
The Synology DS220+ NAS provides you with the storage, features, and online access to roll your own Google Photos replacement now Google is charging for space. Also, Synology is giving one away free - maybe you will be the lucky winner.

Google announced last year it was bringing its free unlimited Google Photos storage to an end, with charging to come in on June 1st, 2021. Photos uploaded beforehand dont count, but all new photos and videos backed up are already counting against your 15GB free storage before you can expect an email prompting you to pay. Pricing is reasonable enough, but it goes up the more you store. If you have over 200GB of media, or you want to control your own privacy, Synology says you have another option.

Synology has long been a leader in network-attached storage - or NAS, for short. The company has over 50% market share in most mature markets and has sold over seven million units.

There are endless reasons why you need a NAS in your life. If you have documents, data, files, photos, videos, music, anything, that you want to protect from loss or share with others then you need a NAS.

Yes, the rise of the public cloud means you can find a range of subscription-based online storage options. Yet, these come and go, or their options change. Barracuda launched its Copy online cloud to great fanfare and promising generous Dropbox-beating free tiers only to shut down completely in May 2016. Dropbox itself was the first SaaS storage app, but over time its referral bonuses have diminished, Dropquest has gone, the number of devices you may run the app on has reduced, and users complain of disasters with no follow-up on support requests. Google Photos made a huge splash promising unlimited free storage for all your photos, with smart searching - then, after five years and seeing much of its competition close, Google said it would begin charging after June 1st, 2021. From Tuesday just past anything you can backup into Google Photos now counts against your 15GB free storage before you are compelled to sign up for a Google One subscription. There comes a point - Synology says around 200GB of storage - when you need to question if subscription storage is the best use of your hard-earned money.

Synology says you can take control of the situation and your costs - without losing the safety of a robust backup, and without losing the accessibility of having your photos available at any time from any location on any device, nor without losing the smarts of great photo management and searching.

The answer is the Synology DS220+ NAS coupled with the DiskStation Manager 7 operating system and the Synology Photos application.

iTWire has covered Synology products in the past like the DS918+ and DS1621+ and found them truly impressive hardware and software combinations that far exceeded the humble facilities the name network-attached storage suggests. Yes, they store data - the device is primarily a casing for an array of disks, after all - but they do far, far more. The secret is Synologys DiskStation Manager, or DSM, operating system and the rich suite of applications you can run on top of it. You may want your Synology NAS to be a file server. Or a media server. Or a WordPress blog server, a web application server, a virtual machine host, an FTP site, or so many other things, and not only one but multiple services all at once. Really, DSM makes a Synology NAS a full-blown server for people who dont want to deal with all the guff of managing a server and simply get on with life.

Here's where the DS220+ comes in. It's a compact but high-performance NAS for home or small business use, with a dual-core Celeron 2GHz J4025 CPU, 2GB of RAM with support for up to 6GB RAM, two-gigabit ethernet ports, and energy-efficient access of 14.69W or 4.41W in hibernation mode. It includes two drive bays for 3.5 or 2.5 HDD or SSD drives, two USB 3.0 ports, and a two-year warranty. The two drive bays can be filled with disks of your choice, at capacities to suit your needs and budget.

Synology's latest operating system - DSM 7.0 beta - provides the newest incarnation of the company's photo and video media management app, Synology Photos. This is the magic to making your own Google Photos replacement, and is free to own and use, with no ongoing costs.

Installation is simple and straightforward; install disks into your DS220+ NAS and connect it to your network. Use the free Synology Assistant app for Windows, Mac, or Linux - or connect to the NAS built-in webserver - to download and install DSM. Then, use DSMs Package Centre to download and install Synology Photos. Thats it!

You can now use Synology Photos via your web browser to drag-and-drop photos and videos to save them securely on your NAS or let the Synology Photos smartphone app for Android or iOS automate backing up your new and existing media, keeping your treasured memories safe without further thought.

The Synology Photos app, whether through the browser or on your phone, gives you full access to your whole photo library at any time, at any location, without needing to be in the same location as your NAS. You can share your photos with others and control specifically what you share; you can view your media by timeline or by folder; you can search by people with smart facial detection built-in; you can even create smart folders that update automatically when new items are added that meet specified criteria like location, subject, tag, camera type, and more.

iTWire has been testing out a DS220+ NAS for the last month, loaded with two Seagate Ironwolf Pro 2TB HDDs set up in a RAID mirrored configuration. Weve been auto-backing up photos and videos through Synology Photos which simply and silently runs in the background. With no work on our part beyond the initial setup, all our items were uploaded and saved, and our own searching and re-playing and sharing were responsive and snappy.

There is so much you can do with Synology Photos that it makes reviewing your memories a pleasure and joy. File them into folders, like your family holiday to Disneyland, or organise them any other way you wish. You have full control, and heres what Synology offers - peace of mind coupled with choice and control.

The Synology DS220+ has an RRP of $549, plus the cost of your disks. However, Synology is giving one away for free! Check out Synologys website and fill in their survey between now and June 30 to be in with a chance.

Take a look at Synology Photos here for yourself:
Asus range of products, including its displays and laptops, has earned recognition and praise at the Design and Innovation Awards.

Asus bags a total of 11 accolades, including two out of three Gold awards for a to-be-announced Asus display and the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE GX551 gaming laptop at the 2021 Computex Design and Innovation Awards.

Asus has also been named as a recipient of one of only three Special awards available globally, in recognition of the ROG Flow X13 and XG mobile gaming laptop and external graphics card combo.

Each year, the organisers of the international Computex trade show invite technology manufacturers globally to compete in its annual design and innovation (D&I) awards process, which is an exacting, multi-stage assessment of innovation and design quality.

During the initial stage, products are judged by a panel of industry experts and investors, academics, and supervisors from both the Industrial Technology Research Institute and the Asia Pacific Industrial Analysis Association of Taiwan. Products selected for further appraisal are then put in front of a panel of international professional jurors, including IT industry experts and representatives from media.

Products are assessed across these five categories, with equal weighting afforded to each:

Innovation (originality, uniqueness, differentiation)

Technical (vision, scalability, material or process adoption, production efficiency, completion)

Functionality (usability, ergonomics, practicality, safety, universal design)

Social (industrial efficiency/benefits, environmental protection/carbon footprint, social responsibility)

Craftsmanship and aesthetics (beauty, refinement, emotional resonance, spatial concepts and application scenarios)

A total of 11 Asus and ROG products were honoured by the judges of the Computex D&I awards among the following categories: Information and Communication Hardware, Components and Peripherals and Gaming Hardware, Software and Peripherals.

Asus lists the full list of products and the awards they received below (pictured), including four products that have yet to be announced.
He pointed out the committee acted before the state vote was certified. And, he said, the resolution appeared to be trying to terminate specific actions  like occupancy limits and stay-at-home orders  that were not actually in Wolfs disaster declaration but were part of orders he issued later.
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A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
MiMi-Sandra of Fort Worth, born 7 September 1945 in Jacksonville to Joe Selman Gore and Jeffie Gwendolyn (Lazenby) Gore. Preceded by her parents and five siblings. Survived by her husband, daughters, four siblings, nieces and nephews.




Donate Now As a public service during this pandemic, the Jewish News is providing free, unlimited access to all articles. Jewish News is a nonprofit publication that is owned by the community and relies on community support.
Police say that authorities were summoned at 2:55 a.m. to the first block of East Third Street for reports of a large fight and a stabbing. Bethlehem police Lt. Timothy Cooper said the fight involving multiple people started in the home and spilled into the street.
The 8th annual Totally Concrete Expo promises to feature exciting exhibitions and robust workshops from leading construction industry brands when it takes place at the Ticketpro Dome in Northgate.







Scheduled from Monday, 23 to Wednesday, 25 August, the hybrid event  with both a live and digital element  will offer built environment professionals a one-stop-shop to identify viable project tenders and the materials needed to complete the work on budget and on time.





It'll also offer the widest networking opportunities in the construction industry on the continent





The expo will be attended by architects, concrete technologists, interior designers, distributors, retailers, real estate owners, contractors, engineers, quantity surveyors and the like.

Event organisers say industry players who attend the expo will be able to build relationships, evaluate new technologies and overcome industry challenges while identifying new and future commercial partners.





To excel in a changing industry, you need the latest trends, the soundest best practices and a crystal-clear picture of where the industry is headed, says Event Director, Tracy-Lee Behr.

The expo will also showcase manufacturers, transporters and processors of concrete on the continent, offering them a platform to access South Africa and Africas most influential project owners.

The Totally Concrete Expo will take place alongside the African Construction Expo, African Smart Cities Summit and WoodEX for Africa, the only events on the continent dedicated to the concrete and cement industries. Attendees can look forward to a three-day event with more international exhibitors showcasing their latest products and solutions.

This event is a significant contributor to the economic growth, recovery and transformation of Southern Africas construction industry and places a special focus on buyer-and-seller engagements, she says.

With built environment professionals from over 45 countries visiting the expo each year, Behr notes that the expo will provide the platform for distinctive opportunities for business expansion, networking and learning.





She explains that the expo will provide professionals in the construction industry with free practical and technical training workshops. It will allow industry professionals to be up-skilled and to find new suppliers as well as to interact with current and potential new suppliers.

With multi-million rand projects planned and underway in Southern Africa, Behr adds that this is the right moment for built environment professionals to access a highly profitable market to grow their business.





The expo is Africas largest gathering of buyers and sellers that represent the entire built environment value chain. We are extremely proud to present WoodEX for Africa, which is firmly established as the continents leading timber industry showcase, at the same time and location as African Construction Expo, says Director of WoodEX for Africa, Stephan Jooste.













Written by Gontse Gee Hlophe

07/06/2021


Carter named associate dean for equity and inclusion in ETSU College of Arts and Sciences
In the late 19th century, Fairbanks Morse & Company continued to expand its now very diverse product line. The company began producing oil and naptha engines in the 1890s. The Fairbanks Morse gas engine became a success, providing power for irrigation, electricity generation, and oilfield work.
Della A. (Kinkade) McGuire, 85, passed away at 12:15 a.m. on Thursday, June 10th, 2021 at the Presbyterian Manor in Parsons, KS, where she had lived for almost three years. On July 28, 1953, Della married Max E. McGuire. He preceded her in death on January 21, 1999. Della is survived by her 
BOARD APPROVES CONSTRUCTION OF ISU ALUMNI CENTER AND U of I PLAN TO ESTABLISH DAILY FLIGHTS NEAR CAMPUS










SWISS-BELHOTEL INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE RETURN OF TOURISM AT ITIC As part of the Arabian Travel Market thought leadership programme, Priyanka Kapoor, Senior Regional Director of Sales and Marketing  Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, and Group Director  Sales, Marketing, Branding and Communications, Swiss-Belhotel International participated in a panel discussion at the virtual International Tourism & Investment Conference. SWISS-BELHOTEL INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE RETURN OF TOURISM AT ITIC As part of the Arabian Travel Market thought leadership programme, Priyanka Kapoor, Senior Regional Director of Sales and Marketing  Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, and Group Director  Sales, Marketing, Branding and Communications, Swiss-Belhotel International participated in a panel discussion at the virtual International Tourism & Investment Conference. Events - Communication/Marketing

This is a press release Category: Worldwide This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2021-06-07







panel was moderated by Dimitrios Buhalis, Director eTourism Lab & Deputy Director, International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research, Bournemouth University Business School, UK.



Analysing the impact and challenges of digital transformation in the travel and tourism industry with the experts, Priyanka highlighted the role technology will play in the return of tourism not only in the immediate future but also for the long-term.



Priyanka stressed, In 2020 our revenue technology had come to a standstill. Historical data had become irrelevant. We had moved to manual ways of revenue management, and we still are in that stage with frequently changing restriction levels. However, this period made us realise, once again, that People are our Business. And when we say People, we dont only mean the guests, but also our owners, our staff, our trade partners, and our customers. We need the technology to focus on relationship management with these People to be ready for the return of Tourism and maintain it for the long term.



The experts believed, for continued success it is essential to bolster products and processes with more robust digital tools aligned with the realities of the current hyper connected business requirements.



When asked about how tourism technology is likely to evolve moving ahead to 2030, Priyanka replied, There are so many unknowns and so many developments that will happen from now till 2030 that will shape technology, but one learning that we have taken from the pandemic is that sustainability is key to our industry. This is the time to move towards more sustainable ways of working which are economically viable in the future for our hotel owners' net profits and also because sustainability will talk into the evolved emotions and needs of the travellers after the experience of Covid-19. As we navigate through the market challenges, our goal is to cater to evolving guest requirements with innovative and enhanced experiences in a safe environment.



Diversifying its market offering, Swiss-Belhotel International has recently opened two new hotels in Bahrain in May 2021  the stunning 4-star Swiss-Belsuites Admiral Juffair and the spectacular 5-star Grand Swiss-Belhotel Waterfront Seef. About Swiss-Belhotel International Swiss-Belhotel International is currently in 21 countries, managing a portfolio of more than 145* hotels, resorts and projects located in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Bahrain, Egypt, Georgia, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland and Tanzania. Swiss-Belhotel International is one of the world's fastest-growing international hotel and hospitality management groups. The Group provides comprehensive and highly professional development and management services in all aspects of hotel, resort and serviced residences. Offices are strategically located in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, China, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland and Vietnam covering Oceania, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and India Regions.



*Numbers may fluctuate


US, Taiwan collude as DPP mired in epidemic fiasco

(Global Times) 09:26, June 07, 2021

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Three US senators' so-called three-hour vaccine aid visit to the island of Taiwan is viewed by analysts to disguise increasing US-Taiwan military exchanges, as the three landed in a C-17 US military aircraft. They also view Taiwan's high-profile welcome of the US senators' visit as an intent by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to flare the tension with the Chinese mainland and create more conflict, in order to divert attention from its failure to bring the ravaging COVID-19 infection under control.

Under the banner of humanitarianism, Senator Tammy Duckworth said at a press conference on Sunday that the US will donate 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to the epidemic-hit island with over 23 million residents.

Taiwan secessionist authorities rushed to hail the "victory" brought by allies, while mainland experts see the military and political risks beneath the vaccine supply, describing the visit as the most serious provocation that the White House has made to the Chinese mainland over Taiwan question since US President Joe Biden took office, which takes salami-slicing tactic in developing an "official relationship" with the island and eroding the one-China policy.

Duckworth, accompanied by senators Christopher Coons and Dan Sullivan, landed at Taipei's Songshan Airport on Sunday morning, with their activities confined to the military area of the airport due to the "epidemic prevention request," according to Taiwan media. It highlights Duckworth and Sullivan's posts in the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and Coons, who serves in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Amid the public anger in Taiwan and repeated rejection and vilification of mainland vaccines by the DPP, the island's regional leader Tsai Ing-wen touted the 750,000 doses of vaccine as "timely rain," and Taiwan will bear in mind that, even though there is no date for their delivery yet.

Just a day before the US politicians' Taiwan visit, the military authority of the island announced on Saturday that the island's troops will conduct live-fire tests of two tank guns it purchased from the US. On Friday, Taiwan's media hyped that mainland military plane entered the "air defense identification zone (ADIZ)" in Taiwan's southwest airspace at 4 am.

Experts reached by the Global Times said that the mainland should be vigilant about the trade behind the US vaccine donation, calling for slapping sanctions on US politicians who have been provocative on the Taiwan question, and adopting a sterner stance toward island of Taiwan in terms of the military response.

Dual provocations

The senators' visit to Taiwan is a deliberate, risky provocation and comes under the disguise of supplying vaccines, and the mainland will not sit idly by, Lu Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

It is entirely possible for the US to solve the issue of vaccine donation to Taiwan through commercial companies. And there is no need for the presence of senators and military aircraft, Lu said, describing the visit as "the most serious provocation" since Biden took office.

According to military experts, the three senators are also providing a cover for a military exchange between the US and the island.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert told the Global Times on Sunday that the C-17 is a strategic transport aircraft. In the United States Air Force, the C-17 is the second-largest strategic transport aircraft to the C-5 Galaxy.

The landing of the US Air Force strategic aircraft in Taiwan indicates that military cooperation and exchanges between the US and the island are increasing, Song said, noting the purpose of carrying three senators is to divert attention from the nature of military exchanges.

The C-17 was probably carrying a large amount of military supplies, either for the Taiwan's military or for the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), said Song, pointing out that the three hours at the airport perfectly fit the time needed to unload cargo.

Aside from military provocations, the political one was equally obvious from the US. Experts say the senators' Taiwan stopover is an assault on the Three Joint Communiques between China and the US, which embody the one-China principle. And the US and the DPP may have the purpose of making the C-17 landing in Taiwan a fait accompli forced on the mainland, paving the way for upgrading their links in the future.

Yuan Zheng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that the Biden administration continues to test China's red line by gradually hollowing out its one-China policy and developing meaningful "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan island.

The Biden administration has recently waived sanctions on the company behind Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, a move seen as a concession to Germany and Russia.

Some analysts said that the latest Taiwan card before Biden's Europe trip for the G7 meeting in the UK is aimed at showing US allies that the administration is not "weak."

It is expected that the mainland air force and navy would take actions as the US escalates the cross-Straits tensions, said Lu, noting the previous military patrols adjacent to the island southwest regions may move to northwest regions, a location closer to Taipei.

China should draw a clearer red line on the Taiwan question. Foreign politicians and officials who have crossed the line should not be allowed to enter China, and Chinese companies are not allowed to have any dealings with them, experts said.

DPP's derailment

Since the outbreak of the new COVID-19 surge on the island of Taiwan, the DPP authorities have been denounced for multiple anti-scientific measures, including refusing mass testing and snubbing vaccine assistance from the mainland, ignoring local cries and growing death toll.

Taiwan's anti-epidemic command center reported 343 domestic-transmitted cases, and 36 deaths on Sunday, local media reported.

Tsai, whose public support rate has dropped by nearly 20 percent compared to the time of her re-election victory in May 2020, is facing local mockery after her team released footable footage of Sunday's meeting, which shows Tsai was standing while speaking, and all three US senators were sitting and listening to a "work report."

Despite the US promise, Chiang Chi-chen, the leader of opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) on the island, said on Sunday that the island needs more vaccines to quench the thirst.

When the people on the island are suffering from vaccine shortages, the secession-minded DPP has declared they will donate 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccines to countries like Honduras and Paraguay, which still maintain "diplomatic ties" with the Taiwan authorities, and the DPP even bribed certain officials from the countries to realize the plan, an exclusive source told the Global Times on Friday.

The 1.24 million doses of AZ vaccine donated by Japan arrived in Taiwan on Friday. In addition to the 860,000 doses currently in the hands of the DPP authority, and the 750,000 doses promised by the US on Sunday but without a clear delivery date, the island's number of vaccines still does not reach even one-tenth of people that need to be vaccinated for herd immunity.

Wang Jianmin, a senior cross-Straits expert at Minnan Normal University, Fujian Province, told the Global Times on Sunday that the DPP authorities have been dealing with vaccine affairs under a pro-US and pro-Japan, but anti-mainland strategy. However, the US and Japan are not really trying to solve Taiwan's vaccine shortage, but are acting out of pure political manipulation.

The experts pointed out that the AZ vaccine is considered to be defective in safety. Although Japan is also suffering from the epidemic, Japan has not passed the AZ vaccines for emergency use so far.

"The empty promise of 750,000 doses is more of a symbolic reward after Taiwan has repeatedly rejected the mainland vaccine and has expressed its anti-mainland determination in various ways to the US," Wang said.

Two mainland vaccines have been listed by the WHO for the emergency use, and hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines have been delivered to more than 80 countries and regions.

"There is no political manipulation behind the mainland's kindness like the DPP hyped DPP's repeated rejection of the mainland has caused Taiwan people to miss the best time to combat the virus through vaccines," Wang said, citing the increasing death toll on the island.

In terms of the military response, the Chinese mainland may adopt a more stern stance against the DPP authorities, so that Taiwan will not get any benefits in following the US to counter the mainland, and instead pay a higher price, Wang said.

Some experts said that the DPP authorities are aware that Sunday's event will raise the level of tensions between across the Taiwan straits, but they need to create more conflict with the mainland to shift attention from the frictions between the DPP authorities and Taiwan residents, painting the soaring death roll in the island as the "due price" for confronting the mainland.

Therefore, while the mainland needs to maintain deterrence against secessionist forces in the island, it should avoid its countermeasures being exploited by the DPP authorities to shift the blame, the expert said.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
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Classes in the Wilkes County Schools will start on Aug. 23 and end on May 25 in 2021-22 as a result of a calendar approved by the Wilkes Board of Education on Feb. 1.
On May 26, Angolas President Joao Lourenco took an important step in coming to terms with one of the countrys most pressing and unprocessed traumas. In a landmark speech the President apologized and asked forgiveness for mass executions that occurred in 1977 in response to an alleged coup attempt on May 27 of that year. The events are commonly referred to in Angola as May 27. Thousands of Angolans were tortured and murdered in the months and years following May 27 and many disappeared into anonymous graves. In addition to the public apology and request for forgiveness, the President also announced the localization, excavation and returning of victims remains to their families and the issuance of death certificates to next of kin.

The Presidents announcements are unique in at least two ways. This is firstly because, as we have explained elsewhere, Angola has since the end of a decades-long civil war in 2002 officially promoted a forgive and forget policy. Secondly, because of all the atrocities that were committed during the civil war, the events particularly of May 27 have been a taboo subject. May 27 was extra painful, as it concerned an internal purge within the ruling MPLA party. Indeed, some years ago only few could have foreseen both the timing and nature of this apology.

Pressure from victims

This said, the fact that the government would undertake some reconciliatory action towards May 27 victims was not all that surprising. After all, intense lobbying and pressure from May 27 victims and relatives of victims had led the Angolan government to set up an Inter-ministerial Reconciliation Commission in 2019. We described the challenges this commission was facing in a previous contribution to Justice Info in 2020. It was given a two-year period in which to address the concerns of all victims of political conflicts from the 27-year long Angolan civil war. An important purpose of the commissions work was to heal the psychological wounds of families and to regenerate the spirit of fraternity among Angolans through forgiveness and national reconciliation.

The past two years have shown a diverging reconciliation process, caused by a mismatch between the commissions approach and the demands of the so-called May 27 platform, an umbrella body uniting three of the most vocal groups of May 27 victims, often represented by survivors and victims children now living in Portugal. From the very beginning, the commission focused on two issues: the creation of a monument for victims of all political conflicts and the setting up of a system for the issuing of death certificates for victims of these conflicts. Meanwhile, victims of May 27 were expressing wishes and demands that went much further than only a general monument and issuing death certificates. Many demanded public apologies, access to the remains of their loved ones and access to the truth about what happened to them. Some also wanted to know the names of the perpetrators. The frustrations at lack of progress in the commissions work culminated in March 2021 in the complete suspension of any further cooperation with the commission by the May 27 platform. President Lourencos unexpected turn and compliance with some of the platforms key demands suggests this boycott may have worked.

A limited and specific atonement

Still, an important question remains unanswered: what does this public apology mean for Angolas wider reconciliation process? Although Angolans euphemistically tend to refer to the civil war as confusao (confusion), it was a particularly brutal war characterized by virtually all possible breaches of the Geneva Conventions, including large-scale recruitment of child soldiers, sexual violence, indiscriminate bombing and forceful displacement. The exact scale and nature of these crimes have never been investigated, nor have any reparations been granted or apologies been offered. So far, the commission has engaged mostly with the May 27 issue, largely neglecting other victims. Although the President alluded in his speech to victims of some other specific war-time events  most notably those committed by opposition party UNITA -, no words were dedicated to the thousands of other victims of such war crimes. The public apology, no matter how unprecedented and groundbreaking it may be, is thus a limited and specific atonement.

The omission of this large group of victims can most likely be explained because the Angolan government does not consider them as victims of political conflicts, the type of conflicts the reconciliation commission is mandated to address. Although neither the decree that created the commission nor any other government documentation provide a clear definition of political conflict, Minister of Justice Francisco Queiroz, the commissions coordinator, has provided some clarification of its meaning. In June 2019 he stated that political conflicts are events that were not directly related to the war, but nevertheless caused victims. He illustrated this by referring to the elimination of political adversaries, sometimes within the same political organization, persecution of persons or groups of persons for various reasons, massacres of innocent civilians that had nothing to do with the war and bomb explosions in public spaces. In an interview a year later, he said that political conflicts generally result from political-historical errors and that not every citizen has the capacity to produce such errors. Such errors are produced by those who have political responsibilities, either from a party perspective or from the perspective of the state. When asked which political conflicts had so far been identified by the commission, Queiroz referred in particular to internal purges within the parties to the civil war.

The fact that the President in his recent address to the nation did not refer to the thousands of civilian victims of wartime rape, looting and recruitment of child soldiers suggests that they are deemed not to fall under the commissions mandate. Perhaps this is because these victims can be considered directly related to warfare; according to Queiroz description this would disqualify them as victims of political conflicts. On the other hand, they could also be regarded as victims of situations in which people used the war situation and caused victims, thus qualifying them as victims of political conflicts according to Queiroz other description. We hope that the technical group set up by the commission in March 2020 to, inter alia, provide further clarification on the meaning of the political conflict concept, provides a clear definition and answer to this question. So far, however, it has not done so.

Details matter

Technical issues of definition may not be the most interesting to read, but details matter. They matter, because the public apology and any other initiatives resulting from the current reconciliation process either address all victims of atrocity crimes committed during the civil war, or only a specific  vocal, well-educated and well-connected  group of victims. It also matters as President Lourencos speech suggests his apology, the issuing of death certificates and a soon-to-be completed memorial should mark the end of Angolas top-down reconciliation process. This turning of the page leads us to the genuine reconciliation of Angolans regardless of party colours, he stated, urging all Angolans to get back to business and dedicate their knowledge and energy to the development and well-being of the country.

With presidential elections and the celebration of 20 years of peace in view next year, the Angolan government has a clear interest in seeing the reconciliation process brought to a successful conclusion soon. It remains to be seen how the May 27 Platform will respond to the most recent developments now that some key demands such as a public apology have been met. At the same time, two other key demands  establishing the historical truth and the identification of those responsible for the May 27 atrocities  have not been dealt with. Moreover, it is unclear how the thousands of mostly desperately poor war-time rape victims and former child soldiers perceive the current reconciliation process. Up to now they have seemingly never been considered as serious stakeholders in the process, and the chance that this will change in the foreseeable future is limited.
Yemens Huthi rebels acknowledged on Sunday that they targeted a military base in strategic northern city Marib, a day after the internationally recognised government said the attack killed 14 civilians at a nearby petrol station.

Huthi political commander Mohammed Ali al-Huthi tweeted a call for an independent investigation into the attack, promising to pay compensation if his group were found responsible.

It is rare for the Iran-aligned rebels to admit attempting to strike a target near where civilians have died.

We asked the brothers in the Ministry of Defence (in the unrecognised Huthi government) and they said that they only bombed the base, said al-Huthi.

We welcome and demand that independent committees investigate the matter, he added.

On Saturday, state media said a strike killed 14 civilians at the petrol station in the city of Marib, the governments last northern stronghold, and blamed the rebels for the attack.

According to two residents, the petrol station is located about a kilometre (0.6 miles) from the military base and soldiers often go there with members of their families to refuel their cars.

Al-Huthi said that the rebels will be obligated to pay compensation if the investigation finds them guilty of killing the 14 civilians.

The Huthi rebels launched an offensive in February to seize Marib and its surrounding oil fields  the last significant pocket of government-held territory in the north.

Heavy battles between the Iran-backed Huthis and forces of the internationally recognised government have exacerbated what the UN calls the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

The attack came as a diplomatic push to secure a ceasefire in Yemens long war intensifies.

Maribs loss to the Huthis would be a major blow for Yemens government, which is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, and could unleash a humanitarian disaster for the regions civilians.

Yemens years-long conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed millions to the brink of famine. Human rights organisations accuse warring parties of committing war crimes in the impoverished country.
Right-wing populist Keiko Fujimori and radical leftist Pedro Castillo were locked in a statistical draw in an exit poll as voting closed in Perus presidential election on Sunday.

Fujimori, the daughter of disgraced former president Alberto Fujimori, had 50.3 percent of the vote according to reputable pollsters Ipsos, with Castillo on 49.7 percent just after polls closed at 7:00 pm (0000 GMT).

Ipsos said the results were so close that it couldnt separate them.

Castillo had topped the first round of voting in April, when the pair both caused a surprise by reaching the second round, and he was also narrowly ahead in the latest opinion polls before Sundays vote.

The new leader will need to tackle a country in crisis, suffering from recession and with the worst coronavirus fatality rate in the world after recording over 184,000 deaths among its 33 million population.

Peruvians will also look to the winner to end years of political turbulence after four presidents in the last three years, and with seven of the last 10 of the countrys leaders either having been convicted of or investigated for corruption.

First official results are expected after 11:00 pm on Sunday (0400 GMT Monday).

At the height of the political storm in November last year, Peru had three different presidents in just five days.

Two million Peruvians have lost their jobs during the pandemic and nearly a third of the country now live in poverty, according to official figures.

 Polar opposites 

For voters, this was a choice between polar opposites.

Fujimori represents the neoliberal economic model of tax cuts and boosting private activity to generate jobs.

Speaking to journalists and supporters on Sunday morning, she promised to respect the popular will, no matter the outcome of the voting.

She also praised the grandfathers and grandmothers who went out to vote despite the pandemic. They thought about their children and grandchildren, she added.

Trade unionist schoolteacher Castillo has pledged to nationalize vital industries, raise taxes, eliminate tax exemptions and increase state regulation.

He voted in Tacabamba in the Cajamarca region following a breakfast with his family.

Ive taken a decision, Im not going to Lima because of my parents health, said Castillo, who also vowed to respect the results.

Fujimoris bastion is the capital Lima, while Castillos bulwark is the rural deep interior.

Were fed up with always being governed by the same people, we want Peru to change, Martha Huaman, a 27-year-old fruit seller in the Cajamarca region where Castillo lives, told AFP.

For us its a dream, its an awakening, were really happy to be with Castillo, said evangelical priest Victor Cieza Rivera, whose church in Tacabamba, a village in Cajamarca, is attended by the presidential candidates wife Lilia Paredes.

Tacabamba and other villages in Cajamarca were full of posters for Castillo, who topped the first round of voting.

 I dont want to vote 

Favored by the business sector and middle classes, Fujimori tried to portray Castillo as a communist threat, warning that Peru would become a new Venezuela or North Korea should he win.

Castillo pointed to the Fujimori familys history of corruption scandals. Keiko Fujimori is under investigation over campaign funding in her 2011 and 2016 presidential bids and has already spent 16 months in pre-trial detention.

Her father is serving a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity and corruption.

For many in Peru this election was about the lesser of evils.

I dont even want to vote, neither of them deserve it, but Castillo panics me so Im going to vote for Fujimori, said trucker Johnny Samaniego, 51, who lives in Lima.

Whoever wins will have a hard time governing as Congress is fragmented. Castillos Free Peru is the largest single party, just ahead of Fujimoris Popular Force, but without a majority.

If Fujimori wins it wont be easy given the mistrust her name and that of her family generates in many sectors. Shell have to quickly calm the markets and generate ways to reactivate them, political scientist Jessica Smith told AFP.

If Castillo triumphs, hell have to consolidate a parliamentary majority that will allow him to deliver his ambitious program, added Smith.

But in either case it will take time to calm the waters because theres fierce polarization and an atmosphere of social conflict, analyst Luis Pasaraindico told AFP.

Some 160,000 police and soldiers were deployed to guarantee peace on election day as 25 million people were due to vote, plus another one million from the Peruvian diaspora living in 75 countries around the world.

The new president will take office on July 28, replacing centrist interim leader Francisco Sagasti.

cm-fj/bc/bgs

IPSOS
A defamation trial opened Monday pitting one of Australias most decorated soldiers against three major newspapers that accused him of war crimes in Afghanistan.

Ben Roberts-Smith, a former member of Australias elite Special Air Services regiment, is suing the newspapers as well as individual journalists from all three over articles from 2018 that alleged he committed murder and other atrocities while serving in Afghanistan.

The defendants, including the Sydney Morning Herald, The Canberra Times, and Melbournes The Age, will argue the reports were truthful, according to court documents.

Australias military and police are both investigating numerous war crimes alleged to have been committed by members of elite SAS soldiers in Afghanistan.

Among the witnesses for the defence are at least four Afghan villagers who are set to appear via video-link from Kabul, court documents show.

Roberts-Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross and the Medal for Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan, among Australias top military honours.

He is now an executive for Channel Seven television in Queensland state.

The Federal Court trial will last for eight to ten weeks, with around 60 witnesses expected to take the stand, a court official said.

Parts of the trial will likely be closed to the public, including the media, when national security matters emerge.

Australia deployed 39,000 troops over two decades as part of US and NATO-led operations against the Taliban and militant groups in Afghanistan.

The country will pull out its small contingent of remaining support personnel by September, in line with the planned US withdrawal.

Last year, an internal investigation into military misconduct found special forces personnel unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners.

The report was a watershed moment for Australias government, which had previously attempted to suppress whistleblower reports of the alleged wrongdoing, with police even investigating reporters involved in bringing those accounts to light.
Right-wing populist Keiko Fujimori held a narrow lead over radical leftist Pedro Castillo following a partial vote count in Perus presidential election on Sunday.

With 52.9 percent of the vote counted after 42 percent of polling stations were tallied, Fujimori edged ahead in a seesaw battle for the presidency after Ipsos pollsters declared a statistical draw following an earlier exit poll and quick count.

Perus new leader will need to tackle a country in crisis, suffering from recession and with the worst coronavirus fatality rate in the world after recording over 184,000 deaths among its 33 million population.

Peruvians will also look to the winner to end years of political turbulence after four presidents in the last three years, and with seven of the last 10 of the countrys leaders either having been convicted of or investigated for corruption.

Piero Corvetto, head of Perus top electoral body (ONPE) warned that many polling stations from rural areas  Castillos stronghold  had yet to be tallied.

They havent counted our votes yet, Castillo told supporters in Tacabamba, in the northern Cajamarca region where he lives.

An exit poll by Ipsos after voting ended at 7:00 pm (0000 GMT) showed Fujimori just ahead with 50.3 percent, sparking protests from Castillo supporters outside the ONPE offices in the capital Lima.

But three hours later the pollsters released a quick count that showed Castillo in front with 50.2 percent, bringing scenes of joy and celebrations to the northern Cajamarca region.

Castillo, 51, had earlier urged his supporters to stay calm.

Seeing how small the gap is, it is essential to maintain prudence and I say that for all Peruvians, added Fujimori, who had earlier been seen hugging family and campaign staff following the exit poll.

Both candidates promised to respect the results when voting earlier in the day.

 Too tight 

Were not going to know (the winner) until the last vote is counted, political scientist Jessica Smith told AFP.

Its still very unsure, the difference is too tight and we have to wait for the official result.

Castillo, 51, had topped the first round of voting in April, when the pair both caused a surprise by reaching the second round, and he was also narrowly ahead in the latest opinion polls before Sundays vote.

At the height of the political storm in November last year, Peru had three different presidents in just five days.

Two million Peruvians have lost their jobs during the pandemic and nearly a third of the country now live in poverty, according to official figures.

For voters, this was a choice between polar opposites.

Fujimori, 46, represents the neoliberal economic model of tax cuts and boosting private activity to generate jobs.

Fujimoris bastion is the capital Lima, while Castillos bulwark is the rural deep interior.

Trade unionist schoolteacher Castillo has pledged to nationalize vital industries, raise taxes, eliminate tax exemptions and increase state regulation.

He voted in Tacabamba following a breakfast with his family.

Favored by the business sector and middle classes, Fujimori tried to portray Castillo as a communist threat, warning that Peru would become a new Venezuela or North Korea should he win.

Castillo pointed to the Fujimori familys history of corruption scandals. Keiko Fujimori is under investigation over campaign funding in her 2011 and 2016 presidential bids and has already spent 16 months in pre-trial detention.

Her father is serving a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity and corruption.

 It wont be easy 

If Keiko is eventually elected, you cant forget that this 50 percent is not her real support but rather a reaction from an electorate that is afraid of what her opponent represents, Smith told AFP.

Whoever wins will have a hard time governing as Congress is fragmented. Castillos Free Peru is the largest single party, just ahead of Fujimoris Popular Force, but without a majority.

It wont be easy (for Fujimori) given the mistrust her name and that of her family generates in many sectors. Shell have to quickly calm the markets and generate ways to reactivate them, added Smith.

If Castillo triumphs, hell have to consolidate a parliamentary majority that will allow him to deliver his ambitious program.

But in either case it will take time to calm the waters because theres fierce polarization and an atmosphere of social conflict, analyst Luis Pasaraindico told AFP.

Some 160,000 police and soldiers were deployed to guarantee peace on election day as 25 million people were due to vote, plus another one million from the Peruvian diaspora living in 75 countries around the world.

The new president will take office on July 28, replacing centrist interim leader Francisco Sagasti.

cm-fj/bc/oho

IPSOS
Right-wing populist Keiko Fujimori held a narrow lead Monday in Perus presidential election, but the crisis-hit nations race was too close to call as votes were still being tabulated from countryside bastions of support for radical leftist Pedro Castillo.

Fujimori had 50.27 percent of ballots to Castillos 49.7 percent, according to partial results from Perus electoral body, with about 90 percent of polling stations counted after voting Sunday in a country battered by years of political turbulence.

Whoever wins will take leadership of a nation in crisis, suffering from recession and with the worst coronavirus fatality rate in the world after recording more than 184,000 deaths among its 33 million population.

Peruvians will also look to the winner to end years of political turmoil after four presidents in the last three years, and with seven of the last 10 of the countrys leaders either having been convicted of or investigated for corruption.

The head of Perus top electoral body (ONPE), Piero Corvetto, warned that many polling stations from rural areas  Castillos stronghold  had yet to be tallied.

They havent counted our votes yet, Castillo told supporters Sunday in Tacabamba, in the northern Cajamarca region where he lives.

Castillo, 51, had earlier urged his supporters to stay calm.

Fujimori, 46, also called for caution, saying: Seeing how small the gap is, it is essential to maintain prudence and I say that for all Peruvians.

Both candidates promised to respect the results as they cast their own ballots Sunday.

 Too tight 

Were not going to know (the winner) until the last vote is counted, political scientist Jessica Smith told AFP.

Its still very unsure  the difference is too tight and we have to wait for the official result.

Castillo had topped the first round of voting in April, when the pair both caused a surprise by reaching the second round, and he was also narrowly ahead in the latest opinion polls before the vote.

At the height of the political storm in November last year, Peru had three different presidents in just five days.

Two million Peruvians have lost their jobs during the pandemic and nearly a third of the country now live in poverty, according to official figures.

For voters, this was a choice between polar opposites.

Fujimori represents the neoliberal economic model of tax cuts and boosting private activity to generate jobs.

Fujimoris bastion is the capital Lima, while Castillos bulwark is the rural deep interior.

Trade unionist schoolteacher Castillo has pledged to nationalize vital industries, raise taxes, eliminate tax exemptions and increase state regulation.

Favored by the business sector and middle classes, Fujimori tried to portray Castillo as a communist threat, warning that Peru would become a new Venezuela or North Korea should he win.

Castillo pointed to the Fujimori familys history of corruption scandals.

Keiko Fujimori is under investigation over campaign funding in her 2011 and 2016 presidential bids and has already spent 16 months in pre-trial detention.

Her father, a former president, is serving a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity and corruption.

 It wont be easy 

If Keiko is eventually elected, you cant forget that this 50 percent is not her real support but rather a reaction from an electorate that is afraid of what her opponent represents, Smith told AFP.

Whoever wins will have a hard time governing as Congress is fragmented.

Castillos Free Peru is the largest single party, just ahead of Fujimoris Popular Force, but without a majority.

It wont be easy (for Fujimori) given the mistrust her name and that of her family generates in many sectors. Shell have to quickly calm the markets and generate ways to reactivate them, added Smith.

If Castillo triumphs, hell have to consolidate a parliamentary majority that will allow him to deliver his ambitious program.

But in either case, it will take time to calm the waters because theres fierce polarization and an atmosphere of social conflict, analyst Luis Pasaraindico told AFP.

Some 160,000 police and soldiers were deployed to guarantee peace on election day as 25 million people were due to vote, plus another one million from the Peruvian diaspora living in 75 countries around the world.

The new president will take office on July 28, replacing centrist interim leader Francisco Sagasti.

cm-fj/jm/sst

IPSOS
In 2007, the handshake between the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Muammar Gaddafi in the desert was not just a moment for the Libyan leader to cement relations with his rival. This is also a clear symbol of the role played by Big Oil in foreign policy.

BP reached an important exploration agreement during the same trip, which limited its efforts to promote the rebuilding of relations between the British government and the late North African dictator, while opening up access to huge hydrocarbon resources at the door of Europe.

The battle for fossil fuel resources has been affecting geopolitics for decades, from triggering conflicts and shaping relations between the West and the Middle East, to todays controversy over the Nordstream 2 pipeline from Russia to Western Europe.

But now the relationship between Occidental Petroleum and its government is undergoing a dramatic shift, as the government promised to go green and fossil fuels fell out of favor-a move that accelerated the pace when US President Joe Biden convened an international conference in April. Climate summit Put pressure on countries to reduce emissions.

Greg Priddy, a former energy analyst in the US government, said: There has always been a view that geopolitical power is closely related to oil acquisition. Even when the Obama administration took office in the United States, some people believed that overseas Manufacturers are of strategic importance. But this is all changing.

In 2007, the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) was with Libyan leader Muammer Gaddafi. This meeting symbolizes the role of the oil giant in foreign policy  LEON NEAL/AFP via Getty



Last month, when International Energy Agency A report released that believes that if the world is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050-a prerequisite for achieving the Paris climate agreement to limit global warming to 1.5C above the pre-industrial level-it must immediately Stop the exploration of new oil fields.

Even before the report was released, oil companies had already cut back on investment in risk frontier exploration, worrying that oil consumption might reach its peak in the next decade.

But in countries where oil executives once played almost as important a role as ambassadors in managing relations with foreign leaders, their influence is waning. Critics have complained about the revolving door between the government and oil groups, and officials have entered the industry after leaving public life. But analysts said the government no longer wants to be seen as supporting overseas fossil fuel companies while pushing a domestic agenda based on renewable energy.

In the United States-the worlds largest oil producer and consumer-the Biden government rejoined the Paris agreement, cancelled the Keystone XL oil pipeline and proposed Unprecedented investment In terms of clean energy.Internationally, the White House has pressured other countries to stop funding overseas coal projects  last month G7 country commitment Do this by the end of this year-and lead the climate summit.

Even if all the problems of energy geopolitics are solved through decarbonization, the energy transition will undoubtedly create new problems

With the change of government in Washington, I think we may have seen the dusk of the US governments love for oil companies, said Helima Croft, a former CIA analyst in charge of commodities research at Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets.

Protecting access to resources was once seen as an important issue in Washington, but now with the energy transition and climate change concerns, this is no longer the case.

However, observers warn that attempting a global transition to renewable energy is a complicated calculation.

Large oil companies say that although they enjoy support, they never rely on the government to help them obtain resources, and they are still popular in many countries.

But industry insiders believe that politicians may lose global influence by weakening ties with domestic oil and gas companies and guiding developing countries away from fossil fuels. They say, for example, the United States should use its huge hydrocarbon resources to support potential allies that may rely on supplies from countries such as Russia.

It is currently in geopolitical competition with China to compete for economic influence in many parts of the world, said a former senior U.S. national security adviser, who now works for a major U.S. oil company and requested anonymity. The United States has an advantage in the supply of LNG, but it seems to be less enthusiastic about using them.

Workers on the Kenyan railway line built by China. Petroleum groups say that Western countries have failed to use their energy assets to compete with Beijing for economic influence  Luis Tato/Bloomberg



Jason Boldorf, former special assistant to Barack Obama and director of Columbia Universitys Center for Global Energy Policy, pointed out that global demand for oil has hardly slowed down.

The IEA roadmap is very compelling in terms of highlighting what needs to be changed, but it also shockingly stated that nothing has changed-oil demand is still rising, Boldorf said.

He said that the role of natural resources in foreign policy will evolve with the energy transition. The key minerals for batteries or the availability of alternative fuels such as hydrogen mean that the relationship between large raw material producers and the government will change rather than disappear.

Respected

Even if all the problems of energy geopolitics are resolved through decarbonization, the energy transition will undoubtedly create new problems, he said.

Ultimately, high-level political support cannot protect oil companies from the impact of the incident. Blair may have paved the way for BP, but its investment in Libya did not bear fruit, and the 2011 civil war and subsequent conflict disrupted its plans. In 2018, the company sold half of its exploration rights shares to Italys Eni.

There is always an interesting relationship between the government and the large oil companies, but I have always been unsure of how this effect happened, said Professor Paul Stevens, a distinguished researcher at Chatham Institute.

But as the oil is about to flow out these companies are struggling with the actions of the guards, and the government can do nothing.
Toronto-During the pandemic, the demand for guide dogs has surged, but border closures and COVID-19 restrictions have prevented most foreign-trained dogs from entering Canada and delayed domestic training, which is harder to change than ever Life partnership.

Alex Ivic, the development manager of the Canadian Guide Dog Association for the Blind (CGDB), told CTV News: We may be one or two months behind now than usual.

He said people currently on the CGDB waiting list may have to wait 3 to 12 months to complete the process and get a guide dog.

The pandemic has closed the border for training dogs in the United States. It also promotes domestic guide dog providers to reduce face-to-face courses, which teach owners how to adapt to their new companions.

Some people who are looking for guide dogs worry about going to the CGDB headquarters in Ottawa to work with guide dogs and have to cancel indefinitely.

It affects some people, Ivic said, and lamented how people really put on hold before everything becomes safer.

Guide dogs provide independence, confidence and security for the visually impaired. Their training may take five months to two years, depending on the dog and organization.

Mike Fulton entered the list of receiving dogs in August. He said that no one, he was basically confined at home during the pandemic.

I totally rely on sighted guides to pick me up and take me anywhere, Fulton said. Since everyone is so paranoid about COVID-19, they just dont want to go out.

Fulton is working with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), which is plagued by greater delays and demand has increased by 300%.

CNIB dogs were born and bred in Australia. Currently, 11 dogs are temporarily kept there.

CNIB President Diane Bergeron told CTV News: The border closure prevents us from bringing these dogs into Canada. So our supply has decreased and our demand has increased.

Despite the challenges, Fulton finally met his new furry partner Eric this month.

He will be my new comrade-in-arms, ??Fulton said. It would be great.
According to a banker with knowledge of the auction, when the new Ethiopian government decided two years ago to reverse its decades-old policy by opening the countrys telecommunications monopoly to foreign competition, it believed it was selling the last bottle in the desert. Coca Cola.

After all, Ethiopia has a population of 114 million and its economy has been growing at close to double-digit rates for most of the past 20 years. This makes its telecommunications market-which has been in a monopoly since Emperor Menelik II laid the first line between Addis Ababa and the eastern city of Harar in 1894-as Myanmar opened its doors eight years ago. The most important liberalized market since industry competition.

However, when government officials publicly bid for two new spectrum licenses last month, they Disappointed by their findingsAccording to two people familiar with the process. Among more than a dozen companies that expressed interest, including Orange, Etisalat and Saudi Telecom, only two submitted quotations. One of them was a $600 million bid from South African operator MTN, which was rejected because it was too low. The license may be resubmitted within a few months.

I think they think everyone will knock on the door to get in, said a person who advises potential bidders.Therefore, he added that the government has failed to make the offer attractive enough, especially considering that people are increasingly worried The political landscape is turbulent.

For example, it prevents new operators from providing potentially profitable mobile money services that are common in Africa, or prevents third-party tower operators from building infrastructure, which is also a normal practice elsewhere.

Ethiopia did accept an offer: a consortium led by Safaricom offered US$850 million. The consortium is the largest operator in neighboring Kenya, which has one of the most advanced telecommunications industries in Africa and is a pioneer in mobile money.

Its M-Pesa service allows people to store and send money over the phone, and is believed to bring tens of millions of people without bank accounts into the financial system. In contrast, Ethiopias telecommunications construction is slow and costly, and is subject to political interference from frequent Internet shutdowns.

Abi AhmedThe Prime Minister of Ethiopia and the promoter of the privatization process bravely stated at the auction that this is the largest foreign direct investment in the countrys history. Officials said the new consortium will invest more than $8 billion in the network and help create up to 1.5 million jobs.

Analysts agree that despite a difficult start, Ethiopia has at least begun a process that will completely change its telecommunications products.

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said that Kenya has demonstrated the power of digital transformation to change lives. We can achieve a similar transformation while achieving sustainable returns for our shareholders, he said of the Ethiopian service, which he said may be launched next year.

Safaricom is owned 35% by the Kenyan government, and Vodafone and its South African subsidiary Vodacom own 40%. It will control the new consortium with a 55.7% interest.

Sumitomo is a Japanese trading company Telecommunications rights in Myanmar, Owns 27.2% of the shares and Vodacom owns 6.2% of the shares. The rest is held by the British CDC Development Agency, which invests in for-profit companies that have a positive social impact.

Safaricoms M-Pesa mobile money service improves the financial situation of millions of people  Patrick Meinhardt/Bloomberg



However, there are still many issues that need to be resolved before Ethiopias privatization can bring the promised benefits.

The first is the issue of mobile payment. Ethiopia initially told bidders that foreign companies could not provide cashless transactions, mainly because of central bank restrictions on foreign banks. This will enable the incumbent Ethiopian Telecom to launch its mobile money service TeleBirr this month and become the only provider.

Foreign companies complain that excluding them from providing similar services would greatly reduce the value of telecommunications licenses.

Most of these companies are getting a lot of revenue from mobile money, said Brook Taye, a senior adviser to the Ministry of Finance and member of the privatization team. We are very frank with them:give the government time to complete the overall reform of the economy, including the financial sector, and then it will gradually open up the sector further, he said.

After the auction, Abiy stated that the new operator could provide mobile money services after alland it could be within a year. Safaricoms Ndegwa described it as good progress but said he would like to see written confirmation.

Another factor of uncertainty is sanctions.The day after obtaining the permit, the United States announced measures against certain Ethiopian officials because they were worried about serious Human rights violation In Tigray, civil war broke out in November last year.

The US International Development Finance Corporation (equivalent to the UKs CDC) has provided up to US$500 million in loan financing to a consortium led by Safaricom. This money is now doubtful, although it has been accompanied by a condition that the consortium does not purchase Chinese equipment, this provision may increase costs.

The Ethiopian Telecommunications Network Tower in Addis Ababa. The government plans to sell 45% of the state-owned operator this year  Tiksa Negeri/Reuters



More broadly, investors are nervous about Ethiopias continued instability and its potential for damage to the economy.

The third area of ??concern is the extent to which Ethio Telecoms competitive environment will tilt, and 45% of the companys shares will be sold to domestic and foreign investors later this year.

Excluding third-party tower operators may increase the reliance of new licensees on state-owned operators-if regulators delay in opening up mobile money services, it will have 46 million users and 47.7 billion birr (revenue last year was 1.1 billion US dollars) , Which may consolidate its leading position.

Respected

The new operator is also worried about obtaining foreign currency, which is a notorious problem in Ethiopia. In the launch phase, they will need U.S. dollars to import equipment and eventually pay dividends.

We spent a considerable amount of time looking for opportunities in Ethiopia because this market is really great, said an executive of one of the companies that exited the process. But you dont know enough about foreign exchange. You dont know how you will invest and how to withdraw cash.

Nonetheless, the privatization of telecommunications marks a decisive step against the state-led development model that promoted state control over banking, logistics and telecommunications in the past. One year later, Ethiopian Telecom should have a foreign partner and is ready to compete with two new foreign entrants. Analysts said that both Orange and MTN may consider new bids for the second license.

The global mobile industry trade organization GSMA predicts that by 2025, Ethiopia will have 16 million new mobile users. For the first time in more than a century, they will be able to choose which carrier to use.
Escondido (CNS)-A vigil was held at a park near Harmony Grove Village in Escondido at 7pm on Sunday to commemorate two detectives from the San Diego Police Department-a pair on Interstate 5 Married couple killed in a crash on the wrong direction.

It is expected that representatives of the SDPD and Escondido police stations and the detectives neighbors will participate in the Blue Light Vigil held in the community park on July 4th on Sunday night.

SDPD detectives Ryan Park and Jamie Huntley-Park died in a violent frontal collision while speeding on the I-5 highway near the border of the United States and Mexico on Friday morning.

According to reports, the drivers Honda Civic was traveling north on the highway at 90 miles per hour on the southbound highway, and then hit an oncoming vehicle near Dairy Mart Road in San Isidro shortly before 10.30am The Ford car that came, the car was occupied by SDPD detectives. California Highway Patrol.

The Health Protection Center said that the woman driving the Honda Civic died on the spot. Her name has not been announced.

On Sunday morning, the couples neighbors wrapped the park with blue ribbons and made signs for the night vigil.

Organizers said that they do not know how many people will participate in the night vigil, but it is expected that law enforcement officers will be present and gathered to pay tribute to the two detectives.

Organizers said that due to the danger of fire, night watchmen will use flashlights instead of candles.

SDPD head David Nisleit stated that Park and Huntley-Park got married in 2016 after meeting at the SDPD Police Academy in April 2012. They were finally promoted to detectives together in July 2018.

You cant meet two better kids, Nisleit said. Their lives and careers are definitely on a very, very fast upward trend.

We are a big family in San Diego, so when the San Diego Police Department loses two members, it will hurt, Nisleit added. It hurt the department, it hurt the city.

Hours after the accident, Mayor Todd Gloria issued a statement expressing regret over the deaths of the two detectives.

Gloria wrote: It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the two San Diego Police Department officers who were unfortunately killed this morning.

In the coming days, we will learn more about these civil servants who proudly wear badges to ensure the safety of all of us, and we will pay tribute to their service.

Copyright 2021, City News Service, Inc.
Police in Ontario, Canada said that a driver deliberately attacked a family because they were Muslims, causing 4 deaths and a 9-year-old boy severely injured. He was condemned as unspeakable acts of hatred and Islamophobia.

According to a Canadian news media report on Monday, the victims were all members of the same family while waiting to cross the road in London, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) southwest of Toronto.

According to the police, the victims were two women aged 77 and 44, a 46-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl. A nine-year-old boy was also seriously injured and is recovering in the hospital. The local authorities did not release the names of the victims.

There is evidence that this was a planned and premeditated act out of hatred. It is believed that these victims were targeted because they were Muslims, ??Paul Waight, chief of the London Police Department, said at a press conference. . Report By City News.

At the time of the attack, people were increasingly worried about Islamophobic attacks in Canadian provinces and widely called on the authorities to address racism, hate-motivated violence, and the prevalence of far-right groups.

I was shocked by the news from London, Ontario. For the relatives of those who were intimidated by yesterdays hateful behavior, we are here to serve you. We are also here for the children who stay in the hospital-our hearts are with you, when you recover, we will think of you. -Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) June 7, 2021

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was shocked by what he called acts of hatred and said that his heart is with the victims relatives, including the surviving little boy.

For the Muslim community in London and Muslims across the country, please know that we stand with you. Islamophobia has no place in any of our communities. This hatred is sinister and despicable-it must stop, Trudeau wrote on Twitter.

The local police said in a statement that a 20-year-old suspect identified as Nathaniel Veltman has been arrested. statement Earlier Monday. According to Global News, he was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

There is no known connection between the suspect and the victim, White said.

Sadness will deepen

Kazi Khalil, a friend of the family, told the Canadian News Agency that the last time he saw them was on Thursday. This completely destroyed me from the inside, Khalil said. I really cant accept the condition that they are no longer here.

The national advocacy organization Canadian Muslim National Council said the deadly attack was shocking.

This is a terrorist attack on Canadian territory and should be treated as such. We call on the government to prosecute the attacker to the maximum extent permitted by the law, including considering allegations of terrorism, said Mustafa Faruk, chief executive of the group. (Mustafa Farooq) said in a statement on Monday.

Because of Islamophobia, we have lost a family, we have lost a child in our community-this is a kind of sadness that will last for a long time. But let this sadness be the basis for us to support justice and support change.

Statistics Canada Say In March, police reports of hate crimes against Muslims increased slightly to 181 in 2019the last year for which data is available. This is an increase from the 166 incidents in the previous year.

In recent months, Muslim women in Alberta have been the target of multiple verbal and physical abuse incidents.

In September, 58-year-old Mohamed-Aslim Zafis was stabbed to death outside a mosque in Torontos West End, where he served as a caretaker.This prompted calls for the authorities to take threats Extreme right violence Investigate the attack more seriously Driven by hatred.

The Muslim community in Canada is still Mass shootings in January 2017 In a mosque in Quebec City, six Muslim men were killed and many others were injured.

Three days of mourning

The Mayor of London, Ed Holder, stated that he ordered the lowering of the flag outside City Hall for three days. Holder said in a statement: Let me be clear: this is a mass murder against Muslims-against Londoners-rooted in unspeakable hatred.

This unspeakable act of hatred, this Islamophobic act, [sic] It must be accompanied by acts of sympathy, acts of kindness, acts of sympathy, acts of solidarity-justice-and most importantly love. 

Ontario Governor Doug Ford also expressed his condolences on Twitter on Monday. Hate and Islamophobia have no place in Ontario. Justice must be done for the terrible acts of hatred that took place yesterday in London, Ontario, he wrote.

Emergencies: The National Council of Muslims in Canada (NCCM) was shocked and demanded justice after a Muslim family in London, Ontario, was out for a walk on Sunday night when it was attacked by a terrible hate-motivated car. pic.twitter.com/o1wXqjpnRb -NCCM (@nccm) June 7, 2021

Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said that he was shocked to learn that four Muslim Canadians were killed in a despicable Islamophobic attack in London, Ontario.

Three generations of a family disappeared in an instant. This kind of universal hatred is too common in our country. We need to unite and end all forms of hatred.

The leader of the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), Jagmeet Singh, also condemned the attack. They were murdered because of their faith, Singh wrote on Twitter. More than ever, we must stand with our Muslim family, friends and neighbors against this vile hatred. 
Newest:

Due to the continued decline in the number of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, all regions of Quebec are now above the provinces highest pandemic alert level.

Montreal, Laval and several smaller cities-the only areas in Quebec that maintain a red alert level-have today been reduced to a lower orange alert level.

This allows Gym and restaurant reopen And see high school students returning to full-time face-to-face learning instead of taking online courses on alternate days.

In Quebecs largest city, this is the first time since the end of September that restaurants have been allowed to open, but the orange zone restriction stipulates that each table can only have up to two adults who do not share an address.

Restrictions in several other areas of the province are also being relaxed, and some areas have entered the provinces minimum alert level. Green level, Allowing indoor gatherings of up to 10 people.

This change occurred after the province reported no additional deaths and 179 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.

-From Canadian media and CBC News, the last update time is 7 am Eastern Time

Whats happening in canada

Watch | How does the delta variant affect the launch and reopening of vaccines? : Two infectious disease experts answered questions about the delta coronavirus variant-first discovered in India, also known as B.1.617-including how it affects Canadas vaccine launch and reopening plan. 5:12

As of early Monday morning, Canada had reported 1,392,563 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 24,194 were considered active. The death toll on CBC News is 25,724. To date, more than 26 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been vaccinated across the country. CBCs vaccine tracker.

A total of 20 COVID-19 cases were reported in Atlantic Canada on Sunday, of which 12 were in Nova Scotia, Five Newfoundland and Labrador And three New Brunswick. No new case report Prince Edward Island.

New Brunswicks Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jennifer Russell, urged people to sign up for vaccinations over the weekend as the province is working hard to achieve its goal of vaccinating 75% of the eligible population before the end of the year. on Monday.

Russell said: There are thousands of appointments available today, and tomorrow we will push it to the end. All weekend.

Ontario, At the same time, another 10 deaths and 663 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday.

In the prairie provinces, Manitoba Three other deaths and 221 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Sunday.

Saskatchewan Health officials on Sunday reported no new deaths and 73 new cases COVID-19.

in Alberta, There were no new death reports on Sunday, 231 new COVID-19 casesThe number of COVID-19 patients in Albertas intensive care unit fell below 100, Standing at 96 As of Sunday.

In the entire north, there are no new cases Nunavut or North-west region on Sunday.in Yukon TerritoryAt the same time, the official announcement of the outbreak of the gold mine Three people tested positive For COVID-19.

British Columbia The updated data for the weekend will be reported later on Monday.

-From CBC News and Canadian media, the last update time is 7 am EST

What is happening around the world

On Monday, students attended a school in Islamabad because the government reopened the educational institution after closing it as a preventive measure. (Amir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images)

According to Johns Hopkins Universitys coronavirus tracking tool, as of early Monday morning, more than 173.3 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide. The reported global death toll exceeds 3.7 million.

in Africa, Uganda re-imposed strict lockdowns on Sunday, including closing schools and suspending cross-regional travel, to help contain the surge in cases.

inside Asia Pacific In the region, after the devastating second wave of coronavirus that killed hundreds of thousands of people, major cities in India have reopened for business.

After the COVID-19 outbreak in recent days has sickened dozens of people, residents of the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou will not be able to leave unless they can prove that it is absolutely necessary to do so.

Officials said that the Philippines will open vaccination campaigns this week to allow approximately 35 million people to work outdoors, such as public transportation personnel, to help curb the spread of COVID-19 and open up the economy.

On Monday, a worker was vaccinated with Chinas Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine by nurse Lorna Ruanto at the Navotas fish port in the Philippines. Today, the government has strengthened its vaccination program by involving frontline economic personnel from the private and government sectors. (Aaron Favila/Reuters)

inside AmericaThis week, President Joe Biden met with the leaders of the Group of Seven in a British seaside village. This will bring a new focus of uniting American allies against common opponents-the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia and China.

inside middle EastAccording to local media reports, the United Arab Emirates reported 1,968 new COVID-19 cases and 3 other deaths on Monday.

in EuropeThe European Medicines Agency emphasized the guidance to doctors, which requires them to avoid heparin when treating rare blood clots and low platelet counts in patients receiving AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine.

At the same time, due to the rising number of infections in Portugal, many frustrated British tourists returned home from a shorter-than-expected holiday in the Algarve on Sunday before the 10-day quarantine took effect early next week.

-From the Associated Press, Reuters, and CBC News, last updated at 6:55 am EST
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is on a three-day visit to Central America to prevent immigrants from flowing into the United States.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris began a three-day diplomatic tour of the Northern Triangle on Monday, focusing on preventing Immigration to the U.S..

In a joint press conference with President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala, Harris emphasized the need to restore hope for residents of the three most emigrated countries, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, in response The problem of increasing numbers.

Hope itself does not exist, it must be combined with relationships and trust, Harris said at a joint press conference with Giammattei. She said: In terms of what we do as leaders, it must be combined with tangible results to convince people that there is reason to be hopeful about their future and the future of their children.

The administration of US President Joe Biden, who took office in January, faces blockade The number of immigrants has surged Fleeing poverty and corruption from Central America.

President of Guatemala Alejandro Jamate speaks during a meeting with U.S. Vice President Camara Harris [Carlos Barria/Reuters]

During the visit, officials are expected to announce measures to combat human trafficking, smuggling and corruption in Guatemala. Harris also plans to meet with civil society leaders and entrepreneurs, and then fly to Mexico, where she will meet with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday.

Prior to Harriss visit, NGOs listed the widespread corruption in Guatemala as their top concern. Last month, two lawyers who bluntly criticized the Jamatah government were arrested for allegedly fabricating allegations aimed at shutting them up.

William Lawrence, professor of international relations at the American University in Washington, DC, said that the United States hopes to find a way to stop immigration in the short term and resolve the structural problems that cause people to seek immigration to the United States.

Lawrence told Al Jazeera: You have to deal with border issues at the same time-despite the surge, there are still some improvements-and the systemic problems that have caused so many immigrants to go to the border.

In order to address the root cause of immigration, the Biden administration pledged a US$4 billion plan to promote the development and US$310 million in humanitarian assistance.

Al Jazeeras Manuel Rapalo reported in Tecun Uman, which borders Guatemala and Mexico, that US assistance and funding for projects in the region and Guatemala In particular, it is not new. It will be the responsibility of the state to make meaningful progress on the issue of corruption.

When U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with Guatemala President Alejandro Gamatai in Guatemala City, the military police guarded the periphery of the National Palace of Culture [Sandra Sebastian/Reuters]

Ultimately, it depends on the Guatemalan government. Foreign aid will not be lost due to corruption, Rapallo said, adding that without structural reforms, no amount of foreign aid will prevent people from fleeing the north.

Harris will also discuss sharing the COVID-19 vaccine with Guatemala as a batch 25 million remaining vaccines With other countries.

Last week, Giammattei stated that the United States will provide Guatemala with 500,000 doses of COVID-19.

Shortly before meeting Jamata Harris, Harris stated that her visit showed that the Biden administration is focused on rebuilding relations with allies around the world and reflects President Bidens importance to the region.

It is in our collective interest to work together, Harris said.
Shiite Muslim scholar Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour helped establish the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah while serving as Irans ambassador to Syria, and was lost in a book bomb allegedly placed by Israel He lost his right hand and died of the coronavirus on Monday. He is 74 years old.

As a close ally of Irans late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhola Khomeini, Mokhta Shamipur formed alliances with armed groups across the Middle East in the 1970s.

After the Islamic Revolution, he helped establish a paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran, and as the ambassador to Syria, he brought this force into the region to help form Hezbollah.

In his later years, he slowly joined the reformist cause in Iran, hoping to change the theocracy of the Islamic Republic from within.

He supports opposition leaders Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mahdi Karubi Irans green movement Protests sparked after the controversial re-election of then President Ahmadinejad in 2009.

If all the people are aware of this, avoid violent measures and continue to engage in civil confrontations, they will win, Mohtashamipour said at the time, although Ahmadinejad will eventually remain in office. No power can stand up to peoples will.

The state-run Islamic Republic of Iran news agency reported on Monday that Motashamipur died in a hospital in northern Tehran after contracting the virus.

Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani expressed their condolences on the death of Mokhta Shamipur.

Khamenei said that Mota Samipur provided various revolutionary services, which eventually caused him to be injured in terrorist acts.

Rouhani called him an important ally of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini, and said that Mukhta Samipur devoted his life to realizing the lofty goals of revolution and Islamic establishment inside and outside Iran.

Descendants of the Prophet

Wearing a black headscarf, this Muslim scholar indicates in Shia tradition that he is a direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He has lived in the holy Shia city of Najaf in Iraq for the past 10 years after the disputed elections in Iran. .

The head of the hardline judiciary, Ibrahim Raisi, who is now considered the main candidate for Irans presidential election next week, expressed his condolences to Motashamipurs family.

According to the news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Raisi said: The deceased was one of the holy fighters on the way to liberate Jerusalem and one of the pioneers in the fight against the usurpation of the Zionist regime.

Mohtashamipour was born in Tehran in 1947 when the Muslim scholar met Khomeini while exiled in Najaf after being expelled from Iran by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) .

In the 1970s, he talked to armed groups in the Middle East and helped the future Islamic Republic of Iran form an alliance with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) fighting Israel.

Mohtashamipour (middle) speaks at the Holocaust Conference with Rabbi Moishe Arye Friedman from Austria (left) and Rabbi Ahron Cohen from England (right) in Tehran [File: Vahid Salemi/AP]

After being arrested by Iraq, Mokhta Samipur found his way to Khomeinis residence in exile outside Paris. During the Islamic Revolution in 1979, they returned to Iran triumphantly.

In 1982, Khomeini deployed Mukhta Shamipur to Syria and then under the strongman Hafez al-Assad.

Although ostensibly a diplomat, Mohtashamipour oversaw the influx of millions of people who funded IRGC operations in the area.

Lebanon was controlled by Syria at the time, and tens of thousands of soldiers were deployed there. In 1982, when Israel was pursuing the PLO on its territory, Lebanon found itself invaded by Israel.

Irans support flowed into the Shiite community under Israeli occupationit helped create a new organization called Hezbollah or the Gods Party.

The United States accuses Hezbollah of being responsible for 63 deaths in the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983 and the subsequent bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in the Lebanese capital that killed 241 American soldiers and another attack that killed 58 French paratroopers .

Hezbollah and Iran denied involvement.

The court found that Hezbollah and its agents received substantial material and technical support from the Iranian government, which is beyond doubt, US District Judge Royce Lamberth wrote in 2003.

Lambers quoted the opinion of a US naval intelligence officer who directly named Mohtashamipour. He was told by Tehran to contact the nascent Hezbollah, inciting attacks on the multinational alliance in Lebanon andtaking spectacular action against the US Marine Action'.

bombing

In Mohtashamipours obituary, the News Agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran described him only as one of the founders of Hezbollah in Lebanon and accused Israel of causing the bombing that wounded him.

It did not discuss the US allegations of his involvement in suicide bombings against Americans.

According to the book Rise and Kill First, written by journalist Ronan Bergman about the Israeli assassination, the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency had acquired the then Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir (Yitzhak) at the time of his assassination. Shamir) can hunt down Mota Shamir.

Bergman wrote that they chose to send the bomb hidden in a book described as an English masterpiece about the shrines of Shiites in Iran and Iraq on Valentines Day in 1984.

When Mohtashamipour opened the book, the bomb exploded, tearing off two fingers from his right and left hands.

But he survived and later became Irans interior minister and served as a hardline member of parliament before joining the reformists in 2009.
The Israeli Attorney General has notified the Supreme Court that he will not intervene in the high-profile Sheikh Jarrah case in which four Palestinian families in occupied East Jerusalem face imminent forced deportation in support of Israeli settlement Point organization.

In a statement issued on Monday, Avichai Mendelblit stated that there was no place for him to intervene in the proceedings.

Last month, the Supreme Court asked the Attorney General to submit his legal opinion on the case by June 8.

In a letter to the court, Mendelbli wrote that given the numerous legal proceedings conducted against the Sheikh Jala community over the years, he concluded that he did not need to appear in court.

The decision of the Attorney General allows the Supreme Court to decide freely whether to hear four Palestinian families appeals against two lower courts judgments that they must leave their homes.

These four families are part of more than 500 Palestinians (including 28 families) who are facing forced evictions from the neighborhood.

Israeli Minister of Justice Avichai Mandelblit held a press conference at the Israeli Ministry of Justice [File: Menahem Kahana/AFP]

Sami Irsheid is a lawyer who is part of the defense team of Sheikh Jarrah residents threatened by forced eviction. He told Al Jazeera that Mendelblits decision does not mean that the case no longer has political significance.

The Attorney Generals response was brief. He said that he felt there was no need to intervene because it was a legal issue, Irsheid said. But we will not shrink from arguing this case from the perspective of international law.

according to Israel dailyA source close to Mendelblit said that Israeli political leaders support his decision not to argue in court on behalf of the country.

Haaretz also reported that officials in Mendelbulits office stated that the Sheikh Jala familys case was weak and that his legal advice cannot prevent them from being deported.

Expulsion of the Sheikh Jala family

A statement by the Sheikh Jala family rejected Mendelbites explanation of his non-intervention, saying that their case was not a legal issue but a forced eviction case.

We confirm that the Israeli occupation government-from the prime minister to the entire scope of all Israeli institutions and activities-is seeking to deport the residents of the Sheikh Jala community, thereby perpetuating the crime of Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, the statement posted on social media. The media said.

In turn, we confirm that this crime ignores all international conventions and human rights, and we also confirm that these attempts will not weaken our will to persevere on our land.

The Attorney General declined to comment on Sheikh Jala. This is another invalid attempt to treat our expulsion as a property dispute. This is not the case: displacement is a war crime, and according to international law, Israeli occupation has no legal jurisdiction over us. #SaveSheikhJarrah  Mohamed El Kurd (@m7mdkurd) June 7, 2021

Ilscheid said the ball is now in the corner of the court.

He told Al Jazeera: It is up to the Supreme Court to decide whether to listen to the Attorney Generals opinion or to be satisfied with the arguments of the case.

It is expected that the courts ruling will broadly support the Israeli settler organization, but Irsheed said that he does not agree that Mendelblits decision will affect the speed of the courts ruling.

In the final analysis, his decision is a continuation of the same political approach adopted by the Israeli state over the past 20 years, and they are trying to attribute Sheikh Jalas cause to a legal dispute between the two parties, he said. Say.

(Al Jazeera)

According to Al Jazeera reporter Mohammed Watad, if the Sheikh Jarrah case is submitted to the International Criminal Court, Mendelblits position is also seen as a way to exempt Israel from any judicial responsibility.

This also constitutes the Israeli governments lifeline from any international pressure, describing the case as a conflict between a group of settlers and a group of Palestinians, and the courts decision was made after the judicial track was exhausted in accordance with Israels requirements.  Its called a democratic process, he said.

avoid responsibility

Israeli human rights organizations condemned the decision of the attorney general, and now peace organizations describe it as a cynical attempt to evade responsibility.

The organization called on Israel to show its position to the public and the courts because by adopting a set of laws that discriminate against Israelis and Palestinians, families were thrown on the street.

Another Israeli human rights organization, Ir Amim, stated that the attorney generals decision paved the way for deportation and could affect more than 80 other cases of families facing the threat of forced displacement.

There is still room for political intervention, spokesman Amy Cohen said.

Sheikh Jarrahs career has attracted international attention and caused anger around the world. Since 1956, these 28 Palestinian families have been living in nearby houses built according to the UNHCR and Jordans rule of East Jerusalem before 1967.

Settlers organizations filed a lawsuit in 1972, alleging that Sheikh Jarrahs land belonged to them because Israeli law allowed Jews to reclaim former Jewish property lost during the creation of Israel in 1948the Palestinians denied this right .

After the Israeli army used tear gas, sound bombs and rubber bullets to violently disperse daily protests and sit-ins, the Israeli courts decision on the imminent deportation of four Palestinian families was postponed in May.

During Ramadan, the Israeli army repeatedly attacked the Al-Aqsa Mosque (the third holiest site for Muslims), injuring hundreds of Palestinians and further escalating the situation.

The attack prompted armed groups in the Gaza Strip to fire rockets, and Israel responded to an 11-day devastating offensive that killed at least 260 Palestinians, 66 of whom were children. On the Israeli side, 12 people, including two children, were also killed.
The new coalition called on the spokesperson of the Knesset not to delay and to vote on Wednesday to overthrow the current Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Knesset spokesperson said on Monday that the Israeli legislature will vote within a week to approve the new government to overthrow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but no specific date has been set.

The far-right politician Naftali Bennett, who will succeed Israels longest-serving leader, called on Netanyahu on Sunday to let go and abandon any effort to encourage defections from Israel. New alliance This may spoil its inauguration.

Bennett urged the Israeli Speaker of Parliament who supported Netanyahu, Yariv Levin, not to delay and to hold a vote of confidence this Wednesday so that the left, right, centrist and Palestinians The parties can be sworn in.

In an official statement to Parliament, Levine pointed out that opposition leader Yair Lapid had notified him and the Israeli president that the alliance had reached an agreement and stated that within the time frame prescribed by the law, It will be voted for approval before June 14th.

Announcement on the fixed date of the meeting [Israels] The 36th government will be communicated to members of parliament, Levin said, giving Netanyahu a week to try to reverse the situation.

Al Jazeeras Harry Fawcett reported from West Jerusalem that he said it seemed more and more likely to vote in support of a change of government in the current situation.

This is probably why the Knesset spokesperson did not give the exact date and time of this vote, he added.

This gives him more flexibility, allowing Netanyahu more time to try to strip away potential defectors or sabotage the vote in some way.

This government will be established

The former TV presenter Rapide promised that this government will be formed.

In Israeli politics, 100% has never happened, but this government is most likely to do this, Rapide told reporters.

Members of the Change coalition had hoped to vote on Wednesday.

If the Rapid-Bennett government fails to win a majority of seats in the parliament, then after an inconclusive vote limited to the union agreement on March 23, Israel may hold its fifth meeting in less than two years. election.

Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett (left) and Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid during a special session of the Knesset [File: Ronen Zvulun/Pool/AP]

71-year-old Netanyahu faces corruption charges that could lead to jail rhetoric Designed to disrupt the nascent alliance.

On Sunday, in an enthusiastic speech to supporters of the right-wing Likud, he condemned the violent machines allied with him and urged them to protest the dangerous left-wing government that was forming.

The anti-Netanyahu group consists of three right-wing, two centrist and two left-wing parties, and one Israel palestine civic party.
The pressure brought about by the special arrangements for Northern Ireland after Brexit has become the epitome of everything about the European Union that the United Kingdom cannot acceptand the European Union is also working hard to recognize the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom insists that it is providing creative solutions for the implementation of the so-called Northern Ireland Agreement, but-just like the Brexit Secretary Lord David Frost, Take it In the Financial Times-The European Union is taking a legal purism approach.The EU expresses its readiness to be flexible, but the UK refuses to accept its obligations Destroyed trust. However, the situation on the ground is very fragile.When the two sides met this week-and U.S. President Joe Biden Ready to weigh Everyone has an obligation to show pragmatism and ease tensions.

The agreement aims to avoid the creation of a hard border between the North and the Republic of Ireland by effectively keeping Northern Ireland within the EU Customs Union and the single market. This led to a regulatory border between the UK and the province, which led to trade frictions and shortages of some commodities  angering unionists, who believed it weakened the provinces links and identity with the UK. This unhappiness fuels street violence, Depose Arlene Foster As the first minister and leader of the Democratic Unity Party.

Frost said the UK underestimated the impact of the agreement on the movement of goods. His comments appear to be dishonest, even though Prime Minister Boris Johnson probably underestimated the impact of his first draft agreement with his Irish counterparts under tremendous pressure to reach a Brexit deal. Either way, this is typical of Johnsons political approach: find an effective solution today, worry about the consequences tomorrow. Officials are well aware of the difficulties that the Irish Sea Border may bring; Former Prime Minister Theresa Mays ill-fated withdrawal agreement, whose support keeps the entire United Kingdom in the customs union, especially to avoid it.

Johnson denied that the agreement he signed had given the European Union some moral high ground. Brussels has reason to worry about protecting the integrity of the EUs single market. However, British officials are frustrated by Brussels excessively process-oriented take it or give up attitude, not just on the issue of Northern Ireland. In fact, there are more ways to reach an agreement on food or veterinary standards than the UK simply adopts EU rules, which can alleviate the difficulties of agreement.

As the guarantor of the Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland, the United States is right to be involved. The White House has hinted that Biden will meet with Johnson before the G7 summit this week to express support for the agreement, and warned that unless the situation is resolved, the hopes of a trade agreement between Britain and the United States may be jeopardized. On this issue, the intervention of the American president who is not sympathetic to Britain should involve pressure on Johnson. But if his contribution is to have the greatest effect, he should also urge Brussels to seek compromise.

This dispute is not for the United States to resolve, but for the protagonist. Johnson should make a clear commitment to abide by the agreement in order to strengthen trust and eliminate EU concerns that he is prepared to violate the withdrawal agreement. If a breakthrough can be achieved, the Prime Minister should be prepared to use any influence he retains to push the Democratic Unity Party to make it work. With the maintenance of peace in Northern Ireland at stake, negotiators on both sides should have a solution that involves a light-touch border system that minimizes the interference of regulatory inspections.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 167 refugees, stating that they were transferred without full informed consent and prevented from returning to the mainland.

According to Human Rights Watch, Rohingya refugees moved to an island in Bangladesh. They are worried that they will face a harsh environment during the upcoming monsoon season and are struggling with insufficient health and education facilities. report Say.

Approximately 18,800 refugees have moved from the Coxs Bazar region (approximately 850,000 people living in squalid and cramped environments after fleeing Myanmar) to Basanchar, a low-lying silt island in the Bay of Bengal.

A spokesperson for the prime ministers office told AFP that another 80,000 Rohingya will soon be transferred to the island.

The Bangladesh government insists that the relocation is voluntary, the island is not affected by the hurricane, and its facilities are far superior to the Coxs Bazar camp.

The picture shows a Rohingya refugee in the residential area of ??Bhasan Char [File: Mohammad Al-Masum Molla/AFP]

However, after interviewing 167 refugees, Human Rights Watch stated that they were moved without full and informed consent and prevented from returning to the mainland.

The 58-page report said that refugees also talked about the shortage of medical facilities and childrens education.

Others worry that the monsoon season starting in June will expose them to strong winds and floods on the island.

Human Rights Watch acknowledged that Dhaka was generous and compassionate in sheltering Rohingyamany of whom fled Myanmar after the brutal military crackdown in 2017but their rights should be protected.

Rohingya refugees resettled to disputed flood-prone islands [File: Rehman Asad/AFP]

The Bangladeshi government found it difficult to deal with more than one million Rohingya refugees, but forcing people to travel to remote islands would only create new problems, Bill Frelick, director of immigration and refugee rights at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

International donors should help the Rohingya, but they also insist that Bangladesh repatriate refugees who want to return to the mainland, or if experts believe the island conditions are too dangerous or unsustainable.

Bangladeshs Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen fired back at the report, telling AFP that no matter what resources we have, we are trying to provide the best service to these people.

Their country is very developed If they have so much compassion, let them take them back to their country, Mormon said of the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

I am sorry that we cannot have better facilities because we are not a rich country. We cannot provide more.

On Friday, a ship carrying dozens of Rohingyas landed off the coast of Indonesia after a journey of several months-the latest wave of arrivals from the crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi police also arrested Rohingya who tried to flee Bhashan Char, and during a visit to the UN refugee agency last week, thousands of people protested the conditions on the island.
Officials said that the deployment of the army was to resolve the conflict between Farrata and the Taisha tribe.

Last weekend, conflicts between Arab and non-Arab tribes in Southern Darfur killed at least 36 people and injured dozens of others.

Witnesses said fighting broke out between the Arabian Taisha tribe and the African Farata tribe in the remote Um Dafuq area of ??Southern Darfur on Saturday.

The official news agency SUNA stated that calm had returned to Monday.

The army was deployed to the conflict zone to resolve the conflict between Farrata and the Taisha tribe, which resulted in 36 deaths and 32 injuries, SUNA quoted an official in Southern Darfur as saying late on Sunday.

It is not yet clear what caused the conflict, but similar battles often erupt in Darfur over land and water sources.

Eissa Omar, a resident of Um Dafuq, told AFP that we heard the sound of heavy weapons throughout the battle. The battle broke out on Saturday and continued on Sunday.

Similar violent incidents have occurred in the vast Darfur region in western Sudan in recent months.

In April, at least 132 people were killed in fighting between members of the Massalit tribe in Western Darfur and the Arab community, forcing the authorities to implement a state of emergency.

In January, conflicts broke out between Arab and non-Arab tribes in Western Darfur and Southern Darfur again, killing more than 250 people.

In April 2019, long-term president Omar al-Bashir was overthrown after a large-scale protest against his rule. Sudan is going through a difficult transition and violence is ensuing.

The transitional government established after al-Bashir stepped down has been pushing for an end to the long-term conflict, including Darfur.

It signed a landmark peace agreement with several major rebel groups in October, and is currently negotiating with the remaining two stubborn groups to reach peace.

The recent violence in Darfur does not seem to involve any signatories to the October peace agreement.

On December 31, the hybrid peacekeeping mission of the United Nations and the African Union ended its operations in Darfur.

Darfur was the site of a fierce conflict in 2003, when African minority rebels clashed with Arab nomads supported by the Khartoum government under the leadership of Bashir.

Over the years, this deadly conflict that killed about 300,000 people and displaced 2.5 million people has gradually subsided, but inter-ethnic conflicts still occasionally erupt.
The angry relatives of two 15-year-old schoolgirls killed by notorious pedophiles expressed anger at the decision to release him.

In 1988, Colin Pitchfork, who was obsessed with sex, was imprisoned for life for the rape and murder of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, the girls of Leicestershire.

He can be released and the Parole Board has ruled

6 Colin Pitchfork was kept in a cage for life in 1988 Credit: BPM

But the Parole Board concluded yesterday that the 61-year-old man-the first murderer to be convicted using DNA evidence-no longer poses a threat to the public after being denied release for the first two times.

Dawn Ashworths mother said that Pitchfork-always brings danger-and the sister of his first victim, Lynda Mann, said that the only sentence Pitchfork should get is a bullet to the head.

Sue Gratrick-her sister Lynda Mann-was killed after she took a shortcut home from the nanny in Leicestershire-she said the decision of the parole committee Let this family fall into hell.

Since then, Sue has moved to a seaside town more than 100 miles from the scene of her sisters murder.

She told the Sun last night: He shouldnt go out. But what else to say? They want him out.

They wont let the serial killer out, but they let him out.

They said he has finished his time, he has the right to be free with all those malicious intents he has to go free.

Su Nu said: What he wants is a bullet to hit the head. But this will not happen, so there is nothing we can do.

She said that the decision left painful memories for her family and added: We have been fighting with it for years-but you are gone.

The 75-year-old Barbara Ashworths daughter was strangled to death in 1986. He said: This is a man who showed a tendency to be mentally illa person who thought he was smart enough to be in a murder case. People who outsmart the police by avoiding large-scale blood tests He almost succeeded.

I will never forget that he deceived the authorities into believing that he has now reformed and recovered. He will always be a dangerous man.

Pitchfork will have 35 additional conditions, including electronic tags, polygraph tests, and he must provide detailed information about any vehicles he owns.

After giving up his notorious name, Pitchfork now calls himself David Thorpe. He raped and strangled 15-year-old Linda in November 1983. He attacked again three years later, killing and killing under almost the same circumstances. Raped the same 15-year-old Dawn.

He later admitted to the rape and murder of Linda and Dawn and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum sentence of 30 years-reduced to 28 years after an appeal in 2009.

In the interview mail She said: The news is so depressing. There are still 15-year-old girls wandering around, and this man has 20 years to abuse them.

Lindaman was also one of his victims

Dawn Ashworth was raped and murdered by Pitchfork in the 80s

After being released from Lyhir prison in 2017, Colin Pitchfork on the streets of Bristol

Crocodile attack The 28-year-old Briton fought for life after her sister rescued her from a crocodile Tragic plunge The 25-year-old British pilot died in a terrorist helicopter crash after proposing to his girlfriend The third wave in the UK Covid cases increased by two-thirds within a week, as 5,683 people tested positive circus When they splashed into the serpentine stone, mother screamed at the shirtless man on horseback Parkattack A 15-year-old boy was arrested for sexual assault and two girls were found distressed in the park Roaring 20s Hancock revealed that three million Britons in their 20s can book their jabs from tomorrow

He cant hurt me like he did-the pitchfork tore me and my family-but he can hurt other young girls. I cant understand how he was suddenly judged suitable for release when he was rejected before.

Philip Musson, 67-year-old Dawns uncle from Newark, Nottinghamshire, added: We are totally opposed to the idea of ??murderers-let alone child murderers-getting parole.

Life imprisonment should mean life, because because of this persons behavior, life is unbearable at dawn.
Scottus News

after Amy How





12:35 PM

The court will not challenge the male-only draft, so Congress can now review the policy because women are eligible to fight (Bumble Dee, from Shutterstock)

The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will add another case involving state secret privileges to the next debate schedule, which allows the government to block the release of sensitive national security information in the lawsuit. The court also rejected the challenge to the requirement that only men register for the draft, and the three judges explained that Congress is now reviewing the issue.Both announcements are here On the order list On Monday morning, the judges were released from a private meeting on Thursday, June 3.

Court award FBI v. Fazaga, The FBIs request for review in a case filed by members of the Muslim community in Southern California against the FBI and several FBI agents. Three Muslim men claimed that the FBI targeted their religious beliefs and used confidential informants to gather information about Muslims as part of an anti-terrorism investigation. The dispute in the court now stems from the governments claim to the privilege of state secrets. The Federal District Court dismissed the claim after agreeing to the privilege to allow the government to withhold certain evidence, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned the ruling. It believes that the provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Law outweigh the privileges of state secrets and give the district courts the power to resolve (privately and without the need for parties to attend) litigation cases.

The FBI came to the Supreme Court in December 2020 and asked the judge to weigh it.The Trump Administrations Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Wall believes that the Court of Appeals decision has astonishing consequences of changing the limited provisions of FISA and aims to Guarantee Incorporate national security information into a mechanism to overturn the administrative departments invocation of state secret privileges, and make rulings on the substantive relief requirements of private parties based on state secrets. 

The case may be debated sometime in the fall. By then, this will be the second time the justices have encountered state secret privileges. In April of this year, the judge approved the governments request for a review of the Ninth Circuits ruling. In the case of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay He sought documents and testimony from two former CIA contractors in the black field where he was detained in 2002 and 2003. The Ninth Circuit ordered the district court to review whether the information covered by the privilege is possible or not.

Also on Monday, the judges rejected a request to weigh whether the requirement that only men can register for the draft is constitutional. The court announced that the news was issued nearly 40 years after the judge supported the Military Service Act against similar changes, but there is one key difference: women can now participate in the war.

The dispute brought to court was brought up by the National Mens League, a non-profit organization whose goal is to end the harmful stereotypes of boys and men, and two young men, James Lesmeister and Anthony David Sri Lanka, they are required to register as a draft. Challengers represented by the American Civil Liberties Union argued that it is unconstitutional for MSSA to require men, not women, to register.Despite the Supreme Courts 1981 ruling Rostock v. Goldberg The challenger admitted that things have changed since then.Specifically, the court Rostek It was inferred that the purpose of registration was to replace combat troops, but women were prohibited from participating in combat at that time. However, in 2013, the Ministry of National Defense officially lifted the ban.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor (Sonia Sotomayor) Statement on refusal to review Judges Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh joined. Like the challenger, Sotomayor observed that since the courts ruling in 2016, the role of women in the military has changed dramatically. RostekHowever, Sotomayor went on to say that the committee set up by Congress to study the possibility of universal registration requirements issued a report last year recommending the removal of the male-only requirement. In March of this year, she added that the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senator DR.I. Jack Reed expressed hishope that the gender-neutral registration requirement will beincorporated into the next national defense bill. Sotoma Joel concluded that although Congress has not actually taken any action yet, the courts practice of deferring it to Congress on defense and military issues do not review the issue when Congress is actively weighing issues.

The judges will hold another private meeting on Thursday, June 10, and the meeting is expected to issue an order at 9:30 am on Monday, June 14

This article is Originally published in Howe on the Court.
A NASA space chief has said we want to know the truth about possible UFO sightings after a string of strange encounters between unusual objects and the US military pilots.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson admitted the agency is probing the phenomena after a flurry of videos filmed by US Navy and Air Force personnel were leaked.

The report comes as US intelligence officials have been ordered to compile a dossier on UFOs  and the report is due for release this month.

The dossier reportedly will say the Pentagon cannot explain some 120 sightings made by US Navy personnel over the past two decades  but it will conclude they are not known tech.

Nick Pope, a former official at the Ministry of Defence, told The Sun that the reports leaked conclusions are intriguing and disturbing.

He also called for the US and Britain to look into the possibility that the UFO sightings could be attributable to hypersonic technology testing by China and Russia, and to assess the current level of technology these nations possess when it comes to aircraft, missiles, and drones.

Intelligence officials briefed on the Pentagon report said that they have found no evidence that the flying objects are alien spacecraft, but their source remains unknown.

A classified version of the highly-anticipated Pentagon report was made available to senior administration officials on Thursday.

A declassified version is expected to be released to Congress by June 25, which is expected to contain everything the US Government knows about UAPs, The Washington Post reports.

Read our live blog below for the latest updates
Employers are looking for ways to encourage their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine because they become more accessible so that business operations can return to normal. Many employers are implementing COVID-19 vaccination policies or have updated existing vaccine policies to add Covid-19 to the required list. If you want to know more, please see some of the main questions about vaccine exemptions and implementation of vaccination policies from employers below.

Do employees need a vaccination policy when they return to work? Set expectations and reduce risks by setting policies

Fit your needs.

Does my business need a COVID-19 vaccination policy?

workplace Vaccination policy Tell your employees your requirements for all vaccines, not just the COVID-19 vaccine. If employees frequently interact with each other or customers, the need for a COVID-19 vaccine is especially critical to your business. If you plan to vaccinate your employees against COVID-19, then a written policy is essential. It will inform your employees about the requirements and what will happen if employees who do not have a vaccine exemption choose not to be vaccinated.

Vaccination policies can protect you, your employees, and your customers. If you decide to let an employee leave due to failure to vaccinate, you can defend your decision by pointing out the policy. A clear workplace vaccination policy that covers COVID-19 vaccination also helps ensure that your employees are not caught off guard by the potential consequences of not being vaccinated.

When should the vaccination policy be updated?

Vaccination policies should be kept up-to-date as needed or required by federal, state, or local guidelines. With the emergence of new vaccines and variants, the dynamics of safe workplaces will continue to change. Your employees should be kept abreast of any changes you expect and everything needed to maintain a safe working environment.

Make sure your employees receive any updated copies and sign documents to confirm that they have read them. Likewise, your vaccination policy is designed to protect you, your employees, and your customers.

What is a vaccine exemption?

Some people cannot be vaccinated due to religious or health reasons. They may be allergic to vaccines or hold strong religious beliefs.To avoid violating anti-discrimination laws, please consider providing Vaccine exemption.

Vaccine exemptions allow individuals to claim that they are legally exempt from vaccine requirements. For example, some states with school vaccination laws require such forms to be signed before unvaccinated students are allowed to attend public schools. By filing vaccine exemption documents for employees who cannot be vaccinated, you can easily track who is vaccinated and who is not vaccinated, and why some people choose not to be vaccinated. You can also protect yourself from liability when someone does not follow your COVID-19 vaccination policy.

This is especially important if the unvaccinated person has a certificate of disability. According to the guidelines of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, employees can be exempted from vaccinations required by the ADA and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Providing a waiver at the appropriate time will protect you from liability in these situations.

What are the requirements for employees to be exempt from vaccines?

According to the law, employees are not required to show any proof of religious beliefs or health conditions, which may ease their vaccination requirements. The employer may ask for a doctors certificate, but federal privacy laws allow someone to refuse the request. The court also stated that unless excessive difficulty is caused to the business, employers should accept sincere religious beliefs or ceremonies. Unfortunately, this is difficult to define, which is why many employers seek legal help when employees request exemptions or formulate policy exemptions.If you have any questions about your rights and options as an employer, please feel free to contact Rocket lawyers on call  lawyer Obtain legal advice that suits your specific situation.

Keep your Employment and human resources documents The latest, including policies related to the COVID-19 pandemic, are vital to protecting your employees and company. Employment laws are constantly changing, especially in the context of a pandemic, so please take a moment to understand your options and protect yourself with appropriate documentation.

This article contains general legal information and does not contain legal advice. Rocket Lawyer is not a law firm, nor is it a substitute for a lawyer or a law firm. The law is complex and changes frequently.For legal advice, please Ask a lawyer.
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP)  A dozen past winners will compete against each other this year in the 14th annual Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off.

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser says the winners competition will highlight the re-opening of Louisiana restaurants now that the state's pandemic restrictions are gone and people begin to travel again.

The Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism says competing chefs will include 2009 winner Tory McPhail, who left Commander's Palace in New Orleans last year for Bozeman, Montana.

The cook-off will take place June 22 at the Cajundome Convention Center in Lafayette. Some of the more than 200 restaurants participating in the city-parish's EatLafayette summer promotion will be selling food.
NEW ORLEANS  The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, alongside Sidley Austin LLP, filed a lawsuit against the City of Eunice, Louisiana, its Chief of Police, and additional employees of the Eunice Police Department on behalf of employee Lieutenant Michael Dunn. Through the lawsuit, Lt. Dunn blows the whistle on pervasive misconduct and corruption within the Eunice Police Department, including excessive use of force, neglect of inmate medical needs, mishandling of evidence, and misuse of fundswhich the department refused to address.

The lawsuit claims that Lt. Dunn notified state, local, and federal officials about the misconduct he witnessed, informing authorities that Eunice Chief of Police Randy Fontenot selectively enforces the lawprotecting friends, family members, and political allies from criminal charges, and turning a blind eye to favored officers misconduct. It also alleges that Fontenot weaponizes the disciplinary process against employees of the department who are not on his good side or refuse to do his bidding.

As weve seen in so many incidents of police violence nationally and locally, law enforcement officers exploit the publics trust by using their power to protect dangerous officers rather than to protect the public, said ACLU of Louisiana Executive Director Alanah Odoms. Indeed, the Eunice Police Departments deleterious practices under Chief Fontenot are akin to the types of unconstitutional and dangerous policing that should be subject to intense scrutiny at the state and national level, yet they remain hidden and shrouded in secrecy. What is clear is that a culture of corruption persists wherein reports of police misconduct are suppressed and employees who report illegal activity are punished. This is anathema constitutional policing. We demand a thorough investigation of the corruption in this departmentour elected officials have a constitutional and ethical responsibility to investigate police misconduct and to hold those individuals accountable whove violated the publics trust.

After nearly a decade at the Eunice Police Department, Lt. Dunn felt that the system he believed in was breaking down and moved forward with alerting authorities to the departments misconduct. When Chief Fontenot learned that Dunn wouldnt remain silent, he and other officers retaliated against him. Among other punishments, Fontenot reduced Dunns hours and compensation while spreading lies about Dunn within the department and community, including enlisting an individual facing criminal charges to falsely claim that Lt. Dunn bribed him. Dunn has been threatened with bodily harm and targeted with baseless and pretextual disciplinary action in an effort to force his resignation.

This is the twelfth case weve filed as part of our Justice Lab campaign, and every case has one thing in common: a person brave enough to come forward and call out police abuse and misconduct when they see it or experience it firsthand, said ACLU of Louisiana Legal Director Nora Ahmed. Transparency is vital to American democracy, and were grateful to Lt. Dunn for bringing these hidden truths to light. Without him, the people of Euniceand our entire state for that matterwould be unaware of the corruption at the core of this department and the unconstitutional and illegal police practices that have gone undisciplined and uncorrected for far too long.

There is, inherent in these unlawful retaliatory actions, a reckless disregard for the constitutional rights of Lt. Dunn and other employees who dare speak out about matters of public concern. And it is time to end that now.

Lt. Dunn is seeking redress for violations of his First Amendment right to speak on matters of public concern, Louisianas Whistleblower Statute, and the Constitution of the State of Louisiana. He also seeks injunctive relief for defamation, civil conspiracy, false light invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. His lawsuit seeks to correct policy failures of the Eunice Police Department and the City of Eunice.

The ACLU of Louisiana continues to encourage anyone who has been the victim of police misconduct to contact Justice Lab. Filing a complaint is simple and confidential.
NEW ORLEANS  The Coast Guard medevaced two mariners Saturday near Iberia Parish, Louisiana.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received the initial report Friday at about 5:40 p.m. that an overdue 15-foot skiff boat with two people aboard had become disoriented and was lost in the area. The watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and directed a Coast Guard rescue crew from Air Station New Orleans to assist.

A Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter aircrew responded and located the missing mariners at about 1 a.m this morning and deployed a rescue swimmer once on scene. The aircrew hoisted the mariners and transported them to Acadiana Regional Airport.

There were no reported injuries or medical concerns.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Louisiana lawmakers have agreed that people caught with small amounts of marijuana for recreational use shouldnt go to jail, sending the bill to the governor's desk.

Narrow passage of the measure by Shreveport Democratic Rep. Cedric Glover demonstrates the changing opinions about marijuana use in Louisiana. The Senates 20-17 vote gave the proposal final passage with the exact number of votes it needed.

The House already had backed the bill in a 68-25 vote. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards hasnt taken a public position on the bill. Glovers legislation would make possession of up to 14 grams of marijuana a misdemeanor carrying a fine up to $100.
The search for a new Chief of Police for KU's campus is down to the final three candidates.
North Kansas City-based health care IT firm Cerner Corp. says they are currently going through a reduction of their workforce.
HARRISONVILLE, MO (KCTV) -- BREAKING UPDATE:

On Monday, a judge sentenced Kylr Yust to life in prison plus 15 years for his role in the deaths of Kara Kopetsky and Jessica Runions.

The judge said he'd reviewed the sentencing assessment report.

He then sentenced Yust to 15 years in prison for the death of Kara Kopetsky and life in prison for the death of Jessica Runions.

The sentences were set to run consecutively. That leads to a total of 45 years.

Yust's attorneys have indicated they will file an appeal.

Previous coverage from this morning is below.

Kylr Yust faces a judge Monday to receive a prison sentence for his role in the deaths of Kara Kopetsky and Jessica Runions.

Jury recommends life in prison for Kylr Yust in killings of Kara Kopetsky and Jessica Runions A day after being found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and second-degree murder, a jury recommended the maximum penalty of life in prison for Kylr Yust.

A jury found Yust guilty of voluntary manslaughter in connection to the death of Kopetsky, and second-degree murder in connection to the death of Runions. Jurors recommended the maximum sentences for the convictions.

Voluntary manslaughter has a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison in Missouri. Second-degree murder is punishable by life in prison.

Whether Yust serves the sentences consecutively or concurrently impacts when he may be eligible for parole.

Jurors issued the recommendation after a 16-hour deliberation following an 8-day trial in April 2021.

The families of the two women gave emotional victim impact statements as they asked the jurors for justice.

Four years ago, I lost my best friend, my protector and my favorite person in the world, said one of Jessicas sisters, Megan Runions.

She loved her sisters. Protected her sisters. She loved her family, said Jamie Runions, Jessicas mother. Every birthday since was 16 she made her sisters cupcakes.

Runions was last seen in September 2016. Kopetsky went missing May 2007. Their remains were found in a wooded area in Cass County.

Kopetskys parents said they waited many years for their daughters killer to face jail time.

Kara was a special person. Loving caring, carefree, loyal, and fast to forgive. That forgiveness is what cost her, her life, said Karas mother Rhonda Beckford.

"She meant everything to me, Michael Kopetsky, Karas father, said. Kara was my only child."

Karas stepfather Jim Beckford said he holds on to every memory of her.

Her cell phone has been on. Its on right now. If you call it, you hear her voice. I called it Sunday night to hear one wisp of her voice, he said.

Yust insisted he did not kill either woman. Yusts defense attorney, Molly Hastings, asked the jury to consider the person Yust is today.

Believe it or not there are some people who like him, who think he is a good friend, she said.
Kdrama "Youth of May" teases fans with intriguing new stills featuring Go Min Si and her onscreen father, Kim Won Hae.

KBS2 released a sneak peek signifying a tense confrontation between their father and daughter relationship following Lee Do Hyun'sHyun's shocking accident.

"Youth of May" Spoiler: Go Min Si and Kim Hyun Chul's Father and Daughter Relationship

It appears that Kim Myung Hee, played by Go Min Si, refuses to adhere to Kim Hyun Chul's (Kim Won Hae) request to return to their hometown.

It came after the chaos in Gwangju had set off due to the imposed martial law.

Given that several civilians and innocent people got involved, Kim Hyun Chul was worried that his daughter might get caught up in the bad light if she doesn't leave the area.

Unfortunately, Kim Myung Hee insists on staying in Gwangju, which made his father upset.

Moreover, as the heated argument continued, this was witnessed by her younger brother, Kim Myung Soo (Jo Yi Hyun).

The new stills also suggest that an intense conflict will emerge between Kim Myung Hee and her estranged father as she deals with Hwang Hee Tae's car accident.

Lee Soo Chan Comforts Kim Myung Hee

Aside from Kim Myung Hee'sHee's family, "Youth of May" also unveiled a teaser featuring Lee Soo Chan, played by Lee Sang Yi.

After being freed by Hwang Gi Nam (Oh Man Suk), the new stills featured the bloodied and bruised Soo Chan, visited Myung Hee at the hospital to comfort her after knowing that Hee Tae got involved in a car crash while on his way to pick up blood supplies.

However, he left the vicinity with a sad look on his face as Kim Myung Hee waits for Hwang Hee Tae.

In a report cited by a South Korean outlet, the production team hints that the turmoil caused by the martial law will get intense as members of society tried to protect their loved ones from violence.

"Episode 11 shows the cross-section of the members of society who were sacrificed while trying to protect the ones they loved amid the whirlwind of history. Tune in to see how their individual lives fell apart in the horrors of that infamous day."

"Youth of May" Episode 10 Recap

In the previous episode, the SBS drama managed to get back at the number one spot after landing an average nationwide rating of 4.4 and 5.6 percent for its two parts.

"Youth of May" episode 10 featured a devastating scene as Hwang Hee Tae, alongside the Gwangju resident doctor, was rammed by a truck while on their way to pick up blood supplies.

At the time, Hee Tae left Myung Hee at the hospital to have a private talk with her father, who came to Gwangju amid the chaos to encourage his daughter to return to their hometown.

The previous episode also showed how Lee Soo Chan witnessed the government's violence and wrongdoings led by under Hwang Gi Nam's wing.

KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Geca Wills
South Korean actress Pyo Ye Jin gets honest about her experience in the hit Korean drama "Taxi Driver," alongside Lee Je Hoon, Esom and Jang Sung Chul.

Pyo Ye Jin Shares Experience in the Hit K-Drama "Taxi Driver"

The 29-year-old actress plays the role of Ahn Go Eun, the skilled resident hacker of the group, who works alongside Kim Do Gi (Lee Je Hoon,) Choi Kyung Goo (Jang Hyuk Jin,) Park Jin Eon (Bae Yoo Ram), under Rainbow Taxi boss Jang Sung Chul (Kim Eui Sung).

In Pyo Ye Jin's latest appearance for The Star magazine's June cover, the "V.I.P" actress shared her working relationship with her co-stars and said that she enjoyed being on the set.

The actress displayed a chic and charming vibe as she flaunts her warm donning series of spring-ready outfits.

Far from her character as Ahn Go Eun, Pyo Ye Jin exudes a feminine and vibrant atmosphere wearing a tulle skirt paired with a denim jacket and white sneakers.

Pyo Ye Jin "Proud" to be "Taxi Driver" Cast

During the chat with the publication, the 29-year-old actress also shared that she has been receiving positive feedback from fans saying that the SBS drama was "fun to watch."

In addition, Pyo Ye Jin revealed her thoughts about being casted as one of the lead stars for the top rating crime drama.

"I am proud that our drama is a really good work," she mentioned, adding that the K-drama "Taxi Driver" thought her to be an "amazing person" inside and out.

"It's definitely a drama, but I felt like I became a really righteous and amazing person."

To recall, the recently concluded drama revolves around a secret organization known as the Rainbow Taxi group that aims to avenge victims whom the law wasn't able to protect.

The group was led by Kim Do Ki under the management of Jang Sung Chul, who is also the CEO of Blue Bird Foundation.

Pyo Je Jin's Plans After "Taxi Driver"

It appears that we'll be seeing more of the "Hotel de Luna" actress as she revealed that she wants to become someone who is passionate about her acting skills.

Moreover, Pyo Ye Jin shares that she enjoys acting and wants to improve her craft.

"I want to become an actor who is good at acting. Right now, acting is the most fun and what I want to do well," she explained.

The actress made her debut in the 2015 drama "Dream Knight" as a guest role.

After that, she starred in her first-ever lead role in the comedy-drama "Deux Yeoza," alongside Choi Seung Yoon.

Interestingly, her breakthrough performance is in the 2018 mega-hit drama "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim," where she plays Kim Ji Ah.

Some of her notable dramas include "Love Returns" with Lee Sung Yeol, Lee Dong Ha, and Han Hye Rin, as well as the SBS melodrama "V.I.P."

Prior to her acting debut, Pyo Ye Jin used to be a flight attendant for two years and worked for Korean Air.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Lee Je Hoon Hints at the Possibility of 'Taxi Driver' Season 2

KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Geca Wills
The Biden administration is expanding eligibility for pandemic relief aid to include undocumented and international college students, reversing a Trump-era policy that blocked them from receiving federal emergency grants.

Last year, the Education Department said that only those students who were eligible for existing federal student aid would be allowed to receive the new emergency grant. That excluded undocumented immigrants, international students and those who were in default on federal student loans, as well as students who weren't meeting academic standards or were enrolled in ineligible education programs.

That interpretation of the law also blocked immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was upheld by the Supreme Court last year in response to the Trump administration's attempt to end it.

"These funds are critical to ensuring that all of our nation's students -- particularly those disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic -- have the opportunity to enroll, continue their education, graduate, and pursue their careers," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement.

The Trump-era policy became the subject of court battles in several states and provoked outcry from Democratic lawmakers such as Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state, who now chairs the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Murray praised the Biden administration's announcement Tuesday, saying she is "so relieved" by the decision.

"It shouldn't matter if you are undocumented or a DACA recipientevery student struggling because of this pandemic deserves access to emergency aid that can make all the difference," Murray said in a statement.

The new Education Department rule comes as the agency releases the roughly $36 billion in emergency aid now available for postsecondary education, authorized by the latest Covid relief package, which passed in March.

The funds will go to both public and private colleges, based in part on how many low-income students who receive Pell Grants are enrolled. The schools must use at least half of the funds to make emergency financial aid grants to students, prioritizing those with "exceptional need."

Now the schools are allowed to grant the money to any student enrolled during the pandemic. The earlier rounds of grant aid, authorized by Covid relief packages passed by Congress last year, excluded undocumented students.

The latest round of funding is the biggest yet for colleges and universities. The latest relief bill also provided about $800 million to support students experiencing homelessness.
JACKSONVILLE, Ore.  The Britt Festival Orchestra announced its first set of 2021 performances on Monday, but these particular showings will be a departure from the usual fare.

Brush: Music in the Woodlands is the project of Pulitzer Prize-winning musician and composer Caroline Shaw and BFO music director Teddy Abrams. From July 30 through August 2, six free performances will be set on the Jacksonville Woodlands Trail system.

Audience members will be invited to walk along the trails above the Britt Pavilion, encountering groups of musicians spread out along the path.

It points toward the idea of experiencing a brief encounter with something new and unexpected ('a brush with...'), and thinking about musical textures and ideas as brushstrokes, and of course the image of the brush in the woodlands, said Shaw.

The performances are free, but donations will be accepted. Britt said that the intent is to five back to the community after a year that saw the Almeda Fire and COVID-19 pandemic transfigure life in southern Oregon.

"Weve always been dreaming about a successor to the Crater Lake Project, another piece that brings music together with nature, said music director and conductor Teddy Abrams. Given that Britts venue is immediately next to these beautiful Woodlands Trails in Jacksonville, it seems only natural that we would connect these two elements together. Caroline is the perfect person to imagine this music. She has such a creative mind and spirit of wonder that lend themselves well to developing this kind of experience.

Shaw was a Composer/Conductor Fellow in 2019. Though she is a recognized composer for a variety of pieces, this is Shaw's first work created for a site-specific outdoor performance.

"Ultimately, I want the piece to be about how we listen and how we pay attention to the world around us, and if you give the world just a little bit more of a moment, youll notice something you wouldnt have noticed before," said Shaw.

Audience members will need to register in advance so that Britt can minimize environmental impacts and help traffic flow. Registration will open on June 25 when the rest of the 2021 BFO season is announced.

Performance dates and times:
PHOENIX, Ore.  The deadline for property owners to participate in state-sponsored cleanup after the Almeda Fire has arrived. Jackson County and the State Debris Management Task Force put out a last call on Monday, which is the last day for property owners to submit a Right of Entry (ROE) form.

Oregon is providing no-cost cleanup for all homes and properties in the eight counties impacted by September 2020 wildfires, but the ROE forms are required to allow cleanup crews onto the property. The June 7 deadline applies only to the Almeda Fire, but all counties will have similar deadlines as crews wrap up their cleanup operations across western Oregon.

Crews from the state task force have been removing ash and structural debris, hazard trees, concrete foundations, and burned vehicles without any direct cost to the property owner. When the crews are finished on an individual property, the owner will receive a letter from the state certifying that the cleanup is completed and the plot is ready for rebuilding.

RELATED: Report evaluates Jackson County's response to Almeda, South Obenchain fires

We had initially identified a 6-18-month timeline for completion of cleanup in the Almeda Fire area but through our partnerships between the state, Jackson County, and the cities of Talent and Phoenix, we have made significant strides in approaching completion closer to the 6-month mark, said John Vial, director of the Jackson County Emergency Operations Center. Now we want to make sure that any property owner who wants to participate in the no cost program does not miss their chance.

As of Monday, task force crews had completed cleanup of more than 1,417 home sites in the Almeda Fire area, representing roughly 87 percent of all home sites currently enrolled. Once they are finished with those properties, they will move on to other areas of the state impacted by the September fires.

To submit a Right of Entry form and for more information:
GRANTS PASS, Ore.  With coronavirus cases and hospitalizations falling, Josephine County has decided to reduce to the required quarantine time for contacts of positive cases.

The CDC initially advised that people who had close contact with a person positive for COVID-19 should quarantine for 14 days, but later changed that recommendation to 10 days as cases started to wane in December. Josephine County followed suit, but later extended the quarantine time again when the next wave hit.

A close contact is defined as anyone who has been within six feet of a COVID-19 case for a prolonged period  15 or more minutes within a 24-hour period  or has had direct contact with "infectious secretions." Generally someone in need of quarantine will be contacted by a contact tracer, but people are encouraged to not wait for that outreach to begin isolating.

Josephine County's health officer, Dr. David Candelaria, said that the quarantine time will go back to 10 days effective immediately, following guidance from the Oregon Health Authority.

"Those who are fully immunized  having received their final COVID-19 vaccine at least two weeks ago  are not subject to quarantine after exposure," public health officials said in a statement. "Isolation for COVID-19 patients remains at 10 days, or 20 days for serious cases, including those hospitalized for the disease."

Josephine County Public Health indicated that the week ending May 29 produced the lowest weekly total of cases since November of last year. Statewide cases and hospitalizations have also been trending downward as vaccinations rise.
Perhaps you have heard that in March of this year, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 was signed into law.

It provides $1.9 trillion in economic stimulus to aid the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

ARPA created the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund which provides $350 billion for states, counties, municipalities, tribes, and territories, including $130 billion for local governments split evenly between municipalities and counties.

ARPA will provide Wisconsin counties, cities, and local jurisdictions approximately $3 billion. Localities will receive the funds in two tranches  the first, after the U.S. Treasury certifies the proceeds to each jurisdiction and the second, one year later.

Funding must be spent by the end of calendar year 2024. Estimates of the allocations to Wisconsin local government entities are available online and this list will be updated after the U.S. Treasury certifies each jurisdictions proceeds.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is responsible for distributing the funding, and they are currently developing methods and guidance for the allocation and oversight process.

Analysts note that the law includes these eligible ARPA uses:
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I know I was not alone at feeling shock and grief upon reading the JAMA tweet that no physician is racist. Beyond the 8,000+ and climbing signatories to the Change.org petition asking for a change to JAMA leadership, the data on microaggressions and their contributions to physician burnout published in a recent study in JAMA Surgery presents clear evidence to the contrary, as does a study in Family Medicine which finds that physicians of color are likely to experience significant racism while providing health care in their workplace settings, and they are likely to feel unsupported by their institutions when these experiences occur (2020). Dr. Amy Beck and medical student Michaela Stevensons experiences shared with KevinMD provide a moving window into the strain presented by these challenges.

These everyday slights place an extraordinary burden on underrepresented communities and physicians of color, who are already struggling with the industry-wide problem of physician burnout. A 2018 Merritt Hawkins survey found a staggering 78% of doctors suffered symptoms of burnout, and a 2017 paper in Mayo Clinic Proceedings showed that burnout was driving 1 in 50 physicians to plan an exit from medicine altogether. In January 2019, the Harvard School of Public Health and other institutions deemed physician burnout a public health crisis. And this was all before the pandemic.

Its a structural problem. It extends down to the cost of the products doctors use to alleviate their workload. When my co-founders and I started DeepScribe, we interviewed hundreds of physicians for customer discovery. Through this experience, we discovered a sharp divide between doctors who could afford tools for clinical documentation, and those who could not. Doctors blessed to work at well-resourced, high-profile health systems had access to medical scribes  both human and technological  who took notes, summarized appointments, and filled out the paperwork that eats up so much time that could otherwise go to family and patient care.

But even physicians with access to documentation tools had to contend with embedded bias. The state-of-the-art dictation and transcription tools are trained using voices that feature General American English, or Standard American English, as some scholars prefer. As a result, they do a poor job recognizing the voices of physicians who may have immigrated from other parts of the world that speak in a manner accented beyond what the software may recognize as General American English.

My co-founders and I heard from a substantial number of the 200+ doctors we interviewed that dictation tools that couldnt recognize their voice commands were worse than unusable. Doctors with accented English found that they had to rewrite the notes. The headaches created by these error-prone tools made these tools ineffective and unusable.

Bias doesnt just affect the physician, but patient care as well. As Dr. David Williams of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health showed in his 2019 paper, provider implicit bias was associated with poorer quality of patient provider communication and lower patient evaluation of the quality of the medical encounter. Dr. Kester Nedd and the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved are just two contributors whose work underscores the importance of provider implicit bias on health care outcomes.

One core adage of my teams mission is the care that is perceived is the care that is received. Every good doctor knows that trust and confidence from the patient has a substantial impact on the patients long-term health. Dr. Williams and his fellow authors went on to find that more implicit bias was associated with less patient-centered dialogue, lower patient positive affect, lower perception of respect from the clinician, less patient liking of the clinician and lower trust and confidence in [the] clinician.

Williams and his fellow authors point to structural competence [which] refers to increasing awareness among providers of how racism is embedded in our culture and institutions in their discussion. Health tech vendors have an important choice to make: to examine whether their product competencies bolster or erode the work on structural competence within the health care organizations they partner with.

For our part, we focus on ensuring our solution works equally well for English speakers with any accent. We regularly hear from doctors how much of a difference this makes in their ability to deliver high-quality patient care. Its our hope that more health tech vendors will take a good look at what theyve chosen to prioritize and how that may contribute to inequities within the system. The factors which inspired the American Medical Association to recognize racism as a public health threat demand that we all play our role in the multi-faceted structures that contribute to delivering equitable health care to all Americans.

Matthew Ko is co-founder and COO, DeepScribe Inc., and can be reached on Facebook and Twitter @DeepScribeAI.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1 in 8 women experience symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD). Furthermore, studies show that minorities have a higher prevalence of PPD, 38 percent with low-income Hispanic mothers and up to 63 percent among mothers in Pakistan.

I am a Hispanic woman raised by a single mother in an urban neighborhood and have personally experienced postpartum depression. After delivering my healthy baby boy, I saw smiles and joyous expressions from hospital staff and visiting family members. But I was not smiling. I felt a disconnect with my child and constant anxiety. These emotions continued from the hospital to my home. I had negative thoughts and emotions about this new chapter and person in my life. I needed help understanding what these emotions and thoughts meant, so I approached the person closest to me, my mother. I went to her crying and feeling great shame, telling her that I was not happy with the new baby. She quickly brushed me off and said I would be made fun of by my Hispanic family or considered crazy. I let it go for a few weeks and even lied to my sons pediatrician when she asked if I was depressed.

The emotional and mental burden weighed me down, so I tearfully shared with my husband the disconnect with my baby. He comforted me by saying it takes time to bond, and it will get better. It did not get better. I did not seek medical help from my physician or my sons pediatrician because of fear of my child being taken away, shame, cultural embarrassment, and lack of knowledge of mental health. Instead, I formed my own coping mechanism by avoiding much interaction with my baby and worked all day long Monday through Friday and weekends.

My mental state began to worsen after the second baby. Suicide was now on my mind all the time. It seemed like the best option for my family. I contemplated scenarios, and then one day, I got the courage to tell my family that I needed mental health support because I speculated I had postpartum depression. Fortunately, I was able to look for support on the Postpartum International website and found a PPD support group, which led me to a therapist who helped in my recovery. At the PPD support groups, I noticed I was the only Hispanic woman in attendance at the PPD meetings. At the meetings, we spoke about how and why minority women seek less mental health support, and it is due to cultural negative perspectives on mental health issues, family shaming of the women, and personal embarrassment of being weak. This is unfortunate because the leading cause of maternal death after the birth of a child is suicide which may have been initiated by PPD.

After going through PPD and surviving, I want to help save other minority women who are suffering in silence through means of education and removing any social stigma on mental health. A recent study on Medicaid recipients found that Blacks and Latinas were less likely than whites to initiate mental health care after delivery, with whites having approximately twice the odds of starting treatment. I know I experienced limitations in getting PPD specific help due to limitations in my financial resources and taking time off of work to attend these therapy sessions. I went to a general mental health therapist and psychiatrist who did not specialize in maternal mental health. Whereas most of the mothers at the PPD support group, who were white women, went to a maternal mental health therapist and psychiatrist specializing in postpartum depression.

Additionally, I was not educated during or after my pregnancy about PPD from my physician. This has to be improved, and I believe increasing prenatal PPD education and screenings from trusted sources such as physicians, nurses, social assistance programs such as the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program and community programs will help increase awareness and initiate mental health care in minority women. Additionally, increasing PPD screenings throughout the pregnancy and six months to a year after delivery. Lastly, change PPD treatment options from medication focus to ones that will help minority women, such as providing PPD specialized therapists and ethnically diverse mental health experts, mediation services on how to care for a baby, information on sleeping, and how mental health affects their physical well being.

In closing, recognizing and treating postpartum depression is vitally important in all women but especially in minority women. In my personal experience, I learned that there are health disparities present in maternal health care and that there is a socioeconomic issue that informed and well-connected white women are easily made available to specialized PPD care due to their affluent social circles. In minority communities, women from low to middle income have limited social support because of the lack of education and negative social stigma on receiving mental health treatment. Overall, education, increased screenings, and unbiased and culturally aware medical and community workers will help reduce the silence of PPD in minority women.

Tania Liriano is a graduate student.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Simone Biles proved once again she's the GOAT, taking home her record seventh national women's all-around title in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

Here's what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

(You can also get "5 Things You Need to Know Today" delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

1. White House

The Biden administration is facing a national security crisis. Ransom-demanding hackers have targeted a pipeline, a Florida water system, schools, health care institutions, government agencies and the meat industry in recent weeks, and the nation's energy secretary warned yesterday that US adversaries are capable of shutting down the power grid. Many of the attacks appear to be the work of criminal gangs based in Russia. President Biden is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week on his first foreign trip since taking office, and the summit is likely to be even more tense than expected.

2. Coronavirus

Let's start with the good news: Most adults in the US have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and about 66% said in a recent survey that their lives are at least somewhat back to normal. The average national vaccination rate also got back up above a million shots a day, after falling under that threshold last week. But even as things are looking up, experts warn that vaccination lags among groups such as adolescents could delay the return to normal. Also, only 13 states have reached Biden's goal of vaccinating 70% of US adults with at least one dose by July 4 -- and those that are behind could be vulnerable to another outbreak.

3. Voting

Sen. Joe Manchin says he plans to vote against a sweeping voting rights bill and remains opposed to gutting the filibuster. The moderate Democrat from West Virginia has for months been a key holdup to the For the People Act, which he described as "partisan voting legislation." His opposition to filibuster changes also presents a major roadblock for Biden, given that Republicans can hold up many of his legislative priorities under the current rules. Meanwhile, former President Trump continued to push disinformation around the 2020 presidential election in a speech this weekend before the North Carolina Republican Party, while praising states like Texas, Florida and Georgia that have advanced laws making it harder for Americans to vote.

4. Mexico

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador appears to have lost his grip on power after a poor showing in yesterday's midterm elections. Preliminary results suggest the country's ruling political coalition will no longer have a qualified majority in the lower house of Congress, making it harder to pass major legislative and constitutional reforms without the help of opposition parties. The contest was largely seen as a referendum on Lopez Obrador, who was elected in 2018 after campaigning to tackle violence and corruption. But critics say he's failed to stop the organized crime turf wars that have plagued Mexico for decades. With fears of voter intimidation high, the balloting concluded one of the deadliest recent midterm election seasons.

5. Gun violence

The US experienced another deadly weekend of shootings as the nation emerges from restrictions imposed during the pandemic. In Chicago, at least five people were killed and 40 others wounded during five gun violence incidents; so far, no one is in custody. Salt Lake City and Indianapolis also reported fatal shootings over the weekend, while a shooting in New Orleans yesterday morning left eight people injured. More than 8,400 people have died from gun violence in the United States this year.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

Meghan and Harry welcome their second child

Lilibet Diana is named after her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, and her late grandmother, the Princess of Wales.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. faced off against YouTuber Logan Paul ... and it wasn't a knockout

The two went for eight rounds in yesterday's highly publicized exhibition match.

The last surviving liberator of Auschwitz dies at 98

David Dushman helped free prisoners from the notorious Nazi concentration camp as a soldier for the Soviet Red Army in World War II.

Americans can take cruise vacations again

The first big cruise ship to allow North American passengers since the pandemic shut down the industry has set sail.

Dozens of tourists were fined after police seized more than 200 pounds of sand and shells taken from the beaches of Sardinia

The Italian island's white sand is protected, and beachgoers can even face jail time for taking it.

TODAY'S NUMBER

$70

That's the price of a barrel of oil in the US as of yesterday -- the highest it's been in nearly three years. The reason for the comeback: more demand for gasoline and jet fuel now that life is returning to normal.

TODAY'S QUOTE

"Asian people in Brazil ... We pretend we don't care, but it hurts deep inside."

Sissy Oishi de Lima, a fitness instructor in Sao Paulo, speaking about the discrimination she's faced at work since the coronavirus pandemic began. She's one of many Asian workers around the world who reported experiencing more workplace bias in the last year.

TODAY'S WEATHER

Check your local forecast here>>>

AND FINALLY

The song of the cicada

Before you dismiss their loud, buzzing drone as just a nuisance, let resident bug expert Dr. Sammy teach you a thing or two. Cicadas ... they're just like us! (Click here to view.)
EUGENE, Ore. -- Lane County could move into the lower risk category as soon as tomorrow, according to Lane County Public Health's spokesperson Jason Davis.

LCPH has been working with Gov. Kate Brown's office in an attempt to fast-track the downgrade.

"The governor's office has been really receptive to that and we'll just see how all of this plays out with the numbers," Davis said.

Typically, the governor's office evaluates counties' risk levels on Tuesday and changes are made the following Friday.

However, if the governor's office agrees, Lane County could move down in risk level as soon as the Oregon Health Authority confirms the county reached the goal of giving first shots to more than 65% percent of residents 16 and older. That would mean large, outdoor events, like the upcoming NCAA track and field championship, would be able to increase capacity from 25% to 50%.

"We have some pretty big things happening this week that we've asked for exceptions on, including the NCAA track meet as well as a few other different things," Davis said.

Many Lane County residents said they're looking forward to moving into the lower risk category for what health officials expect to be the final time.

"I think it might hopefully stop the fear that people are having," said Dori Brand. "I mean, some people are too scared to go to work right now."

Others are looking forward to supporting local businesses.

"I see a lot of businesses closing that I've been a patron of and I want to see those back up and running," Loni Steddman said.

But some residents still have some concerns because young children aren't yet eligible to be vaccinated.

"I have a little one on the way and not knowing the science behind how that might affect infants -- I'm vaccinated, but that doesn't mean that the infant's vaccinated," Anne Esterberg said.

Davis could not confirm whether or not the county has hit the 65% goal yet but said it is very likely after hundreds of people received shots at Autzen Stadium over the weekend.

In a previous interview, Davis said the county has already submitted the required vaccine equity plan to the Oregon Health Authority.
COTTAGE GROVE, Ore.  A man accused of shooting at several people near Cottage Grove was found not guilty of all charges on Monday.

Boudie Lancaster, 45, was arrested after the shooting, which happened on Aug. 3 in the 72900 block of London Road. One victim was flown by helicopter to a hospital and two others were taken from the scene by ambulance.

A jury deliberated for about seven hours before reaching their verdict, which follows a trial that began May 25 in Lane County Circuit Court. Lancaster had been charged with four counts of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault.

RELATED: THREE TAKEN TO HOSPITAL FOLLOWING SHOOTING OFF LONDON ROAD

Shortly after the shooting, KEZI 9 News talked to a neighbor, who said they were in shock over the incident.

It brings me great sadness for this time we are living in," said Gretchen Spears. "Its such a sad thing to see these things happen.

Others said at the time that they weren't shocked at all.

When I saw that it was that particular neighbor, I was not terribly surprised," said Lani Wright.
SALEM, Ore.-- Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it will repeal the rule requiring face coverings in the workplace when Gov. Kate Brown's vaccination target is reached.

Brown announced last week that most of the state's coronavirus restrictions will be lifted when the state reaches a vaccination rate of 70 percent. Oregon OSHA said that Brown asked OSHA to review its rules to align with the new goal.

Face covering and physical distancing requirements will both be repealed, and according to OSHA, discussions about repealing other pandemic provisions will begin the week of June 14.

Workplace settings that must follow federal guidance like airports, public transit and health care facilities may be required to continue masking and social distancing.

More information about OSHA's workplace guidance and resoures related to COVID-19 is available here.
SALEM, Ore.  Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek wants to expel a Republican lawmaker who allowed violent protesters into the state Capitol in December.

Kotek introduced a resolution that says if two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives concur, Rep. Mike Nearman would be expelled from the House. Minutes before the House opened its floor session late Monday morning, her office announced that Kotek appointed a committee to consider expulsion.

The committee, composed of three Democrats and three Republicans, will convene later this week and take up the resolution, Kotek's press release said.

Hours later, House Republican Leader Christine Drazan told KGW that Republicans wrote a letter to Nearman calling for him to resign.

"We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard in elected life and his actions do not meet that standard," said Drazan.

The incident on Dec. 21 rattled lawmakers and staff inside the Capitol and foreshadowed the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by rioters spurred on by then President Donald Trump. Several of those who were among the crowds in Salem on Dec. 21 later were in Washington during the U.S. Capitol attack.

As lawmakers met in emergency session on Dec. 21 to deal with economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, far-right rioters entered the building. They sprayed chemical irritants at police who finally expelled them. Outside, protesters broke windows on the Capitol and assaulted journalists.

Later, security camera video emerged showing Nearman opening a door to the capitol, which was closed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic, allowing protesters to enter. Nearman allegedly told people in a video days earlier that he would let them in if they texted him, and he provided his cell phone number. The video was first reported Friday by Oregon Public Broadcasting.

In her resolution, Kotek said personnel who were authorized to be in the Oregon Capitol described the events on Dec. 21 as intense and stressful, terrifying and distressing.

Law enforcement officers were visibly injured and shaken due to the demonstrators action, Kotek added.

The severity of Representative Nearmans actions and last weeks revelation that they were premeditated require a special committee to immediately consider expelling him from the House of Representatives, Kotek said. He knowingly put the physical safety of everyone in the Capitol - lawmakers, staff and law enforcement - in jeopardy."

Her resolution cites the Oregon Constitution, which empowers the House of Representatives to punish a representative for disorderly behavior.

With the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives, Representative Nearman (shall) be expelled from the House of Representatives, the resolution says.

Nearman also faces two misdemeanor criminal charges and has said he will seek a trial by jury.

Nearman hasnt responded to repeated interview requests. He did say on a conservative radio show last month: The Oregon State Police spent over four months investigating me. ... Do you think these guys have anything better to do?

Kotek said police in the state Capitol prevented the situation from escalating.

As we saw in January at the U.S. Capitol, the ramifications could have been dire if law enforcement had not stepped in so quickly, Kotek said.

Members of the new committee are Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene; Rep. Christine Drazan, R-Canby; Rep. Barbara Smith Warner, D-Portland; Rep. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles; Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego; and Rep. Duane Stark, R-Grants Pass.
By Prossy Kisakye

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda Dr Steven Kazimba Mugalu, says the church is ready to support the governments new interventions in the fight against the covid-19 pandemic.

Yesterday, the President suspended communal prayers in all places of worship including churches and mosques for 42 days as a way to combat the rising community covid-19 cases in the country.

Speaking to the media at his residence at Namirembe, Dr Kazimba emphasised that the church was not closed but only the buildings.

He urged Christians to continue worshipping and praying in their homes, asking the heads of families to open altars in their homes and lead the family in daily prayers.

Dr Kazimba also said the church will continue to use online platforms as it was in the first lockdown to reach out to the Christians to pray together and encourage each other.
Sayre, PA (18840)

Today

Partly cloudy this morning with thunderstorms becoming likely this afternoon. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 78F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
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A third of Irish people are not at all worried about skin cancer, worrying new research has revealed.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in Ireland and claims over 230 lives each year.

Meanwhile, a survey of 1,000 adults conducted by Core Research on behalf of the Irish Cancer Society during Skin Cancer Awareness Month in May has also found that 3 in 10 people never check their skin for signs of cancer.

And the number of people who are not at all worried about skin cancer increases to four in ten among some groups who are actually at higher risk, including males and those aged over 55.

The survey also found that people mostly associate skin cancer signs with moles, with over half of those queried saying they would seek attention within a matter of days if they noticed a worrying sign with a mole.

However this drops to four in ten for other, less well understood skin cancer signs like lumps, spots and rough, scaly patches on the skin.

The Irish Cancer Society has recently spoken out about a catchup phenomenon where patients have delayed getting warning signs of cancer checked due to the pandemic. As with all cancers, catching skin cancer early is vital for patients to have the best outcome possible.

Commenting on the research Dr Blaithin Moriarty, Dermatologist at St Vincents University Hospital, said: If people notice the signs of skin cancer early treatment can be very straightforward with a low-risk surgical procedure. However, as a skin cancer such as melanoma develops into later stages the survival rate drops significantly from almost 100% when caught at stage 1 to approximately 20% at stage 4, and treatment becomes much more difficult.

Fortunately skin is the type of cancer you can see with your own eyes and do something about immediately. It is worrying to think that people believe they are at low risk when that might not be the case, as weeks can make a difference when it comes to the stage of diagnosis.

Skin cancer survivor Ailish McBride says people should trust their gut if they notice anything that worries them.

In February last year I noticed a small but very dark freckle or mole just above my knee. It looked different from my other moles, so I went to see my GP and within a few days it was removed quickly and painlessly. For many people thats all that will be needed.

In my own case I went for further surgery to make sure the cancer hadnt spread, which thankfully it hadnt. After my own experience I would urge others to be vigilant, and if you have an ugly duckling of a freckle or mole that keeps catching your eye then trust your gut and get it checked, because Im really glad I did.

Kevin OHagan, Cancer Prevention Manager with the Irish Cancer Society, said: We are asking everyone to be Skin Smart and know the signs of skin cancer. It is extremely treatable when picked up early, so a simple and frequent routine of checking your own skin for anything that is new, changing or unusual can be a lifesaver.

This is particularly important for people who are at higher risk such as those aged over 50, or outdoor workers who are exposed to the sun more. With summer now here we are as always encouraging the public to mind their skin in the sun by seeking shade, wearing covering clothes, a hat and sunglasses as well as sunscreen on exposed skin, and knowing when the sun is strongest.
New attitudinal research released today by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has found that a quarter of drivers surveyed agreed that there were times when they may have been over the drink driving limit when driving the morning after a night out.

The Driver Attitudes & Behaviour Survey carried out in December 2020, also found that overall, 9% of motorists admit to consuming alcohol before driving in the past twelve months, with the figure higher amongst men (12%) than women (5%).

Ms Hildegarde Naughton, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, said: "Drink driving is viewed by most people in this country as anti-social behaviour and completely unacceptable, yet there are some who persist in this dangerous behaviour. Whatever you do dont drink and drive and understand that you could still be unfit to drive the morning after.

Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman, Roads Policing and Community Engagement, An Garda Siochana added: "Gardai are keeping people safe on our roads and will be visible across the country over this June Bank Holiday weekend. Alcohol and drugs impair peoples judgement. Intoxicated driving is a major factor in serious injury and fatal collisions on our roads. I appeal to people to drive safely and not to drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If you are stopped and fail a roadside test, think of the implications, you could receive a disqualification from driving. How will this impact on you socially, domestically or professionally?

Mr Sam Waide, CEO of the RSA, said: "While our research shows that most drivers believe that drinking and driving is not normal social behaviour, I am concerned at the numbers who are getting behind the wheel the morning after with drink on board. Drink driving is drink driving no matter what time of the day or week it happens. The morning after is a real danger zone for drink driving. A previous analysis of Garda Siochana Investigation Files for fatal collisions, by the RSA, shows that 11% of fatal collisions, in which a driver had consumed alcohol, occurred between 7am and 11am. There is no hard and fast rule about when it is safe to drive the morning after if you have been drinking the previous night. But motorists should allow at least one hour per standard drink for the alcohol to clear their system. A standard drink is a half-pint, a small glass of wine or a standard measure of spirits. Also, if drinking at home, you may be unknowingly consuming larger measures and therefore increasing the risk that you are unsafe to drive the following morning. The key is never to take chances, dont risk it, you could end up losing your licence or worse.

Professor Denis Cusack, Head of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety said: "While drug driving has increased substantially in recent years, alcohol remains the most prevalent intoxicant detected in drivers. In 2020, 94% of drivers, who following arrest provided an evidential breath sample for alcohol analysis, had alcohol detected in their breath. Combining Breath, Blood and Urine alcohol positive samples it is notable that 88% of those samples have alcohol concentrations greater than the legal limit of 50mg/100ml blood equivalent, 67% of drivers have alcohol concentration over 100mg/100ml blood equivalent and 42% of drivers have levels greater than 150mg/100ml blood equivalent. The higher the concentration of alcohol the more significant driver impairment and the greater the crash risk is. This emphasises the long-standing road safety message, never drink and drive.

He added that "all age groups are well represented in drink driving detections. The median age of drivers asked to provide a breath sample for alcohol testing in a garda station is 38. The majority of arrests for drink driving in males is evenly spread across the late teen to mid forty age categories, while female arrests peak in the 35 to 44 age group.

The HSE has a useful website called 'askaboutalcohol.ie' which is full of very valuable resources on the impact of alcohol on driving and drivers are encouraged to visit the site for more information on the subject.

A total of 14 people have been killed and 64 people seriously injured over June Bank Holiday weekends between 2016-2020*.

To date in 2021, a total of 47 people have died on Irish roads, this is 12 fewer than the same period in 2020.

The RSA Driver Attitudes & Behaviour Survey, 2020 also found that;

 9% of motorists consumed alcohol before driving in past 12 months (12% of Male motorists; 5% of Female motorists).

 1 in 4 (25%) motorists agreed there were times when they have been over the limit when driving the morning after a night out.

 27% of those who consumed alcohol before driving in the last 12 months, had 2 or more drinks before doing so.

 58% of Irish motorists claimed that to be safe to drive, they cannot have consumed any alcohol before driving (down from 68% in 2019).

 43% of all motorists stated that to remain under the legal limit, they cannot have consumed any alcohol before driving.

 9 in 10 (92%) motorists agreed driving under the influence of alcohol seriously increases the risk of a collision.
MASON CITY, Iowa - One person was taken away on a stretcher after a report of a fire at the Globe Gazette building in Mason City.

Mason City police said it responded at 9 p.m. Sunday to 300 N. Washington Ave. after a report of smoke coming from the building.

The Mason City Fire Department said there were no visible flames, but the smoke was coming from the air handling unit on top of the building after something on the inside burnt up.

There was no damage to the building.

The newspaper announced recently it is moving from its long-time location on N. Washington into a different space on S. Taft Ave.
NORTHWOOD, Iowa  A Waterloo man already facing 12 criminal charges in Floyd County is now accused of six more felonies in Worth County.

Curtin Alan Anderson, 21 of Waterloo, was booked into the Worth County Jail Friday night and is being held on $10,800 bond. Hes charged with ongoing criminal conduct, three counts of second-degree burglary, second-degree theft, and third-degree theft.

Law enforcement says Anderson and Nicholas Gaige McLeland, 29 of Clear Lake, burglarized three homes near Grafton on the night of March 1 or the early morning of March 2. Court documents state garages and out buildings were entered and several items were stolen, including boots, tools, keys, and firearms.

McLeland was previously arrested and pleaded not guilty to the same crimes as Anderson. No trial has been scheduled.

Anderson and McLeland have also pleaded not guilty to 24 criminal charges in Floyd County for multiple burglaries and thefts between March 3 and March 5. Investigators say the crimes happened at different locations in Floyd and Rudd and a minivan and two cars were among the items stolen.
ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) -- A man was shot and killed just north of downtown St. Louis Sunday afternoon, according to police.

Investigators on scene said 37-year-old William Nearing was shot in the chest near the intersection of North Tucker and Biddle just after 2:30. His body was found on the sidewalk across from the busy McDonalds just north of Downtown. It was a sight Misha Marshall never expected to see when she returned from the store.

Why is this happening? Why is this happening in broad daylight? Why is this happening in my neighborhood? said Marshall whos lived in the Columbus Square neighborhood for two decades.

As of Sunday, police have not released any details on a possible suspect or motive, theyre seeking witnesses and surveillance video. Newly elected 5th ward Alderman James Page says hed like to see more cameras in the area. Thats a short-term solution, but he says the real fix to the escalating violence wont happen over night.

Trying to address the root causes of this violent streak were seeing, I know that is not a quick fix, that is not a quick answer but I think it is one of the most effective ways to deal with this, said Page.

Since Saturday, eight teens have been shot in St. Louis City. Four teens were shot overnight near Kiener Plaza, two were shot Saturday afternoon in Grand Center and another was shot early Sunday morning in the Walnut Park neighborhood.

I see these shootings, these deaths, this gun violence, as cutting off young people with tremendous potential of having any chance of reaching that potential, said Page.

Police said the Columbus Square area is part of their new summer detail to crack down on violence in and near the Downtown area. They have added patrols and are responding to a number of disturbances according to investigators.

Anyone with information about this weekends shootings is urged to call CrimeStoppers.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KRCG)  A Jefferson City man is finally getting the family reunion he never had.
Post Mortem

Letter to CM and minister H&FW

By Nagaland Post | Publish Date: 6/7/2021 1:35:09 PM IST

Suggestions on enhancement of thrust areas of the multi-pronged strategy in the fight against COVID-19

Sir,

I hope this finds you in good spirits and in good health. At the outset, I extend my most sincere gratitude to the Government of Nagaland, the Department of Health & Family Welfare, all medical and healthcare professionals, frontliners, etc for tirelessly working towards combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as the Government effectively managed the first wave, the second wave with more mutant strains is posing a big challenge to all of us. I hope that this time too, we will be victorious in overcoming this pandemic by doing everything possible to mitigate and eventually overcome this crisis at hand.

Sir, you will surely be aware of the global, national, and state level figures and the aggressive trend this pandemic has taken. Available State-level data shows that 7 (Seven) districts including Dimapur and Kohima have already recorded a positivity rate above 10 percent while another 4 districts have a positivity rate above 5%. It is understood that a positivity rate of 10%, for example, would mean that 10% of the total number of people who got tested, were found to be COVID-19 positive  the simple formula being = (positive tests)  (total tests conducted) x 100%. So, for every 1000 people getting tested, a 100 of them tested positive.

This is an alarming trend and therefore begs to ask the question  How prepared are we in managing a rapidly evolving global pandemic? Therefore, this letter is intended solely to offer humble suggestions in areas where it is felt that efforts can be enhanced. This is not intended in any manner whatsoever to discredit anybody, including the Government, the medical fraternity, frontliners etc. It is an honest attempt to provide an insight to the various approach aspects to this global crisis in the context of our State with the limited resources at our disposal to battle this pandemic. As such, I take the opportunity to present my humble thoughts and suggestions in the matter with the conviction that the suggestions, if found relevant and conducive, would be capitalised upon and implemented into workable action for the sake of the people. I apologise for the length of this letter and the time that will be needed to peruse it, but it encompasses some of the thrust areas which cannot be ignored.

Apart from the tireless efforts to increase infrastructural facilities where the Government is doing a tremendous and commendable job, there are some areas where more emphasis may be considered. These would be as follows:

1. Mass awareness through enhanced communication strategy: Ever since the pandemic hit the country, the Government of India, through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and other ministries, have embarked on a mass awareness campaign. These include illustrated guidelines, e-brochures, audio-video content (both animated and non-animated) etc. This is the only effective way to reach the masses to the extent possible with minimum logistics involved.

While illustrated content with translations in the various local dialects have been issued before, there may be very little, or perhaps, no audio-video (animated and non-animated) content published by the State Government. With the advantage of high-speed internet and smartphones and given the nature of the present crisis, the most viable option towards creating mass awareness among the people is through the social media platform, in the form of audio-video content.

These Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials would empower people to make correct decisions, modify behaviours appropriately and change social conditions. I would therefore humbly request you to kindly accord emphasis to this aspect as it will be a major factor in successfully combating this disease. I shall refer back to this point and its relevant importance as I list out more suggestions in the following paragraphs.

Suggestions:

 Government may create and disseminate more audio-video content based on WHO and MoHFW guidelines.

 Content may state that only Government sources of information are official and the most credible. This is practiced by the MoHFW.

 The content may be in English, Nagamese and translated into all local dialects spoken in the State.

 The content may cover various individualized topics such as information on basics of COVID-19 and COVID appropriate behavior, infection prevention and control, home quarantine and isolation, pediatric concerns, stress management, psychological care, vaccine hesitancy and eagerness, Adverse Effects Following Immunization (AEFI) etc. The Government of India has already published content on these topics and more details have been given below in Points No. 4 and 7 of this letter.

 Regular creation/updates may be done as per the evolving changes according to the nature of the pandemic.

 State Government may adopt a structured process of dissemination from creation source to end user.

 Hierarchy in the Government establishments may be utilised for this purpose where each one disseminates to his/her subordinates, family members, friends etc so on and so forth.

 Administration and Police officials in the districts may disseminate to the heads of NGOs, CSOs, GBs, Village Council Chairpersons within their respective jurisdictions so that it percolates down to the public.

Advantages:

 Mass awareness through an enhanced communication strategy with abundant IEC materials will keep the public informed and convinced of the gravity of the situation.

 Logistics requirement is minimum, and involves very little to no person-to-person contact.

 Audio-Video content (animated and non-animated) will be understood better by a wider section of people, particularly in rural and remote areas where literacy rate may be low.

 Disclaiming unverified sources of COVID related content and certifying those from Government sources will help curb the negative impact of fake/unverified news and rumors.

 Public would be more inclined to keep track of, and follow regular updates in the form of multimedia content from Government sources. In the absence of this, public may become more inclined towards the infinite amount of unverified, fake, malicious news, conspiracy theories, rumors etc circulating abundantly in social media.

 This will contribute positively towards encouraging greater public cooperation.

2. Systematic categorization of Lockdowns: The present variations of lockdowns/restrictions may be categorized into various levels for the ease of the Government and the public. For example, the least restrictions may be categorized as Level 1 Lockdown or Level 1 Restrictions. The stricter the guidelines and restriction of activities/timings, the higher the Level of classification.

Suggestions:

 Based on the nature and intensity of restrictions and guidelines, a broad framework may be devised to categorize lockdowns into various levels such as Level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc.

 Minor changes and amendments, if required, may be made as per the developing situation. Such changes may be prominently highlighted.

 Categorization may be done with specific reference to the context of the State. Similar strategy was followed in 2020 regarding the demarcation of various colour-coded zones depending on the spread and status of the disease in a given area.

Advantages:

 A structured system will give people a clear-cut preview of what is to come  right from the moment the announcement is made.

 Recent announcements have created confusion and panic due to conflicting terminology used while announcing lockdowns. A structured, categorized system will help in avoiding unnecessary panic and confusion in the minds of the people. For example, on 27th April 2021, when the Government Spokesperson and Honble Advisor was addressing the media, the term Lockdown was used. Later, he took to twitter to clarify that it was not a lockdown. When lockdown was announced on 11th May, 2021, the term TOTAL Lockdown was used. This created mass panic and confusion. By the time the SOPs were issued, people were more confused whether it is a total or semi-total lockdown. Hence, this suggestion aims to address these concerns.

3. Welfare schemes for the poor during lockdowns: Sir, when lockdowns are imposed as per situational demands, the most affected groups are the BPL families and daily wage earners. Food security welfare schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) which provides free additional grains on a monthly basis to beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act need to be implemented diligently. For those who may not be enrolled to avail such schemes, the States Public Distribution System along with the District Administrations and District Planning and Development Boards may be pooled together to figure out and implement a comprehensive mechanism with funding from the State Government and the DPDB Common Pool fund to provide relief to marginalized group of persons who can be identified by the village and colony councils. As of now, mostly NGOs, CSOs, Churches, faith-based establishments, political parties and individuals etc are providing humanitarian relief to marginalized sections of the people.

4. Onboarding of COVID-19 warriors to iGOT courses: Based on the decision of the Government of Indias Empowered Group on Augmenting Human Resources and Capacity Building, the Department of Personnel & Training under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India, vide Office Memorandum No: T-16017/5/2020-iGOT dated 07th April, 2020 (Copy enclosed as Annexure I) announced the launch the Integrated Govt. Online Training (iGOT) platform https://igot.gov.in containing several online training courses comprising multiple modules. It utilizes the Ministry of Human Resource Developments DIKSHA digital platform as the host platform. The platform has national coverage with 24x7 content availability, courses offered are free for all and relevant content has been launched for Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, Hygiene Workers, Technicians, Auxiliary Nursing Midwives (ANMS), State Government Officers, Civil Defence Officials, various Police Organisations, National Cadet Corps (NCC), Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), National Service Scheme (NSS), Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), Bharat Scouts and Guides (BSG), ASHA workers, Anganwadis and other volunteers as the initial targeted groups. The courses range from the Basics of COVID-19 to the Role of Police and Security Agencies to Clinical Management of COVID-19. Content of the Courses are being updated and the scope of targeted groups are being increased.

Based on this, the DoPT vide letter No. T-16017/11/2020-iGOT dated 21st April, 2020 (Copy enclosed as Annexure II) wrote to the Chief Secretaries of all State / UT Governments informing of the tailored courses on capacity building for COVID-19 warriors and frontliners. Amongst other guidelines, the suggested approach required partners and States/UTs to:

(i) Identify the States/UTs COVID-19 warriors including Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, Hygiene Workers, Technicians, Auxiliary Nursing Midwives (ANMs), State Govt. officers/officials, Police, volunteers etc and enroll them to iGOT platform.

(ii) Identify the training needs of respective frontline warriors and identify / customize courses with focus on content in local languages, etc.

(iii) Create targeted outreach programme by identifying the right channels and creation of localized outreach material to have maximum reach to blocks.

(iv) Register State/UT Government and Private Staff to take up the respective course.

(v) Governance mechanism to administer the enrollment, courses launched, course completion status through state specific dashboard.

Besides this, the Ministry suggested that States and UTs may opt for a Project Management Unit (PMU) through internal staff augmentation or from professional service provider(s). The suggested PMU, to begin with, may have a Content Expert for localization of existing content on iGOT/DIKSHA platform, creation/or curation of any new content if required, analysis of any new content/course requirement as per local needs; and an Outreach Expert to create an outreach programme, to reach out and onboard new users, to create outreach material in local languages etc.

The State and UT Governments were requested to give wide publicity and encourage more and more COVID-19 Warriors to onboard the iGOT platform and undergo online training course(s) relevant to them so that the pandemic may be handled efficiently.

Sir, it is not known how far the State Government has availed these facilities or how many have been enrolled on the iGOT platform; or how many have undergone the training courses relevant to them. While localized/translated content from some other States have been uploaded on the DIKSHA platform, there is no localized content from the State Government available on the said platform.

May I state that this platform needs to be utilised to the maximum as it will serve its intended purpose of onboarding and orienting COVID-19 warriors and targeted groups who volunteer for COVID-19 duty. Content available on the iGOT and DIKHSA platform is permitted for use by States by way of localization of content and this will greatly supplement the Mass Awareness through Enhanced Communication Strategy as highlighted above in Point No. 1. It is therefore humbly requested that this matter be looked into at the earliest for the benefit of the Frontline Workers, Volunteers and the public.

5. Augmenting of Human Resources for COVID-19: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, vide letter no. No. Z. 20015/43/2021  ME-I (FTS-8108321) dated 03rd May, 2021 to all State/UT governments (Copy enclosed as Annexure III), had issued guidelines for increasing the availability of trained human resources to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic situation. These guidelines were made in consultation with the National Medical Commission and the Indian Nursing Council. Part II of the letter under the heading INCENTIVES/RECOGNITION OF SERVICE clearly emphasizes on the steps that can be taken in augmenting human resources for COVID-19. Some of the points mentioned are as follows:

 The National Health Mission (NHM) norm for contractual human resource engagement by States/UTs may be considered for implementation of the above proposed initiative for engaging additional manpower. Flexibility will be available with States to decide on remuneration as in the NHM norms. A suitable honorarium for distinguished Covid Service may also be considered

 The financial incentives/ remuneration shall be available only for those who work for at least 100 days for Covid care.

 All Health professionals thus engaged will be covered under the Insurance Scheme of Government for health workers fighting Covid 19.

 All such professionals who sign up for minimum 100 days of Covid duty and complete it successfully will be given the Prime Ministers Distinguished Covid National Service Samman from Government of India.

 State/UT Governments can provide additional health professionals engaged through this process, to private Covid Hospitals as well in surge areas.

 State Governments/ UT administrations are to ensure that the medical professionals sought to be engaged in Covid related work are suitably vaccinated.

 The Central Government recommends to State/UT Governments to consider giving preference in regular Government appointments of Health professionals through the respective Public Service Commission/ other recruitment bodies, for those Health Professionals under this special scheme, who complete a minimum of 100 days of Covid related duty.

 The State / UT Governments may also expeditiously fill vacant posts of doctors, nurses, allied healthcare professionals and other healthcare staff in Health and Medical departments through accelerated processes as soon as possible and positively within 45 days through contractual appointments.

Sir, while the Government has recruited health care professionals and also announced the incentives vide Department of Health & Family Welfare letter No.H&FW-27/B-30/nCOV/2020(Pt) dated Kohima the 22nd May 2021, there still lies an inevitable need to supplement manpower engaging in the management of the multi-pronged strategy to battle the pandemic. Please find more details in Point No. 10 of this letter regarding the incentives announced.

Suggestions:

 While the State Government has engaged the All Nagaland Counsellors Association since 2020 in order to cater to the psychological care of COVID patients, the Government may identify qualified Counselling Psychologists and Clinical Psychologists and related professionals who are in service (but appointed in other departments), and those in the private sector who may not be a member of the Association.

 A database of all such professionals may be maintained with the Department of Health and Family Welfare so that their voluntary engagement in COVID duty can be sought upon requirement. This advance exercise is a must to address man-power shortage when the caseload intensifies; and also, for future waves of the pandemic when it hits the State.

 As per sources, there are approximately 20 Forensics professionals in Nagaland who have completed their studies. Although they may not fall directly under the Health Care Professionals category, these professionals are trained in forensic biology, serology, chemistry and toxicology etc and other branches of Forensic specializations. The services of these professionals may be reserved in advance upon their volition by supplementing their professional expertise with orientation on COVID-19 protocols through iGOT and State Government health care professionals engaged in COVID-19 duty.

Advantages:

 Mental Health Care is a fundamental approach to the treatment of COVID-19. Enhancing the mental health care provider workforce will help in providing services to not only COVID-19 patients, but to the Frontline Workers, general patients and the public who are in need of mental health care.

 Having a database on health and allied professionals with the Department will reduce delays in augmenting the existing workforce in an emergency situation like the COVID-19 pandemic. It will give a comprehensive and real-time picture on the number of trained professionals and their fields of expertise.

 The Dept. of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of Nagaland vide Advisory No. DHFW/COVID-19/1/2021/7039-43 dated 03rd April 2021 had advised all District Task Force to conduct random sampling and testing for screening for COVID-19 with certain guidelines. The High-Powered Committee on COVID-19 in its press release dated 11th May 2021 advised the DHFW to pursue aggressive testing during the lockdown period starting 14th May 2021. In view of the Governments aggressive random testing strategy, the forensics professionals, with orientation in sample collection and screening, would be able to assist the DTFs in carrying out the objective thereby augmenting the existing manpower.

6. State level model of Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN): The Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) or the National Illness Assistance Fund was set up vide MoHFW Resolution No. F-7-2/96-Fin-II dated 13/1/1997 which was published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary, Part I Section 1 on 17th January 1997 (Copy enclosed as Annexure IV). It is an umbrella scheme comprising of three components namely (i) Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN), (ii) Health Ministers Cancer Patients Fund (HMCPF) and (iii) Scheme for financial assistance for patients suffering from specified rare diseases. The Scheme was set up to provide financial assistance to patients, living below poverty line and who are suffering from specific major life-threatening diseases, to receive medical treatment at any of the super specialty Hospitals/Institutes or other Government hospitals. No grant is released to patients seeking treatment at private hospitals. The financial assistance to such patients is released in the form of one-time grant, which is released to the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital in which the treatment is being received.

The Government of India releases Grant-in-aid to each of the States/UTs under RAN, where such funds have been set up. The Grant-in-aid to States/UTs would be to the extent of 50% of the contributions made by the States/UTs subject to a minimum of Rs. 5.0 crore to States with larger population and population below poverty line and Rs. 2.0 crore to other States. Financial assistance to patients living in their respective States/UTs up to Rs. 1.50 lakh in individual cases is available under the Illness Fund at state/UTs level. Where quantum of assistance sought is more than Rs. 1.50 lakh, all such cases are to be forwarded to the Central Government.

Although there are 54 hospitals around the country empanelled with the Government of Nagaland for Medical Treatment Out Of The State and 81 empanelled hospitals (64 public and 17 private) in the State for Ayushman Bharat  Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), according to information modules and various correspondences of the MoHFW on RAN, Meghalaya and Nagaland are the only States which are yet to set up the State Illness Assistance Fund or the State level model of this Scheme. While NEIGRIHMS, Shillong, being a Central Government Institute/Hospital, is an empanelled hospital with the Government of India for the RAN Scheme, there is no such provision of the scheme in any Government hospital in Nagaland. Perhaps, this technically makes Nagaland the only State in the country to have not availed this scheme by failing to replicate this umbrella scheme at the State level.

Families covered under AB-PMJAY will not be eligible for financial assistance under RAN and HMCPF components while financial assistance received under Prime Ministers National Relief Fund (PMNRF) shall be deducted from the admissible amount of financial assistance under the Umbrella Scheme of RAN.

Similarity with PMNRF: This Scheme is similar to the illness assistance component under PMNRF. The Honble Chief Minister, who was the then MP (Lok Sabha) from Nagaland Parliamentary Constituency, had in 2017, recommended one such case of an 11 year old boy from Dimapur who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The boy was undergoing treatment at Dr. Bhubaneswar Barooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Assam which is an empanelled hospital. His case was approved by the technical committees and the Honble Prime Minister, and financial assistance according to the provisions of the Scheme was granted. As per a telephonic conversation on 22nd May, 2021, the patients family members disclosed that the boy has been responding well to the treatment and is in good health till date.

Sir, may I state that the Government of Assam, vide Letter No. NHM-15023/8/2020 dated 20th April 2021 (Copy enclosed as Annexure V) placed an order with Bharat Biotech International for 1 (One) Crore doses of COVAXIN. The very same day the then Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the Assam Government would provide free vaccines to everyone from 18-45 years of age. He informed that the State Government had already placed the order for the vaccines and that funds collected last year in the Assam Arogya Nidhi would be utilized for the procurement of vaccines (Copy of Shri Himanta Biswa Sarmas tweet enclosed as Annexure VI). This was immediately after the Government of India announced the Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy on 19th April, 2021  the third phase of the national COVID vaccination strategy  to come into effect from 01st May, 2021.

Whereas, the Government of Nagaland, as per the resolutions of the Cabinet meeting held on 27th April 2021, announced free vaccination for all persons aged 18  44 years. On 28th April, 2021, the Honble Chief Minister wrote to the President of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) with a request that member companies contribute generously towards the States endeavour to purchase 16 lakh vaccine doses amounting to Rs. 64 (Sixty Four) crores for free vaccination of the targeted age group. On 06th May 2021, the Finance Department imposed pro-rata cuts of 20 per cent on travel expenses, office expenses, motor vehicles and maintenance under the non-development expenditure from the Budget Estimate 2021-2022 to mobilize additional funds to provide free COVID-19 vaccine and other related activities.

Keeping these in mind, may I humbly offer the following points:

Suggestions:

 State Government may set up the State level model of RAN urgently to help BPL patients in dire need of healthcare.

 The State Government may also consider setting up similar illness assistance component under the Chief Ministers Relief Fund in line with the existing provisions under the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund.

Advantages:

 Having a State level model of RAN will significantly help under-privileged patients in accessing good healthcare for specific major life-threatening diseases.

 Setting up the State level model of RAN will encourage individuals, trusts, funding agencies and corporates to donate specifically towards the health care sector in the State.

 Corporates would be inclined to make donations to such specific funds as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives towards the health sector and preventive health measures as specified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, in Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013.

 Having a health care component under the CMRF along with the State level model of RAN would provide parallel options of Government assistance to needy patients fulfilling the eligibility criteria.

 It would serve as a financial repository of public and corporate donations which may be used in unprecedented emergency situations like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as can be seen in the case of Assam which had funds readily available at its disposal for procurement of vaccines for the third phase. This would be particularly helpful for a small State like Nagaland which is already stretched on finances.

7. Vaccine Communication Strategy: The MoHFW published the COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Strategy on 30th December 2020. The publication focuses on four key areas as part of interventions under the strategy:

 Information on the new COVID-19 vaccine: Provide prompt, simple and focused communication on the COVID-19 vaccine(s) and vaccination processes.

 Vaccine Hesitancy: Build public confidence on the safety and efficacy of the new vaccine.

 Vaccine Eagerness: Ensure understanding and acceptance of the phased and prioritized approach to overcome concerns of the population waiting for vaccination.

 COVID Appropriate Behaviours: Maintain and sustain key preventive behaviours: wearing masks, maintaining physical distance and hand washing with soap.

The main objectives of the COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Strategy have been listed as:

 Ensure that all eligible groups receive the vaccine with confidence.

 All people get correct information and are not influenced by mis/disinformation, myths or misconceptions.

 Hesitancy of public is addressed on the COVID-19 vaccination process.

 Provide correct, consistent and timely information on the new COVID-19 vaccine(s) (availability, safety, and timelines) and vaccination processes.

 Generate awareness and understanding of the phased approach of prioritizing target groups.

 Address low-risk perception of the infection amongst people and build an enabling environment to adopt and maintain COVID appropriate behaviours to reduce any risks of infection.

A major area of focus would be to address the Vaccine Eagerness and Vaccine Hesitancy factors. For this, the strategy includes:

Vaccine Eagerness (VE):

 Acknowledge that there might be a degree of vaccine eagerness but people will have to wait to get vaccine access, based on the defined prioritization criteria.

 Refer to key messages (shared as annexures with the strategy document) and communication package addressing the potential for vaccine eagerness and engaging people to support the vaccination rollout.

 Share accurate information, consistently with general public and those waiting for the vaccine to address any knowledge gaps.

 Advocate for and refer to reliable sources of information (MoHFW website and official social media handles), and proactively manage any mis/disinformation or fake news.

Vaccine Hesitancy (VH):

 Community engagement with credible communication approaches for each target group to build trust in vaccines.

 Identify traditionally known vaccine-hesitant and resistant areas/groups/communities, based on prior experience. Orient credible influencers from local communities to build their trust and acceptance.

 Develop articles with support from influencers about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine in national, state and regional media.

 Use articles and research in support of the vaccine, scientific explanations and clips of credible influencers during interaction with the hesitant groups.

 Create a pool of editors who will write and share opinion editorials in national, state and regional media.

 Ensure real-time, round-the-clock monitoring of digital media to facilitate appropriate and timely action to address hesitancy.

At the State level, the following advocacy actions have been recommended for implementation:

 Utilise State Steering Committee for interdepartmental coordination to support awareness generation.

 Leverage State Task Force to oversee develop state communication plan (annexed in the strategy document) for COVID-19 vaccination rollout, including monitoring mechanisms.

 Preparation and dissemination of a written appeal from Chief Minister to all elected representatives and District Magistrates.

 Developing and adapting communication package, plan and materials in local languages.

 Organizing advocacy events with religious leaders and faith-based institutions  written appeal, audio/video bytes, miking  amplified through electronic, print media, WhatsApp, and social media.

 Involving local celebrities including digital media champions.

Sir, these are some of the basic guidelines and advocacy actions that have been specified by the MoHFW with regard to the Vaccine Communication Strategy. It is yet to be known how much digital content such as illustrated guidelines and information modules, audio/video content etc from the State Government addressing the issues of VE, VH and Adverse Effects Following Immunization (AEFI) have been published and disseminated into the public domain. The strategy document, in section 4.5 Managing Crisis Emerging from AEFI, or Otherwise lists the key actions required for any crisis resulting from VE issues, VH barriers and AEFI. This is a very important aspect which needs greater emphasis since vaccine hesitancy and fear of AEFI is more prominent among the public in the State due to lack of verified, official information from Government sources. This strategy may be integrated with the Mass Awareness through Enhanced Communication Strategy mentioned in Point No. 1 of this letter.

8. Engagement of Churches: We have a predominantly Christian population and so, the Church plays a significant role in our society. The Churches have substantial infrastructure and resources. While Churches are coming forward to contribute in many ways which is highly appreciated, majority of the Churches seem to be less active. The Nagaland Baptist Church Council, on 16th May 2021, sounded a clarion call to Churches to become more active and rise up to the challenge by displaying love and compassion to everyone, especially those stigmatized by society due to Covid-19. The following points are therefore suggested:

Suggestions:

 State Government may encourage the Churches to consider setting up quarantine / isolation centres in their infrastructure facilities.

 State Government may give COVID-19 orientation to officials and member volunteers of Churches that agree and come forward and designate them as FLWs.

 Special emphasis for orientation to agreeable Churches on psycho-social care of patients may be given to the Church officials and member volunteers.

 Churches that come forward may collaborate with the respective District Task Force of their district.

 Churches should be willing to accept anyone, members and non-members.

 Any person requiring to be isolated/quarantined may opt to choose his/her Church as first choice, if it has offered its space for the purpose.

Advantages:

 Most Churches have ready infrastructure such as guest houses, spacious compounds, and big halls and even schools which can be used for isolation/quarantine.

 This would enable Churches to render valuable services to patients under their care such as psycho-social care / counselling, spiritual counselling as well as prayer support.

 Believers having the option to choose their own Church facilities to be isolated or quarantined would feel comfortable, familiar and positive in outlook. This will considerably reduce the effects of depression and anxiety in those requiring isolation / quarantine.

Other religion-based establishments may follow suit.

9. Correct placement of priorities: Sir, it is appreciable that the State Government has been trying its best to manage the pandemic despite having limited resources. The decision-making stage is most important and even the slightest delay may prove costly. While a number of decisions have been taken by the Government as the pandemic unfolded, there have been instances where, I believe, correct placement of priorities could not be identified at the given time.

For example, most States became aware of the impending second wave by the end of March 2021. Neighbouring sister States like Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur implemented strict measures particularly during the month of April. The Nagaland State Government also issued guidelines, but these did not seem strict enough. Some steps taken by various neighbouring State Governments during April 2021 are as follows:

(i) Assam:

 On 03rd April 2021, the Assam Government ordered that all Air passengers from Mumbai and Bengaluru (which were seeing massive rise in new positive cases) disembarking in any airport in Assam will mandatorily need to carry a negative RT-PCR test report conducted within 72 hours prior to undertaking the journey. The report should be verifiable by QR Code or otherwise (Copy of order enclosed as Annexure VII). A similar yet separate order was issued for rail passengers whereby all passengers arriving in trains originating from or transiting through Maharashtra and/or Karnataka will undergo screening for symptoms on arrival in railway stations in Assam. All symptomatic passengers will undergo COVID-19 test as per protocol while random Rapid Antigen Test would be carried on asymptomatic passengers (Copy of order enclosed as Annexure VIII).

 On 13th April 2021, the Assam Government partially modified the earlier SOPs and ordered that all passengers arriving in any airport in Assam will have to mandatorily undergo Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT). Those testing positive will have to undergo home isolation get admitted to hospital depending upon their medical condition. Those who test negative will have to undergo RT-PCR testing for confirmation (Copy of order enclosed as Annexure IX).

(ii) Meghalaya:

 On 19th April 2021, the Meghalaya Government banned the entry of tourists from outside the State w.e.f from 23rd April 2021 up to 07th May, 2021 (Copy of order enclosed as Annexure X).

 On 21st April 2021, the Meghalaya Government ordered that RT-PCR Testing at Entry Points is mandatory for all persons visiting the State irrespective of any other COVID-negative test reports. It also ordered that there would be no exemption from testing for persons coming from Maharashtra / Delhi / UP/ Bihar /West Bengal / Karnataka and Kerala even if they possess a valid final certificate of vaccination (Copy of order enclosed as Annexure XI).

(iii) Manipur:

 On 15th April 2021, the Manipur Government ordered that w.e.f. 18th April 2021, all persons entering Manipur by air or road, irrespective of place of origin, shall be allowed entry only on mandatory production of a negative RT-PCR /TrueNat/CB-NAAT COVID-19 test report taken within 72 hours from arrival in Manipur. All Army/CAPF units were instructed to arrange for COVID-19 testing of their personnel entering Manipur (Copy of order enclosed as Annexure XII).

 On 26th April 2021, the Manipur Government ordered a restriction on the entry of all non-official visitors into the Manipur Civil Secretariat (Copy of order enclosed as Annexure XIII).

Presented in brief are some orders from the Nagaland State Government during the same month  April 2021 along with some honest observations:

 On 07th April 2021, the State Government issued guidelines for screening of returnees / inbound travellers at Dimapur Airport (Copy of order enclosed as Annexure XIV). Special attention was to be given to people coming from any of the 11 states which had the highest COVID-19 active cases as on 05/04/2021 namely  Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi. The Order appended the Home Departments earlier SOPs dated 25th November 2020.

It may be mentioned that the SOP dated 25/11/2020 was issued during the Unlock 6.0 phase whereas the emerging situation was of an impending second wave that was about to hit the State. The 07th April 2021 guidelines made no mandatory requirement of COVID-19 negative report for inbound travellers / returnees. Those producing COVID-19 negative test report conducted not earlier than 3 (three) days were exempted from quarantine. Any symptomatic traveller was to report to the concerned district health authority. Every returnee / traveller without a COVID-19 negative test report and asymptomatic would have to undergo quarantine for 10 (ten) days.

The 07th April 2021 SOP for returnees / inbound travellers at Dimapur Airport should have made COVID-19 negative report mandatory for all inbound persons. This would have prevented the possibility of COVID-19 positive passengers, both asymptomatic and symptomatic yet unaware of their status, from infecting co-passengers including those who have produced Negative reports and would be exempted from quarantine. It would also increase the caseload in Dimapur, the main entry point since such cases would have to be isolated/quarantined or admitted to hospital in Dimapur itself. Even though some of the guidelines may have been similar, appending 4-month old Unlock 6.0 SOPs  instead of new guidelines suited to the emerging situation  could have been avoided, particularly at a time when newer and more virulent strains were causing massive spikes in the positivity rate across the country.

 On 16th April 2021, the State Government issued revised SOPs limiting the permitted capacities for various programmes, functions, gatherings, sporting events, religious gatherings and theatres/multiplexes/cinema halls etc (Copy of order enclosed as Annexure XV).

This was a critical priority that needed to have been placed earlier, preferably with the 07th April 2021 SOPs or even earlier. This revised SOP came 2 (two) days after 12 (twelve) players participating in the Dr. T. Ao Trophy which began on 13th April 2021 at Kohima, tested positive for COVID-19 on 14th April 2021. When news of this broke, a local media establishment reported that a particular district team reportedly arrived without taking the test and informed organizers of their test status after arrival on April 12. Cost factor was reportedly cited as the reason for forgoing the mandatory test.

 On 27th April 2021, the Nagaland Government restricted the entry of visitors into the Nagaland Civil Secretariat with immediate effect. It also issued entry guidelines and precautionary measures for employees and officials (Copy of order enclosed as Annexure XVI).

Whereas, the many entry points particularly in Dimapur which has a long porous border with Assam, were left open. Although the State Government issued consolidated guidelines vide Order No. NSDMA-ER-COVID19-301/2020 (Part II) on 29th April 2021 disallowing entry into the State through routes and modes of travel other than those specified, it is a gigantic task to check the long porous interstate border particularly in Dimapur. It is not known if any additional forces were deployed along such porous border-areas to monitor the unauthorized entry of persons from Assam through subsidiary routes. It may also be mentioned that this long porous border with subsidiary routes posed a huge risk to the people of Dimapur since Assam held its General Assembly Elections throughout March  April, 2021. It is public knowledge as to how numerous persons living and working in Dimapur had visited their villages in Assam to cast their votes and then returned to Dimapur.

It also seemed to be a repetition of last year wherein the entry of visitors to the Civil Secretariat was restricted vide Home Department Order No.GAB-I/COM/GEN-1/2020 dated Kohima the 19th March 2020 while all inter-state entry points were sealed vide Government order No.CSO GAB-I/COM/GEN-1/2020 dated Kohima the 22nd March 2020. Subsidiary routes were ordered shut by the Home Department vide letter No.NSDMA-ER-COVID19/301/2020/061 dated 4th April 2020 addressed to all DCs.

While both steps are priorities, one may be more critical than the other. Therefore, the order securing the epicenter of governance first, instead of the States borders, is evidence of misplaced priorities. Securing the States borders (and the public) first, would have sent a positive message to the people instead.

10. Promptness and clarity in government notifications: Sir, during such emergent times, there have been numerous notifications, guidelines, circulars, orders etc issued by the Government of India. The MoHFW vide letter D.O. No. F.No.Z-l8016/1/2020/PMGKP-NHM II dated 03rd April 2020 (Copy of letter enclosed as Annexure XVII) informed all State Governments and UTS about the Government of Indias Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package: Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19.

As per the guidelines and information modules provided in the letter, this insurance scheme covers (i) Loss of life due to COVID-19, and (ii) Accidental death on account of COVID-19 related duty. Those covered under this insurance scheme, as specified by the MoHFW, are (i) Public healthcare providers including community health workers, who may have to be in direct contact and care of COVID-19 patients and who may be at risk of being impacted by this; and (ii) Private hospital staff and retired / volunteer / local urban bodies / contracted / daily wage / ad-hoc / outsourced staff requisitioned by States / Central hospitals / autonomous hospitals of Central / States / UTs, AIIMS and INIs / hospital of Central Ministries can also be drafted for COVID 19 related responsibilities.

The MoHFW vide its letter F.No.Z. 21020/16/2020/PH dated 26th April, 2021 to all State Governments and UTs, announced the renewal of the scheme for a further period of 180 days (Copy of letter enclosed as Annexure XVIII). Point No. 2 of this letter acknowledged that On account of the unprecedented situation, private hospital staff / retired / volunteer / local urban bodies / contract / daily wage / ad-hoc / outsourced staff requisitioned by States / Central hospitals / autonomous hospitals of Central / States / UTs, AIIMS and INIs / hospital of Central Ministries specifically drafted for care of COVID 19 patients were also covered under this scheme.

It is very clear that any persons from the above-mentioned specified category (ii) requisitioned by the State Government on contract basis for COVID-19 duty are also entitled for the PMGKP Insurance Scheme. However, this has not been specified clearly in the recent notification issued by the Department of Health & Family Welfare vide letter No.H&FW-27/B-30/nCOV/2020(Pt) dated Kohima the 22nd May 2021. Moreover, the Department of Health and Family Welfare, in its Notification dated 11th May 2021 announced the renewal of the PMGKP insurance scheme and further announced that the State Government would provide an additional amount of Rs. 10 lakh as a compensation for all such workers covered under the said scheme (Copy of letter enclosed as Annexure XIX).

While this move of the State Government is appreciated, the notification is vague when it states some accident. Since there are specific definitions by the MoHFW on the types of accidents covered by the scheme, it is incumbent upon the State Government to refer to it specifically and not vaguely as some accident. Moreover, the PMGKP insurance scheme for health workers fighting COVID-19 was renewed on 26th April, 2021 while the MoHFW issued guidelines for augmenting human resources for COVID-29 on 03rd May 2021. Whereas, the State Government notified the tailored versions of the two Schemes on 11th May 2021 (after 15 days) and 22nd May 2021 (after 19 days) respectively.

Sir, with due respect and acknowledgement of the fact that administrative decisions take time, may I state that these are emergent times of a serious, rapidly evolving crisis. I would therefore appeal to your kind authority to ensure that decisions are taken and implemented promptly and notified with clarity to avoid unnecessary confusion.

11. Managing a rapidly evolving crisis: Honble Sir, I am fully aware that it is not my place to offer any advice on leadership given the vast knowledge and experience your good self has gained in the many decades of public life and service.

But from an academic perspective, may I be permitted to respectfully state that the fundamental aspects of crisis management from a leadership perspective includes the ability to anticipate and identify possible threats, engage with all stakeholders in a regular and insightful manner, and take prompt decisions and actions without delay. It is these fundamentals that will increase the resilience of the State and its people to face impending crises, which in the present situation, is not a question of if but when it comes.

It is widely estimated that when the third wave comes, the most affected group would be those in the paediatric age group since they would not have been vaccinated. The MoHFW has already issued the Protocol for Management of Covid - 19 in the Paediatric Age Group on 21st April 2021. It is hoped that the State Government would consider identifying and designating Paediatric COVID-19 hospitals well in advance as an act of anticipated preparedness.

12. Expectations and role of the public: Sir, the three universal truths about expectations of the people in such a crisis scenario are:

(i) In a crisis, people look to leaders for good leadership.

(ii) When they look, they want and need leaders that they can believe in.

(iii) People dont expect their leaders to be perfect or omniscient, but they expect them to be visible, courageous, and committed to the best possible path forward.

It is because of this that the public at large look for answers, or engagement from the Government to allay their doubts, fears, confusions etc. Therefore, a well-informed citizenry is likely to be more cooperative and encouraging towards the Governments efforts. Once the citizens have sufficient, verified information at their disposal, they would have a bounden obligation to fulfil their duties and responsibilities as citizens.

Conclusion:

Honble Sir, it is firmly believed that mass awareness on COVID-19 topics through the suggested mediums on a regular basis would positively impact the society and the public, who in the absence of such information from official sources, may tend to incline themselves towards the infinite information available on the internet and social media platforms from unverified and / or unofficial sources.

Here, may I refer to an article published in Issues in Science and Technology, a policy journal published by the United States National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and Arizona State University. The article was published in Vol. XXXII, No. 4, Summer 2016 titled Civil Societys Role in a Public Health Crisis by Jay Walker, Chairman of TEDMED and Walker Digital, a privately held American research and development lab that specializes in creating applications and business solutions that work with large-scale networks such as cell phones and the Internet, while researching historys largest outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease from 2014-16 in West Africa. May I provide some excerpts from the article:

 When the next major pandemic strikes, it will be accompanied by something never before seen in human history: an explosion of billions of texts, tweets, e-mails, blogs, photos, and videos rocketing across the planets computers and mobile devices.

 Some of these billions of words and pictures will have useful information, but many will be filled with rumors, innuendo, misinformation, and hyper-sensational claims. Repeated tidal waves of messages and images will quickly overwhelm traditional information sources, including national governments, global news media outlets, and even on-the-ground first responders. As a result, hundreds of millions of people will receive unvetted and incorrect assertions, uncensored images, and unqualified guidance, all of which, if acted on, could endanger their own health, seriously damage their economies, and undermine the stability of their societies.

 Relatively new technologies, such as texting, chat, blogging, posting, and voice-over-Internet, as well as media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, Skype, and YouTube all began as secondary backchannels in a much larger information universe. That is no longer true. In the next major pandemic, when fatalities in a developed country start mounting past a few dozen, these backchannels will outrun and overwhelm the front channels of traditional media and official sources in terms of speed, volume, relevance, and credibility. Twenty billion personalized web and mobile messages a day could easily become the norm.

 In addition, in a world of low-cost, ubiquitous mobile web and media, groups with destructive agendas could infect the information channel with the kind of intentional lies or highly disruptive bio-terror propaganda that will be specifically designed to be quickly forwarded by millions of people in minutes.

(https://issues.org/civil-societys-role-in-a-public-health-crisis/)

This is proving to be dangerously true and we find ourselves in this situation at present. The only way to counter these issues is to adopt strategies that regularly disseminate information to people from official sources, engage people through regular interaction by shedding more light on the State Governments initiatives and efforts to battle the pandemic despite our limitations, placing priorities correctly based on criticality, and by ensuring that clear cut directives, notifications and announcements are made.

It is with this sole intent that this letter has been written after much consideration and effort to supplement the tireless efforts being put in by everyone involved. It has never been, and will never be intended to belittle or ridicule any leader, official, HCW or FLW or anybody in any manner whatsoever.

I thank you for the time your good self has taken out to read this letter.

Rokovilie Chakhesang, Darogapathar Village, Dimapur




By Kang Seung-woo







Ten U.S. Marine Corps F-35Bs, embarked on a U.K. aircraft carrier, will visit Korea for the first time in four years, according to media reports, as part of a larger deployment to the Indo Pacific region.







Currently, Britain's newest carrier, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, and its strike group are on a seven-month deployment to the region that includes a port call at Busan before it sails for Japan. The 10 Marine Corps F-35Bs make up part of the carrier's air wing, alongside eight F-35Bs from a joint U.K. Royal Air Force/Fleet Air Arm squadron, and are taking part in an extensive interoperability exercise as part of bolstering the historic U.S.-U.K. defense partnership







Although an arrival date has yet to be fixed, it is likely to be in August.







The F-35B is a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 program, and a Marine squadron with the stealth jets participated in a combined exercise with Korea in April 2018.







In April, the Ministry of National Defense here announced the British aircraft carrier's visit to Korea along with the U.K. F-35Bs as part of the Royal Navy's efforts to expand its presence in the Indo-Pacific region, but the U.S. participation was not made public.







Meanwhile, the arrival of the carrier with its F-35Bs comes at a time when Korea is working on building its own 30,000-ton light aircraft carrier for deployment by 2033, which has raised calls for additional purchases of the stealth jets.







Also, this year's port call will mark the third visit to Korea by British aircraft carriers. The U.K. previously sent light aircraft carriers to Busan in 1992 and 1997.












The AccuWeather team of tropical forecasters is watching out for possible development in days to come as meteorologists expect one chief ingredient for cyclonic activity to become a factor sometime next week.

Homebrew Storms

During the last week of May and the first official week of the Atlantic hurricane season, which started on June 1, conditions have not been favorable for tropical development as average to strong wind shear has been in place over some major areas.

But this is the time of year that tropical forecasters normally place their attention to three primary areas - the southwestern Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea - for what meteorologists often called "homebrew storms," or cyclones that emerge not far off Mexico, U.S., and Central America coasts.

By the middle of next week, wind shear is anticipated to decline across the Gulf of Mexico, southwestern Atlantic and Caribbean.

Also Read: Tropical Depression Turns Into Tropical Storm Named Paulette

Wind Shear

Wind shear is the alter in direction or increase in speed of breezes from close to the sea surface to higher levels in the atmosphere. The presence of wind shear is likely to inhibit tropical development since wind shear restricts thunderstorms from organizing around a region of low pressure.

If thunderstorms are absent, a low-pressure system is not likely to strengthen into a tropical system. Rob Miller, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist said the decline in wind shear in the middle to latter stages of next week will occur simultaneously with deeper tropical moisture [that] moves into the western Caribbean Sea. Late in the week, a region of thunderstorms may start to develop over the Caribbean Sea or the southern Gulf of Mexico.

Miller added: "Given the right conditions, a region of low pressure could develop into an organized tropical feature." Late next week or next weekend, gyre could develop around the Central America land mass as the wind shear alleviates in this area, according to Miller.

Gyre

According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, a gyre is an extensive area of gradually spinning air that rotates counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. A gyre by itself typically does not generate high winds and severe weather, but it can aid in spawning disturbances that can rapidly increase these conditions.

"These gyres can help in the production of tropical cyclones in both the Atlantic and eastern Pacific basins," Miller said. Development of these showers and thunderstorms over the Pacific Ocean to the south of Mexico will be an alternate scenario, rather than a system on the Caribbean side.

To the north of Puerto Rico, a second region of clouds and thunderstorms may make effort to organize by Thursday or Friday of next week. By next weekend, the feature would then move northward to the east of Bermuda. If something were to develop, it would not be likely to affect land.

Related Article: The Coming Storms: 4 Tropical Systems May Potentially Develop This Week

For more news, updates about tropical developments and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
"We are going to be running at just about full capacity again this year after the pandemic last year," said Director of Idaho Falls Parks and Recreation PJ Holm. Read more
UPDATE: JUNE 8 AT 12:32 P.M.

HELENA, Mont. - The Lewis and Clark County Sheriff has identified the 17-year-old boy who drowned in Canyon Ferry Lake.

According to Sheriff Leo Dutton, the boy was identified as Elias Bowe.

Elias' family has been notified of his death.

Elias' family has set up a GoFundMe page.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

HELENA, Mont. - A Helena teenager died while swimming in Canyon Ferry Lake Saturday.

Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton tells Montana Right Now 911 dispatch received a report of a 17-year-old boy who was missing in the Crittenton day use area.

Authorities with search and rescue, the Lewis and Clark County Water Emergency Team, and Tri-Lakes fire responded.

Dutton said the current became too strong for swimmers in the area and the 17-year-old did not make it to shore, adding the waves were bigger than usual due to powerful winds.

The teen was found in 15-feet of water after crews spent two hours searching.

An autopsy is being performed at the State Crime Lab in Missoula.

The teen has not been identified at this time, but Dutton said he was a junior at Helena High School.

An investigation is ongoing.
South Africa: Police swoop in on wanted PMB suspects

Police Minister Bheki Cele, has commended the South African Police Service (SAPS) for a recent operation that led to the arrest of wanted dangerous suspects in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday.

In a statement, the Ministry of Police said the suspects were arrests by police in KwaZulu-Natal. This as the police tighten the noose on criminals terrorising communities in Pietermaritzburg.

Acting on information of the whereabouts of the gang, the SAPS team traced the suspects to a lodge situated on Woodhouse Road not far from where seven suspects were fatally wounded last week, said the Ministry in a statement.

Four suspects aged between 18 and 30 were arrested, each found in possession of illegal pistols with rounds of ammunition.

The Ministry said the suspects are linked to a string of murder cases that were committed in the Pietermaritzburg, Imbali, Richmond, and Bergville areas as well as cases of robbery, rape and assault with the purpose to inflict grievous bodily harm.

The arrests come five days after seven suspects were shot and killed during a shootout with police while hiding in a suburban house in the city.

Cele in the statement said such breakthroughs are encouraging and restore hope to communities that have felt the wrath of the ruthless criminals.

It is clear that if these intelligence driven operations are consistently executed and intensified, they will bring about stability to this area that has been terrorised by gangs and ultimately bring about peace to people living in the province. We are encouraged as the Police Ministry that these individuals involved in criminal acts are being hunted down and brought to book, Cele concluded.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Interview: China-aided Africa CDC project running smoothly with "full force," says expert

Xinhua) 09:54, June 07, 2021

Ethiopian Health Minister Lia Tadesse (1st L, front), Liu Yuxi (3rd L, front), head of the Chinese Mission to the African Union and other guests attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the China-aided Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Dec. 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

"The project is the outcome of generous support from China to support Africa as a true and trusted partner of African countries and the African Union," said the coordinator of the Africa CDC headquarters project at the African Union.

ADDIS ABABA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Construction work on the China-aided future headquarters of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is running "very smoothly with full force," a long-serving African Union (AU) expert has said.

Fantahun Hailemichael, coordinator of the Africa CDC headquarters project at the AU, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the construction of the landmark project is presently progressing smoothly and as planned.

Construction work started in December last year in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, as part of the ever-growing China-Africa cooperation in the public health sector.

"Currently, the project is running very smoothly with full force. The foundation has been almost finished, and the project is now coming up. Most of the technical ground work has already been finished," he said.

Liu Yuxi (R), head of the Chinese Mission to the African Union and Amira Elfadil, Commissioner for social affairs of the African Union Commission, attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the China-aided Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Dec. 14, 2020. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

The project, covering an area of 90,000 square meters and with a total construction area of nearly 40,000 square meters, is expected to be completed within 25 months. It will be equipped with modern office buildings, high-end laboratories, and accessories.

"The project is the outcome of generous support from China to support Africa as a true and trusted partner of African countries and the African Union," said the expert.

He noted that the project envisaged improving the public health service in Africa, particularly in terms of boosting Africa's capabilities in controlling and managing infectious diseases.

A woman selects face masks in an open-air market in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Jan. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

He said that African countries in particular and the continent in general do not have adequate capacity, which has been evident in the advent of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc on a global level.

"That's why the government of China came in as a good friend to support Africa to tackle 'corona-type' diseases, in which African countries do have serious challenges to protect their own citizens and to make necessary investigations, find necessary medications and vaccinations and provide the necessary medical care," he said.

China's support is "credible, achievable and very concrete," he said.

Recalling China's trustworthy partnership with Africa that saw the successful completion of the AU headquarters back in 2012, the veteran AU expert said the future Africa CDC headquarters project will be another manifestation of the ever-growing China-Africa ties.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 26: Queen Guitarist Brian May (3rd L) joins Charities in delivering 400,000 signatures to No 10 calling for a UK fur-trade ban at Downing Street on March 26, 2018 in London, England. (Photo : Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

UK government pushes through an outright ban of selling real animal fur while animal rights activists support the movement to 'spare millions of animals' and protect them from mistreatment.

Previous studies say that UK was the first country in Europe to ban fur farming back in 2000, but selling fur was still legal in the country and across Europe. Ministers are now calling out businesses and the locals to launch evidence and express their views on the implications of real animal fur import and sale.

In a story published by the Daily Mirror in July 2020, the Independent Press Standards Organization (IPSO) found out that animals were allegedly mistreated and sold on British high streets according to animal rights group's investigation, which immediately sparked a movement to ban selling fur in the UK. However, the UK press regulator ruled that the story had no proof and was 'significantly misleading', and that fur sale was subject to high animal welfare standards in the UK at the time.

Nevertheless, the UK government believes that fur farming is considered cruel, thus the call for an outright ban.

Fur Trade Survey

Way back 2003, fur farming was so brutal that it was made illegal in the UK, but figures from HM Revenue & Customs revealed that the country had imported more than 800M worth of animal fur bought from other countries including Finland, China, France and Poland. The animals on fur factory farms often caged in filthy places where they lived most of their lives were used to make hat pom-poms, footwear, hood trims, and exclusive coats where profits were being maximized always at the expense of the animals.

In a Fur Trade Survey conducted by Humane Society International (HSI), an opinion poll from the public showed nearly 72% of the public support ban on fur import and sales, while 52% from Yonder opinion poll "strongly support" a ban, 12% were against it, 14% were neutral, and 3% have no clue.

People in Wales showed the most support with 82% who backed up real fur ban, and only 6% were opposed.

Also read: Millions of Donkeys in East Africa Are Getting Slaughtered For 'Chinese Cure'

The Fur Farming Industry

An estimated 130 million animals are being killed globally each year for the sake of fur trade. Most of them were foxes, chinchilla, mink, raccoon dogs and rabbits. This led to several campaigners for animal welfare to hand petition of more than a million signatures for outright UK fur ban.

Typically, these furry animals were being farmed in battery-caged systems along with other wild animals caught in traps.

"Animals in Finnish fur farms are 'ghosts, empty souls, living in barren cages'," said Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International/UK.

Films and photos from fur farms showed poor animals with untreated wounds and infections, even resorting to cannibalism.

Despite the campaigners' petition, the British Fur Trade Association supports real animal fur trade and considered the ban as 'unenforceable' and a risk to businesses and jobs. However, Bass told The Independent that the ban can be enforced and would not affect businesses dealing in second-hand fur.

Even designers and retailers had supported fur-free British fashion describing fur as 'immoral, cruel and barbaric'.

Also read: Monkeys Capable of Picking Up New Accents to Communicate Better
According to the most recent unemployment figures, 9.3 million Americans are still unemployed. The American Jobs Plan, offered by President Joe Biden, is the proper solution. The proposal combines climate action with economic recovery, putting people back to work in every town.

This is a bold vision for a broad-based, long-term recovery. It lays the groundwork for a new age of wealth and growth. Cleaner, healthier communities, whether urban and rural, are the result.

American Jobs Plan

The American Jobs Plan is a stirring vote of confidence in the nation's future. It sets the US on the path to 100 percent clean electricity by 2035. It wipes out nearly a third of the dangerous carbon pollution that's driving the climate crisis.

It accelerates the transition to zero-emission electric automobiles and trucks and extends sustainable transportation alternatives for those who need them most. In addition, it safeguards our communities from the dangers and pollutants caused by over 3.1 million abandoned oil and gas wells and coal mines. It also stops the continued and intolerable exposure of up to 10 million American households to contaminated drinking water.

Related Article: 'Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!' Says Biden, Claiming Climate Change Solution is Linked to Employment



Green Investments

According to a study, investing in clean automobiles, trucks, and power plants will create 15 million jobs over the next decade. In addition, it claims that repairing outdated bridges, roads, and ports will create or maintain 15 million additional employments.

For nearly 3 million workers, the renewable energy sector pays 25% more than regular employment. It designs and manufactures electric and low-emission vehicles, trucks, and parts. It updates the grid and storage system that people rely on for consistent electricity. Welders, carpenters, truck drivers, electricians, and steelworkers all have good-paying positions.

Cutting Carbon Footprints

By 2030, the United States must decrease its carbon footprint in half, and by 2050, it must stop emitting carbon pollution to the environment entirely. Carbon pollution cost the United States more than $95 billion last year alone. According to Sen. Cory Booker, confronting this enormous catastrophe will be the economic drama of our generation.

The strategy calls for increased research spending as well as investments in crucial new technologies. It would fund research and development to improve American manufacturers' efficiency and enhance the domestic supply chain for the next generation of wind, solar, and battery technologies. The proposal also includes more training for those who want to leave the fossil fuels industry.

Economic Impacts

Increasing the strength of our economy. Returning our folks to work. Getting rid of the harmful pollution that is endangering our health. Taking a stand against the rising costs and threats of climate change.

The American Jobs Plan requires fossil fuel firms, other businesses, and those who make more than $400,000 per year to contribute their fair share. Investing in efficiency will allow us to accomplish more with less waste in our homes, offices, and automobiles.

According to the authors, the American Jobs Plan is intended to alleviate inequality in education, housing, and health care. It's designed to provide historically disadvantaged areas 40% of this critical climate and renewable energy investment's economic, environmental, and health benefits. According to them, Biden's proposed federal budget for 2022 contains a down payment on this eight-year investment plan, with early funding to jump-start the development it is supposed to assure. They claim that the initiative has about two-thirds of the country's support and urgently required. The authors claim that the plan is the broad strategy that the country needs - and that it is needed right now.

Also Read: 'Cut Carbon Emissions,' 300 Companies Urge President Biden


ROME, JUN 7 - Two women aged 65 and 76 were found dead at Trevignano Romano near Rome Sunday and police arrested the suspected killer, the 34-year-old son of one of the victims. The man, who has a criminal record, was sectioned at Bracciano hospital. The 76-year-old was said to be a neighbour of the 65-year-old, and it is the latter's son who is being held, police said. Police said the man, an unemployed drug addict, murdered the women with a rudimentary wooden 'lance' after they refused his demands for money to buy drugs. The man drove away in his car and hit a group of cyclists, fortunately without serious consequences. (ANSA).
ROME, JUN 7 - The uncle of an 18-year-old Pakistani girl who has been missing from a town near Reggio Emilia since the end of April after refusing an arranged marriage in Pakistan referred to a "job well done" to a friend in an Internet chat room, Italian police said at the weekend, saying he was probably referring to her murder and the disposal of her body. Danish Hasnain, 33, uncle of Saman Abbas, reportedly wrote "we did the job well", according to the Gazzetta di Reggio Emilia newspaper. Abbas also reportedly overheard her family saying that murder was "the only solution" for women who idd not obey the Pakistani Muslim way of life, and suspected "they are talking about me", t he paper said. Abbas told her boyfriend about this family conversation, police said. Saman's parents, her uncle Danish and two cousins have been placed under investigation for homicide and disposing of a body. They are all on the run except for a cousin, Ikram Ijaz, arrested last week in the French city of Nimes. The parents flew to Pakistan at the beginning of May, and the uncle and the other cousin are believed to be somewhere in Europe. The Union of Italy's Islamic Communities (UCOII) on Wednesday issued a fatwah (ban) on arranged marriages after Saman's case. UCOII issued the ban, along with one on infibulation, together with the Islamic Association of Imams and Religious Guides. The fatwah is against "conduct that cannot find any religious justification and are therefore absolutely to be condemned, and still more to be prevented". UCOII said the case of Saman Abbas "has shocked and concerned us from the start". Abbas went missing from her home in Novellara at the end of April. Police said they had CCTV footage of three people carrying two spades, a bucket with a blue bag, a crowbar and another tool heading for the fields behind the Abbas family house. The suspected body-disposal party left the house at 19:15 on April 29 and came back at 21:50 on the same evening. (ANSA).
TRENTO, JUN 7 - A manhunt has been launched in Trentino after a woman church volunteer was attacked with a knife by one of the persons she looks after in her car. The woman, 65, who volunteers at the church at Ranzo, a part of the town of Vallelaghi, was found bleeding beside her car at Vezzano after the alleged assailant ran off. The man's jacket and luggage were found outside the locked doors of the rectory, police said, but there was no sight of him. Police are combing the area with the help of helicopters, drones, and the fire service. The woman was taken to Santa Chiara Hospital in Trento in code red but is not in a life-threatening condition. (ANSA).
ROME, JUN 7 - Some 80% of Italians will have been vaccinated by the end of September according to the government's target, COVID emergency commissioner Francesco Figliuolo told a House committee Monday. That would amount to 54.3 million Italians including 12-15-year-olds, he said. "We must not waste anything in terms of resources, people, timeframes and means," he said. Figliuolo added that it was also the government's aim to move from vaccine hubs to a "more widespread and capillary" vaccination system. He also said that a third jab would be "possible". Figliuolo said "we must return to a normal administration of the emergency". (ANSA).
TURIN, JUN 7 - Two foreign students in Turin say they were attacked by police last week, sources said at the weekend. The 31-year-old Venezuelan man and the 22-year-old Chinese woman said they were stopped, checked and attacked by the police in central Turin. They have filed a complaint alleging bodily harm, threats and abuse of office. Police deny the accusations and say the pair resisted officers who tried to check their documents. The pair's lawyer told ANSA: "The girl has been crying for two days, still in shock at what happened to her". The lawyer said the alleged attack was filmed by passersby. The pair presented at a local hospital with bruising and grazes. (ANSA).
Meteorologists at AccuWeather have some good news for a region of the country dealing with seemingly endless downpours and flooding issues since May. A shift in the weather pattern will bring drier weather to Texas and Louisiana throughout the week as downpours move further north and east.

Since May 1, rainfall has been estimated in feet from Victoria to McAllen, Texas, and into southern Louisiana, including Lake Charles. The remarkable totals were aided by a sluggish weather pattern that drew tropical moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. During this season, these places receive half a foot of rain or less on average.

Early June Rain

During the early days of June, a slow-moving storm in the upper atmosphere brought further rain to these locations.

Houston received over 5 inches of rain in only two days on June 2-3, more than the city usually receives in a month. Victoria had 5.05 inches of rain from June 1 to 5, above the month's normal of 4.46 inches.

Frequency of Heavy Rains

Thankfully, because the significant rain fell over several days rather than all at once, there have been few new flood incidences in recent days. Nonetheless, analysts warn that residents and visitors should not relax their vigilance just yet.

Early this month, the slow-moving upper-level storm will likely continue to produce scattered showers and stronger thunderstorms throughout parts of northern and eastern Texas and Louisiana daily.

"Due to how extraordinarily wet it has been," Meteorologist Isaac Longley said, "heavier downpours that come will still carry the potential of flash flooding."

Related Article: Hurricanes Put 32 Million US Homes at Risk, Causing $8.5 Trillion in Damages



Flooding

It's likely that one or more thunderstorm complexes rumble over Texas late Sunday and then again late Monday, possibly in the Red River Valley, causing severe weather. If these storm complexes develop, the most dangerous threats are expected to be damaging winds and hail.

The downpours, according to forecasters, will not be limited to these states. In fact, by the middle of the week, the more concentrated regions of heavy rainfall throughout the lower Mississippi, Tennessee, and Ohio valleys are projected to migrate farther north and east.

On Sunday, widespread downpours began to hit Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, resulting in a drenched weekend.

Following the sporadic downpours, the pattern will give a breather for the hardest-hit parts of Texas and Louisiana as the stormy weather zone travels farther north and east as the week unfolds.

According to Longley, an area of high pressure will form over northern Mexico and spread into the southern Plains by midweek, suppressing most thunderstorm activity through the end of the week and into next weekend.

Dryer Weathers Incoming

Dryer days will allow still-swollen rivers to ebb, as well as provide more possibilities for folks to get outside and perform yard work, exercise, or visit the beach.

According to AccuWeather's long-range forecasting team, this dry pattern might last until the middle of June. After that, the Ohio Valley to the mid-Atlantic and Southeast coast is likely to become the more active corridor for frequent storms.

Also Read: Storm Anxiety: How to Handle Extreme Weather Phobias During Hurricane Season

For more climate and weather updates, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
ROME, JUN 7 - The suicide of Seid Visin, a 20-year-old former AC Milan youth team player, has sparked a row about racism in Italy after a heartbreaking account of his experience of discrimination from two years ago was read out at his funeral at the weekend. "Wherever I go I feel the weight of people's sceptical, prejudiced, disgusted, frightened looks like a boulder on my shoulders, " wrote Visin, who had Ethiopian roots and had been adopted by an Italian family in Nocera Inferiore, near the southern city of Salerno. Visin's adopted father, Walter, said the account dating back to 2019 was not related to his suicide last week. But the premature death sparked a heated debate anyway. Anti-mafia writer Roberto Saviano blamed right-wing politicians, League leader Matteo Salvini and Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgio Meloni, for allegedly stirring up resentment against migrants and people of colour. Salvini denied this, saying "anyone who holds someone in contempt for the colour of their skin is a cretin". Former Italy and Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio said: "a country that pushes a young person to such an extreme act is a country that has failed". (ANSA).
ROME, JUN 7 - An 18-year-old Pakistani girl who has been missing from a town near Reggio Emilia since the end of April after refusing an arranged marriage in Pakistan was killed by her uncle, who confessed to her younger brother, a preliminary investigations judge (GIP) said Monday. The GIP adjudged as "credible" the brother's testimony that the uncle, Hasnain Danish, confessed the murder to him but refused to say where her body was, judicial sources said. Saman's father wept over her alleged murder, the boy added. Saman had a violent argument with her family the night before she disappeared, according to an arrest warrant for the five suspect relatives published Monday. Saman Abbas allegedly shouted "give me my documents". Her father reportedly asked her "do you want to marry someone else" to which she replied "no, I want to go away". Prosecutors said Monday that the five suspects were under investigation for premeditated murder and that Saman was not in Belgium as her father had said. A young member of the family reportedly told police "I think he (the uncle) strangled her, also because when he came home he didn't have anything in his hands". Saman's uncle referred to a "job well done" to a friend in an Internet chat room, Italian police said at the weekend, saying he was probably referring to her murder and the disposal of her body. Danish Hasnain, 33, reportedly wrote "we did the job well", according to the Gazzetta di Reggio Emilia newspaper. Abbas also reportedly overheard her family saying that murder was "the only solution" for women who did not obey the Pakistani Muslim way of life, and she suspected "they are talking about me", the paper said. Abbas told her boyfriend about this family conversation, police said. Saman's parents, her uncle Danish and two cousins have been placed under investigation for homicide and disposing of a body. They are all on the run except for a cousin, Ikram Ijaz, arrested last week in the French city of Nimes. The parents flew to Pakistan at the beginning of May, and the uncle and the other cousin are believed to be somewhere in Europe. The Union of Italy's Islamic Communities (UCOII) on Wednesday issued a fatwah (ban) on arranged marriages after Saman's case. UCOII issued the ban, along with one on infibulation, together with the Islamic Association of Imams and Religious Guides. The fatwah is against "conduct that cannot find any religious justification and are therefore absolutely to be condemned, and still more to be prevented". UCOII said the case of Saman Abbas "has shocked and concerned us from the start". Abbas went missing from her home in Novellara at the end of April. Police said they had CCTV footage of three people carrying two spades, a bucket with a blue bag, a crowbar and another tool heading for the fields behind the Abbas family house. The suspected body-disposal party left the house at 19:15 on April 29 and came back at 21:50 on the same evening. (ANSA).
ENTERPRISE  The Joseph Canyon Fire has grown to about 3,700 acres, according to the latest update from the Oregon Department of Forestry on S
LAKE OZARK  As construction of the new interchange at the intersection of U.S. Route 54, Route W, Business 54, and Osage Hills Road continues to move forward, crews will temporarily close a ramp this week.

Crews are scheduled to close the westbound Route 54 exit ramp to Business Route 54 on Monday morning, June 7, to build and install pavement that will connect the ramp and Route W at the new roundabout in that location. That ramp will be closed until late Friday morning. Motorists will need to utilize an alternative route.

Construction on the new interchange began in February of 2020 and is scheduled for completion later this year. The new interchange is designed to increase traffic safety and improve traffic flow in an area where numerous traffic accidents have occurred. In addition to the new interchange, the project involves building several new connecting roads and three roundabouts in the same area.

More information and updates are available at www.modot.org/Miller54Interchange.
While traveling through Iowa on their honeymoon, Keegan and Taylor Adam visited a local pig farmer. Their conversation with the old farmer had a profound effect on the newlyweds.

He told us, dont buy a farm in your 50s. Buy in your 30s, Keegan said.

So when they returned to Berks County, Pennsylvania, they got more actively involved in Taylors familys feeder pig and roasting operation, Longswamp Traveling Hog.

This was the ultimate goal  to work on the farm, Taylor said.

She and her husband took the business over from her grandparents and dad in 2017, balancing their full-time off-farm jobs with buying 120 feeder pigs every two weeks to meet their demand for butchering and pig roasts.

Today, Keegan and Taylor both work full time in the hog business, and they raise about 12,000 hogs a year from farrowing to finish on 152 acres.

Keeping it Clean

Cleanliness and biosecurity are the secrets to their success.

Keegan and Taylor dedicate a lot of time to washing and disinfecting equipment used in the houses.

Before they began raising their breeding stock, the Adams unknowingly purchased feeder pigs from a location that had an outbreak of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. They had to get rid of all their pigs and leave their barns empty.

For about two months, we didnt have a single pig on the property, Taylor said.

Now, Keegan and Taylor take a lot of precautions. They change their clothes and shoes every time they enter a house. They wash and disinfect each room in the barns before sending in a new batch of pigs.

They also operate a closed herd, meaning they only use their own gilts for breeding. The couple keep about 10 gilts at a time for replacements. Most of the current sows have been with the Adams since 2018.

Many are on their seventh litter, Keegan said.

Gilts or sows are culled if they dont recover from a mastitis infection or produce litters smaller than the average of 13 or 14 piglets.

The breeding process starts with Keegan and Taylor sending a teaser boar down the rows of their sows to get them in heat.

Taylor artificially inseminates them with semen from Topigs Norsvin, a Dutch swine genetics company that specializes in Duroc and Landrace crosses.

Its a lot easier than breeding with an actual boar, Taylor said.

By crossbreeding, the couple aims to achieve hybrid vigor for improved performance and appearance of their feeder pigs.

Landraces and Durocs are known for their feed efficiency, according to the Oklahoma State University.

Its a more of a stockier and stoutly pig. Theres more of a ham to it, Keegan said.

Piglets are born about every five weeks. Their skins splashed with red, black and white patterns that dont always look like they belong on a pig.

Every once in a while, one looks like a cow, Keegan said.

Roasting Season

No matter what their hides look like, the feeder pigs are destined for the farms niche market  pig roasts.

The Adams own three roasters that they rent out each weekend of the summer for roasted or barbecue pork.

They butcher about 19 pigs a week. The finished hogs weigh 100 pounds and are about 3 months old.

Most of Longswamps customers are particular about how to cut the carcass. The Pennsylvania Dutch have preferred methods for slicing their bacon, pork chops and hams.

But the Adams dont have to worry too much about that.

We just do the dirty work of getting the pig ready, Keegan said. We kill them, gut them and cut in half for people to come and pick them up.

Keeping with Taylors family tradition, the couples prices for feeder pigs havent changed in 15 years.

They sell pigs under 200 pounds at $1.50 per pound. Hogs over 200 pounds are 70 cents a pound with a $30 cleaning fee.

And as the summer heats up, the Adams charge roasting customers $2 a pound, which covers the cost of maintaining the roaster.

We dont go with the market, said Taylor. We make up for it when the price is low and lose some when the price is high. It keeps our customers happy.

The Adams serve a variety of customers throughout the year. In the winter, many of their feeders go into local freezers.

By summer, the pigs are taking road trips across the Northeast  hence the traveling hog in their business name.

A lot of the business summer customers are from New York and New Jersey, who order a pig and a roaster for the weekend, Taylor said.

Its just do-it-yourself. People come to pick up, the roaster and the pig, she said.
Katey Evans is getting used to swimming with the sharks.

Evans appeared on the reality television show Shark Tank on May 14 to give an update on The Frozen Farmer.

The Frozen Farmer, with its ice cream, sorbet and Frobert, is part of the third-generation Evans Farms in Bridgeville.

Frobert is one-third ice cream and two-thirds sorbet, giving it a creamy taste but fewer calories than ice cream.

Evans appeared on Shark Tank on March 27, 2020, and wowed the evaluators with her desserts. The show features small-business entrepreneurs pitching their ideas to venture capitalists like Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban, who can decide to invest in the products.

Greiner invested $125,000 in The Frozen Farmer after Evans appearance last year, giving the business a needed kickstart.

On May 14, Evans returned to the show to give an update. She said Frozen Farmer products can now be found in over 8,000 national outlets, including Walmart, Giant, Kroger, Bakers, Stop & Shop, City Market and ShopRite.

Evans is in negotiations to add a Midwestern chain but couldnt discuss any details.

Things have been pretty busy, she said.

The young mother of three had a full-time job and was working on the farm when people first began joking about her going on TV.

The idea of a Sussex County farmer getting a spot on a national show like Shark Tank seemed really far-fetched, she said.

The seed had been planted, however, and Evans kept thinking about it. She said she wanted to be a good role model for her daughter.

Evans got an extra boost from Bethenny Frankel, founder of the celebrity brand Skinnygirl and guest shark on the show. Frankel sent her a video encouraging her to try for an appearance.

We really needed to just give it a shot, she said. (I decided) Im going to be brave and give it my best shot.

Growing Beyond a Family Tradition

The Frozen Farmer is a great marriage of both sides of my family, said Kevin Evans on The Frozen Farmer website. My mother, Beverly Lucks, was from a prominent dairy farming family in Camden. My father, Joseph Evans, was a second-generation fruit, vegetable and grain farmer. While we dont have cows on Evans Farms today, we do have strong dairy roots.

Evans Farm is a 3,000-acre grain and produce farm that grows sweet corn, tomatoes, strawberries, melons, asparagus and other produce.

The Evans family runs a produce stand in Bridgeville, sells at local farmers markets, has a food truck and runs the creamery.

Kateys mother, Jo Ellen, also liked the idea of The Frozen Farmer.

Making ice cream is a longtime passion of mine, she said. When Katey told me about the idea of creating fresh-from-the-field ice cream, nice cream and sorbet, I knew I had to be involved.

Katey and her mother attended Ice Cream University, where they learned how to make homemade ice cream and sorbet.

Evans Farms is a certified women-owned small business.

Like many business owners, Evans found last year to be trying. She adapted to pandemic restrictions by selling online and using a drive-thru window. Kevin got COVID-19 but has recovered. The farm also donated free pints to first responders.

Its been a learning year, Evans said.

On May 22, Evans Farms hosted a farm-to-table event to benefit Sussex County Habitat for Humanity.

The money raised will be used to help build homes in the western part of the county.

Evans believes that her success is due in part to her emphasis on freshness and reduction of food waste.

Retail stores often reject produce merely because it may be oddly shaped or too large or too small. She is committed to using that fruit, which she terms beautiful on the inside.

The Frozen Farmer offers farm-to-pint fresh products, Evans said.

Sorbet flavors include watermelon, honeydew and strawberry. Frobert flavors include double chocolate cherry, triple berry, orange cream, blueberry strudel and strawberry cheesecake.

Evans never expected the business to take off like it has.

It obviously was a dream, she said. More stores are hopping on board. It is exciting to watch. Our farm story is one America wants to hear.
New quarantine measures introduced by the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka with effect from 6 June 2021.

For further information in English
San Francisco, June 4: Chinese short-video making app TikTok is now going to collect biometric data of users in the US, including faceprint and voiceprints, as the fate of the Bytedance-owned company remains in limbo in the country.

TikTok has introduced a new privacy policy section for US users, saying it "may collect biometric identifiers and biometric information" from its users' content.

"We may collect biometric identifiers and biometric information as defined under US laws, such as faceprints and voiceprints, from your User Content. Where required by law, we will seek any required permissions from you prior to any such collection," the company said in its new privacy policy. TikTok India Head Nikhil Gandhi Resigns: Report

The privacy policy further read that TikTok may collect information "such as identifying the objects and scenery that appear, the existence and location within an image of face and body features and attributes, the nature of the audio, and the text of the words spoken in your User Content."

In the US, couple of states like Illinois, Washington, California, Texas and New York have biometric privacy laws.

A TikTok spokesperson told The Verge on Thursday: "As part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, we recently updated our Privacy Policy to provide more clarity on the information we may collect".

Earlier on Thursday, US President Joe Biden expanded a Donald Trump-era ban on Chinese surveillance companies with alleged ties to the military, increasing the number of restricted Chinese firms from 48 to 59.

The new executive order does not include TikTok or its parent company ByteDance. It is still unclear how Biden aims to address the TikTok ban.

In February, TikTok agreed to pay $92 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over privacy violations in the US.

The lawsuit claimed that the platform collected "highly sensitive personal data" to track users and put them to target advertising.

In 2019, TikTok settled a $1.1 million lawsuit over alleged children's privacy allegations.

In the same year, the company paid $5.7 million to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over allegations that musical.ly (now called TikTok), failed to gain parental approval for young users.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 06, 2021 04:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Almost exactly 20 years ago, I arrived in Los Angeles in the month of June. I had received my doctorate from UC Berkeley in May and had turned 26 in February. That summer, I found a small apartment in Silver Lake and began preparing for a new career as a professor at USC. I look back on myself with bemusement and sympathy, for there were many things I did not know when I was 26. My naivete protected me when I sat down to write at my small kitchen table and in that hot, stifling, first summer in Los Angeles began a short story collection. If I had known that it would take me 17 years to finish that collection, and three more years to publish it, perhaps I never would have even begun.

But ignorance can sometimes  not always, but sometimes  be as beneficial as knowledge. Ignorance is beneficial when we are aware of it. In my case, to paraphrase a former secretary of Defense, I knew what I did not know, and I knew that I wanted to know it, but I did not know how to know it. I knew that I wanted to write fiction, and I knew that I wanted to produce innovative scholarship, but I did not know how to do either of those things. I also knew that universities did not reward ignorance, or the confession of ignorance, and so I kept my ignorance to myself and pretended that I knew what I was doing.

That successful act of fiction led to receiving tenure, six years later. To receive tenure, I did what I knew how to do. I became an academic professional and wrote an academic book, which was what I was hired for as a scholar. In my naivete, I had told myself that once I wrote that book and achieved the freedom of tenure, I would write fiction. It would just take a couple of years to finish that short story collection, and then it would be sold and published and win prizes and I would be famous. I vaguely knew, but didnt really understand, how much writing would demand from me, how much it would dismantle me as a professional, much to my own grief but ultimately for my own betterment as a writer and a scholar.

I knew that I wanted to write fiction, and I knew that I wanted to produce innovative scholarship, but I did not know how to do either of those things.

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For the next nine years, I learned about grief as I worked on that damned short story collection. I did not know what I was doing, and what I also did not know, facing my computer screen and a white wall, slowly turning pale, was that I was becoming a writer. Becoming a writer was partly a matter of acquiring technique, but it was just as importantly a matter of the spirit and a habit of the mind. It was the willingness to sit in that chair for thousands of hours, receiving only occasional and minor recognition, enduring the grief of writing in the belief that somehow, despite my ignorance, something transformative was taking place.

It was an act of faith, and faith would not be faith if it was not hard, if it was not a test, if it was not an act of willful ignorance, of believing in something that can neither be predicted nor proved by any scientific metric.

See Viet Thanh Nguyen at the L.A. Times Festival of Books on April 23 at 11:00 am and 1:30 p.m.  

 Motion graphic shows key speakers and locations for the 2017 Los Angeles Festival Of Books at the University of Southern California.

At the same time, I was testing myself as a scholar. I began work on another scholarly book. Its evolution would run parallel to my fiction writing, and if I had known that this scholarly book on the memories of the Vietnam War would take 14 years to be published, I probably would have chosen another subject. One reason it took so long was that it investigated literature, film, museums, memorials, politics, philosophy and history. But even more challenging for me was that I wanted the book to be as much a creative work as a critical work, just as I wanted my fiction to be as critical as it was creative. But I didnt know how to do this, and no one could teach me this, and it took the discipline of sitting in a chair for countless hours over 20 years before I could even approach bringing together the critical and the creative.

Ive told this story about my ignorance and my naivete, of my struggles and my doubts, because most readers are only aware of the final product of a writer or scholars efforts. That final product, the book, appears brimming with confidence and knowledge. Confidence and knowledge, and the metrics of evaluation and advancement that saturate our lives in schools, corporations and bureaucracies obscure the mysterious, intuitive and slow  sometimes very slow  ways in which art and scholarship often operate. At a time in which the demand for productivity and the measuring of outputs has increased in the university  indeed, everywhere  it is important to acknowledge how much of what is crucial in the work that matters to us, no matter what our field, can neither be quantified nor accelerated.

In my case, someone looking at me might see that I have published three books in the last three years and think that I am fast-paced and prolific, without realizing that it took 20 years of slow  very slow  thinking and arduous labor to produce those books. What is valuable about my worlds of the arts and humanities is that they create spaces for this type of slow thinking. And by this I mean that we value the arts and humanities not simply for the material possibilities and rewards they may bring, like a Pulitzer Prize. Rather, we should value the arts and humanities for their privileging of the mystery and intuition that makes moments of revelation and innovation possible.

I took a risk in studying things that a good number of people might think are useless.

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I think of the novelist Haruki Murakami, who compares writing a novel to digging a hole through deep rock to reach a source of water. To access mystery and intuition requires hard work and is a gamble, for there is no guarantee that we will find that source of water. We need universities and governments to invest in the arts and humanities so that we can teach students about the importance of mystery and intuition, and the need to take a risk, to gamble on ones beliefs and values. And we need universities and governments to protect and to nurture the artist and the scholar  even if their work takes decades, even if the artist and the scholar are shrouded in obscurity while they carry out their labor, even if the gamble doesnt always pay off.

Of course, my novel The Sympathizer is not obscure at the moment because of the Pulitzer Prize. But the novel might just as well not have gotten it, might as well have sunken into obscurity because it lacked a prize, even if nothing in the novel was any different for having gotten a prize. The novels good fortune only changes how people look at the novel, not the novel itself. I think of all the other novels that might have won the prize, or all the novels that didnt win prizes in other years that could have or should have won prizes. Some of those unrecognized novels, as time will show, will be triumphant in literary history. The point is that prizes and all that they symbolize in terms of our taste, our judgment, our vanity and our prejudices are ephemeral. What we are ignorant of in the present may be what the future will value.

Knowledge of this kind of ignorance leads to humility, and also to the awareness that what may seem useless, because it is not rewarded and recognized, might one day be of the greatest usefulness. Although this kind of seemingly useless work happens in the sciences, the burden of uselessness falls with greater weight on the arts and humanities in a world that increasingly values usefulness. When I became an English and ethnic studies double-major as an undergraduate 27 years ago, I took a risk in studying things that a good number of people might think are useless. Perhaps my own parents, refugee shopkeepers who never went to college and who worked 12- to 14-hour days nearly every day of the year, thought my studies to be useless. But to my parents credit, they suppressed any skepticism and supported my possibly useless studies. They were as ignorant as I was about my future, but they had faith in me.

This is what I think so many of us who work in the arts and the humanities hope to receive from our universities, from our government, from sometimes skeptical students and their parents: patience and faith in us as we test the limits of our ignorance, as we pursue what may very well be useless, as we go in search of that mystery and intuition that exist within all of us.

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Viet Thanh Nguyen is one of The Times critics at large. The three books he published in the last three years are the short story collection The Refugees (2017), the cultural history Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (2016) and the novel The Sympathizer (2015), winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

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Hoover Dam is now just 37 percent full, and is headed for a first-ever official water shortage and continues to sink toward its lowest level since it was filled.

It stands tall more than 700 feet above Black Canyon on the Arizona-Nevada state line and holds back the waters of Colorado River, according to a USA Today report.

As Hoover Dam's water supply continues to decline, cities and farmlands are threatened, showing new risks of managing a water system in the desert Southwest.

Mike Bernardo, a Bureau of Reclamation official, creates power generation goals and a monthly report with the latest forecasts of how reservoir levels will change over the next 24 months.

Bernardo says that due to how dry things have been, they have been seeing Lake Powell's levels dropping.

READ MORE: Parts of Amazon Rainforest in Brazil Are Being Illegally Offered for Sale on Facebook Marketplace

Water Shortage

The latest projection shows that Lake Mead will decline below an elevation of 1,066 feet, far below the threshold, by the end of 2021.

The federal government officially declares a shortage if it falls below the threshold of 1,075 feet.

The water shortage is expected to happen in August, which would prompt large water cuts to date for Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico.

More than 50 percent of Arizonians will be affected by the water shortage, according to The Hill report.

In addition, Arizona is experiencing an extremely dry season, with 99 percent of the state of Arizona in drought last month.

Meanwhile, water agency officials say they are confident their preparation measures will allow them to last cuts if the drought stays as expected. Their measures include conservation and searching for alternative sources, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

Arizona Department of Water Resources and Central Arizona Project officials said that the studied projection is not a surprise, although significant.

They added that it shows the effects of the dry and warm conditions across the Colorado River Basin this year.

Colby Pellegrino, director of water resources for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, assured consumers that there are measures in place to mitigate the effects of supply cuts.

Pellegrino added that more action was needed.

Len Schilling, a dam manager with the bureau, said that they added wide-head turbines, allowing the dam to operate more efficiently at lower water levels.

Schilling, however, added that less water through Hoover Dam meant fewer hydropower supplies.

Drought Contingency Plan

Representatives of seven Western states and the federal government had closed a landmark deal, which includes potential cuts in water deliveries through 2026 to reduce the risk of river's water levels declining critically, according to an Arizona Central report.

Federal Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman said that all the states should be lauded for finding a path forward.

Burman described the deal as historic, adding that it puts an important new chapter to the rules to manage the river.

Global warming has widely affected the river over the past few decades.

Scientists said that they found out half of the decreasing water trend from 2000-2014 was the result of the rising global temperatures.

READ NEXT: As Amazon Deforestation Soars, Celebrities Urge Biden Not to Sign Environment Deal With Bolsonaro

WATCH: USA: Western states may declare water shortage for first time as reserves low at Hoover Dam - from Ruptly




A terrifying sighting of a four-meter crocodile swimming at a famous beach in Australia. When found, the crocodile was thought to be up to four meters long. It was shot at Farnborough Beach in Queensland, where it was filmed swimming in the surf.

The croc was discovered by a local fisherman, who initially mistook it for a giant log.

Related Article: Rising Number of Shark Attacks in Australia Reveals A Darker Story



Crocodile in Queensland Beach

A massive crocodile has been sighted swimming mere yards from the shore at a famous beach.

On Thursday morning, the ferocious reptile, estimated to be up to four meters long, was observed floating above the waves at Farnborough Beach in central Queensland.

Local fisherman David Devine taped the crocodile's surprise appearance and said he'd never seen one in the region in his 10 years of fishing there.

He initially mistook the croc for a massive log floating in the waves, he claimed.

"That's unusual," I thought. 'When I got a closer look, I realized it was a croc,' he told Seven News. "Just seeing a croc in the wild was incredible. It's the first time I've seen one out here."

The lizard sailed around the shoreline for five minutes before moving on, according to Mr. Devine.

Another two-meter-long crocodile had to be removed from a pond near the Emu Park State School, around 25 minutes south of Farnborough, the day before the enormous animal was sighted.

The snake had been spotted in the pond by a horrified member of the public, who promptly contacted the council, who notified wildlife authorities.

The Queensland Department of Environment has encouraged anyone who sees crocs in the wild to use QR scanning codes along the Fitzroy River to report any sightings to the QWildlife app.

The government is following the four-meter croc's movements and has advised anybody who may come across it to remain a safe distance.

Crocodile Sightings

Hopefully, you'll never have to deal with a crocodile in the wild. However, depending on the scenario and your prospects of fleeing, you must respond accordingly. Fighting a crocodile is a difficult endeavor that you are unlikely to succeed at. So instead, your best alternatives are to remain away or flee.

Keep a Safe Distance

Keep your distance if you can see the crocodile from afar, rather than touching noses with him. Never feed crocodiles since it may provoke them to attack. Stay at least 20 feet away from crocodiles if you believe the region includes them or if there's a sign warning of their presence, according to the National Park Service.

Stay Away from Crocodile Infested Waters

Because crocodiles attack and kill their victim in the water, the majority of crocodile assaults happen there. Crocodile assaults on land are quite rare, according to the Discovery website. Water assaults are difficult to predict because crocodiles are experts at "keeping quiet and keeping concealed" until it's time to strike. So, the greatest way to prevent crocodiles in the first place is to keep your arms and legs inside the boat if you're on the water.

Also Read: After 150 Years, Mysterious Extinction of Horned Crocodiles Finally Solved!

For more news update about the animal kingdom, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had announced the birth of their second child, naming their daughter after Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Harry's mother Princess Diana.

The announcement had been issued through a statement, saying that Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor and Markle are both healthy and well, and they are settling in at home, according to a CBS News report.

Lilibet was born at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, weighing seven lbs., 11 ounces, according to the press secretary.

The statement added that their daughter is named after Queen Elizabeth II, whose family nickname is Lilibet. Meanwhile, her middle name Diana was picked to honor Princess Diana.

The couple also has a two-year-old son, Archie. They wished the public warm wishes and prayers as they cherish this time as a family.

READ MORE: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Are Expecting Their Second Baby

Greetings From the Royal Family

Harry's brother, Prince William, and sister-in-law, Catherine, had released a statement Sunday afternoon.

The two said that they are delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. They also congratulated Harry, Meghan, and Archie.

Prince Charles had also released a statement, wishing them well during this time.

Prince Harry's cousin, Princess Eugenie, had also publicly congratulated the family on the arrival of their daughter. The princess congratulated the family and said they could not be happier for them, according to a Town and Country Mag report.

Eugenie wrote on her Instagram Stories, posting a picture of Harry and Markle used to announce their pregnancy months ago.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had also sent congratulations to the couple, according to a BBC News report.

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer also welcomed the announcement of the birth of Lilibet Diana.

Story Behind Lilibet Diana's Name

The Queen's family nickname was Lilibet. It started when the Queen was just a toddler and could not pronounce her name properly.

Her grandfather, King George V, would call her Lilibet, imitating her own tries to say her name. She then became Lilibet for her family starting there.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and late husband of the Queen, had also called her by the nickname.

Meanwhile, baby Lili is not the only one to have Diana and Elizabeth as part of her name.

Princess Charlotte also carries Diana and Elizabeth in her name. She is the daughter of William and Catherine.

Duncan Larcombe, a former royal editor at the Sun, said the name was "the most royal name you could give."

Before baby Lili, Markle had revealed that she had a miscarriage several months earlier. She said that it was almost "unbearable grief" in her personal article for the New York Times.

Lilibet is the eighth in the line of the succession for the throne. Meanwhile, the Sussex couple's children do not have titles like prince or princess as only the grandchildren of the monarch have those titles.

However, Queen Elizabeth made an exception for William's children as they are in the direct line of succession.

READ NEXT: Meghan Markle's Friend Says There Are Emails, Texts Proving the Royal Family Knew About Her Mental Health

WATCH: BREAKING: Harry and Meghan name baby girl after the Queen and Princess Diana - from Sky News






A North Carolina high school student was denied his diploma for wearing a Mexican flag over his blue gown at his graduation ceremony.

Ever Martinez Lopez, a resident of Asheboro, North Carolina, was set to become his immediate family's first graduate from high school.

The Removal of Mexican Flag

The graduation ceremony at Asheboro High School in North Carolina this past week had played out like any other until Ever Lopez's name was called.

According to The New York Times, Ever Lopez approached the center of the stage just like other students, but when he set his foot on the stage with red-white-and-green Mexican flag draped over his shoulders the school principal discussed something with him.

The brief exchange with Penny Crooks, the school principal of Asheboro High School, and Lopez drew "boos" from the audience. Afterward, Lopez walked off the stage, raising his hand while returning to his seat. The said moment was captured by the cousin of Lopez, Adolfo Hurtado, who later posted the video on TikTok.

Lopez's cousin then mentioned that Crooks had asked Lopez to remove the Mexican flag but the graduating student refused to do so, the Washington Post reported.

In addition, the born in the United States to Mexican immigrant parents, Ever Lopez, said during an interview Sunday that he wore the flag because he was proud of his Mexican roots.

He noted that the flag means everything to him and his family because it is what is in their blood. He also emphasized that it is a place where they came from that's why he would do anything to represent.

Hurtado posted a second video to TikTok, Crooks, who is surrounded by four police officers can be seen escorting Lopez and his family out of the school after the ceremony.

Crooks can be heard in the video, which has been viewed more than seven million times, saying that Lopez and his parents can come back a day after graduation so they can talk about the incident.

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The School District's Side on Ever Lopez's Case

The Asheboro city school district stated that it is not about the Mexican flag and emphasized that graduation is a milestone event and it is unfair for an individual to diminish this event by violating the dress code.

The district noted that students were encouraged to express their identity by decorating their mortarboards. Numerous students followed the protocol given by the school and had the Mexican flag and other representations appropriately displayed on their mortarboards during the ceremony.

Also, based on the school district's statement issued on Friday, June 4, the district said that it will be doing a further investigation in order to resolve the issue.

The district commended the achievement of the student that is why they will be reevaluating the incident so that Lopez will be receiving his diploma from Asheboro High School, NPR reported.

Meanwhile, the student's mother, Margarita Lopez, said that Crooks mentioned to her in an email on Sunday that her son could pick up his diploma this week.

However, Margarita Lopez said that they want an apology because they consider it as an act of racism not only to their family but to the entire Hispanic community.

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WATCH: Asheboro High School Denies Student Diploma for Wearing Mexican Flag Over Gown - From FOX8 WGHP
Vice President Kamala Harris will be heading to Mexico for her next stop after her Guatemala visit. She will be meeting with Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to discuss the migration influx at the U.S.-Mexico border.

But Harris' agenda also includes tackling vulnerable populations, including women and the youth. Some of the issues affecting the most vulnerable groups in Mexico are low wages and crime, the El Paso Times reported.

One resident and a factory worker in Juarez, Mexico, Karla Rosales, lives on the southeastern edge of Juarez, Mexico. The area is plagued with drug violence daily.

Weeks ago, two women in her neighborhood were found dead. Their bodies were also wrapped in plastic, while their bodies were left covered by blankets on the street.

Rosales said that the violence in Juarez is intense, while the government offers little support. She added that the residents live in a state of constant alert. The month of May had reported 144 homicides in Juarez, making it the deadliest month of the year so far.

Meanwhile, poor young men are especially vulnerable to being recruited by Mexican drug cartels. A nonprofit called Las Hormigas works with youth providing the education they receive in school with additional lessons in literacy, math, and other subjects.

The group also provides psychotherapy and regularly sees young children suffering from severe trauma. Criminal groups often take advantage of children, who are neglected, and offer them jobs and a sense of belonging. They also offer money that could be multiple times what their parents bring home.

READ NEXT: Kamala Harris Finally Sets Date for Long-Awaited Trip to Mexico, Guatemala

Kamala Harris' First Foreign Trip as Vice President

Kamala Harris arrived in Guatemala on Sunday night, June 6, for her first foreign trip, with aims to solve root problems that caused tens of thousands of Central Americans to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, NPR reported.

President Joe Biden had asked Kamala Harris to tackle the issue and address the main causes of the migration crisis. However, Republicans have criticized the vice president for not visiting the border.

Harris' focus is on the countries Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. These countries have experienced natural disasters and have problems with violence, corruption, and poverty.

On the other hand, Mexico's approach to the migration issue continues to rely heavily on the police and military, according to a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Tonatiuh Guillen Lopez.

Kamala Harris is set to fly to Mexico on June 8 and would spend the day there, Reuters reported. Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, said the key measure of success for the vice president's trip would be whether she can show the U.S. care about creating legal ways for migration from the region.

However, a Mexican government official said the timing of Harris' visit was not ideal since it coincides with the date when Mexicans will elect a new lower house of Congress, state governors, and local lawmakers.

The official, who had spoken anonymously, said the United States had pushed for the visit, expecting the Mexican government to keep the meeting low-key as the result of its biggest elections were processed.

READ MORE: Kamala Harris Purposely Avoiding a Visit to U.S.-Mexico Border, Border Patrol Union Chief Says

WATCH: Vice President Kamala Harris Makes First Official Foreign Trip - From Good Morning America




President Joe Biden has neglected to commemorate the 77th anniversary of D-Day on Sunday and instead posted a video of him with the survivors of 1921 Tulsa massacre, a report said.

Biden tweeted from his presidential Twitter account that he met with survivors of the Tulsa massacre this week to help fill the silence. The Daily Wire reported that none of Biden's Twitter accounts had made any mention of the largest amphibious invasion in history.

By contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris did tweet about D-Day on Sunday. She tweeted, "On the 77th anniversary of #DDay, we honor the heroes who stormed the beaches of Normandy and liberated a continent. We will never forget their courage and sacrifice."

It can be recalled that Joe Biden drew flak when he allegedly confused the D-Day invasion of northern Europe in World War II with Pearl Harbor Day in May 2020. But his camp has denied the report.

According to Fox News, Joe Biden said during a fundraiser event that his home state of Delaware "declared our independence on December the 7th, by the way. And it's not just D-Day."

The former Biden campaign team noted that the president was referring to "Delaware Day," and pointed to the state government web page that says that the governors of Delaware have proclaimed December 7 as Delaware Day.

However, the state's website page did not mention that Delaware Day was referred to as "D-Day."

READ NEXT: Pres. Joe Biden Starts Tulsa Massacre Speech by Making Sure 2 Girls Get Ice Cream

D-Day Commemoration

In Normandy, France, several ceremonies were being held to commemorate the D-Day anniversary. The event remembers the decisive assault that caused the liberation of France and western Europe from Nazis. It was also a day to honor those who fell during the event, according to an NPR report.

Britain's ambassador to France, Lord Edward Llewelyn, spoke during the inauguration of a new British monument to D-Day's heroes. Llewelyn said that those are the men who enabled liberty to regain control of the European continent and removed tyranny in the region.

The anniversary commemoration is still under a virus travel restriction that prevented veterans or families of fallen soldiers from the U.S., Britain, Canada, and other allied countries from making the trip to France. Only a few officials were exempted from the restrictions.

Denis van den Brink, a WWII expert working for the town of Carentan, said there was a "big loss" due to the "big absence" of veterans who could not travel. But Van den Brink noted that they remain in a "certain spirit of commemoration," which is the most important.

What Happened on D-Day?

D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion ever undertaken and laid the foundations for the Allied defeat of Germany in World War II. The invasion took place on June 6, 1944.

Thousands of troops from the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Canada landed on five stretches of the Normandy coastline: Utah, Gold, Omaha, Juno, and Sword.

A total of 4,414 Allied troops had lost their lives during D-Day, with 2,501 of those were Americans. More than 5,000 were also wounded.

Meanwhile, several thousand were also killed or wounded on the German side. The amphibious landings were codenamed Operation Overlord, according to a CNN report.

Troops had launched bombs to damage German defenses. Around 7,000 ships took part in the invasion, which includes 1,213 warships and 4, 127 landing craft.

In addition, some 24,000 Allied troops were also dropped behind enemy lines on the day of the invasion. A total of 132,000 men landed on the beaches.

Around 12,000 Allied aircraft supported the troops, with 10,000 vehicles were delivered to the five beaches. A command team led by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower was formed in December 1943 to plan the naval, air, and land operations, according to IWM.

British factories provided support for resources for the invasion. They increased production and around nine million tons of supplies and equipment crossed the Atlantic from North America to Britain.

D-Day was an international effort, with cooperation between international armed forces.

READ MORE: Pres. Joe Biden Unveils $6 Trillion Budget for 2022: Here's What's in It

WATCH: D-Day: 77 Years Ago Today, Allied Forces Invaded Normandy - From Coffee or Die






Violence continued to take place amid Mexico's election day on Sunday. Different areas such as Tijuana witnessed the violence when an unknown man tossed a severed head on their voting station.

Self-defense forces have been deployed in Guerrero during their legislative elections following a bloody campaign in their region, where eight politicians have been killed.

With tensions due to elections continued to rise in the country, AFP reported that more than 90 politicians were killed in Mexico since the electoral process started in September. Consultancy firm Etellekt said that among the 90 killed, 36 were candidates or pre-candidates mostly for municipal positions.

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Mexico Election Day: Violence Continues to Take Place

Different cities in Mexico witnessed acts of violence while having their midterm elections. In Tijuana alone, apart from the severed head that was tossed by a man in a voting station, Reuters reported that authorities also discovered plastic bags filled with human body parts.

According to Newsweek, the man responsible for tossing the head fled the scene. It was still unknown whether the man was already under the custody of the local authorities. It was also unclear how the gruesome act was related to Sunday's election.

A source from the Sinaloa's prosecutor's office told Reuters that armed men robbed voting materials from voting stations in the state.

In Mexico State, someone threw an inactive grenade into a voting station. A voter told Reuters that the grenade dispersed the crowd, but they returned later on.

"People said that they would vote, and they would not be intimidated," the anonymous voter said.

Kidnapping was also reported by Erik Ulises Ramirez, a left-wing opposition Citizen's Movement party candidate, who survived an assassination attempt in Cocula, Guerrero last month. Ramirez said two of his allies had been kidnapped, beaten, and then released on Sunday.

About 93.5 million people in Mexico are eligible to vote on candidates in different posts such as governorships, local leadership positions, and lower house members of the federal Congress.

Drug Cartels Bring Violence in Mexico Election Day

Although not all, security analysts said that most of the electoral violence occur at the municipal level, where gangs and drug cartels exert pressure to influence the outcome of the election day.

Because of this, self-defense forces in states like Guerrero have emerged to supervise the legislative elections in the region.

AFP reported that Guerrero is home to more than a dozen warring drug cartels. The state is also known to be Mexico's most violent state due to the gang turf wars over the trade in drugs.

Across Mexico, more than 300,000 people have been murdered since the country's government deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006.

The government continued to blame the political violence that is occurring to the drug cartels, as these groups try to influence the outcome of the polls.

Mexico's President Lopez Obrador reassured voters about the security of the election. However, tensions still run high.

READ MORE: 5 Dead, 15 Hurt in Bloody Ecuador Jail Riot

WATCH: Mexico Prepares for High Stakes Midterm Election - From CGTN America
After more than a year of breakup, Riverdale stars Camila Mendes and Charles Menton were spotted together for a dinner on Friday. E! Online reported that the ex-couple was spotted at La Poubelle Bistro, a French restaurant located in Los Angeles, California.

The romance rumors sparked after Mendes broke up with Greyson Vaughan in 2020. Vaughan and Mendes were together for about a year. A source told E! Online that the Riverdale star's breakup in 2020 with Vaughan had "no drama at all."

READ NEXT: Chrissy Teigen Resurfaces on Husband John Legend's Instagram After Courtney Stodden Bullying Scandal

Camila Mendes-Charles Melton Back Together?

Mail Online reported that the ex-couple were not alone in the French restaurant in Los Angeles. Mendes and Melton were joined by their Riverdale co-stars, Dylan and Cole Sprouse, as well as model Stella Maxwell. The ex-couple who played in the series as Veronica Lodge and Reggie Mantle was also reported to wear matching tops.

Camila Mendes was wearing a baggy canary yellow cropped blazer over a black top and paired it with high-waisted acid wash jeans. Charles Melton on the other hand matched Mendes' outfit with a printed yellow long sleeve and a pair of khaki pants.

The romance between the former couple sparked as Melton was photographed with his arms around Mendes as they walk away from the restaurant they dined with their co-stars. Furthermore, Camila Mendes and Charles Melton were also snapped, getting inside the actor's classic car, and driving off together.

But that was not the start of Riverdale stars sparking romance rumors. Mail Online highlighted that the ex-couple started their evening more dressed up in San Vicente Bungalows located in West Hollywood. The couple was also seen having their sweet moments when a masked Camila Mendes leaned over to look at something on Charles Melton's phone.

Charles Melton and Camila Mendes on Friday marked their first appearance together after about two years of their breakup. However, the two continued to spend time together along with their co-stars in the hit CW drama, Riverdale.

Camilla Mendes and Charles Melton Romance and Their Breakup

The Riverdale stars confirmed their relationship in October 2018, when Mendes posted a photo with Charles Melton, with the caption, "Mine." Showbiz CheatSheet also noted that the ex-couple also posted photos of one another during their first anniversary, with Mendes captioned hers with "365 days. I love you," and Melton captioned his post with "I love you."

The ex-couple shocked their fans when they broke up in late 2019, but a source also confirmed that the reason behind their split was distance and stress.

"Nothing in particular happened, they just both felt busy and overwhelmed," said the insider with Showbiz CheatSheet. Meanwhile, a source also informed that the quick escalation of the relationship between Mendes and Melton was also a factor for taking a break.

Despite their split, the actors were able to be professional with each other on the set of CW's Riverdale.

Although Camila Mendes and Charles Melton sparked romance rumors recently, both of the Riverdale stars have not yet commented on their relationship status.

READ MORE: Camilla Cabello and Shawn Mendes Dolled Up for a Date in San Vicente Bungalows

WATCH: Are Camila Mendes & Charles Melton Back Together?! - from E! News
The US Department of Energy is currently supporting further study into an amazing fuel that offers up to three times the energy level of gasoline. But, more importantly, it may be the only fuel on the planet that emits no greenhouse gases when burned.

Unfortunately, this impressive fuel was thought to be too risky and costly for commercial usage until recently.

However, a recent technical advance appears to have increased the likelihood of this super fuel's acceptance.

And AmmPower Corp., a little-known business led by an ex-NASA engineer, looks to be leagues ahead of the competition in a market that is expected to reach $81 billion by 2020.

DOE Backing

When the DOE has stated its commitment to sustained research for the comprehensive development, demonstration, and commercialization of this energy source, it's not a bad position to be in.

This up-and-coming energy source makes use of the world's second-most-used inorganic compound. As a result, there should be no shortage of supplies.

Related Article: Biden's American Jobs Plan to Put Millions of Workers in Green Energy Industry



New Powerful Energy Source

New, more powerful energy sources have begun tiny throughout the history of the energy business... From coal to petroleum to natural gas to renewables, the sector has dominated for a long period.

Before broad acceptance, each new energy source had to solve a scientific difficulty.

James Young, a Scottish scientist, invented a way to purify paraffin from crude oil for simple transport using petroleum.

It was possible to chill natural gas to -160 C to generate Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which could be utilized for cost-effective and safe transportation in ships.

For decades, scientists have been trying to figure out how to bring one new energy source online - one with roughly three times the energy of gasoline.

And now it appears that an unknown business (led by a former NASA scientist) has figured out the next stage in the renewable tale.

Lithium?

Lithium has been regarded to be the answer to the clean energy movement for decades.

Unfortunately, lithium is insufficient for long-distance trucks, ocean-going freighters, military vehicles, trains, aircraft, and jets, among other applications.

But, at long last, scientists may be able to harness a NEW renewable energy source capable of effortlessly powering heavy industries.

So, what has almost three times the energy of gasoline? Is it also an inorganic chemical that is frequently used?

Hydrogen.

Hydrogen is a chemical that exists in nature. However, the technology to transport it securely and inexpensively did not exist until recently.

Hydrogen Fuel

The hydrogen economy is poised for a huge takeoff after decades of stagnation and many false dawns.

Entire countries and businesses are making proactive investments in hydrogen technology development.

Some are increasingly referring to hydrogen as a "future fuel."

Meanwhile, some believe that hydrogen will become an internationally traded energy source, like oil and gas.

Hydrogen Transportation

To put it bluntly, storing and transporting hydrogen is a nightmare. Despite its enormous energy content, it has a low volumetric energy density, requiring it to be kept under extreme pressure. Even at 800 atmospheres, it takes up three times the volume of gasoline for the same amount of energy. To hold hydrogen at such high pressures, extremely massive and robust tanks are required. Until ammonia was included, this looked to be an intractable challenge.

As the only companies on the planet developing innovative ways to revolutionize the entire ammonia production process and produce carbon-free ammonia, AmmPower, along with a handful of smaller organizations such as Iceland-based Atmonia and Colorado-based Starfire Energy, may have a clear first-mover advantage.

Also Read: Because Many are Transitioning to Electric, 7-Elevens Will Install 500 EV Charging Stations By 2022

For more news about making the environment sustainable, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
A young man was urged to engage with the Probation Services at Portlaise court last week.

Andrew Houlihan, 22, with addresses listed as 11 Mountain View Square, Knockmay, Portlaoise and 21 Toomey Park, Mountmellick was charged with handling stolen property, a Sky box, at 45 Bianconi Way, Ridge Road, Portlaoise between April 7 and 8, 2016.

He was also charged with possession of cannabis herb and possession for sale or supply at Clonrooske Place, Portlaoise on November 26, 2015.

He was charged with possession of stolen property - a laptop - at Mountmellick Road, Portlaoise on April 9, 2016. On July 11, 2015 he was charged with damage to a windscreen of a car; a wing mirror of a car; and a windscreen of a car at Emmet Street, Mountmellick.

The court was told that on April 9, 2016 Mr Houlihan was stopped by Gardai on the Mountmellick road. He had a Sky box in his possession. Gardai took the Sky box from him and it was later identified as having been taken from a house. Mr Houlihan admitted handling stolen property. He was unsure where he got it.

On July 11, 2015 a number of cars had been damaged at Emmet Street, Mountmellick.

The damage to the first car amounted to 40, 250 to the second car, and 100 to the third car. Mr Houlihan was responsible for it.

On the charge of possessing a stolen laptop the court heard that the laptop had been taken from a house in OMoore Place. The owner did not want it back.

Appearing for Mr Houlihan, solicitor Josephine Fitzpatrick said he was 17 when these offences occurred.

He had spent considerable time in England. His father had been unwell at the time but he still survives. His mother had died. He had returned in January of this year to visit her grave.

In 2016 he had been taking cannabis. The possession of stolen property had been to feed his drug habit.

There was a probation report before the court from 2016 which detailed his unfortunate life. He was in custody on two other matters and had been in custody since May 14.

The offences had been committed when he was young and in the grip of some kind of drug use.

He had been couchsurfing since his return to Ireland in January. He had an aunt and sister in Laois, but he did not want to burden them.

Mr Houlihan said he wanted to do his junior cert and leaving cert during his sentence.

Judge Staines ensured that compensation had been paid to the injured parties.

She said it was another example of a young person who had a difficult start in life.

She noted his mother's problems with drugs and the awful harm this could do to the person and other people, such as children.

He had had a bad experience in care and the system had failed him.

From the age of 14 he had no supervision or support. .

She said she was anxious that he would get the support of the Probation Services.

She sentenced him to six months in the Midlands Prison, with the final three months suspended for one year. She told him to take the help of the Probation Services in prison so he could start his life again.
US rapper Vanilla Ice is narrating a new BBC podcast on the kidnapping of champion racehorse Shergar from Ballymany Stud on the outskirts of Newbridge, Co Kildare in the 1980s.

The musician, best known for his 1990 one hit wonder Ice Ice Baby, presents a seven-episode 'Sports Strangest Crimes' podcast, which features the disappearance of the prize-winning Kildare racehorse.

The rapper said he was fascinated by the disappearance, which made international headlines in 1983 and remains unsolved.

Shergar, owned by the Aga Khan, is famous for winning the 1981 Epsom Derby by 10 lengths.

The BBC said their new podcast, Sports Strangest Crimes, covers money, sex, glamour, politics, extreme violence to humans and animals, accusations of terrorist links to Europe, the Middle East and USA and the kidnap of Shergar the super horse.

In 1983, Shergar was stolen from the stud and a ransom of 2 million was demanded, but it was not paid.

In 1999, Sean O'Callaghan, a former member of the IRA, claimed Shergar was kidnapped in a bid to raise money for arms.

No one has ever been arrested by gardai in connection with the kidnapping.

Shergar also featured in a 2019 documentary The Irish Derby  Nios Mo Na Rasa (More Than a Race) on TG4 which captured the essence of one of Irelands greatest sporting traditions, from its humble beginnings in 1866 to becoming a top international race and attracting some of the leading racehorse owners in the world.

Vanilla Ice released his debut album, Hooked, in 1989 but it was later re-released in 1990 under the title To the Extreme and contained Ices best-known hits: Ice Ice Baby and Play That Funky Music.

"Ice Ice Baby" was the first hip hop single to top the Billboard charts.
The father of Normal People star Paul Mescal has said the family is "absolutely delighted" following his son's Bafta Television Awards win in London on Sunday night.

Paul Mescal was named Best Actor for his role as Connell in the hit adaptation of the bestseller book by Sally Rooney.

Paul Mescal Senior told RTE Radio that the win was also a fantastic experience for the family at home.

He said they had a Bafta party in Kilcock on Sunday night, hosted by the actor's aunt.

"We were all quite emotional. It was a great event," Paul Snr told the Marty Morrissey Show on RTE Radio 1,

Ed Guiney, one of the executive producers of Normal People, said they are absolutely delighted that Paul Mescal won at the Baftas, especially as there was some particularly tough competition.

Guiney's company, Dublin-based Element Pictures, made Normal People for the BBC and US streaming service Hulu.

He said the series was supposed to launch at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in April last year, but that was cancelled because of the pandemic.

He said they have promised they are going to have the party to end all parties in Dublin as soon as they are allowed.

After his win, Paul Mescal said he would love to make another series of Normal People and would instantly work again with co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones.

However, the Kildare star stressed that there is "nothing at all in the pipeline" for a second season of Normal People.
A three-month old baby girl died after she was attacked by a dog in the early hours of this morning.

Gardai are investigating all the circumstances after the infant was fatally injured at a residence in Clashmore, Co Waterford, in the early hours of this morning, June 7.

Gardai and paramedics treated the infant at the scene until she was taken to Cork University Hospital. She was pronounced deceased a short time later.



An Garda Siochana have appealed for family privacy at this time.
The Shed Distillery of Co. Leitrim has recorded an increase in revenue for 2020.

According to a report in the Irish Times over the weekend, Leitrim-based, The Shed Distillery's saw a substantial increase in sales in 2020 despite the pandemic.

The report noted that sales increased by 2m on figures for 2019 while pre-tax profits increased slightly to 1.93m.

Despite the lockdowns, PJ Rigney, owner and founder of the The Shed Distillery, went ahead with plans to open a 3.5m visitors centre in Drumshanbo in September 2020. Despite the impact of this year's lockdown the company hopes to bring visitor numbers up to 30,000 by 2023, generating an estimated 3m in income for the local economy.

According to the Irish Times the company is also planning to create another 25 jobs at the distillery.
Over 50% of Irelands pubs will reopen today (Monday 7th June) for outdoor service and welcome back customers for the first time this year. Approximately 4,000 pubs are expected to resume trading while 25,000 staff will return to work, says the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI).

Publicans are reporting strong bookings for the first day back, with many pubs fully booked out a week in advance of the Bank Holiday. Some pubs are reserving tables for walks-ins to cater for customers on the day.

Padraig Cribben, VFI Chief Executive, says: Its a big day for the pub trade as 4,000 pubs are set to reopen for outdoor service. There is a strong sense of anticipation among publicans to get open and get back to what they do best. The message from publicans to old regulars and new customers alike is weve missed you and welcome back.

The reopening for outdoor service will also see 25,000 staff return to work after an horrendous 15 months. Last years numerous lockdowns and partial reopening played havoc with their lives so its important staff have confidence that we are now on the path to a full reopening.

For the vast majority of publicans, outdoor service will keep them ticking over until indoor trading resumes on 5th July. Were acutely aware that thousands of our members cannot open this week at they have no outdoor space and will have to wait another four weeks to resume trading.

Were hoping for a busy summer once all pubs open. There is a sense in the trade that people want to get out of the house and meet up. To get pubs back open will be a great sign the country is returning to normal, says Mr Cribben.
From the titanic roc of Sinbad's adventures to the giant eagles of Lord of the Rings, fantasy is rife with massive, mystical birds of prey. However, there are certainly some birds in the real world that come pretty close if you had the rare chance of a personal encounter with them.

The biggest contender is the South American harpy eagle, one of the largest (if not the largest) species of eagle on the whole planet. It can stand up to five inches in height and has claws even larger than a bear's!

Fantastic facts about the world's largest eagle

There are also plenty of other facts about the harpy eagle that are very similar to many of its fictional counterparts. Some of these can really stir the imagination!

1. They live in the upper forest canopy.

Harpy eagles are known to live high up in the forest canopy of South America's different rainforests, including the Amazon. Remember, these forests can get as high up as over 100 feet and these magnificent birds often choose the tallest and sturdiest trees to live in.

Therefore, it is really something to picture a creature that is nearly human in height, dwelling that far above the thick canopy, ready to swoop down at a moment's notice. The imposing height of its abode is seen and possibly feared by all the rainforest's creatures.

2. They are strong enough to pick livestock.

It has been estimated that the harpy eagle's strength can lift well over a hundred pounds. That is enough to lift even something as heavy as piglets and smaller goats! However, there are far more partial to preying on monkeys and other rainforest primates.

Still, that has certainly not stopped these eagles from coming into conflict with nearby farmers. Living someplace close to a nest may very well increase the likelihood of losing some valuable livestock to these feathered forest kings.

3. Their head feathers make them almost mythical.

The distinct, intimidating shape of the eagle's head feathers left such an impression that even ancient Mayans preserved their likeness in their folding codices.

In other cases (such as when Western scientists first encountered it), its shape and massive size strongly resembled the mythical harpy that it was named after. And while it is very much a real and natural bird of prey, locals should not be faulted for having some superstitions about it.

Also read: Blind Birds Sweep Washington, Terrify DC Residents

World's largest eagle faces equally large threat

Despite its awe-inspiring size and appearance, the harpy eagle is yet another tropical eagle species threatened by deforestation. Many of its preferred habitats are often targeted by timber companies, and this is further worsened by the continued presence of illegal logging syndicates. Furthermore, the risk that the species poses to livestock is often the excuse used by trophy hunters and fearful farmers to even shoot the birds on sight.

The good news is that the eagle's increasing cultural and scientific importance has driven stronger action that would see their habitats protected against man-made threats. And while there still more to be done, healthier populations give hope that the real world will still have its fair share of fantastical birds.

Also read: Endangered Alpine Parrot Intentionally Moved to the Mountains to Avoid People
MANY of us have piled on the weight under lockdown but Heike Phelan has lost almost 200 pounds!

When Heike, who lives in the Kilmallock area, stood on the scales in April 2020 she weighed 28 stone. The 52-year-old admits she was shocked but has now lost half of her body weight.

I look in the mirror now and often have to do a double-take because I cant believe its me looking so much trimmer. I dont think Ive been anywhere near the size I am now since I left school. Generally I feel amazing. Both from the weight loss and the new routine of walking and exercise. Its physical and psychological.

I set out to lose a couple of stone to ease the pressure on my knees and joints, but the weight kept falling off so I kept going. I confess it became a bit of an obsession to keep going, although I never had an end goal weight in mind. Everything over the two stone I planned has been a bonus.

My motivation had been to fit into a beautiful Barbour jacket and Dubarry long boots I had received for Christmas six years ago and never managed to wear. Now the jacket is much too big for me! said Heike, who some will recognise from previous Leader articles on her marrying a US murderer serving 75-year sentence.

Weight became a problem for Heike after she had complications from a caesarean and couldnt do anything for many months.

After that, it was my total ignorance and lack of knowledge about nutrition that was the problem. Like many people, I had no idea how much I was eating in a day and thought what I was eating was fine," she told the Leader.

Ive been vegetarian for almost thirty years, so my meals have always been mostly healthy. It was always the amount I ate that was an issue. Chocolate, cake or desserts was always a problem. One chocolate bar wouldnt be enough, so Id have another. Buttercream on cakes was irresistible and ganache in chocolate  dont get me started on that! she smiles.

Heike says she has always been conscious of her weight and to some degree used it as a convenient excuse not to do things.

She says she wasnt as confident when she was younger as she is now. "I used it as a reason not to bother with relationships. I found it hard to believe that someone would be interested in me. As I became older and more confident, I didnt hide behind it, and didnt let others judge me by it.

Sadly, there is no secret to Heikes remarkable weight loss.

I started going out walking at the beginning of April 2020, and by the same time in 2021, I had lost just over 13 stone. I have lost another stone although its now infuriatingly slow. I have now lost half of my body weight. I started walking for thirty minutes each day, then over the weeks built up to forty minutes then an hour. An hour is my daily standard walk. At first I would have to stop and take breathers every few hundred metres. Now I can walk my standard walk circuit in almost half the time it used to take me."

Heike says as she lost more weight and got fitter, she increased speed or altered her stride to work different parts. "By September I started adding uphill and steps, both of which I would have actively avoided previously. There is a particular set of steps I do and there are ninety six steps. I am now up to being able to do thirteen sets before collapsing in a heap.

Being vegetarian, Heike has always eaten a lot of Quorn  which she loves  vegetables and potatoes. I eat potatoes in various forms  mashed, roast, boiled, fried  probably four times a week; lots of different vegetables and fruit. I bulk my meals out with vegetables, which are generally very low in calories but very filling.

Instead of eating large bars of chocolate most day I had to learn to limit myself. I only have chocolate at the weekend, and only a small 28 gramme bar. I break it up into pieces and challenge myself to see how long I can make each piece last. That way I savour it rather than scoff it without even tasting it.

So what does Heiki do during the week, if she wants something sweet? "I have a couple of the snack size boxes of raisins from Aldi, or a couple of apples cut up into small pieces in a bowl with some Skyr on top. Skyr is great, its much lower in calories than yoghurt but just as creamy.

Heike never has dessert or cake without it being pre-planned and factored into her day to allow for the calories.

I make it a meal replacement rather than extra to a meal. I love fresh baked bread and butter and cheese. I dont often have bread or butter any more, and only have cheese once a week. I will have a cheese and crackers evening and have five or six different cheeses. To stay within my calorie count, I will have lighter breakfasts and lunches, usually fruit or home-made soup and often do extra walking to burn more calories beforehand. That way, I can enjoy the splurge without feeling bad.

They say it's one thing losing weight but it's another keeping it off. How is she finding that?

I am still losing weight, although much more slowly now. I will carry on with the 1,430 calories a day until I go back to the day job (tour bus driver), hopefully in September. Once back, my lifestyle will be more active, I will raise the daily calorie limit.

Recording everything I eat and my exercise is the key to maintaining and not putting the weight back on. Ive used an app (myfitnesspal) to record everything. By doing that I have learned more comprehensively about food nutrition and maximising your calories. I will likely be doing that for the rest of my life. Its habit now.

Not that we should care about what the opposite sex thinks but what does her husband, who is in a Texas prison, make of the new Heike? They havent seen each other in person since Covid hit.

William is and has been very supportive, although he thinks I have lost far too much. He now feels like he is letting me down and is on a mission to lose weight himself.

Ive also told my boss about my weight loss progress and he is astounded. He hasnt seen me in person since lock-down so Im looking forward to seeing his and the faces of my colleagues when they do. Im only now  because a good friend keeps telling me how amazing it is  accepting praise for the achievement.

The one bad thing about losing so much weight is the pounds of a different kind quickly start to add up.

Although its a great feeling and achievement to have lost so much weight, it can end up being expensive to do so. I am slowly replacing clothes. It will be a large expense when I am able to get back to driving tours as I need enough tops and trousers for up to two weeks at a time. Im OK with the size I am now, I can safely start buying clothes knowing I wont change size much now.

Its a small price to pay.
THE Friends of St Itas who support the residents of St Itas Community Hospital in Newcastle West have joined the social media revolution with the launch of a new website and Facebook page.

St Itas Community Hospital, Newcastle West, is a community-based hospital providing services for the people of Limerick. Services include rehabilitation, assessment, palliative day care, respite and continuing care.

The Friends of St Itas Community Hospital was established in March 2003 as a voluntary fundraising group. The group was founded to support management and staff at St Itas in the delivery of effective services to the community.

The development of our website will enhance our social media presence and will reach a new and wider audience, along with supporting brand recognition and easy on-line promotion of our activities, Margaret Culhane, secretary of the Friends stated.

The Facebook page will provide more insight into the activities of the Friends and allow us to share important information, she added.

The main features of the Friends website include details of the work of the Friends, a page where donations can be made easily and a facility for people to send an e-card to any of the residents, along with an extensive photo gallery.

The website was designed and developed by Jonathan Harrington. Jonathan is the grandson of Mary Hartigan of Ballyhahill, now a resident of St Itas.

This is Jonathans second major contribution to the Friends as he has already procured and commissioned eight iPads for the residents.

The Friends are extremely grateful to Jonathan for his marvelous endeavours.

The Friends would like to extend their gratitude to Hayden Gilbert, senior occupational therapist, St Itas and Carol Noonan of Ballyhahill for their work on the photography for the project.

Visit https://friendsofstitas.ie or follow on Facebook.
A LOCAL historian has pointed to an ancient treaty to argue that the Peoples Park should not be used to hold events.

Over several years, Gouldavoher man Dr Tadhg Moloney has been highlighting the existence of a joint agreement, dated August 14, 1877, between the Earl of Limerick, the old Limerick Corporation and the Richard Russell Memorial Committee.

He secured signage at both entrances to the park, reflecting the treaty that there be "no political, religious meetings, processions or otherwise.

Now, Dr Moloney is upset that celebrated playwright Mike Finn has been allowed to bring a piece of outdoor theatre, Waiting for Poirot, to the public park next month.

And he believes that the Earl of Limerick should have been approached for permission first.

In a letter to the Limerick Leader, which he also addressed to the council, the historian wrote: It is the responsibility of the council to ensure that the conditions laid down in this document are adhered to. One of these conditions states that no theatrical exhibitions, nor equestrian circus to be held, erected, given constructed or exhibited therein. It is therefore incumbent on the council to ensure that this, or any future plays does not take place in the park to which all intents and purposes shall not be used for any other purpose than a Peoples Park.

Dr Moloney also expressed fears over council plans to erect weather proofed coverings for the event, which he feels will impact on the use of the greenery at the public facility.

In response to the query, Limerick Council referred the Leader back to a previous query made on the plans.

Released prior to the news about the outdoor theatre, it stated: The department has announced there is grant funding available for developing outdoor performances spaces as part of their post Covid-19 supports. Limerick Council is at the very early stages of putting a proposal together to win some of this funding.

If successful, council will engage further with the public in a consultation process to determine the most appropriate project and take it through the planning process.
ONE way to avoid a post-Covid economic black hole is to invest in space exploration, recommends a Glenstal Abbey School student.

Hugo Phelan, second year, has been named the Young Economist of the Year overall winner 2021. He was one of a number of Glenstal boys to be honoured in the annual competition. This years event comprised entries from over 200 schools countrywide ranging from first year to Leaving Cert students.

Hugo is the youngest ever winner of this accolade. He is the son of Tom Phelan, an engineer, and Sara Phelan, a lawyer, from Kilkenny.

Hugos winning project was a research study on government policy and space exploration. His research led him to recommend that the Irish government should invest in space exploration as part of its economic policies aimed at the Irish economic recovery from the effects of the coronavirus crisis.

Hugo was awarded a specially designed trophy and judges commented on the excellent research conducted in his project which reflected his great interest in space and space technology from a young age.

Headmaster, Fr Martin Browne said: We are all very proud of Hugo here at Glenstal Abbey School. Principal, Carmel Honan said: We are delighted with Hugos achievement as he has always been a boy who strives for excellence in everything he does.

Glenstal has a proud history in the Young Economist of the Year competition since it was founded in 2013.

Other success stories from the Murroe-based school this year was TY student Daniel Hughes from Ahane. He was awarded a gold medal for his project on the current housing crisis. TY student Aonghus Cooke, Galway, received a bronze medal for his research on the economic effects of the coronavirus.

The following first years won silver medals in four different teams who competed in the junior section: William Bennett, Cork; Eivind Caulfield-Drieir, Kerry; Louis Gleeson, Raheen; Sean Kiernan, Meath; Sonny McCartan, Banogue; Hugo McGowan, Moate; Patrick OBrien, Newport; Dashel ODonoghue, Castletroy; Rory ONeill, Grange; Sean Roche, Lisnagry; Bosco Serats, Spain.

One of the first year teams  Dashel, Rory and Bosco  received a high commendation for their project investigating the economic viability of electric cars.
BUS Eireann has committed to cutting its total greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030.

The national bus company, which has just published its first sustainability strategy, says it also plans to grow passenger numbers in Limerick and across the country by 30%.

Commenting on the plan, Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan said he is impressed by Bus Eireann's ambition and fully supports the new plan, which includes the purchase of around 550 electric buses.

"This strategy will help us meet our climate commitments; achieving a 50% electric-powered bus fleet by 2030, and increasing the number of people who choose public transport, will help us transform how we travel in Ireland," he said.

Bus Eireann currently carries nearly four million passengers a year in Limerick and employs 279 across the city and county.

This plan will mean transformational change, new fleet, new charging systems and new training for craftworkers in Limerick, said Denis Maher, Services Manager, Bus Eireann.

We are already well on the way here, with buses generating up to five times less emissions than cars per passenger kilometre, we hope these developments will help to make bus travel the first choice for people in Limerick," he added.
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NEW DELHI : Hyatt Regency five-star hotel in Mumbai said it will remain closed till further notice, since Asian Hotels (West) Ltd which owns the property is not making payments for its salaries and operations.

Hyatt is an American hospitality company that manages and franchises hotels. It is managing the Mumbai property on a contract basis on behalf of Asian Hotels (West).

Hospitality industry veteran and former president of the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), Sushil Kumar Gupta is the chairman and managing director of Asian Hotels (West).

The hotel, located near Mumbais international airport, said it will not accept reservations through Hyatt booking channels and will remain temporarily unavailable. Hyatt Regency Mumbai caters to corporate guests, groups from both corporate as well from social, convention and leisure market segments couples with individual guests.

As a result of no funds forthcoming from Asian Hotels (West) Ltd, the owner of Hyatt Regency Mumbai, to sustain the operations of the hotel, a decision has been taken to temporarily suspend all operations for Hyatt Regency Mumbai. The hotel will remain closed until further notice," said Sunjae Sharma, vice president and country head  India, Hyatt Regency wrote to its on-roll employees.

Sharma said that Hyatt is working closely with the hotels owner to resolve this situation.

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The State Bank of India ( SBI ) has issued a notice to its customers. The bank has intimated the account holders to link their PAN-Aadhaar card by June 30. The Bank has further said that if they fail to do so, they will face difficulty enjoying a seamless banking service.

"We advise our customers to link their PAN with Aadhaar to avoid any inconvenience and continue enjoying a seamless banking service," SBI said in a tweet.

We advise our customers to link their PAN with Aadhaar to avoid any inconvenience and continue enjoying a seamless banking service.#ImportantNotice #AadhaarLinking #Pancard #AadhaarCard pic.twitter.com/LKIBNEz7PO  State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) May 31, 2021

The tweet has further stated that the linking of PAN with the Aadhaar is mandatory. If PAN and Aadhaar are not linked, then PAN will be rendered inactive and cannot be quoted for conducting specified transactions. The last date for linking PAN with Aadhaar is June 30, 2021.

PAN is mandatory for a host of financial transactions including the opening of bank accounts, cash deposits in bank accounts, the opening of Demat accounts, transaction of immovable properties and dealing in securities. Aadhaar is biometric-based and cannot be obtained based on any other identification document, linking the two is considered crucial for tax administration.

The government has made several extensions to the deadline since July 2017 to facilitate the linking of the two identity numbers. And, now the last date to link these documents is June 30,

If you fail to link your PAN card with your Aadhaar card within the deadline, then the income tax department might impose a penalty on you. You will not only be liable to pay a fine of up to 1,000 but your PAN will also become invalid.

How to link PAN with Aadhaar card

1) Go to the income tax department's e-filing portal.

2) Click on the Link Aadhaar section on the left.

3) You need to fill in PAN number, Aadhaar number and name.

4) Fill in the CAPTCHA.

5) Click at the 'Link Aadhaar' option and your PAN Aadhaar Linking will get complete.

6) The income tax department will validate your name, date of birth and gender against Aadhaar details after which the linking will be done.

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Many of the decapitated skeletons had their heads buried like the one shown here.

Seventeen decapitated skeletons dating back about 1,700 years have been discovered in three Roman cemeteries at Knobb's Farm in Cambridgeshire, in the U.K.

Archaeologists who excavated the site think that the people were executed for violating Roman laws. However, scholars not affiliated with the research expressed mixed views about this explanation.

The cemeteries hold the burials of 52 people, and the 17 decapitated bodies include those of nine men and eight women and all over 25 years of age at time of death, a team of researchers reported in a paper published online May 19 in the journal Britannia . In many cases, the heads of the decapitated individuals were buried beside their feet and pottery was placed where their head normally would have been. Some of the bodies were also placed prone (stomach down) in their graves.

Related: Photos of decapitated skeletons buried in a Roman cemetery

The researchers believe that the decapitated people were executed. They noted that the number of capital crimes in Roman law increased dramatically during the third and fourth centuries, around the time these skeletons were buried. Surviving archaeological evidence suggests that the Roman military used Knobb's farm as a supply center, and they would have dealt harshly with any infractions, the researchers said.

Image 1 of 4 Here, another decapitated skeleton found at the Knobb's farm site. (Image credit: Dave Webb, Cambridge Archaeological Unit) Image 2 of 4 The skull from this decapitated skeleton was buried at the individual's feet. (Image credit: Dave Webb, Cambridge Archaeological Unit) Image 3 of 4 Three Roman cemeteries were excavated at the Knobb's farn site. This photo shows part of one of them. (Image credit: Dave Webb, Cambridge Archaeological Unit) Image 4 of 4 Many of the decapitated skeletons had their heads buried like the one shown here. (Image credit: Dave Webb, Cambridge Archaeological Unit)

"During the third and fourth centuries, the penalties available under Roman law grew steadily harsher. The number of crimes that carried the death penalty grew from 14 at the start of the third century to around 60 by the death of Constantine in A.D. 337," the researchers wrote in the journal article, noting that security concerns were one of the reasons for the increase in the death penalty. During the third and fourth centuries there were numerous civil wars within the Roman Empire, with multiple people often fighting to be named emperor. Additionally attacks from so-called " barbarians " were a major concern at this time.

Despite possibly being executed, the individuals were still buried with pottery vessels and in some cases were placed in coffins. "A decapitated female had by far the richest collection of grave goods, having been buried with two vessels and a necklace of cannel coal beads," Isabel Lisboa, the archaeologist who led excavations, told Live Science. Cannel coal is a type of coal that lights up easily. "Under Roman law, family and friends could request the return of the body of an executed criminal for burial," the team wrote in the journal article.

If that policy were the case, it could explain why the executed individuals were allowed something approaching a proper burial.

The people executed were likely not slaves, as "slaves had no status" and likely would not have been given burials, much less coffins and grave goods, Lisboa said.

Scholars react

Live Science contacted several scholars not involved with the research to get their thoughts on the discovery. Many didn't reply at the time of publication; but the few scholars who did expressed skepticism that Roman law had much to do with the execution of these individuals.

Related: 25 grisly archaeological discoveries

"What we know about the sites of Roman judicial executions suggests that they were principally at cities and towns, as public spectacle and for their deterrent effect," said Simon Cleary, an emeritus professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., who noted that Knobb's farm was not near any major town or city.

A law made by an emperor in Rome was hard to enforce in a distant location, Cleary told Live Science. "Really, it was up to the local magistrates, landowners or state officials to do, or not do, what the emperor commanded," Cleary said. "If it [the decapitated burials] were the result of such legislation, then one would expect to find execution burials, particularly decapitations, all across the empire. This simply does not happen. Decapitation burials are almost entirely confined to Britain," Cleary said. "So unless Britain was an area which took imperial legislation far more seriously than the rest of the empire, this suggests that explanations within Britain need to be looked for," Cleary said.

Cleary added that he thinks that it's possible that these people were executed but that Roman law may have had nothing to do with the reasons why they were killed. "By the fourth century the Roman army had for centuries literally been a law unto itself, with no come-back for civilians" said Cleary. Why most decapitated burials in the Roman Empire occurred in Britain is unclear. "Sometimes Roman Britain could be really, really weird, especially in the treatment of the dead - there are many other practices besides decapitated or prone burials that to our eyes look bizarre. To the eyes of people at the time they may have appeared perfectly comprehensible" said Cleary.

Other scholars also expressed doubts that Roman law had much to do with the decapitated burials. "Personally, I think that it is highly unlikely that the executions at Knobb's farm were anything to do with late Roman legal processes," said Caroline Humfress, director of the Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. "If they have a judicial context, it is more likely to be localized and related to summary executions," that is an execution performed without a trial, Humfress told Live Science.

Still, other scholars thought that these people could have been executed in accordance with Roman law. "Official execution seems the best explanation for the Knobb's Farm cases," said Judith Evans Grubbs, a professor of Roman history at Emory University in Atlanta. "Official executions would be carried out under the authority of the provincial governor, not local justice, and would reflect imperial ideas of criminality rather than local" ones, said Grubbs. She noted that women in the Roman Empire were often targets for accusations of sorcery and adultery, both of which could be considered capital crimes by the Romans.

Excavation of the site was carried out between 2001 and 2010. The excavation was entirely funded by a company called Tarmac and took place before a quarry was expanded, Lisboa said.

Originally published on Live Science.
The Godzilla shark, shown in this artistic concept illustration, would have been equipped with 12 rows of piercing teeth and a pair of 2.5-foot-long (0.8 meters) fin spines on its back.

A 300 million-year-old shark relative, nicknamed the Godzilla shark after its discovery in 2013, has finally received a proper name after being classified as its own species.

Paleontologists found the unusually complete and well-preserved 6.7-foot-long (2 meters) fossilized skeleton of the ancient shark at a private site in the Manzano Mountains near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Standout features of the skeleton include 12 rows of piercing teeth set in robust, powerful jaws, and a pair of 2.5-foot-long (0.8 m) fin spines on its back.

It was nicknamed the Godzilla shark because of its size  the skeleton is the largest fossil of its kind ever discovered in the area  and the reptilian nature of the spines on its back, John-Paul Hodnett, who first unearthed the fossil and led the new research, told Live Science.

Related: 7 unanswered questions about sharks

"I am also a big fan of the Godzilla film franchise," Hodnett, a paleontologist at the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission, said. "So when the features of this shark came to light, I thought it was the perfect nickname."

The shark has now been officially named Hoffman's dragon shark (Dracopristis hoffmanorum), after the family that owned the land where the skeleton was found, and as an homage to its monstrous, reptilian appearance.

"It is very rare to find skeletal material of ancient sharks, let alone a complete skeleton that also preserved the body outline and other soft tissue impressions," Hodnett said. "That and it being a new species was also amazing and unique."

Ancient relatives

The fossilized skeleton of the Godzilla shark next to an artist's rendering of what it may have looked like. (Image credit: New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS))

Hoffman's dragon shark belonged to a group of mysterious ancient sharks known as the Ctenacanths which diverged from modern sharks and rays around 390 million years ago during the Devonian Period . The exquisitely preserved skeleton enabled the researchers to learn more about this poorly understood group.

One of the biggest differences between the Ctenacanths and modern sharks is their jaws. "Their [Ctenacanths] jaws are larger, more firmly attached to the cranium, making them less flexible," Hodnett said.

These fixed jaws may mean Ctenacanths were not apex predators as modern sharks are. Instead, the new fossil suggests they may have occupied a different ecological niche.

"From the anatomy of the pectoral fins and tail we propose that Dracopristis was most likely a predator that kept close to the bottom of the ancient lagoon estuary it lived in," Hodnett said. "The teeth are also more adapted for grasping and crushing prey like crustaceans and small vertebrates."

The large spines on the back of Hoffman's dragon sharks may have been used as defense against larger sharks, the researchers suggest. Large shark teeth found in the area provide evidence that this is the case, according to a press statement from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS) .

The Ctenacanths went extinct during the mass extinction event at the end of the Permian Period 252 million years ago, which brought an end to the Paleozoic Era . However, the exact cause of the sharks' demise is still unclear.

The researchers are now looking for more Ctenacanth fossils in the area to learn more about their life-history traits  evolutionary characteristics such as longevity, growth rate, age of reproductive maturity and reproductive output.

"We can't reliably reconstruct the life-history traits of a species based on one specimen alone," co-author Eileen Grogan, a biologist at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, told Live Science. "A more holistic understanding of life-history traits requires greater sampling across sizes, sexes, and the environments in which the organism existed."

The study was published online April 15 in a NMMNHS Bulletin .

Originally published on Live Science.
According to a contract released by the United States Department of Defense on June 4, 2021, General Dynamics NASSCO  San Diego, San Diego, California, is awarded a $98,749,123 contract for the execution of the U.S. Navy USS Pinckney (DDG 91) guided missile destroyer FY22 depot modernization period. This availability will include a combination of maintenance, modernization, and repair of the USS Pinckney.

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The U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) returns to its homeport of Naval Base San Diego following the successful completion of a nine-month deployment. (Picture source U.S. Navy)

The USS Pinckney (DDG-91) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in service with the United States Navy. She was laid down on 16 July 2001 by Ingalls Shipbuilding, at Pascagoula, Mississippi, launched on 26 June 2002, and commissioned on 29 May 2004 at Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme.



The USS Pinckney is a Flight IIA variant in the Arleigh Burke-class series. The design of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer incorporates stealth technologies, such as the angled rather than traditional vertical surfaces and the tripod mainmast, which make the ship more difficult to detect, in particular by antiship missiles. The ship is built around the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multifunction passive electronically scanned array radar. The AEGISCombat System is an American-made integrated naval weapons system that uses powerful computer and radar technology to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets.



The Flight IIA version of Arleigh Burke ships has several new features including two hangars for antisubmarine warfare (ASW) helicopters, and a new, longer 5-inch/62-caliber (127 mm) Mark 45 Mod 4 naval gun.



The USS Pinckney is powered by four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines each generating 26,250 bhp (19,570 kW) coupled to two shafts, each driving a five-bladed reversible controllable pitch propeller. The ship can reach a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h) with a maximum cruising range of 4,400 nautical miles (8,100 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h).



The Arleigh Burke Flight IIA has a length of 155 m, a beam of 20 m, a draft of 9.3 m, and a displacement of 9,300 tons. She has a complement of 380 people including 23 officers.



The USS Pinckney is armed with one 5 inches (127 mm)/62 caliber Mk 45 Mod 4 naval gun, two 25 mm Mk 38 automatic cannons, four .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns, one 20 mm Phalanx CIWS (Close-In Weapon System), two Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes for Mk 46 torpedoes and 96-cell Mk 41 VLS (Vertical Launching System) able to fire RIM-66 SM-2 surface-to-air missiles, BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile, and RUM-139 VL-ASROC anti-submarine missiles.
Tiny zombies that were frozen in Arctic permafrost for 24,000 years were recently brought back to life and have produced clones in a lab in Russia.

These hardy creatures are bdelloid rotifers, or wheel animals, so-named for the wheel-like ring of tiny hairs that circle their mouths. Rotifers are multicellular microscopic animals that live in freshwater environments, and they've been around for about 50 million years.

In that time, rotifers have picked up a survival trick or two.

Researchers previously found that modern rotifers could be frozen at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 degrees Celsius) and then revived up to 10 years later. Now, scientists have resuscitated rotifers that froze in ancient Siberian permafrost during the latter part of the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to about 11,700 years ago). Once thawed, these ancient rotifers began reproducing asexually through parthenogenesis, creating clones that were their genetic duplicates.

Related: Photos: Ice age mammoth unearthed in Idaho

Permafrost  ground that has been frozen solid for two years or more  can preserve snapshots of life (and death) from millennia ago. For instance, a small bird carcass found in Siberian permafrost in 2020 was 46,000 years old but looked "like it [had] died just a few days ago," Live Science previously reported . A frozen and mummified cave bear , also found in Siberia in 2020 and dating to about 39,000 years ago, still had a fleshy black nose and much of its fur.

Retaining a lifelike appearance after spending thousands of years in ice is impressive. But some types of plants and animals locked in ancient permafrost have managed to do something even more astonishing; return to life from a frozen state.

In 2012, scientists described how they regenerated 30,000-year-old plants from immature fruit tissue that had been frozen in Siberian permafrost, Live Science reported that year . Two years later, researchers regrew Antarctic moss that had been icebound in Antarctica for 1,500 years. Tiny worms called nematodes have also been recovered and revived from ancient permafrost in two Siberian locations: at one site the rocks were around 32,000 years old, and in the other they were approximately 42,000 years old, Live Science reported in 2018.

And now, more frozen animal "zombies" in permafrost have been resuscitated from a suspended metabolic state known as cryptobiosis.

Bdelloid rotifers can enter cryptobiosis to survive extreme conditions such as freezing temperatures and drought. (Image credit: Michael Plewka)

Zombie clones

Rotifers evolved to use cryptobiosis because most of them live in watery habitats that often freeze or dry up, said Stas Malavin, a researcher at the Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science in Pushchino, Russia, and lead author of a new study describing the revived rotifers.

"They suspend their metabolism and accumulate certain compounds like chaperone proteins that help them to recover from cryptobiosis when the conditions improve," Malavin told Live Science in an email. Rotifers also have mechanisms for repairing DNA damage and for protecting their cells against harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species, Malavin explained.

For the new study, scientists collected permafrost samples by drilling to depths of 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) below the surface in Siberia's Alazeya River, where radiocarbon dating showed that the soil was around 24,000 years old. When they thawed the samples, the researchers discovered rotifers in the Adineta genus in a cryptobiotic state.

First, the scientists isolated and analyzed the permafrost samples to make sure that they weren't contaminated by modern microorganisms, according to the study. To revive the frozen sleepers, "We put a piece of permafrost into a Petri dish filled with [a] suitable medium and wait until organisms that are alive recover from their dormancy, start moving, and multiply," Malavin said.

Lateral view of rotifer. (Image credit: Michael Plewka)

Of course, once the defrosted survivors began cloning themselves, the scientists couldn't tell which ones were ancient and which were newborns, as the rotifers were genetically identical. Because rotifers typically only live for about two weeks, the scientists gathered their data from the clones of the 24,000-year-old rotifers, rather than from the Ice Age survivors themselves, Malavin said.

"Organisms isolated alive from permafrost potentially represent the best models for cryobiology research," and could provide valuable clues about the mechanisms that allow those organisms to survive, Malavin said. Those mechanisms could then be tested in cryopreservation experiments with human cells, tissues and organs, he said.

However, it doesn't mean that humans will be capable of duplicating rotifers deep-freeze sleep and recovery anytime soon, Malavin added.

"The more complex the organism, the trickier it is to preserve it alive frozen," he said. "For mammals, it's not currently possible."

The findings were published online June 7 in the journal Current Biology .

Originally published on Live Science.
With their large, muscular bodies, dogs such as rottweilers and pit bulls, especially those that are trained to act menacingly, may seem like the scariest of their species. But evidence shows that smaller dogs can actually be more aggressive than many of their outsized counterparts.

So why are little dogs so fierce?

First, it's important to define what counts as tiny for a dog. "Small dogs in the less-than-20-pound [9 kilograms] range tend to be more reactive," said James Serpell, director of the Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. For example, dachshunds, Chihuahuas and Jack Russell terriers are the most likely to attempt to bite, according to a 2008 study in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science that surveyed the owners of more than 30 dog breeds. Other aggressive behaviors seen in little dogs include growling, snarling and lunging. There are a few theories for why this is the case.

Related: Why do dogs and cats run around in random bursts of speed?

Small size may make dogs more fearful, and they may lash out in self-defense, Serpell said. Tiny breeds may be more likely to react defensively because they have more to be afraid of.

Alternatively, small dogs' reactivity could be a result of their owners' behavior. "Owners tend to infantilize small dog breeds and think of them as being like helpless infants," Serpell told Live Science. Pet owners may be overly protective of small breeds, so they may not socialize them or teach them how to properly react to stressful situations.

Aggression could also be baked into the pups' evolution . "If you're attacked by a Chihuahua, obviously the consequences are much less significant than if you're attacked by a Great Dane or a Siberian husky," Serpell said. In other words, over the millenia, humans may not have bothered to breed aggressive behaviors out of little dogs because the consequences weren't as dire as they were for being attacked by sizable hounds.

That last theory is supported by studies that have found a link between aggressive behavior and the growth factor gene that makes small dogs small. The association could be coincidental, but research has shown that small dogs aren't just more extreme in their aggression-related behaviors; compared with large dogs, small dogs tend to have more severe separation anxiety, usually bark more and are more likely to urinate in the house, Serpell said. This gives credence to the theory that genetics plays a role in little dogs' extreme behavior.

Scientists aren't sure which of the theories are correct because they haven't studied the root of little dogs' fierce behavior yet, Serpell said. All of the theories could potentially play a role.

Some tiny breeds are an exception to the rule. One example is the Coton de Tulear, also known as the Royal Dog of Madagascar. This dog is small, white and fluffy, similar to a bichon frise.

"For some reason, that breed seems to have quite subdued behavior across the board, but it also has all kinds of medical problems," Serpell said. "It's unclear whether that's because they maybe lack some critical genetic factor. Or it could be related to the fact that they're just more unhealthy and less physically able to react strongly."

Some aggressive behaviors can be addressed safely while living with the dog, but a professional dog trainer should be the one to work on correcting the behavior, according to VCA Animal Hospitals , a system of animal hospitals.

Body size may not be the only attribute of small dogs that is associated with aggression. Lower height alone is associated with undesirable traits in some breeds, according to a 2013 study in the journal PLOS One . For example, dog breeds with shorter legs are more likely to be fearful of unfamiliar dogs and to have owner-directed aggression. It's unclear why this is the case, but it may be something to keep in mind when you're looking for your next pet.

Editor's Note: Updated on June 8, 2021 at 3:33 p.m. EDT to fix the name of VCA Animal Hospitals. It is not Veterinary Centers of America, as previously stated.

Originally published on Live Science.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Valeria Luiselli is pleased to have passed the libraries test with her first novel written directly in English, Lost Children Archive (Sound Desert), which received the Dublin Literary Award.

The 100,000-euro ($122,000) award, sponsored by Dublin City Council, is the top monetary prize for a single novel published in English. The finalists are nominated by libraries around the world.

That really seems to me to be the most beautiful thing about this award, Luiselli said in a recent interview with The Associated Press from New York, where she lives. It is a prize that is not linked, like all other prizes, to the speed of the market, but to the speed of reading.

Published in 2019, Lost Children Archive addresses the issue of migrant children traveling unaccompanied to the United States, something that the author has witnessed first-hand as a translator and interpreter for children at the immigration court of New York.

In the novel, a family made up of a couple of sound documentary creators and their children set out on a road trip from New York to the southern border, something Luiselli did in 2014. This and other trips gave rise to her story about displaced children that is intertwined with the domination and elimination of the Apache culture.

Crossing this country a different urgency took hold of me, the urgency to write about political violence towards the communities that this country considers outsiders, Luiselli explained. Thinking about the cycles that are repeated in the history of violence against certain communities, almost always violence motivated by the deep racism in this country, traveling and touring this country and seeing that, I decided to write Lost Children Archive.

The 37-year-old author has been previously praised by librarians. In 2020, her novel won the Andrew Carnegie Medal, presented by the American Library Association. At the time Luiselli called herself a radical nerd and remembered spending more time in libraries  between the stacks, in silent reading rooms, in the rare books & manuscript sections, and hovering behind the lenses of microfilm readers  than is probably healthy.

Before Lost Children Archive," she had published books translated from Spanish into English, including the novels Faces in the Crowd and The Story of My Teeth, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and winner of the Los Angeles Times award for best fiction; and Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions, winner of the American Book Award.

She has written extensively in Spanish. Luiselli, daughter of a diplomat father and Zapatista mother, was born in Mexico City in 1983, but has since lived in South Africa, South Korea, India and several European countries. She has lived in the United States for 13 years, where she awaits the birth of her second daughter with her partner, a Somali man raised in Canada.

Her center of gravity, however, remains in Mexico.

I grew up in a house where we were constantly reminded of our Mexican roots, she said. I grew up with a feeling that we lived abroad, and that home was there in Mexico, that that was our home and that one day we would return."

In Lost Children Archive, the mother is of Nanu indigenous origin, a Mexican ethnic group. One day she meets Manuela, a speaker of Triqui, an indigenous language of Oaxaca, and asks to record her speaking this language to document it. Manuela tells her that her daughters were on their way to meet her from Mexico but were arrested and could be deported. Thus arises the mothers obsession for those children who get lost along the way, while traveling with her own children looking at them, imagining what would happen if they were them.

As part of the plot, the mother participates in a vigil with a priest for the disappeared in raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in which the authorities seek to cover a detention quota: At first, I thought Father Juan Carlos was preaching from a kind of Orwellian dystopic delirium. It took me some time to realize that he wasnt. It took me some time to notice that the rest of the people there that day ... were family members of someone who had, in fact, disappeared during an ICE raid," an excerpt reads.

Luiselli pointed to the increase in detention centers for migrants. According to the National Migration Forum, the United States has the largest detention system for migrants in the world, which has multiplied by 20 since 1979 and expanded 75% in the first decade of the 21st century.

In 2019, nearly 70,000 migrant children were in U.S. custody. Children are often held in a network of shelters, such a convention centers or military installations, a situation that Luiselli calls absurd.''

Its absurd ... It has become a way to feed the great monster of the private prison industry in the United States, said the writer. Basically they imprison migrants and with that they earn billions of dollars. Instead of giving them due process, instead of allowing a boy or a girl to live with their relatives while they process their visa, they are imprisoned in a childrens center. 

With the book, Luiselli worked directly with Daniel Saldana Paris to translate Lost Children Archive, edited in Spanish by Sexto Piso as Desierto Sonoro, into a version that feels as vivid as the original. When writing in Spanish, she works with translator Christina MacSweeney to bring her books into English.

She highlighted other contemporary writers who have addressed the issue of migration and borders, such as Samanta Schweblin, Gabriela Jauregui, Brenda Lozano, Cristina Rivera Garza, Dolores Dorantes, Natalie Diaz and Fernanda Melchor, whose Hurricane Season was a finalist for this year's Dublin Literary Award.

I can only think of women who are writing very interesting things about the border, she said. There is a generation of writers right now with a very powerful voice ... on topics that haunt and hurt us.
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Peacock has unveiled a Girls5eva Emmy FYC plan that includes sending a karaoke bus around the streets of Los Angeles and West Hollywood, and also taking over the marquees of two landmark music venues.

The customized, open-air double-decker Girls5eva karaoke bus, part of what creator Meredith Scardino helped dub the 5 Your Emmy Consideration campaign, will embark next weekend, from Friday, June 11, to Sunday, June 13, noon to 8 p.m. PT both days.

The karaoke bus will pick up Emmy voters and fans from a central point and travel through Hollywood and West Hollywood as theyre asked to sing songs from Girls5eva or tunes from real-life 90s girl groups. Those who grab the mic will be given promo items from the show. The karaoke bus is also timed to Pride events this weekend.

Meanwhile, Peacock has also taken over the marquees for Los Angeles Wiltern Theatre and El Rey, both on Wilshire, to promote Girls5eva. Also, all of the posters around the venue include Girls5eva branding and highlight the cast. The streamer notes that both venues are in high-traffic voter areas.

There are so many of these iconic venues around Los Angeles that have a rich history and have unfortunately been dark since the start of the pandemic, said a spokesperson. We loved the natural tie-in with the music elements of the show and it was also nice to know that we were supporting these venues in a small way after a tough year. We wanted nothing more than to see those marquees back up in lights. And leaning into the tone of the show, it felt like exactly how the group Girls5eva would see their name in lights again.

The ideas were conceived and executed by the Peacock originals publicity and awards team.

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Leading Italian sales agent and production company The Open Reel has acquired the rights to 15 Horas from filmmaker Judith Colell (Elisa K), world premiering on Tuesday June 8 in the main competition at the Malaga Film Festival, with two more screenings scheduled for the following day.

Colell long ago established herself as an important voice in the Spanish film industry chorus when in 1996 she received a Spanish Academy Goya Award nomination for her short film Escrito en la piel. Since then, the auteur has been nominated for a handful of Catalan Academy Gaudi Awards and in 2010 won the Special Jury Prize at San Sebastian for her mother-daughter drama Elisa K.

With 15 Horas, Colell disects the story of a perfect couple, Aura and Manuel. She, a first chair violinist and he, the orchestras suave conductor, are the envy of their peers and standouts on the local cultural scene. Of course, not all is as it seems and behind closed doors the marriage is unrecognizable, as Manuel is guilty of a long history of mistreating of his wife. Feeling helpless yet unwilling to continue with the way things have always been, Aura recruits outside help, only to discover her worst fears about the relationship are entirely justified.

Starring and produced by Sterlyn Ramirez, 15 Horas is a Spanish-Dominican co-production between Turkana Films and Malagas own Selene Films. Longtime TV writer Cira Valino delivered the screenplay.

Acquired ahead of Marchs European Film Market, The Open Reel is also screening Spanish director Ruth Caudelis Leading Ladies at Malaga. Sales kicked off quickly on the ZonaZine-produced drama, and a deal with Bohemia Media was announced in April.

Since then, the company has also found a home for Leading Ladies in South and Southeast Asia, where Portico Media has secured the title along with two others: Alberto Fuguets Vision du Reel player Everything at Once: Paco and Manolos Gaze and Its Just in My Head from director Marius Gabriel Stancu, an in-house production from The Open Reel.

Both Everything at Once and Its Just in My Head also sold to the popular local streaming platform Filmin in Spain.

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Warner Bros. Entertainment U.K. (WBEUK) is set to distribute Pathes films across the U.K. and Ireland.

The companies have struck a deal that will come into effect on June 30. The first Pathe film to be distributed by WBEUK will be the Venice Film Festival-premiering The Duke, starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, which is released on Sept. 3. The film is directed by Roger Michell.

The distribution alliance was revealed Monday by Cameron McCracken, managing director of Pathe UK and Polly Cochrane, country manager for Warner Media U.K. and Ireland. WBEUK is part of WarnerMedia.

We are delighted to renew our alliance with Warner Bros, 10 years since we last partnered with them on our U.K. releases. As with our past distribution partnerships, we will continue to manage the whole filmmaking and distribution process for our titles, providing a bespoke service to our filmmakers whilst also allowing them to benefit from studio backing, said McCracken.

Cochrane added: Warner Bros. first formed a partnership with Pathe in 2009. We are delighted to be renewing our strategic alliance to bring Pathes outstanding theatrical slate of high quality, critically acclaimed British films to our U.K. and Irish audiences both in cinemas and across other platforms and channels.

Pathe has produced and/or distributed films including The Queen, Slumdog Millionaire and Selma. The new alliance will be limited to the U.K. and Ireland and will not extend to Pathe France. Pathe U.K. will also continue to act as an international sales agents for its own productions and third-party titles.

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The Habitat for Humanity of Laredo, an organization focused on building and rebuilding, received $10,000 toward those efforts with a check presented Tuesday by the BBVA Foundation.

According to Habitat for Humanity of Laredo Executive Director Carol Sherwood, the money will be used for their Women Build Day, which is a day when women from all around the community go out and help build a home for a local family.

We are so excited today in Habitat for Humanity of Laredo to announce that we have received a large donation for our Womens Build so we can restart rebuilding in our community, Sherwood said.

Women Build Day usually is celebrated by having both women with experience and those with none at all come together to construct a house. According to Sherwood, the project is much needed now as the value of a home cannot be underestimated as seen by the pandemic that caused people to shelter in their homes to be safe when there were no vaccines available.

The pandemic has kept many people at home, and we know now that many people have made home repairs now that they have been vaccinated or have found other ways that they can volunteer with us, so we are welcoming back builders, Sherwood said. And, we can only do that with this very generous donation from BBVA Foundation.

A member of the BBVA Foundation was also present at the ceremony to provide the check. They stated that their continued help in the community is something that cannot be matched as everything is done through volunteers.

We are here to give the Habitat for Humanity a $10,000 donation from the BBVA Foundation, said Susana Melendez Valencia, CEO of the Texas Border Region for BBVA USA. We are just very excited to be able to do this, especially with everything that has happened in recent months.

Valencia went on to thank all of the people of Habitat for Humanity of Laredo for their continuing efforts. She expressed how delighted she was to form part of the organizations continuing efforts.

We really want to thank you Carol and the whole team as you guys have been really doing an amazing job for the Laredo community, and we couldnt be any prouder and thank you very much for everything that you guys do, Valencia said.

Sherwood said her team is ready to go back outside and build and hopes that Valencia and her own team of colleges will also join their efforts as Habitat for Humanitys Women Build Day activities are coming soon thanks to the donation and other efforts.

We look forward to seeing Susana out there at a construction site with hammer in hand, and I know that she has a group of ladies that she is always travelling with, and we think that she should travel to our construction site, Sherwood said.

All donations made to Habitat for Humanity are used to buy materials and products for constructing a home or helping in the repairing. Demand for repairs has increased recently due to storm damage.

Sherwood said people who want to get in contact Habitat for Humanity of Laredo for information or volunteering opportunities can visit their social media channels or call them at (956) 724-3227. Information to donate can also be found through these mediums and via their website at habitatlaredo.org.

jorge.vela@lmtonline.com
Today is Election Day in Nuevo Laredo and all of Mexico.

This years election is considered particularly memorable as it will be one of the biggest the country does for a non-presidential race while in Nuevo Laredo nine different parties and one independent are in a heated race to win the mayoral position in the city.

In Nuevo Laredo, people will be able to vote from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. when the polls close for the day and the counting of the votes begins.

The election is historic because of two reasons, said Manuel Moncada Fuentes, the executive spokesman for the Instituto Nacional Electoral, or the National Electoral Institution, in Nuevo Laredo. The first reason is because this is the first time in which an election is held to elect both congressional legislative leaders, as one part of the legislature will be voted on, and local races  and even some governor races  in some states will also be held. Another reason is because it is one of the biggest the city and country has seen.

The election in Nuevo Laredo this year is also extremely large. In the mayoral race, there are nine parties and one independent candidate involved.

The mayoral candidates include:

Carmen Lilia Canturosas Hinojosa from the National Regeneration Movement. Cristabell Zamora Cabrera from the Institutional Revolutionary Party. Eva Espinosa Orozco from the Solidarity Party. Gricelda Garza Flores from the Green Ecological Party of Mexico. Guadalupe Carmona from the Strength for Mexico Party Javier Lozano Rodriguez from the Social Media Progressives Party. Leticia Barbara Hernandez Cantu from the Citizen Movement. Maria Clara Hinojosa Gutierrez from the Democratic Revolutionary Party. Victor Manuel Vergara Martinez as an independent. Yahleel Abdala Carmona from the National Action Party.

According to Moncada, in Nuevo Laredo alone features 324,622 people registered to vote  Webb County had 137,840 in the 2020 U.S. elections  and he hopes that all of these individuals turn out in great numbers.

Locals like Santiago Silva, who has voted in the past, states that this is one of the most important elections he has participated in. He attributes this to moving on from the pandemic, as people need to choose a local government that opts for keeping individuals healthy while reopening the economy.

We need safety, but we also need economic safety, Silva said. I think that this is something that our current leadership never understood, and we must tell them that by hitting the polls and voting for real change. I opt for something better than what we have been fed in the past.

Others are ready to vote but fear that something might happen which could cause the contests to be delayed, as they feel there is too much political tensions between the current candidates and parties.

I just hope that tomorrow we wake up going to vote and go to sleep knowing who won, Israel Suarez said. We dont need to wait a whole week or more to find out who won. We just dont.

Results are expected to be released by the INE on Sunday night with their timetable showing that they will have close to final results around midnight Sunday.

There is a program that we have in which we will start releasing preliminary results by 8 p.m., but by 11 p.m. and 12 a.m., I do predict that the voting results will be almost clear to make predictions, Moncada said.

According to the INE spokesperson, on Saturday the organization was doing its final preparations and touches for the election day on Sunday. This included preparing each precinct with its needed ballots and other important paperwork that people need to vote.

On Saturday, we handed each precinct their individual electoral packages and the rules that each worker at each of these voting booths will have to follow, which were 539 in total. And we have already posted all of the signage needed for people to know where they can vote, Moncada said. As well, we have already instructed all of the individuals from the different parties who will be involved throughout the day.

Voting in Nuevo Laredo is also much different from voting in the U.S., as individuals in Laredos sister city will not be able to purchase any alcohol Sunday due to the elections. According to Moncada, each state in the country has the option to enforce or to not impose this law, but that the state of Tamaulipas did impose it for their election process.

Poll watchers in Mexico are also chosen much differently. Individuals are randomly called to assist with the voting process.

The members of the board of directors of the precincts were selected through a random drawing in which they were chosen based on when their birthday landed, that which for them if it was between the months of August and September and beginning with the letter A in their last names, which ultimately yielded about more than 40,000 citizens that we could choose from for this process, Moncada said. And 8,500 of them accepted to be part of this electoral process, and from them we got individuals for the more than 500 election sites for Sunday, of which nine of them are serving each in the precincts.

Another major difference is the fact that in Mexico there is no early voting.

However, there is one major similarity in voting between both countries as people had to be registered to vote prior to going to vote. For the June 6 elections, individuals in Mexico had to be registered under the INE by Feb. 10, 2021.

In terms of safely, Moncada stated that everything is ready to be held without any major incidents. The INE has also imposed major COVID-19 restrictions for people in the city as well. This includes the mandatory use of facemasks and following social distance while voting their time to get in line to vote.

All I asked for the people on Election Day is to be please patient and to be calm and tranquil, as since we are still under the pandemic, the polls will only allow 12 votes to enter the site at a time, Moncada said. Definitely this will cause for there to be a longer-than-expected waiting time, however, people must know that there is a long voting time of 10 hours, and that I hope people comprehend the need of these safety guidelines considering the continuing pandemic.

Silva states that he is glad his community has imposed these safety guidelines, as he has noticed that some people have already relaxed their usage of them.

Dont get me wrong, I want the companies to reopen back again and everything, but I want that in a safe and practical manner. And that will only happen if we stay safe, Silva said. The decision to do this on Election Day might turn off some people, but really it is good for the better of us and shows how the government, at least in this respect, cares. Please vote.

Other than the COVID-19 restrictions, the election process will be normal for the regular Mexican citizen, as they just have to wait for their time to go into the election site. Then they will not give out their identification card to the workers at the polls, instead they will provide them their identification by putting it on the table upon registration to avoid any person contact between poll worker and voting citizen. Then the ballot will be provided to them on the table, and they can take it and head to an area where they can cast their votes.

The only difference this year is that the INE has taken away the curtains that hide the voters from others as they vote due to COVID-19 safety regulations, so people do not touch the same thing over and over.

jorge.vela@lmtonline.com
The Human Rights Watch has urged the United Nations and donor governments for an independent assessment of the safety, disaster preparedness, and habitability at Bhasan Char during the impending monsoon season and beyond.

The Bangladesh government has relocated nearly 20,000 Rohingya refugees to a remote island without adequate health care, livelihoods, or protection, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Monday.

The 58-page report tilted An Island Jail in the Middle of the Sea: Bangladeshs Relocation of Rohingya Refugees to Bhasan Char, finds that Bangladesh authorities transferred many refugees to the island without full, informed consent and have prevented them from returning to the mainland.

While the government says it wants to move at least 100,000 people to the silt island in the Bay of Bengal to ease overcrowding in Coxs Bazar refugee camps, humanitarian experts have raised concerns that insufficient measures are in place to protect against severe cyclones and tidal surges, said the HRW report.

Refugees on the island reported inadequate health care and education, onerous movement restrictions, food shortages, a lack of livelihood opportunities, and abuses by security forces.

An AFP file photo shows Rohingya refugees stand in a queue after they had disembarked from a Bangladesh Navy ship to Bashan Char in Hatiya.

The Bangladesh government is finding it hard to cope with over a million Rohingya refugees, but forcing people to a remote island just creates new problems, said Bill Frelick, refugee and migrant rights director. International donors should assist the Rohingya, but also insist that Bangladesh return refugees who want to return to the mainland or if experts say island conditions are too dangerous or unsustainable.

Human Rights Watch interviewed 167 Rohingya refugees between May 2020 and May 2021, including 117 on Bhasan Char and 50 in Coxs Bazar, 30 of whom were later relocated to Bhasan Char.

Primary responsibility for the Rohingyas situation lies with Myanmar.

On August 25, 2017, the military began a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims involving mass killing, rape, and arson that forced over 740,000 to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, which was already hosting an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 unregistered Rohingya refugees who had fled previous persecution. Myanmar has failed to end widespread abuses against the Rohingya and has refused to create conditions for their safe, dignified, and voluntary return.

While Bangladesh commendably opened its borders to the Rohingya, the authorities have not made camp conditions truly hospitable, increasing pressure to relocate to Bhasan Char. The authorities shut down internet access for almost a year in the refugee camps, denied formal education to children, and built barbed wire fencing restricting movement and access to emergency services. Security forces face allegations of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.

In May 2020, Bangladesh first brought over 300 Rohingya refugees rescued at sea to Bhasan Char. Although the government initially said they were being quarantined on the island to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the camps, they have yet to be reunited with their families. In December, Bangladesh authorities started relocating thousands of refugees from the camps to the island, reneging on promises to allow an independent technical assessment of the protection needs, safety, and habitability on the island.

Now, after an 18-member United Nations team was taken to see the island from March 17 to 20, the authorities are pressuring the UN to start delivering humanitarian assistance. Refugees said that during the UN visit they were only allowed to speak in the presence of Bangladesh government officials and were compelled to make it appear there were no problems on the island.

On May 31, 2021, thousands of refugees gathered to try and meet with a delegation of UN officials that were visiting Bhasan Char and to protest conditions, many saying that they do not want to remain on the island. Bangladesh authorities had earlier warned the Rohingya against complaining, some refugees told Human Rights Watch. There were clashes with security forces after the refugees disregarded those instructions, eyewitnesses said, and several Rohingya, including women and children, were injured.

The Bangladesh government should urgently begin consultations with UN officials to discuss any future humanitarian operational engagement on Bhasan Char, Human Rights Watch said. The authorities should also act on recommendations by the UN after their visit to improve the wellbeing, safety, and protection of Rohingya refugees already on the island.

The Bangladesh government has informed Human Rights Watch in a letter that it had ensured adequate supply of food along with proper sanitation and medical facilities for Rohingyas on Bhasan Char and that all relocations were based on informed consent. However, refugees widely refuted these claims. A 53-year-old man said he went into hiding to avoid being transported after the camp administrator threatened him: He said, even if I die, they will take my body there. I dont want to go to that island. Others said they volunteered based on false promises.

Refugees also described the inadequate health facilities on the island. Human Rights Watch interviewed 14 people who said they had sought treatment for a range of conditions, including asthma, pain, fever, arthritis, diabetes, ulcers, and malaria, but most were handed paracetamol (acetaminophen) tablets and sent away. Four of the fourteen later died, as a result of inadequate emergency health care, their family members believe.

The island has no emergency medical care services. If referred by a doctor and permitted by the island authorities, refugees have to travel three hours by boat and then two hours by road to the nearest mainland hospital for emergency care. This includes pregnant women needing lifesaving medical intervention. A refugee who lost his wife during childbirth said that after complications, when doctors recommended moving her to a mainland hospital, getting permission took two hours, by which time she had died.

Refugees said that they were promised teachers, schools, and formal accredited education for their children on the island. However, an aid worker said that although an estimated 8,495 children are on Bhasan Char at best four NGOs are providing education to no more than 1,500 children.

Mizan, 35, said the education her 7- and 9-year-old daughters were receiving was actually less than in the camps: We have been here now for six months and my daughters brought all their belongings, bags, and books, to continue studying, but there arent even learning centers here.

With monsoon season due to start in June, the island is at risk from high winds and flooding. Embankments around the island are still likely inadequate to withstand a category three storm or worse. Although the government says that there are adequate storm shelters, there is the risk that refugees, Bangladeshi security personnel, and humanitarian workers, could end up marooned on the island with limited supplies as sea or air transport are restricted in inclement weather. The authorities stopped a recent relocation to Bhasan Char due to the bad weather, said the report.

Putting unwilling refugees on a remote, low-lying island where cyclones are common is a bad idea, Frelick said. Rohingya refugees who have lost and suffered so much need to be treated with dignity and respect for their safety and well-being and be allowed to make informed, voluntary choices about their living conditions until long-term solutions can be found.
According to Richard Raymond, the state representative for District 42 in Texas, he and other Democrats did not just walk out from the legislative proceedings on Sunday night but rather the vote on Senate Bill 7 never made it to the floor for debate as there was no quorum, or no sufficient number of state representatives.

Raymond said he never wanted to block the bill by walking out. He wanted to block it by attacking it head on in the House chamber.

I was one of those who was really working very hard to try to defeat Senate Bill 7 as it is a terrible bill on voting, and that is obviously how we feel about it, Raymond said. As the bill got closer to the floor, we were asked if I wanted to speak against it, and I said that I wanted to speak out against it and why I think it was in front of us and etcetera. But, I want you to understand that the bill was not in front of the House at this point as it was still not in front of the House even though it was close, and it was like 10:20 at night, and we had to midnight, and I knew that we still had a little bit of time.

However, he said something unprecedented happened on that night of the so-called walkout.

Raymond said one of the representatives asked for permission to excuse State Representative Joe Moody (D-78) for reasons concerning his district, and instead of him being excused as it is accustomed, Raymond said one of the other representatives objected to his excusal, so it was put to a vote. The vote then showed that there was no quorum in the State House of Representatives as there were only 86 members at the time available for the Moody vote when at least 100 of the 150 members are needed for there to be a quorum.

Thus, Senate Bill 7 was not put up for debate nor considered by the House of Representatives.

I am standing there to be recognized to speak against Senate Bill 7 when it came up, but it had not come up yet, and then all of a sudden we voted on excusing Representative Moody, Raymond said. Well, when we voted on it and then it officially showed the roll call with only 86 members, at that point there was no quorum which shows that, boom, you cannot proceed to the next item of business. We could not even proceed on the vote to excuse Moody. Thus, when asked if I walked out, it is not as simple as it has been reported because we actually didnt have Senate Bill 7 in front of us yet. So those of us who said that we wanted to speak against the bill were told that we do not have a quorum and that we cannot speak.

Raymond, however, said the lack of representatives on the House floor was not as dramatic as other media outlets have reported that all of them walked out at the same time and that there was a general consensus among them to do so. Rather it was something that occurred because many of them were already not available throughout the day.

It wasnt just like all of those representatives stood up and walked out. It just doesnt work that way, Raymond said. Some people were not even there as they didnt show up because they had important business in their district and something with their kids or their families or they have business, so even at the beginning of the day we already had five to 10 people that werent there just because they were not going to be there because something else came up in their lives. It was never something to the point where somebody told everybody to leave now.

Raymond did say the head of the Democratic caucus sent out an email briefly before the so-called walkout telling Democrats to lock their offices and leave. However, Raymond also said this was never in direct response to Senate Bill 7 as it never reached the floor officially to be debated and voted upon.

Raymond has many reasons why he firmly opposes Senate Bill 7 and its passage.

They are making it much easier for the attorney general and the secretary of state to bring charges against people who lets say they give three to four people a ride to the polling station and if one of them is not related to you and it looks liked you might have helped him or her, then that could be illegal, Raymond said. If somebody files a complaint with the secretary of state and somebody says that, wait a minute, somebody did something wrong and said person helped them or they voted curbside, and they are not related, then that person could be charged with fraud.

He said the bill would also make it almost illegal for just helping people with disabilities to walk inside a polling place because the person might be charged with influencing the other to vote.

Raymond said he is also against the bill because it cuts back on drive-thru voting, which he states has been an efficient method of voting for people who are disabled and also to combat health crises. The bill would also cut down on many remote voting sites, which he believes will affect large cities like Houston, and also the bill cuts back on voting hours.

Texas State Senator District 21 Judith Zaffirini also has voiced her opposition to the bill, which she voted against when it was in the State House to no avail as the Republican majority helped pass the bill.

I opposed Senate Bill 7, which purported to increase election security but instead would have created new barriers to persons exercising their right to vote, most especially Texans with disabilities and persons of color, Zaffirini said. Webb County generally has lagged behind the rest of the state and nation in voter turnout. We need to identify ways to engage new voters and to make voting easier for them, not harder. I believe that can be done without compromising the integrity of our elections.

Even though she is glad that the bill as it is did not pass, she does expect for a similar bill to come up in a special session as Gov. Greg Abbott ahs already said he will call for the legislative session later this summer.

Senate Bill 7 ultimately was not passed, but I fully expect similar legislation to be considered during a special session later this year, Zaffirini said. I will continue to oppose proposals that limit opportunities to vote, especially for historically marginalized groups, and hope the legislature can engage in a more measured and thoughtful discussion about continuing to conduct free, honest and secure elections.

Sylvia Bruni, who is the Webb County Democratic Party Chair, also agreed with Raymond and applauded any steps that have been taken to derail or defeat the proposed law. She said the bill would derail voter registration across the state as well.

Add to these blatant racist measures the fact that this was a bill that was crafted totally in isolation of the Democrats in the (Texas) Senate before being rushed to the House in the late hours of Sunday, Bruni said. Senator (Beverly) Powell was the only Democratic Senator on the conference committee, and she was totally left out of the process, getting the final draft of the document at 11.30 p.m. the night before it was filed the next day at 9 a.m.

That's what SB 7 is all about, a disgraceful attempt by a political party that has lost its center doing whatever it can, even if it threatens the very core of our democracy, to satisfy its base by limiting as much as possible the right of every eligible American to vote. And every one of us, regardless of our partisan leanings, if we are fair, reasonable and informed, should be ashamed and should protest loudly.

Raymond said the bill is all about politics and not about protecting and relinquishing voter fraud, which he said is not a significant problem at the state or national level.

Its like they want to move the goal post because they know that if many people vote, then they will not do as well as if not a lot of people vote, Raymond said. I want 100% voter turnout, and if that means that my candidate doesnt win, so be it, because a democracy is better when more people are participating, and if that means that sometimes my candidate is not going to win, that is still great because it means that at least democracy is working. Less and less participation is not better for our democracy because fewer and fewer people are making the decisions.

Raymond also provided a story of how his grandmother was an American citizen that did not know how to read or speak any English despite being born in the U.S. and how this bill would have restricted her from voting because now the law states that people should not have any help with a disability or a language barrier when it comes to voting.

There are only people in this country that only speak Polish, Raymond said. You know there are people in this country that only speak Russian as well, and they are U.S. citizens, and so you cannot discriminate against them because they only speak Russian, Polish or Spanish. Thats a bad bill, and we need it to kill it.

According to Raymond, several sources he has heard from do not expect Abbotts special session to happen until August. He also expects two special legislative sessions to occur which will focus on the topic of redistricting which will most likely not happen until September or October.

Although Raymond did not want to comment on the prospects of the bill eventually passing as Republicans continue to control the majority in the Texas House of Representatives, he said what is coming is an uphill battle. However, he promises to be involved in all of the special legislative sessions and to never walk out as they debate such an important issue.

I have never missed a day of work, and I have never missed a day of the session in all my time that I have been here, and every day we will meet, Ill be there, Raymond said. You will never have to have someone say, Excuse Mr. Raymond.

State Representative Tracy King (D-80), who also represents the southern portion of Webb County, was asked for comment on the matter, but he declined to provide any. Webb County Republican Party Chair Tyler Kraus was also ask for comment on this story but declined to do so.

jorge.vela@lmtonline.com
The church bells of San Agustin Cathedral rang once again on Sunday as mass was offered in the historic church after a more than a two-year hiatus as part of the cathedral underwent a major restoration project.

As the $8 million project came to an end, churchgoers  including various city leaders and many devoted Catholics  attended mass for the first time a years inside the building as it was reopened to the public. Most of those who attended were inspired by the new designs and what the church had to offer.

One of the people present for mass on Sunday and who was thrilled at the restoration project was one of the citys councilmembers. As a devoted Catholic, District IV leader Alberto Torres Jr. attended mass Sunday and reflected on what he saw inside the church.

San Agustin Cathedral is a project I looked forward to, not only as a parishioner of our Diocese but as a public servant of our beloved city, as our Cathedral sits in the heart of our city in downtown Laredo, in the San Agustin Historical District as designated by the National Register of Historical Places, Torres said.

The councilman states that while he walked in it to attend mass, he felt struck by how beautiful the cathedral had looked after the two-year project.

After calling Santa Monica Hall  the former St. Augustine campus next to the Cathedral  our home for nearly two years, we were finally able to walk into a fully-restored Cathedral, Torres said. It was breathtaking to see the fully restored project completed. The detail that remains within our Cathedral is magnificent, and the restoration of the original stained glass windows is simply awe-inspiring.

Laredoan Frank Quintanilla, who is a devoted Catholic that used to attend many of the masses in the cathedral  including having several of his children baptized in the church  was delighted by the restoration results.

It is beautiful, Quintanilla said. Whenever you think about a cathedral, you think about the big beautiful churches in Mexico, New York and Italy, but now if you come here, you will think about Laredo because it is that beautiful, and you can feel the holy energy once again.

Although the new remodeling of the cathedral received plenty of praise, others still felt some other changes shouldnt have been made.

"The altar rail should have been retained," said Jochebed Smith, a local devout Catholic who attended prior to the remodeling efforts. "It has a deep liturgical, theological significance. The open concept floor plan may work for a fixer upper, but not when it comes to sacred space. As Catholics, we believe that the sanctuary is the most sacred space. It is the meeting point between God and man. It is space that more than merits the line of demarcation."

Smith says she deeply believes that restoration means to "go back to the original, which was beautiful" and not to add something that makes it unrecognizable.

"The cathedra, priest-celebrant's chair and the ambo do not enhance the sanctuary, as they look like something from the 1970s, which, unfortunately, was the era when there was a rush to tear down beautiful sanctuaries and remove altar rails, causing a loss of the sense of the sacred," Smith said. "The Diocese of Colorado Springs engaged in a painstaking restoration of their cathedral with amazing results. The Cathedral in Baltimore, Maryland  the oldest one in the United States  was also restored to its original grandeur, including the the return of the altar rail."

Quintanilla believes that some of the design decisions benefits the church as it helps pays homage to its roots. However, he understands how the design may not be something that all might like, especially for the price tag it carried. But he believes that it's new design is something to marvel at and that it targets new generations while also fortifying the historic Laredo landmark.

I dont think that the cathedral lost any value because of those things, rather they are an asset because now it is marveled at by many, especially the youth, which are the ones that need to continue our Catholic faith here locally and beyond, Quintanilla said.

And Torres believes that the cathedral is more of a marvel than ever before and a shining example of what Laredo was, is and will continue to be.

I applaud Bishop Tamayo's efforts for undertaking this historically significant project for our Diocese and downtown, especially during this unprecedented time we are experiencing, Torres said. We are reminded that when we come together as a community in faith, we can accomplish anything and everything. My heartfelt appreciation to all the donors and philanthropist that assisted in making this a reality for our community.

jorge.vela@lmtonline.com
A recently published article by UN Women, a United Nations entity that dedicates itself to gender equality and female empowerment, noted the global increase of women in positions of leadership.

According to UN Women, these claimed spaces by female leaders include a record-breaking number of female CEOs among Fortune 500 businesses, a gender-equal Olympic Games - Tokyo 2021 that includes a near 49% participation rate by female athletes, a health and social care workforce that is comprised of nearly 70% females and women who now serve as Heads of State or Government in 22 countries.

At Texas A&M International University, female leadership is taking shape through the combined efforts of women leading campus-wide organizations.

For the second year in a row, women are leading TAMIUs Faculty Senate led by current president Dr. Lola Norris, associate professor of Spanish and Translation and incoming president Dr. Maria de Lourdes Viloria, associate professor of Education; Staff Senate current president Ana Maria Vargas, assistant director of Web Services and incoming president Cihtlalli Perez, institutional effectiveness officer at University College; and Student Government Association past Student Body president Mariana Rodriguez and incoming president Lourdes Boardman.

Through their leadership efforts, they help represent and advocate for the interests of faculty, staff and students at the university. Individuals are appointed to their respective positions by vote and help formulate recommendations to the university administration.

For Norris, assuming a leadership position was an opportunity to help serve others. Through the guidance of her mentors, the late Dr. Frances Gates Rhodes and Dr. Kenneth Tobin, Norris was elected as President of the Faculty Senate in 2019 and re-elected in 2020. She is the 20th president and third woman to lead the Faculty Senate and the first to serve two terms.

Service is an essential part of a university professors job next to research and teaching. I have served in many departmental, college and university committees over the years and gradually taken on more leadership responsibilities. Service is very important to me and so is shared governance, Norris said.

Incoming president Dr. Maria de Lourdes Viloria also noted her dedication to service leadership and acknowledges the impact made by past Faculty Senate presidents.

Service leadership has always been part of who I am as a mother, sibling, aunt, mentor, educator and colleague. Therefore, as soon as I had an opportunity to represent my college at the university level in the Faculty Senate, I welcomed the opportunity, Viloria said.

For Staff Senate President Ana Maria Vargas, advocating for the universitys staff members alongside an all-female 2020-21 Staff Senate Executive Board were instrumental in the organization of appreciation events.

Serving on the Staff Senate Executive Board these past three years has allowed me to obtain a more enlightened and humanistic view of our university. Together with fellow Board members, were able to serve our peers, provide their suggestions and feedback to the universitys Executive Council, and collaborate with others on different campus initiatives to make the university a better place to work, Vargas said.

Incoming Staff Senate President Cihtlalli Perez hopes to continue the collaborative efforts between the universitys faculty, staff and student organizations.

The goal is to continue for the Staff Senate Board to be the voice for staff matters and to highlight and celebrate the hard work of our staff. Furthermore, I would like to continue the new collaboration between Faculty Senate, SGA, and Staff Senate to have better communication, awareness and collaboration to better support our TAMIU community, Perez said.

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, outgoing Student Body President Mariana Rodriguez noted the pivotal role students played in maintaining campus safety while also supporting campus togetherness.

This year, I tried to focus on building relationships, increasing student morale and supporting Dustdevils. With projects like the promotion of the Open Educational Resources, the Big Event Fundraiser, the TAMIU Juice, the creation of the Diversity and Inclusivity Committee, and the upcoming Celebration of Life and the Dustdevil Discount, we were able to accomplish our goals, Rodriguez said.

Incoming Student Body President Lourdes Boardman is prepared to take on her new role and to reinvigorate the student experience as students return to the in-person classroom setting.

I want to continue and maintain all the positive changes that past SGA members have made and I felt like I had the support and passion needed to fulfill the position of Student Body PresidentI want for students to come back or start their university experience with motivation and certainty that they are being listened to and cared for, Boardman said.
Click the image above to view slideshow

While the continuing impact of Covid-19 means that global travel remains a distant dream for most people, experiencing international culture and language is surprisingly easy at home, especially for local students.

Thats because the make-up of Hibiscus College schools has become increasingly diverse in recent years, as migration to New Zealand has boomed from every part of the world.

In a snapshot survey of local high schools and colleges, the absolute minimum number of languages being spoken by students and/or their families was 13, with upwards of 26 far more common.

Perhaps the most graphic illustration is at Whangaparaoa College, where flags representing each country that students and staffs families come from are hung in the auditorium  and there are currently more than 70 different flags on display.

Principal James Thomas says the number has grown dramatically in the 15 years since the school opened.

Theres been a huge growth in the range of people and national groups represented here as part of our whanau, he says. We hang the flags from each country, so people feel connected with their roots.

Only around 13 of the nations represented are those from where Whangaparaoas international fee-paying students hail from; all the others are families who have moved to New Zealand to live, and from every continent.

The college holds a range of events to celebrate diversity, including an international food festival, as does Orewa College. Head of languages there, Masami Stewart, says their event includes cultural performances from many countries.

We usually have 20 or more food stalls, music and dance performances, and many international students participating in the festival she says.

Our language classes are also covered in posters and flags from around the world, and we regularly celebrate student cultures by integrating them into our courses and discussions.

James Thomas says that Whangaparaoa students are encouraged to respect each other as a matter of course, including any differences.

Our recent senior school show touched on lack of understanding or perceived ideas between different cultural groups, he says. The Hibiscus Tuakana group included some Pasifika dance and some very challenging dialogue about attitudes and ways forward. It was really well done.
The Human Rights Watch in a report on Monday said that many of the 20,000 Rohingyas who were relocated to Bhasan Char from Coxs Bazar were taken to the island without full and informed consent.

In the 58-page report titled An Island Jail in the Middle of the Sea: Bangladeshs Relocation of Rohingya Refugees to Bhasan Char, the HRW alleged that forcing Rohingyas to the island had created new problems.

It claimed that the Bangladesh government had relocated the Rohingyas to the remote island without adequate health care, livelihoods and protection.

It said that the security forces faced allegations of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings of Rohingyas living in Bangladesh.

It called on the government to impartially investigate and appropriately prosecute members of the security forces for rights abuses.

The Bangladesh government is finding it hard to cope with over a million Rohingya refugees, but forcing people to a remote island just creates new problems, said Bill Frelick, refugee and migrant rights director at the Human Rights Watch.

The HRW interviewed 167 Rohingyas in Coxs Bazar and in Bhashan Char between May 2020 and May 2021.

Shah Rezwan Hayat, the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, dismissed the allegations raised by the Human Rights Watch, saying that the Rohingyas were taken to the island voluntarily and services in the Island were increasing gradually.

On August 25, 2017, the Myanmar military began a brutal operation against Rohingyas that forced over 7,40,000 of them to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, which was already hosting over 3,00,000 Rohingyas who had fled previous persecution.

In the report, the HRW called the Myanmar state administration council junta to ensure full respect for returnees human rights, equal access to nationality, rights to freedom of movement and access to livelihoods, and guarantees of security among communities in Rakhine State as a precondition for voluntary repatriation in safety and dignity.
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(Alliance News) - Europa Metals Ltd on Monday reported solid initial assay results from its pre-feasibility study diamond drilling programme at its Toral lead, zinc and silver project.

The European-focused metals developer reported significant intersections from drill holes, TOD-028, 029, 030 and 031, with TOD-029 revealing significant widths over 20 metres suitable for metallurgical ore-sorting test work.

The infill drilling campaign's objective is to improve Europa's understanding of the deposit to assess the potential for increasing future production in the early years of the planned mine life.

The company said the campaign is meeting its objectives in the upper zone of the deposit, with both siliceous and carbonate styles of mineralisation being intersected in line with expectations.

Looking ahead, the hydrogeological campaign is on schedule, following the completion of the main bore hole work to test water levels within the proposed mining area being the next key component.

"Today's assay results are excellent and we look forward to incorporating a new resource zone into the early years of potential future production at Toral. This will clearly be dependent on the results of an independent JORC (2012) resource update to be commissioned in due course, however the campaign's findings to date are supportive of us meeting this objective," said Chief Executive Officer Laurence Read.

"It is particularly pleasing to see the team's decision to initiate daughter holes off TOD-029, pre assay, being supported by today's results. By securing meaningful metallurgical samples for PFS level work, Europa Metals can build on its existing metallurgical testwork findings as well as further assessing the implementation of ore sorting within the upper siliceous zone of the project," Read added.

Shares in Europa Metals were down 4.6% at 10.50 pence on Monday in London, while its Johannesburg shares were 1.3% lower at ZAR2.27.

By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Monday and not separately reported by Alliance News:







Alba Mineral Resources PLC - mineral exploration and development company with assets in Greenland and the UK - Reports "significant" exploration target at Thule Black Sands ilmenite project in Greenland. Says independent exploration target of 70.0 million to 300.0 million tonnes of ilmenite at grade of 6% to 11%. "This would represent, at the lower end of the range, an almost three times increase in the current figures for contained ilmenite," Alba adds.







Nuformix PLC - Cambridge, England-based pharmaceutical firm focused fibrosis and oncology - Gets notice of allowance in US for patent application numbered 17/051,592. The title of patent is "crystalline tranilast salts and their pharmaceutical use". CEP Anne Brindley says: "I am very pleased that we have received this Notice of Allowance from the US Patent Office meaning that this patent will proceed to be issued. This is an important endorsement of Nuformix's discoveries and also strengthens the patent estate for our lead asset NXP002."







Destiny Pharma PLC - Brighton, England-based biotechnology firm - Notes discussions at G7 summit on global threat of antimicrobial resistance. "Destiny Pharma has been focused for many years on developing novel medicines from its XF platform that specifically address the AMR threat through the XF platform's unique mechanism of action which can provide safe, effective and fast acting treatments that do not generate resitance," Destiny says.







Arecor Therapeutics PLC - Saffron Walden, England-based biopharmaceutical firm - Signs formulation study with Par Sterile Products LLC. Arecor will use proprietary formulation technology platform Arestat to help develop single dose formulation of an existing Par product.







Omega Diagnostics Group PLC - sells wide range of specialist products, primarily in the immunoassay, in-vitro diagnostics market - Updates on UK government Covid-19 test manufacturing contract. Says waiting for UK confirmation on what test it will manufacture. "Omega is not in control of this process and this is taking longer than originally expected but the company will provide a further update once a test is confirmed. The ability to supply tests that are produced within the UK remains a key priority for the [Department of Health & Social Care] and to that end the DHSC have facilitated initial commercial discussions between Omega and potential partner companies with lateral flow antigen tests to potentially provide UK manufacturing services," Omega adds.







Landore Resources Ltd - Canada-focused minerals explorer - Says drilling in areas below and east of Bam gold project, Canada reported "wide zones of ore grade gold mineralisation". Chief Executive Bill Humphries says: "These encouraging results from relatively shallow intersections in the hanging wall of the extended east pit, together with the recently reported high grade drill intersections in the footwall, give promising indications of a substantial increase in the resource of the BAM gold deposit."







Alien Metals Ltd - iron ore and silver projects in Australia and Mexico - Receives results from maiden drilling programme at Hancock iron ore project, Australia. Results confirm four "high grade direct shipping ore mineralisation prospects", Alien adds.







Adriatic Metals PLC - developing Vares silver project in Bosnia & Herzegovina - Secures exploration permit of concessions granted last year at Vares. Allows drilling and channel sampling to commence, Adriatic adds.







Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd - developer of Balasausqandiq vanadium deposit in Kazakhstan - Initial investment from Vision Blue Resources completed. "The company has now received the further investment of USD1.6 million in addition to the investment of USD1.5 million already made, bringing the total invested by Vision Blue and its coinvestors to date to USD3.1 million," company says.







AEX Gold Inc - Greenland-focused gold miner - Says team of geologists and drilling engineers arrive at Nalunaq project, Greenland. Team is there to "to further develop the company's understanding of the area to the south west of the deposit," AEX adds.







Panther Metals PLC - company focused on mineral exploration in Canada and Australia - Applies to acquire two tenements, E39/2249 and E39/2250, as part of expansion programme at Red Flag nickel and cobalt asset.







Challenger Energy Group PLC - Caribbean and Atlantic margin focused oil & gas company - Granted three month extension to report results for year ended December 31, 2020. Expects to publish results by September 30.







Accsys Technologies PLC - wood building products manufacturer - Receives notice from Engie Fabricom UK Ltd to terminate engineering, procurement and construction agreement at Tricoya plant in Hull. Accsys says termination notice down to "force majeure arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic and stating that they plan to demobilise over the next two weeks". Accsys adds: "The purported termination may now result in Tricoya UK taking over earlier than previously anticipated the completion of the final stages of construction and subsequent commissioning. This may be with or without assistance of a new lead contractor given the advanced status of the project."







Windar Photonics PLC - London-based developer of wind sensors for electricity generating wind turbines - In four year development project focused on drone based emission detection system. "The development project, which brings together five private companies and the Technical University of Denmark, has a total budget of EUR2.2 million and is backed by a public grant of EUR1.7 million from the Innovation Fund Denmark, under its Grand Solutions programme," Windar adds.







Tungsten Corp PLC - digital financial management products and software solutions provider - Picked by "global human resources software leader" to support its e-invoicing plans in Europe and US. "The customer's 16 European entities will use Tungsten's Total AR solution to streamline and digitise its accounts receivable processes. In the US, the solution will allow the customer to send invoices to its customers via the Tungsten Network, eliminating manual invoice entry systems," Tungsten adds.







Blue Star Capital PLC - esports, payments and technology focused investor - Investee SatoshiPay receives research and development grant from Stellar Development Foundation. "In its blog, SatoshiPay advises that the Stellar Foundation grant will be used to kickstart the development of the Pendulum network project and develop a proof-of-concept implementation of Pendulum," Blue Star says.







Seeing Machines Ltd - Canberra-based driver-monitoring technology company - Notes US 21st Century Smart Cars Act. "These developments in the US are completely aligned to Seeing Machines' view that [mandatory driver monitoring system] is fundamental to the automotive transport sector and that the fitment rate will accelerate substantially over the coming years, globally. Seeing Machines is currently working with all major US automotive manufacturers to deliver its industry-leading technology, with some of these vehicles already in production and on sale to consumers today, fitted with camera-based DMS," company says.







UniVision Engineering Ltd - Hong Kong-based supply, design, installation and maintenance of closed circuit television and surveillance systems - Deal for Chair Stephen Koo to sell 201.0 million shares, 52.4% stake, in UniVision to SinoCloud Group Ltd will not proceed. "The proposed transaction had been subject to a number of pre-conditions. The parties have held various discussions since the signing of the MOU, but these discussions did not produce a definitive agreement within the three-month exclusivity period contained in the MOU," company adds.







Centaur Media PLC - business information, events and marketing provider - Says Jane Wilkinson to succeed Andy Baker as managing director of The Lawyer, Centaur's unit which provides business intelligence to UK legal market. Baker steps down on July 31, Wilkinson takes up role on August 2. "In her role as managing director, Jane Wilkinson will bring deep expertise in subscription revenue modelling and leading businesses in times of digital and data transformation. She will be responsible for developing The Lawyer's customer-centric approach and building on its recent transition into a multi-channel digital platform as part of Centaur's MAP23 strategy," company adds.







By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Adds details)

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will

warn British Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to renege on the

Northern Ireland Brexit deal when they meet for the first time

at the G7 summit this week, The Times reported on Monday, citing

unidentified sources.

Preserving the delicate peace in Northern Ireland without

allowing the United Kingdom a back door into the EUs markets

through the 310-mile (500 km) UK-Irish land border was one of

the most difficult issues of the Brexit divorce talks.

The riddle was resolved, in part, by the Northern Ireland

Protocol of the Brexit deal. But, unionists in the province say

it contravenes the 1998 peace deal and Britain has said the

Protocol is unsustainable in its current form.

Biden, who is proud of his Irish heritage, will use a

meeting with Johnson on Thursday to explicitly express U.S.

support for the Protocol. He will also warn that the prospects

of a U.S. trade deal with the United Kingdom will be damaged if

the situation remains unresolved, The Times said.

Biden will also make it clear to the European Union that he

expects it to stop being bureaucratic and adopt a more

flexible approach to the implementation of the agreement, The

paper said.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Michael Holden)
(Alliance News) - Vodafone Group PLC on Monday signed a modified shareholder agreement with Telecom Egypt, which includes changes to Vodafone Egypt's dividend policy.

Vodafone owns 55% of the the joint venture, while Telecom Egypt has 45%.

Back in December, Vodafone ended its discussions with Saudi Telecom Co for the sale of its stake. At the start of 2020, Vodafone had announced a deal to sell the majority interest in its Egypt business to Saudi Telecom for USD2.39 billion, giving Vodafone Egypt an enterprise value of USD4.35 billion.

On Monday, Vodafone and Telecom Egypt said Vodafone Egypt will pay a one-time dividend of EGP10 billion, around GBP449 million, to its shareholders during the 2021 calendar year. Of this, EGP2 billion was paid earlier in March.

The two partners also agreed on a minimum dividend payout ratio of 60% of free cash flow going forward.

The agreement also gives Vodafone the right to transfer its shareholding in Vodafone Egypt within the broader Vodafone Group.

Telecom Egypt maintains its existing rights in the agreement and has obtained some enhanced minority rights including access to information.

Telecom Egypt Managing Director & Chief Executive Adel Hamed commented: "We are pleased to have reached an agreement that is mutually beneficial to both parties.

"Telecom Egypt has been and continues to be a strategic partner to Vodafone group in the Egyptian market.

"This agreement guarantees the preservation of our strategic partnership in light of an enhanced shareholders' agreement that provides Telecom Egypt with visibility on its investment and its expected returns based on Vodafone Egypt's performance and gives our shareholders comfort that our participation in the company continues to be fruitful and rewarding."

Vodafone shares were 0.9% higher in London at midday on Monday at 129.03 pence each.

By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
7 June 2021

Savannah Energy PLC

("Savannah" or "the Company")

Posting of 2020 Annual Report and Notice of AGM

Savannah Energy PLC, the African-focused British independent energy company sustainably developing high quality, high potential energy projects in Nigeria and Niger, confirms that the 2020 Annual Report and Accounts ("Annual Report) and the Notice of the Annual General Meeting ("AGM" or "Meeting") are now available on the Company's website: www.savannah-energy.com and at Digital 2020 Annual Report, and that the Notice of the AGM has been posted to shareholders today with the Annual Report to follow shortly.

The AGM will be held at 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2021 at 40 Bank Street, London, E14 5NR. The Company continues to monitor developments relating to the current outbreak of Covid-19, including the related public health guidance and legislation issued by the UK Government. At the time of publication of this Notice, it is expected that there may still be restrictions on our ability to host Shareholders at our AGM on 30 June 2021. Due to the expected restrictions on indoor gatherings applicable at that time, Shareholders may not be permitted to attend the physical location for the AGM in person or, if attendance at the venue is permissible at the relevant time, it is likely to be very limited in terms of numbers. We, therefore, strongly recommend that Shareholders do not attend the AGM in person and instead appoint the Chairman of the Meeting to act as their proxy (as a named proxy other than the Chairman risks not being allowed to attend the Meeting). If, despite this recommendation, any Shareholders or their proxies (other than the Chairman) still intend to attend the Meeting in person, they are strongly encouraged to advise the Company at least 48 hours in advance of the Meeting by emailing ir@savannah-energy.com or by telephoning +44 (0) 20 3817 9844. The making of any such communication will not guarantee admittance to the AGM, if the Board considers that such admittance would be in breach of rules governing public gatherings and/or the need to protect the health and safety of those already in the Meeting

Details on how to submit your proxy vote are set out in the section of the Notice of AGM headed "Voting Arrangements - Action to be taken".

The AGM will be live streamed on the internet, accessible via the Company's website on www.savannah-energy.com. Those wishing to watch the Meeting should register their interest by completing the form at www.savannah-energy.com/investors/AGM before close of trading on 25 June 2021. Shareholders watching the Meeting via this facility will not be counted in the quorum for the Meeting and will not be able to participate in the Meeting, including by voting or asking questions, on the day.

Nevertheless, the Board recognises the importance of the AGM as an opportunity for Shareholders to engage with the Directors and, accordingly, if you are a Shareholder and you wish to submit a question in relation to the business of the AGM, please send your question by completing the form at www.savannah-energy.com/investors/AGM before close of trading on 25 June 2021; in the form please include your name and how you hold your shares. The Board will attempt to answer as many of these questions as possible during the Meeting.

The results of the AGM will be announced shortly after its conclusion and published on the Company's website.

For further information, please refer to the Company's website www.savannah-energy.com or contact:

Savannah Energy +44 (0) 20 3817 9844 Andrew Knott, CEO Isatou Semega-Janneh, CFO Sally Marshak, Communications Consultant Strand Hanson (Nominated Adviser) +44 (0) 20 7409 3494 James Spinney Ritchie Balmer Rory Murphy finnCap Ltd (Joint Broker) Christopher Raggett Tim Redfern +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 Panmure Gordon (UK) Ltd (Joint Broker) John Prior +44 (0) 20 7886 2500 Hugh Rich Camarco +44 (0) 203 757 4980 Billy Clegg Owen Roberts Violet Wilson

About Savannah Energy:

Savannah Energy PLC is an AIM market listed African-focused British independent energy company sustainably developing high quality, high potential energy projects in Nigeria and Niger, with a focus on delivering material long term returns for stakeholders. In Nigeria, the Company has controlling interests in the cash flow generative Uquo and Stubb Creek oil and gas fields, and the Accugas midstream business in South East Nigeria, which provides gas contributing to over 10% of Nigeria's daily national average thermal power generation. In Niger, the Company has interests in two large PSC areas located in the highly oil prolific Agadem Rift Basin of South East Niger, where the Company has made five oil discoveries and seismically identified a large exploration prospect inventory, consisting of 146 exploration targets to be considered for potential future drilling activity.

Further information on Savannah Energy PLC can be found on the Company's website: www.savannah-energy.com.
OK Zimbabwe Limited has donated grocery vouchers worth $50 000 to each of the Mpilo Central Hospital doctors whose quarters were destroyed by a fire two weeks ago.

Thirty-nine doctors lost most of their property in the fire which destroyed the US$500 000 property.Doctors had to escape to safety through a single window as the fire engulfed the quarters.

The Government last week committed $278 million towards the repair of the damaged infrastructure at the hospital.

In a statement yesterday, OK Zimbabwe called on citizens to join it in providing relief to doctors at the biggest referral hospital in the southern part of the country.

OK Zimbabwe Limited has given all affected Mpilo Hospital staff grocery vouchers worth $50 000 each. We commit to double all the donations made by our customers through our stores. You can drop off gifts in the form of groceries and load Shop Easy cards which will be passed on to the affected Mpilo staff. Drop offs can be made at the following branches: OK Jason Moyo, OK Lobengula, OK Entumbane and OK MART, read the statement.

It said the collections will run for 10 days starting from last Friday. Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Raj Modi on Saturday appealed to the business community to join forces in assisting the doctors following their misfortune.

Mpilo Central Hospital acting chief executive officer Professor Solwayo Ngwenya said the fire left the doctors traumatised.

Its a welcome move. We are very grateful for the help that is being rendered. It will go a long way in improving their morale after a traumatic experience. They are receiving counselling from some of our senior practitioners. Some of them are really traumatised. Its not something that you can overcome immediately, it might take some time for some people to recover. Some of them are having thoughts such as had I not been able to escape what could have happened to me, said Prof Ngwenya.

He said the hospital is set to review the two weeks compassionate leave that it had given affected doctors. We dont want to rush them back. We will assess and see if they need extra time, he said.

Government has since provided the doctors with the relevant identity documents that were destroyed by the fire. Chronicle
Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 95F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Isolated thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 74F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

Tomorrow

Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours. Thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. High 93F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
featured

Warren

Community works to help family keep home
More than 300 homes and businesses are without power today due to equipment problems.
featured

WARREN

Police searching for woman involved in fatal shooting at 7-Eleven

Warren police searching for woman involved in fatal shooting at 7-Eleven
Macomb County Health Department will be conducting free vision and hearing screenings for children ages 3 to 18-years-old, who live or attend school in Macomb County. MACOMB DAILY FILE PHOTO
Exton, PA (19341)

Today

Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 78F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Showers and thunderstorms likely. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Xi calls for joint efforts on climate



China Daily) 10:09, June 07, 2021

This aerial photo shows a homestay built on an abandoned mine in Daibu county, Liyang city, East China's Jiangsu province, on May 17, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

China is ready to inject new impetus into global environmental governance

President Xi Jinping called for unprecedented efforts to improve global environmental governance as World Environment Day was celebrated on Saturday.

Xi said the international community should work together with unprecedented ambition and action to strive for a fair and reasonable system of global environmental governance featuring win-win cooperation, and should promote the sustainable development of humanity.

Xi made the remarks in a congratulatory letter to World Environment Day events held on Saturday in Islamabad, Pakistan, with the theme of ecosystem restoration.

He emphasized that Earth is humanity's shared home, and a sound ecosystem is essential for the prosperity of civilizations.

The human race should respect nature, follow its laws, protect it and endeavor to foster a new relationship in which humans and nature can both prosper and live in harmony, he added.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, worsening desertification and frequent extreme weather events have all posed severe challenges to human survival and development, Xi said, noting that the world is a community with a shared future where everyone is in the same boat.

Xi pointed out that Chinese civilization has always valued harmony between humans and nature, and that ecological conservation has been incorporated into the nation's overall plan for building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

As a participant, contributor and trailblazer in global ecological conservation, China is firmly committed to putting multilateralism into action and defending the international system with the United Nations at its core, as well as the international order underpinned by international law, in order to enhance global environmental governance, Xi said.

Noting that China will host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October, Xi said China stands ready to discuss and draw up plans together with all parties for ecological conservation, inject new impetus into global environmental governance, foster a community of life for humans and nature, and jointly build a clean and beautiful world.

Also on Saturday, China held a national event for World Environment Day in Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, with the theme of living in harmony with nature.

While addressing the event, Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu vowed to promote the country's accelerated green transition as it endeavors to address fundamental problems that jeopardize the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature.

Although China has made great environmental improvements, the progress is not yet enough to meet the public's expectations, he said.

Huang noted a series of challenges that China needs to address as it forges ahead with its progress of ecological civilization, a concept promoted by President Xi that advocates balanced and sustainable development.

"The country needs to revolutionize its previously shortsighted development approaches of going after near-term gains at the expense of the environment," he said.

Resource-intensive production and consumption modes involving large pollutant emissions should also be reformed, he emphasized.

Huang said the country will strictly restrict development of projects with high energy consumption and emissions as it fosters new development drivers by promoting green finance and developing low-carbon technologies and industries.

Stricter measures

To synergize pollution control and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, the ministry is working on the draft of an action plan to peak emissions that will include intensified compulsory measures, he said.

Qinghai Governor Xin Changxing said the province in Northwest China will bolster efforts to contribute more to the country's climate goals.

China aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060.

Xin said one of the targets in Qinghai's transition to a green development path is to build the region into a national base for clean energy industries.

In addition to solar, wind and hydroelectric energy, the province will also further tap its potential in developing geothermal resources, he said.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
THE Government has issued a stern warning to private businesses charging a premium to desperate Covid-19 vaccine seekers.

The warning comes as some businesses have resorted to charging Covid-19 vaccines, a practice that is at variance with Governments policy that vaccination should be for free.

Zimbabwe has received rave reviews from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the way Government has responded to the global pandemic.

Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantino Chiwenga issued the warning to fortune seekers around Covid-19 saying they would be brought to book.

Let me allay fears of some in our nation who might think that the Covid-19 vaccination programme is about to falter. It is not and it will not.

Government continues to place high premium on preserving life. It continues to use its resources and the international goodwill it commands to access regular, adequate vaccines which enable us to maintain the vaccination tempo, and thus save our people, said VP Chiwenga when he officially re-opened St Annes Hospital in Harare yesterday.

Government has repeatedly appealed to people to adhere to all WHO mitigatory measures and to take up the vaccine when an opportunity is availed. President Mnangagwas administration has been emphasising that for now, vaccines provide the biggest hope.

Some unscrupulous people have been charging a premium for the vaccines following a logistical issue on distribution which has since been addressed by redistributing vaccines.

I also wish to reiterate that Government policy is that of ensuring free vaccination for all citizens who are ready and willing, said VP Chiwenga.

Government takes a very dim view of actors in the private sector we hear are charging Zimbabweans for jabs. If they are not ready to participate in the vaccination programme on terms and parameters set down by Government, they are advised to look elsewhere for profitable services, not around vaccination, he said.

It is a no-go area for fortune hunters; those morally-depraved practitioners who seek to fish in troubled times. Covid-19 is a global pandemic. It is viral and thus, a matter of public health concern. Its containment and all efforts towards that end amount to public effort and public goods that should never be privatised. I hope this message reaches all quarters, said VP Chiwenga.

Zimbabwe has committed to procuring more vaccines, but authorities say the vaccination process will not move as fast as Government would have wanted because of the high global demand for vaccines. VP Chiwenga also urged Sisters of the Little Company of Mary  the one running St Annes Hospital, and the church at large to take control of the developmental facets of the institution.

During his morning Holy Mass, the Archbishop of Harare, Robert Ndlovu urged staff at the hospital to spread love when dealing with patients.

Archbishop Ndlovu said the love given to a patient was therapeutic, while regional leader of the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary, Sister Ellen Maseve said they were committed to serving.

We are here to take care of the sick and the dying. We are here so that nobody dies alone, said Sister Maseve. Herald
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has taken aim at Barcelona and their attempts to re-sign Neymar, claiming the Blaugrana have financial issues and the Brazilian never wanted a Camp Nou return in the first place.

Neymar recently renewed his contract with PSG until 2025, which has essentially killed Barcelona's dream of reunited with the Brazilian with Lionel Messi.

"Barcelona tried very hard to sign Neymar," Al-Khelaifi told L'Equipe. "Obviously, we rejected their advances.

"I think they club [Barcelona] have some financial problems, but that isn't our business. Barcelona have always loved Neymar, and that isn't a secret.

"Neymar didn't want to go there, even though he wasn't completely adapted to PSG or Paris. But if you call him now, he will tell you he is happy at PSG."
Spain's two biggest clubs - Real Madrid and Barcelona - are no strangers to the complications that have arisen in the transfer market since Paris Saint-Germain's emergence as a competitor for the world's best players.

Not only have the Parisians stood in the way of Spain's Clasico pair in direct negotiations for transfers, but this summer they're set to snatch Georginio Wijnaldum from Barcelona's grasp just as the Dutchman looked as though he was moving to the Camp Nou on a free transfer.

Barcelona's past

If Wijnaldum is to complete a move to the Parc des Princes over the Camp Nou, it will just be the latest chapter in a sour relationship between Barcelona and PSG.

Italy midfielder Marco Verratti was originally the man at the centre of drawn out talks between the two, with Barcelona having been desperate to sign him when they still boasted Europe's best attack of the MSN. It wasn't to happen though, even with Verratti himself keen to make the move.

If anything, those talks only sparked a backlash from PSG. A year later they came knocking with a world record transfer fee to sign Neymar for over 220 million euros. The Brazilian left for Paris and neither club - PSG for better and Barcelona for worse - have been the same since.

Real Madrid's troubles

Although Los Blancos haven't had as much experience with PSG, they have had one prolonged saga that just won't go away - that of Kylian Mbappe.

It started back in 2017 when the Frenchman was still at Monaco. Having won Ligue 1 and shone in the Champions League, the youngsters was wanted at every top European club, but Real Madrid and PSG were always the frontrunners for his signature.

Although he had dreamt of playing for Real Madrid since he was a child and idolised Zinedine Zidane, the forward opted for staying in his native country at the time, choosing to move to Paris rather than Madrid.

Then, a change of culture and language might have been too much for him to handle, but with his contract expiring in 2022 it seems as though he might now be ready to make that step.

PSG, however, aren't playing ball and aren't willing to sell him to Real Madrid.
The Department of Civil Protection was poorly prepared to deal with the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, allowed food and other gifts to spoil by storing them too long in wet conditions, had poor record keeping of donations, delayed approving urgent payments from donated money, hired vehicles without contracts and did not properly control fuel use, Auditor General Mrs Mildred Chiri reports.

I concluded that the CPU is not adequately prepared to manage disasters and has not been efficient in the distribution of some of the relief items and in rehabilitation of the infrastructure that was destroyed.

On the other hand, the systems that are in place are not effective in terms of accounting for relief items, said Mrs Chiri in her conclusion.

Her report hits the department hard over what she saw as poor administrative practices and she wants more training in stores management and matching donations to needs quickly in any future similar event.

Cyclone Idai affected Manicaland and parts of Masvingo provinces in March 2019 and claimed over 350 lives and left a trail of injuries and destruction.

In her audit report on the role played by the Department of Civil Protection after Cyclone Idai, Mrs Chiri said almost 34 tonnes of goods expired in Chimanimani while in the custody of the CPU by being stored on wet floors and that the CPU, when handing out the needed supplies or gifts, failed to record ID numbers of beneficiaries or have them sign for what they were getting.

Slow use of donated funds resulted in work stoppages as service providers demanded payment. The money was there but arrangements were not being made to use these gifts in time to pay for urgent work.

More importantly, the CPU is accused of failing to broadcast early disaster warning signs using 20 radio receivers donated by the Meteorological Services Department, and further failed to clear urgently lent dewatering pumps at Beitbridge Border Post until their use was no longer necessary.

Similarly 2 400 bags of cement donated by Bikita Minerals in May 2019 to the local CPU had not yet reached the District Development Coordinator at the time of audit in September 2019.

The audit also noted that vehicles were drawing more fuel than expected by the distance travelled, that no registration numbers of vehicles drawing such fuel were captured, and no contracts were signed for hired vehicles.

There were problems of over-ordering medical supplies. Mrs Chiri suggested provincial medical directors ensure that standard operating procedures are in place for a needs assessment as some drugs were dispatched to the Idai area that were not required, and so they sat in stock until they expired.

There were no proper requisitions for release of drug stocks as the Provincial Medical Director for Manicaland was using his discretion, and records of issues of drugs were written on sheets of paper.

Based on these findings, Mrs Chiri concluded that CPU was not prepared to cope with what it needed to do after the cyclone.

She recommended that District Civil Protection committees should ensure proper planning, training in stores management and needs assessment in order to ensure that received items are distributed while still suitable for consumption, rather than let them spoil in damp storage. During a stock count on September 14, 2019, Mrs Chiri said she observed that 33 403kg of goods at Machongwe Forward Distribution Centre had expired, adding that the food items were exposed to high levels of moisture as they were stored on the floor without pallets.

I observed that no proper records for relief items received and disbursed were maintained. There was no uniformity in accounting for donations from Manyame Airbase to Manicaland and Masvingo provinces as there were no detailed dispatch documents and receiving registers for audit trail.

Only a list of donated items was submitted for audit. Furthermore, there were no full descriptions of items such as the quantities or units received in order to determine the total quantities or volumes donated.

There were no standard formats used for receiving and distribution of relief items.

Some districts used issue vouchers, others plain bond paper, photocopied issue vouchers and registers. No proper ledgers were maintained in the warehouses or districts to enable audit trail of donations made, said Mrs Chiri

She was critical of the slow use of donated funds, saying the financial assistance that was received through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development was $1 972 758, US$3 033 449 and R20 000 000.

An examination of expenditure documents and bank statements, Mrs Chiri said, indicated there were funds that had been received but had not been used in 60 days, yet the affected provinces were unable to do their work due to financial challenges.

For example, there were work stoppages on road works due to non-payment of contractors by the Department of Roads and PDC Manicaland was in need of $15 000 000 as reflected in their report dated June 3, 2019, but as at August 30, 2019 they had received only $5 160 000.

The audit noted through the Zimbabwe National Water Authority that the delivery of five dewatering pumps donated by Xylem Water Solutions was delayed at Beitbridge Border Post resulting in the equipment getting to Mutare when there was no longer any need for dewatering.

The equipment was then returned to Xylem Water Solutions based in South Africa on July 18, 2019.

In its response to audit observations, the Manicaland Civil Protection Planning Committee said: Indeed, the PCPC received the pumps but were neither aware of the request nor were they involved in the process of bringing in the pumps and clearing them at the border. They were irrelevant to the response and recovery work that we undertook.

Regarding the hiring out of vehicles without contracts, CMED management said: CMED could not come up with its own contract on CPU business but it was possible for CPU to hire vehicles. Herald
Viola Caudill, 85, a resident of the Gowen Community passed away Thursday June 10, 2021 at home. A Graveside service will be held a 11:00 AM Monday June 14, 2021 in the Pavilion at Bache-Red Oak Cemetery. There will be a family and friends visitation on Sunday June 13, 2021 from 5:00pm to 7:
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Well-known Nigerian evangelical pastor and founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Temitope Balogun Joshua, popularly known as TB Joshua died on Saturday at the age of 57.

TB Joshua had an international following and SCOAN attracted a number of international visitors to join the many Nigerians who attend the miracle, healing and deliverance programmes. The celebrity preacher died days before celebrating his 58th birthday after completing his sermon.

The cause of the death has not been revealed. According to a post on TB Joshuas official Facebook page: On Saturday 5th June 2021, Prophet TB Joshua spoke during the Emmanuel TV Partners Meeting: Time for everything  time to come here for prayer and time to return home after the service.

God has taken His servant Prophet TB Joshua home  as it should be by divine will. His last moments on earth were spent in the service of God. This is what he was born for, lived for and died for.

The family requested for privacy as they mourn their loved one. The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations and Emmanuel TV Family appreciate your love, prayers and concern at this time and request a time of privacy for the family, read the statement from the church.

Yesterday social media was awash with condolence messages from people from all walks of life, pastors, prophets and, believers among others who described Prophet TB Joshua as a humble giver, man of God who gave the poor and seminar prophet who made a huge impact in the prophetic ministry.

PHD leader, Prophet Walter Magaya had time to reflect on his relationship with his spiritual father during his virtual church service.

Prophet Magaya who was in tears told his congregation that he had leant a lot of things from his father, TB Joshua.

He said although TB Joshua was Nigerian, his life was also being celebrated in Zimbabwe because he had worked hard and was influential.

On a post on Yadah Tv channel, Prophet Magaya said: Our life is like a book. There are different chapters that we have we have to go through. This one has a name Pain of Life.

As much as he is in heaven, I still wanted him here. I love you father senior prophet TB Joshua. Who will father me now? You started Yadah Tv for me and always did guide me. Who will all me at 2 am and say correct this and that he said.

Evangelist, Prophet Uebert Angel also posted on Facebook and described TB Joshuas death as a painful home going.

He said TB Joshua was someone close to him and his family and whom he had known since his tender years in the ministry, TB Joshua.

You are a general who set many things in place that generations will continue to copy. As a dear senior Prophet, friend, a Christian brother, a father to many, a prophetic example to me.

Though senior in every way to me, every time we spoke you would be so humble and regarded not your seniority over me, but allowed me time to hear your mind and your humble spirit.

The only thing I have managed or believe I have managed to process this loss, is to immortalise your prophetic words you said yesterday after service as you indicated of your own home going, back to the father.

Prophet Joshua Chirambwe of the Prophetic Ministry International Church said the death of TB Joshua had left many with heavy hearts.

The death of Prophet TB Joshua presents to us a catastrophic event of sudden deprivation in the body of Christ. One that has left us all with heavy hearts.

That notwithstanding, the critical point is that he had completed his race as a soldier in Christ and salutations unto our good Lord who had readied us for this sombre moment in our faith when he said to us 2021 is the year of the great fall.

Rest in peace to a great general of the Lord, the baton stick is now upon us  we are heavy-saddened! he said.

TB Joshua is survived by wife Evelyn and three children. Chronicle
Make under $31,000 a year? This Illinois city was listed among the most affordable places to live
ZIMBABWE has turned down its allocation of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, citing storage constraints and scepticism over possible side effects despite being under the threat of a third wave and facing a harsh winter.

The southern African nation has set a long-shot target of vaccinating 10 million people by the end of the year to achieve 60% herd immunity, but has run out of vaccines.

Many countries in the West stopped the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in April to investigate links to cases of a very rare, potentially life-threatening condition involving blood clots and low platelet counts.

A similar condition has also been linked to the AstraZenecas COVID-19 vaccine. Some countries, however, have resumed the usage of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after concluding that the vaccines benefits outweighed the potential risks.

Zimbabwe, however, said it was not ready to receive the vaccine.

Government notes that there is an allocation of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due for August. I wish to advise that government is not yet ready to participate in August allocations as measures are still being put in place to establish the cold chain management framework for the vaccine, Finance ministry secretary George Guvamatanga said in a letter addressed to African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)s regional chief operations officer Humphrey Nwago.

Guvamatanga also said Zimbabwe was not yet prepared for the anticipated side effects of the vaccine.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is seen as ideal for Zimbabwes ambitious rollout programme in that it only requires one shot while unpunctured vials may be stored between nine degrees and 25 degrees Celsius for up to 12 hours.

African countries have a deal to access 220 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine under a US$2 billion procurement deal announced at the end of March.

Under the same deal, which is backed by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Africa could access a further 180 million doses.

The vaccines will be supplied through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, set up in November 2020 under the African Union to pool resources to buy vaccines, which are in short supply globally.

Most of the vaccines were supposed to come from South African pharmaceutical firm Aspens Gqeberha plant. Guvamatanga said government hoped to have its internal processes ready in time for the next allocation.

Zimbabwe has to date received just over 1,735 million doses of Sinopharm, Sinovac and Covaxin.

Despite shortages, government last Friday said it had enough COVID-19 vaccines for those needing a second shot after some centres ran out of doses since last week and thousands of people were turned away.

So far, 687 321 people have received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while another

380 786 have received their second jab.

When contacted for comment, COVID-19 taskforce national co-ordinator Agnes Mahomva said she could not comment as she was in a meeting, but told public broadcaster ZBC that those needing second shots would get them.

She acknowledged the shortages, adding that some centres were vaccinating faster than others, especially in Harare and Bulawayo, and had run out of vaccines.

The doses are there, they are not in the large numbers that we would like, but then that is the challenge that the whole world is facing, Mahomva told ZBC.

The message that I want to bring out to the public is please dont panic. Newsday
The city of Atlantas fiscal 2022 general-fund budget will be $36 million higher than the previous year and will include no increase in the mi
The numbers are expected to improve as more and more states reopen at the start of summer. Americans over the age of 12 can already receive the Pfizer vaccine and those over 16 can take the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Two more vaccines could also be approved this summer.
She started crying and she was like, Mommy, really? And Im like,Yeah. And then we turned on her phone and as soon as we turned on her phone, his message popped up. And shes like I cant stay in the house anymore, I have to go for a walk. And she and me went on an hour-and-a-half walk, just walking around the neighborhood.
Sarah Izhaki, 47, sold dozens of blood builders to horse trainers in 2018 and 2019. The drug, which was imported from Mexico, boosts a horses red blood cell count, improving endurance and recovery. The prohibited injection, which was usually administered by someone with no veterinary training, also raises the risk of a deadly injury on the racetrack because it pushes the animal beyond its ability.
The teen was visiting from Canada for a family get together, cops said. The incident remains under investigation.
Meadville, PA (16335)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low 57F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Meadville, PA (16335)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. Low 56F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
China's Wuhan virology lab Head, who's an expert from the University of North Carolina in the US, flagged the dangers of the experiment of a novel coronavirus which could infect human cells in 2015.



In the research, Shi Zhengli and epidemiologist Ralph Baric used mice as subjects and inserted the protein from a Chinese rufous horseshoe bat into the molecular structure of the SARS virus from 2002, creating a new, infectious pathogen, the Vanity Fair reported on Thursday.AA

Recently, US President Joe Biden ordered the intelligence community to re-double efforts to examine how the virus originated. The European Union, the UK, Australia, and Japan also have joined the US in seeking a deeper probe into the origins of the pandemic.





The Vanity Fair report quoted Pottinger as saying there were so many people within the government "wholly discounting the possibility of a lab leak, who were predisposed that it was impossible".



In addition, many leading experts had either received or approved funding for gain-of-function research. Their "conflicted" status, said Pottinger, "played a profound role in muddying the waters and contaminating the shot at having an impartial inquiry".



The 2015 paper's acknowledgments also cited funding from the US National Institutes of Health and from a nonprofit called EcoHealth Alliance, which had parcelled out grant money from the US Agency for International Development, the report said.



Many experts have until recently denied the lab-leak theory and claimed that Covid-19 originated as a natural infection leaping from animals to humans. But now, there has been a shift.



A team of 18 scientists from Universities in the US, Canada, the UK and Switzerland have signed a letter in the journal Science arguing the need to determine the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic. Various other studies have hinted at Covid-19 as a result of the Wuhan lab-leak. The US' top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci also said he is "not convinced" Covid-19 developed naturally.



US President Joe Biden has recently ordered the intelligence community to re-double efforts to examine how the virus originated, including the lab accident theory. The European Union, the UK, Australia, and Japan also have joined the US in seeking a deeper probe into the origins of the pandemic.



Meanwhile, China's Foreign Ministry has last week dismissed the Wuhan lab leak theory as "extremely impossible" and have accused the US of "political manipulation", media reports noted.







Source: IANS The findings were published in scientific journal Nature Medicine. It was unearthed by a small team of investigators, commissioned by Matthew Pottinger, the deputy National Security Adviser in the Donald Trump administration. The team aimed to unravel the origins of Covid-19.The Vanity Fair report quoted Pottinger as saying there were so many people within the government "wholly discounting the possibility of a lab leak, who were predisposed that it was impossible".In addition, many leading experts had either received or approved funding for gain-of-function research. Their "conflicted" status, said Pottinger, "played a profound role in muddying the waters and contaminating the shot at having an impartial inquiry".The 2015 paper's acknowledgments also cited funding from the US National Institutes of Health and from a nonprofit called EcoHealth Alliance, which had parcelled out grant money from the US Agency for International Development, the report said.Many experts have until recently denied the lab-leak theory and claimed that Covid-19 originated as a natural infection leaping from animals to humans. But now, there has been a shift.A team of 18 scientists from Universities in the US, Canada, the UK and Switzerland have signed a letter in the journal Science arguing the need to determine the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic. Various other studies have hinted at Covid-19 as a result of the Wuhan lab-leak. The US' top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci also said he is "not convinced" Covid-19 developed naturally.US President Joe Biden has recently ordered the intelligence community to re-double efforts to examine how the virus originated, including the lab accident theory. The European Union, the UK, Australia, and Japan also have joined the US in seeking a deeper probe into the origins of the pandemic.Meanwhile, China's Foreign Ministry has last week dismissed the Wuhan lab leak theory as "extremely impossible" and have accused the US of "political manipulation", media reports noted.Source: IANS

"Scientific review panels may deem similar studies too risky to pursue," the researchers wrote in the paper and warned the world of "a potential risk of SARS-CoV re-emergence from viruses currently circulating in bat populations".
The first reviews of Marvels latest show, Lok is out, and film critics are just loving it. So much so, that saying theyre going all orgasmic over it wouldnt be farfetched.



 Marvel

That invariably means that fellow fans of all things Marvel will also find the show completely worth the hype.



Before this, the only other show that had audiences going with such a buzz was WandaVision, and if some critics are to be believed, Loki easily trumps the aforementioned mini-series.

 Marvel

Tom Hiddlestone had been given a rather raw deal if you ask us, with his character Loki being killed off in Avengers: Infinity War, and him having a very small portion in Avengers: Endgame. Marvel has more than made up for that, it seems, by giving the British Actor a mini-series of his own.



 Marvel

As per the early reviews, what sets the tone for the mini-series, is the camaraderie between Hiddlestones Loki & Owen Wilsons Mobius M Mobius.



 Marvel

Plus, the fact that the plot of the series revolves around time-hopping, you can expect some pretty incredulous and hilarious stuff happening throughout the mini-series. One can reasonably expect that Marvel fans will be right at the edge of their seats for all 6 episodes.



 Marvel

People who had seen the trailer would remember that Loki & Mobius, inspite of being in the same team, are trying to outwit each other. Plus, the action sequences looked spectacular in it.



Heres what people with early access to the show, and who have already seen the first two episodes, have to say about the new mini-series:

First two episodes of #Loki down and it has dethroned Wandavision as my fav Marvel show. Was NOT prepared to have feelings for Tom Hiddleston but here I am blushing every time he comes onscreen. Love a man who can make me laugh. Also, Owen and Tom's dynamic is be-yond! pic.twitter.com/QAAzsatWQa  Shilpa Rathnam (@shilparathnam) June 6, 2021

The real gem of #Loki is the chemistry between Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson. Lots of exposition in their dialogue, but its a thrill to watch them go wit for wit trying to solve a wickedly weird case. A strange bromance that deserves MULTIPLE seasons, not just one. pic.twitter.com/WdVueZL8kS  Brandon Pope TV (@BpopeTV) June 6, 2021

... and them on screen together is something we should hope lasts for several seasons.



Marvel's time-travel rules & explanations are still mega questionable and there's a layer of mystery which I hope leads to something bigger and more detailed since the TVA is so weird. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/PHcDLdHzBk  Rob Keyes (@rob_keyes) June 6, 2021

I'll add that the way Owen Wilson's Mobius deals with Loki is hilarious. The show is heavy on dialogue and intimate scenery and that works so well for this. It's like X-Files for those two.  Rob Keyes (@rob_keyes) June 6, 2021

I've seen the first 2 episodes of #Loki & I'm LOVING it so far. It's a time-traveling detective show that's laying groundwork for the MCU multiverse while also being about identity & confronting ugly truths about ourselves. The Tom Hiddleston/Owen Wilson bromance is my favorite pic.twitter.com/w9yLLHGEHJ  Erik Davis (@ErikDavis) June 6, 2021

One things for certain. Owen Wilson has managed to really stand out and hold his own.

Fans in India will get to see Lokis first episode on Disney+Hotstar, on the 9th of June, along with the rest of the world. Now thats a date that Marvel fans are waiting for, eagerly.
We request annual funding of $3 billion to maintain transit operations for the millions of New Yorkers who need them and to expand to meet new needs as they arise, the state senators wrote in a letter to New Yorks congressional delegation. With this degree of federal operating support, the MTA will be able to provide our constituents the frequent, affordable transit service that makes New York work.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle announced to the world the birth of their second baby and first daughter, who they have gone on to name Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

 Reuters

Harry and Meghan, who officially stepped down from their roles as senior royals last year, in a press statement, welcomed the arrival of their second child.



"On June 4th, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili. She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family," they said.

The baby girl, who was born at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, has been named after Harrys mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, and grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, whose family name is Lilibet.

 Reuters

 Royal UK

"Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet. Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honour her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales said the couple.



According to their press secretary, both Meghan and Lili have been doing well and are back at home, where the baby girl joins her older brother Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, who was born in 2019.

 Reuters

Lili's arrival to the world was announced to her Royal family sitting across the Atlantic in the UK, which was then welcomed through a statement from a Buckingham Palace Spokeswoman, who said:



The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

 Reuters

Prince William as well as Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, took to Instagram to express their delight at the news of Lili's birth.



We are delighted by the happy news of the arrival of baby Lili. Congratulations to Harry, Meghan, and Archie, they said in a post
In Indian weddings, the baraatis and the groom are welcomed and treated royally with much fervour and pomp. Their every wish is fulfilled instantly and they are well-taken care of through the entire ceremony, and even after that. Some people take undue advantage of the brides familys hospitality and make bizarre and insulting demands.



 iStock

In UPs Pratapgarh, something similar happened when a groom and his friends showed up to the wedding drunk and made an inappropriate request to the bride. They reportedly forced her to dance on stage before the wedding rituals could begin and also misbehaved with the family.



 iStock

The 22-year-old bride deemed it highly disrespectful and refused to give in to the demand. Not only this, she walked out of the wedding, calling it off.



She was offended by the groom arriving drunk and asking her to dance in front of the guests and his drunk friends. The groom apparently also created a nuisance when she refused to dance.

 Prime Video

The brides family asked the baraatis to return the money and gifts they owed them for the wedding as soon as the bride walked out. Upon their refusal, they called the cops and held them captive until the police came and resolved the issue. At last, after all the drama, the grooms family agreed to return the money and were released.



 iStock

Talking about the incident, Mandhata station house officer Shrawan Kumar Singh told TOI, A farmer from Tikri village had arranged his daughters marriage with a Ravendra Patel of Kutiliya Ahina village during the corona curfew. He had made necessary arrangements for the ceremony, but the groom and baraatis arrived drunk.



 iStock

Initially, the brides family ignored their overtures, but the situation turned ugly when the groom pressed the bride to dance before the jaimala ceremony. When the bride refused, the groom created a ruckus. Irked by his behaviour, the bride walked out and her family members held the baraatis captive, he added.



 Prime Video

This young bride was incredibly brave and made a strong statement about her having self-respect. She is clearly not a woman who would dance on someone elses tunes.



 Prime Video

We are glad her family supported her and got the money invested in the wedding back.


The Indian Customs confiscated 222 iPhones of various models, 10 PS5 consoles and numerous electronic products that are worth over Rs 2.5 crore at the Delhi Airport.

The smuggled electronics were caught at the airports new courier terminal in boxes that were mislabeled as "Dubai household products."

Apart from electronics, an array of other products were also seized such as 173 used laptops, 4391 bottles of food supplements and cosmetics.

 Twitter_Delhi Customs

Since Apple now offers a worldwide warranty on iPhones no matter where it has been purchased from; smugglers tend to smuggle iPhones from regions such as Dubai due to its lower price tag.



In India, iPhones tend to be costlier than other regions which prompt smugglers to provide slightly cheaper iPhones that have been illegally imported from the aforementioned regions.

SIIB, ACC Export Commissionerate intercepted & seized 222 Iphones of various models, 173 used laptops, 4391 bottles of food supplements, 10 Sony PS 5 & cosmetics with overall market value of around Rs 2.50Cr at NCT, Delhi. Goods were misdeclared as household goods from Dubai. pic.twitter.com/JrcChVY8VW  Delhi Customs (@Delhicustoms) June 5, 2021

In a similar case, 367 iPhones worth Rs 3.19 crore were recovered from eight courier boxes from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that were marked as household supplies.

The phones were seized last week Thursday, making it the second incident in one week.

 Twitter_Delhi Customs

In the case of the PlayStation 5, due to shortages all over the world and especially in India, resellers tend to scalp the console for almost double its price.



Even though the console is being sold in India officially, Sony has been unable to meet the demand which has led to parallel importers to source the console from other regions.

In India, it is illegal to import a large number of items and avoid paying duty which may result in fines and/or jail up to 5 years. A custom fraud case has been lodged against the suspect and a court hearing has been scheduled.

The suspects responsible for importing these items have been apprehended and are now in Police custody.
The safety and wellbeing of all those who work and live in our facilities is our first priority and we have worked diligently to clear a backlog of pending investigations and impose formal discipline or other corrective action when warranted, said spokesman Jason Kersten, who added that the department has resolved more cases than ever before in the last year and a half.
The ship-to-shore gantry crane crashed to the ground after the empty 316-meter-long containership, OOCL Durban, collided with the 32,270-gross-tonne Yong Hung, anchored at Pier 7, and pushed it into the crane, the port of Kaohsiung said.That crane is for discharging containers, so the rest of the port will be busier in the coming days, a Taiwanese trader told Fastmarkets on Friday June 4. This is especially so because it is hard to replace the crane.The 86,679-gross-tonne OOCL Durban was booked to berth at Pier 55.Another adjacent tower crane was also seriously damaged. About 30-50 containers were damaged.Kaohsiung port said it will coordinate yard activities to ensure the incident does not affect berth utilization or container traffic.This incident has not affected spot prices on Friday, with weak demand for containerized ferrous scrap driving prices down further this week.Kaohsiung port is very efficient and has many other berths which can unload containers, so only the shipping company using that berth will be affected, another Taiwanese trader told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets daily price assessment for containerized steel scrap, heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20), United States material import, cfr main port Taiwan was $440 per tonne on Friday, narrowing downward by $3 from $440-443 per tonne on Thursday, and down by $10 from $450 per tonne on May 28 Offers were initially made at $450-455 per tonne cfr Taiwan at the start of this week, against tentative indications from buyers at $445-448 per tonne cfr Taiwan. But there were no transactions heard concluded at these price levels.The weak demand from buyers succeeded in pushing prices downward by midweek.Buyers had hesitated to procure materials at the start of the week amid the major Memorial Day holiday in the US and were waiting for lower prices.They later procured material at $443 per tonne and $440 per tonne cfr Taiwan. There was market chatter that US-origin cargoes were also sold at $435 per tonne cfr Taiwan, although this could not be confirmed or were likely in very small quantities, traders said.Hong Kong-origin containerized HMS 1&2 (80:20) were also sold at $435 per tonne cfr Taiwan.South and Central American scrap was offered at $430 per tonne cfr Taiwan, while optimistic buyers were bidding at $420 per tonne cfr Taiwan.A major domestic steel mill in Taiwan dropped its domestic scrap purchasing price on Monday by NT$300 ($10.84) per tonne, but kept its rebar sales price stable.There were limited offers for bulk cargoes of Japanese H1&H2 scrap (50:50), although sources said some sellers had last offered such materials at $470 per tonne cfr Taiwan.Many sellers of Japanese cargoes are waiting for the result of the next Kanto Tetsugen auction later in June, before offering cargoes again, a buyer source in Taiwan said.Domestic prices in Japan remained strong, with shippers looking to keep their inventories for domestic sales instead of for exports. The lack of Japanese material has also not bolstered spot prices.Join our industry experts for an exciting forward look into Asia's evolving steel market at the Singapore Steel Forum on July 14. Register today at https://events.fastmarkets.com/singapore-steel-forum
MDHHS shares improvements to Michigan's child welfare system; Court appearance highlights continued reform that protects youth, helps families

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 7, 2021

CONTACT: Bob Wheaton, 517-241-2112

LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and court-appointed federal monitors today shared continued significant improvements made to the state's child welfare system.

Accomplishments continue under the administration of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who took office in January 2019. Today's updates came during a virtual federal court hearing to address progress during the first six months of 2020 - when the state made inroads even amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the pandemic, MDHHS child welfare staff continued to make important regular contacts with children under state care, using technology to meet with children virtually even when they could not meet in person. From March to June 2020, 97% of monthly worker visits with children in foster care occurred.

"MDHHS and its Children's Services Agency remain dedicated to accomplishing the priorities that have been in place based on the department's agreement with the court," said MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel. "They include strongly focusing on child safety and well-being in foster homes and child-caring institutions, maintaining family connections, ensuring we find suitable permanent homes for children in a timely fashion, and continuing to shift child welfare toward a more prevention-focused framework."

In June 2019 - five months after Whitmer took office - Judge Nancy G. Edmunds of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan approved a new agreement that streamlined the monitoring process, allowing MDHHS to devote more resources to directly supporting children and families.

During the six-month period covered by the new court monitoring report, Michigan improved data collected by the state's child welfare technology system. That provides staff with better information to keep children safe and families together. The state also improved its performance by meeting the standard for timely completion of Children's Protective Services investigations of reported child abuse or neglect.

Today's court appearance was the first for Demetrius Starling as the new executive director of the department's Children's Services Agency.

"I also want to commend the state for what seems to be a very energetic start to the work that Director Hertel and Director Starling are supervising and overseeing," Judge Edmunds said. "I'm glad to see that the department is taking a really aggressive approach to resolving these outstanding problems."

Starling took over last month following the departure of JooYeun Chang, who received praise from the court for her reform efforts.

"I was inspired by the progress we made under the leadership of former director Chang," Starling said. "I am dedicated to building on our progress. We are committed to addressing the needs of Michigan's most vulnerable children. Michigan has made significant strides in improving safety for children in care as a result of our continued meaningful collaboration with private child welfare agency partners and community stakeholders. That will remain a top priority. If we do that, Michigan eventually will be able to exit federal court oversight."

The report released today by the court monitors shows Michigan met commitments for:

Generating from its child welfare information system accurate and timely reports and information regarding the requirements in the court agreement.

90% of all investigations of reported child abuse or neglect to be completed within the required time frames.

95% of foster care workers to have caseloads of 15 or fewer children.

In addition, MDHHS has further made progress in priority areas mentioned during last year's court appearance. That includes continuing to take steps to reduce maltreatment of children in foster care and provide increased support to relative caregivers so they can keep children safe.

The department also has made additional progress in updating the child welfare technology system that is used by caseworkers and used to track data to report to the court that demonstrates improvements. The department is beginning to transition to a new information technology system. "We know that the top priority for child welfare staff is engaging directly with families and children instead of being hindered by an outdated technology system," Starling said.

MDHHS also shared with the court today comprehensive reform actions the department has taken in the wake of the death of a child who was improperly restrained by staff at a child-caring institution in Kalamazoo in May 2020. That includes restricting the use of restraints in facilities, reducing the number of youth in child-caring facilities by placing children in more family-like settings or reunifying them safely with their families more quickly and creating a task force that recommended reform of child-caring facilities.

To view the latest federal court monitor report and other information, go to www.michigan.gov/ChildWelfareAgreement.

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AG Nessel Responds to Lawsuit Taking Aim at Adopt and Amend

AG Nessel Responds to Lawsuit Taking Aim at Adopt and Amend

Lynsey Mukomel 517-599-2746 Attorney General

June 7, 2021

LANSING - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a motion today in response to a lawsuit that argues for an increase in the state's minimum wage and appropriate paid sick time.

Last month, the Department of Attorney General was served with Mothering Justice, et al v Nessel. Plaintiffs' attorney is Mark Brewer of Goodman Acker, P.C.

The case challenges the constitutionality of Acts 368 and 369 - laws that were passed by the Legislature in September 2018 related to initiative petitions to increase the minimum wage and to provide for the accrual of paid sick leave.

The initiative petitions were originally slated to be put on the ballot in 2018 as a result of a citizen-initiated petition drive. Instead, the Legislature adopted the measures and then amended them with a simple majority. The legality of the Legislature's use of the "adopt and amend" procedure was upheld in an opinion by former Attorney General Bill Schuette and ultimately heard by the Michigan Supreme Court in 2019, pursuant to a request for advisory opinion. In the case, the Supreme Court asked the Attorney General to establish a conflict wall and appoint two sets of attorneys from the office to argue both sides of the issue. AG Nessel joined the side of her office that argued that the process, and thus the new laws, were unconstitutional. Ultimately, though, the Supreme Court declined to issue an advisory opinion.

This current lawsuit places the question of the constitutionality of Acts 368 and 369 before the courts once again. This time, AG Nessel has been named as a defendant in the lawsuit based on the opinion rendered by her predecessor. But she's not a proper defendant and has filed a motion to dismiss on that basis.

In the motion, filed this afternoon, Nessel argues she "agrees with the policy arguments set forth in the Complaint. The Plaintiffs are correct to point out that the Legislature performed an unconstitutional end-run around the initiative process in its lame-duck 'adopt and amend' gambit. Nevertheless, the Attorney General seeks summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(8) because, based on the allegations in the Complaint, she is not the proper party against whom to bring any of the Complaint's three Counts."

"I believe the actions undertaken by the Republican legislature to adopt and then gut the substance of the One Fair Wage and Paid Sick Leave Act were unconstitutional and undermined the will of Michigan residents," Nessel said. "Mr. Brewer knows that the surest way to resolve this issue is by bringing suit against the State of Michigan and arguing the merits of the case in court. Instead, he chose to take an adversarial stance against an ally by suing the Department of Attorney General. Mr. Brewer's actions do not serve his clients, nor will they bring necessary resolution to this issue."

A copy of OAG 7306 from former AG Schuette can be found here.
TORONTO (AP)  A pickup truck attack that killed four members of an immigrant family has shaken Canada, a country where immigrants are largely accepted, and drew denunciations Tuesday from Canadas prime minister, who called it a hate crime directed at Muslims.

The victims  two parents, two children and a grandmother  were on an evening walk when the driver of the truck struck them at an intersection in London, Ontario. The sole survivor was a 9-year-old boy, who was hospitalized.

This was a terrorist attack, motivated by hatred, in the heart of one of our communities, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament. If anyone thinks racism and hatred dont exist in this country, I want to say this: How do we explain such violence to a child in a hospital? How can we look families in the eye and say Islamophobia isnt real?

The victims extended family issued a statement identifying the dead as Salman Afzal, 46; his wife Madiha, 44; their daughter Yumna, 15; and a 74-year-old grandmother whose name was withheld. The hospitalized boy was identified as the couples son, Fayez. Friends said the family immigrated to Canada 14 years ago.

Many Canadians have been enjoying evening walks to get fresh air after long days at home during the pandemic, Trudeau said.

But unlike every other night, this family never made it home, Trudeau said. Their lives were taken in a brutal, cowardly and brazen act of violence. This killing was no accident. ... Canadians are outraged by what happened on Sunday. And many Muslim Canadians are scared.

Trudeau said words matter and in part blamed rhetoric, disinformation and extremism online and in politics.

They can be a seed that grows into an ugly, pervasive trend. And sometimes, they lead to real violence, the prime minister said.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Twitter that the attack revealed the growing Islamophobia in Western countries.

A 20-year-old suspect, Nathaniel Veltman, was arrested in the parking lot of a nearby mall. He was facing four counts of first-degree murder. Police were inside the suspects London apartment on Tuesday.

Police said Veltman did not know the victims. Detective Supt. Paul Waight said it was not clear if he belonged to any specific hate group, but that local police were working with federal authorities to investigate potential terrorism charges. He said the attack was planned.

Veltman worked part time at an egg farm in nearby Strathroy, Ontario. The chief executive of Gray Ridge Eggs Inc., William Gray, gave no details about Veltmans job. He said the company was shocked and saddened by the attack, and he expressed sympathy for the victims relatives and the Muslim community.

Arman Moradpourian, a friend who worked with Veltman, called Veltman a very devout Christian and said he was home schooled. Moradpourian said Veltman didn't have a problem with him being Persian and raised Muslim.

He never judged me, Moradpourian told The Associated Press. He would give his shirt off his back for you.

Moradpourian said Veltman helped him with rides to grocery stores and helped him mediate family issues. He said Veltman deleted his social media years ago and remade it a few months ago. He said he used the same name but said it was deactivated after he was arrested. He said Veltman was into video games and fishing.

Everyone who knew the Afzal family knew the model family they were as Muslims, Canadians and Pakistanis, the statement from the extended family said. They worked extremely hard in their fields and excelled. Their children were top students in their school and connected strongly with their spiritual identity.

A fundraising webpage said the father was a physiotherapist and cricket enthusiast and his wife was working on a doctorate in civil engineering at Western University in London. Their daughter was finishing ninth grade, and the grandmother was a pillar of the family, the page said.

Thousands of mourners including Trudeau and the leaders of all of Canadas political parties attended a vigil Tuesday night at the mosque the family attended. Pandemic restrictions were eased to allow mourners to attend the outdoor vigil.

There are no words that can ease the grief of having three generations murdered in their neighborhood, Trudeau told the crowd. There are no words that can undo the pain and yes the anger of this community. There are no words that can fix the future of that little boy who has had his future taken away. But know this: You are not alone. All Canadians mourn with you and stand with you.

Imam Abd Alfatah Twakkal of the London Muslim Mosque said he hoped the vigil would be a pivotal moment for his community and country in the fight against the scourge of racism and discrimination.

Every single one of us need to do our part, he said.

Rauf Ahmad and three friends earlier watched the growing tribute at the intersection in the day.

I didnt think there was racism in Canada, and I felt very safe when I came here two years ago, but I do not feel safe now, Ahmad said. Humanity is first. We should not care about whether someone is a Muslim, a Jew or a Christian.

Near the crash scene, Zahid Khan, a family friend, said through tears: They were just out for their walk that they would go out for every day. I just wanted to see.

Mayor Ed Holder said flags would be lowered for three days in London, which he said has 30,000 to 40,000 Muslims among its more than 400,000 residents.

Canada is generally welcoming toward immigrants and all religions, but in 2017 a French Canadian man known for far-right, nationalist views went on a shooting rampage at a Quebec City mosque that killed six people.

Canada is not immune to the kind of intolerance and division we have seen elsewhere in the world, Trudeau said.
The annual peak of global heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air has reached another dangerous milestone: 50% higher than when the industrial age began.

And the average rate of increase is faster than ever, scientists reported Monday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the average carbon dioxide level for May was 419.13 parts per million. Thats 1.82 parts per million higher than May 2020 and 50% higher than the stable pre-industrial levels of 280 parts per million, said NOAA climate scientist Pieter Tans.

Carbon dioxide levels peak every May just before plant life in the Northern Hemisphere blossoms, sucking some of that carbon out of the atmosphere and into flowers, leaves, seeds and stems. The reprieve is temporary, though, because emissions of carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil and natural gas for transportation and electricity far exceed what plants can take in, pushing greenhouse gas levels to new records every year.

Reaching 50% higher carbon dioxide than preindustrial is really setting a new benchmark and not in a good way, said Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald, who wasnt part of the research. If we want to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, we need to work much harder to cut carbon dioxide emissions and right away.

Climate change does more than increase temperatures. It makes extreme weather  storms, wildfires, floods and droughts  worse and more frequent and causes oceans to rise and get more acidic, studies show. There are also health effects, including heat deaths and increased pollen. In 2015, countries signed the Paris agreement to try to keep climate change to below what's considered dangerous levels.

The one-year jump in carbon dioxide was not a record, mainly because of a La Nina weather pattern, when parts of the Pacific temporarily cool, said Scripps Institution of Oceanography geochemist Ralph Keeling. Keelings father started the monitoring of carbon dioxide on top of the Hawaiian mountain Mauna Loa in 1958, and he has continued the work of charting the now famous Keeling Curve.

Scripps, which calculates the numbers slightly differently based on time and averaging, said the peak in May was 418.9.

Also, pandemic lockdowns slowed transportation, travel and other activity by about 7%, earlier studies show. But that was too small to make a significant difference. Carbon dioxide can stay in the air for 1,000 years or more, so year-to-year changes in emissions dont register much.

The 10-year average rate of increase also set a record, now up to 2.4 parts per million per year.

Carbon dioxide going up in a few decades like that is extremely unusual, Tans said. For example, when the Earth climbed out of the last ice age, carbon dioxide increased by about 80 parts per million and it took the Earth system, the natural system, 6,000 years. We have a much larger increase in the last few decades.

By comparison, it has taken only 42 years, from 1979 to 2021, to increase carbon dioxide by that same amount.

The world is approaching the point where exceeding the Paris targets and entering a climate danger zone becomes almost inevitable, said Princeton University climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer, who wasnt part of the research.

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Read stories on climate issues by The Associated Press at https://apnews.com/hub/climate.

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Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
BERLIN (AP)  The German military says it has found a solution for an unusual logistics problem its troops in Afghanistan face: a glut of beer.

Defense Ministry spokeswoman Christina Routsi said Monday that a recent decision by the German commander in Afghanistan to ban the consumption of alcohol for security reasons had resulted in a pileup of beer, wine and mixed drinks at Camp Marmal in Mazar-e-Sharif.
China, ASEAN dialogue relations bring tangible results: former Malaysian diplomat

Xinhua) 10:46, June 07, 2021

Aerial photo taken on April 15, 2019 shows the Alliance Steel at the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park in Pahang, Malaysia. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)

"After 30 years, the mutual trust and confidence have gone up, which can be seen from the tangible effects from the cooperation between ASEAN and China," said Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, Malaysia's ambassador to China from 1998 to 2005.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The relations between China and ASEAN have grown from strength to strength since the two sides established dialogue relations 30 years ago, bringing about tangible results in all-round cooperation and recent joint efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic, said a former Malaysian ambassador to China.

"For the last 30 years, ASEAN-China relation has been a model for regional cooperation," said Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, Malaysia's ambassador to China from 1998 to 2005.

When China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) established dialogue relations 30 years ago, the two sides had to explore ways of cooperation and build mutual trust in each other, recalled Majid, who was involved in the process as a seasoned diplomat.

Photo taken on May 27, 2020 shows a container truck carrying Vietnamese lychees exported to China at Kim Thanh II International Border Gate in Vietnam's northern Lao Cai province, which borders China. (VNA via Xinhua)

"After 30 years, the mutual trust and confidence have gone up, which can be seen from the tangible effects from the cooperation between ASEAN and China," he told Xinhua on Sunday.

He pointed out the frequent leaders' visits between China and ASEAN countries, the close economic relations as ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner last year, people-to-people connectivity, among others, as concrete proof of the dynamic and close relations between the two sides.

"China is one of the most active partners of ASEAN by coming up with many initiatives to advance the cooperation. China has also responded positively and signed up to various ASEAN policies and initiatives. China has always emphasized and respected ASEAN centrality in regional cooperation," said Majid.

A worker cleans a durian at a durian processing factory in Pahang, Malaysia, June 18, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)

As a diplomat who has involved from the very beginning of the development of ASEAN-China relations, Majid said he was happy to see the foundation which was laid three decades ago had led to fruitful and concrete results.

The joint efforts between ASEAN and China against the COVID-19 pandemic, including the sending of medical assistance and expert teams by China to ASEAN countries, are also "very positive signs of the mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship," said Majid.

China has made good of its pledge to offer its COVID-19 vaccines as a global public good by prioritizing the supply to ASEAN countries, not only providing finished vaccines but also willing to embark on the transfer of technology through joint manufacturing cooperation with countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, he said.

Airport workers unload the Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac's CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine upon its arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, May 21, 2021. (Photo by CITF/Handout via Xinhua)

"China has delivered what it says on making its vaccines global public goods," said Majid.

As China and ASEAN are holding a Special Foreign Ministers' Meeting in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of dialogue relations on Monday, Majid expects that ASEAN and China will strengthen cooperation against COVID-19 and for the economic recovery, and that the relationship will emerge even stronger.

"The relations will become stronger as China is playing a bigger role in regional issues and the RCEP would further foster regional cooperation," said Majid, referring to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership signed last year by 10 ASEAN members and Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
Its all mental people attacking Asians. He should be put in jail. We dont want him released, the victims son said. It should not be catch-and-release. What do you have to do to be jailed?
JERUSALEM (AP)  Israeli police said Monday they blocked a planned procession by Jewish ultranationalists through parts of Jerusalem's Old City, following warnings that it could reignite tensions that led to a punishing 11-day war with Gaza's militant Hamas rulers last month.

The parade, which celebrates Israel's capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, was underway on May 10 when Hamas fired rockets from Gaza toward the holy city, setting off heavy fighting. Some 254 people were killed in Gaza and 13 in Israel before a cease-fire took effect May 21.

The war was preceded by weeks of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian demonstrators in the Old City and in the nearby neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where Jewish settlers have waged a decades-long campaign to evict Palestinian families from their homes.

Israels attorney general on Monday declined to intervene in the cases of several of the families, making it more likely the evictions will be carried out  possibly in the coming weeks. That could also reignite violence.

The procession, which had intended to go through the Old City's Muslim Quarter, is seen by Palestinians as a provocation.

In a statement, police said the proposal to hold the parade later this week was not approved, but new plans would be considered. Organizers accused the police of caving in to pressure from Hamas.

Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, tweeted a warning to embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to give in to Hamas threats."

Renewed tensions in east Jerusalem or fighting with Hamas could complicate Israel's shaky politics. Netanyahu's opponents last week said they have formed a coalition that could remove the prime minister from office after a 12-year term. The new coalition is expected to be sworn into office in the coming days.

Over the weekend, Israeli police arrested and released a veteran reporter for the Al Jazeera satellite channel who had regularly been covering the Sheikh Jarrah protests. And on Sunday, authorities stormed the home of a leading activist in the neighborhood, arresting her and her brother. The siblings were later released.

Before Muna al-Kurd was freed, police briefly clashed with a crowd outside the station, throwing stun grenades at the protesters.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, which is home to sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. Israel views the entire city as its capital, while the Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The settlers are using a 1970 law that allows Jews to reclaim formerly Jewish properties lost during the 1948 war surrounding Israels creation, a right denied to Palestinians who lost property in the same conflict. At least 150 Palestinian households, in Sheikh Jarrah and the neighborhood of Silwan, both near the Old City, are at risk of eventual eviction.

A request by the attorney general at the height of the tensions last month led to the postponement of a Supreme Court hearing on the most imminent evictions, of four extended families comprising six households in Sheikh Jarrah.

But in a statement issued Monday, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said there is no place for him to intervene in the proceedings. That sends the matter back to the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule against the families.

Ir Amim, an Israeli human rights group that closely follows the various court cases, says the four families could be evicted within the coming month, and that the attorney general's decision could affect the cases of more than 80 other families threatened with eviction.

It paves the way for the evictions to be carried out, said Amy Cohen, a spokeswoman for Ir Amim. But she added that Israeli authorities still have various options for postponing or halting the evictions. There still is room for political intervention, she said.

The threatened evictions have been widely criticized internationally, including by the United States, Israel's closest ally.

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Associated Press writer Joseph Krauss contributed.
MIDDLETOWN  A concepts proposal co-authored by Martha Gilmore of Haddam, the Wesleyan University professor of geology and earth and environmental sciences, were recently selected by NASAs Discovery Program.

Gilmore believes that if scientists are able to measure Venuss atmosphere and surface, we can better understand the climate, volcanic activity, and the habitability of Earth-size worlds.

The selected missions aim to understand how Venus became a scorching planet after it was potentially another habitable world in the solar system with an Earth-like climate.

Gilmore, George I. Seney professor of geology, professor of earth and environmental sciences, is a coinvestigator of both winning concepts. Each project will receive approximately $500 million per mission for development and is expected to launch in the 2028-2030 time frame.

The projects include Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy and Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging Plus.

Venus is so critical to our understanding of how Earth-sized planets form in our solar system and other solar systems, Gilmore said. I cant wait to see what we know about Venus in 20 years  will we know then that Venus was once covered in oceans? Will we know how the inner planets acquired their water inventory? Will we know how to recognize habitable planets around other stars? Will we find evidence of life there?

VERITAS, a Venus orbiter, will create high-resolution topography imaging of Venuss surface and produce the first maps of the planets global surface composition. By charting surface elevations of nearly the entire planet, scientists will be able to learn more about the geological history of the planet and why it developed so differently than Earth. VERITAS also will map infrared emissions from Venuss surface to map its rock type and determine whether active volcanoes are releasing water vapor into the atmosphere. VERITAS is managed by NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

DAVINCI+ is an atmospheric probe that would be managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center. As the probe plunges into Venuss thick atmosphere, it would measure the chemical composition, revealing the possibility of a history of water on Venus.

In addition, DAVINCI+ will return the first high-resolution pictures of the unique geological features on Venus known as tesserae, which may be comparable to Earths continents, and, as the oldest terrains on Venus, may record past climates. This will be the first U.S.-led mission to Venuss atmosphere since 1978.

Having these two such complementary missions is a dream come true, Gilmore said. Im so happy and look forward to working with our students on this fascinating planet.

Gilmore, also is the co-coordinator of Wesleyans Planetary Sciences program, is a fellow of the Geological Society of America, has served on dozens of NASA and National Academy of Sciences-NRC Committees, has mentored more than 20 masters degree recipients, has served as chair of the Wesleyans Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Venus Exploration Analysis Group, deputy chair of VEXAG.

In 2020, she received the Randolph W. Bill and Cecile T. Bromery Award from the Geological Society of America for her exemplary contributions to research in the geological sciences, and for being an instrumental mentor to young people of color.

Olivia Drake works for Wesleyan University. This article has been reprinted with permission from the News @ Wesleyan blog.
In anticipation of the heat toward the beginning of the week, some Connecticut schools are planning to have students leave early.

One of those schools is the Ashford School in Ashford. The school is planning to dismiss students at 12:25 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, citing excessive heat.
He needs to go to a rehab place, a place he can stay away for a year or two, where he cannot be let go, said Sookwaite Morrison, 53. Its sad to see your child suffer like that and theres nothing you can do.
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRIDGEPORT  A stabbing victim was dropped off at a city hospital early Sunday morning after being assaulted on Wordin Avenue, according to officials.

The victim showed up at St. Vincents Medical Center just before 2 a.m., according to Scott Appleby, the citys director of emergency communications and emergency management.
MIDDLETOWN  The strength Alicia Medina showed when she drove herself to a local fire station to seek help while suffering from 10 stab wounds epitomizes the mother of six and grandmother of seven in her final moments, her daughter said.

The family of the 53-year-old who police say was stabbed to death during a domestic violence incident last month is recalling its matriarch as a beautiful, nurturing woman.

Medina, who died May 20, was a professional caregiver who loved telenovelas, and the freedom that comes with dancing to Spanish music, according to her daughter, Jennifer Madden.

She was funny. We were always so tickled by her conversations, Madden said last Wednesday, the day of her mothers funeral. The small things made her laugh.

Medinas son, Eugenio Vela III, 18, has been charged with murder, first-degree assault and violation of a protective order in connection with the case. Middlesex Judicial District Public Defender Angela C. Anastasi, who is representing the Middletown High School student, declined to comment. Vela is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Middletown on Tuesday.

While suffering from 10 stab wounds, police said, Medina drove herself to the Westfield Fire Department for aid, with her last strength, her daughter wrote on the Memorial for Mom Alicia killed by DV GoFundMe account thats been set up for funeral expenses.

She was taken too soon, Madden wrote in her crowdfunding appeal, which has raised more than $4,000.

Medinas daughter flew from her home in Georgia to attend the services in New Britain. She had already been planning a trip, having resolved to spend more time with her mother and older sister to make up for their inability to gather as often in person because of the pandemic, Madden said.

This time is very hard, because I should be spending time with my mother  and Im not, she said.

Medina was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. She lived in many states, but called Middletown her home, Madden said.

She graduated from New Britain High School and earned associates degrees from Tunxis Community College and Goodwin College.

Medina worked as a certified nursing assistant at Apple Rehab in Middletown, but recently retired early due to her own medical issues.

She had a loving rapport with these elderly patients. She wanted to care for people and be there for them, Madden said.

Madden, who works with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, said there are not enough resources for victims or those with mental health issues.

Sometimes, within certain cultures, weve normalized abuse. You dont talk about it, Madden said. Thats not something that you share. What happens at home, stays at home.

Often, victims are expected to suck it up, Madden said. Thats a very challenging part. If thats what youre being taught as youre younger, you grow up with that. That becomes your mentality.

Its not uncommon for those who experience domestic violence to be afraid to speak up or seek help, Madden said. Even when a no-contact order is put into place, she said, victims dont necessarily feel protected because its just a piece of paper.

Ive had people come back and be more combative, and abusive, all because the abuser is not intimidated by it, she said.

These days, Madden draws great strength from her belief in God, she said. I have a lot of peace within me.

I remember the joy I had with my mom, and I know the enemy will expect you to remember all the negative stuff at a time where youre mourning, and youre not happy  just to magnify it, Madden said.
New London Police / Contributed

NEW LONDON  A Montville man has been arrested after police say he threatened another driver, using racial slurs while wielding a large knife during a road rage incident.

On June 1, officers responded to the parking lot at 627 block of Broad Street around 5:50 p.m. for a report of threats. Police said two drivers were involved in a road rage incident, then both pulled into the parking lot.
LONDON (AP)  British lawmakers failed to force a vote Monday on the government's cut to foreign aid spending, sparing Prime Minister Boris Johnson from a potentially embarrassing defeat before he hosts the Group of Seven summit this weekend.

Though the non-partisan speaker in the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, ruled that an attempt to reverse the cut via an amendment to a bill going through parliament wasn't appropriate, he rebuked the government for not having put to a vote its decision last November to cut the proportion of national income set aside for foreign aid from 0.7% to 0.5%.

He encouraged lawmakers to bring forward a separate motion for an emergency debate on Tuesday and said the Conservative government should bring the decision to a vote soon.

I expect that the government should find a way to have this important matter debated and to allow the House formally to take an effective decision, he said. And if not, we will then look to find other ways in which we can move forward.

The original target, which had been enshrined in legislation, had helped the U.K. gain a strong reputation in the developing world over the past couple of decades. The cut amounts to around 4 billion pounds ($5.6 billion).

Critics, which include Johnsons predecessor Theresa May and former Cabinet ministers Andrew Mitchell and David Davis, say the cut will lead to hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths in developing nations and damages Britain's international reputation. They also say it undermines Johnson in the run-up to his hosting of a Group of Seven leaders summit on Friday.

Mitchell, a former international development secretary who led the rebellion, said he was confident that the numbers were there to overturn the government's 85-seat majority in the House of Commons. He said the government was treating the House of Commons with disrespect.

Britain's Treasury has argued that the cut was necessary to free up cash to spend domestically at a time when the British economy is trying to recover ground lost during the coronavirus pandemic. It also has said it's a temporary measure and that the U.K. will remain one of the biggest aid spenders, with around 10 billion pounds earmarked this year in the fight against poverty and climate change.

The dispute comes before Johnson hosts the summit of the G-7 wealthy nations where support for the developing world is set to be one of the main topics of discussion.

Johnson has been promoting the June 11-13 summit in Cornwall, southwest England, as an opportunity for the U.K. to assert itself on the global stage following the nation's departure from the European Union. The U.K. will also host a major environmental summit later this year in Glasgow, Scotland.

It is bitterly disappointing that parliament missed todays opportunity to vote on keeping its promise to voters and the worlds most vulnerable people by restoring the 0.7% pledge, said Sam Nadel, head of policy and advocacy at the anti-poverty campaigning group Oxfam.

As the country prepares to welcome G-7 leaders, the government continues to undermine the U.K.s credibility on the international stage while its commitments to the worlds poorest are abandoned," he added.

The decision to cut the aid target went against the Conservative governments promise in the 2019 general election to maintain it and has drawn condemnation from across the political spectrum.

Its a life-and-death issue," former Labour Party Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the BBC. Were actually deciding who lives and who dies, particularly at this point where if we withdraw the money for vaccination its the equivalent of pulling away the needle from a kid or from an adult who is sick.''
On behalf of Border Division Chief Omar Watson, and the Santa Ana Area, we are deeply grateful for the professionalism and tireless commitment of our investigators who have worked on this case from day one to find those responsible for Aidens death, said CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray. While these arrests will not ease the pain of a mothers loss, my hope is for the Leos family to have some peace of mind and to rest assured the CHP will work with the Orange County District Attorney to bring justice for Aiden.
The court-martial of Marine Gunnery Sgt. Mario Madera-Rodriguez in the choking death of a Green Beret during an alleged attempted hazing and sexual assault began at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on Monday.

Madera-Rodriguez, a Marine Raider, faces multiple charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including felony murder and involuntary manslaughter, for his alleged part in the June 4, 2017, death of Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar during a deployment in Bamako, Mali.

He is also charged with conspiracy to commit assault, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice, burglary, hazing and making false official statements, according to the charge sheet in the case provided by the Navy.

Read Next: 'We Won't Give Up': Advocates Hope Biden Will Finally Bring Marine Vet Austin Tice Home

Madera-Rodriguez's case is the last to be decided of the four special operations troops accused of involvement in Melgar's death. If convicted of felony murder, he could be sentenced to serve the rest of his life behind bars, without possibility of parole, as well as a reduction in rank to E-1, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and either a dishonorable or a bad conduct discharge.

The Navy said in a release Friday that the court-martial, which is scheduled to last three weeks, would begin with jury selection Monday. Madera-Rodriguez chose to be tried by a panel of eight service members, the service added.

The Washington Post in 2019 reported that a Marine Raider, Staff Sgt. Kevin Maxwell, admitted to being involved in the plot to haze and humiliate Melgar that resulted in his death.

The Post reported that Maxwell said in a written statement to authorities that he and three other special operations troops, including Madera-Rodriguez, planned to break into Melgar's bedroom with a sledgehammer at about 5 a.m., choke him into unconsciousness, and tie him up. A Malian security guard would then sexually assault Melgar, with a British man videotaping the assault on a cell phone, Maxwell said. The plot was reportedly hatched after a night of heavy drinking.

However, when Chief Special Warfare Operator Anthony Dedolph, a Navy SEAL, bound Melgar with duct tape and put him in a chokehold, he accidentally strangled Melgar to death.

Dedolph, a member of SEAL Team Six, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice and hazing Jan. 14, and was sentenced to 10 years of confinement and a dishonorable discharge.

Maxwell and another SEAL, Chief Special Warfare Officer Adam Matthews, also previously pleaded guilty to charges connected to Melgar's death.

The charge sheet in Madera-Rodriguez's case accuses him of committing felony murder "while perpetrating a burglary ... by restraining SSG Logan Melgar during the assault where SSG Melgar was strangled and killed."

It also accuses Madera-Rodriguez of committing involuntary manslaughter "by culpable negligence," by restraining Melgar during the assault.

As part of their conspiracy to assault Melgar, the four special operators drove to the Marine quarters to get duct tape and then to the quarters shared by Army and Navy service members, according to the charge sheet. They broke through Melgar's locked door, physically restrained him and bound him with duct tape, and then strangled him by placing him in a chokehold, the charge sheet adds.

In the months following Melgar's death, Madera-Rodriguez allegedly conspired with the three other special operators to cover their actions up and commit obstruction of justice, according to the charge sheet. To hamstring the investigation, the charge sheet adds, they allegedly gave the Navy chain of command a false timeline of events, shared information with each other about what they had told investigators, and gave statements that purposely left out the use of duct tape and the presence of Marines in the room during the assault.

They also allegedly disposed of the alcohol that was kept in the Army and Navy quarters, and made false statements to investigators from the Army's Criminal Investigation Command and the Navy Criminal Investigation Service, the charge sheet states.

Madera-Rodriguez is accused of lying to a CID agent by falsely saying the four troops did not plan to go out with Melgar that night, and by falsely claiming that he and Maxwell remained outside the shared Army and Navy quarters while the two SEALs went inside.

The charge sheet states that Madera-Rodriguez lied when he told an investigator that he saw Melgar and Dedolph talk to each other, chuckle and smile at the door to Melgar's residence, and then "mutually initiate" wrestling at the door. He also falsely claimed that he didn't enter Melgar's quarters until Matthews told him to, it adds.

-- Stephen Losey can be reached at stephen.losey@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StephenLosey.

Related: 4 Charged in Green Beret's Death Reportedly Planned to Sexually Assault Him on Camera
The remaining protections of the tenant bill of rights that Congress mandated for military families living in on-base housing will be delayed again -- this time until Sept. 30, the Defense Department announced Friday.

Lawmakers in 2019 outlined 18 rights to guarantee families leased homes on military bases that met a specific quality standard, had a clear path to handle disputes with the private companies that manage base housing, and could easily understand leases and past maintenance of a residence. The reform followed a series of news reports that highlighted military families sometimes faced dangerous conditions, including lead paint, asbestos and mold, water leaks, and pest and rodent infestations.

Those reports have continued and at least a dozen lawsuits have been filed against some of the private companies that manage base housing in partnership with the service branches.

The most recent deadline to implement the full tenant bill of rights was June 1, about one year later than originally scheduled following passage in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020.

All but four of the tenant rights have been implemented so far. The remaining four are the right to withhold rent until disputes are resolved, a clearly defined dispute resolution process, seven years of maintenance history records and a standard lease.

The Defense Department has issued the necessary policy guidance for the changes, but now must finalize negotiations with housing companies, said Paul Cramer, acting assistant defense secretary for sustainment and chief housing officer.

Because the companies are signed into existing long-term contracts with the military, the Defense Department said it "can't unilaterally change the terms of the complex, public-private partnerships." It must get the 14 companies to voluntarily agree to the changes.

"With few exceptions," the Defense Department should have agreements by the end of September, Cramer said. Many are providing all but the universal lease, he said.

The universal lease will standardize the general content of leases at each military base "to the maximum extent possible." Some variance is needed to comply with state and local requirements. Military families should expect to see the standardized documents by their next, permanent change-of-station move, according to the Defense Department.

"Military members and their families who are tenants of [privatized] housing should check with the property manager or the government's installation housing office to confirm which of the tenant rights have been implemented at their installation," Cramer said.

If the housing companies do not comply with the tenant rights, the government has recourse through the existing operating agreement, Cramer told the House Appropriations Committee's subpanel on military construction in February. He did not describe the recourse.
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii -- Gen. Charles Flynn took command of U.S. Army Pacific on Friday, vowing to continue transforming the 90,000-soldier force into one that can meet the challenge of a rising China.

"Today, as China trends on an increasingly concerning path, presenting challenge to the free and open Pacific, the Army is charged to change once more," Flynn said during a livestreamed ceremony at Fort Shafter. Media were not allowed to attend the event.

Flynn -- the younger brother of Michael Flynn, who briefly served as national security adviser under former President Donald Trump -- took the reins from Gen. Paul LaCamera, who will move on to command U.S. Forces Korea.

Flynn arrived from Washington, D.C., where he had served since June 2019 as deputy chief of staff for Army operations, plans and training. He has been stationed in Hawaii numerous times, most recently as deputy commanding general at U.S. Army Pacific.

Adm. John Aquilino, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, welcomed Flynn back to Hawaii during an address at the ceremony.

"I'm going to ask you to focus on seizing the initiative by thinking, acting and operating differently, to continue to execute the integrated deterrence needed to ensure the free and open Indo-Pacific," Aquilino said. "U.S. Army Pacific Command is a vital part of our approach to generate a lethal combined joint force distributed west of the international dateline that can be protected, sustained and capable of fully integrating with all of our allies and partners."

Addressing the audience, the Army's chief of staff, Gen. James McConville, praised LaCamera for his part in developing and testing the Army's first Multi-Domain Task Force, which is aimed at coordinating air, cyberspace, land, maritime, space and the electromagnetic spectrum in a battle environment.

Flynn said he expected to build upon that soon by incorporating long-range precision fires and integrated air missile defense.

U.S. Army Pacific is also calibrating its force posture to be more agile through prepositioning supplies in the theater to sustain the force, he said.

"If we operate, compete and fight domain-on-domain, we will cede advantages and put our future at risk," Flynn said. "However, if we act, operate and fight as an integrated joint force -- tightly linked to our allies and partners -- there is no adversary on planet that can match this team."

Flynn is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College, where he earned a master's degree in national security and strategic studies, according to his official bio.

Early in his career he was stationed at Schofield Barracks as operations officer for the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division and later as operations officer of the division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team.

From 2014 to 2016, he commanded the 25th, after which he served as deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific until 2018.

He has commanded troops at the battalion and brigade levels within the 82nd Airborne Division and was deployed on combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, according to his bio.

Flynn's brother Michael, a retired Army lieutenant general, pleaded guilty to a felony count of "willfully and knowingly" making false statements to the FBI during its investigation looking into ties between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Trump pardoned him in November.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Michael Flynn made headlines after seeming to agree with an audience member at the "For God & Country Patriot Roundup" conference in Dallas that a military coup would be desirable in the United States.
It's a scenario we all know too well. Deployment is on the horizon and you want to know, what should I do? How will I make it through the 3, 6, 9, 12 months that my significant other will be gone?

You turn to friends, Facebook groups, blogs and over and over again you'll see: "Do everything!"

Except me. I'm here to tell you NOT to do everything.

Because you'll burn yourself out.

"But Jessica," you say, "you don't know me. I won't get burned out. I can totally do all the things. How do you know this will happen?

Because I've been there.

Flashback to our first deployment as a couple. We were newly married and I decided that it was the perfect time to kick my career into high gear. I was accepted into a master's program an hour away from our home that was my dream program. I found a new part-time job that was my passion.

But that wasn't all.

Army spouse Jessica Hall advises not to "just stay busy" during a deployment. (Courtesy photo)

Nope, I wanted to be involved on base so I volunteered with my FRG as a key caller and served as the newsletter chair for our Spouses Club.

I filled every single second of every single day with commuting, working, studying, volunteering and making lifelong friends.

I was so busy that I wouldn't miss my spouse right? Wrong.

He wasn't there to experience our first full year in Washington state. He missed the gloriousness that is summer in a state that is cloudy nine months of the year. There were certain things that I avoided because I knew that I wanted to do it with him when he returned. I slept terribly at night because he wasn't there to warm the bed or remind me to go to bed at a decent hour.

Staying super busy didn't magically make those feelings disappear.

Then I hit the wall. Not just the deployment wall but the you-overbooked-yourself wall.

That's when I realized that I wasn't taking care of me. I was too busy making perfect care packages, throwing myself into work and school, and helping everyone around me that I didn't see that I was suffering.

I was eating poorly and not just because eating for one is hard. I wasn't eating enough some days, too much others, and eating junk food a lot of the time.

I wasn't sleeping well, partly because I was staying up too late getting everything done and waking up early to start all over. I didn't take days off to relax and do me. Get that haircut. Work out. Go to the grocery store and buy food for the entire week, not just for the FRG potluck the next day.

It was time to reevaluate.

I canceled plans. I took time for me. I thought about a better schedule to get everything done. And while I wasn't in a position to back out of my duties, I could say no to other extra things, like the potluck on the same day a school project was due. Or yo-yoing between base, work, school and base so that I could attend all the things. I dedicated specific days for specific tasks -- work in the office Tuesday and Thursday (the same days I had class). And then work on school the other days.

As much as I wanted to fill my time surrounded by people, I didn't need to have plans every single day with friends. They understood that I was busy and we could see each other another night that worked for both of us.

I needed to make time for me. And so do you.

Because while yes, you have extra time to work on that deployment project, it's OK to say that you have too much on your plate. It's OK to take thing off of your plate. It's OK to not finish everything. It's OK to start off deployment with nothing on your plate.

Yep, I said it.

You don't have to make deployment plans. You can just do you, and take every day as it comes.

To be honest, I wish that I had done this for our second deployment. I thought that I'd be able to focus on work again but with a kid to take care of on top of that, it was hard. It took me until the very end to be OK with not meeting all of my personal goals for the year. Because I had dealt with a lot (aka the vengeance of Murphy's Law).

When I look back at this most recent deployment, I was glad that I said no a lot. Because for me, I needed those nights at home on my couch watching TV. Or the lazy weekend. Or just quality time with my daughter.

Here's my deployment advice to you: Do you. And know that it's OK if that means adding nothing to your life, because deployment is stressful and you should focus on taking care of you, whatever that looks like.

This article originally appeared at NextGen Military Spouse.

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It is unknown how many people were on campus at the time of the incident, but university typically serves more than 9,000 students alone. The school did not clarify whether the incident occurred on campus or just nearby.
Dancehall artiste, Livingstone Etse Satekla, popularly known as Stonebwoy, has said he is hoping for the opportunity to have collaboration with renowned Ivorian music icons in the coming years.

Stonebwoy, who has worked with a number of international music stars, said he would be excited to have collaboration with Ivorian icons such as Alpha Brondy and Freddy Meiway.

In an interview with Ivorian media during his visit to Ivory Coast a few weeks ago, the dancehall artiste said that he wants to have more collaboration with other African artistes whose names will soon be made known.

He disclosed that he has already made contacts with Ivorian legends Alpha Blondy and Freddy Meiway, as well as other stars he plans of working with.

According to the 'Putuu' hitmaker, he has always loved francophone sounds due to his affiliation with Togo and now is the time to tap into it, adding I've always loved that sound of music coming from them.

Since his entry into the Ghanaian music industry a couple of years back, Stonebwoy has won the hearts of a many music lovers in the country.

He has worked and performed on a number of local platforms alongside a number of celebrated Ghanaian artistes.

The dancehall act, whose music and stagecraft has attracted a large fan base across the world, having staged performances in UK, USA, Australia, Italy, Holland among others, has shared stage with international acts such as Lauryn Hill, Alkaline, Busy Signal, Davido, Popcaan, Morgan Heritage, Wizkid and a host of others.

With many awards to his credit, Stonebwoy was in 2019 adjudged the Best Artiste in African Reggae/Dancehall at the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) in Lagos, Nigeria.

Stonebwoy is brand ambassador for Tecno's new product Camon-16 series  a smartphone.

The ambassadorial deal is expected to create a mutual benefit between the dancehall artiste and Tecno Mobile as well as raise more brand awareness for all Tecno products in Ghana.

By George Clifford Owusu
Listen to article

In this weeks edition, highlights of events relevant to Ghanas aviation space are highlighted as follows:

Emirates now Connecting Accra with Daily Flights

Dubai-based Emirates Airline resumed its daily flights connecting Accra and Abidjan and Dubai. This decision by the airline follows an increase in demands as the aviation industry tries to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Air Cote DIvoire Offering Daily Flights to Accra

With onward connections to over 8 destinations in West and Central Africa, Air Cote DIvoire as of June 1, 2021, begun connecting Abidjan and Accra with daily flights. With the daily flights to Accra influenced by the increase in demands, passengers can connect to destinations like Conakry, Niamey, Bamako, Dakar, among others.

British Airways Clarifies Heathrow to Gatwick Switch

Aviation Ghana has indicated that its source within British Airways has stated that the airline will proceed with its decision to reroute all Accra flights from/to the UK from Heathrow to Gatwick. The move will be expected to materialize in October 31, 2021, if the Government of Ghana is unable to convince the airline to back down.

Ghanas Vice President Calls for Liberalization of African Airspace

Vice President of Ghana has called on the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat to work quickly in ensuring that the liberalization of Africas airspace takes effect quickly. So far, about 38 African countries have signed unto the Single African Air Transport Market which paves way for liberalized skies among members to enhance easy connectivity of goods and humans.

Encroachment around Sunyani Airport Threatening Operationalization

At the first General Meeting of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs, 2021, the Regional Minister indicated that the Sunyani Airport operationalization is been threatened by the activities of encroachers. According to her, buildings have sprung up closer to the airport, which raises safety concerns. She has therefore called on the local authorities to provide their support in demolishing the structures.

Runway at Kotoka Airport to be Resurfaced

At an initial projected cost of US$40million, the Kotoka International Airport will have its runway being resurfaced in October this year. The resurfacing which was last done 30 years ago, will help enhance safety in the airports operations when completed.

AWA Releases May Operational Performance

Africa World Airlines (AWA) has released its operational performance results for May 2021. The airline booked over 47,000 passengers on 1,145 flights. Only 17 flights were delayed beyond 2 hours and no passenger was denied boarding as well.

Authored

Mark Ofosu || TwitterM__ofosu
The sudden demise of popular Nigerian Televangelist Temitope Balogun Joshua popularly known as Prophet T.B Joshua has come as a shock to the world especially Christians.

The man of God died on Saturday evening shortly after finishing a church programme.

The cause of his death is yet unknown.

But in an interview with Prophet Nana Yaw Blessing of the House of Prayer For All Nation Family (HOPFAM) Church in Cape Coast to elicit his views about the Prophet TB Joshua, he said the renowned man of God could have survived if he had made time to rest well.

Speaking on the "About Life" show today Sunday 6th June 2021, on GBC Radio Central, the HOPFAM leader revealed that "stress, overwork and inability to rest well killed the popular man of God".

He stated, "Ministers who do deliverance suffer a lot from stress-related complications due to exertion of force and energy to cast out demons."

Prophet Blessing indicated that shouting, "Go and I cast you out' during deliverance takes a lot of energy from men of God.

According to him, the Synagogue Church of All Nations leader sometimes had to attend to thousands of worshippers in a day and continuously for days sapped all his energy.

"Assuming Prophet T. B. Joshua is delivering 1000 people in a day. On each person, he shouts 'go or I cast you out' four times, which is equivalent to 4000 shouts.

"All these demands energy and affects the physical body. Spiritually T. B. Joshua is very strong and no one can harm him but the body that carries the spirit becomes weak due to overuse and overwork".

Prophet Blessing took the opportunity to admonish all ministers especially those who do deliverance to make quality time for themselves as well.

"While you feed your spirit through prayer and fasting, you need to take very good care of the body by eating good food to nourish it. Find time to rest well. When that isn't done, the body becomes too weak and cannot carry the spirit again".

He added, "Once the body gets to its limit, it gives up and at that stage, nothing can be done about it, not even your spiritual power can save you."

The HOPFAM leader disclosed that he had personally suffered complications from stress and nearly lost his life.

"The doctor advised me to rest and take care of myself because if I die today, my congregants would leave for another church," he intimated.

He continued, "I know stress and overwork killed the popular man of God due to his large congregation and the demand to deliver everyone who needed help. It is sad though but that is what it is."
Tracking ivory poachers in Africa takes skill, courage and lots of climate-unfriendly fuel, right? Perhaps not for much longer -- a Swedish company has developed solar-powered motorbikes to tackle illegal wildlife crime and lessen the climate burden.

The electric 'bush-bikes' developed by Stockholm-based electric motorcycle company CAKE are due to be tested between June and August in South Africa. And because electric motorbikes are largely silent, they will allow rangers to move with much more stealth than on normal motorbikes, making them real game-changers.

The Kalk AP (the AP stands for anti-poaching) model is based on CAKE's regular electric bikes, says Klara Edhag, a brand manager for the company. But there are crucial modifications.

These include thick off-road tyres, high mudguards made from recycled plastic and solar panels and a portable power station to charge the bike's batteries. A number were done in consultation with staff from the Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC).

The college is situated near South Africa's famed Kruger National Park, which last year saw 245 white rhinos killed for their horns and 16 elephants poached for their ivory, according to official figures.

Unforgiving terrain

We had a discussion with the (SAWC) team to understand how we could build the best bike due to their circumstances and environment, Edhag told RFI.

We will have a weekly update from them (during the trials), both regarding the bikes and how the technique is working and of course also how they work in the field, she added.

The kind of terrain the bikes will have to contend with in some parts of Africa will almost certainly be unforgiving: rough roads made impassable by heavy downpours or heavily rutted during the dry season.

Under an initial offer, the company will put 50 motorbikes up for sale. A buyer will get two, one of which will be donated to the SAWC along with the solar panels and power unit developed by Goal Zero, a solar product firm that is a partner in this initiative.

The collaboration came about through CAKE founder and CEO, Stefan Ytterborn, and a friend of his with contacts at the SAWC. The college has trained more than 18,000 people from 56 countries around the world, many from Africa.

Element of surprise

Edhag said the company was honoured to be part of supporting anti-poaching efforts.

This is the most incredible project we have done so far, she said.

The silent motor and four-hour battery range will give rangers the element of surprise. Conventional petrol engines, in addition to gobbling up thousands of litres of fuel doing a year's-worth of patrols, can be heard approaching from kilometres away and give poachers an early warning.

One disadvantage: the price. The electric bush-bikes, which have a top speed of 45 kilometres per hour, don't come cheap: the dual set under the initial offer (one for the buyer and one for SAWC) will sell for just over 25,000 USD (20,550 euros).

CAKE hopes companies and organizations that support anti-poaching initiatives will purchase and donate its bikes for use in various national parks in the region, where wildlife departments have long been cash-strapped and where Covid-linked tourism losses won't have helped them move further towards the green.

Dangerous animals

Others in the wildlife sector are looking on with interest. Mark Brightman, conservation manager with the Bumi Hill Anti-Poaching Unit in northern Zimbabwe said motorised trail bikes were used effectively in the Zambezi Valley in the 1980s, when poaching of black rhinos was at its height.

They were good to get into places where vehicles couldn't go. They enable more ground to be covered than on foot too, he told RFI. At the time bikes with four-stroke petrol engines were used as they were quieter than noisier two-stroke ones.

This model being electric is ideal, he said.

But he cautioned that anyone riding the bikes would need to be experienced in dealing with dangerous animals, especially lions and elephants.

Elephants, especially cows, detest motorbikes and readily give chase. However, this may be a factor of the engine noise, which is an irritant."
Olivier Veran, the French Health minister said on Sunday the Covid-19 situation in France was improving, but that he still had concerns with regards to the so-called delta variant, identified in India, and the laxity observed among some first-time vaccinees.

The French health minister, Olivier Veran, said in an interview with BFMTV on Sunday 6 June that, "overall, the epidemic situation continues to improve significantly throughout the country", with "a drop of 20 to 25 percent in the circulation of the virus each week".

"The gradual easing of lockdown has not broken this virtuous dynamic of reducing the epidemic," he said.

However, the health minister spoke of maintaining "vigilance" on two levels.

He deplored "a reflex, which must absolutely be abandoned, of some French people, who, as soon as they receive a first injection of vaccine, relax their efforts".

"In hospital wards, we have a certain number of patients who have been primo-vaccinated and who thought they were safe too soon.

"You are protected when you are a few days after the second injection. The level of protection conferred by a single injection, especially just a few days later, is far too low for it to make any difference in your daily life", he added.

Veran also stated that outdoors, masks will continue to be mandatory for the month of June "until necessary".

Covid "war" over in autumn?

His "second level of vigilance" concerns the 'delta variant', first identified in India, which is behind a worrying new spike in cases in the United Kingdom. Authorities have warned the variant was 40 percent more transmissible than the original virus.

"We are not recording any community spread of this variant, there is no extension of the epidemic," Veran explained. However, there are clusters, particularly in the Landes region.

According to Veran, the "battle" will be "won" when the number of patients in intensive care "falls below 2,000" (compared to 2,525 on 5 June).

The "war" against Covid-19 he insisted will not be over until the autumn at the earliest. If no new wave appears at that time, "we will be able to say that Covid is over".
Roofs of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and some houses were ripped off by a rainstorm that hit Matamanu, a farming community in the Krachi East Municipality of the Oti Region.

Torgbui Tsaku Asidigbe VI, Chief of Matamanu in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the torrential rainfall accompanied with windstorm caused havoc to some buildings and pulled down high tension electric wires in the town causing total blackout.

He said the situation has forced the Evangelical Presbyterian Church to hold services in the open.

Mr Jacob Desiavor, the Municipal National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), told the GNA that an assessment has been completed and the victims would soon receive some relief items.

He said some 25 houses and 50 people are displaced and are temporarily staying with friends and families.

Some residents who spoke with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) have attributed the rainstorm to the destructive nature of forest cover in the Municipality.

They alleged illegal chain saw operators had invaded the Municipality and are cutting down trees indiscriminately, and appealed to the authorities to clampdown on their nation-wrecking activities.

---GNA
In divorce filings submitted in 2019, Charles Vallow accused his then-wife of becoming infatuated at times obsessive about near death experiences and spiritual visions. He also claimed Lori had threatened to kill him if he got in her way during her mission as a God to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christs second coming in July 2020, according to the court documents, and claimed she had an angel there to help her dispose of the body.
Minister of Education Dr Yaw Osei-Adutwum has refuted an assertion that the Free Senior High School (FSHS) Policy is being administered from the Jubilee House, the seat of government.

Addressing the media in Accra on Sunday, Dr Osei-Adutwum said the Free SHS Policy since its inception in 2017, had been managed by the Ministry of Education, through the Free Senior High School Secretariat.

He said, so far, government had spent GH7.7 billion in implementing the flagship policy since its roll-out, which had benefitted more than 1.2 million students at the secondary education level.

He said, for instance, an amount of GH480 million was spent on the Policy in 2017, GH1.3 billion in 2018, GH1.6 billion in 2019, GHC2.4 billion in 2020, while GHC1.9 billion would be spent this year.

The Minister said government had made giant strides in providing teaching and learning materials and expanded physical infrastructure like classroom blocks, dormitories, science and library laboratories, among others, to second cycle educational institutions across the country even though some elements in the society had tried to downplay Government's efforts.

"We may not have the best education system in the world, but we had made giant strides over the past four years," Dr Osei-Adutwum stressed.

He reiterated the Akufo-Addo-led government's determination to providing free, compulsory and quality education to every Ghanaian school going-child in the quest of "making Ghana the education hub of Africa".

The Minister said government was committed to building a robust education system that could compete with international best practices.

Dr Osei-Adutwum said Government's goal in implementing the Free SHS Policy was to transform the education system and making it play a pivotal role in socio-economic development of the country.

"For education to be fit-for-purpose, we should have students who are creative and critical thinkers, especially in this Fourth Industrial Revolution to navigate the world," Dr Osei-Adutwum added.

The Minister mentioned three key areas government was focused on addressing in the country's education system- access, quality and relevance so that Ghana could make progress in transforming its economy in the near future.

Dr Osei-Adutwum said government was determined to improve its Gross Tertiary Enrollment Ratio from the current figure of 18.8 per cent to 40 per cent by 2030.

---GNA
Abubakar Shekau, the Nigerian leader of the Boko Haram jihadist group, was once rejected by the Islamic State group (IS) for being too radical.

The insurgent, who killed himself in a gunfight according to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), took the reins of Boko Haram, formally known as the Jama'tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad (JAS),in 2010, after its founder Mohammed Yusuf died in police custody.

The jihadist, whose age was unknown, leapt to international notoriety in 2014 with the abduction of 276 schoolgirls in the remote town of Chibok, sparking the #BringBackOurGirls movement.

Soon after, the UN Security Council sanctioned the group and the United States declared Shekau a "global terrorist".

Born in Nigeria's northern Yobe state, Shekau was an ethnic Kanuri whose parents were poor farmers who immigrated from neighbouring Niger.

After learning basic Islamic theology and embracing a hardline Sunni Wahhabist ideology, the young Shekau became a local preacher. In 1990, he moved to the Borno state capital Maiduguri.

"He was an easy-going fellow who would exchange banter with people in the neighbourhood. He was popular... as a local theology student," said Grema Kawudima, from the Mafoni area of the city, in a September 2012 interview.

According to another local, Butari Gwoni, Shekau married a teacher's daughter, but she died in childbirth, setting the stage for future mental problems, according to some.

In a widely cited 2012 quote from one of his first propaganda videos, Shekau said: "I enjoy killing... the way I enjoy slaughtering chickens and rams."

Abrasive, radical

Shekau's path to radicalisation began with his enrolment in a Higher Islamic Studies course at the Borno state College of Legal and Islamic Studies.

There he met Mamman Nur, who would later mastermind the August 2011 bombing of the UN offices in the capital Abuja, which killed 26 people. Nur introduced Shekau to Yusuf, Boko Haram's founder.

"He (Shekau) was a simple, carefree fellow at the beginning," said Kayam Bulama, a student at the same time.

A screen grab from a video released by Boko Haram purports to show Abubakar Shekau flanked by armed militants. By (Boko Haram/AFP/File)

"But soon after Mamman Nur linked him up with Mohammed Yusuf, he began to be abrasive and radical, shunning other students and keeping company of his fellow sect members."

Yusuf was killed in 2009 during a military crackdown on the group that left some 800 people dead. The group went underground briefly afterwards, until Shekau took control.

Under Shekau's leadership, Boko Haram turned large swathes of the northeast into a no-go territory, proclaiming a "caliphate" in the Borno town of Gwoza in 2014.

A major offensive in 2015 by Nigerian troops backed by soldiers from Cameroon, Chad and Niger drove the jihadists from most of the area that they had once controlled.

Despite ongoing military operations against Boko Haram, the group has shown resiliency and continues to stage bold attacks.

In December, the group claimed responsibility for slaughtering 76 farmers outside Maiduguri.

Last month, Boko Haram militants in several trucks fitted with machine guns and on motorcycles stormed parts of Maiduguri, before they were repelled by security forces.

Stubborn, consistent

In his propaganda, the insurgent often appears unhinged, with wild-eyed rantings that celebrate acts of horrific violence.

But many disagree with the view that he suffered from a mental illness.

"He is obviously clever for being able to be a leader for so long," Jacob Zenn, a researcher at the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation, told AFP.

"He is mercurial, subject to quick temper, extreme, and stubborn," said Zenn. For more than 10 years, "he has not changed, he is consistent, unwilling to compromise."

His unwillingness to comprise is what led to a split within Boko Haram.

(FILES)-A screengrab taken on May 12, 2014, from a video released by Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram and obtained by AFP shows a man claiming to be the leader of Nigerian Islamist extremist group Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau speaking. Nigeria's military on September 24, 2014 claimed for the first time that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was dead, as it said troops had killed a lookalike who had been posing as the militant commander. AFP PHOTO / BOKO HARAM ==RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / BOKO HARAM" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENT - AFP IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DIGITAL ALTERATIONS TO THE PICTURE'S EDITORIAL CONTENT, DATE AND LOCATION ==. By (Boko Haram/AFP/File)

Shekau encouraged brutal tactics, including the use of women and children suicide bombers, something IS said it disapproved of.

"He considered Muslim civilians who were not loyal to JAS to be legitimate targets," Crisis Group researcher Vincent Foucher wrote in a report.

"He also antagonised many other commanders," he added, "with what they saw as his hoarding of cash and weapons and his refusal to share this bounty with those he did not like or trust."

In 2016, senior Boko Haram commanders who disagreed with Shekau's tactics deserted the group's stronghold in Sambisa forest and headed west towards the Alagarno forest.

A few months later, the leader of their faction, Habib Yusuf, a son of Mohamed Yusuf, was officially recognised leader of ISWAP by IS central.

ISWAP, which has since gone through several internal changes, is now the dominant threat for the Nigerian army.

In audio obtained by AFP from the same source who conveyed previous messages from the group, a voice resembling that of ISWAP leader Abu Musab Al-Barnawi said Shekau died after being hunted down for five days by its fighters.

"Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the hereafter to getting humiliated on Earth. He killed himself instantly by detonating an explosive," said the voice speaking in the Kanuri language.

Boko Haram has not yet officially commented on the death of their leader while the Nigerian army said it was investigating the claim.
The Diaspora Patriots in Ghana (DPG) Foundation has congratulated the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for earning the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education Leadership (Honoris Causa).

The Foundation in a statement issued in Accra expressed optimism for more laurels for the President as he continues to show quality leadership and implement good policies and programmes.

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) awarded President Akufo-Addo with the honorary degree, which is the highest honour given by the University.

It was in recognition of the Presidents immense contribution to education in the country, especially with the introduction of the free Senior High School education policy.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is the second President of Ghana after former President John Agyekum Kufuor, and the 40th outstanding personality to receive the honorary degree from the University of Cape Coast.

The Diaspora Patriots in Ghana Foundation commended the authorities of UCC for honouring the President.

"Ghana is indeed fortunate to have such a bold, competent and visionary leader at such a challenging time, to not only shepherd our nation and its economy through this once-in-a-generation pandemic, which cost us about GHS 25 billion in 2020 alone, but to lay the foundation for unprecedented exponential growth and development".

According to the members of the Foundation, apart from President Akufo-Addo's transformational leadership in education, they could see much clarity in his achievements in respect of industrialization, digitalization, roads, financial sector reforms, the handling of COVID-19, war against galamsey, international affairs and peace promotion among others. "These feats constitute a fantastic legacy worth protecting and celebrating."

The Diaspora Patriots in Ghana therefore, urged all Ghanaians to persevere through the prevailing hardships fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

They also encouraged Ghanaians to support the government of Nana Akufo-Addo to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and usher in the requisite economic growth for an enhanced living standard.
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A group calling itself the Concerned Youth Association of the Asante Akyem South is calling on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to consider the opinion of the youth in choosing a more vibrant, visionary, competent and development-oriented person as Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the area.

According to the youth, with the level of alacrity by President Akufo-Addo to transform every district of the country with infrastructure and employment opportunities for the youth, it was important that the good people of Asante Akyem South Municipality were given a more competent person who is a unifier and also understands the social, political, religious and economic situation to be their MCE.

This was contained in a petition to the President through the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council ahead of the vetting of MMDCE aspirants and signed by the Secretary and Chairman of the Association, Akwasi Boateng and Eric Asante respectively.

As youth of the Municipality, we have made our independent studies on all the four personalities who have come out to contest for the MCE position in Asante Akyem South namely; Hon. Alexander Frimpong  MCE, Mr. Eric Amofa - former MP aspirant, Mr. K.B. Asante  Communications Officer for Middle Belt Development Authority and one Mr. Boakye  a staff of National Health Insurance. We have also done our analysis on the major developmental challenges confronting our Municipality and we now know who can perfectly lead us to achieve our development aspirations.

The Asante Akyem South youth indicated that their decision to petition the President or add their voice in the selection of a new MCE is to engender transformation and socio-economic development, and most especially to ensure that the destiny of the youth was not traded off by some self-seeking persons.

We the youth rallied behind Hon. Alexander Frimpong and supported him to become our MCE in 2017, but he has failed to unite the NPP in the constituency which affected the votes of our party in the 2020 general elections.

They also said, For far too long, the Asante Akyem South Municipality has been lagging behind in terms of infrastructural, social and economic development as compared to other Municipalities like Asante Akyem North and Central. Even though the ruling NPP Government is doing its best to uplift the Municipality, there is still much more to be done, in regards to our road network, education, health, water and sanitation facilities.

The Concerned Youth asserted that in spite of the numerous policies and programmes of the Government, majority of their members [the youth] are jobless and only roam the streets of the communities aimlessly due to inefficiencies of their current MCE.

We therefore humbly want to appeal to the President to consider the interest of the youth for the first time and appoint Mr. Eric Amofa who has served and supported NPP in diverse ways both in Ghana and in the United Kingdom; and also remains our best choice for the MCE position. We believe his good human relationship, his strong social, political and business networks could benefit our Municipality if appointed as the MCE for the Asante Akyem South.

Mr Eric Amofa contested in the 2020 NPP Parliamentary primaries in the Constituency and has a good relationship with the citizenry and interest to empower the people to become economically viable.

Mr Amofa holds a Master's Degree in Social Work and International Banking and Finance from the University of Salford in Manchester, United Kingdom.

They described him as a unifier and a true party man who would be able to work with every individual irrespective of their status in the constituency by way of recognising individual differences, gender, ethnicity, socio economic status of the people and the youth.

Meanwhile, the four MCE aspirants for Asante Akyem South have been vetted by the Vetting Committee in the Ashanti Region chaired by the Regional Minister, Hon. Simon Osei Mensah. Three out of the four will be presented to the President for one to be nominated as MCE.

According to the Concerned Youth however, they would be much grateful if their request is granted and promised to support Mr Eric Amofa and the NPP to achieve the desired developmental goals.
Since a Ghanaian youngster, Twene Jonas, residing in the United States of America started his vituperations against certain important personalities in Ghana, principally among whom is Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, some sympathisers of his victims have emerged all over the world to condemn him. Some of them, especially those supportive of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, unflinchingly holding him in absolute reverence, have threatened to either deport him from the USA to face Asantehene, or ensure he is murdered spiritually or physically.

Those hoping to deal mercilessly with Twene Jonas and Ohene David, should they ever corner them anywhere, assert that these two young men have completely no right under the Sun, the moon and the stars, to question the integrity of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. Among them are chiefs who have resorted to their river gods and fetishes to perform traditional rituals, invocations of the powers of the gods to strike dead these two individuals for being excessively insolent towards Asantehene, the occupant of the revered Golden Stool.

They question the source of these two individuals power. They wonder how on earth they could treat Asantehene of all powerful chiefs like a dirty eyesore rag not even worth rubbing ones dirty feet on. If it were in the olden days, the two young men and their entire families would be wiped off the face of the earth through decapitation, they claim. Nobody could dare do what the young men are doing in the olden days and hope to live, say the blind sycophantic supporters of chiefdom, especially, Asantehene.

The above is just one side of the story. There is therefore the need to listen to the other side of the story to make an informed judgment. Any credible judge who is fair and firm, and worth his/her salt, does listen to the complaints and arguments by both the complainant and the defendant before rendering their judgment.

The other side of the story, which is equally true and did prevail simultaneously in the same olden days goes as following;

Any paramount chief or Asantehene who gravely misconducted themselves, bringing disgrace upon their jurisdiction, was sent to their early grave or was destooled. The elders in those days had a way of dealing with such Asantehene to restore the proud image and integrity of Asante Kingdom. Any doubting Thomas can find out from the elders of Ashanti, be they, chiefs, family or clan heads.

The following Asantehenes were forced to abdicate for various reasons.

1. Otumfuo Nana Kusi Oboadum - 17501764

2. Otumfuo Nana Kofi Karikari - 8 May 1867  26 October 1874

3. Otumfuo Nana Mensa Bonsu - 18748 March 1883

Is it not for specific reasons that Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has come under attack by the mentioned young man ? Is it not for a good reason that I do take him on? Has he not b somehow been acting irresponsibly, a behaviour unacceptable by the occupants of the Golden Stool? While the chiefs in the olden days protected their environment for the wellbeing of their subjects both living and yet unborn, protecting the lands and respecting the subjects in reciprocity to their obeisance to him, what do we see under the current Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II? Is he not doing things very opposite to the good things his predecessors did?

As every action demands equilibrium reaction, could the attacks on Asantehene not caused by his desire to reap from where he has not sown; selling and destroying Ashanti lands, watching nonchalantly while Kumasi is engulfed in rubbish with many people dying from preventable illnesses? If he decides to interfere in say, Kumawu chieftaincy affairs, forcing a compromised royal on Kumawu as their Omanhene and robbing Kumawuman of hundreds of thousands of hectares of their stool land, watching as lame duck when the water bodies, arable lands and forests in Asanteman are witnessing the wanton destruction of such sources of life.

Under such situations, how do you expect the youth to react towards Asantehene and his colleagues? Your guess is as right as Ohene Davids or Twene Jonas. Should he cease his actions deemed utterly wrong, if not irresponsible, and abuse of power, many of Ohene David and Twene Jonas will arise,

Rockson Adofo

Sunday, 06 June 2021
Not a day goes by these days without a casual remark about animal extermination in Australia. Mice have moved to the front of the queue in terms of animal species Australians would most like to liquidate. The language used has various registers: sombre and regretful; grave and scientific; panicked and bloody.

This is all ordinary fare and is characterised by ignoring the anthropogenic nature of the problems. Behind every pest outbreak on the Australian continent is a human hand operated by a muddled mind. In Australia, that hand has been particularly busy in negligence. Since the eighteenth century, animal species have been introduced inadvertently or through design affecting and in many instances devastating the continents ecosystem.

Some have been introduced with the purpose of neutralising other designated pest species, the most calamitous example being that of the cane toad. Introduced by agricultural scientists of the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations in 1935, the toads intended target were scarab beetles whose root-feeding larvae delighted in commercial agriculture, notably sugarcane crops. Famously, the toad preferred different sources of food and proceeded to prey on other species with gusto, including native predators. The species flourished.

The humble house mouse is said to have arrived with the British First Fleet in 1788 but some speculation abounds that the introduction might have come via Dutch ships charting the coast of New Holland in the 1600s. A 2011 study on that question found that a British Isles origin of Australian mice is the most reasonable interpretation of our results.

Mice populations have recently soared, notably in New South Wales and southern Queensland, given drought breaking rains. Crops have been attacked and animal food reserves contaminated. There have been instances of infection, notably leptospirosis. As Danica Leys of the Association of Rural Women sees it, It is an economic and health crisis. From the contamination of food and water by mice, to the diseases they spread, this pest is affecting more than crops, not to mention the stress it causes.

The rise in numbers has made an impression on foreign press outlets. The London-based Express wrote of an infestation of tens of millions of mice. Australians had reported the mice terrorising their lives, creeping over their faces as they sleep, biting them, invading classrooms and even nibbling at patients in their hospital beds. It did not take long for these militant rodents to be seen as a threat to Australias most populous city. Channel 10 News Sydney had warned about a potential mice march.

The hearty solution, as always with the next pest, is mass extermination. Australias deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack expressed the widely held view that, The only good mouse is a dead mouse. To that end there is seemingly no end to the devilish applications of human ingenuity in destroying or regulating a species. Modern mice killers try to sound like educated middle managers, flirting with scientific rationalist inquiry. Can we be more modern in the ways we massacre them? Take, for instance, the next generation of gene driven technology, with the New South Wales government promising AU$1.8 million for the venture. (The total mouse control package comes to AU$50 million.)

The most important feature of this technology is inducing infertility, a soft, tender gloved version of dispatch. This form of extermination is clean, avoids killing other species on route, and sits well with the bio-controllers. We have modelled it already, Paul Thomas of the University of Adelaide states, and it should cause the population to crash over time. Thomas is also delighted by the X-shredder approach, which involves targeting the X chromosome carrier, namely, the sperm of the mice.

You might be forgiven for thinking that a daring experiment for the betterment of humanity was in the offing. Mice arrived in Australia with the first fleet, trumpeted the NSW Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall, and from then until now the best control methods we have been able to come up with have been baiting and trapping.

The less modern aspect of this inspired strategy is the use of a particular poison, bromadiolone, which has been likened by Marshall to the use of napalm. (Should we be worried?) The factsheet of the National Pesticide Pest Centre is cheery about its effects. Unlike some other rat poisons, which require multiple days of feeding by an animal, bromadiolone can be lethal from one days feeding.

With such sinister war metaphors involved, even the bio-control boffins are concerned that this was going too far. Species murder is acceptable, but, as with some genocidaire types, it comes with ceremonial restraint. Killing mice with such poison would insert the substance into the food chain, endangering predators.

Peter Brown, who heads the rodent management research team at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), notes that anti-coagulants can accumulate up through the food chain, and so birds of prey or other animals can be feeding on dead mice and they could potentially get a lethal dose themselves through secondary poisoning.

Evidence of bird deaths arising from the ingestion of poisoned bait has already been found in the central west of NSW. And thats in connection with the less toxic and commonly used zinc phosphide. Kelly Lacey, a volunteer for the NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Services (WIRES), found 100 dead galahs in a cemetery in Parkes at the end of last month. It was particularly galling for her, seeing as she had been involved in rehabilitating and releasing a good number of the birds around the area.

Bait poisonings of household pets and working animals have also been recorded. Peter Best, a veterinarian based in South Tamworth, estimated that one in 15 admissions to his practice had involved poisoned animals.

Such facts could only make another researcher at the CSIRO sigh. If its used properly, observed Steve Henry, it should be a very, very low risk that a bird should find one of those grains of zinc phosphide and eat it. The bait was sound. The same could not be said for those using it. Why birds start falling out of the sky is [that] people do inappropriate things. Such people used the bait in ways not described on the label, or people make up their own baits.

When asked about her attitude to the problem, Healthy Rivers Dubbo convenor Melissa Gray suggested, with no detectable irony, that everybody wanted the mouse plague gone, but theres no silver bullet. No silver bullets, maybe, but virtually everything else in the armoury of extermination. For the president of the NSW Farmers Association, the mayhem caused by such a poison as bromadiolone was worth the effort. Showing the somewhat patchy wisdom of his forebears, he accepted the lethal calculus. It will cause poisoning in animals that eat the dead mice. That, however, was the lesser of two evils.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: [email protected]
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Politicians in Germany realize the problem caused by Nigerian Mafia groups like Black Axe on German and European soil. They demand change as they know these criminal structures are supported by high officials in Nigeria. They think discussions with the government in Abuja would be needed and a rethinking of our aid support. Any Nigerian Politician will laugh his head off hearing about the White Man's humanistic approach while time is passing fast and more problems/poverty in Nigeria will occur to harm our society in Germany.

German Politicians are helplessly unable to understand Africa never having lived there. Wolfgang Schaeuble, president of the German Federal Parliament, among many others, believe more money must be invested in Africa to create jobs and make it possible for Migrants to stay in Africa.

When African leaders come to Europe and the United States for rapport to hear the demand for change in governance they smile into the faces of their white Hosts knowing the race is on for the last remaining natural resources in Africa and the fear the white Presidents have to see countries falling into the hands of their political rivals leaving their own political ideas stranded at the beaches of the African continent. African leaders are gamblers of their own class. Thinking like them and then twisting their minds should help.

Will it have any positive impact more direct investment, debt relief, opening western markets for more African products, fair higher prices for products and services, patent support etc on: stopping corruption, protecting the environment, social justice/system, law-abiding, not corrupt judges, citizens working as a team always on time and trustworthy, ending tribalism, discipline people etc?

After ending colonialism in Africa former Colonial Masters were quick to rush to Africa sending AID support in various forms. When realizing giving AID to the government's donor countries realized government officials took away a great chunk of it for their private use. They changed their strategy and paid directly to the needy villages with fewer stolen items.

To solve a problem caused by humans is by understanding the thinking of the individuals and the dynamic of groups made of such individuals. The White Men hardly understand the soul and spirit of Africans suggesting solutions never bearing lasting fruits.

Donor countries send armies of advisors to Africa to improve their political, administrative and economic development. They talk, advise, present PowerPoint presentations...only to see no fundamental change.

Only when words are in power they are powerful.
The 42-year-old gunman shot his girlfriend and a 15-year-old boy, killing both, as well as two other juveniles and an 18-year-old man, around 2 a.m., according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Mbuji-Mayi has seen better days.

Once the home of DR Congo's state diamond company MIBA, the town used to be filled with free-spending miners and their families, who brought a giddy touch of prosperity to remote Kasai-Oriental province.

But at the end of last century, MIBA -- the Bakwanga Mining Company -- began to go into a long downward spiral, taking the town with it.

Poor management, crumbling infrastructure, embezzlement and looting, especially during the two Great Congo Wars between 1997 and 2003, left MIBA crippled by debt and at the mercy of plummeting commodity prices.

It shut down at the peak of the 2008 financial crisis, resuming operations in 2011, but remains a shadow of its former self.

From an annual output averaging six million carats -- mainly of industrial diamonds -- in the early 2000s, production was no more than 500,000 carats in 2008 and half that in 2011.

Today the situation in Mbuji-Mayi is a far cry from the 1980s, when some 40,000 workers and their families drew their sustenance from the company.

MIBA owes several months of back pay to its employees, according to staffers who requested anonymity.

"When the company was still operating, the roads and houses were maintained. When the corrugated roofs were rusted, they were automatically replaced," said one resident, Mpoy Bilenga, outside his dilapidated home.

'The mine is operational, exploitation is under way, but at a minimal level,' technical director Raphael Mukadi Tshindundu told AFP. By Marthe Bosuandole (AFP)

Bilenga, a former driver for the company, has been retired since 2012 but says he is still waiting to receive a pension for "services rendered".

But the 70-year-old is not banking on it: "We don't know our fate... several of us have died without receiving a pension," he said.

Set up in 1961, MIBA is 80 percent state-owned, while a Belgian company, Sibeka, has a 20-percent stake.

A government audit published in May 2020 revealed "serious dysfunction".

Injection of cash

Last August, President Felix Tshisekedi, who himself hails from the Kasai region, moved to release $5 million "to revive this company that was once the pride of the entire nation".

The injection of cash has allowed MIBA to get back on its feet, the company's technical director Raphael Mukadi Tshindundu told AFP, adding however that it was not enough.

"The mine is operational, exploitation is under way, but at a minimal level," he said.

A Chinese-built diamond treatment plant is yet to be assembled, stored in containers for now. By Marthe Bosuandole (AFP)

The first $3 million went to "rehabilitating" a diamond processing plant at Disele and the purchase of a new one with an hourly capacity for 200 tonnes of ore, Tshindundu said.

But the plant, manufactured in China, is still to be assembled at the Disele site, stored in containers or in the open air for now.

Operations have resumed in only one of the company's 13 zones.

Joseph Kazadi, MIBA's operations manager, said the zone "may easily have more than 40 million carats (of diamonds) and by itself represents 78 percent of MIBA's kimberlite reserves."

The extracted ore is trucked to the Disele washing plant, about 10 minutes away on a clay road.

The extracted ore is trucked to the Disele washing plant, about 10 minutes away on a clay road. By Marthe Bosuandole (AFP)

Mud and sand are washed away before the ore is passed through a vibrating sieve at a rate of 50 tonnes an hour, working 24/7, Mukadi said.

The stones then head to a "diamond sorting office" -- a modest space that looks like the inside of a container but is one of the most closely monitored in the entire country.

'If MIBA's activity had really resumed, we would have felt it,' said diamond buyer Alphonse Ilunga. By Arsene Mpiana (AFP)

Employees and miners undergo thorough searches on their way in and out, leaving their bags and phones at the door.

Silence reigns as a dozen employees bend over their work, sorting the stones according to their quality.

Meanwhile, the resumption of activity by MIBA appears to have little impact on the people of Mbuji-Mayi.

"If MIBA's activity had really resumed, we would have felt it, life would have resumed, money would circulate," said Alphonse Ilunga, a diamond buyer at the nearby Lupatapata market, where diamonds gathered by freelancers are bought and sold.

For her part Regine Kanyeba, the wife of a MIBA worker, has just one demand: "That they pay their workers' wages so we can pay our children's school fees."
INTRODUCTION

Free speech is the foundation of every democracy. Citizen's ability to freely express their opinion and thought is what holds people in power in check. One cannot accept to serve the people in a high public office, be paid with Ghanaian tax payers' money whether these Ghanaians are rich or poor, educated or uneducated and yet refuse to subject oneself to the people's scrutiny. These introductory comments are founded on the back of a letter dated 23rd May, 2021 purportedly issued by Justice Cynthia Pamela Addo, the Judicial Secretary of Ghana on behalf of His Lordship the Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, petitioning the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council to investigate comments by a Colleague Member of Parliament, Member of the Constitutional Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, and a very Senior member of the Ghana Bar who also served as a Former Deputy Attorney General. Hon. Dominic Ayine was questioning the independence of the Judiciary in its adjudication of the presidential petition filed by Mr. John Dramani Mahama seeking to challenge the declaration of presidential results in the presidential elections of December 2020.

His Lordship the Chief Justice must realize that his position is not a private one and he is equally subject to public accountability and criticism. Questioning the independence of the judiciary is an expression of an opinion which every Ghanaian retains the constitutional right so to do. Justice emanates from the people and dispensed on their behalf by the Judiciary. Contrary to all assumption that the Judiciary is infallible and beyond public constructive, academic and political criticism, it is rather apodictic that no human institution is inerrable. The constitutionally empowered citizens and not spectators have an indefeasible right to not only question any judicial process but also how justice is dispensed. The essence of this write up is to briefly discuss the parameters of free speech under international, regional and our local laws and demonstrate why the indicting letter issued at the call of the Chief Justice is an affront to the judicial oath and a dent on the successes so far achieved in the country's efforts at guaranteeing the constitutional right to freedom of expression.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

The right to freely express one's self is guaranteed by both the 1992 Constitution and various international laws. For the purpose of this article I will make reference to few of the provisions.

2.1 Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides as follows Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers

2.2 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

The ICCPR expands the scope by adding that it is a right for our freedom of expression not to be interfered with. Not only does it provide for the right but also kicks against interference of that right to freely express one's self just like the Chief Justice of Ghana wants to do. It seems the Chief Justice believes in Constitutionality and yet does not want to be bound by constitutionalism.

According to Article 19 of ICCPR, Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference and also that Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

2.3 General Comment No. 10: Freedom of expression (Art. 19)

The Paragraph 2 of the General Comments requires protection of the right to freedom of expression, which includes not only freedom to impart information and ideas of all kinds, but also freedom to seek and receive them regardless of frontiers and in whatever medium, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice. Impartation of what another person believes about the judiciary cannot be a subject of Petition such as the one written by the Judicial Secretary.

2.4 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

Article 5 provides that in compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in article 2 of this Convention, States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights: (viii) The right to freedom of opinion and expression;

REGIONAL PROVISIONS ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

3.1 African Charter on Human and People's Right

At the regional level, the African Charter also confirms and consolidates the provisions as provided for by the UN. Article 9 provides that Every individual shall have the right to receive information, and every individual shall have the right to express and disseminate his opinions within the law.

3.2 The Declaration of the Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa

This was adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Commission) at its 65th Ordinary Session which was held from 21 October to 10 November 2019

The Declaration was in accordance with Article 45 (1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Charter) which requires the African Commission to promote human and peoples' rights, among others, by formulating and laying down principles and rules to solve legal problems relating to human and peoples' right and fundamental freedoms upon which African States may base their legislation. The Declaration establishes or affirms the principles for anchoring the rights to freedom of expression and access to information in conformance with Article 9 of the African Charter which guarantees individuals the right to receive information as well as the right to express and disseminate information.

Among others the Declaration discusses the Importance of the rights to freedom of expression and access to information. It provides that Freedom of expression and access to information are fundamental rights protected under the African Charter and other international human rights laws and standards. The respect, protection and fulfillment of these rights is crucial and indispensable for the free development of the human person, the creation and nurturing of democratic societies and for enabling the exercise of other rights.

3.3 State Responsibility Under the Declaration

Under the declaration, States are required to create an enabling environment for the exercise of freedom of expression and access to information, including by ensuring protection against acts or omissions of non-State actors that curtail the enjoyment of freedom of expression and access to information.

3.4 Non-interference with freedom of opinion

Principle 2 under the Declaration provides for Non-interference with freedom of opinion. According to the principle, Freedom of Opinion including the right to form and change all forms of opinion at any time and for whatever reason, is a fundamental and inalienable human right indispensable for the exercise of freedom of expression. States shall not interfere with anyone's freedom of opinion.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION UNDER THE 1992 CONSTITUTION OF GHANA

The Constitution of Ghana also provides great answers to the question of Fundamental Human Rights generally and more specifically provides for Freedom of Expression. In deed Article 12 guarantees fundamental rights and requires all agents of the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislature to respect these Fundamental rights. It is a bit worrying for the Judiciary which we run to for the enforcement of these rights under Article 32 of the Constitution to be the one endangering this right to freely express one's self. The Chief Justice must realize that his action poses great danger to our democracy as it has the tendency of undermining freedom of Expression which is a building block of this democracy. Freedom of Expression is provided for in Article 21(1)(a) of the 1992 Constitution. The constitution provides that All persons shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, which shall include freedom of the press and other media.

Our Constitution is also mindful of the fact that the human Rights provisions in our constitution may not be exhaustive. Thus Article 33(5) provides that the rights, duties, declarations and guarantees relating to the fundamental human rights and freedoms specifically mentioned in this Chapter shall not be regarded as excluding others not specifically mentioned which are considered to be inherent in a democracy and intended to secure the freedom and dignity of man. It is based on this provision that the provisions on non-interference with this right to freedom of Expression must be upheld and any sign of that interference such as what the Chief Justice seeks to do must be fearlessly resisted.

The Chief Justice must realize that the Judiciary is a very important organ of state and has a duty to help build a society of freedom. Article 37 (1) provides that the State shall endeavor to secure and protect a social order founded on the ideals and principles of freedom, equality, justice, probity and accountability as enshrined in Chapter 5 of this Constitution; and in particular, the State shall direct its policy towards ensuring that every citizen has equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the law. This obligation on the state is also on the Judiciary headed by the Chief Justice. The said letter by the Chief Justice clearly betrays this obligation.

It is also provided in Article 37(3) that in the discharge of the obligations stated in clause (2) of this article, the State shall be guided by international human rights instruments which recognize and apply particular categories of basic human rights to development processes. It is also in the light of the foregoing that I have taken time to draw readers attention to the various provisions under international and regional instruments on freedom of Expression.

I consider the Petition of the Chief Justice as a needless interference with freedom of expression of Dr. Ayine. Unless there is any clear legal provision that was violated by Hon. Dominic Ayine, the Petition has no legal basis at all. At best it is a means to suppress freedom of expression and a failed attempt to shield the judiciary from public accountability.

ANALYSIS OF ISSUES RAISED BY THE LETTER OF THE JUDICIAL SECRETARY

Three key issues emanate from the letter of the Chief Justice to the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council.

Whether the act of expressing an opinion on a matter already decided by the court violated any statute?

Whether the the previous contempt charges against Dr. Ayine estopped him from commenting on the judgment after it was delivered?

Whether or not the assertion that we did not have independent judiciary violated the Legal professions Act or the Etiquettes Rules for Lawyers?

5.1 Commenting on a matter already decided by the court.

When a court delivers judgment in a case before it, the court becomes funtus officio. Thus, the court is stripped off its power and jurisdiction over the said matter. In other words the mandate of the court in the matter has expired and the court does not exercise. That being the case any individual or lawyer who comments on such judgment would have the right to do so. There is no provision in the Legal Professions Act, 1960 (Act 32) that makes such conduct a crime or misconduct. Such a comment also does not violate any known provision in the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) Rules 2020, L.I 2423. It is also clear that a careful reading of the provisions of the Legal Professions (Disciplinary Committee) Rules, 2020, L.I 2424 shows that the committee's jurisdiction is triggered by complaints under Rules 1, 2 and 3 by a complaint of dissatisfied professional conduct. Clearly commenting or expressing one's view on a judgment of the court does not constitute any misconduct under these laws and the Disciplinary Committee's jurisdiction has wrongly been invoked as the said letter by the CJ does not contain any fact as to misconduct or the breach of any professional code. There is no provision in the above laws for Petition to Investigate. The law only makes provision for complaint of misconduct and hence the said letter has no legal basis.

5.2 Previous Contempt Charge not a bar to Freedom to Express future opinion

References to previous contempt charges are clear attempts to prejudice any investigation, that is, if it even occurs. What has previous comments to which Dr. Ayine apologized got to do with any new complaint of professional misconduct? It stands to reason that as a senior lawyer, Dr. Ayine takes a cue from the bench to apologize for comments made during the pendency of the action on grounds that the comments could prejudice the outcome of the decision and is contemptuous. Everyone can make that mistake and taking responsibility for that and apologizing was the right thing any honourale member would do. But it must be placed on record that apologizing for contemptuous comments made during the subsistence of an action is not a bar to freely express your opinion on the eventual outcome of the court's decision. That is what Article 19(1) (a) and the several International Human Rights instruments cited above guarantees. Freedom of expression and of opinion is a fundamental human right and its force cannot be whittled down by previous contempt charges. Dr. Ayine committed no wrong for freely expressing his views on judicial independence in relation to the presidential petition.

5.3 Questioning Judicial Independence does not violate the Legal Professions Act and the Legislative instruments made pursuant to the Act

It is critical that we ask whether or not the assertion that we do not have independent judiciary violates the Legal professions Act or the Etiquettes Rules for Lawyers. Every Ghanaian can ask that question and every lawyer, law maker and even an accomplished academic like Dr. Ayine can question the independence of the judiciary. I have argued earlier that Article 125 (1) of the 1992 Constitution clearly provides that justice emanates from the people and shall be administered in the name of the Republic by the Judiciary which shall be independent and only subject to the constitution. Any citizen who believes that justice is not properly being administered or the judiciary is not acting as being independent as it should be has a constitutional right to freely express that without restraints. That definitely would not constitute any professional misconduct for the purposes of disciplinary action or investigation as requested by the Honourable Chief Justice.

CONCLUSION

From the above, it is quite preposterous for no mean a person than the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana to seek to undermine fundamental freedoms provided for under the 1992 Constitution and other international laws through this backdoor approach of petitioning the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council. As argued above, freedom of expression is a foundational right that guarantees the continuous existence of a constitutional democracy. Take out freedom of expression and your democracy would have no meaning. Dr. Ayine did no wrong with his speech. He was freely expressing his opinion in accordance with Article 21(1)(a) and did not breach any provisions in the Legal Professions Act, 1960 (Act 32) or the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) Rules 2020, L.I 2423. Clearly, the mandate and jurisdiction of the Disciplinary Committee has wrongly been invoked contrary to the Legal Professions (Disciplinary Committee) Rules, 2020, L.I 2424. The Chief Justice should do the most honourable thing to withdraw this shameful Petition to save the reputation of the Judiciary else he will reduce the revered institution to an institution of pettiness and demigods who are beyond criticism, this would make the institution a laughing stock. The Chief Justice has an opportunity to save his own reputation and that of the Judiciary. A Democratic state like Ghana deserves more from its Chief Justice than this needless pettiness that undermines the very essence of our democracy.

The writer, Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu is a private legal practitioner, human rights lawyer, Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, Member of Appointments Committee and Deputy Ranking Member of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament. The writer can be contacted via: [email protected] www.madinamp.com
Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin, has asked North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to desist from making a fuss about the alleged use of a luxurious chartered flight by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

According to him, Mr. Ablakwa should wait until his urgent question is admitted by the Speaker of Parliament.

Mr. Afenyo-Markin insists the practice of dealing with such matters in public while seeking audience in Parliament is harmful to the growth of democracy.

The North Tongu MP last week indicated that he had filed an urgent question on the said matter, but it has not been programmed yet.

The MP alleged that the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has spent an amount of GHS 2.8 million on his recent travels to only South Africa and France using the services of a private jet.

The Airbus ACJ320neo owned by Acropolis Aviation based in Farnborough, UK and registered as G-KELT, is the most luxurious and the most expensive in the Acropolis fleet. The manufacturers describe it as the most outstanding ambassador for Airbus Corporate Jets. It costs the Ghanaian taxpayer approximately 15,000 an hour when President Akufo-Addo rents it, the legislator alleged in a post on Facebook.

He also accused the President of blowing the money to satisfy his insatiable appetite and comfort at the expense of the suffering masses.

But speaking to Citi News, the Effutu MP called on Okudzeto Ablakwa to respect the procedures of Parliament.

According to him, Mr. Ablakwas actions are not healthy for the progress of the house.

Admission of questions is the sole mandate of the Speaker, and in fact, that is the basis upon which the jurisprudence of Parliament is mounted. You file a question, you are not sure whether it has been admitted or not, then you go out there in the media litigating the matter. So at the end of the day, if the question is not admissible, who do you blame? The Speaker or you will say you are being gagged?

I am saying that it is important that as MPs we will respect our own rules of engagement and create an atmosphere where the debate will be enriched, but this one-way approach and leaking things to the press and somebody has written a letter of resignation which hasnt even gotten to the recipient, but it is already in the media, what are you seeking to achieve? he quizzes.

citinewsroom
The United States' reputation as the leading global power has suffered in France and Germany because of Washington's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic that has killed nearly 600,000 Americans.

On the eve of President Joe Biden's trip to Europe, a poll by the German Marshall Fund and the Bertelsmann Foundation said he had not won back the standing of the United States as it was before Covid-19 struck.

China's reputation had risen slightly.

U.S. research papers released on 26 March highlight that the United States under Biden's predecessor Donald Trump could have avoided nearly 400,000 deaths with a more effective strategy.

According to the study: "The first three months of the Biden administration have not affected French and German views of U.S. influence in the world."

"These numbers are in line with the results of the 2020 survey, which had fallen by about 10 points from the pre-pandemic numbers, to the advantage of China."

Meanwhile, the survey found the perception within the United States is that U.S. influence abroad has risen.

Repairing transatlantic ties

Biden kicks off his first European tour as president on Wednesday to attend G7, Nato and European Union summits.

He faces the challenge of repairing transatlantic ties damaged by Trump, whose withdrawal from international agreements and sharp criticism of Nato undermined European faith in Washington.

Among the 11 countries polled, only 51% of Germans see the United States as a reliable partner, rising to 60% in France, 67% in Britain and 76% in Poland.

Less than a quarter of Turks trust the United States.

The study revealed, however, that most Americans regard the European Union as a reliable partner.

A majority of respondents surveyed still think that the United States should be involved in the defence and security of Europe, except in Sweden, where views are divided, and Turkey.

Conducted online between 29 March and 13 April, the survey sampled 1,000 adults in each of the 11 countries - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Several Indian states were easing restrictions on Monday as new Covid-19 cases fell by a fourth at 115,000 infections daily bringing a small respite for overworked hospitals. Experts called for a speedy re-start of the economy to restore millions of jobs lost in the lockdown.

Five of the India's largest states and cities such as Delhi and Mumbai have begun a gradual exit from lockdown from Monday.

I do believe we need to open up but very cautiously, said Srinath Reddy, President of the state-backed Public Health Foundation of India.

Some 40 percent of India's 347,000 Covid deaths occurred during the second wave which saw new infections rise beyond 400,000 a day and crematoriums run non-stop through last month.

A national union of physicians said Sunday more than 600 on-duty doctors also died in the explosive surge which hit Maharashtra and Delhi the hardest.

Foundation president Reddy said the grim memories were likely to have a sobering effect on politicians who run states, where coronavirus cases were on a decline for over a week now.

Mindset of the people this time around as compared to the first wave or certainly during the period of January to March when there was considerable degree of laxity and the feeling the danger is past that may not prevail this time because the scale of the devastation has been very high, he said.

Almost everybody has lost somebody close to him or her, Reddy added.

Dehi relaxes lockdown rules

Delhi markets and shopping malls can open on alternate days and city metro will operate at 50 percent of capacity from Monday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said as he promised to ramp up the city hospitals and boost oxygen stocks.

We are getting prepared keeping in mind 37,000 cases per day as the base-line," Kejriwal said, referring to a projected third virus wave.

The city of 20 million was locked down on 19 April but last week Kejriwal allowed manufacturing and construction activities.

"It is important to bring the economy back on track now that the Covid-19 situation improving, he added.

Mumbai too gets a break

Maharashtra state which includes Mumbai announced a five-level exit plan depending on the rate of infection rates and hospital bed occupancy.

Stores, shopping malls, gymnasiums and cinemas will be allowed to reopen from Monday in level-1 districts, a state government spokesman said.

Randeep Guleria, who heads India's largest public hospital in Delhi, also prescribed caution as the strategy for exiting lockdowns.

I think for the next six to eight weeks we have to be very slow in unlocking till we are able to vaccinate more and more people, Guleria added.

India has given 230 million vaccine doses since January after launching a drive to inoculate 1.4 billion citizens.

Four other large states move with caution

Densely-populated states such as Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh also announced plans over the weekend to ease lockdowns from Monday, officials said.

Gujarat said private and government offices can operate at full capacity from Monday and eased the restrictions in 36 cities across the western Indian state.

Experts urged the government to especially rescue India's hospitality sector, which was set to grow to 401 billion euros by 2029 but Covid restrictions derailed the industry.

Your entire hospitality industry which is second largest economic generator in India and the largest employer of skilled and unskilled labor is in deep trouble, said Suhel Seth, a market consultancy expert.
An ex-President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has expressed sadness over the death of the spiritual leader of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Prophet TB Joshua, describing him as a devout man of God.

In a message of condolence to TB Joshuahs family and the SCOAN congregation, the former President noted that the late televangelist who died at the age of 57 served God and humanity with relentless passion.

Dr. Jonathan also prayed to God to grant millions of TB Joshuas followers across the world the strength to cope with his exit.

I am saddened to hear about the death of Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua known as TB Joshua, the Spiritual Leader of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), at a young age of 57. TB Joshua was a devout man of God who served God and humanity with relentless passion. He was a man of sound doctrine, meek and faithful to his call and passion of reconciling men to God and offering hope to humanity.

As a Christian leader, TB Joshua and his Ministry exemplified Christ in faith, love and charity; positively impacting the lives of many Nigerians, Africans and millions of people across the world. I condole with his family, his church and millions of his followers across the world. May God grant them peace and strength to cope with this loss.
Wolfs star has been falling in particular since a slew of inaccuracies came to light in her book Outrages: Sex, Censorship and the Criminalization of Love, which supposedly detailed the persecution of homosexuality in Victorian Britain but in reality contained so many errors it was deemed unpublishable. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt canceled the release in 2019 after BBC radio host Matthew Sweet pointed out the factual issues to the author during an interview.
The late, legendary percussionist Mabi Thobejane pictured in 2018. - Source: MELT 2000/Forest Jam Southern Africa

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Winter chokes the highveld in Johannesburg, South Africa, and takes from me, from our entire culture, a mighty mountain. Gabriel Mabi Segwagwa Thobejane , the diminutive tower of rhythmic power, has left us: a man who did not so much play the drums, but became The Drum.

He reportedly suffered a stroke at the age of 74 and passed on 3 June 2021.

Even though he was both master and a creator of South Africa's indigenous sonic archive, Mabi, as we all came to call him, was also a showman and a collaborator. He could and would play in support of almost anyone, from jazz musicians to poets to mainstream artists. He was artistically intimidated by nothing and no one.

The young Gabriel

Mabi was raised in the township of Mamelodi near the capital city Pretoria, where he absorbed the rural, neo-traditional, urban folk and Sepedi jive drum and dance-song forms that commingled in the streets and backyards.

The young Gabriel had no calling to blow his horn in a church and defied his mother who insisted he become a priest. Her tendency to break up his makeshift drum kits led him to hang about the tanneries and artisanal workshops, collecting materials he fashioned into high-quality hand and mallet drums for which he later became so famous. From early on, Mabi pursued whatever arrested (bopha!) him full force without equivocation or compromise. And he was to serve a life sentence in the total reinvention of the highveld's African percussion.

This single-minded pursuit of a fading musical patrimony from the ancestors ran in the family. Gabriel's uncle Philip Thabane was already doing so on the electric guitar, forming the Malombo Jazzmen with flautist Abbey Cindi and afro-percussionist Julian Bahula in the 1960s. Mabi Thobejane in 1995 in Johannesburg, assembled by Forest Jam Southern Africa.

Philip's uncompromising indigenous originality led to a break-up. Before the end of the decade Abbey, Julian, guitarist Lucky Ranku and mbaqanga vocalist Hilda Tloubatla had reformed as the Malombo Jazz Makers. For Philip, only one young performer made the grade: Gabriel Thobejane. They went on to gain local success and world fame as the duo Malombo .

The power of Malombo

Given the extent of his contribution and influence, there is pitifully little written about my former bandmate Mabi. In my book In Township Tonight! South Africa's Black City Music and Theatre I wrote about Malombo:

This duo revolutionised progressive indigenous music in South Africa from 1965 to 1977. Their first recording appeared in 1968, and in 1971, Philip and Gabriel travelled to the United States where they appeared at clubs and concerts around the country for two years, playing with Miles Davis, Max Roach, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, and other first rank jazz musicians  In 1973 (they) returned home to perform for and learn from their own people in the Transvaal townships.

Malombo's 1976 album Pele Pele and their 1977 appearance at the New York Newport Jazz Festival continued to build their international reputation. Their recordings, I wrote in the book, could not hope to capture the electricity and spellbinding virtuosity of their live performances. I had the privilege of performing with Malombo as a percussionist at many of their South African appearances at the time. I wrote :

Philip and Gabriel kept up a constant, almost competitive musical dialogue on guitar, kalimba (hand piano), flute, pennywhistle and drums. The intensity of Philip's guitar solos and melodic poetic recitation, and Gabriel's percussive power and dynamics with drums, dance, and ankle rattles kept black and white concertgoers alike jumping and shouting on the edges of their seats. Truly innovative creative departures in black South African music tend to create their own trends and offshoots, and this was certainly true of Malombo.

Mabi Thobejane in Malombo, led by his uncle Philip Tabane.

Mainstream bands such as Sipho Mabuse's Harari and later Ray Phiri 's Stimela were influenced by Malombo. As were the alternative black consciousness ensembles that often included spoken and sung poetry that appeared in the late 1970s, such as Dashiki, led by the soon-to-be-exiled poet and artist Lefifi Tladi , Thabang Masemola's Batsumi , and the Malopoets , precursors of rappers like Prophets of Da City .

A musical comrade

In some ways Mabi Thobejane's great initial achievement was his ability to partner with the introverted, crusty Philip Thabane for so long. Quite the opposite, Mabi was unsurpassed as a joyful jester and musical comrade. He loved and accepted his unpredictable fellow musos. I witnessed many a musical showdown between Thabane and Thobejane on stage. After a difficult return tour to the US in 1977, they went their separate ways. The author (left) performing with Malombo. Courtesy David Coplan

By the 1990s Mabi had started to find an outlet for the sounds that had stayed with him from the Bronx. He continued being involved in some of the most exciting collaborations  with bassist Sipho Gumede and saxophonist Khaya Mahlangu , guitar master Madala Kunene , percussionists Amampondo . For a decade he toured and haunted the electronic, eclectic studio sessions with UK act Juno Reactor , who released the legendary acoustic/electronic percussive remixes of Conga Fury .

Artist and showman

Mabi was as much a showman and a performance event as he was a musician. He not only built his own drums, but created his own costumes of beads, antelope and cattle hides and distinctive body paint. Characteristically he would perform stripped to the waist, his face painted half chalk white and half charcoal black, his compact brown torso covered in white spots like a reverse-image leopard. His intention was to conquer his musical world as a drum guerrilla representing himself and his deeper Tshwane origins, without hybridity, without borrowing. And in that guise, what a lender and a collaborator he turned out to be. A 2004 recording by the record company MELT 2000.

As a proper morena oa lefatse (king of the earth), Gabriel Mabi Thobejane revealed the inner character of the people of the land in both musical expression and force of personality. He entered so many of our lives in unique modalities that enriched our worlds forever. I cannot do better, before returning to shocked silence at his passing, than to share a new poem by the musical commentator and scholar Sam Mathe . In For Gabriel Mabi Segwagwa Thobejane Mathe refers to Mabi as segwagwa, the frog, the creature he physically resembled that became Philip Thabane's musical praise name for him:

Segwagwa The bullfrog that croaks in the streams and lagoons inhabited by ancestral spirits the elusive amphibian that greets springs with the gravel voice and tone of a groaner Segwagwa The showman with deft magical hands whose rumbles are like a distant thunder The shaman who plays healing sounds on baobab drums crafted by the gods Segwagwa In the south the cold season is upon us the rains are gone, rivers have dried up it is time for you to go into hibernation farewell grandmaster of the percussion Till we meet again when the rainclouds gather

David Coplan 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 David Coplan, Professor Emeritus, Social Anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand
Dr Yaw Osei-Adutwum, Education Minister, has refuted allegations that his son is enrolled in a private secondary school instead of the Government's Free Senior High School programme.

He explained that his son was not old enough to be in a senior high school (SHS).

Last week, Dr Clement Apak, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Builsa South, accused the Minister of enrolling his son in a private senior high school instead of the public one.

He said the Education Minister, therefore, had no moral right to champion government's Free SHS Policy because he did not trust the quality of education provided to students under the programme.

However, Dr Osei-Adutwum, responding to the allegation at a media briefing in Accra, said his son should never be part of his political career.

"I think politics has taken a new low, my son should never be a part of my political career and secondly I don't have a son who is old enough to be in a senior high school, he said.

"So suffice it to say that I have no further comment on that"

The Minister said all the best senior high schools were in the public sector so why would he not enrol his child in a public SHS if he was really due.

The Minister said the Government had made giant strides in providing teaching and learning materials and expanded physical infrastructure like classroom blocks, dormitories, science laboratories and libraries among others for enhance secondary education across the country.

"We may not have the best education system in the world, but we have made giant strides over the past four years," Dr Osei-Adutwum said.

He reiterated the Akufo-Addo-led government's determination to providing free, compulsory and quality education to every Ghanaian child in the quest of "making Ghana the education hub of Africa".

He said government was committed to building a robust education system that could compete with international best practices.

Dr Osei-Adutwum said government's goal in implementing the Free SHS Policy was to transform the education system and make it play a pivotal role in socio-economic development.

"For education to be fit-for-purpose, we should have students who are creative and critical thinkers, especially in this fourth industrial revolution to navigate the world," he said.

He mentioned access, quality, and relevance as three key areas government was focused on to improve education and transform the country's economy in the near future.

---GNA
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has condemned the blatant disregard for COVID-19 protocols during the funeral ceremony of the late CEO of the Forestry Commission (FC) Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie affectionately called Sir John last Thursday.

Some attendants were seen without their nose masks. Others also did not practice social distancing which is one of the measures outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO) to tackle the pandemic.

A statement issued by the GMA said The GMA said in a statement that the mass gathering of people with complete disregard for physical distancing and limited use of nose mask occurred in the wake of caution by World Health Organisation (WHO) to some African countries to prepare for what appears to be a new surge in COVID-19 cases in Africa.

The GMA was therefore shocked to observe a nation like ours struggling to vaccinate its population will permit such a potential super spreader event to take place.

Pressure group, OccupyGhana has also criticized persons who attended the funeral for allegedly violating the COVID-19 protocols.

A statement issued by OccupyGhana said We cannot show such a remarkable sense of recklessness and abandon in these times and not expect to reap disastrous and possibly deadly consequences.

In our press release of 2 May 2021 regarding the holding of the Christ Embassy religious event at the Fantasy Dome, we thought no reminders were needed that the dangerous and deadly COVID-19 was still present and active among us.

In that release, we hailed governments imposition of protocols by law, which we believe demand compliance, by all.

To wake up to contrary behaviour by prominent members of the same government and other politicians, after we have seen the colossal human disaster that has unfolded in India, caused by unrestrained political activities and religious events that did not respect COVID-19 protocols, is both disappointing and frightening.

We cannot show such a remarkable sense of recklessness and abandon in these times and not expect to reap disastrous and possibly deadly consequences.

We need no reminders that by exercising bad judgment in releasing Aisha Huang, government created a defiant galamsey population on its hands and more destruction of our water bodies and forests ensued until it had to resort to the illegal and populist remedy of burning excavators to try and stem the tide of evil genie unleashed with the release of Aisha Huang. Similarly, this disregard of the law will embolden several people to treat COVID-19 protocols with disdain and contempt.

---3news.com
Malian strongman Colonel Assimi Goita vowed to honour his country's commitments and reaffirmed the goal of staging elections by next February as he was sworn in as transitional president on Monday following his second coup in less than a year.

The closely-watched ceremony in Bamako came after Goita, who headed a coup last August, ousted the civilian president and prime minister of a transitional government on May 24.

In doing so, he sparked diplomatic uproar and deepened fears of chaos in a country key to efforts to stem the jihadist insurgency sweeping the Sahel.

"I swear before God and the Malian people to preserve the republican regime... to preserve democratic gains," said Goita, who was dressed in full military regalia.

Supporters of Col. Goita gathered in Bamako ahead of the swearing-in ceremony. By ANNIE RISEMBERG (AFP)

"I would like to reassure sub-regional, regional organisations and the wider international community that Mali will uphold all its commitments, for and in the higher interest of the nation," Goita said.

He also stood by staging "credible, fair and transparent elections according to the scheduled dates" -- a reference to the February 2022 deadline set by the transitional government.

Dozens of army officers were in the audience and enthusiastic clapping broke out at some points during Goita's speech, while troops in combat gear were visible in the background.

Goita replaces a civilian president, Bah Ndaw, whom he forced out last month along with Prime Minister Moctar Ouane.

Ndaw and Ouane had been key to demands that the latest military takeover in the chronically coup-prone country would be short-lived.

They were named as head of an interim government that would steer Mali back to full civilian rule.

Anger

After they were booted out on May 24, Mali's regional partners reacted with anger but fell short of reimposing the sanctions that had levered the junta into accepting the interim government.

Current state of military presence in troubled Sahel region with French-led Operation Barkhane and international forces. By (AFP)

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and African Union (AU) suspended Mali, while France froze joint military operations with Malian forces.

The former colonial power has 5,100 troops stationed in the Sahel to help fight jihadist violence that erupted in Mali in 2012 and now threatens the region.

Maintaining its international partnerships, not least with France, is crucial for Mali, one of the world's poorest countries and whose security forces suffer from poor equipment and training.

Choguel Kokalla MaAga of the M5 movement is expected to become prime minister. By Michele Cattani (AFP/File)

Under pressure to return to the February 2022 trajectory to civilian rule, Goita is expected to name as his prime minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga, a former minister and member of the M5 protest movement.

The M5 helped to force out former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last August following mass protests over perceived corruption and a bloody jihadist insurgency.

The movement became sidelined in the first post-coup administration, which was dominated by mililtary figures.

But there has been a noticeable rapprochement between the military and the M5 since the events of May 24.

Maiga, 63, is close to religious leader Mahmoud Dicko, who has repeatedly spoken in favour of negotiating with the jihadists -- a position ferociously opposed by France.

But on Friday, Maiga insisted his country would abide by its international obligations and paid tribute to French troops who have died in the country.

bur-sd-ah-siu/ri
Paramedics found crushed medication on the womans chest at the scene and Kurczewski said her friend might have been suicidal. However, a toxicology report found a fatal amount of tetrahydrozoline, the main ingredient in eyedrops, in the womans system. When investigators told Kurczewski about the eyedrops and that the scene was likely staged to look like a suicide, Kurczewski said it was what her friend wanted and she must have staged her own suicide.
There was no show in the continuation of the mini-trial in the ongoing Major Maxwell Mahama murder trial due to the unavailability of one of the defence lawyers.

Lawyer for the seventh accused person billed for the cross-examination of the policeman who obtained the Investigation cautioned statement of Michael Anim, his client was absent.

As a result, the said Police Officer and the independent Witness were asked to come at the next date.

The substantive trial is currently on hold due to series of objections against the tendering of Investigations cautioned statements obtained from the accused persons.

It was the case of the defence lawyers that, the accused persons were coerced and forced against their will to put down the statements the Prosecution is relying on.

And the mini-trial is being held to resolve the objections for the case to resume.

However, in court on Monday, June 7 when the case was called for continuation, the court presided over by Justice Mariama Owusu, Justice of the Supreme Court sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court judge was informed about the absence of the defence Lawyer.

Chief State Attorney Mrs Evelyn Keelson, told the court that due to the earlier information from counsel, the Policeman and an independent witness who were both coming from Kumasi were asked to hold on.

The court however warned that, if at the next court sitting counsel does not show up, the trial will proceed in his absence.

William Baah and 13 others are standing trial for Abetment and murder respectively.

The case was consequently case was adjourned to June 14, 2021.

---kasapafm
The UN's humanitarian chief has warned that some 90 percent of people in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia are in desperate need of food aid, with hundreds of thousands living in 'famine conditions'. And yet members of the UN Security Council have failed to agree on meeting to discuss the situation. As he prepares to leave his post, Mark Lowcock told RFI why it's time for the international community to step up.

No one knows how many thousands of civilians or combatants have been killed since political tensions between Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed's government and the Tigray leaders who used to dominate Ethiopia's government exploded into war last November.

But the UN has a clearer picture of the misery it has caused, with an estimated two million people displaced, civilians killed and injured, rapes and other forms of sexual violence becoming widespread and systematic. Public and private infrastructure, essential for civilians, has also been destroyed, including hospitals and agricultural land.

The result is a food security situation bordering on famine, explains Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator since 2017. What's more, as he wrote in a recent briefing, "there have been deliberate, repeated, sustained attempts to prevent [people in places controlled by Tigrayan opposition forces] from getting food".

"It is a very alarming situation, it's the worst food insecurity problem I've seen for many years now, possibly the worst since the terrible famine that took the lives of quarter of a million Somalis 10 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of people in northern Ethiopia are, in my own assessment, now living in effectively famine conditions," he told RFI.

850 million dollars needed

Getting food aid to these people is vital, but while the UN and the Ethiopian government have helped about two million people in recent months, mainly in government-controlled areas, Lowcock says it is much harder accessing people in places controlled by Tigrayan opposition forces, by the Eritreans and other places controlled by militia groups.

There has to be a "dramatic reduction in hostilities, and a removal of all of the blockages in the way of aid agencies, men on check-points and so on," he insists. They also need "a lot more international aid workers because the government does not have full control of Tigray - there are some places where there are huge numbers of people needing help, where government institutions aren't there any more."

Crucially, they need more funding.

"We think we'll need $850 million to avoid a colossal tragedy this year in Tigray and we've got about half of that promised so far and not all of that has been paid."

Lowcock is also calling on the Security Council to reach a common accord and bring its weight to the table.

"In 2018, the Security Council passed a resolution instructing the Secretary General and me to send a note whenever we thought there was a circumstance where conflict would lead to widescale food security and hunger and starvation," he explains. "Two weeks ago we sent them exactly that note on Tigray because we're so alarmed at the situation. Every previous time we've done it they've had a meeting. So it's up to them to have a meeting.

"But what they could do is call for a cessation of hostilities, the facilitation for access of aid agencies, more support for funding and more space for humanitarian agencies to operate. Because it's the security council, people would have to listen to that."

Avoiding a colossal tragedy

One of Lowcock's first jobs at the UN was responding to the famine in 1984-85 when some two million Africans died of starvation or famine-related ailments, about half of them in Ethiopia. The spectre of that time looms large.

"I have never forgotten some of the things I saw then. It's not irrational - on the basis of what's happening - to worry about a repetition of that. We need to do everything to prevent such a colossal tragedy because it would be a humanitarian catastrophe for the people of Tigray, but it would also have wider ramifications for Ethiopia and the region, which would last a long time."

Tackle the causes

In two weeks Lowcock will step down from the post he's held for the last four years. It's been a turbulent time.

"Unfortunately humanitarian needs around the world have grown, especially in the Middle East and large parts of Africa," he says, "and that's essentially because the causes of humanitarian problems - which are above all conflict and climate change, and now Covid - have not been adequately addressed. We've been dealing with the symptoms."

The picture is not altogether negative, providing the decision makers can tackle the problems at the root.

"What I think the world should be grateful for and positive about is that we've so far been able to contain most of these problems. We haven't had huge famines with a million people losing their lives in the way that was quite common up to 10,15 or 20 years ago.

"Humanitarian agencies meet the needs of 100 million people every year but if all you do is contain the problems, if you don't address the causes, the problems just keep getting worse. So my main message to decision makers, tackle the causes not just the symptoms."

Lowcock is pushing for the leaders of the seven major industrialised nations (G7) to put northern Ethiopia's humanitarian crisis on the agenda of their next summit from 11 to 13 June in the UK.
Youths in Warri Kingdom on Friday night commended the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, for his commitment to the cause of the region.

We should all take a cue from this outstanding statesman and driving force behind the reinvention of the Niger Delta region.

They also said that Akpabio had come to work, serve and make the Niger Delta region great.

The Niger Delta region is progressing steadily.

At a ceremony organised to honour Akpabio in Warri, the youths critically assessed Akpabios performance and scored it excellent.

Speaker after speaker hailed Akpabio for the multiple dividends of democracy, his efforts to revolutionize the Niger Delta region and uplift the lot of his people.

The youths expressed satisfaction with the level of performance of the development agency and the on-going NDDC forensic audit.

The event drew who-is-who in Warri Kingdom and many youths and elders from other parts of Delta State.

Chairman of All Itsekiri Youth Associations (AIYA), Dr. Omatshola Sagay, praised Akpabio for making the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) more responsive and accountable to all its principal stakeholders.

Chief Godswill Akpabio is a pragmatic and visionary leader who thinks ahead of his people. He is the best thing happening in the Niger Delta region.

The Itsekiri youths and elders who spoke in one voice urged youths in other parts of the region to give peace a chance, which they said was necessary for development of the oil and non-oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region.

Everybody in the Niger Delta region, irrespective of his/her status or political leaning should join hands with President Muhammadu Buhari and Chief Godswill Akpabio in the onerous task of moving the Niger Delta region forward.

They described the seven-day ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio to constitute the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) or face a major breakdown of law and order in the Niger Delta by certain people as ridiculous.

The youths suggested that current moves to inaugurate a substantive Board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) should include the consideration of someone from Itsekiri nation.

Warri Kingdom is the highest oil producing area in Delta State.

They also urged Buhari to extend the construction of the East West Road to Warri -Benin Road.
Members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Cape Coast Metropolis have made a passionate appeal to President Akufo Addo not to re-nominate their sitting MCE, Mr Ernest Arthur.

They accused him of poor performance, poor human relations and the use of abusive language.

They have also appealed to the President to reject any candidate that he (Mr Ernest Arthur) would put forward to replace him as MCE for Cape Coast Metropolis in case he is not re-nominated.

According to them, Mr. Ernest Arthur is bragging that even if he was not re-nominated to continue his second term of office, he will support one Lawyer Daniel Arthur to be appointed as MCE to be doing his bidding.

The NPP members and sympathizers who claimed to be the kingmakers of the Party in Cape Coast North and South Constituencies noted that they will accept any candidate who has applied for the position of MCE in Cape Coast Metropolis but not Mr. Ernest Arthur and Mr. Lawyer Daniel Arthur.

"Mr. Ernest Arthur did not impress us at all in his four-year term of office as MCE for Cape Coast Metropolis thus leading to the defeat of the NPP in the 2020 Parliamentary elections in both Cape Coast North and South Constituencies, one of which he was the Parliamentary candidate."

At a press conference held at Abura Central Market in the Cape Coast North Constituency, members of the party noted that their MCE's poor human relations affected the NPP during the 2020 general elections.

A leading member of the party, Mr. Justice Oboh Mensah who read the press statement said they being the kingmakers of the party at the grassroots vow to resist Mr. Ernest Arthur and Mr. Lawyer Daniel Arthur from being their MCE.

"We would like to appeal to His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana not to re-appoint Mr Ernest Arthur, our sitting MCE for Cape Coast Metropolis.

"As kingmakers of this great party who do the leg works, we have followed the administration of our MCE with keen interest and have made some observations that show clearly that when he (Mr. Ernest Arthur) is re-nominated, it will dwindle the fortunes of the party in the two Constituencies in the Metropolis."

Mr. Justice Oboh Mensah further indicated that their MCE did not support the party enough to carry out its activities especially in the Cape Coast North Constituency.

He noted that the MCE diverted his attention to Cape Coast South constituency where he was the 2020 Parliamentary candidate for the NPP yet lost miserably to the NDC candidate.

"One of the cogent reason for the MCE's electoral defeat in the 2020 general elections was due to his poor human relations, gross disrespect to the electorates and the use of abusive language which were negative in the eyes of the public and did not help the party.

"He is not approachable, his Assembly staff, Assembly Members, Constituency and polling station executives can attest to this fact.

"As for respect for party footsoldiers, the least said about it, the better. We shall resist his re-appointment should it happen. We cannot be slaves in our own party. He made it clear to some executives that if he (Mr. Ernest Arthur) is not re-nominated, the person he will put forward will be nominated to do his bidding."

Mr. Justice Oboh Mensah continued, "It is alleged that he made mention on one Lawyer Daniel Arthur who is not known to the Constituency officers and grassroots members of the Party as a loyal member of the NPP in the Cape Coast Metropolis. It is again alleged that our MCE has been bragging about having our Regional Chairman, Mr. Robert Kutin Jnr, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong and General Secretary, Mr John Boadu in his pocket and that he can go to sleep, the position will be given to him again.

"We once again appealing to our Regional Executives and the General Secretary to genuinely nominate the right person who is known to the grassroots level of the party other than Mr. Ernest Arthur and Lawyer Daniel Arthur to occupy the MCE position in Cape Coast. There are equally competent applicants such as Mr. Abban Ghansah, Mr. Anthony Arku- Korsah, Mr. Francis Abaidoo, Mr. Perry Mensah and Madam Sarah Afful who can discharge the same duties that could be considered.

"We wouldn't like to encounter the second regime of an MCE who doesn't listen to the electorates, grassroots members and disregard true Patriots whose sweat he is enjoying."
The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference has called for concerted efforts towards the education of the girl child at Damongo in the Savannah Region.

Most Rev Philip Naameh thanked the Diocese for uplifting the dignity of women as the education of the girl is the surest way to ensure the socio-economic development of the country.

Most Rev Philip Naameh who is also the archbishop of the Metropolitan Catholic Diocese of Tamale made this appeal during the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Damongo Diocese on Saturday.

According to him, a research conducted during the onset of the Diocese showed an illiteracy rate of ninety-six percent (96%) among women in the area and an educated four percent (4%) who were civil servants who had come to the area to work.

He said: "The Diocese ensured that they invested a lot in educating the girl child. It is my belief and hope that today this frightening figure has now come down."

Delivering a sermon at the St Anne's Cathedral in Damongo, he expressed gratitude to the clergy, priests, sisters and members of the church for their enormous support towards the education of women in the region.

Most Rev Philip said the Catholic Church is poised for the development of the area and politicians should collaborate with them.

Most Rev Philip who was also the first Bishop of the Damongo Catholic Diocese commended the traditional authorities for their generosity towards the development of the church and appealed for more support.

Established on the 4th of June 1995 under the patronage of St Anne's, the Damongo Catholic Diocese is aimed to follow the mission of Jesus Christ to heal the sick, proclaim the gospel, cast out demons and eliminate ignorance through the education of people within its jurisdiction.

Although the diocese was started with three parishes in Damongo, Bole and Tuna, it has manifested into thirteen parishes under the Damongo Diocese over the last twenty-five years.

For his part, the Secretary General of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference admonished the clergy and lay men to take the 2021 Population and Housing Census seriously as that is the basis for growth.

Most Rev Vincent Sowah Boi Nai also assured the government of the domination's commitment towards the preservation of the environment through the plantation of one million trees to supplement the government's Green Ghana project scheduled for the 11th of June.

A secretary of the President of the Savannah Region House of Chiefs Yagbonwura Tutu Boresa 1 tasked the diocese to ordain more Gonja priests and sisters to enhance the smooth acceleration of the church.

He further commended the church for its transformation of lives particularly women and children in the area and called much collaboration.

Meanwhile, Most Rev Peter Paul Angyier of the Damongo Diocese led prayers for the leaders of the country and Ghana as a whole for peace, unity and development.

The clergy drew curtains on the celebration with citations to some members of the diocese including the first bishop, first headmistress of the St Anne's Girls Senior High School among others for their dedication and hardwork towards the milestone stone reached.

The Silver anniversary celebration under the leadership of Most Rev Peter Paul Angyier was on the theme "25 Years of Grace,Transforming Lives Through Evangelisation, the Way Forward" brought together the clergy, political leaders, traditional leaders among others to a day of thanksgiving to the Lord for 25 years of service to humanity.
World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated annually on 5 June and is the United Nations ' major means of encouraging awareness by urging all to take positive action for the protection of the environment .

The event which was first held in 1974 is now a platform for raising awareness on matters such as marine pollution, human over population , global warming , sustainable consumption and wildlife crime.

The celebration is a global platform for public outreach, with participation from over 143 countries annually. Each year, the program has provided a theme and forum for businesses, non government organizations , communities, governments and celebrities to advocate environmental causes. This years theme was on.

The celebration for this year under the theme "Growing Trees and Greening Cities was marked in the Upper West Region at Panyan in the Nandom Municipality where various communities within the municipality gathered to mark the day.

The Acting Region Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Mr. Emmanuel Lignul called on community members to be watchful of their surroundings.

Mr. Emmanuel Lignul said there is the need for community members to set their own bye-laws on how best they can protect the environment especially when it comes to indiscriminate cutting of trees which has direct effect on the environment.

He said it is particularly alarming the rate at which community members destroy economic trees such shea, dawadawa, ebony and other trees indiscriminately leading to climate change and environmental degradation. He urged community members to set up community watchdogs in order to prevent the cutting down of trees especially economic trees as it has direct effect on the environment.

Touching on issues relating to biodiversity, Mr. Lignul stated that planting more trees will go a long way to sustain human existence as the planting of trees will lead to ecological balance, improved climate and abundance food through sustained flora and fauna deliberately created. There is the need, according to him, to grow trees leading to greening Ghana for sustainable consumption to sustainable development.

The sub divisional chief of Panyan, Naa Aapagr Lee said the situation is very alarming.

He said most of the youth of the area are now heavily engaged in tree cutting for commercial purposes a situation he said could spell disaster for the community and the country at large.

He said owing to this situation, within his jurisdiction they have instituted measures to curb the cutting down of trees. For example he said anybody caught cutting down trees is made to pay a spot fine and the trees seized and given to public schools to be used as firewood.

A forest officer Mr. Nasim N.K. Kadiri working with the Forestry Commission said there are guidelines as to how trees can be cut for whatever purpose. For example he said it is totally illegal to cut down trees within the catchment area of forest reserves.

This he said goes with a sanction if caught engaged in it. He urged community members to ensure that trees that are cut down are replaced by planting trees since it is the only way to sustain the environment.

The Chief of Kambah Sylvester Yelivielli who spoke to the media said tree cutting within the Kambah area has forced them to take drastic measures against it. He said the entire community has come out with the directive to make tree cutting within the Kambah area as illegal.

He added that anybody caught cutting down trees is charged a spot fine of five hundred Ghana cedis(Ghc 500.00) and the wood seized. This he said has kept in check the extent of tree cutting in the area.

The celebration of the World Environment Day in the Upper West Region drew many people from adjoining communities within the Nandom Municipality to Panyan to grace the occasion. In attendance were women of the area who voiced out their concerns about the negative effects of tree cutting within the area.
With the overwhelming support of New Yorkers across the state, now is the time for New Yorks Legislature to pass the Clean Slate Act, said advocate Marvin Mayfield, lead statewide organizer at the Center for Community Alternatives. This polling makes abundantly clear that New Yorkers believe in second chances and in the importance of allowing people with old conviction records a chance to get back on our feet, support our families and contribute to our communities.
Suspected jihadists killed 160 people -- including 20 children -- in the village of Solhan in Burkina Faso's conflict-wracked north on the weekend, in the deadliest attack since Islamist violence reached the West African country in 2015.

Here is what we know so far:

Where?

Northern Burkina Faso, similar to large parts of neighbouring Mali and Niger, is a vast, sparsely populated rural area.

The people in these landlocked regions -- mostly pastoral nomads -- are among the poorest in the world, with little access to education and social services.

With central governments wielding little control over these areas, they have become fertile recruiting ground for jihadist groups, including those affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

The province of Yagha, where Solhan is located, has seen fighting for control between rivals the al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS).

The area has been almost totally deserted by security forces in recent months.

However, there is a military detachment in the province's main city of Sebba, around 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Solhan, which intervened in the village several hours after the attack in the early hours of Saturday.

Local sources said Sunday they had recovered a total of 160 bodies from three mass graves.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore declared three days of national mourning and condemned the massacre as "barbaric" and "despicable".

Neither IS nor the GSIM had claimed the attack as of Monday.

Civilians caught in middle

Burkina Faso's army, which is inadequately trained and equipped, is mostly entrenched in camps outside the country's cities. It has been unable to cope with the rising Islamist violence since it crossed the country's border with Mali in 2015.

Aiming to bolster the country's faltering troops in the fight against the jihadists, in 2019 the government formally established local civilian defence groups called the Volunteers for the Defence of the Motherland (VDP).

However -- as has also been the case in Mali where the government has unofficially backed several militia groups -- the increasing activity of the VDP has led to jihadists taking out brutal retribution on civilians.

The assailants struck a VDP position around 2:00 am (0200 GMT) on Saturday, before attacking homes in Solhan and carrying out "executions", a local source said.

Civilians are often caught in the middle of the conflict, being targeted by the VDP or the military over suspicions they support the jihadists, who in turn accuse civilians of siding with the authorities.

International troops, including French from the Barkhane mission and Chadian from the G5 Sahel force, are also deployed in Burkina Faso's north.

The jihadist groups mainly attack state or army targets, often placing homemade bombs in the path of military vehicles.

The jihadists have continued to extend their influence in Burkina Faso since 2015 when they were mostly in the Ansarul Islam group, which is close to al-Qaeda and is based on the Malian border.

The extremely porous borders to Niger and Mali -- particularly in the volatile "three borders" region where Solhan is located -- has further allowed jihadists to spread across the region.

Dialogue?

Burkina Faso, like Niger, has long blamed Mali for the Islamist insurgency. Earlier this year, both countries were still claiming that the jihadists plaguing the Sahel were Malian and carrying out raids over their borders.

But as security forces have failed to staunch the bloodshed, countries in the region have been increasingly considering dialogue with the jihadists.

Last year Kabore opened the door to allowing jihadist fighters to return if they laid down their arms, particularly in the northern Djibo area. A ministry of reconciliation was established earlier this year.

Doubts about the state's ability to respond to the crisis have also affected the relationship between politicians and the military.

"How can one understand that when the country has recorded its deadliest attack in six years, no defence council nor crisis has been convened?" asked political scientist Drissa Traore.

"There is a kind of malaise within the army which does not favour unity, especially in the fight against jihadists."
The Deputy Minister-Designate for Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has rejected claims that governments Free SHS policy has affected the quality of education at the secondary school level in Ghana.

According to him, such claims are unfounded and should be disregarded completely.

The government has been criticized for introducing the double-track system as a temporary measure to address infrastructural challenges brought on by the implementation of the free SHS programme.

Some have argued that the double-track system has reduced the contact hours for teaching and learning for students, which in turn has affected the quality of secondary education.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, a former Education Minister and the National Democratic Congress running mate in the 2020 presidential election, in particular, has discredited the 2020 WASSCE results, suggesting that there was mass exam cheating by the students.

But answering questions before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Monday, June 7, 2021, Mr. Fordjour said the policy by the government has rather shaped the nation's educational sector.

He thus cited the 2020 WASSCE report to buttress his argument.

The Assin South legislator said the government ought to be commended rather than demonized, and called on to support the initiative,

I don't agree that quality has been substituted for quantity with the Free SHS policy because considering all the reports available, (the Annual Performance Report of the educational sector and WAEC 2020), it indicates that the education outcomes have been improving for the past five years steadily, and quality hasn't been compromised.

Recently, when the 2020 WAEC report was announced, out of the 465 students in West Africa that scored an A in all eight subjects, 411 (88%) of them were Ghanaian Free SHS graduates; and for the first time, 50% of students that sat for the WASSCE all passed for the core subjects. Such claims are not true and should be disregarded.

---citinewsroom
Gambias Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Badara Alieu Joof has paid a working visit to the Director-General of Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof. Mohammed Salifu.

Welcoming the visiting Gambian Minister, Prof Salifu gave a background to what led to the merger of the erstwhile National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) and National Accreditation Board (NAB) and the sweeping reforms that had taken place within Ghanas tertiary education landscape in the last four (4) years.

He further emphasized the commitment of the Government of Ghana to increase and meet the target of forty percent (40%) gross enrolment ratio in tertiary education.

For his part, the Gambian Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Badara Alieu Joof made reference to efforts to recalibrate educational institutions in the Gambia to conform with research and innovations in the world.

He said it was against this backdrop that the Government of Gambia recognized the need to transform the Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI) into a University of Science, Engineering and Technology (USET). After a thorough scan of the sub-region, the institution settled on Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana as its mentor. As part of the Mentorship programme USET will focus on Civil, Electrical/ electronic, Geomatics and Mechanical engineering as well as Veterinary Medicine for a start. USET is one of the selected ACE Impact Centers.

Minister Badara Alieu Joof indicated the need for capacity building for the Gambia National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority (NAQAA) and called for collaboration and assistance from GTEC to aid the growth of NAQAA.

In his response, Prof. Mohammed Salifu assured the visiting delegation of GTECs willingness to support NAQAA to build its capacity.

In attendance was Dr. Sylvia Mkandawire, Program Manager - Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact, officers of Ghana Tertiary Education Commission(GTEC) and the Association of African Universities (AAU).
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched the National Security Strategy document, the first such document in the history of the country.

The President explained that the document necessary for the existence of Ghanas National Security architecture, adding that the overarching vision of the National Security Strategy is to maintain Ghana as an open, tolerant, socially cohesive, peace-loving, people-centred, secure, united and prosperous constitutional democracy that upholds the rule of law.

The National Security Strategy also aims to establish Ghana as a land of opportunities, with the resolve and the capability to protect her people, her culture and her values, to spur growth, development and prosperity that inure to the well-being of her people, whilst positioning the country to play a meaningful and influential role at regional, continental and global levels, he said.

The President continued, Once operationalised, the Strategy will optimise the effectiveness of the security and intelligence sector, by revamping current systems and structures. The strategy will prioritise the effective use of resources to promote effective decision-making, through an institutional system that will ensure integrated and efficient co-ordination in all spectrums of national security.

The Strategy, President Akufo-Addo noted, will provide a new institutional structure, which will be equipped to confront threats through rapid, coordinated and comprehensive responses.

He was speaking at the ceremony on Monday, 7th June 2021, President Akufo-Addo to commission a new building for National Security which has been named after one of its most hardworking leaders, the late National Security Co-ordinator, Joshua Kyeremeh, who died so tragically early whilst in office, and was laid to rest a few days ago.

He explained that the implementation of the National Security Strategy will be driven systematically, transparently and accountably to ensure that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) achieve their expected outcomes, which would contribute significantly to enhancing the countrys cohesion, resilience and stability.

With the National Security Council providing strategic direction for the implementation of the National Security Strategy, the President noted that the Minister for National Security shall be responsible, to the National Security Council, for the day-to-day coordination of activities geared towards the successful implementation of the National Security Strategy.

President Akufo-Addo revealed further that the new Security and Intelligence Agencies Act (Act 1030) has made provision for the creation of a Ministerial Security Coordinating Committee, which comprises the Ministers for National Security, Defence, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice and Communications and Digitilisation.

Indeed, the multifaceted nature of the National Security Strategy, which assigns different roles to the various Ministries and Agencies, underscores the need for extensive education and sensitisation on the content of the Strategy, he said.

He, thus, tasked the Minister for National Security to organise workshops for all Ministers, Regional Security Councils, the leadership and Members of Parliament, Members of the Judiciary, religious leaders, the National Peace Council, the National House of Chiefs, Civil Society Organizations, youth and women groups, and various educational institutions, to deepen their understanding of their roles in the implementation of the strategy.

I acknowledge that, on matters regarding the implementation of strategies that are beneficial to the State, resource allocation and budgetary funding is key. Informed by this, the National Security Strategy requires the Minister for Finance to collaborate with the Minister for National Security to establish a Security Fund to support the implementation of the Strategy in emergency and crises, he added.

To enhance the implementation of the National Security Strategy, the President noted that the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies are to make specific budgetary provisions for the allocation of funds in the national budget.

I have directed the Ministry of National Security to come up with revised timelines for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies to develop their specific strategies, frameworks, policies and action plans per the National Security Strategy, he added.

President Akufo-Addo was certain that if we set our hearts and minds to this, and focus our energies on implementing successfully the National Security Strategy, we shall succeed in creating a more cohesive, inclusive, peaceful, progressive, prosperous, stable and united Ghana.
The pandemic has driven home the high value of personal data to the global economy, while also highlighting its vulnerability to abuse and attack. In response, governments around the world have been reviewing their data privacy and protections laws and regulations, including in South Africa. Global cybersecurity firm Kaspersky recently noted that cyberattacks are set to rise in African countries, especially in the key financial centres of South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. The cybersecurity firm noted that rapidly evolving digital techniques had led to an increased risk of Advanced Persistent Threats and hacking-for-hire events in Africa.

South Africa

In South Africa, the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Act (Act), was signed into law by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in early June 2021, bringing the countrys cybersecurity legislation in line with global standards. The Act compels electronic communications service providers and financial institutions to act when they become aware that their computer systems have been involved in a cyber security breach, as defined by Act. They must, according to the Act, report such offences to the South African Police Service within 72 hours of becoming aware of the offence, and preserve any information which may be of assistance in the investigation. Non-compliance with this provision is a criminal offence and massive fines can be imposed.

The Act further criminalises harmful data messages, such as those that invite or threaten violence or damage to property, as well as those that contain intimate images. Data is broadly defined in the Act as electronic representations of information in any form. The Act also criminalises cyber fraud, extortion, forgery and the theft of incorporeal property. Also listed as an offence is the unlawful accessing of a computer system, data storage medium or personal data. Those found guilty of a cybersecurity offence face hefty fines and lengthy prison sentences of up to 15 years.

POPIA

In South Africa, data security is also governed by the Protection of Personal Information Act. On 1 July 2021, the substantive implementation of key provisions of POPIA will become enforceable. This legislation, among other things, promotes the protection of personal information processed by public and private bodies, outlines the rights of data subjects, regulates the cross-border flow of personal information, introduces mandatory obligations to report and notify data breach incidents, and imposes statutory penalties for violations of the law.

One of the conditions for lawful processing in terms of POPIA is the use of security safeguards, which prescribes that the integrity and confidentiality of personal information must be secured by a person in control of that information. This is prescribed by POPIA in order to prevent loss, damage or unauthorised access to, or destruction of, personal information.

POPIA also creates a reporting duty on persons responsible for processing personal information, whereby they must report any unlawful access to personal information (a data breach) to the Information Regulator within a reasonable period of time. Like the Cybersecurity Act, POPIA brings South Africa in line with international data protection laws by regulating the processing of the personal information of natural and juristic persons and placing more onerous obligations on responsible parties that process such information.

In terms of POPIA, where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the personal information of a data subject has been accessed or acquired by any unauthorised person, the responsible party has to notify the Information Regulator, as well as the data subject, unless that persons identity cannot be established.

The notification has to be made as soon as reasonably possible after the discovery of the compromise, considering the needs of law enforcement or any measures necessary to determine the scope of the compromise and to restore the integrity of the responsible partys information system. The responsible party may only delay notification of the data subject if a public body responsible for the prevention, detection or investigation of offences or the Information Regulator determines it will impede a criminal investigation.

The notification must be in writing and must be communicated either via email or posted to the data subjects last known address. The notification could also be placed in a prominent position on the website of the responsible party, published in the media; or as directed by the Information Regulator. It must provide sufficient information to allow the data subject to take protective measures against the potential consequences of the compromise.

In addition, the Information Regulator may direct a responsible party to publicise, in any manner specified, the fact of any compromise to the integrity or confidentiality of personal information, if there are reasonable grounds to believe that such publicity would protect a data subject.

An organisation that is involved in a data breach situation may also be subject to an administrative fine, penalty or sanction, or civil actions and/or class actions.

Ghana

In 2020, Ghana similarly passed its Cybersecurity Act 2020, to oversee the countrys response to the prevention and management of cybersecurity incidents. The Act establishes the Cyber Security Authority and provides for the protection of the critical information infrastructure of the country. The Act also regulates cybersecurity activities, oversees the protection of children on the internet and seeks to develop Ghanas cybersecurity ecosystem.

Cybersecurity and Personal Data Convention

However, data privacy laws, which govern amongst other things, data security and breaches, are currently present in less than half of African countries. Regionally, the Southern African Development Community and the Economic Community of West African States have data protection policies in place and the continent is also covered by the African Unions Convention of the African Union on Cybersecurity and Personal Data(2014) (Convention) . As of May 2020, the Convention had only been ratified by eight out of 55 AU members (Angola, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda and Senegal), while 14 countries had signed but not ratified it. South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria have not yet signed the Convention.

Legislation governing the digital economy is essential to protect African citizens in terms of both their digital privacy rights and cybersecurity threats, while at the same time also ensuring that their online freedoms are not threatened. The AU has been encouraging its member states to sign the Convention and implement balanced local legislation that is fully enforceable and that respects human rights.

To facilitate this process, consultations with stakeholders in government, businesses (local and international) and organisations representing wider society, would ensure a balanced approach during the drafting of these laws. International legislation should be considered alongside local laws, given the borderless nature of the online environment, and consulting with technology experts on policy means that due consideration can be given to the specific nature of this rapidly developing sector. Considering the current rapid move to digitally-focused business models, the implementation of these legal protections and guidance has become urgent for all African countries.

Darryl Bernstein, Partner and Head of Dispute Resolution, and Janet MacKenzie, Partner and Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg
The National Organizer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Joshua Hamidu Akamba says President Akufo-Addo is worst than Adolf Hitler who became Africas most intolerant leader.

Joshua Akamba noted that the President will surely leave a legacy as a dictator as an oppressor of critics and journalists who criticized his government.

To him, just as dictators in Africa were removed from office, President Akufo-Addo must be handled in a manner that will ensure the freedom of expression and speech by people affected by his poor leadership.

President Akufo-Addo is going to leave a legacy of dictatorship. He is worst off than Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler was a dictator, but we have a civilian rule in Ghana, and yet, what kind of human rights lawyer do we have as a leader? We witnessed the Ayawaso West Wuogon saga, and yet the President failed to implement the recommendations. In a modern democracy, if we have a leader preventing people from expressing their views; we have journalists killed, and if we have others sacked for expressing their views, then we can say he is worst off than Adolf Hitler, Joshua Hamidu Akamba exclusively told Reynold Agyemang on Pae Mu Ka on Accra-based Kingdom FM 107.7

Some leaders including Adolf Hitler and others, according to the NDC scribe did not begin as despots but, it is their people around them who fan their egos and created despots out of themLet us not allow Nana Akufo Addo to become a despot, it will not help anybody.

Joshua Akamba also indicated that governance in the country irrespective of the government in power has been taken as a joke.
Just thinking about how after this photo ran Wall Street Journal columnists spent more time criticizing me for not smiling enough than asking Manchin precisely what areas of common ground he had in mind when he stood up for the GOP, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted along with the picture. Turns out voter suppression was one of them!
General Overseer of Calvary Charismatic Center (CCC), Reverend Ransford Obeng has appealed to Christians in Ghana to make themselves available to be counted in the upcoming census.

The CCC leader noted that having the right data and the true population size of the country is important.

Addressing the media at the church's headquarters at Ayigya during a blood donation exercise, Rev Obeng noted that census provides the opportunity for the Statistical Service to get the actual information of persons living in the country into its database.

This information, the revered gospel preacher noted helps in the development planning purposes of the country.

"It is important that as Christians we do all we can to support a worthy cause such as the upcoming census which would be used for development purposes", Rev Obeng posited.

BLOOD DONATION EXERCISE

Reverend Obeng who turned 65 over the weekend used the occasion to donate blood to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Medicine and Transfusion Unit.

Members of the church who gathered to celebrate the servant of God also donated pints of blood to the KATH team who had set up in church to collect same.

The CCC leader has for the past 5 years dedicated his birthdays to organising blood donation exercises.

Rev Obeng urged the public to use their influence and opportunities they have to better the lives of others.

"When God blesses you kindly use the influence you wield to do good to people especially the needy and the sick", the CCC leader intimated.

KATH TRANSFUSION UNIT HEAD

Dr Shirley Phyllis Owusu-Ofori, Head of KATH Transfusion Medicine Unit said she was happy with the contribution of CCC to restocking the blood bank.

She noted that CCC has for the past 5 years contributed 383 pints of blood to the unit.

Every pint of blood, she revealed has the potential of saving the lives of three people.

A CCC member herself, Dr Owusu-Ofori urged private and individual organisations as well as churches to emulate the example of Rev Obeng and CCC by donating blood as well as organising outreaches for same at regular intervals to restock the blood bank.

"I am happy that my Pastor has for the past 5 years diligently donated blood and committed church members in doing same and despite Covid-19 concerns the church ensured the protocols were observed to get people donating voluntarily", the KATH Transfusion Unit Head stated.
BOZEMAN, Mont. - Boaters who were stuck after encountering a shallow area were helped back out to deeper waters by a Gallatin County Sheriffs Deputy and a volunteer with Search and Rescue.

West Yellowstone Police Department dispatch received a 9-1-1 call from a group of boaters around 1:32 pm Saturday, June 5.

The boaters were wake boarding at Hebgen Lake when the boat came across a shallow area.

Passengers in the boat were reportedly thrown forward due to the sudden stop.

Nobody was injured, however, the boat was hopelessly stuck.

The boaters were able to wade to shore and request assistance from the Gallatin County Sheriffs Office.

A Gallatin County Sheriff Deputy and a volunteer from the Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue in West Yellowstone responded to the scene with a Sheriffs Patrol Boat.

The boat was freed and moved into deeper water with no damage.

Sheriff Springer would like to remind boaters recreating in the greater Yellowstone area to be cognizant the present water levels and to familiarize themselves on the many hazardously shallow areas of the local waterways, the post from Gallatin County Search and Rescue reads. Striking such hazards at high speed could result in equipment damage or injury.
India's federal government will provide free coronavirus shots to any adult starting later this month and take back control of the country's vaccination drive, marred by delays and shortages, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Monday.

The changes reverse a policy launched in April which tasked states and the private sector with vaccinating those between the ages of 18 and 44. The federal government will now procure 75% of all vaccines directly from the manufacturers and provide them to the states for free, while the remaining 25% will be purchased by the private sector.

Under the earlier policy, the federal government gave free shots to people above 45 years of age and front-line workers, leaving states and private hospitals to administer inoculations to those between 18 and 44.

Although most states vaccinated those in this age group for free, they were competing for doses with the private sector. Experts say vaccine makers reaped more profits by selling at a higher price to the private sector, causing many states to scramble for supplies.

Modi's announcement in a nationally televised speech came as pressure was mounting on his government to speed up vaccinations and ensure equity. Last week, the Supreme Court called the previous vaccination policy arbitrary and irrational."

India has administered just over 222 million vaccinations so far and less than 5% of the country's population has been fully inoculated.

Meanwhile, businesses in two of Indias largest cities were reopening as part of a phased easing of lockdown measures in several states now that the number of new infections in the country is on a steady decline.

India's capital, New Delhi, allowed businesses and shops to reopen with limited hours on Monday and its Metro, which serves the city and adjoining areas, resumed operation at 50% capacity. Last week, authorities in the capital allowed some manufacturing and construction activity to resume.

Now the corona situation is under control. The economy must be brought back on track, New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.

The strict lockdown measures had been in place since April at the start of a devastating surge in infections that lasted well into May and overwhelmed health care facilities in many parts of the country.

Some health experts fear the restrictions are being eased too soon and there are concerns that the virus is still spreading unchecked through Indias villages, where testing and medical care are limited.

Kejriwal warned that any new surge in infections could be more severe and said the administration will build new oxygen production facilities and expand the capacity of intensive-care units.

In the coastal state of Maharashtra, home to the financial hub of Mumbai and one of the worst-hit states, malls, movie theaters, restaurants and offices reopened in districts where the test positivity rate has fallen below 5%. The states huge rail network will, however, remain closed for the public.

Other Indian cities also started to gradually lift lockdown rules.

After registering a peak of more than 400,000 new cases a day in May, new infections and deaths have declined and the government hopes the reopening could resuscitate an economy that grew at only a 1.6% annual rate in the January-March quarter.

On Monday, new infections fell to their lowest point in two months.

The 100,636 cases added in the past 24 hours pushed Indias total to nearly 29 million, second only to the United States. The Health Ministry said 2,427 more people died in the previous 24 hours, driving the overall toll to 349,186. Both figures are believed to be vast undercounts.
IPPA between Hong Kong, Mexico to enter into force on June 16

Xinhua) 11:05, June 07, 2021

HONG KONG, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) between China's Hong Kong and Mexico will enter into force on June 16, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government announced on Sunday.

The HKSAR government said this will enhance the confidence of investors, expand investment flows between Hong Kong and Mexico, and further strengthen bilateral economic and trade ties.

Edward Yau, secretary for commerce and economic development of the HKSAR government, said that the 14th Five-Year Plan supports Hong Kong to foster cooperation and exchanges with countries and regions around the world.

"The HKSAR government has been making full use of Hong Kong's advantages under the HKSAR Basic Law and 'one country, two systems,' and has signed bilateral agreements, including IPPAs, with foreign economies to explore more opportunities for developing bilateral and multilateral cooperation benefits for Hong Kong," he said.

Yau said that the IPPA with Mexico is the fourth such agreement that the HKSAR government has signed this term. The other three were signed respectively with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), all of which have entered into force.

Taking into account the IPPA with Mexico, the total number of IPPAs in force between Hong Kong and foreign economies will increase to 22, covering 31 foreign economies, he added.

Under the IPPA with Mexico, the two sides undertake to provide investors of the other side with fair, equitable and non-discriminatory treatment of investments, compensation in the event of expropriation of investments, and the right to free transfers abroad of investments and returns. The IPPA also provides for settlement of investment disputes under internationally accepted rules, including arbitration.

(Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun)
With about 1,000 lawyers on staff, the department describes itself as one of the biggest law offices in the country. They handle everything from lawsuits against the mayor and the city to contracts, along with drafting and reviewing legislation. As the defense for city employees named in complaints, the agency has personnel info such as Social Security numbers for every such employee.
Major League Baseball has apparently decided that there are 42 too many minor league baseball cities and, according to Commissioner Rob Manfred, after the 2020 season, that will change. There will be a new agreement between the majors and the minors signed and a lot of cities will lose their
Lansdale, PA (19446)

Today

Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Showers and thundershowers likely. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
The recommendations come as Senate Republicans appear likely to later this month block passage of the For the People Act, a Democratic bill that would drastically expand voting rights on a federal level at a time when GOP legislators are enacting laws to make it harder to vote in several key battleground states.
ROCKBRIDGE  The Greene County states attorney will determine what charges will be filed against two pre-teen boys after fire caused $35,000 to $40,000 damage to the community park in Rockbridge.

Greenfield Fire Protection District firefighters were called to the park on Illinois Route 67 about 2 p.m. Sunday. Greenfield police and Greene County Sheriffs Department deputies also responded.
Overnight reports from Jacksonville police:

 Taurus J. Johnson, 46, of 1621 Lakeview Terrace was booked into the Morgan County jail at 3:51 a.m. Monday on a possession of methamphetamine charge.

 Kelsi R. Newberry, 32, of 124 S. Hill St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 8:30 p.m. Sunday on a battery charge.

 Colton L. Pagan, 29, of 760 W. Douglas Ave. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 2:23 a.m. Sunday on two counts of domestic battery.

 Barbara K. Marez, 28, of 527 S. Prairie St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 11:36 p.m. Saturday on charges of disorderly conduct and aggravated assault.

 Rocky A. Ireland, 32, of 711 E. Franklin St., Ashland, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 2:46 a.m. Saturday on a disorderly conduct charge.

 Christopher A. Basler, 34, of 23 Amos Drive, Springfield, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 12:17 a.m. Friday on a possession of methamphetamine charge.

 Dustin W. Mehrhoff, 32, of 731 N. East St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 7:49 p.m. Friday on a possession of a lost credit or debit card charge.

 Police are investigating a report that a 12-year-old boy was punched in the chest at 8:12 p.m. Sunday on West Chambers Street. According to the report, the boy and several friends were riding bicycles when they were followed by four to six high school-aged people in a van who tried to get them into the vehicle. The boy was punched when he refused.

 Brandy L. Drake, 39, of Winchester was cited on a charge of following too closely after the car she was driving struck one being driven by Shirley A. Clark, 78, of Perry at 6:28 p.m. Sunday in the 900 block of West Morton Avenue.

 Caleb J. Farve, 19, of Mount Sterling was cited on a charge of failing to yield right-of-way when the car he was driving and one being driven by Tonia R. Berry, 60, of Bluffs collided at 4:58 p.m. Sunday at Mound Road and Pitner Place.

 Joshua L. Stewart, 40, homeless, was arrested at 9:46 a.m. Sunday on a criminal trespassing charge in the 400 block of Sherman Street.

 The window of a shed in the 600 block of East Independence Avenue was removed, according to a report filed at 12:45 a.m. Sunday.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Maya Wiley want to slash the police department budget and shrink the police force at a time when Black and brown babies are being shot in our streets, hate crimes are terrorizing Asian and Jewish communities and innocent New Yorkers are being stabbed and shot on their way to work, he said in a statement.
JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (AP)  A technical problem that involved no immediate safety issue" forced Vice President Kamala Harris' plane to return to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland about 30 minutes after she had left Sunday on a trip to Guatemala and Mexico.

Air Force Two landed safely and she gave a thumbs-up when she got off.
Watertown, SD (57201)

Today

Lots of sunshine. High 88F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.
Luisellis prize-winning novel responds to migratory crisis View Photo

MEXICO CITY (AP)  Valeria Luiselli is pleased to have passed the libraries test with her first novel written directly in English, Lost Children Archive (Sound Desert), which received the Dublin Literary Award.

The 100,000-euro ($122,000) award, sponsored by Dublin City Council, is the top monetary prize for a single novel published in English. The finalists are nominated by libraries around the world.

That really seems to me to be the most beautiful thing about this award, Luiselli said in a recent interview with The Associated Press from New York, where she lives. It is a prize that is not linked, like all other prizes, to the speed of the market, but to the speed of reading.

Published in 2019, Lost Children Archive addresses the issue of migrant children traveling unaccompanied to the United States, something that the author has witnessed first-hand as a translator and interpreter for children at the immigration court of New York.

In the novel, a family made up of a couple of sound documentary creators and their children set out on a road trip from New York to the southern border, something Luiselli did in 2014. This and other trips gave rise to her story about displaced children that is intertwined with the domination and elimination of the Apache culture.

Crossing this country a different urgency took hold of me, the urgency to write about political violence towards the communities that this country considers outsiders, Luiselli explained. Thinking about the cycles that are repeated in the history of violence against certain communities, almost always violence motivated by the deep racism in this country, traveling and touring this country and seeing that, I decided to write Lost Children Archive.

The 37-year-old author has been previously praised by librarians. In 2020, her novel won the Andrew Carnegie Medal, presented by the American Library Association. At the time Luiselli called herself a radical nerd and remembered spending more time in libraries  between the stacks, in silent reading rooms, in the rare books & manuscript sections, and hovering behind the lenses of microfilm readers  than is probably healthy.

Before Lost Children Archive, she had published books translated from Spanish into English, including the novels Faces in the Crowd and The Story of My Teeth, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and winner of the Los Angeles Times award for best fiction; and Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions, winner of the American Book Award.

She has written extensively in Spanish. Luiselli, daughter of a diplomat father and Zapatista mother, was born in Mexico City in 1983, but has since lived in South Africa, South Korea, India and several European countries. She has lived in the United States for 13 years, where she awaits the birth of her second daughter with her partner, a Somali man raised in Canada.

Her center of gravity, however, remains in Mexico.

I grew up in a house where we were constantly reminded of our Mexican roots, she said. I grew up with a feeling that we lived abroad, and that home was there in Mexico, that that was our home and that one day we would return.

In Lost Children Archive, the mother is of Nanu indigenous origin, a Mexican ethnic group. One day she meets Manuela, a speaker of Triqui, an indigenous language of Oaxaca, and asks to record her speaking this language to document it. Manuela tells her that her daughters were on their way to meet her from Mexico but were arrested and could be deported. Thus arises the mothers obsession for those children who get lost along the way, while traveling with her own children looking at them, imagining what would happen if they were them.

As part of the plot, the mother participates in a vigil with a priest for the disappeared in raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in which the authorities seek to cover a detention quota: At first, I thought Father Juan Carlos was preaching from a kind of Orwellian dystopic delirium. It took me some time to realize that he wasnt. It took me some time to notice that the rest of the people there that day  were family members of someone who had, in fact, disappeared during an ICE raid, an excerpt reads.

Luiselli pointed to the increase in detention centers for migrants. According to the National Migration Forum, the United States has the largest detention system for migrants in the world, which has multiplied by 20 since 1979 and expanded 75% in the first decade of the 21st century.

In 2019, nearly 70,000 migrant children were in U.S. custody. Children are often held in a network of shelters, such a convention centers or military installations, a situation that Luiselli calls absurd.

Its absurd  It has become a way to feed the great monster of the private prison industry in the United States, said the writer. Basically they imprison migrants and with that they earn billions of dollars. Instead of giving them due process, instead of allowing a boy or a girl to live with their relatives while they process their visa, they are imprisoned in a childrens center. 

With the book, Luiselli worked directly with Daniel Saldana Paris to translate Lost Children Archive, edited in Spanish by Sexto Piso as Desierto Sonoro, into a version that feels as vivid as the original. When writing in Spanish, she works with translator Christina MacSweeney to bring her books into English.

She highlighted other contemporary writers who have addressed the issue of migration and borders, such as Samanta Schweblin, Gabriela Jauregui, Brenda Lozano, Cristina Rivera Garza, Dolores Dorantes, Natalie Diaz and Fernanda Melchor, whose Hurricane Season was a finalist for this years Dublin Literary Award.

I can only think of women who are writing very interesting things about the border, she said. There is a generation of writers right now with a very powerful voice  on topics that haunt and hurt us.

By BERENICE BAUTISTA

Associated Press
Do not come: Harris seeks hope at home for Guatemalans View Photo

GUATEMALA CITY (AP)  Vice President Kamala Harris offered an optimistic outlook for improved cooperation with Guatemala on addressing the spike in migration to the U.S. after her meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday. She also delivered a direct warning to migrants considering making the trek: Do not come. Do not come.

Her comments, during a press conference after she met privately with Giammattei, underscored the challenge that remains even as Harris engages in substantive talks with the Guatemalan and Mexican presidents during a three-day visit to the region this week, her first foreign trip as vice president.

I want to emphasize that the goal of our work is to help Guatemalans find hope at home, Harris said. At the same time, I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come, do not come.

In conjunction with Harris trip, the Biden administration announced that the Justice Department would create an anti-corruption task force and an additional task force to combat human trafficking and drug smuggling in the region. Harris also promised a new program focused on creating education and economic opportunities for girls there, among other new initiatives. And she told Giammattei that her goal in the region was to restore hope to residents so they no longer felt the need to flee their homeland for better opportunities in the U.S.

But for all the talk about new ways to cooperate, reining in corruption and improving living conditions in the region have been long-running challenges that previous administrations have been unable to achieve in their efforts to stem the tide of migration to the United States.

Part of the challenge remains that, despite the best efforts of U.S. officials, corruption underpins many of the regions governments. Indeed, Giammattei himself has faced criticism over his handling of the issue.

Last month, two lawyers who are outspoken critics of Giammatteis administration were arrested on what they say were trumped-up charges aimed at silencing them.

And the selection of judges for Guatemalas Constitutional Court, its highest, was mired in influence peddling and allegations of corruption. Giammattei picked his chief of staff to fill one of the five vacancies. When Gloria Porras, a respected force against corruption, was elected to a second term, the congress controlled by Giammatteis party refused to seat her.

On Monday, Giammattei seemed less than eager to address those issues.

Asked by The Associated Press about criticism of his record on corruption, Giammattei initially ignored the question. When pressed by another journalist to answer for the complaints against him, Giammattei seemed to bristle at the allegation that he was at fault, insisting there were zero allegations of corruption against him and labeling drug traffickers the biggest corruption issue in his nation.

Still, Harris expressed optimism about their ability to work together, telling reporters that the two had a very frank and very candid conversation that included the importance of anti-corruption and the importance of an independent judiciary.

Harris said the Justice, Treasury and State departments would work together on anti-corruption investigations and train local law enforcement to conduct their own.

We are creating this task force to address corruption. We are working on a task force that is about human smuggling. We are doing the work of requiring certain progress be made if we are going to attract U.S. investment, private investment, to this region, Harris said.

Giammattei said that the U.S. and Guatemala also agreed to collaborate on a very simple process through visas to allow for regular migration to the U.S., and that the two countries would work to prioritize family reunifications.

The White House also announced a $7.5 million commitment through USAID to support entrepreneurs and innovators in Guatemala, as well as millions more in investments in affordable housing, agribusinesses and loans to small businesses in the country.

Besides her meeting with Giammattei, Harris participated in a roundtable with Guatemalan community and civil society leaders and met with young female engineers and entrepreneurs.

In addressing the root causes of migration, Harris has laid out an approach centered on creating better opportunities and living conditions in the region through humanitarian and economic aid.

Harris had previously announced plans to send $310 million to provide support for refugees and address food shortages, and she recently secured commitments from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in the Northern Triangle countries to promote economic opportunity and job training.

Washington won some goodwill through its vaccine diplomacy this past week. Giammattei and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador both received calls from Harris on Thursday telling them the U.S. would be sending 500,000 doses and 1 million doses, respectively, of COVID-19 vaccine.

While in Latin America, Harris is also navigating the politics of immigration. Congressional Republicans have criticized both President Joe Biden and Harris for not visiting the U.S.-Mexico border and contend the administration is ignoring what they say is a crisis there. April was the second-busiest month on record for unaccompanied children encountered at the border, following Marchs all-time high. The Border Patrols total encounters in April were up 3% from March, marking the highest level since April 2000.

On Monday, Harris defended her decision not to visit the border, telling reporters she was focused on addressing the root causes of migration in a way that delivers tangible results as opposed to grand gestures.

But even as Harris made the case for reforms in the nations capital, those very migrants she hoped to help were still streaming to the nations borders.

On Monday, Henry Armando Rodriguez, 27, from El Paraiso in south-central Honduras, rested outside the migrant shelter in Tecun Uman at the Guatemala-Mexico border on his journey toward the United States. He didnt know about Harris visit but described reasons for leaving that touched on the hopelessness the vice president wants to address.

Life is very bad in Honduras right now, he said.

It was his first time attempting to migrate, he said. He decided to make the journey because it was impossible to find any agricultural work because of droughts at home.

When he was able to find work, he couldnt make enough money to pay for a decent home. He said that, because of poverty in Honduras, we have to flee from there to be able to look for new opportunities. And he wasnt impressed with the politicians who he says only claim to want to help when theyre fishing for votes around election season.

They promise you the sun and the moon, and then in the end they forgot all of that, he said. What interests them is only themselves, how they live, and the life of the poor is of little importance to them.

___

Associated Press writers Christopher Sherman in Mexico City, Sonia Perez D. in Guatemala City, Santiago Billy in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE

Associated Press
Immediately, he was off the streets and without a gun, she continued. It was an important signal to the community that we take very seriously both the desires to protect the rights of officers to be heard  there has to be due process  but that we will protect the public and the public trust at the same time.
PARIS (AP)  Google is being fined 220 million euros ($268 million) by Frances antitrust watchdog for abusing its dominant position in online advertising.

The search engine giant is also promising to overhaul the way its platform is used for buying and selling digital ads, at least in France, which could have repercussions on its ongoing legal fights with regulators elsewhere in Europe, the U.S. and around the world.

Google's advertising practices have harmed its competitors along with publishers of mobile websites and applications, the French Competition Authority said Monday. The authority said it is the responsibility of a company with a dominant market position to avoid unfairly undermining its competition.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, did not dispute the facts and opted to settle after proposing some changes, according to a prepared statement from the Competition Authority.

The settlement might serve as a roadmap for other governments that are scrutinizing Google's market power, said Douglas Melamed, a Stanford University law professor.

I imagine that Google's decision to settle reflected a judgment that it could live with those terms even if it were forced upon it by other jurisdictions, he said.

The head of the authority, Isabelle de Silva, said the decision was unprecedented in the way that it delved into the complex algorithmic auctions that power Google's business selling online display ads.

The fine, along with Google's commitment to changing its practices, "will make it possible to re-establish a level playing field for all players, and the ability for publishers to make the most of their advertising space, de Silva said.

Google France's legal director, Maria Gomri, said in a blog post Monday that Google has been collaborating for the past two years with the French watchdog on issues related to ad technology, notably the platform known as Google Ad Manager. She wrote that commitments made during negotiations would make it easier for publishers to make use of data and use our tools with other ad technologies."

After tests in the months ahead, changes will be deployed more broadly, some of them globally, Gomri said. She didn't specify which changes would apply outside of France.

The French authority's investigation was prompted by complaints from Rupert Murdochs News Corp., French newspaper group Le Figaro and Belgium-based Rossel La Voix. Le Figaro later withdrew its complaint.

U.S. tech giants have been facing intensifying scrutiny in Europe and elsewhere over their business practices. Germany became the latest country to launch an investigation of Google, using stepped up powers to scrutinize digital giants.

The German competition watchdog said Friday that it was examining whether contracts for news publishers using Googles News Showcase, a licensing platform launched last fall, include unreasonable conditions.

Google has been facing pressure from authorities to pay for news and signed a deal earlier this year with a group of French publishers that paves the way for it to make digital copyright payments.

European Union regulators have also charged Apple with stifling competition in music streaming and accused Amazon of using data from independent merchants to unfairly compete against them with its own products. They are investigating Googles data practices for advertising purposes and recently opened a formal antitrust investigation into Facebook's advertising practices.

In the U.S., the Justice Department and dozens of states brought antitrust lawsuits against Google last year. They are seeking to prove that Google has been methodically abusing its power as the internets main gateway in a way that hurts consumers and advertisers.
5 1 of 5 San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department Show More Show Less 2 of 5 San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department Show More Show Less 5 of 5









Trail seekers, there's one you should visit in San Antonio, as it just received a huge honor from the National Park Service.

Last weekend, the Apache Creek Greenway Trail was designated as National Recreation Trail by NPS. The award is the first time a Westside Creek trail is recognized nationally, and it is the only Texas trail added to the inventory this year.
BERLIN (AP)  Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives handily batted away a challenge from the far right in a state election Sunday that was seen as the last big test for Germany's political parties before a national vote in September.

Projections by public broadcaster ARD put Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union at 36.6%, a gain of more than 6 percentage points compared to the last election five years ago in the sparsely populated state of 2.2 million inhabitants.

The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, was projected to get 22% of the vote, a slight drop compared to 2016. The party has moved steadily further to the right in recent years and its chapter in Saxony-Anhalt has come under increased scrutiny from Germany's domestic intelligence service for its ties to extremist groups.

While elections in Germanys 16 states are often influenced by local issues and voting sentiments, they are also seen as important bellwethers for the national mood. A strong win for the CDU would be seen as a sign that the partys new leader, Armin Laschet, can hope for support from both conservatives and centrists on Sept. 26, when it aims to hold onto power at the federal level despite four-term chancellor Merkel not running again.

The election result, if projections based on partial counts are confirmed, would be a strong endorsement for incumbent governor Reiner Haseloff of the CDU, who now has the comfort of being able to pick from as many as four possible coalitions with smaller parties. For the past five years, the 67-year-old has governed in an unprecedented coalition with the center-left Social Democrats and environmentalist Greens.

Haseloff, whose popularity in the state was a strong pull for voters, ruled out any cooperation with AfD or the ex-communist Left party, who were projected to get 11% of the vote  a record low in the state.

The Social Democrats also fared worse than five years ago and were expected to get about 8.4%, while the Greens made modest gains to take 6%. Projections also showed that the pro-business Free Democrats entered the state assembly again after missing out five years ago, receiving 6.5%.

A final result wasn't likely before late Sunday or Monday, as many mail-in ballots had yet to be counted.

Haseloff expressed relief that voters backed centrist parties at the expense of the political fringes, saying the outcome showed a big, big majority had made a democratic choice and drawn a clear demarcation line to the right. Aside from its core message against immigration, the AfD this year campaigned strongly against pandemic restrictions and its election posters urged voters to demonstrate their resistance at the ballot box.

But Karamba Diaby, who chairs the Social Democrats chapter in the states biggest city, Halle, said the fact that the far right had again won more than a fifth of the total vote was very sad for democracy.

Diaby, who also represents his party in the national parliament, said the Social Democrats had failed to capitalize on their achievements in the state government  an argument that has also been used to explain its poor results at the federal level.

It's clear that we're not going to stick our heads in the sand, he said. The election campaign for the Bundestag starts tomorrow.
Eric Adams attack(ed) me, a black woman and mother, and civil rights lawyer, and attacked Ocasio-Cortez, someone who grew up in one of the poorest zip codes in this city and has served in a classroom, Wiley said. (He) attacked us because we are calling for the courage to invest in our communities, in the strategies that are proven to keep us safe.
I began my journalism career in Nashville in 1990, with my current position with Nashville Post having evolved since October 2000 (when I was with the now-defunct The City Paper, a sister publication of the Post starting in 2008).

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(Natural News) Australian authorities said nine more people developed blood clots after getting the AstraZeneca coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. The nine new cases brought the total number of patients who experienced the condition to 27. Australias Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) announced the new cases as the countrys mass vaccination program faces scrutiny.

New South Wales (NSW) recorded two cases  a 60-year-old woman and an 82-year-old woman. Two cases also came from Western Australia  a 72-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman. Queensland reported a 63-year-old man as the latest victim of the adverse reaction, while the state of Victoria confirmed that a 73-year-old woman there developed blood clots.

Three cases from the week prior completed the nine cases of blood clots the TGA confirmed. An 85-year-old woman from NSW and two cases from Victoria  a 62-year-old man and a 76-year-old woman  constituted the earlier blood clot reports. The TGA said that out of the 27 total patients who suffered post-vaccination blood clots, nine patients remain confined, and four require outpatient treatment.

About 3.8 million Australians have received at least one dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or the AstraZeneca vaccine, the only two approved vaccine candidates in the country so far. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine received provisional approval in January of this year, while AstraZeneca received provisional approval the following month. Only Australians aged 50 and above are allowed to get the AstraZeneca vaccine. Meanwhile, most patients who suffered from the post-vaccination blood clots were over 60 years old.

The TGA said: We continue to receive reports of side effects [linked] to the AstraZeneca [COVID-19] vaccine as it becomes more widely available in Australia. The reports are generally consistent with what is being observed internationally. According to the Australian regulator, serious blood clots with a low blood platelet count is triggered by the immune systems response to the AstraZeneca vaccine and different from other clotting conditions. The agency nevertheless reassured that it and other regulators worldwide continue to monitor and investigate this issue.

AstraZenecas serious adverse reaction threw a monkey wrench into Australias vaccination program

Australias COVID-19 vaccination program hit a roadblock in April after a 48-year-old woman died after being inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. The woman was a resident of NSWs Lake Macquarie area. The British-made vaccine comprised a huge percentage of the Land Down Unders vaccination program  but the reports of blood clots have undermined the countrys endeavor.

Canberra has ordered an additional 20 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, but the earliest time they are expected to arrive is October of this year. The country also ordered a few Moderna doses also set to arrive later in the year. (Related: MEDICAL FASCISM: Australian Prime Minister says everyone will have to get vaccinated for coronavirus, whether they like it or not.)

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been criticized for the slow pace of vaccinations in the country. His critics included Victoria Deputy Premier James Merlino, who slammed Morrisons government during a May 27 press conference in Melbourne. This nations vaccine rollout has been slower than we have hoped. That is a fact. [If] more people were vaccinated, we might be facing a very different set of circumstances than we are today, Merlino said.

Meanwhile, the state of Queensland announced it will not offer the AstraZeneca vaccine candidate for COVID-19 inoculations when it establishes vaccine hubs later in the year. The states Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Queensland was planning to set up mass vaccination hubs near the end of 2021. However, she noted that the state will wait for more vaccine doses to arrive before doing so.

Queensland is a big state, [and] it is so decentralized. [So] much planning is happening at the moment for that final quarter of the year. [When] we have more supply [of] Pfizer [and] Moderna, [vaccination] is going to ramp up  and I know that Queenslanders are going to go out there in droves when we have all that supply ready, Palaszczuk said. (Related: Queensland pulls AstraZeneca vaccine following more cases of blood clots.)

Federal Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd acknowledged the blood clots and low platelet count associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. However, he stressed that the chances of these adverse reactions occurring are very small.

Kidd also warned of possible headaches as a side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine. People should be particularly alert to severe persistent headaches occurring four to 20 days after vaccination. These are different [from] the usual pattern of headaches, he said. The deputy chief medical officer advised against using over-the-counter painkillers for them.

Visit VaccineDamage.news to read more articles about the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and its adverse effects.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk 1

DailyMail.co.uk 2
(Natural News) The Anthony Fauci email scandal is blowing up with new leaks showing that Fauci knew at least as far back as February 2020 that Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines threaten to enhance the spread of disease.

Fauci was asked by University of Chicago research associate William J. Buikema on Feb. 28 of last year about why vaccines still in the early testing phase could not be used for emergency purposes to keep everyone safe against the Chinese Virus. Faucis response was to instruct National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) deputy director Cristina Cassetti to inform Buikema that the jabs are basically promoters of disease.

Please respond, Fauci wrote to Cassetti, along with, Mention risk of enhancement.

We warned you about this back in May when scientists from New York University (NYU) and Tulane University published a paper revealing that Wuhan Flu shots promote anti-dependent enhancement, or ADE, which increases a persons risk of getting sick.

The whole point of Chinese Virus injections, supposedly, is to decrease disease risk, not increase it. And yet all of the science, including Faucis own words, indicate that getting jabbed will only make things worse, not better.

Fauci has so much blood on his hands

Big Pharma did everything it could to obscure the risk of ADE from its clinical trials, though we can clearly see that Fauci knew about it. The plan was to unleash these things at warp speed without letting the world know the truth, and that plan worked.

For much of the past year, we were called conspiracy theorists for drawing attention to the facts to which even Fauci quietly admitted were valid. At no point did Fauci ever set the record straight publicly, though, which resulted in tens of millions of people getting injected under false pretenses.

Every single person out there who suffered illness or injury as a result of getting a Wuhan Flu shot without full disclosure as to the risks involved now has a case against Fauci, should they choose to pursue one.

The specific and significant COVID-19 risk of ADE should have been and should be prominently and independently disclosed to research subjects currently in vaccine trials, as well as those being recruited for the trials and future patients after vaccine approval, in order to meet the medical ethics standard of patient comprehension for informed consent, the aforementioned study explains.

Fauci is also responsible for unleashing the virus from the start, having funneled American taxpayer dollars to Wuhan to perform gain of function research on bat coronaviruses.

The more that gets revealed every single day, the more it becomes clear that Fauci is responsible for the virus, the plandemic, the vaccines, the global economic fallout, and the untold millions of injuries and deaths that resulted from all of it.

Fauci is a mass murderer, in other words, who must be held accountable for his crimes against humanity. Americas doctor lied to the world about everything, resulting in almost unfathomable consequences to society.

Earlier experimental vaccines for SARS, a cousin of the Chinese Virus, also had similar problems. Fauci developed those, too, so the guy has likely known for years that virus injections make people more susceptible to disease.

How many people died back then in addition to those who died ever since the beginning of last year, all thanks to Faucis lies and deception? Perhaps only God knows the answer to that, and he certainly will hold Fauci to account for every last life that was lost.

More related news stories about the Fauci Emails can be found at Conspiracy.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
On the other side were immigrant groups that argued many people who came to the U.S. for humanitarian reasons have lived in the country for many years, given birth to American citizens and put down roots in the U.S.
(Natural News) A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request has exposed Anthony Fauci as a treasonous criminal who premeditatively lied about the origin of the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19).

An email sent from Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance to Fauci back on April 18, 2020, roughly six weeks after the plandemic was launched, shows that Fauci agreed early on to lie about the lab leak theory right from the start.

Daszak, whose group has extensive ties to the illegal gain of function research that Fauci was funding at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), thanked the fake television doctor and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for his service in obscuring the true origin of the Chinese Virus from public view.

As the PI of the ROI grant publicly targeted by Fox News reporters at the Presidential press briefing last night, I just wanted to say a personal thank you on behalf of our staff and collaborators, for publicly standing up and stating that the scientific evidence supports a natural origin for COVID-19 from a bat-to-human spillover, not a lab release from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Daszak wrote in the email to Fauci.

From my perspective, your comments are brave, and coming from your trusted voice, will help dispel the myths being spun around the virus origins. Once this pandemics over I look forward to thanking you in person and letting you know how important your comments are to us all.

Fauci responded with a simple, Many thanks for your kind note.

Daszak: Coronaviruses are easily manipulated in a lab to build bioweapons

Daszak, who also works for the World Health Organization (WHO), is on the record for admitting to manipulating coronaviruses through gain of function research. In the following video from December 2019, Daszak openly admits how good these viruses are for tinkering around with in a laboratory setting (watch around the 27:30 mark):

As you will notice, Daszak openly admits to tampering with coronaviruses in the lab. He says they are easy to manipulate, and that their spike proteins drive a lot about what happens.

You can get the sequence you can build the protein, we work with Ralph Baric at UNC to do this, insert into the backbone of another virus and do some work in a lab, he further admitted.

Even long before the plandemic was announced, Fauci was fully aware of the type of research Daszak was doing. It would have been no surprise to Fauci, based on the contents of other earlier emails, that the Chinese Virus was potentially engineered in a lab, and yet he refused to even entertain the idea on the national stage.

Nearly a year before the official investigation into the Wuhan Flus origins even began, Fauci and Daszak had colluded together to dismiss the idea when asked about it publicly. Amazingly, Daszak was also assigned to be one of the lead investigators, ensuring that the truth remained shrouded.

Within three short hours of visiting the WIV back in February 2021, Daszak predictably declared that there was nothing to see here, instead pointing everyone back to the bat soup conspiracy theory. Is this any surprise, seeing as how both Daszak and Fauci were complicit in shoveling hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Chinese lab to conduct illegal research on bat coronaviruses?

So what is the penalty for having killed over 3.5 million people and crashed the world economy? asked one commenter at Summit.news.

To the International Court of Justice in The Hague, with all those involved, for crimes against humanity, wrote another.

More of the latest news about Fauci, Daszak, and Chinese Virus deception can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

Summit.news

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Republican Reps. Steve Calise of Louisiana and James Comer of Kentucky called on National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci to testify about the origins of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) after thousands of his work emails were released to the public this week.

Thousands of Faucis emails covering the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak  3,200 pages total, many of them redacted  were released recently under a freedom of information request. Some of the emails suggested that his team scrambled in early 2020 to respond to public reporting about the virus leaking from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).

Those emails also hinted that those officials were concerned about prior U.S. involvement with the laboratory.

Scalise, the top Republican on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, and Comer, a ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, issued a letter to top committee Democrats.

They said it is now imperative that Dr. Fauci come before our committees to provide information related to the origins of the novel coronavirus as well as the U.S. governments role in funding research that may have contributed to the development of the novel coronavirus.

Scalise and Comer wrote: The American people have a right to know what our government knew about the origins of the pandemic and when it was known.

They added that the unreacted versions of all of Dr. Faucis recently released emails should be pursued.

Faucis NIAID awards grant that funded gain-of-function research at WIV

One of the emails in question was sent to Fauci by Peter Daszak, head of EcoHealth Alliance. In the email sent in April last year, Daszak praised Fauci and called him brave for seeking to debunk the lab leak-theory.

During interviews with CNN and MSNBC on Thursday, Fauci said that an email he received from the EcoHealth Alliance executive has been misconstrued.

Thats nonsense. I dont even see how they get that from that email, said Fauci. I have always said, and will say today to you  that I still believe the most likely origin is from an animal species to a human, but I keep an absolutely open mind that if there may be other origins of that, there may be another reason, it could have been a lab leak.

Documents show about $600,000 of a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) given to EcoHealth Alliance was channeled to the WIV to study bat coronaviruses.

The NIAID, a sub-agency under the NIH, awarded the grant to the nonprofit group. That grant apparently ended up funding WIV scientists conducting gain-of-function research, a risky area of study that makes a virus even more contagious. (Related: Fauci secretly funded gain of function research at Wuhan lab that produced Covid-19.)

Under this premise, Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin said Thursday, June 3, that they started an investigation into what they described as a lack of oversight into gain-of-function research.

The White House has defended Fauci amid scrutiny of his recently released work emails. Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Fauci had been an undeniable asset in the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The president and the administration feel that Dr. Fauci has played an incredible role in getting the pandemic under control, being a voice to the public throughout the course of this pandemic, Psaki said at a press briefing on Thursday.

Trump: Fauci has a lot of questions to answer

Allies of the infectious disease specialist say Faucis messages show nothing more than a dedicated public servant navigating the early days of a once-in-a-century pandemic. But conservative critics are suggesting Fauci may have engaged in a cover-up, and claim that he perjured himself in testimony to Congress.

During congressional testimony on May 12, Fauci emphatically denied the U.S. had ever funded gain-of-function research at the WIV. In a subsequent Senate hearing on May 26, Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana asked how Fauci could be sure that Wuhan scientists did not use the money for gain-of-function research.

You never know, Fauci conceded, adding that he believed the Chinese researchers were trustworthy.

Former President Donald Trump, widely vilified last year when he raised the possibility that COVID-19 came from the WIV, said on Thursday that Fauci has a lot of questions to answer. Related: Fauci failed to warn Trump White House about gain of function research ban being lifted.)

What did Dr. Fauci know about gain-of-function research, and when did he know it? Trump said in a statement. China should pay $10 trillion to America and the world for the death and destruction they have caused.

COVID-19 has infected more than 172 million people and killed more than 3.7 million around the world.

According to an investigation published Thursday in Vanity Fair magazine, Department of State officials discussed the origins of coronavirus at a meeting on December 9, 2020. They were told not to explore claims about gain-of-function experiments at the Wuhan lab to avoid attracting unwelcome attention to U.S. government funding of such research.

Gain-of-function studies involve altering pathogens to make them more transmissible in order to learn more about how they might mutate.

The Wall Street Journal reported late last month that three employees at the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill and were admitted to hospital in November 2019, weeks before the first reported COVID-19 cases.

Days after the report came out, President Joe Biden instructed intelligence agencies to conduct a 90-day review into whether the virus could have emerged from a Chinese lab. His administration had previously deferred to the World Health Organization for answers on how the pandemic began.

Follow Pandemic.news for more news and information related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

BBC.com
(Natural News) Brandi McKuin of the University of California, Santa Cruz claims that covering Californias canals with solar panels can save the drought-prone state around 65 billion gallons of water every year.

She explained that canopies of solar panels would provide shade to the canal water during the summer months. This, in turn, would save enough water to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or meet the residential water needs of over two million people, she said.

This came as California is currently experiencing widespread water shortages and dry conditions. Already, the states 154 major reservoirs are collectively at 71 percent of where they typically are on average. Federal climate analysts from the National Integrated Drought Information System called the outlook for Californias reservoir levels recovery grim in their most recent report.

Water scarcity is a big concern for our state, especially when we have frequent droughts, McKuin said.

She added that water conservation is critical because droughts in the state are expected to get worse. To that end, she recommended assessing the feasibility of installing solar panels over Californias canals.

Indias canal-top solar power plant

Solar-covered canals are currently in use in India, with the state of Gujarat being the first in the country to cover its canals with solar panels. The state launched a pilot project in 2012 that installed solar panels atop a 2,460-foot stretch of irrigation canal. Three years later, the first large-scale canal-top solar power plant was built over the canals that feed into the Narmada River in the states Vadodara district.

Manik Jolly, CEO of Grassroots and Rural Innovative Development, who was involved in the pilot project, said that the energy generated from the solar canals could provide electricity to farmers during the energy-intensive irrigation season. In addition, the power generated could be fed into the state grid, sold to distribution companies or used by the canal authority.

Pundits said that installing solar panels over canals and other waterways benefits both the installation and the water beneath it. The running water keeps solar panels cool, which increases their efficiency to at least 2.5 percent. At the same time, the solar panels minimize the evaporation of water. That is important for states like Gujarat, where canals are mainly used for irrigation and evaporation is a big problem, said Pulkit Dhingra, founding director of Ahmedabad-based AHA Solar Photovoltaics.

Disadvantages of installing solar panels over canals

Installing solar panels over waterways has a lot of drawbacks as well. Canal-top solar plants are more expensive to build than normal solar plants. For one, the structure supporting the panels have to be galvanized with a protective zinc layer because the water below can corrode metal.

Finding the right location is also a challenge since the width of the canal has to be just right, Dhingra said. If the canal is too wide, the installation becomes doubly difficult and expensive to construct. If its too narrow, the panels that can be installed are too few to generate enough energy. Moreover, the canal has to be long enough to accommodate the planned solar structure.

Like solar panels placed on land or rooftops, canal-top solar panels have to be cleaned regularly to maintain their efficiency. But operating and maintaining canal-top power plants can be challenging and expensive because ramps have to be built to enable cleaning, Jolly said. (Related: Solar power costs up to 3x as much as fossil fuels, nuclear and wind power.)

Security is also major issue, according to Payal Saxena of Ahmedabad-based consultancy firm Gensol Engineering. Because canal-top plants are spread over large areas and cannot be protected by boundary walls or fencing, security concerns are major. Cameras may have to be installed to monitor pilferage, Saxena said.

There are plenty of other problems. Solar panels should face south to maximize the absorption of solar energy but most canals direction could not be dictated. In addition, solar panels act as an obstruction to canal repair and silt removal. Installing them also requires cutting down trees along the canals since the area needs to be shadow-free.

Learn more about the disadvantages of solar power plants at SolarTechReview.com.

Sources include:

CleanTechnica.com

TheGuardian.com

BBC.com
(Natural News) There is a good chance that Anthony Fauci is currently under criminal investigation, which begs the question: When will his house be raided by the Feds like Roger Stones was?

During a recent segment of his Fox News show, host Tucker Carlson revealed that some of Faucis emails obtained via Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) bear redactions that suggest he could be the subject of a criminal inquiry  which he clearly should be.

Fauci is a career criminal and a fraud, and millions of people are now dead because of what he has done. The world is rapidly figuring this out, finally, but we wonder if true justice will ever be served?

While many mistakenly believed that Fauci was here to help us stay safe against the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19), the reality is that Fauci is the reason why we were plagued with it in the first place.

As Carlson puts it, Fauci is just another sleazy federal bureaucrat who is deeply political and often dishonest. This is probably too kind, as Fauci seems to always be dishonest.

Thanks to Buzzfeed, of all places, we now know that Fauci lied about the origins of the Chinese Virus, lied about his involvement in its creation, lied about hydroxychloroquine, lied about face masks, lied about lockdowns, and lied about vaccines.

There is pretty much nothing that Fauci told the truth about this past year, which resulted in business failures, economic collapse, millions of deaths and societal chaos. Fauci really did play the role of the grim reaper in 2020.

The world deserves to see justice delivered to Fauci

Fauci also lied about gain of function research, which he offshored to Wuhan after it was banned here in the United States. He also covered for Ralph Baric, Peter Daszak, Bill Gates and other co-conspirators concerning their involvement in the scheme.

Fauci ruined so many lives this past year with his lies that many are calling for swift and appropriate justice. Perhaps that justice is soon to come.

What Fauci has done is nothing short of treason against the United States, and against humanity at large. The guy is a villain of the worst kind, and he must be held accountable for his actions.

To call him a doctor is remiss, which is why this writer never refers to him as such. Fauci is a con man and someone who absolutely cannot be trusted, especially in matters of life and death.

Still, there are some out there who believe that Fauci should be thanked for his contributions to the plandemic. There are some who believe that Fauci is some kind of savior, despite what has been revealed.

Tony Fauci is no longer a scientist, assuming he ever was one, Carlson says. Tony Fauci is a figure of religious veneration. He is Jesus for people who dont believe in God.

The jig is up, though. Fauci is done. He will never again hold a position like he currently does, and if there is anything decent and right still left in the world, he will soon be behind bars  at best.

Fauci lied under oath on numerous occasions concerning his involvement in creating and fomenting the spread of the Wuhan Flu. Were it not for his existence, there probably never would have been a Chinese Virus in the first place.

At this point  we do know that Fauci hasnt simply lied about the origins of COVID, pretending to know things he could not know, Carlson added during the segment. He has also lied about vaccines in key ways, denying the existence of natural immunity.

To keep up with the latest news about the Fauci emails, visit Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

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Before the recent ban for German officials in Afghanistan, the soldiers had been permitted to a certain allotment of alcohol each day, depending on what theyre drinking. For example, two beers had been permitted on a daily basis.
New Castle, PA (16103)

Today

Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. High near 85F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 55F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
New Castle, PA (16103)

Today

Partly cloudy with isolated thunderstorms possible. High near 85F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Some passing clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 55F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
Early voting for the Democratic mayoral primary and all the other races begins precisely at 8 a.m. Saturday and all balloting ends promptly at 9 on primary night, June 22. However, the timing of the counting by the Board of Elections of this huge test of ranked-choice voting will be much less certain. All we know is that its going to take a while, a long while, a much-too-long while. The mayoral candidates must object and help force the board to go much faster.
Hampton - Douglas M. LaPorte, 63, of Hampton, passed away on Sunday, June 6, 2021 at his home. He was born in Albany, NY on October 6, 1957 a son of Earl LaPorte and Rosemary (Pomakoy) Snyder. Doug was a volunteer firefighter in NY in his younger years and went on to work for various Walmart
Nirupama Viswanathan By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: While some roadside vendors are expecting relief through the lockdown relaxations set to come into effect from Monday, the struggle is set to continue for several others, especially those in tourist spaces such as beaches.

The city is under lockdown, so even if roadside shops are allowed to function, most of them wont be able to do profitable business. Many of them are in areas like George Town, where they are dependent on crowds. Until the lockdown is lifted completely, not many people will come out to buy supplies, said C Thiruvettai, president, Chennai Street Vendors Association.

Beaches were closed for the weekend crowds in April this year, putting vendors out of business for about two months now. Other roadside vendors shut shop during the total lockdown that was announced in May.

Most street vendors I know are in debt. In several cases, they avail a loan of, say Rs 10,000, minus interest, and have to repay Rs 100 every day for 100 days.

Now, without any income, they arent even able to eat three meals a day, let alone repay their debt, said V Mageshvaran, secretary of the National Association of Street Vendors of India. Since they are out of business, nobody will lend money to them as it might be difficult for them to repay it.

Right now, fruit and vegetable vendors may be able to sustain themselves, but those selling plastic products, watches, handkerchiefs and other items are in a difficult situation, he added. Vendors on Marina Beach sought to be included in the State governments financial assistance schemes.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: After the success of Selfie With Daughter campaign in India, Nepal has now joined the bandwagon, where it has been launched in collaboration with the Nepal Internet Foundation. Similar to the way the campaign was promoted in many states of India, including Haryana, during the last lockdown, it is getting much publicity during the ongoing lockdown in the Himalayan nation.

This is the first time in Nepal such a campaign is being held to honour daughters. More than 1,300 people have posted selfies with their daughters besides 700 videos on TikTok, said Sunil Jaglan, Founder of the Selfie With Daughter campaign.

Originally, the campaign started at Bibipur village in Jind district of Haryana. It was launched by former sarpanch Sunil Jaglan in 2015. In 2017, late former President of India Pranab Mukherjee had launched its app format.

The campaign would serve as a milestone in making the society aware of the importance of daughters and ensuring their rights at a time when harmful practices against women such as chhaupadi, a practice requiring menstruating women/girls banishment from houses, continue in the country, said Bikram Shrestha, president, Nepal Internet Foundation The Nepal chapter of the initiative was launched on May 9 through a virtual program.

Through different rounds of selection, three selfies captured during the campaign period would be given the Best Selfie Award in which the winners will be given prizes of Rs 21,000, Rs 11,000,Rs 5,100 along with the trophy and certificates, said the organisers.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Delhi's Women and Child Development department will collect data on children who have lost one or both parents to the coronavirus pandemic so that they can avail the benefits announced by the government, officials said Monday The data will be collected with the assistance of the health department, WCD Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said while chairing a high-level meeting to review preparations to deal with a possible third wave of COVID-19.

The minister told PTI that caregivers of such children will be able to apply online also.

The meeting was attended by the Director of the Department of Women and Child Development (WCD), Director of Social Welfare Department and senior officers of the Health Department, Rajiv Gandhi Hospital and Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, an official statement said.

Officials said that with the data on children who have lost one or both parents to COVID, the government will be able to effectively reach out to them with it is schemes.

Last month, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that the government will bear the cost of education and upbringing of children orphaned by the pandemic.

Gautam said that his department will execute the schemes.

"The data is being collected to identify such children who can be given benefits. We will be taking the data of fatalities from the health department and also deploying our officers for it.

ALSO WATCH:

"Also, people will be applying online to avail the schemes. I have given directions to prepare the form within the next two days. The form will have to be filled by the caregivers of the children," Gautam told PTI.

The form will be available on the respective district portals.

The Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has identified 32 children who were orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic in the national capital.

Ten more children have been identified who have lost their single parent to the viral disease, the panel had said.

Gautam said that the data collected by the DCPCR will also be helpful The Director of the WCD department said that data is being sought from the Health Department so that a survey can be conducted to know about the actual number of such children, including if they are homeless or differently-abled The officials of the health department informed the minister about the ongoing preparations for children across hospitals in Delhi which include special ventilators and masks, the statement said.

Special arrangements are also being made for parents of children who are in hospital in terms of their stay and vaccination.

A provision is also being made for the vaccination of parents, it said.

The only effective measure to protect children is by vaccinating the parents and ensuring a sound medical infrastructure catering to the needs of children, the statement said.

In the meeting, the minister ordered that all the departments will have to work in close coordination with each other to ensure the safety of the children who are vulnerable in the potential third COVID wave, the statement said.

Officers of the WCD Department apprised the minister that children living in institutional care such as children's homes, observational centres and shelters have to be prioritised with the help of NGOs and Anganwadi workers.

For this, the department will have to work as a nodal agency between all childcare homes, observation homes, NGOs, etc to ensure smooth and seamless coordination, it said.

In childcare institutions, trained employees will be required during the potential third wave of Corona, for which preparations need to be made.

WCD officials said that a mobile unit can be used to provide medical facilities to such institutions.

The fact that caregivers, staff and supervisors of children's homes need to be vaccinated on a priority basis was also discussed in the meeting.

The Health Department said that experts should be available in every child care home so that they can assess how many beds, ventilators, oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, etc.

would be needed in each institution, the statement said.

"All these preparations are being made keeping in mind the third COVID wave which is expected to impact children and also the fact that vaccines for children under 18 are still not available in India," the statement added.

Gautam instructed the officials that there should be seamless communication and coordination between all agencies and departments.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: A 31-year-old civil defence volunteer was arrested on Sunday from south Delhi's Sangam Vihar area for allegedly impersonating a Delhi Police sub-inspector and prosecuting people for violating COVID-19 norms.

The accused has been identified as Suneel Kumar, a resident of Sangam Vihar.

According to the Delhi Police, the arrest was made when he was checking people for COVID-19 violations and constable Amit reached the spot and checked his identity card.

"The accused Suneel Kumar was carrying a fake I-Card of Delhi Police. He was also carrying his Aadhar Card, Disaster Management Duty Pass and Civil Defence Card. He was using fake I-Card of Delhi Police and represented himself as an employee of Delhi Police," the police said.

An FIR has been registered against him at Tigri police station.

"After that accused person was arrested, fake I-Card, other documents and his uniform, worn at the time of the incident were taken into possession through seizure memo," the police added.

Further investigation is underway.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: A court here turned down a plea of Delhi Police to produce former JNU student Umar Khalid and activist Khalid Saifi in handcuffs before trial courts, noting that "they are not gangsters".

The plea application which came up for hearing before Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav sought to produce the 2020 Delhi riots accused in "handcuffs in both hands from back side", contending that they are "high-risk prisoners".

The judge dismissed the plea observing that it is devoid of merits and filed in a mechanical manner and without application of mind by the high echelons of the Delhi Police and prison authority.

"The accused persons, who are sought to be produced in fetters and handcuffs, are admittedly not previous convicts. They are not even gangsters," the Additional Sessions Judge stated in an order dated June 5.

He further said that the plea is not required at this stage as the accused are not being produced in the court physically due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ALSO READ | Umar Khalid recovers from COVID-19 in Tihar jail

The judge also noted the replies submitted by the Superintendent of Mandoli and Tihar jail, Additional DCP (Special Cell) and DCP of third battalion of Delhi Police, on the plea.

The DCP told the court that in the aftermath of an attempt made by armed assailants to free an undertrial prisoner at GTB Hospital, the police had decided to request the court for permission to handcuff high-risk prisoners who are prone to escape.

"As part of the exercise, the current application for handcuffing UTPs Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi was moved for the consideration of Hon'ble Court," the senior police officer stated in a reply submitted to the court on April 26.

However, in the reply given by the Additional DCP of Special Cell, it was stated that no such application seeking to produce both the accused in handcuffs, was filed before any court or other authority.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: Kochi-based Gurudwara Singh Sabha associated with Khalsa Aid International,a UK based non-profit humanitarian organisation, will provide oxygen concentrators to those in need.The second wave of Covid has caused a massive shortage of oxygen beds in hospitals across the county. Health centres across India are struggling to cope with large number of new cases. Due to which several patients in critical condition are being turned away, many dying at home without access to medical help.

We are providing oxygen concentrators to those in need. Several patients require oxygen concentrator support after their treatment. It is a free service. There is no rent or deposit. Those who need oxygen concentrators can approach us and we will be providing it at the earliest, said Anmol Singh, a volunteer at Khalsa Aid International.Khalsa Aid International has provided 40 oxygen concentrators for distribution. Out of these, 10 concentrators have been handed over to IMA, 10 to NHM and the remaining 20 are distributed by Gurudwara Singh Sabha.

Each patients health condition is evaluated by doctors. There is a documented process where we ensure that the need of the patient is genuine and then hand over the oxygen concentrator. Once their use is over, it is brought back, sanitised and passed on to the next needy patient, he said.The initiative was started on May 26 and till now the group has provided oxygen concentrators to more than 10 patients across the state.

We have a huge social media group where volunteers from each district are connected and informed about the needs of the patients, said Anmol.Gurudwara Singh Sabha Kochi was at the forefront during the 2018 flood by distributing 1,000 food packets daily. During both lockdowns, it distributed nearly 500 food packets daily from its community kitchen.

Any person or organisation in need can get in touch on WhatsApp no:7736001600/ 9447091773/ 9387178927.
So, yes, scrap it and start over. But the push for progress must continue. While the likely answer for many full-time drivers and deliveristas and other gig workers is ordinary employee status, some are neither true independent contractors nor traditional workers and have been stuck in purgatory for far too long. New York should be open to new ways to better their wages, benefits and working conditions while preserving the flexibility the platforms offer.
S Lalitha By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Thanks to a band of volunteers from apartments in Whitefield, harried medical staffers of five government hospitals in the city are getting the comfort of a cup of coffee or tea, which they can enjoy round-the-clock for free.

What is heartwarming is that the volunteers have also donated three-month worth of supplies for the beverages along with the vending machines. While Victoria, Bowring, and Jayadeva hospitals got one dispenser each, St Johns Hospital received two. Each machine with the 90 days of supplies works out to Rs 1.25 lakh.

The initiative was started by volunteers of Prestige Ozone apartment, Prestige Shanti Niketan and Chaitanya Samarpana and their friends while coffee giants -- Nestle and Georgia -- offered to sponsor it in two hospitals. The feedback has been extremely good and the medical staff are extremely thankful to us.

Interactions with the healthcare workers revealed that they wanted this simple, basic necessity to refresh themselves as they could not step out of their wards due to Covid restrictions, said Dr K Shashi Karthikeyan, a Whitefield resident involved in the efforts.

Another volunteer said, Four more dispensers are in the pipeline and will be installed at the KG General Hospital in Kolar and Mysore Medical College. The volunteers are looking for financial support to increase the number of hospitals they can cover in future. Those interested can reach them at www.e-sevahub.com
Richa Sharma By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of Covid-19 victims whose bodies were thrown into the river Ganga or were buried in the river banks could have got a dignified final farewell if only the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) had finished constructing crematoriums along the serpentine river in time.

The NMCG was sanctioned to construct 33 ghats and crematoriums at a cost of Rs 833 crore in Bihar and UP under the Centres ambitious Namami Gange Programme. A majority of these projects were sanctioned between 2016 and 2019 with a target to complete them by March 2021. But an analysis of the progress data available with the NMCG shows that just over 51 per cent of the projects have been completed.

In the rest, work is either still in progress or tenders are being floated for identifying the contractors. Of the 33 projects, 17 have been completed, 13 are under progress, two are in the tendering stage while one is yet to be tendered. Eighteen of the ghats and crematoriums are in UP and 15 in Bihar. Last month, bodies of suspected Covid patients were found floating in the Ganga.

The decomposed bodies were first found in Bihars Buxar but later more were discovered in UP districts also. Although an inquiry is still under way to ascertain the cause, it is suspected that the existing crematoriums in Bihar and UP could not take the load of the pandemic victims and the bodies had to be thrown into the river.

Days after the bodies washed ashore, hundreds of bodies were found loosely buried in the river banks in Unnao and Badohi districts of UP, begging the question that had the ghats and crematoriums been completed, would the suspected Covid victims be insulted in death. The bodies were found in six districts of UP Mirzapur, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Ballia and Ghazipur and three of Bihar: Buxar, Saran and Patna.

UP lags in crematorium construction

An analysis of the crematorium work in these districts shows that the project has been completed in Kanpur and Prayagraj under the Namami Gange programme. H owever, the construction work is still going on in Mirzapur, Varanasi and Patna. The crematoriums in Buxar, Saran, Ghazipur and Ballia do not come under the central scheme.

The status report of the ghats and crematoriums in these two states, particularly Bihar, is appalling. The official data shows that it is nil in Gopalgunj, 41% in Sultanganj and Danapur, and 53% in Vaishali. The other three Ganga states  West Bengal, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand  have fared better than Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. West Bengal has completed 24 of the 29 sanctioned projects, Uttarakhand has finished 11 of the 13 while Jharkhand has completed three of the four projects.

Following a national and international outrage over the recent incidents of mass burials on the river banks and floating bodies, the secretary in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Pankaj Kumar, chaired a review meeting of the sanctioned projects. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been asked to submit an audit report on the utilisation of funds.

National Mission for Clean Ganga executive director Ashok Singh has also undertaken a review on the ground of the crematoriums constructed under Namami Gange and the overall management. During the review meeting, Anurag Srivastava, principal secretary, Namami Gange, in the Uttar Pradesh government, claimed that 13 crematoriums built in the state under the programme and those constructed out of state resources were functional and were being optimally utilised.
Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

RAIPUR: Cadres of Chhattisgarhs ruling Congress party celebrated the transferring of a district magistrate by the government. Collector Satyanarayan Rathore, whose style of working had reportedly angered some Congress workers of the Koriya district, was among the 30 IAS officers who were transferred in a major bureaucratic reshuffle by the Bhupesh Baghel government.

Local Congress leaders celebrated the decision by bursting firecrackers in various areas of Koriya town.

There were ruling party cadres and others who expressed their delight after the collectors name figured in the transfer list of bureaucrats, said Chandrakant Pargir, a journalist based in Koriya.

Rathore took over as the collector of the Koriya district on June 6. There were reports that his style of working had antagonised some Congress workers.

The opposition alleged the Congress government is transferred bureaucrats for political reasons.

The celebration clearly proves the decisions on bureaucratic transfers are politically motivated, said the states leader of Opposition.
Express News Service

BHOPAL/JAIPUR/MUMBAI: The recent expulsion of senior Bahujan Samaj Party leaders and MLAs, Lalji Verma and Ramachal Rajbhar, from the party, reducing it to just seven seats in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, is just one part of the story that has afflicted the Dalit outfit in recent times.

The steady erosion of the partys rank and file in UP, the BSPs main stomping ground, has also been matched by the partys slow death in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two other states where the party had a sizeable presence but is now struggling to stay afloat.

Even as the BSP appears to be becoming a spent force in the three Hindi-speaking states, there is simultaneously a decline of Dalit-based political parties in Maharashtra, the birthplace of B R Ambedkar, where the socially backward caste once had a fairly strong political base.

The numbers in all these states are telling. First UP. In the 2017 assembly elections, despite a strong Narendra Modi wave the BSP won three out of the five seats in Ambedkar Nagar district, cementing the notion that the district was the partys impregnable fortress.

Two of those seats were won by expelled leaders Verma and Rajbhar. But in the recently-held panchayat polls, out of the 41 seats in the district, the party could only win seven. The BSPs declining fortunes in UP are also apparent in the assembly elections. In the 2007 state elections, the Mayawati-led party was voted to power with a majority on its own, winning 206 of the 403 seats and managing a vote share of 30.43 per cent.

In the next polls in 2012, the party won only 80 seats with 25.91 per cent votes. This came down further in 2017, when the party managed only 19 seats with 22.24 per cent votes. It is ditto in Madhya Pradesh. In the 2008 assembly polls, the party won seven seats with 9 per cent votes. This was a year after Mayawati had powered the party to victory in UP. But the partys tally declined to just four seats with 6.29 per cent votes in the 2013 polls. In 2018 it fell further as the party won just two seats with 5.01 per cent votes.

The story in Rajasthan is almost similar to UP and MP. In the 2008 state elections, the party won six seats, getting 7.60 per cent votes. This declined to three seats and 3.37 per cent votes in 2013. In the last assembly polls the party fared marginally better, bagging six seats and improving its vote share to 4.1 per cent.

In Maharashtra, Prakash Ambedkars Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, a party that has in its ranks tribal and gipsy communities other than Dalits, has seen a sharp decline in 2019 itself. The party contested the Lok Sabha polls for the first time that year.

Although it did not manage to win a single seat, it garnered 41 lakh votes with a percentage of 7.64 per cent. But just a few months later in the 2019 assembly polls held in October, the party got only 24 lakh votes at 4.6 per cent. The decline of the Dalit parties can also be measured by the dwindling membership numbers. The Rajasthan BSPs members are down from 8 lakh in 2008 to 5 lakh currently. Union minister Ramdas Athawales Republican Party of India in Maharashtra had five lakh members in 2009. This fell to three lakh in 2014 and currently it is said the party has only 1 lakh members.

The BSPs loss has been the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress partys gain. In UP, many Dalits are increasingly looking at the BJP as an alternative while in Rajasthan and MP, the Congress has gained at the BSPs cost. The BSP thrived in UP due to its 18-21 per cent Dalit vote bank, but it was dented heavily by the BJP in 2017. This could be replicated in 2022, particularly with the BJP wooing the Dalits aggressively with welfare schemes. The time is near when Mayawati and her party might become irrelevant in UP politics, said Anshuman Shukla, a senior political journalist in Lucknow.

In Rajasthan, despite the rise of the BSP the Dalits have had a strong connect with the Congress, according to political analyst Naleen Kumar in Jaipur. The Dalits in Rajasthan find the Congress a friendly party. There are 22 royal families and the state has a feudalistic history. The Dalits credit the Congress for bringing the state out of that mindset, he said.

The lack of a tall leader is blamed for the poor Dalit assertion in Maharashtra despite the community constituting 13 per cent of the states population. Dalits are in search of a good leader who can be their voice in parliament and various platforms, said Bandhuraj Lone, a senior journalist and activist who has closely studied Dalit politics.

Dalit dominated districts

Uttar Pradesh

Budaun, Etawah, Agra, Aligarh, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Hathras, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Saharanpur, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Chitrakoot, Jaunpur, Prayagraj, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Mau, Ghazipur, Shrawasti, Baharaich, Chandauli, Faizabad, Bhadohi

Madhya Pradesh

Gwalior, Morena, Bhind, Sheopur, Shivpuri, Ashok Nagar, Satna, Rewa, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Niwari, Panna, Ujjain, Agar-Malwa

Rajasthan

Bharatpur, Dholpur, Alwar, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, Dausa, Sikar, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Hanumangarh, Nagaur, Barmer

Maharashtra

Aurangabad, Nagpur, Akola, Wasim, Solapur, Kalyan, Thane, Nanded, Osmanabad
Rajesh Kumar Thakur By

Express News Service

PATNA: Sarisab and Pahi villages in Bihars Madhubani district are now the talk of the town. And for a good reason. As the pandemic ravaged the rural hinterland, locals as well as those living outside came together to set up a makeshift Atmanirbhar covid care community centre.

Launched four days ago, two beds replete with oxygen concentrators and other basic primary healthcare essentials are now ready. A good number of non-resident villagers contributed with medical equipment. Six villages are covered under the initiative, so far.

We have a government-run PHC but it remains locked even during this crisis hour. So, we made this arrangement to save the lives of our folks, says Sarisab- Pahi (west) panchayat mukhiya Ram Bahadur Choudhary. The plan was discussed at a virtual meeting involving locals and non-resident villagers.

Vicky Kumar Mandal of the Ayachi Nagar Yuva Sangathan, along with Ram Bahadur Chaudhary and dozens of youths then took over to set up the centre at the flood relief building. Doctors have volunteered to provide both online consultations and offline services depending upon the situation.

Electricity connection is not erratic, but villagers arranged a generator set for the centre to deal with power trips especially during heavy rains.

Our youths are also involved in an awareness-cum-assistance campaign daily in which they wear PPE kits and travel in a group of five to monitor families, motivate them to get vaccines and familiarise them with Covid safety protocols, says Mandal.
By PTI

JAMMU: A man was arrested on Monday after a long hunt of 22 years on the charges of providing shelter and other logistics to militants in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Mohi-ud-din, a resident of Shikari village in Mahore area, went underground evading arrest after he was named in an FIR under various sections of the Ranbir Penal Code for harbouring terrorists in 1999, a police spokesman said.

He said a chargesheet was produced against the accused in a local court which issued a warrant under Section 512 of CrPC against him on February 18, 2002.

"He (accused) neither participated in the investigation proceedings nor could be apprehended since the case was registered," the spokesman said.

He said the accused was finally arrested during a meticulously planned and coordinated effort by a team of Mahore police station based on inputs about his presence in the area.

Mohi-ud-din is the 14th absconder arrested by Reasi police within a period of six weeks, the spokesman said.
By PTI

AIZWAL: The Mizoram government has decided to reduce admission fees by 30 per cent in all state-run schools for students seeking admission in class 11, Education Minister Lalchhandama Ralte said on Monday.

Addressing a felicitation function at the Mizo Higher Secondary School here, Ralte said the decision was taken in view of the hardship being faced by the parents and students due to the pandemic.

"The state government has decided to reduce admission fees for class 11 students, seeking admission in government higher secondary schools, adhoc aided higher secondary schools, lumpsum aided higher secondary schools and deficit higher secondary schools, which receive regular grants from the government," the minister said.

The fees would be reduced by 30 per cent, he added. Ralte also urged all private schools to slash admission fees in view of the difficulties being faced by the people due to the pandemic.

He also urged parents to get their children admitted to government schools, which are managed not only by qualified teachers but charge no tuition fees.

Several students' bodies and organisations, including the Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA), lauded the state government's decision to reduce admission fees.

On June 3, the Mizoram Board of School Education (MBSE) had declared results for class 10 examinations.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: A chowkidar of a cremation ground in Srinagar is going beyond his brief to help grieving non-Muslim families in completing the final rituals of their beloved ones who succumbed to Covid-19.

Working in place of his father in the pandemic, Shabir Ahmed, 24, says he has done 60-70 cremations in the last nine months.

I have been working at my fathers place and my job is 24x7. My job is to keep watch of the cremation ground, said Ahmed.

Some of the bodies were of non-locals, who had no family members in the Valley and were brought by the police.

Some of the Covid victims were also security personnel, mostly CRPF constables, who hailed from other parts of the country.

The government is making arrangements to bring family members of such victims to Srinagar for attending their last rites.

There are two more staff both pujaris (priests) in the cremation ground at the cremation ground managed by Sanathan Dharam Trust in Srinagars Batamaloo area.

I make arrangements of firewood and other items. I am doing it on humanitarian grounds as we need to be with each other in this testing time when Covid is snatching our loved ones, said Ahmed who is yet to get PPE kits. Asked whether there was opposition from his family, Ahmed said, No. In fact, many families praise my services and tell me that I am doing punya ka kaam (charity work).

As doctors and frontline health workers have been working round the clock since last year to save precious lives, I am doing my bit in fighting the coronavirus with my efforts, he added.
Yolos Terms of Service states that it has no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users and that they will be banned for any inappropriate usage. They also warn that users who harass will lose their anonymous status. Why werent these policies enacted when my son received 40 tormenting messages in just one day? Why didnt Carsons harassers have their anonymous status revoked so that my son could confront them, or so they would be forced to stop? LMK even goes further stating in their policies that bullying, or intimidation, are taken very seriously and may be reported to law enforcement. These are empty promises from both companies.
Sumi Sukanaya Dutta By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Calling the new changes in the Narendra Modi governments Covid vaccination policy a partial correction, experts have called for the need of a clearly spelt out distribution plans based on which vaccines are to be distributed among states.

The specific formulae based on which vaccines have been allocated to states so far have remained opaque, prompting many to speculate that politics too, and not only the need of the state, has played a part in vaccines delivery by the Union government.

From time to time, many state governments, mainly those ruled by opposition parties, too have blamed the Centre of not supplying adequate Covid vaccines as demanded, indicating that it has prioritised BJP ruled states over them.

Prime Minister Modi on Monday announced that starting June 21, all adults in the country will be entitled to receive Covid vaccines for free in government hospitals across India as 75% of the total vaccines will be procured centrally and provided to states.

Former Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan called it a laudable move, in response to a rapidly changing dynamic situation.

Those who have been following the Centres Covid response and vaccination policy closely said that the need of the states, and requirement of vulnerable groups, instead of political whims and fancy should guide the vaccine distribution roadmap, more so as central will have control on a higher number of vaccines now.

ALSO READ | Centre to take over vaccination drive from June 21, only 25% for private hospitals: PM Modi

The new policy is an improvement from the earlier one and looks better on paper but the plan for distributing the vaccine should be spelt out clearly and released in a transparent manner, stressed health economist Rijo M John, attached with IIM, Kozhikode.

He pointed out that so far, the country does not clearly know which state has got how many doses of the vaccines and what was the basis of supplying them.

Chances of arbitrarily distributing the vaccines will grow even more now that the Centre will directly procure 75% of the vaccines and could decide on allocations unilaterally, he added.

Economist R Ramakumar too, while emphasising that the latest announcement is the partial correction from the Centres earlier strategy, added that the formula being used for supplying vaccines to the states should be publicised.

We will expect that along with the details of the new policy, the distribution plan and the numbers along with the criteria used to arrive at the numbers will be released at the earliest, he said.

Ramakumar also said that the window of opportunity provided to vaccine makers to make profit on 25% Covid vaccines also needed to be rolled back.

Even now, 25 % of the vaccines continue to be reserved for the rich in private hospitals, he said, adding that 100% of the vaccines should be centrally procured and provided to people free of cost.
The latest SDG India Index ranking released by NITI Aayog has sparked a political tussle. Two states, Odisha and Bihar, which find themselves in the bottom pool, are angry over the performance indicators assigned by the national think tank. While Odisha has secured 61 points, having logged three more from the previous ranking, Bihar has been consigned to the last slot with 52 points. The index reveals that Odishas performance in gender equality, employment and economic growth recorded a fall though it has fared better in maternal and child health parameters. On its part, Bihar has done well in Good Health and Well Being, though indicators in Industry Innovation and Infrastructure, and Employment are declining. The BJD-led government in Odisha has accused NITI Aayog of using Central schemes for the assessment, which it said overlooked the states programmes and achievements. Bihar, too, has similar complaints. In fact, a BJP MLA went on to term the ranking pre-determined while former CM Lalu Prasad Yadav took a barb at Nitish Kumar for the eastern state coming on top from the bottom.

While every state is entitled to put forth its view point, it must also not lose sight of the objective of such assessment exercises. Apart from healthy competition and greater cooperation among states, it also puts focus on key areas in social sectors that cry for attention. Despite its improvements in child and maternal health, should the Odisha government not be concerned about the status of stunting and wasting among children? Must the rising crimes against women not sound an alarm? In Bihar, the deployment of doctors, paramedic staff and health workers has shown a decline. That must not be overlooked, nor the fact that its enrolment rate has dropped in elementary classes. Interestingly, when the same NITI Aayog appreciates good performance by aspirational districts, the states lap it up. It is not for the first time that states have expressed reservations to such rankings or assessments. Instead of being outraged, it would be prudent on the part of both to broaden the consultative approach and improve indicators that matter.
By Express News Service

NELLORE: A case was filed against TDP leader Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy in Krishnapatnam police station based on a complaint lodged by the management of Sesritha Technologies. Narmada Reddy, managing director of the IT start up, addressed the media and accused the TDP leader of breaching the companys data from its website, which is under maintenance.

He maintained that there is no relationship between Sarvepalli legislator Govardhan Reddy and Sesritha Technologies. We have lodged a complaint on Saturday with the police against Somireddy for misinterpretation of facts, stealing data from the website and propagating the false information to the people. Police filed cases under Sections 379, 468 of the IPC and IT Act, Narmada Reddy said.

In fact, we have developed a website for supporting the efforts of Anandaiah for distributing his medicine online and were planning to give it as a gift to him, said the Sesritha Technologies MD. Earlier, Somireddy had made comments against the firm. A follower of legislator Govardhan Reddy, Sesritha Technology India Private Limited, has purchased a website, www.chilldeal.in, from Godaddy.com. The company purchased it on May 21 to start an online business.

The owners of Sesritha are close to the legislator and other ruling party leaders and they started sale of Anandaiahs concoction and other products on the website from May 31. The website has been visible since 11 am on June 2 and the home page has photographs of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Ministers Mekapati, Alla Nani, Kakani, Anandaiah and YSRC emblem, Somireddy said.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: In a small but significant way, there is something to cheer about on the Covid-19 front. The States positivity rate dipped marginally from 8.81 per cent on Saturday to 8.80 per cent on Sunday.

This is for the first time that a drop in Covid-19 test positivity rate (TPR) has been recorded since April 4 when the rate was as low as 4.63 per cent. The number of patients testing positive for every 100 tests conducted (positivity rate) kept rising since that day.

Health Department officials have attributed that to an increase in the number of tests, which now totals 3,06,00,450 (3.06 crore) since the pandemic struck Karnataka in March second week last year. The State Government has already announced that lockdown restrictions will be relaxed once the positivity rate dips below 5 per cent. Health officials say this may just be the beginning of a decline towards that mark.

A health worker pours sanitiser into a boys

palm after collecting his swab in Bengaluru

on Sunday | Shriram BN

Officially, all indicators point towards an improved situation over the next few days, except for the mortality rate which has been on the up consistently for the past few weeks. The daily addition to Covid cases has seen a huge drop. While 12,209 cases were added to the tally on Sunday, the highest addition that the State saw through the pandemic was on May 5 when a whopping 50,112 cases were recorded in a single day. The following two days saw 49,058 and 48,781 cases, respectively.

The number of active cases (patients currently under treatment) saw a fall from the peak of 6,05,494 cases on May 15 to 2,54,505 as on Sunday  a span of three weeks. Even the recovery rate has shown a robust uptick. The states recovery rate had reached a high of 98.05 per cent on January 31, but fell to a low of 69.83 per cent when the second wave intensified. However, it rose to 89.38 per cent on Sunday. What has kept the health officials worried is the high number of deaths on a daily basis across the State.

Ktaka sees 320 deaths, 12,209 fresh cases

Though the number of Covid- related deaths in the state came down to 320 on Sunday from the highest of 626 on May 23, over the past few weeks the daily toll has consistently been above the highest single day deaths of 179 recorded on September 18 last year.

Meanwhile, health officials attribute this to a range of reasons, including late admission, self-medication when patients should be admitted, and lack of awareness over managing the disease in the early days after infection.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: The Congress-led UDF MPs staged a protest in front of the Lakshadweep Administrator's Office in Kochi demanding withdrawal of the proposed "anti-people laws" by the central government in Lakshadweep islands. IUML MP ET Mohammed Basheer inaugurated the dharna.

Terming the regulations passed by the administrator Praful Khoda Patel "undemocratic", Basheer called for the withdrawal of regulations and executive orders passed after May 12. "These regulations are issued against the interests of the citizens residing in Lakshadweep and curtailing their rights," he said.

All MPs from Kerala except Rahul Gandhi, K Muraleedharan, K Sudhakaran, Kodikunnil Suresh, Sashi Tharoor, Adoor Prakash, and N K Premachandran took part in the protest.

ALSO READ | Leader wants Lakshadweep to be part of Kerala; CPI says not its stand

Lakshadweep residents sat on a 12-hour hunger strike on Monday to protest against the three proposed rules governing tourism, cattle and panchayat elections, which they fear will destroy the culture and tradition of the island, home to around 70,000 residents.

"People of Lakshadweep are on a hunger strike as a mark of protest against several decisions of the Praful Khoda Patel-led administration," said UCK Thangal, convener of 'Save Lakshadweep Forum', which called the 12-hour-long hunger strike.

This is the first time all islanders are observing such a protest. All shops except the medical stores are shut down. People are protesting at their houses in order to follow the lockdown regulations.
Harish Murali By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: "Ignorance is no justification for normalising any form of discrimination," said Justice Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court on Monday, issuing a slew of guidelines to the State and Union government to ensure the protection of LGBTQIA+ persons in consensual relationships, including to ban conversion therapy and provide for gender-neutral bathrooms for non-gender conforming students.

The interim order came after the judge took time to undergo counselling to better understand the experiences of LGBTQIA+ persons.

Batting for a change to protect the community from the social discrimination it faces, the judge said, "Till the legislature comes up with an enactment, the LGBTQIA+ community cannot be left in a vulnerable atmosphere... This gap is now sought to be filled in by way of issuing guidelines till law takes over and guarantees safety and protection."

Significant among the directions in the 107-page interim order is the court's call to ban 'conversion' therapy. "Any attempts to medically "cure" or change the sexual orientation of LGBTIQA+ people to heterosexual or the gender identity of transgender people to cisgender should be prohibited," the judge said.

Noting that he had never personally encountered a person of the LBTQIA+ community, he said he had been brought up to treat homosexuality as anathema and shared the month-long experience he underwent with counsellors who helped him better understand same-sex relationships before authoring the judgement.

".....problem is not the fact that the law does not recognise a relationship but that the sanction that is accorded by the society is not available. It is only for this reason, I strongly feel that the change must take place at a societal level and when it is complement by law there will be a remarkable change in the outlook of the society by recognising same-sex relationships...," he said.

The court's other directions included the need to make available gender-neutral restrooms for gender-nonconforming students, change of name and gender on academic records for transgender persons and inclusion of 'transgender' in addition to M and F gender columns in applications for admission and for competitive entrance exams.

Educational institutionals should appoint counsellors, who are LGBTQIA+ inclusive, for the staff and students to address grievances, if any, and to provide effective solutions for the same. Further, the appropriate government shall take effective steps to implement measures concerning transgender persons as stipulated by Chapter VI of The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 and Rule 10 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020, the judge said.

The court also called for educating parents on issues surrounding the LGBTQIA+ community through Parents Teacher Association (PTA) meetings in schools. Also, necessary amendments to policies and resources must be made to include students belonging to LGBTQIA+ community in school and college life, said the judge.

"Mental health camps and awareness programmes should be conducted to understand gender, sexuality, sexual orientation and promote acceptance of diversity," the judge said. The court also called for awareness programmes to be conducted on a periodical basis among the judiciary, police and prison authorities.

"Outreach programs should be conducted by NGOs with community support to put forth first-hand problems faced at the hands of law enforcement agencies, and to train them in providing effective assistance. Ensure that transgender and gender-nonconforming prisoners are housed separately from cis-men prisoners to eliminate chances of sexual assault by the latter on the former," said the judge.

"The list of such NGOs along with the address, contact details, and services provided shall be published and revised periodically on the official website. Such details shall be published within eight weeks from the date of receipt of copy of this order," the court said.

Noting that the case had given the court a "vested responsibility" to weigh the cause for inclusivity and justice against discrimination, he admitted that he had to "remove the Lordship's hat and instead wear the hat of the average commoners in society, who have not given thought to understand or accept, who are attempting to understand, who totally refuse to understand or accept the LGBTQIA+ community".

"I have no hesitation in accepting that I too belong to the majority of commoners who are yet to comprehend homosexuality completely. Ignorance is no justification for normalising any form of discrimination," he said.

The court directed the State government and Union government to file a detailed report on the plea based on the interim directions issued and adjourned the plea to August 31.

The interim order came on a case related to two young women who fled their homes in Madurai and reached Chennai after their families opposed their relationship. The New Indian Express on March 19 had reported how NGO members were harassed by the Madurai police for sheltering the couple as the parents of the women had filed a kidnapping case.
By Express News Service

KHAMMAM: Though the authorities are making every effort to clamp down on the sale of spurious seeds, some pockets are still facing the problem from neighbouring States. On Sunday, the police seized Rs 1.50 lakh worth fake chilli seeds in Julurpad. A few days ago, they had seized as many as 120 fake chilly packets in Enkoor mandal.

According to sources, spurious seeds are being transported into district through side roads and fields from Mahabubabad, Warangal, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. Tribal farmers are becoming scapegoats for smugglers as money lenders, with support of seeds sellers, are providing them fake seeds.
By ANI

ROSEAU (DOMINICA): Amid the controversy surrounding the arrest of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi in Dominica, an eyewitness account revealed how Choksi was discovered in the vicinity of Roseau, where he was captured by the country's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

According to the account of Dominican resident Harry Baron, Choksi started to run when the police approached him while he was disposing of some documents into the Caribbean sea. The eyewitness said police got suspicious and ran after him, but he could not run far and fell twice and got caught while escaping from the police, Writeups 24 reported.

The eyewitness revealed how the fugitive might have sustained injuries amid the chase. Later, Choksi was questioned by police after arrest at the beach, and later, he was taken into custody. According to the Caribbean newspaper, Chokshi's disappearance from Antigua and Barbuda and his apparent attempt to escape to Cuba, was unlike the Hollywood drama that it was made out to be.

ALSO READ| 8-10 men brutally attacked me in Antigua while I was meeting a 'friend': Mehul Choksi

After Choksi was taken into custody, the police discovered that they had captured an international fugitive, who had a red-corner issued by Interpol on his name.

After things did not pan out in favour of the fugitive, Choksi's brother, who is also a bank defaulter, has allegedly promised election funding Dominica's Leader of the Opposition Lennox Linton in exchange for pushing Mehul's abduction theory.

According to Writeups 24, the whole planning was to manipulate the entire scenario into an abduction story, and the media was trapped in a hoax created by Choksi's family on the advice of his lawyers.

Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. Choksi fled India. He was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018. He is involved in a legal battle to prevent his extradition to India.

Currently, Choksi has got interim relief from immediate repatriation to India by the Dominican court, which adjourned the matter of his detention on Thursday. As the next date of hearing is yet to be fixed and the court proceedings are likely to take time.
By AFP

MOSCOW: Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been transferred from a prison hospital back to his penal colony after receiving treatment following a hunger strike, his allies said Monday.

Navalny was jailed for two and a half years in February on old embezzlement charges he and his supporters say are politically motivated.

He was sentenced shortly after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was receiving treatment for a near-fatal poisoning attack with a nerve agent.

President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken domestic critic declared a hunger strike in March to demand proper medical treatment for a growing list of health complaints, including back pain and numbness in his limbs.

Navalny in April was transferred to a prison hospital in another penal colony as the West warned it would hold the Kremlin responsible for the state of his health.

The opposition politician called off the strike 24 days later.

"Navalny has been transferred back to the Penal Colony No. 2," Navalny's team said on Twitter on Monday.

The prison is located in the town of Pokrov 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Moscow.

A court in Moscow is considering whether to designate Navalny's political network as an "extremist" organisation, which would remove potential challengers to the ruling United Russia party ahead of parliamentary elections in September.

A decision is expected as early as this week.

Last Friday, Putin approved an anti-extremism law expected to be used to ban his allies from running in elections. The Kremlin chief signed off on the legislation the day Navalny marked his 45th birthday behind bars.

Many of his close allies are either outside Russia or under arrest.

On Sunday, prominent Kremlin critic and former opposition lawmaker Dmitry Gudkov said he had left Russia for Ukraine due to pressure from authorities ahead of the elections.

Citing sources close to the Kremlin, Gudkov, 41, said that if he did not leave he would be arrested over a "fake" criminal case against him.
By PTI

KATHMANDU: Nepal's beleaguered Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has joined hands with the key Madhesi Janata Samajwadi Party after effecting a major Cabinet reshuffle, a move regarded by many analysts as hitting two targets with one arrow as it involves consolidating his grip on power and boosting ties with neighbouring India.

Oli, who has been facing strong opposition from within his own party against his move to dissolve the House of Representatives, removed some key ministers, including his Deputy Prime Minister Ishwor Pokharel and Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali in the Cabinet rejig on Friday.

The 69-year-old Oli expanded his Cabinet with the inclusion of eight ministers and two ministers of state from the Madhes-based Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP).

Oli appointed three deputy prime ministers, including two from the Madhesi community, during the reshuffle.

Rajendra Mahato, senior leader of the JSP has been appointed as deputy prime minister with the portfolio of Ministry of Urban Development, while Raghubir Mahaseth, from ruling CPN-UML has been appointed as another deputy prime minister with the portfolio of Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The third deputy prime minister is Bishnu Poudyal from UML, who has got the portfolio of the Ministry of Finance.

Madhesi parties in Nepal claim to be representing the cause of Madhesis, who are inhabitants of the Terai region.

The community shares strong cultural and family bonds with India.

The Mahantha Thakur-led faction of the JSP decided to join the Oli-led minority government after the prime minister agreed to meet some of their key demands, including the citizenship issue that has been on hold in the parliamentary State Affairs Committee for the last three years and withdrawal of cases filed against 120 leaders and cadres of the JSP, The Himalayan Times newspaper reported.

Oli's joining of hands with the JSP is regarded by many experts here as hitting two targets with one arrow, as it involves consolidating his grip on power and to strengthen relations with India.

However, the Opposition and experts have flayed his move, saying it was against the constitutional norms when the Parliament has already been dissolved and election dates have been fixed for November 12 and 19.

Oli's choice of foreign minister in the latest reshuffle has caught observers by surprise.

CPN-UML Standing Committee member Mahaseth was not only made foreign minister but also one of the three deputy prime ministers.

Rather than for his expertise in diplomacy, it was for political reasons that Mahaseth has been included in the Cabinet with a promotion and an important portfolio, said Bishnu Rijal, deputy chief of UML's Foreign Relations Department.

In Nepal, we do not have a tradition of choosing ministers on the basis of expertise, qualifications and prior working experience, Rijal was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post.

The recent rejig was Oli's 16th Cabinet reshuffle since he came to power on February 15, 2018, after his CPN-UML emerged as the largest political force in the general election held in 2017, the report said.

He has already changed 59 ministers during the three-and-a-half years of his tenure as the prime minister.

At one time, his government used to command nearly a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

But it has now been reduced to a minority after the CPN-Maoist Centre, which came into existence following the March 7 Supreme Court verdict, withdrew its support to him.

Oli, who came to power promising political stability and ushering in development, is now struggling for his own political survival after he engaged in one political adventure after another, alienating the senior leaders of his own party and failing to keep the now-defunct Nepal Communist Party united.

Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the 275-member House of Representatives on May 22 for the second time in five months and announced snap elections on November 12 and November 19 on the advice of Prime Minister Oli, heading a minority government.

As many as 146 members of the dissolved House, including Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, who had staked a claim to form the new government under Article 76 (5) of the Constitution, have also filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking reinstatement of the House.

President Bhandari rejected the separate bids of both Prime Minister Oli and the Opposition alliance's claims to form a new government, saying the claims were insufficient.

 Earlier on December 20, the president dissolved Parliament and called snap polls on April 30 and May 10, amidst a tussle for power within the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP).

However, two months later, Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana-led Constitutional Bench on February 23 overturned the decision and reinstated the House of Representatives.

Oli's move to dissolve the House sparked protests from a large section of the NCP led by his rival Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'.
Veteran CPC member facilitates installation of elevators in old residential buildings

People's Daily Online) 13:11, June 07, 2021

Zhu Chunqing, a man in his seventies in Wuhan, central Chinas Hubei province, has facilitated the installation of elevators in old residential buildings, which has benefited the local people.

Zhu Chunqing looks at the elevator being installed. (Photo/Jin Yumeng)

Zhu, also secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) branch of Tangcai community, started his work after learning that some of his neighbors in the apartment building at the residential compound where he lives hoped to add an elevator. The compound has since added seven elevators to several five-to-six-story buildings that were built in 2000, with the city having rolled out favorable policies to encourage the installation of elevators in old residential buildings.

Since late October last year, the septuagenarian began soliciting opinions from every household in the building.

It was by no means an easy task since at least two thirds of all the households in the building needed to first agree on the matter. Some residents frowned on the project moving forward, saying that adding an elevator would take up space and generate noise, among other concerns. However, Zhu made persistent efforts to address their concerns after listening to their ideas until all the households finally agreed on the plan to add an elevator.

The next challenge that awaited him was to select an elevator company and work out a plan to split up the bill for the project. Zhu, who had assessed the pros and cons of several elevator companies, invited residents to his home to discuss how best to choose a proper company. They soon made up their minds, and Zhu, with a spark of genius, came up with a viable solution on how to split the expenses, which was also accepted by all the households.

After the installation plan was approved by the local government, all the households believed that Zhu was the ideal person to supervise the use of the large sums of money needed for installing the elevator. Indeed, they could rest assured, with Zhu having specifically gone ahead to open up a new bank account for the project and having kept the community updated on the usage of the allotted funds.

Zhu was also very cautious about the details of the contract signed with the elevator company. He invited a retiree from the Peoples Court of Hanyang District in the city to look over the terms of the contract one by one.

Neighborhood affairs may be trivial and time-consuming, but Zhu said it was the duty of a CPC member to serve the people. Although Im retired, I will always serve the people in the community as a Party member, he added.

His hard efforts have touched the hearts of many people, including Ji Yanfang, secretary of the Party committee of Tangcai community.

It is not easy to complete a difficult task related to peoples livelihoods, Ji said, adding that Zhu succeeded because he, as a CPC member, always aims to serve the people wholeheartedly and has earned the trust of the people.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
In fact, since I first introduced the ASA in November 2019, I have not received even one memorandum in opposition to the bill. I have, on the other hand, heard from hundreds of survivors, many of whom have implored me to maintain their anonymity because their pain is still so severe, that they desperately want the opportunity to pursue justice that they have been denied in the courts.
By AFP

ABUJA (NIGERIA): Nigeria said on Monday it was in discussions with Twitter after it suspended the US social media giant's services in the country, branding its use as "unpatriotic". The Twitter suspension has provoked an outcry from the international community and rights groups who denounced it as a threat to freedom of expression in Africa's most populous country.

Nigeria said it was halting the platform's operations indefinitely on Friday, two days after Twitter deleted a comment from President Muhammadu Buhari's account referring to civil unrest that the firm said violated its rules.

"There are discussions ongoing with Twitter, we will see how that progresses, so I cannot say for now the duration of the suspension. There are conversations, yes, with our partners. We want to use social media for good," Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said after a meeting with diplomats on the issue.

Twitter has not yet commented but said earlier that it was "deeply concerned" by Nigeria's move and that it would work "to restore access for all". The EU, US, Canada and Ireland issued a joint statement criticising the ban saying that the global pandemic was a time when Nigeria needed to foster dialogue and promote information sharing.

After Monday's meeting, US Ambassador to Nigeria Mary Beth Leonard said the diplomatic community stood by its position. "We recognise that there are issues of responsible use of social media but we remain firm on our position that free access to the ability to express oneself is actually very important," she told reporters.

Earlier on Monday, the country's National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) directed all TV and radio stations to "suspend the patronage of Twitter immediately". "Broadcasting stations are hereby advised to de-install twitter handles and desist from using Twitter as a source... of information gathering for news. It would be unpatriotic for any broadcaster in Nigeria to continue to patronise the suspended Twitter as a source of its information," NBC's director Armstrong Idachaba said in a statement.

More than 39 million Nigerians have a Twitter account, according to NOI polls, a public opinion and research organisation.

The platform has played an important role in public discourse in Nigeria, with hashtags #BringBackOurGirls after Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in 2014, and #EndSARS during anti-police brutality protests last year.

Some Nigerian broadcasters are concerned the clampdown on Twitter is part of more general crackdown against the media. "It is very important we push back and fast, because they could go further. We need to talk to the different media houses and adopt a strong and common answer. Twitter is a very important platform for us, and it brings a lot of viewers globally," said a social media executive at a major TV station in Nigeria with several thousand followers on Twitter, who asked to remain anonymous considering the sensitivity of the issue.

Prosecution of offenders

Onyeama insisted on the "responsible use of media" in remarks to reporters after the meeting. "We are not saying that Twitter is threatening Nigeria or (anything) like that. Why we have taken such a measure is to see whether we can rebalance the media as forces of good, and stop them from being used as platforms for destabilisation and facilitation and encouragement of criminality," the minister said.

The government's suspension came after Twitter on Wednesday deleted a remark on Buhari's account in which he referred to the country's civil war five decades ago in a warning about recent unrest. The presidency denied that the Twitter suspension was a response to the removal of that post.

"There has been a litany of problems with the social media platform in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake news spread through it have had real world violent consequences," a presidency spokesman Garba Shehu said in a statement.

International human rights groups have also condemned the move, which followed previous attempts by the government to regulate social media. "VPN app" was the second most searched trend Saturday on Google in Nigeria, as virtual private networks can enable Twitter users to bypass the ban.

But Nigeria warned that it would prosecute violators of the Twitter ban.
By AFP

LAHORE: A woman died after an ex-security guard at a Pakistani hospital posed as a doctor and performed surgery on her, police said on Monday. Shameema Begum, aged 80, died on Sunday, two weeks after Muhammad Waheed Butt attempted to treat her back wound at a public hospital in Lahore.

"We can't keep up with what every doctor and what everyone is doing at all times. It's a large hospital," explained an administrative official from Lahore's Mayo Hospital, who did not want to be named. He said it was unclear what type of surgery the imposter had performed in the operating theatre, where a qualified technician was also present.

Pakistan's public hospitals, where patients are required to pay some money towards treatment, can often be inefficient and chaotic. Begum's family paid Butt for the operation, and two further home visits to dress her wound.

But when the bleeding and pain worsened, her family returned her to the hospital, where they discovered what had happened. Her body is being kept for an autopsy to ascertain whether her death was a result of complications from the botched surgery.

"The guard has been charged and is in police custody. Butt had posed as a doctor and made home visits to other patients in the past also," Lahore police spokesman Ali Safdar told AFP. Mayo Hospital staff said Butt was fired two years ago for trying to extort money from patients.

Earlier in May a man was arrested for posing as a doctor at Lahore General Hospital and extorting money from patients in the surgical ward. In 2016 it was revealed a woman posing to be a neurosurgeon conducted operations for eight months alongside qualified doctors at Lahore's Services Hospital, the second-largest health facility in Pakistan.
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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  A Des Moines, Iowa, man pictured prominently with a QAnon shirt ahead of a crowd of insurgents inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack asked a judge on Monday to release him from jail, saying "he feels deceived, recognizing that he bought into a pack of lies.

Douglas Jensen, in a document filed by his attorney, said he believed he was a true patriot for going to Washington at the urging of President Donald Trump. He said his intention was to only observe.

Jensen claims he is a victim of numerous conspiracy theories that were being fed to him over the internet by a number of very clever people, who were uniquely equipped with slight, if any, moral or social consciousness.

Jensen's attorney Christopher Davis said in the document that Jensen was not part of any mob and simply went to Washington to watch. Davis acknowledged Jensen was in front of a crowd but argued he did that for the now disclosed silly reason to show his QAnon shirt to get it recognized.

Davis said Jensen neither threatened physical harm to anyone nor destroyed property. Jensen had his work pocketknife on him for protection when he went to the Trump rally preceding the march to the Capitol, Davis said in the court filing.

Video and photographs of Jensen have been widely distributed, showing him wearing a QAnon shirt as he pursued Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman as a mob follows them up the stairs inside the Capitol.

Davis said Jensen has been in custody since he turned himself in on Jan. 9, languishing in a DC Jail cell, locked down most of the time, he feels deceived, recognizing that he bought into a pack of lies.

Jensen is scheduled to appear at an arraignment Tuesday before a federal judge in Washington.

In February, federal prosecutors upgraded the charges filed against him to include entering a restricted building with a dangerous weapon and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon. Other counts include civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, assaulting or impeding officers, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing a Capitol building.

Obstructing an official proceeding carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Jensen, 41, was arrested and jailed in Des Moines two days after he returned home from Washington and saw images of himself in television coverage. He was ordered by a judge to be transferred from Iowa to Washington to be held on the charges.

Court records suggest Jensen may be working toward a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

The court document describes Jensen as the product of a dysfunctional childhood and said he doesn't fully understand the reasons he was pulled into the QAnon conspiracy. It speculates he could have been influenced by a mid-life crisis, the pandemic, or perhaps the message just seemed to elevate him from his ordinary life to an exalted status with an honorable goal.

His love and concern for his family was a wakeup call that ended his victimization, Davis said in the court filing.

He asked for Jensen to be released to get his affairs in order. He said Jensen's wife is willing to drive him home to Des Moines, where he would remain under house arrest.
BANGKOK (AP)  Health authorities in Thailand began their much-anticipated mass rollout of locally produced AstraZeneca vaccines on Monday, but it appeared that supplies were falling short of demand from patients who had scheduled vaccinations for this week.

Hospitals in various parts of the country have been posting notices for several days that some scheduled appointments would be delayed, adding to existing public skepticism about how many doses Siam Bioscience would be able to produce each month.

The government has said it will produce 6 million doses in June, then 10 million doses each month from July to November, and 5 million doses in December.

The vaccines will be delivered as planned, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters Monday morning as he paid a visit to a vaccination station at an indoor stadium in the capital, Bangkok.

Prayuths government has come under fierce criticism for failure to secure timely and sufficient vaccine supplies. It also face criticism for its reliance on Siam Bioscience, which is owned by the country's king and had no previous experience in vaccine production.

Prayuth said the Health Ministry had confirmed that vaccinations could begin Monday in every province, and vaccines would be allocated according to the infection rate in each area.

Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, reported that 143,116 people nationwide had received vaccinations Monday by midday, about half of them 60 years of age or older.

The stadium vaccination station Prayuth visited can provide 1,500 jabs a day, said Mongkon Wanitphakdeedecha, director of Vichaivej International Hospital, who was supervising the operation. He said they have three days supply on hand, but he did not know if other sites had enough for more than one day.

One of the people getting vaccinated there was Kanokarn Chueboonchart, who said afterward that she felt no side effects.

I am working at a bank and I must meet with customers, she said. "So now that I have received the shot, I feel a bit better, knowing that the vaccine will give me some protection.

Thailand last year had been considered a success story in containing the spread of the virus and limiting the number of related deaths. It had originally planned to obtain supplies to cover just 20% of the countrys 69 million people, with most available only in the second half of this year.

However, a surge of the coronavirus beginning in April has been devastating and underlined the need for a more ambitious vaccination campaign. The surge has accounted for 84% of the 179,886 total confirmed cases in Thailand since January 2020, and 92.5% of the total of 1,269 related deaths.

The government has now targeted vaccinating 70% of the population this year, a figure believed to confer herd immunity against the disease.

As of Monday, Thailand had reported giving a total of 4.22 million vaccinations, with just over 4% of the countrys 70 million people receiving at least one jab.

The government has been scrambling to obtain additional supplies to supplement the Chinese-made Sinovac it has been using so far and the AstraZeneca now coming onstream. It has said it has been in negotiations with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

China has supplied 6.5 million doses of Sinovac to Thailand, including 500,000 doses that arrived Saturday.

Siam Bioscience was reported to have delivered its first 1.8 million doses to AstraZenecas local office last Wednesday, which were then turned over to the Health Ministry on Friday. Up-to-date data on how much had been delivered by Monday to the various provinces was not available.

-

Associated Press writer Fu Ting contributed to this report.
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Finally, he stopped as perhaps he didnt want to go away for murder. Afterward, the evidence was all over me: My neck was badly bruised, I could barely speak, and I was paralyzed by fear and paranoia. I didnt know where to turn to or what to do. Still to this day, I havent told most of the complete story to my parents, family and friends. Desperate, I did finally file a police report over a week later.
Columnist

Tom Kacich is a columnist and the author of Tom's Mailbag at The News-Gazette. His column appears Sundays. His email is tkacich@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@tkacich).
We can expect a steady flow of further developments like the McConney news to continue to surface in the days and weeks ahead. The most important of those will come if someone even more significant in Trumps inner orbit flips and cooperates with prosecutors. The controllers reported appearance before the grand jury is only the latest indication that the district attorney and New York attorney general (now working with the DA on the criminal investigation) are wielding one of the most potent hammers in the prosecutorial tool kit: applying pressure to Weisselberg and his family to importune him to testify against Trump. It is a tough tactic but, over decades of law practice inside and outside of government, we have repeatedly seen that it gets results. And this could be a rare one-two punch from separate prosecuting offices that could be even more uncomfortable for someone on the receiving end.
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
When Lisa Ferrara was teaching one of her regularly scheduled dance classes at her studio in Eastlake, a casual mention of one of her favorite
As the covid crisis wanes and life approaches normal across the U.S., health industry leaders and many patient advocates are pushing Congress and the Biden administration to preserve the pandemic-fueled expansion of telehealth that has transformed how millions of Americans see the doctor.

The broad effort reaches across the nation's diverse health care system, bringing together consumer groups with health insurers, state Medicaid officials, physician organizations and telehealth vendors.

And it represents an emerging consensus that many services that once required an office visit can be provided easily and safely  and often more effectively  through a video chat, a phone call or even an email.

"We've seen that telehealth is an extraordinary tool," said David Holmberg, chief executive of Pittsburgh-based Highmark, a multistate insurer that also operates a major medical system. "It's convenient for the patient, and it's convenient for the doctor.  Now we need to make it sustainable and enduring."

Last fall, a coalition of leading patient groups  including the American Heart Association, the Arthritis Foundation, Susan G. Komen and the advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society  hailed the expansion of telehealth, noting the technology "can and should be used to increase patient access to care."

But the widespread embrace of telemedicine  arguably the most significant health care shift wrought by the pandemic  is not without skeptics. Even supporters acknowledge the need for safeguards to prevent fraud, preserve quality and ensure that the digital health revolution doesn't leave behind low-income patients and communities of color with less access to technology  or leave some with only virtual options in place of real physicians.

Some worry that telehealth, like previous medical innovations, may become another billing tool that simply drives up costs, a fear exacerbated by the hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into the burgeoning digital health industry.

Companies offering remote urgent care, virtual primary care and new wearable technologies to monitor patient health are exploding, with the annual global telehealth market expected to top $300 billion by 2026, up nearly fivefold from 2019, according to research company PitchBook.

"I don't think there's any debate that there is a value in better access, but if this is just a one-off service that adds another billing option without fitting into patients' regular care, I don't know if it will do much for patients' health," said Tom Banning, head of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians.

Perhaps the most contentious issue facing politicians, insurers and hospitals is how much a telehealth visit is worth in a system that is already breaking the bank.

While Medicare and other insurers fueled the explosion of telehealth over the past year by paying the same rates as for in-person visits, many are expected to push for lower prices when the federally designated public health crisis ends. At the same time, physicians and hospitals are looking to maintain income.

"Payers are unlikely to give providers carte blanche," said Dr. Hoangmai Pham, a former senior medical official at health insurance giant Anthem. But Pham noted insurers could reward physicians and hospitals that take greater responsibility for their patients' overall health with higher rates for telehealth. "There's an opportunity here," she said.

For now, tens of millions of Americans have gotten used to meeting their doctor on a laptop or smartphone, and pressure is building on the federal and state governments to loosen rules to preserve virtual visits after the health crisis ends.

"I don't want to go back," said Suzy Brantley, a 67-year-old Texan who works at an accounting firm outside Dallas.

Brantley has been going to the same medical practice for more than 15 years. "I love them there," she said. But when the practice closed its doors last spring, requiring virtual visits, Brantley found she enjoyed the more convenient way to do routine business like refill a prescription.

"You don't have to leave work to go to the doctor," she said. "I can just step into the break room for a few minutes and use my phone.  I love it."

She's far from alone. In a nationwide poll last year, 8 in 10 Americans who had used telehealth said they "liked it" or "loved it." Nearly the same share said they were likely to continue using it after the pandemic, according to the survey by the Harris Poll.

Just a year ago, telehealth  or telemedicine, as it's also called  was largely a curiosity. Patient and physician wariness and strict rules about how doctors could bill had squelched widespread use.

Fearing fraud and overuse, the federal government tightly restricted the kind of video and audio visits that could be billed to Medicare, limiting use mainly to rural areas and to visits in which a doctor was in an office or hospital, rather than working remotely.

"There was a fear that if there was the slightest opening in the Medicare payment system, people would find a way to abuse it," said Sean Cavanaugh, who oversaw Medicare during the Obama administration.

That changed suddenly in spring 2020 as pandemic lockdowns shuttered physician offices. Almost overnight, doctors were forced to pivot to virtual care to maintain contact with patients and keep money flowing.

The Trump administration moved quickly to facilitate the shift. The Medicare agency dramatically expanded the kind of services that could be provided virtually. Officials added 140 telehealth services to the list of what Medicare would pay for during the pandemic, including emergency visits, eye exams, speech and hearing therapy, and nursing home care.

Critically, Medicare raised fees for virtual visits to match those for in-office exams, a move followed by state Medicaid programs and many commercial insurers.

The surge was explosive. While fewer than 1% of primary care visits in Medicare occurred virtually in January 2020, by April nearly half did, according to data compiled by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

At UnitedHealth Group, the nation's largest health insurer, the number of covered telehealth visits increased nearly thirtyfold, rising from 1.2 million visits in 2019 to 34 million last year. Other insurers reported as much as an eightyfold increase.

"Very quickly, it became clear that we could deliver very good care to our patients via televisit," said Dr. Manish Naik, chief medical information officer at Austin Regional Clinic in central Texas.

The medical group not only helped its primary care physicians pivot to telehealth, but it also built a virtual urgent care system that allows patients to connect by video with on-call doctors 24 hours a day, a model used by large medical systems such as Kaiser Permanente.

Other systems are moving beyond televisits to expand use of remote monitoring tools in people's homes that track vital signs of patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes.

Perhaps nowhere has telehealth proved more transformational than in mental health services and treatment for patients addicted to drugs.

"Telehealth has been a godsend," said Ellen Bemis, chief executive of AMHC, a network of behavioral health clinics in rural northern Maine. Bemis said the clinics are already seeing patients adhere better to their medications as they remain in better contact virtually.

"I hope we never go back," she said.

In Alaska, health officials feel the same way. "What we've seen through covid was amazing," said state Medicaid director Albert Wall, noting a major decline in patients missing appointments.

Whether these changes endure depends largely on Congress and the Biden administration, which hasn't indicated whether it will make permanent the looser telehealth rules rolled out last year. The rules will sunset when the public health emergency ends, likely at the end of this year.

The uncertainty is fueling an urgent effort by physicians, hospitals, patient advocates and others to persuade government officials not to reimpose the strict limitations.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress have introduced bills to cement the changes. In statehouses, advocates for expanding telehealth have introduced more than 650 bills, according to the Alliance for Connected Care, a telehealth lobbying coalition.

"We've seen the potential of telehealth," said Dr. Christopher Crow, chief executive of Texas-based Catalyst Health Network, which helps primary care physicians manage their practices. "Now, we have to make sure we realize it before everyone starts shifting back to the exam rooms."

Major physician groups are pushing to maintain equal reimbursement for telehealth and in-person visits.

Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the American Medical Association, said Medicare should continue to allow patients to receive virtual care in their homes and in all areas of the country, not just rural areas.

The association is also pushing for Medicare to keep reimbursing doctors for consulting with patients by phone, a move Bailey said would ensure that patients without broadband internet service aren't left behind.

The push for more billable services has raised concerns about fraud, especially as physicians and hospitals develop more efficient systems to see patients remotely. "Overuse is absolutely a concern," said Dr. Von Nguyen, chief medical officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. "Once these systems are in place, I suspect, the risk will be greater."

Nevertheless, many insurers and state Medicaid programs, two groups that typically look more skeptically at services that can drive up costs, are backing telehealth expansion.

And despite initial fraud concerns, nearly a dozen Medicaid and insurance industry officials interviewed for this article noted that thus far they've seen little evidence of widespread misuse.

"There is fraud in traditional medical care, too," said Dr. Donna O'Shea, a senior executive at UnitedHealth Group.

Several insurance officials said telehealth could ultimately save money by routing some medical care from high-cost doctors' offices and hospitals to lower-priced virtual visits, particularly for urgent care.

And some insurance companies  including Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in New England and Priority Health in Michigan  are marketing health plans with lower premiums that steer patients to virtual care.

"We see this being a long-term change," said Dr. Michael Sherman, Harvard Pilgrim's chief medical officer.

Sherman said the health plan is even exploring whether to help low-income patients get internet access to expand telehealth further. "We have proven to ourselves that this works," he said.

KHN correspondent Rachana Pradhan and digital producer Hannah Norman contributed to this report.
Although extensive studies have been carried out on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and evidence exists that pregnant women are at elevated risk of severe COVID-19, the impact of maternal infection on the fetus is not clear. The majority of pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 are asymptomatic or experience mild symptoms.

However, some pregnant women in the third trimester with SARS-CoV-2 infection seem to be at increased risk of requiring hospitalization and ICU admission. The rates of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection also increased during the second wave of the pandemic. A national UK surveillance study reported that neonatal SARS-CoV-2 infection is not common even in infants born to mothers with perinatal SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Studying the potential impact of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in utero on the neonate

Recently researchers determined the immunological status of infants born to mothers who had confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy. Their objective was to determine the potential impact of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in utero on the neonate. This study is published on the preprint server, bioRxiv.*

The findings showed no evidence of vertical SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but it was clear that maternal SARS-CoV-2 specific Immunoglobulin G (IgG) was transferred to infants, to a lesser extent in active or recent maternal infection cases. Babies born to mothers with recent or ongoing SARS-CoV-2 infection had increased circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and elevated percentages of innate immune cells compared to babies born to uninfected mothers.

Infants born to SARS-CoV-2 exposed mothers are IgG+IgM- and reduced antibody transfer is seen in the recent/ongoing group. a, Study outline illustrating recruitment of infants and mothers in the SE group (n=30), comprised of two groups (R: n=14, R/O: n=16), and infants in the NSE group (n=15). Figure created with BioRender.com.

Results show that maternal SARS-CoV-2 specific IgG is transferred to infants born to mothers with perinatal SARS-CoV-2 infection

Also, greater frequencies of FOXP3+ regulatory T cells and circulating IL-10 showed the mechanism behind the neonatal effector response. Moreover, infants born to mothers who were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy had enhanced cytokine functionality. This shows that maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection influences in utero priming of the fetal immune system.

Our study adds further evidence suggesting the 2nd trimester may represent more opportune vaccination timing, at least with respect to the transfer of passive immunity to the infant.

According to the authors, the study offers a comprehensive immune map of neonates born to mothers with SARS-CoV-2 exposure during pregnancy. While the study did not observe vertical SARS-CoV-2 transmission, it did find multiple immunological alarms in the infants associated with maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy, especially with recent or ongoing infections.

Transfer of maternal SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG to the neonates suggests transfer of protective immunity

Overall, the findings of this study suggest an immunological imprint on the neonate following maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection, with potential long-term consequences. In utero exposure to environmental factors, pathogens, and/or maternal inflammation have been shown to affect the developing immune system of the fetus and the subsequent responses to infection and immune-mediated diseases, and neurodevelopmental problems. The transfer of maternal SARS-CoV-2 IgG to the fetus suggests the transfer of protective immunity to infants.

Neonatal immune profiling following vaccination in pregnancy may also determine what level of maternal immune activation drives the neonatal imprinting observed.

Observations from this study may influence COVID-19 vaccination regimen for pregnant women

The researchers feel that based on the observations in survivors of in utero exposure to the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, long-term effects on infants cannot be ruled out. It is currently unclear if antibodies induced via vaccination vs. natural infection differ in their glycosylation status and placental transfer.

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in the second and third trimesters induced placental transfer of antibodies, but with a reduced transfer ratio in the last trimester. The data from this study may also influence the COVID-19 vaccination regimen for pregnant women. The authors believe that long-term follow-up of the infants who were part of this study will help establish if maternal SARS-CoV-2 exposure has a lasting impact on the infants.

More data are needed to establish if these changes specifically relate to enhanced protection from SARS-CoV-2 mediated disease or are detrimental if the infant is born in a milieu of inflammatory cytokines.

*Important Notice

bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information.
Results from large-scale vaccinations match findings from clinical trials for the BioNTech/Pfizer messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine.

Data gathered from real-world vaccination programs following a single dose of Pfizer vaccine administration shows a reduction of 51.4% in infection risk and effectiveness of 54.4% against symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), matching clinical trial results.

Image Credit: Rido / Shutterstock

Vaccine effectiveness is consistent between clinical and real-world settings

The widescale implementation of vaccination programs to combat the COVID-19 pandemic has now provided extensive datasets to study vaccine effectiveness in real-world settings and compare this against the results of clinical trials.

This was investigated by a team of researchers in Israel from the Maccabi Institute for Research & Innovation as well as the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine of Tel Aviv University.

In a new study, the scientists considered the recently authorized BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine (also known as the BNT162b2 vaccine). This vaccine was chosen due to its common administration in Israel and because the vaccine has shown 95% efficacy in preventing COVID-19 with the 2-dose regimen in a phase III placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial, with the second dose given 21 days after the first vaccine dose.

The researchers tested whether the cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among individuals who received the BNT162b2 vaccine would decline after 12 days after immunization compared with the incidence during the preceding 12 days, and if this was consistent with clinical trial data.

Data was gathered from 503 875 individuals who received 1 dose of the Pfizer vaccine, with over half providing follow-up data for the following 3 weeks on the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Participants included individuals aged 16 years and older who received a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine between December 19, 2020, and January 15, 2021. The average age of patients was 59 years old, with nearly 53% of patients being women.

Altogether, findings revealed the single dose of vaccine was associated with 54% effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19.

Findings also showed that the first dose of the vaccine was associated with an approximately 51% reduction in the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infections at 13 to 24 days after immunization compared with 1 to 12 days after vaccination. This indicates that the temporal aspect of vaccine administration is consistent with clinical trials occurring at the 3-week mark.

Real-world vaccination effectiveness maintained across demographic factors

The extensive dataset also provided researchers with further insight into potentially confounding factors such as age, gender, regional differences, and patients with previous medical conditions. Such factors would reveal whether portions of the population were particularly at risk, including high-risk patients such as older patients with medical histories.

The researchers, therefore, considered these factors in further analyses, demonstrating that vaccine effectiveness was maintained among individuals aged 60 years or older (44.5%), those younger than 60 years (50.2%), women (50.0%) and men (52.1%).

Findings were also similar across subpopulations (e.g. ultraorthodox Jewish: 53.5%) and patients with various comorbidities (e.g. cardiovascular diseases; 47.2%).

Considering potential confounding variables is indicative of the strengths of the analysis in the present study. The study also provides several additional strengths, including the use of large-scale automated data collection of vaccination status and laboratory results across all citizens free of charge. This provides a unique opportunity to explore vaccine effectiveness with minimal threat of the information bias that characterizes studies relying on a self-reported diagnosis.

Examining temporal changes in effectiveness and addressing limitations

A particularly advantageous perspective offered by the current analysis is the consideration of changes in vaccine effectiveness over time. This factor may be particularly insightful when comparing results to other vaccination types as well as the effectiveness of disease prevention programs across countries. Establishing the demographic groups at the highest risk for priority vaccination is a key aspect, yet few programs consider how temporal dimensions can alter herd immunity dynamics.

The present analysis was hindered by two key limitations that could be further examined in future research. First, despite the relatively large study population, the analysis was limited by the number of individuals with chronic illness who became infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the short study period. Second, are the decreased test rate 2 weeks after the first dose, which may have caused more asymptomatic infections to go undocumented and which may confound the analysis slightly.

Nevertheless, these challenges can be overcome using more refined data from hospital environments as well as in more recent data, as a larger proportion of the population has now been vaccinated with both doses.
In South Florida, when people want to find a Black physician, they often contact Adrienne Hibbert through her website, Black Doctors of South Florida.

There are a lot of Black networks that are behind the scenes, said Hibbert, who runs her own marketing firm. I dont want them to be behind the scenes, so Im bringing it to the forefront.

Hibbert said she got the idea for the website after she gave birth to her son 15 years ago.

Her obstetrician was white, and the suburban hospital outside Miami didnt feel welcoming to Hibbert as a Black woman pregnant with her first child.

They had no singular photos of a Black woman and her Black child, Hibbert said. I want someone who understands my background. I want someone who understands the foods that I eat. I want someone who understands my upbringing and things that my grandma used to tell me.

In addition to shared culture and values, a Black physician can offer Black patients a sense of safety, validation and trust. Research has shown that racism, discrimination and unconscious bias continue to plague the U.S. health care system and can cause unequal treatment of racial and ethnic minorities.

Black patients have had their complaints and symptoms dismissed and their pain undertreated, and they are referred less frequently for specialty care. Older Black Americans can still remember when some areas of the country had segregated hospitals and clinics, not to mention profoundly unethical medical failures and abuses, such as the 40-year-long Tuskegee syphilis study.

But even today, Black patients say, too many clinicians can be dismissive, condescending or impatient  which does little to repair trust. Some Black patients would prefer to work with Black doctors for their care, if they could find any.

Hibbert is working on turning her website into a more comprehensive, searchable directory. She said the most sought-after specialist is the obstetrician-gynecologist: Oh, my gosh, the No. 1 call that I get is [for] a Black OB-GYN.

For Black women, the impact of systemic racism can show up starkly in childbirth. They are three times as likely to die after giving birth as white women in the United States.

Nelson Adams is a Black OB-GYN at Jackson North Medical Center in North Miami Beach, Florida. He said he understands some women's preference for a Black OB-GYN but said that cant be the only answer: If every Black woman wanted to have a Black physician, it would be virtually impossible. The numbers are not there.

And its also not simply a matter of recruiting more Black students to the fields of medicine and nursing, he said, though that would help. He wants systemic change, which means medical schools need to teach all students  no matter their race, culture or background  to treat patients with respect and dignity. In other words, as they themselves want to be treated.

The golden rule says, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' so that the heart of a doctor needs to be that kind of heart where you are taking care of folks the way you would want to be treated or want your family treated, he said.

George Floyds murder in Minneapolis in May 2020, and the subsequent wave of protests and activism, prompted corporations, universities, nonprofits and other American institutions to reassess their own history and policies regarding race. Medical schools were no exception. In September, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine revamped its four-year curriculum to incorporate anti-racism training.

New training also became part of the curriculum at Florida Atlantic Universitys Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine in Boca Raton, where students are being taught to ask patients about their history and experiences in addition to their bodily health. The new questions might include: Have you ever felt discriminated against? or Do you feel safe communicating your needs?

Different things that were questions that we maybe never historically asked, but we need to start asking, said Dr. Sarah Wood, senior associate dean for medical education at Florida Atlantic.

The medical students start learning about racism in health care during their first year, and as they go, they also learn how to communicate with patients from various cultures and backgrounds, Wood added.

These changes come after decades of racist teaching in medical schools across the United States. Adams, the OB-GYN, completed his residency in Atlanta in the early 1980s. He recalls being taught that if a Black woman came to the doctor or hospital with pain in her pelvis, the assumption was that it was likely to be a sexually transmitted disease, something we refer to as PID, pelvic inflammatory disease. The typical causes there are gonorrhea and/or chlamydia.

This initial assumption was in line with a racist view about Black womens sexual activity  a presumption that white women were spared. If the same symptoms were presented by a Caucasian, a white young woman, the assumption would be not an STD, but endometriosis, Adams said. Endometriosis is not sexually transmitted and is therefore less stigmatizing, less tied to the patients behavior.

That diagnostic rule of thumb is no longer taught, but doctors can still bring unconscious racial bias to their patient encounters, Adams said.

While they revamp their curricula, medical schools are also trying to increase diversity within their student ranks. Florida Atlantics Schmidt College of Medicine set up, in 2012, a partnership with Florida A&M University, the states historically Black university. Undergraduates who want to become doctors are mentored as they complete their pre-med studies, and those who hit certain benchmarks are admitted to Schmidt after they graduate.

Dr. Michelle Wilson took that route and graduated from Schmidt this spring. Shes headed to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, Georgia, for a residency in family medicine. Wilson was drawn to that specialty because she can do primary care but also deliver babies. She wants to build a practice focused on the needs of Black families.

We code-switch. Being able to be that comfortable with your patient, I think its important when building a long-term relationship with them, Wilson said.

Being able to relax and talk to my patient as if they are family  I think being able to do that really builds on the relationship, especially makes a patient want to come back another time and be like, I really like that doctor.'

She said she hopes her work will inspire the next generation of Black doctors.

I didnt have a Black doctor growing up, Wilson said. Im kind of paving the way for other little Black girls that look like me, that want to be a doctor. I can let them know its possible.

This story is part of a partnership that includes NPR, WLRN and KHN.
Donna M. Seifried, 78, passed away on Friday, June 11, 2021, at her home surrounded by family. She was a receptionist at Price Waterhouse Coopers, a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and a native of Salina, KS. She is survived by her husband William "Bill" Seifried of Jeffersonville, I
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(Newser) 

David Dushman, the last surviving Soviet soldier involved in the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, has died. He was 98. The Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria said Sunday that Dushman had died at a Munich hospital on Saturday, per the AP . Every witness to history who passes on is a loss, but saying farewell to David Dushman is particularly painful, said Charlotte Knobloch, a former head of Germanys Central Council of Jews. Dushman was right on the front lines when the National Socialists machinery of murder was destroyed. As a young Red Army soldier, Dushman flattened the forbidding electric fence around the notorious Nazi death camp with his T-34 tank on Jan. 27, 1945.

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He admitted that he and his comrades didn't immediately realize the full magnitude of what had happened in Auschwitz. Skeletons everywhere, he recalled in a 2015 interview with Munich newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. They stumbled out of the barracks, they sat and lay among the dead. Terrible. We threw them all of our canned food and immediately drove on, to hunt fascists. More than a million people, most of them Jews deported there from all over Europe, were murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz-Birkenau between 1940 and 1945. Dushman earlier took part in some of the bloodiest military encounters of World War II, including the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk. He was seriously wounded three times but survived the war, one of just 69 soldiers in his 12,000-strong division to do so.

(Read more obituary stories.)
Theyll beep and I will wonder if we are in their way, Stefanie Wittmaak said to the Tampa Bay Times. Theyll wave and Ill wonder if we know them. Then I remember, Oh yeah, were in an Ecto-1.
(Newser)  Two express trains collided in southern Pakistan early Monday, killing at least 35 passengers, authorities said, as rescuers and villagers worked to pull injured people and more bodies from the wreckage. Between 15 and 20 passengers are still trapped in the wreckage of the Millat Express train and authorities were trying to arrange heavy machinery to rescue those people who are crying for help, said Umar Tufail, a police chief in Ghotki district in Sindh province, where the collision occurred before dawn. The Millat Express derailed and the Sir Syed Express train hit it soon afterward, said Usman Abdullah, a deputy commissioner in Ghotki. It wasnt immediately clear what caused the derailment and the subsequent collision, the AP reports. Right now the challenge for us is to quickly rescue those passengers who are still trapped in the wreckage," he said.

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Azam Swati, minister for railways, told the AP that so far 35 people had died and dozens of others were injured. He said engineers and experts were trying to determine what caused the collision and that all aspects will be examined, including the possibility of sabotage. We are not sure about the cause of the train accident at this stage," he said. According to railway officials, about 1,100 passengers were on board the two trains, and arrangements were being made to assist the survivors. According to local media, some of the passengers were traveling by the Millat Express train to attend a wedding party but it was unclear whether they were among the dead or injured. Pakistans prime minister expressed his deep sorrow over the tragedy. Imran Khan said on Twitter that he had asked the railway minister to supervise the rescue work and also ordered a probe into the crash.

(Read more Pakistan stories.)
(Newser)  Two people have been arrested in the road rage shooting that left a 6-year-old boy dead last month in Southern California. Eriz Marcus Anthony, 24, and Lee Wynne, 23, were taken into custody outside their Costa Mesa home on Sunday, the AP reports. Redlands Daily Facts reports they are a man and a woman who are in a relationship. They are expected to be charged with murder.

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Aiden Leos was in the backseat of a car driven by his mother on the morning of May 21 on State Route 55 in the city of Orange, on his way to kindergarten. Police say it was a "perceived unsafe lane change" that sparked the incident; according to statements from Aiden's mother as well as witnesses, the suspects' car cut off the car Aiden was in and his mom responded with a hand gesture. The other car then got behind her and a male in the passenger seat shot into the back of her car, hitting Aiden, who was in a booster seat. A female was driving, ABC 11 reports. (Read more California stories.)
(Newser)  Another controversy over high school graduation: This one is out of North Carolina, where a senior is being denied his diploma because he draped a Mexican flag over his graduation gown at the ceremony, reports the New York Times. School officials in Asheboro say it has nothing to do with Mexico and is instead all about a dress-code violation. Student Ever Lopez, however, calls it racism. The incident drew national attention after a video clip of the teen wearing the flag at the ceremony went viral, per the Courier-Tribune. The clip shows Lopez having a brief conversation with Asheboro High School principal Penny Brooks as he approaches the stage, during which she asks him to remove the flag. He refuses and leaves the stage empty-handed.

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I just gotta represent, says Lopez, whose parents are Mexican immigrants, I did it for my family. They came over here to give me a better future. The school district's view: The heart of the issue is the fact that the student did not follow the established dress code for the event and detracted from the importance and the solemnity of the ceremony, it says in a statement. "It is grossly unfair for one individual to diminish this event by violating the dress code. Lopez says he has been told he can receive his diploma if he apologizes but "I ain't apologizing for nothing," he tells Courier-Tribune. "It's you who should be apologizing," he adds of school officials. "You're the one doing wrong." A separate school statement says officials are working with the family to resolve the issue, per the AP. (Read more high school graduation stories.)
(Newser)  A new ad about the chaos and violence faced by police officers during the Capitol riot features emotional interviews with some of those officers, but it doesn't look like Fox News viewers will get to see it anytime soon. Ben Meiselas, co-founder of the liberal, anti-Trump MeidasTouch PAC, tells the Los Angeles Times that his group placed a $185,000 ad buy with the network for its minute-long spot, which shows members of the Capitol Police and DC's Metropolitan Police talking to the media and testifying before Congress about the events of Jan. 6, including how they were doused with bear spray and called "traitors." The ad, which has since gone viral on social media, ends with the words "the GOP betrayed America" and "we will never forget" on the screen. Meiselas and his brothers, Brett and Jordan, tell the Times that on Friday, they were informed by the network it wouldn't be airing the ad, which they'd hoped would run between June 6 and 15, including during Fox & Friends.

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"We couldn't have fathomed in our wildest imaginations that even a Fox News would reject an ad that simply condemns the insurrection, and condemns people who support the insurrection," Meiselas says, calling Fox a "fascist echo chamber gatekeeper for their base." The Meiselases, who say Fox never spurned one of their ads without suggesting edits, note they weren't told why the ad wouldn't run. "The fact they want to cancel and censor the voices of law enforcement who bravely guarded the Capitol [is] the height of hypocrisy, and it's un-American," Brett Meiselas says. Meanwhile, per Newsweek, several of those charged in the insurrection plan on blaming the network, as well as former President Trump, for spreading misinformation that led them to take part in the riot. "The reason he was there is because he was a dumbass and believed what he heard on Fox News," one attorney tells the AP of his client. Fox didn't respond to the Times' request for comment. (Read more Capitol riot stories.)
(Newser)  Kamala Harris has embarked on her first foreign trip as vice president, though things got off to a bumpy start. Her plane out of Joint Base Andrews had to turn back after 30 minutes because of an unspecified "technical issue" on Sunday, reports the AP. Harris, though, boarded a second plane and has since landed in Guatemala City. Now comes the hard part of trying to put a dent in the number of migrants heading north to the USand, in the bigger picture, navigating an especially complicated political terrain. Coverage:

The trip: Harris visits Guatemala on Monday and Mexico on Tuesday, all part of her mandate as VP to ease the immigration crisis. She'll be focusing on what officials have called "root issues" behind the surge, including corruption. The latter "really does sap the the wealth of any country, and in Central America is at a scale where it is a large percentage of GDP across the region, says special envoy Ricardo Zuniga.

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The map: A look at a map shows why Guatemala is key, notes USA Today. Migrants from El Salvador and Honduras to the south must pass through Guatemala on their way to Mexico and the US border. Plus, the US has better relations with Guatemala than with the other two nations in what's known as the Northern Triangle.

A look at a map shows why Guatemala is key, notes USA Today. Migrants from El Salvador and Honduras to the south must pass through Guatemala on their way to Mexico and the US border. Plus, the US has better relations with Guatemala than with the other two nations in what's known as the Northern Triangle. The risk: An analysis by Lisa Lerer in the New York Times wonders whether Harris is "drawing the shortest straws in the White House." Because she's not only leading the White House mission on immigration but on voting-rights reform. Both "are politically fraught problems with no easy solutions," and Lerer digs into the details. The rewards are great if Harris succeeds, but failure puts her political futureincluding a possible 2024 runin jeopardy because her critics love to pile on. Is "Biden setting up Kamala Harris for failure in 2024," asks a headline on an op-ed in USA Today by Peter Funt.

An analysis by Lisa Lerer in the New York Times wonders whether Harris is "drawing the shortest straws in the White House." Because she's not only leading the White House mission on immigration but on voting-rights reform. Both "are politically fraught problems with no easy solutions," and Lerer digs into the details. The rewards are great if Harris succeeds, but failure puts her political futureincluding a possible 2024 runin jeopardy because her critics love to pile on. Is "Biden setting up Kamala Harris for failure in 2024," asks a headline on an op-ed in USA Today by Peter Funt. The criticism: For a sample of how Harris' critics on the right already are pouncing, see this column by Charles Cooke in the National Review. He calls Harris a "phony" under a headline of "The Democrats Have a Kamala Harris Problem." Cooke predicts Democratic regret in the near future. "By 2024, Republicans may well be politically ascendantand, if they are, the Democrats are going to wish that they hadnt allowed a dud such as Kamala Harris to become the most vibrant face of their brand."

For a sample of how Harris' critics on the right already are pouncing, see this column by Charles Cooke in the National Review. He calls Harris a "phony" under a headline of "The Democrats Have a Kamala Harris Problem." Cooke predicts Democratic regret in the near future. "By 2024, Republicans may well be politically ascendantand, if they are, the Democrats are going to wish that they hadnt allowed a dud such as Kamala Harris to become the most vibrant face of their brand." The dilemma: Harris "can't win," writes Frank Bruni in the New York Times. "She confronts the confines in which a vice president has to operate on top of the similar confines in which Black people and women in positions of power are often expected to operate," he writes. "Its a Goldilocks double or even triple whammy. Too strong a voice and youre stepping outside of your place. Too soft a voice and youre timidly failing to rise to the occasion." All in all, he adds, "this is one fraught, fascinating vice presidency."

Harris "can't win," writes Frank Bruni in the New York Times. "She confronts the confines in which a vice president has to operate on top of the similar confines in which Black people and women in positions of power are often expected to operate," he writes. "Its a Goldilocks double or even triple whammy. Too strong a voice and youre stepping outside of your place. Too soft a voice and youre timidly failing to rise to the occasion." All in all, he adds, "this is one fraught, fascinating vice presidency." Summing up: In an analysis at CNN, Stephen Collinson goes over much of the above. "Neither the immigration nor the voting rights assignments offer much promise for success," he writes. "But they are an opportunity for Harris to create her own White House legacyand will test her skills and qualifications for the one executive office higher than the one she already holds."

(Read more Kamala Harris stories.)
(Newser)  Big news out of Nigeria about Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, courtesy of the Islamic State West African Province militant group, which splintered off from Boko Haram five years ago. "God has judged him by sending him to heaven," ISWAP chief Abu Musab al-Barnawi can be heard saying in an audio recording about Shekau, who al-Barnawi said killed himself on May 18 by detonating an explosive device while being chased by ISWAP fighters, reports Reuters. Two sources confirm to the news agency that the voice in the recording is indeed al-Barnawi's. Per the Guardian, al-Barnawi also said in a recording obtained by a local news site that Shekau's killing was a direct order from ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. Boko Haram experts and a Nigerian intel report have also said that Shekau is deceased, though the BBC notes Boko Haram itself hasn't confirmed.

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In the audio recording, al-Barnawi says that after ISWAP militants caught up with al-Barnawi, they gave him the chance to join forces with them and repent. "Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the afterlife [rather] than getting humiliated on Earth, and he killed himself instantly," al-Barnawi said. When rumors started floating of Shekau's death last month, the Nigerian army said it would look into it, though it's not yet clear what was discovered in that probe. Shekau has been reported dead several times over the past decade or so, only to reemerge. With Shekau out of the picture, that would leave a scenario that's both "good and bad," per the BBC. Good in that Boko Haramresponsible for kidnapping hundreds of Chibok schoolgirls in 2014and ISWAP now may not clash as much, as ISWAP perhaps tries to lure Boko Haram's fighters to its ranks. But bad in that ISIS' footprint may now get "a massive boost" in West Africa thanks to this possible new united front. (Read more Boko Haram stories.)
(Newser)  Canada's Ryerson University might be getting a new name amid widespread anger after the discovery of 215 bodies at a former residential school for Indigenous childrenand it definitely won't be replacing its statue of Egerton Ryerson. The statue of the Toronto university's namesake, who had a big hand in developing the country's residential school system, was toppled and decapitated by protesters Sunday night, the CBC reports. Ryerson University President Mohamed Lachemi said Monday that the statue, which was splashed with red paint prior to the toppling, "will not be restored or replaced." Lachemi said the statue's fate was being considered by a task force that is also reviewing the university's name and other reminders of Ryerson.

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Recommendations from Ryerson, who died in 1882, were used to set up the residential school system, in which more than 150,000 Indigenous children were removed from their families to attend Christian schools as part of a policy of forced assimilation, reports the Times of London. Abuse and neglect was widespread. A plaque was added to the statue in 2018 to acknowledge Ryerson's role in forming the policy behind the schools, which persisted until the late 1990s. "Universities are a place where difficult subjects are discussed, attitudes are challenged, and alternatives are suggested and considered," Lachemi said in a statement. "This often involves demonstrations and civil protestand the university will always make space for this." Indigenous students and faculty members are urging students, faculty, and alumni to refer to the institution as "X University." (Pope Francis did not offer an apology in remarks on the subject Sunday.)
6:20pm - Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom president Sonny Fatupaito says that he and his organisation have "zero tolerance" for the importation, selling, supply, and possession of methamphetamine, MDMA, and cocaine after today's arrests.

"My continued focus as a leader is to influence, educate and empower our members to choose to live positive, constructive, and productive lives free from alcohol and drugs, and steer them in a direction away from criminal offending," he says.

Fatupaito says his home and the Irondog Headquarters weren't subject to searches and he wasn't detained for questioning. He adds there was clear "targeting" by police and media, which he believes is "obvious intimidation and payback for recent Mongrel Mob Kingdom protests against biases and racism in the Waikato and NZ police".

"[This is] as well as the Mongrel Mob Kingdom's role in highlighting how the NZ Police were embarrassed with the preferential treatment given to a privileged white politicians two death threats, compared to ignoring multiple death threats to Maori MPs and the genocide of Maori throughout NZ."

Fatupaito says he wants Mongrel Mob Kingdom members, associates, and supporters to remain calm and cooperate, no matter how much they want to react.

"The power of resistance is at best when showing nothing will provoke you to resist physically or verbally. Be proud of who you are and walk in dignity even when the State attempts to hurt or humiliated you, or your rights have been ignored or trampled on."

He adds the three members that were arrested are all innocent until proven guilty and the trio are "facing allegations".
Voting on that closed at noon on Monday and NZNO lead advocate David Wait says he was pleased with the "exceptionally high" voter turnout.



"Members are facing serious nursing workforce issues, with pay rates that do not attract people into the profession or retain the people we have, and staffing levels which stretch them to breaking point, putting them and their patients at risk," he says.

"This second DHB offer has not significantly changed and does not address these issues. Our members are genuinely concerned that nursing shortages would increase if it was accepted, and that standards of care for all in Aotearoa New Zealand would suffer as a result."

The eight-hour strike will go ahead on June 9, affecting all public hospitals and DHB facilities.

Wait says it's "ironic" some DHBs have requested to have more staff the day of the strike so they can still provide life-saving services they would have in their wards on a non-strike day.

"We want the DHBs to be transparent about this being a large-scale problem where staff and patients are regularly put at risk. The DHBs have attempted to respond to this claim, but after years of delays and failed promises, members want to see some accountability on their part."

He adds that what made this rejected offer different was the inclusion of a $4000 lump sum payment, which was a part payment on back pay that would be owed to members through the pay equity claim. This should be settled by the end of the year.

"Members know that lump sum payments do not lift actual rates of pay, which impacts on the long-term issues of a health system that values nurses and their work, attracts new people into the profession and encourages others back from overseas," Wait says.

"They also find it unfair that they are being asked to wait for the pay equity process, when there is uncertainty about when this will happen or what the results will be."

Wait says NZNO members were resolute and further strike action can't be ruled out.

"It's heart-breaking that nurses and other health workers feel so undervalued that they would choose industrial action. Nobody wants this and the best way for future strikes to be avoided would be through a fair and decent offer," he says.

"We need the Government and the DHBs to come up with a profession-enhancing offer right now that truly recognises the contribution nursing staff make and that ensures the future of nursing for the wellbeing and safety of us all."

On Wednesday, there will be city-wide strikes in Auckland and Wellington as well as strikes in each DHB. A full list is available here.
She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers weve felt from across the globe, the couple said of Lili, who was born at 7 pounds, 11 ounces.
Patient and staff data was also leaked in the "national scale disaster" with work being done to restore systems for the past three weeks.

On Tuesday the DHB's chief executive Kevin Snee confirmed half of its servers had been restored and dismissed the idea that paying a ransom would have been easier than having its entire computer system out of action for so long.

Snee said resuming radiation was an "important milestone" for the many staff members who have been working non-stop on the restoration of the DHB's systems.

"Being able to again provide this important service for our community here in Waikato is a great reward for all the hard work of our IT, support and clinical teams."

He added the service would not immediately be operating at full capacity with some patients still receiving care in Tauranga and Wellington.

"We have four machines and will begin with two this week while we keep a number of our staff in Tauranga and Wellington to ensure continuity of care for those patients who were sent to those areas.

Once our staff and patients are repatriated to Hamilton, which is expected over the next two weeks, we'll be able to have all four up and running."

He said the inpatient management system and diagnostic services across the radiology and laboratory services are also expected to be up and running later this week.

Having radiation therapy and other cancer services back online was the key priority for the DHB in what the Ministry of Health's IT and digital head Shane Hunter has described as the most "significant" cyber-attack New Zealand has seen.

"We know two years ago we had a PHO (primary health organisation) that was significantly attacked but it's pretty clear this is quite a significant attack on the DHB.

"By global standards, I understand this is not as large as some have been in overall scale but the reality it has had a significant impact on the DHB."
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TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Higher Education Council (HEC) Secretary-General Dr Shaikha Rana bint Isa bin Duaij Al Khalifa has lauded the distinguished long-standing solid Bahrain-India relations and their steady progress, particularly at the political, economic, educational and cultural levels. Dr Shaikha Rana  also Deputy Chairperson of HEC Board of Trustees  received yesterday Indian Ambassador to Bahrain Piyush Srivastava.

She underlined HECs keenness to develop educational and research cooperation with India to support the educational process and serve efforts to achieve sustainable development in the two countries.

They also discussed higher education topics of mutual interest. Ambassador Srivastava expressed pride in the meeting and appreciated the efforts and role of the HEC to improve higher education and provide all success requirements for it, wishing Dr Shaikha Rana every success.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Health Minister Faeqa bint Said Al Saleh has lauded the strength of relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Japan and looked forward to enhancing them across all fields, especially health.

This came as Al Saleh received yesterday the newly-appointed Japanese Ambassador to Bahrain, Miyamoto Masayuki. The Minister congratulated the Ambassador on appointment to his post, wishing him every success in carrying out his diplomatic duties, in a way that would enhance the deep-rooted solid relations between the two friendly countries.

They reviewed the latest developments of the coronavirus (COVID-19), including Bahrains experience in providing vaccines and efforts to curb the spread of the pandemic by putting in place the necessary precautionary measures to protect public health and safety.

The Japanese envoy expressed thanks to the minister for her interest in developing bilateral relations, affirming his countrys keenness to broaden areas of cooperation with Bahrain in order to serve joint interests in the health field.

He commended the Ministrys keenness to improve the efficiency of the health system, and distinction in delivering outstanding health and treatment services to the citizens and residents, especially during the pandemic.

Ambassador Masayuki expressed the Japanese Embassys readiness to cooperate with the Health Ministry to implement more health projects in the future.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The General Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security announced yesterday the arrest of a 41-year old Asian woman with an International Red Notice issued against her by the Interpol Organisation over human trafficking charges, including illegal profit in cooperation with outside Bahrain partners.

The International Affairs and the Interpol Directorate and the Investigation Directorate have cooperated for the womans arrest as part of the fight against organised and cross-border crimes.

A team was formed to investigate received information, take legal proceedings and refer the suspect to the judiciary authority to be handed over to the concerned country
Corvallis, OR (97331)

Today

Periods of rain. High 66F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain condemned the terrorist attack that took place near a bus station in Mogadishu, Somalia, resulting in several deaths and injuries.

Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed its condolences to the families of the victims and the Somali government and people, wishing a speedy recovery to those injured as a result of this cowardly terrorist attack which contradicts all moral and humanitarian values and principles.

The Ministry affirmed the Kingdoms solidarity with Somalia in all the measures it takes to combat extremist terrorist organisations and maintain security and stability, reiterating Bahrains position in rejecting all forms of violence, extremism, and terrorism.

The Kingdon also condemned the armed attack on the town of Sulhan in northern Burkina Faso, which resulted in the death of hundreds of civilians and injured others.

Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed its condolences to the families of the victims and the government of Burkina Faso, wishing the injured ones a speedy recovery.

The Ministry stressed the firm position of Bahrain that rejects terrorism, extremism and violence, and calls for concerted international efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
Since 1992, the Federal Reimbursement Allowance has sailed through the Missouri Legislature with little fanfare.

But 2021 was different.

The FRA, a tax on hospitals and other health providers, got caught up in abortion politics this year and didnt get approved before the end of the regular session. Come September, if the FRA expires, that could leave Missouri with a $2 billion funding gap and force the diversion of money from other state priorities to the health program for low-income and disabled Missourians.

The FRA provides a state portion of funding to match federal contributions to Medicaid, which provides health coverage for low-income and disabled Missourians.

This year, several lawmakers wanted to add amendments to the bill that would deny Medicaid funds for abortion or abortion providers.

The state legislature now has until the end of September to reach a resolution or the budgeting will go into the hands of Gov. Mike Parson and the federal government could get involved.

State Sen. Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, and state Rep. Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph, both believe there is a possibility a resolution can be reached.

Hegeman, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he did not support the amendments to the measure because he wanted a clean bill.

I just didnt think this was the vehicle that they needed to utilize to move that effort forward, so I did not vote for the amendment, Hegeman said.

Hegeman said there are a couple of different paths moving forward. Parson would be bound to balance the budget himself and if a resolution isnt reached in a timely manner, he would be able to withhold dollars for other state priorities.

Shields said this was frustrating for her because she knows Medicaid needs to be funded.

We were able to do some things in the budget that were incredibly important, such as being able to increase reimbursement rates for those who care for the developmentally disabled, Shields said.

Shields said she also wanted Medicaid expansion to be funded as it was voted on by the people of Missouri.

The Medicaid expansion issue moves to the courts, while Parson could call a special session on FRA funding.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man has been charged with four felonies for allegedly shooting another person during a fight last week.

Prosecutors charged Trey L. Garrett, 26, with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, armed criminal action and being a dangerous felon in possession of a gun Friday after a shooting on Broadway in downtown Jefferson City, according to court documents. A witness told police that Garrett was in a fight with another man in the 600 block of Broadway when he went to his nearby apartment and got a gun, according to a probable cause statement.

Garrett went back to the scene of the fight and shot at the other man three or four times as the victim ran away, the statement says. The victim told police he was attacked by three or four people and identified Garrett as the shooter from a photo lineup, police say.

Prosecutors also charged Esther S. Ruboneka, 22, with felony hindering prosecution. Ruboneka is accused of driving Garrett from the scene after the shooting.

Garrett and Ruboneka were jailed without bond, according to online court records.
DANBURY  The public schools incoming superintendent could make 5 percent more than Sal Pascarella in his or her first year.

The application for Danburys open superintendent position puts the salary in the range of $250,000 to $275,000, in addition to an excellent comprehensive benefits package.

Pascarella, the soon-to-be-retired superintendent, earns $237,874 this fiscal year, putting him as the 23rd highest-paid school chief in the state, according to a Hearst Connecticut Media analysis of 153 superintendent contracts.

He did (the) Danbury district quite well, said Gladys Cooper, chair of the school board.

Trailing some districts, despite Danburys size

Pascarella makes less than several superintendents of smaller and similar-sized districts. He couldnt be reached for comment on Monday.

Danbury is the sixth-largest district in the state, with almost 12,000 students.

The closest comparison is Norwalk, which has around 11,500 students and where Superintendent Alexandra Estrella earns $290,000. Thats almost 22 percent more than Pascarella. She earns $25.05 per student, compared to Pascerallas $20.10.

However, Pascarella earns slightly more than Waterburys Verna Ruffin, who makes $235,000. That district is larger than Danburys, with 18,450 students.

Superintendents in the other sixth-largest districts  New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford and Stamford  earn more than in Danbury.

Pascarella makes less than he might in the around 4,550-student Ridgefield, where Superintendent Susie Da Silva earns $264,000, and the around 2,560-student Brookfield, where Superintendent John Barile makes around $240,000.

Its possible that some smaller districts pay their superintendents more because they have fewer other administrators than in the larger districts, Danbury Mayor Joe Cavo said.

All the work that normally happens in maybe some of these smaller towns by a single superintendent may be shared by some other staff in these larger municipalities, he said.

New Canaan and Darien, two communities that are wealthier and smaller than Danbury, pay their superintendents about $315,000 and around $307,000, respectively.

That plays out in those towns tax rates, Cavo said.

Theyre [homeowners] going to be paying more for taxes and theyre going to be paying more for a lot of things, including their superintendent, he said. But it doesnt mean their superintendents are any better than our superintendents.

Trailing closely behind Pascarella are Region 15 Superintendent Joshua Smith, who earns about $235,000 and oversees 3,500 students, Bethel Superintendent Christine Carver, who makes about $232,000 and runs a district of around 3,000 students.

Superintendent Pat Cosentino earns about $230,000 to run the about 2,000-student New Fairfield school system, while Rydell Harrison gets $225,000 from the 2,500-student district of Easton, Redding and Region 9.

Shermans Jeffrey Melendez, who is also a principal, makes almost $224,000 running the one-school district with about 250 students, while Newtowns Lorrie Rodrigue earns less than $221,000 from around the 4,000-student district.

Megan Bennett takes home about $205,000 running the 688-student Region 12, which serves Bridgewater, Roxbury and Washington.

Alisha DiCorpo, who became New Milfords superintendent in February, earns about $194,000 running the about 3,700-student district. Information about her salary was requested when she was still the interim superintendent.

Pascarella, Estrella, Barile, Carver, Da Silva, Cosentino, Harrison, Melendez and Rodrigue have doctorate degrees.

Pascarella has been superintendent for 15 years, during which time the district created Westside Middle School Academy and underwent various building projects.

Two Danbury elementary schools have earned National Blue Ribbon School awards, while many elementary schools have been named Connecticut Schools of Distinction for students performance and/or growth. As of last year, Danbury and Greenwich were tied for the highest number of distinction schools in the state.

I dont know if it correlates in the more money you pay a superintendent, the better outcomes you have with your school kids, Cavo said.

Hiring a new superintendent

Danbury Board of Education created the salary range for the future superintendent after a discussion with the consultant firm helping the district search for a new leader, Cooper said.

The decision to increase the salary wasnt necessarily because Pascerallas salary trails behind some other districts, she said. However, the district hopes to attract highly-qualified candidates, she said.

We have to look at qualifications, and I think Danbury wants the best person for the job, she said.

The salary for the new superintendent is not set in stone, either, Cooper said. The idea was that the new hire could expect to make about $250,000 in the first year and then see raises in subsequent years that could bring him or her to $275,000, she said.

The school board looks at other superintendents salaries when setting how much its school chief should make, Cooper said.

Each year when you negotiate a contract, we try to make it feasible so the superintendent wouldnt say, Its time for me to move on, said Cooper, who has been on the board for 30 years.

Built into the budget is 3 to 3.5 percent raises for the superintendent based on his or her annual evaluation, she said.

We try to keep it (the raise) in line with what the teachers are making and try to treat everybody fair, Cooper said.

There were a couple years where Pascarella declined a raise so that his staff could get one, she said.

Pascarella receives 30 vacation days, 17 sick days and three personal days. Hes given a $700 per month travel stipend. He may carry over vacation days from one year to the next.

His contract states the board must compensate him for all unused vacation time based upon a per diem rate of 1/260th of his annual salary. Cooper said the board will discuss at a Tuesday special meeting whether and how much Pascarella is owed due to unused vacation time.

The superintendent application closes on Wednesday. The consultant firm will send a narrowed down list of candidates to the board on June 22, according to a timeline available on the firms website.

Top candidates will be interviewed the week of June 28, with an optional second round of interviews the week of July 5.

Pascarellas last day is June 30, so its possible an interim superintendent could be in charge for a short time until the new leader is named, Cooper said.
DANBURY  The single mother burst into tears when Carleen Cole introduced herself over the phone.

She was letting me know she was behind on her rent, recalls Cole, a screener with Nuvance Health that helps connect patients with resources. Her and her kids didnt have any food.

Cole has heard similar challenges from hundreds of patients in the 3 1/2 years shes interviewed them about their needs. But these problems were heightened during the coronavirus pandemic.

Weve seen a lot of people, working people who normally would not even think about any kind of social services, now theyre receiving services, she said. A lot of them would say, I never thought Id be in this situation.

These challenges are backed up by data.

More than 20 percent of the 11,000 patients Nuvance screened during the pandemic struggled to meet basic needs, such as food, a place to live and transportation.

Even in more affluent communities, such as Southbury, as many as one in five screened patients faced challenges that could hurt their health, Nuvance said.

Nuvance recently entered its fifth year as an Accountable Health Communities Model bridge organization, which aims to find ways to better address patients social needs in order to improve their overall health. The health system works closely with local organizations to get them services.

When youre worried about food insecurity or housing or whether youre going to be able to pay your utility bills, it makes it much more challenging to focus on your health care needs, said Dr. Robert Carr, clinical leader for the program.

Providing social supports to those patients could make them healthier, improve services and lower the cost of health care overall, he said.

By addressing some of these needs and helping patients get assistance for them, we hope  and have good reason to believe  that we will be able to improve their health outcomes, Carr said.

A $4.5 million federal five-year grant and Nuvance funding cover the program at Danbury, New Milford and Norwalk hospitals and Nuvance medical practices. Nuvance runs the program in collaboration with Griffin Health, Middlesex Health and St. Vincents Hospital in Bridgeport.

Nuvance is one of less than 30 organizations nationwide in this program, which is through the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Separately, Yale New Haven Health is involved in the program.

Nationally, 33 percent of patients reported at least one health-related social need in the first 750,000 screenings completed, according to preliminary findings released in October 2020.

Patients screened are on Medicare or Medicaid and have visited emergency departments, birth centers, primary care offices and community health clinics.

Nuvance screened about 45,000 patients and helped more than 5,000 of the most vulnerable patients between July 1, 2018 and April 15 of this year.

We really found a much higher  and this was even before the pandemic  a much higher incidence among our patients of having these social needs than we expected, Carr said.

Needs worsen in COVID

Prior to COVID, screeners spoke to the patients in-person while they were in the hospital or at the doctors office, but now staff call them on the phone.

Screeners need to work harder to build rapport with the patients over the phone, especially since the questions can turn personal, said Stacey Brusca, who has been a screener since April 2018.

At first glance its just food and utilities  it may not feel like that much, she said. But it quickly gets very personal, especially, frankly, when there are kids at home.

Prior to the pandemic, screeners found 50 percent of patients were food insecure  the biggest need they have found. But that need increased to 62 percent during the pandemic, according to Nuvance data from March 8, 2020 to April 15.

Food has always been the highest, Carr said. It got even higher during the pandemic, and its continued to be high now, even as the pandemic is hopefully on the back end.

Utility needs rose slightly, too, from 31 percent of patients pre-COVID to 34 percent during COVID.

Transportation problems declined, however, from 38 percent to 35 percent of patients.

People werent going places and doing things, Carr said.

Fewer patients faced challenges with housing, likely because of the eviction ban, Carr said. During COVID, 30 percent of patients had housing needs, compared to 34 percent prior.

There were some built-in protections from the pandemic, from some of the stimulus services and some of the other programs that were put in place during the pandemic, Carr said. As those programs are starting to expire, were starting to see those needs come back again.

Many patients had not needed social services prior to COVID and were unaware of what programs were available and how to navigate them, the staff said.

Connecting to services

Of those struggling, 55 percent had at least two prior emergency department visits, which makes them at high risk and eligible for an individualized action plan.

A team of navigators takes the information from the screeners and connects the patients with services and organizations, such as like Catholic Charities, United Way of Western Connecticut and Connecticut Community Care, among others.

Screeners ask about food, housing, utilities, transportation and safety, but sometimes learn the patients need help finding diapers or a job. They help with that, too.

Sometimes we do have to go outside the box, Cole said.

One goal of the initiative is to determine if emergency department visits decline when patients are supported this way.

So far, Nuvance has found it has.

Nuvances intervention group has 78 fewer emergency department visits than the control group during the first years.

The team meets weekly and shares success stories, Carr said. The program has helped house homeless individuals and found food for people who didnt know their next meal, he said.

In the case of the single mother, Cole told her about UniteCT, an emergency rental assistance program. The nursess aid with two children received about $10,000 to help with rental costs and is being connected with food services, she said.

She is back on track, Cole said. That made us very happy that we as a team were a part of that, her growth throughout this pandemic.

Programs promise

Social factors can play a large role in someones health, the screeners said. For example, access to food and walkable neighborhoods affects a patient with diabetes health outcomes, Brusca said.

Its so important to look at people in their environment, as part of this larger community context, she said. I really hope our program can demonstrate when we take the time to do that and we talk to patients about those social factors that may be affecting their lives, that it will be clear that that does affect their health.

Patients are often surprised to be questioned about their social needs because its not something theyre used to when they go to the hospital or doctors office.

For some patients, its the first time theyve been asked, Carr said. It has provoked some really good conversations with our screeners and navigators and the patients, who are finally feeling like theres help for these needs they may have kept to themselves for some time.

An advisory board with partner organizations is exploring how the community can better fill gaps, Carr said. An analysis is expected at the end of the study to determine what additional resources are needed.

Nuvance expects to continue the program even after this grant expires with funding from the health system and potentially other sources, Carr said. The team is working on a sustainability plan.

As we continue to demonstrate the value that were providing to patients and the improvement were seeing in their health outcomes, how can we make this more a normal part of the care they receive? Carr said. So, it just becomes one more part of their health care needs that were helping them meet.

Eventually, these questions could be asked to all patients, he said.

Thats one of the things the model and the study is looking at trying to improve, Carr said.
Viktoria Sundqvist / Hearst Connecticut Media

Staff at Hearst Connecticut sent out initial requests for public school superintendent contracts on Feb. 22. Requests were emailed directly to each of the 153 superintendents at the contact information listed on the school districts website or found via the Connecticut Department of Education.

Thirty-two contracts were received that same day. Fourteen districts had the superintendents contract posted for the public on their websites. Reminders were sent out every two weeks to districts who had not yet responded, and contracts kept coming in through March, April and May. The last two contracts were received on June 1.

Connecticuts Freedom of Information Act requires a public agency to acknowledge a request for public documents within four business days. The agency must provide the actual documents promptly and without undue delay, but there is no time frame specified in the statute.

Some districts said the requests got caught up in school district spam filters, while others explained that staff had been out of the office for an extended period of time. Three school districts - Ashford, Monroe and North Branford - sent contracts in the mail, while the rest were submitted electronically. State statute does not specify how documents should be provided.

Two contracts - from Hartford and Derby - were marked Confidential in large letters across the top, even though superintendent contracts by law are public documents available for inspection upon request.

Once received, we tracked contracts in a Google spreadsheet and uploaded each one publicly to DocumentCloud, which was then used to build our online searchable database.
Corvallis, OR (97331)

Today

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain for the afternoon. High 66F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
A trajectory full of obstacles for francophone researchers working in the minority context in Canada

MONTREAL, June 7, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Lack of support and recognition, administrative and teaching tasks a greater burden, difficulty organizing academic events in French. Conducting research in French in Canada in minority communities is a real obstacle course according to the results of the study Portrait and challenges of research in French in the minority context in Canada published today by Acfas.

In addition to obstacles specific to francophone researchers working in minority communities, the study sheds light on problems common to all Canadian French-speaking researchers: the pressure to publish in English, the more and more frequent use of English for funding applications and a disadvantage, in certain cases, when these applications are presented in French. The study is accompanied by 9 recommendations that aim to ensure the vitality of research in French in Canada.

Realized jointly with the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities (CIRLM) of the Universite de Moncton and the Canada Research Chair on the Transformations of Scholarly Communication (CRCTSC) at the Universite de Montreal, in collaboration with Acfas, the study represents the culmination of two years of work.

"We now have new data on this little known reality. The actors in the research community now have a clear road map for better supporting these researchers," notes Eric Forgues, researcher in charge of the study and Director of the CIRLM.

"Our results show that the state of research in French is more fragile in francophone minority communities than in majority communities, but some of our findings affect both communities. In this context, putting in place national incentives is of fundamental importance for ensuring the accessibility of knowledge in French for the citizens of Canada," observed Vincent Lariviere, co-author of the study, holder of the CRCTSC and professor at the Universite de Montreal.

"Researchers from francophone minority communities face major obstacles," Jean-Pierre Perreault, president of Acfas, points out. "These challenges are even greater at the moment, as universities and campuses of the Canadian francophonie are fighting for their survival. It is urgent that our governments and our universities act so that researchers can do their work in the official language of their choice. Acfas plans to make this matter a high priority over the next year."

"In financing this study, our government enabled the collection of precise and rigorous data on the research done in French in Canada and on the reality of French-speaking researchers who work in official language minority communities. We now have a clear overview that allows us to closely follow the situation and to guide our actions to better support the people that work in this environment," declared Melanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages of Canada.

What researchers say

A survey was conducted from May to October 2020 of 515 French-speaking researchers working in minority communities in Canada. The questions were about their research and teaching practices before the pandemic. From this consultation, the following findings have emerged:

An important proportion of researchers from francophone minority communities evolve in small universities or campuses of modest size. The teaching load is often heavier, and access to teaching assistants and to services for preparing funding applications is more difficult, which reduces the time available for carrying out research.

There are few graduate programs in French in the minority context, which limits access to research assistants who are proficient in French. More than half of respondents (55%) say that it is very or rather difficult to have access to a research assistant at the graduate level who masters French. This percentage stands at 72% in the West, 55% in the Atlantic and 44% in Ontario .

. Conducting research in French proves to be a real challenge in the francophone minority context, despite the significant contribution of this research to the understanding and vitality of this community. All the more because the researchers working in this context indicate that publications in French are less valued and have less of an impact on the advancement of their career.

Publish in English or perish

With the help of different tools, the authors of the study also looked into the language of dissemination of scientific articles as well as the language used for funding applications throughout Canada. In this area, francophone researchers in the majority context are affected just as much as those in the minority context.

Not surprisingly, publications in the natural and health sciences are almost exclusively in English. As for the social sciences and humanities, English is gaining more and more terrain. For example, the percentage of articles in French has halved between the 1980s and 2010s at the University of Ottawa.

English's force of attraction is also seen in academic journals. Around 90% of new journals that have seen the day in Canada since 2005 are English-language, which leaves very little space for bilingual journals and even less for French-language journals.

Applications for funding: French is tumbling here as well

Applications for funding follow the same trend, and this situation also affects francophone researchers in the majority context just as much as in the minority context. Only 5% to 10% of applications to the funding organizations in the natural sciences and the health sciences are written in French. In the social sciences, arts and humanities, the percentage of applications in French has gone from 25% in 1990 to less than 15 % today.

In addition, French-speaking researchers who present applications in French to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research are disadvantaged. These applications have a 30% success rate compared to 37% for those that are submitted in English.

Recommendations

As a result of the analyses performed, 9 recommendations are put forward to better respond to the needs of and the challenges faced by French-speaking researchers working in minority communities and to further valorize the francophone scientific production in the country. In an environment where English widely dominates, the implementation of these recommendations and of the measures proposed is essential for maintaining scientific production in French and to make it accessible to the French-speaking population in the country. Certain measures aim to help researchers while others aim to support the universities and the systems for academic publishing.

The main recommendation calls for the creation of a service to assist research in French (SARF), that would notably have the role of offering services to support and to valorize scientific and academic production in French.

Financial Partners

Acfas is pleased to have launched and believed in this study, made possible thanks to the financial support of Canadian Heritage, the Secretariat du Quebec aux relations canadiennes, Universities Canada, the Agence universitaire de la francophonie (AUF), the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and the Association des colleges et universites de la francophonie canadienne (ACUFC).

About Acfas

Acfas, which celebrates its 100th anniversary from May 2022 to June 2023, promotes knowledge as a catalyst for the development of our societies by bringing together the actors of the francophone research community. Resolutely turned toward the future, Acfas serves as a powerful vector of scientific democratization and communication. Acfas promotes researchers of all disciplines, as well as excellence in research.

About the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities

The mission of the Canadian Institute for Research on Linguistic Minorities (CIRLM) is to promote a greater knowledge of the status of Canada's official language minorities and a better understanding of the priority issues that concern them. To this end, it is committed to carrying out, in cooperation with its partners, relevant research work that can support the various stakeholders of official language minorities and the public policy makers in language matters.

About the Canada Research Chair on the Transformations of Scholarly Communication

The objective of the Canada Research Chair on the Transformations of Scholarly Communication (CRCTSC) is to improve understanding of how knowledge is currently distributed by analyzing the characteristics of papers written by academic researchers. More specifically, the Chair is investigating how new types of knowledge production are being used, how new sources of data are shared and changes in academics' working practices.

Note : Journalists can ask the researchers questions during the panel unveiling the results of the study, that will take place Monday, June 7 at 11 a.m as part of Acfas' Vitrine des savoirs. To register, please contact Marie-Josee Gauvin at [email protected] or at 514 247-0088.

SOURCE Acfas

For further information: Marie-Josee Gauvin, MJG Relations Publiques, [email protected], 514 247-0088

Related Links

https://www.acfas.ca/


Fund Manager, Lise Birikundavyi, is the first Black female to lead an institutionally-backed VC fund in Canada

TORONTO, June 7, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, Black Innovation Capital (BIC) and BDC Capital announced the launch of the $10M Black Innovation Fund, with an initial close of $6.4M. The fund is focused on investing in Canadian pre-seed and seed stage technology companies founded by Black entrepreneurs. Other investors in the first close include RBC Ventures, Globalive Capital, and TELUS Ventures.

"Black entrepreneurs are underfunded and underrepresented in the North American venture capital and private equity markets," says Isaac Olowolafe Jr., Founder and Managing Partner, BIC. "Unfortunately, this information is not tracked in Canada, but we know the situation is critical. Our goal is to raise $10 million dollars to help Black-founded tech companies thrive and we are thrilled to work with an experienced institutional investor like BDC Capital to help us reach that goal."

Last year in the US, less than 1% of total funding in venture capital investment in the US went to Black start-up founders. The funding available to Black women entrepreneurs is even lower when you consider that only 11% of all venture capital investments in the US went to teams with a female founder.

"We know access to capital is one of biggest challenges facing Black entrepreneurs and BDC is committed to leading by example to ensure our start-up and investment landscape is diverse and inclusive," said Jerome Nycz, Executive Vice President, BDC Capital. "This fund addresses two important gaps in the market: funding and role models. Working together, we can help Black-led start-ups scale and inspire future founders and investors."

Diversity in investment teams is still a big gap in Canada. According to a 2019 CVCA study, only 18% of partners at venture capital firms were "visible minorities," and that number dropped to 6% in private equity.

As Canada's development bank and largest venture capital investor, BDC helps entrepreneurs by providing the access to capital and resources they need to succeed. BDC Capital is home to the $200M Women in Technology Venture Fund, is a founding signatory of ILPA's Diversity in Action Initiative, and works alongside the CVCA and ILPA to play a leading role in setting diversity and inclusion best practises for the industry.

"Unconscious bias exists everywhere, including in investing," says Lise Birikundavyi, Principal/Fund Manager for BIC. "People typically invest in individuals and concepts they are familiar with, not always based on their values, experience or a sound business case. Our hope is to help build successful Black-led businesses, deliver returns to our investors, and increase the diversity in the venture capital ecosystem."

Black Innovation Capital is being established as a result of the need uncovered through the strategic collaboration between Dream Maker Ventures, also founded by Isaac Olowolafe Jr., and the DMZ at Ryerson University. They jointly launched the Black Innovation Programs (BIP) in 2019 to support Black-owned start-ups and entrepreneurs through DMZ's BIP Launchpad, Bootcamp and Incubation programs.

This announcement also builds on a series of recent BDC initiatives to support Black entrepreneurs including the Black Entrepreneurs Startup Program with Futurpreneur, a free webinar series, the Canadian Black Chambers of Commerce's first study, Building Black Businesses in Canada, among other internal initiatives to improve inclusivity such as anti-racist workplace training.

For more information about Black Innovation Capital please visit Blackinnovation.capital.

About Black Innovation Capital

Black Innovation Capital manages the first venture capital fund dedicated to black-led businesses in Canada. The $10M fund focuses on pre-seed and seed investments in technology and technology-enabled ventures with the objective of providing transformational capital to disruptive enterprises often answering unmet needs from minority communities. It also aims to unlock hidden financial value and opportunities through the creation of a business ecosystem that is more inclusive.

About BDC Capital

BDC Capital is the investment arm of BDCthe bank for Canadian entrepreneurs. With over $3 billion under management, BDC Capital serves as a strategic partner to the country's most innovative firms. It offers a full spectrum of risk capital, from seed investments to transition capital, supporting Canadian entrepreneurs who wish to scale their businesses into global champions. Visit bdc.ca/capital.

SOURCE Black Innovation Capital

For further information: BDC Media Relations, [email protected], 1-844-625-8321
OTTAWA, ON, June 7, 2021 /CNW/ - As we continue to adapt to the new physical, social, and economic realities presented by COVID-19, all orders of government are working together to ensure the safety and well-being of Canadians. This includes providing local communities with tools and support for evidence-based decision-making that will help them plan a healthier, safer and more prosperous future for everyone.

This is why the Government of Canada is investing $50,000 in a new project in a Yukon community through the Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP), delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) on behalf of the federal government. The program helps municipalities strengthen local infrastructure planning and decision-making by increasing local asset management capacity through investments in activities such as asset management training, technology and software enhancements and information sharing.

With funding from MAMP, the Village of Carmacks will conduct a detailed inspection and assessment of assets and a review of current and historical maintenance practices and competencies. These will be used to develop an updated asset management plan that incorporates the more detailed condition assessment insights to build on the existing Asset Management Plan. This would focus on assessing lifecycle needs and required investment in both operating and capital. In future phases of this work, it would incorporate the developed maintenance plans into the Asset Management Plan.

Quotes

"The project announced today ensures the Village of Carmacks has the tools and technology necessary to make well-informed decisions for the long term. We're proud to invest in infrastructure asset management projects that will help communities grow their local economy and improve residents' quality of life."

The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities

"Rural communities are the backbone of the Canadian economy and among the best places in Canada to call home. Smart investments in infrastructure help smaller communities to grow, strengthen their economies and improve quality of life for their residents. Through projects like the one announced today, our government is helping to ensure that local leaders, especially those in rural areas, have the tools they need to plan for the long-term and creating stronger rural communities now and for generations to come."

The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development

"The Government of Canada, through programs like the Municipal Asset Management Program, continues to put a major focus on supporting Yukon's municipal Governments. With this announcement today, the Village of Carmacks will be able to assess their existing assets and be in a better position for community planning, and future development."

The Honourable Larry Bagnell, Member of Parliament for Yukon

"Through the Municipal Asset Management Program, FCM continues to help municipalities of all sizes, especially small and rural, manage municipal infrastructure and make stronger investment decisions based on reliable data. FCM supports communities from coast to coast to coast by providing funding, training, and resources to develop sustainable solutions that work and improve the quality of life for residents."

Joanne Vanderheyden, President, Federation of Canadian Municipalities

Quick facts

The $110-million Municipal Asset Management Program, delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of Canada , has invested in more than 962 municipal asset management projects.

Municipal Asset Management Program, delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of , has invested in more than 962 municipal asset management projects. MAMP offers funding, training, and resources to help municipalities strengthen their asset management practices thereby enabling them to make informed infrastructure investment decisions.

To support Canadians and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new stream has been added to the over $33-billion Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program to help fund pandemic-resilient infrastructure. Existing program streams have also been adapted to include more eligible project categories.

Investing in Infrastructure Program to help fund pandemic-resilient infrastructure. Existing program streams have also been adapted to include more eligible project categories. The COVID-19 Resilience Stream will help other orders of governments whose finances have been significantly impacted by the pandemic by increasing the federal cost share for public infrastructure projects in a variety of areas including disaster mitigation and adaptation projects and pandemic-resilient infrastructure.

Furthermore, the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative will provide up to $31 million in existing federal funding to help communities adapt spaces and services in response to immediate and ongoing coronavirus-related needs over the next two years.

in existing federal funding to help communities adapt spaces and services in response to immediate and ongoing coronavirus-related needs over the next two years. Over the past five years, the Government of Canada has invested over $850 million through the Investing in Canada Plan in over 250 projects across Yukon .

has invested over through the Investing in Plan in over 250 projects across . Since 2016, the federal government has invested $28 billion in over 18,000 infrastructure projects in communities with populations under 100,000. More than 6,100 kilometres of highways and roads, and 103 bridges have been built, repaired or upgraded in rural communities, and more than 3,134 projects are providing rural communities with access to cleaner, more sustainable sources of drinking water.

in over 18,000 infrastructure projects in communities with populations under 100,000. More than 6,100 kilometres of highways and roads, and 103 bridges have been built, repaired or upgraded in rural communities, and more than 3,134 projects are providing rural communities with access to cleaner, more sustainable sources of drinking water. The federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF) is designed to provide municipalities with a stable and predictable source of funding. In 2020-21, Yukon has received $16 .5 million through the federal GTF to fund their most pressing infrastructure needs.

Associated links

Municipal Asset Management Program

Infrastructure in your Community

Investing in Canada: Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan

Investing in Canada plan project map

Speech from the Throne: A stronger and more resilient Canada

Twitter: @INFC_eng

Web: Infrastructure Canada

SOURCE Infrastructure Canada

For further information: Michelle Johnston, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Cell: 613-298-7386, [email protected]; FCM Media Relations, 613-907-6395, [email protected]; Infrastructure Canada, 613-960-9251, Toll free: 1-877-250-7154, Email: [email protected]

Related Links

www.infrastructure.gc.ca


OTTAWA, ON, June 7, 2021 /CNW/ - As we continue to adapt to the new physical, social, and economic realities presented by COVID-19, all orders of government are working together to ensure the safety and well-being of Canadians. This includes providing local communities with tools and support for evidence-based decision-making that will help them plan a healthier, safer and more prosperous future for everyone.

This is why the Government of Canada is investing $985,500 in 21 new projects in Alberta communities through the Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP), delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) on behalf of the federal government. The program helps municipalities strengthen local infrastructure planning and decision-making by increasing local asset management capacity through investments in activities such as asset management training, technology and software enhancements, and information sharing.

With funding from MAMP:

The Town of Whitecourt will create and implement specific, measurable, deliverable goals along with a strategy to provide a clear direction and approach to implement asset management for the community. Its Asset Management Implementation Plan will ensure that infrastructure decisions will align with the town's Strategic Plan and organizational goals and objectives, ensuring a sustainable and resilient community.

will create and implement specific, measurable, deliverable goals along with a strategy to provide a clear direction and approach to implement asset management for the community. Its Asset Management Implementation Plan will ensure that infrastructure decisions will align with the town's Strategic Plan and organizational goals and objectives, ensuring a sustainable and resilient community. The Town of Legal will inspect and analyze the condition of its sanitary sewer systems through closed-circuit television as well as undertake water network assessment and modeling. This roadmap will allow the town to use solid management practices for current and future capital improvements and prioritize spending in the right areas.

will inspect and analyze the condition of its sanitary sewer systems through closed-circuit television as well as undertake water network assessment and modeling. This roadmap will allow the town to use solid management practices for current and future capital improvements and prioritize spending in the right areas. The Village of Donnelly and its neighbours will implement asset management practices in a sustainable manner for the foreseeable future. Key achievements will include an achievable breakdown of future tasks through the creation of an asset management roadmap, a consolidated basic asset inventory to inform future investment decisions, and increased knowledge sharing with neighbouring municipalities and the public.

Details of all 21 projects are included in the backgrounder.

Quotes

"The 21 projects announced today ensure Alberta municipalities have the tools and technology necessary to make well-informed decisions for the long term. We're proud to invest in infrastructure asset management projects that will help communities grow their local economy and improve residents' quality of life."

The Honourable Jim Carr, Minister and Special Representative for the Prairies, on behalf of the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities

"Rural communities are the backbone of the Canadian economy and among the best places in Canada to call home. Smart investments in infrastructure help smaller communities to grow, strengthen their economies and improve quality of life for their residents. Through projects like those announced today, our government is helping to ensure that local leaders, especially those in rural areas, have the tools they need to plan for the long-term and creating stronger rural communities now and for generations to come."

The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development

"Through the Municipal Asset Management Program, FCM continues to help municipalities of all sizes, especially small and rural, manage municipal infrastructure and make stronger investment decisions based on reliable data. FCM supports communities from coast to coast to coast by providing funding, training, and resources to develop sustainable solutions that work and improve the quality of life for residents."

Joanne Vanderheyden, President, Federation of Canadian Municipalities

Quick facts

The $110-million Municipal Asset Management Program, delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of Canada , has invested in more than 962 municipal asset management projects.

Municipal Asset Management Program, delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of , has invested in more than 962 municipal asset management projects. MAMP offers funding, training, and resources to help municipalities strengthen their asset management practices thereby enabling them to make informed infrastructure investment decisions.

To support Canadians and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new stream has been added to the over $33-billion Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program to help fund pandemic-resilient infrastructure. Existing program streams have also been adapted to include more eligible project categories.

Investing in Infrastructure Program to help fund pandemic-resilient infrastructure. Existing program streams have also been adapted to include more eligible project categories. The COVID-19 Resilience Stream will help other orders of governments whose finances have been significantly impacted by the pandemic by increasing the federal cost share for public infrastructure projects in a variety of areas including disaster mitigation and adaptation projects and pandemic-resilient infrastructure.

Furthermore, the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative will provide up to $31 million in existing federal funding to help communities adapt spaces and services in response to immediate and ongoing coronavirus-related needs over the next two years.

in existing federal funding to help communities adapt spaces and services in response to immediate and ongoing coronavirus-related needs over the next two years. As part of the Investing in Canada plan, the Government of Canada has invested over $5 billion in more than 430 infrastructure projects in Alberta .

plan, the Government of has invested over in more than 430 infrastructure projects in . Since 2016, the federal government has invested $28 billion in over 18,000 infrastructure projects in communities with populations under 100,000. More than 6,100 kilometres of highways and roads, and 103 bridges have been built, repaired or upgraded in rural communities, and more than 3,134 projects are providing rural communities with access to cleaner, more sustainable sources of drinking water.

in over 18,000 infrastructure projects in communities with populations under 100,000. More than 6,100 kilometres of highways and roads, and 103 bridges have been built, repaired or upgraded in rural communities, and more than 3,134 projects are providing rural communities with access to cleaner, more sustainable sources of drinking water. The federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF) is designed to provide municipalities with a stable and predictable source of funding. In 2020-21, Alberta has received $244 million through the federal GTF to fund its most pressing infrastructure needs.

Associated links

Municipal Asset Management Program

Infrastructure in your Community

Investing in Canada: Canada's Long-Term Infrastructure Plan

Investing in Canada plan project map

Speech from the Throne: A stronger and more resilient Canada

Twitter: @INFC_eng

Web: Infrastructure Canada

SOURCE Infrastructure Canada

For further information: Michelle Johnston, Director of Communications, Office of the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Cell: 613-298-7386, [email protected]; FCM Media Relations, 613-907-6395, [email protected]; Infrastructure Canada, 613-960-9251, Toll free: 1-877-250-7154, Email: [email protected]

Related Links

www.infrastructure.gc.ca


Health Canada has certified the first ever Canadian-owned pharmaceutical facility for the manufacture of prescription products containing cannabidiol (CBD).





This marks the first Health Canada certification for a new Canadian-owned company that has built a facility for prescription drugs in more than four decades.





Clinical trials are underway to advance a new CBD-based prescription medication for anxiety, Empower CBD. Outcomes are intended to establish the required clinical safety and efficacy evidence to support a New Drug Submission (NDS) to Health Canada and a Regulatory Filing with the FDA at the earliest opportunity.



BURLINGTON, ON, June 7, 2021 /CNW/ - EmpowerPharm today announced they have been certified to manufacture products containing cannabidiol (CBD) to prescription drug standards  a Canadian first.



They have been granted a Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) by Health Canada for their new state-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Burlington, Ontario. With this licence, EmpowerPharm is now certified as compliant with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards. They have previously received a Cannabis Drug Licence, a Standard Processing Licence and a Cannabis Research Licence.



With this new Health Canada licence, EmpowerPharm is well positioned to disrupt the pharmaceutical sector through further investment in its R&D. Healthcare practitioners and governments have long called for scientific evidence to support cannabis-based pharmaceutical products for therapeutic use.



Clinical Trials to Substantiate Empower CBD to Treat Anxiety

Clinical trials are underway to provide scientific evidence to support the safety, efficacy, and quality of Empower CBD as a prescription medication indicated for anxiety, administered by prescription under the direction of a qualified physician.

None of the cannabis products currently on the market used for anxiety are approved as prescription medicines by Health Canada, lacking the associated clinical evidence, prescribing information, standardized dosing and quality, product labelling and other important information for prescribers consistent with the highly regulated pharmaceutical sector.

EmpowerPharm's intended use of synthetic CBD as its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) will ensure that their products are manufactured consistently to provide 99% CBD. This will provide quality assurances that products will not contain THC or any other unwanted cannabinoids that plant-based extracts may contain. Empower CBD will be manufactured and tested according to established pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and will meet all regulatory requirements for API including product identity, potency, and purity.

Protecting Canadians against the next pandemic: Record spike in anxiety and depression



According to the Canadian Mental Health Commission, Canadians are facing a spike in anxiety due to COVID-19, and the effects will remain for years into the recovery effort. Results from a poll undertaken by Mental Health Research Canada in February 2021, demonstrate that 25% of Canadians self-report or have been diagnosed with anxiety  the highest levels of anxiety to date.1

Anxiety may prove to be a long-term challenge. Modelling undertaken by Deloitte projects mental health impacts due to COVID-19 may endure up to ten years in Canada. Even once the pandemic subsides, Deloitte projects a twofold increase in visits to mental health professionals for anxiety- related issues, and possibly a 20% increase in prescriptions for antidepressants, relative to pre- COVID levels. These challenges will impact women in particular, given their disproportionate employment in the service sector and low-income households.2

Based on Health Canada's own Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) database, there are only five (5) Canadian-owned pharmaceutical manufacturers certified to manufacture oral dose prescription medicines to treat diseases, disorders, or abnormal physical states  four of which were established over four decades ago.3 Pandemic supply shortages in vaccines and the ongoing challenge of drug shortages for other products have illuminated why it has never been more important for Canada to build capacity in critical areas of pharmaceutical research, development and manufacturing.

About EmpowerPharm

EmpowerPharm is a new clinical-stage Canadian-owned pharmaceutical company established in 2018 by Aubrey Dan and Peter Billiaert, who collectively have over 55 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. The management team and board of directors include leaders of Canada's pharmaceutical industry, who are supported by a leading medical advisory board and clinical advisory board. The team has extensive experience to execute on its corporate strategy to deliver a successful portfolio of products. EmpowerPharm has experts in R&D who have developed hundreds of drug molecules and know how to manufacture large volumes of dosages. Our team is experienced and has proven ability to navigate the highly complex international regulatory environments. Most importantly, our team has a proven track record of growing and scaling a profitable pharmaceutical company.

EmpowerPharm operates a state-of-the-art $30 million manufacturing facility in Burlington, Ontario. The facility includes production and pharmaceutical R&D equipment that is qualified and maintained to GMP standards, which represents the highest standard of quality. This is coupled with a quality management system, which was essential to EmpowerPharm obtaining its DEL for the manufacturing of Empower CBDTM. EmpowerPharm is the first dedicated pharmaceutical company to have a manufacturing facility with a Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) that is built for cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals in Canada that is federally approved. This facility allows EmpowerPharm to manage its R&D in-house and to scale its production without reliance on third party manufacturers.

























1 Mental Health Research Canada." Findings of Poll #5". Mental Health in Crisis: How COVID is impacting Canadians. (With financial contribution from Health Canada). Source: Website: https://www.mhrc.ca/national-poll-covid/findings-of-poll-5, March 17, 2021. 2 Deloitte Canada. "Uncovering the hidden iceberg: Why the human impact of COVID-19 could be a third crisis." Report (August 2020). Source: Website, March 17, 2021. 3 Health Canada. "Drug and Health Product Inspection Database (DHPID)". Health Canada website. Source, May 3, 2021.

EmpowerPharm is dedicated to providing the science and evidence physicians so critically need to confidently prescribe new drugs. Our goal is to become a global pharmaceutical leader in CBD- based therapeutic products. Our aim is to be a disruptive force for good by creating more effective pharmaceutical treatments without the addictive side effects of traditional therapeutic drug classes.

SOURCE EmpowerPharm Inc.

For further information: Taylor Jantzi, Global Public Affairs, Cell: 1-416-575-5366, [email protected]
The flight will officially kick off Blue Origins space tourism business. The company has yet to start selling tickets to the public or even to announce a ticket price for the short trips, which provide about three minutes of weightlessness. The capsule can hold six people, each with their own large window. The company hasnt said who might occupy the remaining three seats on the debut passenger flight.
"Psoriatic arthritis is a debilitating disease that can cause severe pain, restricted mobility, and lasting structural damage. 4, 5 The immune system creates inflammation that can lead to skin lesions associated with psoriasis, as well as pain, fatigue and stiffness in the joints," 6,7 said Dr. Proton Rahman, FRCPC, Clinical Rheumatologist at Eastern Health and University Research Professor at Memorial University. "Despite treatment advances, some people living with PsA do not achieve their treatment goals, which is why access to new therapies is so critical. The approval of RINVOQ offers Canadian physicians and their patients an important new therapeutic option."

"I have had psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis for more than 30 years. At one point, most of my body was covered in psoriasis, and I was using arm and leg braces to help me walk. These diseases have had a huge impact on my life, which is why I am so pleased that Canadians with psoriatic arthritis now have a new treatment option available to them," said Marilyn Porth, of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

This approval is supported by data from two Phase 3 studies across a broad range of more than 2,000 patients with active psoriatic arthritis.1,2 In both studies, RINVOQ met the primary endpoint of ACR20 response at week 12 versus placebo.1,2 RINVOQ 15 mg also achieved non-inferiority versus adalimumab in terms of ACR20 response at week 12.1 Patients receiving RINVOQ also experienced greater improvements in physical function (HAQ-DI*) and skin symptoms (PASI 75*), and a greater proportion achieved minimal disease activity.1,2 Overall, the safety profile of RINVOQ in psoriatic arthritis was consistent with previously reported results across the Phase 3 rheumatoid arthritis clinical trial program, with no new significant safety risks detected.1,2,8

"The approval of RINVOQ is wonderful news for Canadians living with psoriatic arthritis, and an important step forward for the psoriatic arthritis community," says Wendy Gerhart, Executive Director, Canadian Spondylitis Association. "From our recent member surveys, we know this devastating disease has a profound impact on people's quality of life including their physical and mental health. This approval provides a new treatment option to Canadian patients. It is a hopeful time for people living with psoriatic arthritis."

"For more than 20 years, AbbVie has been dedicated to discovering and delivering innovative therapies for people living with rheumatic diseases," added Tracey Ramsay, Vice President and General Manager, AbbVie Canada. "We are proud of our deep heritage in rheumatology and pleased to expand our portfolio of treatment options for Canadians living with psoriatic arthritis, particularly by offering people the convenience of a once-daily oral medication."

*Physical function was measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI). Skin symptoms were measured by a 75 percent improvement in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 75). Minimal disease activity is defined as the fulfillment of five of seven outcome measures: Tender joint count 1; swollen joint count 1; PASI 1 or body surface area-psoriasis 3 percent; Patient's Assessment of Pain Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) 1.5; Patient Global Assessment-Disease Activity NRS 2.0; HAQ-DI score 0.5; and Leeds Enthesitis Index 1.

About SELECT-PsA 1 1,3

SELECT-PsA 1 is a Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, active and placebo-controlled study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of upadacitinib compared to placebo and adalimumab in adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis who have a history of inadequate response to at least one non-biologic DMARD.

Top-line results from SELECT-PsA 1 were previously announced in February 2020. More information on this trial can be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03104400).

About SELECT-PsA 2 2,3

SELECT-PsA 2 is a Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of RINVOQ in adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis who have a history of inadequate response to at least one biologic DMARD.

Top-line results from SELECT-PsA 2 were previously announced in October 2019. More information on this trial can be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03104374).

About RINVOQ (upadacitinib)

RINVOQ is a 15 mg, once-daily oral medication in an extended-release tablet. It is a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor that interferes with the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, which is thought to play a role in inflammatory response.

RINVOQ is indicated for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to methotrexate, as well as for adults with active psoriatic arthritis who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to methotrexate or other DMARDs. In RA, RINVOQ may be used as a monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate or other nonbiologic DMARDs. In PsA, RINVOQ may be used as a monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate.

For important safety information, please consult the RINVOQ Product Monograph at www.abbvie.ca.

About AbbVie in Rheumatology

For more than 20 years, AbbVie has been dedicated to improving care for people living with rheumatic diseases. Our longstanding commitment to discovering and delivering innovative therapies is underscored by our pursuit of cutting-edge science that improves our understanding of promising new pathways and targets in order to help more people living with rheumatic diseases reach their treatment goals.

About AbbVie

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, eye care, virology, women's health and gastroenterology, in addition to products and services across its Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.ca. Follow @abbviecanada on Twitter or find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

References

1. McInnes I, et al. Efficacy and Safety of Upadacitinib Versus Placebo and Adalimumab in Patients With Active Psoriatic Arthritis and Inadequate Response to Non-Biologic Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (SELECT-PsA-1): a Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Phase 3 Trial. 2020 EULAR E-Congress; LB0001. 2. Genovese MC, et al. Efficacy and Safety of Upadacitinib in Patients With Active Psoriatic Arthritis and Inadequate Response to Biologic Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (SELECT-PsA-2): a Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Phase 3 Trial. 2020 EULAR E-Congress; OP0223. 3. RINVOQ (upadacitinib) product monograph. AbbVie Corporation. Available at: https://www.abbvie.ca/content/dam/abbvie-dotcom/ca/en/documents/products/RINVOQ_PM.pdf. Accessed June 7, 2021. 4. Diseases & Conditions: Psoriatic Arthritis. 2019. American College of Rheumatology. Available at: https://www.rheumatology.org/I-Am-A/Patient-Caregiver/Diseases-Conditions/Psoriatic-Arthritis. Accessed on: May 13, 2021. 5. Schett G, et al. Structural damage in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis: traditional views, novel insights gained from TNF blockade, and concepts for the future. Arthritis Res & Ther.2011; 13(Suppl1) :s4(1-9) 6. uarte GV, et al. Psoriatic arthritis. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2012 Feb;26(1):147-56. doi: 10.1016/j.berh.2012.01.003. 7. Diseases & Conditions: Psoriatic Arthritis. 2019. American College of Rheumatology. Available at: https://www.rheumatology.org/I-Am-A/Patient-Caregiver/Diseases-Conditions/Psoriatic-Arthritis. Accessed: December 2020 8. Cohen S., et al. Safety profile of upadacitinib in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Integrated analysis from the SELECT Phase 3 Clinical Program. EULAR 2019; THU0167.

SOURCE AbbVie Canada

For further information: Media Inquiries: Julie Lepsetz, AbbVie Canada, (514) 451-9427, [email protected]
OTTAWA, ON, June 7, 2021 /CNW/ - Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) is calling on the federal government to present a plan to reopen the borders gradually. The lack of predictability is costing the Canadian economy millions of dollars in revenues and endangers thousands of jobs across the country. During the pandemic, Canadian manufacturers worked tirelessly to keep their workers safe while providing Canadians with all the essential goods they need, including personal protective equipment and food.

We have an opportunity to rebuild and restart the Canadian manufacturing sector, and we must seize it. To do so, CME is urging the government to present a clear plan to methodically reopen the borders as recommended by its own COVID-19 expert advisory panel. In May, Health Canada proposed a path forward for local activities, now it is time to have a clear guideline for when border restrictions will be progressively lifted.

CME members have supported the measures put in place at Canada's borders to restrict unessential international travel. At the same time, they have consistently stated the need to have federal government exemptions for essential business travel upheld at Canada's borders. While the government agreed to do this, the manufacturing sector has nevertheless continued to run into major challenges at the Canada-US border.

"The Canadian manufacturing sector represents over 10% of Canada's total GDP, over 90,000 businesses, and 1.7 million direct jobs. Having clarity will only help Canadian manufacturers. Having clear directives will help them to plan and to bounce back from this pandemic" said Dennis Darby, President and CEO of CME.

He also added "manufacturers have the capacity to put the Canadian economy back on track and give Canadians back their jobs".

With the continued uneven and inconsistent application of the rules and the direct impact on the movement of essential staff, manufacturers are being forced to delay or postpone necessary investments. These investments require the movement of people to support capital installations, research and development, product launches, and a variety of similar activities. What they need now is a clear plan to coordinate the gradual reopening of Canada's international borders.

Quick facts

The manufacturing sector represents more than 10% of Canada's gross domestic product.

gross domestic product. Manufacturers directly support more than 1.7 million jobs in Canada .

. The total manufacturing sales in 2019 surpassed $685 B .

SOURCE Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters

For further information: Jeremy Ghio, [email protected], 438-407-3029

Related Links

cme-mec.ca


Early detection of the virus in wastewater may provide a 5 to 10 day early warning, allowing important intervention opportunities to interrupt further spread of COVID-19, before a large number of cases are reported in the community. In Canada, wastewater surveillance is contributing to public health action and interventions in several jurisdictions.

In Northwest Territories, for example, a positive COVID-19 signal detected in the city's wastewater led to the identification of COVID-19 infection in an individual who was quarantined in Yellowknife. Through further surveillance, more positive samples were identified, suggesting other cases were present in the community, which prompted a press release asking quarantining community members to get tested. Taking quick action, based on wastewater surveillance signals, led to the identification of additional cases, which prevented a potential outbreak.

In addition, PHAC also conducts whole genome sequencing of wastewater samples. This provides current information on circulating variants of concern (VOC) and variants of interest (VOI), as well as insight into potential emerging VOCs/VOIs. This is particularly useful in detecting VOC/VOI that may be carried by asymptomatic individuals, which can be potentially missed by the clinical case-based surveillance. The ongoing expansion of wastewater surveillance networks will continue to be an important tool for the COVID-19 response, with benefits extending beyond COVID-19 to address other public health issues of concern such antimicrobial resistance and foodborne pathogens.

As COVID-19 activity continues in Canada, we are tracking a range of epidemiological indicators to monitor where the disease is most active, where it is spreading and how it is impacting the health of Canadians and public health, laboratory and healthcare capacity. At the same time, the Public Health Agency of Canada is providing Canadians with regular updates on COVID-19 vaccines administered, vaccination coverage and ongoing monitoring of vaccine safety across the country. The following is the latest summary on national numbers and trends, and the actions we all need to be taking to reduce infection rates, while vaccination programs expand for the protection of all Canadians. Due to reduced reporting over the weekend, national seven-day averages have not been updated in today's statement. These data are still being collected and analysed. I will provide the latest numbers during my remarks tomorrow.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 1,392,563 cases of COVID-19 and 25,724 deaths reported in Canada; these cumulative numbers tell us about the overall burden of COVID-19 illness to date. They also tell us, together with results of serological studies, that a large majority of Canadians remain susceptible to COVID-19. However, as vaccination programs expand at an accelerated pace, there is increasing optimism that widespread and lasting immunity can be achieved through COVID-19 vaccination over the coming weeks and months.

As immunity is still building up across the population, public health measures and individual precautions are crucial for COVID-19 control. Thanks to measures in place in heavily affected areas, the strong and steady declines in disease trends continues. The latest national-level data show a continued downward trend in disease activity with an average of 2,339 cases reported daily during the latest 7 day period (May 28-June 3), down 31% compared to the week prior. For the week of May 23-29, there were on average of 78,089 tests completed daily across Canada, of which 3.8% were positive for COVID-19, compared to 4.7% the week prior. Until vaccine coverage is sufficiently high to impact disease transmission more broadly in the community, we must sustain a high degree of caution to drive infection rates down to a low, manageable level, and not ease restrictions too soon or too quickly where infection rates are high.

With the considerable decline in infection rates nationally, the overall number of people experiencing severe and critical illness is also declining. Provincial and territorial data indicate that an average of 2,344 people with COVID-19 were being treated in Canadian hospitals each day during the most recent 7-day period (May 28-June 3), which is 19% fewer than last week. This includes, on average 1,006 people who were being treated in intensive care units (ICU), 14% fewer than last week. Likewise, the latest 7-day average of 34 deaths reported daily (May 28-June 3) is declining, showing a 21% decrease compared to the week prior.

Canada is continuing to monitor and assess genetic variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including impacts in the Canadian context. Overall, variants of concern (VOCs) represent the majority of recently reported COVID-19 cases across the country. The World Health Organization has established new simplified labels for variants of concern using letters of the Greek alphabet. Four VOCs (B.1.1.7 (Alpha), B.1.351 (Beta), P.1 (Gamma), and B.1.617, which includes B.1.617.2 (Delta)) have been detected in most provinces and territories, however, the Alpha variant continues to account for the majority of genetically sequenced variants in Canada. Evidence demonstrates that the Alpha and Delta variants are at least 50% more transmissible. As well, the Gamma, Beta, and Delta variants each have certain mutations, which may have an impact on vaccine effectiveness, although the evidence is still limited. Nevertheless, we know that vaccination, in combination with public health and individual measures, are working to reduce spread of COVID-19.

As vaccine eligibility expands, Canadians are urged to get vaccinated and support others to get vaccinated as vaccines become available to them. However, regardless of our vaccination status, it is important to remain vigilant, continue following local public health advice, and consistently maintain individual practices that keep us and our families safer, even as we're beginning to see the positive impacts of COVID-19 vaccines: stay home/self-isolate if you have any symptoms, think about the risks and reduce non-essential activities and outings to a minimum, avoid all non-essential travel, and maintain individual protective practices of physical distancing, hand, cough and surface hygiene and wearing a well-fitted and properly worn face mask as appropriate (including in shared spaces, indoors or outdoors, with people from outside of your immediate household).

For more information regarding the risks and benefits of vaccination, I encourage Canadians to reach out to your local public health authorities, healthcare provider, or other trusted and credible sources, such as Canada.ca and Immunize.ca. Working together, Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, Canada's Chief Medical Officers of Health and other health professionals across the country are closely monitoring vaccine safety, effectiveness and optimal use to adapt approaches. As the science and situation evolves, we are committed to providing clear and evidence-informed guidance in order to keep everyone in Canada safe and healthy.

Canadians can also go the extra mile by sharing credible information on COVID-19 risks and prevention practices and measures to reduce COVID-19 in communities. Read my backgrounder to access more COVID-19 Information and Resources on ways to reduce the risks and protect yourself and others, including information on COVID-19 vaccination.

SOURCE Public Health Agency of Canada

For further information: Media Relations, Public Health Agency of Canada, 613-957-2983, [email protected]
The Government of Canada invests $231,700 in the renovation of Aberdeen Cultural Centre's community and cultural spaces as well as the centre's cultural programming.

MONCTON, NB, June 7, 2021 /CNW/ - Arts and culture help strengthen the bonds in our communities. We see ourselves in the characters in a play. We discuss the paintings in an exhibition. We enjoy concerts together. When we have a space that brings artists and the public together in our communities, the results can only be positive, especially when we are part of a minority.

The Government of Canada knows that cultural and community infrastructure helps build strong, dynamic and prosperous communities. That is why the government responded to Aberdeen Cultural Centre's request for assistance. The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Member of Parliament (MonctonRiverviewDieppe), on behalf of the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and the Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, announced $231,700 in support for Aberdeen Cultural Centre's programming and infrastructure project today.

Out of the total amount, $132,000 will be used to replace 40 windows, install new, more durable, low-maintenance flooring in Bernard LeBlanc Hall (a multipurpose room that accommodates as many as 300 people), and purchase a retractable movie screen and a sound mixing console for the same room. The Government of Canada made the investment through the Community Spaces Fund.

In addition, $53,000 in Canada Arts Presentation Fund support will help enhance the cultural center's artistic programming. This funding will allow Aberdeen Cultural Centre to stage programming that focuses on a contemporary vision of Acadia and that helps promote inclusion and celebrate diversity. By 2023, more than 100 artists will perform annually on this stage in dance, music, theatre, poetry, comedy and visual arts.

The Aberdeen Cultural Centre also received $46,700 from the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage program for the Festival Acadie Rock. This funding will allow the organization to organize the 10th edition of the festival, in Moncton, in August 2021. The festival's programming includes a number of multidisciplinary performances such as music, dance, and theatre.

This investment will contribute directly to the vitality of Moncton's Acadian and Francophone communities. Aberdeen Cultural Centre will be able to offer members of the Acadian and Francophone communities more community and cultural activities in a safer location. It will also reduce its operating costs significantly.

Quotes

"The Acadian and Francophone cultural and artistic scene in New Brunswick is a unique and valuable part of the heritage and history of our great country. It goes without saying that the Government of Canada is helping to strengthen the infrastructure and enrich the programming at Aberdeen Cultural Centre, a flagship venue for the community."

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage

"Protecting official languages is one of our government's top priorities. When an organization like Aberdeen Cultural Centre is in need, we are there to help it keep French alive. We want to support this organization in maintaining the vitality of the Francophone community, providing a creative space and stimulating the local economy."

The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages

"Aberdeen Cultural Centre is one of the main gathering and development places for Moncton's Acadian and Francophone minority communities. Our government is very pleased to contribute to this project, which will support the region's vibrant Acadian and Francophone cultural and arts scene."

The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Member of Parliament (MonctonRiverviewDieppe)

"The work we have just completed will have a major impact on our operating costs and on the quality of our facilities. Thanks to Canadian Heritage, Aberdeen Cultural Centre remains one of the most prominent cultural organizations in Atlantic Canada. We are also very pleased with Canadian Heritage's commitment to the Acadie Rock Festival, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. This contribution will allow us to celebrate this anniversary and to offer a wide range of programming."

Rene Legere, Executive Director, Aberdeen Cultural Centre

Quick Facts

The Action Plan for Official Languages 20182023: Investing in Our Future dedicated $67.3 million over five years for educational and cultural infrastructure construction projects in official language minority communities. Part of that amount is dedicated to the Community Spaces Fund.

The Community Spaces Fund helps provide non-profit organizations in official language minority communities with the spaces they need to offer community and cultural activities and services in their language. These gathering places contribute to the social development of the community. The creation of these spaces strengthens the capacity of these organizations and helps communities thrive.

The Canada Arts Presentation Fund provides financial assistance to organizations that professionally stage arts festivals or performing arts series.

The Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage program helps increase opportunities for local artists, artisans, heritage performers or specialists to be involved in their community through festivals, events and projects. It also allows local groups to commemorate their local history and heritage.

Aberdeen Cultural Centre is a non-profit organization in Moncton. For more than 30 years, this multipurpose creation and production community centre has been home to numerous Acadian artistic, cultural and educational organizations. It is also an important gathering place for Moncton's Acadian and Francophone minority communities.

Associated Links

Action Plan for Official Languages 20182023: Investing in Our Future

Community Spaces Fund

Canada Arts Presentation Fund

Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage

Aberdeen Cultural Centre

SOURCE Canadian Heritage

For further information: (media only), please contact: Catherine Mounier-Desrochers, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, 613-295-3617, [email protected]; Media Relations, Canadian Heritage, 819-994-9101, 1-866-569-6155, [email protected]

Related Links

www.pch.gc.ca


"When I founded Hipcamp nearly a decade ago, my dream was to create an easy way for people to get outside, and that dream is now reality in multiple countries around the world," said Hipcamp founder Alyssa Ravasio. "For some time, we've seen that demand for outdoor experiences in Canada has outpaced supply. So we're excited that today we're able to offer Canadians a new way to recreate responsibly during the pandemic - in the great Canadian outdoors."

Canada is known for its stunning landscapes, rugged wilderness, and friendly hospitality. More than 600 Canadian hosts have already listed their properties to Hipcamp's global community, with new hosts signing up daily. Today, listings are available in every province throughout Canada, with the majority available in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta. Many hosts also offer extras that include farm-to-table meals, yoga, boating, horseback riding, and more.

"We have been extremely impressed with Hipcamp's vision for private camping in Canada," said Pitched Co-Founder Olaf Dunn. "Through our partnership, we're pleased to offer the Pitched community access to Hipcamp's unrivalled service and features. There's a reason Hipcamp earned the reputation of being the most innovative travel company of 2021 , and we're thrilled to partner with them for launch."

Canadian hosts receive all the protection and benefits that the Hipcamp platform offers. They will be eligible for Hipcamp's Liability Insurance Policy, which protects Hosts for up to $1M CAD. Bookings through the site bring economic opportunity to rural communities, and help Canadian farmers, ranchers, vintners, and other landowners create new revenue streams to conserve their land and keep it wild.

Hipcamp will also expand its photography program to Canada. The program uses the work of Canadian photographers and entrepreneurs to capture images of hosts' wide range of hospitality offerings.

Despite international travel restrictions, Hipcamp expects significant demand for Canadian outdoor stays. Domestic demand for camping spots has soared, and many would-be adventurers lack booking options. Hipcamp's Canada launch changes that reality.

Hipcamp and COVID-19

To comply with provincial travel restrictions, Hipcamp offers a full credit for any cancellations related to COVID-19 lockdowns. The company is also discouraging international travel at this time.

Additionally, Hipcamp has implemented COVID-19 safety guidelines to ensure hosts, campers, and local communities are protected and recreating responsibly. These guidelines include encouragement to practice social distancing, travel in small groups, and book zero contact stays. Hipcamp also requires hosts to abide by vigorous cleaning and disinfecting protocols.

About Hipcamp

Founded in 2013, Hipcamp is the world's largest provider of outdoor stays. It gives a growing community of good-natured people the opportunity to list, discover, and book unique outdoor experiences. By connecting people with the land and each other, Hipcamp works to support those who care about nature. The fully remote company has offices in Australia, the United States, and Canada, and to date has helped people spend more than 3 million nights under the stars. When listing on Hipcamp, farmers, ranchers, vintners, and other landowners generate new revenue streams to conserve their land and keep it wild.

SOURCE Hipcamp

For further information: Moxie PR for Hipcamp, [email protected]
The intelligence agency has given information to the Central Government about the malicious intentions of ISI and has proposed to ramp up the security on the borders on a 24x7 basis.

According to the intel provided by the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), around 82 terrorists are set to breach Indian borders and enter the Indian territory. Out of these 82 terrorists, 19 of them belong to the infamous Jaish-e-Mohammed, the terrorist organization responsible for the Pulwama attacks of 2019. These 19 terrorists have got training in various camps in Afghanistan. The terrorists are spanned across multiple launchpads located in the Kotli area of Pakistan-owned Kashmir.

The intelligence agency has given information to the Central Government about the malicious intentions of ISI and has proposed to ramp up the security on the borders on a 247 basis.

The terrorists, according to the intelligence reports, are being trained under the leadership of Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed and his brother Rauf Asgar. They have orders to infiltrate the borders and execute major, deadly attacks on the Indian territory.

Also Read: One year of Galwan: 90 percent PLA troops rotated in eastern Ladakh sector

The Indian Air Force carried out an airstrike on terror camps in Balakot in 2019 in retaliation to the Pulwama suicide bombing in Kashmir. Since then, the LoC has been on the brink of brawls. Since May last year, there have been reports coming in from the intelligence agencies about covert terrorist activities and gatherings near PoK.

Also Read: The Seeker: Indian amateur sleuth who made world rethink Wuhan lab leak claims
Peter Daszak, member of the WHO international expert group and President of EcoHealth Alliance, allegedly funded the Chinese lab with taxpayers money. He has been seen defending Shi Zhengli's work.

The world is now busy tracing the origin of SARS-COV-2. US President Joe Biden has recently ordered intelligence agencies to inspect the origins of SARS-COV-2. Globally, the origin of this virus is suspected to be associated with a lab in China from where it is assumed to be leaked. But, of course, China refuses it.

Shi Zhengli, the head of Wuhan Institute of virology, in a paper published in 2015 indicated the dangers of their gain-of-function experiment on a novel coronavirus that could infect human cells. The paper also acknowledged funding from the US National Institutes of Health and Daszaks EcoHealth Alliance.

Peter Daszak, a member of the WHO international expert group and President of EcoHealth Alliance, who is alleged to fund the Chinese lab with taxpayers money, stated that there was no evidence about this virus as created in a lab. He has been seen defending Shi Zhenglis work.

According to US media reports, in April 2020, Francis S Collins, Director of the US National Institutes of Health, wrote to a number of heads of US research institutions, including Dr Anthony Fauci, dismissing the Wuhan lab hypothesis as a conspiracy, said Wang Wenbin, a Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson.

Interestingly, Anthony Fauci, the white house health advisor, through a trove of emails released to the media showed that Daszak had thanked him for publicly saying scientific evidence does not support the Wuhan lab-leak theory.
The chain has other restaurants in Miami, FedEx Field in Maryland, and Levis Stadium in California. There are also three more stores listed on its website as hatching soon outside the Orlando area.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden on Friday dismissed a fresh Republican infrastructure proposal that offered modestly more spending but fell short of his objectives to grow the economy, the White House said.

His reaction cast further doubt on the two parties prospects for striking compromise on one of the administrations chief legislative priorities as deadlines slip and time runs out to make progress toward a deal.

The White House released the statement after Biden spoke by phone with West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the chief GOP negotiator. Both sides said the two would speak again on Monday, but Bidens team made clear the president will be casting about for talks with other senators.

The President expressed his gratitude for her effort and goodwill, but also indicated that the current offer did not meet his objectives to grow the economy, tackle the climate crisis, and create new jobs, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

A Capito statement provided no detail about their discussion or the new offer.

Making the pitch for Republicans, Capito had suggested around a $50 billion boost above the previous Republican offer of $928 billion, the White House said, still leaving the GOP well short of the $1.7 trillion that Biden is seeking.

In a further sign that a deal with Capito was seeming increasingly less likely, the White House said Biden told Capito that he would continue to engage a number of Senators in both parties in the hopes of achieving a more substantial package.

For weeks, the president has been engaged in talks with GOP senators trying to strike a compromise on Bidens top legislative a priority, the big infrastructure investment package. While the two sides appear to have narrowed the price gap between his initial $2.3 trillion proposal and the GOPs $568 billion opening bid, they remain far apart on the scope of the deal and how to pay for it.

Biden wants to raise corporate taxes to generate revenues for the infrastructure investments, a nonstarter for Republicans. The GOP senators propose tapping unspent COVID-19 relief aid to pay for the roads, bridges and other projects, an idea rejected by Democrats.

Earlier in the day, after the release of a modest May jobs report, Biden made the case for his robust investment package to push the economy past the COVID-19 crisis and downturn, and into a new era.

Now is the time to build on the progress weve made, Biden told reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. We need to make those investments today to continue to succeed tomorrow."

After returning to the White House, Biden spoke with Capito by telephone. The White House had been eyeing a deadline early next week as Congress returns from its Memorial Day break to see progress toward a deal. Meanwhile, Democrats are setting the ground work for a go-it-alone approach. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has indicated that Biden will look to act without Republican support if there is no consensus.

Psaki downplayed any hard-set deadline Friday and said the administration continues to talk to lawmakers from both parties.

There's runway left, Psaki told reporters at the White House. Were going to keep a range of pathways open.

Republicans are showing no interest in Biden's latest proposal for a 15% corporate minimum tax rate that would ensure all companies pay something in taxes, rather than allowing so many write-offs or deductions that they contribute zero to the Treasury.

A Republican familiar with the talks and granted anonymity to discuss the private assessment said the GOP senators view that idea as an unnecessary tax hike. They had already rejected his initial proposal to hike the corporate tax rate, from 21% to 28%,

Instead, Republicans are insisting on using untapped COVID-19 relief funds to pay for the infrastructure investments. Biden's team has rejected that approach.

Still, neither Biden nor the GOP senators appear ready to call off talks, even as Democrats prepare to use budget rules to pass any big package on their own, without Republican votes.

On Friday, House Democrats released a plan for spending $547 billion over the next five years on road, mass transit and rail projects, a blueprint of their priorities and a potential building block for Biden's broader package.

The proposal from Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, the Democratic chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, continues existing programs set to expire and adds key pieces of the larger measure Biden is negotiating with Republicans.

DeFazios legislation doesnt address how to pay for the projects. He called the effort a once-in-a-generation opportunity to move our transportation planning out of the 1950s and toward our clean energy future.

His bill would authorize up to $343 billion for roads, bridges and safety improvements. Another $109 billion would go to public transit programs and $95 billion would go to freight and passenger rail system, including a tripling of funding for Amtrak.

DeFazios bill is not expected to attract much GOP support, as Republicans unveiled their own legislation recently that would authorize about $400 billion over five years for road, bridge and transit programs.

Republicans on the House panel criticized the Democratic legislation in a statement. Instead of working with Republicans to find common ground on a bill that could earn strong bipartisan support  something our Senate counterparts did successfully last month  this bill moves even further to the left to appease the most progressive members in the Majoritys party."

Biden also called DeFazio on Friday to thank him for his work on key elements of the American Jobs Plan, Psaki said, adding that they agreed on the benefits of continuing to engage Democratic and Republican senators.

Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable have called on lawmakers to continue negotiations and work toward a bipartisan compromise.

But some Democrats have questioned the merits of that approach and are already unhappy with some of the compromises that Biden has offered. They support using a process that would allow Democrats to pass an infrastructure boost with a simple majority, which they did through a COVID-19 relief measure that delivered $1,400 payments to most Americans.

Getting Republicans on board is not necessary. Getting the American people back on their feet is, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., said.

__

Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.
Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

CROMWELL  A 67-year-old New Britain man has been identified as the missing person who was found Friday in the Connecticut River, officials said.

Cromwell police Capt. Fred Sifodaskalakis said Monday the man, identified as 67-year-old Petro Pukas, of New Britain, was found Friday afternoon.
PHOENIX (AP)  Authorities ordered additional evacuations and closed several stretches of highways in south-central Arizona on Sunday where hundreds of firefighters battled two wildfires that were growing in gusty winds and temperatures approaching 100 (38 C) east of Phoenix.

Evacuations were ordered Sunday for residents in Top-of-The-World area along U.S. Highway 60 about 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of Phoenix and 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Superior where the Telegraph Fire was burning out of control.

The Pinal County sheriffs office also began to evacuate the Oak Flats campground. Residents of Superior, a town of 3,100, were told to be ready to flee on short notice.

No deaths or injuries have been reported.

US 60 was closed from Superior to Miami, along with State Route 177 from Superior to Winkelman and State Route 77 from Winkelman to Globe.

About 150 firefighters were battling that blaze, which has burned 53 square miles (137 square km) of mostly shrub and grass since it broke out Friday and continues to threaten as many as 150 residents, Tonto National Forest spokesman John Scaggs said Sunday.

Firefighters lit back fires in excess fuels south of the fire to help keep the flames from encroaching on Superior but the fire had no containment on Sunday.

The largest type of federal incident management team assumed control of the operation and more crews were on their way.

The Red Cross has set up an evacuation shelter Sunday at a local school in Miami and at Skyline High School in Mesa. Large animals also were being sheltered at the Birch Stockyard in Globe and the Apache Junction Rodeo grounds.

Meanwhile, airtankers and helicopters were assisting more than 500 firefighters who continued to work the Mescal Fire about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Globe. It nearly tripled in size in high winds, low humidity and hot temperatures on Saturday to an estimated 40 square miles (103 square km) on Sunday.

Estimated containment shrank from 5% Saturday to only 2% by Sunday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Gila District Office.

New evacuations were ordered in Coyote Flats. Existing evacuation orders remained in place for several areas on the outskirts of Peridot and the San Carlos Apache Reservation.

Fire officials expected subsiding winds would allow them to make more progress into the night Sunday on the blaze, which broke out on June 1.

Temperatures and humidities to remain hot and dry, with winds slowing decreasing to about 15-20 mph (24-32 kph). the latest update said.

The causes of both fires remain under investigation.
BOSTON (AP)  More than 8.1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Massachusetts as of Monday.

That includes more than 4.2 million first doses and nearly 3.6 million second doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

There have been nearly 258,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered.

More than 3.8 million people have been fully immunized, according to state health officials.

Gov. Charlie Baker has set a goal of at least 4.1 million people in the state fully vaccinated.

He said the state has adopted a more targeted approach, particularly in communities hardest hit by the pandemic.

___

VIRUS BY THE NUMBERS

The number of new daily cases of COVID-19 fell below 100 Monday while the number of newly confirmed coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts rose by four.

The new numbers pushed the states confirmed COVID-19 death toll to 17,552 since the start of the pandemic, while its confirmed caseload rose to about 662,200.

The true number of cases is likely higher because studies suggest some people can be infected and not feel sick.

There were about 180 people reported hospitalized Monday because of confirmed cases of COVID-19, with about 65 in intensive care units.

The average age of those hospitalized was 58. There were an estimated 4,200 people with current active cases of COVID-19 in the state.

___

VIRTUAL FORUM

The Cape Cod Foundation is holding a virtual forum next week to address the lingering mental health needs of area residents even as the COVID-19 pandemic ebbs.

Mental and Behavioral Health Across Cape Cod is scheduled for June 17, the Cape Cod Times reported Monday.

For many, social isolation, feelings of uncertainty, emotional and physical loss, and the inability to access care have increased over the past year due to the pandemic, Kristin OMalley, president and CEO of The Cape Cod Foundation, said in a release.

In addition, unemployment, loss of housing, and food insecurity have added to the psychological burden of residents across every age and demographic, especially our most vulnerable populations.

Signups are at the foundation's website.

___

VACCCINE CLINIC

Attleboro's VFW Post 115 is hosting a COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Tuesday afternoon.

The two-dose Moderna vaccine will be provided by trained clinicians to patients 18 years old or older, at no cost.

No preregistration is required for the walkin clinic, which will feature free food from area restaurants and a DJ.

The clinic is sponsored by the city in conjunction with the Healthy Lifestyle Alliance and the Massachusetts Health Council.
I think about how he could have killed me then, in the dark. How he could have killed, went in the other room, and killed my son, she told the TV station.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)  An Air Force sergeant accused of killing two law enforcement officers in California last year was part of a rightwing militia known as the Grizzly Scouts that held firearms trainings, scouted protests, and laid out terms of war against police, a newspaper reported Monday.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel cited court documents that show the suspected gunman, Steven Carrillo, was not a lone actor but a member of an anti-government group that was preparing for more deadly attacks on law enforcement.

The court filings reveal the most extensive details yet on the investigation into the May 29, 2020 fatal shooting of Federal Protective Service Officer Dave Patrick Underwood in Oakland and the June 6, 2020 killing of Santa Cruz Sheriff Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller in an ambush in the community of Ben Lomond. Carrillo has pleaded not guilty to both killings.

Most members of the Grizzly Scouts are still at large, federal prosecutors said. The group identifies with a loosely-affiliated, nationwide militia movement that uses the name Boogaloo and favors Hawaiian shirts and violent rhetoric, but the Scouts activities appear to be more carefully plotted, the newspaper reported.

The court filings were submitted in the case against four other alleged Grizzly Scouts members, including the groups leader, who are accused of destroying evidence relevant to the Underwood and Gutzwiller murder investigations.

Courtesy of Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

They were written as part of a failed attempt to keep all four defendants in jail pending trial. A federal magistrate ultimately decided three of them were not a danger to the community and did not pose flight risks.

In April, a federal grand jury indicted Jessie Alexander Rush, 29, of Turlock; Robert Jesus Blancas, 33, of Castro Valley; Simon Sage Ybarra, 23, of Los Gatos; and Kenny Matthew Miksch, 21, of San Lorenzo, on charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Blancas, the only defendant who remains in jail, also faces a child enticement charge related to alleged sexual conversations with a teen girl that were discovered during the investigation.

AP

The Associated Press was unable Monday to locate lawyers who could speak on their behalf.

The filings not only confirm Carrillo as one of the militias roughly 25 members, but detail the groups alleged activities in mid-2020: trainings near Rushs home in Turlock, the creation of a Quick Reaction Force or QRF, and plans to send a member to scout out a protest in Sacramento.

The filings allege that, in a document entitled Operations Order, the militia described law enforcement officers as enemy forces and spoke of the possibility of taking some prisoner, writing that, POWs will be searched for intel and gear, interrogated, stripped naked, blindfolded, driven away and released into the wilderness blindfolded with hands bound.

Rush previously served in the U.S. military, making him the second known member of the militia, along with Carrillo, with military experience.

The group also allegedly discussed ways to stir up violence between Antifa groups and police. Blancas allegedly wrote that he was totally down to disguise himself as an Antifa member and spark a violent conflict.

Its the tactically sound option, Blancas told other militia members, according to prosecutors.
Niagara Falls, NY (14301)

Today

Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low around 60F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
NW China's village official brings local garlic to global markets

People's Daily Online) 15:31, June 07, 2021

A village official in northwest China's Qinghai province not only became one of the first people to introduce a new variety of garlic in his own village in the 1980s, but is now also helping fellow villagers who also grow this kind of plant to open up global markets.

Photo shows Wang Guofeng processing orders on a computer.

Wang Guofeng, a resident of Shen'gou village of Yurun town, Ledu district, Haidong city, Qinghai province, worked as a construction worker, porter and waste collector after failing his university entrance exam when he was only 17.

Six years later, Wang returned to his hometown, and became engaged in agriculture in a piece of family land 5 mu (about 0.33 hectares) in size. When he learnt of a new variety of garlic that first became known in his village, he decided to try planting it.

In a bid to introduce the new breed, Wang spent five days travelling to northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and spent all his savings on purchasing the seeds. In the first year of his field cultivation experiment, Wang lost money. However, in the following year, local farmers, amazed by the high yield of 2,000 kilograms per mu in Wang's field, scrambled to purchase his new species of garlic.

In 2004, Wang was appointed as the Party branch secretary of Shen'gou village. Since then, he decided he would help more villagers exploit new markets for garlic.

Thanks to Wang's redoubled efforts, local farmers have managed to secure long-term sales contracts with small retailers in northwest China's Gansu province, and also set up a local garlic cooperative in 2018 with the participation of 70 households.

Now that the domestic sales market has been stabilized, Wang has become more ambitious: "I want to sell the garlic from our small village abroad."

By relying on his domestic partners, Wang has succeeded in selling their high-quality garlic to Thailand, Japan, South Korea and other overseas markets in recent years.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
The life of an adjunct professor is incredibly insecure. We need to reapply for our positions every semester with no guarantee that well be rehired  even if weve taught at Valencia for years. Few of us have office space to meet with students outside of class, and what we do have is communal and housed in a former custodial closet. Our pay doesnt extend to anything that happens outside our scheduled classroom hours, even though we put in hours of work to create our lessons, to grade our students work and to advise our students outside of it.
Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo state, has described the attack on Igangan, a town in Oyo state located in Ibarapa area, as horrendous, ...





Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo state, has described the attack on Igangan, a town in Oyo state located in Ibarapa area, as horrendous, callous, and highly provocative.





On Saturday night, 15 people were reportedly killed when gunmen attacked the town.

Igangan has been under the spotlight for years, with clashes erupting intermittently between farmers and herders, resulting in deaths and life-threatening injuries.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Akeredolu, who is the chairman of the south-west governors forum, said the region will not condone such savage attacks on its people.

We have just received with rude shock premeditated attack on our people at Igangan, Ibarapa, Oyo State, in the early hours of today. This cowardly onslaught on a peaceful community has occasioned loss of lives and property on a large scale. It is horrendous, callous, and highly provocative, the governor said.

All well-meaning Nigerians must condemn, in the strongest term possible, this latest assault on decency and communal harmony.

While we will encourage the security agencies to get to the root of this latest act of provocation, we have directed the Commanders of the South West Security Network, Amotekun, to convoke a joint security meeting of all Commanders in the South West with a view to commencing joint operations in the region immediately.

We must reiterate the fact that certain elements are bent on causing friction among the peoples of this country with the sole aim of achieving a pernicious end. They will stop at nothing until their set goal is realised. It is, therefore, incumbent on all lovers of peace and freedom to rise against this current regression into savagery.

We on our part are resolved to defend our people, their property, and all legitimate means of livelihood against both internal and external aggression. On this, there will be no compromise.

We call on our people to remain vigilant and report any suspicious movement in their communities. In addition, they must be united in the task of defending our lives and properties.

Meanwhile, the police has said it is investigating the attack, while Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo state, has called for calm, adding that the perpetrators will not escape justice.
The federal government has given a condition to lift its indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria. Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of ...

The federal government has given a condition to lift its indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.

Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs, said at a meeting with some envoys that Twitters operations in Nigeria will be restored only if the platform can be used responsibly.

Asked when the ban will be lifted, Onyeama said there is no definite timeline for that, but added: The condition would be responsible use of the social media and that really has to be it.

We are not saying that Twitter is threatening the country or any such thing; why we have taken this measure is to stop them to be used as platforms for destabilisation and facilitation of criminality or encouragement of criminalities, he also said.

At the meeting held in Abuja on Monday were the envoys of the US, UK, Canada and the European Union, all of whom had condemned the indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.

Despite the governments claim that Twitter is being used to undermine the existence of Nigeria, some have argued the suspension may be connected to the companys decision to delete President Muhammadu Buhari tweet recently.

In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the envoys had said: We strongly support the fundamental human right of free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria as around the world and these rights apply online as well as offline. Banning systems of expression is not the answer.





This prompted the federal government to invite them to the meeting. After the parley held behind closed doors, Oneyema said both parties had successful discussions on the issue.

IS NIGERIA SHIFTING GROUND ON TWITTERS SUSPENSION?

The minister said the government takes the comments of the envoys very seriously, hence the decision to discuss the matter with them in the usual friendly way.

He, however, insisted that the Buhari administration has to keep an eye on its main objective and legacy which, according to him, is the security of lives and property.

He said Nigeria will nowt sit back and watch social media being used to destabilise the country, adding: We want to use social media for good.

Differences of opinion is not a problem; everybody will not think alike, Onyeama said.

But lives matter; Nigerian lives matter and we have to do everything we can to preserve Nigerian lives. And when we feel our goals are threatened, actions need to be taken.
Nigerias government said it is in discussions with Twitter after it suspended the social media giants operations in the country, foreign...

Nigerias government said it is in discussions with Twitter after it suspended the social media giants operations in the country, foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama told reporters Monday.

There are discussions ongoing with Twitter, we will see how that progresses, so I cannot say for now the duration of the suspension, Onyeama said after a meeting with diplomats on the issue.

Africas most populous country said it was suspending the platform on Friday, two days after Twitter deleted a comment from the presidents account for violating its rules.

More to follow

AFP
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Johnson Elementary School students Arturo Garcia Jr., left, and Kekona Alameda clean up at Mast Park in Santee on May 11. The Cajon Valley Union School District teamed up with the San Diego River Park Foundation to clean up as part of a weeklong event called San Diego River Days. Karen Pearlman/San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS
Trump said the events will be wonderful but hard-hitting sessions where well talk about the real problems happening in the U.S., those that the Fake News Media never mention. I will be focusing on greatness for our Country, something seldom discussed in political dialogue. If we dont make our Country great again, we will soon no longer have a Country!
Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death.

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP)  The second baby for Prince Harry and Meghan is officially here: a healthy girl who arrived on Friday.

The couple welcomed their child Lilibet Lili Diana Mountbatten-Windsor at 11:40 a.m. at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, a spokesperson said Sunday. Their daughter weighed in at 7 lbs, 11 oz.

Her first name, Lilibet, is a nod to a nickname for her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. Her middle name honors her grandmother and Harry's mother. The baby is eighth in line to the British throne.

She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers weve felt from across the globe. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family, the couple, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, wrote in a statement issued along with the announcement.

No photos of the newborn or the Sussexes accompanied the announcement. The couple has said that in lieu of gifts, they request those interested learn about or support nonprofit organizations working for women and girls like Girls Inc., Harvest Home, CAMFED or Myna Mahila Foundation.

Harry and Meghan Markle  formerly an actor  married at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor was born a year later.

Meghan has revealed that she had a miscarriage in July 2020, giving a personal account of the traumatic experience in hope of helping others.

Months before the miscarriage, the couple announced they were quitting royal duties and moving to North America, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media. They live in Montecito, an upscale area near Santa Barbara, California.

In the wake of quitting royal duties, they gave an explosive TV interview to Oprah Winfrey in March, in which the couple described painful comments about how dark Archie's skin might be before his birth and Meghan talked about the intense isolation she felt inside the royal family that led her to contemplate suicide.

Buckingham Palace said the allegations of racism made by the couple were concerning and would be addressed privately.

Winfrey and Harry have recently collaborated on mental illness on the Apple TV+ mental health series The Me You Can't See.

In the interview with Oprah, Meghan also talked about the fact that her son was not given the title of prince. Harry said the royal family cut him off financially after he announced plans to step back from his roles  and that he was able to afford security for his family because of the money his mother, Princess Diana, left behind.

Despite leaving royal duties, Harry's place in the order of succession to the throne remains.

The first seven places remain unchanged: Prince Charles; Prince William; William's children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis; Prince Harry, and his son, Archie.

Lilibet's birth moves Prince Andrew, who was born second in line in 1960, down to ninth place.
Fear not, fans of Music Inside Out with Gwen Thompkins.

The weekly musician interview series, which has aired on WWNO 89.9 FM since 2012, recently disappeared from the airwaves.

But it will return. Eventually.

Thompkins has put her show on hiatus so she can work on a book. That book, to be published by the University of North Carolina Press, will be based on the nearly 100 in-depth interviews Thompkins has conducted for Music Inside Out.

She wasnt optimistic about her ability to finish the book while still hosting the labor-intensive radio show.

Im such a procrastinator, she said. Im so afraid of waiting until the last minute to make the deadline. You cant do a book the night before its due. Im trying to do this the right way.

Her intention is to restart Music Inside Out in the first half of 2022, after the book is finished.

The plan is to come back, she said. Theres more to do. Theres always more to do. In many ways, it feels like an unfinished story.

Were trying to include as many people as we can so theres a record of them beyond what we normally hear about, Whats next? Where are you performing? There has to be some other way for musicians lives to be represented so future generations will know how they fit in.

+5 New Orleans Jazz Fest documentary, directed by multiple Oscar nominee, headed for theaters A documentary about the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, helmed by a prominent Hollywood veteran, is bound for the big screen.

Overall, Thompkins wants Music Inside Out to convey a sense of how rich Louisiana music is and how it is a springboard for American pop music. Thats the premise of the book  make people aware of Louisiana as this musical wellspring.

Within every episode, Thompkins does a deep dive into the featured musicians history, life and art. Each one-hour show is culled from an interview that typically lasts two to three hours. Drummer and vibraphonist Jason Marsalis holds the record for the longest conversation: he and Thompkins spoke for five hours.

During the pandemic, Thompkins conducted a dozen or Music Inside Out interviews via Zoom. But she much prefers being face-to-face with her subjects.

When she traveled to Lafayette to interview blues musician Taj Mahal, they spoke while driving, then sat down for a three-hour conversation; he later called her to fill in some additional points.

What we try to do is give the performers the opportunity to really tell their story, she said. Once you throw the clock out the window, its amazing how an interview can open up.

The occasional themed Music Inside Out episodes, such as the recent The Look of Music, required multiple interviews. So do episodes focused on deceased artists, such as Fats Domino and Professor Longhair.

But generally, she lets the musicians speak for themselves. Thats the approach shes taking with the book. She envisions a format where each artist is featured in a lengthy, first-person monologue, rather than a Q&A format.

Shell also update readers on what has happened with each artist since the initial interview, and include material that was edited out of the radio segments.

So much is left behind. I hope the book is an opportunity to look at what else was said.

Meanwhile, fans of the show can go to its website, MusicInsideOut.org, where most episodes are archived.

And Thompkins plans to continue to produce content online and on-air. Shell be active on her websites blog.

Shell also contribute short, monthly pieces to WWNO called Back by Popular Demand: the Music Inside Out Sessions that will spotlight musicians and music presenters as live music resumes. The Historic New Orleans Collection is collaborating on the project, which will ultimately be part of the collections planned oral history project From the Front Line: Narratives of the COVID-19 Pandemic in New Orleans.

The final episode before the break aimed to leave people with a real desire to go out and experience live music. People are performing and audiences are going back out and are very enthusiastic.

Not doing the show for several months will be a huge change in my life, Thompkins said. Im very excited about the book. But Ive been doing this (show) eight or nine years. Im going to miss the conversations.

I love the show. Im very proud of it. And I hope musicians were happy that someone wanted to hear their stories.
Oswego, NY (13126)

Today

Sunshine this morning then becoming mostly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F. Winds light and variable..

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Thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Inertia

Oscar Rossignoli

(Self-released)

Pianist Oscar Rossignoli has become a well-recognized name in the New Orleans jazz community for his part in the brilliant contemporary trio Extended with Matt Booth and Brad Webb as well as leading his own quartet and joining other musicians like Herlin Riley and Quinn Sternberg on stage. With his debut solo album, Inertia, Rossignoli is alone behind the piano on this captivating, intuitive outing.

The 11-track Inertia features a collection of originals, save for Recuerdos de mi Infancia, an adaptation of a song Rossignoli grew up singing in his native Honduras. Rossignoli delicately composed most of the tracks over time, but the pianist demonstrates his improvisational prowess on a trio of spontaneous recordings, the opener Pendulum, the song Preludio for Chick, and the albums closer Perpetual Motion.

Rossignoli started learning classical piano at an early age but fell in love with Latin jazz after hearing pianist Michel Camilo while Rossignoli was studying at a conservatory in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The pianist came to Louisiana to study music at LSU. And Rossignoli incorporates all of that background across Inertia. The track Vamonos! showcases Latin jazz influences while the listener may hear his classical foundations on the song Tableau.

Rossignoli celebrates the release of his album at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 8, at former church space at the St. Peter & Paul Hotel. Tickets are $20 at eventbrite.com.  JAKE CLAPP

"Heavy Lifting"

Loose Cattle

(Low Heat Records)

Jolene is one of Dolly Partons better-known songs, and in it she pleads with another woman not to steal her man  painfully acknowledging that Jolene easily could do so. In a newly arranged version titled F*ck You Jolene, Loose Cattle keeps Partons heartbreaking lyrics, and also tells Jolene to get lost  in more colorful terms. Its the final song on the groups latest album, Heavy Lifting, released June 4. Grounded in country and folk, the album mixes somber and upbeat tunes.

Now more than a decade old, Loose Cattle started as a personal project between actors and musicians Michael Cerveris and Kimberley Kaye, going from playing in friends living rooms to recording original songs and performing in their twin capitals of New York and New Orleans and elsewhere.

This album was completed early in 2020, but in tone and lyrics, several of its songs reflect the difficult times of the last year. It opens with hushed vocals on a cover of Vic Chestnutts Aunt Avis, which asks how one can be good when tempted otherwise. Kaye takes the lead on two dour tunes about feeling trapped in harsh conditions, West Virginia and Down.

The album also has some raucous honky-tonking as on the fun take on a spirited romance, Gasoline and Matches, written by Buddy and Julie Miller. The original tune Tenth Grade is gleeful if not a little corny in its confession of affection. The folksy take on political wisdom in Redneck Blue Collar feels forced, but the dip into the blues on Sidewalk Chicken comes off feeling more natural. Hes Old, Shes High, written by Paul Sanchez, is a humorous take on an imperfect relationship.

The album hits a lot of different moods, and its a polished collection of tunes that highlight less conventional stories and voices in the world of alt-country and Americana.  WILL COVIELLO

Comedian Shane Torres returns to New Orleans for Broad Theater show June 12 Comedian Shane Torres is calling his string of 15 show dates mainly scattered through May and June the Oh So Close Tour. With the poster, de
The St. Tammany Parish Chamber of Commerce Legislative Wrap Up Luncheon is scheduled for June 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Slidell Municipal Auditorium at 2056 2nd St.

Three state senators and five state representatives have confirmed they will attend the wrap-up sponsored by Slidell Memorial Hospital.

The cost is $40 for chamber members or $430 for a reserved table of eight; $50 future members. See the chamber website at https://business.sttammanychamber.org/events or contact Megan Haggerty at (985) 273-3007 for more information.

Olave gets another commission term

Gov. John Bel Edwards has reappointed Pearl River resident Stephen M. Olave to the Louisiana Used Motor Vehicle Commission. Olave is a licensed used motor vehicle product dealer who will represent the 1st Public Service Commission District.

The commission licenses and regulates used motor vehicle dealers and salespersons, motor vehicle crushers, dealers of used parts and accessories, and automotive dismantlers and parts recyclers. It also investigates consumer and dealer complaints.

St. Tammany top stories in your inbox A weekly guide to the biggest news in St. Tammany. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Money given to assist the homeless

in St. Tammany Parish animal shelter

The St. Tammany Parish Department of Animal Services has received a $25,000 grant investment from the newly named Petco Love nonprofit to support the parish facility's lifesaving work on behalf of animals.

Petco Love is working nationally for a stronger, healthier connection between communities, pet families and pets. Since its founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, the nonprofit says it has invested $300 million in animal adoptions and other initiatives that save animals.

We are thrilled to be beneficiaries of the Petco Love grant investment. While working through the COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult at times, here at the Department of Animal Services, we make the lives of the animals in our care a top priority. This grant will help us continue providing aid to the animals in our community, said Penny Brunies, assistant director of animal services for the parish.

The administration of parish President Mike Cooper says the shelter has increased its live release rate from 55% in 2019 to 96% for the first quarter of 2021. They credit an increased number of adoption events, animals returned to their owners and partnerships with rescue groups that transfer adoptable animals to shelters in areas where they will find homes.
The Jefferson Parish School System and the families of two students suspended after they were seen handling BB guns inside their homes during virtual lessons last September have settled their federal lawsuit, court documents show.

The terms of the settlement were not immediately available Monday morning, and neither the attorney for the two families nor a school system spokesperson would comment beyond confirming that an agreement had been reached pending Jefferson Parish School Board approval. The families had asked for their children's suspensions to be overturned and for the kids' school discipline records to be cleared.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown last week ordered to the two sides to write up an order for dismissal of the case, saying that the families and the school system "have firmly agreed upon a resolution" of the case. The order will dismiss the school system's counterclaim against the families as well.

The settlement comes several days after the two parties, plus an attorney for Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry's office, locked horns in a two-hour hearing last month before the federal judge in which both sides urged her to toss the other's claims out of court.

A state court case on the matter remains pending.

The federal lawsuit stems from the September suspension of two Jefferson Parish students: Ka'Mauri Harrison, a Harvey fourth grader; and Tomie Brown, a Grand Isle sixth grader, both of whom were seen by teachers or other students holding BB guns while in their own homes during virtual school lessons.

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Both students were suspended and recommended for expulsion, which is standard procedure for students seen with weapons on school property or during school-sponsored activities. A school system hearing officer later knocked both students' punishments down to suspensions alone.

Both families sued, alleging that the students had not received due process.

Those suits were consolidated and landed before Brown who, during the May hearing, asked pointed questions of both sides. But she seemed to indicate that she thought some questions raised by the suit could best be answered by a jury. She also sought to determine whether parents had been adequately notified of the policies.

The cases sparked intense public interest, with Landry, among others, criticizing the school district for its handling of the cases. The firestorm also prompted the state Legislature to hurriedly pass a new law, known as the Ka'Mauri Harrison Act, which requires school systems across the state to develop policies that include extra levels of appeal for students recommended for expulsion and rewrite virtual education policies.
Staff Writer

Reese Gorman covers elections, local politics and the COVID-19 pandemic for The Norman Transcript. He started as an intern in May of 2020 and transitioned into his current position as a staff writer in August of 2020.
Oswego, NY (13126)

Today

Sunshine early followed by mostly cloudy skies this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Muncy, Pa.  The case for a man who allegedly possessed just over 8 ounces of marijuana in Muncy Borough is now heading to court.

Zachary R. Haefner, 21, of Williamsport, was recently charged with a felony of possession with intent to deliver after police caught him with 8.718 ounces of marijuana on Feb. 20. Haefner also faces several related misdemeanor charges.

Two Muncy Borough police officers were patrolling the area of 200 South Main Street shortly after midnight when they noticed a silver Honda with its headlights on sitting in the middle of a church parking lot, according to the arrest affidavit. A woman was sitting in the passenger seat.

The officers parked behind the Honda and observed a man, later identified as Haefner, walking from East Penn Street around the front of the church and toward the vehicle. The officers observed Haefner open the back door of the vehicle behind the drivers seat, throw an open backpack inside and then slam the door, according to the affidavit.

The vehicles dome light was on. Officer Delp looked in and stated, that is a big bag of weed inside the car, according to the affidavit written by Officer Eric Winters.

Haefner admitted to police that he just bought a pound of marijuana a few moments ago for $1,500, Winters wrote. He reportedly told them he only sells marijuana to one guy.

He later said that he does not sell it to his friend, but rather he gives him the money and he then buys the drugs for him and he then gives him a cut, Winters continued.

Charges were filed at the office of District Judge Jon E. Kemp in Muncy and bail was set at $50,000 unsecured. Haefner waived his right to a preliminary hearing on May 28.

The case now goes to the Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas where he will have a formal arraignment on June 14 in front of Lycoming County President Judge Nancy L. Butts.

Docket Sheet
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Tillamook, OR (97141)

Today

Rain likely. High 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.
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Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The number of new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) now declined for weeks and deaths for five weeks, a statement issued and sent to PANA here Monday said
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libyan Coast Guards have rescued 59 illegal migrants of various African nationalities, who were heading for the European coast on board an inflatable boat, the Libyan Navy announced on Monday
Abuja, Nigeria (PANA)  The Nigerian government on Monday summoned the envoys of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union over their recent comments on the suspension of Twitter in the country
Roseburg, OR (97470)

Today

Showers this morning, becoming a steady rain during the afternoon hours. High 71F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Cloudy. Some light rain is likely. Low 57F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Washington, DC, US (PANA) - The United States has sent a message of condolence to the government and people of Mauritius on the death of former Prime Minister and President Sir Anerood Jugnauth, which occurred last Thursday
On May 10, Central High School hosted the 2021 Biomedical Sciences Senior Showcase culminating activities of the students in the three-year program.
To find out more about Diane Dimond, visit her website at www.dianedimond.com. Her latest book, "Thinking Outside the Crime and Justice Box," is available on Amazon.com.
CROWN POINT  A Gary woman is scheduled to be re-sentenced later this month for leaving her three children alone overnight before they accidentally started a fire that killed two of them.

Kristen A. Gober, 36, cannot be sentenced to more than 42 years in prison, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in February.

Lake Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell sentenced Gober in August to 51 years in prison, after Gober previously admitted to two counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a level 1 felony, and one count of neglect of a dependent, a level 6 felony.

Kailani Gober, 2, and her brother, Khristopher Gober, 4, died from smoke inhalation the morning of March 25, 2018, after Khristopher and his 6-year-old brother accidentally caught a piece of fabric on fire while using the stove in their unit at the Lakeshore Dunes Apartments in Gary's Miller section.

The children were attempting to make breakfast for themselves, because Gober left them alone for 15 hours while she drank alcohol and spent the night with a maintenance man.

The fire frightened the children, who put the burning item in a closet and hid under a blanket in Gober's room, records state.
They saw Abrahamson ingest medication from the same package, sometimes by crushing it up and snorting it, court records allege.

Caregivers noticed the medication made the woman drowsy and further distorted her mental clarity, according to court documents.

Caregivers also reported they suspected Abrahamson was sharing a bed with the woman because he often would be locked in the bedroom when they arrived, court records state.

Medical personnel advised Abrahamson to take the woman for a professional examination after noticing unusual discharge, but he refused to have her examined and said it wasn't necessary, court records state.

Caregivers also noticed Abrahamson giving the woman "long-winded kisses on the mouth," according to documents. They thought the woman was attempting to tell them she was scared of Abrahamson by squeezing their hands when he approached as they tended to her, court records state.

Police began investigating in March after a social worker at a Munster hospital reported she suspected the woman was being abused and neglected by Abrahamson, court records state. The woman had been treated at the hospital after arriving with urine-soiled clothing and bruising on her arms and legs.
HAMMOND  Tina Nommay has been named as the new acting United States attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, replacing Gary Bell, who resigned to take over as the district's clerk of court, the office announced Monday morning.

Bell, who had served as the first assistant U.S. attorney, automatically had taken over the top job in December 2020 with the resignation of U.S. attorney Thomas Kirsch.

Nommay, who has served as an assistant United States attorney in the Fort Wayne Division since 1989, will fill her new role until the Northern District of Indiana receives its politically appointed, Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney, the office said.

"I will continue the district's long tradition of seeking justice and protecting the citizens of the Northern District of Indiana by prosecuting those individuals who violate federal law," Nommay said. "My office will continue to promote public safety throughout Northern Indiana by coordinating our efforts with federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement agencies, local prosecutors, along with civic and community groups."

Nommay transitioned from the civil to the criminal division in 1992, where she prosecuted a wide range of criminal cases, according to the office.
CROWN POINT  Prosecutors filed a felony burglary charge last week against a 19-year-old man already being held without bond on allegations he murdered a Merrillville boy trying to sell his Xbox in 2019.

Garry L. Higgins IV, of Gary, was tied to the alleged burglary in March 2019 at a home in Gary's Glen Park section through text messages police initially obtained while investigating the homicide of 16-year-old Johnny Peluyera on June 12, 2019, Lake Criminal Court records state.

Higgins has pleaded not guilty in each of his cases and is currently scheduled to stand trial starting July 19 on charges linked to Peluyera's murder.

The latest charges allege Higgins broke into a home March 22, 2019, in the 5000 block of Delaware Street in Gary and stole three flat-screen televisions, a PlayStation 4 with games and controllers, and three cellular phones.

Police recovered text messages Higgins allegedly sent to an associate March 22, 2019, in which Higgins admitted to stealing three TVs, a PlayStation 4 and three cellphones, court records state.

Several months later, Peluyera asked his father to drive him to the 5000 block of Maryland Street so he could sell his Xbox to someone he met online, court records state. That person was Higgins, police said.
Superintendent Dr. Mary Tracy-MacAulay wants to post in her office a photo of this graduating class for its determination and perseverance. You make us better, she said.

Commencement included the listing of colleges, universities, apprenticeships, military service branches, and workplaces of graduates. Jacob Schulman plans to study mechanical engineering at Purdue and play in the symphonic band as a tenor sax.

Schulman called graduation a step into the future, a huge change and movement in my life. This is the end of the first part of my lifes chapter, and Im ready to experience all the world holds for me. I cant wait to go to college and pursue my passion.

Undecided as to a major, Hope Huyser will pursue general studies at Purdue Northwest. Having studied online all year, Huyser reunited with classmates. Its nice to see them all for the last time, she said.

While some students wore symbols of academic achievement, Naomie Avila wore a stole honoring her American and Mexican heritage and her parents, who did so much for me to be here. I made it here by hard work, dedication, and my family cheering me on.

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I'm not a political appointee," DeJoy told the House hearing. I was selected by a bipartisan board of governors and I'd really appreciate if you'd get that straight. When pressed on how long he'd remain in his post, DeJoy responded, A long time. Get used to me.

Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, who organized a letter signed by 90 House Democrats in August calling for DeJoys removal, said the postmaster general "is a guy who obviously has a lot of confidence in himself.

He doesnt seem to understand that one of the few services that the federal government does thats in the Constitution is the Postal Service," Pocan said "and we have a higher obligation to do the job correctly.

DeJoy can only be removed by a vote of the Postal Services governing board, which has nine members in addition to DeJoy and the deputy postmaster general. The Senate recently approved three new, Biden-appointed members. By law, though, no more than five of the nine voting board members can be from the same party and two existing, Democratic members have publicly supported DeJoy and his 10-year plan.

Biden could dismiss existing board members and replace them with his own appointees who might support replacing DeJoy  but he'd have to show cause for doing so.
The question of whether it's unconstitutional to require men but not women to register could be viewed as one with little practical impact. The last time there was a draft was during the Vietnam War, and the military has been all-volunteer since. But women's groups are among those arguing that allowing the male-only requirement to stand is harmful.

Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Womens Rights Project, who had urged the court to take up the issue, said that requiring men to register imposes a serious burden on men that's not being imposed on women.

Men who do not register can lose eligibility for student loans and civil service jobs, and failing to register is also a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison. But Tabacco Mar said the male-only requirement does more than that.

It's also sending a tremendously harmful message that women are less fit than men to serve their country in this particular way and conversely that men are less fit than women to stay home as caregivers in the event of an armed conflict," said Mar, who represents the National Coalition For Men and two individual men who challenged the law. We think those stereotypes demean both men and women.
Balboa, 29, did not speak during the brief court hearing. An attorney for Balboa did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Monday.

Court records show Balboa was charged with assault in November for allegedly choking Dalton Olson. Conditions of her bond in that case included that she have no contact with Olson or any member of his family.

During Mondays court hearing, state District Judge DaSean Jones increased Balboas bond in the assault case from $5,000 to $100,000. She is also being held on a $500,000 bond for the tampering with evidence charge.

Samuels parents had been involved in a bitter custody battle over the boy after filing for divorce in January 2020.

Balboa initially accused Samuels mother and a man who presented himself as a police officer of taking the boy. Samuel had been living with Balboa since April 30, which was the last day he was seen at school. Authorities have not said why Samuel was staying with Balboa. Samuels father, Dalton Olson, lived at a different address.
CHICAGO  An activist Roman Catholic priest cleared by an Archdiocese of Chicago investigation into claims that he sexually abused several boys decades ago returned to the pulpit of his longtime church on Sunday for the first time in five months.

"It's good to be home," the Rev. Michael Pfleger repeatedly told congregants of the Faith Community of St. Sabina, describing his time away during the investigation as a "painful nightmare."

Pfleger, 72, was placed on leave in January amid allegations from two brothers who said Pfleger sexually abused them as children starting in the 1970s. A third man later also alleged that Pfleger molested him once in 1979 when he was 18. Last month, the archdiocese concluded there was "insufficient reason to suspect" that Pfleger had abused children. A police investigation remains open.

His first service back at the largely Black church on Chicago's South Side was as spirited as ever, with live music, dancing and reenergized congregants who have fiercely backed their priest. Pfleger, who is white, thanked congregants for supporting him and vowed to resume his activism, especially against gun violence, with even more gusto.
At first, Amya Noble never imagined she might be pregnant. She was 16, a sophomore in high school, and had no plans to raise a child.

But in December of 2019 she started feeling extra sleepy. She was both nauseated and hungry at the same time. Then, one morning, she looked down and saw something new: a road map of blue veins crisscrossing her chest. Yet, she was sure she had gotten her period last month. Well, pretty sure. Instead of heading to school that day she went to the Family Dollar store down the block and bought a pregnancy test. It was positive.

Much to her surprise, an ultrasound in January confirmed that she had actually been pregnant for months, and was quickly nearing the end of the first trimester. Her baby was on the way, and so was a pandemic  though nobody could have told her that last part.

Something just clicked in my mind: Now I just have to go to school, she said. Because before I was actually kind of really slacking.

There has been little research on how teenage parents have fared over the last year, but ample evidence suggests that both mothers and teenagers have experienced a unique set of stressors.
Concerns over Israels coalition

Israels internal security director issued a rare public warning on Saturday night about what he called rising levels of incitement, days before a vote on the political coalition designed to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Far-right Jewish activists have announced plans for a provocative march this week through Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem. On Sunday, the Israeli police detained Palestinian twins whose activism helped bring attention to the displacement of Palestinians from East Jerusalem, which precipitated the recent conflict in Gaza.

The heterogenous coalition, which includes parties from across the political spectrum, could usher in a more liberal civil rights agenda and would include, for the first time in Israeli history, an independent Arab party. But Netanyahu and his supporters have put ultranationalist members under pressure, accusing them of betraying the country by serving with leftists and Arabs.

Divisions: Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who make up 13 percent of the population, stand to lose power. Under Netanyahu, the two main Haredi parties had outsize influence in governing coalitions, which they used to secure generous state funding, fight pandemic restrictions, push a conservative social agenda and exempt members from compulsory military service.
Ed Warren is sitting in a musty living room in North London, trying to establish contact with a demon. Behind him sits a little girl, said to be possessed. The demon wont talk, she insists, unless he faces away and gives him some privacy. With his back to the girl, Ed gets down to business. Now come on out and talk to us, he says brightly.

Out comes the demon, cackling and taunting in a fiendish, guttural voice, like a cockney Tom Waits. He wants to rattle Ed, but as played by Patrick Wilson, Eds not easily rattled. Alongside his wife, Lorraine, he works as a paranormal investigator, and this is hardly his first tete-a-tete with a malignant spirit. Your father called you Edward, the demon snarls, trying to get under his skin. But Ed just rolls his eyes and shakes his head impatiently. Youre not a psychiatrist, and Im not here to talk about my father, he says. Lets get down to business. What do you say?

This scene in The Conjuring 2 (2016), the sequel to the sumptuous, vigorously terrifying The Conjuring, encapsulates what these hit movies do so well. The director James Wan shoots the entire conversation in one long, unbroken take, zooming in so slowly that the movement of the camera is virtually undetectable. The demon, in the background, is a sinister blur. Instead, our attention fixes on Ed, staring ahead.
Eight new works were commissioned for the show, which also includes an assortment of jewels, as Melandri called them, from MAXXIs collection in Rome, including works by the Italians Maurizio Cattelan and Michelangelo Pistoletto, models by the Japanese architect Toyo Ito, and large mohair and silk tapestries by the South African artist William Kentridge.

These were plucked from the museums permanent collections, which consist of more than 500 pieces from the 1960s to now. It showcases a whos who of contemporary Italian art, alongside foreign artists including the Indian-born British sculptor Anish Kapoor, the German painter Gerhard Richter and the Argentine installation maker with a penchant for spiders, Tomas Saraceno.

The site-specific works commissioned for MAXXI LAquila were all inspired, in their own way, by the city and its history, and it was only natural that several reflected on the 2009 earthquake.

Elisabetta Benassis salt sculpture La Citta Sale plays on the Italian word for salt and is a homage to the painter Umberto Boccionis 1910 work The City Rises, which channeled the energy of Italys rapidly expanding metropolises after the Industrial Revolution.

Benassis work  two blocky forms resembling city skylines, jacked up on supporting platforms  reflects on the fragility of urban environments, which aspire to be something permanent, but then, in reality, they arent  because they can be swept away and destroyed, she said.
A total of 431,000 high school students in East Chinas Anhui province are taking the nations college entrance examination, also known as Gaokao, up 4,000 from last year, according to local education authorities.



Among the candidates, 196,000 are liberal arts students and 235,000 are science students, said the Anhui Education Examination Authority.

There are 14, 625 examination rooms at 304 testing sites around the province. In addition, 1,375 back-up rooms and quarantine examination rooms have been set up in case students need to sit separately due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 75,000 teachers and staff members are engaged in organizing the exam, together with over 1,200 medics.

Students have been reminded to follow the examination rules and COVID-19 containment regulations while sitting the test.

This years online grading remains unchanged as more than 2,000 teachers from high schools, colleges and universities are required to grade papers in Anhui University, Anhui Normal University, Anhui Agricultural University, Anhui Jianzhu University and the Anhui Education Examination Authority. Students are expected to know their scores on June 23.




Welcome back pirates! As you make your return to campus The East Carolinian has created a forum that centers around topics within the community where readers can express their experiences and concerns. With the new guidelines set in place by East Carolina University do you feel as these precautions will keep you safe?

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On Monday, the court declined to hear a challenge to one of the last sex-based distinctions in federal law, which requires only men to register for the military draft. Opponents said the law cannot be justified now that women, like the Marine recruits above, are allowed to serve in every role in the military, including ground combat. The court gave no reasons for turning down the case, but three justices released a statement saying that Congress should have more time to consider the issue.

Justices also ruled unanimously that immigrants with temporary protected status, who came to the country without authorization and were allowed to stay temporarily for humanitarian reasons, may not apply for green cards. The decision could affect tens of thousands of people.

And in other legal news, the A.C.L.U. is split over whether its unwavering devotion to the First Amendment conflicts with ever more forceful progressive arguments that hate speech is a form of psychological and even physical violence.
When Facebook and Twitter barred Donald Trump from their platforms after the Capitol riot in January, he lost direct access to his most powerful megaphones. He has posted statements online far less often, but some of his comments have gone just as far and wide. Our reporters looked at what has happened since the bans and visualized how his messages disseminate.

ARTS AND IDEAS

A new variant

Britain has had one of the worlds most successful Covid-19 responses in recent months, but its now coping with a rise in Covid cases. The main cause appears to be the highly infectious virus variant known as Delta. Our Morning writer David Leonhardt takes a look.

How bad is it?

Relative to where Britain was in January, the recent increase in Covid cases is tiny. But there is still cause for concern. New Covid cases have more than doubled over the past month, to more than 4,000 a day from about 2,000 a day.

Pandemics feed on themselves, in both directions. When new caseloads are falling, it increases the chances that they will continue to fall. When caseloads are rising, the opposite occurs.

Will deaths rise?

Fortunately, the current surge is almost certain to cause less death than previous outbreaks, because most people vulnerable to serious illness have already been vaccinated.

First shots vs. second

One unknown about the vaccines is the ideal delay between the two shots. The U.S. staggers the shots by only a few weeks, while Britain has made people wait up to 12 weeks for the second one. The Delta variant is adding a wrinkle. Data suggests that it is more contagious than the original virus and more likely to infect people who have had only one shot, so the country is accelerating second shots for vulnerable people.
The largest U.S.-built ships designed for doing offshore construction work are about 185 feet long and can lift about 500 tons, according to a Government Accountability Office report published in December. That is far too small for the giant components that Mr. Eleys team was working with.

So Dominion hired three European ships and operated them out of the Port of Halifax in Nova Scotia. One of them, the Vole au Vent from Luxembourg, is 459 feet (140 meters) long and can lift 1,654 tons.

Mr. Eleys crew waited weeks at a time for the European ships to travel more than 800 miles each way to port. The installations took a year. In Europe, it would have been completed in a few weeks. It was definitely a challenge, he said.

The U.S. shipping industry has not invested in the vessels needed to carry large wind equipment because there have been so few projects here. The first five offshore turbines were installed in 2016 near Block Island, R.I. Dominions two turbines were installed last year.

Had the Jones Act not existed  it was enacted after World War I to ensure that the country had ships and crews to mobilize during war and emergencies  Dominion could have run European vessels out of Virginias ports. The law is sacrosanct in Congress, and labor unions and other supporters argue that repealing it would eliminate thousands of jobs at shipyards and on boats, leaving the United States reliant on foreign companies.

Demand for large ships could grow significantly over the next decade because the United States, Europe and China have ambitious offshore wind goals. Just eight ships in the world can transport the largest turbine parts, according to Dominion.
The Atlantic intends to voluntarily recognize a newly formed union of editorial workers, the magazines editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, said Monday.

Staff members announced on Monday morning that they were forming a union affiliated with the NewsGuild, which also represents employees at The New York Times and many other outlets. The union will cover about 85 employees, including writers, editors, fact checkers and producers.

The Atlantic Union said in a statement posted on Twitter that although the magazine was thriving, the American press  its freedoms, its stability and its future  is at a precarious moment.

We believe that we are stronger collectively than individually, and that the future of journalism is brighter when its workers are united, the statement said.
Some may be structured and tannic enough to wait a few years before drinking. Others are easygoing and ready to drink upon release. The best are fine and transparently express their origins, often with sweet, earthy and bitter flavors of cherries and flowers.

Long gone are the days in the 1960s when the local wine authorities mandated a maximum of 70 percent sangiovese in Chiantis and required that white grapes be blended in. Nowadays, Chianti Classico must be 80 percent to 100 percent sangiovese, with the rest made up of local grapes like canaiolo, colorino or malvasia nera; international grapes like merlot, cabernet sauvignon and syrah; or a combination.

With rare exceptions, sangiovese works best with the local grapes. Too often, the international grapes insert a discordant note  the chocolate of merlot, for example, that can seem out of tune. Yet one of my recommended bottles does have some merlot in its blend, and I was not able to notice it.

What accounts for the differences in the wines? The region is a complicated jumble of soils, vineyards, elevations and microclimates, which can make wines grown in neighboring towns remarkably dissimilar. The differing intentions of the farmers and winemakers is also a crucial factor.

Chianti Classico is divided into eight subzones (it used to be nine, but in 2019 Barberino Val dElsa and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa merged and is now referred to as Barberino Tavarnelle), and a debate has long raged whether to permit producers to use these subzones on their labels. Proponents argue it will help consumers gain a sense of the character of a wine, while opponents say the variables are too many and that geographical divisions are too simple.

Its possible both sides are correct. But I believe more information is better, and I have certainly noticed some correlation between subzones and styles. The wines from Radda in Chianti, for example, seem to be elegant, with great finesse, while those from Castelnuovo Berardenga are often richer and weightier.

The other five subzones are Greve in Chianti, San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Castellina in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti and Poggibonsi.
The dried threads of autumn crocus, only three per flower, make saffron, the intense, precious seasoning originally native to Eurasia. Now, in Afghanistan, Tahmina Ghaffer, originally from Kabul, has hired women farmers specifically to hand-harvest saffron in the Herat region to sell under the new Moonflowers label. The company donates one percent of its profits to help children in Afghanistan, Cambodia and South Africa. The saffron is intensely red with arresting pungency.

Moonflowers, $12.99 for .07 ounces (a generous tablespoon) to $53.99 for .35 ounces, moonflowers.co.

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The sentiment seems to be spreading. Broadways reopening will now occur in August. In Australia, Frozen, Hamilton and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child were running at or near full capacity in Sydney and Melbourne for months (though masks were still required) until a recent lockdown in Melbourne put shows in that city on hold again. The performance for the Times event served as both a reminder of theaters vitality during the pandemic and a preview of the energy to come.

The musical number began to take shape in early March after The Timess theater reporter, Michael Paulson, suggested recording a special video of the inspirational song for the Offstage series, which streamed live on April 29 and is still viewable by Times subscribers.

We wanted a song that was both good and would make sense out of context for people who hadnt seen the show, Mr. Paulson said. Its also a song that works without a very elaborate band or orchestra and is essentially a solo number.

The four-and-a-half-minute track chronicles the tale of the real-life American Airlines pilot Beverley Bass, who was among the pilots with planes full of passengers who were diverted to Newfoundland on Sept. 11, 2001.

One of the many emotions captured in this song is Beverley having to come to terms with the job she loves being put on hold, and not knowing when she might fly again, said Rachel Karpf, the director of programming at The Times who helped plan the event with Beth Weinstein and Rachel Czipo. We saw some parallels to the experience of theater workers in Australia and around the world this past year, as their industry was brought to a near-total standstill by the pandemic.
OTTAWA  The driver of a pickup truck in London, Ontario, who ran down five pedestrians, killing four of them, chose his victims because they were Muslim, the police said on Monday.

There is evidence that this was a planned, premeditated act and that the family was targeted because of their Muslim faith, said Detective Superintendent Paul Waight of the London Police at a news conference.

Mayor Ed Holder of London, which is midway between Detroit and Toronto, called it an act of mass murder perpetrated against Muslims, against Londoners and rooted in unspeakable hatred.

The killings happened on one of the first summerlike weekends of the year in London. The police told reporters that a man in a black pickup drove up on a curb and mowed down a family standing on the sidewalk and waiting to cross a busy suburban road.
Typically what happens if you look at the history of epidemics is that its like a tsunami washing up ashore, he said. The waters recede, but now the shore is devastated so it takes us some time to recover socially, economically, psychologically from the shock.

One area that has seen a surge in demand is weddings, though many couples are holding smaller ceremonies, according to industry analysts.

A report last month detailed how the pandemic ravaged the nations wedding industry in 2020 and predicted a strong rebound this year, especially around so-called micro-weddings that involve a couple dozen guests with vows exchanged outdoors.

In New York, some hotels are adapting, too, offering one-hour slots for intimate celebrations instead of the six-hour minimum they typically required before the pandemic, said Tatiana Caicedo, a wedding planner based in Manhattan.

Smaller weddings are popular, she added, because they are affordable options for couples who postponed ceremonies last year and forfeited deposits, and because international travel restrictions can still make it a challenge to get everyone in one place.

Carli Otero, 29, who works in communications and lives in New Jersey, was determined to have her wedding in May, after having to call off her ceremony from the original date on June 27, 2020.

So, in order to comply with indoor capacity limits at the time, she and her now husband, Alex, whittled down the guest list by nearly half to just over 100 from the 200 people they had originally intended to invite.
The New York City mayoral race is one of the most consequential political contests in a generation, with immense challenges awaiting the winner. This is the seventh in a series of profiles of the major candidates.

June 7, 2021

Even for a New York City mayoral candidate who seemed like a long shot, the event early last month had a desperate quality to it.

Kathryn Garcia, a former sanitation commissioner, had agreed to a pie-off charity appearance with Paperboy Love Prince, an artist also running for mayor. Before they threw pies in each others faces, they had a dance-off, and she joked on Twitter that she would soon be having a word with my staff.

A couple of days later, Ms. Garcia began airing her first television campaign ad. It, too, might have been described as being somewhat out of the box  but she actually stands inside the box, a giant red cube labeled in case of emergency break glass. She dons a pair of safety glasses and a leather jacket, and we see the glass shatter.

The messages seemed clear: Sometimes you have to throw some pies and break some glass to draw attention and  to paraphrase a profane campaign slogan of hers  to get stuff done.
Source: Charisma Media

During a brief humanitarian truce this week, some 1,000 Palestinians, almost all of them Muslims, left their homes and sought refuge in one of the only two churches in Gaza. (CBN)

Israeli military leaders say they hit 45 terror sites in Gaza overnight Thursday, including a Hamas command post. Israeli aircraft also killed a senior Islamic Jihad leader and two of his sons.

And Palestinian sources say Israeli ground troops and Hamas gunmen fought intense battles in the north and center of the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, with fighting in its 18th day, another pause for humanitarian aid may be on the horizon.

Gaza Christians

Like Muslims in Gaza, Palestinian Christians are also suffering in this war.

"We hardly go outside the house," Hamed, a secret Christian in Gaza, told CBN News. "There are missiles and rockets flying everywhere, bombs going off. It's so scary."

In an exclusive phone interview from Gaza City, Hamed described to CBN News what life has been like since the conflict started.

"The situation is very dangerous," Hamed said. "We only go out to buy food when there's a pause in the fighting. Even then we're not sure if a missile will hit or not. However, we thank God none of the believers has been hurt or killed so far."

There are no reliable figures, but estimates put the number of Christians in the Gaza Strip at about 1,500 out of a population of nearly 2 million.

Hamed is a key leader in the evangelical community. Despite the chaos, he says Gazan Christians are quietly encouraging their fellow citizens.

"We are sharing Scripture verses with our neighbors, telling them Bible stories, and using Facebook and text messages to encourage people not to give up. We have only Christ to depend on," he said.

Church Provides Refuge

During a brief humanitarian truce this week, some 1,000 Palestinians, almost all of them Muslims, left their homes and sought refuge in one of the only two churches in Gaza.

Nahed al-Sarfawi's home is in Shijaiyah, a district in Gaza City, where Hamas had rockets, tunnels and command centers. She said she received a recorded message from the Israeli military to evacuate the area to protect their lives.

"We were given a warning that our house would be demolished. So we came here to the church, and they told us it was safe," al-Sarfawi told CBN News.

Archbishop Alexios, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza, says many like al-Sarfawi lost everything.

"They don't have anything. They left their houses with their clothes. They have to carry their children, their babies," Alexious said.

The archbishop has hardly had time to sleep, trying to ensure that his place of worship turned refugee center is meeting needs of the displaced.

"Now we try, together with my neighbors, to help them as much as we can, to give first of all water, to give food to the babies, milk and to give medicines to those who are in need," he explained.

Hamed says the gesture by the Greek Orthodox Church has brought some unity.

"Everyone's suffering in this conflict, Christians and Muslims, so when the church opened its doors, people all felt they were together," he said.

Hamed is asking people around the world to pray for the church in Gaza.

"There are four things you can pray for," he said. "We need wisdom on how to share the Gospel with those who are broken and have lost everything. Second: Pray for our protection."

"Third, we need endurance and strength to hang on," he continued. "And fourth: for the Lord to open doors so we can meet the physical needs of people when this war is over."
New Jersey released thousands of inmates from its jails and prisons to try to slow the spread, yet a New York Times database found that 31 of every 100 prisoners eventually contracted the virus, nearly three times the statewide rate of infection.

Bonnie Kerness, a program director with the American Friends Service Committee Prison Watch, said Mr. Murphy should have allowed lawmakers and advocates time to evaluate recommendations outlined in a state-funded report that was also released on Monday before making the sweeping closure announcement.

The damning 73-page report presented a portrait of a facility beset by administrative chaos.

A day after its release, Mr. Murphys corrections commissioner, Marcus O. Hicks, resigned from the post he had held for three years, bowing to the persistent demands of lawmakers who had called for his termination.

Wouldnt it be more logical to punish the abusers and continue the work on reform of the organizational culture? said Ms. Kerness, who is in regular communication with women at the facility.

The beatings were a condition of confinement having nothing to do with the physical structure, she added.

Jeanne LoCicero, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said the shutdown was an incomplete solution. Changing a name or location does little to check the systemic and cultural issues plaguing our states prison system, and it will not prevent further injustices, she said.

The number of women housed at Edna Mahan, a sprawling facility in Hunterdon County that first opened in 1913 and can house more than 700 people, has been declining, tracking a nationwide trend. In June, it housed the 384 nonviolent and violent offenders in three compounds.
I have a foggy childhood memory of being home sick from school and watching the 1981 movie Skokie. It tells the story of a planned neo-Nazi march through Skokie, Ill., a suburb full of Holocaust survivors, and the Jewish American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, based on David Goldberger, who defended the Nazis on free speech grounds.

Little of the film has remained with me except for awe at the A.C.L.U.s position. The odiousness of those it defended proved the purity of its devotion to the First Amendment. Ive revered the organization ever since.

It would be hard to make a similar movie about Charlottesville, Va., where the A.C.L.U. helped an alt-right leader retain a permit to rally downtown in August 2017. In retrospect, part of the reason the Skokie case seemed clear cut, at least to my childhood self, was that the Nazis posed little physical danger to anyone. There were only 20 or so of them, and they were utterly marginal; no leading political figure called them very fine people. The stakes in the Skokie debate were symbolic. In Charlottesville, where a white nationalist riot led to a womans murder, they were life and death.
Over the weekend, largely at the urging of Janet Yellen, the Treasury secretary, finance ministers from the Group of 7  the major advanced economies  agreed to set a minimum 15 percent tax rate on the profits of foreign subsidiaries of multinational corporations. You may wonder what thats about, or why you should care.

So let me tell you about Apple and the leprechauns.

Apple Inc. has vast global reach. Its products are sold almost everywhere; it has subsidiaries in a number of countries. It is also, of course, immensely profitable.

But where are those profits earned? Apple does very little manufacturing, mainly contracting production out to other companies, mostly in China. Much of its profits comes from licensing fees, reflecting the companys intangible assets  its patents, trademarks, brands and trade secrets. And where are those intangible assets located? From an economic point of view, thats not even a meaningful question.

For tax purposes, however, Apple needs to report its profits somewhere. Right now that means that its basically up to Apple to declare where it makes its money  and what it does, naturally, is claim that its profits accrue to subsidiaries in countries with low tax rates on those profits, Ireland in particular.
Bdelloid rotifers may be the toughest, tiniest animal youve never heard of.

The microscopic, multicellular creatures have complex anatomies and are one of the planets most radiation-resistant animals. They can withstand extreme acidity, starvation, low oxygen and years of dehydration.

Theyre the worlds most resistant animal to just about any form of torture, said Matthew Meselson, a molecular biologist at Harvard University.

Bdelloids can also come back to life after tens of thousands of years in deep freeze, according to a study published Monday in the journal Current Biology. Bdelloids are one of a handful of teensy creatures, including tardigrades, that are known to survive incredibly inhospitable conditions. The new findings also show such robust micro-animals can endure extreme durations of suspended animation as well.

For the study, scientists collected samples by drilling about 11 feet below the surface of permafrost in northeastern Siberia. They discovered living bdelloid rotifers locked in the ancient permafrost, whose average temperature hovers around 14 degrees Fahrenheit.
Googles position has long been a source of concern among competitors and news publishers, who say it gives the company unfair insights into advertising prices, inventory and data that others cannot match.

Among the companies that complained to the French authorities about Google were News Corp, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal and a longtime critic of the companys ad technology, and the French publisher Rossel la Voix Group, the competition authority said. The companies have argued that Googles power is so far reaching that it can squeeze a higher cut of each advertising sale without paying the costs of creating content. News organizations have argued this economic imbalance contributed to their declining business fortunes and shrinking newsrooms.

The French authorities focused on the links between Googles marketplace for auctioning ads, AdX, and another service, Ad Manager, which publishers use to sell space on websites for advertising. The French competition authority said Google shared pricing information collected from Ad Manager to give an advantage to its auction product.

These very serious practices penalized competition in the emerging online advertising market, and have enabled Google not only to preserve but also to increase its dominant position, said Isabelle de Silva, president of the French competition authority.

Google did not admit to wrongdoing in the settlement, but the case may show how the company might appease regulators elsewhere. Google agreed to make more data available to rivals and make it easier for them to use its online advertising services.

An independent monitor, paid by Google, will also be in charge of making sure the company abides by the terms of the settlement. The order is mandatory for three years in France, though Google said it might apply some of the policy changes elsewhere.

While we believe we offer valuable services and compete on the merits, we are committed to working proactively with regulators everywhere to make improvements to our products, Maria Gomri, legal director for Google France, wrote in a blog post.
Two people have been arrested in a road-rage shooting on a freeway in Orange County, Calif., last month in which a 6-year-old boy was killed while his mother was driving him to school, the authorities announced on Sunday.

Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, and Wynne Lee, 23, are expected to be charged with the murder of the boy, Aiden Anthony Leos, who was struck by gunfire on May 21 while riding in the back seat of his mothers car on the 55 Freeway in Orange, Calif., the California High Patrol said.

The shooting happened after what the authorities said was a perceived unsafe lane change, with an occupant of a white Volkswagen station wagon firing at least one round at the vehicle carrying Aiden.

The killing of the boy, who was struck in the torso while riding in a child car seat, has drawn widespread attention. A $500,000 reward was offered for information leading to an arrest, and the California Highway Patrol released images of the suspects vehicle.
NEW HAVEN, Conn.  On March 26, a group of students at Yale Law School approached the deans office with an unusual accusation: Amy Chua, one of the schools most popular but polarizing professors, had been hosting drunken dinner parties with students, and possibly federal judges, during the pandemic.

Ms. Chua, who rose to fame when she wrote Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, is known for mentoring students from marginalized communities and helping would-be lawyers get coveted judicial clerkships. But she also has a reputation for unfiltered, boundary-pushing behavior, and in 2019 agreed not to drink or socialize with students outside of class. Her husband, Jed Rubenfeld, also a law professor, is virtually persona non grata on campus, having been suspended from teaching for two years after an investigation into accusations that he had committed sexual misconduct.

The dinner parties, the students said, appeared to violate Ms. Chuas no-socializing agreement, and were evidence that she was unfit to teach a small group  a class of 15 or so first-year students that is a hallmark of the Yale legal education, and to which she had recently been assigned  in the fall. We believe that it is unsafe to give Professor Chua (and her husband) such access to and control over first-year students, an officer of Yale Law Women, a student group, wrote to the dean, Heather K. Gerken.

The students provided what they said was proof of the dinners, in the form of a dossier featuring secretly screen-shotted text messages between a second-year student and two friends who had attended. That touched off a cascading series of events leading to Ms. Chuas removal from the small-group roster.
When will you need a booster shot?

Although many scientists estimate that coronavirus vaccines will last at least a year, no one knows for sure. I asked my colleague Carl Zimmer what we know so far.

How do Covid-19 vaccines stack up in terms of protection?

Early signs are encouraging. Researchers have been drawing blood from volunteers in vaccine trials and measuring their levels of antibodies and immune cells that target the coronavirus. The levels are dropping, but gradually. Its possible that with this slow rate of decline, vaccine protection will remain strong for a long time. People who were previously infected and then received the vaccine may enjoy even more durable protection.

Will some Covid vaccines last longer than others?

Scientists have already found that vaccines using different technologies can vary in their effectiveness. The strongest vaccines include Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, both of which are based on RNA molecules. Vaccines relying on inactivated viruses, such as those made by Sinopharm in China and Bharat Biotech in India, have proved somewhat less effective.

How will we know when our vaccines are losing their effectiveness?

Scientists are searching for biological markers that could reveal when the protection from a vaccine is no longer enough to hold back the coronavirus. Its possible that a certain level of antibodies marks a threshold: If your blood measures above that level, youre in good shape, but if youre below it, youre at greater risk of infection.

What about the variants?

The emergence of variants in recent months has accelerated research on boosters. Some variants have mutations that lead them to spread swiftly. Others carry mutations that might blunt the effectiveness of authorized vaccines. But at this point, scientists still have only a smattering of clues about how existing vaccines work against different variants.
The company said NexTech has formed a new Italian subsidiary to evaluate the feasibility of producing cathode active materials in Italy using Directa Pluss G+ graphene nanoplatelets

( ) has highlighted progress in its partnership with NexTech Batteries Inc after the latter formed an Italian subsidiary.

The AIM-listed firm said the new subsidiary, NexTech Italia, has been established to evaluate the feasibility of producing cathode active materials in Italy using Directa Pluss G+ graphene nanoplatelets, for the manufacture of Lithium-Sulphur (Li-S) batteries throughout Europe to accelerate the commercialisation of the technology.

The formation of the subsidiary follows a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Directa Plus and NexTech in October 2020 to test G+ products in the synthesis of cathode active materials for NexTech's first generation of Li-S batteries. In February 2021, the two firms entered a three-year exclusive supply agreement and opened a joint laboratory to conduct research and development (R&D) for the development of next-generation battery cathode active material and to support the growth of current and future applications.

Directa said NexTech Italia is temporarily located at its facilities in Lomazzo, northern Italy, adding that its own experience in Italy and throughout Europe means it is well placed to help NexTech find the right permanent location where technology and expertise converge to support NexTech's establishment and growth in Europe.

"With the establishment of our Italian subsidiary, NexTech Italia SpA, we want to address the huge opportunity of green industrialization using our batteries for electric transportation and other applications in Europe. Together with Directa Plus, we can supply the missing key component to support tremendous growth and widespread implementation of the safe, affordable, and sustainable NexTech battery chemistry", NexTech founder and chief executive Bill Burger said in a statement.

"This is a key building block in laying the foundation for strategic growth. We will work together with existing partners of Directa Plus, located in several countries across the European Union, to support the development of Lithium-Sulphur batteries in Europe. NexTech and Directa Plus are already working together on a number of applications including electric transportation, portable electronics and electricity grids," added Directa Plus founder and CEO Giulio Cesareo.

Shares in Directa Plus jumped 5.4% to 126.5p in early deals on Monday.
A pair of wildfires in Arizona have burned tens of thousands of acres and forced hundreds of residents to evacuate, the latest in what experts fear will prove to be an unusually damaging and dangerous fire season.

The two fires, less than 50 miles away from each other, were little contained as of Monday morning. No deaths or injuries have been reported, and the causes are under investigation.

The Telegraph Fire, which was first reported Friday afternoon, had consumed more than 41,000 acres as of Monday morning and come within a mile of the town of Top-of-the-World, according to fire officials. It was located about 70 miles east of Phoenix.

Farther east, the Mescal Fire, which began last Tuesday about 12 miles southeast of the city of Globe, covered nearly 50,000 acres and was 8 percent contained, fire officials said.
Majority of Colonial Pipeline Ransom Recovered, Justice Dept. Says Earlier today, the Department of Justice has found and recaptured the majority of the ransom Colonial paid to the DarkSide network, the deputy attorney general said Monday. Vice President Kamala Harris, in Guatemala, discussed efforts to curb migration. Follow the latest news on President Biden.

Justice Dept. says it recovered most of the ransom paid after the Colonial Pipeline cyber attack. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:11 - 0:00 transcript Justice Dept. Recovers Millions from Colonial Pipeline Hack The Justice Department said on Monday that it had recovered the majority of the ransom paid to the hackers who shut down the computer systems of the Colonial Pipeline last month. The Department of Justice, working with our partners, is committed to using all of our tools at  all the tools at our disposal to disrupt these networks and the abuse of the online infrastructure that allows this threat to persist. After Colonial Pipelines quick notification to law enforcement, and pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California earlier today, the Department of Justice has found and recaptured the majority of the ransom Colonial paid to the DarkSide network in the wake of last months ransomware attack. Today, we turned the tables on DarkSide. By going after the entire ecosystem that fuels ransomware and digital extortion attacks, including criminal proceeds in the form of digital currency, we will continue to use all of our tools and all of our resources to increase the cost and the consequences of ransomware attacks and other cyber-enabled attacks. The Justice Department said on Monday that it had recovered the majority of the ransom paid to the hackers who shut down the computer systems of the Colonial Pipeline last month. Credit Credit... Drone Base/Reuters The Justice Department said on Monday that it had seized much of the ransom that a major U.S. pipeline operator had paid last month to a Russian hacking collective, turning the tables on the hackers by reaching into a digital wallet to snatch back millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. Investigators in recent weeks traced 75 Bitcoins worth more than $4 million that Colonial Pipeline had paid to the hackers as the attack shut down its computer systems, prompting fuel shortages, a spike in gasoline prices and chaos at airlines. Federal investigators tracked the ransom as it moved through a maze of at least 23 different electronic accounts belonging to DarkSide, the hacking group, before landing in one that a federal judge allowed them to break into, according to law enforcement officials and court documents. The Justice Department said it seized 63.7 Bitcoins, valued at about $2.3 million. (The value of a Bitcoin has dropped over the past month.) The sophisticated use of technology to hold businesses and even whole cities hostage for profit is decidedly a 21st-century challenge, but the old adage follow the money still applies, Lisa O. Monaco, the deputy attorney general, said at the news conference at the Justice Department. Law enforcement officials highlighted the seizure in an effort to warn cybercriminals that the United States planned to take aim at their profits, which are often gained through cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. It was also intended to encourage victims of ransomware attacks  which occur every eight minutes, on average  to notify the authorities to help recover ransoms. For years, victims have opted to quietly pay cybercriminals, calculating that the payment would be cheaper than rebuilding data and services. But the payments  which collectively total billions of dollars  have funded and emboldened ransomware groups. Justice Department officials said that Colonials willingness to quickly loop in the F.B.I. helped recoup the ransom portion, and they credited the company for its role in a first-of-its-kind effort by a new ransomware task force in the department to hijack a cybercrime groups profits. The Justice Departments announcement also came before President Bidens scheduled meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia next week in Geneva, where Mr. Biden is expected to address what American officials see as the Kremlins willingness to provide protection for hackers. Russia typically does not arrest or extradite suspects in ransomware attacks. The New York Times reported last month that Colonial Pipelines ransom payout had moved out of DarkSides Bitcoin wallet, though it was not clear who had orchestrated the move. On Monday, the government filled in some of the blanks. DarkSide operates by providing ransomware to affiliates. In exchange, DarkSide reaps a cut of their profits. Officials said they had identified a virtual currency account, often referred to as a wallet, that DarkSide used to collect payment from a ransomware victim  identified in court papers only as Victim X, but whose hacking details match Colonials. Katie Benner and

Do not come. Harris, in Guatemala, details efforts to curb migration. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:33 - 0:00 transcript Harris Warns Guatemalan Migrants Against Traveling to the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, during a visit to Guatemala City on Monday, delivered a blunt message to migrants seeking sanctuary in the United States by crossing the southern border: Do not come. The United States will provide, as a first donation, 500,000 vaccines to Guatemala. Again, understanding the interdependence, the connection between us and the importance of looking out for and prioritizing the needs of ones neighbor. And I want to emphasize that the goal of our work is to help Guatemalans find hope at home. At the same time, I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States, Mexico border: Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border. They are legal methods by which migration can and should occur. Vice President Kamala Harris, during a visit to Guatemala City on Monday, delivered a blunt message to migrants seeking sanctuary in the United States by crossing the southern border: Do not come. Credit Credit... Erin Schaff/The New York Times GUATEMALA CITY  During her first foreign trip as vice president, Kamala Harris said the United States would bolster investigations into corruption and human trafficking in Guatemala, while also delivering a clear, blunt message to undocumented migrants hoping to reach the United States: Do not come. Ms. Harris issued the warning during a trip that was an early yet pivotal test for a vice president currently tasked with the complex challenge of breaking a cycle of migration from Central America by investing in a region plagued by corruption, violence and poverty. While President Biden campaigned on unwinding some of the Trump administrations border restrictions, allowing migrants to apply for asylum at the U.S. border, Ms. Harris amplified the White Houses current stance that most of those who crossed the border would be turned away and would instead need to find legal pathways or protection closer to their home countries. She did not shy away from brusque language when it came to discussing corruption with the Guatemalan president, Alejandro Giammattei, who has been criticized for having a political agenda and for persecuting officials who fight corruption. We will look to root out corruption wherever it exists, Ms. Harris said, adding that the administration would support an anti-corruption unit in the attorney generals office. That has been one of our highest priorities in terms of the focus we have put here after the president asked me to take on this issue of focusing on this region. Ms. Harris, whose own aspirations to the presidency are clear, was tapped by Mr. Biden to invest in Central America to discourage the vulnerable from making the dangerous journey north. Mr. Biden has faced criticism from Republicans and some moderate Democrats in the early months of his term for the soaring number of crossings of unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border. The vice presidents top aides have sought to differentiate her role from the political land mine of managing the border, instead saying her focus is on working with foreign governments to bolster the Central American economy and create more opportunities for people who now see fleeing to the United States as their best option. Ms. Harris announced new steps in the effort on Monday. The Biden administration will deploy homeland security officers to Guatemalas northern and southern borders to train local officials  a tactic similar to one used by previous administrations to deter migration. The State and Justice Departments will also establish a task force to investigate corruption cases that have links to Guatemala and the United States, while also training Guatemalan prosecutors. Guatemala in 2019 expelled a United Nations-backed anti-corruption panel, known as Cicig, which worked alongside Guatemalan prosecutors to bring corruption cases but was also accused by conservatives in the country of having a political agenda. The Biden administration also outlined an investment of $48 million in entrepreneurship programs, affordable housing and agricultural businesses in Guatemala, part of a four-year, $4 billion plan to invest in the region. Ms. Harris last month touted commitments from a dozen private companies, including Mastercard and Microsoft, to develop the economy in Central America. But hanging over those programs are questions about how to ensure that U.S. aid benefits those who need it most, and not just contractors enlisted by the United States or Guatemalan officials. Ms. Harris made a point in her opening remarks to focus on encouraging would-be migrants to stay closer to home while applying for permission to enter the United States and waiting to receive replies. Days earlier, her top aides announced plans to establish a new center in Guatemala where people can learn about obtaining asylum protections or refugee status while still in Central America, rather than traveling to the U.S. border. Most people dont want to leave the place they grew up. Their grandmother. The place they prayed. The place where their language is spoken, their culture is familiar, Ms. Harris said. And when they do leave, it usually has to do with two reasons: Either they are fleeing some harm, or they simply cannot satisfy their basic needs.

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The Senate approves a bill to compensate victims of mysterious health incidents. The United States Embassy in Havana. Staff at the embassy suffered unexplained health incidents that many officials believe are attacks. Credit... Meridith Kohut for The New York Times The Senate passed a bill Monday evening designed to provide financial support for government employees injured in a series of mysterious health incidents. The bill, drafted by Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, would give the C.I.A. director and Secretary of State additional powers to provide assistance to government officials who have suffered brain injuries as a part of an unexplained series of health incidents that many officials believe are attacks. The bill broadens the requirement to report incidents to Congress and also allows the officials to extend the benefits to people who have been injured in the United States. While the majority of the more than 130 cases being investigated by the government happened abroad, there are at least two in the United States that are being examined as possible examples of domestic incidents. Senator Collins said that many of the victims had undergone brain imaging and had their damage verified. Initially, however, several victims of the incidents were treated with great skepticism, she said. They should be treated the same way we treat a soldier who has suffered a traumatic brain injury on the battlefield, Ms. Collins said in a recent interview. It is unacceptable and appalling that these individuals  in some cases  were denied medical care that they needed. Ms. Collins praised William J. Burns, the director of the C.I.A., for believing the victims and speeding up the process to get agency officers affected by a health incident into the militarys Walter Reed National Medical Facility. But some victims continue to be frustrated with how the State Department has handled the incidents. A group of injured government employees have demanded more support and financial compensation for themselves and injured family members  something the Senate bill would give them. State Department officials have said they have made the health and safety of their diplomats and other workers the top priority. While some former officials believe the attacks could go back several decades, the most recent series of incidents began in 2016, when diplomats and C.I.A. officers working in Havana reported feeling dizzy and nauseous. Many developed chronic headaches. For some the health effects have lasted years and could be permanent disabilities. After the Havana incidents, Americans serving in China reported similar episodes. There have also been Pentagon and C.I.A. officers affected in a variety of places in Europe and Asia. A National Academy of Sciences report concluded a microwave weapon was the most likely cause of the injuries, but the U.S. government has not yet made any final conclusions. Some officials believe that Russia is responsible for at least some of the attacks, a charge the Russian government has dismissed. The intelligence community has not concluded if all or some of the health incidents were the result of a deliberate attack and what country might be responsible. Ms. Collins said she has concluded that the incidents are deliberate attacks but that she does not know what country might be responsible. The bill will now need to go to the House, for that chambers approval. The bill is expected to get a vote in the coming weeks, according to a congressional official. While the House is often divided over intelligence issues, Representative Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who leads the House Intelligence Committee, and Representative Devin Nunes, the California Republican who is the ranking member, together introduced a bill similar to Ms. Collinss in the House.

As Biden prepares to visit Europe, the specter of the Trump era lingers. President Bidens trip to Europe for meetings with the Group of 7, NATO, the European Union and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will be more than symbolic. Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times Four years ago, European leaders were traumatized by President Donald J. Trump, who cheered Brexit and eviscerated NATO, declaring the alliance obsolete, calling member countries deadbeats and at first refusing to explicitly endorse NATOs bedrock mutual defense principle. As they prepare to welcome President Biden, the simple fact that he regards Europe as an ally and NATO as a vital element of Western security is almost a revelation. Yet the wrenching experience of the last presidential administration has left scars that some experts say will not soon heal. As much as the Europeans appreciate Mr. Bidens vows of constancy and affection, they have just witnessed how 75 years of American foreign policy can vanish overnight with a change in the presidency. And they fear that it can happen again  that America has changed, and that Mr. Biden is an intermezzo between more populist, nationalist presidents, said Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, vice president of the German Marshall Fund. Still, Mr. Bidens visits to NATO on June 14 and then the European Union for brief summits, following his attendance at the Group of 7 in Britain, will be more than symbolic. The meetings are synchronized so that he can arrive in Geneva on June 16 with allied consultation and support for his first meeting as president with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The hopeful, optimistic view is that Biden is kicking off a new relationship, showing faith in Brussels and NATO, saying the right words and kicking off the key strategic process of renovating the alliance for the next decade, said Jana Puglierin, Berlin director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. But Biden also wants to see bang for the buck, and we need to show tangible results. This is not unconditional love, but friends with benefits.

Manchin vows to block Democratic voting rights bill and preserve the filibuster. I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia wrote. Credit... Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia said on Sunday in no uncertain terms that he would not vote for the Democrats far-reaching bill to combat voter suppression, nor would he ever end the legislative filibuster, a written promise that imperils much of President Bidens agenda. The bill, which all the other Senate Democrats had rallied around as a moonshot bid to preserve American democracy, would roll back dozens of laws being passed by Republican state legislatures to limit early and mail-in voting and empower partisan poll watchers. The measure, known as the For the People Act, would also restore many of the ethical controls on the presidency that Donald J. Trump shattered. In The Charleston Gazette-Mail, the newspaper of the capital of his home state, Mr. Manchin, a Democrat, wrote: I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For the People Act. Furthermore, I will not vote to weaken or eliminate the filibuster. The 818-page bill would end partisan gerrymandering, tighten controls on campaign spending and ease voter registration. It would also force major-party candidates for president and vice president to release 10 years worth of personal and business tax returns and end the presidents and vice presidents exemption from conflict-of-interest rules, which allowed Mr. Trump to maintain businesses that profited off his presidency. With Mr. Manchins vow, passage of the full For the People Act appears to be impossible, though parts of it could pass in other ways if Democrats are willing to break up the bill, a move that they have resisted. Mr. Manchins blockade of filibuster changes makes other Biden initiatives far less likely to pass, including any overhaul of immigration laws, a permanent expansion of the Affordable Care Act, controls of the price of prescription drugs and the most serious efforts to tackle climate change. Mr. Manchin said instead that he would support passage of another bill, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore federal oversight over state-level voting law changes to protect minority groups that might be targeted. He cited one Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as a supporter of the measure, which would give the Justice Department powers to police voting rights that the Supreme Court took away in 2013. That decision freed nine states, mainly in the South, to change voting laws without pre-approval from Washington. After the 2020 election, many of those states  and several others  jumped at the chance, powered by the false claim that voting in November was rife with fraud. But Mr. Manchin is still far short of the 60-vote threshold he backs to pass even that bill. I continue to engage with my Republican and Democratic colleagues about the value of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, he wrote, and I am encouraged by the desire from both sides to transcend partisan politics and strengthen our democracy by protecting voting rights.

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Joe Manchin survives as a Democrat in an increasingly Republican West Virginia. Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat from West Virginia, and Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican from Louisiana, in the Capitol in May following a vote. Credit... Al Drago for The New York Times With the fate of the progressive agenda depending on the support of Senator Joe Manchin III, who said again on Sunday that he would not abandon the filibuster to pass an expansive voting rights bill, interest groups and activists are gearing up for a full push to try to sway the moderate Democrat. It would be enough to make almost any Democratic politician in the country squirm. But probably not a Democrat from West Virginia. None of the demographic groups that animate todays Democratic coalition are well-represented in the state. Black, Hispanic, college-educated, young, urban and professional voters all represent a much smaller share of the electorate in West Virginia than just about anywhere else. White voters without a four-year degree, Donald Trumps demographic base, made up 69 percent of voters there in 2020, according to census data, the highest in the country. Mr. Trump won West Virginia with 69 percent of the vote in 2020, more than in every state but Wyoming. With those sorts of numbers, its hard to understand how Mr. Manchin is a Democratic senator at all in todays polarized era. His state voted for Mr. Trump by 39 points last November; no other member of the House or Senate represents a state carried by the other partys presidential candidate by more than 16 points. Yet Mr. Manchins unique ability to survive in West Virginia is the last vestige of the states once-reliable New Deal Democratic tradition, dating to old industrial-era fights over workers wages, rights and safety. It was one of the most reliably Democratic states of the second half of the 20th century, voting in defeat for Adlai Stevenson in 1952, Hubert Humphrey, Jimmy Carter in 1980 and Michael Dukakis. The so-called Republican Southern strategy yielded no inroads there. But Democrats began to lose their grip on the state during the 1990s, at least at the presidential level.

The C.I.A. is scrambling for a new approach in Afghanistan. An Afghan soldier flying over Helmand Province last month. Recent C.I.A. and military intelligence reports on Afghanistan have been increasingly pessimistic, highlighting gains by the Taliban. Credit... Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times The rapid U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan is creating intense pressure on the C.I.A. to find new ways to gather intelligence and carry out counterterrorism strikes in the country, but the agency has few good options. The C.I.A., which has been at the heart of the 20-year American presence in Afghanistan, will soon lose bases in the country from where it has run combat missions and drone strikes while closely monitoring the Taliban and other groups such as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. The agencys analysts are warning of the ever-growing risks of a Taliban takeover. United States officials are in last-minute efforts to secure bases close to Afghanistan for future operations. But the complexity of the continuing conflict has led to thorny diplomatic negotiations as the military pushes to have all forces out by early to mid-July, well before President Bidens deadline of Sept. 11, according to American officials and regional experts. One focus has been Pakistan. The C.I.A. used a base there for years to launch drone strikes against militants in the countrys western mountains, but was kicked out of the facility in 2011, when U.S. relations with Pakistan unraveled. Any deal now would have to work around the uncomfortable reality that Pakistans government has long supported the Taliban. In discussions between American and Pakistani officials, the Pakistanis have demanded a variety of restrictions in exchange for the use of a base in the country, and they have effectively required that they sign off on any targets that either the C.I.A. or the military would want to hit inside Afghanistan, according to three Americans familiar with the discussions. Diplomats are also exploring the option of regaining access to bases in former Soviet republics that were used for the Afghanistan war, although they expect that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia would fiercely oppose this. Recent C.I.A. and military intelligence reports on Afghanistan have been increasingly pessimistic. They have highlighted gains by the Taliban and other militant groups in the south and east, and warned that Kabul could fall to the Taliban within years and return to becoming a safe haven for militants bent on striking the West, according to several people familiar with the assessments. As a result, U.S. officials see the need for a long-term intelligence-gathering presence  in addition to military and C.I.A. counterterrorism operations  in Afghanistan long after the deadline that Mr. Biden has set for troops to leave the country. But the scramble for bases illustrates how U.S. officials still lack a long-term plan to address security in a country where they have spent trillions of dollars and lost more than 2,400 troops over nearly two decades. William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, has acknowledged the challenge the agency faces. When the time comes for the U.S. military to withdraw, the U.S. governments ability to collect and act on threats will diminish, he told senators in April. That is simply a fact. Eric Schmitt contributed reporting. Mark Mazzetti and

The White House faces pressure to stop an oil pipeline in Minnesota. Video Activists blockaded an Enbridge Energy construction site in Minnesota on Monday, attempting to halt the building of a $9 billion pipeline that would carry oil through the states delicate watersheds and tribal lands. Credit Credit... Tim Gruber for The New York Times Dozens of activists seeking to stop a $9 billion oil pipeline blockaded the road to a construction site near Park Rapids, Minn., early Monday, while hundreds of others scaled the wall of a nearby work station and occupied the site, some climbing atop diggers and transformer boxes or chaining themselves to construction equipment. The projects opponents include Native American tribes and their supporters, environmentalists and religious leaders who say that it would endanger northern Minnesotas delicate watersheds and tribal lands. Over the weekend and into Monday, some 1,500 people took part in drum circles and prayer gatherings, and surveyed the network of construction sites that dot the woods. Taking care of the water is our responsibility, and we take that responsibility seriously, said Winona LaDuke, executive director and a co-founder of Honor the Earth, a Native environmental advocacy organization that is a lead group opposed to the pipeline, known as Line 3. Behind the scenes, Native lawyers have been urging the Biden administration to intervene, flexing the newfound political clout of tribal nations that now have increasing numbers of members in influential government positions  and are prepared to hold Mr. Biden to his campaign promises on racial equity. Approved in the Trump administrations final days, the project, a new 340-mile portion of a wider pipeline network, would carry 760,000 barrels of tar-sands oil a day from Alberta, Canada, across northern Minnesota, and into Wisconsin to the tip of Lake Superior, the worlds largest freshwater lake. Enbridge, the Canadian company behind Line 3, restarted work on the pipeline this month after a pause in construction caused by muddy conditions. In April, Enbridges chief executive, Al Monaco, said Line 3 was on schedule to be completed by the end of the year. The president has so far stayed silent on the project. Matt Furber , Hiroko Tabuchi and

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The Supreme Court wont hear a case on limiting the military draft to men. Marine recruits training at Parris Island in South Carolina last year. Credit... Hilary Swift for The New York Times The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a federal law that requires only men to register for the military draft. As is the courts custom, it gave no reasons for turning down the case. But three justices issued a statement saying that Congress should be allowed more time to consider what they acknowledged was a significant legal issue. It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Service Act, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the statement, which was joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Brett M. Kavanaugh. But at least for now, the courts longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue. The requirement is one of the last sex-based distinctions in federal law, one that challengers say cannot be justified now that women are allowed to serve in every role in the military, including ground combat. Unlike men, though, they are not required to register with the Selective Service System, the government agency that maintains a database of Americans who would be eligible for the draft were it reinstated. The unequal treatment imposes selective burdens on men, reinforces the notion that women are not full and equal citizens, and perpetuates stereotypes about mens and womens capabilities, lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a petition on behalf of two men who were required to register and the National Coalition for Men. In 1981, in Rostker v. Goldberg, the Supreme Court rejected a sex-discrimination challenge to the registration requirement, reasoning that it was justified because women could not at that time serve in combat roles. Since women are excluded from combat service by statute or military policy, Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the majority, men and women are simply not similarly situated for purposes of a draft or registration for a draft. On Monday, Justice Sotomayor wrote that the role of women in the military has changed dramatically since then. Beginning in 1991, she wrote, thousands of women have served with distinction in a wide range of combat roles, from operating military aircraft and naval vessels to participating in boots-on-the-ground infantry missions. Lower courts had agreed with that assessment. In 2019, Judge Gray H. Miller, of the Federal District Court in Houston, ruled that since women can now serve in combat, the men-only registration requirement was no longer justified. A unanimous three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, agreed that the factual underpinning of the controlling Supreme Court decision has changed. But it said that only the Supreme Court could overrule its own precedent.

Supreme Court rules against immigrants seeking green cards. A group with temporary protected status demonstrated in Washington in April, asking for legislation that would offer a path to citizenship. Credit... Drew Angerer/Getty Images The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that immigrants allowed to stay in the United States temporarily for humanitarian reasons may not apply for green cards if they entered the country unlawfully. The case, Sanchez v. Mayorkas, No. 20-315, could affect tens of thousands of immigrants. It was brought by Jose Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez, natives of El Salvador who entered the United States unlawfully in the late 1990s. In 2001, after earthquakes devastated El Salvador, the United States made that countrys nationals eligible for the temporary protected status program. The program allows immigrants to work in the United States and not face deportation if they are from parts of the world undergoing armed conflicts and natural disasters. Mr. Sanchez and Ms. Gonzalez, a married couple, were granted protection under the program. In 2014, they applied for lawful permanent residency, commonly known as a green card. After their application was denied, they sued. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, ruled against them, saying they were ineligible under immigration laws that require applicants to have been inspected and admitted into the United States. Temporary protected status, Judge Thomas M. Hardiman wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel, does not constitute an admission. Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the Supreme Court on Monday, agreed, saying that two parts of the immigration laws operate on separate tracks. One part allows some people who have entered the country lawfully to apply for green cards. The other relevant part allows immigrants, whether they entered the country lawfully or not, to apply for temporary protected status, or T.P.S. The two tracks can sometimes merge, Justice Kagan wrote, if the recipient of temporary protected status entered the country lawfully. But she added that people who entered without authorization do not become eligible for green cards thanks to temporary protected status.

The A.C.L.U. faces an identity crisis as free speech collides with other causes. Liberals are leaving the First Amendment behind, said David Goldberger, a Jewish lawyer who defended the free speech rights of Nazis in the 1970s. Credit... Shuran Huang for The New York Times The American Civil Liberties Union, Americas high temple of free speech and civil liberties, has emerged as a muscular and richly funded progressive powerhouse in recent years, taking on the Trump administration in more than 400 lawsuits. But the organization finds itself riven with internal tensions over whether it has stepped away from a founding principle  unwavering devotion to the First Amendment. Its national and state staff members debate, often hotly, whether defense of speech conflicts with advocacy for a growing number of progressive causes, including voting rights, reparations, transgender rights and defunding the police. These conflicts are unsettling to many of the crusading lawyers who helped build the A.C.L.U. The organization, said its former director Ira Glasser, risks surrendering its original and unique mission in pursuit of progressive glory. David Goldberger argued one of the A.C.L.U.s most famous cases, defending the free speech rights of Nazis in the 1970s to march in Skokie, Ill., home to many Holocaust survivors. Mr. Goldberger, who is Jewish, said he was discouraged by the tenor of speakers at a 2017 A.C.L.U. event at which he received a prestigious award. I got the sense it was more important for A.C.L.U. staff to identify with clients and progressive causes than to stand on principle, he said in a recent interview. Liberals are leaving the First Amendment behind.

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Aspiring G.O.P. leaders push Trumps false fraud claims, attacking the legitimacy of elections. Sam Peters, a Republican who is campaigning for a Las Vegas-area House seat, said he was not sure that President Biden had legitimately won Nevada. Credit... Bridget Bennett for The New York Times Across the country, a rising class of Republican challengers has embraced the fiction that the 2020 election was illegitimate, marred by fraud and inconsistencies. Aggressively pushing Mr. Trumps baseless claims that he was robbed of re-election, these candidates represent the next generation of aspiring G.O.P. leaders, who would bring to Congress the real possibility that the partys assault on the legitimacy of elections, a bedrock principle of American democracy, could continue through the 2024 contests. Dozens of Republican candidates have sown doubts about the election as they seek to join the ranks of the 147 Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying President Bidens victory. There are degrees of denial: Some bluntly declare they must repair a rigged system that produced a flawed result, while others speak in the language of election integrity, promoting Republican re-examinations of the vote counts in Arizona and Georgia and backing new voting restrictions introduced by Republicans in battleground states. They are united by a near-universal reluctance to state outright that Mr. Biden is the legitimately elected leader of the country. I would not have voted to certify Jan. 6, not without more questions, said Sam Peters, a Nevada Republican who is campaigning for a Las Vegas-area House seat. He said he was not sure that Mr. Biden had legitimately won Nevada, even though the president did so by more than 33,000 votes. Its unclear how long the reluctance to accept unfavorable electoral outcomes will remain a central focus of the party, and to what degree Republicans might support widespread election challenges up and down the ballot in the future. But Republicans unwavering fealty to the voter fraud myth underscores an emerging dynamic of party politics: To build a campaign in the modern G.O.P., most candidates must embrace  or at least not openly deny  conspiracy theories and election lies, and they must commit to a mission of imposing greater voting restrictions and making it easier to challenge or even overturn an elections results. The prevalence of such candidates in the nascent stages of the party primaries highlights how Mr. Trumps willingness to embrace far-flung falsehoods has elevated fringe ideas to the mainstream of his party. Reid J. Epstein and

Trump may be blocked from social networks, but supporters ensure his statements spread. When Facebook and Twitter barred Donald J. Trump from their platforms after the Capitol riot in January, he lost direct access to his most powerful megaphones. On Friday, Facebook said the former president would not be allowed back on its service until at least January 2023, citing a risk to public safety. Since his ban and President Bidens inauguration, he has posted statements online far less often. But some of his statements have traveled just as far and wide on social networks. The New York Times examined Mr. Trumps nearly 1,600 social media posts from Sept. 1 to Jan. 8, the day Mr. Trump was banned from the platforms. We then tracked the social media engagement with the dozens of written statements he made on his personal website, campaign fund-raising site and in email blasts from Jan. 9 until May 5, the day that the Facebook Oversight Board, which reviews some content decisions by the company, said that the company acted appropriately in kicking him off the service. Before the ban, the social media post with the median engagement generated 272,000 likes and shares. After the ban, that dropped to 36,000 likes and shares. Yet 11 of his 89 statements after the ban attracted as many likes or shares as the median post before the ban, if not more. How does that happen? The Global Disinformation Index, a nonpartisan nonprofit that studies disinformation, examined the political leanings of the top accounts sharing Mr. Trumps statements online after he was barred from Facebook and Twitter. The group classified hundreds of accounts as either left- or right-leaning, or a mix of the two, relying on standards that it established through its work on disinformation risk ratings for news sites and other online media. One thing that became immediately clear: Mr. Trumps most ardent supporters continue to spread his message  doing the work that he had been unable to do himself. Davey Alba, Ella Koeze and

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Biden will talk again with Capito on infrastructure before traveling to Britain this week. President Biden and Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia in the Oval Office last month. The president has been meeting with Republicans in an effort to reach bipartisan agreement on his infrastructure proposal. Credit... T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times President Biden is set to take the first international trip of his term on Wednesday, but negotiations over the future of American roads, bridges and public works projects will be at the top of his agenda before he leaves. Mr. Biden was expected to talk again with Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, the Republican leading infrastructure negotiations with the White House. The discussion expected Tuesday follows another talk on Friday, but a deal appears elusive so far. Were gonna keep talking, Ms. Capito said Monday. But Im not coming back with anything in the near  in the next 24 hours. The president on Friday dismissed a $50 billion increase to a $928 billion Republican counterproposal to his infrastructure plan, which he had recently narrowed in hopes of bipartisanship. By Sunday, another West Virginian, Senator Joe Manchin III, said that he believed negotiations were continuing in good faith. I still have all the confidence in the world, he told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. My goodness, the president has gone from $2.25 trillion down to $1 trillion. The Republicans have come up quite a bit from where they started. Mr. Manchin, a Democrat, declined to say how he would vote on a party-line infrastructure bill, saying that a bipartisan group of senators negotiating a deal that could get at least 60 votes were not that far apart. But he also wrote in The Charleston Gazette-Mail over the weekend that he would not vote for the Democrats far-reaching bill to combat voter suppression, nor would he ever end the legislative filibuster, a promise that imperils much of the presidents agenda. Mr. Biden offered several concessions to Republicans last week to try to win a $1 trillion infrastructure deal that could receive bipartisan support. The president has now cut more than $1 trillion from his initial $2.3 trillion proposal, while Republicans have added less than $100 billion in new spending to their first offer. But Republicans are still unhappy with Mr. Bidens plan to fund the bill by increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy, making a bipartisan agreement a long shot. Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, hinted on Sunday that there was still interest among Democrats to jam a package through the Senate without Republican support. As our Democratic friends remind us, there is another way, Mr. Buttigieg said in an appearance on Face the Nation on CBS. But our strong preference is to do this on a bipartisan basis, especially because its a bipartisan priority. Infrastructure will also be on the agenda when Mr. Biden meets his counterparts at the Group of 7 summit in Britain this week. Jake Sullivan, Mr. Bidens national security adviser, said on Monday that the leaders of the club of advanced economies will announce an initiative to provide financing for physical, digital and health infrastructure in the developing world. He described the program as a transparent and rules-based alternative to what China is offering, suggesting that it will be employed to counter Chinas Belt and Road Initiative.
In his essay, Mr. Manchin aimed most of his darts at fellow Democrats, branding the For the People Act as a partisan power grab. This is the main argument against the legislation used by Republicans to give cover to the state-level bills, including Senator Mitch McConnell, who has said S. 1 is designed to advantage one side and disadvantage the other.

Mr. Manchin wrote, Todays debate about how to best protect our right to vote and to hold elections, however, is not about finding common ground, but seeking partisan advantage.

He went on to explain himself more fully: I have always said, If I cant go home and explain it, I cant vote for it. And I cannot explain strictly partisan election reform or blowing up the Senate rules to expedite one partys agenda.

Representative Jamaal Bowman, a liberal Democrat from New York, accused Mr. Manchin of doing Mr. McConnells job for him. Joe Manchin has become the new Mitch McConnell, Mr. Bowman said during an appearance on CNN.

Mitch McConnell, during Obamas presidency, said he would do everything in his power to stop Obama  hes also repeated that now during the Biden presidency, he added. Now Joe Manchin is doing everything in his power to stop democracy and to stop our work for the people, the work that the people sent us here to do.

Mr. Manchin has said that while hes opposed to S. 1, he would support a version of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which seeks to restore provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act invalidated by the Supreme Court in 2013, but it would do little to turn back the laws already passed by Republican legislatures.

Infrastructure and climate

Voting rights is far from the only issue on which Mr. Manchin has said he wants bipartisan agreement. Hes also brandished the demand for bipartisanship against Mr. Bidens major domestic-policy priority: investment in infrastructure.
In December, State Senator Jen Kiggans of Virginia, campaigning for a competitive U.S. House seat based around Norfolk, issued a nearly 900-word statement on Facebook detailing her commitment to restoring voter confidence but making no mention of Mr. Biden or whether she disputed the 2020 results. (Her primary opponent, Jarome Bell, said during an interview with Mr. Bannon that people involved in election fraud should be sentenced to death.)

I agree with you 100% that it is right to question the electoral process and to hold those accountable who are responsible for ensuring our elections are conducted fairly with the utmost integrity, Ms. Kiggans wrote in her statement.

Even Republican candidates who acknowledge Mr. Biden as the legitimate winner say potential fraud needs to be addressed. Mary Ann Hanusa, a former official in President George W. Bushs administration who is running for Congress in Iowa, said she would have voted to certify Mr. Bidens victory on Jan. 6, but she added that because of the coronavirus, changes to voting practices in several states were made outside of law and when you do that, it really opens up the door to fraud.

Senate primaries so far seem to be competitions to decide which candidates can cast themselves as the strongest allies of Mr. Trump and his quixotic quest to overturn the election results.

Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, who spoke at Mr. Trumps Jan. 6 rally, is seeking a promotion to the Senate. Representative Ted Budd of North Carolina, whom Mr. Trump endorsed during his speech on Saturday night, introduced his Senate campaign with a video promising to make sure our elections are fair  a barely coded reference to Mr. Trumps claims.

In Ohio, a super PAC called the USA Freedom Fund is attacking official and prospective candidates for being insufficiently loyal to the former president and America First principles, while backing Josh Mandel, the Republican former Ohio state treasurer.

I am the only candidate in Ohio who gets up wherever he speaks around the state and has the guts to say this election was stolen from Donald J. Trump, Mr. Mandel said last month on a podcast hosted by Mr. Bannon.
Republicans in Texas celebrated on Monday after winning two closely watched mayoral elections in the state on Saturday, taking control of cities in Democratic counties.

The party was particularly buoyed by its performance in McAllen, a border city of 143,000 that is 85 percent Hispanic, where Javier Villalobos, a former chairman of the local Republican Party, defeated a candidate backed by local Democrats by 206 votes out of 9,282 cast.

Texas Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott, hailed Mr. Villaloboss victory as part of a larger political realignment of Hispanic voters that revealed itself in the 2020 election, when President Biden drastically underperformed against expectations, and previous Democratic margins, in several Texas border counties with large numbers of Hispanic voters.

Mr. Biden won Hidalgo County, which includes McAllen, by 17 percentage points. Four years earlier, Hillary Clinton carried the county by 40 points.
The proms werent totally devoid of stress, though. Students and administrators had much less time than normal to plan the events.

Join Michael Barbaro and The Daily team as they celebrate the students and teachers finishing a year like no other with a special live event. Catch up with students from Odessa High School, which was the subject of a Times audio documentary series. We will even get loud with a performance by the drum line of Odessas award-winning marching band, and a special celebrity commencement speech.

And for some, the uncertainty meant putting together the perfect look in a hurry.

Its not like back in the day when youd wear your grandpas suit and call it a day, Marco J. Gochez, a senior at Encore High School in Hesperia, told me.

He had ordered a sparkly suit online, but it didnt fit when it arrived. So he and his mom rushed to Macys, and he had to settle for what his friends told him was a more political vibe.

It was fine though, Gochez said. I was just living my politician fantasy.

At the proms, the fashions were as varied as the teens themselves. Revelers of all genders donned suits. Crocs werent an uncommon sight alongside heels and sneakers.
Lower courts had agreed with that assessment.

In 2019, Judge Gray H. Miller, of the Federal District Court in Houston, ruled that since women can now serve in combat, the men-only registration requirement was no longer justified. A unanimous three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, agreed that the factual underpinning of the controlling Supreme Court decision has changed. But it said that only the Supreme Court could overrule its own precedent.

The Trump administration defended the differing registration requirements in the appeals court. The Biden administration urged the Supreme Court not to hear the case, National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System, No. 20-928, but it did not defend the constitutionality of the law. Instead, it asked the justices to give Congress more time to consider the matter.

Last year, a congressional commission concluded that expanding the registration requirement to women was a necessary  and overdue  step that signals that both men and women are valued for their contributions in defending the nation. That echoed recommendations from military leaders. But Congress, which has long been studying the question, has yet to act.

Men who fail to register can face harsh punishments, including criminal prosecution, denial of student loans and disqualification from citizenship. Eight states do not let men enroll in public universities unless they have registered.

The government has not drafted anyone since the Vietnam War, and there is no reason to think that will change. The challengers said that was a reason for the court to act now, before a crisis arises.

Should the court declare the men-only registration requirement unconstitutional, their brief said, Congress has considerable latitude to decide how to respond. It could require everyone between the ages of 18 and 26, regardless of sex, to register; it could rescind the registration requirement entirely; or it could adopt a new approach altogether, such as replacing the registration requirement with a more expansive national service requirement.

A group of retired military officers, along with the Center for Military Readiness, urged the court to deny review, saying the 1981 precedent was sound.
Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont signed legislation on Monday that requires all registered voters in the state to receive mail-in ballots, an expansion of voting rights that counters a movement among Republicans in other states to restrict them.

Mr. Scott, a Republican, signed the bill nearly four weeks after the Vermont General Assembly approved the legislation, which also allows voters to fix, or cure, a ballot that was deemed defective if it was filled out or mailed incorrectly.

In a statement on Monday, Mr. Scott said he had signed the bill because I believe making sure voting is easy and accessible, and increasing voter participation, is important.



He added that he would push lawmakers to expand the provision beyond statewide general elections, which already have the highest voter turnout.

For greater consistency and to expand access further, he said, I am asking the General Assembly to extend the provisions of this bill to primary elections, local elections and school budget votes when they return to session in January.
Thirty-four candidates were killed during the campaign and dozens of polling stations were shut down by armed assailants, or out of fear of retribution. A human head was thrown at the entrance of one polling station in the city of Tijuana, on the border with the United States, and body parts were found nearby. It was not immediately clear to authorities who did it, or why.

The Mexican peso rallied nearly one percent in early Monday trading, one of the best performances among emerging market currencies, suggesting the business sector was reacting positively to new checks on Mr. Lopez Obradors power.

The main opposition parties performed better than expected at the polls, after deciding to put aside major ideological differences and confront Mr. Lopez Obrador in a coalition. The pro-business National Action Party will be the biggest opposition force in Congress, with 106 to 117 seats. An opposition candidate also led the preliminary results in the governors race for the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexicos economic powerhouse.

Mr. Lopez Obrador has spent much of his three years in power attacking opposition parties and independent institutions such as Mexicos electoral commission as wasteful or downright corrupt, widening the political schisms in Mexican society, said the political analysts. Now, in order to push the more radical changes he is pursuing, the president faces the choice of doubling down on his polarizing approach and trying to govern by presidential decrees or negotiating with the opposition, they added.

Governing by decree could prove challenging: To date, most of the presidents landmark laws are tied up in Mexicos courts, which so far have resisted presidential pressure to allow the bills to take effect.

Were seeing a ruling party thats been humbled, that will need to negotiate from now on, said Mr. Lozano, the political scientist. We are far from political hegemony.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan  Two express trains collided in southern Pakistan on Monday, killing at least 35 passengers and injuring 115 others, officials said, the latest in a series of accidents that have raised serious questions about the safety of rail travel in the country.

Local news media and rescue workers, however, reported that at least 55 people were killed in the crash.

Most of the passengers were asleep when the Millat Express, a passenger train traveling between the southern port city of Karachi and Sargodha in Punjab Province, derailed and fell across the track. Within minutes, another passenger train, the Sir Syed Express, which was en route to Karachi from Lahore in eastern Pakistan, crashed into the first trains fallen carriages, leaving a mangled wreck, local news outlets reported.

The accident occurred between railroad stations in Daharki and Raiti in the southern province of Sindh, said Nazia Jabeen, a spokeswoman for Pakistan Railways.
The parties agreed that the greatest value would be obtained via 88 Energy acquiring APDC's interest in the project

( ) has agreed to buy out its partner on Project Peregrine in Alaska.

The company has entered into an agreement with Alaska Peregrine Development Company (APDC) that will enable the continuation of the exploration programme at Project Peregrine next winter; APDC had been mulling a pause in the exploration programme to pore over the results from the Merlin-1 well.

APDC will sell 88 Energy a 50% working interest in the project, giving the London-listed company a 100% working interest in the project. The agreement does not include the neighbouring Umiat oil field.

88 Energy will pay US$14mln to APDC, payable in new 88 Energy shares, issued in several tranches. The first tranche of 235mln shares at A$0.022 a share has already been issued to APDC.

88 Energy will also pay US$10mln in cash on the achievement of gross 2P (proved + probable) reserves of 100mln barrels within 36 months, plus cash payments of US$2.5mln per 50mln barrels on the achievement of gross 2P reserves added over 100 million barrels within 36 months (capped at five additional cash payments).

APDC will also retain a 1.5% overriding royalty interest on future production from the Project Peregrine licences and will receive 10% of the gross sale proceeds in respect of an assignment of greater than 49% of Project Peregrine within 24 months, excluding a bona fide farm-out.

APDC will remain liable for all outstanding cash calls in relation to Merlin-1 and will have contributed a total of US$20mln towards the project at completion.

APDC said it was unlikely to be able to meet future funding requirements for the project and that it was selling out because it did not want to hold up work on the project.

"This is an excellent outcome for our shareholders as we now have full control of the project, including the possibility of further farm-out to a new partner with greater technical and operational capability, ahead of future planned drilling and exploration activity. With the additional data we now have in hand, the potential for improved transaction metrics has increased. We also remain optimistic about the future results from the ongoing laboratory tests related to the Merlin-1 well, said Ashley Gilbert, the managing director of 88 Energy.

APDC has been a good partner and we thank them for their contribution but ultimately it was deemed in the best interests of both parties for 88 Energy to consolidate its interest in the project creating the best opportunity to maximise value for all stakeholders. Having 100% working interest in both Project Peregrine and the neighbouring Umiat Oil Field, opens up significant potential for the company to realise value in the region, Gilbert said.
OTTAWA  The announcement last month that the remains of 215 Indigenous children had been found on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School left the nation reeling.

Flags throughout Canada were put at half-staff and impromptu memorials comprising childrens moccasins or shoes, often marked with 215, have sprouted, including one in front of Canadas Parliament building in Ottawa.

A lot of survivors, my relatives, theyve been saying this for years and years  that there was a lot of death, theres a lot of unmarked graves, said Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, the countrys largest Indigenous organization, referring to children who were taken from their families and forced to attend Canadas notorious residential schools like Kamloops to assimilate into Western culture.

But nobody ever believed the survivors, he added. And now with the discovery of the grave site at Kamloops, its just horrific, its tragic and its painful.
ROME  Romans eat pizza all the time.

They have pizza a taglio, cut with scissors to the desired size and heaped with toppings, for lunch. They snack on pizza bianca, without anything on it, or pizza rossa, with just tomato sauce, or pizzette, little pizzas. Pizza scrocchiarella, round and thin crust, the type Americans might best recognize, is almost always reserved for dinner.

Essentially, Romans will eat pizza, here and there, they will it eat anywhere. But would they, could they, eat it out of a vending machine?

Massimo Bucolo, a medical device salesman turned pizza entrepreneur, is betting they will. He has installed Romes first no-hands pizza machine in a bustling neighborhood within walking distance of the capitals main university.

Hes hoping that the vending machine  which makes a fresh pizza from scratch in exactly three minutes  will catch on with Romes pizza-loving population, especially after hours, when traditional spots are closed and the clientele is, shall we say, less discerning.
Israeli courts ruled that the settlers had bought the apartment legally.

In a separate ruling, a court said a Jewish trust also has the right to the entire building because the land belonged to the trust before the foundation of the Israeli state in 1948. The trust was dormant for years. But in 2001 a court appointed three new trustees to manage its assets, essentially reviving the organization.

Claiming all the land held by the trust in the 19th century, the revived organization wants to take over not just Mr. Rajabis property, but the whole neighborhood.

Jewish settlers have already moved into five other homes on or near Mr. Rajabis alley. Now they are pushing to evict more than 80 other families, numbering about 700 people, a move that would turn a Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan into a Jewish one.

The courts have already approved six other homes for eviction in cases that are also on appeal.

Ateret Cohanim, a settler group that spearheaded the revival of the trust and advocates for residents like Mr. Tanami, says Jews had the right to live on the property because they lived there not just during the 19th century, but also in antiquity.

We were promised this land from God, we were kept in exile for 2,000 years, and now were back home, said Daniel Luria, a spokesman for Ateret Cohanim. Theres never been a Palestinian people here. Theres never been a Palestinian state here.
Experts are concerned that states across the U.S. South, where vaccination rates are lagging, could face a surge in coronavirus cases over the summer.

A dozen states  many of them in the Northeast, including Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut  have already administered at least one vaccine dose to at least 70 percent of adults, a benchmark that President Biden has set for the nation to reach by July 4. In the South, that marker is nowhere in sight for several states.

In 15 states  including Arkansas, the Carolinas, Georgia and Louisiana  about half of adults or fewer have received a dose, according to a New York Times analysis last week. In two states, Alabama and Mississippi, it would take about a year to get one dose to 70 percent of the population at the current pace of adult administration.

Public-health experts and officials in states with lower vaccination rates say the presidents goal will help reduce cases and deaths, but is somewhat arbitrary. Even if 70 percent of adults are vaccinated, they say, the virus and its more contagious variants can spread among those who are not.
07/06/2021 - The OECD, together with governments of the US, Australia and Japan, has commenced consultations on the development of the Blue Dot Network certification process.





The Blue Dot Network seeks to help bridge the global infrastructure investment gap by establishing a globally recognised symbol of market-driven, transparent and sustainable infrastructure projects.





To achieve this, the Blue Dot Network aims to support and attract investment into quality infrastructure through the establishment of a voluntary, private-sector-focused and government-supported certification scheme for infrastructure projects.





As we Build Back Better after the COVID-19 pandemic, sustainable, quality infrastructure that meets Blue Dot Network standards will help ensure a sustainable global economic recovery," said Ambassador Marcia Bernicat, Acting Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, US Department of State.





We know that there is strong support for such a global certification framework, because an OECD survey of prospective members of the Executive Consultation Group showed, that an overwhelming 96% of respondents agreed that such a framework would help drive quality infrastructure investment.





Indeed, initial findings from this report show that survey respondents overwhelmingly supported a framework to assist investors in identifying projects that have positive sustainability features and therefore represent lower-risk investments.





This initiative helps achieve many of the OECDs core objectives  from environmental protection to ensuring responsible business conduct, high quality infrastructure governance, anti-corruption, gender equality, sustainable finance as well as economic and social progress, OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said.





We are also home to many of the key international standards in these areas, including the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the OECD Recommendation on Public Procurement, and the Anti-Bribery Convention. We have experience promoting policies on quality infrastructure investment through our regional programmes, including in Southeast Asia.





Over 150 global executives, covering 96 OECD and non-OECD countries, responsible for approximately USD 12 trillion of the worlds assets under management, have participated in the launch of an OECD-led Executive Consultation Group to provide high-level guidance for the Blue Dot Network.





The launch of this group coincides with the release of results of a new OECD report that documents demand from both the private sector and civil society for a global certification framework that promotes quality infrastructure investment and streamlines international infrastructure standards.





The Blue Dot Network will promote, facilitate and streamline the application of international standards and best practices, and thereby ensure a level playing field and contribute to building trust around quality infrastructure investments, Mathias Cormann said.





The OECD, at the request of the governments of the United States, Australia and Japan, will provide technical support for the Blue Dot Network by building an evidence-base, mobilising a multi-stakeholder partnership and designing the certification framework.





As many governments look to stimulate their economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Blue Dot Network could provide a timely tool for enabling the quality infrastructure investment that will support a stronger, sustainable, cleaner, and more inclusive recovery.





In particular, the report found that the Blue Dot Network could potentially:

overcome key obstacles inhibiting infrastructure investment through strengthening transparency and ensuring alignment with best-in-class international standards

simplify the integration of sustainability considerations in infrastructure development and investment

build greater confidence around the value and integrity of Environment Social and Governance data

introduce greater efficiency in the infrastructure investment process

foster greater infrastructure investment in low- and middle-income countries

If we are to optimise the recovery from the pandemic, reach global net zero by 2050 and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we must find better ways to bridge the infrastructure gap, said Petter Matthews, Executive Director CoST and Executive Director Engineers Against Poverty. The Blue Dot Network will help us raise standards and has the potential to make a major contribution in this endeavour.

For more information, journalists should contact the OECD Media Office (tel. + 33 1 45 24 97 00).







About the Blue Dot Network

The United States, Australia and Japan have come together to develop this new concept, which convenes governments, private sector and civil society to promote quality infrastructure investment that is open and inclusive, transparent, economically viable, financially, environmentally and socially sustainable, and aligned with international standards, laws, and regulations. This global certification regime will promote the widespread application of international standards such as the G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investment, the G7 Charlevoix Commitment on Innovative Financing for Development, the Equator Principles and numerous OECD standards, amongst others. At the request of the founding countries, the OECD Trust in Business Initiative is coordinating technical support to ensure an evidenced-based approach to the development and consultative market-driven design of this global certification framework.

About the forthcoming report

Towards a global certification framework for quality infrastructure: Private sector and civil society perspectives on the Blue Dot Network presents the initial findings from a survey of representatives of the private sector and civil society. It marks the first phase of the OECD Trust in Business Initiatives technical support for the Blue Dot Network and was developed in close consultation with an Executive Consultation Group consisting of over 150 organisations from OECD and non-OECD countries convened to inform the design of a credible certification framework. The Executive Consultation Group comprises leading institutional investors, asset managers, banking institutions, infrastructure developers, construction companies and civil society organisations working across a range of issues including, among others, anti-corruption, social inclusion, transparency and development, biodiversity and climate adaptation.

About the OECD

Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to preserve individual liberty and improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.

Related Documents
Published 8 June 2021

Download the full pdf News release: Despite recent reforms, OECD says Croatia should take further action to improve corporate governance of its state-owned enterprise sector Conclusion and recommendations: English Croatian The OECD Review of Croatia, launched on 8 June 2021, describes and evaluates the corporate governance framework of the Croatian state-owned enterprise sector relative to the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises (the SOE Guidelines). It was developed at the request of the Croatian authorities under a project supported financially by the Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) of the European Commission, and implemented with the active support of the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets. The review takes place in the context of Croatias ambition to join the Eurozone and redress a set of widely recognised policy challenges. The country entered the European ERM-II Exchange Rate Mechanism on 10 July 2020 and has engaged to implement a number of post-entry commitments in relevant policy areas, including improving the governance of SOEs by revising and aligning national legislation with the SOE Guidelines. The report is structured as follows: Part I provides background information on the Croatian SOE sector, including the applicable legal and regulatory framework, while Part II provides an assessment of Croatias existent legislation relative to the standards of the SOE Guidelines. The final section sets out the conclusions and recommendations for improving the corporate governance framework applicable to Croatian SOEs. The recommendations, which were endorsed by the Working Party in March 2021, aim at supporting Croatias ongoing reform efforts by suggesting potential avenues for legislative reforms in view of further aligning Croatias SOE framework with the SOE Guidelines and best international standards and practices.
Locals don't want UNESCO World Heritage Site status for a historic site in Offaly.

Cllr Eamon Dooley told the Tribune that while UNESCO World Heritage Site status sounds very desirable, it's not so desirable when you dig into the matter.

Clonmacnoise receives 170,000 visitors per year and it can just about cope with that many.

He said UNESCO status would mean a lot more visitors and the monastic site was not geared up for such a massive increase.

A big problem is the road network leading to the location. The roads are very narrow and generally in poor condition.

When big tourist buses meet local tractors it's quite a headache, the Councillor added, and a regular headache at that.

The visitor centre is decent enough but it's probably not up to the standard that you need for a UNESCO site.

It was claimed in the Dail recently that there's "no appetite" in Offaly to achieve global recognition. The claim was made during a discussion about the slow pace of getting approval for Irish monastic sites, including Holy Island, Glendalough and Clonmacnoise.

Cllr Dooley said the proposal for Clomacnoise was first mooted in 2009, but there was a lack of support for it back then which meant it failed to materialise.

At a public meeting back in 2009 we were told that getting UNESCO status for Clonmacnoise would require moving the local cemetery and imposing a large exclusion buffer zone.

In other words, the cemetery would remain in situ but future burial plots would have to go elsewhere.

People objected strongly to that, as they still do, to this day. Plans such as applying for World Heritage Status need buy-in from residents and there is no such buy-in.

He said Boxer Moran announced a new masterplan for Clonmacnoise in November 2019 but it hasn't been published yet.

Perhaps that masterplan will change the situation and bring locals on board.
PROTECTION areas for wild birds will likely prevent the development of wind farms in parts of west and south Offaly, the recent meeting of the County Council heard.

The draft county development plan will list three special protection areas north of the town of Birr where the installation of turbines will be constrained.

The Dovegrove Callows is a feeding site for what council planner James Condron said is an internationally important flock of Greenland white-fronted goose.

The river Little Brosna Callows is of special conservation interest for whooper swan, Greenland white-fronted goose, wigeon, teal, pintail, shoveler, golden plover, lapwing, blacktailed godwit and black-headed gull. The site is also of special conservation interest for holding an assemblage of over 20,000 wintering waterbirds, councillors considering the draft development plan for 2021-2027 were were told.

Thirdly, All Saints Bog was known to be used in the past by the Greenland white-fronted goose, though according to the National Parks and Wildlife Service website, the last record of those birds there was when 75 of them were seen in 1993/1994.

Merlin has been seen on the bog during the breeding season and may breed there, a report presented to the council said.

The inclusion of the three areas as potential constraints to wind energy development in the overall area where turbines are allowed, which is the part of Offaly south of Cloghan and in the environs of Birr, was proposed by Cllr Mark Hackett, Green Party, and seconded by Cllr John Leahy, Independent. When Cllr Peter Ormond, Fianna Fail, sought clarification on which parts of the Little Brosna would be included, Mr Condron said it was the callows area and he could furnish the councillor with a map. It's a habitat and foraging area for those birds, said Mr Condron.
A LANDMARK commercial premises in Tullamore is falling down and should not be a protected structure, local councillors said at a recent meeting.

The Dick Conroy garage on William Street, which is now closed, is currently rated as being of regional importance in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH).

During a discussion on the draft Offaly county development plan, 2021-2027, councillors were told by planner Lorraine Mitchell that the council follows the recommendations of the NIAH and explained that the regional ranking is the third highest available, after international and national.

In its appraisal of Dick Conroy Tyre Service, the NIAH said it was formerly a house, built in about 1850 but altered in about 1950.

It said it provides a view that is fast disappearing throughout Ireland and added: Small-scale urban garage and mechanics are now under threat from generic multi-national forecourts.

Ms Mitchell said the council executive recommendation was that it should remain on the protected structures list, but the accompanying photograph should be updated because the petrol pumps had been removed.

She said a submission had been received from Gerry McGlinchey seeking its removal from the list.

Cllr Declan Harvey said the building should not be on the list. After stressing that he had no personal interest in the building, though the late Dick Conroy, who ran the garage there, was his uncle, Cllr Harvey said he could not understand how anyone could argue it should be protected.

The place is falling down. During the stormy weather part of the chimney was falling onto the ground, said the Fianna Fail councillor.

He said it looked more authentic when the pumps were present but it was now dangerous and you'd go through the floor upstairs so it should be knocked.

He was supported by Cllr Sean O'Brien, Independent, who said he knew the building well.

Many's the tyre I bought in it, remarked Cllr O'Brien. We're looking at the future of the town and we can't maintain premises like this which to me don't really have any architectural value.

Another Tullamore Independent, Cllr Ken Smollen, agreed it should be knocked down while Cllr Tony McCormack, Fianna Fail, said it would be ridiculous to retain its listing.

We're trying to modernise our town and when you look at that it's an eyesore, an absolute disgrace, said Cllr McCormack.

It's going to lie there derelict for ever and ever unless we take it off the list.

The removal of the building from the protected structures list will now be included in the development plan which will go out to the public for further comment later this month.
Thungela means "to ignite" in isiZulu and today's listing has done that among investors

( ) said it completed the demerger of its thermal coal operations in South Africa, igniting criticism from research company Boatman Capital.

The spin off of Ltd (LON:TGA, JSE:TGA), which started trading today as a separate company on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges, will please many western professional investors in Anglo American who are shying away from fossil fuels due to their damaging impact on the environment, but not everyone is happy.

Short-seller Boatman Capital was highly critical of the move. It said Thungela had massively under-estimated the environmental clean-up costs associated with closing its mines, which have just five to 11 years of expected life remaining, effectively making the company worthless.

Based on our estimates, Thungelas environmental liabilities could be three times greater than currently reported and are more than the value of the entire company. Our financial model attributes zero value to Thungela, Boatman Capital said in a report.

Thermal coal is used to generate about 40% of all electricity worldwide. India and China's reliance on imported thermal coal is expected to continue in the long term even as many developed countries prefer less environmentally damaging alternatives.

As a leading South African thermal coal exporter, Thungela offers investors access to a high-quality thermal coal business with low cash cost and high-margin assets and a strong balance sheet, underpinned by a robust ESG framework, Anglo American said today in a statement.

Anglo American's shareholders received one Thungela share for every 10 Anglo American shares, while also retaining their existing shareholding in Anglo American.

Thungela holds 90% of the thermal coal operations in South Africa with the remaining 10% held collectively by an employee partnership plan and a community partnership plan.

"We have consistently believed in a responsible transition from thermal coal, being a transition that seeks to balance the needs and expectations of all stakeholders, said Anglo American chief executive Mark Cutifani. The demerger of Thungela lives up to that promise by bringing our employees, shareholders, host communities, host government and our customers along with us."

"Thungela starts its journey today as a high-quality independent business. We have every confidence that Thungela will be a responsible steward of what are valuable thermal coal resources in South Africa and will continue delivering value for all its stakeholders and for South Africa as a whole," he said.

July Ndlovu, chief executive of Thungela, said the company plays an important role in providing affordable energy to its customers in the developing world, as well as in South Africa.

Thungela has an enviable cash cost position and is poised to deliver attractive returns to shareholders," he said.

Shares in Thungela were trading at 120.20p in midmorning trading, down almost 20% from the opening price of 150p.

We expect there to be immediate pressure on Thungelas share price when the company lists on June 7th as many institutional investors will not want to hold a pure thermal coal producer, said Boatman Capital. We also think that as the scale of Thungelas likely environmental liabilities become apparent, investors will see little to attract them to this stock.

Thungela means "to ignite" in isiZulu.
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Jacqueline Mary Osborne is an English actress and TV presenter. She is known for portraying Lauren Branning in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2010 to 2018, and winning the nineteenth series of the ITV series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2019.
Canada is scheduled to receive 2.4 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week as more Canadians get their first and second jabs.
The arrival of 21Shares' Bitcoin ETP follows the launch on Aquis of ETC Groups BTCE Bitcoin ETP, which on Monday became the first crypto-connected asset to be traded on any UK market

Another Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) is scheduled to launch on the Aquis Exchange in London later this month, hot on the heels of a similar ETP that began trading on the exchange today.

In an announcement on Monday, Aquis said , a Swiss crypto ETP issuer, will make its Bitcoin ETP available to institutional investors in the UK to trade on the exchange as part of a partnership with GHCO, a market-maker and liquidity provider specialising in exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Aquis said the ETP is designed to provide UK institutional investors with secure and cost-effective exposure to Bitcoin without the associated Bitcoin custody and security challenges, adding that each unit of the ETP will represent exposure to roughly 0.00035 Bitcoin entitlement.

The exchange also said it is planning to cooperate on bringing more of 21Shares suite of crypto products to UK investors, including ETPs in other prominent digital currencies including Ethereum, Ripple, Tezos, Polkadot, Cardano and Stellar.

We have been working alongside 21Shares on this project as we are keen to respond to institutional demand in the UK for digital assets, Aquis chief executive Alasdair Haynes said in a statement.

ETC Group Bitcoin ETP begins trading in UK first

The 21Shares Bitcoin ETP follows the arrival of ETC Groups BTCE Bitcoin ETP, which became available for trading on the exchange on Monday via Aquis multilateral trading facilities in London and Paris.

ETCs ETP is the first crypto-connected asset to be traded on any UK market, with transactions to take place in sterling, Swiss francs, Euros and US dollars while clearing will be carried out by The Swiss Stock Exchange.

Announcing the ETP last week, Aquis said the listing of the Bitcoin ETP will allow the product to reach a wider group of investors and follows the ETPs listing on s XETRA platform in June last year as well as the Swiss Exchange in January.

The product is also the top Bitcoin ETP performer in Europe so far this year, with inflows hitting US$459.7mln in the first quarter.

Crypto assets not going away, says Aquis boss

Speaking to Proactive, Haynes said that despite the reservations and criticism of cryptocurrencies by financial regulators and central banks, digital currencies as an asset class will continue to exist into the future in some form or another.

I dont know which type, but digital currency will exist for the long term. On that basis, we must allow our clients to invest, Haynes said.

The CEO added that the listing of Bitcoin ETPs on Aquis is a game-changer and that in the long run asset such as the ETPs will be valuable to asset managers.

Asset managers are looking to invest in digital assets, maybe 2-3% of their portfolio, and they need a mechanism that allows them to make that investmentThe new economy is based on digitalisationinvestments in the future will not just be based on traditional equities but a whole range of new assetswe think there is a tremendous opportunity out there, Haynes said.
Israel could face another week of political suspense after its parliament speaker declined Monday to schedule a pivotal vote on a..

Digital Journal 07 Jun 2021
Another case of COVID-19 was reported at North Melbourne Primary School on Monday, with the Department of Health investigating if the person was infectious when they attended the large state school.
Authorities said a young man was arrested in the parking lot of a nearby mall after the incident on Sunday night in the Ontario city of London.
The European Union police agency is set to announce further details on what it said was a massive campaign against "the world's foremost criminals."
The Israeli prime minister hit out at a deal to end his second stint in office, pointing to promises by his former protege Naftali Bennett never to serve in government with centrist Yair Lapid.
The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has released a recording saying Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau killed himself last month. The two former allies split in 2016 in a disagreement over tactics.
All residents and workers on the island of Milos are getting vaccinated so it can reopen to visitors.
The EU has become more sceptical about Beijing but some leaders worry about Washingtons new cold war rhetoric
Zee News 07 Jun 2021

Tournament organisers said on Monday that Naomi, who had withdrawn exactly a week ago from Roland Garros, had informed them that..
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says individual EU member states should not be able to block foreign policy measures. His comments come after Hungary vetoed a number of actions desired by almost all other members.
Trading updates and results are also expected from Ferugson, OnTheMarket, Oxford Instruments and Paragon Banking

A trading update tomorrow from ( ) may be given an extra spark due to the recent revelation that Kenneth Dart, the secretive billionaire investor, has built up a large stake in the company.

Dart, who made his name with so-called vulture funds that buy up government bonds of heavily indebted countries in the expectation of a price uplift following a bond restructuring, has built a 7.06% stake in BAT, whose shares have been drifting pretty much sideways for not far off three years.

The presence of his Spring Mountain Investments fund, which has also taken a smaller stake in rival , on the register is not likely to be noted by the maker of Pall Mall and Lucky Strike cigarettes, but it may guide management's actions.

Either way, there will be a significant focus on the companys core US market, where the prospect of additional regulation and bans on menthol cigarettes is surely causing concern among some shareholders.

BAT is also likely to provide more guidance on the expected performance of the new categories division, where the main brands are Vuse, Velo and Glo.

Meanwhile, any updates on the FTSE 100 company's dividend are also likely to be eyed closely by income-hungry investors.

Paragon checks its accounts

Before the market's short 'coronavirus crisis' early last year, ( ) shares had grown more than tenfold from their lows post the global financial crisis of 2008, gaining the specialist lender a band of loyal investors.

These half-year figures may be of interest to investors looking for how this mortgage provider has performed during what was meant to be a 'mini boom' in the UK housing market but which has lasted since last summer.

Analysts at UBS are forecasting a pre-tax profit for the six months to March 31 of 70.7mln from revenues up around 5% and a flat net interest margin of 2.28%.

Loan loss charges for the period are predicted to come in at 14.7mln.

Marking your Card

Will PLC ( ) be getting missives of consultation or congratulations after posts final results on Tuesday?

Neither it seems, quite yet, as the greeting cards retailer posted a short note today to advise that it has pushed back its results that had been due tomorrow until Thursday this week.

Card Factory said last month that sales in stores reopened post-lockdown had topped both expectations and the performance after the previous two lockdowns, with store revenue only marginally down compared with the same period in 2019.

Announcements expected on Tuesday June 8:

Trading announcements: British American Tobacco PLC ( ), ( )

Finals: ( ), B.P. Marsh & Partners PLC ( ), PLC ( ), TinyBuild Inc (LON:TBLD), ( ), ( )

Interims: PLC ( ), Paragon Banking Group PLC ( ), PLC ( )

Economic data: US trade balance
More than 22,500 litres of beer will fly home as Nato troops prepare to withdraw from the country.
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Biden said his administration would continue to pursue a Puerto Rican man the government says wrongly received $28,081 in disability payments.


The Russian foreign ministry has banned a number of Canadian officials  including Justice Minister David Lametti  from travelling to that country, citing what it claims are "anti-Russian" activities.
KDKA CBS 2 Pittsburgh 14 May 2021

The Pennsylvania Health Department says businesses can still require people to wear masks, even after the CDC gave fully vaccinated..
Eurasia Review 09 Jun 2021

By Hugh Lovatt and Jacob Mundy*



*Introduction*



This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the creation of..
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, although analysts say it could be the work of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara
The vice president will meet with the leaders of Guatemala and Mexico to talk about corruption, violence and poverty  factors causing thousands of Central Americans to seek asylum at the U.S. border.
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The Supreme Court on Monday punted on a case that could have required women to be included in the Selective Service System  the military draft  citing Congress' ongoing consideration of the issue.
President Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday that he will stand up firmly for Ukraines sovereignty during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week, while extending an invitation to the White House later this summer.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday his ruling coalition was on course to retain its control of the lower house, despite a setback in legislative elections he called free and fair. Initial results indicated that Lopez Obradors Morena party lost the absolute majority it held in the lower house of Congress, complicating his []
Returning school pupils are being asked to play their part in keeping coronavirus rates under control as ministers consider whether to delay lifting all restrictions amid rising cases.
Returning school pupils are being asked to play their part in keeping coronavirus rates under control as ministers consider whether..

Belfast Telegraph 06 Jun 2021
A well-known Russian opposition politician who was held in police custody for two days last week in a criminal investigation said Sunday that he has left the country
Oneindia 07 Jun 2021

US Vice President Kamala Harris's plane was forced to land soon after take-off on Sunday due to a technical problem on her way to..
One Media has bought up the producer royalties of award-winning producer and legendary 80's studio sound-maker Steve Levine, including tracks by Culture Club, Louise, 911 and the Honeyz.

PLC ( ) CEO and founder Michael Infante tells Proactive London what the logic was behind the acquired interest and how he sees the music publishing business moving forward, particularly in the absence of physical manufacturing.

The digital music rights acquirer, publisher and distributor has an interest in the producer royalties of more than 100 songs produced by Levine and previously invested in back catalogue works by Take That and Kid Creole & The Coconuts.

The acquisition was completed under One Medias Harmony iP asset release scheme, which includes the anti-piracy TCAT software system, nick-named 'to catch a thief' by Infante.
By Baria Alamuddin*



Asked in 2018 if he would advocate a shoot to kill policy against children breaching the Gaza border, Naftali Bennett retorted: They are not children  they are terrorists. During a Cabinet session, Bennett argued: If you catch terrorists, you have to simply kill them. When a colleague...
A defamation trial opened Monday pitting one of Australias most decorated soldiers against three major newspapers that accused him of war crimes in Afghanistan. Ben Roberts-Smith, a former member of Australias elite Special Air Services regiment, is suing the newspapers as well as individual journalists from all three over articles from 2018 that alleged he []
One hundred former presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers have urged the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations to pay for..

Upworthy 07 Jun 2021
Reuters - Politics 20 May 2021

The 35 out of 211 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives who voted for the independent commission to probe the Jan. 6..
CBC.ca 10 Jun 2021

The head of Egerton Ryerson, one of the architects of Canada's residential school system, was last seen decapitated from a statue..
Four members of a family in Ontario were killed in what police believe was a deliberate hate crime.
As battery materials garner international interest, FYI Resources is determined to bring its organisation in line with a suite of environmental, social and governance standards.

FYI Resources is dedicated to bringing its organisation in line with global ESG standards as demand for battery materials like HPA rises.

FYI Resources Ltd (ASX:FYI) (OTCMKTS:FYIRF) (FSE:SDL) has adopted an environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework in a bid to improve shareholder outcomes from its kaolin and high purity alumina (HPA) assets.

The industrial resources developers WA-based operations, including the Cadoux Kaolin Project and a HPA processing centre in Kwinana, will now fall under global ESG reporting standards and an economic overlay.

Overall, the World Economic Forum has created 21 core metrics and disclosure requirements that form the global ESG standards, which FYI will report on and align with as it implements ESG policies within its organisation.

FYIs latest step comes as it prepares to meet rising demand in the battery materials and electric vehicle (EV) markets, where high-quality, ultra-pure HPA can be used to create effective battery separators.

Focus on innovation, quality and improvement

FYI managing director Roland Hill said: FYIs whole ethos is focused on innovation, quality and improvement of standards as reflected in the successful development of our high quality, ultra-pure alumina refining process.

As a company, we seek to adopt leading ESG processes, practices and governance standards in a manner consistent with our developing company status and culture.

We are making positive moves to transition the company to a sustainable model and assist with our contribution in fundamentally reshaping the global economy with a change to our attitude and mindset via the goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.

Adopting ESG standards

As it takes on the ESG framework, FYI has recognised the environmental, social and governance standards it holds itself to will constantly evolve.

The ASX-lister has committed to its sustainability objectives to manage those changes, which include producing ethically sourced HPA in a low-carbon footprint setting.

FYI will also engage Sustainalytics, a Morningstar branch and ESG ratings service, to provide the company with an ESG rating sometime next week.

Overall, this will establish a reporting baseline and provide a map to guide the company as it looks to improve its ESG rating.

In addition, the adoption of s ESG reporting platform will help FYI monitor and track its sustainability metrics each quarter, with a baseline report due in the short term.

HPA and the EV market

FYI highlighted the growing need for high-quality, pure HPA in the EV market in its latest investor presentation.

Described as a hallelujah material, HPA is the benchmark battery separator in most upcoming high-duty battery concepts. It also has a suite of applications within battery anodes that make it a rising star in the battery materials space.

According to consulting group CRU, global demand for HPA is poised to triple from 30,000 tonnes per annum in 2021 to 104,000 tonnes per annum in 2028.

Theres even more growth forecast for the lithium-ion battery separator market where HPA is key. Valued at US$6.2 billion in 2020, the market is poised to reach US$11.3 billion in value by 2026.

The uptake comes as the electric vehicle market grows in major economies such as the US, UK and China, triggering increased demand for battery metals from producers in Australia.

Simultaneously, FYI believes emerging HPA projects must adopt ESG metrics and focus on sustainability as they garner attention on a global stage.

As it progresses work on its ESG reporting and performance, FYI has vowed to update the market regularly.
Opalesque Industry Update - Gordian Capital today announced the launch of the R Squared Global Fund managed by William Warner and Justin Leow. The Fund invests in liquid derivative instruments, using quantitative models to arbitrage systematic and structural inefficiencies in the market with strategies not commonly implemented by hedge funds. The offering is scalable to USD 1 billion given the highly liquid nature of the underlying portfolio. With its unique strategies, the Fund is expected to target a high Sharpe ratio, low volatility and low correlation to the broader equity markets and other funds, based on Warner's prior trading experience. Mr. Warner, the Fund's founder and Chief Investment Officer was most recently a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager with Millennium Management in Tokyo before joining Gordian Capital Japan in 2021. He began his career as an equity derivatives trader at JP Morgan in Tokyo (2008 to 2012) where his team became one of the largest revenue generators for the company in the region. It was also during this time where he met and worked for Peter Lindsey, a market veteran, who recently joined R Squared Global as a Portfolio Manager. Mr. Warner then moved to Credit Suisse as a proprietary trader in 2012 where he expanded his strategies globally. Prior to joining Millennium, William worked as a Portfolio Manager managing a global portfolio at LMR Partners in Hong Kong from 2016 to 2019. He holds a BSc in Engineering from Cornell. Justin Leow, the Fund's co-founder and Chief Risk Officer was most recently the Head of Business Operations as part of the founding team at Coins.ph, a mobile wallet fintech startup and crypto exchange in the Philippines. As an avid entrepreneur, he, among other things, built the company's crypto exchange including its automated crypto trading and risk management infrastructure. Coins.ph grew to over 10 million customers, becoming one of the largest mobile wallets and cryptocurrency exchanges in the Philippines and was acquired in 2019, by Gojek, a major regional financial technology company valued at over US$10 billion. Prior to Coins.ph, Justin was a high frequency trader in Chicago, notably spending 4 years at IMC Financial Markets developing ultra-low latency market making and arbitrage strategies for the US equity derivatives markets. Justin joined Gordian Capital Singapore in 2021. He holds a BSc in Engineering from Cornell and is a CFA charterholder. William Warner commented, "Our Fund focuses on market neutral, high Sharpe Ratio arbitrage strategies globally and we intend to source risk premia in non-crowded trades. Stable returns with capital preservation are of the utmost importance, whilst aiming for low correlation with both the market and other hedge funds." The Fund, a Cayman-domiciled corporate vehicle, is open to US investors. Warner also added, "Recent market events have shown that many funds claiming to be market-neutral are actually taking on large risks because they rely on certain correlation assumptions which may not necessarily hold up in stress scenarios. Our approach is to avoid these crowded trades and instead focus on delivering sustainable alpha from areas in the market that are overlooked." Justin Leow noted, "We wouldn't have considered bringing the Fund to the market if we didn't have high conviction that our strategies were substantially differentiated and allowed our investors to gain exposure to a return profile that was unlike other offerings in the market. Our focus on niche uncorrelated absolute-return strategies, combined with strict risk and drawdown controls, allows us to present a Fund offering that we believe is truly unique." Despite the various travel restrictions during Covid-19, R Squared Global has managed to successfully raise assets in a short time from a wide investor base ranging from high-calibre institutions in Europe and the US to a myriad of family offices and high net-worth individuals in Asia, with the Fund targeting assets to surpass USD 200 million in its first year. As part of the Fund's launch, R Squared Global will be leveraging Gordian Capital's Fund Platform and 16 years of expertise to provide operational, regulatory, and compliance support for the Fund. Established in 2004 by capital markets professionals and alternatives industry veterans active in Asia since the 1980s, Gordian Capital is Asia's leading institutional quality, independent fund platform specialist, currently managing USD 6 billion. Initially launching its first operating subsidiary in Singapore in 2005, the group now has a regulated presence in Singapore, Japan and Australia and its Singapore and Tokyo operations are both registered with the U.S. SEC as Registered Investment Advisers. "We are delighted to onboard William and Justin, in our Tokyo and Singapore offices respectively, and look forward to supporting both them and their fund's growth," said Mark Voumard, CEO of Gordian Capital Singapore Pte. Ltd. "William brings a wealth of experience having worked at both large investment banks in prop trading and a number of large hedge funds." Alvaro Tamura, CEO of Gordian Capital Japan, a fully regulated Discretionary Investment Management license holder and registered SEC investment advisor added, "We are pleased to provide a unique cross-border platform solution for the Portfolio Managers, who are based in two different key Asian financial centers and are trading a global set of products, to be able to work together on the Fund." Gordian Capital's Fund Platform currently offered in both Singapore and Tokyo is designed for experienced investment professionals. Gordian provides a regulated, physical and operational fund infrastructure wherein it handles the business and operational management of each fund, allowing the investment professionals on their platform to concentrate on investing.
Name: MD SABBIR ALAM Profession: Musical Artist & Programmer He is Born on 1 May 2003. Hometown: Dhaka Bangladesh. Education: graduated from Narsingdi Polytechnic Institute, Bangladesh .He has a good inspiration for music and programming. My one of the most popular instrumental song "Allah Mohan Gojol" has gone viral in all online sites. His first song went live worldwide on February 2021 at numerous music streaming platforms including Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, iTunes's, YouTube music, 
Police are investigating the circumstances resulting in the death of a male whose body was seen floating in the Tittabawassee River on Saturday morning.

According to a news release from the Midland Police Department, officers were dispatched to the 2600 block of Tittabawassee River Road at 10:27 a.m. Saturday to investigate a report of a body seen floating in the river.
China is ready to inject new impetus into global environmental governance President Xi Jinping called for unprecedented efforts to improve global environmental governance as World Environment Day was celebrated on Saturday. Xi said the international community should work together with unprecedented ambition and action to strive for a fair and reasonable system of global environmental governance featuring win-win cooperation, and should promote the sustainable development of humanity. Xi made the remarks in a congratulatory letter to World Environment Day events held on Saturday in Islamabad, Pakistan, with the theme of ecosystem restoration. He emphasized that Earth is humanity's shared home, and a sound ecosystem is essential for the prosperity of civilizations. The human race should respect nature, follow its laws, protect it and endeavor to foster a new relationship in which humans and nature can both prosper and live in harmony, he added. Climate change, biodiversity loss, worsening desertification and frequent extreme weather events have all posed severe challenges to human survival and development, Xi said, noting that the world is a community with a shared future where everyone is in the same boat. Xi pointed out that Chinese civilization has always valued harmony between humans and nature, and that ecological conservation has been incorporated into the nation's overall plan for building socialism with Chinese characteristics. As a participant, contributor and trailblazer in global ecological conservation, China is firmly committed to putting multilateralism into action and defending the international system with the United Nations at its core, as well as the international order underpinned by international law, in order to enhance global environmental governance, Xi said. Noting that China will host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October, Xi said China stands ready to discuss and draw up plans together with all parties for ecological conservation, inject new impetus into global environmental governance, foster a community of life for humans and nature, and jointly build a clean and beautiful world. Also on Saturday, China held a national event for World Environment Day in Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, with the theme of living in harmony with nature. While addressing the event, Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu vowed to promote the country's accelerated green transition as it endeavors to address fundamental problems that jeopardize the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature. Although China has made great environmental improvements, the progress is not yet enough to meet the public's expectations, he said. Huang noted a series of challenges that China needs to address as it forges ahead with its progress of ecological civilization, a concept promoted by President Xi that advocates balanced and sustainable development. "The country needs to revolutionize its previously shortsighted development approaches of going after near-term gains at the expense of the environment," he said. Resource-intensive production and consumption modes involving large pollutant emissions should also be reformed, he emphasized. Huang said the country will strictly restrict development of projects with high energy consumption and emissions as it fosters new development drivers by promoting green finance and developing low-carbon technologies and industries. Stricter measures To synergize pollution control and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, the ministry is working on the draft of an action plan to peak emissions that will include intensified compulsory measures, he said. Qinghai Governor Xin Changxing said the province in Northwest China will bolster efforts to contribute more to the country's climate goals. China aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060. Xin said one of the targets in Qinghai's transition to a green development path is to build the region into a national base for clean energy industries. In addition to solar, wind and hydroelectric energy, the province will also further tap its potential in developing geothermal resources, he said.


Non-executive director Len Jubber has acquired 100,000 shares following the purchase of 387,290 shares by managing director Dr Chris Gilchrist.

( ) non-executive director Len Jubber has demonstrated his confidence in the company's potash strategy by purchasing shares in an on-market transaction.

On June 4 Jubber, who was previously managing director & CEO of Bannerman Resources Limited ( ), acquired 100,000 shares at A$0.09 per share in an indirect interest.

This marked his first purchase of fully paid ordinary shares in that interest.

MD purchase

It follows the on-market purchase on May 28 by SHP's managing director Dr Chris Gilchrist of 387,290 shares at A$0.097 per share in a direct interest.

This marked his first purchase in that interest with another 3.417 million shares held in an indirect interest.

The company is making progress towards developing its potash assets in Germany.

Confirmatory drill holes

Permission has been secured from landowners and tenants for the first of two planned confirmatory drill holes at Ohmgebirge mining licence area while approval is being sought from regulatory authority Thuringer Landesamt fur Umwelt, Bergbau und Naturschutz (TLBUN).

Discussions with landowners and tenants on further drilling sites are also at an advanced stage, with permission anticipated shortly.

SHP is also continuing work on the Ohmgebirge scoping study in parallel with regulatory dialogue and completion of the study remains on track for the end of 2021.

Ohmgebirge has an inferred resource of 325 million tonnes grading 13.1% K2O and it is intended the two holes will assist in a revised mineral resource estimate and upgrading resources to the indicated category.
FILE - In this May 6, 2021 still file image from video, Barry Morphew, center, appears in court in Salida, Colo. An arrest warrant affidavit for Morphew, charged with murder in the death of his wife who disappeared last year will remain sealed, a judge ruled Friday, June 4, 2021, arguing that release of the document could harm the couple's daughters and witnesses in the case and hinder Morphew's ability to prepare his defense. (KUSA via AP, Pool,File)
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libyan Prime Minister Abdelhamid al-Dbaiba on Sunday signed the procedures of the Ministry of Environment on the approval of the referral of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to Parliament for ratification, in order for the country to officially join countries that have ratified the agreement
Bloomington-Normal

Galleries, museums

Some cultural institutions are open or making plans to reopen under current COVID restrictions. Check with each facility for indoor, online or outdoor programing. Open facilities have face covering, distancing and other guidelines in effect; see websites or call for details.

David Davis Mansion; 1000 Monroe Drive, Bloomington; open for tours, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat.; groups of 10 or less; daviddavismansion.org; 309-828-1084.

Eaton Studio Gallery; 411 N. Center St., Bloomington; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, by appointment or ring bell; 5-8 p.m. First Fridays, by appointment; www.eatonstudiogallery.com; 309-828-1575.

Inside Out: Accessible Art Gallery & Cooperative; 200 W. Monroe St., Bloomington; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; by appointment, Sunday-Tuesday; and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. First Friday; www.insideoutartcoop.org; 309-838-2160.

Jan Brandt Gallery; Normandy Village, 1100 Beach St., Building 8, Normal; preview for "Hothouse" through June 19, by appointment; www.janbrandtgallery.com; 309-287-4700.

McLean County Arts Center; 601 N. East St., Bloomington; open; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday, noon-4 p.m. Saturday; www.mcac.org; 309-829-0011.

McLean County Museum of History; 200 N. Main St., Bloomington; reopened May 1 with limited capacity; 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Saturdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesdays, closed Sundays; advance reservations required Mondays and Wednesdays; reservations at education@mchistory.org or 309-827-0428; mchistory.org; 309-827-0428.

Merwin and Wakeley Galleries, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington; 2-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Sunday; iwu.edu/art/galleries; 309-556-3391.

Prairie Aviation Museum; 2929 E. Empire St., Bloomington; indoor exhibits closed; outdoor Chuck Schumacher Air Park open; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Sunday; prairieaviationmuseum.org; 309-663-7632.

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University Galleries of Illinois State University, Normal; open, appointment required, bit.ly/3t2ZhRd; 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Sunday; 309-438-5487; galleries.illinoisstate.edu/about/visit/.

Central Illinois

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, 212 N. Sixth St., Springfield; advance reservation required; special exhibit: The State of Sound: A World of Music from Illinois, through Jan. 23; adults $15, seniors $12, under 5 free; presidentlincoln.illinois.gov; 217-558-8844.

Art Center at Greater Livingston County Arts Council; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; noon-4 p.m. Sunday, 209 W. Madison St., Pontiac; Joe Bailey Gallery exhibit: Gone Fishing, through June 30; pcartcenter.com; 815-419-2472.

Contemporary Art Center of Peoria; Riverfront Arts Center, 305 S.W. Water St., Peoria; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; peoriacac.org; 309-674-6822.

Dickson Mounds Museum; 10956 N. Dickson Mounds Road, Lewistown; open, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; free; illinoisstatemuseum.org; 309-547-3721.

Illinois State Museum; 502 S. Spring St., Springfield; open, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; free; illinoisstatemuseum.org; 217-782-7386.

Lincoln Heritage Museum; Lincoln Center at Lincoln College, 300 Keokuk St., Lincoln; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; 1-4 p.m. Sat., closed Sundays and Lincoln College breaks; $4-7; museum.lincolncollege.edu; 217-735-7399.

Peoria Art Guild; 203 Harrison St., Peoria; open; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday or by appointment; exhibit: "Landscapes: Coulter, Dubina, Hubbard, Johnson," through June; peoriaartguild.org; 309-637-2787.

Peoria Riverfront Museum; downtown riverfront Peoria; open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday, Tuesday; adults $11, seniors, students $10, ages 3-17 $9; Exhibits: "101 Treasures of the Peoria Riverfront Museum Collection," through Fall 2021; "Community: African American Experience During Migration," "American Verses: Terry Adkins, Mark Bradford & Kerry James Marshall," through March 2022; Marc Eliots Art of Film in Giant Screen Theater, 6:30 p.m. Fridays, $7.50-$10.50; peoriariverfrontmuseum.org; 309-686-7000.

Simpkins Military History Museum; 1-5 p.m. Tue., Thu., Sat., or by appointment, through Nov. 15; 605 E. Cole St., Heyworth; military history exhibits: special exhibit, "What's Your Hobby? The Fun of Collecting"; free (donations accepted); 309-319-3413.

U of I Krannert Art Museum; 500 E. Peabody Drive, Champaign; open; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, open to 7 p.m. Thursdays; special exhibits: "Homemade, with Love: More Living Room," through July 3; kam.illinois.edu; 217-333-1861.
BLOOMINGTON  A state mental health facility provided a Bloomington man with toxic levels of his medication and staff also choked him, according to a state investigation.

Lavonte Rayford, 25, had three of his medication doses increased and another was stopped without reason during his two-week stay at the Chester Mental Health Center, in southwest Illinois, in August 2019, according to the report by the state Human Rights Authority.

Officials for the medical center did not immediately respond to questions from The Pantagraph.

Rayford has epilepsy, and his mother, LaTasha Rayford, told The Pantagraph he had been wrongfully diagnosed with a mental health disorder.

The report, released this spring, details how Chester staff placed Rayford in a chokehold, then body slammed him into a bed after an argument ensued over him not complying to remove a towel from his head, which he wore to cover burn scars.

One security aide then told Rayford, What you gotta say now?, the report said.

Lab results from a private physician later showed Rayford had Dilantin toxicity from receiving too much of that medication. Side effects of that include tremors, lack of muscle control, trouble swallowing, altered mental state, seizures and coma.

He also was diagnosed with a neck muscle strain and trauma of neck tissue from being choked. The trauma to his airway required surgery, his mother said. She also was not notified of the incident until Rayford told her.

Rayford said he could not swallow or speak after being choked, the report said.

Security tape of the incident was not available to review for the report due to technical difficulties with the hard drive crashing, the report said. The Chester security chief watched the surveillance video prior to the hard drive crashing and wrote there was no abuse, the report said.

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The Human Rights Authority investigates allegations of abuse and wrongdoing involving people with disabilities.

The Rayford investigation found the inadequate medication treatment allegation to be substantiated. The report recommended Chester medical staff to be retrained on proper medication documentation, and to provide reasons why medication changes are made.

The second allegation of negative staff interactions was found unsubstantiated in the report despite a psychiatrist documenting abuse following Rayfords discharge from Chester.

It is hard to determine from the record if the trouble swallowing was a result of abuse by choking, Dilantin toxicity or for some other reason, the report said.

The report further recommended Chester Mental Health Center staff to be retrained on its code of conduct policy, and to be reminded that all patients, employees and visitors be treated with dignity, respect and courtesy.

This was the second time within a year that Rayford was the subject of a Human Rights Authority report detailing misuse of his medication.

The first report, released in May 2020, found that McLean County jail staff failed to provide Rayford with two doses of his seizure medication, leading to him having three seizures and suffering a serious injury to his eye after falling and hitting his head.

His jail stay came after aggravated battery charges for throwing liquid at a nurse, but all of his charges have since been dropped.

He was admitted to Chester Mental Health Center under a court order despite a psychiatrist testifying that Rayford was fit to stand trial.

A second evaluation found Rayford was fit to stand trial, too, following his admittance to Chester.

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The company believes there is potential to expand the known oxide mineralisation of the project within the alteration core.

A new tenement application increases the companys ground position to 562 square kilometres.

( ) (OTCMKTS:PTNUF) (FRA:P4R) is moving towards the exploration phase at Xanadu Gold Project after executing binding purchase agreements and commencement of tenement transfers.

This exploration strategy will initially comprise low-cost geophysics and geochemistry aimed at increasing geological knowledge.

Tenement application

The company has also expanded the project footprint with application E52/3946 for an additional 69 square kilometres covering the target Duck Creek Dolomite and the Nanjilgardy fault zone and its splays.

Xanadu is in the Ashburton province near the multi-million ounce Mt Olympus gold deposit of ASX-listed ( ).

Mt Olympus has past production of 350,000 ounces and resources of 1.65 million ounces for a combined 2-million-ounce gold endowment.

Immense appeal

Platina managing director Corey Nolan said the exploration strategy was aimed at building a deeper knowledge of the geological potential of the project and to define shallow and deeper targets for drilling.

He said: Xanadu has immense appeal given the number and width of economic grade gold drill intercepts which have never been followed up with a systematic exploration campaign.

Strong similarities

Xanadu Project comprises a large alteration system hosted within sediments and carbonates prospective for intrusion-related gold mineralisation such as the Telfer Gold Mine of Newcrest Mining Ltd ( ) and the Hemi discovery of De Grey Mining Ltd ( ).

The project also displays strong similarities to the Carlin gold deposits in Nevada, USA.

Potential to expand

The company believes the project offers upside due to several factors including:

A favourable regional scale structural setting, with the multi-million-ounce Mt Olympus gold deposit, situated 7 kilometres to the east;

Widespread gold mineralisation identified within a large and intense hydrothermal alteration system which extends for over 10 kilometres in strike extent;

The host lithology, the Duck Creek Dolomite, is a highly reactive rock and favourable host to the target intrusion-related and Carlin styles of gold mineralisation; and

Immediate targets from the surface and at depth within the interpreted east plunging alteration system.

Nolan said: Whilst we believe there is significant potential to expand upon the known oxide mineralisation, the longer-term prize is targeting primary mineralisation within the alteration core of the system which has never been tested by historical drill programs.

The new tenement application will increase the ground position to 562 square kilometres with contiguous coverage along a 60 kilometres strike length of the Nanjilgardy fault and its splays and the Duck Creek Dolomite stratigraphy, which is host to gold mineralisation within the project area.
+ Analysis of Ed Fesers Doctrinally Problematic Criticisms

Ed Feser, an orthodox Catholic and Thomist, is an associate professor of philosophy at Pasadena City College (see his books and articles). He runs a popular blog, and has been described by National Review as one of the best contemporary writers on philosophy. Sir Anthony Kenny, writing for the Times Literary Supplement stated that Feser has the rare and enviable gift of making philosophical argument compulsively readable. His words below will be in blue.

*****

Here are Fesers criticisms (from his blog) of Pope Francis with regard to the issue of divorce, including the charge that he has not spoken forcefully enough (a la Pope Honorius) in defense of these dogmatic Church teachings:

Pope Francis has made many statements that at least seem to contradict traditional Catholic teaching on divorce and remarriage, . . .

[W]hether or not Honorius and John XXII were guilty of strict heresy, they were undeniably guilty of making statements that fell under one or more of the lesser theological censures cited above. Similarly, even if Pope Franciss problematic statements can be given readings that avoid strict heresy, it doesnt follow that they can avoid falling under one or more of the lesser theological censures. . . .

Had the pope simply reaffirmed traditional teaching in response to these straightforward and respectfully presented questions from several of his cardinals [in the dubia], the main doctrinal controversy that has roiled his pontificate would have been swiftly resolved.

For another thing, what a person fails to say, and how he acts, can send a message no less than what he does explicitly say. . . .

Similarly, when the pope not only makes theologically ambiguous statements about divorce and remarriage, conscience, etc. but refuses to clarify those statements, and promotes and praises people with a reputation for departing from traditional teaching in these areas while criticizing and sidelining people with a reputation for upholding traditional teaching, it is hardly surprising if many people worry  whether correctly or not  that he does not agree with traditional teaching but doesnt want to say so directly. (Some comments on the open letter, 5-6-19)

Pope Francis is accused of trading in ambiguities in the interests of accompanying and integrating Catholics who do not accept the Churchs teaching on divorce and remarriage. And the problem, the critics hold, is that Amoriss way of accommodating these dissenters makes of that teaching a dead letter, or even implicitly contradicts it. (Denial flows into the Tiber, 12-18-16)

[A] permissive attitude toward divorce and remarriage is the very last thing one could justify in the name of Christs understanding of mercy.

Does Pope Francis endorse such a reversal of traditional teaching? The open letter accuses him of this and other errors. Of course, some of the popes statements on doctrinal matters are ambiguous, and in interpreting what a person means, it is only fair to look at the larger context rather than consider an ambiguous statement in isolation. (Popes, heresy, and papal heresy, 5-25-19)

[O]n several issues  marriage and divorce, . . . Pope Francis has repeatedly made statements that appear to contradict traditional Catholic teaching, and has persistently refused to respond to respectful requests for clarification made by members of the hierarchy and prominent theologians. Moreover, he has done so not only in offhand comments during interviews and the like, but in official magisterial documents, such as Amoris Laetitia, and now the Catechism. (Pope Francis and capital punishment, 8-3-18; see similar statement made in a First Things article from the same date)

Large numbers of Catholics hold heterodox views on matters of divorce and marriage . . . They are quite happy with Amoris, the change to the catechism, and all the other doctrinally problematic statements the pope has made over the last five years. Meanwhile, many orthodox Catholics, well-meaning but naive, have been willing to put up and shut up as long as they can cobble together some far-fetched interpretation of the problematic statements that seems to preserve continuity with past teaching. (Hubris meets nemesis? (Updated), 8-28-18)

Even in the Church, recent years have seen the ad hominem routinely deployed against even the most respectful and scholarly critics of Pope Franciss doctrinally problematic statements concerning divorce and remarriage, . . . (The ad hominem fallacy is a sin, 7-3-18)

Ambiguity? In Amoris maybe, but, historically speaking, none whatsoever in Catholic teaching on divorce and remarriage. (More on Amoris, 1-16-17)

Now I shall proceed to document many of Pope Francis affirmations of the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church regarding marriage and the indissolubility of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. Its notable that in not a single instance of Feser calling out the pope on his blog for his supposed departure from the traditional norms, could he be bothered to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule and enlist Google Search to find the statements that I have found without too much effort.

He claims that the pope is ambiguous and not clear enough, blah blah blah (all standard talking points these days among his innumerable critics), yet in fact the pope has made it very clear, as I will show. Despite that, for some strange reason (assuming there is reason involved) his critics rarely look up these things and present them, so as to be fair to the head of the Catholic Church and the successor of St. Peter. Its inevitably a one-way presentation, much as media portrayals of political debates only show one side (the liberal / Democrat positions).

In the last citation above, Feser complains about ad hominem against critics of the Holy Father. By the same token, I complain about ad hominem against the pope, too. If in fact Pope Francis upholds Church teaching on marriage and divorce (as I contend and, I think, demonstrate below), then to state otherwise would be in effect (and knowingly or not) an attack on him, since he doesnt hold these views falsely attributed to him.

Lets take a survey, then, of what sure seem to me to be clear, unambiguous affirmations of the Churchs traditional moral teaching on marriage, from Pope Francis (my bolding throughout):

The holiness and indissolubility of Christian matrimony, often disintegrating under tremendous pressure from the secular world, must be deepened by clear doctrine and supported by the witness of committed married couples. Christian matrimony is a lifelong covenant of love between one man and one woman; it entails real sacrifices in order to turn away from illusory notions of sexual freedom and in order to foster conjugal fidelity. (4-25-14; cited in Pope emphasizes indissolubility of Christian matrimony', Catholic News Agency, same date) And this always  we have said it here, in the Hall  without ever putting into question the fundamental truths of the Sacrament of marriage: the indissolubility, the unity, the faithfulness, the fruitfulness, that openness to life (cf. Cann. 1055, 1056; and Gaudium et spes, 48). (10-18-14, Address for the Conclusion of the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops) No intervention called into question the fundamental truths of the Sacrament of Marriage, namely: indissolubility, unity, fidelity and openness to life (cf. Second Ecumenical Vatican Constitution, Gaudium et Spes, n. 48; Code of Canon Law, 1055-1056). This was not touched. (12-10-14, General Audience) Through the centuries, the Church, having attained a clearer awareness of the words of Christ, came to and set forth a deeper understanding of the doctrine of the indissolubility of the sacred bond of marriage, developed a system of nullities of matrimonial consent, and put together a judicial process more fitting to the matter so that ecclesiastical discipline might conform more and more to the truth of the faith she was professing. . . . This Committee, under the guidance of the Dean of the Roman Rota, drew up a plan for reform with due regard for the need to protect the principle of the indissolubility of the marital bond. . . . Nevertheless, we are not unaware of the extent to which the principle of the indissolubility of marriage might be endangered by the briefer process; for this very reason we desire that the bishop himself be established as the judge in this process, who, due to his duty as pastor, has the greatest care for catholic unity with Peter in faith and discipline. (8-15-15, Apostolic Letter Motu Proprio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus) Marriage is indissoluble when it is a sacrament. And this the Church cannot change. Its doctrine. Its an indissoluble sacrament. . . . With the reform of the marriage annulment procedure, I closed the door to the administrative path, which was the path through which divorce could have made its way in. Those who think this is equivalent with Catholic divorce are mistaken because this last document has closed the door to divorce by which it could have entered. It would have been easier with the administrative path. . . . Catholic divorce does not exist. Nullity is granted if the union never existed. But if it did, it is indissoluble. (9-27-15, cited in Pope Francis Reaffirms that Catholic Marriage is Indissoluble, John Burger, Aleteia, 9-30-15; see another version at the Holy See website) To a rhetorical question  probably asked as a trap to make him unpopular with the crowd, which practiced divorce as an established and inviolable fact  Jesus responds in a straightforward and unexpected way. He brings everything back to the beginning, to the beginning of creation, to teach us that God blesses human love, that it is he who joins the hearts of two people who love one another, he who joins them in unity and indissolubility. This shows us that the goal of conjugal life is not simply to live together for life, but to love one another for life! In this way Jesus re-establishes the order which was present from the beginning. . . . To carry out her mission in fidelity to her Master as a voice crying out in the desert, in defending faithful love and encouraging the many families which live married life as an experience which reveals of Gods love; in defending the sacredness of life, of every life; in defending the unity and indissolubility of the conjugal bond as a sign of Gods grace and of the human persons ability to love seriously. (10-4-15, Homily at the Mass for the opening of the Synod on the Family) [The synod] was about urging everyone to appreciate the importance of the institution of the family and of marriage between a man and a woman, based on unity and indissolubility, and valuing it as the fundamental basis of society and human life. [10-24-15, Closing message to the Synod on the Family; Pope Francis: Synod was about affirming family, indissoluble marriage, Catholic News Agency, 10-24-15) The lack of formation in faith and also an error regarding the unity, indissolubility and sacramental dignity of marriage may vitiate matrimonial consent only if they determine the will. It is precisely for this reason that errors regarding the sacramental nature of marriage must be evaluated very carefully. . . . The family, founded on indissoluble marriage, unitive and procreative, belongs to the dream of God and of his Church for the salvation of humanity, . . . [The] essential elements [or marriage are] offspring, the good of spouses, unity, indissolubility, sacramentality. (1-22-16, cited in Francis affirms indissolubility of marriage, objectivity of annulment conditions, The Catholic World Report / Catholic News Agency, 1-23-16) Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia, 3-19-16: No one can think that the weakening of the family as that natural society founded on marriage will prove beneficial to society as a whole. . . . There is a failure to realize that only the exclusive and indissoluble union between a man and a woman has a plenary role to play in society as a stable commitment that bears fruit in new life. (52) In various countries, legislation facilitates a growing variety of alternatives to marriage, with the result that marriage, with its characteristics of exclusivity, indissolubility and openness to life, comes to appear as an old-fashioned and outdated option. (53) The Synod Fathers noted that Jesus, in speaking of Gods original plan for man and woman, reaffirmed the indissoluble union between them, even stating that it was for your hardness of heart that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so (Mt 19:8). The indissolubility of marriage  what God has joined together, let no man put asunder (Mt 19:6)  should not be viewed as a yoke imposed on humanity, but as a gift granted to those who are joined in marriage (62) It is particularly helpful to understand in a Christocentric key the good of the spouses (bonum coniugum), which includes unity, openness to life, fidelity, indissolubility and, within Christian marriage, mutual support on the path towards complete friendship with the Lord. (77) For they bear witness, in a credible way, to the beauty of marriage as indissoluble and perpetually faithful. (86) Marriage joins to all this an indissoluble exclusivity expressed in the stable commitment to share and shape together the whole of life. (123) In the words of Saint Robert Bellarmine, the fact that one man unites with one woman in an indissoluble bond, and that they remain inseparable despite every kind of difficulty, even when there is no longer hope for children, can only be the sign of a great mystery. (124) Marital love is not defended primarily by presenting indissolubility as a duty, or by repeating doctrine, but by helping it to grow ever stronger under the impulse of grace. (134) It is a deeper love, a lifelong decision of the heart. (163) [W]e know that marriage was not instituted solely for the procreation of children Even in cases where, despite the intense desire of the spouses, there are no children, marriage still retains its character of being a whole manner and communion of life, and preserves its value and indissolubility. (178) Both short-term and long-term marriage preparation should ensure that the couple do not view the wedding ceremony as the end of the road, but instead embark upon marriage as a lifelong calling . . . (211) Another great challenge of marriage preparation is to help couples realize that marriage is not something that happens once for all.

Their union is real and irrevocable, confirmed and consecrated by the sacrament of matrimony. Yet in joining their lives, the spouses assume an active and creative role in a lifelong project. (218) The Christian communitys care of such persons is not to be considered a weakening of its faith and testimony to the indissolubility of marriage; rather, such care is a particular expression of its charity. (243) Divorce is an evil and the increasing number of divorces is very troubling. (246) * [W]e are also experiencing a culture of the provisional. I heard a bishop say, several months ago, that a young man, who had finished his university studies, a fine young man, introduced himself to the bishop and told him: I want to become a priest, but for 10 years. It is the culture of the provisional. This happens everywhere, even in priestly life, in religious life. The provisional. This is why a part of our sacramental marriages are null, because they [the spouses] say: Yes, for a lifetime, but they do not know what they are saying, because they have another culture. They say it, and they mean well, but they do not have the awareness. A woman in Buenos Aires once scolded me: You priests are clever, because to become priests you study for eight years, and then, if things do not go well and the priest finds a young woman that he likes. in the end you give him permission to get married and have a family. And we lay people, who have to make an indissoluble lifelong sacrament, they make us have four conferences, and this for a lifetime!. To me, one of the problems is this: the preparation for marriage. . . . The marriage crisis is because people dont know the sacrament, the beauty of the sacrament: they do not know what indissoluble means, they do not know that it is for a lifetime. (6-16-16, Address) But when we receive a sacrament which is indissoluble for our whole life, it is the mystery of Christ and of the Church and it lasts a lifetime, they prepare us with three or four conferences?. Its true: the preparation for marriage. It is better not to get married, not to receive the sacrament if you are not certain of the fact that there is a sacramental mystery there, it is truly the embrace of Christ with the Church; if you are not well prepared. (6-18-16, Address) Marriage is the most beautiful thing that God has created. The Bible tells us that God created man and woman, created them in his own image (cfr Gen 1:27). That is to say, the man and woman who become one flesh, are the image of God. . . . do you know who pays the divorce fees? Two people pay. Who pays? . . . Both? More! God pays, because when one flesh is divided, the image of God is soiled. And the children pay. You do not know, dear brothers and sisters, you do not know how much children suffer, the little ones, when they witness the arguments and the separation of parents! Everything should be done to save a marriage. (10-1-16, Address) When we speak of marriage as a union between man and a woman, as God established it, as an image of God, it is a man and a woman. The image of God is not the male: it is both man and woman. Together. They become one flesh when they are united in marriage. This is the truth. It is true that, in this culture, conflicts and any number of problems are not well handled, and there are also philosophies like Today Ill enter this [marriage], and when I get tired of it, Ill enter another, then a third, then a fourth This is the world war against marriage you were talking about. We need to be careful not to let these ideas take hold in us. But first of all, marriage is the image of God, man and woman in one flesh. When this is destroyed, the image of God is marred or distorted. (10-2-16, In-Flight News Conference) Today fleeting relationships are preferred to the stability of a definitive life project. But a house built on the sand of frail and fickle relationships cannot stand. What is needed instead is a rock on which to build solid foundations. And this rock is precisely that faithful and indissoluble communion of love that joins man and woman, a communion that has an austere and simple beauty, a sacred and inviolable character and a natural role in the social order. (1-8-18, Address) Jesus love for children, his filial relationship with the heavenly Father, his defence of the marriage bond, which he declares sacred and indissoluble, fully reveals the familys place in Gods plan: being the cradle of life and the first place of welcome and of love, it plays an essential role in mankinds vocation and is like a window which opens wide onto the very mystery of God, who is Love in the unity and in the trinity of the Persons. (6-16-18, Address) Of all the kinds of human fruitfulness, marriage is unique. It is about a love that gives rise to new life. It involves mutual responsibility for the transmission of Gods gift of life, and it provides a stable environment in which that new life can grow and flourish. Marriage in the Church, that is, the sacrament of matrimony, shares in a special way in the mystery of Gods eternal love. When a Christian man and woman enter the bond of marriage, Gods grace enables them freely to promise one another an exclusive and enduring love. Their union thus becomes a sacramental sign  this is important  the sacrament of marriage becomes a sacramental sign of the new and eternal covenant between the Lord and his bride, the Church. Jesus is ever present in their midst. He sustains them throughout life in their mutual gift of self, in fidelity and in indissoluble unity (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 48). Jesus love is, for couples, a rock and refuge in times of trial, but more importantly, a source of constant growth in pure and enduring love. Gamble big, for your entire life! Take a risk! Because marriage is also a risk, but it is a risk worth taking. For your whole life, because that is how love is. (8-25-18, Address in Dublin) The love of Christ that renews all things is what makes possible marriage and a conjugal love marked by fidelity, indissolubility, unity and openness to life. (8-25-18, Address at Croke Park Stadium, Dublin) Quite often, the very root of problems that come to light after the celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony is to be found not only in a latent and unsuspected immaturity that suddenly explodes, but especially in the weakness of Christian faith and the absence of accompaniment from the Church, in the solitude in which young spouses are generally left after the wedding. Only when they are faced with everyday life together, which calls spouses to grow on a journey of giving and sacrifice, do some realize that they had not fully understood what they were about to begin. And they find themselves unprepared, especially when faced with the magnitude and meaning of Christian marriage with regard to the practical implications linked to the indissolubility of the bond, to being open to pass on the gift of life, and to fidelity. That is why I reaffirm the need for a permanent catechumenate for the Sacrament of Matrimony, which concerns its preparation, celebration and the initial times that follow. (Address, 9-27-18) And here, Jesus again takes up the Book of Genesis: from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one (vv. 6-8). And he concludes: What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder (v. 9). In the Creators original plan, it is not that a man marries a woman and, if things do not go well, he repudiates her. No. (10-7-18, Angelus)

I would ask Ed Feser and the many others who argue as he does in this regard, what part of indissolubility of marriage is so difficult for you to understand? What is so unclear or ambiguous about the above? And why was it so hard for all these critics to find all of this? Or if they could find it (using computer skills any smart seven-year-old today possesses), why were they unwilling to do so, or unwilling to include this ultra-relevant information in their attack-pieces?

***

See the the two follow-up papers:

Ed Feser, Pope Francis, Divorce, Ambiguity, & Implosion (6-3-21)

Did I Say Ed Feser Called Pope Francis a Heretic? (+ Further Exchanges Back-and-Forth with Ed Feser) (6-4-21)

***

Photo credit: Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan [PublicDomainPictures.Net]

***

Summary: I document Pope Francis affirmations of Catholic teaching regarding divorce & the indissolubility of marriage, over against Ed Fesers critical (doctrinally problematic) claims.

***
Dimension Data LTD (Ghana) recently participated as a gold sponsor, at the 5th CEO Summit, held on 17th and 18th May, 2021 at the Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast City in Accra. The high-impact business leadership summit for over 400 topmost CEOs and dignitaries, was themed DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: Powering Business and Government reset for a Post-Pandemic Economic Resilience. A Public-Private Sector Dialogue.



The forum provided the Dimension Data team with the opportunity to interact on a one-on-one basis, with the participants and to pitch directly to the CEOs and the decision makers thereby allowing the team to showcase their thought leadership in the digital space.



Dr. Bright Mawudor delivered a thought-provoking presentation on the topic - C-Level Engagement in Building Organizational Cyber Resilience in The Covid-19 Era. He addressed the various ways in which senior management could get involved in building Cyber Resilience in their organizations with various tools and methodologies.



In addition, he did a live demonstration of the various methods that hackers use to infiltrate organizations and discussed mitigation processes to be taken for business continuity as well as keeping businesses afloat in the Cyber Security world.



Dimension Data Ghana, has been a force in the industry for almost two decades now directing and expanding frontiers in the global technology space, as well as the cybersecurity and intelligent systems integrations. Judging by the interest shown from many CEOs around their Intelligence Centre solutions (TIC) and other services, there is little doubt that we will be hearing more from Dimension Data LTD in the days and years to come.

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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The Head of the Weija Leprosarium and a retired Parish Priest of the Christ the King Parish, Rev. Fr. Andrew Campbell, is urging families whose relatives are at the Weija Leprosarium not to abandon them but to show them love since they did not choose to be lepers.

He said many of the inmates at the Weija Leprosarium and other leprosy centres in the country have been abandoned and neglected by their families.



Rev. Fr. Campbell made the remarks when the Catholic Relief Services-Ghana (CRS) visited the centre to donate some assorted items to mark their 4th Community Day celebration last Friday, June 3, 2021.



CRS Ghana works with the Ghanaian people to tackle poverty with a holistic approach including projects that improve child and maternal health; increase access to clean water and sanitation; scale up farm production; and enhance community level savings and lending.



Items



Items donated included bags of rice and sugar, milk, milo, cooking oil, packs of bottled water, toiletries, sanitizers, nose masks, and canned fish. They also presented a chair to father Campbell as his retirement gift.



Sad incident



Narrating an incident that occurred at the centre, for instance, Rev. Fr. Campbell said there was one inmate whose family never visited him until when he died.



The said person, he noted, when he died, his relatives came in their numbers in plush cars to pick their deceased person after which they performed a party-like funeral for the person.



For him, it is sad that people will only wait for their relatives at the centre to die before showing up to perform befitting funerals for them.



Neglect



Rev. Fr. Campbell also said some families only visited their relative when food items are shared for the inmates, stressing that the inmates needed to be shown love and care.



He expressed the concern that the neglect of the inmates has become so disturbing that when an inmates dies, some families expect him (Fr. Campbell) to bury their relatives for them without their involvement.



He said inmates at the centre had suffered a lot of neglect and stigmatisation, calling on the public, particularly families with relatives at the centre to be empathic with the inmates.



Rev. Fr. Campbell expressed the worry that people with leprosy are discriminated against at all places, including hospitals.



For him, many of the inmates find peace at the centre since they are not stigmatised and also their needs are taken care of.



He noted that Ghana continues to record new cases of the disease across the country, saying that in 2020, for instance, the country recorded about 250 new cases of the disease.



Appeal



Rev. Fr. Campbell has also appealed to benevolent individuals and organisations to come to the aid of the centre, saying that taking care of the needs of the inmates at the centre was challenging.



He commended Vice President Bawumia for supporting the Leprosarium with over 2,000 bags of rice.



He also commended the Catholic Relief Services for choosing to celebrate their 4th Community Day with the Weija Leprosarium.



Rationale



The Country Representative of CRS, Mr Daniel Mumuni, said CRS, as a Christian charity organisation has over the years been supporting vulnerable groups in the country, including the Weija Leprosarium.



For him, the Community Day celebration affords the organisation to interact with the community in which they operate.



He said it is sad that some families have abandoned their relatives at the centre, hence joining hands with Rev. Fr. Campbell to appeal families with relatives at the centre to regularly visit to them and to encourage them.



He said it was scriptural to show love to the needy and the vulnerable, including the sick, stressing that CRS as a Christian-based charity organisation will continue to care for the needs of the underprivileged.









Source: graphiconline.com









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Deputy Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kamal-Deen Abdulai, has blessed Peace FM's Morning Show team for using their platform to inform, educate and positively impact many lives in Ghana and beyond.



Kamal-Deen, applauded the host Kwami Sefa Kayi, affectionately called Chairman General, for his hard work and excellence in running the morning show 'Kokrokoo' for two decades.



The NPP Deputy Communications Director, who was a panel member on the programme on Friday, touted the rich experience of Chairman General who is also a multiple award-winning broadcaster and a GJA Journalist of the Year.



He revealed he and a family relative have been religiously following the host and his programme for years, and are amazed that Mr. Sefa Kayi has remained invincible and consistently kept his position as Ghana's number 1 morning show voice.



Kamal-Deen asserted that no enemy can jeopardize Kokrokoo.



He stressed, "Nothing can someone do to jeopardize your programme. Of course, for God to carry so many years to where you are, if someone thinks he or she can say something to destroy the programme; it won't come to pass because God has already blessed you".







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Harriet Afriyie Foundation - Helping Hands over the Week cut sod for the construction of a public place of convenience to ease the problem of open defecation and a borehole to serve as a source of potable drinking water to the predominantly fishing community of Abume in the Asuogyaman Constituency in the Eastern Region.



The two projects which are estimated to cost over one hundred thousand Ghana cedis had the MP for Asuogyaman, Hon Thomas Ampem Nyarko and Chiefs and people of the community present at the official sod-cutting ceremony.



The Member of Parliament for Asuogyaman Constituency, Hon. Thomas Ampem Nyarko declared Abume which is a suburb of Akosombo as one of his top priority communities to develop in his second term as MP.



He said he believes the obstacles placed by the NPP government in the past which were to evacuate the people have dragged the social development of the community behind. That obstacle has been removed and that he will push for more resources for the people of Abume.



The MP made these remarks at the ceremony to Cut Sod for the Construction of the Ultramodern Water Flash Public Toilet Facility and Mechanised Boreholes for the community, held on Saturday, 29th May, 2021. The constructions are in partnership with Harriet Afriyie Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation.



He, however, pleaded with the people to develop a good maintenance culture, make good use of the facilities once they are completed.



"Not to put so much pressure on the facilities especially the toilet, I will encourage individuals who wish to have their own toilet facilities in their homes to approach me and I am ready to support them with Cement and Roofing Sheets," he said in addition.



On her part, the CEO of Harriet Afriyie Foundation; Miss Harriet Afriyie, thanked the people of Abume for their warm welcome but quickly added that she and her team will be more delighted to come back in a few years time to meet the facilities in good condition and that, that will be their only motivation to extend a helping hand of such facilities to other communities in Asuogyaman.



Torgbe Dusornu I, Chief of Abume speaking through his Secretary thanked the Member of Parliament, Hon. Thomas Ampem and the CEO of Harriet Afriyie foundation for the project.



He also assured them of his community's readiness to make sure the facilities are well maintained once completed.



The project is expected to be ready for commissioning and use before the end of the year.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed his shock and outrage at the killing of more than 100 people in Burkina Faso on Saturday in one of the country's deadliest attacks in years.



Seven children are believed to be among the victims, according to the UN, while the total number of deaths is unclear.



In a statement late on Saturday, Guterres condemned the "heinous" attack and called on the international community to step up its support in the fight against violent extremism.



The identity and motive of the attackers, who targeted a village in the province of Yagha, is unclear. Several armed groups are active in the Sahel region, which stretches south of the Sahara from the Atlantic to the Red Sea.



Some of these militant groups have pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State extremist organizations.



While Burkina Faso had long been spared attacks, their frequency has increased significantly since 2015. According to the United Nations, more than 1.2 million people are now refugees in their own country.

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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OccupyGhana has watched with consternation news reports, videos and photographs of the funeral and burial of New Patriotic Party politician and former Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission of Ghana, Mr. Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, which event packed thousands of politicians, well-wishers and mourners into a park, with minimal mask wearing, absolutely no social distancing and a wanton disregard for the funeral restrictions imposed by government.



We do not think that what happened did justice to the memory of a man who was reputed to be a man of discipline.



In our press release of 2nd May, 2021 regarding the holding of the Christ Embassy religious event at the Fantasy Dome, we thought no reminders were needed that the dangerous and deadly COVID-19 was still present and active among us. In that release, we hailed governments imposition of protocols by law, which we believe demand compliance, by all. To wake up to contrary behaviour by prominent members of the same government and other politicians, after we have seen the colossal human disaster that has unfolded in India, caused by unrestrained political activities and religious events that did not respect COVID-19 protocols, is both disappointing and frightening.



We cannot show such a remarkable sense of recklessness and abandon in these times and not expect to reap disastrous and possibly deadly consequences. We need no reminders that by exercising bad judgment in releasing Aisha Huang, government created a defiant galamsey population on its hands and more destruction of our water bodies and forests ensued until it had to resort to the illegal and populist remedy of burning excavators to try and stem the tide of evil genie unleashed with the release of Aisha Huang. Similarly, this disregard of the law will embolden several people to treat COVID-19 protocols with disdain and contempt.



We saw and read about the police charging the people who organised the Christ Embassy event with offences under the Imposition of Restrictions Act. We have seen the Police resort to court injunctions and threats of force to stop the planned #fixGhana protests and demonstrations, with the weak excuse that they will defy the same Act. We hasten to ask whether the government has any moral authority now where these matters are concerned?



While extending to Sir John and his family all the deserving courtesies, respect and condolences, the irony is not lost on us that due to COVID-19, a British Royal and Duke had only 30 people in attendance at his funeral. The whole world witnessed it, and we thought much lessons could have been gleaned from that utterly humane event around a person of global stature.



This behaviour of people in a position to know better is deeply worrying, and while we can only pray that it doesnt happen, if in weeks this event turns out to be a super spreader event with more deaths and hospitalisations, government will have no one but itself to blame for its inability and unwillingness to show a better example.



We repeat our oft-repeated call on all Ghanaians to keep respecting the COVID-19 protocols in all situations. We must protect ourselves and our loved ones, even when people who should know better break the law while enforcing it against others.



Yours, for God and Country







Source: Peacefmonline.com/GHANA









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Ghana has initiated processes to legalize the farming or cultivation of Indian hemp (weed) under license.



In 2020, some countries in Africa through their national legislations decided to permit the cultivation and export of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes, with some other countries authorizing the use of cannabis for medical purposes.



Ghana, having passed the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019) joined these African countries in exploring the purported prospects in cannabis.



The Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019), which was passed by Parliament on March 20, 2020 and assented to by the President on May 11, 2020, have enshrined special provision relating to cannabis.



Section 43 of Act 1019 states that, the Minister, on the recommendation of the Commission, may grant a licence for the cultivation of cannabis which has not more than 0.3% THC content on a dry weight basis for industrial purposes for obtaining fibre or seed or for medicinal purposes.



Legislative Instrument



Currently in Ghana, the Narcotics Control Commission is in the process of submitting to Parliament a Legislative Instrument (LI) that will spell out in details how one can qualify for a licence to cultivate cannabis with less than 0.3% of THC and applicable fees to pay for the issuance of such licence.



The Head of Communications and Media Relations at the Narcotics Control Commission, Francis Opoku Amoah made this known.



International Narcotics Control Board



According to the 2020 International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) Report, in August 2020, the government of South Africa submitted to the Parliament the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill of 2020, amending its Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act (1992) to allow the cultivation and use of cannabis by adults for personal use.



In the same INCB Report, the Parliament of Malawi approved the Cannabis Regulation Bill of 2020, in February 2020, permitting the cultivation of cannabis for medical, industrial and scientific purposes.



Uganda also reported to INCB that, it had begun permitting the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes.



Obligation on governments



Even though some countries are permitting the cultivation of cannabis, according to the INCB there is an obligation on the part of governments that permit the cultivation of cannabis to establish control measures in accordance with the 1961 Convention as amended. Such measures include the establishment of an agency responsible for designating areas and issuing licences for cultivation.



The countries that are permitting the cultivation of cannabis, are performing this obligation.



In Malawi, their Bill also establishes a national cannabis agency to issue licences to cultivate cannabis and regulate the industry within Malawi.



The government of Uganda, had also drafted guidelines to assist the Minister of Health in determining which cultivators should be granted licences to cultivate cannabis.



"I know that the Commission is working hard to make sure that, it presents a solid Legislative Instrument that will reflect how the hemp industry will be regulated in the country," Mr Opoku Amoah explained.



Interest generated



"I am well aware of the interest generated by the special provision relating to cultivation of Cannabis which has not more than 0.3% THC content on a dry weight basis for industrial purposes for obtaining fibre or seed or for medicinal purposes in the country. So many groups, companies and individuals have applied to the Commission for licence in order to legally engage in the cultivation of this species of cannabis when the LI is passed by Parliament," Mr Opoku Amoah added.



Interested person(s) have argued that, the emerging industry can provide employment and generate enormous revenue for the government.



Cannabis still illegal



The special provision relating to cannabis in section 43 of Act 1019 does NOT in any way constitute the LEGALIZATION or DECRIMINALIZATION of cannabis cultivation and/or use. As such, the cultivation, production, distribution, sale and consumption of cannabis remain prohibited by law.



The Commission further reiterates and herein inform the general public that, it has not issued licence to any entity, individual or group of individuals to cultivate cannabis or conduct any business related to cannabis. The public should therefore refrain from making payments to any entity, individual or group of individuals for purposes of engaging in any business related to cannabis.



That, the Commission will make it public the modalities for the issuance of licence for the conduct of business relating to cannabis, once the LI is passed by Parliament.







More to follow

Source: graphiconline.com









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( ) (FRA:FWL) continues to advance the West Kalkaroo starter open pit gold project in South Australia with key tasks required to bring the project towards a mining decision.

A major achievement for the three months to April 30, 2021, was lodgement of the Kalkaroo PEPR by Kalkaroo Copper Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned Havilah subsidiary, with the Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) for assessment and approval of the proposed West Kalkaroo open pit gold mining operation, risk mitigation strategies and mine closure plans.

Completion of the PEPR document was the culmination of many months of dedicated effort by Havilahs staff and consultants and is the final permitting approval required for the go-ahead of the West Kalkaroo open pit gold mine, which is intended to be a starter project for the larger Kalkaroo Copper-Gold-Cobalt Project.

Set to produce 80,000-90,000 ounces

DEM guidance indicates a minimum three-to-four-month assessment and approval period, subject to there being no major revisions required.

The PEPR covers the proposed West Kalkaroo gold open pit that is at the very western (and upper) part of the main Kalkaroo copper-gold deposit.

West Kalkaroo mining operation is initially proposed to produce 80,000-90,000 ounces of gold and 5,000 tonnes of native copper (near pure copper metal) over a three to your year period.

This open pit design has the flexibility for extension to the east for several more years in oxidised ore and has a high degree of optionality as the Kalkaroo project sulphide copper production could be initiated at any time after completion of the West Kalkaroo open pit, subject to sufficient capital being available.

Quarter highlights

Other important tasks related to the West Kalkaroo gold project during the three-month period included:

Gold processing plant ongoing FEED (front end engineering design) studies including final process flow sheet design, equipment selection and preliminary costing;

Site visits with potential mining contractors with a view to agreeing on the terms and scope of possible mining contracting arrangements;

Completion of six sterilisation drill holes in the vicinity of the planned locations of key infrastructure, including the processing plant, tailings storage facility and waste dump to ensure that they will not be built too close to potentially economic mineralisation;

Generation of a preliminary financial model, which indicates robust economics at current spot gold prices; and

Infill resource drilling along strike of the proposed open pit to improve confidence in continuity of mineralisation.

Development of the open pit gold mine at West Kalkaroo is still subject to a final investment decision by the Havilah board, obtaining financing and final South Australian Government approvals.

It should be noted that Havilah has already secured the required mining permits for the Kalkaroo project (mining leases and miscellaneous purposes licences).

The company also owns the surrounding Kalkaroo Station pastoral lease, a non-mineral asset on which the Kalkaroo project is located, thus reducing land access risks for the project.

1.1 million tonnes of copper

Havilahs Kalkaroo Copper-Gold-Cobalt Project contains JORC mineral resources of 1.1 million tonnes of copper, 3.1 million ounces of gold and 23,200 tonnes of cobalt.

It has an open-pit JORC ore reserve of 100.1 million tonnes at a 0.89% copper equivalent of which 90% is in the proved category.

As such, Kalkaroo is one of the largest undeveloped open pit copper-gold deposits in Australia on a copper equivalent ore reserve basis.

The spot copper price has had a remarkable rise of over 30% since December 2020, which has resulted in an upward adjustment to the long-term consensus copper price to USD3.50/lb.

Havilah is also investigating the rare earth potential of Kalkaroo along with West Kalkaroo.

Mutooroo project activities

During the quarter, a cultural heritage survey was undertaken at the Mutooroo Copper-Cobalt-Gold Project area with the Wilyakali Native Title claimants and their appointed anthropologist.

This survey had been delayed from 2020 due to COVID-19 related issues.

The survey cleared two outlying copper-cobalt-gold prospects, namely Cockburn and Mutooroo West.

Once drilling approvals are granted by the DEM, Havilah plans to move its drilling equipment south of the Barrier Highway and begin drilling in the Mutooroo project area.

At the Cockburn prospect, a follow-up field check by Havilah geologists confirmed the likely source of the geochemical anomaly as a sulphide gossan that returned highly anomalous copper (up to 4,000 parts per million (ppm) or 0.4%) and cobalt (up to 1,500 ppm or 0.15%) Niton XRF readings.

Iron ore projects

Survey work was undertaken by the Wilyakali Native Title claimants and their appointed anthropologist at the Grants Basin, Maldorky and Grants iron ore projects and this has cleared drill hole collar locations for an additional up to 64 RC drill holes.

Of these, 26 holes are for infill resource drilling at Grants to gain greater confidence in the current estimated 304 million tonnes inferred JORC mineral resource.

The remaining 38 holes were sited for resource definition purposes at Grants Basin in the western outcropping section.

This drilling and the resource generated would form the basis for a mining scoping study for an open pit, in order to attract future project investment.

At this stage, it is planned drilling will be carried out by Havilahs own drilling crew using a dry-hired percussion drilling rig, following drilling in the Mutooroo area.

Elsewhere, the company also supported magnetotelluric (MT) surveying by the University of Adelaide and the Geological Survey of South Australia on its tenement area, which resulted in the discovery of the Jupiter MT anomaly target, a greenfield exploration play based on a prominent vertical conductive zone.
A former Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh has denied allegations of seizing the mining license of Kingston Okomeng Kissi, a former Board Chairman of the Precious Minerals and Marketing Company (PMMC).



Okomeng Kissi is alleged to have accused the former Lands Minister of cancelling his mining license whilst speaking on Accra-based radio station, Oman FM, aired on Net2 TV on the May 5, 2021.



Asomah-Kyeremeh, however, says he has never cancelled nor taken away Okomeng Kissis mining license as he (Kissi) alleges and will not be distracted by such baseless allegations with intentions to tarnish his hard-earned reputation.



For him, the allegation is politically motivated, to demonise his tenure in office as the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.



Asomah-Kyeremeh through his counsel, Kwabena Asare Atuah in a statement dated May 28, 2021, said the allegations and The actions of Kingston Okomeng Kissi is just to paint my client black before government and the party.



He added, This story is one of the unfortunate stories to tarnish the image of my client in the public domain. Kingston Okomeng Kissis claims are untrue and a total fabrication coming at a time my client is no longer in office.



Mr Atuah explained that the facts are rather that my client met with Kingston Okomeng Kissi at the office of the Chief of Staff once to discuss Kingston Okomeng Kissis claim of ownership of that site and that after the said meeting, Mr Asomah-Kyeremeh tasked the Minerals Commission to look into the matter.



That, he noted, The report from the Minerals Commission indicated that the area was encumbered and belonged to someone else who had secured all documentation.



For Atuah, the former Lands and Natural Resources Minister did not play any role to take Okomeng Kissis mining licence, challenging him to produce any documentation contrary to the report of the Minerals Commission.



We therefore ask Kingston Okomeng Kissi to produce whatever documents he (Kingston Okomeng Kiss) has showing that the area belonged to him (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) for which he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) claims my client took away, he stated.



He further added, As a miner, Kingston Okomeng Kissi has to know that a legitimate claim to a lease of license can only be proved by a valid mining lease.



Mr Atuah said any interested party in the case can seek for further details on the issues from the Minerals Commission, which is the custodian of all leases and documents relating to mining.



Read below the statement by the Counsel for Lawyer Asomah-Cheremeh



28TH DAY OF MAY, 2021



SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT



Respectfully, I act as Counsel for Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh (hereinafter referred to as my client) upon whose instructions I write this statement.



My clients attention has been drawn to an audio circulating on social media and other media platforms where the former Board Chair of Precious Minerals and Marketing Company (PMMC) and the Eastern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Mr. Kingston Okomeng Kissi in an interview on Oman Fm and aired on Net2 TV on the 5th day of May, 2021 where he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) stated that, my client Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh then Minsiter for Lands and Natural Resources cancelled and took away the renewal of the mining lease of Kingston Okomeng Kissi and gave it out to other persons/entities.



Kingston Okomeng Kissi further claimed that when the documents were done, it was posted or pasted on the Nkawkaw Municipal Assemblys notice board. The MCE wrote to the Minerals Commission that the said particular area on the documents belonged to someone so it cannot be given to another person. Kingston Okomeng Kissi further stated that he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) went to the office of my client with a petition and documents purporting that he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) owns the said area. The NDC could not take that particular area from him (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) but rather my client has taken away his (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) mining lease.



Kingston Okomeng Kissi further stated that the matter appeared before the Chief of Staff and same was deliberated upon for about ten (10) times and the Chief of Staff asked my client to give back the licence to Kingston Okomeng Kissi but my client refused.



My client wants to state emphatically that he has never cancelled nor taken away Kingston Okomeng Kissis licence as he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) claims.



The true facts are rather that my client met with Kingston Okomeng Kissi at the office of the Chief of Staff once to discuss Kingston Okomeng Kissis claim of ownership of that site.



My client tasked the Minerals Commission to look into the matter. The report from the Minerals Commission revealed that the area was encumbered and belonged to someone else who had already secured all necessary documentations.



We therefore ask Kingston Okomeng Kissi to produce whatever documents he (Kingston Okomeng Kiss) has showing that the area belonged to him (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) for which he (Kingston Okomeng Kissi) claims my client took away. As a miner, Kingston Okomeng Kissi has to know that a legitimate claim to a lease of licence can only be proved by a valid mining lease. Also, the law enjoins the regulatory body to ensure that mining is done in accordance with the terms of the lease or licence.



My client has not done what Kingston Okomeng Kissi is imputing to him as my client was very much aware it was unlawful and illegal to do that. This story is one of the unfortunate stories to tarnish the image of my client in the public domain. Kingston Okomeng Kissis claims are untrue and a total fabrication coming at a time my client is no longer in office.



The actions of Kingston Okomeng Kissi is just to paint my client black before government and the party. Kingston Okomeng Kissi should not forget that it took the collective responsibilities of party officers like Regional Chairmen to work tirelessly to bring the party into power. My client as a former Regional Chairman for the then Brong Ahafo Region cannot and will not treat Kingston Okomeng Kissi the manner he Kingston Okomeng Kissi is claiming against my client.



Thank you.



.

KWABENA ASARE ATUAH

COUNSEL FOR KWAKU ASOMAH-CHEREMEH





Source: graphiconline.com









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The founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Temitope Balogun Joshua, popularly known as TB Joshua has died.



The famous Nigerian preacher and televangelist was said to have passed on, on Saturday morning at the age of 57.



The Church, in a statement issued on its website, confirmed the news of his passing in a statement but did not state the cause of his death.



God has taken His servant Prophet TB Joshua home  as it should be by divine will. His last moments on earth were spent in the service of God. This is what he was born for, lived for and died for, it stated.



It however expressed gratitude to all well-wishers and sympathisers for their love, prayers and concern in the aftermath of the news and requested privacy for his family.



Detailing events prior to his death, the Church noted that On Saturday, June 5, 2021, Prophet TB Joshua spoke during the Emmanuel TV Partners Meeting: Time for everything  time to come here for prayer and time to return home after the service.



The Prophet says the greatest way to use life is to spend it on something that will outlive it, the statement added.



The Church further extolled virtues of the late TB Joshua saying that he is leaving a legacy of service and sacrifice to Gods Kingdom that is living for generations yet unborn. The prophets last words were Watch and pray.



Moments after the news broke, some followers of the Nigerian preacher took to social media to express their shock at the news as well as extended their message of condolences.



Others also shared their experiences with the preacher who was loved and at the same time widely regarded as controversial.



Meanwhile, The Cable, a Nigerian online news portal, has reported that the late preacher suffered a stroke two months ago.



It said TB Joshua was flown to Turkey to undergo treatment after he suffered a stroke two months ago.



It noted that the famous prophet was airlifted with an air ambulance from Nigeria to Turkey to receive treatment as his condition was dire and recently returned to Nigeria after treatment.



TB Joshuas Ministry is globally recognised through his television platform, Emmanuel TV, run by the church as one of Nigerias biggest Christian broadcast stations available worldwide on digital and terrestrial switches.



It publishes regular occurrences of divine miracles and numerous videos claiming to document the healing of incurable disabilities and illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, blindness and open wounds.

Source: The Ghanaian Times









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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Groupe Nduom (GN) companies are pursuing multiple legal actions to collect funds from organizations who have defaulted in paying back funds provided to them to engage in various productive activities in the country, Today can report

Our investigations showed that five (5) law firms had in the past three years been working to document, verify and process transactions between GN companies such as BlackShield/Gold Coast Fund Management and Gold Coast Advisors among others. Some of these lawsuits are nearing the stage where judgment could be given by judges sitting in various courts across the country.



A representative of GN who in an interview with Today spoke on the condition of anonymity recalled that in 2019, the company published in the paper and other publications the names of debtors and gave notice for the individuals and companies to make contact to discuss repayment of the funds they took to engage in their various enterprises and projects.



Our further checks revealed that a small number went voluntarily to negotiate payment schedules.

Sensing that others wanted to take undue advantage of the challenging situation the GN companies had been put under, the directors engaged the services of law firms to use the legal system to force collections of amounts due, the GN representative said.



The organizations, the GN representative said, included various government agencies and private companies in health care, insurance, construction, warehousing and distribution, financial houses including savings and loans, microfinance, fund managers and others.



According to the GN spokesman, most of the organizations h failed to file defenses in court and had used various delay tactics to prolong the cases.



In one instance, the GN spokesperson said, a contractor on a government project used the public airwaves to deny owing anything but turned around in private to beg for forgiveness. That case is still in court. The Office of the Attorney General has been representing some of the state agencies named in the lawsuits, the GN representative said.



The important fact in all of these cases, is that these are funds that belong to customers who invested their hard-earned monies with GN companies, particularly BlackShield/Gold Coast Fund Management, the GN spokesperson added.



Today further gathered that about sixty percent (60%) of the funds were due from government agencies that gave legitimate infrastructure project contracts to Ghanaian contractors prior to 2017 and gave an undertaking to pay the financiers.



Readers will recall that in the midst of the liquidity crisis faced by BlackShield, the management pleaded in writing with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to intervene with the Ministry of Finance and help collect monies due only to be told by a deputy director-general in a radio interview that ...SEC is not a debt collector.



GN, according to its representative, has resolved to put all the funds collected from the debtors after paying legal and related expenses into an account in trust for its customers.



Some judgments are expected in the month of June. The company also believes that there has been a deliberate agenda that has been implemented over the past four years to deny its related companies of the liquidity they need to meet their obligations, the GN top manager said.



When pressed, the GN spokesman estimated the amounts to be collected including accrued interest to be close to five (5) billion Ghana Cedis.



The spokesperson promised that a list will soon be published of those who owe monies and are hiding behind the revocation of licenses and challenges faced by some GN companies and using these as reasons not to pay up.



The spokesman was clear with the fact that GN directors and shareholders have had enough of the name of the companies being dragged in the mud by state and private players.



They were particularly incensed by the deliberate and calculated statement about GN engaging in money laundering promising the beginning of legal actions against those who continue to spread such falsehoods.



Source: Atta KWAKU BOADI









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Nigerian broadcast journalist and media personality Sandra Ezekwesili has attacked the legacy of the Late Prophet TB Joshua. She called him an irresponsible leader who was toxic and exploitative.



Sandra Ezekwesili (OAP) took to her official Twitter handle to call out the ministry of the late Prophet TB Joshua. According to her, he was an irresponsible leader who did not walk in the footsteps of Christ. She wrote,  TB Joshua was reportedly ill and went to the hospital. Did he teach his numerous followers to try hospitals and not abandon their medications for his holy water and anointing oil? His ministry did a lot of damage. Any conversation that doesnt include that is dishonest.



I said what I said. Man was irresponsible as a leader, did not walk in the footsteps of Christ. And his ministry was toxic and exploitative. Death doesnt erase that. I had nothing good to say about him while he lived, I wont start now because he is dead, she continued.





Famous televangelist, T. B. Joshua reportedly flew to Turkey for stroke treatment 2 months ago

Prophet T. B. Joshua, a famous Nigerian preacher, televangelist, and founder of Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) is reported to have suffered a stroke two months ago before his death on Sunday.



According to The Cable, a Nigerian online news portal, 57-year-old Temitope Balogun Joshua was flown to Turkey to undergo treatment after he suffered a stroke two months ago.



T. B. Joshua, it said was airlifted with an air ambulance from Nigeria to Turkey to receive treatment as his condition was dire.

The Cable said, the controversial pastor recently returned to Nigeria after treatment.

The Church confirmed the news of his passing in a statement on Sunday morning, six days to the birthday of the pastor born in 1963.



According to the SCOAN, On Saturday 5th June 2021, Prophet TB Joshua spoke during the Emmanuel TV Partners Meeting: Time for everything  time to come here for prayer and time to return home after the service.



It regrettably announced that God has taken His servant Prophet TB Joshua home  as it should be by divine will. His last moments on earth were spent in the service of God. This is what he was born for, lived for and died for.



It added, As Prophet TB Joshua says, The greatest way to use life is to spend it on something that will outlive it.



The Church extolled his virtues, stressing he is leaving a legacy of service and sacrifice to Gods Kingdom that is living for generations yet unborn.



According to SCOAN, the prophets last words were Watch and pray.



Thanking all well-wishers and sympathisers for their love, prayers and concern at such a difficult time, it requested privacy for his family.



The cause of death of the 57-year-old was not disclosed.













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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Stakeholders at Ekumfi in the Central Region have been schooled in the importance of census and the need for residents to get ready to be counted for credible data to facilitate the countrys development.



Participants in the programme, comprising traditional leaders, the Clergy, youth groups, civil society organisations, law enforcement agencies, market women, driver unions and assembly members were sensitised to the Ghana Statistical Services preparedness towards the census.



Countdown



The countdown to the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHS) Night in the District was launched at Essarkyir, the district capital, with the slogan: You Count, Get Counted.



The District Chief Executive for Ekumfi, Mr Bernard Bright Grant, said the census would be the first to use tablets and the Internet to provide the country with credible data for policy making and development.



He said to ensure that no one was left behind, the census would cover all persons in the district, including the less privileged and the disadvantaged in all communities.



"It behoves us as a people, both Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians in the country on the census night (Sunday, June 27), to be ready to welcome the census officials into our communities to provide the necessary information to the enumerators, he said.



Update



The District Census Chairman, Reverend Dr Mark Nii Lamptey, said persons and structures in the country would be counted to provide updated information for the socio-economic, demographic and housing conditions of the population.



He said as a result, from June 13 to 20, enumerators would visit to write serial numbers on the walls to identify structures and those without numbers by June 20 must get the centres informed.



For his part, the District Census Implementation Committee Chairman, Mr Prince Kwame Newman, pledged the assembly's commitment to addressing the various data gaps needed for effective planning of sectoral programmes at the district level.



"Lets all be ambassadors of the exercise by disseminating the message and knowledge we have acquired in connection with the census to our community members to fully support the assembly for a successful 2021 Population and Housing Census," he said.













Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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New transport fares following the 13 per cent increment took off almost seamlessly last Saturday. During a visit to a number of lorry stations and transport terminals, the Daily Graphic observed reasonably healthy interactions between transport operators and passengers.



It was also observed that the new fares, as released by the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC), had been posted on notice boards to inform passengers.



That helped to avert possible agitation and the heated arguments that arise between passengers and conductors (drivers mates) of public transport, also known as trotros, and other forms of public transport.



The Daily Graphic team, made up of Daniel Kenu, Vincent Amenuveve, Justice Agbenorsi, Augustina Dzodzegbe and Felicia Kwarteng, observed that most passengers had resigned themselves to paying the new fares and came prepared with small denominations and even coins just to pay the right fare and avoid being overcharged.



New fares



The new fares, as announced by the council last Tuesday, to take effect from June 5, cover intra-city commercial vehicles, popularly known as trotro, shared taxis and long-distance vehicles.



The council is made up of all transport operators in Ghana, including the unions and associations, other locally based associations and other operators (both passenger and road haulers).



The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), the main body that controls public transport, explained that the increase was to accommodate the increase in fuel prices announced in May 2021, after long negotiations with stakeholders.



According to a new list of fares released by the GPRTU, a distance which usually cost GH5 will now cost GH5.70, GH3 will now cost GH3.40.



A long-distance fare of GH40 will now cost GH45, while a distance which used to cost GH100 will now cost GH113.



Observation



Although the implementation was generally peaceful, there were pockets of arguments on some vehicles, as some mates tried to charge more than the 13 per cent, which elicited some reactions from passengers.



Also, while some transport operators decided to charge the new fares from last Friday evening, instead of Saturday morning, others, mostly intra-city commercial vehicle drivers, said they would effect the increment from today.



In Bolga, taxi drivers were yet to charge the new fares as of yesterday for fear of losing their passengers, as their business was already struggling to attract patronage.



Accra



Justice Agbenorsi reports that the team observed that some bus conductors had inflated the transport fare above the 13 per cent increment.



For instance, the transport fare from Kpogas on the Giffard road to the 37 commercial bus station was previously GH2, and based on the press release from the transport operators, the new fare should be GH2.30.



However, some drivers charged GH2.50, and that caused some friction between passengers and the conductors, but the passengers ended up paying the GH2.50, as the drivers refused to continue the journey if they did not pay.



Other drivers also printed the press release and posted it in their vehicles for passengers to refer to the new fare increment to avoid any misunderstanding and argument.



Not enough prompting



At the Kasoa to Cape Coast Station, Felicia Kwarteng reports that most passengers said they were not aware that the new fares were taking effect from that day, for which reason they were not prepared to pay the new fares.



They said they expected the new fares to take effect from today, June 7, to allow for more information since the announcement.



Madam Abena Dapaah, a parent travelling to visit the son at the Cape Coast school for the deaf and blind, said she was not aware the new fares took off from Saturday, and that she could only afford the old fare of GH23.



I am aware fares have been increased, but I have no idea they take effect from today. I actually thought it was going to start on Monday. Now as it stands, I can only afford the old fare of GH23 and not the new one of G26, she said.



At the VIP Station, Mr Amos Mensah, a ticket seller, told the Daily Graphic that so far there had been no misunderstanding among passengers, as the new fares were boldly posted at the ticket area for customers to refer to them before buying their tickets.



The GPRTU Chairman at the Tema station at Tudu, Mr Amidu Gyahu, told the Daily Graphic that the association had the interest of its drivers at heart and so it had printed and photocopied the new fares and asked each driver to post a copy in his vehicle, so passengers would not fight over the fares.



Drivers happy, passengers not



From Sekondi-Takoradi, Augustina Dzodzegbe reports that the increment has been received as welcome news by commercial drivers, while it has caused agitation among commuters in the metropolis.



At the Abenbebom bus terminal, the fare for air-conditioned buses from Takoradi to Kumasi is now GH57, against the previous fare of GH49, while buses without air-condition from Takoradi to Kumasi which charged GH44 now take GH49, in compliance with the agreed percentage.



A check with Intercity STC from Sekondi-Takoradi to Accra indicated an increment from GH42 to Gh47 per passenger.



For intra-city commercial vehicles, from Effiakuma to market circle is now GH2; from market circle to Apremdo is now GH2.30, while from new site to Sekondi is now GH2.50.



At the GPRTU office, a "bookman", Mr Ebenezer Donkor, said currently they had not increased their fares due to the high level of competition around them.



"We have a lot of buses plying Accra lately, with fewer demands, so we are still waiting to hear from our people at the Accra office before implementing the increase," he said.



Ahead of time



From Kumasi, Daniel Kenu, reports that even before last Saturday, some drivers had subtly increased their fares and so to some commuters it was not new.



The difference ranges between 20Gp and GH10, but for some, especially market women, it was such a great deal.



"The difference may look small, but, cumulatively, it's quite high. The multiplier effect on goods and services will be really felt in the coming days," Rose Marfo, a social worker who commutes between Abuakwa and Adum daily, told Daily Graphic.



A number of drivers, however, still believe the fares needed to be adjusted again because the cost of everything, including spare parts, have shot up dramatically.



"Fuel prices keep going up each day. By next week, the new increment at the pumps will render this new transport fares ineffective," Jones Acquah, a commercial driver who plies between Adum and Tech, said.



Taxis stick to old fares



From Bolgatanga, Vincent Amenuveve reports that while some lorry stations have increased fares, others are reluctant to increase the fares for fear of losing passengers.



At the Main Bolgatanga lorry station, for instance, drivers plying the Bolgatanga-Sirigu stretch are still charging the old fares.



They charge GH10 for taxis and GH8 for trotros.



A driver at the Sirigu lorry station, Mr Anonsoe Akobulgo, said they were charging the old fares because they were afraid of losing passengers.



He explained that there was the need for the government to reduce fuel prices and fix the deplorable roads in the Sirigu area.



He indicated that they were not making profit because of the high fuel prices, bad roads and high cost of spare parts.



A passenger, Mr Ignatius Akolbire, appealed to the government to rather consider reducing fuel prices to ameliorate the suffering of those in the rural communities.



He observed that when fuel prices were reduced, it would impact positively on the living conditions of the ordinary Ghanaian, particularly those in northern Ghana.



Other fares



Meanwhile, at the Bolgatanga-Tamale lorry station, fares have been increased.



Mini vans are now charging GH35, while small cars are charging GH 40. The old fares were GH30 and GH35, respectively.



Buses loading passengers from Bolgatanga to Kumasi at the Bolgatanga main lorry station have also increased fares from GH80 to GH90.



Internally, the Mahama-can-dos are now charging GH2, up from the GH1.50 that was being charged.









Source: graphiconline.com









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Former President John Dramani Mahama, has eulogized late former President Jerry John Rawlings for his generational influence on Ghanaians, on the 42nd Anniversary of the June 4th Uprising.



"He was a key influence on Ghana's history for the two decades straddling the late 70s till year 2000."



He said, "For the first time, the people of Ghana, comrades, supporters and sympathizers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will commemorate the June 4 Uprising without the inspirational and arresting physical presence of the Founder of our party, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings (rtd.), our former President, who departed from us last year."



He informed that the June 4 Uprising was an epochal event that represents a major landmark in our nation's existence.



He noted that together with its sister event, the 31st December Revolution, the two shaped the course of Ghana's history resulting in a turnaround in Ghana's economic fortunes and the advent of the 4th Republic.



"Forty-two years on, our economy and democracy are in dire straits," former President Mahama said.



"Economic hardship, insecurity, political and ethnic polarization, deepening inequality, politicization of our democratic institutions, corruption, serious problems in the education and health sectors are challenges Ghanaians are confronted with in our daily lives."



He said this had led to a crisis of confidence in the political leadership, adding that Ghana was a country with exceptional human talent.



"Time is ticking fast and yet we can make things right if we work as one nation with a common destiny. As I have said in the past, broad consultations and consensus building do not take anything away from a leader," former President Mahama said.



He said broad consultations that brought the best and brightest together with stakeholders could forge consensus around issues such as economic recovery strategy, or implementational challenges of Free SHS in the national interest.



He informed that the values June 4 espoused some four decades ago, remained as relevant today as ever before in our nations democratic journey.



"June 4 engendered hope in our people that the ills of our society would be rooted out and replaced with values of virtue and honesty," he said.



"If we must get our people to hope again and to trust in our institutions and government, then we must encourage fearless honesty as enjoined by our national anthem.



"We must embrace and be guided by truth, transparency, probity and accountability  principles that have been bequeathed unto us, which are the bedrock upon which our nation, undoubtedly, will become great, strong, resilient and prosperous.



"We must encourage freedom of thought and expression rather than a culture of hypocrisy and silence."

Source: GNA









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This aligns with the scale, timeline and downstream market opportunities for green hydrogen projects under consideration, both in the Asia Pacific and Europe.

A 430-tonne CH-2 carrier will help Global Energy capitalise on green hydrogen opportunities in Europe and Australia.

Global Energy Ventures Ltd (ASX:GEV) (FRA:WS9) has started developing a pilot-scale compressed hydrogen (C-H2) cargo ship to capitalise on green hydrogen opportunities across Europe and the Asia Pacific.

The new vessel, able to carry 430 tonnes of C-H2, will be a scaled version of a planned 2,000-tonne cargo ship, which was approved for development in March this year.

Ultimately, the 430-tonne vessel will enable Global Energy to meet a key target: host an operating fleet of CH-2 carriers by the mid-2020s.

More broadly, a new carrier will position the ASX-lister to facilitate supply and demand for green hydrogen between 2025 and 2030  making this a world-first for scale hydrogen transportation by sea.

The new ship is forecast to enter construction in 2023 and first operate during the mid-2020s.

Paving the way

Global Energy managing director and CEO Martin Carolan said: GEVs design and development strategy for the 2,000-tonne ship proved that large commercial scale C-H2 ships are possible and paved the way for the development of a pilot-scale version.

The 430-tonne ship is an ideal size to meet the needs of the current emerging H2 marine transportation industry and will ensure we establish ourselves in the marine transportation of green hydrogen.

A pilot-scale ship will be complementary to partner discussions and GEVs target to develop a fully integrated green hydrogen supply chain from Northern Australia.

A new deal

Todays announcement comes just one week after Global Energy signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Germanys ILF Consulting Engineers.

Under the agreement, both parties have committed to identify and develop green hydrogen projects in Europe and Australia that involve a CH-2 shipping solution.

ILF will also design export and import infrastructure to help load and unload the gas between destinations, while Global Energy will transport green hydrogen from port to port.

A conceptual Illustration that indicates the scope of GEVs C-H2 Supply Chain.

Carolan said: GEV has identified Europe as a key market for the companys C-H2 shipping and supply chain with the renewable energy sector growing at a rapid rate for some years.

The MOU with ILF will establish GEVs launch into Europe with one of the worlds leading engineering firms with expertise in the design and implementation of green hydrogen projects.

This MOU is valid until the end of next year, although it can be extended with both parties consent.

Opportunity in the EU

According to Global Energy, up to 85% of the worlds proposed green hydrogen projects are in Europe, with a large pipeline of gigawatt-scale assets all slated to reach operation by 2030.

In order to meet net-zero emissions targets by 2050, the European Union (EU) plans to establish 40 gigawatts of its own green hydrogen production capacity and secure the option to import another 40 gigawatts from outside the EU.

ILF business development manager Jens Kottsieper said he saw Australia as an important supplier of green hydrogen and there was a need to ship hydrogen to Europe on a large scale.

Transporting large quantities of gases has been a topic that has kept us busy for over 50 years.

We are glad to be able to complement our pipeline and hydrogen expertise with GEV's expertise in low-cost transport by ship.

With our joint support, gas really does flow.

As it progresses development and explores opportunities for green hydrogen transportation across Europe and Australia, Global Energys leadership has promised to provide more details on key milestones in the coming quarters.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Atta Mills Institute, Samuel Koku Anyidoho claims under the John Dramani Mahama-led NDC government, the Asomdwee Park where former President Atta Mills was buried, was virtually a residence for miscreants.



According to him, after the burial of former President Atta Mills at the Asomdwee Park, the place was abandoned by his Vice President [John Mahama] who took over from him.



We heard that the Asomdwee Park has become a wee smoking place for some people. And also one will go and find used condoms over there. Some people practically lived at the Asomdwee Park; it became their residence and they do everything over theresome people also turned the Asomdwee Park their place of convenience. This happened 2 to 3 years after the burial of President Atta Mills, he disclosed.



Speaking on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, the founder of Atta Mills Institute noted that it had to take the personal intervention of some NDC stalwarts, including himself, to tidy up the place every year.



When President Atta Mills died, an NDC Government took over from him; how come that an NDC government left the Asomdwee Park in that state? When Atta Mills died, he was succeeded by his Vice President as the next President and how come Asomdwee Park after 2 to 3 years was in that state?, he wondered.



President Mills died in the afternoon, by the evening, his Vice President was sworn-in and 4 and a half years, why did you leave the Asomdwee Park in that state? The NDC Government...my own government didnt do anything about the place, he chided.



While commending the Akufo-Addo led NPP administration for restoring the Asomdwee Park to a befitting burial grounds for an ex-president, Mr Anyidoho believed next year's commissioning of the late Mills' resting place will be grand. And this is why.



I believe that next year when Atta Mills will be 10 years after death, President Akufo-Addo should be able to go to the Asomdwee Park to commission it ....it will be one of the best monuments Ghana will ever have and I will be proud as the Founder-CEO of the Atta Mills Institute to stand side-by-side with President Akufo-Addo to commission the Asomdwee Park. I will be remembered by grandchildren that I did something great for the nation, he posited.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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North Tongu Lawmaker, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has asked the public to ignore claims that the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin has rejected his question on the travel expenses of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.



Mr Ablakwa described such reports as fake for which must be ignored. He had accused President Akufo-Addo of engaging in extravagant travels.



He said he has filed an urgent question in Parliament over the presidents travels.



There were reports that the Speaker has rejected the questions he filed.



But in a tweet on Monday June 7, he said Kindly disregard and treat with contempt the fake news in circulation claiming that Rt Honuorable Speaker has rejected my urgent questions to the Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance on the state of the presidential jet and the total cost of President Akyufo-Addos recent profligate luxury travels to France, Belgium, and South Africa respectively.



He alleged that Mr Akufo-Addo spent an amount of GHS 2.8 million on his recent travels to only South Africa and France using the services of a private jet.



The Airbus ACJ320neo owned by Acropolis Aviation based in Farnborough, UK and registered as G-KELT, is the most luxurious and the most expensive in the Acropolis fleet. The manufacturers describe it as the most outstanding ambassador for Airbus Corporate Jets. It costs the Ghanaian taxpayer approximately 15,000 an hour when President Akufo-Addo rents it, he alleged in a post on Facebook.



Lets further analyze President Akufo-Addos latest trip to Europe: per Flightradar24, the G-KELT aircraft left Accra with the President to Paris on the 16th of May  a 6 and half hour duration. Airlifted the President from Paris to Johannesburg for 11 hours on the 23rd of May.



Then Johannesburg to Accra on the 25th of May was a five and half hour flight. This gives us accumulated flight travel of 23 hours; so at 15,000 an hour, it thus cost us a colossal 345,000. At the current exchange rate, that is a staggering GHS2,828,432.80, he posted.



Source: twitter/3news.com









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A Member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Communication Team, Benjamin Essuman has said that the only way governments flagship Free Senior High School (FSHS) policy could remain meaningful is a holistic review of the policy.



Speaking to Bonohene Baffour Awuah on Ghana Kasa on Kasapa 102.5 FM, Mr. Essuman said the Free SHS policy is bedevilled with challenges because the government failed to employ strategic planning with the implementation of the policy.



If we decide not to review the FSHS policy then we are doing disservice to ourselves. The first period of every governmental policy we notice mistakes that must be corrected. Even as I talk to you the Catholic Bishop Conference, National Association of Graduate Teachers, Conference of Heads of Assistant of Senior High Schools have all called for a review of the FSHS, he disclosed.



He further stated that the government is facing challenges because of the rash in implementing the policy against the advice of the former Defence Minister, Dr Addo Kuffour who told the government to be patient.



The FSHS policy is currently sick and the government must know this. If government dont recognise this fact, then the policy cannot have the necessary improvement needed for it to get better. The admission that the system is sick is the beginning of the healing process for the policy, Mr. Essuman noted.



He alleged that Deputy Minister-Designate for Finance, Abena Osei Asare is on record to have admitted that government must extend its hand to donor countries and borrow from them in order to keep the policy in the system.



This exposes the fact that the government does not have the needed cash to run its flagship FSHS policy. The money is not available. So the government can only borrow to keep it running, he reiterated.



The NPP Communicator on the Ghana Kasa show, Alhaji Abi in a sharp rebuttal said the NDC has no moral right to criticise the policy because they had no belief in the policy to see the light of day.



So let us not dwell on the negativities, because the government is building additional structures. We have employed eight thousand teachers to help existing teachers and keep the policy running, he added.



Government has committed to spending more than GHC1.5 billion on educational infrastructure across the country in order to end the controversial Double-track system under the Free Senior High School programme by 2024.



Addressing a press conference on Sunday, June 7, 2021 in Accra, the Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum said government is on track to phase out the system.



We are going to live within the President promise of between 5 and 7 years to eliminate double-track. The President has committed to that and hes doing that. Talk about infrastructure, GHC1.5billion potentially available for school construction has seen buildings in schools across the country, he stated.







Source: kasapafmonline.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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Ghanaian actor, John Dumelo has resurrected the campaign to make the buying and smoking of marijuana legal in the country.

The entrepreneur in a Twitter post, Sunday stated that he finds it hard to accept that citizens can buy and smoke cigarettes but cannot do same for marijuana.



In Ghana, its legal to buy and smoke cigarettes. How come its illegal to buy and smoke marijuana? he tweeted.



The smoking of Marijuana continues to remain illegal in Ghana. However, in march, 2020, parliament passed into law the Narcotics Control Commission Bill 2019, legalising the growing of some cannabis for health purposes.

See his tweet below;



In Ghana, its legal to buy and smoke cigarettes. How come its illegal to buy and smoke marijuana?

 MrDumelo (@johndumelo1) June 6, 2021







Source: twitter









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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London Police investigate the scene of a car crash in London, Ontario on Monday, June 7, 2021. Police in London, Ont., say four people have died after several pedestrians were struck by a car Sunday night. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins
Brayden Bushby, right, departs the courthouse with a police officer after his sentencing hearing after being found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Barbara Kentner, in Thunder Bay, Ont., on Wednesday February 17, 2021. The man who pitched a trailer hitch at an Indigenous woman from a moving car in Thunder Bay, Ont., has been sentenced to eight years in prison. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Jackson
Brayden Bushby, left, departs the courthouse with his mother after his sentencing hearing after being found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Barbara Kentner, in Thunder Bay, Ont., Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. Bushby will appear in Thunder Bay, Ont., court, where Justice Helen Piece is set to deliver her sentencing decision. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Jackson
The proposed transaction will materially expand the companys footprint of small-to-medium and residential customers across Australia and will see the company migrate approximately 5,250 new business customers to its platform.

Consideration for the proposed acquisition of part of the Direct Business is $31 million.

( ) has signed a conditional non-binding term sheet with MNF Group Limited ( ) to acquire part of that groups Direct Business.

The news was cheered by investors, pushing the companys shares as much as 17% higher to 17 cents in intra-day trade on Monday.

This proposed transaction has been described by the company as being transformational as it is expected to deliver considerable scale with more than 5,250 new business customers and more than 100 new Australian telco channel partners.

It is also expected to almost double Vonexs annualised recurring revenue on a full-year basis to $32 million and will add approximately $5 million in EBITDA.

The Direct Business, which will be acquired by Vonex, delivered revenue of $15.6 million in 2020 of which around 89% was derived from the business segment and about 11% from the residential segment.

Meaningful national footprint

Vonex managing director Matt Fahey said: "We would be delighted to welcome MNF's Direct Business and its customers to the Vonex group.

As the new 'work from home' paradigm has become part of life for more Australians, we have increasingly focused on providing Australian SMEs with telco services that are reliable, affordable, flexible and scalable.

Migrating and integrating the Direct Business with our own will bring us a meaningful national footprint and help us to gain the scale through which we can continue to deliver strong value to customers and investors."

Strategic rationale

MNFs Direct Business sells cloud phone, internet and mobile services directly to SMEs and residential customers in Australia, as well as dedicated audio and video conferencing business.

This proposed transaction will materially expand Vonex's footprint of small-to-medium and residential customers across Australia and will see the company migrate approximately 5,250 new business customers to its platform.

The companys demonstrated capability in migrating and servicing hosted PBX customers makes the company a natural owner of the direct business.

This proposed transaction would also significantly strengthen Vonex's channel partner network, bringing more than 100 experienced new channel partners through which the company can reach new customers.

The business would add to Vonexs existing Sydney presence and provide the opportunity to leverage its proven sales and marketing processes in Melbourne, and it will also introduce several cross-sell opportunities for the complementary product.

Consideration and funding

The proposed consideration for the acquisition is $31 million payable in cash, comprising $20 million upfront on completion and $11 million in deferred consideration payable in 12 monthly instalments post-completion.

Vonex will also benefit from $1 million in wholesale credit returning to its account.

The company and MNF Group plan to sign the asset sale agreement in July 2021 with completion expected to take place on July 31, 2021.

Vonex intends to fund the upfront consideration primarily from a new debt facility and through its existing cash reserves.

It also intends to fund the deferred consideration utilising cash flow generated from the combined businesses, supplemented through the raising of incremental debt and/or equity capital as required.

In line with strategy

MNF Group CEO Rene Sugo said: The divestment of these direct businesses is in line with our strategy to simplify MNFs business and drive growth in Communications Platform as a Service (CPaas) and Unified Communications as a service (UCaaS) service.

Importantly, funds from the sale will be reinvested into our growing wholesale business and our expansion offshore.

Vonex has been a long-term partner to MNF Group and we have been very impressed with their technical capability and detailed migration plan.

This was a significant factor in our decision to select Vonex to acquire the Direct Business.
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The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Philadelphia Tribune
A financial incentive has been launched with the goal of motivating Philadelphia residents to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Through the Philly Vax Sweepstakes, 36 vaccinated Philadelphians who are 18 and older will win prizes of up to $50,000, totaling nearly $400,000 in giveaways. In each of the three drawings on June 21, July 6 and July 19, six individuals will win $1,000; four will win $5,000 and two will win $50,000.

This exciting initiative offers an opportunity to reward Philadelphians who have already been vaccinated while also motivating those who havent yet, Mayor Jim Kenney said.

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Were incredibly proud of our extensive efforts to vaccinate our residents and that more than two-thirds of Philadelphia adults have received their first dose. The vaccine is critical to protecting us from COVID-19, getting back to the things weve missed, and safely reigniting our economy.

Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, acting commissioner of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health said shes seen the vaccination rates of other cities jump after holding similar lotteries and sweepstakes.

This program offers that chance to Philadelphia  the chance to get the people who are still thinking about getting vaccinated to come out and get their shots, she said.

We are absolutely committed to reaching Philadelphia residents wherever they live and making sure that no one is left behind as we move from a time of fear, sickness and death into the safer future that awaits us, Bettigole said.

And that is the reason were so excited to be a part of todays sweepstakes announcement, because every single way to make this process easier and more attractive means more Philadelphians vaccinated and more people safe and protected against this pandemic.

Financial support for the sweepstakes and related research is being provided by the University of Pennsylvania through the Wharton School, the Behavior Change for Good Initiative, the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, and Flu Lab.

We designed the sweepstakes to try to encourage as many Philadelphians are possible to get vaccinated but with a particular emphasis on under-vaccinated communities, said Professor Katy Milkman of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

In each of the three sweepstakes drawings, one ZIP code from the 20 ZIP codes in Philadelphia with the lowest vaccination rates as of May 27 will be selected at random for extra prizes.

The idea is that all Philadelphians have a chance to win but if your ZIP code is selected your chances of winning a prize get a lot bigger, Milkman said.

For the first sweepstakes drawing on June 21, the selected ZIP code is 19126, which includes parts of East and West Oak Lane in North Philadelphia.

Bettigole said communities where there are low vaccination rates are the same areas that experienced higher hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19.

The Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium will be promoting the sweepstakes in the 20 targeted ZIP codes.

Dr. Ala Stanford, founder of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, said there is a correlation between these communities not having significant access to testing and contact tracing during the beginning of the pandemic and lower vaccination rates.

When we talk about prioritizing these ZIP codes, its a flip from a year ago because now were saying your vaccination rates have been low, we know that your communities have been hurting and we are going to make sure in this instance that we are prioritizing, she said.

I think that we all learned a lot from a year ago. Just by doing this a year later demonstrates that and so Im really looking forward to getting the word out in these priority ZIP codes.

Residents who would like to participate in the sweepstakes are encouraged to register to guarantee their eligibility: names will be drawn from a pool of those who register as well as those in an existing residential database. Philadelphians whose names are selected will be contacted, and if they are unvaccinated, a new winner will be selected.

People can register online at www.PhillyVaxSweeps.com, by phone at 877-642-5666 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and by texting Phillyvax to 215-608-9799.

The sweepstakes launch comes as 721,014 people in Philadelphia have been fully vaccinated and 920,227 have received at least one dose as of June 7, according to city data.
The company is encouraged by the initial success of the mapping program that confirms the presence of previously mapped nickel laterites in the tenement area as well as outside the boundary.

Ferruginous Siliceous Laterite at Kabulanywele Nickel Project in Mpanda district of Tanzania.

s ( ) exploration team has completed a comprehensive mapping program in conjunction with systematic soil and rock sampling across the Kabulanywele Nickel Project in the Mpanda district of Tanzania.

The mapping program has successfully confirmed the presence of previously mapped nickel laterites in the tenement area.

This work has confirmed the delineated laterite presence in an area of a total length of 2 kilometres with an average width of 0.8 kilometres.

The mapping program also identified the presence of laterites outside the current tenement boundary with the company applying for an additional prospecting licence to cover the newly identified laterite extension.

Exploration program

Kabulanywele Nickel Project is about 35 kilometres from the western shore of Lake Tanganyika and the area is part of the western limb of East African Rift systems.

A total of 264 soils and rock samples collected from the project area have been submitted to SGS Mwanza for assay preparation with final chemical assaying in SGSs South African laboratories and results are expected to be available within one month.

The exploration program was completed within the allocated budget and timeframe.

Resource Mining managing director Warwick Davies said: The initial results from our Tanzanian based exploration crew are very encouraging and reflect the confidence of the team in the prospectivity of the exploration area.

Geological mapping

The geological mapping program was concentrated in the area where historical exploration had identified the presence of nickel laterite mineralisation.

Continuous ferruginous siliceous laterites have been mapped in a hilly area which forms a three hill grouping.

Geological interpretation suggests the laterites resulted from the strongly weathered mafic-ultramafic layered intrusion.

The three hills extend for a length of 2 kilometres NW-SW direction with an average width of 0.8 kilometres.

Maximum thickness of laterisation was observed on the upper areas of the hills with laterite horizons thickness ranging between 20 35 metres.

New licence application

An application for a new additional prospecting licence has been made to cover the area where laterite mineralisation has been identified.

This licence application covers 0.27 square kilometres and essentially includes the majority of identified laterites outside the granted tenements.

Future work program

After receipt and review of the chemical assay results of the soils sampling program and assuming positive results, the company is planning to conduct an aircore drilling program to test any targets generated from the assay results.
Vincent "Moist" Huang Wins the High Rollers Week Event #2: GGMasters High Rollers ($141,384)

June 07, 2021 Jason Glatzer

GGPoker is celebrating its one year anniversary of its weekly $10,300 Super MILLION$ event in a huge way with High Rollers Week making its return on June 6-13.

The schedule boasts 27 action-packed events with a mouth-watering $15 million in guarantees. The highlight of the festival is easily the two-day $10,300 Super MILLION$ Anniversary, which features a massive $5 million guarantee.

Don't let the high buy-ins scare you off as you will have the opportunity to qualify at GGPoker via satellites and feeder tournaments for a fraction of the cost.

The opening day was huge with three players awarded titles and two others kicking off their opening flights. Vincent "Moist" Huang was the star of the day after shipping Event #2: $1,050 GGMasters High Rollers for $141,384.

Qualify to High Rollers Week at GGPoker

"CupidL4st" Wins High Rollers Week Event #1: $525 Bounty Hunters HR Main Event ($89,971); Felipe Ramos Takes Eighth

High Rollers Week kicked off with a bang at GGPoker with Event #1: $525 Bounty Hunters HR Main Event guaranteeing a whopping $1 million prize pool for a $525 buy-in.

Players turned out en masse to smash the guarantee with 2,226 entries generating a $1,113,000 prize pool with a total of 314 players cashing for at least a $701 min-cash in addition to any bounties collected along the way.

All eyes were on GGPoker Ambassador Felipe Ramos as he managed to navigate his way to the final table. Unfortunately for Ramos, he was unable to advance past eighth place. That being said, he did manage to parlay his $525 buy-in into a five-figure haul of $15,495 including $7,095 in bounties.

Marcelo Asensio (third - $35,562), "Kris_Petrova" (fourth - $43,523), Mario "NAlROBl" Del Valle (fifth - $35,603), Augusto "Betylafea" Hagen (sixth $15,077), and "Howzatt!" (seventh - $13,277) were all eliminated leaving Russia's "CupidL4st" and Stefan "Stiopata" Atanasov heads-up with both players locked in nearly $46,000 in prize money alone with a big bounty yet to play for.

"CupidL4st" came out on top to win the event for $89,971 while Atanasov padded his bankroll with a huge haul of $56,034.

Event #1: $525 Bounty Hunters HR Main Event Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize Bounty Total 1 CupidL4st Russia $45,965 $44,006 $89,971 2 Stefan "Stiopata" Atanasov Bulgara $45,851 $10,183 $56,034 3 Marcelo Asensio Brazil $33,593 $1,969 $35,562 4 Kris_Petrova Russia $24,582 $18,941 $43,523 5 Mario "NAlROBl" Del Valle Guatemala $17,988 $17,615 $35,603 6 Augusto "Betylafea" Hagen Argentina $13,163 $1,914 $15,077 7 Howzatt! India $9,632 $3,645 $13,277 8 Felipe Ramos Brazil $7,049 $8,446 $15,495 9 Majki365 Slovakia $5,158 $12,225 $17,383

Vincent "Moist" Huang Wins High Rollers Week Event #2: GGMasters High Rollers ($141,384)

The High Rollers Week Event #2: GGMasters High Rollers provided tons of value to those that cashed thanks to the 952 entries coming up $48,000 short on the generous $1 million guarantee.

Vincent "Moist" Huang won the event for a huge top prize of $141,384 after he defeated Fabio "TheBonas" Bonatto (second - $106,023) in heads-up play.

Jonathan Clark also joined this duo on the podium with a third-place performance worth $79,506 with other recognizable names including Luigi "shadinho94" Shehadeh (fourth - $59,621), Ravid "jerbi9999" Garbi (sixth - $33,528), Simone "spera91" Speranza (eighth - $18,854), and Alexandre "raking-even" Raymond (ninth - $14,138) also advancing to the final table four five-figure hauls.

High Rollers Week Event #2: GGMasters High Rollers Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Vincent "Moist" Huang Australia $141,384 2 Fabio "TheBonas" Bonatto Brazil $106,023 3 Jonathan Clark United Kingdom $79,506 4 Luigi "shadinho94" Shehadeh Italy $59,621 5 TheLuckster Japan $44,710 6 Ravid "jerbi9999" Garbi Israel $33,528 7 cbkme Canada $25,142 8 Simone "spera91" Speranza Italy $18,854 9 Alexandre "raking-even" Raymond Canada $14,138

Belarmino Souza Wins the High Rollers Week Event #4: $2,100 Omaholic Bounty ($77,132)

Belarmino Souza defeated Ami Barer (second $39,684) in heads-up play to win the High Rollers Week Event #4: $2,100 Omaholic Bounty for $77,132.

The event attracted 172 entries for a $344,000 prize pool to obliterate the event's $250,000 guarantee.

The final table was full of big names with Sebastian Trisch (third - $19,616), Bernardo "GGeKKo" Dias (fourth - $19,242), Marc "Face-O" Carola (fifth - $25,972), Jonas "Lampard10" Gjelstad (sixth - $18,639), and Manuel "OPPikachu" Fischer (seventh - $9,881) all coming just a few players away from the title.

Despite Fischer being the first player out at the final table, it was a heck of a day for the German as he also advanced to the final table in Event #3: $1,050 Sunday High Rollers, which will resume on Tuesday after a day off.

Event #4: $2,100 Omaholic Bounty Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize Bounty Total 1 Belarmino Souza Brazil $24,655 $52,477 $77,132 2 Ami Barer Canada $24,621 $15,063 $39,684 3 Sebastian Trisch Germany $19,616 $0 $19,616 4 Bernardo "GGeKKo" Dias Brazil $15,617 $3,625 $19,242 5 Marc "Face-O" Carola Mexico $12,433 $13,539 $25,972 6 Jonas "Lampard10" Gjelstad Norway $9,998 $8,641 $18,639 7 Manuel "OPPikachu" Fischer Germany $7,881 $2,000 $9,881

Alik "GODofMTT" Zazyan Leads High Rollers Week Event #3: $1,050 Sunday High Rollers

The $1,050 Sunday High Rollers kicked off on Sunday with a field of 957 entries at GGPoker. This created an extra $43,000 in extra value to the 100 players that cashed for at least a $2,798 min-cash thanks to the $1 million guarantee slapped on this event.

Day 1 played down to a final table which after a day off will begin on Tuesday, June 8 at 7 p.m. BST (2 p.m. EDT). In accordance with GGPoker's final table rules, blinds will be pushed back to Level 38 (125K/250K/30Ka) to assure an average stack of at least 40 big blinds. In addition, blinds at the final table will increase after a certain number of hands instead of by time as was the case during the first day of the event.

Russia's Alik "GODofMTT" Zazyan will begin the action as the table captain with a huge stack of 22,574,916 in chips for a huge stack of 90 big blinds.

Ioannis Angelou-Konstas, Tamas "szagos" Adamszki, and Jareth "UraizeIfold" East all bagged more than 10 million into Tuesday's final table with Viktor Ustimov, Manuel "OPPikachu" Fischer, Thomas Muehloecker, Andrew "BankruptYou" St Jean, and Elio Fox all advancing to the final table with shorter stacks.

Poker enthusiasts will be able to watch the final table with hole cards exposed on Tuesday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m. BST (2:30 p.m. EDT) and PokerNews will also be live reporting the final table on a 30-minute delay as to not give away any spoilers.

High Rollers Week Event #3: $1,050 Sunday High Rollers Final Table Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 Alik "GODofMTT" Zazyan Russia 22,574,916 90 2 Ioannis Angelou-Konstas Greece 17,302,252 69 3 Tamas "szagos" Adamszki Hungary 12,716,174 51 4 Jareth "UraizeIfold" East United Kingdom 11,327,684 45 5 Viktor Ustimov Russia 8,790,931 35 6 Manuel "OPPikachu" Fischer Germany 7,402,157 30 7 Thomas Muehloecker Austria 6,515,444 26 8 Andrew "BankruptYou" St Jean Canada 5,801,824 23 9 Elio Fox United States 3,268,718 13 Total 95,700,100 383 Average 10,633,344 43

Final Table Payouts

The final nine players are each guaranteed a payout of $17,071 with $170,705 slated for Tuesday's winner.

Place Prize 1 $170,705 2 $128,011 3 $95,995 4 $71,986 5 $53,982 6 $40,481 7 $30,356 8 $22,764 9 $17,071

Michael Addamo Bags Day 1a Chip Lead in High Rollers Week Event #27: $10,300 Super MILLION$ Anniversary

The $5 million guaranteed Event #27: $10,300 Super MILLION$ Anniversary is off to a smashing start at GGPoker with 188 entries contributing $1.88 million to the prize pool on Sunday's Day 1a.

Michael Addamo finds himself in a familiar spot as he virtually bagged the most chips out of the 24 Day 1a survivors and will head to Day 2 on Monday, June 14 with a huge stack of 2,030,511 in chips.

China's "judd trump", High Rollers Week Event #4 champion Belarmino Souza, Nicolas Chouity, Christofer Frank, and Pascal Hartmann all bagged more than 1 million in chips.

Meanwhile, Niklas Astedt continues to be on fire. The Swede was fresh off a win on Saturday, June 5 in the WSOP Super Circuit Online Series $525 Main Event for $758,443 and now will also head into Day 2 with a healthy stack of 785,192.

Also advancing with top ten stacks on Day 1a were three more impressive names in Daniel Dvoress, Sam Greenwood, and Ramiro Petrone.

The next opening flight for this event will be on Tuesday, June 8 at 7:05 p.m. BST (2:05 p.m. EDT) where many more big names will advance on Day 1b into Day 2.

Event #27: $10,300 Super MILLION$ Anniversary Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chips Big Blinds 1 Michael Addamo Australia 2,030,511 102 2 judd trump China 1,385,401 69 3 Belarmino Souza Brazil 1,223,374 61 4 Nicolas Chouity Lebanon 1,203,643 60 5 Christofer Frank Germany 1,191,430 60 6 Pascal Hartmann Germany 1,040,870 52 7 Daniel Dvoress Canada 828,603 41 8 Sam Greenwood Canada 788,552 39 9 Niklas Astedt Sweden 785,192 39 10 Ramiro Petrone Argentina 779,194 39

GGPoker High Rollers Week Schedule

Date Time (GMT) Event Name Buy-in GTD June 6 4:30 p.m. Event#1: Bounty Hunters HR Main Event $525, $1M GTD $525 $1,000,000 5:05 p.m. Event#2: GGMasters High Rollers $1,050, $1M GTD $1,050 $1,000,000 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 1A] $10,300 $5,000,000 6:05 p.m. Event#3: Sunday High Rollers ME $1,050, $1M GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $1,000,000 6:40 p.m. Event#4: Omaholic Bounty $2,100, $250K GTD $2,100 $250,000 June 7 4:30 p.m. Event#5: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $200K GTD $525 $200,000 6:05 p.m. Event#6: Monday Main Event $1,050, $200K GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $200,000 7:05 p.m. Event#7: Bounty $2,100, $250K GTD $2,100 $250,000 June 8 4:30 p.m. Event#8: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $200K GTD $525 $200,000 6:05 p.m. Event#9: Super Tuesday $1,050, $250K GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $250,000 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 1B] $10,300 $5,000,000 7:05 p.m. Event#10: High Roller $5,250, $300K GTD $5,250 $300,000 June 9 4:30 p.m. Event#11: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $200K GTD $525 $200,000 6:05 p.m. Event#12: Wednesday Main Event $1,050, $200K GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $200,000 7:05 p.m. Event#13: Bounty 6-Max $2,100, $250K GTD $2,100 $250,000 June 10 4:30 p.m. Event#14: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $200K GTD $525 $200,000 6:05 p.m. Event#15: Thursday Thriller $1,050, $250K GTD [Bounty, 2-day event] $1,050 $250,000 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 1C] $10,300 $5,000,000 7:05 p.m. Event#16: Bounty High Roller $5,250, $300K GTD $5,250 $300,000 June 11 4:30 p.m. Event#17: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $100K GTD $525 $100,000 6:05 p.m. Event#18: Friday Main Event $1,050, $100K GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $100,000 7:10 p.m. Event#19: Omaholic Bounty $2,100, $150K GTD $2,100 $150,000 June 12 4:30 p.m. Event#20: Bounty Hunters HR Special $525, $150K GTD $525 $150,000 6:05 p.m. Event#21: Saturday Main Event $1,050, $200K GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $200,000 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 1D] $10,300 $5,000,000 7:05 p.m. Event#22: Bounty $2,100, $250K GTD $2,100 $250,000 June 13 4:30 p.m. Event#23: Bounty Hunters HR Main Event $525, $1M GTD $525 $1,000,000 5:05 p.m. Event#24: GGMasters High Rollers $1,050, $1M GTD $1,050 $1,000,000 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 1E] $10,300 $5,000,000 6:05 p.m. Event#25: Sunday High Rollers ME $1,050, $1M GTD [2-day event] $1,050 $1,000,000 6:40 p.m. Event#26: Omaholic High Roller $5,250, $300K GTD $5,250 $300,000 June 14 6:05 p.m. Event#27: Super MILLION$ Anniversary $10,300, $5M GTD [Day 2] $10,300 $5,000,000

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Decades of encouragement and instruction in the Spanish and German languages were the focal point of a Sunday gathering at Aiken High School, with a drop-in reception to honor three of the school's longest-serving teachers, all with loaded international backgrounds.

The husband-and-wife team of Art Lader ("Herr Lader," as he is known to many) and Lisa Lader ("Frau Lader"), with a background in German, shared the spotlight with Forough Shahidpour ("Senora Shah"), whose speciality was Spanish.

Dozens of visitors came by the high school's cafeteria Sunday to express thanks to (and for) the three teachers, with decorations and refreshments with the words "vielen Dank" and "gracias" playing a major role.

Retirement is now a way of life for two-thirds of the trio, but Art Lader, a native New Yorker whose local fame is largely in leading student trips to Germany, is planning to put his skills into action a few miles to the north, offering German classes at Strom Thurmond High School. This will reportedly be the first time for German to be offered at the Edgefield County school. His wife, an Aiken High graduate, wound up spending her teaching years on highly familiar acreage.

Helping organize Sunday's event was social studies teacher Sally Tice, a 1992 graduate (and now an employee) of Aiken High. "I had Herr Lader for two years and Frau Lader for one year ... Graduated, took German at Clemson, and got to exempt out of a couple of classes, because of how well they taught me, and then I actually got a job offer to teach German and history ... I did not take it, thankfully, but immediately after the offer, called Herr Lader and said, 'If I have to teach German, you have to help me,'" she recalled.

"Nine years later, after graduating, I came back to Aiken High School, and they were both my colleagues, and truly, they are two of the main reasons why I became a teacher  their interactions with students, the impact that they made on students' lives, how you could truly see that they cared about the individual, not just about the subject, not about the curriculum. They taught us more about life than they did about German, or just as much, I would say."

A 2014 alumni report from the University of South Carolina focused on the Laders. It noted, "The Laders met while studying at Carolina in the late 1970s. She, a German major, got a student Fulbright Scholarship to Germany and he, an English major, followed her there after taking an intensive eight-week course in German. Within a few years, they both were German teachers at Aiken High, Lisas alma mater. And theyve been there ever since, teaching as many as 250 students every year, escorting them on field trips to Germany and sending many of them ... to the university."

Shahidpour, a native of Iran who grew up largely in Spain, "was a great teacher  a wonderful lady," in the words of Hunter Wilson, an administrative assistant at the high school. "We see each other every day, and she always peps me up. She's a great lady."

Jennifer Wead, who teaches Spanish at Aiken High, made similar comments. "I graduated in 2006, but I had her all four years I was here at Aiken High, and every single year was just a joy being in her class, and I learned so much from her ... I will do her proud and maybe carry on her legacy, I hope."

The longest-distance traveler of the day may have been Jennifer Dove, an Aiken High graduate from 1994, when she went by the last name of Wyman. She now lives in central Kentucky, as a special education teacher in the town of Winchester.

"I took German for four years under Art Lader," she recalled, noting that the "wonderful" Aiken High influence led her to pursue a minor in German at college.

"I probably would not have driven seven hours for any other teacher, other than Herr Lader and Frau Lader, because if you had one, then you got the bonus of having the other a little bit as well. They were great together. Phenomenal," Dove said.

Tice commented, "I still have a hard time calling them 'Art' and 'Lisa.' I still call them 'Herr and Frau Lader,' but they went on to teach my daughter German. She took three years of German, and she went to Germany with Herr Lader. That is something I didn't get the chance to do in high school, so I made sure that when she came here, and she took German, that was one thing that she was going to do."
Moncks Corner, SC (29461)

Today

Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. High 77F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
The data show that on average opioid consumption reduces after commencing care at Emerald Clinics from a previous 12 month steady-state of opioid use.

New data has validated Emyria's treatment plan for patients who treat chronic pain with opiates.

Emyria Ltd (ASX:EMD) has revealed that clinical data from one of its personalised care plans for opioid users has been validated in a world-first data linkage project.

The ASX-lister is evaluating whether a treatment plan that involves care at its clinical services arm and a cannabinoid formulation can relieve a patients reliance on opioid medications to treat their chronic pain.

Promisingly, together with contract research monolith IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) and analytics firm NostraData, Emyria was able to validate its proprietary clinical data with a recent dispensing study.

Essentially, the validation indicates, on average, that opioid consumption reduces after a patient starts care at Emyrias Emerald Clinics following 12 months of steady-state opioid use.

Emyria managing director Dr Michael Winlo will present these findings on June 7 at the Association of Regulatory and Clinical Scientists (ARCS) Annual National Summit.

A world-first project

Commenting on the results, Dr Winlo said he was very pleased to unveil the studys early findings.

The analysis shows that patients receiving personalised care at Emerald Clinics reduce their opioids substantially while also gaining improvements in pain symptoms and quality of life measures.

Importantly, the analysis demonstrates both the validity, reach and richness of Emyria Data assets as well as the effectiveness of Emyrias Care programs.

Emyria has engaged academic partners to continue independent research and will further analyse the data for intellectual property, potential treatments for the US and the development of proprietary clinical decision support software tools.

Shares are 7.4% higher to A$0.225

The results are in

To validate its clinical medication tracking data, Emyria used its partnership with IQVIA and NostraData to better understand its patients historical opioid usage patterns up to a year before they received treatment.

Average oral morphine equivalent daily dose (OMEDD) scores for Emyria patients 12 months before and 12 months during care.

Overall, two-thirds of Emyria patients seek care to treat their chronic pain conditions, the vast majority of which is long-term pain theyve experienced for more than two years.

Opiates are a common prescription to treat chronic pain in these patients, but Emyrias personalised treatment plan seeks to mitigate prolonged opioid use and introduce a cannabinoid formulation to manage chronic pain.

One of the healthcare companys success stories is Bob, a Vietnam veteran who injured his back in 1969.

When he first visited Emerald Clinics, Bobs pain severity score was at a five and he required five different medications, including a range of opioids, to manage his pain.

By his fifth visit, Bobs pain severity score had reduced to a 1.75. He has now ceased opiate use and his chronic pain remains stable with the help of a THC/CBD formulation.

Opportunities in the US market

Emyrias findings come as opioid use disorder becomes an increasingly critical problem, particularly in the US market.

Overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids in the US have risen dramatically since 2015.

The economic cost of opioid use disorder totalled US$471 billion in 2017.

Coupled with the US$550 billion linked to fatal opioid overdoses, the cost of opioid use disorders and overdoses totalled more than US$1 trillion at the time.

As a result, the company is particularly interested in studying potential treatments for chronic pain for the US market.

Whats next?

Moving forward, the company will assess the potential for new registered treatments with the Food and Drug Administration.

It will also present data to health insurers and payers in a bid to win increased clinic and patient funding and expansion support.

Ultimately, Emyria believes this course of action could lead to better health outcomes and potential economic benefits as it treats patients with chronic pain.
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Michael Ethridge with Earth Design moderated a Georgetown meeting about plans for a new state park and water trail. The map shows five properties that would make up the park along a 70-mile stretch of the Black River. Tommy Howard/Staff
GREENVILLE  U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said he supports sanctions against China if the country is not cooperative in investigations into whether the coronavirus was released from a virology lab in Wuhan.

He also said he will push for hearings in the Senate to determine whether theories that the infectious respiratory disease originated in a lab were suppressed for political reasons.

Graham's comments came after a June 7 tour of Premier Medical Laboratories in Greenville, where researchers are studying variants of the coronavirus.

Speaking to reporters following the tour, Graham referenced recently released emails to U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci in which senders discredited the theory that the virus originated in, or was released by, a Wuhan lab.

He also pointed to a February 2020 statement in Lancet by 27 scientists that denounced the possibility that the coronavirus was manmade as conspiracy theories.

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"Is there a deep state science department?" Graham said of the statement. "It seems to me that people at (National Institutes of Health) had curiosity and their curiosity was stopped."

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevailing theory was that the virus originated naturally and was transmitted from an animal to a human, specifically at a wet market that sits near the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Early proponents of the idea that the lab was responsible for the release of the virus included Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, and then-President Donald Trump and gained momentum in conservative circles.

By late 2020, prominent researchers began publishing papers indicating the structure of the virus did not rule out the possibility that it was created in a lab. And in January, days before Trump left office, the State Department announced it had reason to believe that researchers with the Wuhan lab experienced COVID-19-like symptoms as early as fall of 2019.

President Joe Biden recently ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to bolster investigations into the possibility of a lab release as speculation has increased and calls for a more extensive probe have grown.

Graham told reporters following the June 7 tour that he believed theories of a lab release were originally downplayed to politically hurt Trump and to protect the WIV.

"I've always listened to Dr. Fauci and I know these things change. The data changes so people change their opinions," he said. "But if there was an effort early on to shoot down a theory because of politics, that's dangerous."
Kingstree, SC (29556)

Today

Generally cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 79F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds light and variable.
People who were determined to sell Santee Cooper no matter what will complain that the plan up for final approval in the S.C. Legislature is an unworkable reform. Reformers will complain that the plan doesn't go far enough  particularly by not putting the state-owned utility on a path to eventual PSC regulation of its electricity rates.

We certainly won't argue that the compromise approved last week by a House-Senate conference committee is perfect. It still doesnt let the governor remove board members for more than a handful of reasons, most of which can lead to criminal indictment.

But make no mistake: This is still real reform that will provide transparency and oversight that will move the utility toward being an accountable state agency  which it never really has been.

Santee Cooper was a secretive, out-of-control entity that refused to act like a state agency long before it blew $4 billion on the failed V.C. Summer nuclear plant expansion that lawmakers pushedd it into undertaking along with the now-defunct SCE&G.

Final legislative approval of H.3194  along with Senate confirmation of former Rep. Peter McCoy as chairman of the Santee Cooper board  should finally allow our state to move beyond the V.C. Summer debacle.

While theres something in the compromise plan (or not in the plan) for everybody to object to, theres also something for everybody to love  and for all but my-way-or-the-highway sorts to support despite their objections. Thats the very definition of a good compromise, which is what all good laws are built around.

This one is supported by conservationists who have been fighting for years to drag the utility into the clean-energy era. Its supported by Santee Coopers biggest customers, the electric cooperatives, which are locked in a long-term contract to purchase power from the utility that could only be broken by a sale. The leading legislative advocates of selling Santee Cooper signed off on the plan even absent any mechanism for a sale, because they believe the reform components are muscular enough to make a difference. Santee Coopers biggest legislative advocates signed off as well.

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House and Senate negotiators still have to review details that they left to staff to work out, but the plan they agreed to last week requires approval from the Public Service Commission or the Office of Regulatory Staff for most of the Santee Cooper boards major decisions; requires that board to provide more information to ratepayers; and gives ratepayers a chance to complain about proposed rate hikes  although the final decision on monthly power bills will still be up to the board.

Legislators, conservationists and the co-ops say one of the most important reforms requires PSC approval of the utilitys long-term energy plans, which determine how it can spend money and should be the main driver of power bills.

The legislation removes all of the current board members over the next four years  which should help eliminate the culture of arrogance that has permeated management for years  and shortens the terms for new board members. It still doesnt let the governor remove board members just because he doesnt think theyre doing a good job, but it does remove a chilling anti-accountability provision that made it illegal for a governor to even ask board members to consider voluntarily resigning.

House Ways and Means Chairman Murrell Smith told his fellow negotiators he hoped they wouldnt have to address Santee Cooper again. Its an understandable desire  and its even reasonable to hope that lawmakers wont again have to be consumed for nearly four years by questions about the agencys future. But H.3194 includes a complex set of regulatory changes that are almost certain to need tweaking as unintended consequences pop up. Lawmakers need to be willing to make those changes.

And it's neither reasonable nor wise to close the door on reforms that the compromise leaves on the table.

It makes sense, as House Speaker Jay Lucas argued, to have a process in place for vetting bids the next time the question of selling the utility comes up  as it surely will. Unlike public education, electricity isnt a service that government itself has a moral or constitutional duty to provide, so our state should be prepared to consider any reasonable offers. There never was one this time, and we would be surprised if an investor-owned utility could pay the taxes and dividends that Santee Cooper doesnt have to pay and also provide lower rates. But it's not impossible, so lawmakers should work next year to spell out that process through separate legislation.

Likewise, lawmakers should get Santee Cooper on a path toward full PSC regulation by prohibiting the utility from issuing new debt with covenants that make that financially prohibitive.

And, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, they still need to return to the pre-Mark Sanford law that allowed governors to fire board members for any reason. That law worked for decades without hurting Santee Coopers bond ratings, or its ability to provide reliable power at a good rate to 2 million South Carolinians. It would work again.
Optimism for economic recovery and growing oil demand is driving sentiment with Brent crude topping US$72 a barrel

Among the highlights of the week was possibly the shortest OPEC meeting on record when OPEC and friends gathered virtually to agree on their measured return of oil to the market

The oil market saw a strong rally last week with prices at their highest in three years.

Optimism for economic recovery and growing oil demand is driving sentiment with Brent crude topping US$72 a barrel.

The main benchmark finished the week a little below this price with West Texas Intermediate WTI holding close to US$70 a barrel.

Among the highlights of the week was possibly the shortest OPEC meeting on record when OPEC and friends gathered virtually to agree on their measured return of oil to the market.

Proceeding as planned

In less than half an hour, ministers announced that they would proceed as planned and return more than 2 million barrels to the market "with the pace being determined according to market conditions".

When asked about continued investment in hydrocarbons, the Saudi Arabia Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said his country was determined to continue investing and grow capacity adding that any plans to the contrary would be like a "sequel to la-la land movie".

This was in reference to the recent International Energy Agencys scenario that all hydrocarbon investment and exploration should stop immediately.

When asked about the move to cleaner energy the Prince added that his country was a low-cost producer and "that Saudi Arabia is no longer an oil country, it's an energy producing country".

Theres still no decision from the ongoing Iran nuclear talks in Vienna about possible lifting of sanctions.

Prince Abdulaziz refused to be drawn on the possible change in situation in the event of more Iranian barrels on the market.

He reaffirmed the group's commitment to monthly meetings and constant monitoring of any changes in oil demand and supply.

When pressed with perceived tightness in the market, he said he was more concerned about what was happening today than in the future and said he was committed to the joint agreement already in place until 2022.

Clear signs of improvement

In a statement released after the meeting, OPEC said it noted "the ongoing strengthening of market fundamentals, with oil demand showing clear signs of improvement and OECD stocks falling as the economic recovery continued in most parts of the world as vaccination programmes accelerated".

The Prince joined the OPEC+ co-chair and Russias Deputy Prime Minister, Alexander Novak at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum this week where the focus remained on economic recovery and oil supply.

Novak was in agreement with Saudi Arabia when asked about the IEA scenario, telling CNBC that it was a simplistic approach, and calling it "unrealistic".

Like his counterpart in Saudi Arabia, Novak said that Russia would invest in renewables, but said the country would continue to invest in both oil and gas and in coal, and remain a "world leader in the fossil fuel market".

The recovery in the oil market and in the oil price has been steady and positive as we reach the half way point of the year.

Investment banks are reviewing their oil price projections but as we look towards the US driving season and elements of recovery around the world, sentiment looks steady and demand looks likely to increase.
In his May 30 commentary, Thomas Dewey Wise makes a compelling case for maintaining a small U.S. presence in Afghanistan.

Hes right, but he doesnt go far enough.

The withdrawal of some 2,000 military personnel, largely special operations forces, would be followed by the withdrawal of 7,000 NATO and allied forces, intelligence operatives, nongovernmental organizations, foreign embassies, and international organizations and businesses.

Without an international military and diplomatic presence, the Taliban would most likely return to power.

When last in charge, the Taliban introduced radical Sharia law, denied womens rights and gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden.

The result was 9/11 attacks on the United States.

The American people are understandably tired of endless wars. We should not and cannot be in the business of nation building.

Afghanistan will never be a Jeffersonian democracy. Our goals should be more modest.

In 1970, Afghanistan was a functioning tribal society that protected basic human and womens rights and did not give safe haven to international terrorists. It can be again.

What would be the cost of a small, low-profile American and international presence in Afghanistan?

There have been no American combat casualties in Afghanistan for more than a year.

The U.S. maintains a military presence in more than 80 countries today. Our friends and allies would join us.

If history and facts on the ground are any guide, the Taliban will return to power. I hope Im wrong; I fear I am not.

JON GUNDERSEN

Marshall Boulevard

Sullivan's Island

Boost food program

I am concerned about children going hungry during the summer months when they are unable to access school meals and snacks.

While the Summer Food Service Program helps fill the gap, the program only reaches about 1 in 7 children who receive free or reduced-price school lunches during the school year.

That leaves millions of children struggling with hunger during the summer months.

To address this issue, I urge Congress to boost funding for the Summer Food Service Program in Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations, including $100 million to expand Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Demonstration Projects.

This will provide necessary funds to modernize the program so it reaches more hungry children.

Continuing COVID-19 era waivers that allowed for flexibility in the program will help reach children living in hard to reach rural areas.

Some important options I hope we maintain include allowing multiple meals to be picked up at one time, allowing a parent or guardian to pick up meals for their children, allowing services outside of standard meal times, not requiring food distributed to be eaten in group settings, remote site monitoring and home deliveries of meals.

Waivers also expanded community eligibility so more sites were able to open to feed any child in the area.

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Families with school children also received EBT benefits, which reduces transportation barriers, particularly in rural communities.

HEATHER BLACKWELL

Finnegan Lane

West Columbia

Dangerous drivers

Whatever has happened to the concept of being a law-abiding citizen when it comes to getting behind the wheel of a car?

Driving is no longer a pleasure.

Regularly, I see blatant and dangerous violations of the rules of the road: driving through red lights; ignoring stop signs without even pausing; recklessly exceeding speed limits; turning left from the extreme right lane on a three-lane road; texting while driving; failing to use turn signals; zigzagging at high speeds on interstates; and ignoring pedestrians in crosswalks.

And the list goes on.

Please, lets make our streets and highways a safer place to be.

MARIAN MENTAVLOS

South Battery

Charleston

Paper is first class

I am constantly amazed at the thought, hard work and wisdom that can be found daily in The Post and Courier.

For example, the May 27 edition with Spectacular sky show, which featured a beautiful picture of the Sullivans Island Lighthouse and the super flower blood moon.

Kudos to staff photographer Andrew J. Whitaker.

As a daily subscriber, I see first-class reporting, great pictures and editorials  even ones that I sometimes agree with.

Another subscriber is my good friend Frank Marvin of Hollywood.

Frank has read The Post and Courier for more than 80 years, and like he says, Its all the news I need. I tend to agree with him.

Id like to thank everyone who is involved in this labor of love, putting out a big-time daily newspaper.

Its just one more reason to live in one of the greatest communities in the world.

CHARLIE LYBRAND

Cloudmont Drive

Hollywood
COLUMBIA  South Carolina will no longer be under a state of emergency order for the COVID pandemic, Gov. Henry McMaster announced June 7 as the virus continues to recede and more residents get vaccinated.

"It is no longer necessary to have a state of emergency, although it is still necessary for us to be smart, to follow the rules, to follow the guidelines and be very careful as we continue to pull out the virus," McMaster said in a news conference at the state's Emergency Operations Center.

The announcement means any lingering government restrictions or directives will no longer be in effect. McMaster had already ended most of the requirements over the previous months.

A May 11 order from McMaster aimed to end all mask mandates in South Carolina by immediately nullifying any local restriction tied to his ongoing emergency declarations. He also directed the state's public health agency to create a form for parents to opt out their children, recognizing he lacked the direct authority to end school mandates. The decision prompted a rebuke from the state's education chief, Superintendent Molly Spearman, who accused McMaster of "circumventing public health guidance by inciting hysteria and sowing division in the waning days of the school year."

While new cases of coronavirus continue to pop up, they are arising at a much lower frequency. In the mid-January peak, South Carolina health officials were reporting more than 5,000 new cases per day; that number has now dropped to the low hundreds.

Over the course of the past 15 months, more than 8,500 South Carolinians died from the virus as McMaster generally took a less overbearing approach to containing it at the government level than most other states.

Unlike most of those other states, McMaster never issued a statewide mask mandate, but he encouraged local governments to pass their own ordinances and did require masks in state government buildings. That requirement ended in early March.

McMaster has long argued that his lighter approach was the right one, allowing the state's economy to rebound faster  a message he reiterated June 7.

"We never did shut down in South Carolina. We slowed down," McMaster said. "And as a result, now we're on the rebound. We're moving ahead. We're not digging out of a hole that some of our other states are in."

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The governor issued a total of 30 separate 15-day emergency declarations covering a 450-day span, each with slightly different descriptions of the situation and restrictions to respond to it. The last order expired June 6.

The decision to let the orders lapse will not impact the state's ability to receive federal emergency dollars, said S.C. Emergency Management Division director Kim Stenson, as those funds are not tied to the state of emergency declaration.

About 45 percent of South Carolina residents have now received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to the state's health agency, and about 38 percent are fully vaccinated.

Those figures mean South Carolina ranks in the bottom 10 states nationwide for vaccines administered per 100,000 people, along with several other Southern states, including Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.

"We are making progress," said Dr. Edward Simmer, director of the state's Department of Health and Environmental Control. "Obviously, there is still much work to be done."

McMaster said he and other public officials will continue to emphasize that the vaccines are free and readily available but will not coerce anyone into getting them, including schoolchildren.

He also said he will not support incentives like a vaccine lottery with monetary prize incentives, which has been tried in a few other states and was recently proposed by S.C. House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia. Efforts like that, McMaster said, "are a bit goofy."

"The only incentives that I think is appropriate is to give the citizens full information," McMaster said. "Give them the facts, no hyperbole. Give them the information and let them make up their own mind, provided we have a multitude of locations where they can get their vaccines. We have that."

As of June 7, 203 COVID patients were hospitalized in South Carolina, with 65 in the ICU and 30 using ventilators.
COLUMBIA  There's a South Carolina state senator who looks at the furor over changing the design of the state flag much in the way he sees his wife.

"A photograph of my wife is always different, but it's always beautiful," the adoring lawmaker, state Sen. Brad Hutto, told reporters at the Statehouse a few weeks ago.

"Same thing with the state flag," the Orangeburg Democrat opined. "You can be anywhere in this country and you see that flag, you know it's the South Carolina flag."

And so it will be for at least another year.

The 2021 Statehouse session ended with no new version of the Palmetto tree design being declared as "official" despite attempts by some lawmakers to come up with one.

Hutto's affection for not touching that most distinctive of images may ensure change never come.

"Anyone who wants to pigeonhole it into one particular design is going to have to fight with me," he said.

The flag design issue unexpectedly became among the hottest debates of the year after a team of historians in 2020 suggested imagery for what that flag should look like.

That didnt end well  namely because of how the states namesake tree, the scrubby Palmetto, was depicted.

Critics said the version makes the palmetto resemble a toilet brush and fails to capture the true essence of the wild ubiquitous stock.

The outcry was loud enough that experts went back and generated a second option for lawmakers to deliberate. In March, the Senate Family and Veterans Services Committee selected a choice that depicts a palmetto tree adopted in 1910 on the second official state flag.

Legislators expected a lively floor debate to follow, but Hutto immediately contested the bill. So there it sat as the session dwindled.

The South Carolina flag is steeped in history and widely considered one of Americas most recognizable. Its indigo color  specifically Pantone 282 C  is approximate to a shade of uniforms worn by Col. William Moultries 2nd South Carolina Regiment in the Revolutionary War.

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Indigo dye was also produced from that plant in the Lowcountry during Moultries lifetime, and it became the state color in 2008.

Equally recognizable is the angle and shape of the crescent that looms over the tree. Its based on a pattern and military symbol that Moultries troops wore on their hats.

Not up for debate in all of this were the modern flags color scheme or crescent, but that left the most distinctive of elements at the root of the battle: the beloved palmetto, whose wood was used to build Fort Sullivan in 1776 and absorbed British artillery rounds during its 1780 siege of Charleston.

State Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, chairwoman of the Family and Veterans Services Committee, said she's perplexed at the legislative holdup.

People have made it such a big issue, she said. Its not that serious an issue. Its not going to change the world, but it would be nice for it to be standardized.

Without a uniform design, advocates say production of the flag is open to interpretation, meaning variants of it can appear on bumper stickers, T-shirts, keychains or any other marketing material.

I think the bill is very benign. And we would like for it to be a little standardized because Ive seen some that are terrible and some that are really beautiful, state Sen. Ronnie Cromer, R-Prosperity, said. But the ones that are too beautiful are so beautiful that they dont depict the actual history of the flag. Weve got to land somewhere in between.

Coming out of a session where signature pieces of legislation such as adoption of a hate crimes bill and police reform failed to gain any traction, Hutto said spending time deliberating the flags nuances would have been a waste.

But he isnt going to allow haters to win the day, he added.

"There are some problems that need to be solved for the people of South Carolina. Telling them the flag is blue with a palmetto tree and crescent moon on it is not one of those problems, Hutto said.

Its possible for the topic to come up again next year when the General Assembly reconvenes, but Hutto said he may continue to block debate.

We dont need somebody to tell us what it looks like. We all know what it looks like," he said. "I dont know if somebody is trying to make money off this or what. Its not been a problem for hundreds of years.
Looking at the Pride Month exhibit near the Legislature, I admire Guam's support for political pluralism and the free expression of people. My Read more
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@montcocourtnews on Twitter

Carl Hessler Jr. is a multi-media reporter who writes about crime and justice from the Montgomery County Courthouse for 21st Century Media Newspapers Greater Philadelphia area publications. Follow Carl on Twitter: @MontcoCourtNews
The results showcase intersections of polymetallic (silver-gold-lead-zinc) hydrothermal breccia near the surface at Plomosas

Highlights include 1.8 metres at 15.8 g/t gold, 1.1% lead, 3.9% zinc and 17 g/t silver for 1,779 g/t of silver equivalent

Ltd (CVE:GSRL) (OTCQB:GRLSF) has reported new drill results from the northern part of its Plomosas Mine Area that reveal high-grade mineralization in unmined portions of the historic operation.

The results showcase intersections of polymetallic (silver-gold-lead-zinc) hydrothermal breccia near the surface at Plomosas, a primary silver project in Sinaloa, Mexico.

Highlights include 1.8 metres (m) at 15.8 grams per ton (g/t) gold, 1.1% lead (Pb), 3.9% zinc (Zn) and 17 g/t silver (Ag) for 1,779 g/t of silver equivalent (AgEq) and 6.2 m at 171 g/t Ag, 1.1% Pb, 0.7% Zn, 0.2% copper (Cu) and 0.4 g/t Au for 282 g/t AgEq.

Another intercept revealed 8.1 m at 227 g/t Ag, 1.7% Pb, 1.4% Zn, 0.1% Cu and 0.3 g/t Au for 354 g/t AgEq.

"The reported drilling results continue to demonstrate the presence of high-grade precious metal mineralization in unmined zones of the historic Plomosas Mine Area, GR Silver CEO Marcio Fonseca said in a statement.

The results also confirm the presence of wide, polymetallic (Ag-Au-Pb-Zn) hydrothermal breccias in underexplored extensions that will be integrated into GR Silvers upcoming maiden resource estimation at Plomosas, Fonseca told investors.

He added: The company has also discovered continuous wide silver-gold rich polymetallic mineralization near surface, in the form of high-grade epithermal veins, as well as wide, shallow mineralized zones that demonstrate potential for future open pit development in a historic lead and zinc underground mining project.

Vancouver-based GR Silver has sunk 16,000 metres of drilling at Plomosas since it acquired the project in 2020.

The company told shareholders that structural and geological mapping and surveys in the area revealed what could be a district-scale silver-gold-rich epithermal system. It is planning to continue exploring along strike of the mineralized system at both the Plomosas Mine Area and the San Juan Area to try and locate extensions to incorporate into the planned resource estimate.

Meanwhile, GR Silver also said that it had received exchange approval for a share-for-debt transaction originally announced May 13, issuing 45,999 shares to settle a debt of $32,659.

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas
Last week, the Georgia Board of Education adopted a resolution that would (1) bar the practice of protest civics (extracurricular political protest and lobbying as required schoolwork) and (2) prevent Georgia schools from instilling in students the key tenets of critical race theory. The week before, the Texas legislature passed a bill barring both protest civics and critical race theory. A similar bill was introduced in Ohio by state representative Don Jones in late May.

These moves all draw upon the model Partisanship Out of Civics Act (POCA) that our friend Stanley Kurtz published with the collaboration and endorsement of the National Association of Scholars. The virtue of POCA is that it takes on both protest civics and critical race theory (CRT). That is important because, as Stanley explains:

The various civics bills currently being considered in Congress could easily impose leftist indoctrination on the states via protest civics alone. Even if every state in the Union were to bar the core tenets of CRT from K12, in the absence of a POCA they would nonetheless be vulnerable to federally imposed politicization. Georgias move thus signals welcome momentum for the extended protections of the POCA model against federally imposed indoctrination.

Its significant that Georgias ban comes from the Board of Education. Many state legislatures, including Georgias, are out of session now. Thus, as Stanley points out, without action by boards of education or legislative committees during formal recess, there is a very real risk that Biden and the Democrats could federalize and politicize Americas schools before the year is out.

The leftist mainstream media is starting to freak out over the attacks on CRT and protests civics. For example, the Washington Post warns of the dangers of sugar-coating Americas past  as if Americas students might not hear about slavery, Jim Crow, etc. (The Post echoes Joe Bidens claim that students should learn the good, the bad, the everything. Does that encompass being taught about the disproportionate degree to which Blacks commit violent crime, for example?)

There is zero danger that students wont learn about slavery, Jim Crow, etc., and the actions of Georgia and Texas create none. Stanley addresses false claims by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about Georgias ban as follows:

An article on the Georgia Board of Educations latest action in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution conveyed some misconceptions about the resolution by its opponents. The Georgia resolution does not declare that teachers may not make students feel guilty or uncomfortable during discussions of race, a purely subjective standard. On the contrary, the resolution prevents teachers from asserting that students ought to feel guilty simply because of their race, a different and much clearer standard. Nor are teachers or students prevented from discussing the core concepts of critical race theory. Teachers are prevented only from inculcating a belief in concepts like racial superiority or collective guilt. When carrying out their duties, K12 teachers are rightly obligated by law to convey the approved curriculum. To bar the inculcation of certain concepts is therefore not a violation of a teachers freedom of speech. On the contrary, it is well within the scope of discretion by states and school districts to bar teachers from instilling certain concepts.

Few would be bothered by barring teachers from inculcating notions of White supremacy. So why be bothered by a ban on the teaching of White inferiority?

Stanley adds:

In significant ways, the Georgia resolution actually protects teachers from compulsion, while also safeguarding the ethos of free exchange. It prevents teachers who do not wish to discuss current controversies from being forced to do so. It also encourages teachers who do wish to explore current public-policy debates to explore them from diverse and contending perspectives. That gives teachers a variety of options, while also protecting students from indoctrination.

Sadly and perhaps ironically, only a modern-day liberal could have a problem with that.
I subscribe to Jewish Insiders emailed Daily Kickoff roundup. Most of the time it strikes me as an arm of the Democrats press relations team. Occasionally, however, I find an item of interest. One such is Matthew Kassels interview with Barack Obama posted this morning in connection with the publication of Obamas memoir A Promised Land.

Saying I found the interview of interest is a slight overstatement. Jewish Insider is a friendly forum for Obama, yet Obama chose to answer a grand total of five of 13 questions submitted to him by Kassel. JI has published the exchange with Obama in its entirety here. To say the least, I found Obamas silence more interesting than his answers. These are the 8 questions Obama declined to answer:

JI: In A Promised Land, you write about devouring the works of Philip Roth, Saul Bellow and Norman Mailer in high school, moved by the stories of men trying to find their place in an America that didnt welcome them. Do you still return to these authors, and what lessons do you feel they can impart to new readers approaching their books for the first time? Moreover, are there any contemporary Jewish writers youd like to mention whose works you admire?

Obama: [No answer.]

JI: Youve had a long and fruitful relationship with the Jewish community, one that predates your career in politics. The book describes your pre-political life and the decisions you made about pursuing community service and organizing instead of a big law career. What was your relationship with the Jewish community in Chicago then and how has it developed since?

Obama: [No answer.]

JI: In Chapter 25 of A Promised Land, you write: On Election Day, Id end up getting more than 70 percent of the Jewish vote, but as far as many AIPAC board members were concerned, I remained suspect, a man of divided loyalties: someone whose support for Israel, as one of Axes friends colorfully put it, wasnt felt in his kishkes  guts, in Yiddish. And earlier in that paragraph, you write, they attributed these whisper campaigns not to any particular positions Id taken (my backing of a two-state solution and opposition to Israeli settlements were identical to the positions of other candidates) but rather to my expressions of concern for ordinary Paelstinians; my friendships with certain critics of Israeli policy, including an activist and Middle East scholar named Rashid Khalidi; and the fact that, as Ben bluntly put it, Youre a Black man with a Muslim name who lived in the same neighborhood as Louis Farrakhan and went to Jeremiah Wrights church.

Throughout the book, you appear to convey a sense of frustration with folks casting aspersions on your motivations and not assessing your actual policy positions. But to invert that dynamic for a moment, what do you say to folks on the other side who perhaps opposed the JCPOA on policy grounds yet are characterized as having prioritized the interests of another country? Is it possible for there to be disagreement on something like the JCPOA on the merits?

Obama: [No answer.]

JI: In her book The Education of an Idealist, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power takes readers behind the scenes as your administration sought congressional approval for a military operation in Syria, writing that an important factor in their thinking was Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus vocal support for US military action, along with that of the influential lobbying group AIPAC. AIPAC lobbied Congress in support of your plan. Its clear there were times that you disagreed with AIPACs positions and other times where you sought to collaborate with the group (for instance, on nominations requiring Senate confirmation). You also addressed AIPACs annual policy conference more than any other president (your successor did not attend a single time while in office). In your view, what did the pro-Israel community in the U.S. get right and what did it get wrong during your time in office?

Obama: [No answer.]

JI: During the Green Movement in Iran 12 years ago, you admit to feeling constrained in your desire to support Iranian protesters: As the violence escalated, so did my condemnation. Still, such a passive approach didnt sit well with me  and not just because I had to listen to Republicans howl that I was coddling a murderous regime. I was learning yet another difficult lesson about the presidency: that my heart was now chained to strategic considerations and tactical analysis, my convictions subject to counterintuitive arguments; that in the most powerful office on earth, I had less freedom to say what I meant and act on what I felt as a senator  or as an ordinary citizen disgusted by the sight of a young woman gunned down by her own government. Now that you are a citizen again  though perhaps not so ordinary  do you feel as if there is any hope for Irans pro-democracy demonstrators?

Obama: [No answer.]

JI: On Middle East issues, did you feel less inhibited in your second term than in your first? If so, does that partially explain the U.S. decision, in 2016, to abstain on U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334 condemning Israeli settlement construction?

Obama: [No answer.]

JI: Over the past year, Arab countries including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan have normalized ties with Israel. What factors would you attribute this development in the region to? Was it mutual opposition to Iran? A recognition from these countries of the closeness between the U.S. and Israel? Economic incentives? Or something else entirely?

Obama: [No answer.]

JI: The second volume of your book is expected to include your perspective on the JCPOA. The parties are currently negotiating in Vienna. Does that impact your writing in any way? What should readers expect in your second book on this topic and how do you expect it to be received given the ongoing negotiations?

Obama: [No answer.]
First up, Washington and Lee University in Virginia has decided, after a long and stupid debate, not to change its name because, you know, Robert E. Lee, who as president of Washington College after the Civil War, rescued the institution from bankruptcy, whereupon the faculty had moved to have his name added to the institution. That was then, and this is now, to naturally the imperatives of the wokerati had demanded Lee be sent packing.

After much conversation, pushback and debate, the Board of Trustees at Washington and Lee University has voted not to change the institutions name. The latter part of the name honors Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate States Army and former president of the institution. The board voted 22 to 6. The name had been the topic of serious conversation at Washington and Lee for the past few years, and advocacy for a change was redoubled after the murder of George Floyd. In the wake of national protests, many colleges and universities re-evaluated their institutions and made changes to symbols and traditions. The board took up the issue last July and said it would consider and vote on the decision this month.

Im guessing the trustees got an earful from alumni in the process of reaching this brave vote. Of course, if they had stripped Lee from the universitys name, theyd have had to take the next step, and strip George Washingtons name too, since he was a slaveholder. At which point, Charles Lipson pointed out, the place would have to be named And University.

On the other hand, check out who Washington and Lee has just named to be its new dean (language warning):

The F*ck Quilt Lady Is W&Ls New College Dean The University of Virginia had its F*ck UVa sign controversy. Brace yourself for Washington & Lee Universitys F*ck quilt brouhaha. About ten days ago, W&L announced a new dean of the college, Chawne Kimber, head of the math department and co-director of the STEM education at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. She will oversee 21 departments and 13 interdisciplinary programs. . . One of Kimbers artistic tropes is to challenge boundaries by quilting variations on the word f*ck and other profanities. As she says on her quilting blog, completely cauchy, We express our potty-mouths in patchwork using the ultimate in four-letter words. Its not entirely clear from the completely cauchy blog what the philosophical impetus is behind the ornamentation of profanity.

It is increasingly evident that most American colleges and universities are simply unfixable. Fill in the next sentence yourself (as we shall be doing in due course).
Who can take a city, burn it to the ground? Umbrella Man can, at least according to the search warrant application/affidavit filed by Minneapolis police officer Erika Christensen in the summer of 2020.

Star Tribune reporter Libor Jany told me he came across Christensens affidavit in a routine review of court filings. Libor reported on the allegations of Christensens affidavit in his July 28 story Minneapolis police say Umbrella Man was a white supremacist trying to incite George Floyd rioting. The story made waves around the world.

According to Officer Christensen, Umbrella Man is a white supremacist who set off the week of riots and arson throughout the Twin Cities by knocking out the windows at AutoZone on Lake Street at Minnehaha Avenue in south Minneapolis on May 27. Did Umbrella Man also burn the AutoZone down? I cant tell who burnt it down from Libors story, but it was in fact torched.

Libor quoted Christensens affidavit: This was the first fire that set off a string of fires and looting throughout the precinct and the rest of the city. Umbrella Man himself does not seem to have committed the arson that destroyed the AutoZone premises. Below is the tweet with the video featuring Umbrella Man at work.

This video was removed from YouTube. It shows exactly who broke windows at AutoZone. Please retweet and help identify the instigator. #JusticeForFloyd pic.twitter.com/D17kGL404J  Javier Morillo  (@javimorillo) May 28, 2020

Nearly a year later, Umbrella Man has not been arrested. Charges have not been brought against him. Umbrella Man remains at large. Libor did not identify him in his July 28 story because he has not been charged.

Officer Christensens account of events was taken at face value in the numerous news accounts that immediately followed the Star Tribune story, but it is ludicrous. Spectator USAs pseudonymous Cockburn conducted a reality check in The curious Umbrella Man myth. Subhead: Cockburn hasnt seen this many people excited about an umbrella since Mary Poppins hit theaters in 1964. Cockburn drily noted in July 2020: Cockburn would have thought that the carnage of the past month would render one mans window smashing a historical footnote. But instead, the opposite has happened, for the usual 2020 reason: it is politically useful.

I thought Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was responsible for the key event that led to the destruction wrought throughout the Twin Cities following the death of George Floyd. The key event was the abandonment of the Third Precinct headquarters on May 28.

Mayor Frey too remains at large. His dereliction was not illegal.

Officer Christensens affidavit superimposed a mythical narrative over the events as we saw them unfold. Cockburn observed that it took him just a single minute on Google to discover rioting and destruction from May 26  the day before Umbrella Man supposedly kicked everything off.

Whatever happened to Umbrella Man? He was identified by name and cell phone number in Officer Christensens affidavit. He appears to be a bad dude, but did he do more than is depicted in the video above?

There is a yearning on the left to attribute the wave of destruction that emanated from the Twin Cities to white supremacy or to white supremacists. The left-wing Minnesota Reformer site checked in on the case against Umbrella Man last week in Deena Winters story Whats up with Umbrella Man?

Winter reviews the allegations regarding Umbrella Man, although she too withholds his identity because he has not been charged. Winter quotes Minneapolis Police spokesman John Elder: It remains an open case and is still being investigated. Elder refrained from any comment on whether the man listed in the search warrant is a suspect. The investigator has not authorized the release of information on the case as this remains an open investigation, Elder told Winter via email.

Winter says nothing about Officer Christensen. Perhaps coincidentally, as I have noted previously, Officer Christensen is a frequent letter-writer to the Star Tribune and the Minneapolis police departments rare out liberal, as she described herself in this 2019 Star Tribune column. See Christensens letters to the editor here (May 8, 2017) and here (March 25, 2019).
In todays Wall Street Journal, two eminent scientists explain why the evidence points toward a laboratory origin for the covid-19 virus:

In gain-of-function research, a microbiologist can increase the lethality of a coronavirus enormously by splicing a special sequence into its genome at a prime location. Doing this leaves no trace of manipulation. But it alters the virus spike protein, rendering it easier for the virus to inject genetic material into the victim cell.

***

In the case of the gain-of-function supercharge, other sequences could have been spliced into this same site. Instead of a CGG-CGG (known as double CGG) that tells the protein factory to make two arginine amino acids in a row, youll obtain equal lethality by splicing any one of 35 of the other two-word combinations for double arginine. If the insertion takes place naturally, say through recombination, then one of those 35 other sequences is far more likely to appear; CGG is rarely used in the class of coronaviruses that can recombine with CoV-2. In fact, in the entire class of coronaviruses that includes CoV-2, the CGG-CGG combination has never been found naturally. That means the common method of viruses picking up new skills, called recombination, cannot operate here.

***

Although the double CGG is suppressed naturally, the opposite is true in laboratory work. The insertion sequence of choice is the double CGG. Thats because it is readily available and convenient, and scientists have a great deal of experience inserting it.

***

Now the damning fact. It was this exact sequence that appears in CoV-2. Proponents of zoonotic origin must explain why the novel coronavirus, when it mutated or recombined, happened to pick its least favorite combination, the double CGG. Why did it replicate the choice the labs gain-of-function researchers would have made? Yes, it could have happened randomly, through mutations. But do you believe that? At the minimum, this factthat the coronavirus, with all its random possibilities, took the rare and unnatural combination used by human researchersimplies that the leading theory for the origin of the coronavirus must be laboratory escape. When the labs Shi Zhengli and colleagues published a paper in February 2020 with the viruss partial genome, they omitted any mention of the special sequence that supercharges the virus or the rare double CGG section. Yet the fingerprint is easily identified in the data that accompanied the paper.

All of this didnt just recently come to light. The authors point out that the CGG connection was noted in published literature by February 2020. So, why is it that only in the last few weeks have the scientific, political and media establishments decided not only that it is acceptable to entertain the idea that covid could have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but to point out publicly that this is the most likely explanation of the viruss origin?

I think the answer lies in the realm of politics, not science. Covid was not a hoax, but it was immediately seen by the Left as the means through which they might oust Donald Trump from the White House. (Gods gift to the Left, as Jane Fonda expressed it.) For that strategy to work, the focus needed to be here at home, on the alleged (almost entirely mythical) failures of the Trump administration. Pointing the finger at China would not only reinforce President Trumps speculation about the virus, it would also validate the tough approach he took toward the CCP throughout his term in office.

So the truth about the origin of covid had to be suppressed. That is how it looks to me, anyway.
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Comedian Bright Okpocha also known as Basketmouth has said that the indefinite suspension of the social media platform, Twitter, by the Nigerian government isnt surprising to him.

The stand-up comedian on Sunday said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has always shown tendencies that violate freedom of expression.

He said this in a 2-minute video he posted on his verified Instagram titled, can someone in Ghana help me tweet this video? You know that we cant tweet in Nigeria anymorethey have bandits.

The comedian-cum-actor also said the Twitter suspension is only the beginning of more things to come.

This thing will not end with Twitter, they will still say IPOB uses Instagram to do their meeting and ban it, the next thing, they will say bandits use the Facebook app to track people to know their faces and kidnap them and ban it. They will ban everything, he said.

Very soon, they will find excuses for the next apps, from Instagram to Facebook, to Tik-Tok, to everything down to email, they will ban everything so that none of us will be able to communicate. Very soon, we will start using letters, they will tell us to start using letters henceforth. It is just that NIPOST is not functional, we will start using birds, I need to buy some birds.

Basketmouth also said the federal government announced the suspension months after one of them said Facebook has been banned in China and they operate their own internal social media that is run by the government.

Not long after the statement was made, a former presidential aspirant Adamu Garba announced that he has created an app with a similar function as Twitter, said Basket mouth. Then the next thing, they banned Twitter and said Twitter spreads fake news that leads to violence, he added.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Nigerian entertainers, Ruggedman, Seyi Law accused Mr Garba of supporting the Twitter ban in a bid to promote his Crowwe app.

The ministry of information on Friday suspended Twitter shortly after the platform deleted President Muhammdu Buharis genocidal tweet.

The Twitter suspension is a step towards further social media sanction, a statement released by the ministry said.
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The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has suspended a fast-rising Nigerian actress, Queeneth Hilbert, indefinitely from film production activities following unprofessional conducts.

Ms Hilberts services have also been withdrawn from all movie sets, a statement signed by AGNs Chief Press Secretary, Barthelomew Aguugo, revealed on Sunday.

Her suspension, Mr Aguugo said, was based on preliminary investigations conducted on several complaints received from producers and marketers for breach of contract.

Following our preliminary investigations into a series of petitions received from producers/marketers which borders on your gross professional misconduct, this letter constitutes official notice of your indefinite suspension from the Actors Guild of Nigeria and film productions in accordance to our constitutional provision, AGN president, Ejezie Rolla, was quoted as saying in the statement.

Offence

Some of her professional misconducts include; breach of contract, abandoning of film sets without permission, gross negligence of production timing and protocols, collection of artistes fee without showing up for the production, refusal to refund fees collected after disappointment among other complaints.

The Guild stressed that the actress demeanour toward her profession was capable of tarnishing the age-long reputation of the association.

They also disclosed that her matter has been referred to the National Disciplinary Committee headed by Sam Dede for thorough investigations.

ALSO READ: Ghanaian actress convicted over viral nude photo with son

Meanwhile, AGN warned that the violation of the notice of suspension may lead to further disciplinary measures, adding that the National/State Chapter Taskforce has been mandated to monitor all film locations and production sets across the country to ensure compliance.

Meanwhile, it appears Ms Hilbert has accepted the decision in good faith as several cryptic messages on her Instagram serve as pointers.

The actress, who began acting in 2012 , is of mixed Nigerian and Lebanese parentage.

According to her verified Instagram handle, she is a multi-award-winning actor, brand ambassador and influencer.

She has starred in movies like Arrogant couple,  Royal Groom, Angel in marriage, A saving grace and many others movies.
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If there is any major economic lesson learnt by businesses operating on the Ikotun-Egbe axis of Lagos during the lockdown, it is the realization that the economy of that area is essentially built around T. B Joshuas Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN).

Well, perhaps in addition to whatever is left of other small businesses in the area. It wasnt as though they didnt know this before the pandemic, to be sure, but the lockdown and its ripple effect made the point clearer.

So when news filtered in yesterday that T.B Joshua passed on, my mind raced through a zillion thoughts, one of which is the possible effect of his demise on the socio-economic make-up of Ikotun and environs.

When we arrived at our Igando residence in the midriff of the 1990s, the Igando-Ikotun axis was a Lagos backwater riddled with bad roads and gulleyed streets. Principally because of the interconnectivity that exists in communities around the larger Alimosho zone at the time (People in those communities have shared linguistic connections, being indigenous Awori people), the traits of under-development was evenly shared, and sadly so, from Governors Road through Ijegun, Ikotun, Idimu, Isheri, Akowonjo, Egbeda, Igando, Egan, Akesan, Egbe, Abaranje, even all the way to Obadore and Iba.

It was so bad that in most of the swampy areas connecting Igando through the Abaranje area, where my bosom friends and classmates lived, we only had makeshift bridges built with Bamboo and ropes!

Yet in the midst of this, especially in the years on the cusp of the Millennium, T.B Joshuas Synagogue Church stood as a major driver of socio-economic development, attracting local and international tourists who would in turn breathe life into the economies of those communities, particularly Ikotun-Egbe.

The ripple effect was a surge in the number of businesses springing up in and around the area. Hotels. Kiosks. Shopping outlets. Communication Outfits. Schools. Name it!

In a sense, the government looked in the direction of a few of those communities, and provided infrastructure in a few cases, essentially because of the presence of SCOAN and its worshippers, particularly foreigners. At least, I know of one such road leading to the house of a classmate in Ikotun at the time.

T.B himself would later build a larger-than-life reputation as a philanthropist, providing help to people from far and wide, irrespective of religious background, including those who worship not in his church. By default, residents of the Ikotun-Igando axis were prominent beneficiaries.

And so it was no surprise that when he announced in 2017 that he would relocate his church to Israel, residents of Ikotun were thrown into melancholy.

In terms of our conceptualization of spirituality, T.B Joshua represents different things to different people. I really dont care much about this, at least as far as this piece is concerned, even as I do reckon now that T.Bs death may have put paid to the various myths surrounding his presumed invincibility.

Yet, as a student of economics, I understand that economic development isnt necessarily cut in the neatly-ironed shirts of pristine moralityhowever we choose to define it (morality) in our individual spaces. World over, development is driven by a chaos of ideas and activities, all of which can then be perfected and brought under checks at different stages of economic growth.

And thats why I am more concerned about the socio-economic import of T.B Joshuas presence in a grossly neglected Lagos corridor that defined my years of innocence.

For now, I do not know what his death would translate to in terms of commercial activities on that axis. But I attended Igando High School and I do know for a fact that not a few peoples survival is tied to SCOAN and its operation in Ikotun-Igando and environs. In a nation where significant economic buffers come not from the government, this is very important.

So when people mourn and celebrate him in their ways, which some other people may find in-appropriate based on their own conception of religion, life and death, perhaps this may throw a little insights into the dynamics of whats likely playing out.

Death is the only debt we all collectively owe and would pay someday, because, in the end, especially for theists, the ultimate lesson here is that we are not God.

Adieu.
The governors of the six South-west states of Nigeria have condemned the killings in Igangan community of Ibarapa, Oyo State.

We have just received with rude shock a premeditated attack on our people at Igangan, Ibarapa, Oyo State, in the early hours of today. This cowardly onslaught on a peaceful community has occasioned loss of lives and property on a large scale, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu said on behalf of his colleagues.

It is horrendous, callous, and highly provocative. All well-meaning Nigerians must condemn, in the strongest term possible, this latest assault on decency and communal harmony.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the community was attacked in the early hours of Sunday as gunmen suspected to be herdsmen set houses, a filling station and the kings palace ablaze.

Our correspondent obtained pictures and videos of severely hacked and bloodied human bodies. Residents said the gunmen stormed the community with over 20 motorcycles.

Taiwo Adeagbo, an official of Igangan Farmers Union, told this newspaper that the gunmen arrived around 12:40 a.m. on Sunday.

Aside from killing our people, the Fulani herdsmen also set a petrol station ablaze and cars ablaze. They have also burnt the palace in Igangan.

Residents said at least 15 persons have been confirmed dead in the attack.

While police are yet to speak on the incident, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State pleaded with residents to be calm. He pledged to look into the incident.

I have received the shocking news of the attacks on residents of Igangan, Ibarapaland, in the early hours of this morning. I am currently being briefed on the incidents. I urge residents to remain calm as security operatives are now in control of the situation, Mr Makinde wrote in a Sunday statement.

South-west governors react

In his statement, Mr Akeredolu said a joint security meeting will be held to review the security situation in the South-west.

While we will encourage the security agencies to get to the root of this latest act of provocation, we have directed the Commanders of the South West Security Network, Amotekun, to convene a joint security meeting of all Commanders in the South West with a view to commencing joint operations in the region immediately.

He said certain elements are bent on causing friction among the peoples of this country with the sole aim of achieving a pernicious end. They will stop at nothing until their set goal is realized. It is, therefore, incumbent on all lovers of peace and freedom to rise against this current regression into savagery.

We on our part are resolved to defend our people, their property, and all legitimate means of livelihood against both internal and external aggression. On this, there will be no compromise. We call on our people to remain vigilant and report any suspicious movement in their communities. In addition, they must be united in the task of defending our lives and properties. We cannot afford to fail, he said.

The attack on Igangan comes months after a self-acclaimed activist, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, led a crowd to Igangan to eject the head of the Fulani community there, Salihu Abdulkadir.

He accused Mr Abdulkadir of backing criminal herdsmen whom he alleged were responsible for the kidnapping and killing of farmers and residents of the community. Mr Abdulkadir denied the allegation but he was nonetheless forcefully ejected from a community he had lived in for decades.

The federal and Oyo State governments frowned at the development, saying no citizen has the right to eject other citizens from wherever they wished to reside in the country.

Igangan residents said on Sunday that they believe the latest attack was a retaliation for the eviction of Mr Abdulkadir.

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Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi says no fewer than 97 bodies have so far been recovered from the recent boat mishap at Warrah, Ngaski Local Government Area of the state.

Mr Bagudu stated this in Birnin Kebbi when he received a delegation of members of House of Representatives on a condolence visit to the people and government of Kebbi over the incident.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how a boat from Lokon Minna, Niger, conveying traders, artisanal miners and other passengers, capsized at Warrah, Ngaski. The boat was conveying more than 160 persons on May 27.

PREMIUM TIMES had on May 29 reported how the governor said 76 bodies were recovered.

PREMIUM TIMES also reported the continuing efforts by the government to recover the bodies of all victims.

Represented by Secretary to the Kebbi State Government Babale Umar-Yauri, the governor said that the bodies had been buried while 22 people were rescued.

Mr Bagudu thanked the members for their foresight in ensuring safety in the nations waterways, particularly the marine transportation.

He extended the goodwill message of Kebbi government to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, for his condolences, care and love to the people of the state.

The delegation also visited the palace of the Emir of Yauri, Muhammadu Zayyanu-Abdullahi.

Earlier, the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Idris-Wase, who led the delegation, advocated collective efforts to effectively mitigate boat mishaps in the country.

Mr Idris-Wase said: as leaders, all hands must be on deck to evolve correct, effective and permanent solution to mishaps of boats and canoes on the waterways.

As members, we shall examine the causes of recurring maritime transport accidents with a view to coming up with measures and avoid recurrence of mishaps.

It is a colossal loss not only to Kebbi but the entire country.

It is our fervent prayers that Allah will give their families the fortitude to bear the loss.
The Washington State Department of Commerce awarded the grant to the Regional Economic Partnership at the Port of Bellingham for the new facility in Whatcom County

The funding is part of a larger group of state grants focused on high impact investments in the areas of innovation, sustainability, and resilience

Vicinity Motor Corp ( ) ( ) ( ), formerly Grande West Transportation Group Inc, has announced a $300,000 economic development strategic reserve fund grant to assist the company in building its new Vicinity Lightning EV bus assembly facility in Whatcom County, Washington State.

The company said the Washington State Department of Commerce awarded the grant to the Regional Economic Partnership at the Port of Bellingham.

Vicinity said the funding is part of a larger group of state grants focused on high-impact investments in the areas of innovation, sustainability, and resilience.

"We are honored to receive this grant in support of our mission to enable the transition to low-emission and zero-emission options at public transit agencies in the State of Washington and across North America," said Vicinity CEO William Trainer in a statement.

"This grant will help support the build-out of production capacity for our EV assembly line at our planned Buy-America compliant assembly line in Washington State."

Trainer added: "Along with our recent contract win giving transit agencies in Washington the right to purchase from our robust portfolio of buses, we are building a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with local and state agencies in support of the deployment of next-generation public transit systems. Our partnership with the community continues to expand as we expect to invest over $20 million in land, construction, capital expenditures and the creation of living-wage EV jobs at our assembly plant."

Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu noted that electric-powered transit will be a critical driver of modernization in the transportation sector.

I'm very pleased to see VMC choose Whatcom County as the place to grow its business and create new jobs," Sidhu said.

Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham
The police in Oyo State have confirmed the death of 11 people in an attack on Igangan community in Ibarapa area of the state.

The police in a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday by its spokesperson, Adewale Osifeso, said several properties were also destroyed during the late Saturday attack.

On 5th June 2021 at about 2310hrs, suspected armed bandits in their numbers invaded Igangan Community in the dead of the night to unleash mayhem on unsuspecting members therein.

In the process, Eleven (11) persons including some of the assailants were confirmed dead, while some vehicles and buildings including the Palace of the Asigangan of Igangan town and a filling station were torched.

Consequent upon the unfortunate occurrence, the Commissioner of Police embarked on an on the spot assessment on 6th June, 2021, to critically assess the level and cause of damages on the various sites of killings and arsons.

The police said more personnel have been deployed to the area to prevent further breakdown of law and order.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the community came under attack in the early hours of Sunday as gunmen suspected to be herdsmen set houses, a filling station and the kings palace ablaze.

Our correspondent obtained pictures and videos of hacked and bloodied human bodies. Residents said the gunmen stormed the community with over 20 motorcycles.

Governors condemn killing

In his reaction to the attack, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State in a statement on behalf of the six South-west governors condemned the killings.

Mr Akeredolu, who is the chairman of the South-west governors forum, said certain elements are bent on causing friction among the peoples of this country with the sole aim of achieving a pernicious end. They will stop at nothing until their set goal is realized. It is, therefore, incumbent on all lovers of peace and freedom to rise against this current regression into savagery.

We on our part are resolved to defend our people, their property, and all legitimate means of livelihood against both internal and external aggression. On this, there will be no compromise. We call on our people to remain vigilant and report any suspicious movement in their communities. In addition, they must be united in the task of defending our lives and properties. We cannot afford to fail, he said.

The killing has also been condemned by many Nigerians including the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams.

This is one killing too many, I will not fold my arms seeing the blood of innocent people being shed like it is in Igangan, Mr Adams said in his statement.

The attack on Igangan comes months after a self-acclaimed activist, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, led a crowd to Igangan to eject the head of the Fulani community there, Salihu Abdulkadir.

He accused Mr Abdulkadir of backing criminal herdsmen whom he alleged were responsible for the kidnapping and killing of farmers and residents of the community. Mr Abdulkadir denied the allegation but he was nonetheless forcefully ejected from a community he had lived in for decades.

The federal and Oyo State governments frowned at the development, saying no citizen has the right to eject other citizens from wherever they wished to reside in the country.

Igangan residents said on Sunday that they believe the latest attack was a retaliation for the eviction of Mr Abdulkadir.

APC calls for security summit

The main opposition party in Oyo State, APC, in its reaction to the attack, called on Governor Seyi Makinde to convene a security summit promptly to address the security challenges in the state.

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Obviously and certainly, the current situation of Oyo State was not what Makinde and PDP took over from the immediate past APC government in the state under Governor Abiola Ajimobi in 2019, the Oyo APC spokesperson, AbdulAzeez Olatunde, said.

The excuse of general security issues has been with us in Nigeria since 2009 even before Ajimobi took over the mantle of governance in 2011. In spite of the issues, Ajimobi secured Oyo State, it said.

The APC also asked the governor to make public how much he had spent so far on the states monthly security.
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has ordered all broadcasting stations in Nigeria to suspend the use of the popular microblogging platform, Twitter.

This was contained in a statement issued by its Director General, Armstrong Idachaba, on Monday morning.

Mr Idachaba said television and radio stations are advised to de-install twitter handles and desist from using twitter as a source (UGC) of information gathering for News and programmes presentation especially Phone-in.

This is coming after the federal governments ban on Twitter activities in Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Nigerias information minister, Lai Mohammed, announced a ban on the activities of the microblogging platform on Friday after Twitter deleted a controversial post by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Mohammed also ordered the NBC to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.

Owing to the ban, Nigerians have been denied access to Twitter and can only access by bypassing domain restrictions through alternative platforms.

The suspension is sequel to Twitters sanction after Mr Buharis controversial tweet about the civil war which some Nigerian users flagged and Twitter said violated its rules.

The government, in its response, accused the platform of bias against President Buhari and undermining Nigerias corporate existence..

Although the presidency says the ban is temporary, human rights groups and foreign organisations have berated the President Buhari-led administration for censorship, calling for a reversal of the suspension.

Read full statement below

June 6, 2021

SUSPEND TWITTER HANDLES

Consequent on the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria by the Federal Government over the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining the corporate existence of Nigeria, the National Broadcasting Commission directs all Broadcasting Stations in Nigeria to suspend the patronage of Twitter immediately.

In Compliance to the above directive, Broadcasting Stations are hereby advised to de- install twitter handles and desist from using twitter as a source (UGC) of information gathering for News and programmes Presentation especially Phone-in.

Section 2(1) r of the NBC Act entrusts the Commission with responsibility to ensure strict adherence to the national laws, rules and regulations. Also, section 3.11.2 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code provides that the broadcaster shall ensure that law enforcement is upheld at all times in a matter depicting that law and order are socially superior to or more desirable than Crime and Anarchy.

Attention is also drawn to section 5.6.3 of The Code which requires Broadcasters to be mindful of materials that may cause disaffection, incite to panic or rift in the society in the use of a user generated Content (UGC).

Note that it will be unpatriotic for any broadcaster in Nigeria to continue to patronise the suspended Twitter as a source of its information therefore strict compliance is enjoined.

Prof Armstrong Idachaba

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Scores of street children in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, were, on May 27, treated to a party.

The organiser, Jessica Charles, said this was meant to give the children a sense of belonging during the Childrens Day celebration in Nigeria.

Ms Charles is a healthcare professional in Akwa Ibom.

By 10 a.m., the children, one after the other, started arriving at the venue of the party  a recreational park in Ewet Housing Estate, a foremost residential estate in Uyo.

They looked unkempt, hungry, and tired. And scared  apparently not really sure why they were invited to a party.

Some of them looked sickly.

One of the street children, Jeremiah Okon, about five days before the party, was assigned the task of talking to others and getting them to attend the event.

The 17-year-old boy was given the task because he appeared cool-headed and much more promising than the others, Ms Charles said.

The childrens hangout at night in Uyo is mainly along Maitama, the ever busy entrance to the Ewet Housing Estate or any other busy locations where they can beg for money or food from the rich.

In the daytime, the children, some of them as young as eight years old, gather mostly at major road intersections in the city where they make little earnings washing car windshields.

There were 23 of them, at least, at the party.

By the time the children finished eating what was served to them  jollof rice and pastries and some non-alcohol beverages  their faces lit up, and they were now talking freely with Ms Charles and others.

They danced happily and took part in a dance competition.

Emmanuel Isaiah, 13, won the competition and got a N2,000 prize money from Ms Charles.

Ill use the money to buy food, said Emmanuel, who sleeps at a bus stop at night, with some other street children.

Emmanuel, from Itam in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, said he has never met the man who is his father.

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He said he dropped out of school while in primary four and would like to go back to school if he has a home and food to eat.

Emmanuel, like the other children, engages in washing car windshields for a daily earning of N500 (about a dollar) in the afternoon, then he resorts to begging by nightfall.

There were other children like the 14-year-old Godswill Ernest, from Itiam Etoi in Uyo, who said he only saw a photograph of a man said to be his father, shown to him by his grandmother.

There was Etemkere George, 11, from Itiam Etoi too, who said he had not seen his father before, and that his mother abandoned him and ran away.

There was eight-year-old Gideon, the youngest among them. He looked weak, lonely, and distrustful.

Their stories were similar  pushed into the street either because of the effects of being from a broken home or witchcraft labelling. There are others who run to the street because of abuse at home or for other reasons.

The pledge

Dumbi Onyeobi, a pastor with His Pleasure House Christian Assembly, Uyo, told the children not to see themselves as being abandoned, despite their rough experiences in life.

Mr Onyeobi, accompanied to the party by his wife, Sarah, urged the children to stay off drugs and crimes, and bad gangs.

If you do good, God will stand with you, the pastor said to them.

He told them about a Biblical figure, Joseph, who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his own brothers, how he lived a godly life, overcame all the odds in life and was eventually appointed prime minister in Egypt.

Joseph in the Bible was doing good to people who did evil to him.

For doing good, he went to prison. In the prison, he was still doing good. He was in the prison, but did not behave like other prisoners.

The worst thing you could do to yourself is to be like the person whom you hate, the pastor said to the children.

The children, on Mr Onyeobis prompting, lifted up their hands and pledged to live a good life even on the street.

The pastor and his wife prayed for them.

Ms Charles also spoke to the children. She told them there was still hope for a better future for them. She said she would talk to people out there who could help them go to school or acquire vocational skills.

I am worried about the growing number of street children in Uyo, Ms Charles told PREMIUM TIMES, at the end of the childrens party.

We cant wait for the government to do everything. If everyone contributes his quota to solving whatever problem we see in our society, Nigeria would become a better place. Whatever I am doing here is my modest contribution to solving societal problems, the aim is to get these kids off the street.

Besides the fact that these kids are part of humanity and they deserve our love and care, theres a high possibility they could get into drugs, crimes and readily become hoodlums and the unknown gunmen tomorrow, she said.

For the May 27 party, Ms Charles used her money, plus the support from a few friends, to organise it. But it would, however, require more than that if any meaningful help is to be given to the children, she said.

They need a home, they need food, they need clothing. I wish God can just touch people out there to begin to think of how they can help these kids. Some of the kids are not that bad, just a touch of human kindness can do the magic in them, she added.

At the end of the party, Ms Charles gave the children N500 each as their feeding money for another day.

Home for the kids?

Jeremiah, the kid who was assigned the task of bringing the other kids to the party, took PREMIUM TIMES to a place they called home before, along Oron Road in Uyo.

A few of the kids, about 10 of them, were brought into the one-room apartment by the pastor, Mr Onyeobi and his wife, whose church  His Pleasure House Christian Assembly  was also in the same compound.

That was before the owner of the property gave the church quit notice in November.

The kids, who took shelter in the room, later grew in number, beyond what the pastor and his wife could cater for.

Mr Onyeobi told this newspaper that they were able to reunite some of the kids with their parents.

His Pleasure House Christian Assembly has since moved to a new location. But the new landlord does not permit people to sleep inside the church at night, the pastor said.

When this reporter visited the compound where the kids were chased away the landlord had merged the hall that previously housed the church with the room the children stayed  it is now a three-bedroom apartment, with a sitting room, a kitchen, and two toilets.

The apartment, still under renovation, goes for N350,000 as yearly rent, said the owner, Isaiah Nyong.

Mr Nyong reluctantly agreed the children could come back to the apartment on the condition that their number must be manageable and that an adult must be around to oversee them and control their activities.

But neither Ms Charles nor His Pleasure House Christian Assembly has such an amount of money to pay for the apartment now.

Jeremiah, after he and the others were chased out of the apartment, was taken into a house in Uyo by a family who hired him to look after a man with mental illness. He was paid N3,000 monthly as against the N4,000 they had promised him, the boy said.

They treated me somehow, and they are still owing me one months salary, he said with a grimace.

I want to be a computer engineer

During Ms Charles party for them, the childrens biodata was collected. They were also asked about the circumstances that pushed them into the street and what they would probably want to do, between going to school and acquiring vocational skills.

I want to be a computer engineer, Jeremiah, an orphan, told one of the women who handled the documentation.

Okay, I would like to do fashion designing, he said again, innocently, to the woman when she told him he would have to go through secondary school and university before he could become a computer engineer.

Jeremiah dreams of a better future.

Even while on the street, he enrolled in a public school  Uyo High School, Uyo  where he is currently in JSS3, courtesy of the Akwa Ibom State Government free education programme.

A fellow street kid, David, 16, is currently in JSS2 at the same school. There are other street children who also attend the school.

When school closes by 2 p.m., David hurries to a supermarket in the city to help pack trash in exchange for tokens from the supermarket owner.

I want a part-time job, Jeremiah told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday. Anything I can do to earn money  maybe N10,000 at the end of every month.

Even though their school is tuition-free, Jeremiah and David frequently need money to buy work-books, foolscap papers, or even for their haircut. This is besides the need for their feeding  the boys sometimes go for days without a good meal.

Both kids do not even have a school desk, so they have to either stand or sit on the floor during classes.

The two of them are currently squatting in a one-room apartment that belongs to a female member of His Pleasure House Ministries. Usually, eight people, including the womans children, are cramped in the room at night, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

At his school on Wednesday, Jeremiah was gripped with shyness as he posed for a PREMIUM TIMES reporter to take photograph of him at the schools assembly ground  where the school principal told the students they would not be coming to school on Thursday and Friday because of a mid-term holiday declared by the Akwa Ibom State Government.

Standing next to him was 18-year-old Daniel Sunday, another street kid, who is in the same school.

After the announcement at the assembly ground, Jeremiah pulled out some notebooks from his school bag and showed them to the reporter.

One of the notebooks is for Basic Science, one of the subjects he is taught in school. Inside the notebook, he scribbled some notes on the depletion of ozone layer, one of the topics under the subject.

You had breakfast today? the reporter asked him.

No, I havent.

I dont like eating in the morning, so I wont sleep in class, he said with a smile.

As Jeremiah and Daniel walked away, towards the Uyo High School gate, their faded school uniform, the patches on them tell a story of their struggles and determination.

While the mid-term holiday lasts, Jeremiah, Daniel and the other kids would definitely be searching for where to beg for money or do menial jobs to survive.

Sorry, the government cant help!

At the children welfare department of the Akwa Ibom State Government, an official told this reporter that there was nothing the government could do to help the likes of Jeremiah because of age limitation.

In Akwa Ibom State Child Rights Law, you are no longer considered a child once you are above 16 years, the official said.

He said the government has been clearing the streets of homeless children, but that new sets of kids keep emerging.

We have childrens homes, but we cant pack the new ones from the street and shelter them in a facility where the reformed ones are already, so that the new ones wont corrupt them, he said.

A permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, Adamu Hussaini, said in 2017 that Nigeria has the largest number of out-of-school children in the world, and that street children were among the most affected groups.

For Jeremiah and the rest, the struggle continues  the street remains their home, their comfort, while they continually seek help from kind-hearted people like Ms Charles and Mr Onyeobi and His Pleasure House Christian Assembly.

A piece of good news: Jeremiah is about to hit a milestone in school, he has just received N2,500 from Ms Charles to process the registration for his Junior Secondary Certificate Examination, which comes up in a few weeks.

Sir, I hope well see you again in church? The boy said happily to this reporter on the phone, on Friday.

He was referring to a new weekly fellowship organised every Sunday by 4 p.m. at His Pleasure House Christian Assembly for him and other street children who participated in the May 27 party.
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The federal government has said the operations of Twitter in Nigeria will be restored only when responsible communication can be assured on the platform.

Foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama, who spoke after a meeting with some envoys Monday, said while there is no definite timeline for this, the condition (for lifting the suspension) would be responsible use of social media and that really has to be it, he said.

When you have the power to communicate, it has to come with responsibilities, he told journalists.

We are not saying that Twitter is threatening the country or any such thing; why we have taken this measure is to stop them from being used as platforms for destabilisation and facilitation of criminality or encouragement of criminalities.

He added that this decision was key to maintaining security in the country, because without security, everything else fails. We will all be losers. What we do today will define the future of the country.

The federal government had on Friday suspended the operations of Twitter in the country after the social media platform deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari which it deemed as inciting violence.

The government claimed that the suspension of Twitter was to protect the sovereignty of the country, but digital rights advocates said it was censorship.

Despite public outcry and international condemnations, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, doubled down on the crackdown saying violators of the directive risked being charged to court.

While he could not cite the law which these alleged defaulters would be breaching, the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation would later direct television and radio stations to deactivate their Twitter handles.

Amid this, the envoys of the U.S., UK, Canada and the European Union, issued a joint statement to condemn the Nigerian governments crackdown on Twitter, prompting the government to summon the envoys for a behind-closed-door parley.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Mr Onyeama said the Buhari administration was committed to protecting the lives and properties of Nigerians.

Nigerian lives matter and we have to do everything we can to preserve Nigerian lives. And when we feel our goals are threatened, actions need to be taken, he said.

Its to see to what extent this media can be a force of good and not for the facilitation of criminalities or the destabilization of the country. We can disagree, but Nigerians lives matter.

Differences of opinion is not a problem; everybody will not think alike, he added. But we want to use social media for good. There is a lot of good that can come out of communication today. Part of the conversation will be how to use them for global good.

Asked if the government is seeking Chinese advice on how to place a firewall around the internet in the country, the minister said, Im not aware of any meeting with the Chinese authorities in respect of social media.
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Two persons were shot dead on Sunday when their cattle-laden lorry was attacked in Oba, Idemili South Local Government Area of Nigerias southeastern Anambra State, witnesses and local security sources told PREMIUM TIMES.

The driver, Abdulmumini Musa, and his conductor, Garba Yusuf, were en route from northeastern Bauchi State to Owerri when they were attacked in Oba, near Onitsha, one of the biggest centres of commerce in Nigerias south, our sources said.

Disturbing photographs reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES show apparent bullet holes on the chests of the victims. Some of the photographs are too gory and cannot be published.

The police have not blamed anybody or group for the attack. A local police officer detailed to work on the matter told PREMIUM TIMES investigation has begun and the spokesperson for the police in Anambra, Ikenga Tochukwu, said he had not been briefed on Monday afternoon.

Armed militants belonging to the separatist Eastern Security Network have been operating in Nigerias South-east, including Anambra State, and have been blamed for the rising attacks on INEC offices, Nigerian security facilities and personnel, and innocent civilians, including Nigerians from the North of the country.

The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, which formed ESN last year, repeatedly denies involvement in these attacks. But their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has repeatedly appeared in broadcasts and leaked audios issuing attack orders and firing incendiary remarks at Abuja and Northern Nigerians.

Also, the police said gunmen arrested following repelled attacks or during raids of camps have admitted to being ESN operatives.

Sources that witnessed the Sunday attack in Oba said it was the appearance of the military personnel that stopped the assailants from burning the lorry after they killed the driver and the conductor and enabled the stealing of the cows.

Four cows have been recovered, one person in the Hausa community told PREMIUM TIMES but asked to remain anonymous so as not to hurt his cooperation with the police over the case.

The remains of the victims were taken to the Hausa Quarters, Cable Point, Asaba, in Delta State, for burial, PREMIUM TIMES was told by those involved in their burial.

Oba was where six children, all under 10, belonging to a Fulani family, were killed in February.
Despite Nigerian governors declaration of state of emergency on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, the menace has been on the rise, an advocacy group has revealed.

The Sexual and Gender-Based Violence movement consisting of several non-governmental organisations including TechHerNG, Yiaga Africa, Connected Development (CODE), amongst others, said this at the one-year anniversary of the movement on Monday.

The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), on June 12, 2020, declared a state of emergency on SGBV.

But according to the movement, rather than wane, the menace spiked.

During the COVID-19 outbreak and the consequent nationwide lockdown, Nigeria witnessed a disturbing surge in cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

Before the pandemic, violent and domestic attacks on women were common. However, the lockdowns caused a significant spike in the incidents, resulting in an alarming increase in brutality and death.

According to the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (2018), 30 per cent of girls and women between the ages of 15 and 49 reported being subjected to sexual abuse. The Lagos State Domestic and Gender Violence Response Team reported a total of 3193 cases of gender-based violence between January and December 2020 alone. The statistics are similarly dire across the rest of the country, the group stated.

Disturbing cases

One of such is the murder of 22-year-old Vera Omozuwa, who was gang-raped and clubbed to death inside the Ikpoba Hill branch of Redeemed Christian Church of God in Benin City, Edo State, in May 2020,

Another is a 12-year-old raped by a 57-year-old man and 11 others in Jigawa State.

Grace Oshiagwu, Barakat Bello, and Azeezat Somuyiwa were raped and gruesomely murdered in Ibadan.

One year after, these victims are yet to get justice, the movement noted.

In April, Iniobong Umoren, a graduate of the University of Uyo, was allegedly raped and killed by Uduak Akpan, who, under the guises of possible employment, lured her to her death in Akwa Ibom State.

Last week, Olajide Omowumi Blessing, a 300-level student of the University of Ilorin, was sexually assaulted and killed by rapists.

The group also lamented that the prosecution of Kogi State Commissioner for Water Resources, Abdulmumuni Danga, accused of assaulting Elizabeth Oyeniyi, last year, has been stalled.

Similarly, the case levelled against the Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Abiodun Abdul-Balogun, accused of attempted rape, remains uninvestigated, it added.

Way forward

On the way forward, the founder of TechHerNG, Chioma Agwuegbo, said it was not enough to have laws, adding that it is pertinent that laws are implemented.

SGBV cases should be promptly prosecuted within a reasonable timeframe and in line with the provisions of extant laws, regardless of requests or interference by the victims family or interested parties.

She also stated the the group noticed that some states are adopting a watered-down version of the VAPP Act, significantly reducing the punishments for violence against women and girls.

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This is not acceptable. While national leaders can modify laws in line with the socio-political peculiarity of their states, the standard remains the 2015 version of the VAPP passed by the National Assembly. We, therefore, call for urgent amendments to these below-par versions in these states.

The group also urged the 36 state governors to establish independent specialised courts for sexual offences, etablish new or fund existing Sexual Assault Referral Centers (SARCs) and shelters in every state.

A Sexual Offenders Register should be opened in all the states.

The Police should implement well-resourced functional Family Support Units and Force Gender Units of the Nigeria Police Force to address GBV cases in collaboration with and at the state level. Also, there should be public disciplinary measures against officers of the Nigeria Police Force and state prosecutors who mishandle cases of GBV,  the group demanded.
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Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex and husband, Prince Harry, have announced the arrival of their daughter and second child, Lilibet Lili Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.

Lilibet Lili Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born on Friday at the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California, with Harry in attendance.

Lili is named after Queen Elizabeth and his late mother, Princess Diana.

On June 4th, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili. She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers weve felt from across the globe, Harry and Meghan said in a statement

Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family.

Harry and Meghan have a two-year old son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
The Nigerian Army has commenced the process of retiring 29 generals from service following the appointment of Farouk Yahaya as the chief of army staff.

The decision to compulsorily retire the generals occurs despite the claim by the Defence Headquarters last week that none of its personnel had been retired following the appointment of Mr Yahaya, who belonged to Regular Course 37.

Mr Yahaya, a major general, from Sokoto State, was named the army chief by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 27.

He succeeded Ibrahim Attahiru, a lieutenant general, who died on May 21 in a plane crash alongside 10 other military personnel while on official assignment to Zaria, Kaduna State.

Shortly after the appointment of the new COAS, there were speculations that between 30 and 45 generals, who are his seniors, may be asked to go home.

The senior generals belong to Regular Courses 35 and 36.

Traditional move

It is a tradition in the military that when a junior is appointed as a service chief, senior officers, who are ahead of him or her, would proceed on retirement.

The understanding is that senior military officers are unlikely to take orders from their juniors.

Denial

The Defence Headquarters, however, dismissed the speculations of massive retirement, saying the retirement of senior officers from the military was always voluntary.

It said the military high command had yet to authorise the retirement of any officer.

The Acting Director, Defence Media Operations, Bernard Onyeuko, a brigadier general, who briefed journalists on the matter last week, said retirement of senior officers from the military was always voluntary.

At this point, you are all aware of the appointment of the new Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Farouk Yahaya, Mr Onyeuko said.

This has stirred up a lot of rumours in the media about mass retirements in the military.

I wish to use this medium to dispel such unfounded rumours as retirement is only on a voluntary basis for senior officers who desire to do so.

At this point, no retirements have been authorised by the military high command.

Generals to be retired

A memo sighted by PREMIUM TIMES indicates that a total of 29 army major generals have been approved to proceed on terminal leave, which was termed annual leave paving way for their eventual retirement.

According to the memo, the 29 generals, from Regular Course 36, were asked to proceed on the leave.

Among the generals are J.B Olawumi, J.O. Akomolafe, C.O. Ude, G. Oyefesobi, M.O. Uzoh, C.C. Okonkwo and M.S.A. Aliyu.

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Others are U.M. Mohammed, B.M. Ashafa, N.E. Angbazo, Y.P. Auta and S.A. Yaro. (See the full list below).

Their leave was approved with effect from June 1, 2021, to June 30.

The memo was, however, silent on major generals from the Regular Course 35, who are also Mr Yahayas seniors.

Multiple sources in the army told PREMIUM TIMES that such mass leave approval for generals from the set was the prelude to their compulsory retirement.

One of the affected officers told PREMIUM TIMES he had not been notified about the leave as of Monday morning. The general, who asked not to be named as he had no permission to talk to journalists, also said their formal retirement would have to be approved by the Army Council before it is official. President Muhammadu Buhari, as Commander In Chief of the Armed Forces, is the head of the army council which also includes the defence minister, the chief of defence staff and the chief of army staff.

Below is the full list of generals asked to proceed on compulsory leave and expected to be retired.

1. JB Olawumi

2. JO Akomolafe

3. CO Ude

4. G Oyefesobi

5. MO Uzoh

6. CC Okonkwo

7. MSA Aliyu

8. UM Mohammed

9. BM Shafa

10. NE Angbazo

11. YP Auta

12. SA Yaro

13. J Sarham

14. HE Ayamasoawei

15. OF Azinta

16. BA Akinroluyo

17. KAY Isiyaku

18. AT Hamman

19. AM Aliyu

20. HPZ Vintienagba

21. HR Momoh

22. JR Unuigbe

23. AA Jidda

24. OI Uzomere

25. MH Magaji

26. LA Adegboye

27. MA Masanawa

28. OA Akinyemi

29. AM Dauda
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The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has donated a molecular diagnostic and research laboratory to the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.

The donation, according to the funding agency, is aimed at empowering research institutions with the required capacity to contribute meaningfully to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and other infectious diseases.

In a statement issued by the universitys director of corporate affairs, Kunle Akogun, said the facility was inaugurated by TETFunds Executive Secretary, Suleman Bogoro.

He said the laboratory has received the Nigerian Centre for Disease Controls (NCDC) certification as a public health laboratory for the diagnosis of COVID-19 and the surveillance of other infectious diseases like poliomyelitis, Lassa Fever and other viral haemorrhagic fevers.

According to Akogun, while flagging off the facility, Mr Bogoro, a professor, said the university has produced the most successful TETFund-sponsored researches in the country for several years, describing the institutions College of Health Sciences as one of the best rated health training institutions in the country.

He said Mr Bogoro pointed out that quality of personnel, research infrastructure and relevance of research outcome to the society are the parameters that determine the strength of a university, and that the University of Ilorin is number one when those parameters are considered.

The official also noted that TETFund is working to curb brain drain by providing infrastructure and research facilities to discourage Nigerians from going abroad where those facilities are available.

He said TETFund is putting research into perspective to ensure that research contributes to national development while advising tertiary institutions to seek complementary funding as TETFund is only an intervention agency.
Two persons were reportedly shot and injured on Saturday after residents of a community, recently attacked by bandits, blocked the convoy of Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State while protesting against insecurity in the state.

The protest followed the killing of 88 persons by bandits in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of the state on Thursday.

Residents said a vehicle attached to the governors convoy was burnt by the protesters after shots fired by security agents to disperse the crowd hit two persons. The two men were said to be receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital in the state.

Mr Bagudu was in the council area on Saturday to condole with the people over the killings. However, some residents burnt used tyres on the streets, booed the governor and attacked his convoy over his alleged poor handling of security challenges in the areas.

The Emir of Zuru, Muhammadu Sani-Sami, who confirmed the incident in an interview with BBC Hausa Service, said the governor was in the area to sympathise with the residents, following the bandits attack, when the incident happened.

The governor usually visits and sympathise with residents whenever such things happened and promised to bring an end to such attacks but they keep on reoccurring, the emir said.

But the youth this time came out en masse and showed their grievances, maybe because they did not see any change, despite the repeated promise to stop the attacks, the traditional ruler said.

Mr Sani-Sami, however, said the governments was doing its best to forestall the attacks but noted that security agents in the area do not have the numbers to stop the bandits.

Speaking on Saturday when he paid a condolence visit to the affected communities, the governor regretted the nefarious acts of banditry in the area.

It is really unfortunate that these obnoxious and deadly attacks occurred after the area had been quiet and peaceful.

We should not allow this vicious cycle to continue, as such, all hands must be on deck to provide plausible solutions to the problem, Mr Sarki quoted his governor saying in the statement.

The governor also admonished the people to regard the tragic incident as an act of the Almighty Allah and urged the residents to pray for Gods intervention.

The governor also urged vigilante groups in the area to collaborate with the security agencies, traditional rulers and the various communities, to ensure the success of their activities.

In his remark, the village head of Gaya, one of the attacked communities, Ahmad Ubandoma, narrated how the attacks happened and urged the governor to facilitate the deployment of more security personnel in the area.

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Danko-Wasagu, like Sakaba LGA where bandits killed nine police officers in April, shares boundary with Zamfara and Niger states.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how 88 people were killed by bandits in attacks on some communities in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area.

Some of the affected communities are Koro, Kimpi, Gaya, Dimi, Zutu, Rafin Gora and Iguenge, all of which are described as difficult to access from Kebbi State.

Passing blames not the solution  Governor

The governor, following the incidents, urged residents to be optimistic about the security situation in their area. He said passing blame will not solve the problems and pledged to take more pungent measures against the bandits.

We should note that passing blame will not solve the problem. What is required (is) mutual trust and respect for all, the governors spokesperson, Yahaya Sarki, said in a statement.

Mr Sarki was, however, silent on the violent protest in the affected areas.
Illustration: Liu Rui/GT Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

By Yang Xiyu

The 47th Group of Seven (G7) summit will be held from June 11 to 13 in Cornwall, England. After attending the summit, US President Joe Biden will travel to Brussels, Belgium for the NATO summit. The White House said the trip will highlight Biden's commitment to restoring US alliances and revitalizing the transatlantic relationship.

As the G7 is a creature of the past age, its influence and power are no longer worth looking forward to. The fundamental reason is that the world's economic and political center of gravity has shifted eastward. When the G7 was set up in the 1970s, the seven Western countries were indeed the seven biggest players in the world economy. However, great changes have taken place in some Asian countries since the 1970s, and the past glory in these seven countries had faded. Mechanisms such as the G20 have emerged in recent years. This has further diminished the influence of G7.

This year, G7 has invited India, South Korea and Australia to participate. Adding these three countries to the meeting aims to increase the weight of the US in the international economic and financial fields, and expand the values of the US and form a global "democratic" bloc. On the one hand, they want to play the "alliance" card and further diversify the US-led mechanism. On the other hand, they want to expand the functions of the G7 financial mechanism against the backdrop that the US' influence in the international economic and financial fields has declined.

They could expect things to turn out as they have wished. But in the real world, such a strategy will hardly serve the US purposes, as the G20 - with the participation of more developing countries including China - is playing a more important role in the international economy.

Australia, India and South Korea might be interested in the idea that membership in the G7 may help raise their international status. However, original G7 members have different positions on the admission requirements of new members. Superficially, 10 countries may be more powerful than seven; however, each country has its own calculations and concerns over various interests. The expansion from seven countries to 10 will consume more energy and resources for the countries to coordinate their divergences. Not to mention reviving the diminished influence of the G7.

In addition, the US and European countries have sharply differing viewpoints toward China. European countries do not support turning the G7 into a "democratic" bloc against China.

There has been a decline in the competitiveness of the US and Western governance. But they have been unable to initiate substantive reforms. In the normal competition based on international rules, the US feels that it is being surpassed by its rivals. This is why it has begun to take political means other than true competition to hinder its rivals - from coalition formations to open suppression tactics.

This is a vicious competition. And the end result will be a systematic "de-Americanization" around the world. In the long run, it will not be China getting isolated from the world, but the US isolating itself from the world.

When the G7 was founded, the seven members all had their own calculations. In modern international relations, multilateral parties, whether small or large, can hardly pursue the same goal as their national interests are different. The idea that the seven countries can do anything to align themselves with the US' position was, and remains, simply impossible.

The G7 was set up with the mission of strengthening international financial governance, but over the decades, it has turned out to be an absolute failure. The world should be inclusive, meaning that it should accept all kinds of ideas about governance from different perspectives. This will allow for a balanced international governance system. The G7 has no right to and should not exclude developing countries or other platforms for multilateral governance.

The global political and security structures and the international economic and financial order, established by the US after World War II and maintained to this day, have become increasingly unsustainable. And a new world order is far from being formed. The G7 says it will defend the rules-based international order. But international rules should never be established by only seven countries or by the US. After all, the US is a hegemonic country that has once torn down the edifice of the international order.

The author is a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies.
The addition of the new projects bringing the company's backlog production work to $9.8 million

For one, an orthopedic healthcare project in eastern Ohio has brought in $1.3 million for MSM

Alpine 4 Holdings Inc ( ) announced that its subsidiary Morris Sheet Metal (MSM) has been awarded $2.3 million in new building projects, bringing the company's backlog production work to $9.8 million.

The company noted that MSM's backlog has recently grown, thanks to its ability to deliver to its healthcare, food process industry, industrial, and educational customers.

MSMs new building projects include:

Northeast Indiana's largest healthcare provider recently awarded MSM several projects totaling over $500,000 in new work;

An additional orthopedic healthcare project in eastern Ohio has brought in $1.3 million;

MSM's food processing industry work accounts for $450,000 in new jobs; and

A number of MSMs industrial maintenance customers and educational partners have brought various new work combining roughly $100,000 in new projects.

"We are proving to our customers, employees and competitors that MSM is a top-tier contractor, said Tom Laubhan, MSM president, in a statement.

Our process is eliminating redundancy, maximizing our most efficient assets, increasing purchasing power and strengthening our team. Construction trades labor is still very scarce, though we are having excellent results with our new apprentices. MSM has a great culture of training your replacement. This has served us very well and continues to create a path for advancement. I am very proud of our team at MSM for their ability to adapt to the challenges that currently exist in the fabrication and construction industry. We expect to see a very strong year and are building the foundation for continued growth."

MSM is a full-service HVAC contractor and custom sheet metal fabricator offering design, fabrication, and installation services to its clients since 1998.

Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham
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The Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rescind his governments decision to suspend Twitter in Nigeria.

The group made the call in a statement signed by its President, Dotun Oladipo, and General Secretary, Danlami Nmodu on Monday.

According to GOCOP, the suspension of Twitter is a major setback for online publishing and other businesses which rely on the social media platform for mass circulation and marketing of their businesses.

We believe this suspension will ruin our businesses and shrink the democratic space, the statement said.

Even more, this action will leave many social media handlers who work full time doing legitimate businesses jobless.This will compound the already troubling unemployment situation in the country.

We believe this action is more injurious to the survival of Nigerian young business entrepreneurs who rely on Twitter.

GOCOP also said governments move is a major setback for information dissemination, growth of the media, information technology sectors among others in Nigeria.

We note that there are also millions of Nigerians who use Twitter to ventilate their democratic right of freedom of expression responsibly.The suspension clearly shrinks the democratic space.

The organisation advised the President to explore alternative means of relating with Twitter to resolve whatever difference that have arisen.

Once again, we call on government to lift the order suspending Twitter in Nigeria immediately, GOCOP said.
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The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Bello, says the FCT Administration needs N2.6 billion to replace 25,462 assets vandalised in the territory.

Mr Bello disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a Town Hall meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture.

He explained that recent findings revealed that 400 foul water manholes covers, 582 storm water covers and 23,210 gully pot covers were vandalised in the territory.

He said that others were 467 water board inspection chamber covers, 47 fire hydrant covers and 756 telecom duct covers.

He said public asset destruction constitutes serious health and security challenges in the FCT.

Mr Bello noted that the destruction of water board inspection chamber covers had adverse effects on water supply in the territory.

Just by way of statistics, a few weeks ago, we did some checks and we realised that we needed to replace immediately 400 manholes cover, 582 stormwater covers, 23,210 gully pot covers, 467 water board inspection chamber covers, 47 fire hydrant covers, and 756 telecom duct covers.

Overall, we are talking of over 25,000 covers of one form or the other and these are critical public assets.

This is just one aspect. In some of the streets, you notice blackouts sometimes and you think it is a public blackout, it is not.

It (blackout) occurs simply because somebody decides to dig out the cables, Mr Bello said.

The minister called on security agencies not to see vandalism of public assets as a minor crime because it constitutes threat to lives.

It is very important that security agencies consider that very important. The FCTA had banned scavengers for almost five years now, he said.

The President, Nigeria Society of Engineers, Babagana Mohammed, advised the minister to replace the stolen items with plastic ones.

Mr Mohammed said this would discourage vandals from stealing them.

(NAN)
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The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, has advised the newly sworn-in Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Salisu Garba, to avoid any act that would pitch him against the law.

Mr Muhammad said the head of the High Court judiciary in Abuja must live above reproach.

He gave the advice on Monday at the official inauguration of Mr Garba as the substantive Chief Judge of the FCT High Court in Abuja.

Mr Garba, who arrived the Supreme Court chamber in company with his colleagues and family members, took his oath of office at exactly 2:3p.m

At the event which saw the ceremonial court packed with top lawyers and associates of the new Chief Judge, the CJN urged Mr Garba to imbibe the virtues of impartiality, fairness, justice and equity, which he was known for.

Mr Muhammad, who traced his history of working with Mr Garba decades ago at the FCT High Court, said, You are expected to conduct your affairs within the ambit of the law; anything short of that will set you on a collision course with the law and your creator.

You must live above reproach. As the CJN, I will not condone any act of lawlessness. Do what is right and you will etch your name in gold, he added.

Why CJs inauguration was delayed

The CJN disclosed on Monday that Mr Garbas swearing-in ceremony was delayed due to the lingering strike action by Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).

Court activities across Nigeria have been crippled by the industrial action which began on April 6, 2021.

After the much delay in swearing-in in the CJ as a result of the JUSUN strike, which has regrettably crippled Court activities across the country for two months, the event is eventually taking place today (Monday), Mr Muhammad said.

Mr Garba took over from Ishaq Bello who clocked the retirement age of 65 on January 6, 2021.

His inauguration as substantive CJ followed approval by President Muhammadu Buhari and screening by the Nigerian Senate.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Garba, who will clock the retirement age of 65 years before the end of 2021, was until Mr Bellos exit the second most senior judge of the FCT High Court.
Security agencies have foiled an attack on the Imo State Police Command, according to a statement by the Nigerian Army.

According to the army spokesperson, Mohammed Yerima, a brigadier general, the security agencies, including troops of the Nigerian Army, also succeeded in killing one Dragon, said to be a top commander of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), a militant arm of the IPOB separatist group.

Mr Yerima said three other members of the ESN were also killed in the process.

The latest victory against suspected members of the ESN comes amidst multiple attacks on security officials and facilities in the South-east and South-south zones.

At least two other commanders and dozens of members of the group were killed in the past few weeks, officials said.

Imo State has suffered more attacks by suspected ESN members than any other state in the South-east.

According to the Sunday statement by the army, Dragon, whose real name was given as Joseph Nnachi, was the operational commander of the ESN who coordinated several attacks on government facilities after the death of Commander Ikonso, a former leader of the group who was killed by the army.

IPOB had admitted Mr Ikonsos killing by the army, claiming he was lured to his death by politicians in the state.

The army also said one of the groups members was captured alive and is currently giving useful information to security agents.

According to the army, some of the items recovered include four AK-47 Rifles, a Toyota Hiace mini bus used as an operational vehicle by the assailants as well as several assorted ammunition and charms.

Read the full statement by the army below.

TROOPS FOIL ANOTHER ATTACK ON IMO STATE POLICE COMMAND, NEUTRALISE DRAGON, 4 OTHER ASSAILANTS

Nigerian Army (NA) troops operating in Owerri the Imo State capital foiled an early morning attack on the Imo State Police Command today 6 June 2021. The troops assisted by the Police Special Forces eliminated a top IPOB/ESN Operational Commander, Joseph Uka Nnachi alias King of Dragons, who has been orchestrating attacks against security agencies and government establishments in the South Eastern States. He has been at the centre of several heinous attacks since the death of Ikonso who gave up the ghost during an encounter with security forces on 24 April 2021 at Awomama Village of Orlu East LGA of Imo State.

Equaly neutralised along with Dragon were four of his cohorts while one was captured alive and has been assisting security forces with useful information. The troops recovered four AK-47 Rifles, a Toyota Hiace Mini bus used as operational vehicle by the assailants as well as several assorted ammunitions and charms.

ALSO READ: Five gunmen killed during another attack at police headquarters in Imo

It would be recalled that IPOB/ESN Terrorists attacked the Imo State Police Command on 5 April 2021 and since then, the security forces had been on the trail of the assailants leading to the successful elimination of the key figures involved.

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The NA wishes to place on records its profound appreciation to the peace-loving citizens of Imo State and the entire citizenry for their support towards combating security challenges in the South East and the rest of the country. The Chief of Army Staff, Maj Gen Faruk Yahaya, particularly noted this as a patriotic gesture and appealed to the public to do more while assuring them of the NAs resolve to end the reign of terror in the country.

MOHAMMED YERIMA

Brigadier General

Director Army Public Relations

6 June 2021
It is implementing a minimum progressive dividend policy with a target of distributing at least $500 million to shareholders through to fiscal year 2023

The firm said it has a 'strong commitment towards the current share buyback program,' with around $49 million of shares repurchased in April and May

( ) (OTCQX:EDVMF) (FRA:E5Y1) said it will host a capital markets event on Monday to update shareholders on the companys strategy and recent milestones, highlighting its long-term ability to reward shareholders.

The event will take place on Monday at 2.00 pm BST and 9.00 am EST.

In a statement, Endeavour CEO Sebastien de Montessus said: Our team is excited to have the opportunity to provide greater visibility on our capacity to reward shareholders through the cycles while simultaneously investing in our future organic growth.

This is underpinned by our resilient business, disciplined capital allocation and competitive advantage in West Africa. Following the significant transformation of our business in recent years, we are now well-positioned within the senior gold producer peer group with a high-quality portfolio, a healthy balance sheet, and trusted partnerships with local stakeholders.

To reflect Endeavours increase in size and scale as the largest West African gold producer, it is implementing a more comprehensive Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) strategy.

As part of the capital markets event, we will outline some of our more ambitious ESG initiatives aimed at supporting the social upliftment and socio-economic development in our host countries and local communities, added de Montessus.

Key highlights to be presented at the event include:

Implementing a minimum progressive dividend policy with a target of distributing at least $500 million to shareholders through to fiscal year 2023;

Minimum dividends set at $125 million, $150 million, $175 million for FY2021, FY2022, and FY2023 respectively (which represents around $0.50 per share, $0.60 per share, $0.70 per share respectively based on current shares outstanding), up from its inaugural FY2020 dividend of $60 million or $0.37 per share, payable semi-annually, provided that the gold price remains above $1,500/oz;

To provide shareholders with added value from prevailing higher gold prices above $1,500/oz, the minimum dividend can be supplemented with both higher dividends and by continuing its share buyback program;

Strong commitment towards the current share buyback program, as evidenced with around $49 million (C$59 million) of shares already repurchased in April and May at an average price of C$28.45; and

The company said it had the ability to reward shareholders due to its resilient business, high-quality portfolio of assets, diversified across three countries and seven mines, that can grow production above 1.5Moz annually while maintaining a competitive low AISC of under $900/oz.

The event will also focus on the senior gold producers' ESG strategy, which is centered around two key pillars: investing in host countries and protecting the environment.

The Endeavour Foundation will implement the firms social investments and sustainability projects by focusing on health, particularly malaria, education, access to water and energy, and economic development.

As part of Endeavours journey to net zero by 2050, the company is working on its roadmap to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 30% by 2030, said the company.

Similarly, among the "eight levers" identified to reduce emissions, switching to renewable power has the most potential, noted the company. Solar power is expected to form a core part of the groups energy mix, starting with the construction of a solar power plant at the Hounde mine in Burkina Faso. Endeavour will also release its 2020 Sustainability Report on Monday.

Investors can register for the three-hour virtual capital markets event on Monday at 14:00 BST (9:00 EST) at this webcast link.

Alternatively, they can dial into the conference call using these dial-in numbers, no pin is required:

Standard International Access: +44 (0) 33 0551 0200

Canada Toll Free: +1 866 378 3566

UK Toll Free: 0808 109 0700

US Toll Free: +1 866 966 5335

A replay will be posted on Endeavours website.

Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive
On June 1, 2021, Nigerias President, Muhammadu Buhari, received a briefing from the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, at the Statehouse in Abuja.

Yakubu had come to brief the president on a series of attacks on facilities of the electoral body across the country.

In reaction, President Buhari had said he will provide INEC with all it needs to carry out its duties and prepare ahead of the 2023 elections.

In a Twitter thread after the briefing, the President, however, warned that a rude shock awaits unpatriotic elements promoting insurrection and burning critical assets across the country.

The president threatened to treat insurrectionists and those attacking facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) like Nigerian soldiers treated the rebels during the civil war.

Buhari, a retired general, fought during the war which claimed the lives of over one million persons.

The last part of the thread attracted the outrage of many Nigerians who interpreted it to be a threat to a particular ethnic group.

The tweet reads, Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.

Many Nigerians reported the Twitter account of the President seeking a ban on the account, however, Twitter deleted the controversial post by the President, rather than ban his account.

A comment by Twitter stated, This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules.

This action by the social media giant did not go down well with some government officials, especially the Minister of Information and Culture, who condemned Twitters action in a press conference.

A photo, which had now gone viral on social media especially the popular messaging app, WhatsApp, featured Twitters verified handle explaining the rules President Buhari had contravened which caused the deletion of the tweet.

The tweet which had purportedly come from Twitter read, Dear @MBuhari We have no idea who you are or what country you are leading, we have come across a tweet that violates our rule number 4 of safety and freedom and removed it.

Verification

Dubawa started by checking the official handle of Twitter (@Twitter) to see if it posted any tweet such as this, but found nothing of such.

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From searches made, @Twitters last tweet was on May 28 while the circulating tweet was dated June 4, 2021.

Also, the purported tweet was posted with Twitter for Android but checks from Dubawa have revealed that @Twitter uses Sprinklr or Twitter Web App to make posts.

Also, Twitter had not independently made any comment on its verified handle regarding the deletion of the Presidents tweet on its verified handle ever since the incident.

Further checks by Dubawa showed that President Muhammadu Buhari is officially recognised as Nigerias President as stated on his bio in the verified handle. As of Sunday, the Presidents account is active with 4.1 million followers.

Dubawa further made use of Forensically, a tool for digital image forensics, which confirmed that the picture had been created by some photo manipulation tricks.

Another form of the image using Forensicallys level sweep tool shows the parts of the image that were introduced when copy pasting the content.

A screenshot of the same image uses Forensicallys Clone detection tool. The red line and blue dots show that the image was created using either photoshop or some other photo manipulation tools.

Conclusion

Findings showed that the picture being circulated as a tweet from the verified handle of Twitter is false. The picture was manipulated.

The researcher produced this fact-check per the Dubawa 2021 Kwame KariKari Fellowship partnership with SaharaReporters to facilitate the ethos of truth in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
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A Lagos-based radio station, Radio Now 95.3FM, says it will comply with the National Broadcasting Commissions directive for broadcast stations to deactivate their Twitter accounts, but argues the order may be illegal.

The radio said it will consult with its lawyers after the NBC warned that it will be unpatriotic for any broadcaster in Nigeria to continue to patronise the suspended Twitter.

We believe this amounts to an attack on the media and freedom of speech, both of which are guaranteed by the Constitution of Nigeria, a statement by the executive director of the radio station, Kadaria Ahmed, read.

Ms Ahmed noted that section 39(1) guarantees freedom of expression as a fundamental right.

Section 22 of Nigerias constitution guarantees press freedom by stating that the press, radio, television, and other agencies of the mass media shall at all time be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people, she added.

She further explained that while the station will comply with the order, it will also engage with its lawyers on the legality of the order.

We believe the notice by NBC goes against these laws. Radio Now will, under duress, comply with the directive of the commission while consulting with our lawyers on the legality of this directive.

The advice we receive will determine our next steps. It is important to state that we too are dismayed at the direction our beloved nation is headed but while we recognise the responsibility of the government to act where it sees a threat to the country, we believe such decisions must consider the implications for press freedom, our fragile democracy & the impact on livelihoods.

Solutions that continue to give Nigerians the use of what has become a tool for freedom, that has democratised information particularly for minorities and the most vulnerable in society; while also fighting against hate speech are surely the way forward.

Radio Now is not convinced a ban on Twitter, and a directive by NBC, barring broadcasting stations from using the platform is the right way. We urge the government to go back and engage with experts, many of whom abound in the country, on how to fight hate speech, misinformation and disinformation while respecting and upholding rights that are fundamental in a democracy.

The NBC order followed the federal governments suspension of the microblogging platforms activities in Nigeria.

The suspension was a sequel to Twitters deletion of President Muhammadu Buharis controversial tweet about the civil war after some Nigerian users flagged it.

As a result of the ban, Nigerians have been denied access to Twitter and can only access by bypassing domain restrictions through alternative mediums.

Although the presidency says the ban is temporary and an attempt to curb fake news, human rights groups and foreign missions have berated the President Buhari-led administration for censorship, calling for a reversal of the suspension.
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Two foremost Nigerian trade unions have accused Chevron Nigeria Limited of ignoring a 14-day ultimatum, last month, to reinstate three workers unlawfully disengaged at the behest of the American multinational.

The Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) say the disengagement of Bukola Sola-Adebawo, James Ukachukwu, and John Ayeni was arbitrary. They said it was executed by IESL, Candid Oil, and Xepameadow respectively.

The inhumane treatment meted out to the affected Nigerian workers is antithetical to all applicable laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as well as other international laws that guide employment and the protection of rights of workers, a June 4 statement jointly issued by the two unions said.

As a union, we are greatly disturbed by the disregard for due process the termination of these Nigerians; and we are uncomfortable watching while workers rights are trampled upon by CNL and her contracting companies.

The unions said a 14-day ultimatum issued the oil giant on May 10 expired without the company acceding to their demands to reinstate the workers.

They also said an earlier letter, in January, to the company over some lingering industrial relation issues remains unresolved.

Some of the issues raised in the January letter, according to the unions, include refund of the outstanding difference in monetary benefits, due to short-payment and illegal deductions from workers benefit since 2012, to every affected worker with reference to the original spreadsheet approved for payment with the NNPC.

Refund loans and grants illegally deducted from workers terminal benefits in disregard of the directives issued to the Management by relevant authorities, including FML&E.

Payment of 2018 Vacation not Taken and Vacation Allowance for Contract Employees that compelled to forfeit the payments by CNL Management during the 2019 transition. These payments ought to have been made alongside the End of contract(EOC) for the old contract that ended on June 30, 2019. This is evident as those who were recently severed from the drilling unit was paid the VNT, among others.

Other issues raised include the alleged refusal of the CNL management to carry contract workers in staff bus, closure of redundancy discussions for affected contractor employees who exited since May 2010, victimisation of some contract employees for unionising, and casualisation of labour force.

The unions said their patience has been exhausted over the issues and warned the oil company to take urgent steps to avert a looming industrial crisis as no further notice would be given.

A CNL spokesperson did not respond to phone calls and messages Monday afternoon. An email to Richard Kennedy, CNLs managing director, did not also get a response.
North American funds are the largest shareholders in the FTSE 100, bigger even than British unit trusts

Overseas investors have increased their holdings of the London markets blue chip shares to two thirds of the total, according to new analysis.

The percentage of foreign ownership of the FTSE 100 has risen from 58% in 2013 and 64% in 2019 to 66% at the start of 2021, with UK investors owning the other 34%.

By far the largest holdings from abroad are from US investors, which own 28% of Londons blue chips, according to research of share registers by Orient Capital, of which more than half is held by US mutual funds.

Including Canada in the equation, North American mutual funds now own 1 in every 6 of UK shares, up from just 1 in 9 in 2013.

This makes North American funds the largest shareholders in the FTSE 100, bigger even than British unit trusts, which now own 1 in every 7, according to the research.

UK pension funds own just 2%, following a steep decline from 8% over the past eight years, while overseas pension funds have dropped their stake from 10% to 7%.

This is partly due to international diversification as UK pension assets have swapped domestic for overseas holdings, partly because liquidity rules have pushed pension funds into more fixed income assets and partly because of the increasing interest pension funds have shown in alternative assets like infrastructure whose long time-horizons match pension fund liabilities, said Alison Owers, Orients chief executive.

European investors have increased their LSE holdings the most in the two-year period, across both institutional and retail shareholders. Europeans now claim a 19% stake, up from 15% in 2019.

Investors from China, especially public corporations, have also taken more of a stake in British companies, with holdings more than doubled from 0.7% in 2019 to 1.7% in 2021.

Owers added: The UK stock market, in common with leading stock markets around the world, is dominated by big multinationals whose operations span every continent and compete with global peers, wherever they happen to be listed,

There is therefore no logic for investors only to consider companies that happen to be listed at home, she said.

In terms of sectors, foreign investors seemed to have taken the greatest interest in the FTSE-listed mining companies, followed by healthcare and consumer goods companies.
The initial announcement that the Federal Government had banned Twitter indefinitely took many Nigerians by surprise, and it seemed across many quarters not to have been a well thought-out response. It appears that the Federal Government may have taken on a battle it can never win, and the reasons for this view are manifold.

It began with a tweet on June 1 from President Muhammadu Buharis Twitter handle @MBuhari. He reprimanded angry youths who were misbehaving and alluded to his role in the civil war, promising to treat the secessionists in the language they understand. This tweet was followed by a huge public outcry and condemnation, as many considered it repulsive, and some even deem it as a call for genocide. As a result, Twitter pulled down the specific tweet and its embedded video, in response to which the Federal Government banned Twitter in Nigeria indefinitely (although this was subsequently described as temporary) and called for other social media restrictions. Like the actions of any leader, the ban has been received with mixed reactions.

It is understandable why the President should be irritated with the countrys deteriorating security situation, especially with regards to the South-Eastern part of the country. Since the turn of the year, attacks by unknown gunmen have led to the death of scores of Policemen, Army personnel, as well as officials of other security agencies in Nigeria. In addition, many public institutions, especially Police stations and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), have been razed by the ravaging hoodlums in the South-East.

The Nigerian Police has linked the attacks of public property, particularly in the South-East, to the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), a secessionist group that seeks to restore the defunct state of Biafra. The group, led by Nnamdi Kanu, is believed by security agencies to have commenced an arms struggle with the Nigerian state.

On social media, Nigerians trended the #IAmIgboToo hashtag to express their displeasure with the Presidents statement. In addition, Nigerian Twitter users of different ethnic groups have also adopted Igbo names in solidarity with the Igbo people.

What followed was the removal of the Presidents tweet by Twitter, with the tech company citing its policy on hateful conduct, which prohibits tweets that promote violence or threaten people on the basis of race, ethnicity, (and) national origin. The violation of this policy makes Twitter to delete any contravening tweet or compel users to remove the violating content.

Although some may believe that Twitter removed the tweets as a result of its violated policy, yet I must point out that the tech platform has not always been neutral in its dealing with Nigeria. For example, during the #EndSARS protests of last year, Twitter allegedly encouraged the demonstrations through a nauseous promotion of the #EndSARS hashtag and advised the protesters on alternative ways of raising funds through cryptocurrencies, to bypass the clampdown on accounts through which the protests were being supported, by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Reacting to such seeming contradictions and lack of neutrality, the Minister of Information, Lai Muhammed, complained that Twitter condones worse tweets from the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu. This comparison demeans the Nigerian Presidents office. How can the Minister compare tweets from the President with that of a secessionist leader known for acerbic and uncouth language, coupled with temper tantrums?

The initial announcement that the Federal Government had banned Twitter indefinitely took many Nigerians by surprise, and it seemed across many quarters not to have been a well thought-out response. It appears that the Federal Government may have taken on a battle it can never win, and the reasons for this view are manifold.

the Federal Government cannot afford to engage in a war with the international media, especially at this auspicious time. Insecurity, banditry, the poor economy, and secessionist agitations have negatively affected Nigerias image, locally and internationally. We need the international media as our friends rather than foes, particularly at this point.

First, the speed and context of the Twitter ban by Federal Government smirks of a hasty and jerky reaction, and retaliatory action against an organisation upholding the dictates of its policies. The reasons proffered by the Federal Government are, at best, conjectural, and unrelated to the issues at hand. Misinformation and the spread of fake news, which may have affected national security, as claimed by some of the presidents handlers, would not fly as the reason for the ban, if this came only a few days after Twitter pulled down the Presidents tweet. People are wise to uncover the hidden reason, and many felt the government was not telling the whole truth, and it was disingenuous of the administration to pull such a stunt.

The second reason is that people are suspicious of any fight against the media, which many often interpret as an attempt to muffle their freedom of speech and expression, in a country practising constitutional democracy. On the contrary, Twitter and platforms like it create a public sphere for the expression of divergent views by all. They are marketplaces of ideas and counter ideas, often competing for relevance and acceptance. Everyone with a smartphone and mobile data could air his views on local, national, and international issues, mobilise and fight for a cause, and access and learn about current events. Therefore, a complete ban on Twitter may be seen by many as an affront to their fundamental liberty.

The ban immediately brought to peoples mind the draconian decree 4 of 1984 that curtailed the freedom of speech of journalists and public commentators. This decree was promulgated during the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari, and any assault on the media forces people to recall those days, and specuate about its return.

The third reason is that the Federal Government cannot afford to engage in a war with the international media, especially at this auspicious time. Insecurity, banditry, the poor economy, and secessionist agitations have negatively affected Nigerias image, locally and internationally. We need the international media as our friends rather than foes, particularly at this point. Banning Twitter sends a wrong signal that the Federal Government is applying undue high-handedness in dealing with domestic issues. Opposition and non-state actors will milk this to prove that the government is persecuting them for their contrary views, and that the Federal Government is anti-people. Other international media (social and traditional) may likely come together to portray the government in a bad light across the world. We should avoid this at all costs, especially given our current impasse. We cannot multiply the war front.

Fourthly, President Buhari is not the first head of a government to have a face-off with Twitter. Donald Trump, the former U.S. President, has been totally banned from Twitter and other social media platforms for almost two years. As Twitter has become powerful, so have its users become vulnerable to the dictates of the owners and managers. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, have become two of the most powerful men in the world. As such, when Twitter decided to suspend the account of Donald Trump after the January 6 insurrection when his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, it caused severe reverberations. It meant that a private company could clip the wings of a sitting U.S. President, widely regarded as the most powerful man in the world.

The fifth reason is that Nigeria should be worried about being counted among countries that have banned Twitter and other social media platforms, including China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Turkmenistan. How can Nigeria be listed among countries widely accepted as stifling free speech, discouraging dissent, and abusing human rights? These countries do not have democratic values and profiles, and Nigeria should be highly concerned about being placed within the same category with them.

The sixth reason is that social media is an outlet for people, especially young people, to express themselves and vent their anger. Imagine the amount of frustration young people will experience, as they get cut off from the global world they link to through social media. Any parent of young persons can testify to how attached they are to the social media, from where they get most of their information. Young people inhabit this virtual reality bubble created by social media, to the extent that some are addicted to it and may struggle to clearly distinguish between digital reality and social reality. Young people might subsequently rebel against any ban on social media.

Moreover, I am not sure that Nigeria has the technical capacity to shut down social media over the internet. Why then should we make laws or rules that we cannot enforce? Even if we can implement this ban, why waste resources that should solve a panoply of other pressing needs confronting Nigeria on it?

by banning Twitter, we will be hurting our economy more and the Federal Government risks sending the message that we are back to the old days of military dictatorship, during which the free press was usually the first target. Moreover, it risks undermining the assertion by the Presidents supporters that he has fully transformed from a military man to a democrat

The Federal Government seems to be acting desperately and, therefore, may be making more mistakes. We should remember that once rulers, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Muammar Ghadaffi of Libya tried to ban social media during the Arab Spring but this failed. Banning media is an antiquated technique of social control, which adopts a standard military approach that cannot work in a democracy.

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I think the Presidents tweet should not have been posted, in the first instance, by his social media handlers. His media personnel ought to have forestalled the possibility of that happening. The Presidents handlers should have ensured that his anger and frustrations over the breakdown of law and order in the country, and the acute security challenges that threaten to dismember the country, are not in the public domain. There is a measure of diplomacy expected in the Presidents public statements. Governments worldwide spend millions of dollars on public relations consultants whose primary duties are to help them present acceptable images to the public.

However, after posting the tweet and the backlash ensued, which culminated in the removal of the tweet by Twitter, the government should have learnt its lessons and ensured that any tweet to be uploaded to the Presidents handle goes through greater scrutiny. Maybe they should have interrogated the Presidents social media management team. Instead, suspending Twitter in the country adds more fuel to the fire and depicts the government as being dictatorial.

There was some rumpus when Twitter announced the setting up of its African office in Ghana some months ago. However, many people had expected them to set up shop in Nigeria, as the country offers more significant opportunities than Ghana. With this development, the decision of Twitter to snub Nigeria would be seen as a wise move, as they would have been more susceptible to government sanction if their offices were in Nigeria.

Social media has become an essential tool in the everyday lives of many Nigerians. It is a symbol of free speech and a vital ingredient for democratic rule and governance. The issue of the regulation of social media is a matter for another day. The current administration is a beneficiary of social media, as it used it extensively in the arduous battle to unseat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government in 2015.

This ban has economic consequences and may damage Nigeria profoundly by creating the loss of jobs of our teeming youths in the digital marketing sector, it could rub off negatively on Nigerias image abroad, batter the confidence of foreign investors in Nigeria, dampen our democratic antecedents, widen the communication gap between the Federal Government and the people, and lead to international embarrassment and hostile public diplomacy.

In summary, by banning Twitter, we will be hurting our economy more and the Federal Government risks sending the message that we are back to the old days of military dictatorship, during which the free press was usually the first target. Moreover, it risks undermining the assertion by the Presidents supporters that he has fully transformed from a military man to a democrat, and that the current administration is different from the time the President took power as a soldier via a coup detat in 1984. There are many ways the government can address the unfortunate removal of the Presidents tweet or even our security challenges. But, unfortunately, banning Twitter in the country is not one of them.

Dakuku Peterside is a policy and leadership expert.
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Students of Government Science Secondary School, Gombe, on Monday, protested over poor feeding in the school.

The students with placards and fresh leaves marched from the school premises at Jekadafari in the metropolis to the states ministry of education around Government Reserved Area (GRA).

Their grievances include snatching of phones by security officers, and diversion of meals meant for students.

Speaking with journalists on the protest, Information Officer (IO) of the ministry of education, Saidu Malala, said the state government had set up a committee to investigate the alleged insufficient food

He added that the committee was given three days to investigate the allegation and submit its report to the commissioner.

We were together with the commissioner this morning when we heard about the protest. We rushed back to the ministry but before his arrival to the ministry the students had already left.

However, the commissioner followed them to the school and immediately inaugurated a committee to investigate the real cause of the protest, Mr Malala said.

When we met some of the students, they said some of their belongings were being stolen, that security officials were snatching their phones.

The students who were chanting, We are not doing, we are not interested, in a viral video were seen lamenting ill-treatment by the school authorities.

An unidentified student said: We came out to protest because our foods (provisions) are being snatched from us and the food we are being served is insufficient.

The boy said: Yes, the government do provide food for us in school but it is not enough and even the ones they served are being snatched from us.

We were told that the school authorities have given the security men the authority to snatch our food from us, he claimed.
Twenty people have been reported dead as bandits again attacked Zungeru and neighbouring communities in Niger State on Friday.

The bandits also kidnapped Al-mustapha Mustapha, a traditional chief and kingmaker in Zungeru, and two of his wives, residents said.

Residents said the two persons were killed by stray bullets fired by the bandits while 18 drowned in a river while trying to escape the attacks by the bandits.

Zungeru is a town under Wushishi Local Government area of Niger State.

Sources, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES, said the bandits had rained terror on Zungeru and neighbouring communities last Friday.

At around 9 a.m., bandits on at least 70 motorcycles arrived at Kudu village that is under Rafi local government area of Niger State and the boundary to Zungeru town.

From there, they started operation of stealing money, valuable items like phones and cattle and other animals in Kutunku village,Tashan Jarka village, Tashan Girgi village, Babako village, Utare village,Agwa, Buzu villages and stopped at Pakara village from where they started coming back where they had started from on that Friday, Mr Shehu said.

They had settled and rested at Kundu primary schools together with the stolen animals. From 6 p.m. that Friday they blocked that major road that links Minna to Tegina until Saturday 7 a.m.

According to the resident, the bandits killed some people while many people fell into the Wushishi river out of the fear of being attacked.

This was also confirmed by the district head of Zungeru, Salisu Abubakar, who told this newspaper that two were killed by stray bullets and 18 drowned to death.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the attack that led to the kidnap of Mr Mustapha and his wives took place on Saturday night through to Sunday morning.

Thirteen minutes to 1 a.m., they got to know the house of Alhaji Mustapha, Madawaki of Zungeru, where he just entered his own house after he attended his neighbourss wedding dinner, Kabiru Shehu, a resident told our correspondent

Narrating how it happened, Mr Shehu said the kidnappers took Mr Mustapha and one of his servants to his wives for identification before the abduction.

They took both of them to his wives and asked who is their husband between the two men? The wives pointed at their husband, Alhaji Mustapha, Madawakin Zungeru. From there they moved with the Madawaki and two of his wives named Aisha and Habiba.

A close relation and uncle to Mr Mustapha, said the family was waiting for the call of the kidnappers as they were yet to make contacts or demand ransom.

Mr Abubakar said the people are helpless, decrying how the bandits have overpowered the communities involved.

We can only be praying to God, the community leader said.

The spokesperson and police commissioner in Niger State did not respond to telephone calls and messages put across to seek their reactions on Monday.

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Niger State has been a haven for bandits in the past few months with several abductions and killings perpetrated in different communities.

Within the space of six months, two mass abductions of school children and teachers were carried out in Kagara Science College in Kagara and Saliu Tanko Islamic school in Tegina, both in Rafi Local Government Area of the state.

While the Kagara students were freed after a few days, the Islamic school pupils, 139 of them, are still with their kidnappers, waiting for the intervention of the government.

The security crisis in Niger, which has rendered many homeless, is a chunk of the security challenges bedevilling the country.

This newspaper had on Sunday reported how no fewer than 201 were killed and 137 abducted in violent attacks across the country last week
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The Special Adviser to Governor Ben Ayade on Sustainable Development Goals, Mark Obi, has resigned his appointment.

In his resignation letter, which he made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Calabar, Mr Obi said that as a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he would not defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Following recent happenings in the political alignment of the state governor, I am persuaded to review my involvement in the current state administration.

Consequently, being a founding and subsisting member of the PDP in Cross River, I cannot in good conscience remain in my appointment as Special Adviser on Sustainable Development Goals.

I hereby resign my appointment as Special Adviser immediately. I am very grateful to Governor Ayade for finding me worthy to serve the state in the said capacity.

Nevertheless, I will continue to support the state and government in any way possible as a stakeholder and senior citizen, the letter read.

Mr Obi had represented Boki 2 State Constituency in the Cross River House of Assembly under the PDP between 1999 and 2007.

Governor Ayade recently defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said he took the decision in order to attract federal assistance to Cross Rivers.

He subsequently said that the personal character of President Muhammadu Buhari attracted him to the ruling party.

Most of the governors political associates and aides are expected to defect from the PDP to the APC.

(NAN)
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Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has promised to rescue children abducted from Enyigba community of Abakaliki Local Government Area following its land dispute with Enyibichiri community of Ikwo Local Government Area.

The governors promise was contained in a statement issued on Monday by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation in the state, Uchenna Orji.

The statement did not mention the number of children abducted and their ages.

Mr Orji said the childrens abduction by miscreants was the height of provocation in the sudden turn of events between both communities.

The governor is aware that the land dispute between both communities was settled by the government with the assistance of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and bishops in the state.

The governor, therefore, wonders why the innocent children should be abducted and enjoins stakeholders of both Izzi and Ikwo clans to condemn such an act, the statement added.

The commissioner reiterated the governors resolve to rescue and re-unite the children with their families and pleaded with the Enyigba people to remain calm.

They should prevent their children from taking laws into their hands as the governor promises that the abduction will be resolved within seven days.

We are optimistic that with the collaboration of the government, religious leaders and stakeholders of the state the children will be released without harm, the statement read.

Mr Orji said the governor urged the abductors to release the children within seven days with a promise of amnesty.

Government is not willing to release any Enyibichiri leader currently in detention to underscore the value of the abducted childrens lives.

The governor believes that every life is sacred and the lives of the abducted children matter much to the government.

The government warns that if the children are not released within the stipulated period, it shall have no option than to effect mass arrests in the Enyibichiri community, the statement read.

The police spokesperson in the state, Loveth Odah, however, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the command was not yet aware of the abduction.

The matter has not been reported to the command and the affected community should be advised to do so, she said.

NAN reported that the two communities are currently in conflict over the disputed land in spite of its permanent demarcation by the state government.

(NAN)
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says it is optimistic that its renewed collaboration with the Lagos State Government will bring an end to the perennial gridlock within and around the Apapa metropolis.

Olaseni Alakija, General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists in Lagos on Sunday.

According to him, the NPA management led by its Acting Managing Director, Muhammed Bello-Koko has met with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to adopt measures to tackle the gridlock.

He said the gridlock affected the access roads leading to the countrys two busiest ports in Apapa.

According to the statement, measures will also be adopted to curb corrupt practices and alleged extortion of truck drivers by traffic and security operatives along the Lagos Ports corridor.

He quoted Mr Bello-Koko as emphasising the need to strengthen enforcement of traffic laws along the Apapa and Tin Can Ports roads.

Mr Bello-Koko said the NPA had been inundated with complaints of extortion from truckers, especially by security operatives demanding money from drivers before accessing the ports.

He described the practice as a major disincentive to the smooth implementation of the truck call-up system.

One of the complaints of the truckers has to do with extortion by security operatives, the Army, the Police, the Nigerian Navy and even NPA Security staff.

This is one of the areas we require the intervention of government, in this case the Lagos State Government, because we have police officers deployed from the State Command who are allegedly involved in this.

We at the NPA have resolved to take the right punitive measures against any of our staff involved in this.

We have moved some of them out of Port locations, and we will do further reviews; whoever is found involved would be appropriately sanctioned.

Because of the involvement of several security units, many checkpoints have been created.

We believe there are over 30 checkpoints within the Apapa and TinCan Port axis, and we believe that this is a major issue causing delays and a whole lot of problems, this was one of the concerns we raised at our meeting with His Excellency, Mr Bello-Koko said.

Botched efforts

Earlier in the year, the agency and the state government had renewed efforts to evacuate the trucks from the highway but the relief was short-lived.

In the statement, the NPA boss acknowledged that the Lagos State government had been a close partner, especially in terms of enforcement.

He said this was both in terms of providing security operatives and monitoring of the Eto (electronic) call-up system.

Mr Bello-Koko, however, said there was need to further strengthen that collaboration.

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He said he had directed the Eto Project Consultant and operator of the Lilipond Truck Transit Park to redouble their efforts.

This is especially on the deployment of necessary physical and IT infrastructure, as well as adequate human resources, to address the gaps and complaints of delay from port users.

He disclosed that the Authority had given the TTP company marching orders to immediately see to the deployment of these infrastructure, so as to reduce the waiting time of trucks in and out of the Port.

Mr Bello-Koko further said that the meeting discussed the matter of poor access roads, especially around Sunrise Bus-stop leading to the Tin Can Port.

The situation now is that trucks going to Tin Can are now following the Apapa Port road, so no matter how much you control the traffic in Apapa, it will be seen as if you are doing nothing.

NPA has reached out to the Federal Ministry of Works, we have been speaking with the Director of Works in the State, and we have asked that they should provide some palliatives around Sunrise Bus-stop.

We were made to understand that the contract for that section of the road has just been awarded, but because of the rains, work has been delayed.

There is need for that part of the road to be graded so that the Tin-Can Port corridor would begin to enjoy some measure of free flow of traffic, he said.

According to the NPA chief, there are businesses like Dangote and others who have factories within the Port and each of them may need to bring in about 300 trucks daily.

He said this had to be done in such a way that their operations do not affect the need of other port users to send in their trucks or exporters to send in and bring their trucks out freely.

He said that Mr Sanwo-Olu had given his commitments to further engage the Commissioner of Police in Lagos, and had also directed the CEO of LASTMA and his special assistants, who all had given their commitments, that further action would be taken to keep the Port roads free of congestion.

He said that it would be 24-hour operations, and would rely on the state government on enforcement as it affects traffic along the Port access roads.

Mr Bello-Koko restated that henceforth, trucks that have not been registered or do not have the Eto ticket would not have access to the Port,.

He said that they wanted residents of Apapa to be able to commute daily without stress.

The NPA boss also shed light on efforts by the Authority to address the myriad of hiccups associated with the return of empty containers to the Port.

He explained that the empty container policy of NPA required all shipping companies bringing boxes into the country to establish holding bays for their containers.

The Authority is collaborating with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to establish a seamless integration of the export processing terminals into the Eto platform.

This in addition to the Lilypond Export Terminal expected to take off soon, will serve as dedicated export loading points.

The move would reduce travel time along the port corridor, safeguard the quality of the countrys exports and impact positively on governments revenue from non-oil exports, he said.

Lagos support

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Sanwo-Olu was quoted as assuring that the state would work closely with the NPA in ensuring that truck call-up system was successful and the nations economy benefited optimally.

He said there was need for Port service providers, security agencies and NPA to adhere to their Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) as well as invest in the needed infrastructure which would galvanise the Eto system to heightened performance.

He assured that the State Government would commence engagements with the petroleum tanker drivers, tank farm owners and the NUPENG Union, to ensure that they are factored into the Eto call-up system.

According to Mr Sanwo-Olu, the poor state of the Sunrise Bus-stop corridor has been identified as the major cause of the traffic congestion into the Tin Can Island Port, and there is need for the contractors to speed up work around that area.

On his part, General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Jide Oduyoye, said that Port users should expect a renewed vigour from LASTMA in dealing with the traffic situation around the Lagos Ports.

He said, There are issues of tankers that are not part of the Eto system that need to be part of the system, because once the roads are cleared, we suddenly find out that the petrol tankers occupy the roads which makes it look as if nothing has happened.

The ongoing construction around Apapa needs to speed up.

There is also the need for other road users to co-operate with the Government.

If there is a process that we all adhere to, no matter the delay, it would be seen as fair and beneficial to everyone, he said.(NAN)
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Some members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State have raised alarm over alleged imposition of candidates ahead of July 24, 2021 local government elections in the state.

The members also called on Governor Dapo Abiodun to save the party from an imminent crisis.

The imposition allegation was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the concerned APC members in the state.

The statement was signed by an Ikenne Local Government based politician, Sonuga Ramoni, a leader and youth activist in Ogun.

Mr Ramoni alleged that the procedure adopted by some party leaders to choose chairmanship candidates in Ikenne Local Government Area and several other local governments in the state was fraught with widespread irregularities and barefaced fraud.

We need to let the whole world know that the procedures adopted by some leaders of the party in many wards and local government areas grossly fell short of the directive by the Governor for candidates to emerge either through consensus or primaries.

Rather than abide by the directive of the Governor in the overall interest of APC members, some desperate party leaders have been imposing candidates to the detriment of our great party. This development has inevitably caused agitations and protests across the board.

We are, therefore, concerned that if the agitations occasioned by the undemocratic selection of chairmanship and councillorship candidates are not looked into, it may spell doom for our party. Certainly, what we abhor is the disintegration of the party. 

The members, however, called on Mr Abiodun to intervene and address the alleged widespread irregularities in the primaries.

We want Gov Dapo Abiodun and top party leaders to allow democracy to play its role by ensuring that names of chairmanship and councillorship candidates as recently announced by the leaders of wards in the just concluded primaries in their various wards to be submitted by the party and not those who lost out the primaries but are now being smuggled through the backdoor because they know one party leader or the other.

Except justice is served on this matter, this great injustice may lead to avoidable crisis in the party and the upcoming local government election, the members said.

Our correspondent on Sunday reached out to the partys spokesperson, Tunde Oladujoye, for a reaction on the allegations but he did not respond to calls and text messages.

Governor Abiodun spokesperson, Kunle Somorin, did not also respond to calls and text messages on the matter.

Earlier this year, members of the Peoples Democratic Party in the neighbouring Ogun State accused the state governor of imposition of candidates ahead of the council polls.
The company has struck a binding term sheet with MBK on an exclusive six month option period

MBK chair Ines Scotland said the 'market fundamentals for copper and cobalt are extremely favourable and we consider there is significant growth potential across the project area'

Global Energy Metals Corporation ( ) (OTCMKTS:GLBEF) has announced an option deal with experienced Australian exploration group Metal Bank Limited ( ), which will advance the former's Millennium copper, cobalt and gold project in Mount Isa, Queensland.

The company has struck a binding term sheet with MBK on an exclusive six month option period, in which the latter will carry out further due diligence and sole-fund an initial exploration program.

After that, MBK will have the right to earn up to an 80% interest in the project.

Mitchell Smith, the CEO of Global Energy Metals, told investors that the deal presented an "excellent opportunity for successful exploration and development of a highly prospective battery metal project".

"Additionally, it provides GEMC with continued exposure to the project through both maintained project level ownership and a sizeable equity interest in Metal Bank," he said.

"Led by Ines Scotland, Guy Robertson, Sue-Ann Higgins and Rhys Davies, the Metal Bank team has a track record of global success including several discoveries that have proceeded to mine development and project sale generating billions of dollars.

"This extensive experience, transactional know-how and industry pedigree that will be put to use by the MBK team to aggressively advance the Millennium project is a significant opportunity for Global Energy Metals and its shareholders."

The Millennium asset contains an inferred copper-equivalent resource of 5.89 million tonnes (Mt) across five mining leases and has substantial growth upside.

It sits in the Mount Isa region, 19km from the Rocklands copper-cobalt project, which hosts 55.4Mt grading 0.64% copper, 0.15 g/t gold, 290 parts per million (ppm) cobalt (0.90% copper-equivalent).

Ines Scotland, MBK chair, noted: "The market fundamentals for copper and cobalt are extremely favourable and we consider there is significant growth potential across the project area. We are excited to be partnering on this project with GEMC, a company advancing and building a diversified global portfolio of exploration and growth-stage battery mineral assets."

The option will begin, subject to MBK and GEMC finalising and signing a formal agreement before June 30, 2021.

GEMC has granted MBK a right of exclusivity for A$10,000 and the Australian company will make a further A$10,000 payment to GEMC upon signing.

If MBK elects to earn up to an 80% interest, this will be over two phases.

In phase 2, MBK can earn a 51% interest by issuing MBK shares to GEMC worth A$250,000 and sole funding exploration expenditure of A$1 million (m).

In Phase 3, MBK can earn a further 29% interest (taking its total interest to 80%) by issuing shares worth A$350,000 to GEMC and sole funding expenditure of A$2m.

There is also a fourth phase, in which GEMC can choose that MBK buy out its remaining 20% interest for shares in MBK at a value to be agreed. If not, both parties will fund expenditures in proportion to their respective interests.

The term sheet also includes a buy-out option at the end of the second phase, which will allow MBK to acquire an additional 29% (taking its total interest to 80%) for A$1.5 million of MBK shares and A$1 million in cash, with the joint venture then proceeding immediately to the fourth phase.

The Millennium project is an advanced asset with a large defined zone of copper-cobalt mineralisation that remains open for expansion at depth and along strike.

Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com
Tarek Abdelaziz, Senior Director and Commercial Leader Middle East and Africa for Male Grooming at Procter and Gamble said: "We are thrilled to finally launch this long-awaited beard care brand across this region. Men don't look the same as 10 years ago, facial hair styles are evolving trends and we are seeing growth in the beard grooming sector. In fact, our market research revealed that in the UAE for instance, facial hair has moved beyond niche to a mainstream aspiration of masculinity with 66 percent of Arabic men and 55 percent of Asian men growing and grooming their facial hair. As pioneers in this industry we are proud to introduce the first and only brand in the world that offers a one-stop-shop solution for all beard care related products to the GCC region."

Inspired by over 115 years of innovation and grooming experience and bearing the name of the founder of fine grooming, King Camp Gillette, the brand brings a century's worth of expertise to life, with a complete collection of tools and facial hair care products that include beard oil, soft beard balm, beard and face wash, transparent shave gel, neck razor, double edge safety razor, shave and edging razor and a beard trimmer.

The beard and skin care products are created with natural ingredients such as avocado and argan oil, cocoa butter and white tea extract and more. The products also feature the King C. Gillette signature scent that has been developed by in-house perfume specialists in close collaboration with an international fragrance house and trend experts. The signature scent was designed to evoke the brand's narrative of history and heritage combined with modern masculinity, with top notes of cardamom and ginger, heart notes of lavender and bourbon oil, and base notes including patchouli and sandalwood.

King C. Gillette is now available at leading supermarkets and ecommerce platforms in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and UAE at affordable prices, and will be widely available in other markets across the Middle East region soon.

For further information on the full range of King C. Gillette products, please visit https://www.gillettearabia.com/en

https://www.instagram.com/kingcgillette_arabia/

About Gillette

For over 115 years, Gillette has delivered precision technology and unrivalled product performance  improving the lives of over 750 million men around the world. From shaving and body grooming, to skin care and sweat protection, Gillette offers a wide variety of products including razors, shave gel (gels, foams and creams), skin care, after shaves, antiperspirants, deodorants and body wash. For more information and the latest news on Gillette, or to see our full selection of products, visit http://www.gillette.com/.

About Procter & Gamble

P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always, Ariel, Crest, Downy, Fairy, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Olay, Oral-B, Pampers, Pantene, Tide and Vicks .The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide.

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Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1526980/KCG_full_line_up.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1526981/KCG_Burj_Khalifa.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1526979/KCG__Tarek_Abdelaziz.jpg

Related Links

https://www.gillettearabia.com/en



SOURCE King C. Gillette
JERUSALEM, June 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2021 American Jewish Committee (AJC) Virtual Global Forum opened today with remarks by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, whose seven-year term ends in July.

"For many years, AJC has played a central role as an advocate for the Jewish people, combating antisemitism, BDS, and supporting Israel's fight against terror," said Rivlin. He thanked AJC for its "work to promote Muslim-Jewish relations and ties between Israel and Arab states, and for all you do for Israel and the Jewish people."

Addressing a worldwide audience of thousands participating in the AJC Virtual Global Forum, Rivlin spoke about rising antisemitism, libelous attacks on Israel, U.S.-Israel relations, and challenges to building a cohesive Israeli society.

"We expect world leaders to show zero tolerance for all forms of antisemitism, hatred and racism, and to use all the tools at their disposal, from physical security, to law enforcement, to education, and adopting the IHRA definition, in order to combat those threats," said Rivlin. He expressed appreciation for one leader by name, President Joe Biden, for his statements condemning antisemitism.

"The United States has always been our closest ally, based on shared values," said Rivlin. "The unique ties between our two countries have always been based on open discussion, transparency, and real time coordination."

For Rivlin, equally dangerous to the precipitous rise in antisemitism is the spread of anti-Israel libels.

"Criticism of Israeli policies is legitimate, but it should be criticism based on knowledge, not based on ignorance," stressed Rivlin. "We must preserve the ability to understand the situation in Israel on its own terms rather than falling into the trap of using concepts taken from other contexts and countries."

Expressing hope that the ceasefire which ended the 11-day Hamas-launched conflict with Israel will hold, the president declared that "the State of Israel will take all steps necessary to ensure that our citizens can live in peace and security."

He also spoke about the violence between Israeli Arabs and Jews that erupted during the conflict last month and its repercussions.

"I have made building partnerships and cooperation with all the communities in Israel one of my key goals as president," said Rivlin, who has been outspoken since 2015 about the division of Israeli society into four tribes -- secular Jewish, religious Jewish, ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jewish, and Arab.

"We must always remember that we are not doomed to live together. We are destined to live together, and we must walk together down the path of understanding and cooperation," he told the AJC Virtual Global Forum.

In June 2018, Rivlin addressed, in Jerusalem, the AJC Board of Governors on the eve of the AJC Global Forum, which convened that year for the first time in Israel. "It has been a pleasure to host AJC delegations, and I deeply appreciate the solidarity delegation which came to Israel during the last conflict (in May)," he said.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

Related Links

http://www.ajc.org


LOS ANGELES and LONDON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Marlin Equity Partners, a leading global investment firm, is pleased to announce the final closing of Marlin Heritage Europe II, L.P. ("Heritage Europe II" or the "Fund"), with 675 million of total capital commitments, more than double the size of its predecessor fund. The Fund successfully closed over its target with strong support from existing limited partners and significant interest from new global investors.

Heritage Europe II is a continuation of the investment strategy employed by Marlin for over 15 years and by its predecessor fund, Marlin Heritage Europe, L.P. The Fund will apply the same philosophy and process-driven approach to investing utilized by prior Marlin funds and will target investments in middle-market companies generally located in Europe, where the firm has been active since 2006 and formally established a London office in 2012. Consistent with Marlin's historical focus, Heritage Europe II will seek to invest in sustainable, high potential companies that can benefit from the firm's rich history of accelerating growth and scaling businesses, as well as its substantial operational resources. The Fund will continue to focus on industries where Marlin has developed extensive domain expertise, including software, technology, healthcare and tech-enabled business and financial services.

"Our ability to successfully raise more than twice the amount of capital of the prior fund further validates our standing and recognition as a leading firm in the region and value-add partner," said David McGovern, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Marlin. "We are thankful for the support from our existing investor base and newest partners, and now look forward to continuing to execute our operationally-focused investment strategy to help companies build long-term value and deliver successful outcomes for our partners."

Peter Spasov, Senior Managing Director of Marlin, added, "Our success in Europe is a result of our deep domain expertise across the industries we target, demonstrated investment experience in the region, established global infrastructure and collaborative approach to working alongside management teams to affect growth-oriented, value-enhancing initiatives. We are excited to continue to capitalize on the rapid digital transformation occurring broadly across businesses and industries today, and firmly believe we are uniquely positioned to help companies accelerate their business models in the ongoing digitization wave."

Marlin has closed 9 private equity funds and completed over 180 acquisitions since its inception in 2005, and has more than $7.6 billion of capital under management. The closing of Heritage Europe II follows a period of strong investment activity for the firm. Since the beginning of 2020, and amidst the global pandemic backdrop, Marlin has acquired 26 businesses and completed 8 exits.

Sarah Roberts, Katie St. Peters, Karin Orsic and Bruce Ettelson of Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel and Credit Suisse Securities (USA), LLC acted as exclusive private placement advisor and placement agent in the formation of Heritage Europe II.

About Marlin Equity Partners

Marlin Equity Partners is a global investment firm with over $7.6 billion of capital under management. The firm is focused on providing corporate parents, shareholders and other stakeholders with tailored solutions that meet their business and liquidity needs. Marlin invests in businesses across multiple industries where its capital base, industry relationships and extensive network of operational resources significantly strengthen a company's outlook and enhance value. Since its inception, Marlin, through its group of funds and related companies, has successfully completed over 180 acquisitions. The firm is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with an additional office in London. For more information, please visit www.marlinequity.com.

SOURCE Marlin Equity Partners

Related Links

http://www.marlinequity.com


The equipment included FHD Endoscopy Camera Set with USB recording, Digital Debrider & brushless German Micro Motor Combo Shaver Systems, and other accessories. It will ensure accurate nasal or ENT assessment and seamless penetration into the lumen for the necessary tissue or bone removal. This medical assistance is expected to save over 200 lives from the disease.

The equipment was handed over by Sanjeev Agrawal, Vice President - Operations & Human Empowerment Group, to the ENT department. "We ensure to provide aid that helps the people and community on-ground. We will continue to extend our best endeavors in the fight against diseases impacting people and society at large," added Sanjeev. Dr. Yamini Gupta, Professor and HOD ENT, Dr. Sanjay Dixit, Dean, with other significant members from MGM Medical College Indore, expressed their gratitude towards the organization and Sanjeev for this noble assistance.

With a motto to #MakeADifference, the company has been regularly coming up with all possible ways to support its employees, families, and the society at large.

About Impetus Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.

Impetus Technologies is a software products and services company focused on creating powerful and intelligent enterprises. We specialize in Data Engineering and Cloud to provide solutions to Fortune 100 companies.

The company is headquartered in Los Gatos, California with international offices in India, Australia, and Canada.

Photo : https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1527262/Impetus_Technologies_Donate_Medical_equipment.jpg

Contact :

Sakshi Gupta

[email protected]

Impetus Technologies India. Pvt. Ltd.

SOURCE Impetus Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.
Loncor expects its shares to begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the new name on Thursday, June 10

The companys gold operations are focused on the Ngayu Greenstone Gold Belt in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

( ) ( ) (FRA:LO51) is changing its name to Loncor Gold Inc, the company announced, to better brand itself as a gold exploration company.

Loncor expects its shares to begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the new name on Thursday, June 10. Its ticker symbol will remain LN.

The companys gold operations are focused on the Ngayu Greenstone Gold Belt in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The company continues to develop its flagship open-pit Adumbi gold deposit, CEO Arnold Kondrat said in a statement. More than 3,450,000 inferred ounces of gold have been identified to date on the Imbo licence. Our current drill program, which has had tremendous success in adding to the gold resource at Adumbi, demonstrates Adumbi continues at depth with higher grades and widths.

We believe Adumbi has the potential to continue to grow significantly from the ongoing drill program, into a Tier 1 deposit. In addition, discussions are underway on how best to mix the companys high-grade Makapela deposit located 50 km away into any future mine plan at Adumbi.

Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel
PHILADELPHIA, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Trustees of Aberdeen Income Credit Strategies Fund (the "Fund"), has declared a cash distribution of $0.18229 per share of the Fund's 5.250% Series A Perpetual Preferred Shares (NYSE: ACP PRA) ("Series A Preferred Shares"). The distribution is payable on June 30, 2021 to holders of Series A Preferred Shares of record on June 18, 2021. This is a partial payment period calculated from the issuance date of May 10, 2021.

The Series A Preferred Shares trade on the NYSE under the symbol "ACP PRA", are rated "A2" by Moody's Investors Service and have an annual dividend rate of $1.3125 per share. The Series A Preferred Shares were issued on May 10, 2021 at $25.00 per share and pay distributions quarterly.

Distributions may be paid from sources of income other than ordinary income, such as net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. In January 2022, a Form 1099-DIV will be sent to shareholders, which will state the amount and composition of distributions and provide information with respect to their appropriate tax treatment for the 2021 calendar year.

You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution.

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 (NAV) of the fund's portfolio. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective.

If you wish to receive this information electronically, please contact [email protected]

aberdeenacp.com

SOURCE Aberdeen Income Credit Strategies Fund

Related Links

http://www.aberdeenacp.com/


ZUG, Switzerland, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The BSV Blockchain for Government Initiative today announces that it has appointed Ahmed Yousif as its Middle East lead. In the newly created role, Yousif will work to build awareness and understanding of the utility of the BSV blockchain for large-scale government agency and public sector projects, as well as establish and develop relationships with enterprise leaders and government policymakers across the Middle East.

Yousif joins the BSV Blockchain for Government Initiative with a distinguished background working in technology innovation for government entities and large-scale digital solutions for public services. In addition to his role with the BSV Blockchain for Government Initiative, Yousif will continue to serve as the Digital Transformation & Strategy Head for the Holy Makkah Municipality in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is also the co-founder of Black Stone Data Solutions  a leading data analytics and business intelligence organisation.

In his capacity as co-founder of Black Stone Data Solutions, Yousif co-led an international BSV Blockchain for Government Initiative delegation on an historic official visit to the Republic of Sudan in April 2021, where leaders from the BSV blockchain ecosystem and the transitional Sudanese government engaged in several days of meetings and discussions  including the 1st Sudan Blockchain Summit & Workshop  centred around exploring how blockchain technology can be used as a tool for digital transformation as Sudan rebuilds and re-emerges from 30 years of isolation from much of the world.

The Middle East is home to a fast-growing BSV blockchain ecosystem, with Yousif's appointment following last month's launch of the BSV Hub for MESA (Middle East & South Asia). In his new role, Yousif will collaborate closely with Muhammad Salman Anjum, who heads the new BSV Hub for MESA in Dubai, UAE.

The BSV Blockchain for Government Initiative is led by Bitcoin Association, the Switzerland-based non-profit organisation that works to advance use of the BSV blockchain, protocol and distributed data network. The Initiative works with government bodies, NGOs and public sector agencies to advance large-scale implementations of blockchain technology for the benefit of citizens, including through the delivery of e-government services, tools for greater financial inclusion and improved transparency, as well as applications that foster public good for municipalities and entire countries.

BSV is an ideal platform for government and public sector solutions because it is an enterprise-grade public blockchain that functions as both a peer-to-peer electronic cash system and a global data ledger for large-scale applications. The BSV blockchain scales unbounded to support high volumes of transactions at minimal cost, with its network expected to demonstrate throughput capacity of 50,000 transactions per second later this year, while maintaining median transaction fees that are a fraction of a U.S. cent. In addition to its massive transaction capacity, the BSV network offers micropayment, smart contract, tokenisation and data functionalities.

Speaking on today's announcement, Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of Bitcoin Association and founder of the BSV Blockchain for Government Initiative, said:

"With the Middle East one of the world's leading regions for the implementation of blockchain technology in public sector digital initiatives and the delivery of e-government services, we are delighted to add an experienced technology leader in Ahmed Yousif to join our international BSV Blockchain for Government Initiative. Ahmed has the right combination of digital technology knowledge, government project experience and belief in BSV's power to make a better world. We look forward to his leadership contributions as we expand our government outreach and education efforts across the Middle East."

Commenting on his appointment, Ahmed Yousif, Middle East lead for the BSV Blockchain for Government Initiative, said:

"Governments and public bodies across the Middle East have continually demonstrated a willingness to be at the forefront in leveraging and utilising new and innovative technologies for the benefit of their citizens. I expect that blockchain will be no different, with growing interest across the region in the different ways that the technology can be applied to bring more efficiency and honesty to public sector programmes and e-government services. In my new role with the BSV Blockchain for Government Initiative, I look forward to collaborating with leaders and decision-makers across the Middle East to conceptualise and deliver vanguard public and government projects using the BSV blockchain."

SOURCE BSV Blockchain for Government Initiative
Lockdowns, procedure deferrals, clinical trial pauses and M&A challenges all impact the fundamental operations of healthcare stakeholders. Real world data from Clarivate provides a clear understanding of past trends and allows for predictive forecasting to enable more confident decision-making for stakeholders tasked with the recovery of healthcare systems.

The report details the current vaccine development status and the various distinctions between available vaccines, an analysis of global vaccination rollout campaigns, how these factors influence forecasting and the impact of vaccination availability on healthcare markets and sectors.

Clarivate analysts reviewed the impact of events such as the COVID-19 pandemic in market forecasting, incorporating iterative improvements based on real-world circumstances.

The Clarivate COVID-19 Vaccine Availability and Medtech Impact report finds:

Vaccine Acceptance and Rate Forecast by Geography -- Along with supply and deployment concerns, varying rates of trust in the COVID-19 vaccine observed in recent surveys have raised concerns about whether enough of the population would be willing to get vaccinated. As a result, rates of vaccine acceptancedefined as the proportion of unvaccinated adults who indicate that they would receive a vaccine if it were available to themvary widely by region. Studies show vaccine acceptance rates of 94% in Malaysia , 89% in the UK, 85% in Mainland China and Mexico respectively, 79% in Canada and 71% in the United States , among others. 1 Vaccination penetration forecasts for each country, coupled with an estimated reopening threshold of 60%based on the penetration rate in Israel at which the government began permanent re-openingsprovide a guideline for variation in anticipated reopening timelines.

Along with supply and deployment concerns, varying rates of trust in the COVID-19 vaccine observed in recent surveys have raised concerns about whether enough of the population would be willing to get vaccinated. As a result, rates of vaccine acceptancedefined as the proportion of unvaccinated adults who indicate that they would receive a vaccine if it were available to themvary widely by region. Studies show vaccine acceptance rates of 94% in , 89% in the UK, 85% in Mainland China and respectively, 79% in and 71% in , among others. Vaccination penetration forecasts for each country, coupled with an estimated reopening threshold of 60%based on the penetration rate in at which the government began permanent re-openingsprovide a guideline for variation in anticipated reopening timelines. Figure 1- Vaccination Rate Forecast by Geography 2



Figure 2- Vaccine Courses Administered (% of Population) 3

Site of Service Impacts -- During the initial COVID-19 wave, US-based Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) were hardest hit, while inpatient settings were the least impacted, as expected. ASCs and offices were trending at higher procedure capacity utilization rates than hospitals in Q4 2020, which may signal a more robust 2021 recovery for those settings. 4 ASCs functioned at slightly higher than 100% full utilization (i.e., exceeding pre-COVID-19 levels) through the last quarter of the year. This may signal a push of procedures away from inpatient settings amid a resurgence of COVID-19 that ultimately were performed in ASCs. 5

During the initial COVID-19 wave, US-based Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) were hardest hit, while inpatient settings were the least impacted, as expected. ASCs and offices were trending at higher procedure capacity utilization rates than hospitals in Q4 2020, which may signal a more robust 2021 recovery for those settings. ASCs functioned at slightly higher than 100% full utilization (i.e., exceeding pre-COVID-19 levels) through the last quarter of the year. This may signal a push of procedures away from inpatient settings amid a resurgence of COVID-19 that ultimately were performed in ASCs. Non-Acute Settings  There is a similar view for US-based non-acute settings, demonstrating how skilled nursing facilities remain substantially below full procedure capacity utilization, possibly due to the need for expanded nursing staff in hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. Simultaneously, clinics and home health also took a substantial hit in the initial wave, but have seen stronger recovery following that initial wave. Notably, telehealth emerged as a useful alternative for in-person care in 2020; however, telehealth volumes remain quite low relatively; and its heightened use will endure and likely expand beyond the pandemic.6

Zaid Al-Nassir, Principal Analyst, Medtech Insights, Clarivate, said: "Given the lack of historical data and immense pressure on health care stakeholders globally, predictive analysis of recovery drivers, such as vaccination, provides a unique insight for planning, decision making, and both market and regional targeting. The new imperative for global health, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, has amplified the need for connected data to support complex analyses and evidence-based decisions in the life sciences."

Clarivate is committed to comprehensively supporting customers across the entire drug, device and medical technology lifecycles to advance human health, including the Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA). With Clarivate tools such as the Coronavirus, Virology, and Infectious Disease (CVID) Data Lake, researchers around the world can access scientific, clinical, commercial and research data within one seamless and secure platform. In addition, in partnership with HIDA, Clarivate offers the industry's most comprehensive view of the medical device market. The new report further demonstrates how the expertise, data and technologies of Clarivate enable customers to make informed evidence-based decisions.

To access the full COVID-19 Vaccine Availability and Medtech Impact report, click here.

Methodology for the Clarivate COVID-19 Vaccine Availability and Medtech Impact Report

Forecasts and insights provided in this report were developed by Clarivate analysts, using a diversity of proprietary sources, including: Market Tracking: Medical Supply Distribution data enables manufacturers to identify opportunities and risks by confidently assessing market share based on real-time insights; Clarivate Real World Data product, which provides access to real-word data, such as patient volumes by procedure group and site of service; Medtech Insights, which provides comprehensive data forecasts and analysis for global and regional medical device markets; and Market Assessment Epidemiology, which provides solutions to understand the complete disease landscape and size global markets with real-world data.

About Clarivate

Clarivate is a global leader in providing solutions to accelerate the lifecycle of innovation. Our bold mission is to help customers solve some of the world's most complex problems by providing actionable information and insights that reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing inventions in the areas of science and intellectual property. We help customers discover, protect and commercialize their inventions using our trusted subscription and technology-based solutions coupled with deep domain expertise. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.

Media Contact

Catherine Daniel

[email protected]

1 Notes: Acceptance is defined as the percentage of unvaccinated adults who strongly or somewhat agree with the statement "if a COVID-19 vaccine were available to me, I would get it." Source: Clarivate analysis April 2021, based on data from IPSOS21, 22 and Sallam M18.

2 Vaccination rate forecast, by geography. Notes: Regional estimates represent total of countries covered within each graph only, and does not include other countries from the region (e.g. Europe does not include Austria). Estimated reopening threshold based on Israeli model and is intended only as a guideline; in reality, reopening thresholds will vary by country depending on a variety of factors beyond vaccination and immunization rates, such as political considerations and economic circumstances. One vaccine course is assumed to include two doses. Source: Clarivate, April 2021.

3 Vaccination rate forecast, by geography. Notes: Regional estimates represent total of countries covered within each graph only, and does not include other countries from the region (e.g. Europe does not include Austria). Estimated reopening threshold based on Israeli model and is intended only as a guideline; in reality, reopening thresholds will vary by country depending on a variety of factors beyond vaccination and immunization rates, such as political considerations and economic circumstances. One vaccine course is assumed to include two doses. Source: Clarivate, April 2021.

4 Source: Clarivate, COVID-19 Dashboard April 2021

5 Source: Clarivate, COVID-19 Dashboard April 2021

6 Source: Clarivate, COVID-19 Dashboard April 2021

SOURCE Clarivate Plc

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OR YEHUDA, Israel, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Exero Medical, developer of a wireless sensor for early detection of anastomotic leaks following GI surgery, today announced that an abstract describing its first in human data was selected for presentation at the 'The Next Big Thing' session of the SAGES 2021 annual meeting. The meeting will be held August 31  September 3, 2021 in Las Vegas, NV.

The data collected using Exero's sensors is the first ever to demonstrate real-time tracking of colonic tissue health during a surgical procedure. The research was Exero's first step towards implementation of its wireless post-op monitoring technology designed to provide early detection of dire complications such as anastomotic leaks and enable early intervention, saving lives and reducing healthcare cost. The research was performed in collaboration with Charles Knowles (Professor of Surgery) and Gareth Sanger (Professor of Neuropharmacology) at Queen Mary University of London. The clinical study presented was led by Prof. Nir Wasserberg, Director of Colorectal Division at Rabin Medical Center and Chair of the Israel Colorectal Society.

About Exero Medical

Founded in 2018 by MEDX Xelerator, an Israeli Innovation Authority incubator, and Clalit HMO, the largest HMO in Israel, Exero's Medical goal is to save lives through early detection of anastomotic leaks following gastrointestinal (GI) surgeries, addressing a $2 billion market with its sensor technology. The company has created a patent-pending implantable biodegradable wireless sensor designed to continuously monitor the GI tract near the surgical site, alerting physicians to potential anastomotic leakage post-operation and also enabling early patient discharge by identifying proper tissue healing. Exero Medical is backed by seed investment from the MEDX Xelerator, Boston Scientific, MEDX Ventures and Intellectual Ventures.

For more information, visit https://www.exeromedical.com/.

Follow Exero Medical on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About MEDX Xelerator

MEDX Xelerator is a leading MedTech incubator operating under the auspices of the Israel Innovation Authority, the incubator partners include Boston Scientific, MEDX Ventures and the Sheba Medical Center. It leverages the healthcare expertise and industry experience of its team with the industry leading insights of its partners to nurture its portfolio companies into successful medical ventures for the benefit of patients and health care professionals.

For more information contact [email protected] or visit https://www.medxelerator.com/.

Follow MEDX on LinkedIn.

Contact:

Inbal Landsberg, PhD

Chief Business Officer

[email protected]

+972-(0)54-807-8744



SOURCE Exero Medical
The Procure Space UCITS ETF ( ) has "launched" on the London Stock Exchange, Procure Holdings CEO Andrew Chanin and HANetf Co-CEO Hector McNeil join Proactive's Christine Corrado to chat about the ETF focused on the space economy.

Chanin and McNeil say YODA, which is floating in London in early June and will be passported for sale across Europe, is the UCITS-compliant sister fund of the original US-listed ( ). The London-listed fund is launching on the HANetf platform and will track a bespoke index focused on pure-play space companies such as satellite operators and hardware makers, while reflecting the global exposure of the market with more than 80 countries operating in space
A breakthrough Cell Therapy against Solid Tumors

As of March 10, 2021, a total of 11 patients were enrolled into this study. All subjects had advanced HCC and had failed prior lines of treatment including chemotherapy, TACE, and targeted therapies. All subjects had BCLC stage C (late stage) HCC except for one subject with stage B (mid stage). All subjects had multiple lesions, of which 6 (54%) had distant metastasis. Two subjects dropped out early and were not evaluable. Among the 9 evaluable subjects, 4 achieved partial response (PR), 3 achieved stable disease (SD), and 2 had disease progression (PD). The objective response rate was 44.4%, and the disease control rate reached 77.8%. A partial response lasting for more than 6 months was observed in Subject 007 at the time of data cutoff, whose tumor volume was reduced by more than 80% one month post cell therapy infusion. (As of June 2021, this subject had exceeded 8 months of disease control, follow-up is still ongoing). Good tumor response was also seen in Subject 012, who has advanced and diffuse massive HCC and joined the study after failing in radiotherapy, targeted drug and 12 times of TACE.

Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) is a liver cancer staging system developed by the European Association for the Study of Liver, to help assess patients' conditions, select the right therapies for the right patients, and predict patients' prognosis. The BCLC system classifies HCC mainly as stages of 0, A, A1,A2,A3,A4, B, C,and D.

On day 28 post infusion with CAR-T cells, the target tumor lesion decreased from 133mm in diameter at baseline to 9mm, a reduction of more than 93%. Currently, the subject is being evaluated for month 3 post CAR-T cell infusion, MRI scan showed near complete tumor response. In addition, AFP level (alpha-fetoprotein, a specific tumor marker for primary liver cancer) decreased from a baseline value of >80,000/ng/ml to 1148.9 ng/ml on month 1, and to 746.7 ng/ml at month 3 post infusion (normal range <40ng/ml), demonstrating significant preliminary efficacy of Ori-CAR-001 in patients with advanced HCC.

Good Safety Profile

Ori-CAR-001 CAR-T infusion demonstrated good safety and tolerability in 11 patients. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) was observed in 9 patients (7 cases grade 1-2 and 2 cases grade 4), which were resolved after treatment with steroids and tocilizumab. No neurotoxicity was observed.

Regarding the results from this exploratory study, Professor Ji Jiansong, principal investigator of Lishui Central hospital, who is also Chief scientist of the National Key R&D Program, director of Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research of Zhejiang China, said, "There is currently no effective treatment for relapsed/refractory hepatocellular carcinoma. Many challenges such as the tumor micro environment is difficult to overcome and have limited the therapeutic effects of cell therapy in solid tumors. However, Ori-CAR-001, developed by OriginCell Therapeutics, has managed to achieve an objective response rate of 44% and a disease control rate of 77% in patients with relapsed/refractory HCC, demonstrating a level of safety and anti-tumor activity that cannot be achieved by currently available drugs. Given its preliminary promising efficacy and safety data, we are confident in the future development prospects of Ori-CAR-001 and will continue our research studies. We take great pride and hope Ori-CAR-001 will one day become a new treatment option for patients with advanced HCC.

Dr. He Xiaowen, co-founder and chief scientific officer of OriginCell Therapeutics, said, " Although Immuno-cell therapies have produced remarkable clinical responses in hematological tumors, they have limited efficacy against solid tumors. OrginCell will continue to explore the broader unmet needs in this space, with the hope to bring more effective immuno-cell therapies to clinicians and patients with advanced stage cancer."

About Ori-CAR-001

Ori-CAR-001 is a next generation autologous chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy targeting GPC3 for the treatment of refractory/ relapsed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The construct of Ori-CAR-001 is comprised of humanized anti-GPC3 scFv, a CD8-derived hinge region, a transmembrane domain linked to 4-1BB co-stimulatory domain, a CD3z intracellular signaling domain, and Ori2 components simultaneously expressed through T2A. Compared with conventional CAR-T cells, Ori-CAR-001 has significantly higher proportion of memory stem T cells, which may translate to improved expansion and persistence in the body, thereby increasing their anti-tumor activity.

It is worth noting that, in addition to the preliminary safety and efficacy data of Ori-CAR-001 presented at 2021 ASCO annual meeting, OriginCell and study investigators also carried out translational medicine studies, in which the mode of administration, dosing, PK/PD, and biomarkers were explored. This will futher promote the application and development of cell therapy for solid tumors.

OriginCell will plan more clinical development programs to further explore Ori-CAR-001's potential based on existing data, and the Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the National Medical Products Administration (NPMA) is currently in progress.

About ASCO

With more than 40,000 members from more than 100 countries, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is the world's leading academic organization for physicians and oncology professionals caring for people with cancer. Its mission is to prevent cancer and improve cancer care, and promote the translation of research findings into clinical practice. By providing access to a global network of oncology expertise, the ASCO annual meeting is recognized as the world's most influential academic congress in the field of oncology.

About OriginCell Therapeutics

Founded in 2015, OriginCell Therapeutics Co., Ltd. ( Chinese name changed from ""to "" on May 25) received pre-Series A funding of nearly 100 million yuan exclusively from Qiming Venture Capital at the end of 2019, and the company completed Series A funding of more than 200 million yuan at the end of 2020. With the support of Qiming Venture Capital, OriginCell has been spun off from the OriginCell Group as an innovative drug research and development asset, and will focus on developing new immunotherapies for cancer treatment in the future.

Dedicated to independent innovation, OriginCell has built four innovative and synergistic proprietary technology platforms, i.e. OriAb, an antibody development and optimization technology platform; OriCAR, a high-memory CAR T technology platform; Ori TIL, an efficient cell expansion and culture technology platform; and OriUCAR, a universal CAR-T technology platform.

About OriAbAntibody Discovery Technology Platform

OriAb is a technology platform that enables the expression of 1011 fully human antibody phage display libraries, 1012 nano antibody libraries, and adds antibody engineering capabilities. A series of superior antibody drug candidates and CAR-T cell target antibodies have been produced from this platform.

About OriCAR Technology Platform

OriCAR enables the insertion of unique signaling domains into novel and proprietary CAR construct, which greatly enhances the expansion efficiency of memory immune cells, effectively resists the stressful immune environment of solid tumors, enhances the efficacy and persistence of CAR-T, and effectively inhibits tumor growth and prevents recurrence.

About OriTILA Cell Expansion and Culture Technology Platform

OriTIL can substantially increase the number of expanded TIL cells, improve quality attributes, and process parameters to break the therapeutic limitations. The clinical efficacy and safety can be ensured via younger TIL cells that can bring enhanced anti-tumor activity.

About Ori UCAR Technology Platform

Ori UCAR can efficiently synergize with antibody technology, Ori technology, gene editing, and cell differentiation technology to make future CAR-T therapies more universal and convenient, while effectively reducing its cost of use.

SOURCE OriginCell Therapeutics Co., Ltd.
DUBLIN, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Level Sensor Market - Forecasts from 2021 to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global level sensors market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.47% over the forecast period to reach a market size of US$5.59 billion in 2026, from US$3.85 billion in 2019.

The market is expected to surge in the coming years, because of the growth of level sensing applications in the oil & industry, power generation sector, food and beverage industry, pharmaceutical, and other sectors. The rise in artificial intelligence, industry 4.0, and the internet of things are expected to play a major role in the overall market growth, during the forecast period. Major countries have been introducing several initiatives to propel market growth. The United States, The United Kingdom, and Germany and launched initiatives such as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, The Building Research Establishment' Environmental Assessment Method, and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Nachhaltiges Bauen, to encourage the installation of point level sensors, and other types of level sensors, worldwide. Major companies have been making significant developments in the market, in the past few years.

For Instance, In March 2021, SICK, one of the major and imperative players in the market, stated that its innovative and advanced non-contact radar sensing technology had been opening up the prospect of reliable and robust real-time monitoring of bulk solid levels in the quarrying and mining industries. The SICK LBR SicWave is known as a bulk solid level sensor, which had a range of up to 120m. Other players are also making significant developments in the market. With the continuous growth in innovation and advancement, the market is expected to grow at an exponential rate.



Power generation sector.



The level sensors market is expected to surge in the coming years, due to the growth in the power generation sector, globally. Electricity has been the fastest-growing source of energy demand, and according to the International Energy Agency, over the next 25 years, the electricity's growth would set to outpace energy consumption as a whole. The power sector has been also been attracting more investments than the oil and gas industry. The IEA has also stated in its preferred scenario, "New Policies Scenario" that in all regions and fields, the annual demand would surge by 2%, until the year 2040.

The worldwide gross electricity consumption would surge from 25,679 billion kWh to 40,443 billion kWh, an annual increase of around 2%, in the year 2020. According to several major forecasts, such as by the United States Energy Administration, the global electricity demand would surge by the year 2040, in the range of 34,000 to 42,000 billion kWh, per anum. These trends are expected to have a positive effect on the level sensors market. Many companies have been making significant developments in the advancement and innovation of novel level sensing solutions, in the past few years. For Instance, Gems Sensors & Controls, one of the major players in the market, provides the power generation industry with innovative and advanced sensors, and control solutions for various applications. The company also provides reliable capacitive-level sensors. Other players are also making significant developments in the market.

For Instance, elobau sustainable solutions, one of the key players in the market, provides generator fuel level sensors, which had been designed to last inside a generator's extreme environmental conditions. The global investments in the electricity and power generation market continue to surge at an exponential rate. The IEA stated that total investments in electricity networks were at US$273 billion, in the year 2019. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the total investments in electricity networks declined to US$248 billion, in the year 2020. Overall power investment, globally, declined by an approx. 10% in the year 2020, because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.



Growth of level sensing in the water treatment system.



The market is expected to surge in the coming years, because of the usage of level sensing solutions in water treatment solutions and systems. According to the World Health Organisation and UNICEF in the year 2015, approx. 2.1 billion people lacked access to safely managed drinking water services. According to the data published in the OECD Environmental Policy report 2018, approx. US$260 billion, per year, had been the scale of global economic losses, related to water insecurity. The present valuation of the additional investments required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of equitable and universal access to affordable and safe drinking water for all has been at US$1.7 trillion.

This development is expected to have a positive effect on the level sensors market for water treatment applications. Major companies have been providing novel and advanced level sensing solutions for the water treatment management and processing sector. For Instance, Setra, one of the major players in the market, provides level pressure sensors for the wastewater processing industry. The company's liquid-level sensors play a crucial and major role in effluent tanks for distribution tanks for clean water, wastewater, and pump stations for irrigation systems. The sensors are also used in the measurement of pressure and confirm flow for liquids of various temperatures. Other companies are also providing innovative and advanced level sensing solutions for water treatment plants and systems. Sapcon, one of the major players in the market, provides level sensors for the tanks to detect, maintain and control proper level management. The level sensors the company provides are also used to secure the application media from overfilling.

Major countries continue to invest in the water treatment and development sector, to provide basic and freshwater facilities to their citizens. Developing nations, such as China, India, and others, continue to invest a significant sum of capital, since the last decade. In India, according to the country's Jal Shakti Report for 2020-21, the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh provides around 1.98 million tap water connections and had been one of the major performers in the country's water save the mission. The Indian Government collaborated with Tata Community Initiatives Trust to complete the pilot projects in several remote villages of various states. Various types of sensors, such as flow meters, groundwater level sensors, and others were used in the projects.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Introduction



2. Research Methodology



3. Executive Summary



4. Market Dynamics

4.1. Market Drivers

4.2. Market Restraints

4.3. Porters Five Forces Analysis

4.4. Industry Value Chain Analysis



5. Global Level Sensors Market Analysis, By Type

5.1. Introduction

5.2. Continuous Level Measurement

5.3. Point Level Measurement



6. Global Level Sensors Market Analysis, By End-User

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Oil and Gas

6.3. Food & Beverage

6.4. Pharmaceutical

6.5. Power Generation

6.6. Others



7. Global Level Sensors Market Analysis, by Geography

7.1. Introduction

7.2. North America

7.2.1. North America Level Sensors Market Analysis, By Type

7.2.2. North America Level Sensors Market Analysis, By End-User

7.2.3. By Country

7.2.3.1. United States

7.2.3.2. Canada

7.2.3.3. Mexico

7.3. South America

7.3.1. South America Level Sensors Market Analysis, By Type

7.3.2. South America Level Sensors Market Analysis, By End-User

7.3.3. By Country

7.3.3.1. Brazil

7.3.3.2. Argentina

7.3.3.3. Others

7.4. Europe

7.4.1. Europe Level Sensors Market Analysis, By Type

7.4.2. Europe Level Sensors Market Analysis, By End-User

7.4.3. By Country

7.4.3.1. UK

7.4.3.2. Germany

7.4.3.3. France

7.4.3.4. Italy

7.4.3.5. Others

7.5. Middle East and Africa

7.5.1. Middle East and Africa Level Sensors Market Analysis, By Type

7.5.2. Middle East and Africa Level Sensors Market Analysis, By End-User

7.5.3. By Country

7.5.3.1. Saudi Arabia

7.5.3.2. South Africa

7.5.3.3. Others

7.6. Asia Pacific

7.6.1. Asia Pacific Level Sensors Market Analysis, By Type

7.6.2. Asia Pacific Level Sensors Market Analysis, By End-User

7.6.3. By Country

7.6.3.1. Japan

7.6.3.2. China

7.6.3.3. India

7.6.3.4. Australia

7.6.3.5. Others



8. Competitive Environment and Analysis

8.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis

8.2. Emerging Players and Market Lucrativeness

8.3. Mergers, Acquisitions, Agreements, and Collaborations

8.4. Vendor Competitiveness Matrix



9. Company Profiles

9.1. Sierra Instruments

9.2. SICK AG

9.3. Siemens

9.4. Trumen

9.5. Fluid Components International LLC

9.6. General Instruments Consortium

9.7. Honeywell International

9.8. Emerson

9.9. ABB

9.10. Magnetrol



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/sqdh30

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets

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See the latest story at https://newsblaze.com/issues/immigration/border-migration-crisis_180258/

"I was heartbroken to see so many innocent unaccompanied minor children lured to the border by U.S. policy," said John Pierce, a free speech lawyer who defends people's constitutional rights and visited the tent city to support the work of Churches in Action.

"I have visited Mexico delivering provisions to Tijuana shelters for three decades, but this is the worst migration crisis I've seen," noted Bishop Juan Carlos Mendez, founder and president of Churches in Action. "Sadly, people in need were given false hope and now their suffering is devastating."

"We do whatever it takes to be there for those in need, no matter who they are or where they come from, because we are all one," said Maytal, on behalf of the Tikun Olam Jewish community that provided the food.

Nurit Greenger spoke to many people in the foul-smelling tent city, all seeking a chance at the American dream. Her NewsBlaze story documents the horrors of the camp as well as the good people and local officials keeping the men, women and children alive.

"The story of Churches in Action and their partners who work to provide food and supplies for these misplaced people is heartwarming," journalist Nurit Greenger says, "but the bigger stories are written in the faces of those who risk everything for a chance of freedom in the USA."

Greenger is available for interviews or to provide more information for stories for use by other media. Additional exclusive high resolution photos inside the tent city are also available free of charge for media stories: contact NewsBlaze Editor at [email protected] or call +1 775 241 8446.

For more information and other story ideas, visit https://newsblaze.com/issues/immigration/border-migration-crisis_180258/

https://newsblaze.com/world/israel/global-migration-catastrophe_158740/

NewsBlaze promotes its brand through exclusive stories that interest readers from around the world.

Contact: Alan Gray [email protected] +1 775 241 8446

SOURCE NewsBlaze

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BERKELEY, Calif., June 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Activate Global Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers scientists to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market, is proud to introduce the 2021 cohort of Activate Fellows. These 24 scientists are launching what promise to be hugely consequential businesses across key industries that could speed society's response to climate change and other urgent societal needs.

"The number of world-class scientists vying for these limited fellowship slots grows every year," says Activate CEO Ilan Gur. "That we attracted this level of talent during a year of such uncertainty speaks both to these fellows' drive for impact and the critical need for organizations like Activate that empower scientists to turn their research into new products and businesses that will improve our world."

The 24 fellows , selected from a pipeline that included nearly 400 applicants from 30 countries and 32 U.S. states, bring a wealth of scientific talent and ambition. While many are joining directly from academia, others have years of industry experience. All are driven to turn their innovationsin everything from quantum computing and robotics to bio-based materials, ag-tech, and carbon-free energy systemsinto much-needed products and services, with speed and at scale.

Activate's 2021 Fellows and their startups:

David Mackanic Anthro Energy is pioneering flexible batteries that are safe and tough enough to put in watch straps and aircraft walls. Jungah Lee Aura Intelligence Systems is developing a disruptive 4D imaging radar for challenging autonomous mobility and Industry 4.0 applications. Shannon Nangle & Marika Ziesack Circe Bioscience uses engineered microbes that consume CO2 to produce fatsa key to flavor, texture, and nutrition in foodsthrough a versatile fermentation platform. Andrew Stern Coremeleon is leveraging hardware-centric protection mechanisms to combat IP theft and ensure the safety of critical electronics systems and infrastructure. Joey Kabel & Daniel Stack Electrified Thermal Solutions wants to decarbonize industrial processes with a low-cost thermal energy system that efficiently stores renewable electricity as high-temperature heat. Jae Cho Enertia Microsystems is commercializing a fused silica gyroscope that matches the state-of-the-art gyroscopes' performance at one-hundredth the cost and size. Kezi Cheng & Pete Christensen FLO Materials is commercializing a new class of infinitely recyclable polymers to enable the transition to a more circular economy. Antonio Baclig Inlyte Energy 's battery made from iron and table salt could be a gamechanger for affordable storage of renewables on the grid. Aaron Hall Intropic Materials is developing high-performance plastics that last exactly as long as they are needed. Floris Engelhardt Kano Therapeutics ' biotechnological production platform seeks to revolutionize gene delivery and vaccine constructs for pharmaceutical and synthetic biology companies. Cameron Hill LintrinsIC is making high-performance RF switches using a cost-effective CMOS process to enable reconfigurable radio architectures. Ben Jenett Metavoxel Technologies ' scalable, low-cost manufacturing process makes materials with controllable properties, enabling lightweight, adaptive structures and systems that do more with less. Jimmy Rojas Origen Hydrogen is enabling cost-competitive green hydrogen with its low-CAPEX electrolyzer hardware technology. Francesco M. Benedetti & Holden Lai Osmoses molecular filters have unprecedented productivity and size selectivity, enabling drastic reductions in costs and carbon emissions for industrial separations. Fatma Kaplan & Karl Cameron Schiller Pheronym is an agricultural biotechnology company developing nontoxic solutions for pest management through innovative pheromone applications. Brendan Hermalyn Pythagorean Applied Research wants to transform how we perceive the world with cutting-edge sensing and perception technologies. Mael Flament Qunnect builds hardware to transform telecommunications infrastructure into scalable quantum networks. Sam Green & Ahmet Ozcan Semiotic AI 's mission is to build a secure negotiation protocol to automate trading in decentralized markets.

Founded in 2015, the two-year Activate Fellowship is a proven path for science entrepreneurs to move their breakthrough research into the market. It provides fellows the time, resources, and guidance to develop as leaders and mature their ideas as they start their entrepreneurial journeys. Unlike startup accelerators, the Activate Fellowship takes no equity stake in fellows' companies.

More than 80 percent of Activate Fellows graduate with at least 12 months of financial runway to build their businesses. Current and alumni fellows have leveraged $26 million in fellowship support to raise nearly $330 million in additional research funding and initial private investmentsdollar-for-dollar leverage of more than 12x.

Cohort 2021 brings the total community of fellows supported since 2015 to 104. These leaders have created more than 300 jobs and are currently hiring for more than 80 positions across 72 active, mission-driven companies. These firms are introducing products focused on decarbonizing heavy industry, building circular value chains through innovative materials (including truly compostable plastics and infinitely recyclable polymers), creating renewable, resilient energy and food infrastructures, and opening new frontiers in sensors, computing, and autonomous networks.

Activate Fellows work across eight industries : Agriculture, buildings, chemical, computing, defense, electricity, manufacturing, and transportation.

In just the last few months, two alumni-led startups reached major milestones: lithium-metal battery leader Cuberg (Richard Wang, Cohort 2017) became part of emerging European battery giant Northvolt, and advanced geothermal energy developer Fervo Energy (Tim Latimer and Jack Norbeck, Cohort 2018) raised $28M Series B financing and partnered with Google to supply Google's Nevada data centers with 24/7 clean energy.

Activate's sponsors and partners make the fellowship possible through direct funding, donations of time, money, equipment, or services. Without this dedicated and forward-thinking network, Activate could not provide fellows such comprehensive financial, community, technical, and career support.

Each fellowship is offered in partnership with a world-class host laboratory and supported by dedicated local teams in Berkeley, CA, and Boston, MA. By 2025, Activate plans to have eight U.S. locations, welcoming 100 new fellows each year.

At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Cyclotron Road Division, Activate's founding partner, has hosted and provided vital laboratory access to 76 fellows and connected them with more than 70 Berkeley Lab collaborators.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory, anchor partner for Activate Boston, has been an important resource to 2020 fellows developing advanced computing products and will continue that key role for four 2021 fellows.

The US Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office has been a steadfast partner since the fellowship's inception. DARPA is also a major partner, having funded fellowships since 2018. This year Activate is happy to welcome the DOE's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office as a new government funding partner.

Since 2016, the California Energy Commission has provided fellows with vital supportthrough fellowship funding as well as direct investmentswhile also supporting Activate's operations. Likewise, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is a long-time supporter and one of Activate's many philanthropic sponsors that provide crucial fellowship funding.

About Activate

Founded in 2015, Activate Global Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that empowers scientists to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market to address climate change and other global challenges. Activate works between government and the private sector, transforming scientists into high-impact entrepreneurs through a fellowship that guides them along every step of the journey. Partnering with leading U.S.-based institutions, Activate provides two years of funding and connects fellows with the resources, knowledge, and networks they need to succeed. The fellowship does not take equity in fellows' startups. A training ground for future science, technology, and business leaders, Activate promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion across its business, including its operations, fellowship, partnerships, and brand. Activate's entrepreneurial fellowship model originated at Cyclotron Road, a division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and founding Activate partner. Today, Activate supports 20-30 new Activate Fellows each year in Berkeley and Boston, with plans to expand to 100 new fellows each year at eight locations across the U.S.

Contact: MC O'Connor, [email protected]

SOURCE Activate

Related Links

www.activate.org


RAIPUR, India, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratview Research announces the launch of a new market research report on Aerospace & Defense (A&D) Metal Bellows Market by Platform Type (Commercial Aircraft, Regional Aircraft, General Aviation, Helicopter, Military Aircraft, and UAV), by Material Type (Titanium Alloys, Stainless Steel Alloy, Nickel Alloy, and Others), by Product Type (Edge-welded Bellows, Electroformed Bellows, Mechanically Formed Bellows, and Others), by Joint Type (Gimbal Joint, Angular Joints, Universal Joints, and Others), by Application Type (Engine, Airframe, and Others) and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Size, Share, Trend, Forecast, & Industry Analysis: 2021-2026.

This strategic assessment report, from Stratview Research, provides a comprehensive analysis that reflects today's aerospace and defense metal bellows market realities and future market possibilities for the forecast period of 2021 to 2026. The report estimates the short- as well as long-term repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for A&D metal bellows market at the global, regional, as well as country level. Also, the report provides the possible loss that the industry will register by comparing pre-COVID and post-COVID scenarios. The vital data/information provided in the report can play a crucial role for the market participants and investors in the identification of low-hanging fruits available in the market and formulate growth strategies.

Aerospace & Defense Metal Bellows Market: Highlights

Metal bellows are thin-walled cylindrical components used to mitigate vibration in the piping system when a media needs to be transported under pressure, where sealing a high vacuum is critical. The surface structure of metal bellows is in a corrugated form that offers flexibility during axial, lateral, and angular deformation. The bellows help in mitigating movement caused by thermal fluctuation, equipment movement, and vibration or pressure pulsation by converting movement into linear or rotational motion in any piping system. These bellows are used in a wide range of temperatures and pressure.

The performance of bellows depends on several factors including the type of raw material used, its properties, design factor, manufacturing process, etc. They are used in a wide range of industries including aerospace, automotive, oil & gas, pharmaceutical, etc. among all the end-use industries, the aerospace industry is the biggest demand generator of metal bellows, alone capturing a 28% share of the market (value basis) in 2020.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Aerospace & Defense (A&D) Metal Bellows Market

The A&D metal bellows market grew continuously in the last decade till 2018. The year 2019 proved to be challenging for the industry, especially for commercial aerospace. Grounding of B737 Max, P&W 1100G engine series failure (A320neo), delayed deliveries of upcoming aircraft programs such as B777X, and revised production rates of key aircraft programs; negatively impacted the entire supply chain including the demand for metal bellows, especially in the North American region. In 2020, the market witnessed a massive double-digit decline in the wake of the pandemic. Although there have been signs of recovery, the market is still expected to witness a decline in 2021, followed by a bounce-back in 2022 and sequential growth in succeeding years to reach an estimated US$ 284.1 million in 2026.

Click Here and Run Through the Detailed TOC of the Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/toc/921/aerospace-metal-bellows-market.html

Based on the material type, titanium alloy-based metal bellow is expected to remain the largest as well as the fastest-growing market over the next five years. Rising demand for lightweight construction, high-strength material, and good media compatibility drive the demand for titanium in the A&D industry. It is estimated that there would be a further increase in the penetration of titanium in the crucial sections (including metal bellows) of the latest aircraft programs.

The market is segmented as gimbal joints, angular joints, universal joints, and others based on the joint type. Gimbal joint is expected to remain the largest segment of the market over the next five years. Key applications are pneumatic and fuel duct articulation, engine bleed air, ECS duct, and APU duct systems. Key driving factors of gimbal joints are that they provide strict control over the movement on bellows and have compatibility with the weight of the pipe.

Based on the platform type, commercial aircraft is estimated to maintain its huge dominance in the market and is also expected to experience the fastest recovery during the forecast period. Return in service of B737Max, entry of new programs (C919, B777x, and MC-21), and expected recovery in the production rate of the key aircraft programs (A320neo) to drive the metal bellows market in the years to come.

Based on the application type, airframe is estimated to remain the most dominant application in the coming years. The engine also accounts for a reasonable share of the market. Key application areas of the engine are bleed air ducts, drain systems, firewall seals, nacelle seals, and duct seals. Major material types used in engine applications are high-temperature titanium alloys, CRES, and nickel alloys.

Register Here and Ask for a Free Sample on the Exclusive Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/Request-Sample/921/aerospace-metal-bellows-market.html#form

North America is expected to remain the largest market over the next five years in terms of regions. The USA is the growth engine of the region's market. The USA is the manufacturing capital of the aircraft industry with the presence of major market players, aircraft OEMs, tier players, airlines, and MRO companies.

Asia-Pacific, a relatively small market, is likely to recover at the fastest pace in the post-pandemic market scenario. The region's market will be driven by a host of factors including an expected increase in the demand for commercial aircraft to support rising passenger traffic, opening of assembly plants of Boeing and Airbus in China for B737, A320, A330, and A350 aircraft programs; upcoming indigenous commercial and regional aircraft (COMAC C919); rising aircraft fleet size; and increasing military expenditure by key countries such as China and India.

Key Players

The supply chain of this market comprises raw material suppliers, metal bellow manufacturers, distributors, tier players, OEMs, and MRO companies.

Key A&D metal bellow manufacturing companies are:

Alloy Bellows & Precision Welding

Eaton Corporation Inc

EnPro Industries, Inc.

KSM Co., Ltd.

Meggitt Plc

MW Industries, Inc.

Senior Plc

The Freudenberg Group

United Flexible Inc.

U.S. Bellows, Inc.

Others.

Some of the key strategic alliances in the market:

In 2018, Satair A/S (a company of Airbus Group) and Senior Metal Bellows extended the existing agreement (the first one was signed in 2017) to distribute all commercial aerospace aftermarket products including accumulators, bellows, thermal valves, compressors, etc. in Europe and Asia-Pacific . The agreement is extended with an aim to strengthen the distribution network outside North America .

and . The agreement is extended with an aim to strengthen the distribution network outside . MW Industries, Inc. acquired Ameriflex Inc. in 2018 to further strengthen its metal bellows product portfolio along with existing companies: BellowsTech and Servometer.

In 2015, MW Industries, Inc. acquired BellowsTech, LLC, and Servometer, LLC to enter the metal bellows business and to better serve the market.

Report Features

This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:

Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis.

Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis.

Market trend and forecast analysis.

Market segment trend and forecast.

Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc.

Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities.

Emerging trends.

Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players.

Key success factors

This report studies the global aerospace & defense metal bellows market and has segmented the market in six ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the six ways in which the market is segmented:

A&D Metal Bellows Market Size, Share & Forecast, By Material Type

Titanium Alloys (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Stainless Steel Alloys (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Nickel Alloys (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Other Materials (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

A&D Metal Bellows Market Size, Share & Forecast, By Product Type

Edge-Welded Bellows (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Electroformed Bellows (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Mechanically Formed Bellows (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Other Metal Bellows (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

A&D Metal Bellows Market Size, Share & Forecast, By Joint Type

Gimbal Joints (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Angular Joints (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Universal Joints (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Others (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

A&D Metal Bellows Market Size, Share & Forecast, By Platform Type

Commercial Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Regional Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

General Aviation (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Helicopter (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Military Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

UAV (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

A&D Metal Bellows Market Size, Share & Forecast, By Application Type

Engine (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Airframe (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

Others (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW)

A&D Metal Bellows Market Size, Share & Forecast, By Region

North America (Country Analysis: USA , Canada , Mexico )

Europe (Country Analysis: France , Germany , UK, and Rest of Europe )

Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China , Japan , Australia , and Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Rest of the World (Sub-Region Analysis: Latin America , the Middle East , and Others)

Stratview Research has number of high value market reports in the global aerospace & defense industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports:

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market-reports/Aerospace-Defense.html

About Stratview Research

Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research, and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas.

We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies.

Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making.

Stratview Research has launched 'Composights', an online portal which offers free thought leadership reports, whitepapers, market report synopsis and much more for Composites and allied industries, worth US$ 20,000 every year.

Click here to sign up (No costs involved): https://www.stratviewresearch.com/composights/sign-in

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SOURCE Stratview Research
NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- American Jewish Committee (AJC) has opened an office in the United Arab Emirates and named Ambassador Marc Sievers as the office's inaugural director. AJC Abu Dhabi: The Sidney Lerner Center for Arab-Jewish Understanding is the leading global Jewish advocacy organization's first office in an Arab country, and its 13th overseas post.

"AJC Abu Dhabi is truly historic," said AJC CEO David Harris. "It will enable AJC to expand on our decades of bridge-building in the region and create a wider network of stakeholders in the new relationships made possible by the Abraham Accords."

The announcement that AJC's Abu Dhabi office is now open came in a conversation today at the 2021 AJC Virtual Global Forum between Jason Isaacson, AJC Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer, and Ambassador Sievers. The organization initiated discussions with UAE officials in 2019 on the possibility of establishing a permanent presence there, and announced in September 2020 that the government welcomed AJC's plans.

"I've had the privilege in my career to open doors and open minds across the Middle East and North Africa over more than 25 years, building trusting relationships with governments, and business and civil society leaders, addressing misconceptions about the Jewish people and educating ourselves about Arab realities, introducing the bold idea of common interests and potential synergies with Israel," said Isaacson.

Among the many American envoys AJC delegations have encountered in the region over the years, "one who stood out as the consummate diplomat, deeply knowledgeable, pragmatic, straightforward, and persuasive, was Marc Sievers," said Isaacson.

Sievers, who recently retired after 38 years in the U.S. foreign service, served in 12 posts in ten countries, including in Rabat, Ankara, Algiers, Cairo, Riyadh, Tel Aviv, Baghdad, and Muscat. He served as Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman until November 2019.

"I am deeply honored to be the first director of AJC Abu Dhabi. This is a very exciting moment, a unique opportunity," said Sievers. "It's wonderful to be based in Abu Dhabi not long after the Abraham Accords and the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain." Sievers thanked the UAE government and its ambassador in Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, "for their support for this new venture in the Arab world." Ambassador Sievers also thanked the Sultanate of Oman for the warm welcome and cooperation extended to him and his family and for Oman's longstanding support for dialogue and peace.

The AJC office in Abu Dhabi is named after the late Sidney Lerner, who, together with his widow, Helaine Lerner, have been longtime friends and partners of AJC. Mr. Lerner had been particularly focused on advancing relations and understanding among the Muslim, Arab, and Jewish worlds, believing this can be an important contribution to advancing regional and global peace and harmony.

The AJC office in Abu Dhabi will, among other activities:

Promote and advance Arab-Jewish and Muslim-Jewish dialogue, mutual respect, and cooperation;

Represent AJC to governments, civil society, business leaders, and media throughout the Gulf, and relay regional concerns to AJC constituencies in the United States and globally;

and globally; Combat antisemitism wherever it appears;

Support the further development of the Abraham Accords and strengthening of relations between Israel and the states of the Arab Gulf based on mutual interests;

and the states of the Arab Gulf based on mutual interests; Partner with Jewish communities of the region  in particular, with the Manama -based Association of Gulf Jewish Communities and the Dubai -based Jewish Council of the Emirates  to preserve, celebrate, and enrich Jewish life in the Gulf.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

Related Links

http://www.ajc.org


US Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas): I understand from whats been testified to the Forest Service and the BLM [Bureau of Land Management], you want very much to work on the issue of climate change. We know theres been significant solar flare activity, and so  is there anything that the National Forest Service or BLM can do to change the course of the moons orbit, or the Earths orbit around the sun? Obviously that would have profound effects on our climate.

Jennifer Eberlein, associate deputy chief for the National Forest System, responded that she would have to follow up with you on that one, after a brief pause.

Gohmert: Well, if you figure out a way that you in the Forest Service can make that change, Id like to know.
DETROIT, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Berylls Strategy Advisors, a global management consulting company fully focused on the automotive industry, was founded 10 years ago as a start-up company and has expanded to four core business areas with more than 100 employees in six offices across the world.

Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Berylls also has offices in Switzerland, China, the UK, and Korea and the U.S. The U.S. office opened in metro Detroit in 2020 and it continues to expand its team to meet the office's growing client roster.

Berylls' advisors provide comprehensive consulting services to OEMs, automotive suppliers, investors and new mobility companies. Throughout the past decade, the company's service portfolio grew exponentially in parallel with client demands and geographic expansion.

"The automotive industry is on the precipice of change with the evolution of digital retailing and a shift to electrification and autonomous vehicles," said Martin French, managing director, Berylls U.S. "The transformation of the industry is fueling our growth as OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers have called upon our team of mobility experts, suite of products and international approach to help them stay fit for the future."

Berylls' four business units  the Berylls Quartet  focus on addressing key challenges in the fields of strategy, M&A, organizational transformation and digitalization, AI and Big Data.

Berylls Strategy Advisors  With its comprehensive know-how, the top management consultancy serves the entire automotive value chain  from strategic conception to improving operational performance.

 With its comprehensive know-how, the top management consultancy serves the entire automotive value chain  from strategic conception to improving operational performance. Berylls Digital Ventures  Develops and executes digital products  end-to-end. Berylls Digital Ventures invests in start-ups and builds white-label digital products that customers can integrate in their digital presence.

 Develops and executes digital products  end-to-end. Berylls Digital Ventures invests in start-ups and builds white-label digital products that customers can integrate in their digital presence. Berylls Equity Partners  Equity Partners is an investment company backed by strong anchor investors that acquires companies in the mobility industry to improve them operationally and realign them strategically.

 Equity Partners is an investment company backed by strong anchor investors that acquires companies in the mobility industry to improve them operationally and realign them strategically. Berylls Mad Media  Mad Media's experts develop and implement data-driven marketing, integrated portfolio and service design, all the way to holistic process and IT architectures.

For more information, visit www.berylls.com.

ABOUT BERYLLS GROUP

The Berylls Group's services are fully dedicated to the automotive industry. Our global experts understand the industry's key challenges and are developing ways to achieve sustainable success in the automobility eco system. Our professionals, using innovative & digital strategies are networking across our four specialized units to offer our clients end-to-end support, from strategy development to implementation.

SOURCE Berylls Strategy Advisors

Related Links

https://www.berylls.com


CHICAGO, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BravoTran, Inc. has announced its official company launch and the release of a new document management and automation platform for freight forwarders.

As a direct spinout from HubTranrecently acquired for $97 million by TriumphPayBravoTran is fully focused on freight forwarders and currently supports a number of industry leaders, including Yusen Logistics and AWA Logistics.

Introducing BravoTran

Led by a team of logistics and technology experts, BravoTran's proven track record in freight automation delivers real results. The cloud-based platform automatically routes incoming documents, extracts information, automates operations and accounting work, and syncs with customers' forwarding applications.

"We revolutionized the North American logistics industry. Now BravoTran is ready to serve freight forwarders," says Matt Bernstein, Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Our platform leverages artificial intelligence, OCR, and smart workflow to deliver incredible levels of automation and efficiency."

For additional information, reach out to [email protected] or visit us at www.bravotran.com .

Media Contact:

Tom Durrenberger

312-502-4283

[email protected]

SOURCE BravoTran
The deal was announced on March 31, 2021 and closed on June 7, 2021. It was led by Josef Volman , who co-chairs the Business Law Group at Burns & Levinson, and the deal team included partner Bryan Natale and associate Kaitlin Spurling . Deborah Peckham , co-chair of the firm's Intellectual Property Group, and associate Brooke Penrose provided deal support on IP and data privacy issues. Telos Advisors LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to AdvertiseCast in the deal. This is the third major deal in the podcasting industry that Burns & Levinson and Telos Advisors have collaborated on in the past three years. In 2019, they represented Pineapple Street Media in its acquisition by Entercom Communications.

"We were thrilled to represent AdvertiseCast in this important deal. We used our deep expertise in this emerging podcasting industry to bring AdvertiseCast together with the right company to grow their business to the next level," said Volman. "It's a very exciting time in the podcast field and we look forward to continuing our work with the leaders in the industry as more and more consolidations occur."

"We chose Burns and Levinson for their vast knowledge in the podcasting industry as well as their extensive experience in middle market M&A. Joe and his team were able to navigate the transaction and complex issues to get us to the finish line," said Trevr Smithlin, co-founder of AdvertiseCast.

Founded in 2016, AdvertiseCast's self-serve marketplace enables podcast advertising for over 1,500 active mid- and large-tier podcasters currently on its network and allows advertisers and agencies to efficiently buy and manage advertising campaigns in the podcast sector. Since inception, AdvertiseCast revenue has grown rapidly, increasing 45% year over year in 2020 to approximately $12 million. AdvertiseCast has scaled profitably since inception with no outside investment.

The combination of Libsyn's 75,000 podcasts and AdvertiseCast's premier advertising capabilities will accelerate revenue opportunities for podcast creators and provide advertisers with significant new inventory. The acquisition will position Libsyn to be the leading platform for both podcast hosting and monetization.

About AdvertiseCast

AdvertiseCast, LLC was founded in 2016 and combines an industry-leading ad buying and management platform with full-service campaign management capabilities to reduce the typical friction involved with podcast advertising. AdvertiseCast's proprietary software platform enables simple podcast advertising campaign creation and management. Leading advertising agencies, brands and content creators use AdvertiseCast to manage successful campaigns to produce real results for advertisers, while providing maximum return for publishers. Visit AdvertiseCast at https://www.advertisecast.com/ .

About Burns & Levinson LLP

At Burns & Levinson, we provide high-level, client-centric and results-oriented legal services to our regional, national and international clients. We are a full-service law firm with over 125 lawyers in Boston, Denver, Providence, and London. Our areas of expertise include: business/finance, business litigation, divorce/family law, venture capital/emerging companies, employment, estate planning, government investigations, intellectual property, M&A/private equity, probate/trust litigation, and real estate. We partner with our clients to solve their business and personal legal issues in a collaborative, creative and cost-effective way. For more information, visit Burns & Levinson at www.burnslev.com .

Contact:

Amy Blumenthal or Kristen Weller Blumenthal & Associates Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer (617) 879-1511 (617) 345-3555 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Burns & Levinson

Related Links

https://www.burnslev.com


Canyons Village Employee Housing is located on 7.7 acres in the Lower Village (parcel LV6-A), adjacent to the Cabriolet lift, Canyons Village Transit Hub and holes 14 and 15 of Canyons Golf . President & CEO of CVMA, Brian Madacsi, said, "This core initiative and essential amenity will attract and retain high caliber employees for Canyons Village. It is a significant step as we continue to provide an unrivaled, world-class experience for our members and guests. We are eager to begin this project with such great partners."

The project will accommodate over 1,107 employees across 789 bedrooms, seven buildings, four unit types and three distinct and flexible living arrangements. The project will accommodate single, double and triple occupancy bedrooms and an innovative 10-bedroom co-living floor plan, in addition to traditional two- to four-bedroom apartments and townhomes. "We are thrilled to be part of the solution to one of the most critical issues facing Park City today: attainable, quality housing for local residents and employees," stated Tony Tyler, a partner with CPD. "This project is a visionary collaboration with CVMA and Summit County and delivers a competitive advantage for Canyons Village to offer employees a place to live, work and play in Park City."

With access to convenient transportation offerings such as the free public transit system, Canyons Village Connect and the Cabriolet lift that whisks individuals into the village center, this affordable project will be a game changer for the many employers within Canyons Village, including Park City Mountain and the numerous year-round lodging, retail and dining establishments. "Summit County is excited to partner on this innovative and necessary effort. Providing a unique opportunity such as this aligns perfectly with our goals of creating an enhanced environment for employees to live and work, as well as providing easy access to public transportation. This project is instrumental in the evolution of Canyons Village and Summit County," said Tom Fisher, Summit County Manager.

A phased opening is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2022, with a final completion date in December of 2023. More information is available at www.cvma.com/employee-housing/.



Media Contact:

Dave March , Dir. of Marketing & Events, 435.901.2960, [email protected]

About Canyons Village Management Association

Canyons Village Management Association, Inc. (CVMA) is located in Park City, Utah and was formed in 1999. CVMA oversees the development and progression of the Canyons Village Specially Planned Area (SPA) and functions as the Master Association. CVMA provides various services related to resort aesthetics, development and design, resort beautification, marketing and events which promote Canyons Village at Park City Mountain as a world-class destination community. Learn more at www.cvma.com.

About Columbus Pacific

Columbus Pacific has completed over $2 billion in real estate investment and development over the past 20 years and focuses on providing mindfully crafted living, shopping and gathering spaces across the continental U.S. Their growing portfolio includes the iconic Kimball Art Center building, Apex Residences and Pendry Residences in Park City. Columbus Pacific brings consistent, hands-on attention to detail, focus on exceptional properties, high quality construction and delivery and devotion to current architectural design and market trends. For Park City, the projects are led by local residents Brian Shirken and Tony Tyler, bringing decades of experience in project development and construction management ranging from large resort condominium developments to high-end single-family homes. www.columbuspacific.com

SOURCE Canyons Village Management Association (CVMA)

Related Links

www.cvma.com


MIAMI, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Line today confirmed its plans to return to guest operations from Port of Galveston on July 3 with Carnival Vista, followed by the return of operations on Carnival Breeze on July 15.

These cruises are available for guests who have received their final dose of a CDC-approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior to the beginning of the cruise and have proof of vaccination, in accordance with current guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"We appreciate the progress and support for our U.S. restart from the CDC and other key federal agencies; however, the current CDC requirements for cruising with a guest base that is unvaccinated will make it very difficult to deliver the experience our guests expect, especially given the large number of families with younger children who sail with us. As a result, our alternative is to operate our ships from the U.S. during the month of July with vaccinated guests," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

The other ship and port identified for a July restart is Carnival Horizon from PortMiami. Carnival continues to work with both the State of Florida and the CDC for Carnival Horizon sailings and plans to provide an update by Friday concerning protocols specific to these sailings to all booked guests.

Duffy also acknowledged the strong support of both Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, as well as other state officials, in making vaccinations available to cruise line personnel, which has expedited the restart process. She also said the support of local officials, especially Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Galveston Mayor Craig Brown, and PortMiami and Port of Galveston leaders, has been instrumental in the restart efforts.

Carnival also said it will be advising guests and travel advisors about its plans for August sailings over the coming days.

SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line

Related Links

http://www.carnivalcorp.com


CDPQ consolidates its role as Energir's majority investor with the acquisition of Enbridge's stake in Noverco by Trencap

MONTREAL, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), a global investment group, today announced a substantial increase in its majority interest in Energir through the acquisition of Enbridge's 38.9% interest in Noverco Inc. by Trencap L.P.

Following this $1.14-billion transaction led by CDPQ, Trencap will own 100% of Noverco, which owns 100% of Energir. CDPQ currently owns 64.74% of Trencap, alongside minority limited partners, including the Fonds de solidarite FTQ.

With assets of over $8 billion and 530,000 customers across Quebec and the northeastern United States, Energir is a diversified energy business, with half of its assets now involved in the production and distribution of electricity and renewable energies and in providing energy services. The main distributor of natural gas in Quebec, Energir also produces electricity in the province from wind power through joint-venture companies. Through subsidiaries and other investments, Energir is present in the United States, where it produces electricity from hydro, wind and solar sources, in addition to being the primary distributor of electricity and the sole distributor of natural gas in Vermont.

"CDPQ's first investment in Energir dates back to 2004. For more than 15 years, we have been supporting this Quebec company in its growth and diversification, in both Quebec and the United States," said Emmanuel Jaclot, Executive Vice-President and Head of Infrastructure at CDPQ. "With this transaction, CDPQ is furthering its support of Energir, an innovative business that is working to decarbonize its operations for the benefit of its customers, for example by focusing on energy efficiency and renewable gas, thus contributing to a greener North American economy."

The acquisition of Enbridge's minority interest is conditional to customary regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close by early 2022.

ABOUT CDPQ

At Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), we invest constructively to generate sustainable returns over the long term. As a global investment group managing funds for public retirement and insurance plans, we work alongside our partners to build enterprises that drive performance and progress. We are active in the major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private debt. As at December 31, 2020, CDPQ's net assets total CAD 365.5 billion. For more information, visit cdpq.com, follow us on Twitter or consult our Facebook or LinkedIn pages.

SOURCE Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec

Related Links

https://www.energir.com/


CHICAGO, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chicago Automobile Trade Association (CATA), producer of the Chicago Auto Show, detailed a brand-new element to the upcoming special edition show, July 15-19 at McCormick Place: an outdoor street fest featuring today's latest vehicles, food trucks, local brews and music. The street fest will take place the first four evenings of the show, July 15-18, along Indiana Avenue, adjacent from McCormick Place's West Building.

"What a great combination of the Chicago Auto Show's first street fest and the city's historic Motor Row District," said Alderman Pat Dowell. "We're thrilled to host this event in the South Loop and shine a light on the growing number of businesses opening and re-opening here."

"We are very appreciative of the cooperation from Alderman Dowell and McCormick Place officials who have been so accommodating as we bring the vision of our special edition auto show to life," said CATA Chairman Kevin Keefe. "The Chicago Auto Show street fest is a prime example of the cooperation extended to us."

Attendees who visit on the evenings of July 15-18 will be treated to an array of shiny new cars, trucks and SUVs parked along Indiana Avenue; local food from pop-up food trucks and tents including Smoke Daddy, Tuco and Blondie, Connie's Pizza, Monk's Burger Bar, Sausage Fest and Nice Buns; tasty sweets from places like Andy's Frozen Custard, Cookies w/Flavor and A Sweets Girl Cupcakes; local brews from Chicago-based Goose Island; and music by varying local musicians spanning an array of genres.

Tickets for the 2021 Chicago Auto Show are sold exclusively online. For those interested in attending the show's street fest, tickets must be secured for the evening time block. A general ticket to the indoor portion of the Chicago Auto Show (West Building) also grants access to the outdoor evening street fest along Indiana Avenue. During the daytime hours, show attendees will also be able to participate in street drives and outdoor test tracks including Ford's Built Wild track, featuring the all-new Bronco and Bronco Sport, and Ford's Built to Electrify custom experience highlighting the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV.

The 2021 Chicago Auto Show special edition will run Thursday, July 15 through Monday, July 19 and will be held in McCormick Place's West Building and outdoors along Indiana Avenue. For ticket information and to plan your trip, visit ChicagoAutoShow.com.

About the Chicago Auto Show

First staged in 1901, the Chicago Auto Show is the nation's longest running auto exposition in North America. The show is produced by the Chicagoland's new-car dealer association, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association, which has staged the show since 1935. The 2021 public show is July 15-19 and will be held in the West Building of McCormick Place and span outdoors surrounding the venue. For more information and the latest updates, visit ChicagoAutoShow.com or Facebook.com/ChicagoAutoShow.com.

About the Chicago Automobile Trade Association

Founded in 1904 and located in Oakbrook Terrace, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association is comprised of more than 400 franchised new-car dealers and an additional 150 allied members. The group's dealer members employ about 19,000 people in the metropolitan area. The association has produced the world famous Chicago Auto Show since 1935. For more information, please visit www.CATA.info.

SOURCE Chicago Auto Show
FORT MYERS, Fla., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Chico's FAS, Inc. (NYSE: CHS) (the "Company" or "Chico's FAS") today issued the following statement regarding the press release and letter issued by The Barington Group ("Barington"):

Chico's FAS has ongoing conversations with its shareholders, including Barington, to discuss the Company's strategy and operating plans and appreciates the input it receives.

The Company is making tremendous progress in its turnaround strategy to become a digital-first, customer-led company. This work, which commenced in the third quarter of 2019, was showing significant traction prior to the pandemic. In addition, actions taken over the last 18 months to reduce costs and strengthen the Company's balance sheet provide a strong financial foundation to invest and grow for the foreseeable future.

Chico's FAS looks forward to sharing more about the Company's progress on its first quarter 2021 results tomorrow.

We look forward to continuing to engage with all of our shareholders, including Barington, about this work and the execution of our transformation strategy. We are committed to taking all appropriate actions to improve performance and drive shareholder value.

ABOUT CHICO'S FAS, INC.

Chico's FAS is a Florida-based fashion company founded in 1983 on Sanibel Island, Fla. The Company reinvented the fashion retail experience by creating fashion communities anchored by service, which put the customer at the center of everything we do. As one of the leading fashion retailers in North America, Chico's FAS is a company of three unique brands - Chico's, WHBM and Soma - each thriving in their own white space, founded by women, led by women, providing solutions that millions of women say give them confidence and joy.

Our Company has a passion for fashion, and each day, we provide clothing, shoes and accessories, intimate apparel and expert styling in our brick-and-mortar boutiques, digital online boutiques and through Style Connect, the Company's proprietary digital styling tool that enables customers to conveniently shop wherever, whenever and however they prefer.

As of January 30, 2021, the Company operated 1,302 stores in the U.S. and sold merchandise through 68 international franchise locations in Mexico and 2 domestic franchise airport locations. The Company's merchandise is also available at www.chicos.com, www.chicosofftherack.com, www.whbm.com, www.soma.com and www.mytelltale.com as well as through third-party channels.

For more detailed information on the Company, please visit our corporate website at www.chicosfas.com. The information on our corporate website is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this press release or incorporated into our federal securities law filings.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements, including without limitation the quote from Ms. Langenstein and the sections captioned "Business Highlights" and "Fiscal 2021 Outlook," relate to expectations and projections regarding the Company's future performance and may include the words "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "will," "plan," "outlook," "project," "should," "strategy," "potential," "confident" and similar terms. These forward-looking statements are based largely on information currently available to our management and on our current expectations, assumptions, plans, estimates, judgments and projections about our business and our industry, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although we believe our expectations are based on reasonable estimates and assumptions, there is no assurance that our expectations will, in fact, occur or that our estimates or assumptions will be correct, and we caution investors and all others not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to: the effects of the pandemic and uncertainties about its depth and duration, new variants of pandemic that have emerged, and the speed and efficacy of vaccine and treatment developments, as well as the impacts to general economic conditions and the economic slowdown affecting consumer behavior and discretionary spending (before and after the pandemic) and any temporary store restrictions (including reduced hours or capacity) due to government mandates; the effectiveness of store reopenings, cost reduction initiatives (including our ability to effectively restructure our lease portfolio to obtain future rent relief), the extent, availability and effectiveness of any pandemic stimulus packages or loan programs, including the CARES Act, the ability of our third-party business partners, including our suppliers, logistics providers, vendors and landlords, to meet their obligations to us in light of financial stress, staffing shortages, liquidity challenges, bankruptcy filings by other industry participants and other disruptions due to the pandemic, the impact of the pandemic on our manufacturing operations in China, and trends in consumer behavior and spending during and after the end of the pandemic; our ability to successfully implement any alternatives that we pursue including our ability to achieve the cost savings described in this release; government actions and policies; increases in unemployment rates and taxes; local, regional, national and international economic conditions; changes in the general economic and business environment; changes in the general or specialty retail or apparel industries, including the extent of the market demand and overall level of spending for women's private branded clothing and related accessories; future permanent store closures; the effectiveness of our brand strategies, awareness and marketing programs; the ability to successfully execute and achieve the expected results of our business strategies and particular strategic initiatives (including, but not limited to, the Company's organizational restructure and five fiscal 2021 operating priorities which are: continuing our ongoing digital transformation; further refining product through fit, quality, assortment, fabric and innovation; driving increased customer engagement through marketing; maintaining our operating and cost discipline; and further enhancing the productivity of our real estate portfolio), sales initiatives and multi-channel strategies; customer traffic; our ability to appropriately manage our inventory and allocation processes; our ability to leverage inventory management and targeted promotions; the successful recruitment of leadership and the successful transition of members of our senior management team; uncertainties regarding future unsolicited offers to buy the Company and our ability to respond effectively to them as well as to actions of activist shareholders and others; changes in the political environment that create consumer uncertainty; the risk that our investments in merchandise or marketing initiatives may not deliver the results we anticipate; significant changes to product import and distribution costs (such as unexpected consolidation in the freight carrier industry, and the ability to remain competitive with customer shipping terms and costs pertaining to product deliveries and returns); new or increased taxes or tariffs that could impact, among other things, our sourcing from foreign suppliers; the risk that future legislation may prohibit certain imports from China; and significant shifts in consumer behavior. Other risk factors are detailed from time to time in the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Annual Report on Form 10-K and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors should be considered in evaluating forwardlooking statements contained herein. There can be no assurance that the actual future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur. The Company does not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that projected results expressed or implied in such statements will not be realized.

Contacts

For Investors:

Tom Filandro

ICR, Inc.

(646) 277-1235

[email protected]

For Media:

Barrett Golden / Leigh Parrish

Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher

(917) 612-4489 / (917) 282-8908

SOURCE Chicos FAS, Inc.
SINGAPORE and LEWES, Del., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloud4C, World's leading Cloud Managed Services Provider today announced it has received the SAP on Microsoft Azure advanced specialization, a true validation of its extensive experience, rich knowledge and proven success at implementing SAP solutions on Azure.

In February 2020, SAP made an announcement that it was extending mainstream maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7, including SAP NetWeaver, until the end of 2027 with an option to extend the same to 2030. Businesses using SAP are therefore looking for a seasoned partner with advanced skills to migrate and modernize their existing SAP environment in the cloud at the earliest. Cloud4C aims to support such businesses migrate their business-critical SAP ECC and related components to Microsoft Azure aided by its Microsoft Azure Center of Excellence (CoE).

Businesses migrating SAP on Microsoft Azure will benefit from maximized cost savings, , high uptime, business agility, reduction in storage costs, reduced complexity of management, high employee productivity, automated disaster recovery (DR), optimization of IT operations with faster payback time. They shall also benefit from high-fidelity, with combined on-demand platforms and services and automation, infrastructure as a code enabling fast deployment and support operations with minimum to no downtime, cost efficiencies due to multiple licensing options, implementation and optimisation models, and scalability on demand.

Cloud4C is a global Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Service Provider (MSP), a leader in multi-cloud migration and managed services supporting native and hybrid cloud environments with multi availability zones, offering four-way disaster recovery architecture with zero data loss guarantee, military-grade security under single SLA.

"The accreditation is a testimony of our expertise and commitment to support businesses in their most exciting and promising business transformations of the modern times. With a bundled offering including SAP migration to Azure, SAP Managed Services, S/4 Transformation Services and SAP AMS, we stay committed to supporting businesses FastTrack their move to SAP S/4HANA on cloud by accelerating execution, bringing in business agility, providing access to new technologies and improving productivity without any business disruption." says Sridhar Pinnapureddy, Founder and CEO, Cloud4C.

Cloud4C has a strong presence in 25 countries and 52 locations across the world, more than 600 SAP consultants, 600+ Microsoft Azure certified professionals, 2000+ cloud experts, and is a preferred SAP on Azure partner for reliable transformation to the cloud.

Rodney Clark, Corporate Vice President, Global Partner Solutions, Channel Sales and Channel Chief at Microsoft added, "The SAP on Microsoft Azure advanced specialization highlights the partners who can be viewed as most capable when it comes to migrating enterprise SAP applications over to Azure. Cloud4C clearly demonstrated that they have both the skills and the experience to offer clients a comprehensive and professional SAP to cloud managed service."

The company's SAP on Azure service offering delivers architecture, deployment, management and continuous optimization for SAP workloads hosted in Azure cloud infrastructure. It combines processes, supporting services, best practices, automation, governance and expertise to deliver 24x7x365 administration services of customer SAP systems and Azure IaaS. This apart, the service also provides SAP Basis module activities required to keep database and SAP applications up and running.

To find out more about Cloud4C's work in this space, please read our recent case study on how we helped a Global Ceramics major migrate their SAP system to Azure.

About Cloud4C

Cloud4C is World's leading Cloud Managed Services Provider serving 4,000 customers in 25 Countries and 52 locations including 60 of the Fortune 500 Global Multinationals. The company provides cloud (public, private, hybrid) and community cloud services (Banking Community Cloud, SAP Community Cloud), cloud migration on hyperscalers, end to end cloud managed services, disaster recovery services, managed security services and helps businesses comply with stringent data sovereignty laws in respective countries.

The company plans to expand its geographical footprint to 80 countries and 160 locations worldwide in the next 48 months.

SOURCE Cloud4C
The program offers pediatric residents the opportunity to see their work published in a professional medical journal. Tweet this

The Resident Writers Award Program is designed to provide the next generation of pediatric health care professionals with experience in writing clinically relevant case studies, to introduce them to Contemporary Pediatrics, and to allow readers across the country to learn from compelling case studies.

The program's winner will be chosen in October, and the winning entry will be featured on the cover of a subsequent issue of Contemporary Pediatrics. In addition, the winner and the residency program to which they belong will be recognized in the Contemporary Pediatrics journal, its website, and at a special ceremony. All other entries deemed credible will be published on the Contemporary Pediatrics website.

Residents should present an intriguing case study in which they themselves have participated and discuss the patient's diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Submissions should be between 1,200 and 2,500 words in length and must include first and last name, title, institution/medical school, email address, and phone number. Case studies should be submitted no later than August 13 to [email protected]

For more information about the 2021 Resident Writers Award Program, please click here.

About Contemporary Pediatrics

Contemporary Pediatrics provides pediatricians with timely, trusted, and practical information to enhance their care of patients. The multimedia platform features relevant clinical and peer-reviewed articles, summarized guideline updates, case studies, and sensible practice management tips that can be immediately implemented. Contemporary Pediatrics 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.

Contemporary Pediatrics Media Contact

Alyssa Scarpaci, 609-250-4356

[email protected]

SOURCE Contemporary Pediatrics

Related Links

https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com


CALGARY, AB, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Crescent Point Energy Corp. ("Crescent Point" or the "Company") (TSX: CPG) and (NYSE: CPG) has completed the disposition of its remaining non-core southeast Saskatchewan conventional assets ("Assets"), which were previously identified as disposition candidates, for cash proceeds of $93 million ("Transaction"). As a result of the Transaction, Crescent Point also reduced asset retirement obligations ("ARO") by approximately $220 million, or nearly 25 percent of its ARO balance as at March 31, 2021. Proceeds from the disposition have been directed to the Company's balance sheet.

Crescent Point considered the Assets to be non-core due to the significant associated ARO, operating expenses that were substantially higher than the corporate average and limited scalability. The Assets also generated minimal free cash flow, after incorporating development capital required to sustain production and reclamation activities, despite contributing annual net operating income of approximately $55 million based on current production of approximately 6,500 boe/d and US$60/bbl WTI.

Crescent Point's 2021 budgeted development capital expenditures range remains unchanged, as minimal development capital was allocated to these Assets for the remainder of the year. Reclamation activities that were previously budgeted for these Assets for the balance of 2021 will be redirected to reclaiming other properties as part of the Company's commitment to strong environmental, social and governance ("ESG") practices.

Crescent Point's acquisition and disposition strategy remains centered on its strategic priorities of enhancing the Company's balance sheet strength and sustainability. Crescent Point's revised 2021 guidance, which incorporates the Transaction, is expected to generate significant excess cash flow of approximately $500 to $625 million at US$55/bbl to US$65/bbl WTI.

TD Securities Inc. acted as financial advisor to Crescent Point with respect to the Transaction. Peters & Co. Limited represented the Company as its strategic advisor.

2021 GUIDANCE

The Company's revised guidance for 2021 is as follows:



Prior Revised Total Annual Average Production (boe/d) (1) 132,000  136,000 128,000  132,000





Capital Expenditures



Development capital expenditures ($ million) $575 - $625 $575 - $625 Capitalized G&A ($ million) $35 $35 Total ($ million) (2) $610 - $660 $610 - $660





Other Information for 2021 Guidance



Reclamation activities ($ million) (3) $15 $15 Capital lease payments ($ million) $20 $20 Annual operating expenses $625 - $645 million ($12.75 - $13.25/boe) $595 - $615 million ($12.45 - $12.95/boe) Royalties 11.5% - 12.5% 11.5% - 12.5%

1) The revised total annual average production (boe/d) is comprised of ~86% Oil & NGLs and 14% Natural Gas 2) Land expenditures and net property acquisitions and dispositions are not included. Revised development capital expenditures is allocated as follows: 86% drilling & development and 14% facilities & seismic 3) Reflects Crescent Point's portion of its expected total budget

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Throughout this press release, the Company uses the terms "excess cash flow" and "free cash flow". These terms do not have any standardized meaning as prescribed by IFRS and, therefore, may not be comparable with the calculation of similar measures presented by other issuers.

Excess cash flow is calculated as free cash flow less dividends. Free cash flow is calculated as adjusted funds flow from operations less capital expenditures, payments on lease liability, asset retirement obligations and other cash items (excluding net acquisitions and dispositions). Management utilizes free cash flow and excess cash flow as key measures to assess the ability of the Company to finance dividends, potential share repurchases, debt repayments and returns-based growth.

Adjusted funds flow from operations is calculated based on cash flow from operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital, transaction costs and decommissioning expenditures funded by the Company. Transaction costs are excluded as they vary based on the Company's acquisition and disposition activity and to ensure that this metric is more comparable between periods. Decommissioning expenditures are discretionary and are excluded as they may vary based on the stage of Company's assets and operating areas. Management utilizes adjusted funds flow from operations as a key measure to assess the ability of the Company to finance dividends, operating activities, capital expenditures and debt repayments.

Management believes the presentation of the Non-GAAP measures above provide useful information to investors and shareholders as the measures provide increased transparency and the ability to better analyze performance against prior periods on a comparable basis.

Forward-Looking Statements and Other Matters

Certain statements contained 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 and "forward-looking information" for the purposes of Canadian securities regulation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). The Company has tried to identify such forward-looking statements by use of such words as "could", "should", "can", "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "will", "may", "intend", "projected", "sustain", "continues", "strategy", "potential", "projects", "grow", "take advantage", "estimate", "well-positioned" and other similar expressions, but these words are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements.

In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements pertaining, among other things, to: the direction of proceeds from the disposition of the Assets; the benefits of disposing of the Assets, including to the Company's ARO; characteristics of the Assets; the annual net operating income generated by, and production from, the Assets; development capital required to sustain production with the Assets; non-development capital and development capital allocations and directions; ESG commitments; acquisition and disposition strategy priorities; Crescent Point's revised 2021 guidance, which incorporates the Transaction, generating significant excess cash flow of approximately $500 to $625 million at US$55/bbl to US$65/bbl WTI; the Company's 2021 guidance, including: total annual average production, capital expenditures (including development capital expenditures and capitalized G&A), reclamation activities, capital lease payments, annual operating expenses, and royalties); and the allocations of development capital expenditures to drilling & development and facilities & seismic.

All forward-looking statements are based on Crescent Point's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the assumption was made. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this report should not be unduly relied upon. By their nature, such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which could cause actual results or other expectations to differ materially from those anticipated, expressed or implied by such statements, including those material risks discussed in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2020 under "Risk Factors" and our Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2020, and for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, under the headings "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Information".

Additional information on these and other factors that could affect Crescent Point's operations or financial results are included in Crescent Point's reports on file with Canadian and U.S. securities regulatory authorities. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed herein or otherwise. Crescent Point undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required to do so pursuant to applicable law. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to Crescent Point or persons acting on the Company's behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.

Product Type Production Information

The current production associated with disposed Assets reported in this Press Release consist of the following product types, as defined in NI 51-101 and using a conversion ratio of 6 Mcf : 1 Bbl where applicable: Light & Medium Crude Oil (85%), NGLs (8%) and Conventional Natural Gas (7%).

Barrels of oil equivalent ("boe") may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of 6 Mcf : 1 Bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. Given that the value ratio based on the current price of crude oil as compared to natural gas is significantly different from the energy equivalency of oil, utilizing a conversion on a 6:1 basis may be misleading as an indication of value.

www.crescentpointenergy.com

Crescent Point shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CPG.

SOURCE Crescent Point Energy Corp.

Related Links

http://www.crescentpointenergy.com


Cryopeak's new facility is the most Northern LNG production plant in Canada. The plant will supply LNG to Northern Canadian communities as well as remote mines and other industrial applications for heat and power generation. The strategic location in Fort Nelson places the facility as close as possible to end use consumers.

The location and efficiency of new facility when paired with Cryopeak's pioneering B-train transport trailers, capable of hauling 20,000 gallons of LNG, results in a lowest available cost of supply for off grid communities and industrial customers. Combining these two optimized platforms also minimizes Cryopeak's environmental footprint.

"We are thrilled to now have an LNG production facility available to us in the far north of the Province," says Rick Loughery, Purchasing Logistics Manager for Coeur Silvertip Holdings Ltd., the owner of the Silvertip Mine. "Cryopeak has been a reliable supplier of LNG to the Silvertip Mine for several years now, and this new facility will allow it to deliver LNG from a location that is much closer to our site, which will result in considerable savings in transportation costs, even greater certainty of supply and reduced GHG emissions from trucking."

"We are excited to open this new production facility in Fort Nelson. We appreciate the support in realizing this project from the Fort Nelson First Nations and the community of Fort Nelson. We look forward to delivering natural gas to our remote customers lowering energy costs and reducing carbon emissions," states Calum McClure, CEO of Cryopeak.

Cryopeak has been welcomed by the community of Fort Nelson. The relationship with the community is multifold including an arrangement with the Fort Nelson First Nations organization. This includes a strong relationship with the Mayor and local government officials, as well as engagement with the many local businesses and qualified contractors. The Fort Nelson community has supported Cryopeak throughout the construction of the LNG facility as well as our nearby new transportation and logistics terminal in Fort Nelson.

"The Northern Rockies is pleased to welcome K2LNG as they open their brand new Tamaska LNG plant near Fort Nelson. Tamaska is a perfect fit for the north, establishing Fort Nelson as a transportation hub and reducing the carbon footprint of remote communities," said Mayor Foster of Northern Rockies Regional Municipality.

This project solidifies Cryopeak's strategy of being a vertically integrated and full-service provider of LNG to Northern Canada and Alaska and providing customers a lower cost, more environmentally sustainable fuel source.

About Cryopeak LNG Solutions Corporation: Cryopeak is a leading distributor of LNG in Canada with a fleet of 16 tankers operating in Canada, as well as equipment and technologies for storage, regasification and fuel dispensing. Cryopeak is ISO 9001 certified and has emergency response plans approved by Transport Canada. Cryopeak was founded in 2012 and is a portfolio company of BP Energy Partners, LLC. More info: www.cryopeak.com

About BP Energy Partners, LLC:

BP Energy Partners, LLC (BPEP), is a Dallas, Texas based growth-oriented private equity firm. Since inception, BPEP has focused on a lower carbon future by establishing and growing sustainable and responsible companies in the natural gas value chain including infrastructure, power, logistics, transportation, environmental services, renewable natural gas, midstream, and distribution. BPEP will also invest in low carbon energy solutions and renewables. BPEP collaborates with entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses, project developers, and experienced management teams to provide patient capital, financial and operating expertise, and deep industry relationships. BPEP currently manages over $550 million in committed capital and is actively investing in new opportunities. More information can be found at www.bpenergypartners.com.

SOURCE Cryopeak LNG Solutions Corporation
"As the opioid epidemic  which has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic  continues to impact all 159 Georgia counties, we must think of innovative solutions to stop criminal behavior and protect Georgians," said Attorney General Chris Carr. "The newly-implemented time delay safes will help protect those behind the counter and prevent medication from getting into the wrong hands. I commend the leadership of CVS Pharmacy for installing this technology that will act as a deterrent for criminals and will stop diversion from stores."

CVS Health first implemented time delay safe technology in 2015 in CVS Pharmacy locations across Indianapolis, a city experiencing a high volume of pharmacy robberies at the time. The company saw a 70 percent decline in pharmacy robberies among the Indianapolis stores where time delay safes had been installed.

Since then, the company has introduced time delay safes across 18 states and the District of Columbia, resulting in a 50 percent decline in robberies at CVS pharmacies in those local communities.

"While our company continues to focus on moving the country one step closer to a post-pandemic world by increasing access to COVID-19 vaccines, testing and other measures to help create healthy communities, the misuse of prescription drugs also remains a focus," said Tom Moriarty, Chief Policy Officer and General Counsel, CVS Health. "Time delay safes reduce the theft and diversion of opioid medications and brings added security to our stores which creates a safe environment for our patients and colleagues."

The time delay function cannot be overridden and is designed to serve as a deterrent to would-be pharmacy robbers whose goal is to enter and exit their robbery targets as quickly as possible. All CVS Pharmacy locations in Georgia with time delay safes display visible signage warning that time delay safes are in use to prevent on-demand access to controlled substance narcotics.

CVS Health's time delay safe program is one of many company initiatives to help address and prevent prescription opioid misuse and diversion.

Through its Safe Medication Disposal Program in Georgia, for example, the company has installed 135 drug disposal units in select CVS Pharmacy locations and donated 37 units to local police departments in the state. To date, there has been 63,000 pounds of unwanted and expired medication collected in Georgia.

Presently, the company supports nearly 4,000 safe medication disposal units in CVS Pharmacy locations and through local law enforcement organizations nationwide. Together, these existing medication disposal units have collected more than 2.5 million pounds of unwanted medications that might otherwise have been diverted, misused, or ended up in the water supply.

Additionally, CVS Pharmacy locations that do not offer a safe medication disposal kiosk offer DisposeRx packets at no cost to patients filling an opioid prescription for the first time. According to the manufacturer, when warm water and the DisposeRx powder are added to a container, the combination breaks down medicationsincluding powders, pills, capsules, tablets, liquids or patchesto a non-divertible biodegradable gel, allowing for safe disposal in the trash at home.

CVS Health's commitment to helping prevent and address drug misuse and diversion also extends to community education and increasing access to the opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone.

Our Pharmacists Teach Program connects volunteer CVS pharmacists with local students to encourage conversation and teach youth about the dangers of prescription drug misuse. Since 2015, our pharmacists have volunteered their time and delivered curriculum to nearly 600,000 teens and parents across the country. We've partnered with Discovery Education to expand the reach of Pharmacists Teach into more classrooms with a no-cost digital prevention program called Dose of Knowledge. This program provides standards-aligned resources to educators and pharmacists across the U.S. and strives to empower educators and pharmacists to address substance misuse and educate students to make good decisions for the health and well-being of themselves and their community.

Finally, CVS Pharmacy patients can now access the opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone without an individual prescription at every CVS Pharmacy location nationwide, including all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. CVS Health has also worked with Google to help people locate naloxone at CVS Pharmacy and other locations in their community using Google's locator tool.

With its national reach and local presence, CVS Health has been working hard to help address opioid misuse and diversion with an enterprise-wide approach. To learn more about CVS Health's efforts, visit the company's Opioid Response website.

For downloadable time delay safe photos, please visit the Media Resource Center.

About CVS Health

We are a diversified health services company with more than 300,000 employees united around a common purpose of helping people on their path to better health. In an increasingly connected and digital world, we are meeting people wherever they are and changing health care to meet their needs. Built on a foundation of unmatched community presence, our diversified model makes us an integral part of people's everyday health. From our innovative new services at HealthHUB locations, to transformative programs that help manage chronic conditions, we are making health care more accessible, more affordable and simply better. Learn more about how we're transforming health at www.cvshealth.com.

Media contacts:

Tara Burke

(203) 212-1059

[email protected]

Joe Goode

(401) 378-5220

[email protected]

SOURCE CVS Health
The OCS Blue achievement places Dart among the best companies in the US for its effectiveness in preventing plastic from entering the environment or becoming marine debris. The 21 facilities even exceeded OCS' rigorous set of standards and reporting requirements necessary to achieve the OCS Blue recognition.

"Dart has led our industry for decades with practices and policies focused on improving the environment and decreasing litter and marine debris," said Pam Dolbee, Dart Regional Environmental Health and Safety Manager. "Our products give people the freedom to enjoy their food and drinks anywhereand we accept our responsibility for the environmental effects of that freedom. Achieving OCS Blue status is another commitment on our part toward reducing the impact of our products on our neighborhoods, waterways and planet."

To achieve elite OCS Blue status, Dart facilities had to eliminate pellet, flake, and powder loss by conducting site audits, increasing employee awareness, and improving equipment, processes and procedures as needed.

For example, through the OCS and OCS Blue auditing process, Dart's manufacturing facility in Waxahachie, Texas, implemented new processes and installed filtering screens to catch plastic before water runoff enters holding ponds and installed larger catch bins to prevent plastic bead spillage during material delivery from rail cars. Dart's Chicago facility also modified the way they unload plastic to further prevent loss and spills.

For more than 25 years the plastics industry has promoted Operation Clean Sweep (OCS), a campaign dedicated to helping every plastic resin handling operation achieve zero pellet, flake and powder loss. The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) invite companies to take their commitment  an annual pledge committing to OCS principles by plastics companies or plastics employees  to the next level.

For more information about Dart Container's sustainability practices, go to https://www.dartcontainer.com/sustainability/.

About Dart Container Corporation

As a leading manufacturer in the food & beverage packaging industry, our customers around the world count on Dart Container Corporation for thoughtful design, exceptional service and a unique and growing set of products and services that meet their needs. For more than 60 years, Dart has made everyday products for consumers, restaurants, healthcare institutions, grocery stores and other industries rely on Dart's wide array of safe and sanitary packaging for takeout, delivery and other foodservice needs. Dart products reduce the spread of germs and give people the freedom to enjoy their food & drinks, wherever they are.

We accept our responsibility for the environmental effects of that freedom, and have long been the industry leader in taking action on initiatives that reduce or eliminate the impact of our products.

Headquartered in Mason, MI, Dart relies on the skill and dedication of our 13,000-plus employees to operate more than 20 manufacturing and distribution centers in four countries. For more information, please visit www.dartcontainer.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS: [email protected]

Patrick Krieger; Senior Director, Sustainability & Materials at the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) [email protected]

Stewart Harris; Senior Director, Marine and Environmental Stewardship, Plastics Division at the American Chemistry Council (ACC) [email protected]

SOURCE Dart Container

Related Links

https://www.dartcontainer.com


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BENSALEM, Pa., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Law Offices of Howard G. Smith reminds investors of the upcoming July 19, 2021 deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in the case filed on behalf of investors who purchased Ubiquiti Inc. ("Ubiquiti" or the "Company") (NYSE: UI) securities between January 11, 2021 and March 30, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period").

Investors suffering losses on their Ubiquiti investments are encouraged to contact the Law Offices of Howard G. Smith to discuss their legal rights in this class action at 888-638-4847 or by email to [email protected].

On March 30, 2021, after the market closed, Krebs on Security published an article entitled "Whistleblower: Ubiquiti Breach 'Catastrophic'" stating that the Company had downplayed a data breach from January 2021 and that the "third-party cloud provider claim was a fabrication." According to the article, the attacker(s) had accessed "privileged credentials that were previously stored in the LastPass account of a Ubiquiti IT employee, and gained root administrator access to all Ubiquiti AWS [Amazon Web Services] accounts, including all S3 data buckets, all application logs, all databases, all user database credentials, and secrets required to forge single sign-on (SSO) cookies." As a result, the article noted that the Company should have immediately invalidated customers' credentials and forced a reset, rather than asking customers to change their passwords when they next log on.

On this news, the Company's stock price fell $50.70, or 14.5%, to close at $298.30 per share on March 31, 2021, on unusually heavy trading volume.

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants, in their statements concerning the data breach, failed to speak fully and truthfully because they failed to disclose to investors: (1) that the Company had downplayed the data breach in January 2021; (2) that attackers had obtained administrative access to Ubiquiti's servers and obtained access to, among other things, all databases, all user database credentials, and secrets required to forge single sign-on (SSO) cookies; (3) that, as a result, intruders already had credentials needed to remotely access Ubiquiti's customers' systems; and (4) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Ubiquiti securities during the Class Period, you may move the Court no later than July 19, 2021 to ask the Court to appoint you as lead plaintiff if you meet certain legal requirements. To be a member of the class action you need not take any action at this time; you may retain counsel of your choice or take no action and remain an absent member of the class action. If you wish to learn more about this class action, or if you have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020, by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Contacts

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith

Howard G. Smith, Esquire

215-638-4847

888-638-4847

[email protected]

www.howardsmithlaw.com

SOURCE Law Offices of Howard G. Smith

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SAN FRANCISCO, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bain & Company announced today that Debra (Debbie) McCoy, an expert in sustainable investing, has rejoined the firm where she started her career, as a partner in its global Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility practice. In her new role, Debbie will advise a range of global, cross-sector clients on implementing operational decisions and strategic investing tactics that use stakeholder, governance and environmental considerations to produce enduring results. She will be based out of Bain's San Francisco office.

Debbie most recently served as a Managing Director at BlackRock and its Head of Sustainable Investing for a team actively managing more than $200 billion in assets. She also previously held roles in global development investing and research at Stanford University, environmentally aware infrastructure investing with a sovereign wealth group, and institutional and global consumer banking at a multinational bank.

"Debbie has been a respected leader in sustainability long before the terms 'sustainability' and 'impact' held the weight they do today," said Jenny Davis-Peccoud, co-head of Bain's global Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility practice. "She brings multiple vantage points, through her expertise in investing as well as her experience working across the private sector, academia, nonprofits and government. This will make her a valuable addition to Bain's longstanding global network of sustainability experts."

Debbie developed her expertise on the topics of economic development, the environment and innovation through leading bold projects around the world, including in New Delhi, Johannesburg, Bangkok, Dubai, New York, San Francisco and Washington.

"I have long admired Bain & Company's Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility practice for accelerating results against business's most significant opportunities and challenges," said Debbie McCoy. "I am delighted to bring my global experience back home to the firm where I started my career to help Bain's clients address the increasingly complex realities of sustainable investing and operations."

Debbie is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she sits on the Board of Governors of the San Francisco Symphony, and she served as a White House Fellow for one year at the U.S. Department of State after receiving a nonpartisan, nonpolitical appointment from the President of the United States.

Debbie holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Toigo Fellow, as well as a bachelor's degree from Howard University, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

Editor's Note: To arrange an interview, contact Katie Ware at [email protected] or +1 646 562 8102.

About Bain & Company

Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world's most ambitious change makers define the future.

Across 61 offices in 38 countries, we work alongside our clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary results, outperform the competition and redefine industries. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with a vibrant ecosystem of digital innovators to deliver better, faster and more enduring outcomes. Our 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services brings our talent, expertise and insight to organizations tackling today's urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development and the environment. Since our founding in 1973, we have measured our success by the success of our clients, and we proudly maintain the highest level of client advocacy in the industry.

Media Contact:

Katie Ware

Bain & Company

T: +1 646 562 8107

[email protected]

SOURCE Bain & Company

Related Links

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NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Deloitte has appointed Dr. Kulleni Gebreyes to lead the Deloitte Health Equity Institute in the U.S. In her new leadership role, Gebreyes, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, will lead the overall strategic direction of the institute, focusing on improving health outcomes and decreasing disparities by integrating, amplifying, and extending efforts to improve health equity by investing in areas that address the root causes of inequities.

Based in North Carolina, Gebreyes is Deloitte's U.S. consulting healthcare sector leader and has more than 20 years of experience in the health care industry, across the commercial and public sector. She has worked with leading payor, provider, retail and public sector organizations to improve operations, develop strategies for transformation and rethink operational efficiency. Through this work, her deep knowledge of health care and her ability to make connections across industries, Gebreyes is uniquely positioned to identify opportunities to impact equity.

"Dr. Gebreyes is a unique leader whose experience, education, acumen and insights will help us advance health equity and I share in her commitment to drive meaningful action and sustainable change. We need to think beyond a single actor or sector, but focus instead on what we can all do to address equitable outcomes in health," said Asif Dhar, vice chairman, life sciences and health care, Deloitte LLP, and national leader of Deloitte's U.S. life sciences and health care practice. "Through her leadership of the Deloitte Health Equity Institute, Dr. Gebreyes' ability to pull together public and private stakeholders  life sciences, health care, public sector and other industries with community organizations  will allow us to make a sustainable difference to this multigenerational challenge."

Trained at Johns Hopkins Hospital System, Gebreyes is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and a Six Sigma Green Belt. She holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, a B.A. in biology from Princeton University and an MBA from Carey Business School of Johns Hopkins. She has served as a faculty member engaged in medical education and residency training at Georgetown University Medical Center and George Washington University Hospital. At Deloitte, Gebreyes drives care delivery transformation for health care organizations pursuing financially sustainable strategies for consumer centric care models that are data driven and digitally enabled. She has also developed strategies for population health management and value-based care that address payment reform, physician alignment and patient activation.

"The establishment of the Deloitte Health Equity Institute is a critical step in our commitment to join the voices of public health officials, communities, and business leaders who are helping end systemic racism, especially in the area of health care," said Gebreyes. "We are encouraging input from our powerful network of business leaders and health care professionals to develop a health equity agenda that we can work on together as we strive to make gains against racism that we cannot make on our own. I am extremely honored to work with our deeply committed and passionate team, and our colleagues around the world, to come to the right conclusions, work toward better outcomes and help create health equity for all."

To learn more about Gebreyes connect with her on LinkedIn or follow the Deloitte Health Care on Twitter @DeloitteHealth

About the Deloitte Health Equity Institute

Recognizing the imperative for immediate and sustained effort, and grounded in Deloitte's declaration of racism as a public health crisis, Deloitte established the Deloitte Health Equity Institute (DHEI) in Spring 2021. DHEI is dedicated to creating public good through data-driven pro bono services, philanthropy, and research. DHEI builds on Deloitte's commitment to advance health equity, informed by work with clients, a decade of impact made by our Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, and our perspective on how life sciences and health care organizations can activate health equity.

The DHEI reinforces our purpose of making a positive, enduring impact that matters. By collaborating with local and national organizations, DHEI is a catalyst, helping advance health equity at scale. Our initiatives aim to help everyone achieve their full potential in all aspects of health and well-being, building a more equitable society for all.

About Deloitte

Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500 and more than 7,000 private companies. Our people come together for the greater good and work across the industry sectors that drive and shape today's marketplace  delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthier society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Building on more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's more than 330,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

SOURCE Deloitte

Related Links

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Oslo, Norway, 7 June 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DigiPlex, the Nordic leader for scalable, secure and sustainable data centers, together with one of its construction partners CTS, has won the Data Center Construction Award at the Datacloud Global Awards 2021. The awards, held virtually on the first day of the Datacloud Global Congress, celebrate the best and brightest from across the data center industry worldwide.

The award recognizes excellence in the construction of a data center highlighting those teams that have overcome significant challenges in this crucial phase. DigiPlex, together with CTS International Ltd, created a joint entry to reflect the project works to build the second and third phases at the DigiPlex Fetsund Campus over the winter of 2020/21. Not only did the build take place over the winter months when temperatures fell to minus 19 degrees centigrade but at a time when there were significant restrictions due to the COVID pandemic.

Nevertheless, the CTS team and DigiPlex found innovative and ingenious ways to complete the entire construction with no disruption to the operational data center already on site. Despite the challenges of building on a site of volcanic rock and silt, the team not only completed construction in under 8 months but were able to do so in a highly sustainable way.

The Datacloud Global Awards judging panel noted: "This was an outstanding entry detailing a construction project that took eight months to complete, taking place across the pandemic period. Adjacent to an existing operational data center, the construction of this facility used less concrete and reused waste heat and rainwater."

David Caddy Director of CTS International Ltd, commented: "We are proud that our work with DigiPlex has been recognized globally with this award. We are also very proud of the work we did at Fetsund to overcome multiple challenges and deliver a cutting-edge facility on time. We look forward to our next projects with DigiPlex."

"This is a great win for CTS and the Digiplex team," added Phil Coutts, Chief Development Officer at DigiPlex. "Designing, building and operating sustainable, secure, and scalable data centers means paying attention to every detail, it is great to see the recognition of the judges not just of the challenges that the team overcame to fulfill our on-time delivery to our customers, but also to the innovative methods and designs that we employ to put safety, quality and sustainability at the heart of everything that we do."

CONTACT:

Elisabeth Lennhede

Head of Communications

+46703322705

[email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/digiplex/r/digiplex-and-cts-win-the-data-center-construction-award-2021,c3361294

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/7526/3361294/1427854.pdf 210607_DigiPlex and CTS Win the Data Center Construction Award 2021_Final https://news.cision.com/digiplex/i/david-caddy-director-cts-international,c2921971 David Caddy Director CTS International https://news.cision.com/digiplex/i/phil-coutts--cdo-digiplex,c2921966 Phil Coutts, CDO DigiPlex

SOURCE DigiPlex
WASHINGTON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Anthony Fauci voiced optimism about the United States' progress in the fight against COVID-19 in a one-on-one interview last week with Dr. Mikhail Varshavski, the primary care physician and social media influencer known as "Dr. Mike." At the same time, Fauci, Director of The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and chief medical advisor to the last seven presidents, made it clear that the battle is far from over.

"Overall it's very positive," Fauci told Varshavski during a 23-minute conversation, "but one of the things we get concerned about is declaring victory prematurely."

In fact, Fauci added, the U.S. is "still in the middle" of the pandemic.

"We still have a ways to go," he said. "It looks like we're gonna nail it. I think we are. Science will come to the rescue."

Further steps are needed, however. More Americans need to become fully vaccinated, Fauci said, so that the U.S. can achieve the threshold for achieving herd immunity, which he estimated to be between 70 and 85 percent.

He also said that the U.S. must become part of the global response to the pandemic, as many countries have not distributed vaccines as widely as the U.S. has, and indeed might not turn the tide for "a couple of years." To that end, Fauci said, the plan is to export some 80 million doses by late June or early July, with more to follow.

Fauci believes the U.S. has "a moral responsibility" to do that and added that it is also in the nation's self-interest to do so because of the inevitability of variants and the certainty that they will spread to our shores at some point.

Asked by Varshavski what he would say to those who might be hesitant to receive the vaccine, Fauci said he would simply lay out the facts. To those who believe vaccines were developed too quickly, he would point out that it represented "the culmination of decades of research," not an 11-month process. To those who wonder if it has been tested enough, he would point out that millions have already safely received it. And to those who might believe it is inconvenient to receive one, he would point out that it is now "extraordinarily easy" to do so, as it is available at thousands of pharmacies, as well as vaccine centers and mobile units.

About Doctor Mike Media: Doctor Mike Media is a health & lifestyle organization launched by Dr. Mike Varshavski. With over 16 million social media followers, Dr. Mikhail Varshavski, commonly known as "Doctor Mike," is a multifaceted board-certified family medicine physician, media personality, educator, writer, and philanthropist. He has also made appearances and consulted on CNN, ABC, and Fox News, and served as a regular contributor to publications including Women's Health, Men's Health, Reader's Digest, the American Academy of Family Physicians Blog, and MedPageToday.

SOURCE Doctor Mike Media
ST. LOUIS, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- For the ninth consecutive year, St. Louis financial services firm Edward Jones appears on the Fortune 500 list, which ranks the largest U.S. companies by revenue.

Edward Jones moved up 41 spots to No. 295, with more than $10.2 billion in net revenue for 2020, an increase of 6.7 percent.

"As we grow, we are growing our impact and living our purpose to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our clients, colleagues and communities," said Edward Jones Managing Partner Penny Pennington. "We are incredibly honored to be among the nation's top 500 companies in service of our 7 million clients, 49,000 colleagues and thousands of communities across North America  helping to improve the financial resiliency and vitality of individuals and families so they can achieve what matters most to them."

Pennington is one of the 41 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies  a record-breaking number this year  featured in a story accompanying the list.

Now in her third year as managing partner, Pennington began her Edward Jones career in 2000 as a financial advisor in Livonia, Mich. In 2006, she was named a principal and relocated to the firm's St. Louis headquarters where she held various leadership roles.

As the sixth managing partner in the firm's 99-year history, Penny is responsible for the firm's strategic direction, working together with more than 49,000 associates across North America to make a positive impact in the lives of Edward Jones' clients, colleagues and communities. She was recently named No. 33 in her second appearance on the Fortune Most Powerful Women in Business list.

She is an active member of the St. Louis community, serving on the boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, United Way of Greater St. Louis, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees, the Whitaker Foundation and Executive Committee of the Chair's Council for Greater St. Louis, Inc. Penny also actively champions Edward Jones' national presenting sponsorship with the Alzheimer's Association.

About Edward Jones

Edward Jones, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in St. Louis, provides financial services in the U.S. and, through its affiliate, in Canada. Every aspect of the firm's business, from the investments offered to the location of branch offices, caters to individual investors. The firm's nearly 19,000 financial advisors serve more than 7 million clients with a total of $1.6 trillion in client assets under care. Visit edwardjones.com or the recruiting website at careers.edwardjones.com. Member SIPC.

SOURCE Edward Jones

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MIAMI, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- eMed, a telehealth company democratizing healthcare through its digital-point-of-care platform, announces it will reinstate testing services in support of Coloradans. In recent weeks, Colorado residents and local leaders from across the State have publicly requested the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) provide immediate access to readily available rapid antigen tests provided by eMed. The company also re-affirmed its offer to Governor Polis to distribute Colorado's remaining 250,000 third-party verified rapid at-home COVID-19 test kits to every Colorado County at no cost to the State to provide local communities with this critical testing tool.

To date, less than 10 percent of the 2 million tests purchased by the State have been distributed to Coloradans in need of rapid testing to remain employed, in school and contributing to the State's economy. eMed's efforts over the past several months have been instrumental in allowing Coloradans to resume daily activities. This latest decision builds on the company's commitment to support State residents as they make summer plans and prepare for what is expected to be an active flu season in the Fall.

"Our commitment to the people of Colorado remains firm. While resuming testing services will create further financial liability for eMed, our company agrees with Colorado elected officials that residents should not be harmed by the State's management of this program. For this reason, eMed will resume all Colorado testing services within 24 hours," said Dr. Patrice Harris, eMed Co-Founder and CEO. "Testing remains an important tool in the toolbox as we continue progress on vaccinations."

eMed, the architect behind the first virtually guided, rapid at-home COVID-19 certified test technology and platform, partnered with the State of Colorado earlier this year to distribute and administer millions of rapid tests with verified results to teachers, staff, selected students and food services workers.

About eMed

eMed ( www.eMed.com ) is a telehealth company democratizing healthcare with a digital point-of-care platform that provides fast, easy and affordable at-home healthcare testing, supervised and guided online by eMed Certified Guides. We embrace quantitative medicine to deliver prescribed tests and treatments directly to individuals, driving better and more cost-effective health outcomes.

SOURCE eMed

Related Links

https://www.emed.com


ABU DHABI, UAE, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Erem Media Group today announced their partnership with iZooto to double down on their audience engagement and retention efforts. iZooto, an audience marketing platform, helps media publishers reduce their dependence on Facebook and Google. Erem Media Group has been using iZooto for their flagship websites - Erem News and Foochia - and has seen their traffic increase by over 20%.

Google search updates and Facebook algorithm tweaks have impacted media businesses heavily and that's one reason why media businesses in the GCC region have constantly been exploring solutions. With 3rd party cookies phasing out, audience development and its engagement have become business priorities. Erem News uses iZooto for both engagement and monetization to boost their revenue. It already generates 35%+ of their total visitors from iZooto and this continues to grow month on month.

"Editors at Erem News are the first to break stories to their readers. With iZooto, we are able to reach out readers faster than ever before - this gives us a competitive advantage," added Mohammad Aldaghestani, Head of Audience Engagement at Erem Media.

iZooto is the go-to-platform for editors, revenue, and audience engagement teams. At Erem News, engagement and monetization are important goals for 2021 and we already see this partnership playing its part. "iZooto helps us distribute news faster than email or even social media. iZooto's contribution is now more than Facebook, Google search and Google news. We are able to get the word out really quickly," added Becrine Alam, Head of Editorial at Erem Media.

"Our partnership with Erem Media is a great testament of the strength of our platform and the industry trend. We now process over 5B notifications everyday for our 1200+ publisher partners. Our deep understanding of the publisher ecosystem and our ability to support enterprise grade scale is what makes iZooto the preferred partner for media giants like Erem News," added Siddhartha Saxena, Business Head at iZooto. "We remain committed to the vision of building and nurturing our audience and we see iZooto as a long term partner," said Tajelddin Abdel Haq Editor in Chief, at Erem Media.

"We are building iZooto as a platform that enables newsrooms to build a deeper and better relationship with their audience. Google and Facebook compete with media businesses. iZooto is changing that. The pandemic has accelerated digital adoption and we are seeing strong traction from the publishers in the GCC region. We will continue to invest heavily in the region over the next few years," added Neel Kothari, CEO at iZooto.

About iZooto

iZooto is an owned audience marketing solution that leverages push notification as a channel to help publishers build, own, and engage their audience. Headquartered in Delhi, iZooto recently set up its operations in the UAE. Over 1100+ publishers globally use iZooto to push over 150B notifications every month - across channels like - web notifications, messenger and native mobile apps.

About Erem Media

Erem Media Group, headquartered in Abu Dhabi (Towfour54) was founded in 2013. The Group owns two news websites eremnews.com and foochia.com. Erem News covers all the political, economic, sports, and cultural events taking place in the Arab Gulf region. On the other side, Foochia covers topics that concern the Arab women and families and presents them in an informative, educational, and entertaining media style.

iZooto Contact:

Name: Pravya Pravin

Organization: Datability Solutions

[email protected]

www.izooto.com

SOURCE iZooto
MINNEAPOLIS, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolving Solutions, a leading technology solutions provider, announces investments in talent acquisition to expand into new markets to accelerate growth. The company is also expanding its focus on the State, Local, Education (SLED) sector and continuing to expand its modern networking practice. The key hires help the organization provide more comprehensive technology solutions to serve additional clients.

The following recent key hires include:

The new team members come with a depth of experience across hybrid cloud, services, modern networking, and business transformation from companies such as IBM, HPE, NetApp, Veeam, and Cisco. In addition to the sales talent, the organization has added numerous technical subject matter experts to the team over the last year to support these new markets.

"As we reflect on the past 25 years, the talent we have and our understanding of how to serve clients drives our organization and has been key to our success," states Bo Gebbie, vice president of Evolving Solutions. "By bringing on talent specific to new markets, we can meld the Evolving Solutions values with those who know the market to become an advocate and partner to even more clients. Green Bay, St. Louis, and Atlanta are large cities, but relationships still drive the technology landscape. People do business with people they know and trust."

With the increase in demand for digital transformation, including containerization of workloads and cloud orchestration and automation, the organization intends to align the client's business goals in these new areas to the Evolving Solutions technical team's capabilities to enable those objectives. The growth comes with an understanding of how the critical nuances, especially within sectors like SLED, are essential, and it requires a different go-to-market plan than the public sector.

"I came to Evolving Solutions because their client-centric values aligned with mine. I appreciate the company's focus on partnerships that enable transformational technologies," said Michael Zanter, account executive for Evolving Solutions in St. Louis, Missouri. "I look forward to helping clients address the complications of their changing business models and technology architecture to make strategic changes. These changes will help be a true driver of business growth, not just provide an IT success."

About Evolving Solutions

Evolving Solutions is a technology solutions provider that helps clients modernize and automate their mission-critical applications and infrastructure to support business transformation. Our business is client-centric consulting and delivery of technical solutions to enable modern operations in a hybrid cloud world.

Evolving Solutions has deep partner relationships with IBM, HPE, Cisco, AppDynamics, Dynatrace, NetApp, Nutanix, Azure, Red Hat, AWS, and over 70 other vendors that help us deliver exceptional results to service our clients' technology needs. Learn more at www.evolvingsol.com.

SOURCE Evolving Solutions

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ALBANY, N.Y., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The demand for vertical injection molding machines has increased exponentially over the years. The utilization of these machines for preparing massive molded parts for appliances, automotive, and industrial applications is proving to be a game-changer. The rapid rise in urbanization and industrialization across many regions will also have a profound impact on the growth of the vertical injection molding machine market.

Vertical injection molding machines function the same as horizontal injection molding machines but they are optimized to operate on the vertical axis. These machines require very little space to function as compared to horizontal injection molding machines. The benefits offered by vertical injection molding machines as compared to horizontal injection molding machines will bring tremendous growth opportunities during the forecast period of 2021-2031.

The TMR experts expect the vertical injection molding machine market to expand at a CAGR of ~4 percent during the assessment period of 2021-2031. The global vertical injection molding machine market is prognosticated to reach a valuation of US$ 10.6 bn by 2021, the end year of the forecast period.

Request for Covid-19 Impact Analysis on Vertical Injection Molding Machine Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/Covid19.php

Horizontal injection molding machines were already popular among numerous industries due to their efficiency and functionality. The 'space factor' was proving to be a hindrance as horizontal injection molding machines consume a lot of area. Vertical injection molding machines are serving as a feasible option as they use lesser space as compared to horizontal injection molding machines, eventually accelerating the growth prospects.

Key Findings of the Report

Smart Technologies to Reign Supreme

Technological advancements are playing a crucial role in the growth of the vertical injection molding machine market. The utilization of technologies like the Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have made immense changes in the efficiency and functioning of vertical injection molding machines. The players in the vertical injection molding machine market are investing in research and development activities to discover new technologies for offering more convenience to the end-users. All these factors bode well for the growth of the vertical injection molding machine market.

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Prospering Packaging and Automobile Industries to add Extra Stars of Growth

The overwhelming utilization of vertical injection molding machines across the packaging and automobile industry will brighten the growth prospects during the forecast period to a considerable extent. The swelling demand for these machines across countries having a large automobile industry presence will invite extensive growth.

India and China are increasing their focus on industrialization and urbanization, which is ultimately benefitting the vertical injection molding machine market. The thriving automobile industry in India and China and the rising demand for packaging from varied pockets of the world will invite promising growth for the vertical injection molding machine market.

View Detailed Table of Contents at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/82265

Vertical Injection Molding Machine Market: Prominent Advantages

Vertical injection molding machines are more flexible as compared to horizontal injection molding machines. It can handle and manage a variety of products in one go. This aspect will lay a red carpet of growth across the vertical injection molding machine market.

These machines do not burn a hole in the pocket of the end-users as they are cost-effective.

A major advantage of a vertical injection molding machine is the space it consumes. A vertical injection molding machine consumes only half the space as required by a horizontal injection molding machine.

These advantages will shape the growth trajectory of the vertical injection molding machine market.

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SOURCE Transparency Market Research
Russian security service bans Ukrainian covert-ops agent from entering country for 25 years

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

11:20 07/06/2021

MOSCOW, June 7 (RAPSI)  Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) has put an end to intelligence and subversive activities carried out on the territory of the Russian Federation by a citizen of Ukraine Aleksey Semenyaka, the press service of the body informs on Monday.

As a result of urgent measures taken by the Service, Semenyaka had no time to compromize the external security of the Russian Federation. It was decided that the stay of this foreigner on the territory of Russia was undesirable, so the man was denied entry to the territory of the country for 25 years.

On June 3, 2021, the citizen of Ukraine left the territory of the Russian Federation, the statement reads.

According to the FSB, Semenyaka's activities for a long period of time have been coordinated by Ukrainian counterintelligence officers. In the course of an interview, the citizen of Ukraine confirmed the fact of maintaining long-term relations with representatives of the Ukrainian special service, and that he had provided consultations on a wide range of issues to this service. In the course of the proceedings against Semenyaka, there was registered an attempt by third parties located in the city of Kiev to remotely destroy data contained in his mobile device. These actions were identified by the FSB of Russia as a way to protect Semenyaka by his supervisors from the Ukrainian special service, the FSB said in the statement.




HOUSTON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Flotek Industries, Inc. ("Flotek" or the "Company") (NYSE: FTK) welcomes Lisa Mayr to its Board of Directors ("Board"), increasing its directors from six to seven. Mayr was appointed a member of the audit committee and has been designated an "audit committee financial expert" by the Board as a result of her accounting and financial management experience. She will also serve as a member of the corporate governance and nominating committee.

Mayr brings more than 25 years of financial and accounting experience to the Board. She is currently the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of digital infrastructure provider Internap Holding LLC, a position she has held since July 2020. Prior to joining Internap, Mayr served as CFO of multiple software and technology companies, including MicroStrategy Incorporated, a data analytics software company, and educational technology companies Blackboard and EverFi. She has also held financial leadership roles at both public and private companies such as LivingSocial, GeoEye and Sunrise Senior Living. Early in her career, she served at Ernst & Young LLP in the transaction and advisory services practice.

John W. Gibson, Jr., Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Flotek stated: "After an extensive search prioritizing gender diversity, financial acumen, digital transformation and executive experience, we have found a highly qualified director in Lisa. She brings strong financial leadership from both public and private companies and a passion for maximizing her impact based on her experience. I know she will immediately and positively contribute to our board and Company."

Mayr said, "I am excited to join the Flotek team and be a part of a high-performing, high-quality board. I look forward to working with the team during such an important time in the Company's history."

Mayr currently serves as a board observer and on the audit committee of WorldStrides, an educational travel company, and is the board chair of STEM for Her, a non-profit that encourages girls and young women to pursue careers in STEM. She has a bachelor's degree in International Studies and Economics from American University and a Master of Business Administration from Georgetown University.

The Board search was conducted by Heidrick & Struggles.

Board Committee Assignments Announced

Following its Annual Meeting on June 3, 2021, the Company announces the following Board roles and Committee assignments.

Chairman of the Board

John W. Gibson, Jr.

Lead Independent Director

David Nierenberg

Audit Committee

David Nierenberg, Chair

Harsha Agadi

Lisa Mayr

Compensation Committee

Harsha Agadi, Chair

Ted Brown

Michael Fucci

Paul Hobby

Corporate Governance & Nominating Committee

Paul Hobby, Chair

Ted Brown

Lisa Mayr

David Nierenberg

Risk & Sustainability Committee

Michael Fucci, Chair

Harsha Agadi

John W. Gibson, Jr.

Paul Hobby

David Nierenberg

About Flotek

Flotek Industries, Inc. creates solutions to reduce the environmental impact of energy on air, water, land and people. A technology-driven, specialty chemistry and data company, Flotek 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


JUNO BEACH, Fla., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) has achieved a major milestone by surpassing 40% completion of its groundbreaking "30-by-30" plan to install 30 million solar panels by 2030, which is one of the largest solar expansions in the United States. To date, FPL has installed more than 12 million solar panels in Florida, putting the company well on its way to achieving its "30-by-30" plan.

By the end of this month, FPL is on track to have 42 solar energy centers in Florida, including its Discovery Solar Energy Center at Kennedy Space Center, which just became operational, and one more, which is expected to begin powering customers with clean energy in the coming weeks. The solar panels installed across the company's sites are expected to save customers approximately $421 million over the lifetime of the assets, while making Florida third in the nation for solar generation, with a trajectory to be a world leader in solar capacity by the end of the decade.

"Reaching this milestone is an important step in our commitment to increase zero-emissions energy as FPL builds a more resilient and sustainable energy future all of us can depend on, including future generations," said Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL. "Despite the pandemic, our team has stayed laser-focused on executing our '30-by-30' plan. Eight new solar energy centers have begun powering customers with clean energy so far this year, and three more are scheduled to come online before the end of this year.

"Nobody in the country is building more solar than FPL," Silagy continued. "We're dedicated to providing our customers with clean, affordable and reliable energy, while keeping bills among the nation's lowest  and our rapid solar expansion helps us consistently deliver on this promise. In total, FPL customers are expected to save approximately $421 million from the cost-effective solar investments the company has made to this point."

By the end of this month, the company will have 42 large-scale solar energy centers installed throughout Florida, with more than 3,000 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity  more than any other utility in the U.S. Nearly every solar energy center that becomes operational in 2021 will also support FPL SolarTogether  the company's popular community solar program, which is the nation's largest. FPL expects to achieve another major milestone by early 2022 when it anticipates to have installed more than 15 million panels, which would put the company more than 50% of the way toward completing its "30-by- 30" plan.

By the end of 2030, FPL is planning to have more than 11,700 MW of universal solar capacity. To support its solar buildout, the company recently began installing the first components of the world's largest integrated solar-powered battery system, the 400-MW FPL Manatee Energy Storage Center. Also, later this month, the company will demolish its last coal-fired plant in Florida, with plans to replace it with more clean, emissions-free solar energy power facilities.

"Since FPL first pioneered large-scale solar development in 2009, our industry has seen a transformation of what was once considered niche technology to solar becoming a dominant source of energy," Silagy said. "Solar helps us reliably power our millions of customers, fuels our economy with jobs and benefits our environment."

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), FPL's parent company and the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage, recently released its 2021 Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) report at NextEraEnergy.com/sustainability. The report details the company's clean-energy initiatives and all of its ESG accomplishments and commitments.

Visit www.FPL.com/solar for more information on the company's solar energy expansion.

Florida Power & Light Company

Florida Power & Light Company is the largest energy company in the U.S. as measured by retail electricity produced and sold. The company serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts supporting more than 11 million residents across Florida with clean, reliable and affordable electricity. FPL operates one of the cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S and in 2020 won the ReliabilityOne National Reliability Excellence Award for the fifth time in the last six years. The company was recognized in 2021 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities by Escalent for the seventh consecutive year. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, ethics and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2021 list of "World's Most Admired Companies." NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.

Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors That May Affect Future Results

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NextEra Energy) and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) regarding future operating results and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy's and FPL's control. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "potential," "projection," "forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook," "should," "would" or similar words or expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of NextEra Energy and FPL and their business and financial condition are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause their actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, or may require them to limit or eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this news release and the following: effects of extensive regulation of NextEra Energy's and FPL's business operations; inability of NextEra Energy and FPL to recover in a timely manner any significant amount of costs, a return on certain assets or a reasonable return on invested capital through base rates, cost recovery clauses, other regulatory mechanisms or otherwise; impact of political, regulatory and economic factors on regulatory decisions important to NextEra Energy and FPL; disallowance of cost recovery by FPL based on a finding of imprudent use of derivative instruments; effect of any reductions or modifications to, or elimination of, governmental incentives or policies that support utility scale renewable energy projects of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and its affiliated entities (NextEra Energy Resources) or the imposition of additional tax laws, policies or assessments on renewable energy; impact of new or revised laws, regulations, interpretations or ballot or regulatory initiatives on NextEra Energy and FPL; capital expenditures, increased operating costs and various liabilities attributable to environmental laws, regulations and other standards applicable to NextEra Energy and FPL; effects on NextEra Energy and FPL of federal or state laws or regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of greenhouse gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to significant and increasing compliance costs and substantial monetary penalties and other sanctions as a result of extensive federal regulation of their operations and businesses; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of changes in tax laws, guidance or policies as well as in judgments and estimates used to determine tax-related asset and liability amounts; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of failure to proceed with projects under development or inability to complete the construction of (or capital improvements to) electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or within budget; impact on development and operating activities of NextEra Energy and FPL resulting from risks related to project siting, financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the negotiation of project development agreements; risks involved in the operation and maintenance of electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities, retail gas distribution system in Florida and other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of a lack of growth or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer usage; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of severe weather and other weather conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events that could result from terrorism, cyberattacks or other attempts to disrupt NextEra Energy's and FPL's business or the businesses of third parties; inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for protection of NextEra Energy and FPL against significant losses and risk that insurance coverage does not provide protection against all significant losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil prices could impact NextEra Energy Resources' gas infrastructure business and cause NextEra Energy Resources to delay or cancel certain gas infrastructure projects and could result in certain projects becoming impaired; risk to NextEra Energy Resources of increased operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs necessary to provide NextEra Energy Resources' full energy and capacity requirement services; inability or failure by NextEra Energy Resources to manage properly or hedge effectively the commodity risk within its portfolio; effect of reductions in the liquidity of energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage operational risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's and FPL's risk management tools associated with their hedging and trading procedures to protect against significant losses, including the effect of unforeseen price variances from historical behavior; impact of unavailability or disruption of power transmission or commodity transportation facilities on sale and delivery of power or natural gas by NextEra Energy, including FPL; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to credit and performance risk from customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of NextEra Energy or FPL counterparties to perform under derivative contracts or of requirement for NextEra Energy or FPL to post margin cash collateral under derivative contracts; failure or breach of NextEra Energy's or FPL's information technology systems; risks to NextEra Energy and FPL's retail businesses from compromise of sensitive customer data; losses from volatility in the market values of derivative instruments and limited liquidity in over-the-counter markets; impact of negative publicity; inability of FPL to maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable franchise agreements with municipalities and counties in Florida; occurrence of work strikes or stoppages and increasing personnel costs; NextEra Energy's ability to successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions, including the effect of increased competition for acquisitions; environmental, health and financial risks associated with NextEra Energy Resources' and FPL's ownership and operation of nuclear generation facilities; liability of NextEra Energy and FPL for significant retrospective assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums in the event of an incident at certain nuclear generation facilities; increased operating and capital expenditures and/or reduced revenues at nuclear generation facilities of NextEra Energy or FPL resulting from orders or new regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; inability to operate any of NextEra Energy Resources' or FPL's owned nuclear generation units through the end of their respective operating licenses; effect of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets or actions by third parties in connection with project-specific or other financing arrangements on NextEra Energy's and FPL's ability to fund their liquidity and capital needs and meet their growth objectives; inability of NextEra Energy, FPL and NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, Inc. to maintain their current credit ratings; impairment of NextEra Energy's and FPL's liquidity from inability of credit providers to fund their credit commitments or to maintain their current credit ratings; poor market performance and other economic factors that could affect NextEra Energy's defined benefit pension plan's funded status; poor market performance and other risks to the asset values of NextEra Energy's and FPL's nuclear decommissioning funds; changes in market value and other risks to certain of NextEra Energy's investments; effect of inability of NextEra Energy subsidiaries to pay upstream dividends or repay funds to NextEra Energy or of NextEra Energy's performance under guarantees of subsidiary obligations on NextEra Energy's ability to meet its financial obligations and to pay dividends on its common stock; the fact that the amount and timing of dividends payable on NextEra Energy's common stock, as well as the dividend policy approved by NextEra Energy's board of directors from time to time, and changes to that policy, are within the sole discretion of NextEra Energy's board of directors and, if declared and paid, dividends may be in amounts that are less than might be expected by shareholders; NextEra Energy Partners, LP's inability to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable terms could have an effect on its ability to consummate future acquisitions and on the value of NextEra Energy's limited partner interest in NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP; effects of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets on the market price of NextEra Energy's common stock; and the ultimate severity and duration of public health crises, epidemics and pandemics, including the coronavirus pandemic, and its effects on NextEra Energy's or FPL's businesses. NextEra Energy and FPL discuss these and other risks and uncertainties in their annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and other Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, and this news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings. The forward-looking statements made in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and NextEra Energy and FPL undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Florida Power & Light Company; NextEra Energy, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.fpl.com


Gastech 2021 was due to be held in Singapore, which has an excellent record in managing COVID-19 and a strong reputation as a safe, innovative, and trusted destination for business and leisure events. However, recent COVID-19 outbreaks across South-East Asia have created uncertainty around accessibility and travel, making it necessary to find an alternative venue to host Gastech 2021.

Gastech 2021 is supported by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates. H.E. Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure commented that "The UAE is delighted to be hosting Gastech, one of the world's leading events for the gas, LNG, hydrogen, and energy industry. Gastech comes at an important time for the energy industry with a shared global mandate to lower carbon emissions and provide clean affordable energy for all. Gastech is a key enabler of conversations and connections that drive the energy transition agenda."

Explaining the decision to move Gastech 2021, Christopher Hudson, President, dmg events, said: "Singapore and its stakeholders have provided us with great support and commitment. However, the uncertainty created by the rising rate of infection across the region have made it challenging for our industry to plan its participation in Singapore, and we had to look for an alternative location. When the time is right, we look forward to returning to Singapore".

"Thanks to its robust, world-leading vaccination programme and well organised testing and travel measures, Dubai is one of the safest and most accessible places in the world to travel to. It is a world-class location with a long and strong track record of successfully hosting major events, making it an ideal location for the global energy industry, partners, exhibitors and attendees to conduct business."

dmg events said it held multiple conversations with important Gastech stakeholders, the Gastech Governing Body, and participating companies before today's announcement. Those conversations underlined the need to meet face-to-face to address both the challenges and opportunities the energy industry faces, including the clear need for the industry to respond to the climate challenge, as well as the rapid acceleration of hydrogen as a possible clean source of future energy, and the adoption of CCUS technology as a decarbonisation tool.

Hudson said: "Gastech 2021 will provide the leadership that will enable the gas, LNG, hydrogen, and energy industry to thrive in post COVID-19 energy markets. Alongside the disruptive forces accelerating the transition to cleaner energy, Gastech provides unparalleled opportunities to build the long-term sustainable business relationships required to address climate change issues, and the decarbonisation of energy."

Gastech 2021 will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre. It will be attended by more than 25,000 attendees, including senior decision-makers and energy industry thought leaders, and over 400 exhibiting companies, who will set the agenda for the global gas, LNG, hydrogen, and energy industry for decades to come.

About Gastech

Gastech, which takes place annually in a different location, is the world's largest gas, LNG, hydrogen, and energy event, attracting upwards of 25,000 international visitors and providing heads of state, government officials, ministerial and global business leaders, disruptors, innovators, and students with a platform to engage in conversation.

Gastech 2021 is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai and is supported by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure of the United Arab Emirates.

Gastech will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre, from 21-23 September 2021. Delegate registration is now open. Companies wishing to enquire about booking a stand can visit https://www.gastechevent.com/the-gastech-exhibition/book-a-stand/

For more information, please visit www.gastechevent.com

About dmg events

dmg events is a leading organiser of face-to-face events and a publisher of trade magazines.

We aim to keep businesses informed and connect them with relevant communities to create vibrant marketplaces and to accelerate their business through face-to-face events.

dmg events organises more than 80 events across 25 countries, attracting over 425,000 attendees and delegates every year. The company's portfolio of products includes many industry-leading events in the energy, construction, hospitality & design, coatings and transportation sectors. ADIPEC, The Big 5, Gastech, EGYPS, The Hotel Show and INDEX are the company's flagship events. For more information visit www.dmgevents.com.

Click here to read our privacy policy.

Follow us on social media @Gastechevent and use #Gastech21

For media enquiries, registration, and partnerships at Gastech 2021, please contact:

Laura Tavernor, Head of Marketing, [email protected]

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1527591/Gastech_Exhibition.jpg

SOURCE Gastech 2021
FORT MYERS, Fla., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GenesisCareone of the leading oncology providers in the United States, Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdomtoday announced the appointment of Bridget F. Koontz , MD, to the position of U.S. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) - Deputy Group CMO, and Neal D. Shore , MD, FACS to the position of U.S. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Surgery and Urology.

With Dr. Koontz and Dr. Shores' appointments, GenesisCare is building out a world-class leadership team driving the delivery of high-quality patient care across the globe. Dr. Koontz will focus on expanding the breadth and depth of GenesisCare USA's physician group incorporating an increased focus on clinical trials and research, and Dr. Shore will provide leadership for GenesisCare's growing cadre of surgeons and urologists.

"GenesisCare's patient-centered care, supported by an innovative technology platform, provides an array of treatment options for our patients," stated Dr. Koontz, U.S. Chief Medical Officer  Deputy Group, GenesisCare. "I am thrilled to expand our patients' access to clinical trials, results of which can advance the care of all cancer patients."

As a leading provider of oncology services globally, GenesisCare strives to ensure its patients' best possible life outcomes by bridging the gap between integrated cancer care, research and development, and medical technology. With its origins in radiation oncology, GenesisCare has, in recent years, expanded its services to include medical oncology, urology and surgery, and a cutting-edge form of nuclear medicine.

"GenesisCare is a global leader in providing innovative treatments aligned with research while focusing on strong physician leadership to optimize patient care," stated Dr. Shore, U.S. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of surgery and urology, GenesisCare. "I look forward to supporting both evidence-based pathways and research opportunities for our patients, our healthcare teams, and communities throughout the U.S."

"Dr. Koontz and Dr. Shore will play critical leadership roles as GenesisCare advances its cancer care mission through innovation and research," said Wally Curran, MD, GenesisCare Global Chief Medical Officer. "Their leadership will support GenesisCare in providing life-changing care for our many patients and families across the U.S."

Dr. Koontz currently serves as an Associate Professor at Duke University and as Director of Radiation Oncology for Duke Cancer Institute's Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers. Dr. Koontz has over 13 years of leadership experience, with a professional focus on leading the care of patients with prostate, kidney, or bladder cancer. She balances her clinical research with laboratory research and has translated this work into treatment advancements for cancer patients.

Formerly GenesisCare's National Urology Research Director, Dr. Shore, will use his over 30 years of urologic oncology expertise to improve patients' outcomes at GenesisCare's 290 advanced cancer care facilities across 21 states. As an award-winning urologist, he has conducted more than 350 clinical trials focusing mainly on genitourinary oncology. Dr. Shore has served on numerous executive, urology, government, and administrative boards throughout his career, including the Society of Urologic Oncology and the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network. His clinical expertise has positioned him as an internationally recognized expert and researcher in systematic therapies and treatments for patients with advanced urologic cancers for the prostate, kidney, and bladder.

For more information on GenesisCare, visit genesiscare.com/us (formerly 21st Century Oncology). To view the complete list of precautions GenesisCare U.S. centers are taking to ensure patient and staff safety, visit https://www.genesiscare.com/us/covid-19/ .

About GenesisCare

GenesisCare is a Sydney and Australian Headquartered private company and is one of the world's largest cancer treatment providers. The organization has committed more than $U.S.300 million to upgrade technology and cancer treatment services across the United States. Every year GenesisCare clinical teams see more than 400,000 people at more than 440 locations. This includes our 293 locations in the U.S., 38 locations in Australia, 14 in the U.K., and 21 in Spain. Globally, the organization employs more than 5,500 highly trained physicians, healthcare professionals and support staff across Australia, the UK, Spain, and now in the U.S.

GenesisCare is heavily focused on clinical research and innovation in healthcare and leads or is a part of more than 150 clinical trials worldwide.

Our purpose is to design care experiences that get the best possible life outcomes. We believe that care should be focused on the individual, not the condition, and are proud of our world-class patient satisfaction ratings. For more information, visit genesiscare.com. Follow us on Facebook here and LinkedIn here , #designingbettercare.

Contact information

For media inquiries

Angharad Bhardwaj, U.S. Communications Manager

[email protected]

Tel: 843-754-2378

SOURCE GenesisCare
BELLEVUE, Wash., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Truth & Tonic, the first fully vegan restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip, will take part in Restaurant Week this year, featuring GOOD PLANeT Foods in all of its noteworthy breakfast and lunch menus. Now in its 14th year, Las Vegas Restaurant Week gives restaurants in the community the opportunity to give back through the culinary arts. The city's finest chefs will offer special three-course prix fixe menus, donating a portion of proceeds to Nevada's Three Square Food Bank June 7-18. GOOD PLANeT, a leader within the plant-based cheese category, and known for superior melt, taste and texture, is a natural fit for Truth & Tonic's striking plant-based menu.

Truth & Tonic is the first of its kind on the Las Vegas strip, offering fully plant-based options with maximum flavor, so guests can indulge guilt-free. With a prominent place on Truth & Tonic's Restaurant Week menu, diners will have a unique opportunity to experience GOOD PLANeT on an acclaimed, nutrient-dense menu. Among the strides the brand has made on its upward trajectory, the brand's growing inclusion in foodservice demonstrates the overall growth GOOD PLANeT Foods is currently experiencing, alongside the rapid growth of the plant-based industry.

"My motivation to use a plant-based cheese at Truth & Tonic Wellness Cafe is to create a vegan menu that is irresistible to all diners. To do that, I needed to surround myself with great, delicious ingredients that people are familiar with, yet still can exceed their expectations," shared Pete Ghione Executive Chef at Truth & Tonic. "Compared to the many other brands of cheese I've tried, GOOD PLANeT is the one that I found tastes the most like traditional cheese made with dairy. Both hot and cold, the textures are creamy and amazing. I'm always looking forward to expanding my menus as the GOOD PLANeT portfolio of deliciousness continues to expand."

The GOOD PLANeT brand offers a wide variety of plant-based products to bring the taste, texture, and meltability of cheese to consumers in all of their culinary adventures. From its inception, GOOD PLANeT Foods launched a new brand of plant-based cheeses and helped to bring more awareness and accessibility to the plant-based foods category  also being Non-GMO, allergen free, vegan, soy free, gluten free and Kosher.

About GOOD PLANeT Foods

Founded in 2017 with the mission to be and do good for you and the planet, in everything, GOOD PLANeT Foods offers premium plant-based cheese products for retail and foodservice applications. Items include Shredded Mozzarella, Cheddar, Parmesan, and Sliced Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Provolone, and American. The plant-based cheeses are made from coconut oil and plant starches that help create a superior taste, texture and meltability. GOOD PLANeT Foods provides a healthy alternative to dairy cheese without having to compromise on the joy of dairy cheese. Free from allergens including dairy, nuts, soy, eggs, and wheat, GOOD PLANeT Foods is gluten free, vegan, kosher, keto friendly, and Non-GMO Project verified. Please visit www.GoodPlanetFoods.com for more information. Follow us on social media at @goodplanetfoods.

SOURCE GOOD PLANeT Foods

Related Links

http://www.GoodPlanetFoods.com


The MEA Finance Banking Technology awards provide international recognition and celebrate the achievements of the region's leading banks, financial institutions, and technology providers to highlight firms that build smarter, more effective, and more efficient solutions for their clients. The independently judged event is held annually by MEA Finance, the publisher of MEA Finance and MEA Business , which is considered the authoritative voice of the Middle Eastern and African banking and finance industries. The winners were announced at a gala event held at the Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, with over 100 industry leaders from the banking and financial services ecosystem in attendance.

Greenstone Equity Partners' selection as the winner of this year's "Best Risk & Compliance Implementation" from the hundreds of nominations submitted to MEA Finance across the various awards categories demonstrates further validation of Greenstone's rapidly growing regulatory compliance program.

Reflecting on winning this prestigious award, Alex Gemici, Chairman & CEO of Greenstone Equity Partners, said, "Having made substantial investments in building our firm's licensing and compliance program, we are grateful to be recognized for our dedication to regulatory compliance leadership within our industry. This dedication and focus allows us to serve the GCC investment community through our current partnerships with top-tier global fund managers who collectively have AUMs of well-over $1.4 trillion."

Jeff Evans, Managing Director of Greenstone Equity Partners, who accepted the award on behalf of the firm, added, "Greenstone's regulatory compliance program has filled an important gap for leading fund managers who wish to raise capital from the region but lack the required licensing to do so. Our program allows fund managers to partner with Greenstone to remain fully compliant with local laws without the requirement to obtain their own licensing. Our simple onboarding process and collaborative approach have been ideal to global institutional fund managers who are able to retain full control of their local investor relationships while benefiting from compliant fundraising."

About Greenstone Equity Partners

Headquartered in Dubai with coverage offices throughout the GCC and a team of over 50 professionals, Greenstone Equity Partners is the largest fund placement firm in the Middle East and the leading provider of regulatory-compliant fund marketing and registration services in the GCC. Founded in 2011, Greenstone is locally licensed in each country it operates in and has developed long-standing relationships, execution capabilities, and industry-leading expertise to successfully connect leading global fund managers with institutional and non-institutional investors in the region.

Greenstone's fund placement service specializes in raising capital to secure commitments of $2 million to $250+ million per investor for fund managers with AUMs of $1 billion to over $100 billion. Greenstone maintains deeply rooted, highly productive relationships with over 200 institutional investors and 1,500 non-institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurance companies, financial institutions, family offices, and UHNWIs. Its Investor Relations team has facilitated well over 11,000 highly targeted roadshow meetings between its comprehensive network of GCC-based investors and globally dispersed fund managers to expedite investments into 200+ alternative funds across the full spectrum of investment strategies which have raised more than $100 billion.

Independent of fund placement, Greenstone's regulatory compliance service enables leading global fund managers to market and offer their funds compliantly to GCC-based investors by partnering with Greenstone to act as their locally licensed partner to register their funds and facilitate their regulatory compliant fundraising.

In addition to receiving numerous awards, Greenstone is ranked #3 globally by funds closed and #7 globally by capital raised in Preqin's 2018-2020 League Tables, even though Greenstone only raises capital in five countries.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1527375/Greenstone_Equity_Partners.jpg

SOURCE Greenstone Equity Partners

Related Links

https://www.gsequity.com


MADISON, Wis., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Herzing University, an accredited, private nonprofit institution with locations in seven states and a nationally recognized online division, announced today it is starting a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program on its Madison, Wisconsin, campus.

The program meets a vital need in the state, which had an estimated nursing shortage of 2,800 in 2020, according to the Wisconsin Nurses Association. Herzing University has helped fill that gap, as 440 students graduated from nursing programs  from LPN to MSN and post-master's nursing certificates  at Herzing's three Wisconsin campuses in 2020.

"Our new LPN program will meet the demands of students who are inspired to get into the nursing profession and would like to start out with a shorter academic program," said Herzing Regional Campus President Dr. Jeff Hill. "Students can then work their way up to registered nurse and beyond through our extensive nursing education pathways."

Madison's LPN program will be the same as those at Herzing's Brookfield and Kenosha campuses. In the LPN programs, students can:

Reinforce classroom learning by practicing in simulation labs

Receive hands-on training at clinical sites

Earn a diploma and start on a nursing career in as few as 12 months

Students are eligible to sit for the NCLEX-PN upon graduation and can transfer up to 27 credits into Herzing's Bachelor of Science Nursing (BSN) program if they chose to continue their education.

Employment of LPNs and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) is projected to increase by 9% from 2019-2029, which is faster than the average of 4% for all U.S. occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

LPNs provide basic nursing care  such as taking vital signs, changing bandages, updating records and listening to patients' concerns  under the direction of physicians and registered nurses. They can work in hospitals, nursing homes, doctor's offices, clinics and other healthcare settings.

The university also offers a suite of other nursing programs and pathways, including LPN to RN-BSN, several online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) concentrations and a new online pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program.

Herzing is a transfer-friendly university specializing in nursing, healthcare, technology, business and public safety degree programs. The school's personalized approach to education, accelerated formats and flexible schedules have resonated with students across the country.

Herzing's Madison campus became part of Herzing in 1970, when Herzing University acquired the Wisconsin School of Electronics, which has a history dating back to 1948. For more information about Herzing University-Madison, visit the campus at 5218 E. Terrace Drive, during business hours or call 608-807-1909.

About Herzing University

Herzing University is an accredited, private nonprofit institution with ten campuses across seven states and an online division. Founded in Milwaukee in 1965, more than 40,000 students have graduated from the University's career-focused and flexible master's, bachelor's, and associate degree and diploma programs. Fields of study span nursing, healthcare, technology, business and public safety. From 2013 through 2021, U.S. News & World Report has continually recognized Herzing University as having some of the best online programs nationally. Herzing University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. More information about Herzing University is available at www.herzing.edu .

Contact:

Bob Musinski

312-661-1050

[email protected]

SOURCE Herzing University

Related Links

http://www.herzing.edu


NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jewish Communal Fund (JCF) of New York, the largest and most active Jewish donor advised fund in the country, approved nearly $700,000 in charitable grants to Jewish charities through its endowment, the JCF Special Gifts Fund.

This funding will be earmarked to meet increased food needs for low-income New Yorkers; provide Jewish summer camp scholarships for children significantly impacted by COVID-19; create a therapy center for preschoolers with special needs; and provide funding for capital improvements to local day camps.

In an unprecedented year, JCF NY announces $700,000 in grants to the hungry, to send children affected by COVID-19 to summer camp, and to create a therapy center

The JCF Special Gifts Fund Committee selected the grantee charities with the assistance of UJA-Federation of New York.

"Jewish Communal Fund is privileged to be able to support the most vulnerable populations in our community," said Daniel Blaser, Chair of Jewish Communal Fund's Charitable Distribution/Special Gifts Fund Committee.

Since 1999, the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Communal Fund has granted more than $20 million to support programs that promote the welfare and security of the Jewish community at home and abroad.

The latest JCF Special Gifts Fund Grantees include:

$250,000 to the Sephardic Jewish Community Center to create a therapy center

Thanks to JCF's support, The Sephardic Community Center in Brooklyn will be able to build a 1,500 square foot therapy center, where preschool-age children can receive physical, occupational, and speech therapy. The Jewish Communal Fund Therapy Center will feature therapy swings, a rock-climbing wall, climbing structures, monkey bars, balance beam, therapy balls and other sensory equipment to enhance experiential learning for preschoolers of all abilities.

$211,000 to UJA-Federation of New York to provide Jewish day camp scholarships for campers attending camps housed on the Henry Kauffmann Campgrounds for Summer 2021.

JCF's support will enable childrenmany of whom have experienced the loss of a parent or are living in or near poverty as a result of a parent's job lossthe ability to go to Jewish summer camp. Day camp scholarships will be divided among 13 Jewish community centers that run day camps at the Henry Kaufmann Campgrounds in Long Island, Staten Island, and Rockland County.

$130,000 to the Shorefront JCC for its digital food pantry

Food insecurity is on the rise in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic; demand at UJA-funded food pantries is up 40 percent as compared to last year. JCF's support will help the Shorefront JCC Digital Pantry provide more nutritious food for its clients, many of whom are Russian-speaking seniors, and enable greater choice in selecting food.

$100,000 to UJA-Federation of New York to provide a matching grant to four camps in UJA's network to secure funding for capital improvements

JCF's donation will help Camp Zeke, Eden Village Camp, Berkshire Hills Eisenberg Camp and Surprise Lake Camp fund capital improvements that will expand enrollment while following COVID-related social distancing guidelines. JCF's grant can help these camps secure matching funds from the Jewish Community Response and Impact Fund (JCRIF) through the Foundation for Jewish Camp.

Jewish Communal Fund is one of the largest networks of Jewish funders, managing more than $2 billion in charitable assets for more than 4,200 donor advised funds. JCF's donor advised funds make giving easy, flexible and efficient. Learn more about JCF by visiting www.jcfny.org. Visit JCF on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Tamar Snyder

[email protected]

646-843-6894

SOURCE Jewish Communal Fund

Related Links

http://www.jcfny.org


TORONTO, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Kontrol Technologies Corp. (NEO: KNR) (OTCQB: KNRLF) (FSE: 1K8) ("Kontrol" or the "Company"), a leader in smart buildings and cities through IoT, Cloud and SaaS technology, has engaged investor relations specialists MZ Group ("MZ") to lead a comprehensive strategic investor relations and financial communications program across all key markets.

MZ Group will work closely with Kontrol management to develop and execute a complete capital markets strategy designed to increase the company's visibility throughout the investment community. The campaign will highlight how Kontrol is taking a market leading position in the digital transformation of buildings and cities, leveraging its established blue chip customer base while driving product-level innovations that enhance its value proposition, such as its BioCloud continuous airborne viral detection technology.

MZ has developed a distinguished reputation as a premier resource for institutional investors, brokers, analysts and private investors. MZ North America will advise Kontrol in all facets of corporate and financial communications, including the coordination of roadshows and investment conferences across key cities and building brand awareness with financial and social media outlets.

"Kontrol is at the forefront of the commercial building modernization super cycle and is continuously proving the superiority of its fully-integrated energy efficiency and sustainability management platform with its rapidly expanding customer base," said Greg Falesnik, CEO of MZ North America. "Through its proprietary software and building intelligence platform, the company is providing an unmatched solution to the critical energy waste and emission compliance challenges faced by the commercial and industrial footprint. Kontrol is ideally positioned for sustainable, long-term growth driven by its recurring revenue model and scalability within a large addressable market. We look forward to sharing their story with our global network of institutional and family office investors in the months to come."

"Kontrol is emerging as the leading platform for enabling autonomous, connected, and sustainable commercial buildings," said Paul Ghezzi, CEO of Kontrol. "Supported by a growing patent portfolio, we will seek to expand our core offerings within our current operating footprint, while bringing new innovations such as BioCloud to market in order to address the critical issues that governments and businesses around the globe need to manage. We look forward to working closely with the entire team at MZ Group to communicate our value proposition to the broader investment community."

MZ has been engaged at a rate of US$10,000 per month for an initial term of 12 months. To schedule a conference call with management, please email your request to [email protected] or call Brooks Hamilton at +1 (949) 546-6326.

About MZ Group

MZ North America is the US division of MZ Group, a global leader in investor relations and corporate communications. MZ North America was founded in 1996 and provides full scale Investor Relations to both private and public companies across all industries. Supported by our exclusive onestopshop approach, MZ works with top management to support the clients' business strategy in six integrated product and service categories: 1) IR Consulting & Outreach - full service investor relations and roadshow services; 2) ESG Consulting - reporting technology platform and audit and reporting guidance; 3) SPAC Advisory - providing critical and timely guidance through business combination; 4) Financial & Social Media - lead generation and social media relations; 5) Market Intelligence - real time ownership monitoring; 6) Technology Solutions - webhosting, webcasting, distribution services, conference calls, CRM, and board portals. MZ North America has a global footprint with offices located in New York, Chicago, San Diego, Aliso Viejo, Austin, Minneapolis, Taipei and Sao Paulo.

Visit www.mzgroup.us for more information about MZ Group.

About Kontrol Technologies Corp.

Kontrol Technologies Corp., a Canadian public company, is a leader in smart buildings and cities through IoT, Cloud and SaaS technology. Kontrol provides a combination of software, hardware, and service solutions to its customers to improve energy management, air quality and continuous emission monitoring.

Additional information about Kontrol Technologies Corp. can be found on its website at www.kontrolcorp.com and by reviewing its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com

Neither IIROC nor any stock exchange or other securities regulatory authority accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking information. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by words or phrases such as "may", "will", "expect", "likely", "should", "would", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "potential", "proposed", "estimate", "believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar words, expressions, and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" happen, or by discussions of strategy.

Where Kontrol expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is based on assumptions made in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. Such assumptions include, without limitation, that sufficient capital will be available to the Company and that technology will be as effective as anticipated.

However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected, or implied by such forward-looking

statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, that sufficient capital and financing cannot be obtained on reasonable terms, or at all; that technologies will not prove as effective as expected; that customers and potential customers will not be as accepting of the Company's product and service offering as expected; and government and regulatory factors impacting the energy conservation industry. Kontrol BioCloud is an air quality technology and not a medical device. The Company is not making any express or implied claims that its product has the ability to eliminate, cure or contain the COVID-19 (or SARS-2 Coronavirus).

Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained herein are made as at the date hereof and are based on the beliefs, estimates, expectations, and opinions of management on such date. Kontrol does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any such forward-looking statements or any forward-looking statements contained in any other documents whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required under applicable securities law. Readers are cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties, and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information.

SOURCE Kontrol Technologies Corp.

Related Links

https://kontrolcorp.com/


ALBANY, N.Y., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lendistry, the only fintech Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in the country, announced today it has been selected to administer a new COVID-19 small business recovery grant program across New York State with a focus on reaching historically underserved businesses disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

Lendistry, the largest minority-led deployer of capital in COVID relief funding, is a technology-enabled lender with a proven record of equitably delivering relief funds to small businesses in response to the pandemic. In recent months, Lendistry has successfully disbursed relief grant funding as the selected intermediary for the states of California and Pennsylvania, and is on pace to distribute nearly $5 billion in capital since the pandemic began.

Empire State Development Acting Commissioner and President & CEO-designate Eric Gertler said, "The economic devastation caused by COVID-19 was far reaching, but especially harmful to small and micro businesses, which are the backbone of New York State's economy. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's ambitious business recovery program - the largest in state history - requires a strong, skilled partner like Lendistry, with its track-record, resourcefulness, and integrity, to support Empire State Development's efforts to quickly help New York's small business community build back better than before."

Lendistry CEO, Everett K. Sands, says, "Being selected by Empire State Development for the New York State COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program shows our dedication to helping small businesses across the US and represents another opportunity for Lendistry to show its scale in deploying capital to those in need."

From the day Lendistry opened its doors in 2014, the lender has been on a mission to open up access to capital to historically underserved businesses that are minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, and located in low-income areas. When the pandemic struck, the technology and community relationships that drive Lendistry's unique approach to financing served as the solution for institutions struggling to connect underserved small businesses with the rapid response support they needed.

Launching on June 10, 2021, the New York State COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program will distribute $800 million in grants to small business owners throughout the state that experienced economic hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with priority given to socially and economically disadvantaged business owners. Lendistry will partner with Empire State Development to disburse grants fairly, efficiently, and equitably, ensuring applicants receive the support and technical assistance they need to apply and receive relief.

Throughout all of the grant programs Lendistry has taken on, funds have consistently been deployed to small businesses in all counties across each state and have been prioritized to small businesses that are often underserved by the financial industry. Roughly 80% of the relief funds Lendistry has disbursed through SBA programs and state-funded grants to date have been awarded to these underserved businesses.

For application assistance and more information on application deadlines, grant requirements, and eligibility, please visit NYSmallBusinessRecovery.com.

ABOUT LENDISTRY

B.S.D. Capital, Inc. dba Lendistry (Lendistry.com) is a minority-led and technology-enabled small business and commercial real estate lender with Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Community Development Entity (CDE) certification. Lendistry ranks second nationwide in SBA Community Advantage lending, providing responsible financing to small business owners and their underserved communities. Lendistry is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and is headquartered in a Los Angeles Opportunity Zone. In 2020, Lendistry provided Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to small businesses in all 50 states and was selected by the State of California to administer the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program, which distributed grants to small businesses that lost significant revenues during the pandemic. Lendistry and its nonprofit partner organization, The Center by Lendistry, are dedicated to providing economic opportunities and progressive growth for underserved urban and rural small business borrowers and their communities.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

Related Images

image1.png

SOURCE Lendistry
BAGHDAD, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi President Barham Salih said Sunday that Iraq is working with the international community to stabilize the region by confronting terrorism and violence as common global challenges.

Salih made the remarks during his meeting with Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod, who is visiting Baghdad for talks to strengthen bilateral ties and discuss the international effort to combat terrorism, said a statement issued by the presidency's media office.

"Iraq is working with its brothers and friends in the international community to ease tensions and defuse crises to enhance regional and international security," the statement said.

Kofod also met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to discuss the bilateral cooperation in combating the extremist Islamic State, building security institutions, investing in various economic fields, and containing the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement by al-Kadhimi's media office.

"Iraq is looking forward to the Danish and European role in appointing observers to monitor the upcoming electoral process," said al-Kadhimi.

Kofod, whose country is in command of the NATO mission in Iraq, affirmed his government's commitment to supporting Iraq in the fight against terrorism, the statement said.

The NATO mission in Iraq was established in 2018 as an advisory, training and non-combat mission that assists Iraq in building effective security institutions and armed forces to enable the Iraqi forces to fight terrorism.
Navalny waives claims against penal colony

 RAPSI, Nikita Shiryayev

13:37 07/06/2021

MOSCOW, June 7 (RAPSI)  A court in Russias Vladimir Region has closed proceedings on two lawsuits filed by Alexey Navalny against the administration of a penal colony where the blogger is serving his sentence, the courts press service told RAPSI.

The proceedings over refusal to give him books and newspapers censorship were closed due to waiving of the claims by Navalny.

In February, Moscows Simonovsky District Court overturned a suspended sentence given to Navalny in the Ives Rocher embezzlement case and ordered him to 3.5 years in jail. On February 20, the Moscow City Court upheld the ruling.

Currently, the blogger is serving sentence in a penal colony in Pokrov, a town in the Vladimir Region.




MIAMI, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lingoda , the number one trusted online language school, today announced a new humanitarian initiative offering free Spanish language lessons on its platform to 100 American foster parents hosting unaccompanied migrant children from Central America. Through this initiative, Lingoda wants to empower these short-term foster parents to help children who have made a difficult and confusing journey to the U.S. feel better understood at home through the power of shared language.

- Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) -

In March 2021 alone, nearly 19,000 unaccompanied migrant children crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. One of the primary obstacles for these children is the language barrier with the immigration officers and foster families who handle their cases. Understanding of language is essential to providing children not only with basic needs like food, water and shelter but also the advocacy and trauma relief tools that foster families can provide. As a nexus for convenient and accessible language learning classes from qualified, native speaking teachers, Lingoda sees an opportunity to provide better resources for families who are already giving their time and energy to helping innocent migrant children feel safe and secure.

Starting today, foster families residing in border states including Arizona, California, Florida, New Mexico and Texas can apply for Lingoda's foster families initiative. Lingoda will select 100 parents and offer them free group Spanish lessons on Lingoda's platform. Families can submit applications until June 21, 2021 at 11:59 pm ET, and beneficiaries will be announced at the end of June.

"Thanks to the hundreds of foster families that take on short-term care responsibilities, migrant children are provided necessities and a safe home while the next steps to their U.S. immigration status are sorted out. However, language is the next biggest hurdle to reducing the stress and trauma these children experience in the migration process," said Michael Shangkuan, CEO of Lingoda. "Our initiative aims to alleviate one aspect of this humanitarian crisis by helping American foster families break down language barriers and better communicate with their foster children. We are proud to contribute by offering free Spanish language classes to the foster parents who have been so generous with their time and resources to make an impact'.'

Founded in 2013 by entrepreneurs Fabian and Felix Wunderlich, Lingoda offers live small group and private classes available 24/7 in four languages - English, German, French and Spanish. Lingoda teaches more than 450,000 classes each year through a community of over 1,400 certified, native-speaking teaching professionals. The company's structured curriculum includes over 2,000 digital lessons produced in-house by linguistic experts. Courses are designed to empower language fluency, and 97% of Lingoda learners confirm that the platform is more effective than using language apps alone.

To learn more about Lingoda's foster families initiative, visit the website here.





Eligibility criteria and application mechanics

Applicants must be over 18 years of age, do not have an active Lingoda account and are planning to caretake or currently caretaking unaccompanied children from the U.S.-Mexico border.

To apply, parents must fill out an application form which includes questions about their foster parenting status, referring foster care agency, contact details, and upload related foster parent documentation where necessary.

Submissions must be written in English and are limited to one per entrant. For paired parents, each person must apply separately.

Those interested in applying can learn more and complete an application here.

ABOUT LINGODA

Lingoda is the number one trusted online language school. Founded in Berlin, Germany in 2013, we provide convenient and accessible online language courses in German, English, Business English, Spanish and French to over 70,000 students worldwide. Our private and small group classes are taught by over 1,400 qualified, native-speaking teachers. With over 450,000 classes available per year and accessible 24/7, our mission is to empower even the busiest people to master a language and unlock their potential  at any time, from anywhere.

We believe in a communicative approach to language learning: mastering a language means being able to speak it with confidence. Our CEFR-focused learning materials are designed by linguistic experts and focus on meaningful topics that are applicable to our students' interests, careers and everyday lives. Thanks to our extensive rotating roster of teachers and our small group classes, students are exposed to a variety of regional accents and expressions within the same language and have the time and space to practice speaking in every lesson.

Our diverse team includes over 150 international professionals from 30 countries speaking 40 languages. In 2021, Crunchbase listed Lingoda among the top 3 language learning companies globally. We have a score of 4.5 on Trustpilot and 75% of our reviews are rated as 'excellent' because we offer a high-quality and authentic learning experience that helps students achieve their learning goals and transform their lives. Visit www.lingoda.com for additional information.

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Benedetta Bellini

International PR Manager

[email protected]

[email protected]

+49 (0)152 58744631

Niveen Saleh

5W Public Relations

[email protected]

872-237-2345

SOURCE Lingoda GmbH
NORWALK, Conn., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LSC Communications announced today that its Book Division, the largest book producer in the United States, will now operate as Lakeside Book Company ("Lakeside"). In addition to book manufacturing, Lakeside provides distribution, sales and marketing services, as well as IP and brand protection technology for book publishers and others requiring premium quality print and distribution-related services. The new name of the Book Division as Lakeside Book Company is rooted in the company's rich history and marks a renewed commitment to providing best-in-class printing and fulfillment services.

"Lakeside Book Company represents the best of our past and the opportunity to build on that foundation and write our future as the go-to book producer for publishers large and small. The Lakeside name is a nod to our roots and symbolic of the trust our company has earned to help stories of all kinds be shared. We have taken the opportunity to revisit our company values and align ourselves around the true purpose of our business: crafting books for readers and serving our publishing customers," says Dave McCree, CEO of Lakeside Book Company.

Lakeside Book Company is a nod to Lakeside Classics, the longest running, continuous series of books in America and the only work published under the Lakeside Press imprint. A tradition that dates back to 1903 when T.E. Donnelley, son of the founder and president of RR Donnelley & Sons Company, began giving special edition books as gifts each holiday season. The Lakeside name is synonymous with tradition and evokes the past while recognizing the evolution of the books division from part of RR Donnelley to LSC Communications and now as Lakeside Book Company.

The renaming of the company is the next milestone in what has been a transformative year for the business. In 2020, Atlas Holdings acquired LSC Communications. Atlas operates a global family of manufacturing, distribution, service, and trading businesses. Having operated in the printing and paper industries for decades, Atlas is the ideal partner for LSC, including Lakeside Book Company.

Lakeside Book Company has established four core values that are critical to fulfill the company's mission of crafting books and services that are meaningful: vision, initiative, craftsmanship, and collaboration. These values represent what Lakeside Book Company believes are vital to creating quality printed content and providing valuable services to its customers. Lakeside will continue to be at the forefront of providing the best and most innovative solutions for storytellers around the world in this new chapter, just like its legacy brands have done for more than a century.

About Lakeside Book Company

In 1864, R.R. Donnelley started as a partner at a small printing company in Chicago. In the years that followed, he grew the company into one of the largest and most trusted printing service providers in the world. As the decades passed, the company continuously expanded its services, and in 2016, LSC Communications was spun out to offer specialized solutions to publishers, brands, retailers, and merchandisers. In 2020, Atlas Holdings acquired LSC Communications and in 2021, rebranded its Book division the Lakeside Book Company.

The company mission states: "We are committed to crafting books and services that are meaningful. We take pride in the challenge of fulfilling our customers' visions."

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

SOURCE Lakeside Book Company

Related Links

https://www.lakesidebookcompany.com


"Hotaling & Co. values the artisanal nature and likeminded spirits behind Luxardo and we are pleased to launch Luxardo canned cocktails as the first-ever ready-to-drink line within our portfolio," says Hotaling & Co. CEO and president Dan Leese. "As our consumers prepare for summer, they want refreshing artisanal and premium options for on-the-go occasions that provide convenience and class. Now they can have a grab-and-go cocktail without sacrificing the quality and taste of their favorite drinks."

While Luxardo has always stood for celebrating convivial occasions, Luxardo canned cocktails, produced by Hotaling & Co., are the most social and extroverted expressions of the Luxardo portfolio and bring intriguing, creative canned 'Cocktails Italiano' to curious cocktail explorers. An ode to the Italian Riviera, the innovative packaging designed by award-winning Rooster Factory, will stand out on the shelf or the floor, breaking through category clutter and providing a refreshing new option for consumers.

"For 200 years, Luxardo's legacy has prioritized consumers. Our family recipe has been sipped by kings, sold on the Titanic and has created an elevated experience for cocktail lovers into the 21st century," says Matteo Luxardo, Export Director for Luxardo. "The canned cocktail market has been rapidly growing in the last year and it only made sense for Luxardo to introduce its classic recipes in the format that supports the modern consumers' needs for any on-the-go occasion."

According to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, the RTD category has grown 43% in global consumption this year and has become well-suited for off-premise consumers during the lockdown. While RTDs continue to be popular among consumers, there are few options for trusted and premium quality cocktails to choose from. Luxardo canned cocktails meet the unmet need for artisanal, bartender-quality RTDs within the market. Each of Luxardo's three expressions include unique tasting notes to create an authentic flavor and refined finish in every can. For social trendsetters, Aperitivo Spritz, Bianco Spritz and Sour Cherry Gin & Tonic are light and bright in personality, and perfect for daytime occasions at home or on the go.

Aperitivo Spritz

(10% alcohol by volume; 250ml per can; $19.99 SRP per 4-pack)

Long before the orange drink took over Instagram  approximately 200 years before  Italians were enjoying Aperitivo hour with a timeless Spritz. Aperitivo Spritz's refreshing botanical and citrus flavors make it the perfect companion for a sunny brunch spread. Luxardo's canned Aperitivo Spritz contains Luxardo's Aperitivo liqueur with sparkling water and natural flavors. Tasting notes: orange zest, refreshingly sweet.

Bianco Spritz

(10% alcohol by volume; 250ml per can; $19.99 SRP per 4-pack)

Drier, lighter, and more bitter, Luxardo Bianco Spritz creates a an innovative take on the classically Italian Spritz. The Bianco Spritz is a celebration of rediscovered classics. The canned Bianco Spritz contains Luxardo Bitters with sparkling water and natural flavors. Tasting notes: grapefruit zest, a touch of sweetness, bitter finish.

Sour Cherry Gin and Tonic

(10% alcohol by volume; 250ml per can; $19.99 SRP per 4-pack)

For the connoisseur of classics, the sour, fruity aroma of marasca cherries mixed with notes of juniper adds a pleasantly sweet aftertaste to the standard Gin and Tonic. The simplicity in ingredients lends itself to innovation, poolside or on the go and this canned recipe of Luxardo Sour Cherry flavored Gin and sparkling water stands as proof, among thousands of others. Tasting notes: rich cherry, vibrant juniper, sweet finish.

Luxardo canned cocktails, produced by Hotaling & Co., will be available in 4-packs and can now be purchased exclusively at select Whole Foods and Total Wine locations within the U.S. in the following states: Calif., Texas, Ariz., Colo., Conn., Minn., Mo., Mass., Md., N.J., La., Nev., Wash., Ky., Mich., Ill., Ind.

For more information, please visit www.HotalingandCo.com. Photos can be found here.

About Luxardo

LUXARDO is Italy's premier liqueur producer, creating essential ingredients for modern and classic cocktails. Founded in 1821 by Girolamo Luxardo, the company is still family-owned and managed by the sixth generation of the Luxardo Family. Based in Torreglia, located in the Veneto Region in northeastern Italy, the Luxardo Family cultivates around 30,000 of their exclusive Marasca Cherry trees, a proprietary varietal of sour cherries. For more information, please visit http://www.hotalingandco.com/brand/luxardo.

About Hotaling & Co.

Hotaling & Co., the leading San Francisco distiller & importer, creates, curates, and builds artisanal brands of unmatched character and quality. Hotaling & Co., originally named Anchor Distilling Company, was established in 1993 and is credited with releasing America's first craft whiskey (Old Potrero) and American craft gin (Junipero Gin) after Prohibition. In 2010, Anchor Distilling Company was sold to a business partnership that included Tony Foglio and London's oldest wine and spirit merchant, Berry Bros. & Rudd and began expanding to incorporate a collection of super-premium artisanal spirits imported from around the world. In 2017, Anchor Distilling became Hotaling & Co. The new name is a nod to one of Anchor Distilling's most beloved small batch whiskies (Old Potrero Hotaling's Whiskey) and to the San Francisco legend A.P. Hotaling, who came out West during the Gold Rush and quickly became one of the most reputable spirits dealers in the country. Today, Hotaling & Co. celebrates exciting growth and achievements; marking its 28th year of distilling and its 11th year of commercially uniting likeminded distillers from around the world to share the passion and raise the bar.

Hotaling & Co.'s portfolio includes Luxardo Liqueurs & Cherries, Nikka Whisky, Junipero Gin, No.3 Gin, HINE Cognac, Lot 40 Rye Whisky, Convite Mezcal, Kavalan Whisky, Denizen Rum, HIRSCH Selected Whiskeys, Writers' Tears Whiskey, Old Pulteney Whisky, Speyburn Whisky, Balblair Whisky, Arran Whisky, Old Potrero Rye Whiskey, and more. Visit HotalingandCo.com for a full list of brands.

Media Contacts:

Michelle Johnson, Access Brand Communications

[email protected], 505.301.5925

Clayton Danielsen, Hotaling & Co.

[email protected], 415.939.1718

SOURCE Hotaling & Co.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Madison Capital Group, LLC, a vertically integrated real estate firm based in Charlotte, NC, announced today that it has secured a $75 million growth capital investment through a new partnership with FrontRange Capital Partners, LLC. Headquartered in Denver, FrontRange is a private equity firm focused on investments in real estate and high-growth real estate businesses. The partnership will help Madison execute its strategic plan and accelerate growth.

"We are thrilled with the new partnership and the capital it provides our various investment strategies. In multifamily, we see tremendous need for quality suburban housing throughout the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and Texas. In self storage, our Go Store It platform continues to expand nationally through both development and acquisitions. We were able to play offense during the pandemic and we are continuing to see interesting opportunities in our target markets," said Ryan Hanks, Founder and CEO of Madison Capital Group, LLC.

"We are excited to partner with Madison Capital, which has demonstrated its ability to generate attractive returns for investors in both the multifamily and self storage sectors," said David Robertson, CEO of FrontRange Capital Partners. "We have been impressed with the Madison team's ability to rapidly scale their operating platform over the past few years, and share their view that multifamily and self storage properties in their target markets are likely to exhibit very attractive demand and growth dynamics for the foreseeable future. We look forward to being a part of this next phase of growth for the company."

About Madison Capital Group, LLC: Madison Capital Group is a vertically integrated real estate investment firm that owns, operates, acquires and develops suburban multifamily properties and self storage facilities. Madison is active in 13 states and is focused on expanding its footprint throughout the Sunbelt. Currently, Madison has over 2,000 apartment units under development or in planning and owns more than 60 self storage assets under the Go Store It banner. For more information on Madison, please visit www.madisoncapgroup.com

About FrontRange Capital Partners: Based in Denver, Colorado, FrontRange Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused on investments in real estate and high growth real estate businesses. The firm specializes in making strategic GP-level investments in real estate operating platforms and property joint ventures. FrontRange has committed more than $700 million to real estate platforms and properties since its founding in 2010.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Madison Capital Group

Related Links

http://www.madisoncapgroup.com


SEATTLE, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MainStem, an integrated purchasing platform and marketplace for cannabis companies, is proud to formally announce its latest release of Purchase Pro, the cannabis industry's first and only cannabis-specific procurement software.

Purchase Pro leverages the purchasing power of Marketplace, MainStem's established ecommerce platform, and streamlines all associated purchase data into a centralized hub for its users - cannabis companies ranging in size from small start-ups to the largest operators in North America. The incorporation of SaaS Purchase Pro into MainStem's ecommerce platform - the first combination of its kind in the cannabis industry - has already proven its value to operators of all sizes.

MainStem's integrated procurement platform, the first SaaS of its kind built for the cannabis industry, enables users to streamline procurement operations, manage multiple locations from one dashboard, and yield major savings in supplies - all from a centralized single pane of glass.

During the creation of Purchase Pro, MainStem considered a myriad of pain points, all raised by actual customers - resulting in a platform in which every feature serves a distinct purpose. MainStem's goal throughout development was to deliver an unparalleled user experience to manage procurement, eliminate fragmentation across the cannabis supply chain, and rid buyers of the headaches associated with purchasing supplies throughout divisions, departments, and locations.

Alen Nguyen, MainStem Co-Founder and CEO, feels strongly that MainStem has met its goal. He explains, "Our introduction of Purchase Pro has already proven beneficial to both new and legacy MainStem customers. Feedback from users over the last year validates our decision to combine our products, and shines light upon the market gaps we recognized firsthand over many years. I'm a productivity nut, and knew our industry needed an integrated platform. There's just no reason that organizations in cannabis should continue to lose resources and money due to the challenges we're solving with Purchase Pro."

All from a branded dashboard, users will enjoy features and capabilities such as:

Full Purchase Visibility - real-time data on shipments, payments, invoices, order approvals, with proactive procurement management and order status insights

- real-time data on shipments, payments, invoices, order approvals, with proactive procurement management and order status insights Streamlined Purchasing, Real-time Quotes/RFQ - purchasing team members can simultaneously access and manage quotes, eliminate the need to track email responses from individual vendors with a central communication portal

- purchasing team members can simultaneously access and manage quotes, eliminate the need to track email responses from individual vendors with a central communication portal Optimized Finance/S2S/ERP/Inventory Software - we connect your existing platforms and technology while providing a single pane of glass for ease of procurement usability, deeper insights, predictive analytics and proactive planning

- we connect your existing platforms and technology while providing a single pane of glass for ease of procurement usability, deeper insights, predictive analytics and proactive planning Multi-location Management - Flexibility across locations with role management and custom product catalogs at no extra cost, whether it be multiple physical locations or location IDs

- Flexibility across locations with role management and custom product catalogs at no extra cost, whether it be multiple physical locations or location IDs Dedicated Support - available 24/7 for ease of onboarding and implementation, tips & tricks, updates on new feature releases and general customer service

- available 24/7 for ease of onboarding and implementation, tips & tricks, updates on new feature releases and general customer service Supplier Concierge Services - a proactive team dedicated to user savings on orders, ranging from recurring shipments to custom products

Since its founding in 2014, over 1,500 MainStem customers have accessed tens of thousands of products from hundreds of leading brands via the comprehensive MainStem Marketplace. MainStem has traditionally differentiated itself from competitors with special, relationship-based pricing for products on its platform, found nowhere else online. Today, coupled with Purchase Pro, it is the only comprehensive platform of its kind.

Combining these two products comes at an ideal time, as legalization expands and the market matures and flourishes. According to cannabis sales data platform BDSA, legal cannabis sales in the U.S. hit $17.5B in 2020, a 46% increase over 2019.

MainStem Chief Revenue Officer Erin Stearns explains, "Purchase Pro saves resources for purchasing departments everywhere. Savings yielded from Marketplace purchases alone pay for our software; in nearly all cases, customers reduce spending by a third. Our team is continually focused upon users' bottom lines. It's an exciting time for the cannabis industry, and we're thrilled to be able to support burgeoning brands and established players in their growth."

There are zero prohibitive costs associated with Purchase Pro. Its incorporation into MainStem's ecommerce platform means that monthly usage fees - which range from free to nominal - are paid for by savings yielded from Marketplace product purchases alone. Purchase Pro's packages are aligned with various stages of growth, structure, and operational maturity, and provide value to start-ups using spreadsheets to the largest multi-state operators with sophisticated ERP solutions.

MainStem, the leading B2B ecommerce marketplace and integrated supply purchasing platform for cannabis companies, was founded in Seattle, Washington in 2014. Since the beginning, MainStem has evolved alongside its clients, as their needs transformed from state-wide to regional, national, and global. Dedicated to supporting cannabis companies' growth through robust technology and partnerships with growers, manufacturers and dispensaries, MainStem works with businesses in all states where cannabis companies operate.

MainStem's mission: Eliminate supply chain challenges within the cannabis industry. Learn more at mainstem.io.

Media Contact: Kate Ryan, [email protected] 774-929-5223

Related Images

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SOURCE MainStem Inc.
IRVINE, Calif., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ManifestSeven Holdings Corporation (CSE: MSVN; OTCMKTS: MNFSF) ("M7" or the "Company"), California's first integrated omnichannel platform for legal cannabis, announced the results of the Company's Annual General Meeting held on June 3, 2021, in addition to a change to its management team.

During the regular business proceedings at the meeting, shareholders elected all director nominees to the Board of Directors of the Company (the "Board") and approved all other items set out in the Company's notice of meeting and management information circular dated March 12, 2021. In addition, Scott Wessler has been appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Scott Wessler, Chairman of M7's Board of Directors, stated, "It's a great honor to have been chosen as Chairman of the Board. This Company has delivered upon its mission to create a robust cannabis supply chain through its outstanding leadership team. We are building upon this success to pave the way for the future of cannabis distribution and delivery through the industry's first integrated omnichannel platform for cannabis throughout the state."

Urban Smedeby has stepped down from President of M7 but will remain on the Board of Directors, while Dilshad Kasmani has been promoted to serve as M7's President and will maintain his current role as Chief Legal Officer.

Dilshad Kasmani, President and Chief Legal Officer of M7, commented, "Urban has been integral to M7's success to date, and I am honored to expand my role as President to build upon the progress we have made in securing M7's leadership position in California's cannabis industry. We are now aggressively moving forward to develop our portfolio of brands and assets further, create a differentiated platform, and drive shareholder value."

About ManifestSeven Holdings Corporation

ManifestSeven Holdings Corporation (CSE: MSVN; OTCMKTS: MNFSF) ("M7" or the "Company") disrupts the California cannabis landscape by seamlessly integrating proprietary distribution, retail, and delivery operations into a unified statewide platform that supports compliant and efficient commerce, both for cannabis enterprises and consumers. M7 offers local on-demand delivery through a growing portfolio of delivery hubs and storefront dispensaries in the state's major metropolitan markets through its direct-to-consumer division, Weden. Through its business-to-business division, Highlanders Distribution, the Company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and compliant services to licensed cannabis cultivators, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers operating throughout California. M7's 1-800-CANNABIS portal ties the Company's integrated operations together with a centralized gateway through which businesses and consumers can access M7's comprehensive suite of products and solutions. M7 is a publicly listed company on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") trading under the ticker symbol "MSVN". Additional information is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

For the latest news, activities, and media coverage, please visit www.manifest7.com . To receive Company updates and be added to the email distribution list, please sign up here , or connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, or Telegram.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND STATEMENTS:

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs and assumptions regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. This forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions made by management and other factors used by management in developing such information. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

The Company's securities referred to in this press release have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws. Accordingly, the Company's securities may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any Company's securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE ManifestSeven

Related Links

https://www.manifest7.com


C$ unless otherwise stated

TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC SEHK: 945



TORONTO, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Manulife Financial Corporation ("Manulife") today announced that after having taking into account all election notices received by the June 4, 2021 deadline for conversion, 812,380 of its currently outstanding 6,335,831 Non-cumulative Rate Reset Class 1 Shares Series 3 (the "Series 3 Preferred Shares") have been elected for conversion on June 19, 2021, on a one-for-one basis, into Non-cumulative Floating Rate Class 1 Shares Series 4 of Manulife (the "Series 4 Preferred Shares"), and 1,014,452 of its currently outstanding 1,664,169 Series 4 Preferred Shares have been elected for conversion on June 19, 2021, on a one-for-one basis, into Series 3 Preferred Shares.

As a result, on June 19, 2021, Manulife will have 6,537,903 Series 3 Preferred Shares and 1,462,097 Series 4 Preferred Shares issued and outstanding. The Series 3 Preferred Shares and the Series 4 Preferred Shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols MFC.PR.F and MFC.PR.P, respectively.

As announced by Manulife on May 21, 2021, after June 19, 2021, holders of Series 3 Preferred Shares will be entitled to receive fixed rate non-cumulative preferential cash dividends on a quarterly basis, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of Manulife (the "Board") and subject to the provisions of the Insurance Companies Act (Canada). The dividend rate for the five-year period commencing on June 20, 2021, and ending on June 19, 2026, will be 2.34800% per annum or $0.146750 per share per quarter, being equal to the sum of the five-year Government of Canada bond yield as at May 21, 2021, plus 1.41%, as determined in accordance with the terms of the Series 3 Preferred Shares.

As announced by Manulife on May 21, 2021, after June 19, 2021, holders of Series 4 Preferred Shares will be entitled to receive floating rate non-cumulative preferential cash dividends on a quarterly basis, as and when declared by the Board and subject to the provisions of the Insurance Companies Act (Canada). The dividend rate for the three-month period commencing on June 20, 2021, and ending on September 19, 2021, will be 0.38363% (1.52200% on an annualized basis) or $0.095908 per share, being equal to the sum of the three-month Government of Canada Treasury bill yield as at May 21, 2021, plus 1.41%, as determined in accordance with the terms of the Series 4 Preferred Shares.

The Series 3 Preferred Shares and the Series 4 Preferred Shares have not been and will not be registered in the United States under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or the securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, a "U.S. person" (as defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy securities in the United States and any public offering of the securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and our global wealth and asset management segment, Manulife Investment Management, serves individuals, institutions and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2020, we had more than 37,000 employees, over 118,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 30 million customers. As of March 31, 2021, we had CAD$1.3 trillion (US$1.0 trillion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made $31.3 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 155 years. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

SOURCE Manulife Financial Corporation

Related Links

http://www.manulife.com


Beginning June 14, McNICHOLS will be serving customers from Airport South Logistics Park at 6020 Airport Dr., Suite 100 Tweet this

The new facility is located adjacent to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport at the intersection of Billy Graham Parkway and West Boulevard. With nearly double the size of warehouse space for inventory capacity, this expansion will allow McNICHOLS to better serve its customers in the Queen City and surrounding Carolina markets.

At nearly 24,000 square feet, the Charlotte warehouse will carry a dedicated stock of the company's vast inventory of Perforated Metal, Expanded Metal and Wire Mesh, as well as Bar Grating, Plank Grating and Fiberglass Grating. The new facility will also increase the space for metal processing equipment and welding capabilities for cut-to-size or custom projects.

Ultimately, the company views the new location as a way to provide superior Service, Quality and Performance.

Scott McNichols, President of McNICHOLS affirms, "The decision to relocate to a larger facility in Charlotte is part of our continued commitment to providing customers with the highest level of service possible. An expanded location, more Specialty Metals and Fiberglass products, and an outstanding team of employees ready to serve equal an overall improved experience for our customers. We are excited to be in a position to contribute to a growing local economy in a greater way too."

More information about the Charlotte Metals Service Center is available at mcnichols.com/locations/charlotte or by contacting McNICHOLS at 866.806.7232.

McNICHOLS, headquartered in Tampa, Florida, operates 19 Metals Service Centers strategically placed coast-to-coast with a dedicated staff and communication network in place to serve customers nationwide. The company has the logistics network needed to provide fast, efficient and exceptional service. Family-owned and founded in 1952, McNICHOLS was established on Christian values, high ethical standards, and a strong commitment to customer satisfaction.

SOURCE McNichols Company
DUBLIN, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT), the global leader in medical technology, today announced clinical trial results from the STROKE AF trial demonstrating the superiority of the Reveal LINQ Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) to detect abnormal heartbeats, otherwise known as atrial fibrillation (AF), in both large and small vessel stroke patients compared to standard of care. The findings were published in the June 1, 2021 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Stroke impacts more than 795,000 people every year. More than 87% of strokes are ischemic strokes, which occur when vessels that allow blood to flow to the brain are blocked.1 AF is a major risk factor for ischemic stroke. In fact, there is a five-fold increase in ischemic stroke risk for AF patients.

The STROKE AF study evaluated 496 patients2, including 284 large vessel and 208 small vessel stroke patients. The findings demonstrated Reveal LINQ ICM was superior to the standard of care for AF detection:

At 12 months, AF was detected in 12.1% (or one in eight) patients in the ICM arm compared to 1.8% in the standard of care arm (HR=7.41; p<0.001). This equates to a greater than seven-fold increase in detecting AF in the ICM arm.

78% of patients who had AF would have been missed if only monitored for 30 days. 3

Median time to detection of AF was 99 days.

Rates of AF detection in the ICM arm were similar between patients with index strokes due to small vessel versus large vessel disease (12.6% compared to 11.7% respectively; p=0.74).

At 12 months, 96.3% of first AF episodes were asymptomatic in ICM arm.

The majority (55.5%) of patients with AF detected had an episode lasting more than one hour.

"STROKE AF showed that many patients with large vessel or small vessel stroke actually have AF, which is challenging to find using standard cardiac monitoring," said Richard Bernstein, M.D., Ph.D., Northwestern Medicine Distinguished Physician in Vascular Neurology, Medical Director of Telehealth, and professor of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Our job as neurologists includes identifying potential causes of future strokes to adequately protect our patients. AF is a risk that we can't afford to miss, and without long-term monitoring, we are missing it."

"The Stroke AF trial shows that long-term monitoring with an ICM resulted in significantly higher rates of AF detection compared to routine follow-up at both six months and one year after the patient's index stroke," said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., vice president of Virtual Care and Digital Health, Mass General Brigham and C. Miller Fisher chair in Vascular Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital. "Preventing recurrent stroke is challenging. I believe the findings from the STROKE AF study strongly suggest the need to re-examine the role of ICMs in secondary prevention, go beyond just the cryptogenic stroke patient, and embrace a broader conceptual framework that shifts the emphasis away from the cause of the index stroke and onto future stroke prevention."

STROKE AF is a 1:1, randomized clinical trial, taking place at 33 clinical sites across the U.S. Individuals 60 years and older with ischemic stroke believed to be due to small vessel disease, large vessel cervical or intracranial atherosclerosis within the past 10 days, as well as individuals 50 to 59 years older with stroke risk factors, were enrolled in the trial. Patients randomized to the ICM arm were given a Medtronic Reveal LINQ Insertable Cardiac Monitor. Patients in the control group received site-specific usual care, consisting of external cardiac monitoring such as 12-lead ECGs, Holter monitoring, telemetry, or event recorders. Incidence rates of AF and recurrent stroke will be compared over a three-year study duration. The study is led by co-principal investigators, Dr. Bernstein and Dr. Schwamm.

"Medtronic has been an innovative leader in ICM technology for 20 years and has made significant contributions to understanding the clinical utility of using ICMs in the cryptogenic stroke population, including publication of the CRYSTAL-AF Study in 2014. Now with the STROKE AF study, we are able to deepen our understanding in this additional patient population," said Rob Kowal, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer of the Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Services business, which is part of the Cardiovascular Portfolio at Medtronic. "We believe that prolonged cardiac monitoring with the Reveal LINQ ICM can assist clinicians as they seek to prevent secondary strokes among their patients who have suffered an initial ischemic stroke. Findings from the STROKE AF study clearly validate the benefits of long-term monitoring for this high-risk population and have the potential to be practice-changing."

In collaboration with leading clinicians, researchers and scientists worldwide, Medtronic offers the broadest range of innovative medical technology for the interventional and surgical treatment of cardiovascular disease and cardiac arrhythmias. The company strives to offer products and services of the highest quality that deliver clinical and economic value to healthcare consumers and providers around the world.

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.

1 Virani SS, Alonso A, Benjamin EJ, Bittencourt MS, Callaway CW, Carson AP, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics2020 update: a report from the American Heart Associationexternal icon. Circulation. 2020;141(9):e139e596.

2 A total of 496 patients were enrolled in the study and 492 were randomized

3 Based on data through 12 months

Contacts: Lauren Mueller Ryan Weispfenning Public Relations Investor Relations +1-763-285-9053 +1-763-505-4626

SOURCE Medtronic plc

Related Links

http://www.medtronic.com


NOIDA, India, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A comprehensive overview of the Mindfulness Meditation Apps market is recently added by UnivDatos Market Insights to its humongous database. The Mindfulness Meditation Apps 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 Mindfulness Meditation Apps market. The mindfulness meditation market report offers a detailed analysis of the latest industry developments and trending factors in the market that are influencing market growth. Furthermore, this statistical market research repository examines and estimates the Mindfulness Meditation Apps market at the global and regional levels. The Global Mindfulness Meditation Apps Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 48.1% from 2021-2027 to reach US$ 6,478.5 million by 2027.

Market Overview

Mindfulness meditation app is an application that helps the end-users to meditate, calm down, and attain mental peace, to improve their mental health. Mindfulness meditation applications help the consumers to understand their behaviors, emotions and assist them in enhancing their self-awareness and self-regulation.

Nowadays, with the increased workload, environmental stress, and family problems, mental health disorder issues such as anxiety, mood disorders, and mental stress are growing among various age groups. For instance, according to Perkbox, 79% of the employed adults in 2020 were suffering from work-related stress. This value was 20% higher compared to 59% in 2018. Owing to this a massive population is shifting towards mindfulness meditation apps to practice meditation in their daily hustle.

Request Sample Copy of this Report @ https://univdatos.com/report/mindfulness-meditation-apps-market-current-analysis-and-forecast-2021-2027

In the U.S. according to the Harris poll in the year 2017, stress was mainly caused due to money and work. The major cause of health complaints is workplace stress followed by financial and family problems. For instance, 80% of the working people in the U.S. are stressed because of their work, and 8 out 10 Americans are affected by stress. Furthermore, in the United Kingdom, 526,000 working individuals are affected by workplace stress, depression, and anxiety. Owing to these various reasons end-users are adopting the use of mindfulness meditation apps to achieve peace and relieve stress. According to Sensor Tower's latest report, in the year 2019, the key meditation applications achieved revenue of around USD 195 million. Owing to the increased awareness about the services provided by the mindfulness meditation apps and their increased adoption among the end-users, the revenue from 2018, increased by 52% in the year 2019.

Furthermore, increasing R&D research, rapid digitalization, and an increase in the number of smartphone users have boosted the mindfulness meditation apps market. Moreover, the increased awareness about mindfulness meditation apps has also positively impacted the market growth.

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Global Mindfulness Meditation Apps Market report is studied thoroughly with several aspects that would help stakeholders in making their decisions more curated.

By Operating System, the market is primarily bifurcated into

Android

iOS

Others

Android segment dominated the by type of the global Mindfulness Meditation Apps market and will grow at a CAGR of XX% to reach US$ XX million by the year 2027.

By Service Type, the market is primarily segmented into

Free

Paid

Amongst service types, free accounted for the largest share in 2020 and is expected to grow at XX% CAGR during the forecast period 2021-2027. However, the paid segment is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR during the analyzed period and is expected to account for a revenue share of almost XX% by 2027.

Mindfulness Meditation Apps 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

Based on the estimation, the North America region dominated the Mindfulness Meditation Apps market with almost US$ XX million in revenue in 2020. At the same time, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow remarkably with a CAGR of XX% over the forecast period on account of the increasing awareness regarding mindfulness meditation apps and stressful working hours in the region.

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The major players targeting the market includes

Calm

Headspace

Breethe

Insight Timer

Waking Up

Meditopia

BetterMe

Simple Habit

Aura Health

Moov

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 Mindfulness Meditation Apps 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 Mindfulness Meditation Apps Market?

Which factors are influencing the Mindfulness Meditation Apps Market over the forecast period?

What are the global challenges, threats, and risks in the Mindfulness Meditation Apps Market?

Which factors are propelling and restraining the Mindfulness Meditation Apps Market?

What are the demanding global regions of the Mindfulness Meditation Apps 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

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Contact

UnivDatos Market Insights

Pawnendra Pawan

Client Development Lead

Ph: +91-7838604911

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://univdatos.com/

SOURCE UnivDatos Market Insights
Moscow City Court extends detention of ex-schema monk Sergius until late summer

 The Basmanny District Court's press service

14:24 07/06/2021

MOSCOW, June 7 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court on Monday extended detention of excommunicated former schema monk Sergius (Nikolay Romanov) until August 29, the courts press service told RAPSI.

Romanov was placed in detention in December 2020. He stands charged with inducing a minor to commit suicide. Earlier, Russias Children Ombudsman Anna Kuznetsova petitioned the Prosecutor Generals Office and the Investigative Committee to launch a probe into allegations of child abuse in a nunnery situated near town of Sredneuralsk in the Sverdlovsk Region, where the former schema monk took refuge.

Moreover, he is accused of violating a right to freedom of thought, conscience and and religionarbitrary behavior.

His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill approved a decision of the church court of the Yekaterinburg eparchy to excommunicate schema monk Sergius (Romanov) on October 19.




AMSTERDAM and OSLO, Norway, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MPC Energy Solutions N.V. has signed the acquisition of a 3.4 MW Combined Heat and Power (CHP) project in Puerto Rico. The project will sell the produced heat and power under a 12-year USD-denominated energy service agreement to a pharmaceutical company. This is MPC Energy Solutions' first acquisition since its listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange's Euronext Growth segment in January 2021. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and expected for August 2021.

The project is currently under construction with expected commissioning to take place in August 2021. Once complete, it is expected to produce 25,000-30,000 MWh of energy supply annually and will lead to a reduction of 100,000 tons of CO2 over the 12-years contract period. The investment aligns perfectly with MPC Energy Solutions' strategy to focus on the corporate sector as a source of clients and to build strategic partnerships for accelerated capital deployment such as with Enernet Global Inc.

Cogeneration projects offer substantial economic and environmental benefits to its users as they simultaneously produce heat and power. These benefits include lower overall energy costs, improved reliability, and reduced thermal energy consumption. The implementation of this project will lead to a reduction of carbon emissions of up to 30%.

Martin Vogt, CEO at MPC Energy Solutions, said: "Like a number of other countries within the region, Puerto Rico offers an attractive market with strong growth potential within the renewables sector. This latest investment shows our commitment to meeting growing demand from the region's corporate sector which is looking to achieve a reduction in its carbon emissions as a whole. As we work hard to deliver our portfolio of projects across Latin America and the Caribbean, we will be assessing additional opportunities in Puerto Rico as we continue to help the region with its transformation from fossil fuels towards cleaner energies. This is also the first project implemented from the strategic partnership with Enernet Global Inc."

The Company already owns a development portfolio of 334 MW solar PV projects in Colombia, El Salvador and Jamaica. In addition, the Company has built a project pipeline of around 300 MW in Latin America and the Caribbean.

About MPC Energy Solutions N.V.

MPC Energy Solutions (ticker: "MPCES") is a global provider of sustainable energy and primarily focuses on low-carbon energy infrastructure, including solar and wind assets, and other hybrid and energy efficiency solutions. The Company participates in full project lifecycle of renewable solutions, from early-stage development through construction and operation. More details, including an updated company presentation on the pipeline development, at www.mpc-energysolutions.com

Media contacts

MPC Energy Solutions N.V.

Stefan Zenker

Gabriele Gottschalk

Investor Relations & Public Relations

Phone. +49 40 38022-4200

Email: [email protected]

Americas

Montieth & Company

Phone: +1 (646) 864.356

Email: [email protected]

United Kingdom

Charles Font

Montieth & Company

Phone: +44 020 38651947

Email: [email protected]

Forward-looking statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements about the Company's financial and operating performance, business plans and prospects that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from the expectations and projections set forth in those statements and, consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Such risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in the development, construction and operation of renewable energy assets. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/mpc-energy-solutions-n-v-/r/mpc-energy-solutions-invests-in-energy-efficiency-through-cogeneration-in-puerto-rico,c3361409

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Public/20542/3361409/81a731add3c80214.pdf 2021-06-07 - MPC Energy Solutions signs acquisition of Combined and Heat Power Project in Puerto Rico FINAL

SOURCE MPC Energy Solutions N.V.
ATLANTA, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) has published its annual collection of fact sheets about the economic and social costs of chronic diseases in the United States and the programs needed to help prevent the diseases. Specifically this year, the fact sheets make the case to Congress and the Biden Administration that greater financial support in Fiscal Year 2022 is critical to helping those communities already at high risk for chronic diseases recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The reduced access to preventive healthcare services and uncertainty about accessing what services were available for fear of contracting COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on the health outcomes of Americans," said John W. Robitscher, MPH, NACDD's CEO. "Congress can prevent or reduce the expected increase in chronic diseases we face after the pandemic by funding more preventive services and programs."

Typically, NACDD uses these fact sheets to garner legislative support specifically for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and for state and territorial health departments working on these issues.

Black, Latinx, and American Indian/Alaska Native communities, in particular, who already are at higher risk for preventable illness and death from many chronic diseases, may face even greater barriers after the pandemic to protecting and promoting their health. NACDD cites particular concern for these populations being able to access missed or delayed cancer screenings and in their receiving support for diabetes or hypertension prevention and control programs.

This year's fact sheets call for increases in national funding from FY 2021 by 22% for breast and cervical cancer screening programs; 25% for diabetes prevention and control programs; and 12% for the CDC's Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program, including the Paul Coverdell Acute Stroke Registry Program, Sodium Reduction in Communities Program, and the WISEWOMAN program, among others.

NACDD Board President Dr. Susan Kansagra contributed to an April 2021 article in Modern Healthcare about a looming chronic disease wave.



"Things like diabetes and hypertension require continuous care, and so to the extent that care has been delayed, there may be more uncontrolled diabetes, more uncontrolled hypertension that we're seeing in our communities," Dr. Kansagra told the publication.

It's estimated that six in 10 adults in the U.S. have at least one chronic disease, and four in 10 have two or more, according to the CDC.

COVID-19 also is expected to foster its own, more direct long-term health consequences, whether through so-called "long-haul syndrome," or through consequences of being sickened or severely ill with the virus.

Dr. David Hoffman, NACDD Policy Committee Chair and Board Associate At Large Director, said, "Outcomes of underlying medical conditions and those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will be greatly diminished without greater funding for preventive services and healthcare. This is an opportunity to plan for those patients when they'll need it most."

CONTACT: Scott Reid, [email protected]

SOURCE National Association of Chronic Disease Directors

Related Links

www.chronicdisease.org


WASHINGTON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Twelve leading education organizations announced a new effort today to help ensure all students receive the equitable educational opportunities they deserve. The newly formed Coalition to Advance Future Student Success is a recognition that the historic injection of federal emergency relief funds presents a transformative opportunity for America's public K-12 education system.

The Coalition represents leaders involved in advancing public education, from practitioners in the classroom to the state capitol. The Coalition's goal is to ensure that the federal investment provided during the COVID-19 pandemic is spent effectively and efficiently.

Coalition members have committed to working together to identify promising practices, support state and local leaders, and coordinate the efforts of leading education organizations toward transformative goals. A key pillar is to support historically underserved students who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The promise of America starts in our schools, which educate and nourish our youth while also serving as important gathering places in communities small and large. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated just how much schools are part of the fabric of America's neighborhoods. We must make certain our young people recover from disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and thrive in adulthood. Economic and social recovery in the United States will not be complete unless our education system emerges stronger and more equitable," the groups said in a joint statement. "This level of investment in K-12 schools demands careful stewardship and intentional guidance to bring about the levels of change needed to reopen, recover, and rebuild. This support for careful spending will ensure that students are in a better place in a post-COVID era as progress is made to address their well-being and long-standing opportunity gaps."

Over the next few years, a 10-point framework, collaboratively developed by the Coalition, will drive consistent guidance that could advance recovery in school systems across the country. The framework imperatives include: reopen school buildings and ensure they can stay open safely, close the digital divide, ensure students have ample supports in place for academics and well-being, connect students to fruitful postsecondary opportunities, guarantee curriculum and assessment quality, recruit and retain talented educators, and explore new education delivery models.

The Coalition to Advance Future Student Success comprises the Council of Chief State School Officers, National Governors Association, National Association of State Boards of Education, National Conference of State Legislatures, AASA, The School Superintendents Association, Council of the Great City Schools, Chiefs for Change, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National School Boards Association, National Education Association, and American Federation of Teachers.

The Coalition plans to regularly meet with an advisory group of organizations representing critical education stakeholders that will provide feedback on resources, supports, and solutions.

Visit advancefuturestudentsuccess.org for more information.

SOURCE Council of Chief State School Officers
NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ObvioHealth, a global virtual research organization (VRO), is bringing clinical trial data fully into the continuum of care through a new strategic partnership with Dedalus Group, the leading healthcare and diagnostic software solutions provider in Europe. The partnership will unite ObvioHealth's proprietary decentralized clinical trial tools with Dedalus's software solutions, connecting the dots between clinical research and EHR (Electronic Health Record) data while supporting healthcare providers from 6000+ hospitals and clinics across the world to deliver care to more than 330 million patients.

The initial stage of the partnership will allow sponsors and other research organizations to collaborate with HCPs who can provide meta-data insights from patient records without moving or revealing any actual EHR data. This will enable researchers to conduct granular prognostic and predictive analysis for improved study design and recruitment of more precise subpopulations of patient cohorts, giving healthcare professionals and their patients the opportunity to contribute to and/or participate in research, while maintaining full control of their data, in compliance with stringent European privacy and data safety regulations.

"At a time when personalized medicine is on the rise and the ROI on drug development is declining, we must make research dollars work harder," says Ivan Jarry, CEO of ObvioHealth. "There is tremendous and rich data available on any number of disease states, comorbidities and biomarkers that can inform clinical trials. The integration of clinical research with the data that sits within EHRs has the potential to be a game changer. Dedalus and ObvioHealth are enabling more precise identification of cohorts for trials while also facilitating longitudinal analyses that can identify new indications and/or long-term impacts of certain treatments."

"With this partnership, we are aiming to improve translational medicine through a spectrum of options: from decentralized trialsall the way to synthetic trials, leveraging the full potential of existing real-world data to allow for clinical learning and validation of all kinds of therapeutical approaches," adds Dr. Michael Dahlweid, MD, PhD, the Chief Product & Clinical Officer at Dedalus Group.

In keeping with the goal of improving the continuum of care, the partnership will also offer researchers data services outside the boundaries of traditional clinical trials for the purposes of training AI enabled tools and/or developing diagnostic instruments that can provide deeper and/or longitudinal analysis of certain disease states. In parallel, the collaboration will enrich healthcare provider insights by integrating point in time clinical research into the daily workflow of Dedalus's network of hospitals.

"Up until now, the clinical trial environment has been very separate from that of the care universe. The data from each is structured differently and there is no common language, requiring a tremendous effort to extract and homogenize data with suboptimal results," says Koenraad Batselier, Vice President Life Sciences at Dedalus Group. "By helping researchers to gain insights from the full sets of GDPR-compliant, real-world data for their trials and giving clinicians access to more clinical trial opportunities for their patients, we are bringing the two worlds together. This has the potential to accelerate and improve clinical trial outcomes, while contributing to a better continuum of care. We are pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with ObvioHealth to bring this innovative platform to market."

About ObvioHealth

ObvioHealth is an end-to-end Virtual Research Organization (VRO) that delivers an easier clinical trial experience for participants and better data to sponsors. The company developed and launched one of the first DCT apps, downloadable on smartphones, enabling people to participate in clinical trials from the comfort of their homes. In the 4 years since launch, the company has been awarded nearly 40 studies from 28 blue chip clients, implemented in 28 countries, in 16 different therapeutic areas.

For more information, visit www.obviohealth.com

About Dedalus

Dedalus Group is the leading healthcare and diagnostic software provider in Europe, supporting the digital transformation of 6100 hospitals and 5300 Laboratories worldwide, processing its solutions for more than 330M patient records. The company recently announced the successful acquisition of DXC Technology's global healthcare information technology (ICT) business, strengthening its position as a specialist healthcare ICT company, with one of the largest digital health research and development teams in Europe.

For more information, visit www.dedalus.com

SOURCE ObvioHealth
LOS ANGELES, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Dream has perpetuated the myth that we all have an equal opportunity to generate the kind of wealth that brings meaning to the words, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," as stated in the Declaration of Independence. Were these truths evident for all at the time it was written, and are they evident for all today?



Screenwriter/Director/Producer Pamela J. Richardson and Author/Political Strategist /Executive Producer, Bernard Moore Ph.D have collaborated to bring to light a compelling screenplay for a limited TV mini-series based on a true story of the history and legacy of a black family from Oklahoma's oil rich land. The story moves the reader from a boy born in slavery to the emotional torment of being treated as chattel, to inheriting land that would ultimately lead to a multi-million-dollar fortune for his descendants. Tal struck oil just before the historic Tulsa, Oklahoma Massacre, which was a direct consequence of black prosperity in oil. The series brings to life interesting characters and distant relatives who scheme to take oil land from Tal's children and their offspring. It is filled with unexpected twists, including significant events in history.



The story of Tal Jones is unique, as it actually chronicles an authentic African American family who, against all odds, have living descendants who add validity to this distinctive story. Historically, many African Americans were property rich and cash poor without the financial resources to fight for their land rights. But Tal Jones and his descendants were able to retain oil wealth through a maze of legal challenges. While the courts have since ruled in their favor, from the early 1920s to 2021, a hundred years later, the Jones family is still wracked with legal challenges to ensure their oil royalties remain within the family.



The screenplay has racked up a number of prestigious awards which serves as an affirmation of the popularity and interest in the Black experience. Although African Americans have made enormous contributions to the American culture, screenplays by and about Blacks are finally gaining recognition and momentum within the industry. Plans for the mini-series pilot are in development. There are many roles available for an all-star cast.



Moore, the great great grandson of Tal Jones has spent years diving into the archives of the family's history, as well as spending numerous hours documenting the recollections of individual family members. There are many layers to the Tal Jones story, and the mini-series will delve deep into the pain, the sacrifice and the survival of a family that could have and should have, had they been white, become one of the wealthiest families in America. Moore is leading the charge to ensure the legal rights of their land leases.



Richardson has been creating works of art and commercially recognized film projects for over twenty years and, as an African American, is deeply committed to the success of the series. "The truth of American History can no longer be dismissed, diminished and ignored. It must be told honestly," said Richardson. For Richardson and Moore, putting the pen to the pain will hopefully encourage others to honor their ancestors by documenting their stories. "TAL JONES: A Black Oil Legacy" is based on a real family and its ultimate triumphs.



http://www.taljoneslegacy.com

For additional information contact: [email protected]



Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12872319

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Tal Jones Legacy
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PDI, a global leader in infection prevention product and service solutions, today announced the appointment of Firas Abulaban as Vice President of Quality. Quality assurance continues to be an area of significant investment for PDI in support of the company's accelerating growth in its current and multiple new product and service categories. Abulaban will lead PDI's day-to-day quality operations with focus on serving its customers, improving quality systems, and designing, manufacturing, and marketing safe and effective products that meet all customer and regulatory requirements.

"On behalf of our shareholders, board, and management team, I am thrilled to welcome Firas to PDI," said Kent Davies, President and Chief Operating Officer, PDI. "Firas's intimate knowledge of manufacturing and quality systems for drug products, and his extensive background in continuous improvement, represent critical competencies to drive on-going success at PDI as we continue to grow and expand to meet evolving customer needs. His leadership, drive to execute, and acute focus on talent and culture will be highly additive to achieving PDI's mission and goals."

Abulaban is an experienced quality and operations leader, having held roles of increasing responsibility in the U.S. and internationally at Sun Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Hospira and Boehringer-Ingelheim. Most recently, Abulaban held the position of Vice President of Quality at Sun Pharmaceuticals, responsible for leading all quality assurance, quality control and quality systems for their network of facilities in India.

"Quality assurance is one of the most essential promises a company can make to its customers and the people they serve. It is an important facet of any regulated business, and particularly one like PDI that develops critical products and services built on the promise of protection," said Abulaban. "It is an exciting time to join this rapidly growing organization, and I look forward to supporting PDI's mission by delivering safe and effective products that reduce preventable infections and help save lives."

PDI takes a multi-pronged approach to innovation including through organic product development, acquisitions and partnerships, and enhancements to its existing line of market-leading products and value-added services. The company has been at the forefront of infection prevention since 1977 and spearheaded the introduction of many of the industry's most important infection prevention solutions. Today, PDI offers a full line of FDA and EPA regulated infection prevention products for healthcare, food service and community environments. In 2020, the company remained committed to supporting customer pandemic response efforts by expanding efficacy claims on its EPA regulated disinfectants against SARS-CoV-2 and by ensuring a resilient supply of its FDA regulated drug and device products for, further emphasizing its legacy of clinical leadership and trusted advice and service to its customers.

About PDI

PDI is dedicated to leading the fight against preventable infections in healthcare, foodservice and our communities. Driven by a commitment to research, quality and service, PDI provides innovative products, educational resources, training and support to help prevent infection transmission and promote health and wellness. PDI operates three customer facility business units, PDI Healthcare, Sani Professional and PDI Contract Manufacturing. Visit WeArePDI.com for more information.

Contact:

Sabrina Samson

[email protected]

SOURCE PDI

Related Links

https://wearepdi.com


WARDEN, Wash., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Port of Warden (Grant County Port District No. 8) was recently awarded $175,000 in Strategic Infrastructure Program (SIP) funding from Grant County for the Road Design & Engineering Portion of Phase 2 of the Port of Warden Rail & Road Infrastructure Expansion Project.

Port of Warden Rail Map Port of Warden Map

According to Dale Pomeroy, the Chair of the Port of Warden, the SIP grant award from Grant County will help to set the stage for the Port of Warden's Federal Funding Request for $6 million for the "Port of Warden Rail & Road Infrastructure Expansion Project", which would further expand the rail ($3.5 million) and road ($2.5 million) infrastructure within the Port of Warden and to port-owned industrial zoned properties on the southwest side of Warden, WA to handle the increasing growth in freight from industrial, food processing and agricultural shippers.

The above Phase 2 project follows $2 million in state funding that the Port of Warden received in the 2015-2017 biennium for Phase I of this project (completed in 2019), which helped to construct approximately one mile of new rail storage siding track in the Port of Warden along the Columbia Basin Rail Line, which runs between Connell and Moses Lake.

In the past few years, a great deal of economic development and freight growth have occurred at the Port of Warden, including a canola crushing and canola oil refining facility, a new fertilizer distribution facility, additional fresh produce packing and frozen and dehydrated food processing, and the associated warehousing for these products. In particular, a number of major food processors, cold storage warehousing companies, fresh produce packers and agri-business companies have facilities in the Warden Port District (Grant County Port District No. 8) including: Lamb Weston, Viterra, Washington Potato Company, Skone & Connors, Jensen Farms Produce, Baker Produce, Greater Pacific Cold Storage, Country Morning Farms, CHS SunBasin Growers, BFI Native Seeds, The McGregor Company, Skone Irrigation, Pure Line Seeds, Brotherton Seed, and Columbia Basin Railroad. In fact, Viterra's Canola Oilseed Processing Facility in Warden, WA "is the largest commercial-scale canola processing facility west of the Rocky Mountains. It is one of only two large-scale canola processing facilities in North America using expeller-press technology. The facility is designed to produce over 300,000,000 pounds of canola oil each yearThe Warden plant is designed to crush over 350,000 metric tonnes of canola seed annually."

Additionally, the Port of Warden has about 250 acres of industrial-zoned, development-ready properties in the Warden, WA area, which are ideal for frozen food processors, fresh produce packers, warehousing & cold storage distribution facilities, agricultural manufacturers, and other agri-business related operations. As large tracks of development-ready, industrial-zoned properties and with power, water, and rail infrastructure, etc. are getting harder and harder to find on the West Coast, the Port of Warden believes it is poised for strong future growth, given the large amount of industrial-zoned land that it has available.

As a result of the above-mentioned business growth and economic development and the future potential growth at the Port of Warden, the rail and road infrastructure in Warden needs to be upgraded and expanded, and more industrial grade roads and rail storage track are needed to allow for the related growth in truck and rail freight coming from and going to the Port of Warden to service existing industries, to attract new industries, create more jobs, and to improve freight mobility.

For more information, please contact Pat Millard of the Port of Warden at [email protected] or 509-800-7903.

About the Port of Warden

The Port of Warden is located in the heart of the Columbia Basin in Washington State and is a top location in the Pacific Northwest for food processing, fresh produce packing, cold storage warehousing, and agricultural manufacturing.

The Port of Warden has very robust and extensive infrastructure including low cost hydro-electric power from Grant County PUD, reliable rail service from Columbia Basin Railroad, natural gas from both Williams Pipeline and Avista, close proximity to Interstate 90 and Washington State Route 17, abundant irrigation water supply from the Columbia Basin Project (East Columbia Basin Irrigation District and the US Bureau of Reclamation) and a large wastewater treatment system in partnership with the City of Warden and other local partners.

Nearly 100,000 people live within 35 miles of Warden, WA, while about 500,000 people reside within 70 miles of Warden. Additionally, the Port of Warden is close to major regional airports in Pasco, Washington and Spokane, Washington.

SOURCE Port of Warden
WASHINGTON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Protect Our Election, a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to strengthening democratic institutions at the state and local level, today released the results of its 2020 Local Election Official Research Survey. The survey is the first public study of county-level election administrators' opinions conducted after the events of the 2020 presidential election and the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

The 122-question survey was sent to over 4,600 local election officials (LEOs) in all 50 states, and covered topics ranging from election security and funding to COVID-19 preparations and voter communication efforts. Key findings include:

The 2020 election cycle impacted the way LEOs feel about their role in our democracy, with nearly a third of respondents saying they are considering a career change;

Significant numbers of LEOs reported feeling "inappropriate partisan pressure" from voters, party organizers, elected officials, and even law enforcement;

Roughly half of our LEOs lack the time and resources to effectively engage in proactive voter communications on digital platforms;

73% of LEOs who responded received public funds via the 2020 CARES Act, while 43% received grant money from non-governmental sources;

Opinions are mixed on election reform efforts currently underway at the state and federal level, with most LEOs preferring collaborative action from all levels of government.

"It is no secret that our local election officials are underappreciated, underpaid, and under attack in the wake of the 2020 election cycle," said Steve Wanczyk, executive director of Protect Our Election. "They are an irreplaceable national resource, and their experiences on the ground must be part of the narrative around democracy and electoral reform going forward."

The results of the survey have helped inform actionable next steps in Protect Our Election's mission to rebuild civic relationships and repair the damage done to American democracy in 2020. The non-profit is teaming up with like-minded partner organizations, local election administrators around the country, voters, and volunteers to address resource gaps identified in the study via a suite of pro bono services scheduled for launch later this summer.

The survey report and media kit are available at Protect Our Election's website.

Protect Our Election is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded and supported by American citizens who value democracy and the rule of law above all else. The group does not advocate for or against any given candidate - only that our elections must be fair, we must allow all eligible citizens the vote, and we must push back against the forces working to undermine our traditions and institutions.

Media Contact:

Steve Wanczyk

Executive Director, Protect Our Election

571-799-9014

[email protected]

SOURCE Protect Our Election
To obtain their first RealVaccinationID.com card, individuals are asked to provide documentation to prove their vaccination status or legally permissible waiver request. Once validated, a driver's license-sized card featuring highly sophisticated antifraud technology is issued to the individual that includes their name, address, date of birth, physical identifiers, photo, and a QR code. Using the QR code on the back of the card, along with a unique access code and PIN number, third parties presented with this information can access digital copies of primarysource documentation to confirm status. However, it is completely up to the cardholder when and with whom this data is shared. Private data gathered for the RealVaccinationID.com cards will never be shared or collected in a database and distributed to third parties by CastleBranch

Updating the cards to reflect booster shots is just as simple. When someone receives a booster, they can submit their documentation to CastleBranch, whose team of experts will verify the documentation. CastleBranch houses the new information in their protected digital space, which can be viewed via the QR code on the individual's card.

"Our understanding of the COVID-19 virus changes with each passing day, requiring a response that also adapts and grows," said Brett Martin, CastleBranch CEO. "With variants come boosters, which requires a form of vaccination proof that can be updated over time. Our RealVaccinationID.com cards were designed to respond to these emerging realities, helping people and organizations as they continue to navigate the new normal."

In January 2021, CastleBranch, an infectious disease screening, compliance management, and nationally accredited consumer reporting agency, launched a sophisticated, driver's licensed-sized ID card that can be used to verify vaccination status and vaccine exemption status. As a company with approximately 25 years of experience in medical document review and badging credentialing, CastleBranch is one of the leading providers of vaccination and immunization tracking in the United States.

For more information visit RealVaccinationID.com.

About CastleBranch:

Located in Wilmington, N.C., CastleBranch is a compliance management and infectious disease screening company serving over 17,700 healthcare programs, tens of millions of individuals, and tens of thousands of employers, schools and healthcare facilities nationwide by verifying identity, tracking over 35 million medical documents, and helping individuals transition to and through professional life. CastleBranch has 20+ years of experience, employs over 500 team members and has a long track record of providing innovative solutions for complex problems.

SOURCE CastleBranch

Related Links

www.castlebranch.com


Restraining order against Navalnys ally Sobol extended in sanitary code violation case

 Moscow's Perovsky District Court

18:01 07/06/2021

MOSCOW, June 7 (RAPSI)  Moscows Tverskoy District Court on Monday extended restraining order against Lyubov Sobol, an ally of Alexey Navalny, until November 26 as part of a case over violation of sanitary norms at an unauthorized rally held in Moscow in winter, the courts press service told RAPSI.

She is prohibited from leaving home from 8 pm to 6 am, communicating about the investigation online, sending and receiving mails.

Sobol stands charged with breaching sanitary and epidemiological rules. She could face up to two years behind bars if convicted.

According to police, coronavirus-positive persons ordered to isolation were identified among participants of the Moscow rally. A criminal case over violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules was opened over this fact.




The annual award recognizes Charney and his team's breakthrough creativity and resilience, and even their ability to bring some levity at a time when consumers needed it most. "Under Jeff's leadership Progressive has shown an innate ability to create campaigns that not only entertain, but build long-lasting brand value," said Ad Age News Editor E.J. Schultz. "Dr. Rick is the latest attention-grabbing character created during his tenure; underpinning ads people actually want to watcha rare accomplishment in today's ad-skipping environment."

Charney and his team's industry-leading "network" strategy combines some 10 different but familiar characters, episodic story arcs, and 'funny because it's true' human insights. The "network" was pressure tested during a year when marketing really matteredall while the team has been working from home.

"For a consumer/customer-driven company like Progressive, everything starts with the brand. During the past decade, Jeff and the Marketing team have truly established a winning creative culture in the hyper-competitive insurance category," said Tricia Griffith Chief Executive Officer of Progressive. "With a first-of-its-kind 'network' strategy and establishing an in-house agency to collaborate seamlessly with our external partners, they've not only been disruptive but also highly effective in creating efficiencies and providing greater creative control."

"Being named 'Brand CMO of the Year' is a direct reflection of working alongside the 'Marketing Department of the Year,'" said Charney. "There's no better pound-for-pound team in the country, and especially this year, they proved it to themselves, the company, and the entire marketing industry. I'm so proud of the team, as well as the other 43,000 plus Progressive employees, for their relentless energy, unwavering commitment to our customers, and for creatively representing the great brand that I've been fortunate to lead for more than a decade. In a sense they 'are all marketers,' and that passion and commitment to the customer were on full display throughout 2020, and that momentum will continue."

In a company news release in March, Charney announced his planned retirement for early 2022. The CMO search has begun and is being overseen by Griffith, Charney, and Progressive's Chief Human Resource Officer, Lori Niederst, along with the company's internal executive recruiting team.

Charney currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Investor's Exchange (IEX), the Advisory Board of Brand Innovators, and the Dean's Leadership Council for the College of Information and Communications at the University of South Carolina.

About Progressive

The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies makes it easy to understand, buy and use auto insurance. Progressive offers choices so consumers can reach us whenever, wherever and however it's most convenientonline at progressive.com, by phone at 1-800-PROGRESSIVE, on a mobile device or in-person with a local agent.

Progressive provides insurance for personal and commercial autos and trucks, motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles, and homes; it is the third largest auto insurer in the country, a leading seller of motorcycle and commercial auto insurance, and one of the top 15 homeowners insurance carriers.

Founded in 1937, Progressive continues its long history of offering shopping tools and services that save customers time and money, like Name Your Price, Snapshot, and HomeQuote Explorer.

The Common Shares of The Progressive Corporation, the Mayfield Village, Ohio-based holding company, trade publicly atNYSE: PGR.

SOURCE Progressive

Related Links

https://www.progressive.com


TAMPA, Fla., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 26, 2021, acquired the tank trailer cleaning operations within Kraft Tank Corporation's locations in Kansas City (KS) and Oklahoma City (OK). With these two new additions, Quala will expand their network of Chemical and Food Grade Tank Cleaning Services to local businesses and potentially current clientele looking to expand into new markets. Kraft Tank Corporation will continue to deliver truck and trailer maintenance and other services at these locations, on an ongoing basis.

Quals is recognized as North America's leading provider of tank cleaning services to multiple industrial verticals. With the addition of these two facilities, Quala operates 80+ service locations throughout North America.

Erik Leto, Chief Operating Officer, states, "Our capabilities have always differentiated us from the competition and adding these facilities aligns with our vision to continue improving our network. These two new Facilities offer Chemical and Food Grade Tank & ISO Container Cleaning, Heating services, and IBC Cleaning capabilities". Leto continued by saying, "in addition, these locations specifically offer new driver rooms enhancing the overall experience with clean and convenient amenities."

Stop by either of our new facilities today or contact our team with any questions:

Quala Kansas City, KS 9957 Medford Ave Bldg #11 Kansas City, KS 66115 (913) 601-6999 [email protected] Quala Oklahoma City, OK 2650 Shull Avenue Oklahoma City, OK 73111 (405) 438-0919 [email protected]

To view all locations visit https://quala.us.com/locations-list/

About Quala

Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Quala is the largest independent provider of comprehensive cleaning, test, and repair services for Tank Trailers, ISO Containers, IBCs, and Railcars. Founded in 1986, the company began independent operations in 2009 and today has 80+ locations servicing the most active bulk transportation routes and eight of North America's busiest ports. For more information about Quala, visit our website at www.quala.us.com/dynamic-growth .

Contact: Vicky Herron, Marketing (305) 332-9056

Contact Information:

Quala

Paul Hofley, VP, Sales & Marketing

500 N. Westshore Blvd. Suite 435, Tampa, FL 33609

(248) 219-0012 / [email protected]



SOURCE Quala

Related Links

http://www.quala.us.com


SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantgene, a Santa Monica, CA and Berlin, Germany-based biotechnology, cloud and AI company, has demonstrated the most precise gene sequencing yet published in the industry, as shown in the February issue of GENES, a leading scientific journal in medical genomics.

"Precision Genomics is changing medicine, but is held back by a lack of fast, accurate and easily accessible technologies", explained Jo Bhakdi, CEO of Quantgene. "The protection of human life depends on advancing precision genomics today and we are excited to open a new chapter in genomic testing and less invasive cancer screening."



By combining new chemistry with large-scale cloud processing, mathematically-improved error reduction and statistically optimized genomic mapping, DEEPGENTM was able to reduce error rates on Illumina NovaSeq platforms hundreds of times, signaling an innovative approach ahead for cancer testing. Quantgene's newest innovation is an important milestone in evidenced-based healthcare and precision medicine.

In its peer-reviewed publication, Quantgene's DEEPGEN technology was extensively investigated through a series of technical validations. The publication showed that the system detects somatic variants on DNA fragments with an accuracy exceeding 1 in 1000 fragments with high repeatability and very low false-positive results. Previously, this level of accuracy had only been demonstrated in a peer-reviewed manner for systems that investigate very small numbers of genomic locations. DEEPGEN's technology covers close to 70,000 locations and includes a wide range of FDA approved cancer targets.

Quantgene's results signify a significant step forward in the detection of cancer signals in the blood using liquid biopsy and next-generation sequencing technology. Liquid biopsy has promising clinical utility as a less invasive and more accurate methodology for identifying multiple types of cancer. And can be used to aid physicians in early cancer detection, companion diagnostics and minimum residual disease in oncology.

"This is a crucial milestone in precision medicine. By achieving single-molecule sequencing precision, Quantgene provides the industry with a more powerful tool to detect cancer and other dangerous diseases earlier than ever before", says Jo Bhakdi, CEO of Quantgene.

Read the full publication in GENES https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/12/4/507/htm or visit www.Quantgene.com .

About Quantgene

Over the last six years, Quantgene has emerged as a technology leader in single-molecule precision sequencing. The company combines deep genomic, cloud and AI technologies with innovative preventative medicine systems to protect patients better against cancer. Its mission is to extend the healthy human lifespan by 10 years within the next 10 years.

SOURCE Quantgene

Related Links

quantgene.com


WASHINGTON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Research is increasingly dependent upon research computing and data (RCD) infrastructure and services, and researchers are struggling to keep pace with the explosion of data and the rapidly evolving computing landscape. Having access to RCD professionals who have both the technology expertise and understanding of research workflows is invaluable to a researcher, but institutions face challenges recruiting and retaining RCD professional staff, and in building and sustaining effective RCD support services.

With a focus on advocacy, training, and workforce development, a team from Harvard, Internet2, UC San Diego, and the University of Utah have been awarded a nearly $1.5 million, two-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to address these challenges.

This NSF-funded Cyberinfrastructure Centers of Excellence (CI CoE) pilot will develop a Research Computing and Data Resource and Career Center that provides institutions and individuals with the products, tools, services, and community to build and sustain successful RCD operations. A key component of this effort is to help expand the development of new RCD professionals and to support them throughout their careers.

"We want to recruit more people in the research computing and data profession, and ensure that they have the tools and professional development opportunities to succeed at doing their jobs," says Dana Brunson, executive director for research engagement at Internet2, and the grant's principal investigator. "We will also bring together organizations that support RCD professionals across the larger ecosystem. We want to openly collaborate with them on the development of a shared voice that advocates for this new profession, and work together to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion."

Building upon the success of the NSF-supported Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC) , the grant will support a more robust and sustainable implementation of the RCD Capabilities Model that provides an assessment framework, support for benchmarking and strategic planning, and a community dataset to understand the landscape of RCD support.

Among the goals of the pilot program is to develop resources for staff training and workforce development, including leading practices for recruitment, onboarding, advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, professional development, and proven models for student internship and training programs.

"The research computing and data roles are not well understood and supported by institutions, and this has made recruitment and retention of top talent very challenging," says Patrick Schmitz, founder and principal consultant at Semper Cogito Consulting and co-principal investigator on the grant. "There is a real need to implement structural changes, to provide training and resources that will expand the pipeline into these roles, and to advance the profession as a whole."

In addition to training and workforce development, the Resource and Career Center pilot will create and share a model of career arcs for RCD professionals to explain career options and help existing RCD professionals explore professional development and advancement opportunities.

The team plans to use the pilot period to facilitate the creation of a coordinating organization that connects all the relevant communities that can benefit from RCD support, and to develop a shared voice for RCD professionals, with plans for a fully operational Center of Excellence.

"Research computing and data professionals are a force multiplier in accelerating research outcomes, and this grant is helping us bring together research communities to create a shared framework so that we can collectively build and sustain a wide range of support services for this profession," adds Scott Yockel, university research computing officer at Harvard University and co-principal investigator on the grant.

Additional co-principal investigators on the grant are Claire Mizumoto, director, research IT services at UC San Diego, and Thomas Cheatham, professor of medicinal chemistry and director, center for high performance computing at the University of Utah.

More information can be found on the NSF Award page.

About Internet2

Internet2 is a non-profit, member-driven advanced technology community founded by the nation's leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 serves 320 U.S. universities, 59 government agencies, 45 regional and state education networks and through them supports more than 100,000 community anchor institutions, over 1,000 InCommon participants, and 54 leading corporations working with our community, and 70 national research and education network partners that represent more than 100 countries.

Internet2 delivers a diverse portfolio of technology solutions that leverages, integrates, and amplifies the strengths of its members and helps support their educational, research and community service missions. Internet2's core infrastructure components include the nation's largest and fastest research and education network that was built to deliver advanced, customized services that are accessed and secured by the community-developed trust and identity framework.

Internet2 offices are located in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Denver, Colo.; Washington, D.C.; and West Hartford, Conn. For more information, visit www.internet2.edu or follow @Internet2 on Twitter.

About Harvard University

Harvard is at the frontier of academic and intellectual discovery. Those who venture hereto learn, research, teach, work, and growjoin nearly four centuries of students and scholars in the pursuit of truth, knowledge, and a better world. Harvard has 12 degree-granting Schools and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, and also offers countless non-degree opportunities for professional and lifelong learners, including executive education, continuing education, and online courses. As a research university and nonprofit institution, Harvard is focused on creating educational opportunities for people from many lived experiences.

About Semper Cogito Consulting

Semper Cogito provides strategic technology consulting in Academic Research IT, Museums, Archives, and Research collections. We draw upon decades of experience across start-up, large company, and not-for-profit organizations. Semper Cogito is actively engaged with the research computing and data community through organizations like the Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC).

Semper Cogito is based in Berkeley, CA. For more information, visit sempercogito.com .

About UC San Diego

At the University of California San Diego, we embrace an inclusive culture of exploration and experimentation. Established in 1960, UC San Diego has been shaped by exceptional scholars who are not afraid to look deeper, challenge expectations and redefine conventional wisdom. As one of the top 20 research universities in the world and the only academic medical center in San Diego, we are driving innovation and change to advance society, improve the health of our community, propel economic growth and make our world a better place. Learn more at www.ucsd.edu .

About University of Utah

The University of Utah is the state's flagship institution of higher education, with 18 schools and colleges, more than 100 undergraduate and 90 graduate degree programs, and an enrollment of more than 32,000 students. In 2019, the university was selected as a new member of the Association of American Universitiesan invitation-only, prestigious group of 65 leading research institutions marked by excellence in academic expertise and research impact, student success, and securing resources in support of core missions.

SOURCE Internet2

Related Links

http://www.internet2.edu


Gomez said this about her book: "This sad and beautiful story lived by an immigrant expresses the intense moments that she had to go through when traveling through eight countries in America in order to reach the American dream. They were 41 days, 984 hours, and 59,040 minutes lived with high intensity. This young woman, together with her little daughter barely three years old, her husband, her brother-in-law, and three relatives of the latter ran the hard adventure. It sounded like a movie they were going through. It is the story of an emigrant of Cuban origin, one of the thousands who have traveled by land, seas, rivers, and air, difficult roads to achieve their dreams. It's about survival, bravery, diversity, hatred, despair, regret, and perseverance. These characters have realized that there is only one life and have taken risks throughout history. In 41 days she met many people (bad, good, regular), suffered assaults, abuse of power by one of the governments of a country, persecution, and even illness. She came to think that her family was destroyed and separated from her, but, in the end, what did not kill her made her stronger and united. In her trajectory, she faced people who did not achieve their goal of reaching the end or died in the cause."

Published by Page Publishing, Ruby Gomez's new book Travesia 41 Dias follows a woman's unrelenting moments in life as a hopeful immigrant seeking solace and opportunity in a foreign country.

Consumers who wish to immerse themselves in a thought-provoking narrative about immigrant life can purchase Travesia 41 Dias in any bookstore or online at Apple iTunes, Amazon.com, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries, you can contact Page Publishing, through the following number: 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional full-service publishing house that handles all of the intricacies involved in publishing its authors' books, including distribution in the world's largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not bogged down with complicated business issues like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and the like. Its roster of authors can leave behind these tedious, complex, and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at www.pagepublishing.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1526495/Ruby_Gomez.jpg

SOURCE Page Publishing

Related Links

https://www.pagepublishing.com


"As guests return to enjoy our beautiful Caribbean, World Oceans Day is a reminder that its beauty and health is our responsibility," says SRI Executive Chairman and The Sandals Foundation Founder and President, Adam Stewart. "Over the next ten years, we [The Sandals Foundation] have promised to develop and implement conservation efforts, engaging more than 100,000 people in educational efforts, planting 30,000 coral fragments and seeing thousands of turtle hatchlings to the sea."

According to Stewart, a sixth-generation Jamaican, preservation of the Caribbean is personal. "The Caribbean is our home and the sea, the center of our lives. Inviting visitors to join in our efforts to preserve and protect all that it offers is a privilege and an opportunity to share why we are so passionate about it and take it very seriously."

Participate in Caribbean Turtle Conservation

From May to December, endangered sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs along Caribbean beaches. With locally based partners such as the Oracabessa Foundation in Jamaica, visitors can take part in the Sandals Foundation and SRI's efforts to reduce the loss of turtle nests due to predators and unfavorable weather conditions and once hatched, help vulnerable baby turtles make their way to the sea.

Last year, SRI and the Sandals Foundation assisted in the release of 18,940 hatchlings. This year, Sandals plans to see anywhere from 16,000 to 23,000 hatchlings venture into the Caribbean Sea, and invites visitors to take part in Island Routes' Turtle Watching Experience, where visitors of Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts in Ocho Rios work with local turtle conservation authorities and help monitor thousands of fresh hatchlings as they journey into the sea.

Rebuilding Reefs

Across the world's oceans and seas, coral reefs, which essential to maintaining biodiversity and standing as a protective coastal barrier, are dying. In the Caribbean, The Sandals Foundation has partnered with CARIBSAVE and Coral Restoration

Foundation International to help build Caribbean coral nurseries and support one of the most valuable preservation methods: coral outplanting.

Guests of any Sandals Resort in St. Lucia can join an introductory course in coral outplanting and learn the science of nurseries during their stay. Once familiarized with the basic skills and knowledge required to successfully propagate corals in underwater nurseries, PADI certified guests can take their new learnings into the sea on a specialized dive to put their new skills to work saving Caribbean coral reefs.

Additionally, coral fragment planting by Sandals team members and guests in St. Lucia has already contributed to the three new nurseries in the Caribbean, each of which will grow up to 2,000 corals per year to be replanted into dying reefs.

Curtail Invasive Lionfish Population

The lionfish population, while strikingly beautiful, is invasive and highly destructive to the biodiversity of Caribbean waters. With no natural predators and the ability to consume marine life twice its size, lionfish destroy coral reefs and prey on more than 70 species of fish. The Sandals Foundation Marine Wardens and Watersports Team, an authorized and highly educated task force, consistently removes invasive species from marine sanctuaries for conservation purposes.

Divers vacationing at Sandals Resorts or Beaches Resorts, can join a special lionfish hunting dive and earn a PADI certification in lionfish removal through an Invasive Species Tracker specialty certification course. Additionally, Sandals Resorts International sponsors lionfish tournaments to reduce populations and increase awareness of consumption. In fact, guests taking part in a lionfish hunt can have their catch transformed by SRI chefs into a specially prepared lionfish dish.

Stewart says that while World Oceans Day happens only once a year, SRI and the Sandals Foundation support ocean sustainability through strategic on land and on sea programming all year long. In fact, through its ongoing partnership with the nonprofit Oceanic Global Foundation, SRI was the first all-inclusive resort company to eliminate single-use plastic straws and stirrers in 2018 and has continued to work with Oceanic Global to eliminate all single use plastics throughout the organization. "Working to preserve and improve the quality, beauty and bounty of our oceans is an imperative that has direct implications for the livelihood of Caribbean people and of course, the visitors who grace our shores. We really all are in this together," said Stewart.

As part of its standard operating procedure, SRI sources goods and services from companies that share their values concerning ethics and environmental and social responsibility. This includes contracting with fishers who are committed to sustainable catch methods and partnering with companies committed to the health of marine ecosystems. On land, the company employs extensive freshwater, waste management and energy conservation programs; has eliminated hazardous substances, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and is focused on community development and educational programs.

For more information about the work of Sandals Resorts International (SRI) and the Sandals Foundation this World Oceans Day, visit: www.sandals.com and www.sandalsfoundation.com

Sandals Resorts International

Sandals Resorts International (SRI) is the parent company of some of travel's most visible brands including Sandals Resorts, Beaches Resorts, Grand Pineapple Beach Resort, Fowl Cay Resort and Your Jamaican Villas. Founded in 1981 by the late Gordon "Butch" Stewart, SRI is based in Montego Bay, Jamaica and is responsible for resort development, service standards, skills training and day-to-day operations. For more information, visit Sandals Resorts International .

About The Sandals Foundation

The Sandals Foundation is the non-profit arm of Sandals Resorts International (SRI), the Caribbean's leading family-owned resort company. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization was created to continue and to expand upon the charitable work that Sandals Resorts International has undertaken since its founding in 1981 to play a meaningful role in the lives of the communities where SRI operates throughout the Caribbean. The Sandals Foundation funds projects in three core areas: education, community and the environment. One hundred percent of the monies contributed by the general public to the Sandals Foundation go directly to programs benefiting the Caribbean community. To learn more about the Sandals Foundation, visit online at http://www.sandalsfoundation.org

About Oceanic Global

Oceanic Global Foundation engages new audiences in ocean conservation. The non-profit taps into universal passions to raise awareness for issues impacting our oceans and to provide individual and industry solutions that drive positive change. Oceanic Global takes a uniquely creative approach to conservation, creating immersive experiences that engage local communities, amplify the efforts of synergistic groups, generate measurable impact and ignite global action. In 2018 pioneered a toolkit for industry-specific sustainability solutions entitled The Oceanic Standard. Since its launch, the toolkit has been implemented by over 150 leading organizations and institutions worldwide. For more information, please visit www.oceanic.global.

Contact:

Cathy Decker

The Decker/Royal Agency

[email protected]

www.deckerroyal.com

SOURCE Sandals Resorts International

Related Links

https://www.sandals.com


GURUGRAM, India, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

The content services market is anticipated to grow with a CAGR of 18.9% and the Technology Services with a CAGR of 23.9% during the forecast period 2020-2025F.

Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market is anticipated to witness the entry of large number of global content and technology companies in the next few years.

Massive Growth in Population to Drive E-Learning Growth: Saudi Arabia to witness urgent needs for e-learning owing to the massive population growth vis-a-vis the scarcity of teachers in both quantity and quality, including the need to reduce financial burden. Saudi Arabia's population is relatively young thereby increasing the demand for the education market. The lack of higher education facilities in Saudi Arabia is leading to an increased demand for the e-learning services. The country is witnessing an increase in the women learners with family obligations and limitations who wish to avail the e-learning services rather than attend the physical classrooms. To tap this growing need of education the country is witnessing the emergence of both local and global e-learning companies.

Surging Adoption of Technologies to Drive E-Learning Growth: The e-learning market in Saudi Arabia is anticipated to witness an increase in the adoption of technologies to stay up to date the market. The integration of LMS with smart classes across universities and schools in the Kingdom is expected to contribute to the growth of the E-learning market. The implementation of advanced technology services, which can enhance the quality of learning material, is estimated to aid the growth of overall e-learning industry revenues in the future. Integration of processes within the companies and institutions so as to judge the performance of students and employees has become important over the past few years. This is further anticipated to add value to the e-learning technology services industry.

Suring Demand from Corporate Sector: The e-learning market is anticipated to grow in the next few years owing to the rising adoption of e-learning services among the corporate that are more willing to opt for a certification course to develop their skills and knowhow. The e-learning companies have started collaborating with renowned institutions across the world to provide valuable certified courses to their end users. The rising acceptance of e-learning certification courses in the corporate sector in Saudi Arabia is to attracting the individuals to avail such courses from the e-learning companies.

Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication "Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Outlook to 2025: Rising initiatives by the Ministry of Education to Boost the E-Learning Market" believe that the e-learning industry in Saudi Arabia has been growing and is expected that it will expand further owing to the surging internet users, technological advancement in E-learning, increasing Smartphone penetration, Surge in number of distance learning users and various other factors. The market is expected to register a positive CAGR of 21% in terms of revenue during the forecast period 2020-2025F.

Key Segments Covered:-

By Content and Technology Services:



Content Services





Technology Services



By End Users:



Higher Education





K-12





Corporate and Government Sector





Individual/Home User Segment





Others (preparation institutes, vocational colleges and technical training centers)

Key Segments Covered of Content Services Market:-

By Product Category:



Multimedia





Open Courseware





Online Test and Assessment



By Type of Content Format:



Video





Audio





Text



By Source:



M-Learning





MOOCs





SPOC





Gamification



E-Books

Key Segments Covered of Technology Services Market

By Product Category:



Learning Management System (LMS)





Smart Classroom





Smart Authoring Tool



By End Users of LMS:



Higher Education





Corporate Sector





K-12





Others (preparation institutes, vocational colleges and technical training centers)



By Webbased and Installed LMS :



Webbased LMS





Installed LMS

Key Target Audience:-

E-Learning companies



Content companies



Technology companies



Education Institutions



Authoring Tool companies



Private Equity and Venture Capitalist



Industry Associations

Time Period Captured in the Report:-

Historical Period  2015-2020P

2015-2020P

Forecast Period  2020-2025F

2020-2025F Companies Covered:-

Content Companies:



New Horizon





K12





Alwasaet





Bakkah





Udacity





Edx





Nafham





Noon





Integrated Solutions for Business (ISB)





Harf Information Technology





Smartway





Edutacs





Dolf Technologies





Board Middle East (BME)

(BME)



Classera





Edraak





Rawaq.org



Technology Companies:-



Naseej





Innovito





Integrated Solutions for Business (ISB)





Harf Information Technology





Smartway





Edutacs





Dolf Technologies





Board Middle East (BME)

(BME)



Classera





Edraak





Rawaq.org

Key Topics Covered in the Report:-

Ecosystem of E-Learning Market in Saudi Arabia



Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Overview and Genesis



Business Models in Saudi Arabia E-Learning Industry

E-Learning Industry

Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Size by Revenue, 2015-2020P



Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Segmentation



Trends and Developments in Saudi Arabia E-Learning Industry

E-Learning Industry

Issues and Challenges in Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market

E-Learning Market

Decision Making Criteria in Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market

E-Learning Market

Competitive Landscape of Saudi Arabia E-Learning Industry, 2020



Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Future Outlook and Projections, 2020-2025



Analyst Recommendations



COVID-19 impact on Saudi Arabia E-Learning



Corporate E-Learning Companies



K-12 E-Learning Companies



Saudi Arabia LMS Market Size



Future of Saudi Arabia E-Learning



Future of Saudi Arabia LMS Market



Saudi Arabia K-12 Schools



Saudi Arabia Home user of E-Learning



Authoring Tool companies in Saudi Arabia



Licensing Model E-Learning Saudi Arabia



Freemium Model E-Learning Saudi Arabia



Customized Outsourcing Model E-Learning Saudi Arabia



Edx E-Learning Market Revenue



Smartway E-Learning Market Revenue



Naseej E-Learning Market Sales



Harf Information Technology E-Learning Market Size



Dolf Technologies E-Learning Market Size



Classera E-Learning Market Revenue



Edutacs E-Learning Market Revenue



Bakkah E-Learning Market Revenue



K12 E-Learning Market Shares

For more information on the research report, refer to below link:-

Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Outlook to 2025

Related Reports:-

UAE Experiential Learning Market Outlook to 2025- Concentrated Activity Box and E-Learning Segment Paving Ways for International Players to Expand

The activity kit industry in UAE is at its nascent stage and has penetrated <0.5% of its target addressable market. The majority of activity kit subscription providers entered the industry post-2017. The industry experienced double-digit revenue and subscriber growth in the review period. Changing lifestyle with an increasing number of dual working parents and increasing screen time of kids, has led to the need of self-engaging, fun and educational solution such as activity kits.

Kuwait Education Market Outlook to 2022 - by K-12 Education, Higher Education, E-Learning, Vocational Training, Teacher Training, Private Tutor and Test-Preparation Education Market

Kuwait's education market is in its growth stage. Changes and overhauls brought in the overall education curriculum through government interventions & subsidies extended has been a major market support parameter. The two major organizations that oversee the operations of this sector in Kuwait are the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education.

The education market in Kuwait has registered a revenue growth close to close to 6% during 2012-2017. The Ministry of Education allocated KWD 2 billion in the 2016 annual budget for Kuwait's K-12 education sector. This is in line with its Integrated Education Reform Program (2011-2019) and the School Education Quality Improvement Project which are geared towards developing curriculum, improving learning outcomes, encouraging efficient teaching and refining the efficiency of education.

Turkey E-Learning Technology and Content Market Outlook to 2023 - Growing Demand for M-Learning and Higher Use of Videos and Animation to Foster Market Growth

The E-Learning Market in Turkey grew at a positive double digit CAGR between 2013 and 2018. The E-learning market of Turkey is in its nascent phase and is moving towards growth that is boosted by increased internet penetration, increased number of smartphone users and various initiatives undertaken by the Government of Turkey such as FATIH Initiative. The market includes companies providing both technology and content services. The industry is slowly implementing technologies such as AR and VR. The increase in the internet penetration to 65.0% of the total population along with increase in the number of smart phone users to 46.5 million in the year 2018 has given a boost to market revenues.

Malaysia E-Learning Market Outlook 2023  By Technology (LMS, Smart Authoring Tools, Smart Classes) and Content (Multimedia, Online Test, Open Courseware, Simulation Content), By End Users (Universities/ Higher Education, K-12 Schools, Corporate, Home Users)

Malaysia E-Learning Market is in its nascent stage, growing at a CAGR of 16.4%. Malaysia is rich in terms of resources to develop E-Learning content, but outsource the requirements to develop E-Learning technology overseas. The end users are price sensitive and prefer to choose custom features within the LMS and develop custom content that it delivers more value over time. Malaysia is gradually accepting global E-Learning trends such as Gamification, AR, VR and MOOC's. Malaysia MOOC's was established to provide MOOC's compliant with the Malaysian Education Standard and to help higher education students in specific subjects. It currently offers 92 courses and has 391,845 students. The political scenario in Malaysia witnessed a major change when the ruling Party in Malaysia changed in 2018, after 61 years, to Pakapan Harapan, which promises to take efforts into improving the Quality of MOOC's in Malaysia, in the coming years.

India Ed-Tech Driven Career Programs Market Outlook to 2025  Increasing Technological Capabilities of Ed-Tech Companies to Increase Program Enrolments and Spend in Future

The market was observed in its growth stage majorly due to the fact that India has a large working population which is leading the demand for up-skilling & re-skilling programs provided by Ed-tech companies. Also, minimal restrictions on competitive entry allow the entry / presence of numerous players operating on a SPOC model therefore, catering to working professionals, primarily. Government initiatives aimed at increasing the Gross Enrollment Ratio have also played a major role in increasing the adoption for online skilling and vocational training programs. For instance, the government allocated around INR 17,000 crores towards skill based development and employment generation in India.

Contact:

Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing & Communications, Ken Research

[email protected]

+91-9015378249

SOURCE Ken Research
MILWAUKEE, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ademi LLP is investigating QTS Realty Trust (NYSE: QTS) for possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law in its transaction with Blackstone.

Click here to learn how to join the action: https://www.ademilaw.com/case/qts-realty-trust or call Guri Ademi toll-free at 866-264-3995. There is no cost or obligation to you.

Ademi LLP alleges QTS Realty's financial outlook is excellent and yet QTS Realty shareholders will receive only $77. The merger agreement unreasonably limits competing bids for QTS Realty by prohibiting solicitation of further bids, and imposing a termination penalty if QTS Realty accepts a superior bid. QTS Realty insiders will receive millions of dollars as part of change of control arrangements. We are investigating the conduct of QTS Realty's board of directors, and whether they are (i) fulfilling their fiduciary duties to all shareholders, and (ii) obtaining a fair and reasonable price for QTS Realty.

If you own QTS Realty common stock and wish to obtain additional information, please contact Guri Ademi either at [email protected] or toll-free: 866-264-3995, or https://www.ademilaw.com/case/qts-realty-trust.

We specialize in shareholder litigation involving buyouts, mergers, and individual shareholder rights throughout the country. For more information, please feel free to call us. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contacts

Ademi LLP

Guri Ademi

Toll Free: (866) 264-3995

Fax: (414) 482-8001

SOURCE Ademi LLP
PHOENIX, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The SkinSAFE SHOPPERS' CHOICE Awards is the first-ever product award that recognizes popular products that are safe for sensitive skin.

With summer holidays just around the corner, SkinSAFE understands the need for consumers with sensitive skin to be able to find a sunscreen they can confidently slather on without the fear of triggering a reaction.

The experts at SkinSAFE assessed over 1,400 Facial, Body, and Kids/Baby sunscreens to help make it easy to find sunscreens compatible with sensitive skin needs.

"Dermatologists know how important it is for consumers who have skin sensitivities to get the guidance they need to choose the safest options for sun protection. The options are overwhelming," said Aki Hashmi, CEO SkinSAFE. "SkinSAFE is working with experts, including dermatologist James A. Yiannias, M.D. of Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, AZ, to take the guesswork out of the process of identifying products that are effective yet gentle enough to apply to sensitive skin."

INTRODUCING THE 25 SKINSAFE 2021 SUNSCREEN AWARD WINNERS

SkinSAFE SHOPPERS' CHOICE Awards highlight the best-in-class products available for sensitive skin through a comprehensive multi-step process:

Winners must have achieved some of the highest safety and sensitive skin user ratings on SkinSAFEProducts.com .

. Products must meet the SkinSAFE 100% rating, a proprietary tool to assess ingredient formulations compared to real-world dermatology and allergy test results and must be formulated to exclude 100% of the topmost considered skin allergens based on 20 years of clinical data.

Products must have an American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommended SPF equal to 30+.

Top scoring products were chosen and assessed based on consumer engagement and popularity on SkinSafeProducts.com.

All products were independently rated and assessed by SkinSAFE.

"We are delighted to partner with the SkinSAFE team on the inaugural Shopper's Choice Awards. Our SkinSAFE partnership further advances CVS Pharmacy's efforts to provide ingredient transparency on products that support each customer's health journey," said Andrea Harrison, Vice President of Merchandising, Beauty & Personal Care at CVS Health. "The 25 products that received this coveted seal present safe options that our customers with sensitive skin can use with confidence."

5 Key Findings:

More Options Needed for Sensitive Skin of Color:

Over 90% of the safest sunscreen award winners are formulated with mineral filters that may not be aesthetically pleasing for skin types 4, 5 and 6. This highlights the need for new filters that blend better yet are still good for sensitive skin.

Mineral Sunscreens Dominate Face and Body:

76% of the SkinSAFE Shoppers' Choice body sunscreens contain zinc oxide, either alone or in combination with chemical sun filters. Over 70% of SkinSAFE Shoppers' Choice Facial Sunscreen winners were found to contain only mineral-based sun filters and over 84% contain zinc oxide.

Higher Priced Sunscreens Are Not Necessarily Safer:

Over 50% of our top sunscreens can be found at your local drugstore. CVS Health AM Moisturizing Facial Lotion for Normal to Dry Skin SPF30 was one of the winners, highlighting that value brands can also be safe for sensitive skin users.

Sunscreens for Babies/Kids Are Not Necessarily Safer Than Adult Options:

Only 5 sunscreens labeled for babies and kids made the list. SkinSAFE experts found that some sunscreen not labeled for baby and kids were actually perfectly safe for the whole family. Knowing how critical sun protection is early on in life, the SkinSAFE team concluded that either more options are needed for babies and kids, or labeling should be inclusive of the modern family.

More Body Sunscreens That Are Safe for Sensitive Skin Are Needed:

Only 4.5% of brands reviewed make body sunscreens which meet SkinSAFE Shoppers' Choice strict criteria. This indicates a unique opportunity for existing brands and new brands to develop products that not only appeal but are safe for the sensitive skin consumer.

"Our assessment helped identify top sunscreens for consumers with skin sensitivities to consider, and uncovered insights that present opportunities for sunscreen brands to better meet the needs of sensitive skin consumers," says David A. Mays, PharmD, MBA, Chief Scientific Advisor, SkinSAFE.

About SkinSAFE

Developed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic, SkinSAFE helps people with sensitive skin find products that meet their sensitive skin needs, and to avoid products that may contain potential irritants.

SkinSAFE is the first-ever clinically driven ingredient-based recommendation platform for beauty, skincare and household products that analyzes thousands of products and their propensity to cause sensitivities for sensitive skin consumers. SkinSAFE empowers consumers with sensitive skin concerns to find the right products across multiple categories that are safe for their skin.

CONTACT: For more information on the Shopper's Choice Award Program, or to set up an interview with SkinSAFE principals, contact David Mays, PharmD, MBA at [email protected]

SOURCE SkinSAFE Products Inc.
PHILADELPHIA, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Soom Foods, a premium tahini brand, has launched its brand-new Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Sweet Tahini. The spread has the amazing taste and nutritional benefits that Soom Foods is renowned for. With the introduction of the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Sweet Tahini on June 7, Soom Foods is looking forward to people across the country enjoying the new tahini. The new tahini flavor will be available on June 7, 2021, at Soom Foods, Milkstreet, Amazon, and various retail chains and digital outlets.

Soom Foods

The new Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Sweet Tahini is creamy sesame tahini, blended with premium cocoa powder and a touch of sugar for just the right amount of sweetness. The subtle crunch from sea salt offers the perfect blend of salty and sweet we all crave. Slather on toast, use in your favorite smoothie recipe, generously top cakes and cupcakes, or eat out of the jar with the biggest spoon you can find. The new tahini spread has less than half the sugar compared to the leading chocolate spread. It is composed of nutrient-dense sesame seeds sourced from Ethiopia. The deep, rich chocolate flavors are perfectly supplemented by the subtle sea salt crunch. Along with the nutrient benefits of sesame, the tahini spread is naturally nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and kosher. The Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Sweet Tahini contains numerous healthy fats, protein, iron, and calcium.

Amy Zitelman, the co-founder and CEO of Soom Foods, is excited with the introduction of the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Sweet Tahini to accompany the amazing line of Soom Foods' products. The mother of two, innovative entrepreneur, and inspirational female business leader has been featured on the Food and Beverage category of Forbes 30 under 30 class of 2018, and is the author of The Tahini Table, Go Beyond Hummus with 100 Recipes for Every Meal and in Between. Amy's goal of creating healthy, nutritional tahini options that have unbelievable taste has always been her aspiration, and the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Sweet Tahini is a perfect reflection of her goal. Amy Zitelman's business acumen has allowed Soom Foods to grow as a business that provides amazing products with integrity and care.

Soom Foods' new Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Sweet Tahini is the perfect option for tahini-lovers, as well as those who have never tried tahini before. The amazing taste and nutritional benefits are the hallmarks of Soom Foods.

Amy Zitelman, co-founder and CEO of Soom Foods is proud and excited to announce the full launch of the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Sweet Tahini, and looks forward to everyone having the opportunity to enjoy their new, amazing product. The launch of the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Sweet Tahini is an exciting addition to the Soom Foods tahini line, and will be available online and in stores.

Donald Schmidt

Publicity For Good

[email protected]

Related Images

dark-chocolate-sea-salt-sweet.jpg

Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Sweet Tahini

SOURCE Soom Foods
List of persons subject to state protection proposed to be extended in Russia

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

16:45 07/06/2021

MOSCOW, June 7 (RAPSI)  The Law-Making Government Commission has backed a bill extending public protection to all servicemen and employees of Russias Defense Ministry, Interior Ministry, Foreign Intelligence Service and National Guard, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia Vladimir Gruzdev has told RAPSI.

Currently, state protection measures are applied to these persons only in certain cases determined by law such as personal participation in special operations. However, state protection is applied to prosecutors, officers of the Federal Security Service, the Investigative Committee, Bailiff Service and some other bodies without additional requirements, according to Gruzdev.

The bill also stipulates that National Guards troops may be involved in close protection, protection of housing and property of the said individuals.




"We're pleased that SpringML has achieved the Security Specialization in the Google Cloud Partner Advantage Program," said Nina Harding, Chief of Global Partner Programs & Strategy at Google Cloud. "Acquiring this specialization is evidence of SpringML's expertise in building security infrastructure solutions and their continued commitment to helping our customers throughout their digital transformations."

"SpringML is an agent of change to help enterprises rapidly deploy data-driven digital transformation projects," said Girish Reddy, CTO of SpringML. "Using Google Cloud tools, we can ensure that security and privacy compliance are maintained at the highest levels throughout a project implementation."

As enterprises look for new ways to engage with customers, providing creative digital experiences is key. SpringML's portfolio showcases its ability to deliver data-driven digital transformation projects having built applications for enterprises with an agile, iterative, and incremental delivery model.

About SpringML, Inc.

SpringML delivers data-driven digital transformation outcomes with an experimentation and design thinking mindset. We provide consulting and implementation services and industry-specific analytics solutions that deliver high-impact business value from data. SpringML is a premier Google Cloud partner with capabilities to plan, assess, deploy, and manage data-driven engagements. We have been awarded Google Cloud specializations based on our expertise and customer portfolio for Security, Data Management, Application Development, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, and Marketing Analytics.

SOURCE SpringML

Related Links

https://www.springml.com


STOCKHOLM, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Substly has just announced the successful completion of a $370,000 funding round raised from 10 business angels. The Swedish-based SaaS company offers business in over 40 countries worldwide, a tool that makes subscription and user management for companies easier.

The two founders of Substly

Substly's platform helps companies see who is using which subscription, what it costs, and when they will renew, keeping track of costs and sending alerts regarding coming payments that are about to be billed. By gauging the usage rate of digital services by company employees, the platform also allows businesses to easily determine how necessary a subscribed service really is, bringing efficiency gains through the cancellation of unneeded services.

Although Substly was mainly created for keeping track of SaaS (Software as a Service) subscriptions, the platform allows its customers to keep track of all recurring payments. "In fact, Substly allows our customers to keep track of anything that is being bought as-a-service, such as memberships, newspapers, coffee, and other services that are being provided in a recurring payment system that can be managed under one same efficient application," said Felix Sjostedt, Substly's co-founder.

Since Substly launched in early 2020, the service has been growing steadily, and now 10 business angels have committed $370,000 to the platform to further boost its growth.

The idea behind Substly was born in 2018 by Ola Stal and Felix Sjostedt. They were tired of keeping track of cloud services, business subscriptions, users, and costs in Excel. They saw the need for a service that made it possible for companies to gather everything in one place, so they created Substly. "From Xenit's perspective, I recognized the challenge that Substly addresses, and I think this service is timed exactly right," says Linus Lindstrom, owner and CEO of Xenit, and one of the investors in this funding round.

"In five years, it will be as natural for a small or medium-sized company to use a service like Substly as it is for them to have a CRM system. The difficulties with managing the company's cloud services and other subscription services are growing every day, and we see massive potential for Substly to be able to provide value," Ola Stal, CEO of Substly, stated.

The company is already successfully helping countless businesses to efficiently address the challenges of managing digital subscriptions. The invested $370,000 will be used on marketing campaigns to increase awareness about the product, further build brand recognition, and expand its customer base beyond its already wide-reaching geographics.

"This investment will enable us to build awareness that there is a solution to this problem and to demonstrate how companies can benefit from it," Ola Stal further observed.

Contact: Felix Sjostedt, Founder

www.substly.com

Phone: +46730208055

Email: [email protected]

Related Images

ola-and-felix.jpg

Ola and Felix

The two founders of Substly



SOURCE Substly
AUSTIN, Texas, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Hotel Properties, Inc. (NYSE: INN) (the "Company") today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the 110-guestroom Residence Inn by Marriott Steamboat Springs for $33.0 million through its joint venture with GIC. Opened in December 2020, the newly built Residence Inn by Marriott Steamboat Springs is ideally located in close proximity to the base of Mount Werner and Gondola Square, biking and hiking trails, downtown Steamboat Springs, restaurants, shopping, and numerous other attractions.

The hotel is well-positioned to capture strong winter ski demand and summer leisure demand in what has been an extremely high barrier-to-entry market as only six other hotels have opened in the last 20 years, and there are none in any stage of development. In addition to robust peak winter and summer demand, the hotel is also expected to benefit from recurring special corporate and project business that will help balance demand patterns, particularly during shoulder seasons. As the newest hotel in Steamboat Springs and first Marriott-branded extended-stay hotel in the market, the hotel has been able to achieve a significant RevPAR premium of more than 30% compared to its competitive set in the first six months of operation.

Steamboat Springs Expansion

As a participant in the Ikon Pass ski program, Steamboat is one of the top five busiest ski resorts in the United States, hosting more than one million skier visits per year and is poised for meaningful growth in part driven by the significant capital investment planned to improve the mountain. Alterra Mountain Company is the current owner and operator of Steamboat Resort and acquired the mountain in 2017 with a goal of increasing airlift, enhancing summer demand, and building out the mountain base. In April 2021, Alterra announced updated plans to spend $135 million on base area improvements, ski acreage expansion and enhancement of the overall guest experience. Phase 1 of the improvement plan is currently underway which includes gondola upgrades that will improve skier circulation and enhance the overall guest experience by reducing ski lift wait times. In addition, the project investment will increase skiable terrain by approximately 20% to more than 3,600 acres, making Steamboat the second largest skiable area in Colorado. The project is expected to be completed by the start of the 2022/23 winter season.

The Steamboat market is serviced by the Yampa Valley Regional Airport which has recently seen incoming seats increase by 20% and continues to service flights from 15 airports in major markets across the country.

Acquisition Funding and Timing

The Company expects to fund its 51% interest in the joint venture acquisition using approximately $17 million of cash on-hand. After completion of the transaction, the Company expects to have over $425 million of total liquidity and over $150 million of current investment capacity permitted under recent credit facility amendments to pursue future investment opportunities. The transaction is expected to be completed late in the second quarter or early in the third quarter and remains subject to customary closing conditions.

About Summit Hotel Properties

Summit Hotel Properties, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust focused on owning premium-branded hotels with efficient operating models primarily in the Upscale segment of the lodging industry. As of June 7, 2021, the Company's portfolio consisted of 72 hotels, 61 of which are wholly owned, with a total of 11,288 guestrooms located in 23 states.

For additional information, please visit the Company's website, www.shpreit.com, and follow on Twitter at @SummitHotel_INN.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that 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, pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "potential," "intend," "expect," "seek," "anticipate," "estimate," "approximately," "believe," "could," "project," "predict," "forecast," "continue," "plan," "likely," "would" or other similar words or expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and can include future expectations, future plans and strategies, financial and operating projections or other forward-looking information. Examples of forward-looking statements include the following: the Company's ability to realize financial and operational synergies; projections of revenues and expenses or other financial items; descriptions of the Company's plans or objectives for future operations; forecasts of EBITDAre; and descriptions of assumptions underlying or relating to any of the foregoing expectations regarding the timing of their occurrence. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, not all of which are known to the Company and many of which are beyond the Company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the state of the U.S. economy, supply and demand in the hotel industry, and other factors as are described in greater detail in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Unless legally required, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

For information about the Company's business and financial results, please refer to the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" sections of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC, and its quarterly and other periodic filings with the SEC. The Company undertakes no duty to update the statements in this release to conform the statements to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations.

SOURCE Summit Hotel Properties, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.shpreit.com


This is a landmark project for the NSW Government and a once-in-a-century infrastructure investment that will transform Sydney for generations to come, doubling rail capacity between the two CBDs, linking new communities to rail services and supporting employment growth and housing supply. The project is expected to create about 10,000 direct and 70,000 indirect jobs during construction. More facts on the timeline and scope of works for Sydney Metro West can be found at https://www.sydneymetro.info/west/project-overview

This role is additional to Bechtel's current work with Sydney Metro as its Delivery Partner for the Tunnels, Stations and Excavation package on Sydney Metro, City & South West. Bechtel is also the Commonwealth Government's Delivery Partner on the new Western Sydney Airport.

"Sydney Metro West is a vital piece of infrastructure for NSW, and we are honored to be working with the NSW Government and Sydney Metro on this transformational project," said Scott Osborne, Bechtel's General Manager for Asia Pacific.

"Sydney is our Infrastructure headquarters for the Asia Pacific region. This project further reinforces our commitment to infrastructure in NSW and Australia. We look forward to partnering with Sydney Metro, contractors, suppliers and the local workforce to deliver a world class rail line for the people of NSW."

The award builds on Bechtel's near 65-year history of delivering complex mega projects in Australia. Aside from roles on major infrastructure including Sydney Metro and Western Sydney Airport, Bechtel has delivered a number of liquified natural gas mega-projects at Curtis Island, Queensland and Wheatstone, Western Australia, as well as significant work in mining across the country.

About Bechtel

Bechtel is a trusted engineering, construction and project management partner to industry and government. Differentiated by the quality of our people and our relentless drive to deliver the most successful outcomes, we align our capabilities to our customers' objectives to create a lasting positive impact. Since 1898, we have helped customers complete more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries on all seven continents that have created jobs, grown economies, improved the resiliency of the world's infrastructure, increased access to energy, resources, and vital services, and made the world a safer, cleaner place. Bechtel serves the Energy; Infrastructure; Nuclear, Security & Environmental; and Mining & Metals markets. Our services span from initial planning and investment, through start-up and operations. www.bechtel.com

Media contact:

Rod Bruce

Head of Corporate Affairs

and Communications, Asia Pacific

O: +61 2 8197 4212

M: +61 409 637 264

[email protected]

SOURCE Bechtel

Related Links

http://www.bechtel.com


NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Taboola, a global leader in powering recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like, today announced that its registration statement on Form F-4 (the "Registration Statement") in connection with its previously announced proposed business combination ("Business Combination") with ION Acquisition Corp. 1 Ltd. (NYSE: IACA) ("ION") has been declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The Registration Statement provides important information about ION, Taboola and the Business Combination.

ION also announced today a record date of May 7, 2021 (the "Record Date") and a meeting date of June 28, 2021 for its extraordinary general meeting (the "Special Meeting") to approve the Business Combination.

The closing of the Business Combination is subject to approval by ION's shareholders, and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. The Business Combination is expected to close promptly after the Special Meeting.

The meeting will be held at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time, on June 28, 2021, at https://www.cstproxy.com/ionacquisitioncorp1/sm2021. In light of ongoing developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, after careful consideration, ION has determined that the meeting will be a hybrid virtual meeting conducted via live webcast in order to facilitate shareholder attendance and participation while safeguarding the health and safety of its shareholders, directors and management team. To register and receive access to the hybrid virtual meeting, registered shareholders and beneficial shareholders (those holding shares through a stock brokerage account or by a bank or other holder of record) will need to follow the instructions applicable to them provided in the proxy statement.

Important Information

Neither the SEC, any state securities commission or the Israel Securities Authority has approved or disapproved of the securities to be issued in connection with the Business Combination, or determined if the Registration Statement is accurate or adequate.

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events including future financial or operating performance of Taboola.com Ltd. (the "Company"). In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expect", "intend", "will", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "predict", "potential" or "continue", or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company and its management, are inherently uncertain. Uncertainties and risk factors that could affect the Company's future performance and cause results to differ from the forward-looking statements in this presentation include, but are not limited to: the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the proposed transaction involving the Company and ION (such transaction, the "Business Combination"); the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against ION or the Company, the combined company or others following the announcement of the Business Combination; the inability to complete the Business Combination due to the failure to obtain approval of the shareholders of ION or to satisfy other conditions to closing; changes to the proposed structure of the Business Combination that may be required or appropriate as a result of applicable laws or regulations or as a condition to obtaining regulatory approval of the Business Combination; the ability to meet stock exchange listing standards following the consummation of the Business Combination; the risk that the Business Combination disrupts current plans and operations of ION or the Company as a result of the announcement and consummation of the Business Combination; the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the combined company to grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers and retain its management and key employees; costs related to the Business Combination; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the Company's estimates of expenses and profitability and underlying assumptions with respect to shareholder redemptions and purchase price and other adjustments; ability to attract new digital properties and advertisers; ability to meet minimum guarantee requirements in contracts with digital properties; intense competition in the digital advertising space, including with competitors who have significantly more resources; ability to grow and scale the Company's ad and content platform through new relationships with advertisers and digital properties; ability to secure high quality content from digital properties; ability to maintain relationships with current advertiser and digital property partners; ability to make continued investments in the Company's AI-powered technology platform; the need to attract, train and retain highly-skilled technical workforce; changes in the regulation of, or market practice with respect to, "third party cookies" and its impact on digital advertising; continued engagement by users who interact with the Company's platform on various digital properties; the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; reliance on a limited number of partners for a significant portion of the Company's revenue; changes in laws and regulations related to privacy, data protection, advertising regulation, competition and other areas related to digital advertising; ability to enforce, protect and maintain intellectual property rights; and risks related to the fact that we are incorporated in Israel and governed by Israeli law; and other risks and uncertainties set forth in the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in ION's final prospectus relating to its initial public offering dated October 1, 2020, in the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus subject to completion relating to the Business Combination filed with the SEC by Taboola on Form F-4, and in subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").

Nothing in this press release should be regarded as a representation by any person that the forward-looking statements set forth herein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated results of such forward-looking statements will be achieved. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. Neither ION nor the Company undertakes any duty to update these forward-looking statements except as may be required by law.

Additional Information

This communication is being made in respect of the proposed transaction involving Taboola.com Ltd. ("Taboola") and ION Acquisition Corp. 1 Ltd. ("ION"). This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. In connection with the proposed transaction, Taboola has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") a registration statement on Form F-4 that includes a preliminary proxy statement/prospectus subject to completion in connection with ION's solicitation of proxies for the vote by ION's shareholders with respect to the proposed transaction and other matters as may be described in the registration statement. Taboola and ION also plan to file other documents with the SEC regarding the proposed transaction and a definitive proxy statement/prospectus will be made available or mailed to holders of shares of ION's Class A ordinary shares. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION, INVESTORS ARE URGED TO READ THE FORM F-4 AND THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS REGARDING THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. The preliminary proxy statement/prospectus, as well as other filings containing information about Taboola and ION are available without charge at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov). Copies of the definitive proxy statement/prospectus can also be obtained without charge, from Taboola's website at http://www.taboola.com. Copies of the definitive proxy statement/prospectus can be obtained, when available, without charge, from ION's website at http://www.ion-am.com/spac.

Participants in the Solicitations

Taboola, ION and certain of their respective directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees may, under SEC rules, be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from ION's shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction. You can find more information about ION's directors and executive officers in ION's final prospectus dated October 1, 2020 and filed with the SEC on October 5, 2020. Additional information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests is included in the proxy statement/prospectus filed with the SEC on Form F-4. Shareholders, potential investors and other interested persons should read the proxy statement/prospectus carefully when it becomes available before making any voting or investment decisions. You may obtain free copies of these documents from the sources indicated above.

No Offer or Solicitation

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of section 10 of the Securities Act, or an exemption therefrom.

About Taboola

Taboola powers recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like. The company's platform, powered by artificial intelligence, is used by digital properties, including websites, devices and mobile apps, to drive monetization and user engagement. Taboola has long-term partnerships with some of the top digital properties in the world, including CNBC, NBC News, Business Insider, The Independent and El Mundo. More than 13,000 advertisers use Taboola to reach over 500 million daily active users in a brand-safe environment. The company has offices in 18 cities worldwide, including New York and Tel Aviv.

Learn more at www.taboola.com and follow @taboola on Twitter.

SOURCE Taboola

Related Links

http://www.taboola.com


LAS VEGAS, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mermaids from USA, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Israel, Egypt, UK and Australia broadcast live from around the world on June 8th, World Ocean Day. "We have mermaids live in tails interviewing experts at global facilities on WOD. These interviews will be presented to over 25,000 classrooms through our partnership with CILC (Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration)," comments Jeff Weiner, CEO of Fins Magazine.

Mermaids coming to World Ocean Day Mermaids coming to World Ocean Day

The live video interviews will highlight several animals including: the American Eel at the Toronto Zoo, Sea Turtles at Sea Turtle Inc., Stingrays at Ripley Aquarium in Canada, Coral Reefs at Jenkins's Aquariums and little penguins from the National Aquarium of New Zealand.

This is a free live event for everyone. "We are here to help. There is a strong global community of mermaids. The magic of mermaids in tails helps broaden audiences, raise awareness of important issues and present a voice for the sea," continued Mr. Weiner. "We at Fins Magazine are excited to bring this event to the general public and hope to demonstrate that Mermaids can and should be part of conservation and environmental awareness efforts.

Fins Magazine is the largest dedicated mermaid publication, both in print and online.

For information about CILC, Fins and WOD https://www.cilc.org/Interactive-Learning/WorldOceanDay.aspx

For more information about World Ocean Day: https://worldoceanday.org/

Jeff Weiner

702 381 2511

[email protected]

Fins-Magazine.com

SOURCE Fins Magazine
WICHITA, Kan., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Currently under construction in downtown Wichita, the proposed Kansas Health Science Center  Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (KHSC-KansasCOM) is collaborating with Medical Intelligence 10 (MI10) to become the first osteopathic college of medicine to formally utilize MI10's educational modules to deliver curriculum related to advanced technology and medical intelligence.

"This key strategic partnership is vital to the proposed KHSC-KansasCOM's ability to realize its mission to 'train the osteopathic physician of the future to provide effective, empathetic and innovative care to optimize the health of patients and their communities,'" said Dr. Joel Dickerman, dean and chief academic officer of the proposed KHSC-KansasCOM. "The modern osteopathic physician will utilize advanced technologies including AI and data science to deliver care in an effective, efficient, safe, and equitable manner."

The growing consensus among thought leaders in the medical industry is that artificial intelligence will become an integral tool for the next generation of health care providers. But many clinicians today feel ill-prepared to effectively use these new technologies. Recognizing the need to prepare prospective doctors for a changing health care industry, Medical Intelligence 10, a health care artificial intelligence strategy and education advisory group, has begun designing a modern curriculum including AI and advanced technology for medical students.

"Our senior associate dean for academic affairs, Michael Finley, DO, has been working with MI10 for over two years to explore how an AI-based curriculum could be incorporated into medical school training. The MI10 curriculum focus areas will be introduced to proposed KHSC-KansasCOM students in a highly engaging way to equip and empower graduates for the practice of medicine they will eventually enter," said Dr. Dickerman. In addition to AI as an advanced technology, the curriculum will include healthcare economics and finance, entrepreneurship, precision medicine, and leadership to prepare future physicians to provide optimal care in 2040 and beyond.

With the goal of opening for the 2022 academic year, the proposed KHSC-KansasCOM is currently working through the accreditation process. The school will sit in a historic 90-year-old building at 230 E. William and 130 S. Market, and the campus will include an osteopathic skills training center, standardized patient teaching rooms, large lecture halls, small group study rooms, a virtual anatomy lab and much more.

"Our vision is to build a forward-thinking medical school that becomes a world-class training hub for osteopathic physicians. To achieve this goal, we are incorporating a whole-person approach to treatment and care with a curriculum that's innovative, patient-focused and community-based," said Tiffany Masson, Psy.D., president of KHSC.

The proposed KHSC-KansasCOM is an affiliate of TCS Education System, a nonprofit system of colleges advancing student success and community impact. Learn more at kansashsc.org.

About Kansas Health Science Center:

Kansas Health Science Center is a nonprofit organization committed to training well-prepared physicians and health care leaders who will positively contribute to the overall well-being of our communities. With the goal of opening the proposed Kansas Health Science Center - Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2022, KHSC strives to positively impact the health landscape in Wichita and the state of Kansas through directly addressing the disparity in access to healthcare. Learn more at kansashsc.org.

SOURCE Kansas Health Science Center

Related Links

https://kansashsc.org


SAN FRANCISCO, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Thoma Bravo Advantage (NYSE:TBA), ("TBA") reminds all shareholders that the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of TBA (the "Extraordinary General Meeting") to approve the pending business combination between TBA and ironSource Ltd. ("ironSource") is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, at 10:00 am Eastern Time. Holders of TBA's Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares at the close of business on the record date of May 24, 2021 are entitled to notice of the Extraordinary General Meeting and to vote at the Extraordinary General Meeting. Following the consummation of the proposed business combination, ironSource, a leading business platform for the App Economy, is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "IS".

TBA's definitive proxy statement (the "Proxy Statement") was included in the Registration Statement on Form F-4 (the "Registration Statement") filed by ironSource with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which Registration Statement was declared effective by the SEC on May 19, 2021. TBA shareholders are encouraged to read the Proxy Statement and related documents, including, among other things, the reasons for the board of directors of TBA unanimously recommending that shareholders vote "FOR" the business combination and the other proposals set forth in the Proxy Statement.

Whether or not you plan to attend the Extraordinary General Meeting and regardless of the number of shares you may own, we urge all shareholders as of the May 24, 2021 record date to vote FOR all proposals as soon as possible by completing and returning your proxy card. Shareholders as of the record date are encouraged to vote even if they have subsequently sold their shares.

For assistance voting your shares, please contact TBA's proxy solicitor, Morrow Sodali LLC, at (800) 662-5200 (individuals) or (203) 658-9400 (banks and brokers). Questions can also be sent by email to [email protected] . The notice of Extraordinary General Meeting and the Proxy Statement are available at https://www.cstproxy.com/thomabravo/sm2021 .

About Thoma Bravo Advantage

Thoma Bravo Advantage is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purposes of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. Its Class A ordinary shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") under the symbol "TBA." Thoma Bravo Advantage is sponsored by Thoma Bravo Advantage Sponsor LLC, which was formed by individuals affiliated with Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity firm focused on the software and technology-enabled software services sector. Thoma Bravo Advantage was formed for the purpose of executing a business combination in the software industry.

About ironSource

ironSource is a leading business platform that enables mobile content creators to prosper within the App Economy. App developers use ironSource's platform to turn their apps into successful, scalable businesses, leveraging a comprehensive set of software solutions which help them grow and engage users, monetize content, and analyze and optimize business performance to drive more overall growth. The ironSource platform also empowers telecom operators to create a richer device experience, incorporating relevant app and service recommendations to engage users throughout the lifecycle of the device. By providing a comprehensive business platform for the core constituents of the app economy, ironSource allows customers to focus on what they do best, creating great apps and user experiences, while we enable their business expansion in the app economy. For more information please visit www.is.com

Important Information and Where to Find It

This press release relates to a proposed transaction between ironSource and Thoma Bravo Advantage. In connection with the proposed transaction, ironSource filed the Registration Statement with the SEC, which includes TBA's Proxy Statement and certain related documents in connection with Thoma Bravo Advantage's solicitation of proxies for the vote by Thoma Bravo Advantage's shareholders with respect to the proposed transaction, and a prospectus of ironSource. Thoma Bravo Advantage has also filed the definitive Proxy Statement with the SEC.

This communication does not contain all the information that should be considered concerning the proposed transaction and is not intended to form the basis of any investment decision or any other decision in respect of the proposed transaction. Before making any voting or investment decision, investors and security holders are urged to read the Registration Statement, the Proxy Statement and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction as they become available because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction.

The Proxy Statement has been mailed to shareholders of Thoma Bravo Advantage as of May 24, 2021. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement, the Proxy Statement and all other relevant documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC by ironSource and Thoma Bravo Advantage through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov . In addition, the documents filed by ironSource may be obtained free of charge from ironSource's website at http://www.is.com or by written request to ironSource at ironSource Ltd., Derech Menachem Begin 121, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, and the documents filed by Thoma Bravo Advantage may be obtained free of charge from Thoma Bravo Advantage's website at http://www.thomabravoadvantage.com or by written request to Thoma Bravo Advantage, 150 N. Riverside Plaza, Suite 2800, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

Participants in the Solicitation

ironSource and Thoma Bravo and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Thoma Bravo's shareholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Additional information regarding the interests of those persons and other persons who may be deemed participants in the proposed transaction may be obtained by reading the Proxy Statement. You may obtain free copies of these documents as described in the preceding paragraph.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws with respect to the proposed transaction between Thoma Bravo Advantage ("TBA") and ironSource Ltd. ("ironSource"). All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this communication, including statements regarding ironSource's, TBA's or the combined company's future financial position, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "targets," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, ironSource's or TBA's expectations concerning the outlook for their or the combined company's business, productivity, plans and goals for future operational improvements and capital investments, operational performance, future market conditions or economic performance and developments in the capital and credit markets and expected future financial performance, as well as any information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations of the combined company. Forward-looking statements also include statements regarding the expected benefits of the proposed transaction between ironSource and TBA.

Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results or events may differ materially from those projected or implied in those statements. Important factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) the risk that the transaction may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect the price of TBA's securities; (ii) the failure to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the proposed transaction, including the adoption of the merger agreement by the shareholders of TBA and ironSource, the satisfaction of the minimum trust account amount following redemptions by TBA's public shareholders and the receipt of certain governmental and regulatory approvals; (iii) the lack of a third party valuation in determining whether to pursue the proposed transaction; (iv) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement; (v) the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transaction on ironSource's business relationships, performance, and business generally; (vi) risks that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans of ironSource and potential difficulties in ironSource employee retention as a result of the proposed transaction; (vii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against ironSource or against TBA related to the merger agreement or the proposed transaction; (vii) the ability of ironSource to list its ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange; (ix) volatility in the price of the combined company's securities due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive industry in which ironSource operates, variations in performance across competitors, changes in laws and regulations affecting ironSource's business and changes in the combined capital structure; (x) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after the completion of the proposed transaction, and to identify and realize additional opportunities; (xi) ironSource's markets are rapidly evolving and may decline or experience limited growth; (xii) ironSource's reliance on operating system providers and app stores to support its platform; (xiii) ironSource's ability to compete effectively in the markets in which it operates; (xiv) ironSource's quarterly results of operations may fluctuate for a variety of reasons; (xv) failure to maintain and enhance the ironSource brand; (xvi) ironSource's dependence on its ability to retain and expand its existing customer relationships and attract new customers; (xvii) ironSource's reliance on its customers that contribute more than $100,000 of annual revenue; (xviii) ironSource's ability to successfully and efficiently manage its current and potential future growth; (xix) ironSource's dependence upon the continued growth of the app economy and the increased usage of smartphones, tablets and other connected devices; (xx) ironSource's dependence upon the success of the gaming and mobile app ecosystem and the risks generally associated with the gaming industry; (xxi) ironSource's, and ironSource's competitors', ability to detect or prevent fraud on its platforms; (xxii) failure to prevent security breaches or unauthorized access to ironSource's or its third-party service providers data; (xxiii) the global scope of ironSource's operations, which are subject to laws and regulations worldwide, many of which are unsettled and still developing; (xxiv) the rapidly changing and increasingly stringent laws, contractual obligations and industry standards relating to privacy, data protection, data security and the protection of children; and (xxv) the effects of health epidemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

ironSource and TBA caution you against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect current beliefs and are based on information currently available as of the date a forward-looking statement is made. Forward-looking statements set forth herein speak only as of the date of this communication. Neither ironSource nor TBA undertakes any obligation to revise forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs. In the event that any forward-looking statement is updated, no inference should be made that ironSource or TBA will make additional updates with respect to that statement, related matters, or any other forward-looking statements. Any corrections or revisions and other important assumptions and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements, including discussions of significant risk factors, may appear, up to the consummation of the proposed transaction, in TBA's public filings with the SEC or, upon and following the consummation of the proposed transaction, in ironSource's public filings with the SEC, which are or will be (as appropriate) accessible at www.sec.gov , and which you are advised to consult.

Market, ranking and industry data used throughout this communication, including statements regarding market size and technology adoption rates, is based on the good faith estimates of ironSource's management, which in turn are based upon ironSource's management's review of internal surveys, independent industry surveys and publications, including reports by Altman Solon, App Annie, AppsFlyer, Apptopia, eMarketer, Newzoo, Omdia and Sensor Tower and other third party research and publicly available information. These data involve a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates. While ironSource is not aware of any misstatements regarding the industry data presented herein, its estimates involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed above.

SOURCE Thoma Bravo Advantage; ironSource

Related Links

http://www.is.com


DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, addressed today a worldwide audience participating in the 2021 American Jewish Committee Virtual Global Forum. The Global Forum is the leading global Jewish advocacy organization's premier annual event.

In a conversation with Jason Isaacson, AJC Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer, the foreign minister discussed the historic Abraham Accords, UAE-U.S. relations, prospects for advancing Arab-Israeli peace, and the threat of extremism. Isaacson has spearheaded the leading global Jewish advocacy organization's engagement with the UAE and other Gulf Arab states over the past 25 years. He has met with Sheikh Abdullah on multiple occasions.

The minister's remarks came shortly after AJC announced the opening of its first office in an Arab country, in Abu Dhabi. "We are thrilled to have you. We will do anything possible to make your presence here worthwhile," he said. "Hopefully, your presence in the UAE is part of our journey, part of changing mindsets."

"The welcome  in fact, the encouragement  given us to open an office in the UAE has been yet another example of Emirati leadership, its pursuit of regional peace, and its commitment to interfaith understanding and cooperation," Isaacson remarked.

Sheikh Abdullah stressed the pandemic created an opportunity for the breakthrough in UAE-Israel diplomatic relations. "There is recognition that science will play a much bigger role in our thinking going forward. It is only possible when you have successful technological countries, like the UAE and Israel, in the region come together. Such a partnership was due, but COVID has made us move in that direction much faster."

The foreign minister pointed out that the Abraham Accords also were made possible because "Israel made the right decision" on annexation.

And, as with the Egyptian and Jordanian peace treaties with Israel, he affirmed the Abraham Accords would not have been reached without the United States. "We should all be very grateful for the U.S. role."

Peace between the UAE and Israel will be "a people-to-people relationship," evidenced already in the visits of thousands of Israeli tourists and widening cooperation between university researchers in both countries. "Let's keep encouraging the people between our two nations because that's the only way we can show both Israelis and Palestinians this is a way forward where we can all live, not only in peace, but where we thrive," he said.

"I really hope the Abraham Accords can excite the people of the region. This goes beyond peace. It goes to a point where we are partners in seeing a better future for our kids," he declared. To advance Israeli-Palestinian peace "requires leadership and parties understanding what is valuable. This has been missing."

On U.S.-UAE relations, Sheikh Abdullah emphasized that "The U.S. is definitely a friend, a partner that we rely on, not only for security, but in science, technology."

He encouraged the U.S. to stay engaged with the Middle East, noting that Secretary of State Blinken is very active in the region. "I'm thrilled the U.S. still sees value in engaging Israelis and Palestinians, but it will require strategic thinking on both sides" for progress.

"This is a region of opportunity and hope," said Sheikh Abdullah. In October, the UAE will host Dubai Expo, with more than 190 countries participating, including Israel and the U.S. It will be the first time a Muslim-majority country hosts such an event.

On the issue of extremism, the foreign minister expressed concern about the threats posed by radical groups and ideologies, and the way governments across the region and around the world have been responding. "Our threshold in challenging extremism and radical ideas has not been appropriate," Sheikh Abdullah said. "Extremism cannot be acceptable. Hate cannot be acceptable. Making excuses for violence cannot be acceptable."

In a clear reference to Hezbollah and the European Union, he expressed concern that "countries don't talk about Hamas, Hezbollah, Muslim Brotherhood in a clearer matter," and that some governments designate a group's military, not political, wing while that "same entity doesn't make any distinction."

"The question we don't ask enough is how much are we doing in addressing extremism throughout the world," he said. Emiratis and others in the region are "concerned that our kids are radicalized in European capitals."

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

Related Links

http://www.ajc.org


GREENSBORO, N.C., June 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Volvo Trucks North America today announced that employees represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) rejected a new six-year labor agreement covering approximately 2,900 members of UAW Local #2069 at the New River Valley truck assembly operations in Dublin, Virginia.

"We are committed to the collective bargaining process, and remain confident that we will ultimately be able to reach a mutually beneficial agreement," said NRV Vice President and General Manager Franky Marchand.

Negotiations began on February 8, 2021, and the negotiating teams reached the latest tentative agreement on May 20, 2021.

The NRV plant employs more than 3,300 people, about 2,900 of whom are UAW members. The plant is in the midst of a $400 million investment for advanced technology upgrades, site expansion and preparation for future products, including the innovative Volvo VNR Electric truck. The plant has added 1,100 jobs since the last union agreement was implemented in 2016 and is on track to have a net increase of approximately 600 positions in 2021.

Volvo Trucks provides complete transport solutions for professional and demanding customers, offering a full range of medium to heavy duty trucks. Customer support is secured via a global network of dealers with 2,300 service points in more than 130 countries. Volvo trucks are assembled in 13 countries across the globe. In 2020 approximately 94,000 Volvo trucks were delivered worldwide. Volvo Trucks is part of Volvo Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks, buses, construction equipment and marine and industrial engines. The Group also provides complete solutions for financing and service. Volvo Trucks work is based on the core values of quality, safety and environmental care.

June 6, 2021

For further information, please contact John Mies, Volvo Trucks, phone 336-543-9094, email [email protected]

www.volvotrucks.us www.volvotrucks.ca www.volvotrucks.mx

SOURCE Volvo Trucks North America
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United Rheumatology, the pre-eminent rheumatology care management organization known for empowering rheumatologists to advance the standard of care, recently announced a collaboration with Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. to manage the cost and quality of rheumatologic and psoriatic arthritis care provided to Horizon members.

This collaboration places United Rheumatology and Horizon - New Jersey's oldest and largest health insurer - at the epicenter of a value-based program model that incorporates shared decision making between United Rheumatology's affiliated physicians and their patients and the Horizon Episodes of Care team. The two organizations will collaborate to help to improve outcomes, elevate patient experience, and manage the cost of care for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.

"We are excited to partner with Horizon on this unique opportunity and bring our clinicians to the forefront of care management decisions," stated James Albano, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of United Rheumatology. "United Rheumatology engages with innovative health plans that recognize the value community-based physicians bring to managing the overall cost of care," he added.

Despite a number of pharmacological interventions, inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis are difficult to manage and highly problematic for patients. Further, the costs of some therapies can be prohibitive for patients. This partnership allows United Rheumatology and Horizon to effectively use all the available medications in a way that yields improved outcome for patients, lowers toxicity levels, and reduces costs.

"Many New Jersey physicians are eager to find new care paths that can yield better outcomes for patients and frequently lower costs. Partnering with United Rheumatology allows us to find new ways to think about patient care," commented Dr. Steve Peskin, Executive Medical Director Population Health and Transformation for Horizon.

About United Rheumatology: United Rheumatology represents over 660 community-based rheumatologists in 39 states. It does not own or operate rheumatology practices; the practices are all independent. A comprehensive portfolio of physician, patient, and health plan payer offerings, driven by the largest rheumatology electronic medical records clinical database in the US, supports an unparalleled platform for jointly developed coordinated care solutions.

About Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc: Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc., New Jersey's oldest and largest health insurer, serving 3.6 million members with headquarters in Newark and offices in Wall and Hopewell. United Rheumatology is independent from and not affiliated with Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc.

Contact: Bhavna Dhillon

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 704-877-5086

SOURCE United Rheumatology

Related Links

http://www.unitedrheumatology.com


WASHINGTON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of global health experts today called on the Group of Seven (G7) leaders to share at least 1 billion, and aim for 2 billion, vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries by the end of this year, and more urgently help countries distribute and deliver vaccines quickly and equitably across their populations, striving to achieve at least 60%, and ideally 70%, vaccination coverage in every country in 2022.

President Biden and his G7 counterparts will meet at their annual summit on June 11-13 in the United Kingdom, and global vaccination efforts will be on their agenda.

In an Open Letter, representatives of four U.S.-based organizations  Center for Global Development, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), COVID Collaborative, and three units of Duke University  together with the endorsement of renowned global health experts  urged the G7 leaders and member states to use their vaccine expertise and manufacturing capacity to accelerate global access to vaccines while meeting domestic health needs.

The experts said that today's global vaccine gap is a supply problem and also a massive distribution and delivery challenge. There are alarming gaps in vaccine distribution and delivery capacity across much of the world that require urgent attention and more resources. "Delivery capabilities and vaccine hesitancy, not supply, are likely to be the critical bottleneck to vaccinations in most low- and middle-income countries within the next 6 months," the letter said.

The letter highlighted that G7 members have unique resources and capabilities, as well as a legacy of high-impact, collaborative leadership during past crises, and that the coming months are a critical period for leaders to address catastrophic outbreaks in many countries, preempt further growth of the virus elsewhere, and prevent the unchecked spread of the virus from spawning new variants that threaten everyone.

The coalition is asking the G7 leaders to adopt an action plan that includes the following initiatives:

Establish a G7 Vaccine Emergency Task Force, open to additional nations and organizations, to provide transparency, predictability, and accountability to the global sharing of vaccines and the vaccine marketplace. As G7 members develop excess vaccine supplies beyond what is needed for domestic use, accurate projections based on real-time country data will facilitate more effective and coordinated global vaccination distribution and prioritize countries with the most urgent need.

As G7 members develop excess vaccine supplies beyond what is needed for domestic use, accurate projections based on real-time country data will facilitate more effective and coordinated global vaccination distribution and prioritize countries with the most urgent need. Develop and commit to a path to share at a minimum 1 billion doses, with the aim of 2 billion doses, of G7-authorized vaccines before the end of 2021, and ensure the availability of enough doses to enable broad vaccination in every country as soon as possible in 2022 . As supply continues to increase quickly, the G7 and EU should approach dose-sharing with far greater urgency and intensified systematic planning to meet global needs.

As supply continues to increase quickly, the G7 and EU should approach dose-sharing with far greater urgency and intensified systematic planning to meet global needs. Implement a coordinated G7 strategy to immediately increase production of high-quality, well-regulated vaccines, with the goal of further increasing access to these vaccines across the rest of the world. This includes addressing distribution bottlenecks, removing export restrictions and other barriers, and cooperating to provide essential raw materials, equipment and supplies over the next several months.

This includes addressing distribution bottlenecks, removing export restrictions and other barriers, and cooperating to provide essential raw materials, equipment and supplies over the next several months. Accelerate development of high-quality globally distributed manufacturing capacity by bringing together public and private sector stakeholders and using voluntary licensing agreements , with a focus on Africa , Asia outside of India , and Latin America . This effort will require establishing cooperative agreements that provide access to financing through both public and private sources, including USDFC, IFC/World Bank and local private funding. The G7 should set a target to finalize at least five such public-private agreements by the end of 2021, each leading to the establishment of vaccine manufacturing capacity before the end of 2022.

, with a focus on , outside of , and . This effort will require establishing cooperative agreements that provide access to financing through both public and private sources, including USDFC, IFC/World Bank and local private funding. The G7 should set a target to finalize at least five such public-private agreements by the end of 2021, each leading to the establishment of vaccine manufacturing capacity before the end of 2022. Increase bilateral and multilateral technical and financial support to low- and middle-income countries to enhance their vaccine distribution and delivery capabilities, and address vaccine hesitancy, with three specific goals: achieve demonstrated national vaccination preparedness in each country by the end of 2021; strive for at least 60%, and ideally 70%, vaccination in every country in 2022; and avoid significant excess vaccine stockpiles ahead of pandemic control in all nations.

The health experts said the G7 members are on a path to contain the pandemic in their respective countries, and to meet the moment, must work to assure the fastest possible path to access to billions of doses of high-quality vaccines  and ensure local capacity to deliver them  complementing ongoing multinational efforts.

The signatories to the open letter include the following:

Amanda Glassman Executive Vice President, Center for Global Development; CEO of CGD Europe; and Senior Fellow J. Stephen Morrison Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies Gary Edson President, COVID Collaborative Mark McClellan Director, Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, Duke University







Rachel Silverman Policy Fellow, Center for Global Development Katherine Bliss Senior Fellow, Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies John Bridgeland CEO, COVID Collaborative Krishna Udayakumar Director, Duke Global Health Innovation Center, Duke University







Prashant Yadav

Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development Anna McCaffrey

Fellow, Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies Anjali Balakrishna Program Director, COVID Collaborative Michael Merson Wolfgang Joklik Professor of Global Health, Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University









The following individuals have formally endorsed the letter:

Thomas J Bollyky, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

William H. Frist, former US Senate Majority Leader

Helene Gayle, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Chicago Community Trust

Scott Gottlieb, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and former Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration

Margaret (Peggy) Hamburg, former Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, and former Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Medicine

Amb [ret] Jimmy Kolker, former Assistant Secretary, Global Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services

Jack Leslie, Chairman, Weber Shandwick

Jennifer Nuzzo, Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Carolyn Reynolds, Co-Founder, Pandemic Action Network, and Senior Associate, Global Health Policy Center, CSIS

The full text of the Open Letter can be viewed here.

SOURCE COVID Collaborative
SALT LAKE CITY, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- USANA extends a huge congratulations to its Director of Human Resources Sheena Blauvelt for being honored by Utah Business Magazine with their HR Achievement Award. Sheena was awarded for her outstanding human resources work with USANA and its employees.

This award recognizes extraordinary individuals who are changing the way we hire, develop, nurture, and retain Utah's best talent. An event to honor these recipients will be held June 8, 2021.

Sheena Blauvelt, Director of Human Resources

"We are beyond grateful to have someone like Sheena on our team," says Paul Jones, USANA's chief people officer. "Sheena brings great knowledge and skills to USANA and she has made a tremendous impact. I have truly enjoyed watching her grow. Congratulations to Sheena on her incredible award, and a special thanks to everyone on our HR team for their dedication to make USANA one of the best places to work."

Sheena joined USANA as the leadership development business partner in 2017. In this role, she became the driving force to implement new programs and develop USANA's leaders as the best in the world. Recently promoted to director of human resources, Sheena continues to focus on leadership development, along with taking the lead on recruitment efforts and employee recognition.

Through her career, Sheena has accumulated a wealth of industry and company-specific knowledge. Always with a goal-orientated mindset, she's committed to foresee and implement workplace trends by networking with top individuals in the HR community.

"It's such a great honor to receive this HR Achievement award," says Blauvelt. "I love working for USANA, and I am so thankful for this recognition. Being able to help improve the lives and futures of my coworkers is so rewarding for me, and I wouldn't be where I am without their support and the support from USANA's management team."

To find out more about USANA and its leadership team, please visit USANA.com.

About USANA

USANA (NYSE:USNA) prides itself in providing consumers the highest quality nutritional products in the world. From its award-winning supplements to its innovative skincare line, USANA has proven for more than 25 years why it's a company you can trust. How about giving us a try? Shop at USANA.com or learn more at http://whatsupUSANA.com/.

Media Contact: Ashley Collins

Executive Vice President of Marketing

(801) 954-7629

media(at)us.usana(dot)com

SOURCE USANA

Related Links

http://www.usana.com


WASHINGTON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History announced today a major bequest to establish a permanent position for a curator of food and wine history. The $4 million gift from Warren and Barbara Winiarski, and the Winiarski Family Foundation, of Napa, California, comes 25 years after the Winiarskis provided initial funding for the museum to launch a research and collecting initiative on the history of American wine and winemaking. That initiative has expanded to become the widely recognized "American Food History Project," the museum's dynamic, transdisciplinary program that, in concert with diverse audiences and partners, explores American history through the all-encompassing lens of food.

The new position will be known as the "Winiarski Curator of Food and Wine History" and will ensure the continuation of the museum's robust research, collecting, exhibition and programming activities in food and beverage history.

"We are delighted and so very grateful to the Winiarskis for their vision of documenting the impact of viniculture and the evolution of American winemaking and accompanying food culture to ensure its central place in U.S. history," said Anthea M. Hartig, the museum's Elizabeth MacMillan Director. "Their support over the decades and this generous bequest will sustain and enhance the nuanced and central place of food and wine history for the benefit of our many audiences."

"Barbara and I are delighted to witness the light that grew brighter from the small spark we ignited with our first gift to the museum 25 years ago," Winiarski said. "Our hopes then focused on restoring wine to the pre-Prohibition esteem it had once enjoyed. Inspired by the opinions of our Founding Fathers when we made our initial gift to the Smithsonian, little did we envision the major, more encompassing, food history project that spark engendered. By endowing a dedicated curatorial position, we are supporting its sustainability beyond our own lifetimes and the title of the position, Curator of Food and Wine History, represents the fulfillment of our original hopes."

To support the curatorial position with funding for ongoing research, collecting and programming, the museum is launching the "25 at 25 Initiative: Food Fund for the Future" to sustain the American Food History Project. With the goal of raising at least 25 gifts of $25,000 or more, the museum has secured a lead donation from the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. That gift commemorates another foundational milestone in the museum's exploration of food history, the acquisition of Julia Child's kitchen 20 years ago. The kitchen is central to the museum's "Food: Transforming the American Table" exhibition.

The culmination of the museum's 2021 food history offerings will be a hybrid fall event hosted by the museum Nov. 4 that will accompany the presentation of the 2021 Julia Child Award by the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. The museum and the foundation will release more details later this summer.

The 25 at 25 Initiative will also create new opportunities for the museum to work with individuals and communities on documenting, collecting and presenting food history to wider audiences. The museum's "Kitchen Cabinet," composed of chefs, food historians, authors, and other industry professionals, advises the museum's Food and Wine History Project.

Through incomparable collections, rigorous research and dynamic public outreach, the National Museum of American History seeks to empower people to create a more just and compassionate future by examining, preserving and sharing the complexity of our past. As the nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum is currently open Friday through Tuesday between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Located on Constitution Avenue N.W., between 12th and 14th streets, admission is always free, but reserved timed-entry passes are required. To make reservations, visit https://www.si.edu/visit or http://americanhistory.si.edu. For Smithsonian information, the public may also call (202) 633-1000.

Explore the museum's social media on Twitter (@amhistorymuseum), Facebook (@National Museum of American History) and Instagram (@amhistorymuseum). #SmithsonianFood

SOURCE Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
MyHealth Partners Inc. (" MyHealth ") is a leading specialty care, telehealth services and accredited diagnostic health services provider that owns and operates 48 locations across Ontario .

") is a leading specialty care, telehealth services and accredited diagnostic health services provider that owns and operates 48 locations across . MyHealth is a Canadian healthcare powerhouse that has grown at a 40% revenue and EBITDA (1) CAGR over the past five years, including a 15% organic growth rate over that period and has completed 25 acquisitions in the past eight years.

CAGR over the past five years, including a 15% organic growth rate over that period and has completed 25 acquisitions in the past eight years. This foundational acquisition positions WELL as the largest owner-operator of outpatient medical clinics in Canada with 74 combined clinics.

with 74 combined clinics. Approximately 75% of MyHealth's medical consultations are conducted via telehealth, which when combined with WELL's multiple telehealth businesses will make WELL the leading multi-disciplinary telehealth service provider in Canada .

. Post transaction, the MyHealth acquisition is expected to generate proforma revenues of approximately C$100M (2) with EBITDA (1) margins of approximately 20% in 2021. Upon closing, WELL's combined revenue will be expected to approach C$400M and C$100M in EBITDA (1) on a run-rate basis.

with EBITDA margins of approximately 20% in 2021. Upon closing, WELL's combined revenue will be expected to approach and in EBITDA on a run-rate basis. The purchase price due upon closing of C$206M is fully funded via a combination of WELL shares (priced at C$9.80 /share), vendor takeback financing, and new senior credit facilities to be provided by a syndicate of banks led by The Royal Bank of Canada leveraging exclusively the collateral of the MyHealth asset itself. The deal reflects accretion of 20% and 28% on an EBITDA per share and Revenue per share basis respectively with less than 5 percent dilution.

VANCOUVER, BC, June 7, 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 it has entered into a definitive share purchase agreement dated June 4, 2021 (the "Agreement") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of MyHealth Partners Inc (the "Transaction") for a total transaction value of C$206M plus a future conditional earn-out of up to C$60M. MyHealth provides primary care, specialty care, telehealth services and accredited diagnostic health services from 48 locations across Ontario.

Hamed Shahbazi, Chairman and CEO of WELL commented, "The planned acquisition of MyHealth cements WELL's position as a foundational leader in the Canadian healthcare marketplace. Once completed, WELL will be the largest and most capable non-governmental owner-operator of outpatient medical clinics in Canada. WELL will have meaningful capabilities across primary and secondary care along with robust diagnostic facilities and capabilities. MyHealth is a tech enabled and forward-thinking network delivering roughly three quarters of its medical consultations via telehealth. To our knowledge, this will position WELL as the leading multi-disciplinary provider of telehealth services in Canada due to the breadth and depth of primary and secondary healthcare service offerings including a substantial telecardiology and teleradiology program. Once the transaction has closed, WELL's combined annualized revenue and EBITDA run-rates will approach C$400M and C$100M respectively."

MyHealth Acquisition Highlights:

With the proposed acquisition of MyHealth, WELL will become the largest owner-operator of outpatient medical clinics in Canada providing primary, specialty and diagnostic healthcare services. Founded in 2013 and boasting 48 locations across Ontario, MyHealth has over 760 physicians and other healthcare professionals providing patient services. For the twelve months ended March 31, 2021, MyHealth recorded over 500,000 patient visits including primary, specialty, telehealth, and diagnostic visits. MyHealth offers medical consultations both in-person and through telehealth, as well as diagnostic services related to cardiology, women's health, bone/muscle health and cancer diagnostics. MyHealth has been growing rapidly over the past five years, with a 40% CAGR in both revenue and EBITDA. This growth reflects 15% organic growth rate over that same 5-year period plus a disciplined and successful acquisition program with 25 completed deals over the past eight years.

Post-closing, MyHealth will become a WELL subsidiary and business unit and will be operated by its current staff led by Suresh Madan, who currently serves as MyHealth's CEO. WELL's proposed acquisition of MyHealth has the following positive elements:

Extensive Practitioner and Referral Network. MyHealth adds approximately 160 physicians and 600+ other healthcare professionals to WELL's platform including general practitioners, nurse practitioners, and specialists covering a myriad of specialty areas (e.g. cardiology, rheumatology, vascular surgery, radiology, and echocardiography). Post-closing, WELL is expected to have one of the largest networks of physicians in Canada. MyHealth's 48 accredited diagnostic facilities provide OHIP-covered speciality services to over 10,000 referring physicians.

MyHealth adds approximately 160 physicians and 600+ other healthcare professionals to WELL's platform including general practitioners, nurse practitioners, and specialists covering a myriad of specialty areas (e.g. cardiology, rheumatology, vascular surgery, radiology, and echocardiography). Post-closing, WELL is expected to have one of the largest networks of physicians in Canada. MyHealth's 48 accredited diagnostic facilities provide OHIP-covered speciality services to over 10,000 referring physicians. Telehealth-First Approach. Approximately 75% of MyHealth's medical consultations are currently being completed via telehealth. MyHealth has a well-established "bricks-and-clicks" approach to healthcare delivery. MyHealth's telehealth service focuses on, telecardiology, teleradiology, and soon diabetes, kidney and pain care making MyHealth the largest secondary or specialty care telehealth provider in Canada , and WELL the leading multi-disciplinary telehealth service provider in Canada .

Approximately 75% of MyHealth's medical consultations are currently being completed via telehealth. MyHealth has a well-established "bricks-and-clicks" approach to healthcare delivery. MyHealth's telehealth service focuses on, telecardiology, teleradiology, and soon diabetes, kidney and pain care making MyHealth the largest secondary or specialty care telehealth provider in , and WELL the leading multi-disciplinary telehealth service provider in . Tech-Enabled Operations. MyHealth embraces digital health tools and technologies including software to drive referrals, patient portal access to radiology records, mobile booking app for patients and a proprietary business intelligence system to drive centralized decisions. MyHealth's doctors already use WELL's OSCAR Pro EMR to support its primary care services and is integrated with Insig Health's proprietary workflow and patient in-take platform. WELL expects significant digital cross-collaboration opportunities going forward.

MyHealth embraces digital health tools and technologies including software to drive referrals, patient portal access to radiology records, mobile booking app for patients and a proprietary business intelligence system to drive centralized decisions. MyHealth's doctors already use WELL's OSCAR Pro EMR to support its primary care services and is integrated with Insig Health's proprietary workflow and patient in-take platform. WELL expects significant digital cross-collaboration opportunities going forward. Significant Financial Resilience and Accretion. MyHealth experienced strong performance during the pandemic as its revenue model demonstrated resilience to downturns and other seasonal factors. MyHealth is expected to generate annual proforma revenues of approximately C$100M (2) with EBITDA (1) margins of approximately 20% in 2021. The Transaction is expected to drive significant financial accretion for WELL including 20% accretion on an EBITDA per share basis and 28% accretion on a Revenue per share basis in 2021 (pro forma).

MyHealth experienced strong performance during the pandemic as its revenue model demonstrated resilience to downturns and other seasonal factors. MyHealth is expected to generate annual proforma revenues of approximately with EBITDA margins of approximately 20% in 2021. The Transaction is expected to drive significant financial accretion for WELL including 20% accretion on an EBITDA per share basis and 28% accretion on a Revenue per share basis in 2021 (pro forma). M&A Approach Complements WELL's Disciplined Capital Allocation Program. MyHealth is Canada's largest and fastest growing consolidator of specialty medicine and diagnostic centers, successfully completing 25 acquisition transactions of a combined 33 independent clinics over the past eight years. MyHealth is expected to continue to pursue its accretive M&A program after the proposed acquisition by WELL and has an active pipeline including 125 potential targets.

"All of our physicians and medical professionals are excited to join WELL due to the vision and dedication of the WELL team to positively impact health outcomes by leveraging technology. We have already integrated with and are using a number of WELL's technology solutions and are looking forward to deepening our collaboration," says Suresh Madan, President and CEO of MyHealth. "MyHealth has been focused on delivering timely information to our patients and physicians in our healthcare system. This is especially true at a time where physicians using telemedicine rely so heavily on our diagnostic tools and services. We have always been intentional about leveraging technology to drive positive changes to health outcomes. Joining forces with WELL will allow us to further develop and implement technologies to cut wait times and further optimize healthcare experiences for patients."

Transaction Details: (all figures are in Canadian Dollars)

Under the terms of the Agreement, the total consideration payable by WELL in connection with the Transaction is up to C$266.3M which will be paid as follows: (i) $82M in cash on the closing date, subject to customary closing adjustments; (ii) $94.3M through the issuance of 9.6M common shares in the capital of the Company on the closing date at a deemed price per share of $9.80 per share, which represents a 38.1% premium to the volume weighted average trading price of the Company's common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("VWAP") for the five trading days preceding the date of this announcement of approximately $7.10/share, subject to adjustment as described below. These shares will be subject to certain volume based voluntary resale restrictions as provided in the Agreement ; (iii) a convertible promissory note in the principal amount of $30M issued by WELL maturing in three $10M tranches on the third, sixth and ninth months following the closing date of the transaction and repayable in cash, WELL common shares, or a combination of both, at WELL's discretion; and (iv) a four-year performance-based earn-out of up to $60M, payable in cash, WELL common shares or a combination of both, at WELL's discretion. The performance-based earn-out is driven by maintaining and enhancing the company's profitability. If the earn-out is fully achieved, it will result in a purchase multiple that is materially lower than the purchase multiple at the time of closing. If the VWAP of the Company's common shares for the five trading days preceding the closing date of the transaction is higher or lower than $7.10, then the number of common shares issuable on the closing date will be adjusted in direct inverse proportion to such difference in price.

Closing of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including regulatory approvals from the TSX, and the Ontario Ministry of Health, which are currently expected to be obtained in Q3-2021.

The Royal Bank of Canada is acting as lead arranger and bookrunner leading a syndicate of five other banks for the new senior credit facility. The collateral for the debt financing is exclusively leveraging the MyHealth asset itself.

Advisors and Counsels:

Eight Capital is acting as lead financial advisor to WELL, with Stifel GMP also provided advisory services to WELL on the Transaction. Clark Wilson LLP, Torys LLP and Dentons are acting as legal counsel to WELL on the transaction. Blakes LLP is acting as legal counsel to WELL on the financing. Deloitte Corporate Finance Inc. and Gowling WLG (Canada) are acting as financial and legal advisor counsel to MyHealth Partners Inc. respectively.

Conference Call Details:

WELL will be hosting a video conference call webinar for investors and analysts to discuss the Acquisition. Please see details below to participate:

Date: Monday, June 7, 2021 Time: 9am PST (12 noon EST) Webcast: https://www.well.company/for-investors/events/ Dial-in: 647-558-0588 (Toronto Local), 778-907-2071 (Vancouver Local) Confirmation number: 959 8490 1232

Footnotes:

1) Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") and EBITDA margin (EBITDA divided by revenue) are each Non-GAAP measures. EBITDA and EBITDA margin should not be construed as alternatives to net income/loss determined in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). EBITDA does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. The Company believes that EBITDA is a meaningful financial metric as it measures cash generated from operations which the Company can use to fund working capital requirements, service future interest and principal debt repayments and fund future growth initiatives. For EBITDA reconciliation to Net income, please refer to the Company's most recent Management Discussion and Analysis on Sedar.com. EBITDA margin is EBITDA as a percentage of total revenue. 2) MyHealth proforma revenues includes the sum total of all MyHealth subsidiaries and acquisitions for the 12 month period ending December 31, 2021.

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 global 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 provides various products and services that have supported thousands of Gastroenterology physicians in the US. 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 Canadian telehealth service, visit: tiahealth.com, and for corporate information, visit: www.well.company.

About MyHealth

MyHealth is one of Canada's largest and fastest growing primary and specialty healthcare providers with a network of diagnostic centers across Ontario. MyHealth's experienced team of physicians and healthcare professionals provide exceptional cardiology, x-ray, ultrasound, mammography, bone density related diagnosis. MyHealth operates a "bricks and clicks" model which leverages its telehealth platform to drive referral opportunities to its brick-and-mortar diagnostic business. MyHealth also operates the brands MyDoctorNow, CardiologyNow and RadiologyNow. MyHealth recognizes employees as its most valuable asset and focuses its talent development strategy around employee engagement, empowerment and continuous training. As such MyHealth is the recipient of numerous awards including Accreditation with Commendation from Accreditation Canada, Great Place to Work (since 2017), the Globe and Mail's Top Growing Company (2019 and 2020), Waterstone Canada's Most Admired Corporate Culture 2020, Maclean's Magazine's list of Canada's Best Managed Companies 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and the 2021 Consumer Choice Award for best Diagnostic Imaging Clinics in the Greater Toronto Area.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this news release related to the Company are forward-looking statements and are prospective in nature including the statements regarding the completion and timing of the proposed acquisition, the Company's expansion plans and the expected impact of the acquisition on the Company; that the MyHealth acquisition is expected to generate proforma revenues of approximately C$100M, with EBITDA(1) margins of approximately 20% in 2021; that WELL will be the largest and most capable non-governmental owner-operator of outpatient medical clinics in Canada upon completion of the acquisition; that the acquisition will position WELL as the leading multi-disciplinary provider of telehealth services in Canada; that WELL will be the largest owner-operator of outpatient medical clinics in Canada providing primary, specialty and diagnostic healthcare services; that following the acquisition MyHealth will be a division of WELL operated by its current staff led by Suresh Madan; that the acquisition of MyHealth will add approximately 160 physicians and 600+ other healthcare professionals to WELL's platform and that WELL will have one of the largest network of doctors in Canada; that WELL and MyHealth will have significant digital cross-collaboration opportunities going forward; that MyHealth is expected to generate annual revenues of C$100M with EBITDA margins of approximately 20% in 2021 and that the Transaction is expected to drive significant financial accretion for WELL including 20% accretion on an EBITDA per share basis and 28% accretion on a Revenue per share basis; that MyHealth is expected to continue to pursue its accretive M&A program after the proposed acquisition by WELL and joining forces with WELL will allow MyHealth to further develop and implement technologies to cut wait times and further optimize healthcare experiences for patients; and that if the earn-out is fully achieved, it will result in a purchase multiple that is materially lower than the purchase multiple at the time of closing. 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" or the negative thereof or similar variations. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including: risks that the conditions to completion of the acquisition will not be satisfied as contemplated or at all; business disruption risks relating to COVID-19; regulatory risks, including those related to healthcare, privacy and data security; integration risks relating to the acquired business on a post-closing basis; and other risks outlined in the Company's publicly filed documents available on SEDAR. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements 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, the Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE WELL Health Technologies Corp.

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WOODBRIDGE, N.J., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A. today announced the launch of a 1L Diversity Summer Program. This new program offers an opportunity for qualifying diverse law students, first-generation college graduates attending law school, and law students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to experience working at a major New Jersey law firm. On June 1, the firm welcomed the inaugural cohort of three students.

Each 1L student will participate in an immersive program, learn about the law, work on a wide range of matters with lawyers at every level, and gain hands-on, real-world experience during the 8-week program. With both shareholder and associate mentors, participants will have the guidance and support needed to learn and grow.

The 2021 class participants, Matthew Jackson, Anthony Llaverias, and Ronak Patel, were recruited from Seton Hall University School of Law and Rutgers Law School in Newark.

"We are excited to welcome Matthew, Anthony and Ronak to Wilentz, each of whom has demonstrated academic excellence and a strong commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion within their schools and within the legal profession," said Everett M. Johnson, Esq., a Wilentz shareholder and Diversity Committee Co-Chair, who is overseeing the 1L Diversity Summer Program. "We recognize the importance of taking action to advance diversity in the legal profession and the integral role that diverse firms play in best serving our clients and strengthening inclusive work environments. This program is an important step in demonstrating our commitment to advance diversity and inclusion both at our firm and within the legal industry."

Matthew Jackson completed his first year at Seton Hall University School of Law and is a magna cum laude graduate of Duke University with a Master of Arts in Theological Studies, a concentration in Ethics, and a Gender Studies certificate. He was also a member of his college's LGBTQ Leadership Society. Jackson's work experience includes serving as a Napa County Department of Education AmeriCorps Fellow at MANA de San Diego and as a Social Services Intern providing holistic care for political asylum applicants in the United States and Mexico.

Anthony Llaverias completed his first year at Seton Hall University School of Law. He is the recipient of the Chancellor's Scholarship, a merit-based award, active in the Latin American Law Students Association, and a student member of both the National Hispanic Bar Association and New Jersey Hispanic Bar Association. His work experience includes serving as a New York State Supreme Court First Department rotating judicial intern.

Ronak Patel completed his first year at Rutgers Law School in Newark. He co-founded a podcast on government and legislative policies and worked as a lease analyst for JLL, a global real estate services company. Patel also launched the Jackson Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta at Rutgers School of Law and serves as its treasurer. Patel is an active member of his law school's Minority Student Program and he and his team placed third in the intensive 3-week 2018 RECONS Competition.

About Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, P.A.

Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A. is one of the largest and most successful law firms in New Jersey, offering legal services to corporate, individual and governmental clients in almost every area of the practice of law. Wilentz lawyers have practiced at the forefront of landmark cases, regulatory matters and high-profile transactions since the law practice was established by David T. Wilentz in 1919, who served as the New Jersey Attorney General from 1934 to 1944. The firm is based in Woodbridge and has offices in Eatontown, Red Bank, Newark, New York and Philadelphia. For more information about Wilentz, visit www.wilentz.com.

Contact:

Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A.

Lynn Tellefsen

732-855-6102

SOURCE Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A.

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"The immediate market implications are likely to be minimal"

Tax changes agreed by the Group of Seven economies at the weekend are likely to have only a minimal impact on the tech companies they were aimed at, experts suggested today.

The G7 meeting agreed on a minimum global corporate tax rate of 15% based on a profit margin above 10%.

But analysts said to get any deal done would require agreement from smaller countries such as Ireland, which use low rates of corporation tax to encourage inward investment.

Ireland, for example, has a corporation tax rate of 12.5% and said it is unlikely to change it even though the rate agreed at the weekend was well below the original 21% floated by US President Joe Biden.

"The immediate market implications are likely to be minimal," said Ian Williams, economics & strategy research analyst at Peel Hunt.

"No G7 nation currently charges that low a rate and the details, including agreement from numerous smaller countries, require plenty of work."

Other commentators said the way a company such as Amazon is structured means it will make little difference to them.

The requirement for profit exceeding a 10% margin for the largest and most profitable multinational enterprises would rule out the US giant as it makes relatively low profits.

Heavy spending to develop its technology and build market share means that even though its value is US$1.6trn with sales of US$386bn in 2020, its profit margin was 6.3%.

Different business models in different countries would also allow the measure to be 'easily gamed', Richard Murphy, visiting professor of accounting at the Sheffield University management school, told The Guardian.

Google, meanwhile said it welcomed the actions being taken.

"We strongly support the work being done to update international tax rules. We hope countries continue to work together to ensure a balanced and durable agreement will be finalized soon," it said in a statement.

Facebook (FB.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O), Apple (AAPL.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Google-parent Alphabet ( ) were barely changed in pre-market deals ahead of the start of US trading.
Dhaka, June 7 : Bangladesh's drug regulator has authorised the emergency use of another Chinese Covid-19 vaccine in the country.

Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) made the announcement Sunday, saying "CoronaVac", manufactured by Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd, is the fifth Covid-19 vaccine to get emergency use approval in Bangladesh, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The DGDA gave the green light after the leading local pharmaceuticals company Incepta Vaccine Ltd applied for its approval for emergency use in the country.

CoronaVac has already received emergency use authorization in dozens of other countries.

The World Health Organization has also issued Emergency Use Listing status to the CoronaVac vaccine.

Bangladesh's drug regulator had earlier authorized the emergency use of China's Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine.

Hualong Yan, minister-counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka, Saturday said the second batch of Sinopharm vaccines donated by Chinese government is ready for delivery by June 13.

About 1,000 medical students from Bangladesh's four top leading medical colleges have recently taken their first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine thanks to Sinopharm vaccines donated by China.

Bangladesh kicked off its Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 28 to rein in the pandemic that has so far spread across the country.

On Sunday, the country's Directorate General of Health Services reported 1,676 new cases of Covid-19 and 38 new deaths, bringing the number of total cases to 810,990 and the total death toll to 12,839.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Miami, June 7 : At least three people were killed and multiple others injured during a shooting at a graduation party in Miami-Dade County located in the US state of Florida, police said.

A barrage of gunfire broke out in Kendall at around 2 a.m. on Sunday when two cars pulled up into a strip mall where a graduation party was underway at a hookah lounge restaurant, Xinhua news agency quoted Miami-Dade Police director Freddy Ramirez as saying at a news conference later in the day.

Someone from inside one of the vehicles opened fire on people leaving the restaurant following the graduation party, he said.

A woman and two men were killed while at least six others, three men and three women, were injured, according to the authorities.

One car, carrying two victims who died from gunshot wounds, crashed into a wall at nearby Miami Dade College's Kendall campus, the local WPLG news station reported.

A firearm was discovered in the vehicle, but it remained unclear if it was used during the shooting.

No arrests have been made.

"This violence has to stop. This is completely frustrating. Every weekend is the same thing," Ramirez said.

"We've got other victims and their families that are destroyed over senseless violence, over stupidness, reckless shooting, innocent people getting hit." Sunday's incident came just a week after a mass shooting outside a banquet hall in Hialeah, another city in Miami-Dade County which is about 17 miles north of Kendall, left three people dead and 20 wounded.

Police released a security video showing a stolen SUV pull up to the banquet hall and three gunmen, wearing masks, jump out of the vehicle and open fire on victims leaving a concert celebrating a local rapper's birthday.

The gunmen are still at large.
Beirut, June 7 : Two people were killed and several others injured in clashes among Palestinian factions in the Rashidieh camp in Lebanon.

Violent clashes started on Sunday after members of the Fatah movement raided the house of a Palestinian national wanted over drug trafficking, Xinhua news agency reported.

It added that a number of people were besieged in their houses in the vicinity of the ongoing clashes inside the second most populous Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.

The Rashidieh camp, located on the coast five kilometres south of city of Tyre, houses some 34,584 refugees.
Bulandshahr : , June 7 (IANS) A public announcement made over loudspeakers said that vaccination was now mandatory for traders above 45 years who want to open shops.

The announcement was made on Saturday and as the video of the same went viral, there was panic among traders.

Bulandshahr SSP Santosh Kumar later claimed it was just an advisory and not an order.

He dismissed it as 'overzealous action on the part of the policemen seen in the video'.

"There is no such order. It was just an advisory and should not have come across as an order. It was an overzealous effort on the part of the policeman," he said.

A policeman can be heard in the video saying through the loudspeaker, "People of 45 years and above who did not get their vaccination done will not be allowed to open their shops." Bulandshahr district magistrate Ravindra Kumar, while refraining from commenting on the police announcement, said "People involved in public dealing should get vaccinated on priority so that they do not infect others." "In my opinion, if people who venture in public space for work like e-rickshaw drivers, shopkeepers and vendors remain protected then it brings down chances of others being infected," he explained.

Officials claim that they are working on a two-pronged strategy of vaccination.

"There are 98 Covid vaccination centres in the district. More than 136 teams of health workers have been going to localities and villages for the vaccination drive. In a bid to counter rumours, we have taken steps, including appeals from religious heads, to encourage people to come forward for vaccination," the district magistrate said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Seoul, June 7 : The chairman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) has hinted at the potential parole of Lee Jae-yong, the de facto head of Samsung Group.

Business conglomerates have recently called for Lee to be pardoned, especially ahead of the August 15 Liberation Day, an anniversary on which South Korea's presidents have often used their right to grant a special pardon as part of efforts for promoting national unity.

"(Lee) could possibly be freed on parole, not limited only to a pardon," Rep Song Young-gil said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Sunday.

It is his first press interview since taking the party leadership.

Song also stressed that Samsung needs the leader of the conglomerate in office, not in jail, in order for investments to be made.

"There are growing public calls that Lee needs to work in the semiconductor and vaccine sectors amid the pandemic," Song said.

Business lobby groups have sent similar letters to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae to ask for Lee to be pardoned, raising concerns over the absence of leadership at Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker, when its rivals are ramping up investments to address a global chip shortage.

More than six out of every 10 South Koreans support the idea of pardoning Lee Jae-yong, the jailed de facto leader of Samsung Group, a poll showed last month.

Only 27 percent opposed the idea, while the remaining 9 percent said they are undecided on the issue.

Those who support giving clemency to Lee outnumbered those who objected in all age and regional groups, according to the poll.
Sanaa, June 7 : Yemen's Houthi rebels said they launched a bomb-laden drone attack on the King Khalid Air Base in Saudi Arabia's southern city of Khamis Mushait.

"The hit was accurate," militia spokesman Yehya Sarea said in a statement on Sunday aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

However, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported that "the Saudi-led coalition intercepted and destroyed a bomb-laden drone that the Houthi militia launched early Sunday towards Khamis Mushait", reports Xinhua news agency.

The Houthi attack came a day after an Omani high-level delegation arrived in the capital Sanaa as part of international diplomatic efforts to convince the rebels to accept a recent UN-proposed ceasefire between the Yemeni warring sides.

The Iran-backed Houthis began in February a major offensive against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government army to capture the oil-rich province of Marib, which hosts nearly 2 million internally displaced people.

The UN has warned the offensive on Marib could lead to a major humanitarian catastrophe.

A Houthi missile attack on a gas station in Marib on Saturday killed 17 residents, including a five-year-old girl.
Paris, June 7 : Sixth seed Alexander Zverev thrashed Kei Nishikori in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 to enter French Open quarter-finals here at Roland Garros late on Sunday.

This was German Zverev's fifth win over the Japanese and his 16th win in the clay-court Grand Slam event.

Zverev, who defeated the likes of Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem and Matteo Berrettini on way to victory in Madrid Open last month, was in impeccable form as he did not allow Nishikori to get into a position of challenging him.

Coming into his fourth round match, Nishikori had won two five-setters. However, he struggled to take the German to the distance.

Zverev, who became only the second German after Boris Becker in the Open Era to reach French Open quarter-finals thrice, hammered five aces against Nishikori and won 73 percent of his first service points against 61 percent by his opponent.

He also won 75 percent of his second service points and converted eight of the 11 break-points.

As against him, Japanese Nishikori converted only two out of four break-points her got and won only 47 percent of his points on second serve. He could not hit an ace.

The sixth seed will now meet Alejandro Davidovich Fokina after the 22-year-old Spaniard defeated Federico Delbonis in four sets -- 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 earlier in the day.

Earlier on Sunday, second seed Russian Daniil Medvedev took another step closer to world No.1 rank as he defeated 22nd seed Chilean clay-court specialist Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 to enter the quarterfinals of the French Open here.

Roger Federer, on the other hand, did not turn up for his fourth round match due to fitness concerns, giving a walkover to ninth seed Matteo Berrettini.
Kabul, June 7 : Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani met a visiting US inter-ministerial delegation led by Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington's Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, here.

According to Ghani's Office, the two sides during the meeting on Sunday discussed several issues including expanding cooperation, and maintaining bilateral political, security, defense and economic relations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Concerning the continuation of $3.3 billion in annual assistance for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), the US delegation conveyed the White House message of supporting the ANDSF as well as supporting Afghanistan in the economic areas Besides Ghani, Khalilzad on Sunday also met the head of High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), Abdullah Abdullah, during which they discussing issues related to the Taliban and Afghanistan's national reconciliation efforts.

Before Khalilzad had embarked on his trip to Kabul, the US State Department said that the "delegation will underscore enduring US support for Afghanistan's development and a political settlement that will end the war".

The visit comes over a month after US President Joe Biden announced in April to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by September 11.

The announcement was followed by concerns about the political future of Afghanistan, TOLO News reported.

Pentagon officials have said that one-quarter of the withdrawal has been completed.

The US forces have handed some bases to Afghan forces, including the New Kabul Compound, known as NKC, in Kabul.

Violence has however, remained high in Afghanistan, while the peace negotiations in Doha have had no progress following Biden's announcement.
Colombo, June 7 : Sri Lankan government officials have said that bodies of more than 10 turtles, a dolphin, fish and birds have washed up on the country's beaches after the burning of the X-Press Pearl container ship.

In a statement on Sunday, the Department of Wildlife Conservation officials said an investigation was underway to ascertain the cause of death of these marine species, reports Xinhua news agency.

The dead marine creatures were found on beaches from Puttalam in the northwest to Mirissa in the south.

Two turtles with injuries were also found on the Unawatuna beach in the south, according to the media reports.

"Most of the turtles that were found dead on the beaches off Panadura and Wellawatte had their carapaces broken. One dead turtle at the Unawatuna beach was found with injures," an official involved in the investigation told the local Daily Mirror newspaper.

A link between the marine life death and the burning of the X-Press Pearl container ship is expected to be the focus in the investigation.

The Singapore-flagged vessel was carrying 1,486 containers with 25 tonnes of nitric acid and several other chemicals and cosmetics when arriving from India on May 15.

It sent out a distress call while being close to the Colombo port on May 20 and soon caught fire resulting in Sri Lanka Navy dispatching vessels in efforts to fight the fire onboard.

Sri Lanka's Marine Environment Protection Authority has said the burning of the vessel caused a massive environmental disaster as many beaches were damaged by the debris washing ashore.

The government has said a large number of marine life have been killed as a result of the pollution caused by the fire, while the fisheries department has imposed a temporary ban on fishing from the southern to the western coast.

A criminal probe is presently underway into the cause of the fire on board the X-Press Pearl ship.

Earlier Sunday, police said investigators have received the ship's voyage data recorder which contains all the communication dialogues between the captain, the ship's parent company and the local shipping agent.

The Navy said an oil spill has not been detected from the burnt vessel, which was about 18.52 km away from the Colombo port.
Islamabad, June 7 : A passenger van plunged into a ravine in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, claiming eight lives while injuring at least three others, a government official said.

The incident took place on Sunday when the van tumbled off the road near the Phulda area of Mansehra district, Deputy Commissioner of Mansehra Qasim Ali Khan told Xinhua news agency.

Two women and three children were among the killed, said the official, adding that initial investigation showed that the accident happened when the van driver lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a sharp turn due to overspeeding.

Following the accident, rescue teams and local volunteers reached the site and retrieved bodies and the injured, and shifted them to a nearby hospital where several of the injured are in critical condition, police told local media.

The van was carrying the passengers from Mansehra to the neighbouring Lassan Nawab town.
Paris, June 7 : Despite his impressive form on clay that saw him beat Kei Nishikori in straight sets in fourth round of French Open, and win Madrid Open last month, sixth seed Alexander Zverev is not taking anything for granted as he focusses on the last three matches and take aim at his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros.

"I hope I continue playing the same way I did in this match. Maybe even better. Now we are in the quarterfinals, there is only eight of us left, and the opponents are not getting easier. You need to perform at your best, play at your best," Zverev said after beating Japan's Nishikori 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.

"Hopefully I've got three more matches left here," he added.

"No matter who you are playing, they already won four matches. I am looking forward to that, of course. I know it's not going to be any easier from this moment on," added Zverev.

Zverev faces Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina next. The 22-year-old Fokina entered his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final on Sunday.

"I mean, I have Davidovich Fokina for a reason. He won four matches, right? Let's give him some credit where they deserve credit. You cannot be a bad player and be in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam," said the 24-year-old Zverev as he refused to take the young Spaniard lightly.

"I gave everything, three hours, I worked hard for this moment. There are lot of emotions, I am so happy," said Fokina after beating Frederico Delbonis.
Chennai, June 7 : The Tamil Nadu government is planning to vaccinate all 21,493 Adivasis or tribals in the Nilgiri district by the end of this month.

The state's Public Health Department in a statement on Sunday night said that it will get all the tribes of the district inoculated.

State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ma Subramaniam during his visit to Udhagamandalam on Sunday told reporters that of the 21,493 Adivasis in Nilgiri district, only 3,000 were vaccinated so far. The state aims to vaccinate all.

The Office of Public Health said that the minister had visited the tribal colony of Chemmanatham along with state Forest Minister K. Ramachandran, Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan, and Nilgiri District Collector Innocent Divya.

Subramaniam told IANS: "Yes, I have visited Chemmanatham tribal settlement and have called upon the district administration to inoculate all the 172 tribal people living there.

"We have also planned a special drive to vaccinate all the Adivasi and tribal people and 18,000 doses of vaccine will be brought to the district for this to fulfill the June end deadline." The minister also said that the state has so far received 1.15 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses and another 42 lakh doses were expected in June.

The minister inspected the construction of the Government medical college and hospital and also the oxygen storage tank at Udhagamandalam.
Mumbai, June 7 : Actor Kabir Duhan Singh has essayed negative roles in many South Indian films and he recently played Raavan in the Hindi web series "Ramyug". He says he does not fear getting typecast.

"I have no background in the business of cinema, so for me there is no second thought on whether I should start with a South Indian film or wait for a Bollywood film to happen, whether my debut should be as a hero, a hero's friend or an antagonist. For me, it was only work will get me more work. Perhaps that is why I have equal respect for all kinds of film, regional, Bollywood or crossover," Kabir told IANS.

He is happy to have worked with several celebrated stars in the South, including the Tamil actor Vijay Sethupati, as well as shooting with Nawazuddin Siddiqui for the upcoming film "Bole Chudiyaana." "I think at the beginning of my career, working with two iconic actors as Vijay sir and Nawaz sir itself is a blessing and almost like attending acting class. Of course with every film we grow and learn from every senior actor. But when you observe someone whom you have grown admiring to become an actor, it works better," said Kabir, who has also shared screen space with South stars such as Kichcha Sudeep, Gopichand and Ajith Kumar among others.

He isn't worried about starting off as an antagonist in the South.

"We have so many examples of actors who started their career in the South like Sonu (Sood) bhaiya, and Vidyut Jammwal, and portrayed negative characters before entering Bollywood and made it big there. I think slowly but surely that attitude towards actors as 'he only plays villain' is changing. These days, thanks to OTT, cross-region casting is also happening. So the fear of getting tagged is not there anymore," said Kabir.

"Having said that, if anything needs to change, I think the media tags us as 'South Indian film ka villain' should be changed. If we don't say 'North Indian film', we should also stop saying 'South Indian film' with a negative attitude," said Kabir, who was born and brought up in Faridabad, Haryana.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's sister Y.S. Sharmila will be launching her political party in Telangana next month.

Named 'YSR Telangana Party', it will be launched on July 8, the birth anniversary of her father and former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Party coordinator Vaduka Rajagopal said on Monday that the process for registration of YSR Telangana Party with the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been completed.

Rajagopal filed an application with the ECI seeking its registration. The poll panel had issued a notification, seeking objections if any to the registration of YSR Telangana Party.

Y.S. Vijayalakshmi, honorary president of the YSR Congress Party, informed the Commission that she has no objection to registration of YSR Telangana Party.

Vijayalakshmi was present when her daughter Sharmila announced at a public meeting at Khammam on April 9 that she will be launching a new political party in Telangana.

While Jagan Mohan Reddy is said to be opposed to his sister floating a new party, Vijayalakshmi had appealed to people of Telangana to bless Sharmila with their support.

Rajagopal said after receiving the letter from ECI about recognition of YSR Telangana Party, they would announce more details about the party.

He said Sharmila was launching the new party to bring back the welfare rule of her late father YSR and to carry forward his ideals.

Sharmila will be unveiling the name, flag and agenda of the new party on July 8.

Addressing the meeting at Khammam, she vowed to bring back 'Rajanna Rajyam' in Telangana.

'Rajanna Rajyam' is referred to the rule of YSR when several welfare and pro-poor schemes were implemented.

YSR was the chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh from 2004 to 2009.

YSR's daughter had said she was launching the party to question those in power and to fulfill the aspirations of Telangana movement and for self-respect of Telangana.

Sharmila has been holding meetings since March with YSR loyalists from various districts in Telangana to take their feedback before announcing her political plans.

YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) led by Jagan Mohan Reddy has already admitted that there is difference of opinion between the brother and sister over the latter's political ambitions in Telangana.

YSRCP had won one MP and three MLA seats in the old undivided Khammam district in the maiden Assembly elections in Telangana in 2014.

However, YSRCP became inactive in Telangana after its MP and all three MLAs joined ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Jagan Mohan Reddy, who led YSRCP to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, decided to stay away from Telangana politics. His party did not contest 2018 Assembly elections and subsequent polls in Telangana.
New Delhi, June 7 : The Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid in Delhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with regard to the damage of the minarets of the historic monument. The minarets of the Jama Masjid have been damaged due to the ferocious storm that hit the national Capital recently.

The Shahi Imam has urged the prime minister to get it repaired.

In the letter written to Modi, he said that he must direct the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to inspect the monument and get the necessary repair work done.

Jama Masjid's Shahi Imam Syed Bukhari told IANS, "Stones from the minaret of the Jama Masjid have fallen even in the past. Small stones keep falling but this is the fourth time it has happened that such a big stone has fallen after a strong storm hit Delhi." Revealing the reason behind the stones falling down, Bukhari said, "During the Mughal rule, iron leaves were used to keep these stones intact. As they melt with the passage of time, stones also start melting. These stones are nearly 400 years old due to which the condition of the stones is very dilapidated." "The beauty of the stones remains intact from outside but insects have been found inside them. Some of the stones of the mosque are in such a condition that they have been kept intact with plastic ropes so that they do not fall." Bukhari said, "I have also emphasized in the letter that an engineer must be sent to get the stones of the mosque examined and see how much damage has been done to the overall foundation of the mosque." Due to the falling of some stones of the mosque, there is a fear that more stones may fall in future because the adjoining stones with those which have fallen recently have become weak.

According to Imam Bukhari, during the lockdown everyone is offering prayers at home and there is no overcrowding in the mosque but if the ASI does not get the mosque repaired in time, a big accident is around the corner.

Earlier there used to be an ASI office in Jama Masjid. But after the removal of the office from the mosque, now if there is any damage is done to the mosque, a budget is first decided and then repair work is carried out.

According to official information, at present the Jama Masjid does not come under the jurisdiction of the ASI but only after a request is made for maintenance or repair, the ASI intervenes in the matter.

The Jama Masjid is made of red sandstones and white marbles. This mosque is situated just 500 metres away from the Red Fort, built around the same time.

The construction of this mosque was started by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1650. It took six years and Rs 10,00,000 to build this mosque.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kolkata, June 7 : Ruling Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Maitra has challenged West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar to sue her for disclosures of 'extensive nepotism' at the Kolkata Raj Bhavan.

Kolkata, June 7 (IANS) Ruling Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Maitra has challenged West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar to sue her for disclosures of 'extensive nepotism' at the Kolkata Raj Bhavan.

Responding to BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu's allegations that Maitra had furnished a 'pack of lies' while dishing out a list of six Officers on Special Duty (OSD) appointed by the Governor, Mahua Maitra said: "Why is BJP rising to his defence? Is he a BJP functionary or a Governor? Can't he defend himself?" Mahua Maitra challenged Jagdeep Dhankar to take her to court over her remarks and tweets on the issue.

"I dare him to sue me for defamation," Maitra said.

She told journalists that if the BJP had won, the state would be full of such appointments from other parts of the country.

"We in Bengal are not parochial, but someone who gets a job here should be worth it. He or she should not get it just because they have a saffron uncle here to do their bidding," Maitra said.

She said Bengal taxpayers should not be asked to foot the bill for the OSDs appointed by Governor Dhankar at Kolkata Raj Bhavan.

"Having failed to deliver Bengal to the BJP, Uncleji (Dhankar) must seek out a job in Delhi. He is running around raising hell over the state's law and order, so BJP should rehabilitate him somewhere, she said, quipping: "Dont forget to take your extended family with you." Mahua Maitra also lampooned BJP leaders "who have the temerity to castigate Bengal voters for rejecting the saffron brigade".

"You guys have the audacity to question a popular verdict, you think Bengalis don't know what is good for them," said Maitra, who has emerged as India's one of most noticed parliamentarians.

"We did not question Indian voters when they elected BJP to power. It is for them to judge whether the BJP government has totally failed or not. We rest our case with voters and hope they see the obvious and vote in future elections," she said.

Maitra said she was shocked by a statement of a RSS functionary likening Hindus to frogs.

"Are they out of their minds," she asked.

Rajesh Srivastava, the RSS intellectual cell president of the West Bengal unit, has compared Hindu community with frogs and said it can be extremely difficult to evaluate them on one scale (weighing machine).

This remark was made by him during a virtual discussion organised by the election cell of the Bihar unit of BJP under the chairmanship of Radhika Raman on Sunday. The theme of the discussion was violence and democratic threat that arose after the West Bengal election.

"The Hindu community behaves like a frog and its evaluation on one weighing machine is extremely difficult," Srivastava said while quoting this statement made by former RSS chief late Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.

"Mamata Banerjee and some extremists have united the Muslim community and is doing conspiracy to separate chicken from the neck. We have to foil their conspiracy," Srivastava said.

Maitra said Bengalis see themselves as Bengalis and Indians and not as Hindus or Muslims.

"The BJP failed to see this and kept flaunting their religious binary which backfired on them," she said.

"You guys have your chintan sabhas, dont you evaluate your mistakes honestly," she asked, quipping: "Do you forget what Gokhale said." Gopal Krishna Gokhale is famous for "What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tommorow' comment.

Maitra said the BJP defeat in Bengal, after the huge effort they put in, might turn out to be a 'watershed.'

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The upcoming G7 Summit in Cornwall, UK from June 11 to 13 is perhaps the first international event, in the backdrop of the continuing Covid pandemic, when the leaders from the worlds wealthiest countries -- the US, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Canada -- will be meeting with leaders from India, Australia, South Africa and South Korea face to face for the first time in the last one-and-a-half year.

The leaders from the most advanced nations of the G7 meet regularly to try to determine the course the world will follow, with their own interests taking a backseat.

Expectations from the summit There is a lot of optimism ahead of the gathering in Cornwall. US and UK government sources have briefed that the G7 will demonstrate that "the West ain't over just yet". The optics are bound to be promising. For the US it'll give a chance to prove that 'America is back', while for the UK it'll help to give a boost to its 'Global Britain' strategy.

On the agenda are the autocratic challenge from Russia and China, climate change, the global vaccine rollout and trade. In addition Myanmar, Indian democracy and its minorities, instability in Sahel region, Israel-Palestinian conflict and change of guard in Israel are also expected to occupy the agenda.

A move, spearheaded by US President Joe Biden, to set a minimum global corporate tax rate to help states reclaim resources lost to tax havens seems promising. Also the British proposal to transform the G7 into a "D10" of democracies has been achieved, the participation of guests from India, Australia, South Korea and South Africa will reinforce a sense that the West is open to alliance-building again.

Meanwhile, the G7 finance ministers reached a "historic" deal on taxing multinational companies, last week in London. They agreed to counter tax avoidance through measures to make companies pay in the countries where they do business., besides ratifying a global minimum corporate tax rate to counter the possibility of countries undercutting each other to attract investments. UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak described these as "seismic tax reforms" and said that it will help create a fairer tax system fit for the 21st century.

Preparations for the summit The foreign ministers from D-10 met face-to-face for the first time in two years in May earlier, following a coronavirus-extended pause, to prepare for the summit and in the communique issued after the meeting listed 82 points which will try to grab the attention of G7 or D10 leaders. In addition the issues discussed were NATO's withdrawal from Afghanistan, Iran, China and the threat posed by Russia.

Meanwhile, Britain's Foreign Office has said a key part of the June summit will be plans to boost girls' education and women's employment after the Covid pandemic would be a key topic.

G7 nations are expected to sign up to new global targets that aim to get 40 million more girls into school in low and lower-middle-income countries by 2026. The aims also include getting 20 million more girls reading by the age of 10. The countries are setting up a $15-billion fund, to be administered by developing countries over the next two years.

However, the trade unionists and the wider environment movement in the UK have sounded the bugle against G7's inability to take any concerted action on climate change. In a statement they asserted that the vaccine apartheid response to the Covid threat might be replicated in their approach to the climate crisis.

They further assert that if the world's wealthiest countries continue to move too slowly to curb their own carbon emissions, continue to invest in and boost fossil fuel energy and production, fail to make a just transition at home while denying the global South the resources it needs to deal with climate impacts, their pretensions to "global leadership" will fail the test.

A $100 billion a year transfer to the developing world to make transition possible was pledged at Copenhagen and built into the Paris Agreement to be met by 2020. But it has not been done.

They further assert that this commitment is a tiny fraction of the $3.8 trillion that global banks have invested in fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement, and less than a tenth of the combined G7 military budget of $1,043bn last year.

Post-summit scenario British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to use the G7 Summit to increase cooperation between the world's democratic and technologically advanced nations. Between them, the 10 leaders represent more than 60 per cent of the people living in democracies around the world.

The UK will also host several meetings throughout the year between government ministers from the G7, both virtually and in different locations across Britain. These meetings will cover economic, environmental, health, trade, technology, development and foreign policy issues.

Observers are of the view that post-summit the western world may be transformed into one where it may lose its supremacy and China may pull ahead of the West technologically and economically, secondly the West could reassert itself by investing in green industries to renew its economies and societies in the backdrop of the lessons learnt from the Covid pandemic and thus China might be neutralised, thirdly a more Eurasian Europe may emerge, due to the eclipse of both the US and UK and it'll be drawn towards Asia's growing economic influence.

For India, the summit offers a chance to further reinforce its relationship with the UK by signing a trade treaty and for Mr Modi to establish a rapport with Biden to ensure a fruitful bilateral relationship, and to some extent this seems possible.

(Asad Mirza is a political commentator based in New Delhi. He writes on Muslims, educational, international affairs, interfaith and current affairs. Email: asad.mirza.nd@gmail.com)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, June 7 : The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Monday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his intervention to resolve the long pending pleas of the council and to ensure "optimum milieu" for medical professionals without mental and physical fear.

The medical council expressed anguish over continuing attempts of certain people to propagate disbelief and misinformation in relation to the vaccines and the evidence based scientific protocols of modern medicine released from time to time by the Ministry of Heath along with the guidance of ICMR and the Covid-19 Task Force.

Raising increasing incidents of physical violence against the doctors and the health care professionals, the IMA said the brutal assault on a young doctor in Assam and the assault on lady doctors and even on veteran practitioners across the country are causing mental trauma among the practitioners.

It said that many young doctors have also lost their lives on account of their dedicated service to thousands of people -- which has affected not only the Doctors but also many of their close family members, it said.

There are cases where both husband and wife being doctors have lost their lives, leaving behind their children as orphans.

With the continuous and ongoing physical and mental assault on our doctors as well as purposeful spread of misinformation against modern medicine and vaccination by certain people with vested interests, the IMA said, it is "constrained to once again appeal to you (the Prime Minister) to personally intervene and resolve our long pending pleas".

The IMA noted that the entire medical fraternity has been battling at the frontlines in the war against Covid-19 and has been able to save millions of people, and also lost lives of 1,400 of its "proactive veterans and dynamic younger ones in this war against the pandemic".

The IMA appealed to the Prime Minister to book and punish in accordance with the law persons who spread misinformation against the vaccination drive which is meant to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

"All such acts of omission and commission on behalf of any person raising doubts in the minds of the common public against the protocol guidance issued by Ministry of Health for treatment of Covid-19 infected patients ought to be suitable punished and simultaneously, any attempt of any person to fool the gullible public and promote so-called "magic remedies" or "wonder drugs" without the approval of the Ministry of Health ought to be immediately curtailed." The Health Services Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property) BilI, 2019, which seeks to punish people who assault on-duty doctors and other healthcare professionals by imposing a jail term of up to 10 years which, apparently, was dismissed by the Home Ministry during an inter-ministerial consultation over the draft law, ought to be promulgated immediately along with the incorporation of provisions from the IPC/ CrPC and with stipulations for a fixed time schedule for speedy conclusion of trials.

All those involved in such heinous crimes ought to be punished so as to also create an effective deterrent for other anti-social elements who may indulge in attacking any Health care professionals.

The doctors who have lost their lives in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic ought to be recognised as Covid martyrs with due acknowledgment of their sacrifice and their families ought to be duly supported by the government.

The IMA thanked Modi for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana scheme under which insurance benefits are being extended to such families but mentioned that there are various obstacles in the procedural implementation of the scheme. "Out of 754 doctors who had lost their lives in the first wave, families of only 168 doctors have been able to apply under this scheme." The IMA also requested the Prime Minister to create an effective mechanism for identifying and verifying all these victims.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Panaji, June 7 : A special division bench of the Bombay High Court bench in Goa, will now hear a petition challenging Goa legislative assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar's ruling in April this year rejecting the disqualification of 10 former Congress MLAs, after Justice M.S. Sonak recused himself from hearing the case.

"Justice Sonak recused in the matter stating that he had appeared for some of the respondents earlier. The matter now will have to be listed before a special division bench..." state Congress president Girish Chodankar said on Monday.

The matter had come up at a virtual hearing on Monday, during which senior advocate Kapil Sibal appeared on behalf of the Congress party, while Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta appeared for Patnekar.

On April 20 this year, the Goa Speaker had passed two orders rejecting two separate petitions filed against 12 current BJP MLAs -- ten former Congress MLAs and two former MLAs of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party -- which had sought their disqualification for illegally merging their respective party units into the BJP.

In the petition filed before the High Court which has challenged the Speaker's ruling, Chodankar has said that the merger by the 10 ex-Congress MLAs was not valid. The petition also states that a resolution purportedly passed on July 10, 2019 by the ten then Congress MLAs merging the breakaway Congress unit into the BJP at a meeting of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, was never passed and that the resolution was allegedly a forged document.
Washington, June 7 : Covid-19's rare genome shows that the virus was developed in a Chinese laboratory, two US experts have claimed in an essay, amid growing speculation that the coronavirus leaked from China's infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology, the media reported on Monday.

According to Dr Stephen Quay, and Richard Muller, the Covid-19 pathogen has a genetic footprint that has never been observed in a natural coronavirus, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Quay is founder of US-based biopharmaceutical company Atossa Therapeutics, while Muller is a Physics professor at the University of California Berkeley.

"The most compelling reason to favour the lab leak hypothesis is firmly based in science," the experts wrote.

Quay and Muller stated that Covid-19 has the genome sequencing 'CGG-CGG' (also known as "double CGG"), which is one of the 36 sequencing patterns. CGG is rarely used in the class of coronaviruses that can recombine with CoV-2.

"In fact, in the entire class of coronaviruses that includes CoV-2, the CGG-CGG combination has never been found naturally. That means the common method of viruses picking up new skills, called recombination, cannot operate here. A virus simply cannot pick up a sequence from another virus if that sequence isn't present in any other virus," the experts noted.

Thus, people advocating the theory of Covid's animal to human origin "must explain why the novel coronavirus, when it mutated or recombined, happened to pick its least favorite combination, the double CGG".

"Why did it replicate the choice the lab's gain-of-function researchers would have made?" the experts said.

"Yes, it could have happened randomly, through mutations. But do you believe that? At the minimum, this fact -- that the coronavirus, with all its random possibilities, took the rare and unnatural combination used by human researchers -- implies that the leading theory for the origin of the coronavirus must be laboratory escape," they asserted.

The other evidence, the experts point out, is that when compared with the coronaviruses responsible for SARS and MERS, they noted a "dramatic difference in the genetic diversity of CoV-2".

Both SARS and MERS were confirmed to have a natural origin; and when a virus spreads through the human population, it is known to evolve rapidly till the most contagious forms dominate. However, Covid-19 did not work that way, the experts claimed.

"It appeared in humans already adapted into an extremely contagious version. No serious viral "improvement" took place until a minor variation occurred many months later in England." It is unprecedented, and suggests a long period of adaptation that predated its public spread, they stated.

"The presence of the double CGG sequence is strong evidence of gene splicing, and the absence of diversity in the public outbreak suggests gain-of-function acceleration. The scientific evidence points to the conclusion that the virus was developed in a laboratory" they said.

Globally, many experts have, in recent weeks, pushed to determine the lab leak theory, which was earlier dismissed as conspiracy. And US President Joe Biden has also recently ordered the intelligent community to re-double efforts to examine how the virus originated, including the lab accident theory.

China has, however, dismissed the Wuhan lab leak theory as "extremely impossible" and have accused the US of "political manipulation".

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, June 7 : This surely is a labour of love as economist-author-politician Jairam Ramesh painstakingly unveils the myriad nuances of Edwin Arnolds "The Light of Asia", originally published in 1879, that has done much to shape the ideas of people around the world on the life of the Buddha but also had a profound impact on Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahralal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, and even Winston Churchill, as also five Nobel laureates. It also served as the basis for one of Indias first silent films and figured in a Hollywood classic.

"The Light of Asia" has been translated into 13 European, eight North and South East Asian and 14 South Asian languages. A number of plays, dance dramas and operas were adapted from it in different countries. "In the last fifty years, it has continued to evoke academic interest and has become the subject of doctoral dissertations and scholarly publications in the UK, Canada, USA and Germany. The most recent of these came out in February 2020 and dealt with its influence on James Joyce," Ramesh writes in "The Light of Asia - the poem that defined The Buddha" (Penguin/Viking).

Arnold's book "did much to shape the ideas of people across the world regarding the life of the Buddha. There was a mania for it for years after its publication. Its author was no great scholar but achieved what no scholarly work was able to. Its impact on the Western world, at least till the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century, has been recognized and written about", Ramesh states.

"Far less understood and appreciated is its enduring appeal outside the UK and the USA, especially in the Indian subcontinent. This appeal worked in different ways-through the influence it would have on prominent public personalities, through translations into numerous languages and through its use in diverse art forms. It inspired social reformers and also led to Buddhists having an equal say in managing the site of the Buddha's enlightenment, which they had not had for many centuries past," the author maintains.

On its release, Ramesh writes, it immediately took England by storm, and soon thereafter America and Europe too were stirred by it. The epidemic of exuberance for it would spread to other parts of the world and last a few decades. "The book captivated an Indian monk who remains an iconic personality-Swami Vivekananda. At about the same time, it deeply moved a young man in Colombo who has become famous in history as Anagarika Dharmapala. It caught the attention of an aspiring Indian lawyer in London in 1889. This man later became immortal as Mahatma Gandhi. A few years hence it impacted a teenager in Allahabad who would, in 1947, become the first Prime Minister of India-Jawaharlal Nehru. Two copies of the book adorned the bookshelves of B.R. Ambedkar, the prime architect of the Indian constitution. It informed the work of men who were active in the movement for social justice, especially in south India in the early part of the twentieth century".

The book had a marked influence on at least 11 literary personalities from across the world. Five of them were Nobel Laureates: Rudyard Kipling, Rabindranath Tagore, W.B. Yeats, Ivan Bunin and T.S. Eliot in 1948. The other six are legendary figures: Herman Melville, Leo Tolstoy, Lafcadio Hearn, D.H. Lawrence, John Masefield and Jose Luis Borges. It opened new frontiers for Joseph Campbell later to become one of the world's leading authorities on comparative mythology. The world of science and industry was not immune to its reach either.

At the turn of the nineteenth century, it shaped the life of a young science student in Madras who would, in 1930, become India's first Nobel Laureate in Physics-C.V. Raman. The Russian chemist and inventor of the periodic table Dmitri Mendeleev and the Scottish-American industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie had a special affinity to it. An extremely controversial figure of the British military but a hero during his time-Herbert Kitchener-would carry this book along with him wherever he went. It figures prominently in the private library of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish businessman who later endowed the Nobel Prizes.

In 1925, it was to serve as the basis for one of India's first silent films ('The Light of Asia'), made by a German-Indian team. This was released internationally to some acclaim. In 1945 it figured in a Hollywood classic, "The Picture of Dorian Gray". In 1957, a very ill Raymond Chandler, the British-American detective storywriter, received a letter from his long-time secretary advising him to take solace in reading this book, Ramesh writes.

"Sir Edwin Arnold was a man of his times, firmly anchored in late Victorian society, a quintessential British imperialist but deeply in love with other cultures, most notably Indian and, towards the end of his kaleidoscopic life, Japanese as well. Not a scholar, strictly speaking, he contributed hugely to popularizing the classics of Indian philosophy and literature at a time when they were little known.

"The enduring fascination that Mahatma Gandhi had for his translation of the Bhagavad Gita ('The Song Celestial') is sufficient for Sir Edwin Arnold to occupy a distinctive niche in not only Indian but also world history. If you add to this the prodigious influence 'The Light of Asia' had, then it would be fair to say he was a poet who helped interpret not one but two faiths-an achievement that is quite extraordinary by any yardstick," Ramesh writes.

The one thing that connects "The Song Celestial" with "The Light of Asia", Ramesh notes "is the sacredness of the pipal tree. This is the tree under which the Buddha meditated and attained enlightenment. This is also the tree whose divinity is extolled in the opening six verses of the Bhagavad Gita".

"The Light of Asia", Ramesh writes, came at a time when organized religion was in retreat in Victorian society and was under attack across the Atlantic as well. It came exactly ten years after the word 'agnostic' was first coined. "To use the title of Thomas Hardy's extraordinary poem, Arnold placed Buddha in the public consciousness at a time when 'God's Funeral' was taking place." The message of "The Light of Asia", that the Buddha said he was no God and preached a "religion of humanity", free of dogma and based on reasoning and self-discovery, "resonated loudly. Because it was such a spectacular success in the UK and America, educated elites elsewhere too took to it enthusiastically. The Light of Asia did not involve painstaking academic investigation".

But clearly, "it met a demand, fed a hunger, filled a need and fulfilled an aspiration. It had something for everybody. It appealed to the Christian non-missionary world because of the close parallels in it between the lives of the Buddha and of Christ. It made Buddhists feel proud because it portrayed the founder of their faith in a glorious manner", Ramesh writes.

The King of Siam, for example, could use it to counter the growing influence of English and French missionaries in his kingdom. Upper-caste Hindus in India did not see it as a potent threat because of the extensive use of Brahminical themes, the author states.

On a personal note, Ramesh writes: "Speaking for myself, I am not a Buddhist nor am I a practitioner of Buddhism. I do not belong to the community of scholars of Buddhism. But the life of the Buddha has always interested and continues to captivate me. The life of the Buddha is hardwired into the mind of every Indian. What we don't realize is how much the popular imagination of that life was moulded by 'The Light of Asia'. That, more than anything else, has been the motivation for this book written in the form of a story.

Arnold's "The Light of Asia" is in "eight books of blank verse, with some five or six hundred lines in each".

Book the First deals with the birth, boyhood and childhood of Siddartha and contains 436 lines.

Book the Second concerns his teenage years leading up to his marriage to Yasodhara and has 515 lines.

Book the Third is about the luxurious life he leads as a husband and father but also with his growing doubts after seeing an old man, a sick man, a corpse and a wandering ascetic. It has 601 lines.

Book the Fourth deals with his Great Renunciation and the beginning of his search for the cure to the ills of human existence. This is covered in 568 lines.

Book the Fifth elaborates on his self-mortification in the company of wandering ascetics and has 560 lines.

Book the Sixth explains his disenchantment with selfmortification as a solution, his partaking of Sujata's gift of milk to end his starvation and his attainment of Buddhahood under the Bodhi tree. Not surprisingly, it is the longest and has 780 lines.

Book the Seventh deals with his father's grief, his wife's anguish and his son's bewilderment at his absence, his homecoming and their recognition of what he had accomplished. It has 520 lines.

Book the Eighth is the easiest to read, with 611 lines, and goes over the establishment of the order of the monks and expositions of the Buddha's teachings and doctrines. It is probably the most powerful section of the entire poem. In all, there are 5300 lines and 41,000 words in "The Light of Asia".

Ramesh concludes on a philosophical note.

"Alexander Pope had a wonderful epitaph for Isaac Newton: Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night; God said 'Let Newton be' and all was light.

"A similar epitaph for Arnold may well have been: Buddha and Buddha's teachings lay hid in night; God said 'Let Edwin Arnold be' and all was light.

"Ultimately, I believe that 'The Light of Asia' became the cultural phenomenon it did because it focused on the Buddha's humanity, instead of his divinity".

(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)
Kathmandu, June 7 : At least two people have died in Nepal from black fungus or mucormycosis, a rare fungal infection mostly found among Covid-19 patients with diabetes, while the Himalayan nation have reported around a dozen of such cases, officials said on Monday.

Mucormycosis affects the brain, sinuses and lungs and can be life-threatening to diabetic or severely immunocompromised individuals like cancer and HIV/AIDS patients.

Such cases have appeared mostly among Covid-19 patients in Nepal and neighbouring India.

"A 48-year-old man from Dang district died from mucormycosis at our hospital on Saturday," Rabindra Pradhananga, coordinator of the Mucormycosis Management Committee at the Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, told Xinhua news agency.

"His condition was already critical when he was admitted to our hospital. He was earlier infected with coronavirus," said Pradhananga.

Mucormycosis also claimed the life of a 65-year-old man at Seti Zonal Hospital in Kailali district on June 3.

Dilip Kumar Shrestha, information officer of the hospital, told Xinhua that the deceased was a kidney patient and was brought to hospital for dialysis on May 31, but he was instantly hospitalised.

"He was diagnosed suffering from mucormycosis during the test," said Shrestha.

"But, he was not tested positive for Covid-19 even though his family members notified us that he developed a fever about three weeks ago." According to doctors, among the symptoms of mucormycosis are one-sided facial swelling, headache; nasal or sinus congestion; blurred vision and pain in eye; black lesions on nasal bridge or upper inside of mouth.

Nepal's Health Ministry has reported at least 11 people suffering from the disease.

"At least five in the Kathmandu Valley and six outside Kathmandu have been confirmed to have suffered from this ailment," said Krishna Prasad Paudel, the Ministry spokesman.

According to Pradhananga, as many as five cases were confirmed at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital alone.

"All the five were diabetes patients and recently they were also infected with coronavirus." Even though Nepal had seen a limited number of mucormycosis cases before, the number of such patients grew rapidly among Covid-19 patients during the second wave of the pandemic that started in early April, according to doctors.

The indiscriminate use of steroids for some Cocid-19 patients could be linked to mucormycosis or other fungal infections, doctors say.

Amphotericin B and Deoxycholate, drugs used by Nepali doctors for black fungus patients, are not available in the market.

The Health Ministry acknowledged the shortage of drugs for mucormycosis patients in Nepal.

"We have just received 1,000 vials of medicines from the World Health Organization after our request. An additional 2,000 vials are in the pipeline to be received from the WHO," said Paudel, who is director of the epidemiology and disease control division under the ministry.

According to Paudel, the Ministry is preparing to buy an extra 10,000 vials of the drugs from the international market for mucormycosis treatment, which can also be used against Kala Azar, also known as "black fever".

As of Monday, the Health Ministry had reported a total of 588,124 Covid-19 cases in Nepal, with 491,009 recoveries and 7,898 deaths.

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New Delhi, June 7: In the face of critical times, individuals and organisations need to pool in their resources and expertise and doing that for helping Covid-19 affected patients are DoctCo, a start-up; the Lung Care Foundation and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC). Together they will through their combined effort provide medical facilities for Covid patients in rural areas.

Called the "Doctors On Wheels" service, it is a bus that will travel to the western Uttar Pradesh villages in a span of next three months. The objective is to provide free medical consultations and medicines for Covid patients.

On board of this mobile healthcare unit will be one and two paramedics, and the bus intends to cover a massive 10 lakh people every month.

The equipment in the bus includes thermal scanners, oximeters, ECG machines and other medical devices. While medical screening will be done on the bus by the staff with the help of the equipment, basic medication too will be prescribed for those with early Covid symptoms, or are suspected of being infected with the virus.

Harmeet Singh Kalka, the DSGMC general secretary talking to ndtv.com said: "We will be helping out by replenishing medical supplies and assisting them with any other need. It is a humongous task to cover so many villages and reach out to lakhs of people but the Gurudwara Committee has always been at the forefront in helping people in this pandemic and we will continue to do so." Nimith Agrawal, the founder of DoctCo talking about this collaboration said: "DoctCo is an early-stage start-up working in small towns to provide accessible healthcare. Since we deal with smaller cities we came across places like Aligarh -- where there is a huge scarcity of doctors around rural areas. We decided to come up with an initiative, in association with the Lung Care Foundation." The idea of taking the healthcare services right to the doorstep of the people, Agrawal said, came from the Prime Minister's call to do so. ""Our Prime Minister says 'Jahaan bimaari vahaan ilaaj (treatment must be where the disease is)', so we came up with this mobile system." Agrawal also added that 10 more such buses are planned to cover the hilly regions of Uttarakhand Himachal Pradesh.

Sharing other details of this initiative, Rajeev Khurana, Founder Trustee of the LungCare Foundation said: "We want the medicines to reach people instead of people going around hunting for them. We have created kits with basic medicines -- like 30 Paracetamol tablets, 10 Doxycycline tablets and 5 Ivermectin tablets. The kit also contains instructions about when and how these medicines are to be taken." He added that 4,100 such kits were stored on the bus and ready to be distributed.

There is also a provision for specialised consultation on-board the bus. "In case there are advanced problems then the doctor on the bus can virtually connect the patient to super specialists at Lung Care Foundation for teleconsultations. The patient can then be guided about when and how to approach the nearest hospital," Khurana disclosed.

Kolkata's vaccine on wheels Last week, in a bid to reach out to people and vaccinate them against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, a 'vaccine on wheels' initiative was launched in Kolkata. It was inaugurated at Posta Bazaar, the State Capital's largest wholesale market of vegetables and groceries, by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).

To take the vaccination process directly to the people, a bus was converted into a Covid vaccination centre. This mobile vaccination centre will travel to different markets of Kolkata to vaccinate priority groups, including vegetable and fish sellers. The basic idea is to help those who are unable to go for vaccination, leaving their businesses for hours.

Doctor reaches out to patients in Bengaluru In South too, there have been initiatives to bring healthcare closer to the people. Dr. Sunil Kumar Hebbi of Bengaluru, steers a mobile clinic, whose wheels turn at 10 every morning.

Working 12 hours, from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Covid clinic, Hebbi rests for just two hours and is he is ready to take care of patients who are either alone or can't travel to hospitals, including senior citizens, and people with mild-Coronavirus symptoms.

The mobile clinic came into being 11 years ago, that is much before the pandemic. In those days, Hebbi would use the vehicle to reach patients in need of medical assistance only on weekends. The lockdown saw the number of calls asking for medical help reach stratospheric levels. At the time the "good doctor" made a decision. He completely overhauled his work schedule.

Medical advice at home Last month, the Puducherry Health Department introduced "Doctor on Wheels" for the care of the large number of home quarantined Covid-19 patients in Puducherry.

Due to an increase in the Coronavirus affected people, a number of positive patients were advised home quarantined. Keeping in mind that the health needs of such patients cannot be neglected and have to be given due importance, the Puducherry Health Department introduced help via 104 helpline number.

When home quarantined patient calls 104 helpline number with any distress, instead of giving medical advice over the phone, now a medical team is being sent to their door step and patient's health status is being accessed and treated there itself. If needed patient is shifted to hospital for further management with the help of ambulance, said the Health Secretary Dr. T. Arun in a statement.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative/

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-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Mumbai, June 7 : ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has announced an annual bonus of Rs 867 crore for all eligible participating policy holders for FY2021.

The bonus declared is the highest ever by the Company till date and is also 10 per cent higher than the bonus announced in the last fiscal, the company said.

All participating policies in-force as of March 31, 2021 are eligible to receive this bonus and will be added to the policyholders' benefits, it added.

A total of 9.8 lakh participating policyholders are expected to benefit from this, taking them closer to their long-term financial goals, especially at the time of the pandemic.

Bonus is the share of profits generated by the Company's participating policyholder's funds which are added to their guaranteed maturity benefits, thus enhancing the corpus.

This is the 15th consecutive year the Company has declared a bonus, underscoring its customer-centricity and long-term investment approach to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns to policy holders.

As of March 31, 2021, 96.8 per cent of the fixed income portfolio is invested in sovereign or AAA rated paper.

N.S. Kannan, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, said, "We are delighted to announce that the annual bonus for FY2021 is the highest ever in the history of the Company. What gives us special satisfaction is the fact that it coincides with the 20th anniversary of our operations.

What drives us in this challenging environment is the commitment to our vision of building an enduring institution that serves the protection and long-term saving needs of our customers with sensitivity."
Hours after ruling Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra levelled charges of 'extensive nepotism' inside the Kolkata Raj Bhavan orchestrated by Jagdeep Dhankar and dared him to sue her for the disclosures, the West Bengal Governor denied the charges as "factually incorrect".

Responding to BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu's allegations that the Trinamool Congress MP had furnished a 'pack of lies' while dishing out a list of six Officers on Special Duty (OSD) appointed by the Governor, Moitra said: "Why is BJP rising to his defence? Is he a BJP functionary or a Governor? Can't he defend himself?"

The 46-year-old Krishnanagar MP shared a document on Sunday and claimed that Abbhudoy Singh Sekhawat, Governor's OSD, is his brother-in-law's son. Akhil Chowdhury, who is the OSD coordination, has some close family relationship with the Governor. OSD administration Ruchi Dubey is the wife of Major Gorang Diksit, ex-ADC (aides-de-camp) to the Governor, while the Major's brother Prasant Diksit is the OSD (protocol). OSD IT Koustav S Valikar is the brother-in-law of Dhankhar's present ADC Srikant Janardan Rao, IPS. And Kishan Dhankhar, a newly appointed OSD of the Governor, is also his close relative, the document said.

Moitra challenged Jagdeep Dhankar to take her to court over her remarks and tweets on the issue. "I dare him to sue me for defamation," Moitra said.

She told journalists that if the BJP had won, the state would be full of such appointments from other parts of the country.

"We in Bengal are not parochial, but someone who gets a job here should be worth it. He or she should not get it just because they have a saffron uncle here to do their bidding," Maitra said.

She said Bengal taxpayers should not be asked to foot the bill for the OSDs appointed by Governor Dhankar at Kolkata Rajbhavan.

"Having failed to deliver Bengal to the BJP, Uncleji (Dhankar) must seek out a job in Delhi. He is running around raising hell over the state's law and order, so BJP should rehabilitate him somewhere, she said, quipping: "Dont forget to take your extended family with you."

Moitra also lampooned BJP leaders "who have the temerity to castigate Bengal voters for rejecting the saffron brigade".

"You guys have the audacity to question a popular verdict, you think Bengalis don't know what is good for them," said Moitra, who has emerged as one of India's most noticed parliamentarians.

"We did not question Indian voters when they elected BJP to power. It is for us to judge whether the BJP government has totally failed or not. We rest our case with voters and hope they see the obvious and vote in future elections," she said.

Moitra said she was shocked by a statement of a RSS functionary likening Hindus to frogs.

"Are they out of their minds," she asked.

Rajesh Srivastava, the RSS intellectual cell president of the West Bengal unit, has compared Hindu community with frogs and said it can be extremely difficult to evaluate them on one scale (weighing machine).

This remark was made by him during a virtual discussion organised by the election cell of the Bihar unit of BJP under the chairmanship of Radhika Raman on Sunday. The theme of the discussion was violence and democratic threat that arose after the West Bengal election.

"The Hindu community behaves like a frog and its evaluation on one weighing machine is extremely difficult," Srivastava said while quoting this statement made by former RSS chief late Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.

"Mamata Banerjee and some extremists have united the Muslim community and is doing conspiracy to separate chicken from the neck. We have to foil their conspiracy," Srivastava said.

Moitra said Bengalis see themselves as Bengalis and Indians and not as Hindus or Muslims.

"The BJP failed to see this and kept flaunting their religious binary which backfired on them," she said.

"You guys have your chintan sabhas, dont you evaluate your mistakes honestly," she asked, quipping: "Do you forget what Gokhale said."

Gopal Krishna Gokhale is famous for "What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tommorow' comment.

Moitra said the BJP defeat in Bengal, after the huge effort they put in, might turn out to be a 'watershed.'

Dhankar rubbished charges levelled against him by Moitra that he had appointed 'close relatives' as officers on special duty (OSD) in Kolkata Raj Bhavan .

"Assertion @MahuaMoitra in tweet & Media that six coterminous appointee OSDs in personal staff are relatives is FACTUALLY WRONG. OSDs are from three states and belong to four different castes. None of them is part of close family. Four of them are not from my caste or state," Jagdeep Dhankhar tweeted.

Dhankhar claimed that Moitra's allegation was a part of TMC's "distraction strategy" to divert attention from the "law and order scenario" in West Bengal. He said, "This is unfolding of 'distraction strategy' to divert attention from alarming law and order scenario."

"Would continue undeterred and with zeal to serve the people of state and vindicate my oath of office under Article 159 of the Constitution," Jagdeep Dhankhar added.
London, June 7 : Now, online daters in the UK can flaunt Covid vaccine badge on their profiles, the media reported on Monday.

Apps such as Tinder, Match, Hinge, Bumble, Badoo, Plenty of Fish, OurTime and Muzmatch have all partnered with the UK government to boost vaccine uptake in the country, the BBC reported.

The new initiative is an "incredible asset" to the UK's Covid-19 vaccination programme, Minister Nadhim Zahawi was quoted as saying.

Some apps will provide incentives including free credits or access to premium features like profile boosts, virtual rose giving and "super likes" for people who add the vaccine badge on their profiles.

US-based Bumble will enable its members to share pandemic dating preferences such as views on social distancing, mask-wearing and whether users are comfortable meeting in crowded places. However, there will be no way to verify whether the users displaying the badge have genuinely taken the vaccine or not, the report said.

A research by London-based Elate Date showed that more than 60 per cent of people on its platform did not want to date anti-vaxxers. And a recent YouGov poll of nearly 5,000 UK adults found that only 28 per cent of those who responded said they would not date someone unvaccinated, only 2 per cent said they would not date someone who had received the jab.

In the US, the syringe emoji has become the new winky face, while a double-dosed selfie on your profile will, it's claimed, bring you double the number of dates. According to OKCupid, users who claimed to have already received the Covid vaccine were being "liked" at twice the rate of users who said they weren't interested, media reports said.

Tinder, in January, found a 238 per cent spike in vaccine mentions in user bios, while Bumble reported "a steady increase" in the number of people including "vaccine" or "vaccinated" in their profiles.

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Mumbai, June 7 : HSBC has appointed Hitendra Dave as the CEO of HSBC India, subject to regulatory approval.

In a statement, the company, he will be the CEO post the regulatory approval and has been named the interim CEO with immediate effect.

Dave succeeds Surendra Rosha who, after three years, is moving to Hong Kong as the Co-Chief Executive of HSBC, Asia-Pacific. Hitendra Dave, formerly Head of Global Banking & Markets of HSBC India, has almost 30 years' work experience in the Indian Financial Markets, of which the last 20 have been with HSBC.

He joined the bank in 2001 in the Global Markets business and has risen through the ranks to his current role of MD & Head of Global Banking and Markets business.

Surendra Rosha said: "I am confident that under Dave's leadership we will maximise the opportunity that lies ahead. I look forward to working with him as we continue to build on the momentum of the India franchise, into a higher trajectory of growth." Dave is a postgraduate in Business Administration and holds a degree in Economics from Delhi University.
Mumbai, June 7 : In a unique move, the Maharashtra government has decided to make the availability of medical oxygen as the centre of its pandemic second wave Unlockdown policy, whereby easing of restrictions started after over two months from Monday, (today, June 07), a top official said.

The state has started the Unlock process dividing the districts and civic bodies into Levels 1,2,3,4,5, with the restrictions based on oxygen bed occupancy status and case positivity rate.

As per the latest Unlocking rules, the government has stressed on 'State Level Oxygen Trigger' as the liquefied medical oxygen is "the most critical resource" for the treatment of Covid-19, as the state's easing started on a 5-Level scale.

Presently, the state's LMO production capacity is 1,200 tonnes/day, but there are serious challenges in importing oxygen from other states as well as internally transporting it to remote areas in the state, noted Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte.

The government is now taking its measures to contain the spread of the Coronavirus "much before the number of patients requiring oxygen-based treatment overwhelms the state's oxygen production capacity," he said.

Kunte pointed out that on an average of 1,000 patients require 20 tonnes of oxygen daily, hence the state can support 60,000 patients from its own LMO production of 1,200 tonnes daily.

This necessitated the need for the 'State Level Oxygen Trigger' whereby if the total patients on oxygen beds are over 45,000-50,000 irrespective of the trend of oxygen bed occupancy, then no other local parameters like Covid positivity rate would apply and the state shall be above Level 4.

Similarly, if the oxygen beds occupancy is between 35,000-45,000, or higher but with a reducing trend, those areas shall be above Level 3.

On each Thursday, the Public Health Department will make a state-level audit of the same and announce the oxygen beds occupancy besides district level positivity rate and oxygen beds occupancy, Kunte said.

Thereafter, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) will be empowered to take the necessary steps to further ease/tighten restrictions, which would be applicable from the following Monday.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced on Sunday that depending on the local situation, the local district Collectors were authorized to tighten/ease the curbs in their respective areas.

He further hinted that in case of violations, overcrowding or improper implementation of the norms, the local authorities would be held directly responsible for the same.

Terming it as "a most innovative initiative" Covid-19 expert Dr. Pradeep V. Mahajan, who is Chairman of StemRx Biosciences Solutions Pvt. Ltd., said that it will effectively "strengthen the system beforehand to ensure it can handle any surge of cases if something goes wrong in the Unlockdown".

"Now, the government will know how many new cases may come up and what's the advance preparation to handle them by way of hospital beds, oxygen availability, the medical staff, etc., and it needs to be emulated elsewhere in the country," Mahajan told IANS.

Currently, the SDMA and other district or municipal authorities are keeping close tabs on public behaviour, adherence to rules, the crowd patterns in both rural and urban areas, etc as the Unlocking process kicked off today across the state as per the 5-Level policy, with Mumbai falling in Level 3.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)

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-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kabul, June 7 : People who worked for foreign forces in Afghanistan will be safe and should not leave the country as the international troops withdraw, Taliban forces said in a statement on Monday.

"None should currently desert the country. The Islamic Emirate will not perturb them," dpa news agency reported citing the statement as saying.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have worked with the international forces in the past 20 years as interpreters, security guards, and as helpers in other capacities.

They fear retaliation from the Taliban once the foreign forces have left.

Many have applied for special visas to leave the country.

Countries, including the US, Germany and Britain - have programmes to resettle their local staff.

The applications of around 18,000 Afghans seeking a special immigration visa are currently pending at the US embassy in Kabul, according to embassy data.

Thousands of others have already been resettled to the countries they have worked with.

According to No One Left Behind, a US non-governmental organisation, around 300 people who worked as local staff for the US military or their family members have been killed since 2016.

In the past, the insurgents have said Afghans working with the "invaders" are "traitors" or "slaves".

Now, the insurgent group calls on these Afghans to "show remorse for their past actions" and says they should not engage in such activities in the future.

"We viewed them as our foes when they were directly standing in the ranks of our enemies," Monday's statement added.

"But when they abandon enemy ranks and opt to live as ordinary Afghans in their homeland, they will not face any issues."
Guatemala City, June 7 : US Vice President Kamala Harris has arrived in Guatemala City for her first foreign trip after taking office in January following a technical issue with her aircraft delayed the departure.

Harris was welcomed by Foreign Affairs Pedro Brolo ans US Ambassador to Guatemala William Popp at about 6.30 p.m., on Sunday, dpa news agency reported.

Less than half an hour after taking off from a military airfield near Washington, the government plane Harris was travelling on had to return to the airport in order to be changed out, according to spokeswoman Symone Sanders.

"It is a technical issue. There are no major safety concerns," she said.

Sanders later told reporters that the Air Force Two crew noticed an issue with the landing gear, which was not storing as it should, adding that the plane turned around "out of an abundance of caution".

Harris' official visit to Guatemala and Mexico on Monday and Tuesday will focus on migration and economic cooperation.

President Joe Biden has tasked Harris with taking the lead on curbing migration to the US.
Berlin, June 7 : Anyone in Germany aged 12 and above wanting to get vaccinated against the Cocid-19 can now ask for an appointment with the end of the prioritization of jabs, which had until Monday limited the inoculation to those over 60 and up and certain priority groups.

However, there won't be enough doses for everyone just yet, dpa news agency.

Top German doctors and Health Minister Jens Spahn have urged people to be patient as the prioritisation ends.

At the same time, more than 6,000 company doctors are starting their own vaccination programmes.

The head of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, Gerd Landsberg, said that the lifting of vaccination prioritization would lead to disillusionment among many people.

"Disappointment and frustration are pre-programmed into the process, as not enough vaccine is immediately available," he told the Rheinische Post newspaper.

General practitioners also dampened expectations, with Ulrich Weigeldt, chairperson of the German GP Association, telling Funke Mediengruppe newspapers that "the vaccine is still too scarce, compared to the high demand, and will continue to be delivered too unreliably".

So far, appointments for Covid-19 vaccinations in Germany had been assigned in prioritisation groups, which were primarily based on citizens' age, previous illnesses and occupation.

Last week, the BioNTech-Pfizer Covid jab received the first authorisation in the European Union (EU) for adolescents and the German government decided that children over the age of 12 years could sign up for vaccination.

More than 15.6 million people in Germany have been fully vaccinated till date, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 18.8 per cent, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

Almost 36.5 million Germans have already received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, June 7 : Migrant workers have started returning back to the national capital as the unlocking process began in the city from Monday.

Hundreds of migrant workers were seen walking out from the city's various Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) as well as railway stations as their workplaces started functioning from Monday.

A few were seen with their families while majority of the migrant workers returned to the city alone as they were not sure if the services will fully resume soon.

After over 1.5-month lockdown, the unlocking process began with the markets directed to reopen on odd-even basis between 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Delhi Metro services also opened for public with 50 per cent capacity, among other relaxations.

Talking to IANS, Amrit Pal, a factory worker belonging to Bihar's Saran district, said the situation seems to be better in coming days so he along with more than 15 other people from his village returned to Delhi as the contractor called them to come back and join the work.

Hriday Kushwaha, a resident of Bijnor, who was coming out of Anand Vihar railway station, said: "As Covid-19 cases have reduced, we hope the Delhi government will lift the restrictions completely. We are hopeful of getting back our jobs again." Resident of Uttar Pradesh's Unnao, Chhotu Paswan, who runs a tea stall in east Delhi's Khajuri Khas area, said he is now hopeful that his business will run as like before the lockdown in Delhi.

"I returned alone leaving my family there in the village because it will take some time to settle the business." Bhushan Mistry, who is a part time plumber and a contractor of labourers who work on construction sites, expressed hope of opening of normal life and other works with the opening of Delhi from Monday.

"As works on different sectors will start one by one with the opening of the city, several labourers working with me here in northwest Delhi's various places returned back today and many will be coming very soon," Mistry said.

Thousands of workers went back to their villages weeks before the Delhi government in the third week of April this year announced lockdown for a week as the city grapples with the massive surge in Covid-19 cases.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal then said Delhi's health system was strained with the daily 25,000 cases that the city was witnessing. The Delhi government had earlier announced a weekend curfew.

With the opening of Delhi, roads and markets that remained deserted for over one-and-a-half months witnessed lively again with people again seen outside following the Covid-19 norms.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, June 7 : On-demand delivery platform Swiggy on Monday said that under its 'Swiggy Suraksha initiative, a special care package is being provided to its delivery partners affected with Covid-19 which includes a support of Rs 14,000 for two weeks, so that they do not to worry about earning a livelihood during the recovery period.

If partners choose to, Swiggy will also provide doorstep delivery of homestyle meals prepared in the company's cloud kitchens, in cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.

The delivery partners and their families who test positive will receive enhanced hospitalisation cover of up to Rs 1.5 lakh, the company said in a statement.

In addition, Swiggy has also enhanced life insurance cover to Rs 5 lakh in the event of an untimely death of a delivery partner due to Covid-19.

"With Swiggy Suraksha, we are making sure that our delivery heroes also have the necessary support - including a 24X7 hotline for medical emergencies, access to doctors for themselves and their families, income support, free access to vaccines, hospitalisation cover for themselves and their families if affected by Covid," said Vivek Sunder, COO, Swiggy, in a statement.

Separately, Swiggy will provide income support for one week for delivery partners during bereavement (death of dependents/ parents/ siblings/ grandparents).

This is not limited to Covid-19 related bereavement, the company said.

The company has built a microsite named 'Swiggy Suraksha', within the Swiggy delivery partner app. Through this, it aims to ensure delivery partners have access to and understand the support that the Swiggy is providing.

Throughout the pandemic, Swiggy has introduced a number of initiatives, which included in-app access to free telemedicine consultations, vaccination cover and loss of pay cover during vaccination, among others.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
June 07 : Sonali Bendre shared a before-and-after picture of herself on the Cancer Survivors Day. The actress was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, and has recovered after battling the disease for a year.

Sonali took to her Instagram profile, and shared a collage of two pictures through which she said all. In the first picture, the actress can be seen in a hospital while she was battling cancer. In the other picture, Sonali can be seen in her glamorous avatar after she recovered. Sharing the picture, the actress wrote a powerful note, while she looked back and opened up about her will to survive and what kept her strong during her battle with cancer.

"How time flies... today when I look back, I see strength, I see weakness but most importantly I see the will to not let the C word define how my life will be after it..

Sonali further wrote, "You create the life you choose. The journey is what you make of it... so remember to take #OneDayAtATime and to #SwitchOnTheSunshine #CancerSurvivorsDay."

Fans and industry colleagues showered her with love in the comments section. Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Navya Naveli Nanda, Zoya Akhtar, Neelam Kothari Soni, Bhavana Pandey, Diana Penty, Manish Malhotra, Maheep Kapoor, Sikandar Kher and others dropped heart emojis on her post. Hrithik Roshan and Dia Mirza also dropped emojis in the comments section. "Your my warrior princess Sonzyyy," wrote Sussanne Khan. Tahira Kashyap said, "You inspire me."

After the actress was diagnosis with cancer in 2018, Sonali flew to New York with husband Goldie for treatment. Earlier in an interview, Sonali had said that her doctor in New York told her that she was in Stage IV cancer, and her survival chance was only 30%.

Sonali keeps sharing motivational post and encourages fans to be strong. On World Cancer Day this year, Sonali had shared a post and wrote: "Your journey is going to be hard but try to fight it with hope and remember to switch on the sunshine and take one day at a time."
Washington, June 7 : More than 300 million coronavirus vaccine shots have been administered in the US so far, according to figures from the country's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Some 63.5 per cent of all adults in the country have received at least a first dose of coronavirus vaccine while over 52 per cent of over 18s are already fully vaccinated, dpa news agency reported citing the latest CDC figures which were publised on Sunday.

President Joe Biden in May said his administration aimed for 70 per cent of adults to have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by July 4, when Independence Day is celebrated.

Among the higher-risk group of those aged 65 and older, 86.3 per cent have had a first dose and 75.5 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Since the start of the vaccine drive in December 2020, a total of over 301 million doses have been administered in the US, which has a population of 330 million.

A nurse received the country's first jab in New York on December 14, 2020.

The US is largely using Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which require two doses to be fully effective.

The single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine is also in use in the country.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Fugitive businessman diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who is currently in Dominica, has named mysterious woman Barbara Jabarica, and Indian officers Gurmit Singh and Narindra Singh in his complaint filed with the Antigua and Barbuda Police.

On June 4, IANS was first to report the name of Gurmit Singh, a resident of India whose name was mentioned in the passenger list of the two vessels -- Lady Anne and Calliope of Arne.

IANS had accessed the pictures of the vessels, several documents, and two men dressed in black kurta pajama' standing onboard with three other men.

The passenger list of Callioppe of Arne mentions the names of Gurjit Bhandal, a resident of Birmingham in the UK, and Gurmit Singh, a resident of India, according to the records of the Cobra tours.

The Calliope of Arne had entered the Portsmouth port in Dominica on May 25, according to the Customs and Excise department documents.

Choksi's complaint with the Antigua Police was filed on June 2.

In his complaint, Choksi, who is facing charges of entering Dominica illegally, has stated that that he has been residing in Antigua and Barbuda for the last three years, and there he came in contact with Jabarica, who used to stay in his neighbourhood.

He also stated that he had gone to meet Jabarica on May 23 at around 5 pm when he was abducted by 8 to 10 people claiming to be Antigua police officers.

In his complaint to the police, Choksi alleged that the people who abducted him said that they will be taking him to the St John's police station. When he resisted and requested to contact his lawyers, "I was physically restrained and hit from all sides", the fugitive businessman said in the complaint.

"I attempted to get away, but I was quickly overpowered, owing to being so heavily outnumbered due to my poor state of health. My attackers continued to beat me mercilessly with bare hands and also utilised a Taser (gun) on my face, hands and exposed skin, causing burns, bruises and immense pain. They further told me that if I continued to resist, they would file a complaint against me for obstruction of justice," Choksi said.

Choksi further said that the attackers put him on a wheelchair, as he was in almost comatose state.

"I was unable to resist when they tied my hands, legs and body to the wheel chair. A gag was placed in my mouth obstructing my airways, causing me to gasp for air. They continued their onslaught and placed a mask on my head so my vision was also obscured," he said.

Choksi further said that in the same state he was taken to the backside of Jabarica's house and was placed on what seemed like a very small watercraft. "During this entire ordeal, Jabarica did not even attempt to help me or assist in any other way by calling for help from outside," he said.

"The manner in which Jabarica conducted herself, including by not helping me get free from the said persons, and her subsequent lack of initiative in contacting the police clearly points to the fact that she was an integral part of this entire scheme to kidnap me," The fugitive businessman alleged.

He also said that he was shifted to a much larger boat where his mask was removed. "I realised we could not possibly be going to St John's police station, as there was no need to utilise a boat to go there. Upon my asking where I was being taken, they gave very evasive answers and ordered me in threatening manner to remain silent or face further consequences," Choksi claimed.

He further stated that there appeared to be two Indians on board and three persons of Carribean descent.

"From the way they conducted themselves so far, the Indian men, they seemed to be highly experienced mercenaries or contractors, hired specifically for this purpose of detaining and abducting me in such a brutal and unlawful manner," he said.

Choksi also pointed out that one of the Indian captors started talking to him, stating that they had been keeping him under observation for almost a year.

"They knew intimate details about my household, such as I had a nun, where I would walk, my favourite restaurants, my daily schedules etc.," he said.

Choksi further said that after sometime, the second Indian man came and asked him detailed questions about his finances, "where I have offshore bank accounts etc".

"I of course could not answer, as I have none. My answers were unsatisfactory so they threatened me by saying that there would be dire consequences to my family and myself when I am back in India," he said.

Choksi said, "I was made to speak on phone with a man who identified himself as Narinder Singh. He said that he was the chief agent in charge of my case. He began to pressurise me to say that I had cooperated with my captors and that I had accompanied them on my own free volition, which of course was not true.

"Upon hearing me resist, he threatened me by promising that physical harm would befall upon me and my family if I did not comply. He also said to leave my friendship with Jabarica out of the picture as it would lead to a public scandal and cause grievous hurt to my wife," he said.

Choksi also said that after sailing for over 15 to 17 hours, the boat stopped moving and "I was informed that we had arrived, which could have been around 9.30 a.m. top 10 a.m. Antigua time".

He claimed that when he asked about the whereabouts, he was given evasive answers again, "but I was told that I had been brought to this special location to give an interview to a high ranking Indian politician".

"He also told me that my citizenship would be fixed in Dominica and that I would soon be repatriated to India," he said.

Choksi in his complaint further alleged that he was soon informed that since Dominica was closed, we could have to stay there all day.

"This caused much dismay in the crew members as they were constantly getting radio calls enquiring as to why my operation had not yet been completed. They were getting harried as they were supposed to have handed me over to the authorities," he said.

"While we were waiting, $1,500 in cash was robbed from me and given to the boatman, stating that once the interview is done, he would be taking me back to Antigua, effectively rendering me without any cash, source of communication and without telling my family members or legal representatives about my whereabouts," he claimed.

"At this point, the man, Gurmit Singh, came to me and stated that the plans have changed and that 'you will go today'," Choksi said, adding that they further informed him that they would be handing him over to the Police Commissioner of Dominica and that there will be a coast guard boat coming in one hour to make this transfer happen.

"It did not arrive for the longest time and I was just about to fall asleep when the alarm was raised that the coast guard vessel was finally approaching," he said.

The fugitive diamantaire claimed that he was received by a battery of policemen, including the chief, at the port.

"He introduced himself as the chief of police and the reason I was caught was for Interpol red corner notice." Choksi said.

"At the port, I was handed over to an officer and his team to take me to the central police station," he said.

Choiksi then said that he was under the impression that he would be interrogated in the night only as told by an Indian official, but instead, after hours drive to the police station, he was immediately checked into the police headquarters and put in one small cell.

Choksi further said that he was handcuffed at the port itself and the two kidnappers', who were in possession of his social security card, told him that they would take care of his registration in Dominica.

"My licence was still with me which the police took note of when I arrived at the police station," Choksi stated in his complaint.

Choksi also said that he was under the assumption that all his captors would disembark and come with him, but he was transferred to the coast guard vessel alone.

"I was met by a large number of men who were uniformed. I met a person who introduced himself as Maxis, the police. I was thinking that my ordeal may have been over as I would have the opportunity of recounting the horrors of the torturous journey I had faced so far," he said.

"But he declined to meet me, and I was taken to a holding cell at a police station in Roseau, which did not have the basic necessities of a mattress and was barely 20 square feet in size," he added.

Choksi claimed that he was further denied medical treatment for the cuts and bruises and was also not allowed to talk to any legal representatives as "I was informed that we don't do that here with prisoners".

He also claimed that he was not given a change of clothes for the first few days.

"After 2-3 days, they gave me few pairs of clothes, but even then I would have to clean the clothes myself and hang them out to dry," he said.

The fugitive businessman said that his lawyers were allowed to speak to him after a few days.

Mehul Choksi had gone missing from Antigua on May 23, sparking a massive manhunt. He was captured in Dominica three days later on May 26.

A Dominican court has restrained the extradition of Choksi till further orders after hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by his lawyers.

Last Wednesday, Choksi had appeared before a local magistrate in Dominica and pleaded not guilty of entering the Caribbean island nation illegally. On May 27, first pictures of Choksi in Dominica emerged online, showing several signs of bruises on his arms and a swollen eye.

The fugitive businessman is wanted in India in connection with the Rs 13,5000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case.
New Delhi, June 7 : The Supreme Court on Monday ordered eviction of around 10,000 residential constructions, which had come up in Haryana's Lakkadpur-Khori village in the Aravalli Forest area.

A bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said: "We had passed an interim order in February 2020 since it was an encroachment of forest land, and it has to be vacated." The bench noted that it will ask the Faridabad Municipal Corporation, why after its February order, the encroachments were not removed till June 2021.

The bench said as far as forest land was concerned there cannot be any compromise irrespective of policy, or whether the state wants to accommodate them it's up to them.

The bench queried counsel, representing the municipal corporation, why its order on removal of encroachments on forest lands has not been complied to till date? The counsel submitted that people in the area were trying to encroach further. The bench reiterated that no concession can be granted in connection with encroachment on the forest land.

The top court was hearing a plea filed on behalf of residents of Khori Gaon Basti in Faridabad, Haryana, seeking an immediate stay on the proposed demolition of about 10,000 houses in the area.

The plea challenged the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran Rehabilitation Policy, which limits the cut off for rehabilitation to 2003.

The bench told senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing the petitioners, vacate the premise on your own so that corporation does not have to spend on evicting you, and if you want your petition to be considered, be a law-abiding citizen.

The bench noted "land grabbers can't take refuge of rule of law", and directed the state government to provide logistical support to evict the people from forest land and clear all encroachments.

Gonsalves contended that there should be a reasonable cut-off date, and this is the worst cut-off date. The bench replied that in 2020, it had made it clear corporation must clear the forest land. "You should have vacated on your own", noted the bench.

Gonsalves said during Covid pandemic, people will be scattered, and insisted residents were poor people.

The bench insisted that people should vacate the forest land peacefully . ""Sorry, we are saying sorry plainly......there will be some other grabbing of the forest land. First land has to be free.. This is about forest land, and this is more important", the bench replied to the petitioners' counsel seeking stay on eviction.

The bench said the corporation should remove all encroachments on the forest land not later than six weeks and report compliance under the signature of chief secretary and secretary of Haryana Forest Department.

The top court has posted the matter for further hearing on July 27.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Moscow, June 7 : Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law withdrawing Moscow from the Open Skies treaty, an arms control pact with the US that permitted unarmed surveillance flights over military facilities in both countries.

The law went into effect upon publication by the Kremlin on Monday, reports dpa news agency.

Putin himself had ordered the withdrawal from Open Skies.

The military observation flights were seen as key to building confidence between Russia and the West after the Cold War.

The decision to abandon the pact was mutual.

The administration of former US president Donald Trump announced a year ago that Washingtonwould withdraw from Open Skies, alleging Russia had violated its terms.

The incumbent Joe Biden administration decided in May to stick to that decision.

Russia blamed the US for the end of the agreement.

Last week, Russia's upper house of parliament voted to scrap the treaty.

Putin's signature was the last legal act to withdraw from the deal, signed in Helsinki on March 24, 1992.

It has been in force since 2002.

The topic is now expected to be off the table at Putin's summit with Biden on June 16 in Geneva.

Only one key arms control agreement remains between the US and Russia -- the New START nuclear disarmament treaty.

Shortly before it was set to expire in February, Biden and Putin had agreed on an extension.

The New START treaty limits the nuclear arsenals of both countries to 800 delivery systems and 1,550 ready-to-use nuclear warheads.
New Delhi, June 7 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 5 p.m. on Monday at a time when there is declining trend in cases of Covid-19 in the country after a deadly second wave in April-May.

Sources indicated that the Prime Minister may speak on the prevailing coronavirus situation in the country as many states have started the process of unlocking from Monday.

"Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi will address the nation at 5 PM today, 7th June," the Prime Minister's Office said on Twitter.

As Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu started unlocking from Monday with cautious steps, it is expected that the Prime Minister will warn the people to take the pandemic seriously despite the openings and follow safety measures taking congnisance of the prediction of the third wave of the coronavirus.

Several parts of India have begun the process of cautiously resuming activities stopped two months ago when the coronavirus cases began its deadly surge in the second wave. The unlocking comes as Covid cases have seen a steady fall in recent weeks.

In Delhi, shops in malls, markets, market complexes, standalone shops and neighbourhood shops opened with the restrictions of odd-even and timings. Delhi Metro, which was suspended since May 10, resumed services with 50 per cent capacity. Private offices are allowed to function with 50 per cent staff.

Maharashtra comes up with a five-level plan to ease restrictions depending on infection rates and hospital bed occupancy.

In Mumbai, the country's financial capital, restaurants, shops selling non-essential items and public places reopened from Monday, but malls, theatres and multiplexes continued to remain shut as the metropolis has been categorised under level 3 of the 'unlock' plan.

This month many other several states and Union Territories have begun easing the lockdown restrictions which they first started imposing in mid-April as the second Covid wave hit the country.

The central government has however cautioned that the unlock process has to be slow and that Covid-appropriate behaviour needs to be strictly followed.

"Whatever we know from possible scenarios presented by eminent people, it (COVID) will decline and June will be much much more better but the concerns are when we open up, how do we behave because the virus has not gone anywhere," NITI Aayog member (Health) V.K. Paul had said last week.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Taipei, June 7 : Strict virus control measures will be extended across Taiwain through late June, officials announced on Monday, noting that the emergence of new coronavirus infections have not slowed down.

Taiwan announced a nationwide Level 3 Covid-19 alert in mid-May, when locally transmitted cases surged, and imposed strict virus control measures for social gatherings and venues until June 14, dpa news agency reported.

Central Epidemic Command Centre (CECC) chief Chen Shih-chung told a news conference on Monday that the alert will now last through June 28.

Educational institutions will remain closed and eating indoors at dining establishments remains prohibited.

The extension also postpones the nationwide college entrance examination, pushing it from early July to late July.

The hotspots in the recent wave of infections have spread from northern Taiwan, including Taipei, to Miaoli in central Taiwan, where more than 230 Covid-19 patients were found among migrant workers and Taiwanese employees at three electronic companies.

The case counts are expected to grow as large-scale coronavirus testing has been launched for employees of the virus-hit companies, as well as others.

The Labour Ministry said on Monday that it aims to improve housing conditions to lower the risk of infection for migrant workers nationwide.

The Ministry said that by Wednesday, more than 1,168 collective dormitories shared by more than 50 migrant workers each will be reviewed.

The CECC on Monday announced 211 domestically transmitted coronavirus cases, three imported ones and 26 related deaths.

Since the pandemic began, Taiwan, an island of 23.6 million people, has confirmed a total of 11,491 infections, including 10,290 locally transmitted ones.

The death toll has reached 286.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Aligarh : , June 7 (IANS) A strong police presence has been ensured at the road leading to Noorpur village in Aligarh to counter attempts to disturb the law and order, following VHP leader Sadhvi Prachi's announcement to perform 'havan' at a mosque there which was at the centre of a row involving people of two different communities.

Though Sadhvi Prachi did not reach Noorpur as announced, several right-wing activists reached the outskirts of the village but were sent back by the police.

The row began on May 26 when a wedding procession of a Dalit family was allegedly asked to stop the music for a while near a mosque since people were offering prayers.

This led to a major altercation and some people in the wedding procession claimed that they were attacked by the people of the other community.

Later, local police intervened and booked 11 people. It also claimed that the matter has been settled.

A few days later, 'house for sale' signs came outside some houses belonging to Dalit families.

Attempts were also made to whip up communal passions. A local AIMIM leader gave a controversial statement and BJP MP Satish Gautam visited the village along with local MLAs to assure the Dalit community.

Meanwhile, district magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh and SSP Kalanidhi Naithani, said, "A peace committee has been formed and five accused have been arrested so far. The situation is under control."
Srinagar, June 7 : An improvised explosive device (IED) was detected by the security forces on Monday in J&K's Pulwama district.

Police sources said an IED weighing 5-7 Kgs was detected by the security forces in Saimu area of Tral tehsil.

"Bomb disposal squad has been called to defuse the IED. The area has been cordoned off," sources said.

Seven people were injured on Sunday in a grenade explosive which was hurled by the militants towards a party of the security forces in the bus stand area of Tral town.
Amaravati, June 7 : Even as Covid cases have been gradually declining over the past week, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to play safe, and extend the partial curfew by another 10 days -- from June 11 to June 20.

The decision was taken at the Covid review meeting chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Monday.

The partial curfew currently in force is due to end on June 10.

However, while partial curfew has been further extended, daily curfew timings have been reduced by 2 hours, and will be in force between 2 p.m. and 6 a.m., instead of the present 12 noon to 6 a.m.

This is the fourth consecutive time the state government has imposed partial curfew to control the spread of Covid pandemic. Following a steady rise in Covid cases, Andhra Pradesh had initially imposed a 2-week partial curfew from May 5. Subsequently, the partial curfew was extended till May 31, and thereafter till June 10.

During the revised curfew hours, only emergency services are allowed to function between 2 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Business and commercial establishments will be allowed to operate as per Covid protocols, between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m., and government offices will function from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. However Section 144 will be in force during these 8 hours.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, June 7 : A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking to postpone postgraduate entrance test being conducted by AIIMS on June 16 and termed the schedule of the exam an utter disregard to the assurance given by the Prime Minister's Office while postponing the NEETPG Examination, 2021 by four months.

A group of 26 doctors led by Poulami Mondal contended that holding of Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (INI CET) 2021 would be in contravention of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

The plea said initially the examination was scheduled to take place in May 2021, which stood postponed due to the worsening COVID situation. Later, a notification on May 27, was issued by assistant controller (Exams), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for the exam on June 16. The petitioners said there are some 815 seats in 10 colleges for which more than 80,000 doctors will appear and take the examination.

The plea argued that after assurance from the PMO, many doctors have taken a job and have become frontline workers with no spare time to prepare for the test.

"In the prevailing circumstances due to COVID-19, the conducting of this examination is resulting in building up pressure on the graduate doctors from across India to sit for the examination on June 16, 2021, when under the present circumstances the Board examinations (Central Board of Secondary Education 10th and 12th Grade) and other professional examinations have been either cancelled or postponed", said the plea.

The plea contended that this is not in public interest in view of the present condition of the country and non-availability of doctors, beds in the hospitals coupled with the fact that there is a dearth of Covid-19 vaccination.

"Since there is not enough time for most of them to travel back in order to take the examinations and they are most likely to be affected by travel restrictions as imposed by different states. This puts undue burden on already fatigued, distressed and tired doctors", added the plea.

The plea emphasized that more than 80,000 graduate doctors are expected to take up INI CET for admission in post graduate courses in 10 colleges, including AIIMS, JIPMER, PGIMER, NIMHANS across the country.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Lucknow, June 7 : The Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) in Lucknow will help set up herbal sanitizer manufacturing units in rural parts of the state.

The idea behind this is to generate employment for local youths.

According to CIMAP officials, the initiative was part of the aroma mission, aimed at propagating farming and use of aromatic and medicinal plants across the country.

CIMAP will also provide training regarding farming for aromatic plants to people across the country.

Experts at CIMAP had developed herbal sanitizer last year and subsequently shared the technology with a private firm with whom it has also inked a pact for mass production of herbal sanitisers.

The private firm, along with the institute, is planning to set up at least two dozen manufacturing units across the state by the year end and hopes to employ nearly 300 educated rural youths.

Manoj Semwal, principal scientist at CIMAP, said: "The plan is to provide technological help to youngsters living in village areas so that they could convert it into an employment opportunity. We will also share the expertise about the process so that they could expand their business in coming days." He further said, "The progressive farmers from across the state who are in touch with the institute will be given a preference in the project." CIMAP will share technological expertise while the firm will help in setting up machinery and sourcing raw material for the manufacturing plants.

The villagers who will get employment at these units can also sell the herbal plants grown in their fields to manufacturing units.

In the first phase, the firm has identified villages close to Lucknow, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Agra and Aligarh to set up the manufacturing units.

Eight manufacturing units will be set up in the first phase and plan is to set up these units by August.
In late-February 1912, a play called Buddha was staged at the Royal Court Theatre in London. This was produced by William Poel, the noted theatre figure best known for his presentations of Shakespeare. The play was adapted for stage by S.C. Bose. It has been speculated that he was Sarat Chandra Bose, the elder brother of Subhas Chandra Bose, and later to become a prominent figure in the Indian freedom movement himself. Sarat Chandra Bose was indeed in London at that time studying law. The evidence, however, is not conclusive.5 Buddha was a significant success. The driving force behind it was Kedar Nath Das Gupta, who had come to London in 1907 fleeing possible police action against him in Calcutta for having been a revolutionary there. In 1912, Das Gupta would also set up the Indian Art and Dramatic Society, which organized an evening dedicated to the works of Rabindranath Tagore in his presence at the Royal Albert Hall. Tagore would win the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature for his collection of songs called Gitanjali.

Tagore, the poet of Indian nationalism, was India's pre-eminent cultural and literary personality of the twentieth century. The influence of the Buddha on his poetry and his novels has been much studied and written about. This influence came about in diverse ways. His immediate family was steeped in Buddhist study. In 1859 his father Debendranath Tagore had been to Ceylon and had come back with not just knowledge of but keen interest in the Buddha's life and his teachings. He wrote Sakya Muni O Nirvan Tattvai in 1882. Satyendranath Tagore, Rabindranath's elder brother, who had accompanied their father to Ceylon, wrote Bauddha Dharma in 1901. The Brahmo Samaj, of which the Tagore family was an integral part, had also taken up the study of the Buddha's teachings. A very early influence regarding the Buddha on Rabindranath Tagore was that of Rajendralala Mitra, who has figured in this narrative earlier.

In January 1922, Rabindranath Tagore would visit Bodh Gaya and issue this statement: I am sure it will be admitted by all Hindus who are true to their own ideals, that it is an intolerable wrong to allow the temple raised on the spot where Lord Buddha attained his enlightenment to remain under the control of a rival sect which can neither have the intimate knowledge of or sympathy for the Buddhist religion and its rites of worship. I consider it to be a sacred duty for all individuals believing in freedom and justice this great historical site to the community of people who still reverently carry on that particular current of history in their own living faith.

Rabindranath Tagore had taken The Light of Asia with him when he went to Bodh Gaya. While the imprint of the Buddha is very distinctive in many of his works, the influence of The Light of Asia specifically has been traced in the poem 'Bidaye' of Kalpana Kavyagrantha. It has apparently never been translated into English before and is being done so for the first time here: Let me now depart, It's time to break the bonds. In your blissful sleep, You shudder in dreams of separation. At dawn your vacant eyes, Will search and brim with glistening tears. It's time to break the bonds. Though Your ruby lips and sad eyes are yet to utter, So many words of endearment. The bird will fly across the seas Leaving the happy nest behind. From across the firmament I hear the call. It's time to break the bonds.

Tagore's stance on the Mahabodhi Temple at Buddha Gaya was completely different to the one his Japanese friend and admirer Okakura Kakuzo had taken years earlier. Okakura Kakuzo was an artist who had in 1895 'issued a call for a painting competition to represent scenes from the life of the Buddha in a new form'. There was an enthusiastic response and a number of works resulted, but these were 'dogged by critics' accusations of inauthenticity'. Okakura must have decided that he had to visit India to get a better sense of 'historical authenticity' to depict the life of the Buddha. In addition, he had been persuaded by a wealthy American woman, Josephine MacLeod, to join her on her journey to Calcutta to meet Vivekananda. MacLeod had been Vivekananda's ardent admirer and benefactor since 1894. Okakura was planning to host another Chicago-like World Parliament of Religions in Japan and hence his visit to the man who had been the most charismatic presence at Chicago in 1893 was most welcome.

Okakura Kakuzo reached Calcutta in early January 1902 and struck an instant rapport with Vivekananda and invited him to Japan. The two were in Buddha Gaya together sometime in the last week of January 1902. Vivekananda had been there sixteen years earlier. On 7 February 1902 Vivekananda told Josephine MacLeod: We [Okakura and he] have safely reached Benaras . . . I am rather better here than at Buddha Gaya. There was no hitch to our friend [Okakura] being admitted to the chief temple and [allowed to] touch the Sign of Shiva and to worship. The Buddhists, it seems are always admitted ...

A few weeks later Okakura made a second trip to Buddha Gaya with another Japanese Buddhist priest Tokuno Oda, who had come to Calcutta in April 1901 as Okakura's emissary to Vivekananda. The two Japanese went to meet the Mahant to negotiate the purchase of land close to the Mahabodhi Temple. On his return to Calcutta, Okakura wrote to the Mahant on 26 April 1902 expressing his desire to 'erect a rest house [close to the Mahabodhi Temple] for followers of Mahayana Buddhism in Japan' and his willingness to purchase land at a 'fair and reasonable price' for this purpose. He had distanced himself from the 'representatives of the Hinayana Buddhism of Ceylon, Siam or other places,' who had been agitating for total Buddhist control over the Mahabodhi Temple. Okakura gave his Calcutta address as 'c/o Swami Vivekananda, the Math, Belur, Howrah'. Obviously, Vivekananda would have been in the know about Okakura's proposal, which, as it turned out, was acceptable to the Mahant as well. A few months later, on 4 July 1902, Vivekananda passed away. It is clear that Okakura was deeply influenced by Vivekananda in his views on Buddhism and its relationship with Hinduism which were at variance with Dharmapala's. Later Okakura would become an important part of Tagore's orbit for a while.

As for Sister Nivedita, born Margaret Noble, she would visit Bodh Gaya in early October 1904. Her entourage had included twenty men and women, among whom were the scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose and his wife, Rabindranath Tagore and his son, and the historian Jadunath Sarkar. She would write to MacLeod on 15 October 1904 from Rajgir: We have been a party of 20 spending 4 days at Bodh-Gaya . . . and I think it has been an event in all our lives . . . In the mornings we had tea by 6 and then readings-Light of Asia-Web of Indian Life [Nivedita's own book] etc, and talks. All gathered together in the great verandeh. Our Mahant is like a King. Evenings-we went out after tea-to the Temple and Tree ...

Rabindranath Tagore was not the only member of the distinguished Tagore family on whom The Light of Asia would have a marked influence. His nephew Abanindranath Tagore, the first Indian artist to gain international recognition just as his uncle was earning a global name for himself, had painted Buddha and Sujata in 1902. Partha Mitter, the noted historian of Indian art, has written that: Buddha and Sujata departed from Varma's historicism [Raja Ravi Varma, who painted mythological figures]. Abanindranath chose an actual historical figure, though the Buddha here was the saviour imagined by the Orientalist Edwin Arnold. His description of the shy maiden who brought the Buddha his first nourishment was the inspiration here.

In Book the Sixth, of The Light of Asia, Arnold describes that transformative moment thus: So,-thinking him divine,-Sujata drew

Tremblingly nigh, and kissed the earth and said,

With sweet face bent, "Would that the Holy One

Inhabiting this grove,

Giver of Good,

Merciful unto me his handmaiden,

Vouchsafing now his presence, might accept These our poor gifts of snowy curds, fresh made,

With milk as white as new-carved ivory!"

Today, about a twenty-minute walk east from the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya stands Sujata Stupa or Sujata Ghar that honours this milkmaid who ended the seven years of self-mortification of Siddhartha Gautama paving the way for his enlightenment.

(This is an extract from "The Light of Asia - the poem that defined The Buddha" by Jairam Ramesh that is being carried with the permission of the publisher, Penguin/Viking)
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Gandhinagar June 7 : After more than a month of Covid-19 restrictions, Gujarat on Monday began unlocking as the effects of the second wave of Covid-19 seemed to be fading away. Government offices, schools and courts reopened, expecting normalcy to return in the state.

The Gujarat government has decided to allow full functioning of all its offices including the state secretariat in Gandhinagar with one hundred percent capacity as the number of coronavirus infections continued to decrease. The state on Sunday recorded 848 Covid positive cases while 12 citizens succumbed. The total number of active cases has also come down below 20,000. After the second wave hit the state badly, the government had decided to function with only 50% staff capacity.

The schools too reopened on Monday as the new academic year began. But the government has not allowed students in these schools but only the teaching and administrative staff. For a while, education will only be in online mode.

The Gujarat high court has also decided to resume hearings but they will only be in online form and only for urgent and public interest cases. However, the lower courts will be functional from Monday and online hearing in these courts will be permitted where the court premises are situated in containment areas.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) and the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) too resumed services in Ahmedabad on Monday with 50% capacity. These services were discontinued due to the rising corona cases from March 18. However, these services are being resumed only during day time as the night curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. morning is still in force.

The Gujarat government has also decided to reopen the Statue of Unity (SOU) at Kevadiya colony, the world's tallest statue, along with the other attractions like the Jungle Safari Park, children's park. The Kevadiya attractions will be open from Tuesday.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Hyderabad, June 7 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's sister Y.S. Sharmila will be launching her political party in Telangana next month.

Named 'YSR Telangana Party', it will be launched on July 8, the birth anniversary of her father and former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

Party coordinator Vaduka Rajagopal said on Monday that the process for registration of YSR Telangana Party with the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been completed.

Rajagopal filed an application with the ECI seeking its registration. The poll panel had issued a notification, seeking objections if any to the registration of YSR Telangana Party.

Y.S. Vijayalakshmi, honorary president of the YSR Congress Party, informed the Commission that she has no objection to registration of YSR Telangana Party.

Vijayalakshmi was present when her daughter Sharmila announced at a public meeting at Khammam on April 9 that she will be launching a new political party in Telangana.

While Jagan Mohan Reddy is said to be opposed to his sister floating a new party, Vijayalakshmi had appealed to people of Telangana to bless Sharmila with their support.

Rajagopal said after receiving the letter from ECI about recognition of YSR Telangana Party, they would announce more details about the party.

He said Sharmila was launching the new party to bring back the welfare rule of her late father YSR and to carry forward his ideals.

Sharmila will be unveiling the name, flag and agenda of the new party on July 8.

Addressing the meeting at Khammam, she vowed to bring back 'Rajanna Rajyam' in Telangana.

'Rajanna Rajyam' is referred to the rule of YSR when several welfare and pro-poor schemes were implemented.

YSR was the chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh from 2004 to 2009.

YSR's daughter had said she was launching the party to question those in power and to fulfill the aspirations of Telangana movement and for self-respect of Telangana.

Sharmila has been holding meetings since March with YSR loyalists from various districts in Telangana to take their feedback before announcing her political plans.

YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) led by Jagan Mohan Reddy has already admitted that there is difference of opinion between the brother and sister over the latter's political ambitions in Telangana.

YSRCP had won one MP and three MLA seats in the old undivided Khammam district in the maiden Assembly elections in Telangana in 2014.

However, YSRCP became inactive in Telangana after its MP and all three MLAs joined ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Jagan Mohan Reddy, who led YSRCP to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, decided to stay away from Telangana politics. His party did not contest 2018 Assembly elections and subsequent polls in Telangana.
New Delhi, June 7 : Strategic affairs author Brahma Chellaney has raised questions about medical journal Lancets ties with PLA linked scientists and a recent editorial where it attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "presiding over a self-inflicted national catastrophe".

In a tweet, Chellaney said, "The Lancet's ties to PLA-linked scientists may explain why early on it published letter clearing Wuhan lab of blame. It was instrumental in discrediting hydroxychloroquine for Covid treatment by publishing a fake study, which it later retracted after destroying confidence in HCQ" "More recently, The Lancet raised more eyebrows by publishing a highly political editorial that attacked Modi, including for "attempting to stifle criticism." It warned of "a staggering 1 million deaths" by Aug. 1, with Modi "presiding over a self-inflicted national catastrophe", the tweet said.

"The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that India will see a staggering 1 million deaths from COVID-19 by Aug 1. If that outcome were to happen, Modi's Government would be responsible for presiding over a self-inflicted national catastrophe. India squandered its early successes in controlling COVID-19", Lancet had said in the editorial.

"Until April, the government's COVID-19 taskforce had not met in months. The consequences of that decision are clear before us, and India must now restructure its response while the crisis rages. The success of that effort will depend on the government owning up to its mistakes, providing responsible leadership and transparency, and implementing a public health response that has science at its heart", Lancet said.

"Local governments have begun taking disease containment measures, but the federal government has an essential role in explaining to the public the necessity of masking, social distancing, halting mass gatherings, voluntary quarantine, and testing. Modi's actions in attempting to stifle criticism and open discussion during the crisis are inexcusable", Lancet said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Chennai, June 7 : The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) on Sunday asked all medical shops and pharmacies in the city to mandatorily report the details of persons buying fever drugs Paracetamol or Azithromycin.

The corporation has asked the pharmacies and medical stores to record the details, including phone numbers, contact details, symptoms of the disease from those who come to the shop to buy these medicines.

The GCC has made this mandatory under the Disaster Management Act and to step up the Covid-19 surveillance.

The Chennai Corporation had earlier called upon all private clinics, scan centres, and hospitals to share details of patients who had approached them with fever and other symptoms like common cold and influenza.

According to the GCC Commissioner, Gagan Singh Bedi, the order was issued under Section 30(2)(5)(6) of the Disaster Management Act. The Tamil Nadu Covid-19 2020 regulations have made it mandatory that all medical institutions, including hospitals, scan centres, private clinics, and pharmacies should immediately report all suspected Covid cases to the Greater Chennai Corporation.

During the first wave of the pandemic as well, the GCC had asked the pharmacies and medical shops to share the details of those who buy paracetamol and other fever drugs. However, the shops did not share the details regularly. This has led to the GCC making it mandatory that all such shops report the details and that action would be taken under the Disaster Management Act if the order is not complied with.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Kolkata, June 7 : Eighty-one Rohingya refugees, who landed in Indonesia's Aceh coast last week, are currently being sheltered in Pulau Idaman near Simpang Ulim, UNHCR officials said.

"They are receiving food and medical assistance from the Indonesian authorities. UNHCR and humanitarian are on site to provide additional support and coordination to ensure that the refugees' needs are met," they said.

"After several months at sea in perilous conditions, these women, children and men have now found safety ashore." The UNHCR has "commended" the Indonesian government for allowing the disembarkation of the Rohingya boat.

It also lauded members of the local community who initially provided food provisions to the refugees.

The 81 refugees are believed to have departed from Bangladesh in a boat with 90 passengers on February 11.

Within days, the boat's engine had broken down and the refugees' lives were at risk, with many suffering from severe dehydration.

By the time that the boat was eventually assisted in the Andaman Sea by the Indian authorities, nine passengers had reportedly passed away.

After they again set sail, UNHCR and partner organisations lost contact with the refugees.

"It is both a humanitarian imperative and an international obligation to provide vessels in distress with life-saving assistance and disembarkation to a place of safety," the UNHCR had said in a statement last week.

"While we commend the Government and people of Indonesia once more for their humanitarian gesture, UNHCR reiterates the urgent need for states in the region to come together to forge a collective regional response to search, rescue and disembarkation." Vulnerable women, children and men should not be left to the mercy of the high seas, it said.
Seoul, June 7 : A Seoul court on Monday dismissed a damages suit against 16 Japanese firms, filed in 2015 by a total of 84 South Korean victims who were forced into heavy labour without pay during the World War II.

The Seoul Central District Court dismissed the suit against the Japanese companies, including Nippon Steel, Nissan Chemical and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, reports Xinhua news agency.

It was the biggest case among other similar damages suits lodged by the South Korean forced labour victims.

The dismissal is a decision made without any trial because of the failure to meet litigation requirements, equivalent to a ruling against the plaintiffs.

The court ruled that the individual right to damages cannot be seen as being terminated or waived, but it said the individual right cannot be exercised through lawsuits due to the 1965 South Korea-Japan treaty.

The ruling was in a contrast to the country's top court ruling in October 2018, in which the Supreme Court ordered Nippon Steel to pay 100 million won ($89,900) to each of the four South Korean victims.

Japan claimed that all colonial-era issues were settled through the 1965 treaty that normalised diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan following the Imperial Japan's colonisation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

However, the South Korean top court said the state-to-state deal did not involve the individual right to reparation.
New Delhi, June 7 : While the Delhi government's 'door-to-door' ration delivery scheme is a fresh political flashpoint between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Centre, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has decided to use his flagship scheme for vaccination drive in the national capital.

Addressing a digital press conference on Monday, Kejriwal announced to start mass vaccination campaign naming - 'Jahan Vote, Wahan Vaccination', adding that vaccination centres to be shifted to polling booths in each Assembly Constituency of Delhi.

The process has been started including training of booth level officers (BLO), who along with a civil defence volunteer will visit residential colonies, will book a slot for vaccination and will appeal to the citizens of Delhi to pay a visit to where they vote for Covid jabs, Kejriwal told the press.

The four-week vaccination campaign will cover as many as 70 municipal wards every week, with an objective to administer the first dose to all the citizens above 45 years and above.

However, as of now, people only aged above 45 will be covered under the scheme as Delhi government's vaccine stock for 18-44 age group is not available. "Door-to-door awareness drive will be launched soon in Delhi. The first phase of the campaign will start in 70 wards and we have set a target to give the first dose of Covid vaccine to all citizens who are above 45 years of age. People of 18-44 age group will also be included in the scheme once the Centre provides vaccines for youth," Kejriwal said.

Delhi has around 280 municipal wards in all 70 assembly Constituencies.

Citing that people are not visiting Delhi government's vaccination centers, so it will be shifted to polling booths. The Delhi government is providing free vaccination at government-run schools, apart from hospitals and other healthcare centers.

"People in the 45 plus age group are not coming to vaccination centres on their own. So, we will now visit their homes," Kejriwal stated.

He further informed that out of 57 lakh people in the 45 plus age group, 27 lakh have been vaccinated with the first dose. Now they will be given anti-Covid vaccines at polling booths.

This door-to-door vaccination campaign, however, seems a political move of Kejriwal eying Delhi Municipal Corporations (MCD) elections scheduled for next year.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kolkata, June 7 : Hours after ruling Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra levelled charges of 'extensive nepotism' inside the Kolkata Raj Bhavan orchestrated by Jagdeep Dhankar and dared him to sue her for the disclosures, the West Bengal Governor denied the charges as "factually incorrect".

Responding to BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu's allegations that the Trinamool Congress MP had furnished a 'pack of lies' while dishing out a list of six Officers on Special Duty (OSD) appointed by the Governor, Moitra said: "Why is BJP rising to his defence? Is he a BJP functionary or a Governor? Can't he defend himself?" The 46-year-old Krishnanagar MP shared a document on Sunday and claimed that Abbhudoy Singh Sekhawat, Governor's OSD, is his brother-in-law's son. Akhil Chowdhury, who is the OSD coordination, has some close family relationship with the Governor. OSD administration Ruchi Dubey is the wife of Major Gorang Diksit, ex-ADC (aides-de-camp) to the Governor, while the Major's brother Prasant Diksit is the OSD (protocol). OSD IT Koustav S Valikar is the brother-in-law of Dhankhar's present ADC Srikant Janardan Rao, IPS. And Kishan Dhankhar, a newly appointed OSD of the Governor, is also his close relative, the document said.

Moitra challenged Jagdeep Dhankar to take her to court over her remarks and tweets on the issue. "I dare him to sue me for defamation," Moitra said.

She told journalists that if the BJP had won, the state would be full of such appointments from other parts of the country.

"We in Bengal are not parochial, but someone who gets a job here should be worth it. He or she should not get it just because they have a saffron uncle here to do their bidding," Maitra said.

She said Bengal taxpayers should not be asked to foot the bill for the OSDs appointed by Governor Dhankar at Kolkata Rajbhavan.

"Having failed to deliver Bengal to the BJP, Uncleji (Dhankar) must seek out a job in Delhi. He is running around raising hell over the state's law and order, so BJP should rehabilitate him somewhere, she said, quipping: "Dont forget to take your extended family with you." Moitra also lampooned BJP leaders "who have the temerity to castigate Bengal voters for rejecting the saffron brigade".

"You guys have the audacity to question a popular verdict, you think Bengalis don't know what is good for them," said Moitra, who has emerged as one of India's most noticed parliamentarians.

"We did not question Indian voters when they elected BJP to power. It is for us to judge whether the BJP government has totally failed or not. We rest our case with voters and hope they see the obvious and vote in future elections," she said.

Moitra said she was shocked by a statement of a RSS functionary likening Hindus to frogs.

"Are they out of their minds," she asked.

Rajesh Srivastava, the RSS intellectual cell president of the West Bengal unit, has compared Hindu community with frogs and said it can be extremely difficult to evaluate them on one scale (weighing machine).

This remark was made by him during a virtual discussion organised by the election cell of the Bihar unit of BJP under the chairmanship of Radhika Raman on Sunday. The theme of the discussion was violence and democratic threat that arose after the West Bengal election.

"The Hindu community behaves like a frog and its evaluation on one weighing machine is extremely difficult," Srivastava said while quoting this statement made by former RSS chief late Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.

"Mamata Banerjee and some extremists have united the Muslim community and is doing conspiracy to separate chicken from the neck. We have to foil their conspiracy," Srivastava said.

Moitra said Bengalis see themselves as Bengalis and Indians and not as Hindus or Muslims.

"The BJP failed to see this and kept flaunting their religious binary which backfired on them," she said.

"You guys have your chintan sabhas, dont you evaluate your mistakes honestly," she asked, quipping: "Do you forget what Gokhale said." Gopal Krishna Gokhale is famous for "What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tommorow' comment.

Moitra said the BJP defeat in Bengal, after the huge effort they put in, might turn out to be a 'watershed.' Dhankar rubbished charges levelled against him by Moitra that he had appointed 'close relatives' as officers on special duty (OSD) in Kolkata Raj Bhavan .

"Assertion @MahuaMoitra in tweet & Media that six coterminous appointee OSDs in personal staff are relatives is FACTUALLY WRONG. OSDs are from three states and belong to four different castes. None of them is part of close family. Four of them are not from my caste or state," Jagdeep Dhankhar tweeted.

Dhankhar claimed that Moitra's allegation was a part of TMC's "distraction strategy" to divert attention from the "law and order scenario" in West Bengal. He said, "This is unfolding of 'distraction strategy' to divert attention from alarming law and order scenario." "Would continue undeterred and with zeal to serve the people of state and vindicate my oath of office under Article 159 of the Constitution," Jagdeep Dhankhar added.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Kolkata, June 7 : The ASEANs continuous engagement with the brutal and illegitimate Myanmar military junta, while refusing to hold dialogues with the true representatives of the people, is an affront to its own five-point consensus, rights groups said on Monday The groups -- Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Progressive Voice, ALTSEAN-Burma -- together with 407 other civil society organisations, condemned in a statement that "the continuous reluctance of ASEAN delegations to meet with other parties including the representatives of the National Unity Government (NUG), ethnic leaders, and the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)" .

The NUG was established following the February 1 coup and is made up of 76 per cent of parliamentarians elected in the disputed November 2020 general elections.

"ASEAN has failed to recognise the Myanmar peoples' desire by siding with the illegitimate and murderous military junta led by the perpetrators of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide and target of international sanctions like Min Aung Hlaing," said Khin Ohmar, Founder and Chairperson of Progressive Voice.

"The decision of the ASEAN delegation to solely meet with the illegal junta provides legitimacy to the military junta and contributes to further perpetration of grave human rights violations in the country." From June 3, an ASEAN delegation comprising the bloc's Secretary-General Lim Jock Ho and Second Minister of Brunei's Foreign Affairs Erywan bin Pehin Yusof, representing the ASEAN Chair, have been reported to be solely engaging with the Myanmar military.

The rights groups asserted that the visit has been mired in a lack of transparency for the absence of engagement with all parties, contrary to point five of its five-point consensus which reads: "A special envoy and delegation shall visit Myanmar to meet with all parties concerned." "The ASEAN delegation violated the five-point consensus, particularly the fifth point instructing the special envoy and delegation to meet with all parties concerned. In doing so, it has also violated the ASEAN Charter's principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms," said Debbie Stothard, Founder and Coordinator of ALTSEAN-Burma.

The bloc's five-point consensus on Myanmar was the result of the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting on April 24.

Civil society organisations have repeatedly requested ASEAN to meet with all parties, including the NUG, the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), ethnic leaders, ethnic armed organisations, and the CDM.

Since the announcement of the five-point consensus, ASEAN has repeatedly fallen short of upholding its own commitments to the Myanmar people, the rights grouos have alleged.

Instead of steering the junta towards ending the violence in the country, ASEAN has created an opportunity for the junta's own propaganda, emboldening their facade of authority, they say.

The rights groups are further alarmed by the Myanmar junta's attempts to shut down the internet since Sunday, believe to be aimed at sabotaging a press conference held by the NUG in conjunction with the visit of the ASEAN delegation.

"Limiting the right to information is a rights violation. The Myanmar people have every right to access pertinent information on the goings-on in their country. We are disappointed that despite these severe developments, ASEAN is still tacitly endorsing impunity of the military junta. This must stop before it takes a further toll on regional stability," Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA, said.

Since the beginning of the coup, the junta has killed 845 and arrested 5,708 people, and the numbers continue to increase rapidly.

On 4 June, junta forces killed at least 20 civilians in the Kyonpaw Township, 150 km northwest of Yangon, in what was the largest mass killing in nearly two months.

Local residents only had catapults and crossbows to defend themselves against guns and grenades.

The rights groups called on ASEAN to immediately refocus efforts to engage with the NUG and other stakeholders in Myanmar and cease lending legitimacy to the junta or risk losing its relevance to all bloc member nations.

While the dire human rights and humanitarian crises in Myanmar are a direct result of the military's violence, the solution lies with the people of Myanmar and the NUG, not the perpetrator. If ASEAN is to effectively engage Myanmar, they must hold dialogues with all parties concerned, the rights groups said.

"In siding with the junta, ASEAN is in essence supporting grave violations of human rights and democracy, and infringes its own ASEAN Charter commitments to strengthen democracy and protect human rights in the region.

"This will negatively impact regional peace and stability, as well as letting down the people's aspirations," the groups added.
Patna, June 7 : The Sheohar district administration in Bihar has decided to give gold coins and other home appliances to those who take corona vaccine and are 45 years of age and above.

The idea is to promote corona vaccine in the district as many villagers have declined to take it.

Sajjan Rajshekher, the district magistrate of Sheohar said: "We are aiming to vaccinate cent-per cent people of 45 years of age and above in the district by July 15. Sheohar is flood affected district in Bihar with majority of land go under water after monsoon sets in." "Every year, monsoon starts from July 15 and hence we have set the target for that date. Once the monsoon starts here, it will be extremely difficult to reach to those villages. We witnessed 43 village Panchayats out of 53, which were affected by flood last year," Rajshekher said.

Sheohar has 60,369 persons above 45 years and some of them have already taken the shot.

"As we have just 38 days left for the deadline, we are sending medical vans to every village on a daily basis to achieve the target. Sheohar has an adequate number of vaccines in stock," Rajshekher said.

The selection of winners will be done through a lucky draw every week from now on and district administration will select 5 persons. They will be given gold coins, refrigerators, desert cooler, microwave etc.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
South Africa: Task team making progress with military veterans

The Presidential Task Team on Military Veterans, chaired by Deputy President David Mabuza, has noted progress with regards to the overall support to military veterans.

The Deputy President in his capacity as the Chairperson of Task Team, over the weekend, visited the Limpopo province to interact with members of the Military Veterans Association.

This was with the aim of assessing progress achieved by government in addressing the challenges faced by military veterans.

The meeting took place at the Polokwane Rugby Stadium, Capricorn District in the Limpopo province.

Deputy President Mabuza was supported by the Acting Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, the Premier of the Limpopo Province, Stanley Mathabatha, Members of the Executive Council together with senior government officials.

The meeting received progress on the work which is being done by the Task Teams Technical Committee Work Streams and the Limpopo Provincial Government in addressing various challenges faced by military veterans.

The work streams focused on issues including:

 Legislative review

 Organizational redesign

 Socio economic support

 Database verification, cleansing and enhancement

 Heritage and memorialisation

 Pension and benefits

 Communication

In this regard, the Task Team noted progress with regards to the establishment of the Limpopo Provincial Government Inter-Ministerial Task Team tasked with the role to oversee the overall support to military veterans.

The Provincial IMC is constituted by the MECs for Treasury, Education, CoGTA, Health and Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism.

The establishment of Limpopo Provincial IMC on Military Veterans is a step in the right direction towards ensuring that the challenges facing military veterans are addressed in a well-coordinated and integrated manner, said Deputy President Mabuza.

With regards to services rendered to military veterans, the Task Team noted encouraging progress made by the provincial government in availing socio-economic opportunities to military veterans, including the completion of 122 units towards addressing their human settlement needs.

The Task Team further noted the extension of educational and skills development support to Military Veterans and their beneficiaries.

Deputy President Mabuza emphasised the active participation and the importance of unity amongst the Military Veterans Associations.

Military Veterans must organise themselves and be united. It is only when they are united that they will be able to address pressing issues of interest. Military veterans should further participate in the processes towards amendment of the Military Veterans Act, Deputy President Mabuza told the meeting.

The meeting agreed in principle that a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Military Veterans, Limpopo Provincial Administration, Municipalities and other state entities, should be fast-tracked to ensure there is adequate institutionalisation of support to military veterans.

The Presidential Task Team on Military Veterans will continue to receive reports on progress made by the different work streams.

Furthermore, the Deputy President highlighted the importance of accelerating the process of verification, database cleansing and enhancement with the aim of ensuring that clear and comprehensive rules and policies, are applied to ensure that bona fide military veterans are registered on the database of the Department of Military Veterans.

Limpopo Premier Stanley Mathabatha further committed to extending support to Military Veterans.

We wish to appreciate the work done by the Presidential Task Team in ensuring proper coordination of all efforts geared towards addressing the challenges of military veterans. Furthermore, we welcome the opportunity for open interaction between the Task Team and Military Veterans, said Premier Mathabatha.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Sri Lankan Govt. Responses to the Resolution introduced by the US House of Representatives

"The Foreign Ministry refers to the Resolution No. H.RES.413 introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Representative Ms. Deborah K. Ross on 18 May 2021, along with four other Representatives, namely Mr. Bill Johnson, Mr. Danny K. Davis, Mr. Brad Sherman and Ms. Kathy Manning, who had submitted the said Resolution," Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued yesterday.

"It is reported that the Resolution has been referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 18 May 2021," it added.





The statement further reads as follows;

The Government of Sri Lanka vehemently opposes the contents of the said Resolution which contains allegations that are unsubstantiated, and have unfounded and blatant lies raising grave suspicions on the intention of the Resolution.

Considering the inaccurate, biased and one sided nature of the proposed resolution, it may be noted that this is not a mere human rights resolution, but appears to be one influenced by a coterie of sympathisers of the LTTE in the US Congress, to carry forward the separatist agenda of the LTTE, which is proscribed as a terrorist organization in 32 countries including the USA.

The Government of Sri Lanka is in the process of submitting its response through the Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington, D.C. to representatives of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Sub-Committee on Asia and the US Embassy in Colombo.
New York, June 7 : People who travel around the globe are likely to pick up numerous genes that promote microbial resistance, which can then spread when travellers return home, and potentially initiate a bacterial outbreak, suggests a new research.

Researchers, from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, noted that international travellers often return home with an unexpected bounty of new bacterial strains jostling for position among the thousands that normally reside within the gut microbiome.

"Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, we knew that international travel was contributing to the rapid global increase and spread of antimicrobial resistance," said Alaric D'Souza, an doctoral student at the varsity.

"But what's new here is that we've found numerous completely novel genes associated with antimicrobial resistance that suggest a worrisome problem on the horizon," D'Souza added. The findings are published in the journal Genome Medicine.

Poverty, poor sanitation and changing agricultural practices have turned many low-income, developing regions into hot spots for diseases spread by bacteria, including infections that are increasingly resistant to a range of antibiotic drug treatments.

For the study, the team analysed bacterial communities in the gut microbiomes of 190 Dutch adults before and after travel to one of four international regions where the prevalence of resistance genes is high: Southeastern Asia, South Asia, North Africa and Eastern Africa.

In all, the researchers detected 121 antimicrobial resistance genes across the gut microbiomes. More than 40 per cent of these resistance genes were only discovered using the more sensitive metagenomics technique, suggesting that potentially dangerous genes are being missed by the more conventional approaches.

The results also confirmed that 56 unique antimicrobial resistance genes had become part of the travellers' gut microbiomes during their trips abroad, including several mobile, high-risk resistance genes, such as extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) and the plasmid-borne colistin resistance gene, mcr-1.

The rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance is one of the most serious public health threats now facing the world -- a looming medical catastrophe that could outweigh the chaos created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Identifying new antimicrobial resistant bacteria and genes could play an important role in slowing the global spread of resistance and guide potential treatments for related diseases," Gautam Dantas, Professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, June 7 : With a view to facilitate access to vaccination for persons with disabilities, the Central government on Monday directed all states and Union Territories (UTs) to include the Unique Disability Identification (UDID) card in the list of prescribed photo ident documents for Covid-19 vaccination.

Union Health Ministry, in a letter, told states and the UTs to include the UDID card as a photo ID while registering on CoWIN 2.0.

As per the guidance note for CoWIN 2.0 issued on March 2 this year, seven prescribed photo IDs were specified and prescribed for verification of beneficiary prior to their vaccination.

In its letter, the Union Health Ministry stated that the UDID card, issued to persons with disability by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, has all the necessary features such as the name, year of birth, gender and photograph of the person, and meets the criteria for use of identification in Covid-19 vaccination.

"The necessary provisions for same are being made and would be available in CoWIN shortly," it said.

The Health Ministry has also advised states and the UTs to widely publicise the use of UDID card as a permissible photo ID for accessing Covid vaccination.

The move is another step taken by the Central government under its approach for ensuring smooth and effective Covid-19 vaccination drive which started on January 16.

The government has developed the CoWIN digital platform to streamline the process of vaccination for various categories of beneficiaries across the country, and it provides the technological backbone to effectively roll out and scale up the mechanism for the Covid vaccine distribution system.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Gurugram, June 7 : The police in Gurugram have claimed to have arrested two arms smuggler and seized from them 11 pistols, 22 magazines and 15 live ammunition which were supposed to be supplied to local criminals and gang members.

"Kuldeep, also known as 'CM', 27 and Mukesh Kumar, 24 a resident of Muthra in Uttar Pradesh, were arrested from Maharaja Agrasen Bhawan, Sohna in Gurugram on Sunday following a tip-off. The duo had come from Uttar Pradesh to supply arms to his contacts and criminals in Gurugram," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime), Preet Pal Sangwan said on Monday.

"The duo were carrying an illegal weapons consignment in one big black bag. The accused were on their motorcycle when they were nabbed by a team of crime branch unit Sector-17. They culprits had brought the weapons from Uttar Pradesh for Rs 15-16 thousands per weapon and used to sell it in Rs 50-60 thousands to their potential customers," Sangwan said.

During interrogation, the culprits disclosed that earlier they had supplied weapons in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Hodal and Palwal. It was their first attempt to sell these illegal weapons in Gurugram but they were nabbed.

"Kuldeep is a physically challenged person and used to work in a mobile shop whereas Mukesh works in a Faridabad based company," the police officer said.

A case under relevant sections of the IPC was registered against the culprits at Sohna city police station.
London, June 7 : Britain's royal family has expressed delight over the news of the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan's daughter Lili. Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Camilla, and Prince William and Kate have been informed of the birth and are "delighted", a spokesperson for the Buckingham Palace said.

Harry and Meghan's press secretary and foundation announced earlier on Sunday that the Duchess of Sussex gave birth to her second child, Lilibet 'Lili' Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, on Friday in California, DPA news agency reported.

Lili is named after her great-grandmother, whose family nickname is Lilibet, while her middle name is that of Harry's mother, Diana, the late Princess of Wales.

Diana died in a car crash when Harry was 12 years old.

"She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe," Harry and Meghan said.

Lilibet is the Queen's 11th great-grandchild.

According to a leading British media outlet, the baby is eighth in line to the throne, coming after Archie, who is seventh, even though her parents stepped down as senior working royals in March 2020.

Both mother and child are healthy and well after the delivery in Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California.

Harry and Meghan had previously revealed in a high-profile interview with TV host Oprah Winfrey in March that they were expecting a girl.

The couple, who live in California together, already have a 2-year-old son named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Gurugram, June 7 : The residents of Gurugram will no longer have to visit different websites for information related to Covid-19.

To overcome this problem, the district administration is preparing a website with all features including information on Covid tests, vaccination camp and information about dedicated Covid hospitals. The website is expected to be operational by the first week of July.

The administration officials said once the website is operational every Covid related information will be available with just a single click.

Deputy Commissioner Gurugram Yash Garg informed that the website is being prepared for the convenience of the residents. They will get all the health related information on this single platform.

"With a single click on the website, it will be known where the vaccine camps are being held. Where are the Covid tests being held? The report will also be available on the web portal. Apart from this, information about Covid hospital, hospital number, status of beds as well as helpline number will also be available," Garg said.

At present Covid cases, recovered patients and other information can be seen on the administration's 'covidGGN' portal. One has to go to the 'OneMap' app for the report. Apart from this, one has to visit the website of the state government for the state bulletin.

"In such a situation people have to face difficulties. A new website is being created to overcome this problem. As soon as the website starts, people will get the right information along with convenience on time. The website will also have helpline number for those people who are not familiar with the Internet," Garg said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, June 7 : Cloud software firm Salesforce on Monday announced $1.1 million donation to United Way of Hyderabad, Concern India Foundation, Rise Against Hunger India and Youth for Seva, to support the Covid response across India.

These organisations are focused on procuring medical equipment and supplies, raising vaccine awareness, building community isolation centers and providing food security to the most vulnerable sections of the society.

Salesforce has also partnered with HSBC and the Khosla family to deliver medical supplies to different cities across the country.

In total, 6000+ oxygen concentrators and 10,000 pulse oximeters will be delivered to the critical locations through partnerships with the Red Cross and GiveIndia. Oxygen concentrators will also be made available to all the employees of Salesforce in India and outside.

Through Salesforce's 'Pledge 1 per cent' campaign, its members and a global coalition of 43 companies have collectively contributed $28 million to support the relief efforts focused on medical supplies, vaccine awareness and food security.

Salesforce employees in India and around the world have also joined forces to start a 24x7 volunteer helpline that provides employees and their families in India the latest crowdsourced information on hospital bed availability and how to access resources.

The information provided include Covid testing, doctor consultations, quarantine facilities, hospitalisation, medicine availability, and more, the company said.

Meanwhile, edtech company BYJU'S has received $1 million in funding from the Breakthrough Global Foundation and DST Global to support the education of the kids affected due to Covid-19 in India.

BYJU'S will utilise the funds under its social impact initiative 'Education for All' to support children who have lost their families due to Covid-19.

The initiative was launched by BYJU'S in September 2020. It aims to democratise education by ensuring that children across all economic backgrounds get equal access to quality learning opportunities.

This initiative also aims at bridging the educational and digital divide by making quality learning accessible to the children in need. The programme has created a positive impact and reached over 5 lakh students in the last eight months across the country.

In addition, ophthalmic optics company Essilor has initiated a 24X7 helpline to support Covid infected employees and their family members to get timely help, including online medical consultation.

The company has also ensured that at each major location, the oxygen cylinders used in the manufacturing process are made available to the employees for emergency use.

A good number of oxygen concentrators were procured and distributed at all major locations for this purpose.

Safety kits in terms of masks, gloves and sanitisers have been sent to each employee's home to ensure that they are well prepared when they step out after the lockdowns are lifted.

Other initiatives include vaccination for all employees and their family members, tie-ups with pathological labs for Covid test, employee well-being programmes etc.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, June 7 : As the second wave of coronavirus has been indicating a declining trend in India for the last few days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced that all Indians above 18 years of age will be administered free Covid-19 vaccine from June 21.

Addressing the nation, the Prime Minister made it clear that the states will be provided these vaccine doses free of cost from Central government.

"The government of India will provide free vaccine to the states from Monday, June 21, in every state for all citizens above the age of 18 years," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that government of India itself will buy 75 per cent of the total vaccine production from vaccine manufacturers and give it free to the state governments.

Modi also said that 25 per cent of the vaccines being made in the country will be provided directly to the private sector hospitals while they will be able to charge a maximum service fee of Rs 150 for a single dose after the fixed price of the vaccine.

"The task of monitoring it will remain with the state governments," the Prime Minister added.

"No state government of the country will have to spend anything on the vaccine," Modi further announced.

Till now, the Prime Minister said crores of people of the country have got free vaccine. "Now people of 18 years of age will also join it." "Only the Government of India will provide free vaccine to all the countrymen," the Prime Minister reiterated.

It was decided on Monday that the government of India will also bear the responsibility of 25 per cent of the work related to vaccination with the state governments, said the Prime Minister, adding "this arrangement will be implemented in the coming two weeks." "In these two weeks, the central and state governments will together make necessary preparations according to the new guidelines." He also announced that Covid-19 vaccine supply would increase in the country in coming days and trial for three more vaccine is going on.

"Due to the continuous efforts and hard work that the country has been doing for a long time, the supply of vaccine is going to increase even more in the coming days.

"Currently, seven companies are producing different types of vaccines in the country and trial of three more vaccines is also going on in advanced stage," the Prime Minister said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, June 7 : "The Science Suggests a Wuhan Lab Leak", as per an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by two leading US experts.

Steven Quay and Richard Muller say in the WSJ essay that the Covid-19 pathogen has a genetic footprint that has never been observed in a natural coronavirus.

They said that the possibility that the pandemic began with an escape from the Wuhan Institute of Virology is attracting fresh attention. President Joe Biden has asked the national intelligence community to redouble efforts to investigate.

"Much of the public discussion has focused on circumstantial evidence: mysterious illnesses in late 2019; the lab's work intentionally supercharging viruses to increase lethality (known as 'gain of function' research). The Chinese Communist Party has been reluctant to release relevant information. Reports based on US intelligence have suggested the lab collaborated on projects with the Chinese military," the essay in WSJ said.

"But the most compelling reason to favor the lab leak hypothesis is firmly based in science. In particular, consider the genetic fingerprint of CoV-2, the novel coronavirus responsible for the disease Covid-19," the experts said.

They say that the genome sequencing of Covid-19 suggests that the virus was manufactured inside a Chinese laboratory.

SARS-CoV-2's genetic sequencing almost certainly demonstrates that it is an artificially-manipulated virus developed in a laboratory, they say.

Quay. who had briefed the US Congress on the virus' origins early last year and published a 193-page study in January suggesting the virus was "laboratory derived", and Muller, a Physics Professor at University of California Berkeley, wrote the op-ed in the WSJ.

The experts argued that "the most compelling reason" to support the lab leak theory wasn't related to the circumstantial evidence about Chinese experiments in coronavirus gain of function research, alleged illnesses among lab workers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology or US intelligence reports, but because SARS-Cov-2's "genetic footprint has never been observed in a natural coronavirus".

"In gain-of-function research, a microbiologist can increase the lethality of a coronavirus enormously by splicing a special sequence into its genome at a prime location. Doing this leaves no trace of manipulation. But it alters the virus spike protein, rendering it easier for the virus to inject genetic material into the victim cell. Since 1992, there have been at least 11 separate experiments adding a special sequence to the same location. The end result has always been supercharged viruses," they said in the op-ed.

Covid-19 has the genome sequencing 'CGG-CGG' and the experts assert that no naturally occurring coronavirus - such as SARS or MERS - has ever had a CGG-CGG combination.

"The CGG-CGG combination has never been found naturally. That means the common method of viruses picking up new skills, called recombination, cannot operate here," they wrote in the WSJ.

"A virus simply cannot pick up a sequence from another virus if that sequence isn't present in any other virus".

"At the minimum, this fact - that the coronavirus, with all its random possibilities, took the rare and unnatural combination used by human researchers - implies that the leading theory for the origin of the coronavirus must be laboratory escape," they wrote

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Hyderabad, June 7 : Opposition Congress party in Telangana demanded that the state government provide free treatment for Covid-19 and black fungus for the families living below poverty line.

The party, which organised 'Satyagrah' to press for its demands on Monday, reiterated that the government include treatment of Covid and black fungus in Rajiv Aarogyasri, a scheme under which BPL families are provided free treatment for various ailments.

Party's state unit chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy led 'Satyagraha' at Gandhi Bhavan, the party headquarters here.

The Congress leader said many people infected with Covid and black fungus were forced to sell their property to pay for the treatment. He demanded that the state government regulate Covid treatment charges in private hospitals.

He said the government should take steps to ensure reimbursement to patients who were overcharged by the private hospitals. "The government should act on the orders passed by the high court," he said.

The Congress party also demanded universal free vaccination against Covid-19. Its leaders said it was the responsibility of the Central and state government to ensure that every citizen is vaccinated free of cost.

They alleged that both the central and state government have failed to check the spread of Covid-19 Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka blamed Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for deaths due to Covid in the state.

He said it was unfortunate that the state government has still not included Covid treatment in Rajiv Aarogyasri scheme.

Member of Parliamnet Komatireddy Venkat Reddy recalled that the Chief Minister had announced in the State Assembly that treatment of Covid will be covered under Aarogyasri but he has not yet implemented this.

Senior leaders and former ministers Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Jeevan Reddy, former MLA M. Sashidhar Reddy, Sravan Dasoju, Vasmhichand Reddy and others participated in the 'Satyagrah' at Gandhi Bhavan.

Similar protest was organised at party offices in the district headquarters.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
CM Uddhav Thackeray flags of 10 state of the art All Terrain Vehicles, donated by Reliance Foundation, for beach patrolling by Mumbai Police Image Source: IANS News

CM Uddhav Thackeray flags of 10 state of the art All Terrain Vehicles, donated by Reliance Foundation, for beach patrolling by Mumbai Police Image Source: IANS News

CM Uddhav Thackeray flags of 10 state of the art All Terrain Vehicles, donated by Reliance Foundation, for beach patrolling by Mumbai Police Image Source: IANS News

CM Uddhav Thackeray flags of 10 state of the art All Terrain Vehicles, donated by Reliance Foundation, for beach patrolling by Mumbai Police Image Source: IANS News

CM Uddhav Thackeray flags of 10 state of the art All Terrain Vehicles, donated by Reliance Foundation, for beach patrolling by Mumbai Police Image Source: IANS News

CM Uddhav Thackeray flags of 10 state of the art All Terrain Vehicles, donated by Reliance Foundation, for beach patrolling by Mumbai Police Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, June 7 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday dedicated All Terrain Vehicles for patrolling at Mumbai beachess to safeguard tourists and citizens, officials said here.

The state of the art ATVs can operate on land, sand, swamps or other terrain to render immediate help in case of emergencies and will be stationed initially around the beaches at Chowpatty, Juhu and others which attract hordes of locals and tourists daily.

Having a capacity of 570cc, the ATV is a fast vehicle manned by four security personnel and equipped with facilities like vehicle ropes or floating hooks to render assistance.

The 10 ATVs, donated by the Reliance Foundation, were flagged off by Thackeray in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Ministers Dilip Walse-Patil, Aditya Thackeray, and Aslam Sheikh, Mayor Kishori Pednekar, Director General of Police Sanjay Pandey, Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale, MP Arvind Sawant, MLA M.P. Lodha, RF's Shirin Kotwal and other officials.

Similar ATVs are used for beach patrolling by the police in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, while the Mumbai Police has other specialised vehicles for monitoring the security on the dozen-odd popular beaches dotting the west coast of the city.
by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne in Montreal

"For there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so" (Hamlet, 2.2.257-258).

At the outset I must stress that what is to follow is a philosophical and conceptual essay. It does not offer a practical approach to post COVID air transport but merely discusses the semantics of air transport for the reader to draw a conclusion. All it says it that there is nothing called the right way, or the wrong way. Eventually what matters is what works and what doesnt work. I must also hasten to add that what would prevent the workability of an approach is if the reader were to reach a non sequitur from this philosophical discourse. One has to beware of that trap.

We can see that air transport, which was relegated to a moribund state is now gradually being revived. Just as an example, The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) and its Member States had at the Extraordinary ASEAN-EU Senior Transport Officials Meeting held virtually on 2 June 2021. concluded the negotiations on the ASEAN-EU Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement (AE CATA). This far-reaching agreement gives airlines of ASEAN and the EU greater access to each others territories by granting opportunities to operate passenger and cargo services between and beyond both regions. Airlines of ASEAN and the EU will be able to fly any number of services between both regions. In addition, airlines will be able to fly up to 14 weekly passenger services, and any number of cargo services via and beyond to any third country

There is no doubt that The AE CATA will bolster connectivity and economic development among the 37 member states of ASEAN and the EU and, in a post COVID world, will help rebuild air connectivity between ASEAN and Europe which has thus far been decimated by the pandemic, and open up new growth opportunities for the aviation industry in both regions.

The question that arises is, should the rest of the world go this way and how should air transport be revived, or, in other words, what principles should apply? Would an AE CATA model comport with the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)?

The Council of ICAO has permissive functions in Article 55 of The Chicago Convention which gives the Council a proactive role in the context of revitalizing air transport. For example by virtue of Article 55c) the Council may conduct research into all aspects of air transport and air navigation which are of international importance, communicate the results of its research to the contracting States, and facilitate the exchange of information between contracting States on air transport and air navigation matters; and in 55d) the Council may study any matters affecting the organization and operation of international air transport, including the international ownership and operation of international air services on trunk routes, and submit to the ICAO Assembly plans in relation thereto.

ICAOs efforts in this context are clear. CART (ICAO Council Aviation Recovery Task Force) and particularly its Recommendation 10 is directly in point: Member States should consider appropriate extraordinary emergency measures to support financial viability and to maintain an adequate level of safe, secure and efficient operations, which should be inclusive, targeted, proportionate, transparent, temporary and consistent with ICAO's policies, while striking an appropriate balance among the respective interests without prejudice to fair competition and compromising safety, security and environmental performance.

A Report released by CART recommends that the above economic measures should be inclusive, targeted, proportionate, transparent, temporary and consistent with ICAO's policies, while striking an appropriate balance of interests without prejudice to fair competition. States and the civil aviation industry will need to commit towards building a more resilient air transport system, supported by clear communication and the recognition of aviation's vital role as a worldwide enabler, more so in times of crisis. In particular, States should identify and bridge gaps, with ICAO's assistance, to ensure adequate support to vulnerable segments of the international community and provision of essential services. A major element for future preparedness will involve analysing insights and experience gained from this crisis to improve processes and coordination mechanisms.

CART concludes that the success of aviation's recovery today and future resilience is best achieved with collective efforts among stakeholders across regions and sectors. Quite apart from the health recommendations in the Report of CART, which are more compulsive and impossible for States to ignore, the economic measures are replete with the usual ICAO language: States should provide the most appropriate means for supporting stakeholders across the civil aviation sector, if and when deemed necessary, (my emphasis); possibly through regional or international economic cooperation; these measures must be inclusive, targeted, proportionate, transparent, temporary, limited to what is necessary to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and consistent with ICAO's policies while striking an appropriate balance among the respective interests without prejudice to fair competition or compromising safety, security and environmental commitments.

Certainly, the AE CATA Model comports with CARTs recommendation of  regional or international Cooperation. What remains to be seen is whether the rest of ICAO policy as laid down by CART vis a vis  striking an appropriate balance of interests without prejudice to fair competition where States and the civil aviation industry will need to commit towards building a more resilient air transport system is ensured.

This is where we come to philosophy and semantics. Clearly, ICAO policy is reflected in the Preamble to the Chicago Convention where the specific words used to represent fair competition are equality of opportunity. These words are very important to revitalizing air transport with governmental help as equality of opportunity is equality of opportunity to compete, as against equality of opportunity to operate air services. Some have even argued that the phrase should be interpreted in the air transport context as equality of results.

The Twentieth Century philosopher John Rawls in his book A Theory of Justice argues that fair and equal opportunity would not make for a morally just system, as a purely level playing field would inevitably favour those with the greater talent and resources. In the words of Rawls: a fair meritocracy still permits the distribution of wealth and income to be determined by the natural distribution of abilities and talents. The inevitable truth that emanates from Rawls argument is that even a system which achieved true equality of opportunity would not necessarily be a just system.

For a start, there goes CARTs fair competition out the window. To compensate for this perceived inconsistence, Rawls recommends what is called The Difference Principle which advocates that winners share their winnings with those who are weaker and cannot compete equally. Rawls encourages those able to function at full speed to do so but to make sure at the same time that competitors are not annihilated. Seemingly, this approach would augur well for those who are already licking their wounds from hits dealt by the COVID Pandemic. It is  an agreement to regard the distribution of natural talents as a common asset and to share in this distribution whatever it turns out to be.

We are in the throes of a crisis with the pandemic. Pre pandemic liberalism can be questioned particularly as we seem to be clinging to blanket phrases that justified the status quo ante. Less endowed airlines face more acute issues in fleet configurations and slot commitments that those that, for instance, enjoy with the AE CATA model. The philosophy of Austrian Friedrich Hayek, that market forces would be the powerful determinant, may have to be tweaked to accompany principles of justice over merit, talent, and superior resources. Rawls talks of a Just Scheme, where legitimate expectations based on duties and rights would be considered preeminent.

In this sense it is evident that CART is rehashing old and hackneyed thinking. As Richard Arneson, interpreting Rawls said: distributive justice stipulates that the lucky should transfer some or all their gains due to luck to the unlucky. Perhaps this is carrying things a bit too far. However, the general principle that the aviation community may wish to follow should be based on the general principle of the categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant  that of universality and the moral consideration of treating the interests of all stakeholders equally. This would then be a parallel way of the difference principle of John Rawls where the cornerstone is justice upon which certain safety nets can be established and preferential measures are accorded to struggling aviation entities. The following universalities might be a starting point for a universally acceptable base for post COVID air transport: consider the interests of all the affected stakeholders in any decisions made; all affected by the universality rule/s should be consulted and principles, regulations and policies are discussed before a rule is made; the interests of one stakeholder or interested party should never perforce take priority; every company or entity must have a genuine duty to do good by the community; and business conduct must accord with the rule of law and principles of natural justice.

Perhaps it is time to abandon rehashing words and regurgitating 75-year-old terminology. As Heraclitus, said in the 6th Century BC, No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.
New Delhi, June 7 : Fugitive businessman diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who is currently in Dominica, has named mysterious woman Barbara Jabarica, and 'Indian officers Gurmit Singh and Narindra Singh in his complaint filed with the Antigua and Barbuda Police.

On June 4, IANS was first to report the name of Gurmit Singh, a resident of India whose name was mentioned in the passenger list of the two vessels -- Lady Anne and Calliope of Arne.

IANS had accessed the pictures of the vessels, several documents, and two men dressed in black 'kurta pajama' standing onboard with three other men.

The passenger list of Callioppe of Arne mentions the names of Gurjit Bhandal, a resident of Birmingham in the UK, and Gurmit Singh, a resident of India, according to the records of the Cobra tours.

The Calliope of Arne had entered the Portsmouth port in Dominica on May 25, according to the Customs and Excise department documents.

Choksi's complaint with the Antigua Police was filed on June 2.

In his complaint, Choksi, who is facing charges of entering Dominica illegally, has stated that that he has been residing in Antigua and Barbuda for the last three years, and there he came in contact with Jabarica, who used to stay in his neighbourhood.

He also stated that he had gone to meet Jabarica on May 23 at around 5 pm when he was abducted by 8 to 10 people claiming to be Antigua police officers.

In his complaint to the police, Choksi alleged that the people who abducted him said that they will be taking him to the St John's police station. When he resisted and requested to contact his lawyers, "I was physically restrained and hit from all sides", the fugitive businessman said in the complaint.

"I attempted to get away, but I was quickly overpowered, owing to being so heavily outnumbered due to my poor state of health. My attackers continued to beat me mercilessly with bare hands and also utilised a Taser (gun) on my face, hands and exposed skin, causing burns, bruises and immense pain. They further told me that if I continued to resist, they would file a complaint against me for obstruction of justice," Choksi said.

Choksi further said that the attackers put him on a wheelchair, as he was in almost comatose state.

"I was unable to resist when they tied my hands, legs and body to the wheel chair. A gag was placed in my mouth obstructing my airways, causing me to gasp for air. They continued their onslaught and placed a mask on my head so my vision was also obscured," he said.

Choksi further said that in the same state he was taken to the backside of Jabarica's house and was placed on what seemed like a very small watercraft. "During this entire ordeal, Jabarica did not even attempt to help me or assist in any other way by calling for help from outside," he said.

"The manner in which Jabarica conducted herself, including by not helping me get free from the said persons, and her subsequent lack of initiative in contacting the police clearly points to the fact that she was an integral part of this entire scheme to kidnap me," The fugitive businessman alleged.

He also said that he was shifted to a much larger boat where his mask was removed. "I realised we could not possibly be going to St John's police station, as there was no need to utilise a boat to go there. Upon my asking where I was being taken, they gave very evasive answers and ordered me in threatening manner to remain silent or face further consequences," Choksi claimed.

He further stated that there appeared to be two Indians on board and three persons of Carribean descent.

"From the way they conducted themselves so far, the Indian men, they seemed to be highly experienced mercenaries or contractors, hired specifically for this purpose of detaining and abducting me in such a brutal and unlawful manner," he said.

Choksi also pointed out that one of the Indian captors started talking to him, stating that they had been keeping him under observation for almost a year.

"They knew intimate details about my household, such as I had a nun, where I would walk, my favourite restaurants, my daily schedules etc.," he said.

Choksi further said that after sometime, the second Indian man came and asked him detailed questions about his finances, "where I have offshore bank accounts etc".

"I of course could not answer, as I have none. My answers were unsatisfactory so they threatened me by saying that there would be dire consequences to my family and myself when I am back in India," he said.

Choksi said, "I was made to speak on phone with a man who identified himself as Narinder Singh. He said that he was the chief agent in charge of my case. He began to pressurise me to say that I had cooperated with my captors and that I had accompanied them on my own free volition, which of course was not true.

"Upon hearing me resist, he threatened me by promising that physical harm would befall upon me and my family if I did not comply. He also said to leave my friendship with Jabarica out of the picture as it would lead to a public scandal and cause grievous hurt to my wife," he said.

Choksi also said that after sailing for over 15 to 17 hours, the boat stopped moving and "I was informed that we had arrived, which could have been around 9.30 a.m. top 10 a.m. Antigua time".

He claimed that when he asked about the whereabouts, he was given evasive answers again, "but I was told that I had been brought to this special location to give an interview to a high ranking Indian politician".

"He also told me that my citizenship would be fixed in Dominica and that I would soon be repatriated to India," he said.

Choksi in his complaint further alleged that he was soon informed that since Dominica was closed, we could have to stay there all day.

"This caused much dismay in the crew members as they were constantly getting radio calls enquiring as to why my operation had not yet been completed. They were getting harried as they were supposed to have handed me over to the authorities," he said.

"While we were waiting, $1,500 in cash was robbed from me and given to the boatman, stating that once the interview is done, he would be taking me back to Antigua, effectively rendering me without any cash, source of communication and without telling my family members or legal representatives about my whereabouts," he claimed.

"At this point, the man, Gurmit Singh, came to me and stated that the plans have changed and that 'you will go today'," Choksi said, adding that they further informed him that they would be handing him over to the Police Commissioner of Dominica and that there will be a coast guard boat coming in one hour to make this transfer happen.

"It did not arrive for the longest time and I was just about to fall asleep when the alarm was raised that the coast guard vessel was finally approaching," he said.

The fugitive diamantaire claimed that he was received by a battery of policemen, including the chief, at the port.

"He introduced himself as the chief of police and the reason I was caught was for Interpol red corner notice." Choksi said.

"At the port, I was handed over to an officer and his team to take me to the central police station," he said.

Choiksi then said that he was under the impression that he would be interrogated in the night only as told by an Indian official, but instead, after hours drive to the police station, he was immediately checked into the police headquarters and put in one small cell.

Choksi further said that he was handcuffed at the port itself and the two 'kidnappers', who were in possession of his social security card, told him that they would take care of his registration in Dominica.

"My licence was still with me which the police took note of when I arrived at the police station," Choksi stated in his complaint.

Choksi also said that he was under the assumption that all his captors would disembark and come with him, but he was transferred to the coast guard vessel alone.

"I was met by a large number of men who were uniformed. I met a person who introduced himself as Maxis, the police. I was thinking that my ordeal may have been over as I would have the opportunity of recounting the horrors of the torturous journey I had faced so far," he said.

"But he declined to meet me, and I was taken to a holding cell at a police station in Roseau, which did not have the basic necessities of a mattress and was barely 20 square feet in size," he added.

Choksi claimed that he was further denied medical treatment for the cuts and bruises and was also not allowed to talk to any legal representatives as "I was informed that we don't do that here with prisoners".

He also claimed that he was not given a change of clothes for the first few days.

"After 2-3 days, they gave me few pairs of clothes, but even then I would have to clean the clothes myself and hang them out to dry," he said.

The fugitive businessman said that his lawyers were allowed to speak to him after a few days.

Choksi had gone missing from Antigua on May 23, sparking a massive manhunt. He was captured in Dominica three days later on May 26.

A Dominican court has restrained the extradition of Choksi till further orders after hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by his lawyers.

Last Wednesday, Choksi had appeared before a local magistrate in Dominica and pleaded not guilty of entering the Caribbean island nation illegally. On May 27, first pictures of Choksi in Dominica emerged online, showing several signs of bruises on his arms and a swollen eye.

The fugitive businessman is wanted in India in connection with the Rs 13,5000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case.
New Delhi, June 7 : The National Commission for Protection of Children's Rights (NCPCR) told the Supreme Court that as many as 3,621 children were orphaned, 274 were found abandoned and 26,176 lost either parent since April 1, 2020 and June 5, 2021, amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The child rights panel, in an affidavit, said it is presenting the number of children who have lost either their mother or father or both parents, based upon the information uploaded on "Bal Swaraj" portal up to June 5. It said there are 30,071 children, who need care and protection, after collecting data from the states and Union Territories, on the portal.

Among the states, Maharashtra recorded highest number (7,084) children under distress, which included 217 children who became orphans, 6,865 who have lost either of their parents and two were abandoned.

In Uttar Pradesh, there were 3,172 children, followed by Rajasthan with 2,482 children, who have either orphaned or lost either parent during the Covid-19 pandemic. In Madhya Pradesh, 706 children were orphaned, and 226 children were abandoned during the pandemic.

In Karnataka, 99 children were orphaned, and six were found abandoned during this period, while 555 kids lost a parent. In Delhi, five children were orphaned and 12 lost a parent amid the pandemic.

The commission's response came on a direction issued by the top court seeking information on status of children amid the pandemic. "The Commission is also concerned to note that several NGOs are seeking monetary support in the name of children impacted by Covid. However, there is no disclosure to authorities regarding actual beneficiaries, as mandated under the JJ Act, 2015," it said in the affidavit.

The commission said considering that the children in distress situations are wards of state, it is imperative for all concerned to immediately inform the statutory authority about any such child noticed by them It urged the top court to direct the NGOs, if they find a child in need of care and protection, then state/district authorities must be alerted in consonance with the government's instructions to states.

"It is most humbly submitted that the states/UTs may be directed to create State Juvenile Justice Fund under Section 105 of JJ Act, 2015 and the bank account details, name of the account holder, IFSC code and other such requisite details of State Juvenile Justice Fund or any other fund created under Section 105 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015," the NCPCR affidavit said, adding that the identity of the child must not be disclosed.

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Hyderabad, June 7 : Two women, including a sanitation worker, were killed when a pickup truck ran amok in Telangana's Sangareddy district on Monday, police said.

Four shops were also damaged when the vehicle rammed into them after knocking down the two women.

The incident, which occurred at Ryakal Road in Naraynkhed town between 5.30 a.m. and 6 a.m., was caught on CCTV camera.

The driver, who was allegedly under the influence of alcohol, lost control over the vehicle, leading to the accident. The speeding pickup truck is seen first hitting two women, and then ramming into the shops.

Both the victims died on the spot. They were identified as Chandramma (45), working as a sweeper with tge Narayankhed Municipality, and Patnam Vittam (44). The bodies were shifted to Area Hospital Narayankhed for autopsy.

The accident occurred when sanitation workers were busy sweeping the road while shops were opening for the day.

The driver was arrested. Police suspect that he was drunk, which led to the disaster.

Municipal Commissioner Malla Reddy, along with police officials, visited the spot. He assured all support to the family of the sanitation worker.
New Delhi, June 7 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday called on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here and sought the financial assistance as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission.

"Himachal Pradesh lacks the resources for investment in infrastructure projects, especially for the Kangra and Mandi airports," an official statement quoting the Chief Minister said.

He said the financial assistance is of great significance for state's development.

Thakur further apprised the Union Minister that a tourism project of Rs 1,892 crore proposed to the ADB for funding is awaiting approval. He requested for according speedy approval to the project.

The Chief Minister also urged for GST compensation due from the government of India for fiscal 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-2020. He also urged the minister to expedite the negotiations with the World Bank for funding of hydropower and renewable power development.

The Chief Minister also held discussions for allowing ropeway connectivity as an alternate mode of connectivity under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

While discussing about the Bhanupali-Bilaspur rail line, the Chief Minister also requested to consider all rail projects of state of national importance and funded entirely by the government of India keeping in view the weak resource base of the state.

The Union Minister assured all possible assistance to the state, added the statement.
Toronto, June 7 : Mental health visits for new mothers were 30 per cent higher during the Covid-19 pandemic than before it, particularly in the first three months after giving birth, revealed a new research.

Postpartum mental illness affects as many as one in five mothers and can have long-term effects on children and families if it becomes chronic.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, revealed that mental health visits to both family physicians and psychiatrists were higher than before the pandemic, especially among parents with anxiety, depression, and alcohol and substance use disorders.

"Increased visit rates began in March 2020, although the state of emergency was declared only midway through the month, suggesting that distress related to the pandemic translated into an increased need for care very quickly," said researchers including Simone Vigod, chief of psychiatry at Women's College Hospital (WCH) in Canada.

For the study, the researchers looked at mental health visits by 137,609 people in Ontario during the postpartum period (from date of birth to 365 days after) from March to November 2020 and collected data on age, number of children.

About 85 per cent of postpartum mental health visits were conducted virtually in April 2020, compared with only 3.1 per cent of visits in the pre-pandemic period.

The increased use of virtual care may have removed barriers to postpartum mental health support, such as the need to travel, find childcare for older children, or manage erratic schedules, enabling more people to seek care, the researchers noted.

They recommend targeted approaches to providing mental health support.

"Health systems should focus proactively on patients from high-risk groups, monitor waiting lists for care, and explore creative solutions to expand system capacity, with special attention to postpartum patients who may be experiencing barriers to care," they advised.

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Thiruvananthapuram, June 7 : The "entire" Lakshadweep was, on Monday, undergoing a 12 hour hunger strike against the Union Territory administration and Administrator Praful Khoda Patel who was bringing in "anti-people" policies, protesters said.

Talking to IANS over telephone from the island, a 60-year-old resident, who did not want to be identified, said this is the first time in his entire life he is seeing such a protest.

"Monday is being observed as a complete lockdown and all shops, and private establishments are closed while the vehicles are also off the road. All of us are sitting in our homes and are on a day long hunger strike since morning," he said.

Even BJP workers had joined the protest, he said.

"We are not at all against any sort of development. All what we are saying is every place in the world cannot be made into a modern day Singapore. Coral reef is something that has to be protected... we and our forefathers have been preserving it for ages. Don't we know what we want or is it someone who comes from elsewhere decides what development we need," asked the angry islander.

Another islander said the development the new administrator is talking about is "doubtful".

"I know there are so many projects that have been proposed in the past which will bring in development. Wish to know why such projects which are sustainable in nature are not taken up and only the ones that are now proposed will be good. This attitude is what we oppose," said the islander on condition of anonymity.

According to the 2011 Census, the islands have a population of 65,000.

However District Collector S. Asker Ali told IANS that all the state government offices were open and functional.

Meanwhile, parlimentarians of the Congress-led UDF staged a protest in front of the district office of Lakshadweep at Kochi as a mark of support to the islanders' day-long hunger strike.
Mumbai, June 7 : Veteran actress Saira Banu shared a social media post on Monday evening updating about her husband, ailing Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar's health. In her statement shared on Dilip Kumar's official Twitter account, Saira Banu assured netizens that the 98-year-old is stable and would be discharged soon.

Her statement reads: "Past few days my beloved husband, Yousuf Khan, has been unwell and recuperating at a hospital in Mumbai. Through this note, I want to thank all of you for keeping him in your prayers and for all the love and affection. My husband, my Kohinoor our Dilip Kumar Sahab's health is stable and doctors have assured me that he should be discharged soon." Requesting netizens to not pay heed to rumours, the actress further wrote: "I urge you not to believe in rumours. While I ask you to pray for Sahab's health, I am praying that the almighty keep all of you safe and healthy during this pandemic." Dilip Kumar was admitted to a Mumbai hospital on Sunday after complaining of breathlessness. Around Monday noon, a twitter post on his official handle said the actor was on oxygen support and his condition was stable.
Kolkata, June 7 : A couple of days after Nobel laureate Amartya Sen said that Narendra Modi government's 'schizophrenia led to Covid ravages in the country, former Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy hit back at the economist on Monday and asked him to 'stick to his own job instead of speaking on everything in the society.

Taking to Twitter, the BJP hardliner wrote, "Amartya Sen, after winning the Nobel in Economics, has been poking his nose into every subject except his own. The latest is psychiatry - he has detected schizophrenia in Modi ji!".

Roy went on to say, "Dr Sen, recall the Banquet speech of your peer Friedrich von Hayek: 'There is no reason why a man who has made a distinctive contribution to economic science should be omnicompetent on all problems of society - as the press tends to treat him till in the end he may himself be persuaded to believe'. Take Dr. Hayek's advice. Stick to Economics." At a programme in Mumbai on Saturday, Sen had said, "India's 'confused' government is focused on taking credit for its actions, rather than working to restrict the spread of Covid-19, resulting in schizophrenia that led to massive troubles.

"India could not play on its strengths because of a poor response to the crisis due to confusion in the government. The government seemed much keener on ensuring credit for what it was doing rather than ensuring that pandemics do not spread in India. The result was a certain amount of schizophrenia." The state BJP had also protested against Sen's remarks, alleging that the comments were politically motivated.

State BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya had said that he (Sen) cannot keep on criticising the government in front of the entire world.

"I'm not that arrogant to state that Sen has grown old and requires counselling. But we must not forget his comments before Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister. Whatever he has spoken against the PM and the Central government is purely political," Bhattacharya had told reporters.

"He can give suggestions, as well as say things as everyone has that right in a democratic country," the BJP leader had said.

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New Delhi/Jerusalem, June 7 : Israel on Monday said that it is concerned about the billions of dollars that could go to terror organisation Hamas if the US lifts its sanctions on Iran.

In a special virtual exchange with the Indian media, Nevo Barchad, the head of the counter-terrorism department in the strategic affairs division of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that though Israel trusts the judgment of its old friend and US President Joe Biden, it has concerns about the funds that will go to Hamas once the US lifts sanctions on Iran, which is the major sponsor of the Islamist terror group operating in Gaza.

The Biden administration is likely to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran - the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- which had been negotiated by P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the UK, the US plus Germany) together with the European Union.

Recently, indirect talks on the restoration of the agreement between the US and Iran resumed in Vienna.

In response to an IANS question on the latest development, Barchad said that Israel has opposed the JCPOA.

"We think it is a bad deal. If P5+1 are holding indirect talks and if Americans are going back to the deal, we hope it includes various changes and with a stronger enforcement. We also hope that the Americans won't lift all the sanctions," the top Israeli official said.

Emphasising that US President Biden is "a true friend" of Israel, Barchad said that his government trusts his judgement on Iran, which he said funds 50 per cent of Hamas' terror activities against the Israeli people.

The remaining 50 per cent comes from various other sources, including funds raised from Islamic charities in Muslim nations and Europe, Barchad said, adding that Israel has been making efforts to block all those channels of terror-funding.

At the same time, he added, it is not far-fetched to think that billions of dollars will go to Hamas, Hezbollah, Houtis and the pro-Iranian militia in Syria, once the sanctions are lifted.

Barchad, however, warned that Hamas should not underestimate Israel's defence capabilities.

Responding to another question on the use of Chinese weaponry by Hamas against Israel, Barchad said that Israel and China shared a good relationship and understanding.

"Any use of Chinese weapons or technology by the Hamas has happened without the knowledge of China," he said.

Barchad added that the Chinese military technology serves a dual purpose -- for surveillance as well as military build-up. If their equipment is being used for military and not civilian purposes, it is not happening knowingly, the official said.

Barchad also said that the truce with Palestine after the 11-day 'war' is not a permanent solution.

Hamas, he said, openly wants destruction of Israel and even as the ceasefire is the best outcome at the moment, it can't be a long lasting solution.

The counter-terrorism chief said that the ideal solution would be that the Hamas regime steps down followed by PLA and Israel coming to the table for talks.
New Delhi, June 7 : A total of 28,252 cases of mucormycosis have been reported in India so far from 28 states in which 86 per cent have a history of Covid-19 infections and 62.3 per cent of diabetes, the Central government said on Monday.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said this while chairing the 28th meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers on Covid-19 through a video-conference, here.

"So far, 28,252 cases have been reported from 28 states. Out of these, 86 per cent (24,370 cases) have a history of Covid-19 infection and 62.3 per cent (17,601) have a history of diabetes." Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of Mucormycosis cases (6,339) followed by Gujarat (5,486).

Till May 25 night, over 768 mucormycosis cases were being treated in Andhra Pradesh followed by Madhya Pradesh (752), Telangana (744), Uttar Pradesh (701), Central institutions (592), Rajasthan (492), Karnataka (481), Haryana (436), Tamil Nadu (236), Bihar (215), Punjab (141), Uttarakhand (124), Delhi (119), Chhattisgarh (103), Chandigarh (83), Kerala (36), Jharkhand (29), Odisha (15), Goa (10), Jammu and Kashmir (5), Himachal Pradesh (3), Puducherry (2) and Tripura (1).

Mucormycosis is one of the rapidly spreading infections observed in patients recovering from Covid-19.

Mucormycosis is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes that has been developing in Covid-19 patients. The fungal disease is commonly being observed in patients who were given steroids for a long time, who have been hospitalised for a long time, were on oxygen support or ventilator, faced poor hospital hygiene or those who have been taking medication for other illnesses such as diabetes.

If not treated on time, the mucormycosis infection can turn fatal. Covid medication can leave the body weak and low on immunity. They can also escalate the blood sugar levels in both diabetics and non-diabetic Covid-19 patients.

Besides the Health Minister, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar; Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S. Puri; Union Minister of state for Home Nityanand Rai, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey were present in the meeting.

Speaking on vaccines and clinical intervention, Harsh Vardhan observed: "Till Monday morning, we have administered 23,27,86,482 vaccine doses to our countrymen in various categories." Talking specifically about the 18-44 age group, the first dose has been given to 2,86,18,514 people, the Minister said, adding: "As of today (Monday), over 1.4 crore doses are still available with the states." He noted that first doses have been given to 6,06,75,796 people in the above 60 plus category and 7,10,44,966 in the 45-59 age group.

On the testing front, the Union Health Minister noted that "as of June 7 morning, we have conducted over 36.6 crore (36,63,34,111) tests so far and over 15 lakh tests yesterday despite being a holiday".

"The labs for testing purposes have also gone up to 2,624. Daily Positivity Rate has also been declining and is at 6.34 per cent and even though this is less than 10 per cent positivity rate for 14 consecutive days, there still are 15 states where the daily positivity rate is greater than 10 per cent." In the second wave, the Minister said we see that continuously daily cases are declining and are outnumbered by new recoveries 83 per cent of active cases are in 10 states and the remaining 17 per cent in 26 states and Union Territories.

Seven states and UTs (Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand) have less than thousand cases. Five state and UTs (Jammu, Punjab, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh) have less than two thousand cases. Even the most affected states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have observed decline in the number of cases at a significant rate.

Growth rate has declined from 14.7 per cent (May 5) to 3.48 per cent (today), said the Minister.

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Mike - V51MA, is asking for your help / advice

As you probably know, I am a malignant melanoma cancer survivor since 2013 and found that my ham radio to be the best remedy for overcomming challenges in life and now with the Covid Pandemic world wide, I have to be extremely extra carefull to not gettng ill due to any immune system disease and making me vurlnebale to the cancer again,

in conjuction with a severe RF or lightning strike at my station around 2018/19 irreparably damaged my entire station equipment. Thanks to generous radio amateurs with donations, including crowdfunding from my QSL manager, I was able to obtain some stuff to start rebuild my station. Unfortunately Namibia (AF) has no Amateur radio shops, so most of the items donated /sponsored was sent via the Netherlands to me in Namibia. I am gratefully QRV again with a basic small setup.

Please allow me the oppertunity by asking you helping me to find / donate / or funding for a rotator and/or a HF SSB amplifier for DX and participating in DX Contest from Namibia preferly a lightweight solid state as small as possible HF amp 1kw MAX pwr (MUST BE 220V for SA Namibia Power distribution) that will be easy to ship or perhaps travel along a touritst visitor to Namibia.

I hope you or someone you know knows a route to get a AMP to Namibia, or if you know of perhaps any DX stations traveling to AF, either South Africa or Namibia, it would be appreciated, or else someone or DX club to help me with shipping via a courier importer exporter like Fedex to Namibia AF.

For any help please contact me, see my email address at my QRZ.COM page

Mike - V51MA
Mumbai, June 7 : In a major blow for Franklin Templeton Asset Management Company (AMC), the SEBI has barred the fund house from launching any new debt scheme for two years, while imposing a penalty of Rs 5 crore for violation of regulations in the shutting down of six debt schemes last year.

In its order on Monday, the capital market regulator said that Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund has been found to have violated the provisions of the Mutual Funds Regulations and also certain SEBI circulars.

"As a result of the irregularities in the running of the debt schemes inspected, loss has been caused to the investors. The noticee was under a statutory obligation to abide by the provisions of the Mutual Regulations and circulars issued thereunder, which it failed to do.

"Each of the provisions contained in Sections 15A(b), 15D(b), 15D(f), 15E and 15HB of the SEBI Act mandate a maximum penalty of Rs 1 crore. Accordingly, I am of the view that a monetary penalty of Rs 5 (five) crore be imposed under Section 15I of the SEBI Act read with Rule 5 of the SEBI Inquiry Rules, on the Noticee for the violations," Securities and Exchange Board Of India's Whole Time Member G. Mahalingam said in the order.

Franklin Templeton will have to pay the penalty within 45 days of the order.

The order also said that it shall refund the investment management and advisory fees collected from June 4, 2018, till April 23, 2020, with respect to the six debt schemes inspected along with simple interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum, to the respective schemes, within a period of 21 days from the date of this order, for utilisation towards repayment of the concerned unitholders.

In the event of failure to comply with the direction, the noticee shall pay simple interest at 12 per cent per annum, which shall commence from the date the amount becomes payable.

In addition, the findings in the instant proceedings have brought on record several irregularities in the running of the debt schemes inspected, contrary to the interests of the unitholders in such schemes.

The irregularities also extend to failures to exercise adequate due diligence, carry out valuation of securities as per the principles of fair valuations and ensuring a robust risk management framework.

"In my view, the employees of FT-AMC may be liable for the aforementioned irregularities arising during the course of business of the noticee. From the records made available before me, I note that SEBI has initiated adjudication proceedings against certain employees of FT-AMC including the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and the Directors," the order said.

The SEBI noted that the matter examines the compliance of the AMC of a mutual fund to the norms during the period leading up to the winding up of the six schemes managed by the AMC, in April 2020.

So far, the fund house has distributed Rs 14,572.34 crore among the concermed investors in three tranches.

The unitholders of the six shut schemes will get Rs 3,205.25 crore in the week starting from Monday, the CEO had informed the investors in a letter.
New Delhi, June 7 : Expressing confidence about the reforms in defence sector, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday that these reforms will make India a global powerhouse in the times to come.

Addressing a gathering during launch of a e-booklet, he said the booklet is a reflection of the resolve of the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to make the defence sector stronger and more efficient, The e-booklet, titled '20 Reforms in 2020', provides a brief overview of defence reforms undertaken in the year by the Ministry to bring about greater cohesion and modernisation of the armed forces through policy changes, innovation and digital transformation.

Reforms also focused on 'Aatma Nirbhar Bharat', increased collaboration with industry to boost defence exports, measures to accelerate defence acquisitions with greater transparency, digital transformation, strengthening of border infrastructure, increased participation of women in armed forces, transformation in research and development to boost innovation, expansion of NCC to remote locations, and aid extended to the civil administration in fight against Covid-19.

Rajnath Singh also mentioned the appointment of India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and creation of Department of Military Affairs (DMA) as one of the major decisions taken by the government.

The post of CDS was created to increase efficiency and coordination among the armed forces and reduce duplication, while the DMA was established to ensure improved civil-military integration.

To promote 'Make in India' in defence sector, a list of 101 items was notified in August 2020, a 52,000 crore budget earmarked for indigenously-made defence equipment in 2020-21, and corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) approved in May 2020 for greater efficiency and productivity, the ministry stated.

It also said that there was an unprecedented push towards new technology developments.

Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) developed a ventilator in record time to meet Covid-19 requirements in May 2020. In November 2020, the Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile, indigenously designed & developed by the DRDO, hit bullseye at medium range and medium height, while indigenously built Pinaka rocket system cleared test of 45-60 km range.

The increased partnership with the private sector has led to a substantial rise in defence exports, with their value rising from Rs 1,941 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 9,116 crore in 2019-20. Also, for the first time, India figured in the list of defence equipment exporting nations, as the exports expanded to more than 84 countries.

In highest-ever thrust towards modernisation in last 10 years, there was 10 per cent budget increase in 2020-21 over the previous year. Policy reforms for increased transparency included launch of new Defence Acquisition Procedure in September 2020 and revision of DRDO Procurement Manual in October 2020. To encourage start-ups, a provision was introduced for procurement as Buy Indian-IDDM, while leasing for non-mission critical requirements was introduced for the first time.

First five Rafale fighter aircraft arrived in India in July 2020 and several more since then, adding firepower to the arsenal of the Indian Air Force. Despite the Covid-19 challenge, the aircraft were delivered timely and inducted into IAF.

To promote innovation by young minds, five Young Scientists Laboratories of DRDO were launched in 2020 in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad. The DRDO has joined hands with the private sector in design and development and identified 108 systems and subsystems for the industry to design, develop and manufacture.

For the first time, several organisations of Ministry of Defence went digital. Directorate General Quality Assurance (DGQA) started online Pre-Delivery inspection in May 2020 to address security threats, while tge Armed Forces Tribunal began digital hearing for the first time in August 2020.

The Defence Estates, Canteen Stores Department, services in Cantonment, MoD Pension and National Cadet Corps (NCC) also went online providing faster and transparent services.

Reforms of processes and work flows within Border Roads Organisation (BRO) enabled it to achieve targets ahead of schedule, in some instances. World's longest Atal tunnel above 10,000 feet, at Rohtang on the Leh-Manali Highway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2020.

Zojila pass, situated on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway, was opened almost a month ahead of schedule in April 2020.

In 2020, the Defence Ministry took some historic decisions to increase participation of women in the armed forces. Ten streams of Indian Army were opened for giving Permanent Commission to Short Service Commission (SSC) Women officers, while women pilots of Indian Navy were operationalised for the first time. All Sainik Schools were thrown open for girl students from academic session 2020-21.

Expanding the reach of NCC to remote locations was a major announcement made by Prime Minister Modi from the ramparts of Red Fort on Independence Day on August 15, 2020. More than 1,075 schools and colleges in border and coastal areas were identified and the enrolment began in November 2020.

In another decision, it was decided to give preference to NCC cadets in employment in Central Armed Police Forces from May 2020. Youth Exchange Programme Allowance for NCC cadets was increased from Rs 100 per day to Rs 750 and the number of countries was increased from 10 to 15.

Ministry of Defence and the armed forces have mobilised resources to aid the civil administration in fight against Covid-19. The Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) provided all emergency support to tide over the situation. They have mobilised doctors, health professionals and set up Quarantine facilities at several locations across the country. The DRDO has set up several hospitals to treat Covid patients across the states, passed on technology expertise to manufacture ventilators, oxygen plants, medicines, test kits and PPE kits to private sector for mass production.

The armed forces also extended a helping hand to the countries in distress. Indian Navy mounted eight relief missions during 2020-21. Besides evacuating stranded Indians from Iran, Sri Lanka and Maldives under Vande Bharat Mission, Indian Naval ships provided Covid-19 medical relief, including medicines and doctors, to five countries. INS Airavat provided 270 MT foodaid to Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea, struck by natural calamities. The Indian Coast Guard led the rescue operation to save Sri Lanka coast of its biggest oil spill. Indian Air Force carried out over 800 relief missions during 2020-21.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Los Angeles, June 7 : English actress Helen Mirren says she takes pride and pleasure in knowing she has earned everything she has in her life.

"Everything I have I have earned. I come from not a working-class situation, but certainly a financially impoverished one. We didn't have a television when I was growing up or a washing machine or a car, but the one thing my parents taught me -- and it was very important for me as a woman - was, 'you must become financially independent'," she said.

Mirren added: "When I became an actress, it was very important to me to become financially secure, and I have always worked. And I am now financially independent, and I did it myself. Nobody helped me. I take great pride and pleasure in that." Mirren is thankful to have a loyal and understanding husband in Hollywood filmmaker Taylor Hackford, reports femalefirst.co.uk. She says she "admires" her husband, and feels they have the "combination" of admiration and love that keeps their marriage strong.

"I have the incredible advantage in my life of having a husband who is both loyal and understanding and in response I give him back my loyalty and understanding too. We couldn't be married without that. I admire my husband, too, which is essential. I'm not going to sit there saying, 'Oh, darling, you're so marvellous. You're so wonderful," Mirren told Yours magazine.

She added: "How smart of you and blah blah blah'. but I do think that admiration and love are a necessary combination for a marriage. And I admire my husband considerably."
New Delhi, June 7 : NITI Aayog's Member (Health) V.K. Paul on Monday expressed hope that the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic can be prevented by following appropriate behaviour instructed by the government.

Paul's remarks came while presenting a brief snapshot of the vaccination status, preparedness for paediatric Covid-19 care, and the way forward to prevent the third Wave at the 28th meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on Covid-19.

He stressed that India is fully prepared but caution remains the key as lockdowns are lifted and expressed hope that "the third wave can be prevented if we continue following the Covid appropriate behaviour".

Paul noted that India took 141 days to reach 23 crore mark in terms of cumulative doses administered, which remains the second highest in the world after the US, which did in 134 days.

Also, India is one of the world's fastest countries in terms of number of doses administered so far, he added.

"Out of 88.7 crore people who have been administered at least one dose globally, India accounts for 17.9 crore, which is 20.2 percentage of the global coverage." Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan chaird the GoM meet that was also attended by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of state for Home Nityanand Rai, and Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey.

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare, Road Transport and Highways Secretary Giridhar Armane, Pharma Secretary S. Aparna, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava, and other senior government officials also participated in the virtual conference.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Kolkata, June 7 : The Assam Rifles has worked out an unique agreement with the Kuki civil society organisations and the Manipur police to control tension in Twilang area in Manipur's Kangpokpi district where an unarmed villager was allegedly killed by a Assam Rifles Major and his accomplices on June 4.

Angry Kuki tribesmen had torched an Assam Rifles outpost there and burnt down two vehicles on Saturday after the local man was allegedly killed by the troops the night before.

The four-point agreement was signed on Monday by the Assam Rifles sector commander Brigadier P.S. Arora, an ADG of Manipur police and Kuki Inpi leaders.

It said that police enquiry into the incident of killing will begin immediately, the Assam Rifles unit from the outpost will be removed, a functional police station with a strength of 40 cops will be set up in the area, and the family of the deceased person, Mangboilal Lhouvum, will be paid Rs 10 lakh as compensation.

The agreement said that Rs 1 lakh will be paid to Lhouvum's family immediately.

Major Alok Sathe of the 44th Assam Rifles has already been taken into police custody after Lhouvum named him as the culprit responsible for shooting him just before he breathed his last.

Manipur's leading human rights activist, Binalaxmi Nephram, has expressed consternation over the 'agreement'.

"Can you pay your way through after committing a murder of an innocent villager? The compensation by Assam Rifles is tantamount to admission of the fact that the murder was committed by its officer and men," said Nephram, the head of Manipur Gun Survivors Network which rehabilitates victims of violence.

On June 5, an angry mob of Kuki tribesmen had stormed the Gelnel outpost of the 44th battalion of Assam Rifles.

One Gypsy and one Tata pick-up vehicle of the force were burnt down by the mob, which demanded the arrest of Major Sathe.

The mob alleged that Major Sathe, Post Commander of the E Company of the 44th battalion of Assam Rifles, along with one rifleman named Amar and two others in civil dress were responsible for shooting dead Lhouvum at around 9 pm on June 4.

Kuki Inpi leaders said the villagers at Gelnel (Banglabung) were convinced that Lhouvum, a poor truck helper, was killed without any provocation by Sathe and his accomplices at Chalwa village.

They said the villagers were enraged when the local police said they could not arrest the Major and his men because they were covered by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

Thangminlen Kipgen, General Secretary, Kuki Inpi of Kangpokpi district, said that the Assam Rifles had contended that it can only take action after an appropriate inquiry.

But the villagers wanted immediate action because they were convinced that Major Sathe was responsible for the 'pre-meditated' murder of the poor father of four children.
Pune, June 7 : At least 15 persons, mostly women, were killed in a major fire that broke out in a sanitiser manufacturing factory in a village of Pune district on Monday afternoon, officials said.

The blaze erupted around 3.30 p.m. in the private chemical company in the MIDC area of Pirangut village and quickly spread within the enclosed premises, trapping many of those working there.

While at least 15 persons perished in the blaze mostly due to suffocation, around 10 other workers are feared trapped or missing in the incident, said an official of Pune Rural Police Control.

Earlier, Tehsildar Abhay Chauhan said that 11 persons have lost their lives and rescue operations were going on in full swing.

Fire Brigade teams from MIDC, Mulshi, disaster rescue teams and others have rushed to the spot to battle the conflagration.

Eyewitnesses said that while many of the male workers managed to escape, at one point, the relief teams had to bulldoze a factory wall to rescue some others trapped inside the premises.
Hyderabad, June 7 : Telugu Desam Party's Telangana unit president L. Ramna is likely to join ruling the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Ramna, who has been leading TDP in Telangana since the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, is reported to have made up his mind to switch loyalties after TRS promised him a seat in Telangana Legislative Council.

TRS leaders including Panchayat Raj Minister E. Dayakar Rao, who quit the TDP in 2016 to join TRS, held talks with Ramna and offered him Council seat.

The ruling party is believed to be luring Ramna to its camp to negate any possible impact from the recent resignation of former minister Eatala Rajender, who is likely to join BJP later this week.

Rajender, a leader from backward classes, has announced his resignation from State Assembly. He is likely to seek re-election from Huzurabad constituency as BJP candidate.

Ramna is also considered a powerful leader from backward classes and he comes from combined Karimnagar district. The former MLA from Jagital joining TRS is expected to bolster the ruling party ahead of Huzurabad by-election.

Elections to six seats of Legislative Council from MLA quota are due while the state governor will also nominate a member to the upper house of the State Legislature. However, the TDP leader is said to be insisting on an assurance from Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Ramna is one of the few leaders left in the TDP in Telangana. Many top TDP leaders defected to TRS during the last seven years.

The TDP could win just two seats in 119-member Telangana Assembly in 2018. With both the MLAs defecting to TRS, TDP has no presence in the State Assembly.
Mumbai, June 7 : Actor Pankit Thakker, who was shooting outside Mumbai for almost a month, is excited to return to the city and relax in the comfort of home.

The actor is currently shooting for the series "Aapki Nazron Ne Samjha." "It was fun shooting earlier in Goa, and then shifting to Silvasa. It's been around two months now, and I'm excited to return back to Mumbai. I really miss my home and the comfort of it. Few actors will still shoot in Silvasa for few more days, but some of us shall be returning," the actor tells IANS.

He added: "All co-stars and team members stayed like family and would care for each other. I'm sure I will miss all that extra love and concern in Mumbai." The actor who is known for his work in shows such as "Kabhii Sautan Kabhii Saheli", "Dill Mill Gayye" hopes to get vaccinated once he returns to Mumbai. "I'm happy that now when I'll be home, I will get a chance to get vaccinated. It's my priority."
Geneva, June 7 : The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday released a handbook to help countries measure their foodborne disease burden and identify food safety system needs.

The handbook, released on the occasion of World Food Safety Day, can also help countries assess the causes, magnitude and distribution of foodborne diseases, strengthen national infrastructure and better protect people's health.

World Food Safety Day is observed on June 7 every year. This year's theme is 'Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow'.

"Food should sustain and support human health, not harm it," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

"WHO's new handbook will help countries collect and analyse data to inform sustained investments in food safety. The Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the intimate links between the health of humans, animals and the planet that sustains us.

"WHO will continue to work with partners with a One Health approach to keep communities safe from foodborne disease," he said.

Every year, 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses are reported. In 2010, 4,20,000 people died due to diseases such as salmonella and E.coli infection, a third of them children under five years of age.

This figure is estimated to increase year after year, but it is difficult to get a clear picture of the real impact foodborne diseases are having around the world.

In 2020, the World Health Assembly had adopted a new resolution mandating the WHO to monitor the global burden of foodborne and zoonotic diseases at the national, regional and international levels and to report on the global burden of foodborne diseases with up-to-date estimates.
New Delhi, June 7 : Hyatt Regency Mumbai has suspended its operations in Mumbai as its owner Asian Hotels (West) Ltd has not been able to finance the hotel.

Sunjae Sharma, Vice President & Country Head - India, Hyatt said: "As a result of no funds forthcoming from Asian Hotels (West) Ltd, the owner of Hyatt Regency Mumbai, to sustain the operations of the hotel, a decision has been taken to temporarily suspend all operations for Hyatt Regency Mumbai. The hotel will remain closed until further notice." The Country Head also said that future reservations through Hyatt booking channels will remain temporarily unavailable.

Sharma, however, said that Hyatt is working with the hotel's owner to resolve the situation.

"At Hyatt, our guests and colleagues are a top priority, and we are working closely with the hotel's owner to resolve this situation." Informing the hotel staff of the suspension of operations, Hardip Marwah, the General Manager of Hyatt Regency Mumbai said that in notice on Monday morning that no funds are coming in from the owner to enable payment of salaries or to support the operations of the hotel.
Dublin (Ireland) 7 June 2021 (SPS) - Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Simon Coveney, has reiterated his country's full support for the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), the United Nations-led political process and the efforts of the Secretary-General to reach a final settlement on this issue.



Ireland's head of diplomacy, in a written response to a question before Parliament, stressed that it is an urgent priority for Dublin at the moment to expedite the appointment of a new Personal Envoy for the Secretary-General, which is the focus of current international diplomatic efforts.



The Irish minister's response comes to reinforce the previous position expressed last month, which supported the political settlement process to reach a final solution between the two parties to the conflict in Western Sahara within the framework set by the United Nations, as well as working to promote respect for human rights, accountability and compliance with international law. (SPS)



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Patna, June 7 : Five unidentified persons gunned down the brother of former Janata Dal-United MP Ashwamedh Devi in Bihar's Samastipur district on Monday, the police said.

The deceased Sunil Kumar, was the owner of a Customer Service Point (CSP), and was carrying Rs 3.6 lakh cash when he was attacked in Sultanganj locality under Sarairanjan police station in the district around 1 p.m.

According to an officer of Sarai Ranjan police station, Sunil Kumar was on the way to the bank to deposit the money.

"The attackers knew about the money being carried. Hence, they took up position on the route from the CSP office to the bank," SHO of Sarairanjan police station, RC Singh said.

"As soon as he reached the spot, they threatened him at gunpoint and tried to snatch the bag containing the money. When Sunil resisted, the men opened fire at him. He sustained two gunshot injuries on his chest and died on the spot," Singh said.

"In the course of our investigation, we are questioning the employees of CSP who might have played the role of informer," he said.
Hyderabad, June 7 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao on Monday said that his state has not only achieved food security but has also become source of food security for the country.

He claimed that Telangana stood first in the country in food production by producing three crore tonnes of food grains.

KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, has greeted people on the occasion of World Food Safety Day.

Recalling the efforts put in by the state government to turn Telangana into a rice bowl in the country ("Annapurna") from a region which faced famine and starvation as part of united Andhra Pradesh, he said within a short span of time, Telangana was able to create two crore acres fertile land which is yielding two crops.

KCR said it is a moment of pride for the state which has become number one in the paddy production by completing all major irrigation projects like Kaleswaram, and reviving and restoring tanks under Mission Kakatiya programme.

He said even during the Corona pandemic, the crops cultivated by Telangana farmers have provided food security to the country.

He claimed that measures taken by the government in supplying nutritious meat, eggs and fish to people have yielded good results. The state government is implementing sheep rearing schemes and encouraging fruits and vegetable production. With these efforts, people in the state are getting food, which is safe and secured.

KCR also stated that the government is waging a war against all the adulteration of the food items. The government is dealing sternly against the spurious seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, thereby ensuring safe food grains.

He said keeping in view the increase in diabetes, the state government has prepared Telangana Sona variety of rice and cultivation of this rice variety is encouraged all over the state.

Noting that the government has introduced several welfare schemes at a cost of Rs 45,000 crore providing welfare, food, social and life security, he said that in order to provide food security and ensure that no one goes hungry, each person is given 6 kgs of rice in every family through Food Security Card (Ration Card).

Of the total 87,41,000 ration card-holding families, 2,79,27,000 (72 per cent of the state's population) are given 20 lakh tonnes of rice at one rupee per kg per year. For this, the state government is bearing Rs 28.24 per kg or Rs 2,088 crore subsidy. Fine quality rice is being given to the students in hostels.

Ration card portability was created so that ration cardholders can draw their ration anywhere in the state and this had provided total food security to the needy, he added.
New Delhi, June 7 : The Supreme Court on Monday asked the West Bengal government to comply with its order in connection with collection of and uploading data on children who were either orphaned or are under distress amid Covid on the National Commission for Protection of Children Rights (NCRCR) portal.

The NCPCR told the top court that both West Bengal and Delhi have not been cooperating and also not provided latest data on the number of children who have lost parents amid the pandemic.

The Delhi government counsel said the government solely depends on data provided by child welfare committees, while in other states, departments directly provide information to the District Magistrate, which gives more accuracy to the information collected.

A bench, headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao, said states have constituted district task officers, where officers come are from various departments, including revenue, district collector, magistrate etc, and suggested that the same model can be adopted by Delhi.

The top court also asked the Delhi government to upload the information on the NCPCR's website as soon as it is collected and implement its schemes without waiting for the court's order.

The bench, also comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose, told counsel appearing for West Bengal that the state government should direct the authorities to provide the information and upload it on the portal of the NCPCR immediately.

The bench said it asked for information pertaining to children orphaned after March 2020, and include CNCPs (Children in Need of Care and Protection) also. "All the other states have understood and have uploaded the information, how is it that only West Bengal doesn't understand the order?" it asked.

The top court further queried why there is confusion only with West Bengal, when all other states have provided the data. "Don't take refuge under confusion," it said.

The bench made these observations following submissions from Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj, representing the NCPCR, that Delhi and West Bengal have not given information.

Meanwhile, the Centre also informed the top court that it needed some more time to inform it on the modalities of PM Cares scheme for children orphaned during Covid.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, informed the court that they are in consultation with states and ministries to work out the modalities of the scheme and sought more time.

"We have made District Magistrates directly responsible for the children who have been abandoned or have been orphaned," added Bhati.

The top court gave the Centre some more time to formulate the modalities of the scheme.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Agartala, June 7 : The Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Monday began their first ever virtual border management conference to deal with border crimes, single-row border fencing and insurgent activities, among other issues.

Officials said that the four-day BSF-BGB Border Coordination Conference (BCC) would adopt certain strategies to curb trans-border crimes, smuggling of various contraband and cattle, fake Indian currency notes and pending development works along the frontiers of the two neighbouring countries.

The Inspector Generals (IGs) of three frontiers - Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram & Cachar Frontier - along with BGB officials of the South-East and North-East regions took part in the virtual meeting on Monday. Senior officials of Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs ministries also took part in the meet.

"After the discussions, the leaders of both the delegations would amicably resolve all the bilateral issues to achieve the common goal of establishing peace and tranquility along the international borders," a BSF statement said.

It said that embarking on the path of 'confidence building measures', the border guarding forces of India and Bangladesh have been forging ahead in their ever growing friendly association by participating in the biannual Border Coordination Conference as per the traditions.

The statement said that over the past few years, the BSF and the BGB have jointly cemented their friendly relationship and acquired new heights in mutual trust and cooperation by resolving all border issues through meaningful dialogues.

It may be recalled that the last such BCC was held in BSF Tripura Frontier headquarters in Shalbagan in November last year.

BSF's Tripura frontier IG Susanta Kumar Nath had headed the Indian delegation while BGB's Additional Director General Tanveer Gani Chowdhury led the Bangladesh team.

Four northeastern states -- Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km) and Assam (263 km) -- share 1,880 km borders with Bangladesh.

Most stretches of the borders remain unfenced and there are thousands of villages and human habitations close to both sides of the borders.
Toronto, June 7 : Despite a ban on direct international flights from India by Canada to check the spread of the new Delta variant of Coronavirus, Indian passengers and students are still landing in Toronto and other airports.

The Delta variant accounts for more than 27 per cent of new cases in Ontario, as more international flights with Covid cases landed in Toronto last week.

Sources in the travel industry say that people are skirting the ban on direct flights from India by using international airports in Muscat, Mexico City, Addis Ababa and Belgrade as transit points.

International students from India are reportedly paying up to $4,000 for a one-way ticket to land in Canada via Doha and Addis Ababa.

"Passengers from India are mainly using these airports transit points to land in Canada because they get to do a quick Covid test at the airports and board onward flights," said a travel agent in Toronto.

"Indians are landing in Mexico City via Europe. After a two-day stay there, they get their Covid test, board onward flight and land in Toronto," said the travel agent.

In Muscat, they are required to stay only for 14 hours to take their Covid test and then board onward flights.

In Addis Ababa and Belgrade, passengers are required to stay in a hotel for three days before they get their Covid test done and board onward flights.

The problem with using these airports as transit points is that if a passenger gets infected just before boarding a flight from India and lands in Muscat or Belgrade, his/her test after 14 hours or three days would come negative because the symptoms take up to five days to emerge.

"Their symptoms show just before or after landing in Canada. That's how many international flights are bringing Covid cases, including those of the Delta variant, into Canada as people have found ways to beat the Canadian ban," said an industry source.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Cannes, June 7 : The upcoming Vin Diesel-starrer "F9", latest release in the "Fast & Furious" franchise, is the Hollywood "blockbuster" that Cannes Film Festival authorities promised to screen at the gala, to be held from July 6 to 17 this year.

Ever since Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux told Variety that the forthcoming 73rd edition of the festival would screen a "planetary blockbuster", a guessing game started among the worldwide press over which film he meant. Fremaux had teased the media at a June 3 press conference while announcing the Official Selection at the festival this year, saying the blockbuster in question wasn't "No Time To Die" or "Dune" or "West Side Story", which have been among the most hyped Hollywood films slated to release later this year.

The premiere of "F9" at Cannes in the first week of July also makes sense because the film is scheduled to release on June 25 in the United States.

"F9" stars Diesel with a powerhouse cast including John Cena, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Michael Rooker, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell and Charlize Theron. The film has already had its international release on May 19 and has grossed over $250 million worldwide so far, reports Variety. At Cannes, the film will have a public screening at the beach for delegates as well as locals and tourists. The cast is not scheduled to travel to the premiere owing to the ongoing pandemic.
Bengaluru, June 7 : The Bengaluru zonal unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted an international drug smuggling racket by arresting two persons, NCB zonal director Amit Ghawate said on Monday.

The accused were trying to export 3.8 kg charas by courier to Doha on Sunday by concealing the banned substance in backpacks and travelling pouches.

A detailed statement released by the NCB said that acting on a tip-off, the NCB first seized a parcel of 70 backpacks at the Bengaluru airport and after careful investigation, it was discovered that 1.2 kg charas was concealed in 13 of the backpacks.

"After further investigation, the accused persons -- R. Khan and S. Hussain -- were nabbed from Kasargod in Kerala, where the NCB team seized 195 travelling pouches, in which 2.6 kg charas was concealed," the Bengaluru zonal director said.

The NCB added that both the accused persons were part of a drug smuggling racket based out of Kerala. The duo had been booked earlier under the provisions of the NDPS Act.

The NCB said that following relaxation of the curbs on air travel, the gang operating from Kerala became very much active in the state.

The NCB zonal unit said that it had kept a vigil on this gang since 2019 after arresting this racket's kingpin.

"We had arrested its gang members in 2020 as well, but their operations were sluggish due to the pandemic outbreak which affected air travel to a large extent. This notorious gang had exported drugs to the island nations such as Maldives and Sri Lanka using the similar modus operandi of couriering drugs after systematically concealing them in bags and parcels," Ghawate said.
Mumbai, June 7 : The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred Franklin Templeton's Head of Asia Pacific operations, Vivek Kudva and his wife, Roopa Kudva from the securities market for one year insider trading.

The SEBI order on Monday restrained both from "accessing the securities market and further prohibited from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities, directly or indirectly, or being associated with the securities market in any manner, whatsoever, for a period of one year from the date of this order".

During the period of restraint, the Kudvas would not be allowed liquidate their existing holding of securities including the units of mutual funds.

Franklin Templeton India on April 23, 2020, informed the unit holders of certain schemes of FT-MF that it was winding up the schemes in conformity with the provisions of SEBI regulations.

The schemes were Franklin India Low Duration Fund (FI-LDF), Ultra Short Fund/Ultra Short Bond Fund (FI-UST), Short Term Income Fund/Plan (FI-STIP), Credit Risk Fund (FI-CRF), Dynamic Accrual Fund (FI-DAF), and Income Opportunities Fund (FI-IOF).

Subsequent to the decision to wind up the schemes, the capital market regulator ordered a forensic audit in terms of Regulation 66 of the Mutual Fund Regulations of FT-MF, FTAMC and Trustees, particularly in respect to the impugned debt schemes.

The SEBI inspection found that during April 1, 2019 to April 23, 2020, Kudva, a Director of FT-AMC, his wife and mother Vasanthi Kudva had redeemed units in the impugned debt schemes during the period.

Kudva, allegedly, in his capacity as a Director of FT-AMC, was privy to information such as concerns of redemption, concentration and liquidity risk pertaining to the stress in the impugned debt schemes, most of which was not in public domain.

The SEBI order noted that allegedly the act of redemption of units by the notices in two of the impugned debt schemes -- FI-IOF and FI-STIP, while in possession of non-public information with respect to stress in the debt schemes inspected, amounted to an unfair trade practice in securities market and a fraud on the other unsuspecting unit holders of said debt schemes who were not privy to such confidential information and therefore, could not redeem their investments.

The order said that the noticees had cumulatively redeemed units amounting to over Rs 30.70 crore while in possession of material non-public information.

Kudva had redeemed units worth over Rs 11.62 crore on his own behalf and units amounting to over Rs 85.15 lakh on behalf of his mother. Further, his wife redeemed units on her own account amounting to over Rs 18.22 crore.

The regulator directed that the couple should jointly and severally transfer the redeemed amount within a period of 45 days, from the date of receipt of this order. In case of failure to do so, simple interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum shall be applicable from the expiry of the said 45 days till the date of actual transfer.

Further, Kudva would be be liable to pay a monetary penalty of Rs 4 crore for the redemptions undertaken on his own behalf and on behalf of his mother, and his wife would have to pay a fine of Rs 3 crore for the redemptions from her account.
Paris, June 7 : World No.1 Novak Djokovic came back from a two-set deficit to overcome Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti who retired in the fifth set and the Serbian moved into the French Open quarterfinals here on Monday.

Djokovic prevailed 6-7(7), 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-0, 4-0 in three hours and 27 minutes, before 19-year-old Musetti retired. For the 2016 French Open champion, it was the fifth time in his career to comeback from two-sets-to-love down to win.

Djokovic will take on Italy's ninth seed Matteo Berrettini, who got a walkover after Swiss ace Roger Federer withdrew from the tournament on Sunday, for a place in the semi-finals.

Diego Schwartzman, the 10th seed from Argentina, hit sublime form defeating Germany's world No.42 Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(9), 6-4, 7-5 to make the last-eight grade at Roland Garros for the third time.

Schwartzman, who has yet to lose a set in the tournament, will next take on the winner of the match between 13-time champion Rafael Nadal and Italian Jannik Sinner.

Djokovic, who is in the quarterfinals for a record 12th consecutive year, came through his first big test at this year's French Open, winning 13 games in a row from a 3-1 advantage in the third set to a 4-0 lead in the decider against Musetti.

Djokovic, the 18-time Grand Slam champion, will go into the quarterfinal contest against Berrettini full of confidence as he had beaten the Italian 6-2, 6-1 in their only previous meeting, at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals.
Mysuru, June 7 : Describing Mysuru as her 'Tavaru Mane (the maternal home of a bride), outgoing Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Dasari Rohini Sindhuri said on Monday that she was paying the price of being an upright and honest officer who tried to safeguard government lands from being taken away by the land mafia in a clandestine manner.

After an ugly spat between Sindhuri and Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner Shilpa Nag, the Karnataka government had on Saturday transferred the two IAS officers.

While 2009 batch IAS officer Sindhuri has been transferred to the post of Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, 2014 batch officer Nag has been appointed as the Director, E-governance, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department.

After handing over charge to new Mysuru DC Bagadhi Gautham, Sindhuri subtly hit out at her detractors, mainly politicians, without naming anyone at a press conference.

Stating that she was not allowed to work as the DC, Sindhuri claimed that she has been a victim of conspiracy ever since she tried to prevent land sharks from encroaching government lands and properties.

"Some people unnecessarily troubled me as I tried to clear encroachments of government lands. As a Deputy Commissioner, my primary duty was to save government lands, lakes and other public properties, which might fall prey to land sharks. I was doing this work from the day I took over as DC for which I got into the wrong books of a few. I was a victim of a conspiracy," she claimed.

Answering a question, Sindhuri said that she had never expected this transfer.

"I have been asked to leave the district at a time when I was doing good work. It is wrong to think that a 'mission is accomplished' after abruptly transferring an IAS Officer. It is difficult to run a system if these kinds of developments take place, be it a district or any institution. But I will not react much on the issue," she said, adding that everyone knows what had happened, so there is no point in talking about it all over again now.

When asked to elaborate the steps taken by her to prevent land encroachments, Sindhuri said that she had tried to clear encroachments in the Kergalli Lake and fill clean water into it for rejuvenation.

"I wanted to save 1,500 acres of Survey Number 4 (Kurubarahalli) and wanted to assign a good lawyer to fight the case in the Supreme Court. I would have continued as the DC had I not taken on the land mafia," she said, indicating that she had antagonised a section of politicians who are in cahoots with the land mafia in Mysuru.

Reacting to Nag's public outbursts which culminated into the transfer of both the warring IAS officers from Mysuru, Sindhuri said that she could only "feel sorry for her" as it was quite clear from her outbursts that she is an insecure person.

"Insecurity leads to frustration, and that is what had happened with her I think," Sindhuri said, adding that there are particular procedures for all IAS officers and she is proud that she did not violate them under any circumstances.

Thanking the people of Mysuru, Sindhuri described it as her parents' home (Tavaru Mane).

The officer said she is grateful for the love showered on her by the people of the district, who treated her like their own daughter in the eight months that she spent there.

"Thank You Mysuru, I am leaving with a heavy heart, as a daughter leaves her parental home," she told reporters.
Your help will be etched on our hearts, said Tsai, who thanked the Biden administration for including Taiwan among the first places to receive vaccine donations. She also said she hoped that the U.S.-Taiwan partnership would continue to improve. During the three-hour visit, the senators were to discuss security and other issues with Tsai and other senior Taiwanese leaders.
Paris, June 7 : American teenager Coco Gauff on Monday pulled played an inspired game as she breezed past Tunisia's Ons Jabeur 6-3, 6-1 to reach her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinals, at the French Open here.

No.24 seed Coco, at 17 years and 86 days old, is the youngest player to make a major quarterfinal since the Czech Republic's Nicole Vaidisova, who made it to the last eight at the French Open in 2006.

Coco will next face fellow first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic. Barbora also made a swift entry into the last-eight stage on Monday, inflicting a crushing 6-2, 6-0 defeat on former finalist, Sloane Stephens of the USA in under an hour.

Coco is also the youngest American to reach the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam since Venus Williams entered the US Open final in 1997.

Coco, who also became the youngest American to come this far at the Roland Garros since Jennifer Capriati reached the quarterfinals here in 1993, was calm and composed during her 53-minute contest against the 25th-seeded Ons.

The American dominated from the start, firing 15 winners to just nine unforced errors. Coco also won 81 per cent of her first-serve points, while claiming two-thirds of the points returning Ons's second serve.

Earlier, Barbora underlined her status as a contender for the title by decimating Sloane Stephens in just 67 minutes to reach her first Grand Slam singles quarter-final.

She said that playing a series of exhibition games in the Czech Republic during the pandemic lockdown had helped boost her confidence.
Hyderabad, June 7 : In a shocking incident, an elderly couple in Telangana was allegedly starved to death after their son and daughter-in-law denied them food and even drinking water.

The incident came to light in Suryapet district on Monday after the police arrested Nageshwar Reddy and his wife Lakshmi and charged them with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

According to the police, Nallu Ramachandra Reddy (90) and his wife Anasuyamma (80) had died on May 27 and their final rites were performed by their son the same day at Thummagudem village in Mothe mandal.

However, the villagers suspected foul play and alerted the police. The accused had allegedly forced the elderly couple to live in a makeshift tarpauline tent erected on the premises of their house.

Munagala Circle inspector Anjaneyulu said the police swung into action after some local residents complained that Nageshwar Reddy was not taking care of his parents and had denied them food and drinking water, which led to their deaths.

The police exhumed the bodies on May 1 and sent them for autopsy. He said the autopsy report revealed that the couple was not given food which led to dehydration and ultimately their death.

"After receiving the post-mortem report, we booked a case and arrested the accused couple," the police official said.

The accused, who have been booked under Section 304-II of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), were produced before a magistrate, who remanded them to judicial custody.
Bengaluru, June 7 : Congress would expand its free vaccination drive across Karnataka by involving its various wings, so as to protect as many people as possible from Covid, its state President D.K. Shivakumar said on Monday.

"Our party's frontal wings, including Kisan Congress, Youth Congress, Mahila Congress, student wing NSUI, and INTUC have been mobilised to expand our vaccination drive across the state to inoculate as many people as possible," he told reporters here.

The opposition party on June 4 launched its mass free vaccination drive at Davangere.

"As we plan to vaccinate about 3 lakh people in the first phase of our Covid relief campaign, our party leaders and cadres are procuring Covishield doses with their personal funds. We are holding camps in towns and villages across the state to immunise more people," Shivakumar said.

Senior Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, 89, has placed an order to procure vaccines worth Rs 4 crore to inoculate people in his Davangere assembly constituency.

"As the BJP government in the state has been unresponsive and indifferent to the people's plight, I have appealed to our party's leaders and cadres to help the citizens in this pandemic times," Shivakumar said.

He also flagged off three dedicated ambulances equipped with oxygen concentrators under the 'Sanjeevani' scheme and distributed ration kits to about 500 Covid-affected families in the city.

"We are already operating 172 ambulances to rush Covid patients to hospitals across the state for treatment under the 'Congress Cares campaign," he said.

Shivakumar again urged the state government to allow them to buy vaccines worth Rs 100 crore to freely vaccinate the maximum number of people across the southern state.

The party has sought the state's permission to utilise the local area development funds of its MPs and MLAS for purchasing vaccines to fulfil its campaign.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Srinagar, June 7 : Explosive materials were recovered from an orchard in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in a joint operation by security agencies on Monday, officials said.

The Army said that based on a specific police intelligence input regarding transport of war-like stores in Soyimuh near Tral in Pulwama, a joint team of army's Rashtriya Rifles, the state police and the CRPF launched a search at Soyimuh Orchard in the morning and recovered five kgs explosive material.

"The recovered material has been sent for futher forensic analysis by police," the army said.

"This recovery is the outcome of ongoing efforts of security forces to thwart any attempts by terrorists to destabilise peace and development in south Kashmir."
New Delhi, June 7 : A few passengers aboard a Vistara flight on its way to Kolkata from Mumbai on Monday were injured due to turbulence.

An airline spokesperson said that immediate medical assistance was provided to the passengers, and it is investigating the incident on priority.

"Flight UK775 operating Mumbai-Kolkata on 7 June 2021 encountered severe turbulence 15 minutes before landing. According to preliminary reports, the turbulence caused injuries to a few passengers, who were provided first aid during flight and immediate medical assistance upon arrival in Kolkata," said the Vistara spokesperson.

"We are saddened by this unfortunate experience our customers had and are closely monitoring the health status of those injured. We are investigating the incident on priority and will share a further update at the earliest."
Srinagar, June 7 : Jammu and Kashmir received a fresh consignment of nine medical oxygen generation plants on Monday, officials said.

The state-of-the-art Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants, manufactured in Europe, were airlifted from Frankfurt by the Indian Air Force C-17 cargo plane on June 5 and delivered at the Srinagar Airport on Monday.

The earlier consignment of seven plants was also brought in by the Indian Air Force on May 17.

J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, while expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that the latter's personal intervention made it possible for J&K to receive 16 oxygen generation plants from Europe in such a short span of time.

"I express my sincere gratitude to the Prime Minister for his continuous efforts in taking care of the health and well-being of the people of J&K," Sinha said.

"Our goal is to augment medical supply across the UT with a vision to tackle any future health emergencies. Medical infrastructure capacities shall be upgraded across the board," the Lt Governor said.

Five of these new plants with a generation capacity of 4000 LPM will be installed at the hospitals in Kashmir division, while the remaining four with a generation capacity of 4400 LPM will be installed at hospitals in Jammu division.

At present, J&K has 40 functional medical oxygen generation plants and the latest additions will further enhance the availability of medical oxygen in the hospitals, raising the total capacity to more than 60,000 LPM.
Patna, June 7 : An FIR was filed against a police officer in Bihar's Bhojpur district and two others on Monday for collecting illegal levy from sand-laden vehicles, police said on Monday.

Sahar SHO Anand Kumar and two others were allegedly involved in taking illegal levy from truck, tractors and other commercial vehicles passing the checkpost in Sahar area, Bhojpur's Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar Dubey said.

The Bihar government had allowed mining in the Sone river and given contracts to private companies. But the local mafias in the region were not allowing them to operate, and several companies had handed back the contracts midway.

As Sahar is situated on the banks of Sone, local sand mafia are active in the region on a large scale as the sand from Sone has a huge demand in the market.

"We have been receiving complaints about illegal activities in the region and some police personnel used to allow trucks and tractors laden with sand to pass. Accordingly, we have raided the place and arrested one person. We have also recovered Rs 762,300 from his possession," the SP said.

"During interrogation of the accused, he revealed that Sahar SHO Anand Kumar was directly involved in the illegal activity. The accused was operating in the region with the help of the SHO," Dubey added.
Bengaluru, June 7 : Reeling under the impact of the Covid-induced lockdown, which kept visitors away, Bengaluru's cash-strapped Bannerghatta zoo on Monday called for people to adopt its animals.

"As the pandemic and extended lockdowns imposed to contain the virus spread led to lower footfall and minimum gate collection, we urge citizens and organisations to adopt our animals to partially meet the cost of their feed and veterinary care," the zoo's Executive Director Vanashri Vipin Singh said.

The 732-hectare 50-year-old biological park has 2,388 animals of 102 different species in its zoo, safari, butterfly park and rescue centre.

"The zoo also provides an opportunity to name younger animals, which have not yet been named or adopted so far," said Singh.

Among animals ready for adoption are lioness Sania's one male and three female cubs, born on April 3, 2021; zebra Kaveri's female foal, born on September 27, 2020; hippopotamus Dashya's male calf, born on July 27, 2020; langur Reshmi's female infant, born on March 16, 2020; Hanuman langur Adithi's infant, born on February 2020, and grey wolf Akira's two male pups, born on February 3, 2020.

"Citizens can also contribute towards one-day feeding cost for some of our zoo residents," said Singh.

The daily cost of feeding some of the animals in the zoo are Rs 75,000 for 25 Asian elephants at Rs 3,000 per jumbo; Rs 30,000 for 20 Royal Bengal tigers at Rs 1,500 for each cat; Rs 34,500 for 23 lions at Rs 1,500 each; Rs 21,000 for 42 leopards at Rs 500 each; Rs 2,000 for two giraffes at Rs 1,000 each; Rs 3,000 for four zebras at Rs 750 each; Rs 1,500 for three hyenas at Rs 1,500 each; Rs 6,500 for 13 wolves at Rs 500 each; Rs 4,400 for 11 jackals at Rs 400 each; Rs 1,600 for four wild dogs at Rs 400 each; Rs 9,600 for eight hippopotami at Rs 1,200 each and Rs 1,800 for three sloth bears at Rs 600 each.

"The average cost of feeding all animals is Rs 2,69,500 per day," added Singh.

Interested adopters can log on to https://bannerghattabiologicalpark.org for details and enquires can be sent to educationbbp@gmail.com.

There is provision for income-tax rebate under 80G of the IT Act, 1961 for animal adoption and donations.
Paris, June 7 : Thirteen-time French Open champion Spaniard Rafael Nadal kept 19-year-old Jannik Sinner's title aspirations in check by defeating the world No.19 Italian 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 to book a spot in the quarter-finals in Paris on Monday.

Nadal, the four-time defending champion, will now clash with 10th seed Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, who hit sublime form as he overcame Germany's world No.42 Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(9), 6-4, 7-5 to make the last-eight grade here for the third time.

Nadal has now reached 15 quarterfinals at Roland Garros, and is tied alongside world No.1 Novak Djokovic. The win also means Nadal and Djokovic are on a collision course in the semi-final.

Earlier in the day, Djokovic came back from a two-set deficit to overcome Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti who retired in the fifth set and the Serbian moved into the quarterfinals.

Djokovic prevailed 6-7(7), 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-0, 4-0 in three hours and 27 minutes as 19-year-old Musetti retired. For the 2016 French Open champion, it was the fifth time in his career to come back from two-sets-to-love down to win.

Djokovic will take on Italy's ninth seed Matteo Berrettini, who got a walkover after Swiss ace Roger Federer withdrew from the tournament on Sunday, for a place in the semi-finals.

Djokovic, who is in the quarterfinals for a record 12th consecutive year, came through his first big test at this year's French Open, winning 13 games in a row from a 3-1 advantage in the third set to a 4-0 lead in the decider against Musetti.

Djokovic, the 18-time Grand Slam champion, will go into the quarterfinal contest against Berrettini full of confidence as he had beaten the Italian 6-2, 6-1 in their only previous meeting, at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals.

In a match that had plenty of ups and downs, Nadal kept his cool to overcome big-serving Sinner in two hours and 20 minutes and improve his head-to-head against the teenager to 3-0.
Mysuru, June 8 : The University of Mysore (UoM) has jointly developed a self Covid detection kit in collaboration with Hyderabad-based Lorven Biologics Private Limited.

Mysore University's former Vice Chancellor and a member of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), K.S. Rangappa, who led the team of researchers, told reporters that the new Covid detection kit has an accuracy rate of over 90 per cent.

UoM Vice Chancellor G. Hemanth Kumar and Rangappa jointly announced this at a press meet at Vijnana Bhavan on the varsity campus here.

The kit has been developed by a research team comprising S. Chandra Nayak, Coordinator, and C.D. Mohan, Assistant Professor, Department of Studies in Molecular Biology, University of Mysore.

Rangappa said that the kit is expected to be available at an affordable price since it has been developed by the state-run university, adding that the research team is sending the new kit for emergency use approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

"The unique feature of the kit is that a barcode strip is linked to an app. As soon as the barcode is scanned, the health status of the patient (whether tested positive or negative) is updated in the server, thereby enabling the governing agencies to monitor the cases immediately. The recent technologies in molecular biology, nanotechnology and Artificial Intelligence were used in the development of the kit," the research team explained in a press release.

The release further added that any person suspecting to have Covid symptoms can use this kit to test the virus in body fluids, including sputum, nasal secretion and saliva.

"The kit can be used in households too. It takes less than 10 minutes to detect whether the person is infected," said research coordinator Mohan.

In response to a question, Rangappa said that the team was in negotiation with the manufacturer for keeping the price as low as Rs 100 per kit.

"During the current second wave, infection in some Covid patients could not be detected in RT-PCR tests. Therefore, there was a need to develop a kit that can detect all the mutated variants of the virus," the research team said.

"We are hoping that the kit will be able to detect the mutated virus in case of subsequent waves," Rangappa said.

He also acknowledged that Venkataramana, the Director of Lorven Biologics, Hyderabad, was instrumental in the making of the kit by providing necessary scientific and logistic support.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
To Shawger, the name Pig Beach conjures visions of swimming pigs frolicking in the crystal-blue waters of the Bahamas Exumas, but in reality, he came up with the name seven years ago while gazing at the brown, murky waters of Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. That was where Shawger opened his flagship Pig Beach in 2017 after competing (and winning national awards) with his barbecue crew of Abdoo and McBride at big-name contests such as Memphis in May.
Bengaluru, June 8 : A day after making a statement that created ripples within his party, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Monday appealed to his supporters to refrain from launching a signature campaign or making any insinuating statements in support of his continuation as the Chief Minister of the state.

On Sunday, Yediyurappa had said that he would resign as he Chief Minister of Karnataka if the party central leadership asks him to.

The statement had created a flutter in the political circles, with his staunchest supporter and political secretary, M.P. Renukacharya, launching a signature campaign, claiming to collect 65 signatures from the ruling party legislators.

"At a time when people are facing difficulties during the Covid pandemic, every single BJP MLA should prioritise Covid containment measures in their respective constituencies. No one should engage in collecting signatures or issuing political statements. I request them to provide help to the people in need," Yediyurappa tweeted.

Meanwhile, Hubli-Dharwad (West) MLA Arvind Bellad, whose recent visit to New Delhi triggered speculation over attempts to dethrone the Chief Minister, said that no such pro-Yediyurappa signature campaign had taken place.

"No signature for or against anyone has been taken. The only signature campaign of 64-65 MLAs was carried out during the last legislative session, seeking the early release of rural development funds. I don't know if those same signatures are now being used for this. We will know if a party meeting is convened," he said.

Reacting to Bellad's remarks, Renukacharya said that the former is not among the 65 signatories.

"I never asked him to sign. He's a chief ministerial candidate. Isn't he? I'm too small a person to ask for his signature," he said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President D.K. Shivakumar said in a tweet: "It is for the BJP to decide who will occupy the CM's post. But as a citizen of Karnataka, I am saddened to see how governance is suffering due to the endless factionalism in the BJP." He added that Covid management in the state is also suffering because the CM and the ministers are only worried about their own chairs.

"People of Karnataka are certainly fed up and frustrated with the incompetent government in the state. If the BJP vs BJP tussle continues, our electorate will surely vote the BJP out of power," the Karnataka Congress said in a tweet.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Seneca Harrison, Chief Diversity Officer, hyperCORE International Clinical research benefits all of us, therefore, it should reflect all of us.

hyperCORE International, a multi-national integrated research organization, continues to trailblaze and innovate for the betterment of the clinical trial industry. This particular advancement is the creation of a Chief Diversity Officer role to promote diversity within patient recruitment and staffing.

Seneca Harrison, Vice President of Quality Clinical Research in Omaha, Nebraska, represents one of 11 hyperCORE International partner sites. In his new role as Chief Diversity Officer, his first goal is to ensure hyperCORE Internationals super network of sites is meeting diversity goals in their hiring process, and that hyperCORE International is actively looking for diverse partnerships.

The essence of hyperCORE International is to elevate best practices and share that knowledge within each of our networks. Seneca has done an incredible job representing diversity, equity, and inclusion at his locations; thus, we all benefit from his expertise and encourage each of our networks to commit to change that is necessary to increase representation in our industry, said Karri Venn, CEO of hyperCORE International.

Mr. Harrison currently works with Native Americans, African Americans, and Latinx communities in Nebraska to educate them on the importance of participating in clinical trials. He works with Omaha Nation, where he provides clinical trial education and essential supplies for their health center and is working to bring clinical trials to the reservation. He supports African American and Latinx communities by teaming with local churches to conduct question-and-answer sessions regarding clinical trials. He also teams with the Omaha Housing Authority to host a monthly bingo where toilet paper, toiletries, and other essentials are awarded as prizes, followed by open discussions about the importance of participating in clinical trials.

Seneca Harrison stated that, Clinical research benefits all of us, therefore, it should reflect all of us. I am excited about the opportunities that the role of Chief Diversity Officer will afford hyperCORE International in ensuring we are making the necessary changes at the site level to improve diversity efforts across the board.

hyperCORE International scored a global score of 90% on the Diversity Site Assessment Tool (DSAT), an assessment tool developed by the Society for Clinical Research Sites, to quantify the competence of clinical research sites to execute clinical trials within diverse subject populations. This landmark tool is the product of years of analysis and development and is the first of its kind in the clinical research industry. Its efficacy in identifying areas of opportunity for sites to implement best practices in promoting diversity in trials is supported by four peer-reviewed research papers.

The hyperCORE International network is composed of over 100 member sites across North and South America and offers streamlined efficiencies such as single budget and contracts, and shared platforms for rapid scalability; the network also offers unparalleled access to diverse populations and depth of expertise across vaccine, metabolic disorders, dermatology, and many additional therapeutic areas.

About hyperCORE International:

Formed in 2019, hyperCORE International is a super network of highly experienced and awarded clinical research site/network companies. It is an industry leader, providing Phase I-IV clinical trial services with more than 100 active research sites two continents and five countries. Its member companies have more than 100 years of combined experience and completed more than 7,000 studies helping to evaluate thousands of new drugs and treatments in more than 140,000 randomized patients. Each member operates as an independent company but integrates common functions to streamline business and clinical operations through harmonization and sharing of best practices.

hyperCORE International is committed to the highest standard of research excellence with subject safety, data integrity, rapid study startup, competitive enrollment, and outstanding subject retention as top priorities. Its members have won numerous awards for performance, quality, and innovation.

Learn more at http://www.hyperCOREinternational.com

Contact: Michael Casey, Executive Director of hyperCORE International (919-302-4090)

SOURCE: hyperCORE International

Related Links: https://www.hypercoreinternational.com

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I wanted to write about the world I knew and the sort of characters that inhabit it. Particularly, I was drawn to exploring how far seemingly normal and successful people might go, if pushed to what they perceive is the brink.

Author Sharon V. Agar has released her debut novel, Out of Options, a smart, suspenseful and unexpectedly funny thriller that takes a deep dive into the world of white-collar crime.

Eve, a mid-level Wall Street investment banker, trades the grey skies of New York for the deep blues of the Caribbean, hoping a tropical vacation will add the color back to her life after a painful breakup. Shortly after her arrival in Sainte Anne, she meets unlikely duo Julian and Eddie. Julian, a lawyer, and Eddie, a department head at a chemical research company, harbor secrets of their own and a recent tragedy sets the mood for their stay.

The three strike up a quick, breezy friendship but the tides quickly turn after a diving trip goes awry, putting Eve in a precarious position. As she becomes more entangled in the men's affairs and unravels the dark history of their strange friendship, so do Julian and Eddies business associates. Weaving in narratives from ancillary characters, Agar creates a gripping story of murder, betrayal and deceit with surprising actors and unpredictable twists.

Informed by Agars decades of experience working in the corporate arena, Out of Options shines a light on the dark activity that often goes unnoticed under the office fluorescents. Through her book, she examines where moralistic and well-meaning individuals go wrong in making choices to protect themselves in a competitive, unforgiving industry, and how quickly the consequences can spiral out of control.

I wanted to write about the world I knew and the sort of characters that inhabit it, said Agar. Particularly, I was drawn to exploring how far seemingly normal and successful people might go, if pushed to what they perceive is the brink.

The kind of book that Grisham would have written if he had worked on Wall Street instead of for a law firm, wrote Amazon reviewer R. P. Johnson. The characters are compelling and complex, and the plot is witty and full of twists. Exactly my kind of book.

Agar has the knack of deftly rendering a character with just a phrase, the way a sculptor can reveal the essence of an emerging statue just by removing a small bit of stone, wrote Amazon reviewer L. Catapano-Friedman.

Out of Options

By Sharon V. Agar

ISBN: 9781480804531 (softcover); 9781480804517 (hardcover); 9781480804524 (electronic)

Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Archway Publishing

About the author

Sharon V. Agar writes realistic and suspenseful novels with multi-dimensional characters and strong, smart women at the center. Originally from England, she moved to the United States at 18, where she obtained her bachelors degree in applied mathematics at Yale University and her MBA at Harvard University. She spent decades living in Manhattan, where she worked in investment banking and at a Fortune 500 company, and ran a small not-for-profit. In 2010, Agar was diagnosed with a serious lung disease. She has since undergone two lung transplants, the experiences of which inform her second book, All You Need Is Lung. Agar currently lives in Southern California with her husband and sons. To learn more, please visit sharonagar.com.

Review Copies & Interview Requests:

LAVIDGE  Phoenix

Leslie Standridge

480-998-2600 x 586

lstandridge(at)lavidge(dot)com
Artemis, today announced the release of its third State of Indoor Farming report. The indoor agriculture industry across North America has gone through significant changes throughout the past year. As our economies open back up, the big question on everyones mind is where are we now and where are we going?

The purpose of the report is to look at where the indoor agriculture industry is today as well as to give growers an industry voice around the latest trends, biggest challenges, and the immense opportunities in this rapidly expanding industry. Artemis analysis is based on a survey of 205 enterprise horticulture facilities, as well as supplemental research.

The State of Indoor Farming report has been a leading resource in the industry for years and were thrilled to be launching a new report this year. This industry continues to rapidly rise; billions of dollars are going to go into the construction of indoor agriculture facilities in the coming years and its important we help move the needle forward as an industry together, said Allison Kopf, CEO of Artemis.

Growers will be interested in the reports Business Snapshot, comparing their facilities to the average yield and revenue for various facilities and crop types. The report also includes a deep dive on key topics such as expenses, sales channels, growth, and projections for the future of the industry. New this year is a supplemental report highlighting answers and trends from cannabis operators.

The Growth and 2021 and Beyond sections of the report are valuable strategic planning resources for many different stakeholders who are active in advancing the indoor agriculture space (e.g., investors, AgTech firms).

One trend has remained constant throughout each State of Indoor Farming report; There is a widespread need for more debt capital to fund this industrys rapid expansion and an opportunity for differentiation among banks and other lenders who havent yet won the hearts of indoor growers. Banks, private equity, venture capital, and private investors may be interested in seeing how indoor operations are expanding and which lenders theyre working with now.

To learn more, you can access the report here.

You can access our 2016 and 2017 State of Indoor Farming reports here.

____

About Artemis

Artemis is the market leading Cultivation Management Platform for enterprise greenhouses, indoor and high tunnel farms. The CMP enables growers to optimize their facilities for profitability by tracking all their operations and production data in one place. Artemis can integrate with existing systems (climate control, accounting, ERP), offering a bird's eye view of productivity and compliance.
The ASM Nominating Committee, chaired by Dr. David U. Furrer, FASM, announced the nominees for ASM vice president and trustee for 2021-2022 and three members of the Board of Trustees for 2021-2024.

In accordance with the ASM Constitution, these nominees will be voted on at the ASM Annual Business Meeting on September 13. Once elected, the vice president will automatically become ASM president for 2022-2023. In accordance with Article IV, Section 3, of the ASM Constitution, the ASM Board of Trustees has also announced its nominee, John C. Kuli, for a second one-year term as ASM Treasurer for 2021-2022.

Officers and members of the Board who will continue in office for 2021-2022 include: Dr. Judith Todd, FASM, who will become president in September; Diana Essock, FASM, who will serve as immediate past president; and trustees Dr. Toni Marechaux, FASM, Dr. Priti Wanjara, FASM, Prof. Ji-Cheng Zhao, FASM, Burak Akyuz, Dr. Elizabeth Hoffman, FASM, and Dr. Navin Manjooran, FASM.

Retiring from the Board at this years Annual Business Meeting will be immediate past president Dr. Zi-Kui Liu, FASM, and trustees Prof. Diana A. Lados, FASM, Dr. Jason T. Sebastian, and Lawrence A. Somrack.

About the President-Elect and Board Nominees

Dr. Judith A. Todd, FASM

President-Elect

Judith Todd is department head, P.B. Breneman Chair, and professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State University. Todd is vice president of ASM International, served as an ASM trustee (2017-2020), chair of the ASM Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (2018-2020), and was chair of the Los Angeles Chapter in 1986.

Dr. David B. Williams, FASM

Nominee for Vice President

David B. Williams was dean of engineering at The Ohio State University from 2011-2021. He served as the Board Chair of the OSU Transportation Research Center and the Metro STEM School and served on the boards of LIFT and The Ohio Aerospace Institute. Williams served on the ASM International Board of Trustees (2014-2017) and is a 44-year member of ASM. He served on ASMs Advisory Technical Awareness Committee, the DEI Outreach Task Force, and various ASM committees.

Mr. John C. Kuli, Jr.

Nominee for Treasurer

John C. Kuli, Jr., is technology and innovation lead for operations within the Performance Alloys & Composites Division of Materion. Kuli is a 40-year member of ASM International and has always been involved with his local ASM Chapter. He currently serves as past chair of the ASM Technical Books Committee and membership chair of the Cleveland Chapter.

Dr. Ann Bolcavage, FASM

Nominee for Trustee

Ann Bolcavage is engineering associate fellow for coatings at Rolls-Royce. In recognition of her technical achievements and leadership, Bolcavage was appointed Fellow of ASM International in 2011. She has been active in ASM for 35 years, including leadership service in the Indianapolis Chapter and as Membership Marketing and Outreach sub-committee chair and board member of the Thermal Spray Society.

Dr. U. Kamachi Mudali, FASM

Nominee for Trustee

U. Kamachi Mudali is vice chancellor of VIT Bhopal University, and formerly distinguished scientist, chief executive and chairman of the Heavy Water Board, Mumbai, during 2017-2020. Mudali was president of the Indian Institute of Metals (2019-20). He acted as chairman of ASM International, Chennai Chapter (2015-2017).

Dr. James E. Saal

Nominee for Trustee

James Saal is the manager of External Research Programs at Citrine Informatics. Saal has been a longtime member and volunteer of the ASM Chicago Regional Chapter, including chapter chair. He currently serves on ASMs Phase Diagram and the Finance Committee and organizes artificial intelligence and machine learning for materials programming for ASMs IMAT conference.

The ASM Annual Business Meeting is to be held virtually on September 13, 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET. For more information on ASMs Board of Trustees, please visit: https://www.asminternational.org/about/asmboard.

About ASM International

ASM International is the worlds largest and foremost professional technical society serving the information needs of scientists, engineers, and technicians who develop, test, select, and apply advanced materials, including metals, composites, polymers, and ceramics. As the worlds largest and most established materials information society, ASM engages and connects members to a global network of peers and provides access to trusted materials information through reference content and data, education courses, international events, and applied research.

To learn more about ASM International, visit asminternational.org or call 440.338.5151 to speak with an ASM International representative. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
I wrote Siegfried because of my interest in Norse mythology and because of Arminius truly fascinating background. I did not fully appreciate his historical significance until I stumbled upon the details while researching a trip to Germany.

John Eklund has published a colorfully illustrated and adventurous middle-grade fiction book that identifies parallels between the epic, historically documented story of German leader Arminius and a mythological folktale about a dragon-slaying hero of legend named Siegfried.

In Siegfried: The Liberator of Germania, Eklund delves into the thousands of years old story of a great hero who liberated his people from the clutches of the Roman Empire, defeating the Romans in the most decisive battle in world history and forever changing the course of Western civilization. Although his Latin name, Arminius, was recorded by prominent Roman historians, little is mentioned of him in the later discovered sagas of his own Norse people.

Yet, the Norse and Germanic legends from Iceland to Austria all tell of a mythical dragon slayer named Siegfried who was noble and brave and who shared many similarities with the true-to-life warrior Arminius. Eklunds book explores the possibility that the greatest hero in Norse literature was purely mythological and that the one true historical hero, who saved his people and generations of their descendants from slavery, was completely forgotten. Siegfried logically concludes that the dragon slayer of myth is a transformation of the historical Arminius.

I wrote Siegfried because of my interest in Norse mythology and because of Arminius truly fascinating background, Eklund said. I did not fully appreciate his historical significance until I stumbled upon the details while researching a trip to Germany. The story of Arminius  Siegfried, in my book  is truly epic.

A classic story perfect for lovers of adventure fiction and mythology enthusiasts alike, Eklunds book celebrates Nordic and Germanic folklore and their contributions to the underpinnings of literary masterpieces like the Lord of the Rings series and iconic pop culture characters such as Thor.

Siegfried: The Liberator of Germania

By John Eklund

ISBN: 978-1-5320-9515-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-9517-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-9516-0 (e)

Available through iUniverse, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

About the author

John Eklund is a Norse mythology and European history buff, and he is also the author of historical fiction novels The Third Testament and The Last of the Vikings. Eklund first became interested in the similarities between the mythical Siegfried and historical Arminius while researching a trip to Germany. He currently resides in the Chicago suburbs with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children.

General Inquiries, Review Copies & Interview Requests:

LAVIDGE  Phoenix

Danielle Grobmeier

480-648-7557 | dgrobmeier@lavidge.com
Bates Security LLC, a locally owned commercial and residential security provider based in Lexington, Kentucky, is warning Lexington and Central Kentucky homeowners with home security systems about security scams currently happening in the Lexington and Central Kentucky area.

Salespeople are going door to door in our communities, sometimes past 9 at night, imposing as whomever the homeowners security company provider is. They trick the homeowner into thinking they are with Bates Security, for example if that is who they use for their homes security, and then push their way into the home. These sales reps then use high-pressure sales tactics to induce the homeowner to into signing lengthy and expensive five-year contracts.

These out-of-town outfits show up around this time of the year and go door to door, showing up un-announced and act as if they are from your security company, trying to take advantage of the trust you have with Bates or whoever you use said Bryan Bates, Vice President of Bates Security. They trick you into thinking they are with Bates Security to get into your home and then to trick you into switching to their service.

They apply high pressure sales tactics and you end up stuck in a five-year contract that you didnt realize you were signing, said Bryan Bates. No one from our company will show up at your house without a pre-arranged appointment and will always have an ID Badge identifying them as an employee of Bates Security.

With 38 years of installing home security systems and providing professional monitoring to the Lexington area, Bates Security urges homeowners to be on the lookout for the signs of these home security scams.

These salespeople will include at least one of the following in their sales pitches:



Show up at your house with no appointment and insist on coming inside.

Request access to your security system or tells you that your system has been recalled, requires replacement, repairs or the communicator needs replacing.

Tells you that your current home security provider is no longer in business, no longer services this area, or was sold to their company.

Posing as your current provider, theyll ask you to sign a new contract to ensure your security service continues.

Shows fake documents to support claims they need access to your system.

Uses high-pressure tactics to force you to sign a new contract on the spot and wont allow you to contact your current provider.

Bates Security gives homeowners these tips for staying vigilant against these scrupulous tactics.



Verify with your security provider that the person at your door works for your security company.

Do not make such a big decision like home security immediately. Instead, do some research on the company, including utilizing the BBB. A simple way to get around this is to tell them you need some time to think about it and ask them to come back later.

If the salesperson says they are from your existing security company, or from another company that is taking over its business, don't take their word for it. Call the company they are claiming to replace and confirm their identity.

Ask for a business card or the company's phone or website. Ask for an email address or even the mailing address for your records. If they do not have this basic information, you have your answer on whether this salesperson is legitimate or not.

Do not let them in. If they tell you that they need to come in, ask them to have the company call you and set up an appointment. If you have told them to leave and they refuse to, get law enforcement involved.

If you signed a contract with these scams, under the law, the salesperson must notify you about this right and include two copies of a cancellation form with your contract  one to keep and one to send back. If the salesperson did not provide these forms, contact your state Attorney General's office for help. You can also file a complaint about the company through the FTC Complaint Assistant site.

About Bates Security

Pat and Sonny Bates purchased Sonitrol of Lexington in 1984 and shortly thereafter Bates Security. Today, the operations are driven by the Bates sons, Jeremy, and Bryan. The team has built Bates Security into the largest, privately-owned company based in Kentucky and has opened three branch offices since 2016. Bates Security was awarded Small Business of the Year by Commerce Lexington, Dealer of the Year by SDM Magazine, and is currently ranked at #37 on SDMs list of Top 100 Security Companies in North America. Visit http://www.BatesSecurity.com to learn more.
Benchmark Senior Living at Nashua Crossings Residents and Nashua Fire & Rescue Gather to Kick-Off Structure Training Were such an integral part of this community, and the families here that demand for our apartments have frequently outstripped our availability. We are excited at the opportunity to help more seniors be close to the people they love and age well. -Brian Beausoleil, executive director

Benchmark Senior Living, a leading provider of senior living services in the Northeast, today announced that the Nashua Fire & Rescue is shoring up their training on the soon-to-be site of Benchmark Senior Living at Nashua Crossings additional assisted living apartments.

Starting last week, Nashua Crossings residents were treated to a visit from the department and a show as firefighters began training in front of the communities existing building. Benchmark is allowing the department to use an old house set on a half-acre. This is assisting them with their education in managing structural fires, including dealing with smoke conditions, breaching doors and roof ventilation to relieve combustion.

Since we opened over 24 years ago, Nashua Fire & Rescue has been so incredibly supportive to us, said Brian Beausoleil, executive director of Benchmark Senior Living at Nashua Crossings. Being able to support them like this was something we were happy to do, and its been a real treat for our residents.

In a few weeks, the structure, which sits in front of Nashua Crossings on Route 111, will be demolished to make way for a 14,000 square foot, two-story addition. The addition will be comprised of 14 assisted living apartments, including 12 one-bedroom apartments and two two-bedroom apartments, and common spaces. A bistro with access to an outdoor patio with a fire pit and a recreation room will provide additional space for the communitys residents to nurture their passions and connections.

Were such an integral part of this community, and the families here that demand for our apartments have frequently outstripped our availability, said Beausoleil. We are excited at the opportunity to help more seniors be close to the people they love and age well.

The project has been designed by Udelsman Associates in Hollis, NH. Interiors are being done by StudioSIX5 in Austin, TX, an award-winning firm known for creating modern, fresh environments that celebrate life.

The zoning board approved the Nashua Crossings expansion in February 2020, and the planning board approved it in April 2020. Construction is expected to be completed by early summer 2022.

To be placed on a priority waiting list for an apartment, call 603.882.2898.

# # #

About Benchmark Senior Living

Benchmark is a leading provider of senior housing in the Northeast, providing independent living, assisted living, memory care, and respite care options in 63 senior living communities and across seven states. The Waltham-based companys core values of Called to Care, Better Together and Be the Benchmark guide its mission to stay connected to who and what matters most: our residents, their families and our associates.

Benchmark is one of only two companies to be named to The Boston Globes Top Place to Work all 13 years that the honor has been given. Throughout its history, Benchmark has continually been recognized as a top workplace. The Great Place to Work Institute certified Benchmark for two straight years, and the company earned a place on FORTUNEs 50 Best Workplaces in Aging Services list each of the two years that the magazine published the list.

https://www.benchmarkseniorliving.com
"We are incredibly grateful to the staff, clients, and industry colleagues who helped us reach this milestone," said Binkley & Barfield's Chairman of the Board, Larry Barfield, PE, FNSPE, FTEF

Binkley & Barfield, an award-winning, full-service civil engineering firm, is proudly celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2021. Now in the midst of implementing a five-year strategic plan, Binkley & Barfield is focused on their staff, clients, and technology and innovation to meet ever-changing needs in delivering high-quality projects.

Melding tradition, experience, and state-of-the-art technology, the firm has earned a reputation as a trusted adviser that has powered consistent growth since 1971. Binkley & Barfield has become known for its portfolio of projects requiring a range of services, including transportation, structural, traffic, water, wastewater, stormwater, land development, construction management, utility engineering and coordination, subsurface utility engineering, telecommunications, power, pipeline, and emerging technologies. Today, the steadily growing company operates six offices across the state of Texas and has over 240 employees.

During the past five decades, Binkley & Barfield has been recognized as an industry leader in engineering services and has received more than 70 industry awards for quality work, safety, employee retention, and more. Binkley & Barfield also prides itself on developing their employees and giving them opportunities for continuous growth.

"A lot has changed in the last 50 years since we started this business," said Brett Binkley, CEO of Binkley & Barfield. "What has not changed is that our business continues to be family-owned and operated for two generations and continues to offer our clients top-notch service they can count on."

Binkley & Barfield's Chairman of the Board, Larry Barfield, PE, FNSPE, FTEF, credits the firm's longevity to a focus on relationships and innovation. "We are incredibly grateful to the staff, clients, and industry colleagues who helped us reach this milestone," he said. "These relationships are the foundation of Binkley & Barfield's longevity. Together, we have collaborated on many complex projects that inspired us to develop new solutions to engineering challenges and build a reputation for innovative work."

"Over five decades of change, one constant remains. We've stayed true to our roots, always focused on providing the best engineering solutions to our clients, said Binkley & Barfield President Harold "JR" Reddish, PE, FNSPE, FSAME, LEED Green Associate. And we could not have achieved our outstanding success without the dedication of the talented team here at Binkley & Barfield. Their passion for the workand putting the client firstcomes through in everything that they do."

We have a proud history of driving the industry forward, said David Hamilton, PE, Executive Vice President of Binkley & Barfield. As we work to achieve our corporate vision of creating a better future for our clients and our communities, were taking a moment to reflect on our past, but more importantly to transform ourselves into an even more innovative, diverse, sustainable, customer-focused company for the future.

As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we must be anticipating the next 50 years, said Youssef Laham, Executive Vice President of Binkley & Barfield. We have to ensure we have the foundation to continually anticipate shifts in the industry, technology advancements, and client preferences. We must continue to grow, change, and innovate, taking what has been positive and strong about our history and cultureand rapidly adapt to a world in which change is accelerating around us exponentially.
Our partnership with Carbyne is a powerful example of the continual innovation we are delivering to more than 7,500 public sector agencies across North America. Together, we are innovating to build safer, smarter, more connected communities.

CentralSquare today announced the availability of Carbynes c-Live Universe platform for NG9-1-1 to provide dynamic, real-time caller-generated live video, GPS, and chat alongside CentralSquares Enterprise CAD solution. Carbynes cloud-native offering enables 9-1-1 operators to integrate and distribute audio and data to first responders and hospitals, enabling greater situational awareness and more agile emergency response.

CentralSquare continues to expand the value and capabilities we offer our customers, integrating the tools and data emergency callers have in their smartphones to deliver greater situational insight for safer and more effective emergency response, commented David Zolet, CentralSquare CEO. Our partnership with Carbyne is a powerful example of the continual innovation we are delivering to more than 7,500 public sector agencies across North America. Together, we are innovating to build safer, smarter, more connected communities.

About CentralSquare

Formed by the merger of Superion, TriTech along with Zuercher, and the public sector and healthcare business of Aptean, CentralSquare is an industry leader in public safety and public administration software, serving over 7,650 organizations from the largest metropolitan city to counties and towns of every size across North America. Its technology platform provides solutions for public safety, including 911, computer-aided dispatch, records management, mobile, citations, evidence management and corrections. For public administration agencies, CentralSquare provides software for finance, human capital management, payroll, utility billing, citizen engagement, asset management, regulatory compliance and community development. For hospitals and clinicians, it provides patient information, compliance, and analytics software. CentralSquares broad, unified and agile software suite serves 3 in 4 citizens across North America. More information is available at CentralSquare.com.

About Carbyne

Founded by Amir Elichai (Chairman & CEO), Alex Dizengoff (CTO), Yony Yatsun (R&D Manager) and Lital Leshem (Shareholder), Carbyne is a global leader in public safety technology. Headquartered in NYC, Carbyne quickly grew to be one of dominant global players in the public safety global industry. Today, Carbyne is the largest rich-data provider globally, delivering over 155M data points per year. In addition, its rich data platforms enable first responders and Emergency Call Centers to connect with the caller via highly secure communication omni-channel with no app required. With a mission to redefine emergency collaboration, Carbyne provides a unified cloud native solution that enables ECCs, first responders, citizens and the state to share live actionable data that can lead to more efficient, transparent operations and ultimately save lives. For more information, visit http://www.carbyne911.com.
It all started when a group of people were hanging out in front of one of the apartments, according to a statement from the Boca Raton Police Department. A car pulled up and someone in the vehicle got into an argument with one of the people in the group hanging out.
CT Vivian was called, the greatest preacher who ever lived, by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., shares a lifetime of acquired wisdom in this posthumous memoir, Its in the Action: Memories of a Nonviolent Warrior.

The Alliance for Christian Media, producer of the Day1 radio and podcast program, will host a virtual event with noted panelists focusing on Dr. C. T. Vivians memoir, It's in the Action: Memories of a Nonviolent Warrior, released in March. The Zoom webinar will be Thursday, June 10, at 7:00 p.m. EDT.

The lively conversation will be moderated by CNNs Don Lemon and feature the books co-author Steve Fiffer, who worked with C.T. Vivian in the last years of his life to create the book. Also participating will be C.T. Vivians son Al Vivian, Dr. Bernice King, and Ambassador Andrew Young. Registration for the free virtual event can be made through the Day1.org website or for a contribution of $50, the registration will also include a copy of the book that will be mailed following the event.

According to Peter Wallace, The Alliance executive director, We could not be more thrilled about having Don Lemon moderate this event. He has a unique ability to facilitate important conversations among todays brightest minds. We have no doubt he will be able to add an important voice to Vivians legacy of social activism. It is crucial that we continue having these conversations in the wake of alleged voter suppression and racial violence happening in our country today. Wallace continued, As a preaching-focused ministry, we are thrilled to celebrate this great icon of the civil rights movement, who also was an extremely powerful preacher.

Vivian studied and taught at American Baptist Theological Seminary (now American Baptist College). Vivian was known as a man of words, a powerful, charismatic speaker, whose life and devotion to Christianity were widely recognized. We will explore his life and purpose as it applies to our beliefs and as we seek ways to faithfully address social justice in our world today.

Vivian, who died in Atlanta on July 17, 2020 at age 95, will be remembered fondly by those who knew him and those who are still discovering his lifelong dedication to civil rights. Vivian worked and lived in Atlanta for almost 50 years, and through the dedication of his daughter, Denise Morse, thousands of Atlantans have learned about his influence on this city.

Now the book will share his story with others across our country who will also learn from his journey and his legacy. Vivians influence is the real touchstone, whether it be his fundraising during Hurricane Katrina, his campaign for Morris Brown College, his historical work with the SCLC, or his founding of BASIC and a leadership institute.

If it involved faith and love in Atlanta, C.T. Vivian was likely there. And now we have his full story, in his own words. The reverend, called, the greatest preacher who ever lived, by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., shares a lifetime of acquired wisdom in this posthumous memoir, Its in the Action: Memories of a Nonviolent Warrior.

Born in Missouri in 1924, Vivian led a life that took him to Peoria, Nashville, Chattanooga, Birmingham, St. Augustine, Selma, Chicago, and Atlanta, as well as over 40 countries. To our everlasting benefit, his focus was always on God, education, justice, love, and freedom. Ambassador Andrew Young, who provides the foreword to the memoir, says, We're blessed to have Its in the Actionwhich while certainly chronicling C.T.s actions in the movement also offers his thoughts on those actions.

Before receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, C.T. Vivian worked alongside and offered counsel to the most significant figures. A contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and teacher of John Lewis, he founded and directed multiple organizations, creating contributions and waves that were still experiencing today.

The text, co-written with Steve Fiffer and published by NewSouth Books of Montgomery, AL, recalls much of his life of faith and nonviolence. Steve Fiffer is an author, community activist, and co-author of Jimmie Lee and James: Two Lives, Two Deaths, and the Movement that Changed America, a Harlem Book Fair nonfiction finalist. He currently serves on the advisory board of the Civic Leadership Foundation in Chicago, a nonprofit that serves underprivileged youth.

Day 1 with host Peter Wallace has been broadcast every week for 76 years, formerly as The Protestant Hour. Featuring outstanding preachers from the mainline denominations, Day 1 is currently distributed to more than 200 radio stations across America and overseas, including WSB 95.5 FM and AM 750 in Atlanta Sundays at 7 a.m. The program is produced by the Alliance for Christian Media, based in Atlanta. For more information, visit the programs website, http://www.Day1.org.
Our employees develop meaningful connections through these professional networks, and were excited about the impact this will continue to have on our culture.

Guardian has renewed its longtime affiliation with Ellevate Network to expand professional development and networking opportunities for the companys employees, and is proud to continue their support of Mobilize Women as a gold sponsor.

Partnering with Ellevate Network gives the companys employees the opportunity to connect with a community of professionals from various backgrounds and fields. They also retain access to Ellevates programs, which provide members safe spaces to share career stories, get advice and perspectives, and provide accountability to achieve career goals.

Were thrilled to continue our work with Guardian, said Kristy Wallace, CEO of Ellevate Network. "Their ongoing commitment to advancing women in the workplace is an industry-leading example of putting the values of diversity, equity and inclusion at the forefront of a business. We look forward to seeing the continued positive impact of our partnership.

Guardian is proud to continue our partnership with Ellevate Network, said Wendy Dowd, Senior Vice President and Chief Talent and Employee Experience Officer for Guardian Life. Our employees develop meaningful connections through these professional networks, and were excited about the impact this will continue to have on our culture.

Guardian supports initiatives and strategic partnerships that strengthen Inclusion & Diversity and enhance a culture of belonging and authenticity. These partnerships provide colleagues with opportunities, education, and access, helping to eliminate barriers to professional success. The core values that guide Guardian are: people count, we do the right thing, and we hold ourselves to very high standards.

Guardian also returns as a champion of equality in the workplace with their sponsorship of Mobilize Women 2021, increasing their commitment as a gold sponsor.

Ellevate Network works with businesses of all sizes and in all industries to help engage employees, attract diverse talent, and deliver on diversity and inclusion goals.

To learn more about Ellevates Mobilize Women, click here. Those interested in learning more about partnering with Ellevate or sponsoring Ellevates Mobilize Women Experience can contact Allison Matejczyk, Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships, at allison@ellevatenetwork.com.

About Ellevate Network

Founded in 1997 as 85 Broads, Ellevate Network is the largest community of women+ at work. A powerful coalition of ambitious and supportive women who believe there is strength in numbers, Ellevate is built on the premise of showing up for each other, helping everyone  no matter their background or aspirations  build a career they love, and mobilizing the collective power of women to change the culture of business. Ellevate also works with companies committed to diversity and inclusion and has a proven track record of changing business culture from the inside out.

About Guardian

Every day, Guardian provides Americans the security they deserve through our insurance and wealth management products and services. Since our founding in 1860, our long-term view has helped our customers prepare for whatever life brings whether starting a family, planning for the future or taking care of employees. Today, we're a Fortune 250 mutual company and a leading provider of life, disability, dental, and other benefits for individuals, at the workplace and through government sponsored programs. The Guardian community of over 9,000 employees and our network of over 2,500 financial representatives is committed to serving with expertise when, where and how our clients need us. Our commitments rest on a strong financial foundation, which at year-end 2019 included $9.3 billion in capital and $1.7 billion in operating income. For more information, please visit guardianlife.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
All four boys in the Otsuka family have inherited HHT. A critical part of our work has been raising the awareness of HHT, not just with the public, but with physicians worldwide. When we started, HHT was frequently misdiagnosed, often with tragic consequences, comments Cure HHT Executive Director Marianne S. Clancy.

Cure HHT, a non-profit organization headquartered in Maryland, is the only patient advocacy organization in the world funding research, awareness and education for HHT patients, their families and the medical/scientific community. HHT (Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia) is the second most common bleeding disorder, affecting an estimated 1.4 million people of all races and backgrounds globally. HHT affects 1 in 5,000 people, and is as common as Cystic Fibrosis, yet it is far less known and receives less funding for research.

HHT creates abnormalities in blood vessels, called telangiectasias, which are fragile and susceptible to rupture and bleeding, and untreated may result in lung and brain hemorrhage, stroke, heart failure and death. The most common symptom of HHT is frequent and severe nose bleeds, often dismissed. One HHT diagnosis means there is a whole family of potentially affected people spanning generations. There is, as yet, no cure, but existing treatments can be effective if HHT is diagnosed early. Importantly, 90% of those with HHT are unaware that they have the disease. http://www.curehht.org

Cure HHT was founded in 1991 by a tenacious and dedicated group of patient families and physicians who recognized the need to dramatically increase the awareness, access to quality care, and funding for research for HHT.

A critical part of our work has been raising the awareness of HHT, not just with the public, but with physicians worldwide. When we started, HHT was frequently misdiagnosed, often with tragic consequences, comments Cure HHT Executive Director Marianne S. Clancy. In 1991 the organization created its first HHT Center of Excellence at Yale University School of Medicine. It is a testament to our 30th anniversary that when we open our newest HHT Centers of Excellence in 2021 in Alabama, Arizona and Florida we will have a total of 30 Centers of Excellence in North America, and more to come.

The organization is actively involved in advocacy at the national level, and has helped leverage over $50 million in research grants for scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other sources.

One promising clinical study currently underway is called PATH (Pomalidomide for the Treatment of Bleeding in HHT). This study is exploring the use of an oral medication called pomalidomide for those with moderate to severe nosebleeds requiring iron infusions or blood transfusions. PATH is funded by a grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLB). Recruitment is ongoing and takes place at 10 HHT research centers across the United States. A study of this scale would never have been possible without the creation of this research network of HHT Centers of Excellence.

In 2009, Cure HHT secured the passage of a resolution in the United States Congress declaring June as National HHT Awareness Month. Throughout the month of June, and especially on Global Awareness Day June 23rd, Cure HHT encourages wider Awareness of the disease so that more people will be diagnosed in a timely way, and receive treatment before their situation becomes dire. Cure HHT Awareness campaigns have resulted in major coverage of the disease in The New York Times and The Washington Post; the launch of the new Cure HHT comprehensive website; and the first worldwide virtual walk, Strides For Strength.

In 2019 the organization facilitated the Christopher McMahon Memorial International HHT Guidelines Conference that established new international standards for screenings, diagnosis and treatment, and the publication of the resulting Guidelines in the Annals of Internal Medicine reaching thousands of health care providers worldwide, advancing the organizations goal of educating medical professionals. Cure HHT also hosts the only international scientific conference biennially. Last held in 2019 in Puerto Rico the conference brought together over 200 scientists, medical professionals and patients from 21 countries and 6 continents.

Today Cure HHT is the cornerstone of a global movement, and we continue to expand and build our capacity, Clancy adds. Cure HHT was selected as one of only 30 organizations to participate in the Chan Zuckerberg Initiatives (CZI) Rare As One Network, providing funding, tools, expansion support, and training to create a larger, more integrated HHT community. As we celebrate the launch of our 30th year during Awareness Month 2021, the momentum is with us to drive towards a cure for this disease.

On Global Awareness Day, June 23, 2021, Cure HHT will host a 30th Anniversary Virtual Kick-Off event to celebrate its successes and honor some of the leading champions and volunteers who have brought the organization from its 1991 beginnings to its current status as the worlds leading organization in the fight against HHT. The event is complimentary and open to the public, with registration at http://www.curehht.org/celebrate30
Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the best NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) prep courses of 2021. Research experts identified 10 exceptional programs across the nation with flexible scheduling, adaptable formats, and options for personalized instruction.

Programs selected for the final list provide flexible class times and self-paced courses that students can access as live online classes, on-demand classes, and in-person instruction. The top courses also cater to each students learning style and needs with customizable learning aids or a personal tutor. The study examined courses that offer an overall enhanced learning experience and increase the chances of passing the NCLEX with a high score.

Nursing school graduates in the United States must take the NCLEX to obtain professional licensure, says Jase Beard. Our experts selected a shortlist of prep courses with a proven track record among first-time test takers.

The top three courses on the list are Kaplan, Hurst Review, and NCLEX Mastery. Intelligent.com developed this guide to increase awareness about the most trusted study solutions for licensing exams across the web. To access the complete ranking of the best NCLEX courses and classes of 2021, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/best-nclex-prep-courses-and-classes/.

10 Best NCLEX Courses and Classes of 2021

Kaplan  Top Pick

Hurst Review  Best First-Attempt Pass Rate

NCLEX Mastery  Most Affordable

Mometrix University  Best Free Resources

ATI  Best Product Offerings

Achieve Test Prep  Best In-Person Experience

CrushNCLEX  Best Online Course

Nursing.com  Best for Students with Learning Disabilities

Nurse Plus Academy  Biggest Practice Exam Library

UWorld  Best for Busy Schedules

ABOUT INTELLIGENT.COM

Intelligent.com provides unbiased research to help students make informed decisions about higher education programs. The website offers curated guides which include the best degree programs as well as information about financial aid, internships and even study strategies. With comprehensive, user-friendly guides and hundreds of program rankings, Intelligent.com is a trusted source among students and prospective students. To learn more, please visit https://www.intelligent.com/.
"We were excited last year when Karl was first asked to be a judge but it means more somehow this year after all we've been through," remarked Wellspring Digital CDMO Jon-Mikel Bailey. He continued by saying "Karl has worked hard this year for our company and our clients..."

Karl Hindle, founder, and CEO of Wellspring Digital, has been tapped once more to be a head judge at this year's US Search Awards.

Each year, the US Search Awards celebrates the very best in PPC, SEO, and Content Marketing from across the United States. Judges will be looking to acknowledge and reward the best agencies, campaigns, and individuals working in the search industry.

"We were excited last year when Karl was first asked to be a judge but it means more somehow this year after all we've been through," remarked Wellspring Digital CDMO Jon-Mikel Bailey. He continued by saying "Karl has worked hard this year for our company and our clients. He hates this but I am excited that he is being recognized again for his deep SEO knowledge and talent."

Karl Hindle brings 20+ years of SEO experience to this year's bench of judges. "It is very humbling to have the opportunity to review and judge the work of some of the very best SEO work in the country, if not the world, a second time around," remarked Mr. Hindle.

Judges review and score approximately 50 entries during a two-week period. The judging is a robust, credible, and transparent two-step process, where each judge pre-scores their designated entries and then participates in a judging session where the whole panel gets together to discuss each entry in detail.

The awards organizers ensure the judging panel is balanced and fair, with both in-house and agency-based professionals on the panel. The awards ceremony will be held on October 7th, 2021.

For more information about this year's search awards, visit the US Search Awards homepage.

About Wellspring Digital

Wellspring Digital is a full-service digital marketing firm with locations in Fairfield, PA,

Frederick, MD, Taylor, TX, and Naples, FL. We specialize in digital marketing strategy that can lead to the implementation of marketing automation, SEO, paid search, content and social media marketing, email marketing, and website design & development with a managed hosting platform.
Were so excited to be recognized for our hard work and a strong commitment to excellence in the HVAC industry, said Matt Walker, the president of Lee Air Conditioning.

Lee Air Conditioning is celebrating its 70th anniversary. The professional staff has been providing quality heating and air conditioning services to customers in Durham, NC and the surrounding areas since 1951. In addition to being in business for seven decades, Lee Air Conditioning was recently awarded the 2020 Carrier Presidents Award for Excellence.

Were so excited to be recognized for our hard work and a strong commitment to excellence in the HVAC industry, said Matt Walker, the president of Lee Air Conditioning.

Lee Air Conditioning Wins Carrier Presidents Award for Excellence

HVAC companies that receive the Carrier Presidents Award are recognized for their expertise in the HVAC industry, excellent leadership skills, and customer satisfaction. Only 1% of the top dealers in the U.S. and Canada win this award.

To be considered for the Carrier Presidents Award, HVAC contractors must:



Be recognized as a Carrier Factory-Authorized dealer.

Offer Carrier products as one of their primary offerings.

Have an exceptional track record of outstanding customer service.

Willis Carrier founded Carrier in 1915, which was inspired by his invention of modern air conditioning in 1902. As the top leader in the HVAC industry, Carrier prides itself on innovation, excellent customer service and state-of-the-art products.

Lee Air Conditioning is a Carrier Factory-Authorized dealer, which means weve had to complete rigorous training and become licensed and insured. As a Carrier Factory-Authorized dealer, we maintain a high standard of excellence. Although were a Carrier Factory-Authorized dealer, we service all major brands.

We will continue to strive to give our customers exemplary service in the local area, Walker said. That means continuing to be recognized by Carrier as a leader in the HVAC industry.

Lee Air Conditionings Remarkable 70-Year History in the HVAC Industry

Since 1951, Lee Air Conditioning has served the Durham, NC area with integrity, accountability, and a deep commitment to our loyal customers. Were excited to celebrate our 70th anniversary with the local community.

In our 70 years, we have developed strong ties with our residential and commercial customers. We have proven our dedication by completing the job right the first time and always guaranteeing customer satisfaction, Walker said.

We are a Better Business Bureau member; The BBB looks at a businesss trustworthiness and decides whether customers can trust them with their business. A companys dependability is determined by how they handle customers complaints. Lee Air Conditionings customers dont have to worry about hidden fees. We offer affordable flat-rate pricing and can guarantee 100% satisfaction. We also provide a workmanship guarantee.

Our comfort advisors are NATE-certified. North American Technician Excellence (NATE) is a non-profit that certifies HVAC technicians. The organization tests technicians knowledge of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems.

Our customers trust us to properly install their HVAC system the first time, eliminating unnecessary repairs and high utility costs. A NATE-certified comfort advisor will give you peace of mind knowing your system is in capable hands.

As a family-owned and operated company, Lee Air Conditioning constantly runs specials so our customers can have access to affordable HVAC services. Currently, were offering $200 off HVAC installations and 10% off repairs for first responders and seniors, in addition to other specials. Our comfort advisors can help you choose the special thats right for you.

About Lee Air Conditioning

Lee Air Conditioning is a trusted HVAC company based in Durham, NC. We service the following areas: Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, NC and the surrounding areas. We provide heating, air conditioning, indoor air quality, ductless air conditioning, commercial HVAC, and home automation zoning services.

The pros at Lee Air Conditioning have been helping customers breathe easy since 1951. Were committed to holding ourselves accountable, acting with integrity and being honest. To learn more about Lee Air Conditioning and our HVAC services, visit our website or contact us today at 919-823-5453.
Madeline Triffon (left) and Flora Migyanka (right) It is important to continue to amplify and elevate the need for more funding for Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer. says founder and Lobular Breast Cancer Survivor Flora Migyanka.

In the nine years since her own journey with breast cancer, Metro Detroit resident Flora Migyanka has harnessed her drive to bring awareness and funding to help other women and men battling this devastating disease. Breast Cancer is now the most common cancer worldwide - surpassing lung cancer for the first time in 2020 - and the most common cancer diagnosed in American women. Since 2016, Flora has raised over $1 million for breast cancer research through her yearly event, Uncork for a Cure, and The Dynami Foundation's ( is Greek word Strength) ancillary events. Uncork for a Cure brings together Detroit-area chefs (many of whom are James Beard-award nominated) along with wine experts, artists, and the community at large at the beautiful and sleek Cauley Ferrari to raise funds for breast cancer. To date, this event and ancillary fundraising efforts have funded six research studies on Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer, an understudied and underserved common subtype of breast cancer, which is now the sixth most diagnosed cancer of women in the U.S.

It is important to continue to amplify and elevate the need for more funding for Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer. says founder and Lobular Breast Cancer Survivor Flora Migyanka.

Last month, Flora was named one of Karmanos Cancer Institutes Heroes of Cancer Award winners, taking home the 2021 Community Service Award for her fundraising efforts and advocacy to date. This annual event celebrates and honors individuals and organizations that have inspired others in the fight against breast cancer.

Giving back on a local level is the most impactful way to strengthen our communities. By collaborating with physicians and researchers here in Michigan, continued patient advocacy, and outreach, we will further foster our direct impact on research and patient care, says Migyanka.

A spin-off of Uncork and a result of the 2020 pivot is the introduction of Wine & Wellness, a series of corporate virtual tastings where companies of all sizes can customize themes, wines and health topics. These events are hosted by Madeline Triffon, the first American woman  and the second woman in the world  to pass the Master Sommelier exam, with her colleague and friend, Advanced Sommelier Michelle DeHayes. Whether impressing a client or fostering team building, these sommeliers will lead participants through an interactive virtual wine tasting featuring hand-selected bottles, delivered seamlessly to their doorstep, all while funding breast cancer research.

Potential themes include: Au Natural (Caring for Ourselves and our Planet), Discovery (Blind Wine Tasting), Women in Wine (Trailblazing Women Leading the Industry) and Food & Wine Harmony (A Culinary Tour). All tastings will include an optional wellness component presented by a member of the foundations Medical Advisory Board, some of the worlds foremost thought leaders in the field of breast cancer. These experts can kick-off the tasting by discussing breast cancer prevention, genetic risk factors or even ways to lower stress and your risk. The Dynami Foundation coordinates every step from wine selection and coordination, attendee communications, event hosting, and IT.

Weve hosted a number of private virtual tastings with Madeline and Michelle over this past year. Its a wonderful outlet for learning and connecting with others and we are so pleased to be offering it in a corporate setting this summer, says Migyanka.

A portion of proceeds from every Wine & Wellness event goes to the Dynami Foundations breast cancer research initiatives funding Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer. Those interested in learning more are invited to explore the Dynami Foundations website or email flora@uncorkforacure.org.

Learn more about The Dynami Foundation:

https://www.dynamifoundation.org/

@uncorkforacure_detroit

https://www.facebook.com/UncorkforaCure
Acclaimed choreographer and dancer Reuel Rogers kicks off the Planet Classroom We Can Be Heroes show by inspiring each and every one of us to be the change we want to see in the world, starting with the one thing we have mostly under control, which is ourselves, if we take the time for it. South Korean Director Sangmok Lee, who talks about the loss of his deaf mother and her love for him being his inspiration for The Mime, notes: I think that mime is the most effective way to express the irony in our life. Director Christopher Carpenter, whose film The Boy Who Found His Voice focuses on a teen poet in India overcoming his fear of presentation through Mindfulness lessons from his teacher, says the story resonates on a deeply personal level since as a child he struggled with a stutter.

The creators and youth voices around the world join Orb, the shows host, to discuss real world stories of how dance, mime, poetry, mindfulness, empathy and passion bring happiness and freedom.

Listen to the show here

Contact Information:

David Wine

David(at)cmrubinworld(dot)com

About The Planet Classroom Network

The Planet Classroom Network, organized by CMRubinWorld, brings together musicians, dancers, video game creators, filmmakers, learning innovators and emerging technologists from all over the world to entertain, educate and engage youth, and to provide a rich cultural experience at a time when art and learning institutions everywhere are not accessible. Curators and content contributors include Global Nomads, Global Oneness, the Martha Graham Dance Company, Commffest, KIDS FIRST!, Dream a Dream Foundation, OddWorld Inhabitants, Psyon Games, Challenge 59, LXL Ideas, Alliance for Young Artists & Writers/Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Creative Visions Foundation, Battery Dance, SIMA Classroom, Young Voices for the Planet, Bard Conservatory, Taking It Global, Materials for the Arts, Book Creator, Addition and Art, XTalks, NFFTY, Young People's Chorus of New York City, The International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace, Ryan Wong Classroom, The Global Search for Education, Voice America, Rocketium and Brandartica. Young people from around the world played a significant role in conceptualizing, creating, and producing the network's vision and programming.
NFP, a leading insurance broker and consultant that provides property and casualty (P&C), corporate benefits, retirement, and individual solutions, today made available its 2021 US Benefits Trend Report, a comprehensive report on employee benefit trends, to all employers. The report and supporting tools and resources are available for download here.

With a focus on helping employers address challenges and achieve better outcomes, the 2021 US Benefits Trend Report features actionable insights from NFPs experts across HR solutions, compliance, Rx solutions, voluntary benefits, well-being, digital transformation and healthcare delivery. By examining employee benefits trends, pinpointing challenges and offering guidance on solutions, the 2021 US Benefits Trend Report empowers employers to chart a course to refine their benefits strategy.

The 2021 US Benefits Trend Report arrives as employers are reexamining the types of benefits employees want and need as the nation emerges from the pandemic. Key findings in the report include:



Proactive employee engagement strategies are necessary for a remote workforce, and 65% of employers include social connectedness in their well-being strategy.

Less than 60% of Americans have enough savings to cover an unexpected $1,000 expense.

Sixty-nine percent of employees say having a wider array of benefits would increase loyalty to their employer.

Improving health literacy could prevent nearly one million hospital visits and save over $25 billion a year.

Seventy-three percent of employees said they are interested in support and guidance to help them understand how much money to put aside for retirement, emergency savings and healthcare expenses.

The report also includes perspective from Eddie Yoon, the founder of EddieWouldGrow, LLC, a think tank and advisory firm on growth strategy, and a co-creator of Category Pirates. Yoon discusses the both/and mindset that is critical to progress in an uncertain environment.

NFPs focus on providing insights employers can apply within their organizations supports the continuous improvement of their benefits programs, said Doug Hammond, chairman and CEO of NFP. Employers are facing new challenges that require an understanding of the current landscape, employee needs, company objectives and available solutions, and our trend report puts us at the forefront of the conversation.

Just as the pandemic has exposed many gaps in employee benefits plans, it highlighted opportunities to elevate support for employees, better contain costs, and enhance the effectiveness of employee recruiting and retention, said Kim Bell, executive vice president, head of Health and Benefits. Again this year, our trend report will play an essential role in helping our clients deliver benefits that are more meaningful to employees, more aligned with company strategy and more effective in advancing key objectives.

About NFP

NFP is a leading insurance broker and consultant providing specialized property and casualty, corporate benefits, retirement, and individual solutions through its licensed subsidiaries and affiliates. NFP enables client success through the expertise of over 6,000 global employees, investments in innovative technologies, and enduring relationships with highly rated insurers, vendors, and financial institutions. NFP is the 5th largest benefits broker by global revenue, 5th best place to work in insurance and 6th largest US-based privately owned broker (Business Insurance); 9th commercial lines agency by P&C commercial lines revenue and 10th largest property and casualty agency (Insurance Journal); and 12th largest global insurance broker (Bests Review).

Visit NFP.com to discover how NFP empowers clients to meet their goals.
The Prem Rawat Foundation is funding medical care, supplies and food for people in India who are suffering during the COVID-19 crisis. As this pandemic rages on, we are confident that our combined efforts will offer hope and assistance to those in need and express our deep sense of humanity.

The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) is giving two grants of $75,000 each to Americares and Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to deliver humanitarian aid in India.

The grant to Americares will be used for prevention supplies and essential medical equipment across 10 Indian states, including ventilators, oxygen tanks, concentrators and pulse oximeters. The funds will also support mobile health centers that provide primary care in impoverished Mumbai communities.

The grant to MSF will support medical programs that help stem the spread of COVID-19, tuberculosis, HIV, and sexual and gender-based violence.

The aid is possible because of the generosity of TPRFs supporters across the globe.

As this pandemic rages on, we are confident that our combined efforts will offer hope and assistance to those in need and express our deep sense of humanity, says Linda Pascotto, TPRF Board Chair.

Representatives of Americares and MSF also expressed strong appreciation for the partnership.

I am humbled to have the commitment of partners like you who step up in times of need. Thank you for your generosity, says Christine Squires, President and CEO of Americares.

TPRF has also adjusted its signature Food for People program in Bantoli, India to respond to the pandemic, which has exacerbated local hunger issues. Recently 100 disabled and elderly people in the area were provided with free rice, lentils, potatoes, masks and other supplies. Since 2006 the Food for People program has provided nearly 4 million nutritious meals to children and the elderly in India, Nepal and Ghana.

In addition to the latest initiatives in India, TPRF has provided more than $400,000 for COVID-19 relief projects in several other countries including South Africa, Brazil, Ecuador, the U.S. and Italy.

TPRF also offers the Peace Education Program, an innovative series of video-based workshops that help people discover their own inner strength, hope and peace. The program is being appreciated now more than ever, and the customarily in-person workshops are increasingly being offered virtually.

Learn more about all of The Prem Rawat Foundations initiatives to address fundamental human needs and how you can get involved here.
Castor was stopped at the intersection in an eastbound lane, witnesses told the sheriffs office. When the right-turn signal turned green she drove straight, through the red solid light. As she drove through the intersection, she saw a group of motorcyclists driving north on Powerline Road and stopped. Thats when Spadavecchia, riding on a Suzuki GSX-R600, hit the passenger side of Castors SUV.
In the hyper-competitive North Dallas employment market, we are thrilled to expand our capabilities for clients, delivering the thinkers, visionaries, innovators, and leaders they need.

As businesses across the country struggle to find qualified talent, PrideStaff is pleased to announce that their office in North Dallas has added a G.A. Rogers & Associates division to its existing operations. A natural extension of PrideStaff's staffing and placement franchise, G.A. Rogers & Associates addresses clients' direct hire needs for executive, managerial and supervisory roles in PrideStaff's core areas of focus.

After celebrating PrideStaff North Dallas's 20th anniversary, Owner/Strategic-Partner Amy Linn is now looking forward to heading her office's new executive and professional recruiting division. "Having talented professionals and leaders on your team is critical to achieving business goals and building the right culture," said Linn. "In the hyper-competitive North Dallas employment market, we are thrilled to expand our capabilities for clients, delivering the thinkers, visionaries, innovators, and leaders they need. Were also thrilled to promote Executive Recruiter Sarah Brown to lead the G.A. Rogers & Associates division for our office."

Growing client demand and talent shortages in leadership roles fueled this exciting expansion. "We created G.A. Rogers & Associates to help organizations direct-recruit leadership talent that may not be actively searching for a job," said G.A. Rogers & Associates Vice President, Karen Cowan. "In North Dallas and across the nation, candidate shortages are making it increasingly important to partner with a recruitment agency to proactively source top talent. Our professional search consultants shorten hiring timelines for vacant roles and confidential placements, and they can also proactively source managerial and leadership talent to fuel clients' growth opportunities."

For job seekers throughout North Dallas, working with G.A. Rogers & Associates means access to higher-level positions across the country, many of which won't be advertised elsewhere. Experienced managers, supervisors, business professionals, and executives are encouraged to explore and apply to job opportunities jobs.ga-rogers.com.

About G.A. Rogers & Associates

A division of PrideStaff, G.A. Rogers & Associates specializes in executive and professional recruiting. The parent company was founded in the 1970s as 100 percent company-owned units and began staffing franchising in 1995. They operate over 80 offices in North America to serve over 5,000 clients. With over 40 years in the staffing business, headquartered in Fresno, CA, all PrideStaff brands offer the resources and expertise of a national firm with the spirit, dedication, and personal service of smaller, entrepreneurial firms. For more information on G.A. Rogers & Associates services, visit our website.

PrideStaff and G.A. Rogers & Associates shared Mission: Consistently provide client experiences focused on what they value most.
In today's talent-starved market, our professional search consultants have the reach, infrastructure, and expertise to rapidly deliver A-players who can help clients capitalize on the improving economy.

As businesses across the country struggle to find qualified talent, PrideStaff is pleased to announce that their Northern Virginia office in Herndon has added a G.A. Rogers & Associates division to its existing operations. A natural extension of PrideStaff's staffing and placement franchise, G.A. Rogers & Associates addresses clients' direct hire needs for executive, managerial and supervisory roles in PrideStaff's core areas of focus.

Building on the tremendous success of the PrideStaff office in Herndon, Owners/Strategic-Partners Jeff Wilsey and Jim Betz will be leading their office's new executive and professional recruiting division. "As our economy continues to improve, it's becoming increasingly important to work with an experienced recruiting partner," said Wilsey. "The leadership team of G.A. Rogers & Associates has more than 40 years of executive and professional recruiting experience, so we're thrilled to now have the capabilities to recruit the leaders our clients need to build a brighter future, a stronger culture, and a healthier bottom line."

Growing client demand and talent shortages in leadership roles fueled this exciting expansion. "We created G.A. Rogers & Associates to help organizations direct-recruit candidates who may not be actively searching for a job," said G.A. Rogers & Associates Vice President, Karen Cowan. "In today's talent-starved market, our professional search consultants have the reach, infrastructure, and expertise to rapidly deliver A-players who can help clients capitalize on the improving economy."

For job seekers throughout Northern Virginia, working with G.A. Rogers & Associates means access to higher-level positions across the country, many of which won't be advertised elsewhere. Experienced managers, supervisors, business professionals, and executives are encouraged to explore and apply to job opportunities at jobs.ga-rogers.com.

About G.A. Rogers & Associates

A division of PrideStaff, G.A. Rogers & Associates specializes in executive and professional recruiting. The parent company was founded in the 1970s as 100 percent company-owned units and began staffing franchising in 1995. They operate over 80 offices in North America to serve over 5,000 clients. With over 40 years in the staffing business, headquartered in Fresno, CA, all PrideStaff brands offer the resources and expertise of a national firm with the spirit, dedication, and personal service of smaller, entrepreneurial firms. For more information on G.A. Rogers & Associates services, visit our website.

PrideStaff and G.A. Rogers & Associates shared Mission: Consistently provide client experiences focused on what they value most.
Dr. Tomasz Biernacki DPM discusses fall risk prevention programs for seniors including podiatrist home care and podiatrist telehealth. Dr. Tom Biernacki states We know that once people stop walking, then this is one of the single biggest risk factors for a shorter life span. We believe that this fall risk assessment plan is one of the single most important things we can do!

Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists of Michigan including Dr. Tomasz Biernacki DPM are now offering a fall prevention program & fall risk assessment in Berkley Mi & Royal Oak Mi. As seniors get older a variety of foot, ankle and leg problems can cause them to have poor balance and not be able to walk.

Prime Foot and Ankle Specialists now offer this fall risk assessment and fall risk program at the Berkley Michigan podiatrist office and Royal Oak Michigan Podiatrist Office. Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists strive to provide modern podiatrist and foot doctor care to their patients through fall risk assessment office visits, telehealth fall risk prevention, and home care fall risk prevention options.

The benefits of a fall risk assessment and fall prevention program can help seniors potentially walk and stand with less pain and for longer periods of time. Dr. Tom Biernacki states We believe fall risk assessment for our senior populations can significantly improve their mobility and decrease their pain while standing. We know that once people stop walking, then this is one of the single biggest risk factors for a shorter life span. We believe that this fall risk assessment plan is one of the single most important things we can do!

Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists of Michigan strive to provide modern podiatrist and foot doctor care to their patients through offering biomechanical gait analysis, minimally invasive surgery office visits, telehealth, and home care options. Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists include Dr. Tomasz Biernacki DPM, Dr. Jeffrey Klein DPM, Dr. Robert Strasberger DPM, Dr. Andrew Thompson DPM, Dr. Herbert Bircoll DPM, Dr. Gerald Gold DPM & Dr. Leslie Joseph DPM. The team offers over 100+ years of foot and ankle care experience!

A unique feature of Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists of Michigan is that they are one of the leaders in southeast Michigan in both podiatrist telemedicine and home care visits. The foot doctors and podiatrists at this clinic have been providing podiatrist home care visits, podiatrist house call visits and telehealth options for numerous years.

Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists have been providing care to the Metro Detroit Area for over 30 years. The headquarters are in Berkley Michigan.
Dr. Tomasz Biernacki DPM Podiatrist & Foot Doctor in Michigan discusses minimally invasive bunion surgery. Dr. Tom Biernacki states Minimally invasive bunion surgery and minimally invasive hammer toe surgery is not for everyone, but in less severe deformity this is now becoming by far the best choice in our opinion due to all its benefits.

Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists including Dr. Tomasz Biernacki DPM are now offering minimally invasive bunion surgery, hammer toe surgery & foot surgery. This is being offered in both the office and hospital setting from the Berkley Michigan podiatrist office and Royal Oak Michigan Podiatrist Office. Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists strive to provide modern podiatrist and foot doctor care to their patients through minimally invasive surgery office visits, telehealth, and home care options.

The benefits of minimally invasive bunion surgery include smaller incisions, quicker recovery time and lower cost in most situations. Dr. Tom Biernacki states Minimally invasive bunion surgery and minimally invasive hammer toe surgery is not for everyone, but in less severe deformity this is now becoming by far the best choice in our opinion due to all its benefits.

Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists strive to provide modern podiatrist and foot doctor care to their patients through minimally invasive surgery office visits, telehealth, and home care options. Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists include Dr. Tomasz Biernacki DPM, Dr. Jeffrey Klein DPM, Dr. Robert Strasberger DPM, Dr. Andrew Thompson DPM, Dr. Herbert Bircoll DPM, Dr. Gerald Gold DPM & Dr. Leslie Joseph DPM. The team offers over 100+ years of foot and ankle care experience!

There are many advantages to minimally invasive bunion surgery, minimally invasive hammer toe surgery and minimally invasive foot surgery. The advantages can include a lower cost, a faster recovery time and a more cosmetically pleasing result. The secret because minimally invasive surgery is X-ray imaging called fluoroscopy which is available at the Berkley Michigan podiatrist office. This allows for the correction of more minor deformities such as some bunions, some hammer toes as well as bumps and lumps on the foot. Minimally invasive toe and foot surgery can be greatly beneficial for the right patient.

A unique feature of Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists is that they are one of the leaders in southeast Michigan in both podiatrist telemedicine and home care visits. The foot doctors and podiatrists at this clinic have been providing podiatrist home care visits, podiatrist house call visits and telehealth options for numerous years.

Prime Foot & Ankle Specialists have been providing care to the Metro Detroit Area for over 30 years. The headquarters are in Berkley Michigan.
Were excited to be involved with this assay to support such a key area of global healthcare need..the identification of people who have raised antibodies against this challenging virus.

ProAxsis Limited (https://proaxsis.com/), the Belfast-based respiratory diagnostics company, is delighted to announce it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. ProAxsis will take responsibility for completing the validation and global commercialisation of a SARS-CoV-2 (the virus associated with COVID-19) serology ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) developed by an internal research team at AstraZeneca. In return for providing access to the required intellectual property and technical know-how, AstraZeneca will receive an undisclosed royalty fee on future Global net sales of the assay.

Speaking about the agreement, Dr David Ribeiro, CEO of ProAxsis, commented:

Were excited to be involved with this assay to support such a key area of global healthcare need. The research team at AstraZeneca have already completed significant optimisation and validation work, which has demonstrated the assays high potential sensitivity and specificity of detecting SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. ProAxsis will extend this work to support the identification of people who have raised antibodies against this challenging virus.

John Clarkson, Chairman of Netscientific plc and ProAxsis, added: Expanding the product portfolio and customer service offering are stated goals for ProAxsis, so were delighted with the continued progress and reaching this mutually beneficial agreement with AstraZeneca. Following the huge impact of the coronavirus pandemic on society, its excellent news that we can play our part in the COVID-19 response and help deliver real benefits to the community, through the application of ProAxsis expertise in respiratory assays.

Ruth March, SVP, Precision Medicine, AstraZeneca said: The development of this serology ELISA by our team is another example of AstraZenecas comprehensive response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This highly sensitive and specific blood test makes use of simple and convenient fingerstick sample collection that will be well suited to large scale deployment and has the potential to play an important role in antibody analyses in large populations.

Any enquiries concerning ProAxsis work in respiratory diagnostics can be directed to info@proaxsis.com.

About ProAxsis

https://proaxsis.com/

ProAxsis Limited is a commercial diagnostics company, based in Northern Ireland, and with a rapidly growing global client list of pharmaceutical companies and academic laboratories. The company has registered a CE Mark for activity-based immunoassays targeting Neutrophil Elastase (NE) and Proteinase 3, as biomarkers of lung infection and inflammation in chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD, cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis.

This technology has been translated into a point-of-care test (NEATstik), to enable ongoing monitoring of active NE levels. Recently published data has shown that measuring active NE levels using NEATstik enables identification of patients with airway bacterial infection and those patients at highest risk of suffering pulmonary exacerbations over the subsequent 12 months.

In addition to proteases, the company also has significant expertise in the measurement of other inflammatory biomarkers, including IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha. Grant-funded R&D funded projects for a variety of targets remain a key area of focus.

Aside from the provision of assays, ProAxsis can offer sample analysis at its purpose-built laboratory facility in Belfast and is currently supporting a number of pharmaceutical company-sponsored Phase I, II and III clinical trials.

ProAxsis is a fully owned subsidiary of Netscientific plc, the international life sciences and sustainability technology investment and commercialisation Group.

Contact information:

ProAxsis Ltd | http://www.proaxsis.com/

Dr. David Ribeiro, CEO

+44 (0) 2890730444

info@proaxsis.com
SGF supports family building of all types with fertility options for every individual and couple. Learn more about LGBTQ+ family building options during a free webinar with Dr. Robert Setton. SGF understands that becoming a parent is a natural desire for most people, gay or straight...SGF treats its gay, lesbian, transgender, and gender queer patients no differently than heterosexual patients by providing quality medical care in a friendly, compassionate and inclusive environment.

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, an annual celebration to recognize the LGBTQ+ community. In honor of Pride Month, SGF New York physician, Robert Setton, M.D., will host a free LGBTQ+ Family Building webinar on June 8, 2021, at 3 pm.

Dr. Setton treats patients for infertility and LGBTQ+ family building options at SGFs Manhattan office. He will also be taking the helm at SGFs newest location in his hometown of Brooklyn, opening Summer 2021.

SGF understands that becoming a parent is a natural desire for most people, gay or straight, reflects Dr. Setton. With this knowledge, SGF treats its gay, lesbian, transgender, and gender queer patients no differently than heterosexual patients by providing quality medical care in a friendly, compassionate and inclusive environment.

While this SGF event is complimentary, interested parties must register to attend by visiting the SGF calendar of events. During the informative webinar, Dr. Setton will cover:



Sperm, egg, and embryo donation;

Treatment options for female couples, including intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and reciprocal IVF;

Treatment options for male couples, including intended father treatment and donor egg treatment with gestational carrier;

Treatment options for transgender people;

Pre-transition fertility preservation for transgender people;

Legal considerations; and

Financial considerations and programs offered at SGF.

LGBTQ+ Family Building Options Offered at SGF

SGF has been a leader in third-party reproduction (refers to the use of eggs, sperm, or embryos that have been donated by a third person, known as the donor), for nearly 30 years. LGBTQ+ patients who want to have biologically related children can do so through the same assisted reproductive medicines and technologies that enable infertile straight couples to have babies. Many of SGFs treatment options for same-sex and transgender couples enable both partners to participate actively in the family building process.

For same-sex female couples, using co-IVF, also known as reciprocal IVF, both females have the opportunity to use their eggs, or carry the pregnancy. In doing so, couples may use the same egg/sperm source, so their children are 100% genetic siblings or create embryos from each partner.

Similarly, for same sex male couples, through a treatment called intended father treatment, or dual insemination, male couples have the opportunity to each provide sperm that can be used to create an embryo when paired with an egg from an egg donor, which can then be transferred to a known or recruited gestational carrier to carry the pregnancy. SGF is home to one of the largest donor egg program in the United States.

SGF offers a wide array of resources for LGBTQ+ people seeking more knowledge on reproductive health:



For LGBTQ+ community members who are struggling to conceive, it may be time to consult a fertility specialist. Contact the SGF New Patient Center at 1-888-761-1967 or complete a brief online request form to schedule a virtual consult with an SGF physician.

About Shady Grove Fertility (SGF)

SGF is a leading fertility and IVF center of excellence with more than 85,000 babies born and 5,000+ 5-star patient reviews. With 40 locations, including new locations in Colorado and Norfolk, VA, as well as throughout FL, GA, MD, NY, PA, VA, D.C. and Santiago, Chile, SGF offers patients virtual physician consults, delivers individualized care, accepts most insurance plans, and makes treatment affordable through innovative financial options, including 100% refund guarantees. More physicians refer their patients to SGF than any other center. SGF is among the founding partner practices of US Fertility, the largest physician-owned, physician-led partnership of top-tier fertility practices in the U.S. Call 1-888-761-1967 or visit ShadyGroveFertility.com.
Signature Resolution For flexibility and convenience, were also continuing to offer our virtual mediation services for attorneys and their clients around the country.

Signature Resolution, a leader in alternative dispute resolution, today announced the reopening of its Los Angeles and Century City offices for in-person mediations.

Signature Resolution continues to abide by all state and local COVID-19 regulations and will update office policies in accordance with changes to state and local guidelines, including face mask requirements for fully vaccinated and unvaccinated persons, capacity limitations and other safety protocols.

In addition to reopening offices for in-person mediations, Signature Resolution welcomes attorneys and their clients to continue resolving matters through secure video conferencing. Throughout the pandemic, Signature Resolution continued holding hearings virtually with the same high standards of service, privacy and security that are delivered with in-person hearings. The shift to virtual operations has proven to be both efficient and effective, with a success rate on par with in-person hearings.

With the safety and comfort of our guests, staff and neutrals as a top priority, the Signature Resolution team is pleased to welcome guests back to our Los Angeles and Century City offices, said Dario Higuchi, managing partner of Signature Resolution. For flexibility and convenience, were also continuing to offer our virtual mediation services for attorneys and their clients around the country.

To learn more about how Signature Resolution can help resolve your next case, visit https://signatureresolution.com.

About Signature Resolution

Established in 2017 in the heart of Los Angeles, Signature Resolution comprises a panel of distinguished neutrals hailing from diverse backgrounds, including respected judges and trial attorneys specializing in virtually every civil practice area. The founding partners inaugurated the organization with a vision of providing the highest level of service and convenience for attorneys and their clients. Signature Resolutions panelists offer unrivaled expertise and commitment to resolve even the most challenging legal matters. For more information about the firms mediation, arbitration and other dispute resolution services, visit https://signatureresolution.com.
As a values-driven company, Smokey Bones strives to be a great place to work, and our partnership with CORE is a natural extension of our values, to who we are as an organization, and our commitment to what we call human-centric leadership," said James O'Reilly, CEO of Smokey Bones.

We all love a delicious cocktail that makes you feel good, but how about one that does good as well? Smokey Bones and order The Skrewball, made with Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey, Kahlua, and half & half. The new cocktail makes a great dessert or late-night drink.

For every one of The Skrewball ordered, Smokey Bones will donate $1 to Children of Restaurant Employees (CORE). Children of Restaurant Employees is a national non-profit dedicated to providing financial relief when either the parent or child faces a health crisis, injury, death, or natural disaster. It is a perfect match for Smokey Bones and Skrewball, a family-owned business that is the only female-owned, disability-owned, and minority-owned liquor brand in the industry. Even better, Skrewball has made an upfront donation of $25k to CORE.

We are honored to be the first national restaurant chain to partner with CORE as our charity of choice, said James OReilly, Smokey Bones CEO. As a values-driven company, Smokey Bones strives to be a great place to work, and our partnership with CORE is a natural extension of our values, to who we are as an organization, and our commitment to what we call human-centric leadership. While we have introduced numerous benefits to help our team over the past year, CORE is an important step forward in providing crisis support not only for those in our own company, but also in the broader restaurant industry family as well.

According to Shelia Bennett, executive director of CORE, We are excited to partner with Smokey Bones and grateful for Smokey Bones dedication to help support the industry we all serve. The need for CORE services remains strong across the industry and we are humbled by Smokey Bones desire to help.

Were grateful to continue contributing and helping to make a positive impact on the industry that has supported us for so long. Were committed to assisting those who need it most and are excited to continue working with CORE and having Smokey Bones join the cause," added Brittany and Steven Yeng, co-founders of Skrewball Whiskey

Open in most areas to 1 a.m., Smokey Bones offers its Happiest Hours menu with food and drink specials in most locations from 3 to 6 p.m., and again from 10 p.m. until closing every day. With $3, $4, $5, and $6 items, guests can enjoy a quality, value-priced experience. For instance, starting at $4, guests can enjoy a Three Olives Vodka, Cruzan Rum or Johnnie Walker Red Scotch, a glass of Canyon Road Chardonnay or Woodbridge Merlot, Bud Light and nibble on skillet cornbread, boneless wings or a hot bag o donuts. Smokey Bones is one of the few casual dining brands that stays open late and offers two happy hour windows daily.

Smokey Bones is available for dine-in and online ordering for curbside pick-up or direct delivery from its restaurants. For more information, visit Smokeybones.com.

About Smokey Bones

Smokey Bones is a full-service restaurant delivering great barbecue, award winning ribs, and good times in 62 locations across 16 states. Smokey Bones serves lunch, dinner, and late night, and has a full-bar featuring a variety of bourbons and whiskeys; a selection of domestic, import and local craft beers; and signature, handcrafted cocktails. We offer a variety of meats that are slow-smoked, fire-grilled, and available for dine-in, pick-up, online ordering, catering, and delivery. Smokey Bones also owns two virtual brands: The Wing Experience and The Burger Experience offering wings and burgers for off premise sales. Smokey Bones is an affiliate of Boca Raton, FL based Sun Capital Partners. For additional information and a list of locations nationwide, please visit http://www.SmokeyBones.com. Smokey Bones, Meat is What We Do!

About Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey

Launched in July 2018, Skrewball Whiskey is the original peanut butter flavored whiskey. Bottled in California, it can be enjoyed as a shot, on the rocks or in a variety delicious, premium craft cocktails. Recently expanding nationwide into all 50 states, consumers all over the U.S. can now indulge in this boozy peanut butter deliciousness. It was developed by a husband and wife duo, perfecting the peanut butter flavor, which is unmatched in the spirits industry. Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey has already won several awards, including the Best Flavored Whiskey award at the New York World Wine and Spirits Competition. The product is 70 proof and made with premium ingredients. For more information, visit http://www.skrewballwhiskey.com.

Facebook: @SmokeyBones

Twitter: @smokeybonesbar

Instagram: @smokeybonesbar
South Carolina Connections Academy Celebrates The Class of 2021 As soon as I enrolled in South Carolina Connections Academy, I felt like the teachers, counselors and staff genuinely cared about my success and well-being. South Carolina Connections Academy helped me take ownership of my education and gain valuable skills like communication and independence.

South Carolina Connections Academy, one of the states most experienced tuition-free, online public schools for students in grades K-12, honored the schools 577 graduating high school seniors during multiple commencement ceremonies this week. Students and families who were unable to join the in-person ceremonies in Columbia, Charleston and Greenville were given the option to join virtually. The Class of 2021 collectively earned more than $1.1 million in scholarships and awards.

South Carolina Connections Academys Class of 2021 consists of graduates from many cities and towns across the state, including Columbia, Greenville, Myrtle Beach and more. Among the graduating class, 61 percent plan to attend two- or four-year colleges or universities, 20 percent plan to enter the workforce and 9 percent plan to attend vocational or technical school. Graduating as valedictorian is Chloe McKellar, with Morgan Lieske as salutatorian.

Another standout senior from this years graduating class is Kayla Pinkerman, a Florence resident who was able to work at her own pace while pursuing her passion for raising awareness around youth mental health. As soon as I enrolled in South Carolina Connections Academy, I felt like the teachers, counselors and staff genuinely cared about my success and well-being, said Pinkerman. South Carolina Connections Academy helped me take ownership of my education and gain valuable skills like communication and independence. Upon graduation, Pinkerman will be attending Hollins University to study gender and womens studies with a minor in creative writing.

Were so proud of our graduates and the effort they have put in during a difficult year for many, said Joshua Kitchens, principal and executive director of South Carolina Connections Academy. These seniors have demonstrated incredible resilience in their academic and personal accomplishments while continuing to thrive uninterrupted in a full-time online learning environment. I know the Class of 2021 will go on to do amazing things and wish them luck in all of their future endeavors.

South Carolina Connections Academy currently serves roughly 6,250 students in grades K-12 across South Carolina, providing students with the continuous support of highly-skilled teachers and a curriculum focusing on both academics and social-emotional learning. The schools teachers are specially trained to bring their skills and personality to the virtual classroom and emphasize the importance of fostering meaningful connections with students and their families. Learning plans are flexible and can be uniquely tailored based on student needs to help them gain the skills and confidence needed to thrive in a changing world.

At South Carolina Connections Academy, students have access to advanced courses, extracurricular activities and flexible scheduling that helps them to take ownership of their unique educational journey. Students who enroll in the school join a collaborative community of their fellow students and educators that provides a welcoming, distraction-free learning environment.

Families interested in South Carolina Connections Academy are encouraged to attend an online information session to learn more, ask questions and discover if virtual school is the right fit for their student. For more information about South Carolina Connections Academy, please visit the http://www.SouthCarolinaConnectionsAcademy.com.

About South Carolina Connections Academy

South Carolina Connections Academy is a tuition-free, online public school that serves students in grades K-12 across South Carolina. Founded in 2008, South Carolina Connections Academy offers a uniquely engaging, high-quality education experience through a safe, social learning environment that helps students learn how they learn best. The combination of state-certified quality teachers, a proven, student-centric school curriculum, unique electives, technology tools, and community experiences empowers students to gain the skills and confidence they need to thrive in a changing world. For more information, visit http://www.SouthCarolinaConnectionsAcademy.com.
With the purchase of Rainbow PocketKins, Huggers by Wild Republic and the Birthday Elephant, Wild Republic will donate a percentage of sales to PFLAG Akron

Known for its premier realistic plush and toys, Wild Republic has announced a philanthropic campaign to support PFLAG Akron, the first and largest organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people, their parents and families, and allies. Beginning immediately and slated to run throughout the entire month of June, known as Pride Month, with every purchase of Rainbow PocketKins, Huggers by Wild Republic and the Birthday Elephant Wild Republic will donate a percentage of sales to support various PFLAG Akron programs.

Vishnu Chandran, president of Wild Republic stated As a company, we are committed to supporting various causes and initiatives that better our environment, our world and promote acceptance and tolerance. Last year we gladly supported our first responders with much needed PPE and continue to support Mother Nature through reducing our carbon footprint and creating responsible plush toys. As we enter Pride Month, we are expanding our campaign to support the LBGTQ+ community.

The Promise to the People initiative is an extension of the company's Promise to the Planet, People and Animals corporate responsibility program that launched in 2018. The Promise to the People initiative was initially developed in response to the growing need to provide healthcare workers with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) due to the pandemic and continues today with quarterly themes. This June, in coordination with Pride month, the program has expanded to focus on anti-bullying, particularly towards the LBGTQ+ youth and with PFLAG Akron.

PFLAG is committed to creating a world where diversity is celebrated and all people are respected, valued, and affirmed. While trying to deal with all the challenges of being a teenager, the LGBTQ+ community also has to deal with harassment, threats and violence directed at them on a regular basis which can lead to substance abuse, self-harm, lower grade point averages in school and an overall unhappiness. These youth deserve a safe and respectful learning environment so they too can live up to their full potential. The organizations we have chosen help provide this in numerous ways.

Rainbows are for everyone and bring people together all over the globe and are a universal symbol for gay pride. That is why Wild Republic selected the Rainbow PocketKins and the Birthday Elephant for this initiative. The Rainbow PocketKins are fun, brightly colored, and huggable. The Birthday Elephant dances and sings for the big day! It is one of the many rainbow-printed friends from Wild Republic, made to celebrate YOU.

In addition, the Wild Republic Huggers by Wild Republic are all about Pride, embracing and choosing love, and sometimes the best way to show it is by giving a simple hug. Huggers by Wild Republic allow you to give a hug to someone even when you cant be with them all the time. Join Wild Republic with the idea of choosing love. Take pride in your unique journey. All of these items are adorable plush and will be in the June Pride promotion.

For more information about Wild Republic, please log onto http://www.WildRepublic.com or follow us at:

Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/WildRepublic

Instagram: @wild_republic

YouTube: @wildrepublic

Pinterest: @wildrepublic

About Wild Republic

Wild Republic has been delighting consumers around the globe for close to 41 years with an expansive collection of nature-related toys and gifts that fosters curiosity about wildlife and educate children about the wonders of nature. Headquartered in Twinsburg, Ohio, Wild Republic has offices throughout the world with international distribution serving zoos, museums, aquariums and retailers.

Wild Republic is an environmentally friendly and ethically responsible leader, committing to the removal of all single use plastics in its toy packaging. From creation to consumption, Wild Republic makes every effort to lessen the companys carbon footprint by reducing, reusing and sourcing sustainable products. In fact, Wild Republic utilizes soy ink, an alternative to petroleum-based inks, reducing air-polluting emissions and creating paper that is easier to recycle. Wild Republic also uses biodegradable packaging made from plant-based agents which take three to six months to decompose versus the hundreds of years traditional packaging takes. All of the plush products feature recycled water bottle fill and in 2019 Wild Republic launched the categorys first certified 100% recycled plush with embroidered eyes! With its broad range of more than 400 species across continents, Wild Republic continues to foster understanding and respect for wildlife and the planet while also implementing change within.

Consumers can also purchase direct at http://www.wildrepublic.com and are invited to follow the company on Facebook, Linked In and Instagram.
Some 6 million people in the U.S. and many more worldwide have Alzheimers, which gradually attacks areas of the brain needed for memory, reasoning, communication and basic daily tasks. In the final stages of the disease, those afflicted lose the ability to swallow. The global burden of the disease, the most common cause of dementia, is only expected to grow as millions more baby boomers progress further into their 60s and 70s.
Wolfpack Publishing has signed a multi-book, multi-year deal with award-winning writer Terrence McCauley.

Wolfpack will not only republish McCauleys acclaimed University Series of novels (Sympathy for the Devil, A Murder of Crows, A Conspiracy of Ravens), but also his series of New York Crime Novels (The Devil Dogs of Belleau Wood, Against the Ropes, Prohibition, Slow Burn and The Fairfax Incident).

Wolfpack will also be publishing two new novels from McCauley. The Wandering Man, set in 1927 Manhattan, finds corrupt NYPD Detective Charlie Doherty on the trail of a mad man preying on the citys weakest citizens. Doherty must weave his way through an endless maze of corruption, brutality, and madness of the citys underworld to find this predator before his horrific crimes tear the city apart.

The Moscow Protocol will be the fourth book in the acclaimed University Series. James Hicks, the Dean of the university, is a haunted and broken man on a mission. While on the run from the forces that threaten to destroy him and his organization, Hicks and his team coordinate a counterstrike against their enemies that will either tip the balance of power in their favor or start a war.

Mike Bray, President and CEO of Wolfpack Publishing, said, We are delighted to have Terrence join our impressive roster of authors. We believe that our readers will enjoy reading his existing novels just as much as theyll enjoy his new books. We look forward to working with him for years to come.

The Wolfpack team is doing some amazing work that could help revolutionize the publishing industry, said McCauley. Im honored they wanted to publish my new and existing work and I appreciate their confidence in me. I promise my new and old readers that were just getting started.

About Terrence McCauley

Terrence McCauley is an award-winning writer of Thrillers, Crime Fiction and Westerns. His first two Aaron Mackey westerns (WHERE THE BULLETS FLY and DARK TERRITORY) were finalists for the Western Writers of Americas Silver Spur Award. WHERE THE BULLETS FLY won the Western Fictioneers Award for Best Novel in 2018. You can learn more about him and his work by visiting his website: http://www.terrencemccauley.com

About Wolfpack Publishing

Wolfpack Publishing was formed in 2013 to bring both established authors and new authors to the market. Recently listed by Publishers Weeklys Fastest Growing Independent Publishers List, Wolfpack has embraced the rise of online bookstores and their limitless, virtual bookshelves. Wolfpack is also home to the Christian imprint, CKN Christian Publishing (https://christiankindlenews.com), and the young-adult imprint, Wise Wolf Books (https://wisewolfbooks.com). More information can be found by visiting http://www.wolfpackpublishing.com.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District has signed Woolpert to an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity architecture and engineering services contract to provide photogrammetry, lidar, remote sensing, surveying, GIS, data development and mapping worldwide. The five-year, capacity contract has a value of $22 million.

Woolpert Vice President and National Security Market Director Darius Hensley said the firm is looking forward to supporting the comprehensive and streamlined work of the USACE St. Louis District.

The District does an outstanding job of facilitating tasks for clients like the U.S. Air Force, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the Army Geospatial Center, which helps further each of their missions, Hensley said. We appreciate all they do, and we are honored to work with them again on this AEG contract.

This contract is now underway.

About Woolpert

Woolpert is the premier architecture, engineering, geospatial (AEG) and strategic consulting firm, with a vision to become one of the best companies in the world. We innovate within and across markets to effectively serve public, private and government clients worldwide. Woolpert is an ENR Top 150 Global Design Firm, recently earned its fifth-straight Great Place to Work certification and actively nurtures a culture of growth, inclusion, diversity and respect. Founded in 1911 in Dayton, Ohio, Woolpert has been Americas fastest-growing AEG firm since 2015. The firm has over 1,100 employees and 42 offices in three countries. For more, visit woolpert.com.
Tad Melton, Managing Director, Ziegler Senior Living Finance stated, The Forest at Duke, one of the preeminent life plan communities nationally, has been a Ziegler client for almost 20 years...

Ziegler, a specialty investment bank, is pleased to announce the successful closing of The Forest at Dukes $44,415,000 Series 2021 Bonds.

The Forest at Duke operates a CARF Accredited not-for-profit continuing care retirement community located on approximately 47 acres just south of Duke University in the City of Durham, North Carolina. The Forest at Duke is a Type B life care community that opened in 1992 and currently serves over 360 residents across 154 apartments, 88 cottages (242 total independent living units), 34 assisted living units and 58 licensed skilled nursing beds (4 beds are certified for Medicare, none are certified for Medicaid).

Proceeds of the Series 2021 Bonds will be used, together with other available funds, to (a) fund the costs of the Project (detailed below); (b) pay a portion of the interest on the Bonds and (c) pay certain fees and expenses incurred in connection with the sale and issuance of the Bonds. The Project consists of a replacement health and wellness center that will include 90 new units (32 assisted living and 58 skilled nursing) in a small house format in a five-story building of approximately 110,000 square feet. Each household will consist of 10 private rooms and include living, kitchen and dining rooms as well as a den and covered balcony. The Project team consists of the following: Perkins Eastman (Architect), NEMA Management (Project Manager), Whiting-Turner (Construction Manager) and CliftonLarsonAllen (Examination of Forecast).

Tad Melton, Managing Director, Ziegler Senior Living Finance stated, The Forest at Duke, one of the preeminent life plan communities nationally, has been a Ziegler client for almost 20 years. We are proud to have underwritten multiple transactions over the years for The Forest at Duke and look forward its continued success.

Ziegler is one of the nations leading underwriters of financing for not-for-profit senior living providers. Ziegler offers creative, tailored solutions to its senior living clientele, including investment banking, financial risk management, merger and acquisition services, seed capital, FHA/HUD, capital and strategic planning as well as senior living research, education, and communication.

For more information about Ziegler, please visit us at http://www.ziegler.com.

About Ziegler:

Ziegler is a privately held, national boutique investment bank, capital markets and proprietary investments firm. It has a unique focus on healthcare, senior living and education sectors, as well as general municipal and structured finance. Headquartered in Chicago with regional and branch offices throughout the U.S., Ziegler provides its clients with capital raising, strategic advisory services, fixed income sales, underwriting and trading as well as Ziegler Credit, Surveillance and Analytics. To learn more, visit http://www.ziegler.com.

Certain comments in this news release represent forward-looking statements made pursuant to the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This clients experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients, nor is it indicative of future performance or success. The forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, in particular, the overall financial health of the securities industry, the strength of the healthcare sector of the U.S. economy and the municipal securities marketplace, the ability of the Company to underwrite and distribute securities, the market value of mutual fund portfolios and separate account portfolios advised by the Company, the volume of sales by its retail brokers, the outcome of pending litigation, and the ability to attract and retain qualified employees.

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The unprecedented challenges of 2020 didnt prevent the Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) from having a landmark year. The accolades are presented annually to honor the contributions of authors, translators, publishers, researchers, and intellectuals that represent the vibrant cultural and literary landscape of the Arab world.

The prize is, this year, celebrating 15 years of awarding the best works of Arab culture, says Mouza Al Shamsi, director of the SZBA, director of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, and executive director of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre. In that time, we have received 19,095 submissions from 71 countries across nine categories, and 106 winners have been awarded from 26 countries around the world. The award has also promoted cooperation and cultural exchange between different cultures and civilizations by organizing more than 60 cultural events worldwide. Winners in each of the eight prize categories receive a financial award of $200,000, while the winner in the Cultural Personality of the Year category is awarded $272,000.

This years award for Literature went to Egyptian writer Iman Mersal for Fee Athar Enayat Al Zayyat (In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat), and the Childrens Literature award was given to Tunisian author Mizouni Bannani for his book Rehlat Fannan (An Artists Journey). The award for Translation went to Michael Cooperson for his English translation of Impostures by Al-Hariri. Tunisian researcher Khelil Gouia won in the category of Literary and Art Criticism for his book Masar Al Tahdeeth fe Al Fonoon Al Tashkelyah, men Al Orsomah ella Al Lawha (The Path of Modernization in the Visual Arts, from Drawing to Painting).

Egyptian author Saeed El-Masry won the Contribution to the Development of Nations prize for Turath Al Isteelaa bayn Al Folklor wa Al Majal Al Deeny (Legacy of Supremacy between Folklore and Religion). U.S. author Tahera Qutbuddin won the Arabic Culture in Other Languages category for her book Arabic Oration: Art and Function. The Young Author award was presented to Dr. Asma bint Muqbel bin Awad Al-Ahmadi from Saudi Arabia for the critical study Eshkalyat Al Thaat Al Saredah Fee Al Rwayah Al Nesaayah Al Saudiah (The Problems of the Narrated Self in the Saudi Feminist Novel, 19992012), and Dar Al Jadeed from Lebanon won in the category of Publishing and Technology.

This years awards were record-breaking on many counts. Notably, 2021 saw the highest number of submissions to the prize in its 14-year history: there were more than 2,349 entries from 57 countries, which, Al Shamsi says, is a 23% increase from the previous year. In addition to the number of entrants, more women than ever before either won awards or were shortlisted for honors. For Al Shamsi, this positive development speaks to the growing breath and diversity of content we are receiving.

There was also significant participation from U.S. authors this year, with two of the winners hailing from America. The U.S. has a long tradition of engaging with and advancing Arab culture, and we have some fantastic U.S. laureates, Al Shamsi says. We are delighted that two of this years winners represent the U.S.

Cooperson received the Translation honor for his adaptation of a revered work of Arabic literature into English. Al-Hariris Impostures is a classic collection of stories that follow the picaresque adventures of a hero across the medieval Middle East. Cooperson recognized that a literal translation would not best serve the distinctive work of literature. Instead, he took an inventive approach. Al-Hariris Impostures is written in rhymed prose, which works in English only if youre James Thurber or Gertrude Stein, Cooperson says. To replicate the effect, I chose a different constraint. Each of the 50 episodes had to be in a different literary or historical style, or a distinct jargon or register of English.

American winner Tahera Qutbuddin, who teaches at the University of Chicago, was praised by the judges for her exceptional familiarity with classical Arabic literature and her firm grasp on oral tradition studies and theories. Qutbuddins passion for Arabic storytelling began in childhood. My journey with Arabic literature, she says, has taken me over several decades and three continents: Mumbai, where I grew up and first encountered Arabic literature through the lessons I took on the wisdom sayings of Imam Ali with my father, Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin, an eminent scholar of Islam; Cairo, where I dove into the Arabic and Islamic literary heritage at the local Ain Shams University; and Harvard University in the U.S., where I completed a PhD program and I honed my research skills.

For Qutbuddin, the impact of receiving such a prestigious prize is far more than monetary. Im delighted to have received the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for my book, she says. It raises the visibility of the important genre of classical Arabic oration, which forms the foundation of the Arabic literary tradition, and it raises the visibility of my work among readers in the West as well as readers in the Arabic-speaking world.

In addition to awards for individual authors and academics, since 2018, the Sheikh Zayed Book Award has provided grants to international publishers translating books written by contemporary Arabic authors. This year, grants paved the way to publication for previous prizewinning books in four languages: The Madmen of Bethlehem by Palestinian author Osama Alaysa; The Autumn of Innocence by Lebanese novelist and poet Abbas Beydoun; the childrens book Hatless by the Kuwaiti author Lateefa Buti; and the picture book I Dream of Being a Concrete Mixer, illustrated by Walid Taher and translated into English by Sophia Vasalou and into French by Hana Jaber. The book has also been translated into German by Suleman Taufiq.

As of this year, the grant is expanding to fund the translation of all shortlisted books, in addition to the winning titles. Publishers can apply for grants of up to $19,000 for the translation, promotion, and illustration of a book.

Robert Morgan, who published the English translation of I Dream of Being a Concrete Mixer at BookLand Press, is especially grateful for the opportunities provided through the grants. As a book publisher, I see a significant market opportunity for publishing modern Arab authors in North America, and I have been noticing an increasing interest in Arab literature from ordinary book readers, book distributors, and book retailers, Morgan says. I also see the publication of Arab literature through translation as a way for North American readers to discover, learn about, and connect with a new culture, which is made possible by the Sheikh Zayed Book Award translation grant program.

Given the challenges of the pandemic, Al Shamsi is especially heartened by the variety and breadth of this years submissions. Despite the circumstances, she says, we saw the award flourish, which proves that culture endures and adapts under the most difficult of conditions and reflects both the continued importance of awards and the resilience and vitality of the publishing industry.

While last years award ceremonies were virtual, lifting Covid-19 restrictions allowed for a hybrid live and streamed ceremony at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair on May 24, with several of the years winners in attendance. Dr. Ali Bin TamimSheikh Zayed Book Award secretary-general and the chair of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centrecongratulated the winners, saying, Your work guides us forward and must be supported and celebrated. It is this that sustains Arab and international libraries with culture and intellect.

Al Shamsi sees this years diversity as a sign of things to come. The awards website has added five languagesFrench, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanishto connect with more writers, publishers, and readers internationally. We believe in the importance of cultural exchange between different cultures, and the award website provides a platform for exchanging ideas and promoting global dialogue, Al Shamsi says. The award firmly believes in the impact international and regional partnerships add to the awards cultural outreach and engagement; we will continue to work with strategic partnerships to build and expand on the awards mandate.
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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema last week claimed the Senate filibuster was created to bring together members of different parties to find compromise and coalition.

Sinemas statement is not historically accurate.

New York magazines Jonathan Chait, a filibuster critic, charged Sinema with pushing a version of this fake history as part of an extraordinarily effective propaganda campaign by filibuster proponents. He countered, The filibuster emerged in the 19th century not by any design, but  due to an interpretation of Senate rules which held that they omitted any process for ending debate. The first filibuster did not happen until 1837, and it was the result of exploiting this confusing rules glitch.

Chaits statement is not historically accurate.

In his anti-filibuster book, Kill Switch, former Senate aide Adam Jentleson declared that Southern senators both antebellum pro-slavery and post-Reconstruction segregationist senators  invented the filibuster, and stated that [i]n the eighty-seven years between the end of Reconstruction and 1964, the only bills that were stopped by filibusters were civil rights bills.

Jentlesons statement is not historically accurate either.

Getting our filibuster story straight is difficult because the history is murky and everyone trying to tell the story has an angle. This includes me, but I shall do my best.

Lets start at the beginning. The filibuster wasnt invented by Southern senators. It wasnt even invented in America. The credit should go to the senators of the Roman republic. Actually, one in particular.

The Romans had all sorts of obstructionist tactics, as historian Adam Lebovitz has detailed. One was obnuntiatio, breaking up a legislative session because of a bad omen, which could be done disingenuously. Plutarch wrote of an episode in which Pompey lyingly declared that he heard thunder, and most shamefully dissolved the assembly, since it was customary to regard such things as inauspicious, and not to ratify anything after a sign from heaven had been given.

Another was talking until nightfall when meetings ended, which was not called filibuster but diem consumere, to consume the day. Cato the Younger was the most famous practitioner of diem consumere. His biographers Rob Goodman and Jimmy Soni go as far as to state, The history of the filibuster  essentially starts with Cato.

Catos stemwinders  he could speak at the top of his lungs for hours  were wielded for populist ends. He waged a successful six-month campaign to prevent Romes private tax collectors from jacking up their rates. He prevented Pompey, a general, from steering precious land to his troops. And spotting a threat to the Republic itself, with just a one-day talkathon, Cato denied Julius Caesar the ability to have a military parade in his honor while also running for political office.

Caesar would soon seize autocratic power, and Cato would commit suicide rather than live under Caesars rule. Goodman and Soni argue Catos obstructionism  however high-minded  was a contributing factor to the Roman Republics collapse. Americas Founding Fathers, however, idolized Cato. George Washingtons soldiers staged a play about Cato at Valley Forge. Patrick Henrys famous quote, Give me liberty or give me death, is derived from a line in that play.

Filibuster critics correctly note that the tactic was not established in the Constitution nor was it codified in the initial congressional rules. But if the Founders feared the emergence of a Cato in their republican experiment, they could have explicitly banned diem consumere. They didnt.

Granted, Thomas Jefferson wrote a rules manual that informally guided the early Senate, and he instructed, No one is to speak impertinently or beside the question, superfluously or tediously. However, legal scholars Catherine Fisk and Erwin Chemerinsky inform us that such debate occurred anyway. They also note, It is not clear  whether extended debate with dilatory intent was considered an established practice at this point, or  the bad habit of a few persons. Still, if the first congressional majorities believed that dilatory tactics were meant to be banned, they would have tightened up the rules at the first sign of violation.

Chait, citing work by filibuster historian Sarah Binder, placed the first American filibuster in 1837  when the Whigs tried to stop the expunging of Andrew Jacksons censure from the congressional record. But Fisk and Chemerinsky determined that the strategic use of delay in debate is as old as the Senate itself, and they found the first recorded episode of dilatory debate occurred in 1790 when senators from Virginia and South Carolina filibustered to prevent the location of the first Congress in Philadelphia. One senator who favored the Philadelphia bill recounted, The design of the Virginians and the Carolina gentleman was to talk away the time, so that we could not get the bill passed.

Chaits mention of filibusterers exploiting this confusing rules glitch is a reference to Binders argument that, in 1805, Vice President Aaron Burr inadvertently opened the door to filibustering when he recommended cleaning up the Senate rulebook and removing unnecessary provisions including the previous question motion. In Binders telling, today, we know that a simple majority in the House can use the [previous question] rule to cut off debate. But in 1805, neither chamber used the rule that way. So the Senate got rid of it, not realizing its absence would allow senators to filibuster in the future.

But another filibuster historian, Gregory Koger, recently debunked the Burr origin story. He noted that in much of the 19th century the House had filibusters  more than the Senate in fact  even though it kept the previous question motion on the books.

Whats confusing is that the previous question motion was interpreted differently by the House at different times. It wasnt initially used to cut off debate. Then in 1811 it was, but in subsequent years it wasnt routinely used in that fashion. Not until the late 19th century were House procedures broadly and comprehensively reformed to greatly empower the majority and quash dilatory tactics.

The House history of the previous question motion speaks to Kogers main point: the meaning of rules is determined by legislative majorities, even if this means completely reversing the traditional interpretation of a term. In other words, any majority can interpret the rules however they want, whenever they want.

Chait looks to the Burr story to argue the filibuster emerged accidentally because nobody ever would create a system like this on purpose. But Koger counters that Senators have always had the power to determine what their rules mean, so they have always been able to limit or eliminate filibustering if a majority of the Senate is ready to vote for reform.

Remember, in the past decade, narrow Senate majorities have limited the filibuster, deploying the so-called nuclear option to eliminate the filibuster for judicial and executive branch appointments. Koger concludes, [I]f a bare majority can end the filibuster now, then this has always been true, and there is no proof that their path to success would be easier if they had a [previous question] motion. For advocates of Senate reform, this poses an awkward truth: the Senate filibuster has persisted to this point because lots of senators have supported it.

Case in point: When senators grew tired of the 20th century talking filibusters, they didnt abandon the parliamentary tool, they reformed it.

Filibusters gummed up the floor, preventing any other work from getting done. So, as Binder explained this year in The Washington Post, Majority leader Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.) in 1970 suggested that the Senate invent a second shift or track of legislation. When a filibuster blocked the first track, Mansfield simply asked unanimous consent of all 100 senators to set aside the filibustered measure and move onto a new bill on a different track. Mansfields change did not require the Senate to make a formal change in its rules. All he really did was ask for consent to start tracking. Party leaders on both sides of the aisle thought tracking would help them make the floor schedule more predictable.

The two-track system is the current system. It is a system that allows for easily executed silent filibusters. It is a system created on purpose.

In Jentlesons story, the senators who supported the filibuster were racists. Of course, theres no disputing that for decades Southern segregationists weaponized the filibuster to protect racist Jim Crow laws. But Jentleson overstates the case when he claims that between the end of Reconstruction and 1964, the only bills that were stopped by filibusters were civil rights bills. Binder and Steven Smith, in their 1996 book Politics or Principle? Filibustering in the United States Senate, identified twenty-six measures proposed between Reconstruction and 1994 that would directly change public law that were clearly killed because of the ability of a minority of senators to prevent action. Only nine of those 26 were related to civil rights. And before 1949, the number of non-civil rights measures blocked by filibuster [was] about as large as the number of civil rights measures killed by filibuster.

Jentleson and others (including Barack Obama) want to claim that the filibuster is defined by Jim Crow to argue that it has mainly served to empower a minority of predominantly white conservatives. But the filibuster is a tactic with no inherent ideological disposition. Cato used it against the authoritarians and plutocrats of his time. As the Civil War neared its close, the Radical Republicans (aided by Democrats) launched a successful filibuster thwarting President Lincolns plan to admit the government of Louisiana back in the Union, because Louisiana had not yet given Blacks the vote. In this century, President George W. Bush began his second term with a major push to partially privatize Social Security, but when the Senate Democratic minority made clear it had the votes for a filibuster, Bush had no choice but to stand down.

Just as supporters should not pretend that the filibuster was created to produce bipartisan harmony, critics should not pretend that the filibuster is both a historical accident and a linchpin of systemic racism. Lets tell the true story of the filibuster, not a pat story that serves the ideological purpose of one side of the debate, but the messy convoluted story that reminds us democracy has always been difficult to maintain.
The voters who will decide if Republicans gain a majority in Congress and the White House over the next two elections are more concerned that infrastructure funding is spent efficiently, effectively, and fast than they are with President Bidens and Speaker Nancy Pelosis desire to reimagine the American economy.

Survey research commissioned by the Center for American Ideas in 21 key suburban and exurban counties and cities reveals support for the Republican approach in the ongoing infrastructure debate. These election-deciding voters are closely following the discussions between President Biden and Senate Republicans. With Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) leading negotiations, Senate Republicans have focused on funding and rebuilding roads and bridges while also creating jobs. On the other side of the table, President Biden and Speaker Pelosi have sought to make the meaning of infrastructure as broad as the Atlantic Ocean.

When discussing infrastructure, Republicans should be using a message of reasonableness and efficiency -- it is the best approach to earning the votes of suburban and exurban voters. The key is to communicate frequently about ideas with bipartisan support that match up with voters priorities.

Republicans can also win this argument by pointing out that President Biden and congressional Democrats only seek a meager 7% of total spending on actual infrastructure, such as construction and improvement of bridges, highways, roads, ports, waterways, and airports. Further, Geoff Colvin, with Fortune, points out that infrastructure investments only rise to 24% of total spending when upgrading wastewater and drinking water systems, expanding high-speed broadband Internet service, modernizing the electric grid, and improving infrastructure resilience are all added to the total. What about the remaining 76%?

For Democrats, their push to pass an infrastructure bill is simply another path to the government knows best approach, similar to their response to the COVID pandemic. Should you want proof, the Democrats infrastructure plan spends tax dollars to build or redevelop more than 2 million private homes. Under their plan, government money will be available to unnecessarily subsidize the manufacturing and purchasing of electric vehicles. Democrats even increased spending on home-based care-child care facilities and research at the National Science Foundation in the name of infrastructure improvements.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer may have coined the understatement of the year when he said his fellow Democrats plan has a whole lot more than infrastructure in it.

There is a better way. The Center for American Ideas identifies three infrastructure proposals that earned the support of more than six in 10 respondents. Adam Geller with National Research Inc. conducted the poll, a national, mixed-mode survey of 1,050 suburban/exurban voters living in 21 key political counties, on May 21-26.

The first proposal encourages states to streamline the way they obtain supplies for infrastructure projects in order to simplify the process and increase efficiency. This idea achieves 75% support overall.

The second proposal calls for a nonpartisan commission, similar to how we decide on military base closures, to determine which infrastructure projects to prioritize, in order to remove the politics in these spending decisions. This idea achieves 71% support overall.

The third proposal creates more flexibility in federal funding for some infrastructure projects in order to focus on states highest priorities. This idea achieves 69% support overall.

These messages are most effective in the communities where Republicans lost ground in 2020. In the counties that Donald Trump won in 2016 but lost to Joe Biden in 2020, proposal No. 1 achieved 76% support, No. 2 achieved 70% support and No. 3 achieved 69% support.

Among Republican and independent voters, proposal No. 1  streamlining the supply requirements -- garners the largest levels of support.

Bipartisan messages resonate with college-educated voters, a demographic the GOP lost ground with in 2020. One plan won support from as much as 79% of college-educated men and women.

Finally, among college-educated men, proposal No. 1 achieved 76% support, No. 2 achieved 73% support and No. 3 achieved 71% support while among college-educated women, the proposals achieved 79%, 75% and 71% support, respectively.

For Republicans, earning the votes, once again, of these crucial blocks of Americans is vital to 2022 electoral success.

To be clear, the outcome of the negotiations between President Biden and Sen. Capito will not be the definitive indicator of which party will earn a majority in Senate and House in the midterm elections. It does, however provide insights into voters priorities and ideas as the national conversation moves to other issues of concerns such as the economy and jobs, COVID recovery, health care, immigration and education.

The rural vs. urban split no longer defines American party politics. Whether it is the current debate over infrastructure or defeating Joe Bidens attempt to rollback tax relief, it will be critical for Republican elected officials to effectively communicate with voters living in and just outside Americas suburban neighborhoods.
An aerial photo of Fort Detrick, Maryland, U.S. taken, May 25, 2007. /CFP

The U.S. has yet to let go of the "lab leak theory" on COVID-19 origin.

After the WHO-China joint research concluded that it's a waste of time to look into this dead-end theory in March, U.S. President Joe Biden followed his predecessor Donald Trump and called for another investigation on the Wuhan-based biolab.

But many U.S. biolabs are also among suspects of leakage, and many Chinese people have put a question mark on Fort Detrick, a bioweapon lab set up during World War II.

Fort Detrick is not welcomed by Chinese people

The potential link between Fort Detrick and COVID-19 made a lot of Chinese people recall bad memories of World War II.

The Japanese army, especially Unit 731, conducted extremely cruel experiments on live humans in China, including and not limited to vivisection, poison gas test, bioweapon test, and amputations without anesthesia.

Bacteria and viruses were intentionally injected into healthy people from China, Soviet Union, Korea, Mongolia, Britain and more, by Unit 731 to observe their sufferings.

People from the U.S. were also used as guinea pigs.

Copies of human experimentation reports in English are displayed in the Unit 731 Museum, Harbin, China. /Xinhua

More than 3,000 people were killed due to the experiments, while hundreds of thousands more died of the bioweapons developed by the devilish unit.

After the war, the results and data of those inhuman experiments were sold, surprisingly, to the Americans.

Multiple personals from Fort Detrick were sent to Japan to investigate Unit 731, including Lt. Col. Murray Sanders, Lt. Col. Arvo T. Thompson, and Dr. Norbert H. Fell, under orders from General Douglas MacArthur.

The name "Fort Detrick" can be seen on the cover of a report about Unit 731's anthrax test on live humans. /Xinhua

"There was a really big interest by the American government to try to figure out how much and what the Japanese knew about biological weapons," according to Kenneth Port, who wrote the book Deciphering the History of Japanese War Atrocities: The Story of Doctor and General Shiro Ishii, a bio of Unit 731's head Shiro Ishii.

The U.S. kept the result and data so well that the international court couldn't find evidence to prosecute some Japanese war criminals, including Ishii.

"MacArthur kept Ishii and Ishii's network secret from the prosecutors. The prosecutors of the war crimes tribunal didn't know of Ishii," Port said. "So MacArthur could take advantage of his knowledge."

Multiple news reports published in the 1980s on U.S. media, including the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times, have confirmed the trade's existence.

Evidence of the U.S. hiding war criminals is displayed in the Unit 731 Museum, Harbin, China. /Xinhua

Ishii even worked for Fort Detrick as an advisor on bioweapons, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a press conference on Friday.

"The United States paid 250,000 yen to obtain data from Unit 731 on germ warfare," Wang told the conference.

It could be infuriating to the Chinese people if Fort Detrick turned out to be a source of COVID-19.

Wang also suggested that the U.S. should invite an international team of scientists to conduct an independent investigation on Fort Detrick on its potential link to the origin of COVID-19.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin points out the relations between Fort Detrick and Unit 731 at a press conference, Beijing, China, June 4, 2021 /CMG

Fort Detrick has bad safety records

The lab was temporarily shut down by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because it doesn't have "sufficient systems in place to decontaminate wastewater," according to a statement released from the lab.

The closure happened in August 2019, not long before the COVID-19 became known to the public.

But there is currently no public proof that the closure is linked to the pandemic.

This was not the first time Fort Detrick got shut down. According to the New York Times, the lab was also shut down back in 2009 because of other wrongdoings. The newspaper also said the leading suspect of the 2001 anthrax attacks  Dr. Bruce E. Ivins  was an employee of Fort Detrick.

All in all, the bad history and bad safety records have given the Chinese enough reasons to ask for an investigation on Fort Detrick.
In February a former University of Florida associate professor was indicted on six counts of wire fraud and four counts of making false statements to U.S. officials for fraudulently obtaining $1.75 million in grant money from the National Institutes of Health. The professor, Lin Yang, went to China in August 2019 and hasnt returned since, according to the U.S. Department of Justice release announcing the indictment.
age 73, died Friday June 4, 2021. He was born to Louis Cedric and Ida May (Marshall) Cotton, in Sledge, Miss. on July 31, 1947. Louis is survived by his wife, Rosemarie (Hensel) Cotton; sons, Torrey Cotton and Louis Cotton Jr and his grandchildren. Private services will be held. Please visit
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Two police officers were transported to the hospital after suffering medical emergencies while conducting a search of a vehicle that was impounded at the Hinsdale Police Department. Hinsdale police Chief Charles Rataj told the Reformer the two officers have been medically cleared to return to duty.
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DeSantis has been an ardent foe of what he calls social media censorship. He pushed a new law that will impose fines of $250,000 per day on any social media company that de-platforms a candidate for statewide office. That law, which takes effect July 1, also makes it easier for Floridians to sue if they have been treated unfairly by Big Tech platforms.
BURLINGTON  Former employees of Vermont Bread Company in Brattleboro got some good news and some not so good news Monday.

During a court hearing in Chittenden County, it was announced Flower Foods had purchased Koffee Kup and its assets, Vermont Bread and Superior Baking in North Grosvenor Dale, Conn.

Justin Heller, attorney for the court-appointed receiver tasked with preserving Koffee Kups assets until sold, said during the hearing the deal means all of the former employees will be finally receiving their paid-time-off balances.

While we are contractually bound to keep the purchase price confidential, said Heller, "we are authorized to disclose that the price is sufficient to pay KeyBank and others secured, in full, and to pay the PTO claims ... in full, said Heller.

But while that is good news, Flowers Foods is in no rush to put the employees back to work.

We have no immediate plans to reopen the bakeries but will be assessing how they may fit our strategic network optimization efforts in the future, stated Ryals McMullian, Flowers Foods president and CEO in a news release.

Flowers Foods is headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia.

This acquisition brings brands and production capacity in the Northeast, a key growth market for our company, stated McMullian. The Koffee Kup and Vermont Bread Company brands have a strong consumer following in the region and well be evaluating their role within our brand portfolio.

Flower Foods is a publicly traded company and has annual sales in excess of $4 billion.

Flowers products include Wonder, Natures Own, Daves Killer Bread, Tastykake and more.

Flowers Foods purchased the Country Kitchen Bakery in Brattleboro in November 2018. Two months later, 60 employees were laid off when the facility was closed. Flowers still uses the facility in Brattleboro, but only as a warehouse.

This was an unexpected development, said Adam Grinold, executive director of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation, which has been helping to identify buyers, including East Baking Company in Holyoke, Mass., and Mrs. Dunsters, in Canada.

At this time, we know none of the details or intent of the sale, he said. We are reaching out to understand if there will be a return to normal operation. Our continued focus will be on the employees and their ability to return to work.

Massachusetts company shows interest in Vermont Bread BRATTLEBORO  Vermont Bread Company may be back in business soon.

KeyBank declined to comment on the sale.

By comparison, said Heller during the hearing in Chittenden Superior Court, Civil Division, the other offers of Mrs. Dunsters and East Baking were not sufficient to pay even KeyBank in full.

He called it an excellent result for the receivership estate.

Mondays hearings were scheduled to address a motion from Koffee Kup asking the court to order the receiver to pay employees their accrued PTO out of the assets being held pending sale. The court was also considering a sealed motion from East Baking related to its grievance that the company had not been selected as a purchaser.

Dan Serra, owner of East Baking, declined to comment about its grievance or the sale.

Heller noted the receivership order does not include any direction on how the receiver should deal with surplus funds and whether former employees are entitled to any priority status for their PTO.

Flowers Foods did not respond to a question about how soon ex-employees will get their balances.

During the hearing, Judge Samuel Hoar Jr. urged the parties to find a solution that means getting the PTO into employee hands, though he did say it would be particularly unfair ... to impose upon the receiver the obligation to figure out who gets paid first.

Its a process that Im not sure the current receivership order contemplates or gives this court the authority to supervise, he said. And Im not sure what the vehicle would be for giving this court jurisdiction to make that determination. But I think what Im coming around to on all of this is that we may need further submissions.

Hoar also said East Baking may make a motion to void the sale. He encouraged lawyers for the involved parties to interact before the next hearing scheduled for 3 p.m. June 22.

Lets be clear, he said. This is coming at all of us lightning fast and I dont think its fair of the court to ask anybody today to state a firm position on any of this. Instead, what I think would make sense is for you folks to communicate, collaborate and see what you can come up with, and maybe theres a stipulated resolution.

Figures related to PTO need to be determined, Heller told the court. He said at first, the number he heard for claims owed for PTO totaled $790,000 but the receiver believes it is about half that amount.

Employees of Koffee Kup, a bakery founded in Troy in 1940, only learned they were out of a job when they showed up to work on April 26.

On April 1, American Industrial Acquisition Corp. purchased a majority share in Koffee Kup. Twenty-five days later, AIAC closed the bakeries with no notice to employees.

The day after the closure, Jeff Sands, of Dorset Partners and the senior adviser in North America for AIAC, told the Reformer: Four years of losses are the culprit. Everyone wants a villain storyline, but theres just not one there. This one just wasnt salvageable.

Then many ex-employees received their final paychecks with paid-off-time balances only to have the balances yanked out of their accounts, causing overdrafts.

Vacation pay given, taken away from Koffee Kup employees BRATTLEBORO  One day, former Koffee Kup Bakery employees had pay for unused vacation time. 

In mid-May, Heller wrote in a news release the balances were supposed to have been paid out of a $2.5 million support package from AIAC, not out of the assets under the control of the receiver. Heller wrote that AIAC reneged on the agreement to provide the funds, and acknowledged the result was the first payroll disbursement was rescinded and replaced with an adjusted disbursement.
BRIDGEPORT  A person was shot in the area of the P.T. Barnum apartments late Saturday, police said.

Bridgeports emergency community center received a ShotSpotter notification in the area around 10:31 p.m., police said.
NEW HAVEN  The Democratic mayoral candidates have had sharp exchanges on policing and budgeting as they make the rounds of the ward committees in anticipation of the town committee nominating convention in July.

Karen DuBois-Walton has accused Mayor Justin Elicker of lacking a sense of urgency in addressing crime in the city and said, while homicides spiked to 20 last year, a response did not come until he announced a plan last week.

Elicker, in turn, accused DuBois-Walton of politicizing one of the biggest challenges that our city is facing right now and many cities around the nation are facing.

DuBois-Walton is calling for a refocus on when the police budget was cut last year by $2 million. She charged that the mayor subsequently failed to make an investment in the things that are going to make our community safer.

I think we have left the community feeling at a loss and a Police Department feeling unsupported, she said.

Elicker pushed back on DuBois-Waltons charges.

He said he has increased walking beats, recreated the shooting task force, and boosted efforts around Project Safe Neighborhoods and Project Longevity, a program that targets help for those considered at risk. Elicker said the number of street outreach workers has been increased, there was a gun buyback program and they have opened a reentry welcome center for individuals returning from incarceration.

Elicker said it was also time to be straightforward about everyones record.

When Dr. DuBois-Walton was chief of staff in 2006 and Mayor (John) DeStefano was running for governor and going around the state. Dr. DuBois-Walton was basically overseeing the city, including the Police Department, and there were 24 homicides in that year.

He said that was the second-highest number of homicides in a single year in the last two decades. There were 34 homicides in the city in 2011.

This year there have been 13 homicides to date and 45 shootings; at this time last year it was four homicides and 31 shootings.

The recent exchange between the two candidates and Macye Torres, a third candidate for the Democratic nomination, was sponsored by the 26th and 27th Democratic ward committees, which represent parts of Westville and Beaver Hills.

DuBois-Walton said there needs to be a better use of police intelligence to guide deployment of officers.

It is unacceptable that we would have homicides and shootings a day apart in the same area. That is a failure of intelligence, she said.

The candidate, who has taken a leave from running Elm City Communities, the citys Housing Authority, said New Haven needs to focus our police on solving crimes as unsolved crime leads to a sense of lawlessness and it leaves families without a sense of closure.

She said police have to rebuild community relationships if crimes are going to be solved.

Elicker said the issues are challenging and they tear at the heart of the community.

He said he was at the recent wake for Tashawn Brown, seeing his family suffering. He said he was knocking on doors checking in with residents on Sheffield Avenue just two weeks ago and Sherman Parkway more recently after a homicide Wednesday.

I am mayor and I am in the business of reality and we cant stand on the sidelines and wave a wand and say that we are going to make things better like the other candidate (DuBois-Walton) is acting like she can do, Elicker said.

City budget

About whether the citys budget should be cut or if New Haven in need of more revenue, they both come down on the side of more funding. Elicker points to the negotiations in the state legislature led by state Senate Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, to boost PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes), with New Haven potentially getting a $49 million boost.

DuBois-Walton accused the mayor of not making the tough decisions on the budget, but instead passing it to the Board of Alders to make the call without knowing the revenue from the state or the voluntary payment from Yale University.

Historically, the state budget process is later than the citys deadline, while Yale decisions are not always timely. Elicker has said the discussions with Yale continue to be productive.

Elicker said the review and vote by the Board of Alders is part of the legal process and said he has been proactive in making challenging decisions about the budget.

He said he has worked hand-in-hand with the alders, who along with Unite HERE, the Yale unions, testified in support of the increased PILOT funding unlike other candidates here.

To insinuate that I dont take this budget seriously is just not connected to reality, he said.

Social issues, housing

About what they have done to eliminate systemic racism, DuBois-Walton pointed to her work at Elm City Communities for the past 14 years that has transformed the housing there.

She said she has undertaken the work of repairing the damage of past housing policies, which includes working for changes at the state level so families can access housing in a broader footprint. She said the Housing Authority is the only institution that provides housing at 30 percent of a familys income and it is now high quality housing infused with services.

I bring that rooted in an equity frame knowing and understanding this community. It is not new to me, she said.

DuBois said Elm City Communities has leveraged private investment at a rate of 3, 4 and 5 times the match to public funds in building the apartments.

On economic development, she said the city needs a clear vision and the team to implement it that goes beyond help from the state and Yale.

Elicker said the city has looked to help those historically not served by economic development through a partnership between the public schools and programs at 101 College St., the newest biotech building that is ready to break ground. He said there also is a project labor agreement with Tweed New Haven Regional Airport; a small business training program and a construction training program to expand the reach of development.

He said his administrations housing initiatives are part of the fight for equity, with a new accessory dwelling unit policy and plans for an inclusionary zoning proposal. He said there is also a dramatic increase in the enforcement of its lead ordinance to protect children. Elicker said the proposed Crisis Response Team also is part of a racial justice agenda, as is working with Desegregate CT to open up housing in the suburbs.

Torres focused on policing and her efforts to get the city to address drug sales and the violence that stems from them, particularly in the Hill neighborhood.

She accused Elicker and former Mayor Toni Harp of not responding to her concerns, holding up a handful of emails.

The number of killings in my neighborhood are all black men. It hurts my heart. ... It is all part of racism, systemic racism in the containment zone, which is what I call the inner city. That is what we have become in the city of New Haven, Torres said.

She said she has written to a judge complaining that the police are not doing their job to close drug houses.

Torres said what she brings to the mayoral race is real life experience. She said she comes from a street called crack street. I say hi to prostitutes in the morning. I have seen so many people get shot in the last year and a half. At one point she said the mayor was as guilty as the shooters for allegedly overlooking the violence.

This brought a rebuke from the moderator Sharon Jones of the 26th Ward, who asked the candidates to not attack one another. This is a forum to answer our questions so we know where you stand, she said.

Torres said she was proud of Connecticut for calling racism a health crisis, but nothing has changed in the city.
We would love for you to join us to share your memories of Daryl with family and friends. Daryls full obituary can be view at http://www.myersmortuary.com/ A celebration of life will be held from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM on 2021-06-27 at Fraternal Order of Eagles , 2140 N Lebanon St, Lebanon, IN 4
A population of 79 isnt stopping the town of Stockholm from holding its first ever pride event.

Jennifer Lindahl had the idea to host a celebration or parade about a month ago. She explained, it's sort of a whirlwind, I can't even pinpoint how it started. I had an idea and I went to Alan who owns the pie shop and the general store.

Together Lindahl and Alan Nugent began to work on planning a local event for Pride Month, where the LGBTQ+ community is celebrated. As the duo planned and spoke with community members about Pride, it began to grow. I reached out to some artists and I reached out to some friends and jumped on board to help plan, explained Lindahl.

Stockholm has a large LGBTQ+ community so Lindahl was surprised that an event like this hadnt been held in the past. Lindahl is not the only person excited for the event. She explained, I've been stopped on the street, gas stations, stores, walking. I've been stopped, I've been called and messaged by locals saying how grateful they are that this is being planned and this is happening.

Pride celebrations and festivals are held throughout the world (this year WorldPride will be in Copenhagen and the neighbouring Swedish city Malmo) but Lindahl, Nugent and Stockholm residents believe that it is important to host a local celebration. Lindahl explained, we all want to be accepted. This is a really good step to showing everybody that Stockholm is a very inclusive and supporting community. She added: This is our home and I want people to feel included in our home. And I want them to feel like it is theirs. I mean, we all want to feel that way. I want to feel like I belong here, and that I'm included here. And so it is really important to be community centric.

The big celebration hosted by a small community has drawn attention from news organizations across the state. Lindahl hypothesizes that this is partly due to the uniqueness of the event, partly due to Stockholms popularity as a tourist destination, and partly due to the fact that everyone is still trying to find the best ways to gather and celebrate as a community while the pandemic subsides.

Whatever the reason is for the spotlight on Stockholm, Lindahl hopes that community members participate in Pride. I hope that it's going to be a lot of locals, thats really the goal is that it's a community event, said Lindahl. Although, were a tourist community so our community does stretch our arms open to the Twin Cities as well.

Lindahl stressed that people should not feel intimidated to participate in Pride. This is my learning journey, I don't know what it's gonna be like, every day I'm learning something new, said Lindahl. She noted that it is ok to be learning and have questions and still celebrate Pride. Lindahl said, I'm not saying that you have to change who you are to accept this, but walking a path in love, you cant go wrong.

Though Stockholms 2021 Pride is still a few days away, the community is already beginning to think about 2022 and beyond. Nugent and Lindahl found a fiscal sponsor and they hope to turn Lake Pepin Pride into a nonprofit. Lindahl noted that people have already reached out with offers to help plan Pride 2022.

As the conversation about Lake Pepin Pride came to a close Lindahl stated, I hope we have a lot of allies there, we all need allies, right? We all need that. And I hope that whoever comes comes with an open mind and an accepting heart.
POTTSVILLE  Firefighters responding to a structure fire in the city late Saturday night found more than just its occupants residing there.

Numerous animals in unhealthy living conditions, including dogs and reptiles, were rescued when fire damaged a multibuilding home at 457 E. Arch St.

Crews were called to the address just before 11:30 p.m. on a report of a working structure fire. When they got there, they found the occupants, two adults and a 2-year old child, were out of the home and found seven dogs and numerous reptiles inside, Fire Chief James Misstishin said.

He said the female adult awoke to the fire, woke up the man, grabbed the child and they got out and he commended her for her actions getting everyone out. The rescued animals included seven dogs, a Harlequin macaw, two rabbits, nine reptiles and a rat.

Hillside SPCA Executive Director Tricia Moyer-Mentzer and Humane Officer Dana Mansell responded to the home to rescue the animals, but when the reptiles were discovered, Moyer-Mentzer called Rudy Arceo, founder of Venom Institute of Schuylkill Haven, to assist.

The shelter took custody of seven dogs and two rabbits, Moyer-Mentzer said. Meanwhile, Arceo took in two bearded dragons, a chameleon, three tegus, a baby African Spurred tortoise, a Leopard gecko, common snapping turtle and a ball python, in addition to the rat and macaw.

He said the reptiles were living in what he called deplorable conditions, adding they had mites and some were emaciated. There were dead rats in their enclosures, as well as rotting greens and he found a dead iguana in a trash can.

In my professional opinion, there was clear evidence of mistreatment, he said.

The dogs and rabbits didnt fare better. Moyer-Mentzer said most of the dogs are skinny and living in crates in their own feces.

They were getting in fights with each other and one dog had numerous wounds in various stages of healing, she said.

The rabbits were in a hallway that had woodchips, without an adequate living area. However, Arceo said the macaw was in great condition when it was rescued.

Moyer-Mentzer and Arceo said there are plans for the animals to be adopted.

Misstishin said the reptiles presented a serious safety concern to the firefighters. Arceo said while reptile ownership is allowed in Pennsylvania, it isnt allowed within Pottsville. Moyer-Mentzer said an investigation into the animals living conditions is underway.

The chief said the fire displaced not only the residents of 457 E. Arch St., but also the man and woman who resided in 455 E. Arch St. They were assisted by the American Red Cross Tri-County Chapter, while the three in the home where the fire originated are staying with relatives.

Britney Ealy, a resident of 455 E. Arch St., and her friend, Brandon Truscott, were among the onlookers gathered across from the home watching firefighters put it out Saturday night, along with their pets.

Ealy said she was cleaning and had headphones on when she heard someone banging on her door yelling, fire. She woke up Truscott and they, along with the animals, got out.

It was scary, Ealy said, holding her black cat, Alice Cooper, in her arms, while Truscotts dog, Odi, walked nearby on a leash.

By the time they got out, she said the windows on the third floor blew out and they ran across the street. Flames and smoke were visible from the third floor of the home and on Route 61.

The fire was mostly out by midnight, with firefighters still battling hot spots on the roof around that time. Misstishin said the fire activated smoke alarms on the first floor, but there were none on the third floor where the fire originated. None of the occupants, firefighters or animals were injured.

Following an investigation, the chief said it was ruled an accidental electric fire, originating on the third floor when clothes from a wash basket overheated a cord to a mini refrigerator plugged into an extension cord. Misstishin advised that any appliance should be connected directly into the wall and not an extension cord.

The building sustained heavy fire damage on the third floor of 457 and 455 E. Arch St., while the lower floors had smoke and water damage. Misstishin said the property at 457 E. Arch St. was condemned by the fire department and code enforcement officers as a result of the damage and animal feces in it.

Fire crews began leaving around 12:45 a.m. In addition to Pottsville firefighters, a Rapid Intervention Team from the Schuylkill Haven Fire Department and Schuylkill EMS also responded.
Cressona

Bethany Christian Fellowship, 102 Front St., will have its annual drive-thru open-pit chicken barbecue from noon to 4 p.m. June 12. For more information, call 570-385-0609.

Pottsville

Lori Quinn, who has been a featured artist at the Walk In Art Center, Schuylkill Haven, will speak at the Schuylkill County Historical Society, 305 N. Centre St., at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 30, about how the ornaments and other unique details of Pottsville buildings have inspired her work. The program will include photos and the finished art projects. Admission is free for society members and $5 for the general public. For more information, email vonahnlisa@gmail.com.

Schuylkill Haven

The Schuylkill Haven Senior Citizens group will not meet on Monday, June 14, due to scheduled vacations. The next meeting will be at 1 p.m. Monday, June 28, at which members will have to sign up for the picnic. Reservations for some day and overnight trips are still available. For more information, call 570-385-5323. For questions about the Silver Birches trip, call Barb Shappell at 570-385-4156.

Schuylkill Haven

The Schuylkill Haven High School Class of 1960 will meet for lunch at noon Thursday, June 17, at the Leesport Diner, Route 61 south. Class members and friends are welcome. For reservations or more information, call 570-385-5323.

Shenandoah

The Anthony P. Damato American Legion Medal of Honor Post 792, 116 N. Main St., will have its monthly meeting on Monday, June 14, with directors at 7:30 p.m. and members at 8 p.m., according to a release from Rich Stevens, commander.
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN  Parishioners of St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church celebrated the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist at a Mass presided over by the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown.

Sundays Mass of Corpus et Sanguis Christi, or The Body and Blood of Christ, was celebrated by the Most Rev. Alfred A. Schlert, with Monsignor Edward S. Zemanik, the churchs pastor, as the concelebrant. The celebration included the traditional Mass, followed by an outdoor procession to the rectory at the church just outside the borough. More than 100 people attended.

In his homily during the Mass, Schlert said he was grateful to be at the church, noting the year being declared The Year of the Real Presence, the official start of which was April 11. Sundays feast was celebrated as a continuation of the theme. Schlert said it will end next year at Most Blessed Sacrament Parish in Bally, Berks County, the oldest church in the diocese.

Schlert continued that Catholics too often have lost our way in knowing Christs real presence, noting that less than one-third of Catholics believe in it. Each time Mass is celebrated, he said, the sacrifice of Christ is presented.

We are a blessed people to share in the life of the son, he said, adding that every Mass is a celebration of Corpus Christi.

Before the procession, Zemanik thanked Schlert for coming to the church, to which parishioners applauded.

After the Mass, the procession of parishioners walked out of the sanctuary to an altar set up outside the rectory, with some carrying memorial candles that were attached to the pews. Schlert carried the Blessed Sacrament under a canopy to the altar, where the benediction was held.

Zemanik said after the Mass that Schlerts visit was something to which the parish has been looking forward.

Its nice to have the shepherd of the flock at Mass, he said, referring to the bishop as the head of the churches in the diocese.

According to a letter from Schlert announcing the theme, the Year of Real Presence marks a jubilee year for the diocese, celebrating the 60th anniversary of its founding in 1961 by Pope Saint John XXIII. As part of the year, Zemanik said the parish has exposition of the Blessed Sacrament weekly and adoration every month.
Many state lawmakers who gleefully have given billions of dollars in tax credits to the natural gas industry and its derivatives are far more suspicious of state tax credits for film production because ... well, you know, Hollywood.

But in terms of state incentives, the difference between the two industries is that the gas industry is in Pennsylvania because the gas is here, whereas most film projects can be produced anywhere.

Film incentives truly help to make the state competitive.

And in 2019, the states nonpartisan Independent Fiscal Office reviewed the existing Film Production Tax Credit program. IFO director Matthew Knittel told lawmakers that the credit produced a net economic gain for the commonwealth.

Under the program, a production is eligible for a 25% state tax credit if at least 60% of its total production budget is spent in Pennsylvania. It covers feature and television films, television talk or game show series, television commercials, TV pilots or each episode of a television series intended as programming for a national audience.

The Pennsylvania Film Office, which administers the program, lists at least 36 major movies that have been made in Pennsylvania over the past 12 years, with assistance from the tax credit. The films include The Dark Knight Rises, Silver Linings Playbook, Foxcatcher, The Fault of Our Stars, Jack Reacher and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Even so, Democratic state Rep. Joe Ciresi of Montgomery County and Republican Rep. Kathleen Tomlinson of Bucks County say that the state loses many productions every year to other states because the film production tax credit is capped at $70 million.

They have introduced a bill to increase the tax credit, renaming it the Film Industry Incentive, to $125 million a year.

Lawmakers should seize the opportunity to keep Pennsylvania competitive in seeking film productions that boost local and state economies.
I agree 100% with the caller from Locust Valley regarding the practice of oiling and chipping our roads instead of resurfacing them. Every time I travel, I cringe at the fact that my paint is being destroyed. Vehicles are not cheap, but our town sure is. With all the taxes we pay, we should be entitled to superior road conditions. No excuses.

Orwigsburg



Hey, Frackville, so you think Trump was a great president? Five-hundred-thousand died from the virus, unemployment at an all-time high, tax cuts for the rich who didnt need them, kissing Putins rear, putting all our agencies down and trying to destroy democracy. So what was so great?

Pottsville



Hey, Frackville, you said the most disgusting thing you saw at the Capitol was Joe Biden being sworn in. You want to know the most disgusting thing I saw was? Those Trump lovers storming the Capitol, beating up on police, threatening the vice president and all other members of Congress, building nooses and your president, Trump, hiding in the White House, failing to say or do anything to try and stop it. Thats possibly the worst thing that could ever be done or seen.

Pottsville



I dont think we need to have a commission to study what happened at the insurrection on Jan. 6. We should just nominate a special prosecutor and use the video evidence and start charging people.

Mahanoy City



Well, the articulate genius from Brockton talks about hypocrisy but at this moment, the Republicans refuse to investigate the Jan. 6 take over of the government of the United States. What happened to Back the Blue? Hundreds of police officers were attacked and injured, by a mob that was sent by the most pathetic president ever. That day should live in infamy. You want to talk about something important? Talk about the attempted takeover of the United States government and the killing of our police.

Frackville



Local landlords have raised apartment rents so high that it is now cheaper to own and maintain a home than it is to pay their high rents. This will result in higher and longer vacancy rates for these greedy landlords.

Minersville



I got a news flash for everybody. The Democratic Party voted to have their own national anthem. Guess what it is? It is an old Frank Sinatra hit, Send in the Clowns.

Frackville



Perhaps the next op-ed from Mr. Meuser should concentrate only on what positive strides the Republicans are making on anything. Lets see if that can be accomplished without mentioning the current administration.

Pottsville
The formation of this gyre would also raise the chance for tropical development in the northwest Caribbean, in waters near the Yucatan Peninsula, or off the west coast of Central America on or around June 15, AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.
Ranbir Kapoor's upcoming movie with Luv Ranjan will begin its third schedule this month. A source from the creative team of Luv Ranjan's rom-com shared this news with Bollywood Hungama. The ongoing pandemic and its subsequent lockdown have disrupted shoots in many states of India. The schedule of Ranbir Kapoor's upcoming movie has also gone awry. The original schedule was slated for the second week of May.

Ranbir Kapoor's upcoming movie to continue shooting in June?

The director of the film has planned to call for the lights-camera-action to begin from June 20 this year. The source revealed that the upcoming schedule is "important" as Luv intends to film the emotional scenes that feature the lead actors, along with Dimple Kapadia and Boney Kapoor, who will play Ranbir's parents. He revealed that the third schedule was cancelled due to the lockdown in Noida and Mumbai. Luv Ranjan and the co-producer of the untitled film, Ankur Garg, "went back to the drawing board and have reworked everyone's dates". The upcoming schedule will be taking place in either Delhi or Uttar Pradesh, depending on the restrictions being lifted as they require "live locations".

The source also revealed that Spain forms the backdrop for a small portion of the upcoming rom-com drama. The filmmakers are "planning to head to the European country in the month of September". He added that the team plans to wrap up all the scenes in the home country and then head abroad depending on the situation in Spain. The family rom-com drama, which began shooting in Noida earlier this year, is scheduled to release in the month of March 2022. The list of popular Luv Ranjan's movies includes Pyaar Ka Punchnama, Bittoo Boss, Akash Vani, Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety, De De Pyaar De, among others.

Furthermore, Ranbir Kapoor will also be seen in Ayan Mukherjee's next fantasy action-adventure film, Brahmastra. Also penned by Ayan, the film features Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles, along with Mouni Roy and Nagarjuna Akkineni in pivotal roles. The film is a part of a planned trilogy. The Brahmastra release date is yet to be revealed as it was delayed several times owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

IMAGE: AYAN MUKHERJEE'S INSTAGRAM

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Wonder Woman 1984 actress Gal Gadot announced her pregnancy in March this year and seemed to have been spending some quality time with her family and nature. The actress took to her Instagram to share snaps of her enjoying a cool breeze on an evening stroll at her 'Favourite place'. Check out Gal Gadot's latest post about what makes her calm.

Gal Gadot's 'favourite place'

The 36-year-old actress shared two pictures of her glowing at the beach while wrapped up in a blanket. She informed her fans that she took a break to spend some time at her 'favourite place'. Describing her calm feelings while at the beach, the actress could not help but admire nature's beauty in front of her. Gal Gadot wrote, 'the sound of the waves, the smell of the ocean, the sand in my toes, those always make me calmer, happier and ready for anything'.

Netizens' reaction to Gal Gadot's latest post

The fans appeared excited for the actress for taking some time off while pregnant. The comment section was spammed with heart emojis and people marvel at her glowing beauty. While on the other hand, some fans speculated that the actress was back in her country and spending time with her family in Israel.

Pic Credit: Gal Gadot IG

More on Gal Gadot's Instagram photos and videos

Enjoying a massive following of over 50 million followers, the actress shares moments from her personal and professional moments with her family. From announcing her pregnancy to sharing BTS videos and photos of her latest movies, Gal makes sure to keep her fans updated via social media. Recently, the actress shared a 'Thank you' note for the team of her recent initiation 'Women of IMPACT'.

Adding to her saga of 'Thank you' notes, one of the most successful Gal Gadot movies, Wonder Woman completed 4 years since its release. The actress shared a compilation of photos from the movie and thanked the people involved in the project. She also shared a fun monochrome video where she can be seen enjoying the pool. Check out Gal Gadot's latest photos and videos here.

IMAGE- GAL GADOT'S INSTAGRAM

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A woman in the Philippines was delivered deep-fried towels instead of the fried chicken meal that she ordered online during the late delivery, which has left the customers of the popular food chain outlet aghast on the Internet. Alique Perez told local press that she was devastated by the incident where Jollibee, a Filipino multinational chain of fast-food restaurants, was served something really disturbing in place of the regular meal that she had ordered for her son. The shocked and annoyed once a long-standing customer took to Facebook and explained the misogyny.

Just something that frustrated me this late. We had Jollibee delivered via grab. Ordered chicken for my son, while I was trying to get him a bite, I found it super hard to even slice, the aggravated woman wrote in a Facebook post. She continued, that she tried opening it up with my hands and to my surprise a deep-fried towel. This is really disturbing Perez was extremely angry at the contents of her order, as she added: How the hell do you get the towel in the batter and even fry it?? The woman also added that she had initially never believed that the customers who jotted lengthy posts complaining about strange orders that they received, but now she could relate to the inconvenience caused to them.

Jollibee orders probe

So disgusting and embarrassing... to think that youre even branched in BGC [Bonifacio Global City]. Theres a first for everything. And this has been the worst first! Calming myself down for this... But WTH, the woman further continued. She said that the Essence of the towel contaminated the oil and the batter from the supplier so how many chickenjoys are affected? We wont know..In the post the showed woman shared the battered blue towels and her billing invoice that portrayed 6.83/$9.69 USD as the cost of the order. In response to the womans complaint, Jollibee released a statement saying that the company was deeply concerned and has conducted a thorough investigation of the incident. The food chain also ordered the branch in Philippines to shut down for 3 days as the probe into the matter was underway.

Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.
Chandigarh, Jun 6 (PTI) The Haryana cabinet will take a final decision after the state government received an offer from a pharmaceutical company based in Malta to provide up to 60 million doses of Sputnik-V vaccine to the state at a cost of Rs 1,120 per dose, Health Minister Anil Vij said on Sunday.

We are considering the offer and it will be put up before the state cabinet, which will take a final decision, Vij told reporters in Ambala.

The state had floated a global tender for COVID-19 vaccine shots through the Haryana Medical Services Corporation (HMSCL) on May 26.

The tender was closed on June 4, but no bid was received during the period, the government had said in a statement here on Saturday.

However, Malta-headquartered Pharma Regulatory Services Limited has given an expression of interest to the state-run HMSCL to provide doses of Sputnik-V manufactured by the Gamaleya Institute and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), it had said.

Sputnik-V is one of the three vaccines approved by India's drug controller for use in the country.

As per the offer made by the firm, each dose of the vaccine will cost Rs 1,120, the statement said.

The firm has given a timeline of 30 days to supply the first batch of five lakh doses, followed by 10 lakh doses every 20 days till the supply is completed, against a letter of credit issued in its name, the government said.

Many states had recently floated global tenders for COVID-19 vaccine to augment supplies being received by the Centre, as well as to give a boost for vaccination of the 18-44 age group. PTI SUN VSD HDA

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
As the faceoff between locals and Lakshadweep administrator Praful Khoda Patel continues, the Save Lakshadweep Forum is holding a 12-hour mass hunger strike on Monday, protesting the unilateral changes imposed by Patel. The committee which has involved all district panchayats to unite against the admin has closed all shops except pharmacies, seeking reversal of the decisions. Amid heavy security, the Save Lakshadweep forum has vowed to intensify protests if there is no favorable decision. Sources state that even local BJP leadership back the protests.

Hunger strike in Lakshadweep

The protests come days after the Lakshadweep administration passed several more controversial orders such as - depute government servants on fishing boats for intelligence, intensify checking of passenger boats reaching the islands, mandating scientific disposal of the tender coconut shell, tree leaves, coconut husk, coconut shell, trunk instead of burial. NCP MP Mohammed Faizal has questioned the practicality of implementing such orders, while Kerala High Court has issued notice to Patel on a plea challenging draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021 and new changes brought by him.

Defending the new changes, the island's collector S Asker Ali has claimed that the administration wished to develop Lakshadweep as the next Maldives. Ali said that the administration aimed to develop the three islands holistically. Maintaining that the plan was for local resident's welfare, he said that development done till date in Lakshadweep was not commensurate of its potential.

The Lakshadweep row

Opposing the new rules imposed by Patel, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal has written to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking Patel's removal claiming that Patel had imposed a series of "authoritarian measures" since his appointment on December 2, 2020. Meanwhile, CPI(M) has held Patel responsible for the current surge in COVID-19 cases due to the scrapping of mandatory quarantine for travellers. The Opposition has claimed that Patel was trying to saffronise the island where almost 95% population is Muslim, with senior MPs like Sharad Pawar and Rahul Gandhi seeking revocation of the changes. Kerala has already passed a resolution against the new changes.

Similarly, BJP's Lakshadweep unit president Mohammad Kasim backed the local protests in the island against the new regulations, saying the party will work towards removing them. Reports state that several miffed BJP leaders have also resigned in process in protest against the administration's unilateral decisions and Centre's indifference to it. In response, Home Minister Amit Shah has assured that he will be resolving the locals' concerns.

What are Patel's 'objectionable' decisions?
Jammu, Jun 6 (PTI) A 20-year-old man from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was detained by army personnel on Sunday after he intruded into the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district, officials said.

Mohammad Zahid, a resident of Fatehpur village, was noticed by the army while moving from across the LoC in the Kirni sector and was immediately taken into custody, they said.

No objectionable material has been recovered from him, but he is being questioned, they added. A defence spokesman confirmed the detention of the youth from PoK and said further details are awaited. PTI TAS TIR TIR

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
An analysis by the group Oceana recently found that hundreds of boats, most of them Chinese, had hidden their movements near Argentinian waters during the last three years and were potentially engaged in illegal fishing in the lucrative area. According to the report, more than half of the foreign ships fishing near Argentina had turned off their tracking system in a bid to hide their activities. Oceana said that 66 per cent of the fleet that was responsible for the incidents belonged to China.

The report by the Oceana group stated that about 800 vessels, over half of them from China, logged nearly 900,000 hours of visible fishing activity via the Automatic Identification System (AIS) within 20 nautical miles of Argentina's waters between January 2018 and April 2021. More than half of those boats went dark in over 6,200 gap events, when their AIS was turned of for at least 24 hours. The Oceana report found that more than 430 mainland Chinese-flagged vessels were responsible for almost 70 per cent of visible fishing in Argentinas waters.

Beth Lowell, the deputy vice-president for US campaigns at Oceana said, You shouldn't be hiding where you are in the oceans when you're fishing. Why did they turn it off if they're doing something legal? They should be keeping their AIS on so the world can see what's happening.

He added, "The vessels that disappeared along the edge of the national waters of Argentina could be pillaging its waters illegally.

Chinese ships in South America

South China Morning Post reported that Chinese ships have been converging around the waters of South American countries such as Argentina and Ecuador, with the massive Chinese fleet and instances of illegal fishing attracting criticism and involving run-ins with the law. Oceana also found that 173 - about 40 per cent - of Chinese vessels that fished near Argentina had transshipments within a month of their AIS being turned off. Further, apart from Chinese boats, Spanish, South Korean and Taiwanese ships accounted for about 26 per cent between them of the visible activities, while Argentinian ships conducted less than 1 per cent of the total fishing.

(With inputs from ANI)


A day after it was reported that a Malta-based firm was keen on supplying 60 million doses of Russia's COVID-19 vaccine 'Sputnik V' to Haryana, the country's High Commission has responded with an answer. In a statement on Monday, Reuben Gauci, High Commissioner of Malta to India cleared the air and confirmed that his country's government is not aware of the mentioned firm that will provide the Sputnik V doses to Haryana.

Malta responds on firm expressing interest in supplying Sputnik V vaccine to Haryana

The High Commissioner citing media reports on Sunday stated that his country's government and other authorities are not aware of the firm - Gamaleya Institute and the Russian Direct Investment Fund which had reportedly expressed interest in supplying 60 million doses of Russia's COVID-19 vaccine 'Sputnik V' to Haryana.

Additionally, Gauci also said that Malta is not responsible in any way or form for the activities that will be undertaken with regards to the vaccination transaction between the firm and the state of Haryana. However, the High Commissioner reiterated his country's support to India in its fight against COVID-19.

Here's the statement by the High Commission of the Republic of Malta:

The High Commission of the Republic of Malta to India in New Delhi wishes to refer to statements and articles which have appeared in esteemed Indian news portals and newspapers on the 5th and 6th June 2021, stating that the Indian State of Haryana has received an expression of interest from a Malta-based pharma company an international pharma company namely Pharma Regulatory Services Limited to provide up to 60mn does of Sputnik V vaccine manufactured by the Gamaleya Institute and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The High Commission of the Republic of Malta to India wishes to inform that the Maltese Government and respective Maltese Regulatory Authorities are not aware of the above-mentioned Pharma Company and are not responsible in any way or form for any activities undertaken with regards to this vaccine transaction. The High Commission of Malta in New Delhi wishes to re-iterate its support to the Government of India in its fight against the second wave of Covid19 and is ready to assist in any means possible.

Earlier on May 26, Haryana had earlier issued a global tender asking companies to provide vaccines directly to the state. However, with no bids in the fray, it was closed on June 5. The Maltese firm too missed the deadline but later expressed interest in supplying vaccines to the state.

Although no bid was received in the tender but an international pharma company with its headquarters in Malta namely Pharma Regulatory Services Limited has given an expression of Interest to HMSCL to provide up to 60 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine manufactured by Gamaleya Institute and Russian Direct Investment," the Haryana government had said.
Families of the victims who lost their lives in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre departed Bosnia's capital Sarajevo for the Netherlands on Sunday, to see judges there read a verdict to wartime Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic.

Nearly three decades after Europe's worst conflict since World War II, a U.N. war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands, is set on Tuesday to close the case against Mladic, the most notorious figure in the 1992-1995 war that killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless.

The tribunal sentenced Mladic in 2017 to life imprisonment, after convicting him of masterminding crimes throughout the 1992-95 Bosnian War, including genocide in the eastern enclave of Srebrenica in 1995, where his forces murdered more than 8,000 Muslim Bosnian men and boys.

Mladic appealed, but the case has been repeatedly delayed by his ill health and, more recently, by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many hope the final ruling will bring closure for the victims' families and drive home the message that there is no impunity for war crimes.

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Officials in Yemen said Sunday that 17 people were killed - including a girl aged five - in a missile attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The ballistic missile struck a gas station in the central city of Marib, setting cars ablaze as drivers were refuelling them.

All the victims were civilians, authorities said.

Yemen's information minister said the attack, which took place Saturday, amounted to a war crime.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

The director of a government human rights office, Abd Rabbo Judei, on Sunday visited the home of Taher Farag, a man he said was killed alongside his daughter, Layal, in the attack.

"We are calling on the international community, the international envoy, to stop crimes committed by Houthi militias and we hope this crime is the last crime of the Houthi militias in Marib governorate," said Judei, surrounded by Layal's friends and uncle.

Houthi rebels have been attempting since February to capture Marib from the internationally recognized government to try to complete their control over the northern part of Yemen.

But their attacks have been repelled by government forces aided by the Saudi-led coalition supporting them.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since 2014, when the Houthis swept across much of the north and seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government into exile.

The war has killed more than 130,000 people and spawned the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

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When prisoners are released, we as a society want to see them return successfully, so they will not become recidivists. They will need jobs, education and community acceptance. The problem is, the courts create roadblocks by prohibiting them from driving in the first year of release. In the second year, they might qualify for a hardship license that limits where they can drive.
Speaking to Likud parliamentarians on Sunday, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to quickly overthrow the 8-party coalition government if it is formed. While the opposition alliance has claimed a majority in the Knesset, it needs to win a vote of confidence to formally oust the Netanyahu dispensation. Claiming the new coalition was a result of the "great election fraud' in the history of democracy, he claimed that it will not be able to form a consensus on key national issues.

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu remarked, "This left-wing government is a government that will not be able to stand on the small and big things that are a part of the nation state and are promising its future in front of huge pressures of (settlement) freeze, displacement, of the division of Jerusalem, to rip the negev from the state and to stop Iran from arming itself with a nuclear weapon". He added, "The time is late, not too late. I call on you to do the right thing and vote against the left-wing government. And anyway, I want to promise that, my friends and I in the Lukid party will vehemently oppose the establishment of this government of fraud and this dangerous one and if God forbid, it is established, we will overthrow it very quickly".

Meanwhile, he also denied allegations of incitement in the wake of a public statement made by Nadav Argaman, the head of Israel's internal security agency Shin Bet. On June 5, Argaman warned of the "severe escalation in violent and inciting discourse on social media. Moreover, he urged public officials to make a clear appeal to stop this discourse, which he claimed was enabling violence that could even cost a life.

Netanyahu on the way out

Benjamin Netanyahu remained in office as head of the caretaker government as no clear winner emerged in the last 4 elections held since April 2019. As Knesset seats are allocated among various parties as per proportional representation, no single party has ever won 61 seats needed for a majority. After Netanyahu failed to form a government, Yesh Atid chief Yair Lapid was given 4 weeks to cobble up a coalition.

On June 2, 8 political parties in Israel reached an agreement to form a unity government that would end Benjamin Netanyahu's tenure as the PM. They include Yesh Atid (17 seats), Kahol Lavan (8 seats), Israel Beiteinu (7 seats), Labor (7 seats), Yamina (7 seats), New Hope (6 seats), Meretz (6 seats) and Raam (4 seats). Making this announcement shortly before the deadline to form the government, Lapid stated that he had informed Israel President Reuven Rivlin of the agreement.

With Raam on board, this is the first time in many decades that an Arab party will be a part of the ruling coalition. As a part of the rotational deal, Netanyahu's former aide and Yamina chief Naftali Bennett will become the Prime Minister first for two years followed by Yair Lapid. Incidentally, Netanyahu's 12-year tenure- the longest for any Prime Minister in Israel's history might come to an end barely a few days after the ceasefire with Hamas.
Exclusive footage obtained by the Associated Press and filmed in late May showed the presence of Sudanese troops, known as the Al-Hazm Brigade, in Yemen;s Hajjah Governorate.

Sudanese troops are fighting alongside the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen's internationally recognized government forces against Houthi rebels.

The footage shows the deployment of Sudanese troops in the Midi region, which overlooks the coast of the Red Sea in the Hajjah Governorate, northwest of the country, close to the Yemeni-Saudi border.

The Sudanese troops had deployed mainly to Yemen's border areas with Saudi Arabia to repel any attacks by Houthis on the kingdom.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthis swept across much of the north and seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government into exile.

The Saudi-led coalition entered the war the following year on the side of the government.

The war has killed more than 130,000 people and spawned the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

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In a tragic incident, two express trains have collided in southern Pakistan on Monday killing 30 passengers. According to reports, the Millat Express derailed and the Sir Syed Express train hit it soon afterward. According to a police officer, the collision occurred in Ghotki district in Sindh province.

Following the incident, villagers, rescuers, and police were transporting the dead and injured passengers to nearby hospitals. However, the reason for the derailment and the ensuing collision was not established immediately. As of now, rescue operations are still underway and the injured are being rushed to hospitals. As per reports, train accidents are common in Pakistan and successive governments have paid little attention to improving the poorly maintained signal system and aging tracks.

7 killed after minivan falls in river in Northwest Pakistan

A minivan fell from a mountain road into a river Sunday in northwestern Pakistan, killing seven people and injuring three others, a rescue official said. Ahmed Faizi, spokesman for Pakistan's rescue service, said the van fell into Siren River in the district of Mansehra in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He said the fall apparently happened because the van was speeding when it made a sharp turn without slowing down.

Faizi said the bodies of two women, a boy and four men were recovered and three injured children were taken to a hospital in the town of Phulra. Deadly accidents are common in Pakistan due to poor road infrastructure and disregard for traffic laws and safety standards. Last week, a passenger bus fell into Jehlum River near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, killing 10 people and injuring 15.

With AP Inputs
Pakistan is training terrorists in Hamas and fighters of the Palestinian militant group are receiving their military training from the country's Army, claimed former Pakistan Envoy Raja Zafar ul Haq.

In a sensational revelation, the senior Pakistan MP shared that the co-founder of Fatah in Gaza-- Abu Jihad had told him that most Hamas fighters had received military training by the Pakistan Army. Raja Zafar ul Haq also claimed that the Pakistan Army had a Commando Unit specifically stationed in Gaza for the cause.

"In 1981, Abu Jihad was alive and I met him. He told me that whenever there is a war with Israel, those on the forefront are those who have received military training in Pakistan. This has happened, will happen and will continue happening," he said in the video accessed by RepublicTv.

Reacting to the report Major General A K Siwach (Retd) spoke to RepublicTv where he lashed out at Pakistan for priding itself in creating and breeding terrorism. "Pakistan is known for doing such things. It can go to any extent, All these LeT and JeM terrorists trained by Pakistan Army are fighting in Afghanistan, along with the Taliban. You can't rule out the possibilty. Pakistan is 'terroristan' and takes pride in creating terrorists. It claims it's a victim of terrorism but it itself has created terrorism all over the world. They can not play a victim card, it is part of the problem and not the solution. Out of the 100s of international terrorists declared by the United Nations, so many reside in Pakistan, that is the track record of the country."

Pakistan calls for 'jihad' in Israel

Even during the escalating tensions between Israel and Hamas, and the violence intensifying between the two nations, Pakistan Parliament had openly called for waging 'Jihad' against Israel. At a time when the global community was seeking a ceasefire to put an end to the weeks-long violence which was moulding into a global war-like situation, Pakistan in its Parliament was adding fuel to the fire calling for its children to be dedicated to the cause.

In the Parliament, Prime Minister Imran Khan-led PTI's legislator Asma Qadeer remarked that all 'our children will be dedicated to jihad' against Israel. The PTI leader claimed that Israel has been 'torturing' women and children, and to fight back, Pakistan needed to wage 'jihad' against Zionists.

In a video that came to light, Asma Qadeer can be heard saying, "What Israel is doing to our brothers and sisters over there, it should be certain now that other than jihad there is no other solution. The way they are torturing our children and women, I am with you. I will be the first one to go on jihad. Put my name first. I will go and save my Palestinian brothers and sisters from those who have crossed all the limits of humanity."

The Pakistan leader had not even spared the US for backing Israel in the war calling Vice President Kamala Harris 'a disgrace on womanhood.' Asma Qadeer had also used unsuitable words against Harris for 'not backing America but India's stance on the issue.'
Massive protests erupted in Pakistan's Karachi on Sunday which later turned violent. According to reports, the protestors were staging a sit-in outside a housing society off the Super Highway against forceful eviction by the authorities. The protestors claim that they were being evicted from their ancestral lands in the vicinity. Locals have also alleged that apart from forced evictions, the demography of the area is being changed

Protests against forced eviction in Karachi

In order to protest against the forced evictions, the protestors were staging a sit-in, later set the shops and vehicles ablaze. As per reports, protests have been going on in other parts of Karachi as well. The locals have alleged that the administration is changing the demography of the area. Moreover, it is also being reported that people from Punjab province were being brought to Sindh.

Therefore, in order to protests against this, the Sindh action committee ordered a sit-in protest against the administration's actions. However, the protest soon turned violent as the protestors set the shops and vehicles ablaze. Reports further stated that the protests were being carried out by the Sindhi-speaking population of the province. Moreover, the protestors have also attacked the Bahria Township that is believed to be close to former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.

Locals have further alleged that the Pakistan administration has been trying to bring in former Generals and bureaucrats from the Punjab province to Sindh so that they may benefit during the elections. The reports also state that many officials represent the Sindh community which otherwise are not liked by the Pakistani administration.

Earlier in May, demonstrations and shutter-down strikes were held in cities and towns of Sindh to protest against the demolition of houses in Karachi's old villages where the administration is reclaiming lands for housing projects.The rallies and demonstrations were called by the Sindh United Party (SUP) and Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) and were supported by several other nationalist parties and groups including Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party (STP).
Tensions escalate for Pakistan as Saudi Arabia becomes one of the nations that do not recognise COVID-19 vaccination certificates of China-made jabs even though Sinopharm and Sinovac are registered with the World Health Organization (WHO). Pakistans Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on June 6 said that Prime Minister Imran Khan is personally looking into the kingdoms non-acceptance of Chinese vaccine along with a few other nations in the Middle East. As per Dawn report, the jabs recommended in Saudi Arabia for use are the ones made by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

Evidently worried about the kingdoms decision, Rashid said in a press conference in Islamabad as per ANI, [The PM] has also told the cabinet that he is in touch with the (Middle Eastern) countries concerned in this regard. Sinopharm is a great vaccine and I salute the Chinese cooperation in this regard. WHO granted emergency use listing to Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine developed by Beijing Bio-Insitute of Biological Products Co Ltd, which is a subsidiary of China National Biotec Group (CNBG).

Pakistan plans to inoculate people with Pfizer

In order to deal with the Saudi demands of vaccination, earlier this week, Pakistani Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar had announced that certain people who are either working abroad on work visas, or students planning to study in such nations, or citizens willing to go for Haj, will be given Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine. He also said that such exceptions will be given priority as Pfizer jabs are limited in Pakistan. As per Dawn report, Umar also warned that nations refusing to accept vaccination certificates of Chinese vaccines would create a problem for the entire world.

If every country makes it mandatory for visitors to be inoculated by their choice of vaccine [brands], the entire world would suffer, he had reportedly said before adding that Chinas COVID-19 vaccines were the most exported brands in the world at the moment. Even though Chinas vaccines are approved by United Nations (UN) health agency, the concerns over the efficacy of the jabs still loom on several governments. In a rare admission, Chinas Centres for Disease Control in April had said that the efficacy of Chinese coronavirus vaccines is not high as they may require improvements, as per ANI.

IMAGE: AP
Dhaka, Jun 6 (PTI) Bangladesh on Sunday scrapped the gallantry awards of four convicted ex-military officers who are on the run, evading death sentences for assassinating the country's founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family on August 15, 1975.

"The (gallantry) awards of these four self-confessed killers of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and others have been scrapped," read an official notification.

The four sacked officers -- lieutenant colonel Shariiful Haque Dalim, lieutenant colonel, SHMB Noor Chowdhury, lieutenant AM Rashed Chowdhury and Nayek Subedar (JCO) Moslem Uddin Khan -- are believed to be hiding abroad.

They were awarded with different gallantry awards for their role in Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan but they went rogue in 1975, plotting a military coup which ousted Bangabandhu's post-independence Awami League government.

The Bangladesh founder's eldest daughter and incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and younger daughter Sheikh Rehana survived the putsch as they were on a visit to West Germany at that time.

Twelve sacked military officers were sentenced to death in Bangabandhu's murder trial and five of them have been executed by now, while one died of natural cause during a fugitive stay abroad.

Despite their trial and conviction in absentia more than a decade ago, the names of these four ex-officers remained in 1971 Gallantry Award Recipients' List, which recently drew the government's attention.

The notification came days after Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said steps were underway to strip them off the awards.

Five of the convicted killers still remained beyond justice while the government could confirm that one of them was living in the United States and another in Canada. Officials said diplomatic and legal efforts were underway to get their physical custody.

Sheikh Mujib, fondly called "Bangabandhu" or "friend of Bengal" was killed in a predawn raid at his private 32, Dhanmandi house along with his wife, three sons including a 10-year old boy, two daughters' in law and several of the presidential aides including his military secretary.

The band of coup leaders simultaneously raided the houses of two of Bangabandhu's relatives, who were also leaders of the then ruling Awami League, and killed them along with several of their family members including children and pregnant women.

The post-August 15 military and pseudo military regimes protected the killers under an indemnity law and rewarded several of them with prestigious diplomatic assignments abroad or allowed them to float political parties at home.

The returning to power in a landmark 1996 general elections after 21 years in political wilderness, Awami League scrapped the indemnity law and initiated a process of the delayed trial of the perpetrators of the killings in 1975.

Six convicts were hanged at Dhaka Central Jail after a protracted legal procedure.

Two of them were brought back home from Thailand and the United States where they hid to escape the death sentence.

The last of the six to walk to gallows was ex-military captain MA Majed on April 12, 2020, days after he was forced to return home from India, where he managed to take a secret refuge hiding his identity since 1996.

Dhaka's District and Sessions Judge's Court issued the original judgment in 1998 which was endorsed later by the High Court and eventually by apex Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. PTI AR IND

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As fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi seeks bail in Dominica, his lawyers have written to Antigua & Barbuda police Commissioner on Sunday, providing names of his alleged abductors, according to Antigua News Room. Antigua PM Gaston Browne has said that based on Choksi's allegations, Antigua police has begun probing his possible abduction to Dominica. He maintaned that his govt was taking Choksi's allegations seriously. Dominica High Court, which is hearing Choksi's habeas corpus petition, will hear his bail plea on Tuesday - 8 June.

Antigua police probes into Choksi's alleged abduction

Antigua police have commenced an investigation into the possible abduction of Mehul Choksi (in file pic) from Antigua on May 23, 2021: Antigua News Room pic.twitter.com/N0haAPGMkP  ANI (@ANI) June 6, 2021

Dominica magistrate court denies bail

On Thursday, a Magistrate court in Dominica rejected Choksi's bail plea saying that the court was not convinced that the diamantaire will stay in Dominica during the trial considering the "severity" of the matter. Choksi's lawyers have alleged that he was kidnapped, beaten and unwillingly brought to Dominica and that he would not be able to leave the country due to ill-health and extradition proceedings in Antigua & Barbuda. Choksi is currently housed in Dominica-China Friendship Hospital under police guard.

Mehul Choksi arrested

Mehul Choksi purportedly went "missing" after going out for dinner in Antigua island on May 23 and could not be traced even though his vehicle was traced in the Jolly Harbour later. Following a yellow notice alert, Dominican authorities arrested Choksi for allegedly illegally entering the country via Toucari Beach. While Choksi is seeking to be repatriated to Antigua where he enjoys citizenship, Antigua PM Gaston Browne has now refused to grant him entry in Antigua and asked the Dominican government to directly deport him to India. An eight-member team of the CBI, the ED, and the Ministry of External Affairs had flown to Dominica to pursue the case for Choksi's deportation, but have now returned to India.

Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi, have been accused of allegedly siphoning off Rs 13,500 crore of public money from the Punjab National Bank (PNB), using letters of undertaking. Owner of the Gitanjali group, a retail jewellery company, Choksi secured the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in November 2017 under the aegis of the Citizenship by Investment Programme and fled to the island nation in the first week of January 2018 and India formally sought Choksi's extradition in August 2018. While the UK has ordered Modi's deportation, Choksi is yet to face such heat.
In a fresh revelation on Monday, sources told Republic TV that fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi made a failed bid to escape from Antigua and Barbuda to Cuba. This is in complete contrast to the claim of Choksi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal that he was abducted and tortured by some persons and forcefully brought to Dominica on May 23. It is believed that the PNB scam accused landed up in Dominica as he failed in his plan which entailed the use of the sea route.

Moreover, Republic TV exclusively accessed the visuals of a middle-aged man who is perceived as the mind behind this escape plan. However, sources added that the identity of the man is yet to be ascertained. A day earlier, Antigua and Barbuda PM Gaston Browne revealed that Mehul Choksi's lawyers had written to the police commissioner about the names of the people who allegedly kidnapped the fugitive. Moreover, he stated that the police have already started a probe into his possible abduction.

Visual of the mastermind behind Mehul Choksi's escape plan:

Mehul Choksi's Dominica entry and legal woes

Along with his nephew Nirav Modi, he has been accused of allegedly siphoning off Rs 13,500 crore of public money from the Punjab National Bank (PNB), using letters of undertaking. Owner of the Gitanjali group, a retail jewellery company, Choksi secured the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in November 2017 under the aegis of the Citizenship by Investment Programme and fled to the island nation in the first week of January 2018. While India formally sought Choksi's extradition in August 2018, Browne commenced the process of revoking his citizenship on October 14, 2019,

The Mehul Choksi citizenship issue gained traction again after he was reported "missing" on May 23 after going out for dinner. 4 days later, the Dominican government issued an official statement confirming that the fugitive had been detained for illegal entry into the country. Thereafter, the Antigua and Barbuda PM refused to accept him back and held that the PNB scam accused can be repatriated to India on being declared persona non grata by Dominica. This controversy also created ripples in both Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica with the respective opposition leaders Harold Lovell and Lennox Linton accusing their governments of denying fair process to Mehul Choksi.

Ahead of the hearing in the Dominica High Court on the habeas corpus plea filed by the fugitive's lawyers, an 8-member Indian team comprising two members each from the CBI, ED, MEA besides two CRPF commandos landed in the country. Meanwhile, Mehul Choksi's wife Preeti Choksi shared her suspicions about the "mystery woman" who had allegedly invited the diamantaire to her apartment from where other persons were present who kidnapped him. After initial hearings, Dominica HC judge Bernie Stephenson directed that he should be produced before a Magistrate.

However, Magistrate Candia Carrette-George of the Rouseau Magistrate court denied Mehul Choksi bail and adjourned the matter to June 14. Most importantly, she agreed with the prosecution's argument that he is a flight risk considering the severity of the matter. This order was challenged in the Dominican High Court which has agreed to hear the plea on June 8 itself. On the other hand, the hearing on the habeas corpus petition has been put off till the beginning of July implying that Choksi will remain in police custody.
In the dire need for COVID-19 vaccines, Nepal has signed a non-disclosure agreement with Chinese vaccine maker Sinopharm to procure the jabs despite the questions over the legality of such a deal. As Nepal continues to tackle the crippling second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nepal government has sought to procure the Chinese COVID-19 vaccines reportedly due to uncertainty of other sources. The Kathmandu Post quoted an official at the department on the condition of anonymity saying that, The non-disclosure agreement was signed on Friday between the Department of Health Services and Sinopharm electronically.

After the Health Ministry authorised the director general to sign the agreement with Sinopharm, the agreement was signed, the official reportedly added. Previously, Sinopharms proposal for a non-disclosure agreement had caused a stir among Nepals Health Ministry official. As per the report, Nepali laws do not provision agreements in public procurement. The Kathmandu Post further quoted the unnamed official saying, After we state the quantity of vaccines to be procured, Sinopharm will quote the prices...Then the procurement process will move forward. I cannot say when the vaccines will be available.

Nepal govt sought 10 million doses

Reportedly, Roshan Pokharel, chief specialist at Nepals Health Ministry said that the government had proposed to buy 10 million doses but the Chinese company said that they were unable to make that quantity available immediately. He told the media outlet that, we will initially get probably two million doses. The non-disclosure agreement between the Nepal government and Sinopharm was signed after the Chinese government already sending at least 1.8 million doses of its jabs in grants with 800,000 doses in March and one million in early June. Nepal has also received at least one million India-made AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield.

The outlet has previously reported that this non-disclosure agreement means a legally binding contract that would also establish a confidential relationship. Reportedly, it would mean that Nepal is prohibited to reveal many details regarding the jabs including its price. However, Nepals Public Procurement Act 2007 and the newly-introduced COVID-19 Crisis Management Ordinance are silent on non-disclosure agreements even though reportedly both allow the government to procure directly from suppliers or manufacturers without any competitive bidding under extraordinary situations.

IMAGE: ANI/AP/Unsplash
Residents of Andalucia will be the first European citizens to have a coronavirus vaccination certificate with EU accreditation.

This was announced this Monday, 7 June, by the president of the Junta, Juanma Moreno, in his first public appearance after overcoming the Covid virus.

During a visit to a hospital in Seville, the regional government leader explained that people who are fully vaccinated will begin to receive - from this week - a document proving their immunity.

In Andalucia we are ahead and we are pioneers. We have done things well and met objectives after Europe included us in a pilot or the vaccination certificate. It is a job well done and it will bear fruit," he stressed.

Moreno has explained that those over 65, who have already received two doses of vaccines, will be the first to start receiving the accredited certificate from today at home by post. And he has revealed, From next week the objective is that the rest [those under 65] can access it, either through the Salud Responde health app or the ClickSalud website".

It will also be available to those who have recently recovered from Covid: Those who have recovered and who cannot yet be vaccinated for this reason will have a card that indicates that they had the disease less than six months ago, with the date of discharge, given that they have six months of natural immunity," Moreno said.

The certificate will also cover a third group: those not vaccinated but who have undergone a coronavirus test - either PCR or antigens - with a negative result. In this case, the card will be valid for one to three days and can be used to travel or attend cultural or sporting events.
A street gang set 14 municipal buses and two police cars on fire in the Brazilian city of Manaus on Sunday, after a gang member was killed by police during a raid. The gang issued a warning to residents via social media to "stay off the streets or face execution" after the death of "Dadinho", son of a leader of the "Red Command" (Comando Vernelho), during the police raid.

Burned buses littered a terminal near downtown Manaus, and one was seen burning on a city street, while some banks and businesses were damaged and looted by rampaging gang members. A security guard filmed the burning bus from a store where he worked across the street, saying the gang members were heavily armed when they came into the area.

"I heard them during the early morning hours and last night when the gang members set the buses on fire, and they were cruising the city in their vehicles around Manaus," said Alan Emerson Santiago Barbosa.

The Red Command is known for its heavy involvement in drug and weapons trafficking, a key conduit for weapons and drugs arriving from nearby Colombia and Venezuela before being shipped on to the U.S. and southern Latin America. The gang maintains control of favelas through intimidation and violence, clashing with security forces in sometimes heavy shootouts in the streets of the country's cities.

The Governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, declared a "state of emergency," deploying extra police and other security forces into the streets of the city to quell the violence, but residents spent much of Sunday indoors and off the streets after the threats issued by the gang to attack anyone found outside their homes. The Red Command is the same gang targeted in Rio de Janeiro last month in a police raid that led to the deaths of 28 people and one policeman in a local favela.

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Health authorities in Thailand on Monday began their much-anticipated mass rollout of locally produced AstraZeneca vaccine, but it appeared that supplies were falling short of demand from those with scheduled appointments.

Hospitals in various parts of the country have been posting notices for several days that some scheduled appointments would be delayed, adding to existing public skepticism about how many doses the new factory of Siam Bioscience, AstraZeneca's local partner, would be able to produce each month.

The government has said it will produce 6 million doses in June, then 10 million doses each month from July to November, and 5 million doses in December.

Speaking to reporters Monday as he toured a vaccination centre at an indoor stadium in Bangkok, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the Health Ministry confirmed that vaccinations could begin in every province, with vaccines being allocated in accordance to the infection rates.

The vaccination station visited by Prayuth can provide 1,500 jabs a day, said Mongkon Wanitphakdeedecha, director of Vichaivej International Hospital, who was supervising the operation.

He said they have three days' supply on hand, but he did not know if other sites had enough for more than one day.

Prayuth's government had already come under fierce criticism for failure to secure timely and sufficient vaccine supplies.

Thailand last year had been considered a success story in containing the spread of the virus and limiting the number of related deaths. It had originally planned to obtain supplies to cover just 20% of the country's 70 million people, with most available only in the second half of this year.

However, a third wave of the coronavirus beginning in April has been devastating and underlined the need for a more ambitious vaccination campaign.

The third wave has accounted for 84% of the total 179,886 confirmed cases in Thailand since January last year, and 92.5% of the total of 1,269 confirmed and reported deaths.

The government has now targeted vaccinating 70% of the population this year, a figure believed to confer herd immunity against the disease.

As of Saturday, Thailand had given 4.22 million vaccinations, with about 4% of the country's 70 million people receiving at least one jab.

The government has been scrambling to obtain additional supplies to supplement the Chinese-made Sinovac it has been using so far and the AstraZenca now coming onstream.

China has supplied 6.5 million doses of Sinovac to Thailand, including 500,000 doses that arrived Saturday.

Siam Bioscience was reported to have delivered its first 1.8 million doses to AstraZeneca's local office last Wednesday, which were then turned over to the Health Ministry on Friday.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Colombian President on June 6 announced a decree that will modernise the structure of the national police, who have been criticised internationally for the violent repression of anti-government protests. President Ivan Duque said that he ordered the creation of the decree in a bid to strengthen the policy on human rights. According to Al Jazeera, Duque added that in the structure the protection, prevention and respect for human rights will be marked because in the national police a directorate of human rights will be created.

While announcing the new plans, the president that the support for human rights should be given all institutional backing today more than ever. The law, which will be proposed on the first day of the next legislative session in July, would also create a new complaints system and expanded disciplinary standards for officers, overseen by an independent centre.

Further, the Colombian government is also working on a law to establish legitimate use of force criteria and another to regulate the use and sales of less-lethal weapons. Without specifically yielding to protesters demands for police reform, Duque promised a transformation of the police, which answers to the defence ministry.

Colombia protest

Meanwhile, despite the withdrawal of the proposed tax reforms by the right-wing administration of President Ivan Duque, tens of thousands of Columbians and members of trade unions have continued their violent protests in the streets of Columbia. The tax reforms, contested as hiking financial pressure on low- and middle-income groups, was shelved after widespread opposition and angst from the opposition lawmakers in Columbia and the citizens, many of whom demanded the levelling of sales tax on utilities. However, huge rallies have continued, with protesters expanding their list of demands to include health and educational reforms, among other things  while violence has escalated, especially in the city of Cali.

Protesters continued the marches condemning the Columbia governments mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, as they alleged that the withdrawal of the tax proposal wasnt enough. Rallies were held in Columbias populous cities including Bogota and Cali, as well as Medellin, Barranquilla, and Cartagena. In many cities, aggravated protesters clashed with the law enforcement, who used tear gas canisters and stun grenades to disperse the angry mob. The exact death toll linked to the protests remains disputed, but human rights groups say dozens of people have been killed by security forces.

(Image: AP)


British Health Secretary Matt Hancock, on June 6, reckoned that it was too early to make a final decision on lifting the lockdown currently imposed in the country. Earlier this week, Downing Street said that it was considering options to end the COVID restrictions on June 21, despite a surging coronavirus caseload. Speaking to Sky News in London, Hancock pointed out at the significant impact of delta variant of coronavirus first detected in India and said that he and the PM were in talks

On Sunday, the Lawmaker highlighted the renewed rise of coronavirus cases but said that a considerably flat rate of hospitalization and deaths were a relief. However, speaking on whether the administration would stick to its trajectory of relieving the lockdown rules, Hancock said that it was too soon to make a final decision. Elaborating further, he said PM Boris Johnson, he and a team of experts would analyse the COVID data over the week but stressed that he wasnt saying No to June 21. We've said that we'll give people enough time ahead of the June 21 date, he said.

Threat of Delta Variant

According to Worldometers, the UK has reported over 4,516,892 cases and 127,840 fatalities. According to the UK Health Ministry, 40,333,231 people have received the first shot of vaccine while 27,661,353 have got both the shots. Hancock also said that the Delta variant (B1.617.2) of the novel coronavirus that first originated in India, is about 40 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha or the Kent variant of concern and is now the dominant variant in the UK. This would make the June 21 roadmap of unlocking Britain more challenging, he added. In a televised address with Sky News, Hancock stressed, That means that it is more difficult, obviously, to manage this virus with the with the new Delta variant.

The recent spike of novel coronavirus cases across the UK is being attributed to the more transmissible variant that had stretched the healthcare systems and wreaked havoc in India with the daily onslaught of patients gasping for oxygen. UK is now witnessing a catastrophic rise of the deadly B1.617.2 spread ahead of relaxing COVID measures this month.

Image: AP/Pixabay
Holidaymakers from the U.K. caught off guard by news that Britain will remove Portugal from its list of COVID-safe travel destinations, continued for the third day in row on Monday to try to get back home and avoid the prospect of facing a 10 day quarantine on their return.

Hundreds of British tourists vacationing in the Algarve, a popular tourist destination in southern Portugal, were waiting in queues to board a flight to the UK at Faro airport.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Thursday that the "difficult decision" to downgrade Portugal was prompted by rising infection rates and worries about new mutations of the coronavirus that could prove resistant to vaccines.

He said a mutation of the delta variant was causing particular concern.

The change will take effect at 4am (0300GMT) on Tuesday.

Portugal is a major destination for sun-seeking Britons and was the only large tourism destination on the U.K. government's "green list," announced last month, of places that can be visited without the need to self-isolate on return.

Tourism, by mainly British visitors, is a mainstay of the southern European country's economy, accounting for around 15% of annual gross domestic product.

In Vilamoura Marina, bars and restaurants, usually packed with British tourists, were left almost empty on Monday to the disappointment of business owners.

Portugal's foreign ministry said it "can't understand the logic" behind the British decision.

The travel industry reacted with dismay to the U.K. announcement.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
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The organizers of a now-banned candlelight vigil for the victims of the , 1989 massacre in Beijing have been warned by a key supporter of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to disband or face prosecution.



Lo Man-tuen, vice-chairman of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, called on the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China to disband and cease its former activities.



"There's no question of the Alliance changing shape and carrying on in another form," Lo wrote in an editorial in the Ming Pao newspaper. "There's no room for that, and no possibility of that."



He said the group has as its aim an end to CCP rule, meaning that it would face criminal prosecution under a draconian national security law that has banned acts deemed seditious or subversive in Hong Kong since , 2020.



"If they are classified as a subversive organization under the national security law, they could face the risk of criminal prosecution, as did those [opposition politicians and democracy activists] who took part in the democratic primary for the Legislative Council elections," Lo said.



Alliance spokesman Richard Tsoi said the group had heard similar warnings from other Chinese officials recently.



"We will stand firm in our work, we will not be threatened ... We do understand, from time to time, the Alliance will face political challenges," Tsoi told government broadcaster RTHK.



"Our basic stance and principle will be to continue to hold mourning activities, and to pursue truth and justice regarding , 1989," he said. "We will definitely stick to that all the way."



Weighing a statement



China analyst Willy Lam said Lo may not be a high-ranking official, but forms part of the CCP's outreach arm among overseas Chinese.



"[The All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese is] not a high-ranking organization, but its views are broadly representative of Beijing's views," Lam said.



Hong Kong current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said it was better to ignore such "warnings."



"It may be couched in the language of the CCP family, and everyone seems to be regarding it as an in-house statement," Lau said. "But while it may represent [the CCP's view], it's not yet an official comment."



"It would be better to wait for an official comment or action before responding," he said.



In May, Lo penned another op-ed piece saying that the Alliance is trying to start a "color revolution" in Hong Kong under the guise of "patriotic democracy," accusing it of collusion with foreign powers, also a crime under the National Security Law for Hong Kong.



In , 47 opposition lawmakers and political activists were arrested and held on remand for "subversion" under the national security law for organizing a democratic primary election in .



The authorities then postponed a general election slated for September, pushing it back to pending an overhaul of electoral rules that puts Beijing firmly in control of electoral outcomes.



Several pro-democracy groups and politicians have indicated to local media that they will boycott December's elections, in which new rules dictate that candidates must be vetted by several layers of a China-led bureaucracy before being allowed to run.



Reported by Yip Mong and Lu Xi for RFA's Cantonese and Mandarin Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Church member and rights activist Gao Heng took a photo of himself with a placard calling on Christians to pray for China on June 4.

People hold candles as they gather for a vigil outside the Chinese Embassy in London marking the 32nd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing, June 4, 2021.

Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have detained a man for staging a public memorial of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre.

Gao Heng, a volunteer at the Guangzhou Bible Reformed Church, was detained on June 4 in an underpass of Guangzhou Metro Line 2 for holding up a placard marking the 32nd anniversary of the crackdown by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that ended weeks of student-led protests on Tiananmen Square.

"[Gao] was taken away by the Guangzhou municipal state security police at around 1.00 a.m. on Saturday," church pastor Huang Xiaoing told RFA on Monday.

"I went to the local branch of the state security police to enquire about him, but they wouldn't tell me anything," Huang said. "Then I called the Guangzhou municipal police department, but they refused to disclose any information to me."

"I'm guessing it's because he took a picture of himself at the Nanpu metro station near here, holding up a sign that said 'Pray for China on June 4'," Huang said. "He also made a comment."

"The authorities are pretty nervous [at this time]."

The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) bans public memorials marking the bloodshed, and has continued to ignore growing calls in China and from overseas for a reappraisal of the 1989 student protests, which it has styled a "counterrevolutionary rebellion."

Huang said it was no accident that Gao had made the protest as a member of a Christian church.

"We can't change this government, but as a church, we have a responsibility to tell the government what it has done wrong," he said. "We are also patriots."

"[We want] the party to face up to their past mistakes, and what took place on June 4, 1989," Huang said. "We have been praying for the families of the victims."

'An honest person'

Fellow rights activist Huang Yongxiang said he is worried that Gao could face the same fate as Guangzhou activist Zhang Wuzhou, who was jailed for two years and nine months by the Qingcheng District People's Court in March for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble."

The prosecution accused her of public opposition to a draconian national security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong from July 1, 2020, as well as using slogans to mark the Tiananmen massacre anniversary in a solo memorial in Guangzhou's Baiyun Mountain Park in June 2020.

"[Gao] is an honest person, loyal and full of enthusiasm," Huang Yongxiang said. "He has been a long-term volunteer at the church, as well as in social activism, helping a lot of elderly people in the community."

"The political environment is getting more and more hostile now, and there is a precedent here in Guangzhou -- Zhang Wuzhou getting more than two years for holding up a placard last year," he said.

Meanwhile, authorities in the southwestern region of Guangxi hauled rights activist Li Yanjun in for questioning on June 4 after he reposted the "Tank Man" news photograph of a lone man in shirtsleeves, carrying a shopping bag, facing down a column of tanks on Chang'an Avenue.

"Around a dozen officers, mainly plainclothes, came," Li told RFA following his release on Monday.

"They brought me down to the police station in their car, where I was interrogated by two officers for more than an hour," he said. "Then they searched my home and confiscated my iPhone."

"They told me I was suspected of spreading fake news," he said. "I told them that it couldn't be fake because even [state broadcaster] CCTV had reported it [at the time]."



Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
China on hit out at a visit by three U.S. Senators to democratic Taiwan, as the U.S. pledged to deliver a large tranche of COVID-19 vaccines to the island.



Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with the brief stopover in Taipei made by Senators Tammy Duckworth, Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons, who announced the donation of vaccines.



Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the CCP, nor formed part of the People's Republic of China, says Beijing has been hampering its attempts to source supplies of imported vaccines, as part of an ongoing campaign to isolate the country's government -- which it doesn't recognize -- on the international stage.



Sen. Duckworth told reporters at Taipei's Songshan Airport: "It was critical to the United States that Taiwan be included in the first group to receive vaccines, because we recognize your urgent need and we value this partnership."



President Tsai Ing-wen said the brief visit by the Senators had demonstrated the "rock-solid friendship" between Taipei and Washington.



"I also look forward to future cooperation with the United States, Japan and other countries, through which Taiwan will be able to overcome the immediate challenges facing it," she said.



Taiwan is currently under level 3 restrictions amid a wave of community transmissions of COVID-19, following months without any outbreaks, after Tsai imposed tough immigration restrictions at the start of the pandemic.



Standing by Taiwan



Ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Wang Ting-yu said vaccine donations from the U.S. and Japan showed that democratic countries are standing by Taiwan in response to Chinese pressure on other countries. Japan had earlier donated 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to Taiwan, Central News Agency (CNA) reported.



Taiwans Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said it was now Taiwan's turn to benefit from international aid and cooperation, after its government donated equipment overseas at the start of the pandemic.



"We must overcome all obstacles if we are to ensure that Taiwan's supply of vaccines isn't blocked by Beijing during the delivery process," Wu warned.



"This isn't just about Taiwan's international status, but about how to defend our freedoms and our democratic way of life in the face of authoritarian aggression," he said.



"Taiwan is at the forefront of universal values ... Democracy will endure," Wu said.



'The price of freedom'



At the airport on , Duckworth said she wanted to help Taiwan because her grandmother fled CCP rule on foot, crossing the border into Thailand, where her own mother was born.



"My family and I know the price of freedom. And I'm here to tell you that the United States will not let you stand alone," said Duckworth, who served in the U.S. military for over 20 years before being elected to Congress.



"We will be by your side to make sure the people of Taiwan have what they need to get to the other side of this pandemic and beyond," she said.



Reported by Chung Kuang-cheng for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Retired veteran U.S. government intelligence analysts Robert Suettinger served as deputy national intelligence officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council from 1989 to 1994, and from 1987 to 1989 was President George H. W. Bush's director of the office of analysis for East Asia and the Pacific at the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. The author the 2004 book Beyond Tiananmen, Suettinger is working on a biography of late Communist Party reformist leader Hu Yaobang, who's ouster in 1986 and death in April 1989 were precursors to the Tiananmen pro-democracy protests. He spoke to Jane Tang about Hu's legacy and issues related to the Tiananmen crackdown of June 4, 1989. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

RFA: Thirty-two years ago on April 15, Hu Yaobang passed away and his death triggered the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. Looking back at the history, what was the role and significance of Hus death for the Tiananmen student movement at that time?

Suettinger: I think it was a catalyst, more than a causal factor. There were plans for the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the May 4 movement, so students were already gathering and kind of collecting their grievances and talking about what they wanted that was more in keeping with the ideals of the May 4 Movement which was democracy and science and westernization and so forth. So there were already preparations being made when Hu Yaobang passed away. In the wake of his death, there were a lot of questions that were raised and probably some guilty consciences, on the part of people who thought they should have opposed the purge of Hu Yaobang in 1987 more than they did. And there were lots of people, not just students and university professors, but members of the party, who really thought that that the way that Hu Yaobang was removed from office was improper. So those two factors that led to a kind of spontaneous mourning for Hu Yaobang on college campuses, and then it began to grow, and as students found that they were able to actually march from their university campuses to Tiananmen Square, it really began to be an issue for public order and for the Communist Party's concern about its own reputation.

RFA: Is this a reason why you're working on his biography after the book about Tiananmen? Why is his story important for us to understand that part of history?

Suettinger: I was always interested in Hu Yaobang. I was working in the U.S. government during the time when he was general secretary, and I always found him to be a very interesting man. He was not a typical leader. He was just a little short guy, had a very high voice, very kind of bouncy and interested in discussions of issues and so forth. He was not a kind of a Mao type, or even a Deng Xiaoping type -- a great leader figure. So I thought that was interesting. And the more I looked at the period of time when he was in office, the more it began to occur to me that that he was more of a reformer than Deng Xiaoping. Deng Xiaoping gets a lot of credit for the PRC reform efforts, and in some cases and there's a fair number of Chinese writers who actually believe that Deng does not deserve the credit that he's gotten.

RFA: Let's go back to the Tiananmen Square protests. I read an interview you did before about the debate inside the US government on how to respond to the June 4 crisis, 32 years ago. What was that like? Were there big divisions?

Suettinger: I wouldn't say there was a big division. Everyone was shocked and appalled, even though some of us kind of had a better idea that it was coming, than others. The U.S. government had warned the PRC government that we wanted them not to react badly to this. It had been going on for several weeks, and it was all on television, everybody was watching it. There were a couple of serious differences of view. One was between the Congress and the administration. The Congress was much more engaged on human rights issues, and was very much aware that President Bush at that time was disinclined to be tough on the PRC. He considered himself to be knowledgeable about China and he really believed he understood the person that he called his friend: Deng Xiaoping, and the Congress was much more interested in the growing evidence of human rights issues, trade issues, and other kinds of issues that were beginning to roil the overall relationship between the United States and the PRC fairly seriously. So particularly in light of the absolutely shocking videos that were shown, they were not inclined to give Deng Xiaoping and his colleagues much of a break on this one and they wanted sanctions, they wanted them fast and they wanted him serious, whereas certain elements of the administration, and particularly the executive office, were inclined to try to minimize the damage to the larger strategic relationship which involved the Soviet Union and so forth. And that was the crux of the difference in the views.

RFA: How would you compare the reaction in the U.S. toward Hong Kong this time with 32 years ago to the Tiananmen Square issue?

Suettinger: It was nowhere near as emotional and it was nowhere near as strong. And even though there has been, amongst American civil rights and human rights groups and individuals, a great sense of loss, and a great sense of anger at the PRC over the way this was all handled, at this point the distance between the United States and the PRC is greater than it was -- politically and ideologically and trade wise and so forth -- is considerably greater than it seemed to be in 1989.

RFA: Hu Yaobang is always seen as a historic figure, promoting China's liberalization, embracing the spirit of democracy, the conscience of the party. After studying his life, what do you think is most important legacy?

Suettinger: He always prided himself on being a man of integrity. He wasn't corrupt and a lot of people in the party by 1989 were certainly corrupt. He believed that the essence of reform was not a series of policies, but it was a series of attitudes and the attitudes included If you, if you acknowledge that you've made a mistake, recognize it publicly and fix it. If you if you want to get policies right, pay attention to the people and their interests, and you won't go wrong. So he was always a person who promoted the interests of the laobaixing, the ordinary people of China, and people remember that. He was daring, in the sense that he made some speeches and promoted some ideas that were considered to be too far out in front by both Deng Xiaoping and especially by Chen Yun, and others amongst the elders in the party, and he and he kept pushing on them to change things for the betterAnytime he went into a different bureaucracy, he would fix it, he would basically say, you've made a lot of mistakes and you need to correct them. And he did that every pretty much everywhere he went, so people in retrospect, looking at that record, say: You know, we could use another guy like Hu Yaobang. And he did stand up for his values. He did promote democracy within the party, basically by opposing tyranny, and he recognized Mao was a tyrant. He recognized Deng was heading toward tyranny, and that the party was naturally disposed toward that kind of leadership. So his opposition to that made a lot of people aware of what he stood for.

RFA: Why did his believe and his approach conflict with Deng Xiaoping. Why did he fall?

There's a tendency among both Chinese and American students of political science to regard issues as being the main thing over which politicians divide themselves. And that's true to a degree in the PRC and within the Communist Party of China. But issues tend to become personal, and loyalties become more important than anything else, and personal relationships, and power. That's what Marxism Leninism is all about: the gaining of and the utilization of power, and power can be both institutional and it can be personal. With Deng Xiaoping it was personalHu Yaobangs ouster came about because the party elders, and there were eight of them that were most important during that period in 1986, who finally said Look, we've had enough of this guy; he's not doing what we want. We need to drop him. And so they took the same approach to Hu Yaobang that they took to Hua Guofeng in 1980, and they basically just wrote him out of the party. And Deng and Hu Yaobangs relationship was never what you'd call terribly close. I think they respected each other, they played bridge together, but, but they weren't associates, and they certainly weren't friends.

RFA: Can you talks about the relationship between Hu and Xi Jinping's father, Xi Zhongxun?

Xi Zhongxun had been imprisoned by Mao early, and was in jail by 1964. Hu Yaobang was instrumental in Xis being released in the late 1970s, when he was the head of the Organization Department, and was going through a massive program of overturning the verdicts of the Cultural Revolution and before. So Xi Zhongxun was restored to his position, Hu Yaobang brought him into the Secretariat, and he in fact for a period was the Executive Secretary of the Central Secretariat, so he was sort of Hus his right-hand man for a whileWhen they had what was called a party life meeting, which was basically a criticism session in January of 1987. The life meeting is a disciplinary procedure that is designed to for people to engage in criticism and self-criticism. Hua Guofeng, for example, exposed to a fairly brutal criticism section. Hu Yaobangs session was much worse by comparison, and all of his old friends basically deserted him. The only one that did not was Xi Zhongxun, who stood up and said to the people who were organizing this was basically an illegal improper, out of the party charter ceremony that was that was inflicted on Hu Yaobang against this will.And Xi Zhongxun stood up and said: This is absolutely ridiculous. What are you doing here? This is against the party's regulations. You need to stop. And nobody else in this meeting, and there were 20 some people that were a part of it, including all the Politburo, all the Secretariat and a number of members of the Central Advisory Committee. Hu Yaobang had to stop Xi Zhongxun from really losing his temper. He said: Don't worry about it, Zhongxun, I've got this. And he let it happen because he had basically understood that he was finished, and that this was just something he was going to have to suffer through, but Xi Zhongxun was very angry. It's interesting that the party has not made much of that in the period since that since that time. It's a story that just isn't much told.
Eight people have been accidentally vaccinated with 'undiluted' doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in Andalucia, it has been confirmed.

The incident happened last Friday at a mobile vaccination unit in San Juan de Aznalfarache, in Seville.

Once the error was detected the Junta de Andalucias Ministry of Health said the eight people were transferred from the vaccination site to the San Juan de Aznalfarache health centre in the city, where they were examined by a primary care doctor.

The regional government said that the eight have not suffered any adverse effects, so far, and health personnel will continue monitoring them at home until 72 hours after the injection.

The Ministry of Health points out that, according to the first clinical trials carried out with an increase in the dose administered, it was observed that there was no increased risk of adverse effects when double the usual amount was used.
Workers complain that they barely make enough for living expenses but now must pay even more to their government.

North Korean workers dispatched to Russia must now pay their government an additional U.S. $100 in so-called loyalty funds to help cover the costs of a 10,000-home construction project in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, sources in Russia told RFA.

The workers, sent abroad by their government to earn foreign cash, were already paying the lions share of their salaries in loyalty funds. They were left with just enough to cover their own living expenses and a small remittance to their families back home, but the extra payments are now stretching them even thinner.

Last week, I ran into a North Korean who works in Vladivostok who told me that he was very upset because the North Korean authorities ordered him to pay additional loyalty funds, a Russian citizen of Korean descent living in the Russian Far Eastern city told RFAs Korean Service on June 1.

The order came at the end of April, and it says each person must pay an additional U.S. $100 per month, said the source, who requested anonymity to speak freely. We know that the extra loyalty funds will go to housing construction in Pyongyang.

The ambitious building project is the brainchild of North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un, who promised at the ruling Korean Workers Party congress in January to alleviate the capitals housing shortage with 50,000 new homes by the end of 2025, including 10,000 in 2021.

Funding for such a major project would be a challenge in most years, but authorities have had to be even more creative as the North Korean economy is in shambles due to the double squeeze of international nuclear sanctions and the suspension of all trade with China since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in January 2020.

The guy told me that none of the North Korean workers could be excluded from this additional allocation of loyalty funds, and that the authorities even threatened those in charge of managing the work force, said the source in Vladivostok.

The source said that most of the North Korean workers in Russia are not legally employed through no fault of their own. They have yet to receive official work permits from the Russian government due to the pandemic, but their North Korean handlers are still making them work.

He complained that the workers hours have increased to more than 10 per day on average, much more than when they were on work permits. Their income is also much lower than before. After loyalty funds, the workers are left with only $200, the source said.

The worker and his colleagues are unhappy with the governments order to pay more, said the source.

He said that none of his coworkers had ever expressed dissatisfaction with the loyalty fund scheme, but now they are angry and ask where they can possibly earn enough money to pay more when all the places they can find regular work are shut down because of the coronavirus.

Another Russian citizen of Korean descent from St. Petersburg, on the opposite side of the country, confirmed to RFA that North Korean workers there must also pay an extra $100 per month in loyalty funds to help with Pyongyang housing construction.

When the orders came in it wasnt only the workers who were complaining. Even the president of the North Korean human resources company, who had been responsible for urging the employees to pay the funds started to complain, said the second source, also requesting anonymity for security reasons.

So did the low-level party secretaries dispatched to the company and the security officers sent to keep watch over everyone. Everyone is complaining about it.

Thousands of these workers have been making regularly scheduled loyalty payments from the money they earned from all their hard work, which they have to hide from the Russian government, the source said.

The money they earn has come from dangerous work during the pandemic which takes a physical and psychological toll on them, and most of it had already been going to loyalty funds. Now the authorities are making them pony up for construction in Pyongyang.

No one can accept this, he added.

Many of the workers are lucky to even make enough to cover their loyalty obligation, according to the second source.

Some workers have not been able to make enough for their own living expenses, to say nothing of being able to remit the rest to their families They are outraged that the authorities are telling them to pay more, saying theyve reached their limit.

According to CNN, in January 2018 an estimated 50,000 North Koreans were working in Russia  many in construction  in what the U.S. Department of State called slave-like labor.

Following the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2397 in Dec. 2017, all North Korean workers in Russia were supposed to have been repatriated by the end of 2019, and host countries were forbidden from issuing new working visas.

North Korea had been able to get around this by sending workers to Russia on student visas and having them apply for work permits. Pyongyang had hoped to continue doing this beyond 2019, but the pandemic in early 2020 put a snag in those plans.

A source familiar with the North Korean labor situation in Russia told RFA in February that there were 2,000 to 3,000 North Koreans in Russia working to earn foreign cash for Pyongyang in violation of sanctions.

Reported by Jeong Yon Park for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Chinas backing is crucial to efforts to foster a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Myanmar, Jakartas top diplomat says.

Chinas backing is crucial to ASEANs efforts to foster a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Myanmar, Jakartas top diplomat said Monday.

Beijing can help the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to follow through on a five-point consensus that member-states reached at a special summit in late April, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in China between top envoys from across ASEAN and their Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

Chinas support for ASEAN to follow up on the five-point consensus will be highly appreciated, because this will contribute to efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis, Retno said of her bilateral talks with Wang in Chongqing, southwestern China.

We also discussed the importance for the political crisis in Myanmar to be resolved immediately, and Chinas support for ASEANs effort will be crucial.

This was the first in-person meeting between foreign ministers from ASEAN and China in more than a year. Wunna Maung Lwin, the foreign minister appointed by the Burmese junta, also attended the talks, according to The Global New Light of Myanmar, a state-owned publication.

Analysts expected ASEAN ministers and Beijing to discuss the political crisis in Myanmar, but neither Marsudi nor Singapores foreign minister gave details about Chinas response.

The Chinese foreign ministry merely said that Beijing backed ASEANs non-interference principle and was talking to all stakeholders in Myanmar.

We support joint efforts to explore effective means to ease the situation and resolve issues within the ASEAN framework, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin told a press conference on Monday.

China will maintain close communication with ASEAN and support its mediation efforts, while reaching out to all parties in Myanmar in its own way, so as to secure an early soft landing for the situation in Myanmar.

Notably, in a Facebook post on Saturday, the Chinese embassy in Naypyidaw referred to junta chief Min Aung Hlain as The Leader of Myanmar, months after Beijing had congratulated Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party for winning national elections held last November.

After toppling the NLD government in a coup on Feb. 1, Myanmars junta jailed Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders. In addition, more than 800 people  mostly anti-coup protesters  have been killed by the Burmese military and police in post-coup violence.

On April 24, ASEAN member-states settled on the five-point consensus during a special summit in Jakarta. Min Aung Hlaing attended the meeting and endorsed the consensus. Its points included the appointment of a special envoy from the regional bloc to Myanmar, and a call for an immediate end to the violence.

But days after the summit, the junta said it would not implement the ASEAN consensus unless there was stability in the country.

Developments on ASEAN consensus painfully slow

On its side, ASEAN has not done any better on the consensus.

More than six weeks after the Jakarta meeting, the bloc has not named an envoy, although two emissaries from ASEAN met with the Myanmar junta chief late last week and gave him the names of prospective candidates for a special ASEAN envoy.

It was not immediately known what Min Aung Hlaing had to say about the topic.

Some observers had said that Chinas Wang would assist ASEAN foreign ministers in agreeing on an envoy at the meeting in Chongqing.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of ASEAN members Malaysia and Singapore on Monday openly expressed their frustration at the blocs inaction to date on Myanmar.

Malaysias top diplomat, Hishammuddin Hussein, said the consensus was important to help Myanmar toward normalcy.

However, we must admit that developments on the consensus are painfully slow. The international community is awaiting ASEANs further action, he said on Twitter, as his deputy attended the Chongqing meeting because Hishammuddin was in COVID-19 quarantine.

Singapores foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, echoed these sentiments.

To be honest with you, we are disappointed at the slow  very, very slow progress. Unfortunately, we know that there are still civilians who have been hurt or killed, he told Singapore reporters in a call from Chongqing, according to Channel News Asia.

There has been no release of political detainees, there has been no real sign of meaningful political dialogue and negotiation. So well have to watch this space.

On Saturday, the Chinese embassy in Myanmar said that Min Aung Hlaing had reportedly told the Chinese ambassador that he was willing to work with ASEAN on implementing the consensus. It was not known whether they spoke about an ASEAN envoy.

It is difficult to assess how much ASEAN has acted upon the consensus because there was no clear timeline for implementing it, said Dinna Prapto Raharja, an international relations expert at Synergy Policies in Jakarta.

Even among ASEAN members, their views are not unanimous about Myanmar, Dinna told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

She expressed doubt that ASEAN would be able to move quickly to facilitate dialogue in Myanmar.

They seem to conveniently dwell on procedures.

South China Sea issue raised at meeting

ASEAN foreign ministers and Wang Yi also discussed the contentious South China Sea issue.

Malaysia, for its part, conveyed Kuala Lumpurs stand on the intrusion of 16 Chinese military planes into its maritime airspace over disputed South China Sea waters near Borneo Island last week, Foreign Minister Hishammuddin said.

Malaysia objects to the presence of foreign military assets contrary to freedom of navigation and overflight/air crossing under international law, as well as without the prior approval of the Malaysian Government, the minister said on Twitter.

On the South China Sea, Malaysia will ensure our maritime zones are safe for peace to prosper. As CoC negotiations continue, the presence of military assets has potential to increase tension, which in turn may result in miscalculation, he said about negotiations on a code of conduct in the South China Sea.

Discussions on the code of conduct were halted last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Indonesias Retno called on ASEAN and China to immediately resume negotiations on the CoC. She described the progress as very slow, and offered to host the talks in the near future.

I emphasize that our ability to manage the South China Sea will be a test for ASEAN-China relations, Retno said, while calling on all parties to exercise restraint in the disputed waterway.

I reiterate that our ability to manage the South China Sea will strengthen our equal, mutually beneficial and indispensable partnership for global peace and stability. And everything must be done in accordance with UNCLOS 1982, she said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea region as its own while the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan have their own territorial claims.

While Indonesia does not regard itself as a party to territorial disputes over the South China Sea, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of the maritime region that overlap Indonesias exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Indonesia has had several stand-offs with China over allegations that Chinese fishing boats, escorted by China Coast Guard ships, operated in its EEZ off the Natuna Islands.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
YEREVAN -- Armenia's National Security Service says it has arrested two men on suspicion of spying for Azerbaijan, with which Yerevan recently fought a war over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The service said in a statement on June 7 that the two men, including a former military officer, had allegedly been recruited by Azerbaijani secret services while in Turkey and provided Azerbaijan with classified data related to military personnel in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the statement, one of the suspects allegedly provided Azerbaijan with information about the Armenian troops and military equipment during last year's war, which claimed at least 6,900 lives.

There was no immediate comment from Azerbaijani officials.

Six weeks of fighting ended with a Moscow-brokered cease-fire in November as Baku regained control over some parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts.

In recent weeks, the two sides have blamed each other for a number of incidents along their border, putting pressure on the cease-fire in the run-up to Armenia's snap parliamentary elections on June 20.

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.

Ethnic Armenian troops forced some 750,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis from areas in and around Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s war, which claimed the lives of some 30,000 people, and ended in a cease-fire in 1994.
A United Nations court at The Hague is scheduled to deliver its final verdict on June 8 on an appeal by former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic against his genocide conviction. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted Mladic in 2017 for his role in Europe's worst atrocities since the end of World War II.
The trial in absentia of four suspects -- three Russians and one Ukrainian -- in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 has entered a decisive new phase during which judges in the Netherlands will be presented with witness testimony and evidence.

Nearly seven years after the tragedy and more than a year of mostly procedural hearings, judges announced the start of the evidence phase at the court in The Hague on June 7.

MH17 was shot down on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur by a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile fired from territory controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in the east of Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew.

The four suspects -- Russians Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov, and Igor Girkin, as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko -- are being tried in absentia by a court in The Hague for involvement in the tragedy. Only one of the suspects, Pulatov, is represented by lawyers at the trial.

All four suspects are accused of being key figures among separatists battling Kyiv.

Infographic: Timeline Of MH17 Events

A team of international investigators concluded in May 2018 that the missile launcher used to shoot down the aircraft belonged to Russia's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade.

The trial formally began in March 2020 but has so far been dealing with motions, mostly covering the admissibility of evidence in the crash.

The trial is being held in the Netherlands because the plane departed from Amsterdam and 196 of the victims were Dutch.

"The court will open the MH17 criminal trial proper and, through examining and discussing the content of the prosecution file, elucidate the key questions which it has already begun to address," the court said in a statement late last month.

The court said the hearing will begin with general topics, including the investigation by the examining magistrate. That will be followed by three more days of discussion from June 8-10.

The prosecution then will have the opportunity to discuss the case on June 17 and 18. The defense may subsequently be given the opportunity to discuss sections of the case it deems relevant.

The prosecution and defense will then have the chance to raise issues during hearings lasting until July 9. Relatives of the victims will be able to address the court in September, the statement said. No date has yet been set for closing arguments.

The Dutch government holds Moscow responsible. Moscow has denied any involvement in the conflict in parts of eastern Ukraine and has offered several possible theories about how MH17 was blown out of the sky, including that it was shot down by a Ukrainian Air Force jet or by Ukrainian ground forces using a Buk system.

The tragedy caused an international outcry and deepened tensions between Moscow and the West following Russia's seizure of Crimea and support for the militants in their fight against Kyiv's forces after pro-European protests pushed Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych from power.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and dpa
European Council President Charles Michel has spoken by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stressing that relations between the bloc and Russia are "at a low" and that "this situation or its further deterioration is in neither side's interest."

The European Union statement on the June 7 call said Michel informed Putin that the European Council had discussed Russia in May and had "condemned the illegal, provocative, and disruptive Russian activities against the EU, its member states, and others."

In a post on Twitter, Michel said relations could only improve "if Russia stops disruptive behavior."

A Kremlin statement the same day said that Putin also said relations "cannot be considered satisfactory."

Relations have been in a tailspin for many years now, particularly since Moscow's 2014 seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region and Russia's military, political, and economic support for separatist formations in parts of eastern Ukraine that are waging a war against Kyiv.

Tensions have also been exacerbated by the 2014 downing of a commercial airliner over eastern Ukraine that the EU believes was carried out by separatists using advanced weaponry provided by Russia, as well as the 2018 attempted nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian intelligence officer in the United Kingdom that the EU believes was a carried out by Russian intelligence agents.

Earlier this year, EU member the Czech Republic accused Russian intelligence agents of carrying out explosions at a weapons depot in the eastern part of the country in 2014.

Russia has denied involvement in all these incidents.

An EU statement on the call said the leaders discussed the situation in Belarus, with Michel condemning the forced landing of a Ryanair commercial flight in Minsk last month and the arrest of an opposition journalist who was on board.

According to the Kremlin statement, Putin said EU sanctions against Belarus over the incident were "counterproductive."

Michel urged Putin to push Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka to "release political prisoners, stop repressions and violence, and engage in inclusive national dialogue."

During the call, Michel also reiterated the EU's "unwavering support" for Ukraine's "independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity." The Russian statement described the conflict in Ukraine as "an internal crisis."

The two leaders also discussed the coronavirus pandemic and tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
TBILISI -- Georgian theater and film luminary Rezo Gabriadze, known across the former Soviet Union as the screenwriter of several blockbuster movies from the 1960s to the '80s, has died in Tbilisi at the age of 84.

Gabriadze's relatives, friends, and colleagues say he died on June 6 after years of an unspecified illness.

One of the Soviet art world's most famous figures, Gabriadze was also known internationally for his original puppet theater productions and his founding of the popular Puppet Theater in Tbilisi.

Gabriadze wrote dozens of films, including several popular Soviet-era comedies directed by the late Georgiy Daneliya, such as Don't Grieve (1968), Mimino (1977), and the cult science-fiction comedy Kin-Dza-Dza, which was shot in the wake of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms in 1986.

Gabriadze was also known as an artist, sculptor, and illustrator. Many of his works are held in state and private collections in the United States, Germany, France, Japan, and Israel.
Germany is discussing ways to compensate Ukraine for the financial loss it will suffer from the completion of a controversial Russian natural-gas pipeline backed by Berlin, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Congress.

Nord Stream 2 will carry gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine, and is expected to deprive Kyiv of billions of dollars in annual transit fees if it is completed.

The United States -- as well as many countries in Eastern Europe -- have opposed the project on the grounds that it will make Europe more dependent on Russian energy and undermine Ukraine's economy and security.

Nonetheless, the Biden administration last month agreed to waive some sanctions on Nord Stream 2, all but ensuring its completion, in an attempt to mend strained relations with ally Germany, which continues to support the project.

In a hearing on June 7 at the House of Representatives' Foreign Relations Committee, Blinken partially justified the waiver, saying Germany "has come to the table" to discuss how it can help Ukraine deal with the economic fallout.

"We are actively engaged with [Berlin] to look at what can and should, and I believe must be done to...make sure that the transit fees that Ukraine at some point in the future may lose as a result of this pipeline...[is] made whole," Blinken told the committee.

He did not give details on what form the compensation could take. Some have suggested Germany could invest in Ukraine's alternative-energy industry.

Blinken also said it was important to have upfront agreements in place with Germany that would allow the United States to impose sanctions on the pipeline at a later date should Russia seek to use it as a coercive tool against its neighbors in Eastern Europe.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were expected to discuss the pipeline in a phone call later in the day.
Hungary appears to have backed off from a controversial project to build a Chinese university in Budapest after thousands took to the streets of the capital over the weekend amid concerns it could help Beijing increase its influence in Europe.

Conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, late on June 6 said that what would be the first Chinese university in the European Union was not even at the planning phase .

And once the plan took shape, in early 2023, "we support a referendum in Budapest to decide whether locals want Fudan University here," Gulyas told the pro-government news site Mandiner.

Orban has built friendly ties with China, Russia, and other illiberal governments, while repeatedly clashing with the EU by curbing the independence of the judiciary and media.

The campus is controversial in part because China is expected to lend the Hungarian government $1.5 billion to cover most of the costs of the project, which is slated to be built at a site where affordable housing for Hungarian students had previously been planned.

The government argues that having a campus of the Shanghai-based university would allow Hungarian and international students to acquire high-quality qualifications, but liberal Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony and other critics fear a lack of transparency and academic freedom.

Subscribe To Our New China Newsletter It's impossible to tell the biggest stories shaping Eurasia without considering Chinas resurgent influence. China In Eurasia is the new newsletter by Reid Standish in which he builds on local reporting from RFE/RLs journalists to give you unique insights into Beijings ambitions. It's sent on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. To subscribe, click here.

Beijing has defended the project, with a Foreign Ministry spokesperson expressing hope on June 7 that "the relevant people in Hungary will take an objective, rational, and scientific attitude, avoid politicizing and stigmatizing the normal personnel exchanges between China and Hungary, and maintain the overall situation of friendship and cooperation between the two countries."

Fudan University is ranked 160th in the world and seventh-best in China by U.S. News and World Report.

Karacsony, a top contender to challenge Orban in elections next year, has announced plans to rename streets surrounding the future campus the "Dalai Lama Road," "Uyghur Martyrs Road," and "Free Hong Kong Road" -- in reference to Chinese human rights abuses.

Orban's support for a Chinese university stands in contrast to his stance on Hungary's once leading private university.

In 2018, the Central European University was forced to relocate most operations to Vienna after Orban's government pushed legislation that drastically curbed its freedom.

The move against the university came as part of a public campaign against its founder, U.S. billionaire philanthropist George Soros -- a Budapest native.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and RFE/RL's Hungarian Service
Hossein Aryan, a British-trained former officer in the Iranian Navy, was the original operations officer on the Iranian ship Kharg, the navy's largest vessel, which debuted in 1980. The ship sank on June 2 in the Gulf of Oman near the port city of Jask after a fire reportedly broke out in the engine room. The Kharg was built in Britain and launched in 1977. It was the latest in a string of naval accidents involving Iranian ships in the last two years.

Aryan -- a longtime editor at RFE/RL -- spoke with Golnaz Esfandiari and RFE/RL's Radio Farda about the Kharg and circumstances of its demise, which he thinks are questionable. The interview was edited for length and clarity.

RFE/RL: How did you feel when you learned about the sinking of Kharg? Did you find it strange that the entire ship sank because of a fire?

Hossein Aryan: I would like to say that a fire on board any ship poses a significant risk to the safety of the vessel and its crew. In the Iranian Navy, like others, firefighting and damage control is taken seriously. Even when a ship is berthed, on its daily rota, without fail one can see that a team is allocated for firefighting and, without warning, this team is summoned by the [duty officer] to fight hypothetical fires at places of his choosing on that ship.

Besides firefighting, damage control is taken very seriously, which is the emergency control of situations that may cause the sinking of a ship such as the rupture of a pipe or hull, especially below the waterline; or even damage occurring if a ship is in combat, or if a ship goes aground. Firefighting and damage control and training the crew to be able to do these jobs are of utmost importance to navies, including the Iranian Navy.

I was therefore shocked when I heard that the Kharg had sunk.

The Kharg had fire pumps -- one of which would be working at all times [and] emergency pumps, many [fire] extinguishers [especially in the engine room], a CO2 flooding system, a sprinkler system, flame detectors, and smoke detectors. Also some 400 safety circuits, each of which is capable of sounding the alarm in the engine room and on the bridge in case of a malfunction.

With all these precautions it is hard to see how the fire became uncontrollable.

It has been said that the fire broke out as a result of an explosion in one of the boilers. We know that the Kharg underwent a major refit from 2014 to 2016, during which major improvements were made to its boilers. In spite of this, it is unlikely that such an explosion would lead to an uncontrollable fire or cause damage to the hull and lead to the flooding of the engine room.

A voice recording of a telephone conversation between two former personnel of the Kharg on social media, quoting their rescued friends from the ship, indicates that during a failed paralleling of two main generators of the ship several wires and circuits caught fire, leading to a power outage and the plunging of the entire ship into darkness. Apparently, the emergency generator and other small generators could not be started and the ship remained in total darkness.

It has also been claimed that the pipe connecting the day tank to one of the main generators providing electricity to the ship had burst and, as no one was in the generator room, the generator stopped functioning while at the same time the fire spread quickly while the ship was dark.

There are other claims as well. Whether the cause of the fire in the engine room was an electrical failure, damage caused by improper repair and maintenance, poor-quality materials used during the ship's refit, or negligence -- the real cause of the fire has not been officially confirmed and it is doubtful that the Islamic republic would ever do so.

Negligence Or Sabotage?

RFE/RL: Do you find it suspicious? Could it have been an act of sabotage?

Aryan: In spite of several possibilities to explain the cause of the fire in the engine room and the power outage on board, it is hard to see how the ship could have sunk. The fire invariably can cause extensive damage in the engine room and various decks, but the ship can still remain afloat, even if the engine room is being flooded. Photos shows that the ship did not lean at a dangerous angle to the port or starboard side and sunk from the stern while the bow section of the ship -- mainly intact -- remained above water.

In the light of these photos, the possibility of flooding due to a large crack or hole in the hull of the engine room area cannot be ruled out. Taking into account that the bottom and sides of the Kharg had two complete layers of watertight hull surface, it is possible that the fire and flooding was due to an act of sabotage or as a result of a hostile action.

The sinking of the Kharg comes after a period in which there has been a series of explosions aboard other ships in the Gulf of Oman and surrounding waters, a region of sensitive shipping routes and simmering geopolitical tensions.

In early April, an Iranian ship called the MV Saviz, a guard base anchored for years in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, off Yemen, was targeted and damaged by mines on its hull apparently by Israeli commandos.

A Major Asset For The Iranian Navy

RFE/RL: How big of a loss is it for Iran? Can the country replace the Kharg in the near future?

Aryan: The Kharg, with its varied capabilities in terms of operation and training, was a major asset for the Iranian Navy. In this context, the navy is now left with the Makran, an ex-oil tanker converted into a sea base that officially joined the navy in mid-January.

Much bigger than the Kharg, this ship [the Makran] can deploy special forces, act as a base for fast boats, and provide logistical support to other ships. This ship -- accompanied by a destroyer -- is now heading toward Brazil, according to unnamed sources in the United States.

The Kharg's sinking marks the latest major naval incident for [Iran] in recent years. In May 2020, an Iranian ship called the Konarak, during a military exercise in the Gulf of Oman, was struck by a missile from the [Iranian] destroyer Jamaran, killing 15 sailors and wounding 19 others.

In another incident in January 2018, the Damavand, a destroyer similar to the Jamaran, sunk after hitting the breakwater at Bandar Anzali on the Caspian Sea.

Purchased By Shah To Modernize Iranian Navy

RFE/RL: Tell us about the history of the Kharg and the reasons the shah decided to purchase the ship a few years before the 1979 Islamic Revolution?

Aryan: The Kharg, named after the island that is Iran's main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf, was ordered by the government of Iran in October 1974. The builder was Swan Hunter, a shipbuilding design and engineering company in Wallsend-on-Tyne, near Newcastle, in England.

The ship was laid down in January 1976 and launched in February 1977 by Gholam Reza [Pahlavi, the brother of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was ousted in the 1979 revolution], and named by his wife, Manizheh Pahlavi. After the fitting out and several weeks of sea trials, the ship was handed over to the Iranian Navy on April 25, 1980. The Kharg was ready to sail to Iran but the British government refused to issue an export license for the ship. This meant that the ship and its 200 crew members could not leave the United Kingdom.

Britain, under the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, informed the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran that without the release of U.S. hostages (eds. U.S. diplomats held in Iran following the 1979 revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy), the Kharg would not be issued an export license.

As a result, with the exception of a skeleton team, the rest of the crew left the ship and returned to Iran just days before the start of the Iran-Iraq War.

However, after the release of the U.S. hostages in January 1981, the British government declared that an export license would not be issued for the foreseeable future, citing the detention of a British national in Iran, Andrew [Pyke, a businessman accused of spying who was never charged].

After the release of Pyke, negotiations between the governments of Iran and Britain took root and finally the ship, almost four years after its original handover, underwent an overhaul and started its sea trial with the Iranian crew aboard. On October 5, 1984, the Kharg started its maiden voyage to Iran and formally joined the Iranian Navy.

Concerted efforts during the Shah-era -- based on well-thought-out military plans -- were made to modernize and expand the Iranian Navy. As a result, the Imperial Iranian Navy gained robust capabilities and became the most powerful navy in the region.

Purchasing the Kharg and other ships from Britain together with ships and submarines from the United States were part of the plan to expand Iran's naval presence well beyond the waters of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

The Kharg and three highly advanced U.S.-made, Spruance-class destroyers [that were under construction but their contracts were canceled after the 1979 revolution] were planned to be the nucleus of the Iranian Navy that was to be kept in a huge tri-service base in [the southern port city of] Chabahar in Sistan-Baluchestan Province. The Navy was supposed to establish its presence in the northwestern part of the India Ocean.

RFE/RL: What tasks was Kharg supposed to do?

Aryan: At 207 meters long, with a displacement of 33,500 tons, the Kharg was a modern fleet replenishment oiler, with the capability to replenish at sea (RAS). Due to its logistics capabilities, it could transport weapons, food, fuel, and troops. Ideal also for the safe transfer of valuable or politically sensitive assets, such as imported military equipment.

The ship was a long-distance, blue-water asset for the Iranian Navy because of its ability to extend the range of Iranian warships. Without this ship, Iranian destroyers and frigates could not embark on extended deployments without several port visits along the way.

With its two hangars, the Kharg could carry large and heavy helicopters and, as a result, provide extra operational capabilities in terms of antisubmarine warfare for the naval group it belonged to.

RFE/RL: How was it used in recent years?

Aryan: Since 2009 the Kharg accompanied many ships on their extended period of anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden or off the coast of Somalia. [It was also used] during their friendly-foreign-port visits.

In terms of training, the Kharg was a suitable ship to provide on-the-job training to large numbers of midshipmen from the Imam Khomeini Maritime University in Noshahr.

In this role, before its sinking, the ship had some 200 cadets on board.

(Editor's note: some 20 sailors were reported to have suffered minor injuries due to the fire and the sinking. No deaths were reported.)
As of this Monday, 7 June, Spain is easing coronavirus control measures and opening its borders to all passengers entering the country who can show they are fully-vaccinated against the disease.

Travellers must have received the complete schedule of one of the vaccines recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The measure had been announced by Spains PM, Pedro Sanchez, at the last Fitur International Tourism Fair in Madrid and is seen as an important step to promote the principle of reciprocity and start receiving travellers from countries that still do not allow the arrival of people from Spain.

Sanchez said that it heralds "a new stage of overcoming the pandemic, repairing the damage and the transformation of the country is beginning."

International cruises

In addition, as from 7 June, cruise ships from other countries, banned since the outbreak of the pandemic, are also able to dock in Spain again.

The Port of Malaga, which in 2019 received half a million cruise passengers a year, is confident of being able to recover this activity by autumn after the interest shown by the main shipping companies in the meetings that have been held during the Covid-19 crisis.

The return of the international cruise ships to the Costa del Sol will take time, since the ships, schedules and berths all have to be prepared.

It remains to be seen whether Spain has lost ground in this sector, as other countries have already restarted cruising activities. Neither is it clear what impact the new 'bubble cruises' will have on cities like Malaga, as passenger contact with residents is reduced to a minimum. It will take time before groups of cruise ship passengers will be seen wandering freely through the shops and restaurants in the city centre again.
Jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny has been transferred from a prison hospital in the Correctional Colony No. 3 (IK-3) back to his court-mandated prison in the Vladimir region.

An official at the IK-3 penitentiary said on June 7 that the outspoken Kremlin critic had been returned to Correctional Colony No. 2 (IK-2) in the town of Pokrov.

Navalny was transferred to the correctional facility hospital at IK-3 in April while he was on a hunger strike to demand that independent physicians examine him for back pain and numb limbs.

Navalny ended his 24-day hunger strike on April 23 after civilian doctors were allowed to examine him.

As a court on June 7 started hearing Navalny's lawsuits against IK-2, the 45-year-old opposition politician said he decided to withdraw his lawsuits against the penitentiary administration accusing it of violating his rights by delivering newspapers to him with some articles cut out and by refusing him access to his books.

Navalny said at the hearing he decided to withdraw the lawsuits after he realized that the penitentiary had nothing to do with the clipped newspapers.

Navalny also said that eventually all of his books, including the Koran and Bible, were delivered to him and therefore the issue was resolved.

Navalny was arrested in January upon his arrival from Germany where he was treated after being poisoned in Siberia with what was defined by European labs as a Novichok nerve agent in August last year. He has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering the poisoning, which the Kremlin has denied.

A Moscow court in February converted a 3 1/2-year suspended sentence on a charge that Navalny and his supporters call politically motivated to real jail time, saying he broke the terms of the original sentence by leaving Russia for Germany for the life-saving treatment he received.

The court reduced the time Navalny must spend in prison to just over 2 1/2 years because of time already served in detention.

With reporting by RIA Novosti and TASS
An outspoken, U.S.-based critic of the Kazakh government, Barlyq Mendyghaziev, says the local authorities have arrested his brother on embezzlement and tax-evasion charges in a move to clamp down on his activities.

Mendyghaziev told RFE/RL on June 7 that his brother was arrested in the western city of Oral last week and sent to pretrial detention in the city of Atyrau for two months.

"I consider my brother's arrest as a way to put pressure on me," Mendyghaziev told RFE/RL by phone, adding that all charges against his brother, Bekizhan Mendyghaziev, were politically motivated.

Bekizhan Mendyghaziev's lawyer, Ivan Vranchayev, confirmed to RFE/RL that the court over the weekend ordered his client confined to pretrial detention.

Court officials refused to provide any details on the case, telling RFE/RL that an investigation was under way.

The Economic Investigations Department in Atyrau also refused to comment on the case, citing investigatory privilege.

The 52-year-old Mendyghaziev has been known for his harsh criticism of the Kazakh government.

He moved to the United States last year after a probe was launched against him and his Karachaganak Support Service company. Three of his associates have been convicted of tax evasion in recent weeks, which Mendyghaziev considers to be retaliation for his political activities.
BISHKEK -- Lawyers for jailed former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev say he needs to be taken immediately from prison to a regular hospital for back surgery.

Zamir Zhooshev said on June 7 that his client needs the surgery due to extreme pain caused by a herniated disc.

"[Atambaev] will not receive proper medical service in the penal colony and therefore the surgery must be performed in a regular clinic outside of the penitentiary," Zhooshev said, adding that the 64-year-old's heart problems complicate the matter.

Atambaev was sentenced to 11 years and two months in prison in June 2020 over his involvement in the illegal release of a notorious crime boss.

In November, the Supreme Court sent the case back to a Bishkek district court for retrial. The reason for the decision was not immediately given.

Atambaev has denied any wrongdoing.

In early October, Atambaev was released from custody as the country was rocked by mass protests against the official results of parliamentary elections. He was rearrested four days later and charged with organizing an illegal demonstration.

Atambaev was initially arrested in August 2019 after he surrendered to police following a deadly two-day standoff between security forces and his supporters that led to the death of a top security officer and more than 170 injured.

The former president and 13 other people were charged with murder, attempted murder, threatening or assaulting representatives of the authorities, hostage-taking, and the forcible seizure of power.

A trial on those charges has yet to be held.
David Dushman, the last surviving Soviet soldier involved in the liberation of Auschwitz, has died, the AP reported.

He was 98.

Dushman flattened the fence around the Nazi death camp located in southern Poland with his tank on January 27, 1945 as Soviet forces moved westward toward Berlin.

The Nazis deported at least 1.3 million people to the Auschwitz complex between 1940 and 1945, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. About 1.1 million were murdered by the camp authorities.

As Soviet forces approached Auschwitz in January 1945, the Nazis began evacuating the camp complex, forcing 60,000 prisoners to march westward. There were about 7,000 prisoners ill and dying when Soviet forces finally arrived.

The Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria said on June 6 that Dushman had died at a Munich hospital on June 5.

Every witness to history who passes on is a loss, but saying farewell to David Dushman is particularly painful, said Charlotte Knobloch, a former head of Germany's Central Council of Jews. Dushman was right on the front lines when the National Socialists' machinery of murder was destroyed.

Following the war, Dushman pursued fencing becoming the Soviet champion of the combat sport in 1951. He later trained the Soviet women's national fencing team with one of his students going on to win the gold medal in the 1976 Olympic Games.

Later in his life, Dushman visited schools to lecture children about the horrors of the Holocaust.

He gave a long interview shortly before his death about his war experience as well as his sporting career.

Based on reporting by AP
PODGORICA -- During recent debate in parliament on the dwindling proportion of newborn girls in Montenegro, a lawmaker "sincerely condemned" the trend but brushed it off as an unavoidable result of medical "technique" and the state of "the world" today.



He then followed his blase allusion to family-building-by-abortion with a kicker.



"Every citizen has the right to influence the reproduction of their children," ruling coalition member Dragan Ivanovic told fellow legislators on May 24.



The use of abortion to choose sons over daughters has been illegal in this demographically challenged former Yugoslav republic of some 623,000 people since 2009.

But Ivanovic's comments didn't raise a fuss among his coalition allies, many of whom were elected on a platform of strong support for the Serbian Orthodox Church, which strictly opposes abortion.



Ivanovic did, however, get an earful from women's rights defenders.



The executive director of the Montenegrin Women's Lobby, Aida Petrovic, condemned it as "shameful" and tantamount to "public support for selective abortions."



The Women's Rights Center, an NGO in Podgorica that has fought for tighter enforcement to stop what are known as sex-selective abortions, called the nonexistent "right" Ivanovic was describing a violation of the constitution and antidiscrimination laws. "A member of the Montenegrin parliament should know that," it said.



Sensing a tide of outrage, other politicians joined in.



The opposition Democratic Party of Socialists called it a sign of a retrograde government that treats women as though they are "obviously unwanted."



Aleksa Becic, the president of the parliament, apologized to the public and called for "messages of respect for the right of everyone to be born, regardless of whether [its a] male or female fetus."



The chairwoman of the parliamentary committee on gender equality, Bozena Jelusic, condemned Ivanovic and described selective abortion as a cancer on Montenegrin society.



By May 25, Ivanovic was apologizing, too.



He said he opposes selective abortions and that his statement was "reckless."



"I apologize to all mothers and all those who were affected" by the remarks, Ivanovic added.

It was seemingly rare unity at the top for a country that recently turned decades of political stagnation on its head and still struggles to contain ethnic and nationalist resentments simmering since its 2006 split with neighboring Serbia.



But it also spoke of the heavy undercurrent of acceptance in Montenegro for what demographers, sociologists, and rights groups warn is a problem that perpetuates gender discrimination and inequity, sends dangerous signals to society, and exacts a particular toll on would-be mothers.



"Colleague Ivanovic merely said what, unfortunately, is the reality in Montenegro, and he also condemned it," Danijela Djurovic, a party ally and member of the parliamentary committee on gender equality, told RFE/RL's Balkan Service. "His definite position is that discrimination on the grounds of sex, before birth or after birth, or on any other grounds, is something that is definitely unacceptable."



But even on such an uncommonly difficult problem to track, official figures tell a different story.

Persistent Problem

The World Health Organization (WHO) and other experts agree that the naturally occurring variance in human births is currently around 105 males for every 100 females.



The difference, or imbalance, between the expected number and a country's actual figure is the result of multiple factors but is often a telltale sign of sex-selective abortion.



In such cases, pregnant women use the results of technology generally designed to spot fetal abnormalities to decide whether to keep or terminate a fetus depending on the sex.



Such procedures -- along with postnatal abandonment or worse -- are notoriously common in China and India, where cultural and other biases encourage the preference for a son.



But while its cumulative trajectory has improved slightly over the past decade, Montenegro also maintains one of the 10 highest imbalances in the world: around 108 newborn boys for every 100 girls in 2020.



Amid signs of rising sex-selective abortions after the fall of communism, it banned them more than a decade ago. The use of early genetic tests to determine gender is also explicitly prohibited under Montenegrin law.



Still, Montenegro was flagged by UN and European experts nearly a decade ago as suffering more than most from a birth imbalance, with indicators also high among regional neighbors Albania, Kosovo, and parts of what is now North Macedonia.



In 2012, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights unsuccessfully urged Montenegrin authorities to investigate the prevalence of sex-selective abortions there.

Two years later, the Council of Europe urged national bans among member states, calling the practice "a clear case of discrimination with strong elements of physical and psychological violence."



The deadline for having a legal abortion in Montenegro is 10 weeks, and access to the requisite testing is limited. But it has long been an "open secret" that some Montenegrin women travel to nearby Serbia or otherwise evade such guidelines for telltale tests of a fetus's gender.

Beyond Numbers

A major national gender equality index commissioned and developed among local, EU, and UN bodies that was published two years ago assigned Montenegro a score of 55, well behind the EU average of 67+ and thus "[lagging] behind most of the developed EU countries."



More recently, a slew of sociological, anthropological, and ethnographic studies suggest that Montenegro remains stubbornly susceptible to sex-selective abortion.



Diana Kiscenko, a lecturer in social anthropology at Riga Stradins University, published an ethnographic study in April on a Montenegrin "son preference and inheritance practices" in the country.



In the report featuring the study, the authors sought to avoid reiterating "balkanizing and patronizing standpoints" that frequently arise during discussion of gender in Montenegro and the region.



Among other things, they highlighted complex ties between material and economic circumstances, on one hand, and social and cultural mindsets, on the other.



They acknowledged the role of kinship and property relationships in gender practices.

"It is a very complex story," Kiscenko tells RFE/RL. "It is not only about tradition [as Montenegrins mostly see it] where the son continues the lineage, takes over the familys property, business, and is seen as the one who will take care of the aging parents, but also about very practical aspects of the daily life of men and women in Montenegro."



She says the situation in Montenegro is "statistically challenging to assess" due to its size and "empirical studies...are scarce."



"Compared to other countries with a skewed sex ratio at birth," Kiscenko thinks Montenegro's imbalance is only "slightly affected by sex selection."



In her study, Kiscenko delves into the experience of a young mother from Podgorica, whom she calls "Ivana," to illustrate the familial, work, and ownership obstacles facing an untold number of Montenegrin women.

I would say that property ownership and inheritance as a gendered practice influences pregnancy and abortion for people in Montenegro. However, I would not claim that it is the only reason that one may terminate a pregnancy."

Starting off poor, Ivana's parents eventually made enough money reselling clothing -- on the fringes of the law -- to build their own two-story house in the capital.



Ivana had an older sister, but always wanted a younger brother.



She later learned that her father and his side of the family were aggressively pressuring her mother for the same thing.



Eventually, Ivana and the rest of the family got their wish.



Years later, Ivana said, her mother visited both adult daughters "to inform them that the family's house would be given to their younger brother" and to suggest that her daughters "get married in order to acquire a house."



Ivana said she was not "OK" with it, but "I got used to it."



"Only later, as an adult," Kiscenko writes, "did she find out that every time her mother became pregnant, she went to Belgrade in Serbia to undergo an amniocentesis to determine the sex of the fetus and, if it was female, she had an abortion."



Ivana's mother underwent four abortions over the span of a decade.



Looking back, Ivana recalled as an 8- or 9-year-old urging her mother to give her a little brother, and her mother always agreeing.



"Can you imagine that?" Ivana said.

More Aware?

Jennifer Zenovich, a lecturer at San Francisco State University who wrote an auto-ethnography on "the property of gender" in Montenegro in 2016, tells RFE/RL that she "[doubts] that there is an epidemic of abortion of female fetuses" there.



She cites the country's low birth rate, the cost of such a procedure, possibly including travel to avoid the ban, cultural stigmas, birth-control practices, and women's employment numbers.



"I would say that property ownership and inheritance as a gendered practice influences pregnancy and abortion for people in Montenegro," Zenovich says. "However, I would not claim that it is the only reason that one may terminate a pregnancy."



She stresses that pregnant people are "absolutely entitled" to make decisions about their bodies.



"The reasons one terminates a pregnancy are surely culturally influenced, but the decision to have a baby or not is ultimately that of the pregnant person and what is right for them and their body," Zenovich says.



She says reports of a sex imbalance in society "might trigger nationalist worry for the state and its ability to reproduce itself."



But Christophe Guilmoto, a demographer and researcher at the Center for Population and Development at the University of Paris (IRD-Ceped) who has written extensively about sex-selective abortion in the Balkans and around the world, is convinced Montenegro has a problem.

A lot of women in Montenegro don't want to play that game anymore, so the family structure is changing and the 'need' for sons is reducing."

Moreover, he says, Montenegro is "understudied and the only Slavic country where sex-selective abortions can be evidenced."



Whatever the precise scale of the sex-selective-abortion problem, there are signs that the needle in Montenegro has been nudged slightly closer to the "natural" sex ratio at birth.



But progress has been herky-jerky, at best.



In 2017, the Podgorica-based Women's Rights Center launched a public-awareness campaign and petition drive called Unwanted, in an effort to get the government to more aggressively limit the abuse of prenatal tests and curb sex-selective abortion.



In it, the organizers challenged "negative patriarchal values" and primogeniture, while highlighting the reluctance of women to talk openly about their experiences.

A World Bank chart on cumulative sex ratios at birth shows a deceptively steady closing of the gap between male and female births in Montenegro through 2019.



But a UN Population Fund (UNFPA) table based on official Montenegrin data showed a gap of nearly 110 boys to 100 girls in 2019, as bad as it's been for decades.



The national statistical agency, Monstat, put the figure for 2020 at 108 boys for every 100 girls.



The apparent contradiction is due in part to the statistical quirks of such a small country, with ratios fluctuating wildly during the past decade based on differences of just a few hundred births per year.



The decade's low of just 104 boys for every 100 girls, registered in 2016, for instance, is based on 3,850 boys and 3,719 girls being born. The decade's high, of over 110 boys for every 100 girls, is based on a total of 3,947 newborn boys and 3,582 newborn girls in 2014.



But that speaks to the scale of the problem in Montenegro, not its nature, demographers caution.



"That's why this issue has been somehow ignored or swept under the carpet" by multiple governments in Podgorica, according to Guilmoto, who has worked with the UNFPA. "Because they say, 'See, this year again it's normal.'"

A Pandora's Box

Guilmoto says the bans and criminalization of the practice "is a necessary strategy, but it's not necessarily effective."



Governments must "take a stand and tell doctors that what they're doing is against the law," he says.



But he also cites the ease with which women can go to one place for testing that includes identifying the sex of a fetus, then turn elsewhere for an abortion.



He acknowledges that Montenegro's imbalance has been improving over the past decade and "maybe in 15 or 20 years, the problem will be solved." After all, he says, "The idea of having too many sons is OK on paper, but it's not sustainable."



Montenegro's Education Ministry reported that there were 35,719 boys and just 32,787 girls enrolled in the country's primary schools in 2020.



Guilmoto cites the effects of too many males on things like matchmaking, employment, and even migration. He also says women play an increasingly important role in many aspects of Montenegrin society, giving them more of a say in the family structure.

"A lot of women in Montenegro don't want to play that game anymore," Guilmoto says, "so the family structure is changing and the 'need' for sons is reducing."



But he also doesn't discount the family and "neighborhood" pushback that such women continue to face.



Zenovich stresses that she rejects "stereotypes about Montenegro and Montenegrins."



"I think that the situation in Montenegro is changing," Zenovich says. "Some families do not have a traditional patriarchal preference for babies assigned male at birth, nor do they practice traditional inheritance practices."



That points to more women owning land, businesses, and inheriting family property, and says more work in that direction "would be a wonderful place to start to redress the gendered power dynamic of ownership."



In that sense, Ivanovic's comments in parliament last month hinted at the limits of bans to address Montenegro's stubborn sex imbalance, as well as the Pandora's box of societal tensions that underlies it.



"It is very problematic as it opens many uneasy issues that Montenegrin society is facing nowadays," Kiscenko says. "It is not only about prenatal discrimination and gender inequality in Montenegro, but also ethics, the usage of modern medical technologies, responsibility of doctors and state institutions."

Written by Andy Heil with additional reporting by RFE/RL Balkan Service correspondent Lela Scepanovic in Podgorica
Russian opposition politician and former State Duma Deputy Dmitry Gudkov says that he decided to leave Russia after he was warned that his relatives and associates could face arrest if he remained.

In an interview with Current Time from Kyiv on June 7, Gudkov said he had been given "a window of opportunity" to leave Russia before being arrested. He said he had been told "the Gudkov matter will be settled by any means necessary."

"Permission has been given from the very top," he said his sources informed him.

Gudkov declined to say who had warned him, except to say he had received the information from multiple sources within Russia's security agencies.

Gudkov left Russia for Ukraine on June 6 and said he plans to travel on to Bulgaria, where his father, former State Duma Deputy Gennady Gudkov, and his mother live.

He said his departure should not be considered "emigration."

"It is a temporary, involuntary departure, a temporary withdrawal in order to regroup and move on," he said. "I plan to continue my political activity."

Gudkov's departure came after he was detained on June 1 following a massive police operation that included searches of at least 10 locations and involved more than 100 law enforcement officers.

He was released from custody on June 3, although he remained under investigation for purportedly "causing material harm through fraud" for an allegedly unpaid debt for rented property dating back to 2015. His aunt was also detained in the investigation and could face charges in the case.

Gudkov has said the case against him was fabricated to prevent him from running in the State Duma elections that must be held before September 19.

Gudkov also told Current Time, a Russian-language network headed by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, that he'd decided he could more effectively achieve his goals of promoting democratic reform in Russia from abroad than from prison.

The politician compared his decision with that of imprisoned opposition figure Aleksei Navalny, who was also warned before he returned to Russia from Germany in January that he would be arrested.

"There are different kinds of people with different abilities and different habits," he said. "Aleksei apparently thought that, for him, the most effective step would be to turn himself into a sort of symbol. Now he is not just an opposition figure but rather the symbol of the protest movement."

"I think everyone needs to make their own decision independently," Gudkov said. "I have never criticized anyone who left. And I will never judge those who decided to stay even though it meant suffering for those close to them."
A Moscow court has prolonged the curfew for Lyubov Sobol, the lawyer for jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), potentially undermining her campaign for parliament.

Sobol's lawyer, Vladimir Voronin, told the Interfax news agency on June 7 that the court extended her curfew by six months to the end of December.

The 33-year-old lawyer said in March she planned to run for parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, in September elections. She is the latest opposition politician seeking a seat in parliament to face legal pressure.

The curfew bars Sobol from leaving her home between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. It was imposed after she helped lead unsanctioned rallies on January 21 to protest Navalny's incarceration.

Sobol and several other associates and supporters of Navalny were initially placed under house arrest, which was later replaced by a curfew.

Separately, in April another Moscow court sentenced Sobol to a one-year suspended sentence of correctional labor after finding her guilty of trespassing, in what she described as a decision designed to silence her.

The court agreed she illegally forced her way into the apartment of Federal Security Service (FSB) officer Konstantin Kudryavtsev in December 2020, hours after Navalny had published a recording of what he said was a phone conversation with Kudryavtsev.

During the 49-minute phone call, in which Navalny posed as an FSB official conducting an internal review, Kudryavtsev described the details of a state operation to poison the Kremlin critic in August.

Investigators claim Sobol pushed Kudryavtsev's mother-in-law, who opened the door, and forcefully entered the apartment.

Sobol rejected the charge, saying she had not pushed Kudryavtsev's mother-in-law, but went to the apartment to meet Kudryavtsev to ask him about his conversation with Navalny.

Her team has described the case as political "revenge" for a lawyer not afraid to ask questions of the alleged assassin.

Dmitry Gudkov, an opposition politician and former parliament member, said on June 6 that he fled Russia amid concern over his possible arrest on charges that he said were trumped up.

Gudkov said he was warned by several people close to the presidential administration that a fraud case recently opened against him would continue if he did not leave.

He claimed it was an attempt by the authorities for force him out of the country until at least the parliamentary elections.
Slovakia has become the second European Union member state to start inoculating its citizens with the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, following months of controversy.

Starting on June 7, Sputnik V is offered on a voluntary basis to people 18 to 60 years of age and is available in eight vaccination centers.

RFE/RL's Coronavirus Coverage Features and analysis, videos, and infographics explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the countries in our region.

Slovakia last month approved the use of the two-shot vaccine, which has not been endorsed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and has bought 200,000 doses.

However, only about 5,000 people in the country of 5.5 million have registered so far to receive the shot.

Neighboring Hungary was the first EU member to use Sputnik V.

A secret deal for Slovakia to purchase 2 million Sputnik V doses triggered a political crisis in March that resulted in the collapse of the government of then-Prime Minister Igor Matovic.

Slovakia has been administering the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca jabs, all of which have been authorized by EMA.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
The United States has recovered most of the Bitcoin ransom paid to the suspected Russian-based Darkside cybercriminal group behind the attack on Colonial Pipeline last month that temporarily shut down the largest U.S. fuel network.



The Justice Department said on June 7 that the seizure of 63.7 Bitcoins -- valued currently at around $2.3 million -- showed the ability of U.S. authorities to impose risks and costs on digital extortionists no matter where they are located.



"Today, we turned the tables on Darkside by going after the entire ecosystem that fuels ransomware and digital extortion attacks, including criminal proceeds in the form of digital currency," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said.



The seizure came a month after Colonial announced it was the victim of a ransomware attack that halted the company's pipeline, creating gasoline shortages across parts of the U.S. east coast.



Colonial ended up paying Darkside 75 Bitcoin in ransom, then valued at $4.4 million before the cryptocurrencys price plummeted.



In a ransomware attack, a victim's data is encrypted, making any files and systems unusable. The criminals then demand money in exchange for software decryption keys.



It is unclear exactly how U.S. authorities were able to recover the Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency widely used by criminal groups to hide and launder money .

The Justice Department said law enforcement was able to track multiple Bitcoin transfers to a specific address, to which the FBI had gained access to the password.



It was the first known seizure of a paid ransom by the Justice Department's new Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force, which was created to combat the growing number of ransomware and digital-extortion attacks on schools, hospitals, local governments, and businesses over the past several years.



The ransomware attacks are often carried out by criminal syndicates believed to be operating out of Russia or former Soviet states.



After the Colonial attack, U.S. President Joe Biden said he intends to speak directly to President Vladimir Putin about Russia's harboring of ransomware criminals when the two meet for a bilateral summit in Geneva on June 16.

With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters
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South Kingstown woman Nicole Solas (top right) spoke before the school committee last Wednesday after the District considered suing her. Solas and her legal counsel listened to more than two hours of public comment on the matter.
Editor's Note: This is an ongoing series which runs each Thursday morning titled the Richland Chronicles, by author Paul Lintern. It is set in the 1800s and tells the story of Richland County through the eyes of young people. The books are available from Lintern for $25 a set, tax and shipping included. Each book is about 120 pages written for intermediate readers (4th grade) with local illustrations. Volume I is Amelia Changes Her Tune. Volume II is Isaac and Wolf Paw Find Their Home. Volume III is Autumn Keeps Her Secret. Volume IV is Mr. Gamble Starts a School. Volume V is Jacob Blows his Horn. Volume VI is Cassie Fights the War. Volume VII is Emilene Adopts Her Family. Volume VIII is David Dances the Bases.

I cant believe all that money is all ours. We are rich, rich, rich.

Out of that terrible crime by some Rebel spy has come a real blessing for our family, but I think it is also a big responsibility.

Mama was repeating what she had said at the fountain dedication picnic, before she insisted that the topic be closed until the family could meet in private at the Zimmerman home, later in the afternoon.

Im ready for some of that sponsibility!

For whatever reason, we have been entrusted with a large sum that we did not earn and must now keep hidden for the sake of our friends, the government and many who were affected, even if they didnt know it, she said.

Hidden? Are we putting it back in the fruit cellar?

We have always been pleased to work hard to earn what is ours, and even in setbacks, we work extra hard to pick ourselves back up and keep going forward. We learned that from the Zeiters when I was a little girl, and the Zimmermans when Papa was growing up, and they from the generations before them.

We know that, Mother, we all have made good lives out of hard work, Philip said.

Hard work and creativity. Look at what Natalie, with Lucas help, was able to do for our town, and so many were blessed, Mama said.

And the money is our reward!

And the money is our test.

Huh?

We are hard working, yes; creative, yes, and charitable. This is a time for us to work hard at creatively being charitable.

What, what what?

This money does not belong to us, and it will change us for the worse, I think, if we simply spend it on ourselves.

Wont change me that much!

But I think there is a reason why it has landed in our lap. I think we are supposed to use the money to make many good and lasting changes for the people around us.

Without letting anyone know we are doing it.

You mean we dont spend the money? Natalie asked

Just not on us, Mama replied.

Suddenly Natalies eyes brightened.

A club!

The rest looked at her puzzled.

A charity club.

Silence.

A secret family charity club.

Eyes began to sparkle at Natalie.

Go on, Uncle Lucas said.

We all become our own sort of spies, looking around for places that need money, but not just lumps of money, like old rich men give to the YMCA, but little things, lots of little things.

And then we gather around the dinner table like we do anyway, and we bring up our ideas, and the family votes on them and then we do it.

Natalie was on a roll.

But we do it in secret, and everyone helps to pull off the plans so that people get things without knowing where it is coming from. Water bills get paid, and grocery bills, and someone gets a certificate for piano lessons, and the teacher does not know who is paying for it, and certain widows get a basket of flowers delivered at their doorstep, and we each try to outdo each other in how clever is our plan.

This is fun.

We can even invest in someones business and the money that is made from it can do even more good things, and if we do it right, we will never run out. Papa taught me that.

Oh, and we should have special projects where everyone has a part, and we invade a whole family, or business, or part of town with our good deed.

And no one knows.

Natalie smiled.

Mother, are you crying?

How did we get this amazing little girl? Mother was saying to everyone.

Shes a Zeiters all right, Mama said.

And a Zimmerman, Mother added.

And half Burns, Father chimed in.

The fact is, Natalie, you are the best part of all of us, at least thats what has surfaced, Uncle Lucas suggested.

Everyone gets the good, and perhaps not-so-good, of everyone in the family, but we each are responsible for what surfaces. You, Dear Niece, Dear Great Niece, bring the best of all of us to the surface. 

Natalie blushed, and beamed, and then blushed again.

I still wouldnt mind spending some of it for myself, she confessed.

Everyone burst out laughing.
BUCYRUS  A special meeting of the Crawford County District Advisory Council (DAC) was held in the morning of June 7, 2021 for the purpose of filling a Crawford County Board of Health member vacancy.

Six eligible individuals requested consideration from the DAC to fill that vacancy. The council reviewed and discussed the candidates prior to selecting their appointment.

DAC Chairman, Milton Underwood, has announced Jodi Keller, a resident of Liberty Township with a home just east of the Bucyrus city limits, was appointed to the Crawford County Board of Health for a term that will run through March 2025.

Keller is a Registered Nurse (RN) with 35 years experience; with 15 of those years serving as the charge nurse in the emergency department at Bucyrus Community Hospital. Currently, Keller serves as the Associate Director of Healthcare System Emergency Preparedness for Central Ohio.

In this role, she oversees the systemic coordination of central Ohio hospitals and community healthcare partners emergency planning and response to promote disaster/terrorism preparedness in the region and state along with overseeing the coverage of the COTS (Central Ohio Trauma System) Healthcare Incident Liaison (HIL) role 24/7.

For the past 16 months, Keller has been coordinating the healthcare response to the COVID 19 pandemic throughout the 15 counites in the central Ohio region, which includes Crawford County.

My professional experience helps me understand the work of the health department and the importance of that work in protecting the health of our community," Keller said. "I bring a unique perspective to the Board and am excited to support the team at the health department, the work they do, and serve our community as a board member."

The Crawford County District Advisory Council (DAC) is comprised of the president of each board of township trustees, mayors of each village and the City of Bucyrus, and the president of the county commissioners. This group of individuals is responsible for making four of the seven appointments to the Crawford County Board of Health.

Two of the other Board of Health members are appointed by the City of Bucyrus and one member is appointed by the Licensing Council (representatives from the various sectors licensed and regulated by the Board of Health).

The other DAC appointments include Zach Wolfe, Dean Sipe and Dr. Stephen Novack. The City of Bucyrus appointments are Phyllis Crall and Kurt Fankhauser. Scott Woodworth is the Licensing Council appointment to the Board of Health representing businesses that are regulated by Crawford County Public Health.

The next regularly scheduled Board of Health meeting is June 16, 2021, 4:30 p.m., at Crawford County Public Health, 1520 Isaac Beal Rd., Bucyrus.

To learn more about Crawford County Public Health, visit their website at www.crawfordhealth.org.
MANSFIELD -- Richland Academy of the Arts has announced the return of one of its theatre instructors, Maria Getz Beery.

Beery taught at Richland Academy before she ventured to New York City and furthered her theatre career. She spent 10 years in the Big Apple where she performed, directed, taught drama and English, as well as studied acting at the Atlantic Acting School and the Jayd McCarty Studio.

She previously served as a drama teacher and director at Convent of the Sacred Heart School and York Preparatory School. Beery has a Master of Arts in Theatre with a concentration in Youth Theatre as well as a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Bowling Green State University.

She will be teaching several new theatre classes this summer at Richland Academy starting July 12, including:

Junior Theatre Camp: Ages 8 to 12

Teen Acting Institute: Ages 13 to 18

Academy Childrens Theatre (ACTS): Ages 13 to 18

Camp Shakespeare: Ages 13 to 18.

We are thrilled to have Maria back at the Academy to offer high-level instruction and give children and teens a summer experience they will remember for the rest of their lives, says Marianne Cooper, Executive Director at Richland Academy of the Arts. I think every young actor needs to take advantage of these awesome opportunities this summer.

For more information on registering for classes, call Richland Academy at 419-522-8224 or visit www.richlandacademy.com.

Richland Academy  where anyone can explore the artist within, located at the corner of 4th and Walnut St. was founded in 1991 and is supported by the Ohio Arts Council.
HANOVER TOWNSHIP  A Bellville man was killed Sunday in a two-vehicle crash in Ashland County, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The driver of the motorcycle, Randall L. Beecham, 69, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Troopers reported the incident took place at approximately 4:35 p.m. on Ohio 97 near ODNR Mohican Road 51 in Hanover Township.

According to the Patrol, a 2018 GMC Terrain was eastbound on State Route 97 when it went left of center and struck a westbound 2002 BMW motorcycle head on, driven by Beecham. The driver of the motorcycle was ejected upon impact.

The driver of the GMC Terrain, Thir Lal Uprety, 30, of Akron, was transported to UH Samaritan Medical Center in Ashland with non-life threatening injuries.

State Route 97 was closed for approximately 3 1/2 hours.

Other agencies assisting at the crash scene were: Loudonville Fire and EMS, Ashland County ODNR, Ashland County Sheriffs Office, and the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Alcohol is considered a factor in the crash, the Patrol stated in its press release.
ONTARIO  Are you ready to get vaccinated but unable to travel to a COVID-19 vaccine clinic? Ohio has begun making the COVID-19 vaccine available to eligible homebound Ohioans.

Why should you get the COVID-19 vaccine if you are not going out?

Even if you dont leave the home often, it is still important to consider getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Many homebound individuals have:

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Loved ones who want to come visit but dont want to put their unvaccinated friends and family at risk.

Find out if you qualify for Ohios homebound vaccine program. Contact the Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging Vaccine Information line at 567-247-6503. Calls answered and returned Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging, Inc., located at 2131 Park Avenue West in Ontario, provides leadership, collaboration, coordination and services to older adults, people with disabilities, their caregivers and resource networks that support individual choice, independence, and dignity.
Written By

Joe Schulz served as the reporter of the Green Laker in 2019 and 2020, before being hired as a reporter for the Commonwealth in October 2020. He is from Oshkosh and graduated from UW-Oshkosh in December with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

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In 2020, RuScience publishers, Moscow, released the monograph by N. Khromova Diamond Facets of Russian-Indian Cooperation (Russian:   - ). As the abstract says, The monograph - for the first time in Russia - gives a comprehensive analysis of the prerequisites and trends of the Russian-Indian cooperation in the diamond industry in 1992-2018. It contains some practical recommendations for the development of the domestic rough and polished diamond industry and offers some promising forms of Russian-Indian cooperation in this sector of the economy. In addition, the issues of the development are studied and the individual characteristics of the Russian and Indian diamond industries are considered ....

The large-scale analytical studies of the diamond market by the Russian authors are relatively rare and deserve very close attention, at least because of Russias role in the global diamond industry. In this case, the interest in this book is also explained by the fact that the author has a direct and significant experience in the diamond business as the CFO of the Choron Diamond company. It should be noted that at present, N. Khromova works at the Department of World Economy at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and her monograph largely repeats her Ph.D. thesis (specialty 08.00.14 - International Economics) on the topic Russian-Indian cooperation in the sectors of the diamond complex (Russian: -    - ) successfully defended in 2019.

The undoubted merits of the monograph include the abundant sources used and the in-depth study of the Russian and foreign sources on the state of the world diamond industry in the period from the early 1990s to the present day. The book may well be considered a reliable statistical reference book, not only for the Russian-Indian cooperation but also for the global diamond business. The reliability of the sources used is beyond all doubt, and the original data structuring by the author deserves high praise.

However, in those cases when the author goes beyond the specified historical range, unfortunate mistakes arise like In Russia, the diamond business began to develop after the discovery of the richest primary diamond deposits in Yakutia in the mid-1950s. In the Soviet times, an important feature of the diamond market was its small size, as well as the fact that the state represented by the Yakutalmaz association was the owner of the rough diamonds it mined and the polished diamonds manufactured at the cutting and polishing factories.1

In fact, the diamond business (as far as it is possible to apply this term to the Soviet realities) had been developing in the USSR since the 1920s in the form of dumping exports of the polished diamonds confiscated from wealthy people and the church; in 1946, the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR On the Development of the Domestic Diamond Industry was adopted, which marked the beginning of the industrial diamond mining in the Urals by the GULAG prisoners, and in the late 1940s, the USSR was one of the most important suppliers of polished diamonds (including the ones captured from the enemy) to the USA.2

The assertion that Yakutalmaz was the owner of the rough diamonds it mined and of the polished diamonds manufactured at the Soviet cutting factories, can be attributed to the genre of fantasy. Yakutalmaz handed over all the rough diamonds it mined to the State Precious Metals and Gems Repository (Gokhran) at fixed non-market prices and had nothing to do with the fate of these diamonds in the future. The Soviet cutting and polishing factories (PO Kristall) belonged to the USSR Ministry of Instrument-Making, Automation Facilities, and Control Systems, and Yakutalmaz was part of the USSR Ministry of Nonferrous Metallurgy, so, just by definition, the ownership of their products could not overlap.

The statement about a certain small size of the diamond market in Soviet times is also bewildering. In one way or another, the Soviet diamond industry comprised over fifty enterprises belonging to five ministries, and their relationships were very difficult, including administrative barriers, which is why serious efforts and costs were required to overcome them. To a large extent, it was bad governance - attributed in no small measure to the administrative gaps - that brought the Soviet diamond industry into the catastrophic state observed in the early 1990s.

Unfortunately, we are compelled to note N. Khromovas very superficial understanding of the history of the diamond market, which, however, does not keep her from acting as a kind of a rebel destroying its foundations, Over the past three and a half years, the industry has faced an increase in the rough diamond production, financing problems, the demonetization in India, the trade war that slowed down Chinas economic growth, and the strengthening dollar. In this regard, prices for polished diamonds continue to decline resulting in the lower profitability of the manufacture. According to the author of the study, to resolve this situation, it is necessary to decrease the prices for rough diamonds, and the supply from the major mining companies - De Beers Group and ALROSA - should be less rigid in the long term. Thus, it is necessary to stop controlling the demand for supplies. In this situation, it is necessary to focus on auctions or tenders where the market sets prices and manufacturers can buy what they need. That is, in order to ensure a long-term profitable future for the diamond industry (in all segments of the diamond pipeline), the demand3 must be the driver in the rough diamond market.

Six years before the publication of N. Khromovas monograph, the author of these lines discussed a similar problem with M. Shkadov (the then director of the Smolensk Kristall); here is a fragment of this interview, Today, the sales models of the leading diamond miners - ALROSA and De Beers - are built in a way that creates the illusion of a constant high demand for rough diamonds from numerous buyers. But in fact, there exist practically one buyer - India. The sightholders can be registered in Belgium or any other country, but 90% of the rough diamonds actually go to India. And the goal of the Indian colleagues is to control the market, and they do not conceal their intentions. The Indian diamond business today is a logistically well-organized $15-bn business operating with strong government support. Considering that the worlds credit resources through which the purchase of rough diamonds and the manufacture of polished diamonds are financed are just about $18 bn, it should be admitted that the diamond market becomes a buyers market. And this leads to the situation when the buyer begins to control the price as only India buy roughs and cut and polish diamonds that are under 7 cts now, and according to the price dynamics, it can be argued that the price for these diamonds will never rise since it is dictated by the monopoly buyer. And a lot of such rough diamonds are mined. Simply put, the ALROSAs sales totally depend on the state of the Indian economy and its banking system. De Beers has also the same problem.4

So, in the buyers market (Indian market, of course), N. Khromova sees a bright prospect, and M. Shkadov sees a serious threat to the Russian diamond industry. It is not difficult to determine the winner in this sort of dispute, it is enough to turn to the history of the diamond market, ... demand must be the driver in the rough diamond market - the statement sounds great, but it would be nice to remember where the demand came from. It is unlikely that anyone would deny that as a matter of fact, the markets for gem-quality rough diamonds and for polished diamonds are project-based and that the demand for these goods is the result of many years of generic marketing carried out mainly by De Beers. It is due to its capital that the market survives up to the present. Have the Indian diamond manufacturers invested a lot in generic marketing? Its a rhetorical question.

The idea about the project-based nature of the diamond market, perhaps, is closely connected with the most interesting question - who was the author of the Indian diamond industry rise and why did this rise take place in the 1970s? The monograph by N. Khromova contains a chapter with the promising title India Turning into the Leading Cutting Centre of the World (Russian:       ), but, unfortunately, it does not give an answer to this question. It describes in detail how the transformation was launched and what factors contributed to this, but the author does not even suggest who and why the thought of turning the industrial quality diamonds and the near-gem diamonds into polished ones, The rise of the diamond industry was in the second half of the 20th century largely due to the use of the most industrial quality diamonds and the near-gem natural diamonds. All this resulted in a revolutionary breakthrough, and a new niche - Indian goods - appeared on the world market (the smallest cheapest rough diamonds of various weight and quality categories costing about $30/carat). In other countries, cutting and polishing such rough diamonds were unprofitable and they were considered unsuitable for processing. But the large low-cost manpower and the centuries-old high level of craftsmanship of the local cutters have turned India into the worlds most cost-effective workshop for cutting and polishing small-sized and low-quality diamonds.

At the beginning of the modern stage of Indias diamond cutting industry development, the quality of cutting and polishing was low, and mainly small stones were processed. But gradually, the quality improved, and since the 1970s, India has taken its niche as a monopolist in cutting and polishing small-sized and low-quality diamonds.

In the 1980s, the significant role of the Indian diamond sector in the global diamond industry was recognized since only India had the capabilities and experience of cutting and polishing cheap, small-size, and labour-intensive rough diamonds with a low yield (even a generally accepted term appeared - the rough diamonds were called the Indian goods). Due to the unprofitability, the world diamond centres - Belgium and Israel - completely refused to cut and polish this category of rough diamonds. But at the same time, the polished diamonds obtained from the rough diamonds of this quality were widely sold in the United States, the largest consumer market for diamond jewellery. In fact, this led to the creation of a new segment in the diamond market. The stereotype was broken that polished diamonds were very expensive and only the elite could afford them.5

That is, according to N. Khromova, everything happened as if with a wave of a magic wand - all of a sudden, industrial quality diamonds were cut and polished (why were not they cut and polished earlier?), for some reason they had widespread sales in the USA (probably, organized by the Indians?), and even the stereotype was broken (obviously, under its own weight?).

But here is a different (and more constructive, in our opinion) point of view on this process, In 1979, the Argyle diamond pipe (Australia) was discovered with colossal reserves of small and cheap rough diamond featuring also a higher hardness. Cutting and polishing Argyle roughs turned out to be completely unprofitable at the traditional diamond centres due to the high labour intensity and high cost, and this gave the Indian cutters a chance, which they used with brilliance. Having started the cutting and polishing of the Australian diamonds, the Indian cutters have created a separate niche of the near-gem or Indian goods in the global diamond market using an archaic, family-based system of production, as well as a huge pool of cheap manpower, traditional high craftsmanship of the cutters and the family labour. This has transformed the country into the worlds most cost-effective near-gem diamond cutting facility. Moreover, Indias managers and experts in marketing and promotion these goods (with the help of the experts from the De Beers group, which thus successfully solved the companys problem (i.e., how to profitably sell the inventories of the similar goods accumulated from Zaires and the USSRs mines at the Central Selling Organization) built a new class of consumers consisting of the rapidly growing middle class in the developed countries that could not afford fine expensive jewellery offered by famous brands.6

To put it simply, De Beers was once again able to build up a new market that was able to digest a huge flow of small-sized rough diamonds from the new African, Russian, and Australian mines. And with all due respect to the Indian marketing managers, they played a secondary role in solving this task. That is, India owes its emergence, development, and current triumph to the sellers market; given any other scenario, the Indian diamond miracle would have culminated in failure at its very source.

In for a penny, in for a pound, N. Khromova adds another brilliant prospect to the statement about the need to move to a market controlled by a buyer (obviously, the Indian one), The shortage of rough diamonds in the next decade is also predicted by the Bain & Companys experts noting that  based on the analysis of the economic situation and the market environment, it is foreseen that the global supply of rough diamonds will decline by an average of 1% to 2% per year from 2016 to 2030 because of the aging and depletion of existing mines. Consequently, at present and in the future, it is risky for Russia to rely on diamond mining only, it is necessary to develop diamond cutting and polishing while maintaining and improving its existing positions in the world diamond market.7 And further it reads, For example, in the world economy, the following global diamond market distribution (GDMD) has taken place over the past 3 years (on average): 13 -21 -76, that is, the share of the value-added attributable to each link in the chain is as follows: assuming that $13 bn worth of diamonds is mined (1st link), loose polished diamonds are worth of $21 bn (2nd link = 13 + 8), and the retail sales of diamond jewellery make $76 bn (3rd link = 13 + 8 + 55) (the ratio is 1-1.6-5.8). Thus, each link adds the newly added value to the original one. If we consider Russias rough and polished diamond industry for 3 years, the following proportions are seen (on average), 1-0.1-0.2, that is, per unit of mined rough diamonds there are only 0.1 polished diamonds and 0.2 diamond jewellery sales. In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) - the main region of Russias rough and polished diamond industry - the proportions are even lower 1-0.03-0.003. Thus, the rough diamond orientation of the Russian diamond industry is confirmed as well as the ineffective use of rough diamonds due to objective reasons hindering the development of the cutting and jewellery industries. In this regard, it seems reasonable to develop the cutting and polishing sector and the cooperation with world cutting and polishing hubs, first of all, with India.8 N. Khromova proposes tolling as one of the main schemes of such cooperation.9

The accusations of the rough diamond orientation of the Russian diamond industry, ineffective use of rough diamonds, and the intentions to correct this nightmare by creating a miraculous cutting and polishing industry have existed for almost as long as the Soviet (later - Russian) diamond industry itself. Two large-scale attempts to create a domestic cutting and polishing industry are known - in the USSR, these were the Kosygin cutting and polishing factories of the Kristall Production Association, and the so-called national cutting industry in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) represented primarily by the Tuymaada Diamond holding. Both of these initiatives were unprofitable from start to finish, despite the fact that they really had great advantages over their foreign (including Indian) counterparts in terms of the rough diamond supply, tax regimes, and loans. It is telling that the adherers of these wildcat ventures used the same argument about the value-added that N. Khromova uses. This is an attractive argument, but for some reasons, the diamonds of Kosygin were cheaper than the rough diamonds from which they were cut, and dozens of the Yakut factories were mainly engaged in selling the rough diamonds abroad (often at dumping prices) received from ALROSA as an interest-free commodity credit. As for the tolling scheme, many market players still have quite fresh memories of how the huge Gokhran inventories accumulated since the Soviet times were fast sent abroad in the mid-1990s using the tolling schemes. However, the Israeli partners benefitted then, not the Indian ones. So, this kind of practical recommendations for the development of the domestic diamond industry, unfortunately, are not new and have a long and impressive history.

Summing up my impressions of reading the monograph by N. Khromova, I can say that if I were an employee of an Indian cutting and polishing company (well, Choron Diamond, for example) I would applaud every paragraph of this book. This is an excellent text that can be used as a reference base in lobbying the projects - at any level - aimed at obtaining preferences for access to Russias rough diamonds. It is from these positions that the work under consideration is of the most significant value.

Sergey Goryainov, Rough&Polished





1Khromova N.G. Diamond facets of Russian-Indian Cooperation. M.: RUSCIENCE, 2020, p. 93

2 Russian State Archives, Economy. . 413. O. 24. . 6151. . 59.

3Khromova N.G. Diamond Facets of Russian-Indian Cooperation. M.: RUSCIENCE, 2020, pp. 46-47.

4 https://www.rough-polished.com/en/exclusive/93455.html

5Khromova N.G. Diamond Facets of Russian-Indian Cooperation. M.: RUSCIENCE, 2020, pp. 139-140.

6Vecherina O.P. Fantastic Rise of the Cutting Industry in India: 70 Years of Success. // Works of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2018. No. 12. Pp. 89-108.

7Khromova N.G. Diamond Facets of Russian-Indian Cooperation. M.: RUSCIENCE, 2020. Pp 88-89.

8Ibid. P. 92.

9Ibid. P. 193.
Peterborough - Eva H. Sacharuk died, peacefully, at her home in Peterborough, N.H. on June 1, 2021. Before moving to Peterborough in 2019, she was a long-time resident of Wenham, Massachusetts where she raised her family with her husband Serge since 1960. Eva is survived by her loving husban
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Getty Editor's note: Hannan Hussain is a foreign affairs commentator and author. He is a Fulbright recipient at the University of Maryland, the U.S., and a former assistant researcher at Islamabad Policy Research Institute. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

On June 3, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order banning American investment in nearly five dozen Chinese companies, purporting military connections and alleging their advancement of surveillance technology to "facilitate repression [of religious or ethnic minorities] and serious human rights abuses."

Thursday's order builds on former U.S. President Donald Trump's severely provocative executive initiative against Chinese companies last year, giving already invested Americans a 12-month window to divest their holdings whilst scaling up an ideological offensive against scores of Chinese entities.

Administration officials are keen to justify the chain of provocations as a so-called "new American commitment" to human rights vis-a-vis China. But underneath that charade and hubris is an unmistakable breach of the legitimate rights of Chinese companies, which will not assume a lesser footing in the face of unwarranted, unilateral U.S. dictates.

Washington's entire defense for targeting 59 Chinese companies on so-called national security grounds is its internal deliberation or "finding" that the surveillance technology accusations constitute a credible cluster of "extraordinary threats." "President Biden also expanded the scope of this national emergency by finding that the use of Chinese surveillance technology... constitute unusual and extraordinary threats," read a White House fact sheet on the executive order.

But leveraging Chinese companies to raise alarms on national emergency won't rationalize Washington's manipulation of executive power, particularly to extricate U.S capital from leading Chinese companies. Not when that very same order subverts the rules-based market order and level-playing principles through "intentionally targeted" restrictions. The order reminds us of these deficiencies by offering no credible instance of the 59 Chinese firms violating specific U.S. laws and regulations. Note that it is this same void that saw two Chinese companies successfully challenge Trump's November order in U.S. courts recently, prompting a legal judgment that ruled Washington's banning spree as a "deeply flawed" process. Current escalations are no different.

Xinhuanet

Worth shattering is the myth of a "sustainable and strengthened framework" for targeting Chinese companies through the order, because having the ban's motivated criteria enforced through the U.S. Treasury won't extend a stamp of legitimacy to its purported "legal footing." For instance, the amended order gives the Treasury a free hand to generate a running list of any Chinese firms that it deems necessary targets for unilateral penalties. Those unfettered liberties explain Washington's growing urgency to tap surveillance, defense and human rights conjecture and manufacture the impression of a "stronger legal footing."

This is important because senior U.S. officials have confirmed to the Financial Times that the amended order strives for an expansion in listed Chinese companies  including the so-called "surveillance" supplement  leaving Washington positioned to concoct linkages between alleged human rights violations and the true nature of each company's demonstrated operations.

It is against this backdrop that China is correct to hold firm ground against flagrant violations of free-market principles, having reaffirmed its unwavering support for the interests, rights, and equal opportunity of all Chinese businesses ahead of the executive order. "China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard Chinese enterprises' legitimate and lawful rights," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Thursday.

Anti-China hawks who are eager to project this investment ban as a validation of Washington's human rights campaign against China will be disappointed. Closed ranks, and China's legitimate assertion of sovereign bonds, both make sure of it.

More tellingly, senior administration officials in the U.S. demonstrate an exceedingly poor understanding of how the Chinese state and its military work. Contrary to U.S. rhetoric, the latter's financing is not even remotely dependent on investments from "U.S. persons," and to apply that benchmark as a penalty measure on dozens of Chinese companies ignores a fundamental fact: that no amount of anti-China vitriol would render the amended investment ban a legally justified imperative.

What it will necessitate, however, are sound rationales for China's proportional retaliation and a concerted effort to bring equal protection guarantees for Chinese firms to the fore at all costs. That won't change even as Washington scrambles to ready more Chinese companies under its disruptive scheme, mistaking a hawkish political landscape for the ideal conditions that govern principled market behavior.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer detailed the American Rescue Plans tentative impact to New York at Manna at Northland in Buffalo, Tuesday, March 9, 2021.
Six indicted on federal firearms charges as part of intensified focus on gun crimes
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Greece on Monday designated neighboring Turkey as a safe country in which to seek international protection for the majority of asylum-seekers departing its shores for Greece.

A joint decree from the Greek foreign and migration ministries said the designation applies to asylum-seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia. It said Turkey meets all criteria to examine asylum requests from these nationals, as there "they are not in any danger ... due to their race, religion, citizenship, political beliefs or membership in some particular social group, and can seek asylum in Turkey instead of in Greece.

That, in theory, could reduce migration flows to European Union member Greece, as it would allow it to return asylum-seekers from these countries to Turkey  which itself has a huge migrant and refugee population.

Nevertheless, despite pressure from the EU and Athens, Ankara has shown little appetite for taking back migrants who reached Greece from its territory, despite a 2016 Turkish-EU agreement that was meant to stem illegal migration into the 27-nation bloc.

Greek officials said Athens has so far this year asked Turkey to take back 1,453 people, without success.

Nevertheless, Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi described Monday's decision as an important step in tackling illegal migration flows" which, he said, would force Turkey to crack down on illegal migration and smuggling networks.

Mitarachi added that the decision is fully in line with international law and enhances Greeces legal arsenal against (asylum) requests by citizens of ... Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia, who objectively have no reason not to consider Turkey a safe country.

Greece and Turkey are historic regional rivals, and military tensions rose dangerously last year over marine boundaries. Athens accuses Ankara of using migration as a weapon, pointing to the Turkish government's failed bid last year, before the military tension, to wave thousands of migrants and refugees towards Greece.

Several human rights groups have accused Greece of illegally deporting some migrants to Turkey without letting them apply for asylum. Athens denies that.

Although a record 1 million people entered Greece through Turkey in 2015  mostly seeking to move on to wealthier EU countries  flows have since been greatly reduced.

So far this year, just over 3,000 people have reached Greece from Turkey, mostly by sea in flimsy craft. According to the U.N. refugee agency, 47% were Afghans, 15% were Syrians and 9% were Somalis.

___

Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Clearfield, PA (16830)

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Mostly cloudy early, then thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 79F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

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SALEM, Ore. (AP)  A Republican state lawmaker faces being expelled from office after a video emerged apparently showing him choreographing how he would let far-right protesters into the closed Oregon Capitol days before he did so in December.

The crowd entered the building during an emergency legislative session, and some sprayed chemical irritants at police.

On Monday, Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek introduced a resolution that would have the Democrat-controlled House expel Rep. Mike Nearman if two-thirds of its members vote in favor. She appointed a committee to consider the matter.

GOP members of the House also wrote a letter to Nearman on Monday, saying he should step down.

Today, we strongly recommend that you resign from the Oregon State House of Representatives, all 22 House Republicans said in the joint letter. Given the newest evidence that has come to light ... it is our beliefs as friends and colleagues that it is in the best interest of your caucus, your family, yourself, and the state of Oregon for you to step down from your office.

The lawmakers were referring to video that emerged late Friday in local news reports that appeared to show Nearman coaching constituents on how to text him so they could get into the Capitol.

The committee appointed by Kotek, a Democrat, will convene later this week. It is composed of three Democrats and three Republicans.

With Republicans calling for Nearman to step down, his fate appeared sealed. If he does not resign, there was little doubt that an overwhelming number of House members would vote to cast him out.

Nearman himself said Monday he believes there are enough votes to expel him, which he said would make him the first House member to be expelled by its members in Oregon history. He joked in a call to the Lars Larson Show, a conservative talk radio program, that this would eventually make him the subject of a question on TV's Jeopardy!

He did not say whether he would resign.

"Ill put myself in Gods hands and see how that works out for me, Nearman said.

The incident on Dec. 21 rattled lawmakers and staff inside the Capitol and foreshadowed the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by rioters spurred on by then President Donald Trump. Several of those who were among the crowds in Salem on Dec. 21 later were in Washington during the U.S. Capitol attack.

As lawmakers met in emergency session on Dec. 21 to deal with economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, far-right rioters entered the building. They sprayed chemical irritants at officers who finally expelled them. Outside, protesters broke windows on the Capitol and assaulted journalists.

Later, security camera video emerged showing Nearman opening a door to the Capitol, which was closed to the public because of the pandemic, allowing protesters to enter. Nearman allegedly told people in a video days earlier that he would let them in if they texted him, and he provided his cellphone number. The existence of the video was first reported Friday by Oregon Public Broadcasting.

That video was me setting up the 21st, I think, Nearman said on the radio show. He indicated that his actions were civil disobedience because he objected to the Capitol being closed to the public.

In her resolution, Kotek said personnel who were authorized to be in the Oregon Capitol described Dec. 21 as intense and stressful, terrifying and distressing.

Law enforcement officers were visibly injured and shaken due to the demonstrators action, Kotek added.

The severity of Representative Nearmans actions and last weeks revelation that they were premeditated require a special committee to immediately consider expelling him from the House of Representatives, Kotek said. He knowingly put the physical safety of everyone in the Capitol  lawmakers, staff and law enforcement  in jeopardy."

Her resolution cites the Oregon Constitution, which empowers the House to punish a representative for disorderly behavior.

With the concurrence of two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives, Representative Nearman (shall) be expelled from the House of Representatives, the resolution says.

Nearman also faces two misdemeanor criminal charges and has said he will seek a trial by jury.

He didnt respond to messages seeking comment Monday. A woman sitting at a desk in the anteroom of his Capitol office said the lawmaker was not present. She refused to comment, went into Nearmans office and shut the door.

Kotek said police in the state Capitol prevented the situation from escalating.

As we saw in January at the U.S. Capitol, the ramifications could have been dire if law enforcement had not stepped in so quickly, Kotek said.

Members of the new committee are Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene; Rep. Christine Drazan, R-Canby; Rep. Barbara Smith Warner, D-Portland; Rep. Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles; Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Lake Oswego; and Rep. Duane Stark, R-Grants Pass.

___

Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky
MOSCOW (AP)  A well-known Russian opposition politician who was held in police custody for two days last week in a criminal investigation said Sunday that he has left the country for Ukraine.

Dmitry Gudkov said in a Facebook post that sources in Kremlin circles had told him that if I do not leave the country, the fake criminal case will continue until my arrest.
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Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the worlds largest aluminium smelter ex-China, outlined its 5-year strategic initiatives and insights on the market fundamentals and also reviewed its overall performance to-date at its second quarterly board meeting held today (June 7).

The virtual meeting was held under the chairmanship of Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa to mainly review Alba's second quarter performance.

It was attended by Alba board members - comprising six directors appointed by Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company - Yousif Abdulla Taqi, Suha Karzoon, Shaikh Isa Bin Khalid Al Khalifa, Tim Murray and Rasha Sabkar; the three directors appointed by Sabic Industrial Investments Company - Ahmed Al Duriaan, Iyad Al Garawi and Omar Al Amoudi and one elected director, Mutlaq Al Morished.

At the meeting, the minutes of the previous meeting were reviewed along with the Reports of the Executive Committee, Board Audit Committee and the Nomination, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee.

In addition, the board also studied in detail the responses of the Board Annual Questionnaire for 2020.

Updates were also given to include the Training Program for the Directors (Section 4: Principle 4: Third of the Corporate Governance Code of the Kingdom of Bahrain 2018), Safety and Plant performance amidst Covid-19 pandemic.

Addressing the members, Chairman Shaikh Daij said Alba was running its operations at a full run-rate while weathering the Covid-19 crisis with its resilience and strength.

"We continue to connect the dots and lead from the front in this unprecedented time as we focus on what really matters for our strong come-back: safety and well-being of our workforce (employees and contractors personnel), business continuity of our operations and on-time delivery of our products," he stated.

Shaikh Daij also lauded the Alba family for achieving more than 12 million safe working-hours without lost time injury.-TradeArabia News Service
Keene, NH (03431)

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Keene, NH (03431)

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HONG KONG (AP)  Microsoft Corp. blamed accidental human error for its Bing search engine briefly not showing image results for the search term tank man on the anniversary of the bloody military crackdown in Beijings Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Users in different parts of the world, including the U.S., said Friday that no image results were returned when they searched for the term tank man.

Tank man refers to the iconic image of a standoff between an unidentified civilian and a line of military tanks leaving Beijings Tiananmen Square after a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. The photo has become a symbol of defiance around the world.

After being alerted by reporters, Microsoft said in a statement that the issue was due to an accidental human error and has been resolved. Hours later, images of tank man photographs were returned by the search engine.

The company did not elaborate on what the human error was or how it had happened. Nor did it say how much of its Bing development team is China-based. The company's largest research and development center outside the United States is in China, and it posted a job in January for a China-based senior software engineer to lead a team that develops the technology powering Bing image search.

Chinese authorities require search engines, websites and social media platforms operating within the country to censor keywords and results deemed politically sensitive or critical of the Chinese government.

References to the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 are blocked in China, as are images relating to the event, such as tank man.

Microsofts Bing is one of the few international search engines that operate in China, where it abides by local censorship laws and competes with larger Chinese search engines such as Baidu and Sogou.

Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available.

Bing has a 2.5% market share in China, according to data site Statcounter.

Rival Google exited the Chinese market in 2010 after four years of operation, following disputes over censorship and a major hacking attack that Google believes originated in China.

___

Bajak reported from Boston.
Restaurants seem to be opening en masse again on the Peninsula with the promise of Californias return to full capacity on June 15.

Among the newcomers are two buzzy bars that also serve quality food, including Palo Alto French restaurant Zolas sister cocktail bar, plus the latest sit-down restaurant from the brothers who run the popular Los Carnalitos truck in Redwood City.

Read on for more on each opening.

A third Mexico City restaurant from the Los Carnalitos family

The two brothers who run Los Carnalitos, the Mexico City street food favorite with outposts in Redwood City and Hayward, have opened their newest project.

La Fonda de los Carnalitos, a sit-down restaurant in Redwood City, is a nod to the fondas, or neighborhood mom-and-pop restaurants, of the owners native Mexico City. Look for familiar Los Carnalitos standouts like carnitas tacos; deep-fried gorditas and enormous quesadillas filled with Oaxaca cheese; plus larger plates such as mole verde with handmade corn tortillas. There are also pambazos, a chorizo-potato sandwich on bread thats been dipped in guajillo salsa, and guacamole served with chicharron (fried pork skin) instead of chips.

Brothers Luis and Alfredo Santos run their original Los Carnalitos truck in Redwood City and a restaurant in Hayward, which Chronicle critic Soleil Ho named one of the best Mexican restaurants in the Bay Area.

La Fonda de los Carnalitos. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. 820 Veterans Blvd., Suite B, Redwood City. loscarnalitos.com

Bar Zola brings unpretentious cocktails and French fare to Palo Alto

Bar Zola

Downtown Palo Alto is better known for its rowdy college bars than refined cocktails. But Bar Zola, a new spot next to French favorite Zola, has set out to change that. Bar Zola started pouring drinks this month at 585 Bryant St.

The establishment has been a long time coming for owner Guillaume Bienaime, whos wanted to create a place where people can grab an unpretentious drink with classic French bistro food. He brought on bar manager Duncan Harrison, formerly of Town in San Carlos and District Restaurant Group in San Jose, to create the bar menu.

Were doing modern cocktails while respecting the classics. Its not smoke and foams, Bienaime said.

The drinks menu is split into four accessible categories  sparkling, citrusy and refreshing; stirred and boozy; low-proof; and no-proof. Drinks range from the bars take on a Pimms Cup with house-made watermelon and cucumber cordial to the Smoke and Mirrors with kumquat-infused mezcal to a 32-ounce tiki drink that serves two people.

The food, made by the Zola kitchen, is French focused, with dishes like house-smoked salmon tartine, poached leeks with a green goddess dressing and steak frites.

People can dine and drink inside at the sleek, wood-topped bar with emerald green accents, or outside at a new parklet. Bienaime hopes to draw an after-dinner drinks crowd by staying open until midnight.

Look for an expanded menu and hours once Bar Zola is fully staffed. Zola the restaurant will remain takeout-only until it reopens in September.

Indoor and outdoor dining. 5 p.m. to midnight, Thursday-Saturday. 585 Bryant St., Palo Alto. zolapaloalto.com

A new hotel dining and drinking option in Mountain View

Jude Semana

Another splashy new cocktail and food option, Emerald Hour, opened in late May inside the Hotel And in Mountain View. The poolside bar serves its own take on cocktail classics, such as an old-fashioned with house-made bitters and charred cherry-wood syrup made by caramelizing wood chips in sugar and infusing them into simple syrup; or a Paloma that features a Tequila milk punch infused with grapefruit peels and cinnamon. The wine list leans natural, with bottles from California as well as Italy and France.

For food, there are small bites like Spanish gildas (a one-bite skewer of olives, boquerones and Guindilla pepper), halibut crudo and slices of crusty Midwife and the Baker bread slathered with Calabrian chile and butter, as well as sandwiches and more substantial entrees. Jarad Gallagher, the former chef of the Michelin-starred Chez TJ in Mountain View, developed the menu.

Emerald Hour is the first of four ambitious concepts to open at the Mountain View hotel. Later this year, the owners plan to add a cafe, Spanish restaurant and fine-dining concept.

Takeout, indoor and outdoor dining. Lounge 3-10 p.m. daily and dining room 5-9 p.m. daily. 1625 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View. theemeraldhour.com

A celebration of tofu at new location of South San Francisco Korean favorite

Moms Tofu is back in South San Francisco in a new home, just down the street from the popular Korean restaurants original space on Grand Avenue.

Fresh, homemade tofu is at the heart of the restaurant. Its featured throughout the menu: steamed, over rice, in soups, mixed into jeon (a savory pancake with other ingredients added in, like kimchi) and as a blueberry-topped dessert. The restaurant also serves Korean barbecue, bibimbap and other Korean fare.

Moms Tofu also operates a restaurant in Millbrae.

Takeout and indoor dining. 11 a.m to 8:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday. 415 Grand Ave., South San Francisco.

ssf.momstofu.com

Affordable neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant opens in San Bruno

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

San Bruno has a new Vietnamese option in Little Vietnamese Bistro, which opened in mid-May. The casual restaurant serves several kinds of noodle soups, garlic noodles, crispy-skinned chicken over tomato rice, and rice plates (including the seven color plate with an egg loaf, egg rolls, shredded pork, pork chop, five-spice chicken, barbecue prawns and barbecue pork), among other dishes.

Owner Lena Song said her husband, a longtime sushi chef, is running the kitchen alongside a Vietnamese chef.

Because they opened during the pandemic, they want Little Vietnamese Bistro to be an affordable dining option, Song said. Nothing on the menu costs more than $16.

Takeout and indoor dining. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. 422 San Mateo Ave., San Bruno. 650-502-2203

Fast-casual Onigilly drops onigiri on San Mateo

Russell Yip/The Chronicle 2013

Peninsula fans of San Franciscos Onigilly now have a new place to grab onigiri.

Onigilly opened a to-go-only kiosk in San Mateo in mid-May, serving several varieties of onirigi made from organic brown rice custom milled for the restaurant and nori seaweed from Kyushu, Japan. Onigiri flavors include spicy miso beef, spicy shrimp, unagi eel, pickled plum and soy-braised shiitake mushroom. Onigilly shares the space with Tokyo Poke and Curry Ninja, so poke bowls and Japanese curry with katsu are also on the menu.

This is owner Koji Kanematsus third location, joining the original in San Francisco and second outpost in Palo Alto.

Takeout and delivery. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. 211 12th Ave., San Mateo. onigilly.com

Mountain View gets new Chinese restaurant in Embrace Luck

Xiang Wang, owner of Jin Li Yuan hot pot in Sunnyvale, has opened a Chinese restaurant in Mountain View.

Embrace Luck serves dishes from various Chinese regions, including Hunan, Sichuan, Chongqing and Wangs native Shanghai. Think beef in chile oil, Hunan-style lamb soup, spicy live crawfish and several dishes that feature bullfrog. The restaurants dining room is spacious and airy with light-wood design elements.

Wang, who came to the United States from China to pursue a masters degree, opened his first restaurant in 2016. Embrace Lucks location is personally significant: Mountain View was the first city he lived in when he arrived in California.

Indoor dining and takeout. 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday-Monday. 286 W El Camino Real, Mountain View. 650-386-5338

Elena Kadvany is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ekadvany
Will future generations only know chicken-free eggs, meatless burgers and other food alternatives? It sounds dystopian, but that is a legitimate possibility if Silicon Valley gets their way.

On this episode of the Extra Spicy podcast, hosts Soleil Ho and Justin Phillips talk to Larissa Zimberoff, about her latest book, Technically Food: Inside Silicon Valleys Mission to Change What We Eat and whether demand for alternative foods will overcome Californias farm-to-table culture.

Plus: Are these technology driven alternatives really helping to address demand on the food supply chain, or is it just creating another product to buy?

Listen to the episode by clicking on the player above, or on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Scroll down to read a transcript of an excerpt of Soleil Ho and Justin Phillips conversation with Larissa Zimberoff, edited and shortened for clarity.

JUSTIN: Larissa, thanks so much for doing this. This is super exciting. I want to start with the book and just get an idea of why you chose the title and the phrase, "Technically Food" for this? I feel like that could give us a good starting point for this conversation.



LARISSA: Yeah! You know, "Technically Food" is, in one respect, just me being clever. But in another, it was that these are all simulacra of the foods that we knew...so these analogues are brand new and something that we don't know of as food traditionally. So it was, you know, where's our food going? What are we eating? You know, cultured meat, meat made in the lab of cells. Like even just trying to describe if something is vegan, if no animals were used, but there are animal proteins in it just became so complex that it's like, well... it's technically food.

SOLEIL: Yeah. I guess if you're taking a biopsy from a cow, for instance, to start off a cultured meat, it's not vegan per se because the cow didn't consent to that process, but no one died for it, so yeah, it's really weird.

LARISSA: Yeah! It's weird. Weird stuff.



JUSTIN: It makes sense that a lot of the businesses that you mentioned in the book are Bay Area based. I remember there was like an explosion of this kind of work, especially for me since I started here in 2016...and I just felt like there was a rush over those like first couple of years, like between 2016 and 2018. I guess one of the things that I've always been curious about: why are so many of those companies based out here?



LARISSA: Without investment, these companies are nowhere. These companies aren't profitable. They aren't like fully formed baked business plans yet, but they're the reason they're here in San Francisco was because investment dollars were so close. Investment dollars and technology were here. And I think, you know, now if you looked at it in 2021, you'd see companies kind of everywhere. Like Israel has a very robust innovation, food tech innovation sector. So other countries really growing rapidly. So, you're finding it in other places, but the investment and the technology, the resources, the workers were here when it first started.



SOLEIL: Okay. So, you know, I'm curious then about the whole VC startup dynamic. After all the research you've done... I guess there's an existential question of just like, do you think it's possible to both save the world and make a buck?

LARISSA: I wish that food didn't rely on capitalism because then what I was eating, I would know it was healthy for me. The problem is that the underpinning of food and big food and now new foods is that they need to make a buck.

With that, to me, there isn't a priority of, is it healthy and good for us? Is it good for my microbiome? Is it good for my brain? Is it good for my emotions? We're just finding these things out now today. We're barely scratching the surface of our gut, of our brain on food. So to kind of launch these things in or into our systems is something, I think, to question.

SOLEIL: Right? Like how do they get around that? How do you get around the sort of constraints that are put on a company or by researchers by the demands of capital?

LARISSA: That is a hard question. I think that these companies have missions that are typically climate based, 'how can we save the planet?' How can we end industrial animal agriculture? And now, after the pandemic or during the pandemic, it's how to save us from future human diseases. Those are becoming so important that human nutrition and human health is almost like you're kind of on your own.

That's why I wrote the book, was because we are on our own to learn, to become aware of what we're doing and what we're putting in our body and what we're ingesting and how important it is to think about those things. Most people don't want to do that kind of effort, that's kind of heavy lifting. But I hope that this book at least gives people that beginning of an inclination of like how foods are made and what's going into it and who the companies are. I just think we all have to be better informed, because we're not going to end capitalism, we're not going to end these startups wanting to make their investors money, and we're not going stop these startups wanting to go public and make more people money.

Courtesy of Larissa Zimberoff and Gabby Fisher

JUSTIN: That's actually a good segue to where we're going next. Like you mentioned algae, and in the book, you also mentioned fungi and there's like a historical context to it where these like alternative sources for food aren't technically new to the world. But it all comes back to the demand that this puts on the environment, the drain that it might put on the environment. What is the thinking between like what these venture capitalists and these kind of startup companies, like the taxing that they're putting on the planet itself, even though the intention is positive and their heart's in the right place, but there is a drain of resources of some sort, isn't there?

LARISSA: Absolutely. You know, all of these foods are going to need the same crops we're growing today. So like peas, soy, wheat...even if it's just for the carbohydrates, like to grow the lab based meat cells. And so we still have an agricultural system that has problems if it needs to be at a giant, massive scale. If lab-made meat is made in industrial manufacturing processes, like, 200,000 square foot facilities...to me, that's an industrial system. We grow enough food for everybody right now. We grow too much food. We have too much food. I mean, just go into our supermarkets. But we're not getting it to everyone that needs it. So like, what if more of this money went to solving problems we have now versus solving these problems of the future?

JUSTIN: I've talked about this before, where it seems like the, how would I put this? Like the creation or the process of creating some of these alternative foods either feels secretive or it feels so confusing that it seems secretive. I would love, if possible, for you to kind of walk us through an example of how chicken-free eggs are made, like something that, that our listeners could possibly understand in that process.



LARISSA: So, chicken free eggs. There are sort of two versions right now of chicken free eggs. The scramble that Just Egg created...it's made from mostly from mung bean protein. And then there's a company like Clara Foods, which is culturing the proteins, so getting a bacteria that can output proteins that come from the egg; the egg has dozens and dozens of proteins, so they're looking for the proteins that people need to use in formulations...The mung bean egg is, is new and does do something different. They take the mung bean, which has a mix of starch and carbohydrate and protein, and they do something called fractionating, which is that they have to separate the ingredient, the molecules, and the protein is what's put into the scramble egg.

Now, the company has videos that show just like piles of mung beans and like, you know, harvesting the mung beans and like very natural things that are happening, when it's not a natural process. It's a industrial scale process. So there are only about eight ingredients in the eggs overall, if I'm remembering correctly. But there's going to be a binder. There's going to be something that gels, they've done something to the mung beans to make them foam... to replace the chicken egg is a pretty like audacious goal. The reason I eat it here and there is because I do prefer to eat more plants than other things, but I do have doubt when I eat them. Like, is this good? Do I know everything I need to know? And those are hard questions to answer. And that is the dilemma, I think, with new foods.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

SOLEIL: And like Californian cuisine, which, you know, is about like decentralizing the food supply, right? Knowing the farmer, being able to visit the farm, buying farm-to-table, going to those farmer's markets that you mentioned. So do you think those chefs, the California cuisine adherence will ever embrace new food?



LARISSA: I think there are plenty of chefs that are interested in it... but I do know that there are lots of chefs out there that are completely uninterested in this topic. They're like, no, we should just be eating every part of the animal that we're not eating. We should just do away with industrial animal agriculture. So, I think that we're just going to have this, like for decades, I think we won't have a stratosphere chef category that's doing vastly different things and believes in different things.



SOLEIL: That makes me think about, I don't know if you've seen the movie Snowpiercer?

JUSTIN: No. Oh God, here we go. I'm sorry.



LARISSA: I'm writing it down.

SOLEIL: It's a Korean film, but it's an English and it's about these people who live on a train that circumnavigates the world, because it's a post-apocalyptic scenario where the world is just in a new ice age. So the people in the back of the train are the lower class and the people in the front of the train are the high class. So, it's a very like literal depiction of like a stratified, like class, experience and the people in the back eat these power bars essentially, that's all they eat, made out of insects. Like they're essentially eating a new food. And as you go further up the train, you see that the people at the front are cultivating fish so they can eat sushi. They have like farms and they can have like real vegetables to eat....You would love it, Larissa.

JUSTIN: You can always work in a Snowpiercer reference on my watch. I love it. Larissa... we started questioning various vegan food options, but is this stuff healthy for us to eat or does it depend on how it's prepared or what it's paired with, but just generally, is it healthy for us to eat?

LARISSA: Oh, that's a great question and one I get often, like people want to know: is it delicious or is it healthy? And it's one of the things that drove me to write the book. Because I have type one diabetes, which I write about in my introduction, I know clearly what is good for my body. I can see it in my blood sugar. I can see it in my insulin resistance. I can feel it in my energy levels. I know what is going on. And when I eat ultra processed foods...you know, there are 18 to 20 ingredients...They come from different people, different locations around the world. And I can see what happens when I eat those foods, that they are not good for me, that they. require more insulin. Like if I ate 20 grams of carbs from a burger and 20 grams of carbs from a pineapple, I'm going to need different amounts of insulin. Even though, if you were looking at sort of the basics of it, carbohydrates, they might be the same amount... my body will need different things for them to process. I think it's important for people to think about, especially with the type two diabetes, you know, picking up like incredibly and more of the country being, having pre-diabetes.

The closer you can eat to fewer ingredients, the closer you can eat to knowing how many steps of processing deliver that food to you, and I haven't even gotten into like how it's prepared...I try to count on my hand, like how many steps something has this taken to get to my plate. And that's where I look at, is this good as this bad? And I feel a bit incorrect saying good or bad, but it's like, is my body going to respond well to this?

JUSTIN: Before we let you go, Larissa, can you tell people how they can find you where they can find you your work?



LARISSA: So my book, "Technically Food: Inside Silicon Valley's Mission to Change What We Eat" is out June 1st. You can find all of my events and my podcast appearances on my website. I have a newsletter that I send out once a week. It's short and sweet. It's about what I care about or what I got off at about food that week, last week, it was one of the USDA approved, impossible foods, burger, and meat to go into schools around the country...And if you want, my mom can send you everything.

[ALL LAUGH]



SOLEIL: Well, thank you so much for your time and your expertise and for sharing everything you've put into that book with us, and I cannot wait to post all about it when it comes out. I'm so excited.

LARISSA: It was really great talking to you. I really enjoy both of your writing and I appreciate you having me on your show.
Good morning, Bay Area. Its Monday, June 7, and we answer all your questions about relaxed mask rules in workplaces. Heres what you need to know to start your day.

Richardson Bay off Sausalito has been known as the last free anchorage out on the bay. For decades, a group of boaters known as anchor-outs have been living freely and illegally out on the water.

But now, the state has put pressure on the regional agency to enforce its own rules that say boaters who enter Richardson Bay must leave after 72 hours, and after seven days can return for another 72 hours. The state wants all permanent anchor-outs removed in the next five years  which includes evacuating and crushing boats  because they say they have brought crime into the area and the boats pose environmental hazards.

Out of this culture came beautiful music, a lot of freedom, great art, and a lot of people just living off the grid, in a low-impact way that wasnt hurting other people, said Jeff Jacob Chase, 59, who has been an anchor-out since 2000.

Read more about the intensifying dispute from reporter Annie Vainshtein.

The missing middle

Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

The lack of affordable housing is a perennial problem in San Francisco, but especially so for District Eight, the citys central sector that includes the Castro, Noe Valley, Diamond Heights and Glen Park neighborhoods.

A recent report on District Eight from the Mayors Office of Housing and Community Development reveals a number of challenges when it comes to preserving housing affordable to working- and middle-class families.

Housing advocates say the district falls into the missing middle, which means many residents earn too much to qualify for affordable housing but also too little to afford market rate housing. Real estate is costlier in District Eight, especially in Noe Valley and the Castro, and it lacks large development sites, writes reporter J.K. Dineen.

Coronavirus Updates

 California is now sequencing 20 times the amount of coronavirus cases from the beginning of the year in hopes of quickly spotting any new mutations.

 Has your BART route improved since the start of the pandemic? Heres a Chronicle data analysis of 50 station-to-station trips with the most passengers in 2019.

 The Cal/OSHA standards board voted Thursday to loosen workplace mask rules, but they are stricter than CDC guidelines.

 Alameda Countys COVID-19 death toll drops 25% under new data criteria.

 California is one of just two states at the CDCs lowest level of coronavirus transmission.

Around the Bay

Brittany Hosea-Small/Special to The Chronicle

 From Justin Phillips: The owner of a pizza restaurant in Oakland speaks up after online critics claimed it is not a Black-owned business.

 Protest continues: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered Friday for the second time at the Port of Oakland to block the unloading of an Israeli cargo ship.

 From Joe Garofoli: A meeting on Thursday will be a chance for the California Citizens Redistricting Commission to show how sexy redistricting can be. More Politics: Nearly every major environmental measure at the state Capitol has been killed or shelved this legislative session.

 Treated unfairly? Three former employees of the biggest restaurant nonprofit in the country that focuses on worker advocacy have sued the company over claims of discrimination.

 A heart-wrenching loss: Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday at the Fremont Gurdwara to remember the life of Taptejdeep Singh, who was killed in the Valley Transportation Authority mass shooting in San Jose last month.

 What is the holdup? There are 19 openings in Californias trial-level district courts, but President Biden has yet to make any nominations.

 He was part of San Francisco: Beloved S.F. Zoo chimpanzee Cobby dies at 63.

 Three-year dream dashed: Hawaii-bound kayaker rescued by Coast Guard helicopter near Santa Cruz.

Ultra-runner is going for speed

Dreamstime/TNS

Timothy Olson, 34, is an ultra-runner who has set course records at some of the biggest races in the world.

But now hell set out on the ultimate challenge: traversing the entire 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail in less than 52 days, which is the record set by Belgian dentist Karel Sabbe in 2016. To beat the Sabbe, hell need to complete an average of 52 miles per day for 50 days straight.

Hes taking on the biggest endurance feat that hes ever tried to tackle, said Krista, his wife.

To succeed, Olson will need to endure the journey, pushing through aches and pains in unforgiving landscapes and unpredictable weather, with some nights in remote areas spent completely alone, writes Gregory Thomas.

Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown, Anna Buchmann and Kellie Hwang and sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact the writers at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com, anna.buchmann@sfchronicle.com, and kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com.
California continues to help set the pace for U.S. COVID-19 recovery, now ranked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of just two states at the lowest level of coronavirus community transmission.

In fact, according to the CDCs four-level color-coded system, Californias transmission metrics were the lowest out of all 50 states as of Saturday.

The CDC determines the level of community transmission based on the number of cases in the last seven days per population of 100,000, and the number of tests in the last seven days that yield a positive result.

The agencys color-coded system has four levels: Low (blue), moderate (yellow), substantial (orange) and high (red). Nationwide, the level of transmission is moderate with a case rate of 28.2 per 100,000 and a 2.25% positive test rate.

Data collected by the federal agency showed California had 7.8 cases per 100,000 people in the previous seven days, and a seven-day positive test rate of lower than 3%.

The other state joining California in the blue transmission tier was Vermont, with 9.9 total new cases per 100,000 in the past seven days, and a seven-day positive test rate of less than 3%.

According to data collected by the New York Times, as of Sunday Vermont had the highest vaccination rate of the 50 states with 77% of eligible residents having received at least one dose, and 57% fully vaccinated. Once 80% of eligible residents receive at least once vaccine dose, Gov. Phil Scott said pandemic restrictions can be lifted ahead of the targeted July 4 reopening date.

California was 13th on the list with 57% of eligible residents having received at least one vaccine dose, and 44% fully vaccinated. Officials say the state remains on track to reopen its economy June 15.

As of Saturday, no states were in the CDCs red transmission level. The state with the highest level of transmission was Wyoming, in the orange substantial category with 83.6 total new cases per 100,000 in the past seven days, and a 7-day positive test rate from 3% to 4.9%. The state lifted its mask mandate in mid-March and on June 1, state officials allowed any remaining state public health orders to expire because, they said, vaccines had been readily available to state residents for some time.

Still, Wyoming has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, according to the New York Times tracker with 37% of residents having received at least one shot, and 32% fully vaccinated, compared to the U.S. averages of 51% and 41%, respectively. The highest share of cases in Wyoming are occurring among young adults, with more than 10,000 reported in the 19- to 29-year-old age group.

Kellie Hwang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang
One year and four days after Sean Monterrosa was shot and killed by a Vallejo police officer, his sisters stood across the street from San Franciscos City Hall on Sunday to honor his memory and demand justice.

Michelle and Ashley Monterrosa gathered with dozens of others in Civic Center Plaza to mark the anniversary of their brothers death. Placards with the faces of other Californians killed by police officers covered the ground in front of the stage.

It was the marquee event of a two-day remembrance that supporters called Tucans weekend, referring to the nickname given Sean Monterrosa because of his childhood fondness for drawing Toucan Sam, the Froot Loops cereal mascot.

Michelle Monterrosa, 25, said she wanted to continue humanizing her brother so he is not only remembered by the way he died.

Those last final moments are not a reflection of the individual, but more of a reflection of the misconduct that these police officers have, she told reporters before the rally. Its been happening for too long, and theres no accountability and theres no change.

The rally came a few weeks after newly appointed California Attorney General Rob Bonta promised to review Monterrosas killing, saying without accountability, there is no justice. Bontas predecessor, Xavier Becerra, and Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams both had declined to investigate the case.

Sean Monterrosa, 22, of San Francisco was kneeling in the parking lot of a Vallejo Walgreens on June 2, 2020, when he was shot to death by Officer Jarrett Tonn. Tonn shot through the windshield of an unmarked police car, later saying he thought Monterrosa had a gun. But Monterrosa had only a hammer in his pocket and nothing in his hands when he was killed.

Lee Merritt, an attorney for the Monterrosa family, said he wants a thorough investigation of the officers involved in the death, a probe of the destruction of crucial evidence  the bullet-pierced windshield  and a close examination of the relationship between local prosecutors and the Vallejo police.

He contended the state already has enough probable cause to issue arrest warrants.

His family shouldnt have to wait a year for the attorney general to come in, Merritt told reporters.

Michelle Monterrosa fought back tears as she recounted her last text message from her brother  asking her to sign a petition calling for justice in the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. She said a culture of corruption among law enforcement officials has made other families in Vallejo similarly suffer.

Additional rally speakers included family members of other California men killed by law enforcement, including Oscar Grant, Steven Taylor, Mario Woods and Stephon Clark.

Cephus Johnson, whose nephew Oscar Grant was killed by a BART police officer in 2009, called for police reform.

There is no horror compared to watching your loved one be murdered on video, he said. That horror is forever etched in your memory.

Ashley Monterrosa said she hoped justice for her late brother would mean that no one elses loved ones have to experience the pain of losing their relative in a police shooting.

Were pushing to be the last family affected by the Vallejo Police Department, she said.

J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
Northwood University, Western International College and Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone have announced that Northwood University has chosen Ras al Khaimah as the home for its new International Program Center.



Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and based in Midland, Michigan, Northwood University is the first American International Program Center (IPC) to be licensed by Rakez Academic Zone, which regulates Higher Education institutions in the zone and offers students and their families the confidence of a cost-effective, yet high quality education.



Northwood University will set up its International Program Center in Ras Al Khaimah to offer high quality Bachelor of Business Administration programs with four majors; Finance, Management, Marketing and Hospitality to begin with. All students will also be completing a minor in Business Analytics in keeping with industry demand.



Mamiko Reeves, Assistant Vice President and Dean of International Programs said: Northwood University is delighted to partner with Western International College offering educational opportunities in Ras Al Khaimah for students coming from all over the world. Our students are driven. We strive to nurture and develop entrepreneurial leaders through our academic curricula and experiential learning. Through Northwood University education, students will put their academic knowledge into practice right away utilizing their business acumen, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.



Students studying at Northwood University, Ras Al Khaimah, will have the opportunity to gain the same degree that is issued to students at the home campus in the US at affordable costs and saving the logistics of relocation.



Scholarships are available to support students and parents through these difficult times and would be offered as part of the launch plans of Northwood University IPC, Ras Al Khaimah, a statement said.



Transfer options are open to students who may not be able to travel for the full duration of their studies; they could potentially complete up to 2 years in Ras Al Khaimah and transfer thereafter to Northwood University main campus.



Ramy Jallad, Group CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (Rakez), said: We are glad to welcome yet another renowned institution to our growing family of qualified education providers at Rakez Academic Zone ecosystem. Northwood University is ranked as the Best Value Business School1 in the state of Michigan, USA, and the first American university in our Academic Zone.



We are confident that their programs will add value to our goal of further elevating the standard of education here in Ras Al Khaimah, the UAE and the broader Gulf region. But of course, our work does not end here. You can expect to see us entering more strategic partnerships with credible institutions that support more students and professionals in their advancement.



Northwood University IPC Ras Al Khaimah opens its doors to students in summer 2021, the statement added.  TradeArabia News Service
On the first weekend of Pride month, a group waved rainbow signs to protest San Joses Calvary Chapel and its guest speaker of the day: Tony Perkins, a notorious anti-gay activist.

The peaceful protest, which drew about 30 people Sunday morning, along with a small counterprotest, was deemed a success by co-organizer Ryan Stollar, a Los Gatos resident. He said protesters spoke to many congregants with the goal of highlighting Calvarys promotion of extremist views.

I think we surprised them and showed them we were willing to dialogue, he said. We were not there to hate on Christianity or hate on God.

Tony Perkins is an ordained pastor, politician and current head of the national Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has named an anti-LGBT hate group. The organization fights gay rights like same-sex marriage and wants to bring back the militarys Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy.

More protests are likely to come in the future. Stollar and fellow organizers Taylor Storey and Carly Fox recently formed the Calvary Chapel Watch, with plans to hold demonstrations outside the other roughly dozen Bay Area Calvary Chapel locations on days when other far-right speakers appear in the coming months.

While people held signs with slogans like Love is not a sin and Honk for gays outside, Christian rock songs and sermons continued inside the San Jose church. Pastor Mike McClures introduced Perkins, by describing him as a man who loves controversy.

The truth is were actually the protesters, McClure said. Were protestants. Were protesting for the gospel of Jesus Christ, so thats what were here to do.

In his opening remarks, Perkins said he would be speaking on God and not politics  but he did speak against face masks in the cotext of the coronavirus pandemic. The San Jose church has made headlines recently for violating public health orders by hosting large indoor gatherings during the pandemic.

Outside, Stollar and the protesters denounced the words of the Family Research Center: false claims that queer people are more likely to sexually abuse people or that gay men are more likely to be pedophiles.

That sort of message is what creates harassment and abuse against queer people, Stoller said. Were not trying to say Christianity is wrong. Were trying to highlight that these far right organizations are spreading misinformation and lies about queer people.

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle 2020

Regarding District lost 1,700 students this year  and fall could be worse (Front Page, June 3): San Francisco United School Districts enrollment decline during the 2020-21 school year is indeed troubling, as Jill Tuckers recent article points out. As we at Parents for Public Schools (PPS-SF) know, however, the story buries the critical lede. Tuckers article featured one family leaving SFUSD, a family that had the means to attend private school. A careful review of the districts enrollment data, though, reveals that the largest declines in enrollment were for English learners, lower-income students and special education students. This is the data that should be the call to action: an opportunity gap that has existed for decades and reveals a far deeper dilemma of connection and community between schools and least-served families.

For decades, PPS-SF has helped families navigate SFUSD enrollment and support equitable engagement in public schools. The work of our organization seeks to understand the factors that lead to enrollment declines across the city. We commit to bringing diverse communities together, to build the connections, trust and support that students and families need, especially those with the least access to choice.
As a Black woman growing up in the South, I was taught at a young age to fear the police and to limit interactions with them whenever possible. I never imagined a world in which they were not present.

I was an undergraduate in college when I marched after 12-year-old Tamir Rice was killed by a police officer. And then in medical school for Michael Brown. And then once more for Laquan McDonald. And then again, and again. Childhood fears of law enforcement morphed into justified anger. I protested for change. But a world without police didnt seem a possibility.

As I continued my journey into medicine, I knew that my work as a physician demanded I address how racism in all forms, including police brutality, led to the health disparities in patients who look like me.

When I came to San Francisco General Hospital for residency training, I was surprised to see armed San Francisco Sheriffs Department deputies lining the hallways. These officers made their presence known for even the most benign patient interactions, hands near holsters. The fear in my predominantly Black and brown patients was palpable. And often justified.

Early in my tenure, sheriffs responded to a call to assist a woman in labor who was arguing with her partner. Doctors and nurses had to create a physical barricade to stop a group of six deputies from storming into the patient room, armed and ready for action. Such de-escalation tactics felt incompatible with the goal of healing. But I grew accustomed to the status quo.

As I moved through residency, however, my understanding grew of how trauma, economic inequities and racism burdened my patients along with their physical illnesses. I witnessed how the mere presence of deputies rendered clinical spaces unsafe.

And so I became an abolitionist.

For years, fellow SFGH providers and staff and the Department of Public Health have organized around removing the Sheriffs Department from the hospital. In 2014, when a 60-year-old man named Fernando Guanill was brutally assaulted by a deputy while seeking emergency care, the need for change became even more apparent. As he sat in the waiting room, Guanill was approached by sheriffs Deputy Michael Lewelling. After a brief exchange of words, Lewelling pushed Guanill, stripped him of his cane, choked and beat him. He subsequently arrested Guanill under false charges, which were dropped after the video of the incident emerged.

A concerted effort was made to renegotiate SFSDs contract in 2017, but it was unsuccessful.

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, however, the drive for abolition has only grown more powerful. In the past year, a coalition of providers, nurses and staff formed DPH Must Divest, a group fighting to remove sheriffs from our facilities. We are founded on the understanding that abolition is about building. To create a health care system without law enforcement, we need to invest in people and infrastructure that will keep us safe: community safety teams of unarmed de-escalators, community-based patient navigators, as well as more nurses and medical assistants. Most importantly, we need to deeply engage the patients and community members who will be directly impacted.

This approach to health and safety was tested on May 4, when the San Francisco Health Commission weighed a proposal by DPH Director of Security Basil Price to seek alternatives to sheriff presence. This included reducing the number of full-time sheriffs deputies at our facilities, increasing staffing for the Behavioral Emergency Response Team, and a health safety workforce in collaboration with community-based organizations at our satellite clinics.

That proposal, however, also called for an increase in sheriff cadets and an increase in plainclothes officers. These changes to security services are also reflected in Mayor London Breeds proposed budget for the next two fiscal years, which was released on June 1.

Shuffling law enforcement personnel from one location to the next, as presented in the health department proposal, is not a solution. The track record is clear and too often fatal: sheriffs are not vested in building collective safety. We need a new paradigm entirely. One that takes into account the nuances of patents backgrounds, mental state and prior trauma.

Hospital resources should go reimagining hospital safety.

Even when sheriffs are present, they do not deter violence. On May 24, two Asian American staff members were assaulted on campus in what is being investigated as a hate crime. Securing the physical safety of staff and patients will continue to present challenges, but this does not justify the use of policing.

I view the elimination of law enforcement entirely from our clinical setting as a prerequisite to providing equitable care to those continually marginalized by our health care system. This stance is a direct extension of my work as a physician.

Medicines calling extends to all the scaffolding and infrastructure of the community we serve. And that demands dismantling the use of law enforcement.

As a physician, my childhood fear and anger has grown to a resolute understanding of the necessity of abolition. A just world is one where we use our learning and creativity to push our imagination of what is possible.

In our hospital, we must challenge the options presented and only settle when investments in community and patients are unmistakably prioritized. Only then can we do the real work of healing.

Erinma Ukoha is a chief resident at San Francisco General Hospital and UCSF.
We just passed the 84th birthday of the Golden Gate Bridge, and with it came another excuse to appreciate the spans enduring Art Deco design and timeless engineering.

But with every celebration, the city should also breathe a collective sigh of relief. Because the original bridge design, all but lost in time now, was about as classic as your seventh-grade orthodontia from the 1980s. It combined cantilever and suspension elements, which is like combining demolition derby and ballet. No one would want to put this bridge in a snow globe.

The subject came up upon discovering century-old Golden Gate Bridge concept drawings in The Chronicle archive, which led to a deeper dive into the newspapers early coverage of the bridge. While there had been talk of a bridge joining San Francisco and Marin County for decades  with questions about whether it was even possible to bridge the mile-wide gap with such a strong current  a 1922 front page article was the first time the public viewed a sketch of the potential design.

The single image published Dec. 8, 1922, resembles the industrial Carquinez Bridge, except at 20 times the scale. Its the kind of bridge one designs when all they have to work with is Popsicle sticks and string.

The Golden Gate can be bridged, The Chronicle article began. A feasible plan just submitted, if it obtains the sanction and approval of the War Department, will open a new era for San Francisco.

Chronicle file 1922

Other San Francisco newspapers quickly called the bridge design ugly. One competitor described it as an upside-down rat trap. But The San Francisco Chronicle was strongly in favor of the Golden Gate Bridge, later lobbying heavily for the bonds to fund the structure. Like everything else involving the bridge in the 1920s and 1930s, the first Chronicle article was embarrassingly effusive.

No structure raised by man, in the opinion of those who studied the design, would be more spectacular than the proposed bridge, The Chronicle article continued. The greatest span lengths in the world would be supported by two towers exceeding the height of the Eiffel tower. The view from the tops of these towers, to which visitors would be conveyed by a system of elevators, would be one of the wonders of the world.

Indeed, additional architectural renderings, which didnt run in the newspaper but were filed and remain in The Chronicle archives, show bulbous rooms at the tops of the towers that look spacious enough for large observation decks (or very small casinos).

Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District

In early interviews, Golden Gate Bridge engineer Joseph Strauss didnt pretend that the 1922 bridge design was about looks. He said cantilever alone would be too heavy, and suspension alone would lack rigidity and be too expensive. The hybrid design remained throughout the 1920s, and was even adopted into the logo of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District in 1928.

The first image of a leaner, all-suspension design finally appeared in The Chronicle on Jan. 12, 1930, although it confusingly wasnt mentioned anywhere in the news article. The handout drawing, also found in The Chronicle archive, is a sleeker and less angular version of the current bridge.

Confirmation of a suspension bridge appeared on March 10, 1930, in the middle of a Page 5 story. Explaining the change in plans, Strauss simply stated in the seventh paragraph that, the cable suspension type has been adopted because of the faster construction and lower cost.

More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond.

With a major bond measure that would provide $35 million to fund the Golden Gate Bridge set for November 1930, Chronicle writers quickly defaulted back to high praise, gathering a group of artists to rave over the new design, and telling readers the bridge would change the citys future.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle 2018

Every school geography in the world would feature the bridge as one of the worlds wonders and the greatest of mans engineering achievement, The Chronicle reported, giving advertising to the Golden Gate and to San Francisco which the boosters deem priceless.

This time, they were right.

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub
WASHINGTON  East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwells lawsuit has now been formally served to the GOP lawmaker hes blaming for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

But in yet another twist in the strange legal battle, now Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks is accusing Swalwells representative of trespassing.

Brooks tweeted on Sunday that the suits complaint had been officially served, a procedural formality required by law. The in-person delivery of the suit followed the revelation last week that Swalwell had hired a private investigator to try to locate Brooks for service to no avail, requiring his lawyers to seek and receive an extension from the court to do so.

Well, Swalwell FINALLY did his job, served complaint (on my WIFE), Brooks tweeted. HORRIBLE Swalwells team committed a CRIME by unlawfully sneaking INTO MY HOUSE & accosting my wife! Alabama Code 13A-7-2: 1st degree criminal trespass. Year in jail. $6000 fine. More to come!

Swalwells attorney Philip Andonian confirmed that the lawsuit over the violent breach at the Capitol was delivered to Brooks wife at his home, saying it was placed at her feet when she declined to take it in her hands. Andonian flatly denied that the process server entered the home, and said the service was valid under the law.

Brooks also tweeted late Sunday that he would be downloading home security footage and seeking an arrest warrant. Brooks spokesman Clay Mills told The Chronicle that a report had been filed with the Huntsville Police Department.

Martha Brooks told local radio WBHP on Monday that the process server surprised her as she arrived home from church on Sunday, and she alleges the incident took place inside her garage.

She opened the door and there is a man standing right next to my door, she said, inside the garage holding a cell phone about 2 feet away from my face. Scared me to death, I was terrified.

Brooks said she started screaming for the man to get out. Finally he put the papers on the floor and he said, I am leaving the papers here, you are hereby served Mo Brooks, and he, like, skedaddled, she said. She then went after him to memorize the license plate and called police. Brooks told the radio hosts that she believes the litigation is a purely political effort against her husband, who is running for Senate.

Rep. Brooks office shared a clip of the familys security camera with The Chronicle late Monday, which shows a car pull up behind Martha Brooks and a man quickly exit the car holding papers and a cell phone. He runs after her toward the house and disappears from view, the moment that Martha Brooks alleges he entered her garage. The angle of the camera does not reveal where the process server went. Almost 15 seconds later, he backs out into the driveway and his car, followed by Martha Brooks, who reviews his license plate before going back inside.

Andonian said Swalwells legal team is prepared to respond to any further court filings as they come.

Serving Brooks is a side story to the lawsuit, in which the Livermore Democrat is suing Brooks, former President Donald Trump and others using a little-known provision of federal law in the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 that bars political intimidation, to try to find them responsible for the riot that Swalwell says terrorized lawmakers, including himself.

On Jan. 6, hundreds of pro-Trump rioters, who had been told by Brooks at a rally in the hours previously that it was time to start kicking ass and fight for America, violently overcame police and forced their way into the Capitol as lawmakers including Swalwell were present in the legislative chambers to certify presidential election results.

Brooks spent the past weekend taunting Swalwell on Twitter by posting pictures of himself at public events or in Alabama since the lawsuit was filed March 5. Andonian said if Brooks was serious, he could have let them know where he might be in advance, not after the fact. Or, Andonian said, Brooks could have waived service with the court and moved on to responding to the lawsuit, as the former president, his son Donald Trump Jr., and his attorney and friend Rudy Giuliani have already done.

All of the chiding and juvenile Twitter trolling  all of this stuff is a direct result him of simply refusing to do what the other three defendants did very early on, which is waive service like an adult, Andonian said. Instead of taking that seriously and owning up to what Brooks has been proud about and facing the music in court, he decided to play games and cause an expenditure of resources and time and he decided to treat it as a joke, which I dont think anybody thinks (the lawsuit) is.

Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan
California's most powerful teachers union voted to oppose the recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to a statement released Friday.

The California Teachers Association President E. Toby Boyd applauded Newsom's commitment to the state's public schools amid the coronavirus pandemic and called out the Democratic governor's prioritization of vaccines for educators and school staff that has contributed to the state having the lowest COVID-19 transmission rate in the nation.

For the past year, each one of us has grappled with the challenges and losses posed by the pandemic and theres no denying it has been tough," Boyd wrote in a statement. "Among the many lessons weve learned is that when decisions are values-based and focused on the greater good, we can confront even the toughest of challenges. California educators stand in strong opposition to the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom. From our classroom vantage point during the pandemic, we didnt always agree on approach, but weve never questioned his commitment to Californias students and public education."

Boyd also noted Newsom's track record with transparency around corporate charter schools, his budget plan that "proposes historic increases for the restart and recovery of our school and college campuses," and his "plan to expand transitional kindergarten to all four-year-olds."

The California Teachers Association has more than 300,000 members and is affiliated with the National Education Association. Its top governing body comprised of nearly 700 educators voted against supporting the recall.

The teachers union support came after a smattering of other labor unions representing workers in manufacturing, retail, grocery stores, hospitality, health care and other businesses announced their support Tuesday for Newsom as he faces a likely recall election.

The California Labor Federation delivered the endorsement on behalf of 2.1 million workers and 1,200 affiliated unions on the steps of the Capitol, blasting the recall and Newsom's competitors as anti-worker."

Recall supporters have their own army of volunteers. Organizers with little to no formal political training successfully gathered more than 1.7 million valid signatures to place the recall on the ballot, relying on volunteers across all 58 counties who stood on street corners and in parking lots collecting signatures throughout the summer and fall.

Orrin Heatlie, the leader of that movement, said recently that his volunteers were taking a much-needed break but they would soon be back out campaigning.

They'll be handing out fliers and educating the public as to the reasons behind the recall, the need for a yes vote," he said.

A date for an election hasn't been set. People who signed a recall petition have another week to withdraw their names, then the state Department of Finance and Legislature must conduct and review cost estimates for an election. Then the lieutenant governor, also a Democrat, will set an election date.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
MOSCOW (AP)  Russia on Monday targeted nine Canadian officials with sanctions in retaliation to Canada's restrictions against Russian officials accused of involvement in the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Canadian officials indefinitely barred from entering Russia include David Lametti, Canada's justice minister and attorney general, Brenda Lucki, the Canadian police commissioner and Anne Kelly, the commissioner of the country's Correctional Service.

The Russian sanctions also targeted Dominic LeBlanc, minister for intergovernmental affairs, Marci Surkes, the policy director for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Jody Thomas, deputy minister of the national defense department. Also hit with Russian sanctions were Lt. Gen. Mike Rouleau of the Canadian armed forces and Rear Adm. Scott Bishop, the head of the military intelligence command, and Brian Brennan. a deputy police commissioner.

The Russian travel ban on Canadian officials follows similar sanctions previously imposed by Moscow against U.S. and European officials in response to their restrictions against Russian officials.

Navalny, the most determined political foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was arrested in January upon his return from Germany where he spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin  accusations that Russian officials reject. European labs have confirmed that Navalny was poisoned.

In February, Navalny was handed a 2 1/2-year prison term on charges of violating the terms of a suspended sentence while he was in Germany. The sentence stemmed from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that Navalny has condemned as politically motivated.

Russia has rejected the U.S. and the EU criticism of Navalnys imprisonment and of Russias crackdown on protests demanding his release as meddling in its internal affairs.

The tensions over Navalny further exacerbated Russias relations with the West, which sank to post-Cold War lows over Russias 2014 annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula, the accusations of Moscow's interference in elections and hacking attacks.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that Moscow remains open for the development of our ties on the basis of mutual respect and with the emphasis on cooperation in areas such as the Arctic issues, relations between regions and business ties where our interests objectively converge.
LONDON (AP)  I May Destroy You won two main prizes at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards, in a ceremony that rewarded TV that tackled tough issues including sexual consent and racism.

The drama about a woman dealing with the aftermath of a sexual assault was named best miniseries, while creator and star Michaela Coel won the best actress prize.

Coel dedicated the award to the shows director of intimacy, Ita OBrien, for making the space safe for creating physical, emotional, and professional boundaries so that we can make work about exploitation, loss of respect, about abuse of power, without being exploited or abused in the process.

Paul Mescal was named best actor for Irish love story Normal People at a live ceremony on Sunday with a limited, socially distanced audience.

The best supporting actress trophy went to Rakie Ayola for Anthony, a drama based on the death of a Black British teenager in a racist attack in 2005. Malachi Kirby was named best supporting actor for Small Axe, director Steve McQueens series about Britains West Indian community from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Sitting in Limbo, inspired by the true story of long-time British residents from the Caribbean threatened with deportation by the government, was named best single drama. Thriller Save Me Too took the BAFTA for best drama series.

A tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement by dance troupe Diversity on Britains Got Talent was named must-see moment of the year, chosen by the public. The routine  which included a man in police uniform kneeling on another dancer  drew both praise and thousands of complaints to the broadcasting regulator.

Troupe member Ashley Banjo thanked supporters, and said people who complained about the routine showed the truth.

You showed exactly why this performance, this moment, was necessary, he said.
NEW YORK (AP)  J.K. Rowling is praising the longtime head of the U.S. publisher of her "Harry Potter books as an ally and early defender of the beloved fantasy series. Richard Robinson, who led Scholastic Inc. for more than 40 years, died on June 5 at 84.

Dick was a wise, kind and humane man, who leaves behind him an extraordinary legacy in the world of childrens literature, Rowling said in a statement Monday. He was an early champion of Harry Potter and a stalwart support to me through the twenty-four years we knew each other.
LOS ANGELES  Eggs littered the sand, but there was no sign of life around or in them.

The seabirds that should have been keeping watch had taken off, terrified by a drone that crash-landed into their nesting grounds on an island at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.

"We've never seen such devastation here," said Melissa Loebl, an environmental scientist who manages the Huntington Beach, California, reserve. "This has been really hard for me as a manager."

Some 3,000 elegant terns fled the reserve after the drone crashed May 12, leaving behind 1,500 to 2,000 eggs, none of them viable. It was the largest egg abandonment that scientists who work there can recall.

As for the birds, which are highly sensitive to perceived threats  nobody is sure what happened to them.

"We actually still don't know where they are," Loebl said.

The mass abandonment was the culmination of a year of issues caused by increased traffic to the reserve, which has seen the number of visitors double as the COVID-19 pandemic sent droves of people outdoors. There has been an uptick in bicyclists, who sometimes carve trails off established paths and disturb sensitive areas, and more people have been bringing dogs, which can scare wildlife and leave behind waste. Both are prohibited in the reserve, as they threaten to flush birds off their nests.

"They're seen as predators," Loebl said. "Think of a bird. When I migrate 100 miles, I want a safe place to nest, forage and breed, and they come here to do just that."

But nothing has been as catastrophic as drones, which are being flown over the reserve with increasing frequency.

Drones are not permitted to fly over state wildlife reserves, precisely because they run the risk of disturbing habitats, said Officer Nick Molsberry of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. If that happens, the operator can face additional charges for nest destruction and harassment of wildlife, he said.

The Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve is one of the last remaining and largest coastal wetlands in Southern California, where 95% of the habitat has been destroyed, Loebl said. More than 800 species rely on the 1,000-plus-acre area for critical habitat. Of those species, 23 have special status, including the California least tern and Ridgway's rail, which are endangered, and the Western snowy plover, which is classified as threatened.

"These are all birds we put a lot of time and energy into managing their habitat so they can have a successful year breeding," Loebl said.

Volunteers spend the fall preparing two manmade islands  North Tern Island and South Tern Island  taking on vegetation management projects so the birds can nest, Loebl said.

In April, thousands of terns arrive for the breeding season, including elegant terns that migrate from Central and South America. They stay until August, when they fly away with their chicks.

Although elegant terns are not considered threatened or endangered, Bolsa Chica is one of just four known nesting sites, said Michael H. Horn, professor emeritus of biology at Cal State Fullerton. The others are at the Los Angeles Harbor, in San Diego and in Mexico's Gulf of California.

"We worry about them because there's so few nesting sites, not so much because of their numbers," he said. "So that's a reason why if a nest site doesn't produce or fails, that's concerning."

Horn is waiting to hear whether the birds have established themselves in Mexico, which is usually the largest colony. There are now several thousand in San Diego. But they chose not to nest this year at the Los Angeles Harbor, making the abandonment at Bolsa Chica even more of a loss.

"We have a person who monitors them and other seabirds at the port, and he said the birds have flown by, maybe stayed a little while, a few hours or overnight, and then they've left," Horn said, noting that they may decide not to populate a site because of predators, disruptions to the food supply or other disturbances.

The elegant terns, together with some 300 other avian species that frequent the reserve, draw birders and photographers from across the region and farther.

In the case of the crashed drone, given the scope of the devastation, officials are seeking to aggressively enforce the law. Molsberry is working with the Orange County district attorney's office to figure out how to get a warrant and lawfully retrieve video footage and location history from the drone.

"We will hopefully have some great footage of the user and what the drone did, its flight path, and be able to articulate all the elements we need to fulfill the violation for this person," he said.

Molsberry, who has been with the department eight years, said he'd never seen a drone crash-land in a reserve before this spring. But the May 12 crash was actually the second in a 24-hour stretch. The day before, a drone went down in Bolsa Chica near nesting sites of the California least tern and the snowy plover. The birds fled but eventually returned, "which was great," Loebl said. "Still sad, but great."

That drone operator came forward to claim the device and received a citation.

On Thursday, while KABC-TV Channel 7 was interviewing Loebl and Molsberry for a segment about the drone problem, a man pulled into the parking lot and started to fly a drone right above them, sending it directly toward another tern colony, Molsberry said.

"I actually ended the interview, contacted the individual, identified myself and issued that person a citation right there on the spot," he said. Television cameras captured yet another drone flying over the reserve whose operator couldn't be located.

The man Molsberry cited claimed he didn't realize it was illegal to fly drones there because a Federal Aviation Administration app showed the airspace as a so-called "green zone," Loebl said.

"When it comes to the flying of drones in the airspace, the airspace does not belong to us," Molsberry conceded, adding that the FAA might not list the reserve as a no-fly area, but there are signs all around Bolsa Chica stating that drones can't be flown there, as he pointed out to the man who was cited.

The reserve's management is working with the volunteer groups Bolsa Chica Conservancy, Bolsa Chica Land Trust and Amigos de Bolsa Chica to develop a program that will have trained docents walk the property and educate the public about the rules. Loebl said the state is also hoping to work with federal authorities to ensure that airspace over the reserve and other sensitive areas is listed as restricted.

In the meantime, the long-term effects of the nest abandonment remain unclear. Horn noted that there will be some 4,500 fewer birds feeding on anchovies and sardines in the waters near Bolsa Chica this summer. That could conceivably draw more predators that also like to feed on the fish, such as seals, sea lions and other seabirds.

"The removal of one species might affect another species," Loebl said. "We have such rich biodiversity here."

Horn said it's possible the elegant terns fled to other nesting sites, and they could even nest again and produce more eggs before the summer ends.

But there will be no elegant tern chicks at Bolsa Chica this year.

"That's a full generation of birds not established," Molsberry said. "It's just so abnormal not to see them there right now."
Organon, the only global company of its size focused on womens health, has launched its presence in Egypt in a move to transform and further prioritised womens health in the country.



Organon takes a broad view of womens health, with the goal of expanding beyond reproductive health to help address the conditions that are unique to women, but also conditions that disproportionately affect women or have an especially heavy burden on them.



Managing Director Ramy Koussa of Organon (Mena and Turkey) in Organon, said: As the MENAT region continues to grow and is expected to expand further in the coming years, we recognize the need to focus on women-specific health conditions and treatments that impact the everyday life of women. This launch will not only transform womens healthcare, but will also create over 400 job opportunities across MENAT. With our expertise, products, and technology in women-related conditions, we want to influence change in the region and empower women to take charge of their health to live better lives.



The Organon executive leadership team rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to mark the first day of active trading. Recognizing the need to listen to and act on womens experiences to address the challenges in womens health, Organon gathered voices from around the world to create the Wall of Voices, a multimedia installation outside of the NYSE sharing powerful perspectives, voices and images.



Dr. Amira Tahio, Maternal and Child Health Consultant and Former Director for African Center for Womens Health Services, Egypt is hopeful about Organons presence in the market as expressed in her statement: Id like to take this opportunity to spot the light on our aim, to see women in Egypt enjoy a health infancy with no gender gap in morbidities and mortality. A health adolescent life free from violence and genital mutilation. Fertility by choice and not by chance. A healthy reproductive life with safe outcomes to both mothers and their babies. A health sexual life, free from sexual transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS in addition to prevention of cancer of the cervix. Lastly but not the least, a healthy active reproductive life in combating breast cancer and its health consequences.



Mahira Hassan, CSR/Sustainability and Development Expert Consultant said, To women of all ages and nations wanting to be heard and seen, you are important, your psychological wellbeing can drive tons of health issues. Healthy women are the cornerstone of healthy societies. You are the future.



Women everywhere are invited to take the microphone to add their voice to the digital Wall of Voices at HereForHerHealth.com, an Organon statement said.



Organon Egypts Lead, Tarek Aboueleinein, stated: Our launch symbolizes the new set of resources and services now available for womens health in the country, in line with the presidential initiative. Looking forward to embarking on this journey and materializing the added value that this company can bring to womens lives in Egypt as well as the whole world.



The focus on diversity both on an internal and external level will lead generational change in the healthcare industry of Egypt. The three core pillars that lead Organons offerings in Egypt include:



 Biosimilars: Actively building a strong foundation by broadening the reach of offerings into new geographies while expanding through new collaborations and into new disease areas.

 Womens Health: With more than 140 therapies that are being investigated by multiple companies across the womens health industry, our goal is to add value by identifying and advancing the most promising opportunities for women.

 Established Brands: Our portfolio of over 60 medicines span several areas including cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions, non-opioid pain management and dermatology. This diverse set of products and trusted brands are critical drivers of Organons growth that will enable us to invest in new opportunities.



Sandy Milligan, Head of Organon Research & Development stated: Women have been told to accept and normalize their conditions as a part of life, Organons mission is to change this. We believe this approach will be very successful  we hope to discover the ability to identify diseases earlier, the ability to modify the course of diseases or healthcare conditions and to ultimately, improve the quality of life for women at all stages.  TradeArabia News Service


RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Virginia's Democratic voters will pick their party's nominees for this year's three statewide races in Tuesday's primary election, and both parties will settle on nominations for the House of Delegates and local seats.

The results, particularly in the marquee gubernatorial primary, will be closely watched around the nation. The Commonwealth's off-year elections typically draw outsized attention as a possible bellwether for national trends heading into next year's midterms.

Virginia Republicans, looking to break losing streak that has lasted more than decade statewide races, chose their nominees for the top of the ticket in a multi-site convention process in May. But most of the GOP nominations for House of Delegates seats will be settled Tuesday.

Voters in some localities will also choose their nominee for local races, like sheriff and commonwealth's attorney.

Early voting has been underway since late April. Would-be voters must already be registered to vote in order to cast a ballot.

Polling places will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and anyone in line at 7:00 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

Virginia's voter ID law was repealed last year, so people casting a ballot can sign an ID confirmation statement instead of providing ID.

Here is a look at what will be settled Tuesday:

GOVERNOR

Democratic voters will decide whether they want former Gov. Terry McAuliffe to return for another term or whether they think one of his four opponents is the best pick to take on GOP nominee Glenn Youngkin.

McAuliffe, a longtime fixture of Democratic politics and a prodigious fundraiser, has been seen as the heavy favorite in the race. Polling has generally shown him with a commanding lead, he's got a big money advantage, and he locked up endorsements from top officials around the state.

Two of his opponents, state Sen. Jennifer McClellan and former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, are running what could be history-making bids. If either wins the general election, they would be Virginia's first female governor and the nation's first Black female governor.

Also in the race are Del. Lee Carter, a self-described socialist who is well to the left of the pack, and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, whose campaign momentum has been blunted by two unresolved allegations of sexual assault raised in 2019 that he strenuously denies.

Gov. Ralph Northam, like all Virginia governors, is prohibited from seeking a second consecutive term.

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Six Democrats are hoping for a chance to serve as lieutenant governor, a mostly ceremonial job that pays about $36,000 a year but is often a steppingstone to higher office.

Sam Rasoul, who has represented Roanoke in the House of Delegates since 2014, has a fundraising lead and is seen in some corners as the frontrunner. Most of the Democratic establishment, though, has coalesced around two-term Del. Hala Ayala, who represents Prince William County.

Also running are: northern Virginia attorney and racial justice activist Sean Perryman; Norfolk City Council member Andria McClellan; businessman Xavier Warren; and Del. Mark Levine, who is simultaneously running for his House seat.

The winner will face GOP nominee and former Del. Winsome Sears, who 20 years ago became the first Black Republican woman elected to the Virginia General Assembly.

Sears, who came to the U.S. from Jamaica as a child and served in the Marines, served a single term representing parts of Hampton Roads in the House.

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Incumbent Mark Herring is seeking a third term, looking to fend off a challenge from Jay Jones, who represents Norfolk in the House of Delegates.

A former state senator who became attorney general in 2014 and was reelected easily in 2017, Herring has pitched himself to voters as a progressive champion on abortion rights, gun control and immigrant-friendly policies and argued that his experience made him the best choice to keep the office in Democratic control.

Jones, a Black 32-year-old two-term delegate, has argued the office needs a fresh perspective and sought to cast Herring as slow to respond to the reckoning sparked by the police murder of George Floyd last summer.

Jones picked up Northams endorsement, but many other establishment Democratic figures, including two of the states most powerful Black lawmakers, have endorsed Herring.

The winner of the primary contest will face GOP nominee Jason Miyares, a former prosecutor and a member of the House of Delegates who so far has been campaigning with a focus on public safety.

HOUSE OF DELEGATES

Voters will choose nominees in dozens of House primaries, settling the field of candidates for a fall general election shaping up to be intensely contested. Democrats will be on defense in November, attempting to hang on to their majority.

In the primary, Democrats have an unusually high number of intra-party challengers  14  while only three Republicans incumbents have opponents.

Both parties say they are confident their incumbents will do well.
ATLANTA (AP)  An Alabama man was jailed Monday on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of his teenage brother at an Atlanta hotel.

Records showed Marquise Daniel, 29, of Harvest, Alabama, was being held at the Fulton County Jail on the felony charge in a shooting that news outlets reported happened Sunday afternoon at the InterContinental Buckhead Hotel.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  The mayor of Albuquerque plans to release details this month of a plan to invest $1 million in the city's Black community.

The Albuquerque Journal reported Monday that Mayor Tim Keller will elaborate on the investment program during the city's Juneteenth Festival.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has been a leader in the legal push to hold companies and individuals accountable for the U.S. opioid addiction and overdose epidemic, which has been linked to nearly 500,000 deaths over the last two decades.

Healey was the first of many state attorneys general to sue individual members of the Sackler family who own Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin. Shes joined with about half the state attorneys general in opposing the companys settlement proposal in bankruptcy court. It calls for dissolving Purdue and turning it into a new company that would use the proceeds of OxyContin sales to combat the crisis. Healey and others say it doesnt go far enough.

Purdue and the Sacklers defend the plan by saying it would take the company out of the family's hands and provide billions of dollars to deal with the opioid crisis. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in New York this month gave the company permission to start asking creditors to vote on whether to approve the plan, which the company says would be worth more than $10 billion. A hearing is scheduled for August.

On Tuesday, Healey is scheduled to appear before a congressional committee to testify in support of a bill that would clarify bankruptcy laws so company owners and executives would not be able to use a corporate bankruptcy case to shield themselves from personal liability. The legislation was inspired by the Purdue case.

Also this year, Healey became the first attorney general to sue a marketing company, Publicis Health, claiming it also had a role in the opioid epidemic through its work for Purdue. The company says it acted lawfully and that the lawsuit is baseless.

The Purdue bankruptcy is the highest-profile case in a complicated universe of opioid-related lawsuits across the U.S. that has drawn comparisons to the multistate litigation against tobacco companies in the 1990s. The interview with Healey, held June 3, has been condensed.

AP: Purdues bankruptcy plan calls for members of the Sackler family to give up control of the company, with future profits used to abate the opioid crisis, and also pay nearly $4.3 billion dollars over time. Thats on top of the more than $200 million theyre paying in a federal settlement. Why do you feel that offer is not sufficient to hold the company and its owners accountable?

HEALEY: The Sacklers are not offering to pay anything near what they should for the harm and devastation caused to families and communities around this country.

What it would do is pay a measly total of less than $1.3 billion over the next five years to states, cities, counties. This is way too little and way too late while they continue to sit on a fortune of at least $11 billion -- a fortune built through the sales of OxyContin and a fortune built at the expense of so many victims across this country and devastation.

And whats worse is theyve also gone back to bankruptcy court with this proposal to essentially buy immunity with a fraction of those investment returns. So, hey, thats their plan. They want to continue to be rich and they will likely be richer after paying the settlement than they are today. That doesnt sit right with me and it shouldnt sit right with anyone.

AP: The proposed settlement would give (Sackler family members) some immunity from civil lawsuits, but not from criminal charges. On what grounds, if any, could family members face criminal charges?

HEALEY: Nothing about the civil resolution will in any way negate or eliminate the opportunity for criminal investigation or prosecution. I can tell you as a prosecutor that government has to make its case, and each and every individual is entitled to a defense. But here is a situation where we have pursued Purdue and the Sacklers to recover money desperately needed to help our states and our cities and our families.

AP: State attorneys general are split nearly evenly on whether this is an acceptable deal. Why cant you all agree on that?

HEALEY: My job as a matter of law enforcement is to hold people accountable when they break the law, whether theyre rich and powerful corporations or rich and powerful individuals who seem to be able to buy whatever legal defense and team of lawyers they need to continue to delay and fight this in court.

But for me, accountability is so important. Its important to the victims and survivors and the families we serve and are elected to represent in our state. Accountability is important for fairness, for justice, for keeping people safe, and as a matter of deterrence to make sure that bad things like this dont happen again.

Purdues plan should require a public repository of every document in this case. We did that in tobacco; we should do it here. I believe in that strongly. The country deserves to know how Purdue and the Sacklers caused this opioid epidemic. We cant continue to let them keep this secret.

The Sackler plan wants the government to take over the drug business, to put us in charge of selling OxyContin. Putting governments in a position of profiting off the sale of OxyContin is just perverse and totally inappropriate. We want no part of it. Instead, we want a prompt and orderly wind down of this disgraced business.

AP: Earlier this year, you filed claims against Publicis. Its a marketing consultant for Purdue. Why did you do that, and do you expect lawsuits against other companies that work for the drug industry?

HEALEY: During our investigation of Purdue and the Sacklers, we learned that Publicis was actively involved in consulting and providing marketing guidance to Purdue and the Sacklers to help them drive up OxyContins sales. In doing so, they created a huge public nuisance. They engaged in unfair and deceptive violation of our consumer protection law.

There were any number of entities and perpetrators involved in this deadly and devastating opioid epidemic. And were going to continue to hold each and every one of them accountable -- or at least try to. We owe that to our families and we owe that in the name of justice.

AP: There are currently trials involving claims against drug makers in California and distribution companies in West Virginia. Im wondering what the outcomes of those cases will mean for the bigger picture of opioid litigation across the US.

HEALEY: They benefit the public and the press because facts get exposed. People have to actually testify in public under oath. This is the way that accountability can be achieved.

___

Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  A judge didn't step over the line when she refused to let North Carolina's legislative leaders formally defend the state's latest photo identification voting law with other state government attorneys, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

A majority of the 15 judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld 2019 decisions by District Judge Loretta Biggs preventing House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger from becoming defendants in a race-bias lawsuit filed by the state NAACP and several local chapters. Barring a reversal by the U.S. Supreme Court, lawyers for legislative leaders who helped pass the 2018 law won't be able to argue for it at a trial set to begin next January.

Nine of the judges agreed that Biggs didnt abuse her discretion with her decision. Biggs found no evidence that lawyers from Attorney General Josh Steins office  representing State Board of Elections members, the named defendants in the lawsuit  were inadequately defending the law on their own.

Writing the majority opinion, Circuit Judge Pamela Harris said that the lower court properly followed federal rules in determining whether Berger and Moore should be allowed to intervene.

The legislators' purported interest in defending (the law) on behalf of the state of North Carolina was adequately represented already by the State Board of Elections and attorney general, Harris wrote.

Republicans have said they should be allowed to defend a law they approved. They've also pointed to Stein's previous opposition to a voter ID law and his office's defense of the current law in a similar state court lawsuit in April as proof GOP legislative leaders need to get involved. There's been no verdict in the state lawsuit.

Harris wrote that Stein, a Democrat, expressing views at odds with the law in the past is no ground for a federal court to infer that he would abdicate his official duty to the state by subterfuge, mounting a sham defense of the statute.

The entire appeals court, based in Richmond, Virginia, agreed to hear the arguments after a majority on a three-judge panel declared last summer that Biggs hadn't scrutinized the matter properly and told her to try again. The NAACP's lawyers asked that the full appeals court weigh in.

The civil rights group is pleased with Mondays decision, state NAACP president the Rev. Anthony Spearman said in an emailed statement. In such legal matters, there is an attorney general elected by the people and assigned by the constitution to perform this duty, he added.

The six dissenting appeals court judges wrote three opinions among them. Biggs failed to consider a North Carolina law that requests a federal court allow both the legislative and executive branches to participate in lawsuits challenging a state law, Circuit Judge Marvin Quattlebaum wrote.

Although federal courts need not completely defer to that public policy decision, the district court cannot fail to give the states choice any weight, Quattlebaum wrote, adding that Biggs also set the bar to intervene too high.

GOP Sen. Danny Britt of Robeson County said in a news release that the legislature has zero confidence in Stein to defend the law in court and that Republicans will monitor closely Stein's actions in the case going forward. Stein spokesperson Nazneen Ahmed said the attorney general's office will continue to vigorously defend the state in every matter we handle in accordance with the law.

Quattlebaum and Harris were on another three-judge panel that declared unanimously last December that Biggs wrongly blocked the 2018 voter ID law from being carried out before the trial because she said there was a strong likelihood that the NAACP's lawsuit would be successful. Those appeals judges decided Biggs erred when declaring the photo ID mandate was tainted by racial bias largely because a 2013 voter ID law had been struck down on similar grounds. The 2018 law was enacted a month after voters agreed to add a voter ID provision to the state constitution.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  The Brazilian Amazons biggest city ordered schools closed and suspended public transportation Monday amid a wave of vandalism and violence that has followed the death of an alleged leader of a drug trafficking ring in a shootout with police.

Dozens of buses, public buildings, banks and personal vehicles in Manaus were targeted by a drug trafficking organization as retribution for the killing, the Amazonas state's government said. Twenty-one vehicles were burned, and Gov. Wilson Lima on Sunday requested deployment of the national guard.

The violence also hampered the vaccination campaign against the coronavirus. Officials in Manaus, where a more contagious variant of the virus emerged in 2020, closed its vaccine sites for fear of attacks. They expressed hope that shots could resume Tuesday.

At noon, the bus service was gradually restored, but officials said it would halt again at nightfall.

Amazonas states security secretary, Louismar Bonates, said the attacks were ordered from prison in response to the death of alleged trafficker Erick Batista Costa, known as Dadinho. He was killed by the police during a confrontation Saturday night during an operation in the Redencao neighborhood, west of Manaus, local authorities said.

In broad daylight on Sunday, assailants threw gasoline bombs at bus stations and banks and also burned tires, according to images shown on television. Fearing attacks, shopkeepers shut their stores.

Aboard speedboats, criminals shot at the entrance of a police station near the port of Manaus, the newspaper O Globo reported. It said one attacker disembarked and threw a grenade, but it didnt detonate.

There weren't any reports of injuries.

So far, 29 people suspected of carrying out the attacks have been arrested, the Amazonas state's security secretariat said. Of them, 27 directly participated in the violence and the other two were involved in planning the attacks, the secretariat said.

Manaus residents interviewed by O Globo said they felt like hostages inside their homes, afraid to go out due to threats circulating on social media that supposedly were from the crime gang responsible for the attacks.

We have greatly reinforced patrols, Bonates, the security secretary, said. He added that police had set up checkpoints across Manaus and the state, saying: People can come out of their homes and move about freely. The police are in the streets to guarantee safety.

Attacks were centered in Manaus, but also happened in the municipalities of Parintins and Careiro Castanho.
DETROIT (AP)  Authorities using a backhoe were digging at a Detroit cemetery Monday in response to complaints that some deceased might not be buried in the right graves.

The FBI joined Detroit police at Gethsemane Cemetery on the city's northeast side in plain view of motorists on busy Gratiot Avenue, although no crimes were suspected. Seven graves were checked; six appeared to be proper, WDIV-TV reported.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  Authorities have all but abandoned their search for a kayaker who went missing on the Missouri River south of Bismarck.

Joby Seagren, 41, disappeared Saturday near a popular recreation area called Kimball Bottoms south of Bismarck. Other people in Seagren's party called authorities after they noticed his partially submerged kayak but no one could pinpoint where he disappeared, the Bismarck Tribune reported Monday.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP)  Kentucky's governor is steering nearly $40 million in federal pandemic relief funds for use in emergency rental assistance in the state's two largest cities.

Gov. Andy Beshear directed that $27 million be used for rental assistance in Louisville and $11.7 million for Lexington's program.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a White House visit this summer.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden extended the invitation during a phone call on Monday with Zelenskyy, who has publicly raised concerns about the U.S. presidents plan to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and about a nearly completed Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline that would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine.

Biden made the invitation during a call that had been planned in advance of Bidens trip to Europe that culminates with a stop in Geneva next week for a face-to-face meeting with Putin as tensions in the U.S.-Russia relationship remain high.

Zelenskyy tweeted his response: Thank you @POTUS @JoeBiden for inviting me to visit the @WhiteHouse in July during our phone conversation. I look forward to this meeting to discuss ways to expand strategic cooperation between Ukraine and #USA.

Sullivan said Biden and Zelenskyy had the opportunity to talk at some length about all of the issues in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship and President Biden was able to tell President Zelenskyy that he will stand up firmly for Ukraines sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its aspirations as we go forward."

The Ukrainians also indicated that the Biden administration had committed to sharing 900,000 COVID-19 vaccines with Kyiv. Last week, the White House announced plans to share 80 million vaccine doses  most through the United Nations-backed COVAX program  by the end of June. About 6 million in the initial distribution of 25 million were to be directed by the White House to U.S. allies and partners, including Mexico, Canada, South Korea, the West Bank and Gaza, India, Ukraine, Kosovo, Haiti, Georgia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Yemen, as well as to United Nations frontline workers.

It will save the lives of many Ukrainians, Zelenskky said in a statement.

The Biden administration disappointed Ukraine  as well as many Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington  when it announced last month that it would not punish the German company overseeing the Russia-to-Germany pipeline known as Nord Stream 2, because it did not want to levy sanctions against an important European ally. Russian gas currently flows through Ukraine en route to Europe, and Zelenskyy was hopeful that Biden would move to block the project that faced bipartisan opposition in Congress.

Zelenskyy reiterated his concerns about the pipeline during the call, according to the statement from his office.

Zelenskyy, in an interview with Axios published on Sunday, said he had urged Biden to join him at any moment and at any spot on the planet before the planned Geneva meeting with Putin next week.

Ukraine has harbored hopes for increased military aid during the Biden administration and is looking for backing in its bid for NATO membership. Ukraine has long battled against Russia-backed separatists in the east and in the halls of government in Kyiv.

Crimea and large swaths of eastern Ukraines Donbas region are under Russian occupation. Fighting in the region has claimed thousands of Ukrainian lives. Russia launched a buildup of troops near the border earlier this year before announcing in April that it would pull back those forces.

The provocative move alarmed the U.S. and other European allies. Zelenskyy, in the call, emphasized to Biden that there was still a high concentration of Russian troops and heavy weaponry there.

Zelenskyy found himself ensnared in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment, which centered around a 16-minute phone call in which Trump pressured the Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden and his sons dealings in the Eastern European nation in 2019.

___

Isachenkov reported from Moscow.
Siemens Mobility has signed a 231 million contract with the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) to modernise 68 stations that will cover 450 km of the islands approximately 1110 km total railway network.



The Taiwan Railway Smart Electrical Systems Upgrade and Signalling Interlocking System Update Project primarily consists of replacing existing Relay Interlockings with new Electronic Interlocking (or EI) Systems at the stations.



Siemens Mobility will provide 10 years of maintenance and the customer also reserves the right to procure EI systems for 10-additional stations. The modernization of the signalling system will allow the TRA to better optimize the operation and maintenance of the rail network.



Siemens Mobility is delighted to have been selected to upgrade a significant portion of the rail network in Taiwan. Our state-of-the-art signalling and interlocking technology will augment operations throughout the network by increasing service reliability and availability, which will enhance the passenger experience, said Andre Rodenbeck, CEO of Rail Infrastructure at Siemens Mobility.



This important project further underscores our leading position in the field for delivering automated and digital signalling systems that increases the safety and capacity of rail travel.



Siemens Mobility will provide its EI system Trackguard Westrace Mk II, a highly flexible, microprocessor-based interlocking system suitable for both urban and mainline rail, which has been proven in over 1,200 applications worldwide. With versatility in configuration, flexible architecture, enhanced processing power, and multitude of connectivity possibilities, Trackguard Westrace Mk II offers railway operators real benefits in terms of total cost of ownership, improved punctuality, and greater capacity.



For maintenance, Siemens Mobility will utilize the OMNES predictive maintenance solution, an innovative digital services platform for railway signalling. OMNES unifies all maintenance tools on a single platform in a secure and customizable way by using the most advanced methods of digitalization. By minimizing and anticipating the impact of incidents, OMNES improves the overall efficiency of operations, with the aim of ensuring 100% service availability.



Siemens Mobility will also bring added value to this project through the usage of Building Information Modeling (BIM) methodology. BIM technology enhances the design process by enabling the digital recording of an entire rail network and uses digital models of a setting to record and manage relevant information and data.



In addition, Siemens Mobility will install a prototype station with an interlocking based on the Distributed Smart Safe System (DS3), an innovative and digitalized safety platform, which enables the usage of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) server hardware and offers advantages like a geographical redundancy and limitless scalability.



The rail network managed by the TRA spans approximately 1,110 km and carries over 232 million passengers and 7.7 million metric tons of freight each year, linking the cities to the countryside. This is in addition to the separately managed high-speed rail that covers 350 km along the west coast, linking the capital Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung, and 131 km of mass transit in Taipei. The combination of metropolitan mass rapid transit systems with mainline rail forms a highly efficient rail-based transportation network.  TradeArabia News Service
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  A longtime aide to retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby is entering the race to replace him in what's shaping up to be a GOP primary slugfest at a time when the national Republican Party is trying to chart a direction after President Donald Trumps departure.

Katie Boyd Britt, the former president of the Business Council of Alabama and Shelby's former chief of staff, filed federal paperwork Thursday to run for the seat in the 2022 election. While she has not announced a run, it has been long speculated that she would.
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP)  Bulgarias interim prime minister on Monday urged the government to redouble its efforts to fight endemic graft, calling for changes in prosecutors' offices, the judiciary and all law enforcement agencies.

Prime Minister Stefan Yanev spoke at a meeting of the government security council that he convened to discuss new anti-corruption policies following U.S. sanctions on Bulgarian officials and businessmen for their allegedly extensive roles in corruption.

Last week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against the former member of parliament and media mogul Delyan Peevski; oligarch Vassil Bozhkov; and former national security official Ilko Zhelyazkov for their alleged roles in public corruption.

It also imposed sanctions on 64 entities allegedly linked to them, saying the move was its single biggest action targeting corruption to date.

The sanctions on the Bulgarians and companies effectively prevents them from accessing the U.S. financial system, freezes their U.S. assets and bars Americans from dealing with them.

Yanev said the Bulgarian government will try to minimize the political and the economic risks for the country from the U.S. sanctions.

We must protect state-owned companies from financial sanctions being imposed. To this end, we must prevent bank transactions with these investigated persons, so that businesses and state-owned companies are not blocked, Yanev said.

He admitted, however, that the U.S. sanctions are a serious signal that corruption in Bulgaria has deep roots in the countrys political and economic system and the consequences of that already go beyond the countrys borders.

Bulgaria, a member of the European Union and NATO, has repeatedly been reprimanded by its Western partners for failing to effectively fight corruption. Transparency International, a corruption watchdog, has declared Bulgaria the most corrupt country in the 27-nation EU.

Yanev said the corrupt environment in Bulgaria not only destroys the countrys international authority, it undermines its political system and the foundations of its democracy, making it dysfunctional and inefficient.

There is no way we can have a stable political system, a prosperous economy, or a functioning social system without solving the fundamental problems with corruption, he said.

The interim government, appointed after an inconclusive general election in April, has made a series of revelations of alleged corruption involving the previous government under former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.
GAO, Mali (AP)  The death toll from the deadliest attack in Burkina Faso in years has risen to at least 132 people and countless others wounded, security officials said Monday.

Jihadis on Friday night launched an assault on civilians in Solhan village in the Sahels Yagha province, shooting people and burning down homes and the market, the government said. Many of the wounded were taken to hospitals in Dori town and the countrys capital, Ouagadougou. Nearly 800 people have fled to the nearby town of Sebba, according to an internal report for aid workers seen by The Associated Press.

An aid worker in Sebba said there were more than 40 people with bullet wounds and burns from fleeing the attack. The aid worker spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't permitted to speak to the media.

A local journalist, who also didn't want to be named for fear of his safety, told the AP he saw wounded people in Doris hospital lying all over the floor.

For five years, Burkina Fasos ill-equipped and undertrained army has been struggling to stem a jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, often arriving late or not at all to attacks.

While no group has claimed responsibility, Sahel analysts say this attack was likely carried out by the al-Qaida linked group JNIM, which has recently strengthened its position in the area and is the most influential group in the province, said Heni Nsaibia, senior researcher at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project.

After the attack in Solhan, the assailants withdrew and also planted explosives to prevent army access, both the geographic aspect and the use of explosives in this manner is not typical for Islamic State, but rather JNIM modus operandi, he said.

The attacks were a response to the presence of volunteer fighters in the area, community volunteers fighting alongside the army. Since the program started last year, volunteers have become both perpetrators of violence against civilians as well as targets for the jihadis who accuse them of supporting the army, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.

The militarization of the war against terrorism has created more insecurity than benefits, and both sides, jihadis and pro-state militias are targeting civilians, said Tanguy Quidelleur a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of social sciences and politics who has researched self-defense groups in the Sahel.

The West African country had seen a relative calm in recent months, after a secret cease-fire between JNIM and the government was reached. Earlier this year, jihadis told the AP they were instructed to lay down their guns and dont understand the recent surge in fighting.

I think there are attacks again because there are new people recruited by the group (and)...not everyone who laid down his gun returned to the community, a former jihadi who left the group in October told the AP by phone.

The fighting has created the worlds fastest growing displacement crisis, more than 1.2 million people are internally displaced in the country.

The slaughter of over 100 civilians, the highest number of casualties from a single attack in recent years in Burkina Faso, marks a shocking escalation in the violence that has engulfed the country since 2015. Killed in the middle of the night by armed assailants, the victims include women and children who were given no choice to flee, no chance to live, said Manenji Mangundu, country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Burkina Faso.
Hector Ocegueda-Rivera wanted to head to an interview in Los Angeles with immigration officers so he could become a U.S. citizen  but since he was deported to Mexico, he couldn't get back in the country to do so.

Now, the 53-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran who was deported after a conviction for driving under the influence is suing to demand the U.S. government let him in to attend the interview or send an immigration officer to the border to speak with him so he can meet the requirements of becoming an American.

Its absurd that we have to sue them but it is the only way to get them to do it, said Talia Inlender, a supervising senior staff attorney at Public Counsel and one of his lawyers.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it would not comment on pending litigation.

The issue arose after Ocegueda-Rivera learned he could apply to become an American citizen on account of his military service after he was already deported from the United States. One of the requirements for naturalization is undergoing an interview with U.S. immigration officers but he cant get into the country to do it.

Under U.S. law, veterans who serve honorably during a period of hostilities are eligible to become American citizens if they meet a series of requirements, including undergoing the interview.

In some cases, U.S. veterans were deported after committing crimes. For example, a former army paratrooper who founded a deported veterans support group in the Mexican border city of Tijuana later naturalized after he was given a pardon for a prior conviction. In another case, a veteran who traveled overseas was barred from returning to the United States because he didn't know he had an old deportation order on his record, Inlender said.

The suit filed in federal court in California on Monday comes a little more than a week after the Biden administration issued policy guidanc e detailing how veterans outside the United States can seek to naturalize. The guidance says interviews for non-current members of the military must take place in the United States  with veterans seeking visas or parole to enter the country  or officials can conduct these interviews on the border.

Inlender said her client applied for a visa and parole to attend his interview and was denied both.

Ocegueda-Rivera was brought to the United States from Mexico by his parents and grew up in the Southern California community of Artesia, his sister said.

He served in the Marine Corps from 1987 to 1991 and spent another four years in the reserves before he was honorably discharged. During this time, he got married and had two daughters and got a green card through his wife. But he also had a drug problem and racked up a series of related convictions including driving under the influence, which prompted U.S. immigration officials to deport him in 2000, his lawyers said in court filings.

Ocegueda-Rivera returned to be with family, despite the deportation order, and he participated in a drug treatment program through a local veterans hospital. He was deported twice and has been living since 2012 in Mexico, where he connected with the veterans support group, the filings said.

In 2019, he applied to naturalize and was scheduled for an interview in Los Angeles in February 2020. Once he was denied permission to enter the country, he asked for U.S. immigration officials to schedule him for a border interview but they haven't, the filings said.

Ocegueda-Rivera declined to be interviewed for this story. His sister, Alma Ocegueda, said she drives down to visit him twice a month in Mexico, bringing him groceries and his favorite fast food burger. He's been working as a hotel security guard and wants to go back to school in nursing in the United States and spend time with family, she said.

This is the only place that we've grown, she said. This is home for him.
LIVINGSTON, Tenn. (AP)  Deputies in Tennessee have fatally shot a man while attempting to arrest him, authorities said.

Deputies from the Overton County Sheriffs Office initially responded to a call Friday evening about a man brandishing a weapon at others, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement Monday.
DETROIT (AP)  A former Detroit city councilman was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years of probation after pleading guilty last month to accepting an illegal cash campaign contribution.

Gabe Leland, 38, admitted before he was sentenced by Wayne County Circuit Judge Gregory Bill that he had crossed a line. He also apologized to his family and those who had voted for him.

The Democrat had pleaded guilty in May to misconduct in office and resigned from his council seat representing Detroit's District 7. Court documents have said he accepted an illegal $7,500 cash campaign contribution.

A federal grand jury indicted Leland in 2018 on corruption charges tied to $15,000 in bribes and free auto body work solicited and accepted from a business owner in return for help on a property issue.

The federal charges will be dismissed as part of Leland's plea agreement in the state misconduct case.

The court has been convinced to go along with this fair disposition, and in light of your resignation from the Detroit City Council, youre not in a position to breach the trust of the people, Bill said during sentencing.

But the judge said that if Leland violates the terms of his probation period, he could face five years in prison.

Leland told the court that while few people have the opportunity to serve in elected office, he was honored to do so for 15 years.

But I crossed the line, he said during the Zoom court hearing.
NEW YORK (AP)  A. Stella Oloye, a Washington, D.C-based writer working on an Afrofuturism novel, was at a low point this spring when she learned of an online challenge she likens to a gift from God": #1000wordsofsummer.

The rules: Set down 1,000 words a day for 14 days. Fiction or nonfiction, poetry or dialogue, inspired or uninspired, for a future book or simply for the sake of writing.

I was feeling really isolated plugging away, 2,000 words a day in the first quarter of the year, and had been looking for a writing community to stave off my lonely writer blues, she told The Associated Press recently. So when the 1,000 words of summer challenge crossed my (Twitter) timeline, I knew I had the opportunity to pair some much-needed community with targeted accountability to finish what Ive started. I joined to combat the end-of-the-road fatigue I was experiencing.

Organized and presided over by Jami Attenberg, #1000wordsofsummer has grown from around 2,000 participants in 2018 to more than 14,000 this year, drawing in emerging writers such as Oloye and such established authors as Attenberg, Roxane Gay and Deesha Philyaw.

Rachel Yoder wrote some of Nightbitch, a novel which comes out in July and has been optioned for a film starring Amy Adams, during a previous 1,000-word challenge. Attenberg herself worked on her memoir I Came All This Way To Meet You: Writing Myself Home, scheduled for release in January.

"One of the real reasons I started this, and persisted with it, is that writing gives me so much joy and I want that same joy for other people," Attenberg says.

The 2021 challenge began May 31 and ends Sunday.

Online writing events aren't new. The nonprofit organization NaNoWriMo has unofficially declared November to be National Novel Writing Month, with Sara Gruen's bestselling Water for Elephants among the books to come out of it. The internet also is home to author Rebecca Fyfe's ChaBooCha, which gives writers the month of March to complete an early reader, chapter book, middle-grade book or YA novel, and author Julie Hedlund's 12 x 12, for which participants attempt 12 picture books in 12 months and might see their names on a Winner's Wall.

Attenberg's project is more informal and open-ended, with no honors or promises, no kind of writing favored over another, and no specific goal beyond the number of words. The concept arose spontaneously three years ago. Attenberg and a fellow author based in New Orleans, Anne Gisleson, decided to start a writing boot camp for themselves, 1,000 words a day. Attenberg shared her idea on Twitter and Instagram, and friends and strangers alike wanted to be included.

It was very organic and natural. I've learned that on social media you try not to force things. You just let people respond to things rather than force things to happen, says Attenberg, whose other books include the bestselling novels The Middlesteins and All Grown Up."

Attenberg offers encouragement on her Craft Talk newsletter ( https://1000wordsofsummer.substack.com ), and has brought in Celeste Ng and Lauren Groff among others to share advice. One of this year's contributors is Rumaan Alam, whose novel Leave the World Behind was a National Book Award finalist in 2020.

Advice about writing is mostly pretty awful, but a long time ago, another writer said something to me, really an aside, a stray thought, that has stuck with me, as advice about writing, or maybe advice about life itself. No one is ever going to ask you to write a book, she said, and shed know, having published three at that point," Alam writes.

Take the book out of it; no one will ask you to write, full stop. Its up to you. You probably already knew that, which is why youre trying to produce 1,000 words a day right now.

Participants follow different paths to 1,000 and have different reasons for trying. Nicole Stellon ODonnell is primarily a poet, but also writes little bricks of prose to reach her quota, and when finished looks for lines she can use for standalone poems.

Fiction writer Dantiel Moniz struggled to set down any words in 2020, whether because of the pandemic or stress over the presidential election. The writing challenge has helped assure her she can still remember how to do it, and it was so nice and exciting.

Philyaw, whose debut story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, recently won the PEN/Faulkner prize for fiction, welcomed the 1,000-word challenge as a way of focusing on a planned novel. Yoder worked on Nightbitch for the 2018 challenge, when she had recently become a parent, and found the experience really good for generating material and "just the right amount of pressure."

Cheryl Strayed, best known for her memoir Wild, joined this year after initially being a cheerleader and observer on the sidelines." She is writing another memoir, and credits the summer challenge with helping her recall details from her teens, when she had a summer job working in the woods in her native Minnesota.

I knew it was there in my memory, and it came up in the course of my writing and suddenly it was fertile. Who knows if it would have come to the surface if I hadn't started this thousand-word thing? Strayed said.

1000wordsofsummer isn't just a path to discovery or a test of dedication, but a way for writers to find each other. Thousands have joined a Slack channel started by Attenberg and many set up subgroups; Oloye's is #queerblackwritersroom. Philyaw said the writing challenge gave her a feeling of community and likened it to the Zoom conversations she had during the pandemic.

On social media, participants share stories of joy, frustration and determination, including a tweet from author-journalist Leslie Streeter: I just wrote a @LinkedIn post and a newsletter, bringing me to an additional 701 words, or 1896 words total today with what I did on my novel. Motivation. Shes a banger.

____

More information on the challenge can be found on https://1000wordsofsummer.substack.com/about
CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP)  A Gary woman whose prison sentence was thrown out on appeal in a 2018 apartment fire that killed two of her children will be resentenced this month to no more than 42 years in prison.

Kristen A. Gober, 36, was sentenced in August 2020 to 51 years after she pleaded guilty to two counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, and one count of neglect of a dependent.
BERLIN (AP)  Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right bloc claimed momentum Monday for the September election that will choose Germany's next leader after a larger-than-expected win in the last regional ballot before the nation votes. But the victory in a sparsely populated eastern state where it faced a challenge from the far right was mostly a triumph for the popular state governor.

Merkels Christian Democratic Union won Sundays election in Saxony-Anhalt with 37.1% of the vote, far ahead of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, with 20.8%. Pre-election polls had pointed to a much narrower outcome.

Elections in Germanys 16 states are often influenced by local issues yet are also seen as important bellwethers for the national mood. The success in Saxony-Anhalt, which has 2.2 million people, gives CDU leader Armin Laschet  the partys candidate to succeed four-term chancellor Merkel in the national vote  a reason to celebrate after a bumpy start that included two defeats in state votes in March.

Of course this gives the federal party tailwind, Laschet told reporters after a meeting of CDU leaders. It shows that it isn't moods and polls that decide elections, but voters.

Sundays results were disappointing for the other two parties competing for the chancellery in the Sept. 26 national election. The center-left Social Democrats took 8.4% of the vote, dropping into single digits for the first time in Saxony-Anhalt. The environmentalist Greens scored 5.9%, making only minimal gains despite their current strong showing in national polls.

Both pointed to the role played by Saxony-Anhalt's popular governor, Reiner Haseloff, who appeared to have won over centrist voters worried about a possible AfD win. Laschet acknowledged that Haseloff and no one else won the election.

Haseloff and Laschet have both insisted there can be no coalition or cooperation with the far-right party, which has fed in recent years on anger over Merkel's welcome for large number of migrants in 2015 and in recent months has championed opposition to coronavirus restrictions.

The CDU is the bulwark against extremism, Laschet declared Monday. The election shows that our clear line against AfD is not just right but people support it, and we will pursue this centrist course."

His comments reflect the fact that while AfD is strong in Germany's formerly communist east, Laschet's bigger challenge nationwide is keeping at bay the Greens and holding onto centrist voters. Recent national polls have shown the environmentalist party roughly level with the Union bloc, which Laschet's CDU dominates.

Some conservatives celebrated what they saw as the Greens being cut down to size in Saxony-Anhalt.

Since yesterday, it is definitely not the case that the Greens will carry on rising without any problems, said Markus Soeder, who in April challenged Laschet for the candidacy to succeed Merkel. Now we can see that the Greens' high flight has clearly been stopped.

Green leaders acknowledged that they'd have liked to do better in Saxony-Anhalt, although they aren't traditionally strong there. The party's base is mainly in western Germany and urban areas.

We must really work on making clear that we are a party which is at home in cities and in the countryside" in Germany's east, parliamentary group leader Katrin Goering-Eckardt told RBB Inforadio.
Effective 1 June 2021, Matthias Reinarz has been appointed new Managing Director for Svitzer in the Dominican Republic & Caribbean. He replaces Dickson Rivas, who after a long career with Svitzer is stepping down and retiring by the end of the year. Until his retirement, Dickson Rivas will remain available as special advisor, Svitzer said in a statement.

Svitzer has been present in the Dominican Republic and Caribbean islands since 2010 through a joint venture with Remolcadores Dominicanos, and is the leading towage provider in the Caribbean with 23 vessels servicing 10 operations.

Commenting on the appointment of Matthias Reinarz, Arjen van Dijk, Managing Director Svitzer Americas, said: I am very pleased that Matthias Reinarz has accepted the position as Managing Director in the Dominican Republic & Caribbean. Matthias Reinarz comes with broad management experience and a long and proven track record within both shipping and towage. With his strong combination of commercial mindset and operational experience, he is the right person to further develop and grow our operations and customer relations in the Caribbean. I also want to thank Dickson Rivas for his strong dedication and efforts throughout his years with Svitzer, he has been instrumental in growing Svitzers presence and position in the Dominican Republic.

Commenting on his appointment, Matthias Reinarz, said: I am very excited about the opportunity to head Svitzers operations in the Dominican Republic & Caribbean and I look forward to further developing our services together with the team to ensure that Svitzer continues to deliver safe, reliable and efficient towage services to our customers, and thus remains the preferred towage provider in the region.

In the Americas region, Svitzer employees 835 people and operates more than 80 vessels, delivering marine services to global and regional customers across 12 countries.TradeArabia News Service
WASHINGTON (AP)  Louis DeJoy is uninterested in the niceties of Washington. The wealthy longtime businessman with an outer borough New York accent prides himself as a problem solver ready to disrupt an unwieldy bureaucracy. And he's facing potential legal troubles.

In other words, the postmaster general may be the closest thing to former President Donald Trump left in the nation's capital. But there's little President Joe Biden can do about it.

Get used to me, DeJoy told critics in Congress during a hearing earlier this year.

As he approaches his first anniversary at the U.S. Postal Service's helm, DeJoy is under mounting pressure to resign. He's been criticized by lawmakers from both parties for changes to the agency that have resulted in service slowdowns. Democrats are particularly worried that he's purposefully undermining the post office, which is critical to the conduct of elections and is one of the few federal agencies a vast majority of Americans like.

The scrutiny of DeJoy, 63, has intensified as the Justice Department investigates him over political fundraising at the North Carolina-based company he ran prior to his work at the post office.

Postmaster General DeJoy would not be in his job if he worked for any other company, said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat who chairs the House oversight committee.

DeJoy spokesman Mark Corallo said the postmaster general never knowingly violated campaign finance laws.

DeJoy was born in Brooklyn and still retains its distinct accent, despite long living in Greensboro, North Carolina. After growing up in New York, he took over his father's small, declining trucking business in the 1980s, transforming it into New Breed Logistics, which he sold in 2014. His firm offered logistical services nationwide, which critics are quick to note sometimes competed with the post office.

DeJoy became postmaster general shortly after Trump declared the post office a joke. DeJoy implemented cost-cutting mechanisms he said would help make the agency  which has lost $9.2 billion in the 2020 budget year  more fiscally solvent. Those included reducing employee overtime and removing mail-sorting machines from postal facilities around the country.

I am direct and decisive, DeJoy said in a video message to employees last summer. And I dont mince words.

After the changes, mail slowed enough that Democrats worried about an electoral crisis. The coronavirus pandemic prompted a voting-by-mail surge in last year's presidential election, and widespread delays sparked concerns that millions of ballots wouldn't arrive on time.

A federal judge wrote in September that the Postal Services actions are not the result of any legitimate business concerns but instead consistent with the Trump administration's goals to disrupt and challenge the legitimacy" of elections.

Ultimately, while there were complaints about mail delays affecting some balloting and counting, fears of widespread electoral disruptions from DeJoy's larger changes mostly proved unfounded. The Postal Service says it delivered at least 135 million ballots to or from voters  and delivered 99.89% of those mailed after Sept. 4, ahead of Election Day on Nov. 4, within seven days, as promised.

Some people may have breathed a sigh of relief, Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, which represents more than 200,000 post office employees, said of passing the election test. "But as important as mail ballots are ... all mail is important."

DeJoy nonetheless apologized to customers affected by service delays that occurred during last year's holiday season rush, and said his whole agency would "strive to do better amid bipartisan criticism at a House hearing in February.

Such frustrations were new. A Pew Research Center poll released before DeJoy took over found that 91% of Americans had a favorable view of the post office.

I think the postmaster generals intentions were good but the implementation was far less so, said John McHugh, a former New York Republican congressman who now heads the Package Coalition, an advocacy group of businesses that rely on package delivery. Id like to think hes learned his lesson.

The Postal Service lost $87 billion over the past 14 budget years, according to the Government Accountability Office. While much of the budgetary concerns stem from a 2006 law requiring the agency to fully fund costly retiree health benefits for the next 75 years, the post office has also been hurt by an inevitable, internet-fueled decline in mail volume. That was exacerbated by the pandemic.

In March, DeJoy announced a 10-year plan he says can help the post office avoid $160 billion in further projected losses over the next decade by cutting post office hours, relaxing delivery standards so some mail takes longer, and other austerity measures.

The Postal Service is also seeking to increase the cost of a first-class stamp to 58 cents in late August.

DeJoy's proposed overhaul could help the post office operate more like a business than a public service. But he's bristled at suggestions he's a Trump holdover with an ideology that now conflicts with a Democratic administration.

I'm not a political appointee," DeJoy told the House hearing. I was selected by a bipartisan board of governors and I'd really appreciate if you'd get that straight. When pressed on how long he'd remain in his post, DeJoy responded, A long time. Get used to me.

Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan, who organized a letter signed by 90 House Democrats in August calling for DeJoys removal, said the postmaster general "is a guy who obviously has a lot of confidence in himself.

He doesnt seem to understand that one of the few services that the federal government does thats in the Constitution is the Postal Service," Pocan said "and we have a higher obligation to do the job correctly.

DeJoy can only be removed by a vote of the Postal Services governing board, which has nine members in addition to DeJoy and the deputy postmaster general. The Senate recently approved three new, Biden-appointed members. By law, though, no more than five of the nine voting board members can be from the same party and two existing, Democratic members have publicly supported DeJoy and his 10-year plan.

Biden could dismiss existing board members and replace them with his own appointees who might support replacing DeJoy  but he'd have to show cause for doing so.

Meantime, Congress may forge ahead with post office changes with DeJoy still in charge. A bipartisan plan to scrap requirements that the Postal Service pre-fund retiree health benefits, potentially saving the agency billions of dollars, is advancing. That's surprising because lawmakers have fought over that issue for years.

Republican supporters say the move would complement DeJoy's 10-year plan rather than supplant it. A Democratic proposal that could defy the postmaster general's overhaul remains stalled.

When Pocan pressed him during another House hearing about what grade he would give himself as postmaster general, DeJoy resisted answering, then finally replied, An A for bringing strategy and the planning and effort.

Recalling the exchange, Pocan joked that almost no one would give DeJoys performance an A, Unless it was followed by a derogatory name.

___

This story has been corrected to show that McHugh is a former congressman from New York, not Ohio.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves says he wants legislators to put a medical marijuana program into state law after the state Supreme Court recently overturned one that voters approved.

I support the will of the voters. ... I think we will have a medical marijuana program in Mississippi," the Republican governor said during an interview that aired during the weekend on WLOX-TV.

A majority of justices ruled May 14 that a medical marijuana proposal, Initiative 65, was not properly on the November ballot because Mississippis initiative process is outdated and unworkable. The ruling overturned voters approval of Initiative 65 and took away citizens process to put issues on the statewide ballot.

Mississippi remains in the minority of states without a medical marijuana program. Reeves has not said whether he will call legislators into special session, but he told WLOX about passing a law: It is imperative that we get it done, and get it done quickly."

The Senate Public Health Committee met last week to start discussing what could go into a medical marijuana law.

About 1.3 million people voted in Mississippi in November, and more than 766,000 of them voted in favor of the medical marijuana proposal. Thats about 10,000 more residents than voted in November for then-President Donald Trump, who easily won in Mississippi despite losing his race for a second term.

The crux of the Supreme Court ruling dealt with how signatures are collected for initiatives.

Mississippi requires initiative sponsors to gather one-fifth of their petition signatures from each congressional district. The process was put into the state constitution in 1992, when Mississippi had five districts. The state dropped to four districts after the 2000 census because of stagnant population, but the initiative process was not updated.

The state attorney general issued a legal opinion in 2009 saying initiative sponsors should collect signatures from the five old districts.

Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler sued the state days before the 2020 general election, arguing that the medical marijuana initiative was not properly on the ballot. Her attorneys argued that the constitution creates a mathematical impossibility: With four districts, more than one-fifth of the signatures must come from each. A majority of justices agreed.

Butler opposed the medical marijuana measure because it would have limited cities ability to regulate where such businesses could have been located.

During Reeves' time as lieutenant governor from early 2012 to early 2020, attempts to update the initiative process went nowhere. In response to questions about that, Reeves told WLOX that, in hindsight, the problem should have been addressed. He said he wants the initiative process to be restored.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  A couple hundred gun rights enthusiasts attended an annual pro-gun rally on the Pennsylvania Capitol steps Monday, with many pushing for a proposal to let anyone who can legally possess firearms to conceal them without a license or permit when carrying them in public.

The organizer of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Rally, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, said the attendance may have been the lowest in the 16 years for the event. Dozens of Republican representatives and senators, however, were there ahead of what was a legislative business day.

Mick McGuire, an Army veteran who manages a mechanic's shop for a vehicle fleet, posed for photos at the rally while holding a rifle, with a handgun strapped to his side.

McGuire, who lives near New Castle, said he was in attendance to "show all the politicians and people here at the Statehouse that the Second Amendment isn't dead.

Chris Dorr with the Pennsylvania Firearms Association said he wanted to see movement on gun rights legislation.

I'm really hoping to see some leadership out of these Republicans, said Dorr, who is married and has seven children. Dorr, who lives in Mount Joy, said his family is why he carries a gun.

I need to make sure I make it home to them every day, Dorr said.

In the past, the annual rally organized by Metcalfe, R-Butler, has drawn far more people, sometimes packing the Capitol's cavernous Rotunda.

Today's rally is a reminder of, I think, the shrinking influence of the greedy gun lobby, who is refusing to address a public health crisis that destroys the lives of thousands of Pennsylvanians every year, said Adam Garber, executive director of CeaseFire PA, the state's leading gun violence prevention organization.

During the event, a group of seven uniformed, heavily armed men walked up, calling themselves members of the Pittsburgh-based Iron City Citizen Response Unit militia. Leaders identified themselves only as Hammer and Gucci, and said their focus was support for the Second Amendment.

Metcalfe said the rally was to press for legislative priorities such as the constitutional carry bill and a proposal to limit local gun ordinances that are more restrictive than state or federal law.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  A hearing is set this week on proposed water and electricity rate increases in West Virginia.

The public hearing on the increases proposed by Appalachian Power and West Virginia American Water is scheduled for Wednesday night at the LaBelle Theatre in South Charleston.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Two Tennessee men face hearings this week after their recent arrests on charges related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Federal prosecutors accuse Matthew Baggott and Stewart Parks of entering the building together. Both were charged with entering or remaining in a restricted building, disorderly conduct and violent entry on capitol grounds, The Tennessean reported.
VIENNA (AP)  Iran has failed to answer questions about the discovery of uranium particles at former undeclared sites in the country, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Monday, calling on Tehran to provide information without further delay.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been pushing Iran for answers on three sites dating back many years where inspections had revealed traces of uranium of man-made origin, suggesting they were once connected to Irans nuclear program.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Gov. Eric Holcomb has appointed an Indianapolis businessman as the new head of Indianas business recruitment efforts.

Holcomb announced Monday that he had appointed Bradley B. Chambers as Indianas new secretary of commerce. He replaces Jim Schellinger, who resigned in March after more than four years in the post.

Chambers is the president, CEO, and founder of Buckingham Companies, an Indianapolis-based real estate company founded in 1984 that invests in, develops and manages multifamily and mixed-use properties.

There is no one more qualified to lead our economic development efforts than someone whos been a leader in the business for 35 years, Holcomb said in a statement.

Holcombs office said Chambers will enter into a two-year contract with the Indiana Economic Development Corp. board of directors to lead the IEDC.

Chambers will scale back his day-to-day involvement with Buckingham Companies while he serves as secretary of commerce, the governor's office said in a news release. Buckingham Companies will not be eligible for state incentives during Chambers' tenure with the state.

Im very excited for the opportunity to strengthen statewide entrepreneurship and help drive Indianas overall business climate to the next level," Chambers said in a statement.

Chambers also serves as the chair of the Indiana State Fair Commission and will remain in that role through this years Indiana State Fair.
HELENA, Mont. (AP)  A state judge on Monday granted a request by the Montana Board of Regents to extend a temporary restraining order that blocked a new campus carry law from taking effect.

District Court Judge Mike McMahon on May 28 temporarily blocked the law that would have allowed students and staff to carry firearms on public college campuses. The law was to take effect on June 1.

Attorneys for the regents asked McMahon to extend the restraining order while the case is heard, the Montana State News Bureau reported. McMahon heard the request Monday morning and granted it in the afternoon.

The Montana university system has a long-established policy about the use, storage and access of firearms on campus, said Martha Sheehy, an attorney for the Board of Regents and a former regent. The new law interferes with that policy.

The Montana Constitution gives the Board of Regents the power, responsibility and authority to supervise, coordinate and control the university system, she said.

David Dewhirst, state solicitor with the Attorney General's Office, said the Board of Regents had been involved in negotiations of House Bill 102, which includes the campus carry provision, and only filed a lawsuit after hearing public opposition to the new law.

Dewhirst argued the Legislature has the authority to enact laws that enforce self-defense rights.

The Montana Federation of Public Employees along with former regents, students and faculty groups have also challenged HB102 along with other bills they argue overstep the Board of Regents' constitutional authority to control the university system. That challenge was filed in District Court in Gallatin County.
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP)  A county judge in Washington state has granted a temporary injunction in a civil lawsuit that stops the city of Bellingham from investigating working conditions at the Bellingham Municipal Court.

Skagit County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Yost Neidzwski said Friday that Bellingham Municipal Court Presiding Judge Debra Lev met the burden for enacting a temporary injunction, The Bellingham Herald reported.

Lev filed a lawsuit a week earlier against the city and Mayor Seth Fleetwood, claiming a city investigation into court working conditions violates the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Whatcom County Superior Court, was moved to Skagit County last week after attorneys were notified that all of the Whatcom County judges had endorsed Lev in her upcoming reelection campaign.

Multiple court employees represented by a union walked off the job the same week, alleging intolerable working conditions. As a result, the citys municipal court was closed through last Tuesday.

In the lawsuit, Aaron Orheim, one of Levs attorneys, argued that a city ordinance in Bellingham and the state Supreme Court regulations say that the presiding judge has general administrative supervision over judicial branch employees when it comes to working conditions, hiring, discipline and termination. The state Supreme Court rule also prohibits the delegation of the powers of presiding judges to others in the legislative or executive branch.

James Erb, a senior assistant Bellingham city attorney, said the case was not about the separation of powers of government but was about misconduct and mismanagement at the courthouse. Erb said the relief requested in the case would result in immunity from consequences for favored court management employees to continue committing misconduct.

Orheim argued the city was treating the accusations as if they were already proven to be true, and said the case was about who has the authority to deal with the employees concerns.

Erb said the authority should ultimately end with the mayor and the city because, Lev is alleged to be one of the people violating the employees rights.

Neidzwski sided with Lev and said the court does have the authority and responsibility for supervising, disciplining and maintaining the workplace environment.

She also said the city violated the right to separation of powers between the three branches of government by placing two court employees on paid administrative leave and threating employees who didn't comply with the city investigation.

The injunction is temporary, officials said. The case will continue to be litigated.

We are gratified that the court vindicated the rights of the Bellingham Municipal Court as a separate branch of city government. That decision is supported by well-established constitutional law in Washington. The mystery here is why the mayor and the city attorney are so oblivious to such basic separation of powers principles, said Philip Talmadge, one of Levs attorneys.

Fleetwood said the citys position from the beginning has remained the same.

Our concern is for the employees. We are duty-bound by state and local laws and union agreements to investigate employee complaints about working conditions, Fleetwood said, noting that his only goal was to take corrective action if the investigation proves that the employees' complaints have merit.
Metso Outotec, a mining engineering company with a major presence in the region, has signed a distribution contract with two Swedish companies - Mining and Construction Equipment Sweden AB and Varnamo Krosskonsult AB.

The two companies will sell in cooperation Metso Outotecs mobile and stationary crushing and screening equipment as well as crusher wear parts for the mining and aggregate customers in Southern and Central Sweden.

They will also provide service support such as start-ups and repairs in the regions. The contract has come into effect in April.

The construction business is steady in Sweden. A key implication in the aggregate producers and contractors is to respond to the increasing demands for more sustainable operations and recycled aggregates, while keeping the production costs in balance.

Metso Outotec said its solutions are well-equipped to respond to the customer needs and coupled with the expertise and know-how of the new local partners, aggregate producers and contractors have an easy access to premium brand equipment with strong local service and support.

"We are very pleased to enter this cooperation," remarked Roar Vasb, who is heading Metso Outotecs sales and service in the Nordics region.

"For the customers it means better and faster local service. For us it means that we can improve customer experience and reach out to more potential customers in the region, especially contractors," he stated.

Fredrik Wennberg, Managing Director of Mining and Construction Equipment Sweden, said: "Our aim is to serve the markets as one-stop-shop. We offer service, parts, equipment and know-how close to the customer."

"Flexibility is very important to our customers, especially for the contractors. We offer rental possibilities and stock units so that the customers are able to get their equipment quickly," noted Wennberg.
ST. LOUIS (AP)  Jury selection has begun in the retrial of two former St. Louis police officers accused of attacking a Black undercover colleague during a 2017 protest.

Dustin Boone faces federal charges of deprivation of rights under the color of law. Christopher Myers is accused of destruction of evidence for allegedly damaging a phone belonging to the victim, Detective Luther Hall.
The state Senate was debating a long-awaited bill Monday night that will legalize the recreational use of cannabis, hours after lawmakers announced they had reached a compromise on how to ensure the new industry will benefit those residents adversely affected by the nation's war on drugs.

The anticipated vote on the wide-ranging and complex bill, which could happen early Tuesday morning following what's expected to be a lengthy debate, marks the culmination of years of failed efforts to pass legislation that legalizes a drug in Connecticut which continues to be illegal under federal law.

We've seen what's been wrought by having a war on drugs. Whole communities have been decimated, said state Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, co-chairman of the legislatures Judiciary Committee. He provided a history of how the drug once sold in pharmacies in the 19th century eventually became associated with Mexican immigrants and subsequently criminalized.

There are vestigial ways in which communities are still impacted by what we were doing," he said. We should never have made cannabis an illegal drug.

If the bill clears the Senate and the House of Representatives and is signed into law by Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont, who has made legalization a key priority this session, proponents said Connecticut will join 18 other states that already allow recreational marijuana possession and use.

Critics, however, questioned why Connecticut needs to follow that path. Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, the top Republican senator on the Judiciary Committee who supported Connecticut's existing medical marijuana program, voiced concern about numerous possible implications of recreational cannabis.

I think it's a big mistake, he said, arguing it sends a horrible message to young people. How many had parents who said, If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do that? No. All of a handful of other states are doing this. Why should we?

Under the bill, it would be legal for people 21 years and older to possess and use cannabis beginning July 1. A person would be allowed to have up to 1.5 ounces, with an additional five ounces secured in their home or vehicle. Homegrown cannabis, however, will not counted toward that allowed amount.

Beginning Oct. 1, 2022, the legislation makes it legal for medical marijuana patients in the state to have three mature and three immature plants, with a limit of 12 plants per household. By July 1, 2023, any adult in Connecticut will be allowed to have the same amount of plants.

Meanwhile, the retail sale of cannabis is expected to begin in May 2022. Under the program, municipalities will receive new revenue generated by a 3% local sales tax on gross receipts based on retail cannabis sales within their borders.

Besides the 6.35% state sales tax, the state will generate new revenue based on the levels of THC, the marijuana plant's main psychoactive component, in the different products. Under this proposed tax rate structure, Connecticut's taxes will be lower than New York's and around the same as Massachusetts' rates, lawmakers said.

While Connecticut has lagged behind its neighbors in finally reaching a deal after years of attempts, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said the state has benefitted from watching how other states have handled legalizing a drug that still remains illegal under federal law and finding ways to help local entrepreneurs who want to get into the marijuana business.

We've seen problems in other states where out-of-state financed enterprises come in and swoop up all the licenses, he said.

Under Connecticut's bill, half of the initial licenses to be issued for the new industry through a lottery system, such as retailers and cultivators, will be reserved for so-called social equity applicants, those negatively impacted by the past drug laws. A new 15-person, state-funded Social Equity Council will determine the final rules for social equity applicants, review their applications and allocate $50 million in state borrowing to help entrepreneurs in targeted communities with loans and workforce training.

Meanwhile, the bill also automatically erases certain drug possession convictions that occurred between Jan. 1, 2000, and Oct. 1, 2015. If someone's conviction falls outside that time period, they can petition to have it erased.

___

This story has been corrected to show that possession and use of cannabis would be legal beginning July 1, not Jan. 1, 2022.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Pennsylvania state lawmakers are returning to session Monday with a big June agenda and sharp differences over the future of the state's finances, schools, energy sector and election procedures.

With four weeks to wrap up work for an on-time budget, the Republican-controlled Legislature will have lots of distractions: the month is packed with lawmakers fundraisers and impending votes on hot-button social issues.

Republican lawmakers are also under pressure from Donald Trump to pursue a forensic audit of the 2020 presidential election. And the Capitol is still under a mask mandate for employees, a reminder of the pandemic that disrupted the ebb and flow of lawmaking for a year and which has driven deeper partisan divides.

Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, goes into June with a top priority of securing a "historic" amount of new money for public schools.

He has reported some good fiscal news: a huge surplus since tax collections rebounded far better than expected from the pandemic's impact. Meanwhile, sitting in a state bank account is $7.3 billion of federal money from the American Rescue Plan that President Joe Biden signed in March.

Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, said the Republican-controlled Senate's focus is wrapping up the budget, as well as funding for public and private education, broadband and transportation.

Were not used to this, but we have money, we have plenty of money, said Ward.

Election legislation is also a top priority in June, but deep partisan differences make its passage iffy.

Meanwhile, Republicans are sorting through which elements of Wolfs coronavirus disaster declaration to keep in place, and which to end right away. They also want Wolf to drop his effort, through regulation, to impose a price on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, starting next year.

Central to the budget debate is the current year's surplus, which is expected to exceed $3 billion.

However, the state also used nearly $4 billion in one-time cash  much of it federal coronavirus aid  to prop up this year's $36.5 billion budget. They may need to find cash to replace much of it, as well as to cover roughly $800 million in cost-overruns.

The surplus has put aside Wolf's talk of a broad overhaul of the personal income tax, proposed in February.

But Wolf still wants more than $1 billion in new aid to public schools, almost a 20% increase. That would ensure Pennsylvania begins using its six-year-old school-funding formula in a meaningful way for the first time, without cutting funding to districts that have benefited disproportionately in the past from state aid.

The economy is full steam ahead and we have the money to do this responsibly," Wolf's chief of staff, Mike Brunelle, said. "The governor believes that now is the time to move ahead with this historic priority.

The proposal has strong support from Democratic lawmakers.

The formula, in part, was meant to help boost aid to Pennsylvania's poorest school districts, many of which serve big populations of African American and Latino children.

Republicans are advancing their own schools plan, which revolves around charter and private schools.

A two-bill package that passed the Senate Education Committee on Monday would give a panel dominated by lawmakers appointees the authority to approve charter schools  taking that power away from local school boards  and ramping up taxpayer-financing of private schools through tax credits and vouchers.

That has drawn swift opposition from Democrats and public school advocates, including the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

Before the committee vote, Sen. Tim Kearney, D-Delaware, accused Republicans of preparing to defund public education and inflict local property tax increases for a giveaway to private schools and charter school operators.

Another big task before Wolf and lawmakers is to sort out how to use the billions in federal relief. That aid comes with restrictions on how it can be used, but also a long timeline, through 2024.

House and Senate Democrats have each issued a plan on how to spend the money, aiming to distribute much of it now in grants for improvements to broadband, school technology and buildings, housing programs, local governments, frontline workers and businesses.

Republicans have not floated a plan, although they have talked about spending it conservatively to bring long-term stability to state finances.

___

Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/timelywriter.
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP)  Lithuania has detained nine Iraqi asylum-seekers who had entered the Baltic country from Belarus, officials said Monday, pointing a finger at Belarus for allegedly being involved in sending repeated groups of immigrants into Lithuania.

It is obvious that a hybrid war is being waged against Lithuania, and illegal migration flows are one of the means, Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said. Her country has voiced criticism of Belarus for its brutal crackdown following a presidential election there last year that the opposition says was rigged.

Those flows of the illegal migrants who travel to Lithuania are not just random cases. These are well organized. There are flights from Baghdad and Istanbul to Minsk, she said, referring to Iraqis who fly to the capital of Belarus.

Lithuania said Belarus border guards have been covering the tracks of the migrants, with Bilotaite saying it shows that officials themselves might be cooperating. She added that Lithuania's armed forces have been consulted in how to tackle the migration situation.

The two countries  both formerly part of the Soviet sphere  share a nearly 680-kilometer-long (420-mile) frontier that serves as the European Unions external border.

On Monday, a member of the Seimas, Lithuanias Parliament, traveled to the Belarus border. Lawmaker Laurynas Kasciunas said there is a direct link between certain international flights to Minsk and groups of immigrants trying to come to Lithuania.

Migration waves correlate with them, he said.

The latest group that entered Lithuania came Sunday. Last week, 52 migrants were detained by Lithuanian border officials. They are citizens of Iraq, Syria, Belarus and Russia and most sought asylum in the Baltic country.

So far in 2021, about 160 people, mostly Iraqis, have entered Lithuania from Belarus  three times more than in all of 2020.

Lithuanias support for the Belarus opposition is longstanding, and its capital, Vilnius, has become a center for Belarusians in exile.

In 2020, the Baltic nation gave shelter to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition challenger in Belaruss disputed election that President Alexander Lukashenko won after 26 years of authoritarian rule. A number of Belarusian nongovernmental organizations also have relocated to Vilnius, which hosts a university that Lukashenko banned.

In recent weeks, the two countries have expelled a number of diplomats. Last month, the EU imposed sanctions on Belarus, including banning its airlines from using the airspace and airports of the 27-nation bloc, amid fury over the forced diversion of a passenger jet en route to Vilnius to arrest Raman Pratasevich, an opponent to Lukashenko.

Lukashenko has warned that Belarus could retaliate against the latest EU sanctions by loosening border controls against Western-bound illegal migration and drug trafficking.

We were stopping migrants and drugs  now you will catch them and eat them yourself, he said.

In Brussels, the European Commission said the situation in Lithuania "shows the need for a European system to manage migration and asylum. Irregular migration as well as people arriving to Europe to flee war or persecution can happen at any of the EUs external borders.

The bloc's executive body added that it stands ready to offer operational support to Lithuania through the EUs agencies.

But a structural response is needed, the European Commission said.

The 27-nation bloc wants to reform its asylum system, hoping that its countries will finally share responsibility for people seeking sanctuary or better lives. The move comes after years of chaos and disputes among its members over the handling of migrants and refugees amid a recognition that the current EU system for deciding whether they should receive protection or be sent home has failed.

___ Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, and Lorne Cook in Brussels, contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Many Americans dont save enough for retirement, but its entirely possible to save too much  at least according to the IRS.

Tax laws limit how much youre allowed to contribute to retirement accounts, and excess contributions can be penalized. Uncle Sam doesnt want you to leave the money in the account too long, either. Those who fail to take enough out of their retirement accounts also face heavy penalties.

Heres what you need to know to stay on the right side of the IRS rules.

OVERSTUFFING YOUR RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS

Not everyone is allowed to contribute to retirement accounts. Contributions to an IRA or Roth IRA require you or your spouse to have earned income  such as wages, salary, bonuses, commissions, tips or self-employment income. Pension payments, Social Security benefits, rental income and interest and dividends dont count. Also, the ability to contribute to a Roth phases out at modified adjusted gross incomes between $125,000 and $140,000 for single filers, from $198,000 to $208,000 for married couples filing jointly.

People may not realize that the annual limit on IRA contributions  $6,000 for 2021, plus a catch-up contribution of $1,000 for people 50 and over  is the cap for all IRA accounts. In other words, you cant contribute $6,000 to a traditional IRA and another $6,000 to a Roth IRA in the same year.

You also can contribute too much to a workplace plan such as a 401(k), especially if you change jobs during the year. Your new employer wont know if youve already made contributions to your previous employers plan that would count toward the annual limits (typically $19,500 for 2021, plus a $6,500 catch up contribution for people 50 and older), says tax expert Mark Luscombe, principal analyst at Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting.

Even if you dont change jobs, your 401(k) contributions could be capped if youre deemed a highly compensated employee . That can happen if not enough lower-paid workers contribute and you own more than 5% of the company, earn more than a certain amount (currently $130,000 ) or are among the top 20% of employees ranked by compensation. Your excess contributions will be sent back to you as a check or other payment.

HOW TO LIMIT THE DAMAGE

But usually its up to you to discover and fix an excess contribution. If you catch the problem soon enough  before you file your tax return for that year  you can limit the damage by withdrawing the excess contribution, says financial planner Robert Westley, a member of the American Institute of CPAs Financial Literacy Commission. You would also need to withdraw any earnings attributable to that contribution.

The withdrawal will be taxed as income. If the money came from an IRA, you may owe a 10% early withdrawal penalty on earnings if youre under 59 , Westley says.

If you miss the tax deadline, a 6% penalty could apply for each year the excess contribution remains in the IRA. An excess 401(k) contribution can trigger double taxation: The excess contribution and earnings are taxed when theyre withdrawn, but the contribution is also added back to your taxable income for the year you made the contribution, Westley says. Contact a tax professional to discuss your options.

THE HEAVY PENALTY FOR NOT WITHDRAWING ENOUGH

Youre not required to take distributions from a Roth IRA during your lifetime. Other retirement accounts, however, usually require you to start withdrawing minimum amounts after you turn 72. The age used to be 70 , but the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act changed it for people born after June 30, 1949 . You must take your first distribution by April 1 of the year following the year you turn 72. After that, distributions must be made annually by Dec. 31 .

Miss a deadline or take too little, and the IRS penalty is 50% of the amount you should have withdrawn but didnt.

If youre still working at age 72 and your plan allows it, you can put off required minimum distributions from your current employers 401(k), 403(b) or other defined contribution plan until you retire (unless you own 5% or more of the business). Even if youre working, however, you must start minimum withdrawals from previous employers plans as well as from IRAs and self-employed retirement plans, including SEPs and SIMPLEs.

After your death, the SECURE Act generally requires your heirs to empty retirement accounts , including Roth IRAs, within 10 years, although there are exceptions for surviving spouses, people who have disabilities or chronic illnesses, minor children or heirs who arent more than 10 years younger than the IRA account owner. (This is a new rule that applies to people who die after 2019.)

Once again, the rules are complex enough that its worth consulting a tax pro to make sure you dont end up paying the IRS a lot more than necessary.

___________________________________

This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance site NerdWallet. The content is for educational and informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. Liz Weston is a columnist at NerdWallet, a certified financial planner and author of Your Credit Score. Email: lweston@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @lizweston.

RELATED LINK:

NerdWallet: What Are Required Minimum Distributions, or RMDs?
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  In a demonstration of the changing opinions about marijuana use, Louisiana lawmakers have agreed that people caught with small amounts of pot for recreational use should not go to jail, voting Monday to send the bill lessening the penalties to the governor's desk.

The Senate's 20-17 vote gave final passage to the proposal by Rep. Cedric Glover, a Shreveport Democrat, with the exact number of votes it needed to pass the chamber. The House already had backed the bill in a 68-25 vote. Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, has not taken a public position on the bill.

Glovers legislation would make possession of up to 14 grams of marijuana  a half-ounce  a misdemeanor carrying a fine up to $100 with no possibility of jail time, even for repeat offenses.

Supporters say the change would keep the criminal justice system from being burdened with people arrested for minor offenses and will give police the ability to focus on violent crime. Some municipalities around Louisiana already have switched to fines, rather than arrests for possession of small amounts of cannabis.

Sen. Jay Luneau, an Alexandria Democrat, said the state spends millions of dollars a year jailing people unnecessarily for minor offenses.

This is a common sense approach, he said of Glover's bill.

Opponents say frequent use of marijuana can damage the brain, and they argue the drug is a gateway to substance abuse issues.

This is just a walk down to decriminalizing any form of punishment for possessing other drugs, said Sen. Bodi White, a Central Republican.

After years where similar ideas stalled, this session's debate shows just how much opposition to marijuana has eased  particularly among younger, newer legislators. This year's proposal passed with bipartisan support.

It comes only six years after lawmakers created a framework for dispensing medical marijuana, a program the majority-Republican Legislature has expanded nearly every year since then. This session, lawmakers agreed to broaden the therapeutic cannabis program to allow patients to use raw, smokable marijuana, an idea considered unthinkable when the medical program was created.

But even as lawmakers voted to lessen the penalties for possession of recreational marijuana, they refused to legalize it outright, suggesting that was still a bridge too far. That legalization effort failed in the House earlier this session.

___

The bill is filed as House Bill 652.

___

Follow Melinda Deslatte on Twitter at http://twitter.com/melindadeslatte.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  The Louisiana Sea Grant College Program is getting a new executive director on July 1, Louisiana State University said Monday.

Associate Professor Julie Anderson Lively will replace Robert Twilley, who has held the post since 2012 and is stepping down to concentrate on research in LSUs College of the Coast and Environment.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Health authorities in Maine, one of the most vaccinated states in the nation, on Monday reported the fewest number of new COVID-19 cases since last fall.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 30 new cases of the virus. It was the lowest daily total since October.

Maine trails only Vermont and Massachusetts in its percentage of the population that has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. About 54% of the state has been full vaccinated.

I urge everyone to get the COVID-19 vaccine to make sure they are doing everything they can to stay safe, Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah said in a video posted by the agency.

Monday's low total number of new COVID-19 cases arrived as the state continued a steady downward trend in new cases that began weeks ago. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has fallen over the past two weeks, going from about 180 new cases per day on May 22 to about 70 new cases per day on June 5.

The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Maine has also fallen, going from 2.57 deaths per day on May 22 to two deaths per day on June 5. The AP is using data collected by Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering to measure outbreak caseloads and deaths across the United States.

Maine's overall burden of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic has also been lower than many states. Authorities in Maine have reported 839 deaths and more than 68,000 cases since the start of the pandemic. Several states with smaller populations, including Montana, South Dakota and Rhode Island, have higher totals.

In other pandemic news in Maine:

PORTLAND FIREWORKS

Fireworks will return to Maine's largest city on July 4 a year after the annual celebration was canceled by the coronavirus pandemic.

Portland officials said the fireworks display will be a scaled-down event compared to previous years. There will be no musical performances.

The fireworks will take place on Eastern Promenade as usual. The city is encouraging residents to also watch from other locations around the city such as Payson Park and Martin's Point.
OLD TOWN, Maine (AP)  Police in Maine on Monday arrested a 28-year-old woman stemming from the death of her 3-year-old daughter.

Police charged Hillary Goding of Old Town with manslaughter. Emergency responders went to a home in Old Town on Friday after Goding reported her daughter was not breathing. The daughter was later pronounced dead at a Bangor hospital.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  An Illinois man is dead after participating in a swim race across Madisons Lake Monona.

The Dane County medical examiners officer said in a statement Monday that 51-year-old Michael Hahn of Rochelle, Illinois, was removed from the water during the Big Swell Swim race on Saturday. He was taken to a local hospital where he later died.
Ome organics, a US-based luxury organic skincare brand, has signed a strategic partnership with Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Duaij bin Khalifa al Khalifa Private Office to expand its skincare line in the Mena region.



The private office facilitates independent business development, consultancy and advisory to inform, empower and accelerate growth across the regions public and private sectors with a focus on Bahrain and the UAE.



The global skincare market is forecast to grow at 8.1 % CAGR between 2021 and 2031, according to Future Market Insights (FMI), and in the Mena region, the cosmetics skincare market was valued at $4.67 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $5.05 billion by the end of this year, according to Statista.



In Mena, There has been a significant rise in clean beauty products, and several brands have emerged in the region, as consumers in the region become more aware of the ingredients that go into these products.



Ome Organics is a sponsor of the first Mena Royal Investment Summit, a virtual event that will be held on June 23 and 24.



The summit is hosted by Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Duaij bin Khalifa al Khalifa Private Office. Ome founder, Christine Tucktuck will be speaking part of a panel New investment opportunities addressing the disruption and new innovative solutions within the beauty industry. Furthermore, the summit will present high-level curated content from over 40 innovators from around the world to discuss innovative solutions and investment propositions



Christine Tucktuck said: This strategic partnership will help us further accelerate into markets that have demand for these products, and understand the bigger vision of sustainable and organic beauty. Additionally, women in the UAE and Saudi Arabia have topped the global charts in spending on makeup and skincare products, making the two countries the worlds cosmetics capitals, according to a report last year.



Were creating so much more than just beauty products. Our mission is to provide an unparalleled line of healthy effective organic skincare products for women of all skin types. This is a movement to increase awareness of a revamped beauty industry that teaches women to make safer and healthier choices for beauty.



Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Duaij bin Khalifa al Khalifa added: This pandemic has shifted consumer choice and forced people to incorporate better healthcare practices which has created larger opportunities for market growth and expansion in this sector. This market and its emerging players such as Ome Organics will cater to the post-pandemic beauty consumer that is increasingly seeking out products and brands that align with their values. This is in line with our mission to accelerate organisations presence in GCC countries in alliance with our global network of partners and affiliations.  TradeArabia News Service
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Sunday said he would not support federal voting rights legislation that his party has argued is critical for preserving democracy, in an announcement that effectively turned the path ahead for all other major items on President Joe Biden's agenda into quicksand.

In an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Manchin said he thought the For the People Act - which Democrats say is needed to secure free and fair elections and protect against GOP-led efforts to restrict voting at the state level, often disproportionately affecting voters of color - was too partisan.

"The right to vote is fundamental to our American democracy and protecting that right should not be about party or politics. Least of all, protecting this right, which is a value I share, should never be done in a partisan manner," Manchin wrote.

Manchin also defended the filibuster and said he would "not vote to weaken or eliminate" the Senate rule that requires 60 votes for most legislation to pass, all but guaranteeing that any legislation opposed by even a small number of Senate Republicans will fail.

"Some in my party have argued that now is the time to discard such bipartisan voting reforms and embrace election reforms and policies solely supported by one party. Respectfully, I do not agree," Manchin wrote. "I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For the People Act."

Manchin's op-ed is consistent with his past statements, but it comes as Biden has intensified his rhetoric against Republican-led efforts to restrict voter access at the state level, calling it "un-American" and "an assault on democracy." It also serves as a warning to his Democratic colleagues that Manchin will not bend despite the increased pressure the West Virginian has faced in recent weeks to drop his demands for bipartisan deals at a time when few seem possible.

In a speech last week to mark the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, Biden made clear that June should be "a month of action" for Congress, declaring he would "fight like heck with every tool at my disposal" to get the For the People Act passed. He also announced that Vice President Kamala Harris would be overseeing the White House's voting rights efforts.

Without naming them outright in his speech, Biden also effectively blamed two Democratic senators - Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona - for holding up progress on his agenda in general.

"I hear all the folks on TV saying, 'Why didn't Biden get this done?' Well, because Biden only has a majority of, effectively, four votes in the House and a tie in the Senate with two members of the Senate who vote more with my Republican friends," Biden said then, although it is not true that Manchin and Sinema vote more with Republicans.

The White House declined to comment on Manchin's op-ed on Sunday.

On CBS News's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Manchin defended himself against charges that he was blocking Biden's agenda.

"We're looking every way we can to bring this country together and unite the country. That's what I'm doing," Manchin said. "And I think anybody, whether it be a Democrat or Republican, that's sitting today in the Senate knows who I am. And I've always been about bipartisanship."

However, the timing of the op-ed - just before Congress reconvenes Monday after a week-long recess to take a series of votes on Biden's domestic agenda - also blunts hope of progress on other legislation. For weeks, the White House has been mired in negotiations with Republicans on Biden's sweeping infrastructure plan, with talks that both sides have politely described as "healthy" and "constructive" but that have ultimately yielded no compromises. Democrats have struck a more urgent tone, saying they want a "clear direction" on the infrastructure plan by Monday and that negotiations can't go on "forever."

Similarly, the prospects for enacting gun restrictions in response to mass shootings and overhauling the immigration system are dim as a result of Manchin's demand for bipartisanship that seems unlikely to materialize.

Manchin's stance does not bode well for Biden's proposal to dramatically expand access to education and safety-net programs for families, including two years of tuition-free community college; prekindergarten for all 3- and 4-year-olds; and paid family and medical leave for American workers.

In anticipation of Republican opposition, Democrats have discussed using a process known as reconciliation, which allows legislation that directly affects taxes and spending to pass on a majority vote, for the infrastructure and safety-net proposals. But although Manchin supported this approach to enact a coronavirus relief bill with no Republican votes earlier this year, he has said he does not want to pursue the same strategy on other legislation.

Manchin once again voicing his pointed opposition to eliminating the filibuster on Sunday dashes some Democrats' hopes of pushing through their agenda even without Republican support.

Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist who was an aide to former Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said it was the timing of Manchin's op-ed that was more surprising to him than its substance, which was not new.

"It really, really deals a severe blow to what's left of the president's domestic agenda," Manley said. "Unless I'm missing something, most of the Biden legislative agenda is going to die a quick, painful death in the Senate, because there are not the good 10 Senate Republicans that Sen. Manchin keeps on hoping for."

Senate Democrats had planned to use the coming weeks to build support for their voting bill, on which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., plans to hold a vote in the last week of June. Republicans are expected to successfully filibuster the bill, with no GOP senators supporting the measure at this point.

Manchin's op-ed would allow Republicans to argue that, regardless of a filibuster, the legislation doesn't have enough Democratic votes to pass the Senate, highlighting a point of intense tension within the Democratic Party.

"Can't very well blame GOP intransigence/outmoded process if you can't produce a majority," former GOP operative Liam Donovan tweeted.

Manchin's op-ed drew sharp criticism from some of his fellow Democrats in Congress, who have been growing increasingly frustrated over Manchin's singular ability to stymie his party's legislative efforts.

At the heart of their frustration is that Manchin is not asking for policy concessions but that legislation must have bipartisan backing to garner his support. Many Democrats view the idea that there are bipartisan deals to be struck on major parts of the Biden agenda as hopelessly naive, and that anger bubbled over on Sunday.

"Manchin's op-ed might as well be titled, 'Why I'll vote to preserve Jim Crow,' " Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., tweeted.

"We didn't need an op-ed to know you're unwilling to protect our democracy," Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., tweeted.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., said his office had reached out to Manchin's several times to discuss how they could move forward but had not heard back.

"Sen. Manchin isn't interested in engaging in a conversation on the filibuster," Bowman said. "He's interested in serving a corporate agenda."

Some Democratic aides have said Manchin is not the only problem facing the Biden agenda, but because he is the most vocal, he draws the most attention. He also represents a state that overwhelmingly supported former president Donald Trump, so there is little political cost for him in publicly opposing Democratic priorities. Other Democrats who oppose getting rid of the filibuster or specific bills often remain quiet while Manchin remains in the eye of the storm.

Manchin wrote Sunday, as he has said in the past, that he would instead support an overhaul of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, also known as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which "would update the formula states and localities must use to ensure proposed voting laws do not restrict the rights of any particular group or population." However, even though Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has said she would join Manchin in supporting that alternative, other Republicans have said they would not, making it unlikely it would pass without doing away with the filibuster.

The For the People Act would improve voter access and revamp rules on campaign finance and ethics. It would require states to provide at least 15 consecutive days of early voting and keep polls open at least 10 hours a day. Democrats have implored their colleagues in Congress to pass the federal bill as GOP-led state legislatures and Republican governors have enacted or tried to enact voting restrictions across the country.

In March, Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a restrictive voting bill that curtails the use of drop boxes and imposes new ID requirements for mail voting. The state faced immediate blowback from Democrats and civil rights groups, as well as economic consequences as corporations spoke out against the bill.

Last week, House Democrats staged a walkout in the Texas Capitol to prevent the Republican majority from passing a restrictive voting bill. The next day, several of the state's Democratic lawmakers said it was imperative that Congress pass the For the People Act.

"This is a now-or-never moment in American democracy," said Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas. "If we don't act now, then our democracy is not going to look the same either in 2022 or 2024."

On CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with the Democrats, said he had not spoken to Manchin but defended his colleague somewhat by saying parts of the For the People Act could be modified.

"There are clearly some things I think need to be negotiated, and I think Joe Manchin realizes that," King said. "But the guts of it  is voting rights.  That's becoming more urgent by the day, based upon what's going on around in the states."

King said he was most concerned about portions of state-level voting restrictions being proposed that could allow a legislature to overturn the results of an election in a state. And he signaled he would be open to doing away with the filibuster when it came to an issue as critical as voting rights.

"If it comes down to voting rights and the rights of Americans to go to the polls and select their leaders versus the filibuster, I'll choose democracy," King said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Tyler Pager contributed to this report.
SCHIPHOL, Netherlands (AP)  Nearly seven years after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, the trial in a Dutch court of three Russians and a Ukrainian accused of involvement in the downing moved Monday to the crucial merits phase, when evidence will be discussed by lawyers and judges.

Families of some of the victims were present in court to watch the latest hearing in the long-running case.

Its a very difficult day for us. You know, its now the first day of the prosecution, said Evert van Zijtveld, whose daughter Frederique and son Robert-Jan were among the 298 passengers and crew killed when the Boeing 777 was shot down on July 17, 2014.

The trial that has progressed through a series of preliminary hearings since opening in March 2020 will in the coming days begin examining the huge case file pieced together after a years-long international investigation.

The file consists of about 65,000 pages and many hundreds of hours of visual and audio material. Its such a large case that its simply not possible to speak about every detail," Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said at the start of Monday's hearing, before summarizing the case.

Up until today, no one has come forward and said that they are even partially responsible for what happened," Steenhuis said.

The first discussions of evidence are scheduled for Tuesday.

The four suspects were not in the courtroom near Schiphol Airport and are being tried in their absence. They face life sentences if convicted of murdering the 298 people who died when the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was blown out of the sky above conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.

The international investigation concluded that the plane was destroyed by a Buk missile fired from territory controlled by pro-Russia separatist rebels. The investigation said that the missile was brought into Ukraine on a mobile launcher from a military base in Russia. Russia has denied any involvement.

The three Russians charged with involvement in the downing are Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov, as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. Only Pulatov is being represented by defense lawyers, who have told the court he is innocent.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov lamented that Russia has been kept away from the probe. To our regret, Russia isnt a part of the mechanism for investigating what happened, we have been effectively excluded from this mechanism, Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.

Russia has over the years come up with various theories as to the cause of the crash, generally laying the blame on the Ukrainian side.

Peskov said Monday that the Kremlin has closely followed the trial, and unlike many others, we dont ignore alternative information but take it into account.

Steenhuis warned relatives that the coming days could be tough as he outlines evidence about the deaths of their loved ones.

Unpleasant findings may be discussed," he said before telling people in the courtroom: "Should this become too much for you, you are at liberty to leave the room at any point in time.

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Associated Press writer Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed.
GREENVILLE, Miss. (AP)  A Black woman, for the first time, will become a chief federal judge in Mississippi.

Court officials said in a news release Monday that U.S. District Judge Debra M. Brown will become the chief judge of the state's northern judicial district during a ceremony Friday in Greenville.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP)  Authorities say murder-suicide is suspected in the deaths of two people in southwestern Missouri.

Greene County deputes found the bodies of 25-year-old Kalen Barclay of Ozark and 27-year-old Gabriella Broglio of Joplin Saturday afternoon in a car near an Interstate 44 exit ramp.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP)  New Jersey's long-troubled and only women's prison faces closure as details of horrific attacks by guards against inmates emerged in a new report, the state's governor said Monday.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy reached the decision to close the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women, which could take years, after reviewing a new investigative report he commissioned on a January attack by mostly male prison guards on female inmates.

The January events have led to criminal charges against 10 guards  eight men and two women  by the state attorney general, whose investigation is still underway.

Attorneys for some of the guards have said their clients will fight the charges and plead not guilty.

Among the new details in the document: some female inmates were forced to strip and submit to searches in front of male guards.

I am deeply disturbed and disgusted by the horrific attacks that took place on January 11. Individuals in state custody deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and the officers involved in this incident, both directly and indirectly, abused their power to send a message that they were in charge, Murphy said.

The 75-page report is based on interviews with some officers as well as Department of Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks, and the corrections ombudsperson, videos, and 21,000 documents and emails.

It offers details about the Jan. 11 and 12 attacks on what Attorney General Gurbir Grewal called an attack on at least six inmates. Among its findings are that guards used excessive force on inmates and filed false reports after removing inmates from their cells. The staff also failed to bar male guards from viewing female inmates during strip searches, in violation of policy.

The report also offers new details about what led up to the attack and how it unfolded.

It says that in the days before the attack, there was a coordinated effort" by some inmates to splash prison guards, a term referring to throwing liquids, including urine and feces, at them. The report notes that the head of the prison guards' labor union said officers had been upset, and things were at a boiling point.

On Jan. 11, an inmate splashed a correction officers with an unknown liquid around dinner time, leading to a halt to mealtime. After it resumed, another inmate sprayed another officer resulting in another halt, according to the report. Afterward, some 22 prisoners were taken from their cells so guards could search and discard contraband being used to project liquids at guards. Inmates sometimes modified hair conditioner bottles using a pen to project liquids at guards, the report notes.

The report called the extraction of inmates from cells a misguided effort by frustrated employees to restore order and mete out discipline. It was during those removals that inmates were injured, the report said.

Inmates were ordered to be stripped searched, including one who was made to walk through part of the prison with her chest exposed. She was also pepper-sprayed and punched in the face 28 times, according to the report.

The officers lock Inmate 2 in the shower for her to strip (the door is grated but has a curtain in front of it). She says, Yall want to beat the life out of me,'" the report says. A male officer tells her to strip and put her pants through the porthole. She says, Please back up, I dont have no clothes on.'"

She gives her clothes to a female officer, but male guards remain present, according to the report, contrary to policy, which says inmates are to be strip-searched by guards of their same gender.

Another inmate, identified only as Inmate 1 in the report, was ordered to submit to a strip search, and when she refused, guards began using a hooked blade to begin cutting her clothes off, according to the report. She was then taken to be strip-searched, and male officers were present, according to the report.

Reports filed by sergeants said Inmate 1 had no injuries, but a nurse at the prison later determined she had broken her arm.

Murphy said shuttering the prison could take years and that he would work with lawmakers to address closing it during this year's budget process. Murphy, a Democrat, said he wants to send the roughly 370 inmates there to other or a new facility.

The prison in Clinton, Hunterdon County, more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of New York City, dates to 1913. Grewal has said it has an ugly history," part of which was documented in an April 2020 U.S Justice Department report that found a culture of acceptance of sexual abuse of inmates.

In April, the state reached a nearly $21 million settlement over longstanding allegations of abuse and harassment at the facility.
GAFFNEY, S.C. (AP)  A North Carolina man was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the death of a man who was shot to death while driving, authorities said Monday.

Salvador Marquez, 35, of Charlotte, North Carolina, received the sentence after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and a gun charge in the death of Matthew Littlejohn, 33, of Spartanburg in Cherokee County, prosecutors said in a statement.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  A North Carolina jailer has been arrested and charged with multiple sex crimes and fired from his job, a sheriff's office said Monday.

Mecklenburg County detention officer Kyle Harris of Charlotte was arrested Monday afternoon and released on a $60,000 unsecured bond, The Charlotte Observer reported. It's not known if Harris has an attorney.
NEW YORK (AP)  Students, teachers and staff in New York schools were still required to wear masks indoors Monday, despite a conflicting letter from the governor's health commissioner released days earlier.

The state Education Department sent school district leaders guidance Sunday that said schools should keep requiring masks.

That guidance was in direct contrast with a letter released by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office Friday afternoon that sparked confusion around the state.

The governor denied Monday that his administration had caused any confusion over mask rules. We said on Friday we were asking the CDC for guidance and we would tell the schools on Monday what the guidance was, Cuomo said.

On Friday, Cuomo's office publicly released a letter in which State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker told the CDC that effective Monday, New York planned to only strongly encourage unvaccinated individuals to wear masks indoors at schools, while vaccinated individuals wouldnt need to wear masks. Schools and camps could adopt stricter rules, he said.

If there is any data or science that you are aware of that contradicts moving forward with this approach, please let me know as soon as possible, Zucker wrote. We plan to make this guidance effective on Monday June 7.

Cuomo's office also released a press release Friday that said the state planned to waive the mask mandate for students outside the building unless the CDC provided the state with contrary data or science before Monday.

School leaders  who have grown to depend on watching Cuomo's COVID-19 press conferences to learn firsthand about new policy changes  then spent the weekend figuring out their own policies, while some parents took to social media to question why the Cuomo administration made the change with just days left in the school year. New York City, the nations largest school district, made clear Friday it planned to keep its mask requirement.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that it was still recommending for schools to mandate masks because of the lack of vaccine eligibility among children below age 12.

Then on Sunday, the state Education Department said that it spoke with members of Cuomos executive staff, who said the state's letter to the CDC was intended to seek advice but hasn't changed any existing arrangements.

Therefore, schools should continue to operate under their existing procedures until further notice, reads the Education Departments guidance. No changes have been, or will be, made by the executive until after Monday June 7 to afford the CDC an opportunity to respond to the letter.

Cuomo said Monday that he had spoken with the CDC, and that the agency said its COVID-19 guidance wouldn't change for weeks.

The Cuomo administration did announce one new change Monday: students in New York no longer have to wear masks outdoors. Cuomo said schools will make their own individual decisions.

Cuomos initial move was cheered by Republican legislators, who wrote letters to him last week asking that he lift the mask mandate over concern from families about requiring kids to wear masks in anticipated summer heat.

The Cuomo administration started requiring face masks to be worn at all times in schools in early April.

Previously, local communities decided whether to require masks in schools.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  Liberal groups are calling on New York lawmakers to use the last days of the legislative session to pass bills related to the criminal justice system, despite concern over rising gun violence that could make reform more politically risky.

Democrats veto-proof majority in the state legislature hasnt led to swift passage of the criminal justice legislation backed by the partys left wing. Many of those bills remained in committee Monday, with their prospects for passage this year uncertain.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie hasn't spoken publicly about his priorities for the remainder of this year's session, which ends Friday. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has signaled that parole reform is one of her top priorities.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that he's worried about crime hurting New York City's recovery, but said he believes he accomplished his legislative goals in this year's state budget.

I think its fair to say my priorities were done in the budget, he said.

Here is a look at legislation still on the table:

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PAROLE REFORM

Two bills related to the state's parole system were still in committee as of Friday.

One would direct the state parole board to start evaluating whether individual prisoners over the age of 55 would pose a significant public safety risk if released.

Another would require the board to parole prisoners once their minimum period of incarceration is up, unless there's a clearly articulated current public safety risk." Currently, the parole board is required to consider whether someone's release would deprecate the seriousness of the crime.

Yes we punish the criminals, but (make sure) that the punishment fits the crime and that you dont continue to pay for the crime long after youve done the time, Stewart-Cousins said in a recent interview with WCNYs Capitol Pressroom.

The legislation is part of a broader movement that has already reduced incarceration, partly through a new law that largely did away with cash bail for many people awaiting trial.

But an increase in some types of crime over the past year could potentially stall momentum for further reforms.

In New York City, more than 640 people have been shot over the first five months of the year, more than double the number during the same period in 2019.

Historically speaking, that shooting rate isn't much worse than what the city experienced in most years from 2002 through 2012, an era when politicians began describing New York as the nation's safest big city. But its a sharp deterioration from even safer years preceding the pandemic.

Republican Senate Leader Rob Ortt, of western New York, called Democrats' parole proposals utter madness."

He said lawmakers should instead pass bills to require unanimous parole decisions and make people convicted of a "violent felony offense" wait longer to seek parole.

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LOWERING AGE OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

The state Senate is set to vote in coming days on a bill to end the arrest and prosecution of kids below the age of 12, except in homicide cases.

Under state law, children can be charged as juvenile delinquent as young as age seven. Only North Carolina has a lower age limit: six.

In 2019, police arrested over 800 elementary school children in New York City ages 12 and younger, according to the Legal Aid Society. Nine out of 10 of those children were Black or Hispanic.

Supporters of the change say kids that young arent developed enough to be held criminally responsible for misbehavior. They point to a 9-year-old Black girl who cried out as Rochester police handcuffed her, put her in a police cruiser and pepper sprayed her in February.

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AUTOMATIC EXPUNGEMENT

Another bill in committee, the Clean Slate Act, would automatically seal and eventually expunge records of criminal convictions after a certain number of years, depending on the severity of the crime.

Senate sponsor Zellnor Myrie estimates 2.3 million people would benefit from automatic expungement and have an easier time finding jobs and housing.

His bill would automatically seal a conviction for a misdemeanor one year after sentencing, or three years for a felony. That would prevent employers from viewing past convictions.

Convictions would be expunged from an individuals record five years after conviction for a misdemeanor, or seven years for a felony.

Other states, including Connecticut, have passed similar bills this year.

New York's bill has exceptions. It doesn't cover people currently required to register as a sex offender or people on parole or probation or with a pending criminal charge. The clock wouldn't begin to run until someone was released from jail.

Records could be still released under some conditions: for example, for prosecutors if a prior conviction would increase a penalty, or for state agencies weighing gun licenses.

New York already has a law to seal criminal records, but the new bill's supporters say few people use that law.

Republican Ortt said the bill would threaten public safety, and shield information from employers who want to know if someone was incarcerated for a violent crime.
ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP)  Officers in an Austin suburb shot dead a man reported to be threatening hotel guests with a gun Monday, police said.

Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks said a 911 caller reported the man entered the lobby of the Home2 Suites by Hilton at about 9:45 a.m., pointed a handgun at people and asked, Do you want to die?
A Black Hawk helicopter of the U.S. Air Force is pictured in front of the cityscape in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 29, 2021. /Getty

Editor's note: Freddie Reidy is a freelance writer based in London. He studied history and history of art at the University of Kent, Canterbury, specializing in Russian history and international politics. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

On June 3, a bomb was detonated in Western Kabul, killing four civilians. The attack not only ended the lives of innocent civilians but leaves behind grieving families and friends. The attack went largely unreported. This is by no means an isolated incident and has become a regular occurrence faced by Afghans. As U.S. troops prepare to withdraw in September, is the U.S. leaving the region safer, what lessons have gone unheeded and what have the wider consequences been?

Over the last twenty years, the shock of the 9/11 terrorist attacks has perhaps inevitably lessened. Recalling the shock and horror, both in the U.S. and across the globe, leads to some understanding as to why the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)  otherwise simply known as "the coalition", was formed and invaded Afghanistan in pursuit of Osama bin Laden and member of his al-Qaeda terrorist network.

As with the superpowers that preceded the U.S., the British in 1839, and the Soviet Union in 1979 found, initial victories were swift, but control of the region was nearly impossible.

When pressed by former diplomat and politician Rory Stewart about what advice a veteran of the Soviet occupation had for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General Auschev was blunt, "take the fastest route home."

Part of what has made the U.S. withdrawal so difficult is mission creep. Many contemporary critics have argued that coalition forces, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq, failed to adequately plan for what follows the initial conflict. This is arguably only partly true. In the case of Afghanistan, the primary objective was to neutralize al-Qaeda and bring Osama bin Laden to justice.

A U.S. flag is lowered as American and Afghan soldiers attend a handover ceremony from the U.S. Army to the Afghan National Army, at Camp Anthonic, in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, May 2, 2021. /AP

The problem for the U.S. was that the existing Taliban regime at the time was sympathetic to al-Qaeda and had themselves overseen a brutal regime. The operation consequently necessitated regime change and the installation of a new system of government as part of a radically wider campaign.

Twenty years later, an indicator of the limited success of the operation is the peril faced by the Afghans who worked with coalition forces. These individuals are being forced to flee their country for fear of reprisal.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned that "with Western powers leaving, the threat is increasing, including targeted attacks by the Taliban" and that it was "only right" for the UK to expedite the process of allowing Afghans to settle in the UK. Indeed some 1,400 have already left.

If the echoes of previous British and Soviet campaigns in Afghanistan can be heard now, then so too is the parallel of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam particularly relevant.

It is also hard to fathom the logic of the decision to choose September 11 as the date for U.S. withdrawal. The symbolism of a Taliban return to power, even in a power-sharing capacity, will be a rallying point for wider U.S. resistance.

While few would argue that the Afghanistan mission has been a success, it is important to recognize, as former president Hamid Karzai acknowledged when leaving office, that "When I first took office, we did not have a flag or a currency. We were the target of foreign agendas. We were homeless in our own country."

The risk is that the government of Ashraf Ghani falls after the U.S. withdrawal with moderate Afghans once again forced into physical or ideological "homelessness in their own country", compounding the senselessness of the death of 38,000 Afghan civilians in the conflict.

The failures of the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq have also had far-reaching consequences, dramatically influencing U.S. and coalition reluctance to intervene in other global conflicts. Nowhere is this truer than Syria, where even the use of chemical weapons failed to trigger a response in a conflict where over 100,000 civilians have died, with 6 million displaced.

Barack Obama's former advisor Ben Rhodes adroitly summarised the U.S. dilemma, a dilemma of which Afghan citizens must suffer the consequences, "I support the withdrawal as a necessary pivot: at some point, we have to stop fighting, and something has gone wrong when Americans are serving in a war that started before they were born. On the other hand, as our British allies have pointed out, the future will grow darker for Afghans who have suffered greatly and believed in us."
With Spain welcoming fully vaccinated international visitors starting from today, UAE travellers planning their summer getaways can now choose from over 30 cities in 19 countries across the Emirates network that have opened their doors for tourism and business.

From July, Emirates will operate over 280 weekly flights from Dubai to cities in Europe, the US, Middle East, Africa, and other popular island getaways, for travellers who want to start their long-awaited adventures and experiences this summer without the hassle, cost or stress of quarantine.

Spain is the latest European country to welcome back tourists. From June 7, tourists will be able to enter Spain if they have been fully vaccinated at least 14 days before date of travel, or can present their Covid-19 PCR tests taken 48 hours prior to arrival. Travellers will need to physically provide their vaccination certificates upon arrival, and must have received vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), or one of the vaccines included in the WHO's Emergency Use Listing, including the Pfizer BioNTech, Sinopharm and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines. Unvaccinated children under the age of six will be allowed entry together with their vaccinated parents. Children over the age of six must present a negative PCR test. International passengers must also complete the Health Control Form (FCS) online prior to arrival.

Emirates is currently offering five weekly flights to Madrid and four flights a week to Barcelona with additional flights being planned in line with increasing demand.

More countries are taking steps towards opening their borders for travel and tourism to and from the UAE, as vaccination programmes advance and protocols for safe travel are implemented. Emirates will continue to ramp up its operations as demand returns and support the jump-start of tourism across its network as more travel corridors open, benefitting travellers with quarantine-free travel at both ends of their journey.

 In Europe, Emirates customers can enjoy convenient, quarantine free travel to: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Russia, Turkey, Spain, and France (from June 9).

 In the Middle East, customers can make up for lost time and reconnect with friends and family, or experience history with Emirates' expanding flight schedules to: Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Egypt.

 For those yearning for a beach escape, Emirates offers convenient flight schedules to: The Maldives, Seychelles, and Phuket from July 2.

 In Africa, travellers can explore the diverse experiences and spectacular cities and resorts across: Kenya, Tanzania, Morocco.

 The United States, with its rapid vaccination roll-out, has also become increasingly popular for tourists. Emirates flies to 11 US destinations, and will be adding Miami as its 12th gateway on July 21. The airline is also deploying its flagship and customer favourite, the A380 aircraft, to several points including New York and Los Angeles this summer.

 Mexico City also remains open for tourists and business travellers, and Emirates will be resuming services from July 2.

Emirates continues to enhance its partnership with flydubai, stepping up its joint network and schedule offering to 48 cities across 33 countries with quarantine-free entry this summer, providing more options than any other airline in the region.

For an even more seamless journey, the airline is also scaling up its IATA Travel Pass capabilities on its flights to Barcelona, Moscow, Istanbul, New York JFK, Madrid and from London Heathrow with plans to scale up across all of its flights by July, in addition to offering customers travelling from Dubai paperless verification of Covid-19 related medical records through its partnership with the Dubai Health Authority.

Emirates customers who want to take the stress and guesswork out of planning their summer getaways can explore Emirates Holidays' tailor-made packages, which meet the highest standards of health and safety. Three night packages at four star hotels start from AED2,829 ($770.1) to Spain and AED4,279 ($1,164.8) to the Indian Ocean per person. Five night packages at four star hotels start from AED5,399 ($1,469.7) to Miami and AED2,299 ($625.8) to Phuket per person.

Emirates remains focused on taking the stress out of travel, and has led the industry in protecting the health of its customers to ensure a feeling of safety and confidence when deciding to fly. Emirates customers travel with the assurance that the latest health and safety measures are in place at every step of the journey. The airline has also recently introduced contactless technology to ease customers through Dubai airport.

Emirates continues to lead the industry with innovative products and services that address traveller needs during a dynamic time. Recently the airline took its customer care initiatives even further with even more generous and flexible booking policies, an extension of its multi-risk insurance cover, and helping loyal customers retain their miles and tier status.

For more information, including how to book flights, visit emirates.ae, travel agent or the local Emirates Sales Office. - TradeArabia News Service
NEEDVILLE, Texas (AP)  An off-duty Houston-area deputy shot and killed a knife-wielding man during a private event at a fraternal lodge, sheriffs officials said Monday.

In a statement, the Fort Bend County Sheriffs Office said the deputy was working security when the incident happened Sunday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Needville, 38 miles (61 kilometers) southeast of Houston.

The deputy, said to be a veteran sergeant with the sheriffs office, encountered a 24-year-old knife-wielding man involved in a disturbance with others attending the event. According to the statement, the deputy shot the man when he wouldnt drop the knife and continued his assaults.

No identities have been released. Sheriff Eric Fagan said his agency is cooperating with other law enforcement agency officials in their investigation.
ROBBINSVILLE, N.J. (AP)  A pilot walked away mostly unharmed after crash landing his small plane near an intersection in New Jersey, police said.

The pilot had taken off from Robbinsville Airport on Sunday when the 1996 Piper aircraft had mechanical trouble, Lt. William Swanhart said. He performed an emergency landing.
BAYONNE, N.J. (AP)  State authorities are investigating after police officers shot and killed a man at a New Jersey home.

Bayonne police officers responded to a 911 call about some kind of domestic incident at the home at about 6:30 a.m. Monday, the state attorney generals office said.

Police said they encountered an adult male resident and one or more officers fired their service weapons, wounding the man. Authorities haven't said whether the man was armed or released other details about the encounter.

The man was taken to Bayonne Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a little more than an hour later. His name wasn't immediately released.

The attorney general's office is investigating, as is required in cases of deaths during encounters with law enforcement officers.
BERLIN (AP)  German officials said police conducted raids Monday targeting people suspected of involvement in organized crime, as part of a larger international bust coordinated by Europol.

The European Union police agency, based in The Hague, Netherlands, said it planned to hold a news conference Tuesday on what it described as a major law enforcement action against some of the worlds foremost criminals" in more than a dozen countries.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Mayor London Breed married four couples inside San Francisco's City Hall Monday, to mark the reopening of the storied building after it shut down in March 2020 as part of a regional lockdown.

Madelyn Peterson and Indira Carmona were the first couple to wed on the grand staircase of the buildings rotunda. They had three witnesses, each sitting in chairs spaced 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart at the bottom of the steps.

The building's doors opened at 8 a.m. for those looking to get marriage license applications, business registrations, birth and death certificates, and other documents. Visitors are still required to wear a mask and socially distance.

San Francisco has had some of the strictest pandemic-related restrictions in the country and the compact city of nearly 900,000 has reported 36,766 COVID-19 cases and 546 deaths. To compare, Long Beach in Southern California has about 467,000 residents but more than 53,000 cases and more than 900 deaths.

Vaccination rates in San Francisco are also high, with 80% of residents having received at least one dose.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Moments before Breed officiated the weddings, she raised the Pride flag outside the building's main entrance to officially kick off the annual LGBTQ Pride Month celebrations.

"Were going to celebrate, were going to have a good time, were going to keep smiles on our faces because we survived a pandemic, yall," Breed told a small, cheerful crowd gathered for the flag-raising ceremony, which also included music from the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Freedom Band.

I am looking forward to making sure that San Francisco comes back alive," Breed added.

The mayor announced several investments and programs for the LGBTQ community, including $2 million for a guaranteed income program for trans people and $12 million to buy a site for "the countrys first full-scale LGBTQ Museum."

Last week, a massive pink triangle was illuminated on the city's Twin Peaks with Breed and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in attendance of the annual tradition started in 1995. The pink triangle was used by Nazis during the Holocaust to identify LGBT prisoners. Now, the LGBT community uses it as a symbol of pride.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  A South Korean court on Monday rejected a claim by dozens of World War II-era Korean factory workers and their relatives who sought compensation from 16 Japanese companies for their slave labor during Japans colonial occupation of Korea.

The decision by the Seoul Central District Court appeared to run against landmark Supreme Court rulings in 2018 that ordered Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate Korean forced laborers.

It largely aligns with the position maintained by the Japanese government, which insists all wartime compensation issues were settled under a 1965 treaty normalizing relations between the two nations that was accompanied by hundreds of millions of dollars in economic aid and loans from Tokyo to Seoul.

A total of 85 plaintiffs had sought a combined 8.6 billion won ($7.7 million) in damages from 16 Japanese companies, including Nippon Steel, Nissan Chemical and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The court dismissed their civil lawsuit after concluding the 1965 treaty doesnt allow South Korean citizens to pursue legal action against the Japanese government or citizens over wartime grievances. Accepting the plaintiffs claim would violate international legal principles that countries cannot use domestic law as justification for failures to perform a treaty, the court said.

Some plaintiffs told reporters outside the court they planned to appeal. An emotional Lim Chul-ho, 85, the son of a deceased forced laborer, said the court made a pathetic decision that should have never happened.

Are they really South Korean judges? Is this really a South Korean court? he asked. We dont need a country or government that doesnt protect its own people.

It wasnt immediately clear how the ruling would affect diplomacy between the estranged U.S. allies, which have faced pressure from the Biden administration to repair relations that sank to postwar lows during the Trump years over history and trade disputes.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it respects the decisions by domestic courts and is willing to engage in talks with Tokyo to find rational solutions that can satisfy both governments and the wartime victims.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Tokyo was carefully watching the developments in South Korea and hoping that Seoul would take a responsible action to improve ties. He said bilateral relations were still in a severe condition because of issues related to Korean forced laborers and wartime sex slaves.

We believe it is important for South Korea to act responsibly to resolve the outstanding problems between the two countries and we will be watching concrete proposals by the South Korean side aimed at resolving the problems, Kato said at a news briefing.

The plaintiffs had said the workers endured harsh conditions that caused extreme mental and physical pain that prevented them from resuming normal lives after they returned home at the end of the war.

The Seoul court said in its ruling that it had to consider that forcing Japanese companies to compensate the victims would cause significant adverse reactions for South Korea internationally.

A forcible execution (of compensation) would violate the large constitutional principles of ensuring the safety of the country and maintaining order, and would constitute an abuse of power, the court said, describing its ruling as an inevitable decision.

In April, the court issued a similar ruling on a claim by Korean victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery and their relatives, another sticking point in bilateral relations. In that ruling, the court denied their claim for compensation from Japans government, citing diplomatic considerations and principles of international law that grant countries immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign courts.

Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have been strained since South Korea's Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate Korean forced laborers. Those rulings led to further tensions over trade when Japan placed export controls on chemicals vital to South Koreas semiconductor industry in 2019.

Seoul accused Tokyo of weaponizing trade and threatened to terminate a military intelligence-sharing agreement with Tokyo that was a major symbol of their three-way security cooperation with Washington. South Korea eventually backed off and continued the deal after being pressured by the Trump administration, which until then seemed content to let its allies escalate their feud in public.

South Koreas tone on Japan has softened since the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who has been stepping up efforts to bolster three-way cooperation among the countries that declined under Donald Trumps America first approach, to coordinate action in the face of Chinas growing influence and North Koreas nuclear threat.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in in a nationally televised speech in March said his government was eager to build future-oriented ties with Japan and that the countries should not allow their wartime past to hold them back.

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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
CINCINNATI (AP)  Two sisters have been charged with shooting at homeless people with an air rifle from a car in Cincinnati, though they have not been arrested.

Brittany Hopper, 29, and Kelsey Hopper, 28, have been charged with three counts of assault for firing a BB gun at two people in the Over-The-Rhine neighborhood early in the morning on June 3, Cincinnati police said. The police have asked the siblings to turn themselves in.
COLUMBIA,S.C. (AP)  Gov. Henry McMaster brought an end to South Carolina's pandemic-related state of emergency on Monday, saying the coronavirus situation in the state had improved to the point that it was no longer needed.

It is no longer necessary for us to have a state of emergency, McMaster said during a news conference. We need to proceed on the course that we have set out, and be careful.

McMaster has issued 30 separate emergency declarations throughout the pandemic, creating a mechanism though which he could put forth a plethora of accompanying executive orders allowing him to set temporary policies aimed at reining in the spread of COVID-19.

Some of those orders have at times put the governor at odds with state agency heads. In May, when McMaster issued an order allowing parents to opt their children out of wearing masks in public schools, state Superintendent Molly Spearman, a fellow Republican, said the governor was "inciting hysteria and had no legal basis for his decision.

McMaster never used his powers to implement a comprehensive statewide mask rule, instead calling on South Carolinians to show personal responsibility in practicing social distancing and other public health guidelines. He did order, and has since rescinded, several specific statewide orders that required masks in state government buildings and restaurants.

State law only allows the governor to issue an emergency declaration for 15 days before requiring involvement from state lawmakers, a construct created in a time when people thought more of hurricanes and less about pandemics and modern governments that require continuity and quick reactions. To get around that, McMaster issued a total of 30 separate declarations during the pandemic, sometimes making only incremental changes.

The governor has said his goal wasnt to avoid legislative oversight, but to keep the government operating in the pandemic because he couldnt wait for lawmakers to meet when they were trying to stay apart.

This year, both the South Carolina House and Senate discussed proposals to limit how long the governor can declare a state of emergency without their input  an idea McMaster supported  but they couldnt agree on a bill before the session ended last month.

On May 11, two days before the General Assembly's last regular day, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey put up one last proposal to end what he called the perpetual state of emergency we find ourselves in," saying state agencies took advantage of the emergency declarations to extend their power without oversight from lawmakers.

They are doing more and more things on their own without any legislative input," the Edgefield Republican said. "This isnt just about the governor quite frankly. Its about what he is allowing the agencies to get away with without legislative purview.

That measure died on the vine as the session ended.

"We probably need to clarify the way these states of emergency are issued," McMaster said Monday.

As of Saturday, about 1.6 million South Carolinians had completed the coronavirus vaccination process, or about 38% of the eligible population, according to public health officials. More than 1.9 million had gotten at least one vaccine, or about 45% of those eligible.

___

Jeffrey Collins contributed to this report.

___

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
Qatar Airways will resume flights to Sharjah, UAE starting July 1, with a daily flight.

Flight QR1036 will depart from Hamad International Airport at 2.35pm, arriving in Sharjah at 4.45pm. The flight from Sharjah -- QR1037 -- will depart at 5.55pm, and arrive in Doha at 6.05pm.

With this, the airline will be operating more than 1,200 weekly flights to over 140 destinations by the end of July, the airline said in a statement.

Sharjah will be an alternative gateway for passengers to and from the other cities especially Dubai in the UAE, it added.
Ever Lopez of Asheboro, North Carolina, was set to become the first member of his immediate family to graduate from high school, but instead, he said, he was denied his diploma because he wore a Mexican flag over his gown at his graduation ceremony Thursday.

Until Lopezs name was called, the graduation ceremony at Asheboro High School had played out like any other: A students name was called, the student received a diploma holder, handshakes were exchanged and people clapped.

But when Lopez approached the center of the stage with the red-white-and-green Mexican flag draped over his shoulders, he had a brief exchange with the school's principal, Penny Crooks, drawing boos from the audience. After a moment, Lopez walked off the stage, raising a fist as he returned to his seat.

The moment was captured on video and posted to TikTok by Lopezs cousin Adolfo Hurtado, who said Crooks had asked that Lopez to remove the flag and that he refused to do so.

Lopez, who was born in the United States to Mexican-immigrant parents, said in an interview Sunday that he wore the flag because he is proud of his Mexican roots.

The flag means everything to me and my family because its what is in our blood, he said. Its where we came from, and Id do anything to represent.

In a second video that Hurtado posted to TikTok, Crooks, flanked by four police officers, is seen escorting Lopez and his family out of the school after the ceremony. He and his parents can come back tomorrow, and we can talk about it, Crooks says in the video, which has been viewed more than 7 million times. Go on.

Hurtado said Lopez and his classmates received an empty diploma holder at the graduation ceremony with the expectation that they could pick up their diplomas afterward, before heading home. It was after the ceremony that Lopez was told he was being denied his diploma, Hurtado said.

The public school district in Asheboro, which is about 70 miles east of Raleigh, said in a statement Friday afternoon that Lopez had not received his diploma because he had violated the schools dress code and because he had detracted from the importance and the solemnity of the ceremony.

Graduation is a milestone event and it is grossly unfair for one individual to diminish this event by violating the dress code, the district said. This incident is not about the Mexican flag. Students were encouraged to express their identity by decorating their mortar boards. A number of students followed the protocol and had the Mexican flag and other representations appropriately displayed during the ceremony.

In an earlier statement, issued Friday morning, the school district said it would continue working to resolve this issue with the student and his family so that he will receive his diploma from Asheboro High School.

He has worked very hard and we commend him on this great achievement, the district said. We are confident in his abilities and we know he has a bright future ahead of him.

Lopezs mother, Margarita, said Crooks told her in an email Sunday that her son could pick up his diploma this week. But Lopez said she and her son also wanted an apology.

To me, this was an act of racism, not just to my son, but to the entire Hispanic community, she said.

A spokeswoman for the school declined to offer additional comment Sunday. Crooks did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Hurtados videos of his cousins graduation have drawn millions of views on TikTok and generated support for Mr. Lopez.

Shes claiming that it was a disruption, Hurtado said of Crooks, adding that his cousin had walked by several teachers and school officials before taking the stage, and no one asked him to take off the flag. Who did it disrupt? Nobody said anything, nobody did nothing. The only person who clearly was disturbed by it was her.

Kimberly Antonia, whose daughter was a few spots in line behind Lopez, said she clapped for him as he approached the stage.

I thought it was awesome seeing a young person so proud of their country, Antonia said. With that said, I truly think this situation should and could have been handled differently. However, in the moment it wasnt, and nothing can change that.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether a lawsuit can go forward in which a group of Muslim residents of California allege the FBI targeted them for surveillance because of their religion.

It's the second case the court has accepted for the fall involving a government claim of state secrets, the idea that the government can block the release of information it claims would harm national security if disclosed.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  From alleged drug trafficking and a murder cover-up to weapons transfers to Islamic militants, a convicted crime ringleader has been dishing the dirt on members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans ruling party through a series of tell-all videos that have captivated the nation and turned him into an unlikely social media phenomenon.

Sedat Peker, a 49-year-old fugitive crime boss, who once openly supported Erdogans Justice and Development Party, has been releasing nearly 90-minute long videos from his stated base in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, making scandalous but yet-unproven drip-by-drip allegations, in an apparent bid to settle scores with political figures.

The weekly YouTube videos have been viewed more than 75 million times, causing an uproar, heightening concerns over Turkish state corruption and putting officials on the defensive. They have also exposed alleged rifts between rival factions within the ruling party and added to Erdogans troubles as he battles an economic downturn and the coronavirus pandemic.

On Sunday morning, a couple in Istanbul were absorbed while watching Pekers latest release. They were among millions in Turkey who tuned in.

Ive added (Peker's videos) to the category of TV series I watch every week, Gulistan Atas said. Just like a TV episode, I wait in excitement, and every week on Sunday, we prepare our breakfast when we get up and watch them along with our breakfast.

Clad in a waistcoat or a half-buttoned shirt displaying a medallion, Peker taunts his opponents from behind a desk with neatly arranged notes, prayer beads and books, promising to bring their downfall using nothing more than a tripod and a camera.

His initial videos targeted former Interior Minister Mehmet Agar and his son, Tolga, a ruling party lawmaker, whom he accused of raping a young Kazakh journalism student and later covering up her murder as a suicide. Mehmet Agar, Peker suggested, misappropriated a luxury marina that may have been used in drug trafficking operations. Agar later resigned from the marina's board.

Subsequent videos leveled accusations against business people and media figures close to the government, as well as former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim's son, claiming he was involved in drug smuggling from Venezuela. But the target of Peker's most vitriolic and mocking attacks is Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, whom he accuses of abuse of power and corruption while aiming to become Turkey's president. Peker justifies the tell-all by saying Soylu betrayed him despite the crime leader's help to defeat a rival faction within the ruling party.

All those implicated have rejected Peker's accusations.

In an explosive claim with international dimensions, the mob boss said that a former security advisor to Erdogan accused of leading a paramilitary force had sent weapons to Al-Qaida-linked militants in Syria. Erdogan hasn't yet addressed those claims although the government has in the past denied allegations that it had armed jihadis.

Erdogan ignored the Peker videos for weeks, but broke his silence on May 26, when he dismissed earlier allegations by the mafia leader as a conspiracy against Turkey.

We will spoil these games, these plots. No one should doubt that we will disrupt this devious operation, Erdogan said. We pursue members of criminal gangs wherever in the world they flee to ... We will not leave these criminals alone until we bring them back to our country and hand them over to the judiciary.

Peker responded to Erdogan that week and suggested that the Turkish strongman could be the focus of future videos. He later said he would speak about Erdogan after his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on June 14 so as not to weaken his hand. In his latest video Sunday, he said his revelations would be conducted with respect and wouldn't hurt the state itself.

Will finding and bringing me (to Turkey) change the reality, he said.

Opposition parties, meanwhile, have seized on the allegations to demand the resignations of implicated figures as well as parliamentary and judiciary inquiries.

The ruling party and its nationalist allies have blocked opposition bids to launch parliamentary inquiries into Pekers claims as well as into the arms smuggling allegations.

Authorities have issued a new warrant for Pekers arrest.

Can Selcuki, the director of polling and analysis platform Turkiye Raporu, said of Peker: We shouldnt forget that hes a criminal," but explained the videos' popularity as a need for information.

It seems to me people are asking this illegal operator these questions because they cant get answers elsewhere. And this tells me theres a growing demand in Turkish society for more transparency," Selcuki said.

Peker addresses his viewers, especially people under age 40, as the real owners of Turkey who have the power of demanding accountability and change.

A nationalist who advocates unity between Turkic-speaking nations, Peker has been in and out of prison since age 17 for his involvement in organized crime and other offenses. After his last release from prison in 2014, he held rallies to support Erdogans party and leveled threats against his opponents. His 2015 wedding to Ozge Peker, who was his lawyer, drew a host of celebrity guests.

In April, an operation was launched against Peker's group, leading to the arrest of around 60 of his associates.

His home in Istanbul was also searched. Peker maintains that he was forced to speak out after his wife and two daughters were allegedly mistreated and humiliated during the police raid.

They ask me why I am doing it, Peker said in the latest video. I swear to God that at first I did it out of anger, I expected an apology ... Now, I dont know why I am doing it ... I feel like doing it.

Gulistan Atas' husband Alparslan Atas said Peker's videos were like the movies The Godfather and Scarface, to be forever etched in people's memories.

I like that the states dirty laundry has come to light and spread around because knowing that the people who are in politics with their hands on the Quran can at the same time do cocaine business gives me interesting information, he said.

___

Robert Badendieck, Zeynep Bilginsoy, Mehmet Guzel and Ayse Wieting contributed to this report from Istanbul.
LIHUE, Hawaii (AP)  The U.S. Postal Service has unveiled a new commemorative stamp honoring WWII veterans representing the all-Japanese American 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442 Regimental Combat Team from Kauai.

The Nisei soldiers of the 442d Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion are exemplary role models who displayed perseverance, bravery and aloha. This stamp includes their motto Go for Broke, which became the basis for their teamwork and victories on the battlefield, Democratic state Rep. Nadine K. Nakamura told The Garden Island on Saturday.

The Go For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers of World War II stamp honors the second generation Japanese Americans, or Nisei, who fought during the war and faced discrimination in the U.S.

The stamp features Shiroku Whitey Yamamoto from the Big Island, a member of the combat team. It was designed by Antonio Alcala based on a photograph taken in 1944.

A picture is worth a thousand words, said Lynn Heirakuji, president of the Nisei Veterans Legacy and co-chair of the Stamp Our Story Hawaii Organizing Committee. There is a big story behind this little stamp. But its more than a history lesson. It holds powerful lessons for this and future generations.

Heirakuji, whose father was also a member of the combat team, said this is the first U.S. Postal stamp to feature an Asian American solider and bring recognition to about 33,000 Japanese American soldiers who fought in the U.S. Army during the war.

He also credited the effort to the Stamp Our Story campaign, which started in 2005 by three Japanese American women from California  Fusa Takahashi, Aiko O. King, and the late Chiz Ohira.

The USPS announced that the stamp is being issued as a forever stamp, which will always be equal in value to the current First Class mail one-ounce (28-gram) price. The stamp is available at all post offices, and online.

This stamp not only honors the bravery and dedication of our Japanese American Nisei soldiers; it reminds us of our obligation to carry on the legacy of these soldiers to fight for a more-equal and just world, Democratic state Rep. Della Au Belatti said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  West Virginia lawmakers Monday poured federal funds and extra state cash into road repairs, health care, and education programs such as school lunches.

It was the Republican-led legislature's first special session of the year, called by the governor to handle spending about $902 million in federal funds received through the latest round of pandemic aid. President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed Congress with no Republican support.

Much of the funds were grants directed by the federal government to be spent on programs such as substance abuse prevention and aid for needy families and for child care services.

Another $150 million from a state budget surplus was dedicated to road projects. Last week, Republican Gov. Jim Justice said it would fund 702 miles (1,130 kilometers) of road paving and projects on 40 bridges across all 55 counties.

West Virginias aging infrastructure often receives a failing grade. Voters approved a $1.6 billion bond measure called Roads to Prosperity in 2017 that Justice championed to improve public works.

The Senate and House had convened for the first time since ending their regular session in April.

One Republican senator took the opportunity after the break to snipe at Justice's new sweepstakes for getting more residents vaccinated against the coronavirus and his reluctance to lift the statewide mask mandate sooner. Fully vaccinated people are exempt from the indoor mask requirement.

Sen. Randy Smith (R-Tucker) said he is fed up with the governor's decisions and wasteful spending." Justice announced a vaccine lottery that will include prizes ranging from hunting rifles to $1 million. The first prizes are set to be announced June 20, which also marks West Virginias birthday and the day the mask mandate ends.

I don't believe we should be using money to bribe people to get something that should be their own personal choice, Smith said, adding that I'm not for the vaccine or against the vaccine.

The governor and his health experts have pushed residents to receive the shot in regularly scheduled weekly news conferences, where he has trotted out his bulldog named Babydog in front of cameras to entice viewers. West Virginia's vaccine lottery is now called  Do It For Babydog.

The efforts haven't yet boosted a sluggish vaccination drive. Justice set a target for vaccinating two-thirds of eligible residents aged 12 and over by June 20. Nearly 60% of those eligible residents are currently at least partially vaccinated. The state has nearly met its goal of 85% coverage for ages 65 and over.

After Smith's remarks, which also slammed Justice for his recent financial troubles, a lawmaker from the governor's former party defended Justice.

I don't think the governor's a bully, said Democratic Sen. Michael Woelfel of Cabell County, adding that he applauded Justice's attempt to encourage more vaccinations against a virus that has killed at least 2,821 West Virginians. And I'll finish by saying, let's leave Babydog out of this.
HILLSBORO, Mo. (AP)  A Tennessee woman is jailed without bond in Missouri for allegedly firing a gun into an SUV with four children inside in an alleged road rage incident.

Authorities say 22-year-old Shanyka K. Fouche of Memphis was charged Saturday in Jefferson County, near St. Louis, with several counts, including first-degree assault and five counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
By Lisa Hix

Bay City News Service

SANTA CRUZ (BCN)

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued the kayaker who was attempting to make a solo voyage to Hawaii early Sunday morning about 70 miles west of Santa Cruz, officials stated in a release.

Cyril Derreumaux, a Bay Area adventurer and Guinness World Record holder, departed from Travis Marina near the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito around 5 a.m. May 31 with the goal of reaching Honolulu within 70 days.

Nearly a week later, at about 9:42 p.m. Saturday, Coast Guard Sector San Francisco watchstanders responded to Derreumaux's request for rescue because of heavy weather, officials said.

On his Facebook page, Derreumaux wrote that ocean conditions on Saturday evening were rough, but manageable; however, that all changed around 9 p.m. "when my ground crew told me that they had lost the AIS signal for 3 hours. I then [noticed] that my navigation system has lost the GPS signal and couldn't recover it."

As Derreumaux and his ground crew worked on the electronic issues, he became aware of trouble with his kayak.

"In a few moments my kayak was positioned almost parallel to the axis of the waves, and I found myself violently tossed from side to side, along with all the equipment that was stored in the cabin," he wrote. "Attempts to get out to more accurately assess the condition of the sea anchor and to resolve the issue were unsuccessful and resulted in water entering my cabin."

Derreumaux said he then had to make the difficult decision to request evacuation.

"As night had just fallen, it was clear that the situation was not sustainable: Inability to eat, drink, sleep, communicate easily with my team ashore," he wrote. "With my land support crew, we then reported the situation I was in to the U.S. Coast Guard to jointly explore all possible options."

The Coast Guard launched its MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew at 10:25 p.m., Coast Guard officials said. The crew arrived on scene at 12:39 a.m. Sunday, which is when they hoisted the kayaker into the helicopter and returned to Air Station San Francisco.

"Recognizing that the situation was beyond his capabilities and calling for assistance allowed our crews to reach him in time for a successful rescue," said Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Kroll, a Coast Guard spokesperson. "This shows that even experienced mariners with proper safety equipment can get into trouble on the ocean, which is why having the right equipment and knowing when and how to use it is so important."

Derreumaux was found to be in good condition with no medical concerns, Coast Guard officials said.

"Morale is good, I still have my passion for this adventure intact, and I am still determined to make it happen," Derreumaux wrote. "I won't give up!!!"

Copyright  2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Copyright  2021 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
BERKELEY (BCN)

Two homeless men were found dead in different parts of Civic Center Park in downtown Berkeley on Sunday, a spokeswoman for the Berkeley Police Department said.

Around 12:10 p.m. Sunday, police received a report of "a man down," meaning he was lying on the ground and cold to the touch, on the west side of the park near Martin Luther King, Jr., Way, said Berkeley Police Lt. Veronica Rodrigues.

The Berkeley Fire Department also responded to the scene, where the 52-year-old man was pronounced dead. "We do not suspect foul play at this time," Rodrigues said.

Adjacent to the deceased man, police found another man unconscious but alive. Narcan was administered, and the 59-year-old man was taken to a local trauma hospital where he is in stable condition, Rodrigues said.

Another individual contacted police around 3:10 p.m. to say a friend had died in the park. Berkeley police and fire responders found a 42-year-old man dead in a tent in the east side of the park, Rodrigues said.

No further details are available at this time.

Copyright  2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.
The Moscow House of Nationalities hosted the presentation of the book The World of the Oxus Civilization. It was organized by the Miklouho-Maclay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, under which the Margiana archaeological expedition has been operating for the past two decades now. The expedition was established in accordance with the cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan. Under this agreement, the National Directorate for the Protection, Study and Restoration of Historical and Cultural Monuments acts as a scientific partner from the Turkmen side.

This January, the well-known scientific publishing house Routledge (London - New York) released the fundamental research The World of the Oxus Civilization", which was carried out under the editorship of Dr. Bertil Lyonne (France) and the head of the Margiana expedition, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Nadezhda Dubova (Russia).

The book offers the complete synthesis of everything that is currently known about the country of Margush. Specialists from many countries took part in the compilation of this book, including those who participated in the archaeological excavations of the monuments of ancient Margiana and associated monuments of ancient Bactria. The release of this book by such a prestigious publishing house is a high international recognition of the results achieved thanks to the collaboration of scientists from Russia, Turkmenistan and the CIS countries.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP)  Kentucky's new law allowing scholarship tax credits to support private school tuition drew a court challenge Monday from an education group, which argues that the program is unconstitutional and undermines support for public schools.

The legal showdown has been expected since the state's Republican-dominated legislature passed the measure  House Bill 563  over Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's veto in March.

The Institute for Justice, a national legal advocate for school choice, said Monday night that it's ready to help defend a law that it said many Kentucky families desperately need.

The lawsuit was filed in Franklin County Circuit Court by the Council for Better Education. The same group sued over inequities in Kentucky school funding more than 30 years ago. That case led to passage of the landmark Kentucky Education Reform Act.

The council's new legal action focuses on a key part of the new law creating a form of scholarship tax credits  referred to by advocates as education opportunity accounts. The lawsuit calls it a diversion of public revenues to private schools and asks that it be struck down.

To avoid the plain constitutional prohibition against the public funding of unaccountable private schools through direct expenditures, the General Assembly concocted a complicated tax credit scheme to move state revenue through a private grant program, the suit said.

But both the aim and the result are the same: Under the Voucher Program, state expenditures will impermissibly fund private schools, it added.

Under the new law, private donors backing the accounts would be eligible for tax credits. The grants, managed by third-party groups, could be used for an array of educational expenses  including private school tuition in several of the states most populated counties.

Opponents warn the tax credits will cost the state treasury up to $25 million a year  money they say could go for public education.

Supporters say the measure offers opportunities for parents who want new schooling options for their children but are unable to afford them.

This lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt to deprive Kentucky schoolchildren of much-needed educational opportunity," said Michael Bindas, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice.

The lawsuit asks that a judge block state revenue officials from implementing the program and to strike down those provisions.

Weeks ago, Beshear had predicted that an override of his veto would trigger a court challenge. Beshear, a former state attorney general, cited a constitutional provision that he said requires public dollars to be spent on public schools.

Supporters of the measure said it would open new opportunities for parents now unable to afford other educational choices for their children.

Courts nationwide have repeatedly held that states can create alternatives to the public-school system. That is all the EOA (Education Opportunity Accounts) Program does: create alternatives, said Institute for Justice attorney Milad Emam. If this misguided lawsuit against the program succeeds, families around Kentucky will lose access to those alternatives."

The Council for Better Education said the tax credits would divert money from public schools.

Every student, no matter what he looks like or where she lives, deserves access to a high-quality public education," the group said in a news release. Spending money on voucher programs means denying students the opportunities they deserve in their neighborhood public schools because vouchers steal away scarce funding from public schools and give it to private schools that have no accountability or transparency."

Joining the CBE as plaintiffs in the suit are Frankfort Independent and Warren County schools, plus three individuals. The Kentucky Finance Cabinet and the Kentucky Department of Revenue are named as the defendants.
You are now listening to the sounds of the New Generation. A podcast created for those who desire a new way of gaining information rather than reading a traditional newspaper. In our show we will discuss everything from sports, pop culture, politics, and local news. To stay up to date on our latest episodes every week be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast service. And dont worry, we keep it short.
Russian diplomats and schoolchildren of the Turkmen-Russian school named after A.S. Pushkin laid flowers at the monument to the poet in one of the picturesque corners of Ashgabat. Later in the day, schoolchildren gathered in the assembly hall of the school and read Pushkins poetry and prose and sang songs on his poems. Afterwards, schoolchildren laid flowers at the monument to the poet that was installed in the school foyer in the fall of 2019.

On top of that, the company of the State Russian Drama Theater named after A.S. Pushkin staged the new play My friends, how wonderful is our union!, timed to coincide with the 222th anniversary of Pushkins birthday. Directed by Natalia Laukert, Honored Artist of Turkmenistan, the play is dedicated to the lyceum years of the great Russian poet.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021
Beirut, June 7 (IANS) Two people were killed and several others injured in clashes among Palestinian factions in the Rashidieh camp in Lebanon.

Violent clashes started on Sunday after members of the Fatah movement raided the house of a Palestinian national wanted over drug trafficking, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to Ghani's Office, the two sides during the meeting on Sunday discussed several issues including expanding cooperation, and maintaining bilateral political, security, defense and economic relations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Kabul, June 7 (IANS) Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani met a visiting US inter-ministerial delegation led by Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington's Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, here.

Concerning the continuation of $3.3 billion in annual assistance for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), the US delegation conveyed the White House message of supporting the ANDSF as well as supporting Afghanistan in the economic areas

Besides Ghani, Khalilzad on Sunday also met the head of High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), Abdullah Abdullah, during which they discussing issues related to the Taliban and Afghanistan's national reconciliation efforts.

Before Khalilzad had embarked on his trip to Kabul, the US State Department said that the "delegation will underscore enduring US support for Afghanistan's development and a political settlement that will end the war".

The visit comes over a month after US President Joe Biden announced in April to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by September 11.

The announcement was followed by concerns about the political future of Afghanistan, TOLO News reported.

Pentagon officials have said that one-quarter of the withdrawal has been completed.

The US forces have handed some bases to Afghan forces, including the New Kabul Compound, known as NKC, in Kabul.

Violence has however, remained high in Afghanistan, while the peace negotiations in Doha have had no progress following Biden's announcement.

--IANS

ksk/
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], June 7 (ANI): Junior resident doctors of Madhya Pradesh have called off their strike on Monday after the state government accepted their demands and agreed to release the assurance in written form by the evening.



The decision has been reached after a delegation of junior doctors met state Education Minister Vishwas Sarang.

"We had been saying them to first return to their work and then we would accept all their demands. Now, the junior doctors have returned to work. We will give 17 per cent hike in stipend to them as promised earlier," said Sarang.

After attending the meeting, a junior doctor said they were returning to work as the government accepted to release the letter of assurance by the evening.

The doctors in the state had been on a strike since May 31 regarding many demands including an increase in their stipend.

On Sunday, resident doctors of Delhi's Safdarjung hospital held a candle march in support of the demands of the junior doctors in Madhya Pradesh. (ANI)


"After several months at sea in perilous conditions, these women, children and men have now found safety ashore."

"They are receiving food and medical assistance from the Indonesian authorities. UNHCR and humanitarian are on site to provide additional support and coordination to ensure that the refugees' needs are met," they said.

The UNHCR has "commended" the Indonesian government for allowing the disembarkation of the Rohingya boat.

It also lauded members of the local community who initially provided food provisions to the refugees.

The 81 refugees are believed to have departed from Bangladesh in a boat with 90 passengers on February 11.

Within days, the boat's engine had broken down and the refugees' lives were at risk, with many suffering from severe dehydration.

By the time that the boat was eventually assisted in the Andaman Sea by the Indian authorities, nine passengers had reportedly passed away.

After they again set sail, UNHCR and partner organisations lost contact with the refugees.

"It is both a humanitarian imperative and an international obligation to provide vessels in distress with life-saving assistance and disembarkation to a place of safety," the UNHCR had said in a statement last week.

"While we commend the Government and people of Indonesia once more for their humanitarian gesture, UNHCR reiterates the urgent need for states in the region to come together to forge a collective regional response to search, rescue and disembarkation."

Vulnerable women, children and men should not be left to the mercy of the high seas, it said.

--IANS

anwesha/ksk/


Cognizant India Promotes Rajesh Nambiar as President, Digital Business and Technology of the US-based IT major. He would be succeeding Malcolm Frank, who would retire from the company on September 1, 2021.

In a regulatory filing, the company says, "On May 28, 2021, Malcolm Frank, Executive Vice President and President, Digital Business and Technology, notified Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation of his intent to retire, effective September 1, 2021," Cognizant said in a regulatory filing.

It further adds that Rajesh Nambiar, Executive Vice President and Chairman of Cognizant India, has been named President (Digital Business and Technology) with effect from June 4, 2021, succeeding Frank.

Rajesh would continue to hold the position of India chairman as well.

Malcolm ceased to be an executive officer as of June 4, 2021, however, he would remain an employee through his retirement date of September 1, 2021 to assist with the transition, the filing noted.

Furthermore, Cognizant had previously named Rajesh Nambiar as the Chairman and Managing Director of its India operations and a member of its Executive Committee effective November 9, 2020. He had stepped into Cognizant from Ciena, a networking, systems, and software company, where he served as the Chairman and President of India operations. He was also associated with IBM and Tata Consultancy Services.

In an internal note, Cognizant Chief Executive Officer Brian Humphries said drawing on the depth and richness of his technology, commercial, and delivery background, Nambiar has quickly embodied Cognizant's culture and established himself as a trusted leader among its 2 lakh associates in India.

Brian Humphries, Chief Executive Officer, Cognizant says, "This goes well beyond his outstanding job of developing and leading 'Operation C3? Cognizant Combats COVID-19'. Rajesh brings deep knowledge of applications, data, AI, analytics, infrastructure, cloud, and consulting to his new role."

He further said Nambiar being based in India will bring the added benefit of driving better DB&T alignment with delivery.

He continued, "Malcolm has built a reputation inside and outside Cognizant as an influential futurist and evangelist, and his foresight about the increasingly central role digital plays in creating value helped Cognizant become one of the world's leading technology services companies. I appreciate Malcolm's leadership of our Digital business."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday in his address to the nation spoke about Indias commendable response to a devastating second wave of the pandemic, adding that from June 21, the Centre would provide free vaccines to the states for all citizens above the age of 18 years.

The PM proclaimed that the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana had been extended till Diwali to ensure free ration to 80 crore people amid the pandemic.

All Main Points from the PMs Speech:
New Delhi, Jun 7 (UNI) The Delhi government Monday apprised the Delhi High Court that Covaxin is prioritised and strictly reserved for the age group of 18-44 years, who are eligible for receiving it as second dose of anti-Covid-19 vaccine during June 2021 till further orders in the national capital.

On June 3, the Delhi health department has already issued similar directions in this regard to all government COVID Vaccination Centres, Adv Anuj Aggarwal, on behalf of the Delhi government told the high court.

A single-judge bench of Justice Rekha Palli was hearing a batch of pleas filed by those finding it difficult to get the second dose of Covaxin after getting the first shot.
By Anas Zubedy



Malaysia has a bigger problem than Political Frogging - Political Crabbing.

Crabbing is more dangerous as it is not as visible as frogs jumping. It is also more widespread.

The culture of crabbing is the deeper reason why we are in a catch-22 situation. In fact, today, frogging is but a tool to crabbing.

Let me explain.

To understand the Crab Culture, one first needs to get familiar with the Crab Theory, or better known as the "The Crabs in a Bucket Phenomenon".

When you place crabs in a bucket or container, even if one can escape, it would not be able to because the other crabs will pull down the one trying. This will happen even if there are just two of them in the bucket.

This behavior makes sure that no matter how hard anyone of them works and tries  none will be successful.

Ditto Malaysian politics.

Crabbing in Malaysia is not confined at the national level between two political blocks like Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan, but also within political parties, like today's Umno  between the Kluster Kabinet and Kluster Mahkamah.

Some time ago, crabbing was the standard operating procedure in PKR until the eventual split.

Leaders and their factions hold the other leaders and factions down so nobody can clearly win and nobody can lead effectively. This "if I can't have it, neither can you" approach is classic Crab Culture.

Sadly, I have strong convictions that this Crab Culture is not only confined to the leaders, but the followers and the rakyat who continue to cheer the behavior.

At the national level, when one side tries to unseat a sitting Prime Minister in parliament, it is not that they are sure and confident of having a clear majority but it is about trying to prove that the other side does not  this is crabbing at work.

Please bear in mind that I do not belong to any political party or coalition. I dare say that the other side would do the same if the situation is reversed.

It is our unfortunate Crab Culture that may eat up our nation if we remain unconscious and continue as we are.

That was why I was one of the early individuals who proposed a state of emergency and am still until today at two hearts about the reopening of the parliament.

Do not get me wrong, I strongly believe in a functioning parliament but I have little confidence in our lawmakers shedding the Crab Culture. Are you?

Have you not seen how one side will shout loudly and the other yell back hysterically to drown out each other's voices so no one ends up hearing anything substantial during a session in parliament?

It even took place during the inauguration of a new speaker! That is crabbing at work.

When confined inside a parliamentary sitting especially these days when the government in power has a thin majority, I find the Crab Culture manifest its power even more potently.

It is like putting 222 crabs in a "Parliament Bucket" setting them into frenzy.

Even decent lawmakers are dragged down or simply drowned out and trampled by the Crab Culture. Is it a wonder that the YDP Agong agreed to a state of emergency?

With the emergency in place, crabbing rears its ugly head through other ways like the COVID-19 numbers.

Each increase in cases reported is a good chance to pull the other 'crab' down and vice versa.

The more dire our COVID-19 situation, the more noises from one side that we need to reconvene the parliament. So more crabbing can take place.

As I said earlier, I am not a party to any coalition, and it is likely that the same would happen if the situation is in reverse. The Crabbing Culture is fuelled firstly by the desire for power.

I am not saying that our politicians are heartless human beings who do not care about the rakyat.

Be that as it may, gaining or keeping power is a very large part of the equation (or is it the larger?) even when dealing with COVID-19.

Remember the Sabah state election? Every single politician from the Peninsula, whether from the government or opposition and their thousands of campaigners who returned to their home states after the state polls were the main contributors to our current coronavirus massive numbers.

It all started then. The Prime Minister himself admitted this last November.

So, do please stop crabbing and pointing fingers. Admit your mistakes and apologize instead of hiding using crabbing antics.

Even if you had quarantined yourself for 14 days thereafter. Ask if you had ensured your cohorts of campaigners did the same. Did they? Can you guarantee that they did?

Stop lying to yourselves and the rakyat. If you had placed the rakyat first instead of crabbing for power, you would have stayed home in the Peninsula and let the Sabah state elections be strictly a people of Sabah affair. Period.

If I sound skeptical and doubting, my apologies. Unless our lawmakers and politicians call for a genuine truce until we no longer have any COVID-related death and have vaccinated 80% of our population, I will remain distrustful. Meaning, no power grabbing, organizing of frogging or testing who has a thinner majority in parliament and the forcing of general elections.

Allow the parliament and the government of the day to function till the next General Election even if they have a one-seat majority. That is political maturity that avoids the Crab Culture.

This has been done before by Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who ensured and guaranteed the smooth functioning of the Kelantan State Government from 2004 to 2008 even when PAS at that time had a majority of only one seat. That is political maturity minus Crab Culture.

You see, at this point of time we do not need a change in leadership. What we really need is a change of leadership behavior. We need to shed the Crab Culture and focus on the rakyat.

Is that too much to ask for?

Peace.

Anas Zubedy
By Dato' Dr Amar-Singh HSS



The recent statements by the minister and the director general of health regarding COVID-19 infections and severity in children have worried many parents.

It was reported that 82,341 children had been infected with COVID-19 from 25th January 2020 till 30th May 2021; the vast majority happening in 2021.

Infections have happened to children of all ages, including 19,851 in those under the age of five years.

The director general of the Ministry of Health (MOH) also reported that three children under the age of five years had died in the first five months of 2021.

In addition, 27 children had been admitted to pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) this year, with 19 of them aged under five years.

While we take every protective measure to prevent children from getting infected, we need to ask ourselves if we should consider vaccinating children against COVID-19. Some issues to consider the risk and the benefit are discussed below:

How severe is COVID-19 in children? Will vaccines benefit children?

A key determinant to vaccination is the severity of any illness. From available data it does appear that most children infected with COVID-19 get a mild or asymptomatic illness and that severe illness is rare.

One rare, severe complication of COVID-19 in children is multi-system inflammatory syndrome.

A comparison of mortality in seven countries estimated that 1.7 out of every million children died when infected with COVID-19.

Adolescents appeared to have a higher mortality rate than younger children.

A local evaluation of our deaths was published in Code Blue and showed that death rates among children aged 0-4 years and 13-17 years were both higher than that of primary school children (analysis is limited by the small number of deaths).

It however must be remembered, that in this pandemic, parents may have been shielding children as much as possible from COVID-19 infections and this may underestimate infections and mortality.

There are emerging reports that COVID-19 is causing severe illness in young children in Brazil with more than 2,200 deaths under the age of 10 years. This is unlike any other nation and may reflect emerging variants of concern which cause more severe illness.

There is growing evidence that children can suffer from Long COVID and be unwell for months after the infection. More data and work is required to clarify the size and severity of this problem in children.

Are COVID-19 vaccines safe to use in children?

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has shown good efficacy against COVID-19 in children aged 12-15 years of age in preliminary phase 3 trial results. Sinovac has announced that its vaccine is safe in children ages 3-17 years. AstraZeneca and other vaccine companies are doing trials in children aged 6-17 years. Before the use of any such vaccines in children, our National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency will have to approve their use based on available data.

At all times we must have a vigilant surveillance on vaccine safety signals and act early if any appear.

Although clinical trial data is appearing about the safety and efficacy of some COVID-19 vaccines in children, we need to recognize that we will not see very rare side-effects until we use the vaccines in large populations.

The rare side effects of Oxford/AstraZeneca (blood clots) and Pfizer/BioNTech (myocarditis) in younger people were only recognized when populations were vaccinated.

Are there benefits to the family and society?

While children rarely have severe illness, we see the devastation COVID-19 has on adults, especially those who are elderly or have chronic illnesses. We also recognize that children can and do spread COVID-19 to adults.

Although no one is certain of the percentage of the population required to be vaccinated before we can hinder the spread of COVID-19 (herd immunity) in the community, we do know that this will be difficult without vaccinating children.

I recently wrote about whether we can achieve herd immunity. Approximately 30% of our population is under the age of 18 years; some Malaysians will choose not to vaccinate; others will be too ill or have a contraindication to vaccination; our large economic migrant and refugee populations are another factor. Hence we will not be able to reach sufficient rates of COVID-19 vaccination in the population without vaccinating children aged 12-18 years of age.

Remember that children cannot be a priority for vaccination until we first vaccinate all adults that are keen. This includes the elderly, those with chronic illness, younger adults who comprise our workforce and our migrant workers.

What are other nations doing?

The table below summarizes the response of selected countries on the issue of vaccinating children. A number of nations have approved its use, predominantly in those aged 12 years and older.

Country Decision to vaccination children Age group to vaccinate United States of America In May approved Pfizer vaccination for children 12-15 years (Prior to this was already vaccinating 16-17 year olds) Canada In May approved Pfizer vaccination for children 12-15 years (Prior to this was already vaccinating 16-17 year olds) United Kingdom Regulatory authorities have approved Pfizer vaccine for 12-15 year olds but no decision on starting yet (Prior to this was already vaccinating 16-17 year olds) France Starting vaccination for children from June 12-16 years Germany Starting vaccination for children from June 12-16 years Israel Starting vaccination for children from June 12-15 years (Prior to this was already vaccinating 16-17 year olds) China Sinovac Biotech vaccine manufacturer claims that hinese health authorities have approved the use for children as young as three. ? Singapore Starting vaccination for children from June 12-18 years Japan In May approved Pfizer vaccination for children 12-18 years

There are however global ethical issues in using COVID-19 vaccines in children.



There is a limited supply of vaccines and using them for children in wealthier nations (where a high proportion of adults have already been vaccinated) limits their access to poorer nations.

The World Health Organization (WHO) does not currently recommend that children be vaccinated against COVID-19. WHO has urged affluent nations to reconsider vaccinating children/adolescents and donate vaccines to low and lower-middle income countries where supply has been insufficient to immunize even healthcare staff.

Summary

The pandemic impacts all of us, even those not infected. We will have to grapple with these issues as parents and a society as we decide about COVID-19 vaccination for children.

How effectively we control the outbreak locally and the spread and impact of variants (mutations) will also determine our response and decision regarding this issue.

In Malaysia, we have yet to make a serious impact on vaccination rates for those at high risk of severe illness and death (the elderly and those with chronic illnesses).

No matter how much we want to support children, it is imperative that we push for those at highest risk to be vaccinated before we vaccinate children.

In addition, it is vital to vaccinate young adults who are working and mobile as they are important drivers of the pandemic. However we should consider selectively vaccinating children with severe disabilities in residential care, especially if at high risk of exposure to COVID-19.

My personal preference would be not to subject our children to mass vaccination against COVID-19, however to control COVID-19 in the community we may have to vaccinate children aged 12-17 years.

The recovery of our nation from COVID-19 means the recovery of our children from the severe mental strain that currently impacts them daily.

Lives are currently being lived on a 'pause button' and vaccination is an important measure to return our society to a semblance of normality.

(Dato' Dr Amar-Singh HSS is a Senior Consultant Pediatrician.)
The only man to break 30 minutes for the 10 kilometer run leg, Alex Yee of Great Britain owned the leafy trail within Roundhay Park to finish in 1:43:27 with a 25 seconds margin on U.S. star Morgan Pearson and 36 seconds on Marten Van Riel of Belgium. Yees 29:46 run leg was 18 seconds faster than his nearest rival Pearson, accounting for most of his margin of victory.



After a closely packed swim and an even more crowded herd of cyclists, Yee exploded away at the start of the run, whereupon he ran for a solo masterpiece that left not only Pearson and Van Riel but also superstars like Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway, Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain and Fernando Alarza of Spain in his wake.



After taking most of the last two years to focus on long course and Ironman racing, two-time Olympic triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee sent the day looking for some of the old magic that might lead to a fourth date with the Olympics. However, Alistair was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct during the swim and exited the course during the run.



In addition, the legendary Javier Gomez of Spain also failed to finish.



That was very special, Yee told ITU Media, of his delight at the warm reaction he got from an ecstatic home country crowd. It is the first time that Ive seen so many people on the street, and it was just amazing to be able to deliver in front of all of them. These results are a team effort. For me to finish fourth in Yokohama was a bit of a disappointment, but after the race I spoke with the team to see what we needed to work on and I think that this shows the progression Ive made in the last weeks.



If his bronze at Yokohama wasnt enough to signal that he had arrived among the stars of triathlon, Morgan Pearson staked a solid claim with his silver medal performance that he is a force to be reckoned with in Tokyo.



With no more automatic qualification standards for U.S.A. Triathlon Olympic selection, Leeds was the lone large scale event where a performance can be reckoned by U.S. Olympic selectors. Pearson already cinched his spot with his third place finish at Yokohama, so his silver medal at Leeds will not add to his Olympic chances. Other U.S. men posting Leeds results were Seth Rider (17th), Chase McQueen (25th) and Matthew McElroy (30th). U.S. Triathlon Olympic selectors will take into account several factors and will announce the final selections on June 16 (live streamed on Facebook).

WTS Leeds  Men

Leeds, UK

June 6, 2021

S 1.5kj / B 40k / R 10k



Men



1. Alex Yee (GBR) S 17:57 T1 1:04 B 54:24 T2 00:18 R 29:46 TOT 1:43:27

2. Morgan Pearson (USA) S 1:46 T1 1:00 B 54:42 T2 00:22 R 30:04 TOT 1:43:52

3. Marten Van Riel (BEL) S 17:41 T1 1:07 B 54:36 T2 00:18 R 30:23 TOT 1:44:03

4. Fernando Alarza (ESP) S 17:54 T1 1:10 B 54:22 T2 00:19 R 30:28 TOT 1:44:12

5. Hayden Wilde (NZL) S 18:05 T1 1:02 B 54:16 T2 00:19 R 30:47 TOT 1:44:27

6. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) S 17:57 T1 1:06 B 54:20 T2 00:20 R 30:53 TOT 1:44:33

7. Leo Bergere (FRA) S 17:45 T1 1:04 B 54:34 T2 00:18 R 30:54 TOT 1:44:36

8. Antonio Serrat Seoane (ESP) S 18:03 T1 1:06 B 54:19 T2 00:19 R 30:53 TOT 1:44:37

9. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) S 17:45 T1 1:04 B 54:36 T2 00:17 R 31:03 TOT 1:44:43

10. Jonas Schomburg (GER) S 17:42 T1 1:03 B 54:37 T2 00:17 R 31:10 TOT 1:44:48

17. Seth Rider (USA) S 17:42 T1 1:12 B 54:29 T2 00:17 R 32:42 TOT 1:46:21

25. Chase McQueen (USA) S 17:47 T1 1:08 B 54:36 T2 00:21 R 33:27 TOT 1:47:16

30. Matthew McElroy (USA) S 18:02 T1 1:07 B 56:56 T2 00:20 R 31:59 TOT 1:48:22
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are just starting parental leave for the second time and Im wondering if theyll use the time off from brainstorming in beanbags at their Silicon Valley workplaces to plan a new career.

As comedians.

Prince Harry and Meghan during their celebrated interview with Oprah Winfrey in which they criticised the royal family. Credit:Harpo Productions

Is it not hilarious that the couple who for months has publicly excoriated the British royal family has named their daughter Lilibet Diana after two of its most famous women?

Since March, Meghan and Harry have repeatedly attacked his family as cold, uncaring racists who showed total neglect for Harrys mental health and were so awful to Meghan that the Sussexes had to leave triggering London to break the cycle of genetic pain amid the rescue hens of Los Angeles.
In early 2019, in a courtroom in Canberra, something truly historic happened. A former intelligence officer, known only as Witness J, was sentenced to almost three years in prison. He became the first Australian in our nations peacetime history to be charged, sentenced and imprisoned in complete secrecy. We only know about Witness Js plight due to a series of coincidences  inquisitive journalists who happened to walk past a guarded courtroom, a civil lawsuit brought by Witness J from prison and questions asked in Parliament. But for those coincidences, we would never have known this case existed.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne has hit out at closed trials in China but Australia does not have clean hands. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

It is noteworthy, then, that at the same time as our Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, is criticising Chinese authorities for their opaque trial of an Australian citizen, Australias Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, or INSLM, is reviewing the legal framework that permits secret trials on our own shores. Payne said last month that as a basic standard of justice, access to the trial for observers should be a bare minimum to conform with international norms of transparency. She is right. But Australia must practise what we preach.

On Wednesday, I will tell the monitor at a public hearing in Canberra that there is no place for secret trials in Australia. Open justice is a core democratic principle, serving to uphold public confidence in our legal system and act as an accountability mechanism. In contrast, secret trials are the hallmark of authoritarian regimes.

The law that enabled Witness J to be imprisoned in secret, the National Security Information Act (NSI Act), must therefore be urgently reformed. It should be amended to include minimum standards of openness, an Open Justice Advocate who participates in such cases and an obligation on judges to provide publicly accessible written reasons when partially closing the courtroom. Until we see these changes to the law, there is nothing to prevent another secret trial. In fact, one could be happening right now  and we wouldnt know about it.
Its impossible to recreate here in this courtroom the reality of fighting and the conditions that existed in Afghanistan, barrister Bruce McClintock said.

He was speaking from Federal Court 18D, a temperature-controlled, soft-carpeted courtroom in Queens Square, with snatched views of Sydney Harbour.

Ben Roberts-Smith arrives at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney for the first day of his defamation case on Monday. Credit:Brook Mitchell

He was talking about the circumstances in which his client, decorated SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, took actions and killed men during his tour of Afghanistan that would later be described as war crimes, a claim he denies.

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times for defamation, and it is in this context that Federal Court judge Anthony Besanko will be asked to make findings on what happened amid the horror, heat and muck of a battle on the other side of the world more than a decade ago.
Two Winners Receive Funding from UWs MECSL Competition

Two finalists walked away as winners of the Microbial Ecology Collaborative Startup Launchpad (MECSL), a pitch challenge focused on innovation in Wyoming-based startups in the fields of microbial ecology, environmental sustainability, natural resource management or data science.

Each team was awarded a share of the $25,000 seed fund during the May 19 competition.

MECSL is administered by IMPACT 307, the University of Wyomings business incubator network, and is supported by Wyomings Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) through funding from the National Science Foundation.

The launchpad has brought in a series of teams that have been working to create functioning businesses in areas concerning the relationships between microorganisms as well as their environments.

The two teams receiving funding from this years MECSL competition are:

-- FrostyFlake is a weather-monitoring service that allows snowplow operators and other customers access to real-time weather conditions with much greater accuracy than meteorological forecasts. FrostyFlake was founded and is run by CEO Marcus Curley.

The funding we attained this year is going to help us level up to the next grade of maturity, Curley says. As an IT company, it is important that we improve our digital presence by simplifying customer onboarding and enhancing the user experience. That way, we can thrive in the digital landscape.

-- LifeGlass is a company focused on revolutionizing the way pharmaceuticals are transported and stored by removing them from the cold chain and, thus, making the process easier and more efficient. LifeGlass was created by Ryan Bettcher, a UW Ph.D. student from Brighton, Colo., majoring in molecular biology, and Thomas Boothby, a UW assistant professor of molecular biology.

IMPACT 307 is a network of innovation-driven business incubators committed to growing and strengthening Wyomings entrepreneurial community by providing resources and support for founders to thrive.
A coalition of disability groups is demanding a total reset in the way the federal government engages over changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme following a leaked strategy that says it must be seen to have listened and acted on concerns.

The Australian Federation of Disability Organisations has written to NDIS Minister Linda Reynolds ahead of a meeting on Tuesday asking the government to commit to putting people with disabilities at the centre of decision making.

CEO Ross Joyce said the leaked NDIS communications and engagement plan, revealed in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday, continued to show disrespect for people with disabilities.

Minister for the NDIS Linda Reynolds. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

It continues on the broken style of engagement that weve been having to put up with from the National Disability Insurance Agency senior management for some time, he said.
The users, who police say were exclusively using it for criminal activity, trusted the platform and did not use code in their communications. They were brazen and detailed about their activities, even sharing photos with drug shipments. From 2019 onwards, the Australian Federal Police discreetly used intelligence from the surveillance of millions of messages to help disrupt criminal activities and make about 100 arrests. State and territory police often carried out the arrests and raids, acting on the federal police tips, even if they did not know its origins in the highly sensitive An0m operation. FBIs representative Anthony Russo addresses the media on the raids and arrests on organised crime using compromised encypted communication apps. Credit:Rhett Wyman State police officers provided significant and long-term support to federal authorities during the operation and much of the activity on Monday and Tuesday, as the initiative came to a head, was in NSW. Australias contribution to the operation was enabled by the powerful TOLA Act introduced by the government in 2018, which targeted encrypted communications.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews called it the most significant policing operation in Australian history. Federal police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said it was an unprecedented operation that had netted some of Australias most dangerous criminals. An image showing messages on the encrypted Anom app, released by the US Department of Justice. We allege they are members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, Australian Mafia, Asian crime syndicates and serious and organised crime groups. We allege theyve been trafficking illicit drugs into Australia at an industrial scale, he said. Worldwide, 9000 law enforcement officials were involved in co-ordinated operations linked to the penetration of An0m.

Orchestrated by the FBI, An0m launched a few years ago and recently grew in popularity as an alternative to the Ciphr encrypted network, which has reportedly lost users because of fears among criminals it has also been compromised by authorities. Encrypted communications have become a pillar of organised crime activity and hampered investigations. A screenshot from a video showing one of the raids. Credit:Nine News You take that away, they cant do their business, a senior law enforcement officer told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Anthony Russo, the FBIs representative at the US embassy in Australia, said global co-operation was necessary to tackle modern organised crime.

In todays world, crime continues to traverse international borders. The threats we face are too diverse and too complex for any one organisation to tackle alone, he said. Australian fugitive Hakan Ayik, who has been living in Turkey and is suspected by authorities of being a major facilitator of drug imports into Australia, was viewed as one of the two most influential backers of An0m. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Commissioner Kershaw publicly advised Ayik on Tuesday to turn himself in because he had inadvertently helped set up a vast number of criminal peers and was now in danger. Hes essentially set up his own colleagues, Commissioner Kershaw said.

Loading The Herald and Age revealed Ayiks location and new identity in Istanbul in recent days and exposed his suspected role as the founder of the Aussie Cartel of organised crime figures wielding major influence over drug importation into Australia. Rumours about the takedown of one of encrypted communication platforms were spreading in underworld circles on Monday, one source said. In recent days, An0ms Facebook, YouTube and Reddit accounts were deleted and key material on its website became unavailable. A chat feature allowing contact with the company had disappeared by Monday evening. The site previously boasted that An0m was hardened against surveillance and intrusion with military-grade encryption. People could send messages and share files contained entirely within the app.

Loading It also offered the ability to sanitise or wipe data if a device was seized by authorities. Deleted data cannot be recovered through forensic examination, the site said. The organisation said it was based in Panama and would only respond to law enforcement inquiries in that jurisdiction. But the network was being monitored by law enforcement the whole time even as it became more popular.
A doctor, who practised in Bondi Junction in Sydneys east, has faced court accused of inappropriately touching three of his female patients.

Andrew Su Lin, 36, was arrested last month and charged with three counts of sexual touching without consent and two counts of common assault.

Police started an investigation after they received a complaint from a female patient who said she had been inappropriately touched during a consultation in March at a Bondi Junction medical centre.

Following further inquiries, police found another two women who alleged they had also been sexually touched by the doctor.

Dr Lin was arrested at his home in Chatswood on May 17 and taken to Waverley police station where he was charged.
Murdered Sydney hoodlum, John William (Joey) Manners, 27, in a police photograph. Manners, gangster, thief and stand-over man, onetime professional boxer and sometimes wharf worker, paid with his life for a quarrel over the split-up of the loot from a robbery. In the quarrel Manners knocked out a well-known underworld character in a bare knuckle street fight. Two other criminals also fought with Manners in the street and got the worst of it. After his last encounter Manners told a friend that he was going to carry a gun because things were getting a little hot. Frightened

He is alleged to have said: I fought them with my fists and if they want it the other way - with a gun - I am prepared to hand it out. Manners first visited the hotel where he met his death about 2pm on Friday. He was accompanied by at least four men. A quarrel arose and Manners was left alone in the hotel. Later Manners left the hotel, but returned shortly after 4pm. He ordered a pony beer and then went to sleep on a chair in the bar. One person who saw him in the hotel told police Manners was blind drunk at the time but was cold sober when he awoke little more than an hour later. He said that Manners appeared to be in a dream and was obviously frightened.

Murder suspect George Hackett in an undated police photograph. The licensee, Mr Cohen, said: When I saw him shortly before the shooting he looked as if he were a man going to his doom. He left the bar about 5.50. I heard three shots as he went through the door. The Australian hotel is in the Rocks area, years ago regarded by police as one of the toughest parts of Sydney. Since the end of the war, however, police have had practically no trouble in the area. One detective engaged on the case said We didnt expect a shooting at the Rocks. The locals are law-abiding people and do the right thing. Manners was practically a stranger to the hotel. He had been seen there only in the last month. Wife hides

Manners wife, Mary, an attractive brunette, left the rooms where she was staying with her children shortly after midnight yesterday. She is under police protection and is in hiding. Loading Manners, who was born in Newcastle and lived there most of his life, came to Sydney 18 months ago. He came under police notice 12 months ago when he was seen often in the company of well-known criminals and prostitutes. Detectives, after issuing several warnings them made him a consorting booking. Police said that the men seen with Manners were some of the worst types of criminals in the community. Detectives on the case are Detective-Inspectors J. Aldridge and F. Miller, Detective-Sergeants C. Behrins and W. Purcell and Detectives J. Green, J. Kroehnert, A. Power and P. Watson.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has suggested states should receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine based on their population sizes, after the federal government agreed to provide Victoria with an additional 100,000 Pfizer doses.

Victoria reported an additional nine new local coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the number of active cases in the state to 94.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Prime Minister Scott Morrison in north-west Sydney on Monday morning. Credit:Nick Moir

Speaking on Monday morning, Ms Berejiklian said the outbreak in Victoria appeared to be under control and NSW should receive its fair share of vaccine doses.

Anything we can do to help we should, she told 2GB radio. [But] I think fair is fair and we should just receive [doses] based on the size of every state.
The death of a second key Whiskey Au Go Go witness will not delay the start of a new inquest into the firebombing mass murder, the Queensland Coroners Court insisted after convicted killer Garry Dubois was found dead in his cell on Monday.

But a spokesman for the court said Dubois death could still have an effect on proceedings, which would examine the 1973 events that resulted in the deaths of 15 people.

The aftermath of the Whiskey Au Go Go firebombing.

The impact, if any, that Mr Dubois death will have on the inquest will need to be considered, a spokesman for the court said.

Dubois, a convicted killer and rapist, died early Monday morning in his Maryborough Correctional Centre cell.
Infamous Queensland criminal Garry Dubois, who killed Barbara McCulkin and her two daughters Vicki and Leanne McCulkin, has been found dead in his jail cell overnight.

Queensland Corrective Services confirmed a 74-year-old male prisoner was found dead in his Maryborough Correctional Centre cell about 4.30am on Monday.

Convicted killer Garry Dubois in 2017. Credit:7 News

Prison officers and paramedics tried to revive him in his single-occupancy cell, but he was declared dead about 5.20am. The death is not being treated as suspicious.

QCS will assist Queensland police in preparing a report for the Coroner.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has hit back at criticism of her choice to have a Pfizer vaccination, saying she intended to be vaccinated before a proposed trip to Tokyo but a bite from her groodle Winton and flu shot had caused the delay.

Receiving her first dose on Monday, the 51-year-old Premier had the Pfizer vaccine rather than AstraZeneca, which people aged 50 and older were recommended to receive under the national rollout from May 3.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is given the COVID-19 vaccination by clinical nurse Dawn Pedder at the Surgical Treatment Rehabilitation Service Centre in Brisbane. Credit:Sarah Marshall / Pool

Last month, Ms Palaszczuk said her plan to travel to Tokyo before the start of the Olympics on July 23 could mean the Pfizer vaccination would be recommended to her as the two doses can be given 21 days apart, rather than at least four weeks.

Ill be talking to my GP in two weeks time, Ms Palaszczuk said on May 24, when she received her flu vaccine at Queensland Parliament. The only proviso is that the [Brisbane] lord mayor, myself and the Prime Minister might have to go to Tokyo.
Loading Australias Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly confirmed on Monday that the Therapeutic Goods Administration had received a proposal from Pfizer that had also gone to medical regulators around the world on the safety and efficacy of their vaccine for people aged 12 to 15. They are examining that information, other regulators similar to the TGA have accepted the safety, efficacy and quality proposal, Professor Kelly said. It will be a matter for the TGA but I suspect that they would go along the same line, but the timing of that, Im unclear. Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said children returning to in-person school classes should be a particular priority.

Kids have lost enough time out of school over the last 18 months, he said. His comments came as a survey of Victorian aged care workers found more than a third did not want the COVID-19 vaccine to be mandatory, and one in four said they would consider quitting their job if they were forced to receive the jab. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video About 42 per cent of the 2000 nursing home staff surveyed by the Health Workers Union at the weekend said they were yet to receive their first dose, while 37 per cent had received one dose and 21 per cent had received two. About 70 per cent of workers  who include cleaners, kitchen staff and personal care assistants  said they had no concerns about being vaccinated, but about 36 per cent did not believe it should be mandatory.

If the vaccine was to become mandatory, 7 per cent said they would definitely leave the industry while 18 per cent said they would consider doing so. Health Workers Union secretary Diana Asmar said the overwhelming majority of aged care workers wanted to be fully vaccinated but were having trouble accessing the Pfizer vaccine. Cohealth nurse Ashley Nind prepares a dose at a pop-up vaccination clinic at the North Melbourne public housing tower that was locked down last year. Credit:Justin McManus On Friday Mr Morrison said he and state and territory leaders were leaning heavily towards making vaccinations mandatory for the aged care sector and had asked the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee to take another look at the issue. However, Professor Kelly had questioned whether that mandate was needed. He said the committee had previously flagged issues that would need to be addressed, including ensuring vaccines were easily accessible and enough staff were available if some suffered side effects.

Loading Seven of Mondays new cases were part of the original Kappa cluster which began with the leak from South Australian hotel quarantine, including one resident and two staff members at the Maidstone Arcare aged care facility. Victorias COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said the cases at Arcare were of the most significant concern. Interstate staff have been brought in to work at the centre, as usual workers were furloughed. Four of the new cases have been linked to the cluster in West Melbourne of the Delta strain, including three children. One new positive case was reported at North Melbourne Primary School on Monday. Professor Sutton said the virus had spread between two grade five students who were in the same classroom and then to their teacher, as well as among the students and teachers families.

The source of that outbreak is yet to be determined, with work under way to see if cases from hotel quarantine that previously couldnt be sequenced could provide some answers. The Delta variant is estimated to be 50 per cent more infectious than others, and Professor Sutton said it had a high attack rate, meaning 75 per cent of people in a household were becoming infected from a positive case. Its gone from a family of four, through those kids to another family, then to the entire family, then to a workplace, the teacher, the workplaces household, he said. There were 94 active cases in Victoria on Monday, 80 of them locally acquired.

Loading Professor Sutton said the numbers could have been worse if not for Victorias lockdown, which was last week extended by a second week in Melbourne to Thursday. These 11 new cases today is what has happened after a week and a half of a very stringent lockdown, Professor Sutton said. I cant tell you what an alternative universe would look like if we hadnt locked down, but you dont have to have an overactive imagination to imagine that if you had the opportunity for any number of people to come to your household every day of the last 10 days, that it might look very different. Deakin University epidemiology chair Catherine Bennett said a remaining concern was that there were new cases yet to be detected, but this was becoming less likely, buoying hopes that Victoria will be released from lockdown on Friday as planned.

I think 11 cases of known linkage, particularly with the vast majority already in quarantine, is actually better than three cases unlinked, said Professor Bennett. Meanwhile, on-the-spot vaccination clinics are popping up in foyers of high-rise public housing towers that endured last years hard lockdowns, with a handful of residents isolating as close contacts of confirmed cases. Mr Weimar on Monday said a small number of primary close contacts, fewer than five, lived in high-rise public housing blocks. They have tested negative. Those isolating in the towers have been offered alternative accommodation, but all had decided to stay at home for now, a state government spokeswoman said.

Loading That is less than 1 per cent of the primary close contacts of the West Melbourne cluster, Mr Weimar said. A very, very small number. Public health experts said there was no reason residents in high-rise public housing couldnt safely isolate at home. However, Professor Bennett suggested authorities could offer an extra COVID-19 test during their isolation, to provide an early warning for any positive results. Last year, nine public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington were surrounded by police and placed into a harsh lockdown in what Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass said violated the human rights of 3000 tenants who had no opportunity to prepare. North Melbourne tower resident Brian, from the Melrose Street block, said tenants were worried the hard lockdown would be repeated.

Its because the people dont know whats going on, said Brian, who did not want his surname published. When I say people are worried, they are worried. Believe me, they are worried. Pop-up vaccination clinics will also open at public housing towers in Carlton, Flemington and Collingwood, followed by Williamstown next week. Brian leaving the Melrose Street tower in North Melbourne last July after the hard lockdown. Credit:Simon Schluter Brian  who didnt think cleaning had been intensified in the common areas at his estate  said there had not been enough communication with residents about the pop-up clinics and testing sites, leaving people more confused and fearful. Health concierges, employed by cohealth, are stationed in each high-rise tower in Melbourne and can connect isolating residents with essentials.
UW in the News

State, national and international media frequently feature the University of Wyoming and members of its community in stories. Here is a summary of some of the recent coverage:

UW Assistant Professor Thomas Boothbys research into tardigrades (water bears) continues to be in the news. Smithsonian Magazine reported last week that NASA launched 5,000 tardigrades and 128 baby bobtail squid into space to study them aboard the International Space Station. CNN, Yahoo! News, SciTechDaily and Spaceflight Now also reported on the space research projects.

Vice quoted UW Professor Ken Sims in an article that focused on the World Bank cutting funding to a volcano observatory near Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo before a recent deadly eruption.

UW economist Rob Godby told The Wyoming Tribune Eagle that technology for a novel nuclear energy plant proposed for Wyoming differs from that of traditional nuclear energy facilities and is a new advancement. Gov. Mark Gordon and other officials made the announcement last week about the TerraPower plant -- a cutting-edge nuclear innovation company that is the brainchild of Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates. Government Technology published the article.

The Advocate included UW Professor Cathy Connolly in its Rocky Mountains 2021 Champions of Pride selections. The champions are the unsung heroes who are making inroads for LGBTQ+ people in their fields of work and in their communities every day despite the risks or challenges.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle featured the documentary 92 Miles: A Migration Story. The documentary follows Wyoming Migration Initiative Associate Research Scientist Patrick Rodgers as he ultra-runs the migration path of one of his study animals and faces the grief of losing his father, Neil, to cancer. Oil City News and SweetwaterNOW also published UWs release.

Scott Quillinan, the director of UWs Center for Economic Geology Research, was interviewed for an article, republished by Slate, titled Toxic Coal Waste Could Be the Key to Our Clean Energy Future. Seriously.

Laramie Live and KGAB Radio published UWs release noting that Kevin Carman, the new provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, begins his full-time duties this week.

UW Professor Emeritus Sherrill Shaffer offered valuable credit card balance transfer tips in a WalletHub interview.

Sheridan Media, The Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Oil City News published UWs release noting that Assistant Professor Di Yang headed a research group that investigated the environmental drivers of massive bird die-offs. The study found that severe wildfires and summer snowstorms last year led to patterns of mass mortality events for bird species in 12 Western states.

The UW Art Museum will host its annual summer solstice celebration June 19. KGAB Radio published UWs announcement that noted the free event celebrates the longest day of the year and the official beginning of summer.

The Laramie Boomerang noted that the UW Art Museum has two new summer exhibitions now on display for public viewing.

Wyoming Public Radio featured UW Extension sheep specialist Whit Stewart and others from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, who discussed how wool from UWs sheep will be sent to Mountain Meadows Wool, a full-service mill in Buffalo, which will transform it into custom blankets. UW Extension specialists noted that Wyoming will receive recognition this way for producing quality wool products.

Four Rock Springs Junior High students will attend UWs Windy Ridge Foundation Astro Camp this summer. SweetwaterNOW published UWs announcement on the camp that helps students with their science, technology, engineering, mathematics and communication skills.

Laramie Live published UWs release noting that the governor is among speakers who will discuss the state of the oil and gas industry in Wyoming during the Wyoming Oil and Gas Fair. UWs Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute organized the webinar series.

A new website showcases many donations that help tell the history of the pandemic in Wyoming the past year. The Rawlins Times published UWs release on the collaboration among the universitys American Heritage Center, the Wyoming State Archives and Wyoming State Museum.
One of Australias largest disability service providers has opened its own COVID-19 vaccination hub in Melbourne amid concerns about delays in rolling out the vaccine in disability homes.

Scope Australia, which supports 1400 people with a disability living in 170 group homes in Victoria, opened a hub in Glenroy in Melbournes north on Monday to help people with a disability get vaccinated more quickly.

The hub is run in partnership with Aspen Medical - one of the private contractors the federal government hired to distribute the vaccines - as part of the Commonwealth COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Scope has set up its own vaccination hub in Glenroy. Credit:Jason South

Australias 6000 disability homes were initially to be among the first to receive vaccinations under phase 1a of the vaccine rollout but aged care was later prioritised due to the high number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
A decorated Victoria Police commander says he is not guilty of leaking information about a secret corruption probe into allegations police improperly influenced a sexual misconduct investigation.

Stuart Bateson, a key investigator in Melbournes gangland war and prominent senior officer who was depicted in the TV series Underbelly, is facing Melbourne Magistrates Court this week contesting charges he told a junior policewoman about a secret Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission investigation.

Stuart Bateson (pictured in 2017) has been suspended from Victoria Police after he was charged with leaking information about an IBAC investigation. Credit:Eddie Jim

His lawyer, Marcus Dempsey, said his client was not guilty of the three charges laid under section 44 of the IBAC Act.

Prosecutor Sarah Thomas told the court on Monday that IBAC started an investigation in March 2018 called Operation Horton, which was looking into allegations of improper influence in a Victoria Police Salus investigation. Salus was a police taskforce established to investigate sexual harassment, sexual assault and predatory behaviour in the force.
Doctors are now confident they can detect and treat the rare blood clotting syndrome associated with AstraZenecas vaccine, with just one death recorded so far.

When the syndrome, known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia (TTS), was first identified one in four people with it died.

Professor Huyen Tran is leading the care for people who have suffered blood clots after having a dose of AstraZenecas vaccine. Credit:Eddie Jim

But the fatality rate has been dropping in Europe, where it was first identified. As of last Thursday, Australia had recorded 31 confirmed and 10 probable cases.

Of those cases, 23 are out of hospital and recovering, four require ongoing care and 13 remain in hospital.
Perth nurse Mary Tinos final wish before she died after developing sepsis at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital was for her husband to fight to stop the scenario repeating.

Please do something and change the system, I dont want this to happen to anyone else, she pleaded.

Mary Lilian Grace Tino died at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital from sepsis on January 13, 2020.

Ms Tino had been at the hospital for a week suffering from fluid build-up in her abdomen and an infection in her kidneys when she died in 2020. Doctors had flagged surgery for days but she wasnt operated on until the day of her death.

Now, her husband Bradley White wants to sue the hospital for negligence and is pleading for a coronial inquest into Ms Tinos death, hoping to find closure.
Australias biosecurity system is failing to pick up risks, doesnt target the greatest threats and in some cases lets people who have declared potentially harmful goods bring them into the country, a damning audit report has found.

Auditor-General Grant Hehir has made eight recommendations to the federal Agriculture Department, including that it develop a strategy on how to gather and use intelligence, a framework for assessing and prioritising risks, and ensures resources are allocated in proportion to risks.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud inspects an item that was detected using new biosecurity scanning machines at an Australia Post mail centre. Credit:Nick Moir

His report, released on Monday, recommends these changes be made by July 2022. The department agreed to all the recommendations but said the timeframe might not be feasible.

Opposition agriculture spokeswoman Julie Collins said the report laid bare an abysmal failure on biosecurity.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian would not accept a Victorian-style quarantine facility in NSW, insisting any purpose built centre would need to be the sole responsibility of the federal government.

The Premier says the Morrison government may choose to build and run a facility in the future, but stressed there had never been any push from NSW to establish specialised quarantine facilities.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Transport Minister Andrew Constance and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Sydney on Monday Credit:Nick Moir

If there was any proposal in the future, it wouldnt come from us because we are at stretch point right now, Ms Berejiklian said.

At this point in time, we dont have capacity to do any more than what we are doing.
The Coalition will push for universities to be exempted from the Victorian governments mental health levy when it comes before Parliament this week, arguing they have been unfairly caught up in a tax intended to target high-earning businesses.

Victorias seven universities will have to pay an additional $42 million in payroll tax each year as part of the levy, which is expected to raise $800 million annually over the next four years.

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas revealed the mental health tax on big employers at last months budget. Credit:Joe Armao

As universities rail against being included, the Business Council of Australia has been leading a behind-closed-doors lobbying mission aimed at convincing crossbenchers to vote down the new tax.

Representatives met with Reason Party MP Fiona Patten, who supports the levy, as recently as Monday to argue that together with $2.4 billion in new property taxes, the Andrews government was making Victoria an uncompetitive place to do business.
Installing a new minister in the middle of a pandemic and hospital crisis to try and make sense of a complex portfolio  which is the second largest department in the state government, with 50,000 staff members  would be a near impossible task and open itself to severe public scrutiny. Mr Cook has 13 years of experience in the portfolio and established relationships with his federal and state counterparts. The deputy premier had pushed for the treasury portfolio following Ben Wyatts retirement but the optics of shifting him out of health in a pandemic or giving him both roles proved unpalatable for Mr McGowan, who instead gave Mr Cook the added roles of state development, science, and jobs and trade. Mr McGowan said at his cabinet announcement three months ago that stability was needed in health. With all the troubles in the portfolio that sentiment would only have gotten stronger.

Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Roger, I shall fear no evil, for Colin [Barnett] art with me, my friends doth comfort me. Surely their love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the assembly forever. Kim Hames 2016 valedictory speech Global circumstances aside, Mr McGowan would want to avoid a cabinet demotion of his deputy which would sow the seeds of dissent within the caucus and anger the partys most powerful union  United Workers. The factionless Mr McGowans historic victory at the March election gave him a great say over the formation of his second cabinet but the astute politician still needed to keep the unions happy when it came to picking ministers. United Workers has the most MPs in government, boasting six of 17 cabinet ministers, and is the dominant partner in an alliance with the AMWU that forms Labors Left. Sue Ellery, Labors leader in the upper house, is another key figure from the union while the organisations former secretary Dave Kelly has avoided the chop from cabinet despite internal grumbling over his performance the last four years.

Loading Mr Cook is the poster child for United Workers, having being involved with the union for more than 30 years, and was thrust into a leadership role the moment he entered parliament in 2008 when he beat his Labor rival Mr McGowan 30-9 in a ballot for deputy opposition leader under Eric Ripper. To push Mr Cook, who has remained deputy in his political career, out of health and into any other portfolio but treasury would be an affront to the United Workers given he still has potential to one day become premier. Labor will keep calm and carry on and is still riding high on its emphatic election win. The party faces an inevitable slide in the popularity stakes as the country gets on top of vaccinations for COVID-19 if state issues such as the Pindan collapse, rental crisis, and cost-of-living continue to fester and influence public opinion.

The hospitals crisis, intertwined as it is with the pandemic response, looms as the biggest challenge for the state government which has made the issue a federal one with a national election in the winds and similar problems in other jurisdictions. Mr Cook told Parliament last Tuesday the health system issues were a national challenge which needed a national response. It does not matter if someone is a patient in Queensland, New South Wales or Victoria, they will see our hospital system right across the country coming under pressure, he said. That is borne out by the data that is being shared across each of the state jurisdictions, and it is the reason that the Premier will be sitting on the national cabinet on Friday this week to consider these very issues. We need to continue to make sure we invest in our hospital system because, like never before, it is under pressure.

Mr McGowan has already hinted this week at a bigger spend on health featuring in the September budget. In the lead up to the budget we will have to spend more on a range of areas, particularly health, so the exact effect of all of that well be able to reveal when the budget comes down on September 9, he said. Health Minister Roger Cook at a rally of education and hospital workers in 2012 when Labor was in opposition. Credit:Facebook Throwing money and WAs sizeable operational surplus from iron ore royalties at the problem might not make it go away, however, as the state competes with the rest of the country for medical staff. The government wants to open up 500 more beds over the next four years but to do that you need more nurses.
Like much of the Netherlands, Amsterdam lies below sea level. Built on a swamp and heavily expanded in the 17th century, the city sits atop millions of wood pilings that serve as foundations. The Royal Palace on the Dam, for example, rests on 13,659 of them. Virtually everything in central Amsterdam is supported by these pilings. Perhaps surprisingly, the pilings are still in relatively good shape, but they were engineered for a different age. Construction workers rebuilding the crumbling canal wall in the Grimburgwal district of Amsterdam. Credit:Ilvy Njiokiktjien/The New York Times At the time these were built to carry the weight of horses and carriages, not of 40-tonne cement trucks and other heavy equipment, said Egbert de Vries, the alderman in charge of what promises to be an enormous rebuilding project. As modern life changed the city, many houses were fortified with cement and concrete, but the underpinnings of streets and canal walls were ignored. Many of the wood pilings have shifted, cracked or collapsed under the pressure, causing the bridges and canal side walls to sag and crack. Water then seeps in, cleaning out mortar, further hollowing out the infrastructure and creating sinkholes.

Add to this all the traffic happily cruising the 17th-century canal rings where centuries earlier Rembrandt would walk to his studio and Spinoza debated religion. Four-wheel drives park right on the edges of the canals, while garbage trucks have displaced the boats that used to collect the waste. Before the pandemic, a flotilla of tourist boats swept through the canals, making sharp turns that created propeller turbulence, further eating away at the foundations. Something had to be done, and soon. If we would have continued like this we would have headed straight for a catastrophe, De Vries said. Tour boats, like these docked in Amsterdam, can no longer ply their normal routes, as many canals are blocked by construction or closed to them. Credit:Ilvy Njiokiktjien/The New York Times The reconstruction will take at least 20 years and cost 2 billion, about $3.14 billion, and perhaps even more, experts have calculated. These are big numbers, and work needs to take place in a very busy, closely populated area, De Vries said. People live here and work here, and we usually have many tourists. In the centre of the city, in the Grachtengordel, 15 bridges are currently under repair. Some are closed, like the Bullebak, an iconic bridge and critical part of the citys infrastructure.

Engineers are trying to prevent the collapse of the canal walls the bridge is connected to, while at the same time disentangling a web of electricity and internet cables, phone lines and other services that use the bridge. Loading Its a very complex intervention, said Dave Kaandorp, a building contractor working on the renovations. He did see one upside, as the canals were suddenly being used for what they were intended for. We bring a lot of the building materials over the water now. Still, many mainly see the downside of all the work. Along several of the citys most beautiful canals, historic trees have been cut down to ease pressure on the canal walls. Steel sheet piles shore up walls deemed to be in danger of imminent collapse. Divers and technicians with remotely operated underwater cameras search for the worst cracks. One would have hoped the municipality would have dealt with this earlier, said Kadir van Lohuizen, a well-known Dutch photographer who focuses on climate change. He lives on one of the 2500 houseboats in Amsterdam. Instead they spent all their money on the new metro line. That line, the North-South Line, about 11 kilometres long, cost more than 3 billion and took 15 years to build.

Van Lohuizen and the 24 other boat owners along the Waalseilandsgracht have recently been told they will have to relocate temporarily from spots where they have moored for decades so that repairs can be made to the canal walls. Some houseboats will be temporarily placed right in the middle of the canal. For others there is a chance that their boats wont fit anymore after support systems for the walls are placed, he said. Its a gigantic mess. Right now they are building at 2 kilometres a year, and 200 kilometres need to be repaired. This could take a century. The alderman, De Vries, acknowledged that Amsterdam in the coming years would look different from its usual postcard self. Still, he insisted that tourists should not be discouraged from visiting. We invite everyone to come and see what we are doing, he said. We want visitors to realise that such a magnificent city needs maintenance. Pinksterboer, the jewellery designer, stood next to the closed-off bridge by the sinkhole. Small red plates have been connected to the base of the bridge and to the canal walls. They use those to measure with lasers if the sagging is increasing, she said. Its a warning system. She burst out singing a popular Dutch childrens song: Amsterdam, big city/ It is built on piles/ If the city would collapse/ Who would pay for that?
Mexico City: A man lobbed a severed human head at a voting station in the border city of Tijuana and plastic bags filled with body parts were found nearby, authorities said, as Mexicans voted in the countrys largest elections in history.

Authorities said the man ran away, but they did not specify whether he was captured. They said they found plastic bags with human remains and severed hands in the area.

It was not immediately clear what message the gruesome act was meant to send and how it related to the election held on Sunday (Monday AEST).

The windshield of mayoral candidate Guillermo Valencia is shattered after an attack in Morelia, Michoacan state, Mexico, last month. Credit:AP

The campaign for MPs and state authorities has been one of the bloodiest in recent history. Security consultancy Etellekt said 97 politicians had been killed and 935 attacked.
Khaleem Westerman practices loading a box truck on a simulator as he participates in the new heavy equipment program at My Brothers Workshop on St. Thomas.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Sunday morning at about 08.30 am the central dispatch received a call from the Cupe Coy area concerning a female found in her apartment not showing any signs of life.

At the location, the patrol and ambulance personnel encountered the body of a female lying on the floor of her apartment. The doctor was later called to the scene who officially pronounce her death. It was later established that the deceased had passed away of natural causes.

Her remains were later transported to one of the local funeral homes. Until the next of kin is notified, her identity will not be disclosed. The Police Force of St. Maarten, we would like to express our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.

KPSM Press Release.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On June 15-17, the 5th annual Caribbean Aviation Meetup, CARIBAVIA for short, will be held on St.Maarten at the Simpson Bay Resort. It will be the third time that the conference is held in St.Maarten. In previous years, the event was also held in Dominica and The Bahamas.

The CARIBAVIA conference is a live communication platform for all Airlift stakeholders. Airlift is the common denominator of the interests of stakeholders in aviation, tourism, business development, and investment industries. It is equally important to government decision-makers. CARIBAVIA tries to bring them all together for better understanding and increased collaboration. Matters like inter-island transportation issues and opportunities require increased attention since they are needed to prepare for future changes in the region.

Every speaker may be considered a consultant at no charge during the conference days. First, they make a presentation. We encourage town-hall-type sessions and interaction with the audience, thus questions and answers. And after the presentation, there is always an opportunity to talk to them more privately on matters of special interest. The top value of the event is not just to sit and listen but rather to interact with these professionals and network, commented Cdr. Bud Slabbaert, conference chairman and coordinator.

Ill give you three examples, Slabbaert continued, The Vice-President of Frontier Airlines will join us from Denver, Colorado. His presentation will be the airline's expansion in the Caribbean and network Planning. Frontier will start flying to St.Maarten in July. Dr. Patricia Ryan is considered the authority in the Americas on commercial revenue development at airports. She will make a presentation titled Reimagining the Airport Concession Program, but also present a half-day workshop on Improving Customer Experiences. The CEO of interCaribbean Airways will present on the Development of Regional Air Transportation in the Caribbean. interCaribbean has a destination network from Cuba and the Bahamas in the North to Barbados in the South of the region. It expands its fleet and intends to connect to additional destinations. We are bringing these people to St.Maarten in person and questions can ask ad hoc on location.

CARIBAVIA has assembled an audio-visual team of four young passionate and talented St.Maarteners. They will receive training in the use of the equipment (four cameras) and the event will be their operation theater. For this activity, CARIBAVIA cooperates with the Infinite Sky Channel based in Hollywood (LA/Beverly Hills) and their film industry professionals support their current and future audio-visual activities on St.Maarten and in the region.

The DaVinci Inflight Training Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida holds a full-day workshop on the Monday prior to the conference titled Etiquette Protocol and Service Par Excellence. which is suitable and appropriate for professionals who are active in client relations and service settings. The DaVinci management decided to support CARIBAVIA by offering this workshop which will benefit Caribbean professionals, operations be it on aircraft, at airports and FBOs, or in hospitality or tourism office operations. The DaVinci Training Institute has informed CARIBAVIA about its plans to sponsor a group of young students to attend a NASA Space Youth Camp whereby the students airfare and lodging are covered.

The speaker who will join the conference on St.Maarten from the farthest away is a professional pilot from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She is also a Yoga Instructor. During the 3 conference days, Hatha Flow Yoga sessions will be held on the beach of the conference venue. And that for early risers who want to be fit and prepared for the day. Seven in the morning, 30 minutes. If participants like it, the Yogi (=yoga instructor) may extend it to 45 or 60 minutes. A little more yoga and a little less breakfast may be good for some people. Never done before, not heard of either at any other aviation conferences.

At the CARIBAVIA Welcome Dinner this year, Sapphire Pegasus Awards will be presented to six professionals for their outstanding performances and accomplishments. The Sapphire Pegasus Awards are a unique series of International Business Aviation Awards that are given to companies or individuals in the business aviation sector. The award events are held in Europe in the fall, and now on St.Maarten for the Caribbean and the Americas.

Nine international aviation and travel journalists from Europe and the USA of media outlets like Robb Report, Aviation International News, Caribbean Journal, etc. are committed to join and cover the event. The international magazine BlueskyNews will create a special CARIBAVIA issue that goes to 55,000 subscribers by email on the Thursday following the event.

CARIBAVIA is vigilant about the bio-security of all who are participating or involved in the implementation of the event. It will consult and follow the directions regarding gatherings. It will explore the options to meet in well-aired or outdoor locations at the venue.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Another economic booster for St. Maarten came online with the announcement that the Small Island Soca Cruise (SISC) will depart from St. Maarten on November 13, 2022, and return on November 18, 2022. The Small Island Soca Cruise will take place onboard the brand-new Virgin Voyagers cruise ship Scarlet Lady, a cruise ship that can accommodate 2,770 passengers and 1,160 crew.

The SISC is a six-day/five-night non-stop and all-inclusive carnival experience, calling on five ports with no less than seven on-shore parties. Over fifty acts and artists will entertain the revelers onboard the ship and on-islands. Ports of call will be St. Maarten, Antigua, Dominica, St. Kitts, and Tortola.

Indications are that cruisers will arrive two to three days prior to departure and will stay two to three days after the cruise which will result in another source of revenue for the island. The on-land parties are not restricted to cruisers only.

Reservations can be made online at www.smallislandsocacruise.com and locally at Maduro Travel, the official travel partner of the SISC (payment plan possible). Revelers from abroad can also make their reservations for flights, accommodation, transfers, and excursions at Maduro travel via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Retarus Expands Global Development Capacity

Posted by Publisher Telecommunication

Munich-based enterprise cloud provider Retarus continues its impressive growth trajectory with the opening of a new development center in Lisbon. Retarus? newly founded Portuguese subsidiary will hire 15 new employees by the end of this year with plans of further growth in the future. The new team will reinforce the software developers at the head office in Munich as well as in Timi?oara, Romania. Initially, they will be working on new features for the Retarus Secure Email Platform.

Retarus is officially opening their new subsidiary in June 2021, bearing testimony to the company?s excellent commercial development despite the pandemic as well as meeting the growing demand across companies as they digitize, automate, and cloudify their communication and business processes. The first employees are set to start working at the newly founded Retarus Portugal Unip Lda. in the beginning of June, with an end of the year growth plan to staff up to 15 developers.

?Portugal?s tech industry is currently growing twice as fast as any other tech hub in Europe. The country?s modern education system is among the best in Europe at university level and trains tech talents at the very highest level,? says Martin Hager, CEO and founder of Retarus. ?As an important IT hub, Lisbon also attracts a large number of foreign investors and highly qualified, international professionals. For us, this is a perfect environment to increase our capacity for software development even further and to find exactly the right talents to achieve this goal.?

?It is with great enthusiasm that we welcome Retarus\-\- decision to establish a new software development center in Portugal. This is yet another example of how our country is becoming a preferred destination for IT activities, and an important contribution to Portugal\-\-s positioning as a European tech hub, based on a broad spectrum of highly specialized talent that is part of a dynamic, multilingual, and cosmopolitan ecosystem?, adds Luis Castro Henriques, President of Portugal\-\-s state agency for investment and foreign trade, AICEP.

Retarus Portugal Unip Lda. becomes Retarus? 16th branch office and 12th international subsidiary along with Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, Romania, the UK, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, and the USA.

You can find more details and our currently open positions at landing.jobs/at/retarus as well as https://www.retarus.com/career/ .

With its outstanding solutions and services, intelligent infrastructure, and patented technology, Retarus manages communication for companies worldwide. Retarus\-\- state-of-the-art technologies, highly available data centers, and innovative cloud messaging platform offer maximum security, maximum performance, and business continuity. With experience in steering information flows at the enterprise level, Retarus ensures that information is transferred securely and reliably to the right place, at the right time, in the right format-since 1992 and with now 15 subsidiaries on four continents. 25 percent of S&P100 companies as well as numerous Fortune 500 companies in the banking, finance and healthcare sectors rely on Retarus\-\- services. Longstanding customers include Adidas, Amer Sports, athenahealth, Bayer, BNP Paribas, Bosch, Continental, Cubic Corporation, DHL, Fujitsu, Geico, Goldman Sachs, John Deere, J.P.Morgan, LabCorp, Merck, Petronas, PSA, Sony, and Zeiss. For more details: www.retarus.com
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STAMFORD  Despite the heat, families turned out for the Stamford Public Education Foundation (SPEF) Springtime Celebration at Mill River Park on Sunday.

The event featured performances by Project Music, Stamford High Schools Strawberry Hill Players, Westhill High Schools Jazz Ensemble, Stamford High Madrigals, and Stamford Hoop Girls. Rippowam Middle Schools Sid Watson provided DJ music between sets and winners of Excellence in Education awards were announced.
BEIJING (AP)  China on Monday defended a plan to build a university in Hungary, saying critics who protested against it in Budapest over the weekend shouldn't politicize and stigmatize normal exchanges between the two countries.

Several thousand people rallied in Hungarys capital on Saturday against an agreement with Shanghai-based Fudan University to open a branch in the city, citing the cost and links with Chinas authoritarian ruling Communist Party.

The plan, backed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, calls for the Budapest campus to be completed by 2024. It would enroll international students and be the schools only foreign outpost, as well as the first Chinese university campus in the 27-nation European Union.

The plan is an important platform for people-to-people exchanges and is in line with the current trend of the times and the interests of all parties," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing.

We hope the relevant people in Hungary will take an objective, rational and scientific attitude, avoid politicizing and stigmatizing the normal personnel exchanges between China and Hungary, and maintain the overall situation of friendship and cooperation between the two countries," Wang said.

Orban, a right-wing populist, has fostered closer ties with Russia and China as he faces European Union criticism of his authoritarian ways and staunch anti-immigration stance.

Budapest city authorities have opposed the university branch idea, saying the $1.9 billion project would place a huge burden on taxpayers and send the wrong political message because of China's record on human rights.

Lets make it clear whom we are not protesting against, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony told the protesters. We have our problem with dictators. ... And we are not in the least protesting against Chinese people who live together with us peacefully in this marvelous city.

He said in a statement Monday that it was understandable that China is attempting to broaden its political and economic influence.

"What is unacceptable is when the Hungarian government serves the broadening of Chinese political-economic influence instead of Hungarian interests," he said.

Minister of the Prime Ministers Office Gergely Gulyas said on Sunday that the people of Budapest would be able to decide in a referendum whether to proceed with the Fudan project once costs and other conditions had been finalized.

Hungarian officials have insisted that Fudan, ranked among the top 100 universities in the world, will help raise higher education standards in Hungary.

Fudan officials did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Justice Department has recovered most of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment made to hackers after a cyberattack that caused the operator of the nation's largest fuel pipeline to halt its operations last month, officials said Monday.

The operation to seize cryptocurrency paid to the Russia-based hacker group is the first of its kind to be undertaken by a specialized ransomware task force created by the Biden administration Justice Department. It reflects a rare victory in the fight against ransomware as U.S. officials scramble to confront a rapidly accelerating threat targeting critical industries around the world.

By going after the entire ecosystem that fuels ransomware and digital extortion attacks  including criminal proceeds in the form of digital currency  we will continue to use all of our resources to increase the cost and consequences of ransomware and other cyber-based attacks, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said at a news conference announcing the operation.

Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline, which supplies roughly half the fuel consumed on the East Coast, temporarily shut down its operations on May 7 after a gang of cybercriminals using the DarkSide ransomware variant broke into the company's computer system. The ransomware variant used by DarkSide, which has been the subject of an FBI investigation since last year, is one of more than 100 that law enforcement officials are now scrutinizing, said FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.

Colonial officials have said they took their pipeline system offline before the attack could spread to its operating system, and decided soon after to pay ransom of 75 bitcoin  then valued at roughly $4.4 million  in hopes of bringing itself back online as soon as it could. The company's president and chief executive, Joseph Blount, is set to testify before congressional panels this week.

In a statement Monday, Blount said he was grateful for the FBI's efforts and said holding hackers accountable and disrupting their activities "is the best way to deter and defend against future attacks of this nature.

The private sector also has an equally important role to play and we must continue to take cyber threats seriously and invest accordingly to harden our defenses, he added.

Cryptocurrency is favored by cybercriminals because it enables direct online payments regardless of geographical location, but in this case, the FBI was able to identify a virtual currency wallet used by the hackers and recovered the proceeds from there, said the FBIs Abbate. The Justice Department did not provide details about how the FBI had obtained a key for the specific bitcoin address, but said law enforcement had been able to track multiple transfers of the cryptocurrency.

For financially motivated cyber criminals, especially those presumably located overseas, cutting off access to revenue is one of the most impactful consequences we can impose, Abbate said.

Though the FBI generally discourages the payment of ransom, fearing it could encourage additional hacks, Monaco said one takeaway for the private sector is that if companies come quickly to law enforcement after ransomware incidents, officials may be able to again help recover funds  though that is not guaranteed.

The Bitcoin amount seized  63.7, currently valued at $2.3 million after the price of Bitcoin tumbled amounted to 85% of the total ransom paid, which is the exact amount that the cryptocurrency-tracking firm Elliptic says it believes was the take of the affiliate who carried out the attack. The ransomware software provider, DarkSide, would have gotten the other 15%.

The extortionists will never see this money, said Stephanie Hinds, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, where a judge earlier Monday authorized the seizure warrant.

Ransomware attacks  in which hackers encrypt a victim organization's data and demand a hefty sum for returning the information  have flourished across the globe. Last year was the costliest on record for such attacks. Hackers have targeted vital industries, as well as hospitals and police departments.

Weeks after the Colonial Pipeline attack, a ransomware attack attributed to REvil, a Russian-speaking gang that has made some of the largest ransomware demands on record in recent months, disrupted production at Brazils JBS SA, the world's largest meat processing company.

The ransomware business has evolved into a highly compartmentalized racket, with labor divided among the provider of the software that locks data, ransom negotiators, hackers who break into targeted networks, hackers skilled at moving undetected through those systems and exfiltrating sensitive data  and even call centers in India employed to threaten people whose data was stolen to pressure for extortion payments.

_____

Associated Press writer Frank Bajak in Boston contributed to this report.

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Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
WASHINGTON (AP)  A unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday that thousands of people living in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons are ineligible to apply to become permanent residents.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court that federal immigration law prohibits people who entered the country illegally and now have Temporary Protected Status from seeking green cards to remain in the country permanently.

The designation applies to people who come from countries ravaged by war or disaster. It protects them from deportation and allows them to work legally. There are 400,000 people from 12 countries with TPS status.

The outcome in a case involving a couple from El Salvador who have been in the U.S. since the 1990s turned on whether people who entered the country illegally and were given humanitarian protections were ever admitted into the United States under immigration law.

Kagan wrote that they were not. The TPS program gives foreign nationals nonimmigrant status, but it does not admit them. So the conferral of TPS does not make an unlawful entrant...eligible" for a green card, she wrote.

The House of Representatives already has passed legislation that would make it possible for TPS recipients to become permanent residents, Kagan noted. The bill faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.

President Joe Biden has said he supports the change in the law. But his administration, like the Trump administration, argued that current immigration law doesn't permit people who entered the country illegally to apply for permanent residency.

On the other side were immigrant groups that argued many people who came to the U.S. for humanitarian reasons have lived in the country for many years, given birth to American citizens and put down roots in the U.S.

Federal courts around the country had come to conflicting decisions about whether the grant of TPS status was, by itself, enough to enable an immigrant to try to obtain permanent residency.

Former President Donald Trump tried to cancel the program for many immigrants, stoking fear they could be sent back to their homelands where they haven't lived in many years.

All of these families that are established in the United States and have lived in our communities for decades faced a very real threat, said Lisa Koop, a lawyer with the National Immigrant Justice Center who also teaches at Notre Dame's law school.

In 2001, the U.S. gave Salvadoran migrants legal protection to remain in the U.S. after a series of earthquakes in their home country.

People from 11 other countries are similarly protected. They are: Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

Monday's decision does not affect immigrants with TPS who initially entered the U.S. legally and then, say, overstayed their visa, Kagan noted. Because those people were legally admitted to the country and later were given humanitarian protections, they can seek to become permanent residents.

Also on Monday, the court:

 Declined to hear a challenge to the requirement that only men register for the draft when they turn 18.

 Agreed to hear a case in which the Biden administration wants to halt a lawsuit over FBI surveillance of Muslims in California because it could reveal state secrets.

 Turned away an appeal questioning the federal Food and Drug Administration's authority to regulate electronic cigarettes.
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Milton, PA (17847)

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A critical care respiratory therapist works with a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Florida, U.S., February 11, 2021. /Reuters

Editor's note: The article is first published on Global Times. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

In the global fight against COVID-19, the U.S., the world's largest economy with strong capabilities in scientific research and industrial production and a self-proclaimed "beacon of democracy," has shocked the world with its poor performance. As of 27 May, Johns Hopkins University's statistics show that the U.S. ranks first in the world with more than 33 million cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 590,000 cumulative deaths.

With less than five percent of the global population, the U.S. accounts for nearly one-fifth of confirmed cases and 16.9 percent of deaths worldwide. A recent analysis report released by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) of the University of Washington estimates the actual number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. exceeds 900,000, far higher than the official figure. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on May 9 that the figure of 900,000 is "a bit more than I would have thought" but there is "no doubt" the U.S. has been underestimating its number of deaths from COVID-19.

Despite speeded up vaccination, the situation in the U.S. remains worrisome. In late February, deaths from COVID-19 topped 500,000, more than the combined death toll of World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War. U.S. health experts and officials have admitted that the country is faced with the fourth wave of infections. The Guardian reported on April 16 that at least 21 U.S. states had seen a 10 percent or more increase in new COVID-19 cases diagnosed daily.

Young people make up a growing share of new cases in the U.S. In March 2021, New Jersey saw a 31-percent jump in COVID-19 hospitalizations among young people aged 20 to 29, and the number of those aged 40 to 49 soared by 48 percent. Forbes.com reported that roughly one in every five U.S. respondents said they had lost a friend or family member to COVID-19. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a White House briefing that the situation felt like "impending doom" and "I'm scared."

During the pandemic, many ordinary Americans have lost their jobs and are living in dire straits, widening the gap between rich and poor. According to research by the University of Chicago, the U.S. poverty rate rose to 11.7 percent in March, the highest since the start of the pandemic, with the African-American poverty rate about twice the overall rate. Data from USAFacts.org shows that, as of April 19, nearly 40 percent of the nation's unemployed had been out of work for more than six and a half months. FeedingAmerica reports that by the end of 2020, one in every six Americans and one in every four American children faced the threat of hunger, a 50-percent increase from the previous year.

The U.S. society and the international community have criticized and reflected on the government's ineffectiveness in fighting the pandemic and the systemic problems behind it, saying that the root cause of the current situation in the U.S. is political division and manipulation. Some politicians have used the pandemic to seek their own agenda, putting politics above science and party interests before the interests of the people, creating chaos at many levels in the fight against the virus, which has cost the American people dearly and caused serious disruption and damage to the international cooperation on COVID-19 response.

Ignoring the science

For many months after the outbreak of the pandemic, the White House downplayed the threat of the virus. Public health officials and experts had to find a "tricky balance" between performing their duties honestly and transparently and adapting to the "fickle" administration. According to timelines published in The New York Times and Washington Post, the then U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly issued false information to mislead the public, claiming that the coronavirus was the "kung flu," the risk of infection and mortality rate were "very low" and that the pandemic would disappear "like a miracle."

All these contradicted the prevention and control information released by U.S. public health institutions and experts. U.S. journalist Michelle Goldberg once said, "the Trump administration's disdain for expertise, its elevation of slavish loyalty over technical competence, has become a more immediate threat." A New York Times article cited economic concerns as the main reason for the federal government's marginalization of scientists, claiming that "federal policy has been shaped to favor short-term economic gain at the expense of public health."

A Cornell University study concluded that "the president of the U.S. was the single largest driver of misinformation around COVID" and that he "comprised 37.9 percent of the overall misinformation conversation." The website PoliFact awarded the "Lie of the Year" for 2020 to the claims that "deny, downplay or disinform about COVID-19," and criticized the U.S. government for deliberately downplaying the threat, lying about caseloads, and providing misinformation about the origin of the virus, hospitalization and vaccine supply.

People march in honor of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., May 23, 2021. /Getty

Politics first

Under the U.S. federal system, response to the pandemic is fragmented. Each state fights on its own, with policy foot-stomping and competition for supplies occurring frequently, giving the virus opportunities to spread. Anthony Fauci said that when the country is clearly divided, it becomes extremely difficult to solve public health crises. "When public health issues become politically charged  like wearing a mask or not becomes a political statement  you can't imagine how destructive that is to any unified public health message."

Fauci also stated that the previous administration had downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic and some states and cities, out of political motives, chose to ignore the importance of containment measures. Even at the height of the pandemic, some governors and mayors in the U.S. still dismissed anti-pandemic protocols recommended by health experts. Eleven states, led by Texas, declared the complete lifting of lockdown and mask mandates and denounced federal anti-pandemic measures as meaningless. Los Angeles Times commented that the U.S. states are now working on their own, rather than with a unified national strategy to contain the virus.

The pandemic coincided with the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Election politics complicated the government's response to the pandemic. POLITICO.com reported that "during dueling appearances at a Capitol news briefing and in an interview with CNN, the Republican governor of Georgia and the Democratic mayor of the state's capital city, Atlanta, both accused the other's office of playing politics amid a pandemic that continues to ravage communities across Georgia."

The dean of the School of Public Health of Boston University indicated that party conflicts had prevented the U.S. from discussing the risk of the pandemic in a rational manner. U.S. Today commented that "President Trump blamed blue states for increasing the nation's death rates from coronavirus, ignoring high rates in red states."

The Democratic Party accused Trump of turning the tragedy into a political weapon and attributed the tragic deaths of American people to their trust of President Trump, while downplaying the problem of poor pandemic response in blue states. Bestselling author David Litt wrote, "that our government has failed to promote the public welfare during this crisis is a tragedy. But it's no surprise. From the way we manage elections to the way we fund campaigns, from the congressional districts we draw to the lobbyists we include in the policymaking process, the story is the same. The American republic is a government of fewer people, by fewer people, for fewer people than at any time in the past half-century. And We, the People, are suffering because of it."

Shifting blames and quitting international organizations

Some politicians in the Trump administration have repeatedly asserted that China was to blame for the outbreak of the pandemic. They have cooked up and spread conspiracy theories including the "lab leak theory," and even stigmatized China by inventing expressions such as "China virus" and "kung flu."

Yet, as CNN and Der Spiegel wrote, this type of rhetoric is apparently aimed at misleading domestic audiences and diverting blame for the administration's own mishandling of the pandemic. According to a POLITICO.com report last April, the U.S. National Republican Senatorial Committee "has sent campaigns a detailed memo ... advising GOP candidates to address the coronavirus crisis by aggressively attacking China." The New York Times also revealed that "senior Trump administration officials have pushed American spy agencies to hunt for evidence to support an unsubstantiated theory that a government laboratory in Wuhan, China, was the origin of the coronavirus outbreak, which will distort assessments about the virus and that they could be used as a political weapon."

In July 2020, the U.S. government officially informed the UN Secretary-General of its decision to withdraw from the WHO. By withdrawing from the WHO at a critical juncture in the global fight against the virus, the U.S. not only weakened its own efforts to address the pandemic, but also undermined global solidarity and created more obstacles to the global efforts against COVID-19.

Senator Robert Menendez, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted that withdrawing from the WHO "won't protect American lives or interests" and only "leaves Americans sick and America alone." Elizabeth Cousens, president and CEO of the UN Foundation, said in her statement that "the WHO is the only body capable of leading and coordinating the global response to COVID-19" and that "terminating the US relationship would undermine the global effort to beat this virus  putting all of us at risk."

The U.S. withdrawal also cast a political shadow over the scientific issue of origin-tracing. The Associated Press reported that "President Donald Trump spread a number of false and misleading claims" in his letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announcing the withdrawal. Trump asserted that the Chinese government "consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier, including reports from The Lancet medical journal."

However, according to The Lancet, such a report did not exist. As an analyst from the Russian think tank Valdai Discussion Club wrote, U.S. "accusations against WHO unwittingly suggest thoughts of trying to find a 'scapegoat' against the background of the difficult epidemiological situation in America."

After announcing its return to the WHO this year, the U.S. government openly gathered a handful of countries to question the research report issued by the joint China-WHO expert group on the origins of COVID-19, incited the media to challenge the scientific integrity of the experts involved, and falsely claimed that the Chinese government helped the WHO draft the report. This, as Russia's Zvezda TV commented, is a dirty political trick, for whatever the WHO conclusion might be, the U.S. will always find a way to shift blame on China.

The most important thing for these countries, as the Russian media outlet observed, is to curb China's growth, given that China is now taking a more and more important position in the world. Russian newspaper Nezavissimaia Gazeta quoted the words of Alexey Maslov, director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, that the U.S. needs to present solid evidence if it wants to hold China accountable since its own experts and those from other Western countries were involved in the study in Wuhan. Maslov indicated that the U.S. and some Western countries are using the pandemic to serve their political agenda, turning a blind eye to the fact that the number of infections and death toll in their countries are still on the rise.

The 265th Infectious Control Georgia Army National Guard enters Canterbury Court, a senior living facility to disinfect the building during the coronavirus outbreak, in Atlanta, U.S., April 10, 2020. /AP

Racial discrimination

COVID-19 has exacerbated systemic racial discrimination in the U.S. Data released at the beginning of this year by the American Public Media Research Lab shows that 1 in every 595 Native Americans and 1 in every 735 African Americans died from COVID-19, while for white Americans the average rate is only 1 in 1030. A study by JAMA Pediatrics suggests that as of February this year, 43,000 children in the U.S. have lost at least one parent to COVID-19. The African American child population, which represents 14 percent of the total child population in the U.S., accounts for up to 20 percent of children who have lost at least one parent. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, minorities in the U.S. receive far fewer vaccines than whites.

Twenty-five percent of white Americans have received at least one dose of vaccine, while the figures for African Americans and Hispanics are merely 15 percent and 13 percent respectively. Vaccination sites, which are readily available in affluent white neighborhoods, are scarce in minority and low-income communities. As former U.S. President Barack Obama pointed out, "A disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country." Obama added, "We see it in the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on our communities."

Due to the radical views preached by some public figures, the Asian American community has become the scapegoat for the poor COVID-19 response. U.S. media reported that crimes against Asians surged nearly 150 percent in the U.S. in 2020 and 883 percent in New York City. A report dated March 16 by Stop AAPI Hate shows that from March 19, 2020 to February 18, 2021, the organization received reports of a total of 3,795 hate incidents against Asian Americans, with Chinese Americans being the number one target and accounting for 42.2 percent of the victims. A survey by the Pew Research Center released on April 21 shows that 81 percent of Asian Americans and 56 percent of all Americans believe that violence against Asians is increasing.

Of Asian Americans, 45 percent said they have experienced racial discrimination; 32 percent said they have feared being threatened or physically attacked; and 27 percent said they have been subject to verbal attacks using racially discriminatory and insulting words. Results of a Morning Consult survey on April 7 indicate that 63 percent of Chinese adult respondents say they have experienced racial discrimination and 53 percent of Asian respondents say that former President Donald Trump should be responsible for the discrimination they face.

Vaccine nationalism

The U.S. is taking an "America First" approach to vaccine hoarding. The number of vaccines produced and purchased by the U.S. has far exceeded the country's domestic needs. Tracing vaccine contracts worldwide, the Duke Global Health Innovation Center found that by January this year, the U.S. had snapped up around 2.6 billion doses, accounting for about a quarter of the global total and nearly four times the amount needed by the U.S. population of 330 million (based on two doses per person).

However, according to the UK statistics company Airfinity, the U.S. had loaned merely a token 4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to Mexico and Canada up to March 2021. Citing the CDC's tracking of COVID-19 vaccine distribution and inoculation, Bloomberg suggested that vaccine hoarding is a serious problem in many parts of the U.S., with about one-third of vaccines left unused in some states. News website Axios commented that while several billion people around the world wait anxiously for vaccines, 30 million shots are sitting idly in Ohio warehouses.

In April 2020, the then U.S. President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to put export controls on raw materials for vaccine production, which has remained effective to this day. To give an example of its impact, India has already authorized adenovirus vector vaccines, but due to U.S. export controls, the lack of raw materials has seriously constrained the country's vaccine production capacity.

The CEO of Serum Institute of India has tweeted a request to President Joe Biden to lift the embargo of raw material exports. Both French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have expressed hope that the U.S. will drop export restrictions on raw materials and vaccines. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has also said that the imposition of legal barriers by some countries is "putting lives at risk."

On May 24, 2020, when the U.S. was reaching a grim milestone of 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, The New York Times devoted its entire front page to listing the names, ages and identities of 1,000 lives lost to the coronavirus. "They were not simply names on a list. They were us. Numbers alone could not measure the impact of the coronavirus on America, whether it is the number of patients treated, jobs interrupted or lives cut short."

One year later, with the death toll from COVID-19 in the U.S. approaching 600,000, people couldn't but wonder: is this the way the U.S. government plans to show the American people and the global community that it has passed the human rights test in this pandemic?
A virtual workshop on Customs Valuation and Transfer Pricing was jointly held by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) from 31 May to 3 June 2021. More than 70 participants from Customs and Tax administrations of the WCO North of Africa, Near and Middle East region and a number of Europe countries attended the workshop.

This workshop is the continuation of a series of regional workshops for Customs and Tax administrations as part of joint WCO/OECD efforts to explore the synergies between Customs valuation and transfer pricing. Participants had an opportunity to learn about different methodologies adopted by Customs and Tax administrations to address the issue of transfer pricing and to share their working experience in this regard.

Two experts from the WCO and the OECD facilitated the workshop. The four-day programme consisted of an overview of the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement, the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines, Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan, and relevant case studies. The WCO facilitator focused on the Customs valuation treatment of related party transactions and instruments adopted by the Technical Committee on Customs Valuation. The OECD facilitator elaborated on the arms length principle and its application, comparability analysis and Transfer Pricing documentation.

The WCO and the OECD will continue to cooperate closely in the field of transfer pricing, and provide a platform for exchanges and dialogue between Customs and Tax officials with a view to promoting mutual cooperation and facilitating enterprises.
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For a country brimming with pro-family politicians, the United States sure is a tough place to raise a family.

We Americans like to think Were No. 1, but one recent study found that the United States was the second worst out of 35 industrialized countries as a place for families. We ranked behind Bulgaria. Behind Chile.

Now we have a historic chance to support children and families, for President Joe Bidens American Families Plan proposes programs such as high-quality day care and pre-K that are routine elsewhere in the world. You might think that the pro-family Republican Party would be eager to translate platitudes into practical help. But youd be wrong.

You know who else liked universal day care? tweeted Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. She cited the old Soviet Union, apparently suggesting that there is something communist about day care, and falsely claimed that participation would be mandatory under the Biden plan.

J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy, warned, Universal day care is class war against normal people. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., denounced efforts to put Washington even more in the middle of your life, from the cradle to college. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., railed at lefty social engineering.

In Idaho, a Republican state representative, Charlie Shepherd, explained that he was against a day care measure because that makes it easier or more convenient for mothers to come out of the home and let others raise their child. He later apologized because his remarks sounded sexist.

This is sad because the GOP is right to hail the importance of family. Having loving, supportive parents who read to children, hug them and help them with homework  thats crucial for kids. One University of Minnesota study found that maternal attachment at age 3 was a better predictor of high school graduation than IQ.

So Republicans are correct that healthy families make a healthy nation. Democrats sometimes are too reluctant to acknowledge the toll of dysfunctional families, for fear of blaming the poor for their poverty, but its difficult to have a serious conversation about improving opportunity and equity in the United States without acknowledging the complicated problems in many homes.

Some 8 million American children  roughly 1 in 8  live with a parent with a substance abuse problem. Millions more live in a household with domestic violence. Others are latchkey kids who look after younger siblings because parents are working and no day care is affordable.

Families desperately need help. In other countries, they get it. In the United States, they get empty homilies about the importance of family.

As a poorer nation in World War II, the United States could afford to operate an excellent day care program to enable moms and dads to hold jobs in the war economy. A follow-up study found that children in that wartime day care went on to enjoy higher high school and college graduation rates and earned more money as adults.

As of 2019, only 34% of American 4-year-olds attended state-funded preschool, and an important new study underscores why America needs national high-quality pre-K. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Boston offered public programs for 4-year-olds but couldnt meet demand, so a lottery was used to determine which children to accept.

Scholars have now found that the long-term effects of this random assignment were enormous. Children who had been accepted into pre-K were 18% more likely to enter college on time. They were more likely to graduate from high school and get better SAT scores, and were less likely to be incarcerated while in high school and disciplined as often. Effects were particularly strong for boys.

This new study is part of an enormous body of research showing that the greatest leverage we have to help people may be early in life, as brains are developing.

Skeptics say early childhood programs are expensive. Sure  but poorer countries can afford them. And educational failure and juvenile delinquency are even more costly, and also undermine American competitiveness around the world.

Senators say they care about crime. Well, heres a way to reduce juvenile crime: Offer high-quality pre-K. They say they want to help young people attend college. So back the Biden plan for pre-K. In other words, this isnt spending, but high-return investment.

Its odd that Republicans perceive early childhood programs as a Democratic plot. One of the best states for early childhood programs is Republican Oklahoma, and Oklahomans dont see pre-K as communist but as common sense: If you dont invest in children at the front end, you pay at the back end.

Bidens effort to slash child poverty and create systems for day care and pre-K could be historic. Its the most important policy issue of 2021. These initiatives would do for children and families what Social Security and Medicare did for the elderly.

So, please, Republicans, come to your senses: Helping children isnt the first step to communism. Its a step to strengthening Americas families, and thus to strengthening America.

NICHOLAS KRISTOF is a columnist for The New York Times.
Published: 7 June 2021

Sea transport decreased in April

The goods volume of foreign sea transport was in total 7.2 million tonnes in April 2021. Sea transport decreased by 17 per cent from last year's April. Exports decreased by nine per cent and were 4.0 million tonnes. Import volume decreased by 26 per cent and amounted to 3.1 million tonnes.

Foreign sea Transport by month (tonnes) in 2019 to 2021

General cargo was transported most, in total 1.5 million tonnes, which is 20 per cent of all transport. The second most transported were ores and concentrates, 0.8 million tonnes, and paper, 0.7 million tonnes.

Container transport

A total of 0.9 million tonnes of containers were transported through Finnish ports in April 2021, which is 16 per cent less than in April 2020. The number of containers transported was 65,730 (116,828 TEU containers) 1) . Exports of containers went down by 17 per cent measured in tonnes and imports went down by 12 per cent compared to April 2020.

Vehicle transport

A total of 155,328 transport equipment were transported in foreign sea traffic in April 2021. Most transports of transport equipment were trucks. In April, 59,063 trucks were transported. The second most transported were passenger cars belonging to passengers, 53,576 and truck trailers, 39,020.

Passenger traffic

A total of 198,199 persons were transported in passenger traffic in April 2021. In all, 123,072 persons travelled between Finland and Estonia and 70,776 persons between Finland and Sweden and 4,351 passengers between Finland and Germany. Compared with the rock bottom in passenger traffic caused by the pandemic, the number of passengers tripled in April. Compared with April 2019, the number of passengers was, however, just 14 per cent. In April 2021, no passengers of foreign cruise ships arrived in Finland.

Vessel traffic and goods volume in the Saimaa Canal

A total of 60,393 tons of transport were registered through the canal in foreign traffic. Timber was transported most in vessels in foreign traffic, in total 22,426 tonnes. The second most transported were crude minerals and cement.

1) TEU, the basic measurement unit of container traffic, refers to one container that is twenty feet long, eight feet wide and 8.5 feet high.

Source: Transport and tourism, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Matti Kokkonen 029 551 3770, Sami Lahtinen 029 551 3207, matti.kokkonen@tilastokeskus.fi

Head of Department in charge: Hannele Orjala

Publication in pdf-format (166.6 kB)

Updated 07.06.2021

Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Foreign Shipping Traffic [e-publication].

ISSN=2670-2002. April 2021. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 13.6.2021].

Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/uvliik/2021/04/uvliik_2021_04_2021-06-07_tie_001_en.html
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Monday, 07 June 2021 12:13:45 (GMT+3) | Istanbul

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has announced that it has made a final determination regarding the antidumping duty (AD) investigation on certain rebar from Oman and Russia. The investigation was initiated on December 4, 2020.

Accordingly, the final antidumping (AD) margins determined for these countries are at eight percent for Oman and 45 percent for Russia, in line with the provisional antidumping duties announced in March this year.

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal is continuing its inquiry into the question of injury to the domestic industry and will make a finding by July 2, 2021.

The subject goods are classified under the following tariff classification numbers 7213.10.00.11, 7213.10.00.12, 7213.10.00.13, 7213.10.00.90, 7214.20.00.00, 7215.90.00.20, 7215.90.00.30 and 7227.90.00.50.
Co-chair of the Save Romania Union - Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (USR PLUS) alliance Dan Barna said on Monday that he would ask coalition partners to reject special pensions for locally elected officials, noting that there were "surprise votes" in parliamentary committees.

In a statement to the media, he said that the issue was discussed at the USR PLUS National Bureau meeting.

"It is an initiative in Parliament; we see surprising votes, to say the least, in parliamentary committees. USR PLUS remains consistent with its message that I will convey to the coalition tonight. The fight with special pensions means, piece by piece, dismantling this system of deeply-seeded benefits and cronyisms set in stone in the national legislation. Given that these special pensions have not come into force ... we must make sure that they never do, because we see - and we have the bitter experience of past legislature - how difficult it is to repeal various categories of special pensions when they become active legislation. Which is why our position is to block and prevent the entry into force of this initiative, and we are calling on our coalition colleagues to supports the rejection of this law, which would enter into force next year," Barna said at the Parliament House.USR on Thursday accused PNL, the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) of not supporting in the human rights committee a positive opinion on a bill repealing special pensions for locally elected officials.Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Ludovic Orban, the national leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), said on Friday that no special pensions are currently paid to mayors, mentioning that he, during his term as prime minister, and the Citu government have extended the entry into force of the provisions to that end in the Administrative Code."At present, no special pensions are paid to mayors. So, as the prime minister, I postponed the entry into force of the provisions of the Administrative Code in 2020, and so did the Citu government. Obviously, the pension law will regulate this subject more thoroughly. You know that there is intense activity at the Ministry of Labour. There is also a coalition-level commission that is practically preparing pension reform," Orban said when asked about the allegation of PNL's governing ally USR PLUS allegations against PNL that the Liberals did not endorse in the committees a bill on the repeal of special pensions for locally elected officials.He said that if necessary, the issue would be discussed in the ruling coalition..
The Local Police sanctioned sanitation company Romprest in June with fines of 160,000 lei, according to District 1 City Hall, agerpres reports.

"The Environmental Protection Department within the Local Police imposed, between June 1 and June 7, 2021, contraventions on Romprest Service Company amounting to 160,000 lei. The highest sanctions, in the amount of 60,000 lei and 80,000 lei, were given for non-compliance with the notifications of the contracting authority applied on the basis of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 195/2005 on environmental protection. This occurred after the Local Police indicated to the Romprest Service Company the exact locations for picking up the landfills, and it did not comply," mentions the local authority.

In addition to these fines, four more contraventions were imposed in the total amount of 20,000 lei for non-compliance with the sanitation program mentioned in the contract for delegating the management of sanitation services in the administrative area of District 1. These fines were applied based on HCGMB 120/2010 on the approval of the Sanitation Norms of the Municipality of Bucharest, added District 1 City Hall.The Prefect of the Capital, Alin Stoica, declared on Monday, at noon, that he will give an answer on Tuesday, after receiving the report of the Environmental Guard, in the case of the request formulated, on Friday, by the Local Committee for Emergency Situations to establish the state of alert in District 1, in the context in which garbage has not been collected in this administrative area.According to the prefect of the Capital, if there is a contract performance problem, the court must rule and until then the services must continue to be provided."Each party to a contract must normally perform his contractual obligations in good faith and in full. (...) It is up to the courts to rule on a possible breach of contract. At this point we are looking at ways to ensure the service and its continuity," added Alin Stoica.
President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, will participate, on Thursday, June 10, at the Romanian-Israeli monument in the Bucegi Mountains, in the military and religious commemoration ceremony for the seven servicemen, six Israelis and one Romanian, who died in the air tragedy of 2010, agerpres reports.

According to a release sent, on Monday, to the National Defence Ministry, the ceremony in the Brasov County commune of Simon will be attended by Romanian and Israeli officials, comrades and family members of the servicemen killed on mission.

The Ambassador of Israel to Bucharest, David Saranga, mentioned that President Reuven Rivlin, who will be in Romania starting Tuesday, on a state visit, will participate in the commemoration event, together with the head of the Israeli Air Force."On Thursday, President Rivlin, the head of the Israeli Air Force and the head of the Romanian Air Force will participate in the ceremony to commemorate the soldiers who lost their lives in the helicopter accident in 2010, in the Bucegi Mountains. The officials will be joined by 100 family members of the seven heroes," said Ambassador David Saranga in a Facebook post.
Justice Minister Stelian Ion participated today in Luxembourg in the works of EU's Justice and Home Affairs Council, discussing on this occasion with his Italian and French counterparts subjects related to bilateral cooperation, the Justice Ministry announced in a statement, agerpres reports.

This was the first physical meeting of the Justice Ministers since the onset of the COVID pandemic.

An extremely important item on the agenda, the Justice Ministry notes, was the start of the operation, on June 1, of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). In this context, the Romanian JusMin reminded that Romania has launched the second procedure for the selection of 9 delegated European prosecutors, which is due for completion in July 2021."The process for the selection of the delegated European prosecutors must be robust, solid, so as to not undermine EPPO's credibility and functioning," Justice Minister Stelian Ion was cited as saying."On the sidelines of the Council session, Stelian Ion met with Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, with whom he discussed the justice package and the dismantling of the special Section for the Investigation of Judicial Crimes; the Commissioner said that these are essential elements in the context of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism and the rule of law, pointing also out the importance of Romania complying with the European Court of Justice ruling of May 18," the statement reads.The Romanian Justice Minister also discussed bilateral cooperation with the his Italian and French counterparts Marta Cartabia and Eric Dupond-Moretti, respectively.
American writer Rod Dreher, who converted to Orthodoxy in 2006, spoke on Friday to Basilica.ro about his conversion, about Romanian Orthodoxy as a gift from God returned to the world by Romanians and about the lessons offered by the martyrs of the Romanian communist prisons to contemporary people  including his children, basilica reports.

Rod Dreher has come to Romania to promote his book, Live Not By Lies, recently translated into Romanian by Contra Mundum Publishing House.

Basilica.ro: What does it mean to live not by lies?

Rod Dreher: Living in the modern world today means accepting things that arent true. For example, gender ideology is a big one: we are compelled to say a man can be a woman and a woman can be a man.

People who live in America, who emigrated from communist countries, are saying that we are living now in America and in the West, in general, a new kind of totalitarianism, that requires us to live by lies. In the same way, under communism, you had no choice but to agree with the communist ideology. Or, you would suffer.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, in 1974, just before he was sentenced to exile by the Soviets, sent a message out to his followers in the Soviet Union, saying: Live Not By Lies! That was the name of it.

He told them: We can not overthrow this government, but at least we can speak honestly about what we believe. Or, at least, not say things that we do not believe. Solzhenitsyn said: If we have the courage to do this, we can change our country.

I feel this message is so important for us today in the modern world, in the West and beyond. When we see things and hear things that we know are lies, we have to stand against them for the sake of honouring God, Who is Truth, and for the sake of our own dignity.

Conversion has to be primarily in the heart, not in the mind

Basilica.ro: How was your first encounter with Orthodoxy? What attracted you most to it?

Rod Dreher: I was formerly a Roman Catholic. But more than a decade ago something happened and I was afraid I was losing Christ. One day, my wife and I decided to take our children and attend an Orthodox Cathedral in Dallas, Texas, where we were then living. When I went into that Orthodox church, I knew that this was what I have been looking for all along.

What attracted me the most was the overwhelming sense of holiness there. I dont think the Orthodox Church is free of problems, we are human beings. But in Orthodoxy, there was this idea that God is present in a way that I never encountered Him.

It was the beauty of the liturgy, the holiness of the liturgy, and the way of Theosis, the Jesus Prayer. They drew me in. I began to say the Jesus prayer even when I was a Catholic. And I could see the changes that God was making to my soul.

After a year of worshipping as an Orthodox, my wide and I made the decision to convert. It was in 2006.

The great gift of Orthodoxy it was that it made me aware that conversion is not primarily intellectual. Conversion has to be primarily in the heart. I had never felt closer to God than I have now as an Orthodox Christian.

An experience many Americans are unknowingly looking for

Basilica.ro: How did you get to know Father Calciu-Dumitreasas work and how did this influence you?

Rod Dreher: He was the spiritual father of my dear friend, Presbytera Frederica Matthewes-Green, probably the best-known American Orthodox writer. She told me about him and gave me his book with sermons, writings and interviews. I was overwhelmed by the courage and holiness of this man.

When I read about his experience in Pitesti Prison, I couldnt believe how evil men can become. But also God preserved him and others like him. His testimony about how he and the other cared for Constantin Oprisan as he was dying (while imprisoned  ed. note) made a powerful impression on me.

And I wanted to repeat that story for my American readers so they can see what God and the Orthodox faith did for Father Gheorghe (Calciu) and how we can have the same thing if we open our hearts to it, if we open our minds to it.

Orthodoxy is so foreign in America. It is an expression of Christianity and an experience of God that so many Americans are looking for, but they just dont know it.

One can talk apologetics, talk about the ideas, but thats not as important as telling the story.

When you tell the story of what Father Gheorghe (Calciu) did and other Romanians did under communism, the witness that they showed, their willingness to suffer for the Lord and to do so in love, that is the sort of thing that shakes people to the foundations and opens their minds and their hearts to the Holy Spirit.

To be like Fr. Gheorghe (Calciu), who was like Christ

Basilica.ro: What do the martyrs of the Romanian communist prisons represent to you, personally? What do we have to learn from them?

Rod Dreher: My book Live Not By Lies is about the lessons that we, in the West, and modern people today, even in the East, have to learn from the communist experience, from the martyrs and the confessors who withstood it.

For me, their stories show not only the worst of humanity, but also the very best: What can we withstand for the love of God.

I remember during Lent one year I was reading to my children from Father Gheorghe (Calciu)s story about what happened in the Pitesti Prison. Not the worst of it, of course. I wanted them to know that these things did not happen hundreds or even a thousand years ago, but it happened in our own time. So they can see the evil that man is capable of, but also what God gives us to withstand it.

I wanted them to know that we have to be like Father Gheorghe (Calciu), who was like Christ. For me, that is the greatest gift of the story of the Romanian martyrs and confessors. They tell us what to do when we are put to test.

One thing is to have these abstract ideas, but when you see it in flesh and blood it makes a big difference.

Photo: Catalin Sturza

On my first night in Romania, after dinner, we stood across the church where Father Gheorghe had his famous sermons. Standing in the street across the church where Father Gheorghe said what he said made me realize that, in a small way, I have to try and have the courage that he had, to tell the truth, no matter what happens and to encourage Romanians and everybody else to realize what God has given us.

We dont have to bend the knee in front of this ideology. If we are willing to suffer as Christ suffered, we can be victorious. And we have to.

Back in my hotel room I prayed to God for that courage and I also asked Father Gheorghe to pray for me here, in Romania, and for the rest of my life, that I can do whatever God asked me to do, no matter the costs.

Romanians offer Orthodoxy to the world  a gift from God and their ancestors

Basilica.ro: What do Eastern-European countries of Orthodox tradition represent for an American Orthodox Christian?

Rod Dreher: Orthodoxy is very-very small in America. There are more Muslims than Orthodox Christians in America. And we dont really know how to do it, how to be Orthodox. Were trying our best. We have to learn, though, from our brothers and sisters who have been living Orthodoxy for many centuries.

So we have to come to the Est, to Romania, to Orthodox countries with humility. And say: Show us what youve been doing. Show us how we can do it, too. I think that this is something unfamiliar for Americans.

We, Americans, to be honest, can be quite arrogant. We think that we know better than everybody else. But in the case of Orthodoxy, we are just (unknowing  ed. note) children. And I dont say that in an unkind way, but we just are. We need to learn from older Orthodox cultures.

For me, waking into Orthodox churches here, in Romania, you can feel the depth and the intensity of spirituality. I texted my wife: We have to come back to this country.

The spiritual richness here is something Ive never experienced in America. You know, God is everywhere. But God has been with the Romanians for so long and so intensely that I, as an outsider, as an American, I can feel it.

And I hope that Romanians will cherish what they have and be proud of what God has given them. Not just proud, but also grateful, because this is a gift of God, this is a gift of your ancestors, who have suffered and died for the triumph of the Cross. And what a gift your country has to give to us!

Call card

Rod Dreher is a Senior Editor for The American Conservative and an Orthodox blogger. His articles have been published in the New York Post, National Review, Wall Street Journal.

He is the author of five books, of which the best known is the bestseller The Benedict Option (2017), named by David Brooks from the New York Times as the most discussed and most important religious book of the decade.
The UNTOLD festival will take place during the period of September 9-12, in central-western Cluj-Napoca, and it is the first large festival in Europe announced for this year, according to the organizers.

"The long awaited announcement for the fans is official! Hundreds of thousands of people, from all over the world, will be able to enjoy themselves again for 4 days and 4 nights in the magical realm of UNTOLD, in Cluj-Napoca. This year's meeting between fans, artists, organizers and festival partners, will be hard to match and full of emotional charge, after a break of almost 2 years. UNTOLD, one of the largest festivals in the world, will open its gates, for 4 days and 4 nights, between September 9-12, 2021. Thus, UNTOLD is one of the few international scale festivals, which will be taking place this year, in the world!" according to a press release sent by the organizers.

In accordance to the source, the Romanian Government has given its approval for organizing large festivals, without a capacity limit."UNTOLD 2021 will be a long awaited reunion, after a break of almost two years, for a global celebration of returning to normalcy. And for those over 1,000 suppliers and 15,000 collaborators of the festival, the guarantee that this sixth edition of UNTOLD is happening means a re-launch of activity after more than 16 months of break. Initially scheduled for August 2021, the organizers of the UNTOLD festival, say that moving it to September represents an extra guarantee of the fact that the festival will be held this year, at the highest standards, with the best artists and in the safest conditions," the press release reads.In the 2019 anniversary edition of UNTOLD there were participating over 375,000 people."The UNTOLD organizers announce that they are preparing this year too great international names and the most intense experience so far. Throughout the years, names such as: David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Avicii, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Armin van Buuren, Kygo, Steve Aoki, Tiesto, Afrojack, Diplo, Hardwell, The Chainsmokers, Timmy Trumpet, Axwell ' Ingrosso, Don Diablo, Marshmello, Solomun, Nina Kraviz, Boris Brejcha, Paul Kalkbrenner, Jamie Jones, Pan-Pot, Tale of Us, Sven Vath, Chris Liebing, Dubfire, Robbie Williams, The Prodigy, Black Eyed Peas, Stormzy, Jason Derulo, Tinie Tempah, Ellie Goulding, Hurts, John Newman, James Arthur, MO and many others, took to the stages of the UNTOLD Festival," according to the press release
Differences emerge

There will be several major differences in the second trial. U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry recused herself because of a family medical situation and was replaced by U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber. Prosecutors have successfully sought to introduce additional text messages by and to Boone, including texts in which he uses racial slurs and brags about using violence against other arrestees. Prosecutors will also be able to use messages he exchanged with his then-girlfriend about the attack.

Jurors will also be able to see an edited video in which Myers tried to conceal his identity from someone filming him. Prosecutors say it is similar to his attempt to damage or destroy Halls cellphone.

Technical problems plagued parts of the previous trial. The video feed to the overflow courtroom failed during the reading of the verdict, leaving the public, police internal affairs officers, reporters, U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming and others in the dark.

Court officials have since promised changes to address the problems.

Two other former officers, Randy Hays and Bailey Colletta, previously pleaded guilty to a federal charge. Hays testified at the March trial that he hit Hall with his baton and saw Korte kick Hall in the face, but defense lawyers attacked inconsistencies in his testimony.

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Man Pleads Guilty to Importing, Distributing Drugs

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - A Marshall County man pleaded guilty Monday to importing and distributing a controlled substance.According to court documents, 29-year-old Jevan Sheppard pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, importing a controlled substance from china, and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance from November 2016 to March 2017. He also pleaded guilty to distributing a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute in March of 2017.Sheppard is scheduled to be sentenced on September 23 at 10 a.m.He was arrested in 2017 after an investigation into two overdoses in Calvert City.Officers questioned several people and learned that two men had overdosed on the synthetic drug U-47700, commonly known as U-4.The investigation led detectives to execute a search warrant at Sheppard's home just outside of Draffenville. The search uncovered U-4 packaged to sell, other drugs, a drug ledger, and several loaded firearms.On the Net:
JEFFERSON COUNTY  A 22-year-old Tennessee woman was charged over the weekend after authorities said she fired a gun at another car while traveling along Interstate 55, striking a man in the hip, Jefferson County prosecutors said Monday.

Shanyka K. Fouche, 22, of Memphis, was charged Saturday by the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorneys Office with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon  shooting from a motor vehicle resulting in injury, two counts of armed criminal action, attempted assault, and five counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Fouche was a passenger in a Ford Fusion driven by another woman on I-55 on Friday afternoon when they were involved in a road rage incident with a Nissan Pathfinder driven by a 31-year-old woman and occupied by a 32-year-old man, according to a probable cause statement filed by the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Fouches 2-year-old child was in the Fusion and there were four children in the Pathfinder, ages 2, 3, 8 and 11.
JEFFERSON CITY  Another Missouri lawmaker is living outside of the boundaries of their district, court documents show.

In a divorce petition filed June 2, Sen. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, listed a home address that is outside of her sprawling southeast Missouri Senate district, raising questions about whether she can continue representing the area.

Under state law, if a member of the Legislature removes their residence from the district or county for which they were elected, the office shall thereby be vacated.

In a statement issued Friday, Rehder did not address the housing issue, but discussed her divorce from Raymond Rehder.

My entire life has been defined by persevering through difficult life challenges. Many of you have asked about recent life changes and new challenges I am now facing. Ive always been honest with friends, family, supporters and my constituents, she wrote.

On June 2nd, I filed for divorce after 27 years of marriage. Im disappointed that there is nothing more that can be done. I treasure my family and will always love my husband and he will always be the father to our wonderful children. I pray for an amicable separation that honors our life together, Rehder said.
JEFFERSON CITY  A Democratic member of the Missouri House from Olivette is running for a soon-to-be open seat in the state Senate.

Rep. Tracy McCreery, who has represented the 88th House District since 2012, wants to replace Sen. Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, who is term limited.

I ran for office as an independent voice for common-sense solutions to our states biggest challenges, McCreery said. Ive been an advocate for access to affordable health care, ending taxpayer giveaways to wealthy special interests, guaranteeing great schools that prepare our kids for great jobs and creating an economy that works for all of us.

No other candidates have announced plans to run for the 24th Senate District post in the 2022 election.

The boundaries of the St. Louis County district are likely to be altered as part of the once-per-decade redistricting process. The results of the remapping are not expected to be known until later this year due to delays in getting official population numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Schupp won the seat in 2014, when she beat Republican Jay Ashcroft, who is now secretary of state.
ST. LOUIS  Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt TV star and St. Louis native, released a statement Monday apologizing for participating in a debutante ball held by the Veiled Prophet Organization in 1999.

I want to apologize to the people Ive disappointed, and promise that moving forward I will listen, continue to educate myself, and use my privilege in support of the better society I think were capable of becoming, Kemper, 41, said on Instagram.

Twitter last week turned its outrage to Kemper after it appears someone arbitrarily tweeted about a 2014 article in The Atlantic which noted that Kemper was named Queen of Love and Beauty at the Veiled Prophet Ball when she was 19. Kemper graduated from John Burroughs School and was a Princeton University student when she was crowned.

Online critics brought up the racial and class conflict surrounding the Veiled Prophet Ball and some called Kemper a KKK princess.

There are no known ties between the Veiled Prophet and the Ku Klux Klan.
What are we going to do? she asked. How are we going to work without papers? Missouri is one of the hardest states to work without papers. How can we continue to pay taxes, pay for the house and the cars?  I feel like anything that I have worked for or built up to at this point can be torn away from me.

The outcome in a case involving a couple from El Salvador who have been in the U.S. since the 1990s turned on whether people who entered the country illegally and were given humanitarian protections were ever admitted into the United States under immigration law.

Kagan wrote that they were not. The TPS program gives foreign nationals nonimmigrant status, but it does not admit them. So the conferral of TPS does not make an unlawful entrant ... eligible for a green card, she wrote.

The House of Representatives already has passed legislation that would make it possible for TPS recipients to become permanent residents, Kagan noted. The bill faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.

President Joe Biden has said he supports the change in the law. But his administration, like the Trump administration, argued that current immigration law doesnt permit people who entered the country illegally to apply for permanent residency.
With her three teenagers vaccinated against COVID-19, Aja Purnell-Mitchell left it up to them to decide whether to go back to school during summer break.

The decision was unanimous: summer school.

"Getting them back into it, helping them socialize back with their friends, maybe meet some new people, and, of course, pick up the things that they lacked on Zoom, the Durham County, North Carolina, mother said, ticking off her hopes for the session ahead, which will be the first time her children have been in the classroom since the outbreak took hold in the spring of 2020.

Across the U.S., more children than ever before could be in classrooms for summer school this year to make up for lost learning during the outbreak, which caused monumental disruptions in education. School districts nationwide are expanding their summer programs and offering bonuses to get teachers to take part.

Under the most recent federal pandemic relief package, the Biden administration is requiring states to devote some of the billions of dollars to summer programs.
Realtors will continue to engage

The realtors PAC is proud to be one of the largest, most bipartisan political action committees in the country and will continue to engage in a bipartisan way on behalf of our 1.4 million members, the group said in a statement. Following a recent meeting of the RPAC Board of Trustees, our association lifted the temporary pause that was previously put in place on all federal political disbursements. This decision will ensure we continue to engage with political candidates in an effort to support Americas homeowners and our nations real estate industry.

Duke Energy, similarly, said it had phased out its pause.

Engaging with policymakers on both sides of the aisle is critical as we progress our clean energy transformation, company spokesperson Neil Nissan said in an email. Our pause on federal political giving allowed us an opportunity to be reflective about a significant and troubling event in our nation, as well as how we support candidates and elected officials.

Some companies, though, have said they will freeze out lawmakers who voted against the electoral results. JP Morgan Chase, for example, said it was resuming its giving but not to such members, according to Reuters.
Southside Rise & Shine: Walter Jetton Neighborhood

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - The ongoing Southside Rise and Shine neighborhood spruce-up event spotlights the Walter Jetton neighborhood this week.During each neighborhoods week, This is Your Week signs will be posted, and the Public Works Department will place yellow garbage rollouts and dumpsters around the neighborhood. Each neighborhood is encouraged to dispose of garbage and beautify their homes and yards.From June 8-13, the city will have dumpsters at three locations in the neighborhood for disposal of litter or garbage (see map in photos). Bulky items, including tires and appliances, can be placed in front of a home next to the street for free collection by Public Works. Tires taken to dumpsters should be kept separate from other items and placed beside them, not in the dumpster.On Sunday, a neighborhood ice cream social will be held at the Church of the Living God at 1221 Oscar Cross Avenue from 1-4 pm.Visit the Southside Rise & Shine webpage (link below) for the schedule of neighborhoods, celebration sites and dumpster locations. For those uncertain of the name of their neighborhood, there is a link to a neighborhood map searchable by address.Also, several resources are linked including volunteer guidelines, information about abandoned/inoperable vehicles, property maintenance and code enforcement, and a handout about the proper disposal of garbage, appliances, tires, and brush.Neighborhood Schedule:June 1-6  LittlevilleJune 8-13  Walter JettonJune 15-20  Kolb ParkJune 22-27  UppertownJune 29 - July 4  River ParkJuly 6-11  Dolly McNuttJuly 13-18  Ella MunalJuly 20-25  Farley PlaceOn the Net:
PARIS (AP)  Google is being fined 220 million euros ($268 million) by Frances antitrust watchdog for abusing its dominant position in online advertising.

The search engine giant is also promising to overhaul the way its platform is used for buying and selling digital ads, at least in France, which could have repercussions on its ongoing legal fights with regulators elsewhere in Europe, the U.S. and around the world.

Google's advertising practices have harmed its competitors along with publishers of mobile websites and applications, the French Competition Authority said Monday. The authority said it is the responsibility of a company with a dominant market position to avoid unfairly undermining its competition.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, did not dispute the facts and opted to settle after proposing some changes, according to a prepared statement from the Competition Authority.

The settlement might serve as a roadmap for other governments that are scrutinizing Google's market power, said Douglas Melamed, a Stanford University law professor.

I imagine that Google's decision to settle reflected a judgment that it could live with those terms even if it were forced upon it by other jurisdictions, he said.
The screams of the dying gradually fell silent as the sky darkened. Around midnight, Berhane Gebrezigher, an ethnic Tigrayan, remembers lying in a ditch full of men who, like himself, had been shot and left for dead. He called out: Is there anyone breathing?

When the sun rose, the old man faced a choice: die in the ditch or haul himself to the road. Painfully, he began shuffling upwards.

It was mid-January, more than two months into an ethnic conflict that has convulsed western Tigray, an area of rich farmland in Ethiopias north where two of the countrys ethnic groups  Tigrayans and Amharas  used to live and work the soil together.

Berhane, 74, says he was among more than 50 Tigrayan civilians rounded up and trucked by Amhara forces to the Tekeze River that bisects Tigray. The forces ordered the men to climb down into what appeared to be a freshly dug ditch, Berhane said. Then the gunmen fired. Berhane was hit in both legs and in the back; he said he lay among the bodies, listening to the men reload and shoot at anyone who moved.

Five Tigrayan witnesses told Reuters they saw dozens of dead.

The ethnic bloodletting by the river broke out amid a violent power struggle in Tigray  between the Ethiopian government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the regions former rulers, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF). Tigrayans are in the majority in their home region but make up less than 6% of the wider population. Amharas, the second biggest community in Ethiopias mosaic of more than 90 ethnicities and nationalities, lay claim to western Tigray as ancient Amhara land. Amhara leaders consider the Tekeze River a borderline between their territory and Tigrays.

The first reports of ethnic atrocities in western Tigray surfaced two months earlier in mid-November, some 100 km to the west of the Tekeze River, in a farming town called Mai Kadra. Amharas said theyd been attacked by their Tigrayan neighbors. Tigrayans pouring into neighboring Sudan said theyd been brutalized and driven out by Amharas.

The only thing the two sides agreed on was that hundreds died. Initial reports by human rights groups gave partial accounts of the violence. Yet with access to Tigray tightly controlled by Ethiopias government and phone lines down, it was almost impossible to make sense of the conflicting accounts put forward by the two communities.

But in March the government granted Reuters rare access to the region, where reporters saw burned out homes and hastily marked graves. Drawing on more than 120 interviews with Tigrayans and Amharas in Mai Kadra and other towns and villages inside Tigray, as well as in refugee camps in Sudan, they were able to build the first comprehensive chronicle of western Tigrays descent into communal violence.

Reuters cross-checked the accounts it collected over the past six months with 44 unpublished testimonies gathered by two international aid organizations, medical records and satellite data. The timeline that emerges tells of two rounds of bloodletting in Mai Kadra and ethnic violence that spilled across western Tigray.

The first killings in Mai Kadra were committed by ethnic Tigrayans against Amharas, the reporting showed. Some were carried out by youths directed by a Tigrayan militiaman called Capt. Kassaye Mehar, said four Amhara witnesses. Reuters sent questions to Capt. Kassaye via the TPLF. TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said of Kassaye, I dont know him. He denied that the TPLF targeted Amhara civilians in Mai Kadra.

Then came revenge killings by forces from the Amhara region, which borders Tigray to the south and whose leaders back Abiys government. Tigrayan residents said the Amhara forces drove out Tigrayans, expunged Tigrayan names from street signs and seized Tigrayan homes, daubing some doors with letters in red paint: This is an Amhara house.

Amhara people took possession of Tigrayan farms  fertile lands they say were taken from Amharas during the decades of TPLF dominance. Reuters reporters saw fleets of minibuses packed with household goods and mattresses strapped to the roofs traveling from Amhara into western Tigray. New Amhara settlers were among the passengers.

In one majority Tigrayan town, called Division, Amhara forces burned many houses, Tigrayan witnesses said, leaving nothing for the Tigrayans who lived there to return to. Sensors aboard U.S. government satellites detected a series of potential fires in and around Division on Nov. 7, a Reuters analysis found.

The ultimate toll of this communal violence remains unclear. In Mai Kadra, at least 767 people were killed, according to two lists of victims  one Amhara, one Tigrayan  reviewed by Reuters.

Across the region, thousands are believed to have died in the wider war.

Professor Jan Nyssen from Belgiums Ghent University is overseeing a project that tracks civilian deaths in Tigray by drawing on social media and witness reports, then cross checking the information with people who know the victims. He said his team has reports of more than 8,000 civilians killed and has identified 2,562 of these.

The ethnic violence is reverberating far beyond Tigray. Independent analysts say the fighting is threatening the unity of Ethiopia, Africas second-most populous nation. Amhara is seeking to formally annex the disputed land, equal to about a quarter of Tigray. Other regions in Ethiopias fractious federation are watching the governments response carefully, mindful of simmering violence on their own disputed borders.

The Amhara regional government says it has taken control of western Tigray. Its representatives plan to resettle up to half a million Amharas there.

There is no space called western Tigray, because this area is part of Amhara region, the regional governments spokesman, Gizachew Muluneh, told Reuters.

Western Tigrays Amhara-appointed administrator, Yabsira Eshetie, said any accusation that Amhara forces killed Tigrayans is groundless and far from reality.

The United Nations has spoken of possible war crimes by all sides in Tigrays war. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in March there have been acts of ethnic cleansing and called on Amhara forces to withdraw. In April, Reuters detailed accounts of women tortured and raped in central Tigray in conditions that a regional official described for the first time as sexual slavery.

Ethiopias government didnt respond to detailed questions for this article. It has denied there has been targeted, intentional ethnic cleansing. In a speech to parliament on March 23, Prime Minister Abiy defended Amhara forces.

Portraying this force as a looter and conqueror is very wrong, he said. The government says reports of abuses are exaggerated, and where crimes have been committed they will be dealt with under the law.

Witnesses to the Mai Kadra killings and expulsions spoke of heroism and betrayal on both sides. While some townspeople gave refuge to neighbors belonging to the other ethnic group, others joined the killing, they said.

A disputed land

In normal times, tractors rattled up Mai Kadras main street, and farmworkers children played outside sun-baked homes. The towns population of about 46,000 used to swell to around twice that with seasonal laborers at planting and harvest time. Tigrayans and Amharas dispute which was the larger community.

They gravitated toward separate neighborhoods, but many worked, ate and worshipped together and were friends. In the Ethiopian Orthodox churchyard, Amhara and Tigrayan graves lie side by side, and many residents spoke the language of the other group well enough to pass as one of them. Tigrayan neighborhoods appeared more affluent, and Tigrayans owned many of the areas sesame and millet farms. Amharas often worked as seasonal laborers.

Beneath the surface calm, old enmities smoldered. The region was administered by the TPLF, a former guerrilla movement turned political party that presided over one of Africas most repressive governments for nearly three decades until 2018, when protests ended the TPLFs dominance. It jailed tens of thousands of people; others were forced into exile or disappeared.

Some Amharas complained that Tigrayans monopolized local government positions in western Tigray, or that officials sometimes tried to suppress the use of the Amhara language or unfairly intervened in land disputes. Getachew, the TPLF spokesman, said that was untrue.

Violence erupted on Nov. 4, when the Ethiopian government accused the TPLF of attacking military bases across Tigray, a charge the TPLF has denied. Tigray, like all of Ethiopias regions, has its own troops and militias.

The fighting followed months of deteriorating relations between the TPLF and the federal government. The TPLF says the government is discriminating against Tigrayans. The government counters it is cracking down on a TPLF criminal clique.

Eritrea to the north and the Amhara region to the south sent troops into Tigray to support the army. They included volunteers from a part-time militia known as Fano, whose purpose is to defend ethnic Amharas. A prominent Amhara activist who volunteered with Fano, Weretaw Azanaw, told Reuters the 2,000-strong contingent coordinated with the Ethiopian military and Amhara regional forces. He said military and Amhara liaison officers provided Fano with bullets, vehicles and food and told the militia where to deploy alongside formal forces.

By Nov. 7, pro-government forces reached the town of Division, about 65 km southeast of Mai Kadra. Fano militiamen set fire to homes and told Tigrayan residents to get out if they wanted to live, seven Tigrayan witnesses told Reuters. Weretaw, the volunteer, said Fano didnt attack civilians. Yabsira, the Amhara-appointed administrator, told Reuters a few houses in the Division area were burnt in clashes with Tigrayan militiamen.

The following day, fighting was reported in the town of Abdurafi, less than 45 km south of Mai Kadra. Residents of the border town of Humera, about 25 km to the north, said they were being shelled from Eritrea. The next morning, Nov. 9, at least 46 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in the shelling, doctors at Humeras main Kahsay Abera hospital told New York-based Human Rights Watch. Asqual Helwa, the wife of a TPLF fighter, was living in Humera. She told Reuters she saw up to 80 bodies. The Eritrean government didnt respond to a request for comment.

As the fighting drew nearer to Mai Kadra, local Tigrayan youths and members of a TPLF-dominated town militia, a volunteer protection force, started arming themselves, Amhara residents still living in Mai Kadra told Reuters. Many of those who took up arms came from a mainly Tigrayan neighbourhood called Samre.

Foreboding

The morning air was still cool on Nov. 9 when street vendor Geberie Wase, an Amhara, started laying out socks and shoes for sale in Hawelty Square, Mai Kadras main intersection. Geberie was uneasy.

That morning, he said, he noticed a lot of Tigrayan youths were carrying knives and machetes. Some were checking peoples identification documents.

A couple of Tigrayan friends whispered to him: Something big was about to happen. Spooked, Geberie packed up his wares at around noon and headed to the house of his older brother, carpenter Dejen Wase, in Samre, a 25-minute walk away, to warn him.

Dejen, 43, was home with his neighbor Tadie Mengesha and several other men from the neighborhood. They were drinking the home-brewed talla beer Dejens then-heavily pregnant wife, Bayesh Achamu, sold from their front room.

Geberie urged his brother to go with him to hide. But Dejens 18-year-old son, the oldest of three children, had not yet returned from school, so Dejen stayed put.

The killers arrived soon after, Bayesh said. The couples wooden door, set in a wall of brushwood, could not keep them out. They stormed into our house, she said. They had machetes, knives and axes.

Dejen and his friends bolted out the back through a yard strewn with charcoal, dirty dishes and washing. But they were caught by a second group of attackers.

The attackers stabbed Dejen in the street behind the house, Bayesh said. Tadie, the couples neighbor, said he saw Dejen fall to the ground but didnt know what happened after that. Tadie recognized one of the assailants and begged: Please dont kill me. Dont let me die.

He pushed me away, Tadie said, showing Reuters what he said were knife scars inflicted by his pursuers on his scalp, shoulder and back.

Elsewhere in the town, Tigrayan mobs armed with knives and machetes were going door to door in Amhara neighborhoods, pulling out the men to kill them, dozens of Amhara witnesses said. The mobs mostly left the women alone. Amhara residents described hiding on roofs, in outhouses and in fields as the slaughter continued.

Members of the town militia were with the mobs and appeared to be directing some of the killings, at least seven Amhara residents said. Among the leaders was a Tigrayan militiaman identified as Capt. Kassaye Mehar, according to four of the Amhara residents, who had previous dealings with him.

Militiamen and the towns police blocked streets around Amhara neighborhoods and shot at anyone who tried to escape, the Amhara witnesses said. The towns police has since been disbanded.

According to court filings reviewed by Reuters, Ethiopian prosecutors believe that the TPLF began organizing Tigrayan youths in Mai Kadra from late October, telling them to wear yellow so that they could identify themselves as a security force and arming them with machetes, axes and knives. Getachew, the TPLF spokesman, dismissed this accusation.

TPLF was never involved and could never be involved in targeting Amhara in Mai Kadra, Getachew told Reuters. If we really had the intention to target the Amharas it would not be necessary for us to arm our youths with machetes, because we had sophisticated machine guns to do the job. And it was never our intention.

The filings, based on witness statements, were drafted by prosecutors in April as part of a preliminary investigation into the killings. Prosecutors have identified 202 suspects, according to the attorney generals office, which has not released their names. No formal charges have been brought.

At around 4 pm, Capt. Kassaye arrived with some 30 men at the home of Abiyu Tsegaye, an Amhara, a couple of streets from Hawelty Square, said Abiyus widow, Agerie Mogessie. The two men knew one another, Agerie said. Kassaye lived in Mai Kadra and issued agricultural permits for the local administration. Abiyu, a former soldier, had helped train the town militia Kassaye belonged to. But Abiyu quit the year before over what she described as a growing anti-Amhara sentiment in the force.

The mob shouted for Abiyu to come out of his house, Agerie said. He went out holding a stick. Six neighbors described what happened next: Someone hit Abiyu with a machete, they said, then Kassaye shot him in the chest. The men set fire to the couples home and shoved Abiyus body into the flames. Then the mob began working its way through the street, six residents said, killing all the Amhara men they could find.

Amid the carnage, there were also acts of courage. A Tigrayan woman  Abiyus neighbor  tried to pull his body from the flames but was beaten back by the attackers, Agerie said.

Another woman, a 70-year-old Amhara nun called Alem Behonegn, recounted that three Tigrayan neighbors came to her home that same evening and insisted on taking her two adult sons into their protection. She spent the night terrified she would never see her boys again. But the neighbors hid them overnight and returned them safely the next morning.

Mass graves

Ethiopias national military  the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF)  and Amhara regional forces entered Mai Kadra on the morning of Nov. 10, encountering no resistance. By now the Tigrayan fighters had fled. A civilian who arrived as government forces took control of the town told rights group Amnesty International the scene they encountered was devastating: The roads were strewn with dead bodies.

Amhara residents told Reuters they began searching the streets for their lost loved ones, turning over the corpses. Bodies were taken by tractor to the Abune Aregawi Ethiopian Orthodox Church, where the two communities worshipped together, a few blocks from the main Hawelty Square.

On Monday they killed, said Maru Gebremariam, a 56-year-old Amhara who serves as the church watchman. On Tuesday the ENDF came, and we started to collect the dead and wounded. On Wednesday we buried them.

Many of the dead were buried in mass graves, the watchman said, their identities unknown. In the graveyard, Reuters saw numbers scrawled in black marker across rough wooden signboards to indicate where bodies lie.

Families bring photos and ask, can you identify him? said Maru. We cant. Some bodies were eaten by dogs. Some were brought after three days.

Temesgen Lapiso Doile, director-general for organized and transnational crimes at the Ethiopian attorney generals office, said government investigators exhumed 229 bodies. He didnt say how many were Amhara and how many were Tigrayan. Residents told Reuters bodies were still being found months later.

The Amhara Association of America, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based organization that advocates for Amharas in the diaspora, gave Reuters a list of 707 Amhara victims it gathered from witness testimony. At least five of the names on the list of those killed were verified by Reuters own reporting. The state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has estimated the toll at 600, but has acknowledged it couldnt immediately document reprisal attacks on Tigrayans because so many fled.

Revenge

Attacks against Tigrayans began later the same day, Nov. 10.

Most were carried out by Amhara troops and Fano militiamen, 28 former Tigrayan residents told Reuters. Many of these interviews were conducted in Sudan, now home to more than 60,000 Ethiopians who fled the violence in Tigray.

Biniam Amdemariam, a Tigrayan baker paralyzed from the waist down by polio, said he took his family to the nearby village of Bereket when fighting broke out in Mai Kadra on Nov. 9. He returned the next day on his adapted three-wheeled motorbike to collect clothes and jewelry. He said Fano members attacked him with stones and knocked him off his bike.

When I fell off the motor, I was hit with an axe. You can still see the stitches, he said, pointing to a scar on his head. Another person held up a cleaver to slit my throat.

A group of Amhara bystanders intervened, Biniam said, telling his assailants that his disability was not from a military injury and that he had no connection with the TPLF. The militia let Biniam go, telling him to leave the country. He fled with his family the same day, staying at a farm overnight before driving to the Sudan border in the morning.

Dr. Daryalew Guesh, a Tigrayan who worked at the Mai Kadra clinic, confirmed to Reuters that he sutured Biniams head wound.

Some Tigrayans said leaflets were distributed in their towns telling them to leave. They didnt know by whom. Other Tigrayans said Fano militiamen showed up at their doors and ordered them to go.

They did not allow us to take any of our belongings, not even a pot, Aberu Kires, a Tigrayan farmer from Mai Kadra, told Reuters at a refugee camp in Sudan in December. On the metal gate of the house they wrote, This is an Amhara house. They wrote this on many of the houses.

Reuters reporters saw a number of houses marked Amhara house or Fano in Mai Kadra.

Amhara troops and Fano rounded up other Tigrayans and detained them in a makeshift prison, located in a commercial building with a central courtyard on the south side of Mai Kadra, according to four Tigrayan residents, including three who said they were held there. There was little food, water or medical help, they said. Guards refused to call a doctor for a woman who gave birth there, said 70-year-old Wolde Meresa. Three people died at the building during the two months he was there, he said.

Degalem Sisay, appointed by the Amhara regional administration as interim mayor of Mai Kadra, said the facility functioned more as a safe house than a prison. Around 70 Tigrayans were held there on suspicion of taking part in the killings, while 700 others sought sanctuary there for fear of reprisal attacks, he said.

Police transferred 35 of the detainees to Addis Ababa to face charges in connection with the killings of Amharas, the attorney generals office said. Twenty-two await charges in jail, a prosecutor said. Others were freed.

In January, all the Tigrayans who remained at the facility in Mai Kadra were loaded onto buses and dropped off at the Tekeze River, which Amhara officials consider to be the demarcation line between their land and Tigray. Degalem, the interim mayor, said they left voluntarily. The three former detainees said they were given no choice.

The number of Tigrayans killed in the reprisals remains unknown. A partial list of Tigrayan victims, compiled by Tigrayan defence lawyers drawing on interviews with their 22 clients and reviewed by Reuters, identified at least 60 Tigrayan dead. Ethiopian Human Rights Commission head Daniel Bekele told Reuters a new investigation with the United Nations is gathering evidence about reprisals. It is due to report in around three months.

Land of the Amhara

As many Tigrayans fled to Sudan in the second week of November, Mebale, a petite Tigrayan mother of nine, stayed in Mai Kadra, hoping for news of her husband. He had left for the family farm on Nov. 9 with food for the laborers and didnt return, said Mebale, who asked not to be identified by her full name.

She was on good terms with her Amhara neighbors. She lived in the Amhara region as a girl and spoke good Amharic. Her 14-year-old sons best friend was Amhara; the two boys used to do their homework together.

Mebale remained as Amhara regional officials took over administering western Tigray, issuing new identification cards, reorganising the police and militia and taking control of hospitals and schools. She kept her children indoors and limited her shopping trips to the early mornings to avoid drawing attention. If someone accused her of being part of the junta, the TPLF, she laughed it off, she said.

When Reuters visited western Tigray in March, street signs had been freshly repainted from Tigrinya to Amharic. On the highway outside a town called Dansha, a bright new sign in Amharic read, Land of the Amhara.

Some Tigrayan villages were almost entirely destroyed. In one village, called Shumari, hundreds of homes had been levelled. Pages from Tigrinya school books lay scattered across the ground. In another town, all the homes were burned to the ground, only a few walls left standing.

In Mai Kadra, the streets of Samre, a Tigrayan neighborhood, were largely deserted. In the Amhara neighborhood of Genb Sefer, shops were open, selling black coffee and the round flatbread injera.

Some Amhara families are returning to lands they left during Ethiopias civil war of the 1980s and the decades of TPLF rule that followed. Mebale, the Tigrayan mother of nine, said Amhara families moved into 10 homes on her Mai Kadra street.

Some families have travelled into western Tigray from the Amhara city of Gondar, which administered Mai Kadra and the surrounding area before the TPLF-dominated government redrew Tigrays boundaries almost 30 years ago. Mebratu Yaregal, an official at Gondar bus station, said in March about 20 buses were leaving daily, each carrying around 50 people. Reuters saw fleets of packed minibuses on the main road leading out of Gondar.

Among the returning Amharas is businessman Goshu Alebel, who spent time as a child in some of the same Sudanese camps that are now sheltering Tigrayans. Goshu arrived in the town of Humera in late November. He said his cousins and uncle are buried in the churchyard. A short drive away, the familys ruined, roofless brick house sits atop a small hill.

It feels good to be back, he told Reuters. I want to show this place to my children, show them their heritage, their roots.

On May 10, the Amhara regional government published a circular inviting investors to lease farms in western Tigray. Almost all the 288 farms were previously owned by Tigrayans, according to a list of names published. Reuters couldnt determine ethnicity in a few cases where the farm was held by a company.

Yabsira, the administrator of western Tigray, told Reuters that the resettlement of 500,000 people who were previously displaced by the TPLF from their land will continue, including families from Sudan, Europe, Australia and elsewhere.

Colonel Demeke Zewdu, an Amhara who served in the Ethiopian military, is in charge of security for western Tigray. He also heads a body that he co-founded with Waretaw which advocates for the return of Amharas displaced from the region. Reports of attacks on Tigrayans by Fano are completely and absolutely false, Demeke told Reuters in a hotel lobby in Humera, a rifle leaning against his knee.

Massacre by the river

As the sun rose over the Tekeze River in mid-January, Berhane Gebrezigher dragged himself out of the ditch where dozens of Tigrayan men lay dead. Many of the victims were from the nearby town of Adi Goshoo, he said; others he didnt recognise. They had been rounded up at the town police station, loaded onto trucks by Amhara forces and driven to the river.

Berhane had been shot in both legs. He struggled to the road and begged for water, but passers-by seemed afraid to approach him.

An Eritrean officer came to his aid with water and biscuits. Eritrean soldiers lifted Berhane onto a door that served as a stretcher. He received first aid in a nearby town and was then sent onwards to the Suhul General Hospital in Shire, the first major town east of the Tekeze River demarcation line.

Reuters met him there. His right leg was in a cast; X-rays showed it was broken. Doctors told Reuters they havent removed a bullet from his left calf because it is not life threatening. A scar on his back was from a third bullet, Berhane said.

Reuters spoke to four Tigrayan men in the town of Shire who said they saw dozens of bodies at the location described by Berhane. Reuters also spoke to a local bus driver who said he too saw bodies.

Yabsira, the Amhara-appointed administrator, didnt answer specific questions about these accounts, but rejected reports that Amhara forces attacked Tigrayan civilians.

Different paths

In Mai Kadra, the lives of three women who survived  Mebale, Agerie and Bayesh  have taken different paths.

Mebale, the Tigrayan mother of nine, called her husbands phone when mobile service resumed early this year. An Amharic-speaking stranger answered and said he was dead.

On March 12, Mebale opened the door of her house to four Amhara militiamen. One was the father of her sons best friend. He used to be kind and brought her groceries after her husband disappeared, she said. But now, the militiamen told her, they wanted the last Tigrayans out. She bought a bus ticket to Shire and packed her belongings.

As Mebales family left, her neighbor went inside his house and locked the door. His son walked with them to the bus station, crying.

Mebale arrived in Shire on March 15. Reuters saw her and her children spill out of a bus at an overcrowded school turned into a shelter for Tigrayans.

Bayesh and Agerie, the Amhara widows, still live in Mai Kadra.

Agerie said she managed to salvage a metal bedstead and metal box from the ashes of her former home. She now lives in a house across the street, which she said used to belong to Tigrayans. It was the Fanos who gave it to me, she said. Scrawled in red letters on the door are the words, This is an Amhara-owned house.

Bayesh never saw her husband alive again. Neighbors told her that the local Red Cross took him to Gondar University Referral Hospital in Amhara, where he died. The hospital didnt respond to questions about Bayeshs husband.

He was innocent, she said, keening as mourners passed around a soft focus picture of her husband at a memorial event held on the day Reuters and a United Nations mission visited Mai Kadra.

In February, Bayesh gave birth to a son, whom she named Mitiku  Replacement in Amharic. Asked what she would tell the boy about his father, she held the newborn to her chest.

I will tell him that he was killed by Tigrayans, she said.

Additional reporting by Mohamed Nureldin, Seham Eloraby, Dawit Endeshaw, Baz Ratner, Khalid Aziz, Maggie Fick and Giulia Paravicini.
If any of these circumstances had arisen, say, 18 months ago, Im pretty sure the bosses wouldve laughed me out of the room. But one good thing about the pandemic  perhaps the only thing  is that it has taught all of us how to be flexible with our work spaces. Weve proven that we can publish a quality daily newspaper without a glitch even though more than 90% of the newsroom staff has been working from makeshift home offices since the pandemics early days.

As for the Editorial Board, we conduct our daily meetings via Zoom and meet online with politicians, business leaders and elected officials. Whether those meetings happen from my new home in Connecticut or on a screen in my lonely office at the Post-Dispatch building downtown, the result will be the same.

Men, for the most part, have had it way too easy for far too long. Weve been the ones who held down the higher-paying jobs while the wives made do with whatever they could find. When parenthood entered the picture, it was the wife who stayed home while the husband advanced his career. When the wife was ready to get back to her career, it was always the person with the higher-paying job (nearly always the man) whose circumstances dictated where the couple lived and whose job prospects took priority.
The sessions were capped with the entry of an officer playing the role of the good cop, who offered false assurances, such as that he knew the boy being questioned didnt commit the crime, but if the boy signed a confession, he could go home.

Topping off the injustice was the fact that police had interviewed the real murderer on the very day the victims body was found. This is precisely why all lawmakers, regardless of political affiliation, should be enthusiastically on board with legal reforms that prevent police from engaging in manipulative behavior and punish overzealous prosecutors who engage in misconduct to win a guilty verdict. Not only do innocent people wind up in prison but the real perpetrator remains free to kill, rape or rob again. In this case, the killer  Johnny Douglas, whose semen and DNA was found on the victims body  was linked to multiple other rape and murder cases before he was shot to death in 2008.

Theres an additional incentive to legislatively curtail these abusive practices: When a persons innocence is finally proven, states wind up paying hefty compensation settlements. In the case of the Englewood Four, Cook County taxpayers wound up paying around $31 million in wrongful-conviction compensation.

Regardless of the compensation, the four men will never be able to recover the time robbed from them because of convictions won not on proof of guilt but because of confessions gained through coercion and deception. Americans should never confuse that with justice, and Illinois lawmakers are helping ensure such injustices wont recur in the future.
Those damaging policies were paired with an Owellian campaign to warp or block reliable climate information from getting to the public by disputing or downplaying climate warnings from the administrations own scientists. As part of that campaign, the administration declined to release an EPA Climate Change Indicators report during Trumps presidency.

That report, quantifying the real-world effects of global warming, had been updated semi-annually since 2010. Trump discontinued it, but the Biden administration has now resumed it with last months report. It provides a clear view of how much worse the climate situation became while Trump was coddling the polluters and muzzling the experts.

The report found that the measurable effects of climate change are becoming more extreme and are changing faster than previous data had shown. It found that ocean temperatures in 2020 were at their highest levels in recorded history, that heat waves are occurring at triple the frequency they did in the 1960s, that the loss of permafrost in northern Alaska has been so pronounced that its causing difficulty for Native Alaskans who had always stored their wild game underground, and that coastal flooding is more frequent along all U.S. coasts.

To be clear, these impacts were set in motion long before Trump took office. Global warming is the result of cumulative effects over decades, and four years of bad environmental policy wouldnt in itself cause oceans to rise. The real damage Trump did was in lost time  in pausing the efforts toward long-term emission reduction, which, as top climate experts told National Geographic last year, will mean having to cut deeper in the future. Chalk up yet another damaging blow to America by its fact-averse former president.
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The McCracken County Fair Goes On As Planned

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH, KY - The South Paducah Kiwanis Club is moving forward with the 2021 McCracken County Fair June 22nd through June 26th.Despite the few covid-19 restrictions that remain, as a precaution the McCracken County Fair will be scaled back this year. McCracken County Fair Chairman Denice Cicardo explains to West Kentucky Star that the carnival will go on as planned but Tuesday night harness racing will be the only grandstand event during the week of the fair.We want to be careful, but we also want families to have fun during the fair Denice Cicardo explains, We are limiting the events this year but we do welcome vendors to apply for booth space.The carnival will open nightly at 5:30 and will sell tickets and armbands as usual. Admission to the fair is $3.00 per person and parking onsite at the fairgrounds is $2 per vehicle. All money raised during the fair benefits the local charities that South Paducah Kiwanis Club members support.Nearly two dozen local charities receive annual donations from the club. This also includes a massive shoe donation to students in the local preschools and head start programs. We try to get new shoes to every student in need during the holidays explains South Paducah Kiwanis member Mark Ryan, It's humbling to see kids get excited over a new pair of shoes.Thanks to donations from South Paducah Kiwanis Club, thousands of children have received a new pair of shoes over the years through this program.The McCracken County Fair is held yearly at Carson Park the last full week of June. For more information on the Fair, visit the fair website and the official Facebook page links below.On the Net:
The latest (May 24) coup has not been well received by foreign aid donors. This includes France, which supplements the 12,000 UN/AU peacekeeping force with 5,100 French counterterrorism troops who operate throughout the region. The French helped form a similar regional counterterrorism organization, the 5,000 strong G5 force. This is a local auxiliary to the French Sahel counterterrorism force. G5 troops are supplied by Mali and four neighboring countries while the EU (European Union) supplies millions of dollars a year to provide the G5 troops with additional equipment, weapons, training and supplements to their pay. This enables the French force to operate wherever it detects the presence of Islamic terrorists and needs cooperation from local counterterrorism forces they know they can depend on. The least dependable G5 country was Mali, which explains why Islamic terror groups selected Mali as the best candidate for an African sanctuary.

Several of the political factions that made possible the 2020 coup, and the CNT (National Transitional Council) government, opposed any negotiation with Islamic terror groups. That was not an issue with the May coup leaders who replaced much of the leadership of the CNT, said they would continue to carry out its work, and do it successfully and with a lot less corruption. There are doubts among foreign aid donors and even many locals that the latest coup will solve problems or just create new ones.

France and the other donor nations; along with most African nations, agree that you cannot negotiate with the terrorists on anything of substance. This comes down to the fact that even moderate Islamic movements or governments have radical factions inspired by the many portions of Islamic scripture (the Koran) which define Infidels (non-Moslems) as a threat to Islam simply because they are people who will not become Moslems. Worse, Islam is the only major religion that does not specifically separate church and state. Islam does just opposite, declaring in the Koran that the best environment for Moslems is a government that uses Sharia (Islamic law) with unelected senior (respected) clerics as the ultimate political authorities. Most Moslems are willing to recognize civil authority but because portions of the Koran mandate religious intolerance, the radical factions have never gone away. These radicals consider any Moslems who do not agree with them as heretics, which makes them worse than infidels. In the late 20th century, more Moslem majority states agreed to encourage Islamic reform efforts to enable a fundamental change in Islam to address this perpetual fanatic problem. Saudi Arabia is part of this reform effort, which is important because Saudi Arabia is one of the few nations using Sharia law. The Saudis treats Islamic groups that oppose Saudi rule of Saudi Arabia as heretics and subject to execution by beheading. This often changes attitudes, but not always so the Saudis behead several heretics a year. Most Saudi judicial beheadings are for secular offenses like murder, rape and particularly for distribution of illegal drugs. The Saudi also prefer negotiations over violence to settle most disputes. One exception is Islamic terror groups. From the beginning the Saud clan were hostile to these fanatics and would only use them briefly, as an expedient and eventually turn on any such groups in the kingdom. The Saudis tried, with some success, to rehabilitate Saudis, especially young men, who had been drawn to Islamic terrorism. At the same time the Saudis will, and have, attacked uncooperative Islamic terror groups and driven them out of the kingdom, killing those who would not flee fast enough.

Corruption and religious fanaticism tend to go together. Islamic terror groups all promise to end corruption but none ever do that and many make it worse.

The latest Mali coup has a diplomatic problem because one of the local political groups that backs it, and previous clean government movements, is the populist J5M (June 5Movement) that carried out months of demonstrations in the capital to make the August 2020 coup possible and force a corrupt president out. J5M criticized the composition of the 121 member CNT because of the 22 army officers on it, in addition to some shady civilians. Most of the CNT members are less suspect and do represent a wide spectrum of groups. Nevertheless, J5M declared a boycott against the CNT and refused to cooperate with it. J5M represents civilians who seek a less corrupt and more effective government and do not see a military dictatorship making a difference.

The main leader of J5M is Moslem cleric Mahmoud Dicko. He has been the de-facto spokesman for J5M and managed to maintain that position. Dicko is a popular senior imam (Moslem cleric) who studied Islam in Saudi Arabia and came to be chairman of Malis High Islamic Council. Despite (or because of) his education in Saudi religious schools, which stress the need for Islamic law, Dicko openly backs a secular government, but one run by honest, or a lot more honest than now, politicians and officials. Imams like Dicko are one reason Islamic terrorist beliefs have not spread to the majority of Malians, most (95 percent) of them Moslem. Many foreign students in Saudi religious schools note that for all its piety Saudi Arabia is very corrupt as are most other Arab oil states. There were some exceptions but without all that oil wealth many Arab governments would be undergoing the same political pain Mali is suffering.

Many Mali politicians and economic leaders dont trust Dicko, feeling that he must be in touch with Islamic terror group leaders and is really willing to try a religious government. Dicko has never expressed support for that, and more Malians believe him rather than less popular and trusted politicians and other prominent Malians. Imams like Dicko put themselves in danger by taking the initiative to negotiate some matters with Islamic terrorists, like getting hostages released or temporary agreements that would halt attacks on innocent Moslems. Islamic terrorists justify the deaths of these civilians by designation them as involuntary martyrs' ', something that does not earn more support from local Moslem civilians. Imams like Dicko are often seen as traitors to Islam and marked for death. Its not only difficult to deal with Islamic terror groups, but for imams it is often fatal. At the same time foreign aid supporters, whether they are infidels or Moslems, are uneasy about dealing with Islamic clerics like Dicko, even though some nations have developed ways to do it effectively. Israel is one example, and the Israeli approach is similar in some ways to what the Saudis have developed. The methods used by the Israelis and Saudis are not solutions but effective adaptations for dealing with troublesome Islamic clergy. This adaptation is no magic bullet and requires a deep knowledge of local customs and building personal relationships with the families or clans that produce a lot of imams. There is no one, local or foreign, in Mali who can effectively deal with clerics like Dicko. This is a common problem in most nations that are Moslem majority or have large Moslem minorities. The main problem with the new coup group is what they want beyond the elusive clean and efficient elected officials to run the government.

The CNT that was recently overthrown had until March 2022 to organize new elections and disappear. The coup participants believe the CNT is already dominated by the corrupt and likely to produce another corrupt government. The CNT is composed of 121 members generally agreed to represent the Mali population and institutions. The CNT elected a president and vice-president who were both army colonels who were not part of the 2020 coup. The CNT was to serve as a temporary legislative group to determine and approve measures required to maintain order and organize the 2022 elections. The CNT had already failed to deliver during its first eight months in power. The most recent (just before the coup) issue was the failure of the CNT to revive corruption investigations and prosecutions of military and political leaders that foreign aid donors insisted on if Mali wanted to keep receiving aid. Despite the importance of acting on this issue, the CNT produced only excuses. Any deals being made were for the accused to buy their way out of punishment for corruption. It took time to fabricate a plausible reason to drop the prosecution.

There was a similar furor back in February when the CNT angered France by insisting it would negotiate with some of the local Islamic terror groups in order to make possible elections in early 2022. France does not believe such negotiations are possible. The CNT government argued that this deplorable Islamic terror group's track record of exploiting agreements would not apply here because the CNT wants to address the non-religious grievances of Islamic terrorists in central Mali, where the violence is basically about economic disputes between the aggressive Fulani and other tribes.

French criticism could not be ignored as France is the backbone of foreign counter-terrorism and peacekeeping efforts as well as foreign aid in general. France wants the CNT government to concentrate on reducing the rampant corruption in government. This is what most Mali voters see as the primary problem. Many of those who have turned to Islamic terrorism agree. The CNT was forced to agree with the French but since March there has been no progress in dealing with the corruption. That appears to be what triggered the May 2021 coup.

When faced with this pressure a favorite ploy of corrupt African politicians is to blame foreigners for all the problems the local politicians have caused. The corruption is perpetuated because senior politicians share the looted aid with their followers and especially members of their clan or tribe.

Most Malians have come to realize that accepting these excuses just perpetuates corruption. Many members of the CNT realize that but they also feel some very up close and personal pressure from their key supporters, who are often clan or tribal elders that do not want to lose the income corruption provides. This has always been a problem, especially in Africa, where tribal identity often supersedes any national loyalty and dedication to the common good. It is easier to agree that corruption is a major problem than it is to actually do something about it.

France and other foreign aid donors are trying to figure out exactly what colonel Goita, the coup leader, is up to.

June 4, 2021: The World Bank announced it would halt payments to Mali because of the May coup. The World Bank provides loans that pay for many economic or infrastructure programs in Mali. The cash is not delivered all at once in stages as it is needed.

June 3, 2021: France announced it was suspending cooperation with the Mali military because of the May coup.

May 30, 2021: In the south, about 100 kilometers from the borders with neighbors Ivory Coast and Guinea, unidentified gunmen attacked a road checkpoint before dawn. Five people were killed and Islamic terrorists from up north were believed responsible. Islamic terror groups operate in this part of Mali, but usually unarmed and dealing with the drug and people smuggling operations that bring in the cash to keep Islamic terror groups operating. For this reason, Islamic terror groups are also subject to corruption and captured al Qaeda and ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) administrative documents reveal that the more successful Islamic terror groups recognize the internal corruption problem and try to deal with it. That leads to the identification and execution of the guilty but does not eliminate the corruption. After all, Islamic terror groups focus on recruiting fanatics. The global economic decline caused by covid19, more than the virus itself, caused a reduction in violence in Mali since last year, which allowed more Malians to concentrate on the even older and more pervasive corruption problem.

May 24, 2021: There was another military coup. Some of the same army officers who were responsible for the August 2020 coup decided the current effort to form a new government was a failure and took action. This included colonel Assimi Goita, who had become one of the two vice presidents of the interim government. After todays coup Goita became president of the interim government.
Funding to accelerate clinical progression of Iksudas pipeline of new generation of antibody drug conjugates, targeting tumours with high unmet need

Investment round led by Korean-based Mirae Asset Capital and Celltrion

NEWCASTLE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Iksuda Therapeutics (Iksuda), the developer of a new generation of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) with raised therapeutic index, today announced it has completed a US $47 million (circa GB 34 million) financing round, co-led by Mirae Asset Capital and its subsidiaries, Celltrion and Premier Partners, with the Company being advised by Ashfords LLP. The funding will support the advancement of Iksudas lead ADC assets and expansion of its payload and conjugation platform technologies.

Iksudas lead pre-clinical candidate, IKS03, is a best-in-class CD19-targeted ADC candidate for B-cell cancers. The investment will enable progression of IKS03 to first-in-human phase 1 clinical trials. It will also be used to accelerate the Companys earlier-stage programmes including IKS04 and IKS012 to IND filing.

Iksudas ADC programmes target tumours that currently have limited treatment options and high relapse rates. The Companys drug development pipeline is centred on the improved safety and efficacy conferred by tumour activated, prodrug payloads in combination with stable conjugation technologies, including its proprietary novel PermaLink platform. Iksudas research-stage pipeline utilises its proprietary Protein Alkylating (ProAlk) tumour-activated payload platform, recently licensed from Gottingen University1. The novel mode of action for the ProAlk tuneable payload series differs from the fields primary focus of intra- or DNA inter-strand cross-linking, conferring benefits against drug and tumour resistance mechanisms, and enabling the development of more powerful, more tolerable ADCs.

Dr Dave Simpson, Chief Executive Officer, Iksuda Therapeutics, said: This is a transformational investment milestone for Iksuda, enabling us to focus on the progression of our industry-leading ADC programmes and bring them to the clinic, whilst supporting our commercial growth. The funding not only reflects the potential of our technologies, but also the unmatched expertise of the Iksuda team. We are grateful for the support of this group of investors and delighted to welcome them to the team.

Ji Kwang Chung, Investor, Mirae Asset Capital, commented: We have been highly impressed with Iksudas approach and progress to date, and with the Companys leadership. We are delighted to lead this investment round, and to contribute to enabling the team to progress its very promising pipeline of ADC candidates.

Woosung, Kee, CEO, Celltrion Inc., added: By pursuing tumours that are resistant to current treatment approaches, Iksuda is extending the boundaries of ADC technology, and consequently the treatment options for patients. This ideally complements Celltrions drive to pioneer uncharted areas of innovative therapies, incorporating unique and successful next-generational approaches that promote health and welfare globally. We have been very impressed with Iksudas progress to date and look forward to working together to support their mission.

Press release: Iksuda enters license agreement with University of Gottingen (13th October 2020) https://iksuda.com/2020/10/iksuda-enters-license-agreement-with-university-of-goettingen

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005334/en/

Zyme Communications (Trade and Regional Media)

Lorna Cuddon

Tel: +44 (0) 7811 996 942

lorna.cuddon@zymecommunications.com

Source: Iksuda Therapeutics
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Marley family and Docklight Brands announced today that the Marley Natural cannabis portfolio will be launched in Jamaica through a new, first-of-its-kind Marley Natural dispensary located at Bobs former home and recording studio, now the Bob Marley Museum, in Kingston, Jamaica. Marley Natural, the worlds first global cannabis brand, was born of a collaboration between the Marley family and Docklight Brands, Inc., which holds exclusive global rights to Bob Marley cannabinoid products.

Along with music, herb was such an important part of my fathers life. He was always a strong advocate for marijuana and all of its healing qualities. We are thrilled to honor him and his contribution to the world of music and now cannabis at the Bob Marley Museum, said Stephen Marley.

We are thrilled to work with the Marley family to bring the Marley Natural portfolio to Jamaica through this flagship retail location. This unique cannabis experience will bring to life the ethos of Bob Marley, said Damian Marano, CEO, Docklight Brands. It is incredibly meaningful to have the first Marley Natural dispensary in the world at the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica.

The site has already received conditional approval from Jamaicas Cannabis Licensing Authority. The opening of the dispensary will allow qualified consumers to enjoy authentic cannabis at Bobs house. Jamaican law allows both residents and tourists to use cannabis for therapeutic purposes. In addition to cannabis, the retail location will sell a full line of Marley accessories and approved CBD products.

One Draw Holdings plans to open this inaugural Marley Natural retail location at the Bob Marley Museum later in 2021, with future locations planned at Tuff Gong Studio in Kingston and elsewhere on the island. This dispensary will be the first in Docklights global expansion of the Marley Natural retail footprint, with additional locations planned in North America.

About One Draw Holdings, Ltd.

One Draw Holdings, Ltd., a Marley affiliate company, was established in 2018 and is based in Kingston, Jamaica. One Draw will have exclusive rights to operate Marley Natural cannabis retail locations and distribute Marley Natural cannabis products in Jamaica. Contact: Sabrina Webster, One Draw Holdings, sabrina@bobmarleygroup.com

About Docklight Brands, Inc.

Docklight Brands, based in Seattle, WA, is a pioneering consumer brand company focused on cannabinoid products. Docklights portfolio of brands includes Marley Natural, Marley CBD, The Goodship, Irisa and Headlight. Docklight was founded by Privateer Holdings, the first private equity firm to invest exclusively in the emerging legal cannabis industry. We are bringing Bob Marleys belief in the positive potential of the herb to consumers worldwide through anchor brands Marley Natural and Marley CBD, which offer a wide range of authentic products inspired by Bobs spirit, ideals and deep-rooted respect for nature. THC products include flower, pre-rolls, smoking accessories and edibles, while CBD products span beverages, topicals and confectionsall crafted with intention and respect. For more information, please visit marleynatural.com, enjoymarleycbd.com or on Instagram follow @MarleyNatural, @EnjoyMarleyCBD.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005453/en/

Alison Ilg

Ilg Communications

For Docklight Brands

404.281.9806

alison@ilgcommunications.org

Source: Docklight Brands, Inc.
22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII), a leading plant-based biotechnology company focused on tobacco harm reduction, reduced nicotine tobacco, and hemp/cannabis research, today announced new initiatives to strengthen and maximize revenue opportunities in its hemp/cannabis franchise. Included in these developments is the announcement of strategic partnerships with two plant breeders in the northern and southern hemispheres providing the Company with year-round growing capabilities, close partnership activities being conducted with Aurora Cannabis, and the establishment of a newly created Canadian subsidiary. These newest developments further support 22nd Centurys plans for multiple avenues of hemp/cannabis revenue that will begin to be realized in late 2021.

The addition of breeders who specialize in alkaloid-based plant cultivation to our network of strategic partnerships provides us with the competitive edge to commercialize our second-generation IP and technologies, said James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group. As cannabis regulation evolves, we believe that companies able to control the traits and consistency of the plants will command a premium price and margin in the marketplace. 22nd Century is well-positioned to capitalize on the tremendous potential in the global legal cannabis space by creating hemp/cannabis plants that have stable, specific cannabinoid levels at commercial scale for various end-use markets.

As a matter of preparedness, earlier we announced a $40 million registered direct offering through Cowen and Company, LLC, Mish continued. Cowen is well-known as a pioneer in the cannabis institutional markets, and with this registered direct placement, 22nd Century is now squarely positioned in the mainstream of the cannabis equity space. Proceeds from this offering will be used as needed for future strategic growth opportunities as our hemp/cannabis market activity continues to increase. With the Special Equities Group as our financial advisor on this transaction to the Company, we now have ample financial flexibility for this franchise as we advance our revenue-generating initiatives later this year.

Strategic Plant Breeding Partnerships

With its breeding partnerships in place, 22nd Century Group has now secured all key partnerships needed to maximize and support each of the five components in the upstream segment of the cannabinoid value chain including: plant profiling (CannaMetrix); plant biotechnology (KeyGene); commercial-scale plant breeding; plant cultivation (Needle Rock Farms and breeder network); and ingredient extraction/purification (Panacea). In doing so, 22nd Century has built a unique ability to accelerate the delivery of valuable, commercial-scale plant lines and intellectual property for the life science, consumer product, and pharmaceutical end-use markets in just two years.

The Company will provide details regarding the breeding strategic partnerships later this month and will present its go forth commercialization strategy for its hemp/cannabis franchise on its second quarter 2021 earnings call in early August.

The Company is actively pursuing multiple hemp/cannabis revenue streams targeted in 2021. These include monetization of a portion of the Companys valuable hemp/cannabis intellectual property and offtake commitments for the Companys high CBD and CBG plant lines currently growing in Needle Rock Farms of Crawford, Colorado for commercialization in the forms of flower, distillate, or isolate.

Valuable Biosynthesis IP License and Aurora Partnership

22nd Century has been at the forefront of hemp/cannabis research since 2014 when the Company entered into a global research and license agreement with Anandia Laboratories in Canada through which 22nd Century was granted an exclusive sublicense for global IP rights to commercialize key aspects of cannabinoid biosynthesis in the hemp/cannabis plant and microorganisms. These licenses were transferred to Aurora Cannabis when it acquired Anandia in 2018. 22nd Century and Aurora are working closely together to enforce their IP against infringing parties and are exploring collaborative commercial development opportunities. The Company expects licensing and revenue from the IP shared with Aurora to commence in the second half of 2021.

22nd Century Canada, Inc. - New Canadian Subsidiary

22nd Centurys Canadian subsidiary, 22nd Century Canada, Inc., incorporated in April 2021, will serve as a base for the Companys expanded activities in tobacco, hemp/cannabis and its yet-to-be announced third franchise. The establishment of a Canadian subsidiary will provide structure for the Company to seek licenses that will enable further research and development in Canada and enable the Company to operate in both the recreational and medical cannabis space without restrictions.

22nd Century Canada, Inc. will also serve as a hub for expanded reduced nicotine tobacco activities in Canada, to include a possible future launch of VLN and the potential expansion of its reduced nicotine tobacco growing programs. A nicotine cap in combustibles in Canada remains a possibility given Health Canadas interest in reduced nicotine content cigarettes. Furthermore, the establishment of a subsidiary will potentially provide the Company with greater operational efficiencies.
Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa Monaco announces the recovery of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from the Colonial Pipeline Co. ransomware attacks as she speaks during a news conference with FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate and Acting U.S. At

By Sarah N. Lynch, Christopher Bing and Joseph Menn

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Justice Department on Monday recovered some $2.3 million in cryptocurrency ransom paid by Colonial Pipeline Co, cracking down on hackers who launched the most disruptive U.S. cyberattack on record.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said investigators had seized 63.7 bitcoins, now valued at about $2.3 million, paid by Colonial after last month's hack of its systems that led to massive shortages at U.S. East Coast gas stations.

The Justice Department has "found and recaptured the majority" of the ransom paid by Colonial, Monaco said.

An affidavit filed on Monday said the FBI was in possession of a private key to unlock a bitcoin wallet that had received most of the funds. It was unclear how the FBI gained access to the key.

A judge in San Francisco approved the seizure of funds from this "cryptocurrency address," which the filing said was located in the Northern District of California.

Colonial Pipeline had said it paid the hackers nearly $5 million to regain access. Bitcoin was trading down nearly 5% around 1800 ET (2200 GMT). The cryptocurrency's value has dropped to around $34,000 in recent weeks after hitting a high of $63,000 in April.

Bitcoin seizures are rare, but authorities have stepped up their expertise in tracking the flow of digital money as ransomware has become a growing national security threat and put a further strain on relations between the United States and Russia, where many of the gangs are based.

"Right now, prosecution is a pipedream," Vice President John Hultquist of the Mandiant cybersecurity firm said in praising the move. "Disrupt. Disrupt. Disrupt."

The hack, attributed by the FBI to a gang called DarkSide, caused a days-long shutdown that led to a spike in gas prices, panic buying and localized fuel shortages. It posed a major political headache for President Joe Biden as the U.S. economy was starting to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The White House urged corporate executives and business leaders last week to step up security measures to protect against ransomware attacks after the Colonial hack and later intrusions that disrupted operations at a major meatpacking company.

Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate, who spoke at the same news conference as Monaco on Monday, described DarkSide as a Russia-based cybercrime group.

Abbate said the FBI was tracking more than 100 ransomware variants. DarkSide itself victimized at least 90 U.S. companies, including manufacturers and healthcare providers, he said.

Colonial Chief Executive Joseph Blount, who will testify before the Senate on Tuesday, said in a statement that the company had worked closely with the FBI from the beginning and was "grateful for their swift work and professionalism."

"Holding cyber criminals accountable and disrupting the ecosystem that allows them to operate is the best way to deter and defend against future attacks," Blount said.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Sunday the Biden administration was looking at all options to defend against ransomware attacks and that the topic would be on the agenda when Biden meets Russian President Vladimir Putin this month.

Tom Robinson, co-founder of crypto tracking firm Elliptic, said that the bitcoin wallet from which the funds were taken had contained 69.6 bitcoins. The seizure announced on Monday was of just 63.7 bitcoins, which Robinson said likely represented the share that had gone to the DarkSide "affiliate" who had initially hacked into Colonial.

Investigators say DarkSide often used a partnership model with other hacking groups to compromise numerous victims.

DarkSide would normally keep a smaller share for its role in providing the encryption software and negotiating with the victim, Robinson said. On Monday, minutes after the first funds were transferred out, the rest followed. The U.S. government might have seized that second amount as well but not announced it yet, Robinson said.

The FBI affidavit filed on Monday said that the bureau had tracked the bitcoin through multiple wallets, using the public blockchain and tools. Small amounts were shaved off the initial 75 bitcoin payment along the way.

The remaining amount reached the final wallet on May 27 and stayed there until Monday.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Jan Wolfe, Tim Ahmann, and Christopher Bing in Washington, Joseph Menn in San Franciso and Stephanie Kelly in New York; Writing by Mohammad Zargham and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Howard Goller)
Graves Deputies Arrest Pursuit Suspect

By West Kentucky Star Staff

GRAVES COUNTY - A man who led Graves County sheriff's deputies on a pursuit Saturday night was arrested on Sunday.Saturday afternoon, Graves County deputies pursued a vehicle from KY Highway 94 through Pilot Oak and onto KY Highway 129. The suspect fled from the vehicle into a dense wooded area near Dukedom.Late Saturday night, deputies were able to identify the suspect as 41-year-old Billy Dean Crouch of Graves County. Deputies found Crouch early Sunday morning hiding in a shed near a home on KY 129 in Dukedom.He was arrested on charges of speeding, driving on a DUI suspended license, two counts of fleeing or evading police and several traffic offenses. Crouch also had four active warrants for probation violation and failure to appear.
CALGARY, Alberta, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acceleware Ltd. (Acceleware or the Company) (TSXV: AXE), a leading developer of technologies targeting low-cost and clean extraction of heavy oil and bitumen, is very pleased to announce that Jim Boucher was elected to the Companys board of directors (the Board) at the annual general meeting held on May 26, 2021.

A highly respected Indigenous leader, executive and philanthropist, Jim Boucher continues to be a champion for environmental and sustainable development, social prosperity and economic inclusion for Indigenous Peoples.

Jim Boucher is a Cree and Dene from the Fort McKay First Nation, and the former long standing elected Chief of the Fort McKay First Nation, one of the most successful First Nations in Canada. During his leadership, the socio-economic-well-being of the community significantly improved. Mr. Boucher has received more than a dozen notable awards and honours throughout his career. Most recently, Mr. Boucher was inducted into the 2020 Alberta Order of Excellence and received the Commendation from the Governor General for Outstanding Service in 2016.

In 2020, Mr. Boucher co-founded the Saa Dene Group of Companies, where as President he is working with a variety of partners to pursue opportunities in multiple sectors with one clear vision: to increase diversity, inclusion, and opportunity through meaningful economic and social participation in the global economy. Acceleware and Saa Dene Group formed the Acceleware | Kisastwew partnership to actively pursue innovation and positive change in respect to the environmental and sustainable performance of the resource sector and support ideals important to Indigenous Peoples.

We are extremely pleased to have a business leader of Jims caliber on the board of directors and look forward to working with him, said Bohdan Romaniuk, Chair of the Board. Our shareholders voted overwhelmingly to add Jim to the board, and we believe his collaborative approach and drive for responsible resource development will serve them well.

I am pleased to join the Acceleware board of directors at such a critical time, said Jim Boucher. More than ever, the energy sector is focused on clean technologies and with the commercial-scale testing of RF XL imminent at Marwayne, Alberta underway, we are well positioned to offer a new solution to address some of industries biggest challenges.

Acceleware has granted Mr. Boucher stock options to acquire up to 100,000 common shares of the Corporation. The options have an exercise price of $0.30 per common share and will expire on May 31, 2026. Of the 100,000 options granted, 50,000 shall vest on the first anniversary of the grant date, and 50,000 shall vest on the second anniversary of the grant date.

ABOUT ACCELEWARE:

Acceleware (www.acceleware.com) is an innovator of clean-tech oil and gas technologies comprised of two business units: Radio Frequency (RF) Enhanced Oil Recovery and Seismic Imaging Software.

Acceleware is developing RF XL, its patented and patent-pending low-cost, low-carbon production technology for heavy oil and oil sands that is materially different from any heavy oil recovery technique used today. Acceleware's vision is that electrification of heavy oil and oil sands production can be made possible through RF XL, supporting a transition to much cleaner energy production that can quickly bend the emissions curve downward. Further, Accelewares RF XL technology could be a key component of an end-to-end integrated carbon management system that can eliminate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with heavy oil and oil sands production, whether for fossil fuels, or for future clean bitumen by-products such as petrochemicals, carbon fibre, and blue or green hydrogen production. RF XL uses no water, requires no solvent, has a small physical footprint, can be redeployed from site to site, and can be applied to a multitude of reservoir types. In shallow oil sands implementations, no tailings ponds will be required.

Acceleware has partnered with Saa Dene Group (co-founded by Jim Boucher) to create Acceleware | Kisastwew to raise the profile, adoption, and value of Acceleware technologies. The shared vision of the partnership is to improve the environmental and economic performance of the energy sector by supporting ideals that are important to Indigenous peoples, including respect for land, water, and clean air.

The Companys seismic imaging software solutions are state-of-the-art for high fidelity imaging, providing the most accurate and advanced imaging available for oil exploration in complex geologies. Acceleware is a public company listed on Canadas TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol AXE.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described in this release in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

DISCLAIMER

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For more information:Geoff ClarkTel: +1 (403) 249-9099geoff.clark@acceleware.com

Acceleware Ltd.435 10th Avenue SECalgary, AB, T2G 0W3CanadaTel: +1 (403) 249-9099www.acceleware.com

Source: Acceleware Limited
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascot Resources Ltd. (TSX: AOT; OTCQX: AOTVF) (Ascot or the Company) is pleased to announce that further to its press release of May 17, 2021, it has closed the non-brokered private placement (the Offering) of 2,651,796 flow-through shares (the Flow-Through Shares) at an average price of C$1.43 per Flow-Through Share for gross proceeds of C$3.8 Million.

The proceeds from the Offering will be used to fund the Companys exploration activities this year. The gross proceeds from the issuance of Flow-Through Shares will be used for Canadian exploration expenses, and will qualify as flow-through mining expenditures as those terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada), which will be renounced to the initial purchasers of the Flow-Through Shares with an effective date no later than December 31, 2021 in an aggregate amount not less than the gross proceeds raised from the issue of the Flow-Through Shares.

The Flow-Through Shares issued in the Offering are subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day from the closing date of the Offering.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the 1933 Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF

ASCOT RESOURCES LTD.

Derek C. White, President and CEO

For further information contact:David Stewart, P.Eng.VP, Corporate Development & Shareholder Communicationsdstewart@ascotgold.com+1 (647) 294-8361

About Ascot Resources Ltd.

Ascot is a Canadian-based exploration and development company focused on re-starting the past producing historic Premier gold mine, located in British Columbia's Golden Triangle. The Company continues to define high-grade resources for underground mining with the near-term goal of converting the underground resources into reserves, while continuing to explore nearby targets on its Premier/Dilworth and Silver Coin properties (collectively referred to as the Premier Gold Project). Ascot's acquisition of IDM Mining added the high-grade gold and silver Red Mountain Project to its portfolio and positions the Company as a leading consolidator of high-quality assets in the Golden Triangle.

For more information about the Company, please refer to the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or visit the Companys web site at www.ascotgold.com, or for a virtual tour visit www.vrify.com under Ascot Resources.

The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

All statements, trend analysis and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events or results constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as seek, anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, expect and intend and statements that an event or result may, will, should, could or might occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements, including statements in respect of the use of proceeds of the Offering. Although Ascot believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since the Ascot can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in the Ascots periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators, and assumptions made with regard to: the estimated costs associated with construction of the Premier Gold Project; the timing of the anticipated start of production at the Projects; the ability to maintain throughput and production levels at the Premier Mill; the tax rate applicable to the Company; future commodity prices; the grade of Resources and Reserves; the ability of the Company to convert inferred resources to other categories; the ability of the Company to reduce mining dilution; the ability to reduce capital costs. Forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Ascots expectations include risks associated with the business of Ascot; risks related to exploration and potential development of Ascots projects; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; the need for cooperation of government agencies and indigenous groups in the exploration and development of properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; risks associated with COVID-19 including adverse impacts on the world economy, construction timing and the availability of personnel; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time and additional risks identified in Ascots filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com). The timing of future economic studies; labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, financing or in the completion of the Premier Gold Project as well as those factors discussed in the Annual Information Form of the Company dated March 26, 2021 in the section entitled "Risk Factors", under Ascots SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Ascot does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

Source: Ascot Resources Ltd.
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, CANADA, JAPAN OR AUSTRALIA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH IT WOULD BE UNLAWFUL TO DO SO





Paris, France  June 7th, 2021

Derichebourg S.A. (Derichebourg) today announces that it has launched an offering (the Offering) of 300,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2028 (the Notes). Derichebourg intends to use the gross proceeds from the Offering, together with cash on hand, to pay the purchase price for the previously announced acquisition (the Acquisition) by its subsidiary Derichebourg Environnement of 100% of the capital of Groupe Ecore Holding S.A.S. (together with its subsidiaries, Ecore), to repay certain of Ecores outstanding indebtedness and to pay fees and expenses related thereto.

Pending the completion of the Acquisition, the gross proceeds from the Offering will be deposited into an escrow account for the benefit of the holders of the Notes. The release of the escrowed proceeds will be subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions. If the Acquisition is not consummated on or prior to a specified longstop date or upon the occurrence of certain other events, the Notes will be subject to a special mandatory redemption at a price equal to 100% of the aggregate issue price of the Notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest and additional amounts, if any, to but excluding the date of the special mandatory redemption.

Cautionary statement

The Notes will be offered only to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A and outside the United States pursuant to Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), subject to prevailing market and other conditions. There is no assurance that the offering will be completed or, if completed, as to the terms on which it is completed. The Notes to be offered have not been registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or unless pursuant to an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and any other applicable securities laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the Notes, nor shall it constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

The Notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the European Economic Area (EEA). For these purposes, a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, MiFID II); or (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2016/97 (as amended), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as amended, the Prospectus Regulation).

The Notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor (as defined above) in the United Kingdom. The expression "retail investor" in relation to the United Kingdom means a person who is one (or more) of the following: (i) a retail client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 2017/565 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the "EUWA"); (ii) a customer within the meaning of the provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and any rules or regulations made thereunder to implement Directive (EU) 2016/97, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA.

This announcement does not constitute and shall not, in any circumstances, constitute a public offering nor an invitation to the public in connection with any offer within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation or otherwise. The offer and sale of the Notes will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Regulation from the requirement to produce a prospectus for offers of securities.

In the United Kingdom, this announcement is directed only at (i) persons having professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the Order), or (ii) high net worth entities falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order, or (iii) persons to whom it would otherwise be lawful to distribute them, all such persons together being referred to as Relevant Persons. The Notes are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such Notes will be engaged in only with, Relevant Persons.

MiFID II professionals/ECPs-only/ No PRIIPs KID  Manufacturer target market (MIFID II product governance) is eligible counterparties and professional clients only (all distribution channels). No PRIIPs key information document (KID) has been prepared as not available to retail investors in EEA.

UK MIFIR professionals/ECPs-only/ No UK PRIIPS KID  Manufacturer target market (UK MIFIR product governance) is eligible counterparties and professional clients only (all distribution channels). No UK PRIIPs key information document (KID) has been prepared as not available to retail investors in the United Kingdom.

Neither the content of Derichebourgs website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on Derichebourgs website is incorporated in, or forms part of, this announcement. The distribution of this announcement into certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

Forward-looking statements

This press release may include forward-looking statements. These forward- looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms believes, estimates, anticipates, expects, intends, may, will or should or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts and include statements regarding Derichebourgs or its affiliates intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, Derichebourgs or its affiliates results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industries in which they operate. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that Derichebourgs or its affiliates actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industries in which they operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward- looking statements contained in this press release. In addition, even if Derichebourgs or its affiliates results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industries in which they operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.

The forward-looking statements and information contained in this announcement are made as of the date hereof and Derichebourg undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

Attachment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Disclosure of total number of voting rights and

number of shares forming the capital

as of May 31, 2021

Clichy, France  07 June 2021

Article L 233-8-II of the French Code de Commerce and Article 223-16 of the General Regulations of the French Autorite des Marches Financiers.

As of May 31, 2021, the total number of issued shares of SOCIETE BIC is 45,395,857 shares, representing:

66,825,040 voting rights,

66,379,126 voting rights excluding shares without voting rights

ABOUT BIC

A world leader in stationery, lighters and shavers, BIC brings simplicity and joy to everyday life. For more than 75 years, the Company has honored the tradition of providing high-quality, affordable, essential products to consumers everywhere. Through this unwavering dedication, BIC has become one of the most recognized brands and is a trademark registered worldwide. Today, BIC products are sold in more than 160 countries around the world and feature iconic brands such as BIC Kids, BIC FlexTM, BodyMark by BICTM, Cello, Djeep, Lucky Stationery, Rocketbook, Soleil, Tipp-Ex, Us. TM, Wite-Out and more. In 2020, BIC Net Sales were 1,627.9 million euros. The Company is listed on "Euronext Paris," is part of the SBF120 and CAC Mid 60 indexes and is recognized for its commitment to sustainable development and education. It received an A- Leadership score from CDP For more, visit www.bic.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube.

Contact

Sophie Palliez-Capian

VP, Corporate Stakeholder Engagement

+33 1 45 19 55 28

+ 33 87 89 3351

Sophie.palliez@bicworld.com

Michele Ventura

Senior Manager, Investor Relations

+ 33 1 45 19 52 98

Michele.ventura@bicworld.com

Albane de La Tour dArtaise

Senior Manager, Institutional Press Relations

+ 33 1 45 19 51 51

+ 33 7 85 88 19 48

Albane.DeLaTourDArtaise@bicworld.com

Isabelle de Segonzac

Image 7

+ 33 6 89 87 61 39

isegonzac@image7.fr

2021 AGENDA

ALL DATES TO BE CONFIRMED

First Half 2021 Results July 28, 2021 3rd Quarter 2021 Results October 26, 2021

Attachment
Toronto, Ontario, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ontario Teachers and IFM Investors officially take ownership of Enwave today. The sale was announced in February 2021 and today marks the close of the transaction and the beginning of a new era of opportunities for the company.

Concurrent with the completion of the transaction, Carlyle Coutinho has been named Enwaves new CEO. Coutinho has held various positions with Enwave since 2013, most recently as President, North America.

Our new owners are investing in Enwave as a platform to meet the growing demand for low-carbon energy solutions across North America, said Coutinho. Our work has not only helped our customers meet their low-carbon energy needs, but contributed to a cleaner, more sustainable future. We look forward to continuing to grow the platform in the years to come.

Whether its capturing and reusing waste heat from sewers, developing an ice battery to utilize off-peak renewable energy, or integrating renewable electricity solutions into community energy grids, Enwaves projects are customized to maximize the benefit for customers and provide flexibility to evolve into the future.

We are excited to reach this milestone and pleased to be at the forefront of accelerating the energy transition via capital deployment in such critical sustainable infrastructure. Enwaves focus on delivering innovative, sustainable cooling and heating solutions to customers is well-aligned with IFMs net-zero commitments. We are confident that Enwaves established track-record and capable leadership team coupled with robust institutional backing will help accelerate Enwaves expansion into both new and existing markets, said Kyle Mangini, Global Head of Infrastructure at IFM Investors.

Building on the business strong foundation, Enwave is focused on executing an expansion strategy based on scaling their low-carbon solutions in both existing markets and new geographies, with a focus on the United States and Canadian markets.

We are pleased to close this transaction and take ownership of Enwave alongside IFM Investors. We see Enwave as a great example of investing in a compelling business that is making a meaningful and positive impact in the communities where they operate. We look forward to working with management and supporting further growth of the business in the United States and Canada, said Dale Burgess, Senior Managing Director, Infrastructure & Natural Resources at Ontario Teachers.

Establishing Enwaves Green Credentials

With a shared focus on long-term, value generating responsible investments, Ontario Teachers and IFM Investors are naturally aligned to support Enwaves vision for low-carbon growth. The new owners acquisition financing incorporates C$410 million of Green Loans, further demonstrating Enwaves green credentials.

Strong support for Enwaves inaugural green financing demonstrates the companys continued sustainability leadership and proven ability to deploy green technologies at scale. A green capital expenditure facility will provide flexibility to invest in green projects and make new acquisitions in line with Enwaves low carbon growth ambitions, said Jim Wierstra, Executive Director at IFM Investors.

Enwave will draw on its green financing facilities to fund eligible projects, including the expansion of Torontos Deep Lake Water Cooling system, in accordance with its Green Financing Framework. The framework has been reviewed and affirmed via a Second Party Opinion as in line with Green Loan and Green Bond principles. This acknowledgment of Enwaves green credentials further strengthens its ability to issue future green financings in line with key sustainability goals.

A Leader in Deploying Sustainable Energy Solutions

Enwaves rapid growth is due to its ability to scale leading-edge energy solutions, like the expansion of the Deep Lake Water Cooling system through the current addition of a fourth water intake. Enwave has pioneered ground-breaking projects, such as a dual-use heating and cooling thermal battery at The Well in Toronto which holds approximately 8 million litres of water, maximizing use of off-peak renewable energy sources. Other leading solutions include the first residential community in Ontario to be powered by a GeoExchange district; a low-carbon energy system used to heat and cool single family homes. The company has also recently launched Enwave Geo-Communities, introducing single building GeoExchange energy solutions. In Toronto, Enwave has added three high-efficiency hot water districts to its existing system that recaptures and upcycles waste heat from buildings to provide low-carbon heating solutions to the community.

About Enwave

Enwave is one of the largest commercial operators of community-based thermal energy systems in North America. We develop reliable, scalable and sustainable energy solutions tailored to the unique needs of municipalities, commercial developments, universities, hospitals, and residential communities. Our management team has extensive experience in designing, operating, and/or managing a variety of low-carbon, efficient thermal and electrical technologies including lake water cooling, GeoExchange, energy from waste, clean biomass, energy from sewage, thermal ice batteries, ambient loops, wind, solar, and combined heat and power.

About Ontario Teachers Pension Plan

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers') is the administrator of Canada's largest single-profession pension plan, with $221.2 billion in net assets (all figures at December 31, 2020). It holds a diverse global portfolio of assets, approximately 80% of which is managed in-house, and has earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.6% since the plan's founding in 1990. Ontario Teachers' is an independent organization headquartered in Toronto. Its Asia-Pacific region offices are located in Hong Kong and Singapore, and its Europe, Middle East & Africa region office is in London. The defined-benefit plan, which is fully funded, invests and administers the pensions of the province of Ontario's 331,000 active and retired teachers. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on Twitter @OtppInfo.

About IFM Investors

IFM Investors was established more than 25 years ago with the aim to protect and grow the long-term retirement savings of working people. Owned by a group of Australian pension funds, the organisation has US$118bn under management as of 31 March 2021. Because IFM is owned by industry pension funds, we seek to prioritise the interests of more than 470 like-minded investors worldwide by focusing on assets that combine excellent long-term risk/reward characteristics with broad economic and social benefits to the community. As a signatory to The United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, IFM actively engages on ESG issues with the companies in which we invest with the aim of enhancing their net performance while minimising investment risk. Operating globally from offices in Melbourne, Sydney, London, Berlin, Zurich, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo, IFM manages investments across infrastructure, debt, listed equities and private equity assets. For more information, visit www.ifminvestors.com

Jyoti Minhas Enwave +1 416-402-7542 jyoti.minhas@enwave.com Dan Madge Ontario Teachers +1 416-419-1437 dan_madge@otpp.com Gian-Carlo Peressutti IFM InvestorsFromSubjectReceivedSizeCategories Carlyle CoutinhoRE: Enwave - Close PR + logistics 10:47 AM133 KB + 1 203-733-7806 gian-carlo.peressutti@ifminvestors.com

Source: Enwave
AB Klaipedos Nafta (hereinafter  the Company), as the operator of the liquefied natural gas (hereinafter  LNG) terminal in Klaipeda (hereinafter  the Terminal), informs that after the closure of annual terminal capacities allocation procedure and conclusion of respective agreements, for the period from the 1st of October, 2021 until the 30th of September, 2022, 8.891.452.000 kWh LNG regasification capacities were allocated. Part of the terminal capacities was ordered by the new terminal user, the Norwegian energy company Equinor ASA.

The Company notes that the above indicated Terminal capacities were allocated in advance, i.e. before start of upcoming Gas Year. It should also be noted that Terminal users can order Terminal capacities after the annual Terminal capacities allocation procedure. The Company at its website www.kn.lt constantly announces and updates the information regarding free capacities of the Terminal, which are available for booking during the Gas Year.





Indre Kisieliene, Acting Chief Financial Officer, +370 686 16276.






Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - Appia Energy Corp. (CSE: API) (OTCQB: APAAF) (FSE: A0I.F) (FSE: A0I.MU) (FSE: A0I.BE)(the "Company" or "Appia")is pleased to announce that global rare earths expert, Jack Lifton, has agreed to join the Company as a consultant and Advisor to the Board of Directors of Appia.

Jack is a consultant, author, and lecturer on the market fundamentals of technology metals. Technology metals is a term that he coined to describe strategic metals whose electronic properties make our technological society possible. These include the rare earths, the platinum group metals, lithium, graphite and most of the rare metals and materials. Jack is the leading rare earths expert in the US and he also advises the US Department of Energy as well as other companies.

Tom Drivas, CEO of Appia commented, "We are delighted that Jack has agreed to bring his unheralded knowledge of the rare earths industry to Appia as a Strategic Advisor. Appia is at a pivotal moment in its exploration/exploitation program on our flagship Alces Lake critical rare earth elements ("CREE") project. In addition to having discovered one of the world's potentially highest-grade monazite deposits, Appia is committed to being a key player in the development of a new global supply chain for rare earth elements that are in short-supply and high-demand for use in permanent magnets and modern electronic applications such as electric vehicles and wind turbines, (i.e: neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr) dysprosium (Dy), and terbium (Tb))."

Frederick Kozak, President of Appia, commented, "I am delighted that Jack Lifton has consented to join Appia at this exciting time in the global rare earths market. I had the pleasure of working with Jack prior to joining Appia earlier this year and I know that he will provide the Company with insightful guidance and advice as our Alces Lake rare earths project advances this year."

Jack has been issued 150,000 stock options exercisable at $0.91 for 5 years as compensation for his services as a consultant and advisor to Appia.

About Appia

Appia is a Canadian publicly-listed company in the rare earth element and uranium sectors. The Company is currently focusing on delineating high-grade critical rare earth elements ("REE") and uranium on the Alces Lake property, as well as prospecting for high-grade uranium in the prolific Athabasca Basin on its Loranger, North Wollaston, and Eastside properties. The Company holds the surface rights to exploration for 65,601 hectares (162,104 acres) in Saskatchewan.

The Company also has a 100% interest (subject to a 1% Uranium Production Payment Royalty and a 1% Net Smelter Return Royalty on any precious or base metals payable, provided that the price of uranium is greater than US$130 per pound) in 12,545 hectares (31,000 acres), with rare earth element and uranium deposits over five mineralized zones in the Elliot Lake Camp, Ontario. The Camp historically produced over 300 million pounds of U 3 O 8 and is the only Canadian camp that has had significant rare earth element (yttrium) production. The deposits are largely unconstrained along strike and down dip.

Appia has 106.6 million common shares outstanding, 128.0 million shares fully diluted.

For more information, visit Appia's website at www.appiaenergy.ca.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This News Release contains forward-looking statements which are typically preceded by, followed by or including the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "plans" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance as they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward- looking statements and shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such statements.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:

Tom Drivas, CEO and Director: (cell) 416-876-3957, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) appia@appiaenergy.ca

Frederick Kozak, President: (cellular) 403-606-3165 or (email) fkozak@appiaenergy.ca

Frank van de Water, Chief Financial Officer and Director, (tel) 416-546-2707, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email)fvandewater@rogers.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86735
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - BlockchainK2 Corp. wholly-owned subsidiary Amplify Games (TSXV: BITK) (OTCQB: BIDCF) (FSE: KRL2) ("BlockchainK2" or the "Company")welcomes Santiago Zapata (AKA "slashie"), a games industry veteran developer and leader for the roguelike community, to its industry alliance.

As a creative force in the gaming industry for nearly two decades, Santiago has fostered the Temple of the Roguelike community and created a wide variety of unique projects. Slashie has developed dozens of experimental titles and self-published the mobile-hit Ananias via his development studio, Slashware Interactive. Slashware is also currently developing NovaMundi, which entered Steam Early Access earlier this year.

"Having experienced how hard it is to put your game in front of an audience in these times of over-abundance of indie titles, I am curious to see how the Amplify platform provides small studios with tools to better market their gamest" said Santiago Zapata, Founder of Slashware Interactive and Temple of the Roguelike. "I am also excited at the prospect of providing a way for communities to be self-sustainable via community stores leveraging on the common interests of their members."

"We're honored to welcome Slashware Interactive and the growing community of Temple of the Roguelike to the Amplify Alliance," says Tony Caputo, CEO of Amplify Games. "Santiago brings crucial developer and community experience to the Amplify Alliance and we're looking forward to learning more from him as we continue to develop Amplify's gaming technology platform."

As the latest addition to the Amplify Alliance, Santiago stands among a diverse group of industry professionals that will provide key information for the development of Amplify's upcoming digital platform. For more information about the Amplify Games, please visit its official website.

# # #

About Slashware Interactive

Slashware Interactive is an independent video game development studio led by Santiago Zapata, a veteran of the roguelike games community. The studio self-published the multiplatform traditional roguelike Ananias and the historical strategy sim NovaMundi, which recently entered Steam Early Access. For more information please visit slashware.games.

About Amplify Games Inc.

Amplify Games is a gaming technology platform that is solving the problems of today with technology that will empower the future of digital game distribution and promotion. The platform uses blockchain technology to change the current studio, publisher, influencer paradigm. This combination of the needs within the gaming industry and the solutions that blockchain can provide to meet those needs will enable Amplify Games to take advantage of tremendous opportunities in the $45 billion digital games market.

For more information about Amplify Games, please visit http://www.amplifygames.io./ .

For further information, please contact Tony Caputo, CEO

Tony@amplifygames.io

About BlockchainK2 Corp.

BlockchainK2 Corp. is a holding company investing in blockchain technology solutions for capital markets and other sectors that can be made more efficient through tokenization. The Company is currently invested in RealBlocks, a technology platform for private equity, private credit and real estate that provides tokenized secondary trading of LP interests. The Company also has executed a joint venture agreement with Standard Power, an industrial scale crypto currency mining facility with very low power costs in the United States. For information on BlockchainK2 Corp., please visit www.blockchaink2.com.

For further information, please contact: Sergei Stetsenko, CEO 604-630-8746

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking statements", including information concerning the intentions, plans and future action of the Company described herein. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made, and are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other known and unknown factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the general risks of a public company, currently with limited business and financial resources, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's continuous disclosure record available at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86701
Dover, Delaware--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - Encode Ideas, L.P. Initiates Research on Modular Medical, Inc. (OTCQB: MODD). The full research publication can be found on our website at www.encodelp.com.

Encode Ideas, L.P., a healthcare focused research firm, announced today it is initiating coverage on Modular Medical, Inc. (OTCQB: MODD). Modular Medical, Inc. (OTCQB: MODD) is a development-stage diabetes technology company based in San Diego, CA. Modular seeks to expand access to high end diabetes technologies to the heretofore neglected majority of the diabetes market who have been poorly served by the existing options which have been too expensive and complex to drive broad adoption. The strategy is to provide care at a level of cost and complexity designed not for "superusers" but for "the rest of us". Modular Medical was founded by CEO Paul DiPerna, a seasoned medical device professional and world-class microfluidics engineer. Mr. DiPerna was previously the founder (in 2005) of Tandem Diabetes and invented and designed their T:slim insulin pump.

Encode Ideas, L.P. is a healthcare focused research firm, founded in 2019, providing institutional quality research and investment ideas. We undertake an intensive research process to identify healthcare companies that are mispriced or underfollowed. This process lends us towards covering predominately micro / small cap securities, where we feel some of the most intriguing risk reward opportunities exist.

Disclosures

Full disclosures can be found at the end of the report, page 14 and on the website under the disclosure section. The securities of the issuer discussed in this press release may be unsuitable for investors depending on their specific investment objectives and financial position. This research does not constitute a personal trading recommendation or take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs of an individual reader of this report and does not provide all of the pertinent information to make an investment decision. Neither Encode Ideas, L.P., nor its employees and affiliates are registered as investment advisors or broker/dealers in any jurisdiction whatsoever. The information contained herein is based on sources that Encode Ideas, L.P. believes to be reliable but is not guaranteed to be accurate and does not purport to be a complete statement or summary of the available data. Encode Ideas, L.P. has been retained by Modular Medical, Inc. to provide investor awareness and research coverage. This compensation may constitute a conflict of interest as to Encode Ideas L.P.'s ability to remain objective in our communication regarding the profiled company. Readers should always do their own due diligence and consult a financial professional.

Contact

Encode Ideas, L.P.

email: ideas@encodelp.com

twitter: @encodelp

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86673
NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Deloitte has appointed Dr. Kulleni Gebreyes to lead the Deloitte Health Equity Institute in the U.S. In her new leadership role, Gebreyes, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, will lead the overall strategic direction of the institute, focusing on improving health outcomes and decreasing disparities by integrating, amplifying, and extending efforts to improve health equity by investing in areas that address the root causes of inequities.

Based in North Carolina, Gebreyes is Deloitte's U.S. consulting healthcare sector leader and has more than 20 years of experience in the health care industry, across the commercial and public sector. She has worked with leading payor, provider, retail and public sector organizations to improve operations, develop strategies for transformation and rethink operational efficiency. Through this work, her deep knowledge of health care and her ability to make connections across industries, Gebreyes is uniquely positioned to identify opportunities to impact equity.

"Dr. Gebreyes is a unique leader whose experience, education, acumen and insights will help us advance health equity and I share in her commitment to drive meaningful action and sustainable change. We need to think beyond a single actor or sector, but focus instead on what we can all do to address equitable outcomes in health," said Asif Dhar, vice chairman, life sciences and health care, Deloitte LLP, and national leader of Deloitte's U.S. life sciences and health care practice. "Through her leadership of the Deloitte Health Equity Institute, Dr. Gebreyes' ability to pull together public and private stakeholders  life sciences, health care, public sector and other industries with community organizations  will allow us to make a sustainable difference to this multigenerational challenge."

Trained at Johns Hopkins Hospital System, Gebreyes is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and a Six Sigma Green Belt. She holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, a B.A. in biology from Princeton University and an MBA from Carey Business School of Johns Hopkins. She has served as a faculty member engaged in medical education and residency training at Georgetown University Medical Center and George Washington University Hospital. At Deloitte, Gebreyes drives care delivery transformation for health care organizations pursuing financially sustainable strategies for consumer centric care models that are data driven and digitally enabled. She has also developed strategies for population health management and value-based care that address payment reform, physician alignment and patient activation.

"The establishment of the Deloitte Health Equity Institute is a critical step in our commitment to join the voices of public health officials, communities, and business leaders who are helping end systemic racism, especially in the area of health care," said Gebreyes. "We are encouraging input from our powerful network of business leaders and health care professionals to develop a health equity agenda that we can work on together as we strive to make gains against racism that we cannot make on our own. I am extremely honored to work with our deeply committed and passionate team, and our colleagues around the world, to come to the right conclusions, work toward better outcomes and help create health equity for all."

To learn more about Gebreyes connect with her on LinkedIn or follow the Deloitte Health Care on Twitter @DeloitteHealth

About the Deloitte Health Equity InstituteRecognizing the imperative for immediate and sustained effort, and grounded in Deloitte's declaration of racism as a public health crisis, Deloitte established the Deloitte Health Equity Institute (DHEI) in Spring 2021. DHEI is dedicated to creating public good through data-driven pro bono services, philanthropy, and research. DHEI builds on Deloitte's commitment to advance health equity, informed by work with clients, a decade of impact made by our Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, and our perspective on how life sciences and health care organizations can activate health equity.

The DHEI reinforces our purpose of making a positive, enduring impact that matters. By collaborating with local and national organizations, DHEI is a catalyst, helping advance health equity at scale. Our initiatives aim to help everyone achieve their full potential in all aspects of health and well-being, building a more equitable society for all.

About Deloitte Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500 and more than 7,000 private companies. Our people come together for the greater good and work across the industry sectors that drive and shape today's marketplace  delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthier society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Building on more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's more than 330,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.

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SOURCE Deloitte
Supreme Court Won't Review Men-Only Draft Law

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court said Monday that for now itll be up to Congress, not the court, to decide whether to change the requirement that only men must register for the draft. It's one of the few areas of federal law where men and women are still treated differently.In a statement, three justices said Congress is weighing whether to change the Military Selective Service Act, which requires men but not women to register for the draft when they turn 18. They said that was a reason for the court to kick the matter back to lawmakers.It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Act," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a statement for herself, Justice Stephen Breyer and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. But at least for now, the Courts longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue.In recent years, bills to require women to register for the draft have been proposed in the House but not gone anywhere. Just last year, however, a congressional commission concluded that the time is right to extend the obligation to register to women. The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the report this year, and Sotomayor pointed to the report and the hearing, suggesting Congress is currently studying the issue.The question of whether it's unconstitutional to require men but not women to register could be viewed as one with little practical impact. The last time there was a draft was during the Vietnam War, and the military has been all-volunteer since. But women's groups are among those arguing that allowing the male-only requirement to stand is harmful.Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Womens Rights Project, who had urged the court to take up the issue, said that requiring men to register imposes a serious burden on men that's not being imposed on women.Men who do not register can lose eligibility for student loans and civil service jobs, and failing to register is also a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison. But Tabacco Mar said the male-only requirement does more than that.It's also sending a tremendously harmful message that women are less fit than men to serve their country in this particular way and conversely that men are less fit than women to stay home as caregivers in the event of an armed conflict," said Mar, who represents the National Coalition For Men and two individual men who challenged the law. We think those stereotypes demean both men and women.Even if the draft is never used again, retaining the requirement sends a really damaging message, she said. On Monday, she urged Congress in a statement to "update the law either by requiring everyone to register for the draft, regardless of their gender, or by not requiring anyone to register.A group of retired senior military officers and the National Organization for Women Foundation were among those that had urged the court to take the case.The issue of who has to register for the draft has been to the court before. In 1981, the court voted 6-3 to uphold the men-only registration requirement. At the time, the decision was something of an outlier because the court was regularly invalidating gender-based distinctions in cases about other areas of the law. Many of those cases were brought by the founding director of the ACLUs Womens Rights Project, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who became a justice in 1993.The last time the high court considered the Military Selective Service Act, then-Justice William Rehnquist explained that the purpose of registration was to prepare for a draft of combat troops. He said that because women could not serve in combat, the law was not unlawful sex discrimination that violated the Constitution.But military policy has changed. In 2013, the Defense Department lifted the ban on women serving in combat. Two years later, the department said all military positions would be open to women without exception.The Biden administration had urged the justices not to take the case and to let Congress instead tackle the issue. Administration lawyers wrote in a brief that any "reconsideration of the constitutionality of the male-only registration requirement ... would be premature at this time because Congress is actively considering the issue.The case is National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System, 20-928.
NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jewish Communal Fund (JCF) of New York, the largest and most active Jewish donor advised fund in the country, approved nearly $700,000 in charitable grants to Jewish charities through its endowment, the JCF Special Gifts Fund.

This funding will be earmarked to meet increased food needs for low-income New Yorkers; provide Jewish summer camp scholarships for children significantly impacted by COVID-19; create a therapy center for preschoolers with special needs; and provide funding for capital improvements to local day camps.

The JCF Special Gifts Fund Committee selected the grantee charities with the assistance of UJA-Federation of New York.

"Jewish Communal Fund is privileged to be able to support the most vulnerable populations in our community," said Daniel Blaser, Chair of Jewish Communal Fund's Charitable Distribution/Special Gifts Fund Committee.

Since 1999, the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Communal Fund has granted more than $20 million to support programs that promote the welfare and security of the Jewish community at home and abroad.

The latest JCF Special Gifts Fund Grantees include:

$250,000 to the Sephardic Jewish Community Center to create a therapy center

Thanks to JCF's support, The Sephardic Community Center in Brooklyn will be able to build a 1,500 square foot therapy center, where preschool-age children can receive physical, occupational, and speech therapy. The Jewish Communal Fund Therapy Center will feature therapy swings, a rock-climbing wall, climbing structures, monkey bars, balance beam, therapy balls and other sensory equipment to enhance experiential learning for preschoolers of all abilities.

$211,000 to UJA-Federation of New York to provide Jewish day camp scholarships for campers attending camps housed on the Henry Kauffmann Campgrounds for Summer 2021.

JCF's support will enable childrenmany of whom have experienced the loss of a parent or are living in or near poverty as a result of a parent's job lossthe ability to go to Jewish summer camp. Day camp scholarships will be divided among 13 Jewish community centers that run day camps at the Henry Kaufmann Campgrounds in Long Island, Staten Island, and Rockland County.

$130,000 to the Shorefront JCC for its digital food pantry

Food insecurity is on the rise in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic; demand at UJA-funded food pantries is up 40 percent as compared to last year. JCF's support will help the Shorefront JCC Digital Pantry provide more nutritious food for its clients, many of whom are Russian-speaking seniors, and enable greater choice in selecting food.

$100,000 to UJA-Federation of New York to provide a matching grant to four camps in UJA's network to secure funding for capital improvements

JCF's donation will help Camp Zeke, Eden Village Camp, Berkshire Hills Eisenberg Camp and Surprise Lake Camp fund capital improvements that will expand enrollment while following COVID-related social distancing guidelines. JCF's grant can help these camps secure matching funds from the Jewish Community Response and Impact Fund (JCRIF) through the Foundation for Jewish Camp.

Jewish Communal Fund is one of the largest networks of Jewish funders, managing more than $2 billion in charitable assets for more than 4,200 donor advised funds. JCF's donor advised funds make giving easy, flexible and efficient. Learn more about JCF by visiting www.jcfny.org. Visit JCF on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACT: Tamar Snyder 311447@email4pr.com 646-843-6894

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SOURCE Jewish Communal Fund
DUBLIN, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT), the global leader in medical technology, today announced clinical trial results from the STROKE AF trial demonstrating the superiority of the Reveal LINQ Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) to detect abnormal heartbeats, otherwise known as atrial fibrillation (AF), in both large and small vessel stroke patients compared to standard of care. The findings were published in the June 1, 2021 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Stroke impacts more than 795,000 people every year. More than 87% of strokes are ischemic strokes, which occur when vessels that allow blood to flow to the brain are blocked.1 AF is a major risk factor for ischemic stroke. In fact, there is a five-fold increase in ischemic stroke risk for AF patients.

The STROKE AF study evaluated 496 patients2, including 284 large vessel and 208 small vessel stroke patients. The findings demonstrated Reveal LINQ ICM was superior to the standard of care for AF detection:

At 12 months, AF was detected in 12.1% (or one in eight) patients in the ICM arm compared to 1.8% in the standard of care arm (HR=7.41; p

78% of patients who had AF would have been missed if only monitored for 30 days.3

Median time to detection of AF was 99 days.

Rates of AF detection in the ICM arm were similar between patients with index strokes due to small vessel versus large vessel disease (12.6% compared to 11.7% respectively; p=0.74).

At 12 months, 96.3% of first AF episodes were asymptomatic in ICM arm.

The majority (55.5%) of patients with AF detected had an episode lasting more than one hour.

"STROKE AF showed that many patients with large vessel or small vessel stroke actually have AF, which is challenging to find using standard cardiac monitoring," said Richard Bernstein, M.D., Ph.D., Northwestern Medicine Distinguished Physician in Vascular Neurology, Medical Director of Telehealth, and professor of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Our job as neurologists includes identifying potential causes of future strokes to adequately protect our patients. AF is a risk that we can't afford to miss, and without long-term monitoring, we are missing it."

"The Stroke AF trial shows that long-term monitoring with an ICM resulted in significantly higher rates of AF detection compared to routine follow-up at both six months and one year after the patient's index stroke," said Lee H. Schwamm, M.D., vice president of Virtual Care and Digital Health, Mass General Brigham and C. Miller Fisher chair in Vascular Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital. "Preventing recurrent stroke is challenging. I believe the findings from the STROKE AF study strongly suggest the need to re-examine the role of ICMs in secondary prevention, go beyond just the cryptogenic stroke patient, and embrace a broader conceptual framework that shifts the emphasis away from the cause of the index stroke and onto future stroke prevention."

STROKE AF is a 1:1, randomized clinical trial, taking place at 33 clinical sites across the U.S. Individuals 60 years and older with ischemic stroke believed to be due to small vessel disease, large vessel cervical or intracranial atherosclerosis within the past 10 days, as well as individuals 50 to 59 years older with stroke risk factors, were enrolled in the trial. Patients randomized to the ICM arm were given a Medtronic Reveal LINQ Insertable Cardiac Monitor. Patients in the control group received site-specific usual care, consisting of external cardiac monitoring such as 12-lead ECGs, Holter monitoring, telemetry, or event recorders. Incidence rates of AF and recurrent stroke will be compared over a three-year study duration. The study is led by co-principal investigators, Dr. Bernstein and Dr. Schwamm.

"Medtronic has been an innovative leader in ICM technology for 20 years and has made significant contributions to understanding the clinical utility of using ICMs in the cryptogenic stroke population, including publication of the CRYSTAL-AF Study in 2014. Now with the STROKE AF study, we are able to deepen our understanding in this additional patient population," said Rob Kowal, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer of the Cardiovascular Diagnostics and Services business, which is part of the Cardiovascular Portfolio at Medtronic. "We believe that prolonged cardiac monitoring with the Reveal LINQ ICM can assist clinicians as they seek to prevent secondary strokes among their patients who have suffered an initial ischemic stroke. Findings from the STROKE AF study clearly validate the benefits of long-term monitoring for this high-risk population and have the potential to be practice-changing."

In collaboration with leading clinicians, researchers and scientists worldwide, Medtronic offers the broadest range of innovative medical technology for the interventional and surgical treatment of cardiovascular disease and cardiac arrhythmias. The company strives to offer products and services of the highest quality that deliver clinical and economic value to healthcare consumers and providers around the world.

About MedtronicMedtronic 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.

1 Virani SS, Alonso A, Benjamin EJ, Bittencourt MS, Callaway CW, Carson AP, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics2020 update: a report from the American Heart Associationexternal icon. Circulation. 2020;141(9):e139e596.2 A total of 496 patients were enrolled in the study and 492 were randomized3 Based on data through 12 months

Contacts: Lauren Mueller Ryan Weispfenning Public Relations Investor Relations +1-763-285-9053 +1-763-505-4626

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SOURCE Medtronic plc
SHANGHAI, June 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 4, 2021 (EST), OriginCell Therapeutics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. ("OriginCell"), together with Lishui Central Hospital affiliated to Zhejiang University and Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, presented the updated data from the on-going trial of Ori-CAR-001, a GPC3 CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of relapsed/refractory hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), at the 2021 annual meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology. Preliminary results from the study show promising safety and efficacy of Ori-CAR-001 in patients with GPC3-positive relapsed/refractory HCC.

Session type: Poster SessionAbstract Title: An armored GPC3-directed CAR-T for refractory or relapsed hepatocellular carcinoma in China: A phase I trialDate and time: 06/04/2021, 9:00 AM (EDT)Abstract ID: 4095Link: https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/199036/abstract

A breakthrough Cell Therapy against Solid Tumors

As of March 10, 2021, a total of 11 patients were enrolled into this study. All subjects had advanced HCC and had failed prior lines of treatment including chemotherapy, TACE, and targeted therapies. All subjects had BCLC stage C (late stage) HCC except for one subject with stage B (mid stage). All subjects had multiple lesions, of which 6 (54%) had distant metastasis. Two subjects dropped out early and were not evaluable. Among the 9 evaluable subjects, 4 achieved partial response (PR), 3 achieved stable disease (SD), and 2 had disease progression (PD). The objective response rate was 44.4%, and the disease control rate reached 77.8%. A partial response lasting for more than 6 months was observed in Subject 007 at the time of data cutoff, whose tumor volume was reduced by more than 80% one month post cell therapy infusion. (As of June 2021, this subject had exceeded 8 months of disease control, follow-up is still ongoing). Good tumor response was also seen in Subject 012, who has advanced and diffuse massive HCC and joined the study after failing in radiotherapy, targeted drug and 12 times of TACE.

Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) is a liver cancer staging system developed by the European Association for the Study of Liver, to help assess patients' conditions, select the right therapies for the right patients, and predict patients' prognosis. The BCLC system classifies HCC mainly as stages of 0, A, A1,A2,A3,A4, B, C,and D.

On day 28 post infusion with CAR-T cells, the target tumor lesion decreased from 133mm in diameter at baseline to 9mm, a reduction of more than 93%. Currently, the subject is being evaluated for month 3 post CAR-T cell infusion, MRI scan showed near complete tumor response. In addition, AFP level (alpha-fetoprotein, a specific tumor marker for primary liver cancer) decreased from a baseline value of >80,000/ng/ml to 1148.9 ng/ml on month 1, and to 746.7 ng/ml at month 3 post infusion (normal range

Good Safety Profile

Ori-CAR-001 CAR-T infusion demonstrated good safety and tolerability in 11 patients. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) was observed in 9 patients (7 cases grade 1-2 and 2 cases grade 4), which were resolved after treatment with steroids and tocilizumab. No neurotoxicity was observed.

Regarding the results from this exploratory study, Professor Ji Jiansong, principal investigator of Lishui Central hospital, who is also Chief scientist of the National Key R&D Program, director of Key Laboratory of Imaging Diagnosis and Minimally Invasive Intervention Research of Zhejiang China, said, "There is currently no effective treatment for relapsed/refractory hepatocellular carcinoma. Many challenges such as the tumor micro environment is difficult to overcome and have limited the therapeutic effects of cell therapy in solid tumors. However, Ori-CAR-001, developed by OriginCell Therapeutics, has managed to achieve an objective response rate of 44% and a disease control rate of 77% in patients with relapsed/refractory HCC, demonstrating a level of safety and anti-tumor activity that cannot be achieved by currently available drugs. Given its preliminary promising efficacy and safety data, we are confident in the future development prospects of Ori-CAR-001 and will continue our research studies. We take great pride and hope Ori-CAR-001 will one day become a new treatment option for patients with advanced HCC.

Dr. He Xiaowen, co-founder and chief scientific officer of OriginCell Therapeutics, said, " Although Immuno-cell therapies have produced remarkable clinical responses in hematological tumors, they have limited efficacy against solid tumors. OrginCell will continue to explore the broader unmet needs in this space, with the hope to bring more effective immuno-cell therapies to clinicians and patients with advanced stage cancer."

About Ori-CAR-001

Ori-CAR-001 is a next generation autologous chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy targeting GPC3 for the treatment of refractory/ relapsed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The construct of Ori-CAR-001 is comprised of humanized anti-GPC3 scFv, a CD8-derived hinge region, a transmembrane domain linked to 4-1BB co-stimulatory domain, a CD3z intracellular signaling domain, and Ori2 components simultaneously expressed through T2A. Compared with conventional CAR-T cells, Ori-CAR-001 has significantly higher proportion of memory stem T cells, which may translate to improved expansion and persistence in the body, thereby increasing their anti-tumor activity.

It is worth noting that, in addition to the preliminary safety and efficacy data of Ori-CAR-001 presented at 2021 ASCO annual meeting, OriginCell and study investigators also carried out translational medicine studies, in which the mode of administration, dosing, PK/PD, and biomarkers were explored. This will futher promote the application and development of cell therapy for solid tumors.

OriginCell will plan more clinical development programs to further explore Ori-CAR-001's potential based on existing data, and the Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the National Medical Products Administration (NPMA) is currently in progress.

About ASCO

With more than 40,000 members from more than 100 countries, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is the world's leading academic organization for physicians and oncology professionals caring for people with cancer. Its mission is to prevent cancer and improve cancer care, and promote the translation of research findings into clinical practice. By providing access to a global network of oncology expertise, the ASCO annual meeting is recognized as the world's most influential academic congress in the field of oncology.

About OriginCell Therapeutics

Founded in 2015, OriginCell Therapeutics Co., Ltd. ( Chinese name changed from ""to "" on May 25) received pre-Series A funding of nearly 100 million yuan exclusively from Qiming Venture Capital at the end of 2019, and the company completed Series A funding of more than 200 million yuan at the end of 2020. With the support of Qiming Venture Capital, OriginCell has been spun off from the OriginCell Group as an innovative drug research and development asset, and will focus on developing new immunotherapies for cancer treatment in the future.

Dedicated to independent innovation, OriginCell has built four innovative and synergistic proprietary technology platforms, i.e. OriAb, an antibody development and optimization technology platform; OriCAR, a high-memory CAR T technology platform; Ori TIL, an efficient cell expansion and culture technology platform; and OriUCAR, a universal CAR-T technology platform.

About OriAbAntibody Discovery Technology Platform

OriAb is a technology platform that enables the expression of 1011 fully human antibody phage display libraries, 1012 nano antibody libraries, and adds antibody engineering capabilities. A series of superior antibody drug candidates and CAR-T cell target antibodies have been produced from this platform.

About OriCAR Technology Platform

OriCAR enables the insertion of unique signaling domains into novel and proprietary CAR construct, which greatly enhances the expansion efficiency of memory immune cells, effectively resists the stressful immune environment of solid tumors, enhances the efficacy and persistence of CAR-T, and effectively inhibits tumor growth and prevents recurrence.

About OriTILA Cell Expansion and Culture Technology Platform

OriTIL can substantially increase the number of expanded TIL cells, improve quality attributes, and process parameters to break the therapeutic limitations. The clinical efficacy and safety can be ensured via younger TIL cells that can bring enhanced anti-tumor activity.

About Ori UCAR Technology Platform

Ori UCAR can efficiently synergize with antibody technology, Ori technology, gene editing, and cell differentiation technology to make future CAR-T therapies more universal and convenient, while effectively reducing its cost of use.

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SOURCE Yuanqi Biological Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Russell Reynolds Associates, a global leadership advisory and search firm, announced today the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors: Jacky Wright, Chief Digital Officer at Microsoft U.S., and David Rowland, Executive Chairman of Accenture.

"Jacky and David are incredibly accomplished leaders who add great bench strength and experience to the Russell Reynolds Board," said Clarke Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Russell Reynolds Associates. "Their industry knowledge as well as respective work in diversity and inclusion, digital transformation, and inclusive leadership will further enhance our capabilities as an organization and as trusted advisors to our clients."

Wright is currently the Chief Digital Officer at Microsoft U.S. where she leads the company's efforts to accelerate innovations needed to help customers digitally transform. Prior to that, she was Corporate Vice President for Core Services Engineering Platform at Microsoft where she oversaw the digital transformation and deployment of customer experiences across technology platforms. Wright has held several executive positions and CIO functions throughout her career, including at BP, General Electric, and Anderson Consulting. She is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, especially among women and people of color in technology, and regularly serves on technical advisory boards in support of these initiatives. She serves on several civic and charitable boards, including the Board of Directors for nVent Plc, the Board of Trustees for Harvey Mudd College, and the MxD Manufacturing Council. Wright holds a BBA in Computer Science and Accounting from Baruch College.

Rowland is currently the Executive Chairman of Accenture. In this role, he is actively involved in shaping the firm's long-term strategic vision and growth and represents the firm's clients around the world. Throughout his 36-year career with Accenture, Rowland has held several significant leadership roles. Prior to his role as Executive Chairman, he served as interim Chief Executive Officer. Before this, he was Accenture's chief financial officer for five years and had a significant role in shaping the company's growth strategy. He serves on several civic and charitable boards, including Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Georgia Tech Foundation and the Board of Directors for Covenant House Georgia. Rowland holds a B.Sc. in management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

About Russell Reynolds AssociatesRussell Reynolds Associates is a global leadership advisory and search firm. Our 470+ consultants in 46 offices work with public, private and nonprofit organizations across all industries and regions. We help our clients build teams of transformational leaders who can meet today's challenges and anticipate the digital, economic and political trends that are reshaping the global business environment. From helping boards with their structure, culture and effectiveness to identifying, assessing and defining the best leadership for organizations, our teams bring their decades of expertise to help clients address their most complex leadership issues. We exist to improve the way the world is led. www.russellreynolds.com

ContactEmily HeinenRussell Reynolds Associates212-351-2194Emily.Heinen@russellreynolds.com

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SOURCE Russell Reynolds Associates
LEXINGTON, Ky., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (NYSE: TPX, "Tempur Sealy" or the "Company") today announced that it has selected Crawfordsville, Indiana as the site for its previously-announced third domestic foam-pouring plant. The new state-of-the-art plant is expected to be the largest Tempur Sealy manufacturing facility in the world and will be located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Subject to closing conditions, the construction on the 130-acre site is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2021.

This new facility's location in the Midwest complements the Company's existing manufacturing footprint and is expected to enhance the Company's ability to service its Northeast customers. The first phase is planned for approximately 700,000 square feet, with the ability to double its capacity over time and to expand to a final size of approximately 1 million square feet in the future, which would make it Tempur Sealy's largest manufacturing facility in the world. Production is expected to begin in 2023, and Tempur Sealy plans to hire approximately 300 local employees to staff the facility. Construction will be funded from operating cash flow.

Tempur Sealy Chairman and CEO Scott Thompson commented, "This facility underpins our commitment to expanding our global manufacturing footprint to fulfill the projected long-term demand trajectory for our industry leading products and support our growth initiatives. The facility will have the capabilities to manufacture a wide variety of bedding products and components for branded and non-branded operations, including Tempur-Pedic, Sealy, Stearns & Foster and OEM mattresses."

Thompson continued, "After a thorough site search and evaluation process, we have identified Crawfordsville, Indiana as the ideal location for our new operations. We selected this location based on the robust business climate fostered by the state and local government, the quality of life the city of Crawfordsville provides its citizens and the property's access to major transportation routes."

Additionally, the Company recently opened a Sealy plant in Dallas, TX, and is expecting to open its new Sherwood northeast plant and a new West Coast facility later this year.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that may be characterized as "forward-looking" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which includes information concerning one or more of the Company's plans, objectives, goals, strategies, and other information that is not historical information. When used in this release, the words "expects," "will," "should," "would" and variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify such statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to the Company's operational plans, results of operation or financial position and expectations about customary due diligence and local regulatory approval for the planned manufacturing facility. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based upon current expectations and beliefs and various assumptions. There can be no assurance that the Company will realize these expectations or that these beliefs will prove correct.

Numerous factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, could cause actual results to differ materially from any that may be expressed as forward-looking statements. These risk factors include the risk factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in ITEM 1A of Part 1 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. There may be other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made.

About the Company

Tempur Sealy is committed to improving the sleep of more people, every night, all around the world. As a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of bedding products, we know how crucial a good night of sleep is to overall health and wellness. Utilizing over a century of knowledge and industry-leading innovation, we deliver award-winning products that provide breakthrough sleep solutions to consumers in over 100 countries.

Our highly recognized brands include Tempur-Pedic, Sealy and Stearns & Foster and our non-branded offerings include value-focused private label and OEM products. Our distinct brands allow for complementary merchandising strategies and are sold through third-party retailers, our Company-owned stores and e-commerce channels. This omni-channel strategy ensures our products are offered wherever and however customers want to shop.

Lastly, we accept our global responsibility to serve all stakeholders, our community and environment. We have and are implementing programs consistent with our responsibilities.

Investor Relations Contact

Aubrey MooreInvestor RelationsTempur Sealy International, Inc.800-805-3635Investor.relations@tempursealy.com

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SOURCE Tempur Sealy International, Inc.
TAIPEI, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TYAN, an industry-leading server platform design manufacturer and MiTAC Computing Technology Corporation subsidiary, brings 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor-based server platforms featuring built-in AI acceleration, enhanced security, and a 2X increase in PCIe 4.0 I/O for the most demanding requirements across HPC, cloud, storage and 5G workloads at the TYAN 2021 server solutions online exhibition beginning Jun 3rd.

"With AI and cloud growth, our new servers based on 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors are designed to deliver a diversity of workloads for high performance systems, like AI inference or deep learning platforms, to a cost-optimized high IOPS cloud storage platform," said Danny Hsu, Vice President of MiTAC Computing Technology Corporation's Server Infrastructure Business Unit.

Tempest and Thunder HX/SX product lineups to enhance AI performance and data storage effectiveness

Optimized for AI and HPC applications, the Tempest HX S5642 is a standard server motherboard in SSI CEB (12" x 10.6") form factor. The motherboard is equipped with a single 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor socket, 8 DDR4-3200 DIMM slots, two 10GbE and one GbE LAN ports, three PCIe Gen 4.0 x16 and two NVMe M.2 slots.

Fueled by 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors with built-in AI acceleration, TYAN's Thunder SX TS65-B7120 is a self-contained system and is ideal for AI inference applications. The 2U dual-socket system features 16 DDR4 DIMM slots, five standard PCIe 4.0 slots, twelve front 3.5-inch tool-less SATA drive bays with up to four NVMe U.2 support, and two rear 2.5-inch tool-less SATA drive bays for boot drive deployment.

The Thunder HX TS75-B7122 is a 2U system designed for AI inference and in-memory computing workloads, supporting two 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, 32 DDR4 DIMM slots, two PCIe 4.0 x16 slots for double-width, active-cooled GPUs, and twelve 3.5-inch tool-less SATA drive bays with up to four NVMe U.2 support. The other 2U dual-socket server platform is Thunder SX TS65A-B7126, featuring 16 DDR4 DIMM slots, two PCIe 4.0 x16 slots, and hybrid storage configuration. The TS65A-B7126 accommodates eight NVMe U.2, ten 2.5-inch tool-less SATA drive bays at front, and two rear 2.5-inch tool-less SATA drive bays for boot drive deployment.

TYAN's Thunder HX FT83A-B7129 is a 4U dual-socket supercomputer supporting up to ten high-performance GPU cards. Powered by dual 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors and 32 DDR4 DIMMs, the FT83A-B7129 platform provides outstanding heterogeneous computing power for a variety of GPU-based scientific high performance computing, AI training, inference, and deep learning applications. The system offers twelve 3.5-inch tool-less drive bays with up to four NVMe U.2 devices support.

Tempest and Thunder CX product lineups feature high performance computing requiring large storage capacity

The TYAN Tempest CX S7126 is a rack-optimized server motherboard in EATX (12" x 13.1") form factor designed for datacenters with dual 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, 16 DDR4-3200 DIMM slots, two PCIe 4.0 x32 high-density riser slots, two onboard GbE LAN ports and one NVMe M.2 slot. Moreover, the Thunder CX GC68-B7126 and Thunder CX GC68A-B7126 deployed with the same S7126 board in 1U chassis offering different cloud application requirements. The GC68-B7126 accommodates four 3.5-inch SATA drive bays for large storage capacity and four 2.5-inch tool-less NVMe U.2 ones for application cache usage, while GC68A-B7126 offers twelve 2.5-inch tool-less SATA drive bays with support for up to two NVMe U.2 devices for high IOPS storage requirements. Two systems provide up to a pair of PCIe 4.0 x16 expansion slots and an OCP 2.0 LAN mezzanine slot.

Please click here for more information and to register.

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Please watch this video about TYAN 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor servers designed for AI and Cloud.

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SOURCE MiTAC Computing - TYAN
In a November, 2020 photo, the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) sits at Pier 3 at Newport News Shipbuilding. (Matt Hildreth/Huntington Ingalls)

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (Tribune News Service)  The cost of the Navys next three carriers is on the rise, due in part for installation of equipment and electronics to handle the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

The Navys latest 390-page fiscal year 2022 budget justification document calls for increased spending for the carrier John F. Kennedys electromagnetic catapult and arresting gear  systems that ran hundreds of millions of dollars over budget for the USS Gerald R Ford, the lead ship for the Navys new class of carriers.

All in all, the cost of the Kennedy, now more than 80% complete at Newport News Shipbuilding, will rise by $531 million, or 4.7% from the estimate in last years justification document, to $11.93 billion, the Navy now says.

The cost of the third carrier in the Ford class, the Enterprise, will rise $84 million, to $12.41 billion, while the fourth carrier in the class, the Doris Miller, will see a $33 million increase to $12.48 billion. Both ships are under construction at Newport News.

The cost of Kennedys basic construction  the hull, structures and mechanical systems, is set to rise by $368 million.

The Navy said this will cover the cost of work to accommodate the F-35 fighters that are succeeding the Navys current FA-18 SuperHornets, as well as installing and integrating some of the equipment it is furnishing the ship now that it has moved to single-phase delivery.

The Navy had originally planned to accept delivery of Kennedy in two steps, basically to stretch out payments for the ship. The idea was to avoid having both the Kennedy and USS Nimitz, the carrier it is replacing, in the fleet at the same time. That would have stretched Navy personnel and budgets more than Congress, back in 2016, wanted. The Navy decided to return to a single-step delivery last November, as that concern eased.

Other F-35 related cost increases for the Kennedy include $47 million for electronics systems.

In addition, the Navy is adding $39 million for a government test team and engineering support, now that the Kennedy is set for single phase delivery.

The cost of the Kennedys electromagnetic catapult, which is supplied to the shipyard by the Navy, is rising by another $38 million, or 6.3%, from the year ago estimate to $639 million, while its arresting gear cost is up $11 million, or 4.7% to $243 million.

When the Navy first included these system for Ford class carriers, it estimated the cost of the catapult at $318 million and the arresting gear at $75 million. By the time the Ford itself was commissioned, those costs had risen to $670 million for the catapult and $148 million for the arresting gear.

The costs of these two systems for the next two Ford class carriers are steadying, however. The catapult is projected to cost $608 million for the Enterprise and $593 million for the Doris Miller.

Most of the rise in the cost of the Enterprise comes from work related to the F-35, including storage facilities for these planes and some along with $29 million more for electronics systems to cover the addition of the new Joint Precision Aircraft Landing System, the Electronic Consolidated Automated Support System, modifications to the carriers ready room and facilities for handling and storing lithium ion batteries.

The increased cost for the Doris Miller comes mainly from the $22 million cost of adding the Joint Precision Aircraft Landing System, ready room modifications and lithium batter facilities, as well as $10 million from the the addition of MK-38 MOD 3 Machine Gun System and a logistics system to support F-35s.

The budget document shows a $299 million, 4% decline in the cost of the two-boat a year Virginia class submarine program, where Newport News have assumed a larger share of the work. Congress last year returned production of Virginia class submarines to a two-a-year pace, rejecting a Trump administration slowdown.

The cost of the first Columbia class ballistic missile submarines, on which Newport News Shipbuilding is building the bow section, stern and sail, rose by $637 million, or 4.4%. Most of this increase comes to cover overall planning and design costs for the new boats.

dress@dailypress.com

2021 Daily Press. Visit dailypress.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Retired Col. Maj. Bah N'Daw, right, is sworn into the office of transitional president, and Col. Assimi Goita, left, head of the junta that staged the Aug. 18 2020 coup, is sworn into the office of transitional vice president, at a ceremony in the capital Bamako, Mali, on Sept. 25, 2020. (AP Photo)

BAMAKO, Mali  Mali's coup leader Col. Assimi Goita was sworn in Monday as president of a transitional government, solidifying his grip on power in the West African nation after carrying out his second coup d'etat in nine months.

The inauguration ceremony in the capital, Bamako, came as Mali faces increasing isolation from the international community over the junta's power grab. Already the African Union has suspended Mali's membership and France has temporarily suspended its joint military operations with the Malian military to exert pressure on Goita to step aside.

Goita, who first grabbed power in August 2020 by overthrowing Mali's democratically elected president, eventually agreed to a transitional government led by a civilian president and prime minister. But two weeks ago he ousted those civilian leaders after they announced a cabinet reshuffle that sidelined two junta supporters without consulting him. Mali's constitutional court also approved him as interim president.

During his inauguration speech, Goita called on Malians to display "cohesion and solidarity." He pledged to reduce government spending and "to facilitate access to drinking water and primary health care."

He also promised that presidential elections would be held on schedule.

"I would like to reassure the international community that Mali will honor all of its commitments," he said.

Goita faces international pressure to hold an election in February 2022, as required by the original transitional government agreement last year. Given the latest developments, however, it is unclear what will happen on the election front.

Continued political instability in Mali, many fear, could further embolden Islamic extremists, who have been carrying out attacks for nearly a decade in the country's volatile north.

The West African regional bloc, known as the Economic Community of West African States, has been supporting mediation talks in Mali. ECOWAS also called for a new civilian prime minister in Mali to be nominated immediately, and a new inclusive government to be formed.

The regional bloc, and the AU, have made clear that the head of the transition government, the vice president and the prime minister should not under any circumstances be candidates in the next presidential election.

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is returning to Mali this week to continue mediation on behalf of ECOWAS.

Islamic extremists took control of major towns in northern Mali after the 2012 coup. Only a 2013 military intervention led by former colonial power France pushed the extremists out of those towns.

France and a U.N. force have continued to battle the extremists, who operate in rural areas and regularly attack roads and cities.
This portrait of a couple with three young children was among photographs recovered by a fallen Marine from a Pacific battlefield during World War II. (David Wassel)

TOKYO  Five fading photographs carried into combat by a Japanese soldier during World War II are back in their homeland after three quarters of a century in America.

The pictures include a portrait of a couple with three young children, a bespectacled man, another fellow holding a wooden sword, a man and a boy standing together, and a woman in a kimono. They were mailed to Pennsylvania in March 1944 by Marine Sgt. Harry Dininger, who was serving with the 22nd Marine Regiment in the Marshall Islands.

Dininger, 25, who survived being wounded on Guam, was killed fighting near Naha City, Okinawa, on May 10, 1945, according to his distant relative, David Wassel, 59, of White Oak, Pa.

Marine Sgt. Harry Dininger was killed fighting near Naha City, Okinawa, on May 10, 1945. (David Wassel)

Wassel discovered the photos in a box full of letters in another relatives basement more than a decade ago. Since then, hes been trying to reunite them with the family of the fallen Japanese soldier who they belonged to, he said in a telephone interview Friday.

Wassel thinks the Marine sent the photos home to let his mother know what Japanese people looked like.

Diningers older brother, Bob, married a sister of Wassels grandmother. The photographs were discovered in the couples basement along with over 100 letters written between 1941 and 1945, he said.

In possibly his last letter home, a few days before he was killed, Dininger wrote: Whatever happens, I know I shall come out O.K.

After seeing the photographs, Wassel decided the right thing to do was to return them to the family of the Japanese soldier.

If I was in their position, I imagine I would want someone to do this for me, he said.

This photo of a Japanese man with a wooden sword was among five sent home from the Marshall Islands by a U.S. Marine during World War II. (David Wassel) A photo of a woman in a kimono was one of five carried into combat by a Japanese soldier in World War II. They're back in their homeland after three quarters of a century in America. (David Wassel) A bespectacled man appears in one of five photographs that were sent home from the Marshall Islands by a U.S. Marine during World War II. (David Wassel) This photo of a Japanese man and a boy was sent home from the Marshall Islands by Marine Sgt. Harry Dininger in 1944. (David Wassel)

Diningers body came home and Wassel recently visited his grave in the Pittsburgh suburb of Lower Burrell. Diningers name is also inscribed at a memorial on Okinawa, he added.

Japanese families might know where their relative died but they didnt get bodies back, he said.

Exactly where Dininger found the photographs is unclear. His unit fought on Engebi and Parry islands and was garrisoned on Kwajalein, Wassel said.

He didnt make much headway in his quest to return the letters until he met New York-based journalist Mariko Fukuyama in October 2018.

Fukuyama contacted an association for families of Japanese soldiers who died fighting in the Marshalls, she said in a June 1 email.

The photographs were sent to the National Museum of Japanese History in Chiba prefecture for infrared camera analysis. However, that didnt provide any clues to their origin, she said.

The Marshall Islands War-Bereaved Families Association in Tokyo will hold onto the photos during the search, Fukuyama said.

Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report.

robson.seth@stripes.com

Twitter: @SethRobson1
Buy Photo Army Sgt. Jordan Tubbs, left, and Cpl. Madison Green of Camp Zama show students the latest technology in treating animal wounds during a STEAM event at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, May 27, 2021. (Daniel Betancourt/Stars and Stripes)

NAVAL AIR FACILITY ATSUGI, Japan  Navy divers, a Marine Corps explosive ordnance disposal team and the 7th Fleet band were among those who recently demonstrated their expertise in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics to more than 300 students during STEAM Day at Shirley Lanham Elementary School.

The STEM subjects  science, technology, engineering and mathematics  have been viewed for some time as essential as American students fell behind their peers academically in other countries. But educators are recognizing the value and depth of an arts education, too, said Nathan Rogers, an Advanced Academic Programs and Services teacher, during an interview with Stars and Stripes following the May 27 event.

STEAM is just like STEM, we just add in the A for Arts, he said. All students may not excel in mathematics or technology, so it is good to show them that it is not all about academics.

Art can encompass a variety of subjects, from traditional mediums like drawing and painting to culinary, Rogers said.

STEAM Day at Lanham started in 2017 and has become an event everyone looks forward to now, he said. The goal is to expose our students to these different subjects and how it makes that connection to real life. Because a lot of times when you read about it, its sort of the theory, but when they see it all in action, I think it plants a seed.

Other presenters included DODEA teachers from nearby Camp Zama, the headquarters for U.S. Army Japan; the Armys 340th Chemical Company, whose soldiers deal with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear contaminant cleanup; and public health workers.

The students operated some military equipment, built and raced Lego cars, saw the latest technology in treating animal wounds, enjoyed jingles both familiar and new and made their own lava lamps.

Buy Photo Lanham Elementary School students observe and control a robot used by Marine Corps explosive ordnance teams during a STEAM event at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, May 27, 2021. (Daniel Betancourt/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo Students at Lanham Elementary School take part a STEAM event at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, May 27, 2021. (Daniel Betancourt/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo Lanham Elementary School listen to a performance by members of the 7th Fleet Band during a STEAM event at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, May 27, 2021. (Daniel Betancourt/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo A student at Lanham Elementary School creates her own lava lamp during a STEAM event at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, May 27, 2021. (Daniel Betancourt/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo Lanham Elementary School students observe and control a robot used by a Marine Corps explosive ordnance teams during a STEAM event at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, May 27, 2021. (Daniel Betancourt/Stars and Stripes)

Each class saw around seven presentations, because of time constraints, Rogers said.

For me it is all about our students and trying to do something that they can benefit from, so I did not mind going the extra mile to reach out to people so the students will have a successful STEAM Day turnout, he said. If they enjoyed the day, then it was all a success.

betancourt.daniel@stripes.com

Twitter: @Beta_Stripes

Daniel Betancourt
Beshear Steers Funds to Louisville, Lexington

By The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - Kentuckys governor is steering nearly $40 million in federal pandemic relief funds for use in emergency rental assistance in the states two largest cities.Gov. Andy Beshear directed that $27 million be used for rental assistance in Louisville.Another $11.7 million will go for Lexingtons program.The money comes from the states portion of federal rental assistance money.Under the federal program, Louisville and Lexington had applied for direct funding from the federal government for their own rent and utility assistance programs.Beshear says the federal funding formula gave the two cities fewer funds than anticipated.
A sign urges gymgoers to practice social distancing to combat the spread of the coronavirus earlier this spring at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. (Lauren Brune/U.S. Marine Corps)

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa  The U.S. military in Japan reported 15 new COVID-19 cases between Friday evening and 6 p.m. Monday, most of them in the countrys southern island prefecture.

Okinawa prefecture, now experiencing its worst phase of the pandemic, reported 691 new infections between Friday and Sunday, according to NHK. They logged 919 new cases during the same period a week ago.

The prefecture began shuttering schools Monday, as officials attempt to curb the spread of the virus among young people, Kyodo News reported Monday. Certain high schools in areas with fewer cases will remain open.

Okinawa is one of 10 prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka, that are in a state of emergency through June 20.

The Marine Corps on Okinawa had nine people test positive for the coronavirus respiratory disease between Saturday and Monday: four at Camp Courtney, three at Camp Hansen and a one case each at Camps Foster and Schwab, according to a Facebook post Monday by Marine Corps Installations Pacific.

The Marines have reported 24 infections since May 29, and logged 46 cases between April 30 and May 29.

Kadena Air Base, also on Okinawa, had six people test positive for COVID-19 between June 3 and June 5, including a worker at the Kadena post office, the base announced via Facebook on Saturday evening.

Three became ill with COVID-19 symptoms and self-isolated. One was already in quarantine as a close contact of a known coronavirus patient. Another, who had recently traveled outside Japan, was identified through end-of-quarantine testing, and yet another tested positive while preparing to travel to the United States.

There is no health concern for customers who recently picked up packages at the post office, the Facebook post said.

Japan reported 8,132 new coronavirus cases between Friday and Sunday, according to the World Health Organization. The 2,660 new infections on Sunday are 979 fewer than the same day last week.

The government has counted 760,000 cases during the pandemic and more than 13,500 deaths, the organization said.

Tokyo reported 1,259 coronavirus infections and 17 deaths between Friday and Sunday, public broadcaster NHK said Sunday. The number of new infections is 342 less than the same period last week. However, there were five more deaths during this three-day period.

Osaka prefecture, the nations second-largest metro area, reported 508 new infections and 35 deaths between Friday and Sunday, according to prefectural data. The prefecture was experiencing its highest caseload of the pandemic just one month ago when it had 1,057 new COVID-19 patients on May 2 alone, according to prefectural data.

Japan has lagged other developed nations in vaccinating its population. It is working to ramp up vaccination efforts in the coming weeks ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to open on July 23.

burke.matt@stripes.com

Twitter: @MatthewMBurke1
U.S. soldiers with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment march near Vilseck, Germany. Europeans, especially Germans, favor U.S. involvement in European security matters, according to a German Marshall Fund poll released June 7, 2021. (Pablo N. Piedra/U.S. Army)

STUTTGART, Germany  Support for a U.S. role in the security and defense of Europe grew in 2021 among key allies, even as doubts persisted about Washingtons reliability, a poll published Monday showed.

The findings from the German Marshall Fund, a nonpartisan policy group, came ahead of President Joe Bidens visit next week to NATO headquarters in Brussels, where allied heads of state will gather for a security summit.

While the U.S. is seen as most influential, it is not seen as the most reliable partner, the 2021 Transatlantic Trends report said.

Buy Photo A convoy of 2nd Cavalry Regiment vehicles parade through Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany in 2015. Europeans, especially Germans, favor U.S. involvement in European security matters, according to a German Marshall Fund poll released June 7, 2021. (Stars and Stripes)

Relations between the United States and longtime allies such as Germany have been strained in recent years, especially under the Trump administration, which frequently criticized Berlin over trade issues and for not spending enough on defense.

Even though the Biden administration has talked up its support of allies in Europe, questions remain about U.S. reliability on the international stage.

Confidence in the U.S. was strikingly low among Germans at 51%, the poll found. Trust was lower only among Turks, at 23%.

On average, Canada was viewed as the most reliable partner across all countries surveyed, followed by Sweden and Germany, the report said.

Polish residents rated U.S. reliability highest, at 76%.

While views on the U.S. as a reliable partner were mixed, support remained strong in Europe for the U.S. having a security role on the Continent, the poll found.

More than two-thirds of Germans  69%  said the United States should be involved in Europes security and defense, a 10-point rise from last year, the poll found. French support for U.S. involvement was up 10 points since 2020, at 55%.

Europeans continue to rely on U.S. security guarantees, and generally expect or want the United States to remain committed to the defense of the continent, the report said. Despite some differences regarding the priorities for transatlantic cooperation, people in eight of the ten European countries surveyed share a positive view of U.S. involvement.

Seventy percent of Americans also felt the U.S. should continue to be involved in the defense and security of Europe.

But in Sweden and Turkey, only 46% and 31%, respectively, favored the U.S. playing a role in the Continents security.

Very few respondents saw Russia as a leading global player, the poll found. Even in Turkey and Poland, which had the most positive perceptions of Moscow, only 6% considered it as most influential.

The German Marshall Fund report, done in collaboration with the Bertelsmann Foundation, was conducted between March 29 and April 13 in 11 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The report did not cite a margin of error.

vandiver.john@stripes.com

Twitter: @john_vandiver
Lithuania's parliament in Vilnius, Lithuania, is shown Nov. 24, 2020. Lithuania has detained nine Iraqi asylum-seekers who had entered the Baltic country from Belarus, officials said Monday, June 7, 2021. (Mindaugas Kulbis/AP)

VILNIUS, Lithuania  Lithuania has detained nine Iraqi asylum-seekers who had entered the Baltic country from Belarus, officials said Monday, pointing a finger at Belarus for allegedly being involved in sending repeated groups of immigrants into Lithuania.

"It is obvious that a hybrid war is being waged against Lithuania, and illegal migration flows are one of the means," Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said. Her country has voiced criticism of Belarus for its brutal crackdown following a presidential election there last year that the opposition says was rigged.

"Those flows of the illegal migrants who travel to Lithuania are not just random cases. These are well organized. There are flights from Baghdad and Istanbul to Minsk," she said, referring to Iraqis who fly to the capital of Belarus.

Lithuania said Belarus border guards have been covering the tracks of the migrants, with Bilotaite saying it "shows that officials themselves might be cooperating." She added that Lithuania's armed forces have been consulted in how to tackle the migration situation.

The two countries  both formerly part of the Soviet sphere  share a nearly 680-kilometer-long (420-mile) frontier that serves as the European Union's external border.

On Monday, a member of the Seimas, Lithuania's Parliament, traveled to the Belarus border. Lawmaker Laurynas Kasciunas said there is a direct link between certain international flights to Minsk and groups of immigrants trying to come to Lithuania.

"Migration waves correlate with them," he said.

The latest group that entered Lithuania came Sunday. Last week, 52 migrants were detained by Lithuanian border officials. They are citizens of Iraq, Syria, Belarus and Russia and most sought asylum in the Baltic country.

So far in 2021, about 160 people, mostly Iraqis, have entered Lithuania from Belarus  three times more than in all of 2020.

Lithuania's support for the Belarus opposition is longstanding, and its capital, Vilnius, has become a center for Belarusians in exile.

In 2020, the Baltic nation gave shelter to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition challenger in Belarus's disputed election that President Alexander Lukashenko won after 26 years of authoritarian rule. A number of Belarusian nongovernmental organizations also have relocated to Vilnius, which hosts a university that Lukashenko banned.

In recent weeks, the two countries have expelled a number of diplomats. Last month, the EU imposed sanctions on Belarus, including banning its airlines from using the airspace and airports of the 27-nation bloc, amid fury over the forced diversion of a passenger jet en route to Vilnius to arrest Raman Pratasevich, an opponent to Lukashenko.

Lukashenko has warned that Belarus could retaliate against the latest EU sanctions by loosening border controls against Western-bound illegal migration and drug trafficking.

"We were stopping migrants and drugs  now you will catch them and eat them yourself," he said.

In Brussels, the European Commission said the situation in Lithuania "shows the need for a European system to manage migration and asylum. Irregular migration as well as people arriving to Europe to flee war or persecution can happen at any of the EU's external borders."

The bloc's executive body added that it stands ready to offer operational support to Lithuania through the EU's agencies.

"But a structural response is needed," the European Commission said.

The 27-nation bloc wants to reform its asylum system, hoping that its countries will finally share responsibility for people seeking sanctuary or better lives. The move comes after years of chaos and disputes among its members over the handling of migrants and refugees amid a recognition that the current EU system for deciding whether they should receive protection or be sent home has failed.

Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow, and Lorne Cook in Brussels, contributed to this report.
In an April 22, 2021 photo, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, speaks with members of the press from the Pentagon Press Briefing Room. (Jackie Sanders/Department of Defense)

WASHINGTON  U.S. forces are now halfway through their withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving little time for the countrys government and the Taliban to resume peace talks before foreign troops are no longer there, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said Monday.

About five weeks into U.S. withdrawal efforts, the time is now becoming very short for talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government to ensue before American forces leave after nearly two decades in the country, Marine Gen. Ken McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters Monday during a teleconference.

It is critical that the parties come together, McKenzie said. I believe the government of Afghanistan is ready to talk. I think the Taliban needs to show an equal commitment to talking very honestly in a straightforward way and try to find a political solution as we go forward.

The Taliban met with the Afghan government for peace negotiations in September, but the talks have since stalled, causing some Afghan officials to suspect the group will capitalize on their advantage on the battlefield to seize control of the country by force once foreign forces leave, according to a Congressional Research Service report issued March 25.

As we pull out, there needs to be something political that's left in place, McKenzie said. I think the government of Afghanistan is willing to do that. I'm not sure the Taliban is willing to do that now.

The U.N. Security Council in a report last week warned Taliban militants were preparing to take over the country after U.S. and NATO forces leave.

The Talibans intent appears to be to continue to strengthen its military position as leverage, the Security Council wrote in its June 1 report. It believes that it can achieve almost all of its objectives by negotiation or, if necessary, by force.

The drawdown, which began on May 1, is expected to end by Sept. 11  a deadline McKenzie said his forces will meet. While U.S. troops will no longer be in the country, the Pentagon has said it will maintain remote counterinsurgency capabilities.

We're still going to maintain an embassy [in Afghanistan], and we will be continuing to support the Afghan security forces and we will continue to conduct counterterrorism operations from over the horizon [after the withdrawal], McKenzie said.

The Defense Department is still working on what those "over the horizon" efforts will be, but chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday said the majority of U.S. support after the withdrawal will be financial and logistical, such as providing maintenance for Afghan forces' aircraft.

"We already have at our disposal over-the-horizon counterterrorism capabilities to support our desires that no additional threats to our homeland can emanate from Afghanistan," Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon. "That said ... we want to have additional capabilities, and we're working through that."

As of Tuesday, U.S. forces had turned over six facilities to the Afghan Ministry of Defense and about 13,000 pieces of equipment to the Defense Logistics Agency for destruction, according to CENTCOM's most recent update. U.S. forces had also removed the equivalent of about 500 C-17 Globemaster III loads of material from the country.

In CENTCOMs weekly updates released each Tuesday of the drawdown, it has not said how many U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan, citing operational security. Before the drawdown began, there were approximately 2,500 troops in the country.

Doornbos.caitlin@stripes.com

Twitter: @CaitlinDoornbos

Caitlin Doornbos
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III walks with the commander of NATOs Resolute Support Mission and U.S. Forces  Afghanistan, Army Gen. Scott Miller, at Resolute Support Headquarters, Kabul, Afghanistan, March 21, 2021. (Lisa Ferdinando/DOD)

During his first two years in command in America's longest war, Army Gen. Austin "Scott" Miller oversaw a partial withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan that came in waves under President Donald Trump. Now he was meeting with the new president for the first time, via video feed from the White House.

Miller and other senior military officers had urged Trump to leave a couple thousand U.S. troops in Afghanistan to counter threats posed by terrorist groups, and they were recommending roughly the same to President Joe Biden. While Biden and Trump disagreed on many issues, both had vowed to end U.S. involvement in a conflict that Pentagon officials said they could not win on the battlefield.

Biden and Miller would meet only that one time before the president announced in April that he would withdraw all U.S. troops from the country by September, U.S. officials said.

After 2,400 U.S. military deaths, more than $2 trillion spent and about a dozen generals under four presidents, Miller expects to be the last U.S. commander in the war. He won't be able to rewrite history. But he'll command the departure.

Miller, 60, said U.S. troops can do what is needed to "go out with our heads held high."

"There's a sense of obligation to get this as close to right as possible," he said in an interview. "And in this case, as close to right as possible is to protect our force, but it's also to make sure the Afghans are in the best possible posture."

This account of Miller's time in command in Afghanistan is based on interviews with more than a dozen people, including U.S. and Afghan military officers, current and former senior civilian officials, and members of Miller's staff in Kabul.

What emerges is a portrait of a battle-hardened officer who was steady through chaos and open to trying new approaches as time ran out on the U.S. military in Afghanistan. Restricted by the realities of a 20-year-old conflict, Miller boosted airstrikes to numbers not seen in a decade, and threw his support behind a possible political settlement with the Taliban  even as he privately questioned the group's willingness to follow through, several officials said.

During his tour, the longest for a U.S. commander in Afghanistan, violence surged in the war and upheaval erupted in Washington amid concerns that Trump would order a rapid departure or fire key officials. Meanwhile, distrust persisted among the warring parties as U.S. officials negotiated the deal with the Taliban.

Despite his concerns, Miller did not pressure either administration. Instead, officials said, he adhered to the principle of civilian control. He worked with other senior officials and built a partnership with Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan-born U.S. diplomat who was tapped by the Trump administration to negotiate with the Taliban days after Miller took command.

The White House did not address questions about how much Biden consulted Miller. Biden, who also conferred with senior defense officials at the Pentagon, has "the utmost respect and admiration" for the general and values his "pressure-tested wisdom and counsel," Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, said in a statement.

Miller, who colleagues expect will retire this year, declined to disclose his recommendations, saying they are "something I share with my chain of command." But the general, who previously led the secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), acknowledged that he knew from the start that he could be the last U.S. commander, even if he didn't have "such clarity on it that you really understand how this would transpire."

Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who commanded Special Operations troops at war alongside Miller, said Miller is someone who will "respect the decision and move on, whether he agrees," and is not prone to "go in the corner and pout."

"What leaders like Scott are having to do is go through is a pretty bitter, difficult situation at the end of a career after they've done all that sacrifice," said McChrystal, who resigned as the top commander in Afghanistan in 2010 after members of his staff disparaged members of the Obama administration.

"I'm sure that, you know, in some cases still water runs deeper than we think," McChrystal said. "But the reality is, there is a maturity and a self-control that Scott Miller has that at the end of the day drives his behavior."



When Miller took command in Afghanistan, the Taliban was on the offensive, launching periodic attacks in cities, killing scores of Afghan troops each months, and controlling or contesting territory that was home to about a third of the population, according to U.S. government assessments.

Within weeks, he survived a shocking attack in Kandahar province.

A rogue Afghan security guard opened fire as a group of Americans prepared to leave the provincial governor's compound, killing Lt. Gen. Abdul Raziq, a powerful Afghan police chief, along with two other senior Afghan officials.

Miller was a few feet from Raziq when the shooting began. The general took cover behind a vehicle and drew his pistol, directing others amid the violence, said four people who survived the firefight.

The scene was a gruesome mess, with blood mixing with the deep red of smashed pomegranates that had just been offered as gifts to the Americans, the survivors said.

The October 2018 attack was an early reality check.

The shooter also killed Kandahar's provincial intelligence chief, Abdul Momin, and wounded the governor, Zalmai Wesa, Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Smiley and two other Americans.

"If he was targeting Miller, he would have killed him," said one Army officer who was present. The officer and several others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issues involved or concerns about complicating Miller's job.

The attack came as uncertainty hung over Trump's plans for the war.

About a year earlier, Trump authorized sending several thousand more troops to Afghanistan. At the time, 11,000 were already there. He acknowledged that the increase went against his instincts to end foreign wars and said, "I heard decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk of the Oval Office."

But Trump soured on the plan as the Taliban continued to make advances under Miller's predecessor, Army Gen. John Nicholson Jr.

Miller, who had commanded the elite Delta Force at the height of the Iraq War, took over in September 2018 with about 15,000 U.S. troops under his command.

He began cutting staff, and rotating in other officers from his former JSOC headquarters at Fort Bragg, N.C. He also reduced the number of internal reports that his staff was producing, and the officers compiling them.

One Army officer recalled that at one point, Miller questioned why someone had set out nice dishes for an internal meeting at their headquarters, and whether that job was necessary. Ultimately, Miller trimmed about 2,000 U.S. troops.

"He went in and I think he knew ahead of time that cuts were possible," said Carter Malkasian, who served as a senior adviser to Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and helped Miller prepare for his Senate confirmation process.

On the battlefield, Miller focused on making the coalition more unpredictable and efficient.

His early innovations included an "operational design" that kept U.S. aircraft and Special Operations troops on the move, inflicting significant losses on the Taliban as Khalilzad's efforts to negotiate with the group commenced.

At the same time, Miller was monitoring the turbulence in Washington.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, seen as a moderating force in the administration, was increasingly at odds with Trump on numerous issues, including Afghanistan. The president openly began musing about replacing him.

Mattis told Miller that it was best for the general to stay in Kabul and focus on the mission, as opposed to making occasional, customary visits to Washington to give congressional testimony and briefings with journalists, several officials said.

"Mattis sensed nothing good could be gained from the military commander speaking based on where we were in the war. And I think that part General Miller probably agreed with," said Kim Field, a retired Army general whom Miller brought on as a civilian adviser. "What do you want me to say? That we're winning militarily? That's not where we are anymore."

Other senior defense officials also thought that Miller should limit his role in Washington, officials said.

"There has been a common policy that the chairman and the secretary should be bearing the brunt and the burden of those public duties, as much as is possible and correct," Malkasian said.

Miller declined to comment on the issue. But he pointed out that he has done interviews with numerous journalists in Kabul, including from The Washington Post. He has not yet briefed the Pentagon press corps, but two defense officials said discussions are underway for him to do so soon.

Miller also has not testified before Congress in an open hearing since taking his job, a point that Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, raised recently. But the general privately briefed lawmakers in a classified setting in December 2019.

Mattis said in a text message that he could not remember telling Miller to avoid speaking publicly.

"I had/have total confidence in Gen Miller's competence and judgment, so I would not have given him such directions," he said.

Mattis acknowledged that he "didn't like" battlefield commanders being called to Washington to testify before Congress or meet with journalists.

"That was because I needed them in-country focused on their duties," he said.



Weeks after the attack in Kandahar, political turmoil erupted at home.

The president ordered a U.S. withdrawal from Syria in late 2018 and wanted to cut the number of troops in Afghanistan nearly in half, even though negotiations with the Taliban were ongoing. Mattis resigned afterward, saying Trump deserved a defense secretary with views in line with his.

Miller reassured Afghan partners and his own staff that Trump had issued no withdrawal orders.

"A lot of commanders will just talk to run their mouths. But when he spoke, it was important," said one Army officer who served under him in Kabul. "People trusted that if something really was going to happen, they were going to hear it from him."

In the ensuing months, Khalilzad met with senior Taliban officials, sometimes with Miller. Miller informed Taliban leaders that even if the U.S. military were to begin withdrawing, they would continue to conduct airstrikes in support of Afghan forces as needed, two senior U.S. officials said.

The deal that the Trump administration ultimately signed with the Taliban in February 2020 called for all U.S. troops to leave Afghanistan by May 2021. But the requirements on the Taliban were minimal.

The agreement required Taliban leaders to begin separate negotiations with the Afghan government, but it did not say they had to make any progress in those talks. The Taliban also agreed to hold fire on U.S. troops, but soon returned to its bloody campaign against Afghan soldiers.

The deal also called for the Afghan government to release Taliban prisoners as a condition for further negotiations  a requirement that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was reluctant to accept.

Khalilzad and Miller met Ghani and discussed the issue, said U.S. officials familiar with the meeting. Ghani asked Miller what he thought, and Miller suggested it might be one of the only ways to continue forward, one of the officials said.

Months later, in August, Ghani agreed to release the last group of 400 high-value Taliban members, paving the way for negotiations between the Taliban and Afghan government. The talks have sputtered since.

Miller and several people who served under his command declined to describe the deal in detail. But one former staff member said it was a struggle to "not be embarrassed" after seeing the specifics and how tough it would be for Miller to stop Taliban violence.

"When you see something written like that and you have an analytic brain, a curious brain, my initial reaction is: 'Is this it? Really?' " the official said.

Several staff members described Miller's deep commitment to the welfare of his soldiers, shaped in part by the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu. The two-day clash, punctuated by the downing of two Black Hawk helicopters by Somali militiamen, killed 18 U.S. troops and wounded dozens of others, including Miller, and exposed gaps in U.S. military preparation.

Miller, who also was wounded later in Iraq, is now doing everything he can to prevent the loss of any more members of the coalition in Afghanistan, officials said.

Michele Flournoy, a senior defense official during the Obama administration, said military literature suggests that "one of the most dangerous moments in any campaign is during a retrograde or a withdrawal under fire."

"We don't know if they'll be under fire, but it's possible given the way the Taliban is behaving," said Flournoy, who has known Miller for years. "I think that has got to be the focus right now, is how to do this in a way that reduces risk to our forces that are pulling out."

Miller, who will have spent have a total of about seven years in Afghanistan by the completion of the withdrawal, said the military has the means to protect itself if attacked.

"To date  and it's to date  we have not seen that. But that's only as good as until somebody decides to attack coalition forces," Miller said. "We do think it's very dangerous, and we take it seriously and it's something we talk about every single day."

The Post's Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.
Israelis wave national flags during a Jerusalem Day parade in Jerusalem on May 10, 2021. Israeli police on Monday, June 7, said they blocked a planned procession by Jewish ultranationalists through parts of Jerusalem's Old City, following warnings that it could reignite tensions that led to a punishing 11-day war against Gaza's militants last month. (Ariel Schalit/AP)

JERUSALEM  Israeli police said Monday they blocked a planned procession by Jewish ultranationalists through parts of Jerusalem's Old City, following warnings that it could reignite tensions that led to a punishing 11-day war with Gaza's militant Hamas rulers last month.

The parade, which celebrates Israel's capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, was underway on May 10 when Hamas fired rockets from Gaza toward the holy city, setting off heavy fighting. Some 254 people were killed in Gaza and 13 in Israel before a cease-fire took effect May 21.

The war was preceded by weeks of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian demonstrators in the Old City and in the nearby neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where Jewish settlers have waged a decades-long campaign to evict Palestinian families from their homes.

Israel's attorney general on Monday declined to intervene in the cases of several of the families, making it more likely the evictions will be carried out  possibly in the coming weeks. That could also reignite violence.

The procession, which had intended to go through the Old City's Muslim Quarter, is seen by Palestinians as a provocation.

In a statement, police said the proposal to hold the parade later this week was not approved, but new plans would be considered. Organizers accused the police of caving in to pressure from Hamas.

Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, tweeted a warning to embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "not to give in to Hamas threats."

Renewed tensions in east Jerusalem or fighting with Hamas could complicate Israel's shaky politics. Netanyahu's opponents last week said they have formed a coalition that could remove the prime minister from office after a 12-year term. The new coalition is expected to be sworn into office in the coming days.

Over the weekend, Israeli police arrested and released a veteran reporter for the Al Jazeera satellite channel who had regularly been covering the Sheikh Jarrah protests. And on Sunday, authorities stormed the home of a leading activist in the neighborhood, arresting her and her brother. The siblings were later released.

Before Muna al-Kurd was freed, police briefly clashed with a crowd outside the station, throwing stun grenades at the protesters.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, which is home to sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. Israel views the entire city as its capital, while the Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The settlers are using a 1970 law that allows Jews to reclaim formerly Jewish properties lost during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, a right denied to Palestinians who lost property in the same conflict. At least 150 Palestinian households, in Sheikh Jarrah and the neighborhood of Silwan, both near the Old City, are at risk of eventual eviction.

A request by the attorney general at the height of the tensions last month led to the postponement of a Supreme Court hearing on the most imminent evictions, of four extended families comprising six households in Sheikh Jarrah.

But in a statement issued Monday, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said "there is no place" for him to intervene in the proceedings. That sends the matter back to the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule against the families.

Ir Amim, an Israeli human rights group that closely follows the various court cases, says the four families could be evicted within the coming month, and that the attorney general's decision could affect the cases of more than 80 other families threatened with eviction.

"It paves the way for the evictions to be carried out," said Amy Cohen, a spokeswoman for Ir Amim. But she added that Israeli authorities still have various options for postponing or halting the evictions. "There still is room for political intervention," she said.

The threatened evictions have been widely criticized internationally, including by the United States, Israel's closest ally.

Associated Press writer Joseph Krauss contributed.
Buy Photo Lt. Col. Atiqullah Tarin, a recruiter for the Afghan army, speaks to Nasir Rahimi, in Charikar, Afghanistan June 5, 2021. Rahimi reenlisted as part of a drive to find 1,500 troops to replace departing U.S. and NATO troops at Bagram Airfield. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)

BAGRAM, Afghanistan  The Afghan army has launched a recruitment drive to maintain Bagram Airfield as coalition troops prepare to depart the sprawling base in the coming weeks.

Lt. Col. Atiqullah Tarin, a recruiter for the Afghan military in the province that houses Bagram  the largest U.S. base in the country  said he had been ordered last week to sign up about 1,500 new soldiers within the next month.

The drive comes after an acceleration of base closures since May, the official start of the U.S. and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan. The pullout is set to end by Sept. 11, but most foreign troops are expected to leave the country well in advance.

Before May 1, there were 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops in the country and about 7,000 from NATO allies and other coalition members.

Buy Photo A line of trucks drives out a gate at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan on June 5, 2021. A surge of containers and junk have been trucked out of Bagram since May, residents near the base said. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo A shipping container that belonged to the U.S. Army sits in a field near cows at a farm outside of Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. A surge of containers and junk have been trucked out of Bagram since May, residents near the base said June 5, 2021. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)

U.S. and NATO forces are expected to hand over Bagram Airfield to the Afghan military in about 20 days, or by the end of this month, district governor Lalasherin Darwish Raufi told Stars and Stripes on Saturday. Local officials have also been told to help the military find recruits to defend Bagram, he said.

The bases transition to the Afghan military is ongoing, said Fazludin Ayar, governor for Parwan province.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said last week in Washington that it was slightly ahead of its withdrawal schedule, with more than a third completed.

In the town surrounding Bagram, lines of trucks carrying containers filled with trash left one of Bagrams gates Saturday afternoon. The trucks empty their trash in yards where workers pick through the refuse hoping to find items to sell, or copper and iron to recycle.

Buy Photo Boots like those issued by the U.S. military and a football are displayed prominently at a shop outside Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, June 5, 2021. None of the shopkeepers said they knew what the American football was for. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo Items such as basketballs thrown out by U.S. and NATO troops departing Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, are available for sale at shops outside the base June 5, 2021. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo A shopkeeper outside Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, sells books thrown out by departing U.S. and NATO troops June 5, 2021. Items too heavy or expensive to ship back home are often discarded. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo Workers at a trash yard outside Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, displayed an Xbox controller for driving games on a special table June 5, 2021. A surge of containers and junk have been trucked out of Bagram since May, residents near the base said. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo A helmet from Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, sits in front of a pile of ruined helmets at a trash yard outside the base June 5, 2021. Departing U.S. and NATO troops have crushed most of their discarded trash. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo A small fridge containing the coat of arms of the U.S. Armys 16th Infantry Regiment, and the Latin motto, Semper Paratus, meaning Always Ready, lies slightly crushed at a trash yard outside Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan June 5, 2021. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes) Buy Photo Workers at trash yards near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan pick through garbage from the base June 5, 2021. While many of the items leaving the base have been crushed or ruined, some have copper or iron that can be recycled and resold. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)

Before May 1, only one or two trucks a day left Bagram, said Sayed Wali, a worker at one trash yard. Now as many as 10 to 20 trucks leave the base every day, he said.

Shopkeepers also said they noticed an uptick in trucks with goods leaving Bagram over the last month.

Some residents said they feared that if the Taliban comes to power after the U.S. and NATO leave, there will be problems for the people who worked with foreign troops at Bagram. The area had an unclaimed bombing that killed three passengers on a bus carrying teachers two weeks ago.

Buy Photo Mohammed Daoud, 14, wears U.S. military goggles as he scavenges trash left behind by U.S. and NATO troops as they pack up from Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Workers at trash yards pick through garbage that leaves the base on trucks, but said troops have been careful to destroy most things. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)

A garrison of 1,500 troops should be enough to help secure the base after the U.S. and NATO leave, said the recruiter Tarin, a longtime officer who walks with a limp from wounds suffered in a land mine explosion.

Leaders will come from elsewhere in the Afghan military. Tarin said the 1,500 troops would most likely just hold the base and not leave for operations.

Around 19,000 troops have died and have been registered for death benefits over the last two years, the Afghan government told Stars and Stripes in February.

The Afghan military aims to recruit 47,000 troops each year, the latest Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report said.

In Parwan, 84 people from the province volunteered in the two days since the order, Tarin said.

The recruiter said he is prioritizing former soldiers who wont need to undergo basic training. He is also keeping tabs on fresh recruits who are willing to secure Bagram, in case he can't find enough veterans before the deadline.

One recruit, Nasir Rahimi, 28, said he formerly served in the Afghan military. After his contract with the army expired four months ago, he was unemployed. He rejoined after he saw the difficulties faced by friends who tried to find work in countries like Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, he said.

The country needs us now, Rahimi said. We are hopeful that there will be peace in the country.

lawrence.jp@stripes.com

Twitter: @jplawrence3
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gestures while speaking to the media during a news conference with the Ukrainian Antonov An-225 Mriya airplane in the background at the Antonov aircraft factory in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, May 20, 2021. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a White House visit this summer.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden extended the invitation during a phone call on Monday with Zelenskyy, who has publicly raised concerns about the U.S. presidents plan to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and about a nearly completed Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline that would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine.

Biden made the invitation during a call that had been planned in advance of Bidens trip to Europe that culminates with a stop in Geneva next week for a face-to-face meeting with Putin as tensions in the U.S.-Russia relationship remain high.

Zelenskyy tweeted his response: Thank you @POTUS @JoeBiden for inviting me to visit the @WhiteHouse in July during our phone conversation. I look forward to this meeting to discuss ways to expand strategic cooperation between Ukraine and #USA.

Sullivan said Biden and Zelenskyy had the opportunity to talk at some length about all of the issues in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship and President Biden was able to tell President Zelenskyy that he will stand up firmly for Ukraines sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its aspirations as we go forward.

The Ukrainians also indicated that the Biden administration had committed to sharing 900,000 COVID-19 vaccines with Kyiv. Last week, the White House announced plans to share 80 million vaccine doses  most through the United Nations-backed COVAX program  by the end of June. About 6 million in the initial distribution of 25 million were to be directed by the White House to U.S. allies and partners, including Mexico, Canada, South Korea, the West Bank and Gaza, India, Ukraine, Kosovo, Haiti, Georgia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Yemen, as well as to United Nations frontline workers.

It will save the lives of many Ukrainians, Zelenskky said in a statement.

The Biden administration disappointed Ukraine  as well as many Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington  when it announced last month that it would not punish the German company overseeing the Russia-to-Germany pipeline known as Nord Stream 2, because it did not want to levy sanctions against an important European ally. Russian gas currently flows through Ukraine en route to Europe, and Zelenskyy was hopeful that Biden would move to block the project that faced bipartisan opposition in Congress.

Zelenskyy reiterated his concerns about the pipeline during the call, according to the statement from his office.

Zelenskyy, in an interview with Axios published on Sunday, said he had urged Biden to join him at any moment and at any spot on the planet before the planned Geneva meeting with Putin next week.

Ukraine has harbored hopes for increased military aid during the Biden administration and is looking for backing in its bid for NATO membership. Ukraine has long battled against Russia-backed separatists in the east and in the halls of government in Kyiv.

Crimea and large swaths of eastern Ukraines Donbas region are under Russian occupation. Fighting in the region has claimed thousands of Ukrainian lives. Russia launched a buildup of troops near the border earlier this year before announcing in April that it would pull back those forces.

The provocative move alarmed the U.S. and other European allies. Zelenskyy, in the call, emphasized to Biden that there was still a high concentration of Russian troops and heavy weaponry there.

Zelenskyy found himself ensnared in former President Donald Trumps first impeachment, which centered around a 16-minute phone call in which Trump pressured the Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden and his sons dealings in the Eastern European nation in 2019.

Isachenkov reported from Moscow.
Army Pfc. John J. Sitarz (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)

CHARLESTON, W.Va.  The remains of a West Virginia soldier killed during World War II have been identified, officials said.

Army Pfc. John J. Sitarz, 19, of Weirton was accounted for by using DNA, dental and anthropological analysis as well as circumstantial evidence, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Monday in a statement.

Sitarz was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division when he was declared missing in action on Nov. 2, 1944, while his unit was engaged in battle with German forces, the statement said. His body could not be recovered due to ongoing fighting and his status was changed to killed in action the following year.

After the war, the American Graves Registration Command began investigating and recovering missing American personnel in Europe, but Sitarz' remains were not identified, officials said.

A historian with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency studying unresolved American losses in the Hurtgen area determined that one set of unidentified remains recovered from a minefield in 1946 possibly belonged to Sitarz, the statement said. The remains were disinterred from Ardennes American Cemetery in 2018 and sent for analysis.

A rosette will be placed next to Sitarz's name on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium to indicate he has been accounted for. Sitarz will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at a date to be determined.
AKRON, Ohio (Tribune News Service)  Another organizer of Hudson's Memorial Day ceremony has resigned amid national outcry after a veteran's microphone was cut when he talked about Black Americans' role in the holiday's history.

Cindy Suchan has stepped down from her position as president of the Hudson American Legion Auxiliary, according to the American Legion Auxiliary of Ohio.

"All parties involved in the events that occurred at the Memorial Day ceremony at the Hudson Post have resigned," the American Legion Auxiliary of Ohio announced Monday on its website.

While specific names of those involved were not listed in Monday's announcement, the American Legion Auxiliary of Ohio on Friday requested Suchan's resignation in connection with a Memorial Day speaker's microphone being cut for about two minutes of his 11-minute speech.

Messages left Monday for Suchan and Kelly Gibson, department secretary-executive director for the American Legion Auxiliary of Ohio, were not immediately returned.

Suchan is the second person involved with the incident who has resigned. Jim Garrison on Friday resigned from his position as adjutant of Hudson American Legion Lee-Bishop Post 464.

Suchan previously said it was either her or Garrison who turned down the audio of retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Barnard Kemter as he spoke about Black Americans' role in the history of Memorial Day. When pressed, she would not say who specifically did it.

Suchan earlier told the Beacon Journal Kemter's mic was turned down because it was not relevant to our program for the day," and added the theme of the day was honoring Hudson veterans.

The American Legion Department of Ohio officials said they requested the resignation of Garrison and Suchan after an investigation found the "censoring" of Kemter's speech was "pre-meditated and planned by  Garrison and  Suchan."

American Legion state officials also suspended the Hudson post's charter last week "pending permanent closure."

pkeren@thebeaconjournal.com

(c)2021 the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)

Visit the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) at www.ohio.com

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KY Lawmaker Agrees to 45-day License Suspension

By The Associated Press

LONDON, KY - A Kentucky lawmaker has agreed to a 45-day suspension of his license to drive for declining to take a blood test in a drunken-driving investigation.Defense attorney Conrad Cessna says Rep. Derek Lewis agreed to the sanction to put this entire case to bed.Lewis was arrested and charged with drunken driving shortly after the 2020 General Assembly session had adjourned.A jury recently acquitted Lewis.Prosecutor Bruce Bentley says even when a person is acquitted of impaired driving, state law allows prosecutors to seek a license suspension if the person refused to take a test to measure impairment.
Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew speaks with the media Tuesday afternoon, May 11, 2021. (Jonathon Gruenke, Daily Press/TNS)

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (Tribune News Ser vice)  Courtney Renee Dwyer  a 28-year-old mother of three  was found shot to death on March 23 in the back seat of a car in Newport News.

A man who lived in that neighborhood, 54-year-old Gregory Lavon Curtis, was found dead on the pavement, just outside the sedan.

The evidence, police say, shows that Curtis shot Dwyer, then turned the gun on himself.

Although most murder-suicides are domestic-related  typically husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend  police have found no evidence that Dwyer and Curtis had met before March 23.

Police would not initially tell Dwyers family  or the public  who shot her, citing a Newport News Police Department practice not to identify suicide victims.

That led to weeks of speculation from Dwyers family and friends about who killed her. Adding to the mystery was that she didnt live in the neighborhood where she was slain.

Dwyers family learned Curtis name from a Daily Press reporter several weeks later. They then found out, from Google searches and an online obituary, that Curtis, a U.S. Navy veteran, already had been buried at a veterans cemetery in Florida.

Her family then spent weeks pressing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to have Curtis body exhumed from the grave at the South Florida National Cemetery and sent to a non-military graveyard.

Townhomes in the Willow Green neighborhood of Newport News are seen Saturday, June 5, 2021. (Jonathon Gruenke, Daily Press/TNS)

Those grounds are for heroes, not for murderers, said Dwyers step-grandmother, Lynn Jones, of Northern Virginia, who has spearheaded that effort.

Though the case is still technically under investigation with Veterans Affairs, Dwyers family has been told theres no federal law that would block Curtis from being buried at the national burial ground.

Dwyers family now wants federal law changed to bar future killers from being buried at Veterans Affairs cemeteries.

This has got to change, said Jones, 62. Were not talking about somebody who killed somebody drunk driving. Were talking about somebody who killed someone intentionally.

Shes launched a website  preservesacredgrounds.org  and a petition to bar those who have committed any kind of murder from a veterans burial.

We all, as taxpayers, paid for her assailants burial, she wrote in the online petition, saying that placing a murderer in the same soil where our American heroes rest is dishonoring the integrity of these very sacred grounds and the heroes who rest there.

A murder-suicide in Newport News

Police were called to 1146 North Green Drive at 6:39 p.m. March 23. Thats in the Willow Green North apartment complex, off Old Oyster Point Road in Newport News, not far from the York County line.

Officers found Dwyer face-down, with a gunshot wound to the head, in the back seat of her boyfriends silver Mitsubishi Lancer. The cars rear door was open.

Curtis was on the ground in the parking lot next to the car, with a gunshot wound to the head. A black and gold Glock handgun with an extended magazine was found nearby.

Police went to Curtis nearby apartment, and found several magazines for semi-automatic weapons on a shelf. Detectives also gathered and viewed surveillance footage from apartments in the area.

A detective wrote in court filing that the footage showed Dwyer was moving items in and out of the car at the time of the killing.

I observed Ring doorbell footage on scene that shows Curtis fire a weapon in the direction of Courtney Dwyer, then turn the gun on himself and fire a single shot before falling to the ground, a detective wrote in a search warrant affidavit filed on March 23.

Police withhold shooters name

On April 12  nearly three weeks after the incident  police released Dwyers name to the public as a local homicide victim. But they said they were withholding the name of the man who killed her.

The male will not be identified as we do not release the names of individuals who die by suicide, said a news release from the departments public information office.

Detectives also would not provide the shooters name to Dwyers family  with the family saying a detective told them several times that he still needed permission from his supervisors to turn over the name.

The guy kills himself, and thats bad enough that we cant get justice, to make him pay for it, said Dwyers mother, Karen Dwyer Jones, 46, a nurse who lives in Newport News. But at least put a name to the person that murdered my child for no reason.

Her name was plastered all over the place, added Lynn Jones. But his name was protected.

Karen Jones said the family spent weeks scouring obituaries and Facebook, looking for clues into who was responsible for the slaying.

I couldnt figure it out, she said. It felt like this just went by the wayside, and nobody cared that this happened.

The Daily Press learned of Gregory Lavon Curtis name in mid-April from search warrant affidavits that were publicly filed and accessible at Newport News Circuit Court.

A reporter provided the name to Dwyers family on April 13.

We deserve to know, and youre the first person to tell me, Jones said. Thank God. Because we were going through obituaries, and we couldnt find anything ... she had three sons that we have to take care of, and this is not OK.

Curtis name, she said, didnt ring a bell. That hasnt been one of the names that Ive been given by friends and witnesses, she said.

Dwyer, who worked as a bartender at Headlights in northern Newport News, leaves behind three sons, ages 11, 6 and 1, her mother said. The youngest son wont even remember his mom, she said, while one of the older boys is autistic and needs lots of care.

Pushing for change in law

Karen Jones tracked down some of Curtis neighbors to learn more about him  and discovered from online obituaries that he had been buried at the South Florida National Cemetery, in Lake Worth.

Dwyers family called the veterans cemetery, she said, and the director there said they didnt know anything about the slaying in Newport News before he was buried on April 13.

The cemetery said they didnt even know about any of it, Jones said. A cemetery official, she said, told them that a Newport News funeral home had checked a box that indicted Curtis wasnt involved in any serious crimes.

Thats when Lynn Jones began pushing the Florida cemetery to exhume Curtis body and move it to another graveyard.

The daughter of a 94-year-old World War II veteran, Lynn Jones said shes been involved for decades in honoring soldiers at veterans cemeteries. Ive been to cemeteries all over the world, she said.

Ive laid wreaths on these graves, she said. Ive picked up wreaths off these graves. I dont take what Im doing lightly. And now Im wondering, Am I laying the wreath on the grave of a murderer?

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs website, burial in a national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces who have met a minimum active duty service requirement and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.

Relatives can be buried there in many cases as well.

Federal law bars former service members who have committed capital murder  even if they die before prosecution  from being buried at such cemeteries. That law was passed to block Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, a decorated Army veteran, from being buried at a VA cemetery.

But that prohibition doesnt apply to second-degree murder, the crime that Newport News police say Curtis would have been charged with. It wasnt immediately clear from the language of the statute whether it also applies to first-degree murder.

My mission is to have this code amended, Lynn Jones said, saying shes reached out to politicians in both Florida and Virginia in her quest.

Her assailant deliberately, intentionally, and willfully chose to kill an innocent person with no remorse, she wrote in the petition. She was a mother, daughter, sister and granddaughter whose life was taken violently and needlessly by her assailant.

Veterans burial not barred

Les Melnyk, a spokesman for the National Cemetery Administration, a division of the VA, said Curtis did not receive military honors at the cemetery, but did receive them at his funeral service.

According to a funeral home representative, Mr. Curtis received military funeral honors from a U.S. Navy Honor Guard Team at the church, Melnyk wrote in an email. The honor team played taps and folded and presented the flag to the next of kin.

Though the case hasnt been closed, Melnyk said it does not appear that Curtis actions meet the legal requirements to prohibit interment in a VA national cemetery outlined in federal law.

Therefore, at this time, the cemetery director will not advance the case to the official who would reconsider VAs decision to inter Mr. Curtis, he wrote in an email. That decision can be reassessed, he said, if new information is discovered.

According to his online obituary, Curtis retired as a Navy lithographer after more than 20 years of military service, then worked for 10 years as a document specialist for the Defense Logistics Agency.

He recently worked for the Army Publishing Directorate, the obituary said.

Curtis mother, reached last week Florida, declined to comment on the case or her son, saying it was still a difficult time for the family. That was my only son, she said.

I worked with Gregory for several years, a co-worker wrote on his obituary page. He was always nice & easy going. Fun to be around, dedicated to his job. It was a pleasure to work with him.

More details emerge in case

Courtney Dwyer grew up mostly in Naples, Florida, but came to Newport News in 2007 at age 14, attending Menchville High School.

The family moved here, she said, after Dwyers grandfather, David Dwyer, got a job working for W.M. Jordan on the design of the Monitor at the Mariners Museum. He also was a deacon at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, and died in 2014.

Karen Jones said Courtney Dwyer was living with her boyfriend at a local motel in March, when either she or the boyfriend parked the car in the neighborhood where Courtney was killed.

Thats the only reason we could figure out why she was even in that neighborhood in the first place, she said.

Jones said that following an argument between Dwyer and her boyfriend, two friends drove her to get clothes and other items from the car that Tuesday evening, waiting for her in a nearby car.

Thats when Curtis approached. Jones said police detectives told her he was intoxicated at the time, with the crime scene smelling like liquor.

The detective said it doesnt look like they were having any kind of disagreement or anything, that he just walks up and shoots her, Karen Jones said. Theyre assuming that he was already feeling suicidal, and he just happened to take her with him.

But Jones said one of the friends who drove Dwyer to the parking lot described a brief but tense exchange between her and Curtis immediately before the shooting.

After Curtis approached, Jones said, the shooter said something the friend couldnt hear, followed by an inaudible response from Dwyer.

You better watch out, little girl, you dont know whos suicidal, Curtis then replied, according to the friends account. The friend said thats when Curtis pulled a handgun.

If you shoot me, youll go to jail forever, Dwyer told him, with Curtis then shooting her twice.

Karen Jones said Curtis neighbors told her later he was odd and somewhat of a recluse, but also kind of neighborhood watch-ish, always keeping a close eye on who was coming and going.

Our assumption is that he thought she was taking something out of the car that she shouldnt have been, or asking her why she was there, Jones said. Her daughter, she said, likely said something in response that was probably kind of smart-aleckish.

Jones initially speculated, she said, that Curtis might have known her daughter from where she tended bar.

It makes no sense, at least to me, that somebody would just hurt somebody for no reason, she said. We kept thinking that they have to know each other somehow. ... That since he was single, he might go to a bar where girls dance, who knows?

But she said Newport News police detectives are pretty insistent that the two didnt know each other at all.

The way the police are saying it, this guy was just having a bad day and decided to kill himself, and he was going to take somebody with him, Karen Jones said. They told us that they could find zero connections between the two of them at all.

Chief: Shooters name should have been released

Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew met with the family at their request in late April. The meeting included Karen Jones and her husband in Newport News and Lynn Jones connected via Zoom from Northern Virginia.

At the end of the conversation, he said, You give her whatever she needs, Jones said, saying Drew directed others in the department to cooperate with Dwyers family. Jones said the chief seemed genuine and concerned about the case.

The next day, a police captain sent the family a requested letter identifying Gregory Curtis as Dwyers killer, and the charges he would face if he were alive  second-degree murder and a gun count. Lynn Jones wanted the letter to share with Veterans Affairs as part of the familys effort to get Curtis body exhumed.

It was a horrible, horrible situation to have a family member have their life taken so abruptly like that, Drew said Wednesday. And whats very, very hard for me emotionally is that I cant tell them why. I cant explain it to them.

I just feel a void that I cant give that family some closure. Im glad that were not looking for someone that is out there  but we dont know what happened, and thats frustrating.

Drew also said that going forward, the families in such situations should be given the name of the person who took their loved ones life as soon as possible. I think the victims family should know who that individual is, he said. They should have it.

He apologized that his department didnt provide Dwyers family with Curtis name sooner. I want to be as transparent as I can, and I think were obligated to give that to the families of victims, he said.

As for releasing the name to the public, he added that although the department typically shields the names of suicide victims from the public, a murder-suicide is a different situation  and the name should be released.

I think if someone has been involved in a murder, they forfeit any expectation of privacy, Drew said. If someone takes their own life after they have taken someone elses, I think that the community and the public should know that.

In recent weeks, Karen Jones received from police another item she had been pressing for  a necklace that Courtney Dwyer always wore as a keepsake.

The necklace contained the ashes of Dwyers stillborn baby, Sophie Lynn Dwyer, who died in 2016 from a blood clot in her mothers umbilical cord. I did get my granddaughters ashes, Jones said. That was the most important thing.

I had an urn necklace made with some of Courtneys ashes, so now I wear both necklaces together to have them close to my heart.

2021 Daily Press. Visit dailypress.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The leadership, skills and professionalism of New Zealand Defence Force personnel involved in the Whakaari White Island response have been acknowledged by the Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force through the announcement of a number of awards.

Air Marshal Kevin Short says in recognition of the courage and determination recognised today, through Her Majesty the Queens awarding of a Distinguished Service Decoration to Serviceman M for his role in leading the recovery teams to retrieve victims from the Whakaari White Island volcanic eruption, he was pleased to also recognise others involved in the response.

From specialist doctors to helicopter pilots, Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boat drivers to Commanding Officers, and everything in between, the NZDF had a wide-ranging response of skills to draw from when the need arose following the Whakaari White Island volcanic eruption on 9 December 2019, which claimed the lives of 22 people and seriously injured 25.

The actions of those members of the New Zealand Defence Force involved with the victim recovery operation showed great courage and determination to retrieve those that perished on the island, he said.

The New Zealand Defence Force deployed personnel from the Royal New Zealand Navy, Royal New Zealand Air Force and New Zealand Army to respond alongside other agencies to the emergency situation, and were successfully able to reunite the remains of six victims with their families.

Nine members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron were deployed on the volcano four days after the eruption to recover the victims that had succumbed to the deadly effects of the initial eruption.

Air Marshal Short says they each displayed courage and determination as they faced extreme conditions whilst wearing cumbersome protective equipment that caused them to fatigue quickly.

Their efforts played a critical role in the success of the operation.

These members have been awarded seven Defence Meritorious Service Medals and two CDF Commendations.

Additionally, one member of the EOD Squadron who supported those who deployed on the volcano has been awarded an NZDF Commendation.

Air Marshal Short says he's pleased to announce the awards of the Defence Meritorious Service Medal, Chief of Defence Force Commendation and New Zealand Defence Force Commendation to those members of the New Zealand Defence Force who contributed to the success of the victim recovery operation.

The recipients are:

Recipient of the Defence Meritorious Service Medal:

FLTLT HAMISH REICHARDT

Recipients of a Chief of Defence Force Commendation:

SGT PHILLIP DELANEY

FLTLT LOIC IFRAH

SGT JENNIFER HART

LSCS JOSEPH CAMPBELL

LSCS REYNE HEPI

LHSO STEPHEN LOFTHOUSE

LTCDR TIMOTHY HALL

Recipients of a New Zealand Defence Force Commendation:

DR SOPHIE WALKER

SQNLDR CHRISTOPHER ROSS

LTCOL CHARMAINE TATE

HMNZS WELLINGTON

Citations of the recipients are below:

CITATION

Flight Lieutenant Hamish REICHARDT

Flight Lieutenant Reichardt was the lead pilot of the second Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter detachment that responded to the White Island eruption which occurred on 9 December 2019, and which killed 22 people and seriously injured 25.

Flight Lieutenant Reichardt was involved in the initial recovery operation planning and provided subject matter expertise on the best use of the helicopter to support the ground recovery teams on the island. Flight Lieutenant Reichardt showed exceptional leadership as his aircraft was prepared for the task and his crew were consulted on how the recovery operation should proceed. He liaised with a wide range of agencies and sought advice on the expected environmental conditions from civilian helicopter pilots who had been involved in the immediate survivor rescue.

This was no ordinary mission. The recovery operation itself was not straightforward, with unfavourable wind and a low cloud base at around six hundred feet. A regular volcanic explosion every few minutes would envelop most of the crater with poisonous gas and fumes, and therefore required the aircraft to operate in and out of the area in cycles. In addition, two of the victims were unable to be located which resulted in a low level search in a challenging environment, demanding exceptional piloting skill to operate the NH90 helicopter towards the edge of its limits.

Flight Lieutenant Reichardt quickly recognised that the ground recovery teams were going to take significantly longer than planned due to the extreme conditions. He demonstrated excellent judgement and agile decision making by modifying the recovery plan to use an alternative technique to recover some of the more isolated bodies. In doing so he ensured that the ground recovery teams were not exposed to the fatiguing and hazardous environment for any longer than necessary.

Flight Lieutenant Reichardt was conscious of the high profile nature of the task, the requirement to treat the victims with dignity and respect, and how critical this task was to the friends and families of those who had perished. He showed tenacity by successfully completing the task despite many significant challenges, and he and his crew played a critical role in a mission which bought great prestige to the New Zealand Defence Force on the international stage. His professionalism and determination throughout the entire operation was exemplary and he is a worthy recipient of the Defence Meritorious Service Medal.

CITATION

Sergeant Phillip DELANEY

Sergeant Delaney was the lead helicopter loadmaster of the Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter detachment that responded to the White Island eruption which occurred on 9 December 2019, and killed 22 people and seriously injured 25.

Sergeant Delaney was involved with the planning and preparation for the body recovery operation. He presented multiple options to complete the task through use of the NH90 hoist and underslung hook capabilities. Sergeant Delaney liaised with multiple stakeholders including the ground recovery teams, New Zealand Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, and a specialist volcanologist. Sergeant Delaney arranged for the ground recovery teams to be trained in the use of the helicopter equipment expected to be used in the recovery mission.

On the day of the recovery operation, Sergeant Delaney worked as a member of the aircraft crew to safely operate the aircraft within the crater in toxic and highly variable conditions. Throughout the flight he provided information to the pilots about obstacle clearance, proximity to ash, steam and gas clouds, escape path monitoring, and status of the ground party, all whilst concurrently searching for two missing bodies. Sergeant Delaney displayed a high level of skill as he expertly guided the aircraft and ground recovery teams to suitable extraction sites.

The crew identified that the ground recovery teams were going to take significantly longer than planned due to the extreme conditions. Sergeant Delaney quickly developed and executed a technical solution that addressed the issues that threatened the successful completion of the body recovery operation. Sergeant Delaneys quick response to a problem and ability to adapt under pressure undoubtedly contributed to the success of the mission.

Sergeant Delaney was conscious of the high profile nature of the task, the requirement to treat the bodies with dignity and respect, and how critical this task was to the friends and families of those who had perished. He showed tenacity by successfully completing the task despite many significant challenges, and he and his crew played a critical role in a mission which bought great prestige to the New Zealand Defence Force on the international stage. His professionalism and determination throughout the entire operation was exemplary and he is a worthy recipient of a Chief of Defence Force Commendation.

CITATION

Flight Lieutenant Loic IFRAH

Flight Lieutenant Ifrah was the co-pilot of the second Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter detachment that responded to the White Island eruption that occurred on 9 December 2019, and killed 22 people and seriously injured 25.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force deployed two helicopters to the recovery operation, with the primary aircraft conducting body recovery from White Island and the second aircraft on immediate standby. Flight Lieutenant Ifrah was one of the two pilots tasked with conducting the air recovery of the victims from White Island. He volunteered to undertake the recovery operation and in doing so, helped develop a plan to operate within the crater in cycles to ensure the safety of the aircraft and crew.

This was a challenging environment and required a coordinated effort by all the crew. Communication was critical to ensure they all knew what hazards were present, where the ground recovery team were and what was expected of them as the recovery operation evolved. They started with an aerial search of where the victims lay thereby guiding the ground recovery team who faced their own exhaustion and fatigue issues. Flight Lieutenant Ifrah worked closely with the lead pilot to enable efficient approaches to the recovery sites and assisted with the power demands of the aircraft all the while monitoring the frequent gas explosions. He continuously passed critical information allowing the lead pilot to concentrate on the task of recovering the victims.

Flight Lieutenant Ifrah displayed excellent teamwork and demonstrated the skills of a pilot to the highest standards. This was an operation of national significance and despite many significant challenges, it took great courage to complete this mission which bought great prestige to the New Zealand Defence Force and New Zealand on the international stage. For his courage and skill, Flight Lieutenant Ifrah is a worthy recipient of a Chief of Defence Force Commendation.

CITATION

Sergeant Jennifer HART

Sergeant Hart was the second helicopter loadmaster of the Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter detachment that responded to the White Island eruption that occurred on 9 December 2019, and killed 22 people and seriously injured 25.

The Royal New Zealand Air Force deployed two helicopters to the recovery operation, with the primary aircraft conducting body recovery from White Island and the second aircraft on immediate standby. Sergeant Hart played a vital role in assisting with guiding the aircraft over the crater both when searching for the victims and when conducting the body recovery via air. She concentrated on the hazard caused by variable ash disturbance, analysing the aircrafts escape path and the status of the ground recovery team throughout the operation.

There is no doubt that the situation was challenging and Sergeant Hart showed great adaptability when it was apparent that fatigue had set in within the ground recovery team and a change in plan was required to ensure the operation could succeed. She was instrumental in informing the pilot of the hazards from her side of the aircraft and in assisting the lead helicopter loadmaster in securing the victims during the extraction back to HMNZS Wellington.

Sergeant Hart knew the importance of the body recovery operation and providing closure for the families of the victims. She volunteered for the operation and knew the risks involved, she demonstrated immense courage in her duties and bought great prestige to the New Zealand Defence Force and New Zealand on the international stage. For her courage and ability, Sergeant Hart is a worthy recipient of a Chief of Defence Force Commendation.

CITATION

Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Joseph CAMPBELL

On 9 December 2019, HMNZS WELLINGTON sailed after three hours notice to support the National Emergency Management Agency response to the eruption of White Island. Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Campbell was posted to HMNZS WELLINGTON as a Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) coxswain. Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Campbell was one of three coxswains who participated in the recovery effort throughout the entire period the ship was on station in support.

HMNZS Wellingtons contribution lasted eight days during which the ships boat capabilities were essential and in high demand. The RHIBs were utilised not only during the recovery phase of the operation, but also for ship to shore movement to Whakatane, and in the ongoing search around White Island for the two missing victims. Alongside his fellow coxswains, Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Campbell displayed excellent professional judgement, grit, and strength of character to ensure the ships boat capability remained available throughout the operation.

During the time on station at White Island, Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Campbell and his colleagues conducted 59 boat evolutions. This represents a remarkable increase in normal boat activities, which would usually be no more than 15 evolutions in a week. Examples of the extraordinary pressure these sailors faced during the operation are the crossing of the hazardous sand bar in the entrance to Whakatane harbour, which was navigated multiple times during the operation, and the RHIB operations that were undertaken in close proximity to an active volcano at night and in unfavourable weather conditions.

Being the coxswain of a seaboat brings the extra responsibility of special command. Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Campbell was very aware of the dangers he and his passengers faced whilst wearing cumbersome protective equipment. Few can claim to have performed to such a high standard over a sustained period and Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Campbell is a worthy recipient of a Chief of Defence Force Commendation.

CITATION

Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Reyne HEPI

On 9 December 2019, HMNZS WELLINGTON sailed after three hours notice to support the National Emergency Management Agency response to the eruption of White Island. Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Hepi was posted to HMNZS WELLINGTON as a Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) coxswain. Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Hepi was one of three coxswains who participated in the recovery effort throughout the entire period the ship was on station in support.

HMNZS Wellingtons contribution lasted eight days during which the ships boat capabilities were essential and in high demand. The RHIBs were utilised not only during the recovery phase of the operation, but also for ship to shore movement to Whakatane and in the ongoing search around White Island for the two missing victims. Alongside his fellow coxswains, Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Hepi displayed excellent professional judgement, grit, and strength of character to ensure the ships boat capability remained available throughout the operation.

During the time on station at White Island, Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Hepi and his colleagues conducted 59 boat evolutions. This represents a remarkable increase in normal boat activities, which would usually be no more than 15 evolutions in a week. Examples of the extraordinary pressure these sailors faced during the operation are the crossing of the hazardous sand bar in the entrance to Whakatane harbour, which was navigated multiple times during the operation, and the RHIB operations that were undertaken in close proximity to an active volcano at night and in unfavourable weather conditions.

Being the coxswain of a seaboat brings the extra responsibility of special command. Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Hepi was very aware of the dangers he and his passengers faced whilst wearing cumbersome protective equipment. Few can claim to have performed to such a high standard over a sustained period and Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Hepi is a worthy recipient of a Chief of Defence Force Commendation.

CITATION

Leading Hydrographic Systems Operator Stephen LOFTHOUSE

On 9 December 2019, HMNZS WELLINGTON sailed after three hours notice to support the National Emergency Management Agency response to the eruption of White Island. Leading Hydrographic Systems Operator Lofthouse was posted to HMNZS WELLINGTON as a Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) coxswain. Leading Hydrographic Systems Operator Lofthouse was one of three coxswains who participated in the recovery effort throughout the entire period the ship was on station in support.

HMNZS Wellingtons contribution lasted eight days during which the ships boat capabilities were essential and in high demand. The RHIBs were utilised not only during the recovery phase of the operation, but also for ship to shore movement to Whakatane and in the ongoing search around White Island for the two missing victims. Alongside his fellow coxswains, Leading Hydrographic Systems Operator Lofthouse, then an Able Hydrographic Systems Operator, displayed excellent professional judgement, grit, and strength of character to ensure the ships boat capability remained available throughout the operation.

During the time on station at White Island, Leading Seaman Combat Specialist Lofthouse and his colleagues conducted 59 boat evolutions. This represents a remarkable increase in normal boat activities, which would usually be no more than 15 evolutions in a week. Examples of the extraordinary pressure these sailors faced during the operation are the crossing of the hazardous sand bar in the entrance to Whakatane harbour, which was navigated multiple times during the operation, and the RHIB operations that were undertaken in close proximity to an active volcano at night and in unfavourable weather conditions.

Being the coxswain of a seaboat brings the extra responsibility of special command, and more so when Leading Hydrographic Systems Operator Lofthouse was of a lower rank of Able Rate. In undertaking the duties and responsibilities of a RHIB coxswain during this operation Leading Hydrographic Systems Operator Lofthouse displayed maturity beyond his rank and experience. Leading Hydrographic Systems Operator Lofthouse was very aware of the dangers he and his passengers faced whilst wearing cumbersome protective equipment. Few can claim to have performed to such a high standard over a sustained period and Leading Hydrographic Systems Operator Lofthouse is a worthy recipient of a Chief of Defence Force Commendation.

CITATION

Lieutenant Commander Timothy HALL, RNZN

Lieutenant Commander Hall was the Commanding Officer of HMNZS Wellington which was tasked to respond to the White Island eruption that occurred on 9 December 2019, and which killed 22 people and seriously injured 25.

HMNZS Wellington had just completed a six week fisheries patrol and had recently returned to the Devonport Naval Base when it was activated to respond to the White Island eruption, recalling the crew and sailing for Whakatane the same day. The ship was pivotal to the victim recovery operation, where in the following days it was required to navigate close to the volcano and in doing so faced the possibility of further eruptions.

The character of a ships company is to a large degree a reflection of the Commanding Officer, and the manner in which Lieutenant Commander Halls team responded to the challenges of the recovery operation was his responsibility alone. He ensured the ship maintained a high level of readiness, personally working long days without significant rest but ever mindful of his ships companys fatigue and welfare. HMNZS Wellington became the critical link between Whakatane and White Island, where the ground recovery team were launched from and the victims brought to.

Lieutenant Commander Hall contributed to the overall planning of the recovery operation and developed his own contingency plans for rescuing boats, aircraft and the ground recovery team should another eruption occur. He ensured that at all times the ships crew showed respect to the victims and empathy for the families. The ship remained on station for a further three days after the recovery operation to support the police in searching for the two missing victims, and to provide a platform from which the families of the victims conducted a memorial service on near White Island on 16 December.

Lieutenant Commander Hall demonstrated professionalism and resilience in responding to the White Island tragedy. His exemplary leadership and drive to complete the task, despite many significant challenges, bought great prestige to the New Zealand Defence Force and New Zealand on the international stage. Lieutenant Commander Hall is a worthy recipient of the Chief of Defence Force Commendation.

CITATION

Doctor Sophie WALKER

On 9 December 2019 Whakaari/White Island erupted while tourists were present on the island. As part of the disaster response, at the request of NZ Police, Fire and Emergency New Zealand stood up the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) to provide expert scientific support about the hazards present and appropriate hazard mitigation for the recovery mission.

Doctor Walker was requested to join the STAC team to provide expert guidance on appropriate protective equipment from the volcanic gases and liquids that those undertaking the recovery may encounter.

Doctor Walker worked well beyond standard working hours for the ensuing week seeking information regarding the risks to recovery mission personnel and how to best mitigate those risks and briefing NZ Police, Fire and Emergency and other agencies on STAC findings. Due to the known hazards of gases and acids that were present on the island, Doctor Walker recommended that the EOD could not conduct the operation planned whilst incorporating the civilian protective equipment and instead ensured familiar, and appropriate NZDF protective equipment was provided for the recovery operation. Doctor Walker was widely acknowledged for her skills in clearly articulating the complex technical issues for non-specialists in a concise manner.

In addition to her STAC role, Doctor Walker provided direct support to EOD personnel. She informed the responding EOD officers of the risks present, and identified with them what of their equipment and protective gear was suitable for employment on the recovery operation and how to decontaminate themselves and their equipment upon extraction from the island.

The tasks and support undertaken by Doctor Walker were not part of her day to day job description. However, she ensured that those undertaking the recovery mission had the appropriate equipment and were well informed of the risks present on Whakaari / White Island. Through her support to STAC and EOD, Doctor Walker made a significant contribution to the safety of the recovery team, brought distinction to the NZDF in its contribution to STAC, and did all this in a high stress and combative environment. For this, Doctor Walker should be commended.

CITATION

Squadron Leader Christopher ROSS

Op White Island/Whakaari Eruption was the NZDF response in support of the National Emergency Authority following an eruptive event on 09 December 2019. After the initial aeromedical evacuation response provided by No.3 Squadron on the evening of the eruption, the NZDF continued to provide support and planning for a likely body recovery operation led by the New Zealand Police.

Squadron Leader Chris Ross had newly posted in as the Medium Utility Helicopter Flight Commander at the Squadron a matter of days before the eruption. Squadron Leader Ross assumed a leading role in the operational planning, risk management, logistic support and personnel planning in support of the likely use of military helicopters in the recovery operation.

On activation of 3 SQN to provide support for the recovery operation, Squadron Leader Ross quickly established himself as a key figure in the operational planning and management of the tasked mission. He provided expert advice to the Deployable Joint Inter-Agency Task Force element, the New Zealand Police planners and commanders, and liaised effectively with the local helicopter operators to develop the recovery operation concept of operations.

Squadron Leader Ross knowledge of the NH90, his ability to extract key information from his own personnel and other individuals outside his command, complemented by his ability to efficiently develop a plan with requirements that were unique and unprecedented, resulted in a plan that led to mission success.

Operation Squadron Leader Ross was called upon to provide additional advice, support and leadership to his crews conducting the mission. His performance surpassed what would normally be expected of a Detachment Commander, and led his personnel with determination, competence and empathy. His leadership and commitment to a successful outcome in a high pressure situation are in keeping with the best traditions of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the wider NZDF. It is for these reasons that Squadron Leader Ross should be commended.

CITATION

Lieutenant Colonel Charmaine TATE

On 9 December 2019 Whakaari/White Island volcanic eruption occurred. 47 people were on or around the island during the eruption necessitating a significant response by New Zealand emergency services and government agencies, led by New Zealand Police. As part of this response, Lieutenant Colonel Tate was directly requested to assist in Disaster Victim Identification of the victims.

Having deployed directly to Whakatane to meet with her Police colleagues, Lieutenant Colonel Tate was brought into the planning and risk considerations around victim recovery, based on both her medical and search and rescue expertise. Lieutenant Colonel Tate became intimately involved in the considerations and planning for body recovery operations.

On the decision to commence the body recovery operation, Lieutenant Colonel Tate became the immediate in-place medical officer to support the initial landing. As a result, Lieutenant Colonel Tate participated in the medical support role for both the NZDF conducted body recovery operation, and the Police-mounted body search operation that took place two days later. Her role within the operation directly contributed to the safety and wellbeing of those conducting the body-recovery tasks, as well as to the overall success of the mission.

The contribution of Lieutenant Colonel Tate to the planning for the operation was praised on site by both the NZ Police leadership, and the NZDF contingent commander. Lieutenant Colonel Tate demonstrated a willingness to adapt and fulfil a variety of roles in order to ensure that the New Zealand emergency agencies, the New Zealand Police, and the NZDF were able to successfully conduct dangerous tasks in support of the recovery. Lieutenant Colonel Charmaine Tate has demonstrated professionalism and devotion to duty, both as a physician and an officer in the NZDF, for which she should be commended.

CITATION

HMNZS WELLINGTON

HMNZS WELLINGTON, the Otago Class Patrol Vessel, was one of the first responders to the White Island eruption on 09 December 2029. At 1600 the Ship with a crew of 69 people, alongside in Devonport, was activated to respond; by 1900 that evening she had sailed. In the coming days HMNZS WELLINGTON would prove pivotal to the success of the operation as a whole, and the key to recovering six of the eight people who tragically died on the island following the eruption. In order to execute her mission, she at times needed to navigate in close proximity to the island facing a very real chance of further eruptions and often deploying personnel close to the shore; for which there was no shortage of volunteers.

Short notice night time responses were characteristics of the operation, and WELLINGTONs Ships Company responded unwaveringly in the face of a gruelling tempo. Her time on station was embodied by a willingness to respond, steadfast resolve in seeing the job through, and a calm professionalism in the face of danger and uncertainty.

Throughout the recovery operation WELLINGTON worked long hours maintaining constant readiness with the Ship and her boats often within close proximity to the Island, ready to provide an evacuation option in the event of another eruption. At all times, the Ships Company showed the greatest care and respect for the deceased and empathy for their families.

While still in the vicinity of White Island, HMNZS WELLINGTON was suddenly re-tasked 900nm to the North East of New Zealand to provide aid to a fishing vessel in distress. Under extreme weather conditions the Ship had to plan and execute a challenging search and rescue mission in the face of significant uncertainty and potential risk, a task that she achieved with the upmost professionalism.

Over the course of 11 days, HMNZS WELLINGTON steamed nearly three and a half thousand miles and conducted 18 hours of flying operations. She responded to one of the most significant national emergencies in recent years before flowing seamlessly into a complex search and rescue mission. Conducting her operations in an ambiguous and unstable environment, the crew of HMNZS WELLINGTON demonstrated significant ability to prevail in adversity ensuring the mission was achieved. For that, the Ship should be commended.
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation says its 30,000 members who work in DHBs have voted overwhelmingly to reject a second offer in their current round of multi-employer collective agreement negotiations.

This means the eight-hour strike planned for Wednesday, June 9, will go ahead affecting all public hospitals and DHB facilities.

The ballot closed today at Noon and NZNO Lead Advocate David Wait says he's pleased at the exceptionally high voter turnout and at the member unity the result reveals.

"Members are facing serious nursing workforce issues, with pay rates that do not attract people into the profession or retain the people we have, and staffing levels which stretch them to breaking point, putting them and their patients at risk.

"This second DHB offer has not significantly changed and does not address these issues. Our members are genuinely concerned that nursing shortages would increase if it was accepted, and that standards of care for all in Aotearoa New Zealand would suffer as a result."

Wait says the thing that made the rejected offer different was the inclusion of a lump sum payment of $4000 (gross and pro rata), which was a part payment on back pay that would be owed to members through the pay equity claim, which should be settled by the end of the year.

"Members know that lump sum payments do not lift actual rates of pay, which impacts on the long-term issues of a health system that values nurses and their work, attracts new people into the profession and encourages others back from overseas.

"They also find it unfair that they are being asked to wait for the pay equity process, when there is uncertainty about when this will happen or what the results will be."

He says NZNO members are resolute and further strike action can't be ruled out.

In the Bay of Plenty, the Bay of Plenty and Lakes DHBs say contingency planning meetings have been held regularly since the two DHBs received notice of eight hours of strike action by the NZNO.

Contingency planners at both DHBs are working closely with managers and clinical leaders on ensuring the continuing provision of essential emergency services including acute surgery, emergency department care, intensive care, and maternity care.

The strike is scheduled to start at 11am and finish at 7pm, meaning it will cover two nursing shifts.

All elective surgery cases and nearly all outpatient clinics are being deferred for the day of the strike.

Those people whose procedures and appointments are being deferred are being contacted individually by the BOP and Lakes DHBs.
Last month, AUT research showed that New Zealand employees were reporting high rates of burnout, with 11 per cent reporting being burnt-out, the most severe level of job burnout.

Twenty per cent of the 1000 participants surveyed in May 2020 fell into the next category  at high risk of becoming burnt-out.

Now, additional AUT research conducted in December 2020 shows Kiwi workers are at even higher risk of being burnt-out.

The December study surveyed 1042 New Zealand employees (51.4% male). The study found 18%  an increase of seven per cent  of the cohort could be classified as burnt-out.

Whats going on?

AUT Business School Professor Jarrod Haar, who conducted both studies, says the data show clearly worsening experiences in the New Zealand workforce. Thats particularly worrying because of the strong link between being burnt-out and having serious mental health issues. Professor Haar says that statistically, the odds are staggering:

24.22 per cent for job anxiety (e.g., feeling worried)

25.30 per cent for job depression (e.g., feeling gloomy)

14.06 per cent for psychological complaints (e.g., cant sleep)

17.48 per cent for psychosomatic complaints (e.g., chest palpitations)

My research shows burnt-out workers are anywhere from 14 to 24 times more likely to have severe levels of mental health issues  this is a critical concern that must be addressed, says Professor Haar, who calls the latest findings a rallying cry for human resource departments.

Organisations need to be aware that their workforce is likely feeling serious pressure, and any way to relieve this pressure will benefit workers and organisations.

So, who is more likely to be burnt-out? Several variables were tested, finding:

Workers who are managers were 141 per cent more likely to be burnt-out

Younger workers, aged 29 years and under were 163 per cent more likely to be burnt-out

Maori employees were 163 per cent more likely to be burnt-out

New Zealand Europeans were 51.9 per cent less likely to be burnt-out

Firms with a strong culture around employee wellbeing were 82.7 per cent less likely to be burnt-out

Those who work more than 55 hours a week are 416 per cent more likely to be burnt-out

Those who are most insecure in their job are 641 per cent more likely to be burnt-out.

The findings showed no difference by gender, firm size, sector (private/public/not-for-profit), parental status, or marital status.

Are you burnt out or smouldering?

Professor Haar cautions there are four key signs to watch for: emotional exhaustion, feelings of indifference to work, trouble staying focused and a lack of emotional control. While most employees feel tired or burned out at times, only those who scored highly across all four factors are considered burnt-out. A good proxy is: if you are consistently tired before the day starts, you may be burnt-out.
Seminole, FL (33772)

Today

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 77F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Seminole, FL (33772)

Today

Generally cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 77F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
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Photo taken on Sept. 2, 2020 shows aerial roots in a tropical rainforest in south China's Hainan Province. [Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu]

BEIJING, June 5 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday that the international community should work together with unprecedented ambition and action to strive for a fair and reasonable system of global environmental governance featuring win-win cooperation and promote the sustainable development of humanity.

Xi made the remarks in a congratulatory letter to the World Environment Day events held in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Noting that this year marks the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, Xi said the World Environment Day events held in Pakistan under the theme of ecosystem restoration are of great significance.

Xi stressed that Earth is humanity's shared home, and a sound ecosystem is essential for the prosperity of civilizations.

Aerial photo taken on June 3, 2020 shows the Haizhu National Wetland Park in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province. [Xinhua/Liu Dawei]

The human race should respect nature, follow its laws, protect it, and endeavor to foster a new relationship where humans and nature can both prosper and live in harmony, he added.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, worsening desertification and frequent extreme weather events have all posed severe challenges to human survival and development, Xi said, noting that the world is in fact a community with a shared future where everyone is in the same boat.

Xi pointed out that the Chinese civilization has always valued harmony between humans and nature, and that ecological conservation has been incorporated into China's overall plan for building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Aerial photo taken on April 7, 2021 shows volunteers patrolling the lake to keep the water clean in Wuzhuang Village of Chun'an County, east China's Zhejiang Province. [Photo by Mao Yongfeng/Xinhua]

As a participant, contributor and trailblazer in global ecological conservation, China is firmly committed to putting multilateralism into action and defending the international system with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law so as to enhance global governance on the environment, Xi said.

Noting that China will host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity later this year, Xi said China stands ready to discuss and draw up plans together with all parties for ecological conservation, inject new impetus into global environmental governance, foster a community of life for man and nature, and jointly build a clean and beautiful world.

In 1972, the United Nations designated June 5 as World Environment Day. The UN Environment Programme selects a member state every year to hold celebration events. The theme of this year's World Environment Day is ecosystem restoration.

(Source: Xinhua)
vigsom Distinguished - BHPian



Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: NSEW Posts: 2,781 Thanked: 8,001 Times

My journey on Team-BHP | Remembering some good times Introduction



This is my sixteenth year on the forum, and am thankful for the five stars that have been awarded to me recently. Team-bhp has given me opportunities to meet some wonderful people across the country, and have some good friends too. These posts are my small way of remembering the good times I've had through several meets with several bhpians over the last 13 years.



The first meeting with a bhpian



Feb-2009



What a way to start this journey off by meeting up with a then D-Bhpian, @V-16 in Mumbai. When I reached his place, it felt like I was being escorted to meet a Don. He was a great host, and it was nice meeting him in his underground chamber, which was filled to the brim with auto magazines. I was also fortunate to see his collection of cars, from an old Mercedes to a Dukkar Fiat to a Honda City i-DSi.



Subsequent meet ups with bhpians



Feb-2010



Bhpian @frankmehta drove me around in his white, beautifully audio-tuned Fiesta S, and treated me to some Irani chai . The drive from Prabhadevi to Pedder Road was unforgettable, and so was the chai.



Later in 2010



A chance meeting with audio guru @Bass&Trouble at his office; he took time off, we had some outstanding cutting chai together, and then he dropped me off at Byculla in his Lancer.



Aug-2011



Met then D-Bhpian @ex670c aka Arka, along with bhpian @headers and two others (forgot their handles) at Kodambakkam, Chennai.



In around the same month or in Sep-2011, had a quick meet with @camchennai, @MutantX, and @Mi10 at Boat Club Road; enjoyed the ride in camchennai's 2005 Camry and also saw @Mi10's Verito there. When we were about to disperse, an elderly resident there shooed us away stating we were parked on a private road.



Jul-2016 : Mahabalipuram



This was the first time I "registered" my participation on a team-bhp meet via the meet thread, and what an experience the meet was. After a long time, I got to take my car out of the city on ECR and enjoyed the drive. This was where I met a new set of bhpians for the first time.



At the team-bhp meet at A2B Mahabalipuram L to R : @CGB, @Cruiser_D, @CAPTAIN REX, @BenHarPee, @Vignesh_N/A, @aLY, @vigsom. Pic taken by @srinath.s





Sep-2016 : Chennai



I was surprised to see a larger gathering this time, so large that all cars couldn't be parked together. @Thad-E-Ginathom made it to this meet, much to everybody's surprise



At the team-bhp meet at Sangeetha OMR : L to R @Makin Rulesz, @razorBlades, @swami69, @Maverick79(partly hidden), @CGB, @srinath.s, @DeepakChan, @Prowler, @Thad-E-Ginathom, @hyper-VTEC(sitting on the Safari hood), @Jack Sparrow, @Queryanalyzer, @vigsom, @7Heaven (@hyper-VTEC was the meet organiser)

This is my sixteenth year on the forum, and am thankful for the five stars that have been awarded to me recently. Team-bhp has given me opportunities to meet some wonderful people across the country, and have some good friends too. These posts are my small way of remembering the good times I've had through several meets with several bhpians over the last 13 years.What a way to start this journey off by meeting up with a then D-Bhpian, @V-16 in Mumbai. When I reached his place, it felt like I was being escorted to meet a Don. He was a great host, and it was nice meeting him in his underground chamber, which was filled to the brim with auto magazines. I was also fortunate to see his collection of cars, from an old Mercedes to ato a Honda City i-DSi.Bhpian @frankmehta drove me around in his white, beautifully audio-tuned Fiesta S, and treated me to some Irani. The drive from Prabhadevi to Pedder Road was unforgettable, and so was theA chance meeting with audio guru @Bass&Trouble at his office; he took time off, we had some outstandingtogether, and then he dropped me off at Byculla in his Lancer.Met then D-Bhpian @ex670c aka Arka, along with bhpian @headers and two others (forgot their handles) at Kodambakkam, Chennai.In around the same month or in Sep-2011, had a quick meet with @camchennai, @MutantX, and @Mi10 at Boat Club Road; enjoyed the ride in camchennai's 2005 Camry and also saw @Mi10's Verito there. When we were about to disperse, an elderly resident there shooed us away stating we were parked on a private road.This was the first time I "registered" my participation on a team-bhp meet via the meet thread, and what an experience the meet was. After a long time, I got to take my car out of the city on ECR and enjoyed the drive. This was where I met a new set of bhpians for the first time.I was surprised to see a larger gathering this time, so large that all cars couldn't be parked together. @Thad-E-Ginathom made it to this meet, much to everybody's surprise(@hyper-VTEC was the meet organiser) Last edited by vigsom : 6th June 2021 at 22:35 .
(Photo : Getty Image)

YouTube is moving some of its parts into Google Cloud Service from the tech company's internal data center infrastructure, announced by Google Cloud Head.

Google is an extremely popular tech company. It owns several franchises, one being the infamous video-sharing platform, YouTube. Recent reports mentioned that there might be a massive shift in placement for the app.

YouTube is a regular part of average individuals' daily routines, and it shows how important it is for people. With Google's decision to incorporate some of its features into their Google Cloud Service, other companies will have a better perspective on how the new platform can accommodate applications with heightened workloads.

YouTube's Migration to Google Cloud Service

According to CNBC, Google is looking to move several parts of their hit platform, YouTube, into their very own Google Cloud Service. It might be the company's attempt to persuade other larger companies to transfer their database as it could accommodate platforms with high workload demands.

The company's effort to integrate one of their biggest franchises into their Cloud Service indicated that the tech giant plans to expand its shares within the increasing cloud-computing market. As a result, the company is now less reliant on advertisements found in their search engine, and a few other properties.

Google is known for leaning towards its self-made systems to run its famous and widely used applications in various computer serves within its data centers. But on the contrary, the company's new Google Cloud platform is a separate database.

Google still has not done anything to migrate its search engine, such as the Google public cloud.

But according to the report, Google's perspective regarding the value of having its top-performing products utilize their cloud service as a third-party application recently changed.

Thomas Kurian recently said in an interview with CNBC that to develop the cloud, they have to trust it by having their services utilize it more and more, and that is precisely what is happening.

He later added that several parts of YouTube are moving towards Google Cloud.

Read Also: Mafia Fugitive Caught After Making an Italian Cooking Channel on YouTube: Hiding in the Caribbean

Is it Google's Attempt to Bring in More Partners?

By letting everyone know that they use their Cloud Service, the tech giant is now more at par with some of its primary U.S. competitors -- Microsoft and Amazon.

Kurian also mentioned that some other popular platforms from Google, such as Google Workspace (previously known as G Suite), DeepMind AI research group, and Waze navigation app, are leaning toward the Google Cloud Service infrastructure.

However, based on Amazon's Alexa analytics, YouTube is quite different because it is indeed the second-largest website on the entirety of the Internet.

The video platform has over 2 billion users monthly. It rapidly grew in 2006 when Google purchased it for $1.65 billion.

The company's decision to publicly announce that YouTube -- well, at least some parts of it -- will be under Google Cloud Service could boost its sales and stocks.

Related Article: Google Pixel To Have Improved Astrophotography Timelapse Mode: Arrival Date, How To Use It, and MORE!

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Written by Fran Sanders

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Screenshot From Pexels Official Website) El Salvador President Notes No Capital Gains on Crypto Due to It Being a 'Legitimate Currency'

El Salvador president announces that the country could become the very first country to start adopting Bitcoin as some sort of legal tender. Nayib Bukele, the Salvadorian president, announced this in a video recording that was shown during the recent Bitcoin 2021 conference that was held in Miami.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on Cryptocurrency

According to Bitcoin Magazine, Bukele stated that next week, he will be sending a bill to congress in order to make Bitcoin a legal tender. The 39-year-old Bukele had a strong majority with 56 out of 84 seats ever since his landslide victory in the country's legislative elections that took place last March.

President Bukele shared a status that noted Bitcoin investors would start moving to El Salvador saying the country has great weather, beach front properties for sale, and even world class surfing beaches. It was also noted that the country is one of the first countries that don't have property tax.

El Salvador No Capital Gains Tax

It was also noted that the country would have no capital gains tax for Bitcoin since the cryptocurrency is said to become a legal currency. The best news is that Bitcoin investors will have immediate permanent residence for other crypto entrepreneurs.

The story by CNN notes that the country will be partnering with the digital finance company called Strike in order to establish the full logistics of this decision. Jack Mallers, Strike CEO, stated 70% of the active population still does not have a bank account and that they still aren't part of the financial system.

US Dollar and Other Currencies

The CEO said that they had asked him to help write a plan that would view Bitcoin as some sort of world-class currency and that they need to put together a certain Bitcoin plan in order to help those people. El Salvador, as of the moment, uses the United States dollar as the country's official currency.

Although different central banks around the world have already reacted to Bitcoin with fascination, they have yet been hesitant when it comes to embracing cryptocurrency due to the coins' extreme volatility. Crypto's rise in popularity, however, has led the Federal Reserve to finally look hard at the old-fashioned dollar's final limitations. This is true particularly around payments as well as money transfers that might even take days in order to accomplish.

Read Also: Crypto Whales' Top 3 Coins 2021 | Why is Ethereum Still Their Number One?

How Bitcoin Could Help

Bitcoin transactions, however, happen almost instantaneously. Cryptocurrencies technically do not require their holders to have bank accounts. Instead, these currencies exist in digital wallets. This could also potentially help the poorer communities not just in El Salvador but also in some minority communities in the US.

Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lael Brainard laid out a whole case last month for a more secure, central bank-backed digital currency. This could create a more efficient form of payment system and could expand the general financial services to certain Americans that have been underserved by the traditional banks.

Related Article: China Centralized Television is Talking About Uniswap $UNI | Could China Be Selective on Cryptocurrency?

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Written by Urian B.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Screenshot From Pexels Official Website) Goldman Sachs Bank Dubs Cryptocurrency 'Least Favorite Investment'

Goldman Sachs Bank has just recently held two different roundtable sessions for the chief of investment officers of hedge funds. The bank was able to find that they actually see Bitcoin as their very least favorite investment.

Goldman Sachs Thoughts on Bitcoin

In contrast to everything, the latest Bank of America Fund Manager Survey actually found that "long bitcoin" remained the most crowded trade. According to the news.Bitcoin.com, Goldman Sachs finally published a note this Saturday after conducting a wide survey in order to find out which particular investment chief investment officers or CIOs actually favored in the current market.

Timothy Moe,Goldman Sachs strategist wrote that they had hedl two different CIO roundtable sessions that took place early in June and that there were 25 CIOs in attendance coming from a number of long-only and hedge funds.It was noted that their most favorite is actually the growth style with their least favorite being Bitcoin.

Is Bitcoin a Good Investment?

It was noted that aside from growth style, the CIOs actually favored the value style as well as the commodities. Their very least favorite investment was found to be Bitcoin, which was then followed by upcoming new IPOs, and other rate-sensitive investments.

Quite the opposite from Goldman Sachs, the Bank of America or BofA found that Bitcoin was actually considered a popular trade among certain asset managers. The bank's very own Fund Manager Survey for May, in which around 216 fund managers along with $625 billion when it came to total assets under management or AUM participated.

Is Cryptocurrency Built on FOMO?

This showed that "long bitcoin" was actually the most crowded trade in the whole world. In just the previous month, the long bitcoin actually became the world's second-most crowded of trades compared to other options.

Quite unlike the surveyed CIOs, the analysts at Goldman Sachs' are actually quite bullish when it comes to the outlook of Bitcoin. They also recently stated that fear of missing out or FOMO is now driving institutional investors to the new cryptocurrency. The bank, moreover, recently declared that Bitcoin is actually an investable asset and considered a new asset class.

Read Also: Crypto Whales' Top 3 Coins 2021 | Why is Ethereum Still Their Number One?

Goldman Sachs on $BTC

Goldman Sachs has now also established a whole cryptocurrency trading desk along with the aim to offer a full spectrum of other crypto investments. The firm also noted that institutional demand for $BTC continues to grow quite significantly.

A certain reply on the news on Twitter asked the question that since Bitcoin will finally be a legal tender or legal currency of El Salvador, will this mean that the USA IRS would not be able to tax Americans on their Bitcoin holdings as an asset with the capital gains tax any more.

Although Goldman Sachs is still quite enthusiastic about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, there are also other banks slowly planning to adapt Bitcoin as a legitimate asset. There are also other banks and investment institutions that are slowly adopting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency as a legitimate asset.

Related Article: Crypto Whales Buy Massive Amounts of TRON as Price Slowly Appreciates | Is $TRX the Next $ETH?

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Written by Urian B.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Ransomware attacks and the tragic 9/11 bombing have a common denominator according to FBI Director Christopher Wray. The 54-year-old says that there's a comparable complexity of the threats that each of them has.

FBI Director Focuses on the Threats of Two Different Subjects

In the previous report of The Wall Street Journal last Friday, June 4, Wray laid out his comparison between the frequent ransomware cyberattacks in the United States and the 9/11 terrorism which took place in 2001.

Wray specifically compared the threat that the two different events have contributed and not the severity of the attacks when it comes to casualties. He continued that the risks posed in them are "similarly difficult" to combat and avoid.

"There are a lot of parallels, there's a lot of importance, and a lot of focus by us on disruption and prevention. There's a shared responsibility, not just across government agencies but across the private sector and even the average American," Wray said in an interview with WSJ on Thursday, June 3.

The biggest meat supplier in the world, JBS, has been attacked by ransomware attackers last week. In the United States alone, the global food processor has closed nearly 20% of its meat-processing factories.

According to the Biden administration on Tuesday, June 1, it was believed that the cyberattackers were the notorious group of Russian cyber criminals which is also known as the REvil Gang.

Read Also: Powershell Ransomware: Unpatched Microsoft Exchange Email Servers Become the Latest Victims of the Attack

To solve the issue, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary said that they were reaching out to the Russian government about this attack. What the US government wanted was to inform the Soviet Union that the affected states in the country do not welcome the entry of the dangerous ransomware group.

Furthermore, Jean-Pierre added that what they prioritize right now is to eradicate ransomware cases across the United States. He told the people that President Joe Biden has been focused on preventing the cyber attackers from spawning in the different states.

In particular, what the government wanted to do is to strengthen their connection to the private sector by distributing some cyber experts and ransomware infrastructure. Also, they aim to form an "international coalition" that would punish the cyber attackers behind the scheme, conduct a review of the ransomware policies, as well as expand an analysis about the cryptocurrency to track the renowned hackers.

Previous Ransomware Attacks Caused Big Problems to the Sectors

Last month, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack caused the major pipeline to shut down. Later, it caused a series of serious fuel shortages in the country. Although this was far from the impacts of 9/11 terrorism, the outage has led to damage which accounts for 45% of pipeline fuel--and in return, the prices of the oil, gas, and diesel would shoot up abruptly.

In relation to this attack, an expert said that the ransomware attack has been the "most successful" form of exploitation in the country when it comes to the energy infrastructure, Politico reported.

What happened to Colonial Pipeline was fallout for a plethora of the IT systems which rely on the business. Since they could not run the computers, the third-party security group would be the one to handle the incident.

FBI Director Wray informed that his people are not realizing the extent of the damage that the ransomware attack causes. From the food to the energy sector, cybercrimes have become more rampant, making it hard for security firms to launch an all-out defensive plan against intruders.

Related Article: Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Attackers Use Compromised Password to Infiltrate Company's VPN

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Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Screenshot From Pexels Official Website) Crypto 101 | How to Spot a Pump and Dump and Is It Dangerous?

Crypto 101. Spotting a pump and dump is quite hard and usually when one does, it could be too late. Basically, a pump and dump is where huge investors or "whales" purchase massive amounts of a cryptocurrency in order to pump it up. As the name suggests, the crypto whales would then dump the coin and make a profit.

CND/BTC Pump and Dump

On June 6, 2021, there was a particular pump and dump on Binance that took place with CND/BTC. Signals of the pump and dump aside from the price saw 88 million coins bought as per the volume indicator. The coin peaked at 0.00000091 before going all the way down to 0.00000054.

The coin initially started at 0.00000062 before the official pump and dump began and when it did, in only a matter of seconds, the traders found themselves either with massive profits or massive losses. While people might make money off of pump and dumps, there is actually a danger in investing in these types of trades.

Are Pump and Dumps Safe?

A pump and dump is incredibly risky especially if traders aren't able to dump their coins at the right time. Those who gain are those that are able to buy from the very bottom and sell the coin right at the peak. This, however, isn't always the case.

Some traders are left either with more money than they put in, or much less than what they had put in. The results of the pump and dump saw the coin drop to a lower average than it initially was sitting for.

Pump and Duump Crypto Schemes

Although pump and dumps are generally profitable for those with fast hands, they pose a great risk for those that aren't capable of jumping on and jumping off fast enough. The success of the pump and dump also depends on the volume of traders. The more traders there are, the more variance the pump will have.

If there are only a few traders all with large amounts, the crypto traders can only expect the coin price to spike and immediately drop. If there are a lot of traders within the dump, traders can then expect more variation in the pump as traders purchase at different times.

Read Also: El Salvador President Notes No Capital Gains on Crypto Due to It Being a 'Legitimate Currency'

What are Pump and Dumps?

According to the article by Investopedia, a pump and dump is some kind of manipulative scheme that attempts to boost the total price of stock, security, or coin, through fake recommendations. These types of recommendations are basically based on false, misleading, or even greatly exaggerated statements.

The perpetrators of these particular pump and dump schemes have most likely already positioned themselves within the company's stock and are expected to sell their position once the hype has led to higher share prices. This practice, however, is considered illegal based on securities law and could lead to some pretty heavy fines. To spot a pump and dump, look for massive spikes that oftentimes do not even last aa couple of minutes.

Related Article: Crypto Whales' Top 3 Coins 2021 | Why is Ethereum Still Their Number One?

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FILE PHOTO: A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING -- A Chinese spokesperson on Thursday urged the United States to stop its massive and indiscriminate wiretapping and "pay off the debt of justice it owes to the world."

"If the US allies find its spying behavior unacceptable, the world would only feel more strongly about it," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a news briefing, in response to recent criticism made by some European leaders and officials about the US National Security Agency wiretapping leaders of its allies.

Wang said the United States has long been globally recognized as the leading stealer of secrets.

He cited a number of means the United States applies in doing so, including simulating signals of base stations to tap into and steal data from cell phones, turning mobile apps into surveillance units, breaking into cloud servers, tapping into the undersea cables, and installing secretive signals intelligence collection facilities in nearly 100 US embassies and consulates worldwide for spying purpose.

"The recent media disclosure of the US spying on its European allies is just a tip of the iceberg of its huge global network for secret stealing," he said. "The United States owes the international community an explanation."

Wang said the United States has long recklessly conducted massive and indiscriminate wiretapping around the world, while wantonly suppressing law-abiding foreign companies under the pretext of national security.

"This fully exposes its hypocrisy and hegemonic nature," the spokesperson said.

He said people have every reason to suspect that the purpose of the US-initiated "clean network" program is to retain its monopoly in the high-tech field and serve as an excuse to justify its espionage activities.

The United States must immediately stop its illegal act of massive and indiscriminate eavesdropping, and stop the dirty business of suppressing other countries' enterprises under the guise of national security, Wang said.
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

As a Member of Parliament, no two days are the same. It makes the role interesting and special, but it also means that even two consecutive months can be worlds apart. Early in May I was assisting residents with some problems they had with antisocial behaviour by talking the matter over with police and lobbying the local Community Council to install CCTV in hotspot areas. I remember thinking at the time how dreadful it is to live with the sort of low level activities that never make national news, yet affect you day-in, day-out and therefore really have an impact on peoples lives.

Shortly afterwards, the windows at my constituency office were smashed. I was so grateful to the scores of people who wrote and telephoned me to offer their sympathies. Yet for me, once the windows were boarded up, life could return to normal. However, for those who experience crime and anti-social behaviour at home or in their community on a regular basis, life can be anything but normal. And they dont have well-wishers contacting them, either. As such, I would like to remind everyone that if you are struggling with an issue like this, you can contact my office and I will do everything I can to assist you. There are also some good organisations out there, such as Victim Support, which can offer practical advice and guidance. They offer everything from protecting yourself against further incidents to advice on giving evidence at court.

Last night a delightful individual threw a stone through the windows of my office in @wrexham. When people resort to these tactics, they have not only lost the argument but all credibility too and this won't stop me working hard for our town. pic.twitter.com/BbWQZk9U8Z  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) May 23, 2021

This month, I noticed that Wrexham featured on BBC News during a feature about the impact of Covid-19 on our high street. The conclusion was that the high street has been harmed, but that the pandemic effectively accelerated a decline that was already in effect. While I see the point, I have advocated on behalf of some brilliant initiatives such as Xplore! and Hope Street Church, both of which featured on the programme and show how town centre premises can be repurposed with just a little bit of imagination to help make the high street more vibrant and attract people back in. I am not ready to give up on our town centre and, actually, I am optimistic about the future. With the more details starting to be added to the Gateway Project and funds being injected to the town from private and public bodies alike, I believe that our town could be the model that others across the UK follow in years to come.

Good to see this discussed on @BBCWalesNews tonight. Pleased also to see that two initiatives in the town centre were also featured  @XploreScienceUK & Hope Street Church  both of which show how town centre premises can be repurposed & can help make the high street more vibrant https://t.co/SWOjspkIHg  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) May 18, 2021

Linked to this is whether Wrexham remains a town or a city. I have opened a survey on my website, and I want to hear your opinions on this. Irrespective of which way it goes, the responses I have received so far suggest that people want action on the town centre. They want the town to fulfil its potential and not be in managed decline. This is why I have been lobbying the UK Government for funding as part of its Levelling Up Agenda, as well as supporting town centre businesses and working with the Council to support its initiatives to boost our town.

Wrexham has, on a number of occasions, bid for city status but has so far been unsuccessful. Since the last attempt, there have been discussions about whether the town should bid again. As such, I am looking to find out your opinion on the matter https://t.co/bjXhaX3H8m  Sarah Atherton MP (@AthertonNWales) May 25, 2021

Finally, you may remember that I opened a Covid Community Champion Competition earlier this year, to reward those stars that shined brightest during the pandemic. I was pleased that, due to the volume of responses, the award got split between Savannah Lloyd, who worked on youth engagement with the Caia Park Partnership, James Heyward, who supported the Cadets at Hightown Barracks as their Detachment Commander, and Carys Hughes, who worked with the elderly for Caia Park Partnership throughout the pandemic. Well done to all three for showing us the best of Wrexham!

https://twitter.com/AthertonNWales/status/1397251121731735558

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.
Just as the world is getting used to the new normal of remote working, it seems that the next normal is already on its way.

This next normal will be defined by hybrid working in one form or another. The cat is now out of the bag when it comes to the feasibility of remote working, but the pandemic has also demonstrated the continued need for real-world interaction. With vaccinations being administered worldwide and governments revealing roadmaps to the end of restrictions, many organizations are now turning their thoughts to how to enable employees to move seamlessly between working from home (or indeed wherever they choose) and returning to the office for in-person collaboration and meetings.

But just as every organization has had its own unique experience of the pandemic, the exact arrangements for this next phase will differ from organization to organization. This means that while IT leaders are understandably eager to develop a plan to support their organizations hybrid working strategy, they must first determine what that strategy is.

To help you figure out the right approach, here are the top three things I believe that organizations must do.

Get the right people in the room.

A siloed approach to creating your strategy simply does not make sense. Hybrid working will affect every area of an organization, so every department must be involved in the discussion, not just the management team.

Corporate Real Estate is likely to lead  what a company can do with its physical space depends on what space it has, how long it has it for and the rental contract. Among Arubas clients, we are seeing a large number of companies using the pandemic as an opportunity to rethink their real estate investment, even within more traditional sectors like banking. Many organizations are now looking at potentially downsizing, moving to new locations, or finding creative uses for existing spaces.

In addition to the Real Estate team, Human Resources and management will naturally need to be involved, weighing in on the wants and needs of employees, the demands of clients, and the company culture. What types of roles are your employees fulfilling? What demographics are you dealing with? How have they handled working from home so far?

The role of the IT team is clear: connectivity, and the technologies that support and secure it, are critical to facilitating the hybrid workplace. IT leaders must be ready to offer input on whether or not their organization has the technology in place to implement this strategy, and to provide guidance on any gaps. Are you a mostly a wired or wireless company for example? They must also be able to address security needs and concerns.

And finally, we cannot forget Finance. Is this strategy feasible within the budget? How will it be funded? What are the financing options? Will it be a traditional CapEx or an OpEx approach?

Consider your internal and external context.

If you consider some of the above questions, it becomes clear that any strategy must align with how the business operates, the needs of employees and clients, the workplace culture, and budget and real estate constraints  and getting the right people involved will make sure that this happens.

Less obvious however, is the need to ensure your hybrid working strategy aligns with the wider world in which your organization operates.

The main consideration here is geography. Think of the difference between standard rental prices in city centres and more suburban or rural areas  both for commercial and private real estate. Your employees living spaces will undoubtedly influence how and when they use the office.

Network infrastructure and access to reliable, high-speed Internet also varies between areas and has huge implications for connectivity and your teams ability to provide seamless, secure remote experiences.

Also consider the trends within your industry. The pandemic has already been a great instigator of change and this next stage is sure to result in even more developments. Factoring in trends now will ensure your company remains competitive and continues to meet the expectations of clients and talent.



Determine which metrics to track.

The events of the past year underlined the critical need for business agility and flexibility. Keeping a close eye on your data  and holding regular meetings to assess and discuss it  is the only way to ensure that your hybrid working strategy meets fluctuating needs, attitudes, and behaviours.

IT teams will be familiar with providing analytics on quality of performance. Technology is central to productivity, communication, collaboration, and security at home and in the office, and its functionality must be monitored.

But this data does not show the full picture, nor can technological performance be the only measure of success. Organizations must also track psychological wellbeing through frequent employee surveys and evaluations. After all, your hybrid working strategy only works if your employees feel that it does.

Beyond enabling the employee experience, technology can also help organizations track building performance. Smart sensors and devices can provide insights on how employees are using the space, energy consumption, who goes in or out, and more  giving departments like Real Estate, Facilities, Security and Finance the data they need to determine whether their requirements are being met.

Whats next?

Once organizations have addressed the three points above and defined their hybrid working strategy, they will be ready to move on to the next stage: setting up their organization to support it. Here the steps will include integrating the long-term home office, reimagining the physical office and its connectivity, and financing the future workplace.

Edited by Luke Bellos
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New 3m fund launched to give respite and short breaks to Wales unpaid carers

A new 3m fund is being set up to provide respite and short breaks for Wales small army of unpaid carers.

Speaking during Carers Week, Deputy Minister for Social Services Julie Morgan said the new fund will extend and improve the availability and quality of respite services, helping to support the valuable work unpaid carers do every day.

Around 12% of people in Wales have caring responsibilities  many do not receive any support.

The fund will be available for flexible support to meet the needs of individual carers through a range of person-centred and innovative options, including face-to-face support and short breaks, helping unpaid carers have regular periods away from their caring routines or responsibilities.





Respondents to a Welsh Governments Strategy for Unpaid Carers consultation, said their levels of stress and anxiety had increased because they could not access respite services; go on a daytrip or even leave their home for a couple of hours, during the height of the pandemic.

The issue was also raised by both Carers World Radio and Llanelli Online at a Welsh Government press conference, with First Minister Mark Drakeford asked what the Welsh Government can do to ensure unpaid carers get a break.

Deputy Minister for Social Services Julie Morgan said: The physical and emotional impact of caring can be overwhelming.

Unpaid carers across Wales play a vital role in our society  and their contribution to the pandemic has been immense, often taking on greater responsibilities with fewer breaks.

Respite services can be a lifeline and this new fund will make sure unpaid carers have a short break from their caring responsibilities.

Unpaid carers are some of societys unsung heroes and it is essential we help them look after their own health and wellbeing.

The 3m fund will be split into two phases  local authorities will be allocated 1.75m in the first phase to meet an anticipated surge in demand for respite services.

In the second phase, 1.25m will fund a new Wales-wide short breaks fund.

Simon Hatch, director of Carers Trust Wales said: This funding is very welcome, particularly given the significant impact the pandemic has had on thousands of unpaid carers.

Carers have been highlighting for many years that the amount and flexibility of respite care support needs greatly improving. This is an important start in developing the respite support which carers in Wales deserve.
Pony rides will be one of several attractions and events at this year's Old Settlers Day in Checotah on June 12.
NEW ORLEANS  About 100 supporters of a Louisiana minister gathered outside a federal appeals court in New Orleans on Monday to show support as his lawyers asked to revive a lawsuit he filed last year challenging the state's coronavirus restrictions.

Tony Spell repeatedly flouted the public health restrictions at his Life Tabernacle Church in the Baton Rouge suburb of Central, and faces six state criminal counts as a result.

His supporters assembled at a public park across from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where they prayed, listened to speeches and waved flags reading "An Appeal to Heaven." Spell then walked into the courthouse, escorted across the street by one man carrying a pole with a large cross affixed at the top, while a man nearby waved an American flag.

+2 Should controversial pastor Tony Spell have to pay a speeding ticket from 1999? 'Yes,' courts say On May 23, 1999, Tony Spell was pulled over for allegedly driving more than 20 mph over the speed limit in Zachary. Then, he skipped his court date.

A federal judge in Baton Rouge dismissed Spell's lawsuit in November. U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson said the suit against Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and others was largely moot because the restrictions had been repeatedly eased over several months. Since that ruling, almost all state restrictions have been lifted.

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Lawyers for Spell also are appealing Jackson's ruling that Spell is not entitled to damages. Spell's attorneys include Roy Moore, a former Alabama judge and failed U.S. Senate candidate.

Judge Stephen Higginson, one of three appeals court judges hearing the case in New Orleans, questioned whether First Amendment protections of assembly and religious practices would render Edwards' emergency restrictions illegal if churches weren't being singled out. He compared the COVID-19 restrictions with other public safety limits on gatherings, such as fire codes.

Prosecutors offer deal to Pastor Tony Spell, who's accused of bucking coronavirus order Prosecutors on Monday offered a plea deal to Central pastor Tony Spell, who last spring was cited for violating the governors restrictions on

"What we've got here are governor's proclamations," Moore said, later adding, "Everybody knows that governors don't make laws."

The 5th Circuit refused to issue a temporary order last summer blocking early restrictions on church services and other gatherings that had already been relaxed. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to get involved in November, pending further court proceedings.
When Joe Buttross was selected to fill an assistant warden position at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel a couple years ago, he had no experience working in prisons.

But he did have close connections to Louisiana Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc. Buttross is married to Andrea Buttross, who oversees the the agency's educational programs and whose father  a prominent architect who made millions from DOC contracts  is married to LeBlanc's niece.

Joe Buttross came out of Prison Enterprises, the moneymaking arm of the DOC that uses inmate labor to produce goods and provide services. Before that, he oversaw a chain of pizza restaurants in Baton Rouge.

He was named assistant warden in 2019, over 16 other applicants. The move raised eyebrows among some DOC officials and observers, in part because three of those passed over were already assistant wardens. Two of them were Black; all were deemed less qualified than Buttross.

The case exemplifies a "good old boy" system that denies Black people opportunities inside the DOC, according to a group of former high-ranking Black corrections officials. The retirees formed a committee last year to study hiring and promotions and to analyze DOC payroll data.

Among their findings: While the department is very diverse  roughly half of DOC employees are Black, compared to one in three Louisianans  African Americans remain deeply underrepresented at the highest levels of leadership.

Most Black employees hold relatively low-ranking jobs, leaving the top spots for their White counterparts, according to an analysis conducted by the committee, which has been distributed among current corrections leaders and state elected officials. The Advocate performed a similar analysis and reached the same conclusion.

"It is apparent to any objective observer that the underrepresentation of Black employees in senior-level positions within the department stems directly from the effects of institutional or systemic racism, coupled with the utilization of the 'good old boy network'  a circle of influence that excludes Blacks," the committee members wrote in their report.

LeBlanc acknowledged the discouraging statistics in a letter to the committee earlier this year while defending his ongoing efforts to increase diversity. He said his administration has already made progress at various levels throughout the department, which will eventually mean more qualified Black candidates applying for top roles.

He also plans to create a new executive position to oversee diversity, equity and inclusion.

A spokesperson for Gov. John Bel Edwards said his office is reviewing the report, adding that Edwards "recognizes that this is an important issue and area of concern and that it should be addressed and regularly reviewed across all government agencies."

Johnnie Jones, who became the first Black state prison warden in Louisiana more than four decades ago, said changing promotion practices will require nothing less than a cultural shift at the DOC. Jones said he was appointed warden back in the 1970s thanks to support from Gov. Edwin Edwards, who intervened in the selection process despite receiving pushback from his own corrections secretary.

"Racism persists," Jones said in a recent interview. "There will never be any real change in that department until you have a secretary who's committed to eliminating racial inequality. It has to come from the top."

Jones retired in 2006 after more than 30 years at the helm of the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women. He was proud to hold the position, but attributes his long tenure there to an invisible glass ceiling. When he applied for warden openings at larger state prisons, Jones said, he was repeatedly rejected even as less qualified White candidates advanced.

"I always made a point to work more hours than any other warden, practically camped out at the prison," he said. "Despite that, I was never able to get promoted. The system never rewarded me. What bothered me most was that no other Black folk were being promoted either."

+2 Ally, relative of La. prisons chief handed big roles in corrections building renovation It must have seemed like it was meant to be: Louisiana corrections officials needed new offices for their employee credit union and for Prison

'The old plantation syndrome'

Because African Americans are more likely to hold lower ranking positions at the DOC, they also earn less than their White counterparts. On average, Black employees earn about $44,000, compared to roughly $52,000 for White employees, payroll data shows.

The rank and file consists of roughly 1,500 prison guards, and 56% of them are Black. These jobs are taxing for a number of reasons: low wages, challenging work environments, overnight schedules and security concerns, especially for women working among incarcerated men.

DOC leaders have long bemoaned high turnover among corrections officers. Earlier this year, LeBlanc once again asked legislators to raise guard pay, a proposal that's still pending. Leaders also discussed the possibility of using federal coronavirus relief to install air conditioning throughout state prisons, not out of concern for inmates but to improve conditions for guards.

While the grunts are mostly Black, most of the people overseeing individual prisons are White. Among the six wardens, just one is Black: Frederick Boutte, who runs the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women. Overall, almost 70% of the top brass  wardens, deputy wardens and assistant wardens  is White.

"That's the old plantation syndrome  70% of your inmates are Black, and almost all your wardens are White," said Larry Smith, a former deputy secretary of the DOC and now chair of the committee. Smith was appointed interim Angola warden in the 1980s at a time when lawsuits about prison conditions resulted in a federal consent decree.

"That stifles ambition and productivity where Blacks are concerned," Smith said. "Because you can work in the belly of a prison, you can rise up to a certain level, and then you hit a glass ceiling."

In the DOC divisions considered more desirable than prisons  including headquarters, Probation and Parole, and Prison Enterprises  White employees fill most positions. Overall, the department is about 51% White and 47% Black, according to state data.

Whalen Gibbs, who spent much of his career in Probation and Parole before becoming assistant secretary of the DOC Office of Adult Services, said he sued the department in the 90s alleging discriminatory promotion practices. He filed the lawsuit after being passed over for a promotion in lieu of a White candidate whose recent work experience included managing a bowling alley, Gibbs said.

He believes his subsequent promotions were largely a result of the lawsuit.

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In addition to Gibbs, Smith and Jones, the committee includes Griffin Rivers, former deputy secretary of DOC, and Julius Burns, former assistant warden at LCIW.

+24 Special report: Corrections leader, weathering series of scandals, tasked with once-in-a-lifetime reform Like many 21-year-olds, Kristen Hooper had a slim resume when she was hired as a cadet at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. She'd s

In response to criticism from the committee, corrections leaders sought to show progress.

They provided data showing that a growing percentage of African Americans hold positions that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission considers the highest level of leadership. As of 2020, about 30% of employees in that top EEOC category were Black and 69% were White. In 2010, the numbers were roughly 21% and 78% respectively.

Officials also noted that DOC has a higher percentage of Black employees than many other state agencies.

"Progress does not occur overnight, but I am committed to continuing the forward trajectory in this critical area through all leadership roles," LeBlanc wrote in his letter to the committee, adding that he welcomes ongoing dialogue about the issue.

DOC officials also pointed out that some senior positions see little turnover, which slows efforts to diversify.

Some of the top positions  including secretary, undersecretary, deputy secretary and assistant secretary  are appointed by the governor. And classified civil service positions, which comprise the vast majority of corrections jobs, fall under civil service rules governing hiring and promotions. That means hiring managers must choose from a limited pool of candidates once the state Civil Service Board deems them qualified.

Employees must apply to be considered for promotions. LeBlanc said a diverse pool of applicants is a necessary first step to increasing diversity.

Climbing the ladder

While acknowledging some progress, committee members claim favoritism nonetheless remains alive and well at DOC. The criticism is rooted in the last few decades of the agency's history, which saw repeated claims of unchecked cronyism and corruption as the prison system grew.

The face of that system was Burl Cain, the storied ex-warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola who for decades wielded significant influence throughout the department. He helped get LeBlanc, his former close friend and subordinate, appointed DOC secretary in 2008.

Cain announced his resignation in 2016 after The Advocate exposed a series of questionable arrangements involving prison labor and private real estate deals with relatives and friends of favored inmates.

Angola warden Burl Cain to resign amid twin probes into his side business dealings Burl Cain, the legendary and long-tenured warden of Louisianas storied Angola prison, is stepping down effective Jan. 1, he told WAFB-TV on W

His son Nate, former warden of Raymond Laborde Correctional Center in Cottonport, pleaded guilty in 2019 to federal charges of misusing thousands of dollars in public money for personal purchases. Nate Cain had been promoted to warden in 2012, just three years after he was suspended for watching as a group of guards beat up an inmate.

Critics argue both Cains were promoted over more qualified candidates  including Jones, who competed against Burl Cain to lead Angola back in 1995. The upper ranks of the DOC are still peppered with relatives of both Cain and LeBlanc.

Jones was warden of the female prison when he applied for the Angola warden post. He had joined the DOC after 20 years in the U.S. Marines. Since his retirement, he notched another milestone in 2018, becoming, at age 83, the oldest African American to earn a doctorate from LSU.

Both Cain and LeBlanc started their careers in Prison Enterprises, which has often become a stepping stone to more powerful positions within DOC, and remains the most disproportionately White division. Just 19% of its 70 employees are Black.

Shortly before Buttross left Prison Enterprises for the assistant warden job at Elayn Hunt in 2019  a move signed off by Hunt warden Tim Hooper  his familial connections raised ethical questions about a construction project in downtown Baton Rouge. Buttross helped oversee the project for Prison Enterprises, working closely with the local architecture firm GraceHebert, which is owned by his father-in-law, Jerry Hebert. Prison Enterprises hired the firm without seeking bids.

The arrangement violated state ethics laws, and GraceHebert wound up paying about $17,000 to quietly settle a case with the Louisiana Board of Ethics.

But the fine didn't hurt GraceHebert's prospects in the corrections field. The firm soon reeled in a much bigger contract with the DOC to redesign the flooded Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women  this one worth about $6 million.

Committee members have called on LeBlanc to dismantle the system that enabled such dealings.

In his written response, LeBlanc called their view subjective, but acknowledged a longstanding perception of favoritism at DOC. Echoing some of his previous remarks, LeBlanc said the corrections field lends itself to close relationships between colleagues, especially in rural areas where prisons are major employers, and children of corrections workers often follow in their parents' footsteps.

"This is obviously a perception about corrections that has long been fostered by both staff and those outside of the Department," LeBlanc wrote. "It is a perception that I have personally battled in my tenure as secretary and I do recognize that this is an area where we can make improvements, in both perception and reality."

-Staff writer Gordon Russell contributed to this report.
Residents in Louisiana nursing homes are vaccinated against COVID-19 at nearly twice the rate of care center staff, according to newly released data that paints a stark divide within facilities.

The Louisiana Department of Health published vaccination data for individual facilities for the first time last week after a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services mandate required long-term care facilities to provide that information.

On average, about 78% of nursing home residents in Louisiana are fully vaccinated compared to an average of about 41% of workers, according to an analysis of 255 nursing homes that self-reported vaccine information last week.

Mindy Faciane, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Health, said the department is aware of the difference, which also mirrors a similar trend at other nursing homes across the country.

It is absolutely important that nursing home staff make the decision to get the shot to protect the residents they work with, Faciane said. And, its not just residents theyre protecting  its themselves, their families and the larger community around them.

State health officials, meanwhile, say theyre encouraged that the vast majority of nursing home residents in Louisiana have received vaccines, which are highly effective at shielding an especially vulnerable population that against COVID-19 and its variants.

Nursing homes were epicenters of coronavirus misery. Now they offer preview of what could be Once the deadly epicenters of Louisianas coronavirus outbreak, nursing homes now offer a glimpse of what a vaccinated populace might look lik

More than a dozen nursing homes have even inoculated 100% of their residents, but at least 113 facilities have vaccinated fewer than 80% of their residents. The 80% threshold is roughly what health experts consider to be the level needed to achieve herd immunity and blunt potential outbreaks.

A dozen facilities have yet to fully vaccinate half of their residents, even months after clinicians tapped by the federal government fanned out across the country to inoculate people at long-term centers in early January.

Among those are two nursing homes  Shreveport Manor Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation in Shreveport and South Lafourche Nursing and Rehab in Lafourche Parish  that have yet to fully vaccinate a single resident, according to the report. Though some of the combined 137 residents at those centers have received at least one jab of the two-dose vaccines.

Neither facility returned messages seeking comment.

Long-term care centers were once the deadly epicenters of Louisianas coronavirus outbreak. Many were caught flat-footed and scrambled to gather tests and protective equipment that had been in short supply in the early months of the pandemic and take other steps to keep residents safe.

By the end of last May, at least 1,150 nursing home residents had died, a grim figure that accounts for about 40% of the more than 2,800 deaths linked to COVID-19 in Louisiana care centers to date.

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Following a significant drop in infections since the beginning of the year, federal health officials this spring loosened guidance on indoor visitation, opening it up to all residents, regardless of the vaccination status of the resident or visitor. The change  the most significant since the pandemic forced homes to go into lockdown last year  has not resulted in a spike in cases.

Nursing homes this past week only saw four residents test positive for the coronavirus, according to state data, which also shows no facilities have had double-digit outbreaks since early March.

Health experts and state officials have attributed the drop in new cases to many nursing home residents receiving the vaccine. They also say the wide availability of vaccines for the general public has also driven down the risk of visitors or workers bringing the virus inside of facilities.

Residents were also likely more eager to take the shots when they became available following months of isolation and seeing many of their neighbors become severely ill.

They were seeing so much death in their community, said Tulane University Epidemiologist Susan Hassig. They heard the news stories that 40% of deaths were coming from nursing homes. Theyre not fools.

As coronavirus left Louisiana nursing homes short-staffed, some residents were left without care Andre Monceret remembers the horror he felt as he helplessly watched a camera feed that showed his mother squirming in her chair after soiling

State health leaders and advocates for the elderly have raised concerns in the past about hesitancy among care workers because they often work in close quarters with residents. The threat of emerging versions of the novel coronavirus that could reduce vaccine efficacy has also been a worry, and its still not known how the shots protect people.

Still, the average rate of nursing home staff who are vaccinated is slightly higher than the roughly 34% of Louisianans ages 18 to 69 who are fully inoculated, health department figures show.

Because the data also doesnt distinguish between different types of long-term care workers, Hassig speculates that direct care staff may be vaccinated at higher rates compared to nursing home kitchen workers and office workers, for example.

Since nursing home residents and workers were some of the first to become eligible for vaccines, she said its possible employees may have been leery about taking them.

Like other people who are hesitant about the vaccines, Hassig said continuing to offer them for nursing home staff and creating ways for them to have their questions answered is one way to encourage them.

People who are working in these environments clearly care for these people because its hard work, she said. Its kind of like getting your kid (to eat) a new vegetable.
Ochsner announced Monday that it has begun enrolling children between the ages of 5 and 11 for Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine in New Orleans and Shreveport, expanding the effort to protect as many as people as possible from the novel coronavirus.

By 8 a.m. Monday, the hospital chain said it had already received its first participant in an 18-month-long trial to test the two-dose vaccine's effectiveness at preventing COVID-19.

Pfizer-BioNTechs vaccine is already approved under an emergency-use provision for people ages 12 and older, and health experts say testing the shots on younger children is key to gaining control of the pandemic. Children under 12 will receive a smaller dose of the vaccine, similar to how other vaccines are scaled down for pediatric use.

"Children are certainly different, and we need to ensure that they respond to the vaccine," said Dr. Julia Garcia-Diaz, director of clinical infectious diseases research at Ochsner Health.

COVID vaccinations for Louisiana kids are off to a slow start. Could summer camps help? When kids as young as 12 were allowed to receive the Pfizer vaccine in mid-May, there was hope they might give Louisiana a much-needed boost i

Unlike previous vaccine trials, participants would have a 75% chance of receiving the actual vaccine instead of a placebo. Children who received the placebo will be able to receive the real vaccine after six months.

Preliminary data from Pfizers study of 12- to 15-year-olds showed the vaccines were 100% effective in preventing COVID-19 in the 2,260 children who received it. That's compared to roughly 95% of adults in previous trials.

For children, side effects from the shots appeared to be similar to other age groups with some people experiencing fatigue, mild flu-like symptoms and injection-site soreness.

Though young children are far less likely to develop severe symptoms from COVID-19 compared to adults, Louisiana doctors have still seen instances of children developing complications, including a rare, and serious inflammatory affliction known as Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome. While not well-understood, MIS impacts the heart and other vital organs. It's proven fatal in Louisiana, as well as in other states.

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"While children are much less likely to get serious illness, it can happen," said Ochsners system chair of pediatrics, Dr. William Lennarz. "As parents, we should all want our children to be protected from this infection just like we protect them from (whooping cough) and tetanus and polio."

Nationally, about 300 children have died from complications linked to COVID-19, including eight in Louisiana, according to state and federal data.

Pfizer and BioNTech began testing their vaccine on children from 6 months to 11 years in March. If given federal approval, the expanded vaccination regimen would be a crucial step in controlling the pandemic since children make up about one-third of the nation's population.

Moderna, too, has been testing its two-dose vaccine on younger children nationally and in Louisiana.

Pfizer plans to seek full approval for its COVID-19 vaccine for people 16 and older and expects to file for emergency use permission for children ages 2 to 11 by early fall, company leaders said in a May earnings call.

Early results from young-child trials could be made available sometime this summer.

Ochsner says it expects to enroll roughly 75 at the two locations of the Louisiana trials, New Orleans and Shreveport.

Parents and guardians interested in the trials can contact the health chain by email at: covidvaccine@ochsner.org.
Plans for new drive-thru McDonalds on Plas Coch rejected by councillors

Plans to build a new drive thru McDonalds in Wrexham have been rejected amid concerns the development would worsen existing traffic issues in the area.

The proposals for the eastern corner of The Range / Argos car park had been recommended for approval by Lawrence Isted, Wrexham Councils chief planning officer.

In his report Mr Isted described the proposed development as acceptable in terms of scale and design and that the increased in traffic generation is not significant and is considered to be negligible in terms of its impact upon the existing highway network.

However this was disputed at the afternoons planning meeting, with several committee members arguing that the development would cause gridlock and exacerbate congestion in the area.





There were also concerns about the loss of car parking space for those visiting The Range and Argos.

Cllrs REJECT the planned McDonalds drive thru  details on the debate that got to that point soon. https://t.co/QV4cxNAb9r  Wrexham.com (@wrexham) June 7, 2021

Grosvenor councillor Marc Jones said that whilst there is no doubt that there is demand for another McDonalds in Wrexham, he questioned whether this was a suitable location.

He said: The main issue is traffic, congestion and the potential for gridlock.

Plas Coch retail park has seen several incremental developments in recent years that increase traffic  an expanded supermarket, a new hotel, a drive-thru coffee shop  as well as a new housing development on Glyndwr University campus  recently reduced from 410 to 90 (due in part to the concerns about road capacity).

In addition, Ysgol Plas Coch has expanded in recent years to 315 pupils and that also means increased traffic flows at certain times of the day. There is also a planning application for 450 new houses beyond the school.

There is an acknowledgement in the Highways assessment that the B&Q roundabout is already approaching capacity at peak times and that it would be over-capacity by 2036  that means we face gridlock on the main entrance to the largest town in north Wales in only 14 years away and the highways consultant seems to be saying that this is acceptable.

The Highways report admits that The existing road network leading to and serving the retail park suffers from capacity issues during weekday peak times and at the weekend when significant queuing / delays are experienced. The existing A483 / A541 junction, Plas Coch roundabout(s) and New Road / Stansty Road junction suffer from capacity issues and would not benefit from any significant increase in vehicle movements.

The highways report also admits that it has not factored in the extra homes granted planning permission on Plas Coch Road into additional traffic flow until 2036. But those houses are likely to be built in the next few years meaning the 2036 over-capacity problem could be with us much earlier.

Phillip Isherwood, senior acquisition surveyor responsible for purchasing new site, said the new development would prevent a 16 mile round trip that some within Wrexham currently make to the Chirk drive thru and that 65 new jobs would be created.

He said: The highway offices have confirmed the level of parking provision for the proposed restaurant and existing retail units is acceptable to serve the users of the site and that safe vehicular and pedestrian access has been secured.

The increase in traffic generation is not significant and is considered to be negligible in terms of impact upon the existing network.

The approval of this application will also see the implementation of a pedestrian crossing, ensuring that all pedestrians using all of the operators will know retail park will have a safe place to cross.

But Brymbo councillor Paul Rogers said the addition of a drive through McDonalds is only going to create matters worse for local residents.

He added: As the economy has started to unlock in recent weeks its already visible that the Plas Coch roundabout is extremely busy at peak times.

The residents of New Broughton and the Caego area already have problems at peak times in crossing to the other side of town, particularly the Mold Road.

I think many many residents are already frustrated by the problems with all the traffic around Plas Coch school at peak times.

I cant understand the why the highways officer hasnt made greater recommendations against it quite frankly, because many residents in this area are literally up to here with the problems that are faced on a daily basis.

This was echoed by Gwersyllt West councillor Gwenfair Jones, who said: The residents of my ward very often get gridlocked on the way into town, along Summerhill Road and the main road into town and theyre very often stuck in traffic.

Also as the governor of the children of Plas Coch school I know that we have concerns on behalf of the parents, theyve even asked the children what they think.

I know its their decision whether they go there or not, but its not going to help their health. We as a council have got some guidance regarding having fast food restaurants within 400 metres of a school.

However planning officer David Williams said the evidence being provided in terms of traffic generation suggests its not significant and is considered to be negligible in terms of its impact on this on the existing highway network.

He said: The revised traffic assessment has taken into account all the committed developments within the vicinity of the site and the modelling was unaffected by the pandemic, which has been obviously an issue recently in terms of data collection to justify and to look at these sort of issues. This data was collected outside this period.

So its a true reflection of the traffic flow and the capacity of the network and is reasonable to assume that the information and the modelling is a correct representation of what is is likely to occur.

Whilst theres been concerns in relation to the increased queuing, the evidence again will indicate the proposed restaurant will have a negligible impact upon the roundabout.

Yes, theres congestion at key times, but theres congestion in all parts of all towns at certain times of the day.

It was also acknowledged that B&Q roundabout is already close to capacity at peak periods, adding I stand by whats in the report, I think that would deter customers from driving to the facility of the restaurant at that particular time

It becomes self regulating to a certain a certain extent.

One application is for a 'totem pole' signage, so that could exist in a solitary burger beacon in the middle of an empty car park  Wrexham.com (@wrexham) June 7, 2021

With regards to car parking, Mr Williams said: The highways authority have confirmed that the level of parking provision for the proposed restaurants and existing retail units is acceptable and that a safe vehicle and pedestrian access has been secured

The amended plans show a reduction in the public floor area of the restaurants, which means that the 29 spaces provided accords for the maximum provision as per guidence.

Whilst there is a reduction in the number of existing spaces, serving the retail units, the car parking surveys that were undertaken demonstrated that there is spare capacity at peak times and that there is space within the surrounding retail park, which has the capacity to absorb the additional vehicles are busy times during the day.

Penycae councillor, John Phillips, proposed that the application is refused stating it will almost certainly add to congestion in the area.

He said: Im not against drive thrus as long as its in the right location.

In my opinion, the location would immensely benefit the applicants as its very busy, but the loss of the existing car parking spaces which serve the existing retail developments is totally unacceptable.

If this application is successful, it will almost certainly add to the congestion and potentially impact on highway safety.

With that mind I will not be supporting this application and I propose we refuse officers recommendation on the grounds of loss of existing car park spaces, increased traffic congestion and highway safety.

The application was refused with a majority of councillors voting against the plans  and then refusing several connected application for signage on the site.
A Baton Rouge woman awaiting sentencing in the 2017 shooting death of her boyfriend is now accused of beating and torturing her 12-year-old daughter while she was free on bail.

That incident allegedly occurred Feb. 17, just 13 days after Jimeelah Crockett pleaded no contest to manslaughter in the killing of Joseph Bunch III.

Baton Rouge woman pleads no contest to manslaughter after non-unanimous murder verdict tossed A Baton Rouge woman whose murder conviction in the 2017 killing of her boyfriend was thrown out last year after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawe

State District Judge Eboni Johnson-Rose is scheduled to sentence Crockett on June 16, But, in light of her February arrest on a felony charge of aggravated second-degree battery, a prosecutor and Crockett's attorney have jointly asked the judge to delay the sentencing.

"More information is needed to provide this Honorable Court with the most complete material for sentencing," East Baton Rouge Parish Assistant District Attorney Louise Hines and defense lawyer Kathryn Jakuback Burke wrote in a motion filed May 27.

Crockett, 30, was originally convicted by an 11-1 vote in October 2019 of second-degree murder in Bunch's death. But, after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed non-unanimous jury verdicts in April 2020, she was granted a new trial and ultimately entered a no-contest plea to manslaughter.

A second-degree murder conviction would have carried a mandatory term of life in prison, whereas manslaughter is punishable by up to 40 years behind bars.

Baton Rouge woman convicted of murder by split jury granted new trial Two months after the nation's top court outlawed split-jury criminal verdicts in state court, a Baton Rouge woman found guilty of murder by a 

Under the terms of her manslaughter plea, she faces a prison term in the range of 15 to 30 years. But her recent arrest could complicate matters.

A Tallulah Police Department arrest warrant application states that officers were dispatched to a Madison Parish emergency room in reference to a "battered female juvenile."

Crockett's 12-year-old daughter told a detective that she was "physically beaten (tortured) by her parents," Crockett and Ja'Darriah Banks, at Banks' residence in Tallulah.

The girl said Crockett came to the residence and attacked her, dragging her out of bed and punching her in the face and head with a closed fist, according to the warrant application, which was signed Feb. 20 by 6th Judicial District Judge Laurie Brister.

"Crockett began stomping her in her chest, stomach area and head. Mr. Banks began to hold the juvenile down with both of his hands while Crockett physically attacked their daughter," the application states.

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Crockett and Banks hit the girl with extension cords and a broom stick, and Crockett bit her on the ear while the girl's parents "continued attacking the victim repeatedly," the documents allege.

"Crockett started banging the victim's head into the wall while Banks attacked her," the warrant application adds.

Banks made a statement while attacking the girl that, "If it happen again, I'm going to take the clip out of my gun and beat you with it," the documents say.

The detective examined the girl's body in the presence of her grandmother and observed contusions to her facial area (black eyes and swelling); severe lacerations to both shoulders and arms; and several black and red welts on her neck and back, down to her thigh area and legs.

Burke, one of Crockett's lawyers, declined comment Friday.

The East Baton Rouge District Attorney's Office confirmed Thursday that Banks was still at large and that there is an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

The office declined comment on Crockett's recent arrest.

In the fatal 2017 shooting, Crockett claims she shot Bunch, 38, in self-defense in the parking lot of the Ardendale Oaks apartment complex on North Lobdell Boulevard, where they lived.

Prosecutors had said her claim was contradicted by surveillance video that showed Bunch moving backward with his hands up and then turning to walk away as Crockett fired a single fatal shot on Aug. 20, 2017.

In her videotaped statement played at her trial, Crockett told Baton Rouge police detectives that Bunch had been physical with her inside their apartment that night and that she shot him outside after he came at her with a raised hand as if he meant to hit her.

In boyfriend's 2017 slaying, Baton Rouge woman guilty of 2nd-degree murder A Baton Rouge woman whose self-defense claim in the 2017 shooting death of her boyfriend was contradicted by surveillance video was convicted 

Crockett had a busted lip and minor scratches on her body when police arrived at the scene. The gun, a 9 mm pistol, was found at the scene.
An alligator was found roaming the streets of West Baton Rouge Parish last week, as heavy rainfall has caused an uptick in sightings of Louisiana's state reptile, with high water driving them onto dry land.

When Addis police and West Baton Rouge sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, the 6-foot alligator was hiding under a vehicle with its head by the driver's side door, police said. The officers were able to secure the gator until state wildlife officials arrived.

Addis Police Chief Ricky Anderson said his department has noticed an increase in calls related to alligator sightings after the flood in May and the recent storms around Louisiana.

LSU Area Aquaculture Specialist Mark Shirley said there are an estimated three million alligators in Louisiana, and as mating season approaches, it's not uncommon for male alligators to venture into new territories in search of female alligators.

"The combined rising water plus mating season has the alligators moving more, and that's why we're seeing them in subdivisions, in the bayous and drainage canals, pretty much all over South Louisiana," Shirley said.

If you encounter an alligator, the best response is to slowly back away. Do not attempt to approach the alligator or move it; state law prohibits the general public from handling or possessing the reptiles. Don't attempt to feed alligators, as this will condition them to approach humans in the future.

"In general, alligators among all the different crocodile species are probably the most docile, but they're still alligators and they are very dangerous, especially if you get in the vicinity of some of these big bulls that are trying to court female alligators," Shirley warned. "They can be aggressive if you're in a small boat such as a canoe or a kayak, they could potentially see you as a competitor. Also the females are very aggressive if you get near the nest, especially once they have laid their eggs."

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Shirley said homeowners should watch alligators from afar if one turns up near their home, and he cautioned against interacting with them. Although they may appear slow and lethargic while on river banks, they "tend to be quite fast" on the prowl.

Not all alligators should be treated as a threat or "nuisance," and LDWF should only be contacted if the alligator is larger than four feet and repeatedly approaching people and pets or posing an otherwise obvious danger.

"In spring and summer, alligators move to breed or find new habitat" LDWF's alligator program explained. "Most of these alligators are smaller ones that have been pushed out of their normal habitat by larger alligators. Usually, these smaller alligators will move on in a week or two."

If there is an immediate threat, Anderson recommends calling 911 first, then LDWF.

"We'll definitely get there quicker, 911's the way to go if they're scared," Anderson said.

Meanwhile, some Louisiana residents are taking matters into their own hands.

Local pastor of Life Tabernacle Church in Central Tony Spell posted a photo on Instagram of himself and a six-foot alligator he had killed on Friday at a lake behind his church. Within an hour of the post, LDWF arrived at the scene and found Spell and the freshly shot alligator. He will now be facing a civil restitution fee of $375 for hunting the alligator out of season. It wasn't immediately clear why the alligator had gone into water near the church.
Louisiana lawmakers have agreed to eliminate the possibility of jail time for possession of small amounts of marijuana, a sharp change in the states historically hard stance against the drug and the latest indication of shifting attitudes surrounding pot at the State Capitol.

The state Senate on Monday voted 20-17 to approve House Bill 652 by Rep. Cedric Glover, a Shreveport Democrat, to decriminalize the possession of up to a half-ounce, or 14 grams, of marijuana. The measure needed at least 20 votes to pass.

Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, presented the bill for Glover in the Senate, arguing the state was wasting money locking people up for small-time pot offenses. He said many people's lives are upended when they go to jail because they can't pay the current $300 fine for a first offense of possessing small amounts of marijuana.

"Im not here to talk about the pros or cons of whether marijuana should be legal in Louisiana," Luneau said. "This is a common-sense approach to take care of a problem that plagues us across the state. Were spending thousands, probably millions of dollars ... keeping people in jail for offenses that they should not be in jail for.

HB652 now heads to the desk of Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat. A spokesperson for Edwards didnt say whether he would sign or veto the bill. If he signs the measure, Louisiana will join at least 27 other states that have already decriminalized marijuana, though the penalties vary by state. Another 17 states have fully legalized marijuana, meaning they license businesses to grow and sell the drug legally.

Louisiana lawmakers have already approved legislation to allow the raw smokable form of marijuana to be sold to medical marijuana patients, part of a years-long loosening of the tight rules initially set up for the medical program in 2015 and 2016. Legislators narrowly rejected a bid by a Republican lawmaker to fully legalize marijuana.

+2 What is marijuana 'decriminalization' and how is it different from full legalization? The Louisiana House late Tuesday took a significant step toward loosening the states tough stance on marijuana possession, approving a bill t

Currently, people in Louisiana caught with up to a half-ounce of pot are subject to a $300 fine or 15 days in jail on the first offense. Those penalties ramp up significantly on subsequent offenses. On the second conviction, people can be jailed for six months. On the fourth conviction, they can be jailed for up to eight years.

Glovers bill would make the punishment for possession of up to half an ounce of pot a misdemeanor summons instead of an arrest, no matter how many times someone is caught. The summons would carry a fine of up to $100.

The bill gained significant bipartisan support. In the state House, Rep. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, one of the chambers most conservative members, joined Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, on the floor in support of the bill. The legislation is similar to an ordinance passed in Shreveport.

+4 Marijuana legalization effort is done for now. Here's how it was different, and its future The effort to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Louisiana, which got further than ever before this year after an unexpected bipartisa

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Baton Rouge and New Orleans have also passed decriminalization ordinances, eliminating the possibility of jail time and making possession a fine of $40. New Orleans officials are trying to move even further, pardoning people convicted of small-time marijuana offenses.

In the Senate, some Republicans voiced opposition to the idea. Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe, wondered whether making the penalty a $100 fine would "undercut" the state's medical marijuana growers because it might be cheaper to pay the fine than getting a recommendation for medical marijuana.

State Sen. Bodi White, R-Central, warned the bill is "decriminalizing marijuana," which supporters agree it is, and warned that doing so will mark the start of a slide toward zero penalties for pot.

"This is just a walk-down to decriminalizing any form of punishment for possessing a Schedule 1 drug," White said.

The influential Louisiana Sheriffs Association helped kill a bill this year to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Louisiana. That effort, by Rep. Richard Nelson, R-Mandeville, made it to the full House for the first time ever, a milestone for advocates for looser pot laws.

But the Sheriffs Association remained neutral on the decriminalization bill. East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore came out in support of the legislation as part of an in-depth report sent to lawmakers raising questions about legalization.

Lawmakers are also expected to study the legalization of marijuana over the next year, ahead of the 2022 legislative session. Opponents of legalization, including many of the states sheriffs and district attorneys, as well as conservative lawmakers, largely concede that it is inevitable.

Several polls done in recent years show a majority of Louisianans support legalization marijuana for recreational use. Young people overwhelmingly support the idea.

Voting to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana (20): Sens Allain, Barrow, Bernard, Boudreaux, Bouie, Connick, Fields, Foil, Harris, Jackson, Luneau, McMath, F. Mills, R. Mills, Morris, Peterson, Price, Smith, Tarver and Ward.

Voting against HB652 (17): President Cortez, Sens Abraham, Cathey, Cloud, Fesi, Henry, Hewitt, Johns, Lambert, Milligan, Mizell, Peacock, Pope, Reese, Talbot, White and Womack.

Not Voting (1): Sen. Hensgens.
A House-passed bill that would revamp operations of the Louisiana Board of Massage Therapy after a critical state audit won Senate approval Monday 38-0.

The measure, House Bill 531, now returns to the House for consideration of minor changes in the Senate.

Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, said the legislation stems from the audit, especially after board leaders "were not forthcoming" about the need for changes.

State massage board under legislative scrutiny after rejecting audit findings The normally obscure Louisiana Board of Massage Therapy is under pointed legislative scrutiny, including vows that regulators should either im

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"This is cleanup legislation that was sorely needed," Luneau told the Senate.

The audit, which was released in March, said the massage board failed to ensure that businesses are not sexually oriented operations and lacked consistent standards on when to dismiss sexual misconduct and other complaints.

It also said that, during a two-year period, the board dismissed or closed the investigation of 74% of complaints.

The bill would require applicants for a license to submit fingerprint cards to see if they have any criminal history.

The proposal also adds new duties for the board, including using news stories to identify potential illegal activities, to review the performance of contractors who inspect massage businesses and craft consistent policies to ensure the public is protected against unqualified licensees.
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A Felipe's employee receives a vaccine at the Mid-City Felipe's Mexican Taqueria in New Orleans, Friday, May 21, 2021. FelipeOs partnered with the City of New Orleans and Ochsner Health to offer a free super burrito with a COVID-19 vaccine. The French Quarter and Uptown locations were closed for a few hours to allow employees to receive their vaccine if they choose to. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Former special forces soldier Ben Roberts-Smiths reputation was destroyed by a campaign fuelled by bitter and jealous soldiers who made allegations of war crimes to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, his barrister has alleged on the first day of his high-stakes defamation trial.

Sydney defamation barrister Bruce McClintock, SC, acting for Mr Roberts-Smith, told the Federal Court on Monday that the case was about courage, devotion to duty [and] self-sacrifice, on the one hand, and dishonest journalism, corrosive jealousy, cowardice and lies, on the other.

Ben Roberts-Smith walks into Federal Court for the defamation trial. Credit:Edwina Pickles

An allegation that Mr Roberts-Smith had killed an Afghan teenager and then boasted to another soldier about it in 2012 was far fetched because it was the kind of thing only an ostentatious psychopath would say.

Mr McClintock said Mr Roberts-Smiths reputation had been destroyed by a campaign led by bitter people in the Special Air Services who were aided by credulous journalists.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-06 18:39:23|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Oct. 5, 2020 shows a notice-board of "Clear Your Plate" campaign at a hotpot restaurant in southwest China's Chongqing. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

BEIJING, June 6 (Xinhua) -- A recent survey conducted by the China Youth Daily showed a general trend of increasing public awareness against food waste in China.

Of the 1,149 respondents, about 71 percent said they felt a stronger sense of preventing food waste among the public, according to the survey, citing a waitress, pseudonymously called Lin Huiwen, who witnessed more and more customers voluntarily asking for packaging their unfinished dishes.

The restaurant also requires its waiters and waitresses to remind customers to order on a reasonable basis to curb food waste, Lin added in the survey.

More than 65 percent of the respondents said they would practice "Clean Your Plate," and approximately 64 percent would order and buy food based on their actual needs.

He Dongcan, a senior student at a Beijing-based university, proposed that the key to reducing food waste is driving home to people the importance of national food security while punishing food wastage is also necessary.

Chinese lawmakers voted to adopt the anti-food waste law at a session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the top legislature, in late April. The law has gone into effect on the date of promulgation. 




Hostess Esme Qazin and Captain Grahame Douglas Mackelmann who foiled the hijacker. Credit:Staff photographer

The drama began about 8.30 when the man, about 40, pointed a shotgun at pilots on a TAA flight from Melbourne to Brisbane.

A hostess overpowered a gunman to end a hijack attempt at Brisbane Airport last night.

First published in The Age on June 9, 1979

It ended more than two hours later when the hostess made her move. Other crew helped pin the man to the floor of the DC-9s cockpit.

Police who had the plane surrounded rushed in to grab the man. He was being questioned early today.

A passenger, Mr Tony Grech, 19, an apprentice mechanical fitter with TAA at Essendon airport said the plane was between Coolangatta and Brisbane when the drama began.

Mr. Grech said he was sitting in a first class seat just behind the cockpit.

He said: A hostess asked me if I worked for TAA and I said yes.
Victorians must have lost all their work to be eligible for the federal governments new COVID-19 disaster payments, meaning those who picked up a second job or took reduced hours during the lockdown will miss out.

Applications for the new payments open on Tuesday but when they start to arrive recipients will be taxed on the payments, which provide up to $500 a week to people affected by the lockdown.

Melbourne is in its second week of lockdown. Credit:Eddie Jim

The federal government has rapidly worked out the details of the scheme, which it first announced last Thursday, in time to help people shunted out of work by the ongoing Melbourne lockdown. Those who have lost up to 20 hours a week will get $325 while those who have lost more will get $500 if they meet a series of rules.

Emergency Management Australia, a part of the Department of Home Affairs that is responsible for the schemes rules, clarified that several components of the scheme would be applied in a relaxed way.
Berlin: David Dushman, the last surviving Soviet soldier involved in the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, has died. He was 98.

The Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria said on Monday (AEST) that Dushman had died at a Munich hospital on Saturday.

Soviet war veteran and Olympic fencing coach David Dushman has died aged 98. Credit:AP

Every witness to history who passes on is a loss, but saying farewell to David Dushman is particularly painful, said Charlotte Knobloch, a former head of Germanys Central Council of Jews. Dushman was right on the front lines when the National Socialists machinery of murder was destroyed.

As a young Red Army soldier, Dushman flattened the forbidding electric fence around the notorious Nazi death camp with his T-34 tank on January 27, 1945.
London: Fully vaccinated people make up a tiny fraction of those being hospitalised with the new Delta variant of coronavirus, new figures show, giving officials more confidence in the success of Britains world-leading rollout.

Of 12,383 people infected with the variant, which was first detected in India and has also been identified during the most recent outbreak in Australia, 464 sought hospital care and 126 were admitted.

People arrive to receive their COVID-19 vaccine in Westminster Abbey, London. Credit:AP

Of those 126, some 83 had not been vaccinated at all, 28 had received only one shot and just three had been fully vaccinated with two doses.

The jabs are working, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs at Westminster.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson during his Friday coronavirus briefing said an increase of more than 900 new COVID-19 cases was too high and cautioned residents to be mindful and practice social distancing when hosting cookouts and backyard swim parties.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks Tuesday, March 2, 2021, during his State of the State address at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-06 22:00:24|Editor: huaxia

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Staff members of a property management company deliver online shopping goods ordered by residents under home quarantine at a residential area at Liwan District of Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, June 2, 2021. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

GUANGZHOU, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Sunday asked its residents not to leave the city unless necessary as a precaution against the latest COVID-19 resurgence.

The city's headquarters on COVID-19 control and prevention also said starting on Monday noon, those leaving the city must provide a negative nucleic acid testing result within 48 hours before departure.

China's Guangdong Province on Saturday registered seven locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and three locally transmitted asymptomatic cases, the provincial health commission said Sunday.

All of the confirmed and asymptomatic cases were reported in the provincial capital Guangzhou, it said.

The city has reported a total of 94 infections, including 80 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 14 asymptomatic carriers in the latest round of COVID-19 resurgence starting on May 21.

On Saturday, Guangzhou expanded its latest nucleic acid testing drive to cover all residents, after another four districts announced the launch of all-inclusive tests. 
Staff Reporter

Nyamekye Daniel has been a journalist for five years. She was the managing editor for the South Florida Media Network and a staff writer for The Miami Times. Daniel's work has also appeared in the Sun-Sentinel, Miami Herald and The New York Times.
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Migrants walk on a dirt road after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, Tuesday, March 23, 2021, in Mission, Texas. A surge of migrants on the Southwest border has the Biden administration on the defensive. The head of Homeland Security acknowledged the severity of the problem but insisted it's under control and said he won't revive a Trump-era practice of immediately expelling teens and children.
Supreme Court rules immigrants with temporary protected status who entered illegally are not entitled to green cards
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-06 23:25:17|Editor: huaxia

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A red lantern set for Chinese Lunar New Year is seen at Martin Moniz square in Lisbon, Portugal, on Feb. 12, 2021. (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua)

Luis Raposo, a 74-year-old retired Portuguese jurist who now teaches Chinese at a local community college, said his explanations have aroused the interest of his students and inspired them to learn more about Chinese culture.

He said he was happy to have realized his dream by studying the Chinese language and becoming a Chinese language teacher in the first 10 years after his retirement.

By Wen Xinnian and Zhao Danliang

LISBON, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Luis Raposo, a 74-year-old retired Portuguese jurist, has been fascinated with the characters used in the Chinese language since he started to learn Chinese at the University of Lisbon's Confucius Institute in 2009.

"My name means Huli (fox) in Chinese, and they call me 'fox'. In Portugal, the fox is a symbol of cleverness, and I like this name very much," he told Xinhua.

The written Chinese language is really interesting, he said. The Chinese characters have a logic of their own. Simple strokes are used to form them, and these characters in turn are used to form words and sentences, said Raposo, who joined the one-month summer camp organized by Tianjin Foreign Studies University in 2010 as the oldest student. "This (language) is very interesting, very ancient, (dating back) thousands of years. The unique charm of Chinese characters is fascinating."

He has familiarized himself with more than 2,000 Chinese characters over the years and has compiled a large database of his understanding and explanation of them.

Raposo, who now teaches Chinese at a local community college, said his explanations have aroused the interest of his students and inspired them to learn more about Chinese culture.

He said he was happy to have realized his dream by studying the Chinese language and becoming a Chinese language teacher in the first 10 years after his retirement.

His home resembles a showroom of Chinese culture: the walls are decorated with Chinese paper cuts and traditional face masks, Chinese knots are hanging on the pillars and hundreds of Chinese books are stacked on the shelves.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Lisbon awarded him the title of "honorary student" in 2018 in recognition of his passion for the Chinese language and his perseverance in learning Chinese characters.

Professor Teresa Cid, former Portuguese director of the Confucius Institute, praised Raposo as an intelligent student and a respectable teacher, whose devotion has helped several Portuguese people learn Chinese and understand Chinese culture.

People perform during a Chinese New Year celebration in Lisbon, Portugal, on Jan. 18, 2020. (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua)

Wang Jincheng, Chinese director of the Confucius Institute who has also taught Chinese in Portugal, said he was moved by Raposo's enthusiasm and perseverance.

During his studies at the Confucius Institute, Raposo had often volunteered as a teaching assistant, explaining the meaning of Chinese characters to his fellow students and comparing notes with Chinese teachers after class.

"Huli's love for the Chinese language has become an inspiration for the people around him," Wang said.

Raposo's plan for the next decade is to publish a Portuguese-language dictionary of Chinese characters.

He said he hopes that the traditional Portuguese-Chinese friendship will last for generations to come and that he can continue to promote Chinese studies in Portugal through his knowledge and devotion. 
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 00:35:55|Editor: huaxia

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CAPE TOWN, June 6 (Xinhua) -- University of Cape Town (UCT), a top and the oldest university in South Africa, values Confucius Institute and its role in two-way understanding of cultures between countries, its Deputy Vice-Chancellor Sue Harrison said Sunday.

The professor made the remarks at the final of the 20th Chinese Bridge Competition in South Africa, a Chinese proficiency competition for foreign college students, which was hosted by the Chinese Embassy in South Africa and organized by the Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Town.

The competition, with the theme of "One World, One Family", was held online on Saturday and Sunday due to the COVID-19 pandemic,

Developing a two-way understanding of cultures between countries is central to the components for the success of increasingly global society of South Africa and UCT works tirelessly to ensure that more and more of its students and others in greater Cape Town benefit from this two-way exchanges and learning, said Harrison, noting that UCT values the Confucius Institute and its role in working towards this goal.

The Confucius Institute also serves as a gateway for education exchanges and collaborations between UCT and Chinese universities and it has been a "valuable partner" in UCT's internationalization, said Harrison.

"Language is key to understanding another culture. Considering China's rising importance in the international stage, I encourage South African students to explore Chinese culture and to learn Mandarin," she said.

Despite competing in an online platform, finalists managed to brilliantly deliver speeches in Chinese to elaborate their understanding of the theme and present attractive cultural performances such as Chinese calligraphy, painting, dancing and singing. A contestant inventively cooked a Chinese cuisine during the livestreaming in a way of TV cooking show.

Eventually Katleho Kenneth Ntahale from the University of Cape Town and Simnikiwe Sangoni from the University of Johannesburg won the first prizes and will represent South Africa to race against global champions.

More and more South African people have started learning Chinese in recent years, because learning Chinese is not only an efficient way for them to know China better and also provide them opportunities for individual development by participating in China-South Africa cooperation in all sectors, said Chen Xiaodong, Chinese Ambassador to South Africa.

The envoy committed to, together with the embassy, continuing supporting the development of Chinese language education and its platform in South Africa and providing more convenience to Chinese language teachers and learners. Enditem
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A group of Venezuelans waits to be picked up by Border Patrol after illegally crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Del Rio, Texas, on June 3, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

10,864 Venezuelans Pour Into Texas Border Region, Up From 135 Last Year

DEL RIO, TexasOn any given day in Del Rio, Texas, hundreds of Venezuelans wade across the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States. Theyre carrying more belongings than illegal aliens from most other countries. One woman, who said she was a photographer back home, had her professional Nikon camera equipment in her backpack.

They arrive onshore and proceed to change into dry clothes, tossing the wet ones on the ground. Discarded shoes, many looking new, dot the pathway up from the river in two main locations. Some pull out toothbrushes and clean their teeth.

The carrizo cane next to the dirt road rustles as many find cover to go to the bathroom.

State troopers are usually onsite in a large dusty parking area to greet them and pass out water as well as granola bars to the hungry. The wrappers are often discarded on the ground unless a law enforcement officer points them to a trash bin.

Sometimes, a trooper will take a photo of the group, count how many there are, and find out where theyre from. Many of the new arrivals are quick to pull out their smartphones and call loved ones to say they made it.

Del Rio, Texas. 57 illegal aliens from Venezuela on Thursday evening. Hundreds of Venezuelans coming through here every day now. pic.twitter.com/qy3hX6dPeB  Charlotte Cuthbertson (@charlottecuthbo) June 4, 2021

Then everyone waits for Border Patrol to come scoop them up. It can take anywhere from 10 minutes to more than two hours, as the agency scrambles to keep up with the overwhelming influx. Bags are tossed into the van and bodies pile in the back before theyre whisked to the processing center and then released.

In just the last 7 days, our agents have encountered over 5,800 migrants from 29 different countries, Del Rio Sector Border Patrol Chief Austin Skero wrote on Twitter on June 4. During this same time, 63 smuggling attempts were caught on our highways.

More than 119,000 illegal aliens from 70 countries have been apprehended in the sector this fiscal year (which began Oct. 1, 2020). Del Rio is a city of just over 35,000 people, while nearby Eagle Pass has about 30,000. The region is mostly ranch land.

The number of Venezuelans coming is immense. In this sector alone, with four months to go in the fiscal year, 10,864 Venezuelans have been apprehended by Border Patrol, according to Customs and Border Protection.

By comparison, for the whole of fiscal 2020, 135 Venezuelans were apprehended.

Many Venezuelans told The Epoch Times they flew to Cancun, then Monterrey, in Mexico, before crossing the river into Del Rio. Some came via Colombia.

A large portion intend to live in Floridain particular Orlando, Tampa, and Miamiwhere they already have family members.

The surge has mainly occurred over the past few months. On March 8, the Biden administration said it would grant temporary protected status to Venezuelans already in the United States, allowing an estimated 320,000 people to apply to legally live and work in the country for 18 months.

Temporary protected status, which was created in 1990, grants citizens of eligible nations the ability to stay if they cant safely return to their home country because of natural disasters, armed conflicts, or other factors.

Citizens of 12 countries are in the United States with temporary protected status. The largest number come from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti, many with U.S. citizen children and spouses. Nationals from Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen also have temporary protected status.

The Trump administration had sought to phase out the program, arguing that it had effectively become permanent residency after repeated extensions, sometimes for decades.

As such, President Donald Trump didnt grant temporary protected status to Venezuelans, but he did issue an order deferring deportation for a smaller number of Venezuelans on his final day in office.
15 Percent Global Corporate Tax Very Significant Step Forward: OECD Official

A top official at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is hosting talks on a global corporate tax being pushed by the Biden administration, said a 15 percent minimum rate would be a very significant step forward that still leaves countries with enough scope to compete to attract multinationals to their jurisdictions.

OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann made the remarks in an interview with Bloomberg on June 7, which followed a landmark agreement on the tax on June 5 among senior officials from the Group of Seven (G-7) countries, which includes the United States. The G-7 countries agreed to a minimum global corporate tax rate of at least 15 percent, which would apply to overseas profits.

Its important we strike the right balance, Cormann told Bloomberg. If we were able to achieve a circumstance where all multinational companies operating globally are required to pay at least 15 percent on their profits, I think that is a very significant step forward that would still leave enough room for appropriate competition.

In May, the U.S. Treasury Department said it would push for a 15 percent global corporate tax rate as a floor from which discussions should continue to be ambitious and push that rate higher.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen first proposed a 21 percent global corporate minimum tax rate on U.S. multinationals in April as part of President Joe Bidens $2.2 trillion infrastructure spending proposal, which would be financed largely by increasing the domestic U.S. corporate tax rate to 28 percent.

In calling for a 15 percent minimum tax on corporations, Treasury said in a statement that with the global corporate minimum tax functionally set at zero today, there has been a race to the bottom on corporate taxes, undermining the United States and other countries ability to raise the revenue needed to make critical investments.

A May analysis by Bloomberg Economics showed that the median tax rate for the worlds top 50 firms fell to 17.4 percent last year from 35.5 percent in 1990. Tech giants Facebook and Amazon both paid less than that in 2020, with rates of 12.2 percent and 11.8 percent, respectively.

While France and Germany backed the 21 percent, other countries have pushed for a lower rate, as previous OECD discussions on the subject had centered around 12.5 percent, the rate charged by Ireland.

The Biden administrations efforts for the adoption of a global corporate minimum tax rate is a bid to at least partially counteract some of the disadvantages that might arise from the presidents proposal to raise the U.S. corporate tax rate to 28 percent, a move panned by Republicans and business groups as hurting the competitiveness of U.S. companies and slowing wage growth.

The G-7 agreement sets the stage for talks in July by the broader Group of Twenty (G-20) countries, which would then be followed by discussions among some 140 nations under the auspices of the OECD. If a deal is reached at that level, individual countries would still need to pass laws to implement it.

Some economists have voiced skepticism over the Biden administrations push for a global minimum tax rate for corporations, saying not only would it frustrate the free market, but it would face pushback from lawmakers in various countries.

At the end of the day, any international agreement is essentially toothless due to the existence of national sovereignty, Gigi Foster, professor of economics at the University of New South Wales (NSW), told The Epoch Times.

The incentive for individual countries to offer appealing tax treatment will remain, no matter how strong the international pressure on a country to conform to some nominated standard.

Daniel Teng and Reuters contributed to this report.
A grandmother carries her granddaughter outside the tourist mecca of Yangshuo, in southern Chinas Guangxi Province, on Oct. 1, 2003. (Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images)

3-Child Policy, Raising Retirement Age Wont Solve Chinas Pension Deficit

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has changed its notorious one-child policy to allow for three children and said it would raise the retirement age to resolve the huge pension deficit and dramatic decline in births. However, economists and experts say these methods cant resolve the deficit nor the issue of the countrys aging population.

China has been an aging society since 2000, with the rise in average age accelerating significantly over the past 10 years. Chinas working population is projected to decrease to 795 million in 205020 percent less than in 2010as long as Chinas fertility rate doesnt decline, according to Dong Keyong, human resource professor at Renmin University of China.

In the 2010s, the CCP launched various versions of a two-child policy to rejuvenate the aging population, but the effect was limited. Now, authorities are hoping a three-child policy can resolve the issues.

Economists doubt whether the policy will work, saying that Chinese parents feel unable to have more children because of economic pressures and the high cost of raising a child in China. A survey conducted by CCP mouthpiece Xinhua on May 31 showed that over 90 percent of respondents were unwilling to have a third child.

The online survey that Xinhua launched for third-child policy on May 31, 2021. (Weibo/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

In addition, raising the retirement age makes it harder for younger people to find a job. Meanwhile, the older generation wont have time to take care of grandchildren if theyre not able to retire on time.

Many Chinese people are worried that the CCP will launch policies to force couples to have more children.

Thorny Issues

The CCPs politburo on May 31 discussed related policies to support families in having up to three children. Members said that doing so could modify [Chinas] population structure, provide a response to the aging population issue, and maintain the advantage, endowment of [Chinas] human resources, according to Xinhua.

To solve these three issues, Beijing officials announced a plan to raise the retirement age. Xinhua reported on April 13 that the regime would raise the age gradually over the next five years because Chinas working-age population has been declining for eight consecutive years, with an average over three million per year. The decreasing rate is increasing.

Among Chinas many thorny issues caused by the population imbalance is the pension deficit, the key cause being the rapidly shrinking working population and the increasing older population.

An elderly woman carries a boy on a street in Beijing on May 11, 2020. (NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

In July 2018, northeastern Heilongjiang Province couldnt pay all its pensions due to the deficit. In January 2019, state-run National Business Daily reported that Liaoning, Jilin, Hebei, Shaanxi, and Qinghai provinces also suffered from pension deficits.

The Chinese regime hasnt released the size of the pension deficit, but the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences published its China Pension Actuarial Report 20192050 in April 2019, in which it said the whole of China faced a pension deficit, that the pension required state financial aid in 2019, and that the deficit would expand exponentially each year.

In recent years, the Chinese regime has withheld pensions from specific groups, including political dissidents, religious believers, and rights advocates.

Beijing officials, citing the countrys seventh census, announced on May 11 that 264 million people, nearly 19 percent of the population, were over the age of 60 by the end of 2020, an increase of 86.4 million, or nearly 49 percent, from the sixth census released in 2011.

Meanwhile, the working population shrank 45.2 million, or around 5 percent, in 2021, according to the census.

Our country has come out of the demographic dividend period, Miao Wei, member of the CCP Central Committee and vice chairman of the Economic Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC, said at a financial summit in Beijing on Nov. 14, 2020.

Left behind children Luo Hongni, 11 (L), and brother Luo Gan, 10, carry grass to be used as feed while doing chores in the fields in Anshun, China, on Dec. 18, 2016. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Will the 3-Child Policy Succeed?

Economists and experts questioned the claim that the three-child policy and raising the retirement age would help China regain the demographic dividend.

Education, health insurance, housing, utilities  all living necessities are expensive in China, Chinese independent economist Gong Shengli told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on June 2. Chinese people are struggling with even basic living needs, even without having a childhow can they dare to have more children?

The Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences released a report in December 2019 that said the average cost of raising a child from birth to middle school graduationtypically 15 years oldin the Jingan district of Shanghai is 840,000 yuan ($131,400). A family normally spends over half of its total income on its children, with lower-income families spending more.

At the same time, the majority of Chinese people arent wealthy.

On May 12, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said at a state council meeting in May that 200 million Chinese, or 22.4 percent of the working population, are in flexible employment, which means theyre street vendors or have temporary jobs. In May 2020, Li said that 600 million Chinese earned $140 per month, which isnt enough to pay for monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in a mid-sized Chinese city.

Despite the disparity between the high cost of living and low income, Chinese people still prefer to have children, because in traditional Chinese culture, having children is considered essential.

On average, each Chinese family had 2.62 members by the end of 2020, and the majority of Chinese families have three memberstwo parents and a childXinhua reported on May 20.

It shows that Chinese people havent followed the two-child policy.  So how will the three-child policy work? Frank Tian Xie, professor of business at the University of South CarolinaAiken, told The Epoch Times in a phone interview on June 1.

Chinese students wait in line for lunch in a classroom at an unofficial school in Beijing on Dec. 18, 2015. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

The willingness to have children is also reflected in the birth rate. Chinas fertility rate was 1.3 children per woman in 2020, far short of the 2.1 replacement rate, and lower than Americans 1.637, according to Ning Jizhe, director of the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics.

Raising the retirement age can only make things worse, Lai Jianping, a North America-based former Chinese lawyer and democracy activist, told The Epoch Times on June 1.

In China, its usually the grandparents who take care of the children. A large number of young couples have their first child when at least one of the grandparents retires.

If the grandparents dont retire, young couples dont dare to have children, Lai said. On the other hand, young people will have trouble finding a job if the old ones dont retire.

As Li pointed out, jobs are hard to come by, which is reflected in the high number of people with flexible employment. The real Chinese unemployment rate is a state secret, and the regime only releases data on those who have an urban hukoua city household registrationand have registered their employment with the local government.

In July, over 9 million Chinese students will graduate from universities and start looking for a job. Graduation means unemployment has become a common saying in China in recent years, with Chinese state-run media, including Xinhua, resorting to publishing articles that teach students how to find a job.

If young people cant find a job, they wont have the income to raise children, Lai said.

A Chinese girl looks out the back window of a three-wheeled taxi in the street in Beijing on April 22, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

The CCP launched its infamous one-child policy in 1979. The majority of Chinese women of childbearing age are now themselves an only child. In China, older people rely on their children in their later years because social security isnt enough to take care of them.

As an only-child couple, the two of us need to take care of our four parents and work 996, a Chinese netizen wrote on social media platform Weibo on May 31. 996 is Chinese IT-business standard working hours, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days per week. If we have three children, how can we survive?
Miami-Dade Police work the scene of a shooting outside of a banquet hall near Hialeah, Fla., on May 20, 2021. (Lynne Sladky/AP Photo)

3 Dead, 5 Injured After Shooting at Graduation Party in Florida

Three people were killed and five injured after gunfire erupted at a graduation party in Miami-Dade County, Florida, over the weekend.

Investigators found that a group of people were gathered outside a business in a strip mall early Sunday morning when a person or persons started shooting.

A graduation party in the area, on 104th Street and 109 Court, was just finishing up, Freddy Ramirez, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, told reporters at the scene.

As patrons were leaving, one or maybe two vehicles pulled up and started to fire at the crowd, he said.

Bullets struck several people. A vehicle that fled from the scene crashed into a wall at a nearby college. Both occupants of the vehicle died. Investigators found a firearm inside the vehicle. Another person died from gunshot wounds. That victim was later identified as Tyleisha Taylor, a Florida Department of Corrections officer.

We are devastated to learn a member of our FDC family, Officer Taylor, was killed in a fatal shooting. Our prayers are with her family as they navigate this unimaginable loss, Mark Inch, secretary of the department, said in a statement.

Five people in total were injured.

Investigators said in a press release on Sunday that the motive of the shooting is not clear. A police spokesman declined to answer on Monday when asked whether a suspect or suspects have been identified. Anyone with information on what happened was encouraged to contact the authorities.

Our community was again painfully struck by gun violence overnight. No one is immune, this shooting took the life of a correctional officer. We all have the responsibility to report these killers. My deepest condolences to those affected by this intentional act of violence, Ramirez said in a statement.

Another shooting in the Miami-Dade area, described as a domestic related incident, left three dead and three injured early Sunday.

The shootings took place about a week after a mass shooting outside a concert in the county left two dead and over 20 wounded. Investigators said they found multiple shooters were involved but have not announced any arrests.

Police officials launched Operation Summer Heat late last week, which involves increasing surveillance in high-crime areas and adding crime analysts and license plate readers, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said on CNNs New Day on Monday.

And were turning to the public. We cannot do this without the community. We have rewards that have been offered, significant rewards, sometimes people are afraid to speak out and fear retaliation, because some of these are retaliatory, she said. So we urge anyone with information, see something, say something.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 01:12:28|Editor: huaxia

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AMMAN, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Jordan's Lower House of Parliament on Sunday voted to expel Osama Ajarmeh, a member of parliament, over his "insulting statements" against King Abdullah II.

The Lower House held an emergency session following the riots that occurred in the expelled MP's hometown in Naour area on Saturday dawn. Four police were injured during the riots as the rioters set several vehicles ablaze and fired live ammunition.

During the session on Sunday, 108 out of the 119 MPs who attended the session voted in favour of expelling Ajarmeh.

Lower House Speaker Deputy Abdulmunim Oddat firmly denounced what he described as "perverted statements uttered by Ajarmeh against King Abdullah," the Petra news agency reported.

"I declare the Lower House's refusal of any form of tampering with the prestige and status of His Majesty King Abdullah and any tampering with our social system, tribal and family harmony," Oddat said.

Last month, the Lower House decided to freeze the membership of Ajarmeh for one year after he offended other lawmakers in violation of the house's internal regulations. Enditem
A Moment in the Ongoing Decay of the Social Contract

Commentary

PARISIn the heyday of Stalinist philosophising, one of the three so-called laws of dialectical materialism was that of the interpenetration of opposites.

According to this law, there is never a perfectly sharp division between opposites, but rather internal connections between them as they struggle with one another until some new stage or state of overcoming is reached, when the whole process begins again. Like the life of a twenty-four-hour city, the dialectic never ceases.

Certainly, opposites can come to resemble one another, for example racism and antiracism. Both look at the world through the prism of race; both are powerful stimulants to hatred; both attribute characteristics not to individuals but to groups, in this case racial groups; both seek to impose their vision on the world, if necessary by force.

Usually (according to the doctrine) one of the sides, or poles, of a contradiction is stronger than the other: at present, the tide of anti-racism is riding much higher than that of racism.

Indeed, one of the poles of the alleged contradiction can almost cease to exist while its opposite survives or even thrives. This is the case of anti-clericalism in France. Anti-clerical feeling remains strong, at least among the intelligentsia, without there being much in the way of countervailing clericalism to oppose.

Even the few remaining believing Catholics in what was once called the eldest daughter of the Church do not believe that there should be a formal link between Church and state, or that Catholicism should be imposed upon the population. However, intellectuals often prefer to fight phantoms rather than realities, just as mice indulge in displacement activities in the face of overwhelming danger.

Anti-Fascism

Another such case is that of anti-fascism, allegedly in conflict to the death with fascism. Most of the young people who call themselves anti-fascist have very little idea of what fascism actually was, having been brought up in unprecedented prosperity and security. They know that it was bad, of course, but then make the logical mistake of thinking that anything that they consider bad must be fascist.

Real fascism, of the Mussolini variety, is very uncommon. I once attended a real fascist rally in Naples, which managed to unite the seeming opposites of nastiness and preposterousness. It was addressed by Mussolinis granddaughter, Alessandra, who at the time was more Gina Lollobrigida than Duce.

Nevertheless, to hear a crowd (of about four hundred) of evidently frustrated and bitter old men chant Duce! Duce! Duce! in unison was disconcerting to say the least and gave some faint intimation of how terrifying it might have been if the crowd had been of 400,000 rather than of 400.

Now it so happened that I briefly attended a small anti-fascist rally in Paris yesterday, not very far from where I stay when I am in the city. On my way to the rally, I passed a little circle of adolescents sitting in the road peacefully smoking dope to the sound of rap music, that ranting, barely musical art-form that rather reminds me in its tone of angry vehemence of a speech by Hitler reaching its climax.

The anti-fascist rally was not very large, a few hundred at most. They were mostly young, but of course everyone looks young to me these days. What was curious about them was that they were practically all dressed, from top to toe, in black, a color, or absence of color, not unknown in the history of fascism and Nazism.

They might as well have been in uniform, so lacking in variety was their mode of dress; evidently, they wanted to sink their individuality in a kind of communion of the like-mindedor perhaps I should say, of the like-feelinged, for thought was not much in evidence at the rally, nor was it supposed to be.

Riot Police

There was not much opportunity for violence, because the riot police were there in overwhelming force. There were as many of them as demonstrators and were much better equipped and trained than the demonstrators.

What seems at first like over-reaction by the authorities was actually sensible. The French riot police are not known for their gentlemanly behavior, and I suspect that at the first sign of trouble they would have waded into the demonstrators with joy in their hearts.

The demonstrators were the type of people who smash shop windows for the good of humanity only when they can do so with impunity. This was clearly not the case here.

But just to show how much they cared for the good of the world, they left behind them, when the demonstration broke up prior to schedule (there being no real possibility of creating a disturbance), a great deal of litter for someone else to clear up at public expense. It is, of course, one of Mans inalienable rights to have others clear up after him. That is what municipalities are for.

Who were the fascists that anti-fascist demonstrators were protesting against? A few of the demonstrators were waving Palestinian flags, and one might have thought that anti-fascists would notice the similarities of Hamas and Hezbollah to fascists.

In fact they werent really protesting anything: they were exhibiting their own virtue, as a stripper exhibits her attractions. If I show that I am against the bad, it follows that I must be good.

The riot police, I confess, sent shivers down my spine, as I suppose they were intended to do in case I were inclined to a little light looting. They looked like something out of a science-fiction movieall in black, of course, and as heavily-armoured as mediaeval jousters.

They were completely anonymised, with not a single individual feature to be seen among them. They looked like robots. Thus, only their sense of discipline and obedience to orders stood in the way of excess violence on their part. I suspect that this was obvious to the demonstrators, deterrence being the better part of crowd control.

Still, however justified or effective the presence, it is not pleasant or reassuring to see such a force on the streets. It means that the social compact essential to a free society, namely that people will contain their political passion within certain bounds, is breaking down, not only in France but throughout the west. There are no prizes for guessing who is mostly responsible.

Theodore Dalrymple is a retired doctor. He is contributing editor of the City Journal of New York and the author of 30 books, including Life at the Bottom. His latest book is Embargo and Other Stories.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Marijuana legalization advocates and members of community groups attend a rally against marijuana arrests in front of One Police Plaza in New York City on June 13, 2012. The recent passage in Colorado and Washington of propositions declaring marijuana legal for personal use has changed the U.S. War on Drugs. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A New Area of US-China Competition IgnoredMarijuana

China will be the real winner from marijuana legalization in US

Commentary

In the American political landscape, competition with China has always been a significant topic. On the issue of infrastructure, American politicians are copying the Chinese method of massive investment of government money; on the issue of Taiwan, they are afraid of offending the Chinese Communist Party; on wind energy, House legislators are excluding China due to competition. Yet there is one forgotten area that is breeding wealth and will likely harbor Chinese competitionthe marijuana industry.

As a matter of fact, China will not only reap the economic benefits from marijuana legalization in the United States, it will also be happy to see American citizens victimized by the consumption of various drugs, as Chinas cannabis production is for export only.

The Real Winner of the 2020 Election: Cannabis

After the appearance of the dubious Biden curve on the election night of Nov. 3, Paul Armentano, the Vice President of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), ecstatically published a pre-polished article in The Hill, announcing that the winner of the 2020 election was not Donald Trump, nor was it Joe Biden. It was marijuana. This expressed Americas complete confidence in its marijuana industry, considering the production capacity, processing, marketing, and sales of the industry, as well as making the consumption of marijuana a 4th generational human right. This major step taken by the United States will likely reorientate and rewrite the Cannabis, as well as the entire illicit drug market.

Armentano has worked tirelessly for many years for the legalization of marijuana, and his predictions are all being realized. The marijuana industry achieved a milestone victory on Nov. 3, 2020, as the Oregon Ballot Measure 110 was then passed, allowing unambiguous drugs such as heroin to be decriminalized. USA Today also reported that New Jersey, South Carolina, Montana, and Arizona all passed laws that legalized recreational marijuana on the very same day. Oregon has played a critical role in this legalization process. In 1973, Oregon was the first state to decriminalize the possession of marijuana. In 2014, Oregon legalized the recreational use of marijuana.

But fans of cannabis shouldnt forget who brought the high tide of marijuana legalizationObama.

The Catalyst for Marijuana Legalization: Obama Entering White House

In 2008, Barack Obama became the first African-American President in U.S. history. During a debate at Northwestern University when he was a congressman, he expressed how former President Nixons war on drugs had utterly failed, and that there was a need to revise marijuana laws and legalize the drug. He also admitted that he smoked marijuana when he was young.

The former Presidents past affection for marijuana was likely to sway peoples opinions, and evidently so, as the number of people in legalization parades has grown exponentially, holding star-spangled banners with marijuana imprinted on them and demanding the right to recreationally use marijuana as a basic human right.

In 2012, the State of Washington and Colorado passed the Washington Initiative 502 and 2012 Colorado Amendment 64 respectively, and jump-started the era of recreational use of marijuana. One should note that the term Recreational Marijuana is another deceptive and romanticized name for drugs from the left.

Since the President likes marijuana, the laws needed to resonate the narrative. The Supreme court case Gonzales v. Raich, which ruled that Congress has the authority to criminalize the use and production of homegrown cannabis, was revised, and the number of states that have legalized marijuana is steadily rising. More and more Americans are becoming fans of marijuana, and these legal issues are fading out of the limelight.

The American Marijuana Problem Has Become a Peoples War

Based on the memo indicating Obamas friendliness towards marijuana, smokers rapidly turned this legalization process into a peoples war. Below are some data to illustrate this point.

First, the percentage of people who wish to legalize marijuana.

Between 2000 and 2009, the Gallup poll concluded, that the percentage of Americans willing to legalize marijuana rose from 31 percent to 44 percent, but after Obama became president, that percentage rose to 49 percent in two short years (2009-2011). The trend continuing to rise was directly correlated to Obamas supportive attitude, and when he left office in 2012, the percentage of Americans willing to legalize marijuana was at 64 percent.

Under these circumstances, any politicians who dare to put a foot in front of this legalization cascade is risking their careers. Even President Trump, who was explicitly anti-drug, had no choice but to sign the 2018 United States Farm Bill that legalized the cultivation of cannabis.

Around the same time, American universities have become more and more marijuana friendly, and are including classes that teach students everything from growing marijuana to marijuana economics. America is flagrantly becoming the world leader in professionalizing marijuana and instilling it in academics. Colleges and universities play a critical role in shaping the opinion of the young towards marijuana, therefore I feel the need to provide parents with a list of colleges they need to be wary of, which I plan to present in another article.

The 2020 election was held during the bitter pandemic, and Biden promised that one of the things he wished to change was to legalize marijuana across the country. The Democratic Party and the mainstream media all pushed for the narrative of Bidens win so that America can welcome the genesis of the marijuana industry. As of the end of 2020, 33 States, 4 U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have all legalized the medicinal use of marijuana; while 11 States, 2 territories, and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. From now on, marijuana addicts can enjoy their newfound human rights.

Marijuana Production in the US Spikes

Below are some statistics on US marijuana production.

As of the second quarter of 2020, the cannabis cultivation area has reached 465,787 acres, and 21,496 licenses were distributed for the cultivation thereof. This is a 27 percent increase from 2019. According to BDSA, a platform for monitoring marijuana sales in the United States, the legal sale of cannabis generated a record sum of $17.5 billion in 2020, which is a 46 percent increase from 2019. The top three regions that predominantly contributed to this staggering amount of sales were Democrat states California, Colorado, and Oregon. Where recreational marijuana was legalized, the percentage of people who used it rose from 38 percent to 43 percent. The cannabis market is especially strong in Colorado as 48 percent of residents consume it there. Now, the popularization of marijuana is spreading to younger people and suburban residents, who are the main contributors to growth in the cannabis market in 2020.

BSDA estimates that in 2026, legal Cannabis sales will reach $41 billion nationwide, leveling alongside the craft beer industry. At the same time, the global market for marijuana is projected to be $170 billion, where America will undoubtedly take the lead as the primary consumer.

The Rise of Marijuana Use in US Delights Chinas Cannabis Industry

Just as happy as the consumers in the United States are the producers in Chinas cannabis industry.

Euromonitor International projects the percentage of legally sold cannabis products to reach 77 percent by 2025, estimating a $166 billion market. The recreational sale of marijuana in the coming five years is forecast to increase the current market size by 376 percent, and 67 percent of the legal marijuana market is estimated to be for recreational use, while only 9 percent is for medicinal use (less than half of the 23 percent of 2020). Spiros Malandrakis, the head of alcoholic drinks at Euromonitor, also predicted that, New consumption occasions and tailored value propositions will drive the industry into fast-moving consumer goods territory.

As early as 2017, when the worldwide legalization wave began, China realized that there are huge profits to be made from the cannabis market. It assigned market analysis experts to study the trend in various countries and provide a forward-looking strategy for the Chinese Cannabis industry.

Currently, China is the largest producer of Cannabis and accounts for half the amount produced worldwide. Chinas production rate as of 2018 is at 75,000 tons per year, and is projected to be at 105,000 tons a year by 2024. As China has not yet legalized marijuana, their production mainly consists of industrial cannabis, however it is in a leading position worldwide for CBD (cannabidiol) production.

Chinas CBD market has reached $760 million and is estimated to reach $1.8 billion in 2024. The ArcView Group released an analysis report in August 2020, calling China a rising superpower for CBD production.

As regulations are clarified in destination markets in North America and Europe, multinational pharmaceutical and nutraceutical companies that already source a broad range of ingredients from China, will similarly source cannabinoid-based ingredients from: China, the report said. China is likely to be a leading source of cannabinoids for the global supply chain for the foreseeable future, with newfound government support for the industry, one of the lowest cannabinoid production costs globally, and unrivaled large-scale manufacturing infrastructure and expertise.

This power assigned to China naturally rivals the cannabis industry of the United States.

The Effect of Decriminalizing Marijuana on US-China Relationship

Marijuana industry in the United States is mainly for medicinal, industrial, and recreational use, and more than 12 percent of Americans are users of some form of cannabis. Not a single country dares to openly declare that they have gotten the side effects of marijuana under control, which applies to America as well. Under the given circumstances, the cannabis industry and market will likely enjoy handsome profits, but the negative side effects from the psychoactive properties of marijuana will eventually become a burden to society. America is already a major drug consuming country, and as the number of addicts is rising, the negative effects on society will likely be evident at an accelerating rate.

China mainly produces hemp, or industrial cannabis. It is fully capable of producing recreational marijuana for export only, and further growing its CBD market share. It may even lease land overseas to grow marijuana in countries where there is a demand.

China has strict drug restrictions for its own citizens. Given Chinas history of struggling with drugs such as opium since the beginning of its industrialization, it has so far effectively prohibited drug abuse. Under these circumstances, the consumption rate of marijuana in China will never reach that of America, where consuming cannabis is regarded as a human right.

In summary, although the U.S. cannabis industry wants to become self-sufficient, as the demand is high, importation is therefore inevitable. The Chinese cannabis production is diversified: it can achieve self-sufficiency for the needs of cannabis products in medicine and cosmetics, and at the same time produce recreational marijuana solely for export, with the advantage of low cost and dumping.

One country has the highest demand, the other has the capacity to become the largest supplier. Although the market is only beginning to develop in this area, it is already clear who will win and who will lose.

He Qinglian is a prominent Chinese author and economist. Currently based in the United States, she authored Chinas Pitfalls, which discusses corruption in Chinas economic reform of the 1990s, and The Fog of Censorship: Media Control in China, which addresses the manipulation and restriction of the press. She regularly writes on contemporary Chinese social and economic issues.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Students walk through Yale University in New Haven, Conn., on Sept. 27, 2018. (Yana Paskova/Getty Images)

Admirable Evasions and the Psychopathic Problem at Yale

Commentary

In 2015, in my role as publisher of Encounter Books, I published Admirable Evasions: How Psychology Undermines Morality, a gimlet-eyed analysis of the profession by Theodore Dalrymple.

The title, as many readers have recognized comes from King Lear.

The line is spoken by Edmund, the illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester and one of the plays chief villains.

He is also given some of the plays most brilliant lines.

This is the excellent foppery of the world, that,

when we are sick in fortuneoften the surfeit

of our own behaviorwe make guilty of our

disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars; as

if we were villains by necessity; fools by

heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and

treachers, by spherical predominance; drunkards,

liars, and adulterers, by an enforced obedience of

planetary influence; and all that we are evil in,

by a divine thrusting on: an admirable evasion

of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish

disposition to the charge of a star!

Back then, a crutch, an excuse for bad behavior might be astrological: we lie or cheat or pander not of ourselves, but because of an external influence beyond our control.

The worm of our infirmity is not in us but elsewhere, hence we are not truly, not fully, guilty of our bad behavior.

Indeed, with a little ingenuity, we can argue that our bad behavior, being instigated by something outside ourselves, makes us victims, hence deserving of pity if not celebration.

Edmund wasnt taken in by such subterfuges.

He understood that his infirmities were his and his alone: Tut, I should have been that I am, / had the maidenliest star in the firmament / twinkled on my bastardizing.

Today, of course, we dont find excuses for depravity in the stars but in our upbringing, our bank account, our sex, our skin color.

I am habitually late for work, but it is because I grew up poor.

I take drugs, but it is because I am oppressed.

I burned down a police station/shot a cop/looted a store but it was because of systemic racism.

Or maybe it is because of the patriarchy. Or hetero-normativity. Or transphobia.

The list is long, but no less specious than the spherical predominance or planetary influence Edmund contemptuously adduces.

The White Mind

I have thought about this dynamic over the past few days as the indispensable Bari Weiss has brought Yale Universitys latest folly to the publics attention.

Last week, Weiss linked to an audio recording of a virtual Grand Rounds given by Dr. Aruna Khilanani in April at the Yale School of Medicines Child Study Center.

Grand Rounds is at the Yale School of Medicines Child Study Center; bear that in mind.

Khilanani is billed as a forensic psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. She practices in Harlem but studied at the toniest institutions: Columbia, NYUs Langone Medical Center, and New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

According to her website, Khilanani is interested in every single person who has a story that has yet to be told.  Conservative, Liberal, Old, Young, Blue, Black, CIS, Trans, Asian, Fat, Skinny, rural, urban, and so on.

Her talk, The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind, wasnt so welcoming.

Under the rubric learning objectives, a poster accompanying the talk tells us at the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to understand how racism is part of the mind that white mind that arose during colonialism with a series of lies around violence [sic].

Yes, there is something deeply wrong in that sentence. But its not only a matter of typos or misprints.

The disease is deep.

Just how deep is on view in some of Khilananis more piquant observations. To wit:

This is the cost of talking to white people at all. The cost of your own life, as they suck you dry. There are no good apples out there. White people make my blood boil.

White people feel that we are bullying them when we bring up race.  We are asking a demented, violent predator who thinks that they are a saint or a superhero, to accept responsibility.  They have five holes in their brain. Its like banging your head against a brick wall. Its just like sort of not a good idea.

And here, at about seven minutes into the presentation, is the observation that has been getting all the ink.

I had fantasies of unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way, burying their body, and wiping my bloody hands as I walked away relatively guiltless with a bounce in my step. Like I did the world a [expletive] favor.

Sick Institutions

Khilanani is clearly a sick puppy. Most observers will wonder why she is allowed to see patients rather than being required to seek help herself.

But the real psychopathology here goes far beyond Khilanani.

It involves, in the first instance, Yale University, the Yale School of Medicine, and in particular, its Child Study Center.

According to that poster advertising the talk, its target audience was trainees in child psychology, psychology, and social work, faculty, clinicians, scientists. Really?

Moreover, the course of which Khilananis talk was a part will fulfill the licensure requirement set forth by the State of Connecticut.

Think about that.

I had fantasies of unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way, burying their body, and wiping my bloody hands as I walked away relatively guiltless with a bounce in my step.

Will that be on the exam?

Yale, like most of the best and most prestigious educational institutions today, is a bastion of woke identity politics.

Increasingly, it substitutes the new planetary influences of race, the spherical predominance of exotic sexuality with the more pedestrian talismans of learning, intellectual rigor, and civic responsibility.

In this sense, Khilanani is more a symptom than a cause of the disease.

She embodies, to be sure, an ugly and repellent expression of the sickness that is ravaging our elite institutions.

But the cause is in the spirit that would not only allow but actually celebrate such disgusting performances as The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind.

Remember, this was not at some wacko fringe grotto but at Yale University, operating in this instance as an agent for the State of Connecticut.

People like Khilanani should be watched closely but, after being ostracized from any contact with the vulnerable, ignored.

Its institutions such as Yale and the regulatory apparatus of the state that need to be exposed and then dismantled.

Granted, it is a tall order.

Prudent people will give Khilanani a wide berth. But she has done us all a service by showing us the alternative.

Roger Kimball is the editor and publisher of The New Criterion and the 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.
Grounded Air Canada planes sit on the tarmac at Pearson International Airport during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on April 28, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette)

Air Canada Says Senior Executives to Voluntarily Return 2020 Bonuses

MONTREALAir Canada says its senior executives have chosen to return their 2020 bonuses in response to public disappointment.

The airline company says in a news release the president and CEO, as well as executive vice-presidents of Air Canada, have volunteered to return their bonuses and share appreciation units.

Former president and CEO Calin Rovinescu, who retired in February 2021, says he will also donate his share to the Air Canada Foundation.

The statement does not include middle managers, whose bonuses made up more than $8 million of the $10-million bonus program, among those who are volunteering their bonuses.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland signalled her displeasure Wednesday over the multi-million dollar packages handed out to the airlines executives as the company negotiated a federal bailout, calling the bonuses inappropriate.

The airline last Monday disclosed its annual proxy circular to shareholders that gave the bonuses to people the investor document called instrumental in the airlines survival over the past year as air travel plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Air Canadas leadership team is completely focused on Air Canadas recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and preparations to welcome back furloughed colleagues and travelling customers as soon as possible, Sundays statement says.

The airline looks forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders, notably the Government of Canada on many fronts, including the safe restart of our industry.

In April, the airline and government agreed to a $5.9 billion loan package that includes money to help refund passenger tickets, but also capped executive compensation at $1 million until 12 months after the loan is fully repaid.

The government also paid $500 million for a six percent stake in the countrys biggest airline, which Freeland said was done to ensure taxpayers could benefit once Air Canadas revenue rises when regular travel resumes.

In early 2020, senior executives and 3,200 management employees voluntarily agreed to total reductions of $11.5 million in their base salaries, subject to compensation through share appreciation units that might allow employees to recover some of the forgone salary if the share price rises higher in December 2022 than December 2020, the company says.

Freeland and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Canadians are right to expect responsible corporate behaviourparticularly with respect to executive compensationfrom companies receiving government financial support during the pandemic.

While this situation could have been entirely avoided by Air Canada, we acknowledge this step in the right direction by the top five executives to repay 2020 bonuses and share appreciation units they received, they said in a joint statement Sunday night.

The Canadian Press
Alberta Moves Closer to Holding Equalization Referendum in Fall Municipal Elections

Albertans will vote in a referendum on equalization this fall if the provincial governments motion to debate and approve the referendum question gets passed. But its an exercise some pundits say will be more likely to influence provincial politics than the Canadian Constitution.

The question proposed for the ballot in the Oct. 18 municipal elections is, Should section 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982Parliament and the government of Canadas commitment to the principle of making equalization paymentsbe removed from the constitution?

Theoretically, an overwhelming yes vote would trigger constitutional discussions. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada declared that if a a clear majority  on a clear question votes in a provincial referendum to amend the Constitution, then the federal government and all of the other provinces have a constitutional duty to negotiate the issue in good faith with the province concerned. The ruling was made in the context of the 1995 Quebec referendum to secede from Canada.

However, Jared Wesley, a University of Alberta (UA) political science professor, said in an interview that he expects this years municipal elections will see a continuation of low voter turnout, making a strong mandate unlikely.

They picked the municipal elections in order to hold the referendum, which historically has been very low in Alberta, as if they get more than 40 percent turnout, its a banner year, Wesley said.

He predicts that about one in four Albertans will say they want to get rid of it [equalization]. Hardly an overwhelming mandate to then hop on a plane, go to Ottawa, and try to negotiate a fair deal for Alberta.

A poll conducted in March by Common Ground, a UA-based research institute, found that 61 percent of Albertans think Canadas equalization system is unfair to Alberta. When asked if equalization should be removed from the Constitution, 43 percent agreed, 20 percent opposed, and 37 percent were neutral.

Geoffrey Hale, a political science professor at the University of Lethbridge, told The Epoch Times that the pandemic is still dominating politics. As a result, its hard to gauge how much attention Albertans are paying to the referendum question, or whether they will be dealt with on their merits or as a reaction to the performance of the Kenney government, Hale said.

The Kenney government is politically vulnerable, with sizeable elements of both traditional PC [Progressive Conservative] and Wild Rose support alienated to varying degrees, he added.

As Alberta has no power to do anything unilaterally about equalization, and the historical beneficiaries of the system are close to a constitutional majority of provinces, its hard to tell how much traction the referendum will get under current circumstances.

A 2020 paper by Thomas Courchene and Teresa Courchene, written for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, found that in 201819, Alberta had own-source revenues per capita of $9,597 and received no equalization payments at all. In contrast, Quebec had $10,694 per capita but received an additional $1,392 per Quebecer, or a total of $11.7 billion, through equalization. In 201920, Quebecs equalization increased to $13.1 billion, and again fiscally challenged Alberta received nothing.

This is partly because the equalization formula is based on three-year moving averages of provincial per-capita revenues thats calculated with a two-year lag. Thus, according to that formula, Albertas revenues for those two years were much higher than its actual revenues since they didnt reflect the collapse in energy prices.

The paper also examined the compensation Alberta received under the federal governments fiscal stabilization program. It found that, although Alberta had a cumulative own-source revenues shortfall of almost $25 billion in the five years following 201415, making it eligible for assistance under that program, it only received a total of $503 million from that source.

The program, created in 1967, allows Ottawa to provide financial support to provinces when they experience significant declines in revenue, but its woefully underfunded, the paper said.

Barry Cooper, a University of Calgary political science professor, said the referendum has a better chance of boosting Kenneys support than correcting equalization.

As the exercise of a political art, its very good. Whether it will make any difference to the way that we are perceived by our erstwhile fellow citizens in Laurentian Canada is another matter entirely.

Wesley also thinks its a political move by Kenney that would be hard to get the other premiers behind. He predicts that at the next first ministers meeting, the premiers will probably give him a little bit of space on the agenda, [let him] say his piece, and move on.

Cooper doesnt think it likely that equalization will be removed, and believes Albertans will continue to see it as unjust and feel aggrieved.

Theres no way that Quebec is going to say goodbye to $13 billion a year, he said. Its completely corrupting. It corrupts the Government of Quebec because they dont have to actually pay their own bills.
Left & Right: (Courtesy of Reiny Bourgonje via Zebedee); Center: (Courtesy of Marco De Waal via Zebedee)

Albino Girl Abandoned by Parents in China Gets a New Life, Finds Success as a Teen Model

A girl from China who was abandoned by her parents at a tender age due to her albinism hasdespite her conditiongone against the odds and succeeded in becoming a teen model.

As a baby, Xueli Abbing, now 16 years old, was dropped off outside an orphanage by her parents without them leaving a note explaining why.

The orphanage took her in and gave her a name.

She was later adopted at the age of 3, and eventually went to live with her adoptive mother and sister in the Netherlands.

My mother said she could not think of a more perfect name and she thought it was important to keep a reference to my Chinese roots, Xueli told the BBC.

(Courtesy of Reiny Bourgonje via Zebedee)

Xuelis albinism is what gives her hair and skin its extraordinarily light complexion, along with her skins increased sensitivity to sunlight.

At the time of her birth, the Chinese government had in place a mandate allowing parents to have only one child; for her generation, being an only child is the norm.

Her albinism was hardly the norm, thoughand far from desirable for many parents in China.

You were extremely unlucky if you had a child with albinism, Xueli explained. Some children, like me, were abandoned, others were locked away or if they did go to school their hair was painted black.

Xueli started modelling at the age of 11; her mom had connections with a designer from Hong Kong.

(Courtesy of Marco De Waal via Zebedee)

She has a son with a cleft lip and she decided that she wanted to design very fancy clothes for him so people would not always stare at his mouth. She called the campaign perfect imperfections and asked if I wanted to join her fashion show, Xueli said, adding that modelling was an awesome experience.

She did photo shoots with various studios. One photographer, Brock Elbank, posted her portrait on Instagram, and that got her modelling career off the ground.

Zebedee Talent Modelling agency got in touch and asked if I wanted to join them in their mission to get people with disabilities represented in the fashion industry, she told the British news outlet.

In June 2019, one of her shots was even highlighted in an edition of Vogue Italia, which featured Lana Del Rey as the cover model.

(Courtesy of Reiny Bourgonje via Zebedee)

In modelling, looking different is a blessing not a curse and it gives me a platform to raise awareness of albinism, Xueli said.

Nevertheless, she sometimes faces challenges with the professional lighting in the studios.

Sometimes if it is too bright on a shoot I will say, May I close my eyes or can you make the light softer? Or I will say, Ok, you can do three pictures with my eyes open with the flash and no more.

Now, the teen encourages others with albinism and other disabilities to believe in themselves and that they can accomplish their goals if they put their hearts into it.

I want to use modelling to talk about albinism and say it is a genetic disorder, it is not a curse, she added.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Peter Daszak, a member of the World Health Organization team investigating the origins of COVID-19, speaks to media upon arriving at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on Feb. 3, 2021. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

An Orchestrated Hoax

Commentary

It can now be said publicly: The massive public campaign to convince and even compel the world to accept the idea that SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, arose naturally from a meat market in Wuhan was a hoax.

The gory details are contained in a bombshell investigative report in the magazine Vanity Fair. This alone is surprising. Vanity Fair is a culture and trends magazine, not noted for this type of serious inquiry. Yet Katherine Ebans in-depth article is thoroughly researched, with multiple named sources, and written in the style of a detective story.

The first question to ask is: How did we get a scientific and media consensus that SARS-CoV2 originally came from the Wuhan meat market? The answer is a group letter signed by leading virologists that appeared in the reputable science publication The Lancet. This article dismissed theories that suggested SARS-CoV2 might have come from the Wuhan lab as conspiracy theories that had were flatly rejected by the scientific community.

Apparently convinced they had to listen to the science, the Lancet statement convinced media around the world to revile public figures, especially politicians such as Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), for even asking for an investigation into where COVID-19 came from. Cotton was almost universally dubbed a kook for even raising the possibility of debunked and discredited theories.

Digital media promptly imposed its strict regime of restriction, banning, shadowbanning, and deplatforming of users who were deemed to share such misinformation. Acting on the recommendation of its so-called fact checkers, Facebook took down millions, perhaps tens of millions, of posts supposedly conveying the false notion that SARS-CoV2 might have leaked out from a lab.

But what Vanity Fair exposes is the behind-the-scenes mechanism for how that Lancet statement was produced. According to the article, it was organized by a zoologist named Peter Daszak, himself involved in U.S. government-funded research aimed at the making of deadly viruses in labs. Daszak has worked in close collaboration with Ralph Baric of the University of North Carolina. Daszaks group, EcoHealth Alliance, has worked directly with Chinas Wuhan laboratories to research coronaviruses, and potentially make them more contagious and more lethal.

The ostensible purpose of such gain-of-function research is to study viruses, to understand them better, and to develop better cures for pandemics that might arise naturally. But of course, such research is very dangerous, because viruses could through accident or negligence be released and cause the very pandemics they are designed to prevent. Alternatively, such research can be exploited for military purposes, because lethal viruses also make for a powerful weapon of biological warfare.

When Daszak learned that a virus was causing global havoc, he moved quickly to line up a group of virologists to declare, without any persuasive evidence whatever, that COVID-19 had a natural origin. It might seem puzzling why prominent scientists would agree to sign a letter taking a position on something for which there is no valid scientific evidence. Why would they do this?

The one-word answer is: money. Figures like Daszak and institutions like EcoHealth Alliance that receive large amounts of government money typically package those funds into sub-grants that are dispersed among researchers and research institutions around the country. Consequently, theres a large group of virologists who are, in a sense, in Daszaks back pocket. They have a financial vested interest in doing what he wants, and moreover, they, like Daszak, have a stake in camouflaging the possibility that their type of work caused a global pandemic with millions of deaths and untold ruin in its wake.

Not only did Daszak organize the Lancet statement, but he did so, according to Vanity Fair, with the intention of concealing his role and creating the impression of scientific immunity. In an email addressed to Baric, Daszak said, No need for you to sign the Statement Ralph. Daszak explained that neither he nor Baric should sign the declaration so it has some distance from us and therefore doesnt work in a counterproductive way.

Daszak added, Well then put it out in a way that doesnt link it back to our collaboration so we maximize an independent voice. Baric agreed, responding, Otherwise it looks self-serving and we lose impact. In the end, Baric didnt sign. Daszak did. And at least six of the others who signed the statement either worked at, or had received funding from, EcoHealth Alliance, according to Vanity Fair.

What we have here is a group of scientists actively involved in cooking up potentially deadly viruses, and possibly involved in a dangerous collaboration with the Wuhan lab that may have helped cause the death of millions, working in concert to create a false public impression of scientific consensus, when they knew perfectly well that there was no such consensus.

Not only did the media and digital media run with it, but, in addition, the Biden administration used the pretext of scientific consensusthe bogus consensus the Lancet helped createto shut down an ongoing State Department investigation, begun late in the Trump era and spearheaded by Mike Pompeo, into the true origins of COVID-19. This shutdown was actively promoted by U.S. government agencies and bureaucrats who had no intention of revealing their own role in sponsoring and subsidizing highly dangerous gain-of-function research.

The consequences of the COVID-19 deception, jointly promoted by scientists, journalists, digital moguls, and bureaucrats in the U.S. government, all eager to hide their possible role in a 21st century pandemic, are far-reaching. The big lie that COVID-19 arose naturally from a meat-market has stymied a true inquiry into what happened. Now we might never know. Not knowing means that preventing a future epidemic becomes that much more difficult.

Dinesh DSouza is an author, filmmaker, and daily host of the Dinesh DSouza podcast.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A group of illegal immigrants with Border Patrol after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in La Joya, Texas, on April 10, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Arizona Attorney General: ICE Shouldnt Turn Hotel Into Illegal Immigrant Processing Center

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich called on federal immigration officials to cease plans to turn a hotel into a processing center for illegal immigrants and unaccompanied minors.

In a letter to the White House, Brnovich told the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that he had grave concerns about ICEs contract with a Scottsdale, Arizona, hotel that is located near a school and a residential area.

I was extremely disappointed to learn about this through a newspaper report rather than any prior contact from DHS or ICE, even though there are important public safety issues involved in locating any detention center in a community setting, the Republican attorney general wrote.

In a Twitter post, Brnovich said the Biden administration is converting an unnamed hotel into a detention facility for roughly 1,200 illegal immigrants, noting local residents in the area have concerns about this reckless plan.

An ICE spokesperson told Fox News that illegal immigrant families are housed in a manner consistent with legal requirements for the safety and well-being of children and their parents or guardians.

Custody is intended to be short term, generally less than 72 hours, to allow for immigration enforcement processing and establishing appropriate terms and conditions of release while their immigration proceedings continue, the spokesperson said. All families will be tested for COVID-19 and receive a health assessment.

ICE officials told KPHO-TV the hotel usage plan is part of an $87 million contract that the agency has with the nonprofit organization Endeavors.

But Brnovich argued theres no guarantee the detainees will be prevented from being released into Scottsdale or other nearby communities after staying in the converted hotel.

Given this, if the prime contractor is unable to place particular detainees, it is foreseeable that ICE could simply release the detainee into the community because they do not fall within the Biden administrations extremely narrow enforcement priorities, Brnovich wrote in his letter, dated June 4.

The attorney general said the Biden administration has to answer several key questions about the plan, including how illegal immigrants are being processed to check their criminal records or if they have diseases such as COVID-19.

Over the weekend, roughly 200 protesters gathered outside the Scottsdale hotel, with one saying the illegal immigrants shouldnt be able to come in the country in the first place.

Do we know that they all have sponsors? Do we know that they have a place to go? Do we know that theyre actually going to show up for their court date? Or theyre just released and theyre on their own? asked a demonstrator.
Refugees and migrants arrive in a dinghy accompanied by Frontex vessels at the village of Skala Sikaminias, on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, on Feb. 28, 2020. (Michael Varaklas/AP Photo)

Auditor: EUs Frontex Border Agency Cant Fulfill Its Duties

BRUSSELSThe European Unions border and coast guard agency is being given additional tasks, like playing a greater role in the deportation of migrants, at a time when it is incapable of even fulfilling the duties it was ordered to carry out five years ago, the European Court of Auditors warned Monday.

The 27-nation bloc began bolstering Frontex, and desperately testing new migration policy, after well over 1 million migrants entered Europe in 2015, overwhelming reception centers and sparking a major political crisis about who should take responsibility for them. That dispute continues today.

Frontex is set to become the biggest and most heavily funded EU agency with some 10,000 officers and an annual budget around 900 million euros ($1.1 billion). The agency had 45 staff in 2005.

Presenting a report on the agencys work helping EU countries manage Europes external borders, lead auditor Leo Brincat told reporters that Frontex is presently not discharging their duty effectively, and we found that this is even more worrying at a time when Frontex is being given added responsibility.

The auditors said Frontexs support to EU member countries is not adequate to combat illegal immigration and cross-border crime.

Refugees and migrants arrive in a dinghy accompanied by Frontex vessels at the village of Skala Sikaminias, on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, on Feb. 28, 2020. (Michael Varaklas/AP Photo)

A year after hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict in Syria sought refuge in Europe, EU countries and the European Commission agreed in 2016 on a new mandate to formally establish Frontex as the European Border and Coast Guard agency.

Its main duties were to manage the unauthorized entry of migrants through the EUs external borders and to help reduce cross-border crime while respecting fundamental rights and ensuring that people could continue to move freely once inside Europes ID-check free zone.

An updated 2019 mandate established the standing corps that it is due to grow to 10,000 officers by 2027. Frontex can now deploy border guards to countries outside the EU and, as the focus grows on deportation, help send people refused entry back to countries they left or transited to get to Europe.

Brincat said the auditors found that even before being set these additional tasks Frontex was biting (off) more than it could chew.

They went through too many changes too fast, and now I think they are paying the price for this, he said. They have increased their mandate without really analyzing their performance or the impact of their work.

Brincat also said some EU countries fear that their best border guards and customs officers might be drawn to jobs at Frontex, depleting national reserves and forcing them into costly recruitment drives.

Member states feel that, not only are they not being given sufficient backup by Frontex, but that Frontex is draining their resources, he said.

Frontex spokesman Chris Borowski acknowledged that the agency has undergone a massive transformation that would have challenged any organization, especially in the times of the COVID pandemic, but that it remains committed to its mission despite the difficulties.

Frontex is aware that improvements are needed and has been working hard to make the agency stronger and even more effective. Unfortunately, many of the raised issues are related to external factors outside of the agencys control, Borowski said.

He said that putting the auditors recommendations into effect calls for a combined effort of Frontex, the European Commission and national authorities.

Frontex has been accused of links to migrant pushbacks, or preventing people from entering a country to use their right to apply for asylum. The agency denies any involvement. An inquiry found no evidence that it had, but did expose monitoring and reporting failures at Frontex.

By Lorne Cook
Two passengers walk past a Qantas jet at the International terminal at Sydney Airport on March 10, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Australian Airline Infiltrated by Criminal Organisations and Bikie Gangs, Report Finds

Australias largest airline company, Qantas, has been allegedly infiltrated by bikie gangs and criminal syndicates who are importing narcotics worth billions through Australias borders, a report has found.

The allegations detailed by an intelligence operation code-named Project Brunello has found up to 150 current Qantas staff linked to criminality, including a Comanchero bikie gang affiliate who is working as a Qantas manager at Sydney Airport, according to a joint report by 60 minutes, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Age.

Given we follow all of the governments vetting procedures, we find these claims disturbing, Qantas Group chief security officer Luke Bramah told the newspapers and Nines 60 minutes program.

We have not been advised of any current investigations of Qantas Group employees involved in organised crime. If concerns are raised regarding any of our employees, we will actively support their investigation and take appropriate action, Bramah said.

However, the Brunello report allegedly found these criminally-linked Qantas staff, referred to as trusted insiders, were able to cause significant harm to the Australian community by creating vulnerabilities in the security of supply chains and critical infrastructurethereby risking the erosion of public trust in border security the airlines reputation.

For instance, a Northern Territory contractor associated with the Hells Angels motorcycle gang had allegedly infiltrated flights conducted by Australias Department of Defence and a Perth freight contractor was found to have used his trusted insider status to transport large quantities of drugs.

Additionally, former Qantas baggage handler Damian Flowers pleaded guilty to importing $68.5 million (US$ 53 million) worth of cocaine in May 2021. Flowers had imported $1 billion worth of narcotics.

The nations peak law enforcement intelligence agency also uncovered five Qantas staff with criminal links involving the ISIS terrorist group, but no immediate risks were found.

Moreover, Project Brunello found seven others were allegedly linked to child exploitation, including one staffer charged with possessing and manufacturing child pornography, leading the report to suggest a network of sex offenders working out of Brisbane airport.

Almost 60 staffers were also allegedly linked to serious drug offences and organised crime groups, with the largest concentration among baggage handlers and freight workers.

Federal Government Proposes New Intelligence Checks Laws

The Morrison government is considering new rules that would allow airlines to use criminal intelligence, rather than just existing criminal convictions, when assessing job applicants.

However, Labor has said that such laws could affect workers on the basis of allegations alone. This has been disputed by intelligence groups who says that the rules would be used infrequently, only verified information would be used, with applicants able to appeal decisions.

This follows a 2005 Wheeler review that alleged Australias borders were compromised due to questions about border security controls and legislative gaps.

Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIO) head Michael Phelan has urged the Morrison government to pass these laws.

[If the laws] arent passed today, therell be 225 people  who are not convicted of any offences but have very close links to serious and organised crime, Phelan said.

Federal Labor issued a statement on June 6 urging a security review at Australias airports following the highly disturbing allegations reported by Nines newspapers and 60 minutes.

It is highly disturbing that the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission boss Mike Phelan has revealed tonight that federal law enforcement officials and dozens of Qantas employees might be facilitating the entry of drugs into Australia, Deputy Labor Leader Kristina Keneally and Shadow Transport minister Catherine King said in a joint statement.

Deeply disturbing allegations on @60Mins of drugs freely imported into Australia under @ScottMorrisonMPs watch COVID is changing how our airports work, & with these new allegations, its now time for a new airport security review Heres my joint statement with @CatherineKingMP pic.twitter.com/3viX8I5N5W  Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) June 6, 2021

Keneally and King added that during the pandemic, organised crime syndicates have not only adapted but thrived, which the Brunello report says may create further opportunities for criminal syndicates to target Qantas and its staff.

Labor says it wants an independent review of security at Australias international airports.

Qantas chief security officer Luke Bramah supports the Morrison governments proposed intelligence checks, reported Nine newspapers.

In addition to the criminal checks that happen every two years, wed like to see real-time background checks, which means airlines and airports know immediately if an employee has been convicted of an offence because its another safeguard.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 01:56:20|Editor: huaxia

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BERLIN, June 6 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led its rivals in the election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, a big boost of morale for the conservatives in the September federal election.

The CDU garnered 36 percent of the votes, up by 6.2 percent compared to the last state election, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) got 22.5 percent, according to an exit poll by local broadcaster ARD.

The Left Party got 11 percent of the votes and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) got 8.5 percent, according to the poll.

Saxony-Anhalt's CDU leader Sven Schulze said the result was "very, very gratifying," expressing gratitude to the voters for giving the party a "clear government mandate."

The preliminary result was seen as a great relief for the ruling CDU as polls ahead of the election had predicted AfD was neck-and-neck with CDU, which is currently led by Armin Laschet, the governor of Germany's most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia.

Laschet, 59, is seen by local media as one of the potential successors of Merkel after she announced that she would not seek a fifth term and later stepped down from the CDU leadership in late 2018. Enditem
Bosses from UK firms British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Heathrow Airport joined senior figures from the United States in calling for travel to reopen between the countries.They issued the plea at a joint virtual press conference held ahead of the meeting between Johnson and Biden in advance of the G7 summit in Cornwall.

The United States is currently on the UKs amber list, which means arriving travellers must self-isolate for 10 days.

Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss said travellers should be able to enter the UK from the United States without needing to quarantine.

He said: There is no reason for the U.S. to be absent from the UK green list.

This overly cautious approach fails to reap the benefits of the successful vaccination programmes in both the UK and the U.S.

While transatlantic links with the U.S. are restricted, its costing UK economy 23 million each day.

We urge Prime Minister Johnson and President Biden to lead the way in opening the skies, making it a top priority at the G7 summit.

Customers, families, and businesses need to book and travel with confidence. After 15 months of restrictions, the time to act is now.

Sean Doyle, chairman and chief executive of British Airways, called on the men to look to the science and base their judgments on a proper risk analysis.

He said: In the UK this means making the traffic light system fit for purpose, including a pathway to restriction-free travel for vaccinated travellers, and getting rid of complexity surrounding amber list countries, eliminating quarantine and reducing the number of tests passengers are required to take.

Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye said: Connectivity between the UK and the US is one of the great engines of the global economy.

The scientific data shows transatlantic travel and trade can be reopened safely, and every day that policymakers delay puts jobs, livelihoods, and the economic chances of hardworking folks across our countries at risk unnecessarily.

We cannot continue to keep locked up indefinitely.

By Neil Lancefield
The New York Times Building is seen in New York City on February 4, 2021. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

Babylon Bee Lawyers Demand Retraction From New York Times Over Misinformation Claim: CEO

The CEO of satirical news website Babylon Bee confirmed the companys lawyers sent a demand letter to the New York Times in June demanding a retraction over what the Bee said was an allegedly defamatory hit-piece.

Yesterday our counsel sent a letter to @nytimes demanding a retraction. We took this action because their article wasand remainsdefamatory, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon wrote on Twitter last week.

The NY Times had published an article in March, titled, For Political Cartoonists, the Irony Was That Facebook Didnt Recognize Irony, portraying the Beewhich clearly labels itself as a satire websiteas an entity that allegedly blurs the line between misinformation and satirical news.

For example, The Babylon Bee, a right-leaning site, sometimes trafficked in misinformation under the guise of satire, the NY Times article said. The article was later updated in late March to instead read: The Babylon Bee, a right-leaning satirical site, has feuded with Facebook and the fact-checking site Snopes over whether the site published misinformation or satire.

But Dillon, in a series of tweets last week, said that the revision was no better than the original article.

Yesterday our counsel sent a letter to @nytimes demanding a retraction. We took this action because their article wasand remainsdefamatory.  Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) June 3, 2021

We have not, in fact, feuded with Snopes as to whether we publish satire or misinformation, he said in a Twitter post, referring to claims foisted in the NY Times article. Snopes retracted that insinuation with an editors note saying it was never their intent to call our motives into question.

The NY Times article made reference to a 2019 Snopes article stating that Too Many People Think Satirical News Is Real that noted fellow satirical website The Onion is also often mistaken for satire. However, Snopes alleged the Babylon Bee was among the most shared factually inaccurate content.

Its therefore misleading and malicious, Dillon added of the NY Times, to characterize that incident as a feud, as if Snopes ever openly stood by the claim that we are misinformation and not satire.

Dillon then said that the Babylon Bee cant stand by idly and argued the article may damage its business.

These mischaracterizations from the Times are nothing new. Previously, Times reporter Kevin Roose wrote a defamatory piece that claimed we capitalize on confusion and that we have a habit of skirting the line between misinformation and satire, whatever that means, Dillon wrote.

The Epoch Times has contacted the NY Times for comment.

Its unclear when or if the Babylon Bee will file a lawsuit against the paper.
President Joe Biden speaks during an event in the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, on June 2, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Biden Follows Trump, Says DOJ Will Defend Excluding Puerto Rico From Social Security Benefits

President Joe Biden announced on June 7 he will direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to defend the move to exclude Puerto Rico residents from receiving Social Security Income benefits if theyre elderly, disabled, or blind, as well as low incomeadhering to the same policy as his predecessor, President Donald Trump.

In a statement, the president said the agency will defend the constitutionality of federal law in a challenge against a provision in the Social Security Act that excludes Puerto Rico, an unincorporated commonwealth under U.S. jurisdiction. Biden added that he opposes the Supplemental Security Income provision in question, but says the DOJ has the duty to defend the policy in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

This provision is inconsistent with my administrations policies and values, Biden stated. However, the Department of Justice has a longstanding practice of defending the constitutionality of federal statutes, regardless of policy preferences. This practice is critical to the departments mission of preserving the rule of law. Consistent with this important practice, the Department is defending the constitutionality of the Social Security Act provision in this case.

Biden called on Congress to amend the law so residents of the commonwealth are no longer excluded from receiving Social Security benefits.

And as I reiterated in my first budget request, I also support eliminating Medicaid funding caps for Puerto Rico and moving toward parity for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to align with States, Bidens said in a statement posted on the White House website.

The president also touted the recent COVID-19 stimulus packages for providing more benefits to Puerto Ricans.

Last year, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a resident of Puerto Rico, Jose Luis Vaello-Madero, who was eligible for Social Security benefits in New York state, but lost them when he moved to Puerto Rico several years ago.

Social Security benefits are available for U.S. citizens living in all 50 states, Washington, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Other than Puerto Rico residents, U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam residents also arent eligible to receive the benefits.

The decision not to include Puerto Rico was made by Congress when it enacted the program in 1972. Puerto Ricans are eligible for a different program, called Aid to the Aged, Blind, and Disabled, which allows for more local control, but not as much federal funding, the DOJ said in court documents.

Some Puerto Ricans have complained that the Caribbean commonwealths residents are treated worse than other Americans despite being U.S. citizens. Puerto Rico, which isnt a state, is the most populous of the U.S. territories, with a population of roughly 3 million people.

Reuters contributed to this report.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks at an annual Memorial Day Service at Veterans Memorial Park, Delaware Memorial Bridge, New Castle, Del., on May 30, 2021. (Ken Cedeno/Reuters)

Biden G7, NATO To-do List: Unite Allies, Fight Autocracy, Attack COVID-19

WASHINGTONPresident Joe Bidens meeting with leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrial economies in an English seaside village this week will usher in a new focus on rallying U.S. allies against common adversariesthe COVID-19 pandemic, Russia, and China.

New COVID-19 variants and rising death tolls in some countries will loom large during the gathering from Friday to Sunday, alongside climate change, strengthening global supply chains, and ensuring the West maintains its technological edge over China, the worlds second-largest economy.

Biden, a Democrat, vowed to build relations with allies.

In this moment of global uncertainty, as the world still grapples with a once-in-a-century pandemic, this trip is about realizing Americas renewed commitment to our allies and partners, Biden wrote in an opinion piece published by the Washington Post on Saturday.

The gathering will put Bidens America is back motto to the test.

It is a pivotal moment for the United States and the world, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on CNN on Sunday.

Is international cooperation going to be restored or are we still in this world where nationalism, protectionism, and to some extent isolationism are dominating? Brown asked.

Uniting Against Russia

Russia will be at the forefront of attention at the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, and the days afterward when Biden meets with European leaders and NATO allies in Brussels, before heading to Geneva to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The recent ransomware attack on JBS, the worlds largest meatpacker, by a criminal group likely based in Russia, and Putins financial backing for Belarus after it forced a Ryanair flight to land so it could arrest a dissident journalist on board, are pushing U.S. officials to consider sharper action.

On the sidelines of the NATO summit, Biden is also expected to meet with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, a crucial session between the sparring NATO allies after Ankaras purchase of Russian defense systems angered Washington and risked driving a wedge within the alliance.

Corporate Tax Hikes

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen attends G7 finance ministers meeting at Lancaster House in London, England, on June 5, 2021. (Alberto Pezzali/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

G7 finance ministers reached a landmark global deal on Saturday to set a minimum global corporate tax rate of at least 15 percent, potentially hitting giant tech companies like Alphabet Incs Google, Facebook Inc, and Amazon.com Inc. Biden and his counterparts will give the deal their final blessing in Cornwall.

COVID-19 and IP Waivers

The Biden administration on Thursday detailed its plans to donate 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines globally by the end of June.

Washington reversed course last month and backed negotiations over waivers for intellectual property protections at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to speed vaccine production in developing countries, much to the chagrin of Germany and Britain.

European diplomats say they see little common ground on the issue, and argue that any WTO compromise would take months to finalize and implement. That may prove a moot point if sufficient vaccine doses are shared with developing countries to slowand eventually haltthe pandemic.

Climate Change Disclosures

Biden announced plans in May to require U.S. government contractors and financial institutions to be more transparent about the climate change risks faced by their investments, and administration officials are pushing other countries to adopt similar plans.

The UK also wants governments to require businesses to report such risks as a way to boost investment in green projects. But agreement on a way forward is unlikely to come in June. A deal could emerge at a U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.

G7 countries also have different views on carbon pricing, which the International Monetary Fund views as a key way to curb carbon dioxide emissions and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Chinas Forced Labor

The Biden administration will urge allies to unite against China over allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang province, home to the Muslim Uyghur minority, even as it seeks to maintain Beijing as an ally in the climate change fight.

By Andrea Shalal, Humeyra Pamuk, and Steve Holland

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report
Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on as he meets with Israel's Defense Minister Benny Gantz in Washington on June 3, 2021. (Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken Declines to Say How US Would Hold China Accountable Over Wuhan Lab Access

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday declined to disclose what the Biden administration would do to pressure the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) into allowing access to the Wuhan laboratory where the CCP virus, which causes COVID-19, is thought by some to have originated.

What would the U.S. actually do of substance to pressure China to give access to the lab if China does not grant that access? Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) asked Blinken during a congressional hearing.

What weve seen, unfortunatelymore than unfortunatelyfrom the PRC since the beginning of this crisis is a failure to meet its basic responsibilities in terms of sharing information, providing access, and doing that in real-time with transparency. That was true at the start, it remains true, unfortunately, today, Blinken said.

And I think what youre seeing is, through the work thats being done, for example, at the WHO, the work that were doing, and the concerns expressed by countries around the world that there is a strong chorus insisting that China make good on its commitment, on its responsibilities to provide the information.

Blinken then said he did not want to say what the Biden administration might do on the matter in the future.

I dont want to get into hypotheticals going forward in the future about what we would or would not do but I think I can say with confidence that there is going to be an increasing international demand that countries, including China, meet their responsibilities when it comes to providing information and access to transparency on the local health, including COVID, he added.

Zeldin, a GOP gubernatorial candidate, said many members of Congress are skeptical that the CCP would grant access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and want to know what the next step would be if and when China says that lab access wont be granted.

Chinese officials have repeatedly blocked outside investigators from probing the origins of the CCP virus. Top officials in the country have suggested without evidence that the virus started outside China, despite the first known cases appearing in Wuhan close to the high-level lab.

An aerial view shows the P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, on April 17, 2020. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken, appearing on Axios on HBO, said that we have to get to the bottom of what happened but offered no ideas on how China would be held accountable.

What the [Chinese] government didnt do in the early days and still hasnt done is given us the transparency we need, the international communityaccess for inspectors and experts, the sharing of information in real-time. That has to happen, he said.

Pressed on whether the United States would go as far as imposing sanctions in response to the CCPs tactics, Blinken demurred.

At the end of the day, its profoundly in Chinas interest to do this as well, because, look, it suffered too in the outbreak of this pandemic, he said. It presumably has an interest as well, especially if it purports to be a responsible international actor, to do everything it can to provide all the information it has to make sure we can hopefully prevent this from happening again.

The testimony and interview came as U.S. intelligence officials are working to try to determine where, how, and when the CCP virus originated. The intelligence community has coalesced around two theories: a natural origin, followed by an animal-to-human transmission, and a lab leak. President Joe Biden ordered late last month the intelligence community to redouble their efforts and produce a report to him within 90 days.

The initial inquiry that the president ordered in March, that reported out some weeks ago, concluded that the two most likely scenarios were a natural occurrence, a transmission from animal to human, or a lab leak, Blinken told members of Congress on Monday.

No one has yet found conclusive evidence that makes clear which one of those it is, which is why the president  ordered the intelligence community to do an intensive review to see if we can finally come to a determination of what happened to where and why it happened.
A tribute for six-year-old road rage victim Aiden Leos is displayed on the Walnut bridge overpass above the 55 Freeway in Orange, Calif., on May 24, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

California Police Arrest 2 Suspected of Fatally Shooting 6-Year-Old in Road Rage Incident

Two people have been arrested in connection with a suspected road rage incident in California that resulted in the fatal shooting of six-year-old Aiden Leos last month.

Eriz Marcus Anthony, 24, and Lee Wynne, 23, are expected to be charged with the murder of the boy, who was sitting in the back seat of his mothers car when he was fatally struck on May 21 at around 8 a.m., the California High Patrol (CHP) said.

According to a CHP statement shared on Twitter by Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, Anthony and Wynne were arrested in their home on Sunday. No further details were released about the two suspects, however the Orange County Register described them as boyfriend and girlfriend.

While these arrests will not ease the pain of a mothers loss, my hope is for the Leos family to have some peace of mind, CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray said in the statement.

The CHP will work with the Orange County district attorney to bring justice for Aiden, she said.

Aiden Leos (center) died after being shot while being driven by his mother in Orange, California. (GoFundMe)

The pair are each being held on $1 million bail.

On behalf of Border Division Chief Omar Watson, and the Santa Ana area, we are deeply grateful for the professionalism and tireless commitment of our investigators who have worked on this case from day one to find those responsible for Aidens death, Ray added.

The boys mother, Joanna Cloonan, was taking him to kindergarten on the 55 Freeway in Orange, California when shots were fired, fatally striking the child.

They took my sons life away, Cloonan told ABC News last month. He was beautiful and he was kind and he was precious, and you killed him for no reason. And I want to find them and I want there to be justice to be served for my son.

Family members of six-year-old Aiden Leos stand at a makeshift memorial on the Walnut Avenue overpass at the 55 Freeway in Orange, to announce that the reward for information leading to the suspects in the road-rage shooting death of Leos, in Calif., on May 25, 2021. (Leonard Ortiz/File/The Orange County Register via AP)

Cloonan said that she was driving her son when a white sedan cut her off while she was in the carpool lane. Someone in the vehicle then opened fire, striking the boy.

As I started to merge away from them, I heard a really loud noise, Cloonan said. And my son said, Ow, and I had to pull over. And he got shot.

CHP Officer Florentino Olivera described the shooting as some type of road rage incident. Family members, according to Olivera, said that a man and a woman were inside the vehicle that opened fire, although its unclear who pulled the trigger.

A memorial service was held on Saturday for Aiden.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo speaks as White House press secretary Jen Psaki looks on during a daily press briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on April 7, 2021. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Commerce Secretary: Cyberattacks on US Companies Will Only Intensify

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said Sunday that cyberattacks will only increase in the future and that she and the administration are urging all businesses to shore up their own cybersecurity systems, while the federal government works to strengthen national cybersecurity.

So, I think the first thing we have to recognize is, this is a reality, and we should assume and businesses should assume that these attacks are here to stay and if anything will intensify, said Raimondo.

Raimondo made the comment during an interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos, who questioned her about the eight cyberattacks against companies occurring each day.

The secretary pointed to the White Houses June 3 letter in which the cybersecurity adviser at the National Security Council, Anne Neuberger, warned business leaders about the growing risk of ransomware attacks, urging them to beef up their digital security measures.

The threats are serious and they are increasing, Neuberger said in the letter obtained by media outlets.

All organizations must recognize that no company is safe from being targeted by ransomware, regardless of size or location. Much as our homes have locks and alarm systems and our office buildings have guards and security to meet the threat of theft, we urge you to take ransomware crime seriously and ensure your corporate cyber defenses match the threat.

Raimondo repeated the White Houses warning for businesses to increase cybersecurity without delay.

The only good news here George is that some very simple steps, like two-factor authentications, having proper backups and backup technology can be enormously helpful against a wide variety of these attacks, Raimondo added.

So, it is clear that the private sector needs to be more vigilant, by the way, including small and medium-sized companies. And also, President Biden has been clear that we are going to do more. In fact, certain components of the American Jobs Plan (AJP), provide for investments to shore up the nations cyber infrastructure, which is just another reason why its so important that the AJP passes, she said.

Tanker trucks are parked near the entrance of Colonial Pipeline Company in Charlotte, N.C., on May 12, 2021. (Chris Carlson/AP Photo)

The commerce secretarys warning comes after a number of recent high-profile cyberattacks, including one targeting Colonial Pipeline last month, leading to a disruptive shutdown and gasoline shortages. Earlier this week, a hack against Americas largest beef producer, JBS, led to a shutdown of many of its meat production plants, sparking fears of food supply interruptions. In late May, Microsoft announced that it believes the Russia-based hackers behind the SolarWinds cyber attack had begun a fresh campaign targeting over 150 government agencies, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations.

To counter the increased cyberattacks on May 12, the Biden administration issued an executive order to bolster the federal governments ability to identify, deter, protect against, detect, and respond to these actions and actors.

The Biden administration said they will take a whole-of-government approach to combatting the security threat by removing barriers to sharing information about these threats, modernizing the federal governments cybersecurity, enhancing the software supply chain, establishing a cyber safety review board, standardizing how the government responds to attacks, improving the federal governments ability to detect cyber threats, and improving its ability to investigate and correct the problems.

Raimondo said the Biden administration is leaving the security of each business to itself, instead of mandating anything at this point.

I think that as I said at this point we are urging businesses  and at the moment were going to pursue that versus, what youre talking about, a little bit more heavy-handed approach.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
A U.S. Capitol Police car drives past on patrol in front of security fencing near the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 9, 2021. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

Dont Be Alarmed at Low-Flying Helicopters: Capitol Police Conduct Training Exercise in Washington

The U.S. Capitol Police said that it is making security preparations at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, telling people not to be alarmed.

This morning we are working with our federal, state, and local partners on a routine training exercise on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. Please do not be alarmed if you see emergency vehicles and low flying helicopters, the agency said. Its not clear if the exercise is designed to prevent a breach like the Jan. 6 Capitol incident.

EXERCISE: This morning we are working with our federal, state, and local partners on a routine training exercise on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. Please do not be alarmed if you see emergency vehicles and low flying helicopters. pic.twitter.com/bOaqUXJudn  U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) June 7, 2021

Authorities told Fox News that the exercise was carried out by state, federal, and local agencies at around 8:30 a.m. on Monday. It was described as routine.

No additional information was released.

Witnesses to the exercise said that on Monday morning, they saw military-style helicopters landing on the Capitol lawn before taking off moments later.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has arrested and charged about 440 individuals in connection to incidents on Jan. 6, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia. More than 100 were charged with allegedly assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

Last month, the Department of Defense declined to continue the National Guards deployment around Capitol Hill and Washington. After Jan. 6, there were several thousand Guard members and security fencing placed around the Capitol.

Months after the breach, a man smashed his car into a Capitol Police barricade near the Senate building, killing one Capitol officer and injuring another. The suspect, Noah Green, was later identified as a supporter of the Nation of Islam, although the group denounced Green and said he wasnt affiliated with them.

The suspect rammed his car into two of our officers and then hit the north barricade barrier, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yoganana Pittman said in April. At such time the suspect exited the vehicle with a knife in hand. Our officers then engaged that suspect. He did not respond to verbal commands.
A woman carries a child at night in the old town of Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, on March 23, 2017. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Amid Accusations of Genocide From the West, China Policies Could Cut Millions of Uyghur Births in Xinjiang: Report

BEIJINGChinese birth control policies could cut between 2.6 million and 4.5 million births of the Uyghur and other ethnic minorities in southern Xinjiang within 20 years, up to a third of the regions projected minority population, according to a new analysis by a German researcher.

The report, shared exclusively with Reuters ahead of publication, also includes a previously unreported cache of research produced by Chinese academics and officials on Beijings intent behind the birth control policies in Xinjiang, where official data shows birth rates already dropped by 48.7 percent between 2017 and 2019.

Adrian Zenzs research comes amid growing calls among some western countries for an investigation into whether Chinas actions in Xinjiang amount to genocide, a charge Beijing vehemently denies.

The research by Zenz is the first such peer-reviewed analysis of the long-term population impact of Beijings multi-year crackdown in the western region. Rights groups, researchers and some residents say the policies include newly enforced birth limits on Uyghur and other mainly Muslim ethnic minorities, the transfers of workers to other regions and the internment of an estimated one million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in a network of camps.

This (research and analysis) really shows the intent behind the Chinese governments long-term plan for the Uyghur population, Zenz told Reuters.

The Chinese government has not made public any official target for reducing the proportion of Uyghur and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. But based on analysis of official birth data, demographic projections and ethnic ratios proposed by Chinese academics and officials, Zenz estimates Beijings policies could increase the predominant Han Chinese population in southern Xinjiang to around 25 percent from 8.4 percent currently.

This goal is only achievable if they do what they have been doing, which is drastically suppressing (Uyghur) birth rates, Zenz said.

China has previously said the current drop in ethnic minority birth rates is due to the full implementation of the regions existing birth quotas as well as development factors, including an increase in per capita income and wider access to family planning services.

The so-called genocide in Xinjiang is pure nonsense, Chinas Foreign Ministry told Reuters in a statement. It is a manifestation of the ulterior motives of anti-China forces in the United States and the West and the manifestation of those who suffer from Sinophobia.

Demonstrators hold placards during a protest against Uyghur genocide, in London, on April 22, 2021. (Peter Nicholl//Reuters)

Official data showing the decrease in Xinjiang birth rates between 2017 and 2019 does not reflect the true situation and Uyghur birth rates remain higher than Han ethnic people in Xinjiang, the ministry added.

The new research compares a population projection done by Xinjiang-based researchers for the government-run Chinese Academy of Sciences based on data predating the imposed birth restrictions, to official data on birth rates and what Beijing describes as population optimization measures for Xinjiangs ethnic minorities introduced since 2017.

It found the population of ethnic minorities in Uyghur-dominated southern Xinjiang would reach between 8.6 million and 10.5 million by 2040 under the new birth prevention policies. That compares to 13.14 million projected by Chinese researchers using data pre-dating the implemented birth policies and a current population of around 9.47 million.

Zenz, an independent researcher with the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a bipartisan non-profit based in Washington, D.C., has previously been condemned by Beijing for his research which has been critical of Chinas policies on detaining Uyghurs, mass labour transfers, and birth reduction in Xinjiang.

Chinas foreign ministry has accused Zenz of misleading people with data and, in response to Reuters questions, said his lies arent worth refuting.

Zenzs research was accepted for publication by the Central Asian Survey, a quarterly academic journal, after peer review on June 3.

Reuters shared the research and methodology with more than a dozen experts in population analysis, birth prevention policies, and international human rights law, who said the analysis and conclusions were sound.

Some of the experts cautioned that demographic projections over a period of decades can be affected by unforeseen factors. The Xinjiang government has not publicly set official ethnic quota or population size goals for ethnic populations in Southern Xinjiang, and the quotas used in the analysis are based on proposed figures from Chinese officials and academics.

End Uyghur Dominance

The move to prevent births among Uyghur and other minorities is in sharp contrast with Chinas wider birth policies.

Last week, Beijing announced married couples can have three children, up from two, the largest such policy shift since the one-child policy was scrapped in 2016 in response to Chinas rapidly ageing population. The announcement contained no reference to any specific ethnic groups.

Before then, measures officially limited the countrys majority Han ethnic group and minority groups including Uyghur to two childrenthree in rural areas. However, Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities had historically been partially excluded from those birth limits as part of preferential policies designed to benefit the minority communities.

Some residents, researchers, and rights groups say the newly enforced rules now disproportionately impact Islamic minorities, who face detention for exceeding birth quotas, rather than fines as elsewhere in China.

In a Communist Party record leaked in 2020, also reported by Zenz, a re-education camp in southern Xinjiangs Karakax county listed birth violations as the reason for internment in 149 cases out of 484 detailed in the list. China has called the list a fabrication.

A facility believed to be a re-education camp where mostly Uyghurs are detained is seen in far-western Chinas Xinjiang region, on June 4, 2019. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

Birth quotas for ethnic minorities have become strictly enforced in Xinjiang since 2017, including through the separation of married couples, and the use of sterilization procedures, intrauterine devices (IUDs), and abortions three Uyghur people and one health official inside Xinjiang told Reuters.

Two of the Uyghur people said they had direct family members who were detained for having too many children. Reuters could not independently verify the detentions.

It is not up to choice, said the official, based in southern Xinjiang, who asked not to be named because they fear reprisals from the local government. All Uyghurs must comply it is an urgent task.

The Xinjiang government did not respond to a request for comment about whether birth limits are more strictly enforced against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. Xinjiang officials have previously said all procedures are voluntary.

Still, in Xinjiang counties where Uyghurs are the majority ethnic group, birth rates dropped 50.1 percent in 2019, for example, compared to a 19.7 percent drop in majority ethnic Han counties, according to official data compiled by Zenz.

Zenzs report says analyses published by state-funded academics and officials between 2014 and 2020 show the strict implementation of the policies are driven by national security concerns, and are motivated by a desire to dilute the Uyghur population, increase Han migration and boost loyalty to the ruling Communist Party.

A child looks out from a door as a Uighur woman walks by in a residential area in Turpan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, on Oct. 31, 2013. (Michael Martina/Reuters)

For example, 15 documents created by state-funded academics and officials showcased in the Zenz report include comments from Xinjiang officials and state-affiliated academics referencing the need to increase the proportion of Han residents and decrease the ratio of Uyghurs or described the high concentration of Uyghurs as a threat to social stability.

The problem in southern Xinjiang is mainly the unbalanced population structure  the proportion of the Han population is too low, Liu Yilei, an academic and the deputy secretary general of the Communist Party committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a government body with administrative authority in the region, told a July 2020 symposium, published on the Xinjiang University website.

Xinjiang must end the dominance of the Uyghur group, said Liao Zhaoyu, dean of the institute of frontier history and geography at Xinjiangs Tarim University at an academic event in 2015, shortly before the birth policies and broader internment programme were enforced in full.

Liao did not respond to a request for comment. Liu could not be reached for comment. The foreign ministry did not comment on their remarks, or on the intent behind the policies.

Intent to Destroy?

Zenz and other experts point to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which lists birth prevention targeting an ethnic group as one act that could qualify as genocide.

The United States government and parliaments in countries including Britain and Canada have described Chinas birth prevention and mass detention policies in Xinjiang as genocide.

However, some academics and politicians say there is insufficient evidence of intent by Beijing to destroy an ethnic population in part or full to meet the threshold for a genocide determination.

No formal criminal charges have been laid against Chinese or Xinjiang officials because of a lack of available evidence on, and insight into, the policies in the region. Prosecuting officials would also be complex and require a high bar of proof.

Additionally, China is not a party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the top international court that prosecutes genocide and other serious crimes, and which can only bring action against states within its jurisdiction.

By Cate Cadell
Workers are seen next to a cage with mice inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on Feb. 23, 2017. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

Experts Point to Damning Gene Splicing Evidence of Likely Lab Origin of CCP Virus

A June 6 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, penned by two experts, argued there existed damning scientific evidence supporting the theory that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus didnt make a natural jump from animal to human, but was bio-engineered in a Chinese lab.

Dr. Steven Quay, who holds both a masters and a doctorate degree from the University of Michigan, and Richard Muller, emeritus professor of physics at the University of CaliforniaBerkeley, said that two key pieces of evidenceone relating to gene splicing and the other to a lack of virus diversitystrongly suggest a lab origin regarding the outbreak that has infected more than 173 million people worldwide.

The presence of the double CGG sequence is strong evidence of gene splicing, and the absence of diversity in the public outbreak suggests gain-of-function acceleration. The scientific evidence points to the conclusion that the virus was developed in a laboratory, the pair wrote.

Gain-of-function research involves manipulating a viruss genome to increase its virulence or transmissibility to better understand and predict the emergence of disease-causing agents and make it easier to come up with a solution before the disease emerges as a pandemic. Quay and Muller wrote that the most common genome pairing used in gain-of-function experiments on coronaviruses is CGG-CGG, or double CGG, which is spliced into a prime location in the genome, spurring the production of two arginine amino acids in a row and boosting a viruss lethality.

This alters the virus spike protein, rendering it easier for the virus to inject genetic material into the victim cell. Since 1992 there have been at least 11 separate experiments adding a special sequence to the same location. The end result has always been supercharged viruses, the scientists wrote.

Genomic insertion can take place naturally in a process called recombination, but in cases of natural splicing, one of 35 other possible genomic sequences would be far more likely to appear than the double CGG, Quay and Muller wrote.

In the entire class of coronaviruses that includes CoV-2, the CGG-CGG combination has never been found naturally, they wrote. That means the common method of viruses picking up new skills, called recombination, cannot operate here. A virus simply cannot pick up a sequence from another virus if that sequence isnt present in any other virus.

But in lab-based gain-of-function experiments, the CGG sequence is the pair of choice, they said.

Thats because it is readily available and convenient, and scientists have a great deal of experience inserting it, the scientists wrote. An additional advantage of the double CGG sequence compared with the other 35 possible choices: It creates a useful beacon that permits the scientists to track the insertion in the laboratory.

While the pair acknowledged that the double CGG sequence could have appeared naturally in SARS-CoV-2, the scientific term for the CCP virus, the fact that its present in the virus puts the burden of proof on opponents of the lab theory.

Proponents of zoonotic origin must explain why the novel coronavirus, when it mutated or recombined, happened to pick its least favorite combination, the double CGG. Why did it replicate the choice the labs gain-of-function researchers would have made? they wrote.

At the minimum, this factthat the coronavirus, with all its random possibilities, took the rare and unnatural combination used by human researchersimplies that the leading theory for the origin of the coronavirus must be laboratory escape.

While the thesis that the virus leaked from a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology was initially dismissed by a number of prominent scientists, including White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, theres recently been a pivot. Fauci has acknowledged that hes no longer certain the virus didnt leak from the lab, while President Joe Biden has ordered U.S. intelligence to redouble its efforts to examine both theories, which he characterized as equally plausible.

Quay and Muller said the second key piece of evidence that supports a lab leak theory has to do with the genetic diversity of the CCP virus compared to the coronaviruses that caused SARS and MERS.

SARS and MERS, which were confirmed to be of natural origin, evolved rapidly as they spread through the human population, until the most contagious forms dominated.

Yet the CCP virus appeared in humans already adapted into an extremely contagious version, the pair noted, with no significant mutations occurring in the virus until months after the outbreak.

Such early optimization is unprecedented, and it suggests a long period of adaptation that predated its public spread, they wrote, arguing that theres only one way this could be achieved, namely through simulated natural evolution by growing the virus on human cells under lab conditions.

Chinese communist authorities have repeatedly rejected the lab leak theory, while a report from the World Health Organization (WHO) published in March concluded that the CCP virus likely spread to people through an unknown animal. However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the time that the mission to study the origin of the virus didnt adequately analyze other theories and, on May 25, the United States urged the WHO to launch a fresh probe into the origin of the virus, highlighting the need for transparency.

More than a dozen nations, including the United States and the European Union, have raised concerns about the phase one WHO study into the origin of the virus, pointing to the reports significant delay and Chinas refusal to share crucial raw data.

In March, Quay coauthored a study that relied on Bayesian analysis to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that SARS-CoV-2 is not a natural zoonosis but instead is laboratory-derived.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 10:30:23|Editor: huaxia

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Aerial photo taken on April 15, 2019 shows the Alliance Steel at the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park in Pahang, Malaysia. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)

"After 30 years, the mutual trust and confidence have gone up, which can be seen from the tangible effects from the cooperation between ASEAN and China," said Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, Malaysia's ambassador to China from 1998 to 2005.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The relations between China and ASEAN have grown from strength to strength since the two sides established dialogue relations 30 years ago, bringing about tangible results in all-round cooperation and recent joint efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic, said a former Malaysian ambassador to China.

"For the last 30 years, ASEAN-China relation has been a model for regional cooperation," said Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, Malaysia's ambassador to China from 1998 to 2005.

When China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) established dialogue relations 30 years ago, the two sides had to explore ways of cooperation and build mutual trust in each other, recalled Majid, who was involved in the process as a seasoned diplomat.

Photo taken on May 27, 2020 shows a container truck carrying Vietnamese lychees exported to China at Kim Thanh II International Border Gate in Vietnam's northern Lao Cai province, which borders China. (VNA via Xinhua)

"After 30 years, the mutual trust and confidence have gone up, which can be seen from the tangible effects from the cooperation between ASEAN and China," he told Xinhua on Sunday.

He pointed out the frequent leaders' visits between China and ASEAN countries, the close economic relations as ASEAN has become China's largest trading partner last year, people-to-people connectivity, among others, as concrete proof of the dynamic and close relations between the two sides.

"China is one of the most active partners of ASEAN by coming up with many initiatives to advance the cooperation. China has also responded positively and signed up to various ASEAN policies and initiatives. China has always emphasized and respected ASEAN centrality in regional cooperation," said Majid.

A worker cleans a durian at a durian processing factory in Pahang, Malaysia, June 18, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)

As a diplomat who has involved from the very beginning of the development of ASEAN-China relations, Majid said he was happy to see the foundation which was laid three decades ago had led to fruitful and concrete results.

The joint efforts between ASEAN and China against the COVID-19 pandemic, including the sending of medical assistance and expert teams by China to ASEAN countries, are also "very positive signs of the mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship," said Majid.

China has made good of its pledge to offer its COVID-19 vaccines as a global public good by prioritizing the supply to ASEAN countries, not only providing finished vaccines but also willing to embark on the transfer of technology through joint manufacturing cooperation with countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, he said.

Airport workers unload the Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac's CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine upon its arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, May 21, 2021. (Photo by CITF/Handout via Xinhua)

"China has delivered what it says on making its vaccines global public goods," said Majid.

As China and ASEAN are holding a Special Foreign Ministers' Meeting in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of dialogue relations on Monday, Majid expects that ASEAN and China will strengthen cooperation against COVID-19 and for the economic recovery, and that the relationship will emerge even stronger.

"The relations will become stronger as China is playing a bigger role in regional issues and the RCEP would further foster regional cooperation," said Majid, referring to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership signed last year by 10 ASEAN members and Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
First Lady Jill Biden (L) and Dr. Anthony Fauci (C), director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speak with members of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City on June 6, 2021. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)

Fauci, First Lady Visit Vaccination Clinic as Protesters Call for Firing

Dr. Anthony Fauci and First Lady Jill Biden on Sunday visited a COVID-19 vaccination site in New York City.

Fauci and Biden visited Abyssinian Baptist Church, a megachurch on W. 138th St. in the borough of Manhattan. People can get a COVID-19 shot there.

About 75 protesters gathered outside the church, shouting fire Fauci and freedom over fear.

The group held signs that included Faucism is the only legal religion and Fauci = criminal.

Jo Rose, one of the protesters, said that the recently released emails to and from the doctor show that he has lied.

Nothing that Dr. Fauci said is based on real science, she said.

Fauci, White House chief medical adviser to the president and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said the emails are really ripe to be taken out of context and has received support from President Joe Biden even as calls among members of Congress for his resignation or firing grow.

The American people dont have trust in Dr. Fauci, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said on Breitbart News Saturday. Lets find a person we can trust. Take politics aside, I mean were talking about American lives here.

Fauci, Biden, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) visited with health care workers and thanked them for their work. The first lady showed her appreciation for Fauci, introducing him as the man, the myth, the legend!

The group, who were all masked, made brief remarks but took no questions from reporters.

Demonstrators protest outside Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City on June 6, 2021. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)

I want to thank you all for coming, because this is how we get the word out, Biden said.

We want everyone 12 or older to come get vaccinated. Were really working hard because we have to get back to life as normal. And Dr. Fauci is here and he is working hard, he is working seven days a week, she added.

Fauci, a native New Yorker, said hes known about the church since he was a child.

And to actually be in this place with all of the extraordinary people who are working [here]; were going to end this outbreak, were absolutely certain, he said. And the vehicle to ending it is vaccination, and thats whats going on right here, and thats why Im so impressed and honored to be here.

Fauci, during appearances on MSNBC last week, has criticized the attacks hes facing in the wake of the email releases.

Im concerned about that, more because its really very much an attack on science, he said on The Rachel Maddow Show on Friday.

He also said that some people resent what he did during the Trump administration but insisted he was just trying to get the right information, to try and get the right data.

What they didnt seem to understandI guess that it is understandable that they didnt understand itthat science is a dynamic process, he added. So something that you know in Januaryyou make a recommendation or a comment about it. But as you get more and more information, the information leads you to change. Because that is what science is, it is a self-correcting process.
Fauci Knew! | Real Talk with Wayne Dupree

Donald Trump is back on the scene and he ripped Dr. Fauci, Big Tech Censorship, and asked the world to unite against China after what they did to us with COVID.

As for Dr. Fauci, newly released emails from White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci prove that he knew the Wuhan Institute of Virology was carrying out dangerous gain-of-function research, Sen. Rand Paul charged Wednesday night.

The emails paint a disturbing picture, a disturbing picture of Dr. Fauci, from the very beginning, worrying that he had been funding gain-of-function research, Paul (R-Ky.) told Fox News The Ingraham Angle, and he knows it to this day, but hasnt admitted it.
A researcher works on the development of the medication aducanumab in Cambridge, Mass., in 2019. (Biogen via AP)

FDA Approves Biogen Alzheimers Drug

Government health official on Monday approved Biogens aducanumab as the first treatment to attack a likely cause of Alzheimers disease, sending its shares soaring, despite controversy over whether the clinical evidence proves the drug works.

Biogen said it has priced the drug, to be sold as Aduhelm, at $56,000 per year. Its shares jumped nearly 52 percent to $434.52 when trading resumed following the approval. U.S. traded shares of partner Eisai Co were already up $33.50, or 45 percent, to $107.75

Aducanumab aims to remove sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid beta from the brains of patients in earlier stages of Alzheimers in order to stave off its ravages, which include memory loss and the inability to care for ones self.

This is good news for patients with Alzheimers disease. Weve not had a disease modifying therapy approved ever, said Dr. Ronald Petersen, an Alzheimers disease expert at the Mayo Clinic. However, he cautioned, This is not a cure. Its hoped that this will slow the progression of the disease.

I think this is a big day, Peterson said. But we cant overpromise.

Alzheimers is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

A vial and packaging for the drug Aduhelm is shown on June 7, 2021. (Biogen via AP)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its website noted that trials data for the treatment was complicated with respect to clinical benefits, but added that it has determined that there is substantial evidence that Aduhelm reduces amyloid beta plaques in the brain and that the reduction in these plaques is reasonably likely to predict important benefits to patients.

Biogens drug had been hailed by patient advocates and some neurologists eager to have an effective option for patients with the lethal disease. Other doctors said clinical trial results were inconsistent and more proof was needed.

Im surprised and disappointed, said Dr. Caleb Alexander, a drug researcher at Johns Hopkins who was on the FDAs advisory committee that voted against approval of Biogens drug.

Its hard to find a scientist, even one with ties to the manufacturer, who believes the totality of the evidence is persuasive.

Vials of the medication aducanumab are handled by machines during manufacturing in Switzerland, in May 2021. (Biogen via AP)

Health insurers and the governments Medicare program will bear most of the cost of the drug, whose price will vary based on dosage and discounts.

Aducanumab was studied in patients with early disease who test positive for a component of amyloid brain plaques, but the FDA approval does not indicate that it is for a specific group of patients. That raises the possibility that the treatable population could be larger than anticipated.

Still, most insurers are likely to limit their coverage of the drug to the type of patients who participated in the trial, said Steve Miller, chief clinical officer at health insurer Cigna Corp. He estimated that 85 percent to 90 percent of patients eligible for the drug are covered by Medicare. I would be very surprised if any payer, including Medicare, made it available for a broader population than the study population, Miller said.

The FDA said Biogen will need to conduct a post-approval trial to verify Aduhelms clinical benefit, and that it could be pulled from the market if the drug does not work as intended.

I think they made the right decision. It makes the drug available to patients while requiring the company to do more research to prove its benefit. I think its a win-win for all, said Dr. Howard Fillit, chief science officer of the Alzheimers Drug Discovery Foundation.

Some trial patients experienced potentially dangerous brain swelling. The FDA advised that patients who experience the side effect should be monitored but not necessarily taken off the drug.

Biogen has estimated that around 1.5 million Americans would be eligible for treatment with aducanumab, which is given by monthly infusion, raising concerns about costs to the healthcare system.

The number of Americans living with Alzheimers is expected to rise to around 13 million by 2050 from more than 6 million currently, according to the Alzheimers Association.
First-Grader Writes to Old Navy to Make Girls Jeans With Real Pockets, Receives Gifts

Frustrated by fake pockets on her jeans, a first grader wrote to Old Navy after a class project on writing persuasive letters. The brand responded in kind.

Kamryn Gardner, 7, is a first-grader at Evening Star Elementary School in Bentonville, Arkansas. Her handwritten letter, penned in mid-January, started out strong.

Dear Old Navy, I do not like that the front pockets of the girls jeans are fake, she wrote. I want front pockets because I want to put my hands in them. I also would like to put things in them.

Kamryn signed off by asking the brand, Would you consider making girls jeans with front pockets that are not fake? Thank you for reading my request.

The Old Navy kids product team responded to Kamryn with an appreciation for her feedback. They also included a gift for the sassy 7-year-old: four pairs of jeans and jean shorts in her size. Best of all, all the jeans had deep pockets.

Kamryns mom, Kimberly Gardner, who is also one of Evening Stars first-grade teachers, had only ever purchased Old Navy jeans with fake pockets. The product team, she said, emailed ahead to check her daughters size.

Bentonville Schools celebrated Kamryns powers of persuasion on social media, posting her letter and Old Navys response, a photo of Kamryn with her haul, and the caption, Kamryn, you proudly own those pockets! Kudos to Old Navy for making this first graders day and ours!

According to Good Morning America, Kamryns teacher, Ellie Jayne, calls her student unstoppable.

Its really exciting to see the world get a glimpse of her, fall in love with her, and be inspired by her passion, Jayne said.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired Newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Naomi Wolf attends "Pump" New York Screening at Museum of Modern Art in New York on Sept. 17, 2014. (Robin Marchant/Getty Images)

Former Clinton Adviser Naomi Wolf Banned From Twitter Over COVID-19 Vaccine Claims

Former Bill Clinton adviser and author Naomi Wolf, who has been critical of vaccine passports and media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been suspended from Twitter, according to the social media company.

Twitter told media outlets that Wolf, who authored the book The Beauty Myth, was suspended because, according to the company, she shared misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

Company officials didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

When attempting to access Wolfs account on Twitter, it displays the typical boilerplate message: Account suspended  Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules. She had amassed more than 140,000 followers over the years.

While some prominent verified Twitter users applauded the move and claimed it was needed because Wolf allegedly foisted anti-vaccine claims, some said Twitters move is further evidence of social media platforms chilling effect on free speech.

In January, Twitter and Facebook moved to ban former President Donald Trump and other conservatives after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, drawing criticism from some international leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Anyone who loves freedom, including Naomi Wolf, needs to realize the Left is now the enemy of freedom, conservative filmmaker Dinesh DSouza wrote on Twitter.

Wolf in March had criticized plans to create a vaccine passport system and argued that it would imperil civil liberties.

Vaccine passport sounds like a fine thing if you dont understand what those platforms can do. Im [the] CEO of a tech company, I understand what this platform does, she told Fox News on March 28. It is not about the vaccine, its not about the virus, its about your data. Once this rolls out, you dont have a choice about being part of the system.

Wolf said that such systems were akin to the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) social credit system that is often used to punish dissenting viewpoints or opinions critical of the regime.

How does [the CCP] keep a billion people under the thumb of a totalitarian regime? she had said. The CCP can find any dissident within five minutes, and that can happen here literally within months.

During the 1990s, Wolf, 58, served as a political adviser for the campaigns of former President Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore. In 2007, she authored The End of America, in which she lays out her case for saving American democracy, according to her website.
CEO and co-founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg poses next to Facebook head of global policy communications and former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg (L) prior to a meeting with French President at the Elysee Palace in Paris on May 10, 2019. (YOAN VALAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Former Deputy PM Turned Facebook Executive Defends 2-Year Trump Suspension

Former UK Deputy Prime Minister who now serves as Facebooks vice president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, has defended the two-year suspension of former President Donald Trump from the social media platform.

Free speech, free expression is not a free-for-all, its not a recipe for anarchy. Weve always had rules, quite rightly as Facebook that you can, in a sense, kind of say what you like on Facebook but you cant do that if that inflicts harm on others, Clegg told BBC News on Saturday.

Clegg suggested that Trumps posts to the social media platform on Jan. 6 as the U.S. Capitol was breached by protesters and rioters inflicted harm on others.

Its a pretty longstanding principle it goes right back to the mid-19th Century this idea that youre free to do things, but not if that inflicts harm on others and that is a rule that we applydoesnt matter whether you are the Pope, the President of the United States, whether an ordinary useryou cannot use Facebook if you want to use Facebook in a way which leads to real world imminent harm, and we think its crystal clear in this case that is exactly what was happening on Jan. 6 in Washington D.C, he explained.

Trump has contested Facebooks classification of harm after Zuckerberg said on Jan. 7 that Facebook removed one of Trumps Jan. 6 videos because, according to the CEO, the president decided to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building.

In the video, Trump called on the protesters to go home peacefully, while saying that the Nov. 3 election was fraught with voter fraud. The president also said that we love you, youre very special, and that I know your pain. I know youre hurt.

You have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We dont want anybody hurt, he remarked.

Earlier Jan. 6, Trump told a crowd on The Ellipse, approximately two miles from the Capitol, that people should go to the building, but do so peacefully and patriotically.

Clegg announced Trumps two-year suspension on June 4, saying that when the two years elapse, Facebook plans to review with experts whether the risk to public safety has receded.

If the risk is still present, the suspension will be extended. If it isnt, the company is setting in place a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered if Mr. Trump commits further violations in future, up to and including permanent removal of his pages and accounts, Clegg said in a blog post.

Trump has continued to pan Facebook and other Big Tech companies, accusing them of uneven moderation standards. Internal video footage and other evidence support the accusations.

During a speech to Republicans in North Carolina on Saturday, the former president called the decision to suspend him from the social media platform so unfair, alleging that the Big Tech company was silencing the voices of a much more powerful and much larger group.

In a separate interview with ABCs This Week, Clegg said that Facebooks ban on Trump is proportionate, fair, and reflects improved processes within the company.

Our job is not to take the decisions with an eye to, you know, which side of the political aisle is going to agree or disagree more with us, but just to do so in a way that is fair, transparent, and proportionate, Clegg said.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
Migrants inside a refugee camp watch the visit of EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson in the port of Vathy on the eastern Aegean island of Samos, Greece, on March 29, 2021. (Michael Svarnias/AP Photo)

Greece Says Many Migrants in Turkey Could Seek Asylum There

ATHENS, GreeceGreece on Monday designated neighboring Turkey as a safe country in which to seek international protection for the majority of asylum seekers departing its shores for Greece.

A joint decree from the Greek foreign and migration ministries said the designation applies to asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia. It said Turkey meets all criteria to examine asylum requests from these nationals, as there they are not in any danger  due to their race, religion, citizenship, political beliefs or membership in some particular social group, and can seek asylum in Turkey instead of in Greece.

That, in theory, could reduce migration flows to European Union member Greece, as it would allow it to return asylum seekers from these countries to Turkeywhich itself has a huge migrant and refugee population.

A woman holds a baby at Karatepe refugee camp, on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, on March 29, 2021. (Panagiotis Balaskas/AP Photo)

Nevertheless, despite pressure from the EU and Athens, Ankara has shown little appetite for taking back migrants who reached Greece from its territory, despite a 2016 Turkish-EU agreement that was meant to stem illegal migration into the 27-nation bloc.

Greek officials said Athens has so far this year asked Turkey to take back 1,453 people, without success.

Nevertheless, Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi described Mondays decision as an important step in tackling illegal migration flows which, he said, would force Turkey to crack down on illegal migration and smuggling networks.

Mitarachi added that the decision is fully in line with international law and enhances Greeces legal arsenal against (asylum) requests by citizens of  Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Somalia, who objectively have no reason not to consider Turkey a safe country.

Refugees walk at Eleonas refugee camp in Athens, Greece, on April 16, 2021. (Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo)

Greece and Turkey are historic regional rivals, and military tensions rose dangerously last year over marine boundaries. Athens accuses Ankara of using migration as a weapon, pointing to the Turkish governments failed bid last year, before the military tension, to wave thousands of migrants and refugees towards Greece.

Several human rights groups have accused Greece of illegally deporting some migrants to Turkey without letting them apply for asylum. Athens denies that.

Although a record 1 million people entered Greece through Turkey in 2015mostly seeking to move on to wealthier EU countriesflows have since been greatly reduced.

So far this year, just over 3,000 people have reached Greece from Turkey, mostly by sea in flimsy craft. According to the U.N. refugee agency, 47 percent were Afghans, 15 percent were Syrians and 9 percent were Somalis.
As of May 30, the number of deaths among Hong Kongers vaccinated has reached 80. A total of 23 pregnant women miscarried after receiving the vaccine. Currently, the Hong Kong government provides residents with two types of COVID-19 vaccines, Sinovac vaccine made in mainland China and BioNTech (BNT) vaccine from Germany, which is marketed by Shanghai Fosun. (WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)

Hong Kong Government Halts Release of Some Vaccine-Related Death Data

Public trust in Chinese-made vaccine safety is further eroded as the Hong Kong government announces changes in vaccine related death counts.

The Hong Kong Vaccine Expert Committee announced on June 1 that they will no longer count post-vaccination deaths that do not have a strong correlation to COVID-19 vaccines, and they will only count deaths that are potentially related to vaccination.

Vaccines administered in Hong Kong are mostly made in China.

So far, the Committee has not acknowledged any cause and effect link between COVID-19 vaccines and deaths.

According to the latest data from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, as of May 30, the number of deaths among the vaccinated had reached 80. In addition, twenty-three pregnant women miscarried after getting the shot.

Law Cheuk Yiu, the deputy chairman of Hospitality Authority Employees Alliance, told The Epoch Times that there have been deaths in other countries following COVID-19 vaccination. Whether they were directly related or not, the data was presented, he said, and people are able to choose a vaccine based on the data, making it relatively safer when such information is transparent.

Currently, the Hong Kong government provides two types of COVID-19 vaccines: Sinovac, made in mainland China, and BioNTech (BNT) from Germany, which is marketed by Shanghai Fosun.

Since the introduction of vaccines in February, the Hong Kong government has been providing detailed information on the number of deaths and side effects caused by COVID-19 vaccines. This has helped local people and the international community to assess the risks of COVID-19 vaccination and the fatality rate of vaccines made in China. However, access to this information was blocked after the June 1 announcement.

Chinese-Made Vaccine Information Not Transparent

The lack of transparency has raised widespread questions about the effectiveness and safety of Chinese-made vaccines. As far as effectiveness is concerned, Chinese communist authorities themselves have admitted that the protection rate of Chinese-made vaccines is not high. As recently as April 10, Gao Fu, the director of the CCPs Center for Disease Control and Prevention, admitted at the National Conference on Vaccines and Health that Chinas vaccine protection is not high enough, and several vaccines should be administered alternately to improve vaccination effectiveness.

China has a long record of producing defective and fake vaccines. Now hundreds of millions of Chinese have been vaccinated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Virus, but authorities have not provided any data on deaths or side effects.

The Hong Kong governments June 1 announcement came on the same day the WHO approved Sinovac for emergency usethe second Chinese-made vaccine approved by the WHO after Sinopharm.

Although neither vaccine has provided detailed data about its Phase III clinical trials, both vaccines have been approved by the WHO for international emergency use.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Dr. Dong Yuhong, a European expert on virology and infectious diseases, and a chief scientist at a biotechnology company, pointed out that the lack of detailed information about the Phase III clinical trials, including study design, clinical trial efficacy and safety data, has kept the academic community and the public from knowing the details. Its therefore difficult to assess the safety of the vaccines to be administered to a wider population.

Despite the urgency of the outbreak, such an approach does not comply with international industry rules for the approval of vaccine development, Dr. Dong said.

The CCP has sold Sinovac vaccines to more than 45 countries, mainly in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 28, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

House Republicans Raise Concerns About Soft China Bill, Demand Tougher Response

WASHINGTONThe U.S. Senate is expected to vote on a sweeping China bill this week to counter Beijings rising economic might and global influence. While its unclear how quickly the legislation could move through the House of Representatives, several Republicans in the chamber are opposing a companion bill that attempts to water down some of the provisions in the Senate bill pertaining to human rights and Taiwan.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on May 18 unveiled the bipartisan U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021, the renamed and expanded version of his Endless Frontier Act. The comprehensive bill, which is now 1,445 pages, aims to boost government support for science and technology, to address increasing competition from China.

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill on June 8 after considering a few final amendments, and a 60-vote threshold is needed for final approval of the bill.

It will be one of the most important things weve done in a very long time, Schumer said on June 7 on the Senate floor, calling it the largest investment in scientific research and technological innovation in decades.

The final bill is the product of more than 20 amendments and several bipartisan bills. If approved in the Senate, the House could pass the Senate-approved bill or call for a conference to resolve differences between bills.

To boost U.S. economic competitiveness and combat Chinas economic influence, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, introduced on May 25 legislation called the Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement, or EAGLE, Act.

While many of the provisions in the bill mirror those in the Senate bill, some language in the bill related to Taiwan has been removed or softened.

For example, the EAGLE Act removes the language in the Senate bill that asks for the U.S. government to defend Taiwans meaningful participation in the United Nations. In addition, it omits the text in the Senate bill that states that the United States should strenuously oppose any action by the Peoples Republic of China to use force to change the status quo of Taiwan.

Further analysis by The Epoch Times also showed that several sections that detailed the U.S. response to Chinas aggression against Taiwan in the Senate bill have been either removed or altered in the House version.

Some House Republicans raised concerns about these changes and called for bipartisan action.

We need to come together in a bipartisan manner to respond with tough legislation that holds the CCP accountable for its aggression toward its neighbors and its abuses at home, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

The U.S. response to threats from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been strikingly lacking to date, according to Chabot, who is also the ranking GOP member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia.

Right now, the Senate is in the middle of completing a bipartisan bill to rise to this challenge. The initial House version of the legislation, on the other hand, is not as strong on several key issues from our support for Taiwans democracy, to an appropriate response to Beijings genocide against the Uyghurs, to even how we approach the 2022 Beijing Olympics, he said.

The House bill also removes the section that calls for the Imposition of sanctions with respect to systematic rape, coercive abortion, forced sterilization, or involuntary contraceptive implantation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

It also drops the texts with respect to boycotting the 2022 Beijing Olympics and a requirement for reporting on the origins of the COVID19 pandemic.

There are some parts of this bill that are concerning, so Im hopeful the Chairman [Meeks] will be ready to work with Republicans on the committee to strengthen it, Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) said in an emailed statement. Confronting the CCP isnt a Republican issue or a Democrat issue. Its an American issue. And thats the way we should approach this legislationtogether as Americans.

In response, a Democratic aide at the committee said that the criticisms do not accurately represent what is in the bill.

The EAGLE Act is not a companion to the Senate bill, which is why the language does not mirror it. Republicans who attempt to mischaracterize discrepancies between the bills as omissions should give the EAGLE act a more thorough read, the committee aide said.

The bill has far stronger human rights provisions than the Senate bill. For instance, it explicitly calls what is happening in Xinjiang a genocide and includes sanctions, import restrictions, as well as special refugee provisions for impacted populations. The bill also addresses Taiwan and the situation in Hong Kong and puts forward clear policy responses that signal the return of U.S. diplomacy and leadership to the international arena, the committee aide said, adding that the report on the origins of COVID-19 was passed in a separate budget bill and the mark up will include a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics.

While the bill in the Senate is expected to pass by a large margin, some GOP senators earlier voiced concerns about the legislation, calling it full of wasteful spending.

The bill would authorize about $190 billion in spending for scientific research and development and $52 billion in funding to boost semiconductor production in the United States.

Co-sponsor of the Senate bill, Sen. Todd Youngs (R-Ind.) office voiced optimism about the Senate vote this week, when asked if the legislation would face opposition from Republicans.

This is the largest, boldest, most sweeping anti-Chinese Communist Party legislation in American history. Senator Young is happy with the open, bipartisan process and looks forward to the bill coming to the floor tomorrow, a spokesperson for Young said.

This article was updated on June 8, 2021.
Demonstrators protest against the planned Chinese Fudan University campus in Budapest, Hungary, on June 5, 2021. (Bernadett Szabo/Reuters)

Hungary Appears to Back-Pedal on Chinese University Plans After Protests

BUDAPESTHungary appeared to backtrack on plans to build a Chinese university in the capital Budapest after thousands took to the streets at the weekend accusing the government of cosying up to Beijing, provoking an angry Chinese response.

Opponents of Prime Minister Viktor Orban fear the planned private, $2 billion campus could undercut the quality of higher education and help Beijing increase its influence in Hungary and the European Union.

A senior Orban aide said late on June 6 the university was not even at the planning phase, and once the plan took shape, in early 2023, it could be put to a referendum.

Once the projects conditions are known, we support a referendum in Budapest to decide whether locals want Fudan University here, Gergely Gulyas, Orbans chief of staff, told the pro-government news web site Mandiner late on June 6.

Orban has built cordial ties with China, including massive joint business projects, and has several times this year blocked EU statements denouncing Chinas record on human rights, angering his allies.

According to media reports, the government was willing to pay for the construction of Shanghai-based Fudan Universitys first campus in Europe with a Chinese loan. The campus would displace a planned local student housing area.

Gergely Karacsony, the opposition mayor of Budapest and a top contender to challenge Orban in elections next year, said on June 5 the university protest was a symbol of Hungarians rejecting heavy-handed government decisions.

Although we are worlds apart on human rights we really just dont want a Chinese elite school built at the expense of Hungarian taxpayers, Karacsony told the rally on June 5.

A media spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Hungary, who did not give his name, criticized Karacsonys comments on the embassys Facebook page.

In broad daylight, it is unseemly to criticize the internal affairs of another country, especially when I heard some key words in his speech, such as Tiananmen Square protests, democracy, human rights, and values, the official said.

Hungary blocked an EU statement in April criticizing Chinas new security law in Hong Kong, undermining the blocs efforts to confront Beijings curbing of freedoms in the former British colony.

Hong Kong police on June 4 stopped people gathering to commemorate the anniversary of Chinas bloody suppression of pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijings Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, in a further crackdown on dissent.

By Marton Dunai
By Peng Nian

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman recently visited Southeast Asian countries. During her visit to Cambodia, she expressed "serious concerns" about China's "military presence and construction of facilities" in Cambodia, obviously trying to arouse a new round of hype of the so-called "military threat" from China, a topic that the US side is racking its brains to use as a new China-smearing tool.

It's very clear why Sherman would be so interested in the so-called "Chinese military facilities in Cambodia". Cambodia demolished two US-funded buildings at the Ream Naval Base in 2019, which made the US suspect that Chinese troops would station there and demanded an explanation from Cambodia through ramping up diplomatic pressure. Its suggestion to fund new military facilities in the country was also declined.

This made the US even more worried about China's involvement at the Ream Naval Base. In January 2020, it sent its military attache to the American embassy in Cambodia to inspect the base personally, which yielded nothing. Refusing to accept this result, the US side, taking advantage of its sanctions against Chinas Union Development Group Co., Ltd. (UDG) in September 2020, claimed that its Dara Sakor development project on the southwest coast of Cambodia might be used to keep Chinese military assets, keeping hyping up "China's construction of military facilities" in the country.

Mentioning this topic during Sherman's visit was to keep up the pressure on Cambodia on the one hand and exaggerate so-called "China's military threat" to Southeast Asian countries on the other, aiming to disrupt their friendly relations with China. The US primarily targets countries in close ties with China and focuses on the most sensitive topic of military facilities, which it claims threaten national sovereignty and regional security, with the sinister intention of sabotaging Chinas image overseas and planting fear in those countries for China.

Another important reason why the US is so bent on hyping up "Chinas military facilities overseas" is that it is vexed by China's increased influence overseas. In recent years, America's global military facilities and bases have kept shrinking, whereas Chinas international infrastructure cooperation steadily gains ground with rising overseas influence. The contrast has augmented Americas anxiety over China.

America's military bases and facilities in southeast Asian countries have become increasingly unpopular in recent years as the latter is dissatisfied with America's initiation of the anti-China military competition. For instance, to build a Philippine military, President Rodrigo Duterte once ordered the abrogation of the bilateral Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the US. Under such circumstances, the US has been trying all means, be it pressuring, intimidation or coaxing, to maintain its military facilities and superiority in Southeast Asia. During her visit to Cambodia this time, Sherman mentioned the debts Cambodia owed the US in the 1970s, which amounts to USD 600 million today interests included, and emphasized Washingtons willingness to work with the Cambodian government on the exemption of old debts, as bait for Cambodia to resume and reinforce its relations with the US.

As a matter of fact, it is stated in the constitutions of some southeast Asian countries, including Cambodia, that no foreign troops are allowed on their territory, which the US is well aware of. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has publicly clarified several times that China only funds the construction of ship-repairing facilities and has no military agenda in the country; he even allowed American personnel and reporters to visit the facilities, but the US chose to turn a blind eye to all the facts and evidence, which reveals its geostrategic purpose on this issue.

It is malicious of some Americans to portray normal infrastructure cooperation between China and Southeast Asian countries from a military perspective. They are just trying to force those countries to give up their cooperation projects with China or have doubts and concerns when working with it, thus obstructing Chinas overseas port construction and other infrastructure cooperation.

(The author is deputy director & associate fellow of the Research Center of Maritime Silk Road, National Institute for South China Sea Studies, China)

Editor's note: This article is originally published on huanqiu.com.cn, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 11:05:23|Editor: huaxia

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A health professional administers a vitamin A capsule to a child at a health centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh on June 6, 2021. Bangladesh has launched a countrywide campaign to distribute Vitamin A capsules to children between six months and five years of age. Health workers and volunteers were seen Sunday to distribute Vitamin A at thousands of permanent and mobile sites across the country. The Bangladeshi government usually holds two National Vitamin A Campaigns each year in an effort to prevent night blindness. (Xinhua)
Is Californias Green Energy Really Green? | Michael Shellenberger

The Biden administration recently announced plans to open more than 250,000 acres off the California coast to wind development as part of a program to expand renewable energy nationwide.

My returning guest is Michael Shellenberger, described by Time Magazine as a Hero of the Environment, the founder and president of Environmental Progress, and best-selling author of Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All.

He discusses why the proposed offshore wind farm may actually end up harming the environment.

California Insider is an Epoch Times show available on YouTube, Rumble, Youmaker, and The Epoch Times website. It also airs on cable on NTD America. Find out where you can watch us on TV.

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Is Someone Stalking You? Tiny Trackers Make It Alarmingly Easy

By Rafael Olmeda

From South Florida Sun Sentinel



FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.Alison Kessler told police she was suspicious when her sons father, John Stacey, seemed to know that she had paid a visit to the courthouse. She didnt see him following her. How did he know?

When a mechanic found a tracking device stuck to the underside of her car, it made sense. Kessler went to the police and accused Stacey of planting it.

It would have been that easy. Planting small tracking devices on cars to monitor peoples real-time locations is simple, cheap and, in many cases, illegal, according to lawyers and private investigators in South Florida.

The proliferation of tracking devicesparticularly the type of popular gadgets being sold to help you find your belongings, such as your wallet, keys or luggagehave led to an increase in fears of stalking, experts say.

Five years ago, two Hallandale Beach commissioners and one candidate complained to police when they found GPS trackers planted under their cars. A private investigator named Victor Elbeze pleaded no contest to the rarely invoked criminal charge and was fined $293.

More recently, Apple released its new AirTags, coin-sized $30 wireless devices that the company says are a supereasy way to keep track of your stuff.

But amid concerns the Bluetooth trackers instead are enabling stalking, Apple last week pledged to update the devices to boost privacy. Now, the AirTags emit an audible tone whenever separated from the device owner for more than eight hours, which would warn someone whos being followed without her or his knowledge. (Originally, the tone emitted after three days.)

Prosecutions for planting a tracker are rare, with police usually focusing on proving a case of stalking or domestic violence.

Stalking cases are notoriously difficult to put together, said former Broward prosecutor Sasha Shulman, now a criminal defense lawyer. Everything is so circumstantial. Did someone see him put it there? No? Were his fingerprints on it? No? Then how would you prove it?

Records show the GPS device that Stacey was accused of using was an Optimus 2. The device, sold online for about $40, boasts hundreds of four- and five-star customer reviews (some of the negative reviews are tongue-in-cheek, such as the one-star review from a customer who complained that the device was no match for the hammer her husband took to it when he found it on his truck).

Its not impossible to figure out who purchased a device if the manufacturer or seller records serial numbers and sales, Shulman said, but it can be a time-consuming process. And in the most dangerous cases of stalking, time is a precious commodity.

Stacey, for example, murdered Kesslers son, Greyson, and committed suicide on May 20, the same day Kesslers mechanic found the tracker, police say. When it comes to the device, Staceys guilt was never legally established.

Would-be stalkers sometimes dont even know planting such a device is illegal, said Steve Navarrete, a Miami process server and private investigator. They dont flat out ask us to do it, he said. But theyll ask if it can be done, if they might get in trouble for it. Obviously, we dont take those cases. I dont even tell them how to do it.

Such devices sell on Amazon, Walmart, and other retailers, each with thousands of customer reviews on their websites. Most cost less than $50, though some are more than $100, with subscription services running about $25 a month depending on how continuously you want the tracker to signal your cellphone.

Like guns, trackers are legal products that can be used for legitimate or nefarious purposes. It is legal to put a tracker on a vehicle you own or co-own, said Fort Lauderdale private investigator Robert Crispin. Police can use it for criminal investigations, and consumers can use it to keep tabs on their teenage drivers, bicycles or pets.

But for most anyone else, planting a tracker is a misdemeanor and has been since 2015.

You cannot put a tracker on your girlfriend, your employee or your neighbor, Crispin said. And your ex is off-limits, too.

The trackers work for as long as the devices battery lasts. Ive seen battery life range from 10 days to four months, Crispin said. Apples AirTag batteries are designed to last for a year, but are replaceable.

While the ease of tracking technology might inspire paranoia, experts said most illegal use is limited to domestic violence and stalking cases.

You see this almost exclusively in cases where there is some kind of personal relation between the parties, Shulman said. Drug dealers tracking each other around town? Thats a situation created by movies. We dont see that in real life.

Crispin agreed.

Its been our experience that your intuition will tell you when to look, he said. When the other person begins to change and starts to know things they shouldnt know, thats an indication.

Technology has become so accessible to the general public, and people dont fear the law when it comes to electronic surveillance. If youre involved in litigation, a child custody matter or a domestic violence matter, its always going to be a good idea to check.

Crispins business offers a service to sweep a vehicle for GPS and Bluetooth trackers, but its not difficult to do it yourself, he said. Nothing beats the human eye, he said. The person looking has to take their time. Physically get underneath your car. Look in all the hidden compartments.

If a panel is screwed into place, look to see whether there are any marks from a screwdriver to show its recently been opened, Crispin said. If youre getting a routine service, ask the mechanic to keep an eye open.

If youre still suspicious, he said, contact a professional.

Experts had one more piece of advice: Turn off location services on your cellphone. The same technology that allows you to find your lost iPhone can be used by someone to find you, a circumstance thats not unusual in domestic relationships, Navarrete said.

2021 South Florida Sun Sentinel. Visit at sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
U.S. House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, speaks during his weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 18, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Lets Find a Person We Can Trust: House GOP Leader Says Fauci Needs to Go

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called for Dr. Anthony Fauci to resign from his position as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) following the publication of a trove of hundreds of emails.

McCarthy, speaking to Breitbart News over the past weekend, said that the American public has lost trust in Fauci after emails released last week raised questions about how Fauci handled the COVID-19 pandemic and his messaging to media outlets. Fauci has defended his emails and said they are being taken out of context.

Well, the number one thing, it has to be for the American public, McCarthy said in a response to a question about Fauci resigning or being fired. Does the American public trust Dr. Fauci now that youve seen the emails? Now that youre seeing the flip-flop of positions? And just now that hes requesting from China to get the information?

Youve got to trust the individuals to look into this, the GOP leader continued. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died. And if youve taken every certain position in it, how are you able to come back with the trust of the nation to get to the bottom of it? We have to know what went on, and who knew what and when. I mean, everything were finding there, how can the presidentand I know the American people dont have trust in Dr. Fauci.

McCarthy said that public health officials need to put politics aside and provide good messaging because were talking about American lives here.

Were talking about an administration that shifted course, when they first came in, the Biden administration, and gave millions of dollars back to the World Health Organization, that lied to the world, that is controlled by China. We watch that they changed the direction when we were standing up to China to appease China now, he added. This is the wrong direction, and I dont believe anybody in America can trust [inaudible] to get to the bottom of it.

As a result, McCarthy affirmed that Fauci should not hold his position now because you do not have the trust in him.

Late last week, Fauci responded to the bevy of criticism, claiming they are really very much an attack on science.

Whats happening now is very much an anti-science approach, Fauci told left-wing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on June 4. I mean, it is what it is, Im a public figure, Im going to take the arrows and the swings, but theyre just, theyre fabricated. And thats just what it is  its all nonsense.

The Epoch Times has contacted NIAID for comment.
Live Q&A: Trump Says Make China Pay Pandemic Reparations; Smugglers Advertise on Facebook

Donald Trump recently spoke at the annual state Republican Party convention in Greenville, North Carolina, and said governments around the world should demand that the Chinese government pay reparations for the COVID-19 pandemic. In other news, an investigation shows that human smugglers have been advertising on Facebook.

In this live Q&A with Crossroads host Joshua Philipp, well discuss these stories and others, and answer questions from the audience.

Were being heavily censored by Big Tech. Our solution? Create our own independent platform free of censorship.

Join us today on EpochTV. Weve got a country to save: http://epochtv.com/Crossroads
Man Finds Pit Bull Stabbed 7 Times Hiding Under His Truck, Gives Her New Forever Home

A Virginia man gained a new best friend when he discovered a badly wounded pit bull pup, which had been attacked and was hiding under his truck.

Brad Chambers, a former police officer, found the puppy bleeding profusely after it had allegedly been stabbed 7 times on May 18 by its former owner.

Chambers said the puppy had fled its abuser and taken refuge under his landscaping truck in downtown Portsmouth.

The pit bull pup with her new owner, Brad Chambers. (Courtesy of Brad Chambers)

The stab wound penetrated so deep into her neck that it damaged her trachea, Chambers told CBS.

The pit bull, whom he dubbed Smoke, was just minutes from death when he found her, according to the outlet.

But, applying his experience as a police officer, Chambers knew what to do, and quickly grabbed his trauma kit from his truck to treat the injured canine.

At which point, her condition began flagging, due to her injuries.

It was air escaping her trachea into her lung, chest cavity, around her heart, the former officer said.

Smoke being transported after allegedly being stabbed 7 times. (Courtesy of Brad Chambers)

First responders rushed Smoke to an animal hospital in Suffolk. She was eventually transported out of state to NC State College of Veterinary Medicine to undergo surgery for her wounds.

Fortunately, the pup pulled throughwith Chambers paying for the operation from his own pocket. In total, Smokes recovery cost $15,000, CBS reported.

Shes recovered almost fully from all the surgeries, said Chambers. And shes got a ton of energy.

Meanwhile, her former owner is facing animal cruelty charges and has forfeited the pit bull; thats when Chambers intervened on Smokes behalf yet again, adopting the puppy and giving her a new forever home.

Chambers gained a new best friend for life out of the deal.

Smoke is treated for her stab wounds. (Courtesy of Brad Chambers)

This is a dog that needs to find a place that everybody else around her is going to benefit from her lovingness, and yeah, I love dogs, he said.

This is a dog that I get to share the next multiple seasons of my life with and all the memories that are to be had.

Now, Smoke is not only thriving; shes also learning some new tricks and is on her way to becoming a certified therapy dog, CBS reported.

Brad Chambers with his pit bull, Smoke. (Courtesy of Brad Chambers)

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Breast milk is the most perfect food for a newborn infant and common chemicals are contaminating it. (Dave Clubb/Unsplash)

Mothers Milk Positive for Chemicals Causing Birth Defects

Despite chemical exposure, breastfeeding still offers important advantages for infants

In the 20th century, scientists developed a group of complex, manmade chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In the past decade, researchers have found these chemicals contaminating drinking water and the environment. Current research measures them at alarming rates in breast milk.

The properties of these substances include oil and water repellency, temperature resistance, and friction reduction. Experts estimate there may be up to 10,000 of these forever chemicals, the full effects of which arent yet known.

The most widely recognized PFAS are perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), both associated with kidney and testicular cancers. This family of chemicals is also linked to endocrine disruption and a host of other problems in people who live in communities that have heavily contaminated drinking water.

Out of the 10,000 forever chemicals, 3M agreed to stop making PFOS in 2002 and DuPont began phasing out PFOA in 2005. Yet, with just a chemical tweak, companies began marketing a new generation of PFAS with similar chemical structures.

The properties of PFAS have made them useful in aerospace technology, photography, construction, and everyday items such as paper products and nonstick cookware.

Ubiquitous use, delays in reducing use, and the known bioaccumulative and persistent effects of the chemicals have generated an environmental problem, largely because some of these forever chemicals can take up to 1,000 years to degrade.

Frightening Levels of Forever Chemicals Found in Breast Milk

A new study was published in Environmental Science and Technologywhich researchers say is the first study in 15 years to analyze PFAS in a group of breastfeeding women in the United Statesgathered data from a cross-section of socioeconomically and geographically diverse groups of women and found PFAS contamination in all 50 samples tested.

In some samples, the levels were nearly 2,000 times higher than what is recommended safe for drinking water. There are no set standards for PFAS found in breast milk.

However, as a comparison, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) advises a target for drinking water at 1 part per trillion (ppt) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry recommends 14 ppt in childrens drinking water.

The researchers found levels ranging from 50 ppt to more than 1,850 ppt in womens breast milk. Evaluating the effects of high amounts of PFAS in infants is difficult. Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, a co-author of the study and pediatrician with the University of Washington, spoke with a reporter from The Guardian.

Studies in older children and adults have shown the presence of these chemicals damage the immune system and create hormonal disruptions, she said. This is particularly problematic for infants, as their immune system isnt yet mature.

Erika Schreder, a co-author of the study and science director with Toxic Free Future in Seattle, told The Guardian, The study shows that PFAS contamination of breast milk is likely universal in the U.S., and that these harmful chemicals are contaminating what should be natures perfect food.

The results of the study counter the industry claim that the new generation of PFAS dont bioaccumulate in humans. The researchers also evaluated international breast milk data, finding in comparison to the current data that older chemical concentration is declining, while newer chemical concentration has doubled every 4.1 years.

Evidence from this study has also suggested the challenge with PFAS bioaccumulating in people is getting worse. When data from the current study were compared to a study spearheaded by the EWG in 2005, the researchers found there was an increase in the amount of new-generation PFAS found in breast milk.

Additionally, while manufacturers have phased out some older compounds, they were still present in breast milk, and some were found at high levels. Schreder believes the best solution is banning the entire class of chemicals.

The study provides more evidence that the PFAS that companies are currently using and putting into products are behaving like the ones they phased out, and theyre also getting into breast milk and exposing children at a very vulnerable phase of development, she said.

Polluting Infants Likely Has Lifelong Consequences

More than 15 years ago, the EWG found 287 chemicals in umbilical cord blood that pass between mother and baby. Of these, 180 are known to cause cancer in humans and animals, 217 are known toxins to the brain and nervous system, and 208 are known to cause abnormal development or birth defects in animal models.

There is substantial scientific evidence that demonstrates exposure in the womb may be dramatically more harmful because the baby is developing. Exposure during childhood also increases vulnerability related to the rapid development and incomplete defense systems of a child.

Many of these PFAS chemicals can potentially leach from food packaging, causing one group of 33 scientists to write a consensus statement pleading with lawmakers to take swift action to reduce exposure to plastics in food packaging.

Pete Myers, founder of Environmental Health Services and publisher of Environmental Health News, was also a contributor to the statement. In an editorial on the consensus statement, he wrote:

Hazardous chemicals can transfer from food contact materials into food, and some are known endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs. EDCs are associated with chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, and neurological disorders like ADHD.

The authors say while there is a great amount of information for some of the most well-studied food contact chemicals, such as bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates, many of the 12,000 reported food contact chemicals lack data on their hazardous properties or level of human exposure. This suggests that the human population is exposed to unknown and untested chemicals migrating from food wrappings, with unknown health implications.

Increasing amounts of data have demonstrated that PFAS chemicals have a lethal effect on human health and the environment. After years of mounting evidence, the EPA revealed its PFAS Action Plan in February 2020, in which it states that the agency has multiple criminal investigations underway concerning PFAS-related pollution.

Since 2002, the agency has initiated 12 enforcement actions, including four since 2017.

Breastfeeding Supports Brain and Gut Development

When women choose not to breastfeed, the only other option is bottle feeding with lab-produced formulas mixed with drinking water, some of which have tested positive for toxic chemicals across the United States. But while PFAS chemicals were found in breast milk, that doesnt negate this foods important benefits for babies.

Just as the food you eat impacts your gut microbiome and consequently your immune system, so does the food that infants and children eat. In one study published in the Journal of Pediatrics, researchers looked at how bacteria in an infants digestive system affect the burning and storage of fat, and how the infant body uses energy.

Information was gathered from 1,087 infants. Mothers reported how long infants were breastfed, when formula was introduced, and when solid food was introduced. Stool samples were collected at 3 to 4 months of age and again at 12 months and tested for gut bacteria.

Data revealed the highest level of beneficial bacteria at three months and one year was in infants who were exclusively breastfed. Infants who were exclusively formula-fed had the least variety of bacteria and nearly double the risk of becoming overweight.

Several studies have also demonstrated that breastfeeding benefits a babys brain. Data from Brown University used magnetic resonance imaging to watch brain growth in children under age 4. They discovered that babies who were exclusively breastfed for the first three months had enhanced development in key parts of the brain as compared to those who were fed formula or a combination of formula and breast milk.

Published in the journal Breastfeeding Medicine, one review of the literature concluded there was compelling evidence in both full-term and preterm infants that breastfeeding benefits a childs neurodevelopment.

Overall, available evidence regarding neurodevelopmental benefits supports existing recommendations that infants should be breastfed exclusively for six months and that hospitalized preterm infants should receive fortified maternal milk, the authors wrote.

A third study released from Childrens National Hospital in Washington, D.C., demonstrated how breast milk can increase biochemicals important for brain growth and development. The researchers studied extremely premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. They discovered significantly higher levels of some key [natural] biochemicals in breast-fed babies, compared to those who had been fed formula milk. Namely, there were increased amounts of inositol (a molecule similar to glucose) and creatine (a molecule which helps to recycle energy inside cells). The percentage of days that babies were fed breast milk was also linked to higher levels of a vitamin-like nutrient called choline.

More Amazing Benefits of Breastfeeding

If youre making a decision about breastfeeding, its helpful to know the benefits to both baby and mom.

Benefits for Babies

The breastfeeding benefits for babies range from long-term health gains to lower mortality rates.

Natural immunity: Breastfeeding initially provides passive immunity as antibodies from the mother are passed through breast milk to the infant. Researchers have also found breast milk has a unique capacity to stimulate the infants immune system with long-term positive effects.

Bonding: The close interaction during breastfeeding is just one way mothers develop a greater bond with their infant, which may extend years beyond infancy and impact parenting.

Reduction of blindness: Retinopathy of prematurity causes blindness in 10 percent of severe cases occurring in premature infants. Breastfeeding reduces this risk.

Reduction in SIDS: In one study, breastfeeding reduced the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in children by 50 percent at all ages through infancy.

Reduced allergies: In one study of 1,278 mothers and babies, exclusive breastfeeding prevented the development of allergic diseases and asthma.

Benefits for Mothers

Breastfeeding isnt only beneficial to children. Its also very much in the interest of mothers, with wide-ranging health and wellness benefits.

Quicker recovery from childbirth: The release of oxytocin during breastfeeding helps the uterus return to a normal size and reduces postpartum bleeding.

Faster weight loss after childbirth: During pregnancy, the mothers body automatically stores extra fat to provide food for the baby. Producing milk burns 480 extra calories each day, which helps mobilize visceral fat stores.

Reduced rates of breast cancer: Breastfeeding may cut the risk of breast cancer in women who have had children.

Reduced rates of cardiovascular disease: Women who breastfeed have a 10 percent lower risk of heart disease and stroke.

Reduced risk of postpartum depression: The release of prolactin and oxytocin while breastfeeding produces a peaceful and nurturing sensation. Women who breastfeed enjoy a reduced risk of developing postpartum depression in the first four months of their infants life.

Dr. Joseph Mercola is the founder of Mercola.com. An osteopathic physician, best-selling author, and recipient of multiple awards in the field of natural health, his primary vision is to change the modern health paradigm by providing people with a valuable resource to help them take control of their health. This article was originally published on Mercola.com.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference during the NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting at the State Department in Washington on April 4, 2019. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Boost to NATO Coming as World Faces Authoritarian Pushback Against Rules-Based International Order

In addressing emerging challenges to the rules-based international order from authoritarian powers like China and Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday that the alliance needs to not only improve its internal cooperation, but also broaden its reach to regions such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Russia and China are leading an authoritarian pushback against the rules-based international order, Stoltenberg said in a keynote address presenting his vision of NATO 2030 at an event held by the Brookings Institution.

Challenges posed by Russia include its military build-up from the Arctic to Africa, intimidation of its neighbors, suppression of opposition at home, as well as cyber and hybrid attacks against NATO allies, Stoltenberg said.

NATO does not see China as an adversary, Stoltenberg said. There are opportunities to engage with Beijing on issues like trade, climate change, and arms control.

However, China poses also challenges that NATO must recognize, Stoltenberg said. Beijing does not share our values.

Beijing has the appetite to control critical infrastructure around the world including NATO countries, he continued. Among other challenges posed by the Chinese regime are the unprecedented system of surveillance and control that China exerted over its own people, the crackdown on peaceful dissent and religious minorities, threatening Taiwan, coercing Chinas neighbors, and hampering freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, Stoltenberg said.

New Challenges for NATO

When highlighting the key points of NATOs plans to address new challenges by 2030, Stoltenberg stressed the importance of the strong bond between NATO allies on both sides of the Atlantic.

According to NATOs polling, over 80 percent of the alliances citizens consider the relationship between North America and Europe important in dealing with security challenges, Stoltenberg said.

NATO is not only a military alliance but it is also a political alliance, Stoltenberg explained. There are differences between allies but NATO should be a forum to forge a common understanding and coordinate members military, economic, and diplomatic responses to issues affecting transatlantic security such as Syria, Iran, or the South China Sea, he explained.

To uphold the rules-based international order and to defend allies values and interests, the alliance should speak with one voice, the secretary said.

Stoltenberg stressed the necessity to boost NATOs military posture not only on land, at sea, in the air, but also in cyberspace, and in space to be able to defend all allies based on the principle of collective defense.

It will require modernization of the alliances capabilities and investing more in collective defense, he added.

The rule of collective defense stipulates that an attack against one member is considered an attack on all members of the alliance. It has been defined in Article 5 of NATOs founding treaty.

To address new challenges NATO must boost transatlantic innovation to sharpen our technological edge and prevent innovation gaps among allies which will require closer collaboration with our world-class researchers, industries, and start-ups [as well as] extra funding from those nations that decide to participate, Stoltenberg said.

Another key aspect of NATOs plans for 2030 is to develop alliance-wide resilience in order to protect NATOs critical infrastructure and make its countries less vulnerable to attack and coercion, Stoltenberg said.

Upholding the rules-based international order is necessary to ensure freedom of navigation, safe and secure cyberspace, and to set new standards for emerging technologies, Stoltenberg continued.

It will require further engagement in partnership with European Union and to forge new engagements with like-minded countries around the world, including in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, he said.

European Union flags flutter outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels on Aug. 21, 2020. (Yves Herman/Reuters)

NATO has established cyber as a military domain, alongside air, sea, and land domains, Stoltenberg said.

We have also decided that a cyberattack can trigger Article 5, which demonstrates that we regard cyberattacks potentially as serious as a kinetic attack.

The United States has recently been a subject of three major attacks on its critical infrastructure: the attacks on SolarWinds, a network software company, Colonial Pipeline, a fuel pipeline operator, and JBS, a meat supplier.

To address conflicts and instability in NATOs neighborhood, the alliance plans to step up training and capacity-building support for [its] partners, from Iraq to Jordan, and Georgia to Ukraine, the secretary general said.

The alliance also plans a significant reduction of military emissions, contributing to net-zero, in order to address global warming, he added.

To achieve all these goals, the alliance needs to invest more, Stoltenberg explained.

We are on the right track, with seven years of consecutive increases in defense spending by Europe and Canada. We must keep up this momentum, he said.

We should also invest better, Stoltenberg said explaining that NATO should increase its common-funded budget, to help fund more joint training and exercises, stronger cyber defenses, cutting-edge capabilities, and more capacity-building for our partners.

Former President Donald Trump strongly advocated that each NATO member should spend two percent of its GDP on defense as they all committed to in 2014 but not all allies have complied with this requirement.

The United States was spending much more on defense than other allies, amounting to 4 percent to 4.3 percent of GDP. By contrast, Germany is paying 1 to 1.2 percent  of a much smaller GDP, Trump said at a press conference held during the NATO Summit in 2019.

Stoltenberg did not mention the two percent spending commitment and did not provide more details about the common-funded budget increase.

EU Defense vs. NATO Defense

EU cannot defend Europe. EU cannot replace NATO as a cornerstone for European security, Stoltenberg said when a concern was voiced in the discussion that the European Union, as an organization, has also developed its defense capabilities and NATO should cooperate with the EU in defense rather than compete.

Stoltenberg cited two reasons why the EU needs NATO for defense: 80 percent of NATO defense spending comes from non-EU NATO members and non-EU allies are on Europes flanks.

In the north, you have Norway, in the south, you have Turkey. And then in the west, you have the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and of course, all of these countries in different ways are important for the defense of Europe, he added.

I welcome EU efforts on defense, but not [as] something that can replace, or duplicate, or protect Europe, because thats something we had to do together in NATO, Europe, and North America, together with the UK, the general secretary explained.
The Pentagon has officially released three short videos showing "unidentified aerial phenomena" that had previously been released by a private company. (Courtesy of Department of Defense)

New NASA Leader Doesnt Think UFO Sightings Are Optical Illusions

Former DNI Ratcliffe says number of UFO sightings 'far greater' than those made public

NASAs new administrator raised doubts on the idea that the mysterious flying objects caught on camera by U.S. Navy pilots were just optical illusions.

Bill Nelson, NASAs recently appointed leader, is a former Florida senator and a spaceflight veteran. In an interview with CNN, he said that even to the higher authorities of the space agency it isnt clear what the flying objects caught on tape are.

Nelson stated that he doesnt regard UFOs to be proof of extraterrestrials visiting our planet, saying I think I would know. However, he acknowledged that it would be too early to completely discard that possibility.

We dont know if its extraterrestrial. We dont know if its an enemy. We dont know if its an optical phenomenon, Nelson remarked, we dont think [its an optical phenomenon] because of the characteristics that those Navy jet pilots described  And so the bottom line is, we want to know.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) smiles in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Nov. 3, 2018. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

In addition, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said that the number of UFO sightings is far greater than the ones that have been revealed to the public.

Ratcliffe appeared on Fox News and said that there is a need to get explanations for the observation of objects that were moving at five times the speed of sound.

I think what is important, and people can expect about this UAP report is I think it will talk about the number of sightings, they are far greater than have been publicly disclosed before, Ratcliffe noted.

I think there has been leaking there may be as many as 100. I am not going to dispute that number, but what is more important  is that the number of sightings and recordings that have been picked up by what we call multiple sensorsthat is visual, radar, ISR, satellite, and you have those under conditions we see UAPs, that explains away visual disturbances or things like that.

Here is what troubles me right now, Trey, is, you know, a lot of people say, well, maybe it is Russia or China. Ratcliffe continued.

Then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe is seen on the South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, on Dec. 12, 2020. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

Some things that have been publicly talked about, we know for a fact from intelligence community we have high confidence that things like transmedium properties and hypersonic speed, meaning vehicles that go at five times the speed of sound, or Mach five, Russia and China clearly did not have that in in 2004 when some of these things were sighted and recorded. And so, we need to get explanations for them.
No Magic Number of Vaccinations to End Australian State Lockdown: Deputy CHO

Victorias road to being lockdown free is uncertain as the state Labor government confirmed vaccination numbers would not determine whether lockdowns will be used to control future outbreaks of the CCP virus.

There isnt one single magic number, Victorias Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng told reporters on June 6.

Once you get up to much higher coverage rates, then it makes a whole lot of things easier.

He added that while Victoria may not need the intensity of restrictions if vaccination uptake increases, the state may be able to only do contact tracing without having to do other things quite to the same level, which he says is the benefit of vaccination.

This comes as the federal government announced on June 6 that it would send an extra 330,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Victoria115,000 AstraZeneca vaccines for each of the next two weeks and 100,000 Pfizer doses for three weeks after June 14.

That is a recognition of the very strong work being done here in Victoria and the strong demand, federal health minister Greg Hunt said on June 6.

We want to see other states and territories have that same degree of public support and confidence. It is going well around the country, but always we push for more.

Just over 650,000 vaccination doses have been administered in Victoria, with only two to three percent of Victorians being fully vaccinated as Melbourne emerges from its second weekend of lockdown.

Nationally, 5,016,000 vaccinations have taken place.

The vaccine program is accelerating, Australians are stepping forward, and as supply becomes available, the public is stepping up and doing their part of the job, Hunt said.

Hunts comments came as Victoria confirmed two additional cases were reported in an aged care facility in the Melbourne suburb of Maidstone.

The cases included a 79-year-old resident living in the centre and an agency registered nurse.

Just over 350 public exposure sites have been listed in Victoria.

Meanwhile, the federal government and Victorian state government have agreed to have a new purpose-built quarantine facility built in Victoria. But federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese said more facilities needed to be built in other states.

This needs to be fixed now, not wait until after the next federal election, which will occur perhaps as late as May of next year, he told Sky News. We cant afford to keep having these lockdowns.

Victorias Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng added while lifting the lockdown was a day by day proposition, easing restrictions on June 10 was our expectation.

We dont want to be in this any longer than we need to. So if we can, we will lift it early, Cheng said.

AAP contributed to this report.
Number of COVID-Delta Strain Infections Grows as Officials Consider Home Quarantine as a Potential Source

Four of Victorias new COVID-19 cases are of the more infectious Delta variant, with Health Minister Martin Foley confirming on Monday the cases were linked to the states outbreak of the Delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, which began in the suburb of West Melbourne.

The cases are three children and an adult and bring the total number of cases in the outbreak to 14.

State testing commander Jeroen Weimar said more than 5800 people were placed in quarantined after coming into contact with a positive case, while there were 350 exposure sites across Victoria.

Authorities still dont know how the Delta variant has spread in Melbourne.

Victorias Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said authorities were combing genomic sequencing data from across the country for answers.

The virus is suspected of having leaked from hotel quarantine or from a returned traveller who was provided with an exemption to isolate at home.

Among those allowed to quarantine at home are foreign diplomats.

Asked if a diplomat may have spread the virus, Sutton replied: We simply dont know. I wouldnt rule anything in or out.

We are obviously checking against everyone who is tested, and diplomats should be tested as well.

Sutton said about 10 people had received an exemption to quarantine at home in Victoria since the beginning of April.

He said with no new exposure sites linked to the 11 new cases, Melbournes lockdown was on track to end at 11.59 p.m. on Thursday.

But Sutton ruled out a return to the relaxed restrictions in place before the outbreak.

It is certainly not a snap-back to large gatherings and a full MCG, he said.

Its not something I can speak to now. Its early days still. Its frustrating; people want to know what things will look like three days from now.

(But) we see different changes every day, and they can be something from left field.

Some 24,265 Victorians were tested on Sunday, and 17,719 received a vaccine dose at state-run sites.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Sunday announced an additional 100,000 vaccines were being made available for Victoria.

The federal government has also extended its suspension of JobSeeker mutual obligation requirements until June 15.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 10:53:22|Editor: huaxia

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People enter Macao through a port in Macao, south China, June 7, 2021. The Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Monday ordered nucleic acid tests for those who have traveled to Guangzhou or Foshan, two cities in the neighboring Guangdong province that have recently reported COVID-19 cases, within 14 days. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka)

MACAO, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Monday ordered nucleic acid tests for those who have traveled to Guangzhou or Foshan, two cities in the neighboring Guangdong province that have recently reported COVID-19 cases, within 14 days.

These people have to take the tests before 6 p.m. Monday at designated testing stations at three major local hospitals, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center of Macao said early in the day.

If not completing the tests in time, they would be required to undergo 14 days of medical observation at places designated by the health authority, according to the center.

The health codes of these people have turned red, restricting their activities in public places. Their codes would turn yellow if the test results come out negative, which requires them to take health management by themselves until after 14 days of leaving Guangzhou or Foshan, said the center.

Those who have traveled to certain districts of Guangzhou or Foshan have already been asked to take 14 days of medical observations at designated places upon entering Macao.

As of Monday, no locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases had been reported in Macao for over 400 days consecutively. So far, a total of 51 confirmed cases had been reported in the SAR.

Macao's border with the mainland is open to travelers from both sides who have negative nucleic acid test reports for COVID-19 effective within seven days. Enditem
Santa Ana Reverses Decision to Punish Street Racing Spectators

Santa Ana City Council is reversing its original decision to impose both fines and potential jail time on illegal street race spectators.

The council in May voted in favor of the ordinance, which would have landed spectators with $1,000 fines and up to six months of jail time if they were caught within 200 feet of street racing activity. Residents would have been given a written warning for the first offense.

Proponents of the ordinance said that a high number of spectators watching the events encourages street racers to plan and attend the gatherings. The idea was that by reducing the number of people watching, racers would be less likely to show up.

While the ordinance was voted in once, it required a second reading before officially becoming law in the city. The council was set to finalize the ordinance during its June 1 meeting.

When the agenda item arose for a second reading, Councilman Phil Bacerra said he had a problem with how police would determine whether a person had already received a written warning in previous races.

I supported the first round of this ordinance going through the process because I genuinely believe that if you are participating in this activity, or trying to enable it, there should be consequences, Bacerra said. But how can the city demonstrate that a written warning was issued? Does the city or our PD actually track the issuance of written warnings?

Santa Ana Police Chief David Valentin told the council it would be quite difficult to track that information.

We dont currently have a tracking system in place, he said during the June 1 meeting. The other jurisdictions that have a similar municipal code section on the books do not require a warning. From a practical standpoint, it would be very difficult to track that aspect of it as its written currently.

The chiefs comments prompted Bacerra to pull back his support of the proposed ordinance.

The purpose of this ordinance was not to give our [police department] more busy work and more hoops to have to jump through to enforce what should be common sense, he said.

I dont believe that our officers are going to come through a scene of a street racing incident and just apprehend everybody within sight.  In reading this section, I cant support this language as is.

Bacerra then proposed an amendment to remove the section that requires officers to give spectators a written warning, though it failed in a 43 vote.

The council then held a vote on the second reading of the original ordinance, which failed to pass without Bacerras vote.

Mayor Vicente Sarmiento said that while he understood the intention of the proposed ordinance, it focused on the wrong people.

Its kind of misdirected, because it goes after people who arent really organizing or participating in it, Sarmiento told the council.

There could be some unintended consequences as a result of this. You have a big street event, and theres hundreds of people, who do you select of that crowd? I mean, you dont think that personal biases are going to come into effect, profiling will come into effect? So Im worried because were putting our police officers in a really difficult position to select who is the most involved spectator.
Scanning electron microscope image shows the CCP virus (round blue objects), the virus that causes COVID-19, emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. (NIAID-RML)

Scientist Who Denounced Lab Leak Theory Now Says Investigation Needed Into Origins of COVID-19

A scientist who signed a letter denouncing any notion that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus didnt originate naturally now backs an investigation into the origins of the virus.

Dr. Peter Palese, a microbiologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, was one of 27 scientists who signed the letter, which was published in The Lancet on March 7, 2020.

We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin, the scientists wrote.

Palese now says he supports a probe.

I believe a thorough investigation about the origin of the COVID-19 virus is needed, Palese told the Daily Mail. A lot of disturbing information has surfaced since the Lancet letter I signed, so I want to see answers covering all questions.

The doctor didnt respond to a request for comment, nor did many of the others who signed the letter, apart from Dr. Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust.

The scientific community is divided over the origins of the virus, which first appeared near a top-level laboratory in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.

Calls for an investigation into the origins have grown sharply in recent weeks, after some experts and media tried to write off any questioning of claims that it originated naturally. To this day, no animal host has been identified. Backers of the natural theory point to genomes of the virus and other evidence.

The origins of Sars-Cov-2 are not yet certainit is possible the origin will never be fully establishedbut nature is a powerful force and, in my view, the most likely scenario is that the virus crossed from animals to humans and then evolved in humans, Farrar told The Epoch Times in an email.

The best scientific evidence available to date points to this. It is most likely it crossed the species barrier to infect and then adapt to humans at some point in 2019, but there are other possibilities which cannot be completely ruled out and retaining an open mind is critical. There is no place for unsubstantiated rumour, or conspiracy theories often fuelled for other purposes.

Understanding the origins of this disease, and any zoonotic infection, is absolutely critical to successfully preventing future outbreaks and protecting lives globally. The answers can only be found in robust scientific evidence, with full transparency from all involved. There has been too much conjecture and theory without data or evidence, although still there is not enough transparency.

A former State Department contractor who helped lead a probe into the origins said last month that the virus likely came from the Wuhan lab.

It came out of nowhere, and it was optimized for transmission between humans in a way that no bat-borne coronavirus ever had been, David Asher said.

U.S. intelligence officials recently said theyre not sure when, how, or where the virus originated. President Joe Biden announced on May 26 that he had asked the intelligence community to work harder to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion, and to report back to me in 90 days.
Scientist Who Emailed Fauci About COVID-19 Being Potentially Engineered Deactivates Twitter Account

A scientist who emailed top U.S. infectious diseases official Dr. Anthony Fauci about the possibility of COVID-19 being engineered in a laboratory abruptly deactivated his Twitter account over the past weekend.

Kristian Andersen, a virologist at Californias Scripps Research Institute, emailed Fauci in January 2020 about the possibility of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus being engineered, according to documents that were released by the federal government due to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request last week.

Andersen, according to the email, made note of a Science magazine report about viruses, and told Fauci: The unusual features of the virus make up a really small part of the genome (<0.1%) so one has to look really closely at all the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered.  We have to look at this much more closely and there are still further analyses to be done, so those options could still change.

Weeks later, Andersen published a study that claimed the virus has a natural origin and reportedly received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant.

These two features of the virus, the mutations in the RBD portion of the spike protein and its distinct backbone, rule[s] out laboratory manipulation as a potential origin for SARS-CoV-2, Andersen said in a statement in March.

Over the past weekend, Twitter users noted that Andersenwho had deleted thousands of tweets in recent dayshad deleted his account. The Epoch Times has contacted the social media platform for comment. A spokesperson for Twitter told news outlets that his account was deactivated by the user. No action was taken on Twitters part.

David Baltimore, president emeritus and distinguished professor of biology at the California Institute of Technology, told The Wall Street Journal over the past weekend that the email from Andersen is a smoking gun and a powerful challenge to the idea of a natural origin for SARS2, referring to the CCP virus.

Fauci, head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has frequently given interviews about the pandemic since early last year, has drawn considerable criticism in recent days after his emails were published. Critics have noted that he appeared to have had knowledge about the theory that the virus may have emerged from the secretive Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.

Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), have called for Faucis ouster since his emails were published.

I mean, everything were finding there, how can the presidentand I know the American people dont have trust in Dr. Fauci, McCarthy said during an interview with Breitbart News on June 5. Lets find a person we can trust. Take politics aside. I mean, were talking about American lives here.

Andersen didnt respond to a request for comment by press time.
Indian dock workers tighten ropes as the MSC Valeria, an ultra-large containership from the Mediterranean Shipping Company S. A., of Geneva, docks at Adani Ports at Mundra, some 400 km from Ahmedabad on June 4, 2013.(Sam Panthaky/AFP via Getty Images)

Seafarers Worldwide Marooned by Perfect Storm of COVID-19 Restrictions

In the wake of the pandemic, over 200,000 seafarers worldwide remain trapped on ships or are waiting for work. Many have been barred from entering ports due to virus restrictions, causing major disruption to international shipping lanes and the wellbeing of sea workers.

A crew change or changeover occurs at a port of call where a new batch of crew members arrive to replace outgoing crew who are nearing the end of their contracts.

Outgoing crew members usually will repatriate to their home countries and wait to sign onto a new vessel. Vessels also prefer crewmembers from their home countries due to communication and legal requirements.

COVID-19 and subsequent restrictions on international borders have made the process of switching crewmembers challenging. For instance, authorities in Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai have placed heavier restrictions on ships entering their ports following spikes of COVID-19 in countries like India.

Virus Restrictions Disrupting Crew-Change Protocols

Stranded seafarers have been forced to extend their contracts and continue operating vessels. Some have worked onboard for over 17 months, far exceeding the 11-month limit mandated by international treaties.

The sluggish implementation of safe crew-change protocols by port authorities has impeded the disembarking and repatriation of the crew.

The International Maritime Organisation, the maritime labour arm of the United Nations, has raised red flags over the prolonged stress and fatigue of seafarers, which is also hindering their ability to work optimally and heightening the risks of maritime accidents.

This added to already existing hazards at sea, including harsh weather, piracy, and substandard vessels.

This photo, taken on September 10, 2014, shows a ship loaded with containers ready for departure at the new Chinese-majority owned Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) in Colombo. (Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP via Getty Images)

Seafarers cannot remain at sea indefinitely, said IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim, urging nations to take swift actions that require a whole of government approach.

Lim urged governments to recognise seafarers as key workers and resolve crew change predicaments, which include travel and visa restrictions, flights availability to the port of calls and vaccination priority.

Crew change is no longer as simple and easy as it used to be, said Ramos, a Filipino seafaring cook who declined to use his real name for fear of reprisal.

Half the day is gone when you complete your travel documents, transportation to-and-fro the port and accommodation, and crew-change procedures, he told The Epoch Times.

Sometimes, the seafarers also need to be routed over a series of connecting flights travelling halfway across the world to reach somewhere close by to their joining port, Kochhar of A.P. Moller, a container logistics company, told the South China Morning Post.

Even after reaching the port, the crew member has to follow varied COVID-19 protocols prior to entry to some countries.

Virus Surge Causing Havoc for Indian Seafarers

Though the number of crew awaiting repatriation has halved from 400,000 last year, the increased travel bans on Indian crew and surging COVID cases in the Indian sub-continent could exacerbate the crisis and push it back to its 2020 peak, industry figures observed.

India, one of the worlds largest source of maritime workers, supplies 15 percent or some 240,000 of the worlds 1.6 million seafarers.

This photograph, taken on July 25, 2016, shows an Indian worker speaking into a radio while unloading cargo of iron pellets from the Indian ship Kamlesh at the Essar port at Hazira near Surat, some 300kms. south of Ahmedabad.

(Sam Panthaky/AFP via Getty Images)

About 14 percent of Indian seafarers have been vaccinated with at least a first dose. About one percent have been fully vaccinated, the South China Morning Post reported.

Meanwhile, industry experts have been pushing for priority vaccination of Indian sailors as shipping employers opt to hire Filipino and Indonesian crew over Indians.

On May 31, Indias Maritime Association of Shipowners Shipmanagers and Agents (MASSA) announced a nationwide vaccination drive for Indian seafarers.

We will kickstart our COVID vaccination initiative from Jun. 10 onwards and aim to inoculate at least 10,000 Indian seafarers with Covishield doses in Mumbai within a fortnight, said Shiv Halbe, CEO of MASSA.

Albeit the 84-day wait between the first and second jab, industry experts said the move is timely for an industry that may soon require proof of vaccination for the crew.

No Crew-Change Clauses Violating Human Rights

Since last year, the International Maritime Organisation hit out at charterers demanding no crew change clauses in their contracts. The clauses would allow ships to avoid visiting ports where crew changes normally occur, avoiding possible delays if a new member later tests positive to the virus.

In a statement denouncing the act, Secretary-General Lim told charterers to refrain from including such clauses in their charter contracts and urged ship operators to reject them.

Lim said the clauses would exacerbate the mental and physical fatigue of already-exhausted seafarers. It could further undermine compliance with maritime labour laws and put safe navigation at risk.

The Marco Polo, the largest cargo ship to call at an East Coast port, arrives into New York Harbor on May 20, 2021 (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

It is especially disappointing to see cases of prominent ship charterers, including some who have publicly voiced support for seafarers, demanding the inclusion of no-crew change clauses in their charter parties or voyage instructions, according to Richard Hext, chairman of the ASA Ship Insurance and Liability Committee.

Such clauses go against the human rights of seafarers and are in clear contravention of Owners responsibilities under MLC 2006 [Maritime Labour Convention 2006].

On May 6, United Nations bodies published a checklist to help firms uphold their responsibilities to protect seafarers rights when engaging in shipping services. The Human Rights Due Diligence Tool also straightens out due diligence in fulfilling human rights obligations.

For far too long, shipping has been a human rights blind spot for global brands, Stephen Cotton, general-secretary of the International Transport Workers Federation, said in a statement. Responsible companies in todays world want to understand how they, or partners in their supply chains, might be violating human rights, even inadvertently.

Sailors Still Trapped In Limbo

The 2021 Day of the Seafarer campaign is urging governments to recognise seafarers as key workers and ease travel restrictions for them to facilitate crew changes amid the pandemic.

While seafarers form the backbone of supply chains, delivering 80 percent of global supplies, few are aware ofwith some turning a blind eyeto their plight.

After repatriation, many sailors remain grounded and unable to return to work.

I want to continue working for as long as possible. I need the job to put food on the table, to feed my children and family. The situation now is bad, but I am prepared to sign on again; I hope I get a call soon, Ramos added.

On the other side of the world, Filipino seamen Ralph Santillan, who has been stranded for 18 months off South Korea, told the New York Times he had to resist thinking about his family, Theres nothing I can do. I have to leave to God whatever might happen here.

Missing someone is not allowed. For you to focus on work, you cant think about them. Your body is heavier when you miss someone.
A man walks past the booth of Chinese startup Xiaohongshu at the Big Data Expo in Guiyang, Guizhou province, China, on May 27, 2019. (Stringer/Reuters)

Social Media Account of Chinas Xiaohongshu Goes Dark After Tiananmen Anniversary Post

BEIJINGA social media account for popular Chinese e-commerce site Xiaohongshu, or Little Red Book, was unavailable on Sunday after it issued a post on Friday, June 4, the anniversary of the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy activists in Tiananmen Square, a highly sensitive date in China.

The Friday post on its account on Chinas Twitter-like Weibo said, Tell me loud: whats the date today?, according to a screenshot seen by Reuters. That post was quickly deleted by Xiaohongshu, according to a person familiar with the matter, who declined to be named given the subjects sensitivity.

A Weibo search for Xiaohongshus official account yielded no results on Sunday, although its own app appeared to be functioning normally. Some online searches said the account was unavailable due to complaints of violations of laws and regulations and the relevant provisions of the Weibo Community Convention.

The company, backed by Chinese Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent, did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Sunday.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, the countrys Internet regulator, could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday, and Sina Weibo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In March, The Information reported that the site was considering a U.S. initial public offering.

Xiaohongshus Weibo account frequently poses questions as part of its regular user engagement.

By Beijing newsroom
A woman (R) receives a nucleic acid test for the COVID-19 virus in Guangzhou, China, on May 30, 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)

Southern Chinese City Reports CCP Virus Outbreaks Despite Vaccination Drive

Southern Chinas Guangzhou City announced more COVID-19 infections on June 7, even after more than 60 percent of its residents were vaccinated.

More than 85 percent of the citys residents have been tested in the past few days.

On June 6, Guangzhou authorities ordered residents to stay in the city, with people who live in locked-down areas not being allowed to leave their homes. On June 4, city officials announced they would use drones and self-driving cars to deliver materials to the locked-down regions.

Guangzhou City first reported the new outbreak on May 21 and identified the strain of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) viruscommonly known as the novel coronavirusthat caused the outbreak as the Indian variant.

The Indian variant spreads very quickly. The incubation period is between two to four days, and the viral load [of each COVID-19 patient] is large, Zhang Zhoubin, deputy director of the Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said at a May 31 press conference.

During a meeting hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences on May 30, Chinese CDC Director George Fu Gao said: People are still infected after being vaccinated  The novel coronavirus outbreak is more and more like influenza. People might need to be vaccinated every year.

Guangzhou has a population of 18.68 million people. City authorities announced on May 24 that 7.45 million people had been vaccinated by May 23 and more than 500,000 people were receiving vaccines every day. By the end of May, more than 60 percent of Guangzhous residents had been vaccinated.

The vaccines used by Guangzhou City are the China-made CoronaVac from Sinovac and Vero Cell from Sinopharm.

A medical officer prepares a dose of Chinas Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination program in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on March 2, 2021. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Tightened Control

Guangzhou City authorities announced they would lock down four more regions in the city on June 6, bringing the total number of locked-down regions within the city to 42.

On June 6, Guangzhou officials banned all cars from neighboring cities from entering the city and stopped all public transportation, which includes bus, subway, ferry, and railway, in the Nansha District of the city.

The outbreak spread to Foshan, which borders Guangzhou on the east side, and authorities have asked residents to stay in the city as of June 6.

To support the worsening outbreak, the Guangdong provincial authorities arranged for 5,600 medical staff from seven other cities to go to Guangzhou on June 5. Guangzhou announced it had collected swab samples for COVID-19 tests from more than 16 million residents by June 5.

Guangzhou Daily reported on June 4 that the city was testing drones that day, and planned to use them to deliver materials to high-risk regions.

By June 4, at least 12 hospitals in Guangzhou announced part or all of the hospital had closed, according to China portal NetEase.

Using Chinese vaccines, Two Countries See Outbreak Worsening

Seychelles, an East African island country, and Bahrain, a Middle Eastern island nation, have completed large-scale Sinopharm vaccinations; yet both are seeing a significant increase in infections.

On June 3, Bahrain was reported to have a more than tenfold increase in the number of new infections in a single day, five months after mass vaccination with Chinas Sinopharm vaccine. Bahraini authorities then began using Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to provide a booster dose to people who had received the Chinese vaccine.

Official data showed that 56.3 percent of Bahrains population has received at least one vaccination, of which more than 60 percent was Sinopharm vaccine.

Two weeks ago, a surge in infections was also reported in Seychelles. This small country of about 100,000 people currently has the highest vaccination rate in the world, with more than 61 percent of the population having received at least one dose of vaccine; 57 percent of recipients were administered Sinopharm vaccines.

Young Chinese Woman Goes into Shock after Receiving Sinovac Vaccine

The CCP has almost never reported the safety data of Chinese vaccines. Recently, a case of shock after receiving the Sinovac vaccine was reported on Chinese social media, and several related posts were quickly deleted by the CCP authorities.

On May 28, a woman, using the Internet name of Tian Yiqian, posted on Weibo that she had received the vaccine and didnt expect to go into anaphylactic shock right after the vaccination and was resuscitated for two hours.

The next day, she published two more posts on Weibo, saying that the doctor had told her that her heart had started to fail and that she didnt want to treat it anymore. She also confirmed that when she was taken to the emergency room on May 28, she heard that there was another person in shock. This made her feel that the adverse reactions after vaccination in China were not as few as 11 out of 100,000 as reported by the official media.

After publishing a post on May 30, Tian Yiqian never updated again, and all her posts related to the vaccination were deleted.

According to her Weibo profile, she was 25 and came from Xian City in northwestern China.

Many netizens tried to contact her privately through her Weibo account, all they got were automatic replies. Someone posted a statement online, saying she had passed away.
Rep. Michael McCaul speaks as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on The Biden Administration's Priorities for U.S. Foreign Policy on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 10, 2021. (Ken Cedeno-Pool/Getty Images)

State Department Lagging in Resettlement of Thousands of Afghan Supporters as US Troops Withdraw

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said June 7 during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that thousands of Afghans who have assisted the United States there since 2001 and who want to leave may still be there after American troops withdraw this summer.

We are looking very actively at every possible contingency to make sure that we can accommodate and care for those who have helped us and who are seeking to leave, Blinken said when asked about the issue by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), ranking minority member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

We have backlogs  we have surged staff, mostly here in Washington because much of this work is actually done in Washington. Were adding by the end of July 50 people here in D.C. to expedite this in the next few months, Blinken said.

We expect to be able to clear the backlog over the next few months at a pace of a thousand a month.

He described several status categories among the estimated 26,000 Afghans who are thought to want to be removed from their country by the United States because they fear being killed by the Taliban once American troops are gone.

Blinken said there may be an additional 9,000 such individuals, and he will likely come back to Congress later this summer seeking authority to increase the number of Special Immigration Visas (SIV) that are required before the United States can remove them to another location outside of Afghanistan.

The 26,000 to 35,000 such Afghans are individuals who since 2001 have provided intelligence to U.S. forces about the Talibans plans, operations, and locations, as well as translation and other logistical, cultural, and administrative services. Their spouses and children would also accompany them out of Afghanistan.

The nonprofit group No One Left Behind estimates that more than 300 such individuals have been assassinated by the Taliban since 2014.

The problem now, according to McCaul, is that American troops will be gone soon, possibly as early as the end of July.

We only have two months before the Department of Defense is completely out of Afghanistan, thus leaving these people behind, McCaul told Blinken.

The time for platitudes and vague promises is over. We need action. And we needed it yesterday.

If the State Department maintains the processing pace Blinken described of 1,000 applications per month, somewhere between two and three years would be required to complete the process.

Is the State Department considering a process to get them out of the country while their claims are being processed, which Ive been told could take a year or even two years? McCaul asked Blinken.

Blinken replied: First, we are considering every option, yes, and second, I dont think the fact that our forces are withdrawingwe arent withdrawing, were staying, our embassy is staying, our programs are staying, were working to make sure our other partners are staying, were building all of that up.

Whatever happens in Afghanistan, if there is a significant deterioration  I dont think its going to be something that happens from a Friday to a Monday, so I wouldnt necessarily equate the departure of our forces in July, August, or September as some kind of immediate deterioration.

McCaul told The Epoch Times after the hearing that Blinkens response was disappointing.

I was frustrated Secretary Blinkens lack of a direct response to my question on evacuating Afghans who risked their lives to assist us to a third country, McCaul said. The Department of Defense said theyre developing plans; the State Department should tell Congress where they could be evacuated to.

Media attention to the issue of removing Afghan allies is growing, with both Wall Street Journal and Washington Post editorial pages calling for special evacuation programs within the past week.

President Joe Biden opposed special U.S. efforts in 1975 to evacuate South Vietnamese citizens who helped the American war effort there, saying in a Senate speech that the United States has no obligation to evacuate one, or 100,001, South Vietnamese, according to The Atlantic, which said he could perhaps redeem his mistake now.

At the normal pace, [the Afghans] will still be waiting years after the last American troops leave their country. While they wait, trying to hide, many of them will be hunted down by the Taliban. We will be gone, and Afghans who believed our promises will be killed. Our war will be overAmericans might not even hear the news of their deaths, The Atlantic stated.
Seated from left: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, standing from left: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett pose during a group photo of the Justices at the Supreme Court in Washington on April 23, 2021. (Erin Schaff/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Supreme Court Wont Hear Lawsuit Claiming Military Draft Discriminates Against Men

The Supreme Court on June 7 declined to hear a challenge to the requirement that only males can register for the military draft.

The order (pdf) suggests that only men will still be required to register under the Selective Service System.

A group called the National Coalition for Men, a mens rights group, filed the challenge, arguing that the male-only draft amounts to unconstitutional discrimination on the basis of sex. The group highlighted the 2013 Department of Defense order that allowed women to serve in military combat roles.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, in explaining why the challenge wont be heard: It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Service Act. But at least for now, the Courts longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue. She was joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh.

Sotomayor noted that the Military Selective Service Act of 1948 requires men, and only men  to register for the draft upon turning 18 and said the Supreme Court in 1981 upheld the Acts gender-based registration requirement against an equal protection challenge, citing the fact that women were excluded from combat roles and hence would not be needed in the event of a draft.'

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in a statement, expressed disappointment over the Supreme Courts move to not hear the case.

Requiring only men to register for the draft reflects the outdated and sexist notion that women are less fit to serve in the military and that men are less able to stay home as caregivers in the event of an armed conflict, said Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the ACLU Womens Rights Project, in a June 7 statement. Such stereotypes demean both men and women.

The ACLUs lawyers had written (pdf) to the Supreme Court in a petition on behalf of two men who were required to register for the draft and the National Coalition for Men that the alleged unequal treatment imposes selective burdens on men.

After 1973, the United States switched to an all-volunteer military force. The draft, however, is still available for activation should the federal government require it. The Selective Service Agency requires that all men register for the draft within 30 days of their 18th birthday.

The Biden administration called on the Supreme Court to not take up the case because Congress could, in the meantime, change the law.

Any reconsideration of the constitutionality of the male-only registration requirement would be premature at this time, Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said in arguments to the court. Congress is actively considering the scope of the registration requirement.

Prelogar had argued that previous Supreme Court rulings have stipulated that the court should defer to Congress when it applies.

The case is National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System, No. 20-928.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks to reporters prior to the Senate Republican luncheon at the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on April 13, 2021. (Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images)

Ted Cruz: Facebook Could Be Held Liable for Actions and Correspondence With Dr. Fauci

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Facebook could be taken to court by those users that had their posts about the Wuhan lab (Chinas Wuhan Institute of Virology) leak censored, since recently disclosed emails from Dr. Anthony Fauci show there was correspondence between him and Mark Zuckerberg, after which Facebook started censoring such information.

But these latest breakthroughs have real consequence because it is now clear that Facebook was operating at the direction of and in the direct benefit of the federal government and operating as the government censor, utilizing their monopoly position to censor on behalf of the government, Cruz told Maria Bartiromo the host of Fox Newss, Sunday Morning Futures.

Cruz made the comment in response to Bartimoro asking, will these companies ever be held to account for this corporate dominance and misleading of information to the American people?

Well, they certainly should be. Unfortunately, I dont expect the Biden administration will do anything to hold them to account, Cruz said. Maria, thats a very dangerous admission that is now out there for Facebook because it means anybody in the country, or anybody in the world, whose statements, whose speech was censored by Facebookif you went out and posted the facts that led a year ago, to the very strong likelihood that the COVID virus escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan, Chinaif you posted that a year ago and they took it down, I think theres a very good argument you have a cause of action against Facebook.

Recently revealed emails from Fauci show that he corresponded with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, after which Facebook changed its censorship policy about what information was true and what was misinformation.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies at a Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees Joint Hearing in Washington, D.C., on April 10, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

In February, the social media company stated in a blog post that it would take down posts that contained what it called false claims about COVID-19, including that COVID-19 is man-made and that experimental vaccines could be dangerous. Facebook said at the time that it would remove accounts, pages, and groups that share the claims repeatedly.

On May 26 Facebook announced that posts pushing the hypothesis that COVID-19 is man-made will no longer be banned on the platform. In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of COVID-19 and in consultation with public health experts, we will no longer remove the claim that COVID-19 is man-made from our apps, a Facebook statement said.

Facebook would ordinarily say were a private company were not liable. Well, You know what, when they act at the behest of the government, when they contact Fauci, when they say, should we censor this? and Fauci says yes, and they censor it for the federal governmentand then magically when the government changes its mind and says, oh, all those facts that were there a year ago now youre allowed to talk about it, [and] they stopped censoring it with a flip of a switch, that lays a very strong argument that Facebook is operating as a state agency, and that opens very significant legal liability, Cruz said.

Meanwhile on Monday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) called for an investigation into Faucis actions. Well, what we do know is that definitely Dr. Fauci and Mark Zuckerberg were in cahoots on this, and it certainly deserves a look and an investigation from Congress, said Blackburn.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) recently told EpochTVs American Thought Leaders program that the censorship that social media companies like Facebook and YouTube have engaged in needs to be addressed.

Now the media and social media have an awful lot to account for, Johnson said speaking of the censorship by YouTube that he experienced for talking about alternative treatments for COVID.

The calls to investigate the pandemics origins were magnified after the Wall Street Journal reported that three researchers at Chinas Wuhan Institute of Virology exhibited symptoms severe enough to seek hospital treatment.

The disclosure led to President Joe Biden directing his national security adviser to develop a report on the viruss origins, including the possibility that it emerged after a laboratory accident.

Faucis office and Facebook were contacted for comment about Senator Ted Cruzs comments. The Epoch Times has not heard back from either office yet.
The Supreme Court of the United States in Washington on May 7, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Temporary Protected Status Not a Gateway to Green Card, Supreme Court Rules

The fact that U.S. government policy allows aliens from troubled nationsincluding those who enter the country illegallyto remain in the United States for humanitarian reasons doesnt mean they are entitled to apply for green cards, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously.

The 11-page opinion in Sanchez v. Mayorkas, court file 20-315, was written by Justice Elena Kagan.

The decision came June 7 as the federal government finds itself overwhelmed by a rush of would-be immigrants flooding the nations border with Mexico. The White House wants the Mexican government to do more to curb illegal immigration to the United States. President Joe Biden ended the Trump-era remain in Mexico policy that required asylum-seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico while their claims are processed.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, the respondent in the court case, spoke with Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Marcelo Ebrard on June 4 about the two countries close cooperation and partnership to manage northbound irregular migration flows and address southbound weapons flows to Mexico from the United States, according to a government summary.

The petitioners, Jose Santos Sanchez and Sonia Gonzalez, a married couple from El Salvador living in New Jersey, now have four children, including one who was born in the United States. Sanchez entered the country illegally in 1997. The United States gave El Salvador the temporary protected status (TPS) designation in 2001 after a series of earthquakes in that country and gave protection to the couple under the program.

The TPS program allows individuals from countries in crisis to temporarily reside in the United States while adverse conditions continue to exist at home. The designation is applied by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to countries experiencing ongoing armed conflict or environmental disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, or epidemics.

Twelve countries currently have the TPS designation, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Burma (also known as Myanmar), Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.

There were about 320,000 TPS recipients living in the United States as of March, according to one estimate.

In the court opinion, Kagan noted that Sanchez entered this country illegally from El Salvador and was given temporary protected status. The fact that he came into the United States without authorization meant he wasnt eligible for permanent resident status, also known as a green card.

Sanchez now wishes to become a lawful permanent resident (LPR) of the United States, she continued. The question here is whether the conferral of TPS enables him to obtain LPR status despite his unlawful entry. We hold that it does not.

In 2014, USCIS turned down Sanchezs application for a green card because he was deemed not to have been lawfully admitted to the United States.

A grant of TPS does not cure a foreign nationals entry without inspection or constitute an inspection and admission of the foreign national, Kagan wrote, quoting the USCIS determination.

Recipients of TPS, the agency reasoned, must still meet the threshold requirement of a lawful entry, the justice continued.

Sanchez challenged the decision and a U.S. District Court agreed with him, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit reversed, holding that a grant of TPS does not constitute an admission into the United States.

The court observed that admission and status are separate concepts in immigration law, Kagan wrote. So, the court concluded, providing a person with nonimmigrant status (as the TPS provision does) does not mean admitting him.

Because a grant of TPS does not come with a ticket of admission, it does not eliminate the disqualifying effect of an unlawful entry.

During oral arguments on April 19, Justice Brett Kavanaugh seemed to foreshadow the courts decision in the case.

We need to be careful about tinkering with the immigration statutes as written, particularly when Congress has  such a primary role here, Kavanaugh told Sanchezs attorney. Dont you think  if Congress was intending to do what you want, it was almost certain there would be more explicit language?

The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) applauded the new court ruling, which it said recognized that Congress didnt intend to reward illegal border-crossing by offering illegal aliens an opportunity to obtain lawful status in the U.S.

Thankfully, today the Court declined to water down the law, but instead maintained the standard that illegal entry into our country will not be tolerated, much less rewarded, Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI, said in a statement.

We are seeing right now what happens when deliberate non-enforcement sends the opposite message: an engineered surge, crisis, and chaos at the border. We are pleased that the Court refused to add to that crisis today.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 14:39:45|Editor: huaxia

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KATHMANDU -- At least two people have died in Nepal from mucormycosis, a rare fungal infection mostly found among COVID-19 patients with diabetes, while the Himalayan country have reported around a dozen of such cases, said government and hospital officials.

Also known as black fungus, mucormycosis affects the brain, sinuses and lungs and can be life-threatening to diabetic or severely immunocompromised individuals like cancer and HIV/AIDS patients. Such cases have appeared mostly among COVID-19 patients in Nepal and neighboring India. (Nepal-Mucormycosis Deaths)

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ISLAMABAD -- The death toll from a head-on collision between two passenger trains in Pakistan's southern Sindh province has increased to 36 Monday morning with over 50 others injured, local media and officials said.

Divisional Transport Officer of Pakistan Railways in Sukkur division Sajjad Wagho told Xinhua that the collision took place between the Millat Express and Sir Syed Express trains in Raiti and Ubauro areas of Ghotki district. (Pakistan-Trains-Collision)

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LOS ANGELES -- A suspect was taken into custody by police after a reported gunshot near a university campus in U.S. state of California, authorities said Sunday.

The shooting near the campus of the Azusa Pacific University in the City of Azusa, Los Angeles County, took place reportedly around 1 p.m. local time (GMT 2000). (U.S.-Shooting)

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ABUJA -- Five gunmen were killed on Sunday as Nigerian troops and police special forces thwarted an attack on a police station in the southern state of Imo, said a spokesperson for the army.

The Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), an outlawed group, was suspected of carrying out the attack, the spokesperson, Mohammed Yerima, said in a statement. (Nigeria-Gunmen Attacks-Troops) Enditem
Texas Becomes 25th State to Urge Supreme Court to Overturn New Jerseys 11-Plus Gun Magazine Ban

Texas has joined a coalition of what is now 25 states urging the U.S. Supreme Court to repeal a New Jersey law banning the possession of firearms with magazines that hold more than 10 bullets, arguing the measure violates the Second Amendment and leaves law-abiding citizens less able to defend themselves against dangerous criminals.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in a statement that he had signed onto an amicus brief (pdf) that argues allowing law-abiding citizens to carry firearms with 11-plus capacity magazines benefits public safety, counterbalances the threat of illegal gun violence, and helps make our streets safer.

New Jerseys law is a blatant violation of the Second Amendment, and its mere existence threatens the rights of law-abiding citizens. This law must be struck down, Paxton said. Criminalizing the possession of a magazine that is so commonly used leaves Americans defenseless and vulnerable, especially in high crime areas.

Under the 2018 New Jersey law, its illegal to produce, transport, sell, or otherwise dispose of magazines with more than a 10-round capacity, which the law characterizes as a large-capacity magazine. The law was upheld by the Third Circuit Appellate Court last year after a New Jersey gun association and two individuals challenged the ban. The association asked the full court of the Third Circuit to hear the case, but that review was denied in an 86 vote.

The coalition of 25 state attorneys general is urging the Supreme Court to review the decision that upheld New Jerseys ban on 11-plus gun magazines. The group argues in the amicus brief that large-capacity is a misnomer, as many of the most popular firearms owned in the United States come standard with a range of 11 to 15 bullets, and theres nothing sinister about such magazines. The group claims 11-plus magazines are permitted in 43 states and are considered standard equipment for many commonly used handguns designed for self-defense.

The initial amicus brief, filed on May 28, was spearheaded by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry.

New Jersey lawmakers are operating in total ignorance of our ability to protect ourselves and our families, Brnovich said in a statement. We hope the Supreme Court will hear this case and reverse this misguided attempt to erode our rights.

The New Jersey attorney generals office didnt respond to an earlier request for comment by The Epoch Times.

Besides Texas, other states that have signed onto the brief include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

The Biden administration is seeking to tighten gun restrictions and introduce measures across the country seeking to control the sale and use of guns and firearm parts such as magazines. President Joe Biden has previously declared shootings a public health crisis.

The Justice Department issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on May 7 that the department said would modernize the definition of frame or receiver and close a regulatory loophole related to ghost guns.

Following a mass shooting in San Jose, California, on May 26, Biden issued a statement calling on Congress to take immediate action and heed the call of the American people, including the vast majority of gun owners, to help end this epidemic of gun violence in America.

Janita Kan contributed to this report.
The Peculiarity of Public Versus Private Health Care in Canada

Commentary

Heres a strange headline. Private Med Clinic Expands Network. And the strange part isnt Med. Its that this first story in the June 7 National Post is about Canada, fabled land of socialized medicine. What wretch snuck in a network of private clinics?

The company in question is WELL Health Technologies Corp., which just spent a fifth of a billion dollars adding 77 clinics to its network by purchasing MyHealth Centres to create the largest private-sector-owned network of medical clinics in Canada. But not, youll notice, the only or the first.

In fact, most Canadian health care is provided by private for-profit individuals and businesses, and much of the rest by private non-profits. The occasional maniac has called to conscript health-care providers in Canada, but thank goodness they have been ignored. Still, if youre looking for villains here, try Hamed Shahbazi, chair and CEO of WELL Health, who for some reason seems to think it would be good if Canadians could get effective diagnosis quickly, including through MyHealths telehealth consultations, which I think means online.

Shahbazi described MyHealth as a very tech-leaning and sophisticated company that will allow WELL Health to expand through bricks and clicks. Which might make him an enemy of clear communication. But normally those who favour private health care are viewed as enemies of the revolution in Canada.

The story adds that WELL Health will now bring in about $400 million in revenue per year as it earns $100 million on an operating basis. Which I think means profits. But arent profits bad in health care, the economic and ideological equivalent of a virulent superbug?

Well, you could ask your doctor. If you could get in to see them. If indeed you had one, which millions of Canadians dont. Only enemies could criticize the best health-care system in the world. But Statistics Canada did blurt out that In 2019, 14.5% of Canadians aged 12 and older (roughly 4.6 million people) reported that they did not have a regular health care provider. Amazingly, men do much worse than women, 17.4 percent vs. 11.7 percent, despite living in a patriarchy.

Nearly five million people without a GP would seem like a lot if you were one of them. But our politicians, pundits, and persons of rich do not skulk into walk-in clinics or line up endlessly for surgery like the shabby proles. They go abroad or use pull to queue-jump, giving the lie to their professed worries about two-tier medicine.

Still, if you do have a doctor, you can ask them. And chances are very strong that they are private practitioners with the gall to expect to support themselves and their employees from their seedy occupation of protecting and restoring our health. Its an outrage. Hence the B.C. governments 12-year war of attrition to shut down the Cambie Surgery Centre for having had the gall to expect to support its doctors, nurses, and other staff by providing surgeries faster and often better than the public system.

Do you find sarcasm bitter medicine? Well, it beats sugar-coating the truth that its not ordinary people who are offended that doctors expect to earn a living keeping us living. It is zealots, administrators, and politicians.

The former are motivated by misplaced sincerity. Which is no excuse. But the latter are motivated by self-interest of a seedy sort. The Canadian medical system is largely private in its operations. But much of it is funded and price-fixed publicly, gets the incentives badly wrong, does too little, spends too much, and develops a compulsion to stop you from getting medical care.

No politician will admit to it, nor hospital administrator say it in public, but rationing is a feature, not a bug. The system rations by waiting list because it cannot afford not to.

They tell you health is expensive and you should consider yourself very fortunate to be entitled to it in principle and not gripe about being denied it in practice. But many countries have universal coverage without waiting lists because they are less obtuse and smug than the bureaucratic, political, and ideological guardians of our system. If Sweden can have private for-profit hospitals, why not us?

Full privatization is a topic for another day. But we could dramatically reform Canadian health care to produce far better results at far lower cost without abolishing the government as paymaster. And on a bleak note of hope, the pandemic may force us to, because of the intolerable increase in already outrageous waiting lists as our lumbering, inefficient system cleared the ICU decks for COVID.

If so, the first reform is intellectual, not institutional. And its not even admitting the private sector is better at delivering effective, compassionate service, as usual. Its admitting its already doing it, that indeed its the only thing that makes Canadian health care work at all.

Strange, isnt it?

John Robson is a documentary filmmaker, National Post columnist, contributing editor to the Dorchester Review, and executive director of the Climate Discussion Nexus. His most recent documentary is The Environment: A True Story.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Demonstrators take part in a protest against the planned construction of Chinese Fudan university campus in Budapest, Hungary, on June 5, 2021. (Ferenc Isza/AFP via Getty Images)

Thousands of Hungarians Rally Against Chinese Universitys Planned Campus in Budapest

Thousands of protestors gathered outside the Hungarian parliament building in Budapest on June 5, pushing back on a Chinese universitys plans to open a satellite campus in the city.

Critics have expressed concern regarding restrictions to academic freedom in China, as well as Beijings political influence in the East European country.

On June 5, several protesters were seen marching toward the Hungarian parliament building, holding signs with slogans such as China Stop, Treason, No Fudan, and Support Hungarian Education.

In April, a strategic deal was signed between the Hungarian government and Shanghai-based Fudan Universityone of Chinas top universities. According to the agreement, the university would create a campus in Budapest by 2024, and the Hungarians would make a huge investment in the project. Previously, the government had planned to build a dormitory village for Hungarian students in the city.

The proposed campus would be the universitys only foreign branch and also Chinas first among the EUs 27 member states.

Critics have accused the Federation of Young DemocratsHungarian Civic Alliance (Fidsez) party of Hungarian Prime Minister Orban Viktor of attempting to gain favor with Beijing, worrying that the Chinese campus will undercut the quality of the countrys higher education and help promote Beijings influence in the former communist countryand in the EU.

On June 5, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony called the Fudan project the Fidesz partys final and complete moral suicide.

The mayor also said in a June 2 Twitter post that he welcomes foreign universities that are not linked to oppressive state ideologies, are transparent, and arent disadvantageous to Hungarian taxpayers.

Video footage released by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty showed at least three street signs in the vicinity of the planned campus location renamed Dalai-Lama Ut [Dalai Lama Road], Szabad Hongkong Ut [Freedom Hongkong Road], and Ujgur Martirok Ut [Uyghur Martyrs Road]a reminder by the protestors of the Chinese regimes human rights record in Tibet, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang.

On June 5, a netizen with the username dora1234view commented: What happened in Hungary show[s] totalitarianism is spreading and it is well supported. It shows [the] EU is at risk.

It is time [for] action. Without consequence, totalitarianism will control EU.

In mainland China, communist authorities keep a close watch on domestic universities and colleges. Surveillance cameras are found in every classroom. Dissenting voices from teachers or students are likely to be reported to administrators or police by peers if deemed to be anti-China or anti-Party remarks.

Its Chinese law that every university or collegepublic or privatemust pledge allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Top school positions are almost always occupied by clear-cut communists.

Historically, Fudan University was one of Chinas most prestigious institutions for higher learning. However, the CCP began to bring the school and many others under its direct control when it came to power by force in 1949, pushing its communist ideologies.

In 1952, then-Chinese leader Mao Zedong appointed Chen Wangdao, the first Chinese translator of the full text of The Communist Manifesto to be Fudan Universitys president.

The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848, is idolized as the first programmatic document by communists.

The CCPs ideological control over Fudan university has been so extensive that a School of Marxism was created in 2014 with the aim to cultivate young talent for the ruling party.

In 2019, Fudan University drew attention for its controversial revised university constitution. Notably, freedom of thought was deleted in the latest edition, while adhering to the CCPs leadership was added to and highlighted in the update. In addition, the concept of academic independence was made much less prominent in the document.

Xu Zhenqi and Reuters contributed to this report.
Police officers perform a new goose-stepping march, the same style used by police and troops on the Chinese mainland, at the city's police college during an open day to mark the National Security Education Day in Hong Kong on April 15, 2021. (ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Tiananmen and Chinas Self-Serving Victimhood

Commentary

Tiananmen

Is broad and clean

And you cant tell

Where the dead have been

And you cant tell

What happened then

And you cant speak

Of Tiananmen

James Fenton, Tiananmen (1989)

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has largely silenced annual observations of the oppression that took place in 1989 in Tiananmen Square throughout the Chinese-speaking world. Nevertheless, what happened on that day continues to reverberate through modern China and within todays CCP.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Chinas claim to victimhood. Beijing and the CCP see themselves as constantly under siege from sinister overseas forcesmilitary, political, economic, and cultural. Hurting the feelings of the Chinese people is one of gravest sins a foreign government, institution, or individual can commit. And yet few are aware of how the China-as-victim motif is the directand cynicalresult of Tiananmen.

Almost every nation in the Asia-Pacific can claim, with some justification, of being a victim. India, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam were just a few of the victims of European colonialism. The United States violently occupied the Philippines, while Yankee imperialists bombed North Vietnam and invaded Cambodia. Other countries, particularly Korea, were victims of Japanese aggression during the first half of the 20th Century. Even Japan can declare victimhood, as it was the firstand so far onlytarget of nuclear weapons.

Feelings of victimization are not limited to the Asia-Pacific. Vladimir Putin has used patriotic education to manipulate Russias wounded self-esteem to his politics. And Donald Trump played a similar populist-victimhood card, winning the 2016 election by asserting that the United States has been made a sucker by foreign powers.

Few, however, have raised victimization to a fine art better than the CCP. Interestingly, this China-as-victim notion is rather a recent phenomenon. According to Zheng Wangs excellent book Never Forget National Humiliation, the official historical narrative of China was very different immediately after the founding of the Peoples Republic.

Picture released in 1969 by Chinese official news agency with the caption saying: Chinese peasants gather in May 1969 in a field in Hungching region around a huge portrait of Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong (18931976), leading theorist of the Chinese communist revolution, chairman of the party and President of the Republic, as they read collectively Little Red Book of quotations from Maos works during the great proletarian cultural revolution. The inscription under Maos portrait is as follows: Celebrating the Partys victorious opening of the Ninth Congress! Lets stir up the studying and application of Mao talk to a new climax. (Xinhua/AFP via Getty Images)

From 1949 to approximately 1990, the official history of China was triumphalist. The Chinese were the victors who had thrown off the mortifications of the pastparticularly the so-called century of humiliation and Japanese occupationand created a new self-governing state. This is what Mao Zedong meant when, in announcing the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), he declared that the Chinese people have stood up.

This triumphalism persisted throughout the first 40 years or so of the PRCs rule. Official histories of China largely ended with the victorious creation of the Peoples Republic. I can personally recall visiting the National Museum of China in the 1990s, which had few exhibitions dedicated to Chinese history after 1949. It certainly did not cover such uncomfortable events as the Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolutionand definitely not the Tiananmen protests.

This began to change in the early 1990s as a direct result of the Tiananmen protests. According to Wang, the CCP was shocked that Chinese youth could be so polluted by such foreign ideas as democracy and freedom of thought and expression.

This subsequently resulted in a new program of patriotic education that emphasized the narrative of China-as-victim. It is, however, nothing less than a cynical ploy by the CCP to manipulate Chinese history and the feelings of the Chinese people, as a means to stay in power.

Chinas national history now emphasized an us-against-them theme could be seen everywhere, such as in the expansion of new monuments and museums observing Chinese suffering at the hands of the Japanese during the Pacific War, or in conspiracy theories that the United States had deliberately bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the 1999 Kosovo War.

Red tourism also exploded, as the Chinese flocked to museums and memorials celebrating the peoples efforts to oppose foreign invaders. Modern Chinese TV is full of cheap and salacious movies about fighting the Japanese or the Nationalists, while patriotic films like Wolf Warrior rival Hollywood when it comes to choreographed combat, Michael Bay-style explosions, and snarling, comic-book villainsusually Americans.

This shameless appeal to nationalism and the subsequent manipulation of historical memory is due mainly to the fact that the CCP has little legitimacy otherwise. It has pretty much jettisoned Marxist ideology as policy. Nor can it base its authority solely on economic performance, especially as the economy sputters.

A Chinese man uses his phone next to his Ferrari in an upscale shopping district in Beijing on May 29, 2015. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A much darker side of this victimization, however, is how much it has infected Chinese foreign and security policy. International relations for most countries is about getting along; it is a process of negotiation, compromise, and concession. But victims, because they believe that they have suffered unfairly, tend to feel that they should not have to concede anything, especially to their real or imagined bullies. Rather, victims feel that they are entitled to indulgences and privileged treatment.

What makes this attitude all the more worrisome is Chinas growing military might. Beijing has for several years invested considerable resources into building up its armed forcesand it is paying off. The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) is a much more capable force, relative to its neighbors, than it was twenty years ago.

These dual trendsthe modernization of the PLA, together with the CCPs China-as-victim narrativehave resulted in an increasingly belligerent regime in Beijing that believes it is due its place under the sun. This entitled victimization, in turn, denotes a China that is much less inclined to negotiate and compromise, and less willing to support the status quo or pursue peaceful routes to conflict-resolutionsuch as in the South China Sea. Rather, it means a power that is increasingly willing to use force or the threat of force to get what it wants.

Richard A. Bitzinger is an independent international security analyst. He was previously a senior fellow with the Military Transformations Program at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, and he has held jobs in the U.S. government and at various think tanks. His research focuses on security and defense issues relating to the Asia-Pacific region, including the rise of China as a military power, and military modernization and arms proliferation in the region.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Touching Tweet Shows Berkeley Law Alum Graduating From Same School Mom Did 26 Years Ago

A young man from the Bay Area recently graduated from Berkeley after three years of law school. His achievement is the latest milestone in a decades-old legacy, which began with his momat the very same school.

After receiving his certificate, Savelle Jefferson posted a remarkable pair of How it started vs. How its going pictures on Twitterone, the most recent, is of him in cap and gown; the other shows his mom onstage during her grad in 1995, also at Berkeley, holding a 6-month-old baby in her arms.

That baby was Savelle.

More than two decades later, the younger graduate captioned a tribute to his mom in that tweet: 26 years ago my mom carried me across the stage as she graduated from @UCBerkeley.

26 years later I was blessed enough to walk across the same stage as a @BerkeleyLaw graduate.

Savelle Jefferson during his graduation in 2021. (Courtesy of Savelle Jefferson)

Savelle Jefferson as a toddler with his mom Veronica Piper-Jefferson at her grad in 1995. (Courtesy of Savelle Jefferson)

Savelle was born while his mom, Veronica Piper-Jefferson, was still in graduate school studying for her masters in social work. Unable to afford childcare, she often attended lectures with her baby boy in tow.

Savelle literally grew up shuffling around the Berkeley campus with his mom.

My mom frequently talks about pushing me in a stroller from Berkeley Bart station up the hill to get to class, he told Fox.

Eventually, Veronica received her degree, and the image of her with her son onstage was immortalized in a photo.

If you go to the hall on campus that houses the MSW program, my mom is seen in the 1995 class photo holding me, Savelle said. Ive been on this campus since I was a kid and I always dreamed of one day attending.

Savelle with his mom. (Courtesy of Savelle Jefferson)

Veronica, who, in addition to her masters, has a bachelors degree in social welfare, went on to work in child welfare services in the Bay Area. She and her family eventually moved to Fairfield-Vacaville.

Later, her son would build upon the legacy she started by fulfilling an ambition she could not.

The irony of the entire situation is that my mom actually applied to the joint MSW/JD program and was denied to the law school so she just pursued the MSW, he said.

With his mother as his inspiration, Savelle followed in her footsteps. Upon being accepted into Berkeley Law, he sent a confirming screenshot to herwhile she was at workand she was overcome with emotion.

When I first found out I was admitted, I texted her a screenshot of the admittance and she ended up having to leave work because she was crying so hard, he said.

Despite facing numerous challenges on his journey, Savelle excelled in his studies, winning numerous awards, including the Allen E. Broussard Phoenix Fellowship and the Tyrone McGraw Memorial Scholarship by the Charles Houston Bar Association.

He also contributed to supporting students of colorlike himselfto help them surmount some of the obstacles they face pursuing a career in law; he helped to organize the schools largest ever For People of Color Conference.

My journey to law school was very very tough and I struggled immensely to find resources and fund the high costs associated with the admissions process, he said. So I planned this event with the intent to ease some of these barriers for other students of color who may be interested in entering the profession. This was one of my main goals while attending Berkeley Law.

Savelle with his mom at his grad. (Courtesy of Savelle Jefferson)

Meanwhile, the familys connection with Berkeley doesnt end with Savelle; his younger brother, Myles Jefferson, is also attending the university; he is currently a freshman and a Cal Bear.

We are a UC Berkeley family through and through, Savelle told the station.

My mom has consistently been the number one motivator for me in terms of education. She always encouraged me to do well in school and to be a change agent, he added. I truly owe this degree to her because I wouldnt have made it this point without her, 26 years later I finally gave her the JD she always wanted.

Savelle will be taking the California Bar Exam in July; he hopes to go on to work for global law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) speaks with then-President Donald Trump after Trump gave a State of the Union Address before a Joint Session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington on Jan. 30, 2018. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump Praises Manchin for Not Supporting Abolishing the Filibuster

Former President Donald Trump on Monday said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is making the right choice in his refusal to go along with Democrat efforts to end the filibuster.

Well, its a very important thing. Hes doing the right thing and its a very important thing, otherwise youre going to be packing the court, youre going to be doing all sorts of very, very bad things that were unthinkable and were never even brought up during the election, Trump said during a phone interview broadcast on Fox News.

The idea of abolishing the filibuster is so radical that even Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a self-described socialist, didnt bring it up on the campaign trail, Trump added.

Nobody brought this stuff up. Bernie Sanders cant believe it. This is so radical liberal, radical left Bernie Sanders cant believe it. This is far more than he ever even talked about. The most progressivethey use the term progressivebut the most radical left people cannot believe whats happening, he said.

The U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 8, 2021. (Erin Scott/Reuters)

The filibuster is a rule that requires at least 60 votes to pass most bills in the Senate.

The upper chamber is currently split in half, with 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats or nominal Independents who regularly vote with the party.

Critics have increasingly pushed for ending the filibuster, arguing the GOP is obstructing President Joe Bidens agenda in the Senate.

The filibuster has changed over time. Past rules required senators attempting to block legislation to be on the Senate floor speaking in order for them to delay a vote on a bill. That was changed decades ago; senators can now merely object to a bill, triggering the 60-vote threshold.

Removing the filibuster would mean a bill could be passed with a majority vote. Bills in the House of Representatives pass with a simple majority.

Ranking Member Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) speaks during a hearing to examine the nomination of Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to be Secretary of Energy, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 27, 2021. (Jim Watson/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

I have said it before and will say it again to remove any shred of doubt: There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster, Manchin wrote in a Washington Post op-ed in April. The time has come to end these political games, and to usher a new era of bipartisanship where we find common ground on the major policy debates facing our nation.

Another moderate Democrat, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), has also said she doesnt support abolishing the filibuster. No Republicans have said they back altering or changing the rule.

Democrats in the Senate in 2013 axed the filibuster for all judicial nominations apart from Supreme Court ones. Republicans followed suit in 2017 by ending the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations.

In both cases, a simple majority vote was required through senators saying they wanted to create a new Senate precedent, according to the Brookings Institution. In sum, by following the right steps in a particular parliamentary circumstance, a simple majority of senators can establish a new interpretation of a Senate rule, Molly Reynolds of the think tank wrote.
Donald Trump (L) and television personality Bill O'Reilly attend the game between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City on July 30, 2012. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Trump to Hold History Tour With Bill OReilly in December

Former President Donald Trump will conduct a series of four live The History Tour conversations across the nation in December with Bill OReilly, the former Fox News host announced on Monday.

During the live conversations, Trump will provide a never before heard inside view of his administrationwhich will be historical in and of itself, OReillys news release states.

These will be wonderful but hard-hitting sessions where well talk about the real problems happening in the U.S., those that the Fake News Media never mention, Trump said in a statement. I will be focusing on greatness for our Country, something seldom discussed in political dialogue. If we dont make our Country great again, we will soon no longer have a Country!

I look forward to working with Bill, who right now has the #1 bestselling book, to openly discuss the real problems of our Country, and how to solve them. Additionally, it will be fun, fun, fun, for everyone who attends! Trump added.

Trump is likely referring to Killing the Mob, a book co-authored by OReilly and Martin Dugard, currently The New York Timess number one bestselling nonfiction book, print and e-book combined. This book is the latest in OReillys bestselling killing series.

My job as a historian/journalist is to get important things on the record in a fact-based way. These conversations with the 45th President will not be boring, OReilly said in the statement.

OReilly was the top host at Fox News with the highest-rated cable news show for years. Fox News decided to cut ties with OReilly after reports that he paid tens of millions of dollars to settle various sexual misconduct lawsuits.

The tour will start on Dec. 11, 2021, at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, and at a to-be-announced location the next day. It will continue in Houston, Texas, on Dec. 18, and Dallas, Texas, on Dec. 19.

Trump has promised to remain active in politics and has hinted at his 2024 run multiple times lately.

Over the weekend, Trump delivered a speech at the North Carolina Republican Party annual convention, the second major public appearance since he left office.

Former President Donald Trump addresses the NCGOP state convention in Greenville, N.C., on June 5, 2021. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

Trump also suggested last month that his new social media platform would be launched soon.

On June 4, Facebook announced that it suspended Trump for two years, while Twitter permanently suspended Trumps account earlier this year after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.
Former President Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd as he speaks at the North Carolina Republican Convention in Greenville, N.C., on June 5, 2021. (Chris Seward/AP Photo)

Trump: Too Early to Tell If Pence Would Be Running Mate in Potential 2024 Bid

Former President Donald Trump said Saturday night that its too early to tell if he would consider former Vice President Mike Pence to be his running mate if he runs for president in 2024.

Trump told Fox News in an interview at the North Carolina GOP Convention that while he and Pence have a very good relationship, it is too early to be discussing potential running mates.

Trump hasnt publicly indicated whether he would definitively run for president, however he has committed to remaining active in politics and has hinted at another presidential run in 2024.

Mike and I have a good relationship, we continue to have a goodbut its too early to be discussing running mates certainly, the former president said.

I was disappointed with Mike on one thing, as he understands and some other people understand, but overall I had a very good relationship with Mike, and hes a very fine person and a fine man, Trump told Fox News.

The former president was likely referring to Pences refusal to reject the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6. During the breach of the U.S. Capitol building, some chanted Hang Mike Pence! after the vice president said he did not have the power to overturn Democrat Joe Bidens election win.

I was disappointed on one account, but that was a choice that Mike made, and I want people to make their own decisions, and he did, Trump added.

Speaking with Fox Business last month, however, Trump said he would consider Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a running mate.

President Donald Trump listens as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holds up a sign during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 28, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

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.

Hinting again at a possible 2024 presidential run Saturday evening, Trump said that hell be making a decision sooner than people think.

Ill make a decision in the not too distant future, maybe sooner than people think. And I think theyre going to be very happy, Trump told Fox News.

Several Republicans, including two lawmakers, have predicted that Trump will indeed make another bid for the presidency in 2024.

When asked during a Fox News interview about Trumps prospects on May 25, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said that every time he has spoken to Trump, the former commander-in-chief says that he wants to run.

He plans to run, I think, but he hasnt fully committed that yet. But I certainly hope he does, because no president has done more of what he said he would do than President Trump, Jordan said. Best president I think weve ever had. Keeping his word, doing what he said, doing what he was elected to do.

Mark Meadows, a former Republican congressman and Trumps former chief of staff, agreed with Jordans assessment.

Heres what I will say is, the American people want him to run. I believe hell run. And at the end of the day, its a time for choosing, and the American people will choose Donald Trump, Meadows said on Fox News.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.
The logo of U.S. social network Twitter displayed on the screen of a smartphone and a tablet in Toulouse, southern France, on Oct. 26, 2020. (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images)

Twitter Launches New Subscription Service in Australia and Canada

Twitter has announced it will launch a world-first subscription to the platform in Australia and Canada.

Called Twitter Blue, the social media giant said its new subscription model will meet the needs of prolific Twitter users, with the power to undo a tweet or to save and manage content.

Weve heard from the people that use Twitter a lot, and we mean a lot, that we dont always build power features that meet their needs, the social media company said in a blog update on June 3. Well, thats about to change.

The subscription costs $4.49 (US $3.86) per month and offers three new features.

Undo Tweet: This feature gives users 30 seconds to click Undo button before posting a Tweet, reply, or thread to the timeline, allowing users to preview and revise Tweet, although an edit button is still not offered.

Reader Mode: The mode will provide users with more beautiful reading experience on the app by turning long threads, a popular way to write beyond the 280-word limit, into easy-to-read text, so that people can read all the content seamlessly.

Bookmark Folders: The feature makes it easier for users to save content and manage Tweets saved in the past, thereby users can find content more efficiently when they need it.

Users of the new offering will also enjoy some privileges such as customizable app icons on the home screen, fun colour themes for the app, and access to dedicated subscription customer support, which is faster than normal users.

Welcome to Twitter Blue  a new subscription service designed to give you more customization over your Twitter experience and access to premium features, including:

Undo Tweet

Bookmark Folders

Reader Mode pic.twitter.com/YC6QiLM52U  Twitter Blue (@TwitterBlue) June 3, 2021

Suzy Nicolette, the managing director of Twitter Australia, told Twitter Space that the new product was first trialled in Australia because it is a market full of dedicated social media users.

As a market, we are avid social media users. Nearly six in 10 go online more than 10 times a day, so we know people are really engaged, she said.

We are also mature and digitally savvy in Australia, so you see a lot of launches happen here.

Twitter confirmed that a free version of the app is not going away, and never will.

This subscription offering is simply meant to add enhanced and complementary features to the already existing Twitter experience for those who want it, the company said.

Smita Gupta, senior product manager at Twitter, told Nine News that the subscription offering is currently in a test and learn stage, and the company did not have a target number of users shifting to the new offering.

We dont have revenue expectations at the moment, this is a long-term endeavour in terms of diversifying revenue streams, and we are still in the very early stages of this, she said.

Rob Nicholls, Associate Professor of Regulation and Governance from UNSW, noted the decision to select Canada and Australia as pilot markets.

This suggests that Twitter is putting its toe in the water without alienating the largest customer bases across the world, he wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.

Nicholls believes Australian users were unlikely to take up the new offering, as the social media giants penetration in the country are not as strong compared to the United States.

In general, these are people or businesses that tweet many times per day and for who there is revenue associated with Twitter activity, he said. The rationale behind the subscription is that for power users, there may be a value proposition in some of the product offerings.

The subscription model has the opportunity to generate more revenue per Twitter user than would flow from advertising. That is, to the extent that this decision is in response to market pressure, its pressure from shareholders, rather than users.
Border Force officials unload migrants that have been intercepted in the English Channel in Dover, England, on Sept. 22, 2020. (Luke Dray/Getty Images)

UK Border Force Little More Than Taxi Service for Illegal Migrants: Lawmaker

Britains Border Force is little more than a taxi service for illegal migrants, a Conservative MP said on Monday, as he urged the government to take action to put an end to the horrible trade of people smuggling.

The Home Office is investigating an incident in which migrants attempting to cross the English Channel were reportedly picked up in French waters by the UK Border Force and taken to the English port of Dover.

The move was orchestrated between senior crew members of UK Border Force ship HMC Valiant and French patrol ship Athos on May 29, the Daily Mail reported.

Asking in the House of Commons what the Home Office is doing to tackle human smuggling, Sir Edward Leigh said: Does the minister recognise the public anger at us being made fools of with this? Border Force is little more than a taxi service for illegal migrants, its ridiculous.

So will the minister assure me that he will use his powers under the 1971 Immigration Act to arrest all illegal immigrants, put them in detention, prosecute them, imprison them, and deport them so that we can stop this horrible trade dead in its tracks?

Responding to the question, Home Office minister Chris Philp said that he completely shares Sir Edwards anger.

We are actively prosecuting the facilitators. And in the forthcoming Sovereign Borders Bill, as part of the new plan for immigration, we plan to significantly strengthen the Section 24 illegal entry offence that he refers to in the 1971 act to make it easier to use and easier to implement in practice.

And at the same time we are going to be increasing the sentence for illegal entry and the sentence for facilitation under Section 25 of that same act.

According to the Home Office, the French authorities dealt with eight incidents involving 130 people on June 4, with the UK dealing with four boats involving 83 people.

This follows 201 people being stopped by Border Force officers in eight incidents on June 3.

In addition, the French authorities intercepted nine crossings on June 2 and 3, preventing 171 people from reaching the UK.

This makes a total of 585 attempting to make the crossing in just three days.

On Monday, migrants continued to arrive in Dover after crossing the English Channel.

Kent County Council has threatened legal action against Home Secretary Priti Patel, saying it faces extreme pressure on its services for unaccompanied child migrants.

The dangerous sea journey from Francemade by more than 3,000 people including children so far in 2021has claimed many lives.

Police confirmed on Monday that the body of a baby found on a Norwegian beach is that of a Kurdish-Iranian boy who went missing in the English Channel last year.

Fifteen-month-old Artin was onboard an overcrowded migrant boat heading for the UK with his parents and two siblings when it capsized on Oct. 27, 2020, claiming all five of their lives.

Artins family had sold their house before leaving Iran and paid 14,000 ($20,000) to get on to the boat, with a further 8,200 ($11,600) supposed to be due when they arrived safely in the UK.

Patel said at the time that the deaths were an ultimate tragedy and one that could have been avoided.

PA contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 14:56:56|Editor: huaxia

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Examinees wait outside an exam site at a high school in Guiyang City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, June 7, 2021. China's annual college entrance exam, better known as the Gaokao, kicked off Monday morning with a record 10.78 million candidates signing up for perhaps the world's most grueling test. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Donning a red Qipao dress, Meng Qingmei waits anxiously in front of the Experimental High School attached to Beijing Normal University, where her daughter is taking China's annual college entrance exam that kicked off Monday morning.

Considered the world's most grueling test, the exam, better known as the Gaokao, saw a record 10.78 million candidates signing up this year.

"I purchased it (the dress) especially for today," Meng said. Qipao sounds similar to the Chinese phrase "qikaidesheng," meaning victory, while red is considered an auspicious color in Chinese culture symbolizing good fortune.

Meng's husband was also wearing a red T-shirt. "The COVID-19 situation in Beijing has been very stable this year, and following proper epidemic control measures has become our daily routine," said her husband. "So we are not worried."

Xue Mingyin, who was a Gaokao examinee last year, paid a visit to her alma mater on Monday to encourage her junior schoolmates. "The red gate and tents erected for temperature screening are the same, but the atmosphere is much more relaxed," she said.

This year's exam is also the biggest-ever collectively organized event since the coronavirus outbreak, witnessing millions of students in around 7,000 venues across the country. Last year the Gaokao had to be postponed by approximately a month due to the epidemic situation.

Local governments at various levels have customized epidemic control measures to ensure the safety of students and the smooth progress of the exam, which is still deemed a fate-changing opportunity for many.

A total of 51,738 students signed up for Gaokao in Beijing this year. They will take the exam in 1,566 exam halls across 90 venues.

Beijing has made it mandatory for all frontline exam staff to be vaccinated, and a negative nucleic acid test within a week should be provided. Temperature screening, disinfection and ventilation are strictly implemented during the exam.

In the southern city of Guangzhou, where new cluster infections emerged recently, the test is being conducted under strict anti-epidemic measures.

More than 50,000 candidates and some 7,000 people related to the exam in Guangzhou had completed two rounds of nucleic acid testing as of Sunday, and all relevant staff members have been vaccinated.

The Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital, where two senior high school students tested positive for COVID-19, has set up special rooms in the isolation ward for the students and installed high-definition surveillance cameras for real-time audio and video recording. The invigilators monitor the exam from a designated area.

In the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, which was hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in late May, a total of 891 candidates take the exam in tents as aftershocks are still active in the region.

Each tent measuring approximately 60 square meters in size can house 30 students, according to the prefecture's education bureau.

In east China's Jiangsu Province, where 9,952 exam halls were set up for about 359,000 students this year, 976 backup rooms have been reserved for the exam.

"Each backup room can only host one student. The invigilators will put on hazmat suits once the backup room is operational, and the papers will be disinfected using ultraviolet light for half an hour and sealed in a hermetic bag after the exam," said Gui Xingyuan, an official at an examination site in the provincial capital Nanjing.

Over 300 taxi drivers in the city of Wuxi have volunteered to shuttle candidates taking the Gaokao. The practice has been going on for 19 consecutive years, with the taxis serving more than 10,000 students.

In Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, a total of 1,058 exam halls and 165 backup exam rooms have been set up to serve the examinees.

"Shenyang reported new COVID-19 infections about 20 days before the Gaokao, and the students were more or less affected. But we have taken proper measures and provided necessary counseling to help them relieve the pressure," said Shao Yingying, a teacher in Shenyang.

"The students went through a tough time last year with about half a year of schooling at home. But, I believe they will overcome the difficulties and do well in the exam," Shao said. Enditem
A Union flag flies near the Elizabeth Tower, commonly referred to as Big Ben, at the Houses of Parliament in central London on March 29, 2017. (Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images)

UK Closes in on Post-Brexit Trade Deal With Australia

The United Kingdom (UK) secretary for international trade hopes to make history by agreeing to a free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia, which would be its first independently negotiated trade deal from scratch since leaving the European Union.

Our trading relationship is deep and longstanding, with the UK once Australias foremost trading partner, Liz Truss wrote in The Australian. We left some of our oldest allies behind when joining the European Common Market in the 1970s, but now is our chance to right this historic wrong.

Truss called the two nations natural partners as both were democracies who stood for freedom, fairness, and high standards in areas such as food and animal welfare.

I have great affection for your nation and admire your principled stand as a great pro-trade champion against pernicious practices from the likes of China, Truss said, referring to Beijings ongoing economic coercion campaign against Australia, which has forced exporters to diversify to other countries such as the UK.

The FTA would further improve the trade relationship, currently worth almost $35 billion (US$27 billion), and raise UK investment in Australia, worth over $67 billion (US$52 billion). UK food and drink exports to Australia rose by 26.5 percent over 2016-20, which Truss said showed the growing appetite for iconic British products.

This deal would give Aussies even more reason to snap up food and drink such as Glenmorangie Scotch whisky and Mr Kipling cakes, while Brits enjoy more of Australias world-class wine and treats such as TimTams, Truss said.

A man handles wine stock in the processing building at Obsession Wines on Nov. 24, 2020, in Tumbarumba, Australia. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

UK farmers have been the group most opposed to the FTA, with Scottish Minister Ian Blackford saying it would be the final nail in the coffin for Scottish crofters and farmers.

On the other hand, UK-based think tank Adam Smith Institute has found that most Brits support an FTA with their mates down under, with 64 percent saying UK farmers should compete on an equal basis with foreign imports of the same standards.

In its latest research paper, Ever Closer Mates (pdf), Adam Smith Institute surveyed 1,500 British and 1,500 Australians and found that most people in both countries supported the free trade deal. Australians (69 percent) were slightly more supportive than their British (65 percent) counterparts.

Australian wine was the most popular food and drink product the British would buy more of, while Australians were the most interested in eating more British shortbread and cheese.

The UK government has also said the trade deal could provide a major boost to Scottish producers, with Truss fighting hard to remove the 5 percent tariff on exports such as Scotch whisky, pharmaceutical products, and machinery.

This deal with Australia will be an important milestone in securing global opportunities for the UK outside the constraints of the EU, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said on June 3.

UK Exports Minister Graham Stuart assured UK businesses and consumers that they would benefit from the reduced trade barriers and red tape as the government signed trade deals with countries worldwide.

The 800 Scottish businesses exporting goods to Australia last year are no exception to this, and the others that will join them will only further showcase the very best Britain has to offer, Stuart said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference at the Antonov aircraft manufacturing plant in Kiev on May 20, 2021. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraines Zelensky: Biden Has Handed Russia Bullets by Waiving Nord Stream 2 Sanctions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 4 that hes disappointed by President Joe Bidens decision to lift sanctions on Russias Nord Stream 2 pipeline, stating the shift in U.S. policy has essentially provided Russia with bullets in doing so.

We were very surprised, Zelensky told Axios of the Biden administrations decision to waive sanctions on the company and CEO overseeing the construction of Russias Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project last month.

The pipeline, which is roughly 95 percent complete, would double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream duct to deliver gas to Europe from Russia through Germany under the Baltic Sea, weakening European energy security. Its expected to be completed this year, with Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing on June 3 that the first of the two lines is now complete and that Russias majority state energy company Gazprom is ready to start filling Nord Stream 2 with gas.

Nord Stream 2, according to our understandingaccording to the security understanding of not only Europe, I am sure, but also of the United States of America as our strategic partnerwe understand that this is a weapon, a real weapon  in the hands of the Russian Federation, Zelensky said.

It is not very understandable, I feel, and definitely not expected, that the bullets to this weapon can possibly be provided by such a great country as the United States.

A ship works offshore in the Baltic Sea on the natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 from Russia to Germany on Nov. 11, 2018. (Bernd Wuestneck/dpa via AP)

In late 2019, Congress and the Trump administration sanctioned a number of entities tied to the construction of the $10.5 billion pipeline. The sanctions were part of the National Defense Authorization Act, which had a stated goal to minimize the ability of Russia to use Nord Stream 2 as a tool of coercion and political leverage and to stop Russia from shifting energy exports from Ukraine to other countries. Russia had vowed to continue the project in spite of the implementation of those sanctions.

Russia has previously cut fuel deliveries to Ukraine and parts of Europe in winter amid pricing disputes.

In announcing the waiver of sanctions last month against Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO, Matthias Warniga known ally of PutinSecretary of State Antony Blinken said the company had engaged in sanctionable activity, but that the move was in the national interest of the United States. The statement noted although the United States will continue to oppose the project, the exemption of sanctions is in line with the commitment to rebuild relationships with European allies.

The Ukrainian president said Biden had offered him direct signals that the United States was prepared to block the pipeline. The White House said as recently as January that the president believes the pipeline is a bad deal for Europe.

I truly thought that when it came to Nord Stream 2, the United States remained the last standing outpost, Zelensky said. We understand that only the U.S. is capable of stopping this construction.

Zelensky told Axios that his anger upon learning of the news through a White House press briefing has now turned to disappointment.

I learned about it through the press. I feel that  well, between strategic partners the relations should be direct, he said.

Biden said although he opposed the project from the beginning, the pipeline is now nearly finished and cited the importance of good relations with Germany.

Zelensky said he understands the importance of the relationship between the United States and Germany, but stated: How many Ukrainian lives does the relationship between the U.S. and Germany cost?

I believe that even if there was only one percent left [to be completed], it would still be possible to stop such a serious leverage that Russia will have in the future to influence energy security and Europe in general, including Ukraine. Even if there was only one percent left, it just needs to be done.

The Ukrainian president suggested that a serious conversation, a serious roadmap be laid out as part of a joint effort between the United States, the European Union, and Ukraine.

I would like to reach a new level of relations with the United States  transparency, an understanding regarding the Membership Action Plan, regarding energy security of Ukraine  the assistance with returning our territories and defending our sovereignty, he said.

This is crucial for us, only because theres a war going on, and our time is measured not in minutes, but in human livesthe number of lives that we are losing at this war today.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Geneva on June 16 to discuss the full range of pressing issues, as we seek to restore predictability and stability to the U.S.Russia relationship.

Zelensky, meanwhile, has offered to meet Biden at any moment and at any spot on the planet to discuss the issue before the meeting as the guarantor of the Constitution of Ukraine.

I myself am ready to defend Ukraine at any moment, he said.

Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
Under CCPs Totalitarian System, Injustice Prevails in China

Commentary

Under the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) totalitarian system, justice is often dispensed in the opposite way from what most people would expect. In many cases, hard-working citizens who stand up for their rights are sent to prison rather than the true perpetrators.

There are a number of examples of this injustice happening in China such as: those who owe wages do not go to jail, but those who ask for payment for owed wages do; those who demolish other peoples houses do not go to jail while those who defend their homes against forced demolition do; those who commit corruption do not go to jail, but those who criticize or blow the whistle on corrupt officials do; those who persecute innocent people do not go to jail, but those who defend their rights do; those who create tainted food do not go to jail, but those who expose the truth dothe list goes on and on. Obviously, injustice prevails under the CCPs one-party rule.

Here are a few specific cases that illustrate this phenomenon:

Case 1: Migrant Worker Detained for Protesting Over Unpaid Wages

Many people in Chinas rural areas who go to big cities to make a living as migrant workers (mostly) for Chinese regime projects, often find themselves frustrated because they dont receive their wages. Protesting is often futile because local authorities usually impose crackdowns on them.

On Feb. 5, a migrant worker from Chinas Gansu Province was arrested and detained for 10 days after he climbed up a 50-meter-high tower crane arm at the construction site in an attempted suicide to protest his unpaid wages, according to a report by Chinese news portal Sina.

The local authorities accused him of disturbing the public order and maliciously demanding unpaid wages. Authorities have a zero tolerance rule and will crack down on any illegal acts of migrant workers, such as jumping from buildings or tower cranes, or other extreme actions to viciously demand unpaid wages, states the report.

Case 2: Resident Detained for Protesting Against Forced Demolition

Whether it is to make way for development or some other reason, Chinese authorities often forcibly demolish residential houses, but residents who protest against it face harsh treatment or arrest.

Screenshots of forced demolition and protests in Xiangtang Village, Beijing, in December 2020. (Screenshots provided by The Epoch Times)

In early December 2020, Beijing authorities started forcibly demolishing a 3,800-house residential community, Xiangtang Village, in the Changping district of Beijing, setting off a surge of protests among the community residents.

Resident Guo Lingmei, a 70-year-old retired film director and the daughter of renowned Chinese poet Guo Xiaochuan, was arrested and detained by local police for allegedly inciting protests after she pledged to continually defend her rights to save her home and the community.

Case 3: Citizen Sentenced to 4 Years for Exercising Free Speech

Under the CCPs one-party rule, moral depravity and corruption are ubiquitous, but citizens who dare to publicly criticize the regime or its corrupt officials face grim consequences. Cases of citizens getting punished for exercising free speech are quite common.

In April 2020, Liu Yanli, a female bank employee in Hubei Province, was sentenced to four years in prison by the Dongbao District Court in Jingmen city of Hubei Province for posting on WeChat (a popular Chinese social media platform) messages that allegedly attacked CCP leaders and requested transparency of CCP officials personal assets, according to a report by Voice of America.

Liu was charged with causing serious public disorder by picking quarrels and provoking trouble, a vague charge often used against people the CCP sees as threatening. Prior to her arrest, Liu became a key target of concern for CCP authorities after she posted, on her WeChat account, several articles that called on CCP officials to disclose their assets and showed support for military veterans, who had staged nationwide protests to demand better health care and pensions. Since September 2016, she has been detained and placed under residential surveillance. Unable to bear the persecution, she attempted suicide but was rescued and taken to the Jingmen City Detention Center, said the report.

Case 4: 709 Crackdown Against Human Rights Lawyers

Disregarding Chinas constitutional provisions and its international commitments and obligations, the Chinese regime has continued its unrelenting persecution of human rights lawyers and activists, according to reports by Amnesty International.

Wang Quanzhang with his wife, Li Wenzu, and their son. Wang, a human rights lawyer, has been detained in China without trial since August 2015. (Courtesy of Li Wenzu)

On July 9, 2015, more than 200 people were arrested and interrogated by the CCP in a nationwide coordinated strike, known as the 709 crackdown, against Chinese human rights lawyers and activists. These human rights proponents are accused of inciting subversion of state powercharges condemned by international rights groups and Western governments.

Later, many of those released were still subject to surveillance, harassment, and economic restrictions. In addition, lawyers who had provided legal representation during the crackdown also became targets of political persecution themselves. As human rights lawyers continue to face criminal prosecution, the regime further tightens its control over the legal profession by restricting speech and requiring loyalty to the CCP.

Case 5: Doctor Arrested for Faulting a Popular Tonic

On Dec. 19, 2017, a doctor named Tan Qindong of Guangzhou, in southeastern Guangdong Province, posted on his WeChat an article about a popular Chinese tonic that had been heavily promoted on state and local government-run TV channels.

Tan warned in his article that the tonic, which contained toxic herbs, would cause harm to the elderly who have hypertension or cardiovascular diseases, according to a BBC report.

On Jan. 10, 2018, police arrested Tan at his residence on the grounds of damaging the reputation of a commodity. Police traveled all the way across the country from Liangcheng, in northwestern Chinas Inner Mongolia region, where the company of the tonic is based. However, the company had a record of exaggerated advertising claims and violated rules against misleading advertising more than 2,600 times. It had been suspended from sales dozens of times, according to the report.

Tans arrest sparked a huge uproar on Chinese social media, and he was released after being jailed for more than three months. But many questions still remain unanswered, for example, how could an online post lead to the local police (who likely colluded with the company) traveling thousands of miles for a cross-province arrest?

Case 6: Judge Arrested for Exposing Judicial Misconduct

In December 2018, Wang Linqing, a Chinese supreme court judge, went missing after he exposed judicial misconduct at the regimes highest court involving two multi-billion-dollar mining cases. Later, the whistle-blower was arrested and placed under criminal investigation for leaking state secrets.

Chinese Supreme Court judge Wang Linqing in a confession aired on Chinese state-run CCTV on Feb. 22, 2019. (Screenshot via CCTV)

On Feb. 22, 2019, state-run television CCTV aired a video confession from Wang, in his first public appearance since he disappeared in early January. The confession video followed the release of two other videos in which he disclosed alleged misconduct in the two high-profile cases.

Having Wang openly take the fall revealed that the CCP would never allow anyone to expose its internal scandals to the public.

Chinas Social Justice Is Dead

The law is the cornerstone of social justice. On Dec. 16, 1966, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which obliges each state party to respect and ensure the rights of its citizens, including: the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, the right to vote, due process of law, and the right to a fair trial.

Since the Chinese regime formally signed the Covenant on Oct. 5, 1998 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the CCP has never kept its promise to honor it.

In the past decade, Chinas human rights situation has worsened, and despite persistent international criticism, the CCP has continued to act in total defiance of international conventions and continues to violate human rights in the country. These include forced family planning, construction of a national internet firewall, forced demolition of residential houses and churches, suppression of religious freedom, deprivation of freedom of assembly, deprivation of freedom of speech, construction of concentration camps in Xinjiang, arrests of Hong Kong citizens in the fight for their freedoms, arrests of human rights lawyers and activists, to name just a few. All of these are sufficient to show that social justice in China is dead.

Gu Feng is a former media veteran from mainland China who spent many years reporting on the countrys political, economic, and social issues. He is now living in the United States.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco is followed by FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate as she arrives to speak about the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attacks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington on June 7, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Reuters)

US Recovers Most of Ransom Colonial Pipeline Paid to Hackers

The United States has seized most of the cryptocurrency paid to hackers that took hostage portions of Colonial Pipelines system last month leading to soaring gas prices and station outages.

The Department of Justice seized nearly 64 bitcoins, worth about $2.3 million. The action was made possible by a search warrant authorized by U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler. In an affidavit (pdf) supporting the warrant application, authorities said they reviewed bitcoins public ledger and pinpointed the transfer of the ransom to a specific address. They then obtained the private key, or the rough equivalent of a password, required to access the assets. Its not clear how agents obtained the key. The warrant (pdf) authorized them to seize property located in the Northern District of California.

The sophisticated use of technology to hold businesses and even whole cities hostage for profit is decidedly a 21st century challenge. But the old adage follow the money still applies. And thats exactly what we do, Lisa Monaco, deputy attorney general, told a press conference in Washington.

Colonial Pipeline reported on May 7 being attacked by a hacking organization called DarkSide, which utilized ransomware, or malicious software, to lock portions of its network. The group then demanded payment to unlock the network.

Colonial told the FBI that it paid DarkSide approximately 75 bitcoins in ransom, worth $4.4 million at the time. Colonials CEO, Joseph Blount, later called it the right thing to do for the country to enable pipeline operations to be restored.

The attack led to Colonial taking its 5,500-mile conduit offline. Combined with a dearth of fuel truck drivers, the situation produced outages at tens of thousands of gas stations in the southeast and a jump in fuel prices.

A bagged nozzle at a pump notifies motorists that it no longer has fuel after a cyberattack crippled the biggest fuel pipeline in the country, run by Colonial Pipeline, in Chapel Hill, N.C., on May 12, 2021. (Jonathan Drake/Reuters)

Bitcoin is the foremost cryptocurrency in terms of value. A single bitcoin hit over $60,000 this year, though the price has since declined to $34,000. Bitcoin is a payment method that relies on disparate nodes to check transactions, which are recorded in public logs. People receiving and sending bitcoin can remain anonymous, though holders have seen a rising number of regulations in the United States.

DarkSide, which claimed last month that it was disbanding, is one of over 100 ransomware-as-a-service networks that the FBI is currently probing. The networks provide tools to others to attack businesses and governments, in return for a share of the proceeds. Experts say ransomware attacks have proliferated in recent years, and the money attackers have hauled in has grown exponentially.

In an aerial view, fuel holding tanks are seen at Colonial Pipelines Dorsey Junction Station in Washington on May 13, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Today, we turned the tables on DarkSide by going after the entire ecosystem that fuels ransomware and digital extortion attacks, including criminal proceeds in the form of digital currency, Monaco said.

The extortionists will never see this money, added Stephanie Hinds, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California.

Officials urged organizations to invest in cybersecurity defense and heightened prevention measures before getting hit. If an attack does happen, victims are encouraged to work with law enforcement.

The message were sending today is that if you come forward and work with law enforcement, we may be able to take the type of action that we took today to deprive the criminal actors of what theyre going after here, which is the proceeds of their criminal scheme, Monaco said.

Blount said Colonial was grateful for the FBIs work.

Holding cyber criminals accountable and disrupting the ecosystem that allows them to operate is the best way to deter and defend against future attacks of this nature, he said in a statement. The private sector also has an equally important role to play and we must continue to take cyber threats seriously and invest accordingly to harden our defenses.
A man crosses the normally busy intersection of Flinders street and Swanston streets in Melbourne, Australia on May 28, 2021. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Victoria Records 9 New Local COVID Cases

Victoria has reported nine new local cases of COVID-19 as authorities remain confident there is no large unknown outbreak of the Delta variant.

Eleven infections have been detected in the 24 hours to midnight on June 6, although two were already reported by aged care operator Arcare.

The Arcare Maidstone outbreak has grown to six cases after another resident and a registered nurse tested positive.

The 79-year-old resident, who had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, was moved to hospital as a precaution.

A first dose had been given to the registered nurse, who last worked at the nursing home on June 5.

The staff member had not worked at other facilities, the Department of Health said.

There were 24,265 test results received and 17,719 vaccine doses administered on June 6 as Melbourne spent its second weekend in lockdown.

It is unclear whether the latest glut of cases will dent the citys hopes of moving to eased restrictions from June 4.

Victorias Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said officials main concern is tracking down upstream transmission.

Given five percent of Victorians have been tested in the last seven days, if there was a big outbreak going on I would expect to have picked it up, he told reporters on June 6.

That risk does fall over time but we are still concerned about that and that is where all our efforts are going.

Professor Cheng said there was no magic number of people getting the jab to avoid future lockdowns, with only two to three per cent of Victorians fully vaccinated.

Once you get up to much higher coverage rates, then it makes a whole lot of things easier, he said.

We may not need the intensity of restrictions. We may be able to only do contact tracing without having to do other things quite to the same level, and that is the benefit of vaccination.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on June 6 announced an additional 100,000 vaccines are being made available for Victoria.

The federal government has also extended its suspension of JobSeeker mutual obligation requirements until June 15.

Ten people are now infected with the Delta variant as part of the West Melbourne outbreak, with investigators still unsure how it spread into the community.

Authorities are continuing to comb through genomic sequencing data from across the country for answers.

We have theories. Were working through those, Cheng said.

More than 1900 primary close contacts of the original Kappa variant-related Whittlesea outbreak were released from isolation on June 6.

Six train services from Merlynston Station to Flinders Street Station were added to the list of over 350 exposure sites late on June 6 evening.

By Callum Godde in Melbourne
The Fearless Girl Statue in Federation square is seen with a face-mask on June 5, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Victorian Businesses Deserve Exit Strategy From Lockdown That Is Causing Needless Damage: Industry

Victorian businesses require and deserve an immediate exit strategy from the current Victorian lockdowns, which is causing needless economic, mental health, and health damage, Australias peak industry body said.

There appears to be no justification to keep an entire city of 5 million people in a prolonged lockdown for a handful of connected cases each day, Australian Industry Group (AiG) CEO Innes Willox said in a statement in June 5.

This lockdown has been marked by exaggerated language, and doomsday prophesies from Victorias health leaders that have not come to pass, Willox said, evidenced by the low case numbers, zero deaths, and the fact that hospitals have not been overwhelmed.

He said businesses understood the importance of following health advice; however, they could not see it, causing trust in the governments decision-making to deteriorate.

The hard reality is COVID will be with us for a long time no matter the vaccination rate, Willox said. We need to adapt to it and not be driven by the catastrophization of health and associated officials who risk rapidly losing community and business goodwill and confidence.

The Ai Group estimates that the hard lockdown is costing the state $360 million (US$279 million) every day the restrictions continue.

Police mounted on horseback are seen on patrol near the Royal Exhibition building, awaiting a planned protest on June 5, 2021, in Melbourne, Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Small business owners took to the streets in Melbourne on June 5 to protest against the lockdowns, saying the lockdowns were destroying their businesses and mental health. Several people were arrested and fined after the rally.

Residents against the lockdowns have also been leaving large numbers of negative online reviews on small businesses for enforcing government regulations, such as turning mask-less customers away.

Small Business Minister Jaala Pulford said she found it appalling that a small number of people pushing fringe views were doing this, adding that they faced penalties if they refused to comply with public health directions.

Our small businesses are doing great work to keep the rest of the country safe, she told The Age.

Meanwhile, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has promised 100,000 additional Pfizer vaccines to Victoria from June 14, as the number of over-70s who have been vaccinated passes the 50 percent mark.

Thats recognition of the very strong work being done here in Victoria and the strong demand, Hunt said. We want to see other states and territories have that same degree of public support and confidence. Its going well around the country, but always we push for more.
Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two for her first international trip as vice president to Guatemala and Mexico, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., on June 6, 2021. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

VP Harris Begins 1st International Trip Since Taking Office

WASHINGTONU.S. Vice President Kamala Harriss trip to Guatemala and Mexico this week is likely to emphasize cooperation with non-government organizations, amid some criticism from local officials over the timing and thrust of her mission to curb migration to the United States from the region, advisers and experts said.

The vice presidents first overseas trip since taking office, which starts on Sunday, will focus on economic development, climate and food insecurity, and womens issues, White House officials say.

Harriss advisers said she will meet with community leaders, workers, and entrepreneurs, and have repeatedly sought to lower short-term expectations from the three-day trip, highlighting her focus on root causes for migration such as corruption that have plagued the countries for years.

Harris, who departed Washington on Sunday after a delay caused by a technical issue on Air Force Two, will land in Guatemala on Sunday and fly to Mexico on June 8 where she will spend the day.

US Vice President Kamal Harris walks off Air Force Two at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, after her plane was forced to return to base due to a technical issue, on June 6, 2021. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

This trip is not about having a fully fleshed out plan for the regionbut hopefully understanding what the direction is, Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, who participated in a meeting Harris convened about problems in the region.

A key measure of success for Harriss trip will be whether she can show the United States cares about creating legal pathways for migration from the region, Selee said.

After President Joe Biden took office in January, the number of illegal immigrants taken into custody by U.S. agents per month on the Mexican border rose to the highest levels in 20 years. In March, Biden tasked Harris with lowering migration from the Northern Triangle countriesGuatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Since then, Harris has met with civil society leaders, announced additional aid of $310 million for the region, and secured investment commitments from companies including Microsoft. The Biden administration has also committed to sharing vaccines with both countries.

Mazin Alfaqih, a special adviser to Harris for the Northern Triangle region, told reporters on June 1 that the administration understands that foreign assistance alone can not tackle the problems in the region.

We hope that the vice presidents first visit shows that she, and the United States, are standing with the people and communities organizing for change, and not with corrupt and abusive government officials, said Lisa Haugaard, co-director of the Latin America Working Group, another participant in the Harris meeting.

In May, some Central American leaders pushed back on the Biden administrations anti-corruption strategy, which included releasing a list labeling 17 regional politicians as corrupt.

Mexican Elections

Harriss trip to Mexico comes as Mexicans elect a new lower house of Congress, state governors, and local lawmakers, in a race seen as a referendum on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors efforts to shake up the countrys institutions.

A Mexican government official said the timing of Harriss visit was not ideal.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the United States had pushed for the visit, and expected the Mexican government to keep the meetings relatively low key as the results of its biggest ever elections were processed.

During a call hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank, Martha Barcena, former ambassador of Mexico to the United States, said expectations from the trip were quite high in Mexico.

Harriss advisers said before the trip that the Mexican government had agreed to deepen cooperation and jointly secure the borders between the two countries.

Sergio Gonzales, executive director of the Washington-based Immigration Hub, who was a senior policy adviser to Harris during her time in the U.S. Senate, said the vice presidents goal with this trip is to give people a sense of hope.

By Nandita Bose
Chinese leader Xi Jinping applauds at the closing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 10, 2021. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Xi Jinpings Calls for More Lovable Portrayal of Beijing Likely to Spur Engagement From Chinese Experts, Media

Chinese leader Xi Jinpings calls for a more lovable portrayal of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on the world stage will result in a major charm offensive from Beijing, but no slowdown to its aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, according to experts.

In late May, Xi reportedly told a study session conducted by the CCPs Central Committeethe executive body of the regimethat Chinas officialdom and state-controlled media need to reshape global opinion toward Beijing, which has plunged in recent years.

According to a 2020 Pew Research Center survey, public sentiment toward Beijing and Xi plummeted across 14 major developed countries, driven by Beijings mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak from Wuhan and its takeover of Hong Kong.

During the study session, Xi called on Party organs to tell the China story well and spread the voice of China, adding that it was necessary to improve Chinas cultural appeal, its image, the persuasiveness of Chinese discourse, and to guide international public opinion, according to state-owned Xinhua News Agency.

It is necessary to strengthen the propaganda and interpretation of the CCP, to help foreigners realize that the CCP really strives for the happiness of the Chinese people, understand why the CCP is capable, why Marxism is practiced, and why socialism with Chinese characteristics is good, he said.

Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and other leaders applaud at the closing session of the National Peoples Congress (NPC) in Beijing on March 11, 2021. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

We should fully utilize high-level experts, speak through major international conferences and forums, foreign mainstream media, etc., he said, adding that Beijing should be viewed around the globe as credible, lovable, and respectable.

Expect Increased Engagement With China Experts

Joseph Siracusa, professor of human security and international diplomacy at Curtin University, expects a whole-of-Chinese-society effort to shift public opinion, not just an increased push through Beijing-controlled media channels.

What Xi is really saying there is, he is telling Chinese universities to get themselves invited to major conferences around the world, he told The Epoch Times, saying the focus wouldnt be to sell policy, but to engage.

Hes telling them to engage not just overseas media, but to engage the academic community, the medical community, and the scientific community, which has tons of meetings every year in different places.

Its not just propaganda, you know. Getting on air and telling people some rubbish story is not going to make it less rubbish. If you are stepping on the Uyghurs, stepping on Indian soil, beating up protesters in Hong Kong, its pretty hard to change the optics on that.

Indian Army personnel keep vigilance at Bumla pass at the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh on Oct. 21, 2012. According to Indian media reports, the Chinese have built 1010 houses 2 1/2 miles inside the Indian territory in an area inside Arunachal Pradesh.

(Biju Boro/AFP via Getty Images)

Michael Shoebridge, defense director at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said there was little chance Beijing would pull back on its aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. Further, the Chinese regime would be motivated to educate Western governments and audiences rather than admit its own actions were wrong.

Far from the Chinese government or CCP getting more lovable, we can expect more lectures about our own failings in understanding this, with absolutely no recognition from the leadership in Beijing that its their acts that are the problem, he told The Epoch Times.

I do expect the CCP to do more of what it already tries, which is to employ pro-Beijing advocates and rather naive people to deliver Party narratives, because borrowing the mouths of others to speak is something the Party sees as effective.

Anders Corr, principal at Corr Analytics Inc. and publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, has previously outlined how Beijing cultivates the leaders of major institutions to speak on its behalf.

Corr pointed to the $600 billion in two-way trade between the United States and China as an example, saying, Every dollar traded with China benefits some Americans, many of whom seek to influence U.S. government policy toward appeasing rather than confronting China.

The biggest and most politically influential corporations and billionaires make the most from China, he wrote in The Epoch Times. So, big business and the think tanks, academics, and nonprofits that big business supports mostly tend to favor more free trade with China.

Increased Influence of Western Media

In response to Xis calls to utilize foreign mainstream media, Alex Wake, President of the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia, said: Its interesting to see that China is now so much more forthright in this area. Previously, they did not really seem to care what other countries thought, but they do now.

All journalists should be diligent in ensuring that they arent under any undue influence of any foreign body, but I dont see that Chinas actions here are any different to the many countries around the world, she told The Epoch Times.

An electronic billboard leased by Xinhua, the news agency operated by the Chinese regime, makes its debut Aug. 1, 2011, in New Yorks Times Square. The LED sign is 60 feet (18.3 meters) by 40 feet (12.2 meters) and is located on the building at 2 Times Square. (Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images)

Joshua Philipp, an investigative journalist at The Epoch Times, has previously warned, however, that Beijing easily exerts its influence on Western media through the offer of exclusive stories or content.

Its very easy to manipulate the media, extremely easy. If youre a country like China, all you need to do  you have your former or current officials go to a big news outlet and tell them, I have an exclusive story for you. Ill tell you the real story of whats happening in China. Theyre going to publish everything that person says, he told Valuetainment.

Chin Jin, chair of the Federation for a Democratic China, said that Western media outlets are unlikely to remain critical of Beijing because of deep interests in the China market.

Western media are still in the midst of pro-liberalism, political correctness movement, he told The Epoch Times. Even though Western media are now a bit stern in their reporting on the CCP, it does not rule out the resumption of the old habits.
NORWALK  Bryan Cranston, the star of the beloved television series Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle, greeted fans and local residents on Monday to celebrate the launch of his liquor brand in Connecticut.

Cranston spent the morning at Stew Leonards Wines of Norwalk where he autographed bottles of his new mezcal, dubbed Dos Hombres. The award-winning spirit, which went on sale in the state for the first time Monday morning, was created with his Breaking Bad co-star, Aaron Paul.

Cranstons presence drew scores of fans to the Westport Avenue store. Meghan Bell, a Stew Leonards spokesperson, said about 150 people waited in line to meet Cranston. All told, she said, the store sold about 120 bottles of Dos Hombres within an hour.

Andrew Genuario, an East Norwalk resident and devoted Malcolm in the Middle fan, was the first in line to greet Cranston. He said he has spent countless hours watching the hit Fox sitcom and was thrilled to meet the six-time Emmy award winner before heading to the beach.

The show is a very realistic depiction of a family with a lot of children, and I think his role of Hal is one of his best, Genuario said, referring to the character Cranston played on the popular show.

Cranston, who spent about an hour at the store, traded jokes with customers, shared stories from his decadeslong acting career, posed for pictures and offered tips for enjoying the agave-based spirit.

It mixes so well with watermelon juice, with mango juice, he said. I also like it with just a little bit of orange.

Norwalk is just the latest stop for Cranston on a wide ranging promotional tour for Dos Hombres, which is distilled in Mexico. The Los Angeles native has recently been spotted with Paul on Long Island and in Miami attempting to drum up interest in the spirit.

Gabe Allum, who works at the Stew Leonards grocery store across the street from the wine store, said he learned the actor would be stopping by about an hour before he arrived. A longtime Cranston fan, Allum said he quickly jumped at the chance to meet the man.

Breaking Bad is one of my favorite shows, he said while waiting in line. Actually, its probably the best thing I have ever seen on television. I never thought Id experience this on a Monday morning.

Jon Richichi, who waited in line to meet Cranston with his wife Brigitte, said the couple became fans of the actor after watching the recent Showtime limited series Your Honor, in which he plays a New Orleans judge caught up in a violent crime. Richichi, who said he was largely unfamiliar with Cranstons earlier work, called his performance in the show captivating.

It was a really dark series, he said. It was really intense towards the end and it was very emotional.

Cranston is not the first celebrity to drop in at a Stew Leonards store. Danny Devito, Martha Stewart, Dan Aykroyd and other famous figures have all held promotional events at a Stew Leonards location in the past, according to Stew Leonard Jr., the CEO of the Norwalk-based grocery store chain.

Leonard, who praised Cranstons acting ability, said in addition to promoting Dos Hombres, the event was aimed at celebrating the end of the pandemic and the fast-approaching start of the summer.

Frankly, I dont really care how many bottles of his Dos Hombres we sold, he said. I mean its nice to sell. But our family didnt do it to sell bottles. Its more about creating excitement for the community.

richard.chumney@hearstmediact.com
NORWALK  City officials and residents celebrated the unveiling of a newly refurbished 120-year-old fountain designed by renown architect Stanford White at Fodor Farm on Flax Hill Road Sunday afternoon.

The fountain, depicting American patriot, spy and Connecticut native Nathan Hale, was constructed in 1901 by White and placed outside the Norwalk Armory on West Avenue, said Norwalk native Lisa Grant, who spearheaded the restoration.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 15:57:44|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The world in the past 24hrs. A selection of the best daily press photos from Xinhua.

Visitors take photos of an oil painting in the memorial of the first National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Shanghai, east China, June 6, 2021.

Opened on June 3, the memorial includes the site of the first CPC National Congress, an oath-taking hall, and a newly-built exhibition area. More than 1,100 selected items that highlight the Party's history have been displayed in the exhibition area spanning 3,400 square meters. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)



A staff member posts test room information at a national college entrance examination site in Beijing, capital of China, June 5, 2021. A total of 10.78 million candidates in the country are expected to take to the national college entrance examination, or the Gaokao, to be held on June 7 and 8. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

A medical worker collects a swab sample from a resident for COVID-19 nucleic acid test in Liwan District of Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, June 6, 2021. On June 5, Guangzhou expanded its latest nucleic acid testing drive to cover all residents, after another four districts announced the launch of all-inclusive tests. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)



A trapped miner is lifted to the ground from the site of a coal mine accident in Jixi City of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, June 6, 2021. All the eight miners trapped in a coal mine after a coal and gas outburst have been lifted to the ground, rescuers said Sunday. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)

Ethnic Kazak herdsmen move their livestock to summer pastures in Fuhai County of Altay, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Sadat)

Elephants eat food provided by the locals in Xiyang Yi Autonomous Township in Jinning District of Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, June 3, 2021. A herd of 15 wild Asian elephants continue to linger in the outskirts of the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, local authorities said Sunday. The herd trekked another 12.1 km in 24 hours as of 3:10 p.m. Saturday to reach Xiyang Yi Autonomous Township in Jinning District of Kunming, said the on-site command tracking the elephants. (Xinhua)

Aerial photo taken on June 5, 2021 shows workers harvesting salt at Nanbao salt field in Caofeidian District of Tangshan, north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)

Constructors meet after the Jingzhai tunnel along the China-Laos railway was drilled through in southwest China's Yunnan Province, June 5, 2021. The China-Laos Railway is a project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. The over-400-km railway will run from Boten border gate in northern Laos bordering China, to Vientiane with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. The construction of the project started in December 2016 and is scheduled to be completed and open to traffic in December 2021. (Photo by Chen Chang/Xinhua)

A man receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a drive-in COVID-19 vaccination station in Meerbusch, a town near Dusseldorf, Germany, June 5, 2021. Over 16.7 million people in Germany had been fully vaccinated as of Thursday, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 20.1 percent, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) data showed. More than 37.4 million people had received at least one vaccine dose. (Photo by Tang Ying/Xinhua)



Child models present summer creations during a children's fashion show in Minsk, Belarus, June 5, 2021. (Photo by Henadz Zhinkov/Xinhua)
COLLINSVILLE  Native American cultural heritage as interpreted through arts and crafts was on display Friday through Sunday during Indian Market Days at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville.

More than 30 Native American artists and vendors displayed and sold original creations, ranging from jewelry to clothing, paintings and sculptures. Many different tribal affiliations were represented.

Stephanie Big Eagle from Indianapolis, Indiana is of Yankton Sioux heritage. She said she spent a lot of time perfecting her Native American bead work, painting and traditional tattooing.

Ive gone through many years of rigorous training for the things that I offer, many meetings with elders, Big Eagle said.

Big Eagle has also published a memoir and said she sold every copy she brought to Indian Market Days.

Its about the things I have seen in this world from an indigenous womans perspective, Big Eagle said. How we can get people to come together through our common creative synergy, and learning how to find our connections and come together to help heal our world.

Woody Richards, a South Dakotan of Oglala Sioux descent, had a variety of painted hides and traditional Native American crafts for sale at Indian Market Days.

I had to study the different symbols on hide paintings, what they represent, Richards said. A lot of it is passed down from generation to generation. You have to pay attention. You have to have the interest first, then you have to have the upbringing.

My heritage is everything to me, Richards said. Its how you are brought up and the things you respect in life that make you who you are.

And you are either proud of who you are or youre not, he said. To me theres no half way in that.

Norris Chee was raised the traditional Navajo way in Arizona. His paintings of Native people and wildlife reflect that upbringing.

My culture is very rich and I learned a lot, Chee said. Growing up the old way to me was probably the best way. I was around my elders and learned a lot from them.

Native American flutes crafted from North American river cane surrounded William Harjo, a Texas resident of Muscogee descent who also makes and sells medicine bags.

The bags contain sage, cedar tobacco for protection, sweet grass and a turquoise nugget, Harjo said. You can wear it like a necklace or hang it from your car mirror.

New Mexico resident Jennifer Garcia said she learned jewelry making in a Santa Fe boarding school and now enlists her family to help create what she sells.

My heritage and family had a part in this, Garcia said. We clean the turquoise, string the jewelry, all of the traditional things the Pueblo does.

Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site is located adjacent to Interstate 55/70 in Collinsville just eight miles east of downtown St. Louis. It is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site due to its significance as a major cultural center in prehistoric North America.

Cahokia had modest beginnings around AD 700 but had a population explosion around AD 1050 when its 10,000 to 20,000 residents made it larger at the time than London. Cahokias residents built massive structures and used technology that was, in some cases, equivalent to that used by Europeans of the day.
EDWARDSVILLE  Charting a Course for Change: Representation Matters was the theme of the 56th annual NAACP Freedom Fund Gala Sunday via Zoom, whereas last year, the organization had to cancel its yearly gala due to the pandemic.

Unfortunately, multiple technical glitches hampered the virtual event. The biggest one occurred when the areas two new mayors, Art Risavy, of Edwardsville, and Bob Marcus, of Glen Carbon, were scheduled to deliver their individual greetings. For some technical reason, Risavy was neither seen nor heard, while Marcus delivered his speech without incident. Risavy confirmed via email Sunday evening that he kept getting an error code and was unable to connect to the meeting.

Marcus, a NAACP member, introduced himself, describing where he works.

One of your themes this year is Charting a Course for Change: Representation Matters, Marcus noted. One of my very first actions as mayor this year was to appoint NAACP member Nekisha Omatola as a trustee to the village board. She is the only woman board member and the second African American member, along with Victor Smith.

I have known Nekisha for many years, and her knowledge, background and experience will be an asset to the board.

Marcus spoke about focusing on diversity issues facing the village of Glen Carbon. He said he assigned Omotola to the committees of finance and of public safety, and he mentioned as one of his priorities, the continued practice of non-discriminatory law enforcement.

He noted that Glen Carbon Police Chief Todd Link voluntarily submitted his department to an outside independent audit in the wake of George Floyds death in Minnesota last May. The police department received exceptional results, but one area of improvement was noted  to better diversify the villages police force, he said.

More Information Minister Traci Daniels recognized several new Silver Life memberships Sunday:  Judge Veronica Armouti  Margie Huddleston  Jennifer Jumper  Judge Ryan Jumper  Renee Perry  Martha Spillers  Donna Wilkerson Next, the NAACP recognized its nine college scholarship recipients, who each received $1,000:  Canon Adams - he will attend Murray State University this fall, where he will study occupational safety and health  Olivia Gray - she will attend the University of Missouri - Kansas City this fall to study business and entrepreneurship  Jadynn Levels - she will attend West Virginia University, where she will study political science  Abby Liu - she will attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this fall to major in chemical engineering  Olivia Melosci - she will attend Illinois State University in the fall to major in mathematics  Caleb Valentine - he will attend SIUE this fall to major in finance Two additional students received the Ray and Mary Jones Grant - Jalil Roundtree, who will go to Clark Atlanta University in the fall, majoring in business and marketing, and Tyra King. See More Collapse

This review and analysis of village and police policies is a continuing process, not a single event, Marcus said.

The next scheduled step in this process is Tuesday during the village board meeting.

Our department will give a presentation on its use-of-force policy, Marcus said. It is my desire to continue to have our board and village staff focus on these issues, so we can raise awareness in our community, and to continue to have Glen Carbon be a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Next, branch NAACP President Walter Williams gave out two awards. Each year, the NAACP Edwardsville branch recognizes outstanding contributions made by an organization, business or individual, in the civil rights or social justice arena.

This year, the Collinsville School District (CSD) received the NAACPs Diversity and Inclusion Award.

The district is being lauded for is equity and diversity initiatives, Williams said. These initiatives improve the quality of professional and academic life for minorities in the district.

The NAACP recognized the districts drive to hire more teachers who resemble its diverse student body, particularly Hispanic students. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Hispanics made up 71% of the population of Fairmont City, a village a in St. Clair and Madison counties within the district.

Their initiatives centered around how to recruit a more diverse set of educators, to looking at ways they could improve their curriculum and programs, as well as their professional development to improve cultural awareness, Williams said. The staff has also been recognized for community excellence.

Williams introduced CSD Superintendent Brad Skertich. Skertich and counseling department co-chair TaRael Kee attempted to show a video illustrating what the district has achieved, and where it plans to go next, but another technical issue prevented the video from being shown in its entirety.

The second award went to Kathryn Carter, who received the Business of the Year Award. She began a social media show last May titled Friday Night Live, a positive platform designed to uplift, entertain and enlighten viewers.

The pandemic has been a scary time for the world, and many people have suffered a lot of losses, Carter said. At the beginning, the atmosphere was depressive, it was fearful of the unknown. I remember asking myself, What could I do to help? What could I do to encourage the people?y, and this is how this show was birthed.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles Earleen Patterson, director of Student Opportunities for Academic Results, introduced keynote speaker Jessica Harris, vice chancellor for SIUEs Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, nine years after joining as history department faculty member.

Harris remarks referenced the events theme as she quoted Martin Luther King Jr., touching on events in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, and the Mexico City Summer Olympics in 1968, among other milestone events.

I felt that it was really important to offer words today that would not only speak to the fierce urgency of now, but words that would also hearken back to history, Harris said, to remind us of where we have come, yet challenge us to be ever more vigilant in our efforts to upbuild a society free from racial violence, discrimination and injustice.

William delivered his closing remarks with two leading question: What does justice look like? Who tells the story of African Americans?

He mentioned the centennial of the Greenwood Massacre in the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Floyd cases verdict.

Williams noted that the NAACP submitted 10 applications last week for African American military members to be displayed on the citys annual Veterans Day banners in November.

Minister Traci Daniels delivered the opening remarks and introduced Mistress of Ceremonies Charlene Blair, also a minister, of Mount Joy Missionary Baptist Church, Edwardsville, who is an Edwardsville NAACP executive board member. Reverend Christopher Jackson of the Mount Hebron Fellowship Church of Church of God in Christ delivered the invocation, and LaToya Wilson performed Lift Every Voice and Sing.

To close the program, Reverand David Roderick, of Edwardsvilles Immanuel United Methodist Church, delivered the benediction.

Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at 618-659-5735
In the next several days, there will be a couple of opportunities to become engaged in the future of Pier 42. Back in November of 2011, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. set aside $16 million for the future development of the pier as a park. Coming up on Sunday, the Parks Department and State Sen. Daniel Squadron (who helped secure the government funding) will lead community members on a tour of the pier, which includes an abandoned shed and a parking lot.

In addition to the tour, there will be an opportunity to discuss interim uses for the area. Several organizations, including Hester Street Collaborative,would like to stage cultural and community oriented programs on the pier, as a way of reclaiming a space that has been underutilized for so many years. The visioning for the park and its construction will be a very long process, and a lot more money will be necessary to make the project a reality. Sundays tour begins at noon at Pier 36 (Montgomery Street).

Then on Thursday October 4, Community Board 3 Parks Committee will meet to discuss the Pier 42 plan. That session will take place at the Hamilton Fish Recreation Center, 128 Pitt Street, at 6:30 p.m. The Parks Department has hired a consultant to work with the community on the project, and to assess the condition of the pier. The rehabilitation of East River Park (just above Pier 36) took more than a decade because (among other reasons) that section of the waterfront was on the verge of collapsing. City officials believe Pier 36 is in better condition but they wont no for certain until the consultant conducts a thorough examination.
A few updates this morning concerning Essex Crossing, the 1.9 million square foot mixed-use project coming to the former Seward Park urban renewal area.

As the development team cobbles together the financing for the big complex, they will go before the citys Housing Development Corp. (HDC) today to request the use of tax exempt bonds to help pay for the construction of Essex Crossing, which includes one-thousand mixed-income apartments. The proposal encompasses two of the nine sites that make up the project.

On site 2, located at 115 Delancey St./80 Essex St., the developers are seeking $71 million in tax exempt bonds to build 195 apartments (98 of them affordable). On site 5, 145-155 Clinton St., theyre asking for $74 million in bond financing for the construction of 211 apartments (102 of them affordable).

Todays meeting is a public hearing. Among those expected to testify are members of several labor unions. On Friday, we received a news advisory from the Concrete Industry Coalition, which includes ironworkers, carpenters, laborers and Teamsters, announcing a demonstration outside the Housing Development Corp. offices at 110 William St. Protestors will demand HDC withhold $145 million in tax exempt bond financing, the advisory read, unless the developers agree to hire responsible contractors at Essex Crossing. The coalition noted that Community Board 3s priorities for the project, which were incorporated into the Request for Proposals (RFP), advocated for prevailing wage rates to be paid to construction workers on the project. The memo singled out two of three members of the development consortium, L+M Development Partners and BFC Partners, for labor practices on previous construction projects. Well have more about the labor issues surrounding Essex Crossing later today or tomorrow.

In other news related to the Seward Park development initiative, it appears the timetable for groundbreaking is sliding. Delancey Street Associates, the development consortium, was hoping to start the first phase this coming March. While they have not announced anything officially, a member of the development team told a community board panel last week that construction on a park slated for site 5 would likely begin in the summer, rather than the spring. At another CB3 meeting this month, members of a community task force working with the developers spoke about the delay, indicating that the time frame was likely shifting by at least a few weeks. The project manager, Isaac Henderson, told us that final renderings of the first four buildings would likely not be ready for a public unveiling until next month or, possibly, in January.

Demolition of buildings on two parcels, however, can be expected in the near future. Henderson said work will begin next month to take down the Essex Street Market building on the south side of Delancey Street as well as the old fire station at 185 Broome St. The exact timing is not set just yet because the developers must meet a variety of Buildings Department requirements before commencing demolition. Two tenements at 400 Grand St. will be dismantled at a later date. City officials are still in negotiations with some of the residential tenants, who have been trying to find new homes. Last week, CB3s land use committee approved a resolution (the latest of many) urging city officials to honor commitments to help relocate the residents. Eviction notices were sent to tenants ordering them out of the building by the end of October.

A spokesperson for the citys Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which controls the buildings, said the goal is have the remaining residents relocated by the beginning of next month. There are also two commercial tenants remaining on site 5. The spokesperson said the owner of a shoe store repair store at 400 Grand St. has signed an agreement requiring him to close by November 30. The operators of Suffolk Parking have also been notified that they must vacate the site. The city is in negotiations with their attorney on an exact date.

Finally, the developers unveiled final plans for the Broome Street park last week. We have a separate story about that here.

In addition to the one-thousand units of housing, Essex Crossing includes 600,000 square feet of commercial space, a new Essex Street Market, a 14-screen movie theater, a rooftop urban farm and an annex of the Andy Warhol Museum.
A federal lawsuit filed yesterday seeks to end the citys practice of giving residents of local communities a preference in affordable apartment lotteries. The suit was brought on behalf of three black residents in Manhattan and claims that the policy perpetuates racial segregation.

While the three cases involved applications for affordable housing elsewhere in the borough, the case could have an impact on the Lower East Side. As you might be aware, the big Essex Crossing project on the former Seward Park urban renewal site includes 500 low- and middle-income apartments. Residents of Community District 3 (Lower East Side, East Village, Chinatown) who meet specific income requirements will receive a preference for 50% of those units.

The group pursuing the federal case, the Anti-Discrimination Center, argues that local preferences serve to keep ethnic minorities out of mostly white neighborhoods in violation of the Fair Housing Act. The organization highlighted the small number of African American residents living in many of the citys community districts.

On the Lower East Side, the Seward Park site languished for more than 40 years, as neighborhood groups fought over the need for new affordable housing. Racial politics was always a major part of the contentious debate. Many low-income families, predominantly Latino, were displaced when the urban renewal site was bulldozed in 1967. When the community finally came together on a compromise plan several years ago, housing for both those displaced and for other local residents was a big priority. The city agreed to a preference for former site tenants, as well as a community preference. In spite of the pressures of gentrification, the LES remains a diverse community. According to Census data, Community District 3 is 32% white, 34% Asian, 25% Latino but just 7% black.

The New York Times asked city officials to respond to the allegations in the lawsuit, but the Department of Housing Preservation and Development declined, citing the pending legal case.
At a board meeting held yesterday, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) went public with a list of projects it hopes to fund in the next several years. Some of the money is earmarked for the waterfront on the Lower East Side.

The agency created in the aftermath of 9/11 has spent almost all of the money allocated by the federal government for Lower Manhattan renewal. But the LMDC has another $50 million to dole out thanks to a recent settlement with construction firm Lend Lease for its handling of a deadly fire at the Deutsche Bank building in 2007.

According to the Real Deal, the agency anticipates awarding $7 million for Pier 42, a large park thats planned just above Montgomery Street. Another $10 million would go to the East River Esplanade between Beekman Street and Pier 42. A public hearing will be held in September on the proposed expenditures.

Several years ago, the LMDC awarded $16 million for the first phase of the Pier 42 project. Next spring, the Parks Department will begin creating an interim recreational space while the city tries to secure more funding. The total cost of the project will exceed $90 million.

State Sen. Daniel Squadron, along with U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, lobbied the LMDC for the initial round of Pier 42 funding. Squadron released a statement yesterday that read, in part:

Todays meeting of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation makes clear that LMDCs work is far from completed. Just today, the board put forward an extensive list of worthy projects ready to be funded and completed over the next two years, across Lower Manhattan. Among these is Pier 42. A full build out of Pier 42 is critical to the continued revitalization of Lower Manhattan, providing more open space to the Lower East Side and Chinatown, and expanding our Harbor Park  a central park for the center of our city No rebuilding of Lower Manhattan will be complete without meeting its extensive resiliency needs. The city, state, and federal governments have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to fortify Lower Manhattan from the next catastrophic storm, but gaps remain. Most significantly, protection between Montgomery Street and Battery Park City remains unfunded and is an urgent need. It is important to determine LMDCs role in this resiliency effort

Some critics have called for the dismantling of the LMDC, which they have called a needless bureaucratic entity. Theres was speculation that its days were numbered, especially after the demise of Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, one of the agencys biggest champions.

Theres a separate $335 million initiative to build a flood barrier from East 23rd Street to Montgomery Street. Residents living below Pier 42 have complained that the citys initial plans fail to offer their homes protection from future storms. The city has devoted some resources to studying an extension of the flood barrier.
Seward Park will be receiving an infusion of money for large-scale renovations. A few minutes from now, city officials will announce that the Lower East Side public space has won a grant through the Parks Without Borders Program.

A local organization, the Seward Park Conservancy, launched a robust campaign for a piece of a $40 million pie that will be divided among eight recipients. Heres more from the New York Times:

Those selected were Seward Park on the Lower East Side of Manhattan; Faber Pool and Park on the north shore of Staten Island; Jackie Robinson Park in northern Manhattan; Van Cortlandt Park and Hugh Grant Circle and Virginia Park in the Bronx; Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens; and Fort Greene and Prospect Parks, both in Brooklyn Residents say (Seward Park) is not reaching its full potential. They point to the fountain that has long been out of service, the play equipment with chipped paint and the few points of entry. The park has two gates, plus a third that is unlocked when the public library branch within the park is open. Elsewhere along the perimeter, gates are locked or a high fence stands in the way Amy Robinson, the president of the Seward Park Conservancy, which was formed almost two years ago, has helped lead the campaign for the park to be considered for Parks Without Borders. She said the objectives of the program aligned with the ambitions of Seward Parks boosters. Part of that is access: As times have changed, weve been able to get one other gate open, Ms. Robinson said, and there could be six gates open. But she also envisioned a park that was even more connected with its neighbors. The more care that is given to the park, Ms. Robinson said, the more people respect the park  the more people respect the plantings and whats in the park. And more than that, she added, the more people use it.

Well have more details after 3 p.m., when the city officially announces the awards. Note: the rendering posted above was prepared as part of the conservancys campaign; its not necessarily a depiction of any proposed design from the Parks Department.

UPDATE 3:32 p.m. The Parks Department says the project at Seward Park will include opening boundaries and sightlines within and outside the park and improving connections to adjacent spaces. The competition included online voting. A total of 659 votes were received for Seward Park, second only to Prospect Park in Brooklyn. In his remarks, Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver praised local activists for a brochure they prepared as part of their proposal (renderings were created by local architect Ron Castellano). Heres a look at what they put together:

UPDATE 5:12 p.m. More details from the Parks Department. While $40 million has been allocated for the eight projects, it is not yet know how much each park will receive. A spokesperson tells us community input and scoping sessions will take place first. Then city planners will determine how much is required in each community.

Excerpts from the Parks Dept. press release:
The moment has finally arrived. Fifty years after hundreds of homes were demolished in the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA), the first affordable apartments are becoming available on the site.

At midnight last night (Thursday, March 2), the housing lottery for site 5 of Essex Crossing, as SPURA is now known, went live on the citys housing website.

Out of 211 rental apartments in the building, 104 will be available to individuals and families who qualify for NYCs affordable housing programs. All of the particulars are online and in the documents posted at the end of this story, but here are the basics:

There are 6 units for applicants earning 40% of Area Median Income ($19,680-42,040)

There are 53 units for applicants earning 60% of AMI ($30,069-63.060)

There are 17 units for applicants earning 120% of AMI ($49,338-126,120)

There are 28 units for applicants earning 165% of AMI ($69,326-173,415)

Apartments include studios, plus 1, 2 and 3-bedroom units. The 15-story building at 145 Clinton St. will also house a 30,000 square foot Trader Joes, a Planet Fitness and other commercial businesses. A publicly accessible park will be located on the north side of the building (bordering Broome Street). Building amenities include a part-time lobby attendant, on-site superintendent, communal terraces, a fitness room, a yoga room, a childrens playroom, bicycle storage, a dog-wash room, and a resident lounge.

Residents of Community District 3 will receive a preference for 50 percent of the affordable units. Former site tenants of the Seward Park Extension Urban Renewal Area (SPEURA) will receive an additional priority for the units (see the information sheet at the end of this post for more details about qualifying as a former site tenant).

To apply online, go to nyc.gov/housingconnect. You can also access the Essex Crossing/Site 5 page directly here. To request an application by mail, send a self- addressed envelope to: Essex Crossing Site 5 / Triborough Finance New Station, PO Box 2011, New York, NY 10035-9997. Applications must be postmarked or submitted online no later than May 2, 2017.

There is an upcoming community information session for affordable housing at Essex Crossing. It will be held Monday, March 6, 6:30-8 p.m. at Seward Park High School, 350 Grand St. The meeting will be hosted by Delancey Street Associates, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and Housing Development Corporation (HDC). NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE MEETING.

Essex Crossing includes 1,078 apartments, 561 (or 52%) of them affordable. Affordable housing lotteries for three other buildings in phase one of the project will take place later this year. The first buildings are scheduled to open in 2018. Essex Crossing is being built by BFC Partners, L+M Development Partners, and Taconic Investment Partners.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 16:34:02|Editor: huaxia

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MINSK, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC)'s governing philosophy helps promote the idea of constant human development, said a Belarusian party leader.

Under the CPC's leadership, China has become the only major economy in the world to see GDP growth in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and "this is what speaks about the policy that is being pursued. It means that people are constantly developing," Aleksei Sokol, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus, told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview.

China has set "an example of what needs to be taken in the fight against such a terrible epidemic," Sokol said.

The party leader noted that the main reason for the CPC's longevity is its ability to adapt the Marxism theory to the Chinese context.

Having visited China many times, Sokol said he is deeply impressed by the country's rapid development, citing China's efforts in improving infrastructure, and advancing innovative technology, aerospace technology and biotechnology as examples.

With the CPC's leadership, China is "focusing not only on central cities, but also developing the periphery very seriously," he said, adding that China promotes a diversified development to increase the well-being of its people by any means.

Sokol said he is also amazed by China's poverty alleviation. "I saw how the leadership of the CPC promotes the idea of human development."

Behind China's eradication of absolute poverty is a certain human development potential, which ultimately pushes forward the development of the whole country, he said.

All China's socio-economic achievements, fulfilled under the CPC's leadership, deserve respect, he said.

Members of the CPC have spearheaded the efforts to speed up China's development over the past decades, the party leader noted, adding that the Chinese people are hardworking, active and highly disciplined, which also contributed to China's rapid development.

Sokol was invited to participate in the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting in Beijing in 2017. He said he is deeply impressed by the remarks on jointly building a community with a shared future for mankind made at the meeting by Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

"This is an excellent, wonderful and strong idea. This is a very promising direction," he said.

China has proposed to the international community an initiative that countries should unite to develop in a peaceful way, and the world should respond to the initiative, he said.

Sokol said his party has repeatedly sent members to participate in various international forums and seminars in China, and also sent young Belarusians to China to promote exchanges with Chinese youths. "We have learned a lot both in theory and in practice from our Chinese colleagues thanks to these visits."

Noting that Belarus-China relations "are deepening every year," and that the two countries have great mutually beneficial prospects, Sokol praised the leaders of both sides for their invaluable role in promoting "such friendly relations."

Congratulating the CPC on its 100th anniversary, Sokol said he wishes China can further speed up the pace of its development in the future.

China should go forward and show the world that "socialism with Chinese characteristics is really a modern model. It is aimed at caring for people, at development," he added. Enditem
Title: Return of the Stanton Building

Proposer: The Stanton Task Force including Green Map System, Sara Roosevelt Park Community Coalition, and University Settlement

The Stanton Building of Sara Roosevelt Park in the Lower East Side of Manhattan was one of the many NYC Park Houses (40 in Manhattan alone), which were community centers until the 1970s, when the City almost went bankrupt and could no longer maintain them. Today the Stanton Building is used as storage for the NYC Parks. This project would redesign the Stanton Building as a multi-use community hub assisting homeless people, serving as a climate emergency education and response center, or a flexible meeting space for a myriad of neighborhood needs, while envisioning a citywide model for reclaiming underutilized public space.

Planning for the future use of the Stanton Street Park Building will allow the community to play an active role in the buildings design and future use and maximize public space while integrating community members who often do not see the interconnectedness of their lives. Designing the Stanton Street building to serve as a resource for our homeless neighbors, while also providing programming to the larger community, can serve as a future model for how to use public space to foster greater community integration and understanding, said Laura Timme, Associate Executive Director, University Settlement.
Delancey Street Associates, the group building Essex Crossing, has decided to name a 15-story residential/commercial building at 145 Clinton St. for Sonny Rollins. The legendary Jazz musician lived at 400-402 Grand St., the tenements torn down to build the new project, for several years starting in 1959.

In a story published in the New York Times, the developers announced that the building will be called The Rollins. In response, Rollins said, That was a fond place for me It really has a place in my heart.

An affordable housing lottery was already held for 104 low and middle-income apartments at 145 Clinton St. (Monthly rents will range from $519 to more than $3400). Next month, Douglas Elliman will begin renting 107 market rate units. According to the Times. prices will range from $3150/month for studios all the way up to an eye-popping $8450 for 3-bedrooms. One-bedroom apartments are expected to run $4450 and two-bedrooms will be set at $5800/month. A splash page, complete with Sonny Rollins music, has already been set up. The building will also include a Trader Joes and a Target store, plus 15,000 feet for other retail businesses.

The Times notes the following:

The rents will be among the highest in the neighborhood at a time when the rental market has slowed, particularly at the top. In the third quarter of 2017, the median asking rent for a one-bedroom in the Lower East Side was $2,589 a month, with only 34 of the available one-bedrooms (about 10 percent of the inventory) asking a higher rent than what the Rollins will be charging, according to data provided by StreetEasy.

In spite of the soft market, however, the development team says it already has a thousand inquiries from people interested in renting apartments at Essex Crossing. The broker told the Times, This product is going to speak to a more established and more mature audience Its going to speak to people who want a more elevated living experience.

Coincidentally, local resident Jeff Caltabiano has been campaigning to name the Williamsburg Bridge for Sonny Rollins. [He notes, by the way, that the Sonny Rollins Bridge Project has no affiliation with this development or its landlord.] More than 3,000 people have signed a petition in support of changing the name of the bridge, which served as Rollins makeshift (and very inspirational) outdoor practice studio.

Another Essex Crossing building will be named for someone with very strong Lower East Side ties. It was recently decided, with input from a local community task force, that a senior building at 175 Delancey St. will be named in honor of LES housing activist Francis Golden. She waged a decades-long battle to build affordable housing in the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (which has now been rebranded Essex Crossing).

If you would like to read our tribute to the people who lived and worked at 400 Grand St., including Rollins, click here.
Stop the madness! Trader Joes is coming to the new Essex Crossing project. No amount of ridiculous rumormongering will change that.

In recent weeks, theres been all sorts of online speculation  suggestions that the wildly popular market might be backing out of the Essex Crossing project. The other night at the 7th Precinct Community Council meeting, Essex Crossing Community Relations Manager Katie Archer was called on to address the rumors. She assured traumatized locals that everything is on track for a TJs opening later this year.

The public relations office at Trader Joes has contributed to the confusion, telling a local blogger (SPBuzz) that the company is, still interested in the Lower East Side as a potential store location, without acknowledging that its a done deal. [An October 2016 press release from the companys pr office carried the headline, Trader Joes Signs Lease to Open a New Lower East Side Store Scheduled for 2018.] The location, at 145 Clinton St., is not listed on Trader Joes Store Openings web page.

We reached out to TJs PR Director, Kenya Friend-Daniel, yesterday, who said, Our plan is to open a store at that location this year. She said no one should be concerned about the fact that the opening is not listed on the companys website. Trader Joes, she said, likes to have store buildout details worked out before announcing a target opening date. James Yolles, a spokesperson for the developers (Delancey Street Associates), said the buildout is expected to begin in a matter of weeks.

Trader Joes is a notoriously secretive company. In other cities, it has been similarly cagey about opening details. The Commercial Appeal in Memphis spotted work permits for a new store in January but reported, a Trader Joes spokeswoman still would not characterize the permit application as definitive confirmation that the chain is headed to Germantown.

This past September, a work permit was filed with the Department of Buildings for plumbing work at Trader Joes Lower East Sides store. The 30,000 square foot space will be on the lower level of 145 Clinton St., while a smaller Target store will be on the second floor. Target is not quite as shy about trumpeting its LES arrival.
NYC Ferry operated by Hornblower is excited to announce the launch of its Lower East Side Route this Wednesday, August 29th. The sixth NYC Ferry Route will connect Corlears Hook, Manhattan, and Stuyvesant Cove, Manhattan to hubs on 34th St., Long Island City, and Wall St./Pier 11, connecting millions of New Yorkers to new neighborhoods, growing job centers, housing and more.

The Lower East Side Route will run from Long Island City (Gantry Plaza State Park), to Corlears Hook, to Stuyvesant Cove, to E. 34th St, ending its run at Wall St./Pier 11 in under 40 minutes.

Heres Everything you need to know to #commuteincomfort with NYC Ferry

Riders will be able to travel from Manhattan to Queens in under 40 minutes.

View their downloadable schedule here: https://www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/route/lower-east-side/ for departure and arrival times.

To travel with NYC Ferry, there are various tickets options available for purchase. Bikes are welcome on board for a $1 fee.

You can purchase tickets from the NYC Ferry app which is available to download on your iPhone and Android phone. It is the fastest way to travel with a tap and go option. Tickets are also available for purchase on all NYC Ferry Landings. Inactivated tickets are valid up to 1-year from date of purchase.

Commute in comfort for the same price as a subway ride:

Adult One-Way Pass ($2.75)

Bicycle ticket options ($1.00)

Adult One-Way & Bike ($3.75)

Adult Pass ($121.00)

30-Day Adult Pass with Bike ($141.00)

Children under the height of 44 inches can ride for free when accompanied by an adult. Stroller parking is available onboard.

NYC Ferry also offers free transfers between routes. From E 34th St. commuters can transfer, for free, to our Astoria, East River, and Lower East Side Routes. From Wall St./Pier 11 commuters can transfer for free to our Astoria, South Brooklyn, East River, Rockaway and Soundview Routes. From Long Island City commuters can transfer for free to our Astoria Route.

NYC Ferry is excited to welcome you on board to Work. Live. Play. and explore new connections to waterfront communities via the East River. Download the NYC Ferry App today and plan your future commutes!

Follow NYC Ferry social channels @nycferry @nyc_ferry and blog for events, updates and all things NYC Ferry.

*This is a paid advertisement.
Two women wear rainbow flags during the annual Pride parade in Portland, Maine. Photo by Mercedes Mehling/Unsplash/Creative Commons
Monday's meeting of the Mt. Pleasant school board was a rather dull affair until it got to the public comment period.
The man sought by police has been arrested and is jailed on a $1.5 million bond.
Isabella, Gratiot and Clare counties have all fallen below the state as a whole in key metrics measuring spread of COVID-19.

In both new confirmed and probable cases weighted for population and seven-day averages of diagnostic test positivity rate, all three counties fell below the state as a whole over the weekend.

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Michigan's seven-day average for new confirmed and probable cases per 100,000 people was 4.3 as of Sunday. In Isabella County, it was 2.7, it was 2.8 in Gratiot County and 4.2 in Clare County.

The state's seven-day average for the rate of positive diagnostic test results was 2.5 percent based on Sunday's data. Isabella County's rate was 1.8 percent, it was 1.0 percent in Gratiot County and 1.8 percent in Clare County.

New confirmed and probable cases represents the number of cases identified and weighted by population to provide a more accurate comparison when placed side by side with other counties.

A high rate of positive test results suggests that there might be cases of COVID-19 that are going undetected and that additional testing is needed.

Just three cases were reported in the three counties over the weekend, as well as one additional death.

The death was in Isabella County, bringing its total to 93. No information was immediately available on the person.

One additional case was also reported in Isabella County, bringing its cumulative total to 5,378.

Two cases were reported in Clare County over the weekend, bringing its cumulative total to 2,043, with 81 deaths.

No new deaths or cases were reported in Gratiot County. Its cumulative total number of cases remained 3,218, with 116 deaths.

Elsewhere in mid-Michigan, one deaths was reported over the weekend, with new and cumulative cases and deaths as follows:

In Gladwin County, one new case was reported for a cumulative total of 1,914, with 55 deaths;

In Mecosta County, an additional two cases were reported for a cumulative total of 3,023, with 33 deaths;

In Midland County, an additional eight cases were reported for a cumulative total of 6,830, with 88 deaths; and,

In Montcalm County, one death was reported for a total of 110 and an additional 10 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 5,466.

Statewide, 83 new deaths were reported for a total of 19,376 and another 807 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 890,764.

READ MORE:

Police identify suspect wanted for Mt. Pleasant child's murder Police on Sunday night identified the man wanted in the stabbing death of a Mt. Pleasant girl and sought tips to help locate him.

One dead as police search for murder suspect in Mt. Pleasant area A suspect is on the run in the killing of a Mt. Pleasant child overnight, state police said.

Bandit management affair gone wrong leads to sexual discrimination lawsuit An Isabella County judge rejected a request that he step away from a discrimination and harassment lawsuit brought by a former manager at Band

Showers expected throughout the week Showers are expected to occur throughout the week.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 17:17:44|Editor: huaxia

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NAIROBI, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Kenya should intensify action on the climate crisis in the coastal region that has disrupted livelihoods of predominantly fishing and pastoralist communities, Mithika Mwenda, executive director of Nairobi-based Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) said.

"We have seen rapid deforestation, which has reduced forests and coastal wetlands, endangered biodiversity, human livelihoods and wildlife," Mwenda said in a statement issued in Nairobi on Sunday evening.

He noted that extreme weather events, which have become a regular phenomenon along the Kenyan coastline, have escalated food insecurity, vector-borne diseases, and resource-based conflicts.

According to Mwenda, the destruction of mangrove forests and peatlands has undermined the ability of coastal communities to cope with climatic shocks like droughts and flooding.

He said the central government and devolved units should strengthen the protection of habitats, including wetlands and marine species, as part of a climate adaptation strategy for coastal communities.

A bottom-up climate response strategy should be implemented at the Kenyan coast where sea-level rise and loss of species threaten the survival of fishing communities, Mwenda said.

He said a community-led climate action implemented by the PACJA and its partners in the upper eastern Kenyan county of Meru with success should be replicated in the coastal region.

"We have tried and tested the benefits of a locally-led climate action project called Tujiinue Tena (Let us lift ourselves again), in Meru county and it would be ideal to implement it in the coastal region," Mwenda said.

He said the theme of the just concluded World Environment Day, "Ecosystems Restoration," should serve as a rallying call for coastal communities to reclaim biodiversity hotspots that anchor their livelihoods.

Dhadho Gaddae Godhana, governor of the Kenyan coastal county of Tana River, said climate change has undermined agricultural productivity while escalating loss of indigenous biodiversity that local communities rely on for food, fiber and medicine.

He said climate-induced migration and competition for dwindling resources has jeopardized peaceful co-existence among subsistence farmers and pastoralists in the coastal region. Enditem
Elizabethtown, KY (42701)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms early, then becoming clear after midnight. Low 63F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then becoming clear after midnight. Low 63F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
After capturing its second consecutive district title and fifth in seven seasons last weekend, the Riverview Gabriel Richard softball program resumed its playoff run on Saturday, hosting a pair of Division 3, Region 22 semifinal games.
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Lagos, Monday, June 7, 2021: Two non-governmental organizations, Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and the International Press Centre (IPC) today condemned the Federal Governments indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria and threatened to lodge a formal complaint before the appropriate agencies of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) if the Government does not immediately rescind the ban, arguing that the action is an unjustifiable violation of the rights of all Nigerians to freedom of expression and access to information, while also contravening the relevant instruments of both bodies.

In a statement issued in Lagos, the organizations condemned the Governments action as a violation of international norms and standards, citing the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights Resolution 362 on the Right to Freedom of Information and Expression on the Internet in Africa, adopted on November 4, 2016 at its 59th Ordinary Session; the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, adopted by the Commission in November 2019, at its 65th Ordinary Session; and recent UN Human Rights Council resolutions touching on the matter.

In the statement signed by MRAs Executive Director, Mr. Edetaen Ojo; and the Executive Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, the organizations noted that in its Resolution 362 of 2016, the African Commission has expressed concern at the practice by African States of interrupting or limiting access to telecommunication services such as the Internet, social media and messaging services.

Besides, they said, the Declaration of Principles also provides in Principle 38 (1) and (2) that States shall not interfere with the right of individuals to seek, receive and impart information through any means of communication and digital technologies, through measures such as the removal, blocking or filtering of content, unless such interference is justifiable and compatible with international human rights law and standards and that States shall not engage in or condone any disruption of access to the internet and other digital technologies for segments of the public or an entire population.

The organizations also cited the UN Human Rights Council resolution on the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet, adopted at its 38thSession in July 2018, in it asked all States to address security concerns on the Internet in accordance with their international human rights obligations to ensure the protection of all human rights online, in particular freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of association, and privacy, including through democratic and transparent national institutions, based on the rule of law, in a way that ensures freedom and security on the Internet so that it can continue to be a vibrant force that generates economic, social and cultural development.

In addition, they noted that in its latest resolution related to the matter, which was adopted at its 45th Session in October 2020, the Council has also unequivocally condemned measures in violation of international human rights law aiming to or that intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online and offline, which undermine the work of journalists in informing the public, including through practices such as Internet shutdowns or measures to unlawfully or arbitrarily block or take down media websites, such as denial of service attacks and called on all States to cease and refrain from these measures, which cause irreparable harm to efforts at building inclusive and peaceful knowledge societies and democracies.

The organizations called on the Federal Government to urgently take steps to comply with these internationally agreed norms and standards and retrace its steps from its current path, which puts Nigeria in danger of becoming a rogue nation that is constantly violating international human rights law as well as the principles of international law.

Mr. Ojo, said: The Governments claim on the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigerias corporate existence is not only unsubstantiated, but is clearly bogus and illogical. The pertinent questions here are: who is the government accusing of using the platform for activities capable of undermining Nigerias corporate existence? Is it the owners of Twitter that are posting such tweets? Is it foreigners using the platform for such activities? Or is it all Nigerians who are on Twitter or some of those Nigerians who use Twitter? The Government needs to be specific on this.

According to him, If some Nigerians on Twitter are using it in a manner that displeases the Government, how is banning Twitter for all Nigerians, in contravention of international norms an appropriate response? And if the government is convinced that people should not be allowed to post whatever they like on Twitter, no matter how divisive, hateful or inciting, why was the Government itself so angry when Twitter deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari, which it adjudged to be in violation of this same principle? Why did the Government opt to embark on this highhanded response which violates the rights of all Nigerians to freedom of expression and access to information instead of appealing Twitters decision on Presidents Buharis post or challenging it in a judicial forum?

Similarly, Mr. Arogundade said: On the surface the government claims it is fighting Twitter but in reality what it is doing is waging war against its own citizens by infringing on their fundamental and socio-economic rights despite their being constitutionally guaranteed. If anything, the threat by the Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), to prosecute anyone that disobeys the ban is indicative of the fact that if this government has its way all social media platforms would be shut down because they have become veritable avenues for citizens to express their disaffection with its acts of mis-governance.

Mr. Arogundade added that, the ban does not show that the government is serious about the welfare or economic well-being of the citizens otherwise it would have given due consideration to how the decision would disrupt businesses that are transacted by many individuals and corporate bodies on Twitter and affect investor confidence in the Nigerian economy before rushing to make the announcement.

For further information, please contact:

Stella Nwofia

Programme Manager, International Press Centre

Tel: +234 802 035 9629

E-mail: [email protected]

Ayode Longe

Director of Programmes, Media Rights Agenda

Tel: +234 802 329 8628

E-mail: [email protected]
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We can blame Mr. Museveni for anything but not his decision yesterday to put Uganda under semi-lockdown again. A lot of people, especially elders, are dying of Covid  something needed to be done urgently.

Personally, I think we are back to square one, partly, because most Ugandans have never taken the disease seriously. Here in the UK, our Prime minister thought the same -- As much of a tosser Dominic Cummings is, he revealed some very interesting things recently that Boris Johnson thought the same as Trump -- its just a flu. Boris also hates lockdowns, and thats why he kept doing them too late.

Lockdowns are ok but dont help in the long term. That is why I think the Uganda government should use the 42 days of lockdown to vaccinate most people. Vaccination and surge testing has helped us here in the UK so much. Yes, there have been huge hotspots for the Indian variant in Bolton, Manchester and Bedford, but cases are now dropping rapidly in these areas due to surge vaccinations. Most unvaccinated people here are young-- so unlikely to result in hospitalisations. Most vulnerable are now fully vaccinated and vaccinations in the younger age groups are at a good pace. Unless something dramatic happens, I see no reason for deviating from the plan to lift restrictions on 21st June.

The crowds in the 20-21 campaigns did a lot of damage as young people were moving from one place to the other in big numbers. So, the Uganda govt should embark on huge campaign to vaccinate younger people at a speed. The reason for vaccinating children is not to reduce Covid related deaths of children, its to reduce cases and therefore transmission and future mutations (mutations which could escape the vaccine). Here in the UK, currently children are responsible for over 20% of all Covid cases. The vaccine limits transmission by up to 90%.

If we want to prevent future waves from both current and future variants, vaccinating a proportion of society that is responsible per capita for more transmission than any other age group surely makes sense?

Another reason is to protect clinically vulnerable children and adults. People with sickle cells, diabetes, HIV, e.t.c, are so vulnerable to the disease.

Covid also causes long term side effects (long term, in many cases lifelong multi organ damage) in children who contract Covid, so it's hardly safe for kids to catch it!!

Vaccinations can prevent a massive amount of unnecessary suffering in children (and when they grow up). Yet the vaccine data for 1216-year-olds on the Pfizer trial proved 100% effective and safe! Better than the adult data.

Lastly, Ugandans should take SOPs in place seriously, vaccinated or not. I read somewhere on Timothy Kalyegiras Facebook that people remove masks, or wear them around their necks, as soon as they get into taxis  I found this so sad. A friend in Kangulumira told me that one of the ways they know that someone is going to Kampala is when they see a mask on his face.

Here in the UK, there have been so few flu cases over the last year simply because of social distancing, clean hands and masks. Flu needs contact to spread via coughing, sneezing, handshakes etc. Covid is airborne. So, do SOPs for other benefits if you arent convinced by this Covid thingy. I just have a funny feeling there will be one last sting in the tail before Ugandans start taking Covid seriously. Things seem too good to be true at the moment for them.
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When Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist said: There is enough resources for everyones need but not for anybodys greed. He might have thought of a country that would be known as Nigeria. The reason is based on the fact that Nigeria is one of the richest countries in the world. Our country is blessed with both human and material resources and yet majority of the populace are suffering.

For better understanding of how we have fared bady as a nation, we need to go back to history. In 1960 when Nigeria became independent, the world community stated and was publicised that three nations would emerge to join the community of developed nations like the U.S.A and Japan.

The countries mentioned in the report were China, Brazil, India and Nigeria. Unfortunately today, of all the four countries  only Nigeria has not emerged! India has emerged. Brazil has emerged. China has not only emerged but has become a global superpower.

Sadly for us as nation, Nigeria has not emerged and has not even laid a foundation for its greatness. The reason why Nigeria has not emerged is -human! God has provided for our needs but has not provided for our greed. The critical thing for the greatness of a nation is human. It is not the amount of Gold or diamond that you have, nor the amount of oil and gas that you have. Not even the amount of cocoa, palm-oil, cotton and rubber that you have. It is the human element that comprises of the leadership. Unfortunately, the human element in Nigeria is only 4% and material is 96%. Whereas in Japan, only 2% is material resources and 98% is human resources. It is the same thing in United States and even in Europe. So, the problem bedevilling us as a nation is human and the critical thing in the human element is leadership. Leadership is very important. Despite having everything at our disposal to grow as a nation, lack of good leadership has continued to hinder us.

Let us look at how Malaysia has emerged. Singapore emerged from 3rd world country to 1st best. Nigeria could also have emerged but unfortunately leadership has been the cog in the wheel of Nigerias greatness.

Leadership is undoubtedly the major problem we have in Nigeria. Having a competent, effective and purposeful leadership that is capable of turning our highly chorused great potentials into real economic and political power has been quite elusive for us as a nation. That is why we today we are not making any headway.

What is happening in Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari is best described in W. B. Yeats words in 'The Second Coming': We are turning and turning in the widening gyre; the falcon cannot hear the falconer; things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

Under President Muhammadu Buhari, anarchy is threatening the foundation of our existence as a nation. It is also under this present government that the theory of vulgar individualism and fetish corruption has triumphed over the political firmness and sharpness of the leadership of the country. The incorruptible reputation and integrity which President Muhammadu Buhari was hitherto known for has dissappeared.

With the economic instability, insecurity and other problems bedeviling us as nation, the only solution is to have a servant leadership. Servant leadership is an age-old concept, a term loosely used to suggest that a leaders primary role is to serve others, especially the people.

When it comes to dealing with modern challenges of leadership, Lao Tzus servant leadership concept may be a solution to Nigerias leadership problem. Lao Tzus three lessons  all from the Tao Te Ching -provide us with insights into Lao Tzus idea of successful leadership, and hold up just as well in 2021 as they did when he wrote them around the fifth-century BC.

Lao-Tzu wrote about servant leadership in the fifth-century BC: The highest type of ruler is one whose existence, the people are barely aware. The Sage is self-effacing and scanty of words. When his task is accomplished and things have been completed, all the people say, We ourselves have achieved it!

It is time like this that a servant leadership must rise to the occasion. Of servant leadership, Lao Tzu says: Do not look only at yourself, and you will see much. Do not justify yourself, and you will be distinguished. Do not brag, and you will have merit. Do not be prideful, and your work will endure. In another text of his colossal works, Lao Tzu says: The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say: We did it ourselves.

Respect and obedience must be earned and solicited. Understanding of this principle and its strict compliance by President Muhammadu Buhari and those who are charged with leading us in this country is necessary. This distinguishes a true leader from those who think that they are bigger than the country and the people that voted them into power.

By honouring the history of what brought us together as a nation, the dream of our founding fathers and the future of the country we seek, we need a Servant Leader. Leaders cannot expect that respect and obedience must be automatic and that their decisions and actions must be followed without question. Leaders must be accountable to the people they lead, and by so doing, accept public scrutiny but not personalised insults and be prepared to explain their political actions and inactions at all times instead of hiding behind conspiracy theories.
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A rights activist, Comrade Deji Adeyanju, has reacted to the National Broadcasting Commissions (NBC) directives to all broadcasting stations in the country to suspend the use of Twitter.

NBC on Monday directed all broadcasting stations in the country to suspend the use of Twitter.

NBC, in a statement issued by its Director General, Armstrong Idachaba, advised television and radio stations to de-install twitter handles and stop using it as a source of user generated content (UGC) of information gathering for news and programs.

It further warned that it will be unpatriotic for any broadcaster in Nigeria to continue to patronise the suspended Twitter.

Reacting, Adeyanju in a post via his Twitter account told the broadcasting station to ignore the hopeless and baseless order.

According to him, there is no law under which such an order can be issued.

Under what law is this rubbish statement based? There is no law that allows such an order to be given.

Nigeria media should ignore this hopeless & baseless order, he wrote.
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I have read one anachronistic piece by an unknown author justifying the Twitter Ban. According to the anonymous character whose opinion is being widely circulated on social media by those gloating about the ban, this will enable the country to look inwards in order to develop its own social media app. It further accused Nigerians of being lazy for depending on foreign apps. Easier said than done. So Nigerians of Flutterwave, Paystack and other lucrative apps developed by our youthful tech champions were waiting for Twitter to be suspended before achieving these feats?

Some have even boasted how China were able to wall off its citizens from the Internet, urging the government to follow the Chinese exemplary firewall and media censorship. To make sure of their threats, there is already a report that the Nigerian Government has contacted the Chinese cybersecurity expert on how to turn the country into a great reclusive state like North Korea, Iran, Belarus and other authoritarian regimes. At least China is a proud communist state still trying hard to convince a democratic Hong Kong that all is well with the One Nation, Two Systems mantra. On the contrary, what is Nigeria if the bedrock of democracy doesnt count anymore?

But this is not new. We have had this argument before to justify the self-defeatist border closure. There was no manner of propagandist tools that werent deployed to convince us that an out-of-the blues border closure was good for the economy. The decision was made by fiat, mafia-like and without proper consultations like this #TwitterBan. Those who held contrary views and warned about its potential wreckage to the economy and for the fact that this could only apply to the Southern borders as the northern flank is notoriously porous were shouted down. Some even claimed that the border closure was so successful that most states can now export rice to Thailand. As the saying goes: all na wash. Audio.

Funny enough while this border closure, which were mostly effective at the Southern part of the country were being zealously enforced, Federal Government at the same time announced visa-on-arrival policy for African countries (with its inherent danger of allowing terrorists from Chad and Niger Republic to sneak into the country unchecked). At the end such unwise decision achieved nothing but devastated our economy, created frictions with our neighbours and allowed terrorists to flood different parts of the country-the consequences we are yet to recover till date.

As a country, some times I get confused the system we are operating. We preach democracy yet encourage dictatorship and embrace totalitarianism. We claim to be capitalist yet admire feudalism and confused version of communism. We are a Federation by name but unitary in practice. What is our identity? We appeal to terrorists, go around begging them yet get furious with unarmed protesters demanding for good governance. Sometimes it looks like Federal Government uses deodorant on serious crimes while insecticides are extravagantly deployed to quell agitations against injustice. Yet we wonder why insecurity keep festering without a solution because we want to eat our cake and have it. I dont get it.

We have to chose one because most times we want to have it both ways: are we Unitary or Federal, democracy or authoritarian? We cant have it both ways. This is a fact. WE WANT TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS BUT WE CANT.

Iroegbu is a journalist, security and public affairs analyst and can be reached via: [email protected]
Politics

Vatican cautions bishops on denying Communion to politicians who back abortion right
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 18:34:17|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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NEW DELHI -- India's COVID-19 tally rose to 28,909,975 on Monday with 100,636 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, said the federal health ministry.

The single-day spike of COVID-19 cases is found to be the lowest in over two months. Earlier, on April 5 the country had crossed the 100,000-mark.

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MALE -- Daily COVID-19 cases in the Maldives have dipped below 500 for the first time in weeks, local media reported on Monday.

Data from the Health Protection Agency showed that 412 new cases of COVID-19 were detected on Sunday, as daily recorded cases have been steadily declining from a record high of 2,194 in May.

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VIENTIANE -- Laos reported five new cases of COVID-19 on Monday as community spread showed a downward trend in the country.

Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, Phonepaserd Sayamoungkhoun, told a press conference in the Lao capital Vientiane that the country recorded five new COVID-19 cases over the previous 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,968.

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ADDIS ABABA -- Ethiopia registered 109 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 272,914 as of Sunday evening, according to the country's Ministry of Health.

The ministry said eight new deaths were reported, bringing the national death toll to 4,209.

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MANILA -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported on Monday 6,539 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 1,276,004.

The death toll climbed to 21,969 after 71 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said.

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WINDHOEK -- Namibia's Health Ministry has suspended non-emergency or non-urgent operations at two of its state hospitals.

"Only emergency and urgent operations will be performed in theaters until further notice," Health Ministry executive director Ben Nangombe said in a statement Monday. "Management should find lasting solutions to the oxygen crisis."

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ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan confirmed 1,490 new positive COVID-19 cases on Sunday with a 3.02-percent positivity rate, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Monday.

The NCOC said in a statement that the country's number of overall cases rose to 933,630, which include 864,931 recoveries since February of last year when the first case of its kind was reported in Pakistan.

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PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia on Monday registered 589 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total tally to 34,833, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said in a statement.

The new infections included 562 local cases and 27 imported cases, the MoH said. Enditem
Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren is defending his officers actions after a man who was mistakenly thought to be a car thief was taken from his vehicle at gunpoint, forced to lie facedown on the ground and handcuffed briefly until they sorted out the situation.

Barren reached out to the media Monday to share body cam footage of the June 1 incident in a parking lot off 12 Mile Road, which he says shows officers properly handled the situation  despite a Facebook post that accused them of wrongdoing and generated concern throughout the community.

The social media post by Tj Monroe garnered hundreds of comments  some calling for legal or civil action to be taken against the department and officers involved. "Tj Monroe" states, in part: By far the scariest thing Ive encountered.

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The post falsely claimed police used pepper spray during the incident, which Barren said his officers dont even carry.

The post (edited for profanity) : "I was just pulled out of my truck . 10 police officers Pepper sprayed . And handcuffed for mistaken identity...By far the scariest thing I've encountered . I'm steady asking , what's wrong. What did I do ?? I have my pistol in my cup holder , I tell the officer I have a gun . His partner slams me on the ground and pepper spray me. These lame muthaf**kers said someone followed me and informed them that the truck I was driving was stolen from them . I raised hell . B**ch my truck is paid for ! I have registration. Insurance . The whole 9..they check out my car , everything legit . The black officer says "he's sorry' Man to man " you didn't deserve that brother"...And just leaves like nothing happened. south field police department."

'Dangerous world, man'

It was late morning when the driver was approached by officers as he sat in the vehicle, a white Dodge Durango SRT, after someone contacted police to say it was his  stolen two weeks earlier in Troy. The temporary, paper license plate wasnt visible to officers as it was behind a tinted rear window, Barren said.

As seen in the police body cam video, the driver is initially confused as the police action unfolds, says everything is all legit, and that he has necessary paperwork to prove ownership. He also notified police right away that he has a pistol in the vehicle, which hes licensed to have.

Moments later, police determine the vehicle wasnt the one that had been reported stolen, release the driver and apologize.

In our minds, we believed this vehicle was stolen, one officer tells the driver, noting that the person who had contacted police described (the vehicle) to a T.

I appreciate you being cool with us...unfortunately this was a misunderstanding, the officer said.

An officer can also be heard saying Sorry about the circumstances. Man-to-man, this sh*t sucks.

He adds that his department deals with lots of stolen vehicle cases, with many involving guns. Its a dangerous world, man, he said.

Barren said he understands how the incident would be upsetting to the driver, but that the officers acted appropriately and in good faith. Further, he said he runs his department with a demonstrated commitment to accountability and professionalism.

False accusations against police are common across the country, Barren said, and body cam footage is an invaluable tool to defend against that. Having recordings of police interaction also deters potential bad behavior by officers, he said.

Barren said he knows of no civil action against his department in relation to the incident and that no one has reported it as a crime. If they had, he said, he has video evidence to disprove it.

Barren declined to identify the driver or where he lives.
Gilda Jacobs, a Huntington Woods resident, is retiring after more than 40 years in public service. This include the past 11 years as president and CEO of The Michigan League for Public Policy.
Minister calls for further cooperation on World Oceans Day

THAILAND: The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) of Thailand, Mr. Varawut Silpa-archa, is using tomorrows (June 8) World Ocean Day to highlight an inititaive encouraging Thais to safeguard and conserve local oceans in order to sustain livelihoods.

animalsenvironmentnatural-resourceswildlifemarine

By Press Release

Monday 7 June 2021, 03:12PM

World Oceans Day is an event observed every year that highlights the importance of the oceans and marine resources, and encourages citizens of the world to join hands in conservation and the sustainability of these precious resources.

As part of the Thais working together to save oceans initiative, Mr Varawut detailed the governments dedication and emphasis on maintaining the integrity and sustainable use of marine resources. While there are issues and limitations to how much the government can alone manage maintaining the integrity of the marine ecosystem, Mr Varawut sees them as challenges that can be overcome with the help and cooperation of the Thai people.

He stressed that oceans are the most difficult natural resources to manage because they are important resources that drive the economy and are a key component in maintaining balance in the worlds ecosystems. Concerningly, destructive human activities are upsetting this delicate natural balance. While challenging, the government recognises the importance of effective ocean management.

Mr. Varawut added that he has had the opportunity to visit marine areas several times and personally observed the issues being faced. While he has successfully solved some of these issues, many urgent ones remain. Not only is he proud of Thailands marine resources being more pristine and the ecosystem more balanced, but also of the cooperation from Thai people who are now more aware of the importance of the oceans. He observed that many people have become more involved because they understand that it is their responsibility to maintain marine resources for the generations that follow them.

Mr Varawut has assigned Mr.Yutthaphon Ankinandana, advisor to the minister of MNRE, and Mr Jatuporn Buruspat, Permanent Secretary of MNRE to accelerate the management of marine resources. This is to be done jointly in conjunction with central government agencies, local government organisations, the private sector and the Thai people in order to achieve concrete results, which will be managed and utilised in a balanced and sustainable manner.

This effort is recognised internationally and in accordance with the policy of the government of General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Prime Minister, and under the supervision of General Prawit Wongsuwan, Deputy Prime Minister and the chairman of the Policy and Planning Committee for Marine and Coastal Resources Management.

Mr Sopon Thongdee, Director General of Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), added that there had been several limitations to organising this years event for World Oceans Day. Due to the situation of COVID-19 and safety concerns, the department will only hold a limited number of organised activities to promote it.

The slogan for this years event is Save the oceans to sustain livelihoods, which is in line with The Ocean: Live and Livelihoods, the theme set by the United Nations.

Additionally, the department has prepared media which it will publicise through various channels in order to showcase the successes achieved thus far in caring for Thailands marine resources. This success came from the cooperation of Thai people and volunteers called, Marine Rangers.

A renowned marine scholar and marine wildlife expert, Dr. Thon Thamrongnawasawat, Deputy Dean for Special Affairs The Faculty of Fisheries of Kasetsart University, said that he has been monitoring the situation and changes in marine and coastal resources.

He views that overall management of Thailands marine resources as relatively stable, particularly in the conservation and care of marine mammals. At present, there are more than 28 species of marine mammals; 27 species of dolphins and whales, and one species of dugongs.

Marine mammals are divided into two groups. The first group are mammals that live close to shore and are often seen. This group consists of seven species; dugongs, Bruda whales, Omura whales, Irrawaddy dolphins, finless porpoises, Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins, and bottlenose dolphins. The second group lives in the open sea and migrates long distances with a relatively wide habitat. There are 21 species found living distant from shores, such as blue whales, sperm whales, short-finned pilot whales, Frasers dolphins, Spinner dolphins and long-beaked common dolphins.

Dr Thon praised the work already accomplished by the DMCR, and also reiterated the importance of making the caring of rare marine life a joint effort, with cooperation between various government departments, the Thai people and their communities.
A class of 41 park rangers with the Corps of Engineers attend the first in-person training offered at the new USACE Learning Center. The center, which opened its doors for mission-critical courses in May, is located in Building 100 Secured Gateway.
Lansdale borough council's administration and finance committee members see updated figures on customers delinquent on borough electric bills, during their June 2 2021 committee meeting. Inset from top are council members Leon Angelichio and Carrie Hawkins Charlton, borough Manager John Ernst and councilman Denton Burnell.
Passage of a bill that broadens the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control came after a debate dogged by suspicions that one of its provisions might benefit a Greenwich state senator who has made coercive control a central claim in her divorce from a Wall Street executive.

The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Friday night to pass Senate Bill 1091, a measure dubbed Jennifers Law in memory of Jennifer Dulos, the mother of five who disappeared two years ago and is presumed dead. Facing a murder charge, her estranged husband Fotis Dulos committed suicide.

Republicans attempted to rewrite the bill with an amendment that failed on an 89-52 straight party-line vote, calling it well-intended but flawed in its execution. The measure then passed on a 134-8 vote. The Senate had passed it, 35-1.

But throughout the House debate, Republican opposition seemed animated by a topic no one broached directly on the floor: a suspicion that the effective date of the coercive control portion of the bill was accelerated at the demand of Sen. Alex Kasser, D-Greenwich, who is in the third year of a contentious divorce from Seth Bergstein, a senior Morgan Stanley executive.

On Saturday, Rep. Tom ODea, R-New Canaan, acknowledged that was a concern among some Republicans, himself included.

My understanding is that the effective date is moved back on her request from Oct. 1, ODea said. And Ive been told that may have an impact on her current situation with her spouse. And that causes me concern, and I just hope thats not true.

ODea, who ultimately voted for passage, would not say who told him that the new definition of domestic violence might benefit Kasser, whose divorce trial is expected this summer. Kasser, the sponsor of a similar bill merged into the one that passed Friday, declined to talk about any impact on her divorce or whether she sought the change.

Anyone who criticizes its effective date must be trying to change the subject, Kasser said. Victims of domestic violence are harmed and killed every day. Making the law effective immediately has no other purpose than to save lives. Is anyone against that?

Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, a family-law practitioner and the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, supports adding coercive control to the definition of domestic violence, but he questioned why an amendment in the Senate had singled out that provision to take effect before other aspects of the legislation. He complained no one gave him an answer.

Was there something else going on here? Fishbein said during the floor debate. This is not about Jennifer Dulos. Nicknaming this bill Jennifers bill is a public relations escapade. Thats not good-faith legislation.

Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, a lawyer and adjunct faculty member at two universities, said he did not see how a law passed in June 2021 would materially affect a divorce filed in December 2018 and made public by Kasser in May 2019. But Fishbein said a judge might take notice of the change.

Under state ethics rules, there is no prohibition against lawmakers advocating a position that benefits themselves so long as it equally benefits others. Lawmakers often draw from personal experience to shape legislation, and the issue of coercive control is central to Kassers legislative advocacy and her divorce.

Kasser has said she felt coerced to remain with her husband after coming out to him as gay in 2010. Bergstein denies the accusation, which was made in court filings and other public statements, including an op-ed piece Kasser wrote for the Stamford Advocate shortly before her re-election to a second term in 2020.

Undisputed is that Kasser not only pushed hard to include coercive control in state law as her divorce proceeded, but a version of the bill she sponsored would have elevated its weight in court proceedings over child custody to a degree that concerned legal aid lawyers, the family law section of the Connecticut Bar Association and the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

In a joint memo to the Judiciary Committee, they applauded the intention of her bill while warning of unintended consequences. It would have established a new evidentiary hearing upon allegations of coercive control by a family or household member. We fully support courts more thoroughly considering domestic violence, including coercive control; however, this language is likely to cause more problems than it solves.

The proposed mandates on changes to court procedures and the qualifications of expert witnesses in custody cases could cause delays and drive up the cost of litigation, a concern to litigants of lesser means. Once coercive control was found, the judge would have had too little discretion in determining what was in the best interest of the child, they wrote.

The version passed Friday maintains judicial discretion and generally addressed other concerns raised in the memo. It allows judges to consider subtle evidence of emotional abuse, not just physical abuse, in granting a protective order. Other provisions broaden the crimes of intimidation and require courts to offer more protection in domestic violence cases.

Making coercive control an element of family law, especially in cases of domestic violence, was supported by the states court system, which noted in public hearing testimony before the legislature that current law falls short of giving the Court the authority to enter an order of protection based on nuanced signs of power and control or psychologically coercive behavior.

So, even if judges suspect emotional abuse, there is presently no provision in statute to grant the order on that basis. By adopting the proposed language, the Legislature will permit judges to elevate all levels of domestic violence to the scrutiny it deserves.

Kasser hires Lanny Davis, former presidential crisis manager

Two years ago, Kasser posted on Facebook that she had filed for divorce and was in a committed romantic relationship with Nichola Samponaro. It included a photo of the couple posing by the state Capitol. It was a hint that the end of her marriage would play out in public.

Kassers legal team now includes Lanny Davis, the lawyer who became prominent as a special White House counsel defending Bill Clinton against the impeachment spurred by his affair with an intern, Monica Lewinsky. The services offered by his firm, Trident DMG, include full-contact reputation management during litigation. He also is a partner in the law firm Davis, Goldberg & Galper.

I agreed to represent Alex Kasser after doing my due diligence and noting she has been subjected to a lot of media coming from the court case and its pleadings, Davis said Saturday. She asked me, Can you help me correct the record?

Unsolicited, Trident DMG recently emailed one of her filings to reporters. It complained that Bergstein, with whom their three children reside, was not adequately sharing information about the children under the terms of a court-approved parenting plan.

In an interview Friday night, Kasser would not say if she had hired Davis or was aware of the public outreach. She was more forthcoming Saturday.

I recently retained Lanny Davis because hes an experienced attorney who wants to help set the record straight, she said in an email. Mr. Davis and the rest of my legal team have one goal: to resolve this divorce so I can be free from Seth Bergstein and he stops harassing my partner too.

Kasser said in the email her husband used his power and position to harm both me and her. It is no longer acceptable to shame people for their sexuality.

Bergsteins lawyer, Janet A. Battey, declined to say whether the new law would affect the divorce trial, which is largely focused on dividing the significant assets of two wealthy litigants. Bergstein has denied any threats or coercion directed at Kasser, a lawyer educated at the University of Chicago.

Obviously, divorces can be difficult, and it is unfortunate that Alex has chosen for her own unknown reasons to continue to make and publicize patently false allegations and insinuations, Battey said. Mr. Bergstein trusts the legal system and the family court and trusts that the upcoming trial will reveal Alexs narrative for what it is.

During the House debate Friday, one of the bills supporters, Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, D-Avon, said the focus should be on how the bill will help victims of domestic abuse. Kavros DeGraw was a friend and neighbor to Dulos when they both lived in Farmington. Before her disappearance, Dulos had moved to New Canaan, part of Kassers district.

We colloquially call this bill Jennifers Law not just after Jennifer Farber Dulos, but also for all of the other Jennifers, the Jennifers whose names we will never say in this chamber, the Jennifers whom we have all known ourselves, perhaps the Jennifers that were our mothers, our sisters, our grandmothers.

And I find it troubling that we are not focusing on the real crux of this bill. And the reason why it is so critically important that we have the definition of coercive control as a criminal definition.

California was the first state to include coercive control as a form of domestic violence, though others have references in statutes to emotional abuse as grounds for protective orders. Emotional abuse, advocates say, can be a harbinger of physical violence.

And so this is our chance to further this cause, because women died yesterday, women are dying today, and they will die tomorrow, Kavros DeGraw said. We just reached the two year mark for Jennifer Farber Dulos on May 24. I know that, because I spoke with her just three days before she disappeared.
PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (AP)  Spain jump-started its summer tourism season on Monday by welcoming vaccinated visitors from most countries as well as European tourists who can prove they are not infected with coronavirus. It also reopened its ports to cruise ships.

The move opened borders for the first tourists from the United States and other countries outside of the European Union since those travelers were banned in March last year, when the pandemic hit global travel.

Matthew Eisenberg, a 22-year-old student, excitedly stepped out of Madrid airport, ready to enjoy the Spanish capital along with two more American friends.

We came to Spain the first day we could, because we are very excited to travel here, Eisenberg said, showing a certificate for the two Moderna vaccine jabs he received in February and March.

But Spain is still banning nonessential travelers from Brazil, India and South Africa, where virus variants have been been a major source of concern.

Visitors need proof they were fully vaccinated at least 14 days before the trip or that they overcame a COVID-19 infection in the past six months. The certificates can be in Spanish, English, French or German  or their equivalent translations in Spanish, the government order said.

The vaccines accepted are those approved by Europes drug regulator  Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson  as well as two Chinese vaccines authorized by the World Health Organization, Sinopharm and Sinovac.

The same documents will be valid for visitors from the European Union until the bloc fully rolls out its Digital Green Certificate as expected on July 1. Spain on Monday joined seven other EU countries already implementing the scheme.

Alfredo Gonzalez, an official in charge of digital health and innovation at Spain's Health Ministry, said the certificate is not a passport but a document that eases mobility across Europe.

Without the certificate, travel will be possible, but the entry in every country will be slower and controls such as quarantines could apply," said Gonzalez, adding that all airports had established fast-track channels with technology able to confirm the digital certificates issued by other EU countries.

Beginning Monday, non-vaccinated travelers from the EU's 27 countries could also enter Spain with the negative results of recent coronavirus antigen tests, which are cheaper and faster than PCR tests.

The Spanish government hopes to welcome 14.5 million to 15.5 million visitors between July and September. That's about 40% of the tourists in the same period of 2019 but twice as many as last summer, when only EU visitors could enter Spain.

Tourism is a major industry that in 2019 accounted for over 12% of Spain's GDP.

In a setback, many British tourists who love Southern Europe's beaches aren't expected in large numbers yet because they must quarantine upon their return to the U.K.

Still, Manchester resident Randolph Sweeting said his holiday on the Spanish island of Mallorca was worth the mandatory self-isolation when he gets home.

I was here twice last year and when I went home I had to quarantine on my own for two weeks. So it's not a problem for me, Ive done it before, the 68-year-old said at the Palma de Mallorca airport.

Belen Sanmartin, director of the Melia Calvia Beach Hotel in Mallorca, said that the U.K. government's decision to keep Spain in its list of higher-risk territories was hard to understand in the Balearic Islands, where the infection rate is lower than in Britain.

It has been a big disappointment, because we were ready to receive visitors from the British market," Sanmartin said, adding that bookings in her hotel were slowly picking up, thanks to Spanish mainlanders and German and French tourists.

In another move to boost tourism, Spanish ports opened to cruise ships on Monday, nearly 15 months after they were banned.

After peaking in late January at nearly 900 new cases per 100,000 residents in 14 days, Spain's coronavirus contagion indicator has dropped to 115 per 100,000. Still, its descent has slowed down in the past days as new infections spread among unvaccinated groups.

Spain has counted over 80,000 COVID-19 deaths in the pandemic.

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Alicia Leon and Aritz Parra contributed to this report from Madrid.

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Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
It's bloody good to hear festivals around the world are starting to gear back up, after a year-plus forced hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Crowded House frontman Neil Finn confirmed that the kiwi rockers will be returning to the iconic Glastonbury Festival in 2022.

Appearing on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch over the weekend, Finn shared that the band were originally going to perform this year, but touring plans were pushed back due the 'rona cocking everything up for everyone.

Weve had a tour booked for the last two summers, which is actually sold out and is now intact and coming next June, said Finn.

Weve transferred everything, including a Glastonbury appearance and some Roundhouse shows in London so yeah, we are coming, as soon as we possibly can, its taken two years once we get there

How bloody good would it be to see these kiwi rock icons take the stage at one of the biggest festivals in the world - especially the first one back after the pandemic.

The last time they played at Glasto was in 2008, where they had a good little moment where they convinced security guards to stop watching the crowd and to turn around to watch them perform.

"Turn around, nothing bad will happen!"
Media Content Creator

Ian Ostroff is a writer/reporter who resides in Montreal. He is passionate about getting to know the people and places that make his hometown so great. In his spare time, you can find him at the gym, eating ice cream, or working on his novel(s).
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 19:52:01|Editor: huaxia

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Officials from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries attend the 19th Senior Officials' Meeting on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in Chongqing, southwest China, June 7, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

CHONGQING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries agreed on Monday to work together to strive for an early agreement on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).

Attending the 19th Senior Officials' Meeting on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) held here in Chongqing, the parties agreed to resume as soon as possible the second reading of the Single Draft COC Negotiating Text and strive for the early conclusion of negotiations.

Noting that the current situation in the South China Sea is generally stable, all parties stated their belief that China and the ASEAN countries, despite the impact of the epidemic, have stayed committed to the full and effective implementation of the DOC, and to sustaining the COC process in a flexible and pragmatic manner.

All parties emphasized the significance of the comprehensive and effective implementation of the DOC, and unanimously agreed to continue deepening cooperation and to enhance mutual trust to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea. Enditem
BELLEVILLE  The 27th Annual Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwestern Illinois House Raffle has begun.

Only 4,500 certificates will be sold at $100 each for a chance to win 46 cash prizes, including a grand prize of a Fulford Homes Whitney Farmhouse style home valued at $254,356 or $125,000 in cash.

Each raffle certificate directly supports one-to-one mentoring of youth in the community.

Last year further widened the opportunity gap for our regions most vulnerable children, said President & CEO, Heather Freed. Now more than ever kids need the support of positive adult role models to help them learn the skills and tools they need to succeed in school, in relationships and in life.

A $1,000 Early Bird drawing will be held July 15 with the grand prize drawing at noon Aug. 26 on the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwestern Illinois Facebook page. All winners will be posted on www.bbbsil.org no later than 24 hours after the drawing.

To purchase a house raffle certificate and for details visit www.bbbsil.org/houseraffle.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwestern Illinois serves children in Clinton, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties.
EDWARDSVILLE  A Cottage Hills man charged last month with the sex assault of an infant was indicted by a Madison County grand jury Thursday.

Devin P. Brazier, 27, of Cottage Hills, was indicted June 3 on charges of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a Class X felony; and attempted predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a Class 1 felony.

He was originally charged May 24. At that time his last known address was in the 2300 block of LaSalle Drive, Alton.

The case was originally presented by the Alton Police Department.

According to court documents, on May 20 Brazier allegedly sexually assaulted a child less than one year old and committed a substantial step toward the commission of the offense of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child against the infant.

Bail was set at $500,000 with additional conditions imposed.

Other indictments issued June 3 include:

 Devon J. Stewart, 20, of Granite City, was indicted on charges of attempted first degree murder, a Class X felony, and aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class 1 felony. Charges were originally filed Nov. 4, 2020. The case was originally presented by the Granite City Police Department. On Nov. 1 Stewart allegedly shot at another person multiple times. Bail was originally set at $150,000.

 Chad E. Johnson, 48, of Madison, was indicted on charges of home invasion, a Class X felony, and aggravated battery, a Class 3 felony. The charges were originally filed May 24. The case was originally presented by the Madison Police Department. On May 22 Johnson allegedly entered a home in the 1200 block of Iowa Street in Madison knowing the resident was there, and punched the victim in the face. Bail was originally set at $150,000.

 Jordan L. Smith, 21, of St. Louis, was indicted on a charge of home invasion, a Class X felony. Charges were originally filed April 13. The case was originally presented by the Madison Police Department. On Dec. 13 Smith allegedly entered a home in the 2000 block of Fourth Street, Madison, armed with a firearm and knowing someone was present; and threatened the use of force against that person, threatening to shoot up the house. Bail was originally set at $150,000.
EDWARDSVILLE  Madison County is partnering with Wood River, Chouteau and Venice townships for community clean-ups in June.

The Madison County Building and Zoning Department and the townships are holding the events to encourage residents to clear out debris and drop it off at no charge.

Events include:

 Wood River Township: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 7-11 at the Wood River Township Highway Department, 1010 8th St., Cottage Hills. Curbside pick-up is available. Call the highway department at 618-259-2490.

 Chouteau Township: 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. June 14-18 at the Chouteau Township Shed, 906 Thorngate Road, Granite City. Curbside pickup is available. Call the highway department at 618-931-6333.

 Venice Township: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 21-25 at the Venice city garage on Klein Avenue. No curbside pickup. Call Public Works at 618-877-0520.

Madison County Building and Zoning Administrator Chris Doucleff said a supplemental environmental project grant through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is helping fund the cleanup.

Its an opportunity for people to clean up, and they dont have to try to take items to the landfill, Doucleff said. Doucleff said the event allows people to dispose of large items and furniture they no longer need or otherwise might not be able to throw away.

Community members are encouraged to drop off large items not normally picked up by the local trash collector, including furniture, mattresses, demolition debris, carpet, tiles and flooring. Tires, appliances, electronics, and household hazardous wastes, such as, oil, paint and chemicals are prohibited.

The event is open to designated areas only. People dropping-off items must show proof of area residency with a drivers license, state-issued identification, a bill with current address or the event flyer that was mailed to residents.

Help for disabled or elderly residents is available to Cottage Hills and Chouteau Township residents. Because of limited capacity, the drive is on a first come, first serve basis until the container limit is met.

The county building and zoning office sponsors community clean-ups throughout the year.

These events help homeowners, Doucleff said. They dont have to go as far to dispose of large items and its of no cost to them.
SOLWAY, Minn. (AP)  Hundreds of protesters vowing to do whatever it takes to stop a Canadian-based company's push to replace an aging pipeline blocked a pump station Monday in northern Minnesota, with some people chaining themselves to construction equipment before police began making arrests.

Environmental and tribal groups say Enbridge Energy's plan to rebuild Line 3, which would carry Canadian tar sands oil and regular crude from Alberta to Wisconsin, would worsen climate change and risk spills in sensitive areas where Native Americans harvest wild rice, hunt, fish, gather medicinal plants, and claim treaty rights.

By evening, at least 30 people were arrested by state police and sheriff's officers, but the number "is growing rapidly, Ashley Fairbanks, a spokeswoman for Treaty People Gathering, told The Associated Press.

None of them appeared to resist as allies chanted We love you. Protesters said the Treaty People Gathering was the largest show of resistance yet to the project.

The crowd showed no signs of leaving hours after an earlier protest at the headwaters of the Mississippi River, roughly 20 minutes away, where they chanted Stop Line 3! and Water is life!

This is important. This is what we need, actress Jane Fonda told the AP at the rally, motioning toward the crowd as she held signs with President Joe Bidens image that said, Which side are you on?

She urged protesters to keep pressuring Biden to halt construction so his administration can study any harm to the environment and indigenous people. The Mississippi River is one of the water crossings for the pipeline.

Fonda said Line 3 protesters are going to Standing Rock this place, referring to the Dakota Access pipeline, which is owned by a different company and was the subject of major protests near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the Dakotas in 2016 and 2017.

Activists said they were pitching tents at the pump station site Monday night, and an AP reporter saw people rolling a large wooden spool that holds wire into a pile of trees and twigs. Police were directing traffic.

Elizabeth Claggett-Borne, 55, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, sat in a beach chair perched in front of a boat blocking the entrance to the work site. She was equipped with a homemade device made of rebar, PVC pipe and handcuffs, in order to make it more difficult for authorities to remove her from the site.

Were just foot soldiers, she said. But were here to stay.

Minnesota Public Radio News reported that a Border Patrol helicopter at one point hovered about 20 feet (6 meters) off the ground, blowing up sand and dirt, to try to get protesters to leave.

Enbridge said that 44 workers were evacuated from the site in an effort to de-escalate the situation. In a written statement, the company said it hoped all parties would come to accept the outcome of the thorough, science-based review and multiple approvals of the project.

Spokeswoman Juli Kellner said the company will assess potential damage once it can safely reenter the site.

Enbridge says the 1960s-era Line 3 pipeline is deteriorating and can run at only about half its original capacity. It says the new line, made from stronger steel, will better protect the environment while restoring its capacity and ensuring reliable deliveries to U.S. refineries.

More than 300 groups delivered a letter to Biden last month calling on him to direct the Army Corps of Engineers to suspend or revoke Enbridges federal clean water permit for the project. They urged Biden to follow the example he set on the first day of his administration, when he canceled the disputed Keystone XL pipeline, citing worries about climate change.

Biden has not taken a stand on Line 3, and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz is letting the legal process play out.

Biden's administration has declined to shut down the Dakota Access pipeline. In Michigan, Enbridge is defying an order by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to shut down its Line 5 because of the potential for a spill in a channel linking two Great Lakes.

Enbridge is gearing up for a final construction push on Line 3, which clips a corner of North Dakota on its way across northern Minnesota to Enbridges terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. The Canadian and Wisconsin replacement segments are already carrying oil. The Minnesota segment is about 60% complete. The company has said it plans to put the line into service late this year.

Enbridge, which updated the projected total cost for Line 3 in February to $7.3 billion (U.S.), has been touting the economic benefits, including about 4,000 jobs as full-scale work resumes.

Both sides are awaiting a ruling from the Minnesota Court of Appeals on a legal challenge by environmental and tribal groups that want to overturn state regulators approval of the project. The court is expected to rule by June 21 on whether Enbridge adequately proved a long-term need.

The independent Public Utilities Commission approved the project, but the state Department of Commerce, two tribes and other opponents argue that the companys demand projections failed to meet the legal requirements. Enbridge and the PUC say the projections complied.

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Associated Press writer Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan, contributed to this story.
CHICAGO  One hundred years ago, ornate box turtles were found in half of the 102 counties in Illinois.

Now they live in just 10.

Dr. Matt Allender, a scientist at the University of Illinois and clinical veterinarian with the Chicago Zoological Society, uses a team of Boykin spaniel dogs to hunt for endangered ornate box turtles.

The dogs are much more efficient at collecting the four-inch brown-and-gold-patterned box turtles than the scientists on Allenders team.

People can find a box turtle, about one in every 2.5 search hours, Allender said. So if you are out for a day, you can find about four.

One of these dogs can find a box turtle every 15 minutes.

The dogs dont hurt the box turtles. The scientists study the creatures for about an hour and then they put them right back on the prairie.

The effort is part of the longest and largest health survey of box turtles in North American, Sondra Katzen of the Chicago Zoological Society told Illinois Radio Network. Allender says the ornate box turtles are sentinels of environmental health.

Even if you dont care about wildlife and you dont care about turtles, these animals are critical for evaluating the natural resources that we provide our society on. Im doing this to save the world and were using box turtles to do it, Allender said.

Ornate box turtles do not need a lot of space, but they cannot thrive on just any tract of prairie, Allender says. They need prairie with diverse nutrients and soil composition.

At the Nachusa Grasslands, a 4,000-acre reclaimed prairie in northern Illinois, there are more than 70 different species of prairie grass or prairie plants that generate seeds and host insects that turtles and many different species of birds and pollinators depend on.

At Nachusa, the ornate box turtles have an important animal partner in the native bison who live there. As the large, heavy bison tramp across the grasslands, their hooves churn the soil, spreading seeds and creating habitat for the bugs and insects that the turtles eat.

When the prairies and the bison disappeared, ornate box turtle populations in Illinois were decimated as well, Allender said.
MADISON, Wis.  Two area students have been named by the University of Wisconsin-Madison to the Deans List for the spring semester of the 2020-2021 academic year.

Area students include Nathaniel English of Highland and Rachel Dods of Marine.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 20:12:20|Editor: huaxia

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A man and a child look at the sea at an artificial beach resort at Dongjiang Port in the Binhai New Area of north China's Tianjin, June 5, 2021. Tianjin in north China boasts rich biodiversity along a 153-km coastline made up of muddy tidal flats. Over the years, the city has worked on pollution control and shoreline management of the Bohai Sea to restore its coastal wetlands, while stricter measures on land reclamation have been implemented. In 2020, 70.4 percent of Tianjin's offshore waters achieved sound quality under a three-year action plan to battle water pollution. Now the coastline of Tianjin is dotted with parks, wetlands, and artificial beaches which enable people to reach out to the sea with ease. (Xinhua/Li Ran)
Dental distributor buys company

Benco Dental, headquartered near Pittston, the nations largest independent distributor of oral health care technology and supplies, has finalized a definitive agreement to purchase the assets of ADI Mobile Health.

The acquisition brings together ADIs proven skill at manufacturing mobile clinics with Bencos industry-leading, in-house interior design and equipment-planning capabilities to open the door for a complete reimagination of whats possible in mobile clinics. In addition, ADI products will now be available through Bencos sales team of over 400 associates across the United States.

Both parties expect to complete the transaction during the coming weeks. Benco will operate ADI as one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, and the transition will be seamless for ADI customers as its employees and systems will carry over. ADI will continue to be headquartered at its current location in Tualatin, Oregon.Since 1984, ADI Mobile Health has manufactured custom-crafted mobile dental/medical health clinic vehicles for customers around the world. Their patented generator systems deliver unmatched levels of consistent power production at low vibration and decibel levels that enable a relaxing experience for patients and practitioners alike.

Local company earns safety awardThe National Utility Contractors Association of Pennsylvania announced Fehlinger Construction Group LLC of Shavertown has been awarded the associations 2021 Safety Award for large-sized companies (150,001-250,000 man-hours).

Fehlinger Construction Group LLC won the NUCA PA Safety Award for the Medium Category (50,000-150,000 man-hours) in 2014, and won the Safety Award for the Large Category in 2015 and 2016.

In addition to the NUCA Pa. Safety Awards, Fehlinger Construction Group LLC has won the prestigious NUCA William H. Feather Safety Award for the safest contractor in America in the 100,000 to 200,000 manhours category in the years 2017, 2018 and 2020.

Fehlinger is a family-owned utility construction company operating in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. The firm offers a wide variety of services in the oil and natural gas industry and in the utility construction and paving industries.

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NUCA Pennsylvania has an extensive set of criteria and a thorough review process of safety practices that it employs to select its safety award winners.

NUCA Pennsylvania is a nonprofit statewide trade association comprised of nearly 300 heavy highway contractors and suppliers specializing in sewer and water infrastructure construction. For information about NUCA Pennsylvania, visit www.nucapa.org.

Depot renews partnership

Tobyhanna Army Depot has renewed a partnership that ensures war fighters can access repair facilities on the battlefield.

The depot and Product Manager for Sets, Kits, Outfits and Tools (PdM SKOT) will work together to produce new versions of the Armament Repair Shop Set, dubbed the ARSS V2. The workload remains at Tobyhanna after an extremely successful partnership that began with the original ARSS in 2015.

The ARSS is a transportable shelter that serves as a place for soldiers to repair anything from small arms to field artillery. It comes equipped with a generator for mobile power, an environmental control unit and a wide variety of tools to keep military equipment battle-ready.

Research, design and development for the ARSS V2 took several years. Depot personnel worked closely with PdM SKOT as well as representatives from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center to create a prototype. Depot personnel fast-tracked completion of the prototype shelter over six months in early 2019. Once complete, the prototype was subjected to two months of transportability testing at the Aberdeen Test Center in Aberdeen, Maryland. Since testing concluded, pre-production planning has continued on the endeavor.

SUBMIT BUSINESS BUZZ items to business@timesshamrock.com or The Times-Tribune, 149 Penn Ave., Scranton, PA 18503.
Patients may have to wait longer to get their teeth cleaned because many dental offices are struggling to find enough workers to properly conduct business.

Samantha Abod, DMD, MMPH, president of the Pennsylvania Dental Societys Third District, which covers Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties, said support staff, not dentists, are in short supply.

I dont see fewer dentists, I still think there are a fair amount of new dentists and dental graduates, but I do see a shortage of auxiliary personnel, Abod said. Im seeing a shortage of front desk staff, dental assistants and hygienists  all the people that make the dental office work other than the dentist.

One of the consequences of staffing shortages is longer waits for appointments.

Its not just one person doing the work, its a group effort, Abod said. There are a lot of jobs in the dental office other than the dentist. If we cant run to capacity with all those jobs being filled, sometimes offices are closing or offering limited hours. Availability may be compromised because we cant seem to staff the offices.

Abod began to notice a drop in the number of workers across the dental industry in March 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and hopes prospective employees recognize the safety measures in place and consider joining the field.

Dental offices have access to the highest levels of PPE and follow aseptic techniques from start to finish, she said. Not only is it one of the safest places you can work, its probably one of the most fulfilling and lucrative careers for any assistant or educated dental professional.

Abod would like to see colleges and universities in the region place more emphasis on educating students about the skills required to become a dental assistant.

I recently met with officials at Luzerne County Community College which previously had a program for dental assisting and got rid of it years ago because there wasnt any interest, she said.

She added the dental society has the capacity to educate workers new to the profession.

Were willing to train people on site if they dont have a lot of experience, Abod said. Communication is key  if you want a job in your dental office, ask your dentist.

Dr. Mary Grace Rizzo-Fryzel of Electric City Dentistry in Scranton said more patients have been expressing interest in returning to the dental chair, leading her to look to hire additional staff.

I think more people are coming back to the dental office now because they put off their dental care for the last 18 months or so, she said. Theyre resurfacing and trying to get back on track.

Rizzo-Fryzel says shes fortunate she didnt have to lay off any staff members throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and has been able to fill in gaps by offering hours to hygienists from other offices looking for extra work.

Were seeing some smaller offices close a couple days a week, she said. Im open six days a week and have evening hours, so Ive brought in additional help to cover those extended hours.

While there are potential employees willing to fill some shifts, Rizzo-Fryzel said its still not an easy solution.

Ive been working around the availability of various hygienists, she said. I feel like its always a challenge when youre looking to expand your team because you want to make sure you have good, reliable people who are going to show up to work and integrate well with the rest of your team.

Rizzo-Fryzel doesnt see an immediate end in sight for the staffing shortage.

I think its probably going to be a problem for a while, she said. It seems like there are a lot of graduates, but not always a high interest in working full hours.
With her three teenagers vaccinated against COVID-19, Aja Purnell-Mitchell left it up to them to decide whether to go back to school during summer break.

The decision was unanimous: summer school.

Getting them back into it, helping them socialize back with their friends, maybe meet some new people, and, of course, pick up the things that they lacked on Zoom, the Durham County, North Carolina, mother said, ticking off her hopes for the session ahead, which will be the first time her children have been in the classroom since the outbreak took hold in spring 2020.

Across the U.S., more children than ever before could be in classrooms for summer school this year to make up for lost learning during the outbreak, which caused monumental disruptions in education. School districts nationwide are expanding their summer programs and offering bonuses to get teachers to take part.

Under the most recent federal pandemic relief package, the Biden administration is requiring states to devote some of the billions of dollars to summer programs.

The U.S. Education Department said it is too early to know how many students will sign up. But the number is all but certain to exceed the estimated 3.3 million who went to mandatory or optional summer school in 2019, before the pandemic.

In Montgomery, Alabama, for example, more than 12,000 of the school systems 28,000 students signed up before the June 1 deadline. Typically about 2,500 go to summer school. Philadelphia had enrolled 14,700 by Friday and was expecting more for the mostly in-person programs, up from the 9,300 students in last summers all-virtual sessions.

Its an understatement to say the needs are greater this year, said Kalman Hettleman, an education policy analyst in Maryland.

Hettleman worries most about the reading skills of disadvantaged younger students who were falling behind even before COVID-19 closed schools and were likely to encounter technological hurdles afterward.

Its not realistic to think that summer school, no matter how good and intense, will close all the gaps because many of these kids had gaps before the pandemic, said Hettleman. But it will help, and it will at least give them a fighting chance if there are intense interventions during the regular school year.
SCRANTON  Kathleen Ives of Dunmore was immediately aware she found her match five decades ago.

Fifty years later, her hunch remains true.

Kathleen and her husband, Carl Ives, joined about 100 other couples for the Diocese of Scrantons annual wedding anniversary Mass on Sunday afternoon at St. Peters Cathedral, which honored those celebrating 25 or 50 years or marriage.

The couple, who first met at Tonys Pizza Palace in Olyphant, has maintained a strong bond over the years.

The minute I met him, I knew he was the one, Kathleen Ives said. He was there for me through everything.

She feels fortunate they were able to mark the milestone as a couple.

Im just grateful we survived and were still together, Kathleen Ives said. I have several widowed friends who were not able to celebrate their anniversary.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, bishop of Scranton, who served as the principal celebrant, looks forward to recognizing the couples for their commitment each year.

I dont believe there is any other Mass we celebrate as a diocese that generates more interest and excitement than this one, he said. Youre here because of sacrifice, selflessness, love and faith.

John and Peggy Pinto of East Stroudsburg persevered through health scares and relocations during their 50 years of marriage.

Five years ago, I was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer and Im here, Peggy Pinto said. We made it to 50. ... That was a major thing.

One day after they got married, Peggy moved from New York to Arkansas to be with John during his time in the Air Force.

She had to look up on the map where it was, John joked.

That type of sacrifice embodies some of the characteristics Bambera noted are common in a successful relationship.

In the end, marriage is less about the things youve acquired and the bucket list that youve fulfilled, he said. Its far more about giving of yourself in a total and complete manner. The real miracle of Christian marriage is that when this sacrament is lived in an authentic way, you dont have to look very far for the deep sense of happiness and contentment youve achieved  and all of us seek.

Patrick and Julie Aquilio of Sayre made the trip to Scranton celebrate their 25th anniversary and join other couples in renewing their vows during the ceremony.

The Aquilios have four sons  Jacob, Nathan, Lucas and Matthew  ranging in age from 16 to 22 and have cherished raising them.

Being together and enjoying our boys, and going to all their sporting events and activities has been wonderful, Julie Aquilio said.
A former Scranton police officer will plead guilty to a federal bribery charge for soliciting sex from confidential informants under his supervision, according to the U.S. attorneys office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Thomas McDonald, 47, will enter a plea before U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion at 2 p.m. Monday to one count of federal program bribery. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison, federal prosecutors said.

Law enforcement officers hold enormous power over the citizenry and we trust them to exercise that power ethically and with integrity, acting U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler said in a statement. While most officers perform their duty in an exemplary fashion, we will not hesitate to prosecute those officers who break the law and undermine the administration of justice by engaging in the reprehensible behavior charged here.

Attempts to reach McDonalds attorney, Paul Walker, were unsuccessful.

Prosecutors brought charges against McDonald through a criminal information, alleging there were four victims who were drug informants under McDonalds supervision. The allegations are similar to those brought against him in a March 2020 federal lawsuit filed by attorney Matt Comerford, which accuses him of using his position as an investigator in the departments undercover drug unit to coerce sex acts.Mannion, who is presiding over the civil case, ordered a halt to proceedings in March pending the resolution of the criminal investigation and the expected charges against him. McDonald sought the stay because he faced a substantial risk of self-incrimination during the discovery process, arguing it could expose his criminal defense strategy.Should McDonalds plea be accepted, Comerford said he will ask the court to proceed with discovery in the civil case.In announcing the criminal charge Monday, Michael J. Driscoll, special agent in charge of the FBIs Philadelphia division, called McDonalds actions a betrayal of Scranton and those in the law enforcement community, saying in a statement the FBI will continue to root out corrupt law enforcement officers.Scranton Police Chief Leonard Namiotka said McDonald grossly abused his authority, committing vile, repulsive acts and must pay the price for his crimes, like anyone else. He said McDonalds actions are not representative of the Police Department as a whole and the department has taken steps to strengthen its back-grounding process when hiring new officers. He also noted that city officers have a responsibility to intervene should they see a colleague do something wrong.In a statement, Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti called the accusations, if true, horrific and unconscionable.

I want to be very clear about my position on bad actors, and criminal actors, in the Citys workforce under my administration: Regardless of who they are, their rank, or which department they are in, corruption will not be tolerated in our workforce.

A city police officer for 17 years, McDonald was fired in June 2020, following an internal department investigation. After he was fired, he sent text messages to city police Sgt. Thomas Carroll that threatened him and other officers on a tactical team McDonald served on as a sniper. He pleaded guilty to in December to four misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and was sentenced in April to time served to 23 months followed by eight years of probation.During his sentencing hearing, McDonald said he hit rock bottom when he faced arrest but has since gone through treatment and is involved in Alcoholics Anonymous. McDonald works with other first responders in sobriety and also takes military veterans to recovery meetings.Contact the writer:

jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, x5187;
A Mayfield man stabbed a Carbondale woman to death in March for a few hundred dollars he soon gambled away at a bar less than a half-mile away, authorities charged Monday.

Jerry Koezeno, 54, 616 Poplar St., Apt. 3, is charged with criminal homicide and theft by unlawful taking for killing Suzanne Pauswinski on March 29 and for taking $775 of her money, according to a criminal complaint filed by the state police.

Koezeno has been jailed at Lackawanna County Prison since April 3, when the state police arrested him for driving under the influence.

Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell said during a news conference Monday that Koezenos actions amount to pre-meditated murder. Investigators used several sources of video surveillance to determine Koezeno went to Pauswinskis home that day and spent several hours inside her apartment. The two were acquaintances and had known each other for several years. It would make sense, Powell said, that he knew Pauswinski kept money in her freezer. That money was missing when she was discovered dead by a neighbor.

The motive is money, Powell said. In addition to the homicide charge, hes charged with theft. There was money missing from the victims home and the evidence shows that money was quickly spent and gambled shortly after.

On May 5, investigators received a report that found blood on his boots they seized during his arrest for DUI. They then received a laboratory report Friday that concluded the blood belonged to Pauswinski.

At about 4:10 p.m. on March 29, Carbondale police and state troopers responded to Pauswinskis apartment after a neighbor with whom she played cards the previous night, Thomas Williams, went to check on her and discovered her dead at her kitchen table.

An autopsy concluded she died of multiple stab wounds. She also had a large cut on her neck. The manner of death was homicide.

However, it was a mystery who killed her. Powell noted the investigators were faced with a crime that had no witnesses, no forced entry and involved a victim with no known enemies.

This was a true whodunnit homicide, said Capt. Peter P. Gutowski, commanding officer of the Dunmore-based Troop R.

Investigators interviewed her family and her neighbors. One neighbor noted to investigators he saw an unfamiliar silver Jeep Liberty parked in front of the apartment complex shortly after noon on the day she was discovered.

Surveillance footage from nearby businesses captured the Jeep, along with some of its identifying features  including a spare tire on the rear, black rain guards on the windows and a handicap placard in the rear view mirror. A man in a dark baseball cap was the sole occupant.

Carbondale police kept their eyes open for any sign of the vehicle. At around 12:25 p.m. on April 2, they found it and pulled it over because a taillight was out, state police said. Koezeno was the driver.

Later that evening, state police pulled him over again because of the inoperable taillight and arrested him for driving under the influence. His passenger, Joanna Mae Turcotte, went back with the state police to the Dunmore barracks to speak with them.

On the day Pauswinski was discovered dead, Turcotte and Koezeno went out to celebrate her birthday. Koezeno claimed he had a few hundred dollars in lottery winnings.

Meanwhile, investigators spoke with Koezeno. He acknowledged he knew Pauswinski and had been at her apartment at around 11 a.m. on March 29. He wanted to speak with a lawyer when pressed on his involvement in her death, police said. He was jailed at the Lackawanna County Prison on $35,000 bail. Investigators later filed weapons charges against him because they found a rifle at his home which he is barred from possessing because of felony convictions in Florida.

Investigators also went to A.J.s Bar-N-Grill on Dundaff Street  a few blocks from Pauswinskis apartment  and watched surveillance footage of him depositing a total of $775 into gaming machines March 29 between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Investigators learned Koezeno had not redeemed any winning lottery ticket and had a bank balance of $4.46.

The victims brother, Michael Fortuner, expressed relief Monday that his sisters alleged killer, who he said he had never met, had been caught. He said he called the state police Monday morning to thank them. Koezenos arrest is a step toward closure, he said. He said he is so grateful that it didnt go to a cold case.

Koezeno remained silent as state troopers led him from the barracks Monday to a police vehicle waiting take him to the Lackawanna County Criminal Justice Center. Koezeno did not have an attorney with him at arraignment before Magisterial District Judge Laura M. Turlip.

Turlip denied him bail because the offense is a homicide. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. June 24.
Weeks after ceremoniously breaking ground in Luzerne County on a center aimed at bettering the lives of the homeless, Scrantons Keystone Mission said theyre waiting for their day in court to open one such shelter in Scrantons South Side.

Justin Behrens, CEO and executive director of the Olive Street nonprofit, said they still intend to challenge the October zoning appeal that seeks to block the conversion of 215 Hickory St. into a 60-bed transformation center  an overnight shelter and day center that seeks to teach clients skills that could lift them off the street.

Were still continuing the fight, Behrens said.

On Oct. 13, three businesses near the proposed Hickory Street shelter appealed the Scranton Zoning Boards Sept. 2 approval of a variance that would allow Keystone Mission to open. Listed as plaintiffs were Sharon Capalongo, owner of Sharons Place, 411 S. Washington Ave., Joseph Pehanich of JPs Garage, 245 Hickory St., and Sean Murphy, president of Pella Northeastern Pennsylvania and Central New York, 230 Hickory St.

The businesses appealed the zoning boards decision because they argue Keystone Missions proposal failed to meet its burden for approval and would negatively impact retail businesses in the area.

No court date has been scheduled, according to the appeals docket. Attorney William Jones, who is representing the three plaintiffs, could not be reached for comment. The appeal named the zoning board as the lone defendant. Attorney Daniel Penetar, the zoning boards solicitor, said the case would be assigned to a judge, who would set a hearing date and dates for when briefs are due.

Were not at that point yet, he said.

The board approved Keystone Missions request in a 3-2 vote on two conditions  no more than 60 residents, with security staff patrolling both inside and outside the building on all shifts, according to court filings. Those who spoke at the meeting said they worried about parking, security and how a shelter may affect business, the filings show.

As a transformation center, Keystone Missions proposal is more than a shelter, Behrens said. They would teach their clients life skills  such as how to budget money, how to do well in an interview and how to take care of themselves. Behrens described a multistage program that includes mental health and substance abuse therapy if needed, as well as job training that could help clients self-sustain in the future.

Before opening, Behrens said they put money into the building to improve it, so it looks like a place people would like to live.

Were not here to make the area look bad, he said. Were here to make it look better.

The Hickory Street plan follows an earlier attempt by Keystone Mission to convert a building on the 500 block of Wyoming Avenue into a 50-bed shelter, which was also met with resistance from local businesses. In 2019, Keystone Mission received zoning approval for the Wyoming Avenue project but dropped the attempt after they faced a court challenge.

The proposal would be similar to their Wilkes-Barre facility tentatively slated to open in January. On May 13, Keystone Mission held a groundbreaking ceremony at 290 Parkview Circle for the new 15-bed transformation center. In describing it at the ceremony, Behrens said clients could lay the groundwork for radical changes in their lives for the better.

Its a permanent housing location for the homeless, he said. The Wilkes-Barre location is what we want in Scranton.
June 7, 1956

Fire takes out phone and news wire service

An early morning factory fire knocked out long-distance telephone and news wire service between Northeast Pennsylvania and points south.

Emergency repair crews from Bell Telephone rushed to the scene to fix the downed telephone and wire service lines. The crews had temporary routes up by the afternoon.

The fire destroyed the March-A-Line Co. just outside Hazleton. The business made wood furniture and cabinets and employed 40 people. The owner estimated the blaze will cost him $250,000.

Two questioned in fire at Tall Gals Shop in city

Scranton police were questioning two individuals, a man and a woman, in relation to the early morning fire that heavily damaged the Tall Gals Shop on the second floor of the Davidow Building in Scranton.

The fire was called in just after 4:30 a.m. and Scranton firefighters finally put the stubborn blaze down after 8 a.m. The firefighters contained the flames to the shop, but several businesses located below the dress shop sustained smoke and water damage.

Scranton Fire Superintendent William Morgan said he was unable to determine the owner of the shop because of court litigation but was informed the business did have insurance.

Investigators later determined the fire was intentionally set.

$150 in coins taken from lunchroom

Scranton police were searching for burglars who broke into Eddies Lunch, 501 S. Washington Ave., on June 7 just after 6 a.m.

After finding the cash register empty, police said the burglars turned their attention to the lunchrooms jukebox and pinball machine. They smashed both and stole a total of $150 in coins from the machines.

Police believed the burglars first tried to hit Jerrys Lunch at 340 S. Washington Ave. but were unable to gain entry into that lunch spot.
Montage Mountain Resorts wants a court to require Pennsylvania American Water to remove small plastic pellets from a reservoir used for snow-making on ski slopes.

A May 27 lawsuit filed by the resort in Lackawanna County Court seeks a court order compelling the water company to clean the reservoir and its feeder brook of water-filtration pellets that the resort says clog snow guns.

Its the second lawsuit in five months by the resort against the water company over the pellet issue.

The resort first sued the water company Dec. 28 for $34 million in damages, claiming large quantities of the water-filtration pellets spilled from the utilitys water treatment plant upstream at Lake Scranton into Stafford Meadow Brook and the PA-5 Reservoir.

In the first lawsuit, which is pending in county court, the water company filed responses in February and March denying the resorts allegations.

The second lawsuit cites one count of a violation of the states Clean Streams Law. This suit claims the resort notified the state Department of Environmental Protection on Jan. 21 about the pellets constituting nonpermitted industrial waste or pollution in the brook and reservoir. But the DEP did not take any enforcement action within 60 days of notice by the resort, and Montage now can seek a court judgment under the Clean Streams Law ordering PAW to remediate the pollution, the second lawsuit claims.

It is apparent that unless and until PAWC (Pennsylvania American Water) is compelled to fully and adequately remediate its discharge, it will not do so, the second lawsuit says.

PAW spokeswoman Susan Turcmanovich said the water company does not comment on litigation.

The water company previously said the pellets are used as filtration clarifiers at the Lake Scranton Water Treatment Plant. The buoyant beads are made of NSF-certified (safe for use in drinking water) linear low density polyethylene (plastic) resin, and drinking water is not affected and remains safe, according to the water company.

The DEP is not a defendant in either lawsuit.

DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said a probe of the pellets by the agency has been ongoing.

The DEP is still investigating the pellet incident. No decision has been made yet on what, if any, type of action could be taken against the water company, Connolly said in an email.

Connolly provided letters DEP sent to the water company on March 10 and May 10 that refer to the incident as an unpermitted discharge.

According to the March 10 letter, on Jan. 4, 2020, PAW reported to DEP via phone that a limited amount of pellets spilled from the treatment plant and were being vacuumed up that day; PAW had not provided to DEP a required written submission of the unpermitted discharge within five days; and DEP on March 10 sought more information, including date, duration, cause and amount of the pellet discharge, and cleanup efforts.

According to the May 10 letter: PAW replied on April 5, saying pellets spilled with backwash water into the brook through holes in a clarifier retaining screen; cleanup began immediately and continued through March 13, 2020; and the screen was repaired. DEP inspected the stream and reservoir on March 9, 2021, and March 11, 2021, respectively, and found pellets in the waterways and continuing to the confluence of the Lackawanna River. The DEP asked for a detailed cleanup plan and timeline.

The water company now has until June 15 to respond to the DEP, Connolly said.

The resort pumps water from the reservoir and pipes it up the mountain to feed a snowmaking system with over 302 snowguns. The pellets, about the size of split peas, gum up a pumphouse and the entire snowmaking system, according to both lawsuits.

The water company knew about the spill of the pellets from the treatment plant but did not notify the resort, and the problem became evident in mid-2019, and during the winter ski season of 2019-20, the first lawsuit says. The second lawsuit mirrors and amplifies the allegations.

The second lawsuit also seeks costs incurred by the resort in bringing this complaint.

The resort is represented by the Silverang, Rosenzweig & Haltzman law firm of King of Prussia.

The water company is represented by the Marshall Dennehey law firm, which has an office in Scranton.
The Supreme Court said Monday that for now itll be up to Congress, not the court, to decide whether to change the requirement that only men must register for the draft. It's one of the few areas of federal law where men and women are still treated differently.

In a statement, three justices said Congress is weighing whether to change the Military Selective Service Act, which requires men but not women to register for the draft when they turn 18. They said that was a reason for the court to kick the matter back to lawmakers.

It remains to be seen, of course, whether Congress will end gender-based registration under the Military Selective Act," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a statement for herself, Justice Stephen Breyer and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. But at least for now, the Courts longstanding deference to Congress on matters of national defense and military affairs cautions against granting review while Congress actively weighs the issue.

In recent years, bills to require women to register for the draft have been proposed in the House but not gone anywhere. Just last year, however, a congressional commission concluded that the time is right to extend the obligation to register to women. The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the report this year, and Sotomayor pointed to the report and the hearing, suggesting Congress is currently studying the issue.

The question of whether it's unconstitutional to require men but not women to register could be viewed as one with little practical impact. The last time there was a draft was during the Vietnam War, and the military has been all-volunteer since. But women's groups are among those arguing that allowing the male-only requirement to stand is harmful.

Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Womens Rights Project, who had urged the court to take up the issue, said that requiring men to register imposes a serious burden on men that's not being imposed on women.

Men who do not register can lose eligibility for student loans and civil service jobs, and failing to register is also a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison. But Tabacco Mar said the male-only requirement does more than that.

It's also sending a tremendously harmful message that women are less fit than men to serve their country in this particular way and conversely that men are less fit than women to stay home as caregivers in the event of an armed conflict," said Mar, who represents the National Coalition For Men and two individual men who challenged the law. We think those stereotypes demean both men and women.

Even if the draft is never used again, retaining the requirement sends a really damaging message, she said. On Monday, she urged Congress in a statement to "update the law either by requiring everyone to register for the draft, regardless of their gender, or by not requiring anyone to register.

A group of retired senior military officers and the National Organization for Women Foundation were among those that had urged the court to take the case.

The issue of who has to register for the draft has been to the court before. In 1981, the court voted 6-3 to uphold the men-only registration requirement. At the time, the decision was something of an outlier because the court was regularly invalidating gender-based distinctions in cases about other areas of the law. Many of those cases were brought by the founding director of the ACLUs Womens Rights Project, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who became a justice in 1993.

The last time the high court considered the Military Selective Service Act, then-Justice William Rehnquist explained that the purpose of registration was to prepare for a draft of combat troops. He said that because women could not serve in combat, the law was not unlawful sex discrimination that violated the Constitution.

But military policy has changed. In 2013, the Defense Department lifted the ban on women serving in combat. Two years later, the department said all military positions would be open to women without exception.

The Biden administration had urged the justices not to take the case and to let Congress instead tackle the issue. Administration lawyers wrote in a brief that any "reconsideration of the constitutionality of the male-only registration requirement ... would be premature at this time because Congress is actively considering the issue.

The case is National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System, 20-928.
Editor's Note: Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China has worked with all other countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind, which has boosted confidence and added impetus for development of Asia and the world. For the celebration of the 100th funding anniversary of the CPC, we are launching the CPC in eyes of foreign military students series, viewing China and CPC from the perspective of foreign soldiers.

By Gabon Army Lieutenant ESSONO OBAME Francois

Shortly before, when I talked online with my Chinese friend ,he said that this year is a special and important year as it is not only the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) but also the first year of Chinas 14th Five-Year Plan.

What steps will China take to maintain its development in the future? I looked through relevant reports with this question in mind. Among them, what touched me the most is about advancing reform and opening-up across the board, and bolstering the momentum and vitality of development.China has become the worlds second-largest economy, but it is still actively responding to changes, proactively seeking changes, and opening the door wider and wider to embrace the world.

How can countries with relatively backward development keep pace with the times? This is a question I have been thinking about, which also makes me very interested in Chinas economic development. In 2018, I went to the PLA Army Logistic University for one year of training. That year happened to be the 40th anniversary of the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee and also the 40th anniversary of Chinas reform and opening-up. On such an occasion, I paid a visit to Shenzhen, the forefront of Chinas reform and opening-up.

When I stepped onto the land of Shenzhen, I found that the wide and clean roads were bustling, and the high-rise buildings were dazzling. Shenzhen is an international metropolis and a modern city with dense high-tech enterprises. It is hard to believe that it was just an unknown fishing village by the sea in late 1970s. When visiting the Shekou Museum of Chinas Reform and Opening-Up in Shenzhen, I learned that since Shenzhen became Chinas first special economic zone in 1980, the trade and processing industry have been gradually flourishing with businesses of all types ccming here. The slogan Time Means Money, Efficiency Means Life was originally sent from Shenzhen and spread throughout China.

Chinas reform and opening-up is of worldwide significance , since it has not only deeply changed China but also profoundly influenced the whole world. The CPC implements the policy of reform and opening-up to push forward China to pursue common development together with the world. In my motherland Gabon, many Chinese-aided projects, including the National Assembly building and the building of the Senate of Gabon, have become local landmarks in Libreville, the capital of Gabon. Gabon and China have carried out successful cooperation in infrastructure projects including roads, telecommunications, and electricity. In recent years, Gabon has witnessed faster economic development as a result of social economic reform based on three strategic pillars: green Gabon, industrial Gabon, and Gabon of services.Therefore, closer cooperation in broader areas between Gabon and China can be expected.

Keeping abreast of the trend of the times and working together with the rest of the world, the CPC has shared its experience of success and economic development solutions with countries committed to developing independently and eradicating poverty and backwardness. I have complete confidence in the future of Gabon and strong hope for Gabon-China cooperation.

(This article is based on an interview by the PLA Daily with Lieutenant ESSONO OBAME Francois assigned to Gabon Armed Forces, who had once studied at China's PLA Army Logistics University.)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 20:23:47|Editor: huaxia

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PHNOM PENH, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), has launched a new project to manage medical waste during the COVID-19 pandemic with China's financial and technical support through the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund (SSCAF), said a joint press statement on Monday.

Amid its largest outbreak of COVID-19 to date, Cambodia faces the challenge to properly and safely handle the treatment of the infectious medical waste, the statement said.

The country currently has limited stock of personal protective equipment and full sets of equipment for managing waste and wastewater, and lacks the expertise and experience required to manage infectious waste.

In response to these needs, the SSCAF-funded project, Learning from China's Experience to Improve the Ability of Response to COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific Region on Medical Waste Management, will work with the three Phnom Penh-based medical facilities originally designated for COVID-19 treatment, the statement said.

The main components of the project include provision of the full set of equipment for medical waste collection, segregation and treatment, as well as personal protective equipment, and capacity building and training to enable healthcare workers and service providers to manage infectious solid waste and wastewater properly and safely, it said.

UNDP will work closely with the three medical facilities, the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, Chak Angre Health Center, and National Pediatric Hospital, in addition to the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, and medical waste management experts from China, it added.

"Through UNDP Cambodia, the Government of the People's Republic of China has provided 12 sets of medical waste management equipment to strengthen medical waste management capabilities in Cambodia," Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng said.

He said the project is crucial to helping Cambodia to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"This project is an epitome of what China is contributing to the international development cooperation during the pandemic of COVID-19," Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian said.

"Executed under the South-South cooperation framework, this project reflects China's commitment to joining hands with Cambodia to fight against COVID-19 until victory is achieved," he said. "It also sends a strong signal that unity and cooperation are the international community's most potent weapon to overcome the pandemic."

Wang said that with the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, China will continue sharing its experience in pandemic control and treatment, and work with other countries in the interests of regional and global public health security.

"This project comes at a critical time for Cambodia," Nick Beresford, UNDP Cambodia's resident representative, said.

"Ensuring the country's urban centers can safely and effectively handle the treatment of medical waste during the pandemic is a key part of continued efforts to control the spread of the virus and its impact on Cambodia and its people," he added.

The project is a part of the SSCAF COVID-19 regional project, which spans across five countries in the Asia Pacific. Enditem
Methane is one of the most problematic greenhouse gases because it is more efficient than most others in trapping heat in the atmosphere, thus driving global warming. Reducing methane emissions around the world is a principal objective in the global effort to diminish harmful climate change.

Now, in an extraordinary effort, researchers from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University have discovered that 5.5% of the atmospheric methane generated by the oil and gas industry comes from just 123 wells in the sprawling Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico.

According to the analysis, published recently in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, the wells in question leak 55 tons of methane per hour.

And they are just the most prolific of the methane-spewing wells in the basin. Using airborne instruments, researchers identified 1,756 super-emitters across a 22,000-square mile area of the basin that includes 60,000 wells, thousands of compressor stations and thousands of miles of pipelines that also emit methane. The super-emitters were responsible for 29% of all the methane generated from the basin.

These emissions are the low-hanging fruit in the fight to mitigate global warming. Technology to stop the leaks readily is available but it is not uniformly deployed due to differences in state-by-state regulation.

Best practices to stop methane leaks should be a national standard regulated and enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Editor: The May 28 Times-Tribune editorial (Garrity insists on policy for 20th century) misstated several important facts related to a letter I sent  along with 14 other Republican state treasurers  to the Biden administration.

Specifically, the editorial stated that I and others warned investment banks that we would withdraw state pension funds from (financial) institutions if they do not continue to finance fossil fuel development.

First, the Pennsylvania Treasury Department has no authority to withdraw state pension funds. Investment authority for those funds lies with the boards of the respective pension systems, including the Public School Employees Retirement System, the State Employees Retirement System and the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System.

Second, nothing in the joint letter or my announcement indicated that any funds would be withdrawn if a financial institution chooses not to finance a particular industry.

The letter and my announcement were clear: The Biden administration must stop pressuring banks to divest from the natural gas, oil and coal industries. These industries remain critical to families across our state and to Pennsylvania. It is inappropriate for the federal government to try to force them out of business by striking backroom deals with large banks to cut off access to the same kind of financing available to other companies.

STACY GARRITY

PENNSYLVANIA TREASURER

Editor: There is a policy for all posts and contributors for The Times-Tribunes online comment section.

While it invites opinions from all sides, the policy clearly dissuades harassment. I used to enjoy reading responses to the contributions found in the daily letters to the editor. However, the childish behavior of a handful of responders to the letters  at the end of the daily column  is pathetic and exhaustingly redundant. They offer nothing to the reader except examples of disrespect.

Frankly, if The Times-Tribune cannot or will not ban offenders of the harassment policy, then I see no reason to allow the response section to exist.

There are plenty of social media platforms for disrespectful behavior; Times-Tribune paying subscribers should expect a higher degree of discourse and debate than that found on a middle school playground.

MICHAEL ADAMS

CARBONDALE

Editor: Its unsettling to know that Democrats have been so lax in pursuing the alleged crimes of former Attorney General William Barr for his part in attempting to cripple democracy with former President Donald Trump.

Also, dont forget about the troubles facing our sacrosanct U.S. Postal Service. Trump appointed Louis DeJoy, a billionaire and political contributor, as head of the service. The appointment was a conflict of interest because DeJoy has millions invested in companies that compete directly with the post office.

His changes to the service, including shorter hours, longer delivery times, postal rate increases and other negative measures, will hurt this country permanently. President Joe Biden has appointed three people to the governing board of the post office. They need to get rid of DeJoy.

SHARON JAVID

OLYPHANT

Editor: One advantage of a pandemic  among the many disadvantages  has been more available time for reading.

Otherwise, I never would have had time to read some of the books accumulated in my library.

A great quotation was, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. It comes from philosopher and essayist George Santayana.

The reason for the introduction relates to Scranton School Director Ro Humes May 10 column, And a pretty pony, too. She uses as a historical justification going back to 2012. That may be entirely appropriate as she makes a well-reasoned cause for her position.

I have learned from an eminent local historian, however, that when Hume was invited to consider an earlier precedent  on another school district matter  it was quickly deemed irrelevant. Im on unsafe ground if her response was entirely correct except that Hume is a relative newcomer to the scene. She may be tempted, as a result, to discount earlier times.

I believe that Sondra Myers, director of the Schemel Forum at the University of Scranton, may be Humes intellectual mentor. That would be a good choice, but Myers orientation is more national and international.

Renowned former Speaker of the House, Thomas Tip ONeill, of Massachusetts, is perhaps best known for the quote: All politics is local.

RICHARD J. YOST

SOUTH ABINGTON TWP.

Editor: I recently read an article about an app that presents itself as an automated therapist to help people dealing with mental health issues, including depression.

The name of the therapeutic chatbot is  hold your groans now  Woebot.

Whats next, an app that shows you how to gift wrap a package? That would be called Bowbot.

How about one that gives instructions on cutting grass? Thats Mowbot.

The one that teaches you to write like the author of The Raven? Poebot, of course.

For beginning boaters, try the Rowbot.

Finally, there may be a bot that will go on a date with you, but only for money ...

VINCE MORABITO

SCRANTON

Editor: Its unity we need, not diversity. The liberal socialist Democrats got it wrong.

Unity brings people together. Diversity separates. To not accept diversity as our strength is divisive.

The right needs the left and vice versa. The American eagle cannot fly without a left and right wing. If they work together we can fly; if not we remain on the ground going nowhere.

BILL WALLER

JEFFERSON TWP.
Timothy Seth Bryant Pennington was born on January 30, 1988 in Corbin, Ky. He departed this life on June 3, 2021 to be with his Lord and Savior, whom he accepted as a young boy at his church, West Corbin Baptist. Seth was assured of his salvation and knew where he would spend his eternity. S
MARISSA BERGEL, Wheeler softball, senior: Bergel hit a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning to lift Wheeler past Holy Cross, 9-7, in the Class S state tournament. The hit was part of a five-run rally in the inning.

JOEY GUARNIERI, Westerly track & field, senior: Guarnieri placed first in two sprints at the Southern Division championships. He won the 100 (11.19) and the 200 (22.73).

JOSH MOONEY, Stonington track & field, sophomore: Mooney placed first in the 110 hurdles at the Class M state meet in 14.65. He also finished second in the 300 hurdles (39.87) and second in the javelin (160-0).

MARGARET WEEDEN, Chariho track & field, junior: Weeden finished first in the high jump at the Southern Division championships. Weeden cleared 5-1 and also placed sixth in the triple jump at 31-5.

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Shares in office provider IWG tumbled this morning after it warned that profits will be well below last year's level as business is recovering at a slower pace than it expected.

IWG, which offers access to serviced, open-plan offices that firms can share with other groups, said it saw some improvement in occupancy in April, May and June, but that was not as good as it thought it would be.

Continued lockdown restrictions and the emergence of new Covid variants in some countries have impacted the return the office and this has delayed the 'anticipated' recovery.

Slow return to the office: Continued lockdown restrictions and the emergence of new Covid variants in some countries have impacted the return the office, IWG said

'This [...] is expected to have a significant impact on the Group's results for 2021, with underlying Group EBITDA for 2021 now expected to be well below the level in 2020,' it added.

Investors were spooked by the profit warning, with shares in IWG falling more than 15 per cent to 309p in morning trading on Monday. They were down by a smaller 10 per cent to 329p after London market close.

IWG said Europe is lagging behind the US, where it has seen 'positive momentum' in workers going back to the office, particularly in big cities like New York.

But while some employees may be slowly returning to the office, many companies in city centres across the world are downsizing their office spaces and looking for more flexibility, IWG said.

Smaller offices, with people working either from home or close to their home is the future, with IWG already seeing this happen in many of its markets, bosses told analysts this morning.

The company said they were well positioned to offer work spaces for hybrid working, where employees spend some days between the office and home and expect to see a strong recovery next year.

'Since our first-quarter trading update, we have continued to see unprecedented demand for our flexible work products as many more enterprises adopt hybrid working', the company said.

IWG, formerly known as Regus, recently struck its biggest deal to date with Japanese telecoms group NTT to give its 300,000 employees around the world access to IWG's office network.

It follows another big deal in January with Standard Chartered, which gives the bank's 95,000 employees access to 3,500 IWG offices around the world for a trial period of 12 months.

'Interest in partnering with IWG continues to strengthen significantly and we have a very strong pipeline of potential partners wanting to work with us to grow the platform,' the company added.

'As previously indicated, good progress is being made in relation to larger master franchise agreements, with several in the final stages of discussions, and we anticipate making further announcements in this regard in due course.'
S4 Capital, the advertising firm run by Sir Martin Sorrell, has upgraded its growth forecasts following a significant rise in business since the start of the year.

Sorrell said the company is now predicting net revenue growth of 35 per cent in 2021 compared to its forecast of 30 per cent back in May when it also raised its guidance from 25 per cent.

The former WPP boss stated that S4's revenue and gross profit 'accelerated strongly' over the first four months of 2020, with a particularly strong performance in April as countries began to gradually open up and millions of people became vaccinated.

Ad tycoon: S4 Capital chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell said he was 'confident' the firm would achieve double-digit growth in like-for-like revenue and gross profit this year

Reportable revenue and gross profits both jumped by 71 per cent in the first quarter, but over the latest trading period, they climbed by nearly 90 per cent and 84 per cent, respectively.

Sir Martin said he was 'confident' the firm would achieve double-digit like-for-like revenue and gross profit growth this year and reach its goal of doubling underlying revenues and profits by 2023.

Sorrell additionally declared that S4 was transitioning to a hybrid work model following a successful transition to working from home at the start of the pandemic and had ended several office leases as a consequence.

The chief executive, who resigned from WPP, after allegations of inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, said creativity is not being lost by the arrangements.

'We always knew that our people, being digital natives, would adapt effortlessly and productively to working from home and, as a result, we are further developing a hybrid office model, which accommodates those of our people who want to work more from home and who want to commute more flexibly, and provides spaces for working, interacting with colleagues and interacting with clients,' he remarked.

'We have terminated a number of office leases, which will enable us to integrate our operations even faster than we originally thought.'

Sweet delight: One of S4 Capital's biggest clients is Cadbury owner Mondelez, which is expected to bring in over $20million in revenue - what S4 calls 'whopper' status - for the firm

Sorrell further announced ahead of S4 Capital's annual general meeting today that the company had doubled its staff to 5,500 and had tripled its market value to over 3billion since June last year.

It comes after he told The Financial Mail on Sunday that the advertising sector was 'as strong as I have seen it in 45 years. It's the snapback effect after what happened last year. It's huge.

'After all, when was the last time that global GDP went up by five to six per cent in a year? And then it will be four to five per cent next year. The big question will then be, do we have to pay for it in 2023? We'll see what happens.'

Protege: WPP boss Mark Read forecasts 13 per cent growth in the UK ad industry in 2021

He predicted companies could spend 'ridiculous' amounts on advertising in 2021. His rival, WPP chief executive Mark Read, echoed his former boss's comments, saying he forecasts 13 per cent growth in the UK advertising market this year.

The majority of S4 Capital's sales derive from its technology-focused clients, who also tend to spend more than its clients who manufacture consumer goods, or are in the retail and pharmaceutical industries.

Five of its largest clients, including BMW/MINI and Cadbury owner Mondelez, are expected to bring in over $20million in revenue per year - what S4 calls 'whopper' status - for the firm, while it believes eight more could reach that milestone in 2021.

Among the other major companies the group has taken on recently as clients include insurance giant Allianz, accounting software group Xero, shoemaker Crocs and Canadian e-commerce retailer Shopify.
UK businesses which make regular overseas payments are losing out on hundreds of pounds per transaction thanks to inferior foreign exchange rates charged by Britain's biggest banks.

The likes of Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC, which calls itself 'the world's local bank', levy currency conversion mark-ups which effectively act as stealth charges on overseas payments and can run into hundreds of pounds.

And with the exception of Lloyds, none of Britain's five biggest business account providers, which together have a close to 90 per cent share of the SME banking market, publicly disclose these charges on their website prior to payments, and some appear to hide them altogether.

Currency conversion cash in: Foreign exchange fees can cost British businesses hundreds of pounds per transaction

Martin McTague, from the Federation of Small Businesses, which represents millions of SMEs across Britain, told This is Money that charging 'high fees for moving money around globally, in this climate, without being totally upfront about how those fees are calculated and applied, would be incredibly cynical.'

He added: 'The banks need to be crystal clear about what they're charging, where and how when it comes to international cash transfers.

'Small firms that import and export are already swamped as a new EU trade deal takes effect while coronavirus-linked disruption continues.'

Banks effectively rely on the inertia of businesses not shopping around for the best rates in order to profit from foreign exchange mark-ups, especially now they are no longer allowed to charge customers more for certain overseas payments in 27 EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Businesses making payments to other countries, especially dollar transactions, can still face a dizzying array of fees, but they also face the matter of an inferior exchange rate due to murky percentage mark-ups.

Lloyds Bank describes its percentage fee, which can range from 2.6 per cent to 0.75 per cent depending on the amount being transferred, as 'the difference between the Lloyds Bank exchange rate and the rate at which we buy and sell currency in the wholesale foreign exchange markets.'

While it would mean a business would get 520 less when sending 20,000 overseas, it does at least allow customers of the bank, which has a 19 per cent share of the SME market, to compare their rate prior to making a transaction.

However, others are not so transparent with their rates. On its website NatWest states 'where a transaction requires a foreign exchange conversion, a margin is applied', but does not indicate what that margin might be.

Are you losing money due to foreign exchange mark-ups? Bank Foreign exchange mark-up Mark-up cost when sending 20,000 overseas Barclays 0.3% - 2% 400 HSBC 0.35% - 2.2% 440 Lloyds Bank 0.75% - 2.6% 520 Source: Bank figures (NatWest and Santander did not provide % mark-ups when requested)

Barclays and HSBC only disclose their margin and how much it eats into the mid-market true exchange rate at the point where a customer goes to make an overseas transaction.

Barclays' margin can range from 2 per cent for payments under 25,000 to 0.3 per cent for larger payments. HSBC charges between 0.35 per cent and 2.2 per cent.

Meanwhile Santander does not appear to separately display mark-ups. The UK arm of the Spanish bank said it disclosed its exchange rate and all charges involved in an overseas payment, and the rate which would apply to a transaction, but declined to specify whether it separately included its mark-up.

The FSB's Mr McTague added: 'If the sums small businesses are losing to mark ups on cross-border payments annually were tallied up and presented to them transparently, some may well make changing provider a priority.'

HSBC said in a statement: 'We provide UK business banking customers with clear, transparent and competitive foreign exchange pricing in real-time through our online payment platforms, where they are provided with the rate that will be applied, alongside the mid-market rate, before they confirm an international payment.'

Ashwin Ahuja, founder of London start-up snack seller Karma Bites

One business owner who has switched is Ashwin Ahuja, the founder of London-based healthy snack seller Karma Bites.

Mr Ahuja, who is currently stuck in India due to the pandemic, no longer bothers to use his bank as a point of comparison for international payments.

He said: 'I make international payments on a weekly basis, largely to suppliers in India and the US, it's a massive part of running the business.

'I used to do it with the large high street banks, however, from a cost perspective there are fees and it is not transparent.'

Instead, he has started using an agent to act as a currency broker as well as the overseas payment service Wise.

'We make frequent international transfers and even though we would like to consolidate our transactions with the bank, the rates charged and the processes involved don't really cater to our requirements.

'As a growing business we expect support and value, if we get that through a third party, it just makes commercial sense to go with them.

'Regardless of the transfer amount, there is a substantial saving when converting through Wise and the recipient has the amount within two hours. Plus, the process is simple and personalised  once you've made the transfer you're done, no follow-ups required.'

He added: 'Conversion costs are a massive issue and we work with a lot of suppliers who face similar issues.'

Ashwin said the company - founded in 2020 - makes international payments on a weekly basis

Meanwhile Mark Brearley, the director of tray, trolley and hotplate manufacturer Kaymet, which was founded in 1947, said he felt he was getting a bad deal from Barclays, his company's bank, on currency exchanges and that 'the charges are all a bit fuzzy.'

Foreign exchange charges from euros to pounds affect about 40 per cent of the company's turnover, with a large percentage of its exports going to Italy.

'Nearly all the issues are receipts coming from euro countries', he told This is Money. 'There are all these funny charges and obviously the rate is rubbish.'

He added: 'I have signed up with some people that do hedging and spot rates' in order to potentially save money, but 'in order to get better foreign exchange rates we need a separate euro account and just that is a massive disincentive. Things like that are a massive hassle.'

Mark Brearley, director of 74-year-old manufacturer Kaymet

His view echoed that of the FSB's Mr McTague, who said: 'Many SMEs simply don't have the time or capacity to shop around for the best deals on international cash transfers.'

However, with currency conversion mark-ups on lower value transfers costing businesses hundreds of pounds per payment, switching to a lower-cost option would save them huge amounts of money, if they can find out how much they are being charged in the first place.

There is debate over whether banks are required to show percentage mark-ups to business customers under European transparency regulations which came into effect last year.

These regulations, called CBPR2, still apply after Brexit and state customers must be provided with 'the estimated total amount of the credit transfer in the currency of the payer's account, including any transaction fee and any currency conversion charges' 'in a clear, neutral and comprehensible manner'.

It is designed to bring greater transparency to overseas payments and stop banks charging more for euro payments from non-euro countries which are members of the Single Euro Payments Area, which includes the UK and the 31 countries listed above.

Kaymet manufactures tray tables, trolleys and hot plates, with 70% of its turnover coming from exports and 40% from euro to sterling payments

But although the legislation states 'high charges for cross-border payments remain a barrier to the full integration of businesses and citizens in non-euro area member states into the internal market, affecting their competitiveness', there is disagreement over whether business accounts are subject to an opt-out.

All the banks, bar NatWest, which failed to respond by the time of publication, that responded to This is Money said they felt they complied with the transparency measures required by CBPR2.

The banks need to be crystal clear about what theyre charging, where and how when it comes to international cash transfers. Martin McTague, Federation of Small Businesses

However, banking trade body UK Finance insisted the regulations did not apply to cross-border business banking payments due to a corporate opt-out provided by a separate piece of European regulation, PSD2.

Such transparency regulations are required for individual payments, but This is Money reported earlier this year on how some big bank foreign exchange mark-ups did not always appear to be transparently displayed.

Those mark-ups were as much as 4 per cent in some cases.

Martin McTague, from the FSB, added: 'Where small firms are losing the protection of EU legislation in the payments space, be that around international cash transfers or interchange fees on card payments, we urgently need to see legislators assessing how that much-needed protection can be replicated, and improved.'
Tifton, GA (31794)

Today

Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low around 70F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 20:29:04|Editor: huaxia

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CHENGDU, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists in southwest China's Sichuan Province said Monday that they have discovered six pieces of carbonized bamboo chips that are believed to be part of a bamboo-mud cabin dating back 4,500 years.

The remains are the oldest of their kind found so far on the Chengdu Plain, and were unearthed at the ruins of the Baodun Ancient Town in the provincial capital of Chengdu, according to the Chengdu Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute.

In ancient China, the bamboo-mud style of building was an established form of construction in some areas, but it has never been confirmed as existing on the Chengdu Plain at such an early date.

"The discovery has directly proved the existence of the bamboo-mud wall," said Tang Miao, deputy head of the Baodun project from the institute.

Tens of thousands of pottery pieces have also been excavated at the site, together with dozens of stoneware pieces and the suspected ruins of rice paddies.

The Baodun ruins are the earliest and biggest remains of a pre-historic ancient town found so far by the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The town is the earliest site of human mass settlement on the Chengdu Plain, as well as being the birthplace of rice-growing civilization on the plain. The ruins have provided vital information for research into the origins of the Sanxingdui civilization.

The Sanxingdui Ruins, considered one of the greatest archeological finds in the 20th century, are believed to be the remnants of the Shu Kingdom, dating back at least 4,800 years and lasting over 2,000 years. Enditem


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Thomasville, GA (31792)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 69F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Isolated thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 69F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 20:30:17|Editor: huaxia

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People wearing masks walk on street in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan, March 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

- The whirlwind visit of three U.S. senators to China's Taiwan on Sunday is another flagrant violation of three China-U.S. joint communiques, which allow no official exchanges of any form between the United States and the island. Only this time, the provocation came under the cover of COVID-19 vaccines.

- Under the pretense of humanitarian concern, the purpose of the visit this time is to stage an anti-China political farce and offer some symbolic support for the current Taiwan authorities that are overwhelmed by the raging pandemic situation in the island.

BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Washington is once again challenging Beijing's red line over the Taiwan question.

The whirlwind visit of three U.S. senators to China's Taiwan on Sunday is another flagrant violation of three China-U.S. joint communiques, which allow no official exchanges of any form between the United States and the island. Only this time, the provocation came under the cover of COVID-19 vaccines.

Promising to donate 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses with no details given on which vaccines Taiwan would get or when, those three U.S. politicians have brought Taiwan with nothing but Washington's Greek gift.

Under the pretense of humanitarian concern, the purpose of the visit this time is to stage an anti-China political farce and offer some symbolic support for the current Taiwan authorities that are overwhelmed by the raging pandemic situation in the island.

The United States has long been manipulating Taiwan as a political pawn to contain China's development. What Washington truly cares about is not the lives and health of people in Taiwan, but its own geopolitical interests in Asia-Pacific.

What has caught greater attention during Sunday's visit than Washington's verbal promise of vaccines is the fact that those U.S. politicians flew to Taiwan on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III freighter. And the U.S. military plane landed at one of Taiwan's military airports.

Again, there should be no official contact between Washington and the Taiwan authorities, not to mention exchanges involving military elements.

Such a treacherous move of Washington has nothing to do with fighting COVID-19 as it claimed, and will only increase tensions in the region.

As the people in Taiwan are struggling with a spike in COVID-19 cases and vaccine shortages, it is quite despicable that some Taiwan politicians are turning vaccines into a tool for political manipulation.

Photo taken on April 19, 2021 shows posters with COVID-19 vaccination guidance for Taiwan compatriots outside a community health center in Malu Town of Jiading new city, east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

Beijing has been showing repeatedly its willingness to do its best to help Taiwan compatriots fight COVID-19, and offered to provide the island with the mainland-made vaccines already endorsed by the World Health Organization.

However, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities have turned a blind eye to the mainland's goodwill, impeded the mainland's vaccine offer to Taiwan in every possible way, and even falsely claimed that the mainland was obstructing its vaccine procurement.

What the DPP authorities have been doing shows no respect for the life and health of the people in Taiwan and violates the most basic humanitarian spirit.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory. The one-China principle is a recognized norm of international relations and a consensus of the international community.

Beijing will never compromise on its core interests. Washington should quit its salami slicing tactics to undermine the one-China principle that it has vowed to abide by, stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan's separatists, and refrain from further complicating the situation in the region.

If Washington truly wants to extend a helping hand to Taiwan in its anti-pandemic fight, it can find viable solutions under the one-China principle. Yet what it is offering to the island now is setting a dangerous trap for regional peace and stability. 
Schenectady

All aboard. Well, almost.

For the second time in just over a month, local officials, business leaders and rail advocates urged state officials to bring back the full Amtrak train schedule that had been in place before COVID-19, but which was cut back due to the pandemic.

With the tourist season in places like Niagara Falls and Saratoga Springs fast approaching, they said the trains need to be re-started quickly. Thats doubly true given the heavy Amtrak usage over Memorial Day weekend, which they said was an indicator that people are ready to get out and travel.

We want to get the Empire Corridor back to its pre-Covid levels, Steve Strauss, a spokesman for the Empire State Passengers Association, said Monday during a press conference at the Schenectady Amtrak station.

Specifically, the organization wants New York Transportation Commissioner Marie Dominguez to restart the additional early morning westbound and eastbound trains that had stopped in the Electric City heading west toward Buffalo or south toward New York City. There are currently two Empire Corridor trains stopping in Schenectady.

Part of the Empire Corridor route, these trains also bring passengers to Syracuse, western New York and New York City heading south.

Two other trains that serve Schenectady as well as Saratoga Springs  the Ethan Allen Express to Rutland and the Adirondack to Montreal  currently go no farther north than Rensselaer. But the Ethan Allen will resume daily operations July 19, while the Adirondack won't resume until the Canadian government reopens its border to leisure travelers.

While the federally subsidized Amtrak system runs the trains, each states Department of Transportation, which also provide subsidies, has to authorize return of the pre-COVID schedules, said Strauss.

We need these trains restored so people can visit upstate New York, added ESPA president Gary Prophet.

If the state waits too long, Amtrak wont have sufficient time to get the trains re-started in time for the peak tourist season.

Prophet was joined by Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy, Democratic Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara and GOP State Sen. James Tedisco, as well as representatives of Proctors and Rivers casino.

In May, local leaders urged Vermont officials to speed the re-opening of the full Ethan Allen Express. That is scheduled to re-start July 19, but they say that would miss too much of the summer season.

Both New York DOT and Amtrak officials said they are working to restore full services along the Empire Corridor but offered no firm date. And they dont plan to push up the July 19th date for the Ethan Allen Express.

They did note that in late May they returned to 100 percent seating capacity on all currently operating trains, which doubled the number of passengers that can be accommodated on a daily basis.

Still, DOT said ridership across all of its sponsored Amtrak trains remained about half of pre-Covid levels.

New York and Vermont arent the only states where pre-Covid service hasnt yet been fully restored. Others include Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, Washington, Oregon and California.

Train advocates noted that recent investments, such as the Schenectady train station, which was rebuilt in 2018, appear to be driving more ridership, which had risen from a low of 50,130 that year to 62,199 in 2019, before the pandemic.

This investment paid off, said McCarthy. We need the trains that were there restored, he added.
ALBANY  Comedian Hasan Minhaj, who over the past seven years made his name as a correspondent for "The Daily Show" and went on to greater fame starring in the Netflix series "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj," will bring his stand-up act to Capital Repertory Theatre's new home for six performances from Thursday to Sunday, Aug. 5 to 8.

The theater, seating just over 300, will be sold to full capacity, and proof of coronavirus vaccination will be required for admission, in the form of a government photo ID and completed vaccination card or the New York Excelsior Pass, according to Philip Morris, CEO of Schenectady-based Proctors Collaborative, The Rep's parent organization.

It is the first time The Rep has hosted a touring comedian in its 40-year history and will be the first open-to-the-public event at the new theater, completed in March, Morris said. Located at 253 N. Pearl St., about four blocks north of The Rep's longtime home at 111 N. Pearl, the new facility is in a 28,000-square-foot former warehouse that was given a $14.2 million overhaul. Since completion, it has been used occasionally for community events and four invite-only cabaret evenings for major donors to the renovation project. The first production by The Rep is likely to open in late August, Morris said.

Tickets for the Hasan Minhaj show are on sale now. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 5; 7 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug 6 and 7; and 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 8. Minhaj is scheduled to perform 90-minute sets with no intermission. Refreshments will not be served and masks will not be required. Tickets are available online at capitalrep.org or by calling 518-445-7469. Prices are $34.50, $44.50 and $54.50.

Minhaj's agent, who has an existing relationship with Proctors from past bookings, had heard about the new theater and started negotiations several months ago because the comedian was looking for a small, open venue with a thrust stage, where he could hone material during multiple performances over a few days in preparation for an upcoming tour to theaters closer in size to the 2,600-seat Proctors, Morris said. Morris said he does not believe The Rep was competing for the booking with any other Capital Region venues.

It is similar to the tryout comedian Aziz Ansari did during 13 soldout shows in August 2015 at The Comedy Works, then located in Albany and now in Saratoga Springs and Las Vegas. Ansari was developing his act for a national tour with fellow comic Amy Schumer.

Proctors is presenting the show with Minhaj's team, not renting The Rep out to a promoter, Morris said. He said he expects such bookings for comedy and perhaps music will be increasingly common on The Rep's stage because the new home offers greater flexibility than the former venue. Upstairs rehearsal space and off-site set construction will make the main stage available for more nights when a Capital Rep show is not in performance; in the past, its stage was occupied for longer periods by sets and rehearsals.

Minhaj, a California native, is the son of Indian Muslim immigrants and majored in political science at the University of California, Davis, graduating in 2007. He was the last "Daily Show" correspondent hired by longtime host Jon Stewart, emceed the famous White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2017, which was boycotted by then-President Donald Trump, and launched his Netflix series, a fast-moving, biting commentary on the news, in fall 2018. "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj" ran for 40 episodes over two years before being canceled by Netflix.
Mike Goodwin / Times Union

SCHENECTADY  A suspect wanted in the May 17 theft of $4,000 from a Trustco bank branch on Union Street evaded capture Monday morning on the north side, police said.

City police relied on a State Police helicopter as they searched several streets near the high school.
BEIJING (AP)  China is hosting foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations this week amid heightened competition between Beijing and Washington for influence in the region.

Chinese state media said the meeting Tuesday in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing will cover issues from restoring tourism and other economic exchanges battered by COVID-19, to more coordinated efforts in fighting the pandemic and the feasibility of creating a vaccine passport to allow freer travel among them.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is also expected to meet separately with each of his counterparts on the sidelines of the conference.

Beijing has been building influence with the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, despite frictions with some of them over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea. The Philippines has complained repeatedly over the presence of Chinese boats moored at a reef that it claims and Malaysia last week protested over an alleged intrusion by 16 Chinese military aircraft into its airspace, calling the incident a serious threat to national sovereignty and flight safety.

China's economic and diplomatic heft has helped override such concerns, however, while the bloc has been unable to form a unified stand in the face of opposition from Chinese allies within it, primarily Cambodia.

"Over the past three decades, China-ASEAN cooperation has grown in leaps and bounds, becoming the most successful and dynamic example of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Sunday in announcing the meeting.

The fact that the two sides agreed to hold a face-to-face special foreign ministers meeting despite the ongoing grim COVID-19 situation reflects how countries attach great importance to and hold high expectations of China-ASEAN relations under the new circumstances," Wang said.

The U.S., which maintains an active naval presence in the South China Sea and strong relations with the region, has expressed concerns over Chinas growing presence, particularly its impact on security and Beijings political influence over fragile democracies.

In a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman focused on Chinas construction of new facilities at Ream Naval Base and urged Cambodias leadership to maintain an independent and balanced foreign policy, in the best interests of the Cambodian people.

It wasnt clear whether the issue of Myanmar, an ASEAN member where the military seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, would come up at the meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers.

We support ASEAN in upholding the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and the tradition of consensus, Wang said at a briefing on Monday. We support ASEAN, as a mature regional organization, in encouraging and constructively participating in Myanmars domestic reconciliation process in the ASEAN way, and working out effective approaches to alleviate the situation and solve the problem within the ASEAN framework.

China will continue to maintain close communication with ASEAN, support ASEANs mediation efforts, and work with all parties in Myanmar in its own way to promote an early soft landing of the situation in Myanmar, Wang said. Regarding the discussion over the Myanmar issue during this ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting, please stay tuned.

Myanmar security forces have brutally suppressed widespread popular protests against the military takeover, firing live ammunition into crowds and carrying out waves of arrests. As of Friday, 845 people have been killed in the crackdown, according to the independent Assistance Association of Political Prisoners.

China calls the U.S. naval presence in Southeast Asia the biggest threat to security in the region, particularly its insistence on sailing close to Chinese-held territories in what is termed freedom of navigation operations.

Beijing also strongly objects to strengthened relations between the U.S. and Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed by China, which threatens to use military force to bring it under its control.

Washington sent a strong message of support for Taiwan on Sunday when three U.S. senators flew to Taipei on an Air Force transport plane to announce the U.S. will give Taiwan 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine after the island complained that China is hindering its efforts to secure vaccines as it battles an outbreak.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who made a three-hour stop in Taiwan with fellow Democrat Christopher Coons of Delaware and Republican Dan Sullivan of Alaska, said their visit underscores bipartisan U.S. backing for the democratic island.

China firmly rejects" the senators' visit and has made solemn complaints with the U.S.," Wang said at Monday's briefing.

We urge the U.S. side to ... immediately cease any forms of official contacts with Taiwan, handle the Taiwan issue with caution, and refrain from sending any wrong signals to the separatist forces of Taiwan independence so as to avoid causing further serious damage to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Wang said.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP)  El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced in a recorded message played at a Bitcoin conference in Miami that next week he will send proposed legislation to the country's congress that would make the cryptocurrency legal tender in the Central American nation.

The 39-year-old president, who has maintained approval ratings above 90% and made Twitter his preferred way of communicating, characterized it as an idea that could help El Salvador move forward.

Next week I will send to Congress a bill that will make Bitcoin a legal tender in El Salvador," Bukele said in the message Saturday. In the short term this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy and in the medium and long term we hope that this small decision can help us push humanity at least a tiny bit into the right direction.

Bukele sweetened his offer Sunday, saying via Twitter that his government will give immediate permanent residence to crypto entrepreneurs.

The U.S. dollar is El Salvador's official currency. About one quarter of El Salvador's citizens live in the United States and last year, despite the pandemic, they sent home more than $6 billion in remittances.

Stephen McKeon, a finance professor at the University of Oregon who studies cryptocurrencies, said Bitcoin is legal to own in most countries but has never been designated as legal tender, which would mean it could be used to to settle financial obligations, including taxes.

But, he added, It is unclear whether anyone desires to pay their taxes in Bitcoin.

Bukele's New Ideas party holds a supermajority in the new congress seated May 1, giving any legislative proposal from the president a strong likelihood of passage.

Additional details of the plan were not released. But Bukele in subsequent messages on Twitter noted that Bitcoin could be the fastest growing way to transfer six billion dollars a year in remittances. He said that a big chunk of those money transfers were currently lost to intermediaries and with Bitcoin more than a million low-income families could benefit.

He also said 70% of El Salvador's population does not have a bank account and works in the informal economy. Bitcoin could improve financial inclusion, he said.

Riding his high popularity and his party's dominance performance in Feb. 28 elections, Bukele has concentrated power. His party's supermajority in congress ousted the justices of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court May 1. They then replaced the attorney general.

They had been critical of some of Bukele's more drastic measures during the pandemic, including a mandatory stay-at-home order and containment centers where those caught violating the policy were detained.

While enjoying a positive relationship with former U.S. President Donald Trump, Bukele has had a much more tense relationship with the administration of President Joe Biden.

Last month, the White House Special Envoy for the Northern Triangle Ricardo Zuniga said during a visit to El Salvador that the U.S. government would like to see El Salvador reverse the moves against the court and the attorney general. Bukele said that would not happen.

Bukele's concentration of power, attacks on critics and open disdain for checks on his power have raised concerns about El Salvador's path. However, Bukele has a wide base of support in part due to the utter failure of the country's traditional parties who ruled during the past 30 years to improve people's lives and to his ability to provide short-term benefits.

Bukele has been praised for aggressively obtaining COVID-19 vaccines and running an efficient vaccination program far more successful than El Salvador's neighbors.
ALBANY  Democratic leadership in the state Legislature continues to mull how expansive it wants its additional parole and bail reform measures to be in the final week of the legislative session, while advocates continue their attempts to push the reforms they view as very close.

The Fair and Timely Parole Act and a bill to allow for certain elderly people to be eligible for parole remains at the center for some state Democrats, who stood alongside activists Monday morning at the Capitol. They were backed by Releasing Aging People in Prison, an advocacy group pushing for the reforms.

The lawmakers believe they can persuade legislative leaders to push for what they say would be meaningful change to a parole system that a Times Union analysis found has substantial racial divides.

The ones who gave us the super majority, they want these things to happen, state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a sponsor of the bill, told the Times Union. The Bronx Democrat noted progressive lawmakers elected to the Legislature last year may signal support for agendas pushed by criminal justice advocacy organizations.

The Fair and Timely Parole Act would shift the dynamics during a parole hearing, which advocates believe could lead to more people being released and with less potential racial bias influencing the decisions.

The elder parole bill would allow incarcerated people who are 55 and older and have served at least 15 years to be eligible for parole. Advocates cite the average age of death in prison is 58. A version of the bill was first introduced in the Legislature in 2018 and failed.

Both bills have yet to be brought to the floor of the Senate or Assembly. The legislative session ends this week.

The Senate has led the way on groundbreaking justice reform and we will continue to lead the way on these issues and are working as a conference to forge the best path forward to ensure justice for all New Yorkers, Senate Majority spokesman Mike Murphy said in a statement.

The Legislature is considering bail reforms as well, which were not the subject of the Releasing Aging People in Prison news conference Monday morning.

Instead, the focus was on two bills regarding parole. The Democrats who attended the event believe they have the numbers to pass the bills, but are waiting on leadership to bring it forward.

The speaker has led the way on criminal justice reforms and we are discussing a number of proposals with our members, Michael Whyland, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie, said in a statement.

If the reforms are pushed to next year, Manhattan Democrat Assemblyman Harvey Epstein said leaders would claim they can't pass criminal justice reforms in an election year.

Its about giving people an opportunity to have their day before the parole board and with a fair chance for release, said newly elected Assemblyman Chris Burdick of Westchester County.

Republicans have continued to push that the criminal justice reforms are to blame for the recent rise in crime that has spiked, in part, during the coronavirus pandemic.

The conservative arguments, while not necessarily persuasive to Democrats, may be moving the goal posts of the debate, Rivera said, especially when trying to sway some moderates.

It certainly makes it more difficult. Theres no question about that, Rivera said. For those of us for whom this is so important, we cant fall for the fear mongering.
BETHLEHEM  Town police need the public's help to identify a man who was badly injured when he was hit by a car early Monday morning.

All police said they know about the man who was hit at 1:10 a.m. on River Road in Glenmont is that he might be of Middle Eastern descent.
NEW YORK (AP)  A Manhattan art gallery featuring an exhibit observing the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre has been struck by vandalism.

Police released a video clip from a street security camera on Friday showing someone suspected of smearing white paint on the front window of the Black Wall Street Gallery earlier this week in SoHo. It was one of three acts of vandalism at the location in recent days that police were investigating as potential hate crimes.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 20:56:24|Editor: huaxia

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by Mao Pengfei, Nguon Sovan

PHNOM PENH, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Three decades on, the relationship between China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has grown closer and stronger, bringing about numerous tangible benefits to both sides and their peoples, Cambodian academics said on Monday.

As 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the dialogue relations between China and ASEAN, Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, said over the past three decades, China-ASEAN relationship has become "closer and stronger."

"The China-ASEAN dialogue relations have brought economic, social, technological, and infrastructural development to the region," he told Xinhua. "Chinese initiatives such as the Belt and Road, connectivity, inclusive development, and poverty alleviation programs in the region are directly connected to the three decades of partnerships."

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Matthews said China's kind support for ASEAN to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is a new testament to the close and unbreakable friendship between China and ASEAN.

"China has been the driving force in providing vaccines to the region."

Recently, the World Health Organization has approved Chinese-made vaccines, namely Sinopharm and Sinovac, for emergency use. Matthews said this approval would definitely accelerate vaccine drives in the region.

Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia, said China and ASEAN have achieved a number of key accomplishments in political and economic cooperation as well as in fight against COVID-19.

He said China-ASEAN ties have been witnessing constantly stable and progressive growth and that China has been ASEAN's largest trade partner for 12 consecutive years, while ASEAN became China's largest trade partner last year.

"Both sides have shared common development by promoting win-win cooperation, mutual assistance, mutual respect, commitment to multilateralism, openness, inclusiveness, and common value of peace and stability," he told Xinhua. "COVID-19 vaccine assistance testifies this."

China has played an important role in the promotion of multilateralism in the global economy, he said, adding that China-ASEAN relations will continue to grow and be upgraded to the next level.

"Stable and progressive relations between China and ASEAN will not only bring about peace, stability, sustainable and inclusive development and prosperity for both sides but also for the region and the world."

Their comments come as the two-day Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Dialogue Relations and the sixth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Foreign Ministers' Meeting kicked off on Monday in China's Chongqing.

Lim Menghour, deputy director of the Phnom Penh-based Asian Vision Institute's Mekong Centre for Strategic Studies, said China and ASEAN have been working closely to revitalize weakening international institutions and cooperation based on multilateral frameworks.

"Both sides have also been deepening engagement and regional connectivity by synergizing the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)," he told Xinhua.

He said ASEAN and China should further strengthen the strategic partnership and enhance stronger relations and work together for the regional post-pandemic recovery and regional security.

"Under the spirit of openness, transparency and being responsible, China has provided tremendous support and assistance to ASEAN including the Mekong countries in the fight against COVID-19 by donating COVID-19 vaccines indiscriminately to the region, thus jointly safeguarding global public health and security," he said.

Speaking of the sixth LMC Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Menghour said the meeting is significant for the six LMC countries, namely China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

"The meeting will provide opportunities for further development in the region, particularly through the LMC Special Funds," he said.

Uch Leang, acting director of the department of Asian, African and Middle East Studies of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia, said the sixth LMC Foreign Ministers' Meeting will further deepen the bonds of friendship among the LMC countries and will promote sustainable socio-economic development in the region. Enditem
TROY  The historic display of the Statue of Libertys hand holding her torch that caught New Yorkers attention for six years during the 19th century will be replicated in Troy's Washington Park as part of HBOs The Gilded Age."

But only the base that the arm sat on will be filmed in the park. The torch part will actually be a computer-generated image that will be added later, according to workers associated with the production. Filming is expected to start around the middle of the week.

Crews have spent the past week assembling the mock pedestal for the arm and torch in Washington Park not far from the park entrance along Washington Place. A new entrance way into the park has been added and pathways have been outlined around the base.

It will be a rare occurrence for the privately-owned 1.8-acre Washington Park to be thrown open. Instead of standing in for Manhattans Gramercy Park, the states only other ornamental park, Washington Park will be substituted for Madison Square Park where the torch was located from 1876 to 1882.

We feel the whole thing is very good  the exposure for Troy as well as for Washington Park, said Jim Martin, president of the Washington Park Association.

Martin said he couldnt say very much about the productions use of the park due to a non-disclosure agreement that had to be signed with the production company.

The private park is usually locked with a key required to gain access through one of its gates. For the filming, The Gilded Age crews and actors will make their way into the park through the south gate off Washington Place, whose line of rowhouse dates back to the 1840s. The gate has been replaced with a new entrance for the production.

Folks are pretty excited about it, Martin said regarding the park board and the 51 property owners around the park who jointly own the greenspace.

The neighborhood around the park has already been the scene of filming in homes on Third Street for "The Gilded Age." While workers assembled the pedestal in the park, others worked on Third Street preparing for additional scenes.

Washington Park taking on the role of Madison Square Park for the 10-part dramatic series created by Julian Fellowes came as surprise to Martin. He said it was interesting and exciting to learn about the history of the Manhattan park and the role it had in promoting the Statue of Liberty.

Megan Margino of the New York Public Library wrote about the arm in the park in an article "The Arm That Clutched the Torch: The Statue of Liberty's Campaign for a Pedestal" for a library blog.

With the wrist reaching treetops and rooftops, and the flame high enough to see for many blocks, the Arm of Liberty became a long-standing advertisement for the statue from 1876-1882. Souvenir photographs were sold, and for 50 cents, visitors could climb a ladder leading to the balcony, Margino wrote in her 2015 piece.

The presence of the torch in Madison Square Park was used to attract donations to fund the construction of the pedestal on which the complete Statue of Liberty would be erected. The money was eventually raised in a concerted effort and the statue was dedicated on Oct. 28, 1886 on Bedloes Island, now known as Liberty Island, in New York Citys harbor.

Fellowes is known for the popular dramatic series "Downton Abbey. "The Gilded Age" is set in late 19th century New York several decades before the action of "Downton Abbey," which opened with news of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. The show portrayed the lives of British aristocrats through the late 1920s. There is expected to be a crossover between the two series. Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Carrie Coon, and Denee Benton are in the cast for the new show, according to HBO's synopsis.
LONDON (AP)  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will use the Group of Seven wealthy democracies summit next week to urge world leaders to commit to vaccinating the global population by the end of 2022.

Johnson is expected to stress the importance of a global vaccination drive when he meets with fellow world leaders on Friday in Cornwall, on England's southwestern coast, for the first face-to-face G-7 summit since the pandemic hit.

The world is looking to us to rise to the greatest challenge of the postwar era: defeating COVID and leading a global recovery driven by our shared values, he said in a statement Sunday. Vaccinating the world by the end of next year would be the single greatest feat in medical history.

U.S. President Joe Boden and the leaders of Canada, France, Italy and Japan will arrive in Cornwall from Friday for three days of talks focusing on the global recovery from the pandemic.

Britains government pledged in February to give most of the countrys surplus vaccine supply to COVAX, the U.N.-backed program aiming to supply poorer countries with jabs.

But the U.K. hasn't yet put a figure on how many doses it will donate. The country, with a population of about 70 million people, has ordered around 400 million doses of vaccines. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that the U.K. doesn't have any excess doses at the moment and that were just getting them into arms as quickly as possible.

The Sunday Times reported that Johnson is set to announce at the summit that the U.K. will pledge to donate over 2 billion pounds worth of jabs this year, with further donations in 2022.

The U.S. has said it plans to share 80 million doses of its surplus vaccine globally by the end of June, most of them through COVAX.

___

Follow APs pandemic coverage at:

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)  An Air Force sergeant accused of killing two law enforcement officers in California last year was part of a rightwing militia known as the Grizzly Scouts that held firearms trainings, scouted protests, and laid out terms of war against police, a newspaper reported Monday.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel cited court documents that show the suspected gunman, Steven Carrillo, was not a lone actor but a member of an anti-government group that was preparing for more deadly attacks on law enforcement.

The court filings reveal the most extensive details yet on the investigation into the May 29, 2020 fatal shooting of Federal Protective Service Officer Dave Patrick Underwood in Oakland and the June 6, 2020 killing of Santa Cruz Sheriff Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller in an ambush in the community of Ben Lomond. Carrillo has pleaded not guilty to both killings.

Most members of the Grizzly Scouts are still at large, federal prosecutors said. The group identifies with a loosely-affiliated, nationwide militia movement that uses the name Boogaloo and favors Hawaiian shirts and violent rhetoric, but the Scouts activities appear to be more carefully plotted, the newspaper reported.

The court filings were submitted in the case against four other alleged Grizzly Scouts members, including the groups leader, who are accused of destroying evidence relevant to the Underwood and Gutzwiller murder investigations.

Courtesy of Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office

They were written as part of a failed attempt to keep all four defendants in jail pending trial. A federal magistrate ultimately decided three of them were not a danger to the community and did not pose flight risks.

In April, a federal grand jury indicted Jessie Alexander Rush, 29, of Turlock; Robert Jesus Blancas, 33, of Castro Valley; Simon Sage Ybarra, 23, of Los Gatos; and Kenny Matthew Miksch, 21, of San Lorenzo, on charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Blancas, the only defendant who remains in jail, also faces a child enticement charge related to alleged sexual conversations with a teen girl that were discovered during the investigation.

The Associated Press was unable Monday to locate lawyers who could speak on their behalf.

The filings not only confirm Carrillo as one of the militias roughly 25 members, but detail the groups alleged activities in mid-2020: trainings near Rushs home in Turlock, the creation of a Quick Reaction Force or QRF, and plans to send a member to scout out a protest in Sacramento.

The filings allege that, in a document entitled Operations Order, the militia described law enforcement officers as enemy forces and spoke of the possibility of taking some prisoner, writing that, POWs will be searched for intel and gear, interrogated, stripped naked, blindfolded, driven away and released into the wilderness blindfolded with hands bound.

Rush previously served in the U.S. military, making him the second known member of the militia, along with Carrillo, with military experience.

The group also allegedly discussed ways to stir up violence between Antifa groups and police. Blancas allegedly wrote that he was totally down to disguise himself as an Antifa member and spark a violent conflict.

Its the tactically sound option, Blancas told other militia members, according to prosecutors.
New York lawmakers are considering a bill that would make criminals out of responsible consumers. More specifically, S131 would lower the legal blood-alcohol concentration limit for driving by 40 percent from .08 to .05. Its a threshold millions can reach after consuming little more than a single glass of wine.

Supporters argue the reduction will improve traffic safety. However, data suggests otherwise. The policy will instead distract from the true problem. Its proponents are all about looking tough on drunken driving while engaging in legislative theater.

According to the latest federal government data, three-fourths of traffic fatalities in which any amount of alcohol is detected in New York involve people with BACs of .10 or above. And the average BAC of a drunken driver involved in a fatal crash in the state is .19  nearly four times the proposed new limit. These are the criminals policymakers and traffic safety officials should be putting in the crosshairs, not people who have always been considered responsible.

Very few deaths occur near the disputed .05 BAC level. University research suggests a driver at the proposed .05 standard is less impaired than someone talking on a hands-free cellphone. The fine for that impairment? Zero.

If .05 legislation is fair game, perhaps New York should adopt legislation that would subject the TWD (talking while driving) offender to the same penalties as DWI  including jail, license suspension and thousands of dollars in fines and legal fees. And given that research shows driving at 65 years of age or older is a greater impairment than driving at .05 BAC, we might consider a new crime of DWO (driving while older). Politicians should at least try to be consistent.

Proponents of .05 frequently attempt to debunk common sense by claiming the policy will deter drunken driving at all BAC levels. Its a nice talking point, but flops when the rubber meets the road. A criminal who already breaks the law by driving well above the current .08 BAC standard is not changing their behavior because Albany dumbs down the term drunk.

Legitimately impaired drivers are a source of needless death in New York every year. Its a problem that deserves real action, not political virtue signaling.

Jackson Shedelbower is the communications director of the American Beverage Institute.
ALBANY  When the 32BJ union health fund crunched the numbers on how much its members were paying for colonoscopies, knee replacements and baby deliveries, it was stunned to learn they were paying 358 percent more at New York Presbyterian hospital than those on Medicare policies.

Sara Rothstein is the director of the 32BJ health fund, which provides health insurance for 190,000 members and family members of the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ. Rothstein said the health fund analyzed costs for its members for some of the most common surgeries, finding that costs were exorbitantly inflated.

That was sort of step one. We realized from the data that there was a problem," she said.

That problem, the health fund came to believe, was anti-competitive language included in the secret contract agreements between New York Presbyterian and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, the insurance company that acts as an administrative middleman in 32BJ's policy. The 32BJ health fund last week removed New York Presbyterian from its coverage network, a significant step against one of the most prestigious hospitals in the city.

New York Presbyterian did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Sunday.

Because the confidential contracts between insurance companies and hospitals are just that  confidential  it's impossible to know how widespread the practice is of adding anti-competitive language to drive up prices, so 32BJ's findings could be an early indicator of a broader problem. But Rothstein and union leadership have come to believe that the health fund's experience with New York Presbyterian could be a canary in the coal mine.

What were seeking to do in Albany is to prohibit the contract clauses that give hospitals an unfair negotiating advantage," Rothstein said, which affects more than just 32BJ, but also other unions, private businesses and public employees. She noted that Empire Bluecross Blue Shield  32BJ's insurance administrator  is also the insurer of public employees for both the city and state.

So the union is now pushing the Hospital Equity and Accountability Law, or HEAL Act. The bill was unveiled in a New York City press conference Sunday afternoon.

Because of the confidential deals, it's unknown exactly how pervasive the anticompetitive language in the contracts is, Rothstein said, but the best way to tell that they dont (have it) is to pass the legislation were proposing."

With less than a week remaining in the 2021 Legislative Session, advocates say the bill's unveiling is only the start of a long fight to get the bill passed into law that is likely to extend into next year's session.

Contracts can be very complicated, but let me make this simple: This is about who has the power, and it is not you right now. It is not the worker, it is not the union. It is the hospital and the insurance company," Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, a Queens Democrat, said at the event.

The bill would bring increased accountability into the negotiations between hospitals and the insurance middlemen, with the goal of ending what advocates say are anti-competitive practices that drive up prices and ensure less services are available overall. The goal of the bill can be summed up with those pasted on a sign at the press conference: It shouldnt cost an arm and a leg to fix an arm and a leg."

The problem is out of control hospital pricing by hospital systems that are providing services to New Yorkers, and obviously Im talking on behalf of my members, we are laden with these high hospital costs," said Kyle Bragg, the union president. We dont know how theyve arrived at these prices. As they negotiate these contracts with the third party providers, with Blue Cross, we have no inclusion in that process. Were not represented in the bargaining."
Nellie Grace Spragg, 78, of Hundred, WV died Thursday, June 10, 2021 at her residence. She was born October 9, 1942 at Hundred, a daughter of the late James Herbert Strope and Iva Haines Strope. Nellie worked many years ago at Oneacre Drug Store and the Bank of Hundred. She loved her animals
'I May Destroy You' wins at British Academy TV awards

I May Destroy You won two main prizes at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards, in a ceremony that rewarded TV that tackled issues from sexual consent to racism
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 21:13:29|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, greets employees of a company producing carpets in Xining, northwest China's Qinghai Province, June 7, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

XINING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Monday started an inspection tour of northwest China's Qinghai Province.

In Xining, the provincial capital, Xi visited a company producing carpets and learned about how it leveraged the advantages of local resources and used new design concepts to boost its products' competitiveness, create jobs and increase the income of locals.

Xi also visited a residential community in Xining to learn about its efforts to strengthen Party building, improve community-level governance and advance ethnic unity and progress. Enditem
didXL, a European wholesale provider of virtual numbers in over 100 countries, has announced the availability of a new local termination outbound calling service in 22 countries.

These countries include Angola, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, didXL is focused on helping to source telephone numbers for IP Communications for their customers.

The company is looking to solve the problem cloud communications providers were facing regarding having access to local termination networks via SIP. The issue with receiving calls on a local number via SIP anywhere globally is that now local operators are beginning to block these types of calls.

With a new extension of its DID services, the company can provide local in-country calling. Company officials also said they plan to increase coverage to 40 more countries by September of this year.

The rapid growth in demand for Cloud Communications has been facilitated by the ability to use telephone numbers to enable a smooth transition from legacy PSTN systems, said Nils Oudejans, Chief Executive Officer of didXL.

We are excited to extend our DID services with outbound calling. This allows our customers to keep pace with evolving industry standards and continue to grow their VoIP businesses internationally.
SignalWire Boosts Platform Development with $30 Million in Funding

By Luke Bellos - Editor, Virtual PBX

Telecom software provider SignalWire announced the company secured $30 million in funding after the companys latest investment round, bringing SignalWires investment total to $41.6 million. The company intends to use these funds to fuel the development of a new unified communications platform, as well as additional tools and services.

SignalWire was founded in 2006, and primarily focuses on providing businesses with multi-channel telecom infrastructure that can easily integrate APIs and SDKs, without compromising or overusing technological resources. As video communications continue to be integral to business operations, the company hopes to meet the needs of customers with telecom products and services that can be supported by an elastic cloud network.

The pandemic has brought into sharp relief the need for communications technologies that are scalable, secure, customizable, and fast-to-market for developers. For end-users, and especially those using video, the experience needs to be smooth, stable, clear, and not a drain on network or compute resources, said Anthony Minnesale, Co-Founder and CEO of SignalWire. The good news is that weve been working toward that exact vision for more than 15 years, and have designed the roadmap for its further implementation.

The series B investment round was supported by a number of tech investors including Prosperity7 Ventures, Storm Ventures, Samsung NEXT. The company also received support from Jerry Yang (AME Cloud Ventures), and Dean Drako (Barracuda Networks).

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Edited by Maurice Nagle
June 07, 2021





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Product: Air Conditioner

Air Conditioner Type: Portable AV

Portable AV Brand: Blaux

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: This cooling device positively impacts your health by increasing moisture levels to support your respiratory, eyes, and skin health. Ionizer : This portable AC comes with the ionizer that helps work by providing negatively charged particles to help the positively charged particles float and get them to the ground.

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It comes with a fan air volume of around 1.9 cubic feet per minute (CFM).

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The Blaux portable AC is chargeable and will not use much power. You dont need to spend extra money on the energy bills with this AC, making it the cost-effective cooling device. The support of a USB cable will allow you to charge it at any place or time you want. It does not need prior installation or skills to operate, use, and maintain this portable AC from Blaux.

Blaux has introduced this portable AC with a LED screen to help you select the lights the way you want. The dim light option will help you enjoy a peaceful time with your family or while sleeping.

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You will find your Blaux Portable AC F832 smaller in size and design when you compare it with other traditional and modern cooling devices and systems. It comes with uniquely and newly designed water curtains with a removable water tank. The water curtains of this Blaux portable AC lasts for up to eight months. These water curtains can help capture bigger and smaller-sized pollutants and allergens from your rooms and surroundings. Besides, when your cooling system is smaller and compact, you will carry it along easily and comfortably.

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Besides, the detachable water tank of this portable AC will help maximize the overall cooling effect and maintenance of this device. It is designed specifically to help people clean it perfectly by reaching out to challenging areas. Hence, it will help clean all areas neatly and also help boost cool air to blow out at your rooms and spaces at a very fast rate.

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Does the portable AC from Blaux make noise?

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The portable Ac from Blaux comes with a noiseless technology, allowing the users to get a comfortable and peaceful sleep. Besides, it is ideal to use it at your workplace or anywhere you want to get the cooling effect without noise. This portable AC will not disturb you with the noise when you are doing your important task at home or office. Besides, Blaux Portable AC F832 will not disturb older people, children, or sick family members as it will blow the cool air into your spaces and surrounding quietly and will not disturb you with the noise. The mechanical sounds are often disturbing and frustrating in the cooling system, making people not use them when doing important tasks. Moreover, people get disturbed with the mechanical sounds, which is not the case with the portable AC from Blaux, making it a unique and noiseless cooling system.

FAQS

Will the portable AC from Blaux work perfectly?

Blaux Portable AC F832 is the perfect option for users needs to beat the heat they face during summers. When the outdoor weather and climate conditions are not bearable, you can switch on your Blaux AC and get the cold air during heated days. Besides, it will eliminate of all the frustrations you get through the sweat from the outdoor heated temperatures. You will also get rid of frustrations of humidity and get the cold air from your new Blaux portable AC.

How does the portable AC emphasize health?

The Blaux brand has made this portable AC so that it emphasizes the health of the users. Blaux Portable AC F832 has the potential to eliminate allergens and pollutants by capturing them. The previous versions of the Blaux AC use to catch dust particles from the air you breathe, but this portable AC will remove all harmful particles effectively.

Can I get the Blaux Ac easily?

Blaux portable ACs are available through pre-orders only. Moreover, these portable devices are available only for a limited period. Hence, it would be best if you got home your new portable AC from Blaux before the stock gets over.

How will the water curtains of your Blaux portable AC affect cooling?

The water curtains in this portable AC are newly designed to be pre-soaked. The pre-soaking feature will help provide more cooling to the areas of your space where you are using this portable AC from Blaux.

Can I buy extra water curtains for my new portable AC from Blaux?

Yes, the Blaux brand allows you to buy extra water curtains for your Blaux Portable AC F832. The water curtains of the Blaux portable AC usually last for around six to eight months. Customers have the option to buy extra water curtains through their official online platform. You can buy extra water curtains for your portable Blaux AC for %19.99.

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Is Blaux AC a wireless unit?

Yes, the portable AC from Blaux is the chargeable and wireless unit or cooling device. This AV supports a USB cable, allowing the users to charge it at any place and any time without the challenges of installations and fixtures like other cooling systems.

Will Blaux portable AC purify surroundings?

Yes, the portable AC from the Blaux brand will purify the air you breathe in as it will blow the filtered air in your spaces and surroundings with its perfect filtration system. As a result, you will get the purified air without allergens and pollutants. In addition, this Blaux Portable AC F832 will give you fresh air without impurities, making this cooling device a cooling and healthier option to beat the heat.

What are the benefits of Blaux portable AC?

Blaux portable AC has many benefits of using it. First, it is a cost-effective cooling device as it will reduce your energy bills largely. Besides, it is an affordable cooling device, enabling users to buy it without breaking their banks.

Is the delivery of the Blaux portable AC faster?

Yes, the delivery of the portable AC from Blaux is faster than other cooling devices. Therefore, customers can expect to get their portable AC quickly if there is no hindrance due to the Covid 19 widespread. However, it may impact the delivery else, and you will get Blaux Portable AC F832 faster at your doorstep.

How to contact customer services of Blaux portable AC?

You can contact customer services of the Blaux brand through FaceBook, Live chat, or e-mail. The e-mail address for Blauxs customer services is support@blaux.com. You can contact Blaux for any support and guidance you want to get for your new Blaux portable AC.

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What is the price of Blaux portable AC?

You can purchase Blaux portable AC at a pre-order cost of $89.99 for each unit. The two units will cost you $179.98, three units for $202.48, and four units for $247.47.

Is Blaux portable Ac cost-effective?

Yes, the Blaux portable AC is cost-effective. It will cut down your electricity bills largely. You can choose the speed you want, and it will give you the cool air for several hours. The working duration of the Blaux Portable AC F832 depends on the speed you are choosing. The operational hours vary according to the fan speed.

What is the filtering mechanism of Blaux portable AC?

The portable AC from Blaux comes with a filter mechanism, helping you remove the dust particles, germs, allergens, and pollutants from your surroundings and spaces. It will provide you germ-free and purified air with its perfect filter mechanism.

Is there a guarantee offered on Blaux portable AC?

Yes, Blaux has offered a thirty days money-back guarantee on its portable AC.

Final Conclusion:

The portable AC from the Blaux brand is an upgraded version of the cooling system. The company has focused on various methods to boost this new cooling device's convenience and cooling effect. It also enhances the convenience of using this device and decreases power consumption and maintenance. This cooling device, the Blast portable AC, is also build to emphasize ones health. There are various improvements made by the Blaux brand, making it the perfect solution for the customers to beat the heated temperatures during the hottest days of the summers.

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Hence, we advise our customers to get their new portable AC from Blaux and get the effective cooling within thirty seconds. Kindly write your views about Blaux Portable AC F832 in the end!
[June 07, 2021] 22nd Century Advances Initiatives to Strengthen and Maximize Revenue Opportunities in Hemp/Cannabis Franchise

Close Partnership With Aurora Cannabis Inc. to Enforce Shared Global Biosynthesis IP Rights Against Infringement and Actively Explore Commercial Development Opportunities; Monetization of Key Patented Technology Expected in Second Half of 2021





Secures Strategic Partnerships With Two Leading Alkaloid Specialist Plant Breeders to Complete Full Scope of Upstream Capabilities Leads in Upstream Cannabinoid Value Chain to Accelerate the Development of New, Valuable Commercial Plant Lines in Two Years





Creates Canadian Subsidiary to Open Tremendous Revenue Opportunities and Expand Global Footprint in All Three Franchises





Proceeds from $40 Million Registered Direct Offering to Accelerate Opportunistic Growth Initiative

BUFFALO, N.Y., June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII), a leading plant-based biotechnology company focused on tobacco harm reduction, reduced nicotine tobacco, and hemp/cannabis research, today announced new initiatives to strengthen and maximize revenue opportunities in its hemp/cannabis franchise. Included in these developments is the announcement of strategic partnerships with two plant breeders in the northern and southern hemispheres providing the Company with year-round growing capabilities, close partnership activities being conducted with Aurora Cannabis, and the establishment of a newly created Canadian subsidiary. These newest developments further support 22nd Centurys plans for multiple avenues of hemp/cannabis revenue that will begin to be realized in late 2021. The addition of breeders who specialize in alkaloid-based plant cultivation to our network of strategic partnerships provides us with the competitive edge to commercialize our second-generation IP and technologies, said James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group. As cannabis regulation evolves, we believe that companies able to control the traits and consistency of the plants will command a premium price and margin in the marketplace. 22nd Century is well-positioned to capitalize on the tremendous potential in the global legal cannabis space by creating hemp/cannabis plants that have stable, specific cannabinoid levels at commercial scale for various end-use markets. As a matter of preparedness, earlier we announced a $40 million registered direct offering through Cowen and Company, LLC, Mish continued. Cowen is well-known as a pioneer in the cannabis institutional markets, and with this registered direct placement, 22nd Century is now squarely positioned in the mainstream of the cannabis equity space. Proceeds from this offering will be used as needed for future strategic growth opportunities as our hemp/cannabis market activity continues to increase. With the Special Equities Group as our financial advisor on this transaction to the Company, we now have ample financial flexibility for this franchise as we advance our revenue-generating initiatives later this year. Strategic Plant Breeding Partnerships With its breeding partnerships in place, 22nd Century Group has now secured all key partnerships needed to maximize and support each of the five components in the upstream segment of the cannabinoidvalue chain including: plant profiling (CannaMetrix); plant biotechnology (KeyGene); commercial-scale plant breeding; plant cultivation (Needle Rock Farms and breeder network); and ingredient extraction/purification (Panacea). In doing so, 22nd Century has built a unique ability to accelerate the delivery of valuable, commercial-scale plant lines and intellectual property for the life science, consumer product, and pharmaceutical end-use markets in just two years.



The Company will provide details regarding the breeding strategic partnerships later this month and will present its go forth commercialization strategy for its hemp/cannabis franchise on its second quarter 2021 earnings call in early August. The Company is actively pursuing multiple hemp/cannabis revenue streams targeted in 2021. These include monetization of a portion of the Companys valuable hemp/cannabis intellectual property and offtake commitments for the Companys high CBD and CBG plant lines currently growing in Needle Rock Farms of Crawford, Colorado for commercialization in the forms of flower, distillate, or isolate.

Valuable Biosynthesis IP License and Aurora Partnership 22nd Century has been at the forefront of hemp/cannabis research since 2014 when the Company entered into a global research and license agreement with Anandia Laboratories in Canada through which 22nd Century was granted an exclusive sublicense for global IP rights to commercialize key aspects of cannabinoid biosynthesis in the hemp/cannabis plant and microorganisms. These licenses were transferred to Aurora Cannabis when it acquired Anandia in 2018. 22nd Century and Aurora are working closely together to enforce their IP against infringing parties and are exploring collaborative commercial development opportunities. The Company expects licensing and revenue from the IP shared with Aurora to commence in the second half of 2021. 22nd Century Canada, Inc. - New Canadian Subsidiary 22nd Centurys Canadian subsidiary, 22nd Century Canada, Inc., incorporated in April 2021, will serve as a base for the Companys expanded activities in tobacco, hemp/cannabis and its yet-to-be announced third franchise. The establishment of a Canadian subsidiary will provide structure for the Company to seek licenses that will enable further research and development in Canada and enable the Company to operate in both the recreational and medical cannabis space without restrictions. 22nd Century Canada, Inc. will also serve as a hub for expanded reduced nicotine tobacco activities in Canada, to include a possible future launch of VLN and the potential expansion of its reduced nicotine tobacco growing programs. A nicotine cap in combustibles in Canada remains a possibility given Health Canadas interest in reduced nicotine content cigarettes. Furthermore, the establishment of a subsidiary will potentially provide the Company with greater operational efficiencies. About 22nd Century Group, Inc.

22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII) is a leading plant biotechnology company focused on technologies that alter the level of nicotine in tobacco plants and the level of cannabinoids in hemp/cannabis plants through genetic engineering, gene-editing, and modern plant breeding. 22nd Centurys primary mission in tobacco is to reduce the harm caused by smoking through the Companys reduced nicotine content tobacco cigarettes  containing 95% less nicotine than conventional cigarettes. The Companys primary mission in hemp/cannabis is to develop and commercialize proprietary hemp/cannabis plants with valuable cannabinoid profiles and desirable agronomic traits. Learn more at xxiicentury.com, on Twitter @_xxiicentury, and on LinkedIn. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically contain terms such as anticipate, believe, consider, continue, could, estimate, expect, explore, foresee, goal, guidance, intend, likely, may, plan, potential, predict, preliminary, probable, project, promising, seek, should, will, would, and similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 11, 2021. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy the securities discussed herein, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation, or sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state. Investor Relations & Media Contact:

Mei Kuo

Director, Communications & Investor Relations

22nd Century Group, Inc.

(716) 300-1221

mkuo@xxiicentury.com



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[June 07, 2021] 22nd Century Announces $40 Million Common Stock Registered Direct Offering

BUFFALO, N.Y., June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII), a leading plant-based biotechnology company focused on tobacco harm reduction, reduced nicotine tobacco, and hemp/cannabis research, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with one institutional investor for the sale of 10 million shares of its common stock at a purchase price of $4.00 per share in a registered direct offering for gross proceeds for $40 million. The offering is expected to close on or about June 9, 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

As a result of this important straight common equity financing with one of our long-term institutional investors, 22nd Century will be able to accelerate the Companys ongoing strategic objectives across all of our plant franchises, announced James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group. The net proceeds of the financing will be used to support the Companys strategic objectives across all of its plant franchises. More specifically, 22nd Century intends to use the net proceeds for research and development expenses, capital expenditures, procurement and development of additional intellectual property rights, commercialization of its product portfolio, working capital, and general corporate purposes. Cowen and Company, LLC acted as the sole placement agent for this transaction. The Special Equities Group, a division of Dawson James Securities Inc. acted as financial advisor to the company. A registration statement on Form S-3 relating to shares of common stock described above was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and is effective. The offering is being made by means of a prospectus supplement to the prospectus contained in the registration statement. Copies of the final prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus may be obtained, when available, for free by visiting EDGAR on the SECs website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, you may contat investorrelations@xxiicentury.com for a copy of these documents or contact our principal executive offices at 500 Seneca Street, Suite 507, Buffalo, New York 14204, c/o Corporate Secretary, (716) 270-1523.



This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy the securities discussed herein, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation, or sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state. About 22nd Century Group, Inc.

22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII) is a leading plant biotechnology company focused on technologies that alter the level of nicotine in tobacco plants and the level of cannabinoids in hemp/cannabis plants through genetic engineering, gene-editing, and modern plant breeding. 22nd Centurys primary mission in tobacco is to reduce the harm caused by smoking through the Companys reduced nicotine content tobacco cigarettes  containing 95% less nicotine than conventional cigarettes. The Companys primary mission in hemp/cannabis is to develop and commercialize proprietary hemp/cannabis plants with valuable cannabinoid profiles and desirable agronomic traits.

Learn more at xxiicentury.com, on Twitter @_xxiicentury, and on LinkedIn. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically contain terms such as anticipate, believe, consider, continue, could, estimate, expect, explore, foresee, goal, guidance, intend, likely, may, plan, potential, predict, preliminary, probable, project, promising, seek, should, will, would, and similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 11, 2021. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy the securities discussed herein, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation, or sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state. Investor Relations & Media Contact:

Mei Kuo

Director, Communications & Investor Relations

22nd Century Group, Inc.

(716) 300-1221

mkuo@xxiicentury.com



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[June 07, 2021] Air Lease Corporation Announces Delivery of New Airbus A350-900 Aircraft to World2Fly

Today Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL) announced the delivery of one new Airbus A350-900 aircraft, featuring Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, on long-term lease to World2Fly (Spain). This aircraft is the first of two new A350-900 aircraft confirmed to deliver to the airline from ALC's order book with Airbus. "We are delighted to deliver our first of two new A350-900 aircraft to our new customer, World2Fly," said Matthew Stevens, Assistant Vice President of Marketing at Air Lease Corporation. "ALC is pleased to help launch World2Fly with new A350-900 aircraft and we are confident the A350-900 will help distinguish World2Fly in the marketplace." Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including expected delivery dates. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prosects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.



About Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL) ALC is a leading aircraft leasing company based in Los Angeles, California that has airline customers throughout the world. ALC and its team of dedicated and experienced professionals are principally engaged in purchasing commercial aircraft and leasing them to its airline customers worldwide through customized aircraft leasing and financing solutions. ALC routinely posts information that may be important to investors in the "Investors" section of ALC's website at www.airleasecorp.com. Investors and potential investors are encouraged to consult the ALC website regularly for important information about ALC. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, ALC's website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005741/en/

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[June 07, 2021] Ariel Investments Adds Diverse Expertise to Leadership Team

Ariel Investments, LLC ("Ariel" or "the firm"), a global value-based asset management firm, today announced the appointment of two new leaders. Carlos E. Calderon has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, effective June 7, 2021. Calderon joins Ariel from Eaton (News - Alert) Vance, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Investment Management. As Vice President and Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, he oversaw strategic planning and profitability, as well as the initiative investment committee for the multi-affiliate asset management and brokerage business. Calderon also managed mutual fund investment management reporting for both the Eaton Vance Management and Calvert Management fund boards. Prior to Eaton Vance, he held leadership roles at State Street Global Advisors and BNY Mellon supporting Global Investment Management, Global Product, Marketing and Wealth Management. He serves on the boards of various external affinity organizations, including the Junior Achievement of Northern New England Associate Board and City Year Seven Generations Board, and is a member of Association of Latino Professionals for America. Calderon earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Corporate Finance from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Calderon will serve on the firm's Operating Committee, and report to Co-CEO and President, Mellody Hobson. Hobson commented: "We are delighted that Carlos is relocating to our corporate headquarters in Chicago. He will be a tremendous asset to Ariel's operational leadership, bringing his deep expertise in financal strategies and systems."



As the firm previously communicated on March 24, 2021, outgoing CFO Maureen Longoria will remain at Ariel until the end of Q2 2021 to ensure a seamless transition of responsibilities. John W. Rogers, Jr., founder, Chairman, Co-CEO, and Chief Investment Officer, continued: "We would like to take another opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to Maureen for 16 years of exceptional partnership and service to the firm and our clients."

Additionally, renowned strategic counselor Judy Smith has been appointed to Ariel's Company Board of Directors. Smith is the founder and President of Smith & Company, an advisory firm with offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and New York. For over 25 years, she has counseled U.S. Presidents, global leaders, and Fortune 500 companies on a wide array of complex challenges and issues. A former federal prosecutor, Smith also served in the White House as Deputy Press Secretary to President George H. W. Bush. Prior to her legal career, Smith worked as a writer and public affairs specialist for several publications and private organizations headquartered in Washington, D.C. She earned her Bachelor of Science from Boston University and J.D. from American University's Washington College of Law, where she was the first African American woman to serve as Executive Editor of the Law Review. Smith is the inspiration for the protagonist in the hit TV series, "Scandal," for which she also served as Executive Producer. She is the author of the book, Good Self, Bad Self, published by Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Rogers and Hobson remarked: "Each day, Ariel benefits from the myriad of perspectives on our board. Judy will add incredibly rare and diverse experience to our team." Smith will join the Ariel Company Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2021. As the firm previously announced on March 24, 2021, members of the Ariel Company Board of Directors, as of Q3 2021, include: Martijn Cremers, PhD, Arne Duncan, Mellody Hobson, Valerie Jarrett, Fazal Merchant, John W. Rogers, Jr., Anthony D. Romero, Judy Smith, Heather Tookes, PhD, and Paula Wolff. About Ariel Investments, LLC Ariel Investments, LLC is a global value-based asset management firm founded in 1983. Ariel is headquartered in Chicago, with offices in New York City, San Francisco, and Sydney. As of March 31, 2021, Ariel's firm-wide assets under management totaled approximately $16.2 billion. Ariel serves individual and institutional investors through five no-load mutual funds and 11 separate account strategies. For more information, please visit Ariel's website at arielinvestments.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005515/en/

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[June 07, 2021] AYLIEN's Risk Identification and Monitoring Solution, RADAR, scoops two Deloitte Innovation Awards

DUBLIN, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AYLIEN , a leading provider of AI-powered risk monitoring and management solutions, has been announced as the Most Disruptive Fintech and Overall Winner in the Deloitte Financial Services Innovation Awards 2021 for their AI-powered Risk Identification and Monitoring Solution, RADAR. The awards, run by Deloitte in partnership with Financial Services Ireland (FSI) and the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), recognise innovation by financial services-focused companies who solve long standing problems for the industry, address niche segments in a new way, or improve internal operations for financial services providers. The winners were announced on Thursday, 3rd of June, and AYLIEN were chosen from over 100 submissions for their innovation in the risk monitoring and management space, which is set to revolutionize the way financial services organizations manage their risk. David Dalton, Head of Financial Services, Deloitte Ireland, said: "The judges were very impressed by the impact AYLIEN's product RADAR had on their customers, particularly in operational effectiveness. They identified an ineffective, manual process and developed a truly innovative product. Their innovation has allowed their custmers to transform and operate more effectively, meaning highly skilled employees can focus on areas where they can contribute significantly higher value."



AYLIEN's risk identification and monitoring platform, RADAR , transforms how analysts in financial services identify and monitor potential known and unknown risk events on a global scale with beta users of RADAR identifying 10x more potential risk events coupled with an efficiency gain of over 70% in their current investigation processes. Using proprietary Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology, RADAR aggregates and understands vast quantities of unstructured data such as news, regulatory updates, company filings, and internal data sources providing early signals of critical risk events related to a company's customers, supply chains, competition, and investment strategies.

RADAR applies advanced, specialized, yet configurable human-in-the-loop AI to large volumes of unstructured data to help analysts expand their monitoring reach and transform ineffective manual identification and investigation workflows that are attributable to more than $36bn in fines and losses for financial services companies since 2008. Commenting on the award, Parsa Ghaffari, Founder & CEO, AYLIEN, said: "RADAR is a transformative tool for risk professionals for uncovering new risks faster and more accurately than any of the existing solutions, and we're delighted that its potential has been recognised by the prestigious Deloitte Financial Services Innovation Awards and the high-profile judges. RADAR is currently being piloted by some of the biggest names in the financial services industry, and our pilot customers are already seeing significant improvements in the effectiveness of their risk monitoring processes, while saving hundreds of hours of analyst time." AYLIEN currently works with the world's leading financial services companies such as Revolut, IHS Markit, and Wells Fargo, helping them uncover risk and opportunity signals from vast amounts of unstructured data sources and plan on launching their innovative risk identification and monitoring platform in Q3 2021. About AYLIEN: AYLIEN provides AI-powered risk and media intelligence solutions to the world's leading financial services companies helping them make informed business decisions by leveraging unstructured data sources.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 21:26:08|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken by a smartphone shows the fire ripping through houses at a slum in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, on June 7, 2021. A devastating fire swept through one of the largest slums in Dhaka, destroying at least 100 shanties on early Monday. No casualty has been reported so far. (Xinhua)

DHAKA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A devastating fire swept through one of the largest slums in Bangladesh capital Dhaka, destroying at least 100 shanties on early Monday.

A total of 18 fire units battled hard for hours to extinguish the blaze at about 9:15 a.m. local time Monday, Fire Service Headquarters Duty Officer Lima Khanom told Xinhua.

No casualty has been reported so far.

The Saat Tola slum in Dhaka's Mohakhali area, a densely populated residential complex, is home to many poor residents.

Deputy Director of Fire Service and Civil Defence Debashish Bardhan told Xinhua that they have not yet determined the exact cause of the blaze.

He said the fire erupted at around 3:59 a.m. local time Monday and it soon engulfed an area with some 2,000 shanties in the slum.

"At least 100 of the shanties made of scrap sheet iron, plastic and cardboard were destroyed fully in the devastating fire," said the senior official.

Local media reports put the number of shanties destroyed fully or partially in the fire at 500.

Many affected slum dwellers were seen lament in open sky Monday morning as most of them left behind all valuables to save their lives. Enditem
[June 07, 2021] Banco BS2 and fintech WEEL merge to form the first B2B neobank in Brazil

The integration of the Brazilian digital bank with the Israeli fintech aims to offer a complete banking structure, cutting-edge technology, and credit expertise to SMEs SAO PAULO, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Aiming to become the first B2B neobank in Brazil, BS2 Bank announced today the acquisition of the Israeli fintech WEEL, a B2B online lender focused on financing Brazilian companies. The transaction consolidates the bank's strategy of creating an integrated offering for SMEs, unifying the suite of banking and credit services that SMEs need. The merger is the bank's first strategic move since the arrival of the new CEO, Marcos Magalhaes, who officially took the position in early May, when he also joined BS2 Board of Directors. "We have ambitious growth plans. WEEL has the best products and the best digital credit expertise. It perfectly complements our offering and positions us as the leading digital financial services provider for small and medium-sized companies. The SME segment has often been ignored. Banking product development generally focuses only on individuals and large corporations. We're going to change this logic", points out Magalhaes. BS2 and WEEL integration WEEL is a data and credit fintech that specializes in solutions for small and medium-sized companies. The company uses machine-learning technology to create optimized credit solutions for SMEs. In 2020, the company reached the milestone of R$ 1 billion in deployed credit operations and has more than 15thousand customers in its database.



The fintech's cutting-edge technology will be incorporated into BS2, including its origination platform, data and machine learning systems , which will allow the delivery of a unique digital experience for companies, faster user journeys, and more innovative products and services. WEEL's staff will be fully integrated to BS2. Simcha Neumark, founder and CEO of WEEL, will become an executive and a member of BS2's Board of Directors. WEEL's current shareholders, such as Monashees Capital and Franklin Templeton, will become BS2 shareholders after the approval of regulatory competent agencies.

For Neumark, the integration is a perfect match that brings together BS2's broad portfolio of financial services with WEEL's data intelligence and digital credit expertise. "We are creating a unique experience in which the customer will have access to best-in-class digital products that provide simple solutions to their day-to-day challenges. Small and medium-sized companies will find in BS2 a one-stop shop for all of their banking and credit needs", he explains. About Banco BS2 BS2 is a complete Brazilian digital bank with financial and technology solutions for companies and individuals. The bank is a pioneer in the country in offering a digital account integrated to an investment account, and an international account with balances in dollars, all in the same application. BS2 has tailor-made offerings, and creates customized solutions for its costumers' businesses through APIs that allow the connection of multiple financial solutions, such as account opening, payments, or investments. About WEEL WEEL is a data and credit fintech, headquartered in Israel and Brazil, and a pioneer in the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence in the Brazilian credit market. WEEL offers the fastest onboarding and decisioning process on the market through the application of various proprietary technologies. In 2021, it was elected by the British magazine Daily Finance as one of the best fintechs in Brazil and has deployed over $1 billion in capital for Brazilian SMEs. Additional infos:

JeffreyGroup

bs2@jeffreygroup.com

Elder Monteiro: (11) 99306-2720

Beatriz Mattioli: (11) 99330-7946 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/banco-bs2-and-fintech-weel-merge-to-form-the-first-b2b-neobank-in-brazil-301306982.html SOURCE Banco BS2

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[June 07, 2021] BlackRock Veteran Brian Chase Joins Quinbrook

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners ("Quinbrook"), a specialist investor in renewables supply, storage and grid stability infrastructure, today announced the appointment of Brian Chase as Managing Director in the firm's senior management team. Chase will take up the global leadership role for Quinbrook's newly formed Capital Formation (News - Alert) and Investor Engagement team and will be based in New York. He will join Mark Burrows, Quinbrook's Head of UK and Europe, to expand the team's scope by leading new fundraising efforts and ongoing investor liaison. Chase joins from BlackRock in New York where he was Managing Director in the Alternative Solutions Group and a member of the Investment Committee for the Infrastructure Solutions business. He has held senior roles previously as a partner with Campbell Lutyens, as an Infrastructure Consultant with the World Bank and in the infrastructure investment team at The Carlyle Group. David Scaysbrook, Managing Partner of Quinbrook, said, "We couldn't be more pleased to have Brian join our global team as we prepare for significant expansion of our investment strategies in renewable power and industrial decarbonization. Quinbrook has established a differentiated specialty in new value-add renewables with a laser focus on the U.S., the U.K. and Austraia, which are among the top renewables markets according to EY's latest Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index. Brian brings a host of relationships with leading institutional investors the world over and a deep knowledge of the infrastructure manager landscape. Brian will assist us in shaping new investment strategies and will lead our outreach to investors seeking compelling opportunities that are 'true to label' as long term, capital protected infrastructure assets at the heart of the energy transition."



Chase said, "I am excited to join Quinbrook at such an important time in the firm's growth. As a specialist and accomplished manager with a truly differentiated approach to generating 'value-add' returns for LPs, Quinbrook is operating at the intersection of higher returning, impactful and ESG outcome-driven strategies that I am confident will appeal to a diverse global audience of institutional investors. I look forward to helping the team form new, enduring investor relationships and mobilizing capital for the creation of new infrastructure assets that preserve jobs, support local communities, and will drive the energy transition towards more sustainable, greener energy systems." Chase added, "From what I have observed in the market, Quinbrook is genuinely ahead of the pack in their industry leadership and thoughtful investment strategies. I am delighted to be joining a growing and talented team that is committed to such meaningful work."

About Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (www.quinbrook.com) is a specialist investment manager focused exclusively on lower carbon and renewable energy infrastructure investment and operational asset management in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. Quinbrook is led and managed by a senior team of power industry professionals who have collectively invested over US $8 billion of equity in energy infrastructure assets since the early 1990s, representing a total enterprise value of US $28.7 billion or 19.5 GW of power supply capacity. Quinbrook's investment and asset management team has offices in Houston, London, Jersey, and the Gold Coast of Australia. Quinbrook's global investment and portfolio company teams are actively developing and constructing a portfolio exceeding 17GW of onshore wind, solar PV, reserve peaking power, battery storage projects, grid support infrastructure, Virtual Power Plants and Community Energy Networks across the U.S., U.K. and Australia. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005158/en/

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[June 07, 2021] Ceridian Appoints Bill McDonald to Executive Vice President and General Counsel

TORONTO and MINNEAPOLIS, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ceridian (NYSE: CDAY; TSX: CDAY), a global leader in human capital management (HCM), today announced that it has appointed Bill McDonald as Executive Vice President and General Counsel effective July 1, 2021. In this role, Bill will continue to serve as Corporate Secretary and assume expanded responsibility for leading the legal function across the business globally.

Reporting directly into David Ossip, Chairman and CEO, McDonald will oversee Ceridians legal affairs, including the management of all legal, compliance, and governance matters. A respected leader within Ceridian, McDonald will oversee a global team of lawyers and legal and business professionals. Were pleased to have Bill take on an expanded mandate, reinforcing the strength of Ceridians leadership team and positioning our company for continued long-term success, said David Ossip, Chairman and CEO, Ceridian. Over the many years Ive worked with Bill, Ive seen his commitment to drive meaningful change to support our growth, while serving as an outstanding leader for the organization. Im excited to lead our legal function and to continue my career with Ceridian and its world-class team as we work together to drive value for our customers globally, said Bill McDonald, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Ceridian. Bill started his career with Ceridian in 1999, holding senior roles within the companys legal team. After serving as Partner at Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP and Fox Rothschild LLP in inneapolis, Minnesota, he returned to Ceridian in 2016 where he has since served as Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary.



Bill currently serves on the Board of Directors of Gillette Childrens Specialty Healthcare in the Twin Cities. He received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law and his B.B.A degree in Finance and Business Economics from the University of Notre Dame. About Ceridian

Ceridian. Makes Work Life Better. Ceridian is a global human capital management software company. Dayforce, our flagship cloud HCM platform, provides human resources, payroll, benefits, workforce management, and talent management functionality. Our platform is used to optimize management of the entire employee lifecycle, including attracting, engaging, paying, deploying, and developing people. Ceridian has solutions for organizations of all sizes. Visit Ceridian.com or follow us @Ceridian. Forward-Looking Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our expectations, hopes, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Because such statements are based on expectations as to future financial and operating results and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ materially from those projected. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release should be read in conjunction with the risks detailed in the Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information, Forward-Looking Statement, Risk Factors and other sections of Ceridians Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Annual Reports on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Media Contact:

Teri Murphy

Director, Corporate Communications

1-647-417-2117

Teri.Murphy@Ceridian.com Investor Contact:

Jeremy Johnson

Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations

1-844-829-9499

investors@ceridian.com



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[June 07, 2021] Cover Whale Appoints Kevin Abramson as President

NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cover Whale Insurance Solutions, Inc., an InsurTech focused on disrupting the commercial auto space, today announced the appointment of Kevin Abramson as President. Abramson brings two decades of insurance industry experience, having led the casualty segment at TigerRisk Partners and leadership positions at Willis Re North America. "Kevin Abramson's appointment further solidifies Cover Whale's position as a new leader in the insurance industry," said Dan Abrahamsen, Chief Executive Officer, Cover Whale. "Kevin is stepping into this role at a time of accelerated growth, and will be essential to focused scalability." As a member of Cover Whale's leadership team, Abrmson will play a key role in defining future major growth initiatives for the organization. In addition, Kevin will lead the firm's efforts in growing its existing carrier and distribution partnerships as well as expanding new relationships.



Most recently, Abramson served as Partner at TigerRisk Partners where he spent the last six years leading its Specialty Casualty Segment. Abramson exclusively serviced insurance clients on a wide variety of strategic and operational efforts. Abramson more recently focused much of his efforts to bring innovative and cutting-edge reinsurance advisory solutions to TigerRisk's portfolio of both InsurTech and Commercial Auto clients. "I'm honored and excited to join Cover Whale Insurance," added Abramson. "The team has done tremendous work since the company's founding two short years ago and I look forward to building on our successes."

Prior to TigerRisk, Kevin served as Executive Vice President at Willis Re North America where he held various leadership roles within its Casualty Segment. Kevin began his career on the underwriting side, spending time at both General Re and Swiss Re working with a wide array of global, national and regional clients across various lines of business. Cover Whale, an InsurTech founded by experienced insurance and technology veterans, focuses on underwriting, technology, and data to launch innovative insurance programs. Cover Whale provides the most agent-friendly platform online, providing a simple solution for fast insurance quotes. Products are available exclusively through CoverWhale.com, with capacity from leading insurance markets. Contact: Ian Abrahamsen, Marketing Director

ian@coverwhale.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cover-whale-appoints-kevin-abramson-as-president-301306439.html SOURCE Cover Whale Insurance Solutions

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[June 07, 2021] Datto Upgrades Virtual SIRIS To Help Combat Ransomware

Datto Holding Corp. ("Datto") (NYSE: MSP), the leading global provider of cloud-based software and security solutions purpose-built for delivery by managed service providers (MSPs), today reintroduced its Virtual SIRIS (vSIRIS) data protection software. Delivered as a virtual appliance, this software-only version of the industry-leading Datto SIRIS solution provides MSPs with the flexibility to meet the diverse data protection requirements of their small and medium business (SMB) clients with fully integrated software running on their own hardware. Designed to support private cloud and virtual deployments, vSIRIS provides MSPs with comprehensive, highly scalable software backed by the immutable Datto cloud. Built with the same leading data backup and recovery capabilities as SIRIS, MSPs can protect their clients without the need for Datto hardware. vSIRIS can be installed remotely and runs as a virtual machine (VM) in either VMware ESX or Microsoft (News - Alert) Hyper-V. It provides the ability to dynamically add resources to support changing workloads and connects to external storage, including storage area networks (SAN) and network-attached storage (NAS) devices. The MSP-centric design of vSIRIS requires less administrative overhead than many other solutions, and simplifies scaling and management, reducing total cost of ownership for MSPs. Key features include: Reliable Data Protection : Automated, verified backups are stored locally and in the cloud, making them easy to access and ready to address any recovery scenario.

: Automated, verified backups are stored locally and in the cloud, making them easy to access and ready to address any recovery scenario. Flexible Restors : vSIRIS options include rapid rollback, instant cloud recovery, bare metal restore and everything in between.

: vSIRIS options include rapid rollback, instant cloud recovery, bare metal restore and everything in between. Global Cloud Infrastructure : Datto's secure, highly available (99.99999%) private cloud provides a range of data retention options, a choice of regional data centers, and the ability to scale and recover clients' data and business operations quickly.

: Datto's secure, highly available (99.99999%) private cloud provides a range of data retention options, a choice of regional data centers, and the ability to scale and recover clients' data and business operations quickly. Reliable Backups : Datto's proprietary Inverse Chain Technology combats the high failure rates associated with traditional incremental backup to deliver more resilient protection and efficient storage management.

: Datto's proprietary Inverse Chain Technology combats the high failure rates associated with traditional incremental backup to deliver more resilient protection and efficient storage management. Built-In Ransomware Detection : All backups are scanned for ransomware and backup files are resilient against ransomware attacks.

: All backups are scanned for ransomware and backup files are resilient against ransomware attacks. Automated Data and Boot Verification: Datto eliminates the need to worry if the system will boot or be recoverable by verifying the backup is good before disaster strikes.



"Ever increasing security incidents have highlighted the importance of business continuity as the last line of defense for MSPs and their clients," said Radhesh Menon, Chief Product Officer at Datto. "vSIRIS is being reintroduced as a hardware free option in the SIRIS product line, providing MSPs with the added flexibility they need to meet their clients' diverse data protection needs onsite, in virtual environments, and in private clouds - all with the same fully integrated, single pane of glass management partners have come to expect from Datto Unified Continuity."

To learn more about vSIRIS and how to choose the right solution, download our BCDR Buyers Guide for MSPs. About Datto As the world's leading provider of cloud-based software and security solutions purpose-built for delivery by managed service providers (MSPs), Datto believes there is no limit to what small and medium businesses (SMBs) can achieve with the right technology. Datto's proven Unified Continuity, Networking, and Business Management solutions drive cyber resilience, efficiency, and growth for MSPs. Delivered via an integrated platform, Datto's solutions help its global ecosystem of MSP partners serve over one million businesses around the world. From proactive dynamic detection and prevention to fast, flexible recovery from cyber incidents, Datto's solutions defend against costly downtime and data loss in servers, virtual machines, cloud applications, or anywhere data resides. Since its founding in 2007, Datto has won numerous awards for its product excellence, superior technical support, rapid growth, and for fostering an outstanding workplace. With headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut, Datto has global offices in Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. MSP-C View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005198/en/

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[June 07, 2021] Digihost Announces Launch of the DigiGreen Initiative

TORONTO, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Digihost Technology Inc. (Digihost or the Company) (TSXV: DGHI; OTCQB: HSSHF) is pleased to announce the launch of its new DigiGreen Initiative, an industry leading plan to reduce the Companys already low carbon footprint. In addition to achieving technological and economic excellence, since inception, the Company has focused on being a good corporate citizen and operating its business in an environmentally and socially responsible way. As part of this mandate, the Company located its cryptocurrency mining farm in Upstate New York to take advantage of the low carbon emission energy profile of that area. The Company believes that more can be done to further reduce its carbon footprint, while maintaining its industry leading efficient cryptocurrency mining operations, and is therefore pleased to share with the marketplace information on the new DigiGreen Initiative.

DigiGreen Initiative DigiGreen Initiative will focus on four immediate steps designed to create sustainable, environmentally and economically sound in-house practices, which will distinguish the Company as an industry leader in maintaining profitability, while lowering or eliminating its carbon footprint: a. Corporate Leadership : Recognizing the need for top-down leadership, the Company has commenced a search for a Chief Renewable Energy Officer (CREO). The CREO will report directly to the CEO and the President of the Company and help to advise the Board of Directors on the progress of short-term goals and the development of a sustainable long-term renewable energy plan. The CREO will also be responsible for creating and supporting dynamic educational outreach programs with research institutions to test, prove-out, and onboard future fuel technology options; b. Engage in Bridge and Renewable Energy Sources : Digihost previously reported in a press release that over 90% of the energy currently consumed by the Company in its Bitcoin mining operations is from sources that create zero carbon emissions and more than 50% of the energy consumed by the Company is generated from renewable sources. As the Company intends to purchase and bring online its own power generation facilities, it will focus on powering these facilities using bridge power sources, meaning low-carbon, or renewable sources of energy where available. For example, sourcing renewable natural gas (RNG), a natural gas developed from the collection and conditioning of organic waste, lowers carbon not just at the point of use but across the entire system, removing waste that would otherwise sit in fields (cattle and dairy farms) or in landfills. The end result is a fuel that is lower-carbon than natural gas, requires no infrastructure redevelopment in plants already designed for natural gas, and removes a large source of carbon (methane derived from waste) from the environment. The CREO will be responsible for sourcing RNG for the Companys North Tonawanda facility, as well as designing 100% renewable energy strategies for powering North Tonawanda as well as new power facilities to be acquired by the Company; c. Develop In-House Standards of Measuring Climate Impact : Initial research has already commenced on developing proprietary standards for measuring the Companys arbon impact. The CREO, in conjunction with the CEO and the President, will be empowered to use this standard as an environmental audit tool for the various operating units of Digihost, to generate accountability reports, and to advise Directors and Shareholders on efforts to minimize the Companys the carbon footprint. We believe this standard will eventually become an industry standard and provide a template for industry colleagues, regulators, and others to better understand the climate impact of blockchain technology moving forward; and



d. Explore Alternative Ways to Reduce Overall Carbon Footprint : In the short-term, DigiGreen Initiative will focus internally, creating best practices standards and securing bridge and renewable energy sources to reduce the Companys already low carbon footprint. Long-term goals will incorporate a broader view of improving the geographic areas that the Company operates in and the sector as a whole, and the CREO will explore new ways to achieve these goals by: Exploring green space initiatives to improve the communities that the Company operates in and create offsets as we lower our overall carbon footprint, helping to ensure and protect green space and resources; Partnering with research institutions, to pioneer, develop, and implement new renewable fuel options, such as hydrogen power, to bring these technologies to market sooner; and Collaborating with industry colleagues to maximize the positive impact companies can have as a whole, while also helping to establish guidelines, standards, and best practices for new market entrants.

Michel Amar, the Companys CEO stated, We are pleased to share our plan to introduce the new DigiGreen Initiative, which is intended to provide additional transparency and useful information on our Companys efforts to minimize its impact on the global environment. The addition of the newly created role of Chief Renewable Energy Officer to our management team is a positive step forward for Digihost as we continue our growth trajectory and create shareholder value in an environmentally and socially responsible way.

About Digihost Technology Inc. Digihost Technology Inc. is a growth-oriented blockchain technology company primarily focused on Bitcoin mining. The Company's mining facilities are located in Upstate New York, and are equipped with 78.7 MW of low-cost power with the option to expand to 102MW. The Company is currently hashing at a rate of 200PH with potential to expand to a rate of 3EH upon the completion of the previously announced acquisition of a 60MW power plant. For further information, please contact: Digihost Technology Inc.

Michel Amar, Chief Executive Officer

www.digihost.ca

T: 1-818-280-9758

Email: michel@digihost.ca Cautionary Statement

Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking information) that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Forward-looking information in this news release includes information about listing on Nasdaq, hashrate expansion, diversification of operations to include Ethereum technology, potential further improvements to profitability and efficiency across mining operations, potential for the Companys long-term growth, and the business goals and objectives of the Company. Factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: risks relating to completion of the Nasdaq listing process, continued effects of the COVID19 pandemic may have a material adverse effect on the Companys performance as supply chains are disrupted and prevent the Company from operating its assets; a decrease in cryptocurrency pricing, volume of transaction activity or generally, the profitability of cryptocurrency mining; further improvements to profitability and efficiency may not be realized; the digital currency market; the Companys ability to successfully mine digital currency on the cloud; the Company may not be able to profitably liquidate its current digital currency inventory, or at all; a decline in digital currency prices may have a significant negative impact on the Companys operations; the volatility of digital currency prices; and other related risks as more fully set out in the Annual Information Form of the Company and other documents disclosed under the Companys filings at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made assumptions about: the current profitability in mining cryptocurrency (including pricing and volume of current transaction activity); profitable use of the Companys assets going forward; the Companys ability to profitably liquidate its digital currency inventory as required; historical prices of digital currencies and the ability of the Company to mine digital currencies on the cloud will be consistent with historical prices; and there will be no regulation or law that will prevent the Company from operating its business. The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.



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[June 07, 2021] Digital Health Company Butterfly Network to Build New Corporate Headquarters in Burlington

The Town of Burlington, Massachusetts and Butterfly Network, Inc. (NYSE: BFLY) ("Butterfly") are pleased to announce that Butterfly, an innovative digital health company with a mission to democratize access to medical imaging, will build its brand-new corporate headquarters at The District Campus in Burlington. "We're excited to welcome a company like Butterfly at The District," said Town Administrator, Paul Sagarino. "For years, Burlington has been at the forefront of implementing proactive policies to encourage economic development, and Butterfly's arrival demonstrates the appeal of our community as well as the potential to grow given the talented workforce in the area and new opportunities for collaboration with places like Lahey Medical Center and Northeastern University (News - Alert) ." Butterfly's new corporate headquarters in Massachusetts will have the capacity for approximately 275 people with the ability to expand further. It will serve as a flagship space to drive growth and innovation at Butterfly, and a place to foster collaboration with its talent across its other offices in Guilford, Conn, New York City and Palo Alto (News - Alert) . "We are incredibly excited to welcome Butterfly Network to the Commonwealth's nation-leading innovation ecosystem and strong medical device industry as they continue their growth trajectory," said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy. "Burlington is a standout example of the regional life sciences clusters developing across Massachusetts, and the Baker-Polito Administration will work with Butterfly to find the people and partnerships they need to execute upon their mission to innovate ultrasound technology and advance global health equity." "We believ that Massachusetts, and Burlington in particular, is the perfect place to continue our journey as a fast-growing medical technology company," said Todd Fruchterman, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Butterfly. "We were attracted to the innovative landscape across Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and look forward to sharing a hometown with some of the world's leaders in medicine and medical technology."



"Life sciences companies of all sizes continue to find opportunity here in the Commonwealth and we are excited to welcome Butterfly Network as the newest member of our ecosystem," said Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President and CEO Kenn Turner. "We're confident they will be able to leverage the talent, innovation, and infrastructure that sets our life sciences sector apart both nationally and globally." The newly built offices are scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, and members of Butterfly's team have already moved into temporary offices in Burlington's The District ahead of the new headquarters' completion. Cushman & Wakefield represented Butterfly in the transaction.

About Butterfly Network, Inc. Founded by Dr. Jonathan Rothberg in 2011 and recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange through a business combination with Longview Acquisition Corp., Butterfly Network created the world's only handheld, single-probe whole-body ultrasound system using semiconductor technology, the Butterfly iQ. Its mission is to democratize medical imaging and contribute to the aspiration of global health equity by making high-quality ultrasound affordable, easy-to-use, globally accessible, and intelligently connected-including for the 4.7 billion people around the world lacking access to ultrasound. Through its proprietary Ultrasound-on-Chip technology, Butterfly is paving the way for earlier detection and remote management of health conditions around the world. The Butterfly iQ+ can be purchased online today by healthcare practitioners in the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. About the Town of Burlington: Burlington is located along Route 128 with convenient freeway connections to Boston, Cambridge, Lowell, and Nashua, NH, and Hanscom Air Force Base. The Town is proud to say that over 2,600 successful businesses employ approximately 40,000 people in Burlington - the largest industry sectors being retail, information, and health sciences. Burlington is also home to plenty of excellent local restaurants, coffee shops, shopping, and recreation. With over 250-acres of green space, including parks, biking, and walking trails to explore, our town provides citizens and workers with essential and peaceful green environments to take a breath and relax within, increasing the overall quality of life. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005703/en/

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[June 06, 2021] Earlytrade Report: Govt support not enough for traumatised Melbourne businesses entering extended lockdown

MELBOURNE, Australia, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Melbourne business owners have recorded a surge in demand for early invoice payments indicating that new government support measures may not be enough. Data released by Australia's largest supplier payments platform, Earlytrade - which allows suppliers to confidentially request payment from registered customers an average of 20-30 days ahead of contracted terms - recorded two spikes in demand from Melbourne businesses since restrictions began. While government stimulus is crucial, many Melbourne business owners will still struggle to pay staff, pay bills and meet orders, says Earlytrade chief executive, Guy Saxelby. "There is a lot of built-up trauma for business owners in Melbourne. We saw a doubling of demand the week the lockdown was first announced as people prepared for the worst," he said. "Therewas an even sharper spike in demand for cash flow, more than 130 percent, straight after the governments announced the new disaster payments and the extension of restrictions."



Mr Saxelby said small and medium businesses in Melbourne were hurting the most given their finances had already been depleted. "It really stings when you have to debate the merits of paying staff over filling customer orders. There's a serious mental health toll; not just the obvious strains on the business," he said.

"Owners may have learned to gather their chestnuts for a longer winter, but they are coming out of a tough period into more pain. For many owners, the government support simply won't be enough to get through." Mr Saxelby said it was in the interests of large customers with healthy balance sheets to support their suppliers with more flexible payment options. "The banks are reporting long approval times on business loans plus taking on debt may not be the best option right now," he said. "Owners who can get faster cash from their customers will be able to weather the storm and possibly even think about business pivots. For others, another seven days might be the last straw. "Melbourne business owners need help from wherever it comes and that includes large customers who can shorten payment times to make sure their suppliers stay on-track, and they themselves can meet customer orders." Earlytrade is Australia & New Zealand's largest supply chain payments network, trusted by 50,000 suppliers earlytrade.com SOURCE Earlytrade

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[June 07, 2021] Emerson Marks 100 Years of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Innovation Through Its Copeland Technology

Emerson (News - Alert) (NYSE: EMR) is celebrating this year as the 100th anniversary of its Copeland brand, a name that has become synonymous with leadership in the design and manufacture of energy efficient, reliable compressors to power air conditioning and refrigeration systems that are enhancing and protecting environments where people live and work. It's a milestone that Emerson will recognize over the next 12 months as the company continues to innovate advanced Copeland products to solve critical industry challenges. Reinforcing its commitment to continue Copeland innovation and intense focus on solving critical customer problems, Emerson completed a multimillion-dollar expansion of its Copeland engineering facility in Sidney, Ohio. This investment created 110,000 square feet of new engineering lab space for product research, development and testing of the next generation of compressors, electronics and other critical technologies for the global heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) industry. Much of the work in the Sidney labs focuses on innovative compressor technologies that enable more environmentally responsible refrigerants with lower global warming potential (GWP) to meet and exceed efficiency standards and regulations while empowering success in customer designs. "The Copeland brand has a proud legacy and even brighter future," said Jamie Froedge, executive president of Emerson's Commercial & Residential Solutions business. "Air conditioning and refrigeration technologies are increasingly crucial and necessary foundations of daily life around the world. Through our Copeland brand and our inventive approach, Emerson is using our stewardship position and deep history in this space to drive innovation for a more sustainable world." The Copeland brand traces its history to inventor Edmund Copeland, who founded a company in Detroit, Mich., in 1921 to transformthe refrigeration industry with his unique inventions. When the business faced challenges during the Great Depression, its assets were sold and the operations were relocated to Sidney, Ohio in 1937. In Sidney, four of the company's enterprising young engineers envisioned the future of possibilities and purchased the business and its compressor patent. When Emerson acquired Copeland in 1986, it continued to honor the spirit of enterprise and inventiveness embodied by the brand's early founder and champions.



Emerson made significant investments in the development of a new scroll compressor product Copeland was working on at the time of the acquisition and, in 1987, introduced the first scroll compressor sold under the Copeland brand. The success of the product helped revolutionize the air conditioning and refrigeration industries worldwide with highly efficient, reliable performance, leading to the introduction of a family of Copeland scroll compressors for applications ranging from residential and light commercial air conditioning to refrigeration systems for the food and healthcare industries and marine containers. Emerson remains committed to the continuous innovation of the Copeland portfolio of products and related technologies, driving sustainable solutions that improve efficiency, reduce emissions and conserve resources. In addition to Copeland scroll compressors, Emerson designs, manufactures and markets a full range of Copeland semi-hermetic and hermetic reciprocating compressors, as well as condensing units, for commercial refrigeration applications. Many Copeland products are also equipped with smart features to provide advanced monitoring and protection, diagnostics, power consumption measurements and communications capabilities.

From research and development, design and engineering, to advanced testing and manufacturing at innovation centers and plant locations across the globe, the Copeland brand is positioned to continue its path of inventiveness, meeting the unique needs of each regional market. For more information about Copeland compressors, visit Emerson.com/Copeland or Emerson.com. About Emerson

Emerson (NYSE: EMR), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global technology and engineering company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial and residential markets. Our Automation Solutions business helps process, hybrid and discrete manufacturers maximize production, protect personnel and the environment while optimizing their energy and operating costs. Our Commercial & Residential Solutions business helps ensure human comfort and health, protect food quality and safety, advance energy efficiency and create sustainable infrastructure. For more information visit Emerson.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005449/en/

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[June 07, 2021] Empire State Realty Trust to Present at Nareit's REITweek 2021 Virtual Investor Conference

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT) (the "Company"), a leading real estate investment trust with office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area, today announced that Tony Malkin, Chairman, President and CEO; Christina Chiu, EVP and CFO; and Tom Durels, EVP of Real Estate will present at Nareit's REITweek 2021 virtual investor conference on Tuesday, June 8, 2021 from 8:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. Eastern Time. To access the Company's live presentation, attendees are required to register for Nareit's REITweek: 2021 Investor Conference, using the registration link below. ESRT Webcast:

Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Time: 8:45 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. ET

Webcast Link: REITweek Investor Conference About Empire State Realty Trust Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT) owns, manages, operates, acquires and repositions office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area, including the Empire State Building, the "World's Most Famous Building." The company's office and retail portfolio covers 10.1 million rentable square feet, as of March 31, 2021, which consists of 9.4 million rentable square feet across 14 office properties, including nine in Manhattan, three in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and two in Westchester County, New York; as well as approximately 700,000 rentable square feet in the retail portfolio. Empire State Realty Trust is a leader in energy efficiency in the built environment and sustainability space, with 76 percent of the eligible portfolio ENERGY STAR certified and 100 percent fully powered by renewable wind electricity. As the first commercial real estate portfolio in the Americas to achieve the evidence-based, third-party verified WELL Health-Safety Rating for health and safety, ESRT additionally earned the highest possible GRESB 5 Star Rating and Green Star recognition for sustainability performance in real estate and was named a Fitwel Champion for healthy, high-performance buildings. To learn more about Empire State Realty Trust, visit esrtreit.com and follow ESRT on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.



Category: GENERAL

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005522/en/

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 22:03:15|Editor: huaxia

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BAGHDAD, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Unidentified gunmen killed on Monday a senior officer of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) in Iraqi capital Baghdad, a security source said.

Nibras Farman, an INIS officer, was shot dead when gunmen opened fire on him with their silenced weapons in front of his house in al-Baladiyat neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The source also said that the security forces launched an investigation into the incident.

In March, unidentified gunmen assassinated Mohammed Laith, another officer of the INIS, in Mansour neighborhood in western Baghdad.

The repeated assassination of security officers and some civil activists came despite repeated calls by the Iraqi government and some political parties to contain the uncontrolled weapons of some armed groups in the country. Enditem
[June 07, 2021] EY Announces Wayne Roberts of Abrigo as an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2021 Central Texas Award Finalist

AUSTIN, Texas, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Wayne Roberts, CEO of Abrigo, was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2021 Central Texas Award finalist. Now in its 35th year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program honors unstoppable business leaders whose ambition, ingenuity and courage in the face of adversity help catapult us from the now to next and beyond. Roberts was selected by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced during a special virtual celebration on August 4 and will become lifetime members of an esteemed community of Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni from around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive award programs for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. The nominees are evaluated based on six criteria: entrepreneurial leadership; talent management; degree of difficulty; financial performance; societal impact and building a values-based company; and originality, innovation and future plans. Since its launch, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries around the world. "To be named a Central Texas finalist is humbling but it is more of a testament to our Penguins at Abrigo," Roberts said. "Abrigo is a great story and is enjoying phenomenal success, despite the unprecedented events of the last 18 months. That only happens when your culture is strong and your employees are highly engaged. At Abrigo, we get results through our Penguins. Their strength and resiliency helped save nearly 2.8 million jobs across America over the last year through Paycheck Protection Program software in support of our customers, community financial institutions. They are the ones that are unstoppable." Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, to be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum, one of the nation's most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award i June 2022.



Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are nationally sponsored by SAP America. In Central Texas, sponsors also include Broadway Bank, Colliers International, Marsh McLennan, Shearman & Sterling LLP, Bridgepoint Consulting, Donnelly Financial Solutions, and Watkins Insurance Group.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National Overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year title. ey.com/us/eoy About EY Private

As Advisors to the ambitious, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets. Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate. Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today. EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com . About Abrigo

Abrigo enables U.S. financial institutions to support their communities through technology that fights financial crime, grows loans and deposits, and optimizes risk. Abrigo's platform centralizes the institution's data, creates a digital user experience, ensures compliance, and delivers efficiency for scale and profitable growth. Make Big Things Happen. Get started at abrigo.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ey-announces-wayne-roberts-of-abrigo-as-an-entrepreneur-of-the-year-2021-central-texas-award-finalist-301307104.html SOURCE Abrigo

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[June 07, 2021] ForgeRock's 2021 Consumer Identity Breach Report Reveals Unprecedented 450% Surge in Breaches Containing Usernames and Passwords

ForgeRock, a global digital identity leader, today announced findings from its 2021 Identity Breach Report, revealing an unprecedented 450% surge in breaches containing usernames and passwords globally. The report also found unauthorized access was the leading cause of breaches for the third consecutive year, increasing year-over-year for the past two years, accounting for 43% of all breaches in 2020. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005177/en/ 2021 ForgeRock Consumer Identity Breach Report (Graphic: Business Wire) The year 2020 witnessed a massive digital migration. People did almost everything remotely, doubling their amount of time spent online. Correspondingly, the total number of breaches increased and while the number of 100-million plus record "mega-breaches" dropped, cybercriminals broadened their attack surfaces to include organizations of all sizes and across industries to seize valuable assets. Breaches affecting smaller enterprises - with many still involving tens of millions of records - saw the biggest surge with a 50% increase. This reveals that smaller enterprises are also prime targets and can't afford to put off adopting a Zero Trust posture. Notably, unauthorized access continues to be the leading cause of breaches. Questionable yet common security practices, like sharing or reusing passwords, gave bad actors an easy path to gaining access to personally identifiable information (PII), such as date of birth and Social Security Number information, which is found in one-third of all breaches. "For too long, usernames and passwords have been the backbone of providing people secure access to their digital lives. The findings in our identity breach report reveal that it's time for change," said Fran Rosch,CEO, ForgeRock. "The surge in breaches involving usernames and passwords at an astounding 450% clearly emphasizes the need to adopt a strong digital identity and access management solution that offers the ability to go passwordless. It also gives companies a much better chance at reducing data exposure, as well as lowering their reputational and financial risk."



Other key U.S. findings from this year's report include: Phishing (25%) and ransomware (17%) were the second and third most frequent causes of breaches.

The average cost of a breach in the U.S. increased to $8.64 million - the highest in the world.

Healthcare was the most targeted industry for the second year with the highest number of breaches.

Mega-breaches decreased but the total number of breaches increased to 930, up from 887 in 2019.

The technology sector paid the highest aggregate cost of recovery from breaches at $288 billion. Cybercriminals were more targeted in their quest to extort money in exchange for valuable information, honing in on specific industries in 2020.

In addition to U.S. data breaches, ForgeRock's Consumer Identity Breach report also highlights attacks in other regions around the world, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Singapore. For more information about ForgeRock or to download the full report and learn more about using IAM to protect consumer data visit www.ForgeRock.com. Methodology ForgeRock evaluated electronic data breaches in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia and Singapore affecting consumers that were reported between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. Only breaches with a known number of consumers or records were incorporated in the report. The breaches were further categorized by industry, type of data breached and type of attack. About ForgeRock ForgeRock, the leader in digital identity, delivers modern and comprehensive identity and access management solutions for consumers, employees and things to simply and safely access the connected world. Using ForgeRock, more than a thousand global customer organizations orchestrate, manage, and secure the complete lifecycle of identities from dynamic access controls, governance, APIs, and storing authoritative data - consumable in any cloud or hybrid environment. The company is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco, California, with offices around the world. For more information and free downloads, visit www.forgerock.com or follow ForgeRock on social media: Facebook (News - Alert) ForgeRock | Twitter (News - Alert) @ForgeRock | LinkedIn (News - Alert) ForgeRock. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005177/en/

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[June 07, 2021] Gore Range Capital Adds Dr. Richard D. Granstein to Advisory Board for Skin Health Investments

Gore Range Capital ("Gore Range"), a healthcare venture capital firm, has added Richard D. Granstein, MD, FAAD, to its Industry Advisory Board ("IAB") of Gore Range Capital Fund II ("Fund II"). Dr. Granstein joins nine other skin health leaders on the IAB. The IAB works with Gore Range Capital to source, diligence and support early-stage companies with innovative treatments and technologies for skin health. Ethan Rigel, Founding and Managing Partner of Gore Range Capital, said, "We are pleased to welcome another world-class skin health leader to our IAB. Dr. Granstein adds vast skin immunology expertise and additional industry leadership to our team." "Joining Gore Range Capital's IAB is a great opportunity to work with like-minded professionals who are dedicated to identifying and supporting new innovations in skin health that will improve patient care and outcomes," said Dr. Granstein. Dr. Granstein, a renowned, board-certified dermatologist and researcher, is Chairman of the Department of Dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine and Dermatologist-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. During a career spanning four decades, his research interests have centered on the regulation of immunity within the skin and the relationship of the skin immune system o the development of skin cancers. He was the first to demonstrate that immune cells within the epidermis (the upper layer of the skin) have an anatomic relationship with nerves and can be regulated by certain proteins produced by those nerves. His clinical interests include autoimmune disorders of the skin, skin cancer and psoriasis.



Dr. Granstein obtained his undergraduate education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Doctor of Medicine degree at the UCLA School of Medicine. After completing his internship in 1979, he trained in dermatology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, studied immunology and tumor biology at the National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research Facility and, subsequently, at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Granstein served on the faculty of the Department of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital before joining Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Granstein is on the Board of Directors of the American Skin Association and Chairs the Medical Advisory Board of the National Rosacea Foundation. He is the former Vice-President of the Society for Investigative Dermatology and is the President-elect of the Association of Professors of Dermatology. He has served as principal investigator for numerous research grants and trials.

About Gore Range Capital Gore Range Capital is a venture capital firm investing in early-stage healthcare businesses with a focus on skin health. The firm blends the hands-on approach of operationally focused private equity with the early-stage guidance needed in venture capital. Gore Range offers not just capital, but operational, clinical, and scientific expertise that leverages the team's deep industry relationships and its renowned industry advisory board. For more information, visit: https://www.gorerangecapital.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005619/en/

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[June 07, 2021] Harris County Increases Safety And Efficiency In Nearly 150 Public Buildings With Honeywell Technology

ATLANTA and HOUSTON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Harris County, Texas, the third most populous county in the U.S., is deploying a new, next-generation security system in its buildings that will help make them more efficient and easier to operate. The new Honeywell system replaces multiple, disparate systems by integrating access control, security cameras, alarms and monitoring across the county's nearly 150 buildings situated over 1,777 square miles in Houston and the surrounding areas. Texas-based security integrator, ESI Fire and Security Protection, worked with Harris County to identify its needs and implement a streamlined security platform using Honeywell's Pro-Watch Intelligent Command security management system to network video recorders, video cameras, thermal readers and thermal cameras. The new system provides detailed, real-time information about alarm events, access and safety across the county. "The security and well-being of the Harris County employees, visitors and residents is always a top priority," said retired Maj. Gen. Rick Noriega, interim executive director, Harris County Universal Services. "This project allowed us to improve our systems and gain better insights into the county's buildings to provide a safer environment. The solutions provided by Honeywell and ESI also better set the county up for the future  we can test and actively add technologies to address new needs with this flexible but scalable system." Before Honeywell's Pro-Watch Intelligent Command system, each county building used different security products that didn't talk to one another, creating an overly complicated network and increased work for employees. Immediate benefits for the county include: Saving taxpayer dollars through better analytics that reduce false alarms and help first responders.

Monitoring from a single central control station for improved situational awareness.

Creating healthier building environments by leveraging people-counting technologies and analytics to manage health and safety compliance, such as social distancing.

Streamlining systems to create operational efficiencies and save the county resources that can be redirected to other critical infrastructure or services. Harris County Universal Services is looking into deploying next-level biometrics solutions from IDEMIA to enhance access control at the courthouse. Using facial recognition, a camera mounted on the entrance turnstiles will recognize employees and frequent visitors, such as judges and lawyers, using data stored in the ProWatch system without the need to physically scan a badge or remove facial coverings. This frictionless access system will allow employees and visitors to enter the building in an efficient and secure manner. This system can also alert a precinct when a public park is reaching capacity and monitor building occupancy levels to comply with local health regulations. Harris County is actively testing and implementing new features that will add additional capabilities countywide. The upgrades are designed to proactively manage situations and respond faster when required. "Harris County lacked a holistic, real-time view into its various facilities with its previous systems," said James Humbert, business development manager, ESI. "We've partnered with the county and Honeywell to create positive change in just about every way the county operates by improving intelligence and transparency, reducing response times and helping to save taxpayers' dollars. We look forward to continuing to work with Harris County and Honeywell in creating an efficient and safe environment for residents and employees that is ready for the future." "Through a collaborative effort with the county and ESI teams, we created a more efficient and safer environment for people who work and visit Harris County public buildings," said Rick Koscinski, general manager, North America, Honeywell Commercial Security. "With a county as large as Harris County, it was no surprise that they had multiple, disconnected systems put in place over the years which limited efficiency and connectedness. Now the county has a fully customized solution that is built to evolve with its needs that will not only help increase safety and awareness but also create an improved building experience for its employees and building visitors." With a population of nearly five million people, Harris County employs more than 15,000 workers to support its residents with services including public safety, jails, law enforcement, courts, library services and licensing facilities. About Harris County Universal Services Harris County Universal Services is the solutions center for the departments and offices of Harris County. It designs, implements and maintains high-quality, innovative and cost-effective technology products and services for its customers. It provides comprehensive support through eight consumer divisions: Business Applications, Business Operations, Customer Service, Cybersecurity, Fleet Services, Information Technology Infrastructure, Program Delivery & Analytics and Public Safety Technology. To learn more, visit US.HarrisCountyTX.gov. About Honeywell Building Technologies Honeywell Building Technologies (HBT) is transforming the way every building operates to help improve the quality of life. We are a leading building controls company with operations in more than 75 countries supported by a global channel partner network. Commercial building owners and operators use our hardware, software and analytics to help create safe, efficient and productive facilities. Our solutions and services are used in more than 10 million buildings worldwide. Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom.







Media Contacts:





Honeywell Harris County Universal Services Megan McGovern Andi Atkinson (470) 449-6313 (713) 274-7861 Megan.McGovern@Honeywell.com Andi.Atkinson@us.hctx.net

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/harris-county-increases-safety-and-efficiency-in-nearly-150-public-buildings-with-honeywell-technology-301305793.html SOURCE Honeywell

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HRASimple Helps Employers Take Full Advantage of ICHRA

As group health insurance premiums continue to rise throughout Georgia and the nation, employers large and small are turning to an innovative new solution to lower their costs.

ICHRA (pronounced ICK-rah) stands for Individual Coverage HRA - a federal program first introduced in late 2018. ICHRA helps organizations offer an alternative way to provide health insurance. Many employers are reaping savings in the 10-20% range.

Employers are turning to HRASimple to help them set up and administer their own ICHRA. In addition to financial savings, these organizations are reducing the time and hassle of choosing and managing a traditional group health insurance plan.

HRASimple lets employers fund individual employee acconts with tax-free dollars. In addition, the powerful, web-based platform helps employees choose the individual health plan that's right for them and makes premium payments each month on their behalf. Employees use their tax-free funds to pay for qualified medical expenses.







According to Mark Mixer, CEO of HRASimple, "ICHRA is a powerful tool that employers should consider. HRASimple is helping organizations take full advantage of ICHRA benefits for employers and employees alike. It's a win-win."

About HRASimple

HRASimple is a powerful, web-based platform that enables employers to administer their own ICHRA. Organizations save on average 15% compared to group health insurance. HRASimple was the first in the nation to administer an ICHRA for an employer with more than 2,000 employees. HRASimple is helping Hamilton Health Care System save over $7.2M in 2021 (a 20% savings). HRASimple is a HealthOne company. HRASimple is a HealthOne company which is a founding member of the HRA Council (HRACouncil.org).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005530/en/
[June 07, 2021] Innovative Mass Spectrometer Designed for Small Molecule Analysis

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Small molecule researchers in academia, pharmaceutical, and biopharmaceutical industries can now use a new, intelligent mass spectrometer (MS) to reveal complex chemical structures with confidence, ease and experimental versatility. The Thermo Scientific Orbitrap IQ-X Tribrid mass spectrometer has been designed specifically for small-molecule structural elucidation of metabolites and unknown compounds. The wide range of applications include metabolomics and lipidomics research, leachable/extractable impurities identification and forensic toxicology. The MS system provides a fit-for-purpose, new AcquireX workflow enabled by the trusted Thermo Scientific Tribrid architecture to acquire high-quality data. Performance is enhanced by a new Met-IQ workflow that leverages real-time library search with on-the-fly intelligent MS2 spectral matching for decision-based triggering of MSn scan events, providing higher confidence for chemical annotation. "Along with the enhanced intelligence-based data acquisition, the Orbitrap IQ-X Tribrid MS also uses the new Auto-Ready ion source for automated, remote, and walkaway-calibration enabling the researcher to spend more time obtaining results and less time on instrument setup. Traditionally, ultra-high resolution and accurate mass calibration has been challenging and time consuming. The new system offers researchers higher sample throughput with increased ease-of-use," said Iain Mylchreest vice president, research and development, analytical instruments, Thermo Fisher Scientific.



The Orbitrap IQ-X Tribrid MS utilizes enhanced Thermo Scientific AcquireX workflows for increased sample throughput and ease-of-use. The MS system provides improved fragmentation for small-molecule analysis with options to add to the platform's experimental flexibility. An ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) option provides insights on the lipid double-bond localization, site specific glucuronidation, and complementary fragmentation for structure assignment while the 1,000,000 (1M) resolution option improves confidence for unknown analysis and fine isotope detection. Joshua Coon, professor, biomolecular chemistry and chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, said, "As a research laboratory, we are always looking to obtain innovative technology to advance our biomedical discoveries. The new Orbitrap IQ-X Tribrid MS provides a user-friendly workflow and allows us to carry out comprehensive analysis of small molecules, such as metabolites and lipids, enhancing our efforts to globally monitor these biomolecules in biological systems."

To find out more about the Thermo Scientific Orbitrap IQ-X Tribrid mass spectrometer, please visit www.thermofisher.com/OrbitrapIQ-X. Thermo Fisher Scientific will showcase its newest products, software solutions and collaborations in a company-hosted virtual event, "Innovation Summit: Shaping the Future of LC-MS in Life Science Together," from June 8-10, 2021. Register here to learn more. About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $30 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics and therapies or increasing productivity in their laboratories, we are here to support them. Our global team of more than 80,000 colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services and Patheon. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com. Media Contact Information:

Laura Bright

Thermo Fisher Scientific

+1 562-335-8318

laura.bright@thermofisher.com Janice Foley

BioStrata

+1 617-823-5555

jfoley@biostratamarketing.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/innovative-mass-spectrometer-designed-for-small-molecule-analysis-301306473.html SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific

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[June 07, 2021] ISPs, Carriers, And OTTs Are Already Benefitting From The Large Capacity Provided By Malbec, GlobeNet's New Cable

MIAMI, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GlobeNet announced that customers from Argentina, Colombia, and the United States have been activated on its new MALBEC submarine cable system. Customers can now enjoy the large capacity, high availability, and low latency rates this system provides. Malbec connects the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires, and is ready to support a future connection with Porto Alegre, in Brazil. This new system, which includes brand-new landing stations that are fully independent from previously existing ones, uses the most recent data transfer and submarine cable technology, allowing GlobeNet to provide 400 Gbps individual transport services between Argentina and the rest of the continent. The initial available capacity ofthe Malbec system is from 108 Tbps.



Malbec has an extension of 2,600 kilometers, which in addition to GlobeNet's existing network reach a total of 26,000 kilometers, connecting the main cities of the United States, Colombia, Venezuela, Bermuda, Brazil, and Argentina. Malbec interconnects GlobeNet's existing Points of Presence in Miami and New York directly to the new PoPs in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires.

Malbec allows direct access to the largest content providers over the Internet and the main traffic exchange points in the world for ISPs, Carriers, and OTTs in Latin America. Philippe Perrier, GlobeNet's CTO, stated: "The meticulous design of the new Malbec submarine cable is a result of four key elements to meet the future demands of the Internet market: Larger capacity

Independence from existing submarine routes

Resiliency to support critical-mission services

Reduction of the latency between Argentina and the rest of the world to improve the experience of Internet users". "Malbec is the testimony of our technical capacity, experience, and commitment with the development of a region where we have operated for the last 20 years. We are proud of being on the cutting edge of the digital transformation in the Americas," Eduardo Falzoni, the company's CEO, said. "Our new Malbec cable uses the most recent technology and is operated by one of the most specialized and renowned teams of professionals on the continent, ensuring our clients a world-class service," Fabio Laguado, GlobeNet's CCO, stated. This Project has won multiple awards worldwide, such as: Best Subsea Innovation and Best Americas Project, awarded by Capacity Media in 2020. Press Contact roger.melo@globenet.net View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/isps-carriers-and-otts-are-already-benefitting-from-the-large-capacity-provided-by-malbec-globenets-new-cable-301306256.html SOURCE GlobeNet

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[June 07, 2021] Kavaliro - A Leader in IT & Workforce Solutions Pivots During Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way companies are doing business. For Kavaliro, an award-winning professional services firm with offices across the United States, one of its takeaways of making it through these challenging times was learning how agile the company is ranging from its relationships with clients, ability to offer new services, and even how quickly internal employees were able to shift to remote work because Kavaliro's technology suites were already set up to be virtual; it all pointed to a truly agile team and product. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005467/en/ Kavaliro - an award-winning professional services firm with offerings across the United States. (Photo: Business Wire) Kavaliro's evolution results from the fact that no one client is the same and the company can custom tailor service offerings to help clients solve problems. Sales teams started working closer than ever to ensure services were exactly what clients needed, from workforce augmentation to software implementations to government warfighter support. This more unified workforce quadrupled Kavaliro's reach and facilitated impactful changes, such as a new, robust website, new office spaces, a growing remote workforce and investments in staff and technologies that support this proliferation. Buckling down with a priority on supporting current customers during the pandemic, this created unity within internal teams as much as the ongoing assurance with clients that has placed Kavaliro on track for all-time highs in revenue. "We could not be more excited about the launch of our new website. It accurately reflects the evolution of our brand over the last few years with a true sense of our updated capabilities. Throughout all this growth, our focus remains on creating exceptional client relationships through our delivery teams and employees. Working with Big Vision was a fantastic experience as we feel they perfectly captured the positive momentum and the additional service offerings Kavaliro now provides. We always kep our eyes towards the future and feel like our true growth and progression as an organization is still in front of us," says Bill Peppler, Kavaliro's Chief Operating Officer.



As Kavaliro has diversified service offerings to truly support the needs of its clients, the company has built several new divisions within our organization, which include: Project Services Division - handles short to long term projects from start to finish for commercial partners; if it's a "move," "add," or "change," Kavaliro has the project managers and technicians to cover it. The company proudly supported healthcare organizations with Covid testing and vaccination site set ups through this division.

- handles short to long term projects from start to finish for commercial partners; if it's a "move," "add," or "change," Kavaliro has the project managers and technicians to cover it. The company proudly supported healthcare organizations with Covid testing and vaccination site set ups through this division. Managed Services Division - manages ongoing care for outside clients, specifically with their standard technical support and office systems/networks.

- manages ongoing care for outside clients, specifically with their standard technical support and office systems/networks. Salesforce - offering best-in-class culture and client relationship building into the Salesforce ecosystem with a practice focused on CPQ and billing implementations, as well as managed service offerings within Salesforce tools.

- offering best-in-class culture and client relationship building into the Salesforce ecosystem with a practice focused on CPQ and billing implementations, as well as managed service offerings within Salesforce tools. Government Services Division - specializes in federal customers within IT and Intelligence contract vehicles, working to place cleared professionals in secure facilities to support the United States Department of Defense. This division fueled the establishment of Kavaliro's newest office in Hawaii. The core of Kavaliro's business is putting the right people in the right jobs, and that includes internally within the organization. The company is always seeking recruiting and sales talent to continue to represent the organization in its workforce solutions division. In addition, Kavaliro is recruiting top tier IT talent with systems administration, federally regulated cybersecurity compliance testing and preparation, Salesforce CPQ & Billing, and Salesforce Service Cloud.

"The ongoing success of our client facing teams does not happen without our back-office support staff in payroll, accounting, finance, HR and compliance as well," says Peppler. In January 2020, Kavaliro moved into its new office space, located in the Central Florida Research Park, adjacent to the University of Central Florida, the nation's largest public university. The custom build-out features executive offices, corporate operations team, back-office support personnel, and its largest workforce solutions team. In addition, the Managed Services Division, Salesforce Practice and Government Services Division use it as a home base for in-person meetings and events. "We wanted to create a space that would provide a positive and productive environment for a diverse group of workers. We focused on as much natural light as possible with sprawling floor to ceiling windows in the main shared spaces and office windows in all perimeter offices. We installed moveable standing desks in our center "pit" area and "drift" desks that stay unassigned for when people need to change their perspective, literally or figuratively. The space reflects Kavaliro's cutting-edge brand with open work areas, standing desks, and multiple employee wellness activities. It's a truly beautiful space that we are proud to provide our team and share with our clients," says Peppler. For more information, visit www.Kavaliro.com. About Kavaliro: Kavaliro is an award-winning professional services firm with offerings across the United States. Founded in Orlando in 2010, they deliver professional, technical and workforce solutions with agility, assurance and authenticity within the government and commercial sectors. People are at the heart of their business, whether clients, consultants or internal employees. Kavaliro excels at providing clients with integrated tailormade solutions, identifying and connecting only the most qualified professionals to create solutions for companies critical projects. To ensure the ongoing success of all types of businesses Kavaliro expanded their service offerings over the years to include Managed IT Services, Project Solutions and Delivery, and Salesforce CPQ & Billing Implementations. For more information visit www.kavaliro.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005467/en/

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[June 07, 2021] LexaGene Sells a MiQLab System to Denver Animal Emergency

BEVERLY, Mass., June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LexaGene Holdings, Inc., (OTCQB: LXXGF; TSX-V: LXG) (the Company), a molecular diagnostics company that develops fully automated rapid pathogen detection systems, is pleased to announce Denver Animal Emergency has provided LexaGene a purchase order for a MiQLab System.

Dr. Andrew Pierce, Owner and Medical Director of Denver Animal Emergency in North Carolina, states, We have been using LexaGenes MiQLab for several months as part of their Early Access Program. Weve compared the accuracy of the MiQLab to results generated by culture and there was such high concordance, we have found that we are running MiQLab more often than we are sending samples out for culture. Dr. Andrew Pierce went on to say, The MiQLab identifies not just the most common pathogens, but also many common antimicrobial resistance factors. Knowing this information soon after seeing the animal has boosted our confidence that our prescribed therapies will effectively treat the infection, even if it is found to be resistant to some antibiotics. Our veterinarians have enjoyed using it so much, and our clients are benefiting with better care, so it was an easy decision to purchase the system. A testimonial from Dr. Pierce is available HERE. Dr. Jack Regan, LexaGenes Founder and CEO comments, Im pleased that Dr. Pierce and his team at Denver Animal Emergency has decided to purchase the MiQLab System. Dr. Pierce is sending a strong message to his patients that the benefits of point-of-care diagnostics, time to result and high concordance will lead to improved animal care and better medical outcoms for our companion animals. This is exactly why LexaGene is in veterinary health and why we aim to change the way veterinary diagnostics are done. No longer is it necessary to wait days for culture when you can have such a powerful point of care diagnostic tool like the MiQLab.



Dr. Jack Regan went on to say, Im excited to report that our newly hired veterinary, sales representatives are pursuing many promising leads throughout their territories. Their enthusiasm continues to grow as veterinarians are expressing their desire for in-hospital diagnostics. We look forward to announcing more veterinary sales soon. To be added to the LexaGene email list, please subscribe on the Company website.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Dr. Jack Regan

Chief Executive Officer & Chairman For inquiries: 800.215.1824 | ir@lexagene.com or info@lexagene.com About LexaGene Holdings Inc.

LexaGene is a molecular diagnostics company that develops molecular diagnostic systems for pathogen detection and genetic testing for other molecular markers for on-site rapid testing in veterinary diagnostics, food safety and for use in open-access markets such as clinical research, agricultural testing and biodefense. End-users simply need to collect a sample, load it onto the instrument with a sample preparation cartridge, enter sample ID and press go. The MiQLab system delivers excellent sensitivity, specificity, and breadth of detection and can return results in approximately two hours. The unique open-access feature is designed for custom testing so that end-users can load their own real-time PCR assays onto the instrument to target any genetic target of interest. About Denver Emergency Hospital

Denver Animal Emergency, located in Denver, North Carolina is Lincoln Countys only 24/7 Emergency and Critical Care animal hospital. Denver Animal Emergency offers emergency care, overnight hospitalization, advanced diagnostics, emergency surgery and much more. The hospital employs close to 30 employees and operates 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, including holidays. The hospital was established by Dr. Andrew Pierce in 2016 to better serve the communitys emergency animal needs and has seen tremendous growth throughout its first 5 years. The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. 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 contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors -- including the availability of funds, the results of financing efforts, the success of technology development efforts, the cost to procure critical parts, performance of the instrument, market acceptance of the technology, regulatory acceptance, and licensing issues -- that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations as disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.



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[June 07, 2021] Lux Speed, an Anacostia Ventures Investment, Secures a $50 Million Corporate Credit Facility with CSC Leasing

PALM BEACH, Fla., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lux Speed, a Florida-based fiber and managed Wi-Fi provider announces a credit line of fifty million dollars with CSC Leasing. Anacostia Ventures lead the discussions and ultimately secured the line for Lux Speed. "CSC is a premier capital partner and a perfect fit for Lux Speed's advanced offering" said Steve Canton, Senior Partner at Anacostia Ventures. "The pandemic has shed light on the importance of amenities in the multi-family, single-family, assisted living, and student housing sectors", said Michael Bertamini, Lux Speed acting CEO. "The largest barrier to advanced technology is traditionally the capital necessary to upgrade infrastructure. This credit facility will permit Lux Speed to continue expansion without capital restraints". "We have a fifteen-year relationship with the leadership team at Lux Speed and Anacostia Ventures" said John Corey, CEO at CSC Leasing. "They've demonstrated a track record of being honest, thought leaders, who are results oriented. We are very excited about this partnership and the long term benefits for both our respective companies." Lux Speed continues its expansion nationally with state-of-the-art echnology, first class customer results, and a passion to equal the broadband playing field coast-to-coast.



About Lux Speed Lux Speed was founded on the basic principle that everyone deserves reliable, high speed internet, without exhausting excuses. Lux Speed is the gold standard for fiber deployments, managed WIFI, and gigabit internet services for the multi-family, single-family, assisted living, and student housing sectors. With over 5,500 national providers, Lux Speed is becoming the premier alternative to traditional cable providers.

About Anacostia Ventures Anacostia Ventures is a private investment firm located in South Florida. Anacostia Ventures invests in companies that hold promise, with the right tools, support, and cooperative effort will excel. Anacostia Ventures mission is to bring opportunities and success to their portfolio companies. Leaders at Anacostia Ventures are trail blazers that pave the way for employees, customers, and shareholders success. Further information is available at www.anacostiavc.com. About CSC Leasing CSC was founded as a family business. CSC believes (added s) in upholding relationships throughout the highs and lows of operating cycles and growing a business. Today, CSC supports inventive, well-run companies that are growingeven when experiencing challenges or setbacks. Having started selling door to door, CSC values (added s) face-to-face connections with clients. As a result, CSC has strong financial partner relationships. For CSC, it's about buildingand preservinglong-term, mutually beneficial relationships. CONTACT: Tim Woods, tw@luxspeed.io, 954-900-9100 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lux-speed-an-anacostia-ventures-investment-secures-a-50-million-corporate-credit-facility-with-csc-leasing-301306544.html SOURCE Lux Speed

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 22:13:22|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Monday urged the United States to cut off any form of official exchanges and military contact with China's Taiwan.

"We urge the United States to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques and appropriately handle Taiwan-related issues," said Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. Ma was commenting on the recent visit of three U.S. senators to Taiwan.

In the face of a worsening COVID-19 epidemic, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority has ignored the health and safety of people in Taiwan and stirred up trouble across the Taiwan Strait, Ma said.

The DPP authority's indifference to Taiwan people's lives and wellbeing and its shameless political manipulation have again exposed its nature of seeking "Taiwan independence," he added. Enditem
[June 07, 2021] The MolinaCares Accord Donates $150,000 to Expand Health Access in Rural Communities in South Carolina

The MolinaCares Accord ("MolinaCares"), in collaboration with Molina Healthcare of South Carolina ("Molina"), has partnered with the Palmetto Project to expand in-person health insurance assistance with an investment of $150,000. The donation will increase access to care and reduce racial health disparities by funding education for rural, underinsured communities on ways to obtain affordable health insurance coverage. "We look forward to fostering this collaborative relationship with the Palmetto Project to empower people and families with the resources and knowledge they need to live healthy lives," said Dora Wilson, plan president of Molina Healthcare of South Carolina. "The security and peace of mind that comes with having health insurance to access preventive care and find a medical home helps establish the building blocks of health literacy, which in turn advances health equity." With MolinaCares' funds, the Palmetto Project's Insure SC initiative will expand into rural communities of Beaufort, Jasper, and Hampton counties, as well as the surrounding areas. More licensed insuranceagents will provide guidance on how to enroll in Medicaid, Medicare, and Marketplace plans and access long-term acute care. The agents will meet people where they are - at reachable sites such as local federally qualified health centers, libraries, drug and alcohol treatment centers, and more. People who may fall into coverage gaps will be connected to important resources such as health centers, free clinics, and prescription support.



"This is the perfect opportunity to expand access to actionable information about affordable coverage options for the hard-working residents of the Palmetto State, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic, which resulted in thousands of South Carolinians losing employer-sponsored insurance," said Steve Skardon, executive director of the Palmetto Project. "For too long, residents in these rural counties have lacked access to local, in-person enrollment services for health insurance, which will now change with MolinaCares' investment in our organization." For more than 35 years, the Palmetto Project has been working to make sure every South Carolinian has access to affordable, quality health care. Anyone can call the Palmetto Project at (888) 998-4646 for assistance with insurance coverage needs. Assistance is available in English and Spanish.

About The MolinaCares Accord Established by Molina Healthcare, Inc., The MolinaCares Accord oversees a community investment platform created to improve the health and well-being of disadvantaged populations by funding meaningful, measurable, and innovative programs and solutions that improve health, life, and living in local communities. The MolinaCares Accord funds such measures through The Molina Healthcare Charitable Foundation Inc., a 501(c)(3) established in 2020 by Molina Healthcare, Inc. About Molina Healthcare of South Carolina Molina Healthcare of South Carolina has been providing government-funded health care since 2013. The Company serves members through Medicaid, Marketplace, Medicare, and Medicare-Medicaid (Duals) health programs throughout South Carolina. Through its locally operated health plans, Molina Healthcare, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company, served approximately 4.6 million members as of March 31, 2021. For more information about Molina Healthcare of South Carolina, visit MolinaHealthcare.com. About the Palmetto Project Palmetto Project is a statewide nonprofit organization whose mission is to identify innovative approaches to social and economic challenges facing South Carolina. Through special partnerships with governments, businesses, civic groups, schools, and religious organizations, Palmetto Project strives to bring a fresh entrepreneurial spirit to the challenge of building successful communities in a great state. For more information, call (843) 577-4122 or visit PalmettoProject.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005681/en/

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[June 07, 2021] North American Helium Provides Corporate and Operational Update

North American Helium Inc. ("NAH" or the "Company") today provides a corporate and operational update on recent substantial achievements by the Company. Commenting on today's announcement, Mr. Nicholas Snyder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, "I'd like to congratulate our team on the completion and successful start-up of the Battle Creek helium plant. Bringing a facility like this online ahead of schedule and under budget despite numerous challenges from the global pandemic is a significant achievement. Like our first plant at Cypress, the offtake from the Battle Creek facility has been pre-sold on long-term contracts, with a Tier 1 global industrial gas company as the anchor customer. "The security and sustainability of supply chains for critical inputs like helium are now in the forefront for many stakeholders, especially semiconductor manufacturers who represent the fastest growing segment of global helium demand. With production of helium from legacy hydrocarbon projects in decline and major initiatives underway to grow domestic semiconductor manufacturing, North America is unfortunately now on a path to become a net importer of helium in the coming years. With global helium supply shifting to less geopolitically secure regions, it has never been more important to responsibly develop new sustainable sources of helium supply in the US and Canada that are capable of reliable long-term production like our Battle Creek facility. "New sources of helium production must start with a discovery. As a result of three major global helium shortages over the past 15 years, a number of smaller helium fields discovered by oil and gas explorers in the 1950s and 1960s have been produced, but these fields are now depleted. New discoveries are needed, and our Company is proud to be the leading explorer, leveraging seismic data from past oil and gas exploration efforts to economically explore for, discover, and develop new helium sources from deep fields of nitrogen gas, which have a much smaller emissions footprint than previous helium production as a hydrocarbon byproduct. We've come a long way in a short period of time, but I'm excited to say this is only just the beginning." Continued Expansion of Helium Focused Land Position NAH has been able to build a world class land position in what the Company believes is the most economic jurisdiction in the world for new helium exploration and discovery, Saskatchewan, Canada. Politically safe, with a reliable regulatory environment, segregated mineral rights for helium, and road and power infrastructure already in place, Saskatchewan provides the ideal operating and business environment. The Company now holds over five million contiguous acres in Saskatchewan and approximately 63,000 acres in the US. NAH was the first company to recognize the need for large scale exploration for new helium sources from nitrogen fields and has aggressively leveraged its proprietary exploration data and experience to identify and secure the most promising acreage over the past eight years. This irreplaceable asset base provides a platform for the Company to sustainably grow production and reserves for decades. Most Active Helium Exploration and Drilling Company - Making New Discoveries Since inception, NAH has been the most active helium driller globally, with 28 exploration and development wells drilled for non-hydrocarbon helium targets. The Company has recently made a new helium discovery in the Cypress West area of Saskatchewan and is moving towards building a third helium production facility. NAH qualifies new discoveries as tested accumulations of gas that would lead to an economic outcome validated by a third-party reserve evaluator. Unstimulated well flow rates in this new field are as follows: Table 1: Three-day Flow Test Data from Cypress West Discovery







Location Flow Rate (MMcf/d) Pressure (kPa) 16-21-5-27W3M 7.0 4000 2-35-5-27W3M (Zone 1) 6.0 2300 2-35-5-27W3M (Zone 2) 8.5 9000 16-35-5-27W3M 5.4 5800 Note: MMcf/d is million cubic feet per day.

Helium content in the tested wells ranges from 0.45% to 0.75% in a bulk gas stream of > 95% nitrogen. These results are consistent with previous NAH discoveries, allowing for long-term helium production with a small environmental footprint and a dramatically lower emissions profile than existing helium production from fields of primarily methane or CO2 gas. Due to higher flow rates, higher pressure, and larger amounts of gas-in-place, these reservoirs have better economics than smaller, shallower, helium fields with higher helium content. However, the most significant benefit of having a much larger amount of bulk gas at higher pressure, is that these fields are better suited to provide the type of reliable, long-term production industry needs. Commenting on NAH's exploration efforts, Mr. Marlon McDougall, President and Chief Operating Officer stated, "The cornerstone of any successful exploration program is having a large contiguous land position to build from. We have identified greater than 130 new exploration opportunities based on almost 20,000 km of trade 2D seismic data we now have in-house, as well as proprietary and third-party 3D seismic data. This allows us to build a sustainable, growing supply base and an ability to contribute meaningfully to the North American helium economy." The Company plans to continue to have an active upstream capital investment program in 2021, advancing exploration and development work with ongoing seismic acquisition expected to result in the drilling of 10-15 additional wells through Q1 2022. Helium Production The Company recently commissioned and started production at its Battle Creek helium purification facility, the largest of its kind in Canada. Located near Consul, Saskatchewan, this is the Company's second purification facility, and it was completed three months ahead of schedule and under budget despite an ongoing global pandemic. Combined with the Company's first facility, total helium productive capacity is now approximately 60 million cubic feet per year (MMcf/y). A critical Company milestone has been achieved with the commencement of helium sales from Battle Creek. Sustainable cash flow from operations is now at a level that is anticipated to allow NAH to self-fund exploration and development drilling programs going forward. Engineering and design for the next plant at Cypress West is well under way and we expect production from this discovery to come online in 2022. Green Helium Supply Helium fields in Saskatchewan are found predominantly in nitrogen charged reservoirs. Nitrogen is a safe and inert gas that comprises approximately 78% of the earth's atmosphere. Based on the full stream of gas produced, NAH estimates that its helium production will result in ~99% less CO 2 equivalent emissions compared with current global sources of helium from hydrocarbon projects. In addition to less direct emissions from the produced gas stream, the high-pressure in the deeper fields NAH is targeting means less energy is required in processing and purification. Lower operating costs combined with not needing pipelines to deliver hydrocarbons gives nitrogen-based helium production facilities a significant economic advantage in addition to a much smaller environmental footprint. Logistics and Marketing The Company has been actively engaged in the logistics and marketing component of the helium supply chain for several years, establishing relationships, negotiating helium supply contracts, selling helium in the spot market, and gaining a clear understanding of how to provide the best total value to our offtake customers. In February of this year, Mr. Brad Neuls joined NAH as Marketing and Logistics Manager and will also support the team in operations and exploitation. Brad most recently held the position of Senior Business Development Engineer and has extensive experience in commodity marketing, operations, and engineering in roles at intermediate and senior Canadian energy companies. NAH recently purchased its own fleet of helium transportation trailers and possesses the logistical capability and relationships to ship helium direct to end-user customers anywhere in the world. ABOUT HELIUM Helium is an inert gas produced by the decay of uranium and thorium that can be trapped in underground reservoirs proximal to the source. Helium is vital in numerous high technology applications where there is often no substitute due to a combination of helium being chemically inert as well as its other unique physical properties. Helium's low boiling point makes it vital for the pressurization and purging of liquid fuels in rockets for the rapidly growing space exploration industry. Helium demand has been growing in semiconductor manufacturing due to its small molecular size and high heat capacity. Liquid helium is used extensively in MRI machines and other cryogenic applications for superconductors. The rapid advancement of small modular reactors (SMRs) for low carbon distributed power generation and direct hydrogen production are likely to be a significant demand driver in the future, as helium's heat capacity and lack of radioactive isotopes make it the ideal, safe, and clean coolant. ABOUT NORTH AMERICAN HELIUM INC. Founded in 2013, North American Helium is a Canadian-based private helium exploration and production company. NAH is the only company to discover, develop, and bring onto production a new source of helium in North America in over 40 years. NAH has made four new discoveries of economically viable helium fields, with additional successful exploration wells that have flow tested high-rate helium/nitrogen gas streams in fields still under evaluation for economic potential. The company has acquired rights to explore for and produce helium on a land base of over five million contiguous acres, primarily in Saskatchewan, Canada and Utah, USA. The Company recently built and commenced production at Canada's largest helium purification facility. The company's mission is to support cutting-edge science and industry in North America by meeting the growing demand for helium with reliable, long-term, sustainable sources of production to replace declining helium supply from legacy hydrocarbon projects. For more information please visit: https://nahelium.com FOLLOW US: Twitter (News - Alert) : @NAHelium LinkedIn (News - Alert) : North American Helium LinkedIn Note: All financial figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdictions in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Any offering made will be pursuant to available prospectus exemptions and restricted to persons to whom the securities may be sold in accordance with the laws of such jurisdictions, and by persons permitted to sell the securities in accordance with the laws of such jurisdictions. Legal Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are indicated expectations or intentions. Growth depends on several factors including market conditions. Investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. It is not our policy to update forward looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005241/en/

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OIF Thought Leaders to Provide Updates on Co-Packaging, 400ZR, Electrical Data Rates and Transport SDN Projects at Global Conferences

OIF thought leaders will share insight into OIF's interoperability work in groundbreaking technologies at some of the world's largest global communications conferences: OFC 2021, Optinet China 2021 and China Fiber Connect Forum 2021.

OIF's dynamic membership has brought about significant advances in the industry through its interoperability work.

"For more than 20 years, we've led the way for network operators and system, component and test equipment vendors to collaborate on, and test the interoperability of the electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry. Our members continue the path forward by sharing their expertise and OIF project updates at three global conferences this month," said Ian Betty, OIF Board President, Ciena.

OFC 2021 Panels - Virtual

"Electrical Data Rates Keep Pushing Forward: An OIF Update"

Tuesday, June 08, 2021 - 11:00-12:00 PDT

A panel of industry experts and OIF members will provide an update on OIF's CEI-112G and CEI-224G development work, including discussion and debate of 224G modulations.

Moderator: Nathan Tracy, OIF VP of Marketing, TE Connectivity

Panelists: David Stauffer, OIF Physical & Link Layer Working Group Chair, Kandou Bus SA; Gary Nicholl, OIF Secetary/Treasurer, Cisco; Cathy Liu, Broadcom Inc.; Mike Li, OIF Board Member, Intel (News - Alert) and Thananya Baldwin, Keysight Technologies







OIF Speaker: Mark Filer, OIF Board Member, Microsoft (News - Alert)

"400ZR Deployment and What's Next: An OIF Update"

Friday, June 11, 2021 - 11:30-13:00 PDT

A panel of industry experts will provide an update to the state of the 400G coherent transmission ecosystem. They will provide an update for 400ZR deployment and the status of ongoing OIF projects that are intended to accelerate the deployment of optical networking equipment. A panel discussion including representatives of the DSP, optics, equipment, and end-user communities will ensure this will be a lively discussion.

Moderator: Richard Ward , OIF Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair - PLL, Intel

, OIF Market Awareness & Education Committee Co-Chair - PLL, Intel Panelists: Ian Betty, OIF President, Ciena; Josef Berger, Marvell (News - Alert) ; Tom Williams, Cisco; Paul Brooks, Viavi Solutions

Optinet China 2021 - Beijing

"Overview of OIF Transport SDN Projects"

Wednesday, June 16, 2021 - 11:50-12:10 China Standard Time

During this session, an OIF expert will discuss OIF's Transport SDN projects and the 2020 Transport SDN API Interop (News - Alert) Demonstration, where operator-defined use cases and deployment scenarios for multi-vendor Layer 0 and Layer 1 networks were tested in the Telefonica Madrid lab using the ONF T-API 2.1.3 and OpenConfig device APIs for interoperability between devices, SDN controllers and orchestrators.

Presenter: Hu Qian, OIF Representative, Senior Engineer, Optical Communication Research Center of China Telecom (News - Alert) Beijing Research Institute

China Fiber Connect Forum 2021 - Suzhou

"Standardization for the Co-packaging of Photonics and Electronics"

Thursday, June 24, 2021 - Time TBD

OIF has been studying the co-packaging of ASICs with optical and electrical transceivers within its Co-Packaging Framework Project. During this session, an OIF expert will define co-packaging, its' unique challenges, and describe OIF activities to address multi-vendor interoperability for co-packaging.

Presenter: Jeff Hutchins, OIF Physical & Link Layer Working Group - Co-Packaging Vice Chair, Ranovus

About OIF

OIF is where the optical networking industry's interoperability work gets done. Building on more than 20 years of effecting forward change in the industry, OIF represents the dynamic ecosystem of 100+ industry leading network operators, system vendors, component vendors and test equipment vendors collaborating to develop interoperable electrical, optical and control solutions that directly impact the industry's ecosystem and facilitate global connectivity in the open network world. Connect with OIF at @OIForum, on LinkedIn and at http://www.oiforum.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005431/en/
[June 07, 2021] Pay Governance Survey Indicates UK and EU Companies Overwhelmingly Lead US Companies in ESG Inclusion in Incentive Compensation Plans

According to a recent comprehensive survey by Pay Governance, a major board-level executive compensation advisory firm, nearly all U.K. and EU companies surveyed included environmental, social and corporate governance metrics in their incentive compensation plans, compared to less than one-fourth of U.S. companies surveyed. In addition, U.K. and EU companies had a much higher rate of ESG inclusion in long-term incentive plans. Pay Governance's study was developed to determine if companies are responding to the recent attention to ESG and, if so, whether it is resulting in a change in the design of incentive compensation plans. Some 90 percent of the 30 U.K. and EU companies said they included ESG metrics in their incentive compensation plans. One U.K./EU company that did not include ESG metrics in their 2020 incentives disclosed to its shareholders that ESG metrics would be included in both the 2021 annual and long-term incentives. The research revealed that 89 percent of the U.K./EU companies included ESG metrics in the annual incentive and 41 percent in the long-term incentive. By contrast, U.S. companies surveyed indcate that 21 of the 95 participating companies (22 percent) included ESG metrics in their 2020 incentive compensation plans. Of the companies including ESG metrics in incentive plans, 95 percent included them in the annual incentive and 5 percent included them in the long-term incentive.



"Our research confirmed that U.K. and EU companies are well ahead of the U.S. in the inclusion of ESG metrics in incentive plans, and their approach to measuring and rewarding ESG achievements could be a harbinger of strategies used by U.S. companies over the next several years," said Pay Governance Managing Partner Lane Ringlee. Further, as Pay Governance Partner John Ellerman suggests, once adopted by U.S. companies, it will be difficult to turn back.

"Many U.S. companies are conducting their materiality assessments to select the metrics and goals that will have the greatest impact on the company's long-term performance. Thus, as noted in our March Viewpoint newsletter, we continue to believe many [U.S.] companies will use 2021 as a 'launching pad' for finalizing and rolling out ESG metrics in 2022 incentive plans," he said. Pay Governance LLC is an independent consulting firm focused on delivering advisory services to compensation committees. The consultancy also advises the management of companies in situations in which the firm does not serve as the independent committee advisor. Pay Governance has locations throughout the United States in New York, Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Cleveland, St. Petersburg, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The firm also has strategic affiliate relationships with Pay Governance Japan and Pay Governance Korea. For more information, visit www.paygovernance.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005154/en/

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[June 07, 2021] PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev Takes Part in Panel Session 'The Transformation of Business to Spur Economic Growth' at SPIEF 2021

SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev took part in a panel session at the 2021 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum called "The Transformation of Business to Spur Economic Growth". The other participants in the session were Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, the Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates; Pavel Grachev, CEO of Polyus; Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board of SIBUR Holding; Dmitry Sedov, Co-Chairman of Goldman Sachs Russia; Kirill Tuishev, Managing Director of BCG; Mikhail Shamolin, President of Segezha Group; Ksenia Sosnina, General Director of Ilim Group; Dmitry Konyaev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Uralchem; and Yakov Sergienko, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company. In starting the discussion, the moderator, EM Chairman Tom Blackwell, asked Minister Bin Touq Al Marri if, in his opinion, the pandemic had provided an impetus for the transformation of business. "The COVID-19 epidemic has played an important role in digitalisation, speeding it up a great deal in both public and private structures. Of course, the economy  both retail and other industries  is now facing a variety of challenges. But the most important thing is to help industries transform. I took office on 15 July last year, in the middle of the pandemic. It was a very inauspicious moment to be appointed as a member of the government. However, we were able to look at the situation from the outside, to get a sense of what to do next. In one month, we developed a plan for economic recovery and restoration, and, again, digitalisation played an important role in it," said Minister Bin Touq Al Marri. The moderator noted it is not necessary these days to be a fashionable company in a new economy or to establish an ecosystem in order to develop a successful business. "This has been proven by companies from traditional industries that have been able to undertake a profound transformation and become national or even global champions in their sectors. Programmes to improve the efficiency and productivity of large companies can bring them billions of dollars in profit, which will be used as a source of funds for long-term investment, increased household incomes and tax revenues," said Mr Blackwell. As an example of business transformation through large-scale investments, in terms of both their size and their impact, he cited PhosAgro, while addressing the Company's CEO with a question about the problems the Company had to solve along the way. "PhosAgro turns 20 this year. We have come a longway, and we are engaged in an ongoing transformation of our business processes and production facilities. Since the founding of the Company in 2001, we have increased the production of our main products threefold. The number of grades of fertilizers that the Company produces has increased more than tenfold, from 5 to 53, and labour productivity, calculated in tonnes of mineral fertilizer produced per employee, has increased sevenfold," said Mr Guryev, PhosAgro's CEO and the head of the Russian Fertilizer Producers Association.



According to Mr Guryev, PhosAgro is now customer-focused, supplying eco-efficient mineral fertilizers to meet the specific needs of farmers in 102 countries around the world with the help of the Company's digital agro-services. "At the same time, we now offer all our skills, all the best technologies that are available in the market to Russian agricultural producers  our primary customers  and they are more than in demand; we are the leader in terms of the total volume of fertilizers supplied to agribusiness in the Russian Federation," said PhosAgro's CEO.

"We are developing our IT platform and have created a digital agricultural calculator for our customers. We are constantly working on production costs and on our product lines. We are collaborating with Innopraktika to create new lines of bioadditives to make fertilizers more effective, increasing yields by an additional 20%30%", said Mr Guryev. Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board of SIBUR Holding, said that the transformation of his company's business took considerably longer than a decade. "SIBUR has historically been a company that has processed by-products of oil and gas production and has mainly sold energy products  that is, products that are used as energy. Our transformation has consisted in the construction of new petrochemical capacities, leaving the energy segment behind in favour of the production of synthetic materials and petrochemicals," said Mr Konov. Among the main areas of transformation, SIBUR's Management Board Chairman singled out construction and the implementation of major investment projects, as well as the shuttering and sale of those assets that the company believed had little chance of developing, and the ability to carry out large investment projects on budget and on time. The CEO of Polyus, Mr Grachev, noted that his company had not singled out digitalisation as a separate focus, saying that it is instead part of a larger transformation process, a set of projects and subprojects united by one goal and under a single umbrella led by the vice president. "This is a big part of our entire business; its importance is growing. The budget is growing: last year we spent about USD 50 million; this year, USD 80 million. From isolated initiatives, our transformation has turned into an integral part of our ongoing business," said Mr Grachev. About PhosAgro PhosAgro (www.phosagro.com) is one of the world's leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers in terms of production volumes of phosphate-based fertilizers and high-grade phosphate rock with a P 2 O 5 content of 39% and higher. PhosAgro's environmentally friendly fertilizers stand out for their high efficiency, and they do not lead to the contamination of soils with heavy metals. The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe (by total combined capacity for DAP/MAP/NP/NPK/NPS), the largest producer of high-grade phosphate rock with a P 2 O 5 content of 39%, a top-three producer of MAP/DAP globally, one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP) in Europe, and the only producer in Russia, and Russia's only producer of nepheline concentrate (according to the RAFP). PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, more than 50 grades of fertilizers, feed phosphates, ammonia, and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by customers in over 100 countries spanning all of the world's inhabited continents. The Company's priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin America, Europe and Asia. PhosAgro's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and global depositary receipts (GDRs) for shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (under the ticker PHOR). Since 1 June 2016, the Company's GDRs have been included in the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/phosagro-ceo-andrey-guryev-takes-part-in-panel-session-the-transformation-of-business-to-spur-economic-growth-at-spief-2021-301306925.html SOURCE PhosAgro

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[June 07, 2021] Quorum Software Completes Acquisition of TietoEVRY's Oil and Gas Software Business

Quorum Software (Quorum), a Thoma Bravo portfolio company and the global software leader dedicated to the energy industry, today announced the closing of the previously reported acquisition of TietoEVRY's Oil and Gas software business. This transaction includes Energy Components solutions for hydrocarbon accounting and management and DaWinci solutions for personnel and materials logistics. Earlier this year, Quorum merged with Aucerna, a globally trusted provider of integrated planning, execution, and reserves software for the energy industry. Combining Quorum, Aucerna, and TietoEVRY's Oil and Gas software business creates the global leader in software for onnecting people, information, and energy.



"Energy Components and DaWinci solutions are international standards in the energy industry, and the talented employees who support them are valuable additions to our team," said Gene Austin, CEO of Quorum Software. "Together, we offer a complete set of solutions in lockstep with our customers. Our vision for the future, coming off of both of these transactions, is to provide the most robust set of cloud-first applications for the global energy ecosystem." The newly combined company will operate as Quorum Software. The transactions, both complete as of today, will empower Quorum to connect operations to the boardroom and deliver on customer priorities to automate critical workflows, integrate data across the organization, and drive intelligent business insights.

Today, Quorum serves more than 1,800 energy customers of all sizes, from startups to supermajors, across 55 countries. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Quorum Software will have offices throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific. Quorum will continue to have a significant presence in Calgary, Alberta, the headquarters of Aucerna, and in Norway, the business headquarters of Energy Components and DaWinci. About Quorum Software Quorum Software connects people and information across the energy value chain. Twenty years ago, we built the first software for gas plant accountants. Pipeline operators came next, followed by land administrators, pumpers, and planners. Since 1999, Quorum has helped thousands of energy workers with business workflows that optimize profitability and growth. Our vision for the future connects the global energy ecosystem through cloud-first software, data standards, and integration. The trusted source of decision-ready data for 1,800+ companies, Quorum Software makes the essential connections that let us work better together in the connected energy workplace. For more information, visit quorumsoftware.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005488/en/

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[June 07, 2021]

To Reach Iranians Worldwide, American Jewish Committee Launches AJC Farsi Social Media

NEW YORK, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- To expand American Jewish Committee's (AJC's) reach to audiences in the Middle East, the global advocacy organization launched AJC Farsi today, with Persian-language social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

"The intersection of my Iranian, American, and Jewish identities makes me particularly proud to make this exciting announcement," Saba Soomekh, Associate Director of AJC Los Angeles, told the 2021 Virtual AJC Global Forum's worldwide audience. "AJC Farsi will bolster our efforts to reach Iranians in Iran and diaspora communities in the United States and around the world."

AJC Farsi builds on the enormous success of AJC Arabic's social media accounts and the An Al Yahud (About the Jews) video series, which are aied at increasing understanding of the Jewish people in the Arab world.







Now AJC is turning to online Persian communities. "The Iranian Jewish community is the oldest in the Diaspora, going back 2700 years," said Soomekh. Born in Tehran, her family fled Iran and came to the United States in 1978. "My family realized our modern and secular country was regressing back to persecuting religious minorities under what would become the Islamic revolution. We knew we had to leave Iran to live a life free of antisemitism."

While AJC is profoundly concerned about the Iranian regime's malign nuclear activities, suppression of human rights, and sponsorship of terror around the world, it recognizes that the Iranian people are not the regime. "We know the Jewish people and the Iranian people have much in common," added Soomekh.

Through new communications platforms, AJC is seeking to build greater mutual understanding and contribute to peacemaking efforts.

Visit AJC.org/Farsi to follow the AJC Farsi Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts, and stay up to date on this pioneering initiative.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/to-reach-iranians-worldwide-american-jewish-committee-launches-ajc-farsi-social-media-301307232.html

SOURCE American Jewish Committee
[June 07, 2021]

Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market is expected to reach over USD 1 billion in terms of Revenue by 2025: Ken Research

GURUGRAM, India, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

The content services market is anticipated to grow with a CAGR of 18.9% and the Technology Services with a CAGR of 23.9% during the forecast period 2020-2025F.

Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market is anticipated to witness the entry of large number of global content and technology companies in the next few years.

Massive Growth in Population to Drive E-Learning Growth: Saudi Arabia to witness urgent needs for e-learning owing to the massive population growth vis-a-vis the scarcity of teachers in both quantity and quality, including the need to reduce financial burden. Saudi Arabia's population is relatively young thereby increasing the demand for the education market. The lack of higher education facilities in Saudi Arabia is leading to an increased demand for the e-learning services. The country is witnessing an increase in the women learners with family obligations and limitations who wish to avail the e-learning services rather than attend the physical classrooms. To tap this growing need of education the country is witnessing the emergence of both local and global e-learning companies.

Surging Adoption of Technologies to Drive E-Learning Growth: The e-learning market in Saudi Arabia is anticipated to witness an increase in the adoption of technologies to stay up to date the market. The integration of LMS with smart classes across universities and schools in the Kingdom is expected to contribute to the growth of the E-learning market. The implementation of advanced technology services, which can enhance the quality of learning material, is estimated to aid the growth of overall e-learning industry revenues in the future. Integration of processes within the companies and institutions so as to judge the performance of students and employees has become important over the past few years. This is further anticipated to add value to the e-learning technology services industry.

Suring Demand from Corporate Sector: The e-learning market is anticipated to grow in the next few years owing to the rising adoption of e-learning services among the corporate that are more willing to opt for a certification course to develop their skills and knowhow. The e-learning companies have started collaborating with renowned institutions across the world to provide valuable certified courses to their end users. The rising acceptance of e-learning certification courses in the corporate sector in Saudi Arabia is to attracting the individuals to avail such courses from the e-learning companies.

Analysts at Ken Research in their latest publication "Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Outlook to 2025: Rising initiatives by the Ministry of Education to Boost the E-Learning Market" believe that the e-learning industry in Saudi Arabia has been growing and is expected that it will expand further owing to the surging internet users, technological advancement in E-learning, increasing Smartphone penetration, Surge in number of distance learning users and various other factors. The market is expected to register a positive CAGR of 21% in terms of revenue during the forecast period 2020-2025F.

Key Segments Covered:-

By Content and Technology Services:



Content Services





Technology Services



By End Users:



Higher Education





K-12





Corporate and Government Sector





Individual/Home User Segment





Others (preparation institutes, vocational colleges and technical training centers)

Key Segments Covered of Content Services Market:-

By Product Category:



Multimedia





Open Courseware





Online Test and Assessment



By Type of Content Format:



Video





Audio





Text



By Source:



M-Learning





MOOCs





SPOC





Gamification



E-Books

Key Segments Covered of Technology Services Market

By Product Category:



Learning Management System (LMS)





Smart Classroom





Smart Authoring Tool



By End Users of LMS:



Higher Education





Corporate Sector





K-12





Others (preparation instituts, vocational colleges and technical training centers)



By Webbased and Installed LMS :



Webbased LMS





Installed LMS

Key Target Audience:-

E-Learning companies



Content companies



Technology companies



Education Institutions



Authoring Tool companies



Private Equity and Venture Capitalist



Industry Associations

Time Period Captured in the Report:-

Historical Period  2015-2020P

2015-2020P

Forecast Period  2020-2025F

2020-2025F Companies Covered:-

Content Companies:



New Horizon





K12





Alwasaet





Bakkah





Udacity





Edx





Nafham





Noon





Integrated Solutions for Business (ISB)





Harf Information Technology





Smartway





Edutacs





Dolf Technologies





Board Middle East (BME)

(BME)



Classera





Edraak





Rawaq.org



Technology Companies:-



Naseej





Innovito





Integrated Solutions for Business (ISB)





Harf Information Technology





Smartway





Edutacs





Dolf Technologies





Board Middle East (BME)

(BME)



Classera





Edraak





Rawaq.org

Key Topics Covered in the Report:-

Ecosystem of E-Learning Market in Saudi Arabia



Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Overview and Genesis



Business Models in Saudi Arabia E-Learning Industry

E-Learning Industry

Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Size by Revenue, 2015-2020P



Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Segmentation



Trends and Developments in Saudi Arabia E-Learning Industry

E-Learning Industry

Issues and Challenges in Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market

E-Learning Market

Decision Making Criteria in Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market

E-Learning Market

Competitive Landscape of Saudi Arabia E-Learning Industry, 2020



Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Future Outlook and Projections, 2020-2025



Analyst Recommendations



COVID-19 impact on Saudi Arabia E-Learning



Corporate E-Learning Companies



K-12 E-Learning Companies



Saudi Arabia LMS Market Size



Future of Saudi Arabia E-Learning



Future of Saudi Arabia LMS Market



Saudi Arabia K-12 Schools



Saudi Arabia Home user of E-Learning



Authoring Tool companies in Saudi Arabia



Licensing Model E-Learning Saudi Arabia



Freemium Model E-Learning Saudi Arabia



Customized Outsourcing Model E-Learning Saudi Arabia



Edx E-Learning Market Revenue



Smartway E-Learning Market Revenue



Naseej E-Learning Market Sales



Harf Information Technology E-Learning Market Size



Dolf Technologies E-Learning Market Size



Classera E-Learning Market Revenue



Edutacs E-Learning Market Revenue



Bakkah E-Learning Market Revenue



K12 E-Learning Market Shares







Saudi Arabia E-Learning Market Outlook to 2025

Related Reports:-

UAE Experiential Learning Market Outlook to 2025- Concentrated Activity Box and E-Learning Segment Paving Ways for International Players to Expand

The activity kit industry in UAE is at its nascent stage and has penetrated <0.5% of its target addressable market. The majority of activity kit subscription providers entered the industry post-2017. The industry experienced double-digit revenue and subscriber growth in the review period. Changing lifestyle with an increasing number of dual working parents and increasing screen time of kids, has led to the need of self-engaging, fun and educational solution such as activity kits.

Kuwait Education Market Outlook to 2022 - by K-12 Education, Higher Education, E-Learning, Vocational Training, Teacher Training, Private Tutor and Test-Preparation Education Market

Kuwait's education market is in its growth stage. Changes and overhauls brought in the overall education curriculum through government interventions & subsidies extended has been a major market support parameter. The two major organizations that oversee the operations of this sector in Kuwait are the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education.

The education market in Kuwait has registered a revenue growth close to close to 6% during 2012-2017. The Ministry of Education allocated KWD 2 billion in the 2016 annual budget for Kuwait's K-12 education sector. This is in line with its Integrated Education Reform Program (2011-2019) and the School Education Quality Improvement Project which are geared towards developing curriculum, improving learning outcomes, encouraging efficient teaching and refining the efficiency of education.

Turkey E-Learning Technology and Content Market Outlook to 2023 - Growing Demand for M-Learning and Higher Use of Videos and Animation to Foster Market Growth

The E-Learning Market in Turkey grew at a positive double digit CAGR between 2013 and 2018. The E-learning market of Turkey is in its nascent phase and is moving towards growth that is boosted by increased internet penetration, increased number of smartphone users and various initiatives undertaken by the Government of Turkey such as FATIH Initiative. The market includes companies providing both technology and content services. The industry is slowly implementing technologies such as AR and VR. The increase in the internet penetration to 65.0% of the total population along with increase in the number of smart phone users to 46.5 million in the year 2018 has given a boost to market revenues.

Malaysia E-Learning Market Outlook 2023  By Technology (LMS, Smart Authoring Tools, Smart Classes) and Content (Multimedia, Online Test, Open Courseware, Simulation Content), By End Users (Universities/ Higher Education, K-12 Schools, Corporate, Home Users)

Malaysia E-Learning Market is in its nascent stage, growing at a CAGR of 16.4%. Malaysia is rich in terms of resources to develop E-Learning content, but outsource the requirements to develop E-Learning technology overseas. The end users are price sensitive and prefer to choose custom features within the LMS and develop custom content that it delivers more value over time. Malaysia is gradually accepting global E-Learning trends such as Gamification, AR, VR and MOOC's. Malaysia MOOC's was established to provide MOOC's compliant with the Malaysian Education Standard and to help higher education students in specific subjects. It currently offers 92 courses and has 391,845 students. The political scenario in Malaysia witnessed a major change when the ruling Party in Malaysia changed in 2018, after 61 years, to Pakapan Harapan, which promises to take efforts into improving the Quality of MOOC's in Malaysia, in the coming years.

India Ed-Tech Driven Career Programs Market Outlook to 2025  Increasing Technological Capabilities of Ed-Tech Companies to Increase Program Enrolments and Spend in Future

The market was observed in its growth stage majorly due to the fact that India has a large working population which is leading the demand for up-skilling & re-skilling programs provided by Ed-tech companies. Also, minimal restrictions on competitive entry allow the entry / presence of numerous players operating on a SPOC model therefore, catering to working professionals, primarily. Government initiatives aimed at increasing the Gross Enrollment Ratio have also played a major role in increasing the adoption for online skilling and vocational training programs. For instance, the government allocated around INR 17,000 crores towards skill based development and employment generation in India.

Contact:

Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing & Communications, Ken Research

Ankur@kenresearch.com

+91-9015378249

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661352/Ken_Research_Logo.jpg
[June 07, 2021] Sheesha Finance and Draper Goren Holm to Support the Best DeFi Startups

Dubai, UAE, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (via Blockchain Wire) - Sheesha Finance (https://sheesha.finance), the first decentralized cryptocurrency mutual fund for DeFi investors to easily access a variety of projects without having to spend days, sometimes weeks doing research, announced a partnership today with leading blockchain venture fund, Draper Goren Holm (https://drapergorenholm.com). Created by investment heavyweights Tim Draper, Alon Goren, and Josef Holm, Draper Goren Holm focuses on incubating and accelerating the best early-stage startups from around the world. The strategic partnership will focus on helping advanced and original blockchain projects overcome obstacles and reach their milestones, as well as supporting each others network to ultimately advance blockchain adoption worldwide. As we expand into the MENA region and open our incubator DGH Labs in Dubai, we are excited to partner with Sheesha Finance in an effort to grow the local blockchain ecosystem and give startups access to venture funding. said Josef Holm, Founding Partner at Draper Goren Holm. Josef Holm and Alon Goren are the same team that has built some of the top blockchain conferences in the world such as LA Blockchain Summit, Global DeFi Summit, NFT Summit, Security Token Summit, and others. In 2019, they partnered with billionaire investor Tim Draper to build the next-generation blockchain venture studio and fund with a global focus. Draper Goren Holms growing portfolio includes AI and machine-learning crypto insights solution Lunarcrush, smart contract platform Casper Labs, Tezos DeFi solution StableTech and cap table, compliance, and investor onboarding platform Vertalo.

Our strategic partnership with DGH will allow our companies to explore global opportunities in the blockchain spac. Sheesha Finance is happy to provide quality projects and deal flow from the MENA region to DGH and in turn, gain exposure to markets in Europe and the USA. Our work together will help build a strong network of projects in the blockchain space, bringing more legitimacy and trust in the world of blockchain investing said Saeed Hareb Al Darmaki, founder of Sheesha Finance.



Darmaki has experience as Managing Director of Alphabit Digital Fund, a digital currency fund managing over $400 million in assets, and former Fixed Income and Treasury Specialist at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), estimated to be managing $875 billion to date. Leveraging his knowledge and network, Darmaki bootstrapped Sheesha Finance with his team to create the first DeFi mutual fund: a platform that is unique, easy to participate in, community-driven and fair to all participants. Since raising almost $10 million during their funding round in March 2021, Sheesha Finance has rapidly grown their ecosystem, partnering with various top-tier blockchain projects spanning DeFi, banking, education, gaming, and more. Recent partners include EQIFI, Plasma Finance, Royale Finance, Blockchain Australia, Splinterlands and Mercor Finance. In addition, with a common goal of transparency and integrity in DeFi, Sheeshas advisory board includes founding partner of Galaxy Digital and CEO of NFT.com, David Namdar; CEO at StakeHound Albert Castellana; serial investor and industry pioneer, Hartej Sawney; crypto investor and CEO of Transform Group, Michael Terpin and founder and CEO of Beyond Enterprises, Brad Yasar.

To learn more about the Sheesha Finance and Draper Goren Holm partnership, join the Sheesha Telegram channel. About Sheesha Finance

Sheesha Finance (https://sheesha.finance/) is the leading decentralized DeFi mutual fund allowing for premium cryptocurrency portfolio diversification and rewards. Sheesha Finance rewards investors of any size, from small to large ticket holders, with unlimited DeFi tokens from a diversified portfolio of projects. Sheesha Finances easily convertible assets can be freely utilized to maximize rewards and gain exposure to existing and upcoming DeFi projects. With plans to become a member-managed decentralised autonomous organization (DAO), Sheesha Finance is dedicated to upholding full transparency and integrity within the DeFi space.

Twitter - Medium - Telegram - Gitbook - LinkedIn About Draper Goren Holm

Draper Goren Holm (https://drapergorenholm.com) is a blockchain venture studio and fund created by Tim Draper, Alon Goren, and Josef Holm with a focus on incubating and accelerating the best early-stage startups from around the world.

Media Contact: sheesha@transformgroup.com

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[June 07, 2021] Skillsoft and Churchill Capital Corp II Announce Skillsoft's Post-Closing Executive Leadership Team

Software Luxembourg Holding S.A. ("Skillsoft" or the "Company"), a global leader in digital learning and talent management solutions, and Churchill Capital Corp II (NYSE:CCX) ("Churchill II"), a special purpose acquisition company, today announced Skillsoft's future executive leadership team, effective upon completion of the merger between Skillsoft and Churchill II. Following the closing, the combined company is expecting to promptly complete its planned acquisition of Global Knowledge Training LLC ("Global Knowledge"), a worldwide leader in IT and professional skills development, to create a global leader in corporate digital learning. The new company will operate as Skillsoft and is expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "SKIL." Jeffrey Tarr, Skillsoft's incoming Chief Executive Officer, said, "Skillsoft's new executive leadership team brings together outside executives with the Company's current talented leaders who have been instrumental in guiding Skillsoft's success to date. I look forward to working closely with this world-class team as we advance Skillsoft's ambition to help companies build a future-fit workforce, skilled and ready for the jobs of tomorrow. We see significant opportunities ahead to capitalize on the rapidly growing demand for corporate digital learning to drive profitable growth in the business and create value for all Skillsoft stakeholders." Members of the Skillsoft executive leadership team include: Michelle Boockoff-Bajdek, Chief Marketing Officer, has more than 25 years of marketing, branding and strategy experience. She has led Skillsoft's global marketing organization since joining the Company in 2019, focused on driving growth and demand and raising the brand's profile. Ms. Boockoff-Bajdek previously held several executive marketing roles in the technology sector, including as CMO of IBM Watson and as the Global Head of Marketing for The Weather Company, an IBM Business. Sarah Hilty, Chief Legal Officer, has more than 25 years of legal and commercial experience. She is currently Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at National CineMedia, where she has worked since 2018. Ms. Hilty was previously Deputy General Counsel at CH2M HILL and a Partner at Hogan and Hartson. Ryan Murray, Chief Accounting Officer and interim Chief Financial Officer, is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 20 years of professional experience, including more than 10 years leading the global accounting and finance organizations in publicly traded companies. He previously served as Skillsoft's Senior Vice President and was VP of Finance, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer of Avid Technology, Inc. He began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (News - Alert) LLP. Mark Onisk, Chief Content Officer, has been responsible for leading the strategic direction, roadmap and development of Skillsoft's content catalogue since 2018. He joined the Company in 2011 and previously served as VP, Learning Products at Element K. Apratim Purakayastha, Chief Technology Officer, has been responsible for Skillsoft's engineering, product management, cloud operations, and IT since 2016. He previously served as General Manager and SVP of SaaS (News - Alert) at SevOne; as Group President in ACI Worldwide; and as Director of Software at IBM. Eric Stine, Chief Revenue Officer, is a global technology executive with extensive strategy and growth experience. He most recently served as Chief of Staff for the President of Global Sales, Services and Customer Engagement at SAP (News - Alert) , where he supported global go-to-market strategy and operations. He previously served as Chief Revenue Officer at Qualtrics and, prior to that, Chief Innovation Officer for SAP America. Earlier in his career, Mr. Stine held positions of increasing seniority at SAP, Ciber, Virtustream and Blackboard (News - Alert) . Richard Walker, Chief Corporate Strategy and Development Officer and President, SumTotal, brings extensive strategic, financial, operational and merger & acquisition experience to Skillsoft. He is an advisor to Churchill Capital and a member of the Board of Directors at ServiceSource, where he previously served as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Walker also founded The Bison Group, a private partnership that collaborates with private equity firms investing in the information services industry. Prior to that, he held executive leadership positions of increasing responsibility at IHS (News - Alert) (now IHS Markit), including Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, among others. In those roles, he built the corporate strategy and development function and led the completion of more than 60 strategic acquisitions. Skillsoft and Churchill II expect to complete their merger on June 11, 2021, subject to the receipt of shareholder approvals and customary closing conditions. About Churchill Capital Corp II Churchill Capital Corp II was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. For more information, visit www.churchillcapitalcorp.com. About Skillsoft Skillsoft delivers digital learning, training, and talent solutions to help organizations unleash their edge. Leveraging immersive, engaging content, Skillsoft enables organizations to unlock the potental in their best assets - their people - and build teams with the skills they need for success. Empowering 45 million learners and counting, Skillsoft democratizes learning through an intelligent learning experience and a customized, learner-centric approach to skills development with resources for Leadership Development, Business Skills, Technology and Developer, Digital Transformation, and Compliance. For more information, please visit www.skillsoft.com.



About Global Knowledge Global Knowledge is the world's leading technology skills training provider, supporting major enterprises and tech professionals with innovative and flexible learning solutions, Anytime, Anyplace, and Anyhow. Global Knowledge equips individuals and organizations for success with the industry's broadest and deepest portfolio of IT training solutions delivered through more than one million separate courses annually across a range of formats, including digital, virtual and physical classrooms, blended formats and customized on-site training, both directly and through a worldwide partner network. For more information, please visit www.globalknowledge.com.

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT This communication is being made in respect of the proposed merger transaction involving Churchill and Skillsoft. Churchill has filed a Registration Statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, which includes a proxy statement of Churchill and a prospectus of Churchill, and Churchill will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. The Registration Statement on Form S-4 was declared effective on May 27, 2021 and the definitive proxy statement/prospectus was mailed on or about May 28, 2021 to stockholders of record on the close of business on April 28, 2021, the record date for the special meeting. Before making any voting or investment decision, investors and security holders of Churchill and Skillsoft are urged to carefully read the entire registration statement and proxy statement/prospectus and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, as well as any amendments or supplements to these documents, because they contain important information about the proposed transaction. The documents filed by Churchill with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. In addition, the documents filed by Churchill may be obtained free of charge from Churchill at www.churchillcapitalcorp.com. Alternatively, these documents, when available, can be obtained free of charge from Churchill upon written request to Churchill Capital Corp II, 640 Fifth Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, New York 10019, Attn: Secretary, or by calling (212) 380-7500. Churchill, Skillsoft and certain of their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the stockholders of Churchill, in favor of the approval of the merger. Information regarding Churchill's directors and executive officers is contained in Churchill's Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2020, which is filed with the SEC. Additional information regarding the interests of those participants, the directors and executive officers of Skillsoft and other persons who may be deemed participants in the transaction may be obtained by reading the definitive proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents filed with the SEC. Free copies of these documents may be obtained as described in the preceding paragraph. This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of any 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 such other jurisdiction. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, but not limited to, Churchill's, Skillsoft's and Global Knowledge's expectations or predictions of future financial or business performance or conditions. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Generally, statements that are not historical facts, including statements concerning the completion of the transactions, the expected benefits of the transactions, other possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events or results of operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements may be preceded by, followed by or include the words "believes," "estimates," "expects," "projects," "forecasts," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "plans," "scheduled," "anticipates" or "intends" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. Certain of these risks are identified and discussed in Churchill's Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2020 under Risk Factors in Part I, Item 1A and in the definitive proxy statement/prospectus discussed above. These risk factors will be important to consider in determining future results and should be reviewed in their entirety. These forward-looking statements are expressed in good faith, and Churchill, Skillsoft and Global Knowledge believe there is a reasonable basis for them. However, there can be no assurance that the events, results or trends identified in these forward-looking statements will occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and none of Churchill, Skillsoft or Global Knowledge is under any obligation, and expressly disclaim any obligation, to update, alter or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers should carefully review the statements set forth in the reports, which Churchill has filed or will file from time to time with the SEC. In addition to factors previously disclosed in Churchill's reports filed with the SEC and those identified elsewhere in this communication, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements or historical performance: ability to meet the closing conditions to the Skillsoft merger, including approval by stockholders of Churchill and Skillsoft, and the Global Knowledge merger on the expected terms and schedule and the risk that regulatory approvals required for the Skillsoft merger and the Global Knowledge merger are not obtained or are obtained subject to conditions that are not anticipated; delay in closing the Skillsoft merger and the Global Knowledge merger; failure to realize the benefits expected from the proposed transactions; the effects of pending and future legislation; risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the proposed transactions; business disruption following the transactions; risks related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial condition and results of operations of Churchill, Skillsoft and Global Knowledge; risks related to Churchill's, Skillsoft's or Global Knowledge's indebtedness; other consequences associated with mergers, acquisitions and divestitures and legislative and regulatory actions and reforms; demand for, and acceptance of, our products and for cloud-based technology learning solutions in general; our ability to compete successfully in competitive markets and changes in the competitive environment in our industry and the markets in which we operate; our ability to develop new products; failure of our information technology infrastructure or any significant breach of security; future regulatory, judicial and legislative changes in our industry; the impact of natural disasters, public health crises, political crises, or other catastrophic events; our ability to attract and retain key employees and qualified technical and sales personnel; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; our ability to protect or obtain intellectual property rights; our ability to raise additional capital; the impact of our indebtedness on our financial position and operating flexibility; and our ability to successfully defend ourselves in legal proceedings. Any financial projections in this communication are forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions that are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond Churchill's, Skillsoft's and Global Knowledge's control. While all projections are necessarily speculative, Churchill, Skillsoft and Global Knowledge believe that the preparation of prospective financial information involves increasingly higher levels of uncertainty the further out the projection extends from the date of preparation. The assumptions and estimates underlying the projected results are inherently uncertain and are subject to a wide variety of significant business, economic and competitive risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the projections. The inclusion of projections in this communication should not be regarded as an indication that Churchill, Skillsoft and Global Knowledge, or their representatives, considered or consider the projections to be a reliable prediction of future events. Annualized, pro forma, projected and estimated numbers are used for illustrative purpose only, are not forecasts and may not reflect actual results. This communication is not intended to be all-inclusive or to contain all the information that a person may desire in considering an investment in Churchill and is not intended to form the basis of an investment decision in Churchill. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning Churchill, Skillsoft and Global Knowledge, the proposed transactions or other matters and attributable to Churchill, Skillsoft and Global Knowledge or any person acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005410/en/

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 22:16:17|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A draft law on countering foreign sanctions was submitted Monday to the ongoing 29th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, for second reading.

The first plenary meeting of the session was held on Monday afternoon, when lawmakers heard a report by Shen Chunyao, vice chairman of the Constitution and Law Committee of the NPC, on the results of deliberation on the draft law.

For some time, out of political manipulation needs and ideological bias, some Western countries have used Xinjiang and Hong Kong-related issues as part of their pretexts to spread rumors on and smear, contain and suppress China, according to spokesperson office of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee.

In particular, the countries, in violation of international law and the basic norms governing international relations, have imposed so-called sanctions on relevant Chinese state organs, organizations and functionaries in accordance with their domestic laws, grossly interfering in China's internal affairs. The Chinese government has strongly condemned such hegemonistic acts, and people from all walks of life have expressed strong indignation, said the office.

In order to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, dignity and core interests and oppose Western hegemonism and power politics, the Chinese government has launched multiple corresponding countermeasures against entities and individuals of relevant countries since the beginning of 2021, according to the office.

It's paying them back in their own coin, said the office.

Around this year's "two sessions," some NPC deputies, members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, and people from all walks of life suggested that it is necessary for China to formulate a specific law on countering foreign sanctions, to provide legal support and guarantee for the country to counter discriminatory measures by a foreign country in accordance with the law.

A work report of the NPC Standing Committee, approved by the fourth session of the 13th NPC, put forward that its main tasks in the coming year include enriching the legal toolkit with focus on moves against sanctions and interference and countering long-arm jurisdiction to cope with challenges and risks.

According to related work plan, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee has formulated the draft law after studying the legislation advice from various sectors, summarizing China's anti-sanction practices as well as related work, taking into account related overseas legislation, and soliciting opinions from the Communist Party of China Central Committee and national government departments.

In April, a meeting of the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee put forward a legislative proposal in accordance with the legal procedure, and the 28th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee conducted a preliminary review of the draft.

Members of the NPC Standing Committee broadly agreed to formulate the law to counter foreign sanctions, and gave some advice and suggestion on improving the draft.

The Constitution and Law Committee of the NPC has revised and improved the draft law on countering foreign sanctions based on the NPC Standing Committee's deliberation opinions as well as opinions from various sectors, and submitted a report on the results of the deliberation and the second reading draft to the 29th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th NPC in accordance with the law. Enditem
[June 07, 2021] Soleo Health Phoenix Earns Prestigious URAC Accreditation

Soleo Health, an innovative leader and national provider of complex specialty pharmacy and infusion services, announced today its Phoenix, Arizona location has earned Specialty Pharmacy Accreditation from URAC, the leading independent accrediting organization focused on supporting the quality of health care through leadership, accreditation, measurement and innovation standards and programs. With this URAC Specialty Pharmacy Accreditation, Soleo Health Phoenix demonstrates the highest value and quality in delivering enhanced clinical services to the many patients, payors, manufacturers and providers with whom it works. Soleo Health Phoenix received accreditation after exhibiting its commitment to delivering quality, patient-centric care through exceptional therapy management programs. It was also recognized for its dedication to patient satisfaction and ability to ensure positive clinical outcomes. URAC awards accreditations to specialty pharmacies that meet or exceed more than 20 groups of standards, including, among others, pharmacy operations, patient management and compliance. Soleo Health Phoenix joins the Company's Chicago, Illinois and Columbus, Ohio locations in receiving URAC accreditation.



Drew Walk, Soleo Health's chief executive officer, commented: "We always strive to ensure the delivery of quality patient care, and the prominence of this URAC accreditation is further validation of our dedication to our patients and providers. It is a testament to the levels of care that our highly experienced interdisciplinary team of therapy-care pharmacists, registered nurses and patient care specialists delivers as well as the stringent therapeutic protocols to which we adhere." About Soleo Health

Frisco, Texas-based Soleo Health is an innovative national provider of complex specialty pharmacy and infusion services administered in the home or at alternate sites of care. Soleo Health's interdisciplinary team, comprised of experienced clinical pharmacists and registered nurses, utilizes a consistent patient management process, which leads to quantifiable clinical and economic value while improving the patient experience. Soleo Health operates 20 locations throughout the U.S. with national nursing coverage and pharmacy licensure in 50 states and is accredited by URAC and The Joint Commission. For more information, visit www.soleohealth.com or connect with Soleo Health on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005109/en/

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[June 07, 2021] Suvoda Named PACT Enterprise Awards Finalist for 2021's Top Technology Company

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Suvoda LLC, a leading SaaS (software as a service) provider for clinical trials was named a finalist for the prestigious PACT Enterprise Awards in the Technology Company category. The results will be announced on June 30th at 4:30 EST via a virtual reception to honor award recipients. Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT) is an organization that cultivates resources for fast growing companies to drive entrepreneurship and innovation in the Philadelphia region. Its annual Enterprise Awards recognize companies in the region that demonstrate outstanding efforts in life sciences and technology. "We are very excited to be among the finalists in the Top Technology Company category," said Jagath Wanninayake, President & CEO, Suvoda. "We continue to invest in expanding our product functionality to support some of the most complex clinical trials, and in scaling our services organization to deliver the level of superior cstomer service for which we are known. The acknowledgement from PACT validates the hard work of the entire Suvoda team."



"The Enterprise Awards continues to be the region's most prestigious business awards program for technology and healthcare companies, leaders, and entrepreneurs," said Dianne Strunk, Vice President, PACT. "We are proud to acknowledge the Enterprise Awards finalists who are transforming healthcare, technology, and their related fields worldwide." Since 2012 Suvoda has developed innovative products to help biopharmaceutical companies manage subject randomization and treatment allocation, control shipment and dispensation of temperature-sensitive medicines, deliver treatments to both clinics and patients' homes, and overall be more flexible in managing their clinical trials and supply chain. Thanks to the flexibility of its solutions, Suvoda has been instrumental in offering trial sponsors the ability to adapt quickly in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

About Suvoda LLC

Suvoda is an innovative SaaS company, focused on transforming clinical trials using the power of technology. Suvoda's Interactive Response Technology (IRT) system solves complex patient randomization and clinical trial supply chain challenges, so that customers have peace of mind to focus on their patients. Suvoda IRT sets clinical trials up for success by offering a vast array of configurable and customizable features, powerful reporting, and advanced functionality built to support complex and innovative study designs. Headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, Suvoda has offices and staff around the world, offering exceptional customer and advisory services to biopharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations of all sizes. Learn more at www.suvoda.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/suvoda-named-pact-enterprise-awards-finalist-for-2021s-top-technology-company-301306387.html SOURCE Suvoda LLC

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Tim O'Grady Joins Safety National's Large Casualty Unit as Vice President - Underwriting

Safety National announced today that Tim O'Grady joined the company as Vice President - Underwriting in the company's large casualty division, which is responsible for large deductible workers' compensation, commercial auto and commercial general liability coverage distribution.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005052/en/

Tim O'Grady, Vice President - Underwriting at Safety National. (Photo: Business Wire)

With nearly 30 years of industry experience, O'Grady brings an extensive large account underwriting background to Safety National. He has previously served in various underwriting leadership positions managing regional underriting teams for several lines of coverage, including large casualty, umbrella and multi-national, at some of the largest national insurance providers.







In his new capacity with Safety National, O'Grady will be responsible for leading large casualty underwriting for the southwest region and Colorado through oversight of Safety National's Dallas, Texas office. In addition, he will directly manage Safety National's large casualty presence in Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.

"Tim is a welcome addition to the large casualty management team," said Steve Cotnoir, Executive Director Casualty Field Underwriting. "His proven track record in underwriting management for large complex casualty accounts, combined with his extensive leadership experience, will complement our existing team particularly well. Further, his background in distribution and underwriting, paired with his proven ability to develop solutions for customers, will be great assets to Safety National in support of our clients and business partners. Tim's wealth of experience will supplement Safety National's continued growth in the large casualty market quite successfully."

O'Grady will be based out of Safety National's Alpharetta, Georgia office.

Safety National is a multi-line specialty insurance carrier that offers risk solutions for large commercial and public entity clients, providing specialized expertise, flexible program design and unique claims proficiency supported by relationship-driven customer service. The company is a member of the Tokio Marine Group and is A.M. Best rated A++, FSC XV. Learn more at www.safetynational.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005052/en/
[June 07, 2021] UnitedHealthcare Awards $275,000 in Maternal Health Grants to Seven Community Organizations in Louisiana

UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Louisiana has awarded $275,000 in maternal health grants to seven community organizations aimed at improving maternal health outcomes, reducing disparities, and expanding access to care. "UnitedHealthcare is committed to addressing Louisiana's maternal health crisis and is dedicated to removing barriers that contribute to maternal mortality and morbidity," said Karl Lirette, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Louisiana. "We cannot do this alone and are grateful for the opportunity to support organizations that are improving the health of women and their babies." The seven grant recipients include: Birthmark Doula Collective - Serving New Orleans; $85,000 to provide doula support for 100 pregnant women, lactation support for 200 families by the New Orleans Breastfeeding Center, and provider development.

Common Ground Community, Inc. - Serving Shreveport; $50,000 to enhance its Girls Group program, Mommy and Me classes, community resource center, and food program.

Family Road of Greater Baton Rouge - Serving Greater Baton Rouge; $50,000 to provide wraparound services to 50 expecting mothers, including prenatal classes, teen pregnancy/parenting programs, mommy and baby support groups, physical health screenings, and mental health counseling.

Foundation for LA/National Birth Equity Collaborative - Serving the state of Louisiana; $10,000 to provide birth equity training, connect women to resources, and support Black women-led community-based organizations.

Healthy Start New Orleans - Serving New Orleans; $50,000 to support education, counseling, supplies, transportation to appointment, and access to a care team including a doula, social worker, and case manager for 35 high-risk pregnant women.

Louisiana Center for Health Equity - Serving the state of Louisiana; $15,000 to support an office of women's health to provide education, leadership, and coordination on women's health issues.

Saul's Light - Serving New Orleans; $15,000 to help families with nonmedical financial assistance, books to promote bonding and improved mental health outcomes, and bereavement support for individuals whose children are stillborn or die shortly after birth; and expand peer and group support programs to new hospitals.



Infants born preterm or with low birth weight are at an increased risk for experiencing physical disabilities and developmental impairments throughout their lives. According to America's Health Rankings, the rate of low birth weight infants has been on the rise in Louisiana with 10.8% of births now less than 5 pounds 8 ounces, leaving the state ranked 49 out of 50 states. Preterm birth rates have been increasing for five years, currently at 13.1% of current births, with the state's Black women having a 55% higher rate than all other women. Additionally, the risk of pregnancy-related deaths for Black women is 3 to 4 times higher than those of white women in the United States.

"Common Ground Community, Inc. wishes to express its sincere appreciation for the very generous grant to support our programs which assist moms, babies, and teen girls in north Louisiana. We are excited to be partnering with the wonderful team at UnitedHealthcare in Louisiana," said Lisa Conly Cronin, CEO, Common Ground Community, Inc. "We are so grateful for the UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Louisiana team. This generous grant funding will go a long way in supporting the mission of Saul's Light and, more importantly, the NICU and bereaved families we serve," said Kimberly Novod, MPA, founder/executive director, Saul's Light. These grants are part of several initiatives that UnitedHealthcare, along with its parent company UnitedHealth Group, have launched to address maternal health outcomes throughout the United States. Initiatives include over $5 million in recent philanthropic grants to support maternal health and $2.85 million in support to March of Dimes for a public-private partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services that aims to reduce the Black-white disparity gap and improve maternal health outcomes. In 2018, the United Health Foundation announced a three-year, $1.2 million grant to the Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge to minimize the adverse effects of substance misuse during pregnancy. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 970,000 people in Louisiana enrolled in employer-sponsored, individual, Medicare and Medicaid benefit plans, with a network of 147 hospitals, and nearly 25,000 physicians and other care providers statewide. About UnitedHealthcare UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.3 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,500 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC on Twitter (News - Alert) . View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005010/en/

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[June 07, 2021] VizyPay Opens Up Access to Cash Discount App for Clover POS Systems to Non-Customers, Addressing Unpredictability in Credit Card Processing

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VizyPay , an award-winning leader in the payment processing industry for small businesses, today announced it has made the Cash Discount app for Clover point of sale (POS) systems available to all merchants. The app addresses the major industry pain point of unpredictable credit card processing bills while also incentivizing customers to pay with cash.

The technology we are offering has never been available to merchants in this capacity before, said Dang Saengchanpheng, Director of Fintech Development and Data Analytics. Previously, a monthly credit card processing bill could be a killer for small business owners, as sales fluctuate month-to-month. It was impossible to ever know exactly what would be owed, and therefore very difficult to plan ahead. Now, they can know exactly what they will be paying at the end of the month to their payment processor, and that has profound impacts. The merchant can now plan overhead costs accordingly, while simultaneously incentivizing customers to pay in cash, all of which puts more money back into their pocket. The app adapts VizyPays Cash Discount Program to work for any merchant, no matter who their payment processing company is. The merchant can download the app, determine with their payment processor what their rates are, and utilize the Cash Discount app to implement a small price increase across all items that reflects that rate. During the checkout process, when a customer pays with a card, the app will automaically take the processing fee from the sale, which then allows the merchant to utilize those funds to offset their credit card fees by up to 100 percent. When a customer pays with cash, the app removes the processing fee from the sale altogether, giving the customer a discount.



After receiving more than 500 requests from businesses and competitors asking when or if our app will be made public, we decided to take the leap, said Kyle McCann, Director of Business Development at VizyPay. We felt it was important to offer the power of our Cash Discount Program to anyone, even if they arent our customer. The process to try and implement a price increase on your own can take a great deal of time. With our app, merchants can do this with just a few clicks, alleviating hours of stress and confusion. In making it non-exclusive, we now offer the opportunity to implement the process seamlessly and hassle-free. Our company is a big believer in supporting small businesses, and this is another extension of how we live and breathe that idea. The original app was launched last June, only available to VizyPay merchants signed on for the Cash Discount Program , but due to high demand it is now open for any merchant to download and use. Since this launch, merchants who have utilized the app and signed up with the Cash Discount Program are offsetting an average of 94.15 percent of their processing fees as compared to their previous provider. When coupled together, the Cash Discount app and VizyPays Cash Discount Program can have a profound impact. The merchant can enroll in the program at one low monthly fee based on processing volume, ultimately helping further reduce overhead costs.

The Cash Discount app is available to any merchant using a Clover POS system for $14.95 per month for non-VizyPay customers, or free for VizyPay customers. For more information, visit https://www.vizypay.com/ . To download the Cash Discount app, click here . About VizyPay

VizyPay was founded in West Des Moines, Iowa, by entrepreneurs who each had either significant credit card processing experience or were previously small business owners. Their combined understanding of these different industries created the perfect cocktail for a credit card processing company that could truly look out for the business owner. VizyPay is growing rapidly by being honest and simple in an industry that is known for being complicated and deceitful. Their business model is unique and making a huge splash nationwide. Media Contact

Laurel Pierce

Uproar PR for VizyPay

lpierce@uproarpr.com

312-878-4575 x246



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[June 06, 2021] AnHeart and Innovent Releases Preliminary Results from the Phase II TRUST Trial of Taletrectinib in ROS1 Fusion Positive NSCLC at the ASCO 2021 Annual Meeting

HANGZHOU, China, June 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AnHeart Therapeutics Co., Ltd (AnHeart), a clinical stage oncology company focused on underserved patients in global markets, together with Innovent Biologics, Inc. (Innovent, HKEX: 01801), today jointly announce a presentation of a scientific poster entitled Preliminary results from TRUST: A phase II clinical study to investigate Taletrectinib in treating patients with ROS1 fusion positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) which summarizes initial data from its ongoing trial of taletrectinib (NCT04395677) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2021 Annual Meeting. As of the data cut-off date of April 8, 2021, there were 15 crizotinib treatment-naive patients and 5 crizotinib pre-treated patients, who had been confirmed to be ROS1 fusion positive and assessed at least twice by investigators. The results were as follows:

In the crizotinib treatment-naive patients (n=15), the overall response rate (ORR) was 93% (14/15) and the disease control rate (DCR) was 93% (14/15);

In the crizotinib pre-treated patients (n=5), the ORR was 60% (3/5); and the DCR was 100% (5/5). ROS1 G2032R resistant mutations were identified in three of the five patients and all three patients experienced tumor regressions; and

Taletrectinib has shown a manageable safety profile characterized primarily by gastrointestinal adverse events, with reversible increases of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT).

These safety and efficacy data for taletrectinib are very promising for ROS1 fusion positive lung cancer patients, said Dr. Caicun Zhou, director of the Department of Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital. Responses appear particularly impressive in crizotinib treatment-naive patients, and while the number of crizotinib pre-treated patients is limited, thus far all five patients continue to benefit from the drug. Our team is highly focused on completing patient enrollment for this phase II TRUST trial in Q3 2021, said Bing Yan, MD, Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of AnHeart. These data from the TRUST trial have built a solid foundation for our upcoming global trials of taletrectinib and will support us in seeking regulatory approvals of taletrectinib in China and globally. We sincerely thank the patients, their families and investigators in the TRUST trial and look forward to bringing taletrectinib to all ROS1 fusion positive patients in the near future upon approval. "We are glad to see that the study results of taletrectinib can be presented at the ASCO meeting, the most authoritative clinical oncology conference," said Dr. Hui Zhou, Senior Vice President of Clinical Development, Innovent Biologics, "In China, ROS1 positive fusion patients have limited treatment choices at present. More new drugs are needed in development for clinical application. Taletrectinib has shown good efficacy and safety results, which offers hope to patients with ROS1 fusion positive non-small cell lung cancer." About Taletrectinib

Taletrectinib is an investigational next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) designed to effectively target ROS1 and NTRK fusion mutations with potential to treat TKI-naive or pre-treated patients. ROS1 rearrangement is estimated to be an oncogenic driver in approximately 2 to 3 percent of patients with advanced NSCLC, and NTRK rearrangement is estimated to be an oncogenic driver in approximately 0.5 percent of patients with other advanced solid tumors. More information about the ongoing TRUST (Taletrectinib ROS1 LUng STudy) trial and the basket trial in NTRK fusion positive solid tumors of taletrectinib may be found by searching clinical trial identifiers NCT04395677 and NCT04617054, respectively at https://clinicaltrials.gov.



About AnHeart

AnHeart Therapeutics Co., Ltd. (AnHeart) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel oncology therapies. AnHeart is headquartered in Hangzhou, China with offices in Beijing, Shanghai and has a subsidiary AnHeart Therapeutics Inc. in New York. Led by a management team with a successful track record of clinical development, AnHeart is developing three clinical stage oncology programs globally. For more information, please visit: https://anhearttherapeutics.com/. About Innovent

Inspired by the spirit of "Start with Integrity, Succeed through Action, Innovents mission is to develop, manufacture and commercialize high-quality biopharmaceutical products that are affordable to ordinary people.

Established in 2011, Innovent is committed to developing, manufacturing and commercializing high-quality innovative medicines for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune, metabolic diseases, and other major diseases therapeutic areas. On October 31, 2018, Innovent was listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited with the stock code: 01801.HK. Since its inception, Innovent has developed a fully integrated multi-functional platform which includes R&D, CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls), clinical development and commercialization capabilities. By Leveraging the this platform, the company has built a robust pipeline of 24 valuable assets in the fields of cancer, metabolic, autoimmune disease and other major therapeutic areas, with 4 products officially approved for marketing in China  TYVYT (sintilimab injection), BYVASDA (bevacizumab biosimilar injection), SULINNO (adalimumab biosimilar injection) and HALPRYZA (rituximab biosimilar injection),  officially approved for marketing in China, one Biologics License Application (BLA) submission for sintilimab accepted by the U.S. FDA, 6 assets in Phase 3 or pivotal clinical trials, and an additional 14 more molecules in clinical trials. In 2019, TYVYT (sintilimab injection) was the first PD-1 inhibitor included in the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) and the only PD-1 inhibitor included in the NRDL in that year. Innovent has built an international team with advanced talented professionals in high-end biological drug biopharmaceutical development and commercialization, including many global experts. The company has also entered into strategic collaborations with Eli Lilly and Company, Adimab, Incyte, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Hanmi and other international partners. Innovent strives to work with many collaborators to help advance Chinas biopharmaceutical industry, improve drug availability and enhance the quality of the patients lives. For more information, please visit: www.innoventbio.com . AnHeart Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our or our industrys actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by such statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as may, will, should, expects, plans, anticipates, believes, estimates, predicts, potential, intends, or continue, or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements contained in this presentation include, but are not limited to, (i) statements regarding the timing of anticipated clinical trials for our product candidates and our research and development programs; (ii) the timing of receipt of clinical data for our product candidates; (iii) our expectations regarding the potential safety, efficacy, or clinical utility of our product candidates; (iv) the size of patient populations targeted by our product candidates and market adoption of our product candidates by physicians and patients; and (v) the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. This Presentation discusses product candidates that are under clinical study and which have not yet been approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or regulatory agencies in other countries. No representation is made as to the safety or effectiveness of these product candidates for the use for which such product candidates are being studied. Innovent Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Innovent, are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. Innovent does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly. These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of Innovent with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond Innovent's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, Innovent's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions. Innovent, the Directors and the employees of Innovent assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialise or turn out to be incorrect. Contacts

AnHeart Media Contact:

pr@anhearttherapeutics.com

+86-21-6474 6017 AnHeart Investors Contact:

ir@anhearttherapeutics.com

+86-21-6474 6017 Innovent Media Contact:

pr@innoventbio.com

+86 512-6956 6088 Innovent Investors Contact:

ir@innoventbio.com

+86 512-6956 6088



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[June 06, 2021] The Classroom Door (TCD) Launches Global Educational Platform Bringing Together Expert Tutors, Advisors And Proprietary College Counseling Content

Woman-owned virtual tutoring and college counseling marketplace to bring equity and access to all students MIAMI, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Classroom Door (TCD) , a comprehensive global educational platform and tutoring marketplace that provides access to world-class tutors, certified teachers and advisors as well as proprietary college counseling content is set to launch today. Founded by Nikki Geula, a pioneer in the college consulting and tutoring industry, The Classroom Door's (TCD) mission is to democratize the elite tutoring and college application process, and make expertise available to all regardless of economic status. Leveraging an elite group of over 1,500 vetted, world class tutors from leading universities including Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, and Oxford, TCD offers expert tutoring and college advising to students starting at $15 an hour. TCD was established to fill a void for affordable, quality tutoring, transparent college counseling, and customized educational consulting. Geula spent over 25 years operating and building Arete Educational Consulting into one of the world's premier college advising and tutoring companies. Over the past two decades, she has worked with the children of Fortune 500 CEOs, renowned entrepreneurs, and celebrities, helping them not only get into their top choices, but making sure they thrived once there. Geulas students consistently gain entry into top institutions including Harvard, Yale, Brown, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, MIT, Williams, Cambridge, and Oxford.



"The pandemic-caused disruption in education is devastating, and I am committed to mitigating the academic impact on students of all ages and all socio-economic groups," Geula says. "I established TCD to fill a void for affordable, quality tutoring, transparent college counseling, and customized content and educational consulting. My commitment is to make expertise, typically reserved for just privileged students, available to all." For every 100 hours of tutoring booked, TCD's scholarship program will provide an hour free to an underserved student. TCD, an entirely woman-owned company, benefits from both Geula's leadership, and that of her director of educational content, Dan Scolnic, a Hubble and KICP Fellow at The Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at The University of Chicago and a professor of astrophysics at Duke University.

COLLEGE COUNSELING GUIDE

In an era when there is a need for greater transparency in the college counseling process, Geula and her team have developed 30 proprietary subscription lessons focused entirely on the college application process. TCD's self-guided lessons cover all aspects of the college admissions process, including how to write the perfect essay, applying for financial aid, building a college list, and determining which standardized tests students should take. TCD offers insider tips on what college admissions teams are looking for, and specific insights about getting into Ivy League schools, HBCUs, and women's colleges. Typically, college counseling packages with top advisors can cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars. TCD offers a $29.99 monthly subscription or $189.00 annually. In addition to one-on-one tutoring and academic advising, The Classroom Door will offer a machine learning program called: 10,000 Questions designed by Scolnic, to help students fill gaps in their math/STEM education. TCD plans to launch virtual group classes as well as a Global Lecture Hall Series where thought leaders will live stream lectures on cutting edge topics. One-on-one tutoring and group classes range from kindergarten enrichment to standardized test prep (SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, etc.), ESL and other language learning, STEM, and academic subject tutoring from pre-K through graduate school. For more information, to book a tutor/advisor/certified teacher, or to sign up for college counseling lessons visit The Classroom Door (TCD) | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn Media Contacts:

Jessica Aufiero | Daria Coppack

The Classroom Door

jessica@ja-pr.com | daria@theclassroomdoor.com

T. 917.353.0202 | 917.826.4460

www.theclassroomdoor.com

@the_classroom_door SOURCE TheClassroomDoor.com

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[June 06, 2021] WeBank and SMU Nurture Future-Ready Fintech Talent with Blockchain Courses

SHENZHEN, China, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- WeBank, the world's leading digital bank and the first digital-only bank in China, announced that its summer enrichment programme on FISCO BCOS[1] Blockchain Experience at the Singapore Management University (SMU), a premier university in Asia internationally recognised for its world-class research and distinguished teaching, has been completed for this academic year on May 12. The programme is a collaboration between WeBank and SMU. In early 2020, WeBank and SMU signed a memorandum of cooperation to collaborate on curriculum and practice design for blockchain courses. The collaboration aims to improve SMU students' understanding and skills in blockchain and encourage innovation in blockchain practices. Since the signing, WeBank and Associate Professor Paul Griffin from the School of Computing and Information Systems at SMU have worked together to create two full-term elective courses which combine theoretical study with practical learning, and a summer enrichment lecture. The elective courses are Blockchain Applications in Financial Services for undergraduates and Corporate Banking & Blockchain for postgraduates. The elective courses and the summer enrichment lecture have been run three times each for over 170 students. The elective courses teach students first-hand how blockchain technology can be applied to real-world financial scenarios. WeBank and Professor Griffin developed practical labs for the students, which includes 20 hours of lectures and 20 hours of lab experiments along with guest speakers such as Chaoxin Hu, Senior Architect from WeBank. The aim is to equip students with skills to quickly develop blockchain applications by themselves and better understand blockchain programming. Students of the elective courses have co-developed 19 applications in different scenarios or sectors, including insurance, healthcare, philanthropy, voting, syndicated loan, and procurement. The summer enrichment programme allows students from different technical backgrounds to gain the basic knowledge of FISCO BCOS and its open-source community, and be inspired by the success stories of establishing real-world large-scale applications for business on FISCO BCOS blockchain infrastructure. The lecture featured WeBank experts teaching alongside Professor Griffin on the key concepts and design principles of blockchain systems and WeBASE (WeBank Blockchain Application Software Extension). WeBank and SMU plan to continue this cooperation in the latter half of 2021 to bring financial blockchain knowledge and experience of blockchain development to more students at SMU. Professor Griffin said, "Collaborations with industry and technology providers, such as WeBank, and integrating academic learning with real-world practice are part of our overall efforts to nurture future-ready graduates with sound knowledge and training in Fintech. Through the summer enrichment programme and elective course using FISCO BCOS blockchain, our students are able to learn more about enterprise blockchains and their applications in use cases. The course will further strengthen our high-quality education for our students and provide them with the useful skills needed in today's business environment." Zhenhua Zhao, Senior Blockchain Expert from WeBank said, "We're glad that students who took the courses are able to apply blockchain Proof of Concepts to real-world financial services and corporate banking scenarios. Those applied scenarios also ignite a lot of innovative blockchain development ideas here at WeBank." Going forward, WeBank and SMU will continue the successful partnership, focus on the exploration of different use scenarios and create more engaging courses. In addition, WeBank plans to integrate the industry application and academic research from the courses, cultivate more talented students to drive the development of fintech, and build a blockchain business ecosystem with in-depth ready-to-use applications.







[1] FISCO BCOS is a secure, reliable, easy-to-use, and high-performance financial-grade blockchain platform, which was launched by FISCO open-source working group in 2017. FISCO stands for Financial Services Blockchain Consortium (Shenzhen), while BCOS stands for Be Credible, Open & Secure.

About WeBank WeBank Co., Ltd. ("WeBank") is a world's leading digital bank and the first digital-only bank in China. Launched in 2014, WeBank has provided more convenient financial services to 270 million individuals and 1.88 million micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). In 2019, Moody's and Standard & Poor's gave WeBank "A3" and "BBB+" ratings respectively. Adhering to the vision "Connect and Empower with Fintech", WeBank is driven to build core competencies through innovation, technology and skilled employees. WeBank has established collaboration with colleges and universities around the world to nurture fintech talents and strengthen the connection between academia and the digital finance industry. About Singapore Management University Established in 2000, Singapore Management University (SMU) is recognised for its disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research that address issues of global relevance, impacting business, government and society. Its distinctive education, incorporating innovative experiential learning, aims to nurture global citizens, entrepreneurs and change agents. With more than 11,000 students, SMU offers bachelors, masters and PhD degree programmes in Accountancy, Business, Economics, Computing, Law and Social Sciences, and executive development and continuing education programmes. Through its city campus, SMU focuses on making meaningful impact on Singapore and beyond through its partnerships with industry, policy makers and academic institutions. www.smu.edu.sg

SOURCE WeBank Co. Ltd.

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[June 06, 2021] America's Fastest Growing Company Joined Australia in Alleviating the IT Talent Shortfall

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KMS Solutions has officially entered the Australian market after seeing more local enterprises reached out for its software engineering and digital team services. To ease the IT talent shortage that is plaguing Australia, KMS Solutions announced its entry program. The program promised to benefit Australian enterprises with IT experts working both on-and off-site, plus value-added services such as product engineering and IT consulting offered at affordable pricing models. Key offerings by KMS Solutions that could help Australia address the workforce shortage include:

Application & Digital Platform Development : build world-class software, applications, and platforms.

Digital Team : complement the in-house team with IT experts, or build a fully functional digital team.

Digital Testing: ensure software' quality with award-winning test automation platforms and seasoned QA experts. Australia is struggling with an undersupply of tech talents. By 2024, it will thirst for 10,000 IT professionals, according to the study Australia's Digital Pulse by ACS . Besides long-term initiativesnotably worker reskilling & upskilling or investment into IT education, one stopgap solution is to engage software services vendors in offshore countries, such as Vietnam or India, for high-quality technological capacity.



Vietnam has long emerged as an outsourcing hub for developed economies. This Southeast-Asian country is considered a top destination for software services, with many trusted vendors, thanks to its extensive talent pool, stable socio-economic environment, and affordable labor costs:

Top 5 location for outsourcing (Gartner's Leading Global Locations for Offshore Services

1st in pioneering location and cost environment (Cushman & Wakefield BPO and Shared Service Location Index)

6th in the 2017 Global Services Location Index (A.T. Kearney) With a history of over 12 years and more than 1000 IT professionals, KMS is a go-to software partner for advanced economies. Its clients span from the United States to Singapore, including Avetta, GIC, Thermo Fisher, Resicap, and ANZ.

Being ranked in the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies has demonstrated KMS's prominence in the U.S. In Vietnam, it is deemed a leading software provider, having won Vietnam's Top 10 ICT Companies for several years. "Our ambition is to equip businesses in Australia with the people and technologies they need to not only augment their workforce but also accelerate their Digital Transformation," said Mr. Duy Le, General Director of KMS Solutions. Duy disclosed that, after Australia, KMS Solutions will get into lively markets in East Asia, including South Korea and Japan. About KMS Solutions

KMS Solutions is a member of KMS Technologya U.S.-based engineering company with market-leading products such as Katalon and Kobiton. Aspiring to become a trusted partner of businesses on Digital Transformation, KMS Solutions brings world-class IT and software services to Asia-Pacific to empower its clients to achieve more. To learn more about KMS Solutions, visit https://kms-solutions.asia/ or write to contact@kms-solutions.asia. KMS SOLUTIONS

Ms. Bich Le

Marketing Manager

bich.le@kms-solutions.asia SOURCE KMS Solutions

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[June 07, 2021] BitMEX receives prestigious ISO information security certification

MAHE, Seychelles, June 7, 2021 /CNW/ -- 100x Group, the holding structure for the BitMEX platform - the world's leading cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform - today announced that it had received the prestigious International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) information security certification ISO/IEC 27001. The ISO is an independent global body that establishes and assesses important standards for a wide variety of industries and functions. ISO/IEC 27001 provides the requirements for establishing a top-flight information security management system including safeguards for customer and partner data, a particularly important aspect for leading financial services companies. Alex Hoptner, CEO of 100x, said: "It's difficult to overstate the importance of information security for a platform like BitMEX. Traders trust us because of our track record on security - we have never lost a single Satoshi through intrusion or hacking. But security is never a static process and in order to continue to set the bar as high as possible, we sought - and were awarded - one of the most rigorous certifications: ISO/IEC 27001." The award of the ISO/IEC 27001 certification requires an extremely thorough audit of IT systems but goes much further. It is a thorough examination of an organisation's information security risks including potential threats, vulnerabilities and impacts of both. The certification process also requires an assessment of a bespoke, comprehensive set of information security controls and risk mitigation protocols and the implementation of a complete management process to ensure information security standards continue to evolve and improve. Brian Rankin, Head of Security at 100x Group, said: "Data security is a cornerstone of our business and the ISO certification shows just how seriously we take that commitment. Working with BSI, the organisation that developed these exacting standards, the certification process has taken nearly a year and hundreds of hours of detailed audits. However, as pleased as we are, we recognise that this is just part of our ongoing obligation to keep our customers as safe as possible." About 100x Group 100x Group explores, incubates, and pursues opportunities and investments as part of its mission to reshape the modern digital financial system into one which is inclusive and empowering. It was created by the founders of HDR Global Trading Limited, the company behind the cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform, BitMEX.







For media inquiries, please contact Ruder Finn: Winky Chow / Jess Lo (+852)22016474 / (+852)22016473 100xGroup@RuderFinnAsia.com / BitMEX@RuderFinnAsia.com

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitmex-receives-prestigious-iso-information-security-certification-301306534.html SOURCE 100x Group

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 23:19:36|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Aerial photo taken on June 6, 2021 shows Mucilage, also known as "sea snot" in the Marmara Sea in Istanbul, Turkey. According to local press reports, the sea snot, which has started from the country's biggest city Istanbul, spread to several other provinces along the coast of the Marmara Sea and the northern Aegean Sea. The substance, which seriously threatens the environment and underwater life, now covered a large part of the Marmara Sea, forcing the government to take urgent action that will be launched on Tuesday in Istanbul. (Photo by Osman Orsal/Xinhua)

ISTANBUL, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Mucilage, also known as "sea snot," has been seen spreading to the Black Sea coast of Turkey, Turkish local media reported on Monday.

A thick jello-like layer of slime was seen in an area at Yalikoy Harbor in the Fatsa district of the northern province of Ordu, the Hurriyet daily said.

Acting upon the notification of the fishermen, the municipality teams cleaned the pollution on the sea surface, it added.

According to press reports, the sea snot, which has started from the country's biggest city Istanbul, spread to several other provinces along the coast of the Marmara Sea and the northern Aegean Sea as well.

The substance, which seriously threatens the environment and underwater life, now covered a large part of the Marmara Sea, forcing the government to take urgent action that will be launched on Tuesday in Istanbul.

Turkey's Environment and Urban Planning Ministry sent a circular to the governorships and municipalities of seven provinces on the coast of the Marmara Sea regarding the launch of "Turkey's largest sea cleaning campaign," the state-run TRT broadcaster noted.

Scientists say that this phenomenon is not new, but it has become massive due to pollution, such as raw sewage running-offs from Istanbul and coastal cities to the sea. Enditem
[June 07, 2021] Basilea reports new prevalence data for EB1, a potential response-predictive biomarker for lisavanbulin in glioblastoma and other tumor types, at ASCO Annual Meeting

Basel, Switzerland, June 07, 2021 Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. (SIX: BSLN) announced today that data on the prevalence of end-binding protein 1 (EB1) in glioblastoma and other tumor types is being presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting that takes place online from June 4 to 8, 2021. EB1 plays a pivotal role in the regulation of microtubule dynamics during cell division and has been shown to interact with microtubule-targeting agents, such as lisavanbulin, inhibiting tumor growth.1 EB1 has been identified as a response-predictive biomarker for Basileas tumor checkpoint controller lisavanbulin in pre-clinical glioblastoma models.2 In the previously reported phase 1 portion of the ongoing phase 1/2 clinical study, long-lasting clinical benefit was observed in two patients with recurrent glioblastoma whose tumor tissues show EB1-positive staining. Both patients are ongoing in the study for more than 2 years.3 The prevalence assessment of EB1-positivity or strong EB1-staining using immunohistochemistry methods presented at ASCO was based on 565 patient tissue samples from 14 different tumor types, including more than 100 glioblastoma samples. Approximately 5% of glioblastoma tissue samples were found to be EB1-positive. The strongest expression of EB1 in non-glioblastoma tumors was detected in tissue samples from medulloblastomas and neuroblastomas, which are cancers that occur predominantly in the pediatric population.

EB1-positive staining was also found in tissue samples from metastatic melanoma (skin cancer). Other tumors expressing slightly lower levels of EB1 staining include non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer and triple-negative breast cancer.4 Dr. Marc Engelhardt, Chief Medical Officer, commented: We are very pleased that two patients with EB1-positive recurrent glioblastoma have obtained long-lasting clinical benefit in our phase 1 study with lisavanbulin. We are looking forward to the interim results in our phase 2 study, which is enrolling patients with recurrent glioblastoma that is EB1-positive, towards the end of 2021. The new prevalence data presented at ASCO are consistent with our initial frequency estimates of EB1-positive glioblastoma. A clinical proof-of-concept in glioblastoma based on positive interim results would support exploring the selection of patients based on EB1-positivity in other tumor types as well, such as melanoma, breast, colorectal and lung cancers or rare cancer types such as medulloblastomas or neuroblastomas. The rationale and study design of the ongoing phase 2 study with lisavanbulin in patients with EB1-positive recurrent glioblastoma is being presented in a second poster at the ASCO Annual meeting.5 The following posters are presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting: Abstract # Title 3118 Expression of end-binding protein 1 (EB1), a potential response-predictive biomarker for lisavanbulin, in glioblastoma and various other solid tumor types



Authors: Magdalena Skowronska, Crescens Tiu, Alexandar Tzankov, Fatima Konig, Joanne Lewis, Igor Vivanco, Malte Kleinschmidt, Kirk Beebe, Stephanie Anderson, Felix Bachmann, Marc Engelhardt, Heidi A. Lane, Thomas Kaindl, Alexandru C Stan, Elizabeth Ruth Plummer, T. R. Jeffry Evans, Inti Zlobec, Juanita Suzanne Lopez TPS2068 The potential utility of end-binding protein 1 (EB1) as response-predictive biomarker for lisavanbulin: A phase 2 study of lisavanbulin (BAL101553) in adult patients with recurrent glioblastoma



Authors: Crescens Tiu, Sarah Derby, Noor Md. Haris, Liam Welsh, Anna Stansfeld, Thomas Hundsberger, Patrick Roth, Fatima Konig, Joel Robert Eisner, Malte Kleinschmidt, Stephanie Anderson, Felix Bachmann, Heidi A. Lane, Marc Engelhardt, Thomas Kaindl, Karine Litherland, Alexandru C. Stan, T. R. Jeffry Evans, Elizabeth Ruth Plummer, Juanita Suzanne Lopez For further information, please visit https://conferences.asco.org/am/abstracts-posters



About lisavanbulin (BAL101553) Basilea's oncology drug candidate lisavanbulin (BAL101553, the prodrug of BAL27862)6 is being developed as a potential therapy for diverse cancers.1, 7, 8 In preclinical studies, lisavanbulin demonstrated in-vitro and in-vivo activity against diverse treatment-resistant

cancer models, including tumors refractory to conventional approved therapeutics and radiotherapy.9, 10, 11

Lisavanbulin efficiently distributes to the brain, with anticancer activity in glioblastoma models.12, 13 In preclinical studies, end-binding protein 1 (EB1) was identified as a potential response-predictive biomarker in glioblastoma models.2 The active moiety BAL27862 binds to the colchicine site of tubulin, with distinct effects on microtubule organization,14 resulting in the activation of the "spindle assembly checkpoint" which promotes tumor cell death.15

About Basilea Basilea is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2000 and headquartered in Switzerland. We are committed to discovering, developing and commercializing innovative drugs to meet the medical needs of patients with cancer and infectious diseases. We have successfully launched two hospital brands, Cresemba for the treatment of invasive fungal infections and Zevtera for the treatment of severe bacterial infections. We are conducting clinical studies with two targeted drug candidates for the treatment of a range of cancers and have a number of preclinical assets in both cancer and infectious diseases in our portfolio. Basilea is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: BSLN). Please visit basilea.com. Disclaimer This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements, such as "believe", "assume", "expect", "forecast", "project", "may", "could", "might", "will" or similar expressions concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. and its business, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical studies for product candidates. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For further information, please contact: Peer Nils Schroder, PhD



Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Phone +41 61 606 1102 E-mail media_relations@basilea.com

investor_relations@basilea.com This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com. References A. Nehlig, A. Molina, S. Rodrigues-Ferreira et al. Regulation of end-binding protein EB1 in the control of microtubule dynamics. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 2017 (74), 2381-2393 R. Berges, A. Tchoghandjian, S. Honore et al. The novel tubulin-binding checkpoint activator BAL101553 inhibits EB1-dependent migration and invasion and promotes differentiation of glioblastoma stem-like cells. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2016 (15), 2740-2749 ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02490800. Phase 1 results: C. Tiu, A. Tzankov, R. Plummer et al. The potential utility of end-binding protein 1 (EB1) as response-predictive biomarker for lisavanbulin: Final results from a phase I study of lisavanbulin (BAL101553) in adult patients with recurrent glioblastoma (GBM). Annals of Oncology 2020 (31) supplement 4, S396-S408 M. Skowronska, C. Tiu, A. Tzankov, et al. Expression of end-binding protein 1 (EB1), a potential response-predictive biomarker for lisavanbulin, in glioblastoma and various other solid tumor types. J Clin Oncol 39, 2021 (suppl 15; abstr 3118) C. Tiu, S. Derby, N. Haris et al. The potential utility of end-binding protein 1 (EB1) as response-predictive biomarker for lisavanbulin: A phase 2 study of lisavanbulin (BAL101553) in adult patients with recurrent glioblastoma. J Clin Oncol 39, 2021 (suppl 15; abstr TPS2068) J. Pohlmann, F. Bachmann, A. Schmitt-Hoffmann et al. BAL101553: An optimized prodrug of the microtubule destabilizer BAL27862 with superior antitumor activity. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2011, abstract 1347; Cancer Research 2011, 71 (8 supplement) ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03250299 ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02895360 A. Sharmq, A. Broggini-Tenzer, V. Vuong et al. The novel microtubule targeting agent BAL101553 in combination with radiotherapy in treatment-refractory tumor models. Radiotherapy Oncology 2017 (124), 433-438 G. E. Duran, H. Lane, F. Bachmann et al. In vitro activity of the novel tubulin active agent BAL27862 in MDR1(+) and MDR1(-) human breast and ovarian cancer variants selected for resistance to taxanes. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2010, abstract 4412; Cancer Research 2010, 70 (8 supplement) F. Bachmann, K. Burger, G. E. Duran et al. BAL101553 (prodrug of BAL27862): A unique microtubule destabilizer active against drug refractory breast cancers alone and in combination with trastuzumab. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2014, abstract 831; Cancer Research 2014, 74 (19 supplement) A. Schmitt-Hoffmann, D. Klauer, K. Gebhardt et al. BAL27862: a unique microtubule-targeted agent with a potential for the treatment of human brain tumors. AACR-NCI-EORTC conference 2009, abstract C233; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2009, 8 (12 supplement) A. C. Mladek, J. L. Pokorny, H. Lane et al. The novel tubulin-binding 'tumor checkpoint controller' BAL101553 has anti-cancer activity alone and in combination treatments across a panel of GBM patient-derived xenografts. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2016, abstract 4781; Cancer Research 2016, 76 (14 supplement) A. E. Prota, F. Danel, F. Bachmann et al. The novel microtubule-destabilizing drug BAL27862 binds to the colchicine site of tubulin with distinct effects on microtubule organization. Journal of Molecular Biology 2014 (426), 1848-1860 F. Bachmann, K. Burger, H. Lane. BAL101553 (prodrug of BAL27862): the spindle assembly checkpoint is required for anticancer activity. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting 2015, abstract 3789; Cancer Research 2015, 75 (15 supplement)



Attachment Press release (PDF)



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[June 07, 2021] The Most Talked About in the First Week of COMPUTEX 2021 Virtual

COMPUTEX 2021 Virtual is now live through June 30. The event organizer TAITRA is hosting exhibitors from 34 countries at #COMPUTEXVirtual. Held during the kick-off week, the COMPUTEX CEO Keynotes, COMPUTEX Keynotes, COMPUTEX Forum and InnoVEX Forum have all concluded with huge success. The future technologies unveiled in the talks led to industry crazes and showed the charm of the global technology ecosystem built by COMPUTEX. Virtual Displays' Trendy Themes Created High Engagements Leading companies and institutions like Acer, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development(EBRD), Garage+ from the Epoch Foundation, GIGABYTE, and Intel have set up pavilions to showcase the latest technologies. The #InnoVEXVirtual, an exclusive exhibit for startups, gathered 79 startups from 24 countries, including National Pavilions from France, South Korea, the Netherlands, and the first-ever EBRD pavilion. Meanwhile, Taiwan Accelerator Plus(TAcc+) and the TYC Startup Pavilion showcase Taiwanese and worldwide innovations. #COMPUTEXVirtual attracted close to 180,000 visits from 104 countries in the first week. The top 5 visiting countries were from Japan, the USA, India, Korea and China. "Gaming", "Systems Solutions" and "5G" were the themes most visitors showed interest in. Furthermore, through its technology partner Appier, a Taiwanese unicorn, COMPUTEX provides all visitors personalized showrooms with suggested themes and products based on their interests to create the optimal experience and digital journey. Nearly 1 million interactions have materialized through scheduled meetings, instant messages and matchmaking. Tech Giants Decode the Progress of the Global Technology Ecosystems TAITRA invited more than 20 CEOs and senior executives to deliver keynotes on #COMPUTEXVirtual, including AMD (News - Alert) , Arm, Intel, Micron, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, NXP, Supermicro, and more, and the keynote streaming videos in the first week of the exhibition had attracted over 2 million views. Taiwan was mentioned multiple times as the critical partner to the industry, and COMPUTEX was praised for remaining true to its mission: building global technology ecosystems. Michelle Johnston Holthaus, Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of Intel talked about how to continue to work with global partners to promote digital transformation. Dr. Lisa Su, President and CEO of AMD, shared the vision for the future of computing, including details of the growing adoption of AMD high-performance computing and graphics solutions. Simon Segars, CEO of Arm, pointed out that partners are taking a major position by using compute to create smarter and more energy efficient devices and infrastructure, and Taiwan is a leader in this space. Manuvir Das, Head of Enterprise Computing, NVIDIA, mentioned that Taiwan, from system builders and solution providers to universities and the government, has partnered with NVIDIA. Sanjay Mehrotra, President and CEO of Micron Technology, emphasized that the opening of their new fab in Taichung showed their ambition in partnering and investing in Taiwan. Supermicro President and CEO, Charles Liang, stated that they would continue their leading innovation and push forward technology development with their patners. Kurt Sievers, President and CEO of NXP Semiconductors (News - Alert) , indicated that they also continue to enable a safer and smarter world through breakthrough innovations.



COMPUTEX Forum themed "The New Era of Intelligence" focusing on 5G, AI, AIoT and Edge Computing In the "AIoT Evolution" session at the COMPUTEX Forum, Intel addressed their latest processors to deliver fast, consistent, and secure solutions that people trust. NVIDIA also highlighted that AI is the most impactful general-purpose technology, and will be at the heart of propelling industry development and transformation.

In the "AI Empowerment" session, Arm introduced how the new Armv9 architecture is effective in addressing demanding AI/ML workloads while delivering enhanced security. In terms of the application on manufacture, Delta stated that manufacturers must continue to improve their capabilities to achieve "Manufacturing on Demand", which could be reached by adopting a design that incorporates standardized, modular and intelligent units as well as AI adoption. In addition, Check Point Software is capable of predicting unknown threats through AI and providing cybersecurity specialists a quick response with increasing accuracy and precision. Moreover, in the "Critical Technology" session, Qualcomm (News - Alert) emphasized continuous collaboration with its ecosystem partners to realize the future of always connected PCs. QCT is devoted to pushing for digital transformation and building 5G networks with new entrants into the Telco ecosystem. WIN Semiconductors Corp also highlighted compound semiconductors to play a pivotal role in advancing that future based on ubiquitous AI. On the other hand, Siemens (News - Alert) acts to assist Taiwan in ushering in application innovation in a variety of fields, helping Taiwan move toward its vision of "Digital Nation, Smart Island" with its success stories in Industrial 5G, Grid Edge and Connected Mobility. Far EasTone (News - Alert) Telecom also explained the plan to enable clinical intelligence through telemedicine with 5G, IoT, big data, and AI. The COMPUTEX Forum concluded its last session on the "Tomorrow Tech." NVIDIA indicated that addressing 3D workflows empowers collaboration across shared virtual worlds. IBM is collaborating with industry and universities, focusing on finance, chemistry, material industries. #COMPUTEXVirtual is now live through June 30. Do not miss the chance to engage in digital conversations with world leading companies and startups on themes of 5G, AI & IoT, Edge Computing, Gaming, and HPC, at #COMPUTEXVirtual. More Information:

COMPUTEX Website: https://www.computextaipei.com.tw/

InnoVEX Website: https://www.innovex.com.tw/ About COMPUTEX Established in 1981, COMPUTEX is one of the leading global ICT, IoT, and startup tradeshows with a complete supply chain and IoT ecosystems. Co-organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Taipei Computer Association (TCA), COMPUTEX, based upon Taiwan's complete ICT clusters, covers the whole spectrum of the ICT industry, from established brands to startups and from ICT supply chain to IoT ecosystems. With strong R&D and manufacturing capabilities and IPR protection, Taiwan is a strategic destination for foreign companies and investors looking for partners in global technology ecosystems. Follow COMPUTEX on its website at www.computextaipei.com.tw and Twitter @computex_taipei using the hashtag #COMPUTEX. About COMPUTEX 2021 Virtual As a pioneer in technology, COMPUTEX has been at the forefront in embracing digital transformation. In 2021, the show will go online. Together with the key global technology players, the organizer of COMPUTEX, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) introduces #COMPUTEXVirtual (including its global startups and innovations showcase #InnovexVirtual), an AI-driven virtual platform, and aims to deliver an exceptional virtual exhibition experience beyond the distance. Explore #COMPUTEXVirtual now at https://virtual.computextaipei.com.tw/. About TAITRA Founded in 1970, TAITRA is Taiwan's foremost nonprofit trade promoting organization. Sponsored by the government and industry organizations, TAITRA assists enterprises to expand their global reach. Headquartered in Taipei, TAITRA has a team of 1,300 specialists and operates 5 local offices in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as 63 branches worldwide. Together with Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC) and Taiwan Trade Center (TTC), TAITRA has formed a global network dedicated to promoting world trade. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005337/en/

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[June 07, 2021] EHGO Statement on Iconic Labs

European High Growth Opportunities Securitization Fund ("EHGO"), an institutional investment fund based in Luxembourg, has issued a statement in relation to the announcement that administrators have been appointed to Iconic Labs Plc ("Iconic"). In the statement, EHGO said: "EHGO has been an important financial supporter of Iconic. We have provided significant funding for Iconic previously and were in discussions with the company to provide substantial new financing arrangements involving a facility of up to 50 million. "We have tremendous faith in the vision for the company set out by the new CEO Brad Taylor to be a cutting-edge media, data, information, internet, security and technology company. We believe the business is a highly viable one with an exciting future, and have faith that Brad is doing everything he can to get Iconic on track to sustainable growth. We intend to support the new board's vision with substantial new financing. "EHGO has reached out to the administrator with the offer to immediately pay the debt of conic which is owed to Iconic's secured creditor on behalf of Iconic in exchange for a promissory note from Iconic provided that Iconic is taken out of administration swiftly. The necessary funds are being transferred to EHGO's counsel's account by EHGO with instructions for immediate release to the secured creditor upon (i) confirmation that Iconic has executed a promissory note for the amount lent; and (ii) the receipt of an undertaking from the administrator that it shall take Iconic out of administration as soon as the secured creditor is paid. In EHGO's view the amounts are not large, and it would be in all shareholders' and the other Iconic's creditors' interests that the administration be ended swiftly.



"In addition, we note that the General Meeting scheduled for 15 June 2021 is important for Iconic in terms of allowing shareholders to pass various resolutions that would give the company a secure financial future. In EHGO's view, such General Meeting is a crucial step towards helping to ensure that all creditors are repaid and that Brad Taylor and his team have the financial means to implement their robust plans for Iconic. We therefore trust that the administrators will give due consideration to this meeting proceeding and otherwise act in accordance with their statutory obligations." Ends

Notes to editors About European High Growth Opportunities Securitization Fund European High Growth Opportunities Securitization Fund is an institutional investment fund based in Luxembourg which focuses on financing innovative companies globally that are deemed to be significantly undervalued. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005338/en/

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[June 07, 2021] Nium Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire B2B Travel Payments Leader Ixaris

SINGAPORE and LONDON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nium, a leading global B2B payments platform, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ixaris, a leader in travel payments optimisation. The transaction is expected to close early in the third quarter of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. Ixaris provides flexible funding and payment methods that help airlines and online travel agents (OTAs) in the 230 billion travel sector reduce surcharges, earn rebates, flatten FX fees, and streamline reconciliation. As one of the industry's leaders, Ixaris issued more than 10 million virtual cards in 2019. Since inception, it has processed 24 million transactions for 200+ customers in 40+ countries for a total payment volume of 5 billion. Ixaris is best known for transforming the travel payments industry with the introduction of Europe's first virtual prepaid card in 2003. All of Ixaris' 86 employees based in London and Malta will join the Nium family. "Airlines and OTAs are actively transforming their technologies and processes in anticipation of a surge in global travel happening this year," said Prajit Nanu, co-founder and CEO, Nium. "The travel industry has long been dependent on slow-moving, monolithic payment platforms. Our acquisition will serve to replace these incumbents with a modern solution that combines Ixaris' leading virtual card capability with Nium's advanced pay-in, pay-out and embedded foreign exchange capabilities. We welcome the Ixaris team to the Nium family and together we look forward to helping the travel sector bounce back across the globe." Today's acquisition will further enable Nium to execute on its viion to provide one API integration to access the world's payments infrastructure. Through the Nium platform, customers in a variety of sectors can quickly deploy new financial services from card issuance to cross-border payments. With licences in over 40 markets and integrations in as little as four weeks, Nium provides the speed and scale for customers to unlock new revenue opportunities and improve cash flow economics throughout the global economy.



Mark Anthony Spiteri, CEO, Ixaris Group, added, "As part of the Nium family, we can offer the broadest portfolio of virtual card offerings to travel businesses across the globe. All aspects of our company, from our technologies to our people, perfectly complement Nium and we look forward to increasing our geographic footprint to new regions, including the United States." Financial Technology Partners (FT Partners) served as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Nium on its acquisition of Ixaris.

About Ixaris Ixaris is a payments optimisation company with an extensive portfolio of virtual Mastercard and Visa cards that helps companies make smarter payment choices. From launching Europe's first virtual cards to shaping the future of airline payments, innovation is in Ixaris' DNA. London-based with offices in Malta, Ixaris is also a principal member of Visa and Mastercard. About Nium Nium is a global B2B payments platform that enables companies around the world to unlock new revenue opportunities and improve cash flow economics. Nium is a leader in its geographical and payment service breadth, owning licences in the world's largest and fastest-growing economies. Our modular platform allows banks, payment providers, travel companies, and other businesses to collect and disburse funds in local currencies to over 100 countries, plus issue physical and virtual cards globally. Our proprietary set of APIs embeds financial services and can bring to life multiple B2B and B2C use cases in a matter of weeks. Nium is part of CB Insights Fintech 250, which highlights the most promising Fintech companies globally. Today, Nium serves over 130 million customers and enables platforms to provide access to financial services to over 3 billion people across the world. For more information, visit: https://www.nium.com Upcoming Clubhouse Session

With travel set to rebound, what can we expect from other industries post-COVID? And how can investments in FinTech accelerate these recoveries? To answer this, Nium will be hosting an exclusive Clubhouse Roundtable on Thursday, 10th of June 2021 (9pm SGT/ 2pm BST). Tune in to hear from key FinTech leaders and journalists, including Nium CEO Prajit Nanu and Ixaris Chairman Spencer Hanlon, as they deep-dive into the future of digital payments; which industries are set to rebound the fastest; and how FinTech investments can be made to support industries in a post-COVID world. The scheduled session will be available at the link: https://www.clubhouse.com/event/xpavRVnK SOURCE Nium

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[June 07, 2021] Cybint partners with Loras College to bring cybersecurity training to the Dubuque region

DUBUQUE, Iowa, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cybint, a global cyber education training company, partners with Loras College, a Catholic liberal arts college, to offer the Cybint Cybersecurity Bootcamp as part of a joint cohort, in an effort to close the cybersecurity employment gap in Iowa beginning mid-July 2021. Loras College has additional plans to launch its private bootcamp in Fall 2021. Iowa has over 3,200 unfilled positions in cybersecurity, yet the availability and supply of cyber professionals are "Very Low" across the state. The state is one of several collectively called the "Silicon Prairie," as it houses several large companies including Wells Fargo, Integrity, and Dwolla. The digital infrastructure of Iowa is becoming more solidified, with cybersecurity at the forefront. The Cybint Bootcamp is structured to future-proof workers on a global scale with cyber skills, ensuring they can protect themselves and their organizations frm emerging cyber threats. The collaboration with Loras College is unique to the region and will create highly sought-after graduates in the field of cybersecurity.



Loras College, which is ranked #1 among private colleges and universities in Iowa (US News and World Report), offers a wide array of academic programs, extracurricular offerings, and opportunity for personal growth. Over 98 percent of its graduates become employed after graduation across a variety of diverse professional, social, and religious roles. Through the joint cohort with Cybint, followed by its private bootcamp in the Fall, Loras College is expanding its rich liberal arts tradition for a changing world. "Iowa is quickly emerging as a tech hub in its own right, and cyber professionals are needed now more than ever," says Roy Zur, Founder and CEO of Cybint. "We're pleased to help pave the way, in collaboration with Loras College."

"Here at Loras College, we take pride in our wide array of academic programs, extracurricular offerings, and opportunities for personal growth," says Jim Collins, President of Loras College. "A liberal arts background enables people to work through the most critical aspects of their lives, and the backing of cybersecurity knowledge will help them across many disciplines." For more information about the Cybint Bootcamp joint cohort with Loras College, please visit: www.loras.edu/cybersecurity About Cybint

Cybint is a global cyber education company with a commitment to reskilling the workforce and upskilling the industry in cybersecurity. With innovative and leading-edge education and training solutions, Cybint tackles cybersecurity's two greatest threats: the talent shortage and the skills gap. The Cybint team is comprised of military cyber experts, industry professionals, and educators united under the vision of creating a safer digital world through education, training, and collaboration. For more information, visit www.cybintsolutions.com About Loras College

Founded in 1839, Loras College leverages its historic roots as Iowa's first college, the second oldest Catholic college west of the Mississippi River and one of the nation's 10 diocesan colleges to deliver challenging, life-changing experiences as part of its residential, Catholic setting. In 2020, Loras was ranked the 16th Best Regional College in the Midwest by U.S. News & World Report and one of America's Top 200 Most Loved Colleges/Universities by Forbes Magazine for the fourth consecutive year. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cybint-partners-with-loras-college-to-bring-cybersecurity-training-to-the-dubuque-region-301306624.html SOURCE Cybint Solutions

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[June 07, 2021] Qlik Launches Data Literacy 2.0 to Drive Data Fluency in the Enterprise

PHILADELPHIA, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today Qlik announces the next generation of its award-winning Data Literacy program to help drive the data fluency needed for a world witnessing continued digital acceleration. Data Literacy 2.0 is a comprehensive offering that enables companies to kickstart a data literacy program and scale it to thousands of employees.

Being able to read, work with, analyze and communicate with data is rapidly increasing in importance in both our everyday lives and in the workplace, with Qliks Data Literacy Index revealing that 93% of global business leaders believe it is vital for their employees to be data literate. Yet, just 21% of the global workforce feel confident in their data literacy skills and only 25% of employees felt fully prepared to use data effectively when entering their current role. The Data Literacy 2.0 program enables organizations to start with a small initial investment, then affordably scale data literacy across the entire workforce. It is designed to take individuals from data novice to data fluent; where they can confidently interpret and work with data and help drive best practices in data-driven decision-making across their organization. Being data literate cant be a specialist skillset or limited to those with technical ability. Everyone needs to be fluent in data in both their personal and professional lives, said Dr. Paul Barth, Global Head of Data Literacy at Qlik. As we emerge from global lockdowns and accelerate recovery plans, business leaders need to arm their employees with the skills to succeed in an increasingly digital and data-driven workplace. If they dont, they not only risk losing talent to organiztions making greater investments in employee upskilling, but they stand to undermine the future productivity, performance and competitiveness of their business.



The Data Literacy 2.0 program includes: Launch services: Providing best practice and hands-on support for companies, including a proven methodology for starting and scaling data literacy across the business.

Providing best practice and hands-on support for companies, including a proven methodology for starting and scaling data literacy across the business. Expert training: Instructor-led classes for in-depth discussions on working with data.

Instructor-led classes for in-depth discussions on working with data. Skills tracking: Data literacy assessments, certifications, and dashboards to measure progress. Employees can take a 2.5-hour exam to achieve gold standard accreditation in data literacy.

Data literacy assessments, certifications, and dashboards to measure progress. Employees can take a 2.5-hour exam to achieve gold standard accreditation in data literacy. Community portal: An online forum to fuel peer-to-peer data literacy collaboration across the organization.

An online forum to fuel peer-to-peer data literacy collaboration across the organization. Self-service courses: Over 20 online self-service data literacy courses and supporting resources for employees to upskill in their own time, split across two components: Free Data Fundamentals courses for those who are at the start of their data literacy journey including modules on Introduction to Data Literacy and Data Informed Decision Making. Paid for Data Fluency courses for individuals looking to dig deeper into data best practices for their organization with modules such as Foundational Analytics and Advanced Analytics .



Over 20 online self-service data literacy courses and supporting resources for employees to upskill in their own time, split across two components: The complete data fluency curriculum starts at $250 per student with volume discounts for large organizations. More information on the program and pricing structure are available here: Data Literacy Program: Training, Consulting & Resources | Qlik.

As a founding member of the Data Literacy Project and as part of its commitment to creating a data-literate world, Qlik is also making the Data Fundamentals and Data Fluency courses accessible, as well as a host of free resources to help people get to grips and build confidence with data, here: https://thedataliteracyproject.org/learn. About Qlik

Qliks vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private SaaS company, Qlik provides an end-to-end, real-time data integration and analytics cloud platform to close the gaps between data, insights and action.?By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships.?Qlik does business in more than 100 countries and serves over 50,000 customers around the world.??  2021 QlikTech International AB. All rights reserved. All company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. The information provided herein is subject to change without notice. In addition, the development, release and timing of any product or functionality described herein remain at the sole discretion of Qlik and should not be relied upon in making a purchasing decision, nor as a representation, warranty or commitment to deliver specific products or functionality in the future. Media Contact:

Derek Lyons

derek.lyons@qlik.com

617-658-5310



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[June 07, 2021] A Time to Celebrate the Students! Wisconsin Virtual Academy, Insight School of Wisconsin & Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin Class of 2021 Move Forward

After a school year like no other, the Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIVA), Insight School of Wisconsin (ISWI), and Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin (DCAWI), three online public school serving students throughout the state, will celebrate its graduates online with a combined online commencement ceremony on June 9th at 6 pm. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005002/en/ "This year our student body grew to over 4,000 students with over 4,000 different reasons to be a part of our learning community. Our school's personalized learning approach allows students to get their individual needs met," shared Dr. Sara R. Cutler, Head of Schools. "At WIVA/ISWI/DCAWI, we are building the citizens of the 21st century. During the world pandemic, our highly trained, certified teachers kept our students motivated, excited and moving toward their goals. The achievements of our faculty, families and scholars should be celebrated across our beautiful state. Congratulations graduates!" This year, WIVA will graduate nearly 300 students, ISWI will graduate at least 44, and DCAWI will graduate 36. Approximately 45 seniors will graduate with at least a 3.5 weighted GPA, and the Class of 2021 has earned over $100,500 dollars in combined scholarships already. Collectively, the graduating class reports it has been accepted to colleges and universities across Wisconsin and beyond, including Milwaukee Area Technical College, UW-Green Bay, Marquette, and University of North Florida. Amina Waheed is WIVA's Valedictorian and DCAWI will feature Ian Santin. Amina plans to attend UW-Madison in the fall and major in biology on a path to attend medical school and become a doctor. Ian plans to attend Davenport University studying computer science and eventually become a self-employed software engineer. The Salutatorian for DCAWI is Lamech Kealiher and he will be attending University of Advancing Technology in Arizona. WIVA has two Salutatorians, Ellen Gresbach and Janna Johnson. They will be attending Waukesha County Technical College and UW-EauClaire respectively.



"This year was a whole new kind of struggle and we all couldn't have gone through it without the continued support of our teachers," said Amina Waheed. "I'll forever be grateful that they helped me move onto the next level of my education." Prior to the pandemic, students enrolled in virtual school for a number of reasons-some were looking to escape bullying, some may have fallen academically off track, and others were looking for an alternative to the traditional classroom setting.

WIVA, ISWI, and DCAWI students access a robust online curriculum in the core subjects and a host of electives and attend live virtual classes taught by state-certified teachers. Details of the graduation ceremonies are as follows: WHAT: Wisconsin Virtual Academy 2021 Graduation Ceremony WHEN: Wednesday, June 9th, 2021, 6:00 PM, info can be found here WHAT: Insight School of Wisconsin 2021 Graduation Ceremony WHEN: Wednesday, June 9th, 2021, 6:00 PM, info can be found here WHAT: Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin 2021 Graduation Ceremony WHEN: Wednesday, June 9th, 2021, 6:00 PM, info can be found here Additionally, students will have the opportunity to attend a diploma pick up. They will be able to walk the stage and receive their diploma from administration on June 9th at an outdoor, socially distance event prior to the virtual ceremony. CONTACT: For any questions about the celebrations, please contact Carrie Cherney at ccherney@k12.com. For media inquiries, please contact Ken Schwartz at kschwartz@k12.com. About Wisconsin Virtual Academy Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIVA), a charter school authorized by the McFarland School District, is the largest full-time online public-school serving students in grades K through 12 in the state. As part of the Wisconsin public school system, WIVA is tuition-free, giving families the choice to access the curriculum and tools provided by K12, a Stride Company (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about WIVA, visit http://wiva.k12.com/. About Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin, a charter school authorized by the McFarland School District, is the first-ever career and technical education-focused online high school in Wisconsin using the curriculum and tools provided by K12, a Stride Company (NYSE: LRN).. It is also the first online career readiness program in Wisconsin to offer a construction pre-apprenticeship program in partnership with industry leaders. As part of the Wisconsin public school system, Destinations Career Academy is tuition-free and serves students statewide in grades 9-12. For more information about Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin, visit DCAWI.k12.com. About Insight School of Wisconsin Insight School of Wisconsin (ISWI), a charter school authorized by McFarland School District, provides a learning alternative for students in grades 9-12 who meet the statutory definition of 'at-risk.' Utilizing a growth mindset that all students have the capacity to learn and grow, ISWI collaborates with school services, the student, and their family in finding a pathway toward graduation and student success. As part of the Wisconsin public school system, ISWI is tuition-free and provides students across the state with the curriculum and tools provided by K12, a Stride Company (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about ISWI, visit here. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005002/en/

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[June 07, 2021] Diesel Laptops Becomes Founding Affiliate for New Association, Repair ACES

IRMO, S.C. and WINSTON SALEM, N.C., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Diesel Laptops, LLC and Repair ACES (The Association for Commercial Equipment Solutions) are excited to announce their partnership and that Diesel Laptops is a Founding ACES Affiliate. Repair ACES announced its launch at the Diesel Laptops Virtual Expo on May 7-8, 2021. The Association has been created by industry professionals who saw a need and made it a mission to be a resource and advocacy organization to help heavy truck and commercial equipment repair and maintenance businesses thrive. Corporate Members will include repair and maintenance businesses such as independent shops, fleets, dealer repair shops, leasing companies, mobile repair, and truck stops. Suppliers to those businesses are also welcomed to join as Allied Members. Current benefits to the membership are designed to give more resources, help increase profits, and convey knowledge. Diesel Laptops is providing ACES Corporate Members with cutting-edge tools to run their businesses more effectively and efficiently. With their paid membership, all ACES Corporate Members will receive the following: The newly released Diesel Laptops Diesel Decoder tool for free.

An 8% rebate back on purchases of commercial truck diagnostic software, hardware, and laptop kits fom Diesel Laptops.

A free year of the Diesel Repair Standard plan.

Three vouchers to attend Repair ACES premium online training webinars ( $100 each), run by the experts at Diesel Laptops, for free. Topics will range from emissions, electrical, specific engine types and more.

each), run by the experts at Diesel Laptops, for free. Topics will range from emissions, electrical, specific engine types and more. One voucher for $500 for In-Class Training at Diesel Laptops' locations in Irmo, South Carolina or Dallas, Texas .



$500 training voucher for on-site classes in South Carolina and Texas , and free premium webinar training for our members are some of the donations they are making this year. They are investing in this industry to help launch Repair ACES successfully and make it a no-brainer financial decision for repair and maintenance businesses to join as members. We are grateful for their partnership and look forward to a long relationship with them," said Justina Nadolson , ACES Executive Director. "Diesel Laptops is proud to support Repair Aces as they expand and grow, and we're especially proud to be a Founding Affiliate offering our industry-leading solutions to their members. We hope this partnership will enable Repair ACES members to train the next generation of diesel technicians, expand their service offerings, and provide more valuable services to their customers than ever before."  Tyler Robertson, CEO, Diesel Laptops LLC

For more information, visit the website at repairaces.org or contact Executive Director at 334-904-2242. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/diesel-laptops-becomes-founding-affiliate-for-new-association-repair-aces-301306700.html SOURCE Repair ACES

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[June 07, 2021] 'Look Out! The Swarm Is Coming!' - Producer Nicole Natale Makes Absolute Digital-Art History by Offering Complete Movie Production as Single NFT Purchase

SAN DIEGO, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Author, director, and screenwriter Nicole Natale announced the online sale of her original film project, "Brood X," a horror themed creature-feature. "Brood X" has been fully digitized and is offered as a newly minted NFT token recorded on the Ethereum blockchain. An extensive work of art, the "Brood X" NFT includes a completed movie screenplay; fully fleshed-out character descriptions; three outlined budgets for shooting the film on location in South Africa, Canada, and Arizona; a Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) for film investors; a richly illustrated and animated trailer with hand-drawn images; secret unlockable content for the final owner; and every other creative tool needed to launch the cinematic project. The full "Brood X" NFT token includes total ownership and fully syncs to the OpenSea.io platform for selling and trading purposes. "As far as I know, an NFTof this type has never been created and sold before, so I'm really excited to be breaking new ground here," said Natale. "As artists, we all have those creative projects that we shelve for one reason or another  with some being closer to completion than others. 'Brood X' is a fun creature-feature I worked on years ago, infusing it with a lot of creative energy and force, along with appropriately lurid animated art. And although I took this film quite a ways down the road, I had to put 'Brood X' away in a drawer for multiple reasons. Well, it's time to take it out and let someone else own this; someone who will love it as much as I do. 'Brood X' can serve as either a nuanced piece of unique NFT crypto art, or be a fantastic undertaking for the right producer."



The Animatic was created by crypto artist Lori Hammond. Learn more about the sale of the "Brood X" NFT and Nicole Natale's creative process by going online.

About Nicole Natale A mother, musician, artist, philosopher scientist, and prolific multimedia artist, Nicole Natale is the creator of more than 28 individual pieces of work including documentary films, books (some under various pennames), film projects, and a wide variety of online groups that help nurture and advance ideas about family, holidays, travel and food. A writer to her core, Nicole constantly hones her craft, while also maintaining an impressive collection of antique typewriters just for fun. Learn more about her at: www.NicoleNatale.com. Media Contact: Tony Felice

Ashlee Singleton

310901@email4pr.com

feliceagency.com

619-693-6999 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/look-out-the-swarm-is-coming--producer-nicole-natale-makes-absolute-digital-art-history-by-offering-complete-movie-production-as-single-nft-purchase-301306716.html SOURCE Nicole Natale

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[June 07, 2021] Evoque Data Center Solutions CEO to Speak at Credit Suisse's 23rd Annual Communications Conference

DALLAS, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evoque Data Center Solutions (www.evoquedcs.com) today announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Andy Stewart, will be a featured speaker at Credit Suisse Securities 23rd annual Communications Conference, to be held as a virtual event later this month.

This event will consist of company presentations, select industry panels and one-on-ones with senior leadership from key companies across the Media, Telecom, Telecom Infrastructure and Cable & Satellite sectors. Stewart will take part in a fireside chat with Credit Suisse analyst Sami Badri, where he will discuss the evolving nature of the data center industry, and Evoques role solving business challenges across a number of sectors. When you target enterprise customers, and you talk to their CIOs or CTOs, youre no longer having a discussion first and foremost about colocation strategy, Stewart said. Enterprise customers are focused on other issues like their cloud strategy, application efficiency, cost optimization, and how to manage multiple infrastructures whether they are in the public cloud, on-premises or in a data center. To that end, Stewart said Evoque is actively shifting its strategic approach to initiating those conversations. We know that applictions are moving to AWS, Azure and GCP pretty quickly. Our challenge is how can we be involved in that? How can we be a strategic partner, and educate our clients on how to balance and optimize their cloud and data center implementations? Were not waiting for an RFP to come out for space and power, but actually shifting the conversation to talk about application success, application migration to the cloud, Stewart added.



We believe the stars are aligned for enterprise demand to accelerate in the second half of 2021, creating a favorable situation for multi-tenant data centers (MTDCs), Badri wrote in a recent research report. Badri said Credit Suisses analysts predict that enterprise demand will be especially strong in 2021 for a couple of main reasons  (1) demand looked to be solid heading into 2020, but COVID-19 altered some plans for expansion, as many companies deploying in smaller retail colocation environments chose to be cautious with spend in an uncertain environment; and (2) COVID-19 then acted as an accelerant for digital transformation, turning many enterprises to a WFH model, and growing gaming and video streaming to new heights. About Evoque Data Center Solutions

Evoque Data Center Solutions, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, offers enterprises a full range of services, ranging from local, regional and global connectivity to secure space in highly available and redundant environments across four continents. The company supports a diversified base of Fortune 1000 customers across multiple segments, including utilities, transport, energy, communications, healthcare, and technologies. For more information, visit https://www.evoquedcs.com/. Evoque Data Center Solutions is a portfolio company of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, a leading global infrastructure asset manager that owns and operates high-quality, long-life assets in the utilities, transport, energy and data infrastructure sectors across North and South America, Asia Pacific and Europe. For more information: Steve Friedberg

Evoque Data Center Solutions

484.550.2900

sfriedberg@evoquedcs.com



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The White House has announced that it is donating millions of vaccines doses to the global community and Taiwan will receive 750,000 shots.

"I'm here to tell you that the United States will not let you stand alone," Duckworth said. "We will be by your side to make sure the people of Taiwan have what they need to get to the other side of the pandemic and beyond."

On Sunday, a bipartisan trio of U.S. senators -- Democrat Christropher Coons of Delaware, Democrat Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Republican Dan Sullivan of Alaska -- stopped in Taiwan. The democratically ruled island has complained that China is blocking their efforts to obtain COVID-19 vaccines.

The U.S. has the most coronavirus infections at 33.3 million, according to Johns Hopkins, followed by India with 29 million and Brazil with 17 million.

India which has the second-highest number of cases reported early Sunday that it had recorded 114,460 new infections in the previous 24-hour period, the lowest count in 60 days. The daily death toll of 2,677 was the lowest tally in 42 days. Public health officials have warned, however, that India's infection and deaths totals are likely undercounted.

When the leaders of the world's industrialized nations meet this week in Cornwall, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will ask them to commit to "vaccinate the entire world against coronavirus by the end of 2022," according to a statement Saturday. "Vaccinating the world by the end of next year would be the single greatest feat in medical history," Johnson said in a statement. "I'm calling on my fellow G7 leaders to join us to end this terrible pandemic and pledge we will never allow the devastation wreaked by coronavirus to happen again." He may run into some pushback from his own country.

New cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, have dropped dramatically since the United Kingdom began its vaccination campaign. Now nearly 68 million people have received at least one shot and nearly 27 million are fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins. That's 40 percent of the population.

But cases of the Delta variant are on the rise and that could threaten the nation's progress. As Britain opens up, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Reuters, a rise in cases is expected. The vaccine, he said, has broken the link between rising cases and rising deaths. "But it hasn't been completely severed yet, and that's one of the things that we're watching very carefully," he added.

In China's Guangzhou city, a port city of more than 13 million people, new restrictions took effect Saturday because of a rise in COVID-19 cases that began in late May. Of the 24 new cases of COVID-19 reported in China on Saturday, 11 were transmitted in Guangzhou province, where the city is located.

Authorities had imposed restrictions earlier in the week but sought additional limits on business and social activities. Authorities closed about a dozen subway stops, and the city's Nansha district ordered restaurants to stop dine-in services and public venues, such as gyms, to temporarily close. Officials in the districts of Nansha, Huadu and Conghua ordered all residents and any individuals who have traveled through their regions to be tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

As Afghanistan attempts to beat back a surge in COVID-19 cases, it has received the news that the 3 million doses of vaccines it was expecting from the World Health Organization in April will not arrive until August, according to the Associated Press. Afghan health ministry spokesperson Ghulam Dastagir Nazari told AP that he has approached several embassies for help but has not received any vaccines. "We are in the middle of a crisis," he said.

The war-torn country reported nearly 7,500 new cases in the week ending Saturday, a record, according to Johns Hopkins, and 187 deaths, also a record. The official figures are no doubt an undercount because they include only those in hospitals, while most people who become sick stay home and die there, the AP said.

Afghan health officials are blaming the Delta variant, first discovered in India, for its soaring infection rate. Travel to India is unrestricted and many students and those seeking medical care go there, according to the AP. While the government has tried to enforce mask wearing and social distancing, most Afghans resist. "Our people believe it is fake, especially in the countryside," Dr. Zalmai Rishteen, administrator of the Afghan-Japan Hospital, the only hospital dedicated to COVID-19 patients, told the AP. "Or they are religious and believe God will save them."

About 626,000 Afghans have received one shot of a coronavirus vaccine, with about 145,000 fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 23:35:11|Editor: huaxia

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YANGON -- The trials for Myanmar's detained President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will begin next week, Khin Maung Zaw, the lawyer for the two leaders told reporters on Monday.

"The cases of Aung San Suu Kyi were classified as simple cases at the court today, so the trials for those cases need to finish within 180 days," the lawyer said. (Myanmar-Trials-President-State Counsellor)

- - - -

KABUL -- Fighting in Afghanistan has intensified as more than 80 people have been killed and two districts have been taken by militants over the past three days.

Fighting has increased amid the visit of the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and his meeting with Afghan leaders including President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Sunday. (Afghanistan-Taliban-Fighting)

- - - -

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law to officially quit the Treaty on Open Skies, the Kremlin said Monday.

The multilateral Treaty on Open Skies, which came into effect in 2002, allows its states-parties to conduct short-notice, unarmed reconnaissance flights over the others' territories to collect data on military forces and activities. (Russia-Open Skies Treaty-Putin)

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LAGOS -- The death toll from a recent boat accident in the northwestern Nigerian state of Kebbi has risen to 97, with no more hope for survivors, an official said late on Sunday.

Babale Umar-Yauri, secretary of the Kebbi state government, said search and rescue operation teams have so far retrieved 97 bodies from the boat mishap on May 26. (Nigeria-Boat Accident) Enditem
[June 07, 2021] iVANKY Launches the All-New Docking Station Pro Created Especially for Apple MacBooks

SHENZHEN, China, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- iVANKY, a top player in the audiovisual (AV) industry dedicated to AV cables and video extenders, has recently launched their latest innovation  the iVANKY Docking Station Pro with dual USB-C input and 12 ports output. Exclusively designed for most MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, it empowers users to connect multiple additional devices to their increasingly compact MacBooks using robust dual USB-C cable technology compatible with any recent MacBook Pro or MacBook Air laptop with adjacent USB-C ports. Check out the iVANKY official link here: https://bit.ly/2RllgoK Designed to effortlessly facilitate two 4K 60Hz external displays, iVANKY can even do this in your MacBook's extended mode and is not troubled by high-speed charging or the burden of high-definition media displays. With ultra-fast data transfers to a stable internet connection, this class-leading docking station solves many of the pain points that MacBook users have encountered when they need more ports for peripheral devices. Key features of the iVANKY include: Dual 4K@60Hz displays

96W pass-through charging to power any MacBook

Caters to extended desktop, video mirroring, and closed-display modes with external displays

Plug and play functionality. No driver installation required

Fast and robust wired RJ45 Ethernet connectivity/li>



More Features

There is a range of powerful functionality under the hood of iVANKY's attractive aesthetics including dual 4K @ 60Hz monitor support for MacBook devices and a docking station that instantly boosts the total of 12 ports available to support all the needs of users. The full list of features includes: 2 x HDMI (support for 4K @ 60Hz with HDR, 4K @ 30Hz, and 1080p @ 60Hz  dual 4K @ 60Hz limited to 2017 and later 15/16-inch MacBook Pro models)

@ 60Hz with HDR, @ 30Hz, and 1080p @ 60Hz  dual @ 60Hz limited to 2017 and later 15/16-inch MacBook Pro models) 96W pass-through charging to power any MacBook

2 x USB-C 3.0 (up to 5Gbps data speeds, 1 PD with 18W output, 1 with 5W output)

4 x USB 3.0 (up to 5Gbps data speeds, 5W output).

1 x Gigabit Ethernet (1000/100/10 Mbps)

1 x SD card slot

1 x microSD card slot

1 x 3.5mm audio The iVANKY has been exclusively designed to give Apple Laptop users the best product experience possible without having to worry about adaptivity issues. Compatible devices include: 16-inch MacBook Pro

15-inch MacBook Pro (2016 and later)

13-inch MacBook Pro (2016 and later)

13-inch MacBook Air (2018 and later)

Users should bear in mind that the new M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro only officially supports 1 external display Users looking for a high-powered and well-designed MacBook-compatible docking station that comes in at the lower end of the price range won't go wrong with the iVANKY Docking Station. The device is well-designed, looks great and can easily support multiple high-end features. There's no need to wait to unlock the productivity that powerful computing machinery can deliver. The iVANKY is compact, lightweight, has well-spaced ports, and can support and enhance a wide range of workflows across numerous industries. There is a one-time 20% off discount available on the Amazon store from June 21-22(Amazon Prime Day) at this link: http://bit.ly/iVANKY For more information, please contact:

Joy Tsai, Brand PR for Overseas Markets

marketing@ivanky.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ivanky-launches-the-all-new-docking-station-pro-created-especially-for-apple-macbooks-301305916.html SOURCE iVANKY

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[June 07, 2021] RE:Store Launches First Free Ad Campaign for LA-Based Black-owned Business Hurt by COVID-19

LOS ANGELES, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A year in the making following the devastating effects of the pandemic on local businesses nationwide, Los Angeles-based RE:Store --a brand-new platform created to connect Black-owned companies with free advertising support--has launched its first commercial campaign produced through the program. The initiative was co-launched by Steve Gandolfi, founder of Cut+Run, and features top-tier directorial and editorial talent.

In the midst of the resurging Black Lives Matter movement in Summer 2020, and spurred by a close friend, Gandolfi sought direct action he might take to actively make change in the advertising industry beyond posting the much-criticized black square on Instagram. Between the local unrest and the sight of small businesses forced to close due the pandemic, the experience sparked the original idea for RE:Store. The company lends the hardest-hit Black-owned businesses of Los Angeles much-needed creative advertising execution, including credits provided in partnership by Snap Inc. to advertise on their platform. The campaign begins with the RE:Store snapshot of Compton, CA company Temple Beauty Supply, a Black-owned hair care business and supply store, helmed by Valiant Pictures director Tiffany Frances. Click HERE to see the full Temple Beauty spot. A cornerstone of her Compton community, owner Amber Osborne launched her mart stocked with Black brands in February 2020, shortly before the pandemic blindsided small businesses worldwide. She had won $50K from Snoop Dogg's Joker's Wild show in January 2019, and knew she would help her community with a beauty business. Dvelopment deals and teams fell apart, but she persisted and grew to own a mini mart side-by-side with her beauty supply store. Having the mini mart came just in the nick of time in February 2020, as it marked her business essential under the government and allowed it to stay open during the course of the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic and during the summers Black Lives Matter protests, she and her family anticipated the needs of the community and continued to provide services and assistance. Other participating businesses in the program include Pineapple Express, JackFruits Cafe, Sunbelly Foods, The Reverse Orangutan, and many more.



Click HERE to see the list of company and creative partners thus far. RE:Store aims to restore faith in a small business marketplace wrought with unforeseen challenges. The RE:Store team, led by Executive Director of Co.Labs Matt Stefan, developed a free platform connecting local creatives, producers, and content creators with Black-owned businesses that need help. Gandolfi and RE:Store facilitated connections between networks of videographers, directors and businesses. Cut+Run lent their support to several of the works, and creators donated their time, equipment, and resources to produce short-form video ads at no cost. Participating stores received support for launching their campaigns and promoting their business online.





Once the ads are completed, Snap Inc. has partnered with RE:Store to provide participating owners who qualify with credits to advertise on their platform. To be part of the program, a small business must be a registered business or non-profit organization; have a commercial location; have fewer than ten employees or fewer than 25 employees for restaurants and bars and cannot be part of a corporate franchise. Snap Inc. advertisements executed thus far have translated to 3500 web visitors and upwards of 250,000 views for each business. About RE:Store

The summer of 2020 had devastating effects on local businesses across the globe. Los Angeles store owners were particularly hard hit. The combined effects of COVID-19, and property destruction which accompanied protests in the city, left thousands of store owners on the brink of collapse. With these devastating realities in mind, a local initiative of creators, connectors, and builders decided to do their part to give these store owners a helping hand in promoting their businesses online. As our name suggests, RE:Store is a project focused on restoring faith in a small business marketplace wrought with unforeseen challenges. For More Information, Contact:

Amanda Drum

Press Kitchen (310) 394-3900 Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/518f7fe5-0ebd-473f-99c0-7d7ffb908981 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/746f76d9-c074-4aa5-9932-b0a00999196c https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eda2600f-02eb-42fe-b718-5c117649116f



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[June 07, 2021]

Transportation Management System Market to Garner $11.36 Billion, Globally, by 2027 at 9.6% CAGR: AMR

Exponential growth within the e-commerce industry and technological advancements across the transportation and logistics sectors have boosted the growth of the global transportation management system market

PORTLAND, Ore., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Transportation Management System Market By Component (Solution and Services), Solution Type (Planning & Execution, Order Management, Audit, Payment, & Claims, Reporting & Analytics, and Routing & Tracking), Deployment Model (On-premise and Cloud), Transportation Mode (Roadways, Railways, Airways, and Maritime), and Industry Vertical (Retail, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, Energy & Utilities, Transportation & Logistics, Government, and Others) Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027". As per the report, the global transportation management system industry was pegged at $5.46 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $11.36 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9.6% from 2020 to 2027.

Download Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/6633

Drivers, restraints, and opportunities

Exponential growth within the e-commerce industry and technological advancements across the transportation and logistics sectors have boosted the growth of the global transportation management system market. However, the data security concern hinders the market growth. On the contrary, advent of autonomous and connected vehicles, rise in adoption of cloud technology, and arrival of Industry 4.0 are expected to create opportunities for the market players in the future.

Covid-19 scenario:

The pandemic resulted in disrupted supply chains due to market volatility and ban on international trade. Moreover, the pandemic caused enormous strain on the supply chains as there is a rush to ship orders as quickly as possible. This, in turn, boosted the adoption of transportation management systems among the end-users.

During the pandemic, companies tightened their budgets. However, the need to stay connected increased more than ever for logistics companies to maintain mobility. This increased the demand for transportation management systems.

Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the Transportation Management System Market: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/6633?reqfor=covid

The solution segment dominated the market

By component, the solution segment held the lion's share in 2019, contributing to nearly three-fourths of the global transportation management system market. Moreover, the segment is estimated to register the highest CAGR of 9.7% during the forecast period, as the introduction of digital solutions from connected warehouses to new mileage delivery services increase the value and presence of TMS. The research also analyzes the services segment.

The manufacturing segment held he lion's share







By industry vertical, the manufacturing segment held the largest share in 2019, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the global transportation management system market, due to growing significance of tracking and maintenance of goods and raw materials and cost-effective operations. However, the healthcare and pharmaceutical segment is expected to manifest the highest CAGR of 10.2% during the forecast period, as healthcare is emerging as a key industry, as traceability, visibility, and shipping controls contributing toward growth of the TMS market in pharmacy sector. Moreover, the lower expedited transportation costs supplemented the market growth.

For Purchase Inquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/6633

North America held the largest share

By region, the market across North America dominated in 2019, contributing to nearly two-fifths of the market, as the market is driven by considerable e-commerce growth in the U.S. However, the global transportation management system market across Asia-Pacific is projected to portray the highest CAGR of 10.0% during the forecast period, owing to growing international trade, especially in emerging economies such as China and India, and rise in smartphone penetration.

Major market players

Oracle Corporation

SAP

C.H. Robinson

Trimble

BluJay Solutions

MercuryGate International

Blue Yonder

Transplace

3GTMS

E2Open

Official Press Release: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/press-release/transportation-management-market.html

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[June 07, 2021] Faire La Fete owner First Growth Brands Inc. welcomes Ronald Anderson as Managing Board Director and Shareholder

First Growth Brands Inc. and its flagship brand Faire La Fete, today announced that Ronald Anderson has joined the company as a managing member of the Board of Directors. In his role, Ron will lead the sales and growth strategy for the company's flagship brand, Faire La Fete, the authentic French sparkling wine. His focus will be on enhancing sales force capabilities and implementing strong route-to-market programs. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005129/en/ Faire La Fete Formerly he was a member of the executive committee of Diageo and its Chief Customer Officer where he led the global sales organization. Important to Faire La Fete, in his capacity as Executive Vice President, he led the creation and implementatin of their successful transformational route to market strategy. More recently, he was the Chief Commercial Officer at Bacardi. Anderson brings over 30 years in the spirits industry.



Anderson was an integral part of the launch of many globally known brands including Johnnie Walker Double Black, Malibu Rum, Bombay Sapphire, Bailey's Irish Cream Flavors, Tanqueray and more, with combined sales of $2.5 billion USD. "We could not be more enthused about having one of the world's most accomplished beverage executives leading sales," said Edward Holl, Chairman and CEO of First Growth Brands. "Faire La Fete has big ambitions and Ron's abilities will help realize them".

"I look forward to working with the Faire La Fete team. This brand has serious potential and I look forward to guiding it to become one of the most successful French sparkling brands in the United States," said Anderson. About Faire La Fete Faire La Fete, French for " party with friends" was first introduced in the U.S. in 2015 and today is distributed across major metro markets by Southern Glazers. Faire La Fete is France's answer to making champagne affordable again by offering consumers the same traditional quality of $50 Champagnes at less than half the price. Faire la Fete is produced by First Growth in Limoux France, the birthplace of champagne in 1531. Sustainably hand-harvested and bottle aged, Faire La Fete has 60% less sugar than tank-fermented Prosecco and fewer calories per drink than a can of WhiteClaw. Faire La Fete is convincing American consumers, who love champagne but couldn't afford it for daily celebration, that they now can. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005129/en/

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[June 07, 2021] Consumers Energy Puts Electric Vehicle Transformation into High Gear with New Effort for Michigan Businesses

JACKSON, Mich., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers Energy is putting the electric vehicle transformation into high gear with a major new program to help businesses statewide transition to carbon-free EVs. Consumers Energy's new PowerMIFleet program will focus on Michigan businesses, offering expertise and $3 million in rebates for charging locations throughout the state. "Michigan was the birthplace of the American auto industry. Now, we are the center of the industry's clean energy revolution," said Lauren Youngdahl Snyder, Consumers Energy's vice president for customer experience. "With PowerMIFleet, we at Consumers Energy are taking our success with EVs to the next level making it easier for other businesses to join us on this Clean Energy journey." Through PowerMIFleet, Consumers Energy will provide expertise and consultation services to Michigan businesses, governments and school systems that are looking to electrify their vehicle fleets and charge overnight through cost-saving use rates. Consumers Energy is launching PowerMIFleet to build on its existing electric vehicle program, PowerMIDrive, which makes EV cost savings simple by providing time of use rates for EV drivers, and over 800 rebates for home, businessand public charging stations in the last two years.



Businesses and eligible groups can learn more at: ConsumersEnergy.com/PowerMIFleet. "Consumers Energy will connect Michigan businesses, local governments and school bus fleets with the planning resources, expert guidance and financial incentives to easily and cost-effectively transition to electric vehicles," Youngdahl Snyder said.

Through all of Consumers Energy's vehicle programs, Michigan's largest energy provider plans to help power 200 fast charging locations  and over 2,000 chargers at homes and businesses  over the next three years in Michigan. Those vehicles will be powered by an electric grid that is moving toward being carbon neutral. Consumers Energy's Clean Energy Plan calls for eliminating coal, eliminating energy waste and adding more renewable energy sources. Learn more: MICleanEnergy.com. Consumers Energy, Michigan's largest energy provider, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.8 million of the state's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties. # # # For more information about Consumers Energy, go to ConsumersEnergy.com. Check out Consumers Energy on Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/consumersenergymichigan

Twitter: https://twitter.com/consumersenergy

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/consumersenergy

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consumersenergy View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/consumers-energy-puts-electric-vehicle-transformation-into-high-gear-with-new-effort-for-michigan-businesses-301306871.html SOURCE Consumers Energy

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[June 07, 2021] Cadmium's Award-Winning Spring 2021 Highlights Its Full Range of Capabilities

FOREST HILL, Md., June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cadmium is prepared to accommodate in-person, virtual, and hybrid events with award-winning products for any occasion. An award-winning Spring 2021 highlights the best features of the Cadmium platform. Accolades range from Best Conference Technology to Best Virtual Event Technology, covering a wide range of capabilities across the event lifecycle.

Cadmium shines at Eventex Awards Eventex Awards 2021 , the biggest global event awards, saw 561 entries from 37 countries around the world competing for the world's most prestigious accolades. The competition recognizes excellence in every aspect of the event industry - from events and experiences to event technology, suppliers, venues, and destinations. Cadmium came out on top in two major categories this spring. Conference Technology (Silver) Conference Harvester The Conference Harvester makes it possible for meeting organizers to make instant changes to their content, speakers, and exhibitors, and deliver the most recent information to attendees. It is also a crucial asset in helping planners keep organized. These features helped Conference Harvester earn a Silver at Eventex this year: Collect speaker biographies, photos, and presentations, in one place. Keep speakers on point by setting task-oriented deadlines. Send emails to custom or template distribution lists to remind them what's left to submit.

Keep Track of your exhibitors, collect information from exhibiting companies, and manage your floor plan through a task-based system. Plus give your sponsors exclusive opportunities to shine by allowing them to purchase booth space and sponsor items in the same place.

Allows meeting organizers to build a list of resources available at their conference, assign those resources to specific rooms in a convention center, then automatically schedule sessions into open rooms with the criteria they've defined.

Make changes to event sessions, activities, events, and booths instantly without the need to submit a request for changes. Attendee Management Technology (Silver) eventScribe Live eventScribe Live brings all the best things about face-to-face educational conferences online. Posters, sessions, and booths all have a home in the digital space on eventScribe websites. But the experience is enhanced through Q&A, polling, and live chat right within live stream players, on-demand content with attendee engagement tools built-in, matchmaking and networking features, and sponsorship opportunities tat deliver value to all stakeholders. Here are a few additional features that helped eventScribe Live land Silver at Eventex:



The tile screen homepage, universal search, and track filtering makes content discoverability easy. And tools like note-taking on slides makes the educational experience stand out.

eventScribe Live is also backed by the Conference Harvester system, which allows organizers to make changes instantly, manage speakers and exhibitors, and organize their sessions and activities in meaningful and impactful ways

The best thing about the platform is that it is perfect for both digital and hybrid events, making the transition from one to the other easy for meeting planners and engaging for attendees no matter where they're tuning in from.

The platform is going through continuous development and has added these features in the past twelve months: Improved Live Streaming Experience, Video Chats, Enhanced Content Management, Matchmaking and Networking Features, Virtual Booths with Multiple Tabs and Opportunities, 1-to-1 Video and Text Chat, Additional Accessibility Options, Web-Based Activity Feed, Improved Content Discoverability, Lead Generation Tools, New Sponsorship Opportunities, Video Chat Queue Rooms, Personalized "My Experience" Page. Cadmium gets recognized at VEI Virtual & Hybrid Awards Virtual and hybrid events and experiences play a more crucial role than ever before. Organizations are reimagining and reconfiguring their existing events and new formats and event concepts are emerging. The Virtual Events Institute Virtual & Hybrid Awards celebrate this innovation, recognize best practices and excellence, and enable industry peer to peer learning and benchmarking.

The awards showcase inspiring case studies of innovation and creativity from organizers, brands, associations and suppliers in the virtual and hybrid events community. Event Technology (Shortlisted) eventScribe Live The eventScribe Live virtual and hybrid events platform also received recognition at the VEI Awards for a combination of its role in supporting hundreds of virtual events last year, as well as its work on helping American Society for Nutrition (ASN) transition from an in-person to a digital event. View the event website designs that helped eventScribe Live achieve this recognition here . Read the full ASN case study here . Want to see Cadmium in action? Cadmium simplifies the production of live, hybrid and virtual events and maximizes the value of online learning with a single, flexible platform designed to capture the chemistry of people, ideas, and knowledge. The companys software products are trusted by more than 500 content-driven organizations worldwide to generate revenue, drive customer retention, and lower operational costs for their events and education initiatives. Learn more about the events technology Cadmium offers at www.cadmiumcd.com or get a demo of the entire platform at www.gocadmium.com . Michael Doane, Marketing Manager, Cadmium, marketing@gocadmium.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7cd17670-8bec-4b31-8044-41f7f56ddd6b https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b519ba00-a17e-4143-bd15-c3780592afe8 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3ef5c7b1-f460-455e-b5d8-e958856a273b



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[June 07, 2021]

IDT Corporation to Present at LD Micro Invitational

NEWARK, NJ, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT), a global provider of fintech, unified cloud communications and traditional communications services, will present at the 2021 LD Micro Invitational virtual investor conference to update investors on recent results and managements strategy and outlook.



The IDT presentation will be webcast on Tuesday, June 8th at 1:30 PM ET. To register to watch the webcast or view the recording afterwards, visit the LD Micro Invitational website (https://ldmicrojune2021.mysequire.com/). Access to all conference presentations is free of charge.

IDT will post its presentation slides on the investor pages of its website beginning at the time of the webcast.

The 2021 LD Micro Invitational will be held on the Sequire Virtual Events platform on Tuesday, June 8th through Thursday, June 10th, 2021. The program runs from 10:00 AM ET - 6:00 PM ET each day. The conference is expected to feature approximately180 companies presenting for 25 minutes each.

About IDT Corporation:

IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT) is a global provider of fintech, unified cloud communications and traditional communications services. We make it easier for families to connect, support and share across international borders. We also enable businesses to transact and communicate with their customers with enhanced intelligence and insight.







Our BOSS Revolution branded money transfer and international calling services make sending money and speaking with friends and family around the world convenient and reliable. National Retail Solutions  (NRS) point-of-sale retail network enables independent retailers to operate and process transactions more effectively while providing advertisers and consumer marketers with unprecedented reach into underserved consumer markets. net2phone s unified communications as a service solution provides businesses with intelligently integrated cloud communications and collaboration solutions across channels and devices. Our IDT Carrier Services and IDT Express wholesale offerings enable communications companies to provision and manage international voice and SMS services.

Contact:

Bill Ulrey

IDT Investor Relations

Phone: (973) 438-3838

E-mail: invest@idt.net

# # #
[June 07, 2021] Technimark and Pritzker Private Capital Announce Growth Investment from Oak Hill Capital

Technimark, a leading global provider of custom rigid plastic packaging solutions to healthcare, consumer packaging and specialty industrial customers, today announced the completion of a new growth investment from Oak Hill Capital Partners, an investment firm with experience growing manufacturing companies. Oak Hill's investment will provide significant capital to support Technimark's continued market expansion and robust growth. Pritzker Private Capital ("PPC"), which partnered with Technimark management in 2014, will retain a significant minority investment and will continue to be actively involved in growing the business. Transaction details were not disclosed. Over the course of its successful, multi-year partnership with PPC, Technimark has grown to operate 12 manufacturing facilities, 17 cleanrooms and a state-of-the-art innovation center with more than 4,700 employees globally. The company has continued to grow through acquisitions, including its recent combination with Tool & Plastic Industries, to broaden its healthcare manufacturing offering and expand its European presence. With a broad portfolio of value-added, injection molding and advanced manufacturing solutions, Technimark is a supplier of choice for global blue-chip healthcare, consumer and specialty industrial customers. Technimark's management team, led by President and CEO Brad Wellington, will continue to lead the business. "Both Technimark and PPC are excited for Oak Hill to join our successful, multi-year partnership," said Mr. Wellington. "The Oak Hill team brings significant resources and manufacturing sector expertise to the table. This investment, along with PPC's continuing partnership, will enable Technimark to expand futher into key growth markets, both organically and through acquisition, as we continue to expand our global footprint. We look forward to collaborating as we focus on serving our customers and team members."



David King (News - Alert) , Operating Partner at Pritzker Private Capital, said, "Technimark has built tremendous support and loyalty from its customers, and proven its leadership in the healthcare, consumer goods and specialty industrial markets. We are pleased to continue our partnership and we look forward to working with Oak Hill to support Technimark's growth plan." Thomas Chadwick, Principal at Pritzker Private Capital, added, "Our multi-year partnership with Technimark is guided by our shared values, culture and philosophy of building businesses for long-term success. With this new growth investment, Technimark is well-positioned to build on the impressive results the team has delivered over the past seven years, which include multiple acquisitions and a significant expansion of its customer base across several key end markets. We are thrilled to continue working directly with Brad and the Technimark team, while also beginning a new chapter of partnership with Oak Hill."

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo (News - Alert) Securities LLC advised Technimark on the transaction. About Technimark Technimark is a leading, global provider of custom rigid plastic packaging and components. Family-founded and led for more than 30 years, Technimark has provided customers with customized, end-to-end manufacturing solutions based on technology and innovation. With facilities in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, China, and Germany, Technimark delivers high quality products on a global basis for healthcare, consumer packaged goods and specialty industrial customers. For more information, visit www.Technimark.com. About Pritzker Private Capital Pritzker Private Capital partners with middle-market companies based in North America with leading positions in the manufactured products, services and healthcare sectors. The firm's differentiated, long-duration capital base allows for efficient decision-making, broad flexibility with transaction structure and investment horizon, and alignment with all stakeholders. Pritzker Private Capital builds businesses for the long term and is an ideal partner for entrepreneur- and family-owned companies. Pritzker Private Capital is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). For more information, visit www.PPCPartners.com. About Oak Hill Capital Oak Hill Capital is an investment firm managing funds with over $16 billion of initial capital commitments and co-investments since inception. Over the past 35 years, Oak Hill Capital and its predecessors have invested in approximately 100 private equity transactions across broad segments of the U.S. and global economies. Oak Hill Capital applies an industry-focused, theme-based approach to investing in the following sectors: Services, Industrials, Media & Communications, and Consumer. Oak Hill works actively in partnership with management to implement strategic and operational initiatives to create franchise value. For more information, please visit: www.oakhill.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005567/en/

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[June 07, 2021] PlatON Presents a Secure Multi-Party Computation Ceremony Lumino

SINGAPORE, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PlatON, a global leader in the field of privacy-preserving computation, is happy to announce the release of Lumino, a two-month computation ceremony, promoting a collaborative efforts in developing the privacy-preserving computation technology. Lumino is a trustless multi-party ceremony of generating "common reference strings" (CRS) for zero-knowledge proof systems, and a prior and necessary step to deploy privacy-preserving applications in decentralized ecosystems. The event now focuses on PLONK, which is an efficient zk-SNARKs algorithm and commonly used in the blockchain community, and only needs to perform once for many applications for its setup procedure. In contrast to existing ceremonies, Lumino will perform an MPC protocol on two curves, including BN254 and BLS12-381. Lumino aims to conduct an infrastructure for privacy-preserving applications based on zk-SNARKs. The resulting parameters are NOT merely targeted for Alaya or PlatON, but also could be served as public resources for ANY decentralized cryptographic applications built on zero-knowledge proof techniques. As a global community event, Lumino calls upon distributed participants all over the world to light up the evolving privacy-reserving AI network together. Participation Lumino will be divided into two computing groups, each group will run the code for one curve. Participants can choose to be one or the two computing groups for different underlying cryptographic settings. The procedure will perform in sequence. Once the ceremony starts, participants can simpl run the open-sourced client software in order and complete the computation within a few hours. Participants could actively join the ceremony at any time even after it starts.





All registered participants will be randomly ordered into a public queue. To reduce the waiting time of the activity, Lumino will maintain a server to monitoring the active participant's client software, and apply a First-Come-First-Serve (FCFS) strategy on all active and prioritized participants. Computation Runtime Depending on participants' machine and bandwidth, the computation usually takes 1 to 10 hours to run the client software. Participants could wait until the pre-determined position and complete the computation, or joining at any time during the ceremony and be scheduled instantly if there is no other active client prior in sequence. To encourage participants to finish their piece of work in time, Lumino sets up a 15-hour time window for each committed participant, for whom fails to start or complete the computation on time will be deleted from the list. The Security of the Trustless Coordination The security of the ceremony relies on the honest participants. In fact, if there is only ONE participant behaves honestly, the whole ceremony is succeeded and the generated CRS can be securely adopted by global cryptocurrency communities. Lumino will be held in June, from the integrity respective, it will adopt a verify-and-compute paradigm, for each participant to run the client software. More time and technical details will come soon. About PlatON PlatON was initiated and promoted by the LatticeX Foundation. Based on the basic properties of the blockchain and supported by a privacy-preserving computing network, PlatON provides the next-generation Internet basic protocol featuring "computing interoperability". It builds a computing system jointly assembled by cryptographic algorithms such as verifiable computing, secure multi-party computing, zero-knowledge proof, homomorphic encryption, and blockchain technology to provide public infrastructure under an open-source architecture for global artificial intelligence, distributed application developers, data providers as well as various institutions, communities, and individuals with computing needs. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/platon-presents-a-secure-multi-party-computation-ceremony-lumino-301306799.html SOURCE PlatON

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[June 07, 2021] OTC:ILUS, ILUS International (Ilustrato Pictures International Inc): ILUS Acquisition, FireBug, Appoints India's Largest Firefighting Vehicle and Equipment Manufacturer as Its Exclusive Distributor and an OEM Partner for India

NEW YORK, NY, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- ILUS International Inc (OTC: ILUS) is an M&A company focused on acquiring and developing technology-based companies globally. Having already completed three acquisitions since January 2021, the company is also in the process of expanding its distribution networks and developing new partnerships for the increased uptake of its technology.

FireBugs Exclusive Distribution Agreement with Vijay Fire Vehicles (Vijay) is for the resale of all FireBug technology in India, where Vijay already maintains strong relationships with the government and private sector and holds numerous contracts for the ongoing supply of firefighting vehicles and equipment. An OEM Partnership Agreement has also been signed with Vijay which enables them to integrate components of FireBugs core patented water mist technology into their own solutions for large projects and high-volume orders. FireBug and Vijay are also collaborating on the development of an all-electric rapid response firefighting vehicle for the Indian market. This vehicle is based on ILUS ERaptor Electric Utility Vehicle Platform. With pollution in India being a major concern for the Indian government, the shift towards electric vehicle solutions is taking place rapidly and the Vijay electric rapid response firefighting vehicle is already in high demand from the government, airports and manufacturing sectors in India. Managing Director of Vijay Fire Vehicles, Rajesh Salot, said the following of the partnership: Vijay Fire Vehicles are very happy to have an association with FireBug for their products in India. We are putting FireBugs product specifications to a lot of customers in India. Vijay is listed as a recommended supplier to the Indian Government and is in the process of adding all FireBug products to the Indian governments purchasing portal, which will enable all government authorities and municipalities to purchase FireBug products at the click of a button. India has over 3,700 municipal bodies which are difficult for international manufacturers to infiltrate without a prominent partner and without being listed on the Indian governments supplier portal. In partnership with Vijay, FireBugs products have been undergoing rigorous testing and trials by various government departments in India, including the Mumbai Fire Service, which serves a population of over 20 million people in one of the worlds most congested and complex urban environments. With the products now approved and discussions underway regarding implementation, it is expected that the partnership with Vijay will deliver numerous government contracts for FireBugs solutions. Vijay Fire Vehicles has been operating in the Fire Industry in India for over 60 years. The company is part of the larger Vijay Group of Companies and has a proud history of being Indias largest firefighting vehicle and equipment manufacturer. The Vijay Group delivers a wide range of products and services, including firefighting vehicles, special vehicles, police vehicles, waste collection and sweeper vehicles, firefighting equipment, security systems, medical equipment, turnkey industrial and commercial fire safety projects and building management services. Vijay has successfully delivered thousands of vehicle and equipment solutions and executed over 3,500 turnkey projects across India, Asia and the Middle East. FireBug was acquired by ILUS in January 2021. The company manufactures and supplies innovative solutions for Fire & Rescue Services and Original Equipment Manufacturers. FireBugs solutions harness the power of its patented water mist technology which isa world first for the specialized firefighting equipment and vehicles which FireBug manufactures. The FireBug product range is extensive and includes firefighting and rescue vehicles from small to large, a range of customized lightweight fire vehicle bodies built to order, UTV firefighting vehicles including electric UTV vehicle solutions, MistMax firefighting skid units, floating pumps and strainers, BacPac portable water mist fire suppression kits, MistNozzle water mist firefighting nozzles and the Mongoose surface penetrating firefighting lance.



The global firefighting vehicle market is a growing market owing to acceptance of new and advanced technology, product innovation, and the use of advanced digital tools and modern electronics which will help to enhance the efficiency, quality, and capability of firefighting vehicles. As urbanization increases and digitization takes place simultaneously, there has been a corresponding increase in municipal budgets from governments to aid the improvement of fire and safety departments, and this is also fuelling the growth of the firefighting vehicle market. From 2019 to 2024, the global firefighting vehicle market is anticipated to register a CAGR of about 6.7% . The global firefighting vehicle and equipment market is dominated by Asia-Pacific due to emerging countries like China, India and South Korea who have witnessed a stable growth in infrastructure coupled with the raised awareness of fire and life safety. The rise in awareness about fire and life safety in the region is boosting the demand for firefighting vehicles and equipment and this demand is expected to continue over the next decade.



As Indias population is growing exponentially and urbanization continues to increase, the resulting spike in building and construction activity has led to the Indian government enforcing stringent fire safety regulations across multiple sectors, including residential, commercial, airports, and industries. This in turn is rapidly increasing the demand for firefighting vehicles and equipment in India. ILUS Director, John-Paul Backwell, said, We have been active in the Indian market for a number of years and made steady progress in the Indian market. Now, the signing of this exclusive agreement with Vijay and the associated OEM partnership represents a significant milestone in the growth path of FireBug and ILUS. Vijay are the biggest player in the emergency services sector in India and they are the company that every manufacturer wishes to partner with, so this is a significant achievement. In addition, with the Indian Government implementing major local reforms to drastically reduce pollution, the collaboration with Vijay on an electric fire vehicle solution for the Indian market is another exciting development in the ILUS roadmap. ILUS is continuing to work hard within each of its acquisitions to expand the international distribution networks for its technology. The company is also in the process of negotiating several acquisitions, including in the USA. The ILUS team is growing as additional experience and expertise is being added and more announcements will be made on this growth and the acquisitions in the coming days and weeks. For further information on the ILUS group of companies, please see their respective communication channels. Website: https://ilus-group.com Twitter : OTC_ILUS Contact: Ir@Ilus-group.com Source: ILUS Related Links https://ilus-group.com Forward-Looking Information Certain information set forth in this press release contains "forward-looking information", including "future-oriented financial information" and "financial outlook", under applicable securities laws (collectively referred to herein as forward-looking statements). Except for statements of historical fact, the information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements and includes, but is not limited to, the (i) projected financial performance of the Company; (ii) completion of, and the use of proceeds from, the sale of the shares being offered hereunder; (iii) the expected development of the Company's business, projects, and joint ventures; (iv) execution of the Company's vision and growth strategy, including with respect to future M&A activity and global growth; (v) sources and availability of third-party financing for the Company's projects; (vi) completion of the Company's projects that are currently underway, in development or otherwise under consideration; (vi) renewal of the Company's current customer, supplier and other material agreements; and (vii) future liquidity, working capital, and capital requirements. Forward-looking statements are provided to allow potential investors the opportunity to understand management's beliefs and opinions in respect of the future so that they may use such beliefs and opinions as one factor in evaluating an investment. These statements are not guaranteeing of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or result expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although forward-looking statements contained in this presentation are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has provided guidance to issuers regarding the use of social media to disclose material non-public information. In this regard, investors and others should note that we announce material financial information on our corporate website, www.ilus-group.com, in addition to SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. We use these channels as well as social media to communicate with the public about our company, our services and other issues. It is possible that the information we post on social media could be deemed to be material information. Therefore, in light of the SEC's guidance, we encourage investors, the media, and others interested in our company to review the information we post on the following U.S. social media channels: Twitter OTC_ILUS.



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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-08 00:15:18|Editor: huaxia

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An Israeli watches a televised press conference of Naftali Bennett, leader of the small pro-settler Yamaina party, in central Israeli city of Modiin on May 30, 2021. (Xinhua/Gil Cohen Magen)

JERUSALEM, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Israel's parliament will vote on approving a new government that could oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by June 14, parliament's speaker announced on Monday.

Parliament Speaker Yariv Levin, a lawmaker with Netanyahu's Likud party and his close associate, declined to set a specific date for the vote.

Levin made a formal announcement to the parliament, noting that opposition leader Yair Lapid informed the president last week that a coalition deal had been agreed. Levin said a vote to approve the new government will be held within a week, in accordance with the Israeli law.

"An announcement regarding a date for the session to establish the 36th government will be conveyed down the line to members of parliament," Levin said during the session, which was broadcast on main Israeli TV channels.

Israeli politician Yair Lapid, the head of the Yesh Atid party speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv on May 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Gil Cohen Magen)



Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, announced last week that he reached a deal to form a coalition government with nationalist Naftali Bennett, leader of the pro-settler party of Yamina, and six additional small parties.

If approved by the parliament, or Knesset, the new government would end the 12-year rule of Netanyahu, the country's longest-serving prime minister. 
[June 07, 2021] Investment News Presents Top 40 Under 40 Honoring Presidio Capital Managements Dustin TenBroeck CFP

SAN DIEGO, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dustin has been a guiding light for his company, clients, and peers through his career and 2020's trying times. To fight the pandemic's initial panic, Dustin began The Presidio Perspective Podcast. An instant hit, Dustin grew the podcast to the top 50% of active podcasts filmed in a studio. A trendsetter and industry leader, Dustin is frequently called upon by Cetera and First Allied during the pandemic to provide input and advice on the topics of prospecting, marketing, and business development. He was also interviewed by Cetera's CEO Adam Antonaides to kick off the 2021 National Broker Dealer Conference. While many businesses re-established a new normal, Dustin and his team nearly doubled their assets under management to $200 million in one year. Dustin in turn devoted time and philanthropic support to local organizations. As an advocate of financia education, Dustin established Retirement 101 to provide on-demand courses for individuals seeking a stress-free retirement. Retirement communities have obtained in depth knowledge across San Diego and the Orange County area. Not only does he provide knowledge, he provides peace of mind to anyone worried about retirement savings plans, estate planning and asset allocation. He shows passion and commitment in his nearly 1,000 pro bono financial planning meetings.



As a standard, Dustin hires disabled veterans, women, and immigrants in key roles. Under his mentorship, many have moved on to become successful advisors, project management leaders, and marketing executives. About Presidio:

In 2012, Dustin TenBroeck co-founded Presidio Capital Management with a mindset to provide clients with portfolio management and financial advice to help them achieve and protect their financial independence. With a strong work ethic and fiduciary mindset Dustin grew the firm from its humble beginnings to one of the fastest growing RIA's in Southern California. Today, the firm has grown with 12 team members who's experience in financial management, portfolio management, estate planning and impeccable client service has ushered them into one of the top Financial Advising Firms in San Diego and Orange Counties. Presidio Capital Management offers a unique and positive experience to their clientele by utilizing their financial expertise in a wide array of financial concepts. Contact:

info@presidiocm.com

858-461-4959

presidiocm.com

retirement101.org View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/investment-news-presents-top-40-under-40-honoring-presidio-capital-managements-dustin-tenbroeck-cfp-301307075.html SOURCE Presidio Capital Management

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[June 07, 2021] Tinyhood, The Leading Online Learning Platform For Parents, Makes Infant CPR Class Free For 48 Hours For National Safety Month

BOSTON, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of National Safety Month and to close out CPR Awareness Week, Tinyhood , the leading online education platform for parents, is making their most popular online class Infant CPR and Choking for Babies 0-12 months FREE for the next 48 hours. 70% of Americans don't know the life-saving skill of CPR. This class is designed specifically for caregivers of babies. The online class, taught by a Certified CPR instructor and Registered NICU nurse, is designed specifically for parents and caregivers and covers how to identify the signs of an unresponsive or choking infant, and how to perform CPR. The clas also covers practical, real life scenarios so parents and caregivers can know exactly how to act in any situation.



"Knowing how to do infant CPR is perhaps the most essential skill that expecting and new parents need to know when they have a baby," said co-founder and CEO Becky Miller. "We hope that by making this class free in support of National Safety Month, we will draw attention to the importance of knowing how to perform CPR in order to save a baby's life." 70% of Americans do not know the life-saving skill of CPR. When ordinary people, not just doctors and EMTs, are equipped with the skills to perform infant CPR, it can double or triple a baby's chance of survival.

"When we created this infant CPR online class, we were determined to provide a virtual option for parents and caregivers that would not only be more convenient, but also more comprehensive," said co-founder and CEO Susan Blinn. "With our professionally produced class, we're able to provide an unmatched learning experience complete with detailed demonstrations, as well as interactive guides and checklists." Tinyhood's courses are taught by the industry's leading experts in order to give parents the most reliable information. The platform is created with the busy, modern parent in mind. All courses are 100 percent flexible and include access for 2 years, allowing parents to learn at their own pace and in the comfort of their own homes. About Tinyhood

Tinyhood is the leading online learning platform for the modern parent, giving them information they can trust and strategies to make them feel empowered throughout their parenting journey. Every Tinyhood course is taught by top experts, and topics range from pregnancy through toddlerhood. The courses are 100% flexible allowing parents to watch them at their own pace, on their own time, and in the privacy of their own home. Each course also comes with interactive checklists and guides, a private community, and expert office hours to help you troubleshoot issues as you go. Kids don't come with a manual, but this is pretty close. To learn more about Tinyhood, visit https://www.tinyhood.com/ Media Contact:

Amanda Weymouth, Tinyhood

amanda@tinyhood.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tinyhood-the-leading-online-learning-platform-for-parents-makes-infant-cpr-class-free-for-48-hours-for-national-safety-month-301307179.html SOURCE Tinyhood

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[June 07, 2021] J29 Announces Award of GSA MAS Contract

J29 Inc. is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) prime contract by the General Services Administration ( GSA (News - Alert) ), the focused procurement wing of the federal government. The MAS contract is a government wide, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract that grants J29 an awarded period of five years, with three additional five-year option periods, totaling a potential 20-year contract life. The GSA MAS is the largest, and most widely used government acquisition vehicle that annually accounts for an average of $45 billion dollars in awards. J29's MAS contract award comes after GSA conducted an extensive review of J29's performance, abilities, and history to ensure that J29 provides effective and efficiently priced delivery to the government. As a result, the MAS prime contract award now gives government agencies the ability to leverage J29's services under three Special Item Numbers (SINs): 54151HEAL (Health IT Services), 54151S (IT Profssional Services), and 518510C (Cloud and Cloud-Related IT Professional Services). J29's SINs will be available under contract number 47QTCA21D00AL.



"The MAS award comes on the heels of our 8(a) certification and adds another contract vehicle for agencies to access our services. We remain incredibly grateful to our clients for allowing us to partner with them and are looking forward to more exciting news in the coming months," said Tracy Mills, President and Founder of J29 Inc. Mills leads J29 after a nearly 20-year leadership career serving the Department of Defense. J29 is an information technology organization that prides itself on delivering across an array of core competencies, with a focus on the healthcare domain. Largely focused on claims analysis, data management, program assurance, and artificial intelligence, J29 delivers through various performances with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Defense (DoD), and other public sector agencies.

Additionally, this award trails J29's March 2021 award of the 8(a) small business certification, which allows J29 to compete on 8(a) set-aside reserved contracts, and work directly with agencies to obtain sole-sourced (non-competitive) contracts valued at $4M or less, or $100M or less for DoD specifically. About J29 Inc. J29 Inc. is an employee-centric technology company, headquartered in Millersville, Maryland. J29's team tithes a portion of earnings directly back to a non-profits, a mission surrounding the principles of Jeremiah 29:11 in creating "Hope for the Future". J29 is proud to be an 8(a), EDWOSB, and Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) in nearly fifteen States. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210607005765/en/

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NASHVILLE  Newly approved updates to Tennessees captive insurance statute will help fuel the Volunteer States growing reputation as a first-choice domicile for companies looking to establish a captive insurance company.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee recently approved the latest modernizations to Tennessees captive laws, including authorizing parametric insurance coverage and reducing the statutory capital needed by protected cell captive insurers to commence operations from $250,000 to $100,000, amongst other improvements.

A captive insurance company (called a captive) represents an option for many corporations and groups wanting to take financial control and manage their business risks by forming their own insurance company. The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) is responsible for properly regulating Tennessees captive insurance industry.

By reducing the minimum capital and surplus needed to start protected cell captive insurance companies, Tennessee is sending a strong message that we value companies freedom to invest their money to obtain the highest return on investment possible rather than allocate money in excess of what is needed to support the potential risk of insurance losses in their captive, said TDCI Captive Sector Director Belinda Fortman. By modernizing Tennessees captive insurance statute to reduce the minimum coverage for protected cell captive insurers as well as including parametric insurance coverage for the first time, the Volunteer State is providing strong incentives for captive owners to choose Tennessee as their captive domicile.

2020 was another record-setting year for Tennessees captive insurance section as captive premium volume topped $1.6 billion and the number of active captives in Tennessee increased to 146. Today, over 750 risk-bearing entities call Tennessee home. Additionally, TDCIs leadership has drawn international accolades as Fortman was recently named to Captive Review magazines Power 50 list.

Said Fortman: Through the first five months of 2021,Tennessee has averaged 10 new captive formations a month, which is an impressive pace that we hope to see continue. The growth of the captive insurance industry in Tennessee that we are seeing today is a byproduct of years of focused teamwork and the far-reaching vision of Tennessees leaders. I am thankful for the hard work and support of Governor Lee, the members of the Tennessee General Assembly and the captive insurance stakeholders who are helping make Tennessee truly the Gold Standard of the South.

Tennessee Captive Insurance Association (TCIA) President Kevin Doherty said: The TCIA is grateful that the Department and the General Assembly, two of the three legs of the proverbial three-legged stool, have continued to support important updates like this to the captive law that help Tennessee remain at the forefront of our industry. Specifically, the TCIA supports the reduction in the minimum capital for protected cell captives to $100,000 and believes this will help to spur significant growth in cell captives in Tennessee. The TCIA also believes it is significant that Tennessee is leading the way now in permitting captives to offer parametric insurance that can offer innovative ways to cover large numbers of insureds in natural disasters or other similar events. As the third leg of the stool, the TCIA looks forward to continuing to work with the other two legs of this public private partnership to maintain Tennessees prominence as a captive insurance domicile.

To learn more about captive insurance in Tennessee, visit captive.tn.gov or call (615) 741-3805, (855) 809-0069 (toll free) or email at captive.insurance@tn.gov.

###
Grant Funding to Support Research on Regional

Career Pathways

Nashville, TN- Today, the Tennessee Department of Education announced the state has been awarded an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) grant for nearly $1 million to support the Analyzing and Understanding the Educational and Economic Impact of Regional Career Pathways research project.

Over the next three years, the partner institutions making up the grants research team  composed of Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), University of Massachusetts, and Education Strategy Group (ESG)  will conduct an evaluation of Tennessee Pathways, a state initiative to align K-12 education, postsecondary education, and employers to provide high school students with clear pathways to the workforce.

In public education, we have a responsibility to make learning both engaging and exciting for every student while they are in school, and meaningful to them long after they graduate, said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. Tennessee Pathways is critical for the state and will build upon Tennessees history of collaboration between K-12, postsecondary and industry to create, strengthen and expand local partnerships that help students to be ready for success during and after high school.

The funding from the IES grant, totaling $926,761, will support an evaluation of Tennessee Pathways, a state initiative to align K-12 education, postsecondary education, and employers to provide high school students with clear pathways to finding a job. A pathway is composed of a Career and Technical Education (CTE) elective focus, work-based learning experiences, early postsecondary coursework, and opportunities to earn an industry credential and/or articulate credits at a partner postsecondary institution.

Career pathways could be part of a solid bridge between school and jobs, but it is hard to know that without studying how they work and what they mean to students and schools, said Celeste Carruthers, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Research takes time and resources, so Im thrilled that IES is supporting this project. We have a great team, and Im optimistic that our findings will inform educators in Tennessee and around the country.

Middle Tennessee State University and the Tennessee STEM Education Center are excited to partner with the Tennessee Department of Education on this project, said Dr. Chaney Mosley, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Education, Middle Tennessee State University. Theres a huge disparity between the skills that employers are looking for and the skills that job seekers actually have. Because Tennessee Pathways helps ensure students graduate with both technical and employability skills that address a growing skills gap, this research project is a great opportunity to study the impact of the program and its efficacy.

Tennessee Pathways supports alignment among K-12, postsecondary, and industry to provide students with relevant education and training to jumpstart their postsecondary degrees and credentials. Students, with their certificate, degree or credential, can transition seamlessly into the workforce and contribute to the success of our economy. Tennessee Pathways is a partnership between the Tennessee Department of Education and the Tennessee Board of Regents.

For more information about the departments research projects, visit the Research and Policy Briefs page.

For media inquiries, email edu.mediainquiries@tn.gov.

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And so another deadly Kansas City tradition begins . . .

Temperatures rise, more people are outdoors and violence invariably ensues . . .

For now, here's a quick round-up of recent metro crime news that we're watching . . .

MAGA Crackdown In Kansas City

Kansas City, Missouri, man charged in connection to Capitol riot KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Another Kansas City, Missouri, man has been charged in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, after telling FBI agents he climbed through a broken window to enter the building.

Tragic Crash Consequences

Woman sentenced to 20 years for crash that killed 4 people KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A Kansas City woman was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for a 2018 crash that killed four people while she was fleeing from police, the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office said. Victoria M. Brown, 27, was sentenced after she pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree murder.

Gunfire Weekend Postscript

South Kansas City shooting leaves one person with serious injuries by: Juan Cisneros Posted: / Updated: KANSAS CITY, Mo. - KCPD were called to the 5800 block of Forest Avenue on calls of a shooting that left one person with serious injuries. Police are headed to the scene, but do not have any additional victim or suspect information at this time.

JoCo Law & Order Reporting

Former deputy charged with rape still certified to serve in law enforcement JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. - The 41 Action News I-Team is learning more about the former Johnson County deputy now charged with rape and aggravated sodomy. Chad Edward Jennings was charged for an alleged rape that occurred on May 1, 2020.

Hard Time Shooting Aftermath

27-year-old Blue Springs man sentenced in 2019 slaying at Kansas City home A Jackson County judge sentenced a 27-year-old Blue Springs man to 25 years in prison Friday for the fatal shooting of Joseph Corum at a Kansas City home in March 2019.Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in February that Jonathan S.

Perfect Village Confronts Faux Po-Po Threat

Prairie Village police warn residents about scammer impersonating officer by: Juan Cisneros Posted: / Updated: PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. - The Prairie Village Police Department is warning residents about a phone scam where a person is impersonating a police officer. The department says the scammer is "spoofing" the departments phone number 913-381-6464.

KANSAS SAUCE BOSS CAPTURED!!!

Wichita man arrested for assault over Chick-fil-A sauce WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas man has been arrested for attacking a grocery store worker over Chick-fil-A sauce, police said. Wichita police arrested resident James Adam Hirsh, 37, for aggravated assault Thursday. Court records didn't immediately list an attorney for Hirsh.

Developing . . .
Shared by our BEST & BRIGHTEST TKC READERS we take a peek at a progressive memo and formal declaration by the local creative class . . .



The punchline here is that, like most promises penned by the elite throughout Western history, the empty words and treaties are mostly meaningless . . . Read more:



The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art - Land Acknowledgment

Deets . . .

"The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art stands on the homelands of Native American peoples, at the juncture of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers. In recent years, these nations have included the Missouria, Oto, Kansa, Osage, Shawnee, and Delaware. We pay respects to all Indigenous peoples  past, present, and future  for their continuing presence in the homeland and throughout the Native American diaspora."

More about the process . . .

"Land Acknowledgments formally recognize, honor, and give thanks to the Native caretakers and residents of a region, as well as their ancestors and future generations. They counter the erasure of Native peoples by honoring Tribal histories and drawing attention to Tribes traditional lifeways and enduring spiritual connections to the land. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is in the process of revisiting our Land Acknowledgment to create an inclusive, collaborative, and accurate statement that centers the voices of Indigenous peoples.

"We are partnering with a multitribal Native American advisory group to create a statement that represents the perspectives of the Native American peoples whose ancestors made their homes on the land around the museum. It is our greatest honor to learn from the diverse perspectives of our Native American partners throughout this process. We recognize that true acknowledgment is a collaborative learning process that never ends, and we see this acknowledgment as one step in that journey."

Developing . . .


Tonight's reminder that the plague is real and it's still out there . . . More sad news hits the Kansas City Sunday night news cycle.

Here's the word . . .

"It is with a heavy heart we report the tragic loss of one of our own today. This afternoon one of our officers passed away at the hospital after his battle with COVID-19. The officer was a dedicated officer who served our department for approximately 22 years and was assigned to the Patrol Bureau.



"Please keep the officer's family and our department in your thoughts and prayers. We ask you to please respect the family's privacy at this time."

Read more . . .

22-year veteran Kansas City police officer dies of COVID-19 The Kansas City Police Department said Sunday one of its officers passed away after a battle with COVID-19.Out of respect for the family's privacy, KCPD did not identify the officer, but a police spokesperson said he was "a dedicated officer who served our department for approximately 22 years and was assigned to the Patrol Bureau."KCPD said the officer died on Sunday in the hospital."Please keep the officer's family and our department in your thoughts and prayers," the spokesperson said.Related video: 5 p.m.

Kansas City police officer dies after battle with COVID-19 KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An officer from the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department died on Sunday after a battle with COVID-19. According to a KCPD public information officer Donna Drake, the officer served with the department for 22 years. "It is with a heavy heart we report the tragic loss of one of our own today," Drake said in an email.
Qatar Airways is pleased to announce that it will resume services to Sharjah, UAE starting 1 July 2021 with a daily flight. The Sharjah services will be operated by the airline's state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner featuring 22 seats in First Class and 232 seats in Economy Class.

The resumption of services will enable passengers flying from and to Sharjah to benefit from the airline's extensive international network in Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas, which currently stands at over 130 destinations with plans to increase to more than 1,200 weekly flights to over 140 destinations by the end of July. Sharjah will be an alternative gateway for passengers to and from the other cities especially Dubai in the UAE.

Qatar airways flight QR1036, will depart from Hamad International Airport at 14:35, arriving at 16:45 to Sharjah. Qatar Airways daily flight QR1037, will depart from Sharjah at 17:55, and arrive to Doha at 18:05.

As travellers return to the skies with Qatar Airways, they can take comfort knowing that they are travelling with the only airline in the world that has, together with its state-of-the-art global hub Hamad International Airport, achieved four 5-Star Skytrax ratings  including the prestigious 5-Star Airline Rating, 5-Star Airport Rating, 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating and 5-Star COVID-19 Airport Safety Rating. These achievements highlight Qatar Airways commitment to providing its passengers with an industry-leading experience at every point of their journey, including the highest possible level of health and safety standards that safeguard the wellbeing of its passengers both on the ground and in the air.

A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named Worlds Best Airline by the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by the international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named Best Airline in the Middle East, Worlds Best Business Class, and Best Business Class Seat, in recognition of its ground-breaking Business Class experience, Qsuite. Qsuite is available on flights to more than 40 destinations including Milan, New York, Paris and Singapore.

Qatar Airways is the only airline to have been awarded the coveted Skytrax Airline of the Year title, which is recognised as the pinnacle of excellence in the airline industry, five times. In addition to this, Qatar Airways home and hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA) was ranked the Best Airport in the Middle East for the sixth consecutive year and rose to Third Best Airport in the World by the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2020.

Flight Schedule

Daily starting 1 July

Doha (DOH) to Sharjah (SHJ) QR 1036 departs 14:35 arrives 16:45

Sharjah (SHJ) to Doha (DOH) QR 1037 departs 17:55 arrives 18:05

Image Credit:  Qatar Airways
Lime has joined with two other e-scooter operators Dott and Tier today to begin Londons first ever e-scooter trial. Lime has deployed 200 of its latest Gen4 e-scooters across London, working with Transport for London (TfL) and London Councils to launch the UKs largest for hire e-scooter trial.

The trial, involving all three operators, will take place in Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Richmond, Canary Wharf and Tower Hamlets. Riders will only be able to park the e-scooters in designated bays within participating boroughs. New boroughs will be able to join the trial at the end of each month, with at least two more central London boroughs expected to join the service in July. Fleets will increase throughout the trial to serve these new boroughs, and on the basis of its performance in existing boroughs.

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Londoners will now be able to hire Lime e-scooters, alongside Limes e-bikes  which it has successfully operated in the capital since December 2018, delivering over 3 million zero-carbon rides and saving users an estimate of over 750,000 car journeys. The launch of Limes e-scooter service in London comes just in time for summer and the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, with riders now able to access two safe and sustainable transport options in a single app.

Riders will be able to locate and hire Lime e-scooters via its app, but will need to scan their driving licence and successfully complete a virtual safety test before the vehicle can be unlocked. The scooters will cost 1 to unlock, and 16p per minute to ride.

Safety remains our number one priority for this trial and we will work closely with the e-scooter operators, London Councils and the boroughs to ensure rigorous standards are consistently met, says Helen Sharp, TfLs e-scooter trial lead.  We will also continue to work closely with all of our stakeholders, including TfLs Independent Disability Advisory Group, to ensure that the trial meets the needs of everybody living in, working in and visiting the trial areas. This new trial will provide the data and insights we need to determine the longer-term role e-scooters could play in our strategy for a greener and healthier future for London.

Wherever we operate, safety is always our number one priority, which is why Lime continues to invest in industry leading software and hardware safeguards, such as highly accurate geofencing to control rider speed and behaviour, and on-vehicle technology which can detect pavement riding, says Alan Clarke, director of policy and government affairs, for Lime in northern Europe. This tech is designed to make our scooters safer for our riders, other road users and pedestrians, helping to create a well managed and responsibly used service that benefits riders and the cities they ride in. Were proud to be serving London with another great transport option, and cant wait for Londoners to try it out for themselves!

To help new riders get to grips with the capitals latest mode of transport, Lime is launching a series of First Ride Academies in participating boroughs, which will teach users how to ride safely and park responsibly. In addition to the mandatory training users will complete prior to riding an e-scooter, Lime has also worked with the AA to provide further safe riding resources via an online Driving School, Learn to Lime UK.

With a maximum speed of 12.5 mph, a braking distance twice as fast as other rental e-scooter models, nine high-visibility reflectors, puncture proof wheels, mountain-bike inspired suspension, always-on LED lights and a double kickstand for stability, the Gen4 is built for safety.

Hyper-sensitive geofencing technology will also ensure e-scooters are not used or parked outside of designated areas and parking bays, and swappable batteries also reduce the overall environmental impact of maintaining the fleet. Lime uses e-cargo bikes to make battery swaps rather than having to transport scooters to and from warehouses for charging.

The London e-scooter trials are bigger than Dott, Lime and Tier. Its bigger than just one city too. Today marks a pivotal moment in the future of all e-scooter brands in Britain, comments Jack Holloway, a mobility branding expert at Landor & Fitch. If the trial is a success, the vision weve been promised of green and affordable inner-city transport could become a reality. But safety has always been the big question. This is the critical time for e-scooters to prove they can deliver an intuitive, safe and accessible experience. TFL will be hoping it comes off too, with tough pollution reduction targets to hit within the next few years. Get this wrong and it could be a long time before the scooter tech gets another chance to secure the official green light.

If e-scooters do eventually become an accepted part of our transport network, the competition is fierce and theres no guarantee even the brands delivering the trial will become the e-scoooter of choice. They all currently occupy the same space: sustainability. But theres an opportunity for brands to differentiate themselves from their competitors  perhaps by demonstrating their product lasts longer, or by delivering a truly accessible and inclusive experience.

In the end well know who has won the battle when we see which brand becomes the verb for picking up an e-scooter  like grabbing an Uber or jumping on a Zoom. Fancy a Tier anyone?
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-08 01:34:49|Editor: huaxia

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KUWAIT CITY, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait registered on Monday 1,479 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the country to 318,676, the Kuwaiti Health Ministry reported.

The ministry also announced three more fatalities, taking the death toll in Kuwait to 1,798, while the tally of recoveries rose by 1,256 to 302,393.

A total of 14,485 COVID-19 patients were receiving treatment, including 153 in the intensive care units, it said.

The Kuwaiti government decided on Monday to resume direct flight to Britain from June 13 with adherence to health precautions against COVID-19.

The government also decided to reopen museums and cultural institutions and facilities on the same day.

On Sunday, Kuwaiti Minister of Health Bassel Al-Sabah said Kuwait is approaching the herd immunity but still has "challenges including the lack of vaccines."

Lacking vaccines is not only a problem for Kuwait, but also for all Gulf and many other countries, he said. Enditem


(Photo: Pexels)

Packing your bags for a free trip to Tokyo? Make sure to keep "Daimon Hamamatsucho" in mind. Whether you're coming in or out of Haneda or Narita Airport, staying in Daimon/Hamamamatsu eliminates the hassle of transferring, and you'll be greeted by a beautiful night view of the Tokyo Tower on your first night in the area! Click here to book your travel visa to Japan.

Where to stay in Tokyo, Japan, which area is recommended for free travel Daimon Hamamatsu-cho Haneda Airport Narita Airport direct access to the nearby Tokyo Tower Zengakuji World Trade Observatory to see the night view and many gourmet ramen Izakaya accommodation is very affordable business hotels five-star hotels or capsule hotels are available!

Tokyo Tower can be seen from JR Hamamatsucho Station

The excellent location of "Daimon and Hamamatsucho" cannot be ignored.

First of all, let's see "Daimon" and "Hamamatsu-cho" traffic location. Daimon station" and "Hamamatsucho station" belong to different train system stations, by the underground passage adjacent to each other, the ground is only separated by a block, about 250 meters away. Daimon Station is located on the Toei Asakusa Line and Toei Oedo Line, while Hamamatsucho Station is a stop on the JR Yamanote Line. In other words, if you choose to live in this area, you will enjoy the excellent transportation location where three train lines meet!

Next, the relationship between Daimon and Hamamatsucho can be seen from the name of the place. Hamamatsucho" is actually the name of the administrative district under the Tokyo Metropolitan Port District (Hamamatsucho I-chome and II-chome). It is said that in 1696, Gonbei, a native of Hamamatsu (present-day Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture) in the Far-English country, was a famous lord in this area and called it "Hamamatsu-cho". The name "Daimon" refers to the "Old Main Gate" of Zenkeiji Temple, and the red arch that stands at the crossroads can be seen when you walk out of Daimon Station in the direction of Zenkeiji Temple.

We decided to stay in "Daimon/Hamamatsucho"! A neighborhood with many choices for business travelers

What are the best accommodation options in Daimon and Hamamatsu? If you search on the price comparison website, you will find that the accommodation prices in this area are actually quite affordable, especially because there are many business-type hotels in this area due to the large number of business people. There are many business hotels in this area, especially because there are many business people coming and going. The affordable ones are "Saitetsu Fresen Hamamatsucho Daimon", "Hotel Majestic Hamamatsucho", and the robot hotel " Tokyo Hamamatsucho". These hotels are generally well rated, with good service and complete equipment, and the point is that they are less than a five-minute walk from the station!

Recommended landmarks and attractions in "Daimon/Hamamamatsucho

You can have every angle of Tokyo Tower at once!

After checking in at the hotel, go out and explore the neighborhood! There is nothing better than starting your trip with a great view of Tokyo Tower. When you stay in Daimon and Hamamatsucho, you can see the tower from morning to night, and when you walk around the neighborhood, you can have a surprise encounter with the tower from various angles.

The World Trade Center Observation Deck is the best place to enjoy the night view in peace.

For a more complete view of the Tokyo Tower and the downtown area at night, the World Trade Center Observatory is a must.

Where to stay in Tokyo, Japan, which area is recommended for free travel Daimon Hamamatsu-cho Haneda Airport Narita Airport direct access to the nearby Tokyo Tower Masukamiji World Trade Observatory to see the night view and many gourmet ramen Izakaya accommodation is very affordable business hotels five-star hotels or capsule hotels are available

There are many popular spots in Tokyo with observation decks, such as Odaiba, Shinjuku City Hall, Roppongi Hills, etc., but these places are often crowded with tourists, making it difficult to enjoy them quietly. The "World Trade Center Observatory" at Hamamatsucho Station is much less crowded. The observation deck on the 40th floor has a 360-degree circular viewing area and is located directly in front of the Tokyo Tower, making it the "most beautiful view of the Tokyo Tower".

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018


(Photo: Pixabay)

The United States of America is a land of breathtaking diversity and home to some of the world's most stunning destinations. Natural beauty is abundant and mesmerizes in all its forms, be it red sandstone canyons, alpine lakes, or lush forests.

Adventurers worldwide flock to the USA to embark on the wildest adventures of their lives. Iconic experiences, like Pacific Crest Trail, Route 66, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite National Park, are on every traveler's bucket list. No traveler can help but fantasize about the beauty of Montana, the breezy Californian sunshine, and surfing in Hawaii.

Are you planning a trip to the US this year? Keep reading for an exciting round-up of the most breathtaking destinations to visit!

1. Yellowstone National Park

The ultimate haven for outdoorsy travelers and adventurers, the Yellowstone National Park is laden with delightful surprises. Yellowstone is devastatingly magnificent by sprawling over 3,500 square miles of towering mountains, idyllic springs and waterfalls, and majestic canyons.

The Park's natural beauty and diversity make it popular amongst nature lovers, wildlife enthusiasts, botanists, and avid birdwatchers. Travelers find abundant opportunities to converse with rare wildlife, such as buffalos, elks, and oh, watch out - grizzly bears!

Such encounters are ill-advised for the weak of heart. We strongly advise visiting the Grand Prismatic Spring to bask in its rainbow-like gleam.

2. The Great Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains, the crown jewel of East Tennessee, attract trekkers, honeymooners, families, and serenity-seekers to rejuvenate and relax. Thrill-seekers flock to the region lured by challenging nature trails and exhilarating water sports. The vibrant cultural scene and kid-friendly amusement parks make the area the perfect destination for families.

Suppose you're traveling with children and pets. In that case, we advise exploring pet friendly cabins in Gatlinburg as it is a centrally-located town. Gatlinburg is utterly delightful with its vibrant community, quaint old-world charm, and some of the finest restaurants to sample the local cuisine. Be sure to check out the local festivals, craft fairs, and cultural events happening while you're visiting.

There's so much to do and see in the Smoky Mountains National Park, sprawling over hundreds of nature trails and biking tracks. Each trail will take you deep within the mountains, delighting you with picturesque waterfalls and scenic vistas.

3. Antelope Canyon, Arizona

The Antelope Canyon, also known as the "corkscrew canyon." It's hands-down one of the most magnificent destinations to marvel at the colors and textures of Mother Nature. The red, rust, and orange hues of the majestic rock formations are utterly mesmerizing.

One can spend hours staring at and photographing the narrow, steep, and rolling shapes defining the rock formations. The patterns are breathtakingly vivid, and the piercing rays of sunlight filtering through the spaces make them unbelievably stunning. One truly has to experience this kind of beauty to believe it exists in our world.

4. Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

The Crater Lake National Park is the best destination to experience the diversity and beauty of Oregon. This picturesque expanse, sprawling over 53 square km around Crater Lake, beckons adventurers and tranquility lovers with its majestic, snow-laced cliffs.

Home to the world-famous Crater Lake, this Park holds immense archeological and scientific fascination. You see, the lake was formed over seven millennia ago after an explosion piercing through the towering Mount Mazama. Its azure blue waters behold heavenly reflections of the stunning canopy of snow-covered peaks surrounding its beautiful expanse.

Water sports-lovers can rejoice, for Crater Lake is famous for scuba diving and rare marine life sightings. The region is sprawling with spectacular nature trails that lead to some of the most splendid views in Oregon.

5. Death Valley National Park, California

Don't let its morbid name deter you from exploring its breathtaking expanse, for the Death Valley is nothing like its name. The Death Valley National Park is one of the most stunning places in the US. Since its situation below sea level, the climate is dry and hot.

Adventurers and rock climbers flock to Death Valley to challenge themselves with rip-roaring adventures across the wildly untamed cliffs. Zabriskie Point is the most stunning peak in Death Valley and a popular spot to capture devastatingly beautiful sunsets. There's nothing more satisfying than a long hike to watch the golden sun melt into the sky.

Are you wondering why it's called Death Valley? The name stems from how the Valley gives birth to new life with every season. Winter brings snow on the towering cliffs and peaks, and spring brings wildflowers, and summer comes with picturesque oases.

6. White Mountains, New Hampshire

The New Hampshire's White Mountains are the ultimate getaway for serenity-seekers, honeymooners, and artists. The stunning expanse stretching from the Kancamagus Highway to Conway is lined with breathtaking beauty. The White Mountains stand true to their name and delight the onlookers with their majestic, snow-laden charm. One doesn't have to move around much to enjoy the landscape.

Conclusion

One cannot cover all the destinations the US has to offer in one trip. It would take a lifetime of adventure and exploration to explore everything this breathtaking country has to offer. We advise travelers and adventurers to look within to connect with their passion and find the perfect destinations. America is laced with an abundance of natural, artificial, and cultural beauty to satisfy the travel pursuits of everyone!

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
Pastor Karen Hernandez Granzen (Left) speaks with New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy during Grateful For The Shot Pfizer vaccine event at Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Irwin Stoolmacher is president of the Stoolmacher Consulting Group, a fundraising and strategic planning firm that works with nonprofit agencies that serve the truly needy among us.
Johnstown, PA (15901)

Today

Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. Winds light and variable.
Terre Haute, IN (47803)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 62F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 62F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-08 02:35:46|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The foreign minister of the Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, was on Monday elected the president of the upcoming 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

He was elected by secret ballot in which he defeated his challenger, former Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul. Shahid won the support of 143 of the 191 UN member states present and voting. Rassoul won 48 votes. A candidate needs at least 96 votes to get elected.

Shahid promised "a presidency of hope" in his campaign. In his speech to a General Assembly plenary session after his election on Monday, Shahid said his first priority as president of the General Assembly will be recovery from COVID-19.

"I will be looking to address the health of our people and our economies and work to ensure vaccine equity. We need to vaccinate the entire world. No one is safe until everyone is safe," he told the General Assembly.

"We need to rebuild sustainably. Our decade of action (for sustainable development) will now also have to be a decade of recovery, focusing on building back better, building back stronger, and building back greener and bluer," he said.

Shahid also promised to tackle challenges such as climate change, ocean decay, biodiversity loss; to respect the rights of all people; and to revitalize the United Nations to make it transparent, efficient, effective, and accountable.

"We approached the 76th session in challenging times. Disease, despair and devastation have characterized the past year. Inequality, injustice and instability have increased. The environment, the ocean, our planet is suffering. But we need to get moving again: rebuild communities, rescue the planet, recover economies, about all, restore hope. We need to move to a different normal," he said.

Shahid will assume his duties as General Assembly president in September 2021. He will replace Volkan Bozkir of Turkey.

Shahid, 59, has been the Maldives' foreign minister since 2018. He first held the post in 2007-2008. Between 2009 and 2014, he was the speaker of the unicameral house of parliament. He was educated in Australia and the United States and holds a master's degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University.

Shahid is married with three children. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-08 02:37:38|Editor: huaxia

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KHARTOUM, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Sudan on Monday renewed its rejection to unilateral filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) without reaching a legal and binding agreement, official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported.

Charing a meeting a meeting of the Higher Committee for the GERD, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok noted the direct threat the unilateral filling and operating of the GERD poses to Sudan's Roseires Dam, irrigation projects, power generating systems and citizens on the banks of the Blue Nile.

The meeting also renewed Sudan's adherence to and belief in the principle of "African solutions to African problems."

Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have been in talks for years over the technical and legal issues related to the filling and operation of the GERD.

Sudan proposed a mediation quartet of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and the African Union regarding the GERD issue. Ethiopia, however, has announced its rejection to this formula.

In February, Ethiopia said it would carry on with the second-phase 13.5-billion-cubic-meter filling of the GERD in June. The volume of the first-phase filling last year was 4.9 billion cubic meters.

Ethiopia, which started building the GERD in 2011, expects to produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity from the dam project, while Egypt and Sudan, downstream Nile Basin countries that rely on the river for its freshwater, are concerned that the dam might affect their share of the water resources. Enditem
Sounds like a great trip. I see from a previous post you are aware of the Road Trip forum but did you also know there's a Travel With Pets forum? So we'll concentrate on Colorado options here but you may be able to get some good ideas on those forums, too.

We like LaQuinta, too, for their generally dog friendly policies, but many of the mountain resort destinations don't have them. You'll want to spend most of your time in the mountains rather than the valleys, deserts and canyons to avoid most of the heat. But you should be able to find dog friendly lodging if there is lodging available. I'd at least try to look for lodging a few days ahead as you near popular vacation destinations in Colorado. Or estimate your travel times & book places with generous cancellation policies...there are still a few. Most particularly, you need to book something for the 3rd, 4th, 5th of July. Sounds like you would be in Colorado at that time and things have been booked up for months in some places. If you can find something nice at that time, I'd just head there and sit tight for those days.

Skip Estes Park. There will be a crush of visitors there and nowhere to park.

Since you mention the Breck gondola...Telluride is also dog friendly and allows dogs on certain cars of their gondola between town and Mountain Village. Gorgeous scenery and historic town. Lots of pretty walks and hiking right from town. There aren't any chain hotels so would be pricier, but several places do allow dogs. Might be a little off your most direct route but worth considering.

And...unless something's changed, Aspen also has dog friendly gondolas...and of course plenty of hiking, etc.

Chair lifts do not allow dogs but gondolas often do in the summer as people are hiking with their dogs.

Most places (other than most of the national parks...one exception being the Great Sand Dunes) in Colorado allow leashed dogs on trails and walking paths. There's lots of national forest land and Bureau of Land Management land. Some jeep tours will allow dogs.
Trip over. Here is my two week itinerary with Pros and Cons.

Trip over. Here is my two week itinerary with Pros and Cons.

For those interested in a two week trip with rental car, I just go back and would like to give you guys my experience....both good and bad. A lot of people ask advice bit then never report back so I thoughts I would give some feedback.

May 20th - Flew into Anchorage at 8:30PM. Drove to Girdwood (stayed 1 night)

Would do that again. Wasn't a bad drive at all and gave me a head start to Seward.

May 21st - Drove to Seward (3 nights). Perfect amount of time.

May 22nd - NP Kayak and Glacier trip. this was really cool. Would recommend.

May 23rd - Harding Ice field and Exit glacier hike. Really nice.

May 24th - Drove to Homer (for 4 nights). Settled in at JuneBerry BnB

May 25th - Took the day to do Laundry and simply drive around and sightsee

May 26th - Took the water taxi to hike Katchemak State Park. Loved it. We needed 8 hours.

May 27th - Bear flightseeing trip - This was Ok and it was cool to see bears in the wild but honestly, I would probably not spend the money to do this again. Pretty expensive for seeing a few bears dig clams or whatever. The flightseeing to Lake Charles was cool though.

May 28th - Drove to Whittier (2 nights) - Waste of time. My plan was to hike but weather didn't allow us. Google Whittier. There is not much to do there unless you want to do some more water activity. But since we already spent a week in Homer and Seward, we should have avoided Whittier altogether.

May 30th - Drive to Palmer (1 night) - Stayed in a wonderful BnB and enjoyed a Day in Hatchers Pass area.

May 31st - Drive to Talkeetna (1 night) - Lovely town with shops and such. Booked a Denali flightseeing trip with a glacier landing on the afternoon that we arrived. It was absolutely breath taking. One of the highlights of the trip. Would recommend to all.

June 1st - Drive to Healy (3 nights).

June 2nd - Hiked trails around Denali NP.

June 3rd - Transit Bus in Denali

June 4th drive back to Anchorage and catch flight home at night

Overall, I felt the trip was spread out and I never felt rushed. One thing I would have changed is I would have skipped Whittier and shortened Homer to 3 nights instead of 4. That would have afforded me three nights to visit Glenn Allen area and Fairbanks area. Whittier was really a waste because I had done all of the coastal activities I wanted.

Hope this helps someone.
We are arriving June 16 after overnight in Wasilla have 2 days in Talkeetna w/(weather permitting) flight around Denali, then on to Seward 4 nights (Homer 2). Hubby wants to do Harding Ice field but maybe not clear enough of snow to be worth it?

We have kayaking planned from Seward, and want to go to Whittier and either hike OR considering 26 glacier cruise.

I want to see the blue glacier ice and love wildlife.

Open to suggestions, but really not wanting expensive tours (already splurging on the flight)

Mainly things we could do on our own (or maybe with a park guide)
NEW YORK (AP)  Richard Robinson, who as the longtime head of Scholastic Inc. shaped the reading habits of millions of young readers through such bestsellers as J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels and through a wide range of educational materials, reading clubs and book fairs, has died. He was 84.

The children's publishing giant announced that Robinson died Saturday, but did not immediately provide a cause. He had been in excellent health, according to the publisher.

We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Dick Robinson," Scholastic's board of directors said in a statement. "Dick was a true visionary in the world of childrens books and an unrelenting advocate for childrens literacy and education with a remarkable passion his entire life.

Under his leadership, Scholastic became the world's largest publisher of children's books and has long said it distributes 1 out of every 3 children's book in the U.S. The publicly traded company's estimated net worth is around $1.2 billion, down from over $1.6 billion in 2016 but well above a low of under $800 million during last years pandemic.

Besides the Potter books, Scholastic also publishes such popular series as Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games, Dav Pilkeys Captain Underpants and Norman Bridwells Clifford the Big Red Dog. Scholastic is otherwise a classroom fixture through its clubs, newsletters and other programs, including a partnership with novelist James Patterson. Participants in Scholastic's annual Art & Writing Awards for students have included Robert Redford, Stephen King and Lena Dunham.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden tweeted Sunday that Robinson was a giant and a legend in childrens literature and cited his lasting legacy as a supporter of libraries and reading.

Robinson's survivors include two sons he had with Helen Benham, from whom he is now divorced.

A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Harvard College, he was the son of Maurice R. Robinson, who founded Scholastic as a classroom magazine in 1920. The younger Robinson worked as a high school English teacher and a bricklayer, among other jobs, before joining Scholastic as an associate magazine editor in 1962.

I was going to be a teacher and a writer  joining Scholastic was never a consideration, and my father knew that," he told chief executive.net in 1997.

He rose to president in 1974, CEO in 1975 and board chair in 1982, the year of his father's death, and vastly transformed the company. Robinsons time at Scholastic was marked by global expansion into the book and education markets, and into television programming through Clifford, The Magic School Bus and other series. He also endured financial ups and downs, even with the historic success of Harry Potter," and occasional battles with censors who objected to books like Potter, Captain Underpants and Alex Ginos George as inappropriate for younger readers. Scholastic books often were in the annual list of challenged books that is compiled by the American Library Association.

We strongly believe our books and magazines need to address tough topics that are relevant, even if we get backlash or boycotted, Robinson told The Associated Press in 2020.

Robinson presided over historic changes in the business and culture, whether the rise of digital media or the increased emphasis on diversity and scrutiny of the past. In 2016, Scholastic pulled A Birthday Cake for George Washington, a picture story about one of Washington's slaves, after widespread allegations that the book presented a benign portrait of enslavement. This spring, Pilkey agreed to withdraw The Adventures of Ook and Gluk because of what he called harmful racial stereotypes.

Speaking to the AP last year, Robinson said that Scholastic aimed to educate readers in an even-handed way.

We are dealing with issues like global warming, racial inequality in a way that doesnt polarize the issue but gives points of views on both sides and is a balanced neutral position but not in a sense of being bland, he said. Here are the arguments on the other. Here is what people are saying. Here are questions you can ask to formulate your own view.

Robinson is a former chair of the industry trade group the Association of American Publishers and a member of the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame. In 2017, Robinson received an honorary National Book Award for his contributions to the literary community. Two years later, he was cited by PEN America for his contributions to free expression.

Working with you and the team at Scholastic on Harry Potter has been one of the most significant and meaningful partnerships in my life, Rowling, the British author for whom Scholastic served as the U.S. publisher of her Potter books, said in a 2019 statement provided for the PEN award. A unique relationship exists between authors and the publishers who have supported them  and you, Dick, have supported me and my work in countless, indescribable ways.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-08 02:42:26|Editor: huaxia

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The Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Dialogue Relations is held in Chongqing, southwest China, June 7, 2021. The foreign ministers of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered on Monday for the meeting, which was co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Teodoro Locsin, foreign secretary of the Philippines that serves as the current country coordinator for ASEAN-China relations. Also in attendance was the ASEAN Secretary-General. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

-- The two sides have become an important pillar for regional peace and stability and a powerful engine for development and prosperity, setting the most successful paradigm of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Wang.

-- During the meeting, the foreign ministers agreed to beef up pragmatic cooperation in such areas as fighting the pandemic, economic recovery, connectivity, disaster relief and prevention, as well as sustainable development.

-- China and ASEAN should forge a higher level of strategic partnership and build a closer community with a shared future in the following 30 years, said Wang.

CHONGQING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- China and ASEAN countries on Monday agreed to promote the upgrading of bilateral ties, build an even closer community with a shared future and open up another 30 years of even greater cooperation.

The agreement came as Chinese and ASEAN foreign ministers gathered in Chongqing for a special ASEAN-China foreign ministers' meeting in celebration of the 30th anniversary of dialogue relations.

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 26, 2020 shows the view of Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center, the venue of the 17th China-ASEAN Expo, and its neighboring buildings in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.(Xinhua/Lu Boan)

SUCCESSFUL PARADIGM

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN.

China and ASEAN began talks in 1991, when former Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen was invited to the opening ceremony of the 24th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, marking the start of the formal contact between China and ASEAN.

"Over the past three decades, China-ASEAN relations have achieved leapfrog development," Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said when attending the foreign ministers' meeting Monday.

China and ASEAN have established dialogue mechanism at all levels, including state leaders, ministers, and senior officials, laying a solid foundation for the development of bilateral ties.

Trade volume between China and ASEAN has jumped from less than 8 billion U.S. dollars to 684.6 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of more than 80 times.

The personnel exchanges have exceeded 65 million in 2019, and there are nearly 4,500 flights between China and Southeast Asia every week. The two sides exchanged more than 200,000 foreign students and formed more than 200 pairs of sister cities.

"In the past 30 years, through joint efforts, we have become the largest trading partner, the most connotative partner, and the most dynamic strategic partner," Wang said.

The two sides have become an important pillar for regional peace and stability and a powerful engine for development and prosperity, setting the most successful paradigm of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Wang.

"China is one of the most active partners of ASEAN by coming up with many initiatives to advance the cooperation. China has also responded positively and signed up to various ASEAN policies and initiatives. China has always emphasized and respected ASEAN centrality in regional cooperation," said Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, former Malaysian ambassador to China.

Workers work at the construction site of the China-funded Binondo-Intramuros Bridge in Manila, the Philippines, Nov. 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

PRAGMATIC COOPERATION

During the meeting, the foreign ministers agreed to beef up pragmatic cooperation in such areas as fighting the pandemic, economic recovery, connectivity, disaster relief and prevention, as well as sustainable development.

"The two sides always regarded the interests of the people as the priority to advance pragmatic cooperation across the board," Wang said.

Thanks to the synergizing of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 between China and ASEAN, a large number of projects are being implemented, bringing tangible benefits to the people.

In face of the COVID-19 pandemic, China and ASEAN countries stood in solidarity and helped each other in times of difficulties. ASEAN member states donated medical supplies to support China when it was at the height of its fight against the disease, and China returned the favor by offering medical supplies, dispatching medical teams, sharing prevention and treatment experiences and enhancing vaccine cooperation.

China will continue to provide more vaccines as needed, and carry out vaccine-related cooperation in terms of research and production, procurement, supervision, and inoculation, Wang said when meeting with ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi on the sideline of the foreign ministers' meeting.

He also pledged to support the ASEAN anti-pandemic fund and the reserves of emergency medical supplies, advance the building of 10+3 medical supplies reserve center, and implement the China-ASEAN public health cooperation initiative.

"China has made good of its pledge to offer its COVID-19 vaccines as a global public good by prioritizing the supply to ASEAN countries, not only providing finished vaccines but was also willing to embark on the transfer of technology through joint manufacturing cooperation with countries like Malaysia and Indonesia," said Majid.

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 19, 2020 shows a cargo ship leaving a berth of the Qinzhou Port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin)

CLOSER COMMUNITY WITH A SHARED FUTURE

China and ASEAN should forge a higher level of strategic partnership and build a closer community with a shared future in the following 30 years, said Wang.

He called for considering the lifting of China-ASEAN ties to comprehensive strategic partnership and strive for an early agreement on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).

In terms of the post-pandemic economic recovery, Wang pledged to support the implementation of the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework and speed up making the action plan of digital economy cooperation.

This year is also the China-ASEAN Year of Sustainable Development Cooperation.

Wang stressed that China is willing to work with ASEAN to make a success of the Year and committed to building the blue economy partnership, exploring and innovating new highlights of technological cooperation, and enriching the two sides' relations.

China, ASEAN member countries, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand have signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement last November, and China has took the lead in ratifying the agreement.

Wang expressed the hope that ASEAN countries would speed up the approval process and push for it to take effect and be implemented at an early date, so as to deliver benefits to the people of all countries and help accelerate economic recovery at an early date.

"The relations will become stronger as China is playing a bigger role in regional issues and the RCEP would further foster regional cooperation," said Majid. 
The topic of illegal immigration has been an issue for debate with lawmakers, the President, member of congress and America as a whole for the past several years. In very general terms, illegal immigrants are people, primarily from Mexico and Central America who illegally cross over the border into the United States. These men and women of all ages are not fleeing their homeland because of repression, harsh dictatorships, genocide, civil wars or religious persecution; however, they are crossing over the American border primarily for economic reasons.

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These individuals are coming to the United States in seek of a better lifestyle. They want to make more money to help support their families both here in America and back in their home country. They are fleeing oppression, chronic unemployment, poverty, and little or no opportunities in their homelands. As unfortunate it is, the law stands between their desire to live and work in the United States. Strict policy is needed to prevent these immigrants from coming into the United States illegally. Otherwise the consequence will be massive illegal settlements in this U.S.

Since the early 1800s, immigration has been both a crucial component of Americas growth and a periodic source of conflict. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt said, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. He went on to say, This is predicated on the person becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isnt an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag! We have room for but one sole loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people, (Little, 2006).

Its been seen over the past decade that the national debate over illegal immigration has grown. This displays a widespread belief that previous immigration control laws have failed and are continuing to. For example, despite a 1986 federal law that created penalties for employers who hire undocumented workers or illegal immigrants knowingly, businesses continued to do so.

President George W. Bushs new strategy had taken form. Instead of his earlier emphasis on finding a way for U.S. businesses to continue employing illegal immigrants on a temporary basis, he now spoke of preventing such undocumented workers or illegal immigrants from ever entering the United States to begin with. Weve got a comprehensive strategy that says were going to enforce this border.

Were going to prevent people from coming here in the first place, (Furlong and Kraft 2007, 121). President Bushs new strategy came as Congress prepared to consider legislation that addressed border security and immigration.

Unfortunately because the Presidents standing in public opinion polls was so low and conservatives in his own party wanted a different approach, he had few choices but to change his policys direction. Democrats have accused the President of delaying action on immigration reform for far too long.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts said, It is time for President Bush to resist those on the right who rely on fear tactics to prevent our broken system from being fixed. True immigration reform would have to be more comprehensive and more realistic than the Presidents proposals, he added, strengthening our security while bringing an underground economy above ground, (Furlong and Kraft 2007, 121).

In 2005 the number of illegal immigrants in the United States rose dramatically to well over ten million people and was growing rapidly, at an estimate of a half a million people each year. According to Fred Elbel of the Department of Homeland Security, as of November 10, 2007 there was an estimated 34,094,840 illegal aliens in the United States. Since January 1, 2007, 3,134,840 illegal aliens have made their way over the border and into the United States, (Elbel, 2007).

The western and southern part of America has seen the biggest influx of immigrants. Among a vast spectrum of other concerns, policy makers focus on the high cost to the states that are providing education and medical care for undocumented workers and their families. Some worry that a high rate of illegal immigrants suggests that the United States borders are without the needed security that is essential to prevent entry from potential terrorists. However, some, particularly business owners, are inclined to minimize the problem.

They believe that the health of the U.S. economy is dependent on immigrant workers and they argue that the economy would suffer without the contribution of illegal immigrants. Some disagree and argue that the economic benefits from illegal immigrants working in America only helps their home economy. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that ten percent of restaurant workers in the U.S., twenty-five percent of domestic help in private households, and nearly sixty percent of agricultural workers are in the country illegally. Also statistics show that fifty-six percent of illegal immigrants in the United States come north primarily from Mexico to supply thousands of U.S. employers and farmers with low-skilled workers.

A completely hypothetical way of viewing illegal immigration is to think of the United States like a homeowner who went for a long walk and left their garage door open. Inside the garage is a new car, a wallet, a cellular phone, and a suitcase full of money. Another man, destitute of money and with little or no hope of positive opportunity, walks past the garage and notices that its door is open and unattended.

He has a family who needs food and he himself has been unemployed for several months. He decides to enter the garage. No one noticed him enter. He found the new car, the wallet, the cellular phone and the suitcase full of money.

Without hesitation, he takes the wallet and the suitcase and quickly disappears and enjoys what he took without permission. To make himself feel better, he tells himself that he only went into the garage and took what he did because he needed to feed his family and because he was down on his luck. He did not hurt anyone in the process and he figures that the homeowner can always file a claim with his insurance company to get back what was taken.

When the homeowner returns from his walk, he notices that he has been robbed and files a report with the local police department. The police in turn tell him that there is nothing they can do since there were no witnesses. The police suggest that the homeowner lock up his garage the next time he goes for a long walk to prevent another illegal entry and robbery.

Some would argue that the man who left his garage door open is at fault, others would say it was the intruder who stole the property, and some would say its both their faults. Was the one man a thief for entering the garage without permission and the homeowner careless for leaving the garage door open and unattended? Traditional law states that the intruder is a thief and common sense says that the homeowner was careless in failing to protect his assets from potential intruders.

Did the homeowner deserve to be robbed because he left his garage door open? Some would say yes because he was careless. On the other hand the robber who walked away with the homeowners valuables committed a crime. If he was caught, tried and convicted, he could face fines and possibly some time in jail.

Some people would look at from the perspective that the robber did what he did to feed his family and pay for his basic necessities. He only stole to help his family survive. He views it as something honorable because he provided for his family.

In this hypothetical scenario, the fact that the homeowner left his garage door open and easily accessible to thieves does not give them permission for someone to trespass into his property and steal his valuables solely because they were just there. Regardless of the thiefs reasoning for taking someone elses private property, stealing is stealing no matter how it is rationalized.

Similarly, illegal immigration may solve financial challenges faced by the growing millions of illegal aliens who are in the United States to work and improve their lives. Yet, no matter how a person looks at it, illegal entry is still just that, illegal. Jobs are taken from those who are rightfully entitles to them. It is not legal, moral, or ethically right to enter the country illegally and benefit from opportunities that were primarily designed for legal residents and citizens.

The reasons why millions of people enter the United States illegally does not make it correct to break the law and disregard the sovereignty of the United States. Breaking the law is not justifiable because illegal immigrants want to take advantage of jobs, provide for their family, escape poverty, receive medical care, public education, and much more. As harsh as it is, illegal immigrants are not entitled to the freedom which were primarily designed for those who are in the country by birthright or legal residency status.

The belief that it is socially acceptable to break the law as long as a persons reasoning is with good intentions is flawed. A person cannot take advantage of someones benefits because they need to. Immigrating to America legally, whether or not it is easy, is praiseworthy. Breaking they law and crossing the border illegally is not.

The punishment should fit the crime. A person should not leave their garage door open if they value what they own and would-be intruders should learn that just because they garage door is open, it does not give them the right to walk in and take what they need. It is seen very often that desperate people do not care much about right and wrong or the law for that matter. Desperation often causes people to rationalize and justify all types of illegal activities.

Illegal entry into the United States to work has been allowed to become a complex issue but this is not an unsolvable problem. The United States would be off to a good start if the government imposed hefty fines on employers who knowingly and unknowingly hire illegal immigrants or undocumented workers for labor.

The loophole in the current law conveniently allows employers to look the other way and claim that they are not able to verify the authenticity of documents that their workers provide. Millions of people steal social security numbers from American citizens and get away with it. They in turn enjoy many of the same things honest people work for.

While illegal immigrants only make up about five percent of the United States work force, they are quickly being noticed in non-traditional areas immigrant to settle. Areas like these are in the midwest and the south. Undocumented workers and illegal immigrants are willing to work for very low wages by American standards.

This has caused political turmoil in these new areas where immigration had little or no presence before. Immigration is now a national phenomenon is a way that was less true a decade ago, (Greenblatt, Katel, Marshall 2007, 341). Mark Krikorian, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Immigration Studies said, In places like Georgia and Alabama, which had little experience with immigration before, people are experiencing it firsthand.

The beginning of any policy study involves a description of the problem. Obviously the problem is illegal immigration and unfortunately only a select few legislators are taking measures to fix the problem. The former Mayor of New York City and presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani, has a firm stance of illegal immigration.

He stated that real immigration reform must put security first because border security and homeland security are inseparable in the Terrorists War on Us. The first responsibility of the federal government is to protect our citizens by controlling Americas borders, while ending illegal immigration and identifying every non-citizen in our nation. We must restore integrity, accountability, and the rule of law to our immigration system to regain the faith of the American people, (Giuliani, 2007).

The Governor of New Mexico and also Presidential candidate, Bill Richardson, has similar feelings about immigration reform as Giuliani. As a Hispanic-American, and Governor of a border state, I know that our nation can no longer afford to ignore the issue of illegal immigration. Undocumented immigrants have broken the law to enter our country, but they are here  and most of them work hard, pay taxes, support families, and contribute to the communities they live in.

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Entire sectors of our economy rely on these laborers  -construction, restaurants, and agricultural, for example. We cant just ignore this issue any longer. Splitting up families, building walls, and making impractical proclamations is not the answer. America needs to solve the problem, not tear itself apart over it, (Richardson, 2007). He believes in recognizing the reality of the immigration problem and addressing it head-on. He has a plan to solve it by taking four realistic steps. First, secure the border. Second, increase legal immigration. Third, prevent employers from hiring illegal workers. Lastly, provide a path to legislation for most of the eleven million illegal immigrants already here.

Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., of Wisconsin, created the Real ID bill. This requires proof of citizenship or legal status in the United States in order to get a drivers license. This bill was signed into law in May 2005 and will take effect in May 2008. We will never have homeland security if we dont have border security, (Greenblatt, Katel, Marshall 2007, 341). Sensenbrenners reform means blocking states from issuing drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, imposing new restrictions on asylum seekers, and finishing a border fence near San Diego, California.

The debate of immigration has divided the Republican Party. The Republican controlled House of Representatives passed H.R. 4437 in December 2005. This is a measure that contained procedures for securing the borders, harsher penalties for people assisting illegal migration into the United States and provisions for deporting illegal aliens that are already here, (Greenblatt, Katel, Marshall 2007, 343).

The proposed legislation does not provide for a guest worker program or any form of amnesty for illegal workers. The borders are out of control, says T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing ten thousand border officers. He said that the patrol catches no more than a third of illegal aliens crossing the border.

We have a situation where business is controlling our immigration policy rather than sound decisions that take into account all the factors, including homeland security, (Greenblatt, Katel, Marshall 2007, 344).

The government has almost stopped enforcing sanctions approved in 1986 on employers who hire illegal immigrants. According to Mary Dougherty, an immigration statistician at the Department of Homeland Security, in 2003 the agency levied only $9,300.00 in fines against employers. Time also reported in 2004 that the number of fines imposed on employers dropped ninety-nine percent during the 1990s from 1,063 in 1992 to 13 in 2002, (Greenblatt, Katel, Marshall 2007, 345).

While there are many ideas and strongly differing views on what to do about illegal immigration, the government must recognize that any program that rewards illegal aliens who have broken the laws of the United States with citizenship is undeserved and unwarranted amnesty. Illegal immigration must be treated much like a broken water pipe. When a water pipe breaks, the very first thing that must be done is have the water shut off and then the mess is cleaned up. This is common sense that most in the government seem to be missing.

This requires two different set of actions. First, slowing down and eventually preventing all illegal border-crossings and then making it harder for existing illegal immigrants to live in the US while simultaneously encouraging many to go home as well as deporting others. Doctors at The Heritage Foundation are quoted as saying, Immigration reform should be a matter of national priority.

To be successful, reforms must include a comprehensive package of measures to reduce illegal entry into the United States as well as to reduce the current population of unlawfully present persons. The cornerstone of any such initiative must be a fair and practical program for repatriating foreign persons who are illegally present in the United States, (Carafano, Meese III, Spalding, 2005).

For the sake of national security, the rule of law, and responsible immigration policy, Congress and the President must move towards reducing the number of people who are illegally in the United States. Immigration reform must not encourage this problem. In particular, any new initiative must not grant permission, as a matter of policy, for illegal immigrants to remain legally in the country.

Such a program would undermine the credibility of efforts not only to control Americas borders, but also to advance reasonable legal immigration reform. A better alternative would be for policymakers to create a comprehensive solution that brings better national security. Part of this solution should be a realistic and reasonable program to assist illegal immigrants in returning to their homelands before applying for legal reentry to the United States.

What the United States needs is a comprehensive strategy that reverses decades of ignoring, indeed encouraging, the disregard of requirements for legally entering and lawfully residing in this country. A better strategy would be to get the cooperation of federal, state, and local governments and non-governmental organizations to all work together.

Laws need to be enforced within the United States, including identity theft,, prosecuting benefits fraud, tax evasion, and immigration violations. Also, America should work with other nations to enforce laws, to educate their citizens, and to develop more desirable legal alternatives for undocumented workers. The government must help other nations to adopt sound governance and economic policies that will promote growth in their economies and negate the need for citizens to take low-paying jobs in the United States.

It has been made very clear that America does not want to anger other countries with border security and that most people cannot tell the difference between illegal invasion to work and legal immigration. It should then be up to the individual states to develop internal methods to prevent abuse of tax-based resources. States should not provide any form of preferential treatment towards individuals who break federal laws, even if they work and pay taxes.

This may be justifiable in their minds but the fact remains that they are still in the country illegally. The government needs to also help the private sector by teaching employers how to identify legal workers quickly and easily at a reasonable cost and in a manner that respects individuals rights and privacy but at the same time identify the illegal ones through a national identification system, similar to the one crated by Sensenbrenners, The Real ID Act.

The government should also implement a central document verification agency to pre-screen all employment applications and issue approval forms and identification photos to prospective employees. While at the current rate the government will never have an efficient wall to block out illegal immigrants. It is up to the individual states to create internal security measures to prevent budgetary and financial abuses caused by the growing illegal population.

President Bush and a bipartisan group of ten senators announced an agreement on May 17, 2007, on a comprehensive, compromise plan to tighten border security and address the future of Americas twelve million illegal immigrants. The agreement reached today is one that will help enforce our borders, Bush said. But equally importantly, it will treat people with respect. This is a bill where people who live in our country will be treated without amnesty, but without animosity. Senator Kennedy said, The plan isnt perfect, but only a bipartisan bill will become law, (Greenblatt, Katel, Marshall 2007, 357).

The agreement would grant temporary legal status to almost all illegal immigrants, giving then the right to apply for residence visas and citizenship through a lengthy process. Illegal immigrants would have to wait for eight years before applying for permanent resident status, pay fines of up to $5,000.00 and, heads of households would be forced to leave the country and reenter legally.

Are these signs of positive actions to be taken toward illegal immigrants? Over the next few years will America see a reduction in the number of illegal immigrants and an increase in the applications for legal immigrants? American surely hopes so. Only time will tell what actions will truly be taken by the American government in response to the increasing number of illegal immigrants crossing its borders.

Bibliography

Carafano, James Jay, Edwin Meese III and Matthew Spalding. 2005. Alternatives to Amnesty: Proposals for Fair and Effective Immigration Reform. The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/Research/LegalIssues/bg18588.cfm. (10 November 2007).

Elbel, Fred. 2007. How many illegal aliens are in the U.S.? Refernce.. The American Resistance. http://the americanresistance.com/ref/illegal_alien_numbers.html. ( 10 November 2007).

Furlong, Scott R. and Michael E. Kraft. 2007.Public Policy: Politics, Analysis and Alternatives. New Jersey. Pearson Prentice Hall.

Giuliani, Rudy. 2007. 12 Commitments To The American People. JoinRudy2008. http://joinrudy2008.com/getinvolved/emailland.html (10 November 2007).

Greenblatt, Alan, Peter Katel and Patrick Marshal. 2007. Issues For Debate: In American Public Policy. 8th Ed.. Washington D.C.. Congressional quarterly Inc..

Little, Dick. 2006. Illegal immigrant problem growing. Paradise Post.com. http://paradisepost.com/columns/ci_468119.html. (10 November 2007).

Richardson, Bill. 2007. Realistic Immigration Reform. Richardson for President. http://action.richardsonforpresident.com/page/content/immigrationreform.html. (10 November 2007).
Francis Macomber and His Short Life

Ernest Hemingway is an American author, short-story writer, and essayist who was granted the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was noted both for the extraordinary manliness theme of his composition and for his courageous and generally public life. His concise and clear composition style has an incredible impact on American and British fiction. His works are popular because of the themes of love, hatred, war, gain, and loss he has included in his literature. Ernest Hemingways The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber is a short story illustrating a third-person omniscient story with snapshots of an untrustworthy interior monologue displayed mainly through the perspective of leading characters. The story presents the protagonists of the story, Francis Macomber, who needs the courage to live his life of manhood. Franciss wife, Margot who needs money instead of love. Also, Wilson who is a hunter who knows how to guide and hunt. Entire circumstance in story, Francis lost his courage because his wife demotivates him by saying he is a coward. Integrated into the plot, Hemingways real theme of this story is courage, masculinity, a failed marriage, and domination. In this story, psychoanalytical criticism is used to reflect the effects of these themes through the use of characters, symbols, and settings of the story.

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The main characters of this story are Francis Macomber, Margot Macomber, and Robert Wilson, who have reflected the theme of the story through their nature and activities. The protagonist of the story, Francis Macomber, is a young American man on a safari in Africa. He is wealthy, but he lacks power and conviction. His target was to kill a lion in that safari, but he failed many times because of the fear of that giant wildlife. According to Harold Bloom, Macomber flees, bolting like a rabbit and leaving Wilson to shoot the lion again and again as it forces itself toward him. This shows that Francis had fear inside him which discourages the hidden power inside him. However, at last, he achieves his manhood by killing the lion. Also, he shows his masculinity to his wife. He dominates Margot in many scenes such as in the car, while hunting, and while having breakfast with others. His stubborn nature is focused on his aim which can be seen in his happiness after killing the lion and buffalo.

Margot Macomber is Francis Macombers extremely beautiful and well-kept wife. She is a socialite and former model who knows how to control men. Margot is an archetypal female predator woman who defies standards of passive femininity by boldly asserting her beauty and perusing wealth instead of love. She is with Francis because of his wealth. According to Abby Werlock, The Macomber marriage is on shaky ground, but Margot was too beautiful for Macomber to divorce her and Macomber had too much money for Margot ever to leave him." So, she is rendered pathetic, her life without her husband was dismal because he sustains her lifestyle and well-being.

Robert Wilson is a British white hunter who is hired by an American, Francis Macomber, to get help in the African safari. The author presents himself through this character in the story as he was a hunter in his age. Wilson seems like a cool guy who is supporting women in her wrongdoing; Margot kills Francis and Wilson gets the chance to be closer by giving sympathy to her. He is a hunter who hunts women. In the story, the skeptical nature of Francis, the unsatisfied nature of Margot, and the attractive nature of Wilson have created conflicts that lead to the death of Francis. After killing her husband, Margot is getting sympathy and help from Wilson to overcome the murder of her husband.

Besides the characters, symbols have significant roles in the story to enhance the theme of masculinity, courage, risk, and domination. Mainly, the author has focused on two symbols to portray the theme. They are the lion and the car. The lion is a symbol of courage and the power of masculinity. This is the animal Francis encounters first while hunting. The lion causes fear in him. The sound of the roar of a lion in his tent makes him awake with weakness due to fear. This disturbing sound of the giant, life-threatening animal plunged him into paralyzing fear, which prevents him from killing the lion. This event caused him to be embarrassed in front of Margot and Wilson. According to Hemingway, It had started the night before when Francis had wakened and heard the lion roaring somewhere up along the river. It was a deep sound and in the end, there was sort of coughing grunts that made him seem just outside the tent, and when he woke in the night to hear it he was afraid(21). From the beginning, Francis is afraid of the lion even with its roaring, which presents a character with fear and who needs courage and power to face the lion.

The car represents the risk, rush, and control in hunting. The car that Wilson and Francis use to hunt is striking since it is prohibited. It is a symbol of development, masculinity, and mankinds endeavor to rule the natural world. It reveals all through the narrative, encouraging the two parallel hunters and bearing characters between the campground and the hunting ground that is among safety and threat. The hunters should not use cars to hunt and shoot creatures since this gives them an advantage and it is unsportsmanlike. The car is itself a space of security that isolates people from conceivably awful creatures. However for Margot, who is kept in the car while her husband and Wilson hunt, the car is a symbol of imprisonment. It is doorless and box-bodied, enabling her to observe the safari but preventing her from being a part of the hunting. Her femininity keeps her apart from the space of the hunt, where manhood rules. Along these lines, the car symbolizes a central conflict between power, uncertainty, and defense both the hunt and sexual attraction between characters.

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Along with the characters and symbols, the settings of the story The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber has supported the theme of the entire story by shadowing the beliefs of that time and the territory where the scenes were captured. As per the time, this story was set in the 1930s which reflects the stereotypes of that time. Amidst the Great Depression, the way that Francis can stand to take an extravagance excursion takes on incredible significance. It indicates that they are far expelled from the substances of their day, which incorporate neediness, monetary unsteadiness, and general hopelessness. In a time before present-day feminisms were held, the thoughts of what established a genuine man or a genuine woman were regularly those dependent on custom. Men were bold, fearless, and chivalric, and women were feminine, refined, and respectful to men. Hemingway additionally used this female generalization, especially in the character of Margot Macomber. Oliver states, ..she would like to leave Macomber, she is afraid she would not be able to attach herself to anyone else with as much money. She does not adore her husband and has been unfaithful. Nevertheless, he is extremely rich which is why she does not leave him. The readers, at that point, can decipher her plan to kill him and turning into a rich widow all the while, as the activity of a femme fatale. Hemingway, whose works much of the time remark on the idea of masculinity, considered himself to be a paragon of manhood through his affinity for hunting, fishing, and bullfighting.

The entire story takes place in Africa, in a safari. Margot's reference to Nairobi may show that the safari is someplace in Kenya, yet nothing precise about the safari area is indicated. In the story, Francis and Margot Macomber are well off Americans for whom hunting creatures on a safari is something fun. For some, rich outsiders, hunting for wild creatures in safaris is just a game; they could not care about the prosperity of creatures or about the way that they devastate valuable pieces of the natural world. Francis certainly chose to go hunting in the African safari since it was a casual adventure for him because he was not genuine in hunting.

Hemingways story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," has presented various conflicts and scenes of rising activity by using characters, symbols, and setting of the story, which lead to an extraordinary ending. The contentions Francis has with himself, nature, and man prompts a demonstrated fear of the wild, and his deficiencies. These events lead to the unanticipated climax of the story where the actions of both Francis and his wife are addressed. It is also amusing that his wife, the real person who ought to secure him, is the reason for his death. Furthermore, the way that it might have been Margots drive to secure Francis which devastates him makes the peak of the story interesting. Hemingway uses the logical inconsistencies to give enough ambiguity in the account for the result of the story to be uncertain. Even though Franciss life was short in years, it was admittedly cheerful as he had the option to confront his feelings of fear and beat his greatest deterrents. At last, he dies as the prime of his own life.

Works Cited:
Over the past day, June 6, seven ceasefire violations by the armed formations of the Russian Federation were recorded in the Joint Forces Operation area in eastern Ukraine.

"In particular, the Russian-occupation troops opened fire from 120mm mortars banned under the Minsk agreements and heavy machine guns twice near Pisky (11km north-west of Donetsk); tripod-mounted man-portable antitank guns and small arms  outside Hnutove (20km north-east of Mariupol) and Novotoshkivske (53km west of Luhansk); tripod-mounted man-portable antitank guns and grenade machine guns  in the area of Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol); hand-held antitank grenade launchers, grenade machine guns, and heavy machine guns  near Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk)," the press center of the JFO Headquarters informs.

No casualties among Ukrainian troops were reported.

The Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) informed the OSCE SMM about the violations.

As of 07:00 on June 7, no attacks were recorded.

Ukrainian service members continue to control the situation in the JFO area and adhere to the ceasefire regime, the Headquarters reports.

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Belarus will be hard hit by both EU sanctions and the deterioration of economic and political relations with Ukraine due to the balance of power in trade relations between the two countries.

"If we look at the structure of UkraineBelarus trade, today we have a negative balance. This means that Belarusians import more goods to Ukraine than we export, and in this sense, the Ukrainian market is rather important for Belarusians," Chairman of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting Ihor Burakovsky said on the air of Dom TV channel.

It primarily concerns the supply of Belarusian fuels and lubricants, gasoline, and potash fertilizers to Ukraine.

"Belarus is the largest producer of potash fertilizers in Europe, and in this sense, the market outlet is very important to it," Burakovsky said.

In addition, cooperation with Ukraine in the field of services is extremely important to Belarus.

"More than half of our trade in services with Belarus is transport services. And it is clear that the loss of the Ukrainian direction for flights is a great economic loss for Belarus in general and for the state company Belavia in particular," the expert added.

He is confident that Ukraine will join further EU sanctions which could affect both Belarus in general and Lukashenko personally.

The expert noted that further steps by Ukraine against Minsk could be restrictions on a number of Belarusian companies and politicians but this does not mean the complete cessation of trade ties with Minsk.

In addition, he is convinced that the Ukrainian course of deterring Russian aggression will expand by deterring Minsk which actually supported the Kremlin.

"I think that now our foreign policy efforts aimed at deterring Russia will be joined by efforts related to a certain deterrence of Belarus, which actually declares its support for Russia and, therefore, support for the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine," Burakovsky summed up.

Following the persecution of Belarusian activists and the May 23 detention of opposition journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, for which the Belarusian authorities had forcibly landed Ryanair plane in Minsk, Ukraine joined the countries that blocked flights from Belarus. The world community is preparing sanctions against Minsk.

In response, Alexander Lukashenko threatened the West with a "harsh reaction" and introduced licensing of a number of Ukrainian goods. In particular, Minsk imposed restrictions on the export-import of a number of Ukrainian goods.

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The hearing on the merits will begin in the MH17 criminal proceedings on Monday, June 7.

The court hearing is to start at 10:00 local time, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to the previous schedule, the block of hearings will take place from June 7, 2021, to June 25, 2021. Among the key issues to be discussed are the weapons used to shoot down the MH17 flight, the location of the rocket launch, and the role of the four defendants.

On June 19, 2019, the JIT named four suspects believed to be involved in the transportation and combat use of the Buk missile system, from which MH17 flight had been downed. Three of them are Russians: Igor Girkin (Strelkov), former colonel in Russia's FSB intelligence service and former so-called defense minister of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic"; Sergey Dubinskiy, general (at the time of downing  colonel) of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and head of the so-called "Main Intelligence Directorate of the Donetsk Peoples Republic"; Oleg Pulatov, lieutenant colonel of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. The fourth suspect is Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian civilian, who fought on the side of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic.

The interests of Pulatov, who expressed a desire to join the trial, are represented by lawyers for the Dutch law firm Sjocrona Van Stigt.

In March 2020, the District Court of The Hague began the consideration of case over downing of Flight MH17 in the sky over Donbas.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over occupied area of Donetsk region on July 17, 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. All of them died. The international Joint Investigation Team reported that the plane had been shot down from a Buk missile system that belonged to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk.

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Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov does not rule out that Russia may organize provocations after the launch of Nord Stream 2 in order to justify the refusal to transit gas through Ukraine.

Avakov said this during the exercises of units of the National Police, the National Guard, the State Emergency Service, and the State Border Guard Service in Kharkiv region on June 5.

We're talking about real threats. Yesterday Putin announced the completion of the construction of the first line of Nord Stream 2. Gas is still transported through our gas pipeline and must be transported for some time further, and then, probably, Putin plans to start bypassing Ukraine. Therefore, we expect that there will be provocations, attempted terrorist attacks on our section of the gas pipeline, and then they will say: "Look, you see, that is why we transport it through Nord Stream 2"," Avakov explained to journalists the need for such exercises.

He added that the ministry has enough such situations and information from intelligence agencies, therefore, based on this, they are considering different scenarios and intensifying the response.

Avakov said that the exercises of the units coordinated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs will also be held in Mariupol and then in western Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, on June 5, the National Guard of Ukraine, the National Police, and the State Emergency Service held large-scale joint exercises in Kharkiv region.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said he met with the U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Senators to discuss a possible increase in military assistance to Ukraine, as well as strengthening security in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Zelensky said this in interview with the Axios news website.

"I had a meeting in person with US Senators that came over, and with the United States Secretary of State, and we discussed possible increase in military assistance. We talked about security, about enhancing security in the Black and the Azov seas, along the shoreline, for our position is rather weak there, in my opinion: Russia is virtually dominating all of the Black Sea, it is true, and we admit that, and we would like to have a strong force there  for defense purposes only, for defending our country and our borders," Zelensky stressed.

He added that several other matters regarding the security assistance to Ukraine were also discussed, but he did not share the details.

As Ukrinform reported, on May 6, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kyiv.

On June 2, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Rob Portman, and Chris Murphy met with President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the reforms of the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and corporate governance.

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Head of the Servant of the People faction Davyd Arakhamia discussed with U.S. Congressman Adrian Smith the issue of providing Ukraine with a surplus of COVID-19 vaccines.

They discussed this issue during an online meeting, according to the press service of the Servant of the People party.

"I was very pleased to speak with Congressman Smith, a respected member of the U.S. Congress from the Republican Party. Congressman Smith is a powerful and influential advocate of Ukraine's interests," Arakhamia said.

During the meeting, they discussed priority issues for Ukraine in relations with the United States, in particular, U.S. sanctions on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Ukraine's movement towards NATO membership, the provision of a surplus of COVID-19 vaccines by the United States to Ukraine, and the possibility of a meeting between the presidents of the United States and Ukraine.

"Congressman Smith has repeatedly stressed that cooperation between the United States and Ukraine is intensifying. The United States will fully support and assist Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression," Arakhamia noted.

He also invited Smith and other representatives of the U.S. Congress to join the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky says he wants Ukraine and the United States to reach a new level of relations.

Zelensky said this in interview with the Axios news website.

"I would like to reach a new level of relations with the United States. I would like to have transparency, an understanding regarding the Membership Action Plan, regarding energy security of Ukraine, regarding the assistance with returning our territories and defending our sovereignty. Indeed, I would like to obtain understanding  and its not a request, and it definitely isnt about money. What I want is that we are understood. When we know so well what exactly is going on with the Nord Stream, and when we hear messages like: Well, what are the alternatives?  its not money that we are after. Security of our country is not for sale, the president noted.

Zelensky also expressed his opinion on what the United States should do in relations with Russia. "As for the policy of the United States  what we see, in my opinion, is that all the recent American presidents aim to forge a relationship with Russia  and that is your right. I do not want to intervene, but, if you ask me, the better scenario would be for the US to make it so that Russia starts aiming to forge the relationship with the United States  and the rest of the world. That would be the victory of the world as I see it," he said.

As Ukrinform reported, on June 2, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Rob Portman, and Chris Murphy met with President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the reforms of the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and corporate governance.

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Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal believes that Ukrainian communities abroad are a driving force for the promotion and development of our culture throughout the world.

He wrote about this on Telegram after visiting a monument to Ukrainian poet Lesya Ukrainka in the city of Telavi in Georgia, Ukrinform reports.

"We spoke with Ukrainians living in Georgia. I always emphasize that Ukrainian communities abroad are a driving force for the promotion and development of our culture in the world," Shmyhal wrote.

He stressed that Lesya Ukrainka is a prominent figure in world literature. She spent the last years of her life in Georgia.

Earlier, the prime minister laid flowers at the Monument of Heroes who died in the struggle for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity in Tbilisi.

Shmyhal was on an official visit to Georgia on June 2-4. The government delegation also included Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Oleh Nemchinov and Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-08 03:10:17|Editor: huaxia

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Flags of the European Union fly outside the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, May 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

The European Commission is engaged in negotiations with third countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, on the mutual recognition of vaccine certificates.

The EU's Digital COVID Certificate was proposed by the Commission to facilitate safe travel this summer. Available in digital format or on paper, it will provide proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, tested negative or recovered from an infection.

BRUSSELS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission is engaged in negotiations with third countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, on the mutual recognition of vaccine certificates, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said here on Monday.

At a press conference following a meeting for the justice ministers of the European Union (EU) member states, Reynders said that since the U.S. does not intend to issue a federal vaccination "passport," "we have to think about other kinds of proof for vaccination or recovery or tests, but it must be possible to solve the issue."

A Qatar Airways flight prepares for landing at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium, May 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

Reynders said the Commission was finalizing its new recommendations on free movement.

"I hope that this week we will make progress on new rules at EU level to lift the restrictions and to facilitate free movement," he said.

The EU's Digital COVID Certificate was proposed by the Commission to facilitate safe travel this summer. The system would allow the verification of national certificates in a secure and privacy-friendly way.

Available in digital format or on paper, it will provide proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, tested negative or recovered from an infection.

The regulation is scheduled to enter into force on July 1 with a phasing-in period of six weeks for any member state that needs additional time.

Photo taken on June 2, 2021 at Franjo Tudjman Airport of Zagreb, Croatia shows a digital COVID-19 certificate form on a cell phone. Croatia has started issuing European Union (EU) digital COVID-19 certificates that should allow cross-border travel within the 27-member bloc. (Photo by Zeljko Lukunic/Xinhua)
Nine Crimean civic journalists are being held illegally in Russian prisons, one is under house arrest.

"From the first days of the occupation, Russia began reprisals against free professional journalism in Crimea. To date, independent journalism on the peninsula has been completely destroyed as a phenomenon. In these circumstances, the phenomenon of civic journalism emerged, when ordinary people with an active civic stance took over the functions of the media, filling the vacuum of independent and impartial coverage of the situation on the occupied peninsula ... Currently, nine civic journalists are being held illegally in Russian prisons, and one is under house arrest. These are Server Mustafayev, Tymur Ibrahimov, Marlen Asanov, Seyran Saliyev, Remzi Bekirov, Ruslan Suleymanov, Osman Aryfmemetov, Rustem Sheikhaliyev, Amet Suleymanov," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine posted on Facebook.

The Foreign Ministry also reminded that Russian FSB officers detained Radio Free Europe/Radio Libertys freelance journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko in the temporarily occupied Simferopol on March 10.

"For their civic stance and journalistic activities, activists are persecuted and imprisoned on terrorism charges, facing 20 years in prison or even more," the Foreign Ministry stressed.

As reported, Vladyslav Yesypenko, a freelance journalist of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Crimea. Realities project), covered social and ecological topics. He was detained by the Russian FSB in Crimea on March 10, 2021, on charges of gathering information "in the interests of the secret services of Ukraine" and storing a "self-made explosive device".

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The UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow should encourage Ukraine to increase its contribution to combating global climate change under the Paris Agreement.

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Ms. Osnat Lubrani, said this at the All-Ukrainian Forum "Ukraine 30. Ecology" on Monday, June 7, an Ukrinform correspondent reports

She noted that the devastating consequences of large-scale floods in western Ukraine have shown that climatic changes directly affect the lives of ordinary Ukrainians. In this context, Lubrani emphasized that solving environmental problems and switching to renewable energy sources are the same pressing issues as overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is no vaccine against climate change. It seems to me that the Paris Agreement is a very good starting platform for the formation of Ukraine's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). I hope that thanks to the experience we will hear about in Glasgow, there will be movement towards more, she said.

The UN coordinator noted that in this sense, Ukraine faces difficult tasks, but the time has come to do all this.

The UN has vast experience in agriculture, the transition to renewable energy, and we are ready to work harder to help the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people, Lubrani assured.

As Ukrinform reported, Ukraine will present its second Nationally Defined Contribution to the Paris Agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow this fall.

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G7 Ambassadors call on the members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to pass the bill on the Security Service of Ukraine.

Ambassadors encourage Ukraines Parliament MPs to take this significant opportunity and adopt this law. If implemented, it would represent a major step forward in the SSUs development into a modern counter-intelligence agency, operating in line with international best practice, reads the statement posted on Twitter account of the UK Presidency of the G7 Ambassadors Support Group in Ukraine.

G7 Ambassadors welcome the draft law on the Security Service of Ukraine, presented on June 3.

It provides a solid basis for real reform, phasing out pre-trial investigatory powers, downsizing, and demilitarization, reads the statement.

G7 Ambassadors commended the leadership of President Zelensky in delivering this reform.

In May, Oleksandr Korniyenko, the first deputy head of the Servant of the People faction, said that the bill on the Security Service of Ukraine could be passed at second reading by the end of the fifth session.

The fifth session of the Verkhovna Rada of the ninth convocation will last until July 23, 2021. On January 28, 2021, the Verkhovna Rada adopted at first reading the draft law No. 3196-d on amendments to the Law of Ukraine On the Security Service of Ukraine to improve the organizational and legal framework of the Security Service of Ukraine.

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Iran has promised to provide the Ukrainian investigation with access to the case file on the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plane downed near Tehran in 2020, Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Gyunduz Mamedov has said.

"Relatives of victims #PS752 ask about the end of negotiations. We haven`t received any official confirmation of the trial start. Iran promised to provide us with access to the case file in a court in Tehran, and information on the crime qualification and the liability measures," Mamedov wrote on Twitter.

The third round of talks between Ukraine and Iran on the UIA plane shot down near Tehran in 2020 took place in Kyiv on June 2-3.

The Iranian side during the third round of negotiations declared its readiness to pay USD 150,000 in compensation to each family of those killed in the downing of the UIA plane.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the discussion of compensation is possible only after establishing all the circumstances of Iran's downing of the plane and bringing the perpetrators to justice. The ministry added that the specific amount of compensation should be the result of an agreement between the governments of all states whose citizens died in the plane crash, and not a unilateral decision.

As reported, on January 8, 2020, Ukraine International Airlines plane (Flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after taking off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport. There were 176 people on board  nine crew members (all Ukrainians) and 167 passengers (citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK). All of them died.

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First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Emine Dzheppar has informed H.E. Mr. Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, about the preparations for the inaugural summit of the Crimean Platform, as well as its main goals and objectives.

They had a phone call on June 7, according to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

"This initiative is a tool that will allow Ukraine to return the topic of Russia's temporary occupation of Crimea to the international agenda and restore the territorial integrity of our state," Dzheppar said.

During the conversation, the interlocutors exchanged views on topical issues on the international agenda, in particular, on the ongoing aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, Russias militarization of the occupied Crimea and violations of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people on the Crimean peninsula, the state of implementation of the Al-Ula Declaration, and the mediating role of the State of Qatar in the settlement of regional conflicts.

Qatar's minister stressed that his country supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, on April 6, Deputy Head of the Presidents Office Ihor Zhovkva said that Ukraine was ready to fully ensure Qatars food security and export high-quality agricultural products.

As a reminder, the Crimean Platform is a new consultative and coordination format initiated by Ukraine to improve the efficiency of the international response to the occupation of Crimea, respond to growing security challenges, step up international pressure on Russia, prevent further human rights violations, protect victims of the occupation regime, and achieve the de-occupation of Crimea.

The first Crimean Platform summit is scheduled for August 23, 2021.

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News Release  UNHCR

NAIROBI, Kenya - UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is concerned about reports that three individuals, two of whom are recognized Ethiopian refugees in Djibouti were returned against their will to Addis Ababa last week. Upon learning of this action UNHCR immediately approached the Djiboutian authorities to raise its concerns about this breach of international law, and about the safety and security of the individuals.

Asylum-seekers and refugees, no matter where they are or where they are from, should never be returned to a situation in which they could face serious harm, such as persecution, torture or inhumane or degrading treatment.

Djibouti has been an exemplary host to refugees in many ways, so it is disappointing to learn of these developments. We call upon the Djibouti authorities to uphold their international obligations in relation to asylum, said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, UNHCRs Regional Director for the East, Horn of Africa and Great Lakes.

People in need of international protection must not be returned to a place where their lives or freedom may be at risk in accordance with the principle of non-refoulement. This principle is a cornerstone of international refugee law and is binding on all states.

There are currently over 12,000 Ethiopian refugees and asylum-seekers, some 300 of Tigrayan background, registered in Djibouti.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
A Syrian father and his children wait in line to have their passports checked at Hanover airport in Germany.  UNHCR/Gordon Welters

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, welcome the adoption of a resolution and publication of a report in support of refugees by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The PACE resolution, the Role of parliaments in implementing the United Nations Global Compacts for Migrants and Refugees encourages European parliamentarians to champion and apply the principles and arrangements outlined in the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration.

Parliamentarians have a crucial role to play in helping protect refugees. Their engagement is essential in preserving access to asylum, facilitating refugee integration, addressing the root causes that give rise to displacement, and also supporting other refugee host countries, said UNHCRs Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs.

In the face of pressing refugee protection challenges, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, this Resolution could not be timelier and is an example of solidarity in action. UNHCR welcomes its adoption and we look forward to continue our support to Parliaments to ensure its objectives, in support of refugees, are realized.

The report identifies the urgent need, in the face of COVID-19, for parliaments to actively promote solidarity towards refugees and migrants at home and abroad, highlighting the universal values of humanity and dignity for all.

Parliaments need to put in place legislative and budgetary measures that will help manage refugee causes and create environments where refugees and host communities can live together, said Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the IPU.  In the conclusion to the 142nd IPU Assembly held last week, our Member Parliaments confirmed that the post-Covid world will only be better if we have the courage to take bold measures to protect the rights of men and women, including refugees. We have the tools to do it. What we need now is the political will.

UNHCRs global-level partnership with the IPU led to the submission of a pledge at the Global Refugee Forum by the IPU to support the Global Compact on Refugees and the #IBelong campaign to end Statelessness. The PACE resolution and report are good examples of parliamentary initiatives to support progress in implementing the Global Compact on Refugees.
Hanging an LGBTIQ+ flag in Mexico.  UNHCR/Markel Redondo

A landmark international conference opened today to address the urgent need to better protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) people around the world who have fled violence or persecution and are seeking refuge inside their own countries or across borders.

On the first day of the 2021 Global Roundtable on Protection and Solutions for LGBTIQ+ People in Forced Displacement, participants from government, civil society and the private sector began discussions on the challenges  and potential solutions  for LGBTIQ+ people who have been forced to flee.

LGBTIQ+ people around the world face violence and discrimination from their governments, their communities and even from their own families, said Gillian Triggs, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. I hope that this Roundtable will energize the international community to inspire more genuine protection for LGBTIQ+ people on the move.

The conference was convened by Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and co-hosted by Gillian Triggs and Victor Madrigal-Borloz, who serves as the UN Independent Expert on Protection Against Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (UN IE SOGI). It is the first UN-sponsored meeting on the subject since 2010.

The Roundtable will take place from 7-29 June, during which some 600 participants will explore the forces driving displacement, the challenges facing those seeking asylum, the push for inclusion in national services and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on LGBTIQ+ people. They will also share information on policies and programmes that have proven effective and make specific recommendations to governments, UN agencies, NGOs private sector actors and others on the actions needed to address the many risks faced by displaced people with an LGBTIQ+ profile.

The work of addressing violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity necessarily includes an intersectional perspective, within which refugees and asylum seekers are a population of fundamental concern for my mandate, said Madrigal-Borloz. This comprehensive and participative process will lead to the creation of a shared knowledge base from which stakeholders will be able to derive their strategic thinking.

Currently, 69 countries criminalize same sex relationships and at least five nations have made them punishable by death. Other countries have enacted legislation that directly discriminates against LGBTIQ+ people or vaguely written laws that authorities use to persecute LGBTIQ+ people.

LGBTIQ+ people around the world keep dying and moving around to flee for their lives  this Roundtable is the right platform for us to say something, said Suma Abdelsamie, Egyptian trans refugee and activist living in Berlin. Many of us have been silenced for years. I have lived my own war, fighting alone and now we have to do something to make things better for LGBTIQ+ refugees.

Forcibly displaced people who are LGBTIQ+, regardless of whether they fled specifically because of their gender identity, sexual orientation or sex characteristics, face a high risk of sexual abuse and violence, in many contexts receive little or no police protection and often face discrimination and other obstacles in trying to access basic services, such as health care and legal aid both on their journey and once they arrive at a destination.

The recommendations of the LGBTIQ+ Roundtable will be shared in a joint press conference on 30 June with Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the IE SOGI and Gillian Triggs, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection.

For more information, please contact:

UNHCR

In New York, Kathryn Mahoney, [email protected] , +1 347 443 7646

OHCHR:

Catherine de Preux De Baets, [email protected] , +41 22 917 93 27




Yutthachai Jaju helps people to better understand and navigate the nationality application process in Chiang Rai, Thailand.  UNHCR/Nakin x Korakrit

As of December 2020, there were over 480,000 stateless people registered with the Thai government. Following reforms to Thailands nationality and civil registration laws, and the adoption of a progressive nationality strategy to address statelessness, over 100,000 stateless people have acquired Thai nationality since 2008. Those still affected by statelessness are mostly members of ethnic minorities living in mountainous regions who do not hold any identity documents.

I was born in Thailand and have always felt an attachment to Thailand and the Thai people. I have never lived anywhere else. But because my family was stateless, I was stateless, too. We didnt have Thai nationality, or the nationality of any other country.

I am an ethnic Lahu. My family is originally from Mae Hong Son, in northern Thailand, though we moved to the neighbouring province of Chiang Mai when I was a child. In the northern part of Thailand, many stateless people are from the Lahu, Akha and Lisu tribes. Growing up, I had a 13-digit identification number given to me by the Thai government, but not Thai nationality.

I became a Thai citizen as a teenager, when I was in Grade 8 or Grade 9. Before receiving my nationality, I lived in a state of constant worry. I felt scared whenever I happened to see police officers.

"It hurt that other people were able to do this and that, while I had limitations on my rights."

I also faced problems in my education. When I completed Grade 6 and was about to go on to secondary school, I could not enroll because I didnt have nationality. I asked my teacher for advice about what to do. He advised me to ask my uncle, who was a Thai national, to speak to the school on my behalf. After he vouched for me, I was eventually allowed to continue my studies.

It hurt that other people were able to do this and that, while I had limitations on my rights  even though I was also born here in Thailand. I felt that everything was complicated and difficult, and that anything I tried to do would be blocked by obstacles.

I vividly remember that day in 2000 when my father told me and my siblings that we were going to receive nationality. We all felt very happy and were smiling as we headed over to the District Office to get our new Thai ID cards.

Yutthachai with one of his stateless clients, Tip Rungseangthong, at her home in Chiang Rai Province where she is preparing bamboo to make baskets.  UNHCR/Nakin x Korakrit

My father had applied for the whole family to become Thai citizens after my uncle had gone through the process. My parents had not tried to apply for nationality before then; the importance of officially having nationality wasnt previously clear to them. They also didnt have the knowledge of how to apply and had to travel very far from our house to submit the application papers.

When I became a Thai national, I felt like I was being reborn, like I was receiving a new life. As a stateless person, it was like being in a state of darkness, of blurriness. After I received Thai nationality, it felt like there was light. I felt like there were no more obstacles in my way, and I began to feel at ease wherever I went.

"I no longer worry about being stopped by the police."

Ever since I got my Thai ID card, I no longer worry about being stopped by the police. And when it came to education, the benefits were just as clear. After I completed secondary school, I had the opportunity to take out a government loan to pursue a university degree. If I hadnt had nationality, I wouldnt have had access to this right.

Today, Im proud to be working as a Community Mobilizer at ADRA, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency. Around the areas where I work in Chiang Rai, there are people who remain stateless.

A main challenge is that many stateless people dont have information about the nationality application process. As a result, they dont have the confidence to contact the relevant authorities and follow the process themselves.

This is where my colleagues and I come in. We support stateless people to apply for nationality by helping them to prepare their documents. We encourage them to submit a nationality application, and if they have trouble communicating with officials (as some older stateless people do, as they do not speak Thai fluently), we accompany them to the District Office and help to interpret for them. We then follow up on the case on their behalf.

We also try to inform stateless people about what rights they have, for example in relation to important matters like education, travel and work.

Even though challenges remain, I have seen through my own experience that ending statelessness is possible. If we all work together  from the government and civil society to academia and the mass media  we can all contribute to resolving this problem. If we collaborate and keep in mind that we all have the same goal, we can ensure that no one is left stateless.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-08 03:49:10|Editor: huaxia

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RAMALLAH/GAZA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian factions said on Monday that they will head to Egypt's capital Cairo soon for a new round of intra-national dialogue.

They confirmed in separate statements that Egypt sent official invitations to the factions' leaders to join the dialogue that aims at resolving internal Palestinian division.

Fatah party led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are among the factions that will join the dialogue in Cairo.

"The dialogue will focus on ending the internal division by forming an agreed-upon unity government to start the process of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip," Sabri Saidam, deputy secretary-general of Fatah's central committee, told Xinhua.

Palestinian sources said the sessions of the intra-national dialogue will start on Saturday.

Hamas' spokesman in Gaza Abdulatif al-Qanou'a said in a statement that Hamas' chief Ismail Haniyeh will chair a delegation to the dialogue that will arrive in Cairo in the coming days.

"The dialogue will also focus on discussing the cease-fire between the Israeli occupier and the Palestinian factions," Khaled al-Batsh, a senior PIJ leader, told reporters, referring to the Egypt-brokered cease-fire that ended last month's 11-day heavy fighting between the two sides in the Gaza Strip. Enditem
Every day, the corn farmers of Bulul-Salo and Tacub traverse long, steep stretches of unpaved roads to tend to their fields. Farming is the main source of sustenance and livelihood for the residents of the two villages, located in the mountains of Kiblawan, Davao del Sur province in the southern Philippines. Years ago, clan feud and land dispute were often the root causes of internal conflict between indigenous peoples in the area. At present, the communities face natural hazards such as flooding and landslides.

Corn, as the primary crop grown in the area, serves as a staple food, and the residents also produce corn products to sell in the market. To process the crop, the farmers make another long and risky trip to the nearest milling station almost 23 kilometers away. They ride horses and hire motorbikes to carry the produce load from their villages.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the difficulties faced by the the farmers of Bulul-Salo and Tacub, isolated from the municipal center, have been further compounded by the lack of affordable transportation options and the disruption of economic activities.  UNHCR/Jonathan Porras UNHCR Philippines, with the help of donors, with the support of the Australian Government, and in partnership with ACCORD and the Local Government Unit of Kiblawan, constructed a stationary corn mill that will serve the residents in the hinterland barangays of Tacub and Bulul-Salo, Kiblawan, Davao del Sur.

We have to work hard so we can eat three meals a day, says Myrna Binuhay, a Bulul-Salo village leader. She shares that farmers such as herself often have to hurry when they visit their fields as the area is hazardous and prone to earthquakes. In 2019, a 6.9-magnitude quake displaced several families in the area. There are also many stories of farmers who get into accidents while transporting their goods due to poor road conditions. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the difficulties faced by the communitys farmers, isolated from the municipal center, have been further compounded by the lack of affordable transportation options and the disruption of economic activities.

When the village was identified to be the site of a low-cost, quick impact project, the board members of the Tacub-Bulul-Salo Corn Farmers Association (TABUSACOFAS) identified the need for a corn mill to be installed in the area for the benefit of the two adjoining barangays. The quick impact project is implemented by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partner, Assistance and Cooperation for Community Resilience and Development (ACCORD) with the support of the Australian Government. With the support of ACCORD, the community was also able to tap the resources of the local government unit and other donor agencies to support the project.

The TABUSACOFAS then decided to pool the resources of its 183 members to provide their own counterpart to the project. Members also contributed labor to the actual construction of the small building housing the mill, which was ensured to be earthquake and typhoon-resilient. UNHCR and ACCORD collaborated with the municipal government of Kiblawan to support this initiative as a means of empowering communities and promoting protection and peaceful co-existence.

Myrna Binuhay, a Bulul-Salo village leader, shares that this new corn mill means a lot to the community. Before, farmers such as herself often have to hurry when they visit their fields as the area is hazardous and prone to earthquakes.  UNHCR/Jonathan Porras With the corn mill, the two villages are now able to produce a total of four products and byproducts, including corn rice, sungo (corn fiber), tahop (corn bran), and tiktik (cornstarch).  UNHCR/Jonathan Porras

Jessie Parasan, Chairman of the TABUSACOFAS says, This corn mill will help ease the burden that people in our villages have to endure just to have their corn milled. With the corn mill brought closer to the community, the risk of meeting transportation accidents and vulnerability of the people to hazards traveling back and forth to the next town have been reduced.

The corn mill has been fully functional since 21 January this year and operates at least three days a week. The local village council monitors the corn mill and reports to the board of the TABUSACOFAS . The project is also fully supported by the Kiblawan Municipal Agriculture Office which committed to provide material support, supervise, and monitor the project to ensure its sustainability.

The board members of the TABUSACOFAS have also participated in several trainings including on leadership and preparation of financial statements to ensure their capacity development in managing the project. Three members were also trained on operating the mill.

[The mill] is important to us because we live so far away from the town proper, and now we dont have to pay for transportation. Its a big help to our families that we have a mill in our village We get our daily food needs from here now, says Jessie.

With the corn mill, the two villages are now able to produce a total of four products and byproducts, including corn rice, sungo (corn fiber), tahop (corn bran), and tiktik (cornstarch). While the project is still new, the products mainly support the subsistence of the corn farmers and their families, but in the future, it is the hope of the TABUSACOFAS that the project will bring them sustainable income.

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KINGSTON  Emily McLellan is excited about starting freshman year at the University of New Hampshire in the fall, but shes been worried that her aging 1996 Toyota Corolla might not be able to handle the regular commute.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-08 03:58:51|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called for international efforts to promote peace and stability in Central Africa and to help regional countries in strengthening unity and cooperation.

Central Africa has, by and large, maintained peace and stability, and efforts by regional countries to fight COVID-19 and sustain the momentum of development are worthy of acknowledgment. The international community should continue to respect the sovereignty and leadership of regional countries, support the people of this region in seeking peace and development, and encourage regional and sub-regional organizations in playing a greater role, said Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

He called for efforts to help regional countries strengthen unity and cooperation.

Boko Haram and the Lord's Resistance Army terrorist organizations remain active, posing a grave threat to regional countries' political, economic, and humanitarian situation. Central Africa also faces other challenges, including piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, climate change and food insecurity, Dai noted.

"China supports the process of regional integration and supports the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in enhancing its collective security mechanism, encourage regional countries to enhance good neighborly relations, unity, and cooperation, and resolve their differences through consultation and dialogue," he told the Security Council.

Climate change is, in essence, a matter of development. The international community, especially developed countries, should provide financial and technical support to Central African countries to help them enhance their ability in adaptation and mitigation, he said. Enditem
Hillsborough County Attorney Michael Conlon said many factors went into the plea bargain, including expectations for success at trial and the wishes of the victim. He referred a reporter to Manchester police when asked if police supported the outcome.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-08 04:07:52|Editor: huaxia

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GENEVA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Monday of the danger of buying overpriced vaccines from intermediaries, reminding that countries should buy vaccines certified by the WHO and make sure to identify the origin of the product.

"We have received concerns regarding other vaccines... with intermediates selling it (one vaccine) at a much higher price than what has been actually sold by the manufacturers," said Mariangela Batista Galvao Simao, WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, during a press conference.

The issue of the role of intermediates for buying vaccines was raised recently as a middleman, located in the United Arab Emirates, was caught selling Sputnik vaccines to Ghana and Pakistan at double the original price.

Simao said that countries should either buy directly from the manufacturer or "contact the manufacturer to make sure that the intermediate is legal."

"There is a lot of substandard and falsified COVID products being commercialized out there, so you need to know the provenance," she added.

Simao also said that it was important to vaccinate people with products "certified" by the WHO.

"The advice of the WHO is that the countries use vaccines that have received emergency listing," she said, referring to the Emergency Use Listing used by the organization to approve new vaccines.

So far, eight COVID-19 vaccines were approved by the WHO for emergency use, including two Chinese vaccines -- Sinopharm and Sinovac, both of which have been distributed in several countries across the world. Enditem
ON JUNE 3, 2021, the New Hampshire Senate voted to approve its version of the two-year state budget. This version of the budget would spend a total of $5.4 billion in state general and education funds for the two fiscal years that begin on July 1, 2021 and 2022. The Senate-passed budget will
Next Week: Transitioning the New Boston Bombing Range into the space age.

Aurore Eaton is a historian and writer in Manchester, contact her at auroreeaton@aol.com or at www.facebook.com/AuroreEatonWriter
Elmer Wayne Cruey, 77, passed away Sunday, May 9, 2021, at his home in Milledgeville. He was a native of Tazewell, Va. and resident in Milledgeville for the past 20 years. Wayne was preceded in death by his mother, Cordelia Pauley Cruey, and father, Charles Patterson Cruey; sisters, Mercedes
DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 07th Jun, 2021) Brand Dubai, the creative arm of the Government of Dubai Media Office, in cooperation with Dubai Municipality, has launched an initiative that invites the Emirati creative community to provide innovative designs for various elements of public parks as well as concepts for unique community events and activities.

The initiative seeks to promote community participation in the development of more engaging and interactive parks and encourage awareness about sustainable urban design. Participants are invited to create designs that can integrate environmentally friendly materials and innovative modern building methods to revitalise parks and help them attract more visitors.

The initiative, which targets urban designers and architects, interior designers, event organisers and university students, is open for participation only to UAE nationals.

The launch of the initiative follows the announcement of Brand Dubai and Dubai Municipalitys partnership to redesign public parks across the emirate to make them more engaging to visitors as creative, social and natural spaces. The joint project falls within the framework of the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, that lays out a comprehensive future map for sustainable urban development with the aim of making Dubai the worlds best city to live.

Assem Abdulrazzak, Planning Manager of Dubai Municipality, said: "This new initiative reflects Dubai Municipality's belief in the importance of tapping the creative energies of youth and promoting the vision of the Dubai leadership to enhance the wellbeing and happiness of the community. This innovative initiative aims to involve creative individuals in community planning and urban development, in addition to raising awareness about sustainable design principles and generating designs that can promote a deeper harmony between urban facilities and the natural environment.

'' ''Dubai Municipality is seeking to enhance all its parks and other community facilities to ensure they meet the requirements of visitors of all segments of society. These efforts are part of the Municipalitys keenness to promote the wellbeing of the community and further elevate Dubais status as a global leisure and tourism destination.'' Shaima Al Suwaidi, City Branding Manager, Brand Dubai, said: "Brand Dubai is delighted to cooperate with Dubai Municipality in the launch of this initiative that will bring together talented Emirati individuals to contribute their perspectives on creating vibrant community spaces in parks. Our participation in the initiative is consistent with our mission of contributing to projects that make Dubais public spaces more engaging. Participants are invited to use sustainable principles to create design park elements and suggest ideas for unique community activities.'' ''Through the initiative, we seek to generate transformational concepts that can enrich public spaces while also meeting community needs. Ultimately, the initiative is aimed at engendering a sense of ownership in the community for the development of Dubais parks,'' he added.

The inputs from the community will be used in the redevelopment of select parks in Dubai. They can include new designs for urban seating, childrens playgrounds, jogging tracks, landscaping and canopies or any other element or aspect of the park as well as suggestions for community events or activities.

Those who are interested in participating, can send an email to Branddubai@mediaoffice.ae by 11th July, 2021 and share their portfolios or samples of their previous work.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2021) The Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos is unable to launch several satellites because of the sanctions on microelectronics export to Russia, Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

"When people say Roscosmos has launched fewer spaceship than America, I tell them: we have plenty of rockets but nothing to put into orbit.

As we have spaceship that are practically assembled, but some of them just lack specific micro-schemes that we cannot purchase because of the sanctions," Rogozin told Russia's lower house lawmakers.

Roscosmos is making effort to independently produce microelectronics, the corporation chief added.

"In the past three years, we increased the production of microelectronics for space purposes by 2.5 times," Rogozin specified.
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2021) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Washington needs to delve deeper into the origins of COVID-19 and hold China accountable.

"The most important reason we have to get to the bottom of this is that's the only way we're going to be able to prevent the next pandemic or at least do a better job in mitigating it," Blinken said in an Axios interview aired on HBO on Sunday.

Blinken said the administration of US President Joe Biden is determined to "get to the bottom" of the origins of the novel coronavirus. According to the US state secretary, China has not "given us the transparency we need" and needs to be held accountable.

Blinken called on China to make available all information relating to the pandemic and allow full access for international inspectors.

"(A)t the end of the day, it's profoundly in China's interest to do this, as well," Blinken told Axios.

Speaking at the Saturday GOP convention in North Carolina, former US President Donald Trump blamed the coronavirus pandemic on China, saying that Beijing should pay all other countries a compensation of $10 trillion minimum.

Trump also accused the Biden administration of blocking a thorough investigation of the origins of the coronavirus.

Biden recently ordered the US intelligence community to produce a report re-examining the origins of the novel coronavirus and to help determine whether the disease leaked from a lab or spread from an infected animal to a human.

China continues to call the laboratory-leak theory a conspiracy.
Valdosta, GA (31601)

Today

Mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low near 70F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low near 70F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Only some 7.6 million Koreans or about 15 percent of the population have been vaccinated against coronavirus in the 100 days since inoculations started on Feb. 26.

The government hopes to reach 10 million soon as people aged 60-64 become eligible.

According to health authorities, 7.59 million people received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccines as of Sunday, but only 2.28 million of them are fully vaccinated. They are mostly elderly people over 65 at 4.8 million.

Some 550,000 people over 75 and 1.8 million aged 65-74 are still waiting to get vaccines after booking their appointments.


Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-08 04:50:20|Editor: huaxia

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GAZA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Hamas, the ruling movement of Gaza, on Monday warned Israel not to renew tension in the Palestinian territories although a Jerusalem flag march scheduled for Thursday is reported to have been called off.

"Hamas warns the occupier (Israel), the mediators and the entire world against the flag march through the Old City and al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem," Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, told reporters.

"Hamas' message is clear: we don't want the Thursday event to be like what happened after May 10," he added, referring to the latest round of 11-day fierce fighting between Israel and Hamas.

The fighting between Israel and Hamas-led militant groups in Gaza broke out on May 10 following clashes between the Israeli police and Palestinian worshipers in East Jerusalem during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan

An Israeli court's decision to evict Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem was also behind the clashes and ensuing fighting.

"Jerusalem for us is a red line. We are not in fond of wars, but our resistance is ready to defend the holy city," al-Hayya said.

Meanwhile, the chamber of the joint military operations in Gaza, which comprises Palestinian armed wings including Hamas, also warned Israel not to escalate tension in East Jerusalem.

"We are closely monitoring the behavior of the enemy (Israel) in the holy city (Jerusalem), and we will have our word if the enemy decides to bring the situation back to what was before May 11," the Chamber said in a press statement sent to reporters.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli media reported that the Jerusalem flag march on Thursday had been called off after the Israeli police rejected the organizers' request for a march through the Old City's Damascus Gate. Enditem
The Bishops of South Africa issue a statement encouraging the faithful to get the COVID-19 vaccine, addressing doubts they may have about it

Vatican News staff reporter

To the faithful who may still have lingering doubts about participating in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in South Africa, the countrys bishops are encouraging them to get the jab.

In a statement, they respond to the doubts presented by people on the subject.

Concerns

The first concern regards the particular speed with which the vaccine was made and therefore, the doubt about its real effectiveness. In this regard, the bishops emphasize that "the research was done in an ethically and scientifically sound manner," and that "the speed with which the goal was achieved is a reflection of scientific progress and not of ill-considered hasty methods".

To those who consider the anti-Covid vaccine to be "a maneuver by the wealthy industrialized nations of the West to reduce the world's population through the elimination of people of colour, the bishops dispel this theory as without foundation because vaccines are not a novelty now, but have accompanied us since birth, such as those "against polio or measles".

With the same firmness, the bishops allay any doubts about the fact that the anti-Covid vaccine can mutate the DNA of those who receive it.

Cell lines

Addressing the ethical concerns of the faithful about the use of cell lines from aborted fetuses in the development of the vaccine, the SACBC stresses that in the absence of alternatives and in the interest of saving human lives, this vaccine can be used.

In this regard, they refer to the note from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published in December 2020, which defines "morally acceptable" anti-Covid vaccines.

Side effects

In another response, the bishops address the issue of the side effects of the vaccination, including clotting and sometimes death. The bishops emphasize that these are rare cases and that, in fact, "there is no specific evidence to confirm" that the possible deaths in less than 1 percent of vaccinated people were caused by the vaccine.

Consequently, they say, undergoing vaccination "is a safe risk."

"Pope Francis himself," the South African Bishops point out, "has set an example by vaccinating himself, as has Benedict XVI and a large number of religious leaders in South Africa and around the world.

Equitable distribution of vaccine

Finally, the SACBC strongly reaffirms the need to make the vaccine "available to all".

"Let us join the efforts for equitable distribution of the vaccine and call those rich countries hoarding Covid-19 vaccine to task so that this common good may be accessible to all.".

The bishops' statement concludes with an invitation to pray for health care workers and all those who care for the sick, "in this time of need."
Pope Francis receives the President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, in audience on Monday in the Vatican.

By Vatican News staff writer

Pope Francis met Monday with the President of the Republic of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office.

Mr. Van der Bellen subsequently met with Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, accompanied by the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.

During the cordial talks, appreciation was expressed for the good relations between the Holy See and Austria.

The parties then turned their attention to geopolitical issues, at European and international levels, and highlighted the role of the Church in the promotion of solidarity in favour of peace and universal fraternity, in the care of creation.
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In addition, BAC A BANK and TH Group, via the Vietnamese Stature Foundation have also given the community assorted drinks, medical equipment, and two high-frequency ventilators which support urgent treatment, with a total value of VND76 billion ($3.3 million) to fight the pandemic.



BAC A BANK, TH Group, and the Vietnamese Stature Foundation have been accompanying the government in the fight against COVID-19

The three units activities assist the governments great efforts to curb the pandemic.

According to the Ministry of Health (MoH), Vietnam needs 150 million doses of vaccines to administer about 75 per cent of its population this year, with a total cost amounting to VND25 trillion ($1.09 billion).

Of which the central budget can offer VND16 trillion ($695.65 million) and the rest will have to come from the localities, the society, and the business community via the COVID-19 Vaccine Fund managed by the Ministry of Finance.

Currently, only about 1 per cent of the countrys population has been vaccinated.

MoH Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said that Vietnam has ordered a total of 130 million vaccine doses from foreign pharmaceutical groups, and with the domestically-produced vaccine, it is expected that all Vietnamese people will be vaccinated this year. This process will need strong support from the whole people and society, and the business community.

At the launching ceremony of the COVID-19 Vaccine Fund, hundreds of enterprises like BAC A BANK and TH Group have demonstrated their social responsibility via their donations.

Tran Thi Nhu Trang, director of the Vietnamese Stature Foundation, said, We do believe and highly appreciate the governments great efforts in fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic and maintaining production and business activities in order to spur on the national economic development. We, BAC A BANK, TH Group, and the Vietnamese Stature Foundation, as well as many other businesses, organisations, and individuals, with our big heart and responsibility to the community for the sake of the nation, are determined to join hands with the whole country to weather all difficulties and push back the pandemic.
Hung Hoang FCPA (Aust.)

Internal auditing is widely acknowledged as a critical pillar of robust corporate governance. Whether in the corporate, public, or non-profits sector, the internal audit process is a tool for independent monitoring in any organisation and assuring internal and external stakeholders.

Hung is exceptionally knowledgeable about the merits of internal audit and how organizations can best use them for regulatory compliance. He is a strong advocate for the enhanced utilisation of internal audit beyond compliance to risk-based and value-based improvements for organisations.

The merits of auditing

Qualified as a chartered accountant and certified internal auditor with 26+ years in professional services, he has experience in external audit, internal audit, finance/business transformation, and accounting advisory in Australia, Lao PDR, the US, and Vietnam. He was certified as an internal auditor in 2007 and attained his CPA Australia designation in 2014.

Currently, he is the founder and chairman of Corporate Governance Services (CGS Vietnam) and senior advisor at the Vietnam Institute of Directors (VIOD). Hung is also sitting on different boards in the role of independent director or corporate governance advisor.

"Auditing is an advanced tool in corporate governance, helping the board of directors to comply with laws and in the oversight of businesses," he says. "An essential aspect of auditing is auditors' independence, so they can objectively provide assessments or advice to the board and the executive team."

In 2014, the World Bank and the Ministry of Finance appointed him to analyse the internal audit environment and advise on drafting the regulations to implement internal audit protocols across enterprises and the public sector.

His work in this capacity eventually led to Decree 05/2019/ND-CP on Internal Audit (IA), which went into effect on April 1, 2019 with a two-year transitional period.

"Internal audit is quite a new concept in Vietnam," he says. "During that time, I analysed different economies, including the US, Singapore, and Indonesia, to understand how best to implement internal audit practices for Vietnam's economy."

The decree brings Vietnam in line with international auditing standards and is a further sign of Vietnam's maturing governance environment. It applies to central ministries, local governments, public service organisations, and state-owned and private listed companies.

Auditing and good governance

He says Vietnam's vibrant economy and the steady influx of foreign investment have sharpened how internal auditing can aid good governance and strengthen organisations.

"Investors welcome the internal audit as an essential part of corporate governance because it provides them with confidence about the transparencies and the capabilities of an enterprise. It protects their interests. At the same time, the authorities, such as the State Security Committee (SSC) and the stock exchanges, understand that solid corporate governance makes the market more attractive to both local and overseas investors."

There is a growing awareness among enterprise leaders and executive teams of internal auditing's capacity to detect problems and guide fast-growth organisations' correct structuring and strategy.

Hung says this is relevant to all types of businesses, not only those listed on the stock exchange but also startups, family-held businesses, and state-owned enterprises.

"For family businesses, I think they are moving towards internal auditing because they look at the capital markets to potentially unlock the value of their company and attract funds for growth in the future," he says.

"Many small- and medium-sized family businesses have grown rapidly over the last decades. They are at the size that they need to have more resources, finance, and management skills. They are bringing people from outside the family into the business. They are starting to learn about good corporate governance and the importance of internal audits, especially on the shareholder side."

How auditing helps Vietnam's businesses

He says organisations can look to CPA Australia programmes to provide their employees with the right tools and education to understand better governance through programmes such as Corporate Learning Solutions. In some cases, they will also need to draw upon specialised help.

He says internal auditing is good governance practice, particularly for enterprises undergoing equitisation.

"Equitised enterprises are attracting investment and they need to follow the same rules as other organisations. These organisations already have a structure in place but it can often be inflexible. They move into the capital market and they need to adapt a little bit. Internal audits identify where enterprises can make changes and how to go about it. They soon realise the gains to be made and apply them effectively.

"In the public sector, internal auditing is not only helping leaders and authorities in managing the organisation goals and mandates effectively but also providing citizens and stakeholders with more confidence in the public services and public finance management."

Hung says factors like digital transformation, international trade conditions, and COVID-19 will continue to present challenges to Vietnam's burgeoning enterprises. He believes adopting sound governance principles and practices will put organisations and businesses in a strong position to face such challenges.

How CPA Australia makes the difference

CPA Australia provides members with an internationally-recognised qualification. It offers various learning resources in multiple channels to enhance knowledge and skills for members for their continuing professional development (CPD) as finance and accounting professionals.

Whether it is advancing your career or starting up a new business, becoming a CPA member is your calling card to opportunity, helping you expand your horizons, reach new heights in business, and make a difference in the world.

Find more information about how members have benefitted or become a CPA. Contact us to find out how you or your team can join or gain access to the wealth of resources CPA Australia provides or contact our Vietnam office for more information.

Hanoi Office: hanoi@cpaaustralia.com.au or dial 024 6263 4320

Ho Chi Minh City Office: hochiminh@cpaaustralia.com.au or dial 028 3520 8338
(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 09, 2021 A medical worker displays a vial of the Covaxin vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at a vaccination centre in Mumbai. Brazil's health regulator, Anvisa, on June 4 authorised the import of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V and the Indian vaccine Covaxin against the coronavirus, but imposed several conditions for their use in the country. Indranil MUKHERJEE / AFP

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) last week requested credit institutions and foreign banks not to charge organisations and individuals contributing to the COVID-19 vaccine fund transfer fees on these transactions. The SBV also issued Document No.3947/NHNN-TD, requesting that chairmen, general directors, and other leaders of credit institutions and foreign bank branches urgently implement measures to effectively control the pandemic.

State-owned bank BIDV was officially approved to be the receiving bank for the vaccine fund. The entire amount of voluntary contributions will be fully and promptly concentrated on the fund and used for the right purposes in a transparent fashion in accordance with the law.

BIDV is committed to quickly, safely, and effectively deploying and assisting the funds activities, ensuring the provision of the best quality ancillary services for the fund. In particular, BIDV customers are entitled to free transfer of donations to the fund on all channels of the bank, a representative from BIDV told VIR.

Other banks are also applying a free fee transferring mechanism, such as Techcombank, VietinBank, HDBank, VPBank, and OCB.

Free fee policies have gained ground recently, as banks are vying with each other to increase the current account/savings account (CASA) ratio, in which banks persuade customers to keep money in their banks.

In the first quarter of 2021, the number of online transactions increased by 55.9 per cent compared to the same period in last year. Banks are also actively promoting customers to make transactions online by waiving various fees.

Even before the SBVs direction, Techcombank was the first lender to apply a zero-fee programme between different banks. This move has successfully led to a sharp improvement in its CASA ratio, and deposit going from 22 per cent in 2017 to 44 per cent in 2020. It is expected to improve its ratio to 50 per cent by 2023, leading to higher net interest margin.

Luu Trung Thai, vice chairman of the Board of Management and CEO of MB noted, The mass vaccine rollout would undeniably have a profound effect on the whole economy. MB is proudly contributing to the vaccine fund, as well as implementing our fee-less transfer policy and enhancing seamless, convenient services for fund contributors, whether they are retail or individual clients.

Besides that policy, local and foreign banks are being encouraged to reschedule debt repayment terms for debts incurring repayment obligations from January 23, 2021 to the end of this year, as well as exemption and reduction of interest and fees for affected customers, as prescribed in Circular No.03/2021/TT-NHNN dated April on credit institutions and foreign bank branches carrying out debt rescheduling.

Last week, Vietnam officially established a special fund dedicated to financial aid from local and foreign individuals and organisations for purchase, import, research, and production of COVID-19 vaccines. The fund, directly managed by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), welcomes voluntary financial and vaccine aid, assistance, and contributions as well as other lawful resources.

The fund will be audited by the State Audit Office of Vietnam and the Vietnam Fatherland Front. It is expected to help Vietnam acquire 150 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to immunise around 75 per cent of its population, with a total estimated cost of around $1.1 billion.

Vo Thanh Hung, director of the State Budget Department under the MoF, said that with the assigned tasks, the ministry would thoroughly manage the financial inflows and outflows, supporting domestic vaccine production. The funds revenues will also be recorded and will be transparently disclosed on the websites of the MoF and the State Treasury, and will be inspected and audited according to regulations.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-08 04:53:34|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called for international efforts to promote peace and stability in Central Africa and to help regional countries in strengthening unity and cooperation.

Central Africa has, by and large, maintained peace and stability, and efforts by regional countries to fight COVID-19 and sustain the momentum of development are worthy of acknowledgment. The international community should continue to respect the sovereignty and leadership of regional countries, support the people of this region in seeking peace and development, and encourage regional and sub-regional organizations in playing a greater role, said Dai Bing, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

He called for efforts to help regional countries strengthen unity and cooperation.

Boko Haram and the Lord's Resistance Army terrorist organizations remain active, posing a grave threat to regional countries' political, economic, and humanitarian situation. Central Africa also faces other challenges, including piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, climate change and food insecurity, Dai noted.

"China supports the process of regional integration and supports the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in enhancing its collective security mechanism, encourage regional countries to enhance good neighborly relations, unity, and cooperation, and resolve their differences through consultation and dialogue," he told the Security Council.

Climate change is, in essence, a matter of development. The international community, especially developed countries, should provide financial and technical support to Central African countries to help them enhance their ability in adaptation and mitigation, he said.

Dai called for support for regional countries to speed up post-pandemic recovery and eliminate the root causes of conflict.

At present, the world has entered a new stage where fighting the pandemic and addressing post-pandemic recovery require equal attention. Central African countries, especially those affected by conflict, are facing greater medium- to long-term impact from the pandemic and difficulty in accessing vaccines, hence a more daunting task in post-pandemic recovery, he said.

The Security Council has just held a high-level open debate on the theme of addressing the root causes of conflict while promoting post-pandemic recovery, and adopted a presidential statement. The international community should scale up support in fighting the pandemic, in post-pandemic recovery, trade and investment, food security and poverty reduction, and ensure that resources are channeled to where they are most needed in Africa so as to remove the root causes of conflict, said Dai.

China, together with African countries, launched an initiative on partnership for Africa's development, which has garnered positive response and support from a vast number of African countries, including those in Central Africa, he said. "We welcome more countries and regional organizations to join the initiative so as to forge synergy in support of African development."

China, in principle, supports the renewal of the mandate of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and will take a constructive part in relevant consultations. China hopes that UNOCA will continue to support regional countries and regional organizations and work in close consultation with UN agencies so as to play a bigger part in achieving regional peace and stability, he said. Enditem
Malaysia's Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad makes its foray into Vietnam

The proposed acquisition is a unique opportunity for the group to acquire a high-quality asset portfolio, comprising of four production sharing contracts in Malaysia and one in Vietnam with a total cash consideration of $212.5 million.

The groups oil and condensate production will more than double from 9,000 barrels per day to 18,500 barrels per day in 2022. It will also contribute earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation of $135 million to the group in 2022.

Commenting on the acquisition, Kenneth Pereira, the group's managing director said that, We are pleased to announce that after an international, competitive bidding process, we have been selected by Repsol to acquire their Malaysian and Block 46 Vietnam assets. Once completed, this acquisition will be transformational for us and bodes well for the business trajectory of Hibiscus Petroleum into its next phase of growth."

"We will be enhancing our geographical footprint and entering Vietnam and thus we are looking forward to developing a strong working relationship with PetroVietnam, both as a regulator and as our new partner, he added.

Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad is Malaysias first listed independent oil and gas exploration and production company. Its key activities are focused on monetising its oil fields and growing its portfolio of development and production assets in areas of its geographical focus, that is Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The recent acquisition also marks the company's venture into the new market, Vietnam.
The Gojek and Tokopedia merger is backed by massive names in digital investments, Photo Duc Thanh

Indonesian ride-hailing and payments firm Gojek and e-commerce leader Tokopedia has made a big splash in the market by merging to form multi-billion dollar firm GoTo. Backed by investment giants like Alibaba, Tencent, and Google parent company Alphabet, GoTo is poised to expedite the digital economy in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.

Specifically, the new group features a wide range of services including ride-hailing, food delivery, e-commerce, logistics, and also financial services.

Gojek Vietnam under GoTo has offered ride-hailing, food delivery, and logistics. To expand its presence in the market, the group will roll out car-sharing and cashless payment services this year. By adding the two new services, Gojek Vietnam is expecting to gain a competitive edge over its rivals in the fast-growing market.

A representative of Gojek Vietnam told VIR that the company has already secured a licence for 4-wheel riding hailing service GoCar in Ho Chi Minh City. The company will be launching GoCar in the next few months, with Hanoi in its sights after Ho Chi Minh City.

After Gojek Vietnam has built a strong foundation there, the company expects to expand to other cities. Meanwhile, cashless payments will also be launched within this year.

Following the GoTo deal, Gojek has more resources and capital to implement expansion plans in Vietnam. According to Ralf Matthaes, managing director of technology-driven market research company Infocus Mekong Research, the key to all online platforms is growing their customer base and offering, thus the new merger should aid in this pursuit.

Specifically, it will allow its present customer base more services and also erode competitor services, if it can perform well across more new services. For the consumer this is great news, as it should start a price war, at least temporarily, and also force the likes of Grab to up its game in Vietnam, Matthaes added.

The Gojek and Tokopedia merger may provide food for thought for key platforms in Vietnam. It is not only a ride-sharing and food delivery battle but also an e-commerce game as GoTo is combining Gojeks on-demand services and Tokopedias e-commerce expertise. As Gojek Vietnam is introducing most key services here, there is likelihood that it will add e-commerce into the market at some point in the future.

Commenting on this, Matthaes said that both Lazada and Shopee are rather entrenched in Vietnam, so GoTo may require more time to penetrate the e-commerce space than ride sharing.

Meanwhile, Peh Quan Yao, research analyst of services and payments at Euromonitor International, told VIR that both Gojek and Tokopedia plan to operate separately but leverage each others complementary strengths. There is scope for an end-to-end e-commerce solution that leverages an existing tried-and-tested platform in Tokopedia, and Gojeks last-mile delivery fleet and digital wallet capabilities.

However, Yao noted that the competitive landscape is unlikely to change much for ride-hailing in Vietnam, given Gojek and Grabs dominant positions. For e-commerce, it is too early to tell. GoTo will be a new entrant with no large-scale operating experience outside of Indonesia. In the near term, challenges like customer and merchant acquisition, optimising delivery and fulfilment operations, and adapting to consumer preferences such as cash-on-delivery and live-streaming need to be addressed to compete with incumbents such as Shopee and Tiki, which have already done well in the market.

According to Euromonitor International, e-commerce made up for just 3 per cent of Vietnams retail market in 2020, the lowest amount in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, the countrys digital economy is forecast to grow to $52 billion by 2025, an annual 29 per cent increase from 2020, according to a study by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company.
From the beginning of this year, steel prices jump by 40 percent in the market, troubling most of the construction project and many other businesses in the country (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has denied rumours that it proposed the establishment of a State stabilisation fund to cope with the sudden increase in steel prices that has impacted many businesses.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai told a recent press conference that from the end of 2020 until now, the price of raw materials for steel production has soared, causing a sudden increase in the price of steel products, affecting construction enterprises and their ongoing projects.

After Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khais request to report about the situation on May 8, the ministry met with leading steel manufacturing and trading enterprises like the Vietnam Steel Corporation and Hoa Phat Group, then submitted their report to the Government.

Hai told the conference: The MoIT does not propose a stabilisation fund for steel prices.

Earlier, experts and steel manufacturing enterprises came out as opposed to such a fund.

Nguyen Van Sua, a steel industry expert, told local media a steel price stabilisation fund was "incompatible with the principle of price management in a market economy" because steel is not a commodity managed by the State.

Sua said: The recent spike in domestic steel prices was mainly due to the high price of raw materials for this product known as iron ore, fat coal and scrap steel, which have all skyrocketed in the international market.

Raw materials account for 90 percent of the steel production price, so when raw materials increase, domestic steel prices go up," he added.

As steel prices increased due to the world price level, a stabilisation fund is not suitable, said Sua, adding it was necessary to use the law of supply and demand of the market to cool down the price.

Economist Ngo Tri Long, who is an expert in prices, said the steel market has been competitive since 2012 and there is no reason to use the tools of the State for this market. Instead, to cool down steel prices, indirect tools such as taxes and trade should be used, he said.

Long said steel was not listed as a good subject to price stabilisation by law, so a proposal to build such a fund was not suitable.

On June 3, Hai said the MoIT and its branches would conduct research, review and implement the construction of technical barriers and quality standards, create a healthy competitive environment and ensure the interests of consumers, as well as implement trade remedies for steel products in accordance with trade regulations and international laws.

At the same time, the ministry would monitor and consider handling possible dumping of some steel products imported into Vietnam as well as deal with anti-dumping lawsuits of other countries against Vietnamese steel exports.

The deputy minister said market management teams would focus on the steel market to prevent and handle the phenomenon of speculation to increase steel prices, manipulate steel prices in the market, and trade fraud.

The MoIT also suggested steel manufacturing enterprises reduce input costs, production costs to lower the cost of finished steel products, maximise domestic capacity to increase supply and limit exports of domestic products that are in demand.

From the beginning of this year, steel prices have jumped by 40 percent, significantly pushing up investment capital, in some cases by billions of Vietnamese dong, for construction projects.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), the price index of steel and iron products increased by nearly 20 percent in April from the same period last year and more than 23 percent in the first four months of 2021.

The GSO pointed out three reasons for the increase, including the rise in prices of raw materials for steel production and transportation costs, the decrease of global steel supplies as China tightened control over production volume and rising domestic demand.

VR Sharma, Managing Director of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), one of Indias leading conglomerates with interests in steel, power, mining and infrastructure, told hellenicshippingnews.com on June 4 that: Steel consumption has increased worldwide. America is pulling a lot of demand, so is China and this has led to the overall increase in the raw material prices.
A residential project developed by Novaland

Novaland refused to release further details, but VIR was told that two domestic companies were involved in this big transaction deal.

This project is expected to bring a profit of around VND8 trillion ($347.83 million) to pump additional finance into three 1,000-hectare projects which are underway at the same time, namely NovaWorld Phan Thiet (Binh Thuan), NovaWorld Ho Tram (Ba Ria-Vung Tau), and Aqua City (Dong Nai).

According to its annual report for 2020, Novaland has a land fund of about 700ha in Ho Chi Minh City. More than 100ha of this land are concentrated in the east of the city, and are eligible for developing large-scale urban development projects.

This is not the first large-scale project done by Novaland through a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) process.

At the recent 2021 annual general shareholders' meeting, Bui Xuan Huy, general director of Novaland revealed that as of the first quarter of 2021, the group recorded a land fund of more than 5,400ha with the total gross development value estimated at nearly $45 billion.

Looking back on the development of Novaland, from the first project Sunrise City in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City developed in 2008, this group has acquired and developed dozens of projects through M&A across Ho Chi Minh City and many other cities and provinces, including projects with scale of thousands of hectares.

Novaland has set up its target to widen its land fund via M&A for many years. From 2008 to 2017, Novaland focused on residential projects in Ho Chi Minh City only. Sicne 2018, the group has been expanding its business to urban development areas in satellite cities and tourism complexes in coastal tourism destinations.

The company aims to increase its land funds to 10,000ha by 2030 in the south-central region.
People walk on the promenade at Barceloneta Beach on June 6, 2021 in Barcelona. Spain will allow all vaccinated travellers to visit the country from June 7, as the tourism hotspot aims to revive its virus-battered travel industry.Pau BARRENA / AFP

"Spain is a safe destination," Health Minister Carolina Darias insisted, adding that the country was "in the process of reclaiming its global leadership in tourism".

Non-vaccinated Europeans -- who can currently enter Spain with a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours -- will from Monday be able to take a cheaper antigen test instead.

But in a setback, the United Kingdom, a huge tourism market for the country, has not yet removed Spain from its list of at-risk countries, meaning British travellers will have to quarantine on their return home as well as pay for expensive Covid-19 tests.

The British normally make up the largest contingent of tourists to Spain -- in 2019 over one-fifth of Spain's 83.5 million arrivals were from the United Kingdom.

Regardless, those in the tourism sector are still hoping for a summer surge of visitors.

Jose Luis Prieto, president of Spain's travel agents' union (Unav) is hoping for a "spectacular recovery" starting from Monday.

According to him, over the last few weeks tour operators in Britain, France and Germany -- Spain's three main markets -- have been receiving a large number of enquiries.

Across the country, from the Costa del Sol to the Canary Islands, hotels and restaurants are reopening after months of closure, and airlines have restarted routes dropped during the height of the pandemic.

Malaga airport was expecting around 20 different flights on Monday morning alone, from places around Europe such as Berlin, Lille, Frankfurt and London.

Spain will also begin allowing cruise boats into its ports again from Monday.

- 'Disappointing' British decision -

Britain's decision to keep Spain on its amber list was, however, "disappointing", the health minister said.

Spain had put several measures in place to lure British tourists to its shores, such as allowing them to enter without having to present a PCR test from late May.

The Spanish tourism minister said Friday that she did not understand the British government's refusal to allow certain areas of Spain where Covid-19 cases are low, like the Canary Islands, on to its green list.

Against the backdrop of uncertainty, major travel operator TUI has cancelled all its flights to Spain until June 13.

London will not revisit its decision for another three weeks, precious time for those in the hospitality sector hoping to recover some of the losses of 2020, when visitor arrivals dropped by 77 percent compared to the year before.

Heavily dependent on its tourism industry, Spain was one of the Western economies worst hit by the pandemic, seeing a 10.8 percent fall in its GDP in 2020.

The Spanish government has set an objective of drawing 45 million travellers by the end of the year.

But by the end of April, the country had only seen 1.8 million visitors, according to official statistics.
The lighthouse on Da Tay B Reef (Photo: VNA)

Khanh Hoa  In addition to ensuring maritime safety in the surrounding territorial waters, lighthouses on islands of Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in Truong Sa district of the south central province of Khanh Hoa, have also affirmed Vietnam's sovereignty over seas and islands.

There are currently nine lighthouses on Truong Sa archipelago's islands, namely Son Ca, Nam Yet, Sinh Ton, Da Lat, Da Tay, An Bang, Song Tu Tay, Tien Nu and Truong Sa Lon.

Managed and operated by the East Sea and Islands Maritime Safety Company, the lighthouses are considered as "sovereignty markers" and diligently shine every night to assist and guide ships passing through the area.

The lighthouse on Song Tu Tay was the first to be built in Truong Sa archipelago in 1993.

An aerial view of Truong Sa Lon Island (Photo: VNA)

According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Xuan Truong, Vice Commander and Chief of Staff of Song Tu Tay island, the lighthouse has helped to ensure safe movements of vessels, asserted Vietnam's sovereignty over seas and islands and made it easier for rescue and search activities at sea.

Meanwhile, the lighthouse on Son Ca island was put into operation in August 2010. Head of the Son Ca lighthouse Tran Van Chien said that the lighthouse operates from 5:30pm to 5:30am on the next day.

In any circumstance, the lighthouse is not permitted to stop working as it is not only a guiding point for vessels in the surrounding waters but also the light of national sovereignty at sea, he said.

A lighthouse on an island in Truong Sa archipelago (Photo: VNA)

The lighthouses use electricity sourced from solar power and automatically turn on when it is dark, but there are standby power generators to ensure the lighthouses' operations in any circumstance, especially in prolonged storms or rains. The checking and maintenance of equipment of the lighthouses are conducted regularly.

The lighthouses are not allowed to stop working  this is an order from the hearts of officials and staff at the lighthouses and naval soldiers on duty at sea and on islands.

Head of the lighthouse on Sinh Ton island Bui Van Son, who has 20 years of experience and 10 years working in lighthouses in Truong Sa island district, said that despite poor working and living conditions on the islands, he has managed to complete his missions with love and responsibility for Vietnam's sovereignty over its sky, seas and islands.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nhu Tuyen, Political Commissar of Son Ca island, said that officials and staff of the Son Ca lighthouse have actively engaged in drills on island protection, contributing to strengthening the combat readiness of the island.

The lighthouse operators in Truong Sa archipelago have worked hard day and night, devoting their youth to ensure that the lighthouses never stop working.
Kendall Qualls, a former U.S. army officer who worked in Fortune 100 healthcare companies, has spoken out against Critical Race Theory (CRT), which he says pits black people against other races.

Qualls is the founder of TakeCharge, an organization that aims to inspire and educate members of the black community. Founded in Minnesota on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the entity is committed to countering the narrative that the United States is structured to undermine the lives of black people in the country.

We acknowledge that racist people exist in the country, but explicitly reject the notion that the United States of America is a racist country, states the TakeCharge website. 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.

CRT applies Marxist class politics to race by categorizing people into oppressed and oppressor classes and arguing that the oppressed suffer due to systemic discrimination at the hands of oppressors. In America, the CRT narrative essentially labels the majority white population as oppressors, and designates blacks and other minority racial groups as the oppressed.

In an interview with Breitbart, Qualls dismissed the claim that black Americans could not get ahead in life due to systemic racism. He said that perceived racial disparities are actually family disruption disparities, in which the black community is 50 years ahead of everyone else.

An image tweeted by TakeCharge on May 19 shows the link between median household income and the share of births to unwed mothers, as categorized by race. The data was inversely proportional, as a lower share of births to unwed mothers was correlated with a higher median household income, and vice versa.

Proponents of CRT like to use racial income disparities to justify their agenda. What they don't tell you is that there's a direct correlation between intact families & household income. One thing progressives disdain more than a gas guzzling SUVthe traditional nuclear family. pic.twitter.com/KisgWLIM6r  TakeCharge (@TakeChargeMN) May 19, 2021

Among Asians, the share of births among unwed mothers was 11.8 percent. The group had the highest median household income of $81,331. In contrast, blacks had the highest share of births among unwed mothers of 69.4 percent, with a median household income of $40,258. The white population had the second-highest household median income and second-lowest share of births among unwed mothers.

In the leftist agenda, Critical Race Theory comes out of a socialist, communist type of background And the whole idea behind that is to supplant the family, and you become loyal to the state. Youll find that of all the Critical Race Theory solutions to everything, not one of them is looking to [create a] traditional nuclear family, said Qualls.

He stated that he has been receiving calls from people around the country wishing to start a new TakeCharge chapter, despite the fact that the organization is only around six months old.

BLM controversy

TakeCharge recently published a video featuring Rashad Turner, a founder of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in St. Paul, who quit the organization after one year and now serves as the executive director of the Minnesota Parent Union.

I believed the organization stood for exactly what the name implies, black lives do matter. However, after a year on the inside, I learned they have little concern for rebuilding black families, and they cared even less about improving the quality of education for students in Minneapolis, he said.

A Breitbart report published on Sep. 21, 2020, stated that BLM deleted its What We Believe manifesto from its website, which stated that it wanted to disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure.

Influencing schools

States such as Texas and Georgia have been taking action to prevent the teaching of CRT in classrooms. On May 22, the Texas Senate passed House Bill 3979 aimed at banning the ideology in schools, although the legislation does not mention CRT by name.

This is not just theory. This has now become worksheets in classrooms, where kids literally have to fill out their oppression, where they fit on the oppression scale. They get segregatedcan you just imagine? Its this 21st century and we are now segregating children based on race, Asra Nomani, a former Wall Street Journal reporter said to The Epoch Times.
Some well-wishers have started raising funds for activists of the Movement for Democratic Change - Last Tamai Maengahama and Tungamirai Madzokere  who were released from prison last Friday after they were each sentenced to 20 years in jail for allegedly killing a policeman, Inspector Petros Mutedza, in Harares Glenview suburb in 2011.

The Supreme Court quashed their convictions, citing irregularities in the manner their case was handled by the High Court.

A person identified as Estelle Adams-Stone, who lives in Northampton, United Kingdom, has set up a gofundme campaign in which she has set a target of 30,000 British pounds.

In the fundraising drive, she said, In the struggle for Zimbabwes post-colonial political and economic freedom, no individuals have been cruelly punished by being jailed like Last Maengahama and Tungamirai Madzokere. Last Maengahama and Tungamirai Madzokere were wrongly convicted in Zimbabwe, and sentenced to 20 years in prison by Justice Chinembiri Bhunu. They spent 10 years in prison, 2 years in pre-trial detention and 8 years after conviction.

 They spent 10 years in prison for a crime that they didnt commit. With nothing to their names except their dignity, they have to restart their lives. This Go-Fund is meant to raise money to assist them rebuild their lives  The least we can do as citizens to show our appreciation for what they went through, is to help them start their new lives. Nothing can replace 10 years in prison for a crime you didnt commit, it is time cruelly taken away. Let us give them a hug by assisting with the little we have.

Estelle Adams-Stone was unreachable for comment. Almost 2,000 pounds has been raised since the gofundme fundraiser was set up on Sunday.

Maengahama and Madzokere were arrested in Glenview during public protests over the deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe and other issues.

Indications are that Madzokere has been deserted by his wife and children.
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Karymsky, the most active volcano of Kamchatka's eastern volcanic zone, is a symmetrical stratovolcano constructed within a 5-km-wide caldera that formed during the early Holocene. The caldera cuts the south side of the Pleistocene Dvor volcano and is located outside the north margin of the large mid-Pleistocene Polovinka caldera, which contains the smaller Akademia Nauk and Odnoboky calderas. Most seismicity preceding Karymsky eruptions originated beneath Akademia Nauk caldera, which is located immediately south of Karymsky volcano. The caldera enclosing Karymsky volcano formed about 7600-7700 radiocarbon years ago; construction of the Karymsky stratovolcano began about 2000 years later. The latest eruptive period began about 500 years ago, following a 2300-year quiescence. Much of the cone is mantled by lava flows less than 200 years old. Historical eruptions have been vulcanian or vulcanian-strombolian with moderate explosive activity and occasional lava flows from the summit crater.

Discover with us the fascinating natural history of Santorini volcano in Greece on this walking and study tour.

This 17-days adventurous expedition is one of our most exciting volcano tours! Visit Halmahera, North Sulawesi and the Sangihe Islands with some of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, including Dukono, Ibu, Lokon, Soputan and Karangetang.

The most active volcano in the world with a record long lasting eruption since 1983: images of lava flows, lava lakes, explosions, lava meeting the ocean, aerials and more.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 09:31:23|Editor: huaxia

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ABUJA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Five gunmen were killed on Sunday as Nigerian troops and police special forces thwarted an attack on a police station in the southern state of Imo, said a spokesperson for the army.

The Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), an outlawed group, was suspected of carrying out the attack, the spokesperson, Mohammed Yerima, said in a statement.

One of the killed, identified as Joseph Nnachi, a senior member of the IPOB, had been "organizing attacks against security agencies and government establishments" in the country's troubled southern region, according to Yerima.

Another member of the IPOB was arrested, Yerima said, adding that "he has been assisting security forces with useful information."

The southern part of Nigeria has seen a series of gunmen attacks on security formations like police stations and prisons in recent months. Enditem
Stowe, VT (05672)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low 59F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low 59F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. government has seized millions of dollars in a cryptocurrency payment made to hackers after a cyberattack that caused the operator of the nations largest fuel pipeline to halt its operations last month.

FBI and Justice Department officials were to disclose the operation at a news conference later Monday.

A law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the seizure ahead of the news conference told The Associated Press about it on condition of anonymity.

Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline temporarily shut down its operations on May 7 after a gang of criminal hackers known as DarkSide broke into its computer system.
Alabama Congressman. Mo Brooks filed a report with the Huntsville Police Department on Sunday after he was served with a lawsuit filed by California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. The lawsuit seeks to hold Brooks partially accountable for the January 6 riots at the Capitol, according to a tweet from Brooks and an attorney for Swalwell.

According to the Huntsville Police Department, officers did respond early Sunday afternoon to the home of Mo Brooks where a criminal trespass report was filed. A Huntsville police spokesman Lt. Jesse Sumlin stated "Criminal Trespass 3rd degree is a misdemeanor charge. For a warrant to be sworn out in this case, the victim would need to meet with a magistrate and present the facts. It would be left up to a magistrate to decide if a warrant should be issued for the persons arrest."

Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Ala.)

According to court documents, Swalwell's legal team said it had difficulty serving Brooks and hired a private investigator to give him the papers. According to CNN, Swalwell's attorney, Matthew Kaiser, told them a private investigator left the papers with Brooks' wife at their home in Alabama on Sunday.

Clay Mills with Congressman Mo Brooks office reponded to WAAY 31 with the following statement: "We are unable to do an interview but I can tell you Swalwells process server entered the Brooks home without Martha Brooks knowledge and without her consent. Then he refused to leave when Mrs. Brooks demanded it. There is video proof. A police report was filed with the Huntsville Police Department. We dont yet have a copy of the report. We made a statement on the lawsuit itself when it was filed. We made a statement when Swalwells lied in their court filing claiming they couldnt find Mo Brooks."

WAAY 31 received a copy of the front page of the police report from Huntsville Police Department on Monday. It states Martha Brooks filed the report for Criminal Trespass 3rd degree around 1:32 p.m. on June 6.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 10:04:21|Editor: huaxia

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ABUJA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A total of 11 residents and attackers were killed in a gunmen attack in the southwestern state of Oyo on Saturday, Nigerian police said Sunday night.

A group of gunmen on motorcycles launched the attack in Igangan, a town in the Ibarapa North area of the state, killing residents and burning houses, the police in Oyo said in a statement.

Some of the suspected attackers were among those killed, as local vigilante groups fought back, according to the statement, without detailing the casualties on both sides.

The razed property includes a number of buildings, vehicles, the palace of the traditional chief, and a filling station.

The cause of the attack is being investigated, the police said.

The police had deployed "intelligence and tactical apparatuses, consisting of mobile force personnel, patrol units and other tactical teams in concert with local hunters and vigilante groups from the community" to forestall further breakdown of law and order in the area, said Oyo police chief Ngozi Onadeko. Enditem
CELTA QUALIFIED EFL TEACHERS

The British School Group is now accepting applications for part-time and full-time teaching positions in some branches in Rome from September 2021. The ideal candidate should be...
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 17:11:14|Editor: huaxia

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WINDHOEK, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's Health Ministry has suspended non-emergency or non-urgent operations at two of its state hospitals.

"Only emergency and urgent operations will be performed in theaters until further notice," Health Ministry executive director Ben Nangombe said in a statement Monday. "Management should find lasting solutions to the oxygen crisis."

The ministry said last week that hospitals, especially state-owned ones, were overwhelmed with admissions and also grappling with oxygen shortages.

"We have created additional physical spaces in other areas of hospitals to cater for the increases," Nangombe said. "We have requested the Namibian Defense Force to re-deploy the field hospital reinforcements from other parts of the country."

As of Sunday, Namibia had registered 58,707 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 912 related deaths, as the country battles a third wave of coronavirus infections. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 20:47:51|Editor: huaxia

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JOHANNESBURG, June 7 (Xinhua) -- In a quiet neighborhood not far from Chinatown in Johannesburg lies a traditional Chinese medicine clinic.

Oriental Medical Center is small but with an endless stream of patients including celebrities from neighboring countries. It even once treated an Oscar-winning actress.

Dr. Sun Qingfu together with her husband Dr. Xu Youqiang has been operating the clinic for more than 20 years, although hardships were rampant at the beginning.

Dr. Sun said establishing a clinic at a time when traditional Chinese medicine was not legally recognized in South Africa was extremely difficult.

"It was in 1991 when we first arrived in South Africa," she said, "We could not even speak the simplest English word and have to communicate with the patients with body language."

"Local people knew little about Chinese traditional medicine. Once a lady came here for cupping. After the treatment she found some dark marks on her body and said she would sue us for first-stage damage."

Dr. Sun said a lack of funds was another problem. They had to engage in international trade to earn money in order to support their medical practice.

In 1998, Oriental Medical Center was finally established after three failed attempts. Since then, the number of patients has grown, and some even fly from Namibia, Somali, Ethiopia and Mozambique.

Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow was one of Dr. Sun's patients. She visited the clinic several times to soothe her back pain. She even walked down the red carpet with cupping marks on her back.

South African media reported the story and introduced Dr. Sun's clinic to the public.

The couple doesn't advertise the clinic, yet business is booming.

Some local doctors recommend patients with infertility issues visit Oriental Medical Center first and try some traditional Chinese medicine. After that, if necessary, the patients could go back to a common hospital for further treatment.

Since 2000, the couple has helped China register more than 800 kinds of Chinese patent medicine in South Africa, leading traditional Chinese medicine to gain a foothold in the country.

In 2015, the two established Southern African Chinese Traditional Medical College. Two years later, they helped China's Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine establish the university's branch college in South Africa.

Influenced by his parents, the couple's younger son Ivan, a Bioinformatics major at the University of the Witwatersrand, one of South Africa's top universities, is now also learning traditional Chinese medicine.

"I will do some research based on traditional Chinese medicine, in some fields, trying to combine traditional Chinese medicine with Bioinformatics," Ivan said when discussing his future plans.

"I believe maybe in the future ... the whole world ... will believe that traditional Chinese medicine is one of the most helpful treatments," he added. Enditem
Brian Gregory Robling of Washington, 23, passed away Monday, June 7, 2021. Brian was born July 11, 1997, in Washington, to Amber (Robling) Whiteman and Michael Bernard. He graduated from Washington High School in 2016. Brian is survived by his parents; his son, Zyler Mehrer of Washington; da
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Liberal senator Andrew Bragg is urging Google and Facebook to swiftly strike deals with smaller news outlets after signing three key agreements with large media companies in the past month.

A long-term commercial deal between Facebook and Google and Guardian Australia is expected to be completed in a matter of days, adding to a raft of agreements struck between large tech companies and major media outlets since February. While companies like Nine Entertainment Co, News Corp Australia and Seven West Media are already implementing plans off the back of the deals, there is increasing concern among smaller companies that they still have not been remunerated fairly.

Senator Andrew Bragg is representing the interests of small outlets in negotiations with Google and Facebook. These outlets include Junkee Media and the Northern Beaches Advocate. Credit:James Brickwood

The big tech companies have made strong public statements on supporting small, diverse publishers, Mr Bragg said. I am determined to see the commitments fulfilled.

Mr Bragg wrote to Facebook Australia managing director Will Easton and Google Australia managing director Melanie Silva two months ago demanding clarity on how the tech giants were ensuring they were looking after small outlets as well as large organisations. Mr Bragg is representing the interests of smaller outlets including the Northern Beaches Advocate and Junkee Media.
The ASX touched fresh highs but only finished slightly higher on Tuesday as tech, healthcare and shopping centre owners gained and the banks and miners fell.

The S&P/ASX 200 touched 7315.6 points within the first hour before turning negative in the middle of the day.

It closed just 10.7 points, or 0.2 per cent higher at 7292.6 points.

The ASX 200 rose 0.2 per cent on tuesday. Credit:Louie Douvis

Volumes were thinner than usual, while investors received a mixed lead from Wall Street, where trading floors were waiting for Thursdays inflation data.

The spectre of inflation remains the biggest concern to traders, who fear central banks may move too slowly to keep it under control.

However, concerns have eased in recent days after a weaker-than-expected US jobs print late last week.

For some the most unsustainable price rises were on the equity market itself.

Senior client advisor at Novus Capital, Gary Glover, has been advising clients to be cautious because the market was in a pretty bubbly phase. A lot of stocks were high risk from a valuation point of view, he said.

I think it is pretty pricey here. If you look at multiples of some of the biggest companies most of them are trading well outside of what would be expensive. It is pretty hot to trot.

He had noticed some rotation into defensive stocks with electricity producer AGL up 14.3 per cent since 1 June and Origin energy up 22 per cent in the same period to $4.87. The S&P/ASX200 is up 2.8 per cent in the same period.

Oil companies, Reece, and real estate trusts have been among the biggest gainers since the start of the month, while gold miners, casinos, and some technology companies have seen the largest declines.

It is difficult to get clients to want to sell, because when things are great that is when you should be doing a bit of selling. And when they are horrible you should be doing a bit of buying. It goes against human nature, Mr Glover explained.

The materials sector was dragged down on Tuesday by a 1 per cent fall in BHP and Fortescue and a 0.9 per cent fall in Rio Tinto. Telstra dropped 0.3 per cent to $3.56 while TPG Telecom gained 3.9 per cent to $5.57.

MLC Asset management portfolio manager Anthony Golowenko said consumer price pressures would remain a factor for investors in the near term, though perhaps should be seen as part of a larger portrait.

The million-dollar question is, will (inflation) be sustained? he said.

You dont want to get too carried away - something that looks like it is roaring ahead, and you take a step back and it is just part of a trend.

Its about moderating some of these things, but certainly in 2021 this inflation and reflation theme is a key issue.

Mr Golowenko said heightened dealmaking activity in the tech sector this week - including for the likes of Altium and Hansen Technologies - was perhaps another source of pricing strength, as investors position themselves for the chance of further acquisitions.

Its obvious I think with todays market pricing weve seen some of those themes come through and some people positioning for whos next in that space, he said.

The local technology sector out-performed on Tuesday with gains of 5.8 per cent in Wisetech, 4.6 per cent in Nearmap, and 4.2 per cent in NextDC.

Healthcare advanced as Mesoblast jumped 8.8 per cent and CSL moved 0.9 per cent.

The big four banks were split with NAB up 0.5per cent and Westpac up 0.4 per cent, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ finished the session lower.

Market operator ASX fell 1.2 per cent after two brokers lowered their ratings.
The NSW government has ignored a series of alternatives to raising the Warragamba Dam wall that could reduce downstream flood risks at much lower than the $1 billion-plus cost of the project.

The options, from building levees to dredging the Hawkesbury-Nepean River or releasing water ahead of big rain events, were detailed in submissions developed in 2014 and 2015 and provided to cabinet, according to internal documents obtained by the Herald.

Warragamba Dam spills during the March floods. The Berejiklian government is getting closer to deciding whether to raise the walls height despite opposition from Indigenous and conservation groups, and from insurers. Credit:WaterNSW

The debate within government over how best to reduce risks in the flood-prone Hawkesbury-Nepean region reached cabinet on Monday. The projects environment impact statement is now expected to go before public exhibition in coming weeks.

Originally estimated at about $700 million to lift the wall by at least 14 metres, the full cost is likely to be closer to $2 billion assuming the government pays compensation for the environmental and cultural damage caused by the additional flooding within the World Heritage-listed region.
The adjustment wasnt easy to come to terms with initially. I did have meltdowns in the first lockdown. I cried in a field and my boyfriend was like, Why are you crying? I think its because Ive never not been busy. I was tired and going a bit loopy...This situation has forced me to live at a normal pace. Alexa and Orson Fry, 26, frontman of the band Soundtown, have been dating since 2019. Their lockdown life has involved, in her words, living together-apart. Its quite fun. He lives in west London, I live east. A lot has changed, but for Alexa, succumbing to a grey tracksuit was never an option. Its just not my vibe, she confirms. I still take great pleasure from getting dressed. Retailers across the UK have been hit hard during the pandemic. For Alexa, keeping the fashion dream alive on social media has been a professional necessity as much as a personal hobby. She founded her eponymous label in 2017, selling quirky but classic clothes and shoes, and says her company, which employs 22 people, has been able to weather the storm better than many.

Were not a large business, she notes. Some deliveries were affected. But we dont have any physical shops, so we dont have stock sitting there without being able to reach customers. Alexas spring 2021 collection, Vertigo, was conceived pre-pandemic yet, in an example of the oracle at work again, was inspired by horror films and movies with a general sense of unease.

Isnt it weird? she says. I was looking at The Shining, Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch. The collection before that [autumn 2020] was about a global catastrophe that forced people to live underground and grow their own vegetables. You might be relieved to hear that the designs shes working on next are less apocalyptic, more optimistic. For spring/summer 2022 the inspiration is pure Saturday Night Fever, she says. Its crochet bikinis, its sex, its everyone bonking.

Ah, so thats what weve got to look forward to in a years time. Shes also launched a Spotify station, where you can listen to the playlists that inspire her, and started a blog-like diary, Alexas World, on her website (in 2014 she published her memoir, It). One project particularly close to her heart was the T-shirt she designed in aid of International Womens Day, with all profits going to the Womens Endometriosis Research Foundation. Alexa was diagnosed with the condition in 2019, and underwent a laparoscopy last year. I didnt know what it was, she explains. It affects one in 10 women, when something similar to the lining of a uterus grows in other places, and on organs. A lot of infertility cases can be explained by undiagnosed endometriosis. Getting older just means that youve reached the next level of info. Credit:John Gorrigan/Telegraph Media Group 2021. She describes her experience as chronically painful. For me, a few weeks of the month, everythings fine. And then Im in agony. I had surgery; it all went well. Hopefully its OK. Alexa began her career as a fashion model at the age of 16 after being scouted at Reading Festival. While she says she found straight fashion modelling boring, she thought adverts were fun because she got to talk. By the time she was 18, Alexa was already making good money. Arriving on Channel 4s Popworld in 2006, with long hair, ballet pumps and a denim pinafore, a geek-chic style icon was born. Aged 22, Alexa and co-host Alex Zane conducted irreverent interviews with stars from Paul McCartney to Lily Allen. She inspired a generation to follow her every androgynous-suited move, advanced her TV career and became a fixture at music festivals. At the same time, her relationship with the Arctic Monkeys Alex Turner, from 2007 to 2011, became tabloid fodder.

By January 2010, Mulberry had named a bag after Alexa and she was a contributing editor at Vogue. Over the next decade, she held ambassadorship contracts and designed collaborative collections with brands including Superga and Marks & Spencer. She also moved to New York for seven years to present the MTV talk show Its On with Alexa Chung. But its only since founding her own business in 2017 that she says she finally feels in control of her career. People used to say, What does she even do? because I did so many different things. But now, thatsa classic Millennial trait. No one goes on about it any more. Theres no autonomy in being an It Girl, Alexa says. At least, not in what that term used to mean, when it was like youre a society girl. I was a television presenter  It Girl was a huge insult. I have a job. I work really hard. People used to say, What does she even do? because I did so many different things. But now, thats a classic Millennial trait. No one goes on about it any more. All of those things I studied in isolation [broadcast journalism, design and business] make sense to the job I do now.

Despite years of experience with fame, Alexa admits that she still cares about what is written about her, and can be drawn into replying to comments on her Instagram posts. I used to be worse, she says. If the comments are untrue, I get cross. I watched a video I did the other day and people were saying beneath it how I sound like a man. Being famous is like listening in to a dinner party where everyone is slagging you off. But they also give you free things. Its like, If you dont mind everyone being horrible about you, well give you this free dress. I think, Fair enough, all right.  Her relationship with Fry is the subject of great media fascination in the UK. Frys family owned the confectionery company of the same name, a division of Cadburys, until 2010. Its embarrassing, she says of the situation. Whenever Ive done an interview I think, What have I said? Because if I ever mention my boyfriend, then hes also got a family, and they read it. The tabloids focus on the 11-year age difference between them. Id like to say he is 26 years old, Alexa laughs. Because the Mail always says hes 24. Im like, Guys, its a really important bit of information [to get right]. 

Alexas gang of girl mates, including models Pixie Geldof and Daisy Lowe, have stuck tight over the years. While they may not have seen much of each other recently, there have been plenty of video calls. There are moments when those friendships really come through, she says. Like a female health problem. Or just panging about getting older. Does she care about getting older? No, I like it. I like accruing information. So getting older just means that youve reached the next level of info. There are moments when those friendships really come through, she says. Like a female health problem. Or just panging about getting older. She is, however, planning to buy a silk pillowcase and reminds me that she quit smoking yesterday. So far its going great, she says. I was smoking so much, then I suddenly didnt like them. Im trying to not get too wrinkly and I dont want to get Botox. Yes, I encourage her, this sounds like a good thing for your health. But will it be? she quips. Not to brag, but my skins pretty good and I have given it a real kicking. I didnt really have a routine up until recently. Ive smoked. Ive drunk a lot of whisky. Im usually dehydrated. Maybe its something else.

Loading For now, Alexas landed somewhere between her dreams of owning a delightful Georgian townhouse, which I would decorate really well, and a party life. I want to throw a party where its all about your entrance, she says. A compere introduces all your friends again: Back by popular demand, its Pixie Geldof! Nipple tassels, glitter cannons  wouldnt that be cool? George Northwood had better get ready to deliver the party hairstyle everyone will want to copy. Alexas latest collection is available now at alexachung.com. Stella Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph (UK).
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 22:38:30|Editor: huaxia

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MANDERA, Kenya, June 7 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and more than ten others injured when al-Shabab militants attacked two commuter buses in Mandera county of northeast Kenya on Monday.

Rono Bunei, northeastern regional police commander confirmed the ambush which took place between Olla and Sarman area while the buses were headed for Mandera town when the militants sprayed them with bullets.

Bunei said the buses overturned as the driver sped off from the scene of the attack, seriously injuring some of the passengers. The gang escaped to a nearby thicket.

"We have sent reinforcement to the area to pursue the attackers who escaped towards the Somalia-Kenya border. They will be caught," the police commander vowed.

Witnesses said one commuter bus was stuck in the thicket after being sprayed with bullets. There were no police escorts at the time of the incident.

The witnesses said 12 casualties have been rushed to the local hospital with multiple injuries.

The scene, which is in the northeastern part of the county, has been a safe area since 2013 but has lately been a soft target.

This is the latest incident to happen in the area in a series that is staged by al-Shabab gunmen roaming there.

Mandera's close proximity to the porous Kenya-Somali border has witnessed numerous attacks from al-Shabab militants that have claimed hundreds of lives. Enditem
This year, Four Corners, the longest-running, most lauded and consequential program in Australian television history, turns 60. But will the ABC pluck up enough courage to throw a party?

No doubt the Prime Minister, should he be invited, will send his apologies.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Tensions between the ABC and the government have once again boiled over, despite Scott Morrison coming to high office with the best intentions to steer well clear of the ABC controversies his predecessors delighted in stoking.

And so to the latest: the Four Corners investigation into Morrisons friend and QAnon conspiracy theorist was pulled by ABC managing director David Anderson from Mondays broadcast slot and sent back to the program with a please try harder.
Crime agencies believe Qantas has been infiltrated by bikies and other organised crime groups to facilitate drug importation and other activities that pose a risk to national security.

A classified federal law enforcement intelligence operation code-named Project Brunello has determined that a significant number of Qantas staff  up to 150  are linked to criminality. The operation describes suspected wrongdoing that is serious and represents a very high threat to the Australian border.

Official sources briefed on the findings but unable to speak publicly due to confidentiality requirements said among the most concerning of the suspected trusted insiders within Qantas is a Comanchero motorcycle gang affiliate who is linked to international drug cartel boss Hakan Ayik. This person is working in a mid-level managerial position at Qantas Sydney airport operations and the intelligence suggests he has recruited criminals into the airline to help import narcotics.

The revelations raise serious questions for both the airline and the federal government, and come after historical inquiries have warned of evolving gaps in port and airport security. They also raise questions for federal Labor, which is opposing transport security laws proposed by the Coalition and backed by police that would enable criminal intelligence to be used to stop workers receiving aviation and maritime government security clearances.
The bitter defamation battle between two warring exes over claims of sex addiction has been put on ice for several months after the Victorian lockdown caused the County Court trial to be adjourned.

The judge-only trial between Constantine Arvanitis and Selina Holder was adjourned until September, blowing out the end date of a legal saga that was originally supposed to take eight days.

Selina Holder and Constantine Arvanitis are fighting out a defamation battle in the courts. Credit:

The case was already on track to last much longer than that, with the first witness, Mr Arvanitis, yet to finish giving evidence after seven days of hearings.

New trials remain suspended in Victoria due to the latest COVID-19 restrictions, while those already under way were permitted to continue.
ABC managing director David Anderson says there has been no interference by the federal government in a proposed Four Corners episode exploring the Prime Ministers ties to a QAnon conspiracy theorist.

He also revealed on Monday the ABC agreed to pay $100,000 in mediation costs to Industry Minister Christian Porters lawyer as part of the settlement of his defamation case and spent a further $680,000 defending the matter.

ABC managing director David Anderson has told a Senate estimates hearing that the ABC agreed to pay Christian Porters lawyer $100,000 for his mediation costs. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Mr Anderson was grilled for three hours on the two matters at a Senate estimates hearing, where he sought to defend the ABCs journalism and employees conduct on social media.

Addressing the controversy around the QAnon episode, Mr Anderson said the program might still air as he explained his decision last week to delay it days out from its scheduled broadcast. The Four Corners team is pushing for it to air in the next fortnight.
Ghotki, Pakistan: An express train barrelled into another that had derailed in Pakistan before dawn on Monday, killing at least 45 people, authorities said. More than 100 were injured, and rescuers and villagers worked throughout the day to search crumpled cars for survivors and the dead.

Cries for help pierced the night as passengers climbed out of overturned or crushed rail cars, and continued to echo throughout the day at the scene in the district of Ghotki, in the southern province of Sindh.

Heavy machinery arrived to cut open some cars, and more than 15 hours after the crash, rescuers were carefully removing wreckage as they looked for anyone who might remain trapped  although hopes were fading for survivors. The military deployed troops, engineers and helicopters to assist.

At around 3.30am, the Millat Express train derailed and the Sir Syed Express train hit it minutes later, said Usman Abdullah, a deputy commissioner of Ghotki. It wasnt immediately clear what caused the derailment, and the driver of the second train said he braked when he saw the disabled train but didnt have time to avoid the collision.
London: Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex have named their new baby daughter after the Queen and Princess Diana.

Meghan gave birth to the couples second child at Californias Santa Barbara College Hospital on Friday morning local time, according to a statement.

Both mother and child are healthy and well, and settling in at home, Harry and Meghans press secretary said.

The couple named the baby Lilibet Lili Diana Mountbatten-Windsor in tribute to her great-grandmother, the Queen, and late grandmother, Princess Diana.
Wilmington, DE (19810)

Today

Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 80F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional rain showers. Low 64F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 22:47:05|Editor: huaxia

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KHARTOUM, June 7 (Xinhua) -- At least 36 people were killed and 32 others injured in fresh tribal clashes in Sudan's South Darfur State, local authorities announced on Monday.

"A tribal clash broke out between tribal components at Mandawa, Marmasa and Majangary areas in South Darfur State," Musa Mahdi, South Darfur State's Governor, said in a statement.

He added that the fighting broke out on Saturday and continued until Sunday morning.

He further stressed that the joint forces, sent by the state, have controlled the situation at the dispute areas and separated between the warring tribes.

According to local media, the clashes broke out between Falata and Al-Taisha tribes.

South Darfur State's security committee decided to send military reinforcements to the area to pursue the perpetrators, prevent recurrence of the incident, and to establish legal investigation committees.

In April, around 137 people were killed and 221 injured in tribal clashes in El Geneina, the capital city of Sudan's West Darfur State.

Sudan's Darfur region has been mired in a civil war since 2003. On Dec. 31, 2020, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution that ends the mandate of the United Nations-African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) in the region. Around 16,000 UNAMID soldiers deployed in Darfur since 2007 are set to complete their mission in July.

A UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) is set to be deployed during 2021 with part of its powers to complete the administrative tasks of UNAMID in the region. Enditem
Coroner says it may take 4-6 weeks to tell how woman died after ride on Holiday World roller coaster
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 23:29:43|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on May 19, 2021 shows local chef Gobonaone Modisane at her office in Gaborone, Botswana. (Photo by Tshekiso Tebalo/Xinhua)

GABORONE, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Local chef Gobonaone Modisane always knows what she wants to do with her life from an early age. The talented woman is not only a chef but she also dabbles in entrepreneurship to go along with her skills.

Passionate about food from an early age, the local chef grew up helping her mother prepare meals in the kitchen. "My parents allowed me to play with all kinds of food and I would try new mixtures and recipes," she said in an interview with Xinhua.

Modisane is the founder of Young Chefs Academy and she currently runs Nqoosa Development Center in Botswana. Modisane, who graduated on Special Education and Home Economics at the University of Botswana, started her culinary school business back in 2010.

"I always knew that I loved working with children and cooking. I saw a gap in the market because parents are busy, children are at school and there is no one to teach them life skills. In the old days our parents would pass down their family recipes and skills to us, but now those skills are dying because people don't have time," said the 37-year-old chef.

After doing some research, she stumbled on the Young Chefs Academy, an international franchise which teaches children both cooking skills and baking techniques. The local academy opened with only two workers and five children. After running the business for almost six years Modisane faced a number of challenges.

"At culinary school we were limited to cooking only and it was not allowing us to do anything else, so l opted to rebrand and build Nqoosa Development Center. Through this I wanted a place that can look at the holistic development of a child and use different life skills instead of

cooking only," said Modisane.

She kicked off operations at Nqoosa Development Center in 2019. "At Nqoosa we are able to help groom, nurture and grow children in different aspects of their lives and use my skills that I have acquired as an entrepreneur, a teacher and leader," she said.

The center has since grown steadily and there are about 40 regular students, three workers and they have developed their own recipes and curriculum. The center so far has reached out to 1,000 children. Students as young as four to 18 years old are taught life's skills and cooking techniques weekly.

"This job gives me the opportunity to empower young lives, to help them make wise decisions and have fun at the same time," she added.

Over the years, Modisane has won awards including Young Woman of Year and Innovator of the Year offered by Business Association of Botswana.

Currently, the center is running even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and children attend classes in a shift manner as there are morning and afternoon classes.

Some of the favorite dishes the children love to make include pizza and sorghum cookies with toppings.

Modisane said she plans to launch her own recipe book and virtual cooking classes to expand her business. Enditem
Scene of a fatal shooting scene on June 7, 2021 in the 3200 block of Taylor Boulevard, near Homeview Drive.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Gregory Bush, the man who shot and killed two Black people at a Louisville Kroger in October 2018, repeatedly shouted the name "Dylann Roof" to investigators afterward, according to newly filed court documents.

The documents, filed by prosecutors in U.S. District Court Sunday, argue Bush clearly was targeting Black people on Oct. 24, 2018, when he fatally shot Maurice Stallard and Vicki Jones at the Kroger on Taylorsville Road.

Both victims were Black. Bush also tried to enter the predominantly Black First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown about 10 minutes before the Kroger shooting.

In 2017, Roof became the first person in the U.S. sentenced to death for a federal hate crime. Roof opened fire during the closing prayer of a 2015 Bible study session at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

"While being transported...(Bush) mentioned the name, 'Dylann Roof,' the man who shot and killed nine African American victims in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015," the new court documents state. "The defendant also shouted 'Dylann Roof' while in the interview room at the police station."

Bush pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes charges in March, and is scheduled to be officially sentenced later this month.

The new documents filed by prosecutors argue Bush should be sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years and pay restitution of about $23,000 for the funeral costs of the victims.

Several friends and family members of the victims will speak at the June 24 sentencing, according to the documents.

In a separate filing, Bush's attorneys said the "serious, tragic and seemingly senseless nature of this crime is not lost" on Bush.

"There is nothing he can say to lessen the impact of his crimes upon the families of the victims," according to the filing. "What he can do is accept responsibility."

Bush's attorneys argue that at the time of the shooting, he was plagued by "an extremely serious exacerbation of the symptoms of his chronic illness."

The attorneys wrote that mental illness is not an excuse, but "an explanation," an "attempt to explain the unexplainable."

Bush's actions, his attorneys argue, were not consistent with his character and he is now medicated and "profoundly sorry."

"The victims' families may feel this apology is too little, too late. If so, blame it on legal advice from lawyers."

Bush has already been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for probation or parole after he pleaded guilty "but mentally ill" to two charges of murder, attempted murder and wanton endangerment in state court in December.

Prosecutors agreed not to pursue the death penalty.

The new filing also alleges that Bush encountered a legally armed white man shortly after the shootings and told him, "Don't shoot me [and] I won't shoot you. Whites don't shoot whites." Moments later, he was taken into custody.

When asked by the federal judge in March if he killed Stallard and Jones and shot at another person because of their race, Bush said, "voices were telling me to do this. I don't know if it's because of it."

But when pressed by the judge, Bush eventually admitted he targeted them because of their race.

Bush, who was also convicted of gun charges, said he is on medication for being bipolar and having a psycho-affective disorder.

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Copyright 2021 by WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
Photos of Alesia Walker, left, and Alexis Walker, who were last seen Saturday, June 5, 2021, at Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Ky. (Photos courtesy of Crystal Walker)
Protesters took to the streets for a fourth consecutive night in Minneapolis over the shooting death of a Black man by members of a U.S. Marshals task force.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-06 22:53:14|Editor: huaxia

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ISLAMABAD, June 6 (Xinhua) -- A passenger van plunged into a ravine in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Sunday, claiming eight lives while injuring at least three others, a government official said.

The incident happened when the van tumbled off the road near the Phulda area of Mansehra district in KP province, Deputy Commissioner of Mansehra Qasim Ali Khan told Xinhua.

Two women and three children were among the killed, said the official, adding that initial investigation showed that the accident happened when the van driver lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a sharp turn due to overspeeding.

Following the incident, rescue teams and local volunteers reached the site and retrieved bodies and the injured, and shifted them to a nearby hospital where several of the injured are in critical condition, police told local media.

The ill-fated van was carrying the passengers from Mansehra to the neighboring Lassan Nawab town when it met the accident.

Chief Minister of KP province Mahmood Khan expressed sorrow and grief over the loss of precious lives and directed the district administration to provide best medical aid to the injured. Enditem
SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM)--The hot weather also expected for tomorrow is impacting school days around western Massachusetts.

More than a handful of schools have already announced early dismissals for Monday because of these hot temperatures. One local health expert said it's important parents prepare their children for this heat.

It has been a hot weekend here in western Massachusetts, and the scorching temperatures arent going away just yet. Many families spent Sunday trying to cool off.

Theyve opened it up early a lot of the pools arent open so having a splash pad makes a big difference when its 90 so were excited to be here, Brian Farley of Longmeadow said.

The heat advisory is impacting all of the area. Local schools are even making changes due to the hot temperatures.

Local school districts set early dismissal, cancellations Monday due to heat wave MA (WGGB/WSHM) - Several local school districts will close early on Monday, June 7 due to the heat.

On Monday Springfield public schools, Chicopee public schools, Easthampton public schools, Monson public schools, Holyoke public schools, Westfield public schools, the Hampshire Regional school district, Greenfield public schools Mohawk Trail Regional school district, and South Hadley public schools are all letting students out early to beat the heat. Ware schools will be closed.

Dr. Bobby Redwood, chief of emergency medicine at Cooley Dickinson Hospital told Western Mass News its not surprising school districts are changing their plans.

'When you have a safe situation and air condition building with good ventilation and plenty of opportunities to cool off, thats an example of doing an activity safely. But if theres sporting events outdoors or long recesses that could make people get overheated its not unreasonable to go down to a short day," Dr. redwood said.

He said kids need to take on this heat slow and steady.

You want to give yourself some time to acclimatize a little bit the first heatwave of the year you only want to be out for 15 or 30 minutes at a time so your body can adjust, Dr. Redwood said.

Dr. Redwood said its important to be mindful of what outdoor activities youre doing with your children.

The slides on playground equipment can get really hot up to 140 degrees and just four seconds on a hot slide can cause a second-degree burn, Dr. Redwood said.

While using sunscreen, drinking water, and staying in the shade are all common tips. Dr. Redwood says keeping an eye on the clock will help your kids avoid the hottest points of the day.

You might want to go and do that activity early in the day or late in the day to avoid peak sunshine, Dr. Redwood said.

Western Mass News is continuing to follow the latest early dismissals across our area.
MIDDLETOWN  Middlesex Community College recognized graduates from the class of 2021 with a three-day, in-person cap-and-gown celebration on the Middletown campus, which culminated in an online ceremony May 28.

In total, 364 students earned 408 associate degrees and certificates, with 36 students receiving multiple diplomas, according to the college. Among the class of 2021 are 14 military veterans and 17 international students. The youngest graduate is 17 years old, while the oldest is 63.

One graduate began taking classes in 1992 and completed the necessary requirements to graduate this year, according to a press release. The class also includes five groups of siblings.

The Center for Prison Education is a unique partnership among Middlesex Community College, Wesleyan University and the Connecticut Department of Correction. Four graduates completed their degrees while incarcerated at Cheshire Correctional Institution, and one while at York Correctional Institution. They will receive their degrees later at separate ceremonies inside those prisons, the news release said.

Another two graduates began their college study while in the Center for Prison Education program, finished their sentences, and then completed their studies at MxCC after coming home. One of these students was accepted to the Access to Law School Program at Yale Law School, an innovative pipeline program for students pursuing a legal career, according to the college.

Riley McConnell, a communication studies major from Middletown, gave the class of 2021 student address. She has served as a legislative intern at the state Capitol and as a member of the MxCC Foundation Board, CEO search committee, Student Senate, Honors Program and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

Young people carry within them the energy and idealism that will regenerate human life on this planet. We are a generation of game changers. We are empathetic and radical and brave and young, said McConnell, as she spoke of the five lessons she learned during her time as an Middlesex student. The world needs us, but with this, please remember that we are all in this together, and when there is no more room at the table, get more chairs.

State Rep. Quentin Phipps, D-Middletown, delivered the commencement address. He told the graduates, I encourage you  and reward you  to strive to fail, as he listed a series of his own career and educational failures that ultimately led to his achievements.

In all those chances of being able to do better, to dream better, to work harder, thats what continues to drive all of our success, Phipps said during the ceremony. I salute you, because without failure, there is no progress, without strife there is no hope, and you have found that progress and that success, and theres more to come.

This years valedictorian, a 4.00 GPA political science major from Cromwell, wishes to be remain anonymous, the college said. The individual earned the highest grade point average and completed at least 50 percent of coursework at MxCC.

Kendyl Ortiz of Haddam, who majored in business administration; Matthew Ryan (New Hartford, computer information technology), Brian Schramm (West Hartford, radiologic technology), Thomas Laskowski (Wallingford, psychology studies) and the valedictorian each earned the Award for Academic Excellence.

It is given to graduating students who have achieved a cumulative 4.0 GPA in an associate degree program, and who have completed 50 percent of their requirements at Middlesex, according to the news release.
PHOENIX (AP)  The Arizona House on Monday failed to pass vital parts of a $12.8 billion state budget that contains a massive $1.9 billion income tax cut after one Republican joined all Democrats in opposing the measures, a key defeat for GOP House leaders who risked the vote knowing they lacked support.

Rep. David Cook's opposition to the size of the tax cuts had been known for days, but Republican House leaders hoped he would come around if they forced the vote.

Instead, the Globe Republican stood firm, and the measures went down during debate, a rare occurrence. Cook has repeatedly said he believes the tax cut is based on a false hope that state finances are solid when they have been beefed up by billions of federal coronavirus relief dollars and rely on unrealistic economic growth estimates.

Cook pointed to his consistent record of voting for tax cuts and said he believes the state can slash another $500 million to $600 million in income taxes beyond about $500 million already enacted this year. But he argued paying down more of the state's debt is a bigger priority, and he opposed a bailout for wealthy taxpayers who must pay a 3.5% surcharge voters approved in November to fund education.

As a conservative Republican with a consistent conservative voting record, I believe we need not mirror the federal government and continue with the borrowing and debt, Cook said. "Paying off our financial obligations as a state before spending more money is a Republican value I have encouraged my fellow lawmakers to consider before casting their vote."

Cook briefly debated Majority Leader Ben Toma of Peoria, a key architect of the tax cuts.

Its a little north of 550,000 jobs that are supposed to be new in Arizona to pay for these tax cuts, Cook said. There were no numbers given. These are the concerns that I have for the state and the people of this state.

"Does that bother you?" he asked.

Lots of things bother me. Cutting taxes does not bother me in the least," Toma responded.

The massive tax cut package, which proponents called the largest in state history, would have cut more than 25% of state income tax revenue after being fully phased in over the next two years. Democrats said the tax cut favored the rich  especially its provision capping taxes on the wealthy at 4.5% as a workaround to a new 3.5% tax surcharge on high earning Arizonans that was approved by voters in November.

The defeat of the main tax measures in the 11-bill package leaves GOP House leaders with no clear path forward on a budget that must pass by the end of the month to keep state government operating in the budget year that starts July 1.

House leaders made a raft of changes to the negotiated plan to try to gain support from fiscal hawks who worried it contained too much spending. They also larded it with policy issues conservatives wanted that either failed as separate bills or never were in proposed legislation.

They included a ban on critical race theory training by government agencies or schoolteachers, a ban on school districts requiring students to wear face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and a ban on any government entity from requiring vaccine passports.

They also boosted the percentage of the state income tax distributed to cities from 15% to 17% in an effort to win backing from municipalities concerned that the $1.9 billion income tax cut would force them to scale back services like police and fire.

Republican House Speaker Rusty Bowers said in an interview that he would continue to work with Cook to win his backing, while complaining about Cook's large list of demands, some of which he addressed in the proposed changes released Monday.

But Cook's major problem, that the tax cut is too large, may be a bridge too far, Bowers said.

Im willing to look at the tax cut and how we can do it, Bowers said. But "if I reduce that cut, Ill lose five members, and theyre pretty entrenched.

Cook was angry that leadership forced a vote when they knew they lacked support, which came as his ranch near Globe in the mountains southeast of Phoenix was ordered evacuated because of a wildfire.

Bowers and Toma both said Friday they were pushing a vote to try to get members on the record against the big tax cuts  in hopes they could shame recalcitrant Republicans to vote for the package.

Instead, after two bills containing the tax cuts were defeated, they adjourned until Thursday, when the Senate is set to return.

The Senate also lacks the votes to pass the budget GOP legislative leaders negotiated with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey.

The biggest winners in the tax cut plan would be the wealthy, who would be mainly shielded from the 3.5% surcharge in Proposition 208 and get the biggest benefits from a flat-tax proposal that lowers rates to 2.5%. The current top tax rate is 4.5% for high-earning Arizonans, plus the new 3.5% surcharge. Couples earning over $500,000 a year would pay a maximum of 4.5% under the proposal instead of 8% foreseen under Proposition 208.

Cook and Republican Sen. Paul Boyer have been outspoken in their concern that the tax cut will hurt cities. Both also worried about debt and that the permanence of the cuts would put the state in dire financial straights if there is another recession.

An Associated Press analysis shows the state is on the hook for $6.6 billion in pension debt and $7.6 billion in bonds, lease-purchases and payment deferrals. That includes $930 million owed to schools from a budget gimmick used following the Great Recession that delayed nearly $1 billion in payments.

The initial budget proposal that paid down school debt by just $30 million got a $35 million boost as part of the sweetener revealed Monday.
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South Africa: BBBEE Strategy review on the cards

President Cyril Ramaphosa says government will over the next few years review the countrys Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Strategy and the Act to put economic transformation on a new trajectory.

Addressing the 45th Black Management Forum (BMF) corporate update dinner on Friday, President Ramaphosa said while there has been progress, the country still faces a number of challenges in the implementation of BBBEE.

We need to address the problem of fronting, which is a gross betrayal of our collective responsibility to transform our economy.

The President said government will continue to defend empowerment programmes that are both consistent with and mandated by the Constitution  against those who would rather retain the status quo.

He said there must be demonstrable linkages between the policies and tangible economic transformation.

This will only be possible if we pull together as society, if we drive ownership deals that promote inclusive participation, and if we continue to invest in skills among black people, and to contribute meaningfully to an organisations operations.

Transformative policies undermined by corrupt individuals



The President said currently, advanced policies that were put in place for the sake of transformation are being called into question.

There are people who claim  falsely and without evidence  that preferential procurement policies, employment equity and BEE are responsible for acts of corruption, thieving, bribery and looting that we have seen.

We cannot allow our transformative policies to be undermined by the actions of corrupt individuals. They cannot pretend that their actions are justified by transformation.

Those responsible for corruption must face the full might of the law, whether local black business people or large multinationals, whether government officials or their co-conspirators in the private sector. That is why we must welcome the work of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the Asset Forfeiture Unit, the Hawks, the NPAs Investigative Directorate and other agencies.

President Ramaphosa noted that progress is being made with investigations finalised, cases referred for prosecution, assets seized, bank accounts frozen and referrals for disciplinary action.

Restoring public faith



The President vowed that government will not relent until those found guilty are behind bars, and all stolen money is recovered.

He said the fight against corruption is also about restoring public faith in the transformative policies of successive administrations.

The President said the BMF must continue to play its role in public, economic and political life, and continue to have a positive impact on society.

Undoubtedly, there are difficult days ahead. We are in the midst of a global pandemic and are trying to revive our countrys economic fortunes amidst the greatest of difficulties. But we can, and must prevail.

The President called on all society to mobilise behind the vision of a better life for all, and in the process unlock the doors of economic prosperity for all.

I wish the BMF well on this anniversary. You have done yourselves and your country proud, President Ramaphosa said.

To mark the BMFs 45th anniversary, the corporate update dinner was held under the theme Celebrating 45 years of driving ethical leadership in South Africa.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Rural renewal spells economic transformation

From:ChinaDaily | 2021-06-07 07:07

Policy, innovative tech-inspired investments and ecological farming create magic

In Northwest China's Shaanxi province, famous for its rich coal resources, Miaowan, a township in Tongchuan city, is now better known as "Shiitake Mushroom Town" because the edible fungus business has transformed lives and society.

Such transformations are not limited to people. Even landscapes in the province are witness to enormous change. Where dust and exposed mines were a common sight, green mountains and verdant valleys are ubiquitous today in warmer days.

Wang Mingmei, a Miaowan farmer, epitomizes the ongoing change. Three years back, she was mired in poverty. Today, however, she does not mind light rain and appears enthusiastic and content while arranging shiitake mushrooms in neat stacks of rows at a greenhouse.

More than 500 such greenhouses dot the hillside that, not very long ago, was home to coal mines. Such has been the momentum of China's rural revitalization program that change is visible and inescapable in every nook and cranny of this region.

Where the national poverty alleviation program ended successfully, rural revitalization began in right earnest, bringing not just smiles and energy to people such as Wang but real prosperity and purpose to life.

Today, Wang's job of picking mushrooms brings her an annual income of about 40,000 yuan ($6,259).

That rural economic magic has been made possible by a modern agricultural technology demonstration base built in Miaowan three years ago.

When a group of reporters toured the mountainous, river-rich region, they got to witness scenes vastly different from history book images. Supported by the local government, ecological farming, which reduces impact of man on nature, has become a key industry here.

Wang said she is aware ecological farming is a better alternative as it protects soil, water and climate, promotes biodiversity, and does not contaminate the environment with chemical inputs.

She has Sun Xiaoshan, a local coal mine owner, to thank for such knowledge. About three years ago, Sun found that some households in a neighboring town called Liulin started planting shiitake mushrooms. They bought breeding sticks for edible fungus and grew shiitake mushrooms at home. The high-frequency harvests brought higher incomes to farmers who hitherto planted grain in the mountains.

So, Sun started up with Tongchuan Dexiang Industrial Co Ltd in September 2017 by investing more than 70 million yuan, after receiving 40 million yuan from a government-run fund. Over the last three years, the startup, which employs Wang among others, set up bases to grow shiitake mushrooms in Miaowan. The startup's annual income is now nearly 2.4 million yuan.

"I plan to build a new base to grow edible fungus this year and expand an existing one," said Sun, who is now targeting 200 million yuan in total revenue this year.

The government fund that financed Tongchuan Dexiang was set up for "rural revitalization", China's follow-up goal to an eight-year poverty alleviation campaign that helped eradicate absolute poverty and overall regional poverty in 2020. The rural revitalization strategy was announced by the country's leadership in 2017.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 09:21:42|Editor: huaxia

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SEOUL, June 7 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating fell 1.0 percentage point over the week to 38.3 percent last week, a weekly poll showed on Monday.

The negative assessment on Moon's conduct of state affairs rose 1.6 percentage points to 57.9 percent, according to the Realmeter survey.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party slipped 0.8 percentage points from a week earlier to 29.7 percent last week.

The main conservative opposition People Power Party garnered 38.0 percent of support last week, up 2.4 percentage points from the previous week.

The minor center-right People's Party won 7.5 percent of approval score, followed by the minor center-left Open Democratic Party with 5.8 percent and the minor progressive Justice Party with 3.9 percent each.

The results were based on a poll of 2,519 voters conducted from last Monday to Friday. It had plus and minus 2.0 percentage points in margin of error with a 95-percent confidence level. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 13:09:29|Editor: huaxia

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SYDNEY, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Australian ecologists urged coastal communities to embrace the sometimes unwelcome seaweed for migratory seabirds on Monday, one day before World Oceans Day.

Ecologists from the University of South Australia (UniSA) said sea wrack plays a vital role for many migratory seabirds, but sometimes it was not welcomed and removed for aesthetic reasons.

In the study published by the Journal of Applied Ecology, researchers showed that while tidal seaweed may seem unsightly, it provides shelter and a range of microclimates in addition to food that will ensure the survival of many shore-bird species.

Specifically, sea wrack, as a reverse-cycle air conditioner, creats cooler conditions when the weather is hot and warmer conditions when it is cold, helping seabirds regulate their body temperatures. They forage, rest and roost in the older, dryer wrack, which is warm throughout most of the day.

"Shore birds move between the different wrack types depending on the prevalent weather conditions. This helps them conserve and build sufficient energy stores for successful migration and reproduction in overseas breeding grounds," UniSA researcher Tim Davis said.

However, Davis said people may see beach-cast sea wrack as an "eye-sore."

"Australian beaches are renowned for stretches of golden sand. It's one of the main drawcards for tourists, so it's not altogether surprising that beachside destinations tend to favour a seaweed-free coastline."

Currently, Australia has no guidelines for harvesting wrack and once sea wrack is removed, then so too are the habitats of these sea birds, which can have a devastating impact on their populations, according to Davis.

Beach-cast wrack was also removed from many beaches worldwide, either for aesthetic reasons to increase tourism, for fertilizers, or to extract alginate for applications in the food and beverage industry, and the biomedical and bioengineering fields.

Researchers said councils, residents and tourists must be educated about the ecological role of sea wrack and how significant impact removing it from beaches can have on the environment and the survival of bird species.

Davis said that sustainable management of all aspects of coastal environments is essential to conserve the livelihoods of the species that rely upon them.

"Until a code of practice is established, our coastal ecosystems will remain under threat." Enditem
An amazing wildlife photo of a father swan carrying his babies on his back was captured by a photographer in Boston.
NEW HAVEN, CT (WFSB) - A New Haven firefighter is back in the hospital for lung issues.

Lt. Samod Rankins battled the same house fire that killed firefighter Ricardo Torres last month.

He had been out of the hospital for about two weeks.

According to social media posts by family members and a close family friend, Rankins was readmitted due to lung complications.

They said it doesn't look too serious yet; however, the community, and supporters around the state, continue to pull for him.

Injured New Haven firefighter released from the hospital BRIDGEPORT, CT (WFSB) - After nearly two weeks inside a burn unit at Bridgeport Hospital, Lt. Samod Rankins is out and on his way to recovery.

As soon as Lt. Rankins, also known as Nuke, stepped out of Bridgeport Hospital two weeks ago, he was overwhelmed with love.

"Hope and prayer," said Sameir Rankins, Samod Rankins' brother. "I believe he will pull through since day one and I never had any question about it."

Now, family on social media asked for more prayers.

Officials identify New Haven firefighter who died in the line of duty, another in critical condition A New Haven firefighter is being remembered after he died in the line of duty while battling a fire very early Wednesday morning.

After being pulled out of the blaze that killed firefighter Torres, Lt. Rankins was rushed to Bridgeport Hospital in critical condition.

He was even put in a medically-induced coma.

New Haven Mayor Justin Ellicker released a statement after hearing of Rankins' return to the hospital:

I'm wishing Lt. Rankins a speedy recovery. Our entire community is indebted for his service and pulling for him.

That includes all of his brothers and sisters at the New Haven Fire Department.

There's still a GoFundMe going to help Rankins and his family.
Hit Spitlip musical Operation Mincemeat, which had its world premiere at the New Diorama Theatre, will return to Southwark Playhouse for a new "work-in-progress" run from next month.

Based on the true story of a plan to fool the Nazis using a dead body and a dossier of fake plans, the hit piece will run at the south London venue from 23 July to 7 August.

Existing bookers will be given a 72-hour exclusive booking period from today, Monday 7 June. Seating will be socially distanced, though the production has said that this may change depending on the government announcements later this month.

The show got a five-star review when it first opened, with the piece described as "two acts of glib glamour that glow with theatrical invention".

Directed by Donnacadh O'Briain, the show has choreography by Jenny Arnold, set and costume design by Helen Coyston and lighting by Sherry Coenen.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 13:41:53|Editor: huaxia

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KATHMANDU, June 7 (Xinhua) -- At least two people have died in Nepal from mucormycosis, a rare fungal infection mostly found among COVID-19 patients with diabetes, while the Himalayan country have reported around a dozen of such cases, said government and hospital officials.

Also known as black fungus, mucormycosis affects the brain, sinuses and lungs and can be life-threatening to diabetic or severely immunocompromised individuals like cancer and HIV/AIDS patients. Such cases have appeared mostly among COVID-19 patients in Nepal and neighboring India.

"A 48-year-old man from southwestern Dang district died from mucormycosis at our hospital on Saturday," Rabindra Pradhananga, coordinator of the Mucormycosis Management Committee at the Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, told Xinhua.

"His condition was already critical when he was admitted to our hospital. He was earlier infected with coronavirus," said Pradhananga.

Mucormycosis also claimed the life of a 65-year-old man at Seti Zonal Hospital in Nepal's southwestern Kailali district on June 3.

Dilip Kumar Shrestha, information officer of the hospital, told Xinhua that the deceased was a kidney patient and was brought to hospital for dialysis on May 31, but he was instantly hospitalized as he was almost unconscious.

"He was diagnosed suffering from mucormycosis during the test," said Shrestha. "But, he was not tested positive for COVID-19 even though his family members notified us that he developed a fever about three weeks ago."

According to doctors, among the symptoms of mucormycosis are one-sided facial swelling, headache, nasal or sinus congestion, blurred vision and pain in eye, black lesions on nasal bridge or upper inside of mouth.

Nepal's Health Ministry has got report about at least 11 people suffering from the disease.

"At least five in the Kathmandu Valley and six outside Kathmandu have been confirmed to have suffered from this ailment," said Krishna Prasad Paudel, the ministry spokesman.

According to Pradhananga, as many as five cases were confirmed at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital alone. "All the five were diabetes patients and recently they were also infected with coronavirus."

Even though Nepal had seen a limited number of mucormycosis cases even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, the number of such patients grew rapidly among COVID-19 patients during the second wave of the pandemic that started in early April, according to doctors.

The indiscriminate use of steroids for some COVID-19 patients could be linked to mucormycosis or other fungal infections, doctors say.

Amphotericin B and Deoxycholate, drugs used by Nepali doctors for black fungus patients, are not available in the market.

The Health Ministry acknowledged the shortage of drugs for mucormycosis patients in Nepal.

"So we have just received 1,000 vials of medicines from the World Health Organization after our request. An additional 2,000 vials are in the pipeline to be received from the WHO," said Paudel, who is director of the epidemiology and disease control division under the ministry.

According to Paudel, the ministry is preparing to buy an extra 10,000 vials of the drugs from the international market for mucormycosis treatment, which can also be used against Kala Azar, also known as "black fever."

As of Sunday, the Health Ministry had reported a total of 588,124 COVID-19 cases with 491,009 recovered, while the death toll stood at 7,898. Enditem




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Indigenous leaders are expressing disappointment and frustration over comments by Pope Francis they say fell short of an apology for the Catholic Church's role in residential schools.

FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron speaks during a press conference and prayer vigil at the former Muscowequan Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan at Muskowekwan First Nation, Sask., on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kayle Neis

Indigenous leaders are expressing disappointment and frustration over comments by Pope Francis they say fell short of an apology for the Catholic Church's role in residential schools.

Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, says an apology would not only recognize the harms caused by residential schools, but would also be a sign of respect and the first step toward healing.

"It's truth before reconciliation," Bellegarde said Monday. "It's very important that the students and survivors get a full and proper apology and that has not yet been made."

The Pope spoke Sunday in Rome and expressed his pain over the discovery of remains at a former residential school site in British Columbia.

The Tkemlups te Secwepec First Nation has said ground-penetrating radar detected what are believed to be the remains of 215 Indigenous children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School site.

Bobby Cameron, chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, said the discovery in Kamloops has reopened wounds for many people in the 74 Saskatchewan First Nations he represents.

Cameron said a sincere apology from the Pope and a commitment to keep records of the church-run schools would help survivors and their families find healing.

"We are all pained and saddened. We know that," Cameron said in Saskatoon. "Now it's time to apologize."

The Saskatchewan chief said many of the people he represents don't like using the term residential schools because it doesn't grasp the horrific experience many had inside their walls.

Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, takes part in an event on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on July 7, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

"To many survivors and their families, they were institutions of torture, abuse and death."

Some 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children were forced to go to the schools, which operated for more than 120 years in Canada. More than 60 per cent of residential schools were run by the Catholic Church.

Bellegarde said the Catholic Church is the only religious institution involved in the schools not to formally apologize.

A delegation of First Nations leaders and residential school survivors met with former pope Benedict in 2009. He expressed his sorrow and "personal anguish" but never apologized.

The national chief said he has reached out on multiple occasions, including as recently as January, to request an audience with Pope Francis. He said an initial meeting could be at the Vatican, but an apology would have to take place on Canadian soil where the schools were run.

Time is of the essence, he added.

"It's very important because a lot of survivors are passing and we need to listen to those young spirits, those young children, that are waking not only Canada up but the world," said Bellegarde, referencing the discovery of remains.

Bellegarde said he has not received a response.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report alsoincluded a call for the Pope to issue an apology "for the Roman Catholic Churchs role in the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children in Catholic-run residential schools." The commission urged that the apology be delivered in Canada within a year of the report, which was in 2015.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has urged the church to take responsibility for its role in residential schools and to release records on the schools.

Trudeau personally asked the Pope in 2017 to consider an apology for the institution's part in the government-sponsored, church-run schools for Indigenous children.

The grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chief, said the role of top leaders in the Catholic Church is implied when they refuse to acknowledge the schools.

"The reality is these things happened and happened under the auspice of the church," said Arlen Dumas.

He said the recent lack of an apology was particularly hurtful given Pope Francis' cultivated image based on humbleness and humility.

"It makes me more critical as to how the Bible says one thing, but the law of man dictates another direction," Dumas said in Winnipeg. "Its very problematic."

Dumas, a member of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, was raised in Pukatawagan in remote northwestern Manitoba.

He said there were only whispers while he was growing up about what was happening at nearby residential schools, because there was fear about speaking out.

Now, he said, there's no denying what happened.

The Pope's continued refusal to recognize the harms that were done is an insult to Indigenous people, he said.

"A meaningful apology would help facilitate a path to healing."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2021.
IQALUIT, Nunavut - Travellers who have received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine will soon be exempt from a 14-day stay in Nunavut's government-run isolation hotels.

Nunavut's chief public health officer, Dr. Michael Patterson, speaks to reporters during a press conference in Iqaluit on Monday, May 31, 2021. Travellers with both doses of COVID-19 vaccine will soon be exempt from a 14-day stay in Nunavut's government-run isolation hotels. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Emma Tranter

IQALUIT, Nunavut - Travellers who have received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine will soon be exempt from a 14-day stay in Nunavut's government-run isolation hotels.

Starting next Monday, fully vaccinated travellers will be free to travel in and out of the territory without isolating and without a COVID-19 test.

Since March 2020, Nunavut has required all travellers to isolate in a hotel in southern Canada before flying into the territory. There are hotels in Edmonton, Yellowknife, Winnipeg and Ottawa that act as isolation hubs for Nunavut residents.

"Current evidence shows that fully vaccinated individuals are less likely to acquire and transmit the virus, and we are confident that removing the isolation requirements for this group represents a low risk for COVID-19 introduction in Nunavut," chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson said Monday.

About 60 per cent of Nunavut's adult population is fully vaccinated, while vaccines for youth between 12 to 17 are to start in the territory next week.

Travellers need to apply for an isolation exemption through the Nunavut government and provide proof of immunization. Anyone vaccinated in Nunavut is already on a list in the territory's health database. Approved travellers will get a letter of authorization to enter the territory before boarding the plane, Patterson said.

Nunavummiut need to consent to having their vaccine status verified. Fully vaccinated people currently staying at one of the isolation hotels can apply to leave early.

Patterson said vaccinated adults with children who aren't vaccinated will still need to complete 14 days of isolation. Fully vaccinated travellers will still have to follow public health measures once in Nunavut.

Premier Joe Savikataaq praised residents for their hard work in following public health measures.

"I'm very happy that we are able to move into this next phase of living with COVID, and I encourage all eligible Nunavummiut to get their vaccine if they haven't already," Savikataaq said.

Fully vaccinated people can also travel within the territory without isolating, Patterson said.

As of Monday, there was only one active case of COVID-19. The case was in Iqaluit, where 253 people have recovered from infection since the first case was reported in the city on April 14.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship
MONTREAL - Air Canada says its senior executives have chosen to return their 2020 bonuses in response to "public disappointment."

Grounded Air Canada planes sit on the tarmac at Pearson International Airport during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

MONTREAL - Air Canada says its senior executives have chosen to return their 2020 bonuses in response to "public disappointment."

The airline company says in a news release the president and CEO, as well as executive vice-presidents of Air Canada, have volunteered to return their bonuses and share appreciation units.

Former president and CEO Calin Rovinescu, who retired in February 2021, says he will also donate his share to the Air Canada Foundation.

The statement does not include middle managers, whose bonuses made up more than $8 million of the $10-million bonus program, among those who are volunteering their bonuses.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland signalled her displeasure Wednesday over the multi-million dollar packages handed out to the airline's executives as the company negotiated a federal bailout, calling the bonuses "inappropriate."

The airline last Monday disclosed its annual proxy circular to shareholders that gave the bonuses to people the investor document called instrumental in the airline's survival over the past year as air travel plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Air Canada's leadership team is completely focused on Air Canada's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and preparations to welcome back furloughed colleagues and travelling customers as soon as possible," Sunday's statement says.

"The airline looks forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders, notably the Government of Canada on many fronts, including the safe re-start of our industry."

In April, the airline and government agreed to a $5.9 billion loan package that includes money to help refund passenger tickets, but also capped executive compensation at $1 million until 12 months after the loan is fully repaid.

The government also paid $500 million for a six per cent stake in the country's biggest airline, which Freeland said was done to ensure taxpayers could benefit once Air Canada's revenue rises when regular travel resumes.

In early 2020, senior executives and 3,200 management employees voluntarily agreed to total reductions of $11.5 million in their base salaries, subject to compensation through share appreciation units that might allow employees to recover some of the forgone salary if the share price rises higher in December 2022 than December 2020, the company says.

Freeland and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Canadians "are right to expect responsible corporate behaviour  particularly with respect to executive compensation  from companies receiving government financial support during the pandemic."

"While this situation could have been entirely avoided by Air Canada, we acknowledge this step in the right direction by the top five executives to repay 2020 bonuses and share appreciation units they received," they said in a joint statement Sunday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2021.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  The Brazilian Amazons biggest city ordered schools closed and suspended public transportation Monday amid a wave of vandalism and violence that has followed the death of an alleged leader of a drug trafficking ring in a shootout with police.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  The Brazilian Amazons biggest city ordered schools closed and suspended public transportation Monday amid a wave of vandalism and violence that has followed the death of an alleged leader of a drug trafficking ring in a shootout with police.

Dozens of buses, public buildings, banks and personal vehicles in Manaus were targeted by a drug trafficking organization as retribution for the killing, the Amazonas state's government said. Twenty-one vehicles were burned, and Gov. Wilson Lima on Sunday requested deployment of the national guard.

The violence also hampered the vaccination campaign against the coronavirus. Officials in Manaus, where a more contagious variant of the virus emerged in 2020, closed its vaccine sites for fear of attacks. They expressed hope that shots could resume Tuesday.

At noon, the bus service was gradually restored, but officials said it would halt again at nightfall.

Amazonas states security secretary, Louismar Bonates, said the attacks were ordered from prison in response to the death of alleged trafficker Erick Batista Costa, known as Dadinho. He was killed by the police during a confrontation Saturday night during an operation in the Redencao neighborhood, west of Manaus, local authorities said.

In broad daylight on Sunday, assailants threw gasoline bombs at bus stations and banks and also burned tires, according to images shown on television. Fearing attacks, shopkeepers shut their stores.

Aboard speedboats, criminals shot at the entrance of a police station near the port of Manaus, the newspaper O Globo reported. It said one attacker disembarked and threw a grenade, but it didnt detonate.

There weren't any reports of injuries.

So far, 29 people suspected of carrying out the attacks have been arrested, the Amazonas state's security secretariat said. Of them, 27 directly participated in the violence and the other two were involved in planning the attacks, the secretariat said.

Manaus residents interviewed by O Globo said they felt like hostages inside their homes, afraid to go out due to threats circulating on social media that supposedly were from the crime gang responsible for the attacks.

We have greatly reinforced patrols, Bonates, the security secretary, said. He added that police had set up checkpoints across Manaus and the state, saying: People can come out of their homes and move about freely. The police are in the streets to guarantee safety.

Attacks were centered in Manaus, but also happened in the municipalities of Parintins and Careiro Castanho.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 13:46:50|Editor: huaxia

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MALE, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Maldives Minister of Tourism Abdulla Mausoom has said that the heavy losses sustained by the country's tourism sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic can be recovered by the end of the year, local media reported here Monday.

Speaking on local TV on Sunday, Mausoom said, "We can boost our numbers, we can increase the number of bed nights. Thankfully, our rates are good."

Data from Maldives' Ministry of Tourism showed that 460,924 tourists visited the country in 2021, compared to 555,494 in 2020 and 1.7 million in 2019. The government aims to achieve 1.5 million tourist arrivals by the end of this year.

However, Mausoom said that the government's expectation of over 3,000 arrivals per day has been dampened by the third wave of COVID-19 infections. He said that the current arrival rate is half of what was expected.

Mausoom said that Britain red-listing the Maldives as a travel destination, and the Maldivian government's decision to suspend issuing visas to countries in South Asia, have contributed to a stagnation of arrivals. Enditem
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has been a leader in the legal push to hold companies and individuals accountable for the U.S. opioid addiction and overdose epidemic, which has been linked to nearly 500,000 deaths over the last two decades.

FILE - In this April 1, 2021 file photo, Mass. Attorney General Maura Healey, right, responds to questions from reporters as U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., left, looks on during a news conference in Boston. Healey says Purdue Pharma's plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the U.S. opioid epidemic doesnt go far enough to hold members of the Sackler family accountable for the crisis. It would preserve the vast majority of the wealth held by the family members who own the company that makes OxyContin. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has been a leader in the legal push to hold companies and individuals accountable for the U.S. opioid addiction and overdose epidemic, which has been linked to nearly 500,000 deaths over the last two decades.

Healey was the first of many state attorneys general to sue individual members of the Sackler family who own Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin. Shes joined with about half the state attorneys general in opposing the companys settlement proposal in bankruptcy court. It calls for dissolving Purdue and turning it into a new company that would use the proceeds of OxyContin sales to combat the crisis. Healey and others say it doesnt go far enough.

Purdue and the Sacklers defend the plan by saying it would take the company out of the family's hands and provide billions of dollars to deal with the opioid crisis. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in New York this month gave the company permission to start asking creditors to vote on whether to approve the plan, which the company says would be worth more than $10 billion. A hearing is scheduled for August.

On Tuesday, Healey is scheduled to appear before a congressional committee to testify in support of a bill that would clarify bankruptcy laws so company owners and executives would not be able to use a corporate bankruptcy case to shield themselves from personal liability. The legislation was inspired by the Purdue case.

Also this year, Healey became the first attorney general to sue a marketing company, Publicis Health, claiming it also had a role in the opioid epidemic through its work for Purdue. The company says it acted lawfully and that the lawsuit is baseless.

The Purdue bankruptcy is the highest-profile case in a complicated universe of opioid-related lawsuits across the U.S. that has drawn comparisons to the multistate litigation against tobacco companies in the 1990s. The interview with Healey, held June 3, has been condensed.

AP: Purdues bankruptcy plan calls for members of the Sackler family to give up control of the company, with future profits used to abate the opioid crisis, and also pay nearly $4.3 billion dollars over time. Thats on top of the more than $200 million theyre paying in a federal settlement. Why do you feel that offer is not sufficient to hold the company and its owners accountable?

HEALEY: The Sacklers are not offering to pay anything near what they should for the harm and devastation caused to families and communities around this country.

What it would do is pay a measly total of less than $1.3 billion over the next five years to states, cities, counties. This is way too little and way too late while they continue to sit on a fortune of at least $11 billion -- a fortune built through the sales of OxyContin and a fortune built at the expense of so many victims across this country and devastation.

And whats worse is theyve also gone back to bankruptcy court with this proposal to essentially buy immunity with a fraction of those investment returns. So, hey, thats their plan. They want to continue to be rich and they will likely be richer after paying the settlement than they are today. That doesnt sit right with me and it shouldnt sit right with anyone.

AP: The proposed settlement would give (Sackler family members) some immunity from civil lawsuits, but not from criminal charges. On what grounds, if any, could family members face criminal charges?

HEALEY: Nothing about the civil resolution will in any way negate or eliminate the opportunity for criminal investigation or prosecution. I can tell you as a prosecutor that government has to make its case, and each and every individual is entitled to a defense. But here is a situation where we have pursued Purdue and the Sacklers to recover money desperately needed to help our states and our cities and our families.

AP: State attorneys general are split nearly evenly on whether this is an acceptable deal. Why cant you all agree on that?

HEALEY: My job as a matter of law enforcement is to hold people accountable when they break the law, whether theyre rich and powerful corporations or rich and powerful individuals who seem to be able to buy whatever legal defense and team of lawyers they need to continue to delay and fight this in court.

But for me, accountability is so important. Its important to the victims and survivors and the families we serve and are elected to represent in our state. Accountability is important for fairness, for justice, for keeping people safe, and as a matter of deterrence to make sure that bad things like this dont happen again.

Purdues plan should require a public repository of every document in this case. We did that in tobacco; we should do it here. I believe in that strongly. The country deserves to know how Purdue and the Sacklers caused this opioid epidemic. We cant continue to let them keep this secret.

The Sackler plan wants the government to take over the drug business, to put us in charge of selling OxyContin. Putting governments in a position of profiting off the sale of OxyContin is just perverse and totally inappropriate. We want no part of it. Instead, we want a prompt and orderly wind down of this disgraced business.

AP: Earlier this year, you filed claims against Publicis. Its a marketing consultant for Purdue. Why did you do that, and do you expect lawsuits against other companies that work for the drug industry?

HEALEY: During our investigation of Purdue and the Sacklers, we learned that Publicis was actively involved in consulting and providing marketing guidance to Purdue and the Sacklers to help them drive up OxyContins sales. In doing so, they created a huge public nuisance. They engaged in unfair and deceptive violation of our consumer protection law.

There were any number of entities and perpetrators involved in this deadly and devastating opioid epidemic. And were going to continue to hold each and every one of them accountable -- or at least try to. We owe that to our families and we owe that in the name of justice.

AP: There are currently trials involving claims against drug makers in California and distribution companies in West Virginia. Im wondering what the outcomes of those cases will mean for the bigger picture of opioid litigation across the US.

HEALEY: They benefit the public and the press because facts get exposed. People have to actually testify in public under oath. This is the way that accountability can be achieved.

Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
DETROIT (AP)  If the auto industry is to succeed in its bet that electric vehicles will soon dominate the roads, it will need to overcome a big reason why many people are still avoiding them: fear of running out of juice between Point A and Point B.

FILE - In this Thursday, April 22, 2021 file photo, White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy, left, talks with EVgo Chief Executive Officer Cathy Zoi, before the start of an event near an EVgo electric car charging station at Union Station in Washington. If the auto industry is to succeed in its bet that electric vehicles will soon dominate the roads, it will need to overcome a big reason why many people are still avoiding them: Fear of running out of juice between Point A and Point B. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

DETROIT (AP)  If the auto industry is to succeed in its bet that electric vehicles will soon dominate the roads, it will need to overcome a big reason why many people are still avoiding them: fear of running out of juice between Point A and Point B.

Automakers have sought to quell those concerns by developing EVs that go farther per charge and fill up faster. Problem is, most public charging stations now fill cars much too slowly, requiring hours  not minutes  to provide enough electricity for an extended trip.

Concerned that such prolonged waits could turn away potential EV buyers and keep them stuck on gas-burning vehicles, automakers are trying to cut charging times to something close to the five or 10 minutes of a conventional gasoline fill-up.

Its absolutely the target to get faster and faster, said Brett Smith, technology director at the Center for Automotive Research, an industry think tank. Its not there yet, but its one of those things that moves the needle more toward a competitive vehicle for a lot of people, this ability to fast charge.

The latest generation of EVs, many with ranges around 300 miles (480 kilometers) per charge, can accept electricity at a much faster rate than previous models could. So fast, in fact, that most charging stations cannot yet accommodate the vehicles' advanced technology.

It can now require hours to fully charge an electric vehicle because most stations operate on a home-like alternating current. Direct-current fast-charging stations, by contrast, are hours faster. But they can cost tens of thousands of dollars more.

The high cost is something the Biden administration will have to consider as it develops incentives to encourage companies and governments to build 500,000 charging stations nationwide by 2030. Among the possibilities being discussed are grants, with $15 billion in spending over five years to build the network, including fast chargers along highways and in communities. Details are being worked out as the administration negotiates its infrastructure plan with key members of Congress.

Of the roughly 42,000 public charging stations in the United States, only about 5,000 are considered direct-current fast chargers, according to the Department of Energy. The rest are like home chargers; they require roughly eight hours to fully charge longer-range batteries, longer than anyone wants to wait to charge a vehicle on a road trip.

FILE - This Thursday, April 1, 2021 file photo shows parking spots with charging stations for electric vehicles at a public park in Orlando, Fla. If the auto industry is to succeed in its bet that electric vehicles will soon dominate the roads, it will need to overcome a big reason why many people are still avoiding them: Fear of running out of juice between Point A and Point B. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

And most fast chargers can pump out only about 50 kilowatts per hour  requiring roughly an hour to charge an average EV to 80%  even though newer EVs are capable of being charged must faster than that.

Its one of the big barriers for someone who is not living with a battery-electric vehicle yet, said Alex Tripi, who heads Volvos electric vehicle marketing. It will continue to be for a while.

Limited by technology, early electric vehicles charged at ridiculously low speeds when compared with recent models. When Nissan's Leaf first went on sale more than a decade ago, for example, it could take in only 50 kilowatts per hour from a fast charger. That meant it took a half hour to charge it to 80% of its small battery, with a range of just 58 miles (93 kilometers) .

A new long-range version released in 2019 nearly tripled the range per charge. Because it can take 100 kilowatts at a fast charger, it can get to 80%  181 miles (291 kilometers)  in 45 minutes.

Newer EVs can be charged even faster. But they far exceed the capacity of most fast chargers. Ford's Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning can take in 150 kilowatts per hour. Hyundai's Ioniq 5 and Porsche's Taycan are over 200 kilowatts.

The Hyundai, with 300 miles (480 kilometers) of range, can go from a 10% charge to 80% in just 18 minutes, much closer to gasoline fill-up times. (Automakers tend to quote charging times to 80% of battery capacity because it takes much longer to go from 80% to 100%; the final 20% is often slowed down to prolong battery life.) Hyundai knows there aren't many chargers now that can fill the Ioniq that fast. But it says it's ready for a future when more quick chargers are more widely available.

Hopefully the infrastructure will improve across the U.S. for this to be a whole lot more viable," said John Shon, senior group manager of product planning.

Tesla, which has its own private charging network of 25,000 plugs worldwide, leads just about every automaker. Its newer chargers can crank out up to 250 kilowatts and 175 miles (282 kilometers) of range in about 15 minutes.

Electrify America, a charging network funded with money paid by Volkswagen as punishment for its emissions cheating scandal, says it's ready for the newer EVs. Having installed fast chargers since 2018, it runs more than 600 stations with 2,600 plugs nationwide. All can pump out 150 kilowatts. That means they can charge a typical EV with 300 miles (480 kilometers) of range to 80 percent of battery capacity (240 miles (386 kilometers) ) in roughly 45 minutes. Over half of Electrify America's stations can pump out 350 kilowatts, which charge twice as fast.

A fast-charge fill-up to 80% of battery capacity varies by state but typically costs around $16.

Even Tesla owners, who can access the nations biggest fast-charging charging network, risk running out of juice on road trips, especially in rural areas. On Monday, one such driver, Dan Nelson, said he had to stop at a Tesla station near Ann Arbor, Michigan, for more than 20 minutes to make sure his Model 3 had enough charge to reach his rural home 25 miles (40 kilometers) away.

Theres definitely improvements that can be made, said Nelson, who charges at home most of the time.

Bruce Westlake, president of the East Michigan Electric Auto Association, suggested that such anxiety tends to ease as people gain more experience with EVs. He said he is now comfortable running his two Teslas as low as 5% of battery capacity to go farther between charges on trips.

Research by J.D. Power shows that most people think charging stations are needed at locations where gas stations are now. But in fact, according to the Energy Department, most EV owners charge at home more than 80% of the time.

That means super-fast chargers, which can cost close to $100,000, should be built mainly along highways where people are traveling long distances and need to charge quickly, experts say. They also may be needed in urban areas where people live in apartments with no access to a home charger.

It's far from clear that the automakers can depend on a proliferation of fast chargers across the country to build customer confidence and propel EV sales in the years ahead. The high cost and heavy load on utility grids likely will limit the number of fast chargers to areas where they're needed for quick fill-ups, said Jessika Trancik, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies EV charging.

As we're approaching this transition," she said, it's important to be more strategic than just putting them everywhere.

Charging companies have time to figure out where to build fast chargers, because it would take more than 17 years to convert the entire U.S. fleet of 279 million passenger vehicles from petroleum to electricity  even if every motorist were willing to make the switch, said Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint, a charging station company. But the chargers can't come fast enough for automakers, who want more people to buy their EVs to spread development costs over more vehicles.

Romano says fast chargers will be needed about every 75 miles (120 kilometers) on roads that connect metro areas, and that the United States should get there in about two years. As more EVs are sold, he said, more stations will be built.

You don't want to put all the infrastructure in for 20 years starting with vehicle zero, Romano said. This is about the natural organic growth.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a White House visit this summer.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden extended the invitation during a phone call on Monday with Zelenskyy, who has publicly raised concerns about the U.S. presidents plan to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and about a nearly completed Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipeline that would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine.

Biden made the invitation during a call that had been planned in advance of Bidens trip to Europe that culminates with a stop in Geneva next week for a face-to-face meeting with Putin as tensions in the U.S.-Russia relationship remain high.

Zelenskyy tweeted his response: Thank you @POTUS @JoeBiden for inviting me to visit the @WhiteHouse in July during our phone conversation. I look forward to this meeting to discuss ways to expand strategic cooperation between Ukraine and #USA.

Sullivan said Biden and Zelenskyy had the opportunity to talk at some length about all of the issues in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship and President Biden was able to tell President Zelenskyy that he will stand up firmly for Ukraines sovereignty, territorial integrity, and its aspirations as we go forward."

The Ukrainians also indicated that the Biden administration had committed to sharing 900,000 COVID-19 vaccines with Kyiv. Last week, the White House announced plans to share 80 million vaccine doses  most through the United Nations-backed COVAX program  by the end of June. About 6 million in the initial distribution of 25 million were to be directed by the White House to U.S. allies and partners, including Mexico, Canada, South Korea, the West Bank and Gaza, India, Ukraine, Kosovo, Haiti, Georgia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Yemen, as well as to United Nations frontline workers.

It will save the lives of many Ukrainians, Zelenskky said in a statement.

The Biden administration disappointed Ukraine  as well as many Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington  when it announced last month that it would not punish the German company overseeing the Russia-to-Germany pipeline known as Nord Stream 2, because it did not want to levy sanctions against an important European ally. Russian gas currently flows through Ukraine en route to Europe, and Zelenskyy was hopeful that Biden would move to block the project that faced bipartisan opposition in Congress.

Zelenskyy reiterated his concerns about the pipeline during the call, according to the statement from his office.

Zelenskyy, in an interview with Axios published on Sunday, said he had urged Biden to join him at any moment and at any spot on the planet before the planned Geneva meeting with Putin next week.

Ukraine has harbored hopes for increased military aid during the Biden administration and is looking for backing in its bid for NATO membership. Ukraine has long battled against Russia-backed separatists in the east and in the halls of government in Kyiv.

Crimea and large swaths of eastern Ukraines Donbas region are under Russian occupation. Fighting in the region has claimed thousands of Ukrainian lives. Russia launched a buildup of troops near the border earlier this year before announcing in April that it would pull back those forces.

The provocative move alarmed the U.S. and other European allies. Zelenskyy, in the call, emphasized to Biden that there was still a high concentration of Russian troops and heavy weaponry there.

Zelenskyy found himself ensnared in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment, which centered around a 16-minute phone call in which Trump pressured the Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden and his sons dealings in the Eastern European nation in 2019.

Isachenkov reported from Moscow.
BEIJING (AP)  China is hosting foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations this week amid heightened competition between Beijing and Washington for influence in the region.

FIEL - In this Nov. 13, 2018, file photo, a worker adjusts the Brunei Darussalam flag prior the 22nd ASEAN coordinating council meeting on the sidelines of the 33rd ASEAN summit in Singapore. China is hosting foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations amid heightened competition between Beijing and Washington for influence in the region. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

BEIJING (AP)  China is hosting foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations this week amid heightened competition between Beijing and Washington for influence in the region.

Chinese state media said the meeting Tuesday in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing will cover issues from restoring tourism and other economic exchanges battered by COVID-19, to more coordinated efforts in fighting the pandemic and the feasibility of creating a vaccine passport to allow freer travel among them.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is also expected to meet separately with each of his counterparts on the sidelines of the conference.

Beijing has been building influence with the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, despite frictions with some of them over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea. The Philippines has complained repeatedly over the presence of Chinese boats moored at a reef that it claims and Malaysia last week protested over an alleged intrusion by 16 Chinese military aircraft into its airspace, calling the incident a serious threat to national sovereignty and flight safety.

China's economic and diplomatic heft has helped override such concerns, however, while the bloc has been unable to form a unified stand in the face of opposition from Chinese allies within it, primarily Cambodia.

"Over the past three decades, China-ASEAN cooperation has grown in leaps and bounds, becoming the most successful and dynamic example of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Sunday in announcing the meeting.

The fact that the two sides agreed to hold a face-to-face special foreign ministers meeting despite the ongoing grim COVID-19 situation reflects how countries attach great importance to and hold high expectations of China-ASEAN relations under the new circumstances," Wang said.

The U.S., which maintains an active naval presence in the South China Sea and strong relations with the region, has expressed concerns over Chinas growing presence, particularly its impact on security and Beijings political influence over fragile democracies.

In a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman focused on Chinas construction of new facilities at Ream Naval Base and urged Cambodias leadership to maintain an independent and balanced foreign policy, in the best interests of the Cambodian people.

It wasnt clear whether the issue of Myanmar, an ASEAN member where the military seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, would come up at the meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers.

We support ASEAN in upholding the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and the tradition of consensus, Wang said at a briefing on Monday. We support ASEAN, as a mature regional organization, in encouraging and constructively participating in Myanmars domestic reconciliation process in the ASEAN way, and working out effective approaches to alleviate the situation and solve the problem within the ASEAN framework.

China will continue to maintain close communication with ASEAN, support ASEANs mediation efforts, and work with all parties in Myanmar in its own way to promote an early soft landing of the situation in Myanmar, Wang said. Regarding the discussion over the Myanmar issue during this ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting, please stay tuned.

Myanmar security forces have brutally suppressed widespread popular protests against the military takeover, firing live ammunition into crowds and carrying out waves of arrests. As of Friday, 845 people have been killed in the crackdown, according to the independent Assistance Association of Political Prisoners.

China calls the U.S. naval presence in Southeast Asia the biggest threat to security in the region, particularly its insistence on sailing close to Chinese-held territories in what is termed freedom of navigation operations.

Beijing also strongly objects to strengthened relations between the U.S. and Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed by China, which threatens to use military force to bring it under its control.

Washington sent a strong message of support for Taiwan on Sunday when three U.S. senators flew to Taipei on an Air Force transport plane to announce the U.S. will give Taiwan 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine after the island complained that China is hindering its efforts to secure vaccines as it battles an outbreak.

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who made a three-hour stop in Taiwan with fellow Democrat Christopher Coons of Delaware and Republican Dan Sullivan of Alaska, said their visit underscores bipartisan U.S. backing for the democratic island.

China firmly rejects" the senators' visit and has made solemn complaints with the U.S.," Wang said at Monday's briefing.

We urge the U.S. side to ... immediately cease any forms of official contacts with Taiwan, handle the Taiwan issue with caution, and refrain from sending any wrong signals to the separatist forces of Taiwan independence so as to avoid causing further serious damage to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Wang said.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Government health officials on Monday approved the first new drug for Alzheimers disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasnt been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease.

In this 2019 photo provided by Biogen, a researcher works on the development of the medication aducanumab in Cambridge, Mass. On Monday, June 7, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved aducanumab, the first new drug for Alzheimers disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasnt been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease. (Biogen via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP)  Government health officials on Monday approved the first new drug for Alzheimers disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasnt been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug from Biogen based on study results showing it seemed reasonably likely to benefit Alzheimer's patients. Its the only therapy that U.S. regulators have said can likely treat the underlying disease, rather than manage symptoms like anxiety and insomnia.

The decision, which could impact millions of Americans and their families, is certain to spark disagreements among physicians, medical researchers and patient groups. It also has far-reaching implications for the standards used to evaluate experimental therapies, including those that show only incremental benefits.

The new drug, which Biogen developed with Japans Eisai Co., did not reverse mental decline, only slowing it in one study. The medication, aducanumab, will be marketed as Aduhelm and is to be given as an infusion every four weeks.

Dr. Caleb Alexander, an FDA adviser who recommended against the drug's approval, said he was surprised and disappointed by the decision.

The FDA gets the respect that it does because it has regulatory standards that are based on firm evidence. In this case, I think they gave the product a pass, said Alexander, a medical researcher at Johns Hopkins University.

The FDA's top drug regulator acknowledged that residual uncertainties surround the drug, but said Aduhelm's ability to reduce harmful clumps of plaque in the brain is expected to help slow dementia.

The data supports patients and caregivers having the choice to use this drug, Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni told reporters. She said the FDA carefully weighed the input of people living with the devastating, debilitating and deadly disease.

Under terms of the so-called accelerated approval, the FDA is requiring Biogen to conduct a follow-up study to confirm benefits for patients. If the study fails to show effectiveness, the FDA could pull the drug from the market, though the agency rarely does so.

Biogen said the drug would cost approximately $56,000 for a typical year's worth of treatment, and said the price would not be raised for four years. Most patients won't pay anywhere near that thanks to insurance coverage and other discounts. The company said it aims to complete the FDA-mandated follow-up trial by 2030.

Biogen shares jumped 38% in trading Monday on the news, with analysts forecasting billions in future sales. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company plans to begin shipping millions of doses within two weeks.

The non-profit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, which studies drug value, said Biogen's drug would have to halt dementia entirely to justify its $56,000 per-year price tag.

This image provided by Biogen on Monday, June 7, 2021 shows a vial and packaging for the drug Aduhelm. On Monday, June 7, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved Aduhelm, the first new medication for Alzheimers disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasnt been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease. (Biogen via AP)

Some 6 million people in the U.S. and many more worldwide have Alzheimers, which gradually attacks areas of the brain needed for memory, reasoning, communication and basic daily tasks. In the final stages of the disease, those afflicted lose the ability to swallow. The global burden of the disease, the most common cause of dementia, is only expected to grow as millions more baby boomers progress further into their 60s and 70s.

Aducanumab (pronounced add-yoo-CAN-yoo-mab) helps clear a protein called beta-amyloid from the brain. Other experimental drugs have done that but they made no difference in patients ability to think, care for themselves or live independently.

The pharmaceutical industrys drug pipeline has been littered for years with failed Alzheimers treatments. The FDAs greenlight Monday is likely to revive investments in therapies previously shelved by drugmakers.

The new medicine is manufactured from living cells and will be given via infusion at a doctors office or hospital.

Researchers dont fully understand what causes Alzheimers but theres broad agreement the brain plaque targeted by aducanumab is just one contributor. Evidence suggests family history, education and chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease may all play a role.

This is a sign of hope but not the final answer, said Dr. Richard Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, which wasnt involved in the Biogen studies but funds research into how Alzheimers forms. Amyloid is important but not the only contributing factor.

Patients taking aducanumab saw their thinking skills decline 22% more slowly than patients taking a placebo.

But that meant a difference of just 0.39 on an 18-point score of cognitive and functional ability. And its unclear how such metrics translate into practical benefits, like greater independence or ability to recall important details.

The FDAs review of the drug has become a flashpoint in longstanding debates over standards used to evaluate therapies for hard-to-treat conditions. On one side, groups representing Alzheimers patients and their families say any new therapy  even one of small benefit  warrants approval. But many experts warn that greenlighting the drug could set a dangerous precedent, opening the door to treatments of questionable benefit.

The approval came despite a scathing assessment in November by the FDAs outside panel of neurological experts. The group voted no to a series of questions on whether reanalyzed data from a single study submitted by Biogen showed the drug was effective.

Biogen halted two studies in 2019 after disappointing results suggested aducanumab would not meet its goal of slowing mental and functional decline in Alzheimer's patients.

Several months later, the company reversed course, announcing that a new analysis of one study showed the drug was effective at higher doses and the FDA had advised that it warranted review. Company scientists said the drugs initial failure was due to some patients not receiving high enough doses to slow the disease.

But the changes to dosing and the companys after-the-fact analysis made the results hard to interpret, raising skepticism among many experts, including those on the FDA panel.

The FDA isnt required to follow the advice of its outside panelists and has previously disregarded their input when making similarly high-profile drug decisions.

About 900 U.S. medical facilities are ready to begin prescribing the drug, according to Biogen, with many more expected in coming months. But key practical questions remain: How long do patients benefit? How do physicians determine when to discontinue the drug? Does the drug have any benefit in patients with more advanced dementia?

With FDA approval, aducanumab is almost certain to be covered by most insurers, including Medicare, the government plan for seniors that covers more than 60 million people.

Insurers could try to manage the drugs costs by requiring strict conditions, including brain scans to confirm plaque, before agreeing to cover it.

Additional scans will be needed to monitor potential side effects. The drug carries a warning about temporary brain swelling that can sometimes cause headaches, confusion and dizziness. Other side effects included allergic reactions, diarrhea and disorientation.

Although Biogen studied the drug in people with mild dementia or early-stage Alzheimer's, the FDA label approved the drug for anyone with Alzheimer's, a sweeping population given doctors have broad leeway in diagnosing the condition.

The FDA is empowering the physician to make the decision on diagnosis, Biogen CEO Michel Vounatsos said in an interview.

For patients already enrolled in Biogen's trials, Monday's announcement means they can continue taking a drug many believe has helped.

Phillip Lynn, 63, was diagnosed with Alzheimers in the spring of 2017 after having trouble with conversation and memory, including forgetting a recent vacation to Hawaii.

His husband Kurt Rehwinkel says Lynn's cognitive ability has stabilized since starting on Biogens drug more than three years ago. And his performance on short-term memory tests has actually improved, though the couple acknowledges most patients are unlikely to see similar results.

But even for those who it has little or no effect, I think hope is a good thing, said Rehwinkel. I dont think theres such a thing as false hope.

Follow Matthew Perrone on Twitter: @AP_FDAwriter

AP writers Lauran Neergaard and Tom Murphy contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
PARIS (AP)  Google is being fined 220 million euros ($268 million) by Frances antitrust watchdog for abusing its dominant position in online advertising.

FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 5, 2018 file photo, a woman walks past the logo for Google at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai. France's anti-competition watchdog has decided to fine Google 220 million euros ($268 million) for abusing its dominant position in the complex business of online advertising. It said Monday, June 7, 2021 that the move is unprecedented. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

PARIS (AP)  Google is being fined 220 million euros ($268 million) by Frances antitrust watchdog for abusing its dominant position in online advertising.

The search engine giant is also promising to overhaul the way its platform is used for buying and selling digital ads, at least in France, which could have repercussions on its ongoing legal fights with regulators elsewhere in Europe, the U.S. and around the world.

Google's advertising practices have harmed its competitors along with publishers of mobile websites and applications, the French Competition Authority said Monday. The authority said it is the responsibility of a company with a dominant market position to avoid unfairly undermining its competition.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, did not dispute the facts and opted to settle after proposing some changes, according to a prepared statement from the Competition Authority.

The settlement might serve as a roadmap for other governments that are scrutinizing Google's market power, said Douglas Melamed, a Stanford University law professor.

I imagine that Google's decision to settle reflected a judgment that it could live with those terms even if it were forced upon it by other jurisdictions, he said.

The head of the authority, Isabelle de Silva, said the decision was unprecedented in the way that it delved into the complex algorithmic auctions that power Google's business selling online display ads.

The fine, along with Google's commitment to changing its practices, "will make it possible to re-establish a level playing field for all players, and the ability for publishers to make the most of their advertising space, de Silva said.

Google France's legal director, Maria Gomri, said in a blog post Monday that Google has been collaborating for the past two years with the French watchdog on issues related to ad technology, notably the platform known as Google Ad Manager. She wrote that commitments made during negotiations would make it easier for publishers to make use of data and use our tools with other ad technologies."

After tests in the months ahead, changes will be deployed more broadly, some of them globally, Gomri said. She didn't specify which changes would apply outside of France.

The French authority's investigation was prompted by complaints from Rupert Murdochs News Corp., French newspaper group Le Figaro and Belgium-based Rossel La Voix. Le Figaro later withdrew its complaint.

U.S. tech giants have been facing intensifying scrutiny in Europe and elsewhere over their business practices. Germany became the latest country to launch an investigation of Google, using stepped up powers to scrutinize digital giants.

The German competition watchdog said Friday that it was examining whether contracts for news publishers using Googles News Showcase, a licensing platform launched last fall, include unreasonable conditions.

Google has been facing pressure from authorities to pay for news and signed a deal earlier this year with a group of French publishers that paves the way for it to make digital copyright payments.

European Union regulators have also charged Apple with stifling competition in music streaming and accused Amazon of using data from independent merchants to unfairly compete against them with its own products. They are investigating Googles data practices for advertising purposes and recently opened a formal antitrust investigation into Facebook's advertising practices.

In the U.S., the Justice Department and dozens of states brought antitrust lawsuits against Google last year. They are seeking to prove that Google has been methodically abusing its power as the internets main gateway in a way that hurts consumers and advertisers.
GUATEMALA CITY (AP)  Vice President Kamala Harris offered an optimistic outlook for improved cooperation with Guatemala on addressing the spike in migration to the U.S. after her meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday. She also delivered a direct warning to migrants considering making the trek: Do not come. Do not come.

Vice President Kamala Harris waves goodbye prior boarding Air Force Two at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Sunday, June 6, 2021, en route to Guatemala City. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

GUATEMALA CITY (AP)  Vice President Kamala Harris offered an optimistic outlook for improved cooperation with Guatemala on addressing the spike in migration to the U.S. after her meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday. She also delivered a direct warning to migrants considering making the trek: Do not come. Do not come.

Her comments, during a press conference after she met privately with Giammattei, underscored the challenge that remains even as Harris engages in substantive talks with the Guatemalan and Mexican presidents during a three-day visit to the region this week, her first foreign trip as vice president.

I want to emphasize that the goal of our work is to help Guatemalans find hope at home," Harris said. At the same time, I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come, do not come.

Vice President Kamala Harris, center, makes a double thumbs up sign toward members of the media after exiting Air Force Two after a technical issue required the plane to return to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Sunday, June 6, 2021, after it had already started begun flying to Guatemala City. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

In conjunction with Harris' trip, the Biden administration announced that the Justice Department would create an anti-corruption task force and an additional task force to combat human trafficking and drug smuggling in the region. Harris also promised a new program focused on creating education and economic opportunities for girls there, among other new initiatives. And she told Giammattei that her goal in the region was to restore hope to residents so they no longer felt the need to flee their homeland for better opportunities in the U.S.

But for all the talk about new ways to cooperate, reining in corruption and improving living conditions in the region have been long-running challenges that previous administrations have been unable to achieve in their efforts to stem the tide of migration to the United States.

Part of the challenge remains that, despite the best efforts of U.S. officials, corruption underpins many of the regions governments. Indeed, Giammattei himself has faced criticism over his handling of the issue.

Last month, two lawyers who are outspoken critics of Giammatteis administration were arrested on what they say were trumped-up charges aimed at silencing them.

Members of the cadets honor guard stand close to Air Force Two after the arrival of Vice President Kamala Harris to Guatemala City, Sunday, June 6, 2021, at Guatemala's Air Force Central Command. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

And the selection of judges for Guatemalas Constitutional Court, its highest, was mired in influence peddling and allegations of corruption. Giammattei picked his chief of staff to fill one of the five vacancies. When Gloria Porras, a respected force against corruption, was elected to a second term, the congress controlled by Giammatteis party refused to seat her.

On Monday, Giammattei seemed less than eager to address those issues.

Asked by The Associated Press about criticism of his record on corruption, Giammattei initially ignored the question. When pressed by another journalist to answer for the complaints against him, Giammattei seemed to bristle at the allegation that he was at fault, insisting there were zero allegations of corruption against him and labeling drug traffickers the biggest corruption issue in his nation.

Still, Harris expressed optimism about their ability to work together, telling reporters that the two had a very frank and very candid conversation that included the importance of anti-corruption and the importance of an independent judiciary.

Vice President Kamala Harris, left, meets with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, Monday, June 7, 2021, at the National Palace in Guatemala City. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Harris said the Justice, Treasury and State departments would work together on anti-corruption investigations and train local law enforcement to conduct their own.

We are creating this task force to address corruption. We are working on a task force that is about human smuggling. We are doing the work of requiring certain progress be made if we are going to attract U.S. investment, private investment, to this region, Harris said.

Giammattei said that the U.S. and Guatemala also agreed to collaborate on a very simple process through visas to allow for regular migration to the U.S., and that the two countries would work to prioritize family reunifications.

The White House also announced a $7.5 million commitment through USAID to support entrepreneurs and innovators in Guatemala, as well as millions more in investments in affordable housing, agribusinesses and loans to small businesses in the country.

Vice President Kamala Harris, left, meets with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, Monday, June 7, 2021, at the National Palace in Guatemala City. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Besides her meeting with Giammattei, Harris participated in a roundtable with Guatemalan community and civil society leaders and met with young female engineers and entrepreneurs.

In addressing the root causes of migration, Harris has laid out an approach centered on creating better opportunities and living conditions in the region through humanitarian and economic aid.

Harris had previously announced plans to send $310 million to provide support for refugees and address food shortages, and she recently secured commitments from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in the Northern Triangle countries to promote economic opportunity and job training.

Washington won some goodwill through its vaccine diplomacy this past week. Giammattei and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador both received calls from Harris on Thursday telling them the U.S. would be sending 500,000 doses and 1 million doses, respectively, of COVID-19 vaccine.

While in Latin America, Harris is also navigating the politics of immigration. Congressional Republicans have criticized both President Joe Biden and Harris for not visiting the U.S.-Mexico border and contend the administration is ignoring what they say is a crisis there. April was the second-busiest month on record for unaccompanied children encountered at the border, following Marchs all-time high. The Border Patrols total encounters in April were up 3% from March, marking the highest level since April 2000.

On Monday, Harris defended her decision not to visit the border, telling reporters she was focused on addressing the root causes of migration in a way that delivers tangible results as opposed to grand gestures.

But even as Harris made the case for reforms in the nations capital, those very migrants she hoped to help were still streaming to the nations borders.

On Monday, Henry Armando Rodriguez, 27, from El Paraiso in south-central Honduras, rested outside the migrant shelter in Tecun Uman at the Guatemala-Mexico border on his journey toward the United States. He didnt know about Harris visit but described reasons for leaving that touched on the hopelessness the vice president wants to address.

Life is very bad in Honduras right now, he said.

It was his first time attempting to migrate, he said. He decided to make the journey because it was impossible to find any agricultural work because of droughts at home.

When he was able to find work, he couldnt make enough money to pay for a decent home. He said that, because of poverty in Honduras, we have to flee from there to be able to look for new opportunities. And he wasnt impressed with the politicians who he says only claim to want to help when theyre fishing for votes around election season.

They promise you the sun and the moon, and then in the end they forgot all of that, he said. What interests them is only themselves, how they live, and the life of the poor is of little importance to them.

Associated Press writers Christopher Sherman in Mexico City, Sonia Perez D. in Guatemala City, Santiago Billy in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  The state House on Monday approved a set of revisions to Pennsylvania's medical marijuana law, seeking to make permanent some of the changes put in place temporarily because of the coronavirus pandemic.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  The state House on Monday approved a set of revisions to Pennsylvania's medical marijuana law, seeking to make permanent some of the changes put in place temporarily because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Representatives voted 164 to 38 for the bill, which would permit dispensing a three-month supply at a time, up from one month's supply. Patients will be able to continue to pick up their medicine outside a dispensary, rather than coming inside the building.

State Health Department communications director Barry Ciccocioppo said the agency was concerned about provisions of the bill he said threaten product quality and patient safety.

 We look forward to working with the legislature to resolve these concerns for the best interest of Pennsylvanians, Ciccocioppo said.

The legislation would also let caregivers provide help to more than five patients at once and would ease the process by which contaminants must be removed before the final testing. Grower-processors would be permitted to use pesticides under standards the Agriculture Department would develop.

It would permit facilities to use motion detector activated security surveillance, rather than having the system running at all hours.

Most Democrats supported the bill, while about a third of House Republicans were opposed. It was sent to the state Senate.
MIAMI (AP)  Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings on Monday announced plans to set sail from two Florida ports requiring passengers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 despite state legislation banning businesses from asking for proof.

MIAMI (AP)  Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings on Monday announced plans to set sail from two Florida ports requiring passengers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 despite state legislation banning businesses from asking for proof.

Norwegian announced sailings from New York, Los Angeles, Port Canaveral and Miami.

Carnival Cruise Line, also based in Miami, announced sailings from the Port of Galveston, Texas, with vaccinated guests and was working with Florida officials for a ship to leave from PortMiami.

The cruise lines' plans appear to be at odds with the new state law. The sailings are contingent on obtaining a certificate from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it remains unclear how the plans can be reconciled with Florida law. Norwegian said in a statement that it is contact with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office on the requirements.

We are currently in communication with his staff and legal counsel to ensure that we can offer the safest cruise experience for our passengers departing from the cruise capital of the world, said Norwegians CEO, Frank Del Rio.

In April, DeSantis signed an order banning businesses from requiring customers to show proof of vaccination and prohibiting state agencies from issuing so-called vaccine passports that document COVID-19 vaccinations and test results. The governor argues the legislation was meant to preserve individual freedom and medical privacy.

Royal Caribbean International said Friday that eight of its ships will resume U.S. voyages in July and August with trips leaving Florida, Texas and Washington state ports. That company said that passengers are strongly recommended to get vaccinated, adding that unvaccinated passengers must be tested for the virus and follow other measures.

Disney Cruise Line said last week that the CDC approved a request to conduct a two-night simulation cruise later this month departing from Port Canaveral.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Justice Department has recovered the majority of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment to hackers after a cyberattack that caused the operator of the nation's largest fuel pipeline to halt its operations last month, officials said Monday.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announces the recovery of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from the Colonial Pipeline Co. ransomware attacks as she speaks during a news conference with FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate and acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Stephanie Hinds at the Justice Department in Washington, Monday, June 7, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Justice Department has recovered the majority of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment to hackers after a cyberattack that caused the operator of the nation's largest fuel pipeline to halt its operations last month, officials said Monday.

The operation to recover the cryptocurrency from the Russia-based hacker group is the first undertaken by a specialized ransomware task force created by the Biden administration Justice Department, and reflects what U.S. officials say is an increasingly aggressive approach to deal with a ransomware threat that in the last month has targeted critical industries around the world.

By going after an entire ecosystem that fuels ransomware and digital currency, we will continue to use all of our tools and all of our resources to increase the costs and the consequences of ransomware attacks and other cyber-enabled attacks, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Monday at a news conference announcing the operation.

Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline, which supplies roughly half the fuel consumed on the East Coast, temporarily shut down its operations on May 7 after a gang of criminal hackers known as DarkSide broke into its computer system.

Colonial officials have said they took their pipeline system offline before the attack could spread to its operating system, and decided to pay a roughly $4.4 million ransom in hopes of bringing itself back online as soon as it could.

The 63.7 bitcoin ransom  a favored currency of hackers because of the perception that it is more difficult to trace  is currently valued at $2.3 million.

The extortionists will never see this money, said Stephanie Hinds, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, where the seizure warrant was filed.

The FBI generally discourages the payment of ransom, fearing it could encourage additional hacks. Monaco said the takeaway for the private sector is that if companies come quickly to law enforcement, officials may be able to conduct similar seizures in the future.

_____

Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 14:49:16|Editor: huaxia

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GARDEZ, Afghanistan, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Four civilians were killed as their car ran over a mine outside Gardez city, capital of eastern Paktia province on Sunday, provincial governor Mohammad Halim Fedai said Monday.

The deadly blast took place in Ibrahim Khil village outside Gardez city on Sunday afternoon, killing four civilians including two women, a child and the car driver on the spot, Fedai told reporters.

All the victims belong to the same family and were going to attend a wedding party when a mine planted by militants struck their car, the official added.

Without providing more details, the official said efforts are underway to bring the culprits to justice. Enditem
MULTAN, Pakistan (AP)  An express train barreled into another that had derailed in Pakistan before dawn Monday, killing at least 40 people, authorities said. More than 100 were injured, and rescuers and villagers worked throughout the day to pull survivors and the dead from the crumpled cars.

This image from a video, shows trains after a collision in Ghotki, Pakistan Monday, June 7, 2021. Two express trains collided in southern Pakistan early Monday, killing dozens of passengers, authorities said, as rescuers and villagers worked to pull injured people and more bodies from the wreckage. (AP Photo)

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP)  An express train barreled into another that had derailed in Pakistan before dawn Monday, killing at least 40 people, authorities said. More than 100 were injured, and rescuers and villagers worked throughout the day to pull survivors and the dead from the crumpled cars.

Cries for help pierced the night as passengers climbed out of overturned or crushed rail cars, and local people rushed to the scene in the district of Ghotki, in the southern province of Sindh. Later in the day, heavy machinery arrived to cut open some cars, in the hopes of rescuing several people still believed to be trapped. The military deployed troops and helicopters to assist.

At around 3:30 a.m., the Millat Express train derailed and the Sir Syed Express train hit it minutes later, said Usman Abdullah, a deputy commissioner of Ghotki. It wasnt immediately clear what caused the derailment, and the driver of the second train said he braked when he saw the disabled train but didn't have time to avoid the collision.

The challenge for us is to quickly rescue those passengers who are still trapped in the wreckage," said Umar Tufail, a police chief in the district. The death toll steadily rose through the day, reaching at least 40, according to Abdullah.

Officials said more than 100 passengers were injured, and those with critical injuries would be brought by helicopter to a nearby citys hospital. According to railway officials, about 1,100 passengers were on board the two trains.

This image from a video, shows people gathering at the site of a train collision in Ghotki, Pakistan Monday, June 7, 2021. Two express trains collided in southern Pakistan early Monday, killing dozens of passengers, authorities said, as rescuers and villagers worked to pull injured people and more bodies from the wreckage. (AP Photo)

Earlier, Azam Swati, the minister for railways who headed to the scene of the crash, told The Associated Press that engineers and experts were trying to determine what caused the collision and that all aspects would be examined, including the possibility of sabotage.

Habibur Rehman Gilani, chairman of Pakistan Railways, told Pakistans Geo News TV that the segment of the railway tracks where the crash took place was old and needed replacing. He did not elaborate.

Aijaz Ahmed, the driver of the Sir Syed Express, told the station that on seeing the derailed train, he tried his best to avoid the crash by braking but failed. Railway officials said Ahmed was slightly injured, and villagers pulled him from the train's engine after the crash.

Soldiers and volunteers recover a body from the wreckage at the site of a train collision in Ghotki district, southern Pakistan, Monday, June 7, 2021. Two express trains collided in southern Pakistan early Monday, killing dozens of passengers, authorities said, as rescuers and villagers worked to pull injured people and more bodies from the wreckage. (AP Photo/Waleed Saddique)

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his deep sorrow over the tragedy, saying on Twitter that he had asked the railway minister to supervise the rescue work and also ordered a probe into the crash.

According to local media, some of the passengers on the Millat Express were heading to a wedding party.

Mohammad Amin, one of the passengers on the Millat Express who had minor injuries, told the AP from a hospital that before the train departed from the southern port city of Karachi, he and his brother saw mechanics working on one of the cars.

Soldiers and volunteers work at the site of a train collision in the Ghotki district in southern Pakistan, Monday, June 7, 2021. Two express trains collided in southern Pakistan early Monday, killing dozens of passengers, authorities said, as rescuers and villagers worked to pull injured people and more bodies from the wreckage. (AP Photo/Waleed Saddique)

That led them to believe there was something wrong with it but they were reassured all was fine. Amin said he believed the train car that was being worked on was the one that later derailed. Railway officials said they were recording statements of survivors, including the drivers.

Train accidents are common in Pakistan, where successive governments have paid little attention to improving the poorly maintained signal system and aging tracks.

In 1990, a packed passenger plowed into a standing freight train in southern Pakistan, killing 210 people in the worst rail disaster in Pakistans history.

Ahmed reported from Islamabad.
OTTAWA - Sweeping updates to the Broadcasting Act will not cover pornography or sexually exploitive content online, the federal heritage minister says.

Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault speaks during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Tuesday, November 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - Sweeping updates to the Broadcasting Act will not cover pornography or sexually exploitive content online, the federal heritage minister says.

Steven Guilbeault told the House of Commons ethics committee Monday that a new regulator will handle child pornography and non-consensual material, but that Bill C-10, which aims to regulate YouTube, Facebook and other platforms, will steer clear of content moderation, including for porn.

That task will fall to an oversight body whose mandate will draw inspiration from Australia's e-safety commissioner, among other watchdogs, in legislation that is still in the works, he said.

It will not be done through C-10," Guilbeault told the ethics committee. C-10 is not about content moderation."

Conservative and New Democrat MPs asked Guilbeault why a new regulator is needed to crack down on exploitive material when the Criminal Code already bars child pornography and the knowing distribution of illicit images.

It seems the real and disturbing issue is a lack of application of the law and enforcement," said Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs.

Guilbeault said current tools to handle online harms "justarent adapted to the digital world" and need revision.

When the broad plan for a regulator was rolled out in April, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and Justice Minister David Lametti said child pornography and other forms of sexual exploitation present jurisdictional challenges.

Perpetrators and victims can be located anywhere in the world, while the reach of law enforcement agencies like the RCMP rarely extends beyond Canada's borders, they said.

Rampant child pornography and sexual exploitation on platforms such as Montreal-based Pornhub  the world's largest pornography site  have come under increasing scrutiny since a New York Times opinion piece highlighted the problem in December.

Meanwhile, the Liberals managed to speed up the controversial Bill C-10 on Monday, applying time allocation to a House of Commons committee with the support of the Bloc Quebecois.

The move follows a blocked attempt to do likewise last week when Conservative lawmakers used procedural manoeuvres to prevent a House vote and hold up the legislation in a committee that's been studying Bill C-10 since February over stated fears it could wind up policing Canadians' social media posts.

Bill C-10 would bring global online streaming giants such as Netflix under the auspices of the Broadcasting Act, requiring them to promote Canadian content and to financially support Canadian cultural industries.

On another digital front, companies like MindGeek, which owns Pornhub and numerous other sites such as YouPorn and RedTube, have thrived for years even as reports poured in about images of children and non-consensual acts, and despite laws against child pornography and sexually abusive material.

Lianna McDonald, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, told the ethics committee in February that her organization has been "screaming from the rooftops that we are long overdue for regulation."

Others say laws are in place but lack teeth, hampered by weak enforcement, poor resources and jurisdictional barriers.

In Canada, users who upload illicit images are jointly liable with the companies that distribute them  including for child pornography or material posted without consent  or that become aware of them afterward and neglect to remove them. That differs from the U.S., where the Communications Decency Act does not hold web platforms responsible for user-generated material.

An RCMP briefing note from December handed over to the ethics committee cited Heritage Canada as leading government "proposals to regulate online platforms."

"Having the minister of culture and communications handle a file about horrific sexual assault videos to me is kind of like asking the minister of transportation to look after human trafficking. Why is it that the laws of the land are just not being applied?" NDP MP Charlie Angus asked Guilbeault on Monday.

Guilbeault replied that the legislation, whose timing remains uncertain, aims to shift the burden on taking down exploitive images "from the individual to the state."

That prompted Conservative MP Arnold Viersen to ask about preventive action, since testimony from survivors over the past few months revealed how tough it is to scrub videos from the web once posted.

I think youre asking if we have a magic wand to prevent crime. We dont," Guilbeault responded.

He said he has spoken with officials from Australia, Finland, France and Germany as part of a working group on a "healthy digital ecosystem." Canada will announce a joint project alongside at least four other countries to combat online exploitation and hate speech in the coming weeks, he added.

The pending legislation is set to deal with five categories of "online harms": child sexual exploitation and non-consensual sharing of intimate images as well as hate speech, incitement to violence and incitement to terrorism.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2021.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  A South Korean court on Monday rejected a claim by dozens of wartime Korean factory workers and their relatives who sought compensation from 16 Japanese companies for their slave labor during Japans colonial occupation of Korea.

Lim Chul-ho, center, the son of a deceased forced laborer, speaks at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 7, 2021. A South Korean court on Monday rejected a claim by dozens of wartime Korean factory workers and their relatives who sought compensation from 16 Japanese companies for their slave labor during Japan's colonial occupation of Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  A South Korean court on Monday rejected a claim by dozens of wartime Korean factory workers and their relatives who sought compensation from 16 Japanese companies for their slave labor during Japans colonial occupation of Korea.

The decision by the Seoul Central District Court appeared to run against landmark Supreme Court rulings in 2018 that ordered Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate Korean forced laborers.

It largely aligns with the position maintained by the Japanese government, which insists all wartimes compensation issues were settled under a 1965 treaty normalizing relations between the two nations.

Lim Chul-ho, top center, the son of a deceased forced laborer, speaks at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, June 7, 2021. A South Korean court on Monday rejected a claim by dozens of wartime Korean factory workers and their relatives who sought compensation from 16 Japanese companies for their slave labor during Japan's colonial occupation of Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A total of 85 plaintiffs had sought a combined 8.6 billion won ($7.7 million) in damages against 16 Japanese companies, including Nippon Steel, Nissan Chemical and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The court dismissed their civil lawsuit after concluding the 1965 treaty doesn't allow South Korean citizens to pursue legal action against the Japanese government or nationals over wartime grievances. Accepting the plaintiffs claim would violate international legal principles that countries cannot use domestic law as justification for failures to perform a treaty, the court said.

Some plaintiffs told reporters outside court they planned to appeal. An emotional Lim Chul-ho, 85, the son of a deceased forced laborer, said the court made a pathetic" decision that should have never happened.

Are they really South Korean judges? Is this really a South Korean court? he asked. We dont need a country or government that doesnt protect its own people.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it respects the decisions by domestic courts and is willing to engage in talks with Tokyo to find rational solutions that can satisfy both governments and the wartime victims.

It wasnt immediately clear how the ruling would affect diplomacy between the estranged U.S allies, which have faced pressure from the Biden administration to repair relations that sank to post-war lows during the Trump years over history and trade disputes.

The Seoul court in April had issued a similar ruling on a claim by Korean victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery and their relatives, another sticking point in bilateral relations. The court in that ruling denied their claim for compensation from Japans government, citing diplomatic considerations and principles of international law that grant countries immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign courts.

Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have been since the Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate Korean forced laborers. Those rulings led to further tensions over trade when Japan put export controls on chemicals vital to South Koreas semiconductor industry in 2019.

Seoul accused Tokyo of weaponizing trade and threatened to terminate a military intelligence-sharing agreement with Tokyo that a major symbol of their three-way security cooperation with Washington. South Korea eventually backed off and kept the deal after being pressured by the Trump administration, which until then seemed content to let its allies escalate their feud in public.

South Koreas tone on Japan has softened since the inauguration of President Joe Biden, who has been stepping up efforts to bolster three-way cooperation between the countries that declined under Donald Trumps America first approach, to coordinate action in the face of Chinas growing influence and North Koreas nuclear threat.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in in a nationally televised speech in March said his government was eager to build future-oriented ties with Japan and said that the countries should not allow their wartime past to hold them back.
BANGKOK (AP)  Health authorities in Thailand began their much-anticipated mass rollout of locally produced AstraZeneca vaccines on Monday, but it appeared that supplies were falling short of demand from patients who had scheduled vaccinations for this week.

Health workers administer a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to women at Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, June 7, 2021. Health authorities in Thailand on Monday began their much-anticipated mass rollout of locally produced AstraZeneca vaccine, but it appeared that supplies were falling short of demand from patients who had scheduled vaccinations for this week. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

BANGKOK (AP)  Health authorities in Thailand began their much-anticipated mass rollout of locally produced AstraZeneca vaccines on Monday, but it appeared that supplies were falling short of demand from patients who had scheduled vaccinations for this week.

Hospitals in various parts of the country have been posting notices for several days that some scheduled appointments would be delayed, adding to existing public skepticism about how many doses Siam Bioscience would be able to produce each month.

The government has said it will produce 6 million doses in June, then 10 million doses each month from July to November, and 5 million doses in December.

The vaccines will be delivered as planned, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters Monday morning as he paid a visit to a vaccination station at an indoor stadium in the capital, Bangkok.

Prayuths government has come under fierce criticism for failure to secure timely and sufficient vaccine supplies. It also face criticism for its reliance on Siam Bioscience, which is owned by the country's king and had no previous experience in vaccine production.

Prayuth said the Health Ministry had confirmed that vaccinations could begin Monday in every province, and vaccines would be allocated according to the infection rate in each area.

Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, reported that 143,116 people nationwide had received vaccinations Monday by midday, about half of them 60 years of age or older.

The stadium vaccination station Prayuth visited can provide 1,500 jabs a day, said Mongkon Wanitphakdeedecha, director of Vichaivej International Hospital, who was supervising the operation. He said they have three days supply on hand, but he did not know if other sites had enough for more than one day.

One of the people getting vaccinated there was Kanokarn Chueboonchart, who said afterward that she felt no side effects.

I am working at a bank and I must meet with customers, she said. "So now that I have received the shot, I feel a bit better, knowing that the vaccine will give me some protection.

Thailand last year had been considered a success story in containing the spread of the virus and limiting the number of related deaths. It had originally planned to obtain supplies to cover just 20% of the countrys 69 million people, with most available only in the second half of this year.

However, a surge of the coronavirus beginning in April has been devastating and underlined the need for a more ambitious vaccination campaign. The surge has accounted for 84% of the 179,886 total confirmed cases in Thailand since January 2020, and 92.5% of the total of 1,269 related deaths.

The government has now targeted vaccinating 70% of the population this year, a figure believed to confer herd immunity against the disease.

As of Monday, Thailand had reported giving a total of 4.22 million vaccinations, with just over 4% of the countrys 70 million people receiving at least one jab.

The government has been scrambling to obtain additional supplies to supplement the Chinese-made Sinovac it has been using so far and the AstraZeneca now coming onstream. It has said it has been in negotiations with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.

China has supplied 6.5 million doses of Sinovac to Thailand, including 500,000 doses that arrived Saturday.

Siam Bioscience was reported to have delivered its first 1.8 million doses to AstraZenecas local office last Wednesday, which were then turned over to the Health Ministry on Friday. Up-to-date data on how much had been delivered by Monday to the various provinces was not available.

Associated Press writer Fu Ting contributed to this report.
PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (AP)  Spain jump-started its summer tourism season on Monday by welcoming vaccinated visitors from most countries as well as European tourists who can prove they are not infected with coronavirus. It also reopened its ports to cruise ships.

People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of coronavirus walk along a comercial street in downtown Madrid, Spain, Saturday, June 5, 2021. Coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths are plummeting across much of Europe. Vaccination rates are accelerating, and with them, the promise of summer vacations. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (AP)  Spain jump-started its summer tourism season on Monday by welcoming vaccinated visitors from most countries as well as European tourists who can prove they are not infected with coronavirus. It also reopened its ports to cruise ships.

The move opened borders for the first tourists from the United States and other countries outside of the European Union since those travelers were banned in March last year, when the pandemic hit global travel.

Matthew Eisenberg, a 22-year-old student, excitedly stepped out of Madrid airport, ready to enjoy the Spanish capital along with two more American friends.

We came to Spain the first day we could, because we are very excited to travel here, Eisenberg said, showing a certificate for the two Moderna vaccine jabs he received in February and March.

But Spain is still banning nonessential travelers from Brazil, India and South Africa, where virus variants have been been a major source of concern.

People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of coronavirus gather in downtown Madrid, Spain, Saturday, June 5, 2021. Coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths are plummeting across much of Europe. Vaccination rates are accelerating, and with them, the promise of summer vacations. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Visitors need proof they were fully vaccinated at least 14 days before the trip or that they overcame a COVID-19 infection in the past six months. The certificates can be in Spanish, English, French or German  or their equivalent translations in Spanish, the government order said.

The vaccines accepted are those approved by Europes drug regulator  Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson  as well as two Chinese vaccines authorized by the World Health Organization, Sinopharm and Sinovac.

The same documents will be valid for visitors from the European Union until the bloc fully rolls out its Digital Green Certificate as expected on July 1. Spain on Monday joined seven other EU countries already implementing the scheme.

People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of Coronavirus dance "Sardana", a traditional Catalan dance, in front of the cathedral in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, June 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Alfredo Gonzalez, an official in charge of digital health and innovation at Spain's Health Ministry, said the certificate is not a passport but a document that eases mobility across Europe.

Without the certificate, travel will be possible, but the entry in every country will be slower and controls such as quarantines could apply," said Gonzalez, adding that all airports had established fast-track channels with technology able to confirm the digital certificates issued by other EU countries.

Beginning Monday, non-vaccinated travelers from the EU's 27 countries could also enter Spain with the negative results of recent coronavirus antigen tests, which are cheaper and faster than PCR tests.

Tourists arrive at Barcelona airport, Spain, Monday, June 7, 2021. Spain is trying to ramp up its tourism industry by welcoming from Monday vaccinated visitors from most countries, as well as all Europeans who prove that they are not infected with the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

The Spanish government hopes to welcome 14.5 million to 15.5 million visitors between July and September. That's about 40% of the tourists in the same period of 2019 but twice as many as last summer, when only EU visitors could enter Spain.

Tourism is a major industry that in 2019 accounted for over 12% of Spain's GDP.

In a setback, many British tourists who love Southern Europe's beaches aren't expected in large numbers yet because they must quarantine upon their return to the U.K.

Passengers check their luggage at Barcelona airport, Spain, Monday, June 7, 2021. Spain is trying to ramp up its tourism industry by welcoming from Monday vaccinated visitors from most countries, as well as all Europeans who prove that they are not infected with the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Still, Manchester resident Randolph Sweeting said his holiday on the Spanish island of Mallorca was worth the mandatory self-isolation when he gets home.

I was here twice last year and when I went home I had to quarantine on my own for two weeks. So it's not a problem for me, Ive done it before, the 68-year-old said at the Palma de Mallorca airport.

Belen Sanmartin, director of the Melia Calvia Beach Hotel in Mallorca, said that the U.K. government's decision to keep Spain in its list of higher-risk territories was hard to understand in the Balearic Islands, where the infection rate is lower than in Britain.

Passengers check their luggage at Barcelona airport, Spain, Monday, June 7, 2021. Spain is trying to ramp up its tourism industry by welcoming from Monday vaccinated visitors from most countries, as well as all Europeans who prove that they are not infected with the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

It has been a big disappointment, because we were ready to receive visitors from the British market," Sanmartin said, adding that bookings in her hotel were slowly picking up, thanks to Spanish mainlanders and German and French tourists.

In another move to boost tourism, Spanish ports opened to cruise ships on Monday, nearly 15 months after they were banned.

After peaking in late January at nearly 900 new cases per 100,000 residents in 14 days, Spain's coronavirus contagion indicator has dropped to 115 per 100,000. Still, its descent has slowed down in the past days as new infections spread among unvaccinated groups.

Spain has counted over 80,000 COVID-19 deaths in the pandemic.

Alicia Leon and Aritz Parra contributed to this report from Madrid.

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TOKYO (AP)  Japanese automaker Toyota has reached a settlement with the family of an engineer whose suicide was ruled a job-related death due to harassment from his boss.

FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2017, file photo, Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda answers a question during a joint press conference with Mazda Motor Corp. President Masamichi Kogai in Tokyo. A suicide by a Toyota engineer that was ruled by Japanese authorities as a power harassment case has reached a settlement, the automaker said Monday, June 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

TOKYO (AP)  Japanese automaker Toyota has reached a settlement with the family of an engineer whose suicide was ruled a job-related death due to harassment from his boss.

Toyota Motor Corp. vowed to crack down on harassment in the workplace to ensure employees safety and expressed deep remorse, facing up with true sincerity to the fact that a precious workers life was lost.

The engineer, then 28, was repeatedly ridiculed by his boss, prevented from taking days off and told to die. His suicide in 2017 was ruled by a regional labor bureau as a job-related death in 2019, entitling his family to compensation. His name has been withheld due to privacy concerns, standard in Japan.

To prevent future harassment, Toyota will improve workers' health care, better evaluate management, educate workers and encourage a workplace culture where employees can speak up, the company said in a statement Monday.

Toyota promises to work on developing people who, each and every one, can take an interest in those around them, under our stance that power harassment should never be tolerated, it said.

The attorney for the victim and his family, Yoshihide Tachino, said Toyota was responsible for mismanagement in allowing the harassment to continue. The amount of compensation the family will receive was not disclosed.

He stressed the settlement includes the preventive measures promised by Toyota as well as a thorough investigation into the death. Company President Akio Toyoda met with the family of the deceased and promised to bring about change, but the company needs to be monitored to make workplace culture changes, Tachino said.

We believe that the legacy of efforts to curtail power harassment pays respect to his tragic death, which came too soon at 28, although nothing will ever be enough, he said.

The case has drawn attention as highlighting a common problem in workaholic Japan, where such abuse often goes unchecked or undetected.

Complaints in Japan about various workplace abuse, including sexual harassment and problems over parental leave, have climbed to about 88,000 cases a year, more than tripling in the last 15 years.

They have been widespread, involving the police force, schools and judo athletes, as well as various companies.

In the Toyota case, the young engineers boss bullied him constantly, including referring to his educational background. Although he had a graduate degree from the prestigious University of Tokyo, his undergraduate degree was from a less elite school, according to an investigation into the case. Such background details can be painfully crucial in conformist Japan.

The engineer, who joined Toyota in 2015, told those around him that he would rather die than endure the suffering. He took some time off in 2016, citing mental stress. When he returned to work, Toyota assigned him to another section, but he was still working on the same floor as his former boss, records show.

The family said in a statement that their son won't return despite the compensation.

My heart still aches over what has happened to my beloved son. And when I think of him, all I want is to have him back, the statement said.

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
GENEVA (AP)  A top World Health Organization official estimated Monday that COVID-19 vaccination coverage of at least 80% is needed to significantly lower the risk that imported coronavirus cases like those linked to new variants could spawn a cluster or a wider outbreak.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 file photo, Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies program, speaks during a news conference at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Top World Health Organization official Dr. Michael Ryan, said Monday June 7, 2021, he estimates that worldwide COVID-19 vaccination coverage of over 80% is needed to significantly lower the chance that an imported coronavirus case could spawn a cluster or a wider outbreak. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone FILE via AP)

GENEVA (AP)  A top World Health Organization official estimated Monday that COVID-19 vaccination coverage of at least 80% is needed to significantly lower the risk that imported coronavirus cases like those linked to new variants could spawn a cluster or a wider outbreak.

Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO's emergencies chief, told a news conference that ultimately, high levels of vaccination coverage are the way out of this pandemic.

Many rich countries have been moving to vaccinate teenagers and children  who have lower risk of more dangerous cases of COVID-19 than the elderly or people with comorbidities  even as those same countries face pressure to share vaccines with poorer ones that lack them.

Britain, which has vastly reduced case counts thanks to an aggressive vaccination campaign, has seen a recent uptick in cases attributed largely to the so-called delta variant that originally appeared in India  a former British colony.

Ryan acknowledged that data wasnt fully clear about the what percentage of vaccination coverage was necessary to fully have an impact on transmission.

But ... its certainly north of 80% coverage to be in a position where you could be significantly affecting the risk of an imported case potentially generating secondary cases or causing a cluster or an outbreak, he said.

So it does require quite high levels of vaccination, particularly in the context of more transmissible variants, to be on the safe side, Ryan added.

Maria Van Kerkhove, WHOs technical lead on COVID-19, noted the delta variant is spreading in more than 60 countries, and is more transmissible than the alpha variant, which first emerged in Britain.

She cited worrying trends of increased transmissibility, increased social mixing, relaxing of public health and social measures, and uneven and inequitable vaccine distribution around the world.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, meanwhile, called on leaders of the developed Group of Seven countries to help the U.N.-backed vaccination program against COVID-19 to boost access to doses in the developing world.

With G-7 leaders set to meet in England later this week, Tedros said they could help meet his target that at least 10% of the populations in every country are vaccinated by the end of September  and 30% by year-end.

To reach these targets, we need an additional 250 million doses by September, and we need hundreds of million doses just in June and July, he said, alluding to the summit involving Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

These seven nations have the power to meet these targets. Im calling on the G-7 not just to commit to sharing those, but to commit to sharing them in June and July.

At a time of continued tight supply of vaccines, Tedros also called on manufacturers to give the first right of refusal on new vaccine volumes to the U.N.-backed COVAX program, or to commit half of their volumes to COVAX this year.

He warned of a two-track pandemic, with mortality among older age groups declining in countries with higher vaccination rates even as rates have risen in the Americas, Africa and the Western Pacific region.

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MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Wine Rack's unionized workers began a strike Monday in the Toronto area after failing to reach an agreement with the company.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Wine Rack's unionized workers began a strike Monday in the Toronto area after failing to reach an agreement with the company.

Members of the Services Employees International Union Local 2 voted overwhelmingly on May 11 to strike and failed to negotiate a settlement on Friday.

They say the company has refused to respect seniority in implementing the shift scheduling.

The union also says Arterra Wines, which owns and operates Wine Rack, is insisting that employees in the Greater Toronto Area accept wages set for non-union workers who live outside Toronto.

The union says workers will be picketing at several Wine Rack locations across Toronto.

Arterra said that it's disappointed by the union's decision to strike because it feels its offer was "fair and reasonable."

"We are interested in continuing to meet and work with them in good faith, so we can come to an agreement," said Stephen Murphy, director of operations, in an email.

The company says there is no discrepancy in pay between unionized and non-union employees.

It says just one of its 45 Toronto area stores is closed Monday while some have limited hours. It added that 62 per cent of unionized employees worked on Monday.

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan bought the Canadian operations of Constellation Brands for about $1 billion in 2016 and operates several wineries and 164 Wine Rack stores in Ontario.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2021.
As the oldest of 14 siblings, Jocelyn McKay has always been a natural at taking care of kids.

As the oldest of 14 siblings, Jocelyn McKay has always been a natural at taking care of kids.

When a friend suggested the 27-year-old enrol in the youth recreation activity worker program through Red River College, McKay knew she would have the experience to succeed. What she didnt expect is how many opportunities it would open up.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Jocelyn McKay, 27, with her daughter, Zoe, was impressed with how many opportunities the program opened up for her.

"I grew up raising so many siblings so I already knew Im good with kids; I went into it just knowing this is something thats going to come naturally for me," McKay said.

"I came ready with any idea possible  I have a million of them because of my siblings  it wasnt that part that was hard, but it was more so about discovering myself."

On a sunny afternoon in May, McKay joined 12 other graduates, their families and professors on a familiar Zoom screen for a celebration  opening with an honour song and prayer from elder Paul Guimond  to mark the end of the Boys and Girls Club program.

Funded by the province, the City of Winnipeg and the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development, the nine-month program is tuition-free. It provides employment for inner-city youth who face barriers to accessing post-secondary education. It gives students skills theyll need in the workforce by including 300 hours of practicum experience, and offering a $300 bi-weekly incentive to show up on time every day.

Students completed the program through in-person classes at the college in the midst of the pandemic, sitting spaced apart in a large theatre classroom. During the ceremony, students described facing mountainous challenges including positive COVID-19 tests and the death of family, friends and loved ones.

Randy Wagner, director of employment services for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg, said the program  in its 19th year  develops graduates with "not only the education but the life experience" to support young people in their communities.

"Its a big stepping stone for a lot of things. It doesnt just open one door, it opens a lot of doors," he said.

Each year, 16 students study psychology, Indigenous studies, history, non-violent crisis intervention, CPR and first-aid.

It helps students secure a drivers licence before landing a job, Wagner said.

Most graduates get a job within a month of graduation, he said, some at local Boys and Girls clubs.

Kristen Hotomani, 29, came across the program on social media. Having just moved to Winnipeg from Saskatchewan, she saw the program as an opportunity to try something new and pursue her passion for youth care. Having grown up on a small reserve in Saskatchewan and leaving home of her own volition at 15, Hotomani decided she wanted to learn how to provide the supports she wished she had as a youth.

"I was a youth myself so I wanted to learn more about youth, children and what I can do to make a difference," she said.

"I want to be able to be that person to change that youth, that woman or that girl or boy in their life, even if its a little bit of guidance on life."

Hotomani said she learned valuable skills about how to engage with children and youth, plan effective activities and interpret Manitobas Childrens Service Manual. After graduating on May 27, she started working with Manitobas Child and Family Services on May 31.

"Its opened a lot of big doors," she said. "You have that program, you have that knowledge behind you and know what youre capable of."

McKay, on the other hand, wasnt always looking for a career in youth care. She had considered law, dentistry and social work, and after completing her mature student diploma last year, she wasnt sure what she wanted to do. The youth recreation activity worker program, she said, only expanded her options.

"You can do anything you really put your mind to; Ive learned in the last couple of months that the possibilities are endless," she said.

McKay said her biggest challenge  a psychology course  became her greatest learning opportunity.

As a child, McKay said she was diagnosed with a learning disorder that shaped her educational experience; without positive supports and resources to help her in school, McKay dropped out. She resumed her degree years later.

"This label had been thrown on me at such a young age so I kind of grew into it," she explained.

In the psychology course, McKay said the class examined childhood learning disorders. It sent her into a "downward spiral," where she worried she might give up. She pressed on, though, and in the next course  this time focused on child and adolescent development  she remembers gaining a clear understanding of her potential.

"I discovered a lot about myself and what Im capable of and what it is I can do and how that cant define me anymore," she said. "It was a huge self-discovery."

McKay has a job lined up at a group home, supporting youth who are transitioning out of CFS care and into independent living. Shell start at the end of June, when shes done helping her seven-year-old daughter with remote learning. After that, she knows she wants to further her education.

"Whichever direction I go, I know I would excel at," she said. "What (the program) has done for me, opening doors and changing my perspective, goes beyond what I can even put into words."

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers
Citing emergency department nurse morale and staffing levels being at all-time lows, in turn putting quality acute care at risk, dozens of doctors in Winnipeg wrote to the province to ask their colleagues wages and benefits be adjusted.

Citing emergency department nurse morale and staffing levels being at "all-time lows," in turn putting quality acute care at risk, dozens of doctors in Winnipeg wrote to the province to ask their colleagues wages and benefits be adjusted.

"I dont think you can say money will solve all problems, but I certainly think that they felt slighted by not receiving the recognition of their vital role and the high risk theyve assumed throughout the course of this pandemic," Dr. Noam Katz, who works in St. Boniface Hospital's emergency department, said Monday.

"Quite frankly, we cant provide adequate support without them. They are one of the major pillars of health care."

Katz is one of 66 ER physicians at Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface and Grace Hospital who co-signed a letter sent to Premier Brian Pallister and acting health minister Kelvin Goertzen outlining "grave concerns" about experienced nurses resigning and the overall state of the profession in emergency departments.

"Dysfunction in (emergency departments) will significantly impact care for the public, not only for COVID-related problems but for all aspects of acute care," states the letter dated June 3. "We implore the government to immediately address this vital and time-sensitive issue."

The health-care systems resources have been stretched beyond capacity for weeks as Manitoba grapples with an unprecedented number of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care.

Meantime, contentious bargaining talks between nurses and provincial representatives continue. Members of the Manitoba Nurses Union began casting ballots in a strike vote over the weekend.

The workload for emergency nurses screening and caring for an increasing number of patients with COVID-19  as well as the ongoing meth crisis, which has resulted in high levels of patient psychosis, agitation and both physical and verbal aggression toward professionals  are taking a toll, the doctors say.

"Ive seen our nurses kicked and punched, some of them strangled," said Katz. "Ive been in some situations where Ive felt unsafe. We have a massive increase in our need for security to be in our emergency departments."

Despite their close work with COVID-19 patients, the signatories noted emergency nurses were left out of a pandemic wage benefit negotiated with the nurses union in the fall.

Such a decision shows a lack of understanding about their role, Katz said.

In the letter, the physicians wrote numerous factors are impacting burnout and, consequently, many emergency shifts are now operating short of nurses. While departments are hiring new grads, these professionals cannot immediately replace senior nurses' expertise, they noted.

In a statement Monday, Goertzen said he appreciates the insights and shares concerns about the nursing colleagues.

He indicated there is misunderstanding about what has happened and remains ongoing at the bargaining table, noting government is not the employer. (Shared Health directed a reporter to the health minister's press secretary.)

"But we understand that the Shared Health and Winnipeg Regional Health Authority employers have made clear shift premium proposals for these hard-pressed ED nurses, with retroactivity. And we understand those proposals remain on the table," Goertzen said.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

jbernacki@freepress.mb.ca
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 17:11:04|Editor: huaxia

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KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian analysts said that expectations are high for ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and China to strengthen efforts to achieve post COVID-19 economic recovery and further economic cooperation as the region seeks to move past the pandemic.

The comments came ahead of a Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Dialogue Relations held on Monday in southwest China's Chongqing.

In a phone interview with Xinhua on Sunday, Malaysian political observer Azmi Hassan said "I do believe that when they meet, the pandemic, economic issues, will be at the top of the agenda, since it is very critical that China and ASEAN work together to navigate the pandemic's economic impact."

"Since in terms of how to push the economy, the two (sides) will be able to find a lot of common ground," he added.

Pointing to China's effective containment of the COVID-19 and its economic recovery, which has allowed it to fully push forward its economic activities, Azmi said "This is the best time to strengthen the bond between China and us, not just in economic matters but also pandemic control."

He noted that ASEAN and China are aware of "the importance of needing to work together to realize the development of the post-pandemic economy."

Oh Ei Sun, principal advisor for Malaysia's Pacific Research Center, said Malaysia has played an important role in facilitation of relations between ASEAN and China.

Trade and investment between both sides have deepened and broadened, with the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area becoming the hallmark of the ASEAN-China relations, he said.

Oh noted that ASEAN as a whole became China's largest trading partner in 2020, and China has long been the largest trading partner both for ASEAN as a whole as well as for most ASEAN member states.

The trade relationship has benefitted ASEAN countries like Malaysia greatly, he said.

"Much can be done in promoting cooperation in entrepreneurship and innovation between the younger generations of China and ASEAN countries, he said, calling for business and talent matching of young entrepreneurs and innovators to be regularly and systematically conducted to meet mutual needs.

Oh also said that ASEAN would continue to play a key role in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and could partner well with its northern neighbor in jointly developing new opportunities in areas such as environmental sustainability. Enditem
As the sisters of St. Benedicts Monastery pack up decades of memories at their West St. Paul monastery, theyre confident theyre leaving their longtime home  and their strong practice of hospitality  in good hands.

As the sisters of St. Benedicts Monastery pack up decades of memories at their West St. Paul monastery, theyre confident theyre leaving their longtime home  and their strong practice of hospitality  in good hands.

The 13 remaining Roman Catholic Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict have sold their 88,000-square-foot monastery and retreat centre to Southeast Regional Development Corp. for use as a wellness centre.

The multimillion-dollar deal will close sometime this summer.

"Its business as usual under new management," said Sister Dorothy Levandosky, administrator of the monastery.

"Where we leave off, they continue."

Since January, the sisters have rented their retreat and conference centre to SERDC to run a pandemic isolation-accommodation service following COVID-19 protocols for people from the eight First Nations communities  Brokenhead, Berens River, Bloodvein, Hollow Water, Black River, Little Grand Rapids, Pauingassi and Poplar River  that make up the council.

Most of the communities are located on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, and have a total population of about 15,000.

Once they take over the property, the development council plans to use the space to offer overnight stays to people in the member communities travelling to Winnipeg for medical appointments, said Pam Grenier, director of health services.

"Its kind of the best of both worlds," she said of the eight-hectare property on the Red River.

"Our folks get to enjoy the grounds and space but it is close enough to Winnipeg."

The 88,000-square-foot monastery will be transformed into a health and wellness clinic run by South East Resource Development Council. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

She said the centre will offer wraparound care, including meals, airport pickups, transportation to and from appointments and culturally based practices.

Although the shutdowns due to the global coronavirus pandemic closed the monasterys retreat and conference centre business for much of 2020, Levandosky said their decision to find a new home preceded COVID-19.

"This isnt shocking to us," she said of their upcoming move out of the large complex, which has 124 bedrooms, a large chapel, commercial kitchens and several large meeting rooms.

"Weve been on this trajectory for a number of years."

In 2017, the sisters sold off more than 20 hectares of their property to a land developer to support the monasterys operations.

The order has a 109-year history in Manitoba, dating back to 1912 when four Polish-speaking Benedictine sisters moved from Duluth, Minn., in 1912 to establish a presence in the province. The sisters initially taught in Winnipeg and then moved to Arborg in 1915, where they constructed an orphanage and a residence.

In 1961, they moved to a new monastery and girls boarding school at 225 Masters Ave. in West St. Paul. Nine years later they closed the school and opened the retreat and conference centre, hosting thousands of people annually for meetings, seminars or silent retreats. They renovated surplus sleeping quarters into 20 small suites 15 years ago and opened St. Benedicts Place as an independent-living option for senior citizens.

Now with their numbers dwindling and their population aging  some of the sisters are well into their 90s  it is time for them to find a new home, said Sister Mary Coswin, sub prioress of the monastery.

After the last remaining residents of St. Benedicts Place move out, the plan is for the sisters to move in and live there for about a year until they can find another location near Winnipeg to establish a smaller monastery.

"We have two options: find a piece of property and build or find a building that would be suitable for a monastery," said Coswin, who joined the order in 1961.

She said they are searching for a large building with multiple bedrooms surrounded by green space and mature trees.

The old layperson residence that will be the new residence for the Sisters of St. Benedict. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

"We want (open) space," she said. "Weve lived with space and we need it."

Although they will miss their former home, Coswin and Levandosky insist their emphasis on hospitality, education and spirituality will move with them, wherever they go.

"The soul of the building is its people," said Levandosky. "Its not the bricks and the chapel."

Coswin knows their many supporters and friends would like to visit one more time to say goodbye to the facility, but those visits will depend on public-health restrictions.

One regular visitor and retreat facilitator planned her own farewell to the monastery, stopping by last week to get photographs of the chapels high-arched ceiling and the beautiful abstract windows created by the late French stained-glass artist Gabriel Loire.

"To me, the (stained) glass and this space are some of my deepest memories from coming here for 20 years," said Rev. Rachel Twigg Boyce, an Anglican priest and oblate, or associate, of the monastery.

Boyce plans to use the photographs to produce cards, framed prints and calendars to sell on behalf of St. Benedicts Foundation, which raises funds for the sisters work.

The sisters will move their three-times-a-day prayers to a temporary chapel for the next year and have arranged with SERDC to use their former chapel for weekly mass, said Coswin.

The owners may be changing, but the work the sisters have carried out from their West St. Paul monastery will carry on, said Blake Russell, project manager with SERDC, who has worked on-site for the last five months.

"SERDC looks to continue the good community service of the Sisters of St. Benedict by using the facility in much the same capacity of the last 50 years, as a destination for hospitality, wellness, and traditional healing," he said.

"The park-like serenity of the natural aspects of the property and the riverfront will be maintained to provide guests with a quiet retreat on their health journey."

He expects about 25 to 30 new jobs will be created once the wellness centre is fully operational. The council expects to complete some minor renovations and boost their internet capacity once they take possession of the property.

brenda@suderman.com
Most public colleges and universities in Manitoba have ruled out requiring students who live on campus to be vaccinated against COVID-19 this fall, but a mandate for student housing residents is still on the table at two schools.

Most public colleges and universities in Manitoba have ruled out requiring students who live on campus to be vaccinated against COVID-19 this fall, but a mandate for student housing residents is still on the table at two schools.

Western University made headlines last week, when it publicized that students who live in its residences in London, Ont., during the upcoming school year will be required to have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, assuming Ontarios supply allows it.

While the University of Winnipeg and Red River College are still considering options, the University of Manitoba, Saint Boniface University, Brandon University, and University College of the North do not plan to implement a vaccine mandate for residents of student housing.

"We strongly encourage all U of M community members to be vaccinated as soon as theyre eligible, but do not plan to request or require proof of vaccination," spokesman Chris Rutkowski said in an email. Asked why Manitobas largest post-secondary institution has taken this stance, he said U of M has no further details.

"Theres a pretty good case for requiring (vaccination) if students are going to live in the same household  theyre sharing the same kitchen facilities and bathrooms and living spaces and theyre socializing," said Prof. Arthur Schafer, who researches biomedical ethics at the U of M.

The philosophy professor said there are reasons to mandate vaccines. He cited the threat of new variants, the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing both severe illness and death, and the fact some vulnerable students might not be able to get immunized or produce antibodies.

In southwestern Ontario, students who plan to live on campus at Western will be asked to get vaccinated before their arrival. Those who cannot access the shot beforehand will have the opportunity to get immunized within two weeks following their move-in date.

Should a student be unable to receive a vaccine for medical or other reasons, they can request an accommodation.

"The health of our community is a shared responsibility," said Western president Alan Shepard. "Were asking students to play an important role in keeping themselves, their friends and classmates, and our community safe and healthy."

The local health region has endorsed the requirement.

Registrar Colin Russell said the U of W is watching how Western and other schools in Canada address immunization, as it plans for fall. While the school anticipates its housing will look similar to how it did this year, with 30 per cent capacity and a dedicated quarantine floor, Russell said public health orders will dictate operations.

Single cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in downtown residences this year, but he noted there were no outbreaks at U of W.

The U of M has been posting cases in the university community this year. As of June 1, there have been 87 positive cases on its campuses.

Despite no outbreaks on local campuses in 2020-21, Schafer said there is no guarantee that will be the case during the upcoming school year.

Meantime, the U of M students union is promoting immunization among students on social media and via mass emails.

"Our fall semester will be online indefinitely, but the projection is that after Thanksgiving there will be no mask requirements or social distancing requirements on campus," UMSU president Brendan Scott said in a statement.

"In the weeks leading up to the holiday, UMSU will be informing students that it is crucial to be vaccinated to partake in campus activities."

The department that oversees post-secondary education is working on back-to-school guidelines in partnership with public health.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
Many Americans welcomed the May 13 announcement by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that those who are fully vaccinated from COVID-19 are no longer required to wear masks inside or outside. But this declaration came with exceptions: masks are still to be worn in health-care institutions, on public transportation, and when deemed necessary by local officials or individual businesses  at least in most states where mask mandates havent been banned.

Opinion

Many Americans welcomed the May 13 announcement by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that those who are fully vaccinated from COVID-19 are no longer required to wear masks inside or outside. But this declaration came with exceptions: masks are still to be worn in health-care institutions, on public transportation, and when deemed necessary by local officials or individual businesses  at least in most states where mask mandates havent been banned.

At the time of the announcement, about 37 per cent of American adults were fully vaccinated (as of May 25, it was up to 50 per cent). So, it wasnt surprising that the CDCs recommendation was criticized as being premature.

An additional problem is that there is no way of knowing if someone is fully vaccinated. The CDCs suggested rules are based on the honour system  which is open to abuse. Why would an anti-vaxxer or anti-masker, even if asked, admit that they had not been fully vaccinated?

Enforcement of such edicts in the U.S. or Canada might be tricky and mired in ethical dilemmas, privacy rules and legal issues, though there is historical precedent.

Smallpox, brought to North America by Europeans in the late 1500s, led to the deaths of millions in First Nation communities and continued to take victims for centuries. In 1796, Edward Jenner, an English doctor, discovered a vaccine derived from the animal disease cowpox (which he called vaccinia). Eventually, Jenners vaccine was widely used in Europe, and then North America, and saved lives.

In the late 19th century, there was compulsory smallpox vaccination for school-age children in most parts of Canada. And vaccinations were given to the public when there was fear about an epidemic. Sometimes, however, it was too late to act, as was the case in Winnipeg in the spring of 1893, when a smallpox infection was transmitted among passengers on a train. The only recourse city health officials had was to quarantine the more than 300 travellers, who were guarded by the police.

More problematic was that  like today  far too many Canadians were skeptical of medical science and objected to mandatory vaccination orders. In several cities, anti-vaccination leagues were organized to challenge public health regulations. During a bad outbreak In Montreal in 1885  again brought to the city on a train  there was rioting when officials tried to compel individuals to be vaccinated.

In 1906, anti-vaxxers in Toronto successfully had the citys mandatory school vaccination program repealed. Opponents argued in favour of "individual liberty" and condemned the "introduction of vile animal matter" (cowpox) into the arms of children.

A smallpox epidemic erupted in Toronto in early November 1919. Within a few weeks, there were 1,673 smallpox cases reported across Ontario; of those, 1,373 were in Toronto. Before the epidemic ended in February 1920, nearly 1,200 more people would become ill and 11 would die from the disease.

City and provincial public-health officers acted immediately and ordered a general vaccination for children and adults as was allowed under the 1914 Ontario vaccination act. This was met by protests and denunciation of vaccines.

The vaccinations, nonetheless, proceeded, though not to the level health officials in neighbouring states and provinces felt was adequate. At the U.S. border and in train stations, travellers from Ontario were required to show they had been vaccinated in the past few years. If they could not, or doctors could not verify from a physical inspection of their arms that they had been recently inoculated, they had the choice of receiving a vaccination or returning home on the next train or ferry.

Manitoba health officer Dr. Stuart Fraser acted, as well. On Dec. 19, he imposed a travel ban on anyone arriving in the province from eastern Canada without a vaccination certificate. Officials in Montreal and Hull enforced similar orders  as they did in 1921 and 1924 when there were other outbreaks in Ontario.

While many countries in Africa and Asia have required yellow fever vaccination certificates from visitors for many years, such measures will likely be imposed in the post-COVID-19 era on a global scale. In the near future, it is almost certain that travellers entering Canada and those departing for the U.S., Europe and other locales will have to show vaccination documentation (a policy already confirmed by the European Union).

Beyond travel, it might not be feasible (without allowances for medical exemptions) to do this at restaurants, sporting events or large gatherings. But it is desirable. "Proof of vaccination should be seen as another way for individuals and society to validate a safe public space, just as we do with a pedestrian crosswalk," argued a recent Washington Post editorial.

To this end, more than 400 U.S. colleges and universities have mandated that all students be vaccinated against COVID-19 before classes begin in the fall. Most Canadian universities are still considering the idea, but several oppose it. Neither the University of Manitoba nor the University of Winnipeg has plans to mandate vaccinations, yet both encourage students, faculty and employees to be vaccinated as soon as they are eligible.

Nevertheless, ask yourself this: when you once again attend a Jets game, how much more comfortable will you feel knowing that the person sitting next to you and your family members has been confirmed as being vaccinated for COVID-19?

And not just by the honour system.

Now & Then is a column in which historian Allan Levine puts the events of today in a historical context. His most recent book is Details are Unprintable: Wayne Lonergan and the Sensational Cafe Society Murder.
There is a world of difference between being forgotten and being ignored.

Editorial

There is a world of difference between being forgotten and being ignored.

Forgetting is understood as a passive act, which involves having something slip from memory; ignoring, on the other hand, is an active choice and conveys the notion of willfully disregarding evidence in plain sight.

From that perspective, the 215 Indigenous children whose remains were discovered in an unmarked gravesite near the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., were not forgotten.

They were not forgotten by the First Nations communities from which they were stolen, and they were not forgotten by the grieving families from whose arms they were ripped.

But there can be no doubt these children  and those believed to be in other undiscovered gravesites around the country  were ignored. They were ignored for decades by church leaders, federal politicians and non-Indigenous citizens who turned a deaf ear to Indigenous leaders and families who spoke the truth about residential schools.

The discovery of the remains at what had been Canadas largest residential school has sparked nationwide outrage, but Indigenous leaders are adamant that no one should be surprised by the horror that was confirmed through the use of ground-penetrating radar.

"The outrage and the surprise from the general public is welcome, no question," Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said. "But the report is not surprising. Survivors have been saying this for years and years  but nobody believed them."

A linchpin in the governments policy of forced assimilation, some 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children were placed in state-run boarding schools, where they were robbed of their language, culture, family ties and, too often, their lives, in a system Canadas Truth and Reconciliation Commission branded "cultural genocide."

There is little doubt more graves will be uncovered in the months to come. The TRC documented the deaths of more than 6,000 students as a result of residential schools, but former commission chair Murray Sinclair has said the true figure "could be in the 15,000-25,000 range, and maybe even more."

The road to healing for the nation and Indigenous communities, where the trauma of these schools remains an open wound, will be long and torturous. It has to begin with a full investigation into every former residential school to determine how many unmarked burial sites exist, and to ensure every missing child is identified and their families informed of their fate.

But it is also essential for the federal, provincial and territorial governments to answer a call that has been ignored for far too long  the creation of monuments to residential school survivors and victims in every capital city across Canada.

The TRC called for those monuments in its final report in 2015, and its pleas were renewed by Stephanie Scott, director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba, both last year and in the wake of the Kamloops discovery. "Canadians need to know the truth and understand what happened in order to foster true reconciliation and healing," Scott told MPs in 2020.

These monuments would be far more than a symbolic gesture, though the heart-breaking power of symbols is evident in the displays of hundreds of pairs of childrens shoes set up around the country in tribute to the 215 children buried in Kamloops.

They would be reminders that residential schools were a horrific reality, and their legacy of anguish endures. More importantly, they would ensure that thousands of lost children will  along with being remembered  no longer be ignored.
Nearly 40 per cent of the COVID-19 deaths reported in Manitoba last month were First Nations people, as the deadly virus continues to have a devastating and disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities.

Nearly 40 per cent of the COVID-19 deaths reported in Manitoba last month were First Nations people, as the deadly virus continues to have a devastating and disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities.

Data released Friday by the Manitoba First Nations COVID-19 Pandemic Response Co-ordination Team showed that of the 78 people who died from COVID-19 in May, 31 were First Nations.

"These impacts get closer and closer to home and its hard when our relatives or our friends are in hospital, or have family members in hospital because of this despite those family members doing everything theyre supposed to do," said Dr. Marcia Anderson, the public health lead for the First Nations pandemic response coordination team (PRCT).

Currently, First Nations COVID-19 patients are over-represented among people hospitalized with the disease, and as of last week accounted for up to 30 per cent of all COVID-19 admissions.

Throughout the month of May, the PRCT said 260 First Nations people needed hospital care related to the virus, the highest number reported throughout the pandemic. Of those, 86 patients required admission to an intensive care unit.

Statistics Canada estimates that First Nations, Metis and Inuit people make up about 18 per cent of the provinces total population, based on the 2016 census.

"The positioning and disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on First Nations people is linked to and created by the same type of systemic racism that led to Brian Sinclairs death and to Joyce Echaquans death," Anderson said.

"Sometimes I feel like Im saying the same things over and over, but we will have to keep saying the same things over and over until the action that is taken matches the urgency of the need and results in the equal outcomes that First Nations people have the right to," Anderson said.

The virus is also having a larger impact on First Nations people who live off-reserve, with the majority of infections in the Winnipeg region and caused by a variant of concern, the response team said. About a quarter of all COVID-19 infections reported in the past week have been among First Nations individuals.

"Its important that when were considering public health measures, that we are considering both the COVID and non-COVID impact of those measures on the people who experience the most marginalization within society," Anderson said. "And ask ourselves how can we minimize those negative impacts."

Anderson said where First Nations led responses have been deployed to address COVID-19, outcomes have improved.

"Weve seen really good response to the Indigenous-led testing and vaccine clinics, but without Indigenous leadership in these systems, those took longer time to get going," Anderson said.

"If we had that Indigenous leadership at the outset and structured into those systems, perhaps we could have these more responsive solutions implemented earlier."

Meanwhile, vaccine uptake among First Nations people living in rural and urban areas is lagging behind the immunization rates on-reserve.

The latest data from the PRCT shows that 66.6 per cent of people living on a First Nations reserve had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Melanie MacKinnon, the executive director of Ongomiizwin at the University of Manitoba and the lead for the vaccine roll out to reserves, said second doses will be complete by the end of this week.

Meanwhile, communities will receive deliveries of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this week and next to offer to people aged 12 to 17, with youth clinics running until June 22.

MacKinnon said demand for vaccines for youth has been overwhelming and said that both Cross Lake First Nation and Ebb and Flow First Nation used the majority of doses allocated for youth within days.

First Nations are also able to request additional Moderna doses to offer to people who may have missed their communitys initial clinic, MacKinnon said.

"Im really happy to see that more communities are pulling down more Moderna which is signalling some improved uptake among people who didnt get immunized as part of the mass clinics and roll out throughout the past couple of months," MacKinnon said.

Anderson said that immunization rates for First Nations people living off-reserve are improving due to the work of five urban Indigenous immunization clinics in Winnipeg, Brandon, Portage la Prairie and Thompson.

As of June 3, 48.3 per cent of First Nations people living off reserve had received the vaccine, and a total 61,715 First Nations people had been vaccinated (about 55 per cent of all First Nations people).

"The good news is that number grew by almost 4,000 people over the past week," Anderson said. "Signs are encouraging."

Anderson said further outreach activities will be necessary to get immunization rates up and noted that provincial grant money is available to fund community efforts to improve vaccine uptake.

"That could enable for example the door-to-door, block-by-block type of campaigns. Those one-on-one conversations with people, answering any questions about the vaccine, ensuring people know where they can get the vaccine I think will be helpful to bring the numbers up," Anderson said. "Discussions are ongoing and underway around that."

And while vaccine hesitancy is certainly a factor, Anderson said the difference between immunization rates on- and off-reserve has more to do with eligibility and access.

"The province relied exclusively on supersites with a complicated booking system for a really long time, until the opening of the urban Indigenous clinics," Anderson said.

"I think with this enhanced accessibility we will continue to see more off-reserve First Nations people getting vaccinated too."

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
The COVID-19 vaccination rate among Manitobas estimated 10,000 personal care home workers has jumped to as high as 80 per cent, following a campaign to improve immunizations among staff, including offering shots at work.

The COVID-19 vaccination rate among Manitobas estimated 10,000 personal care home workers has jumped to as high as 80 per cent, following a campaign to improve immunizations among staff, including offering shots at work.

Manitoba care home workers became eligible for vaccination in mid-March, but uptake among staff was low  hovering around 30 per cent  until a targeted campaign was launched earlier this spring. It was co-ordinated by the provinces vaccine task force, the Long Term and Continuing Care Association of Manitoba, and the Manitoba Association of Residential & Community Care Homes.

During a media briefing last week, a provincial official said the vaccination rate for long-term care staff is now estimated to be between 70 and 80 per cent, although the province was unable to provide more concrete data.

"I think it was just a matter of the vaccine task force not understanding the challenges that the staff were facing," said Jan Legeros, executive director of the Long Term and Continuing Care Association. "Once we helped them understand that, they implemented (improvements) right away."

Legeros said her association, along with the Manitoba Association of Residential & Community Care Homes, addressed immunizations concerns through presentations by health officials to personal care home staff.

Language was also a barrier to immunization for many employees, as English is not their first language, Legeros said.

"Because of the language barrier, many of the staff cant fill out the consent form without assistance, and so they were fearful of going down to a supersite and being confronted with English only and having to muddle through all of that. It was very intimidating for them, I think," she said.

While the province began offering interpretation services for vaccine bookings by end of April, the turning point for improving immunizations among nursing home staff came in mid-May, when the province agreed to vaccinate employees in their workplaces, Legeros said, adding staff often found it difficult to find time to go to a vaccine site.

Legeros said the association had been lobbying for in-house immunizations for COVID-19, similar to the program offered for the flu shot.

"When we had a flu season, and that was the only thing we had to worry about, we always had in-house vaccinations and we always had a very high uptake amongst the staff and residents," Legeros said. "But with COVID we didnt have that opportunity. So we let the vaccine task force know that this would mean a huge uptake if we could have staff vaccinations in-house."

She said an estimated 10,000 people work in the long-term care sector in Manitoba, including about 5,700 in Winnipeg.

During the week of May 17, operators asked staff in care homes to sign up to be vaccinated at work. Legeros said 300 staff in Winnipeg signed up on the first day. By the end of the week, that number had climbed to 600 within the city.

"You can see right away that we jumped 10 per cent of the staff in Winnipeg who are now vaccinated because we were able to offer it in-house," Legeros said. "That was a huge success and that will carry on, and will be continuing with the second dose that way as well."

Care home residents were among the first people in Manitoba to be vaccinated, with the campaign to immunize residents completed at the end of February. However, vaccinations were not offered to staff at the same time.

Since May, staff immunization clinics have been offered in about 35 homes across the province.

"Theres been so many concerns about supply; Im sure that was the big question in the vaccine task forces mind," Legeros said. "Anyway, we have it now and it has been a huge success and we hope that this is just going to mean the numbers that we really want to see, which would be 80 to 85 per cent."

The Free Press on Friday requested updated data on vaccine rates among personal care home staff in Manitoba, but a government spokesperson said it did not have a reliable estimate. No other explanation was given.

But data provided by the province on May 3 showed approximately 8,830 personal care home residents have been fully vaccinated and another 575 are partially immunized.

As of May 3, the province said out of all health-care workers in Manitoba, 42,204 had received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 8,867 workers had received one dose. The province estimates there are approximately 60,000 health-care workers in Manitoba, including over 48,000 unionized workers.

A Manitoba government official said recent changes to rules that allow vaccinated care home staff to work at more than one location have also driven demand for vaccination.

Legeros said some personal care home operators estimate that 70 to 75 per cent of their staff have been immunized, while others have coverage rates closer to 60 per cent.

Last week, the provinces COVID-19 vaccine task force said personal care home operators can request doses from the government to administer directly to their residents and staff.

The long term care association has had conversations with the task force about making vaccination a condition of employment for care home staff, Legeros said, but no such policies have been announced by the Manitoba government.

As of Sunday, COVID-19 outbreaks were declared at six personal care homes in Manitoba, with 19 cases among staff and 17 cases among residents, leading to six deaths.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
12:05 p.m.: A vehicle parked in the Kwik Trip parking lot on County Road 12 sustained close to $1,000 in damages after a camper turned short and struck it.

Winona Police

Friday:

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10:20 a.m.: An unsecured red and black Mongoose bicycle was reported stolen from the 300 block of West Ninth Street. The bicycle is valued at $500.

12:06 p.m.: A right-angle collision occurred at Fifth and Winona streets when one driver didnt see another and failed to yield. No injuries or citations were reported.

12:36 p.m.: A resident in the 500 block of Mankato Avenue reported the back window to their truck had been damaged. The complainant said they have security cameras overlooking the area and would check to see when and how the damage the occurred.

Saturday:

12:52 p.m.: Darrel James Miller, 22, of Winona was arrested and referred for driving while intoxicated near Third and Center streets. Miller was originally pulled over having expired registration, the complaint states.
Dan Ravenscroft, president and CEO of Royal Bank, to serve a three-year term on the Wisconsin Bankers Association Board of Directors, according to a June 1 release. The WBA is the states largest financial industry trade association.

It is a true honor to join this distinguished group of thought leaders in the community banking industry, said Ravenscroft. I look forward to working with the WBA Board of Directors to continue their deep-seated tradition of excellence and help propel the industry into the future.

Ravenscroft is a Wisconsin native with more than 25 years of experience in the community banking industry. Since joining Royal Bank in 1996, Ravenscroft has served as an account representative, loan officer, branch manager then as regional vice president. In 2018, he was named Royal Banks president and CEO and serves on the banks advisory boards and its Board of Directors. He is a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned his finance degree from UW-Eau Claire.

Ravenscroft serves on the Independent Community Bankers of America Cyber and Data Security Committee and WBA Government Relations Committee. He has also served the Community Bankers of Wisconsins Building Our Leaders of Tomorrow and on the Federal Home Loan Bank Mortgage Partnership Finance Advisory Council.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 17:36:18|Editor: huaxia

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SYDNEY, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities in Australia's state of Victoria defended the current COVID-19 lockdown while Prime Minister Scott Morrison called on the state to ease Melbourne's restrictions as soon as it can.

The state's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said on Monday that circuit-breaker lockdowns had occurred a couple of times in Perth and Brisbane when there were cases reported.

Sutton noted that the state is "racing against the clock" to contain the new variant of COVID-19 and it required a really rapid movement to isolate and quarantine everyone involved.

The lockdown in Greater Melbourne was extended for another seven days since Thursday, and the state's government said it would be reviewed on a day-by-day basis.

The state on Monday recorded 11 newly acquired local cases in the past 24 hours, including three children and an adult from one household, and a resident and two staff members in an aged care facility.

According to Victoria's Health Minister Martin Foley, all the new cases were linked to existing outbreaks.

Although the confirmed cases grew, Sutton said it was "good news" as "nine of 11 cases are effectively in quarantine" with very few exposure sites.

Meanwhile, investigations are still underway into the source of the Delta variant detected last week.

"The sequence data has been run against the national database and all laboratories supplying this data have been contacted to ensure the database is up to date," the health authorities said in a media release on Sunday.

Moreover, viral fragments of COVID-19 were detected in the wastewater sample in Melbourne's Inner North West.

The health authorities said it was "of interest" as there is currently no confirmed COVID cases in the areas.

While the state continued to battle the coronavirus outbreak, the federal government announced to provide an extra 100,000 Pfizer vaccines to Victoria over a three-week period from June 14.

While priority vaccinations for Victoria's frontline residential aged care and disability care staff have been extended to Monday, the state's five-day vaccination blitz focus will turn to Ambulance Victoria staff from Wednesday.

The state government also announced on Monday an additional 30 million Australian dollars (about 23.2 million U.S. dollars) package to help the communities that were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, including food and financial support. Enditem
Rhino anti-poaching research goes nuclear

From 2010 to 2019 over 9 600 rhinos were killed in poaching attacks. On this current trajectory, South Africas rhino will be nearing extinction in nine years.

Trafficked rhino horn is also not an industry on its own. It has become a lucrative commodity for the biggest crime syndicates, those dealing in weapons, drugs, the illicit wildlife trade and human trafficking. So lucrative that it is worth more than gold and platinum.

Now researchers from Wits University and its partners hope a pioneering research project using radioactive isotopes injected in a rhinos horn will deliver a big blow to poaching and associated organised crime.

Headed by Professor James Larkin, Director at the Radiation and Health Physics Unit at the University of Witwatersrand, the innovative anti-poaching Rhisotope Project aims to significantly reduce demand for rhino horns through the safe application of radioisotopes and radiation research.

Larkin explains that small quantities of radioactive material will be inserted into the rhino horn to make it more detectable. Over the years some 11 000 monitors that can detect radiation and radioactive material have been installed globally at airports, ports, harbours and border crossings to help prevent terrorists from requiring radioactive nuclear material.

If we put the radioactive material into the horn of a rhino which is then taken by a poacher, an army of experts who have been employed to protect and monitor these borders can be utilised to help prevent the illicit movement of the poached rhino horn. This devalues the horn in the eye of the end user. It also introduces along the entire supply chain from poacher to end user, a number of different points where it might be possible to intercept the rhino horn and perhaps other illicit goods being smuggled, Larkin says.

The project was initiated by the Wits University and is being implemented under a global collaboration with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Colorado State University (USA), ROSATOM (Russian Federation) and the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) as well as global scientists, researchers, South African rhino owners and veterinary surgeon Dr William Fowlds.

Launched in May, the first phase of the research project is to make sure that whatever is put into the rhino is going to be safe. By carefully introducing a trace amount of completely harmless stable isotopes into the horns of two rhinos, Igor and Denver, scientists will over the next three months be able to monitor how these non-radioactive isotopes interact with the horns and the animal.

Weve taken a compound called proline, an amino acid, that has these tracking atoms and put that into the horn. This will allow us to monitor if there is movement from the horn into the animals body. This is one of the most important aspects of the research to make sure that whatever we put into the horn stays in the horn and does not get into the body and cause harm, Larkin says.

Researchers will then CT scan and 3D print an entire rhinos head which will have similar shielding properties to animal flesh. They will put radioactive material into the horn, and by putting detectors in various other parts of the head, the researchers will be able to measure what will be the dosage that those parts of the head will receive from the radioactive material in the horn. That will allow us then to control and limit the quantity of radioactive material that needs to be put into a rhinos horn, Larkin explains.

He adds that once the science has yielded a provable technique, it will then be shared with state and rhino owners across the world where populations are at risk. The intellectual property as well as training and assistance will be made freely available to conservation organisations who may wish to utilise this process to further protect their animals from poaching. This is something you want to share for the greater good, Larkin says.
ALBANY, N.Y. - It appears New York State is backtracking on its Friday announcement that masks will become optional for students starting on Monday.

The state says it is waiting for clarification from the CDC before making the change.

New York State Commissioner of Health Howard Zucker sent out a letter on Sunday to all 700 school districts across the state stating just that.

Zucker says the confusion stems from a letter he sent on Friday to the CDC letting them know of the state's intentions to make masks optional starting on Monday and asking the CDC if there is any data or science that they are aware of that contradicts moving forward with this approach.

Since the CDC did not get back to Zucker yet, the state will still make mask wearing mandatory in all schools until further notice.

NEWSChannel 2 spoke with Utica Schools Superintendent Bruce Karam by phone on Sunday who says his intentions for Monday were to discuss things with his staff to come up with a plan before making any changes, so he says things wouldn't have changed in Utica starting on Monday even if the letter from the Commissioner of Health hadn't come on Sunday.

We also received word on Sunday from a spokesperson for Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES who says their district also received the letter from Zucker, and they will continue their current mask-wearing policies until further notice.
ONEONTA, N.Y.  SUNY Oneonta is one of 10 vaccination sites participating in the states Vax and Scratch program this week.

Any adults who are vaccinated at these sites from Monday, June 7 through Friday, June 11 will get a free lottery scratch-off ticket, offering prized from $20 to $5 million.

"A robust vaccination program is a vital cornerstone of New York's efforts to rebuild our economy, and the state is implementing creative strategies to convince residents and families to get vaccinated for COVID-19," Governor Cuomo said. "This potential $5 million grand prize for getting vaccinated is the latest salvo in our campaign to convince New Yorkers to take the shot, and we're extending it to give even more people a chance at a winning ticket."

The other sites participating in the program this week are:

Queensbury Aviation Mall - Sears

578 Aviation Road

Queensbury, N.Y.

Rochester Dome Arena

2695 East Henrietta Rd

Henrietta, N.Y.

Jones Beach - Field 3

1 Ocean Pkwy

Wantagh, N.Y.

Suffolk CCC - Brentwood

1001 Crooked Hill Rd

Brentwood, N.Y.

SUNY Orange

9 East Conkling Ave

Middletown, N.Y.

249 Libertyville Rd

New Paltz, N.Y.

SUNY Oneonta

108 Ravine Parkway

Oneonta, N.Y.

Bay Eden Senior Center

1220 East 229th St

Bronx, N.Y.

SUNY Potsdam

44 Pierrepont Ave

Potsdam, N.Y.

University at Buffalo South Campus

3435 Main St

Buffalo, N.Y.

Walk-ins are welcome at all state-run vaccination sites.
More than 600 small earthquakes have been recorded this weekend in a rural area near the Salton Sea in Southern California, with the largest having a magnitude of 5.3, a US Geological Survey geophysicist told CNN.

Geophysicist Randy Baldwin said 603 temblors with a magnitude of at least 1 happened in the area from Saturday to just before sunrise Sunday.

The quakes were centered near Calipatria, along the San Andreas Fault and about 30 miles north of the Mexican border, the USGS map shows.

The area is not heavily populated and has been known to have "swarms in the past," USGS seismologist Paul Caruso told CNN on Saturday.

A CNN crew in Orange County said they did not feel any of the quakes Saturday.

Four of the quakes measured greater than magnitude 4, and 29 were greater than magnitude 3, Baldwin said.

Elsewhere, two 5.9 magnitude earthquakes struck in the Pacific Ocean around 89 and 98 miles west of the coastal town of Gold Beach, Oregon, after 1 a.m. PT Friday, the USGS reported.

At least four earthquakes ranging in magnitudes from 3.9 to 5.9 occurred in that area in the previous few hours, according to USGS.
Nearly 170 million people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in the United States -- which means the same amount have been handed a version of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's white record card.

The CDC's vaccination card is likely to be the primary proof of vaccination going forward as the US continues loosening pandemic restrictions. Much of the information on the card is straightforward, but other parts, such as the vaccine lot number, point to key details that are less widely understood.

We've annotated a sample CDC vaccination card below in order to better go through the details of the vaccination process.

1) The manufacturer

In the US, there are three Covid-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. Pfizer and Moderna are two-dose vaccines, while J&J is one dose.

2) The lot number and expiration date

The lot number is a string of numbers and letters that tracks this specific batch of vaccine from production into your arm. This lot number is connected to an expiration date, which -- much like on any food packaging -- indicates when this batch of vaccine may start to degrade. Pfizer and Moderna say their vaccines have a shelf life of up to six months, while Johnson & Johnson says it is conducting ongoing studies to determine how long its vaccine lasts.

This expiration date is not relevant to how long vaccinated people are protected against Covid-19. (That remains unclear.) Instead, the expiration date is primarily helpful for governments and vaccine providers, who have to coordinate buying and using large amounts of vaccine within the limited shelf life.

This is likely to become more important in the coming months as some of the earliest vaccine doses begin to reach their expiration dates. For example, South Sudan announced plans to discard 59,000 doses of donated AstraZeneca vaccine that had expired in April.

3) The date

The date of your shot is important so you know when to return for a second shot, if needed, and when you are 'fully vaccinated.' The CDC considers people 'fully vaccinated' two weeks after the date of the final shot in the vaccine series.

In addition, the time of your dose may also be included because the CDC advises people to remain under observation of medical professionals for 15 minutes after getting vaccinated, mainly as a precaution in case of a rare allergic reaction.

4) The location

The location of your vaccine dose is written on the vaccination card for reference, just in case the background of your vaccine selfie isn't clear. In recent weeks, many mass vaccination sites like the Javits Center in New York have begun to wind down operations as demand for the vaccines has lightened.

5) The health care professional

Don't forget to say thank you!
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  One dog over at Natalie's Second Chance Dog Shelter is stealing hearts.

Her name is Sunny, and like her name suggests she is full of joy. Sunny isn't your average shelter dog.

Assistant Director at Natalie's Second Chance Dog Shelter, Jamie Bogan, told News 18 she is living life with a disability.

"She has cerebellar hypoplasia. So her cerebellum did not develop quite right."

Bogan says Sunny's disability is not holding her back. "She does enjoy being outside and she can walk pretty well in the grass."

Sunny was originally on a euthanasia list and was five days away from being euthanized.

That's when an organization paired with Natalie's to give Sunny a second chance.

"We met a flight in Chicago at O'Hare and picked her up," Bogan told News 18.

That second chance at life is just what Sunny needed. She is popular with volunteers.

"I lied down in her playpen with her. It was just like every other puppy I've played with," volunteer Jack Horn told News 18. "

She liked to puppy nip. She liked to jump on you. But she had to do it in her own way. So I thought that was cool."

Sunny's playful puppy attitude isn't going anywhere.

Associate Veterinarian at Wildcat Valley Animal Clinic, Dr. Dave Murakowski, says her condition won't get any worse.

"We never really see a problem with these. Not much you can do about it anyway," he explained to News 18.

"You try to give them the best life you can possibly give them. But they seem to adjust well. She's alert to the surroundings. She's happy."

All Sunny needs is the perfect family to take her in.

If you're interested in adopting her or any other dogs at the shelter, you can send Natalie's an email and fill out a pre-adoption form to see if you're the right fit.

Click here to be redirected to Natalie's website.

Email: nataliessecondchance@gmail.com
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)A Lafayette firefighter is being honored as a Hometown Hero. Cole Hauser was selected for his service to the community. At 16-years-old Cole was a Cadet for the Pine Village Volunteer Fire Department.

He worked his way up... getting his certification as an Emergency Medical Responder. He then went to college in Kentucky to get his degree in Fire Science.

Now at 23, Cole is a Firefighter for the City of Lafayette. He said he's devoted much of his teenage and young adult life serving his communities and it's a great feeling.

"I've always been one of those that I want to do something," said Hauser. "I want to do something whether it's emergency services or community service or whatever so I was fortunate enough that I found a way I could do it as a career."

Hometown Hero is made possible with the help of Westminster Village. If you'd like to nominate someone click here.
DARLINGTON, Ind. (AP)  A single-engine plane that left an Indianapolis flight school crashed Sunday morning in a central Indiana field, killing both people on board, according to Indiana State Police.

The plane crashed outside small community of Darlington before 10:30 a.m., according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Tammy Jones. She said the plane left the Lift Academy in Indianapolis, roughly 50 miles (80.47 kilometers) away, before 10 a.m. Darlington's population is about 860.

Both people on board were pronounced dead at the scene, said Indiana State Police Sergeant Jeremy Piers. He said the names would not be released publicly until family members were notified.

The Montgomery County sheriffs office said in a Facebook post that an intersection outside of Darlington was closed because of an accident and would remain so for an extended amount of time during the investigation. The office didn't immediately have further details.

We are heartbroken by this tragic accident and the loss of our team members," Lift Academy spokesman Jon Austin said in an email.

He did not have further details about who was on board the plane.

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Twitter that an agency investigator was responding to the scene.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 17:45:30|Editor: huaxia

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BISHKEK, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyzstan on Monday reported 362 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 107,335.

The Republican Headquarters for Combating COVID-19 said that the pandemic has so far claimed 1,852 lives in Kyrgyzstan, including five in the past 24 hours.

A total of 100,722 people have recovered from the disease since the pandemic broke out, while there are 3,725 active cases. Up to 1,767 of the active cases remain hospitalized and 1,958 patients are being treated at home, according to the official data.

A total of 3,822 tests were conducted over the past day.

Kyrgyzstan started COVID-19 vaccine jabs on March 29 after receiving Chinese-donated vaccine. The Central Asia country also received Sputnik V vaccine from Russia in April. Enditem
Woman shot nail salon owner because she was unhappy with cost of mani-pedi, police say
Around 400 residents of Sydneys eastern suburbs gathered in Randwick on May 30 to protest looming cuts to bus services in the area.

The proposed changes, which include cutting 25 routes and modifying another 23, are part of the state Liberal-National governments preparations for the privatisation of Region 9, one of the few remaining parts of Sydney with state-operated buses.

Bids for the eight-year contract to operate bus services in Region 9 have now closed, and the tender will be awarded in November. The successful bidder is meant to commence operations in April 2022, completing the shift of all Sydney bus routes to private operation.

A section of the rally (WSWS media)

At the event, three Labor Party politicians and two trade union bureaucrats postured as opponents of privatisation, as did Tom Kennedy, the Student Representative Council president at the nearby University of New South Wales, who is also a member of the Labor Party.

Marjorie ONeill, Labor member of parliament for the local electorate of Coogee, told the crowd of mostly older local residents that the cuts were an attempt to force residents on to light rail, a piece of infrastructure we never wanted that is slow and breaks down continuously.

ONeill said the rally would send a message to this awful, awful, abhorrent Liberal government that is ripping out essential services. What were calling on is an independent commission and inquiry to take place over these cuts, over the light rail and over their privatisation so they can be held to account over all of this.

Such an inquiry could well expose cost blowouts and cosy relationships between politicians and transport companies, but no one would be held to account. More importantly, such an inquiry would do nothing to address the fundamental issue confronting bus drivers and passengers: Both major parties support privatisation and the inevitable cuts that come from transforming public services into profit-making enterprises.

David Babineau, secretary of the bus and tram division of the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU), said: Theres going to be less buses. Theres going to be less drivers, so weve got job cuts coming.

But Babineau, as well as the local state and federal Labor parliamentary speakers at the event, Michael Daley and Matt Thistlethwaite, framed the issue as one that could be resolved by the removal of the state Liberal-National government.

David Babineau and Marjorie O'Neill speaking to media prior to the rally.(WSWS media)

Thistlethwaite said: Before the last election, [Premier] Gladys Berejiklian lied to you. She made a commitment to this community when they wanted to win the seat of Coogee, thered be no privatisation of bus services in our community.

In reality, Labors posture as a defender of public transport does not bear historical scrutiny. The 2004 Unsworth review, ordered by then Labor Premier Bob Carr, called for the slashing of off-peak bus services and for privatisation. The Carr government also sold off rail freight services and shut down the states train maintenance workshops and track repair divisions.

Residents attending the rally told WSWS reporters that the impact of the cuts would be felt most sharply by retirees and students.

Ross, 63, from Kensington, commented: Theyre expecting people to change bus services, which is going to be hard, particularly for older passengers and people that struggle with mobility issues. And expecting people to hop on one bus and change for another bus, possibly at different bus stops. There is no interchange that really works in terms of light rail apart from Central and Kingsford.

Theres a lot of support for a grassroots issue that isnt being managed well by the government or the opposition.

Last week, Keolis Downer, a French-Australian joint venture, was awarded a $900 million contract to operate in Region 7, which covers Sydneys Northern Beaches and North Shore. While publicly opposing privatisation, the RTBU told its members: One thing that went our way was that Keolis Downer were [sic] the company to get it.

The union claims that workers and management ultimately want the same thing, based on the solid working relationship that Keolis Downer and the RTBU have established in the industrial city of Newcastle, north of Sydney, where the company took over bus services in 2017.

In fact, the privatisation of buses in Newcastlecautiously welcomed by the RTBU at the timewas plagued with problems affecting workers and passengers. Dozens of workers were underpaid for more than eight months after the transition and on-time performance plummeted, leading Keolis Downer to make major changes to routes, including removing around 140 bus stops.

In Sydneys Inner West (Region 6), Transit Systems took over from the government-owned State Transit in July 2018. In addition to a reduction in on-time performance, the privatisation created a two-tier wage structure for bus drivers in Region 6.

While workers in Region 6 who had previously been employed by State Transit were still covered by the same award, negotiated by the RTBU, new hires are employed under an enterprise agreement brokered between Transit Systems and the Transport Workers Union (TWU).

Under the TWU agreement, workers can be rostered for split shifts spanning up to 13 hours, and straight shifts of up to 11.5 hours (including meal breaks), raising fatigue concerns. Casual workers can be engaged for shifts as short as one hour on weekdays, rather than the three-hour minimum specified in the industrial award.

This was the outcome after the TWU argued before the Fair Work Commission that it, not the RTBU, should be allowed to represent privatised bus drivers in Region 6, on the basis that the TWU had more experience negotiating with private employers.

Likewise, in its enterprise bargaining with major trucking companies, the TWU has excused logistics giants Toll, Linfox, StarTrack and FedEx from any responsibility for workers low pay and conditions on the grounds that they are being sweated by their clients.

The two-tier, two-union setup in Region 6 is engineered to divide the workforce and suppress any genuine opposition to continued attacks on pay and conditions. While the RTBU has told members there can never again be a two-tiered workplace like Region 6, its only concern is the retention of dues-paying drivers. As for the TWU, it began its membership drive as soon as the privatisation of Regions 7, 8, and 9 was announced.

Petitions and appeals to governments will not provide convenient, affordable public transport for passengers or stable employment with fair pay and conditions for drivers. Neither should workers and residents hold any illusions that the election of a Labor government would resolve these issues.

For decades, the Labor Party at federal and state levels has led the charge to sell off vital public assetsfrom the Commonwealth Bank to Qantascreating the conditions for mass job destruction, price increases and service cuts, while creating new profit centres for big business.

The track record of the trade unions shows that, whatever they may claim at rallies, these organisations have no serious objection to privatisation. They have facilitated it at every turn, only competing with each other to sign mutually beneficial deals with the employers, at the expense of the conditions of the remaining workers.

To fight this line-up, what is required is the formation of rank-and-file committees of workers and residents, completely independent of Labor and the unions, to organise opposition and link up with workers internationally confronting similar attacks by governments and the corporate elite. That means building a genuine movement of the working class to fight for public ownership and democratic workers control of all critical services, including education, health and transport, that is, for socialism.
Wishma Sandamali Ratnayake, a young Sri Lankan migrant worker, died on March 6 at Nagoya Local Emigrant Service Bureau in Japans Aichi Prefecture. She was just 33 years old.

Sandamali, a former resident of Imbulgoda in Kadawatha, a Colombo suburb, had passed her Advanced Level exam in Sri Lanka and entered Japan in 2017 on a student visa.

Wishma Sandamali Ratnayake

Rather than continue on to higher education in Japan, she hoped to find a well-paid job. Those on student visas in Japan, however, are only able to work 28 hours a week, and so she found it difficult to secure permanent employment.

Sandamali began learning Japanese at an education institute but dropped out, unable to pay the tuition fees, and then confronted a range of difficulties.

Last August she attempted to lodge a complaint with police, because she was being harassed by a young man she was living with. Police ignored Sandamalis complaint and, instead, arrested and then jailed her at the Nagoya detention camp for overstaying her visa.

Unable to pay for her return to Sri Lanka, she was treated like a criminal and held in brutal conditions for seven months, including being confined to a tiny room.

Sandamali expected immigration authorities to provide her with the necessary security but she received no assistance. According to START official, Yasunori Matsui, she became ill in December and was vomiting blood and unable to walk by January. START is a support group that provides aid to foreign labourers and refugees.

Sandamali, who lost about 20 kilograms, became so weakened that she could only be moved by wheelchair and was too unwell to be returned to Sri Lanka. Immigration authorities rejected her application for refugee status and ignored requests by Japanese aid providers that she be given temporary freedom in order to secure medical treatment.

Ridma Ratnayake, Sandamalis younger sister, spoke to the World Socialist Web Site from Tokyo last week.

Some of the partipants at Sandamali's funeral (Source: Facebook)

Ridma said that more than 200 Japanese nationals paid their last respects to her sister, when she was cremated on May 16, and about 400 people attended a memorial ceremony in Tokyo on May 29.

I have no faith in the Japanese government, Ridma said. When my sister was dying, an attempt was made to put some food into her mouth. She had been given high-dose painkillers and sleeping tablets and was unable to swallow. She didnt have any vitamins during the last few days of her life, and was not even given saline.

Speaking through Ridma, Sandamalis mother said: My daughter was treated like an animal. Even animals should get better care than this.

Sandamalis relatives have called on the Japanese Minister of Justice Yoko Kamikawa to explain the circumstances leading to the young womans death and to release video footage of her in detention. The request has been refused on the absurd and cynical grounds that it would undermine state security and compromise the dignity of the young woman. Ridma told the WSWS her sisters body looked like that of an elderly person.

Brief notes in Sandamalis diary make clear that her death was caused by the cruel and unlawful way in which she was treated. She wrote: I cannot eat. They say it is because of tension. They dont take me to a hospital, as I am in their custody. Please help me recover.

Sandamali is the 18th migrant to die in custody in Japan since 2007, and the fourth person to perish in a detention centre there in the past 13 months. Official statistics show that less than one percent of applicants are granted refugee- or asylum-status in Japan. Of the 10,375 refugee applications made in Japan in 2019, only 44 were approved.

Sandamali on the left with her sisters

While the current number of migrants held in Japanese detention centres is 300, prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 there were an estimated 20,000 migrant workers incarcerated in 16 centres, including in Osaka, Nagasaki and Ibaraki prefecture. They were releasedwithout being granted residency or the right to workby Japanese authorities, following the onset of the pandemic and in order to avoid any medical responsibility for the detainees.

Poverty, low wages and unemployment force millions of young people from South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America to migrate to the Middle East and the advanced capitalist economies in Europe, the US, Australia and Japan, in search of work. Thousands of people tragically lose their lives in dangerous sea-crossings and other risky travel methods each year, trying to enter these countries.

According to Sri Lankas Census and Statistics Department, the official unemployment rate among young people was 9.6 percent in 2020. The jobless rate for those aged between 15 and 24 years was 26.4 percent and as high as 36.3 percent for women in that cohort. Unemployment for women, in the 25 to 29 age group, was 18.9 percent and 7.1 per for men.

As in other countries, the Japanese ruling elite has responded to COVID-19 and the associated economic crisis by further tightening its immigration laws. Prime Minister Yoshihide Sugas government recently moved to amend the countrys Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act and allow authorities to repatriate asylum seekers whose applications are under appeal.

Under current laws, those seeking asylum are permitted to submit an unlimited number of applications for asylum status. The Suga government wants to limit the number to three, making it easier to deport those incarcerated in detention centres.

On May 18, the Suga government, in the face of widespread opposition, including mass demonstrations in several cities with many participants carrying placards referring to Sandamalis tragic death, was forced to withdraw its anti-democratic amendments. The government indicated, however, that it would not shelve the bill altogether, but attempt to push it through the Japanese parliament in the near future.

Sri Lankas external affairs ministry and its embassy in Tokyo did nothing to save Sandamalis life, let alone raise a protest about her brutal treatment or demand that the Japanese government explain how and why she died.

Colombos silence is no accident. Like the ruling elites in other underdeveloped countries, the Sri Lankan capitalist class does not want to do anything to undermine the exploitation of its citizens working abroad, and hence disrupt the millions of dollars in foreign remittances flowing back into Sri Lanka.

Likewise, the Rajapakse government is totally indifferent to the plight of thousands of Sri Lankan workers still trapped in other countries, infected with COVID-19 or unemployed, and desperately trying to return home to their families.
On Saturday, June 5, Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Joseph Kishore and WSWS writer Eric London appeared on the podcast Eclectic Radical hosted by Chris Richards. The discussion focused on the campaign by the leadership of the Democratic Socialists of America celebrating the assassination of Leon Trotsky and praising the crimes of Stalinism.

Eclectic Radical - Saturday Special #3

On May 18, the WSWS posted a report detailing the highly coordinated character of this campaign. On May 22, WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North issued an open letter to DSA National Director Maria Svart demanding the DSA repudiate this campaign. The open letter has not been answered.

Here are six highlights from the podcast.

Joseph Kishore (2:45)

The DSA is glorifying an act which was one of the most politically consequential crimes of the 20th century. We also have an open letter which weve directed to DSA Political Director Maria Svart, which she still has not answered, calling on her to repudiate these attacks. But it really gets to why these questions are so critical, the basic issues of history: What was Trotskyism? What was Stalinism? Was there an alternative to Stalinism? One of the lines that one sees among those who are tweeting these things and justifying them is, Oh, this was all 80 years ago, what does it really matter, its not a big deal that were joking about the murder of Leon Trotsky. In fact, its a very big deal. The crimes of Stalinism had an incredibly disastrous impact on the socialist movementthe physical liquidation of between 700,000 and one million people in the Soviet Union, the violence directed against the Fourth International, and also in discrediting or associating socialism with this monstrosity. In fact, the socialist movement and its historical continuity runs through the opposition to Stalinism, which was led by Trotsky, and then the founding of the Fourth International. These historical issues, what actually happened in the 20th century, are of such monumental importance in orienting a revolutionary movement today.

Eric London (6:15)

Who was Leon Trotsky? Why is this something which we take so seriously? Trotsky was, alongside Vladimir Lenin, one of the two leaders of the Russian Revolution of 1917. This was the first time in the history of humanity that the working class had taken power. And they did so in the midst of a brutal world war, which they ended. They were then invaded by over a dozen capitalist countries. They successfully fought, with Trotsky at the head of the Red Army, against the fascistic White Army. They defeated them. They then were isolated in the Soviet Union and the bureaucracy, a privileged caste, usurped power with Stalin at its head. Trotsky dedicated his entire life, and what he said were the most important years of his life, to the fight to expose the Stalinist bureaucracy, to defend the fight for international socialist revolution, and its independence from the parties of capitalismwhich is the theory of permanent revolution, which is our perspective, the perspective of the Socialist Equality Party today. In the course of defending its privileged interests against the interests of the Russian and international working class, the Stalinist bureaucracy engaged in a political genocide in which up to one million people were exterminated. This is what the DSA thinks is hilarious, very funny, worthy of making memes. Think about what the political implications of this are.

Joseph Kishore (12:58)

The campaign against Trotsky has a broader provenance. Theres a series of biographies written over the past couple decades, including one by Robert Service, a right-wing, establishment historian. He made a statement when he was talking about his biography, which is a scurrilous historically falsified book, full of basic errors, that if the icepick didnt finish Trotsky off, I hope the biography will. That his book would put an end to Trotsky. Service is speaking on behalf of the ruling class, under conditions in which theres a growing political radicalization of young people, of workers, a turn to the left, growing interest in socialism, which all the polls show. Under these conditions, there is a fear that this political radicalization will connect with the genuine history of socialist politics, which is Trotskyism. And that goes back to the Russian Revolution itself and the whole tradition of revolutionary Marxism of which the Trotskyist movement is the contemporary political expression.  And theres a middle class layer who view history with contempt, who know really nothing about the history of the socialist movement, about principled politics, and theyre drawn into it. This is driven from the top. There is a coordinated campaign, with calculated political and social interests behind it.

Eric London (20:20)

Heres why the dynamic of the attack on Trotsky and the celebration of the assassination of Trotsky are so important. The dynamic is: The World Socialist Web Site criticized Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from the left, for defending Joe Biden. In response, the DSA leadership launched a coordinated campaign to joke about the assassination of Trotsky and to praise Stalin. It was a direct response to the response which we got for our article, which was read over 100,000 times, and after which we were exchanging messages with a very, very high number of DSA members all over the country. The defeat of the AFL-CIO unionization drive at Bessemer also played a part, where this right-wing bureaucracy, the RWDSU, with the support of the DSA and every other organization, couldnt even win support from 15 percent of the workforce at this massive Amazon facility. Point being, they are attacking us from an extremely defensive standpoint.

Eric L ondon (48:39)

The DSA, from its founding by the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee, was explicitly founded as a part of the Democratic Party. And its orientation within the Democratic Party was throughout the Carter administration, throughout the Tip ONeill reign of the conservative Democratic Party in the 1980s, throughout the 90s throughout the Congressional Progressive Caucus. So the DSA has had 50 years to push the Democratic Party to the left from within. Over that period the Democratic Party has gone further and further to the right, to the point where the DSA is in the absurd position of trying to be a socialist organization that has five members of the Democratic Caucus in Congress supporting Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.

Joseph Kishore (1:01:09)

The important thing to understand in all of this is that the fundamental target is the working class. The UMWA, what they are terrified of is the growth of opposition within their so-called own members, that is, the workers they claim to represent. And what they are very fearful of is that the opposition among the workers will take an organized and conscious form. Thats why theres the hysterical opposition to the development of rank-and-file committees, independent organizations of working class struggle through which the workers can in fact fight for their interests, can organize and unite and develop a coordinated struggle not only in the US but all over the world. The ruling class has created a social powder keg. To put it in a somewhat broader framework, the response to the pandemic, decades of social inequality, of relentless assault on the working class, in which the unions have worked to suppress opposition, the incredible concentration of wealth in the oligarchy, then the pandemic which has killed over 600,000 peoplein fact, more like a millionin the US, 3.5 million around the world, the oligarchy has used it to amass unprecedented levels of wealth, theyre carrying out austerity measures and demanding that the workers pay for it. This is producing a social explosion. And that is what theyre really terrified of. But we are oriented toward building a movement in the working class. Thats what they dont want, an independent movement of the working class to break the working class from the Democratic Party.
To Continental workers at the Karben plant in Hesse, Germany!

The Network of Action Committees for Safe Workplaces calls on you to vote No and reject the closure plan that the IG Metall union is now putting to the vote again. At the same time, you should prepare to build an independent action committee to take up the struggle to save all jobs.

Do not let IG Metall blackmail you. You are being asked to vote on a collective agreement by Monday evening that you will only be able to see in full on Monday morning. Reject the whole procedure. It only serves to close down your plant, as demanded by the top management.

Strikers in front of the Continental plant in Karben (Banner reads This factory is on strike - Photo WSWS

In mid-May, you had already courageously rejected the so-called social contract agreed by IG Metall and management. Although you wanted to fight to preserve your jobs, IG Metall had agreed that your plant would be closed as planned, with just a slight delay, except for a small remnant.

This is not being changed now. Even in the new agreement, the plant in Karben will be closed, with the loss of over a thousand jobs. The announced closure is only to be postponed from 2023 to 2025. Step by step, more than two-thirds of the 1,088 jobs are to be eliminated, with 150 colleagues winding up what is left of the plant. All that will then remain is a rump operation with 187 employees who will work for Continental Engineering Services (CES).

To be clear: with the current social contract, IG Metall wants to push through the plant closure. Do not let this happen!

Like you, we also have not seen the contract, but it serves the well-known method of divide and rule. According to the unions press release, it differs from the last agreement only in that the severance pay for older workers is to be increased. It also includes a hardship fund for IG Metall members of one million euros, which the union will control.

In purely arithmetical terms, a 58-year-old worker could receive a severance payment of 180,000 euros, and the bourgeois media is deliberately emphasising this. We do not know to how many workers this applies. But we are aware that those of you who were there when the plant opened in 1981 have sacrificed your lives and often your health for the profits of Continental and Schaeffler over these 40 years. A high severance payment can seem tempting, and it is meant to.

But consider this: firstly, it buys the plant closure at the expense of the younger generation, who will then no longer find industrial jobs in the region. Do not let yourselves be divided between young and old. All for one, one for all!

And secondly, do the math. At 58, it is unlikely you will find a comparably paid job. After two years of unemployment benefit, you will fall back onto the Hartz IV welfare benefits. Since these are means-tested, apart from a basic exemption of around 10,000 euros and at most the value of a small owner-occupied flat, everything remaining from your severance pay will be counted as assets and must be used to pay your day-to-day living expenses.

Do not let IG Metall divide you over the question of union membership either. The concessions that the union has always demanded from you have applied to the whole workforce. Everyone had to work harder and give up holiday and Christmas bonuses and special payments. Now, IG Metall wants to make many of its negotiated social contract conditions available only to its members. But one in four or five of you is not in IG Metall. Do not let yourselves be divided. Here, too, the same appliesequal rights for all.

But above all, do not let yourselves be divided by location. Continental wants to eliminate 13,000 jobs at over thirty locations and close several plants. The union is letting each workforce fight on its own, which means they can only lose.

The tire plant in Aachen will close in 20221,800 workers will lose their jobs. Another 2,100 colleagues fear for their jobs in Regensburg at the drive division, Vitesco Technologies. In Roding, 520 jobs are at stake. In the Babenhausen plant, not far from you, 2,570 workers are being fobbed off with a social contract like yours, so that they accept the plant closure in installments. At the end of 2025, only 434 permanent full-time workers will be left in Babenhausen.

The protests that IG Metall is organising at each site are solely to blow off steam. When you had prepared to take real industrial action, namely an indefinite strike, the union quickly agreed on the first social contract, presenting it with the deceitful title: Conti Karben: Plant Closure Averted.

IG Metall has both feet in the enemy camp. Last year, when Continental announced it would cut 30,000 jobs, 13,000 of them in Germany, the union tacitly accepted this. Their only thought was how to push it through against your resistance.

The IGM officials are well paid for their services. Christine Benner, deputy chairperson of IG Metall, sits on the Continental supervisory board, receiving 269,000 euros last year as deputy board chair; Hasan Allak, your group works council chair from the IG BCE union, received 183,000 euros; and Lorenz Pfau, the general works council chair of Continental Automotive GmbH, received 182,000 euros.

The labour director Dr Ariane Reinhart, who is to push through the destruction of 30,000 Conti jobs, only gained her lucrative job with the consent of IG Metall. While a billion euros are being saved on your backs, the salary of this former VW executive has been increased by almost 300,000 euros. As reported by Manager Magazin, Reinhart can earn up to 6.7 million euros a year since last year due to a change in remuneration, 2.2 million euros more than in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.

IG Metall had already brazenly described the first closure plan as a solid negotiation result. You were right to reject it. Now take the next step: vote No to the new, barely improved second social contract as well!

Above all, build your own action committee that can decide and act independently of IG Metall. This is necessary to represent your interests against those of the company and its shareholders. The action committee must represent all the workers in Karben and above all make contact with the other Continental plants in Germany and abroad to coordinate joint action.

The decision on the Karben plant has far-reaching significance: under conditions of global competition and capitalist private enterprise, the restructuring towards e-mobility and digital transport will threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs in the coming years. That is why the battle at Continental is not only being followed closely by the stock exchange, corporations, trade unions and politicians of all stripes. Millions of workers in the auto and supplier industries are also affected, and the name Continental is familiar to most of them.

Workers in all countries face the same problems and are confronted with the same big corporations and their representatives in the trade unions. But if we unite and fight together, we are stronger than our opponents!

Contact us through the World Socialist Web Site to prepare further steps in the struggle at Continental and discuss joint international action against the attacks by corporations and governments around the globe.
Last week saw a remarkable display of the Australian Labor Partys efforts to shore up Australias wealthy elite, and its own political fortunes, by ramping up its commitment to the mining giants whose booming exports, especially to China, are currently keeping the economy afloat.

Prominent Labor Party representatives, including federal leader Anthony Albanese, were featured speakers or guests at the annual Minerals Week gathering in Canberra, hosted by the Minerals Council of Australia, the industrys main lobbying and propaganda arm.

Albanese delivered a keynote luncheon address, vying with Liberal-National Prime Minister Scott Morrison to claim which party was the best guarantor of mining profits, while accusing Morrisons government of threatening the export bonanza to China by making unduly provocative remarks about a coming war against Beijing.

Anthony Albanese (Source: @AlboMP)

Confronted by near-record low votes, especially in working-class electorates, at the last federal election in 2019, as well as the recent Tasmanian election and a New South Wales state by-election, the Labor Party has responded by deepening its efforts to win the endorsement of key sections of big business.

As a token of Labors loyalty, Albanese highlighted his recent announcement that Labors 30 shadow ministers would assemble this month in Port Hedland, the northern Western Australian port that is currently Australias largest iron ore tonnage port, mainly due to consignments to China.

I recognise the importance of your sector, Albanese told the mining bosses. That is why at the end of this month Im taking my entire shadow ministry to Port Hedland.

This is not simply a theatrical gesture by Albanese himself. Others were on hand at Minerals Week to underscore the reliability of Labor and its affiliated trade unions. Among them was shadow resources minister Madeleine King, who told the gathering Labor unequivocally supports the resources sector, and shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek, who is touted as a possible challenger for Albaneses leadership.

Albaneses speech reflected the sharpening economic and geostrategic crisis facing the Australian ruling class. Militarily and in terms of foreign investment, it relies overwhelmingly on Washington and Wall Street. Labor is just as committed as the Liberal-National Coalition to the US alliance and to participating in the Biden administrations escalating preparations for a war against China to reassert the global hegemony secured by the US after World War II.

At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased Australian capitalisms dependence on China, the second-largest economy in the world, and one of the few to grow during the pandemic. That has particularly produced soaring prices for exports of iron ore.

With the pandemic and a mine disaster affecting Brazil, a key iron exporter, Australia became the worlds largest iron ore exporter over the past two years, responsible for more than half of all global exports. That trend is expected to drive the total value of iron ore exports from Australia up from $77.8 billion in 201920 to $93.8 billion in 202021.

Albanese began his speech by paying tribute to the alleged contribution made to the nation by the industry giants. Our nations top five resources exports are iron ore, LNG, gold, metallurgical coal and thermal coal. We are the worlds top exporter of iron ore, gold and metallurgical coal, joint top exporter of LNG and the second top exporter of thermal coal.

These remarks mirror those of the Minerals Council itself. Our resource exports account for around 58 percent of Australias total exports, its website declares. This is far greater than services (including tourism, education and financial services), agriculture and manufacturing combined.

The council notes that Chinas appetite for iron ore has continued throughout the pandemic, making it the worlds biggest importer, accounting for 68 percent of imports between 2019 and 2020.

Carefully avoiding any reference to the existential threat of rising global warming, Albanese pledged to help the industry move to a low-carbon future, saying there was a very bright future for exports in areas like aluminium, lithium, copper, cobalt, nickel and rare earths.

In fact, the Labor leader criticised the Morrison government for not collaborating with the industry to exploit these opportunities. He provided a revealing definition of the role of a Labor government in implementing the dictates of the capitalist markets. Thats what good governments do, he said. They support markets as the best mechanism to direct investment with appropriate regulation.

That is the kind of Labor government I will lead if am honoured to become the next prime minister of Australia.

In line with his big business pitch, Albanese denounced the government for handing down an annual budget in May that included $100 billion of new spending, yet no plan for growth. There was no path to pay back the $1 trillion debt. This budget is a debt sentence for Australia.

This amounts to a vow to slash social spending faster than the Coalition, which has already cut welfare payments back to sub-poverty levels and continued to severely underfund essential programs, such as aged care, public health and education.

Then Albanese turned to the question of China, saying this was another serious problem with this government that must be of real concern to members of the Minerals Council and other exporters. He accused Morrison of lacking a long-term strategy to deal with China, which was pressing its interests more assertively.

Recent comments from Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Home Affairs Secretary Michael Pezzullo about the prospect of war might well inflame nationalistic sentiments with profound security and economic implications.

As with a speech last month by Labors shadow foreign minister Penny Wong, Albanese gave voice to nervousness within the ruling class about members of the Australian government openly beating the war drums, for fear of triggering powerful public opposition to the prospect of a catastrophic war.

Labors positioning further reflects concern in ruling circles that the Coalition government has too nakedly echoed the Biden administrations escalation of US moves against China without sufficiently protecting the profits on which Australian capitalism still depends and preparing the economy for the devastating shocks that a war would produce.

There should be no illusions. Labor is unequivocally committed to joining a US-led war against China. In his speech, Albanese twice referred to Labors plans for a $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, which would provide corporate subsidies for strategic industries, such as military capability.

The last Labor government signed up in 2011 to the Obama administrations military pivot to confront China and Labor has backed every move taken against China by the present Coalition government. This includes banning 5G contracts with the telecommunications equipment-maker Huawei, blocking Chinese investment proposals and imposing foreign interference laws targeting any alleged political links to China.

Wong last month reiterated all the allegations issued by Bidens administration, such as Beijings supposed militarisation of disputed features of the South China Sea, repression in Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang, and economic coercion against multiple countries, including Australia. She was silent on the long record of US global aggression and mass killings, from the Vietnam War to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Wong and Albanese led the provocative stance adopted at this years Labor Party national conference, where the party and trade union officials passed six resolutions condemning China across the board. At that conference, they presented Labor as the party best able to impose the sacrifices needed in times of war.

A key Labor MP, deputy chair of the parliamentary intelligence and security committee, Anthony Byrne, reinforced that message after Dutton and other government figures accused Albaneses speech of undermining the bipartisan front of confronting China. There is absolute bipartisanship on China, Byrne said. Just look at Huawei, 5G, Hong Kong, the Uighurs, the South China Sea.

Workers in the US, China, Australia and every other country have a common interest in preventing a disastrous war. That urgently needs to be developed into a global working-class movement against capitalism and all its political servants, including Labor and the unions, based on a socialist and internationalist perspective.
Spains petty-bourgeois Anticapitalistas party is inciting pro-imperialist hysteria against Morocco. It is falling in line with the campaign unleashed by the liberal press against Morocco after Rabat opened its side of the border, allowing migrants to cross into Spains enclave in northern Morocco, Ceuta, in makeshift boats and dinghies. An estimated 10,000 entered, many of them families or children.

The Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government responded by implementing the savage policy advocated for months by the fascist Vox party, militarising the border. It deployed the army, special forces and thousands of police to Ceuta, summarily rounding up and illegally deporting thousands of migrants, many of them children.

Last week, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reacted furiously after a communique from Rabat declared it opened its side of the border to pressure Madrid to recognise Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony annexed by Rabat in 1975, as part of Morocco. Additional concerns of Moroccos monarchy no doubt included deflecting mass anger from official mismanagement of the pandemic and Israels attack on Gaza. Rabat opened its border with Spain after mass protests on Israels bloody bombing campaign targeting the Gaza Strip.

View of the border fence that separates Spain, left, and Morocco, right, as seen from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, June 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Sanchez focused only on his conflict with Morocco over Madrids former colonial possession, saying last week that they have used immigration, that is, the assault on the Spanish borders by more than 10,000 Moroccans in 48 hours, due to disagreements in foreign policy, this seems unacceptable. He claimed it was inadmissible, describing Moroccos actions as akin to attacking borders.

The PSOE-Podemos governments campaign against Morocco has the de facto support of the Anticapitalistas. This party, which left Podemos last year to better serve the government from the outside, aligned itself on the anti-immigrant campaign of the PSOE and Podemos. It seized on the entry of migrants to accuse Rabat of blackmail and human rights violations while peddling illusions that the PSOE-Podemos government defends democratic rights.

Anticapitalistas leader Teresa Rodriguez said: What is happening in Ceuta is the result of externalizing the borders to countries where Human Rights are systematically violated, such as Morocco, in exchange for permanent blackmail. She proposed that the Government should show courage to manage its own borders without depending on Morocco.

Rodriguezs solution is in fact what the PSOE-Podemos has done by deploying the army and police, and brutally expelling thousands of migrants. Madrid has also refused the support of Frontex in Brussels, stating they can manage the Ceuta crisis without the EUs anti-migrant task force.

In Brussels, European Member of Parliament (EMP) Miguel Urban, who was elected in a Podemos slate but has remained as EMP even after his tendency broke with Podemos, intervened in a plenary session in the European Parliament. He denounced The umpteenth exercise of blackmail by Morocco. He said externalising borders gives unscrupulous dictatorships a blackmail weapon. If we want to end this blackmail and protect migrants human rights, there is only one way: to dismantle the policies of Fortress Europe.

Urbans claim that the EU can dismantle Fortress Europe to defend a more humane migrant policy is ludicrous. The entire ruling class in Europe is rapidly shifting to the right, aware that anger is rising among workers against social inequality and the criminal herd immunity policy it has pursued on the pandemic. While Europe is in its deepest economic crisis since the 1930s, it has seen more than a million coronavirus deaths. On the other hand, its billionaires became 1 trillion richer in a year.

To defend this ill-gotten wealth, and with inequality at unsustainable levels, the ruling class is preparing for repression. In France and Spain, factions of the military are openly plotting coups and avowedly preparing for civil war against the working class. In Germany, all parties are pressing ahead with militarism and are implementing in practice the programme of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The army, police and intelligence agencies are riddled with far-right terrorist networks.

The Pabloites are also agitating for Spain to more aggressively to intervene in Western Sahara, its former colony annexed by Morocco in 1975, to organise a referendum on self-determination. Anticapitalistas has doubled down on these calls since war erupted between Morocco and the Algerian-backed bourgeois-nationalist Polisario Front last November.

At that time, Anticapitalistas posted a neo-colonial statement calling for the re-establishment of Spanish rule over its former colony. It demanded Spain assume its role as formally administering the territory and guarantee respect for the human, social and economic rights of the Saharawi people as a step prior to ensuring a just, peaceful, democratic and lasting solution to this conflict, which inevitably requires respect for the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people.

If Madrid adopted such a hawkish position, trying to physically seize its former colony now controlled by Morocco to organise an independence referendum, it could easily lead to war.

Spains historical record in the region is brutal. During intermittent wars with Moroccan tribes between 1909 and 1927, Madrids punitive pacification campaigns massacred civilians, bombed markets and settlements, and used incendiary bombs to set fire to defenceless villages and cultivated fields. Madrid also used rape and poison gas attacks as weapons of war targeting civilian populations.

These wars bred a generation of fascist military officers like General Francisco Franco who used similar methods against the working class at homeculminating in the July 1936 fascist coup, the Spanish Civil War and a four-decade Francoite regime in Spain, between 1939 and 1978.

The position of Anticapitalistas on Morocco reflects the longstanding support for imperialism of this petty-bourgeois, pro-capitalist party. It endorsed the US-NATO war against oil-rich Libya in 2011. In the name of democracy, social justice, and the improvement of the situation of women, two leaders of Anticapitalistas, Esther Vivas and Josep Maria Antentas, condemned the anti-imperialism of some sectors of the left and advocated the political and economic international isolation of the [Libyan] regime and the unconditional supply of weapons to the rebels.

The European powers and the US then employed precisely this strategy to wage a war for regime change in Libya. It cost over 30,000 deaths, leaving Libya in ruins. The country still is mired in a civil war between competing Islamist factions that NATO had supported, which has killed thousands and displaced over 100,000 people.

The goals of Spains participation in the Libyan war, defended by Anticapitalistas, are not hard to see. Last week, a decade after Anticapitalistas backed the Libyan war, Sanchez travelled to Libya with several businessmen, including Josu Jon Imaz, the head of Spains major oil company, Repsol. Libya is among the 10 countries with the most oil reserves in the world, and the daily El Pais, commented on Sanchezs trip by citing anonymous state officials who said: This country is sitting on a treasure.

Defending democratic rights in northern Africa, including on the Moroccan-Sahrawi conflict, requires first of all rejecting the vicious imperialist campaign against migrants. Madrids attempts to endow its policy of plunder with a democratic veneer by citing the Moroccan monarchys crimes are saturated with imperialist hypocrisy. The defence of democratic and social rights cannot be left to either the blood-soaked representatives of the former colonial powers, or any of the bourgeois-nationalist factions, but requires the international unification of the working class in a revolutionary, socialist struggle against imperialism.
On Friday, New York State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker informed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that masks would no longer be required for K-12 educators, students, or youth at summer camps in the state. This move by the Democratic Cuomo administration follows the recent dropping of other COVID-19 safety standards across the state.

Zuckers letter told CDC Director Rochelle Walensky that it would go forward with these measures unless the CDC objected. He wrote, If there is any data or science that you are aware of that contradicts moving forward with this approach, please let me know as soon as possible.

As of Sunday, no official guidance has been sent to school districts, causing confusion statewide about whether the mask mandate has been dropped for this Monday. One superintendent of a school district in the Hudson Valley said that his email was blowing up with questions about the dropping of the masking mandate.

Kindergarten students at the Milton Elementary School in Rye, New York on May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

The Cuomo administration, of course, knows full well that the CDC will supply no evidence that contradicts this reckless action. Last week, Cuomo remarked that the CDCs advice that children wear masks outdoors seems a little extreme.

The CDC, acting in concert with the Biden Administration, has in fact led the effort in the US to systematically dismantle mitigation measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, under conditions in which the majority of Americans, including children, remain unvaccinated. On May 13, the CDC dropped the requirement that unvaccinated people wear masks in public venues, absurdly relying on an honor system, and stopped tracking COVID-19 infections among those who have been inoculated.

Cuomo has fully embraced the CDCs lifting of mask requirements for unvaccinated people. He recently stated at a press conference, If you are vaccinated, you are safe, adding, No masks. No social distancing.

Both Cuomo and New York Citys Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio have been engaged in an intensive campaign to fully reopen schools and non-essential workplaces for the past month, regardless of the vaccination rate. Both politicians have sought to relax all standards on social distancing.

On May 19, Cuomo removed the outdoor residential gathering limit altogether and allowed indoor residential gatherings of up to 50 people. Large-scale indoor venue capacity was increased to 30 percent and large-scale outdoor venue capacity to 33 percent. On the same day, capacity restrictions for businesses were lifted as long as patrons could maintain the required social distance of six feet. This mandate has the status of a suggestion only and is seldom enforced.

In supermarkets throughout the state, there is not even a pretense of requiring a six-foot separation between people. Markers on aisles have been removed and social distancing announcements over PA systems have largely ceased. While many smaller businesses do still enforce social distancing, in most cases individuals are left to themselves to wear masks and stand apart.

Most notoriously, de Blasio announced on May 24 that he would open the citys schools to fully in-person learning in September, with no remote option, despite the fact the vast majority of parents have chosen to keep their kids learning safely from home. De Blasio said at a press conference, One million kids will be back in their classroom in September, all in person, no remote.

Even before vaccines became widely available, state and city Democratic administrations in New York sought to decrease social distancing by opening schools and ending a brief (and barely enforced) lockdown on construction work last fall. Statewide, young children were encouraged to return to face-to-face learning and their educators were required to do so.

Even by the states own standards, a low COVID-19 infection rate means that, according to the latest statistics, in the last day 816 people were hospitalized with the disease, 549 have tested positive and there have been 13 fatalities. Since February 2020, New York state has suffered 52,852 deaths from COVID-19, 33,280 of those in New York City alone, with both figures known to be underestimates.

The decision to permit de-masking in schools has angered educators throughout the state. One science teacher told the World Socialist Web Site, Just moments ago, I found out that my district is supporting the new mask rule. I do not know how this is going to play out, but I know that I am not comfortable going to work now. I am sure that Im not alone in that feeling.

It is not clear how many local school districts will choose to drop the mask requirement. Laura Curran, the Executive of Nassau County, one of the most populous suburban counties outside of New York City, said, Ive been pushing for this change, and I am excited that our protocols are moving to match the tremendous progress we have made.

New York State Union of Teachers (NYSUT) President Andy Pallotta feigned surprise at the announcement, but acquiesced to the states decision, simply suggesting that school districts assess local conditions and connect with their educators and parents to decide the best course of action for protecting their school community.

NYSUT, an affiliate of the American Teachers Federation (AFT), is following the lead of AFT President Randi Weingarten, who demanded the full reopening of all US schools for daily in-person learning by this fall in a speech given hours before the May 13 CDC announcement on lifting mask mandates for vaccinated people.

Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) in New York City, made no comment on the announcement, although the citys Department of Education announced that it will still require masks for students and educators inside of school buildings. Mulgrew, however, has enthusiastically endorsed de Blasios decision to return to fully in-person instruction in September.

Opposition to the dropping of the mask mandate in school has been muted, not because it does not exist, but because the entire Democratic Party and trade union apparatus statewide have fully backed the reckless moves to open the economy to ensure the steady flow of profits. The dutiful corporate media reports almost exclusively on those who are in favor of dropping non-pharmaceutical COVID-19 mitigation efforts, including right-wing pro-reopening parents groups.

Social media is one of the few outlets available to educators to make their opinions known. One upstate New York teacher related on Facebook that she had run into students who are afraid to go to school tomorrow. Another said, I am high risk and am in four different classrooms and in the extremely crowded hallways between classes. I dont have any days left to go out on leave again. I am sure I am not alone.

Not only is opposition widespread on social media, it also has a political and organizational expression. The only organization in New York that has systematically opposed the reduction of COVID-19 safety measuresand the political parties and trade unions that have implemented ithas been the New York Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, which has sought to politically prepare educators to organize industrial action to shut schools until the majority of the population has been vaccinated.

On May 26, this committee met and issued a statement against the opening of New York City schools in September. This followed statements by sister committees that have been formed across the US and internationally to unite educators, parents, students and all workers across district, state and national boundaries in a common struggle.

The Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee network believes that not only the pandemic, but all vital issues that face working people, can only be addressed on a global scale. It is for that reason that it supports the foundation on May 1 of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees.

All New York educators who want to stop the community spread of COVID-19which is being actively promoted by the Democrats, the Republicans and unionsand to fight in defense of public education more broadly, should sign up today to join the Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee.
Critical developments are taking place in the South Asian island-state of Sri Lanka that workers throughout the world must be aware of and actively oppose.

Over the past two weeks, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse has issued two decrees that arbitrarily rewrite the countrys laws to strip nearly one million public sector workers of the legal right to strike.

These workers now face draconian punishments, including mass firings and lengthy jail terms, if they strike against the governments homicidal response to the pandemic and its drive to intensify the exploitation of the working class and slash public services. The decrees also criminalize any individual or organization that advocates for strike action.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse, center. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

The immediate target of the first decree, issued on May 27, was a threatened strike by 12,000 village government officers, who were demanding COVID-19 vaccinations, but it stripped hundreds of thousands of other public sector workers of their basic rights. The union representing village workers immediately called off the impending job action.

Five days later, on June 2, Rajapakse issued a second decree on the eve of a threatened walkout by workers at many major hospitals. It extended the ban on strikes to health care and other government workers.

The two decrees cover port, railway, bus transport, petroleum, gas, state bank and insurance workers; nurses, doctors and other health care workers; government administration workers, workers at state-owned food distribution companies; and employees of Sri Lankas nine provincial councils.

Workers who defy the strike ban can be fired. They also face fines of between 2,000 and 5,000 rupees, rigorous imprisonment of two to five years, the seizure of their movable and immoveable property and the removal of their professional credentials.

Any individual who seeks to incite, induce or encourage someone subject to the strike ban to not attend work, whether through a physical act or by any speech or writing, is likewise liable to fines, property seizures and jail terms of up to five years.

Without warning, let alone any public debate, basic democratic rights, including the rights to free speech and to strike that are guaranteed in Sri Lankas constitution, have been abrogated with the stroke of a pen.

The first decree makes a brief mention of the pandemic, claiming that the government services and departments under the strike ban are essential in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In reality, it is the government and the Sri Lankan ruling class that have sabotaged any science-based response to the pandemic by systemically prioritizing profit interests over saving lives.

Since April, the pandemic has surged across the island. The official death toll has more than doubled in just the past five weeks to 1,656. New infections, according to the governments figures, are currently averaging more than 3,000 per day, a gross undercount. Yet the Rajapakse government, with the full support of the opposition parties, has insisted that the economy and especially major export industries, like the garment sector, tea and rubber plantations, must keep running.

Demands for personal protective equipment (PPE) and the vaccination of frontline workers have figured large in a growing wave of public sector workers struggles, which the government fears will intersect with mounting unrest among plantation and other private sector workers.

The Rajapakse government is also looking nervously across the Palk Strait at the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where there have been numerous strikes and protests by Hyundai, Renault-Nissan and other autoworkers against the lack of COVID-19 protections amidst a catastrophic surge in the pandemic.

The Rajapakse governments herd immunity policy is the cutting edge of its drive to increase profit extraction from the working class, including through a further round of brutal IMF austerity measures.

It is all the more necessary to alert the international working class about these developments because the opposition parties, corporate media, trade unions and pseudo-left groups have all maintained a complicit silence on the decrees. Apart from a statement last Thursday from an alliance of postal, teacher and health care unions that expressed regret over the decrees, the arbitrary abrogation by presidential fiat of basic democratic rights has been completely ignored.

The government has not, as of yet, sought to deploy its new draconian powers against public sector workers. Fearful of sparking mass working class unrest, it has not initiated sanctions against more than 20,000 nurses, doctors, lab technicians and other health care workers who went ahead with a previously scheduled five-hour walkout last Thursday.

But a headlong confrontation between the Sri Lankan ruling class and its state apparatus, on the one hand, and the working class and oppressed rural toilers, on the other, is on the order of the day.

In preparation for a confrontation with the working class, Rajapakse has stacked the government apparatus with military officers who cut their teeth in the 30-year war against the islands Tamil minority; cultivated extreme right Sinhala-Buddhist organizations; and plotted to change the constitution to enhance the presidents arbitrary powers. Recently, one of Rajapakses ministers mused that the president should become more like Hitler.

The developments in Sri Lanka are of vital importance to workers around the world. The dictatorial methods employed against Sri Lankan workers will be used against workers everywhere.

Everywhere, the ruling elites are determined to make workers pay for the crisis of global capitalism, enormously exacerbated by the pandemic. The catastrophic impact of the pandemicmore than 3.5 million dead worldwideis the direct consequence of the decision of governments to prioritize corporate profits over lives. The bailout of the rich, moreover, is to be followed by the destruction of public services and increased exploitation.

But this class war program is encountering growing resistance, including from Volvo Truck workers in the US, Vale Inco miners in Canada, teachers and bus drivers in Brazil, autoworkers in India, and BHP copper miners in Chile. Resistance is increasingly breaking through the decades-long suppression of working class struggle by the corporatist trade unions and the establishment left parties.

In response, the ruling class is turning to authoritarian methods of rule, criminalizing social opposition and cultivating far-right forces. In Colombia, the US-backed Duque regime has unleashed murderous police violence against mass protests over tax increases, crushing poverty and ever-mounting social inequality. In Spain and France, there have been public coup threats from military officers.

In the US, the center of global capitalism, Trump, with the support of the Republican Party leadership and important sections of the military-security apparatus, attempted a coup in plain sight, culminating in the storming of the Capitol on January 6.

The Sri Lankan bourgeoisie is mired in debt, faces an increasingly rebellious working class, and is bitterly divided over its geopolitical orientation as South Asia has emerged as a central arena in the US offensive against China. Moreover, none of the issues that led to Sri Lankas 30-year civil war have been resolved.

Changing what needs to be changed, every capitalist ruling elite faces similar intractable problems for which its response is intensified worker exploitation, reaction, militarism and war.

The World Socialist Web Site urges workers throughout the world to come to the defense of their class brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka. In the first instance this means making known far and wide the import and significance of Rajapakses class war decrees, preparing solidarity action in support of any workers who are victimized, and intensifying the struggle to mobilize the interconnected social power of the international working class.

This requires building new organizations of struggle, rank-and-file workplace committees, independent of and in opposition to the corporatist trade unions. The development of the class struggle is demonstrating the objective unity of workers, irrespective of differences of nationality, ethnicity, race or gender. But this unity must be leavened by a conscious repudiation of all attempts to divide the working class.

In Sri Lanka the fight to unite Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim workers means opposing the state-sponsored Sinhala first policy, as well as the efforts of the Tamil bourgeoisie, who have emerged as the most vociferous proponents of Sri Lankas subordination to Washingtons war drive against China, to inculcate Tamil nationalism.

Toward this end, the International Committee of the Fourth International at its May Day online rally initiated the founding of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC).

The central problems that face the working class, from the pandemic and rampant social inequality to the danger of war and dictatorship, are global in character and can only be combated through the coordinated global action of the working class. As a crucial element in their preparations to politically confront the Rajapakse regime and the Sri Lankan bourgeoisie that stands behind it, workers in Sri Lanka must strive to unify and coordinate their struggles with workers in India, the Middle East, Europe, North America and throughout the world.

The development of a powerful counteroffensive of the working class, rallying all sections of the oppressed behind it, is inseparable from the fight to build a revolutionary socialist leadership. Workers in all sectors and in all countries must be united in a common political offensive to take power, expropriate the ruling class and establish a socialist society based on social need, not private profit.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 19:45:31|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1,582 new COVID-19 cases were registered in Afghanistan over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of infections to 82,326 in the country, a statement of the Public Health Ministry released here Monday said.

According to the statement, 56 patients died from the disease over the same period, taking the number of COVID-19 related deaths to 3,251 since the outbreak of COVID-19 in February 2020 in Afghanistan.

A total of 376 patients have recovered over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of recoveries to 58,998, the statement added.

In the statement, the ministry also warned Afghan citizens to follow the security measures and immunity advice given by the health entities, and wear masks in public places. Enditem
The Pike River Families Group (PRFG), representing 22 of the 29 men who died in the 2010 Pike River mine disaster, lodged papers in the New Zealand High Court in Wellington on June 4 seeking a judicial review of the Labour Party-Greens governments decision to abandon the underground investigation of the mine and permanently seal it.

Families of Pike River mine disaster victims and supporters outside the High Court in Wellington: (Left to right) Carol Rose, Steve Rose, Fiona Kidman, Kalani Nieper, Bernie Monk, Cloe Nieper, Paddy Brand, Kath Monk. (Image credit: WSWS Media)

The government last month rejected a Concept Plan prepared by international mining experts, on behalf of the families, which established that it is safe and technically feasible for investigators to proceed beyond two roof-falls into the mine workings. As the PRFG said in a press statement, this is crucial to examine the main fan, which has been established as the likely source of the explosion and the most critical forensic site within the mine.

The mine is the site of one of the largest homicides in New Zealand history and should be treated as a crime scene. No one has ever been prosecuted over the 29 deaths, despite a 2012 royal commission of inquiry finding overwhelming evidence that Pike River Coal breached safety regulations and laws. The companys grossly inadequate ventilation turned the mine into a methane bomb that could have exploded on dozens of occasions in the weeks leading up to the disaster.

The Labour Party and its allies, the Greens and NZ First, promised in the 2017 election to re-enter the mine to look for bodies and gather physical evidence to bring people in the companys leadership to justice. These pledges are now being brushed aside as the government rushes to shut down the investigation after exploring only the drift, or entrance tunnel.

Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns government is preparing to block the mine entrance with concrete to ensure that no one ever re-enters and the truth about the disaster is never fully known.

The families statement said Minister for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little rejected the expert plan without engaging or consulting with [the families] or their technical advisors.

Little was the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) leader at the time of the disaster, and publicly defended the company, telling the media after the first explosion there was nothing unusual about Pike River. Before the explosion, the union never publicly criticised Pike River Coal and took no action to stop its extremely unsafe operations.

Responding to Littles claims that there is no blank cheque for the investigation, the families pointed out that early on the Police advised that they were treating this investigation as a 29-man homicide. Never before has the New Zealand justice system been subjected to arbitrary fiscal restraints in this way.

Paddy Brand, the lawyer for the families, told the media outside the court: The review seeks to establish whether the promises made by Mr. Little and the current government have in fact been met [and] to challenge the decision to seal the mine without the police investigation being fully completed.

A delegation of families also visited Wellington: Bernie and Kath Monk, whose son Michael died at Pike River; Carol Rose, whose son Stu died, and her husband Steve; Cloe Nieper, who lost her husband Kane; and Cloe and Kanes 12-year-old son Kalani.

Bernie Monk addressing the media outside the High Court (Image credit: WSWS Media)

Bernie Monk told the media that the government see it as their right to stop us from going in and getting the proper evidence, which was just 130 metres away. The world is looking at this, he said, and urged New Zealanders to support the Pike River families to do what has to be done.

Monk pointed out that the mining experts supporting the families had previously advised the government on its re-entry of the drift. He said Little had not answered his questions about which experts are advising the government now.

Asked whether he was tired after more than a decade of fighting successive governments, Monk replied: Ill never be tired, because we owe it to 29 men who went to work and never came home. Our death rates in the workplace are still as high as they were then.

Steve Rose told TVNZ the families felt somewhat bullied and kicked around. The Labour Party was happy to use us prior to the [2017] election to get votes, but after recovering the drift tunnel the government had stopped short. Whats in there thats so horrible they cant bring themselves to discover? he asked.

Kalani said: I want answers, I want to know what happened. I dont want them to just seal it up and its going to be forgotten.

Writer Fiona Kidman, a long-time supporter of the Pike River families, joined them outside the High Court. She told the WSWS: A group of people sitting on the margins of the land can easily be forgotten. Its easy to sit here in Wellington and say: Well, thats over and done with. They cant see the way the Pike River mine disaster has affected people over the years, and its important to recall that.

As well as taking legal action, the Pike River Families Group has established a web site and Facebook page, and produced a powerful short video to alert the public about their fight, which until last Friday had been virtually blacked out by the media.

Pike River Mine - Help us Find the TRUTH

In the video, Cloe Nieper asks: Do you want to know what happened at Pike River mine? I do. My husband was killed there. I dont understand how 29 men were killed at work and no one has been held accountable. Kath Monk says: It is safe to enter the mine, and we have a plan that follows normal mining practices. The answers lie in the fan. If they seal the mine, they lock away forever the critical evidence, and with it, finding out what really happened, holding those responsible to account, and of making sure that this never happens again.

Another video featured on the PRFG web site, made by Michaels brother Alan Monk, highlights evidence suggesting that some men could have survived the initial underground explosion on 19 November 2010. He points out that the family of miner Allan Dixon allegedly received a phone message from him, from inside the mine, after the explosion, which was subsequently deleted by police.

Insight - by Alan Monk (4 June 2021)

The video denounces the decision to place a 100-year embargo on all the evidence examined by the 2012 royal commission. Alan Monk concludes: This fight is not only for my brother, this fight is for all of New Zealand. We cant just let government and the police cover things up.

The families are promoting an online petition, titled Help stop critical evidence in Pike River Mine from being locked away forever! So far it has more than 2,100 signatures and many comments, demonstrating the growing support for the families in the working class.

On the petition, Kylee wrote: A family members body is in that mine. How can you simply think not returning them home is okay? Disgraceful to say the least, what if it was your family member? David commented: The Government cannot be allowed to continue with this cover up. They are wasting millions elsewhere (Americas Cup [yacht race] for example) but cannot spare 8 million dollars to get to the truth.

The WSWS has received more than 100 statements of support from readers in New Zealand, Australia, Britain, the US, UK, Canada and Sri Lanka. Our perspective, Justice for the 29 miners killed at New Zealands Pike River! has been translated into five languages, bringing the Pike families struggle to the attention of workers in many countries.

We urge the working class, in New Zealand and internationally, to support this campaign. Share the Pike River families material and WSWS articles on social media, write statements of support, and oppose the Ardern governments criminal plan to seal the mine and protect the company managers and directors, government agencies and union officials who all bear responsibility for the disaster.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) under both the Trump and Biden administrations secretly sought to seize the email records of four New York Times reporters in a hunt for their sources, a top lawyer for the newspaper said on Friday.

According to the lawyer, David McCraw, the DoJ tried to obtain the email logs directly from Google, which operates the Times email system, in the final weeks of the Trump presidency and continued doing so for an unspecified time period after Biden took office in January.

Significantly, the Trump White House concealed its attempt to find the source of leaks to the Times, while the Biden administration told executives at the newspaper about what it was doing and also imposed a gag order on March 3, blocking the information from being released to the public or to the executive editor or other journalists. McCraw said that he was free to discuss the matter because a federal court had lifted the gag order.

Trump talks to members of the press [Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian]

McCraw said that there was no precedent for the government to impose a gag order on Times personnel as part of an inquiry. He also said that the seizure of the phone records of the four Times journalists, which had been reported two days earlier, without advance notice was also unprecedented.

The Biden administration informed the Times that in 2020 law enforcement had successfully seized the phone records of the four reportersMatt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eric Lichtblau and Michael S. Schmidtfrom January 14 to April 30, 2017. This disclosure followed similar recent notifications about the seizure of communications records of reporters at the Washington Post and CNN.

According to the Times report, the DoJ had secured a court order to seize the email logs, but was ultimately unsuccessful and that Google had resisted the effort to obtain the information. The article reported that while the Silicon Valley tech monopoly said it does not comment on specific cases, Google is firmly committed to protecting our customers data and we have a long history of pushing to notify our customers about any legal requests.

Although the specific subject matter of Trumps leak investigation has not been revealed, the issues can be surmised based on the names of the individual Times reporters and on the date range of the email logs being sought. The DoJ inquiry was most likely focused on a Times story from April 2017 about the way then-FBI director James Comey handled politically charged investigations during the 2016 election, most notably the DoJ investigation into the use of a private email server by Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Trump fired Comey and considered him an enemy and was seeking to find evidence sufficient to charge him with illegally disclosing classified information. The Times report says that in the transition from Trump to Biden the FBI and the career prosecutors working on the case wanted to keep the investigation open.

The report goes on to explain that in January prosecutors obtained a special sealed court order requiring Google to turn over the email logs. In court filings, the DoJ and the judge agreed that secrecy was justified in this instance because, as the judge wrote on January 5, there is reason to believe that notification of the existence of this order will seriously jeopardize the ongoing investigation, including by giving targets an opportunity to destroy or tamper with evidence.

In a statement responding to the unprecedented attack on the first amendment, New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet went through the motions by saying, Clearly, Google did the right thing, but it should never have come to this. The Justice Department relentlessly pursued the identity of sources for coverage that was clearly in the public interest in the final fifteen days of the Trump administration. And the Biden administration continued to pursue it. As I said before, it profoundly undermines press freedom.

In an effort to contain the spiraling crisis, Bidens Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued on Saturday a two-sentence release claiming that no one at the White House was aware of the gag order until Friday night because of the independence of the Justice Department in specific criminal cases. It went on to state that issuing of subpoenas for the records of reporters in leak investigations is not consistent with the Presidents policy direction, and the department has reconfirmed that it will not be used moving forward.

No such promises from the Biden White House can be taken seriously. The characterization in court documents of journalists as targets who might destroy evidence as though they were criminalswhile they were doing their job of reporting information to the public and, at the same time, protecting their sourcesis an indication of how far the state apparatus has already gone in shredding the Bill of Rights.

Who are the DoJ career prosecutors who are responsible for advancing the legal arguments in the special sealed court order that demanded the seizure of the protected communications of journalists? In addition to the fact that the Biden administration and congressional Democrats are purposely covering up the role of the fascistic right wing in the January 6 assault on the US Capitol, it is well known that during the Obama administration, for which Biden served as Vice President, the DoJ attempted to seize journalists electronic communications in several leak investigations.

Whatever the promises and protests of the Democrats or their media representatives at the New York Times and Washington Post, the entire American ruling establishment has made clear its attitude toward First Amendment rights in the case of WikiLeaks founder and editor Julian Assange. The courageous journalist remains behind bars in London and continues to face proceedings for extradition to the US on charges of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 for the crime of telling the people of the world the truth about imperialist wars and other crimes of the capitalist system internationally.
Meatpacking workers at a Smithfield Foods pork plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota rejected a proposed contract by a 99 percent margin on June 3, setting up a potential strike at a facility that provides five percent of the countrys pork production. A strike vote is being conducted by the United Food and Commercial Workers union on Monday.

The contract rejection is a further demonstration of the enormous pent-up anger and opposition among workers after a year of social murder by the worlds governments and major corporations over the course of the pandemic. In country after country, miners, health care workers, teachers and educators, autoworkers and other key sections of the working class are conducting strikes and protests.

Increasingly, corporate demands for more sacrifice, which have been supported by the trade unions, are being met with militant refusal by workers. On Sunday, Volvo Truck workers in southwestern Virginia voted down a second contract proposal by an overwhelming 90 percent, and in April, miners at Warrior Met Coal in Alabama rejected an agreement by 1,006 to 45. The deals had been backed by the United Auto Workers and United Mine Workers of America unions, respectively.

Employees and family members protest outside a Smithfield Foods processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on April 9, 2020 (AP Photo/Stephen Groves)

The meatpacking industry was already among the most unsafe in the United States before the pandemic, with one of the highest rates of industrial accidents, primarily repetitive motion injuries. Notoriously, it has also been among the worst hit by the coronavirus.

Nearly 30 percent of the 194,000 meatpacking workers in the United States have tested positive over the past year and at least 296 have died, according to the Food and Environment Reporting Network. Unsanitary and cramped conditions on the line, where proper cleaning and social distancing protocols are impossible, have made such figures inevitable.

Meatpacking plants have also been major transmission vectors into the wider community, particularly in rural areas. According to researchers from University of California, Davis, counties with large beef- or pork-packing facilities had infection rates more than double that of similar counties during the first 150 days of the pandemic. Another study by researchers from Columbia and the University of Chicago linked as many as 310,000 infections and 5,200 deaths to outbreaks at nearby meatpacking plants.

The Sioux Falls plant was the site of one of the earliest major outbreaks in the industry. Out of a workforce of 3,700, 1,294 have been infected and four have died, according to OSHA. At one point last April, the plant accounted for the large majority of coronavirus infections in the state of South Dakota. Following protests by workers, the plant was temporarily idled.

Opposition is mounting inside the plant, expressed indirectly by huge rates of absenteeism, with hundreds of workers out on long-term medical leave. Forty-nine people quit over the previous week alone, according to UFCW Local 304A President B.J. Motley.

In spite of the public health disaster centered on the plant, Smithfield is arrogantly demanding increases of roughly $200 per year to workers out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. Workers at the plant already make below the area average for the industry, with a starting wage of $17 per hour compared to $19 at a nearby JBS plant. The UFCW has said it is asking the company to back off on its health care demands and increase starting wages to the level of JBS.

Were not heroes anymore, are we? a worker with nine years at the plant, Anthony Yesker, told the Associated Press. They should at least look that we all put our lives on the line to keep the company going.

While the constant refrain in every contract negotiation is that there is simply not enough money to pay workers livable wages, provide fully paid health care and retirement, and ensure safe working conditions, this is belied by the huge sums handed over to corporate executives and shareholders throughout the social and economic crisis triggered by the pandemic. In Smithfields case, its parent company, Hong Kongs WH Group, the biggest pork processor in the world, announced over the weekend that it will spend up to $1.9 billion in a new share repurchase program in order to drive up its stock price, a move that will primarily benefit the companys largest investors.

The UFCW has felt compelled to hold a strike vote, due to the provocative demands by management and widespread anger among workers. However, throughout the pandemic the union has played the main role in ensuring the continuation of production in order to maintain the companys flow of profits. The UFCW thus bears direct responsibility for the deaths at Smithfield and other facilities throughout the country.

While Motley is now posturing as an opponent of management, Smithfield, for its own reasons, was able to cite a statement by Motley from last May praising the limited safety measures introduced by the company during its shutdown. Smithfield is doing everything they can for the employees and their safety, Motley said at the time. We stand with Smithfield to get this plant back open.

Similar statements were made last year by local UFCW officials at plants throughout the country. The most egregious example was at Tysons pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa, where the local even worked with management to introduce a perfect attendance bonus as hundreds were falling sick in the facility, and as management was taking bets on the number of workers who would catch the virus. When a scandal broke out over the betting scheme last fall, the UFCW hid behind its lawyers in response to local press inquiries. The response prompted even local Sheriff Tony Thompson, head of the countys emergency response team, to observe that the union was very comfortable with Tyson supervisors and far less representative of the workers who were getting sick.

The first thought I had was, Shame on Tyson corporate, Thompson said. But that was very closely followed by, Doesnt Tyson have a union that should be protecting these people? And if they dont, why dont they? And if they do, where the hell are they?

There is little reason to doubt that the Sioux Falls workers will vote to authorize a strike. However, a victorious struggle requires that they take the initiative into their own hands, as workers at Volvo Truck are doing in Virginia, by forming a rank-and-file committee to wage a direct struggle against both management and their lackeys in the union. For more information about forming a rank-and-file committee at your workplace, visit wsws.org/workers and sign up today.
The Dry is Australian director Robert Connollys ninth feature film. Based on Jane Harpers 2016 book of the same title, the plot centres on an investigation by Australian Federal Police (AFP) detective Aaron Falk, played by Eric Bana, of a suspected murder-suicide pact in an economically struggling rural town. The two-hour movie, which was released in Australian cinemas earlier this year, is now available on streaming services.

With local filmmakers struggling to keep their heads above water, there was, no doubt, pressure to bolster and publicise one of the declining number of Australian films produced and released each year.

Eric Bana in the The Dry

Varietys Richard Kuipers praised the movie, ambiguously insisting that the contradictory nature of Aussies embracing romantic visions of their vast continent, while holding deep fears of its dry interior, is never far from the surface. Influential local critic, David Stratton for the Australian newspaper, declared it to be Connollys best work yet and gave it four out of five stars.

While Connollys latest movie is a sincere effort, it is largely, however, a missed artistic opportunity, skating across the surface and individualising the social tragedy it examines.

The Dry opens with Falk returning, after a 20-year absence, to his hometown of Kiewarra (a fictional amalgam of rural Australian towns) to attend the funeral of Luke, a childhood friend. It appears that Luke murdered his wife and young son, before ending his own life. Falk doesnt want to get involved, but is persuaded by Lukes parents to investigate the tragedy because they do not believe everything is as it seems.

Falk begins by going over the events leading up to the incident, including the fact that Lukes body was found, not at his family home but at a now dry riverbed, and starts interviewing those with nearby properties.

The federal policeman is harassed by some of the townspeople in response to his investigations. It is revealed, through a series of flashbacks and run-ins with locals, that he and his father fled the town after the death of 17-year-old Elle Deacon, (Bebe Bettencourt), who was found drowned in the same river decades before. Deacons father Mal (William Zappa) and her cousin Grant (Matt Nable) still harbour deep hostilities and suspicion toward Falk, whom they regard as the prime suspect in Elles death.

At the same time, Falk runs into Gretchen (Genevieve OReilly), another friend from that period, who now works at the local primary school. While revisiting old memories, both nostalgic and painful, they soon find themselves romantically involved. Bana and OReilly have considerable chemistry and convincingly replicate the complexity of emotions two people with such a shared history would have.

The Dry (Credit: IFC Films)

Despite the hostilities and tight lips of the locals, Falk studiously follows various leads, including the fact that the shotgun shells that Luke owned were different to those used in the apparent murder-suicide. The plot contains a few red herrings and sub plots that stem from the social and economic problems facing the drought-stricken community. Grant is suspected of wishing to buy Lukes farm, though he denies it; Gretchen has a child, but is unable to explain who the father is; the towns only police officer focuses on issues of school funding, which Lukes wife Karen was grappling with.

The Dry has certain strengths that allow it to rise slightly above the usual fare currently being made by the Australian film and television industry. The cast members all give solid performances, with genuine empathy towards those struggling in the economically harsh rural environment. The cinematography is of a high standard, effectively capturing the unique bushland, riverbeds and harsh semi-desert terrain.

The tough and brittle life for many small farmers and others, struggling in much of rural Australia, certainly cry out for serious and sensitive dramatic explorations. Farmers and small regional towns confronting huge debts, failing crops or unemployment have significantly higher suicide rates than the rest of the population. Gambling, addiction and other social ills are widespread.

The Dry, however, tends to present these social problems as individual and psycho-sexual aberrations. The social and economic factors are largely an exotic backdrop to the narrative, rather than finding expression in problems and collisions that drive the story and which, in turn, inform the actions of the characters.

Ultimately the revelations presented at the end of the film have little to do with the circumstances the characters have been battling out, or, at least, they are not sufficiently drawn out from the latter. The story, unfortunately, never fully rises above the level of a tragic, interpersonal small-town drama.

Is Kiewarra simply a black hole, as the hotel bartender asides, or is this a common situation for rural areas across Australia in the third decade of the 21st century. This is not explored. The suffering of the population, in fact, is almost taken as a given for rural communities, despite the time or place, and simply due to the unforgiving forces of nature.

Significantly, none of the main characters utters a word of criticism against the authorities, nor do they ever complain that they have been economically and socially abandoned. That is simply not realistic. Initially, most of the townspeople passively accept Lukes murder-suicide, and insist that Falk should simply move on.

No-one, apart from Lukes parents and the AFP detective, questions why the tragedy occurred, what broader processes might be involved, or what might be done to avoid this in the future. All in all, the prevailing community sentiment is a socially discontented but defeatist one. This is false and unconvincing.

Connolly has taken a more socially critical stance in previous films. These included Balibo (2009), which told the story of the Balibo Five, a group of Australian journalists who were captured and killed while reporting on activities just prior to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, in 1975, and Underground: The Julian Assange Story (2012), about journalist and publisher Julian Assanges younger pre-WikiLeaks years. Hopefully, Connolly will return to this more challenging approach in future works.
Ex-president Donald Trump appeared as the keynote speaker of the state Republican Party convention in North Carolina Saturday night, embracing the lies against China that have dominated the American corporate media for the past two weeks.

The bulk of Trumps meandering and interminable 90-minute speech consisted of disgusting self-glorification and the appeals to anti-immigrant bigotry, religious prejudice and American nationalism that have characterized all his appearances at campaign-style political rallies.

He saluted the police, the military and the border patrol, while denouncing the policies of the Biden administration from the standpoint of the extreme right. He combined this with praise for his own four years in the White House and denunciations of the 2020 elections as rigged because so many people relied on mail-in voting because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the North Carolina Republican Convention on June 5, 2021 in Greenville, North Carolina (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

The Wall Street Journal, whose editorial page was largely aligned with the Trump administration and is politically hostile to Biden, nonetheless noted the extraordinary character of Trumps remarks. It wrote in its coverage of the speech, Never before in U.S. history has a former president returned to the campaign trail to claim that his election loss was fraudulent. But in his informal reemergence on the political scene before the GOP faithful at the North Carolina GOP convention in Greenville, Donald Trump did just that, insistingfalselythat the 2020 race was stolen and corrupt.

Trump also evinced a certain nervousness about the ongoing investigations into the Trump Organization being conducted by New York City and state prosecutors. They have subpoenaed massive amounts of business and tax records, and last week interrogated a top financial officer of the family-owned business, which Trump now runs himself, after a four-year period when his two oldest sons were in charge.

None of this would deserve more than passing mention, if that. What was new in the speech was the political platform Trump has been provided by the corporate media and the Biden administration for a full-throated denunciation of China as the cause of both the pandemic and Trumps own political misfortunes.

The Democrats and the so-called experts are now finally admitting what I first said 13 months ago, Trump gloated. The evidence demonstrates that the virus originated in a Chinese government lab.

He continued: The time has come for America and the world to demand reparations and accountability from the Communist Party of China. We should all declare within one unified voice that China must pay. The United States should immediately take steps to phase in a firm 100 percent tariff on all goods made in China.

With his right-wing audience giving him a standing ovation, Trump called for a minimum of $10 trillion in reparations from China. At the same time, he noted that while his administration had done an incredible job in handling the coronavirus, his critics had been saying, Look how well Indias doing. Well, Indias not doing too well now.

Trump thus expressed sadistic glee over the mounting death toll in India, where the right-wing government of Narendra Modi is pursuing the same policy of profits over lives that Trump carried out in the White Houseand which the Biden administration is continuing, albeit with different rhetoric and tone.

The former president made no mention of the 400,000 Americans who died of COVID-19 during his time in office. Instead, he praised himself for the rapid development of the vaccinesfor which scientists, many of them at government agencies he vilified, are responsible, not the ignoramus-in-chief, who was promoting quack remedies and bleach injections.

Significantly, Trump did not address the fact that self-identified Republicans, and particularly his own supporters, are reportedly the most resistant section of the American population to getting the vaccine. He praised himself for the delivery of the vaccine but did not tell his own supporters to get vaccinated, demonstrating that he has no more concern for the lives of Americans than for those of the people of India.

It is politically critical that Trump has been provided a new basis for political agitation by the embrace of anti-China slanders by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and all the broadcast networks, as well as President Biden, who has ordered an investigation into the origins of COVID-19 conducted by the intelligence agencies.

Since Biden assigned this task to the CIA and similar outfits, which have no medical expertise but plenty of experience in frame-ups and provocations, rather than to the NIH and CDC, it is clear that the administration expects the intelligence community to produce a propaganda case for global sanctions against China.

In embracing what they all know is a conspiracy theory concocted by Chinese exiles and fascistic provocateurs like Steve Bannon, Trumps former campaign chairman and White House adviser, the US political establishment has given new political life to the widely discredited fabrications of Trump and his most deranged supporters.

After all, if Trump is proven correct, as he boasted at the North Carolina rally, in indicting Beijing for producing the China virus and the Kung flu, shouldnt his other equally false claims be reconsidered? Why not revisit the question of the stolen election, or even the presentation of the January 6 attack on Congress as a peaceful protest by Trump supporters, despite all the evidence to the contrary?

Trump concluded his remarks with a lengthy rehash of his claims about the 2020 elections, which he described as the crime of the century. He praised the ongoing audit of Maricopa County, Arizona and efforts to force similar probes in Pennsylvania and Georgia, three of the five battleground states that decided the outcome in the Electoral College.

He declared that thousands of dead people and illegal immigrants had voted in the election and were responsible for his defeat and hailed the efforts of Republican-controlled state legislatures to enact provisions that will make it harder for poor and working-class voters to cast ballots. We all know what happened with the election, he said. And we can never, ever let that happen again.

Trumps appearance at the North Carolina dinner is to be followed by public rallies in support of Republican candidates he has endorsed in Ohio, Florida, Alabama and Texas over the next two months.
25 years ago: Northern Ireland peace talks open in Belfast

Map showing primary religious background of Northern Irelands population. Source: Wikipedia

On June 10, 1996, all-party talks on a political settlement in Northern Ireland opened in Belfast, with Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, initially excluded and with Protestant delegates objecting to the proposed chairman of the session, former US senator and close advisor to the Clinton administration, George Mitchell.

British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Prime Minister John Bruton refused to allow Sinn Fein representatives to attend the talks, demanding assurances from the IRA that it would observe an indefinite ceasefire. The IRA broke an earlier 17-month ceasefire agreement with a series of bomb explosions in London in February earlier that year. Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, was being urged to have the ceasefire renewed in order to continue the talks. Adams told the press he was in favor of the appointment of Mitchell.

The talks convened with delegations apportioned according to balloting June 2 which strengthened both hardline Protestant and Catholic groups. Sinn Fein won 15 percent of the vote, then its biggest ever total, while the Democratic Unionist Party of Ian Paisley won 19 percent, up from 13.1 percent in the 1992 parliamentary elections.

The most significant aspect of the new talksthe latest round in a diplomatic process which had extended over two yearswas the British acceptance of an international, and especially an American, role. The discussions were presided over by a three-member international commission, chaired by Mitchell, with representatives John de Chastelain of Canada and Harri Holkeri of Finland as well.

Paisley denounced the appointment of Mitchell, a Roman Catholic and US official, as unacceptable foreign interference in the affairs of a British province. This position, the traditional attitude of London toward a US role in Irish affairs, was later that year abandoned by the Major government.

The American framework for peace was based not only on the acceptance, but on the perpetuation of religious divisions between Protestant and Catholic, in which the reactionary Unionists and the religious-nationalist Sinn Fein were accepted as the legitimate representatives of the people. The central task confronting Irish and British workers for more than a century, however, had been to throw off the competing nationalist factions and build a united socialist movement against British, and now American, imperialism.

50 years ago: Mexican military massacres 120 student protesters

Luis Echeverria Alvarez

On June 10, 1971, around 120 student protesters were gunned down in Mexico City by a paramilitary black operations group known as Los Halcones. The mass killing is known as the Corpus Christi Massacre or El Halconazo, The Hawk Strike.

The massacre happened in the context of immense social unrest and state repression in Mexico during the 1960s and 70s. During this period, known as the Dirty War, the Mexican government, with CIA training and funding, carried out a reign of terror targeting left-wing students and workers. Thousands were killed, arrested, tortured, or disappeared.

The Halconazo came three years after the Tlatelolco massacre when Mexican police and military opened fire on a similar demonstration where as many as 400 students were killed.

In May 1971, a strike wave emerged across several colleges including the University of Nuevo Leon, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and National Polytechnic Institute. Students and professors opposed cuts to education and threats to limit the autonomy of the universities to conduct research and education, as well as mounting social inequality and police-state measures.

The June 10 march was planned to build mass support for the university strikes. Hundreds of students and supporters marched and gathered at the Plaza del Zocalo to protest the government of President Luis Echeverria Alvarez.

As the students gathered, they immediately found the city in a state resembling a military occupation. Riot police, military, armored cars, and tanks lined the streets. Not long after the students had gathered and begun their protest, the CIA-trained Halcones, dressed in plainclothes, attacked the unarmed students, at first with bamboo sticks.

The students stood their ground and defended themselves against the beatings, at first repelling the initial assault. Then the Halcones unloaded rifles and machine guns from vans on the defenseless students, who could only attempt to run or hide.

The police and military surrounding the shooting stood by as the students were killed and blocked off those attempting to escape, taking many into custody who would never be seen again. Some who managed to leave the plaza attempted to take wounded students to the nearby hospital. However, Halcones members had gone to the hospitals to continue their brutal assault, killing some protestors while still in operating rooms.

No serious attempt to hold those responsible for the massacre has been made. Only over 30 years later, in the mid-2000s, were charges brought against former President Echeverria. However, it was ruled by the Mexican courts that the statute of limitations had expired. In 2009, a federal court dropped the charges of mass killing against him.

75 years ago: Fourth International advances revolutionary perspective after World War II

An anti-fascist strike in Turin, 1946. Source: Archivio Storico della Citta di Torino

In June 1946, the Fourth International, the world Trotskyist movement, published for the first time a resolution that it had adopted at its second international conference, held in Belgium two months earlier, titled The New Imperialist Peace and the Building of the Parties of the Fourth International.

The document rejected claims that the end of World War II the previous year had ushered in a new period of capitalist stability. The war has aggravated the disorganization of capitalist economy and has destroyed the last possibilities of a relatively stable equilibrium in social and international relations, the resolution stated.

The document analyzed the immense crisis of European capitalism, as a result of the crisis of the war, as well as the emergence of the US as the predominant imperialist power.

Thanks to the circumstances of the war, American imperialism has effected a penetration throughout the world on a scale never before attained by any other imperialism, and it has actually become the principal manufacturer and banker of the capitalist world, the resolution explained. While couching its policies in democratic phraseology, the American capitalist class was allying with reactionary and fascistic forces throughout Europe and around the world to head off socialist revolution.

The Fourth International noted the political radicalization of millions of workers around the world, reflected in a wave of strikes, protests and upheavals at the end of the world war. It anticipated a major intensification of the mass struggle against colonialism.

Making a balance sheet of experiences over the previous several years, the resolution stated: Only the superficial and cowardly petty-bourgeois mind can see a refutation of our revolutionary perspective in these facts: that war did not, either during its course or immediately thereafter, bring about the revolution in Europe; that the German revolution has not taken place; that the traditional organizations, and foremost among them the Stalinist parties, have experienced a new and powerful rise.

While recognizing that all of these facts represent so many defeats for the revolutionary proletariat, the Fourth International cannot for one moment forget that the mortal crisis of capitalism, the destruction of its equilibrium, the sharpening of all of its fundamental contradictions, constitute far more important facts, and upon them rest our revolutionary perspective and our vastly increased opportunities for building the revolutionary party.

100 years ago: D.H Lawrences novel Women in Love published

D.H. Lawrence, 1929 passport photo

On June 10, 1921, a commercial edition of D. H. Lawrences modernist classic, Women in Love, was finally published in England by Martin Secker. Lawrence had written the novel in 1916 but it had been rejected by publisher after publisher because of frank discussions of sex.

The novel concerns the emotional and sexual relationships of the Brangwen sisters, Ursula, a teacher, and Gudrin a painter, and their partners, Rupert Birkin, a school inspector, and Gerald Crich, the owner of a coal mine. The characters discuss politics and morality and have contrasting and sometimes violent relationships with each other.

The novel has been debated for decades as to whether it effectively and honestly displays the psychology of the two women, and women in general. Nevertheless, the novel has been seen as a breakthrough in attempting to deal with inner life. One critic has noted that Lawrence was writing with a vivid, bristling immediacy that captures the freshness of sense impressions as they register upon the mind.

A limited American edition was published in the United States, available by subscription only, in 1920, but it was almost impossible for Lawrence to get the work published in England for a wider readership. As late as 1920, Secker was proposing to put out a censored edition, in which the publisher asked Lawrence to make two or three excisions or paraphrases in the text. Lawrence refused and Secker published only 1,500 copies and sent few review copies.

The book still circulated and generated both praise and anger. One right-wing journal wrote, [the] production is an obscene abomination. The police must act. The book was not challenged on the basis of obscenity laws, although an acquaintance of Lawrence did take out a libel suit, alleging that one of the characters was based on him. Lawrence rewrote some passages and agreed to a monetary payment out of court.

A later novel of Lawrences, Lady Chatterleys Lover (1928), was the object of a famous obscenity trial, when the publisher of the full version, Penguin Books was prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act in Britain in 1959.
Latest breaking news: "Volvo Trucks workers in Virginia renew strike after defeating second UAW sellout deal." Volvo workers can contact the Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee by email at volvowrfc@gmail.com or by text at (540) 307-0509.

Volvo Truck workers at the New River Valley plant in Dublin, Virginia on Sunday decisively defeated a six-year labor agreement proposed by the United Auto Workers. The result was overwhelming, with 90 percent of hourly workers and 91 percent of salaried workers rejecting the pro-company deal.

Workers reported that the turnout among the nearly 3,000 workers at the plant was even larger than the first vote on May 16, when 91 percent of hourly workers and 83 percent of salaried workers voted no. In the days leading up to Sundays vote, the statement by the Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee calling for a no vote was widely circulated throughout the factory.

The tally for the vote on the second UAW-backed agreement (UAW Local 2069)

After being forced to accept deep concessions over the last three UAW contracts, workers are determined to overturn the multi-tier wage and benefit system, win substantial pay improvements, and oppose attempts to impose higher healthcare costs, a 10-hour workday and reductions in retiree benefits.

Top UAW national and regional officials who were invited by Volvo management to campaign for the contract inside the factory on Friday were met with anger and derision by workers when they claimed there was no money to improve the deal.

While demanding further givebacks from workers, Volvo Trucks parent company, Swedish-based Volvo Group, is planning to hand out roughly $2.3 billion to shareholders, the proceeds from the sale of its Japan-based subsidiary UD Trucks. This comes on top of the companys largest dividend payment in its history earlier this year of approximately $3.68 billion.

Volvo workers told the World Socialist Web Site that there was an overwhelming sentiment for a struggle. People are too mad, too eager, and they want this to be taken care of now, said one worker. The union bigwigs went into the plant to talk and change everyones minds, but it backfired. [Local 2069 President] Matt Blondino said he was sorry they couldnt get a better contract, but we had to pay more for health insurance because the pay scale was going up.

The worker added: One worker who lost $7 an hour in 2008 told Blondino, You shoved these givebacks down our throats and told us times were lean and we had to help. Youre still screwing us when the company is making billions. Right now, the union is not held in high regard. People are annoyed with them making excuses for the company and want to get them out of there. This company is paying out billions in dividends to its investors, and they have to share the wealth with the people who are making them the money.

Speaking about the role of the Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee, the worker said, The committee played a big part in this. If it wasnt for the statements, it wouldnt have kept everyone going. Every day, workers were going to your website [the WSWS]. Staying informed and having a committee was a big deal. Our statements kept everyone informed and engaged.

Now workers need a strategy to take the fight forward, he said, warning that the UAW was going to keep coming back with rotten contracts. I dont know what crap theyre going to bring back. Some of the old heads say itll take 2-3 more rejections before they bring back anything better. This should have been taken care of years ago. I dont think the UAW wants us to strike. We technically could be on strike right now. There will probably be some notice posted on the locals Facebook page by tomorrow afternoon.

Its going to be a fight to get away from them [the UAW] and build something new. But everybody wants something. We all stuck together. We have to keep giving out the committee statements.

Hard times are coming, and the stock market could crash. In the past few years, peoples eyes have been opening. Its not just Volvo, its the coal miners in Alabama, its the people in India who are no different from us. They work just as hard as we do.

Workers at the New River Valley plant (Photo: Volvo Group)

Another Volvo worker said, This is another vote to show we are not happy with their crappy contracts. They are going to have to try a little harder. If they bring back another rotten one, well vote it down too.

The UAW really pushed hard for this to pass. One worker recorded a video of him confronting a union official over cuts to retiree benefits. He said, Everybody in this plant at some point is going to be a retiree. The company is just trying to starve them and put them in poverty. Not too much later, they pulled the video off the internet.

The committee definitely helped defeat this contract. It raised awareness and gave the workers a voice to express their growing sentiment against the company and the union. They saw the open letter [to UAW officials] and other statements of opposition. They were angry that the company is handing out dividends to the rich and giving us handouts.

The big question is: Where do we go from here? The rumors are that Volvo might be running out of parts soon and would rather have us out on strike than have us on unemployment benefits.

Another worker added, I love it, everyone is sticking together. He said the UAW leaders will still get good pay if there is a strike while workers will be getting $275 a week in strike pay instead of making $800-1000 a week they are used to.

In a statement released Friday, titled, We need a strategy to win! the VWRFC rejected efforts by the UAW to intimidate workers with threats of a long, futile strike. We say that a strike is our weapon. It must be used to threaten the company, not the workers. It outlines a strategy to win a fight against the company, including the unification of the struggle at Volvo with the struggles of other sections of the working class.

The massive defeat at the NRV plant is the latest expression of growing opposition among workers throughout the US and internationally, enormously intensified by the ruling class response to the pandemic. These struggles are developing in direct conflict with the corporatist trade unions.

In Alabama, 1,100 coal miners have been on strike against Warrior Met for two months after overwhelmingly rejecting a contract backed by the United Mine Workers of America. In Sudbury, Ontario, 2,400 miners walked out against Vale Inco after rejecting a contract backed by the United Steelworkers, which agreed to a special one-year contract in June 2020 to keep workers on the job during the pandemic.

Other significant struggles include those of nurses in Massachusetts and steelworkers at ATI in Pennsylvania and other states; teachers and bus drivers in Brazil; auto workers in India; and copper miners in Chile.

The development of these struggles into a coordinated counteroffensive against the ruling class requires the building of a network of rank-and-file committees like that established by workers at Volvo. To this end, the International Committee of the Fourth International has initiated the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees.

Volvo workers: Contact the Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee by email at volvowrfc@gmail.com or by text at (540) 307-0509.
Over the past month, the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal have all published editorials and op-eds endorsing the credibility of the theory that COVID-19 was released from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.

The majority of these editorials and op-eds cite the writings of Nicholas Wade, the former New York Times journalist who, in a May 5 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, translated what began as a nakedly political hoax into quasi-scientific language.

Wade argued that Shi Zheng-li, Chinas leading expert on bat viruses, received funding from the National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with zoologist Peter Daszak, to genetically manipulate bat coronaviruses which he claims could have created SARS-CoV-2 and allowed it to escape into the city of Wuhan.

Nicholas Wade in 2005 (Photo: Jane Gitschier / Creative Commons) and the cover of his 2014 book, "A Troublesome Inheritance'

But none of these articles mention the fact that Wade is a known serial fabricator and a leading advocate of racist pseudo-science, whose 2014 book arguing for a genetic basis for differences in intelligence between races was condemned by the scientists whose research he cited, together with more than 140 other leading human developmental biologists.

Nor do they mention that Wades book was hailed by former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duketogether with other neo-Nazisas a blow against Jewish Supremacists.

Over the past month, Wades writings have been cited by the following articles, which used his arguments as the linchpin of their claims that COVID-19 could have been released from the Wuhan Institute of Virology:

 A May 17 editorial by the Washington Post, entitled, Two possible theories of the pandemics origins remain viable. The world needs to know:

Did some byproduct of the research leak, or did workers become inadvertently infected? Was the research carried out in less protected BSL-2 laboratories instead of the more secure BSL-4? Did Dr. Shi successfully manipulate a virus in the lab to add genetic features boosting affinity for human cells, as science journalist Nicholas Wade has suggested in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists?

 A May 25 fact checker article in the Washington Post, headlined, How the Wuhan lab-leak theory suddenly became credible:

Former New York Times science reporter Nicholas Wade, writing in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, reviews the evidence and makes a strong case for the lab-leak theory.

 A May 29 op-ed by Ross Douthat in the New York Times, headlined, Why the Lab Leak Theory Matters:

This is especially true if theres any chance that the Covid-19 virus was engineered, in so-called gain of function research, to be more transmissible and lethala possibility raised by, among others, a former science writer for this newspaper, Nicholas Wade.

 A May 31 op-ed by Bret Stephens in the New York Times, headlined, Media Groupthink and the Lab-Leak Theory:

Was it smart for science reporters to accept the authority of a February 2020 letter, signed by 27 scientists and published in The Lancet, feverishly insisting on the natural origin of Covid? Not if those reporters had probed the ties between the letters lead author and the Wuhan lab (a fact, as the science writer Nicholas Wade points out in a landmark essay in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, that has been public knowledge for months).

 A June 3 op-ed by Marc A. Thiessen in the Washington Post, headlined, The case that the virus emerged from nature, not a lab, is falling apart:

Nicholas Wadea science reporter for nearly 50 years at Science, Nature and the New York Timespoints out in his exhaustive report for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists that during the SARS1 epidemic, the intermediate host (civet cats bred for human consumption) was identified in just four months.

 A May 7 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by James Freeman, headlined, China, Fauci and the Origins of Covid:

In an exhaustive account of the viral possibilities published this week by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Nicholas Wade argues that the Chinese lab is the most likely source of the world-wide agony.

On May 6, 2014, Wade published a book titled, A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History. The book, according to the New York Times review by David Dobbs, says modern genetics shows that the three major races, Africans, Caucasians and East Asians, are genetically distinct races that diverge much as subspecies do, and that their genetic differences underlie the rise of the West.

The New York Times report notes that Wade tells, for instance, of specific gene variants that reputedly create less trust and more violence in African-Americans and, he says, explain their resistance to modern economic institutions and practices.

It goes on to flay Wades pseudo-scientific method, declaring, he does this sort of thing repeatedly: He constantly gathers up long shots, speculations and spurious claims, then declares they add up to substantiate his case  The result is a deeply flawed, deceptive and dangerous book.

Eric Michael Jonson, writing in Scientific American, made similar criticisms in an essay entitled On the Origin of White Power, which provides a devastating critique of Wades book:

Nicholas Wade is not a racist. In his new book, A Troublesome Inheritance, the former science writer for the New York Times states this explicitly. It is not automatically racist to consider racial categories as a possible explanatory factor. He then explains why white people are better because of their genes.

The article in Scientific American notes passages in Wades book such as the following:

From a glance at an Eskimos physique, it is easy to recognize an evolutionary process at work that has molded the human form for better survival in an arctic environment. Populations that live at high altitudes, like Tibetans, represent another adaptation to extreme environments; in this case, the changes in blood cell regulation are less visible but have been identified genetically. The adaptation of Jews to capitalism is another such evolutionary process (emphasis added).

For these and other passages, Wades book was hailed by leading white supremacists and anti-Semites, including the website of David Duke, who welcomed it as a fascinating insight into how Jewish Supremacists attempt to guard the gates of scientific debate, declaring there is indeed a biological basis to race.

The fascist Daily Stormer praised Wade's book

The scientists whose work Wade misinterpreted condemned his book in a letter to the New York Times, denouncing his misappropriation of research from our field to support arguments about differences among human societies. The letter concludes,

Wade juxtaposes an incomplete and inaccurate account of our research on human genetic differences with speculation that recent natural selection has led to worldwide differences in I.Q. test results, political institutions and economic development. We reject Wades implication that our findings substantiate his guesswork. They do not We are in full agreement that there is no support from the field of population genetics for Wades conjectures.

The three leading co-signers were joined by a total of 143 faculty members in population genetics and evolutionary biology.

In the dozens of pages of commentary in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal citing Wades writings, his role as a serial fabricator and purveyor of white supremacist pseudo-science is never mentioned.

This raises an obvious question: How did repeated citations of a leading white supremacist ideologue and serial liar get through the fact checkers employed by Americas three leading newspapers?

After all, when New York Times columnist Bret Stephens quoted from a 2005 paper by Gregory Cochran, Jason Hardy and Henry Harpending, which declared, Ashkenazi Jews have the highest average I.Q. of any ethnic group for which there are reliable data, the New York Times was forced to issue an embarrassing retraction, declaring:

An earlier version of this Bret Stephens column quoted statistics from a 2005 paper that advanced a genetic hypothesis for the basis of intelligence among Ashkenazi Jews. After publication Mr. Stephens and his editors learned that one of the papers authors, who died in 2016, promoted racist views. Mr. Stephens was not endorsing the study or its authors views, but it was a mistake to cite it uncritically.

But that exact paper was fully embraced by Wade in his 2014 book as The only serious recent attempt by researchers to delve into the links between Jewish genetics and intelligence.

In his arguments in support of the Wuhan lab conspiracy theory, Wade carries out exactly the type of argumentation for which the New York Times reviewer condemned him in 2014: He constantly gathers up long shots, speculations and spurious claims, then declares they add up to substantiate his case.

Responding to a question from the WSWS on Twitter, Georgetown University virologist Dr. Angela Rasmussen concluded Wades book on human genetics is actually his on the record beliefs on the genetic basis for intelligence distorted through a lens of racist pseudoscience.

She added, So when he puts forth hypotheses about virus origins that are built on a foundation of racist stereotypes, his priors as a purveyor of bullsh*t books about nonexistent genetic links between race & intelligence arent considered by the reports citing him.

What could possibly account for the reliance by all three leading US newspapers on a discredited serial fabricator and promoter of racist pseudo-science in their efforts to promote the Wuhan lab theory?

The reliance upon and uncritical citation of Wade can only be explained by the fact that this theory is a lie from beginning to end. Its proponents are willing to accept any claimno matter how filthy and discreditedto further their preconceived aims of distracting attention from the policies responsible for the massive death and suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and redirecting it into xenophobia and nationalist hatred against China.
The following speech was delivered by Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) General Secretary Wije Dias to an online public meeting organised by the SEP, The Covid-19 pandemic and the need for a socialist strategy. The meeting, directed to workers and youth in Sri Lanka, India and throughout South Asia, was held on May 30.

Comrades,

This public meeting marks a new and higher stage in the struggle of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and its Sri Lankan section, the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) to build the Indian section of the ICFI. The participation of the national secretaries of the SEPs in the USA, comrade Joseph Kishore and in Canada, comrade Keith Jones and also the assistant national secretary of the SEP France, comrade Gnana, on this platform, is a powerful expression of the importance and urgency given to that task by the ICFI.

The founder of the Fourth International, Leon Trotsky, in writing an open letter addressed to the Indian workers, on the eve of the catastrophic Second World War, in July 1939, ended it with the following words:

Complete independence from the bourgeoisie is indispensable to the proletariat, above all in order to exert influence on the peasantry, the predominant mass of Indias population. Only the proletariat is capable of advancing a bold, revolutionary agrarian program, of rousing and rallying tens of millions of peasants and leading them in struggle against the native oppressors and imperialism.

We continue the struggle advocated by Trotsky on the basis of the theory of Permanent Revolution, to found the Marxist revolutionary party to educate and mobilise the working people and youth to fight against the false promises of the Indian bourgeoisie and the naked treachery of the Stalinist communist parties and their pseudo-left hangers on.

SEP (Sri Lanka) General Secretary Wije Dias

As the previous speakers have explained, today world humanity, including we who live in South Asia, is confronted with the biggest terrible menace since the Second World War. In India, the responsibility for this catastrophic pandemic situation lies squarely with the bourgeois government of Narendra Modi, propped up by the treacherous Stalinists of the CPI, CPI(M) and several other petty-bourgeois fake-left groups and trade unions.

After World War II, as part of the reactionary world settlement between global powers, under the hegemony of US imperialism and the Moscow Stalinist bureaucracy, a deal was worked out for fake independence for the British colonies in South Asia. Under this scheme, India was subjected to a bloody irrational partition, on Hindu and Muslim religious lines, as India and Pakistan. In Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) brutal parliamentary Acts were passed to deport over one million immigrant Tamil workers.

The revisionists, of the Pablo-Mandel variety, that developed within the Fourth International, shamelessly adapted to the reactionary post-war settlement and dissolved the Trotskyist revolutionary parties into Stalinist and bourgeois nationalist parties. That is how the Indian section of the Fourth International, the Bolshevik-Leninist party of an undivided India, founded in 1942, with its sections in Sri Lanka and Myanmar (then Burma), was liquidated.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the need for a socialist strategy (Wije Dias begins speaking at 1:55.14)

The ICFI was founded in 1953, to fight and eradicate Pabloism from the Fourth International and rescue its revolutionary internationalist program. To make a long story short, after a long drawn-out struggle, the ICFI was able to bring to a successful conclusion that struggle against revisionism in 1985-86. The book-length record of this struggle and its important lessons, in this region, is presented in the document, The International and Historical Foundations of the SEP-Sri Lanka, now available on the internet.

The attempts made by the SEP-Sri Lanka to build a revolutionary party in India were enormously strengthened by the founding of the World Socialist Web Site in 1998. Through it, the ICFIs struggle to build the world party of socialist revolution was brought to the instant notice of working people and youth on every continent.

Historical necessity, and the validity of the struggle to bring to the working class the Trotskyist perspective of world socialism, has been revealed today more than ever before. At the same time, the situation has unraveled the treacherous role played by all those parties and groups, which opposed that struggle, under various banners of peoples fronts, to defend barbaric capitalism and the rule of the elite class. This is most explicit in India, more than any other country in the world.

Previous speakers have explained, with genuine statistics in hand, what a tragic situation was wrought upon the working people and oppressed poor by capitalist rule on a world scale, and in India in particular. This situation will exacerbate the disaster waiting to happen, due to the escalation of war tensions in the region by US imperialism, which consciously works to make India a cats paw in the aggression against China. Despite all the chauvinist boastings of every bourgeois party, the Congress party included, they have displayed their complete subservience to the strongest imperialist military power. The Indian bourgeoisie, as the main policeman for US imperialism in the region, is working hard to bring the whole of South Asia into the maelstrom of a nuclear war.

The resistance of working people is developing in this region, as well as around the world, against the ruling classes, which are responsible for the increasing devastation due to the pandemic and the intensification of war tensions. We have seen two general strikes in India last year, and tens of thousands of farmers involved in a protest for over six months.

As comrade Joe explained in his remarks: The experience of the past year has not been in vain, but has had a profoundly radicalising impact on the consciousness of masses of workers and youth throughout the world. For workers throughout the world critical questions of program and perspectives are raised.

These are the questions of the international workers movement that are also addressed by the ICFI and the World Socialist Web Site every day.

It is urgently necessary to develop a chain of rank-and-file action committees, independent of the trade unions, which stand as a barrier and betray every militant initiative of workers in every country. Rank-and-file committees must be coordinated on a world scale, in line with the call issued by the ICFI, for a Workers International Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees. This is to facilitate a global struggle for a socialist solution to the global pandemic and world war.

The decisive task for the realisation of this program is the building of ICFI sections in every country, including India. It is the only way to realise the program for a federation of socialist states in South Asia. We invite all listeners today, to join the struggle initiated by the Sri Lankan section of the ICFI in this region.
Chilean mine workers are confronting a bitter fight in their two-week-old strike against Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton amidst a surge of COVID-19 infections and deaths.

Workers not only must deal with corporate giants who, buoyed by historic high copper prices, are scrambling to fully reactivate mining activity regardless of the human cost. They are also coming into conflict with the corporatist unions which during the pandemic again demonstrated their subservience and loyalty to management and the government by helping to keep the mining industry operational.

Copper has reached its highest price in a decade with the push to reopen the global economy. China is leading the demand for the metal as Washington is promising a US$2 trillion infrastructure plan. Supply shortages have also played a role as reduced output due to COVID-19 has shrunk international inventories.

S&P forecasts that total copper consumption will be more than double todays total world production of 20 million tons. Beyond 2020, we forecast that consumption will outstrip production over the period to 2024, resulting in a growing refined market deficit and increasing copper prices, S&P commodity analyst Thomas Rutland said in a news release.

We estimate that by-mid decade this growth in green demand alone will match, and then quickly surpass, the incremental demand China generated during the 2000s, Goldman Sachs said in a report on copper released in April. Ripple effects into non-green channels mean the 2020s are expected to be the strongest phase of volume growth in global copper demand in history.

All the major players who privately own 71 percent of copper mines and 100 percent of lithium mines in ChileBHP Billiton, SQM, Albemarle, Anglo-American, KGHM International, Glencore, Freeport-McMoRan, Teck, Antofagasta Mineralsare rubbing their hands at the dividends bonanza this will bring to shareholders and are gearing up to confront the working class.

The fight has already begun with BHP using strike breakers to continue production. This is permitted in Chile because pro-company labor laws allow for the replacement of contractor workers by the client company, effectively voiding the supposed right to strike. These laws were passed in Congress with the collusion of the parliamentary left.

The union has made a mealy-mouthed plea to challenge the provocation through Chiles pro-employer labor court system. The company is placing substitute workers in the mines located in northern Chile, to ensure continuous production, BHP Specialists and Supervisors union secretary Robert Robles told Reuters. Complaints were filed with the Labor Directorate for violation of the right to strike and anti-union practices.

On May 27, 2021, contract workers who remotely run both the Escondida and the Spence mines Integral Operations Center (IOC) from 1,400 kms away in Santiago went on indefinite strike for the first time since the union was formed in 2019.

BHPs Escondida Mine (source: BHP)

The remote workers are made up primarily of highly skilled people dismissed from BHPs Escondida mine (which last year produced 1.19 million tons of copper, more than any other individual mine in the world) as well as the smaller BHP Spence mine. They were then immediately outsourced to a sister company BHP CHILE on individual contracts with lower wages and benefits when the Integral Operations Center was inaugurated two years ago.

As one IOC worker recently commented, We remotely operate (from Santiago) the entire value chain from the extraction of the ore to its shipment. We are control room specialists who cover all the bases. In addition, we have people who work in technology, people who work in technological support, people who work in long-term and short-term planning, strategic planning, projects...

The IOC strike was followed by a vote of 1,100 onsite workers at the Spence mine in the Antofagasta region to go on strike on May 31. A larger group of onsite workers at the Escondida mine located in the same region are scheduled to go out later in June.

A massive transformation is underway in international mining associated with the implementation of automation and remote operating systems. The process began with the relocation of business functions, operational planning and analytical functions away from sites. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this process to include the development of remote field work with the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning technology.

A mining industry analyst from Accenture Chile explains that pre-pandemic, field workers were 100 percent on-site. During the first quarantines this presence dropped to 60 percent and is now between 70 and 80 percent. As for office workers, pre-pandemic, on-site work represented 90 percent. During the first quarantines it dropped to 5-10 percent and is currently between 30 and 40 percent.

With an annual production of some 5.7 million tons, Chile accounts for 28 percent of the global supply of copper. The industry as a whole is responsible for 10 percent of Chiles GDP and 52 percent of its exports. Billions have been made in profits by the largest mining consortiums as the country has steadily lost market share. Both the state-owned company, Codelco, and many privately owned mines have been in operation for decades and require enormous capital outlays to deal with aging infrastructure, falling ore grades and higher operating costs as they dig deeper into the earth.

Map of mines in Chile (source: Consejo Minero Chile)

The drive to modernize labor relations and increase flexibilization, therefore, is to intensify cuts to production costs by removing all restraints to the exploitation of labor.

The latest government report indicates that the present workforce surpasses that prior to the pandemic. From 250,000 workers employed in mining pre-pandemic, 40,000 jobs were destroyed in the months following March 2020. Since June of last year, when the second wave hit the mining regions particularly hard, the trend was reversed and as of March 31 of this year 260,000 people are working in the mining industry.

What these figures dont show is that the majority of that workforce is hired from subcontractors or on individual contracts, as are the IOC employees. The proportion of staff directly employed by the mining industry has been declining for well over four decades. In the early 2000s, only 39 percent of the workforce was directly employed, falling to only 27 percent by 2019. This trend has only accelerated since the pandemic.

Large mining corporations have couched the push for efficiencies and productivity increases through automating field work and machine operations as driven by safety concerns. This is belied by the fact that they, with the help of the right-wing government, the parliamentary lefts and the trade unions, conspired to keep the mining industry operational during the pandemic.

In the northern regions of Tarapaca, Antofagasta and Atacama, where the bulk of the mining sites are located in Chile (see map), total confirmed and suspected COVID-19 infections reached 126,300 cases, and there were 2,375 deaths by the end of last month. This carnage does not even begin to account for the thousands of incapacitations suffered by Chilean miners due to horrific accidents that in the last 20 years have claimed the lives of 581 workers.

A March 31 editorial in the Peruvian Mining Councils Tiempo Minero gave an estimate of the number of miners who had died of COVID-19 in several Latin American countries, revealing the same disdain for workers lives everywhere: 120 in Ecuador; 299 in Brazil; 55 in Peru; 18 in Chile; 35 in Argentina.

Responsibility for this state of affairs rests squarely on the parliamentary left, the Communist Party, Frente Amplio and the corporatist trade unions, which for decades since the return to civilian rule have maintained tripartite arrangements, working simultaneously with business and with past center-left coalition governments, just as they have today embraced the incumbent right-wing presidency of Sebastian Pinera.

Not only did they support keeping the non-essential but highly profitable mining industry running, they passed laws facilitating the suspension of hundreds of thousands of contracts, forcing workers to eat into their unemployment insurance under the Employment Protection Law. They put into operation Electronic Settlements allowing massive layoffs without the right of workers to make any claims and agreed to postpone collective bargaining negotiations.

They signed a national unity pact with the Pinera government in the midst of massive anti-capitalist demonstrations at the end of 2019from which emerged an agreement to hold a plebiscite and election to draft a new constitutionseeking to channel workers behind parliamentarism and dampen the class struggle. Other populist measures, such as a mining royalty bill that is unlikely to see the light of day, were pursued with the same agenda in mind.

The class struggle has reemerged among a historically significant section of Chilean workers. It is part of a developing strike wave and radicalization of the working class on a global scale whose objective significance is the fight to save lives and livelihoods from a capitalist-made crisis that the pandemic has exposed for all to see.

The working class can take forward this fight only by breaking with the nationalist and opportunist trade unions and fake left capitalist parties and developing new organs of struggle.

It is to this end that the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), which publishes the World Socialist Web Site, has initiated the building of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 20:46:19|Editor: huaxia

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KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Five militants and six pro-government militiamen were killed in a clash which erupted in Rustaq district of Afghanistan's northern Takhar province on Monday, a local official said.

The clash occurred as a group of Taliban militants attacked the security checkpoints manned by pro-government militiamen in the district's Hafizan village around 2:00 p.m. local time Monday.

The gun battle lasted for a while and the militants fled away after leaving five bodies behind, a pro-government militia commander, Mohammad Aslam, told Xinhua.

Six pro-government militiamen were killed and eight others including five militants and three pro-government militiamen sustained injuries, Aslam added.

The Taliban outfit has not yet made comment on the incident. Enditem
Volvo workers can contact the Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee by email at volvowrfc@gmail.com or by text at (540) 307-0509.

Nearly 3,000 workers at Volvo Trucks New River Valley plant in Dublin, Virginia, walked out on strike at noon today after their vote Sunday overwhelmingly defeating the second pro-company contract proposal agreed to by the United Auto Workers union. Workers voted by 90 percent to reject the six-year deal, which would have continued the string of concession-laden contracts pushed by the UAW spanning decades.

The UAW shut down an earlier two-week strike on April 30 and then attempted unsuccessfully to ram through its first deal on May 16. It only called the walkout today due to the enormous pressure from rank-and-file workers, who are determined to overturn the multi-tier wage and benefit system and obtain substantial gains in pay, health care coverage and pensions from the highly profitable multi-national corporation.

While the UAW claimed it could not attain anything more in negotiations, Volvo Groups corporate board announced recently that it was proposing to hand out to its wealthy investors $2.3 billion from the proceeds of the sale of a subsidiary, on top of the record $3.68 billion in dividend payments earlier this year.

Streikende Volvo-Arbeiter (Foto: UAW Local 2069, Facebook)

In opposition to the UAW-management collusion, workers at the plant have formed the Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee, which played a decisive role in the defeat of both sellout agreements. In the days leading up to the vote, committee members and other workers widely distributed a statement from the VWRFC calling for a rejection of the deal.

In a brief letter announcing the strike, UAW Secretary Treasurer Ray Curry acknowledged that workers had opposed virtually every aspect of the tentative agreement he negotiated. As you know, many topics remain at issue, including wage increases, job security, wage progression, skilled trades, shift premium, holiday schedules, work schedules, health and safety, seniority, pension, 401(k), healthcare and prescription drug coverage and more.

Indicating the UAWs unshaken willingness to meet Volvos demand for cost savings, Curry wrote, We are confident that further discussion of these and other issues will result in progress toward the goal of a contract that works for both the Company and its employees. The union, he said, would be available to reconvene negotiations on Wednesday.

In a sign of the extreme nervousness of the UAW over the rebellion and their isolation from workers, Local 2069 disabled comments on its Facebook posts announcing the contract rejection and the renewal of the strike.

Rank-and-file workers are determined to win this struggle and prevent the UAW and the AFL-CIO from isolating their walkout and starving workers into submission with poverty level strike benefits. One Volvo worker told the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter , We should reach out to the non-union workers at the Salem plant and to the Mack-Volvo workers in Allentown and Hagerstown. It would be a good thing to all join together because what happens at NRV will affect them too. The union screwed us when they stopped the strike and sent us back in the plant to build them another 2,000 trucks.

He continued, The $275 they want to pay us in strike benefits is less than a minimum wage and were going to have taxes taken out of that too. In 2020, the UAW spent almost a half of million on buying new furniture for their offices. The strike fund belongs to us, and we have to have what we need for a strike.

The UAW has an estimated $790 million in its strike fund and the AFL-CIO has even more assets.

From the beginning of the struggle, the UAW has done everything to undermine the efforts of workers to defend their living standards. With the previous contract set to expire in March, the UAW granted Volvo a 30-day extension that allowed the company to continue stockpiling trucks to offset the impact of a strike. Then, without any explanation or report on the status of negotiations, the UAW called NRV workers to the picket lines on April 17 and then sent them back to work on April 30, without giving workers access to the tentative agreement or having the right to vote on it.

But the campaign by the UAW to sell the contract, including sending national and regional representatives into the plant last week, backfired.

The Volvo workers who are manning the picket lines today are speaking not just for themselves, but for the entire working class. After more than a year in which workers have been forced to sacrifice their lives for corporate profit during the pandemic, they are saying enough is enough and rebelling against the demands for more givebacks from the giant corporations and their paid lackeys in the unions.

The Volvo strike is part of a growing wave of struggles, including Warrior Met coal miners in Alabama, ExxonMobil workers in Texas, ATI steelworkers in Pennsylvania and other states, and nurses in Worcester, Massachusetts. The growth of working-class militancy and resistance is an international phenomenon with strikes and struggles by Indian autoworkers, miners in Canada, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico, and other struggles against austerity and social inequality.

Statements of support to the Volvo workers have already come from Mack-Volvo workers in Hagerstown, Maryland, and Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Amazon workers in Baltimore. It is critical to expand this support and begin an internationally coordinated counter-offensive by the working class. To meet this need, the International Committee of the Fourth International has initiated the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees.
WASHINGTON D.C. (WTHI) - A House Committee report says Fisher-Price failed to ensure safety on one of its products.

The 'Rock-N-Play' infant sleeper was linked to more than 30 infant deaths.

This information comes from a report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The heads of Fisher-Price and its parent company testified on Capitol Hill on Monday. Fisher-Price says it disagrees with significant parts of the report's findings.

The report says 4.7 million products were sold before the company issued a voluntary recall in 2019.
WEST TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (INSIDE INDIANA BUSINESS) - Marion Manufacturing Inc. in West Terre Haute and Augustine Die & Mold Inc. in Pennsylvania have been awarded a $25 million contract from the U.S. Navy.

The contract calls for various machined items to support naval maintenance, overhaul and modernization projects.

Half of the work will be performed in West Terre Haute and the other half will be performed in Somerset, Pennsylvania. The work is expected to be completed in June 2026.

The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine is the contracting activity.
ELKHART, Ind. (WTHI) - Police in Elkhart County, Indiana, have issued a Silver Alert for a missing teenage girl. Elkhart County is around 150 miles north of Indianapolis.

Police are searching for 15-year-old Sydney Ray Gunter.

Gunter is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 120 pounds. She has brown hair and blue eyes.

She was last seen wearing yellow one-piece button-up pajamas. Police believe she is in a white 2017 Ford Mustang with Indiana license plate TY2975.

She is believed to be in extreme danger and may need medical assistance.

If you have any information on her location, call the Elkhart County Sheriff's Office at 574-533-4151 or 911.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday that thousands of people living in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons are ineligible to apply to become permanent residents.

Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court that federal immigration law prohibits people who entered the country illegally and now have Temporary Protected Status from seeking green cards to remain in the country permanently.

The designation applies to people who come from countries ravaged by war or disaster. It protects them from deportation and allows them to work legally. There are 400,000 people from 12 countries with TPS status.

The outcome in a case involving a couple from El Salvador who have been in the U.S. since the 1990s turned on whether people who entered the country illegally and were given humanitarian protections were ever admitted into the United States under immigration law.

Kagan wrote that they were not. The TPS program gives foreign nationals nonimmigrant status, but it does not admit them. So the conferral of TPS does not make an unlawful entrant...eligible for a green card, she wrote.

The House of Representatives already has passed legislation that would make it possible for TPS recipients to become permanent residents, Kagan noted. The bill faces uncertain prospects in the Senate.

President Joe Biden has said he supports the change in the law. But his administration, like the Trump administration, argued that current immigration law doesnt permit people who entered the country illegally to apply for permanent residency.

On the other side were immigrant groups that argued many people who came to the U.S. for humanitarian reasons have lived in the country for many years, given birth to American citizens and put down roots in the U.S.

Federal courts around the country had come to conflicting decisions about whether the grant of TPS status was, by itself, enough to enable an immigrant to try to obtain permanent residency.

Former President Donald Trump tried to cancel the program for many immigrants, stoking fear they could be sent back to their homelands where they havent lived in many years.

All of these families that are established in the United States and have lived in our communities for decades faced a very real threat, said Lisa Koop, a lawyer with the National Immigrant Justice Center who also teaches at Notre Dames law school.

In 2001, the U.S. gave Salvadoran migrants legal protection to remain in the U.S. after a series of earthquakes in their home country.

People from 11 other countries are similarly protected. They are: Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen.

Mondays decision does not affect immigrants with TPS who initially entered the U.S. legally and then, say, overstayed their visa, Kagan noted. Because those people were legally admitted to the country and later were given humanitarian protections, they can seek to become permanent residents.
Sen. Joe Manchin may have finally torpedoed Democrats' hopes of sweeping voting rights legislation when on Sunday he ended any speculation he'd vote to end the Senate filibuster to advance President Joe Biden's agenda.

Manchin has for months opposed efforts to end the filibuster, but that seems to have only intensified liberal impatience to kill it.

With the 60-vote threshold needed in a 50-50 Senate, Republicans blocked a bill to establish a commission to study the January 6 insurrection, remain positioned to stop election legislation, have a negotiating advantage in infrastructure talks and have ensured Biden has no room for error when it comes to his nominations -- including a possible Supreme Court appointment.

RELATED: Trump advances dangerous disinformation campaign as more states move to restrict the vote

"We now are witnessing that the fundamental right to vote has itself become overtly politicized," Manchin wrote in a Charleston Gazette opinion essay. "Today's debate about how to best protect our right to vote and to hold elections, however, is not about finding common ground, but seeking partisan advantage."

In case anyone missed the message, Manchin added: "I believe that partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of our democracy, and for that reason, I will vote against the For the People Act. Furthermore, I will not vote to weaken or eliminate the filibuster."

But whether anyone will listen to Manchin's call for bipartisanship on voting is another question entirely. Republicans are not going to see congressional Democrats' inability to act on voting as anything less than a green light to keep moving in statehouses.

To be sure, liberal hopes that Manchin would kill the filibuster -- and convince other skeptics like Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to come along -- for the voting rights bill were a long shot to begin with. Manchin seemed no closer this past week to opposing the filibuster than he had in the months prior -- yet the "what if" questions never stopped.

And they never will.

Manchin remains at the center of Democratic efforts to build a bridge with Republicans on infrastructure legislation, where if a bipartisan deal can't be reached, talk immediately goes back to going around the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation with likely only Democratic support.

Maine Independent Sen. Angus King on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday pointed to ongoing bipartisan efforts on efforts to advance science and technology grants as "a good example of how we can work together."

Yet the ultimate barometer of the state of Congress, King said, is infrastructure.

"I think the infrastructure bill is a good test because, listen, there's not a lot of policy there. This is just numbers," King told CNN's Jake Tapper. "It's helping the country and we ought to be able to find a resolution on that. If we can't, that spells trouble."

How far can infrastructure talks go?

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm touted the White House's efforts on bipartisan negotiations that have involved GOP senators like West Virginia's Shelly Moore Capito and Utah's Mitt Romney. But as the White House said all along, they don't want things to go on forever -- while not setting a firm deadline.

"It is frustrating that there's not more coming together on this. But as the President's red line, as you have heard, that inaction is red line. So there will be action. We're just hopeful that we can see it in a bipartisan way. That would be good for the country," Granholm said on "State of the Union" in a separate interview on Sunday.

"Ultimately, we have to get to 10 Republican votes to be able to pass this in regular order," Granholm added. "That's the hope."

But as with everything in the Senate, it returns to Manchin. Granholm visited West Virginia last week and said the Democratic senator appreciates the need for a bill.

"I know that he sees the faces of people who need these investments too. And he is -- he is, in the end, he represents a state that needs to be able to move forward economically and these investments will help his state," Granholm said. "You would have to ask him about where his bottom line is and how long we have to try to be able to get Republican support."

Manchin, for his part, emphasized Sunday that he backs the President and wants to stay the course.

"I believe Joe Biden is the right person, the right place, the right time for our country," Manchin said on "Fox News Sunday." "Now we have to unite together and that means a little bit of difficulties and challenges, but we will get through it. We are the most deliberate body in the world and that was by design."

The talks, he said, have already borne fruit.

"My goodness, the President has gone from 2.25 trillion down to $1 trillion," he said "The Republicans have come up quite a bit from where they started."

Voting rights and the Big Lie

Manchin didn't only target congressional Democrats this weekend. He also went after Republicans in statehouses seemingly following former President Donald Trump's complaints about the 2020 election to enact voting restrictions.

"Whether it is state laws that seek to needlessly restrict voting or politicians who ignore the need to secure our elections, partisan policymaking won't instill confidence in our democracy -- it will destroy it," Manchin wrote in his Charleston Gazette essay.

The senator reiterated his support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, a far less sweeping bill than the majority of Democrats are supporting. It would bring back major pieces of the 1965 Voting Rights Act including a provision that requires states to consult with the federal government before making major changes to their voting rules.

Manchin's overall veto, however, simply keeps the status quo of the voting wars in place.

Trump, who started the "Big Lie" that millions of votes were somehow illegally cast for Biden, has no intention of stopping his crusade.

Fourteen states have enacted at least 22 new laws restricting voting this year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

The 2020 election, Trump told North Carolina Republicans Saturday night, will "go down as the crime of the century." He praised Arizona Republicans who pushed for a dubious audit of ballots from Maricopa County, the state's largest, and backed GOP-led efforts to do the same elsewhere.

RELATED: Kemp booed and Raffensperger censured at Georgia GOP convention

And liberal and voting rights groups plan to ratchet up pressure on Democrats in the Senate to do whatever it takes to pass the federal voting legislation, CNN's Fredreka Schouten reported Sunday.

"We are all going to be intensifying our campaigns to make the case to the Senate that For the People Act needs to pass one way or another," said Adam Bozzi, vice president of communications for End Citizens United/Let America Vote. The group plans to contact 2 million voters ahead of this month's Senate vote as part of a $30 million campaign.
Do I need to get tested for COVID-19 if I'm vaccinated?

No, you can skip routine testing, with some exceptions.

The latest guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says you don't need to be tested or to quarantine if you're fully vaccinated, even if youve been exposed to someone who was sick. An exception is if you develop COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, cough and fatigue.

The updated guidance reflects recent studies showing vaccinated people face very little risk of serious disease. Even if you get an infection, you'll be less likely to spread it to others and any symptoms will likely be milder.

As a result, the CDC says vaccinated people can also be excluded from routine workplace screening, though many companies aren't tracking employees' vaccination status. Screening is still recommended for people working or living in homeless shelters or prisons, due to the higher risk of outbreaks.

The relaxed guidelines also don't apply to doctors, nurses and other health care workers, whose employers might still require testing. Guidance may vary by country.

U.S. citizens returning from abroad also still have to present a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flights home, regardless of their vaccination status. Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 should still isolate for 10 days, the CDC says.

As vaccinations increase, many experts expect the CDC to further relax testing guidelines, even for vaccinated people with symptoms. Many common colds and viruses can cause symptoms resembling COVID-19, experts say, which could lead to a wave of unnecessary testing in the fall.

As we race to open back up, a whole variety of infections that we dont routinely test for are going to cause those same symptoms, said Dr. Rebecca Wurtz of the University of Minnesota. You should wash your hands and stay home from work, but theres no need to run out to be tested.
Mississippi's Republican governor said Sunday that the Supreme Court's recent decision to take up a challenge to a restrictive abortion measure in his state is a "vehicle" for the high court to revisit Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortions rights case he called a "mistake."

"The question is not are you going to overturn Roe v. Wade, the question is: The science has changed and therefore it makes sense for the court to review their decisions from the past and this is a vehicle in which for them to do it," Gov. Tate Reeves told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" when asked if he hoped the Supreme Court would use the Mississippi case to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide prior to viability.

"Let me just tell you that for people such as myself that are pro-life, I believe that the Supreme Court made a mistake in the 1970s," he added. "But that's not the issue at stake that is before the court, hopefully when the arguments are heard sometime in the fall."

The justices agreed last month to take up the challenge to Mississippi's law, revisiting an issue that still deeply divides the country some 50 years after the Roe v. Wade decision, and with a ruling potentially coming in the middle of the 2022 midterm elections.

Signed in 2018 by then-Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, the law bans most abortions after 15 weeks and makes exceptions only for medical emergencies or cases in which there is a "severe fetal abnormality," but not for instances of rape or incest. A federal judge in Mississippi struck down the law in November 2018, and the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling in December 2019.

The Mississippi case will be the third major abortion case acted on by the court this year as the high court has expressed interest in considering abortion restrictions.

In March, the high court agreed to decide next term whether Kentucky's Republican attorney general can defend a controversial abortion-related law that had been struck down by a lower court, keeping the legal fight going. And in the final days of Trump's presidency, the justices in January granted his administration's request to reinstate long-standing restrictions for patients seeking to obtain a drug used for abortions early in pregnancy -- with the three liberals dissenting in a potential preview of a new chapter in the court's rulings on the procedure.

The FDA under President Joe Biden has since suspended the in-person dispensing requirement during the pandemic.
Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 89F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Enjoy summer weekends in Wujiang District's old street in Suzhou

By:Zhao Chunyuan | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-06-07 17:12





After a busy week, are you looking for a nice place to relax for yourself and your family these summer weekends? If you dont have a specific plan or idea yet, you may consider going to Shengjiashe old street, which is located in Wujiang District of Suzhou, to listen to the folk music, eat lobster, drink beer, enjoy the intangible cultural heritage and experience the charm of a different kind of cultural tourism in Suzhou up close.

Shengjiashe old street is historically famous in Wujiang District. It was once the busiest part of Wujiang District's urban area and held the sentiments of old Wujiang people. A series of thematic activities will be held on Shengjiashe old street as an important part of 55 Shopping Festival-Happy Shopping in Wujiang. From June 11 to July 23, the Summer Lobster and Beer Festival will be held on Shengjiashe old street. On June 18-19, a cultural and creative handicraft market will also be held on the old street. Craftsmen from the Jiangnan area will showcase legendary masterpieces such as Suzhou style ceramics, Suzhou style round silk fans and Suzhou style embroidery works to citizens and visitors.

From April 30 to June 30, Suzhou has joined hands with Shanghai to hold the "55 Shopping Festival". Five key activities and 16 special events have been launched so far since the official launch of "55 Shopping Festival-Happy Shopping in Wujiang". Next, a series of activities will be held including "Special Food Festival in the demonstration area of the Yangtze River Delta","Jiangnan Silk Culture and Tourism Festival" and "2021 Shengze Fashion Week".
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 21:41:11|Editor: huaxia

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JAKARTA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Five people died after a wave smashed a speedboat carrying 30 people off Port Tarakan in Indonesia's province of North Kalimantan on Monday.

Seven of the passengers were reportedly children.

Of the dead, three were children, the Tarakan Search and Rescue Agency's coordinator Amiruddin told local media.

The boat was allegedly travelling at a high speed, but it could not be controlled when facing the wave, he said.

Sea accidents are common in the archipelagic country due to lack of safety standards. Enditem
Charleston, WV (25301)

Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms, especially during the evening. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Scattered showers and thunderstorms, especially during the evening. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Morgantown, WV (26505)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 77F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 21:51:27|Editor: huaxia

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JAKARTA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- A six-month-old male Sumatran elephant calf has been found dead in Sri Mulya village of Indonesia's Aceh province, according to the Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Agency on Monday.

The agency's head Agus Arianto said the carcass of the calf was found with wounds on its left hind leg on Friday on the border between a forest area and community plantations.

"It is suspected that the wounds were caused by being hit by a male elephant's tusk, or due to another elephant trying to wake up the calf," added Arianto.

The medical team has taken samples of the calf to be examined in the laboratory to determine the cause of death.

Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) are protected mammals. The International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2021 upgraded the conservation status of the species from endangered to its Red List as the elephant population has declined by at least 80 percent since the past three generations. Enditem
Charleston, WV (25311)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Isolated thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
Ken Cuccinelli is chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative and former attorney general of Virginia and acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Clarksburg, WV (26301)

Today

Thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low 62F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Potential for severe thunderstorms. Low 62F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 22:12:20|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Fighting in Afghanistan has intensified as more than 80 people have been killed and two districts have been taken by militants over the past three days.

Fighting has increased amid the visit of the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and his meeting with Afghan leaders including President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Sunday.

A UN-led peace conference on Afghanistan was supposed to be held in March in Turkey but has been repeatedly postponed due to the Taliban's reluctance to attend it, according to local media reports.

Taliban militants reportedly captured Qaisar district in the northern Faryab province on Saturday night, and overran the beleaguered Shahrak district in the western Ghor province on Sunday night.

Abdul Zahir Faizada, governor of Ghor province, confirmed the incident, saying the security forces have made "tactical retreat," and would soon launch operations to recapture the district.

The official also confirmed that eight security personnel and 13 militants have been killed for the control of Shahrak district and nearly a dozen others injured.

Afghan government forces have also intensified operations mostly in the shape of airstrikes in the country.

In the latest waves of air attacks, the fighting planes struck a Taliban hideout in Deh Dushanbe village outside Pul-e-Alam city, capital of the eastern Logar province on Monday afternoon, killing 13 insurgents and injuring seven others, an army statement said.

On Sunday, airstrikes against Taliban militants in parts of the eastern Paktia province killed 50 militants, provincial governor Mohammad Halim Fedai said.

In the meantime, Zabihullah Mujahid, who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit, in contact with media rejected the claims, saying the armed group has inflicted casualties on government forces elsewhere in the country.

Mujahid also said the Taliban would continue to fight until the foreign troops are completely withdrawn.

"Both the warring sides would do their best to gain more ground ahead of the proposed peace conference in Turkey to get concession at the intra-Afghan talks," local observer Nazari Pariani told Xinhua. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 22:35:05|Editor: huaxia

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YANGON, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The trials for Myanmar's detained President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will begin next week, Khin Maung Zaw, the lawyer for the two leaders told reporters on Monday.

"The cases of Aung San Suu Kyi were classified as simple cases at the court today, so the trials for those cases need to finish within 180 days," the lawyer said.

"We will hear testimonies from plaintiffs for the cases of the two leaders starting next week scheduled to be held on June 14," said the lawyer, adding that Suu Kyi's trial is expected to end on July 26.

President U Win Myint is facing two court charges while six cases have been filed against State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military has alleged massive voting fraud in the country's November 2020 general elections, which saw the National League for Democracy win a majority of seats in both houses of parliament.

Earlier in February, the State Administration Council reformed the Union Election Commission, taking steps to review the general elections process.

State power was transferred to Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing after the declaration of a state of emergency in the country on Feb. 1. Enditem
Clarksburg, WV (26301)

Today

Thunderstorms, accompanied by locally heavy rainfall at times. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High 82F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
The giant American flag on the corner of Dewar Drive and Gateway Boulevard flies at half-staff in Rock Springs.
A northern spotted owl flies after an elusive mouse jumping off the end of a stick in the Deschutes National Forest near Camp Sherman, Oregon. The Joe Biden administration said June 4 it is canceling or reviewing a host of actions by the Donald Trump administration to roll back protections for endangered or threatened species, with a goal of strengthening a landmark law while addressing climate change. Under Trump, officials rolled back protections for the northern spotted owl, gray wolves and other species, actions that Biden has vowed to review
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 02:18:30|Editor: huaxia

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A nurse prepares a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Ankara, Turkey, on June 6, 2021. Turkey on Sunday reported 5,386 new COVID-19 cases, including 482 symptomatic patients, raising the total number of cases in the country to 5,287,980. Turkey started mass COVID-19 vaccination on Jan. 14 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine. More than 17,603,000 people have been vaccinated so far. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

ANKARA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Sunday reported 5,386 new COVID-19 cases, including 482 symptomatic patients, raising the total number of cases in the country to 5,287,980.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 96 to 48,164, while the total recoveries climbed to 5,160,774 after 6,003 more people recovered in the last 24 hours, according to the Turkish Health Ministry.

The rate of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients stood at 2.8 percent and the number of seriously ill patients was 1,096 in the country, said the ministry.

A total of 204,827 tests were conducted over the past day, with the overall number of tests in Turkey reaching 55,455,452.

Turkey started mass COVID-19 vaccination on Jan. 14 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine. More than 17,603,000 people have been vaccinated so far.

Turkey reported its first COVID-19 case on March 11, 2020. Enditem
Cop dies in the line of duty while heroically saving the life of swimmer in distress

A police officer has died in the line of duty while heroically rescuing a swimmer in distress off of Alabamas Gulf Coast.

The incident occurred in the evening on Sunday, June 6, when Baldwin County Sheriffs Deputy William Bill Smith and another deputy responded to a call regarding a distressed swimmer and dove in to help the individual, according to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall.

MORE: Man arrested after attempting to run over cops, driving car through police station lobby

Smith and his colleague were able to save the life of the person in the water but Smith ended up laying down his own life to save them.

Deputy Smiths brave and swift response to save the life of another should cause us all to pause and reflect upon the sacrifice of all law enforcement, said Marshall. We can never repay Deputy Smith for putting the life of a potential victim ahead of his own. Tonight, we offer our prayers to Deputy Smiths family and his friends and colleagues in the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office.

MORE: Video captures hero cop single-handedly lift overturned car off woman to save her life

PHOTO: Baldwin County Sheriffs Deputy William Bill Smith, 57, died in the line of duty while rescuing a distressed Swimmer off of Alabama's Gulf Coast on Sunday, June 6, 2021. (Shelby County Sheriff's Office/Facebook)

MORE: Police officer shot and killed in line of duty while serving search warrant to suspect

Smith, 57, was a veteran law enforcement officer who previously served with the Calhoun County Sheriffs Office before he joined the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office seven years ago and he had previously retired as a firefighter in Georgia, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Daily Memorial page on Facebook.

MORE: Police officer shot in face and head by shoplifting suspect at department store

Tonight, we are heartbroken to hear the news of the passing of Deputy William Bill Smith of the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office in the line of duty, said the Shelby County Sheriffs Office in a post on Facebook. We hold close our brothers and sisters at the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office and Deputy Smiths family during this difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this terrible tragedy including those that continue to recover from the rescue today. Rest easy, Deputy Smith. Thank you for your service.

Smith is survived by his wife and two children.

Cop dies in the line of duty while heroically saving the life of swimmer in distress originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A chance encounter in a bathroom at work turned into a lifesaving kidney transplant chain for two coworkers at an Atlanta hospital.

Susan Ellis and Tia Wimbush, who have worked together at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for more than a decade, both knew each other's husbands needed a kidney transplant, but it was not until they saw each other in the bathroom at work last fall and stopped to ask how their husbands were doing that they made a lifesaving connection.

During that conversation  the first in-person conversation they'd had in several months due to the coronavirus pandemic  the coworkers realized that Wimbush's blood type was a perfect match for Ellis's husband, Lance, and Ellis's blood type was compatible with Wimbush's husband, Rodney.

"My thought immediately was that we could help each other and stop the suffering of two families," Wimbush, 45, told "Good Morning America." "I called Rodney immediately and he and I were both just committed to moving forward and trying to help two families."

PHOTO: Tia Wimbush, left, and Susan Ellis are coworkers who donated their kidneys to save their husbands' lives. (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta)

Rodney Wimbush, also 45, a high school teacher, was diagnosed with kidney failure in August 2019, a sudden diagnosis that came after he had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital due to high blood pressure.

A father of two sons, he started dialysis immediately after his diagnosis. He was put on the kidney transplant waiting list in the spring of 2020, just as COVID-19 hit the United States, slowing down the process.

MORE: 5-year-old girl receives kidney donated by her teacher

Ellis's husband, Lance Ellis, received a kidney transplant from his mother several years ago but went into acute renal failure in August 2019 when his body rejected the kidney.

He was also put on dialysis immediately after diagnosis, treatments that would stretch for as long as five or six hours daily.

"It hampers your quality of life," said Lance Ellis, who is stepfather to his wife's two daughters. "Theres nothing easy about it. When I would get unhooked from that machine, I would feel worse."

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After making the discovery that they could possibly save the lives of each other's husbands, Susan Ellis and Tia Wimbush underwent the required testing and were approved last October as kidney donors for Lance and Rodney.

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"It was a burden being lifted knowing that they were both going to get back to a better quality of life," said Tia Wimbush.

The couples then saw their hopes for the lifesaving transplants put on hold.

The transplants were scheduled for December but were postponed when Lance Ellis was hospitalized with complications from his acute kidney failure.

The two couples were then scheduled to undergo the transplants in January, but the day before surgery, Susan Ellis tested positive for COVID-19.

MORE: Man meets the kidney donor who saved his life: 'I hope to make you proud one day'

"It was devastating," she said. "Lance was already in the hospital being prepped. I had to quarantine in a hotel room for 10 days."

The couples then had to move their transplants to the next date available, March 19.

PHOTO: Susan Ellis and Rodney and Tia Wimbush pose together at a welcome back ceremony at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta)

On that day, at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital, Tia Wimbush donated her kidney to Lance Ellis and Susan Ellis donated her kidney to Rodney Wimbush.

"When you see the finish line, it makes even sweeter," said Susan Ellis, who happened to arrive at the hospital at the same time as the Wimbushes on transplant day. "At 5:30 a.m., we walked through the hospital doors together."

PHOTO: Susan Ellis and Rodney and Tia Wimbush pose together before undergoing kidney transplants. (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta)

After two successful transplants that stretched over the course of one day, the two couples recovered on the same hospital floor as each other, with rooms next to each other and just down the hall.

"It was not as easy as I thought it was going to be, but Id absolutely do it again," said Tia Wimbush. "The feeling that I had after surgery is one that I almost cant describe, just the hope and joy that I felt knowing that my kidney could be a part of the process that helped two people have a better quality of life, after seeing what theyve gone through in their kidney disease journey."

PHOTO: Tia and Rodney Wimbush pose in the hospital after undergoing kidney transplants. (Tia and Rodney Wimbush)

"As soon as I could get out of bed, Susan took me on a walk and we walked up and down the halls, and it was like out of a fairytale for me," said Lance Ellis. "After being sick for so long, you forget what feeling good feels like. After waking up from that surgery, you feel capable of anything. Its life-changing."

"All that time that was sacrificed for dialysis, I can devote to my family," he said.

PHOTO: Susan and Lance Ellis pose together after undergoing kidney transplants. (Susan and Lance Ellis )

Rodney Wimbush says he considers the Ellises to be "family now," saying, "I worry more about Lance than I do myself. I'll always be grateful to Susan for doing what she did."

PHOTO: Tia Wimbush, right, hugs Susan Ellis at their welcome back surprise at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta)

Tia Wimbush and Susan Ellis call each other "kidney sisters" and described themselves as having a bond for the rest of their lives. They both returned to work post-transplant last month with a surprise welcome that saw their coworkers lining a walkway to cheer for them.

"In the process, having somebody else to talk to about this, to talk on a real, transparent level about how were feeling as wives, as women, as mothers, has been invaluable," said Tia Wimbush. "Were looking forward to just continuing to get to bond with them because were family now."

Both couples say they want to use their story to encourage people to look into becoming a living organ donor. There are currently more than 107,000 people in need of an organ transplant in the United States, according to federal data.

They also hope their story is a reminder to people to stop and check in with each other, from coworkers to strangers to family members.

PHOTO: Susan Ellis and Tia Wimbush hug while Rodney Wimbush looks on at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta)

"Our story is a story of kindness. It ended up in a kidney exchange, that was the result of it, but it started with human beings just human beings and checking on each other," said Susan Ellis. "Were so busy with social media and texting and thinking thats not my business that we can self-isolate and we dont check in on our neighbors."

"This is the most important and rewarding thing Ive ever done in my life," she said of the kidney donation. "I didnt do it for that, but it ended up being that way."

Co-workers donate their kidneys to save each others husbands originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Las Vegas police have released these images of John Little Zion Doe, a boy found dead near a Nevada hiking trail (LVMPD)

Las Vegas police have released lifelike, color images of what they believe a young boy found dead near a hiking trail might have looked like while he was alive.

The body of the young boy, who police are calling John Little Zion Doe, was found in Mountain Springs, Nevada on 28 May. Police say he died of a homicide.

Police hope the new pictures, developed by forensic artists at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children , will help them figure out who he was and who killed him.

LVMPD and the FBI are working together to help ID the young homicide victim from May 28, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department tweeted on Thursday, along with the new images. The FBI is offering a $10K reward for info leading to his ID.

The new renderings show the boys face from the front and the side, in full color. The LVMPD had previously posted a single, black-and-white image of the boy.

Going from only having black and white photos to getting more high-resolution color photographs  and then pictures of the childs teeth, in this specific case  was a game changer for me, Colin McNally, the supervisor of the team that developed the portraits, told KVVU-TV .

These images are really important, to make sure were capturing what this child wouldve looked like.

Police believe the boy was between eight and ten years old. He was 411 and 123 pounds, and was Hispanic, with black hair and brown eyes.

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After the LVMPD released its earlier, black-and-white image of the boy, a distraught mother identified him as her son. But she had made a mistake  her two sons, it turned out, were on a camping trip with their father in Utah, where they had poor cell phone reception.

Police urge anyone with information on the boy to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov.
General Charles Flynn assumes command of US Army Pacific (US Army Pacific)

General Charles A Flynn, the younger brother of former US national security adviser Michael Flynn, has now assumed command of the US Army Pacific.

He took over from General Paul J LaCamera in a ceremony on Friday at Fort Shafter, Hawaii. General LaCamera was confirmed last month by the US Senate to be the next US Forces Korea commanding general.

General Flynns appointment comes after serving as deputy chief of staff for US Army operations, plans and training at the Pentagon since 2019.

Earlier this year, his role at the Pentagon during the 6 January Capitol riots came in for scrutiny. The US Army had initially denied that he was present at a meeting to discuss deploying the National Guard to the Capitol while the riots were unfolding. However, General Flynn later told the Washington Post that he had been on the call.

[I] entered the room after the call began and departed prior to the call ending as I believed a decision was imminent, he told the Post, and said he was working to implement the deployment of troops to the Capitol once the call had ended.

The decision-making process around the deployment was criticised at the time as having been too slow.

General Flynn earlier served as the US Army Pacific deputy commanding general from 2016-2018.

He is the 38th commanding general of the US Army Pacific, which has about 90,000 soldiers.

He said that today, as China trends on an increasingly concerning path, presenting challenge to the free and open Pacific, the Army is charged to change once more, reported specialist news outlet Stars and Stripes.

If we operate, compete and fight domain-on-domain, we will cede advantages and put our future at risk. However, if we act, operate and fight as an integrated joint force  tightly linked to our allies and partners  there is no adversary on the planet that can match this team, said General Flynn.

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From 2014-2016, General Flynn commanded the 25th Infantry Division at Hawai-based Schofield Barracks. He has also commanded troops at different levels with the 82nd Airborne Division, serving combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

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At the ceremony, US Army Chief of Staff General James C McConville expressed confidence that General Flynn will continue to make sure that this command and these soldiers are ready to fight tonight and continue the momentum of delivering new capabilities for the future.

He said General Flynn is a proven leader that can work in an inter-agency, multi-national environment. He understands the importance of this region.

General Flynn is also the young brother of Michael Flynn, the first and one-time national security adviser to former US president Donald Trump. Last month, the elder Flynn reportedly supported the idea of a coup in the US on the lines of one in Myanmar in which the military overthrew a democratically elected government and seized its powers.

Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his communications with the former Russian Ambassador to the US, before he was pardoned by Donald Trump during the latters final months in office in 2020.

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Looking for a job? Your state might pay you to get back to work.

Governors in six states are offering cash incentives to encourage residents to re-enter the workforce amid a growing labor shortage spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May, Montana became the first to announce it would be replacing federal unemployment benefits with a "return-to-work bonus" amounting to $1,200 for unemployed people who complete four full weeks of paid work.

New Hampshire and Oklahoma followed with their own plans only weeks later: New Hampshire, through its Summer Stipend Program, will pay $500 and $1,000 bonuses to residents who start part- and full-time jobs, while Oklahoma is giving $1,200 to those who accept full-time work.

Arizona, Connecticut and Colorado are also offering sizable payments to residents who find jobs. Arizona's Back to Work program will give one-time $1,000 payments to unemployment recipients who start part-time jobs and $2,000 payments to those who obtain full-time employment.

RELATED: Joe Biden Urges People Receiving COVID Unemployment to Go Back to Work If They Can

"In Arizona, we're going to use federal money to encourage people to workinstead of paying people not to work," Gov. Ducey said in a news release.

Connecticut and Colorado's incentives, however, are contingent upon individuals completing at least eight weeks of work at their new job: the first 10,000 people who return to work in Connecticut will receive a one-time payment of $1,000, while in Colorado, eligible claimants who return to full-time work in June will get $1,200. Those who returned to work in May received $1,600.

There are some caveats to the benefits. Workers in New Hampshire and Arizona, for example, are only eligible for the payments if they make less than $25 per hour. In other states, the payments are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis  in Oklahoma, only the first 20,000 qualifying residents will receive the funds.

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At least 25 states have decided to drop the federal government's unemployment program, which provides a $300 weekly supplement to the jobless, ahead of its official Sept. 6 end date, with many government leaders arguing the additional payments are disincentivizing unemployed individuals from applying to jobs, per CNBC.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' May jobs report shows signs of a shrinking labor force, as there are about 3.5 million fewer workers compared to February 2020. About 53,000 people left the workforce in May, reducing the labor force to about 160.9 million.

RELATED: More Than 70 Percent of American White-Collar Workers Are Still Working from Home

"The rate at which adults are participating in the workforce has been flat since last summer," Michael Strain, the director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said in a tweet Friday. "This is a significant issue. Workers are not coming back."

Economists have noted several factors that could be discouraging people from returning to work  many of which have been fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic  including health risks and complications associated with COVID-19, early retirements, career changes, furloughs and child-care duties, according to CNBC.

"These factors interact with unemployment insurance, which can allow workers to take longer to rethink their careers, try to find jobs in new industries and negotiate for higher wages  but can also slow employment growth and prolong long-term unemployment," Harvard University economists Jason Furman and Wilson Powell III wrote in a recent article for the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Some business owners believe the enhanced federal unemployment benefits have slowed hiring. Jeff Benzel, a bakery owner in Arizona, told Good Morning America that he's still struggling to find workers. "Are you really gonna bust your butt for 40 hours a week for an extra 60 bucks? For a lot of people, the answer is no," he said. "I had doubled the size of the bakery in 2019, and we were doing better than we ever had and we're still not back where we were."

Still, some economists are skeptical that pulling out of the federal benefits early will improve the labor market.

"I think it's a gamble for states to assume expanded unemployment insurance is the sole reason why they're having trouble hiring," AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist at job site Indeed, told CNBC. "COVID is what started this entire mess, so you can't discount it until we get 100% back to normal."
Any fan of Southern food and warm-weather celebrations (and if you're a Country Living reader you're probably both) should head on over to The Food Network this month and check out a delicious-looking new web-only show that's exploring the history of Juneteenth by putting together an amazing-looking cookout menu inspired by the holiday.

The show, called The Juneteenth Menu features host Michiel Perry, one of our favorite Instagrammers and co-host of Black Southern Belle, talking with chefs, cookbook authors, and cocktail designers as they pitch in to put together an absolutely delicious-looking Juneteenth menu.

For anyone who's late to the party, Juneteenth is a celebration of June 19, 1865  the day after the end of the Civil War, when the last Black slaves in Galveston, Texas, were finally informed that they had been emancipated nearly two and a half years earlier. African-Americans have been celebrating the day as a second Independence Day since 1866.

And as everyone knows, the best way to celebrate Independence is with friends, food, and drinks! The first episode features some delicious-looking shrimp and sausage skewers, a boozy cocktail, and a bit of history on the influence Black Americans had on Tennessee whiskey from cocktail-maker Taneka Reaves of The Cocktail Bandits.

Photo credit: Courtesy The Food Network

Future episodes will feature more chefs and cooks making dishes like fried fish, okra pilau, and those delicious tea cakes and grilled poundcake, seen above.

We honestly can't think of a more delicious way to learn about the history of Juneteenth. And we can't wait to whip up one or two of these recipes, and hoist a glass of our own in a couple weeks!

More episodes will be airing every Saturday and Wednesday until June 19. And they, along with all the recipes, can all be found on the Food Network's page, right here.

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A collision involving two passenger trains in southern Pakistan has killed at least 40 people and injured dozens.

A train travelling in Sindh province derailed and landed on another track, officials said. A second train packed with passengers then collided with it and overturned.

Rescue teams took the injured to nearby hospitals and it is thought that several are in a critical condition.

Pakistan has seen a string of deadly train accidents over the past years.

Between 2013 and 2019, 150 people died in such incidents, according to local media reports.

The accident in Ghotki district happened early on Monday when the Millat Express coming from Karachi derailed, falling on to another track. It is not clear what caused the derailment.

The Sir Syed Express coming from Rawalpindi collided with it and overturned.

Dozens of people have been killed in the crash

Specialist equipment has been brought in to help to rescue those trapped in the tangled wreckage.

A senior official in the Ghotki district, Usman Abdullah, told Reuters news agency it was hard to know how many people were still trapped in the train.

"There are about six to eight bogies [carriages] that are totally smashed... there is a sleeper train, AC [air conditioned] class, as well as economy class, in which there were between 47 to 50 people on this side and around 50 to 60 people on the other train," he said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was "shocked" by the accident and promised a full inquiry.

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Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry said that more than 100 people were injured, and it was feared the death toll would rise.

"Unfortunately, for a long time, our railway system and other departments have been deprived of the finances that should have been invested in them," he said. "As a result, we are witnessing a deterioration in these departments."

Map

A passenger on board one of the trains told Agence France-Presse that he felt lucky to have survived.

"It happened at 03:30," he said. "We were asleep when we felt jerks. Luggage began to fall down. Thank God we stayed safe."

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Hospitals in the area have been put on emergency alert to deal with the casualties, and helpline centres have been set up for passengers.

Overturned train carriage

Railway accidents are not uncommon in Pakistan, often caused by derailment and collisions at unmanned railway crossings.

The railways are an essential mode of travel, especially among middle and lower income groups, with tracks spanning the length and breadth of Pakistan.

However, carriages are often overcrowded and many of the trains are in poor condition.

Last July 21 people were killed near Sheikhupura, Punjab province, when a train travelling from Karachi to Lahore hit a van carrying Sikh pilgrims.

In October 2019 a fire caused by a gas cylinder killed more than 70 passengers on a train travelling from Karachi to Rawalpindi, and another 20 people were killed in a train crash a few months earlier, in July 2019.

Data from Pakistan Railways shows there were 757 train accidents between 2012 and 2017 - an average of about 125 incidents a year.

According to the authorities, the three major causes of train accidents in Pakistan are lack of track maintenance, signal issues and older engines.
HAGATNA, Guam  With its tourism industry gutted by the pandemic, Guam is raring to refill beaches and hotels again. And as destinations from New York to the Maldives to Russia dangle vaccinations to woo tourists, the remote U.S. territory and tropical getaway is planning to launch a "vaccine tourism" initiative of its own  but with a twist.

Before the pandemic, Guam catered largely to Asian families seeking sun, sand and golf courses. But in recent months, authorities noticed American expatriates, usually solo, arriving from countries in the region with slow vaccination rollouts. The American visitors were willing to endure up to two weeks' mandatory quarantine at a government-run hotel for the chance to score a coveted vaccination. They would often stay for up to a month in order to finish their two-dose Pfizer or Moderna regimen.

So, officials seized on the chance to leverage their unusual location. At 5,800 miles west of the U.S. mainland, Guam happens to be the nearest piece of America to Asia.

"Because we're so close to the Philippines, we're so close to Japan, Seoul, Korea, Taiwan, (we thought) that maybe this might be an opportunity to help in that world herd immunity," Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero said, speaking at the island's public mass vaccination site, the University of Guam Calvo Field House. A registered nurse, she personally administered the vaccine herself to a visiting CBS News team.

"I kept up my license. I figured, if they fire me, I still have a job," she said.

Of the nearly 9 million non-military Americans living abroad, a little over 1 million are estimated to be based in East Asia and the Pacific. If even a few of those can be lured to Guam  about a four-hour flight from Taiwan, South Korea and Japan  the program would be considered a success.

"The win-win is really all over the place," the governor said, sporting a traditional flower head lei. "We can vaccinate the U.S. expats. Those people will be protected. And in the meantime, they're having a nice time in Guam. We are benefiting from their economic input as a result of that."

Story continues

Home to two U.S. military bases, the 200 square-mile Micronesian island relies on tourism for one-third of its jobs. With 60% of its 170,098 residents already inoculated, and on track to reach herd immunity by July, the island is banking on vaccine tourism, along with vaccinated tourists, to jumpstart its economic rebound. Tentative plans call for restarting flights from South Korea, both for the already inoculated, as well as tourists on vaccine vacation packages, later this summer. Unlike American citizens, non-American visitors will be required to pay for their vaccinations.

Until the pandemic hit, Guam was seeing a steady uptick in arrivals, peaking at 1.6 million in 2019. Tourism revenues reached $1.4 billion.

Arriving at A.B. Won Pat International Airport in Guam, a 3.5-hour flight from Tokyo's Narita Airport, a CBS News crew was transported to a Tumon Bay hotel that had been converted into a government quarantine facility staffed by the National Guard. The cost of rooms and meals for tourists being housed in the facility is subsidized by federal pandemic funds. At the time of CBS News' visit, Guam required a week in quarantine before allowing expats to leave and get vaccinated. But planned tour packages call for offering shots to visitors while in quarantine, as soon as the day after arrival.

"I think it's great Guam's doing this," bioethicist Kerry Bowman of the University of Toronto told CBS News. "If Guam can do things to revive their economy as well as get people vaccinated, I don't see a problem with that. If people can't pay their rent and have no source of income, this is not just people chasing money. This is people's lives."

But while vaccinating American citizens on U.S. soil is one thing, using vaccines to attract foreign tourists is ethically dubious, said global health expert and Binghamton University professor Nicole Hassoun.

"There's people who really, really need that vaccine who aren't getting it. And that's where the vaccine should go," she said. "And it shouldn't be prioritizing people just because they're wealthy enough to come to the United States or because we need our tourism industry to come back online. I think that's that's shortsighted."

The World Health Organization has said the "scandalous inequity" of vaccine distribution, concentrated mainly in a few rich countries, not only prolongs the pandemic, but threatens even well-vaccinated nations with the risk of new, drug-resistant strains.

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - Stratabound Minerals Corp. (TSXV: SB) (OTCQB: SBMIF) ("Stratabound" or the "Company") is pleased to announce BTV's CEO Clips, a series of short video profiles on innovative publicly traded companies across North America, will feature Stratabound Minerals Corp. on the BNN Bloomberg Channel beginning June 12th between the hours of 6am-12am, EDT. President and CEO R. Kim Tyler discusses the Company's plans and the recent announcement of the acquisition of California Gold Mining Inc. ("California Gold") with particular focus on California Gold's Fremont Gold Project located in the Mother Lode Gold District of California.

View at link: https://www.b-tv.com/stratabound-minerals-gold-and-copper-ceo-clip-90sec or visit the Company's website at www.stratabound.com. Further online distribution through BTV's CEO Clips includes: Thomson Reuters Terminals, Yahoo Finance, Stockwatch, Bloomberg, Stockhouse and BTV's YouTube channel.

California Gold Mining Acquisition Update:

The Company is also pleased to invite shareholders and all other interested parties to the video re-play of the joint-webinar co-hosted by Stratabound and California Gold Mining Inc. held on Wednesday May 26, 2021. Stratabound and California Gold jointly present the rationale for, and highlights of, the business combination, benefits for both companies' shareholders, and preliminary plans forward for the resulting pro forma company upon close of the transaction, with a focus on the Fremont Gold Project.

Link to webinar: https://www.redcloudfs.com/stratabound-and-california-gold-live-webinar/

On April 21, 2021, Stratabound announced it had agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of California Gold by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement. The transaction has the full endorsement of both the boards of California Gold and Stratabound and is on track to close by July 2021. A California Gold shareholder vote with respect to the transaction is scheduled for June 15, 2021. Red Cloud Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to California Gold.

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About the BNN Bloomberg Channel and BTV

BNN Bloomberg is Canada's only Business News Network reporting on finance and the markets. BTV-Business Television and CEO Clips produce and create the largest library of issuer videos and campaigns for broadcast on TV and financial sites. Contact info@b-tv.com

About Stratabound Minerals Corp.

Stratabound Minerals Corp. is a well-funded Canadian exploration and development company focused on gold exploration at its flagship Golden Culvert Project, Yukon Territory and its new McIntyre Brook Project, New Brunswick, Canada. The Company also holds a significant land position that hosts three base metals deposits in the Bathurst base metals camp of New Brunswick featuring the Captain Copper-Cobalt-Gold Deposit that hosts an NI 43-101 Measured and Indicated Resource.

For more information, please visit the company's website at www.stratabound.ca or contact: R. Kim Tyler, President and CEO 416-915-4157 info@stratabound.com

About California Gold

California Gold Mining Inc.'s flagship Fremont gold project located in Mariposa County, California lies within California's prolific Mother Lode Gold Belt. The Fremont Project hosts a NI 43-101 mineral resource of 515,000 ounces grading 1.71 g/t gold in the Indicated category, and an additional 364,000 ounces grading 1.44 g/t gold in the Inferred category*, currently encompassing only the Pine Tree-Josephine zone.

(*TECHNICAL REPORT ON THE FREMONT PROJECT, MARIPOSA COUNTY, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. (RPA), 2016). The Project hosts two historical underground gold mines across approximately one kilometre out of a total four kilometres of strike along the regional Mother Lode Shear Zone extending across and beyond the Property.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Certain information contained in this news release constitutes forward-looking information. All information other than information of historical fact is forward-looking information. The use of any of the words "intend", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "would", "believe", "predict" and "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information. This information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. No assurance can be given that this information will prove to be correct, and such forward-looking information included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon.

The forward-looking information provided in this news release is based upon a number of material factors and assumptions including, without limitation: (a) that the Arrangement will be completed in the timelines and on the terms currently anticipated, if at all; (b) that all necessary CSE, TSXV, court and regulatory approvals will be obtained on the timelines and in the manner currently anticipated; (c) that all necessary California Gold shareholder approvals will be obtained; and (d) general assumptions respecting the business and operations of both Stratabound and California Gold, including that each business will continue to operate in a manner consistent with past practice and pursuant to certain industry and market conditions.

Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and other factors that could cause actual results and events to vary materially from that anticipated by such forward-looking information. In particular, the completion of the Arrangement is subject to a number of risks including, without limitation: (a) CSE, TSXV, court and regulatory approvals may not be obtained in the timelines or on the terms currently anticipated or at all; (b) necessary California Gold shareholder approvals may not be obtained; (c) the Arrangement is subject to a number of closing conditions and no assurance can be given that all such conditions will be met or will be met in the timelines required by the Arrangement Agreement; and (d) the business, operational and/or financial performance or achievements of Stratabound or California Gold may be materially different from that currently anticipated. In particular, the benefits anticipated in respect of the Arrangement are based on the current business, operational and financial position of each of Stratabound and California Gold, which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of risks, uncertainties and assumptions are not exhaustive.

The forward-looking information included in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and is made as of the date of this news release. Neither Stratabound nor California Gold undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information except as required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86679
Royal Caribbean reversed course on its vaccine policy last week, making the jab optional for most of its cruises after the company initially planned to require it.

The new policy, which was announced as the cruise line detailed summer sailings out of Florida and Texas, will allow unvaccinated passengers to board a Royal Caribbean cruise as long as they "undergo testing and follow other protocols." Previously, Royal Caribbean required guests 16 and older to be fully vaccinated at least 14 days before embarking on a cruise with plans to drop that to 12 and older after Aug. 1.

Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas

An exception to the new policy is those boarding a ship to Alaska where the cruise line will still require guests 16 and older to be vaccinated, and 12 and older starting Aug. 1.

In general, Royal Caribbean said guests "are strongly recommended" to have been vaccinated before boarding, and all crew will be vaccinated.

It wasn't immediately clear what other protocols would be required for unvaccinated guests. A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Travel + Leisure.

Vaccines have increasingly become a political flashpoint in recent months. Earlier this year, several states  including Florida and Texas  banned the concept of vaccine passports, directly affecting some cruise lines that mandated vaccines, including Norwegian Cruise Line.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended all passengers and crew get the jab before boarding, said vaccinated passengers can potentially ditch their masks, and waived the need for volunteer test sailings for cruise companies where 98% of crew and 95% of passengers are fully vaccinated.

For its part, Royal Caribbean has already been approved to start test sailings later this month ahead of its planned restart this summer.

On July 2, Royal Caribbean plans to sail from Miami on the Freedom of the Seas to its private island, CocoCay. On July 3, the Odyssey of the Seas will sail from Fort Lauderdale on 6- and 8-night Caribbean cruises, followed by sailings out of Port Canaveral, Seattle, and Galveston later in the summer.

Alison Fox is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure. When she's not in New York City, she likes to spend her time at the beach or exploring new destinations and hopes to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 17:42:16|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law to officially quit the Treaty on Open Skies, the Kremlin said Monday.

The multilateral Treaty on Open Skies, which came into effect in 2002, allows its states-parties to conduct short-notice, unarmed reconnaissance flights over the others' territories to collect data on military forces and activities.

After Washington announced its withdrawal last year, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in January that the country had started domestic legal procedures for the official pullout from the treaty.

The Russian Federation Council, or the upper house of parliament, passed a bill on Wednesday to endorse Russia's withdrawal from the treaty. Enditem
Growing up, Jacob Robert Ortiz could often be found taking the lead among his friends on the playground of Adams Elementary School in Yakima.

He would play roles like the Red Power Ranger, known for being the leader of the teen superheroes. He credits this to being the fourth of five children, with all of the siblings fighting for attention.

As Ortiz matured, his strong will and social nature led him to community-building and leadership roles, something he plans to continue into adulthood after graduating from Eisenhower High School on Tuesday.

For the last two years, he led the student body of Eisenhower as Associated Student Body president. It was a nontraditional role in more than one way. While ASB is primarily student-led, it was even more so during Ortizs junior year, when the adviser was away on personal leave. That meant Ortiz took on project management duties, like ensuring preparations for the five school dances the team led were being completed on time. Ultimately, the projects were cut short when the pandemic led to school closures across the state in mid-March of 2020.

With leadership falling dormant and civil rights demonstrations rising across the country, Ortiz said he turned much of his attention to better understanding the U.S. political climate. Chief among the issues he zeroed in on was immigration and the controversy over the U.S.-Mexico border. With his own parents having immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico, Ortiz said the issue has always been close to his heart. But he gained a deeper understanding of the inner workings of the system and became more confident in his convictions. He was reading about things like poor sanitation conditions, the separation of families and the lack of COVID-19 safety precautions for people being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he said.

Personally, I think its very inhuman whats happening at the border, said Ortiz. The news that we do get about whats happening at the border is awful, and I cant imagine what isnt reaching us.

Ortiz considers himself privileged to have never experienced racist comments like being told to go back to where I came from, but is concerned that its a common experience in his community.

I definitely want to do more advocacy for the Latino community, just because I do have a voice and I understand that I can make an impact, he said.

Already, Ortiz is using his voice.

He was interviewed in The New York Times just ahead of the pandemic to help represent the changing faces of America, sharing his experiences as a Latino in the U.S. He also recently reached out to Yakima Health District officials to see how he could help dispel misinformation around COVID-19 vaccines in the local Latino community. And during remote learning, he supported and mentored his 12-year-old sister, Selena Ortiz, as their parents continued to work.

Recently, Ortiz was admitted directly into the University of Washington computer science program, his dream education path.

Ortiz has long enjoyed playing video games, but in eighth grade stumbled upon a coding website, where he taught himself basic coding to create video games. That sparked his creative side, while the feeling of accomplishment after learning a new code and creating something satisfied his drive. Some of his time during the pandemic and remote learning was dedicated to learning new code languages like JavaScript and C++.

While the in-person community Ortiz thrives in was not accessible during the pandemic, he used video games and technology such as video calls to maintain a sense of community. He said his dream is to use his education to create community spaces through video game development. Hell also be the first in his family to attend a four-year university and hopes to serve as an example to Selena.

Our parents always told us how important education was, he said. But as he navigated college and scholarship applications, he said he was paving his own way in life, learning how to navigate complicated school systems that his family hadnt been exposed to before.

Having her look up to me definitely helped me and encouraged me to do that as well, he said of Selena.
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Washington, DC - As the lead federal investigative agency fighting cyber threats, combating cybercrime is one of the FBIs highest priorities. We have attributed the JBS attack to REvil and Sodinokibi and are working diligently to bring the threat actors to justice. We continue to focus our efforts on imposing risk and consequences and holding the responsible cyber actors accountable.

Our private sector partnerships are essential to responding quickly when a cyber intrusion occurs and providing support to victims affected by our cyber adversaries. A cyberattack on one is an attack on us all. We encourage any entity that is the victim of a cyberattack to immediately notify the FBI through one of our 56 field offices.
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Phoenix, Arizona - Americas economy is charging forward - and Arizona is leading the way. Growing companies are choosing our state to expand operations, manufacturers are building semiconductors here amid the global shortage, and our job growth is set to outpace the nation for the next decade.

Opportunities are readily available and growing in Arizona. Check out media coverage on our economic growth below:



Phoenix Business Journal: Arizona Manufacturing Muscle Flexes For Growing Boom



The parade of legacy growth and new manufacturers is continuing. Greater Phoenix is becoming known as a place for innovation with flexible and responsive universities. (5/21/21)



Wall Street Journal: The Southwest Is Americas New Factory Hub. Cranes Everywhere.



Mr. Rawlinson said California was the companys first choice for a factory, in a spot close to Lucids designers and engineers. But Arizona proved more favorable, current and former company executives said.



Some of the biggest manufacturers heading to the Southwest are electronics makers. Intel Corp. has made chips in Arizona for four decades, but there is a groundswell of new investment beyond Intels $20 billion expansion. (6/1/21)



Phoenix Business Journal: Growing Our Own Builds Arizona Economy Into The Future



According to Bureau of Economic Analysis data, the spinoffs, startups and success-for-all attitudes in Arizona are just a few of the reasons the states economy has been outperforming the nation over the past few years. Its just an extension of Arizona growing its own. (5/21/21)



KOLD: Tucson Named A Go-To Destination For Summer Travelers



Our combination of having great weather most of the year, great outdoor opportunities in this post-COVID area, world-renowned food, and our proximity to a national park have secured our spot on the list. (5/18/21)



KTAR: Phoenix Is 6th-Most Popular Metro Area For Gen Z Homebuyers, Study Finds



"Metro Phoenix is a desired area for most potential homebuyers, including those just entering the home buying market. A study by Lending Tree, an online lending marketplace, found Phoenix is the 6th-most popular metro area for Gen Z homebuyers." (6/1/21)
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Dallas, Texas - The brother of capital murder suspect Yaser Said has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for helping the 10 Most Wanted suspect evade capture for more than 12 years, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.

In February, a federal jury in Fort Worth found Yassein Abdulfatah Said, Yaser Saids 59-year-old brother, guilty of conspiracy to conceal a person from arrest, concealing a person from arrest, and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. Yassein Said was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Reed C. OConnor.

Judge OConnor varied upwardly from the sentencing guidelines, writing in a court filing, the guidelines also do not adequately take into account the extravagant lengths that Defendant and his co-defendant, and perhaps others, went to harbor and conceal Yaser Said Defendants efforts resulted in incalculable resources spent by law enforcement, both locally, nationally, and internationally.

Yassein Saids co-conspirator, his 32-year-old nephew Islam Said, pleaded guilty to the same charges prior to trial and was sentenced in April to 10 years in federal prison.

According to evidence presented at Yassein Saids trial, Mr. Said sheltered his brother from arrest in an attempt to subvert the administration of justice.

Yaser Said had been a fugitive from justice since New Years Day 2008, when he allegedly murdered his teenage daughters, Amina and Sarah. According to law enforcement, he shot the girls to death inside his taxicab and abandoned their bodies inside the vehicle. He was captured by the FBIs Violent Crimes Task Force in August 2020, and is currently in state custody.

Conspiring with his nephew, Yasers son Islam, Yassein Said helped harbor Yaser inside an apartment in Bedford, Texas, where a maintenance worker spotted Yaser on Aug. 14, 2017.

He later harbored his brother inside a home in Justin, Texas. On Aug. 25, 2020 FBI agents observed Mr. Said and his nephew deliver grocery bags to the residence, then followed the men to a shopping center 20 miles away, were they dumped trash retrieved from the home.

Yassein Said prioritized the comfort of his brother, an alleged murder, over justice for his nieces, two innocent teenagers on the brink of adulthood, said Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah. No sentence can bring Sarah and Amina back, but we are hopeful that seeing justice served brings a measure of comfort to those who loved these two young souls.

Yassein Said protected his brother and accused murderer, Yaser Said, by providing aid and comfort to him while he was a fugitive. By taking the law into his own hands, Yassein Said delayed justice for the victims, Amina and Sarah, and their family, Matthew DeSarno, Special Agent in Charge of FBIs Dallas Field Office, said after the trial.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations Dallas Field Division and the Irving Police Department conducted the investigation with the assistance of U.S. Customs & Border Patrol, the Dallas Police Department, the Garland Police department, the Grand Prairie Police Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tiffany H. Eggers and Errin Martin are prosecuting the case with counsel from appellate Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Bradshaw.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 19:21:04|Editor: huaxia

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SOFIA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian law enforcement authorities have seized nearly 500 kg of heroin destined for Western Europe and arrested two suspects, an official said here on Monday.

Valentina Madjarova, administrative head of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office, said at a press conference that the illicit drug, hidden in cavities in marble slabs, was seized on Thursday in a warehouse in the town of Sliven in southeastern Bulgaria, while two Turkish citizens were extracting it.

The investigation revealed that the heroin originating from Iran arrived in Bulgaria by sea at the port of Varna West and was transported by trucks to Sliven, Madjarova said.

The value of the heroin was nearly 15 million U.S. dollars, Madjarova said, adding that Europol and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration contributed to the investigation. Enditem
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  Tom Fink, a former speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives who later became mayor of Anchorage, has died. He was 92.

Fink died of complications from old age," his son, Josh Fink, said on Saturday. He had been taken to a hospital last week.

Fink served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1967 to 1975, and became speaker in 1973. He was also the Republican nominee for Alaska governor in 1982 but lost before serving as mayor of Anchorage from 1987 to 1994, succeeding Tony Knowles.

He was a fiscal conservative, Knowles told the Anchorage Daily News. When people talk about the Republican Party, the Grand Old Party, thats who you think of ... you think of people like Tom Fink.

He added: It was never personal  which was really unusual  at a time when we have the hate agenda that is so prevalent in politics today.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, announced on Saturday that all U.S. and Alaska flags will fly at half-staff in honor of Fink on a date to be determined by his family.
YORK  A man from Henderson, Nevada, who stopped in York, was arrested for his sixth case of DUI (driving under the influence). This week he was sentenced to prison to be followed by post-release supervision.

Douglas Shutte, 44, was facing a possible conviction of sixth offense DUI  that was amended, however, to a fourth offense DUI (with a second charge of refusal to test) and Shutte pleaded no contest to the amended charges.

Shutte was driving a red Chevrolet Camaro when a York police officer saw him commit a traffic violation on South Lincoln Avenue, according to court documents.

In the affidavit filed with the court, the police officer says he activated his lights signaling a traffic stop, but Shutte made a U-turn and went the other direction a short distance until finally coming to a stop in a parking lot of a business at the York interchange.

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The officer said he could smell a very strong odor of alcohol emitting from inside the Camaro. I also saw one open bottle of beer lying on the cooler in the passenger seat next to him.

The officer says in the affidavit that he asked for a field sobriety test and Shutte failed. A preliminary breath test was administered with the result being .148 (.08 is the legal limit).
New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has said that their alumni based out of India and abroad have donated over USD 2 million (nearly Rs 14.56 crore) towards COVID-19 relief efforts in the country.

The fundraising campaign was coordinated by the office of Alumni and Corporate Relations (ACR), IIT Madras, in association with IIT Madras Alumni Association of North America and IITM Foundation in the US.

In line with this effort, Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras and other officials handed over 200 oxygen concentrators of 10 litres capacity each and handed them over to the Chennai Civic body.

In addition to this, representatives of the institute handed over 74 BiPAP machines to Chennai Corporation Officials recently. IIT Madras Alumni have also donated 200 Oxygen Concentrators of 5 litres capacity each to the Telangana Government.

Anand Rajaraman, an IIT alumnus and partner at a Silicon Valley-based Venture Capital firm said that it was a duty of the Indian diaspora to help the country get through these darkest hours.

According to the institute, IIT Madras alumni working as senior executives with reputed MNCs were actively involved in evaluating and finalising the options available at various stages throughout the process. IIT Madras will continue to contribute to the Covid relief measures in the months to come, as the social commitment has always been a topmost priority for the Institute.

It has been an amazing experience to contribute to this campaign with fellow alumni from IIT Madras. So many people stepped forward to source equipment, raise funds and ensure delivery of the equipment It is gratifying to know that we could make a difference at a very challenging time in India, said Kamal Duggirala, Chairman IITM Foundation-US.

Besides these efforts to aid the Government, IIT Madras has formed a Covid Relief Fund to support students and faculty who are in distress due to pandemic related medical issues. In the last financial year, IIT Madras raised Rs. 96 lakh to cater to the Covid relief requirements of students and employees of IIT Madras.

There is also a proposal to upgrade the medical infrastructure within the campus. This is meant to cater to any potential requirements that may arise when the campus re-opens and receives students when the lockdown restrictions are relaxed.


NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday launched the 'Jahan Vote, Wahan Vaccination' campaign - a new initiative for mass vaccination at booth level in a planned manner in the national capital.

"We are starting a 'Jahan Vote, Wahan Vaccination' campaign from today. It will allow you to get vaccinated at your designated polling stations,'' Delhi CM Kejriwal said while addressing a press conference.

We are starting a 'Jahan Vote, Wahan Vaccination' campaign from today. Under this campaign, we will tell people to visit their designated polling stations to get vaccinated. Door-to-door vaccination to be done soon. In 4 weeks, all above 45 years of age to be vaccinated: Delhi CM pic.twitter.com/DY8xy72DH2  ANI (@ANI) June 7, 2021

Under the 'Jahan Vote, Wahan Vaccination' campaign, people will be requested to visit their designated polling stations to get vaccinated. Door-to-door vaccination will be done soon,'' the CM said.

"In 4 weeks, all above 45 years of age will be vaccinated,'' the Delhi CM said adding, "People above 45 years of age will now be given anti-Covid vaccines at polling booths.''

Kejriwal further said that the 'Jahan Vote, Wahan Vaccination' campaign will begin from Monday at 70 wards. It will be completed in four weeks. Booth-level officers will visit homes and give vaccination slots to those above 45 years, Delhi CM said.

"We have noticed that people in the 45 plus age group are not coming to vaccination centres set up by the Delhi government and vaccines are not being utilised," he said.

"There are around 280 wards in Delhi. The BLOs will visit households in 72 wards from Tuesday to identify and send eligible persons for vaccination at the polling booths, he said.

The Chief Minister said polling booths are close to the homes of the people so they will not have to travel long distances to get the vaccine. Also, the government has arranged e-rickshaws to ferry people to the vaccination centres.

The BLOs will give slots for vaccination to people in the 45 plus age group at the nearest polling centre. In a cycle of five days, all the eligible persons will be covered.

"After covering all the 280 wards in four weeks, the government will be able to say that all those eligible (45 years and above) have received the vaccines, " Kejriwal said.

He said that a similar drive will be conducted again for second dose vaccination after three months. "When we will get vaccines for the 18-44 age group in the required quantity, we will start this programme for them too," he added.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 21:47:10|Editor: huaxia

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People visit a boat show in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 3, 2021. Turkish sector representatives said there has been a growing interest in boat tours while the country's yacht industry has seen a surge in sales and production during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Osman Orsal/Xinhua)

ISTANBUL, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkish sector representatives said there has been a growing interest in boat tours while the country's yacht industry has seen a surge in sales and production during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zeki Gurses, general manager of the Antalya Free Zone (ASBAS), said that 479 yachts, worth 1.27 billion U.S. dollars, were produced in the zone between 2000 and 2019.

But he said the yearly production has doubled due to the continuation of the pandemic, and the zone now aims to produce 49 yachts with a total value of 150 million dollars in 2021.

"By the end of this year, the total number of yachts produced will reach 528, and the total revenue will rise to 1.4 billion dollars," Gurses was quoted as saying by the Milliyet daily.

The country's marine importers and yacht manufacturers have recently come together with their potential consumers in a boat show in Istanbul.

"In all over the world, people with a certain amount of savings want to set sails into the sea from land and buy boats," Yavuz Sipahi, manager of Burla Machine, told Xinhua at the CNR Eurasia Boat Show On The Sea.

Sipahi noted that his company has been trying to meet the need with the products in its stock or through its partnerships abroad.

"We are having a good season," he added, highlighting the importance of the fair held under the COVID-19 related measures.

"These fairs are places where people and sea lovers meet," Sipahi said. "We are happy to meet with our customers face to face."

Safter Marine, a diversified boat building company, took its place at the fair with a series of models "suitable to every budget and need."

Mehmet Pamuk, sales manager of the company, said people tried to avoid crowded locations and hotels during their holidays amid the pandemic.

"There is a lot of interest," he told Xinhua, standing in front of the smallest boat of the fair, which is 2.6 meters in length and 1 meter in width, with a price of approximately 800 dollars.

"It is very affordable and mostly used in coastal fishing, in stagnant waters, or rivers," Pamuk said, noting that the most expensive boat of the company goes up to 40,500 dollars.

In Pamuk's view, people do not hesitate to spend money on boats and yachts, in which they can be alone without worrying about the pandemic.

According to Murat Saral, the owner of Venna Yacht, this interest will continue to expand during the coming five to six years.

His company has been developing new models, with prices varying between 5,500 and 73,000 dollars, to deal with the growing demand.

The boat show was previously scheduled between June 1-6. However, it was extended until June 7, when the interest became higher than expected.

Meanwhile, the interest in renting tour boats for the summer vacation this year increased by 280 percent among Turkish travelers, press reports recently revealed.

Baran Yildirim, CEO of viravira.co, a company that provides private yacht charters, bareboat rentals, and gulet holidays in almost a thousand destinations, said their reservations for June, July, and August were almost full. Enditem
NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday claimed that the Centre was unnecessarily stalling the doorstep delivery of ration scheme announced by his government and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow it for the benefit of 70 lakh people in Delhi.

Speaking exclusively to Zee News, Kejriwal said that he is ready to accept all demands of the Centre if it allows the implementation of the doorstep delivery of ration scheme in Delhi.

"Our sole intention is to help nearly 70 lakh ration card holders in Delhi who need help since most of them are not coming out to take ration fearing coronavirus infection. In such a situation, it is my duty to help them. I want to reiterate that we are ready to accept all the demands of the Centre for the implementation of the scheme, Kejriwal said.

The AAP chief also rubbished the BJPs claim that the scheme was announced for political mileage. We dont want to take any credit for launching the scheme. I will shout from the rooftop to tell people that the doorstep ration delivery scheme was launched by PM Narendra Modi Ji. We just want to help people of Delhi, CM Kejriwal said.

Reacting to baseless allegations made by senior BJP leaders who called about the ration-delivery scheme a big scam, Kejriwal said, "If pizza, burgers, smartphones and clothes can be delivered at home, then why can't ration be delivered at their doorstep."

While speaking to Zee News, Delhi Chief Minister alleged that the Centre was fighting with everyone, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra, Delhi and Jharkhand governments, farmers and the people of Lakshadweep.

"People are distressed that the central government is fighting with everyone. If we fight like this, how will we tackle COVID-19 and other problems facing the people, the Chief Minister said. He added, that The Delhi government did not require the Centre's approval for the implementation of the scheme, but it still sought permission five times to avoid any dispute."

Referring to PM Modi, Kejriwal said, "The Centre objected that Delhi government`s doorstep ration scheme cannot be implemented in the name of mukhyamantri ghar ghar ration yojana`, then we decided not to give any name to this scheme. You again stopped this important scheme saying the Delhi government has not taken the Centre`s approval. Sir, in the last few months, I have written 5 letters to you to seek your approval to run this scheme. Now what kind of approval the Delhi government needs from the Centre?"

Kejriwal said the Centre had put the scheme on hold a couple of days before it was supposed to launch across the national capital. He said that all the process to launch the scheme was completed, tenders were issued and the Delhi government was ready to run the scheme in the next one or two days, however, it was stopped by the Centre again.

He claimed that the Centre had not said anything in writing while opposing the ration delivery scheme. Explaining the objective behind the launching of the doorstep ration delivery scheme, the AAP chief said, the scheme will finish the powerful ration mafia in Delhi.

"If you stand with the ration mafia, who will stand with the poor people," the chief minister said, adding that the scheme was intended to benefit 72 lakh people in the national capital. CM Kejriwal, while targeting the Centre, said that it backtracked from its duty on vaccination and said that due to inadequate supply of COVID vaccines, several states had to halt the vaccination drive.

The Delhi government had on Saturday claimed that the doorstep delivery of ration scheme was rejected by the Lt Governor, saying the Centre's approval was not sought and that a PIL was pending in the high court regarding it.

However, the BJP termed the Delhi government`s ambitious doorstep delivery of ration scheme as a scam and said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should stop the drama to cover up his government`s failure.

Addressing a virtual press conference, BJP`s national spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "Arvind Kejriwal has spoken in such a way that the people of Delhi are being denied their rights by the Centre, but which is not true. The ration is provided to the needy in the national capital through the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)."

Patra pointed out that under the PMGKAY, 72,782 metric tonnes of food grains have been sent to Delhi over and above the fixed quota for May and till June 5. Soon after that, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia stated that the BJP wants to continue doing corruption similar to the Congress`s rule by not allowing the launch of the scheme.

"I believe, he (Patra) wanted to say that Aam Admi Party (AAP) should not point towards the corruption in the ration distribution. BJP will continue doing corruption as Congress did in its 70 years of rule," Sisodia said.

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New Delhi: At least 12 bodies were recovered and a dozen others remain missing after a fire broke out out at a chemical company located in an industrial area in the Pune district on Monday (June 7), officials said.

According to the officials from the fire department of PMRDA (Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority), at least eight fire tenders were sent to the plant of SVS Aqua Technologies in the Pirangut MIDC area in Mulshi tehsil to douse the flames. "According to company officials, at least17 of their workers were missing after the blaze broke out. We have so far recovered five bodies and a search for other employees is underway," said Devendra Potphode, chief fire officer, PMRDA Fire Services.

He said the firm is into manufacturing, supply and export of air, water and surface treatment chemicals.

(Fire at Pune chemical plant claims at least 15 lives: ANI photo)

A team of rescue workers is also present at the spot and the building wall is being broken with JCB machine to rescue the trapped people. In the preliminary investigation, short circuit is said to be the cause of the fire. According to reports, the fire is said to have taken place at around 4:30 pm on Monday.

According to ANI, the fire has been brought under the control. "A search for the missing people is underway," a fire department official told the news agency.

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New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday (June 7) received a fresh consignment of nine medical oxygen generation Plants at the Srinagar Airport, today.

The state-of-the-art Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Oxygen Generation plants, manufactured in Europe, were airlifted from Frankfurt, Germany by Indian Air Force C-17 cargo plane on June 5 and delivered at Srinagar Airport today morning. Pertinently, the earlier consignment of 7 plants was also brought in by the Indian Air Force on 17th May.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, while expressing his gratitude to the Honable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that it was only because of his personal intervention that has made it possible for J&K to receive 16 Oxygen Plants from Europe in such a short span of time. "I express my sincere gratitude to the Hon'ble Prime Minister for his continuous efforts in taking care of the health and well-being of the people of J&K", added the Lieutenant Governor.

"Our goal is to augment the medical supply across the UT with a vision to tackle any future health emergencies. Medical infrastructure capacities shall be upgraded across the board", the Lieutenant Governor observed.

Five of these new plants with generation capacity of 4000 LPM will be installed in the hospitals of Kashmir and the remaining 4 with generation capacity of 4400 LPM will be installed in Jammu hospitals.

At present, J&K has 40 functional Medical Oxygen Generation Plants and the addition of 9 more would further enhance the availability of medical oxygen in hospitals of UT raising it to more than 60000 LPM.

The Lieutenant Governor also acknowledged the synergized efforts of various UT and central government departments/agencies lead by Public Works (R&B) Department, J&K with the Indian Air Force, MoD, Consulate Frankfurt, Customs, Shipping agents, and other agencies which resulted into this successful operation.

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New Delhi: The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday (June 7, 2021) extended the ongoing corona curfew till June 20.

The Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government announced that the COVID-19 curbs in the state will remain in place, but some relaxation will also be given. According to the new order, the curfew will be relaxed from 6 am to 2 pm and the government offices will be allowed to open from 8 am to 2 pm.

Andhra Pradesh government extends statewide curfew till June 20; curfew relation hours 6 am to 2 pm, government offices to function from 8 am to 2pm  ANI (@ANI) June 7, 2021

The COVID curfew, first imposed on May 5, was supposed to end on June 10 but, at a high-level review meeting on the pandemic situation, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to extend it for ten more days.

Andhra Pradesh on Sunday reported 8,976 new COVID-19 cases, taking the COVID-19 tally to 17,58,339. The state also reported 90 fatalities, pushing the death toll to 11,466, as per the health department.

Several states and Union Territories have now begun easing the COVID-19 lockdown curbs which were imposed in mid-April, when the deadly second COVID wave hit the country.

Meanwhile, India on Monday witnessed the highest drop in the daily COVID-19 cases in the past two months. According to the Union Health Ministry data released this morning, India reported 1,00,636 new cases of coronavirus infection in the past 24 hours. During this period, the country also recorded 2427 deaths, the Health Ministry data showed.

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Srinagar: General MM Naravane, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) is on a two-day visit to Kashmir to review the prevailing security situation in the UT.

On arrival at Srinagar, the Army Chief, accompanied by Lt Gen YK Joshi, the Northern Army Commander and Lt Gen DP Pandey, Chinar Corps Commander visited units and formations in the hinterland where he was briefed by the local Commanders on the existing security situation and the measures being taken to identify and target the over ground workers (OGWs) network involved in radicalisation and recruitment of youth into terrorist ranks. Efforts to prevent local recruitment and facilitate the surrender of local terrorists were also discussed.

While interacting with troops, the COAS expressed his appreciation to the jawans and commanders who are relentlessly battling the dual challenges of Pakistan abetted terror and the global pandemic. He further reinforced the need to be prepared to meet emerging security challenges effectively. Later, the COAS was briefed by the Chinar Corps Commander on the overall situation pertaining to the Line of Control and the hinterland.

The Army Chief complimented the excellent synergy exhibited by all sections of the Civil Administration, Jammu and Kashmir Police, Central Armed Police Forces and other Security agencies in projecting a Whole of Government approach that has resulted in improvement in the security situation conducive for fostering a new era of development in the UT.

In the evening, the COAS called on the Honble Lt Governor Shri Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhawan and discussed the emerging challenges and road map for long term peace in J&K. The LG appreciated the role played by the Indian Army in restoring and preserving peace in the UT and providing aid to the civil authorities against the COVID 19 pandemic.

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New Delhi: The border forces of India and Bangladesh participated in a four-day Border Co-ordination Conference which started on Monday (June 7).

Indias Border Security Force (BSF) and Bangladeshs Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) held the meet through a video conference to avoid the risk of infection amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The two sides discussed various border issues of bilateral interests including trans-border crimes, smuggling of contraband articles and cattle, Indian Insurgent Groups activities from Bangladesh side, FICN etc.

The leaders of both the delegations agreed to amicably resolve all the bilateral issues to achieve the common goal of establishing peace and tranquillity along the International Border.

The last such Border Co-ordination Conference was held in BSF Tripura Frontier, Agartala in November 2020.
New Delhi: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has released the revised schedule of the CA exams it had postponed in April in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, as per an announcement on Saturday (June 5, 2021), the Institute said that the Chartered Accountants Intermediate (IPC) {Under Old Scheme}, Intermediate {Under New Scheme}, Final {Under Old & New Scheme} and Post Qualification Course, viz, Insurance and Risk Management (IRM) Technical Examination and International Taxation  Assessment Test (INTT  AT) of May 2021 Examinations will now be conducted from July first week.

The exams will be held between July 5 and July 20 from 2 PM to 5 PM.

Check the detailed revised schedule below:





The candidates have been advised to stay in touch with ICAI's official website at www.icai.org.
New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday (June 7) asked schools to conduct their pending class 12 practicals and internal assessments only in online mode, and submit marks by June 28. In a letter sent to schools, CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said that it has been observed that some schools have not been able to complete the school-based assessments in various subjects due to the Covid pandemic.

"Thus, the schools with pending practicals and internal assessments are permitted to conduct the same now in only online mode and upload marks on the provided link latest by June 28," he said.

Outlining the process for practical exams, he said the external examiner will take viva-voce of students in online mode, with the internal examiner also present on-screen.

"Screenshot of all three has to be taken by the school as proof of the test being conducted. Students have to be informed of the online exam date well in advance, though the actual link shall be given only on exam day,"he added.

The CBSE had in February asked affiliated schools to conduct Class 10 and Class 12 practical exams, internal assessments and projects between March 1 and June 11. The board had also directed schools to reconduct the practical exams for students who were not able to appear due to the student or family member being infected with COVID-19.

While few schools had already completed the assessment, few could not as schools had to be closed in view of the aggressive second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

The theory exams for class 12 which were scheduled to begin from May 4, also had to be postponed and ultimately cancelled.

The Centre had last week decided to cancel the CBSE class 12 board exams amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting the decision was taken in the interest of students.

The CBSE has constituted a 13-member committee to decide an objective criterion for alternate assessment for class 12.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the Central government will provide free COVID-19 vaccines to states for all above 18 years of age from 21 June. "From 21 June, in every state for all citizens above the age of 18 years, the government will provide free vaccine to the states," the PM said while addressing the nation on the COVID-19 situation in the country.

Centre itself will buy 75 per cent of the total vaccine production from manufacturers and give it free to the state governments, he added. The PM said that the COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest tragedy in the past 100 years and cautioned that the fight against coronavirus is not over yet.

In his address to the nation, the PM said, This is the deadliest pandemic in the past 100 years. The modern world has not seen such a pandemic. Our country has fought this pandemic at many levels.

PM Modi further said that along with the world, India too went through deep pain while battling the deadly virus. Our country stands united against this pandemic, the PM said. The PM said that strict adherence to COVID safety protocols has been the biggest weapon in the fight against an invisible enemy like coronavirus.

In this fight, the vaccines have provided a protective cover to all of us, the PM said. PM Modi also hailed the Indian scientists for making a COVID vaccine in such a short time, which he said was ''an achievement for the entire humanity.'' ''The scientists of the country have shown in this era that India is no less than any country,'' the PM said.

PM Modi said that the trial of two vaccines for children is going on fast. Apart from this, research is also going on in the country on a nasal vaccine. It will be sprayed in the nose by not giving it with a syringe. If this is achieved, then the vaccine campaign will accelerate further.

Highlighting the steps taken by his government, the PM said, A new health infrastructure has been developed in the past 1.5 years with COVID hospitals, ventilators beds, to preparing a network of testing labs. During the second wave in April-May, demand for medical oxygen increased at an unprecedented rate.

PM Modi further stated that that the government extended all possible assistance to the vaccine manufacturers. The government walked shoulder to shoulder with them at every level, he added.

PM also said that the mass vaccination drive was expedited through Mission Indradhanush. While claiming that India tackled the COVID-19 pandemic on a war footing, PM Modi said, India has made all efforts to get medical oxygen from all corners of the world when the country faced a shortage. We have built up medical infrastructure on a war footing.

The Prime Minister informed that India so far has delivered 23 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses, adding that the inoculation coverage currently stands at 90 per cent.

During the second wave, the demand for medical oxygen in the country increased unimaginably in the months of April and May. Never in the history of India has the need for medical oxygen been felt in such quantity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address on Monday.

"To meet this demand, work was done on a war footing," the PM said adding that ''faith and honest policies helped India in tackling the COVID-19 second wave.

PM Modi said that the central government supported the demands of the states regarding the vaccine. And from May 1, 25 per cent of the vaccine work was handed over to the states. The Centre also came to know about the difficulty in handling such a big task.

Making a major announcement, the PM said that the central government will now provide free vaccine to the states. "Till the end of April, the vaccination campaign was going on under the supervision of the centre. Now it has been decided that the Government of India will also take responsibility for 25 per cent vaccine which was with the states. It will happen in two-week time. From Monday (June 21), the Government of India will provide free vaccine to all citizens of the age of 18 years in every state of the country.''

PM Modi said that 25 per cent of the vaccine being made in the country can be taken by private hospitals, this facility will also continue. Now, the entire responsibility of vaccination will be of the central government.

The central government has also made an arrangement that the central government will give information about the vaccine to the state a week in advance.

Making yet another announcement, the PM said, "last year when the lockdown was imposed due to Coronavirus, under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, free ration was arranged for 80 crore countrymen for 8 months. This year also the scheme was extended for May and June also. Today, the government had taken the decision that this scheme would remain in force till Diwali.''

Stressing on the importance of the vaccination drive, he said that vaccination is the only way forward against COVID-19 and lauded Indias efforts to produce two vaccines in India and having administered over 23 crore doses.

Imagine, if we didnt have vaccines made in India, how would have the country tackled the pandemic? If you see the history of 50-60 years, it would take at least a decade for various vaccines to come to India. Whether Polio or Small Pox or Hepatitis B, the nation has had to wait for them for years, PM Modi claimed.

Only 60% vaccine coverage was there in India (against various diseases) when we took over in 2014. The pace with which it was going, it would have taken 40 years for the country to get vaccinated, adding that the government launched the Indradhanush campaign which has now led to 90% of the country being vaccinated against these diseases in a span of 5-6 years.

PM Modi's latest address to the nation came at a time when the country is witnessing the lowest coronavirus cases in two months with 1 lakh fresh cases.

The daily COVID-19 death toll has also come down while the number of active cases in the country has decreased to 14 lakh. PM Modi has addressed the nation a number of times since the pandemic began last year, offering suggestions to people and outlining measures taken by his government to deal with the situation.

PM Modi had on Friday chaired a high-level meeting to review the progress of the mass vaccination drive, during which he was briefed about the current availability of vaccines and the roadmap for ramping it up. The PM was also apprised about the efforts undertaken to help various vaccine manufacturers ramp up the production of vaccines.

The Prime Minister also reviewed the status of vaccination coverage in healthcare workers as well as front-line workers. He also took stock of the vaccination coverage in the above 45 as well as 18-44 age group. After reviewing the status of vaccine wastage in various states, the PM instructed that vaccine wastage numbers are still on the higher side and steps need to be taken to bring them down.

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (June 7) announced that the central government will provide free vaccines to all citizens above 18 years of age from June 21.

He said that the Centre will procure 75 per cent of the total vaccine production in the country and provide it to the state governments free of cost.

From Monday, June 21, in every state of the country, for all citizens above the age of 18 years, the Government of India will provide free vaccine to the states, PM Modi said in his address to the nation.

The Government of India itself will buy 75 percent of the total vaccine production from vaccine manufacturers and will give it to the state governments free of cost, he added.

Modi said that owing to the pressure from state governments, the Centre had allowed them to procure 25 per cent of the total vaccine stock. But since they faced several difficulties in its implementation, the Centre is taking back that responsibility.

25% of vaccination work with states will now be handled by the Centre, it will be implemented in the coming two weeks. Both State and Centre to work as per new guidelines in the coming two weeks, said Modi.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-07 18:00:09|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Washington is once again challenging Beijing's red line over the Taiwan question.

The whirlwind visit of three U.S. senators to China's Taiwan on Sunday is another flagrant violation of three China-U.S. joint communiques, which allow no official exchanges of any form between the United States and the island. Only this time, the provocation came under the cover of COVID-19 vaccines.

Promising to donate 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses with no details given on which vaccines Taiwan would get or when, those three U.S. politicians have brought Taiwan with nothing but Washington's Greek gift.

Under the pretense of humanitarian concern, the purpose of the visit this time is to stage an anti-China political farce and offer some symbolic support for the current Taiwan authorities that are overwhelmed by the raging pandemic situation in the island.

The United States has long been manipulating Taiwan as a political pawn to contain China's development. What Washington truly cares about is not the lives and health of people in Taiwan, but its own geopolitical interests in Asia-Pacific.

What has caught greater attention during Sunday's visit than Washington's verbal promise of vaccines is the fact that those U.S. politicians flew to Taiwan on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III freighter. And the U.S. military plane landed at one of Taiwan's military airports.

Again, there should be no official contact between Washington and the Taiwan authorities, not to mention exchanges involving military elements.

Such a treacherous move of Washington has nothing to do with fighting COVID-19 as it claimed, and will only increase tensions in the region.

As the people in Taiwan are struggling with a spike in COVID-19 cases and vaccine shortages, it is quite despicable that some Taiwan politicians are turning vaccines into a tool for political manipulation.

Beijing has been showing repeatedly its willingness to do its best to help Taiwan compatriots fight COVID-19, and offered to provide the island with the mainland-made vaccines already endorsed by the World Health Organization.

However, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities have turned a blind eye to the mainland's goodwill, impeded the mainland's vaccine offer to Taiwan in every possible way, and even falsely claimed that the mainland was obstructing its vaccine procurement.

What the DPP authorities have been doing shows no respect for the life and health of the people in Taiwan and violates the most basic humanitarian spirit.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory. The one-China principle is a recognized norm of international relations and a consensus of the international community.

Beijing will never compromise on its core interests. Washington should quit its salami slicing tactics to undermine the one-China principle that it has vowed to abide by, stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan's separatists, and refrain from further complicating the situation in the region.

If Washington truly wants to extend a helping hand to Taiwan in its anti-pandemic fight, it can find viable solutions under the one-China principle. Yet what it is offering to the island now is setting a dangerous trap for regional peace and stability. Enditem
NEW DELHI: Amid ongoing efforts to bring back Mehul Choksi, the sources on Monday said that the government is confident that the fugitive diamond diamantaire would be deported back to the country to face trial in the multi-crore PNB loan fraud scam.

Sources further said that the governments legal team is closely following the developments related to Mehul Choksi in Dominica. As per available data, between January 2018 to July 2019, a total of 148 Indian nationals were deported from the UK. These people were deported on the grounds of their illegal entry into the UK.

In addition to the above, the UK immigration authorities and the Home Office has taken Emergency Travel Document from the High Commission of India ( HCI) for more than 1574 additional Indian nationals, who will be deported on the grounds of their illegal entry as soon as the COVID-19 restrictions are normalized.

The government sources sai that the deportation data with effect from July 2020 till date is awaited at the moment.

In a related development, the fugitive diamantaire has disclosed the names of his alleged abductors to the Antiguan police. In an affidavit filed before the Dominica High Court, Choksi claimed that he is a law-abiding citizen and that he had left India only to seek medical treatment in the United States.

He told the Dominica High Court that the Indian authorities can interview him anytime as part of an investigation that is underway against him.

Meanwhile, Antigua police have commenced an investigation into the possible abduction of Mehul Choksi from Antigua on May 23, 2021, according to Antigua News Room. Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that Choksis lawyers wrote to the Police Commissioner providing the names of the people who allegedly abducted him.

Browne said that the police and the government are taking the allegations seriously, according to the Antigua News Room.

Choksi, accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank scam, got interim relief from immediate repatriation to India by the Dominican court which adjourned the matter of his detention on Thursday. As the next date of hearing is yet to be fixed, the court proceedings are likely to take time.

According to local media reports, his team of lawyers connived with the opposition leaders to pressure the judiciary, which rather than questioning Choksi`s illegal entry from Antigua to Dominica, believed his lawyers` version that he was abducted.

Reports about Choksis plan to escape to Cuba have also come to the fore. It may be recalled that Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank loan fraud case.

Choksi fled the country and was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018. He is involved in a legal battle to prevent his extradition to India. Choksi had gone missing from Antigua on May 23 after going out for dinner and was soon caught in Dominica.

He was charged with illegal entry by the police in Dominica after he allegedly escaped from Antigua and Barbuda in a possible attempt to evade extradition to India.

(With Additional Agency Inputs)

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New Delhi: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi will start screening children for clinical trials of indigenous home-grown COVID-19 vaccine, Bharat Biotechs Covaxin from Monday (June 7, 2021), sources told news agency ANI.

This development comes the day after AIIMS Patna started pediatric trials, on children aged between 12 and 18 years old, for Covaxin.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave nod to Bharat Biotech to conduct clinical trials on children on May 11. To grant the permission of trials, DCGIs approval was followed by a recommendation on May 12 by a Subject Expert Committee (SEC).

Earlier, Niti Aayog member (Health), VK Paul, had said, Covaxin has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), for Phase II/III clinical trials in the age group of 2 to 18 years.

India currently has three COVID-19 vaccines, namely Bharat Biotechs Covaxin, Serum Institutes Covishield, and Russias Sputnik V.

Covaxin is being indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and is being used in adults in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive.

Meanwhile, India on Sunday saw its lowest single-day rise in COVID-19 cases in two months and recorded 1.14 lakh new infections, as per the data by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. India's active caseload decreased by 77,449 in the last 24 hours and has now dropped to 14,77,799.

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New Delhi: Nearly two lakh final semester undergraduate and postgraduate students are expected to take the online open book exams in Delhi University that will commence from Monday (June 7, 2021).

The examination branch officials held a meeting on Sunday with college principals and nodal officers to discuss the modalities of evaluation and results, DS Rawat, Dean(Examinations) said.

"The meeting was held to discuss how to tackle the issues that arise. We want to start the evaluation process on Tuesday. Earlier, the process would start late. The papers will be held in two shifts -- 9 AM to 12 noon and 2 PM to 5 PM," he said.

The next day, officials will allot the examination sheets to teachers with a deadline to finish evaluating them. The principals will also be given a list of the teachers evaluating the sheets so that they can track the progress, he said.

"The results usually take three months. For courses that have less number of students, the results can be finalised early," he said.

Rawat said that he also told the principals that they can give ''confidential results" to students in case they have to submit them to foreign universities for admission.

"Usually, the last date for submission of results in universities is July 31 so in case some student needs the result, they can give us documentary evidence and write to us and we will give them the result," he said.

The official said that last time, there was a university that was not accepting the confidential result of a student.

"The student informed us and I wrote a personal email with my credentials and the varsity subsequently accepted it," he added.

On Sunday night, students taking the exams will receive an email from Rawat with the guidelines of exams.

Last year, during the first phase of the online open-book exams, students had complained about technical glitches in the submission of answer sheets.

However, Rawat said that during the exams held in March this year, there were very few students who encountered technical glitches.

In case of low internet connectivity or any unforeseen technical glitches etc., the student can submit their script beyond the specified time period with documentary evidence, he said.

According to the official notification, the maximum time limit for the delayed submission is 60 minutes.

"However, all such cases will be examined by the Review Committee and these answer sheets shall be evaluated based on the decision of the Review Committee.

"The time of submission of answer sheets shall be recorded by the system. The delayed submissions of an answer sheet with the exact time of submission shall be sent to Review Committee," according to DU''s rules.

A section of students has been demanding the postponement of exams citing that some students are grappling with coronavirus infection in their families.

However, Rawat said that they had not received any such representation till Sunday.

Rawat said he had a word with principals of 28 colleges and they had said that a majority of the students were present during the practicals held last month.

"Only two-three students were absent in each college," he said.

The exams were earlier postponed twice.

They were scheduled to start from May 15 but were deferred to June 1 owing to the spike in coronavirus cases across the country.

Later, the varsity had released a new notification saying final semester/ annual exams will commence from June 7, instead of June 1.
New Delhi: Delhi started its Unlock 2.0 process on Monday (June 7) and began easing restrictions after a hiatus of 1.5 months in view of the improved COVID-19 situation in the national capital, albeit with strict compliance in coronavirus guidelines and protocols. The national capital had been under lockdown since April 19 in view of the massive surge in COVID-19 cases in the second wave of the pandemic.

Although shops, including standalone and vends opened in the national capital on Monday, cinemas, theatres, restaurants, bars, gyms, spas, barbershops and beauty parlours continues to remain shut till further orders. Meanwhile, the national capital witnessed an increase in the volume of traffic on Monday following the easing of COVID curbs.

Delhi govt offices resume operations, workers return to factories

Delhi government offices resumed after one and half months on Monday with a thin attendance following further relaxations of lockdown restrictions in the national capital. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in an order on Saturday announced the reopening of the city's government and private offices with 50 per cent staff attendance. The government offices have been allowed to open with 100 per cent attendance of Group A officers. Fifty per cent of officers below the Group A category will attend the offices while the rest will work from home, an official statement said.

DMRC, DTC buses resume operations with 50 per cent capacity

The Delhi metro services resumed operations on Monday after a gap of two months amidst the ongoing pandemic with the provision of travel with 50 percent seating only for the containment of COVID. DMRC recorded 4.5 lakh passenger journeys till 8 pm, having resumed services after nearly a month during which train operations remained suspended in view of the second COVID wave. Passengers will be allowed to travel by sitting only on alternate seats with no provision for standing travel till further directions. Special nine flying squads were also deployed to randomly check inside trains for any kind of violations and counsel people to refrain from doing so for their own and everyone's safety.

From general commuters to sanitation workers and station staff to security personnel, all expressed happiness to see Delhi Metro services being resumed, even as the DMRC urged people to use the rapid transit system only when necessary.

The DTC bus services too resumed operations in Delhi with 50 per cent capacity starting June 7.

Temples across the national capital were also opened on Monday in strict compliance with COVID19 guidelines as daily cases of coronavirus witnessed a drop in numbers. Delhi recorded 231 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest in over two-and-a-half months and 36 fatalities on Monday, while the positivity rate stood dipped to 0.36 per cent, according to data shared by the health department.

Shopping malls, shops open in Delhi

Shops and shopping malls reopened on odd-even basis, and other economic activities like registration of properties, offices and metro services, also resumed after nearly one and a half months, following more relaxation of lockdown. Markets and malls, however, wore a dull and deserted look and only a few shops and outlets reopened on odd-even basis. Police and the district administrations have formed teams to ensure no Covid norms are broken as the markets, malls and complexes reopen from 10 am to 8 pm.

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New Delhi: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi filed an affidavit before the Dominica High Court and claimed that he is a law-abiding citizen. Choksi in his affidavit said that he had left India only to seek medical treatment in the US.

Fugitive diamantaire on Sunday (June 6, 2021) also disclosed the names of his alleged abductors to Antigua police and told Dominica High Court that the Indian authorities can interview him anytime as part of an investigation that is underway against him.

I have extended an invitation to the Indian authorities to interview me and ask any questions that they may have of me in relation to any investigation they are conducting against me, The Times of India quoted the fugitive diamantaire as saying in an eight-page submission.

I did not evade law enforcement in India. There was no warrant against me by the law enforcement authorities in India when I left India to seek medical treatment in the United States of America, the report quoted Choksi as further saying.

Meanwhile, Antigua police have commenced an investigation into the possible abduction of Mehul Choksi from Antigua on May 23, 2021, reported Antigua News Room.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that Choksis lawyers wrote to the Police Commissioner providing the names of the people he believes abducted him.

PM Browne also said that the Antigua police and the government are taking the allegations seriously, reported Antigua News Room.

Mehul Choksi is accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank scam got interim relief from immediate repatriation to India by the Dominican court which adjourned the matter of his detention on Thursday.

According to local media reports, his team of lawyers connived with opposition leaders to pressure the judiciary, which rather than questioning Choksis illegal entry from Antigua to Dominica, believed his lawyers version that he was abducted.

The absconding businessman was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018. He is involved in a legal battle to prevent his extradition to India.

Choksi had gone missing from Antigua on May 23 after going out for dinner and was soon caught in Dominica. He was charged with illegal entry by the police in Dominica after he allegedly escaped from Antigua and Barbuda in a possible attempt to evade extradition to India.

Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne wanted his citizenship to be cancelled, he wrote a letter in 2019, he has clearly said that Choksi will not be allowed entry in Antigua and he should be deported back to India.

(With ANI inputs)

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New Delhi: As part of the Delhi government's unlocking national capital in a phased manner, the liquor shops, malls and markets will re-open from Monday (June 7, 2021).

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday had announced various relaxations including the opening of markets, malls and standalone shops in Delhi from Monday.

Liquor stores, malls, markets and market complexes (except weekly markets) can open between 10 AM to 8 PM on an odd-even basis, ie, shops can open on alternate days depending on their shop number. However, shops selling essential goods including educational books and stationary shops, fan shops in malls, markets and market complexes, are permitted to open on all days without the restriction of timings.

A senior Delhi government official said that teams will be deployed to ensure that all COVID-related protocols are followed.

ALSO READ | Delhi Metro to resume operations today with 50 % seating capacity

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in its order dated June 5 had directed that all COVID-appropriate behaviour, including the use of face mask and social distancing, should be maintained at all the malls, markets, market complexes, standalone shops, and neighbourhood shops.

"If the norms of COVID-appropriate behaviour are not maintained by any shop, then it will be liable to be closed and its owner may face prosecution under relevant laws," the order read.

The alcoholic beverages industry has welcomed the reopening of liquor shops in Delhi, saying it was vital for revenue generation.

"I feel there should be more clarity on the odd-even rule since there are standalone shops. But the first thing is reopening the shops and the ease of availability to the customers."

"I'd also say the instructions should be made clear to all the shops about social distancing and other guidelines," said Vinod Giri, director-general of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies.

The liquor shops, malls and markets have been shut in Delhi since the lockdown was announced by Arvind Kejriwal on April 19.


New Delhi: In yet another shocking revelation, a report suggests that fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi was trying to go to Cuba through the sea route with the help of his agent, who purportedly also helped him escape from Antigua and Barbuda.

As per a report in CNN-News18, the Antigua police sources revealed that the efforts are underway to identify the man (agent), adding that the initial probe suggests that the man was attempting to take Choksi to Cuba but the plan was foiled after Mehul Choksi was nabbed in Dominica.

The report suggests that the man, Govin, was Mehul Choksis close friend in Antigua. The Antigua police sources revealed that Govin has said that his plan was to leave Antigua and settle in a safehouse in Cuba. He also said that Choksi holds another citizenship of a Caribbean country, apart from Antigua and Barbuda.

Further, the Indian intelligence sources added that the absconding businessman made up his abduction story because he knew that the Antigua government is committed to send him back to India.

The sources also added that the media reports being circulated in India over the issue are Choksis family and lawyers' version, adding that the details of the case will only be revealed after the investigation. The information being shown in reports has no authenticity, and investigation in the case is ongoing, they said.

The sources in the report were also quoted as saying that Choksi knew that cooking up a missing story was his only way out of this. As per the legal technicalities, the bruises and blood-eye cannot be held as evidence of Choksi being abducted, the sources in the Antigua government said. They also claimed that it was just Choksi and his aides attempt to fuel a false story to divert attention from the real issue.

Mehul Choksi, along with his nephew Nirav Modi, is accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank scam. Choksi got interim relief from immediate repatriation to India by the Dominican court which adjourned the matter of his detention on Thursday.

Choksi had gone missing from Antigua on May 23 after going out for dinner and was soon caught in Dominica. Choksis attorneys claim that their client was kidnapped from Jolly Harbour in Antigua by policemen, who looked like Antiguan and Indian. He was charged with illegal entry by the police in Dominica after he allegedly escaped from Antigua and Barbuda in a possible attempt to evade extradition to India.

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Kolkata: At least three passengers on Vistara's Mumbai-Kolkata flight were injured on Monday (June 7) as the aircraft encountered severe turbulence just before landing, officials said. The flight, UK 775, landed safely at the Kolkata airport at 4.25 pm, airport director C Pattabhi said. The five passengers who received minor injuries were sent to their destination after being administered first aid, the airport director said. There were 113 passengers on board the aircraft.

"The aircraft was caught amidst air turbulence right before landing at Kolkata airport. Three passengers have suffered injuries and were rushed to hospital. One elderly person has suffered shoulder dislocation while a lady has suffered a fracture on her right arm. Another person has suffered an injury on his forehead. Other passengers are safe," a senior official of Kolkata airport said.

"Due to turbulence, three passengers were injured critically and five passengers had minor injuries inside the aircraft," he said. The critically injured passengers were sent to Charnock Hospital for treatment.

The incident happened around 4 pm owing to bad weather when the flight was around 25 nautical miles from Kolkata, Pattabhi said. PTI quoted a Vistara spokesperson saying that the airline is saddened by the unfortunate experience its customers had, and is closely monitoring the health status of those injured. "We are investigating the incident on priority, and will share a further update at the earliest," the spokesperson told the news agency.

The Boeing 737 aircraft with 113 passengers on board landed safely at the Kolkata airport at 4:25 pm. On arrival at the Kolkata airport, all injured passengers were rushed to Charnock hospital in the vicinity of the airport.

The airline service provider, Vistara said in a statement, "Flight UK775 operating Mumbai-Kolkata on 7 June 2021 encountered severe turbulence 15 minutes before landing. According to preliminary reports, the turbulence caused injuries to a few passengers, who were provided first aid during flight and immediate medical assistance upon arrival in Kolkata. We are saddened by this unfortunate experience our customers had, and are closely monitoring the health status of those injured. We are investigating the incident on priority, and will share a further update at the earliest."

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Mumbai: A 28-year-old man died and five others were injured after the wall of a four-storey building collapsed on an adjoining two-storey house in suburban Bandra on Monday, a civic official said.

The incident took place around 1.45 am following which fire brigade personnel rescued 11 people, while some locals rescued another six persons, he said, according to news agency PTI.

The structures are located in Rajjak Chawl on Kherwadi Road in Bandra (East), he said.

Those rescued and injured were sent to the Bhabha Hospital in Bandra and V N Desai Hospital in Santacruz, the official said.

He said authorities at the V N Desai Hospital informed that one person, identified as Riyaz Ahmad (28), was brought dead to the medical facility, while another person, Nooral Haq Haider Ali Sayyad (21), was brought with minor injuries.

Four other persons, Salman Khan (24), Rahul Khot (22), Rohan Khot (22) and Lata Khot (48), were undergoing treatment at the Bhabha Hospital and their condition is stable, the civic official said.

Search and rescue operation is still underway along with the work of clearing the debris at the site, another official said.

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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing the nation at 5 PM on Monday amid a sharp decline in the new cases of coronavirus infection across the country. The Prime Ministers Office (PMO) announced this through a tweet in which it said that PM Modi will speak at 5 PM.

Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi will address the nation at 5 PM today, 7th June, the PMO tweeted.

Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi will address the nation at 5 PM today, 7th June.  PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 7, 2021

PM Modi's latest address to the nation comes at a time when the country is witnessing the lowest coronavirus cases in two months with 1 lakh fresh cases.

The daily COVID-19 death toll has also come down while the number of active cases in the country has decreased to 14 lakh.

PM Modi has addressed the nation a number of times since the pandemic began last year, offering suggestions to people and outlining measures taken by his government to deal with the situation.

PM Modi had on Friday chaired a high-level meeting to review the progress of the mass vaccination drive, during which he was briefed about the current availability of vaccines and the roadmap for ramping it up. The PM was also apprised about the efforts undertaken to help various vaccine manufacturers ramp up the production of vaccines.

The Prime Minister also reviewed the status of vaccination coverage in healthcare workers as well as front-line workers. He also took stock of the vaccination coverage in the above 45 as well as 18-44 age group. After reviewing the status of vaccine wastage in various states, the PM instructed that vaccine wastage numbers are still on the higher side and steps need to be taken to bring them down.

Importantly, on Friday, the Prime Minister praised the Indian scientists for developing a 'Made in India' vaccine against COVID-19 and boosting measures to fight the pandemic within a year of its outbreak.

Addressing a meeting of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Society via video conference, PM Modi, who is also the president of the scientific body, cited India's experience in the previous century to say that the country used to wait for years to lay its hands on innovations achieved abroad, but its scientists are now working shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts outside.

During today's address, PM Modi is expected to highlight his government's vaccination policy, which has been severely criticized by the states and medical experts. The Modi government at the Centre has faced severe criticism as vaccine supply fell short and the country saw a peak in COVID cases in the second wave in March-April.

The government had to pause exports of COVID vaccines under its "Vaccine Maitri" programme and scrambled to procure more doses to tackle the acute shortage in the country as it widened its vaccination drive to all adults.

However, with a significant improvement in the situation, several states and Union Territories have now begun easing the COVID-19 lockdown curbs which were imposed in mid-April, when the deadly second COVID wave hit the country.

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Freetown International Conference Center, Aberdeen, Saturday 29 May 2021 - His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has officially launched the inauguration of the Postgraduate College of Health Specialties and induction of foundation fellows and he is now an Honorary Fellow of the Sierra Leone Council of Postgraduate Colleges of Health Specialties.

Chairman of the Council of Post Graduate Colleges of Health Specialties, Prof. Dr Sahr M. Gevao, said that history was already made, noting that the idea of the commencement of postgraduate medical training had been on the drawing board since the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, COMAHS, graduated its first cohorts of physicians in 1994.

"The concept of postgraduate medical training, through our local colleges, was conceived in the early 2000s, leading to the formulation of a strategic plan that was commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation," he said.

Pro. Gevao further noted that the inducted foundation follows of the Sierra Leone Council for Postgraduate College of Health Specialties would form a bedrock for postgraduate medical training and that the Honorary Members would serve as goodwill ambassadors and luminaries to the society in supporting postgraduate training activities geared toward the reduction of alarming maternal and child mortality indices in the country.

"Today, we are here for the inauguration of the colleges and induction of foundation fellows: 69 specialist nurses and midwives, 74 physicians and surgeons and 38 specialists in pharmacy," he concluded.

In a short goodwill message, the Country Representative of the World Health Organisation, Dr Steven Velabo Shongwe, said it was truly historic for the people of Sierra Leone, noting that the establishment of the Postgraduate Colleges of Health Specialties was a major milestone in the country.

"On behalf of the World Health Organisation, I wish to congratulate you all on this great achievement. I wish you all success," he ended.

Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr Austin Demby, said the occasion marked an important milestone in the human capacity development agenda of the government, adding that the inauguration of the post-graduate colleges of physicians and surgeons was indeed one of the pinnacles of the education and learning value chain.

"This postgraduate programme clearly provides that platform for advanced medical and surgical practice," he noted.

Dr Demby further said that no longer would the country be draining the coffers of the limited foreign exchange earnings to send people overseas for medical care when there were homegrown experts in the country.

"I am hoping that this programme helps in the inquiry and exploration of bold actions that will be seen and felt by all Sierra Leoneans," he concluded.

In his statement, President Bio started off by thanking healthcare workers, emphasising that the nation's recognition for being proactive, focused, and intent on protecting, curtailing, and now vaccinating against COVID was largely due to the immense sacrifice they kept making on the frontlines.

"We cannot reward you enough; we cannot thank you enough for your unwavering commitment to serving our nation," he said.

"Our strategic objective in the Medium-Term National Development Plan is to 'transform the health sector from an under-resourced, ill-equipped, and inadequate delivery system into a well-resourced and functioning national healthcare delivery system that is affordable for everyone and accessible to all.' That is a key pillar of our nation's Human Capital Development priority which aligns with the continental AU Agenda 2063 and global Sustainable Development Goals.

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"So, when I appointed the Chairman and other Council Members of the Sierra Leone Council for Postgraduate Colleges of Health Specialties in 2019, I did so intentionally," he said.

The President referenced previous speakers, who had outlined the overall purpose of the Postgraduate Colleges of Health Specialties, adding that it sat well with the strategic objective outlined in the government's Medium-Term National Development.

"I note the running theme of this inauguration and induction ceremony is 'Quality and Access: Leadership and Excellence in medical specialty training for the transformation of healthcare delivery in Sierra Leone.'

"Inasmuch as our country's historical reputation on the continent for academic excellence floundered somewhat as a consequence of unfortunate events and governance decisions, I vowed to the people of this country that we will work together to turn things around," he assured.
Chennai: The founder leader of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), S. Ramadoss, has called upon the Tamil Nadu government to bring in legislation to make Tamil the compulsory medium of instruction in schools across the state.

The PMK leader said that Section (F) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009 says that "Mother tongue must be the medium of instruction as far as practicable".

In a statement released here on Monday (June 7), Ramadoss called upon the state government to bring in an amendment to remove the "as far as practicable" phrase in Section (F) of the RTE Act and send it for approval to the President of India.

He urged the state government to bring in legislation making Tamil as a compulsory medium of instruction in a phased manner and pass the legislation in the first session of the Assembly.

The PMK leader also welcomed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's statement that he would work hard to get official language status for all languages listed in the eighth schedule of the Constitution, including Tamil.

Ramadoss also said that the state government should ensure that the high courts and the Supreme Court accept the government`s legislation to make Tamil a compulsory medium of instruction.

(inputs from agency)

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (June 7) said that research on nasal vaccines for COVID-19 is in progress in the country.

Research is being conducted for a nasal vaccine in the country, the prime minister said.

He said that it would give a big boost and be a gamechanger in the fight against the pandemic

The PMs statement comes as Bharat Biotech is soon planning to launch the BBV154 nasal vaccine in the country.

In his address to that nation, Modi announced that the central government will provide free vaccines to all citizens above 18 years of age from June 21.

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (June 7) announced a cap of Rs 150 on service charge imposed by the private hospitals for administering COVID-19 vaccines.

He said that the private hospitals will be able to procure 25 per cent of the vaccine production by the manufacturing firms.

25 per cent of the vaccine being made in the country, private sector hospitals can take it directly, this system will continue, PM Modi said.

Private hospitals will be able to charge a maximum service charge of Rs 150 for a single dose after the fixed price of the vaccine, he added.

The PM further said that the task of monitoring the private hospitals that they adhere to the guideline will remain with the state governments.

In his address to that nation, Modi announced that the central government will provide free vaccines to all citizens above 18 years of age from June 21.

He said that the Centre will procure 75 per cent of the total vaccine production in the country and provide it to the state governments free of cost.

From Monday, June 21, in every state of the country, for all citizens above the age of 18 years, the Government of India will provide free vaccine to the states, PM Modi said in his address to the nation.

The Government of India itself will buy 75 per cent of the total vaccine production from vaccine manufacturers and will give it to the state governments free of cost, he added.

Modi said that owing to the pressure from state governments, the Centre had allowed them to procure 25 per cent of the total vaccine stock. But since they faced several difficulties in its implementation, the Centre is taking back that responsibility.

25% of vaccination work with states will now be handled by the Centre, it will be implemented in the coming two weeks. Both State and Centre to work as per new guidelines in the coming two weeks, said Modi.

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New Delhi: 'World Food Safety Day' as per the World Health Organization (WHO)is observed annually on June 7 to raise awareness about foodborne risks and help prevent, detect, and manage untoward diseases.

This year the global food safety watch dogs are emphasising the importance of proper food security and the risks associated with harmful eating practices, in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Nations general assembly (UNGA) has been discussing the need to establish a world food safety day. A resolution was adopted on December 20, 2018, by the assembly to mark June 7 as the day to "celebrate the myriad benefits of safe food".

Through World Food Safety Day, WHO works to mainstream food safety in the public agenda and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases globally. "Food safety is everyone's business," according to the public health agency.

The World Health Assembly (WHA) passed a resolution on August 3, 2020, to declare June 7 - the World Food Safety Day - as an imperative day to raise awareness at all levels about the importance of food safety.

The theme for this year is 'Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow'.

With this, WHO intends to stress the fact that the production and consumption of safe food have immediate and long-lasting benefits for people, the environment and the economy.

"Food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers, and consumers. Everyone has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is safe and healthy," read an event update on the WHO website.

While there is currently no evidence that suggests that the transmission of the COVID-19 is associated with food, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that proper food safety etiquette should be followed in general.

This includes follow the COVID-19 guidelines like washing your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds before preparing or eating food, and keep strict checks on the possibility of contamination of food products during storage or packaging.

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Mumbai: Legendary actor Dilip Kumar, was on Sunday (June 6) admitted to PD Hinduja Hospital in Khar, Mumbai. The actor has been diagnosed with bilateral pleural effusion and is currently on oxygen support in the ICU ward, though his condition is now stable.

The megastar was admitted to the hospital as he was having difficulty breathing for the last 2 days. Dr Jalil Parkar, the pulmonologist treating the actor at PD Hinduja Hospital gave the health update and said, "Veteran actor Dilip Kumar has been diagnosed with bilateral pleural effusion and kept on oxygen support in ICU ward."

Affirming that the actors condition is now stable, the doctor further added, "His condition is stable now. Even though he is in the ICU, he is not on a ventilator. We are trying our best that he makes a quick recovery and goes back home."

Later Dilip Saabs official Twitter handle also shared the update regarding the veteran actors health, telling people not to believe in Whatsapp forwards. The tweet read, "Dont believe in WhatsApp forwards. Saab is stable. Thank you for your heart-felt duas and prayers. As per doctors, he should be home in 2-3 days. InshaAllah."

Earlier in the day, his wife and actor Saira Banu stated that the doctor had asked the actor to undergo some tests and x-rays, after which it would be known how many more days he will have to stay in the hospital. He had requested his fans for prayers.

The superstar has been suffering from age-related health issues in recent years. Last month, the 98-year-old actor was admitted to the same hospital for two days regarding some routine checkups and tests.

Known as the Tragedy King of Bollywood, Kumars career has spanned over six decades. He has acted in over 65 films in his career and is known for his iconic roles in movies like Devdas (1955), Naya Daur (1957), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Ganga Jamuna (1961), Kranti (1981), and Karma (1986).

Last seen on the big screen in Qila in 1998, the actor was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015.
New Delhi: In the latest health update of veteran actor Dilip Kumar, we have learnt that the actors lungs are filled with water and he will be treated soon at the PD Hinduja Hospital in Khar, Mumbai by a team of doctors.

The actor was admitted to the hospital on Sunday (June 6) after he complained of breathlessness. He was later diagnosed with bilateral pleural effusion and admitted in an ICU. His condition was however, described as stable by the doctors.

Earlier, in May the Mughal-e-Azam actor was admitted in the hospital for a routine check-up.

Last year the actor lost his two younger brothers - Aslam Khan (88) and Ehsan Khan (90) to COVID-19.

Dilip Kumar aka Muhammad Yusuf Khan was born on December 11, 1922 and made his acting debut in 1944 with Jwar Bhata. Dilip Kumaris known as one of the first Bollywood actors to enjoy a superstar status. The actors career has ranged to five decades and he has featured in films like Kohinoor, Mughal-e-Azam, Devdas, Naya Daur, Ram Aur Shyam, among others. Qila which was released in 1998 was his last movie.

Recently his ancestral home in Pakistan has been converted into a museum by the government there.
New Delhi: Veteran actress Saira Banu is making sure to provide every possible update related to legendary actor Dilip Kumar to his fans.

In the recent update, the caring wife Saira shared the first glimpse of Dilip Saab from the PD Hinduja Hospital in Khar, Mumbai on Monday evening. In the picture, the 98-year-old Bollywood actor can be seen resting peacefully and his wife Banu can be seen by his side.

The picture has been shared by Saira on Dilip Saabs official Twitter page and she captioned it as, Latest. An hour ago.

The veteran actress recently shared the latest health update about the legendary actor Dilip and said the doctors have assured her that he should be discharged soon.

Saira also urged their fans not to believe in rumours regarding the health of the 98-year-old Bollywood actor. She also shared that Dilip Saabs condition is stable and thanked everyone for their wishes.

Dilip Saab was admitted to the hospital on Sunday (June 6) after he complained of breathlessness. He was later diagnosed with bilateral pleural effusion and was admitted in an ICU. His condition was however, described as stable by the doctors.
New Delhi: After Vikrant Masseys cheeky comment on Yami Gautam's pictures from her wedding ceremony, the internet was in splits. The comment gained so much traction that actress Kangana Ranaut also replied to his comment with a harsh response calling him a 'cockroach'.

She wrote, "Kahan se nikla yeh cockroach..nikalo meri chappal", to which fans had a mixed response with some lambasting her and others supporting her comment.

Check out what she wrote:

She also replied to a comment by Ayushmann Khurrana in which he wrote, "Simple. Real. God Bless." Ranaut took a philosophical approach to the comment and wrote, "As a matter of fact made up and artificial is most simple because it is so basic and easy to read that kind of show off but ancient and traditional especially when our history is older than the time itself makes it most layered and complex so what is organic isn't necessary simple if you got the perception to know the complexity of subtlety."

Ever since Yami Gautam broke the news of her wedding, she has been posting new pictures from the ceremony every day. The actress looked ethereal in her pop maroon wedding attire and the groom looked dashing in whites and gold combination.

On Friday (June 4) and she expressed her happiness and wrote, "In your light, I learn to love - Rumi, With the blessings of our family, we have tied the knot in an intimate wedding ceremony today. Being very private people, we celebrated this joyous occasion with our immediate family. As we embark on the journey of love and friendship, we seek all your blessings and good wishes. Love, Yami and Aditya".

On the work front, Yami recently began shooting for the social comedy film 'Dasvi' produced by Dinesh Vijan's Maddock Films. She will also be seen in Behzad Khambata's thriller 'A Thursday' playing the role of a school teacher who takes 16 children as hostages.
New Delhi: Actress Rhea Chakraborty claims Sushant Singh Rajputs sister Priyanka Singh and brother-in-law Siddharth used to consume marijuana with the actor and also procure it for him in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) chargesheet that has been accessed by Zee News.

The actress also shockingly claimed that Sushant's sister Priyanka gave the late actor drugs that could have caused his death.

I would also like to add, that on the 8th June 2020, Sushant Singh Rajput received a WhatsApp message from his sister Priyanka Singh telling him to take Librium 10 mg, Nexito etc. which are drugs under the NDPS Act 1985, stated Rhea.

She further alleged, She (Priyanka) had also provided a prescription by Dr Tarun, who is a cardiologist and has marked Sushant as an OPD patient, without consulting or meeting or online consultation with Sushant.



Rhea Chakraborty chargesheet

The actress declared this to be a possible reason for his untimely demise. I would like and request you to kindly take note that these drugs could have caused his untimely death as his sister Meetu was living with him from 8-12 June. I have also informed this to Mumbai Police and they have taken cognizance of the issue.

Rhea also said to the NCB that Sushant was addicted to marijuana and was consuming it even before they were together.

Her, chargesheet also makes the startling revelation of actress Sara Ali Khan consuming marijuana joints and carrying them with her.

Rhea Chakraborty, who was dating and was in a live-in relationship with Sushant Singh Rajput, has been in limelight since the untimely demise of the actor last year. An FIR against the actress was filed by Sushants family, which have accused her of abetment to suicide and siphoning off of late actors money. Rhea has categorically denied both the charges.

Rhea was in jail last year for 28 days in connection with the drug nexus probed by NCB while investigating Sushant Singh Rajputs death.

Last year on June 14, 2020, actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Bandra residence. It is speculated to be a suicide case. However, after the actors family and fans raised concerns, the case has been under investigation by multiple government agencies.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is looking at his death along with Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) probing the drugs angle and Enforcement Directorate (ED) looking into the money laundering matter.
New Delhi: Bollywood actress, Yami Gautam, who recently got married to 'URI' director Aditya Dhar has finally made a public appearance post marriage. The recent pictures are shared by her event planner Gitesh Sharma on his Instagram handle.

Gitesh took to Instagram and wrote, #happy_to_serve_you #Royal_caterers_n_tent_decorator

Many many congratulations to you on this auspicious occasion of marriage @yamigautam and it was delightful to meet you and it was pleasure to our group #Royal_caterers_n_tent__decorators be a part of this..

@yamigautam @adityadharfilms

#wedding_diaries #yamigautam #adityadhar #wedding.

In the first picture, Yami is all smiles while posing for the camera. She was seen wearing a green saree and light jewellery along with chooda. In the second picture Aditya can be seen smiling for the shutterbugs.

The beautiful duo got married in a small ceremony with only family and close friends in attendance on June 4.

On the work front, Yami has "Dasvi", "A Thursday", and "Bhoot Police" coming up, besides a few yet-to-be announced ventures.
The government said it would have none of Twitter's actions to undermine the "corporate existence" of Nigeria and its meddling in the country's internal affairs.

In response to Twitter deleting a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari which the social media platform deemed as inciting violence, the Nigerian government on Friday suspended Twitter's operation in Nigeria indefinitely.

The government said it would have none of Twitter's actions to undermine the "corporate existence" of Nigeria and its meddling in the country's internal affairs.

The Twitter ban is a step towards further social media regulation, according to the statement released by Nigeria's ministry of information.

This means that the long-sought social media regulation resolve of the government which had been heavily criticised was underway.

This added Nigeria to an infamous list of eight countries that have banned Twitter in recent months and analysts said it is reminiscent of Mr Buhari's years as a military dictator who wielded prosecutorial powers without checks.

Amid outrage and international pressure, the Nigerian government said the ban was "temporary."

By Saturday, telecommunication companies had complied with the order, pushing Nigerians to began to bypass the ban by using Virtual Private Networks (VPN).

Violators risk being charged to court, Attorney-General Abubakar Malami said, a threat he failed to substantiate with a clear legal footing. Lawyers also told Mr Malami his statement had no legal spine.

The international community, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland and Canada berated the ban which they said passes a poor message about Nigeria to investors and businesses.

Expectedly, the ruling APC has pulled its weight behind the federal government with members of the party at both chambers of the National Assembly keeping mute about the ban.

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, one of the few governors that spoke publicly about the ban, opposed the censorship.

Press freedom groups also faulted the ban. The Nigerian Bar Association threatened to press charges, the same promise made by rights group SERAP.

The government would not budge. It accused Twitter of double standard by not deleting alleged inciteful tweets by the leader of the separatist group, IPOB.

After saying the tweets were not a violation of its rules, Twitter made a u-turn by deleting Mr Kanu's tweets.
New Delhi: A crucial talk are to be held between the National Council of JCM headed by Central Government Employees (CGS) and central government officials from the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Finance and Department of Personnel and Training this month. Central employees who have long been waiting for the talks to start regarding the arrears of their Dearness Allowance (DA) may hear about the same in the coming weeks.

Though the talks with the officials of the central government were to be held in May last month, it got delayed due to the second wave of the pandemic that led to several restrictions being put. According to the National Council-JCM, now this meeting is expected to be held in this month i.e. in June, said media reports.

The initial meeting between the representatives of the Central Government and the National Council-JCM was scheduled on 8 May 2021, but was postponed due to the second wave of COVID-19. It was again scheduled for the last week of May 2021, but due to COVID restrictions, the meeting got stalled again. Now, with gradual lifting of restrictions in sight, the National Council-JCM expects this meeting to be held in the second or third week of this month, said reports.

Last year, due to Corona, the government had withheld dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) of employees and pensioners.

Increased salary will soon start coming in the accounts of millions of central employees and pensioners from July 1. The government has said in Parliament that their stalled dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) will be resumed from 1 July 2021.

The decision now to restore DA from July, 2021 would benefit about 50 lakh central government employees and more than 65 lakh pensioners. However, any increase in DA from July 1 will only be effective from that day, meaning the employees would not get any arrears on non-revision of DA for previous period.

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New Delhi: A new taxpayer-friendly e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department will be launched today (Monday, June 7).

The existing web portal has been currently under a "blackout period" of six days till June 6. The new e-filing link -- www.Incometax.Gov.In -- will replace the HYPERLINK "http://existing www.Incometaxindiaefiling.Gov.In".

The new Income Tax website will be coming out with the following features:

The upcoming website will enable a new online tax payment system with multiple new payment options using net banking, UPI, credit card and RTGS/NEFT from any account of taxpayer in any bank, for easy payment of taxes.

The mobile app will also be released subsequent to the initial launch of the portal, to enable taxpayers to get familiar with the various features.

The new taxpayer-friendly portal is integrated with immediate processing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) to issue quick refunds to taxpayers and all interactions and uploads or pending actions will be displayed on a single dashboard for follow-up action by the taxpayer, it said.

It will also have a free ITR preparation software with interactive questions to help taxpayers to file ITRs 1, 4 (online and offline) and ITR 2 (offline) to begin with and the facility for preparation of ITRs 3, 5, 6, 7 will be made available shortly.

Taxpayers will be able to proactively update their profile to provide certain details of income including salary, house property, business/profession which will be used in pre-filling their ITR in the new web port.

Detailed enablement of pre-filling with salary income, interest, dividend and capital gains will be available after TDS (tax deducted at source) and SFT (statement of financial transaction) statements are uploaded (due date June 30, 2021).

A new call center for taxpayer assistance for prompt response to taxpayer queries is also planned and the portal will have detailed FAQs, user manuals, videos and chatbot/live agent also.

Functionalities for filing income tax forms, add tax professionals, submit responses to notices in faceless scrutiny or appeals would be available.

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Social media giant Facebook has named Spoorthi Priya as its grievance officer for India on its website.

The move comes in the backdrop of the new IT rules coming into effect recently that require significant social media intermediaries - those with over 50 lakh users - to appoint a grievance officer, nodal officer and a chief compliance officer.

These personnel are required to be residing in India. As per Facebook's website, users can contact Spoorthi Priya - who is the Grievance Officer - through an e-mail ID.

Additionally, users can also contact Facebook in India via post at an address in New Delhi, as per the page.

Earlier, sources had said Facebook was updating the details of the new grievance officers appointed, to replace the existing information on its platform.

E-mails sent to Facebook did not elicit a response.

Digital companies like Google and WhatsApp have also updated their websites to reflect the appointment of grievance officers as per the new social media rules.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp had recently named Paresh B Lal as its grievance officer for India on its website.

Last week, Facebook had announced major changes in its content moderation policies that could escalate its confrontation with governments.

On June 4, Facebook said that when it assesses content for newsworthiness, it will not treat content posted by politicians any differently from content posted by anyone else.

Instead, it will simply apply its newsworthiness balancing test in the same way to all content, measuring whether the public interest value of the content outweighs the potential risk of harm by leaving it up, Facebook had said.

There are concerns globally about the increasing influence of social media platforms and the potential impact on democratic processes. Social media companies have also drawn ire over a number of issues, including misinformation, instances of a data breach, and handling of hate speech.

The Indian government has enforced new social media rules that are designed to prevent abuse and misuse of digital platforms, and offer users a robust forum for grievance redressal.

As per the rules, all intermediaries have to prominently publish on their website, app or both, the name of the grievance officer and his/her contact details as well as the mechanism by which a user or a victim may make a complaint.

The grievance officer will have to acknowledge the complaint within 24 hours and dispose of such complaint within a period of 15 days from the date of its receipt, and receive and acknowledge any order, notice or direction issued by the authorities.

Under the new rules, social media companies will have to take down flagged content within 36 hours, and remove within 24 hours content that is flagged for nudity, pornography etc.

Non-compliance with the rules would result in these platforms losing the intermediary status that provides them immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by them. In other words, they could be liable for criminal action in case of complaints.

India is a major market for global digital platforms. As per data cited by the government, India has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 41 crore Facebook subscribers, 21 crore Instagram clients, while 1.75 crore account holders are on the microblogging platform Twitter.

After the new norms came into effect on May 26, the IT ministry had turned up the heat on significant social media companies, asking them to immediately report compliance and provide details of the three key officials appointed.

Last week, the government had issued a notice to Twitter giving it one last chance to "immediately" comply with the new IT rules and warned that failure to adhere to the norms will lead to the platform losing exemption from liability under the IT Act.

Confronting Twitter on the issue, the Government had said that it was clear from the US company's responses that to date Twitter has not informed about the details of the Chief Compliance Officer as required under the Rules.

Also, resident grievance officer and the nodal contact person nominated by the company is not an employee of Twitter Inc in India as prescribed in the rules, the Ministry had said in its notice dated June 5, adding that office address of Twitter Inc as mentioned by the company "is that of a law firm in India, which is not as per the rules".

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St John's: Mehul Choksi on Sunday (local time) disclosed the names of his alleged abductors to Antiguan police, following which they have commenced an investigation into the possible abduction of the fugitive diamantaire from Antigua on May 23, 2021, reported Antigua News Room.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that Choksi`s lawyers wrote to the Police Commissioner providing the names of the people he believes abducted him.

Browne said that the police and the government are taking the allegations seriously.

Choksi, accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank scam got interim relief from immediate repatriation to India by the Dominican court which adjourned the matter of his detention on Thursday.

According to local media reports, his team of lawyers connived with opposition leaders to pressure the judiciary, which rather than questioning Choksi`s illegal entry from Antigua to Dominica, believed his lawyers` version that he was abducted.

However, evidence suggests that Choksi was planning to escape to Cuba. Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. Choksi fled the country.

He was granted citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018 and is involved in a legal battle to prevent his extradition to India.

Choksi had gone missing from Antigua on May 23 after going out for dinner and was soon caught in Dominica.

He was charged with illegal entry by the police in Dominica after he allegedly escaped from Antigua and Barbuda in a possible attempt to evade extradition to India. In order to save Choksi from deportation, a team of four lawyers was hired from London.

Choksi`s cousin is camping in Dominica and has reportedly cut the deal with opposition to save Mehul, according to local reports.

Mehul Choksi`s younger brother Chetan Chinu Bhai promised Dominican opposition leader election funding for pushing the abduction theory, local reports stated, adding that the businessman`s cousin disclosed details.

Choksi is an Indian citizen that is also mentioned in the red corner notice. In Antigua where he was residing, he misrepresented the facts and got citizenship.

Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne wanted his citizenship to be cancelled, he wrote a letter in 2019, he has clearly said that Choksi will not be allowed entry in Antigua and he should be deported back to India.
United Nations: Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid was on Monday elected as President of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, garnering 143 votes out of the 191 ballots cast. The 193-member General Assembly voted on Monday to elect the President, who will preside over the 76th session of the UN body that will commence in September.

In the fray for the election was Shahid as well as former foreign minister of Afghanistan Dr Zalmai Rassoul, who got 48 votes. "Hearty congratulations to Maldives Foreign Minister @abdulla_shahid for the robust victory and for being elected as the 76th President of the UN General Assembly," India's Permanent Mission to the UN tweeted.

India had already voiced its strong support for Shahid's candidature for President of the 76th session of the UNGA, saying he is best equipped to preside over the General Assembly of 193 nations of the world.

In an interview to WION in April, Maldives FM appreciated India's backing. He told WION, "Maldives candidature and the support of the Indian government for the Maldives candidature is very much appreciated and it is a great honour for the country.".

In his vision statement titled "A Presidency of Hope: Delivering for People, Planet and Prosperity, FM Shahid listed 5 priority themescalled "Five Rays of Hope. These key areas are --Recovering from COVID, rebuilding sustainably, responding to the needs of the planet, respecting the rights of all, revitalizing the United Nations.

He said, in the vision statement, In the visions statement, he called on, "efforts to make the United Nations efficient, effective and accountable" with aim to "continue, together with efforts to reform the Security Council, revitalise the General Assembly, and strengthen the Economic and Social Council."

Highlighting, "As a Maldivian, it is in my ethos to persevereto both hope and work for a better tomorrow. Hope lets us stand up, dust ourselves off, and once again, work on rebuilding this world. Hope is what can bring us together."

The Maldives FM began his career in 1983 as foreign service officer and has played prominent roles at the international stage as well as domestically in his country.

In accordance with the established regional rotation, the President of the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly is to be elected from the Group of Asia-Pacific States. The other candidate for the UNGA President's post was Afghanistan's Dr Zalmai Rassoul. He has been the former Foreign minister of Afghanistan and had initiated and led the launch of Heart of Asia Istanbul process in 2011 and expanded his country's engagement in regional platforms like Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

According to the established rules of regional rotation, the President of the 76th session of the General Assembly was to be elected from the Group of Asia-Pacific States. Shahid will succeed Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir who was UNGA President for the 75th session that came amid the unprecedented COVID19 pandemic. The President of the General Assembly is elected every year by a secret ballot and requires a simple majority vote of the General Assembly.

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New Delhi: 62-year-old Mehul Choksi, wanted in the multi-crore rupees PNB scam, filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Police of Antigua and Barbuda naming Barbara Jabarica and others to be involved in his alleged "kidnapping".

In the five-page complaint dated June 2, Choksi has detailed the ordeal under which he was alleged to have been taken from Antigua to Dominica and the role played by Barabara.

He noted, "During this entire ordeal, Ms. Jabarica did not even attempt to help me or assist in any other way by calling for help from outside" and "she was an integral part of this entire scheme to kidnap me".

He said he was taken from her house by "8-10 heavily muscled men" who appeared from all the "entrances" and claimed to be Antiguan police. The men, Choksi in the complaint said, continued to beat me mercilessly with bare hands" and took his cell phone, Rolex watch, and wallet.

He explained how he was taken using a boat on which there "appeared to be 2 Indians onboard and 3 persons of Caribbean descent".

He also made several allegations in the complaint that "he was brought to a special location to give an interview to high ranking Indian politician" and his "citizenship would be fixed..would be soon repatriated to India".

He pointed out that he was received by a "battery of police with Chief of police on the port" in Dominica and was caught because of the Interpol red corner notice. He also mentioned the conditions at the "holding cell" in the police station he was lodged which he said, did not even have the basic necessities of a mattress and was barely 20 square feet in size".

Over the weekend the Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda confirmed that he has sent the complaint to his country's police authorities. Choksi languishes in Dominica even as the case - his petition of habeas corpus, illegal entry into the country and bail application is taken by the courts of the country.

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Maiduguri: The Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) militant group said in an audio recording heard by Reuters on Sunday (June 6) that Abubakar Shekau, leader of rival Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram, was dead.

Shekau died around May 18 after detonating an explosive device when he was pursued by ISWAP fighters following a battle, a person purporting to be ISWAP leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi said on the audio recording.

"Abubakar Shekau, God has judged him by sending him to heaven," he can be heard saying.

Two people familiar with al-Barnawi told Reuters the voice on the recording was that of the ISWAP leader.

A Nigerian intelligence report shared by a government official and Boko Haram researchers have also said Shekau is dead.

Last month, Nigeria`s military said it was investigating Shekau`s alleged death, also reported in Nigerian and foreign news outlets.

The audio statement, first obtained by local media https://humangle.ng/iswap-confirms-shekaus-death-says-its-fighters-were-..., is ISWAP`s first confirmation that its arch-rival in the Lake Chad region has been killed.

Islamic State "are consolidating the whole area, the Lake Chad region and (Shekau`s stronghold)," said Bulama Bukarti, an analyst specialising in Boko Haram at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

"ISWAP had framed Shekau as the problem and he was the only person they wanted to remove," Bukarti said of Islamic State`s attempt to lure Boko Haram commanders and fighters to their side.

Shekau`s death could lead to the end of a violent rivalry between the two groups, enabling Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) to absorb Boko Haram fighters and consolidate its hold on territory in northeastern Nigeria, political analysts said.

That would allow ISWAP to focus its attention on the government and military, whose war efforts are languishing.

SHEKAU `KILLED HIMSELF INSTANTLY`

Boko Haram`s leader was reported to have been killed on several occasions over the last 12 years, including in announcements by the military, only to later appear in a video post.

In the audio recording, the man identified as al-Barnawi said his fighters had sought out the warlord on the orders of the Islamic State leadership and battled Boko Haram insurgents until Shekau fled.

ISWAP chased him down and offered him the chance to repent and join them, he said.

"Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the afterlife than getting humiliated on earth, and he killed himself instantly by detonating an explosive," he said.

Boko Haram grabbed headlines worldwide with its 2014 kidnapping of more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok, sparking a global campaign for their return dubbed #BringBackOurGirls, backed by the likes of Michelle Obama.

Around 100 of the Chibok Girls are still missing, and some are thought to have died in captivity.

Shekau led the transformation of Boko Haram from an underground Islamic sect in 2009 to a full-fledged insurgency, killing, kidnapping and looting its way across northeast Nigeria.

The group has killed more than 30,000 people, forced around 2 million people to flee their homes and spawned one of the world`s worst humanitarian crises.

ISWAP was previously part of Boko Haram before its split five years ago, pledging allegiance to Islamic State.

The schism was caused by religious ideological disagreements over the killing of civilians by Boko Haram, to which ISWAP objected.



ALSO READ: Burkina Faso: Over 132 civilians killed in worst militant attack in years
Zurich: Switzerland could become the first European country to ban artificial pesticides in a June 13 referendum which backers of the initiative hope will trigger similar prohibitions elsewhere.

Globally, only Bhutan has a complete ban on synthetic pesticides, according to supporters aiming to outlaw the use of products made by agro-chemical giants such as Switzerland`s Syngenta and Germany`s Bayer and BASF.

Supporters of the ban say the artificial products cause serious health problems and reduce biodiversity. Manufacturers say their pesticides are rigorously tested and regulated, can be used safely and crop yields would slump without them.

Another initiative to be voted on the same day aims to improve the quality of Switzerland`s drinking water and food by stopping direct subsidies to farmers who use artificial pesticides and antibiotics in livestock.

Switzerland has been starkly divided by an unusually bitter debate over the initiatives and the votes look set to be close. A recent Tamedia poll showed 48% of voters favoured the drinking water initiative and 49% supported the pesticide ban.

If adopted, the proposals give farmers up to 10 years to make the transition, which would allow Switzerland to become a pioneer in organic food as well as an example to the rest of the world, Swiss wine maker Roland Lenz said.

"Clean water, one of the foundations of life, is endangered," said Lenz, a 51-year-old organic farmer, whose vineyard is surrounded by farmers opposing the initiative.

Syngenta, which is headquartered in Switzerland and owned by China National Chemical Corporation, opposes both initiatives, saying a ban would reduce agricultural yields by up to 40%.

"The consequences of not using them are clear: fewer regional products, higher prices, and more imports. This is not in the interest of consumers, nor is it in the interest of the environment," a Syngenta spokesman said.

LIFE UNDER SIEGE

The clean water initiative also wants farmers to stop using imported animal feed, to restrict the numbers of cows, pigs and chickens in Switzerland along with the manure they produce that can pollute drinking water.

"People have been sold a romantic image of farming in Switzerland, which is far removed from reality," said Pascal Scheiwiller, a backer of the clean water campaign, which estimates 1 million Swiss people drink contaminated water.

The Swiss Farmers Union said many of its members feel their way of life is under siege.

"A lot of people in cities think if they have two tomatoes growing on the balcony of their apartment they understand farming," said Martin Haab, president of the Zurich Farmers Association.

"I look back 200 years ago when we couldn`t protect our plants and animals, and we had hunger in Switzerland and all over Europe," said Haab.

Martin`s son Dominic, who runs a dairy farm outside Zurich, said the consequences for the rural economy would be brutal, with local businesses also being hit by a fall in animal numbers to comply with the fodder restrictions.

Wine maker Lenz, however, said to continue using pesticides was "sheer lunacy", especially when it was possible to use methods such as growing fruit with thicker skins to make them fungus resistant.

"With a `Yes` vote on both initiatives, we will finally move from the chemical age back to the organic age," he said.

ALSO READ: World Food Safety Day 2021: WHO emphasises importance of food security amid COVID-19 pandemic
The federal government on Friday suspended Twitter from operating in Nigeria

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives has expressed readiness to sue the federal government over the suspension of Twitter.

The PDP lawmakers, in a statement by their leader, Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), said the action of the government lacked the backing of the law and would lower the image of Nigeria in the comity of democratic nations.

Mr Chinda said the government was trying to introduce the unpopular 'Social Media Bill' by mere executive fiat with the directive to the National Broadcasting Commission to license social media operators in the country.

The opposition party in the National Assembly has been speaking over the controversial ban.

On Saturday, the minority caucus in a press statement condemned the ban, while a lawmaker, Mark Gbillah (PDP, Benue), vowed to halt the proceeding of the House if the leadership of the House should attempt to gag members from raising motion on the ban when the House resumes on Tuesday.

The lawmakers in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have refused to speak on the ban.

Temporary restriction

PREMIUM TIMES on Friday reported the ban of the microblogging site, Twitter, by the federal government.

This came two days after Twitter took down a controversial tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari which the microblogging site said violated its rules.

Many Nigerians had described the tweet as a veiled threat of violence against the Igbo ethnic group while others disagreed, saying it was targeted at perpetrators of violence.

Despite the ban, Nigerians have continued to access Twitter, through Virtual Private Network (VPN).

However, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, announced on Saturday that his ministry would prosecute Nigerians bypassing the restriction.

The Presidency also said the suspension of Twitter was temporal.

Threat to sue

Mr Chinda said the caucus was ready to approach the court if the government fails to reverse the ban.

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"The announcement by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture also insidiously instructed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT (Over-The-Top) and social media operations in Nigeria.

"We also call on the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture to immediately rescind its directive to the NBC to begin the licensing of social media operators in the Country, having regard to the absence of any enabling legislative framework for such directive.

"We hereby give you NOTICE that in the event of the failure, refusal and or neglect of the Federal Government to withdraw, reverse and/or cease the implementation of these oppressive and unconstitutional actions, we shall be constrained to institute legal proceedings at the appropriate judicial venue within the shortest possible time," he said.

The lawmaker explained that there is a pending case against the NBC between him and the NBC. The case, according to him, is titled: FHC/ABJ/CS/1136/2020 between Rep. Kingsley Chinda & 8 Ors v. Minister of Information & 2 Ors.

Mr Chinda explained that the case is over the amended 6th NBC code.

"Nigerians will recall that on 4th August, 2020, the Minister of Information and Culture issued/enacted an Amended 6th National Broadcasting Code for the country which similarly imposes restrictions on sundry fundamental freedoms.

"Convinced that the Broadcasting Code is a violation of Chapter IV of the Constitution, this Caucus filed a suit before the Federal High Court, Abuja Division in Suit No," he said.
The figures were gathered from news reports and family members of victims.

Over 200 people were killed in violent attacks across Nigeria last week, as the insecurity across the country continues despite the efforts of security agencies.

Also, no fewer than 137 people were abducted across the country last week.

The figures were gathered from newspaper reports and family members of victims.

Sunday

A former political adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, was shot dead in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

Mr Gulak, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was killed on his way to the airport as he commenced his return to Abuja.

Also, the police in Oyo State confirmed the killing of a 51-year-old Ibadan businessman, Maduabuchi Owuamanam, by gunmen.

Mr Owuamanam was murdered at a relaxation spot at Oremeji Mokola area of Ibadan.

Also on Sunday, armed bandits abducted many pupils of an Islamic school in Tegina, a densely populated town in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.

The bandits first attacked the police station in the town. They then went around the town shooting sporadically into the air to scare residents before breaking into the private school where they abducted children attending Islamic lectures.

The Niger State Government later confirmed the number of students abducted by the bandits to be 136.

In a separate incident, gunmen suspected to be herdsmen attacked some Ebonyi communities, killing at least 30 persons. The gunmen attacked Odoke, Ndiobasi and Obakotara communities in Ebonyi Local Government Area.

The Chairman of the local government, Chinyere Nwaogbaga, confirmed the incident.

Monday

PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported that at least seven soldiers of the Nigerian Army were killed by an improvised explosive device planted by Boko Haram terrorists, in Borno state, North-east Nigeria.

Also, the Gombe State Government said a communal clash between Shongom and Filiya districts over farmland resulted in the death of one person and the burning of over 50 houses.

Wednesday

The Nigerian Army said its officials in Sabon Birni, a border town between Sokoto State and Niger Republic, intercepted and killed three gunrunners moving weapons on foot into Nigeria.

The army spokesperson, Mohammed Yerima, stated this on Wednesday in a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES.

In a separate incident, an aide to Benue Governor Samuel Ortom on security, Christopher Dega, was shot dead.

Mr Dega, a retired police officer, was killed in Jos, the Plateau State capital.

Also, no fewer than seven people including police officers were shot dead in Osun State on Wednesday evening as armed robbers attacked two banks and a police station.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the operations were carried out at a First Bank in Ikire and Access Bank in Apomu around 6:00 p.m.

Thursday

The Nigerian Army said it successfully repelled a terrorist attack on Damboa, a Borno community, killing over 50 attackers in the process.

Army spokesperson Mohammed Yerima said the terrorists came in an armoured personnel carrier and 12 gun trucks "all mounted with Anti Aircraft Guns, as well as Locally Fabricated Armoured-plated Vehicles loaded with explosives and motorcycles."

He said the terrorists, members of the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), were defeated so much that they had to abort their suicide mission.

In a separate incident, some gunmen on Thursday morning hijacked a bus belonging to Chimola School in Oba Ile Estate of Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo state.

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The gunmen abducted a staff member who was on duty.

Also, the police said 88 people were killed on Thursday by bandits in attacks on some communities in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.

Friday

Twelve farmers were reportedly killed and nine others injured by suspected bandits in Magami and Mayaba communities in Gusau local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The armed bandits launched the attack when the farmers were on their farms trying to clear their lands in preparation for this year's farming activities.

The bandits also carted away livestock and other valuables.

Channels Television reported that the twelve persons killed were buried according to Islamic rites while those injured were taken to the hospital.
"After my Covid-19 experience, you called to pray and sent something "for phensic". I told you the "phensic" made the prayer work faster."

A Nigerian comedian, Atunyota Akpobome aka Ali Baba, has paid a glowing tribute to one of Africa's most influential and controversial preachers, T.B Joshua, who died on Saturday.

The comedian revealed he had a personal relationship with the late founder of The Synagogue Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) in a tribute he shared on his Instagram handle on Sunday.

Relieving his first encounter with Mr Joshua in 2013, Alibaba said the late cleric invited him over to SCOAN for a performance but he was reluctant to attend because of public perception.

Alibaba also added that his colleagues Mc Abbey and Lepaciousbose were the only ones who agreed to perform at SCOAN despite their reservations.

He wrote, "When you turned 50, and your people said you wanted comedians to come entertain your congregation, I was very skeptical.You said you wanted them to know that laughter helps to heal the soul, just as a little red wine was good for the stomach.

"I remember during the performances, when my colleagues were done, and during my performance, I walked to the Altar and picked an apple and a banana and the whole congregation went silent. You later told me that you watched all our performances from your office and cracked up at the look on the faces of the congregation".

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPxyKSdLvUJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Personal encounter

Alibaba said when all three of them met with the late cleric privately, he encouraged them to go into church ministry because of their individual gifts.

"You asked why I had not gone into church ministry. I replied that I didn't think I wanted to fast or intercede for anyone. And I said I have not been a good boy.

You laughed and asked me, "Are you badder than King David and the Apostle Paul? Even if you are a killer God can use anyone."

"You then started telling me, what only I knew about my life. Just as you were saying those things, I thought, this man may be fake, and you said, "You may think I am fake, it's ok. I can't make you change your thinking. That is you"

The comedian added that he was handsomely rewarded by the cleric for gracing his 50th birthday celebration .

"Then you prayed and gave me a "thanks for coming". I then said thank you. And thought "I would share it 3 ways". You did that mind reading again. "That's for you alone".

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"You stopped at the door and went to a drawer to gift me a Fisher Electronic Bible. "Always stay close to God and read his word every day. You have a destiny for God"

Alibaba also added that they have kept in touch with each other in the last eight years and remained good friends ever since.

He said, "You have consistently called to say "My brother, how are you? Draw nearer to God". One time you asked, "What is holding you up from God's work?

"And after my covid experience you called to pray and sent something "for phensic". I told you the "phensic" made the prayer work faster. You laughed.You always joked that you were older than me by just 12 days, as I was born on June 24th..

Rest on Man of God."

The church said Mr Joshua died at 57 on Saturday spending his last moments on earth in the service of God.

He was to clock 58 in about a week's time.

In its statement posted on its website announcing his death, the church said Mr Joshua still spoke during the 'Emmanuel TV Partners Meeting' on Saturday.
No fewer than 939 students have been kidnapped from different secondary schools and tertiary institutions across the federation between December 2020 and May 2021, a new survey that tracks kidnapping incidents in schools has revealed.

With the rising incidents of students' abduction, Global Rights, a Washington-based human rights organisation, asked the federal government to audit the Safe School Initiative, a $30 million project initiated under the Goodluck Jonathan administration to protect schools nationwide.

The organisation yesterday released the report of its study to THISDAY, graphically showing the trajectory of mass abduction that occurred in secondary schools and tertiary institutions from December 2020 and May 2021.

Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist organisation, kidnapped 276 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School at Chibok, headquarters of Chibok Local Government Area (LGA), Borno State on April 14, 2014.

Consequently, the Global Business Coalition for Education, a movement of businesses committed to ending the global education crisis, unveiled the Safe School Initiative in Nigeria in May 2014 with $30 million to prevent the recurrence of armed invasion into schools nationwide.

The Jonathan administration supported the Safe School Initiative with N2 billion before he handed over to President Muhammadu Buhari in May 2015.

But the Buhari administration did not prioritise the implementation of the initiative despite the frequency of armed invasion into and mass abduction in schools, forcing the House of Representatives to launch a probe into the initiative

The abduction of students had continued in different parts of the federation, compelling Global Rights to kick off campaigns against mass abduction and killing under the hashtags: #NigeriaMourns, #NigeriaBleeds and #SecureNigeria.

Tracking mass abduction in schools, the survey revealed that a group of gunmen invaded Olagua Primary School, Ohordua, a town in Esan South East Local Government Area (LGA), Edo State on December 1, 2020, abducting one teacher.

Similarly, on December 8, 2020, the survey showed that two teachers in Ohorhe Secondary School, Effurun, the headquarters of Uvwie LGA, Delta State, kidnapped at least two teachers in the school.

The incident of December 11, 2020, according to the survey, was more tragic with the invasion of the Government Boys Science Secondary School, Kankara, Kankara LGA and the consequent abduction of 333 students from the school.

Precisely one week after the Kankara incident, the survey revealed that bandits struck again in Katsina State on December 19, 2020, abducting 84 students in Hizburrahim Islamiyya, Mahuta village, Dandume Local Government Area.

In Niger State, bandits invaded Government Science College in Kagara, the headquarters of Rafi LGA on February 17, 2021, leading to the abduction of at least 42 persons comprising 27 students, three staff members and 12 of their relatives.

On February 26, 2021, bandits invaded the Government Girls Science Secondary in Jangebe, a community in Talata Mafara LGA, Zamfara where they kidnapped at least 279 students.

On March 11, as the survey revealed, the bandits forced their way into the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Afaka, a town in Igabi LGA, thereby kidnapping at least 39 persons.

Also, the survey showed that the bandits invaded Greenfield University in Kasarami Village, Chikun Local Government, Kaduna State on April 20, 2021. The bandits eventually left the campus with at least 23 students of the university, five of whom were murdered due to the inability of the students to pay ransom.

On May 30, 2021, according to the survey, Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Niger State came under attack. Consequently, 136 students were kidnapped in the school, which reinforced a public conclusion that President Muhammadu Buhari had failed to discharge his responsibility under section 14 of the 1999 Constitution.

Under Section 14(2)(b-c), precisely, the Constitution states that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government and the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

With this ugly trend nationwide, the Executive Director of Global Rights, Abiodun Baiyeku challenged President Buhari to take urgent steps to fulfil his constitutional obligation of securing the safety and wellbeing of learners across Nigeria.

Baiyeku, also, challenged the federal government to initiate a multi-stakeholder audit of the Safe Schools Initiative to ascertain $30 million raised with the support of foreign governments and private sector leaders to help secure schools.

From recent trends, the executive director observed that it was that the federal government "has failed to take concrete measures in fulfilment of the initiative's mission, and failed to justify/ account for the resources devoted to it.

"From 2014 to date, mass school abductions gradually became the norm in Northern Nigeria, and soon the Chibok girls lost their poster children position for school abductions as mass abductions spread to other parts of the country.

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"In the past 6 months, the abduction of learners has grown astronomically in Nigeria. Between December 2020 and May 2021, at least 939 students were kidnapped bringing to mind again the strategies outlined in the Safe School Initiative.

"The very salient question is: What happened to the money dedicated to protecting schools in Nigeria? Have CCTVs been installed at the schools across the federation? Have high perimeter fences been constructed with adequate security personnel provided, most of these abductions may have been prevented?

"If Nigeria continues in this trajectory, it will undoubtedly retain its global position as having the highest number of out of school children in the world, and jeopardize the future that it badly needs to secure for its teeming population, most of whom fall within school age," the executive director said.

She, thus, asked the federal government to make public disclosure of its interventions to secure schools, urgently rally stakeholders around the critical need to protect learners of all ages, and address the general spate of
Chief Pathologist of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Prof. John Obafunwa yesterday disclosed that at least 99 dead bodies were deposited at the hospital's morgue during and after the #EndSARS protest.

Consequently, the Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for Victims of SARS and the Lekki Tollgate Incident ordered that the record of all 99 corpses deposited in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) mortuary between October 19 and 24, 2020 be submitted to the panel.

Obafunwa made this disclosure before the panel investigating the Lekki incidents yesterday while counsel to #EndSARS protesters, Mr. Olumide Fusika (SAN) cross-examined him.

During the cross-examination, Obafunwa stated that prior to the deployment of the military to Lekki Toll Gate Plaza, where youths were protesting against police brutality, no one was killed.

The chief pathologist, who was summoned to present autopsy reports on victims of the Lekki shooting incident, told the panel that the reports showed different degrees of injuries.

He disclosed that a total of 99 bodies were recorded between October 19 and 24, 2020. According to him, three bodies were from Lekki as recorded by the people who brought them in.

Also at the sitting, Fusika said: "I want to prove to this panel that the claim that only three dead bodies were brought in from Lekki is not true," Mr Fusika said, while questioning the pathologist."

Fusika requested that the panel order the chief pathologist "to present the records of all 99 cases recorded during the period. Since he was told that only those three are from Lekki, he might have been told the wrong thing."

Responding to Fusika's request, Obafunwa said the bodies were deposited by the Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU), an agency in charge of recovering dead bodies.

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He said: "I do not go about scavenging for dead bodies. It is when they are brought in that we are told and it is recorded where they were taken from."

He said according to their records, the bodies were recovered from different parts of Lagos including Ikorodu, Lagos Mainland, Yaba, Mushin and others.

Lagos State Chief Coroner, Dr Mojisola Dada, called on members of the public whose family members are missing between October 19 and 27, 2020 to contact the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine, LASUTH for the bodies.

The revelation followed a public notice by the chief coroner, urging those who lost loved ones to come for their bodies.

The notice read in part: "This is to notify the general public that the Chief Coroner of Lagos State, Hon Justice M. A. Dada pursuant to Section 15, Coroner's System Law of Lagos State, 2015 the pathology team would want all those who have lost loved ones between October 19 and 27, 2020 (that is, next-of-kin of the victims) to provide relevant information that would assist the identification exercise."

Consequent upon testimonies from witnesses that many protesters were killed by the Nigerian Army, Fusika requested that the chief coroner be ordered to produce records of the 99 deaths to the panel, including autopsy reports.

Giving her position, Chairman of the panel, Justice Doris Okuwobi ruled that the chief pathologist should produce a record showing the 99 deaths at the next adjourned date.

However, she said autopsy reports will not be required as that would expand the work of the panel beyond the terms of reference. The matter was adjourned till June 19.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives has threatened to drag the federal government to court over the recent ban on Twitter operations in the country.

It described the decision as an act of desperation of a non-performing and failed government to intimidate and cow the citizens to consolidate its hold on power by brute force.

The Leader of the caucus, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, in a statement issued on Sunday, said Twitter has become an integral component of the citizens' ability to keep the government in check and to provide real-time feedback on the impact of the government's activities on the citizenry.

He added that the subsequent directive to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to license social media operators in the country was a surreptitious attempt to introduce the unpopular 'Social Media Bill' by mere executive fiat.

Chinda said: "On Friday, 4th June, 2021, Nigerians received with rude shock the news of the federal government's indefinite 'suspension' of Twitter Nigeria. This rather rash suspension was supposedly anchored on the allegation that Twitter had allowed its platform to be used 'for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria's corporate existence'."

The caucus stressed that as expected, the announcement has sent shockwaves amongst believers in democracy and rule of law across Nigeria and the entire world.

It pointed out that the suspension of Twitter was one more step in a litany of attempts to restrict the fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens as enshrined in and guaranteed by Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution.

It added: "We hereby give you notice that in the event of the failure, refusal and or neglect of the federal government to withdraw, reverse and/or cease the implementation of these oppressive and unconstitutional actions, we shall be constrained to institute legal proceedings at the appropriate judicial venue within the shortest possible time."

The caucus said it was worrisome that at a time when the country faces a real existential crisis and totters on the brink of implosion from acute challenges such as widespread insecurity, government appears to be more preoccupied with stifling the right of Nigerian citizens to freely express themselves on social media and elsewhere.

"Therefore, we condemn the federal government's decision to suspend Twitter in the strongest possible terms and call on the authorities to immediately rescind this decision in the interest of free speech and the rule of law, indeed in the interest of democracy," the caucus said.

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The opposition lawmakers stressed that the supposed suspension imposed on Twitter has no legal foundation as executive fiats, no matter the language they're couched, have no force of law.

The caucus insisted that no citizen can be tried for an offence that has no basis in law or backed by a written law and punishment prescribed.

It said for many Nigerians, social media is not only a means of escape from the drudgery of daily existence, but has become a veritable source of employment, advertisement and meaningful engagement.

It noted that as opposition lawmakers, its objectives are to ensure compliance with the rule of law, good governance, the preservation of law and order, fidelity to the principles of constitutionalism and the general adherence to democratic ethos and principles in public administration throughout the length and breadth of the federation.

The caucus said as custodians of the constitution and representatives of the Nigeria people, it called on the federal government to immediately reverse the decision to suspend the access of Nigerian citizens to Twitter.

It further called on the Ministry of Information and Culture to immediately rescind its directive to the NBC to begin the licensing of social media operators in the country, having regard to the absence of any enabling legislative framework for such directive.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an urgent appeal to the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Hon. Patricia Scotland, urging her to apply the Commonwealth Charter to hold the Nigerian government to account over the unlawful suspension of Twitter in Nigeria and the resulting repression of human rights.

In the urgent appeal dated June 5, 2021 and signed by SERAP's Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization is specifically recommending the suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth to the Heads of Government, the Commonwealth Chair-in-office, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, as Head of the Commonwealth to push the government to take concrete measures to respect and promote the Commonwealth's values of human rights, transparency, accountability and the rule of law.

SERAP lamented that the Nigerian government has repeatedly demonstrated that it is not committed to protecting human rights.

According to the organisation, Nigerians can only freely participate in the democratic processes and shape the society in which they live if these fundamental human rights are fully and effectively respected, protected and promoted.

The letter read in part: "We urge the Commonwealth to publicly condemn the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, and put pressure on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse the unlawful suspension. Urge the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to respect freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom, as well as promote transparency and accountability and the rule of law.

"Urge the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw the threat to prosecute Nigerians simply for peacefully exercising their rights through Twitter. Establish a mechanism to visit Nigeria to monitor and report on violations of Nigerians' right to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom, absence of transparency and accountability and persistent disregard for the rule of law, and to get to the root of the facts and circumstances of such abuses, with a view to ensuring full accountability."
The Islamic State, West African Province (ISWAP) has confirmed that former Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, blew himself up after refusing to surrender following the invasion of his hideout on Wednesday, May 19.

This was contained in an internal message from ISWAP leader, Abu Musab Albarnawi, whose recording was obtained by HumAngle on Friday.

In his address, which was delivered in Hausa, he described Shekau as "the leader of disobedience and corruption" and said his fighters rejoiced over his death.

He said the former terrorist leader, who took over after the death of Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf in 2009, was apprehended "in the most humiliating manner."

"This was someone who committed unimaginable terrorism. How many has he wasted? How many has he killed? How many has he terrorised? But Allah left him alone and prolonged his life. When it was time, Allah set out brave soldiers after receiving orders from Amirul Muminin (leader of the believers)," he said.

The ISWAP, which broke away from Shekau's Boko Haram faction in 2016, disagreed with the late extremist leader over his excessive use of force, especially on Muslims in areas under his influence.

According to Albarnawi, the interim leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) ordered them to take action on Shekau for deviating and killing "believers."

ISWAP fighters then took their arms, travelled through the Sahara, went into Shekau's enclave and engaged in a gun battle with his followers.

He initially escaped and roamed the bushes of Sambisa for five days, where he suffered seriously. However, ISWAP fighters were able to locate him. He still managed to run away a second time but was chased down, Albarnawi narrated.

The rival fighters urged him and his followers to repent, assuring him that if the ISIS leader decided to make him their leader after he had surrendered, they would have no choice but to obey.

According to Albarnawi, "Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the afterlife than getting humiliated on earth." Source: HumAngle
South Africa: Former Constable nabbed for allegedly murdering his girlfriend

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.

This decade will see concerted efforts to protect and revive ecosystems around the world for the benefit of humankind and nature, says Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy. Addressing the 2021 World Environment Day at the Pretoria National Botanical Gardens on Saturday, the Minister said the restoration of... See more
South Africa: Condolences for veteran actress Shaleen Surtie-Richards

Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, has paid tribute to veteran actress Shaleen Surtie-Richards for delivering her performances with heart and soul.

Surtie-Richards passed away on Monday at the age of 66.

Surtie-Richards invested her heart and soul into every character she portrayed. Her warmth and sense of humour were infectious and her talent won her international recognition, Mthethwa said.

Born in Upington, Northern Cape, on 7 May 1955, Surtie-Richards was most famous for her roles such as 'Mattie' on SABC 1 Soapie Generations & 'Nenna' in the long-running M-Net hit series eGoli: Place of Gold.

She received many awards during her decades-long career, including a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 Royalty Soapie Awards.

While Surtie-Richards was known for her extensive career in the performing arts, she qualified as a nursery school teacher and taught children before making her debut as an actress.

We will remember her with great fondness for her iconic roles in hit films such as Fiela se Kind, Mama Jack, Treurgrond and Vaselinetjie. Most recently, she starred in the KykNet series, Arendsvlei. She turned every role she touched into an audio-visual masterpiece," the Minister said.

The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has conveyed its heartfelt condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
More information on the 1986 slaying of a man found dead at Canyon Lake came to light Tuesday  not from local law enforcement, but from archi
Woburn, MA (01801)

Today

Sunshine and a few clouds. High 83F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 60F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.
Bill Gates, co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft, and his wife, Melinda French Gates, announced on Monday that they plan to divorce after 27 years of marriage. "After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decis...
14:45 | Lima, Jun. 7.

"They imply an imperative to reach an agreement on the course Peru should take, at the beginning of the third century of independence," he explained.

"We are all called to defend the country's flag, together and in fellowship, respecting our differences, without belittling one another, as well as appreciating and recognizing ourselves as equal," the President pointed out.

The Peruvian leader noted that all Peruvians are "called to defend the flag of unity, under the same sky" and above all differences.





"For a country that is able to defeat the pandemic, intolerance, and pessimism in the difficult current circumstances, within the framework of this terrible pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 180,000 compatriots," he added.




Ugandan President on Sunday ordered the closure of schools for 42 days starting Monday as the country as part of tighter measures introduced to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The president ordered teachers to use the break to get vaccinated as it will be a requirement for their return to work.

Museveni also imposed a ban on religious gatherings and conferences for 42 days, except cabinet, legislature and judiciary sittings.

Uganda's Ministry of Health on Sunday reported 1,259 new COVID-19 cases out of 7,289 samples tested, the highest figure since the government declared a second wave of infections and deaths had hit the country.

The East African country now has a total of 52,935 infections with 383 virus-related deaths.

Uganda launched its mass COVID-19 vaccination program on March 10, prioritizing essential groups, starting with healthcare workers followed by teachers and those in high-risk groups, including the elderly.


YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Central Electoral Commission calls on all political forces participating in the upcoming snap parliamentary elections to strongly observe all the requirements of the Electoral Code during the campaigning period, the CEC said in a statement.

We call for ruling out insult, hatred, words and propaganda of violence or hatred in public and other speeches, on social media and during political events, the CEC said, wishing a productive campaigning to all parties and party blocs.

The electoral campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia on June 7.

The campaign will last until June 18.

The snap parliamentary elections will take place on June 20, but the electronic voting will kick off on June 11 until June 13.

26 political forces  22 parties and 4 blocs, are participating in the elections.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has addressed a call on June 7 on the occasion of the launch of pre-election campaign in the country, his Office said.

Today the campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia.

These elections are taking place in exclusively difficult and crisis conditions, our people and state are passing through difficult trials.

I call on all parties and alliances who participate in the elections to be maximally restrained, respect the voter and the opponent, demonstrate prudence and tolerance and hold the election process in an atmosphere of civilized political culture.

I propose all the political forces not to deepen the crisis with their activity, behavior and speech, do not cross the boundaries of morality, do not use dishonest propaganda technologies and remain committed to our national values and collective goal.

All state structures are ought to carry out their duties with high responsibility.

Law enforcement agencies in particular have high responsibility. They are ought to act with a great responsibility and professionalism to guarantee lawfulness and the rule of law, to ensure public order and the normal course of the elections.

I address all voters  by actively participating in the elections lets demonstrate our attitude towards this or that political force, this or that politician, deeply understanding that we are making an election for our countrys future, development prospect and for the welfare of our generations.

Wishing success to all parties and alliances participating in the elections, I want to remind that the elections, being snap and also decisive for our country, are a normal political process which should be treated with a great responsibility and of which Armenia and our people should get out in a dignified manner.

The electoral campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia on June 7.

The campaign will last until June 18.

The snap parliamentary elections will take place on June 20, but the electronic voting will kick off on June 11 until June 13.

26 political forces  22 parties and 4 blocs, are participating in the elections.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. The Jerusalem Joint Commission will provide funds for the reconstruction of a kindergarten in Artsakhs village of Knushinak in Martuni region, Chairman of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem Koryun Baghdasaryan said on Facebook.

The village has 660 residents. After the completion of the works 50 children in the village will have a chance to visit a renovated kindergarten, he said.

Khnushinak is located in south-east of Artsakh. The residents are mainly engaged in farming, cattle-breeding and agriculture.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. The electoral campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia on June 7.

26 political forces  22 parties and 4 blocs, are participating in the elections.

The Civil Contract party led by caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has started its campaign in Armavir province. The first station is Parakar (11:00, outside Culture House), then Etchmiadzin (11:40, outside Culture house). At 13:20 the party will be in Gay village, then in Geghakert, Metsamor, Mrgashat, Pshatavan, Armavir village, Karakert. The last station will be the town of Armavir in the Square.

Armenia alliance led by 2nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan has started its campaign in Syunik province from 11:00 in the Culture House of Agarak village. Thereafter, they will visit Meghri town, Kajaran and Kapan.

Alliance With Honor will hold the first day of its campaign in Tavush province, starting from the town of Dilijan at 12:00. Then they will return to Yerevan to hold a ceremony of the launch of the campaign.

Shirinyan-Babadjanyan Democrats Union will start the pre-election campaign in Armavir province.

Bright Armenia party led by president Edmon Marukyan will start their campaign in Yerevan, near the Alexander Tamanyan Statue at 11:00.

Prosperous Armenia partys campaign will launch at Abovyan town in Kotayk province at 17:30. They will also visit Nor Hachn at 19:00.

The Democratic Party of Armenia will start the campaign in Gegharkunik province, in particular from Chambarak town at 11:00, then will visit Sarukhan, Gandzak and Gavar. The last station will be Noratus.

The snap parliamentary elections will take place on June 20.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. The most important motivation of the Civil Contract partys participation to the June 20 snap parliamentary elections is that the people do not lose their sense of being the owner of the country, Caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who is leading the Civil Contract partys electoral list, said during the meeting with the residents of Parakar community on the sidelines of the pre-election campaign.

We even will not say people, vote in favor of us, we will say people, vote in favor of you, Pashinyan said.

He said he has revealed two positions during the campaign  that there are political forces which announce that they are coming to take power, and their party, which announces that people will decide.

I want you to fix the difference because some people say that on June 20 and after that they will win, but we say that we will bear your punishment after June 20. I state once again, the political feature is the following: we say  you decide, and we do, Pashinyan stated, adding: If you decide that we should continue leading the country, we will do that. If you decide that we should not lead the country, we will do that.

The electoral campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia on June 7.

The campaign will last until June 18.

The snap parliamentary elections will take place on June 20, but the electronic voting will kick off on June 11 until June 13.

26 political forces  22 parties and 4 blocs, are participating in the elections.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian received the delegation of the Union of Reserve Officers of the National Security Service NGO led by chairman of the board Hrant Yepiskoposyan, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

The guests introduced their organizations goals, programs and current activity.

The meeting participants exchanged views on the current domestic political situation in Armenia.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. Shirinyan-Babadjanyan Democrats Union alliance vows to make significant changes if achieving success during the upcoming snap parliamentary elections.

The alliance started their pre-election campaign from the Republic Square.

Arman Babajanyan, who is leading the blocs electoral list, stated that they will visit today the Yerablur military pantheon to honor the memory of the fallen heroes.

This is a very fateful state  election between republic and empire. And its the duty of all of us, the political units, to be able to inspire our society to vote in favor of the republic, Armenia, bright homeland, Babajanyan said.

In his turn Levon Shirinyan said they are announcing a pan-Armenian mobilization. We in fact are the new political force you are searching for  young, uncorrupted and with flawless biography.

The electoral campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia on June 7.

The campaign will last until June 18.

The snap parliamentary elections will take place on June 20, but the electronic voting will kick off on June 11 until June 13.

26 political forces  22 parties and 4 blocs, are participating in the elections.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. At least 300 kindergartens and 300 schools will be built in Armenia in the next five years, in addition to the ones which are currently being built or are at the designing stage, Caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, who is leading the Civil Contract partys electoral list, said during the meeting with the residents of Parakar community on the sidelines of the pre-election campaign.

We will organize childrens education starting from kindergartens, he said, stating that teacher-educators at kindergartens must receive a high salary. Today they are receiving 25,000, 30,000 and 40,000 drams in our kindergartens. We must raise it to 200,000, 250,000 and 300,000, but we must also ensure that teacher-educators have high qualification, he said.

The electoral campaign for the snap parliamentary elections officially launched in Armenia on June 7.

The campaign will last until June 18.

The snap parliamentary elections will take place on June 20, but the electronic voting will kick off on June 11 until June 13.

26 political forces  22 parties and 4 blocs, are participating in the elections.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law to officially withdraw Russia from the Treaty on Open Skies, the document was published on the official portal of legal information on Monday, reports TASS.

On May 19, Russias lower house of parliament unanimously adopted the bill. The upper house followed suit on June 2 as the chamber unanimously approved the measure as well.

Washington withdrew from the Treaty on Open Skies in November 2020, citing Moscows alleged breaches of its clauses. On January 15, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Russia was launching domestic procedures to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies, justifying this step by a lack of progress in removing obstacles in order for the treaty to remain effective after Washingtons pullout.
YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. Newly appointed Ambassador of Italy to the Republic of Armenia Alfonso di Riso presented his credentials to President Armen Sarkissian, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

The Armenian President congratulated the Ambassador on appointment and told him that he is expecting an active joint work to expand and enrich the bilateral cooperation agenda.

President Sarkissian said the relations between Armenia and Italy are based on centuries, both nations and countries share similar value systems.

In his turn the Italian Ambassador said he is ready to make more efforts to promote the friendly ties of the two states in different areas.

Attaching importance to the Armenian Presidents expected state visit to Italy, which was delayed because of coronavirus, the Ambassador expressed confidence that it will give a new impetus and will be a new beginning for the expansion of the bilateral mutual partnership.

The Armenian President and the Italian Ambassador also discussed the current level of the bilateral ties and their development potential.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull believes there is very little the government can do to stop a looming threat to the country's key exports.

While China has slapped bans and punitive tariffs on various Australian exports due to a souring in relations, the US, the UK and the European Union could also stick Aussie exporters with damaging penalties.

The problem? Australia's lack of ambition in reducing emissions and tackling climate change.

The Australian government is "dead against" the use of carbon tariffs, but the former Coalition leader says such a position is "naive".

The policy idea centres on placing punitive tariffs on carbon-intensive goods from countries that havent adopted a carbon price or a 2050 net-zero emissions target.

Carbon intensive exports from Australia face a potentially more difficult future. Source: Getty Images

Scott Morrison will head to the G7 conference in the United Kingdom later this week opposed to the trade measure, but there is growing momentum for carbon tariffs among Australia's traditional allies.

European nations are strongly committed, and UK prime minister Boris Johnson earlier this year directed British government departments to come up with options for carbon border levies, and Joe Biden's administration has also signalled its support.

Carbon tax inevitable, says Turnbull

Selling a tariff to voters at home could offer governments an easy political victory through the promise of protecting local jobs and businesses, the former PM said.

"If you can impose a tariff which does all those things but at the same time say you are saving the planet, well that sounds much more appealing," he told ABC radio on Monday.

"Politically, it is so easy to sell domestically. You'd have to be very naive not to recognise it's coming up in the lift."

Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says it is naive to believe penalties won't be levelled against parts of Australia's carbon intensive economy. Source: AAP

Mr Turnbull said his successor faced a tough political equation with many inside the Coalition party room influenced by fossil fuel lobbyists and the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp which oppose climate action and have turned "what should be questions of physics into effectively questions of religion or political views".

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"He's trying to navigate that craziness as best he can. He's under huge international pressure and it will only increase," he said.

"At some point hopefully that will persuade the right wing and the coalition, which holds those parties hostage effectively, to succumb to reality."

What could the costs be for Australia?

Only the European Union has gone as far as legislating such a plan but while it would "reduce demand for Australian exports of coal, and steel and other emissions-intensive commodities, lowering both export prices and volumes", the impact on the economy would not be dramatic, according to analysis by the Victoria University Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS).

Focusing on the EU, "any carbon tariffs placed on Australian products directly would have fairly minimal effects on the Australian economy," Professor Phillip Adams, the Director of CoPS who has also worked for Treasury on carbon pricing, says.

He forecasts a drop in exports of about 1.2 per cent, roughly the value of $5.2 billion.

School children look on as they hold up banners outside Parliament House during a climate strike rally. Source: Getty Images

"But if the EU at the same time were to impose a carbon tariff on Chinese products  which is entirely plausible but politically unlikely  then that's likely to have flow-on effects for Australia that are much more significant," he told Yahoo News Australia.

"Because Australia provides key inputs into Chinese products that are sold to the EU, notably steel. China sells a lot of steel to the EU and in making steel it uses a lot of iron ore and LNG [liquified natural gas] coming from Australia."

China is heavily reliant on Australia's high-grade iron ore, but given the current trade tensions it's also possible the country could use a similar justification to block carbon-intensive imports from Australia, Prof Adams said.

While Prof Adams is unsure if there will be broad adoption of carbon tariffs used against Australia, he said it would at least be a "bargaining chip" used by other nations that Australia will have to deal with as it negotiates international talks increasingly focused on tackling global warming.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
The bdelloid rotifer is known for its ability to withstand extreme environments.

A microscopic multi-celled organism has returned to life after being frozen for 24,000 years in Siberia, according to new research.

Scientists dug up the animal known as a bdelloid rotifer from the Alayeza River in the Russian Arctic.

Once thawed, it was able to reproduce asexually, after spending millennia in a state of frozen animation known as crytobiosis.

Previous research said they could survive frozen for up to 10 years.

But the new study, published in Current Biology on Monday, suggested they could last for thousands of years, if not indefinitely.

"The takeaway is that a multicellular organism can be frozen and stored as such for thousands of years and then return back to life - a dream of many fiction writers," Stas Malavin, of Russia's Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, told the Press Association.

He said more research was needed to see how it achieved the feat. The scientists in the study froze and thawed dozens of the animals in a laboratory to examine the process.

Radiocarbon dating aged the bdelloid rotifer specimen at between 23,960 and 24,485 years old.

Bdelloid rotifers are a class of rotifer found in freshwater environments around the world. The name rotifer comes from the Latin meaning "wheel bearer".

The creatures are known for their ability to withstand extremes. They are one of the Earth's most radioactive-resistant animals, according to the New York Times, which reports they can also withstand low oxygen, starvation, high acidity and years of dehydration.

There are reports of other multi-celled organisms coming back to life after thousands of years, including a nematode worm, as well as some plants and mosses.
In 2015, an MSF hospital in the northern province of Kunduz was destroyed by a US airstrike in which 42 people were killed

Slowly the caravan of heavily loaded-up horses and mules snakes its way around the snow-capped peaks of northeastern Afghanistan.

Silent but for the clip-clop of the animals' hooves on the stone pathways, the scene was captured on film in 1986 as a handful of French doctors and nurses brought supplies and medical care to the war-torn country.

With four tonnes of medicine and equipment in tow, they were to set up two field hospitals for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) under the noses of the Afghan government and occupying Soviet forces.

Founded just 15 years earlier, the organisation's work in the valleys of Badakhshan or Panjshir under bombardment from Soviet MiGs has become an almost legendary part of its 50-year history.

"We managed to practise medicine in what was at the time a health desert and a country at war," said French anaesthetic nurse Regis Lansade, now aged 65.

The scenes filmed in 1986 by Juliette Fournot, the MSF head of mission for Afghanistan for a decade, were included in her 2006 documentary "A Ciel Ouvert" (Under an Open Sky).

MSF teams first went into Afghanistan shortly after its invasion in 1979 by Soviet forces, when a mass exodus of people fled towards neighbouring Pakistan to escape the deadly repression by the Soviets.

Within weeks, a million refugees had gathered in tribal border regions.

MSF geared up to go into Afghanistan to help -- but would have to do so secretly as the organisation had been banned by both Islamabad and Kabul.

- 'Headache' to plan -

"It didn't take long to decide" whether to go, said Claude Malhuret, MSF president at the time, pointing out that the organisation was founded with the aim of going wherever medical care was needed.

Fournot, also one of the scouts for the NGO, recalled that it was indeed an issue of debate.

"MSF was quite reticent for security reasons," she told AFP.

However, she and a French doctor who were leading the mission thought it was doable, as most of the country had been liberated, with the Soviets only controlling the towns and main roads, she said.

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"In addition, the Afghans needed our help and were ready to accompany us."

Having made the decision, planning was now crucial, but challenging.

"The logistics were an absolute headache. It required a lot of time," Fournot, who spent her teens in Afghanistan with her engineer father, said.

"We had to build a network of reliable people whom we could count on."

Horses and mules had to be bought, equipment readied and decisions made on who would go with the team -- every mission needs several months of planning and negotiation.

Finally, they set off from Peshawar in northern Pakistan.

- Broke our silence -

"We crossed the border at night at the most discreet point. We had a month of walking, with five or six mountain passes of an altitude of between 4,000 and 6,000 metres," Lansade said.

"On the first one we were really panting, by the last, we were running."

Once in place, the field hospital had to be able to function autonomously, sometimes for a year.

And in regions that had not seen a doctor for years, the health needs were huge.

"Some patients were travelling on foot or by horse for 10 days to reach us," Fournot said.

MSF was treating the war wounds of both mujahideen fighters and civilians in sometimes extremely difficult conditions.

They also treated everyday illnesses, while female staff provided gynaecological, obstetric and paediatric care too.

At the time, one in seven Afghan women died in childbirth and one in three children died before the age of five.

Security remained a constant concern.

"We were under the umbrella of tribal groups or political parties so that they ensured our protection," Fournot said.

"We were not neutral but it was important to be impartial, to show that we were caring for everyone."

She said that at the start, they decided to keep silent and not speak out against the Soviets, believing discretion would help them become more accepted.

But, in 1985, one of the teams was attacked, she said. "So we ended the silence since it was no longer protecting us."

- Bearing witness -

At the time, few journalists were covering the war in Afghanistan, so when MSF staff spoke out about what was happening on the ground, it did not go unnoticed.

Its leaders were invited to speak publicly including before the US Congress.

Over the years, MSF has withdrawn from Afghanistan several times after attacks, but later returned.

Now, as the United States is withdrawing its remaining troops from the country, the picture of MSF's time there overall is a mixed one.

In 2015, an MSF hospital in the northern province of Kunduz was destroyed by a US airstrike in which 42 people were killed.

And last year, rampaging gunmen attacked a Kabul hospital maternity ward then run by MSF, killing 16 mothers.

"These tragic events show that MSF's presence in Afghanistan as a medical, humanitarian actor alongside the population is never straightforward," Emmanuel Tronc, head of missions from 1997 to 2016, said.

- 'Nothing romantic' -

But it's the period under Soviet occupation that many still hark back to, an era when MSF teams were treating up to 10,000 patients a month, according to Fournot.

"And bearing witness was fundamental," she added.

Lansade said that Afghans at the time had felt that French doctors were the only foreigners helping them.

Both have lasting memories.

While the image of doctors on horseback in the Afghan mountains is appealing, Fournot said that in reality there was nothing "romantic" about it.

"It was dangerous and we had a hard time."

If some are nostalgic for a so-called golden age of relief work, she prefers to think of it as mission accomplished.

"In 10 years, more than 500 expatriate staff went into Afghanistan. They all came home again."

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Below are the arrests for June 4 to 6. All listed are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Andrea Baker, 40, was arrested on June 5 at 1:10 a.m. at 399 W. Lincoln Road. She was charged with a prior for driving while suspended (class A misdemeanor).

Dejuan Baker, 39, was arrested on June 5 at 1:20 a.m. at West Lincoln Road and South Webster Street. He was charged with dealing marijuana (level 5 felony), possession of marijuana (class A misdemeanor), and a warrant for failure to appear.

Leslie Carlson, 41, was arrested on June 6 at 3:17 a.m. at East Vaile Avenue and South Locke Street. She was charged with possession of a hypodermic syringe or needle (level 6 felony), deception- legend drug (level 6 felony), deception- identity (level 6 felony), possession of methamphetamine (level 6 felony), possession of a schedule drug (class A misdemeanor), two warrants for petition to revoke, and three warrants for failure to appear.

Brian Catt, 40, was arrested on June 6 at 1:56 a.m. at 2816 S. Washington St. He was charged with possession of marijuana (class A misdemeanor) and possession of methamphetamine (level 6 felony).

Victoria Gonzales, 26, was arrested on June 5 at 11:25 p.m. at 1421 S. Plate St. She was charged with domestic battery (class A misdemeanor).

George Jenkins, 62, was arrested on June 5 at 11:45 p.m. at 3500 S. Lafountain St. He was charged with criminal trespass (class A misdemeanor).

Brett Kelley, 30, was arrested on June 5 at 10:15 p.m. at 1210 N. Webster St. He was charged with domestic battery (level 6 felony), resisting law enforcement (class A misdemeanor), and possession of marijuana (class B misdemeanor).

Carrie Kentish, 58, was arrested on June 5 at 8:54 p.m. at 2700 N. Washington St. She was charged with a warrant from Rush County and a warrant from Montgomery County.

Myles Lenoir, 18, was arrested on June 6 at 2:20 a.m. at 1314 S. Delohos St. He was charged with possession of marijuana (class B misdemeanor) and possession of paraphernalia (class C misdemeanor).

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Deborah Lindsey, 46, was arrested on June 5 at 2700 N. Washington St. She was charged with possession of a hypodermic needle (level 6 felony).

August Mack, 40, was arrested on June 6 at 11:27 p.m. at 1909 S. Market St. She was charged with possession of a hypodermic syringe or needle (level 6 felony), possession of cocaine (level 6 felony), possession of methamphetamine (level 6 felony), and possession of a schedule drug (class A misdemeanor).

Chynna McDonald, 27, was arrested on June 4 at 4 p.m. at 1714 S. Washington St. She was charged with a warrant for failure to appear.

Hagan Nassbaum, 24, was arrested on June 5 at 2:24 p.m. at 914 E. Walnut St. He was charged with possession of methamphetamine (level 6 felony) and a warrant from Marion Co.

Robert Shea II, 33, was arrested on June 6 at 6:29 p.m. at 2824 S. Washington St. He was charged with criminal trespass (class A misdemeanor).

Eric Smith, 40, was arrested on June 5 at 3:13 p.m. at 1530 S. Main St. He was charged with neglect of a dependent (level 5 felony).

Deangelo Strayhorn, 48, was arrested on June 5 at 3:31 p.m. at 1041 E. Elm St. He was charged with domestic battery (class A misdemeanor) and confinement (level 6 felony).

Angela Sullivan, 46, was arrested on June 6 at 3:10 a.m. at East Harrison Street and South Locke Street. She was charged with possession of a hypodermic syringe or needle (level 6 felony).

Jonathon Thompson, 29, was arrested on June 6 at 12:33 a.m. at 610 N. Washington St. He was charged with a warrant from White Co.

Christopher Wheeler, 39, was arrested on June 6 at 9:01 p.m. at 808 S. Plate St. He was charged with public intoxication (class B misdemeanor).
The journalists were arrested along with two Myanmar activists in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai

Three Myanmar journalists who faced deportation after fleeing to Thailand to escape a military crackdown have been granted asylum in a third country, their employer said Monday.

The journalists, who worked for the news site Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), were arrested along with two Myanmar activists in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai in May and charged with illegal entry.

All five have been "given asylum in a third country and left Thailand recently", DVB's chief editor Aye Chan Naing said in a statement Monday.

Details on which country had taken in the group would be shared later, he said.

"We like to thank everyone in Thailand and around the world that helped to make their safe passage possible," he said, adding that the group would continue their work for the outlet.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, triggering a mass uprising as large swathes of the population take to the streets.

The junta has responded with force -- shooting protesters, arresting suspected dissidents in night raids, targeting journalists and shutting down news outlets.

Thailand had said it was seeking a "humanitarian" solution to avoid deporting the group back to Myanmar, where their employer had warned their lives would be "in serious danger".

A well-known news organisation within Myanmar, DVB started as an exile media outlet during the previous junta, broadcasting uncensored reports on TV and radio.

It moved into the country in 2012, a year after the military dictatorship loosened its grip, but had its broadcast licence revoked in March, sending its journalists into hiding.

Despite this setback, it has continued to report, posting regular Facebook updates -- as well as broadcasting on satellite TV -- about the daily protests and crackdowns.

Last week another of its journalists was jailed for two years in the southern city of Myeik under a colonial-era law that criminalises encouraging dissent against the military.

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Israeli police on Sunday detained for several hours two prominent activists whose campaign against the threatened expulsion of Palestinian families from homes in the flashpoint Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah has found a global audience.

Mona el-Kurd, 23, was taken into custody on Sunday morning from her home in the Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem district, where a legal battle between Israeli settlers and several Palestinian families has crystallised anger over Israel's settlement movement.

Security forces also left a summons for her twin brother, Muhammad, who later turned himself in.

Israeli police told AFP that Mona was "suspected of having participated in riots and other recent incidents in Sheikh Jarrah".

Both were later released and returned home, an AFP reporter said.

While in detention, Mona had been "threatened in an attempt to stop her carrying on with her legally permitted activities", family lawyer Nasser Odeh said.

Their father Nabil el-Kurd said she had been denied access to a lawyer during interrogation, adding that the detentions were "an operation to terrorise the parents, because the voice that emerged from the neighbourhood was thanks to its youth".

As Mona left custody, security forces used stun grenades and fired rubber-coated bullets to disperse protesters who had gathered outside the east Jerusalem police station where she had been held. The Palestinian Red Crescent said 18 people were wounded.

Protests in Sheikh Jarrah spread early last month into the city's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, sparking a crackdown by Israeli security forces against Palestinians there that further inflamed tensions.

Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, responded by launching volleys of rockets towards Israel on May 10, triggering an 11-day war between the Jewish state and Palestinian militants.

While Palestinians and their backers see the issue as a microcosm of Israeli efforts to push them out of the highly contested city, Jewish settlers and their supporters have labelled it a property dispute to be decided by Israeli courts.

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Last month Israel's Foreign Ministry accused Palestinian "terror" groups of "presenting a real-estate dispute between private parties, as a nationalistic cause" to incite violence.

- Looming evictions -

The Kurd twins, from one of the families that faces being ousted from their home, have led an active protest movement on the streets and online.

They have gained hundreds of thousands of followers on platforms including Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtags #SheikhJarrah and #SaveSheikhJarrah to bring their neighbourhood's plight global attention.

"Our weapon is the tongue and the camera," their father said.

"Muhammad and Mona made the whole world turn around for our cause."

Last month, as tensions in Jerusalem mounted during the build-up to the Gaza fighting, the Israeli supreme court postponed a hearing in the Sheikh Jarrah cases until further notice.

Under Israeli law, if Jews can prove that their families lived in east Jerusalem before the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that created the state of Israel, they can request the "return" of their property, even if Palestinian families have been living there for decades.

Palestinians whose ancestors became refugees in the 1948 war have no means to retrieve their homes or land in modern-day Israel.

Israeli right groups Ir Amim says up to 1,000 Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and the nearby Silwan district face being displaced.

- Journalist arrested -

Sheikh Jarrah has also drawn the attention of press freedom watchdogs, as journalists say they have been targeted by police while trying to report on demonstrations there.

On Saturday, Israeli forces arrested Al Jazeera reporter Givara Budeiri "in a brutal manner", the network said in a statement, adding that authorities had destroyed a videographer's camera as he was trying to work.

Budeiri was released from custody several hours after her arrest.

Al Jazeera television's acting director-general, Mostefa Souag, decried "the systematic targeting of our journalists", dubbing it "in total violation of all international conventions".

The Paris-headquartered Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has voiced concern over Israel's "disproportionate use of force against journalists".

It criticised "attacks" on reporters filming in Sheikh Jarrah, the detention of Palestinian reporters, and the Jewish state's demolition of a tower in the besieged Gaza Strip where news outlets operated.

During their military campaign in Gaza, Israel levelled the 13-storey building that housed the Qatar-based Al Jazeera television along with the US news agency The Associated Press after warning the structure's owner to evacuate.

Israel defended the strike, alleging the building also hosted a Palestinian "terrorist" intelligence office.

Al Jazeera's Jerusalem bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, accused Israel of trying "to silence media that are witnessing, documenting and reporting the truth".

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A high-ranking Rebels bikie is free after challenging accusations of plotting a daylight shopping centre "ambush" as an outlaw rival was shot in the leg.

Alleged Logan chapter president Joshua John Lucey and fellow member Lucas James Pain fought charges over the shooting in the Brisbane District Court.

A jury found Lucey not guilty on Monday after more than eight hours of deliberation, but was unable to reach a verdict for co-accused Pain.

The events unfolded in broad daylight at the Logan Hyperdome, a major shopping centre south of Brisbane, in February 2019.

Lucey was accused of organising the ambush after a chance encounter with Bandidos member Harley Cranston, crown prosecutor Greg Cummings told the court on the opening day of the trial.

He said several Rebels members arrived at the shopping centre later that day and, according to the prosecution case: "Mr Cranston was always going to get shot."

"This was an ambush organised by Mr Lucey, linked to whatever the disagreement was about earlier that day," he said.

It was Pain that ultimately fired the gun after a pursuit involving up to 11 men, Mr Cummings said.

Pain and Lucey were both charged with unlawful striking using a projectile with intent to disable.

However, the jury was unable to reach a majority verdict for Pain.

As the chase spilled onto the street, the Bandidos member armed himself with a machete, the court was told.

"Mr Cranston, about 30 seconds before he was struck with the bullet, had armed himself with a machete and ran back towards these people that were chasing him," Mr Cummings said.

If he fired the shot in defence of himself or others, then it was not unlawful, the defence argued.

The prosecution had to also prove Pain's act of shooting Cranston wasn't an accident that occurred when he was trying to scare him, Judge Tony Moynihan said in his summing up on Friday.

Only one bullet was fired from the revolver capable of carrying six rounds, and a case against Lucey would only be considered if Pain acted unlawfully, the jury was told.

Much of the evidence relied on various CCTV footage from in and around the shopping centre.

While Lucey has been cleared of the charge, Pain will face a retrial.
Captain Paul Watson spoke with Yahoo News Australia about leaving Greenpeace to pursue his tactic of 'aggressive non-violence' and why he doesn't think about the future. Despite driving the Japanese out of the Southern Ocean and reaching 70 years of age, Mr Watson is still actively fighting to protect whales from hunters around the Faroe Islands. Video: Michael Dahlstrom
If mysteries and thrillers are more to your taste, Laura Lippman channels Stephen King and the #MeToo movement in Dream Girl." A famous novelist is laid up in his apartment after an injury, and receives disturbing phone calls from a woman claiming to be the protagonist in one of his novels. No one believes him. Is he losing his mind or is he in trouble?

Fans of John Grishams legal thrillers will like Stacey Abrams While Justice Sleeps." When a Supreme Court justice mysteriously slips into a coma, his law clerk finds that she has been named his legal guardian. She discovers that he has been researching a controversial case before the court, and now she is the middle of danger.

Good historical fiction abounds this summer. Alka Joshis The Secret Keeper of Jaipur follows the characters from her brilliant 1950s India-set novel, The Henna Artist, as they move into the 1960s and try to find their way in the changing world.

Chris Bohjalian goes back to 1662 Boston in Hour of the Witch. Mary fears for her life after her husbands violence toward her escalates. When a young boy she treated with herbs dies, Mary is accused of being a witch, and must fight for her life. Its The Crucible meets The Handmaids Tale."
Former congressman Beto ORourke has tried to make hay over a provision that would empower judges to overturn election results. But that possibility would exist only if the number of illegally cast votes matched or exceeded the number necessary to change the outcome of an election, an unusual scenario.

The apoplexy around such provisions is overblown, if expected.

Republican-led election-security efforts  even mostly benign ones  are always cast as suppressive. Saying so makes for better cable TV, I suppose.

But there are elements of this bill that Democrats should overwhelmingly support, not in spite of but because of the last election cycle.

Live-streaming of vote-counting, for example, wouldnt only provide greater transparency on the sometimes mysterious process, it would potentially allow Democrats to push-back on claims of voter fraud by giving them actual footage of what is, or is not, happening. Remember Georgia and that suitcase full of ballots?

The same is true of the voter assistance protections. Democrats worry over access for elderly and vulnerable populations that we know are susceptible to manipulation; they should enthusiastically support efforts to ensure the integrity of their votes, as well.
They included a ban on critical race theory training by government agencies or by schoolteachers, a ban on school districts requiring students to wear face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and a ban on any government entity from requiring vaccine passports.

They also boosted the percentage of the state income tax distributed to cities from 15% to 17% in an effort to win backing from municipalities concerned that the $1.9 billion income tax cut would force them to cut services like police and fire.

Cook was angry that leadership forced a decision on the budget when they knew they lacked the votes, which came as his ranch near Globe in the mountains southeast of Phoenix was ordered evacuated because of a wildfire.

House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Toma both said Friday they were pushing a vote to try to get members on the record against the big tax cuts  in hopes they could shame recalcitrant Republicans to vote for the package.

Instead, after two bills containing the tax cuts were defeated, they adjourned until Thursday, when the Senate is set to return.

The Senate also lacks the votes to pass the budget GOP legislative leaders negotiated with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey.
In fact, the old anti-voting-rights filibuster engine is revving up for another round of obstructionism against two popular elections bills that have already passed in the House: the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

The For the People Act would nullify many new and extreme voting restrictions, rein in campaign donations and expand ballot access. The Lewis Act would restore laws that prevent some states from changing their election rules willy-nilly. Both would almost certainly pass, albeit with some horse-trading, if they could get a real vote in the Senate.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has made it clear the GOP will use a filibuster to make sure that won't happen. And Sinema  joining the other pro-filibuster Democrat, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia  is poised to help him.

Manchin's home state went for Trump. He can play ball with Republicans as much as he wants, and he'll probably win points at home for it. But once again, you gotta wonder about Sinema.

Sinema is a co-sponsor, for heaven's sake, on both the voting rights bills. But her enthusiasm for the filibuster seems to come first. If Sinema occasionally puts a foot on the gas, you can still be sure she's not letting up on the brake.
Middle Eastern Monitor (Link: Investigation finds 33% of UK cabinet members funded by pro-Israel groups)

UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street to chair the cabinet meeting in London, England on December 8, 2020 [Tayfun Salci/Anadolu Agency]

A third of the members of the British cabinet, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have been funded by Israel or pro-Israel lobby groups, Declassified UK has revealed. The investigative journalism website uncovered the various ways through which the occupation state has courted members of the government over the years, a trend that was denounced as "disgusting" last month by a senior Conservative former minister.

British MPs have been courted in a number of ways including trips to Israel funded by pro-Israel groups. Johnson reportedly went on a five-day trip to the occupation state in November 2004, three years after he first entered parliament. It was jointly funded by the Israeli government and Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), a powerful Westminster lobby group which does not disclose its funders but has claimed 80 per cent of Conservative MPs are members.

According to Declassified Johnson did not declare the trip in his parliamentary register of interests until four years later, in 2008, and did not disclose the cost of the trip, which may be a breach of parliamentary standards. Former chancellor George Osborne, who was also on the trip, registered it two weeks after returning.

In 2012, CFI organised a "battle bus" to take Johnson on a tour of north London as part of his London mayoral election campaign.

Five other ministers in the cabinet  Alok Sharma, Kwasi Kwarteng, Robert Jenrick, Oliver Dowden, and Amanda Milling  took paid-for trips to Israel from 2011 to 2016. Kwarteng and Milling are said to have visited the year after they first entered parliament, while Dowden went before he became an MP

A further two cabinet ministers, Michael Gove, and Priti Patel were funded to visit Washington DC to attend conferences put on by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the premier Israel lobby group in the US. Patel was sacked in 2017 by former Conservative leader Theresa May for holding secret meetings with Israel.

Patel, appointed as the home secretary by Johnson, was given 2,500 ($3,530) by right-wing pro-Israel think tank the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) in 2013 to be a delegate at a "forum" organised by AIPAC. Details of trips to Israel by current members of the Cabinet were outlined at length by Declassified.

During a trip by James Cleverly, the minister of state for the Middle East and North Africa, said: "Israel is an amazing country, there's no doubt about that." Over the past few months, a number of groups including Human Rights Watch have branded Israel an apartheid state, guilty of crimes against humanity.

Cleverly backed Israel during the occupation state's latest aggression on Gaza. "The UK unequivocally condemns the firing of rockets at Jerusalem and other locations within Israel," adding: "We strongly condemn these acts of terrorism by Hamas and other terrorist groups who must permanently end their incitement and rocket fire against Israel. There is no justification for the targeting of civilians." Cleverly also told parliament that the UK opposes an International Criminal Court enquiry into Israeli war crimes.

Declassified's latest report once again highlights what has been denounced by Former Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan as "the most disgusting interference" in British politics by the pro-Israel lobby.
ANGOLA  The legacy that is the Charles and Ruth Ann Sheets investment at the YMCA of Steuben County is growing again.

Land on the east end of the YMCA has been designated as the Sheets Family Park that will become part of the YMCA campus in Angola.

In a ceremony on Monday, Sheets and his daughters, Martha Kempf of Auburn, and Mary Tomaski of Gaylord, Michigan, celebrated the new part of the YMCA campus with YMCA board members, YMCA pioneers and city and state officials, including Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch.

We are just very, very blessed to have Mr. Sheets and his family that have given so graciously to the YMCA and also to our community, said Sarah Funkhouser, YMCA executive director. Our vision is very much in line with Mr. Sheets vision with this space. We hope to develop it in a way that is going to be serving all, welcoming for all.

Funkhouser said a committee is working on determining the best use for the space, which is a little more than 4 acres.

Very exciting things should be announced in the future. We are very excited about this space and we hope it is a testament and honor to the Sheets family, Funkhouser said.

The Y, every time I drive by, its just so great to see how wonderful it is, Sheets said.

It was the Sheets family that donated the original plot of land to the YMCA in the days before the Harcourt Road bridge and the extension of Harcourt Road that connects North Wayne Street and Williams Street (for those who dont know, Harcourt Road is named for Charles father, Harcourt Sheets). That was in the late 1990s when the YMCA was just forming.

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You can see what the vision of one man had and I know this is going to be a very big part of his legacy, said Chuck Nedele, one of the founders of the YMCA. You know, the thing with Chuck is, hes never done any of this for self recognition. Its always, I think the community needs this.

Thank you for improving the quality of life for everyone, Mayor Dick Hickman said.

Crouch said people across the state want to have a high quality of life. Leaders who give tend to feed off one another to make other step to the plate to give and volunteer to improve their communities.

Chuck Sheets and his family, this is just one example of them giving back to the community. And its because of people like you, Chuck, that Indiana is the great state that it is, Crouch said. You are a wonderful example for the rest of the state.

In classic Chuck Sheets style, he had fun with some of the other speakers, saying, tounge-in-cheek, that what ever Nedele said was memorable. He ribbed Hickman, saying it was nice that he could introduce people his age. Hes been introducing people who have been dead for 150 years, Sheets said.

He also had some fun with Crouch. He said she knows where Steuben County is even though most members of the Legislature dont know that anything in Indiana exists north of U.S. Highway 30.

Finally, Sheets said he was sad that his beloved wife, Ruth Ann, Tusi was not able to be at the event. She passed on Dec. 20, 2020.

She may not have been there physically, but almost all of the speakers had her in their words.
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New York (CNN Business) Jeff Bezos will be flying to space on the first crewed flight of the New Shepard, the rocket ship made by his space company, Blue Origin. The flight is scheduled for July 20th, just 15 days after he is set to resign as CEO of Amazon.

Blue Origin said Bezos' younger brother, Mark Bezos, will also join the flight.

"Ever since I was five years old, I've dreamed of traveling to space," Bezos, 57, said in a Monday morning Instagram post. "On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend."

If all goes according to plan, Bezos  the world's richest person with a net worth of $187 billion  will be the first of the billionaire space tycoons to experience a ride aboard the rocket technology that he's poured millions into developing. Not even Elon Musk, whose SpaceX builds rockets powerful enough to enter orbit around Earth, has announced plans to travel to space aboard one of his companies human-worthy crew capsules. British billionaire Richard Branson, whose own space company, Virgin Galactic, is planning on conducting flights to suborbital space for ultra-wealthy thrill seekers and competing directly with Blue Origin. Branson has long said he would be among the first passengers aboard Virgin Galactic's rocket-powered plane , but that flight is expected to take place later in 2021.

Blue Origin's flight crewed flight will see the company's six-seater capsule and 59-foot rocket tear toward the edge of space on a 11-minute flight that'll reach more than 60 miles above Earth.

After six years of extensive and often secretive testing of the rocket and capsule, called New Shepard, Blue Origin announced in May that it was preparing to put the first passengers in a New Shepard capsule.

Though the company has not announced how much it will sell regular tickets for, Blue Origin said one seat will be given to the winner of a month-long auction that's currently in progress. The bidding had reached $2.8 million as of Monday morning.

Blue Origin was founded by Bezos in 2000, and the company conducted more than a dozen test flights with no one on board at Blue Origin's facilities in rural Texas, about 70 miles from Marfa.

Bezos created Amazon in 1994 , first as an online bookseller, with $250,000 from his parents. Over the following years it has grown to become one of the largest companies in the world, with business in everything from Amazon Web Services, a cloud computing services company that counts entities from Netflix to the CIA as customers; to owning MGM, the studio that makes James Bond; to holding a major stake in Rivian, an electric car company.

It has its own home security company, Ring, and its own grocery chain, Whole Foods. And that's before you get to the airline, Prime Air, with its own fleet of over Prime Air-branded 70 aircraft, shipping exclusively packages from Amazon around the world.

Amazon's explosive popularity helped grow Bezos' fortune to more than a billion dollars by 1999, when he was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year. He founded Blue Origin in 2000, and said at one point that he was selling upward of $1 billion worth of Amazon stock each year to help fund the company's rocket development.

Bezos will remain involved in Amazon, though he will transition to the executive chairman role.

He will be succeeded as CEO by Andy Jassy, the head of Amazon Web Services.

Bezos' brother, Mark, formerly the owner of an advertising agency and is now a senior vice president at Robin Hood, a New York City charity.

In addition to New Shepard, Blue Origin is also working to develop a towering rocket called New Glenn , which the company hopes will be used to send US government and commercial satellites to orbit, as well as potentially make trips to deep space. Blue Origin also hoped to be involved in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon by 2024 , though it was bested by SpaceX for a contract to build the lunar lander that would shuttle astronauts from the moon's orbit down to the surface. Blue Origin is protesting that contract decision , though NASA has also said that Blue Origin is still eligible to bid to work on future lunar missions.

Bezos has called Blue Origin " the most important work I'm doing ," though he has not previously been open about whether he personally would like to travel to space.

"I'm interested in space because I'm passionate about it," Bezos, who also made a cameo in 2016's Star Trek: Beyond," said during an interview with Mathias Dopfner , the CEO of Axel Springer. "I've been studying it and thinking about it since I was a five year old boy  but that is not why I'm pursuing this work. I'm pursuing this work because I believe if we don't, we will eventually end up with a civilization of stasis, which I find very demoralizing."

With additional reporting by Rachel Crane.
Asked whether he believed anything had been accomplished by the 13-year-case  which required untold hours of research, writing and argument and produced reams of documents  Kovacich answered in the affirmative.

There was substantially more investigation of the properties that resulted, he said, with scrutiny of the contaminants both by experts hired by the plaintiffs and by ARCO.

That additional work ultimately yielded better cleanup, Kovacich said.

And then there was the settlement, he said, reiterating that its terms are confidential.

Opportunity resident Serge Myers, 76, was similarly tight-lipped about the settlement. Myers, who worked at the smelter for about 17 years, was among those who initiated the lawsuit. He has lived in Opportunity since he was 6 years old.

Myers said wryly that he was a little more spunky when the case began.

Its been 13 years, he said. Its been a long haul. We did the best we could. Our lawyers did the best they could.

Neither John Davis, a lawyer who helped argue the case for ARCO, nor two ARCO employees familiar with the Anaconda Co. Smelter Site returned phone calls Monday seeking comment on the case.
Cooking smells permeate to the formal event space.

"That aroma comes into that space, so if you were to come in the front door for that event, be it a sit-down dinner, you would know what was for supper before anyone told you because you would smell it," Boyle said.

An engineer had to design a solution for the kitchen ventilation, which involves extracting the cooking air and bringing in and conditioning fresh air from outside. The fix involves installing a small mechanical unit on the home's north side.

ADA upgrades

Additionally, Facility Management has hired J2 Studio Architecture + Design, of Bismarck, for upgrades to the Capitol for compliance with standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The 2021 Legislature budgeted $750,000 for the improvements throughout the 87-year-old building after a 2020 study found numerous areas out of compliance.

Facility Management also will work closely with a panel of top lawmakers on the upgrades, much of which include doors and audio/visual components of legislative committee rooms.

Some improvements will go beyond the ADA, such as a family bathroom, but that work might not come for "six months down the road," Boyle said.
Environmental and tribal groups opposed to Enbridge Energys ongoing effort to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline are occupying one of the company's pump stations, where some chained themselves to equipment.
Nonresident North Dakota landowners aren't able to directly post their land electronically under a new system, but there is a solution.

The 2021 Legislature passed a law making electronic posting equal to physical posting and penalties, and defining a "fence." The law also allows only lawful hunters and anglers to access fenced, unposted land, for hunting and fishing activities only.

The online posting system launched in May. More information is at bit.ly/3eVunoQ. North Dakota is the first state in the nation to allow electronic posting of private land, according to the governor's office. Landowners are still able to post their property with signs, though that can be time-consuming and costly.

The electronic posting system is based on counties' tax roll information, and uses North Dakota driver's licenses to validate a user's identity. But it can't authenticate users nationally until driver's license systems are updated for REAL ID standards, according to state Game and Fish Department Information Technology Supervisor Brian Hosek. It's unclear when that capability will happen.
"I think right now the attitude of many in the Legislature and amongst legislative leaders is why would we rush to do this when there are still rules being promulgated about what you can and can't do with it," he said.

The Legislature could act on the money during its redistricting session later this year, or have a special session should "something major come up," he said.

The North Dakota Legislature meets every two years, and ended its recent regular session April 30.

"Right now I think a special session to spend that money is on the backburner, and the stove is not on," Holmberg said. Lawmakers will await further federal guidance for the aid, he said.

North Dakota received $1.25 billion in federal CARES Act coronavirus aid last year, much of which went toward business assistance and facility improvements.

The 2019 Legislature passed a $14.7 billion budget that included federal money and a $4.84 billion general fund. The 2021-23 budget cycle begins July 1 for a record $16.93 billion spending plan that has federal funds and a $4.99 billion general fund.

Reach Jack Dura at 701-223-8482 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com.

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This is Up and Down, where we give a brief thumbs up or thumbs down on the issues from the past week.

Up

A new pandemic rent aid program that is being implemented this month aims to help more households and prevent evictions. The Legislature earlier this year authorized access to nearly $352 million in federal money to transform the state's Emergency Rent Bridge effort into a more comprehensive assistance program called ND Rent Help. The programs income eligibility has been increased and the assistance terms have been extended from six months to up to a year. North Dakota's Human Services Department is implementing the program and encouraging people to apply if theyve struggled to pay rent. The agency also is working with the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency to develop a program that will also help with mortgage costs.

Down
It's produced from source materials like coconuts, nutshells, coal, peat and wood, and is used to purify liquids, air and gases for municipal drinking water, food and beverage production, industrial pollution control, and removal of odors.

The company's current local facility includes two regeneration furnaces and other big equipment, while the new building  which is under a purchase contract  would be primarily used for storage, with the possibility of maintaining service tankers and adding another furnace in the future.

Built in 1996, the 10.73-acre site is already zoned for light industrial use, and was formerly occupied by railroad company Norfolk Southern. Project costs include $3.2 million for the property acquisition, $700,000 for renovation and infrastructure work, $300,000 for furniture and fixtures, and $1.55 million in manufacturing equipment. Financing includes $3.9 million in bank loans and $1.85 million in company equity.

Carbon Activated is asking for a package of $694,815 in sales, mortgage recording and property tax breaks to support the project, which will result in a new assessed value for the property of $1.5 million.

Otherwise, the company can't justify "the investment in renovations and machinery, and that would result in less to no job growth," according to the application.
Press Release

June 7, 2021 Drilon says gov't must do a 'cash sweep' to generate funds for COVID-19 vaccines

'The inoculation of 70 million or more Filipinos should take the highest priority in funding and not the anti-insurgency program or the creation of an agency,' he adds Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said the government must do another round of cash sweep to generate funds to cover the payment for COVID-19 vaccines and its immediate rollout when the bulk of the vaccines arrive. Drilon, however, lamented how the government is scrambling for funding for COVID-19 vaccines but is quick to release billions of funds for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). "This huge allocation for anti-insurgency programs could have been used to buy vaccines. Now we're saying we are short of funds?" Drilon said. Drilon had earlier questioned the government's quick release of around P10.6 billion out of the P16.4 billion Barangay Development Program administered by NTF-ELCAC. Drilon said the government has to do a "cash sweep", saying that there are items in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) that can be realigned to pandemic response. Drilon cited as an example what he recalled "cash sitting idly" in various agencies such as the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC). "Kailangan walisin yung mga ahensya na hindi naman ginagamit ang pera. Ibili na lang ng bakuna kaysa pinapatulog ang pera," Drilon said. Drilon also cited the huge allocations for various infrastructure projects under the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). "These cash sitting idly in banks or in agencies' accounts can be tapped for the procurement of COVID-19 and fund the rollout of the government's mass vaccination program in the coming months," Drilon stressed. In May, Drilon called on the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to immediately recommend to the President the realignment of unutilized special purpose funds (SPFs) and unobligated or unreleased balances of budget items in the 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA) amounting to approximately P556 billion to fund the pandemic response. Drilon also expressed support for the government's use of the contingency fund for the procurement of vaccines. President Duterte earlier approved the release of P2.5 billion from the P13.5 billion contingency funds to cover the payment of vaccines and funds its immediate rollout. "This is the very purpose of contingency funds. It should be used for urgent programs like the inoculation of 70 million Filipinos rather than use it for the creation of an agency such as the DOFIL which can wait," he added, referring to the proposed creation of the Department of Overseas Filipinos. The funding for which, when passed into law, will be sourced from the contingency fund. "The inoculation of 70 million or more Filipinos should take the highest priority in fund allocation and not the anti-insurgency program or the creation of an agency," he said. Earlier, Drilon said the NTF-ELCAC's anti-insurgency budget could increase by P28 billion in the next year's budget, an election year. Drilon said he will oppose the budget of NTF-ELCAC for next year and use the appropriation for COVID-19 inoculation program. The government said that it would need additional P25 billion to inoculate an additional number of Filipinos and include those below 18 years old and additional P55 billion next year for booster shots. In its report submitted to the Senate, the government said that a total of 4,0003,776 eligible Filipinos were vaccinated with their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 1,244,582 eligible population received their complete doses.
Connors Restaurant is the sort of family place that has been there so long it blends in with the landscape. Ive driven by for years without making my first visit. When I did recently, following a reader tip, my party included one guest who had grown up in West Seneca. She was making her inaugural visit, too, she confessed.

The place by Cazenovia Creek has been a source of food, drink and other refreshments since the 1890s. Robert and Dorothy Connor took it over 60 years ago, hence its name, which remained when another Robert, surnamed Schmitt, took over with his wife, Christine.

My feet registered floors slumped with age but the furniture was sturdy and accommodating, the tables paper-topped, walls of cream and dark wood. Out back is a covered patio. The result is a restaurant as instantly familiar as your comfy slippers.

You already know 90% of the menu, sight unseen. Appetizers like crab cakes, Buffalo wing dip, steamed clams, pierogi and potato skins in original (bacon, sour cream, cheddar) and Irish (corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss) are all yours for $9.99. After 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, its budget-friendly bites time with 2-for-1 appetizers and 50-cent chicken wings.

Theres a rack of domestic taps, and Stella Artois, in addition to a full bar.
"He's got an ax to grind," Kulpa said.

Hunter denied he has a personal agenda against Kulpa and noted he worked part-time under three town clerks, including Democrat Fran Spoth.

"As a former employee and 16-year volunteer on the Traffic Safety Board, the supervisor shouldn't use me to cover up his own incompetence," he said.

And Hunter said he doesn't know why, if the renovations at the Municipal Building were the only thing preventing a return to in-person attendance, the town didn't temporarily shift Town Board meetings to the Harlem Road Community Center instead of staying on Zoom.

"This is not common sense and this is not good government," he said.

Kulpa said the public will have extensive opportunities to comment on the details of the Amherst Central Park redevelopment in the coming months and years given the project's lengthy timeline.

And he said the Town Board will hold in-person meetings once the Council Chambers renovations are completed. The town in March took out rows of seating in the front portion of the meeting space, put in new carpeting and awaits delivery of tables and chairs that can be moved to allow the room to host meetings of varying sizes, Kulpa said.
A 61-year-old retiree is suing the Buffalo Public School District for allegedly filling up his cellphone with dozens of unwanted robocalls.

The calls upset Alphonso Clark because he has no children  not in the Buffalo Public Schools or any other schools, according to his attorney.

They somehow got his number in their automated system. They keep calling him about all kinds of unrelated issues involving the schools, attorney Seth J. Andrews told The Buffalo News on Friday. Its a bizarre case, because the information they give is about several different schools.

Clark even gets robocalls from the district about a particular female student  a senior at Hutchinson-Central Technical High School whom Clark does not know  being absent from school.

The federal lawsuit filed by Andrews and co-counsel Kenneth J. Hiller alleges that the school district repeatedly violated the U.S. Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which protects consumers from invalid and excessive robocalls.

Clark, a resident of Buffalos East Side, has received about 50 robocalls since September, his lawyers said, and he has repeatedly called school officials in an unsuccessful quest to stop the calls.
If the Air Force chooses the Niagara Falls site when it makes its decision later this year, the move would utterly transform the local base, said John Cooper, president of the Niagara Falls Military Affairs Council, a community organization that supports the facility.

An active-duty support squadron of about 175 personnel would be stationed at the base, which would continue to serve about 2,000 reservists, Cooper said. That would be the first active-duty Air Force squadron stationed in Niagara Falls since 1971, when the base converted to a reserve facility.

The base would become home to 12 KC-46A Pegasus aircraft, replacing the eight KC-135 refueling tankers that the 914th Air Refueling Wing currently flies out of Niagara Falls.

In an online description of the new aircraft, the Air Force said: "With greater refueling, cargo and aeromedical evacuation capabilities compared to the KC-135, the KC-46A will provide next generation aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and partner-nation receivers."
The Air Force announced recently that the Niagara base is one of six that is being considered for the new mission. The others are Beale Air Force Base and March Air Reserve Base in California; Grissom Air Reserve Base in Indiana; Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma; and Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Field in Maryland south of Washington, D.C.

Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station is the perfect location for the Air Forces new refueling tankers and deserves to be selected, Schumer said. NFARS has continuously delivered for New York over the last 50 years as a reserve base."

Air Force officials have said the Niagara base would need about $100 million in new construction to accommodate the new mission. New hangars would have to be constructed because the KC-46A  the Air Force's most modern refueling tanker  is larger than the KC-135.

The Niagara facility has been threatened with closure twice in the past 30 years. But John Cooper, president of the Niagara Military Affairs Council, said the base's selection for the new mission would ensure its future for years to come.

"There would be additional investment and additional manpower," Cooper said.

Schumer is a longtime advocate of the Niagara base. He joined the rest of the Western New York congressional delegation to fight a proposal to shutter the base in 2005, and has been pushing for additional investment there ever since. He also advocated changing the 914th's mission so that it would fly refueling tankers rather than the aging cargo planes that the unit previously flew.

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Whats good for the Air Force and our national security can also be good for Buffalo Niagara. The reserve base is Niagara Countys largest employer. Federal base-closure commissions threatened to close the facility in the mid-1990s and in the mid-2000s, when the base was used for cargo planes. Schumer, a longtime supporter of the base, led a lobbying effort to bring KC-135s to the base in 2016. Now that Schumer is majority leader, he will no doubt use his clout to make sure Niagara Falls gets every consideration as home to the KC-46A.

Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand has also been an advocate for the base, along with former Rep. Chris Collins and the late Louise M. Slaughter, a Democratic congresswoman from Fairport.

If the Pentagon chooses Niagara Falls, it should ensure the base has a secure future.

We would be all set for many, many years to come, John Cooper, president of the Niagara Falls Military Affairs Council, told The News.

Higgins and Jacobs, in their letter to Scobee, stressed the strategic value of the Niagara Falls base, as the Arctic theater grows increasingly contested by revisionist powers.

The Air Forces site visitors will see that the NFARS has the right stuff.

  

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
One by one, the students in Miss Balistreris second-grade class walked to the front of the classroom, reached their tiny hands into a basket held high by their teacher and pulled out a piece of paper.

They had picked teacher, doctor, journalist and auto mechanic. They picked firefighter and police officer. Our 7-year-old daughter glanced down at her paper. She had picked waitress.

They didnt know it, but they were participating in a long tradition of Nardin Academy second-graders. It was a rite of passage. It was a peek into their futures. It was a chance to show them that they could all be whatever they wanted to be.

They had one week to prepare their presentations. They could ask questions of their parents and siblings. But the report they wrote had to be all their own.

This was the one day when parents would be allowed into the classroom to watch the presentations. And we could bring camcorders.

Our daughter peppered us with questions at home. She acted out her part at family dinners, writing down every customer order and handing them to her mom. She filled our water glasses and asked how everything was tasting. She even told us to take our time in paying the bill. I always gave her a $2 tip.
Posted 6/6/21

When I was doing research for my Highway 65 book, I looked for a photo of and information about Schaupps Store, located north of Crystal Cave. Not finding anything, I simply mentioned the store, 
(Reuters) -Canada on Monday said it was "very concerned" by Kyrgyzstan's move to impose external management on Centerra Gold's Kumtor Gold Company and warned it could have far-reaching consequences on foreign investment in the country.

On Sunday, Centerra said it had initiated binding arbitration against the Kyrgyzstan government, after the parliament passed a law allowing the state to temporarily take over the company's Kumtor gold mine, the country's biggest industrial enterprise.

Recently, a Kyrgyzstan court also imposed $3.1 billion fine on Kumtor Gold Company (KGC), which operates the gold mine, after ruling that the firm had violated environmental laws.

As a significant investment partner of the Kyrgyz Republic, Canada is very concerned about continued developments in the mining sector," Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau and International Trade Minister Mary Ng said in a joint statement on Monday.

Canada is also disappointed that this dispute between foreign investors and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic was not allowed to be resolved transparently by the parties working together."

Earlier on Monday, Centerra said it would suspend its previously issued 2021 production guidance and three-year outlook for the asset "in view of the fact that Centerra is no longer in control" of the mine.

(Reporting by Jeff LewisEditing by Chris Reese and Marguerita Choy)
Hong Kong: Parent education hub set up

A new feature hub has been set up on the Smart Parent Net to provide parents of school children with one-stop access to information on parent education courses and activities, the Education Bureau said today.

It noted that the Parent Education Activity Information Hub aims to further enhance the parenting knowledge and skills of parents of kindergarten, primary and secondary school children.

The hub lists parent education courses and activities organised by the Government as well as post-secondary institutions in Hong Kong. The content will be updated regularly.

Parents can filter activity information by using the category function, such as district, activity type, target participants and organiser. There are also application links for the courses and activities.

The Smart Parent Net, launched in February 2018, provides useful information on supporting students physical and psychological development, as well as diversified video clips and articles on parent education.

The bureau issued a circular memorandum to all kindergartens, primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong to encourage them to recommend the net and the newly launched hub to parents.

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Press Release

June 7, 2021 After nurses' memo, Villanueva appeals to Palace to grant them salary grade promotion, 'step increase,' back pay Senator Joel Villanueva today hailed Malacanang's reversal of a DBM circular demoting many public nurses in rank and pay "as a justice done to these brave frontliners who are working tirelessly during the pandemic." While thankful, Villanueva is pressing the government to take the next step in rewarding nurses and other healthcare workers for their pandemic service by granting them long delayed "step increases" in pay. The senator explained that under the government sector pay scale, "a salary grade (SG) has 'eight steps,' which means employees can remain in the same SG but can enjoy a pay hike if they move up the steps." Entry level position of nurses to the public sector is SG 16, whose Step 1 monthly pay is P36,628, but this goes up to P37,891 in Step 4, and P39,650 in Step 8. To illustrate, three nurses on paper may all hold an SG 21 item, but will have the following differences in pay: Step I, P60,901; Step IV, P63,777 and Step VIII, P67,837. Villanueva believes that many nurses meet, if not exceed, the requisites for "step increases" based on existing rules, but agencies have been slow in granting them. "The other roadblock is the availability of funds so I've been advocating that the cost of these merit increases be provided for in the yearly national budget," Villanueva, chair of the Senate labor committee, said. Ideally, a government worker who has performed well should be given a salary grade promotion, he said, "but in the interim, and in between the SG promotion, a step increase will do." Villanueva aired his appeal in the wake of a June 1 memorandum by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, reversing a Department of Budget and Management circular, which, while raising the entry-level SG of a Nurse I, demoted Nurses II to VII to one rank lower. The senator also backed calls by nurses' groups that the government pay nurses affected by the temporary demotion back wages. "The salary differential must be given to them immediately. The order must have a retroactive effect insofar as compensation is concerned," he said.
Jamaican actress Shantol Jackson has joined the cast of BBC drama Death In Paradise for its 11th series, the broadcaster announced.

Filming on new episodes has begun on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, with Ralph Little returning in the role of detective Neville Parker.

Jackson, who starred as Yvonne in the Idris Elba-directed 2018 crime drama Yardie, will play ambitious young sergeant Naomi Thomas.

Shantol Jackson has joined the cast of Death In Paradise (BBC/PA)

Thomas is described as a gifted officer who has arrived from a neighbouring island to join the Saint Marie Police, but there are doubts over her lack of experience.

Jackson, 28, said: Im so grateful for this amazing opportunity to join the cast of this fun-filled, entertaining series.

I used to watch Death In Paradise with my dad in Jamaica years ago when it just started and to now be in the show, knowing that hell be watching me, its truly a surreal moment.

Looking forward to adding to the magic.

As well as Little, other returning stars include Josephine Jobert as Florence Cassell, Don Warrington as Commissioner Selwyn Patterson, Tahj Miles as Marlon Pryce and Elizabeth Bourgine as Mayor Catherine Bordey.

The BBC said series eleven will see even more mysterious murders, guest stars galore, huge surprises and plenty of twists.

Tim Key, executive producer, said: Were so excited to be back in Guadeloupe and calling action on our eleventh series  and also to welcome Shantol to the cast.

Shes an amazing addition to the team and we cant wait for the audience to meet Naomi.

All previous series of Death In Paradise are available on iPlayer.

Watch: Best deals on coffee machines
Figure 1

Isabella district showing areas of detailed mapping in the Isabella Oriental and Docamavida prospect areas. The mapping has identified a linear band of volcanics adjacent to the southern contact of the Isabella granite. Detailed maps for each area are shown in Figures 2 and 5.

Isabella district showing areas of detailed mapping in the Isabella Oriental and Docamavida prospect areas. The mapping has identified a linear band of volcanics adjacent to the southern contact of the Isabella granite. Detailed maps for each area are shown in Figures 2 and 5.

Figure 2

Geological map of the eastern part of the Isabella Oriental property block. The presence of extensive structurally-controlled quartz veins was confirmed associated with leucogranite.

Geological map of the eastern part of the Isabella Oriental property block. The presence of extensive structurally-controlled quartz veins was confirmed associated with leucogranite.

Figure 3

Photos of vuggy quartz vein rubble found adjacent to historical mine pits in the Docamavida prospect area.

Photos of vuggy quartz vein rubble found adjacent to historical mine pits in the Docamavida prospect area.

Figure 3

Exposed quartz vein-breccia.

Exposed quartz vein-breccia.

Figure 4

Geological map of the Docamavida prospect area showing distribution of quartz veins and mafic dykes and tourmaline breccia in the south part of the prospect.

Geological map of the Docamavida prospect area showing distribution of quartz veins and mafic dykes and tourmaline breccia in the south part of the prospect.

Figure 4

Samples of quartz-tourmaline dyke rock (top) and quartz breccia vein from fault zone adjacent to the metasediment inlier (lower).

Samples of quartz-tourmaline dyke rock (top) and quartz breccia vein from fault zone adjacent to the metasediment inlier (lower).

TORONTO, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd. (TSX-V: MON) (Montero or the Company) has mapped an area of extensive quartz veins in the newly staked Isabella Oriental concession block. Mapping has also been extended to the Docamavida area south of Isabella where a new style of gold occurrence has been discovered. Both areas are outside of the target areas undergoing drill testing by the Company.



Dr Tony Harwood, President of Montero commented: I am pleased to confirm by mapping an extensive vein system identified in recently staked Isabella Oriental area to the east of the current drilling program. Our mapping has also discovered a new gold occurrence associated with tourmaline breccia dykes in the Docamavida area to the south. The mapping confirms that granite-hosted gold-silver mineralized quartz veins extend along the entire 12 kilometers of the southern granite sediment contact in the Isabella district.

The Company has completed a detailed mapping program in select areas to better understand the occurrences of mineralized quartz veins and their spatial association within and adjacent to leucogranite (Figure 1). The mapping has identified a narrow (200 m) band of volcanic rocks that extends in an east-west direction adjacent to the southern contact of the Isabella granite. The volcanic unit is host to numerous gossan breccia boulders that occur south of the Isabella East property and which have been previously described by the Company.

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Isabella Oriental Detailed Map Area

The mapping has identified numerous structurally controlled quartz veins that are spatially associated with a leucogranite phase of the Isabella granite. Previous sampling of the veins prior to Montero reported assays up to 0.56 g/t Au and 19 g/t Ag. Two dominant quartz vein systems are identified; a 1.25 km long north-east trending vein array, and a 1 km long north-south trending vein array. Individual quartz veins are up to 3 m in width. Mapping has also confirmed the extent of volcanic rocks within the metasediments along the southern contact of the Isabella granite pluton. Quartz veins have been identified within the volcanics and also in metasediment adjacent to the leucogranite and represent exploration targets for potential Au-Ag mineralized quartz veins.

Docamavida Map Area

The Docamavida area is located south of the Mataquito river (Figure 1) and was the site of historical mining activity. Previous exploration prior to the acquisition by Montero identified abundant quartz boulders at surface and also quartz veins within granitic rock (Figure 3). Reported assays of exposed veins range up to 2.5 g/t Au and 12 g/t Ag with high concentrations of arsenic of up to 3,000 ppm As. The Isabella veins to the north, in contrast, contain very low As concentration.

The quartz veins at Docamavida display massive to breccia textures with evidence of repeated faulting along vein margins. Individual veins are up to 2.5 m in width and up to 100 m in strike length. Veins have a lenticular morphology and form part of a more extensive extensional vein system.

Mapping confirmed the presence of historical mine pits and exposed quartz veins. The veins are controlled within north-east structures and occur within a leucogranite similar to that described in the Isabella area to the north and also within fault zones along the contact with metasediment inliers (Figure 4). Samples of quartz veins collected by Montero from a fault zone assayed up to 0.69 g/t Au and 1,144 ppm As. The mapping also discovered an area of quartz tourmaline breccia dykes in the southern part of the property for which samples collected by Montero assayed up to 1.4 g/t Au and 183 ppm Bi. Montero will continue to evaluate areas of the Isabella properties as part of a district wide resource assessment.

Summary

The detailed mapping provides for some important exploration assumptions. Based on the recent mapping the volcanic and granite rocks defined at Isabella post-date formation of the Triassic sediments. Both rock types are interpreted to have developed during the Jurassic to Cretaceous periods. Previous mapping by Munoz (1995) reported that similar volcanics near the town of Hualane to be of Upper Jurassic age and coeval with a series of small intermediate intrusive bodies that occur within volcanics. As such, an assumed early to mid-Jurassic age for the volcanic linear mapped along the southern contact at Isabella is consistent with the Munoz interpretation.

The interpretation of a roof pendant of meta-sediments and volcanics within the leucogranite in Isabella Oriental indicates the granite pluton to be younger than both rock types. Field relationships also suggest the leucogranite phase formed within an upper part of the granite pluton and could be a younger, more differentiated phase of the Isabella granite. The spatial association of Au-Ag mineralized quartz veins with intermediate-felsic intrusive and volcanics of Jurassic to later Cretaceous age have been documented in the Talca area to the south-east where the Chepica Au-Ag-Cu mine occurs and also to the north near Rancagua where Yamana operates the Minera Florida mine. These observations indicate that further exploration is warranted in the Isabella district which has similar geological features.

Qualified Person Statement

This press release was reviewed and approved by Mr. Mike Evans, M.Sc. Pr. Sci. Nat., who is a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101 and a Consulting Geologist to Montero. A review was also undertaken by Sr. Marcial Vergara B.Sc. who is resident of Chile and a Qualified Person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101 and a technical advisor to Montero. Sr. Vergara has extensive experience in gold exploration in Chile.

About Montero

Montero is a junior exploration company focused on finding, exploring, and advancing globally significant gold deposits in Chile. The Company is in the process of relinquishing its portfolio of battery metal projects in Africa to focus on gold opportunities in Chile. Monteros board of directors and management have an impressive track record of successfully discovering and advancing precious metal projects. Montero trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol MON and has 38,647,485 shares outstanding.

For more information, contact:

Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd.

Dr. Tony Harwood, President and Chief Executive Officer

E-mail: ir@monteromining.com Tel: +1 416 840 9197 | Fax: +1 866 688 4671 www.monteromining.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements, projections and estimates. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Such information is based on information currently available to Montero and Montero provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking information by its very nature involves inherent risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements of Montero to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Actual results relating to, among other things, completion of the HOA, results of exploration, project development, reclamation and capital costs of Monteros mineral properties, and financial condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: an inability to complete the HOA on the terms as announced or at all; changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with Monteros activities; and other matters discussed in this news release and in filings made with securities regulators. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Monteros forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Montero does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7b4c33f8-1027-4b07-8325-0d8c4c901b49

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/adb24a01-cf88-4a75-ae73-310d222174d1

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/735ec1c5-e1ca-45b8-aacb-bc71f5d01bc2

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3618a711-f3f7-46b0-be49-ffa4dc5c814b

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2451c220-7fa2-4993-a4ef-769e27dc68b6

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/43dd8dd7-156b-4775-aa11-23a35b510eac




Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - Norvista Capital Corporation (TSXV: NVV) ("Norvista" or the "Company") is pleased to announce changes to its Board of Directors and Management.

Derek Macpherson is joining the company as Executive Chairman and a Director, and Samuel Pelaez as President, CEO and Chief Investment Officer (CIO). Mr. Macpherson replaces Stanley Spavold who has stepped down as Chairman and as a Director of the Company. Mr. Pelaez replaces Donald Christie, who remains a Director of the Company and will continue as an Advisor to the Company to facilitate the management transition.

Mr. Macpherson, the Company's new Executive Chairman stated, "I am pleased to be joining Norvista. I want to thank Stan and Don for shepherding the Company to this point and wish them all the best in their future endeavours. In particular, we look forward to working with Don in his new role as Interim CEO at Rockcliff Metals of which Norvista is a major and supportive shareholder."

Samuel Pelaez, the company's new President, CEO and CIO stated, "Norvista is a unique opportunity to create an efficient resource investment vehicle, that gives shareholders exposure to the emerging commodity super trend. In the near-term, our focus is to grow the asset base to give Norvista the scale and liquidity it needs to succeed."

Stan Spavold the Company's departing Chairman stated, "I am looking forward to this new era for Norvista, as Sam and Derek work to transform the Company. While I am departing my formal role with the Company, I continue to be a significant and supportive shareholder."

For the last ten years, Mr. Macpherson has worked in mining capital markets, identifying investment opportunities, along with raising money for junior mining companies. Additionally, as one of the early employees at Red Cloud Securities Inc and Red Cloud Financial Services Inc, Derek helped to build that business into the thriving mining focused investment dealer and capital markets platform that it has become. Prior to working in capital markets, he worked for 6 years as a metallurgist. Mr. Macpherson has a Bachelor of Engineering and Management in Materials Science from McMaster University and a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business. Mr. Macpherson is currently, President and CEO of Gold79 Mines Ltd.

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Mr. Pelaez has dedicated the past decade to financing natural resource projects while serving as Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager at Galileo Global Equity Advisors, and as an analyst at US Global Investors. Mr. Pelaez has been an early investor in numerous mining discoveries and has been an active participant in Canadian mining corporate transactions. Samuel graduated from the Schulich School of Business with Distinction. He also holds a Masters in Finance degree from The University of Cambridge. He was a scholar of the Financial Leaders of Tomorrow Program at the PBOC Graduate School at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Samuel is a CFA charter holder and member of the Toronto CFA Society where he resides. Mr. Pelaez is currently, President, CEO and a Director of Gossan Resources Ltd.

About Norvista

Norvista is a resource-focused investment company with a portfolio of publically listed securities issued by companies engaged in precious and base metal exploration and development. The Company's major investments include, Minera Alamos Inc., Rockcliff Metals Corporation and Nevada Zinc Corporation.

For further information, please contact:

Derek Macpherson, Executive Chairman by email at dmacpherson@norvistacapital.com or by phone at 416-294-6713 or Sam Pelaez, President, CEO & CIO by email spelaez@norvistacapital.com or by phone at 202-677-8513. Norvista's website is located at www.norvistacapital.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way approved nor disapproved the information contained herein.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, identified by words or phrases such as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "pending", "intends", "plans", "forecasts", "targets", or "hopes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "will", "should", "might", "will be taken", or "occur" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the actual results of Norvista to be materially different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward-looking. Although Norvista believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Norvista does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86661
FILE PHOTO: General view of oil tanks and the Bayway Refinery of Phillips 66 in Linden

By Laila Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices pulled back on Monday after touching two-year highs on expectations of improved demand and OPEC producers keeping supply curbs in place.

Prices retreated from session highs early, and analysts cited pressure from Chinese data showed crude oil imports fell to a year's low in May.

"That took away some of the enthusiasm that the oil bulls had seen," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Brent crude settled at $71.49 a barrel, falling 40 cents after hitting $72.27 a barrel, its highest since May 2019.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate settled at $69.23 a barrel after touching $70 for the first time since October 2018.

Investors may have sold some contracts to take profits when WTI hit the round number of $70, said Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates.

"Regardless, fresh highs suggest sustainability of this bull move with some higher values likely lying ahead," Ritterbusch said.

Crude has risen for two weeks, with Brent up by 38% this year and WTI rising 43%, helped by nascent recovery from pandemic-related demand disruptions and supply curbs by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies.

The producer group known as OPEC+ has boosted oil prices by sticking to supply restraints through July. On Monday, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said OPEC+ expects inventories to fall further in coming months.

Analysts expect oil prices to remain buoyant, with pullbacks brief, due to increased global demand following decisions by the United States and Europe to loosen COVID-19 restrictions, while India has begun to ease its latest lockdown.

"With some improvement in the pandemic situation in India and the recovery in the U.S., China and Europe remaining on track, oil should remain a buy on dips," said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at brokerage OANDA.

(Additiona reporting by Alex Lawler and Florence Tan; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)
Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images; Royal Collection Trust

Cherished items from Prince Philip's dynamic life with Queen Elizabeth are on display in two new exhibits coming to Windsor Castle in England and Holyroodhouse in Scotland.

The magnificent robe he wore to watch his young wife begin her historic tenure on the throne at her Coronation in June 1953 is just one of the historic items on display. Others that celebrate his naval career and heritage, while some give insight to the whimsical and sometimes wacky gifts he received in his official role, including a wine cooler shaped like a giant grasshopper given to him by President Pompidou of France in 1972.

Prince Philip: A Celebration will open on June 24 at Windsor Castle, where the prince spent his last days before his death on April 9, and moves to the royals' Edinburgh residence of Holyroodhouse on July 23.

Royal Collection Trust

It is a poignant week for the Queen, 95, who will mark what would have been Philip's 100th birthday on Thursday. On Saturday, she will be joined by her cousin, the Duke of Kent, to celebrate a scaled-back version of Trooping the Colour, her annual belated birthday parade.

A highlight of the upcoming display organized by the Royal Collection Trust at Windsor Castle, will be a section devoted to Prince Philip's role in the Queen's Coronation of 1953. Philip helped organize the ceremony, chairing the Coronation Committee, one of two committees convened to plan the event. A modernizer at heart, he was also instrumental in the decision to broadcast parts of the service live on television. As well as his robe and coronet worn during the service, his Chair of Estate which is usually located in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace is also set to be in the exhibit.

Royal Collection Trust

Philip's close association with the castle  including his leadership of the restoration committee following the 1992 fire  and his links with the local community will also be marked. His mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was born at Windsor Castle in 1885, and the journal in which her great-grandmother Queen Victoria recorded the birth and described the newborn as "very pretty" will be on display.

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RELATED: Prince Edward Views Tributes to Father Prince Philip with Wife Sophie and Daughter Lady Louise

Also being shown is George A. Weymouth's portrait of the prince standing in the shell of St. George's Hall after the fire, holding a roll of floorplans.

A first nations feather headdress given to Prince Philip by Jim Shot Both Sides, Head Chief of the Blood Reserve, during a visit to Canada in 1973 also appears in the collection.

Royal Collection Trust

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The Royal Collection Trust announced the display at the Palace of Holyroodhouse will include a section charting Prince Philip's early life and naval career, including his Midshipman's log book from his service in World War II from 194041 when war hero Philip described his role operating the ship's searchlight during the Battle of Cape Matapan while stationed on the HMS Valiant off the coast of Greece.

Royal Archives  Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2021

Countess of Wessex Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth

The Edinburgh exhibit will also contain two of the architect Sir Hugh Casson's original design sketches for the Royal Yacht Britannia's sun lounge and dining room, as well as a silver model of the ship given to the Queen and Philip by Lloyd's Register of Shipping in 1972.
Visual from Dabgram Inland Container Depot. (File Photo)

By Tarak Sarkar

Siliguri (West Bengal) [India], June 7 (ANI): In Siliguri's Inland Container Depot (ICD), Pristine Hindustan, a Logistics Service Provider on Monday started the first consignment to Bangladesh with the mode of Electronic Cargo Tracking System(ECTS).

The ICD or dry port was developed by Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority(SJDA), a development body of state government with the help of the Union government, run by Pristine Hindustan Infraprojects Private Limited.

The port set up on a 29 acre of land in the Dabgram area near Siliguri is the first dry port for domestic and International cargo movement in the region.

The company started its first export service to Bangladesh with five containers on three vehicles as trial consignment bagged with gram husk for Bangladesh through Fulbari Integrated Check Post(ICP) today.

According to Md Alam Khan, terminal manager at the Siliguri dry port, the biggest advantage of ECTS service is that any consignee or any consignor can track the cargo anywhere at anytime through the online system after despatch from the dry port.

"This service will also reduce the time and money with the support of modern technology. We are receiving very good responses from domestic and international consignee consignors. The company's prime focus is to expand the trade with neighbourhood countries like Nepal and Bhutan soon," he said. (ANI)
UK business chiefs have warned MPs that a generation of firms could face collapse without further support, after piling up billion of pounds in debt during the pandemic.

Leaders in the UKs hospitality, travel and retail sectors made a fresh plea for financial support measures and policy shifts at the Treasury Select Committee on Monday.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of travel trade body Abta, told MPs at the committee that Government support has not been adequate for the impact of the pandemic on the UK travel sector.

He said: The support measures that have been available have been appreciated, but at the margin and not adequate for the scale of the challenge the travel industry has faced and is facing.

The summer season counts for two-thirds, we are in it, and no-one is travelling.

The Government needs to recognise that the travel sector is in a class of its own regarding the pain its suffered really.

Passengers arrive at Gatwick airport (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

And if we dont have support through these critical weeks, I really do fear that we will be losing a generation of travel companies if we dont act and get financial support to them now.

It comes as thousands of UK tourists scramble back from Portugal before new coronavirus rules come into force.

Mr Tanzer said the Governments decision to remove Portugal from the green travel list was a real blow and it sent a signal that international travel is not going to come back as envisaged.

He added that there is still discernible demand for travel from UK consumers, but said this has been stifled by obstacles and communication issues regarding requirements needed for foreign travel.

Meanwhile, Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, and Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) told MPs at the select committee that the Government should extend the current rent moratorium.

The moratorium is set to end on June 30, paving the way for landlords to take action to reclaim rent arrears accrued during the pandemic.

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Ms Nicholls said: You are going to have long Covid for the economy if you are not very careful.

We currently have 2.5 billion in historic rent debt which is going to fall in one hit on July 1, when the moratoriums end, so we urgently need those extending.

We are two weeks away from the next quarter rent day, so we need that extended as a matter of urgency and we need the Government to work with us, lenders, landlords, to find a solution to this rent debt, so we dont start tripping up businesses and causing insolvencies when we should be coming out of this crisis.

Ms Dickinson added that the pandemic has accelerated the shift of retail firms further online and warned that the future of many stores could hang on changes to the moratorium and business rates.

Weve seen a closer relationship between physical and digital, but weve lost around 5,000 shops over 2020, she said.

Whether we lose more than we need to will depend on the moratorium decision, giving space to businesses which need to negotiate with landlords, and the business rates review.
A man walks on an empty street in Valletta, Malta, in March. (Getty)

The European country with the highest COVID vaccination rate has reported no new cases for the first time in nearly a year.

Malta, the central Mediterranean island that sits between Sicily and the north African coast, has given a first COVID vaccine dose to 74% of its population of 500,000  the most of any European country, according to experts at the Our World in Data project at Oxford University.

In addition, as of 6 June, 53% of its population have had the second vaccine  the second-fastest rate in Europe behind only the microstate of San Marino.

And, on Monday, after restricting new infections to single figures for weeks, Malta registered zero new cases for the first time since 25 July 2020.

Despite the landmark moment, Maltas health minister has urged people to remain careful to prevent any resurgence.

Chris Fearne wrote on Twitter: "Today is the first day with zero cases since last summer. It is essential that we maintain discipline and responsibility."

On 24 May, Malta announced it had become the first European Union country to achieve so-called herd immunity after vaccinating 70% of its adult population with at least one COVID-19 shot.

How open is Malta?

Museums and tourist sites, non-essential shops and services such as hairdressers reopened on 26 April in Malta, while celebration of Mass is allowed and schools are open.

Restaurants and snack bars are open but there is a limit of 6 people per table. Cinemas and theatres are also reopen.

Watch: Coronavirus vaccines in numbers: 40,333,231 receive first jab

Bars, discos and nightclubs are closed and boat parties are not allowed. Groups in public places are limited to four people unless from the same household. Masks are mandatory in all public spaces, indoor and outdoor (under 3s are exempt). Fines will be levied for non- compliance.

From 1 July a maximum of 2 people may remove their masks in outside public spaces if they have been vaccinated and they have an official vaccination certificate. Currently, only Maltese issued certificates will be accepted as proof of vaccination.

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While Malta has followed a similar trend to the UK in terms of infections (see the first chart below) its death rate has remained below that of the UK throughout the majority of the pandemic (see the second chart below).

How Malta and the UK's wve of infections have compared. (Our World In Data)

Mediterranean island's

The UK is currently third in Europe for the highest vaccination rate  after Malta and San Marino  with 59.41% of its population having received a first vaccine dose.

Read more:

The 7 EU countries who are going to start vaccinating children

The region that could ban unvaccinated people from public places

But the English government is now facing a decision over whether the latest lifting of lockdown restrictions should go ahead on 21 June in line with Boris Johnsons roadmap.

The spread of the Delta variant of the virus has sparked concerns over the risks of removing the remaining COVID measures too soon.

Watch: COVID-19: Vaccines have 'broken the chain' between coronavirus and serious illness
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is now accepting artwork entries for the Wild Turkey, Pheasant and Waterfowl Stamp design contests. The winning art will appear on the 2022 Wisconsin Wild Turkey Stamp.

Every year, local artists from around Wisconsin compete for the opportunity to have their artwork featured on the Wild Turkey, Pheasant and Wisconsin Waterfowl stamps.

The deadline to submit stamp designs is July 15. Judging will take place in a closed session at the Waterfowl Hunters Expo on Aug. 28 in Oshkosh.

This is a unique opportunity for Wisconsin artists to showcase your artwork statewide, while also promoting wildlife management, said Alaina Gerrits, DNR Assistant Upland Ecologist.

For many years, Wisconsins wild turkey, pheasant and waterfowl stamp programs have been providing opportunities for wildlife and habitat management, with efforts directed toward key species. Turkey, pheasant and waterfowl hunters are required to purchase a species-specific stamp to legally harvest these game birds in Wisconsin.

Sales of these three stamps bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for species management throughout the state, including habitat management, restoration, education and research projects.
From the sprawling backwaters of the Mississippi River to plentiful lake systems that dot the landscape, there is no shortage of good fishing in western Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota.

The Black and La Crosse rivers join with the Mississippi in La Crosse, making it an ideal spot for all anglers. These rivers and their numerous channels are home to a variety of species; walleye is among the most bountiful, but you can also catch northern pike, shovelhead sturgeon, perch, sunfish, bluegill, crappie and blue catfish.

Large and smallmouth bass are found in good numbers here, too, and La Crosse has frequently hosted tournaments aimed at catching the fish on the waters of the Mississippi.

You can also cast a line in Lake Onalaska just north of La Crosse or Lake Neshonoc in West Salem and find similar offerings.

The Mississippi River, of course, flows down from the north, and its waters near Winona, Minnesota, are equally ripe. But don't miss out on some other good spots in the area.

The local lock and dams, and their spillways, seem to attract fish, and there are lakes in Winona can keep one busy, including Lake Winona and Bartlet Lake.
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP)  Lithuania has detained nine Iraqi asylum-seekers who had entered the Baltic country from Belarus, officials said Monday, pointing a finger at Belarus for allegedly being involved in sending repeated groups of immigrants into Lithuania.

It is obvious that a hybrid war is being waged against Lithuania, and illegal migration flows are one of the means, Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said. Her country has voiced criticism of Belarus for its brutal crackdown following a presidential election there last year that the opposition says was rigged.

Those flows of the illegal migrants who travel to Lithuania are not just random cases. These are well organized. There are flights from Baghdad and Istanbul to Minsk, she said, referring to Iraqis who fly to the capital of Belarus.

Lithuania said Belarus border guards have been covering the tracks of the migrants, with Bilotaite saying it shows that officials themselves might be cooperating. She added that Lithuania's armed forces have been consulted in how to tackle the migration situation.

The two countries  both formerly part of the Soviet sphere  share a nearly 680-kilometer-long (420-mile) frontier that serves as the European Unions external border.
Digital tech giant Cisco (News - Alert) Systems, Inc. announced this week it will be adding new cloud applications and solutions to the companys growing business portfolio.

As more companies continue to invest in cloud infrastructure. Cisco has devised new digital tools that businesses can use to optimize and enhance customer and employee experiences. Though cloud infrastructures are becoming more commonplace, established businesses with existing infrastructure often struggle to implement and manage the latest technology due to the complex nature of cloud networks. Cisco hopes to address this with a new offering, Unified Computing System X-Series, which attempts to simplify hybrid cloud environments, which will open the door for businesses looking to reap the benefits of cloud functionality.

The UCS offering works by combining computing, storage, and networking resources into a central location, allowing IT professionals to easily manage digital infrastructure across multiple platforms. Along with this, the offering includes new Intersight services that assist in delivering UCS capabilities across the cloud.

From infrastructure teams to app developers, Cisco can provide the level of observability and insight they need to orchestrate and manage applications and workloads no matter where they reside, said Todd Nightingale, Ciscos Senior Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Networking and Cloud.

Ciscos latest offering includes additional features including Cisco Service Mesh Manager, which assists in managing security for Kubernetes clusters stored in hybrid cloud environments. Customers can also take advantage of the new Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator, which helps manage security policies across multiple locations. The offering is currently supported by AWS and Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure, and will be supported by Google Cloud in the coming months.

Edited by Maurice Nagle
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7)  A lawmaker said the government must prioritize its funds for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, saying it must keep its focus on the inoculation of Filipinos.

"The inoculation of 70 million or more Filipinos should take the highest priority in funding and not the anti-insurgency program or the creation of an agency," Senator Franklin Drilon said in a statement on Monday.

Drilon earlier questioned the government's spending priorities amid the COVID-19 pandemic, noting the "hasty" release of over 10 billion to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

In the statement, Drilon said a "cash sweep" could be done, adding there were some items in the General Appropriations Act that can be used for pandemic response.

"Kailangan walisin 'yung mga ahensya na hindi naman ginagamit ang pera. Ibili na lang ng bakuna kaysa pinapatulog ang pera," Drilon said.

[Translation: They should look at agencies that don't use their funds. Use the money to buy vaccines instead of letting it sit idle.]

Among the agencies mentioned by the senator are the Philippine International Trading Corp. and the Department of Public Works and Highways.

In its latest update, the Department of Health said 5,965,651 vaccine doses have been administered as of June 6. Of this number, over 1.5 million have been fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the vaccination of essential workers in areas frequently experiencing case surges began on June 7.
(CNN) -- The latest sign of air travel returning to normal is the two words being repeated at most of the nation's major airlines: Help wanted.

The three largest US carriers  American, United and Delta  have announced they are currently hiring or will do so before the end of the year. Southwest, which cut less of its staff during the pandemic than its three larger rivals, said it is preparing its own hiring process as well.

"I think the current carriers are eager to get as many flights back in the air as possible," said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, one of the major airline unions. The labor group expects the number of flight attendants on the job to rise from 80,000 today to 100,000 within two years. "At the beginning of 2020, all [of the airlines] said they'd be hiring thousands," Nelson said. "Really what we're doing is catching back up where we're supposed to be."

The hiring initiatives come sooner than many expected.

"I would say it's somewhat surprising that they're talking about it now, but it's certainly an indication of the confidence there will be a substantial recovery by the year's end," said Philip Baggaley, chief credit analyst for airlines at Standard & Poor's.

Leisure travel on the rise

Air traffic is still not back to pre-pandemic levels  business travel is still a fraction of what it was, as is international travel. It is expected to take years for those lucrative sectors to return to normal. But leisure traffic and bookings are already approaching pre-Covid levels, lifting fares and increasing the immediate need for staff.

US airline employment was at a post-9/11 high just before the pandemic hit, with 757,000 workers  both full and part-time  in February 2020, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That was the equivalent of nearly 500,000 full-time employees.

The nation's 11 publicly traded airlines reported they cut 18% of jobs during the course of 2020, through buyouts, early retirement packages, and employees who took voluntary unpaid leaves but kept benefits and, in some cases, part of their pay. Those on voluntary leaves with benefits were counted as part-time workers in the government's employment figures.

The low point in employment came in October, when a government prohibition on airlines making involuntary layoffs, a provision in the first round of federal financial support, came to an end. But many of those laid-off workers came back when a second round of federal help was passed in December, and a third round has helped keep them on payrolls.

More importantly, as vaccination rates rose and travelers started returning to the skies, the airlines began calling back workers who had been on voluntary leave. The total number of part-time and full-time employees had risen 6% through March, according to the BTS, and is expected to climb higher through the rest of this year, although the airlines have not given hard targets for how many workers they plan to hire back.

"We're going to have needs throughout the network," said Rober Isom, president of American Airlines.

The carriers are going to try to get by with fewer employees in some positions, including reduced staffing at airport gates and permanent cuts to the number of managers. United said it expects to save $300 million a year in management compensation alone.

Unlike some low-paying industries, such as retail and hospitality, Nelson said she doesn't believe the airlines will have trouble attracting workers. Flight attendant jobs pay an average annual salary of $50,000 to $60,000 at the major airlines, she said. Pilots at those airlines earn more than twice that amount. But there will be a need for more pilots and flight attendants to fill positions left vacant through early retirement packages accepted in 2020.

"People took an early out or retired sooner than they were planning to before the pandemic," Nelson said. "Some quit because it's not the same job." The rise in confrontations between passengers and flight attendants prompted some workers to leave the industry in the last year, she added, though the overwhelming majority want to stay on the job.

"This is a job that gets in your blood," Nelson said.

This story was first published on CNN.com "A year after slashing staff, airlines are getting ready for a hiring binge".
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7)  With the Philippines expanding its vaccine drive to accommodate essential workers, the Trade Department is banking on more Filipinos rolling up their sleeves for COVID-19 shots to bring down national joblessness figures.

Before pandemic, ang ating unemployment rate ay nasa 4.5 hanggang 5%. Yun po ang ideal level natin, na makabalik man lamang tayo doon, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said during a Palace briefing on Monday.

[Translation: Before pandemic, our unemployment rate stood at 4.5 to 5%. Thats our ideal level, at least we could go back to that.]

The countrys unemployment rate rests at 7.1% as of March, an improvement from Februarys 8.8%. However, economic managers cautioned against a temporary reversal of employment gains in April given the return of stricter quarantine rules in response to the surge in infections in the National Capital Region Plus area.

Kapag hindi po sila nagpabakuna, hindi tayo makakasulong sa gusto nating mangyari na tuluy-tuloy na reopening ng ekonomiya at tuluy-tuloy na pagbalik ng ating mga kababayan sa trabaho, cautioned Lopez.

[Translation: If people wont get vaccinated, we cannot move forward with our intended continual reopening of the economy and bringing our fellow citizens back to work.]

The government on Monday formally launched the inoculation of economic frontliners, otherwise known as the A4 priority group, in a ceremonial vaccination in Pasay City  a development Lopez calls a shot in the arm to our economy. Economic managers have been banking on a speedier, more efficient vaccine rollout to effectively lift the Philippine economy out of a pandemic-induced recession.

The country has earlier prioritized the vaccination of health workers, seniors and people with comorbidities.

The Philippines has administered at least 5.96 million COVID-19 shots. Of that, 1,544,332 individuals have received a second dose, completing their vaccination.

The average daily administered doses is now at 112,621.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7)  Bad loans in the country's banking system continued to rise this April, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas revealed.

Non-performing loans hit 4.63 billion during the month, leading to an NPL ratio of 4.35%. This surpassed the 4.21% figure logged in March  wherein soured debts hit 4.48 billion  and 2.31% in April last year which tallied 2.51 billion.

RELATED: Fitch Ratings: PH banking system's credit to further weaken in 2021

The recent NPL ratio is the highest since May 2009, with bad loans of 1.23 billion leading to a 4.37% figure.

Economists have attributed the growth in non-performing loans mainly to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting uncertainty, which has effectively hampered the ability of borrowers to settle their dues punctually.

Businesses related to discretionary spending were affected and their existing loans have become unpayable, UnionBank chief economist Ruben Carlo Asuncion told CNN Philippines in an e-mail, adding that individuals employed in these firms have likewise been impacted through their incomes as well.

ING Bank senior economist Nicholas Antonio Mapa also noted how depressed economic activity and job losses likewise brought incomes down, another factor impairing the ability to pay loans on time.

The Philippine economy remains in recession this year, having nosedived yet again by 4.2% in the first quarter of 2021. Meanwhile, the country logged a 7.1% unemployment rate in March  easing from 8.8% in April but still up from pre-pandemic levels.

RELATED: DTI: Vaccination to help bring unemployment back to pre-pandemic levels

Asuncion also flagged how the uncertainty of more quarantine restrictions in the future is putting pressure on several micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which are having difficulty reeling from challenges posed by the health crisis.

To address the increase in bad loans due to COVID-19, President Rodrigo Duterte inked the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) law which allows banks to sell soured debts to asset management companies.

While FIST will separate bad loans from financial institutions banking sheets, Mapa noted the measure will do little to address the true problem of income loss and impairment.

An expedient COVID-19 vaccine rollout, which will help bring the national economy back to recovery, shall help address the rise in non-performing loans, according to both analysts.

Asuncion emphasized the importance of effectively addressing the health crisis by controlling the spread of the virus in order to improve consumer and business confidence. Mapa, on the other hand, cited stimulus efforts to help usher in a true pickup in economic activity.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 6)  The Department of Health assured on Sunday that the healthcare utilization rate for COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila is still manageable or at low-risk status.

The clarification came after the agency's June 2 data showed that eight out of 15 hospitals in the National Capital Region are now 100% full.

Health Undersecretary and treatment czar Dr. Leopoldo Vega explained the hospitals that made the list were level one to level two hospitals, which are not equipped to deal with severe to critical COVID-19 cases.

"But for smaller level one hospitals, you'd expect that because they only have a number of critical care beds and they don't have the capacity to do that, so you have to look at it from the perspective that Metro Manila is not an isolated or borderless kind of community," said Vega in a phone interview with CNN Philippines.

Hospitals such as the Calalang General Hospital in Valenzuela City; Metro North Medical Center Hospital Inc. in Mindanao Avenue, Quezon City; and the Valenzuela Citicare Medical Center confirmed they currently do not accept severe COVID-19 cases.

They instead refer patients to the government's One Hospital Command Center which helps infected patients transfer to bigger hospitals.

Vega said level three hospitals in NCR or hospitals which have dedicated more than a hundred beds for COVID-19 patients still have vacancies.

"So, if you take a look at the number of ICU beds or critical beds that we saved for the two months, we have actually expanded to 400 plus. So, if you take it as a whole, the whole of Metro Manila, it is low risk. The healthcare utilization rate is in low risk. And even the ICU capacity is low risk. This means there is still a lot of vacancies in bigger hospitals," says Vega.

Meanwhile, the DOH admitted it sees a continuing rise in COVID-19 cases in the Visayas and Mindanao. It has now augmented level three hospitals such as the Western Visayas Medical Center to increase its capacity.

"So, what we are doing right now especially in the Western Visayas Medical Center, which is the biggest one there, we have asked them to allocate more critical care beds. Usually, they were just starting off with seven, so they are starting off with more allocation," says Vega.

The Health Department said it has also positioned healthcare workers in different areas in the regions, starting off with doctors, medical technologists, and nurses.

The agency said it is continuously coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways to create more modular hospitals to accommodate more patients.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 6)  Over 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses are expected to be delivered to the country this June, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. confirmed on Sunday.

One million doses of Sinovac vaccines arrived on Sunday morning, which is part of the 5.5 million doses of the China-made shots that would be brought in this month. Galvez said another shipment of one million will arrive on June 10 while the remaining 3.5 million doses will be delivered later this month.

Sinovac recently secured emergency use authorization of its vaccine from the World Health Organization, making it the second Chinese manufacturer to be given the green light by the WHO after Sinopharms approval in early May. Malacanang earlier said the development would help boost the confidence of Filipinos in getting China-made vaccines.

Meanwhile, over 4.2 million vaccine doses from the WHO-backed COVAX facility are also set to arrive in the country. Of the total, about 2.28 million Pfizer doses will be delivered on June 10 while around 2 million AstraZeneca shots will arrive on the third week of June.

Also set to arrive this month are 100,000 doses of Russian-made Sputnik V vaccines on June 8 and 250,000 doses of Moderna shots on June 21.

Government data as of June 2 showed that over 5.3 million doses have been administered nationwide to around 4 million people, including nearly 1.3 million who have already received their second shot.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7)  The Philippine government on Monday officially kicked off the COVID-19 vaccination of essential workers in areas frequently experiencing case surges.

Due to limited supplies, the vaccination of the A4 priority group is being carried out first in Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao  collectively called the NCR+8. The first phase of the inoculation covers employees in private companies who are working outside their homes; employees in government agencies; and informal sector workers and those self-employed who work outside their homes, and those working in private households.

President Rodrigo Duterte urged eligible members of the A4 cluster to register and get vaccinated as soon as possible. He also reminded the public to continue to wear masks and face shields and observe physical distancing.

"With the start of our mass vaccination, the A4 priority category, our workers in both private and public sector will have an added layer of protection against the disease," he said in a taped message during the symbolic vaccination event.

The vaccination of essential workers will be expanded later to areas outside NCR+8.

The Department of Health estimates are a total of 22 million essential workers nationwide, with 12 million located in NCR+8 .

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said formal workers can present their office identification cards, while vendors or household helpers can present other forms of proof of employment.

The Department of Health recommended that local governments stratify the rollout to the A4 group by prioritizing workers within 40-59 years old.

The World Health Organization, meanwhile, urged the prioritization of economic frontliners aged 45 and up.

"If we look at the data in the Philippines, deaths have happened in people over 45 years of age. So it is very important that we use the vaccines to reduce the deaths by prioritizing this group," WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said in a media briefing.

According to the DOH, vaccines procured by the government will be used to protect economic workers as the donated doses from the COVAX can only be used by healthcare workers (A1), senior citizens (A2), and people with comorbidities (A3).

Local governments were previously ordered to set-up express lanes to accommodate members of the A1 to A3 who have yet to receive their shots.

The Philippines has administered at least 5.96 million COVID-19 shots, with 1,544,332 individuals having received their second dose for higher degree of protection against severe COVID-19.

The average daily administered doses is now at 112,621.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 8)  President Rodrigo Duterte and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. are calling on everyone who has received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to make the effort to receive their second shot.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source on Tuesday, Galvez echoed Duterte's appeal to Filipinos to complete their doses so they can be protected from COVID-19.

Citing Health undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, Galvez stressed that some 113,000 Filipinos who have not yet gotten their second dose can still be considered a "sizeable amount." He said some of them reportedly caught the coronavirus even after getting their first shot.

"We are really trying through the LGUs to get them back so they can have their second dose. Napaka-importante nitong second dose dahil ito ang booster natin para ma-lengthen ang efficacy and at the same time ma-strengthen ang effectiveness (ng bakuna)," Galvez said.

[Translation: The second dose is important because this serves as our booster to lengthen the efficacy and at the same time strengthen the effectiveness of the vacccine.]

On Monday evening, Duterte urged Filipinos to "find time" and "go back" for their second vaccine dose.

"Please find time to go back and line up and show your card so that they would know you are receiving the second dose... Ang protection niyo [Your protection] is not complete without the booster," Duterte said in his weekly address on Monday.

Experts earlier said that a missed dose appointment should not stop people from completing their shots.

Duterte called on local authorities to help government seek out those who have missed their deadlines and convince them to get their second dose of the vaccine.

"I want the authorities and LGUs to find out why this is happening...Kindly help us ferret out the persons who have not received the second booster until now," he said.

The President, however, reminded the public that the vaccine would be most effective if they also follow minimum public health standards, including the washing of hands, wearing of masks, and observing physical distancing.

Meanwhile, Galvez stressed that LGUs have the flexibility to implement protocols in their respective vaccination sites, but they must still adhere to the national government's guidelines and only reserve slots for those who have pre-registered to avoid crowding.

Conglomerates from the private sector have also stepped in to prepare mega vaccination sites in malls, hotels, and function rooms to mobilize vaccinees, Galvez added.

The government on Monday officially started the vaccination of the A4 priority group or essential workers in areas experiencing case surges. Local governments were earlier ordered to set-up express lanes to accommodate members of the A1 to A3 who have yet to receive their shots.

READ: PH starts phased COVID-19 vaccination of workers

RELATED: Missing 2nd dose deadline doesn't mean back to square one
Saudi Arabias Vision Fund is set to make an investment in a local messaging startup, representing the funds first investment in a local company, Arab News reports.

Without giving more details the fund CEO Rajeev Misra told the media that the investment will be announced shortly over the next week or 10 days.

We are on the cusp of making our first investment in a local company. Its a local messaging company, and were very excited about it, he said.

Vision Fund is a high tech investment group which currently manages about $130 billion of investment raised through two about $130 billion of investment. The fund has been set up to back the Kingdoms Vision 2030 led by Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman who dreams to make the Gulf country the next Europe.

The future investment will come from Vision Fund 2, the $30 billion fund set up last year with backing from SoftBank, the giant Japanese financial institution founded by Masayoshi Son.

The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia put $45 billion into the first Vision Fund, but declined to take part in the second.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7)  Former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro told CNN Philippines on Monday his interest to run as vice president of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, if the presidential daughter decides to seek the presidency in 2022.

"I am willing to run as her vice president. I feel that she can gain and garner the trust of the masses. She will lead an administration which will heal wounds which exist in the country," Teodoro said.

READ: LOOK: Gibo Teodoro flies to Davao City to meet with Sara Duterte; gets COVID-19 vaccine

Teodoro emphasized that he wants to work with somebody who promotes a "sustainable agenda" in solving the country's dilemmas brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in analyzing how to reopen the national economy.

The former Defense chief said the younger Duterte will also have a "constructive agenda" that will not be vengeful toward political rivals.

"Our country cannot afford more division, more politicking, and more partisan politics. I think Mayor Sara Duterte has that ability, has that agenda, has that connection to a big, big number of Filipinos," said Teodoro.

Teodoro confirmed former Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya, Jr.'s statement last week that he and Duterte had an "agreement" on their possible tandem in the 2022 elections. But Teodoro clarified that he still needs to wait for Duterte's formal announcement on her likely presidential bid before he formalizes his vice presidential candidacy.

Teodoro also said he is not open to run as president or senator in the 2022 polls.

"This is it. Right now, I see a good synergy between her (Sara Duterte) and me," said Teodoro.

In January, President Rodrigo Duterte cautioned his daughter not to follow his footsteps, saying the presidency was no job for a woman. The Davao City mayor has not formally announced her plans for the 2022 polls.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7) - The country recorded 6,539 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, bringing the nationwide tally of cases to 1,276,004, the Department of Health reported.

Of the total count, 58,854 or 4.6% are active cases or currently ill patients. The DOH said that 93.4% are experiencing mild symptoms, 2.4% are asymptomatic, 1.3% are critical, 1.7% are in severe condition, 1.16% are experiencing moderate symptoms.

The DOH said the death toll also climbed to 21,969 or 1.72% of the total cases after 71 more patients died of COVID-19. This is lower than the fatality counts logged in the past five days, when the over 100 deaths were recorded daily.

The number of survivors also rose to 1,195,181 after 6,969 more patients got better. The percentage of survivors is at 93.7% of total COVID-19 cases.

The DOH said that all laboratories were operational on June 5, but seven laboratories failed to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System. It said based on data over the last 14 days, the laboratories which did not submit their report contribute, on average, 3.1% of samples tested and 5.4% of positive cases.

There were 13 duplicates removed from the nationwide tally, of which 10 were recoveries, the DOH said. Meanwhile, 21 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation.

The daily positivity rate or rate of people who tested positive stood at 13.3% -- still within the same 11 to 14% range since May 5 -- based on 45,057 tests done as of June 5. The World Health Organization recommends a rate below 5%, as higher rates may mean high transmission.

The independent research group OCTA Research earlier listed nine areas of concern in the Visayas and Mindanao due to high number of COVID-19 cases. These are the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Koronadal, Cotabato, Bacolod, Iloilo, Dumaguete, and Tuguegarao.

OCTA added that new infections in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Laguna, Rizal, and Cavite -- or NCR Plus -- have resumed a downward trajectory after a week of unstable trends.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported seven more Filipinos abroad got infected with the coronavirus, bringing total cases to 19,885.

The DFA said here are no new reports on additional recoveries and deaths from COVID-19 among overseas Filipinos. The number of recoveries is still at 12,056 and the death toll remains at 1,194.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7)  The Senate is not prioritizing the passage of Bayanihan 3 or the Bayanihan to Arise as One Act anytime soon, the head of the upper chamber said Monday.

Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III told CNN Philippines' The Source that his colleagues want to tackle first another extension of Bayanihan 2, known as the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, since its rollout has not been completed despite the first extension of the validity funds until June 30, 2021.

The effectivity of the law was supposed to lapse in December 2020, as the government continued to grapple with the pandemic.

Sotto said their version of the measure seeking another extension is still pending at the committee level. It will be tackled once they resume session on July 26.

Sotto was referring to Senator Francis Pangilinan's Senate Bill 2218, seeking to extend the validity of Bayanihhan 2 until December 31, 2021.

"I think we will elect to extend Bayanihan 2 to December 2021 instead of expiring in June," he said.

"Why do we think it is better to extend? Out of the 70% allocated funds for Bayanihan 2, only 50% has been distributed," Sotto added. "The Senate thinks we should complete Bayanihan 2 first before going to Bayanihan 3 which is more or less focused on aid."

Sotto also stressed that some senators took notice of the alleged "gerrymandering" in the House of Representatives version of Bayanihan 3, particularly on the 54.6-billion allocation for the pension fund of uniformed personnel.

READ: Lawmaker on allotting 54.6 billion for military, police pension under Bayanihan 3: 'Utang natin ito sa kanila'

"Thats the problem that we have to tackle also. There are also some senators saying it is gerrymandering. We cannot include another topic. Constitution says there always should be one topic for every law," he added.

Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, one of the authors of Bayanihan 3, previously told The Source they decided to include the amount in the proposed measure to make up for the budget cut in the pension and gratuity funds for uniformed personnel in the 2020 appropriation, since they have also been working in the frontlines during the pandemic.

Bayanihan 3 seeks a total budget of 401 billion to help all Filipinos cope with the health crisis. Of this amount, 216 billion will also be for the 2,000 cash aid for each Filipino, regardless of age or social status.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 1)  The Senate will prioritize the passage of three key liberalization bills before looking into amending the economic provisions of the Constitution, Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III said Monday.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source, Sotto said there is no rush in tackling economic Cha-cha for now.

"We have enough time to tackle it. We should not be rushing it because after passing the Retail Trade Liberalization Act...the Public Service Act and the Foreign Investments Act, those three laws might be able to address what the economic Cha-cha wants to address," Sotto said.

READ: Senate may tackle economic cha-cha after Duterte's SONA

Congress is currently on a two-month break since June 5 and will resume session on July 26, in time for President Rodrigo Duterte's State of the Nation Address.

Of the three liberalization bills mentioned by Sotto, only one was approved on third and final reading as of last month.

Senate Bill 1840, which seeks to amend the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, was approved on May 19. It is seen to aid the country's economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic by easing requirements for foreign retailers to entice more investments into the Philippine retail market.

Senate Bill 2094, which seeks to amend the Public Service Act, and SB 1156, which aims to amend Foreign Investments Act, are still pending second reading.

SB 2094 distinguishes "public utilities" from "public services." The measure provides that "public utilities" will only be limited to electricity distribution, electricity transmission, and water pipeline distribution systems and sewerage pipeline systems, which must have 60% Filipino ownership. Meanwhile, those classified as "public services" such as telecommunications and transportation will now be exempted from the ownership requirement to improve the delivery of basic services in the country.

SB 1156, on the other hand, will ease restrictions on foreign investments in the country, particularly considering e-commerce business entities as "domestic market enterprises" which means those can now be fully owned by non-Filipino nationals.

Last month, Sotto said it is too early to tell the fate of the economic charter change in the Senate. His colleague, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon previously said the proposed measure will likely face an uphill battle in the upper chamber.

Sotto stressed they might be able to address the issue by August or September, or by January or February next year. Nonetheless, even if the Senate agrees to the change in the economic provisions of the Charter, it will still need a plebiscite, in time for the 2022 elections.

The House of Representatives transmitted Resolution of Both Houses 2 to the Senate after approving it on June 1. The measure seeks to include the line "unless otherwise provided by law" to constitutional provisions restricting foreign ownership of public utilities, educational institutions, media, and advertising companies.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 8)  Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the countrys seven-day moving average for its COVID-19 vaccination declined last week due to low supply.

However, he noted during Mondays televised Cabinet briefing that this is expected to rebound this week with impending deliveries of 10 million doses this June.

According to latest government data, vaccinations during the week of May 31 to June 6 averaged around 112,000 per day.

For the month of June, a total of 11,058,000 million COVID-19 vaccine doses are expected to arrive, which already includes 1 million Sinovac coronavirus vaccines that the country received on Sunday.

Supply expected to arrive this month are from Sputnik V, Sinovac, Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca, according to Galvez. This will bring total vaccine inventory of the country to 19,387,050.

Latest data show that the government has so far received 9.33 million COVID-19 vaccines, most of which are Chinas Sinovac. Moreover, almost 6 million COVID-19 shots have been administered, with around 1.52 million individuals fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

From the initial goal of inoculating up to 70% of the Philippine population by year-end to achieve herd immunity, the government brought it down to 50% to 60% and gave more focus on Metro Manila to reach immediate protection.

To date, nationwide tally of COVID-19 cases has reached 1,276,004, of which 58,854 are currently ill patients.
Davao City (CNN Philippines, June 7) -- A total of 403 employees in a business process outsourcing office in Davao City have tested positive for COVID-19, a local health official said.

In a virtual briefing, Davao City Assistant Health Officer Dr. Marjorie Culas said Monday that the company was already placed on lockdown after the results of the surveillance swab test where 1,000 employees were tested.

Culas refused to name the company.

This is not the first time a BPO company was placed under lockdown due to confirmed cases. The city also closed another company last week after 46 employees tested positive for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the city is now facing a shortage of beds in its Temporary Treatment Management Facility (TTMF) due to rising COVID-19 cases.

Mayor Sara Duterte said the local government unit is now coordinating with a group of doctors to assist through online consultation patients who cannot be admitted to the TTMF.

We are looking for other areas where we can put out additional TTMF. As of the meantime, for those who cannot be admitted to TTMF yet, we are working with a doctors association on telemedicine to assist them on what they need to do while waiting for pick up, she said in a radio interview.

The city government previously announced that the TTMF is nearing 100 percent bed occupancy following the surge of COVID19 cases in the city.

The OCTA Research group said on Monday that Davao City will surpass before next week Quezon City as the city with the biggest number of new COVID-19 cases in the country.

In its latest report, Davao City recorded 206 more infected cases from May 31 to June 6. This was a 54% increase from the 134 confirmed the week before.

The city was placed under modified enhanced community quarantine from June 5 until June 20.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 7)  Cebu City is investigating two separate mass gatherings held over the weekend for alleged breach of health protocols.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' New Day on Monday, Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella said the city government will look into a mass gathering on Sunday at a local hotel to support calls for Presidential daughter Sara Duterte's election run.

Some pictures seen on Facebook show a crowd of attendees at a so-called "Du30 Pa Rin" movement launched at the Radisson Blu Cebu hotel, urging the Davao City mayor to run for president during next year's polls.

"This will also be looked into because there is a specific order from the President prohibiting mass gathering," Labella said. "This is one of those that will be taken up by the business permits section."

He said the city government's business permit and licensing office also issued a show-cause order to the management of a bar located in Barangay Kasambagan after a video circulated on social media showing large crowds at the venue.

Labella said crowds were probably seen due to the rain. However, the bar allegedly failed to reduce its 250-capacity to 50%, as guests reportedly reached 200 on Saturday night.

"When it rains, it pours, so people were jampacked to the portion where there is roof so I think that is the reason why there was a violation of the mass gathering. But we will look into it because in the first place, they were not supposed to accommodate more than 50% while we are on MGCQ (modified general community quarantine)," he said.

Cebu City is currently under a more relaxed MGCQ status. Labella said people are still urged to follow the standard health protocols to prevent COVID-19 transmission.
" " Private search engines, like Startpage, offer anonymous browsing so your searches aren't tracked, as well as unbiased search results. Startpage

Most people know our technology is spying on us. After all, how many times have you searched for something online, only to suddenly find ads popping up on your screen offering that exact same item or service? That might not seem too ominous; maybe you even appreciate the ads. But privacy experts warn that tech companies  namely Google, Microsoft and Apple  are quietly compiling an alarming amount of sensitive data about us, including information about our finances, medical history, political leanings, religion and more.

All of this data may be leaked, hacked, shared with government intelligence agencies, subpoenaed and used to influence our opinions, among other concerns. That's probably why a 2019 Pew Research Center survey showed that 81 percent of people in the U.S. say the potential risks from data collection outweigh the benefits. In addition, more than 60 percent of respondents feel it's not possible to go through daily life without the government or companies collecting data about them. Luckily, there are measures we can take to protect our personal info. And one of the easiest ways is to start using a web browser or search engine dedicated to privacy.

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A web browser is a piece of software that lets you access the internet  to visit or log in to websites, view multimedia, etc. Chrome was the most popular web browser in 2021, with 64 percent of the global market share, followed by Safari (19 percent), Firefox (3.3 percent) and Edge (3.2 percent). All browsers, in turn, use a search engine like Google, Bing or Yahoo! to carry out their web searches.

When you get a new laptop, tablet or phone, you don't normally have to select a web browser, as many devices come with one preinstalled. Apple products are loaded with Safari, for example, while most Android devices come with Chrome. Yet while these two ubiquitous browsers do offer some privacy features, including the ability to search under a privacy mode (like Chrome's Incognito), those features don't do much, says Robert Beens, co-founder and CEO of Startpage, a private search engine offering free, anonymous browsing. (Full disclosure: HowStuffWorks parent company System1 is an investor in Startpage.)

Searching under "incognito" or "privacy" mode, for example, mainly hides your web searches from other people who might use your device. The browser itself still sees and records all of the identifying details of your searches. "Privacy modes are great for marketing," says Beens, "but they don't do much for our privacy. That's the reality."

Why Private Browsers and Search Engines Are Better

One option, then, is to use a new browser dedicated to privacy. There are many out there, and switching to another one takes less than a minute. Mozilla's Firefox doesn't remember your history or logins, and it offers ad-blockers, an invisible shield that blocks certain trackers and a browser extension that makes it more difficult for Facebook to track your online activity. A few other well-regarded private browsers are Vivaldi, Tor, Brave, DuckDuckGo and Waterfox (Full disclosure: The Waterfox browser is owned by HowStuffWorks' parent company, System1).

Beens says his company, Startpage, offers the most secure internet experience available, as it delivers Google search results in privacy via a unique relationship with Google. Here's how it works: If you conduct a web search on Startpage, it strips off all of your identifying information, then passes on an anonymous query to Google. Google performs the search, then returns its results to Startpage and you. During the process, Startpage doesn't save or sell your search history or leave cookies. It also prevents third parties from targeting you.

In addition to protecting your privacy, private search engines like Startpage ensure you receive unbiased search results, says Beens, a concept critical to understand. Today, the more a search engine knows about you, the more it will try to skew all search results toward your preferences. Beens says if he enters "Egypt" into Google's search bar, for example, he might receive more information on diving sites in the Red Sea than someone else, because Google knows he's interested in diving. But someone who's interested in politics might receive more news links on political issues surrounding Egypt.

"Search results are not always true search results," he says, "because search engines often put you in a bubble. To break out of that bubble, you have to use a search engine that gives you absolutely unbiased search results.

Of course, there are limits to what any private browser or private search engine can do. None of them can protect you on any websites where you log in, for example, because once you do that, you've confirmed your personal information. Some private browsers may be slower, due to their enhanced privacy features. And private search engines performing their own searches  unlike Startpage's use of Google and its goliath search power  may not be as good at finding information for very niched searches. In the end, says Beens, it comes down to awareness.

For internet privacy today is not just about protecting our passwords and avoiding third-party ads; it's becoming aware about being manipulated. Technical companies try to keep you on their websites and in their ecosystems as long as they can, Beens says, and they achieve this in part by putting you in your own echo chamber, where you see and hear more and more of the same. This can reinforce your thoughts and impressions, and lead to the polarization among people that we're seeing in the U.S. and around the globe.

"Internet privacy is way more important than closing your curtains at night," he says.

Now That's a Monopoly In 2021, the top search engine was Google, with a whopping 92.2 percent of the worldwide market share. Far behind were Bing (8 percent), China's Baidu (7.3 percent) and Yahoo (3.4 percent).
At a recent Bonne Terre Chamber of Commerce meeting, members heard from Salvador Mondragon, a fisheries management biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), who spoke about community conservation and the resources available to assist area projects.

He noted that many of the grants offered through the MDC and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are currently being revamped to make them more suitable for smaller towns and rural communities.

"The main reason I came up here to talk to you all about this is that I kind of want people to start thinking about things that you can do within your community," said Mondragon. "So come June 15, when the new fiscal [year] rolls around, and there is money available, we can start pushing those ideas up, and we'll kind of get a head start on everybody else."

Community conservation is the practice of integrating nature into a city's landscape. Mondragon said, because every community is unique, different towns may integrate nature differently to benefit residents.
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP)  Bulgarias interim prime minister on Monday urged the government to redouble its efforts to fight endemic graft, calling for changes in prosecutors' offices, the judiciary and all law enforcement agencies.

Prime Minister Stefan Yanev spoke at a meeting of the government security council that he convened to discuss new anti-corruption policies following U.S. sanctions on Bulgarian officials and businessmen for their allegedly extensive roles in corruption.

Last week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against the former member of parliament and media mogul Delyan Peevski; oligarch Vassil Bozhkov; and former national security official Ilko Zhelyazkov for their alleged roles in public corruption.

It also imposed sanctions on 64 entities allegedly linked to them, saying the move was its single biggest action targeting corruption to date.

The sanctions on the Bulgarians and companies effectively prevents them from accessing the U.S. financial system, freezes their U.S. assets and bars Americans from dealing with them.

Yanev said the Bulgarian government will try to minimize the political and the economic risks for the country from the U.S. sanctions.
Vanuatu turns the Corner LETS USE THIS AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR THE FUTURE
PM talking about the stimulus package extension in yesterdays press conference following his announcement in parliament. Photo: Glenda Willie
Palmer said she was concerned about the age of the Market Street Garage and its viability long-term.

I want more information on the status of the Market Street Garage, whats the future of it, in order to give a preference on the alternatives  we need to do some investigating, she said.

Nearly $500,000 was spent by the city in fiscal year 2016 to refurbish components of the Market Street Garage, including repointing of mortar, some brick replacement, ADA improvements and vertical expansion joint replacements.

Supervisors Donna Price and Bea LaPisto-Kirtley both said they feel comfortable that even if the parking garage is not built, the county will still have the needed parking spaces as part of the agreement.

If the garage is not going to be built, before I say whether I prefer door number two or door number three, I want to get input from county staff that would help me feel better about knowing what the circumstances and conditions are today, not what they were when we entered into the agreement sometime in the past, Price said.

Supervisors Ned Gallaway and Diantha McKeel did not respond to interview requests by press time, and Supervisor Ann H. Mallek said she didnt have anything to share at this time.
The latest round of funding, though, must be spent by September 2024 and all projects are subject to state approval, according to Lane. Nearly $380 million statewide must be set aside for programs to address learning loss, and the most recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Education specifically discourages using the money for new school construction.

There are some concerns from the federal government that the funds may not put a school division in the position where they can complete a building by 2024, Lane said. VDOE has issued tentative approval to some counties for school additions, which have been necessary for some school divisions to maintain three to six feet of social distancing between students.

The bigger concern for Perrigan and other superintendents is that current guidelines will force school divisions to pay for improvements on outdated buildings. In Bristol, for instance, the division has requested to use some of their money for modular units and new property. The property acquisition could pave the way for new construction in the future, but its unlikely the city would be able to fund it independently, Perrigan said.

Hed rather use the money to consolidate and replace three aging elementary schools with a new facility  a long-time goal that the division hasnt been able to afford.
Already, 114,600 voters have cast ballots in the race, nearly five times the number that had voted early in the 2017 primary, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project. Thats largely because Democrats ushered in expanded early voting in Virginia.

But if the turnout this year matches that of the 2017 Democratic primary  550,000  it means that only about 1 in 5 primary voters have cast their ballots. The job for campaigns is getting the rest to the polls by Tuesday night.

In the Richmond metro area, about 16,000 people had voted as of Saturday.

McAuliffe, governor from 2014 to 2018, looms large over the race. With high name recognition and fundraising figures, hes benefited from the trappings of incumbency, though Virginia does not let its governors serve consecutive terms. While polls give him a significant lead, McAuliffes last day on the campaign trail will see him start off in Bristol in Virginias southwest and make stops in Richmond, Roanoke and Norfolk.
McClellan worked in sales for Dow Chemical and FINA Oil and Chemical, was president of a CD and DVD packaging company, and says her business and nonprofit leadership experiences make he the most qualified candidate. She was vice chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia in 2014 and 2015. Her top issue is expanding broadband internet access.

After campaigning mostly on Zoom during the pandemic, shes been traveling the state in person.

Its just been amazing to be out with people, she said.

I dont think anybody is a slam dunk in this race, and thats good for all of us, it just keeps all of us working hard.

She said Democrats shouldnt nominate three statewide candidates who are all from Northern Virginia, and that shes bring geographic diversity to the ticket.

I believe that I have more experience than anybody else running, she said.

Sean PerrymanPerryman was the youngest president of the Fairfax County NAACP and helped lead the effort to change the name of Springfields Robert E. Lee High School in to John R. Lewis High School.
King does accept money from Dominion Energy. Perhaps because of this, Bills chose to support Montgomery, chief of staff to a Prince William supervisor, in the primary. The attack ad followed.

There were a few things wrong with it:

Bills says he is, no doubt to his regret, not a billionaire.

He did give money to Chase in the past to support her efforts in an environmental issue in Chesterfield County, but he dropped her in 2020, citing her incendiary statements about, well, just about everything.

The money is not dark. Bills donations to the Clean Virginia PAC are public.

The photo of Montgomery and Giuliani, from about a decade ago, was taken at a real-estate conference at which Giuliani was a celebrity guest. Remember how well we all thought of Mayor Rudy a decade ago? There apparently is no other link between the two.

If there is one multimillionaire (or billionaire) in the state that the Virginia Democratic Caucus should not want to offend, it would be Michael Bills. Even if this were not the case, the flier is duplicitous, meant to mislead voters as the primary approaches.

Going after a major financial friend of the party makes it something else, too.

Dumb.

From The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg.
US Acting Assistant Secretary to visit Georgia

By Veronika Malinboym

Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip T. Reeker will be visiting Georgia, the US Embassy in Tbilisi has announced. Reeker will also visit Azerbaijan and Armenia between June 6-13 to advance bilateral and regional priorities and to express U.S. support for democratic and economic development across the region.Acting Assistant Secretary Reeker will the Georgian government, opposition, and civil society leaders to discuss the full implementation of the April 19 agreement among Georgian political parties as well as Russias ongoing aggression against and occupation of Georgia.In Armenia and Azerbaijan, Acting Assistant Secretary Reeker will meet with the Georgian government, civil society, and business leaders to discuss bilateral priorities and issues related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, read the statement of the US Embassy.The announcement came shortly after the completion of the US delegation led by Senators Jean Shaheen and Rob Portmans visit, during which the Senators visited the occupation line and met with the government officials, members of the opposition, and representatives of the civil society. Senators reiterated the US unwavering support for Georgian democracy and reinstated that Russia is attempting to intimidate those countries that have chosen the Euro-Atlantic path, which is why the US Congress Delegation is eager to support such countries in the region:It is clear that Russia is trying to intimidate the countries of the region that have chosen Euro-Atlantic integration and the Western path because they see a better life than Russia can offer them, Senator Shaheen said.During the US delegation visit, it has also been announced that the US will provide Georgia with the Covid-19 vaccines, however, the time of their arrival and the number of doses is still unknown:The White House has officially confirmed that Georgia will be one of the countries that will receive Covid-19 vaccines from the United States. We do not know the exact numbers, but we are very pleased, Senator Shaheen announced.
Politicians should support a carbon tax

Recently, Exxon lost two board seats to an activist hedge fund over climate crisis issues. Sixty-one percent of shareholders endorsed further reductions in carbon emissions at Chevron. A Dutch court directed Shell oil to significantly reduce its emissions.

There is widespread public and business support for action on the climate crisis.

Over 3,500 economists have said, A carbon tax offers the most cost-effective lever to reduce carbon emissions at the scale and speed that is necessary. By correcting a well-known market failure, a carbon tax will send a powerful price signal that harnesses the invisible hand of the marketplace to steer economic actors toward a low-carbon future.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed a market-based approach to accelerate [greenhouse gas] emissions reductions across the U.S. economy, and the Business RoundTable supports a market-based price on carbon.

There has been a bill introduced in Congress, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2021. This bill would put a price on carbon and return to the American people the revenues thus generated.
Playhouse 2000 presented their 10th annual Shakespeare in the Park production on Friday and Saturday at the pavilion in Louise Hays Park. This years play was Two Gentlemen of Verona, a romantic comedy of two pairs of young lovers.

Two best friends, Proteus and Valentine, travel to Milan where they both fall in love with Silvia. Silvia loves Valentine, but Proteus pursues her despite the fact he has a girlfriend, Julia, at home. And theres a dog.

P2K partnered with Tivy High School technical theater students because of a grant awarded by the Texas Commission on the Arts. The students helped with lights, sound, costume and sets.

Additional grants were provided by the city of Kerrville, Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country and National Endowment for the Arts.

The performance was free and open to the public.

Close
The city council has a good plan. The narrower lanes will slow traffic.

Narrower vehicle lanes will make it too difficult for larger vehicles.

A separate pedestrian solution should be constructed away from any vehicular traffic.

Widening the sidewalk could work best if a barrier is put up between the sidewalk and vehicular traffic.

Vote

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India: Exports 11,49,341 tonnes of seafood during FY21

by Shenoy Karun

June 07,2021 | Source: The Times of India

The Covid pandemic and sluggish overseas markets cast their shadow over Indias resurgent seafood sector as the country exported 11,49,341 tonne of marine products worth Rs 43,717.26 crore (US$ 5.96 billion) during FY 2020-21, registering a contraction of 10.88 per cent in volume as compared to a year earlier. USA, China and the European Union (EU) were the leading importers, while frozen shrimp retained its position as the major export item followed by frozen fish. In 2019-20, India exported 12,89,651 tonne of seafood worth Rs 46,662.85 crore (US$ 6.68 billion), marking a decline of 6.31 per cent in rupee terms and 10.81 per cent in dollar value in 2020-21. The pandemic drastically affected seafood exports during the first half of the year, but it revived well in the last quarter of 2020-21. Also, the aquaculture sector performed better during this fiscal by contributing 67.99 per cent of exported items in dollar terms and 46.45 per cent in quantity, which is 4.41 per cent and 2.48 per cent higher, respectively when compared to 2019-20, said K S Srinivas, Chairman of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA). Frozen shrimp contributed 51.36 per cent in quantity and 74.31 per cent of the total dollar earnings. USA remained its largest importer (2,72,041 tonne), followed by China (1,01,846 tonne), EU (70,133 tonne), Japan (40,502 tonne), South East Asia (38,389 tonne), and the Middle East (29,108 tonne).



However, shrimp exports declined by 9.47 per cent in dollar value and 9.50 per cent in quantity. The overall shrimp export was 5,90,275 tonne worth 4,426.19 million dollars. The export of Vannamei (whiteleg) shrimp decreased from 5,12,204 tonne to 4,92,271 tonne in 2020-21. Of the total Vannamei shrimp exports in dollar value, 56.37 per cent was exported to USA, followed by China (15.13 per cent), EU (7.83 per cent), South East Asia (5.76 per cent), Japan (4.96 per cent) and the Middle East (3.59 per cent). Japan, the major market for Black Tiger (Penaeus monodon) shrimp, had a share of 39.68 per cent in dollar terms, followed by USA (26.03 per cent), South East Asia (9.32 per cent), EU (8.95%), the Middle East (6.04 per cent) and China (3.76 per cent). Frozen fish, with a share of 16.37 per cent in quantity and 6.75 per cent in dollar earnings, retained the second position in exports basket though its shipments plummeted by 15.76 per cent in quantity and 21.67 per cent in dollar terms. Other Items, the third largest category that largely comprised Surimi (fish paste) and Surimi analogue (imitation) products, showed a marginal growth of 0.12 per cent and 0.26 per cent by quantity and rupee value, respectively, but declined in dollar terms by 5.02 per cent. Frozen squid and frozen cuttlefish exports declined in volume by 30.19 per cent and 16.38 per cent, respectively. However, dried items showed an increase of 1.47 per cent and 17 per cent in quantity and rupee value, respectively.



Shipments of chilled items and live items, which were negatively affected due to the reduced air cargo connectivity in the pandemic situation, fell by 16.89 per cent and 39.91 per cent in volume, respectively. Capture fisheries contribution reduced from 56.03 per cent to 53.55 per cent in quantity and from 36.42 per cent to 32.01 per cent in dollar value. However, tilapia and ornamental fish performed well with 55.83 per cent and 66.55 per cent increase in quantity and an uptick of 38.07 per cent and 14.63 per cent in dollar earnings, respectively. Tuna showed 14.6 per cent increase in quantity, but its dollar earnings downed by 7.39 per cent. Crab and scampi exports reduced both in quantity and value. USA, with imports of 2,91,948 MT, continued to be the major importer of Indian seafood with a share of 41.15 per cent in dollar terms. Exports to that country grew by 0.48 % in rupee value but declined by 4.34 per cent and 4.35 per cent in quantity and dollar terms, respectively. Frozen shrimp remained the principal item exported to USA while exports of Vannamei shrimp showed an uptick of 6.75 per cent in quantity. However, its import of Black Tiger shrimps decreased by 70.96 per cent and 65.24 per cent in quantity and dollar terms, respectively.

 2021 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.
Sri Lanka: Fishermen feeling the impact of ship disaster

by Eranga Jayawardena

June 07,2021 | Source: Outlook India

Sri Lanka''s fishermen are already feeling the impact of an unfolding environmental disaster caused by the slow sinking of a fire-ravaged cargo ship that had been loaded with chemicals. Fishing remained banned Friday along about 80 kilometres (50 miles) of coastline, as debris from the Singapore-flagged MV X-Press Pearl a?? including tons of plastic pellets and burned fiberglass a?? continued to wash ashore. Authorities were also on guard for the possible leak of oil and chemicals from the ship, which started sinking off the country's main port on Wednesday, a day after a fire that raged on the vessel for 12 days was extinguished. A lone fisherman, Kinson Jayalath, was defying the ban Friday on Kepumgoda beach. He said he was trying to catch food for his family but was growing frustrated by the lack of fish in an area where he said there had been plenty just a week ago. In a nearby village home to many people who depend on the fishing industry, Ajith Nelson said even before the restrictions were announced fishermen were having their nets ruined by huge chunks of cottonlike material that became entangled in them. While fishing is still allowed in deeper waters, sales of seafood have plummeted because consumers fear chemical contamination, said Herman Kumara of the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement.



As the the ship started to sink, crews tried to tow it into deeper waters away from the port but failed after the ship''s stern became submerged and rested on the seabed 21 meters (70 feet) below the surface. The ship was continuing to take on water Friday. Shumel Yoskovitz, the chief executive of the ship''s operators X-Press Feeders, apologised for disaster Friday in an interview with Channel News Asia. I"d like to express my deep regret and apology to the Sri Lankan people for the harm this incident has caused both to the livelihood and environment of Sri Lanka,a? Yoskovitz said. The fire erupted on May 20 when the ship was anchored about 9.5 nautical miles (18 kilometres) northwest of Colombo and waiting to enter the port. X-Press Feeders have said the fire destroyed most of the ship''s cargo, which included 25 tons of nitric acid and other chemicals. It has said salvage experts were remaining with the vessel to monitor its condition and any pollution. Colombo port Harbor Master Nirmal Silva said tons of oil in the ship''s fuel tanks may also have burned out with the fire, but authorities were prepared to to deal with an oil spill. Both the navy and coast guard have been preparing for a spill with assistance from neighboring India. India has sent three ships to help, including one specifically equipped to deal with marine pollution. Sri Lankan police are probing the fire, and a court in Colombo on Tuesday banned the captain, the engineer and the assistant engineer from leaving the country. The government has said it will take legal action against the owners of the ship to claim compensation.



Kumara's fishing group along with other activist groups on Friday petitioned the Supreme Court to call on authorities to assess the long-term damage to the environment and marine life, possible hazardousness of eating fish and the health impacts. The petition called on the owners of the ship, their local agent and the state to pay compensation to those affected. The petitioners told court that they obtained the list of the goods carried onboard the ship through a right to information law and the cargo included nitric acid, caustic soda, sodium methylate, plastic, lubricant oil, quick lime, sodium methodoxide, high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, methanol, bright yellow sulphur, urea, and cosmetics. Silva said that the ship captain had not concealed any information on the goods onboard nor was there was any breach of rules.
Pakistan: Sindh High Court bars Livestock & Fisheries Department from floating tenders for procurement of fish seeds

by Faizan Hashmi

June 07,2021 | Source: Urdu Point

The Sindh High Court has stopped the Sindh Livestock and Fisheries Department from going ahead with the tenders for procurement of fish seeds for the farming in the polluted Manchar lake. The order came on Thursday in a petition filed by Muhammad Sharif Mallah and 7 other residents of the areas surrounding the lake. They prayed before the court that the said procurement has been made a way of plundering the public funds. They said the level of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the lake has been measured at over 5,000 which could not support life in the lake. They pointed towards certain research according to which fish could not survive in water with more than 2,000 TDS levels. They informed the court that Main Nara Valley (MNV) drain ended at the Manchar lake with its highly toxic water, adding that the drain had turned the lake's once fresh water into a hazard for the tens of thousands of people living around it. They contended that the Sindh government had wasted around Rs250 million by establishing a hatchery to supply fish seeds for the lake. They also brought to the court's knowledge that several tenders had been floated for acquiring the fish seeds which negated the very purpose for which the hatchery was established at such a huge cost.



The petitioners also submitted copies of 5 separate tenders through which the fisheries department acquired seeds of Labeo Rohita (Rahu), Cirrhinus Mirgala (Morakhi), Cyprinus Carpio (Gulfam), Catla (Thaila) and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (silver carp). " this entire exercise of buying the fish seeds is an eye wash because the TDS in the lake is so high that I can't support life and the respondents [concerned government officials] are just making money through this fictitious and perpetual procurement procedure," they argued. The SHC issued notices to the Sindh Secretary livestock and fisheries and the procurement committee comprising the assistant director fisheries, deputy program director, deputy director fisheries and deputy commissioner Jamshoro. The respondents have been ordered to appear in person at the next date of hearing on June 24 along with the entire relevant record and inform the court for what purpose those tenders were being floated from time to time. They would also have to apprise the bench about the results of the fish farming in the lake and the cost and benefit analysis of their endeavours. The SHC barred the fisheries department from executing the tenders without the court's permission.

 1997-2021, UrduPoint Network
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RICHARD CHERWITZ, Ph.D., is the Ernest A. Sharpe Centennial professor emeritus in the Moody College of Communication and founding director of the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium at the University of Texas at Austin.
150 Indian students at Batumi State University to have their status suspended

By Veronika Malinboym

150 Indian students of the Batumi State University, Faculty of Science and Education will have their status suspended due to the Covid-19 induced travel restrictions to India, the university has announced on April 20, adding that those students will still be allowed to participate in distance learning. Batumi State University resolution of the Academic Council notes that those students who have failed to sign the registration certificate at the Dean of the Faculty on May 13-14, 2021, will be subject to administrative proceedings for suspension of student status.The Tolerance and Diversity Institute of Georgia has issued a statement condemning the incident:The Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI) responds to the recent alarming decision of the rector of Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University (BSU), by which the university started administrative proceedings against foreign students of the Faculty of Exact Science and Education to terminate their student status. By this decision, more than 150 Indian students, who can not arrive in Georgia due to the pandemic and the existing restriction on travel from India, will be suspended from student status. Government restrictions have had a direct impact on the condition of students.The statement of the TDI also noted that the Universitys decision lacks objective reasoning, as it offers students an option of online learning but requires them to be present in the country nevertheless:The current decision of the University lacks objective and rational reasoning. It offers the students online learning, however, requires them to be present in Georgia and to turn up at the deans office to sign the registration paper. BSU does not take into consideration the clearly objective circumstances that due to the harsh pandemic situation and the strict restrictions for students to travel from India to Georgia, they are unable to arrive in the country to sign the papers on time. The BSU does not allow the students to undergo registration online. The decision of the university is ungrounded and discriminatory.
When Council President Stacie Gilmore first moved to Montbello 25 years ago, it was the community that drew her there. Gilmore said she and her husband hand-picked the neighborhood where they would go on to raise their three children because of its diversity, its energy and its people.

Now, as the District 11 representative on the Denver City Council, Gilmore has dedicated herself to honoring the community and all it stands for.

Gilmore was elected into the City Council in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. During that time, she became council pro tem in 2018 and 2019 and council president in July 2020. As president, she is responsible for running the 13-member bodys weekly legislative meetings, appointing members to committees and sitting on all committees. In addition, she chairs the Budget and Policy Committee.

Prior to her time on council, Gilmore, a third-generation Coloradan, co-founded the nonprofit learning center Environmental Learning for Kids in 1996, raising over $6 million and being honored by The White House and President Barack Obama as a Champion of Change.

Halfway through her second term, Gilmore talked to The Denver Gazette about her time serving District 11  comprised of the Denver International Airport, Gateway, Green Valley Ranch and Montbello neighborhoods.

What made you want to become your districts city council representative?

During my almost 20 years with Environmental Learning for Kids, I saw families struggling time and time again. They were working multiple jobs, their hours werent conducive to advocating for their child's education, they felt like they didnt have a voice. And on top of educational concerns, they were also concerned about housing stability, access to healthcare, workforce development or anything that they needed to make sure they were going to be able to fully actualize their potential. So, after 20 years of supporting families and children, I wanted to run for City Council so that I could enact policy change to support the people I was serving through that nonprofit work.

How has your experience as a council member been so far?

Theres never a dull moment and I love it because I believe our City Council is doing great work together. We have all come through a worldwide pandemic and it seems like were at that place right now where were going to be able to close this chapter and turn the page. Its been a huge learning experience, its been nonstop work and Im really proud of this time on council. We have learned how important it is for the community to be able to come together, share their voices, advocate on their own behalf and see government, nonprofits and other community stakeholders be responsive. We get better policy and outcomes when were working together and listening to each other.

Im very blessed and grateful that I have been able to carry on and make policy changes. We recently passed the rental license policy to help support renters. For the first time in our citys history, renters will be able to know that their housing meets the citys minimum housing standards and there will be a requirement for a written lease as well to help support our families and housing stability. I was also happy to support and co-sponsor the minimum wage increase. Weve greatly increased the affordable housing fund, as well.

In District 11 specifically, Ive been able to advocate for some of those large, structural infrastructure projects, such as the widening of 56th Avenue. Weve also got Costco, Natural Grocers and Sprouts either in the neighborhood or coming to the neighborhood, so Ive been really successful in securing those grocery stores and retailers. Were really looking at all aspects of our neighborhoods needs.

We all know that government moves very slowly and that was a source of frustration, and it is still a source of frustration for myself and my constituents. Some of the things that we're proposing or asking for are not new ideas, they have been around for decades. It takes a bit too long to enact the change that we need to see to support our families and small businesses and community. Thats why, in City Council, under my leadership, were creating more policy and process so we dont have to recreate things all the time and so we get some things done quicker than were doing now.

You never know what each day is going to bring, and some days are easier than others. Some days are difficult but theres so much passion and dedication and energy of my city council colleagues that its easy for me to lean on them for support. And I think that is indicative to the people who are serving on City Council. We all want to support each other so that we can do the best work possible. Its okay if we disagree on policy and direction because we are all committed to the constituents of Denver and hearing their concerns and working on those concerns. The best part of being a public servant is customer service.

As a council member, what are your priorities for the future?

I would be honored to continue in my role as president of the City Council and its looking like all is going to work out just fine. I look forward to leading with Council Pro Tem Jamie Torres and working as a City Council on the 2022 budget process so that we can, early on, secure multiple, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars that council is advocating for.

Were also looking at how we shore up and support our community through youth programming, nonprofit support of neighborhood residents and businesses, mental health resources, transitional and additional housing options for folks experiencing homelessness. We need to look outside the box and be innovative about how were keeping folks housed in the city and how we grow generational wealth through home ownership, especially in our vulnerable communities. Were also looking into how to address food access, sustainability and transportation.

I want my legacy to be one that I listened to people. That I was intentional in my response, and I always kept to my word. And I think that the almost 30 years I worked on opening access to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge shows that, when I say Im going to do something, when I commit to being part of a process, I will do everything in my power to stay true to my word and to advocate for my communitys voice.

Weve accomplished amazing things by having an elected official in place who lives those values. We have gotten grocery stores for the first time, we have gotten road widening that will open access and make it safer to travel in our neighborhoods, we have increased open space and parks, we have created more affordable housing, we have created more for-sale housing to build generational wealth and create housing stability. I have seen first-hand how that mentality is conducive to getting things done and that it's always in partnership with the community.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Health technology is a growing theme  and opportunity  across the MEA region, so its perhaps little surprise that a major operator is now getting involved.

Orange Middle East and Africa and AXA CIMA (Conference Interafricaine des Marches dAssurances) entities, led by AXA Assurance Maroc, a major player in its business sector, recently announced the signing of an agreement on the joint acquisition of a majority stake in DabaDoc.

DabaDoc is a platform that digitises access to healthcare in Africa. DabaDoc has developed solutions that are already used by thousands of healthcare professionals in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.

The idea is that Orange and AXAs investment and network will accelerate DabaDocs growth and extend DabaDocs services to other regions, in particular sub-Saharan Africa (in fact CIMA was established in 1992 to harmonise insurance regulation for a group of mainly francophone countries in sub-Saharan Africa). The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

The opportunity for Orange is clear enough. Through its partnership with DabaDoc and relying on AXAs globally recognized expertise in healthcare, Orange is positioning itself as a key player in e-health.

Following its first investment in DabaDoc in 2018, AXA Assurance Maroc says it is once again consolidating its partnership with the company to accelerate the digitisation and integration of what it calls its customers' healthcare journey. The aim is to facilitate its policyholders interactions with healthcare professionals, notably via DabaDocs appointment booking and remote consultation infrastructure and network.

As for DabaDoc itself, it hopes to benefit from the broad experience of AXA, one of the global leaders in health insurance, and Oranges technological expertise and payment solutions to enable digital solutions to be developed that rapidly scale and benefit patients and the African healthcare ecosystem.
Pan-African operator MTN has announced plans to commit $25 million to develop Ghanas digital ecosystem.

According to Ghana Business News, MTN said last week that it will invest the money over the next three years. And thats not all.

MTN has also announced that it will put $150 million towards improving the country's network and IT systems, to connect the remaining 15 per cent of Ghanaians across the country who are in the remotest communities and to increase capacity and experience for its customers.

Mr Selorm Adadevoh, the CEO of MTN Ghana, announced this at the launch of the companys 25th anniversary celebration in Accra, where he said that one of the legacy projects MTN has committed to is the building of an ICT hub in Ghana.

He said the company had always seen Ghana as a market to invest in because of its governance and political stability, policy predictability and consistent economic growth over the years.

In the next three years MTN plans to work with government through the communications ministry to support the development of the digital ecosystem to promote business development.

The company currently serves about 25 million subscribers in Ghana, out of a population of nearly 32 million, and employs over 2,500 Ghanaians. The number of MTN MoMo (mobile money) users is also growing in Ghana, with 15.5 million registered users at the end of March 2020.

MTN Ghana has, according to Ghana Business News, created over half a million jobs, including hundreds of thousands of airtime resellers, mobile money agents and mobile money merchants.
Orange Botswana has announced the launch of a new TD-LTE network for consumers and enterprises, branded as Konnecta Max.

The new network will offer fixed and wireless connectivity to 22 towns nationwide. CommsUpdate reports that it will be available for both prepaid and postpaid subscribers, and will offer three pricing plans for each payment type.

The operators CEO Patrick Benon told ITWeb: With the COVID-19 crisis, Botswanas need for fixed internet has tremendously increased, and our customers need more speed, more stability and unlimited internet at an affordable price.

We have decided to use 4G-TDD technology because at home our customers consume heavy amounts of data, and they want unlimited internet. Also, it was important to separate the fixed internet network from the mobile network to avoid fixed internet usage compromising the quality of our mobile usage.
ENTERPRISE  The Elba Elementary School principal has been placed on leave following her arrest for a hit-and-run incident in Coffee County on Saturday.

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency reported that Debra Johnson Strickland, 38, of Samson, was driving a 2017 Nissan Maxima on Alabama 87 at around 4:35 p.m. The Maxima was traveling north when Strickland crossed the centerline into the southbound lane.

The 2019 Subaru Outback driven by Wendy M. Smith, 43, of Owensboro, Kentucky swerved into the northbound lane to avoid colliding with the Maxima. Strickland then swerved back into the northbound lane and struck the Subaru approximately 12 miles south of Enterprise city limits.

Strickland then fled the crash scene on foot and was later apprehended approximately one mile from the crash scene.

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The Subaru was occupied with three passengers who were all transported to an area hospital for medical attention.

ALEA Troopers arrested Strickland and charged her with fleeing the scene of an accident with injury, according to Geneva County Sheriff Tony Helms.

She was being held in the Geneva County Jail awaiting a bond hearing on Monday.
Associated Press Florida Daybook for Monday, Jun. 07.

The daybook is for planning purposes only and is not intended for publication or broadcast. You should verify any event you plan to cover.

Please keep the AP in mind when news develops. The Miami bureau is reachable at 305-594-5825. Send daybook items to florida@applanner.com.

To see your Daybooks and events for Florida and other States up to 12 months ahead, speak to your bureau or sales rep about access to AP Planner, or visit http://applanner.com.

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Monday, Jun. 07 10:00 AM Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez hold a press conference

Location: Florida Army National Guard, 700 NW 28th St, Miami, FL

Contacts: Florida Governor's Press Office, media@eog.myflorida.com, 1 850 717 9282

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Tens of thousands have lost their jobs in the latest Covid-19 wave as social distancing orders slashes demand for workers in various sectors.

Tran Minh Trang, a resident of the northern province of Hung Yen, has not been called for any babysitting job since early last month.

As the couple she works for have been working from home due to social distancing, the 50-year-old woman's services are no longer needed. Her monthly income of around VND10 million ($430) has dwindled to zero.

"I don't know when they're going to call me back. For now I live off my savings," said Trang, who lives with her husband.

In Hanoi, where coffee shops have been ordered to serve only takeaways, 19-year-old Minh Quang has stayed at home for several weeks now as waiters are not needed.

"I live with my parents so the situation is not too bad. But I hope I can get back to work soon so I am not more of a burden on them."

Trang and Minh are among thousands upon thousands of people in Vietnam who have been rendered jobless because of the latest Covid-19 wave crippling many industries and cut demand for labor, yet again.

Like last year, tourism has been among the hardest hit sectors. Tourism revenues fell 48 percent year-on-year in the first five months to VND4.3 trillion ($185 million), according to the General Statistics Office.

Nearly 31,900 tourism workers in Da Nang have been laid off, permanently or temporarily, because of the latest Covid-19 wave. They account for almost 63 percent of the total workforce.

Over 90 percent of 5,000 tourism companies in the central city have closed, and around 11.9 percent of them have said they would not survive after this year considering their dwindling capital reserves, according to a study by the Da Nang Tourism Association.

"The difficulties are piling up. It is now a question of how we can keep companies alive, not when they will resume operation," said association chairman Cao Tri Dung.

Hanoi-based Luu Viet Dung, with 10 years of experience as a tour guide, has been out of work since April. His monthly income of around VND20 million has now dropped to VND5-7 million from selling goods online.

With a third child on the way, making ends meet is a real challenge for the 33-year-old, who said: "I don't know how we'll be able to cover expenses if the pandemic prolongs."

With transportation another hard hit sector, workers have had to bear the brunt. For national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, only 8 percent of nearly 3,200 flight attendants are working full-time. The rest either work part-time or stay at home for one to six months without pay, said captain of the airline flight attendant team Phan Ngoc Linh.

The situation has arisen because the number of flights of the national flag carrier fell from 500 to 70 a day in May. The countrys aviation sector served 288 million passengers in May, down 14.9 percent from April.

Many flight attendants have switched to other jobs to survive the pandemic, including real estate brokering, organizing marketing events, delivering goods or selling goods online.

"We have had to move some staff together to the same apartment to share rent, and take other measures to provide free flights for them to return to their hometown instead of big cities like Hanoi and HCMC," Linh told Tien Phong newspaper.

Hanoi resident Le Thao has never been so "free" in her 15 years of being a flight attendant. Her Facebook page is now full of posts promoting cosmetics and food, which is now her day job.

In the railways sector, over 3,200 employees have stopped working because major routes have been shut down with low demand.

With over 5,000 local Covid-19 cases recorded in the latest outbreak, government officials have called for priority in preventing the spread of the disease in industrial parks so as to keep workers employed and the supply chain intact.

Enterprises in some sectors like textile and garment, footwear, fisheries, and electronics have also called for prioritizing vaccination of their workers since those work in industrial zones are exposed to greater risks.

The government has increased support for the unemployed. Starting May 15, they can receive VND1.5 million per month for vocational training, up 50 percent from before.

Da Nang has proposed that its tourism workers are allowed to borrow up to VND100 million for three to five years to survive the pandemic. Nearly 2,000 workers have already signed up for such loans.

But workers are aware that any support they get is temporary. What they want most is for the pandemic to be contained soon with vaccination so that things can return to normal.

Trang, the babysitter, has only this to say, with a sigh: "Im tired of Covid."
Although maintaining peace, stability and security in the East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea, is the common interest of ASEAN and China, unilateral actions were still happening, violating the legal rights and interests of countries bordering the East Sea, he said.

Such actions increase tensions and erode trust, and goes against the joint efforts being made by ASEAN and China, he said at the 19th ASEAN-China Senior Officials Meeting on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (SOM-DOC) in Chinas Chongqing City. The meeting is taking place in the framework of the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

Dung called on all parties to seriously, and in good faith, implement the DOC and existing commitments, comply with international law and the United Nations' Charter and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), creating a favorable environment for negotiation and building a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law.

Other participants noted that despite the impacts and complicated development of the Covid-19 pandemic, ASEAN and China were still striving to implement cooperative activities within the framework of implementing the DOC, including cooperation in marine environment protection, and ensuring humane and fair treatment of fishermen.

They also expressed concern about complicated developments in the East Sea. Many agreed with Vietnam that unilateral activities contrary to international law were not conducive to the process of cooperation in implementing the DOC and negotiating the COC.

The parties at the same time affirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, respecting freedom, security and safety of navigation and overflight and peacefully resolving disputes in the East Sea in accordance with the provisions of international law and UNCLOS. ASEAN and China are committed to continue to seriously, in good faith, fully and effectively implement the DOC.

ASEAN and China agreed to accelerate the COC negotiation process and direct the Joint Working Group to resume it in an appropriate form soon. The countries reaffirmed their desire to achieve an effective and efficient COC in accordance with international law and UNCLOS 1982.

China's nine-dash line claims 90 percent of the 3.5-million-square- kilometer South China Sea, despite a ruling against it by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands, in July 2016. This country has recently taken many unilateral actions in the South China Sea, causing protests from countries in the region.

The Philippines in March accused more than 200 Chinese "maritime militia" ships of anchoring at Ba Dau (Whitsun) Reef in the waters of Sinh Ton Commune in Vietnam's Spratly Archipelago, which Manila is also claims.

Many countries voiced concern about the new tense situation in the region and opposed the threatening moves of the Chinese fleet. In May, the Philippines accused China of continuing to send 100 more maritime militia ships to the area.

The Chinese Coast Guard announced in April that it would enforce a summer fishing ban from May 1 to September 16, covering the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea and the waters north to 12 degrees north latitude of the East Sea, including part of the Gulf of Tonkin and Vietnams Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago.

The Malaysian Air Force announced last week that 16 Chinese Il-76 and Y-20 transport aircraft appeared about 60 nautical miles off the coast of Sarawak state, forcing the country to send fighter jets to monitor the situation.
On May 23, Belarusian authorities falsely notified a commercial airplane flying through Belarusian airspace of a bomb threat, inducing its crew to land in the capital city of Minsk. The Ireland-based Ryanair airliner, with 126 passengers and six crew on board, was on its way from Athens, Greece to Vilnius, Lithuania.

There was no bomb. What we do know is that upon landing, Belarusian authorities arrested Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich and his companion Sofiya Sapega. The International Civil Aviation Organizations Council decided on May 27 to undertake an investigation into any misuse of civil aviation in the interests of ensuring the safety and security of international flight.

Mr. Pratasevich is a well-known critic of the countrys authoritarian leader, Alyaksandr Lukashenka. He lives in exile in Lithuania.

The United States strongly condemns the forced diversion of a flight between two EU member states and the subsequent removal and arrest of journalist Raman Pratasevich in Minsk, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a written statement. We demand his immediate release. This shocking act perpetrated by the Lukashenka regime endangered the lives of more than 120 passengers, including U.S. citizens.

Mr. Pratasevich is an opposition blogger and activist. He is a co-founder of the Telegram channel Nexta and former editor of the news service Nexta Live, a channel with the Telegram messenger app which is capable of bypassing Belaruss government-imposed news blackouts that restrict freedom of expression. Last year he covered the countrys flawed Presidential election, as well as the subsequent mass protests against Lukashenkas dubious victory. For his reporting, Mr. Pratasevich was charged by Belarusian authorities with terrorism and inciting riots.

Independent media are an essential pillar supporting the rule of law and a vital component of a democratic society, said Secretary Blinken. The United States once again condemns the Lukashenka regimes ongoing harassment and arbitrary detention of journalists. We stand with the Belarusian people in their aspirations for a free, democratic, and prosperous future and support their call for the regime to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Waithera Macharia is the founder and CEO of Winners Home Collection, an interior decorating business. She is also a lecturer at the Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA) and an aspiring champion for womens rights, specifically in the areas of economic empowerment and self-development.

Waithera shares her career path with the Sunday Nation.

Tell us about your childhood and family life

I was born and raised in what is currently, Kiambu County, Uplands. I come from a family of six, and Im the firstborn.

Educational background

I pursued a BA in Social Sciences at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Thereafter, I was awarded a scholarship to pursue my MA degree in Regional Integration and Development by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) at CUEA too. Being a DAAD scholar also presented me with an opportunity to travel to Germany for the last bit of my postgraduate studies for my research work at the Philipps University, Marburg. I currently lecture at CUEA, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The flexibility of my profession, allows me to also focus on my business, Winners Home Collection which Im really passionate about.

Share with us your career journey. How and where did you start out?

Shortly after my undergraduate graduation, I was fortunate enough to secure a job as an administrative assistant at CUEA through the recommendation of my faculty Head of Department. While working in CUEA, I was awarded a scholarship through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

The terms of my scholarship dictated that I cannot be a full-time student and work at the same time and so I left my full-time job. I now had time to focus on my passion for interior design and home improvement and that is how Winners Home Collection was born.

As a strong believer in people having multiple streams of income, following completion of my MA program in 2019, I joined my alma mater, CUEA, as a member of the teaching where Im currently based as well.

Your current role and scope?

Im the founder of Winners Home Collection, a business that offers interior decor services and soft furnishings such as curtains, beddings, pillows, decor and home accessories, furniture pieces, electric fireplaces, paintwork, wallpapers, etc. Im also a lecturer at The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

What is the most memorable event in your career journey?

The opportunity to tour various European countries which gave me great exposure in terms of making crucial partnerships, access to quality commodities and general knowledge on how to run a business from an international perspective.

What has been the key driver of your growth? Lessons learnt, highlights and failures?

What drives me is my passion and consistency for what I do, thirst for knowledge and personal development. My major failure has been trusting people too much. I once lost a lot of money to a conman. Ive since learnt to be extremely vigilant while handling money and people.

Who would you credit with shaping your career growth? How did they influence your trajectory?

My family for always being my greatest support system. My lecturer, Dr. Ann Karanja, greatly instilled in me the acumen of personal development and pursuit of my dreams. My friends, Maggie Wangui and Steve Waweru for supporting me establish my business as well as enabling me to believe that I can achieve everything I set out to do. Together, we have big dreams for a very bright life.

Key decisions you might have taken along your career?

Resigning from my 8 am to 5 pm job. Applying for the DAAD scholarship changed the trajectory of my life forever and starting my business, Winners Home Collection.

What would you tell your younger self?

Not trusting people too much and patting myself on the back for a job well done.

What would you advise the youth in Kenya and Africa today?

To stop blaming government and external forces for their shortcomings. To look internally first for solutions to their problems. To be consistent in whatever they do.

Future plans?
June 6

Amy M. Brown, 43, of Spring Creek was arrested at Fifth and Court streets for two counts of drug paraphernalia; displaying bogus vehicle registration, plate or title; and no proof of insurance. Bail: $2,375

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Christopher Fotheringham, 66, of Elko was arrested at Stockmens for false statement to obstruct a public officer and disturbing the peace in a public building or grounds. Bail: $1,495

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Dawn R. Kephart, 55, of Millcreek, Utah was arrested at 101 W. Wendover Blvd. for felony possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. Bail: $5,740

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Bradley J. Nye, 42, of Elko was arrested at Fifth and Court streets for drug paraphernalia. Bail: $640

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Joseph V. Palen, 19, of Littleton, Colorado was arrested on Interstate 80 for possessing, manufacturing or disposing of short-barreled rifle or shotgun; felony possession of a controlled substance; drug paraphernalia; and speeding 11-20 mph over limit. Bail: $16,770

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Meeting in London the officials from the seven largest economies broke years of deadlock to find common ground on how to make sure companies pay taxes regardless of where they are based. If implemented, government coffers around the world would see hundreds of billions more and stop a race to the bottom on international tax rates.

The Group of 7 (G7) which includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States reached a compromise on setting up a minimum 15 percent global tax rate on companies wherever they do business discouraging businesses to move their operation offshore. It will also make it harder to use tax havens to push down their tax burden where they are headquartered. An additional tax would make those companies pay taxes to countries based on where their goods or services are sold, even if they dont have a physical presence in that nation.

Which countries have signed on to the minimum global tax?

The agreement is only the first step in settling up a global minimum tax rate, the G7 countries will have to sell the proposal to the wider international community. Finance ministers from the broader Group of 20 (G20) are meeting in Italy next month where countries like Ireland will be opposed to the new measure. The country would have more to lose than other countries with its 12.5 percent corporate tax rate which has attracted many large tech firms over the past decades and could cause Ireland to lose as much as 20 percent of its corporate tax revenue.

The finance ministers from the G7 will work to bring enough advanced economies on board that other countries will be compelled to follow suit. If they can garner enough support a final deal could be signed in October when the G20 reconvenes. However, implementation would still take time as other tax measures would need to be unwound.

What did the G7 finance ministers agree to?

The deal announced on Saturday, after two days of negotiations and which comes after eight years of fraught talks, tackles the issue of how to tax big technology companies. European countries, as the new tax system is put in place, would end their existing digital taxes that have caused friction with the US which feels those taxes discriminate against US tech giants. The Biden administration has threatened to impose $2.1 billion in tariffs against six nations in retaliation for their digital taxes but will hold off to see how negotiations progress.

The deal could potentially force technology giants like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google as well as other big global businesses to pay their fair share of taxes. The current global tax rules go back the 1920s which are out of date to handle how multinationals sell services remotely and attribute much of their profits to intellectual property held in low-tax jurisdictions. This system denies billions in tax revenues to the US and nations around the world.

Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice-president for global affairs commented on the deal via Twitter saying "We want the international tax reform process to succeed and recognise this could mean Facebook paying more tax, and in different places."

The agreement would apply a new tax to large businesses with a profit margin of at least 10 percent would be applied to at least 20 percent of profit exceeding that 10 percent margin. There were concerns among the European nations that Amazon which has lower profit margins than most tech companies might escape the new taxes but US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she expected it would be included.
J&J vaccine drive stalls out in US after safety pause

Safety concerns about Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine along with overall flagging demand for vaccinations have slowed its US rollout to a crawl, leaving close to half of the 21 million doses produced for the United States sitting unused.

J&Js vaccine was supposed to be an important tool for reaching rural areas and vaccine hesitant Americans because it requires only one shot and has less stringent storage requirements than the two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. But Americans have largely eschewed it over the six weeks it has been back in use after a pause to study a rare safety issue, according to data from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and interviews with health officials and pharmacists in eight states across the country.

"We went from having a waiting list to give somebody a shot to having maybe one shot a day or four shots a day," Michelle Vargas, owner of independent Lamar Family Pharmacy in Lamar, South Carolina, said of plunging demand for the J&J shot in the small rural community. "They're concerned for their safety. I think that's the biggest hurdle right now."

In the week ended 25 May, fewer than 650,000 Americans received the J&J shot, accounting for about 5% of total vaccinations administered and down from nearly 3 million in the week leading up to the pause, CDC data shows. Demand for all the vaccines has slowed since mid-April, but the drop has been significantly steeper for the J&J shot.

The slowdown may mean some J&J doses will expire unused at a time when global demand for any Covid-19 vaccine is high. J&J doses will be among the 25 million donated by the United States announced by the White House last Thursday. At least 13 lots of the vaccine have expiration dates of 27 June or earlier, according to a J&J website.

It is not clear how many doses that reflects, but the vaccine has a 3-month shelf life and most doses were sent out by early April, including 11 million in the first week. J&J has another 100 million doses on hand but shipment timing is uncertain. A J&J spokesperson declined to comment on the number of doses expiring before the end of June.

J&J is working with the US government and health authorities to support use of its vaccine, the spokesperson said in a statement, calling it an important tool in the global fight against Covid-19.

The CDC and Food and Drug Administration paused use of the J&J vaccine for nearly two weeks in mid-April to investigate links to cases of a very rare, potentially life-threatening condition called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which involves blood clots and low platelet counts. Regulators decided that the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risk. The condition has also been linked to AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine.

David Kohll, pharmacist at Kohll's Pharmacy with six locations in Nebraska, said before the safety issue, several companies arranged for him to provide J&J vaccines to employees. "Some of them are trucking companies and some others with more blue-collar or hard-to-get-to employees. They wanted us to go with all J&J," Kohll said. After the safety pause, "probably 80 percent of them said 'Let's just stick with Pfizer and Moderna".

Public health officials said during the pause they found the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were adequate substitutes in the mobile and walk-up clinics where they had been using J&J. "Once we get them in for the first dose, we've got them and they will come back for the second dose," said Dr. Karen Landers, a public health official in Alabama.
In recent months a growing number of Democrats in Congress have given their support for another round of stimulus checks with a series of pubic letters addressed to President Biden.

In March the American Rescue Plan provided a third direct payment worth up to $1,400 per person, but there is concern that many low-income households are in need of further support.

On 17 May seven members of the House Ways and Means Committee, the congressional body who provides oversight on issues of federal spending, became the latest to join the cause. They wrote that a fourth and fifth check could keep an additional 12 million out of poverty, but how has the White House responded to their request?

Psaki downplays the likelihood of more stimulus checks in the near future

In a press conference on Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked whether the Biden administration was considering introducing another round of stimulus checks. She replied, saying that the President is certainly open to a range of ideas.

"Hes happy to hear from a range of ideas on what would be most effective and whats most important to the economy moving forward," she told reporters, but made clear that the two new relief bills provide the spending that he believes is "most effective for the short term."

The two pieces of legislation in question are the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan, which contain around $4 trillion of federal spending in total. Neither of these proposals included a fourth stimulus check, so it seems that the White House is choosing to prioritise other programmes for the moment.

Study finds stimulus checks provided vital support for millions

Psakis non-committal response on the prospect of more direct payments came just days after a new report found that the two most recent stimulus checks had been hugely beneficial for struggling Americas.

The report, based on Census Bureau surveys and published by the New York Times, found that the direct payments had significantly improved Americans ability to buy food and pay household bills and reduced anxiety and depression, with the largest benefits going to the poorest households and those with children.

They suggest that food shortages in households with children were down by 42% between January and April, when the vast majority of the second and third stimulus checks were being distributed. The federal support has also been linked with an improvement in mental wellbeing, with instances of anxiety and depression falling by more than 20%

H. Luke Shaefer, University of Michigan professor who co-authored the study, wrote: We see an immediate decline among multiple lines of hardship concentrated among the most disadvantaged families.
Aside from the third federal stimulus checks worth $1,400, some US citizens have or are set to receive payments from state governments offering further financial relief beyond that approved in Washington.

California approves $600 stimulus checks

As part of Governor Gavin Newsons California Comeback Plan, state lawmakers last week approved the allocation of $8.1 billion for stimulus payments of between $500 and $600, which will be paid to residents earning between $30,000 and $75,000 per year. An additional $500 will also be provided for households with dependent children.

California residents who earn less than $30,000 a year, including many undocumented workers who have been excluded from federal stimulus payments, already received $600 direct payments under The Golden State Stimulus plan back in March.

Florida approves $1k for teachers and first responders

Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a $101.5 billion budget which will see teachers and first responders receive $1,000 direct payment from the state. More than 175,000 full-time classroom teachers and 3,000 principals are in line for the payment.

We know that the pandemic put an awful lot of strain on our first responders, EMTs, sworn law enforcement, firefighters and so we believe that we should recognize their sacrifice over the last year, said DeSantis following the approval of the measure, which is expected to cost $208.4 million. Florida is set to receive between $9 billion and $10 billion from the American Rescue Plan, which DeSantis said is less than he would have liked.

Full screen Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference held at the Florida National Guard Robert A. Ballard Armory on June 07, 2021 in Miami, Florida. JOE RAEDLE (AFP)

Maryland, New Mexico issued stimulus checks in spring

California was not the only state to offer stimulus payments back in early spring. In February, Marylands government approved stimulus payments of $300 for individuals and $500 for joint filers as part of the states RELIEF Act, which was passed before the approval of President Joe Bidens American Rescue Plan.

New Mexico, meanwhile, began sending out $600 payments in the form of tax rebates to eligible residents in March. The one-time rebates were available to taxpayers who are not dependents, who receive the Working Families Tax Credit, and who have an adjusted gross income of $31,200 or less (single filers) or $39,000 (married filing jointly, heads of household).

Cherokee Nation approves $2k stimulus checks

Last week, the Council of the Cherokee Nation -- the second largest Native American tribal government,after the Navajo -- also approved $2,000 direct payments for all Cherokee citizens, a measure which will be funded through money the tribe receives from the American Rescue Plan.

The measure will see each Cherokee receive two $1,000 payments over two years, and is expected to benefit around 400.000 Cherokee citizens, living across the United States but mainly concentrated in Oklahoma.
This coming July marks the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Over the past 100 years, the CPC has managed to lead the country to achieve national independence and win a decisive battle against poverty that is unprecedented in scale and intensity, and has benefited the largest number of people in human history. Meantime, the CPC guides China towards the path of peaceful development, interacting more actively, broadly and deeply with other countries on the global stage, fulfilling its responsibilities as a major country, and offering benefits to all mankind with its success in building socialism.

British journalist and academic, Martin Jacques, published an article entitled Why there has been an overwhelming failure to understand CPC in West: Martin Jacques on Global Times in April, explaining that CPC has done a successful job over the past 100 years in China by rooting in Chinese society and culture.

CPC is like no other party in the world. It requires us to rethink the very idea of what a political party is, he said, The CPC's extraordinary success is because it found a way during its 100-year history of combining a huge reforming capacity with a profound rootedness in Chinese society and culture.

Chinese Citizens Satisfaction Rate with Government Between 2003 and 2016

A long-term Harvard survey released last year found that Chinese citizens satisfaction with government has increased from 86% to 93% between 2003 and 2016, the period of the study. The survey features in-person interviews with 32,000 individual respondents in total, across the socioeconomic and geographic strata of China, to gather assessment of all levels of government.

According to the statistics from the last year survey in 2016, 95.5% of respondents were either relatively satisfied or highly satisfied with the Chinese central government, a score much better than what many western governments got from their citizens. In the same year, Gallup reported in January that their latest polling on U.S. citizen satisfaction with the American federal government showed only 38% of satisfaction.

A more recent survey published by The Washington Post conducted in late April 2020 during the pandemic through one-on-one interviews online with 19,816 people from 31 provinces or provincial-level administrative regions across China shows that Chinese citizens trust in their national government reached an amazing 98%, reflecting that the governments handling of the pandemic has actually enhanced its citizens trust in the government.

Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in China takes up roughly a third of those distributed globally.

Source: National Health Commission

With the pandemic still raging on across the globe, the Chinese government has maintained as an active part of promoting equity of the global Covid-19 vaccine distribution, while stepping up vaccinating throughout the country in response of the World Health Organizations call. As of June 6, China had given out more than 760 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, with nearly half of those in May alone. Chinas total is roughly a third of the 2.1 billion shots distributed globally, according to China's National Health Commission (NHS).

According to a report by the AP on June 3, 2021, in the span of just five days last month, China gave out 100 million shots of its COVID-19 vaccines. The report goes on noting that China is now doing what virtually no other country in the world can, leveraging the power and all-encompassing reach of its one-party system and a maturing domestic vaccine industry to administer shots at a staggering pace.

There is a profound belief in the West that a one-party system is unsustainable because it is incapable of reform, as Martin Jacques pointed out, That is not born out by the history of the CPC. It has, more than any other party in the world, displayed a remarkable ability to reform. The CPC is showing the world its way fighting against the nature of prejudice.

China has never regarded itself as a model for others. China has never required or expected other countries to be like it. The CPC has never thought its political system should be regarded as a template for others, the article noted, There has been an overwhelming failure to grasp the nature of the CPC in the West.

[ Editor: WXY ]
Zelensky says he discussed strengthening security in Black, Azov Seas with U.S. Secretary of State, senators

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that during his meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and American senators, they discussed increasing military assistance to Ukraine, as well as strengthening security in the Black and Azov Seas.

"I had a meeting with U.S. Senators that came over, and with the United States Secretary of State, and we discussed possible increase in military assistance," Zelensky said in an interview with Axios portal.

"It was about security, it was about enhancing security in the Black and the Azov seas, along the shoreline, for our position is rather weak there, in my opinion: Russia is virtually dominating all of the Black Sea, it is true, and we admit that, and we would like to have a strong force there  for defense purposes only," he noted.

The President of Ukraine added that a number of other issues related to security assistance to Ukraine were discussed.

Last week, U.S. Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Christopher Murphy, as well as Republican Senator Robert Portman, visited Ukraine.

In early May, Blinken came to Kyiv on a two-day visit. He met and held talks with President Zelensky, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he learned about the decision of the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden on sanctions against Nord Stream 2 through the press and was "surprised a few times."

"I've used the word 'surprised' a few times because I was really surprised a few times. Besides the United States decision, the second surprise was indeed that I learned about it through the press," Zelensky said in interview with the Axios.

"This is [Nord Stream 2 pipeline] a weapon, a real weapon () in the hands of the Russian Federation," he said.

"It is not very understandable, () and definitely not expected, that the bullets to this weapon can possibly be provided by such a great country as the United States," the President of Ukraine noted.

Zelensky believes that Washington's decision is not aimed at supporting Ukraine. In his opinion, it can "weaken the confidence" of Ukrainians in the United States.

"If they build the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, circumventing Ukraine, it is clear that the time will come when Ukraine will no longer have this leverage. Everybody is fully aware of this," he said.

"We understand that only the U.S. is capable of stopping this construction," he noted.

The Ukrainian president said he was ready to meet face to face with Biden ahead of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I understand that due to the U.S. President's pre-existing plans and his tight schedule they might well not happen, but that choice will be only his to make. As the guarantor of the Constitution of Ukraine, I myself am ready to defend Ukraine at any moment and at any spot of the planet, I am ready to meet with him and discuss all those details before his meeting [between Biden and Putin]. However, we'll see how it ends up going. I am sure that some sort of contact between us, in that form or another, is quite possible," Zelensky said.

Earlier, Biden said that further sanctions against Nord Stream 2 would be unproductive for U.S. relations with Europe. In his opinion, the implementation of the project will continue, because it is already almost fully completed.
The District Court of The Hague (the Netherlands) is starting consideration on the merits of the criminal case on the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down in the skies over Donbas on July 17, 2014, as a result of which 289 people died.

Thus, in the trial, which began on March 9, 2020, a new phase began, which followed the initial assessment of the readiness of the case itself to be considered on the merits.

Currently, charges have been brought against four persons: three Russians and one Ukrainian: Igor Girkin (Strelkov), Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Leonid Kharchenko. Only Pulatov is represented by lawyers who, during the first phase of the trial, filed a number of motions, requesting both additional investigations, which were subsequently carried out by the investigating judge, and additional information. In this regard, Pulatov's case was heard simultaneously, but not jointly with the other three defendants.

On May 21, during a court hearing, presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis said that the court could consider the case in fact in three days - from June 7 to June 11. According to him, the discussion will focus on three issues: whether the MH17 shot down by a Buk missile was the Buk launched from a field near Pervomayske and whether the accused were involved. The court will discuss these three issues, and will also discuss a large number of documents that are present in the case, he announced. At the same time, the judge explained that the judicial assessment will be given only on the day of the verdict.

According to him, June 7 will be devoted to procedural issues, on June 8 the first and second issues will be discussed, and on the third day - the third issue. "This part - the possible role of the accused - will be the most voluminous. Therefore, Friday, June 11, will be a reserve one," Steenhuis said.

According to preliminary planning, on June 17 and June 18, the prosecution will appear, followed by the opportunity to speak to Pulatov's defense. This block of hearings will last until July 9. In September, the relatives of the victims will be given the opportunity to go to court.

As reported, on July 17, 2014, the MH17 flight was shot down over Donbas, killing all 298 people onboard. Two-thirds of passengers are citizens of the Netherlands. Citizens of Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, the UK, Belgium, the United States, Germany, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand were also onboard. The Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which includes law enforcement from Ukraine, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, and Malaysia, is probing the incident.

In September 2016, the Joint Investigation Group released its findings, according to which the airliner was shot down by a missile launched from a Buk air defense system, and a year ago it announced that the Buk belonged to the Russian 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade stationed in Kursk.

The JIT named Igor Girkin (Strelkov), Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Leonid Kharchenko as suspects in the MH17 crash on May 19, 2019. All of them were put on the international wanted list. They are charged with the murder of 298 passengers onboard and its crash.
Mobile network operator Kyivstar has started accepting applications for participation in the STARt Yourself 2021 internship program.

As said in a statement of the operator, applications for participation in the program from students of Ukrainian universities, starting from junior students, are accepted from June 7 to June 21.

The company offers interns training and development of soft skills, formal employment for the period of internship, flexible hours and remuneration.

"It's no secret that it is quite difficult for university graduates without work experience to find a job. Years of recruiter's experience confirm: theoretical knowledge gained in educational institutions is not enough  practice is needed. Actually, this is what we offer to students: to gain practical knowledge and climb a new step, to become specialists," Head of Talent Acquisition and Development in Kyivstar, Svitlana Konchanina said, commenting on the initiative.

The internship will last six months. Its participants will gain general skills of working in a large company, get acquainted with business processes, take a course of personal development, be able to use the company's training platforms and gain narrow-profile experience in the following areas: Digital, SMM, copywriting, IT, BigData, finance, PR, technical direction, HR.

"The STARt Yourself program has been operating since 2018. Some 80 students have become its participants, 70 of whom have already completed their internship. A total of 35 interns continued to work in the company on a permanent basis," the operator said.

At the same time, Kyivstar said that program participants motivated by the result, whose values coincide with the values of the company, can receive an invitation to work if there are vacancies.

As reported, Kyivstar in the near future plans to increase the staff of IT and Digital specialists by 38.9%, to 500 people. At the same time, President of Kyivstar Alexander Komarov said that the market of IT specialists in Ukraine is now significantly "overheated."
Lisa Angiro is an Artist and Repertoire Representative(A&R Rep) who has worked with many Kenyan artists such as Avril, Timmy Tdat, Pascal Tokodi, King Kaka, etc.

Ms Angiro spoke to Saturday Magazine about her job and fun facts about herself.

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A&R Reps are the people who find new artists and sign them to the label. It is not always fun and games as it seems. It takes a lot of work and dedication just like any other job. To succeed you need to put in work, maintain networks and be quick to offer solutions.

I was once asked what it is like to be a female A&R manager in Kenya. Well, the industry does not have a lot of us. It is growing and more females are coming on board in this male-dominated field.

If I were not an A&R, I would have been a journalist penning articles.

An accomplishment I am always proud of is planning and executing an event for a given artist that was successful. It gives me fulfillment.

I do not believe in love at first sight, but I do believe every day you make a choice to love someone.

The best date I ever had with my man was a very simple date. There was not much, he just took me out for a picnic and we had a great afternoon.

If I had a chance to be anyone for a whole day, I would just be me. It would be too hectic trying to figure it all out being someone else.

If a genie granted me three wishes, one would be peace in the world. There is too much war and violence. The second will be funding artistes to help them realise their dreams. People have so many ideas but lack funding. Lastly, universal healthcare for everyone.

The most critical thing I want to achieve in life is to get to a level where someday I am involved in the execution of big events like tomorrow land and get an opportunity to learn the intricacies of running such a huge festival.

My lifes philosophy is what is meant for you will always find you.

I try to keep tabs with my childhood friends. I have been fortunate enough to keep one to date.
Ukraine should remain a transit country for Russian gas, and Berlin expects the transit agreement with Russia to be extended, the German government's official representative, Steffen Seibert, told reporters on Monday in Berlin.

"It remains central for the [German] government that Ukraine remain a transit country even following the completion of construction on Nord Stream 2. There is a transit agreement," Seibert said.

The representative said that the current transit agreement "is valid at least until 2024, though the agreement envisages that the parties will review the possibility of extending the agreement until 2034."

"We expect the agreement to be extended," Seibert said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stressed on June 1 that, "Russia and Ukraine have an agreement on gas transit to Europe, and the agreement is to remain in force for the entire period of its validity. However, even after the expiration of the agreement, Russia does not intend to abandon Ukrainian transit," Peskov said.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) has suspended the resumption of flights between Ukraine and Poland (Kyiv-Warsaw-Kyiv), which was planned for June 18.

According to the company's website, the reason for this decision was the situation that arose in connection with the need to fly around the territory of Belarus and the subsequent redistribution of passenger traffic observed by the airline in this direction.

"UIA will carefully analyze the market for both point to point passengers traveling to/from Poland and passengers traveling with a transfer in Poland or Ukraine. In the event of a recovery in demand for the UIA network, the flights will be resumed," the report says.

Currently, flights from Kyiv to Warsaw are also operated by Wizz Air, Ryanair and LOT.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Joe Biden will hold a telephone conversation on Monday, June 7, adviser to the President's Office head Mykhailo Podoliak has said.

"Today there will be a telephone conversation between the two presidents  Ukraine and the United States. The purpose of the conversation is obvious  exchange of views on topical issues of global security, as well as clarification of partner positions on the situation in Ukrainian Donbas," Podoliak said in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine.
The topic of building a part of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany on the bottom of the Baltic Sea should be discussed with the participation of journalists and representatives of civil society, adviser to the President's Office head Mykhailo Podoliak has said.

"The topic of the Nord Stream 2 construction should not be purely of a cabinet nature, purely political. This is something that should be discussed both with the participation of journalists and with the participation of civil society representatives. So that no one in politics has the illusion that implementation of this project will not have consequences," Podoliak said in a comment transmitted to Interfax-Ukraine.

He also noted that the completion of the Nord Stream 2 construction demonstrates how big the distance is between what Western politicians say and what they are doing.

According to the adviser to the President's Office head, "now the decisive moment has come, which is whether U.S. President Joe Biden will use the tools he has in order to stop the construction of Nord Stream 2."

"Will he do it? The cost of answering this question is very high. It is not only a threat to Ukraine as a transit country for Russian gas, not only a weakening of checks for Russia, which do not allow expanding aggression against Ukraine and other countries of Eastern Europe, but it is also a choice  will the West win or lose in its confrontation with Russia," Podoliak said.
Foxconn Technology Group, a Chinese Taiwan manufacturer, recently paid a field trip to Thanh Hoa province to find a location to build an industrial park of about 150ha for its manufacturing factories, with a total investment of US$1.3 billion.

AVG Capital Partners based in Russia also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Peoples Committee of Thanh Hoa province to build a pork processing complex with investment of up to US$1.4 billion.

Binh Duong province has also granted investment certificates to five FDI projects with total investment of nearly US$1 billion.

According to the Hanoi Statistics Office, Hanoi received over US$519 million worth of FDI capital in the first five months of this year, including the newly registered capital of 139 newly licensed projects and the supplemented capital of 63 existing projects.

In the first five months of this year, Long An province also received large amounts of investment from foreign investors including the LNG Long An I and II power plant projects with total investment of over US$3.1 billion and the O Mon II thermal power plant with registered capital of over US$1.31 billion.

In the five-month period, Vietnam also attracted nearly US$14 billion worth of FDI capital, up 0.8% over the same period last year while FDI disbursement reached US$7.15 billion, up 6.7% over the same period last year.

As many as 70 countries and territories have invested in Vietnam in the first five months of this year which is good news, particularly amid the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
EgyptAir issued new guidelines for passengers seeking travel to the United Kingdom after Britain added Egypt and several countries to its red list of destinations that oblige hotel quarantine upon arrival starting 8 June.

According to a statement on Friday, passengers cannot travel internationally or within the UK, unless for work, education and other legally permitted exemptions.

The travelers arriving to Britain will be subjected to 10-day mandatory quarantine, with those with no possibility of self-isolation at hotels or others will be required to do so at a facility provided by the government.

They will have to undergo a PCR test on or before day 2 upon return to the UK, with another PCR test on the eighth day of self-quarantine.

Passengers arriving in the UK, even through transit, must provide the Passenger Locator Form ahead of arrival.

The updated guideline comes few days after the UK added Egypt, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Trinidad and Tobago to its red list, which has the toughest travel restrictions.

People arriving in the UK from these destinations will be required to stay in a quarantine hotel for 10 days at a fixed cost of 1,750 per adult, according to the British government.

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Egypt reported 801 new coronavirus cases on Sunday bringing the total infection tally officially to 267,972 since the outbreak began in February 2020.

The health ministry also reported 43 new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths from the virus to 15,352.

The statement said that 733 patients have been discharged after recovering from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 196,604.

Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Sunday that the first batch of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine manufactured by its state-owned vaccine maker Vacsera will be ready on 15 June.

She told MBC Masr that the first batch will then undergo tests, and later offered rolled out to citizens within six months.

Zayed said that over 3 million people out of 6 million people who registered for the jab have received the vaccine as part of the countrys vaccination campaign that started late in January.

The state plans to vaccinate 40 percent of the population at least by the end of the year, Madbouly said.

Zayed said in a meeting last week that around 110,000 citizens receive the vaccine per day.

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Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said that the new unified real estate ID system, under development, seeks protect citizens' property and maximize their benefits.

It would also help control the real estate market, end unlicensed building and eliminate slums, Madbouly added during a meeting to follow up the efforts under way for completing the new system, which is expected to assist in the government's planning and development processes.

The ministers of justice, telecommunication, local development and housing attended the meeting, along with President of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) Khairi Barakat, Deputy Telecommunication Minister for Administrative Development, Digital Transformation and Automation Khaled El-Attar.

The new system enables the state to take inventory of real estate wealth and create a central database that may be used in licensing and ownership registration procedures.

Briefing the premier on the project implementation status, Telecommunication Minister Amr Talaat said that the project aims to create a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) for real estate inventory and development.

It will also help in streamlining licensing and ownership registration procedures, while keeping land encroachments in check, which will further strengthen the rule of law, improve Egypt's ranking on global Information and communications technology (ICT) indices and stimulate foreign investments, the minister added.

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Related EgyptAir issues new guidelines for travelers to UK after Egypt added to 'red list' Egypt fully vaccinates all tourism staff in Red Sea and South Sinai resorts Egypt's health ministry is planning to present the Egyptian experience in managing the coronavirus crisis in a bid to reverse the UKs latest decision to add Egypt to its travel red list, said Minister of Health Hala Zayed on Sunday.

Zayed will receive the UK Ambassador in Egypt Geoffrey Adams once he returns to the capital, the minister said on television.

Last week, the UK added Egypt and six other countries to its travel red list of destinations requiring hotel quarantine on return to England. It also changed Portugal from its quarantine-free green list to amber.

Travellers arriving to Britain from Egypt will go through a 10-day mandatory quarantine.

Zayed said the UK's decision came as a surprise, given the rise in vaccination rates and the declining infections in Egypt.

Egypt has embarked in March on a national program to vaccinate millions of citizens.

The country had vaccinated health care workers in January.

Moreover, Egypt has fully vaccinated all staff working in key industries across both the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates, two of the countrys tourism hotspots.

The government also closed restaurants and coffee shops for three weeks in May to stem a rise in coronavirus infections during the third wave.

Meanwhile, Egypt plans to begin production of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine next week.

Last week, Egypt recorded a drop in coronavirus cases, reporting less less than 1,000 cases for the first time since 26 April. Mohamed El-Nady, a member of the health ministrys scientific committee to combat coronavirus, said last week that Egypt is now past the peak of the third wave.

The minister added that a number of countries may resort to similar decisions when they lack accurate information, asserting that presenting the Egyptian experience in managing the pandemic may change the UKs mind.

Zayed expected the UK's decision to be temporary as countries usually update these lists periodically.

The UKs travel red list decision, which will come into effect on Tuesday, includes Bahrain, Sudan, Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad and Tobago.

In light of the UKs decision, the flag carrier EgyptAir has updated its guidelines regarding travel from Egypt to the UK, including not allowing traveling to the UK except for those who have residence permit in the UK.

Zayed added on television that Egypt is expected to see a significant decline in coronavirus cases within next month and to maintain a low rate of infections throughout July and August.

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Egypt denounced on Monday in the strongest terms the terrorist attack that targeted a checkpoint in the city of Sabha in Libya southern on Sunday that resulted in the killing of two Libyan officers and the injury of four others, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Egypt presents its sincere condolences to the Libyan people and government, as well as the families of the victims in this horrifying incident, wishing a speedy recovery for all the injured, the statement of the foreign ministry said.

The Egyptian foreign ministry stated that Egypt is reasserting its support for Libya against all who target its security and stability, standing with the neighbouring country against all forms of violence, radicalism, and terrorism.

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Karanja Wangui alias Toonhood is a spoken word artiste and an author. He spoke to Spice Magazine about his artistry and experiences in the art.

Where did your passion for spoken word begin?

Back in 2006 when I was in Standard Six at Ngari Primary School in Nyandarua county, I would grab any acting opportunity, even if it was in a CRE lesson.

The irony is that I was never confident and I recall a day that I was chosen to read a Bible verse on the closing day ceremony in front of parents, teachers and fellow pupils and I could not hold my tears.

I still continued to entertain, as well as imitate politicians and teachers in my high school years at Mary Mother of Grace Boys in Laikipia county.

During this time, I hated poetry and didnt know that one day I would be doing it for a living. After my high school education, I went on to study Bsc in Computer Science at Maseno University.

Here, I still continued entertaining people with my jokes. It was until 2017 while auditioning for the Ultimate Comic Show when one of the judges told me there is more future in my poetry than in comedy.

It is his words that propelled me to develop an interest in spoken word and thats how I started writing.

So, how did the art pick up?

I came to Nairobi in late 2017, and my first poetry performance was at Poetry After Lunch, an event that took place every Thursday at the Kenya National Theatre.

I would then go for a book club at Pawa 254 and Amka Forum where I met amazing writers who have moulded me.

Through 2018, I used to read a lot of books and the more I read, the more I learnt the art of telling stories through poetry.

It was this time that I got chances to perform in various events including Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Awards and Kistrech International Festival among others.

I started becoming more comfortable on stage and there I would share my pain, joy, fears, shed tears, and make wishes.

In 2019, I went for an audition as a poet for Chipukeezy Comedy Club. Though I did not end up as a comic, I became a content developer and a creative director for both Chipukeezy Comedy Club and Chipukeezy Show that used to run on Ebru TV and later at TV47.

I parted ways with the production in November 2019 and joined Eroa Festivals in their event planning development around Elementaita in Nakuru county.

What have been the highlights of your poetry career?

In 2020, I was chosen as a creative director and a judge in an ongoing comedy competition dubbed Y Kenya.

Last year, my poem was featured in Sincerely Daisy, a Kenyan film on Netflix.

Same year, I won Form Ni Mistari competition by Form Ni Gani Kenya, a campaign on making people learn about contraceptives.

How did you feel having your poem on a Netflix film?

I was ecstatic as this was something I even never thought of. I hope more poets would get such recognition.

Francis Ouma, who was one of the actors, approached me and it was about hard writing in sheng yet most of my poems are in English.

I wrote the poem in around 15 minutes. He gave it life in how he performed it.

With so many poets around, how have you differentiated yourself?

I write about things that happen around me. I take it as my responsibility to speak. In short, I am an expressionist.

I love it when I am referred to as art, not an artiste. I am art. And I look forward to a day that people will earn from what they love doing and thats what I call real joy.

You are also an author. What inspired your latest book?

It was my dream to publish a book since I was in primary school. I remember when my compositions would be read to other students and I would inquire a lot from my mother and anyone in the industry on how to write one.

I wrote it throughout 2019 because I used to lose the poems that I wrote from time to time.

There was this time I lost my book with over 60 poems. In 2020, I decided to compile my poems into a book and searched for some guidelines from my fellow published poets and thats how my book titled What If? was birthed.

How has the response been and what would you tell an up-and-coming poet?

The feedback has been motivating since many people have been requesting the book through my social media pages and through my direct messages.

The fact that someone connects with your art is more rewarding than the money I get from selling the book.

For the up-and-coming poets, know your strengths, be you and always feel free to express your feelings.

Whats the challenging bit about being a spoken word artiste?

In poetry, there are many open mic events where poets perform for free. This is a challenge since we need to make a living from our performances.

Poetry is not fully appreciated, and not many people understand what poetry is about, hence the need to sacrifice ourselves in paving way for the next generation of poets.
Egypt affirmed on Monday its solidarity with Pakistan after a deadly train collision that occurred before dawn in the southern part of the country that reportedly killed at least 40 people and injured dozens others.

One passenger train derailed on Monday in the Sindh province, fell across the track, and was then hit within minutes by another passenger train.

Egypt extends its sincere condolences and sympathy to friendly Pakistan and the relatives of the innocent victims, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also wished a speedy recovery for the people injured during the accident.

The Egyptian government and people affirm their solidarity and support to the government and people of friendly Pakistan amid this painful affliction, the ministry added.

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Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed to his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi on Monday the need to work towards launching serious negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis.

In a phone call with Motegi, Shoukry said the recent developments between the Palestinian and Israeli sides have demonstrated the importance of the Palestinian cause, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The developments serve as a warning against not seeking a fair, comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue in accordance with the international legitimacy determinants and the two-state solution.

In late May, Egypt brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, ending 11 days of Israeli aggression on the besieged enclave that killed more than 250 Palestinians.

Shortly afterwards, Egypt dispatched the chief of the General Intelligence Service Abbas Kamel to talk with key figures from the Israeli and Palestinian sides in a bid to consolidate the ceasefire.

Egypt also launched a massive initiative to support the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip after Israeli air strikes last month had destroyed hundreds of commercial and reesidential buildings and displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Cairo intensified its diplomatic efforts to revive peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, which broke down in 2014.

Motegi voiced his countrys appreciation of Egypts continuous efforts to reach and consolidate the ceasefire, the ministry said.

Shoukry reviewed with Motegi Egypts moves in this regard, including the reconstruction process and the efforts to support development in the entire Palestinian territories.

Shoukry and Motegi also discussed developments in regional and international issues.

The top diplomats agreed to continue their coordination on bilateral and regional issues of mutual concern.

They also discussed means to continue boosting Egyptian-Japanese relations.

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Ibrahim El-Heneidi, the chair of the Egyptian parliaments Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee, told reporters on Monday that the new draft law permitting automatic dismissal of civil servants primarily targets the terrorist-designated Muslim Brotherhood and other terrorist elements in government circles.

The draft law, which was drafted by MPs Ali Badr and Abla El-Hawary, was overwhelmingly approved by the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committees members and reflects the states keenness to rid the government and the administrative system of the Muslim Brotherhood and terrorist elements, said Heneidi.

According to Heneidi, the draft law which is officially called the Law on Non-Disciplinary Dismissal of Civil Servants helps to protect the countrys national security in terms of purging the government and the administrative system of state employees and civil servants who could do a lot of harm to the states supreme interests.

Heneidi said the draft law goes in line with two previous laws, the first on combating terrorism and the second on entities blacklisted as terrorist organisations.

The new draft law defines the conditions in which civil servants and state employees with proven links to the Muslim Brotherhood and other terrorist-designated organisations will be automatically dismissed, said Heneidi, adding that these civil servants and state employees will be first suspended from exercising their jobs for six months and at the end they will be completely and legally dismissed.

MP Ali Badr told the Houses Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee on Monday that there is a pressing need for combating terrorist elements in the states administrative system.

Some cabinet ministers have lately complained in parliament that they do not have the legal tools necessary to rid their ministries of civil servants and state employees espousing terrorist thoughts and ideologies and with links to the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, said Badr, adding that the new draft law comes to give cabinet ministers the necessary legal tools to automatically dismiss civil servants and state employees with proven links to the Muslim Brotherhood and other terrorist-designated groups.

Badr indicated that the draft law gives civil servants the right to appeal against the dismissal decision and the right to go back to their jobs if their names were removed from the lists of terrorist entities.

Ibrahim Shaarawi, deputy justice minister, said the draft law clearly helps the state fight extremist thoughts in government and administrative circles. But at the same time, it allows state employees and civil servants to appeal the dismissal decision before administrative courts, and in this respect, the new draft law goes in line with the constitution, said Shaarawi.

The draft law will be discussed and voted on by the House in a plenary session on Tuesday.

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The US embassy in Cairo announced via social media on Sunday that Egypt was on the short list of partner countries to receive US vaccines against the coronavirus.

Of the first 25 million, 19 million will go to COVAX and 6 million will be targeted to a short list of regional priorities and partner recipients - including Egypt. Said the embassy in a short statement.

According to the White House, the first batch of 25 million doses will come from the US stockpile of Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Initial reports stated that the White House initially planned to start its donation effort with 60 million doses of stockpiled AstraZeneca vaccine, which is approved in many other countries but not the US.

In May, Minister of Health Hala Zayed announced that Egypts supply of the Sinopharm vaccine is expected to exceed 2.5 million doses in June, while AstraZeneca doses will reach over 5.2 million.

Zayed announced on Sunday that Egypts state-owned VACSERA will start producing Chinas Sinovac vaccine locally on 15 June.

VACSERA plans to produce more than 5 million doses of Sinovac in the first two months of its production and 40 million doses within a year.

Sinovac will be registered in Egypt under the name Sinovac Vacsera and will be exported to African countries.

Russia and Egypts privately owned Minapharm also reached a deal to produce the Sputnik V vaccine. It is expected that Minapharm will produce 40 million doses annually under the deal to cover the countrys vaccination needs and to export doses to Africa.

Last week PM Mostafa Madbouly stated Egypt was planning to vaccinate 40% of its eligible population by the end of 2022.

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Egypt announced on Monday the completion of the evaluation of the implementation of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, which was carried out by experts from the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF), of which Egypt is a member.

The assessment process was carried out per the compliance assessment methodology issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body responsible for setting international standards that countries must adhere to.

The Egyptian Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Combating Unit (EMLCU), which is part of the Central Bank of Egypt and is the national coordinating body for the evaluation process, made great efforts during the assessment process.

The EMLCU, headed by Counselor Ahmed Khalil, was keen on effective communication between all parties concerned with combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of arms in the country.

It also conducted a self-assessment by national experts, well before the formal start of the assessment process, a matter that helped identify the issues in the control systems.

The self-assessment resulted in a number of outputs that were worked out in coordination between the Unit and all concerned authorities in the country.

The Unit also held meetings and workshops with representatives of the concerned authorities to introduce international standards and help them understand such standards and how to complete the questionnaires and requests received from the evaluation team, and follow up on the completion of information, statistics, and practical cases, which had a significant impact on Egypt's obtaining high evaluation scores, and its appearance in an honourable image before international bodies.

The evaluation process resulted in the issuance of a detailed report that includes all aspects of the implementation of international standards by Egypt to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of arms.

The report was discussed and approved during the 32nd meeting of the MENAFATA held on Monday, in the presence of member states and observers from countries and international organisations.

The report highlighted that Egypt has proven that it has a good understanding of the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing that it is exposed to by conducting a national assessment of the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing through the EMLCU and with the participation of all concerned parties, and it has relied on a national methodology to identify threats, weaknesses, and consequences.

"The outputs were also shared with all national authorities and the private sector in the country, showing effective local coordination, provision and sharing of data between the public and private sectors," the report pointed out.

"Egypt has adopted policies and measures that are compatible with the identified risks. These policies aim to address the legislative and supervisory frameworks, increase the effectiveness of all parties and institutions concerned with the requirements of combating money laundering and terrorist financing, and supporting the institutional framework and local and regional cooperation in this field," the report added.

The report touched on the state's efforts in combating terrorist financing operations, as it indicated that Egypt has adopted a national strategy to combat terrorism and its financing, which is characterised by flexibility, considering international and local developments that occur on this phenomenon, as Egypt deems combating terrorism and its financing as one of the policy objectives of the state.

The report also hailed the great progress made by Egypt in combating terrorism and its financing, which was reflected in the decrease in terrorist acts, due to the states efforts to eliminate many terrorist groups and the application of effective, proportionate, and deterrent penalties when committing the crime of terrorist financing, including autonomous terrorism financing.

The report clarified the efforts made by the state to identify and investigate terrorist financing activities, and the specialised and trained cadres that are entrusted with combating terrorism and its financing which received specialised training courses in financing issues and its patterns, the most prominent sources of financing and the new methods used by terrorist financiers and facilitation networks to finance terrorist activities.

The report also praised the efforts made by the state to enhance the authorities' ability to identify potential terrorist financing activities and conduct investigations into terrorism-related activities, as there are specialised departments to investigate related issues and train their staff to raise the quality of investigations and thus achieve the objectives of the national strategy.

The report lauded Egypt's cooperation with more than 38 countries around the world in the field of combating terrorism and its financing, which resulted in the arrest of several terrorists, the dismantling of terrorist financing networks, informing other countries of foreign terrorist fighters and the seizure of funds at the borders, controlling many criminal networks, uncovering, dismantling and prosecuting terrorist cells in other countries, eliminating terrorist groups in Egypt, including Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, Ajnad Misr and Ansar al-Sharia Brigades in the land of Kinana, in addition to eliminating cluster cells belonging to major terrorist organisations.

The report indicated that Egypt has effective mechanisms to implement Security Council resolutions related to preventing terrorists, terrorist organisations and terrorist financiers from collecting, transferring and using funds, as well as from misusing the non-profit organisations' sector, as well as preventing persons and entities involved in financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction from collecting and transferring funds and their use, per United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The report commended the understanding of the regulatory and supervisory authorities on the financial and non-financial sectors, especially the Central Bank of Egypt, of the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, and their continuous sectoral assessment of the financial institutions subject to their oversight, which would allow them to continue to form a clear understanding of the risks facing these institutions and authorities.

"Financial institutions also have a good understanding of the money laundering and terrorist financing risks they face and implement risk mitigation measures based on a good risk-based approach," the report added.

The report clarified the efforts and measures taken by the Egyptian authorities to mitigate the risks of misuse of legal persons and legal arrangements, and the state's keenness to provide information related to the establishment of legal persons and to provide several channels to access basic information and information related to the real beneficiary of legal entities established in the State, which led to the country obtaining a degree of commitment equivalent to that obtained by the major countries, a matter which will have positive effects in attracting foreign investments from all countries, being one of the most important economic pillars for any country.

The report referred to the country's efforts to enhance international cooperation to combat money laundering, financing terrorism and related predicate crimes.

It also indicated that Egypt employs a wide range of forms of international cooperation with its foreign counterparts to exchange different types of financial and intelligence information to combat money laundering, relevant predicate crimes and terrorist financing.

The EMLCU was applauded in the report for its ability to both, directly and indirectly, access a wide range of financial, intelligence and other relevant information while looking into cases of money laundering and related predicate crimes and terrorist financing.

The report also hailed the quality of the Unit's reports and referrals that support the operational needs of the authorities concerned, particularly in the field of terrorist financing, as the Unit produces financial intelligence using a variety of sources, which law enforcement and other competent authorities use to develop evidence and track criminal proceeds, as well as the availability of distinguished human, logistical and information resources that help the Unit to process and analyze the financial information it receives or collect.

The Unit also was praised due to its contributions to research and strategic analysis of the reports and information received, to identify trends and patterns of money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as its effective role in local and international cooperation and information exchange.

In light of the results of that report, the Egyptian Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Combating Unit (EMLCU) ranked highly among its counterpart financial intelligence units at the international, regional, and continental levels.

"The effectiveness of the competent authorities' use of financial information and other relevant information to develop evidence to investigate money laundering operations, related predicate crimes and terrorist financing, and to track criminal proceeds, and the extent to which the authorities were able to use financial information through direct and indirect access to a wide range of national databases, which contribute to the follow-up of potential financial movements, as well as the availability of the necessary resources and expertise with these authorities to conduct investigations in cases of money laundering, predicate crimes, terrorist financing and relying on financial information," the report assured.

The report showed the level of commitment of Egypt in terms of the consistency of its laws, procedures, and regulations with international standards in this regard.

The result of this important aspect of the evaluation process is very positive, as the report indicated that Egypt has a legal system consistent with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, where the state at an early stage strengthened legislative frameworks in line with international standards on money laundering and terrorist financing, the most important of which are the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Law and its Executive Regulations, the Anti-Terrorism Law and the Entities Regulation Law.

In addition, the law regulating the practice of civil work, the law of the Central Bank and the banking system, the due diligence procedures and customer identification applied in financial and non-financial institutions, and the amendment of the executive regulations of the Trade Register Act was issued to enhance ways to identify the real beneficiaries of legal persons in a manner that ensures the enhancement of transparency in the state, and other legislative and oversight frameworks.

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Nigeria's government said it is in discussions with Twitter after it suspended the social media giant's operations in the country, foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama told reporters Monday.

"There are discussions ongoing with Twitter, we will see how that progresses, so I cannot say for now the duration of the suspension," Onyeama said after a meeting with diplomats on the issue.

Africa's most populous country said it was suspending the platform on Friday, two days after Twitter deleted a comment from the president's account for violating its rules.

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More than 130 al-Shabab militants have been killed in the past three weeks of security operations in the Middle Shabelle region, the Somali National Army (SNA) said on Monday.

The army said the security operations being led by SNA chief Odowaa Yusuf Rage will be intensified in all al-Shabab's hideouts in the region.

"More than 130 Shabab were killed in the current operations," SNA said in a brief statement, noting that the operation will continue until all Shabab fighters are flushed out from their bases.

During the operation, the army has also recovered weapons and other military equipment which the group has been using to mount attacks in the region.

The SNA forces are currently conducting operations to flush out the al-Qaida allied terrorist group from areas in the Middle Shabelle region, taking over new areas where Shabab militants have been killing and harassing people.

The government forces have intensified operations against Shabab extremists in southern and central regions where the militants are still in control of strongholds in the rural areas, conducting ambushes and planting landmines.

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Sanaa Shalaby says she had no idea what her estranged husband was up to until Israeli soldiers raided her home in the occupied West Bank last month.

Now she's waging a legal battle to prevent Israel from demolishing the two-story villa where she lives with her three youngest children. It's drawing attention to Israel's policy of punitive home demolitions, which rights groups view as collective punishment.

Israeli security forces arrested her husband, Muntasser Shalaby, and accuse him of carrying out a May 2 drive-by shooting that killed an Israeli and wounded two others in the occupied West Bank. Israel says demolishing family homes is one of the only ways to deter attackers, who expect to be arrested or killed and who are often glorified by Palestinian factions.

The U.S. State Department has criticized such demolitions, and an internal Israeli military review in the 2000s raised questions about their effectiveness. The case of the Shalabys _ who all have U.S. citizenship _ could reignite the debate. Israel's Supreme Court is expected to issue a final ruling on the demolition next week.

Sanaa and her husband had been estranged for nearly a decade. He lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he ran a profitable smoke shop and married three other women in private Muslim ceremonies not recognized by U.S. authorities.

`It's allowed in our religion,' Sanaa said. `I didn't agree to it.'

He came back to the West Bank in April for what she says was one of his yearly visits to see the children. He had also sought treatment for paranoia after having been institutionalized in the U.S. in recent years, according to a deposition he gave to her lawyer.

Sanaa said she knew nothing about the attack and had no indication he was planning anything.

`People commit crimes far worse than this in America and they don't demolish their homes,` she said. `Whoever committed the crime should be punished, but it's not the family's fault.'

When the soldiers showed up after the attack they ransacked the home and briefly detained her 17-year-old son. She said they had a large dog that terrified her and her two younger children, a 12-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl. The soldiers came back weeks later to map out the house for demolition.

Now Sanaa says her children spend all day in bed and refuse to go to school. ``I know my children and they were never like this,`` she said. ``My son, Ahmed, has to take his final exams and he can't study. He opens his book, reads a couple pages and then he walks off.''

HaMoked, an Israeli rights group that has represented dozens of families seeking to halt punitive demolitions and is currently representing Sanaa, says such petitions rarely succeed. Of 83 cases brought since 2014, only 10 demolitions were prevented, it said. In the remaining cases, homes were partially or completely demolished, or apartments in multi-story buildings were permanently sealed off.

Jessica Montell, the group's executive director, says that from a legal perspective the question of whether it serves as a deterrent is irrelevant.

`You don't collectively punish innocent people just because they're related to a criminal in the hope that that will deter future criminals. It's an illegal and immoral policy regardless of the effectiveness,` she said.

The Israeli military prepared a report on punitive home demolitions in 2004 that led to a moratorium on the practice the following year, according to HaMoked, which received a Power Point presentation of the classified report in 2008 through a court petition.

The presentation raises concerns about the legality of such demolitions and international criticism of them. It also questions their effectiveness, saying the demolitions might even motivate more attacks. Such demolitions were mostly halted until 2014, when three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in the occupied West Bank.

A campaign by Israeli settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in east Jerusalem was one of the main causes of last month's Israeli campaign on Gaza Strip, in which Israeli airstrikes demolished hundreds of homes in the territory for 11 days.

Both forms of displacement summon bitter memories of what the Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or `catastrophe,` when some 700,000 Palestinians were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation.

Shalaby said she has been in continual contact with the U.S. Embassy but was told it couldn't do anything about the demolition.

The State Department declined to comment on the case, citing privacy concerns. But it said it was opposed to the punitive demolition of Palestinian homes. `The home of an entire family should not be demolished for the actions of one individual,'' it said in a statement.

The Israeli Supreme Court will hear Sanaa's case on June 17.

She hopes she will be able to remain in the house that she and her husband built in 2006. She said she had sold her bridal jewelry to help finance the construction. She raised her youngest children in the house, and an older daughter had her wedding there last year during a pandemic lockdown.

`My daughter got married here during the time of the coronavirus,' she said, pointing to the front courtyard and smiling at the memory. `It was better than any wedding hall.''

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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Two members of Libya's security forces were killed and five others wounded Sunday evening in a car bomb blast at a checkpoint in the country's south, a police source said.

"A car bomb exploded as it was crossing a roadblock set up by the security forces" in the city of Sebha, a police official in the city said.

Sebha is located around 750 kilometres (around 465 miles) south of the capital Tripoli.

"Two security officers were killed, five others were wounded and heavy material damage" was caused, the source said.

Local media showed images of badly damaged security force vehicles surrounded by debris.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah wrote on Twitter that it had been a "cowardly terrorist act", offering condolences to the families of the two "martyrs" killed.

"Our war against terrorism continues," Dbeibah added.

Sebha, capital of the southern province of Fezzan, is controlled by Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) and has been the scene of several extremist attacks in recent years.

Libya is seeking to extricate itself from a decade of chaos and conflict that followed the toppling of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

The destabilised security situation in Libya has offered fertile ground for jihadists like the Islamic State group to take root.

A formal truce signed last October between rival camps set in motion a UN-led process that led to the creation of an interim government tasked with preparing the country for December polls.

Despite the ceasefire and progress on the political front, the security situation remains precarious.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, a Shiite cleric who as Iran's ambassador to Syria helped found the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and lost his right hand to a book bombing reportedly carried out by Israel, died Monday of the coronavirus. He was 74.

A close ally of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mohtashamipour in the 1970s formed alliances with Muslim militant groups across the Mideast. After the Islamic Revolution, he helped found the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Iran and as ambassador to Syria brought the force into the region to help form Hezbollah.

In his later years, he slowly joined the cause of reformists in Iran, hoping to change the Islamic Republic's theocracy from the inside. He backed the opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi in Iran's Green Movement protests that followed the disputed 2009 re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

``If the whole people become aware, avoid violent measures and continue their civil confrontation with that, they will win,`` Mohtashamipour said at the time, though Ahmadinejad ultimately would remain in office. ``No power can stand up to people's will.''

Mohtashamipour died at a hospital in northern Tehran after contracting the virus, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. The cleric, who wore a black turban that identified him in Shiite tradition as a direct descendant of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, had been living in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq, over the last 10 years after the disputed election in Iran.

Hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi, now considered the leading candidate in Iran's presidential election next week, offered condolences to Mohtashamipour's family.

``The deceased was one of the holy warriors on the way to the liberation of Jerusalem and one of the pioneers in the fight against the usurping Zionist regime,`` Raisi said, according to IRNA.

Born in Tehran in 1947, Mohtashamipour met Khomeini as the cleric remained in exile in Najaf after being expelled from Iran by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In the 1970s, he crisscrossed the Mideast speaking to militants groups at the time, helping form an alliance between the future Islamic Republic and the Palestinian Liberation Organization as it battled Israel.

Once arrested by Iraq, Mohtashamipour found his way to Khomeini's residence in exile outside of Paris. They returned triumphant to Iran amid the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In 1982, Khomeini deployed Mohtashamipour to Syria, then under the rule of dictator Hafez Assad. While ostensibly a diplomat, Mohtashamipour oversaw the millions that poured in to fund the Guard's operations in the region.

Lebanon, then dominated by Syria, which deployed tens of thousands of troops there, found itself invaded by Israel in 1982 as Israel pursued the PLO in Lebanon. Iranian support flowed into the Shiite communities occupied by Israel. That helped create a new militant group called Hezbollah, or ``the Party of God.``

The U.S. blames Hezbollah for the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people, as well as the later bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in the Lebanese capital that killed 241 U.S. troops and another attack that killed 58 French paratroopers. Hezbollah and Iran have denied being involved.

``The court finds that it is beyond question that Hezbollah and its agents received massive material and technical support from the Iranian government,`` wrote U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in 2003.

Lamberth's opinion, quoting a U.S. Navy intelligence official, directly named Mohtashamipour as being told by Tehran to reach out to the nascent Hezbollah to ``instigate attacks against the multinational coalition in Lebanon, and `to take a spectacular action against the United States Marines.'''

An IRNA obituary of Mohtashamipour only described him as ``one of the founders of Hezbollah in Lebanon`` and blamed Israel for the bombing that wounded him. It did not discuss the U.S. allegations about his involvement in the suicide bombings targeting Americans.

At the time of the assassination attempt on him, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency had received approval from then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to pursue Mohtashamipour, according to ``Rise and Kill First,`` a book on Israeli assassinations by journalist Ronen Bergman. They chose to send a bomb hidden inside a book described as a ``magnificent volume in English about Shiite holy places in Iran and Iraq'' on Valentine's Day in 1984, Bergman wrote.

The bomb exploded when Mohtashamipour opened the book, tearing away his right hand and two fingers on his left hand. But he survived, later becoming Iran's interior minister and serving as a hard-line lawmaker in parliament before joining reformists in 2009.

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Teresa Njoroge was once a prolific career banker and a respectable member of the society before her world was turned upside down.

Ms Njoroge was accused of stealing Sh10 million and imprisoned for a year, a sentence she served together with her young daughter.

She narrates her story and how it inspired her to start Clean Start Solutions, a social enterprise led by women who have been in prison in Kenya.

***************************************

The clank of the shutting gates behind me reminded me where I was. I was now one of them; the women in tattered clothing who dotted the compound. How did I end up here surrounded by high walls topped with barbed wire?

The three-month-old squirming bundle in my arms looked up at me, completely oblivious of our surroundings, or the inner storm that raged within her mother. My daughter was spending her early days on earth with me in prison; and that, more than anything, broke my heart.

Women in tattered uniform dotted the compound. And besides an awful stench, the air stunk of desperation. Beyond those gates, I had been a prolific career banker, a respectable woman. Now, I was a disgraced woman, accused of a heinous crime.

They said I had stolen Sh10 million. And I was afraid; very afraid that their accusations would stick. Well, they actually had. The judge had found me guilty. I worried that I wouldnt find my way out. That this was my forever home.

I had battled my accusers in court for two and half years, but that had gotten me a one-year jail term. Would I be the same woman when the year crawled to an end? Would I survive it? Those were the thoughts that kept me awake that first night behind bars.

My name is Teresa Njoroge, and I will tell you how we got here.

I was maliciously prosecuted. I say this because the arresting officer, on the day of my arrest, told me that he knew that I was innocent. He knew that I had not committed the crimes he was charging me with. I had been handpicked to take the fall on behalf of the bank for which I worked.

There were six of us who had to sign off on the transfer of the money. My boss at my bank had to sign off, and there were people on the other side who had to sign off too. But I was the only one who was arrested.

This was in 2009. The arresting officer asked for a bribe to make the case go away. But I always say that when you know your values, its easy to make a decision. I wasnt going to bribe anyone. And that is how I ended up at Langata Womens Prison.

I grieved more for my little girl. Prison is not a conducive environment for children to grow in  the language used in there is vulgar for young minds. There is no colour in prison. There is no love. Prisoners wear uniforms, so when the child comes out into the normal world, they want to go back because they have grown up knowing only the colours worn in prison.

But my beautiful baby is 10 now. She may not have memories of her prison stay, but often she will be reminded by her classmates that her first year was spent there. The children have heard stories about her mother.

Her younger brother will sometimes innocently ask her what prison-life was like. But I counsel her, and we talk about it. I will not let that define her. A child doesnt need to carry crosses that dont belong to her.

I came out of prison a different woman. I lost friends. They didnt want to be associated with someone thought to be a criminal. They didnt understand that I had been wrongfully accused. My parents and siblings werent spared either. Their daughter and sister was an ex-convict. It was fodder for juicy gossip.

A fellow inmate serving a five-year prison sentence committed suicide once she left prison. I can see how the stigma got to her. Because I also became suicidal. After prison, I was jobless. But I had a duty to provide for my daughter, yet I couldnt find a job. No one wanted to hire me. This is despite the fact that in 2013, I was cleared of all wrongdoing in the bank fraud case.

I started losing hope. But even in moments of darkness, I have learnt to watch out for the sliver of light. And one such moment was the realisation that I needed to do better for men and women like me. Because no one else would.

No one was giving people like me a second chance. But I had to provide that. No one was going to do it for me or them. And that is how Clean Start was born. It was an uphill task. No one was ready to invest in the ideas of an ex-convict.

But we had to put in relentless work to get opportunities just to speak about Clean Start. I did a lot of storytelling; telling my story to make would-be Clean Start partners understand that, just like them, I used to work but because of the injustice within our criminal justice system, I ended up in prison. I wanted to make them understand that anyone could end up in prison. I succeeded.

Today we are a team of 17 women. We work with women in different counties, not just in Nairobi. We aim to create circles of healing; safe spaces that bring the women together. They prepare ex-convicts to achieve self-reconciliation and accept the curve balls that life has thrown at them.

We build their self-drive, determination, resilience, confidence, and self-esteem. Once they graduate from the circle of healing, they move to the table of support where they get life skills, entrepreneurship training at trade or craft training.

Then they are linked to business opportunities that will enable them to access economic opportunities. We then offer graduates Sh15,000 to start a business. This year alone, 42 women have set up businesses.

I know that we are remembered for what we stand for. I stand for diversity and equality, especially when it comes to matters women, girls and children. What do you stand for?

Courtesy: Achieving Woman/EveWoman
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A top Hamas official on Monday warned of renewed violence if right-wing pro-settler organisations hold a controversial march Thursday in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem

"We warn the occupation (Israel) against letting the march approach east Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday," senior Hamas figure Khalil al-Hayya said.

"We hope the message is clear so that Thursday doesn't become (a new) May 10," he said, in reference to the start of last month's 11-day Israeli aggression against the Palestinian in the Gaza Strip.

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Israeli police on Sunday detained two members of a prominent family in the contested Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem who led protests against attempts by Israeli settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in the area.

The twin brother and sister were released later in the day.

The arrests of Muna and Muhammad al-Kurd, 23, came a day after police detained a well-known Al Jazeera reporter covering a demonstration in the neighborhood.

The reporter, Givara Budeiri, was held for four hours before she was released and sent to a hospital to treat a broken hand. It was not clear how her hand was broken, but her boss blamed police mistreatment.

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing on Monday his first possible parliamentary defeat since his 2019 landslide election, over cuts to the overseas aid budget, just days before hosting the G7 summit.

Breaking a manifesto promise, Johnson's Conservative government -- which enjoys an 80-seat majority -- insists it must slash spending on aid by billions of pounds this year to help mend pandemic-battered public finances.

But the decision to no longer meet its legally enshrined commitment to spend 0.7 percent of gross national income (GNI) on British overseas aid has sparked a rebellion within the ruling party.

Dozens of Tory lawmakers oppose to the move, including former prime minister Theresa May, who argue the cut to 0.5 percent of GNI would leave Britain as the only member of the Group of Seven wealthy nations not meeting the target.

The rebels believe they have the numbers to inflict a humiliating defeat on Johnson when parliament votes on related legislation later Monday, in the same week that he hosts G7 leaders at a summit in Cornwall, southwest England.

"The eyes of the world are truly upon us," lawmaker Andrew Mitchell, a former international development secretary who is spearheading the rebellion of dozens of Conservatives, wrote in The Guardian.

"But in this moment Britain is found wanting, because we have removed a foundational piece of our own global leadership," he added, noting it was the only G7 country to be cutting aid.

"We are doing it at a time when both the need for aid around the world is rising and when other countries are stepping up."

Mitchell said the cuts are already having a "devastating effect" on projects around the world.

"In crisis situations, these cuts will result in hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths," he added.

Britain dished out around 15 billion ($20 billion) in overseas aid last year before the cut of around 4.5 billion was implemented.

Meanwhile emergency pandemic support measures have sent UK annual borrowing rocketing to the equivalent to 14.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) -- the highest level since World War II.

The government has said it will return to 0.7 percent of national income -- a broader measure than GDP -- "when the fiscal situation allows".

But critics fear the cut could become more permanent, and argue its impact is too severe to institute even temporarily.

Alongside May, Britain's other living former leaders -- David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and John Major -- also oppose the reduction.

"It's a life and death issue, we're actually deciding who lives and who dies," Brown told BBC radio on Monday.

"It makes absolutely no economic sense, but particularly no moral sense," he added.

Brown called government claims that the public supported a temporary cut "a myth".

"I think people know that while charity begins at home, it should never end at home, because we've got responsibilities and benefits from working with the rest of the world."

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Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will go on trial next week, her lawyer said Monday, with the Nobel laureate facing an eclectic raft of charges, from possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies to flouting coronavirus restrictions during elections last year.

Myanmar has been in uproar since Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) government were ousted in a February 1 coup, with near-daily protests and a nationwide civil disobedience movement.

Almost 850 people have been killed by the military, according to a local monitoring group.

Suu Kyi, 75, will go on trial on Monday in Naypyidaw, where she is charged with violating restrictions during last year's election campaign and possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies.

Proceedings will start on June 14 and are expected to wrap up by July 26, according to her legal team.

Suu Kyi's lawyers have been allowed to meet with her just twice since she was placed under house arrest, with weeks of delays to her legal case.

"We will get testimonies from plaintiffs and witnesses starting from next hearing," on Monday, lawyer Min Min Soe said after meeting her in the capital Naypyidaw.

Suu Kyi will also appear in a separate trial slated to begin on June 15, where she is charged with sedition alongside ousted president Win Myint and senior NLD leader Dr Myo Aung, the lawyer said.

There was a heavy police presence around the Naypyidaw council compound, close to where the court is located, with roadblocks along streets leading to the area, an AFP reporter said.

Suu Kyi "asked all (people) to stay in good health," Min Min Soe added.

The ousted leader faces a separate charge of violating a colonial-era secrecy law -- a case that is pending in a court in the commercial hub Yangon.

- 'Show trial' -

"Groundhog day again," Myanmar analyst David Mathieson told AFP, adding that proceedings in the junta-backed court would be little more than "a show trial."

"It's all about an illegal regime discrediting a democratically elected leader on trumped up charges that would embarrass a tin pot dictatorship anywhere else."

Suu Kyi spent more than 15 years under house arrest during the previous military rule before her 2010 release.

Her international stature diminished following a wave of military violence targeting Buddhist-majority Myanmar's marginalised Muslim Rohingya community that displaced more than a million people, but the coup has returned Suu Kyi to the role of cloistered democracy icon.

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has justified his power grab by citing alleged electoral fraud in the November poll, which Suu Kyi's NLD won in a landslide.

The junta has previously said it would hold fresh elections within two years, but has also threatened to dissolve the NLD.

The continuing violence in Myanmar has pushed some in the anti-junta movement to form a so-called "People's Defence Force" (PDF) in their townships -- made up of civilians who fight back against security forces with homemade weapons.

But they are often outnumbered and outgunned in clashes with Myanmar's military -- one of Southeast Asia's most battle-hardened and brutal.

Around 70 protesters marched in a flashmob demonstration in the commercial capital Yangon Monday, AFP images showed.

Flashing the three-fingered salute -- a symbol of pro-democracy protests from Thailand to Hong Kong -- they chanted "We want Democracy" as they passed down a city street, before quickly dispersing.

This story was edited by Ahram Online

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Egypt is set to offer its first sovereign bonds (sukuk), almost the first of its kind for the country, following parliaments  House of Representatives  approval on the sovereign bonds (sukuk) bill, said Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait on Monday.

The parliament approved on Sunday the new bill, which is waiting on the final vote of a two thirds majority of MPs.

The bill received cabinet approval in November 2020.

The bill paves the way for Egypts government to usher in an Islamic financing system, which recorded $2.7 trillion in transactions globally by the end of June, according to Maait.

Through the bill, if passed, Egypt is expected to attract new segments of investors who will pour extra finances and liquidity into Egypts governmental financial market and will contribute to put the cost of the states public budget deficit on a downturn as well, according to the minister.

Egypts Islamic sukuk are expected to be offered in both local and hard currencies for the sake of providing cash liquidity for the Egyptian economy and decreasing the cost of investments, he added.

Egypt is expected to issue its Islamic sukuk in either a paper or electronic certificate according to the specs the bills bylaws will set, according to Maait.

He added that a state-owned corporation will be established to be an agent for sukuk owners and will manage and execute the sukuk issuance.

He also noted that the time ceiling of right to use the state-owned assets, under sukuk bonds, is set at 30 years with the availability of re-letting these assets.

The bill bans foreclosing on these assets and forbids taking any kind of regulatory procedures on them, according to the minister.

The sovereign sukuk bill is part of the finance ministrys plan to diversify its base of investors who want to invest in governmental financial securities, especially that the new bill will be issued in line with the principles of Islamic Sharia.

It will also allow utilising state-owned assets according to the beneficial right system through ownership without usufruct or renting.

According to Islamic sukuk purchasing rules, the issuer must make a contractual promise to buy back the bond at a future date at par value.

Sukuk is a financial certificate issued in Islamic countries that allows investors to have a share of ownership in a portfolio of existing or eligible assets, providing them with a proof of ownership in a specific asset and various financial obligations while conducting trade and other commercial activities.

In developed Islamic-finance markets, confidence and demand for Islamic products remain the highest, according to a report issued by Fitch Ratings in February.

Islamic banking in such markets has achieved systemic importance and mainstream relevance, according to the report.

At the sovereign level in the top-10 key Islamic-finance jurisdictions, awareness and acceptance are rising, as the share of sukuk and Islamic loans as part of the GCC and Malaysias sovereign total funding mix reached around 17 percent at end of 2020, according to the report.

The report also said that confidence and demand are also high in emerging Islamic-finance markets.

Despite the COVID-19 crisis that has harshly hit world economies, the volume of outstanding Fitch-rated sukuk recorded $116.2 billion by the end of the third quarter of 2020.

Moreover, the volume of outstanding Fitch-rated green and sustainability sukuk reached $7.2 billion by the end of the third quarter of 2020.

Throughout September and October 2020, Egypt issued sovereign governmental green bonds worth $750 million domestically and in the London exchange stock market, the first of their kind in the Middle East and North Africa.

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The American University in Cairo (AUC) has recently appointed Shahira Zeid 83 and Wael Bayazid as the newest members of the Universitys Board of Trustees. Both coming from business and financial backgrounds, their expertise serves as a valuable asset to AUCs goals in the near future.

Zeid graduated from AUC with a degree in business administration and is now the vice-chairman of Maridive and Oil Services, which was one of the first companies to respond to the Suez Canal Ever Given blockage. Zeid is also chairman of MZ Investments, which is the holding company for several entities in the fields of petroleum and marine services. She is also active in the tourism and real estate sector and holds investments in companies all around the world, including the United Kingdom, Spain and China.

Apart from her business activities, Zeid is also involved in a number of NGOs around Egypt, such as the Egyptian Food Bank, Children are the Future Foundation and the Magdy Yacoub Heart Foundation.

We are excited to welcome Shahira to the Board, said Mark Turnage (ALU 82), chairman of the board of Trustees. She brings enormous business acumen and a strong sense of civic responsibility and is very enthusiastic and committed to assisting with AUC's fundraising efforts.

She has been listed by Forbes Middle East as one of the top businesswomen in the region, and in 2015 she was selected as one of the Top 50 Businesswomen in Egypt.

Bayazid has been managing director and partner of The Carlyle Group since 1996. His business with the group revolves around developing businesses in the Middle East and Europe, and he works between Washington DC, London and New York.

Before joining The Carlyle Group, Bayazid was Global Country Head for Saudi Arabia in the Global Asset Management Group of the Chase Manhattan Bank, based in Geneva, Switzerland. He has an extensive history of working in the banking and financial sector.

He also serves as a board member of ABANA, a US-based organization for finance professionals and institutions with interest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Wael has a deep commitment to education in the Middle East. He also plans to support AUC's advancement and recruiting efforts, particularly in the Gulf region, Turnage said.

Members of AUC's board of trustees are volunteers who dedicate their time and resources to supporting the University. Coming from a range of backgrounds, AUCs trustees include many alumni in the areas of business, law, education, philanthropy and scholarship. Primarily Egyptians and Americans, the trustees do not receive any compensation. They provide generous financial support to the University, in addition to their fiduciary responsibilities.

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The United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has named Egyptian star actor Ahmed Helmy as the Regional Ambassador for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), after cooperating with him successfully since 2017.

Helmys post will focus on promoting child rights and awareness on early childhood development issues in the region, the UNICEF announced on Sunday after the online-video-conference appointment ceremony.

I am truly excited about this new role, reacted Helmy, who has served as UNICEF Ambassador in Egypt since 2017, adding: I am delighted to continue to work with UNICEF to advocate for childrens rights across the region.

Speaking on behalf of UNICEF in various children protection and empowerment events, Helmy, 52, took part in a field visit to Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan in 2018, where he met with Syrian children and families.

Actor Ahmed Helmy is no stranger to the UNICEF family, stated Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Regional Director for MENA, expressing gratefulness for all of his substantial contributions in raising awareness on important issues, including positive parenting, early childhood development, and campaigns against bullying.

We look forward to Helmy continuing this important work at a regional level, Chaiban added.

In 2018, Helmy and his spouse Mona Zaki, a star actress who also serves as UNICEFs Ambassador in Egypt, were the main advocates of Egypts first national anti-bullying campaign.

Helmy is one of the most popular artists of his generation in the region, starring over 25 successful feature films, in addition to his writing and art works, as well as his judging rules in a commercial talent show.

Frequently a producer and a director, Ahmed Helmys fan-base reaches over 40 million followers on different social media platforms.

Starting his career on television with the programme Laab Eyal (Kids Games), the 1993 High Institute for Theatre Art graduate debuted in cinema through Sherif Arafas film Aboud Ala Al-Hedoud in 1999.

Working in 190 countries and territories, UNICEFs mission is to promote the rights and wellbeing of every child, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded ones.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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Five months before the anticipated inaugural edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival, a two-day event titled Saudi Cinema Nights will be hosted in Saudi Arabias coastal city of Jeddah on 16 and 17 June, hosting a number of feature and short films by some of the Islamic kingdoms filmmakers.

Saudi Cinema Nights will open on Wednesday with an Arab premiere and panel discussions of director Mohammed Al-Holayyils 40 Years and One Night (2020); a tense family drama which celebrated its world premiere at Malmo Arab Film Festival after it was awarded the Red Sea International Film Festival Tamheed award in 2020.

One day later; audiences will attend the world premier of Wael Abu Mansours Carnaval City (2021), in the presence of the directors and cast members. Starring Mohammed Salama, Nada Al-Mojadedi, Naif Al-Dufairi, Abdulelah Al-Qurashi, Sarah Taibah, among others. The film revolves around the desert road journey of the characters Masoud and Salma where they have no destination and no plans to return.

A number of acclaimed Saudi short films will be also screening on Thursday, including Husam Al-Sayeds And When Do I Sleep? (2020), Hisham Fadel Ongoing Lullaby (2020), Sarah Mesfers The Girls Who Burned the Night (2020), and Mohammed Al-Hamouds Goin South (2019).

The two-day public programme brings together filmmakers, the film industry, and film lovers from across the kingdom in Jeddah, the home of the Red Sea Film Foundation, for a celebration of the most exciting emerging voices in the Saudi film scene, reads a statement on the festivals website.

Rescheduled due to the pandemic; last month, the Red Sea International Film Festival called for submissions to its first edition, scheduled for November in Jeddah, inviting filmmakers from Asia and Africa, including the Arab world.

With submissions open until mid-August, among various categories announced are special competitions for Saudi filmmakers that include funds for projects under development.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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KYODO NEWS - Jun 7, 2021 - 17:31 | All, Japan

A South Korean district court on Monday dismissed a wartime labor compensation lawsuit brought by a group of Koreans against 16 Japanese companies including Nippon Steel Corp. and Mitsubishi Materials Corp.

The Seoul Central District Court said that while the plaintiffs have not lost their right to claims as individuals under a 1965 bilateral accord under which Japan provided grants and loans to South Korea, such a right cannot be exercised through lawsuits.

South Korean Supreme Court rulings in 2018 had ordered Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to compensate South Korean plaintiffs for forced labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

The top court had said then that the right of individuals to claim damages was not terminated by the accord, which stipulates that issues relating to property and claims between the two countries and their peoples have been settled "completely and finally."

"We cannot say that an individual's right to claims completely expired under the agreement but it is right to interpret that a South Korean national is limited in exercising it against Japan or a Japanese national," the Seoul court said in a statement.

According to the court, a total of 85 plaintiffs consisting of former Japanese wartime laborers and their bereaved family members filed the lawsuit in May 2015, demanding a combined 8.6 billion won ($7.74 million) in damages.

A lawyer who supports the plaintiffs said Monday that the court's ruling was unjust as it went against the higher court's decision, and that an appeal would be filed immediately.

Among the other firms named as defendants in the case were Nishimatsu Construction Co., Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. and Sumiseki Materials Co.

Ties between South Korea and Japan have soured since the 2018 South Korean Supreme Court rulings, with court proceedings under way to sell off the Japanese companies' assets in South Korea to compensate the plaintiffs.

In Tokyo, Japan's top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, said the country will continue to closely watch developments regarding each lawsuit.

"Currently, Japan-South Korea relations are in a dire situation," Kato said. "We think it is important for South Korea to responsibly work toward resolving outstanding issues between the two countries and we are paying close attention to (whether there will be) specific proposals (from Seoul) to that end."

The lawsuit in question was originally brought against 17 Japanese companies, but one of them, a construction company, was dropped from the suit last month.

The case languished in the court for years as the Japanese defendants refused to accept court papers. But in March, the court posted relevant information on its website in a process known as notification by public announcement, allowing the case to proceed.

May 28 was the case's first hearing.

The court had scheduled the ruling for Thursday, but notified parties in the case earlier Monday that the ruling date had been moved up.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Monday it respects both the Seoul court's ruling and the plaintiffs' rights, and will continue consulting with Japan to discuss rational solutions that both governments and all the parties concerned can accept.

Japan has maintained the position that the 1965 bilateral agreement settled all claims related to its 35-year colonial rule of the peninsula.

Related coverage:

Japan, South Korea unlikely to hold summit on fringes of G-7 meeting

South Korea expresses hope for holding summit with Japan to improve ties

Ex-"comfort women" appeal South Korea court's dismissal of case
KYODO NEWS - Jun 7, 2021 - 21:33 | World, All, Coronavirus

Taiwan will extend its coronavirus restrictions for another two weeks with more prevention measures as the island continues to grapple with a sudden spike in cases, the Cabinet announced Monday.

The current Level 3 epidemic alert, one level short of a full lockdown, will remain in place until June 28, Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng said, adding that all schools will remain closed until the summer vacation as the current outbreak has yet to stabilize.

Since the capital Taipei and New Taipei City raised their epidemic alert to Level 3 on May 15, the island has continued to see hundreds of new cases each day.

As of Monday, the total number of confirmed cases was 11,491, including 286 deaths.

The Level 3 alert was issued for all of Taiwan on May 19.

Under the heightened state of alert, all schools, public places and religious venues have been closed, while restaurants can only do take-outs.

Wearing masks outdoors is mandatory, while gatherings of more than five people indoors or 10 people outdoors are prohibited.

More measures were announced Monday, such as strengthening the cleaning and disinfection of public areas and mass transportation systems. Businesses are encouraged to let employees work from home or with flexible schedules.

As the three-day holiday of the Dragon Boat Festival will begin on Saturday, President Tsai Ing-wen also urged the public to cancel their return-home tickets and stay home to avoid cluster infections.

Related coverage:

U.S. to donate 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan

Japan to give 1.24 mil. COVID vaccine doses to Taiwan Fri.

Taiwan continues to see triple-digit new COVID infection cases
South Africa: Teacher vaccination 101

Teachers and non-teaching staff above the age of 40 are next in line to be vaccinated.

While vaccination is voluntary, the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA), together with other teacher unions, has urged all eligible education sector staff to embrace this opportunity to be vaccinated.

The long-awaited Johnson & Johnson vaccine suffered some setbacks in the United States after contamination problems at a COVID-19 vaccine plant in Baltimore, which has had a knock-on effect locally.

The J&J vaccine became contaminated with part of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which is also produced at the plant.

The South African government is still awaiting an announcement by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on the manufacturing conditions at the United State factory, which froze the global release of doses of the J&J vaccine.

Were eagerly waiting for this to be sorted out so that we can start receiving the two million doses, which are ready for dispatch from the Aspen plant in Gqeberha.

Theyve been waiting for the go-ahead from their mother company in the US, said Deputy Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, last week, who was keen for the matter to be resolved soon.

NAPTOSA has since welcomed the additional J&J vaccine doses that have been secured for the education sector.

According to NAPTOSAs Executive Director, Basil Manuel, the Director-General of the Department of Basic Education (DBE) confirmed this at a meeting with the unions on Friday, 4 June 2021.

Manual said the doses were initially expected to arrive on Friday last week, undergo testing on Monday, with vaccination to commence on Wednesday, 9 June 2021.

However, according to independent media organisation, Bhekisisa, if the consignment of half a million J&J doses is cleared by the FDA, it will only arrive in South Africa by mid to late next week, with an expiry date of 28 June because this is the only stock available.

The shots would therefore have to be used within a couple of weeks, the publication said.

Bhekisisa quoted Nicholas Crisp, the Health Department Deputy Director-General, who said the Department of Basic Education (DBE) provided his department with staff numbers around 500 000, who need to be vaccinated, which matches up with the supply.

Most importantly, they came up with a fast-moving mass vaccination plan for the staff at schools, which involved them driving employees to central points in districts, Crisp told Bhekisisa.

KZN ready to vaccinate educators

The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, meanwhile, has said it is planning to open an additional 21 new vaccination sites, as the country gears up to inoculate teachers.

According to the provincial government, KwaZulu-Natal will receive 110 400 out of the 500 000 J&J vaccine doses.

According to KwaZulu-Natal, management in their respective districts and circuits will guide educators regarding which sites to visit to be vaccinated.

Some districts will open new sites, where sites dont already exist, while others will have to designate their existing sites accordingly to accommodate the teachers, the province said.

The provincial government is also exploring the possibility of opening the centres at weekends because teachers work during the week.

This how vaccination of teachers will work

According to NAPTOSA, a National Task Team, consisting of senior managers of DBE and the Department of Health (DOH), which will coordinate and guide the education sector vaccination has been established.

DBE will provide the data to DOH of all the targeted employees for registration on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS).

Registration will be automatic. DOH will communicate and confirm the vaccination schedules per school and district.

All employees will be allocated sites and dates for vaccination. The sites are yet to be finalised.

Public sector schools will be vaccinated first. Thereafter, the independent school sector will be included.

The beneficiaries will include all the teaching and non-teaching staff in the public sector, inclusive of school governing bodies funded personnel and staff of teacher unions.

Personnel, who are above the age of 40, will be vaccinated first.

PERSAL data will be used to register employees on the EVDS.

DBE will submit the PERSAL data to the DOH and therefore, the beneficiaries will not be required to register.

Non-PERSAL staff will have their information obtained from relevant data sources.

Employees will be requested to produce their identity document at the vaccination site.

Employees on medical aid will also be required to provide information on the medical aid scheme. The money will be claimed from the Medical Aid Schemes at a later stage.

The DBE will engage with stakeholders on the vaccination process and issue a circular to provinces.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-06-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani fielded questions from the public via Daily Nation.

In the Sh3.66 trillion FY 2021/22 budget estimates, the Big Four Agenda items have been allocated Sh135 billion. The post-Covid-19 economic recovery (fiscal stimulus) strategy is also not prominent. What does this mean to Kenyas recovery from your assessment?  Davis Basweti Ombane, Juja

The government has mainstreamed the post covid-19 economic recovery strategy and will be rolling it out soon. The fundamental pillar of the strategy is sound macro-economic management.

The other key pillars are accelerated growth in private sector investment; enhanced allocation to strengthen health care systems; supporting the recovery and growth of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); full implementation of the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP); up-scaling investment in ICT and digital infrastructure; facilitating clean, green and resilient growth; enhancing resilience of the economy to global economic shocks; and better disaster preparedness and management. In addition, the government will pay attention to governance, inequality, social cohesion, gender, youth, regional integration and international cooperation.

These pillars have received significant focus and allocation in the FY 2021/22 budget estimates.

With regards to the Post Covid-19 Economic Stimulus Programme (PC-ESP), the government has allocated Sh26.6 billion as follows: Sh8.6 billion to enhance business liquidity; Sh6.4 billion to improve education outcomes; Sh7.4 billion to improve environment, water and sanitation facilities; Sh1.97 billion to improve agriculture and food security; Sh1.2 billion to recruit health interns; and Sh1 billion for the Kenya Wildlife Services to engage community scouts.

Also note that the government is committed to providing an enabling environment to the private sector, which remains the driver and engine of economic growth.

It is over a year now since the president announced the governments plan to assist SMEs with soft loans through seven selected banks. Can you assure us that the same is being implemented as promised?  Francis N Mwangi, Kariobangi South

We are implementing various initiatives to advance credit to MSMEs. In particular, the State Department for Industrialisation, through the Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE), is offering credit to MSMEs in the manufacturing sector.

Additionally, through the ESP, we are implementing components to de-risk lending to MSMEs by operationalising the Credit Guarantee Scheme whose budgetary provision in the FY 2020/21 was Sh3 billion.

However, the implementation of the scheme was delayed by the lack of an enabling legal framework, which then occasioned the amendment of the Public Finance Management Act to empower the Treasury Cabinet Secretary to establish the Credit Guarantee Scheme, alongside the regulations prescribing the operations of the scheme.

With these now in place, Treasury has since rolled out the Scheme through the execution of Credit Guarantee Scheme agreements with seven commercial banks that were competitively selected.

Finally, through the post Covid-19 economic recovery strategy, the government will enhance the implementation of the MSMEs Credit Guarantee Scheme, capacity building programmes and ICT platforms to improve productivity and competitiveness.

Vaccinating a majority of the population holds the key to economic recovery. However, Treasury does not seem to appreciate this and at some point, the Nation Assemblys Budget and Appropriations Committee was dismayed that Treasury had not allocated any money for vaccines. How could this happen? How much are you allocating to vaccines?  Bernice Waswa, Eldoret

Treasury, and indeed the entire government, recognises that vaccinating a majority of the population is key to our economic recovery efforts. Kenya began vaccinating against Covid-19 in early March 2021. The vaccination programme relies in part on vaccines obtained via the Covax Initiative, which over time is expected to provide vaccines sufficient to cover 20 percent of the population.

The government plans to procure vaccines to inoculate an additional 40 percent of the population in three phases stretching to mid-2023.

The vaccination programme is being fast-tracked, with the national target being raised from the initial 30 percent of the population by 2023 to 60 percent within the same period, even as supply constraints are addressed and the list of vaccines is broadened to include the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The government set aside Sh7.6 billion in FY 2020/21 for the purchase of vaccines. This amount has been included in the Second Supplementary Budget for FY 2020/21, which will soon be tabled in Parliament. Treasury will provide an additional Sh14 billion for vaccines in FY 2021/22.

Experts say the proportion of Kenyas budget allocated to debt payment and recurrent expenditure leaves little room to spend on development, requiring more borrowing. What is your view on this?  John Juma

Kenyas debt remains sustainable and we have not defaulted on any of our obligations. Our capacity and commitment to servicing our debt has been impressive, which explains why Kenya was not part of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the relief we offered to Kenyans affected our domestic revenue collection and reduced our exports, thus affecting some of our debt sustainability indicators. Due to the ongoing vaccination and other control measures, we are optimistic that the negative effects of the pandemic will be contained and lead to improved revenue collection.

It is worthwhile to note that the debt being serviced was used to finance the development or capital projects such as roads, water and sanitation projects, power generation and distribution and health care facilities.

Reduced revenue mobilisation due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to safeguard critical recurrent expenditures and debt servicing explain lower spending on development. However, over the medium term, development expenditure is expected to increase as the economy recovers. Kenyas development partners have proposed cost-cutting measures to stabilise the countrys economy that will include downsizing of the public service to tame the ballooning public wage bill. Going by the experience of the Structural Adjustment Programme of the 90s, do you think this is the best approach after we have witnessed massive job losses due to Covid-19?  Dan Murugu, Nakuru

We recognise that unsustainable growth in the public sector wage bill limits the ability of the government to fund critical services. In view of this, the government has instituted various administrative reforms to contain and manage the wage bill, including ongoing efforts by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to harmonise salaries.

These efforts continue to bear fruit. In the last five years, the national government wages (civil service, teachers, police and prison officers) have averaged 4.5 percent of GDP and this is expected to drop to about 4 percent by the end FY 2022/23.

The government has not adopted any policy regarding downsizing of the public service and we are not aware of any such plans. However, all new recruitments will be controlled and where possible, limited to health, education and security sectors.

Considering the debt repayment burden and the struggle to collect enough revenue, can you please answer this question honestly and directly: Is the government broke?  John Ouma, Nairobi

I wish to assure the general public that the government is not broke. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down economic activities, not only in Kenya but globally.

This has a direct impact on the governments ability to generate additional resources to fund our priorities.
KYODO NEWS - Jun 7, 2021 - 07:01 | All, Japan

A Japanese researcher has found official U.S. documents detailing how the American military scattered the cremated remains of Japan's wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and six other executed Class-A war criminals in the Pacific Ocean, shedding light on decades of mystery over their whereabouts.

The declassified documents, discovered by Hiroaki Takazawa, associate professor at Nihon University College of Industrial Technology, at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, contain a statement that a U.S. Army major "personally scattered the cremated remains" of the criminals over the Pacific Ocean.

It is the first time that details over the final disposition of the Class-A criminals' remains were found in official documents. While speculation and hearsay have circulated that their remains were scattered in the Pacific Ocean or Tokyo Bay, there had never been any official documents to back the claims.

Tojo was among 28 Class-A war criminals comprising Japanese political and military leaders who were indicted for crimes against peace after World War II, and seven, including the former premier, were hanged.

Major Luther Frierson wrote in one of the documents by the Eighth Army dated Jan. 4, 1949, that the paper is "a detailed account of the activities of the undersigned in connection with the execution and final disposition of remains of seven war criminals executed 23 December 1948."

Frierson was present at the scene of the execution of the criminals after midnight on Dec. 22, 1948, at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo, according to the document. A truck carrying the bodies departed the prison at 2:10 a.m. on Dec. 23 and arrived at the area occupied by the U.S. military's 108th Quartermaster Graves Registration Platoon in Yokohama at 3:40 a.m.

At 7:25 a.m., the truck left the area arriving at a crematorium in Yokohama 30 minutes later. The bodies were moved directly from the truck into the incinerators by 8:05 a.m.

After the cremation, the remains were placed in separate urns and transported to the Eighth Army Liaison Air Strip and put aboard a liaison plane piloted by one of the Eighth Army pilots, with Frierson as a passenger.

"We proceeded to a point approximately 30 miles over the Pacific Ocean east of Yokohama where I personally scattered the cremated remains over a wide area," Frierson wrote in the document.

According to the Yokohama municipal government, the airstrip was located two kilometers from the crematorium.

The document indicates that the dispersion of the remains occurred on the day of the execution, but it did not specify the exact location or time of the scattering.

"If the remains were returned to nature, that is better than being abandoned somewhere else," said Hidetoshi Tojo, 48, great-grandchild of the executed former prime minister.

"I had no idea (what happened to the remains) as there was somehow no talk about it," he said. "It is disappointing that we cannot pinpoint the location in the Pacific. It was made difficult to know the exact location by scattering them in the sea, and it is my understanding that the U.S. military was making a thorough effort to ensure that they not be deified."

Yoshinobu Higurashi, professor at Teikyo University, said the U.S. military scattered the remains in the ocean to prevent the deification of war criminals just as the remains of executed criminals of Nazi Germany convicted at the Nuremberg trials were dispersed in a river.

"The discovered documents are highly significant for writing in detail about how the remains of the executed Class-A war criminals were disposed of," he said.

Regarding the disposals of the remains, William Sebald, chief of the Diplomatic Section at the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers, which occupied Japan after the war, wrote in his book that the cremated remains would be scattered as their graves could have been deified. Sebald was also present at the executions of the Class-A war criminals.
KYODO NEWS - Jun 7, 2021 - 23:17 | All, Japan

Japan is considering maintaining the current order of imperial succession, with the discussion on whether female monarchs will be allowed to ascend the throne to be held in the future, government sources said Monday.

The Japanese government's advisory panel on the issue, chaired by former Keio University President Atsushi Seike, heard from a total of 21 experts from various fields in six meetings from March 23 through Monday, but few were of the opinion that the current order should be changed immediately.

Currently, the three heirs in line to succeed 61-year-old Emperor Naruhito are his brother Crown Prince Fumihito, 55, his nephew Prince Hisahito, 14, and his uncle Prince Hitachi, 85.

The government will present its findings to parliament next month at the earliest, aiming to reach a conclusion reflective of the experts' views by this fall.

The results of meetings will be organized into key points including positions on female or matrilineal imperial members in the line of succession, the current rule requiring women marrying commoners to abandon their imperial status, and adoption of male heirs from former branches of the imperial family.

As the government believes the issue should be discussed "in a quiet environment," it is unlikely to reach a conclusion before the next lower house election to be held by October to avoid turning it into a point of debate.

The imperial family has been shrinking under the 1947 Imperial House Law, which limits heirs to a male who has an emperor on his father's side. The emperor and Empress Masako's only child is a daughter, Princess Aiko, 19.

Over 60 percent of the 21 experts consulted were in favor, or conditionally in favor, of expanding the current patrilineal male-only imperial succession to women. The 21 experts included eight women.

In the last of the expert meetings on Monday, novelist Risa Wataya said it is with the times to welcome patrilineal imperial succession by women, but expressed more conservative views regarding an emperor descending from the maternal line.

Machiko Satonaka, a manga artist known for depicting female monarchs in her works, agreed it is natural for women from the paternal line to be eligible to succeed the throne.

But Hisashi Matsumoto, a professor of Shinto studies at Kokugakuin University, objected to the idea, saying, "We should refrain from lightly changing rules that are based on historical circumstances," and called matrilineal inheritance "unthinkable."

The six-person government panel, which was formed amid mounting concern over the dwindling number of imperial family members, will hold its seventh meeting on June 16 to discuss the views collected from experts.
KYODO NEWS - Jun 7, 2021 - 17:10 | All, Japan

A Russian crew member was arrested Monday over the deaths of three men aboard a Japanese fishing boat that capsized after colliding with a ship he was in charge of near Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido in late May, the local coast guard said.

Pavel Dobrianskii, 38, was in charge of the 662-ton Russian ship Amur on May 26 at the time of the collision with the Hokko Maru No. 8 crewed by five, according to the Mombetsu Coast Guard Office.

The crew aboard the 9.7-ton Japanese boat, belonging to a fishery cooperative based in Mombetsu, were catching hairy crabs when the collision occurred at around 6 a.m.

The Russian vessel with 23 crew members aboard was transporting seafood to Mombetsu from Sakhalin in the Russian Far East.

Dobrianskii, third officer, was arrested on charges of professional negligence resulting in death as well as endangering traffic due to negligence for allegedly failing to avoid the collision when sailing the Russian vessel through the Sea of Okhotsk off Mombetsu.

The local coast guard did not reveal whether the suspect has admitted to the charges.

The three dead were Masayoshi Numahata, a 64-year-old chief engineer, Shunsuke Konno, 39, and Masatoshi Inoue, 37, both deckhands.

The Hokko Maru crew was quoted by the coast guard as saying they were unable to maneuver the boat away as they were catching crabs by rope and the Russian ship collided into their vessel.

Russian officials have said in a statement that the Japanese vessel did not send a signal amid low visibility due to fog. A dense fog advisory had been issued for the waters off Mombetsu port at the time.

The Asahikawa District Court seized the Russian ship as collateral for compensation on June 2, following the request of the Hokko Maru side.

Related coverage:

Japan protests Russia's impounding of fishing boat, detention of crew

3 Japan fishing boat crew dead after collision with Russian ship
Jaipur:

Concerned over attacks on people transporting cattle in Alwar, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has asked dairy farmers and cattle owners to not ferry bovines in the night hours to avoid any trouble.

The Jamiat leaders, who gathered in Alwar district on Tuesday to discuss the issue, said many dairy farmers and cattle owners from the Mev community transport cattle for dairy farming purpose but get targeted by cow vigilantes or mobs under the impression that the animals were being transported for slaughtering.

"We have advised the dairy farmers and owners of the cattle to prefer transportation of the cattle in day time and not in the night because the chances of attack on them are high due to misunderstanding. It creates trouble and disturbs peace and harmony," Maulana Hakimuddin Qasmi, secretary of the organisation, told PTI over the phone today.

He said that close to 50 leaders of Jamiat and the Mev community were present in the meeting held in Alwar on Tuesday.

"Several incidents have taken place in the Mewat region comprising Alwar and parts of Haryana where those transporting animals were targeted and attacked. There should be no illegal transportation but they should also not be targeted," he said.

He also said that those transporting cattle should also carry valid documents.

Qasmi said to strengthen peace and harmony, both the communities should sit together and ensure that no valid transportation of the cattle is targeted or hampered.

A 55-year-old man from Haryana was attacked and killed by a mob in Alwar earlier this year. Besides, several cases of cow smuggling have been detected in Alwar district in the recent past.

In reaction to a recent incident of alleged cow smuggling in which a smuggler was beaten by locals. A BJP MLA from Ramgarh, Alwar even gave a controversial statement saying anybody who indulges in cow smuggling or cow slaughtering will be killed.

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Mumbai:

A special NIA court, while ordering that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and other accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case will stand trial on terror charges, has said it was accepting the agency's contention that they wanted to establish a "Hindu Rashtra" and the blast was a step towards achieving this goal. Special Judge S D Tekale in the 130-page order, which was made available on Thursday, said there was insufficient material to charge the accused under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The court said that while the accused would not be charged under the MCOCA, they would face trial under sections 16 (committing/organizing a terror act) and 18 (criminal conspiracy) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (causing grievous hurt to others) of Indian Penal Code and under the Explosive Substances Act. Of the 13 accused named by the prosecution, two are still absconding. The court on Wednesday discharged three accused Shyam Sahu, Shivnarayan Kalsangra and Pravin Takkalki  from all the charges levelled against them and said it was accepting the NIA's decision to "absolve them" from the case due to insufficient evidence against them. The court said two accused Rakesh Dhawde and Jagdish Mhatre shall be tried only under the Arms Act before courts in Pune and Thane. "At this prima facie stage, safe conclusion can be drawn from the statement of witness number 184 that in the Bhopal meeting (where the alleged conspiracy was hatched) Prasad Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, and Sudhakar Chaturvedi were present." "There was discussion about growing Jihadi activities in Aurangabad and Malegaon and Purohit expressed his opinion to do something for its prevention by expanding Abhinav Bharat Sanghatna in the said area," the court said. The court said it was accepting the NIA counsel's submission that the accused persons had made conspiracy to establish a 'Hindu Rashtra' and the conspiracy to cause bomb blast was one step towards the objective of the accused. The court used strong words in holding that the prime accused must remain to be charged under sections 16, and 18 of the UAPA for conspiring for and committing a terrorist activity. "The blast took place near a mosque during the holy month of Ramzan. If the place and the timing of the blast is considered at this prima facie stage in the background of available evidence in the form of transcripts (from the conspiracy meetings), witness statements etc., it has to be said that the bomb blast was caused with the intention of threatening the unity of the public by targeting a particular community," it said. "The intention to take revenge against an individual is one thing, but the intention to take revenge against people belonging to a particular religion is another. The latter shows the intention to strike terror among people, or among a certain section of people," it said. The court observed that while his predecessor had discharged all the accused from MCOCA charges in the past, the high court, while hearing an appeal by Maharashtra government, had ordered for MCOCA charges to be reapplied. Also read: Malegaon blast case: Sadhvi Pragya, Purohit not to be charged under MCOCA

"The high court ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court. However, the apex court in its order observed that except accused number 7 (Rakesh Dhawde) there is no material to show that the remaining accused persons had nexus with co-accused or with the crime pertaining to the Jalna and Parbhani cases," the court said in its order. "The apex court had said it would not like to get into the issue of applicability of MCOCA at that stage since NIA investigation was still on. However, now NIA has completed its probe and has come to the conclusion that the charges of MCOCA cannot be applied against the accused in this case," it said. The court noted that Dhawde was shown as an accused in the Jalna and Parbhani blast cases only after his arrest in the Malegaon blast case. During 2003-04, when the Jalna and Parbhani blasts took place, there is no record or material to show that Abhinav Bharat was in existence or that Dhawde was even in touch with the other accused in the Malegaon blast case, it said. "In such circumstances, it cannot be said that the accused persons including Dhawde committed the act in Parbhani and Jalna case as a member or on behalf of a crime syndicate that is Abhinav Bharat," the court said. "In view of all this, I hold that all accused persons are entitled to be discharged from the offences under MCOCA as there is no sufficient ground to proceed against them under the said Act," the court said. Also read: 2008 Malegaon blast case: Accused Sameer Kulkarni gets bail on grounds of parity

The court noted that in all the meetings held, prima facie it appears that Purohit was acting as a leader and chairperson of the meeting and that his superiors in the Army did not have any knowledge of this. The court dismissed NIA's and Sadhvi's claims that the latter had sold her motorbike that was later used to plant the explosive device for the blast. The court said Thakur was still shown as the registered owner of the bike and thus, despite her claims that she had sold it to someone else long before the incident, it was for the Sadhvi to prove that she had no knowledge of where the bike was.

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New Delhi:

A bill to make instant triple talaq illegal and void and awarding a jail term of three years for the husband was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, calling it a "historic day" amid opposition to its introduction by members of different parties, including RJD, AIMIM, BJD and All India Muslim League.

The law is about justice and respect for women and is not about any religion or community, he said, adding that the practice of instant triple has continued despite the Supreme Court order terming it void.

Parliament has to decide whether the victims of triple talaq have fundamental rights or not, he said after some opposition members claimed it violated the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

"It is a historic day. We are making history today," Prasad said.

Also Read: Ravi Shankar says triple talaq law is for women's rights not religion

The proposed law would only be applicable to instant triple talaq or 'talaq-e-biddat' and give power to the victim to approach a magistrate seeking "subsistence allowance" for herself and minor children.

The woman can also seek the custody of her minor children from the magistrate who will take a final call on the issue.

Under the law, instant triple talaq in any form spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS and WhatsApp -- would be bad or illegal and void.

According to the proposed law which would be applicable to the entire country except for Jammu and Kashmir, giving instant talaq would attract a jail term of three years and a fine. It would be a non-bailable offence.

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Lucknow:

A lone Muslim minister in Uttar Pradesh on Friday slammed those supporting triple talaq, arguing that if uttering the word 'nikaah' (wedding) thrice does not solemnise a marriage, how can uttering the word 'talaq' thrice result in divorce.

"My simple question is if saying talaq-talaq-talaq results in divorce, then saying nikaah-nikaah-nikaah should mean that wedding has been solemnised," Waqf and Haj Minister Mohsin Raza said a day after the Lok Sabha passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill by voice vote.

He said going by the same logic, saying namaz-namaz-namaz should mean that prayers have been offered.

"No where it is written that saying talaq thrice will result in divorce. Do you think that by saying roza-roza-roza, my roza will be complete? Roza is a process, which has to be completed. Haj is a process, which has to be undertaken. Just saying Haj-Haj-Haj will not suffice. Similarly, talaq is a process," he told PTI in an interview.

Condemning the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, he said the AIMPLB have made a mockery of things and want to fulfil its vested interests.

He said the AIMPLB can come up with the logic that you need not to go to mosque and say namaz-namaz-namaz. "The AIMPLB should first learn the basic lesson of Sharia," he said.

Mounting attack on opposition parties for opposing the bill, he said, "Opposition should first say on what basis the AIMPLB should have been made a stakeholder while finalising the draft of the bill. The board is simply an NGO. There are many organisations working for social welfare and the AIMPLB is one of them."

Raza also said the AIMPLB is neither 'Shariat' nor the Constitution of India.

"As far as the opposition parties are concerned, they are always eager to take undue advantage of casteist and communal sentiments. They point fingers at us and accuse the BJP of being a communal party. In fact, the remote control of AIMPLB is in the hands of the opposition parties, who have been baffled (by the talaq bill)," the UP minister said.

More than the AIMPLB, it is the opposition parties who are baffled by the anti-triple talaq bill, as they seek the votes of the particular community, and hence they are talking like this, he alleged.

"Please try to think as to why the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to take an initiative and draft a law in this regard at the first place. What was the need to do so? You call Modi as anti-Muslim. If the AIMPLB is a great well- wisher and thinks for the well being of the Muslim community, then it should list the welfare work done for the Muslims since its inception.

"In fact, the AIMPLB in the garb of welfare, talks about exploitation even today. Triple talaq is nothing but exploitation of hapless women," Raza explained.

On whether the provisions of the bill were tantamout to infringement on rights of Muslim men, he said, "The rights of women had been grossly violated. Unlike the AIMPLB, the BJP is of the view of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' and we stand for strengthening Muslim women.

"Muslim women have been dominated for ages by Muslim men. If the AIMPLB was so much concerned for the Muslim society, then why in the 1985 Shah Bano case, when the Supreme Court pronounced a judgement, they (AIMPLB) pressured the then Rajiv Gandhi government and the judgement was ultimately reversed. This resulted in Muslim women facing hardships since 1980s, and the AIMPLB and Congress are responsible for it," he said.

After the Supreme Court gave its judgement, there was political interference, Raza said, adding that it was aimed at deriving political mileage.

"At that time you (AIMPLB) conveniently forgot Shariat," he added.

Hours after the Lok Sabha passed the bill, the AIMPLB voiced serious reservations over its provisions and said it will take steps through democratic means to "amend, improve or scrap" the bill.

"We will take whatever steps required through democratic means to amend, improve or scrap it. There is no move to go to court as of now... The bill was brought in a haste," AIMPLB spokesperson Maulana Khalil-ur-Rehman Sajjad Nomani told PTI.

He said the board should have been taken into confidence on the issue.

However, AIMPLB member Zafaryab Jilani hinted that the board may approach the Supreme Court against the triple talaq bill once it is passed by the Parliament.

The AIMPLB wanted that the triple talaq bill should not be in conflict with either the Constitution, Supreme Court order or Muslim personal law board, he said.

The president of the All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB), Shaista Amber welcomed the tabling of the bill but insisted that it should be in the light of the Quran and the Constitution to make it acceptable to the community.

"We welcome the tabling of the bill and this has given lots of hope to the women as triple talaq is an evil which has been haunting them," she said.

The Shia Waqf Board, on the other hand, called for making the punishment to those indulging in 'triple talaq' more stringent.

"I have urged the Prime Minister through a letter seeking a 10-year jail term to those indulging in triple talaq and lodging a criminal case against them," Shia Waqf Board chief Wasim Rizvi said.

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New Delhi:

A bill making triple talaq or instant divorce a criminal offence for Muslim men passed in Lok Sabha on Thursday with voice vote.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill will ensure gender equality and protect the dignity of Muslim women, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The practice of Triple Talaq is very common in Muslims where a husband can give instant divorce to his wife by saying "talaq" (divorce) three times in any form - spoken, written or electronic.

In August, The Supreme Court had declared Triple Talaq unconstitutional and directed the government to enact a law on the issue.

Also Read | Lok Sabha passes Triple Talaq Bill: Here's timeline of events

Here is all you need to know about the Triple Talaq bill

# The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill makes "any pronouncement of Talaq" by a person in any form  written, spoken or electronic  void and illegal.

# If any Muslim man gives divorce to his wife by pronouncing Talaq (divorce) three time, he shall be sentenced to jail up to three years and a fine shall also be imposed uopon him.

# The proposed law will make Triple Talaq a cognisable offence and a woman will not need to approach court. The police can straightaway arrest the man.

# The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill makes Triple Talaq a non-bailable offence and only court can release the man on bail.

# Under the proposed law, women who are divorced will be entitled to the custody of her children as well as subsistence allowance from husband. The amount of allowance will be decided by the magistrate keeping in mind the income of husband.

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New Delhi:

The World Bank on Thursday committed USD 40 million (about Rs 260 crore) for the development of tourism facilities in Uttar Pradesh.

An agreement for IBRD credit of USD 40 million from the World Bank for the UP Pro-Poor Tourism Development Project was signed on Thursday, a finance ministry statement said.

The five-year programme is worth approximately USD 57.14 million, of which USD 40 million will be financed by the bank, and the remaining amount will be funded out of state budget, it said.

Read: Fire at Mumbai's Kamala Mills Complex: 16 killed, many injured in building fire

The programme is aimed at increase tourism-related benefits for local communities in targeted destinations, it said.

It is expected to have far-reaching social, economic and environmental benefits by targeting local communities and entrepreneurs near some of the main tourist and pilgrimage attractions in Uttar Pradesh, namely, Agra as well as Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana and Govardhan in the Braj region.

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New Delhi:

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday accused External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for blocking him on Twitter for raising the issue of 39 Indians missing in war-torn Iraq.

Bajwa tweeted, Is this the way to run external affairs ministry? Does it behove the office of Sushma Swaraj Ji to block a Member of Parliament for asking tough questions on 39 missing Indians in Iraq? and shared a screenshot that read @SushmaSwaraj blocked you.

Bajwa discovered that Sushma Swaraj has blocked him on twitter when he wanted to tweet her about the grievances of Sikh community in Hangu district of Pakistans Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province where they are allegedly being forced to convert to Islam.

The Punjab Congress president Bajwa has been accusing the Foreign Minister of misleading the House on 39 Indians missing in war-torn Iraq.

Also Read | Iraq PM Haider al-Abadi declares war with Islamic State is over

The 39 Indians, mostly from Punjab, went missing in Iraqs Mosul when the town was attacked by Islamic State terrorists.

The Congress MP had said that Suhsma Swaraj was misleading the nation when she said that 39 Indians were lodged in a jail in Iraqs Badush town but a TV channel reported that the jail was destroyed by the Islamic State.

Recently, Sushma Swaraj has told Lok Sabha that India has taken the DNA samples of family members of the 39 missing Indians and forwarded them to Iraqi officials for matching them with the mortal remains of mass grave found in Mosul, Badush and surrounding areas.

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A love-struck man from Emuhaya, Vihiga County, has professed his love for the First daughter Ngina Kenyatta.

In a strongly-worded open love letter on his social media pages, Shem Beverton Mukalo asks Ngina for her hand in marriage. According to Mukalo, who identifies himself as the son of a cane cutter, Nginas father, President Uhuru Kenyatta would not object to their union.

He promises to take Ngina around the world saying she is a queen that needs a king.

A special woman who needs a man who will truly love her and quell the fire in her being. I swear by my ancestors to be that king who will shower you with unbridled affection. To give your life a sense of meaning and direction. My overriding ambition is to take you down a sun-bathed isle as confetti rains. How glorious would it be for the son of a cane cutter to confound expectations by sliding a golden ring into the finger of the scion of privilege. I have no doubt that your father, President Uhuru Kenyatta, a man with great sense, wont object to our marriage, Shem writes in part.

Read the full letter below.

Dear Ngina Kenyatta,

Receive my warmest greetings from the bowels of Emuhaya, the land that bears the remains of my ancestors and boasts of a long line of great men, as I quaff tea in the comfort of my hut to ward off the chill. I hope you are doing fine ensconced in the regal atmosphere of State House. I am sure the lights at the house on the hill are off, for how can they be on when the glow of your skin can provide adequate illumination? Forgive my puerile impertinence in disturbing your peace by seeking your indulgence this late in the evening, princess.

I am the son of a cane cutter; the latest casualty of your blinding beauty. A beauty that has the ability of uncocking a gun. To behold you is to suffer from desire. You speak as Pavarotti sings. I am under your spell. No woman has been able to fire my imagination and hog my consciousness the way you have. If you have an ounce of poetry in your soul, you can tell already that I am head over heels in love with you.

You are a queen who needs a king. A special woman who needs a man who will truly love her and quell the fire in her being. I swear by my ancestors to be that king who will shower you with unbridled affection. To give your life a sense of meaning and direction. My overriding ambition is to take you down a sun-bathed isle as confetti rains. How glorious would it be for the son of a cane cutter to confound expectations by sliding a golden ring into the finger of the scion of privilege. I have no doubt that your father, President Uhuru Kenyatta, a man with great sense, wont object to our marriage.

I promise to take you around the world. To take you to the Greek island of Mykonos to sample fried lobsters, the pinnacle of that islands cuisine. To take you to Rio De Janeiro to behold the spectacle that is the Christu Redente monument. To take you to Cairo, the home of ancient pyramids; architectural masterpieces bearing the remains of ancient Egyptian kings and queens.

You are a good woman with a heart of emerald unlike the cunning, soul-scarred drama queens, who populate the length and breadth of our beloved country from Nairobi to Kirinyaga, and who thrive in breaking hearts. A gentle soul. The epitome of moral rectitude and innocence. You are incapable of hurting a fly let alone breaking the heart of the son of a cane cutter. Cursed are those who think you are capable of subjecting me to the melancholy of unrequited love.

I love you with every fibre of my being, my princess . Grant me the chance to demonstrate my love for you. Tell me what it will take to conquer your heart because I am willing to go the whole hog, to shed the last drop of my blood in that blessed endeavor. It is my hope that you will spare me the agony of waiting by responding to my romantic overtures.

Yours lovingly,

Shem Beverton Mukalo, the cane cutters son
New Delhi:

The Triple Talaq Bill criminalising the practise of Talaq-e-Biddat was on Thursday passed by the Lok Sabha after an intense debate. The bill was tabled by the Narendra Modi-led NDA government in the parliament on Thursday morning.

The Triple Talaq Bill will now be sent to the Rajya Sabha for consideration and passage, where the NDA does not enjoy a majority. The Triple Talaq Bill was passed after voting in Lok Sabha.

The bill was passed after the House rejected a string of amendments moved by various opposition members. MPs from the AIMIM, RJD, AIADMK, All India Muslim League and BJD opposed the bill, calling it arbitrary in nature and a faulty proposal.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress did not oppose the bill. However, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge suggested the bill should be sent to standing committee as it has certain loopholes.

The Bill was tabled in the parliament by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who said it is about womans honour and not religion.

Also read: Also read: SC judgment on Triple Talaq: Petitioners, defenders, bench and arguments - all you need to know about controversial case

Earlier in the day, Prasad had said in parliament that the bill proposes to declare pronouncement of Talaq-e-Biddat (Triple Talaq) by Muslim husbands void and illegal in view of the Supreme Court verdict.

The bill also proposes that a victim of instant divorce can seek custody of her minor children and ask for maintenance from her husband by approaching a magistrate after registering a complaint with police.

Also read: SC declares instant triple talaq unconstitutional, illegal, void; says it is against basic tenets of Quran

Triple talaq in any form including spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS or WhatsApp would be banned.

Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet on December 15 had cleared the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017.

The NDA government prepared the draft law in the backdrop of the August 22 landmark verdict of the Supreme Court. The top court said in the ruling that the practice of Muslim men uttering "talaq" three times for an instant divorce is unconstitutional.

The draft Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill was prepared by an inter-ministerial group headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Other members part of the group were External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and his junior in the ministry P P Chaudhary.

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New Delhi:

The government is engaged with China on the issue of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra via the Nathu La route which was not undertaken this year in the aftermath of the military face-off between India and China.

The issue was also raised by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during a meeting here a fortnight ago, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

"The Kailash Manasarovar Yatra via the Nathu La route was not undertaken in 2017 after the Chinese government cited unfavourable conditions to ensure the safe and smooth conduct of the yatra on this route," Singh said.

"The government of India is engaged with the Chinese government on this matter. The EAM also raised the issue with Chinese foreign minister during his visit to India en early December 2017," he also said.

The Doklam standoff began on June 16 after the Indian troops intervened and stopped the Chinese Army from building a road in the area claimed by Bhutan as it posed a security risk to Chicken Neck, the narrow corridor connecting India with its north-eastern states.

In the backdrop of the face-off, China had stopped Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage through the Nathu La pass, demanding that India withdraw its troops from Doklam.

Finally, the two armies "disengaged" on August 28.

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New Delhi:

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Bill that makes Triple Talaq or instant divorce illegal with jail up to three years. The bill was passed after the House rejected a string of amendments moved by various opposition members.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill would only be applicable on triple talaq or Talaq-e-Biddat.

The Bill gives power to the victim to approach a magistrate seeking subsistence allowance for herself and also seek custody of her minor children.

Triple Talaq Bill: Here's a timeline of events

# December 28, 2017: Bill to criminalise triple talaq passed in Lok Sabha.

# December 28, 2017: Narendra Modi-led NDA government tabled triple talaq in parliament.

# December 15, 2017: BJP-led NDA government approved a draft law under which the practice of triple talaq was made illegal.

# August 22, 2017: The Supreme Court held triple talaq practice unconstitutional.

# August 15, 2017: PM Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech applauded Muslim women for staging protest against the age-old practice.

# May 18, 2017: Supreme Court reserves verdict.

# May 17, 2017: Supreme Court asks the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) if Muslim woman can be given an option of dismissing triple talaq at the time of nikahnama or Islamic marriage contract.

# May 16, 2017: AIMPLB says triple talaq is a matter of faith and is 1,400-year-old practice.

# May 15, 2017: Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi tells Supreme Court that the Centre was willing to bring in a law to regulate marriage and divorce among Muslims if the practice is declared unconstitutional.

# May 12, 2017: The Supreme Court says triple talaq practice is the worst and not desirable form of dissolution of marriages.

# April 16, 2017: PM Modi says Muslim women should get justice.

# March 27, 2017: AIMPLB tells Supreme Court that religious issues should not be touched by court.

# February 16, 2016: Supreme Court says a five-judge constitution bench would be set up to hear and decide the challenge on 'triple talaq', 'nikah halala' and polygamy.

# December 9, 2016: The Allahabad High Court says that personal laws can't be above than constitutional rights.

# October 7, 2016: Centre opposes triple talaq hearing in Supreme Court.

# March 28, 2016: Supreme Court asks centre to file a copy of panel report on 'Women and the law: An assessment of family laws with focus on laws relating to marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance and succession'. SC also impleads various organisations, including the AIMPLB, as parties in the suo motu matter.

# February 5, 2016: Supreme Court asks Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to assist it on the pleas challenging constitutional validity of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy.

# October 16, 2015: Supreme Court bench asks Chief Justice of India to setup an appropriate bench to examine if Muslim women face gender discrimination in cases of divorce while dealing with a case of Hindu succession.

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New Delhi:

The Historic triple talaq (instant divorce) bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha (lower house of the parliament) on Thursday after rejecting a string of amendments by the opposition.

MPs from the RJD, AIMIM, BJD, AIADMK and All India Muslim League opposed the bill, calling it arbitrary in nature and a faulty proposal.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill would only be applicable on instant triple talaq or 'talaq-e- biddat'. It gives power to the victim to approach a magistrate seeking "subsistence allowance" for herself and minor children. A victim can also seek the custody of her minor children from the magistrate.



Under the law, instant triple talaq in any form spoken, in writing or by electronic means such as email, SMS and WhatsApp would be illegal and void.

Let us take a look which politician from across the spectrum have spoken out about the raging issue.

It is a progressive bill,all parties support it. But they were certain reservations, wanted certain amendments, that is why we insisted it should be should be referred to the Standing Committee but they were in a hurry to pass the bill: M Kharge, Congress on #TripleTalaqBill pic.twitter.com/2QGw266I5O  ANI (@ANI) December 28, 2017

SC banned #TripleTalaq because it believed that a couple should get time for reconciliation.With this bill,offence will be now a non-bailable offence,there'll be no chance of reconciliation.I mvd an amendment over compensation for Muslim women frm govt,it was negated: S Dev, Cong pic.twitter.com/rTt3qJJusF  ANI (@ANI) December 28, 2017

Its a historic day, we are confident that it will be passed in Rajya Sabha as well: Home Minister Rajnath Singh #TripleTalaqBill pic.twitter.com/4Br0yBDpIO  ANI (@ANI) December 28, 2017

#TripleTalaqBill bill not give justice to Muslim women but will lead to more injustice: Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM on Triple Talaq bill passed in Lok Sabha pic.twitter.com/sy4URuWtMq  ANI (@ANI) December 28, 2017

This is a victory for Muslim women. They have fought for this for long. This will act as a deterrence: Noorjahan, #TripleTalaq victim on Triple Talaq bill passed in Lok Sabha #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/IduD6ZQTGh  ANI (@ANI) December 28, 2017

"TripleTalaqBill is a historic step towards ensuring dignity for Muslim women. I thank all fellow Parliamentarians who have supported this bill, which will bring a new era of hope and respect in the lives of Muslim women," says BJP President Amit Shah.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi:

Kulbhushan Jadhavs wife and mother were made to look like widows as they were forced to remove their mangalsutra, bindi and bangles when they met him in Islamabad, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said while making a statement in Parliament on the way the family was treated by Pakistan.



"Avanti Jadhav choked up as she told me the first question her son asked was - how is Baba (father)? Because looking at me like this, he feared something bad had happened," Sushma said in a moving and hard-hitting statement in the Rajya Sabha.



The emotional reunion of a "mother with her son and a wife with her husband" after 22 months was used by Pakistan as a propaganda tool, she said.



"There was violation after violation of human rights. There was no humanity in the gesture. Pakistan should be condemned in the strongest words for this behaviour," said Sushma.

The Pakistanis forced Jadhavs mother and wife Chetankul to change clothes in the name of security, she added. "His mother, who wears only saris, was forced to wear a salwar kameez," Swaraj said as cries of "shame" echoed across the house.



"His mother told me she told the Pakistani officials she had never removed the mangalsutra, the symbol of her marriage...but they said nothing doing. This is the height of be-adabi (misbehavior)."

ALSO READ | Parliament highlights: Sushma says Pak let journalists heckle, hassle Jadhav's kin

Swaraj said it was "absurdity beyond measure" when Chetankul Jadhavs shoes were taken and not returned.

Her shoes were taken, and she was given a chappal. She was not given her shoes back. We were right in suspecting mischief ...they keep saying there was a camera or chip or recorder in the shoes. The same shoes were accepted by two airlines - Air India and Emirates," she said.

The minister said according to the family, Jadhav "looked tense and appeared to be talking under pressure". "It was clear that he was tutored...his manner of speaking and behavior showed he was not in good health, she added.

Jadhav met his family for the first time since his arrest by Pakistan last year, but behind a glass screen, and spoke through intercom. The family was not allowed to speak in their native Marathi language.

ALSO READ | Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife's shoes had metallic substance, claims Pakistan



Here is what all EAM Susham Swaraj said on Kulbhushan Jadhav in Parliament:

#Thank God they didn't say that there was a bomb in her (#KulbhushanJadhav's wife) shoes! If for security reasons she was made to take off shoes, they should have returned them when she was leaving but no, they had to commit some sort of cruelty



#The meeting was started in absence of the Deputy High Commissioner, if he would have seen how clothes of the family members were changed, he would have registered protest there and then

#It was specifically agreed upon by both sides that media will not be allowed to come close to the family but Pakistani press not only came close to them but also harassed them & hurled taunts at them

#Jadhav Ji's mother who only wears a saree was forced to wear salwar-kurta. Bindi, bangles & mangalsutras of both mother & wife were removed. Both the married women were made to like widows

#mother was not allowed to speak in Marathi, 2 Pakistani officials present in the meeting kept stopping her repeatedly but when she continued, the intercom was switched off

#It was nothing like a humanitarian gesture. Human rights of the family members were violated again & again & an environment of fear was created for them

#Pakistani Journalists harassed and heckled Jadhav's wife and mother

#Pakistani authorities exhibited inhuman behaviour towards Jadhav's mother by telling her to remove her Mangalsutra and Bangles

#We expressed our discontent over how Kulbhushan Jhadav's family was treated in Pakistan

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New Delhi:

"No begging please!" This was Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu's directive to ministers on Friday, asking them not to use the term 'beg' while tabling the listed official papers in the House.

Normally, the ministers say "I beg to lay the papers ... listed against my name in today's order paper."

Naidu had on the opening day of the winter session advised the ministers and members to shed the "imperial mindset" of using "I beg to lay..." the papers in the House.

He had said that instead, they should say "I rise to present the papers listed against my name..."

However, today when Minister of State for Law and Justice P P Chaudhary used the term "beg" while laying papers, Naidu reminded him of the advise.

"No begging please," Naidu told Chaudhary. He said probably Chaudhary was not present when he had made the suggestion earlier and advised him to avoid using the word "I beg" while laying the papers.

"Just rise to say you are laying papers," he told him and added, "it would be good if begging word is avoided."

No minister or member has used the word since Naidu's advise on December 15. Chaudhary took the cue and did not use the word when he was called to lay a different set of papers shortly later.

During the paper tabling process, Naidu also chided members for speaking while seated.

He then went about conducting the Zero Hour as a strict headmaster reminding members not to deviate from their topics.

Mentioning an incident during Question Hour yesterday when B K Hariprasad of Congress used certain phrases, Naidu said he has decided to close the matter after the member met him this morning and said his remarks were made on the spur of the moment and he held the Chair in high esteem.

Incidentally, Hariprasad's remarks find no mention in the official record of the proceedings of yesterday.

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New Delhi:

Born in Bulgarian city of Strumica in 1911, Baba Vanga formerly known as Vangelia Pandeva Dimitrova or Grandmother Vanga was a blind mystic, who conspiracy theorists believe had predicted natural disasters and major global events including 9/11 attack and the rise of ISIS.

Vanga lived an ordinary life until the age of 12 when she, according to folklore, lost her eyesight in a massive tornado.

According to the oral history, she was lost in tornado and found several days later with her eyes sealed in dirt and dust.

She told her family that she experienced her first vision and was blessed with the powers of healing people and predict future.

Soon, her miraculous stories attracted a cult of followers among which one was the Bulgarian tsar Boris III, who even visited her during World War Second.

She later served as an advisor to Bulgarian Communist Party leader.

Also Read | Blind mystic lady's few major prophecies leave the world astonished!

What are Baba Vangas predictions for 2018

The blind mystic Baba Vanga, who died in 1996 left many predictions upto 51st Century, when she believed the world would end.

Baba Vangas major predictions that came true included 2004 Tsunami, destruction of Fukushima nuclear plant, the crisis that 45th President of the United States will bring in the world and her own death.

For 2018, Baba Vanga predicted two major world changing events. According to the predictions Baba Vanga left for 2018, China will become the world's next "super power", taking over from the US and a new form of energy will be discovered on Venus.

Though, China continues to grow rapidly and show great signs of becoming world power but is highly unlikely to take over the US in 2018.

However, the scientists have taken her second prediction seriously and started talking about the viability of the alleged prediction of new form of energy on the second planet of our solar system.

Baba Vangas famous major predictions that came true

Conspiracy theorists believe that before her death, Baba Vanga predicted 9/11 attack at World Trade Centre by saying the American brethren will fall after being attacked by steel birds.

Vanga had also predicted the rise of Islamic State and said that by the 2043, Islamic Caliphate will rule the Europe.

Known as Nostradamus of the Balkans, Baba Vanga had also predicted the assassinations of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Rajeev Gandhi.

It is believed that 85% of her predictions turned out to be true.

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New York:

A fire tore through a Bronx apartment building, killing at least 12 people and leaving four others fighting for their lives in New Yorks deadliest fire in decades, officials said.

The devastating blaze broke out shortly before 7:00 pm (local time) in the 25-apartment building opposite the Bronx Zoo, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the US financial capital.

A one-year-old child was among those killed in the fire on a bitterly cold night with temperatures well below zero, as Red Cross volunteers handed out blankets and set up makeshift shelter in a nearby school.

This will rank as one of the worst losses of life to a fire in many, many years, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters.

This is the worst fire tragedy we have seen in this city in at least a quarter century, he added.

The fire began on the first floor and spread rapidly to all floors of the five-floor building on Prospect Avenue, officials said. The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear.

I am sorry to report 12 New Yorkers are dead, including one child as young as one year old, de Blasio told reporters after fire fighters extinguished the flames.

There are four people critically injured who are fighting for their lives, other serious injuries as well, he added.

Television footage showed fire fighters plucking panicked residents to safety from a fire escape. Two of the dead were discovered in a bath tub full of water, where they had apparently sheltered from the blaze, US media reported.

Fire fighters rescued at least 12 people who will survive but the search of the building continues, and the death toll could rise further, the mayor warned.

This tragedy is, without question, historic in its magnitude. Our hearts go out to every family who lost a loved one here and everyone fighting for their lives, said Fire Department chief Daniel Nigro.

People died on various floors, they range in ages from one to over 50, he added. In a department thats certainly no stranger to tragedy, were shocked at this loss.

It was the second deadly New York residential blaze in less than two weeks. A mother and three children were killed in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn when a fire tore through their home on December 18.

In March 2007, 10 people were killed in another fire in the Bronx that tore through a house that was home to two immigrant families, which had been the worst fire in the city since 1990 apart from the September 11, 2001 attacks that brought down the Twin Towers.

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United Nation:

The UN Security Council on Friday denied international port access to four North Korean ships suspected of carrying or having transported goods banned by international sanctions targeting Pyongyang, diplomats told AFP.

The ban of the four vesselsthe Ul Ji Bong 6, Rung Ra 2, Sam Jong 2 and Rye Song Gang 1 -- was requested by the United States along with measures targeting ships registered in other countries, they said on condition of anonymity.

But China only agreed to target the four North Korean ships, diplomats said, as part of international efforts to curb Pyongyangs missile and nuclear programs.

Only four ships have been accepted for the ban but the procedure remains open to include other vessels in the future, one diplomat said.

The list submitted by the US in December had also included ships flying flags from Belize, China, Hong Kong, Palau and Panama.

In 2017, the Security Council has slapped three sets of sanctions on North Korea: one on August 5 targeting the iron, coal and fishing industries; another set on September 11 aimed at textiles and limiting oil supply; and the most recent on December 22 focused on refined petroleum products.

The US has denounced trafficking of banned goods that allows North Korea to stock up, particularly the transfer of cargo between different ships on the high seas.

Blocking suspected vessels from portsexcept in the case of humanitarian need as determined by the councils sanctions committeeis provided for in the August resolution.

On October 5, the UN had already identified four ships carrying prohibited goods, resulting in a ban on port access that was a first in United Nations history, according to Hugh Griffiths, part of a UN panel of experts monitoring the application of sanctions on Pyongyang.

Those four vessels were registered in the Comoros, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Cambodia and North Korea, and were targeted for the illegal transport of coal, iron and North Korean fish.

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Chandigarh :

Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil) would initiate production of second generation ethanol by utilising crop residues and other biomass as feedstock at village Baoli in Panipat district of Haryana.

The capacity of proposed plant would be 100 kilo litre of ethanol per day, this was informed during a meeting of Haryana Enterprise Promotion Board (HEPB), which was held here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, an official release said.

According to the release, it was informed that IndianOil has proposed to procure over two lakh tonne of rice straw, that is total production of four districts of Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat and Kurukshetra.

This will help in curbing the pollution emission to a significant extent, by utilising the straw as raw material, which currently is being burnt by the farmers resulting in pollution menace every year, especially during winter season, the release said.

It was further informed that this project would also help reduce the effort farmers have to undertake for the burning process as IOCL would be setting up the extensive infrastructure for speedy collection of these straws so that farmers do no miss on crop cycle.

Moreover, it would also add on to the farmers' income as they would be offered a reasonable price for the straw which the oil PSU would procure. This project has a considerable potential to generate direct and indirect employment, it said.

HEPB, meanwhile, today gave approval to offer Gram Panchayat land of village Baoli in Panipat to the company at prevailing market rate.

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Contact:

Kent Donahue

Kent.Donahue@flhealth.gov

407-858-1418

ORLANDO, FL  June 27, 2021 is National HIV Testing Day and the Florida Department of Health in Orange Countys Area 7 HIV/AIDS Program Office, in collaboration with community partners, will host testing events throughout the Central Florida area to encourage individuals to get tested and know their status.

This annual testing day brings awareness to the importance of HIV testing and early diagnosis of HIV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all individuals 1364 years old be tested for HIV at least once during their lifetime, and persons at increased risk for HIV infection be tested at least annually.

According to the CDC 2018 HIV Surveillance Report, the Orlando Metropolitan Area (Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford) ranked fifth in the country for new HIV cases rates. Florida remains a national leader in HIV testing, with over 1,400 registered HIV test sites (including each county health department and community-based organizations) which provide high-quality, confidential testing services at low or no cost. Testing is also available through doctors offices and other health care facilities.

With early diagnosis, individuals can begin appropriate treatment and care resulting in better health outcomes. Studies have shown that providing antiretroviral therapy as early as possible after diagnosis improves a patients health, reduces transmission, and can eventually lead to undetectable HIV viral loads.

Free and confidential HIV testing will be offered at the following locations:

June 25, 2021

Rescue Outreach Mission1701W. 13th Street, Sanford 32771

10:00 a.m.3:30 p.m.

June 26, 2021

Sedanos Supermarket, 5660 Curry Ford Road, Orlando 32812

8:30 a.m.2:00 p.m.

June 27, 2021

Palonzo Williams Park, 225 M. A. Board Street, Apopka 32703

10:00 a.m.3:00 p.m.

June 29, 2021

Provost Park, 400 S. Varr Avenue, Cocoa 32922

1:00 p.m.3:00 p.m.

In addition, the Area 7 Program offers free at-home HIV testing kits. Visit www.talktestcfl.com for more information and to request your kit.

HIV-negative individuals are encouraged to reduce the chance of contracting HIV by using prevention strategies. As part of the Florida Department of Health in Orange Countys (DOH-Orange) strategic efforts to eliminate HIV in Florida, the Department offers Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) medication. For information on the program, clinic hours, and what to expect during your first visit, please call the DOH-Orange STD clinic at 407-723-4170.

PrEP is a once-daily pill that can reduce the chance of acquiring HIV in HIV-negative individuals. PrEP should be used in conjunction with other prevention methods like condoms to reduce the chance of infection. According to the CDC, taking PrEP daily reduces the chance of getting HIV by more than 90 percent. Find a PrEP provider near you with the departments PrEP Providers List.

You can locate HIV counseling, testing and referral sites by visiting www.talktestcfl.com or texting FLHIV to 898211.

For more information, call the Florida HIV/AIDS Hotline at 1-800-FLA-AIDS or 1-800-352-2437; En Espanol, 1-800-545-SIDA; In Creole, 1-800-AIDS-101. To chat with a live counselor at the Florida HIV/AIDS Hotline, visit www.211bigbend.org/flhivaidshotline.

About the Florida Department of Health

The Department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board, works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @HealthyFla. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.
New Delhi :

Ministry of Finance on Friday issued the following statement on Virtual Currencies:

There has been a phenomenal increase in recent times in the price of Virtual Currencies (VCs) including Bitcoin, in India and globally. The VCs dont have any intrinsic value and are not backed by any kind of assets. The price of Bitcoin and other VCs, therefore, is entirely a matter of mere speculation resulting in spurt and volatility in their prices. There is a real and heightened risk of investment bubble of the type seen in Ponzi schemes which can result in sudden and prolonged crash exposing investors, especially retail consumers losing their hard-earned money. Consumers need to be alert and extremely cautious as to avoid getting trapped in such Ponzi schemes. VCs are stored in digital/electronic format, making them vulnerable to hacking, loss of password, malware attack etc. which may also result in permanent loss of money. As transactions of VCs are encrypted they are also likely being used to carry out illegal/subversive activities, such as terror-funding, smuggling, drug trafficking and other money-laundering Acts.

VCs are not backed by Government fiat. These are also not legal tender. Hence, VCs are not currencies. These are also being described as Coins. There is, however, no physical attribute to these coins. Therefore, Virtual Currencies (VCs) are neither currencies nor coins. The Government or Reserve Bank of India has not authorised any VCs as a medium of exchange. Further, the Government or any other regulator in India has not given license to any agency for working as an exchange or any other kind of intermediary for any VC. Persons dealing in them must consider these facts and beware of the risks involved in dealing in VCs.

The users, holders and traders of VCs have already been cautioned three times, in December 2013, February 2017 and, December 2017, by Reserve Bank of India about the potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks that they are exposing themselves to by investing in Bitcoin and/ or other VCs. RBI has also clarified that it has not given any licence/ authorization to any entity/ company to operate such schemes or deal with Bitcoin or any virtual currency. The Government also makes it clear that VCs are not legal tender and such VCs do not have any regulatory permission or protection in India. The investors and other participants, therefore, deal with these VCs entirely at their risk and should best avoid participating therein.

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KABUL: Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani met a visiting United States inter-ministerial delegation led by Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington's Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, here. According to Ghani's Office, the two sides during the meeting on Sunday discussed various issues including expanding cooperation, and maintaining bilateral political, security, defense and economic relations, as per reports.

Concerning the continuation of USD3.3 billion in annual assistance for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), the US delegation conveyed the White House message of supporting the ANDSF as well as supporting Afghanistan in the economic areas Besides Ghani, Khalilzad on Sunday also met the head of High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), Abdullah Abdullah, during which they discussing issues related to the Taliban and Afghanistan's national reconciliation efforts.

Before Khalilzad had embarked on his trip to Kabul, the US State Department said that the "delegation will underscore enduring US support for Afghanistan's development and a political settlement that will end the war". The visit comes over a month after US President Joe Biden announced in April to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan by September 11.

The announcement was followed by concerns about the political future of Afghanistan, TOLO News reported. The US forces have handed some bases to Afghan forces, including the New Kabul Compound, known as NKC, in Kabul.

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Authorities in China's Guangzhou have asked residents not to leave the city unless absolutely necessary in the wake of a Covid-19 resurgence. The city's headquarters on Covid-19 control and prevention also said that starting from Monday, those leaving Guangzhou must provide a negative nucleic acid testing result within 48 hours before departure, reports Xinhua news agency.

Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou is the capital city, on Saturday registered seven locally transmitted coronavirus cases and three locally transmitted asymptomatic infections. The provincial health commission said on Sunday that all of the confirmed and asymptomatic cases were reported in Guangzhou. According to the authorities, they entered Guangdong from Bangladesh, Cambodia, France, Canada, Cameroon and India.

On Saturday, Guangzhou expanded its latest nucleic acid testing drive to cover all residents, after another four districts announced the launch of all-inclusive tests. Since the pandemic originated in Wuhan city of Hubei province in December 2019, China has so far reported 91,248 confirmed coronavirus cases and 4,636 deaths.

The city has reported a total of 94 infections, including 80 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 14 asymptomatic carriers in the latest resurgence which started on May 21.

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Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in a statement the China-ASEAN foreign ministers meeting, in the city of Chongqing, would mark the 30-year anniversary of relations and also focus on combating COVID-19, promoting economic recovery, [and] better dovetail[ing] strategic plans. A vaccine passport connecting China and ASEAN countries is also being discussed.

China is hosting foreign ministers from the 10 ASEAN countries on Monday and Tuesday, with Beijing pushing for closer economic cooperation and aligning COVID-19 recovery efforts even as it looks to push back against the recent regional outreach of the Quad grouping.

Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi will hold bilateral meetings with all the visiting ministers, and also chair a meeting of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Deepening economic cooperation, particularly following the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal, would be Chinas focus, analysts in Beijing said, even as it grapples with disputes over the South China Sea. Recently, China and the Philippines have clashed over the presence of Chinese vessels near a disputed reef, while Malaysia alleged the intrusion of 16 Chinese aircraft into its airspace.

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Hyderabad: Heroin worth Rs 214 crore has been seized from hyderabad and delhi's IGI airports in three separate cases. This success has been achieved by the customs department. The Revenue Intelligence Department (DRI) recovered 3.9 kg of heroin from a Ugandan woman from hyderabad's RGI airport, which is said to be worth about Rs 250 million. This woman had hidden heroin in her bag. Police are engaged in questioning the woman.

Meanwhile, DRI recovered about 8 kg of heroin worth over Rs 52 crore from a Zambian woman from Hyderabad's RGI airport. The woman had hidden the heroin in a gas pipe roll. Both the accused women have been arrested. The two women had arrived in Hyderabad by Qatar Airlines via Doha from Johannesburg. DRI said the case is under investigation.

The customs department has arrested 2 Afghan nationals at delhi's IGI airport. 19.5 kg of heroin has been recovered from his bag, which is worth more than Rs 136 crore. These heroin stuffed into bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Both the accused came from Dubai from Emirates Airlines. The customs department is interrogating both the accused. They suspect that the arrested accused may be members of a large drug trafficking gang.

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New Delhi: Diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, who escaped from India after a scam worth thousands of crores, denied that he had not fled India but had left India for his treatment in the US. Mehul Choksi claimed in the Dominica High Court that he was a law abiding citizen and had left India only to seek medical treatment in the US.

Choksi claimed that he had invited Indian officials for interview and also asked them to ask any questions related to the ongoing investigation against him. He said, 'I have invited Indian authorities to interview me and ask me any questions regarding any investigation being conducted against me'. He said, "I have not escaped from India, I left India to seek treatment in the US, then there was no warrant against me by the law enforcement officers in India".

Let us tell you that a Qatar Airways private plane sent by India to bring back fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi from Dominica has left the Caribbean island country after about seven days. This has been revealed in the public flight figures. Flight number A7CEE of airline Qatar Executive left Delhi International Airport at 3.44 am on May 28, sending necessary documents relating to cases against Choksi. The plane had reached Marigot in Dominica via Madrid. The External Affairs Ministry has reportedly said that all efforts are being made to bring Mehul Choksi back to India. The Ministry has said that legal procedures for the same are being completed in Dominica.

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India is likely to benefit from the global minimum 15 percent corporate tax rate pact inked by the world's richest nations as the effective domestic tax rate is above the threshold, and the country would continue to attract investment, tax experts said on Sunday.

The Finance Ministers of G-7 countries, comprising US, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan, on Saturday reached a landmark deal on taxing multinational companies as per which the minimum global tax rate would be at least 15 percent. They also agreed to put in place measures to ensure businesses pay taxes in the countries where they operate, a move aimed at plugging loopholes in cross-border taxation.

Nangia Andersen India Chairman Rakesh Nangia said the G7 commitment to global minimum tax rate of 15 percent works well for the US government and most other countries in western Europe. However, some low-tax European jurisdictions such as the Netherlands, Ireland and Luxembourg and some in the Caribbean rely largely on tax rate arbitrage to attract MNCs. "The global pact would face the challenge of getting other major nations on the same page, since this impinges on the right of the sovereign to decide a nation's tax policy," Nangia added.

India had in September 2019 slashed corporate taxes for domestic companies to 22 percent and to 15 percent for new domestic manufacturing units. The concessional tax rate was extended to the existing domestic companies as well, subject to certain conditions.

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Niger: Microblogging website Twitter has been banned indefinitely by the Nigerian government. Instead of Twitter, The Indian Microblogging Platform Koo App has been launched (Nigeria koo app), Koo's CEO informed, 'Made in India' microblogging platform, Koo said that the app is now available in Nigeria and is keen to add new local languages to users in that West African country.

Koo was launched a day after the Nigerian government announced twitter's indefinite suspension in the country, in a post on Koo on Saturday, its CEO and co-founder, Apramayam Radhakrishna, officially confirmed that Koo is now available in Nigeria. Speaking to the media, Radhakrishnan said, "We are also considering adding the local language there. He further said that he is considering introducing a local Nigerian language in the Koo app." He had earlier said, "Nigeria is similar to India in terms of language diversity. It has hundreds of regional languages." He said, "We have created a scalable platform, and we are still expanding it, it is already available for use in many countries even today."

Nigerian Attorney General and Justice Minister, Abubakr Malami, ordered immediate prosecution of Nigerians still using Twitter, despite the federal government's ban on Twitter's operations in Nigeria.

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Three weeks ago, the per-day Covid-19 positivity rate stood at as high as 44.67 per cent. A week later, the infection rate went down to 34.18 per cent and the following week, it went further down to 31.35 per cent.

By this week, the infection rate has already gone below 30 per cent as Sunday, it stood at 28.9 per cent apparently because most parts of the country has been on lockdown for the past 40 days.

But, doctors and health experts say they are concerned as there has been community transmission of Covid-19 in rural parts of Nepal also.

Estimating the size

Dr Kedar Baral, an epidemiologist, says that even though they cannot make an assumption, there are hints that point towards that.

Its been over a month since we imposed a lockdown, but not much has changed. Normally, cases should be going down in two weeks, but the rate at which the cases are coming down is slow and that is a cause for concern, says Baral. Maybe it is about time we went to various communities and did the testing.

Infectious diseases expert Dr Janak Koirala seconds Baral as he says that 100 infected Covid-19 patients can infect up to 2,500 people. In a country like Nepal where there hasnt been community testing, that number can be even more.

Last December, the World Health Organization and the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division of the government did a seroprevalence survey that showed that 13 per cent of Nepals population (3.9 million) had been infected by the virus at one point in time. But the governments data until then had shown that only 200,000 people had been infected by the virus.

As of June 6, the number of people infected is nearing 600,000, out of which over 50 per cent are in Kathmandu, while around 40 per cent are spread across the country. As major cities like Kathmandu have a dense population, the number of infected in these cities are also quite high.

Likely crisis

Teku hospital chief says that out of those who come to his hospital, only 10 per cent have been vaccinated.

But, as a lot of people have moved out of major cities, there is a good chance that rural areas might now turn into a hotspot which will be detrimental, says Baral.

The numbers maybe going down, but the risk is still there, he says.

The reason experts are issuing the warning is infections in rural areas take time to spread due to these areas being thinly populated. Add that along with lack of testing in these areas, according to doctors, is a recipe for a disaster waiting to happen.

People only get tested if they show symptoms or after they recover. But, the number of people not testing despite the symptoms are quite high and that is why we shouldnt go by the data provided by the government, adds Baral.

Baral says that if the government can undertake antigen testing across the country in the coming two weeks, it can get a good picture of where the nation stood when it came to controlling Covid-19. He believes a lack of testing in rural areas and geographic difficulties of these areas are reasons why they have not been able to find a bigger picture.

Cities arent any different. Lockdown is not the only solution, says Baral. We need to make sure we are testing communities. Only that will help us control the pandemic.

With infections decreasing, the number of people dying to Covid-19 decreases automatically, but the risk of the virus is ever-present, adds public health expert Dr Sharad Onta. He says that people should not assume that Covid-19 is going away based on the data because the data is not 100 per cent accurate.

Weve hardly tested villages in remote areas. Until we test these areas, we cant celebrate. If we do, that would be stupidity, says Onta, wh,o like Baral, emphasises community testing in the next fortnight.

Even though doctors and health experts are positive about the decrease in cases, they still feel that government and the public should not get carried away if they want to get rid of Covid-19.

Alarms in rural areas

Doctors say that the only way we can stop the virus is through nationwide testing and vaccination.

Communicable disease expert Dr Sher Bhadur Pun says that in the past week, the Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital is filling up with people from rural areas. People from Ramechhap, Sindhuli and Dolaka districts, which do not have proper heath care facilities, have come to Kathmandu to seek treatment in various private hospitals.

The people who left Kathmandu on the eve of lockdown went to their villages and infected people there. That has caused a spike in these areas, but due to a lack of testing, no one knows that theyre infected. When they do, its already too late, says Onta.

Kathmandu Universitys Dhulikhel Hospital in Kavre is running outreach centres in 18 rural areas across nine districts in Nepal. Almost all these centres are flooded with Covid-19 patients, says Dr Roshan Kumar Mahato from the hospital.

Having visited these rural areas recently, Mahato says he believes that the infection rate in these areas is about 50 per cent. He says that in one village, 18 out of 24 tested positive for the virus and believes that the number will increase in the following weeks.

The local governments are not prepared to handle this, says Mahato.

Around 10 people from rural areas are admitted to Dhulikhel Hospital every day. As most of them visit hospitals only when their heath deteriorates, the number of people dying in Dhulikhel is also quite high. Mahato says that even though they try their best, they have not been able to save peoples lives because some of these areas are incredibly remote for them to be brought to the hospital on time.

Only way we stop this is by community testing in rural areas, Mahato echoes Baral, Koirala and Onta.

On June 4, there were 280 positive cases across 11 districts in Karnali. Some villages which showed Covid-19 symptoms were sealed for a week. The situation is so bad that in Chhedagad municipality in Jajarkot, all health workers from a health post tested positive for Covid-19. In some areas, the infection rate for antigen tests stood at 100 per cent.

In Jajarkot, the infection rate over the past week stood at 60 per cent, says Gaura Gharti Magar, the information officer at the District Health Office. Between April 20 and June 4, 907 out of 2,110 tested positive for the virus in the district.

Only antigen tests were performed in the district during this period as it was impossible to perform PCR tests in the region which has seen three deaths since April 14. Currently, the district has over 250 Covid-19 patients.

Things are similar in Banke too. Bheri Hospital, which looks after much of the districts Covid-19 cases, is also getting a lot of patients from rural areas of the district and neighbouring districts. The hospitals chief consultant Dr Rajan Pandey says that cases in the city have gone down, but the hospital is getting a lot of cases from villages around Bardiya, Kailali, Dang and Surkhet.

In areas like Rukum, Dailekh, Kalikot, Humla, Mugu and Dolpa, there has been little to no testing despite people having symptoms, informs Madhav Chulagain, a public health official from Jumla. Chaulagain says that people are sceptical about getting testing even though there are enough kits in the district. The reason, he says, is people feel that they will be looked at differently in society if they test positive.

They feel that Covid-19 is a taboo. People are falling sick, but they refuse to get tested, he adds.

Things are similar in other parts of the country too where people are refusing to get tested.

All hope rests on vaccines

People waiting to get inside Alka Hospital to get vaccinated.

Even though Nepal is only going through the second wave of Covid-19, experts are warning that a third wave is on the horizon if people are not vigilant enough. The reason they say is their stupidity to think the danger has sailed when the virus is mutating from one country to another.

The only thing to ensure people can be safe from Covid-19 is vaccination. Doctors and public health experts have said that the government needs to vaccinate as many people as they can so that they can deal with the virus if and when the third wave comes.

This variant is more dangerous than the earlier one, so the only way we can be prepared for the next wave is by vaccination and awareness that the vaccine works, says Koirala.

Shukraraj Hospitals Pun says that people have been inquiring about vaccines in the recent past which he says is a good sign. But, 90 per cent of Covid-19 patients who come to the hospital have not been vaccinated, says Pun.

People whove had one shot have been doing fine, but those who havent are not. Vaccines work, says Pun, who adds the government needs to do everything in its power to ensure that most of the population is vaccinated before the third wave.

Koirala says that the vaccine should be given first to people who have not had Covid-19 and chronic illness and senior citizens. Research suggests that people who have had Covid-19 in the past have a good chance to recover from it instead of people who have had Covid-19 for the first time.

Baral also gives emphasis on vaccination because he says nobody knows when the pandemic is going to end. Vaccine will come when it comes, but for now, we need to focus on testing, he says.
Hyatt Regency Mumbai has "temporarily" suspended its operations due to no funds coming from Asian Hotels (West) Ltd, the owner of Hyatt Regency Mumbai.

"This is to inform all the on-roll staff of the hotel that no funds are forthcoming from Asian Hotels (West) Ltd., the owner of Hyatt Regency Mumbai, to enable payment of salaries or to support the operations of the hotel," a statement by Hyatt Regency said.

The hotel said the decision has been taken to temporarily suspend all operations for Hyatt Regency Mumbai with immediate effect. "The hotel will remain closed until further notice," the statement said. Sunjae Sharma, Vice President and Country Head - India, Hyatt, did not provide any details on since when funds have not been forthcoming, reported PTI.

"Future reservations through Hyatt booking channels will remain temporarily unavailable," he said. At Hyatt, "our guests and colleagues are a top priority, and we are working closely with the hotel's owner to resolve this situation," he added.

Also read: 2,395 companies shut down in Delhi in Apr 2020-Feb 2021; 1,936 in UP, 1,322 in Tamil Nadu

Also read: Luggage retail chain Witco shuts business after 65 years due to Covid-19 curbs
Cybersecurity

DHS faces setbacks implementing CDM, watchdog says

Setbacks and multiple delays have hampered the Department of Homeland Security in its efforts to build and implement a Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, according to an audit conducted by the department's inspector general.

The IG report published last week identified vulnerabilities which it said left the department vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks after DHS failed to clearly define patch management responsibilities and implement required configuration settings.

DHS spent $180 million between 2013 and 2020 to design and build a CDM program, yet the report found the department had "not yet strengthened its cybersecurity posture" by implementing a department-wide continuous monitoring solution. The audit was conducted between August 2019 and August 2020.

Led by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, DHS launched the CDM program in 2013 to fulfill the Office of Management and Budget's routine information management security risk requirements. The goal of the program is to reduce threats and improve cybersecurity capabilities while streamlining reporting and increasing visibility into the federal cybersecurity posture, according to CISA.

Abandoned approaches to the project led to missed deadlines in 2017 and 2018, by which point the department had spent $38 million to design an initial dashboard which the report noted "crashed shortly after deployment." The cause of the crash was undetermined.

"As of March 2020, DHS had developed an internal CDM dashboard, but reported less than half of the required asset management data. Efforts were still underway to automate and integrate the data collection process among components so DHS could report additional data, as required" the report said. "DHS now needs to upgrade its dashboard to ensure sufficient processing capacity for component data. Until these capabilities are complete, the Department cannot leverage intended benefits of the dashboard to manage, prioritize, and respond to cyber risks in real time."

The report stated that, by the time the audit fieldwork had been completed, DHS was making progress in implementing the CDM program. In total, the report found eight high-risk and three critical vulnerabilities across 51 DHS assets. The inspector general's office made three recommendations, which include updating the CDM program plan to outline how a current model of the dashboard can transition to a scalable platform. The recommendations also call on the chief information security officer to mitigate the risks identified in the audit, as well as define patch management responsibilities for CDM IT assets.

In comments responding to the report, DHS took issue with the statements suggesting the department had "not yet strengthened its cybersecurity posture" and "wasted'' $38 million in initial efforts to build the program. The department acknowledged "initial challenges" in designing its CDM solution, however, and said it "remains committed to building on its CDM program successes, while also exercising sound business judgement, obtaining the best value for the government, and incorporating lessons learned where appropriate."
Digital Gov

Many federal websites don't meet accessibility requirements, study finds

Compliance with federal standards for web accessibility on federal government domains varies widely, according to a report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a think tank for science and tech policy, released on Thursday.

Of the 72 government domains studied, those identified by ITIF as the most popular, 30% of the homepages didn't meet standards for accessibility.

The study zeroed in on standards outlined in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires agencies to follow web accessibility requirements. ITIF authors analyzed the pages with automated tests and qualitative assessments.

In addition to homepages, the study also surveyed the second and third top pages for those 72 federal government domains. Overall, only about half of the websites surveyed met modern standards of web accessibility for users with disabilities on all three pages, the study found.

The White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on the other hand, earned perfect scores for all three of their top pages. The Biden administration has committed to adhering to the more recent accessibility standards, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, as opposed to the 2.0 version required by Section 508.

The report also included recommendations. One is that biennial reports on Section 508 compliance by the Department of Justice be made public. DOJ isn't required to release them and hasn't since 2012.

The authors also recommended the creation of a federal website accessibility test lab, a "sprint" to fix identified problems and a "hackathon" to develop solutions with artificial intelligence. The General Services Administration could also expand its Digital Analytics Program, a web analytics tool available to federal agencies, to include accessibility testing.

This isn't the first time ITIF has taken on this subject. In a 2017 study focused on a larger number of federal government websites, they found that 42% of federal government homepages failed their accessibility review, as compared to 30% in this review of website homepages.

"Whether that is a success or not depends on your perspective  ideally all agencies would have addressed these issues by now," said Daniel Castro, ITIF vice president and co-author of the report. "There has been some progress, but not nearly enough."

The newest report also found that one-third of the websites didn't have an easily findable page to report accessibility issues, so agencies might not be aware of the full breadth of issues, he said.

Either way, when agencies fail to meet standards for accessibility, people with disabilities bear the cost, the authors of the study say.

"Failing to make federal websites accessible for people with disabilities creates obstacles for millions of Americans, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has moved many government services online," said Ashley Johnson, a policy analyst at ITIF and co-author of the report in a statement.
Comment

Security clearance demands are exploding and government must keep up

Costly security breaches, including the SolarWinds attack and the Colonial Pipeline ransomware scheme, are an increasing threat to national security. The federal government's frontline defense is a combination of public sector civil servants and private sector contractors who, together, protect both the online and bricks and mortar assets of our nation.

The sensitive nature of our nation's security demands that most members of this workforce undergo a robust security clearance process to ensure they are able and willing to safeguard the nation and its national security information and assets.

The United States, however, is at a critical inflection point. The number of individuals with a security clearance has plummeted 17% since 2013  igniting fierce competition between government and private sector partners for cleared talent. Moreover, ubiquitous over sharing on social media, the crazy quilt of state and local drug laws and structural racism built into the security clearance process can make it difficult, to nearly impossible to recruit and expeditiously hire the next generation of our national security workforce.

The government's security clearance standards must evolve to reflect certain cultural realities. With millions of data points floating in the online ether on every individual, the federal government must reconsider how it makes a fair and complete assessment of security clearance applicants. And it must adapt in ways that prepare us to tackle novel security challenges that are increasing in volume. Failure to do so leaves a gaping hole in our nation's security. The stakes are high.

The need for cleared security personnel is burgeoning. According to the Greater Washington Partnership, roughly 9% of all job postings from Baltimore to Richmond, require a security clearance.

Right now, a top security clearance job website has posted more than 25,000 open jobs in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.  each one requiring a security clearance. Most of those positions are systems engineers, software developers, program analysts and network engineers.

Globally, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) data show that in 2019 roughly 2.9 million individuals  government employees and private sector contractors  held a U.S. federal security clearance. Of those individuals, 1.7 million hold confidential or secret clearances and just under 1.3 million hold top secret clearances. According to ODNI, however, nearly 1.3 million additional individuals are determined to be eligible for security clearances by virtue of their positions, yet they do not have clearances or access to sensitive information.

At a recent roundtable hosted by my Subcommittee on Government Operations, 13 public and private sector participants highlighted how difficult it can be to fill these critical jobs quickly. Moreover, these companies struggled to move its cleared employees from one contract to another because some agencies often languish when determining whether to accept a clearance approved by another agency  a process called reciprocity.

For example, Booz Allen Hamilton officials stated that each year they await clearance approvals for 500 individuals at any given time. The company also seeks reciprocity for 4,400 clearances annually among agencies. CACI stated that it has more than 15,000 individuals who are cleared or awaiting clearance on staff and more than 2,500 open jobs posted that require individuals who have clearance. Northrop Grumman has 69,000 employees who hold security clearances, with 4,300 awaiting clearance before they can start working. NT Concepts, by comparison, a smaller business with 139 employees, has 99 cleared individuals on staff and nine jobs posted for individuals requiring a clearance. Another small sized business, iWorks, has 90 employees with 82 cleared individuals, eight more individuals awaiting clearance and 14 open job postings that require clearance.

These job vacancies, stalled background checks and delayed reciprocity applications mean revenue loss for the companies. More importantly, however, they mean that the federal government cannot effectively execute national security missions.

In 2018, ManTech, a consulting and digital solutions contractor with the government, testified that approximately 10,000 contract positions critical to the Intelligence Community alone remained unfilled, representing $1.8 billion in lost services contract support for critical missions. This was out of a $71 billion annual intelligence budget.

According to the National Security Alliance, a trade association of contract security companies, in 2019 security clearance processing delays  caused predominantly by some agencies' unwillingness to engage in reciprocity  may account for as much as $2 billion in lost productivity in the Intelligence Community and up to $8 billion for the federal government as a whole.

Despite the lack of availability of cleared individuals, the background investigation and adjudication processes have been improving in efficiency over time. In FY2018, for example, the federal government approved only 668,546 security clearances. In FY2019, however, the federal government approved 964,138 clearances -- a 44.2% increase over a single year. And the increase was in both Secret and Top Secret investigations.

Yet there is more work to do. While the speed of the clearance process improves, cleared workforce demands are exploding. Private sector companies have thousands of jobs they need to fill and not enough individuals to fill them.

Since mid-2018, the Government Accountability Office placed security clearances investigations on its "High-Risk" list of government programs in dire need of improvement and reform. Security clearances landed on this list for myriad reasons, including concerns about the timeliness of investigation completion.

Congress can play a vital role in improving these processes and ensuring the executive branch is recruiting diverse talent as a pipeline into the national security community. For example, the SECRET Act, which I wrote with former Rep. Steve Knight, as well as my FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act amendment improve clearance adjudication backlogs by tracking the background investigation and adjudication processes  allowing agencies and Congress to pinpoint where problems persist and focus on solutions.

Additional congressional oversight has been effective in spurring improvements that reduced the backlog of background investigations. We must work across the enterprise of government  and across the branches of government  to leverage successes and make continued improvements to the security clearance process. Most importantly, however, we must have difficult conversations about what should and should not exclude individuals from federal service in the national security space  ensuring that we take into account changes in legal, cultural, and technological norms.

These efforts are critical to our national security.
- iTEAR100 is an FDA-cleared external neurostimulation device that increases acute tear production.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. and SHANGHAI, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Arctic Vision, a clinical stage biotech company focusing on innovative ophthalmology therapies for pan-ocular diseases, and Olympic Ophthalmics, a U.S.-based medical technology company pioneering neuromodulation treatments for ophthalmic diseases, today jointly announced an exclusive licensing agreement for Arctic Vision to develop and commercialize Olympic Ophthalmics' commercial stage product, iTEAR100, for the treatment of dry eye disease in Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), South Korea and ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam).

Dry eye disease (DED) is a multifactorial chronic disease of the ocular surface characterized by a loss of homeostasis of the tear film, resulting in discomfort and visual impairment. Symptoms of DED include eye irritation, dryness, stinging and ocular fatigue, and the chronic disease can have long term accumulative influence causing corneal ulcer, perforation or even blindness. As one of the most common ophthalmic diseases, it is estimated that in 2020, there were 1.5 billion and 960 million dry eye patients aged 15 and older globally and in Asia respectively1. Current treatment modalities focus on lubricating the ocular surface and inhibiting the inflammatory response with agents, but most fail to improve the natural tear production.

The iTEAR100 is an FDA cleared, non-invasive, drug-free neurostimulation device designed for the treatment of DED. Being the first neurostimulator to stimulate tear secretion through non-invasive stimulation of the external nasal nerve, the device offers immediate relief with natural tear production as well as increasing the level of basal tear secretion. Neurostimulation can also, improve the secretion function from the meibomian glands. Neurostimulation has been successfully used in medical devices, such as the cardiac pacemaker and implantable neurostimulators targeting pain relief. In the field of ophthalmology, Olympic Ophthalmics is one of the pioneering companies exploring the use of neurostimulation, with the potential to deliver tremendous impact on the lives of ophthalmic patients globally. In the pivotal study2, iTEAR100 showed sustained tear production and improvements in symptomatology with favorable safety and usability.

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Dr. Eddy (Hoi Ti) Wu, Founder, CEO and Board Director of Arctic Vision, commented, "Dry eye is a common and chronic disease that hundreds of millions of patients across Asia suffer from. We are excited to enter into this partnership with Olympic Ophthalmics to bring iTEAR100, their FDA cleared neurostimulation device, to Greater China, South Korea and ASEAN countries. We look forward to delivering this novel device as an affordable and unique solution to DED patients, which will also be an important milestone in the consolidation of our commercial capabilities. We remain committed to developing a portfolio of innovative therapies that will improve the lives of patients in China and Asia."

Founder and CEO of Olympic Ophthalmics, Dr. Michael Gertner stated, "We look forward to collaborating with Arctic Vision to develop and commercialize iTEAR100 in Greater China, South Korea and ASEAN countries. Through our team of entrepreneurs, clinicians, and investors with deep expertise in ophthalmology, neuromodulation, and medical devices, we are bringing a new class of neuromodulation technologies to eye care. We are very confident that Arctic Vision team, with its strong and compelling track records in both R&D and commercialization in Asia, is the right partner for us to bring iTEAR100 to key Asian markets, and bring relief to millions of patients by increasing natural tear production."

1 DataMonitor Healthcare Report. (2021). Market Spotlight: Dry Eye Disease. Retrieved from: https://pharmastore.informa.com/product/market-spotlight-dry-eye-disease/

2 Ji MH, Moshfeghi DM, PerimanL,KadingD,Matossian C, Walman G, MarkhamS, MuA, Jayaram A, Gertner M, Karpecki P, Friedman NJ. Novel extranasal tear stimulation: Pivotal study results. Trans Vis Sci Tech. 2020;9(12):23.

About Olympics Ophthalmics

Olympic Ophthalmics, Inc. is a medical technology company pioneering patient-focused treatments for ophthalmic diseases using neuromodulation. The company is based in Issaquah, Washington, and primarily backed by BioStar Capital, a physician-led, strategic value-add investment firm focused on accelerating value creation for transformational medical device and connected health technologies. For more information, please visit www.olympicophthalmics.com.

About Arctic Vision

Arctic Vision is a China-based clinical stage specialty ophthalmology company with a leading portfolio of breakthrough technologies. The company's vision is to address ophthalmology's unmet needs through innovative therapies in China, Asia and globally. Arctic Vision was established by top-tier life sciences investors and is led by an elite team of ophthalmic industry veterans with substantial and compelling China and global experiences in both R&D and the commercialization of eye care products. For more information, please visit www.arcticvision.com.

Reference:

SOURCE Arctic Vision
Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe has warned of a 2bn blow to Ireland's tax take

Joe Biden's campaign for a minimum global corporation tax rate could hammer the economy in his family's ancestral home of Ireland and force the country to to hike taxes on its own citizens, experts have warned.

Ireland will be among the hardest-hit nations after the G7 signed up to a minimum rate of at least 15pc in a bid to crack down on tax avoidance by major tech firms, according to economists and politicians in the country.

The plans risk damaging President Biden's standing in the country, after he trumpeted his Irish roots during the election campaign.

Jim Power, one of Irelands best-known economists, said the government will be forced to address a hole in its public finances if the G7 proposals win worldwide support. The republic has attracted a host of major companies such as Google, Apple and Facebook with its 12.5pc tax rate.

Corporation taxes generated a record 11.8bn (10.2bn) for the nation last year, 12pc of the Governments overall revenues.

Mr Power said: They will have to broaden the tax base here. Last week we saw some moves to try and broaden the property taxation base, for example. I think they are going to have to try and introduce changes to inheritance taxes, wealth taxes and so on.

Regardless of what happens on the corporation tax front, Ireland needs to broaden the tax base anyway, because we were collecting our taxes from too narrow a base in the economy.

Irelands finance minister, Paschal Donohoe, is braced for a 2bn hit when the agreement comes into force and has already vowed to raise Irelands equivalent of council tax for a third of homeowners from next year.

Fine Gael politician Neale Richmond, a member of the Irish Dail, said that he is not going to pretend were happy about the G7 agreement.

He said: A minimum 15pc tax rate is grand for countries who already charge much higher corporation tax rates but if that is going to become the global norm, you have to take into account smaller economies and the challenges they face, and also ensure that countries are actually properly applying theirs - thats something that we've always been discussing internally with the European Union as well.

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It presents a huge challenge and its something we're very aware of. When you are a small jurisdiction, you have to be competitive - we just dont have an economy of the scale of somewhere like France and Germany, so we always have to work slightly differently. We are very alive to it, any possible change would have an impact.

As well as setting a minimum rate the agreement also targets tech firms which avoid tax by booking billions of pounds-worth of revenues in some countries while based in low-tax headquarters.

There will be further talks about the deal on June 30 at an online meeting of the 139 countries negotiating the new rules under the aegis of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, before a G20 summit in July.

Ireland has committed to keep its 12.5pc rate regardless of any final international agreement. Switzerland, whose low-tax canton of Zug hosts 35,000 companies and was labelled a tax haven by Mr Biden in April, said it would take the necessary measures to continue to be a highly attractive business location.

US tech stocks largely shrugged off the G7 agreement. Ian Williams, a research analyst at stockbroker Peel Hunt, said: The immediate market implications are likely to be minimal. The details, including agreement from numerous smaller countries, require plenty of work.

Reports suggested Amazon, which has profit margins of below 10pc, could avoid part of the new framework on taxing firms where they generate revenues as the deal applies to profits above a 10pc margin for the biggest companies.

But Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said Amazon and Facebook would qualify by almost any definition.

Chris Sanger, head of tax at consultant at EY, said: There is going to be a lot more discussion over what companies get included in the reallocation, and it may be that governments decide that there is not just a profit percentage threshold but a size threshold applies as well.
2021 saw record number of submissions to Habitat for Humanity Canada Meaning of Home writing contest

TORONTO, June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a year when our homes played venue to online classrooms, boardrooms, milestones and mundane moments alike, Habitat for Humanity Canada was interested in hearing the answer to the question, what does home mean to you? Over 12,000 kids answered the call, making the 2021 annual Meaning of Home writing contest that encourages students in grades 4, 5 and 6 to share what home means to them through a poem or short essay, a record year in terms of number of submissions received. This years Meaning of Home contest also raised a record of $300,000 for local Habitat for Humanity organizations across Canada.

Every year, there are three grand prize winners, one from each grade, who win a $30,000 grant towards their local Habitat for Humanity build, and nine runners up who win a $10,000 grant towards their local Habitat. Additionally, each student entry also earns a $10 donation for their local Habitat. These much-needed funds will go towards building homes for families in need of a safe and secure place to call home.

Grand Prize Winners:

Annika K. from Winnipeg, Manitoba, is the Grade 4 grand prize winner and her $30,000 grant will be going to Habitat for Humanity Manitoba. Click here to read Annikas winning entry What is Home.

Jake T. is the Grade 5 grand prize winner, from Montreal, Quebec. His $30,000 grant will go to Habitat for Humanity Quebec. Click here to see the illustrated book of Jakes winning entry: Home: a small word with big meaning.

Kara T. is the Grade 6 grand prize winner, from Orangeville, Ontario, whose $30,000 grant will help build homes with Habitat for Humanity Halton-Mississauga-Dufferin. Click here to read Karas winning entry: What home means to me.

Click here to watch the grand prize winners reading their entries.

It is incredibly inspiring to see the number of young children across Canada who feel passionately about the need for everyone to have a safe and decent place to call home, says Julia Deans, CEO and President, Habitat for Humanity Canada. The entries were outstanding and were so grateful to the teachers and parents who brought this important writing contest to Canadian students and helped fuel the important work Habitat for Humanity does across Canada.

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The Meaning of Home contest would not be possible without the generous support of founding sponsor, SagenTM (formerly known as Genworth Canada) and award sponsors Revera and Swiffer. Thanks to their investments, students have an opportunity to give back to their communities in an engaging and meaningful way.

During a time where weve all been spending so much time at home, its never been more relevant to engage kids on issues like affordable housing through our annual Meaning of Home contest, said Stuart Levings, President and CEO of Sagen. Once again, Im amazed by the talent and commitment of students whove submitted their stories and Im overwhelmed by the record-breaking number of submissions and funds raised. Its never been more important to have kids involved and creating positive change in their communities.

To read all the winning entries, please visit: meaningofhome.ca/winners-2021.

Runners up Grade 4:

Alexandra R. Habitat Vancouver Island North Isla V. Habitat Victoria Mya W. Habitat Halton-Mississauga-Dufferin

Runners up Grade 5:

Morgan J. Habitat Greater Ottawa Emma M. Habitat Peterborough & Kawartha Region Ella C-W. Habitat Greater Ottawa

Runners up Grade 6:

Lacey C. Habitat Newfoundland & Labrador Castin B. Habitat Ontario Gateway North Olivia G. Habitat Peterborough & Kawartha Region



Habitat for Humanity Canadas model of affordable housing helps families in need of housing buy their own home. Habitat homeowners volunteer up to 500 hours and pay an affordable mortgage geared to their income, helping them build a strong foundation and the financial stability to help plan for their childrens futures.



Teachers or parents who are interested in having their Grade 4, 5 or 6 students participate can access an educational module online at meaningofhome.ca that includes writing tips and information on affordable housing issues in Canada. Submission for the 2022 Meaning of Home contest will be open in January 2022.

About Sagen (formerly Genworth Canada)

As a sponsor since 2000, Sagen has donated over $5 million in support of Habitat Canada and has helped thousands of Canadian families realize their dreams of affordable homeownership. While Sagens financial support provides crucial funding for their homeownership program, its support of Habitat Canada extends far beyond financial support. Throughout the sponsorship, Sagen employees from all levels of the organization, including President and CEO Stuart Levings and his executive team, have lent their leadership experience, industry knowledge and time to help launch many of Habitats signature programs, including the Sagen Homebuilding Grants, Global Village Volunteer Program in Canada and the Meaning of Home Contest. These programs, along with Sagens support and involvement in them has significantly increased their ability to raise funds, recruit volunteers and ultimately, support more families and build stronger communities. Find out more at www.sagen.ca



About Habitat for Humanity Canada

Founded in 1985, Habitat for Humanity Canada is a national charitable organization working toward a world where everyone has a decent and affordable place to call home. Habitat for Humanity brings communities together to help families build strength, stability and independence through affordable homeownership. With the help of volunteers, Habitat homeowners and 50 local Habitats working in every province and territory, we provide a solid foundation for better, healthier lives in Canada and around the world. Habitat for Humanity Canada is a member of Habitat for Humanity International, which was established in 1976 and has grown to become a leading global non-profit working in more than 70 countries. For more information, please visit www.habitat.ca .

For more information:

Laura Arlabosse-Stewart

Director, Communications Habitat for Humanity Canada

larlabossestewart@habitat.ca

C: (416) 822-1039




TORONTO, June 7, 2021 /CNW/ - CIBC announced today it is donating $50,000 to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS), in memory of the 215 children found buried on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia. This donation is in addition to the annual $1.8 million the bank contributes to Indigenous communities nationally.

CIBC (CNW Group/CIBC)

"The enormous loss shared by Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation has prompted profound feelings of sadness and anger across the country," said Paulo Brazinha, Senior Vice President and Region Head, British Columbia, Personal and Business Banking, CIBC. "Reconciliation requires us to confront our shared history, accept the truth about the systemic racism Indigenous peoples experience today, support survivors and honour the memories of those whose lives were lost".

The IRSSS is based in British Columbia and provides essential services to residential school survivors and their families, through legal and social assistance as well as community education resources. Organizations like the IRSSS work to provide culturally sensitive, emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual care for all those affected by personal and intergenerational trauma related to the residential school system in Canada.

Last week CIBC lowered its flags for nine days  or 215 hours  one hour for each of the children found buried on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

About CIBC

CIBC is a leading North American financial institution with 10 million personal banking, business, public sector and institutional clients. Across Personal and Business Banking, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management, and Capital Markets businesses, CIBC offers a full range of advice, solutions and services through its leading digital banking network, and locations across Canada with offices in the United States and around the world. Ongoing news releases and more information about CIBC can be found at www.cibc.com/en/about-cibc/media-centre.html.

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SOURCE CIBC

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2021/07/c2519.html
Hongkongers are the fifth most stressed population globally

HONG KONG, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cigna Hong Kong today released the Hong Kong findings of the latest edition of its Cigna COVID-19 Global Impact Study. As part of Cigna's annual 360 Well-Being Survey, this research is the fifth in a series of studies to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people's well-being across 11 markets around the world, including Hong Kong. The research has been tracking people's well-being through the different stages of the pandemic.

Cigna Logo (PRNewsfoto/Cigna Corporation)

This fifth wave of research, Positivity around Vaccine Roll-Out and Anticipated Approval Leads Improved Perceptions on Whole Health, suggests that overall well-being in Hong Kong dropped slightly by 0.1 point between October and December 2020 (from 56.8 to 56.7) and was lower than the global average of 60.9. Hong Kong also has one of the lower levels of well-being of the 11 markets surveyed.

Financial insecurity still the key stressor

Finances continue to be a key stressor for the people of Hong Kong. While the financial well-being index remained stable (49.9 in October to 50.0 in December 2020), only 15% of respondents say their current financial situation is positive (this increased slightly from 13% in October 2020). People continue to feel insecure financially and increasingly pessimistic about their financial situation, with only 15% saying they can maintain their current standard of living (same number in October 2020). Only 12% of people said they have the financial ability to meet their own or their family's medical needs (increased slightly from 11% in October 2020).

The majority of respondents continue to have a negative outlook on the economic environment and its impact on their financial situation and planning, with only 13% of respondents said they feel optimistic (slightly increased from 10% in October 2020). Only 11% of respondents said they have sufficient money for retirement (slightly increased from 10% in October 2020).

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Hong Kong still has one of the higher stress levels across all the markets surveyed, with unmanageable stress level staying at 14% in December 2020. 88% of respondent say they are stressed, which is slightly lower than Taiwan (95%), Korea (95%), Thailand (92%), and Mainland China (91%), but continues to be higher than the global average of 86%. Uncertainty about the future is still the key stress driver, with more than half (53%) of respondents attributing this as the cause of their stress in December 2020 (slightly increased from 52% in October 2020). Personal finance (37%) and fear of contracting COVID-19 (35%) are the other two biggest sources of stress.

Prolonged stress affects body and mind

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a wide range of mental health issues. People suffering from long-term stress have developed emotional and mental symptoms. This can be seen in married couples, where the most common stress induced symptoms are lack of interest in thinking about the future (16% in December 2020, same number in October 2020), short-tempered and unusually aggressive behavior (down from 22% in October to 15% in December 2020). Other symptoms include the inability to concentrate (down from 22% in October to 14% in December 2020), and becoming overly critical, with 14% of respondents claimed to have this symptom in December (down from 15% in October 2020).

Jonathan Spiers, CEO and Country Manager, Cigna Hong Kong, said: "The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has created new stresses for Hong Kong people. They continue to worry about their personal finances and this creates a pessimistic outlook on the future. As COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out in Hong Kong, we hope this will have a positive impact on people's health and well-being. As a health services company, it is important to provide support to both individuals and employers. Our individual and group medical insurance plans[1] cover the treatment of any side-effects caused by COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as COVID-19 treatment costs. To provide extra peace of mind to our customers during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also extending the coverage period of our COVID-19 related special measures that was first introduced in 2020, until 31 December 2021."

Lack of accessibility on virtual health still the cause of lower usage

The likelihood to use virtual health has slightly dropped (42% in December Vs 48% in October 2020) if they are offered the option. For those who are likely to use virtual health, a majority (69% in December Vs 64% in October 2020) said a major factor is social distancing to minimize contact with others. Lack of accessibility to virtual health still appears to be a key reason for its lower usage in Hong Kong, with 59% of respondents said they do not have access to the service in December (slightly dropped from 61% in October 2020).

Work-related stress increased despite reasonable working hours and better work-life balance

Satisfaction regarding workload or working hours of the people in Hong Kong has increased, with more people saying they have a reasonable workload/ working hours (increased from 30% in October to 35% in December 2020), and have seen an improvement in work-life balance (increased from 39% in October to 42% in December 2020). However, 74% of respondents are still experiencing 'Always on' working (same number in October 2020), and workplace stress continues to mount, with 55% saying they have work-related stress in December (increased from 47% in October 2020).

Hong Kong working professionals are experiencing less work from home options (down from 56% in October to 53% in December 2020). Across all these working professionals, 47% think communication will be more effective when people meet face-to-face when they return to the workplace physically (down from 51% in October 2020). The research also reveals the majority of people prefer financial support from their employer on COVID-19 testing, even though there is a slight drop from 72% in October to 68% in December 2020. Next is enhanced health insurance cover (slight drop from 69% in October to 67% in December 2020).

[1] Standard policy terms and conditions apply. For the applicable benefit limits, please refer to the relevant benefit schedule and policy provision for more details. The COVID-19 vaccination must be approved by the relevant local health authorities and prescribed by a registered medical practitioner.

About Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey

Cigna's 360 Well-Being Survey has tracked perceptions about health and well-being, including an index covering physical, family, social, financial and work well-being since 2014. The Cigna COVID-19 Global Impact Study is an ongoing study that has been conducted by Cigna between January and December 2020. To date, over 26,398 online interviews have been conducted across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States. 2,363 respondents came from Hong Kong. Hong Kong has one of the lower health and well-being score of all markets surveyed: Physical (53.0), Social (57.7), Family (60.3), Finance (50.0) and work well-being (61.7).

About Cigna Worldwide Life Insurance Company Limited and Cigna Worldwide General Insurance Company Limited (Cigna Hong Kong)

Since 1933, Cigna Hong Kong has been offering insurance solutions at the right place and the right time, providing advice to customers throughout the different stages of their life journeys. Cigna delivers comprehensive health and wellness solutions to employers, employees and individual customers. Leveraging an extensive global healthcare network, Cigna provides group medical benefits that are suitable for international companies with a worldwide workforce, but also offers tailored and packaged group medical insurance plans to local small and medium-sized enterprises that fit specific needs of the company and its employees. For individual customers, Cigna offers a full suite of health insurance products that caters to consumers' diverse needs. For more details, please visit www.cigna.com.hk.

SOURCE Cigna Hong Kong
TORONTO, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Speaking about its sponsorship of CoinGeek Zurich, Roy Bernhard, CEO, Chief Visionary & Co-Founder of Fabriik, commented: "We're passionate about the power of blockchain technology and proud to be part of the BSV community. The conference provides the perfect platform to connect with fellow members, to share new ideas and discuss the potential for collaboration on future projects."

Fabriik's mission is to create a financial system for everybody  the 1.7 billion people who are currently locked out of the banking system, as well as those who are very much locked in. The global financial services organization believes there's a better way. Its aim is to evolve the financial system so everyone can have full control of their finances. Launching regulated and fully digital financial services, he describes as the first step towards this transformation:

"We're creating a safe and fully transparent ecosystem built on blockchain technology, so anyone can transform, hold, trade, and grow every asset they own, all in one accessible place  so the experience for customers is simple, swift and seamless."

Essential components of the Fabriik ecosystem are its Markets, Custody, and Tokenization services, and coming soon its Exchange. Fabriik Markets includes a Trading Desk, Trading API and Market Making, to provide complete liquidity services, with fast transaction speeds and industry-leading market prices.

Both Roy Bernhard and Daniel Skowronski, General Manager of Fabriik's Exchange will speak at the Conference. Daniel will talk about the future of trading and digital assets and Roy will tackle the hot topic of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs):

"The introduction of NFTs has created the ability to securely digitize a product and transform it into something truly special and collectible. NFTs are disrupting the collectibles industry, in particular, and opening up some amazing opportunities."

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To hear more from Roy on NFTs or Daniel, tune in to their panel discussions during CoinGeek Conference, Zurich.

Notes for Media:

Roy Bernhard will be taking part in a panel discussion on NFTs on 9th June at 12.15-12.45 (CET) and Daniel Skowronski will join a panel to discuss The Future of Trading and Digital Assets, at 15.30-16.05 (CET) the same day.

Coming soon! Fabriik Exchange is a unique, fresh, and intuitive trading environment to help you buy and sell digital currencies swiftly and seamlessly.

CoinGeek Conference attendees can visit Fabriik at its virtual booth to find out more about its products and services and the organization's business roadmap or visit Fabriik.com.

Fabriik. Reimagine Prosperity.

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SOURCE Fabriik
AUSTIN, Texas, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Turbine, Inc. (Nasdaq: APPS) announced today that CEO Bill Stone will be participating in a fireside chat at the 2021 Bank of America Global Technology Conference on Wednesday, June 9th, 2021. The fireside chat presentation is scheduled to begin at 7:00am PT/10:00am ET. A live webcast and replay will be available on the investor relations sections of Digital Turbine's website (http://ir.digitalturbine.com/events). Additionally, Mr. Stone and CFO Barrett Garrison will host one-on-one and small group investor meetings throughout the conference.

About Digital Turbine, Inc.

Digital Turbine simplifies content discovery and delivers relevant content directly to consumer devices. The Company's on-demand media platform powers frictionless app and content discovery, user acquisition and engagement, operational efficiency and monetization opportunities. Digital Turbine's technology platform has been adopted by more than 40 mobile operators and OEMs worldwide, and has delivered more than three billion app preloads for tens of thousands of advertising campaigns. The Company is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with global offices in Arlington, Durham, Mumbai, San Francisco, Singapore and Tel Aviv. For additional information visit www.digitalturbine.com.

Follow Digital Turbine:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DigitalTurbine

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DigitalTurbineInc

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-turbine?trk=tyah&trkInfo=tas:digital+tur

Investor Relations Contacts:

Brian Bartholomew

Digital Turbine

brian.bartholomew@digitalturbine.com

Digital Turbine - Right App. Right Person. Right Time. (PRNewsFoto/Digital Turbine, Inc.) (PRNewsfoto/Digital Turbine, Inc.)

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SOURCE Digital Turbine, Inc.
At least 12 workers have perished in a major fire that broke out at a chemical company in an industrial area of Pune, Maharashtra on Monday. Among the dead are mostly women workers. Five other workers are missing, according to the fire department officials.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the bereaved on Twitter. "Pained by the loss of lives due to a fire at a factory in Pune, Maharashtra. Condolences to the bereaved families," said The Prime Minister.

Pained by the loss of lives due to a fire at a factory in Pune, Maharashtra. Condolences to the bereaved families. - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 7, 2021

The fire broke out at SVS Aqua Technologies, according to officials. The firm manufactures chlorine dioxide and is located in the Pirangut MIDC area of Mulshi tehsil on the outskirts of Pune city, as per PTI.

Dr Abhinav Deshmukh, Superintendent of Police, Pune district, has stated that the unit where the fire broke out was engaged in manufacturing chlorine dioxide for water purification.

"So far, we have recovered 12 charred bodies, mostly of women, from the spot and a search for others is on," said Devendra Potphode, Chief Fire Officer, PMRDA ((Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority), Fire Services.

Potphode added that that six to seven fire tenders were rushed to the location of the fire. The flames were doused but searches are currently underway for the workers who are missing.

Discussing the cause of the blaze, the Chief Fire Officer said that according to company officials, the fire had started amid the packing of plastic materials within the premises.

"Due to some spark at the (packaging) section, the fire broke out and as there was plastic around, it spread rapidly," said Potphode.

Also Read: Centre to procure 75% COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturers, 25% available for pvt players: PM Modi

Also Read: COVID-19 vaccine supply to improve, trials ongoing for 2 vaccines for children: PM Modi
RADNOR, Pa., June 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) (Emergent) investors that the firm has filed a securities fraud class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland against Emergent on behalf of those who purchased or acquired Emergent common stock between April 24, 2020 and April 16, 2021, inclusive (the Class Period). This action, captioned Roth v. Emergent BioSolutions Inc., et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-01189-PX (the Roth Action), was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (Southern Division). To view a copy of the Roth Action complaint, please click here.

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 18, 2021 Website: https://www.ktmc.com/emergent-biosolutions-class-action-lawsuit?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=emergent Contact: James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453 Adrienne Bell, Esq. (484) 270-1435 Toll free (844) 887-9500

Emergent is a specialty biopharmaceutical company that develops vaccines and antibody therapeutics for infectious diseases.



The Roth Action alleges that, throughout the Class Period, the defendants failed to disclose that: (1) Emergents Baltimore facility had a history of manufacturing issues increasing the likelihood for massive contaminations; (2) the Baltimore facility had received a series of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) citations as a result of these contamination risks and quality control issues; (3) Emergent had been forced to discard millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines after workers at the facility deviated from manufacturing standards; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, the defendants public statements about Emergents ability and capacity to mass manufacture multiple COVID-19 vaccines at its Baltimore facility were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

Emergent investors may, no later than June 18, 2021 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class members claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.

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Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com.

CONTACT:

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP

James Maro, Jr., Esq.

Adrienne Bell, Esq.

280 King of Prussia Road

Radnor, PA 19087

(844) 887-9500 (toll free)

info@ktmc.com




Google shared a slew of announcements at its I/O developer conference just last month, and some of the new features are already rolling out. In its latest feature drop, the company is bringing things like Locked Folder in Photos and Night Sight videos to Pixel phones, in addition to a handful of other updates.

In addition to being passcode-protected, Locked Folder acts as a local space on your device for pictures you don't want automatically uploaded to your Photos account where it might get viewed by, say, a partner who has your sign in info. You can choose to save images you shoot with the camera directly to the locked folder, or move shots you've already taken there. You'll find the Locked Folder under the Utilities section of the app. The videos and stills won't show up on shared devices, Memories or other apps in your device, and will require your phone's passcode or your fingerprint for access.

Google Photos Locked Folder. A composite of four screenshots showing how to save photos to the new Locked Folder feature and where to find the file later (in Utilities).

Google also updated its Night Sight camera mode that uses long exposure to capture detailed shots in low light, and it now supports videos... Sort of. The updated Night Sight will now take both a picture and video when you tap the shutter button, and the system stitches together the multiple frames you record for however long you leave the camera running to make an animation.

In a GIF showing off the feature, a four minute timer showed up after astrophotography mode was enabled and the user hit the shutter button. Google said this feature is live now on Pixels 4 and newer so you can try it out (try updating your apps if you don't see it yet).

Some other tools rolling out in this drop include a Heads Up feature in Digital Wellbeing that will remind you to look up from your screen when your phone detects you're walking. You'll also be able to answer or reject calls on your phone by saying "Hey Google, answer [or reject] call]."

The clipboard in GBoard is also getting more context-aware, so when you copy a chunk of text that contains phone numbers, email addresses or URLs, it'll also strip those out and offer them as suggestions for pasting. When you do send them in, say a message to a friend, clicking on them will quickly launch the relevant app, like Maps for navigating to the address or Gmail for the email.

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Google Gboard clipboard suggestions. An image showing the different clipboard suggestions above the keyboard in a Pixel phone.

Finally, this feature drop expands some existing features to more parts of the world. Car crash detection is coming to Spain, Ireland and Singapore in addition to the US, UK and Australia where it's already available. Call Screen is now supported in Japan, while transcription app Recorder now recognizes more of what Google calls "English dialects including Singaporean, Australian, Irish and British English." It's hard for me to think of British English as a dialect, and as a speaker of Singlish I'm guessing that's what "Singaporean" is referring to. But if Recorder does start recognizing "las" "lors" and "lehs" and transcribes them accurately, it could make the app much more coherent for Singapore users.

The company also added new Pride-themed wallpapers, ringtones and notifications in conjunction with LGBTQ commemorations this month. All the features mentioned today should be available now or very soon, and if you don't see them you might want to try updating your apps.
Over 1,200 participating organizations will have access to resources and tailored support to meet their diversity objectives

OTTAWA, ON, June 7, 2021 /CNW/ - As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada is working to build a more inclusive, more resilient and more competitive economy that benefits everyone. This includes breaking down existing barriers to full economic participation for all Canadians. In December 2020, the Government of Canada launched the 50  30 Challenge, which asks Canadian companies, not-for-profit organizations and post-secondary institutions to commit to achieving gender parity (50%) and significant representation (30%) of other under-represented groupsincluding racialized persons, Indigenous people, people living with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ2+ communityon corporate boards and in senior management positions.

Today, the Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, launched two initiatives that will help Canadian businesses and organizations that have signed on to the 50  30 Challenge quickly and effectively adopt diversity and inclusion best practices and policies in support of their 50  30 Challenge commitments.

Organizations are invited to respond to the request for proposals on Canada's Buy and Sell website for the development of the What Works Toolkit. The successful applicant will be responsible for building a toolkit of resources to support 50  30 Challenge participants in meeting their diversity objectives. This includes resources to support the recruitment and mentorship of board members and senior managers from under-represented groups, as well as tools to support the development of anti-racism, anti-harassment and inclusive workplace strategies, and more. The What Works Toolkit will be publicly available to encourage the development and adoption of diversity and inclusion strategies by all Canadian businesses and organizations.

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A call for applications for the 50  30 Challenge Ecosystem Fund is also being launched on Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's website. Through this process, the government will provide funding to select diversity-serving organizations, which will work directly with Challenge participants to provide guidance, tools and other diversity supports specific to participants' unique needs.

The request for proposals will close on July 12, 2021, and the call for applications will close on July 19, 2021. The What Works Toolkit will be published in 2022.

Quote

"We know that our economy and society cannot fully succeed if some of us are being left behind. We've made progress on improving equity and inclusion overall, but more needs to be done to ensure that leadership in Canada is representative of everyone who lives and works in Canada. That is why we are bringing diversity experts and organizations together to develop resources and best practices and to provide support for 50  30 participants to meaningfully and tangibly improve diversity and inclusion in positions of influence across their organizations. I look forward to seeing participants make meaningful progress toward the 50  30 Challenge objectivesnot just because it's the right thing to do but also because it's the smart thing to do."

 The Honourable Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry

"When we give women and under-represented groups a voice at corporate decision-making tables, we build more successful and innovative businesses and a stronger economy. The initiatives announced today will bring together proven best practices and resources, helping 50  30 Challenge participants embrace gender parity and diversity. It is with initiatives like these that we will watch corporate Canada evolve into an inclusive, equal and diverse workforce for years to come."

 The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development

"In Canada, diversity is one of our greatest strengths, yet we know that a multicultural societyone that is truly open and inclusiveis always a work in progress. It demands our effort, our attention and our care. Supporting businesses and organizations through these two new initiatives is another concrete step toward making sure that they have the tools and funds necessary to create an environment that is truly inclusive and reflective of the diversity found across the country. As we build back even better and consciously more inclusive, the 50  30 Challenge will help us ensure that equity-seeking communities can contribute meaningfully to all aspects of society."

 The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth

Quick facts

Launched in December 2020, the 50  30 Challenge is a voluntary pledge by Canadian organizations to increase the representation and inclusion of diverse groups within their workplace. Organizations participating in the Challenge aspire to two goals: gender parity (50%) and significant representation (30%) of equity-seeking groupsspecifically Black Canadians and other racialized people, Indigenous people, persons living with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ2+ communityon corporate boards and in senior management.

Over 1,200 organizations across Canada have now joined the 50  30 Challenge.

The 50  30 Challenge builds on the 2018 amendments to the Canada Business Corporations Act that require distributing corporations to report on their board and senior management diversity.

The 2020 Fall Economic Statement committed $33 million in support of the 50  30 Challenge. This includes funding for the development of an online toolkit and grants to diversity-serving groups to enable them to provide services and resources to Challenge participants.

Associated links

Stay connected

Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on Twitter: @ISED_CA

SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

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WHITEHORSE, YT, June 7, 2021 /CNW/ - Ali Ehsassi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry (Innovation and Industry), will deliver a speech to the Yukon Chamber of Commerce, followed by a virtual Q&A session on investments announced in Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience.

Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2021



Time: 1:30 p.m. (PT)



Location: Virtual event

Media are invited to join the livestream of the event. To receive the link, please send an email to leila.ronkainen@canada.ca.

Following the event, Parliamentary Secretary Ehsassi will be available for individual interviews.

Stay connected

Find more services and information at Canada.ca/ISED.

Follow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on social media.

Twitter: @ISED_CA, Facebook: Canadian Innovation, Instagram: @cdninnovation and LinkedIn

SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - PharmaDrug Inc. (CSE: BUZZ) (OTC Pink: LMLLF) ("PharmaDrug" or the "Company") a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of controlled-substances and natural medicines such as psychedelics, cannabis and naturally-derived approved drugs, is pleased to announce that its Super Smart division has launched a Slim Winkel branded online retail platform in The Netherlands and Europe.

The European Slim Winkel online store will sell psilocybin truffles as well as functional mushrooms in The Netherlands. The website will also service other parts of Europe, but without the access to psilocybin truffles. Management believes launching the online smart shop will enable the company to establish and build its brand while the brick-and-mortar strategy was put on hold until the end of the pandemic. The website was launched this morning with a domain name of slim-winkel.nl.

The online strategy will benefit Super Smart in four distinct ways. Firstly, it will help establish the Slim Winkel brand and Super Smart's evolved Smart Shop concept. Secondly, it will enable the company to continue to curate quality products, which will eventually include its own branded psilocybin truffles in The Netherlands. Thirdly, it will enable Super Smart to continue to develop its psilocybin supply chain. Lastly, by introducing the store in other European countries, it will enable Super Smart to capitalize on an already established distribution model and psilocybin supply chain when other European countries legalize. This last point also includes the U.S. Slim Winkel platform.

The introduction of a specialty online smart shop featuring a carefully curated selection of both psilocybin truffles and functional mushrooms with educational content is a first for the smart shop industry. The current product offering is an initial curated assortment that will continuously grow as the team sources new products that meet the company's stringent guidelines. Visitors to the Dutch Slim Winkel e-commerce site will be treated to informative blogs and educational tips that will allow them to easily integrate functional mushrooms and psilocybin micro dosing into their lifestyle. Super Smart believes these educational resources are the backbone of the Slim Winkel concept. The Company believes that by providing these additional services its customers will have a deeper understanding of the benefits of Super Smart's product offering.

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"Our concept with Slim Winkel is to create a more modern retail experience in the space; one that blends information and education. We want to move away from a tourist centric approach to a lifestyle one. Our goal is to bring psychedelics out of the shadows and make micro dosing a normal part of everyday mental health" said Harry Resin, President of Super Smart. The brick-and-mortar strategy will resume once management is confident the lockdowns have subsided. As previously mentioned, the Company has located several premium locations in Amsterdam for the building of a major flagship store. The buildout of that store is a core focus and management will move immediately to sign a lease and commence the build out as soon as the country opens up on a seemingly permanent basis. Management also still intends to follow through on a build out or acquisition of stores in 5 other identified cities in The Netherlands.

About PharmaDrug Inc.

PharmaDrug is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of controlled-substances and natural medicines such as psychedelics, cannabis and naturally-derived approved drugs. The Company owns 80% of Pharmadrug Production GmbH, a German medical cannabis distributor, with a Schedule I European Union narcotics license and German EuGMP certification allowing for the importation and distribution of medical cannabis to pharmacies in Germany and throughout the EU. The Company also owns 100% of Super Smart, a Dutch company building a modern adult use psychedelic retail business with an elevated and educational focus. PharmaDrug recently acquired Sairiyo Therapeutics, a biotech company that specializes in researching and reformulating established natural medicines with a goal of bringing them through regulatory and research driven clinical trials.

For further information, please contact:

Daniel Cohen, Chairman and CEO

dcohen@pharmadrug.co

(647) 202-1824

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information:

THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED NOR DOES IT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results of the Company. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. We assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. The Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulations under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein, such as, but not limited to dependence on obtaining regulatory approvals; the ability to locate additional supply of medical cannabis, owning interests in companies or projects that are engaged in activities currently considered illegal under United States federal law; changes in laws; limited operating history, reliance on management, requirements for additional financing, competition, hindering market growth; regulatory and political change. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86711
WOBURN, Mass., June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientific Systems Company, Inc. (SSCI), an industry leader and pioneer in advanced intelligent autonomous systems, announced today that Dr. Scott Littlefield has joined the company as Chief Engineer for Maritime Programs. In this role he will be responsible for strategic development, customer engagement, and technology solution implementation for all company programs focused on maritime applications. Scott brings a well-regarded background of proven leadership, entrepreneurship, program management excellence, and technical expertise, in the defense community.

SSCI is a provider of artificial intelligence-enabled autonomous software systems for land, sea, air, and space systems, GPS-denied navigation systems, and mission planning systems (PRNewsfoto/Scientific Systems Company Inc.)

SSCI Appoints Former DARPA Program Manager, Dr. Scott Littlefield, as

Chief Engineer for Maritime Programs

As a former Program Manager for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Scott created and managed radically innovative and highly successful autonomous maritime systems for national defense. Notably, he managed the ASW Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program, which prototyped a large unmanned surface vessel for Navy missions. In his role, Scott managed all aspects of the design, construction, and at-sea testing of the vessel and led the technical development and integration of a complex suite of autonomy software to enable the vessel to comply with COLREGS, the "rules of the road" at sea. ACTUV has since transitioned to Sea Hunter to inform an upcoming Navy acquisition program for large unmanned surface vessels. He also developed and managed the Hydra program, as well as managing the Tactically Expandable Maritime Platform (TEMP) effort. Prior to DARPA, Scott served in technical capacities as a Navy Civil Servant. For three years he acted as the Director of Technology and Innovation at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock. He held multiple program officer and director roles at the Office of Naval Research for over 16 years and served in program office and shipyard roles at the beginning of his career for Naval Sea Systems Command and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Most recently Scott has led robotic and autonomous systems programs at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Engineering in Engineering Management from the George Washington University.

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"We are incredibly excited to have Scott join our leadership team," said SSCI CEO Dr. Raman Mehra. "Beginning with DARPA's Collaborative Networks for Autonomous Systems (CNAV) program, SSCI has a great heritage of providing advanced AI/ML-enabled technologies for maritime solutions. Today we continue to do amazing things for our DARPA and Navy customers. Scott will now lead our efforts to further expand our leadership in the creation of new autonomy-focused advanced capabilities and trusted products for the maritime domain."

"SSCI is a fantastic company with deep expertise in mission autonomy, machine learning, and perception. SSCI is well positioned to work on the key challenges that face the Navy as it moves toward an increasingly unmanned and autonomous force structure," said Littlefield. "I'm excited to be part of the SSCI team and look forward to contributing to that effort."

About Scientific Systems Company, Inc.

Founded in 1990 and based in Woburn, MA, Scientific Systems Company Inc. (SSCI) invents disruptive technologies, develops revolutionary solutions, and builds trusted products for our customers' most challenging missions. SSCI focuses on the creation of AI/ML enabled capabilities to command, control, communicate with, and manage composable collections of intelligent agents, smart sensors, and autonomous platforms across all domains.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ssci-appoints-dr-scott-littlefield-as-chief-engineer-for-maritime-programs-301306755.html

SOURCE Scientific Systems Company Inc.
Drill highlights at Rozino include: Drill hole RDD-224; 25.2m grading 0.96 g/t gold, including 8.3m grading 2.29 g/t gold

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 7, 2021) - Velocity Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: VLC) ("Velocity" or the "Company") provides an update on positive drill exploration results from the Rozino gold project located in southeastern Bulgaria ("Rozino"). Drilling at Rozino continues to discover significant gold mineralization hosted in basement rocks adjacent to and underlying the deposit.

Following the discovery of significant gold intercepts within the basement at Rozino (see news release NR-21-07, April 27, 2021 and NR-21-10, May 18, 2021), results have been received for an additional 7 drill holes. These additional holes are outside of the Company's existing NI 43-101 Mineral Resource estimate (the "Existing Resource") published in the Rozino prefeasibility study (see news release NR-20-18, August 31, 2020), and include hole RDD-224; 25.2m grading 0.96 g/t gold from 7.3m depth (including 8.3m grading 2.29 g/t gold) (Table 1, Figures 1 and 2). The mineralization at Rozino remains open to the north and east and drilling is ongoing.

Recently received drill results include drilling adjacent and contiguous to the prefeasibility study design pit (3 drill holes) and drilling at the Rozino North target (4 drill holes). Wide drill intersects adjacent to the PFS design pit confirm a thick zone of basement-hosted gold mineralization outside of the Existing Resource. The gold mineralization remains open to the north and east and a further 15 drill holes have been completed with results pending.

Figure 1: Drill section 2NW showing significant intersections at the Rozino deposit.

Drill results are pending for additional drill holes and drilling is ongoing.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4368/86663_3da61674d4ee0bb0_002full.jpg

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Figure 2: Rozino map showing the location of drill holes, planned drill holes, and highlighting open areas where potential for additional mineralization has not been tested by previous drilling.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4368/86663_3da61674d4ee0bb0_003full.jpg

Drill hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Gold (g/t) RDD-224 7.30 32.50 25.20 0.96 including 18.10 26.40 8.30 2.29 RDD-224 70.50 76.50 6.00 0.56 RDD-227 13.60 33.90 20.30 0.59 RDD-229 41.30 47.70 6.40 0.70 RDD-229 98.50 100.50 2.00 2.90 RDD-229 146.50 150.50 4.00 2.03 RDD-229 155.50 158.50 3.00 4.12





Table 1: Significant intercepts from new drill holes at the Rozino deposit.

The drill intersections disclosed here have not yet been included in a resource model and true thickness of mineralization has not yet been determined. Drill holes are designed to intersect mineralization perpendicular or close to perpendicular. Drill intersections in Table 1 are calculated using a 0.2 g/t gold trigger, a minimum 0.5 g/t gold composite, and a maximum of 3 metres consecutive waste. Drill intercepts that do not meet these criteria are excluded from the table. Complete lists of consecutive drill intercepts are listed on the Company's web site.

Tintyava Prospecting License Appeal Update

Velocity also provides an update on the appeal by the Association for Agrarian and Ecological Projects (the "NGO") whereby the NGO sought to nullify the Tintyava prospecting and exploration license issued on February 28, 2017 (the "Tintyava License") by the Bulgarian government's Ministry of Energy (the "License Appeal") (see news release NR-21-07, April 27, 2021).

On May 19, 2021, the Administrative Court, Sofia City (the "ACSC") heard the License Appeal. Subsequent to the Hearing, the ACSC has ruled to dismiss the License Appeal (the "Ruling"). The NGO may appeal the Ruling to the Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria within 14 days from the date of delivery of the Ruling to the parties.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

The Rozino work program is designed and supervised by Stuart A. Mills, CGeol, the Company's Vice-President Exploration, who is responsible for all aspects of the work, including the quality control/quality assurance program. On-site personnel at the project rigorously collect and track samples which are then securely sealed and shipped to ALS Global laboratory in Romania. Samples used for the results described herein are prepared and analyzed by fire assay using a 30-gram charge in compliance with industry standards at ALS' Romanian laboratory. A sample split of the milled material from the Rozino basement-hosted drill program is shipped to ALS' Irish laboratory for multi-element analysis using an inductively coupled mass spectrometer. Field duplicate samples, blanks and independent controlled reference material (standards) are added to each batch of samples. All drill intersections in this news release are calculated using a 0.2 g/t gold trigger, a minimum 0.5 g/t gold composite, and a maximum of 3 metres consecutive waste.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical content of this release has been approved for disclosure by Stuart A. Mills, BSc, MSc, CGeol, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and the Company's Vice President Exploration. Mr. Mills is not independent of the Company.

About Velocity Minerals Ltd.

Velocity is a gold exploration and development company focused on southeastern Bulgaria. Velocity's strategy is to develop a low cost centralized "Hub and Spoke" operation whereby multiple projects within this emerging gold district produce gold concentrates for trucking to a central processing plant for production of dore. The Company envisions staged open pit mining of satellite deposits and processing in a currently operating processing plant. Velocity has a 70% interest in the Tintyava prospecting license, which includes the Rozino gold project, and has entered into option agreements to earn a 70% interest in the Obichnik and Makedontsi gold projects and holds a 100% interest in the Iglika project. Velocity's management and board includes mining industry professionals with combined experience spanning Europe, Asia, and the Americas as employees of major mining companies as well as founders and senior executives of junior to mid-tier public companies. The team's experience includes all aspects of mineral exploration, resource definition, feasibility, finance, mine construction and mine operation as well as a track record in managing publicly listed companies.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

"Keith Henderson"

President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Keith Henderson

Phone: +1-604-484-1233

E-mail: info@velocityminerals.com

Web: www.velocityminerals.com

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.

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: future exploration and testing carried out on Rozino, including drill results that currently are pending; the decision of the NGO to appeal the Ruling; use of funds; and the future business and operations of the Company. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "pro forma", "plans", "expects", "may", "will", "should", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", "potential" or variations of such words including negative variations thereof, and phrases that refer to certain actions, events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that market fundamentals will result in sustained gold and precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future development of the Company's projects in a timely manner, the Company obtaining a favourable outcome if the NGO appeals the Ruling, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the development, construction and continued operation of the Company's projects and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development and mine development activities for Rozino, including the geological mapping, prospecting and sampling programs for Rozino and litigation affecting the Company's permits or licences, including any appeal of the Ruling, actual results of exploration activities, estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, the availability of a sufficient supply of water and other materials, requirements for additional capital to fund the Company's business plan, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates, possible failures of plants, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental and regulatory approvals (including of the TSX Venture Exchange), permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, hedging practices, currency fluctuations, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, risks related to joint venture operations, and risks related to the integration of acquisitions, as well as those factors discussed under the heading. "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual management's discussion and analysis and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking information in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.

- 30 -

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/86663
Industry leaders to discuss climate change policies and net-zero impact on APAC markets

First public presentation of Wood Mackenzie Lens Power

SINGAPORE, June 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wood Mackenzie invites registration for its inaugural Power & Renewables Asia Pacific (APAC) Conference on June 22-24.

Wood Mackenzie Logo

As western economies and major corporations pledge carbon neutrality, the Asia Pacific region, the world's largest fossil fuel demand centre, must equally step up efforts to decarbonise.

Wood Mackenzie Asia Pacific Head of Power and Renewables, Alex Whitworth, said: "China, Japan and South Korea have all announced net-zero targets by 2050 and 2060. This virtual conference is an excellent platform to discuss expectations for climate change action in these key markets and set the way forward for industry players."

The virtual conference will feature streams dedicated to key markets including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and emerging Southeast Asia. The three-day event will also address topics on policies, next-generation technologies, and investment strategies that will help APAC markets navigate the energy transition.

Wood Mackenzie will also unveil Lens Power - a game-changing data and analytics platform which will empower organisations to maximise investment opportunities in clean energy and be at the forefront of the energy transition.

As well as exclusive presentations from Wood Mackenzie experts, and a top-tier speaker line-up, the virtual conference offers opportunities to connect with leading renewable developers and utilities. Delegates can also connect with transmission operators, national and energy regulatory bodies, investment entities, and technology providers.

Key external speakers include:

Riki Kojima, Executive Vice President and CFO, TEPCO Renewable Power ;

Dr. Alex Wonhas, Chief System Design and Engineering Officer, AEMO ;

Shinichi Kato, Country Director and President, Japan, RWE ;

Miyuki Zeniya, Deputy Head of Global Sustainability, Dai-Ichi Life Insurance ;

Daniel Mallo, Managing Director  Head of Natural Resources and Infrastructure, Asia Pacific, Societe Generale ;

Sriram Madapura, Head of Onshore Renewable Power, Asia, Renewables and Energy Solutions, Shell ;

Vinutha Hosur, Head of Strategy for APAC, BayWa r.e. ;

Dr. Attilio Pigneri, CEO, H2U ;

Shinichi Yasuda, Senior Vice President, Structured Finance, Development Bank of Japan ;

Tuna Kildis, General Manager, Head of Engineering, Vena Energy ;

Toru Inoue, Vice President, Head of Structured Finance, Goldman Sachs.

To register for the Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables APAC conference, please click here.

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About Wood Mackenzie:

Wood Mackenzie, a Verisk Analytics business, is a trusted source of commercial intelligence for the world's natural resources sector. We empower clients to make better strategic decisions, providing objective analysis and advice on assets, companies and markets. For more information, visit: www.woodmac.com or follow us on Twitter @WoodMackenzie.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1482968/Wood_Mackenzie_Logo.jpg

For speaking and programme enquiries:

Juan Monge

+44 (0)7929 865456

juan.monge@woodmac.com

SOURCE Wood Mackenzie Ltd
Its tough to find someone with the amount of time that it takes to put this on. I didnt want to see it go two years without happening, so I decided to take on the race-directing role, said Pessolano, who took off from work the entire week leading up to the races.

In addition to bringing the Fredericksburg community together outdoors once again, the Great Train Race also raised money for Loisanns Hope House, an organization that provides food and shelter for people in need throughout the Rappahannock Region.

At the end of the day, my hope is to be able to make a donation to that organization and all the good work they do, Pessolano said.

Rose praised the group effort for bringing back this Fredericksburg tradition after a most unusual 13 months.

Its great for us to have the special events calendar [which is] starting to fill up again, Rose said. She added that June will also see the local World Heritage Festival at Old Mill Park on June 26, the same day as the FXBG PRIDE & Pride March.

With a successful return of the Great Train Race, Pessolano remains optimistic that the event will be back to its original proportions.

Were hoping in 2022 we can bring it back to normal as far as the amount of participants and also the [original] course, he said. Its been a crazy road.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Senates top Democrat is recommending President Joe Biden nominate two prominent voting rights attorneys to serve as judges on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and on the federal bench in Manhattan.

Sen. Chuck Schumer has recommended the president nominate Myrna Perez, who serves as the director of voting rights and election programs at NYUs Brennan Center for Justice, for the appeals court post, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Monday.

He is also recommending Biden nominate Dale Ho, who leads the Voting Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, as a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, the person said. The person could not discuss the matter publicly ahead of a formal announcement and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

If confirmed, Perez would be the only Latina on the court  one of the most prominent judicial posts in the country. Perez would also be the first Hispanic woman to serve on the court since Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor served on the panel. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over the federal courts in New York, Connecticut and Vermont.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 5 pm on Monday evening, the Prime Minister's Office said.

As the number of coronavirus cases dip in the country, states have begun unlocking by relaxing COVID-19 lockdown curbs. The Prime Minister is expected to highlight the need to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour during his address.

Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi will address the nation at 5 PM today, 7th June. - PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 7, 2021

Modi will request people to follow COVID-19 protocols even as restrictions are eased, sources said. The Prime Minister is also likely to give assurance about the progress of vaccination programme, and urge people to drop vaccine hesitancy and get vaccinated, they said.

Modi has addressed the nation a number of times since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic last year, offering suggestions to people and outlining measures the government has been taking to deal with the situation. He has also made new announcements at times in the address.

Amidst the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, he had addressed the nation on April 20 earlier this year on the situation in the country.

On Monday, India reported 1,00,636 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest in 61 days. Active cases dropped to 14,01,609, while death toll due to coronavirus reached 3,49,186 with 2,427 new fatalities, the lowest in around 45 days, as per Health Ministry's data.

Also read: Fully vaccinated people may soon be able to travel without RT-PCR negative report

Also read: NITI Aayog recommends privatisation of Central Bank, Indian Overseas Bank
On Dec. 11, 2020, Dodge County Corrections received information that the GPS monitor for Schreck, who was on house arrest, was not working. DCSO corrections officials attempted to call Schreck several times and visited his reported residence, where he found to not be staying at.

Although Schreck previously pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, he withdrew the pleas from the August and December incidents and pleaded guilty on March 22.

During sentencing, Schrecks attorney said her client was ready to accept responsibility and move on with the plea deal of prison time.

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Ive got a monster inside me called methamphetamine, Schreck said. Its destroyed me.

Schreck said he didnt want to spend the rest of his life incarcerated and was committed to turning his life around.

Theres nobody else to blame, he said. We could sit here and we could talk about being outlaws or we could talk about this and that, but Im held responsible for my actions.

Hall said Schrecks plea deal was fair and that he had reached rock bottom.
Here is a look at what will be settled Tuesday:

GOVERNOR

Democratic voters will decide whether they want former Gov. Terry McAuliffe to return for another term or whether they think one of his four opponents is the best pick to take on GOP nominee Glenn Youngkin.

McAuliffe, a longtime fixture of Democratic politics and a prodigious fundraiser, has been seen as the heavy favorite in the race. Polling has generally shown him with a commanding lead, he's got a big money advantage, and he locked up endorsements from top officials around the state.

Two of his opponents, state Sen. Jennifer McClellan and former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, are running what could be history-making bids. If either wins the general election, they would be Virginia's first female governor and the nation's first Black female governor.

Also in the race are Del. Lee Carter, a self-described socialist who is well to the left of the pack, and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, whose campaign momentum has been blunted by two unresolved allegations of sexual assault raised in 2019 that he strenuously denies.

Gov. Ralph Northam, like all Virginia governors, is prohibited from seeking a second consecutive term.

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Pope Francis has expressed pain over the discovery in Canada of the remains of 215 residential school students and urged church and political authorities to work together to shed light on the shocking development
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. High 88F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 59F. SE winds shifting to N at 10 to 15 mph.
Last year, high in a canyon near Colorado Springs, Brett Price finally showed his mom what hed been up to.

A 1-inch-thick line was strung between cliff sides. Price walked across it, nothing but air above and 100 feet below.

One trip, and that was enough for Mom. Her son was attached to a harness and stepped along nylon capable of handling thousands of pounds, but that did nothing to slow her pounding heart.

She was like, OK, you can be done now, Price recalled.

The 25-year-old isnt done with the sport of highlining. He is part of a rising subculture in Colorado  a fit, free-spirited member of a small but growing faction taking slacklining to another level, from those trees at a grassy neighborhood park to the dizzying heights of the mountains.

Highliners can be found where rock climbers are found. In America, the bold hobbies share a 1970s birthplace, Yosemite National Park, and continue to share Californias Sierras, Utahs desert spires and, indeed, Colorados Rockies.

Its massive here, said one of highlinings modern legends, Jerry Miszewski, who moved his gear company, Balance Community, to Lyons last year. Colorado is definitely the heartbeat of the slackline community in the U.S.

Maybe youve driven through Clear Creek Canyon or Boulder Canyon and seen his kind traversing way above your windshield. The balancing act is also popular in remote reaches of Poudre Canyon outside Fort Collins, along with craggy domains around Estes Park and Canon City.

If youve never seen highlining, well, your reaction might be similar to that of Prices mom.

Young Price was with one of his regular comrades that day, Duke Brunmeier, who can count on two hands the number of fellow highliners he knows in Colorado Springs. The low or hidden ranks  not to mention restrictions within city limits  means the sight locally is rare.

To someone whos never seen it, it looks completely nuts, Brunmeier, 48, said.

But he insists hes not nuts. He insists highlining helped save his life, not take it.

He was recovering from drug and alcohol use when he found highlining six years ago. It was a way of being in the moment, he said. Being able to find those zen-like moments where past and future devolves, and its like the fear goes away, and youre in the flow.

Dakota Collins knows the feeling. Over the past decade, the northern Coloradan has become one of the sports top activists.

Theres definitely some misconception that were some tightrope walkers risking our lives, he said. The reality is, Ive never considered myself risking my life tying into a high line.

The International Slackline Association detailed highlining deaths in 2018 and 2019, both in Brazil. But the association has described those incidents as extremely uncommon, with a 2015 report suggesting only one fatality in 30-plus years.

Longtime highliners convey total confidence in proper gear and redundant practices behind every proper route. If the nylon under their feet were to snap, walkers protect themselves by leashing to a backup line. Backup clips and backup bolts are secured on either end of the lines. Some argue highlining is safer than the rope walked between trees at parks, where tripping could mean a harsh ground collision and injuries to ankles, wrists or head.

But the slackline in the park is where hopeful highliners should start, proponents said. The lower effort builds balance, confidence and knot-tying skills  and, if not on dedicated Facebook pages, its a way to meet a mentor with highlinings highly technical knowledge.

Rigging a safe line requires the kind of investigation rock climbers take to bolting routes. The rock has to be right for drilling. One party anchors one side and the other party anchors the other in what is only the beginning of logistics. Commonly, one end of the line gets tied, and a drone flies the other end to the opposite anchor. The space between poses a mathematical equation in determining the tension of the line, or lack thereof. Wind is another factor.

With the know-how, the result is considered the pinnacle of slacklining. Practitioners speak of a certain nirvana celebrated by Indiana-based Breathe Festival, the sports biggest gathering, co-founded by Collins. Every individual has a higher purpose, according to the mission statement.

Its an unreal way to experience the natural landscape, says Caleb Beavers, an influential highliner in Boulder. Its one thing standing on a cliff looking out, but if you can walk into that space, its a whole other world.

Beavers was among a group last year that claimed a national record on a line spanning 3,313 feet between rock cathedrals near Moab. The feat shows how far the sport has come since 1983, when a trio of scrappy Californians strung a 22-foot line under a bridge and walked what is considered to be Americas first highline. It was 800 feet high, compared with the record 6,561-foot traverse maintained by International Slackline Association.

The boundaries keep expanding, but Collins hopes the sports purity isnt lost. The distraction of doing longer sometimes doesnt lend itself to the most aesthetic gaps that deserve a line, he says.

They await in Colorado Springs, Brunmeier says, mentioning North Cheyenne Canon Park and Red Rock Canyon Open Space. But highlining isnt allowed in city parks  nor is tying a simple line to trees.

Liability is the concern, said Karen Palus, city parks director. The concern is waived when rock climbers apply for permits and ascend designated routes.

Such a model could be considered for highlining, Palus said. The challenge is in coming up with a plan of where it may be appropriate," she said.

It alludes to an access problem that could be on the horizon for highliners. On federal lands, they claim the same rights as climbers. But could the shock and awe of the scene result in changes?

As (the sport) grows more and more, and lines are up more often, that could become an issue, Miszewski said.

Price hopes not. He understands there are those like his mom, who wasnt too thrilled to watch him highline.

But at least they got out of their trailer home for a while. With four cats, the quarters can feel even tighter, Price said.

It can be a little claustrophobic, he said. But anytime I get out on the highline, I have all the space I can imagine. It makes it easy to be grateful, even if you are living in a situation like I am right now.

Thats the biggest thing I get out of highlining. It just makes me grateful to be alive.
Sarah Linster hiked trails near Woodland Park, managing each with relative ease. She had a fulfilling job. She was an A student in graduate school.
Twenty-five vaccinated young Coloradans will each win $50,000 scholarships between next week and early July, Gov. Jared Polis announced Wednesday as part of the state's growing push to improve slagging vaccine uptake.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Republican Louisiana lawmakers have taken aim at the coronavirus vaccine, sending Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards two bills that would keep state and local government agencies from mandating the immunization in order to receive certain services.

Separate votes Monday gave final passage to the the anti-vaccine proposals from Republican Reps. Danny McCormick and Kathy Edmonston. Edwards  who has championed the vaccine and is regularly urging his state's residents to get the shot  hasn't taken a position on the legislation, and no agency in his administration has publicly proposed requiring the immunization for services.

He will review the bills when they reach his desk and see how they conform with recommendations from doctors and public health experts as well with current Louisiana law relating to vaccines, which does allow for certain exemptions, Edwards spokesperson Christina Stephens said in a statement.

But Stephens' statement also defended the coronavirus vaccines as safe and effective and said they have already saved lives and are our way out of this pandemic.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that considering the demand from various states, the Centre will procure 75 per cent of COVID-19 vaccine doses from manufacturers.

States will not have to procure vaccines from the companies, and the Centre will supply the vaccine doses to states.

Addressing the nation, Modi said 25 per cent of vaccines will be available for private players, and private hospitals will not be able to charge more than Rs 150 per dose as service fee over the vaccine cost. The state governments will have to supervise this.

Under the phase-III of vaccination programme, Centre had allowed vaccine manufacturers to release up to 50 per cent of their supply to state governments and in the open market at a pre-declared price from May 1. It had also opened up vaccination for everyone above the age of 18 years.

Also read: COVID-19 vaccine supply to improve, trials ongoing for 2 vaccines for children: PM Modi

The Prime Minister said the earlier decision was taken on demands from states to decentralise vaccine procurement. However, within a few weeks, many states said they were unable to procure vaccines and asked Centre to procure and distribute them.

"It has been decided that the Centre will take the responsibility for the 25 per cent vaccine-related work from states," Modi said. He said the new procurement scheme will be finalised within 2 weeks, with Centre and states making preparations as per the new guidelines.

From June 21, Centre will procure 75 per cent vaccines from manufacturers and provide it free of cost for everyone above the age of 18 years to states, he said.

Till now, Centre was paying for vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers and for people aged above 45 years. With the Centre's latest decision, states will not have to incur any cost for vaccinating citizens.

In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had provided Rs 35,000 crore for coronavirus vaccination in 2021-22 and said the government was committed to providing further support to eliminate COVID-19.

Also read: PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana extended till Diwali; 80 cr people to get free ration
The infamous $223 million Alaska bridge to nowhere often is cited as the earmark that shamed Congress into banning earmarks. However, a 2003 request by Grassley for $50 million to leverage as much as $300 million from other sources for Earthpark, an indoor rainforest at Coralville, is another much-derided earmark that critics pointed to as a reason to end the practice.

The rainforest project never was funded. When the GOP gained control of the House in 2011, tea party Republicans chose to eliminate the practice. In his State of the Union address that year, Democratic President Barack Obama promised to veto any bill containing earmarks, saying the American people deserve to know that special interests aren't larding up legislation with pet projects.

Hinson and Axne dont see it that way. Their requests are not adding spending to the federal budget. Instead, according to Hinson, who sits on the House Appropriations and Budget committees, they are asking that money already being designated to certain federal programs be allocated to these projects within those programs.
We're not heroes anymore, are we? Anthony Yesker, a nine-year employee at the Sioux Falls plant, said after casting a vote against the company's proposed contract. They should at least look that we all put our lives on the line to keep the company going."

He reasoned that if the union decided to go on strike, there were plenty of jobs in other warehouses available. The wages that Smithfield offered were once significantly higher than service industry jobs, but Yesker said the cost of living has gone up in Sioux Falls, making him rethink his job at the plant.

This is a moment when workers have leverage right now, said Laura Dresser, a labor economist at COWS, a liberal think tank at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Worker shortages at meatpacking plants aren't new, but they have gotten worse during the pandemic, said Sarah Little, a spokeswoman for the North American Meat Institute, a trade association of meatpacking companies. She noted that companies are generally offering very competitive wages and benefits" that start at $22 an hour for entry-level positions in some areas.

For employees like Bullen Furula, who has worked at the Sioux Falls plant for 21 years and praised the opportunities that a job at the plant can bring, rising wages elsewhere mean a greater burden on those who have stuck with the company through one of its most trying years: The more people quit, the more pressure is on us who are left behind.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
According to prosecutors, Lang shot and killed Sgt. Jim Smith less than two hours after Niehaus tried to pull him over for speeding.

Authorities say Lang fled from Niehaus, assaulted the officer after a high-speed chase, and returned to his Grundy Center home, where he barricaded himself inside. They say he fatally shot Smith, a 27-year patrol veteran, as Smith led a team of officers inside the home to arrest him.

A standoff continued for hours as two officers took cover in Langs basement. Troopers in an armored personnel carrier later entered the home after negotiations broke down, and they fired on Lang after he allegedly shot at them. Lang was shot three times in the head and chest but survived. A prosecutor ruled that the three troopers were justified in shooting Lang.

Lang, 41, is charged with first-degree murder in Smith's killing, attempted murder for allegedly firing at the troopers, and assault on a peace officer for allegedly choking Niehaus. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges. Prosecutors also recently added pursuit-related charges of eluding, speeding and driving without an interlock device, which Lang needed on his vehicle due to a history of drunken driving.
This week marks the 28th anniversary of this editorial effort. In round numbers thats more than 1,430 columns, a million words, and who knows how many cold beverages.

Its start came about like many efforts in journalism: I got fired. Its a long story, so you might want to get comfortableand even grab a cold beverage.

In early 1993 I was nearing the end of my eighth, year-long contract with Farm Journal magazine. My arrangement with FJ was simple: it sent me a check at the start of every month and, by the end of every month, I sent it three stories.

The freelance deal, claimed the FJ boss, was the best in ag journalism. That had to be a whopper because in eight years the monthly money never changed even though the stories had to.

Then, in February or March, the Big Boss telephoned to say he had a problem. What? I asked, genuinely puzzled.

You, he announced; you cant walk down the middle of the road.

I had no idea what he meant so after an uncomfortable silence, I suggested, No one with any sense walks down the middle of the road because cars can hit you going and coming.

Four, maybe five, seconds later the axe fell.
The Cyber Park is jointly owned by Danville and Pittsylvania County via the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority.

The regions focus on instilling skills in science, technology, engineering and math was a factor in the companys decision to come to the Dan River Region, Phil Hart, executive chair of MEP Ltd. and president of Making Everything Possible LLC, said in a prepared statement.

We are delighted to choose Danville as our base for Making Everything Possible LLC, Hart said. The support and guidance we have received from the city, county, and the Commonwealth has been exemplary.

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research was a strong selling point for the company, he added.

About the company

Founded in 1972, MEP Ltd. has served the aerospace and defense sectors for four decades. MEP has $3.2 million in global sales and currently operates a 21,000-square-foot plastic and metal components manufacturing facility in the United Kingdom.
Following a significant decline of COVID-19 cases in Southern Virginia, Sovah Health is loosening more visitor restrictions on a path toward pre-pandemic times.

The health system announced Monday that it is extending blocks of visiting hours at its campus in Danville and Martinsville, effective immediately. Visitors are now allowed from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 4 to 8 p.m.

Sovah Health implemented the change designed to give family members more flexibility to visit loved ones, a news release stated.

However, visitors still are not allowed for high-risk patients. Sovah Health considers that category to include those in a behavioral health unit, patients who are in isolation, immunocompromised or are under observation. In addition, a patient who has tested positive for COVID-19 will not be allowed visitors.

Our hospitals top priority is safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our patients, providers, employees and community, Alan Larson, market president of Sovah Health and CEO of Sovah Health-Danville, said in a release.
Virginia lawmakers moved last spring to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. While simple possession will be legal starting July 1, sales will remain illegal until January 2024.

Lawmakers and civil rights groups who supported the bill argued that the paradox was a necessary stopgap to curb the harm of marijuana laws while the state worked to stand up a new regulated market.

Under the structure lawmakers agreed to, it will be legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. People caught with more than an ounce but less than a pound will be subject to a $25 civil fine; people caught with more than a pound will face a felony.

On Monday, JLARC proposed that lawmakers create a misdemeanor charge.

Gribbin said the state's approach is not gradual enough, and that all other states with legalization have a misdemeanor charge for possession starting at 1 to 2.5 ounces. Gribbin said Virginia could follow the less punitive approach and charge people with a misdemeanor for possession starting at 2.5 ounces up to a pound.

Virginia lawmakers have no plans to meet on this topic before July 1, meaning that the rules now in place will likely stay as they are at least in the beginning.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP)  El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced in a recorded message played at a Bitcoin conference in Miami that next week he will send proposed legislation to the country's congress that would make the cryptocurrency legal tender in the Central American nation.

The 39-year-old president, who has maintained approval ratings above 90% and made Twitter his preferred way of communicating, characterized it as an idea that could help El Salvador move forward.

Next week I will send to Congress a bill that will make Bitcoin a legal tender in El Salvador," Bukele said in the message Saturday. In the short term this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy and in the medium and long term we hope that this small decision can help us push humanity at least a tiny bit into the right direction.

Bukele sweetened his offer Sunday, saying via Twitter that his government will give immediate permanent residence to crypto entrepreneurs.

The U.S. dollar is El Salvador's official currency. About one quarter of El Salvador's citizens live in the United States and last year, despite the pandemic, they sent home more than $6 billion in remittances.
ASHEBORO  Authorities are investigating after emails threatening violence were sent to Asheboro City Schools employees following the denial of a diploma onstage to a student who wore a Mexican flag over his graduation gown.

In a news release Sunday, Asheboro police said they received a report Friday from school superintendent Aaron M. Woody that an employee had received a threat against the school system via email. The email was received by Public Information Officer Leigh Marbert and the author of the email stated Im gonna shoot up this school if you dont give that young man his diploma, according to the release.

Ever Lopez was denied his diploma Thursday over claims that he broke the dress code by wearing a Mexican flag over his graduation gown.

The school claims that no discrimination took place and that the flag was simply a violation of the dress code. Some faculty have shown solidarity for the principal, while many students have shown solidarity for Lopez.

The department said nine additional emails were received by school employees threatening violence against the school and/or the employee.

Extra patrols are being conducted in and around Asheboro High School, according to the release.
Clark also had the responsibility of withholding taxes from the wages of the nurseries employees, but while he withheld the taxes he failed to pay them to the North Carolina Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service, instead keeping them himself, the lawsuit said.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Charlotte, Clark used the stolen money to pay for his personal lifestyle, including to make payments for his home mortgage, a Ford F-150 truck and other vehicles, to install a home theater system, and to pay for traveling and shopping expenses.

Gragg said the companies are still recovering from the tremendous financial loss they suffered. While prosecutors felt they could prove that Clark embezzled more than $1 million, he thinks it is possible Clark took even more.

You have to go on. I mean, you cant dwell on it. Weve moved forward, and fortunately for us, business has been really good the last couple years. Were slowly recovering. Were nowhere near back to where we should be. Were slowly getting there, he said.

While the lawsuit was settled, Gragg said his family hasnt yet received a penny. They expect to receive money from the sale of Clarks house, which was seized, as well as financial restitution when he gets out of prison.
He balked when asked whether Trump should serve as the face of the Republican Party for the midterms, when control of the House, Senate and dozens of governorships are at stake.

The face of the party is each individual race, Scott said, noting that there will be hundreds of Republican candidates on midterm ballots. The party is those people, its not one person, its not one persons agenda.

For now, when Republicans are not aligning themselves with Trump, theyre focusing much of their energy on culture wars and railing against Bidens agenda. The president, backed by narrow Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, has already adopted a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package that was widely popular among voters. Now, hes pushing a massive infrastructure package that polls suggest could be equally popular.

Gov. Larry Hogan, R-Md., worries that Republicans could squander built-in advantages in their quest to win back control of Congress and expand their advantage with governorships. In recent history, the party out of the White House has almost always made significant gains in the first midterm election of a new presidency.

Democrats will lose control of Congress if Republicans flip just five seats in the House and only one in the Senate.
In a follow-up comment later on Facebook, Terlecki also added that it would be easy for Tsikanouskaya to lose the sympathy of most Poles.

The comments outraged many Poles and there were demands by the opposition for him to resign. Some pointed out that Tsikhanouskaya's husband, an opposition activist, remains imprisoned by the regime in Belarus, which is supported by the Kremlin.

Ryszard Terlecki should not only lose his position, but he should disappear from public life, said Marek Migalski, a political analyst and professor at the University of Silesia.

It is probably she who, although we do not know for sure, won the presidential election," he told TVN24. "This type of contemptuous tone is disastrous for the interests of the Polish state.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, asked about the matter on Monday, began by defending Terlecki's record. He recalled that Terlecki was active in the struggle for democracy in Poland in the 1970s and 1980s, and was arrested by the communist authorities.

Morawiecki then said that from the very beginning of the protests in August last year we are with the Belarusians who are fighting for freedom, fighting for the rule of law, fighting for democracy." He insisted that support would continue.
When Europeans first came to the Americas in the middle of the last millennium, scholars estimate that there were roughly 60 million Indigenous people here. And while the actions and motivations of those who immigrated to this hemisphere obviously ran the gamut, there is simply no denying that the impact on the native population was catastrophic.

The arrival of Europeans led  both through the rapid spread of diseases like smallpox, measles and influenza, and by way of warfare, conquest and famine  to the extermination of as much as 90% of the Native American population (or around 10% of all humans then on Earth).

This tragic story is far from the only one of its kind. Throughout human history, groups representing various races, religions, nations and ideologies have subjugated and inflicted great harm on members of other groups  sometimes with a specific intention to do so and, at others, with only a vague grasp of the impacts of their actions.

Aboriginal people in Australia, native inhabitants of southern Africa, colonized inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent, European Jews, the Irish, Armenians, the Tutsis of Rwanda and the Muslim Uighur population of modern China are just a few of the groups on a very long list.
A flag representing LGBTQ Pride hangs in downtown Fresno. The Selma City Council approved the citys support for LGBGT Pride month in June.
Do you remember reading "The Emperor's New Clothes" in grade school? It was about a vain emperor who gets exposed to his subjects.

The same thing is happening in Montana right now with our Supreme Court. The vain justices are trying to make us all believe that they are nonpartisan. It was exposed by the Republican Legislature when asking for emails regarding legislation during the last session.

When their administrator admitted she deleted emails of intense legislative, legal and public interest, what did the newspaper editorial boards, journalism professors, attorneys and right-to-know interest groups do? They all pretended the emperor's had new clothes and never questioned a thing. Not one of them suggested otherwise, unlike the young boy in the book.

The very groups of journalists who routinely have FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests of legislators have remained mum on the misconduct by the judicial branch. Only the editorial board in Butte has said anything about the "clothes." They went in the total opposite direction, however, and told the Legislature to "knock it off" (You subjects hush your mouth!), i.e., theres nothing to see here!
On Jan. 6, I took my wife's car in to get new tires. It was a rare beautiful Montana winter day, sunny, calm and 60 degrees. So rather than wait in the shop, I took a lovely walk down side streets to sixth ward. There I noticed the next door neighbors' competing pro-Trump and anti-Trump flags that would later appear in an IR front page story. I took a picture and sent it in an email to my buddies with the caption "Montana Acrimony On Display."

On returning to the tire shop, I had just got in the car to return home when my brother from Arizona called. He said Trump supporters rallying against the certification of election results were taking it into the Capitol itself. I scoffed, "Wait a minute, Bill. I've been in that building 50 times. The security is so tight, especially since 9/11, it's a real hassle to go in. So that just can't be!"

We now know that 50 years from now, if history is still allowed to be factual, Jan. 6, 2021, will go down as the day of the Great Capitol Insurrection, then rivaled only by the 1814 British invasion of our hallowed seat of government.
CHICAGO  Eight people were wounded in a shooting early Sunday morning in the Burnside neighborhood on the South Side, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Six men and two women were standing in the 8900 block of South Cottage Grove around 4 a.m. when two occupants of a silver sedan fired shots into the group, police said. Six people were taken to area hospitals in serious to critical condition, and two people were in fair to good condition, officials said.

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The victims ages range from 28 to 38, and they were shot in various parts of the body, police said. A 33-year-old man was shot in the chest, a 31-year-old man was shot in the back and leg, a 29-year-old man had a gunshot wound in the back, and a 32-year-old woman had a graze wound in the head. A 28-year-old man was shot in the right leg, a 31-year-old man had a gunshot in the buttocks, a 28-year-old man had a gunshot in the back, and a 38-year-old woman was shot in the left leg.

In other shootings in Chicago over the weekend, one person was fatally wounded and at least a dozen people have been injured since Saturday morning, Chicago police said.

The latest fatal attack was Saturday afternoon in the West Englewood neighborhood in the 6400 block of South Hoyne Avenue. A 26-year-old man was approached by an unknown vehicle, and an occupant inside fired shots, officials said.

The man had shots in the chest, hip and neck, and was pronounced dead at Holy Cross Hospital, police said.

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She wrote about the adventure in a memoir entitled A Gift and a Death, which is displayed in a frame in the shed.

I love this picture of my parents, taken on my fathers family farm in Meadowview before his illness, she said, pointing to one of numerous photos in the structure.

This barn was torn down in 2017 and our daughter, Mollie Ailey, was able to get some of the barn wood, have a frame made from the wood, and put a copy of this photo in the frame. She gave it to me three years ago on my birthday.

Building the shed was a family affair, she said.

The shell of the shed was purchased in Glade Spring with just four sides and a roof. Openings were cut and filled with old windows found at Surber & Son, a downtown hardware store owned by her husband who, along with a local carpenter, did most of the work on the interior. Son-in-law Bryan Ailey laid bamboo flooring gifted to the project by Kyle Sensabaugh, another son-in-law.

A porch for the shed was made from leftover wood purchased for a deck on the couples house years ago.

Many of the interior furnishings were found at local consignment shops.
Its not just Tulsa.

From the 2019 premiere of HBOs Watchmen, which introduced many Americans to a racial atrocity theyd never heard of, to all the recent media attention  CNN, the New York Times, NPR  marking this weeks centennial, the Tulsa Race Massacre of May 31 to June 1, 1921 has lately been inescapable.

As well it should be.

It stands out for multiple reasons. There is the sheer size of it: at least 35 square blocks leveled by white mobs. There is the death toll of it: an estimated 300 African Americans  the exact number will never be known  killed. And there is the cussed gall of it. Barred from white community and society, Black people created a thriving community and society of their own, a Black Wall Street  only to have white people burn it to the ground.

Its important that all this be known. Yet its also important to recognize that what happened in that Oklahoma town was not some isolated event. No, Tulsa in 1921 is echoed by New York in 1863, Memphis and New Orleans in 1866, Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898, Atlanta in 1906, Springfield in 1908, East St. Louis in 1917, Chicago and Elaine, Arkansas, in 1919, Rosewood, Florida in 1923  among others.
Businesses are scrambling to fill job vacancies as the country continues to reopen from the coronavirus pandemic, but the reality is that there simply are not enough people looking for work. The state of Pennsylvania made the right move to pull back on the relaxed standards for unemployment benefits and to reinstate the requirement that those collecting benefits must be actively looking for work.

When the pandemic began more than a year ago, Pennsylvania relaxed some of its rules related to unemployment compensation. In addition to suspending the waiting week in which claimants did not receive benefits during their first week of unemployment, the state also lifted its work search and work registration requirements. Those collecting unemployment compensation during the past year have not been required to prove that they applied or searched for a new job.

With most restrictions on businesses now being lifted as more people are vaccinated, and since plenty of jobs are available, the state Department of Labor and Industry announced that starting in July the job search requirements will once again be in effect. Its a decision that makes sense.




Animal activists are once again using legislation in an attempt to push their agenda, and this time its gaining broader attention as it aims to criminalize such common and necessary livestock practices as artificial insemination and timely slaughter. Animal activists are once again using legislation in an attempt to push their agenda, and this time its gaining broader attention as it aims to criminalize such common and necessary livestock practices as artificial insemination and timely slaughter.

It takes a lot to surprise me after six years of very closely following activism, but I do have to say, I am really surprised to see these ballot initiatives, not necessarily being proposed, but to have them be moving forward, said Hannah Thompson-Weeman of Colorado Ballot Initiative 16 on the June 2 Hoards Dairyman DairyLivestream sponsored by Select Sires.

While the Colorado proposition just began its legislative journey earlier this year, the tactic of using ballot initiatives as a way of passing anti-animal agriculture laws is not new. Ballot initiatives (also referred to as ballot measures; citizen, voter, or popular initiatives; or propositions) are proposals brought forward by citizens to create, amend, or repeal a state law or constitutional provision by collecting signatures from a percentage of registered voters. A direct initiative, such as Ballot Initiative 16, is put to a vote if it receives the required number of signatures. Fourteen states allow ballot initiatives to become law if passed at the polls.

As for that required number of signatures, there are two paths forward in Colorado. Bill Hammerich, CEO of the Colorado Livestock Association, explained that one option is a constitutional initiative in which a certain share of the signatures collected must come from all 64 of the states counties. However, Ballot Initiative 16 is a statutory initiative, which has no requirements for where the signatures come from within the state.

They dont have to go anywhere in the state but probably the five or six counties in the Denver metro area, Hammerich pointed out. Approximately 125,000 signatures are needed by October 18, 2021, to move the proposal to the ballot in November 2022.

Path of least resistance

Bypassing the state legislature is clearly a strategy to avoid the checks and balances that lawmakers use to listen to and weigh concerns of constituents and avoid radical proposals, Thompson-Weeman emphasized. Going through consumers instead of lawmakers gives activists a larger group to appeal to and a greater chance of people sympathizing and agreeing with them. It also creates a larger group for agriculturalists to try to communicate the truth to.

Consumers can often be driven by emotions, and, as many already have a connection to animals through pets, they may be hard pressed to vote against laws that seem to promote animal welfare. Thats especially true when what actually appears on the ballot is an extremely simplified version of the proposal, Thompson-Weeman noted.

We also typically see these initiatives pop up in states that dont have a large amount of the animal agriculture that would be impacted, she said, citing the example of the initiative in Massachusetts that limited cages for laying hens and gestation stalls for sows. Though this is certainly not the situation with Colorado, every state that moves forward with these measures sets a precedent for the future, Thompson-Weeman cautioned.

To watch the recording of the June 2 DairyLivestream, go to the link above. The program recording is also available as an audio-only podcast. Click here to listen or download.

An ongoing series of events

The next broadcast of DairyLivestream will be on Wednesday, June 30 at 11 a.m. CDT. Each episode is designed for panelists to answer over 30 minutes of audience questions. If you havent joined a DairyLivestream broadcast yet, register here. Registering once registers you for all future events.





To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com.

(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2021

June 3, 2021
Photo courtesy of The Crew Youth Center

The Community Foundation of Noble County in Indiana recently awarded a grant of $8,250 to The Crew Youth Center Inc., Kendallville, Indiana, to assist with the Crew Lawn Care project, according to an article on kpcnews.com.

The Crew provides hands-on experiences for students to learn life skills and apply what theyve learned in their community. The center recently announced The Crew Lawn Care program that will serve community members and also teach job-based skills that youth will be able to apply to a future career.

The new program will teach youth participants how to run a business, safely operate lawn care equipment and engage into community service. Each youth will participate in a five-day training that teaches them an overview of all lawn equipment, hands-on practice with the equipment, customer service, responsibilities and how to manage a business.

There are several levels to this program, designed to teach youth a different lawn care skill at each level. The program will focus on serving youth, senior citizens, single mothers, veterans and individuals with special needs or who are handicapped.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi plans to begin clinical trials of Bharat Biotechs Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin on children, news agency ANI cited sources as saying. AIIMS Patna has been already been conducting a Paediatric clinical trial of Covaxin after Bharat Biotech gained approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to begin paediatric clinical studies on May 11.

At AIIMS Patna, trials for children aged 12 to 18 have begun. Following this, trials will be conducted for the age groups of 6-12 years and 2-6 years, Dr Prabhat Kumar Singh, Director, AIIMS, Patna, told the news agency.

Earlier, VK Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog had said, "Covaxin has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), for Phase II/III clinical trials in the age group of 2 to 18 years.

The trial will be conducted on 525 healthy volunteers across different sites across the country and the vaccine will be given by intramuscular route in two doses at day 0 (the first day) and day 28, according to the Health Ministry.

The trial will look into the vaccines safety in this age range (children), as well as, the adverse reactions and their causes. The vaccines ability to elicit an immunological response will also be tested in the trial.

Covaxin, which has been indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), is being used on adults in Indias ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
It was a different time back then. And everybody made it seem like it was an embarrassment more than anything, the person said.

And as victims interacted more with the police, it became clear that proving the accusations would be difficult.

This was before the internet or DNA, the person said. There wasnt much.

The police ultimately didnt press charges, the person said, stating that there was a lack of evidence.

But now, victims from decades ago are coming forward with their stories, even some who didnt come forward back then. Once people realized Overcash was being investigated again, they felt comfortable finally coming forward because they feel less afraid, the person said.

Some victims, who are now adults, were unaware that Overcash could still be charged for the previous sexual assault allegations from when they were children. But in the state of North Carolina, there is no statute of limitation for felony sex crimes.
McCrory released a statement moments after Trumps surprise endorsement. Im disappointed that President Trump has endorsed a Washington insider who has done more to oppose the Trump agenda than anyone in this race. We will win this race  the primary and the general.

Ted Budd opposed President Trumps plan to secure the border, to support our farmers, to repeal Obamacare, and he even voted against President Trumps COVID vaccines, McCrory continued. Now, hell do even more to defeat President Trumps agenda if hes the Republican nominee by giving our seat in the U.S. Senate to Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. Ted Budds bought-and-paid-for Washington insider voting record is not electable in North Carolina. If supporters of President Trump want his agenda to be supported in the U.S. Senate, they should not vote for Ted Budd, who has opposed him at every turn  and who would lose to the far-left next November.

Walker did not immediately comment on the Trump endorsement, but tweeted thanks to convention delegates for supporting him as the top choice in the convention straw poll.

Thank you NCGOP delegates for selecting me as the best choice in the U.S. Senate Republican primary, said Walker. Together, we will take back Congress, stop the Biden-Harris agenda, & finally give NC a conservative senator.
Image from askanews web site

Milano, 7 giu. (askanews) - Al MiMo, dal 10 al 13 giugno, saranno presenti per la prima volta tutti insieme i brand di Fca e Psa, oggi gruppo Stellantis. Sulle pedane dal Duomo a Piazza Castello ci saranno le ultime novita Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Lancia, Citroen, DS, Peugeot, Opel ma anche il nuovo servizio di car sharing LeasysGO!. "La partecipazione al Motor Show - gratuito e fruibile in totale sicurezza - e un forte segnale di ripartenza per tutto il mondo dell'automotive, un ideale abbraccio con tutti gli automobilisti e gli appassionati", scrive il gruppo in una nota.

"Presidiamo ogni segmento con brand ricchi di storia e gia proiettati al futuro, ed e emozionante per noi mostrarci al pubblico con la forza di un grande gruppo, e con alcune tra le nostre piu significative novita, in un contesto di ottimismo. Ritorniamo a un Salone, per la prima volta come Stellantis, e siamo fiduciosi di poter essere al centro della ripartenza", ha detto Santo Ficili, Country Manager di Stellantis in Italia.

Il cuore di Milano, dunque, sara anche il cuore della manifestazione con le pedane che ospiteranno le novita di oltre 60 case automobilistiche e motociclistiche partecipanti. In Piazza del Duomo il pubblico potra ammirare Fiat Nuova 500, Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm, Jeep Wrangler 4xe, Nuova Citroen E-C4 - 100% Electric, DS 9 E-Tense, Opel Mokka-e, Peugeot 308, mentre presso il Castello Sforzesco l'attenzione sara concentrata sulla sostenibilita. Riflettori puntati dunque su Citroen Ami - 100% Electric, su Fiat Nuova 500 3+1, su SUV Citroen C5 Aircross Hybrid Plug-In, su Opel Mokka-e, su Lancia Ypsilon Hybrid EcoChic, su Peugeot e-2008, su DS 3 Crossback E-Tense e su Jeep Wrangler 4xe. Inoltre, per ciascuna vettura presente sara disponibile il QR code, che rimandera a una pagina dedicata sulla quale i visitatori potranno trovare tutte le informazioni sul modello.
NEW YORK (AP)  Richard Robinson, who as the longtime head of Scholastic Inc. shaped the reading habits of millions of young readers through such bestsellers as J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels and through a wide range of educational materials, reading clubs and book fairs, has died. He was 84.

The children's publishing giant announced that Robinson died Saturday, but did not immediately provide a cause. He had been in excellent health, according to the publisher.

We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Dick Robinson," Scholastic's board of directors said in a statement. "Dick was a true visionary in the world of childrens books and an unrelenting advocate for childrens literacy and education with a remarkable passion his entire life.

Scholastic is the world's largest publisher of children's books and has long said it distributes 1 out of every 3 children's book in the U.S. The publicly traded company's estimated net worth is around $1.2 billion, down from over $1.6 billion in 2016 but well above a low of under $800 million during last years pandemic.

Besides the Potter books, Scholastic also publishes such popular series as Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games, Dav Pilkeys Captain Underpants and Norman Bridwells Clifford the Big Red Dog. Scholastic is otherwise a classroom fixture through its clubs, newsletters and other programs, including a partnership with novelist James Patterson. Participants in Scholastic's annual Art & Writing Awards for students have included Robert Redford, Stephen King and Lena Dunham.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden tweeted Sunday that Robinson was a giant and a legend in childrens literature and cited his lasting legacy as a supporter of libraries and reading.

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Robinson, a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Harvard College, was the son of Maurice R. Robinson, who founded Scholastic as a classroom magazine in 1920. The younger Robinson worked as a teacher and bricklayer, among other jobs, before joining Scholastic in the mid-1960s. He was named president of in 1974, CEO in 1975 and board chair in 1982.

Robinsons time at Scholastic was marked by global expansion, by financial ups and downs, even with the historic success of Harry Potter," and occasional battles with censors who objected to books like Potter, Captain Underpants and Alex Ginos George as inappropriate for younger readers. Scholastic books often were in the annual list of challenged books that is compiled by the American Library Association.

We strongly believe our books and magazines need to address tough topics that are relevant, even if we get backlash or boycotted, Robinson told The Associated Press in 2020.

Robinson also presided over historic changes in the business and culture, whether the rise of digital media or the increased emphasis on diversity and scrutiny of the past. In 2016, Scholastic pulled A Birthday Cake for George Washington, a picture story about one of Washington's slaves, after widespread allegations that the book presented a benign portrait of enslavement. This spring, Pilkey agreed to withdraw The Adventures of Ook and Gluk because of what he called harmful racial stereotypes.

Speaking to the AP last year, Robinson said that Scholastic aimed to educate readers in an even-handed way.

We are dealing with issues like global warming, racial inequality in a way that doesnt polarize the issue but gives points of views on both sides and is a balanced neutral position but not in a sense of being bland, he said. Here are the arguments on the other. Here is what people are saying. Here are questions you can ask to formulate your own view.

Robinson is a former chair of the industry trade group the Association of American Publishers and a member of the Association of Educational Publishers Hall of Fame. In 2017, Robinson received an honorary National Book Award for his contributions to the literary community. Two years later, he was cited by PEN America for his contributions to free expression.

Working with you and the team at Scholastic on Harry Potter has been one of the most significant and meaningful partnerships in my life, Rowling, the British author for whom Scholastic served as the U.S. publisher of her Potter books, said in a 2019 statement provided for the PEN award. A unique relationship exists between authors and the publishers who have supported them  and you, Dick, have supported me and my work in countless, indescribable ways.

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 NCRLA Chef Showdown is back after a year's hiatus.

This statewide competition, canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, is sponsored by the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association. It awards titles of Chef of the Year, Pastry Chef of the Year and Mixologist and Distillery of the Year.

Presented by Got To Be NC Agriculture, the Chef Showdown features competitors who showcase North Carolina ingredients in their creations. Chef Showdown is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the incredible talent of the North Carolina hospitality industry, said Lynn Minges, the president of the NCRLA. We are excited to once again celebrate the creativity and innovation of our remarkable chefs and mixologists across the state."

The competition includes four preliminary rounds that features 48 chefs across the state.

The third preliminary round, held June 7 at Bobby Boy Bakeshop in Winston-Salem, featured such Triad chefs as David Swing of Young Cardinal Cafe in Winston-Salem: John Tharp of Bleu Cuisine (formerly chef of Trade Street Diner) in Winston-Salem; Richard Miller of Five Loaves Catering in Winston-Salem; and Trey Prescott of The Prescott in Kernersville.
"He's done a lot better," Moore said. "He's at least engaged in lessons, which he wasn't before. I understand it was late (in the year), but he wasn't doing anything, and I thought something would be better than this."

Stelling was doing fine in the Virtual Academy and will finish the year there. Tuesday is the last day of school.

Looking ahead to the next school year, Voigt has decided to keep both her children in the Virtual Academy, which will now be a permanent option for parents.

Voigt said she thinks sending Gregory back to Diggs-Latham for fifth-grade then to a new school for sixth-grade might be too much change for him. She also likes being able to closely monitor Gregory's school day.

"Even though some days are hard, we'll do it again next year," Voigt said. "I know this is one of the best ways for Gregory to learn, and Lynnleigh will adapt."

Stelling will be joining Vincent back at Diggs-Latham next year.

Moore said she is thankful for Voigt's help this year and she acknowledged the hard work that teachers put in.

She looks forward to getting both children back to a regular schedule next year at Diggs-Latham.
The GOPs embrace of Trumps self-serving priorities has almost completely consumed the partys long-standing commitment to fiscal discipline, free markets and even the rule of law. That leaves Republican candidates from North Carolina to North Dakota unwilling or unable to tell voters how they would address the nations biggest challenges if given the chance.

Party leaders acknowledge it could be another year or more before Republicans develop a clear governing agenda. In the meantime, Trump, who is focused on the past far more than the future, plans to become a regular campaign fixture again. Building on Saturdays North Carolina appearance, his advisers are eying potential rallies in states with top Senate races in 2022, including Ohio, Florida, Alabama and Georgia.

In an interview, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who leads the Senate Republican political arm, offered a lukewarm response when asked about Trumps role in the upcoming campaign.

We both want to take back the majority in 2022. I tell him what Im doing, and Id love to get his support, Scott said of Trump.

He balked when asked whether Trump should serve as the face of the Republican Party for the midterms, when control of the House, Senate and dozens of governorships are at stake.
President Biden has pledged to help narrow the racial wealth gap and reinvest in communities that have been left behind by failed policies. He used the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre in Greenwood, a thriving African American community ravaged by a racist mob in 1921, as the occasion to promise more federal contracts for minority-owned companies and address discrimination in home appraisals for Black families.

The Tulsa mob murdered more than 300 Black men, women and children over a two-day period, May 31-June 1, forcing thousands to flee for their lives while watching their homes and businesses burn to the ground. No one was ever held responsible for the devastation.

But Bidens Tulsa appearance and speech continues a narrative favored by Democrats that reinforces the wrong belief that African Americans can do nothing without government. Of course, if government were their savior, would it not have solved all the problems Democrats continually talk about, but do little to fix?
The odds that Manchin would actually bolt the party are slim. But theres no point in antagonizing him, because Manchin isnt susceptible to pressure from the left: In West Virginia, where Donald Trump beat Biden by 39 points and where Manchin easily dispatched a progressive primary challenger in 2018, complaints from the left do him no harm.

So, barring some extraordinary development over the next two weeks, the irresistible force of Chuck Schumer will fail to dislodge the immovable object that is Manchin. Republicans will be allowed to filibuster the For the People Act, Democrats sweeping voting-rights legislation. But that should be the beginning, not the end, of the fight to rescue American democracy.

Manchin is working to find 10 Republicans to support key voting-rights protections, overcoming this filibuster without abolishing the filibuster generally. As he wrote in the Post in April, he believes there is bipartisan support for voting reform and many of the initiatives outlined in the For the People Act. His Democratic colleagues ought to put that to the test.
U.S. efforts to combat international corruption arent new. During the Clinton administration, the Treasury Department launched a Financial Action Task Force to name and shame money launderers. The Obama administration tried to strengthen the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which, in theory at least, prohibits U.S. companies from paying bribes overseas. But global crooks have proved to be more adept than U.S. law enforcement.

If you travel the world, you hear the outcry against the well-heeled thieves almost everywhere you go. Street protesters brought down a government in Lebanon; they defied an Iranian-backed regime in Iraq; they braved riot police in Russia and Belarus.

One of the clearest expressions of their anger I ever heard was from an Iranian scientist during a trip to Tehran some years ago. He talked of a technological breakthrough hed achieved in his lab. When asked whether he was going to start a company to develop this breakthrough, he shook his head sadly. Corrupt government officials would have demanded such a large cut in the business that it would not have been worth it.
Govt-and-politics

editor's pick topical alert top story

Nebraska Gov. Ricketts stirs up opposition to Biden's 30-by-30 conservation plan

PAUL HAMMEL, THE WORLD-HERALD Gov. Pete Ricketts in Clay Center, Nebraska, on Thursday. Ricketts has been traveling the state to rally opposition to President Joe Bidens 30x30 plan, which calls for conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

CLAY CENTER  Farmers in seed corn hats and blue jeans crowded into a metal building at the Clay County Fairgrounds last week to hear Gov. Pete Ricketts decry what he says is the latest attempt at federal overreach.

The words 30x30 Land Grab were projected in big letters behind the conservative Republican governor as he slammed President Joe Bidens plan to preserve 30% of the nations land and water by 2030 as part of Bidens radical climate agenda.

This fight is now in our own backyard, Ricketts told the crowd of more than 200 people. We are on the front lines. We are in the trenches.

Nebraska has become ground zero for opposition to the 30-by-30 plan, with nearly two dozen counties  the most in one state  adopting resolutions to block the plan. Last month, Ricketts launched a series of town hall meetings to foment opposition.

The governor, as well as advocates for private property rights, are suspicious of the plan, saying it lacks detail in how to preserve an area twice as large as Texas within a decade. Last month, a federal report outlined six broad suggestions for the 30-by-30 initiative, such as establishing parks in nature-deprived communities. But even that report said the recommendations were a starting point for additional conversation and refinement.

That Nebraska has become the center of the storm over the initiative has perplexed some supporters who claim opponents havent read the plan. Those supporters claim the furor is mostly about pumping up Ricketts conservative political credentials.

Ricketts

But Ricketts insists this is about bad policy, and told farmers and ranchers to be wary of new attempts by the federal government to tell them how to manage their land. He urged them to watch out for attempts to put more property into permanent conservation easements, to read the fine print in land set-aside contracts with the federal government, and to be on the lookout for new efforts to buy more land near existing parks and refuges.

In a state where 97% of all property is now in private hands, placing 30% in federal control would be a massive change, and would shift the property tax load onto private landowners, Ricketts said.

Some nodded in agreement. One man questioned whether the federal government would resort to using eminent domain to seize private lands.

While Ricketts said he doubted if condemnation could be used, he didnt reject that Washington, D.C., wanted more control over their farming and ranching operations, and would be seeking property in quiet, under the radar ways.

When the (U.S.) Agriculture Secretary (Tom Vilsack) says its not a land grab, then you know it is a land grab, the governor said.

But federal officials and conservationists, as well as a law professor at the University of Nebraska, said no ones mounting a takeover of private farms and ranches.

Its a massive disinformation campaign, said George R. Cunningham, a former university professor who is chair of the Omaha-based Missouri Valley chapter of the Sierra Club.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the 30-by-30 plan is an effort to use and expand existing voluntary programs to aid conservation, as well as expand hunting and fishing opportunities and add parks in underserved, low-income areas.

Its about clean water, clean air, fighting climate change and preventing the extinction of 12,000 threatened species, Biden has proclaimed.

Vilsack, a former Iowa governor and now U.S. secretary of agriculture, recently suggested that opponents to the plan hadnt read what it really does.

Don Walton: Heineman could reshuffle Republican governor race The dynamics are in play that could pit Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts against his Republican predecessor with the possibility that former Republican President Donald Trump might suddenly come barging on stage opposing both of them.

The 30x30 initiative is not a land grab, said USDA spokeswoman Kate Waters. Protecting private property rights and supporting the voluntary stewardship efforts of private landowners are at the core of the 30x30 initiative.

Anthony Schutz, a university professor who specializes in agricultural law at the Nebraska College of Law, said theres no history of the federal government telling farmers and ranchers what to do with their land, except through voluntary programs in which landowners are paid to idle land to prevent erosion or preserve wildlife habitat.

He cited the long-running Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)  to which Biden has already devoted more funding as part of the 30-by-30 goal  as an example: A farmer agrees to idle some land, and plant and maintain grasses that serve as habitat for pheasants and other wildlife. In exchange, the landowner receives government payments somewhat equivalent to what might be generated by renting it for crops.

Schutz said theres even a reverse auction in which the USDA approves only those properties that bring the most benefits.

It appears that the governors reaction is more political than expressing a legitimate concern about the likely direction of the Biden administration, Schutz added.

To be sure, Ricketts has frequently criticized the new president since he took office in January. The governor has taken aim at Bidens policies on immigration, gun rights and the environment, including what Ricketts termed the vague 30-by-30 plan.

Thursdays Stop 30x30 town hall meeting in Clay Center  one of five organized in rural towns recently  was just the latest in Ricketts campaign against the initiative.

The 30-by-30 plan grew out of a longtime goal of conservation and environmental groups to preserve more land and water to address climate change. The Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank that has backed the 30% goal, estimated in 2019 that about 12% of the nations land and 26% of its waters are currently protected.

Biden signed an executive order in January launching the initiative as part of his effort to elevate attention to climate issues.

In April, Ricketts responded by getting 14 other governors to join in submitting a letter, warning that the 30-by-30 plan could violate private property rights, and hurt the economies of rural states by taking land out of production. Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson and the attorney general of Kansas issued their own letter of concern. Nebraskas largest farm group, the Farm Bureau, also expressed worry, calling for giving farm groups a voice in the plan.

Like a wildfire pushed by 30 mph winds, the issue has swept across Nebraska, prompting at least 23 rural counties to pass resolutions opposing the 30-by-30 plan. U.S. Reps. Adrian Smith and Don Bacon, both Republicans, have signed onto a House proposal to kill the plan, and U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse are backing a Senate bill to do the same.

Ricketts, who will leave office in 18 months due to term limits, rejected the idea that his anti-Biden rhetoric was about pumping up his national profile in an attempt, some say, to position himself as a possible presidential candidate.

These are just bad policies. Thats why weve stepped up our program against them, he said What happens down the road, I dont know. But Ill tell you, today, these are bad policies.

Heineman prepares for possible gubernatorial bid Dave Heineman resigned from Charles Herbsters Conklin Company board, clearing the path for possible entry into the 2022 gubernatorial race

Theres enough distrust that swirls through the 30-by-30 debate, on both sides, to fill a political science dissertation on todays political divide.

I dont trust the federal government at all, said L. Wayne Johnson, the chairman of the Clay County Board  one of the county boards to pass a resolution opposing 30-by-30  after Ricketts rally at Clay Center.

Ricketts said hes asked for more details of the 30-by-30 plans and hasnt received them. He told those attending the Clay Center rally that a rancher in Nebraskas Panhandle was recently surprised to learn that his new CRP contract included a clause to protect habitat for the swift fox, a state threatened species. But the USDA couldnt tell the rancher what he had to do, which the governor said would allow the feds to come in later with enforcement measures.

(Waters, the USDA spokeswoman, said the clause was nothing new, and that federal agencies are required to protect habitat of endangered and threatened species.)

Ricketts said he was also concerned that Biden rescinded a Trump administration policy that allowed local counties and states veto power over proposed purchases of new park or wildlife land using the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.

But Cunningham, the Sierra Club official, said there was nothing nefarious about ending the veto authority, which was an administrative act that had been in effect for only a couple of months.

Nebraska will get $65 million more in federal flooding aid "This will significantly defray the cost of the disaster for state and local governments," according to Bryan Tuma, assistant director of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.

Advocates of 30-by-30 have their own concerns. They warn that the main group opposing the initiative, the Texas-based American Stewards of Liberty, has links to the anti-government, Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1970s and 1980s, in which some ranchers defied rules for grazing on federal lands.

Wayne Hage, whose daughter, Margaret Byfield, the executive director of the American Stewards of Liberty, was engaged in a long-running legal battle over water rights with the feds, who ultimately confiscated 100 of his cattle, claiming he was overgrazing the federal range near his Nevada ranch.

Byfield, who says the government tried to run her parents out of business, has been the featured speaker at a series of anti-30-by-30 forums with farm and ranch groups across the country in recent months. A guide to fight the initiative, produced by American Stewards of Liberty, was passed out to those attending the governors Stop 30x30 rallies.

At the Clay Center event, Carl Wolfe, a former biologist with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, told Ricketts that he was being less than candid for not telling people about the right-wing group that was providing the anti-30-by-30 guides, and its genesis in the Sagebrush Rebellion and Cliven Bundy, a western rancher who had an armed standoff with federal authorities in 2014 over nonpayment of grazing fees.

Byfield, in an email, said that Stewards of Liberty rejects breaking the law as a tactic, and has never been associated with Bundy. Her father, she said, complied with the law, but challenged it in court.

Ricketts, at the Clay Center event, said all of his comments were factual.

A lot of people call me right wing, just so you know, he said.

The hall erupted in applause.

Don Walton: Lively legislative session ends with redistricting ahead Redistricting may open wounds in September a few months before the 2022 Legislature convenes in January.
The music is essentially curated by me, Friedman said. There has been an attempt to kind of enrich the palette of discovery, the playlist, by having certain elements put through. I don't want pastiche.

The final aural element of Soundtracks is that it is a site-specific installation.

It only sounds right when you play it here, Friedman said. So it doesn't behave like a player piano. It doesn't behave like a piece of rock where you can go to a concert and hear an adapted version of it. It doesn't really adapt. And that's what makes it experiential.

Because it requires the audience to walk through and around the hanging instruments, "Soundtracks" becomes a performance art piece. Its also a work of visual art, combining and contrasting the wooden instruments with the cables, computer and electronics.

I'm not interested in one particular thing," Friedman said. For me, it's a piece of conceptual art and I'm dealing with many different elements at my disposal.
A traffic stop related to a suspended license led police to more than a pound of marijuana and gun parts in a Lincoln house over the weekend, a spokesman said.

Officer Luke Bonkiewicz said officers had probable cause to search the car of an 18-year-old Lincoln man Friday, where they found a .40-caliber "ghost gun" and drug paraphernalia.

Those findings prompted officers to obtain a search warrant for the man's residence in the 1500 block of E Street. Officers found marijuana, several-caliber ammunition and gun parts, Bonkiewicz said.

Ghost guns, which Bonkiewicz said are unregulated firearms that can be assembled via gun parts coupled with minor drilling, don't have serial numbers.

Officers arrested the man for carrying a concealed weapon and driving on a suspended license. He was taken to the Saline County Jail on a separate federal warrant.

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An inmate who was reported missing last week from Community Corrections Center-Lincoln is back in custody.

Staffers noticed that the electronic device monitoring Ronald Sowards showed no movement for several hours on Thursday while he was in the community, prompting a search for the inmate, according to a Nebraska Department of Correctional Services news release.

Sowards came back to the minimum security facility Saturday.

Sowards started his sentence on August 20, 2018. He was sentenced to eight to 12 years for burglary in Lancaster County as well as burglary and possession/receiving a stolen firearm in Saunders County. Sowards has a tentative release date of November 19, 2023. His parole eligibility date is January 5, 2022.

Community Corrections Center-Lincoln is one of two community custody facilities operated by the Corrections Department. Community custody is the lowest custody level and the least restrictive facility. Inmates are allowed to participate in work opportunities, attend school and religious services with prior approval and without direct supervision.

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